Welcome to Holy Family, Rich. We are in this together!
We welcome our new Associate Pastor Fr. Rich Jakubik at all Masses this weekend.
Please take the time to read his bio that is included here. It will just begin the process of
getting to know Rich who will be great addition to our staff and our larger community.
Fr. Jakubik is a 1989 graduate of Niles College of Loyola University, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 22, 1993. While residing at Five Holy Martyrs Parish on the south side of Chicago, he completed his studies at the University of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, with an S.T.B. (Bachelor of Sacred Theology) and S.T.L. (Licentiate Degrees in Sacred Theology) in 1994. He then served as an associate pastor for the next four years at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Glenview, Illinois. In 1998, he became a resident at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Wilmette, Illinois. For five years, he served on the faculty at Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary. While teaching at AQPS, he completed a Master’s degree in Social Work (MSW) in 2004. For the next twelve years, he served the Archdiocese as a psychotherapist at the Holbrook Counseling Center of Catholic Charities, providing individual, marriage and family counseling services. While at Catholic Charities, he graduated from the Illinois School of Professional Counseling (ISPP) in 2011, completing his Doctoral Degree in Clinical Psychology.
As I have shared before, five of my eight years with you we have interviewed an Associate Pastor through the regular process of the Priests’ Placement Board of the Archdiocese. Tim Monahan joined us as an Associate Pastor as part of the incardination process as he was transitioning from religious life to diocesan priesthood, so his situation and process was not part of the regular placement process for an Associate Pastor. Our staff and leadership all felt that Rich would add much to advance our very ambitious mission here at Holy Family Catholic Community. We thank the Board and Cardinal Cupich for their hard work in addressing the needs of 360 parishes in the Archdiocese and making Rich’s presence with us a reality. Please give him a warm Holy Family welcome when you see him.
Our weekend liturgies return us to the season of Ordinary Time that will run all the way to Advent. We will hear a significant portion of the Gospel of Matthew during this time. I am hoping that all of you take some time to continually reflect on the experience to ReNEW as this year continues.
The reading from this weekend’s scriptures that perhaps most engenders a sense of ReNEW is the second one from Paul’s Letter to the Romans. He reminds us that God’s gift of grace overflows for many in the one man—Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus was not simply a man, but Paul is contrasting him to Adam in this context, and in the arena of human life, the one man, Jesus Christ, was, and IS, the manifestation and source of grace.
Consider some powerful examples of ReNEWal here at Holy Family this summer. Spirit Camp had the LARGEST number of campers ever this past week. 303 young people learned about God as the maker of all of us and just how fun the factory of life can be.
We are introducing several initiatives for college students this summer including: a speaker every other Sunday night following the 4:00pm Mass; a small group scripture study; a service project at Habitat for Humanity in August; a high school students vs. college students softball game following 4:00pm Mass Sunday, July 9. A Facebook page has been set up to access information.
Thanks to the hard work of our Family and Teen Faith Staff for engaging our young parishioners, their families and lots of volunteers who make these ministries so important.