One of my recent spiritual focuses is what I call “the MORE of God through Jesus Christ.” As we navigate a voyage of life, our faith in God gives us more. Scripture tells us that the stories of life are always more when inspired by God. Our stories are more than we think, and Jesus is the culminating story and the primary story teller of the MORE of God.
There is no more powerful manifestation of the more of God than in the Eucharist. Instituted by Christ and carried out daily, the scripture stories, our stories, become more in the telling. Bread and wine become more through the transformative power and loving, energizing presence of the Holy Spirit, and we become more by receiving them as the Body and Blood of Christ.
We start a period of ordinary time now when we will hear several passages from the Gospel of Luke. However, this weekend’s Gospel comes from John because it helps us to see Jesus as MORE than a child born on Christmas. He is now transitioning into an adult, becoming more, by beginning his public ministry with the miracle of the wedding feast of Cana.
The story has so much to reflect upon, but in the context of MORE, not only does water become more but at the beginning of the passage there is no wine. At the end there is more, much more, somewhere around 125 gallons.
In life and faith, when Jesus comes on the scene there is always MORE.
Gala
Please mark your calendars for our annual Gala on Saturday, February 23 at Concord Banquets in Kildeer. This year we are sailing on the SS Holy Family for a cruise that will be fun filled and exciting. Our annual Gala is our biggest fun and fundraising event. My hope has been that our Gala unites the various communities and ministries that constitute Holy Family Catholic Community.
You can help make this year’s Gala our most successful yet. As we lead up to this special night you will often see me holding up 5 fingers on one hand and 2 on the other. These numbers represent my two biggest goals, namely 500 people to attend the Gala and $200,000 raised to benefit and strengthen our very ambitious mission, which reaches far beyond our campus and forms us from our youngest members all the way through to our eldest in the ways of faith.
You can help by attending, by bringing loved ones and friends with you to catch our vibrant spirit, by donating auction items, and encouraging friends and family members who can’t attend to pledge funds for certain auction items that will supplement your resources, thus increasing your chances of winning. In other words, syndicate your bidding and bid on items with the help of those who cannot attend.
Illinois Tax Benefit Scholarship
Limited Time 3 for 1 Offer!
Donate $100, get $75 back as an Illinois Income Tax Credit and HFCA receives $300!
Donate $1,000, get $750 back as an Illinois Income Tax Credit and HFCA receives $3,000!!
Sound too good to be true? This is an amazing opportunity available to our parish school for a limited time. Individuals who donate to the Illinois State Tax Credit Scholarship Fund (TCS), will receive a 75% tax credit to be used to offset their 2019 Illinois income tax liability, and thanks to a group of donors from the Archdiocese, your donation will be matched 2 for 1!
The match applies to donations of up to $100,000 per school and is effective for donations made to the TCS Program before February 28, 2019 or $4MM, whichever comes first. We would love to maximize this matching gift program which would result in a $300,000 benefit to HFCA, but 60% of the fund has already been assigned!
Completing the donation is a 4-step process. Please visit the Empower Illinois website (https://empowerillinois.org/donors/) and watch a short video with step-by-step instructions. To make things even easier, Deb Atkins (datkins@holyfamilyparish.org) or Bernie Schaeffer (bschaeffer@holyfamilyparish.org) will be happy to walk you through the instructions.
So if you support quality Catholic education and will owe Illinois income tax in 2019, this is an unbelievable return on your investment. But we need you to act quickly before this limited time offer expires.
The Gathering
Our 8th Annual “The Gathering” will be held here at Holy Family on Saturday, February 2 from 8:30-3:30. The Gathering is a sports themed day of renewal for men sponsored by our Knights of Columbus. There is no charge for the day which also includes a delicious lunch. I encourage men in our parish and beyond to attend. Bring you dad or bring your son and listen to some inspiring speakers. More details are on page 19 of this bulletin.
Mass of Rock
Next Sunday, January 27, at 4:00pm we will hold our inaugural Mass of Rock. We will celebrate the Eucharist in a vibrant way, with the help of Rock ‘n Roll music. Come and bring your friends.