News - A Note from our Pastor

Each year on the last Sunday of January we begin to celebrate Catholic Schools Week.  The theme for this year’s celebration is “Catholic Schools: Faith. Excellence. Service.”

About six years ago, at a gathering of the priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Cardinal Cupich invited those gathered to take a hard look at the ‘signs of the time’ and encouraged us to prepare for the future. The obvious signs were declining numbers of those who are actively engaged in their faith, growing shortage of priests and failing infrastructure.

Celebrating baptisms is one of my most joyful duties and one that carries great responsibility. I have the joy of knowing that I am facilitating Jesus’ reaching out to wash away someone’s sins and pour the new life of the Holy Spirit into them, making them God’s children and new members of his Church, our spiritual family...

I hope you had a wonderful time to gather with family and celebrate Christmas. This Sunday, as we are still recovering from the after-effect of the holy day, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Family. We are reminded of our twofold status, as members of particular families and  members of the family and household of God. At the heart of today’s feast is the reminder that in becoming man, God in human flesh, Jesus Christ, grew up under the direction of his mother, Mary, and a foster father, Joseph.

Thank you, dear people of Queen of All Saints! Through your generosity, this year over 400 individuals will have a smile on their faces and gratitude in their hearts as they open their Christmas gifts.  In a special way I want to thank the members of our St. Vincent De Paul Society, QASPA, Women’s Auxiliary, Men’s Club and the elves for their tireless work to help us ‘Share Christmas’ with those in need.

The scepter of a new Omicron variant that seems to threaten the holidays, climate change and all the challenges it presents, refugee crisis, economic woes and political turmoil remind us that all is not right with our world. Even in families and our day to day lives, things may not be too well. Most often we try to handle these problems ourselves and often find ourselves asking the same question people asked John the Baptist two thousand years ago, ‘what should we do?’ No matter how much we do, we know that we need a savior.  

There is something beautiful about all the lights that we now see around us in the streets and shop windows. As they shine and sparkle, they are trying to catch our eye and get our attention. As homes, towns and cities are decorated, clothed in a way in a festive ‘robe,’ and as days get darker and trees lie barren, we are reminded of the words of the prophet Baruch which we hear in the first reading this weekend, ‘Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery; put on the splendor of glory from God forever.’

I write this column on the Friday before Thanksgiving (an early bulletin deadline), just four days after a three-week vacation in India. Driving home from the airport I could see that some Christmas decorations were already up. Welcome Home! Advent and the season of Christmas come at the start of the year, not at the end, Jesus’ birth marks the beginning of a new era in human history. So, on this first Sunday in Advent, we celebrate the start of a new liturgical year. 

“What do you want me to do for you?” is the question Jesus poses to Bartimaeus, the blind man who calls out to him. Last week, in the gospel, James and John came to Jesus with a request, ‘Teacher we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you’ and Jesus responded with a question, ‘what do you wish me to do for you?’

It is celebration time! After four plus years since we first broke ground on August 26, 2018, we gather to give thanks to God who has blessed our parish with the much needed gathering spaces and improvements to our buildings to serve our growing needs. We will lift our hearts in gratitude and praise for our generous donors, our dedicated team of architects, engineers, contractors, construction crew, members of the Finance Council, staff and all who in some way or another helped realize this dream.

I am saddened to report on a vandalism incident in our school buildings last Saturday evening, September 25. Around 9pm, three males and two females were observed on our security video after making a forced entry into the Keene Avenue building.

We are the grateful beneficiaries of the generosity of those who came before us. In particular, we have a parish campus built to the highest forward-thinking standards when built during 1940 – 1960. But over time all buildings need refreshing and ours were no exception.

We all experienced a great hunger and a sense of loss when we could not participate in the celebration of the Eucharist during the ‘stay-at-home’ period last year. We breathed a sigh of relief and returned with joy and nervous concern to be satisfied at the table of the Lord.

What a glorious day we were blessed with for our Oktoberfest and Parish Ministry Fair last Sunday. In bright sunshine we came together on the field to celebrate our community in the Eucharist and then through food, fun and music. Our ‘Mass on the Field’ provided many of our parishioners who were confined to their homes an opportunity to come out and join fellow parishioners and celebrate, especially in the Eucharist.

For most of us ‘Labor Day’ marks the end of summer – one last picnic or barbecue before we begin a new school year and gear up for fall and winter. However, with school starting in the middle of August, we get a jump start on a calendar that is loaded with events like parents’ visits to colleges, sporting events, planning for the holidays and more.

This past week, some of the area high schools reopened and many of our families were dropping off their kids at college. These are bittersweet moments.

Just when we thought we were getting ahead with containing the spread of the COVID virus, the Delta strain is a reminder that this is not an easy virus we can get rid of. At the time this letter goes to press, in accordance with the directives from the Archdiocese, we strongly recommend the use of masks indoors...

‘What is it?’ – that is what manna literally means. The daily bread given by God to the Israelites during their forty years of wilderness wandering. Manna received its name reportedly from the question the Israelites asked when they first saw it, “What is it?” or “mannu.”

You know it is summertime in Chicago when you encounter road construction around the city. Around the QAS campus you will see scaffolding and other construction equipment. This has been our routine for quite a few years now fixing our aging buildings and restoring areas that have endured the harsh winters of Chicago...

Of all the prophets in the Old Testament, Amos is one of the few who is sent to the northern kingdom of Israel to prophesy. After hearing Jesus say in last Sunday’s gospel “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house” one would expect Amos to have an easier time. Prophets never have an easy time.