I believe that Welcoming and Hospitality are among the greatest Christian virtues. Official Catholic teaching does not list them as such, but welcoming the stranger ( Matthew 25:35) and hospitality (Genesis 19:1-15) are compelling stories that both carry out and create a mission of expansion, growth and reaching out to newcomers and making friends feel at home time and time again.
My vision for Holy Family is one that includes a warmer, more sincere, more consistent and more joyful welcoming experience. Welcoming has been a part of the Catholic culture for a long time. It is essential to the earliest and longest lasting form of learning in all of Christianity. We call it the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and it dates back to the second century. This process of learning, often referred to by the first letters in each word – RCIA, is a spiritual process of learning that is integrated with faith, almost entirely Christian faith. Because it is learning with faith woven into it. the process is also referred to as Formation. People not only learn, they are formed in the faith in God, through Jesus Christ.
The formation process of RCIA is ritualized through several rites, or prayer experiences, during Mass that ritualize key moments in the process, much the same way that sacraments ritualize key moments in all of life.
One of those rites is WELCOMING. One of the creative things that my predecessor Fr. Pat Brennan brought to Holy Family was adapting the RCIA formation process for ALL people preparing for ANY sacrament, so the Rite of Welcoming is truly a part of the sacramental culture of Holy Family. I don’t know too many other Catholic Churches that follow this model, but it has become a staple of life and worship here. So we have a Rite of Welcoming for our children preparing for First Communion, for other children preparing to become Catholic (in the RCIC, or Rite of Christian Initiation of Children) and our teens preparing for the sacrament of Confirmation. Last weekend and this weekend at the 5:00pm Mass on Saturday, we ritually welcomed our children preparing for First Communion and last weekend at 4:00pm we welcomed teens and sponsors preparing for Confirmation. We will repeat the Rite of Welcoming for another group of children and families preparing for First Communion this weekend, and celebrate the Rite of Welcoming for adults in our RCIA during the 9:00am Mass this Sunday.
As of this writing, Sue Geegan our Director of Human Concerns, Ro Geisler our Parish Manager and I are preparing for a trip to Nogales, Arizona and other sites in Mexico and Arizona sponsored by our friends at Catholic Extension. As you know, we have partnered with Catholic Extension, whose primary mission is to help build up the Catholic Church in areas that are significantly economically challenged. Our previous Lenten Social Justice Projects with Extension have significantly helped parishes in Cuba, McKee, Kentucky and on a Native American Reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota. By the time you read this, we will have more details about the needs of parishes in the Diocese of Tucson and in Mexico. Stay tuned.
We have been hosting an event for men for several years called The Gathering. Often women ask when we will hold an event for women. Although I am more supportive of adult events for women and men together, we are very excited to welcome and invite women to “The Three Wise Women of the Nativity Story” as a part of our Advent by Candlelight series for women here at Holy Family on Tuesday, December 4 from 7:00-9:00pm. The evening will be led by Mary McKeon who shared a reflection with us on the Feast of Mary Magdala this past July and she is on the staff at the Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House just up the road from us on Lake Cook Road in Barrington. Mary will share insights of the role of three great women, Mary, the Mother of Jesus, Elizabeth her cousin and the mother of John the Baptist, and the Prophetess Anna. All three play a unique role in the Nativity story. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served in the Narthex following Mary’s presentation which will be held in the Church. I am inviting ALL women of the parish to attend and I am challenging both women and men to personally invite other women to attend. This promises to be an enriching evening that will help prepare your heart for Advent and Christmas. There is no charge for the evening and details will be in the bulletin as the evening gets closer.
We hear the story of another inspiring woman this weekend in the passage from the Gospel of Mark often referred to as The Widow’s Mite. She contributes a comparatively small amount to the temple treasury, but it is “…all she has, her whole livelihood.” How much of our livelihood do we give to God? I am not referring to a dollar amount, rather the work of our life?
Thanks to all of our Veterans who have given so much of their livelihood for our freedom!