News - August 2022

As we look ahead to the beginning of our parish year, we remind ourselves of how fortunate we are to be a part of a vibrant parish. Our parish is blessed with many ministries through which we reach out to and serve each other, including those listed on our website at qasparish.org and in our annual financial statement..

You may wonder what has the Women’s Guild been up to lately? Well, if you were to ask the members, they would tell you that they have been having a fun summer! A trip to Ravinia for a concert and a trip to Lake Geneva for a narrated boat ride and dinner that ensured fellowship, faith, and friendship amongst the women that attended.

This past week, we welcomed back our students to Queen of All Saints  School. Our school continues to hold a steady enrollment for 2022 - 2023. We enthusiastically anticipate the successes, accomplishments, and opportunities of the new school year.

Food is central to our lives. We gather around the table with family and friends, neighbors and co-workers, and sometimes with strangers. At the table, we share life experiences and learn from others. On occasion, our fellowship around the table becomes a teaching moment. There are more references to eating, banquets, and being at table in Luke than in any other gospel.

There’s something wonderfully renewing about late summer, especially as it begins a new school year.  It’s all about new beginnings. Maybe it has something to do with new classrooms, new teachers, clean smells, new sights.

For those of you who are not familiar with the QAS partnership with Building Peaceful Bridges (BPB), a small non-profit organization in Chicago, here is a short recap of the help provided and the journey that three refugee families have made in one year. Last August, each of the families left Kabul when the Taliban took over the country. Each family made this determination to leave everything behind given the grave and possibly mortal risks they faced in staying. They left on transport aircrafts, with no money available to them, just the small bags of precious items they could carry. Some left with nothing at all.

Ready or not, school starts again this week. Teachers returned this past week with renewed enthusiasm and contagious confidence. Our principal Mrs. Carlson worked extra hours this summer to find the best teachers available to minister to our children. The four new faculty members are excited to be part of a school that has distinguished itself as a 'Blue-Ribbon School.' Our maintenance staff worked hard to prepare the school for opening day...

Wanted: a part-time Learning Facilitator to work with groups of fifth - seventh grade students. Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday mornings; Tuesday and Thursday 8:15 - 2:30.

We talk about stewardship as time, talent and treasure. Let’s talk about time. For some time we have been free of most COVID restrictions (although we very much respect those who are hesitant and still wear masks and maintain distances). School is preparing to resume in a few weeks, our work and recreation schedules have become more flexible, new experiences are still planned and yet we remember the need to return to our basilica for worship, for prayer and for spiritual comfort.

It is hard to believe that it was two and a half long years ago that a global health crisis from COVID-19 was sprung on us very quickly and without warning. Every day seemed to bring more uncertainty and we were called to do our best for ourselves and for each other, even in our gatherings for Mass and other liturgies here at Queen of All Saints.

Over the last several weeks we published the names and donor levels of everyone who contributed to our very successful capital campaign, From Generation To Generation. This was done to make sure the commemorative plaque that will be installed in the northwest hallway of the basilica opposite the Millennium Campaign plaque is complete and accurate.

It is only the first Sunday in August, and many of us are already preparing for the new school year. As summer winds down, the days get shorter, evenings get cooler, and beach chairs are removed from the car trunk to be stored in the garage. Labor Day plans are discussed, and the last propane tank of the season is purchased for the grill. Days of relative leisure morph into frenetic afternoons of “back to school” shopping for new uniforms, clothes, and supplies.