Please join in welcoming Archbishop Cupich to Holy Family by writing a note of encouragement, thanks or support for him. There are cards in the Narthex available for your good wishes that we will give to him during his upcoming visit. He will join us as presider and preacher on Sunday, August 7 during the 11:00am Mass. He was gracious enough to join us for our Gala two years ago, and yet he finds it important to join as many parishes as possible in celebrating the Eucharist. We welcome Archbishop Blase Cupich.
One of the initiatives that he has begun is called Renew My Church. You may have heard about this endeavor that seeks to strengthen our Archdiocese. Archbishop Cupich has taken his inspiration from St. Francis of Assisi who heard the Lord say to him, “Build up my Church.” At first Francis thought that the message meant to build up one church building that was in need of repair, but he soon realized that the commissioning from the Lord was to strengthen and revitalize the larger church. There have been several gatherings of clergy, parish leadership and staffs and, most recently, all parishioners in this local church, including us here at Holy Family. All were asked to fill out a fairly lengthy survey seeking opinions and feelings about many issues in parish life here in the Archdiocese of Chicago, but focusing on five critical factors of parish viability including:
•Capital needs •Mission vitality •Pastor availability
•Demographics •Financial viability
With this in mind, parishes have been asked to begin a dialogue regarding possible collaboration with neighboring parishes. Most are in clusters of three to five forming communities within communities. We have been asked to pair with only one other parish, our neighbor to the north and west, St. Anne in Barrington. This will actually be a continuation of a collaboration that we have begun several years ago as some of St. Anne’s priests help us with Mass on a regular basis. We have already shared Parish Pastoral Council meetings, we shared a First Friday initiative as well as a Faith and Work retreat at Bellarmine Retreat House and, most recently, a shared staff day during which Jack Shea led us in planning for the Jubilee Year of Mercy. You will be hearing more about these collaborative efforts and I am always open to any feedback or suggestions you may have regarding Renew My Church.
It is not too early to mark your calendar for our annual Fall Fest on Friday and Saturday, September 23 and 24. As the event continues to evolve, please note that Friday will be a Hops on the Vine/Beer and Wine tasting event with food from local restaurants. Saturday will continue in the tradition of being a day for kids, including games and rides from 3:00pm-6:00pm-ish, and our teens will supervise additional children’s activities from 6:00pm-10:00pm-ish so parents can enjoy more adult music and entertainment, this year featuring a great cover band called The Chicago Experience. I am sure most of you are familiar with the band Chicago, who had numerous hits beginning in the late 60’s, such as Color My World, 25 or 6 to 4, Feelin’ Stronger Everyday, Saturday in the Park, Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?, Make Me Smile and Beginnings, just to name a few. Chicago has sold over 40 million records and is second only to the Beach Boys in Billboard singles and albums chart success among American bands. The Chicago Experience covers these and many other songs with great professionalism and their popularity will bring many visitors to our Fall Fest. Come out to hear The Chicago Experience, plan on joining us and invite some friends.
We are in need of a coordinator for the kids activities in the evening on September 24. If you enjoy working with kids and are open to the energetic assistance of our teens, please contact Bernie Schaeffer on our staff at bschaeffer@holyfamilyparish.org.
Our annual Rummage Sale takes place on Friday and Saturday, August 5 and 6 from 9:00am-4:00pm. We are welcoming drop off donations Monday-Wednesday August 1-3 from 3:00pm-7:00pm. Please take a look around your house and consider that what you no longer appreciate might be a treasure for someone else—and help the parish as you do. Many thanks to the chairs of this year’s Rummage Sale: Mary Rubino, Rose O’Brien and Nancy Stacey for their hard work in planning this event.
Many of you have commented that the new screens in church have enhanced the worship experience here at Holy Family. The overall improvement of sight lines and clarity are much improved over the previous screens. There are now much smaller sections that, when the Cross of New Life is as low as it is currently, have a bit limited view of the screens. In those small sections I would encourage looking at the screen on your side of the church instead of across to the other side. As the Cross is raised, these issues will be greatly decreased.
This week’s scripture readings invite us to ask a few profound questions such as, What is vanity? Qoheleth, a name synonymous with the title of the book Ecclesiastes and meaning ‘assembler of students and listeners’ or ‘collector of wisdom sayings,’ seems to indicate all that directs our thoughts and concerns to ourselves is vanity. Our Gospel passage from Luke asks us, “What does it mean to be rich in what matters to God?”