Welcome to Holy Family! We are in this together. This has been our greeting before Mass and at the beginning of many other ministries, activities and events as we continue to celebrate and reNEW this year. Today the THIS is Easter and the new life that the Lord’s Resurrection from the dead gives us as believers in a God who calls us to new life and leads us to reNEWal. To all of you who are joining us as visitors and guests—to all of you who constitute the backbone of engagement in Holy Family’s mission of Vibrant Worship, Life-Long Learning and Passionate Community—to those of you who do not currently have a spiritual home, please consider joining us on a regular basis here at Holy Family. Happy Easter to all of you, and let’s reNEW together as 2017 continues to unfold.
This has been one of my most fruitful and meaningful Lents in a long time because I found myself inspired by the big, open baptismal font in the center aisle of our church and the accompanying words and images that filled that font. The words we focused on during Lent were: RENEW, HUNGER, LISTEN, THIRST, SEE and RISE. These words complemented messages flowing from the scripture stories of Lent, and they had a huge impact on my Lenten prayer. Countless others conveyed the same message to me, and many were enriched by the unique prayer opportunities of Lent, which led us to this Easter moment and powerfully complemented and helped guide our reNEWal. They were also words that inspired us to be very generous in our support of our Lenten Social Justice Project which will help rebuild and reNEW San Miguel De Los Banos parish in the diocese of Matanzas,Cuba.
We congratulate Nicole Adams, Michelle Didzbalis and Abby Klanang who were welcomed into full communion in the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. They enflesh the new life of our community and the newness of faith and reNEWal that God calls all of us to.
May I both share with and invite you to join in just a few of the many activities that lie ahead here at Holy Family in the coming months. I invite you take advantage of the prayerful, service-oriented, ecumenical, scripture based, social justice oriented and fun activities that we offer. Consider coming and bringing a friend to:
Kid Church – a Prayer Service in our chapel at 10:15am on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month for families with children age 5 and under. We just celebrated 2 years of Kid Church and I will be gathering with Kid Church parents on Sunday, April 23 to listen to their spiritual needs and do further planning.
Celebrating Our Oneness – We continue to mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation by our collaboration with All Saints Lutheran community in Palatine. We will hold a Taize Prayer service here at Holy Family on Tuesday, April 25 at 7:00pm and Holden Evening Prayer at All Saints at 7:30pm on Wednesday, May 10.
Estate Planning Seminar on Thursday, April 27 at 7:00pm
Fr. Tim Monahan will present a series on the Gospel of Mark, Tuesdays May 2, 9 & 16 from 7:00-9:00 pm
Richard Rohr Webcast – “Trinity: The Soul of
Creation” – Wednesday, May 3 from 7:00-9:00pm
Pasta Palooza fundraiser for our teens in mission – Saturday, May 6 following 5 pm Mass in our Social Center
Bereavement Ministers Training (Current & New) – at St. Marcelline in Schaumburg, Saturday, April 29 from 9:00am-2:00pm
Jewish Catholic Dialogue – Wednesday, May 24 at 7:00pm at Holy Family. We join with our friends at Beth Tikvah to explain and share with them the essentials of our church environment and liturgical prayer. Registration necessary.
Tucson Girls Chorus – Saturday, June 10 – 22 high school girls will join us at 5:00pm Mass and then give a concert immediately following.
Spirit Camp – Monday-Friday, June 19-23 for children ages 3 – 4th grade
Holy Family will host Catholic Heart Work Camp from July 16-21. 200 teens from New Jersey, Tennessee, Iowa and more will be staying here in the classrooms on our campus and doing service projects in the area during the day all week. Our teens will be providing hospitality by getting our campus ready to host these teen visitors and their chaperones.
Holy Family’s Annual Rummage Sale – Friday and Saturday, August 4 & 5th.
Our Weekend Mass Schedule is Saturdays at 5:00pm (reconciliation at 4:00pm); Sundays at 7:30, 9:00 and 11:00am and 4:00pm. Please join us!
Please take a bottle of Holy Water home with you today as a gift from all of us here at Holy Family. Use this blessed water as a reminder of the life giving waters of Easter. Bless your house, your pets, each other, and anything else in need of blessing, and receive our blessing as you do.
Happy Easter!