News - A Note from Our Pastor

As our Lenten journey will soon climax in the events of Holy Week and spill into the joy of the Easter season, we are also coming up on our deadline of completing our Disciple Maker Index (DMI) surveys. So, I appeal to you to please complete a survey. You can do it online through the parish website or you may take a paper copy from the vestibule in the basilica, complete it and drop it off at the rectory. Please note that this confidential and anonymous survey will help our parish, the archdiocese and the Church at large to plan for the future...

By the time you read this letter, you may be recovering from one or more St. Patrick’s Day parties, or preparing to celebrate the St. Joseph’s table. Some have remarked that all are Irish or Italian on these days, especially here at Queen of All Saints. Since the original St. Patrick’s Day party in the Queen of All Saints Gym in the 1950’s, we have celebrated all the people in our community every year; and this tradition has grown into the United Parish Program we enjoy today.

The Lenten journey of the Church continues for the next three weeks, bringing into focus those preparing to be baptized at the Easter Vigil: those seeking to be welcomed into the Catholic faith and those who desire to complete the sacraments of initiation, confirmation, and Eucharist. The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) is the program that guides adults through this process. We are happy to welcome Xavier Cepeda, Amber Damerow, Vincent Jops, Jacqueline Renken and Sammi Renken into the Queen of All Saints faith community at the Easter Vigil. 

As we continue our Lenten journey, Jesus leads us to the mountain where “his clothes became white as light.”  Peter, who along with James and John, witnessed this and blurted out, perhaps in excitement, “Let’s make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah,” who had appeared along with Jesus.

We have begun our Lenten journey in earnest, with all the good intentions of embracing the disciplines of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. We may have renewed some tried and tested resolutions, such as giving up chocolate, booze, or caffeine or being critical of or gossiping about others. We may have resolved to attend Mass through the forty days of Lent or on the Sundays of Lent. Or we may have decided to pray together each day through the season as a family...

We begin the season of Lent this Wednesday by marking ourselves with ashes. We set aside forty days to voluntarily give up some legitimate enjoyments so as to prepare for Easter. The forty days of Lent are rooted in certain biblical narratives that were a time of preparation for an encounter with the divine. Moses spent forty days and forty nights fasting as God wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant – the Ten Commandments. Elijah traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached the mountain of God. Jesus fasted and prayed in the desert for forty days and forty nights before he began his public ministry.

The ‘Sermon on the Mount’ is what we have been hearing at Mass these past couple of Sundays and we will continue to hear parts of it until the Sunday before Lent. The sentence in this week’s gospel, “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” is quite challenging. Jesus was talking about getting into the kingdom of heaven.  It sounds more like focusing on life after death than life now here on earth...

A year ago, around this time, we, along with St Mary of the Woods parish, were engaged in the Renew My Church process. The Archdiocese had to take a closer look at the viability of parishes and vitality within the parish community. While the diocese set benchmarks to assess a parish's viability, the efforts to sustain its life and growth would be ongoing. With both parishes meeting the criteria for viability, we experienced no structural change. We embarked on the "Building a New Reality" task guided by the mission imperatives to "Make Disciples – Build Community – Inspire Witness."

In October, the Wall Street Journal published a commentary titled "Amid the Pandemic, Progress in Catholic Schools" by Kathleen Porter-Magee. The author draws upon the recent findings of the National Assessment of Educational Progress which reveal nationwide drops in reading and math achievement among 4th and 8th graders since 2019. She highlights the very different experiences of Catholic school students during this same period. The reporter notes that while the pandemic "set a generation of students back … Catholic schools were a bright spot" by keeping their doors open for in-person learning and demonstrating how "community-focused, mission-driven leadership can benefit children."  

Queen of All Saints parish is blessed with parishioners who continually witness an enduring commitment to their Catholic faith. I am grateful to the numerous parishioners who are deeply involved in our ministries of worship, faith formation, parish life and outreach. I cannot stress enough that everyone is welcome to participate in these ministries regardless of prior experience. I express my gratitude for the gift of your precious time as well as your financial support to our parish.

Now that the festivities of Christmas are over (really?), we get back into the regular grind of daily routine and tasks. However, the Feast of the Epiphany reminds us that our gaze should always be on Christ, who manifests himself in innumerable ways. The story of the Magi touches our Catholic imagination. In some ways, it symbolizes the journey each Christian must make.

Happy New Year! January 1 is not just like any other day of the year. It is a day of dreams and resolutions. The first seconds of this day are cause for noisemakers and boozy good cheer to ring in a new year. This year, I will start the task the day it is assigned. I will complete the job before the deadline. This year is when at least one of Chicago's sports teams will make the playoffs.

In 1963, Andy Williams first sang of this season as "the most wonderful time of the year." It certainly is the most wonderful time of the year. The charm of Christmas is the sheer joy of children as they see the sights, hear the sounds and smell the aromas associated with the season, especially as they await the arrival of Santa Claus...

In 1963, Andy Williams first sang of this season as "the most wonderful time of the year." It certainly is the most wonderful time of the year. The charm of Christmas is the sheer joy of children as they see the sights, hear the sounds and smell the aromas associated with the season, especially as they await the arrival of Santa Claus. Christmas is incredibly wonderful because it brings us here today and binds us together as disciples of Jesus Christ...

JOY is the theme for the Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday. There is a shift in the focus of our Advent preparation. For the first two weeks of Advent, the focus can be summed up in the phrase, “The Lord is coming.”  But beginning with Gaudete Sunday, the summary might be, “The Lord is near.”  A lighter mood and a heightened sense of joyous anticipation mark this shift.

In 2010, I was on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land for the first time. It was during the Advent season. What caught my eye was the Advent candle stands in practically all of the churches we visited. It was not the usual metal stand with some greenery around it. These candle stands were the stump of a tree with four branches or arms, with little or no greenery, that held the Advent candle. They were free-form, organic candle stands.

The most important things in life require preparation. When parents discover they are expecting a new child, they decorate a room, purchase clothes, and a family member or friend throws a baby shower. Similarly, in other areas of life, we prepare, whether for a new job, purchasing a new home, or embarking on a new vocation.

A few months ago, the world's attention was focused on Queen Elizabeth's funeral. On full display was the splendor of the monarchy and the pageantry that accompanied the days of mourning and funeral services. The outpouring of affection surprised even those who abhorred the monarchy. Many admired her devotion to duty and service, and a few did speak of her faith. She gratefully acknowledged God's steadfast love and faithfulness in the foreword to the book 'The Servant Queen and the King She Serves' published to celebrate her 90th birthday.

In July 2016, we launched a Capital Campaign, From Generation to Generation, to help fund the comprehensive renovation of the Benedict Center and to make much-needed improvements to the school buildings. Through this amazing community's generosity, we have collected about 90% of the 5.2 million dollars pledged. With God's grace, your help, and a dedicated team of architects, engineers, contractors, and consultants, we now have...

‘A December to Remember' is a catchphrase in a commercial for a brand of cars. However, for us, November is 'A Month to Remember.' November is special for us as Catholics. It is a month for us to remember who we are as a people and who we are as a church. On November 1, we come together to celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints – (a holy day of obligation), a day which hon- ors the more obscure saints and the saints each of us has known. On November 2, we observe All Souls' Day – a day to remember all those who have gone before us. The church has always encouraged praying for the dead.