Several Important Things Coming Up
Family Faith Classes begin next Sunday, September 11, so registration for classes continues. If you have children from pre-school through high school ages, please contact the Family Faith Office to register for this year’s program. We work hard to provide both Sunday morning and Sunday evening options to give greater flexibility, keeping the very busy schedules of families in mind. If you know someone with children and teens who do not attend a Catholic school, please encourage them to register.
Note: We are still in need of Catechists for pre-school, 7th and 8th grades
New Parishioner Gatherings
Almost 300 families have joined Holy Family since we were last able to hold a New Parishioner Gathering in person. We want to extend a warm invitation to any new families to join us in the Rectory following all Masses the weekend of September 17 & 18. This is also a great opportunity for you to register as a parishioner if you haven’t already.
Upcoming Retreats
Beloved is the main Adult Retreat for our community that we encourage all adults to attend. It is held on the beautiful grounds of Mundelein Seminary and provides rest, reflection and prayer. This year’s Beloved will be held Friday, December 9 – Sunday, December 11. Contact Mary Whiteside in our Adult Faith Office for more details.
Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House is a phenomenal spiritual resource right in our own backyard, located on County Line Road in Barrington. Visit jesuitretreat.org for more details. They are offering several upcoming retreats including:
A Men’s Silent Directed Retreat Friday, September 30 – Sunday, October 2
A Women’s Midweek Retreat, Tuesday, October 4 – Thursday, October 6
A Women’s Weekend Retreat Friday, October 28 – Saturday, October 30
Shenanigans Fall Fest
Sunday, September 25
Fun for the whole family begins with 11:00m Mass followed by a Knights of Columbus Breakfast then games and fun activities here in our parking lot until 3:00pm.
FM
Our three generations Family Mass kicks off again this year on Sunday, September 18 at the 9:00am Mass. This is a great opportunity to gather the WHOLE family to celebrate a lively, contemporary, uplifting Mass for all.
Labor Day—More About Work
We celebrate Labor Day as a nation this weekend. As I continue to share with you some of my passions and convictions about the importance of work, I naturally seek to express spiritual underpinnings of this very pervasive part of all of our lives. One of my convictions regarding connecting our work with God’s work is to urge us all to Work Like God, Work With God and Work For God. These three come with powerful connections to scripture and our Judeo-Christian tradition.
Work Like God
One way to work like God is to follow God’s work pattern in the first story of creation (Genesis 1:1-31, 2:1-2). God worked, stepped back and reflected on that work, which led to the observation that it was good. Then, ultimately, God rested and took a break from work.
Work With God
In the desert God made a Covenant with the people seeking a better way of life. Several scripture passages tell us of this Covenant (Exodus 6:7 and Jeremiah 31:33 are just two). I believe we are all on a similar journey and the more we remind ourselves that viewing our work as a partnership – a divine/human enterprise, with God – the more meaning we will see in it.
Work For God
In John 6:27, as a response to the people seeking more from Jesus following the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish, he says, “Don’t work for food that perishes, work for food that lasts.” Food here is a great metaphor for what feeds the passion and purpose that each and every one of us has. Let’s not just work; let’s work for things that last!!