News - July 2023

These are unusual time for investors. Despite a difficult 2022, the stock market has experienced solid returns so far in 2023. In fact, the market has risen about 60% over the past five years, yet the benefits of a rising market are not shared equally among all, including throughout our parish.

For the Mission of Our Lady of Angels - Queen of All Saints Youth Ministry is collecting donations of new (deflated) beach balls, bubbles and sidewalk chalk now through Sunday, August 13. Items can be dropped off in a designated bin in the back of the Basilica or at the rectory. For more information, please contact Jenna Kaszycki at [email protected].

Do you love your faith and want to share it with others? Join the RCIA team! This team walks with and supports adults who want to be part of the Catholic faith. For more information, contact Erika Tate at [email protected].

August 5 & 6, 2023 - Queen of All Saints will be participating in the Archdiocesan 2023 Missionary Cooperative Plan appeals. Our missionary guest this year is from the Fr. John Kolkman (FJK) Foundation, a non-profit organization operating the only sickle cell center in the North West Region of Cameroon, West/Central Africa, since 2010.

During the months of summer, some of us use the time to complete some small home renovation projects. Others re-organize the attic or the garage, getting rid of the old and unused. Sometimes we are surprised by the hidden treasures we never knew we had, or find things that brought back memories, many pleasant and some not so pleasant. We may have learned that not all hidden things are pleasant surprises. 

July is the heart of our hot, languid summers. It’s vacation time for many, time to rev up the grill or skip out to the beach. Even our reading material changes with the heat and light: that heavy biography becomes an easy-on-the beach thriller. So it’s probably true that our approach to stewardship changes with the seasons as well – it changes but doesn’t disappear.

Dozens of QAS Girl Scouts from Troops 25377, 25746, 25847, 26194, 26276 along with Girl Scouts from Troop 25207 from Solomon School and Troop 26105 from Sauganash School participated in the Flag Ceremony after the Sauganash Community Parade!

Cub Scout Pack 3942 helped to celebrate our country by marching in the Sauganash Community Association Fourth of July Parade. Thank you for all you do for our neighborhood, and for proudly representing our Queen of All Saints parish!

July is the heart of our hot, languid summers. It’s vacation time for many, time to rev up the grill or skip out to the beach. Even our reading material changes with the heat and light: that heavy biography becomes an easy-on-the beach thriller. So it’s probably true that our approach to stewardship changes with the seasons as well – it changes but doesn’t disappear.

This fall over 300 students in kindergarten through eighth grade will sign up to learn about the Catholic faith and grow in their relationship to Christ. Help share our faith with the next generation of Catholics while deepening your own relationship with Christ by volunteering as a catechist! The Queen of All Saints Religious Education program is asking you to prayerfully consider becoming part of this important ministry for the 2023-2024 school year. Teaching materials, training, and support throughout the year will be provided.

Last weekend in my column, I touched on the busyness in our lives and the need to heed Jesus' invitation to find our rest in him. At the end of the parable we hear at Mass this weekend, Jesus said, 'Listen, anyone who has ears.’ Listen! Look! Take a second look! Do we do that? Or do we tend to tune out – heard it all before, know what it means, ho-hum!

We talk about stewardship as time, talent and treasure. Let’s talk about time. COVID restrictions are long behind us but we are still working out new and more flexible work and recreation schedules, yet we remember a constant—the need to return to our basilica for worship, for prayer and for spiritual comfort.

Last year I mentioned that we are looking into a new air-conditioning system for the basilica. The reason we have to do this is...

Summer is a time for vacations, backyard barbecues, rest, and relaxation - a time to take it easy. However, most of us end up feeling that there is never enough time - never enough time to do what we feel we should do or what we would like to do. Our time is already too full, and life is too busy.