A word from Pope Francis ~ “If you pay attention to the heart, you will find you are close to the Lord and to others.”
Today we celebrate the 19th Sunday in the season of the Ordinary Time of the Year. While “Ordinary Time” may lack the excitement and the sizzle of the major seasons of our church calendar, there is a stability and beauty to this steady season in which we make our way through a particular Gospel (this year – Luke) section by section, Sunday after Sunday.
Thank you for the very hospitable welcome you extended to Sister Clarissa last weekend. She is a member of the Oikos Sisters, a small community of nuns who have dedicated their lives to serving the poor. Her visit and appeal last weekend was arranged through the Diocesan Missionary Outreach Office. Each year we are expected to provide an opportunity for a Missionary Appeal to be made in the parish that benefits a missionary effort outside of the diocese. With all of the parish activity that takes place week after week, we’ve found that the slower pace of summer is an ideal time to welcome a mission speaker to our parish. This year we were asked to welcome Sister Clarissa to our parish for her appeal. She was very happy to come to our parish and was deeply touched by the welcome you extended to her. If you were not able to respond to her appeal and would like to do so, envelopes are available this weekend at the hospitality desk. Thank you for your generosity in responding to Sister Clarissa’s appeal.
This weekend I will be in Indianapolis, Indiana attending the 2019 Drum Corps International World Championships. The competition is taking place in Lucas Oil Stadium. I was introduced to the competitive drum and bugle corps activity while I was serving in my first parish. A young man from the parish marched with a corps from Schaumburg, IL. His parents invited me to join them at a local contest in Deerfield and the rest is history. Drum corps is a unique combination of music (brass and percussion), intricate marching drills, and a healthy dose of competition. The music the various corps perform have included selections from classical compositions, jazz, contemporary and even Broadway musicals. The corps is made up of young people aged 16 to 21 and tour throughout the country throughout the summer, fine tuning their field show while competing in various towns. It all ends at the Drum Corps International (D.C.I) World Championships this weekend.
I was impressed with the style of a particular drum corps that called Santa Clara, CA its home. Initially I followed their tour and tried to see them when they were in the area. Eventually I became a member of their Booster club. In 1986 I was invited to travel with the corps – an invitation that seemed too good to be true. While my primary responsibility was driving the souvenir vehicle on tour, I also became their chaplain and celebrated many weekend Masses on the top of a xylophone in various major stadium parking lots from coast to coast. It was great to be able to bring the practice of our faith right into the midst of the lives of these young people. Additional duties included driving other vehicles in the tour, selling souvenirs, serving food in the kitchen truck, taking photographs on the tour and preparing a slide show for the Awards Banquet. Occasionally one of the young people might receive bad news from home (like the death of a grandparent or even a parent) and were in need of pastoral care and counseling. Many great relationships were built on tour each summer. I was “Father” to 128 kids. I often called them my “summer parish.” Every once in a while a call would come with an invitation to celebrate a marriage of one of the former members of the corps. My final summer traveling with the corps was in 1998. I still attend local contests when they are in the area as well as the DCI World Championships on the second Saturday in August. This weekend always serves as a welcome reunion.
I share this with you because it is a part of who I am. Each summer I was able to be a priest with the young people of my corps in a very unique way. Since I dressed in shorts and a T-shirt like everyone else, it was interesting to watch their reactions to me. Questions about faith and church came at some of the strangest times. Every once in a while, someone would ask to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation and make a return to the church. And it was very fulfilling to help folks recognize God’s presence in the midst of their ordinary, everyday events. After all, isn’t that where God desires to meet us?
This Thursday, August 15th, is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is a major feast day of our church and a Holy Day of Obligation. Masses for the feast of the Assumption will be celebrated on Wednesday evening at 7:00pm (Spanish0 and on Thursday at 6:30am, 12:05pm and 7:00pm. All Masses will be celebrated in the church.
Thursday’s Feast of the Assumption usually signals the end of summer for me. Parish life dramatically picks up after this feast as we prepare for the beginning of the school year. There really are a few more days of summer. Let’s take advantage of them. May God continue to bless us with all that we need, and more.
Father Jim Murphy
Some additional random thoughts –
Last Saturday we continued the tradition at IC of offering a Marriage Preparation workshop on site at the parish. I was able to spend the day with six engaged couples. There we discussed their hopes and dreams for their coming marriages, the importance of communication in marriage, and the subtle expectations they bring with them from their family backgrounds. We concluded the day with a Mass in the Marion room. It was a great day.
Enjoy these waning weeks of summertime. The busy-ness of autumn and winter will be upon us soon enough. Let us continue to pray for each other. May God continue to bless us with all that we need – and more.
Father Jim Murphy
Like most of us I receive newsy emails from some of the people I know. A friend of mine from my Drum & Bugle Corps days puts out a daily W.O.W. (Words of Wisdom) email. A recent W.O.W. contained some thoughts from the late Andy Rooney. His common, everyday wisdom contains some powerful thoughts and practical advice. I thought that I would share them with you here this weekend.
Some thoughts from Andy Rooney:
I’ve learned … that the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.
Andy Rooney
I’ve learned … that when you’re in love, it shows.
I’ve learned … that just one person saying to me, “You’ve made my day!” makes my day.
I’ve learned … that having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.
I’ve learned … that being kind is more important than being right.
I’ve learned … that you should never say “no” to a gift from a child.
I’ve learned … that I can always pray for someone when I don’t have the strength to help him in some other way.
I’ve learned … that no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.
I’ve learned … that sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.
I’ve learned … that simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.
I’ve learned … that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
I’ve learned … that we should be glad God doesn’t give us everything we ask for.
I’ve learned … that money doesn’t buy class.
I’ve learned … that it’s those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.
I’ve learned … that under everyone’s hard shell is someone who wants to be held when it is a life threatening situation.
I’ve learned … that the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.
Hope you found these as insightful as I did.
Thank you to all who are supporting the 2016 Joliet Diocesan Catholic Ministries Annual Appeal. Our pledges support the work of the diocese, our larger church. Thank you to the 1,031 households who have already paid $130,675 towards our parish goal of $171,242. Your generosity is deeply appreciated. If you haven’t had a chance to respond to the 2016 Joliet Diocesan Catholic Ministries Annual Appeal, please do so as soon as possible. We have additional commitment envelopes at the Parish Office and the Hospitality Desk in the Church.
Local High School fall sports officially began last Wednesday. I am celebrating Mass this morning with the St. Francis High School Girls’ Volleyball teams following their weekend camp. We’ve already had a Grade School Board meeting and new families were welcomed last Tuesday evening. Classes begin next week. We ask God’s continued blessings on all our parish education ministries.
There really are a few more days of summer. Let’s take advantage of them. May God continue to bless us with all that we need, and more.
Father Jim Murphy
This Tuesday, August 6th, we celebrate the Feast of The Transfiguration of the Lord. The event of the Transfiguration was a spectacular event in Jesus life. Normally we hear the Gospel of this feast every year on the Second Sunday in Lent. Hearing it then reminds us of the glory that God has prepared for us if we are faithful to his call. We see Jesus gathered with his closest friends – Peter, James and John. He takes them aside to the top of a mountain. There he shares a moment of prayer with them. During that time he experiences a tremendous union with his Father that his glory as God’s son breaks through his humanity and his appearance is changed. Everything came together in Jesus’ life at that moment. His humanity and his divinity merged together so completely that Peter, James and John saw his glory bursting out of his human body. It was a moment of complete glory when everything in his life fit together in perfect harmony.
Many of us have had brief moments when it seemed that everything in our lives came together in perfect harmony and we saw glory! Briefly recall the moment we proposed to our spouse or were proposed to by our spouse. Didn’t we see glory? And the moment when we held our child for the first time – another moment of glory! Remember when we felt tremendous pride in our children that we thought we would bust! Or we landed the job of our dreams – and all of our dreams came together. Or we may have been on a retreat like CRHP, Cursillo or Kairos and we felt a tremendous closeness with God that we didn’t want to end. These were moments of glory when it felt like heaven and earth came together in a perfect union and we didn’t want the moment to end.
For many of us northsiders, we shared a moment of glory on November 2, 2016 at 11:40 pm. Our dreams came true with the final out and the Cubs won the World Series! For those of us who are southsiders, you experienced this glory a few years earlier when the White Sox claimed the same title of World Champions. Which ever team we were cheering for, we tasted glory and we didn’t want the moment to end. As a life-long Cubs fan, that moment in November 2016 was seared into my memory and will be one that I will never forget. We saw glory and were truly given a hint of what heaven must be like. And like Peter, we wanted to erect three tents – we didn’t want the moment to end.
The Father’s voice from the cloud tells us how we can keep that moment of glory alive – “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” Even though our personal moments of glory come and go so quickly, listening to Jesus, living our lives as his disciples, being faithful in the good and bad times, sets us on a path that leads to glory that will never end. For now, our brief moments of glory challenge us to focus our energy on the glory that is unending.
Tuesday’s Feast of The Transfiguration of the Lord invites us to pause on our sojourn through the summer. We remember past moments of glory and recommit ourselves to listening to God’s beloved Son and to truly living our faith leading to moments of unending, eternal glory with God.
The “Back to School” advertising circulars continue
to weigh down our Sunday newspapers.
Where did the summer go? Many of our
college students will be leaving us in just a few short weeks. Let’s enjoy the time that we have. And we remember in prayer all those who are
traveling. May God continue to bless us
with all that we need, and more.
Father Jim Murphy
As many of you know, we have an Emergency Line connected to our main parish telephone line. Should someone call after office hours, the recorded greeting gives instructions on what to do to access our Emergency Line mail box. When an emergency message is left in that mail box, we are immediately alerted through a message to one of our cell phones. One of the priests is “on call” and receives Emergency Line messages through his cell phone. Once we are alerted, we call the parish mail boxes, retrieve the message from the Emergency Line mail box and respond as soon as possible. We’ve recently had a number of last minute calls from Hospice Chaplains asking us to come and anoint a parishioner in Hospice care. In most cases, we are able to respond in time, but not all. Whenever a family member begins hospice care, please call for the Sacrament of the Sick immediately. Do not wait until the last minute. We try our best to respond immediately to requests for the Sacrament of the Sick. In situations like this, earlier is better than later.
Thank you to all who have already pledged to the 2019 Joliet Diocesan Catholic Ministries Annual Appeal, and especially to those who responded to the second phase reminder letters recently sent out by the Diocesan Development Office. Our pledges support the work of the diocese, our larger church. Our CMAA goal this year is $180,100. Thank you to the 889 households who have pledged $173,247 towards our 2019 goal. We reached our goal in paid pledges last year through the participation of 940 households. If you haven’t had a chance to respond to the 2019 Joliet Diocesan Catholic Ministries Annual Appeal, please join me and make your pledge as soon as possible. Your generosity is deeply appreciated and helps us meet our obligations to the larger Diocesan church.
As welcome as the warm weather is, it brings with it another kind of problem. Over the past few weeks, a number of people have brought “attire concerns” to my attention. We usually don’t have to worry about this during the winter months when we are dressing to keep warm. But in the summer months…. So please remember when coming to church during the summer months to dress appropriately. We come together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. We should not dress as if we were going to the beach. And it is good to be respectful of those who are sitting around us.
In spite of our record setting wet spring, work on our parish Perpetual Adoration Chapel continues.
Last week the roof was put on the building and most of the brick work was completed. A Perpetual Adoration Chapel was one of the needs identified during the needs assessment that was done in the parish during January and February 2013. Following that needs assessment, our “Honoring Our Roots, Cultivating Our Future” Capital Campaign was launched later that year. Funds for the construction of a Perpetual Adoration Chapel were raised during that campaign, which concluded last December. Once the chapel is completed and furnished, we will set a formal opening and dedication date. Until that takes place, we will continue our practice of Eucharistic adoration on First Fridays.
Our next opportunity for First Friday Eucharistic Adoration will be this Friday, August 2nd. We normally begin after the 7:00am Mass on Friday and continue through the day and night concluding with Benediction at 8:00am Saturday morning. As Roman Catholics, our primary prayer is the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the Mass. This is our community prayer, a “God and us” prayer. Eucharistic Adoration gives us a unique time for individual, “God and me” prayer. In a presentation to teens about Eucharistic Adoration, I once heard it described as “face time with Jesus.” Just as we want to spend time with those we love, Eucharistic Adoration is a great opportunity to spend time with the Lord Jesus. He gave us the gift of the Eucharist because he wants to be with us. Many have found that time spent before the Eucharist is that moment of peace and quiet that we so desperately seek in our lives. It is that time to be quiet and simply be with a good friend. All are welcome to join us to spend some quiet time with the Lord this Friday any time between 7:30am and 8:00am Saturday. Come for as long or as short as you are able.
As many of you know, we have an Emergency Line connected to our main parish telephone line. Should someone call after office hours, the recorded greeting gives instructions on what to do to access our Emergency Line mail box. When an emergency message is left in that mail box, we are immediately alerted through our pager. One of the priests is always carrying the parish pager. Wherever we are, we can call in to the parish mail boxes, retrieve a message from the Emergency Line mail box and respond as soon as possible. We’ve recently had a number of last minute calls from Hospice Chaplains asking us to come and anoint a parishioner in Hospice care. In most cases, one of us arrived in time, but not all. Whenever a family member begins hospice care, please call for the Sacrament of the Sick immediately. Do not wait until the last minute. We try our best to respond immediately to requests for the Sacrament of the Sick. In situations like this, earlier is better than later.
As welcome as the warm weather is, it brings with it another kind of problem. Over the past few weeks, a number of people have brought “attire concerns” to my attention. We usually don’t have to worry about this during the winter months when we are dressing to keep warm. But in the summer months…. So please remember when coming to church during the summer months to dress appropriately. We come together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. We should not dress as if we were going to the beach. And it is good to be respectful of those who are sitting around us.