From the Desk of the Pastor Fr. Tom Noesen, O.P

From the Desk - 2008

December 21,    2008 SVF and the Recession

Dear Parishioners,
Many of you are asking about how SVF is doing with the USA recession. How is it effecting us? A recession by its nature is universal. It is taking a toll on SVF. The food pantry is the most active we have ever seen. Many locals have lost jobs. Homes are being lost in our area. Our local Catholic Charities is the busiest it has ever been; at my last cluster meeting they said about nine-thousand home foreclosures before the year’s end. Some have filed for bankruptcy. Weddings are more simple—and dare I say more realistic. Yes, tighter times are visible. …and oh!, we have had many of our copper drain spouts stolen. Referring to our bulletin postings, our first quarter was about $16,000 short of budgeted collection income. That is significant. You may remember that this year for the first time SVF submitted a budget in the red because of school budget. Things were tight even before this universal downturn. I would say the last year for sure.
There are positive sides to what is happening in our nation and world. We have to revisit our lifestyles. There are two expressions that capture the blending of holiness and economics: one is "less is more"; the other is "live simply that others may simply live". We have lived in greed. It is our cultural lifestyle. We are sold on buying more, bigger, etc. It is all about "me". The virtue of gratitude is the opposite of greed. Gratitude causes us to be of service and not presumptuous of what we have or wanting more than we need. Teaching children the difference between want and need is a huge spiritual challenge. Too many children are raised on the impression that resources are infinite. Maybe even that parents have taught their children that they can meet all their needs forever.
Another positive side is that tighter moneys mean becoming more realistic. Many families only create a budgets at a time like this. When we have ample, we do not need to budget. Often we struggle with budgeting time; budgeting moneys is even a bigger struggle when there is less.
In creating a budget the not-for-profits often benefit. Biblical tithing is budgeting the first percent (the Bible says 10%) of what is made. This becomes an awareness to many in tough times. Entitlement and presumption are offspring of greed. USA Catholic churches are supported by about one-fourth of the assembly. That means the other three-fourths are part of the greed and entitlement of our culture. Reflecting on fiscal resources as a blessing is always a good thing.
Another positive is with marriages. Money is a leading factor of conflict within marriage. A checkbook can be cause to talk, compromise, and bargain. This again can be an area of presumption in the relationship. Money is reality. Talking about things that matter is good.
Another positive of these economic happenings comes in story telling. The elders will be more credible when they tell of tight times. Now even our younger generations will hear with experiential ears. Upward mobility can cause a desocialization.
The most positive factor in all this is to look at our SVF history. In 1931 our parish was formed in the heart of the depression. Through the wars following the depression, the parish grew and built into physical wealth.
Tight times cause us to look at our selves in a fresh way. We will pray more now. We will be connected in relationships more than by things. The scripture always says "and this too shall come to pass". We all want it to pass quickly. In the meantime we pray, reflect, and learn so when it has passed we are better Christian stewards.
Blessings,
Fr. Tom

December 14, 2008    The Mass: part 5 (conclusion)

Dear Parishioners,
When I started this series I mentioned that the Mass was a mini retreat. Called from our agitated lives we try our best to gather, to listen, to bless and be broken and finally to be sent.
Returning to the chair for the second time, we are at the fourth part of the Mass. What can we take to heart for family, school, work, etc.? Life is tough. Life is not fair. What did we bring? Where are we broken? What did Scripture tell us? Our hungers we made known to God. Now we are to be sent. Yes, wounded. Not perfect, but strengthened in being a Catholic in a less than Christian environment.
The last section of the Mass is short: it is a closing prayer. A blessing for armor and protection in the sign of our baptism sends us. Then the final words of being told to "go in peace to love and serve the Lord." Finding peace in a time of terrorism is no small quest. Being of service in a culture of greed is no small mandate. The prayer of the Mass is tough, deep and complex but most redeeming.
The Mass ends when the ministers leave the church building. Often this recessional is done with a hymn; sometimes in silence.
The agitation of our lives takes over here. Many are out the door after Holy Communion. We are a too-busy people. I experience this at movies, symphonies, theatre, concerts, etc. Folks seldom allow the moment to settle and to savor. Leaving any gathering early intrudes on those still absorbing the awe.
Prayer comes from the quiet; prayer causes our quiet. The Eucharist is truly the source and summit of our lives. We need to look forward to Mass to focus our direction and refresh our souls. The harder our lives get, the more Mass will have the meaning we need. Remember, Mass is the ultimate comfort food.
Blessings,
Fr. Tom

December 7, 2008    The Mass: part 4 of 5

Dear Parishioners,
The altar—the table—is the summit of the summit. We are now at the source of the source. In this third part of the Mass we are encountering the very center of who we are as Catholics. The altar is a place of respect when Mass is going on and when it is not used. The altar is limited to the linens coverings and the vessels of the bread and wine. (Yes, the sacramentary prayer book is acceptable.) Flowers, candles, etc are around the altar but not on the altar. This part of the Mass is where we are blessed and broken. This is the sacrifice of Mass in Christ and in us. The Mass is both a sacrament and a sacrifice. Eucharist is the central sacrament of the seven. Jesus is the sacrifice once for all. At the table the priest invokes the very words of Jesus. Bread and wine become His Body and Blood because He clearly said this is what they are. (John 6) In the Eucharist Christ offers Himself to us and for us. The entire Eucharist is consecratory. The institution narrative is the source and the summit of the source and the summit.
This altar prayer is a preface (option of some seventy), epiclesis (invocation of the Spirit), institution narrative, anamnesis (remembering), and concluding with the great "amen!" There are thirteen possible Eucharistic prayers: the four basic ones, the reconciliation canons, the children canons, and canons for various occasions. All this is the rite of deepest blessing—again our source and summit.
Next comes the communions: the first is the communion of the "Our Father" recognizing our oneness; the second communion is the peace greeting—being in communion with those around us; and the third communion is the bread and wine now the Body and Blood of Christ. Before the third communion—the most important one—is the fraction rite. Most know it as the "Lamb of God". In this rite the Host is broken—fractured. When we come to Mass we are blessed but also broken. Our humanity is broken. Our hearts are broken. Our relationships are broken. We come to the source and summit for mending and meaning. We are hungering for holiness. We are thirsting for what this world cannot give. Often this rite is lost because of extending the peace greeting.
All through the Eucharistic prayers we constantly hear that Jesus did all this to take away our sins. Being reconciled with God in our wanderings is our constant calling. Mass takes us to live from the inside out. Our deepest core is the enfleshment of the Divine. We are at the summit and source of our identity.
This section of the Mass then moves us to some quiet thankfulness. The word Eucharist means "thank you" in the Greek. "Be still and know that I am God." We absorb the graces beyond measure. While some are agitated and busy at this time—even leaving, taking in all we can charges us for the coming days and week.
Enjoy Eucharist. Let Jesus be the summit and source of your needs.
Blessings,
Fr. Tom

November 30, 2008    The Mass: part 3

Dear Parishioners,
We continue in the series on the Mass as our source and summit of prayer. We always are asking our selves what we put into the Mass to get anything out of it. Learning by furniture we are now at the ambo or pulpit. This piece of sanctuary furniture is used only for reading scripture, prayer or a homily. (Announcements belong at the lectern.)
This part of the Mass is for listening. The action is sitting. One time a lady told me she left the Catholic church because she wanted to hear the Bible. I asked her what she thought we were reading at church. Her response was of surprise to know we were reading the scriptures. A Catholic at daily Mass for three years would have had the entire bible read to them.
To say our homes and homeland is threatened and damaged ethically is an understatement. The Word of God heard over and over is what brings us back to who and what we are in Jesus Christ. We have to be reading the Bible daily. We need it proclaimed to us constantly. We cannot build families or a nation without divine directives daily.
The scripture at Mass has three distinctive parts: 1) the Hebrew/Old Testament, 2) the epistles (letters) and early church writings, and 3) the four gospels telling the life of Jesus Christ. One of the 150 psalms are sung between the first and second reading. The Mass uses this exact order to progress through these readings. We listen to our story from ancient of days to the present. Some things never change: death, life, alienation, hurt, joy, broken hearts, wars, reunions, valor, etc. In listening to the scriptures we hear our story of family, nation, spiritual quest and disappointment. There is nothing new under the sun. In listening we live beyond ourselves and our selfishness. There are many voices in each of us daily tugging us around. Hearing God speak through the scriptures sorts them out. We hear a larger world. When we hear divinely inspired stories, we start to hear our divinely inspired journey. The miracle of this part of the Mass is that we are transformed in our hearts as we hear our story.
Here is where a proclaimer of the Word is so much more nurturing than a reader. Owning the scripture is vital. Presenting it like you wrote it—like you believe in it with all your heart and soul—becomes Liturgy at its best. One little kid told me he liked the way I read the gospel because he could tell that I was there. I am not so certain that is a compliment!? Hearing the scriptures come alive motivates and inspires the driest soul. The priest or deacon can preach, give a homily or a sermon. The first is on a spiritual matter hopefully connected to the season or feast. The homily is always scripture based to the readings of the day. The sermon is an exhortation or moral teaching. All of the above are acceptable; the homily is the most acceptable. Because we are to become larger than ourselves thru the Word, the intercessions of the faithful follow next. The needs of the world become our concern. The creeds on Sundays is basically the Trinitarian doctrine from the early fathers.
Sometimes there are so many voices inside of us that we do not hear the Word. Sometimes we do not know the context of the story to understand it. Sometimes we are not the students of the Word as we are supposed to be. The Liturgy of the Word should be read several times. It makes God portable to us.
Blessings in listening!
Fr. Tom

November 23, 2008    The Mass: part 2 Chair Ambo Altar continued

Dear parishioners,
The first part of the Mass furniture is the presider chair. It is the focus of gathering. Just getting to church can be a big deal. To gather with one another is important; seeing each other is a faith builder. Sometimes in our large parishes we loose this because we become anonymous. For some a given Mass is the given community; some sit in the same place and their spot is their gathering. That’s a good thing. SVF parishioners have picked up the culture customs of being fashionably late. This is more than just church—late comers are usually late no matter where they go. With Mass having quiet time before really helps prayer for the individual and also the community. We come from rattled and agitated lives. Quieting the soul becomes important coming to the source and summit of peace. Just sitting in the space can be quieting and soothing to the soul.
What do we need to bring to church? As consecrated Catholics from baptism we carry with us brokenness from sin. If we do not come conscious of our sins, we will get nothing out of Mass but irritation. This gathering rite of the Mass starts with the baptismal sign of the cross. The next greeting is of peace presuming our rattled state of mind. Do we hear it? Immediately following our being called together we inventory our sinfulness. This is tough stuff because we must be most reflective and soul searching to get anything out of the Mass. Our sins are always before us. We bring them to the Mass because our sins being forgiven are referred to in Mass constantly.
The truth be told, until we come to grips with our sins we are unable to pray beyond the prayer of sorrow. It is easy to inventory others lives; take roll call of others in our hearts at Mass. Unless we get serious about this examination of conscience, we will be critiquing others lives, clothing, behavior, etc. Many folks have trouble praying the Mass properly because they are not connected interiorly or have come late or are "enjoying" distractions.
"To gather" is work. Sometime our body can be one place and our mind is somewhere else. In this gathering rite we come with the most important part of our identity—our baptized life in Christ. We need the Mass daily and weekly because baptism was once! Getting back to the source and summit is crucial for the holiness of our lives. To gather is tough because the options and choices are seemingly infinite. Always be proud of yourself when you make it to Mass—you did the right thing. It means you have tried to stop with the Lord. Our source and summit sorts it all out.
Next week we will look at part two of the Mass: to listen, the liturgy of the Word.
Enjoy praying the Mass,
Fr. Tom

November 16, 2008    The Mass: Chair Ambo Altar

Dear Parishioners,
This is the time of year that we are training new altar servers. We open this to the fifth graders in all our schools of religion—Wednesday & Sunday schools of religion and the parish day school. I teach the Mass by furniture; below you can see the parts of the Mass in this schema.
The Mass can be very difficult to pray. Not understanding it will cause us to be bored or say we get nothing out of it. There are clear points of input or spiritual postures that are needed to be able to pray the Mass. The Mass is a mini retreat. It is an escape into the depth of our soul to be in communion with Jesus Christ. The Mass reorients us daily.
The Mass is the source and summit of our Catholic prayer. Each day or week nurses us with the liturgical sustenance for a source of living that day or week. It is the high point of our week in time, dress, preparation and follow up. The Eucharist is powerful. The Eucharist is Jesus Christ without Eucharist our life is all about us.
In the Mass Christ is present in the priest, the altar, the assembly, the bread and wine, and the Word proclaimed. The best way to teach the real presence of Christ is by saying it is so because Jesus said it is so. "Do/live this in remembrance of Me." "Whenever you do this…." That is a very clear mandate.
In this mini series of the bulletin, enjoy what Eucharist can do. As we journey in this holiday season with all the spiritual glitz, seek out the simplicity of the Jesus Christ mystery in our midst.

Next week we will look at just the entrance rite of the Mass.
Blessings, Fr. Tom

November 2, 2008    FAST and 500 Club

Dear Parishioners,
Would it be too early to talk about Christmas shopping? I want to do that because of the financial tightness of most homes these days. Perhaps we can use it as an opportunity to focus on the less material gifts. The great reason for the season is Jesus Christ as the gift to us from the Father. Nothing we can do or buy will come near that blessing. Many traditions give newly bought gifts for new friends. For family and old friends they give from their our self—things of meaning. My Mom had given me a ring of her Dad. I gave it one year to my nephew-godson for Christmas. In the post depression culture, folk gave of their winter food stocks—homemade wines, canned preserves, baked goodies, meats, etc. It almost sounds like the catalogue places and basket companies of today that we use commercially.
Permit me to share two methods of Christmas giving which some SVF people already do. It is FAST and the 500 Club. The former is the plastic card for a decided amount by you. Choices of merchants are many. Buying them through the church makes a percentage on every dollar for SVF. The former suggestion—the 500 Club—is a gift that can keep on giving. It is the $500 draw at Christmas and Easter; a weekly draw for $100. You also get your name in the bulletin. And, yes, your name does get thrown back in even after you win. With both of these suggestions, you never have to worry about getting the correct size.
When we are under pressure and stress, we find out what kind of gifts we are to each other. This Christmas and holiday seasons can be a great time to convert these flight times into something less material and more spiritual. This is a great year to makeour exchanges simpler.
Peace in preparing for the season of peace,
Fr. Tom

October 26, 2008    Stewardship

Dear Parishioners,
So many of you appreciated the spiritual analysis of our nation in the talk I did at all Masses in October calling for catechesis to our young people. At that time I stated that greed has got us where we are. The next question many of you asked was how to get out of this predicament.
The answer is simple: it is stewardship. A steward cares for something that is not theirs but it has been entrusted to them. Whether we are talking about our planet, our bodies, our talents, our personal resources, etc. none of it is ours. We are custodians of it to the Lord. This is why PRO CHOICE is the wrong language: it implies ownership and not stewardship. The absolute non-negotiable sequel to stewardship is service. All healthy religions and faiths will be centered in service.
Greed is eradicated with service. No matter our profession, as Christians it is a calling to serve. Yes, we can be in business for profit but service still needs to be at our center.
We have lost this big time in our culture. Our young people who are required to do service see it as a punishment. We teach service at home, the community and church. All three should be on everyone’s agenda. Counting hours of service means we have discounted stewardship.
I have this service theory to overhaul our USA. I think we should bring back a two year draft for all our youth—even those with limitations—no on would be excused. It would include men and women. Military service would only be a possible option within this service draft. Peace Corps, Habitat for Humanity, etc. could be choices in service. This draft could be modeled after the C.C.C. or the W.P.A of our earlier decades. We could rebuild the infrastructure of the nation with our youth. They would learn service over narcissism. They would become community minded. With all our disasters like the floods, fires, hurricanes, etc. it is not so much the National Guard that is needed, it is muscle and organized leadership.
Being stewards of our nation will serve us well for generations to come. Listen to the stories of service of the elders who have gone before us. They are not all war stories. There are a lot of peace stories giving peace of mind and heart to those who serve their fellow sister and brother.
Show me anyone with integrity and stewardship is part of them. Not for their gain but their soul they found service to be the answer. Actually, asking our youth what they are going to be when they grow up is insulting. They already "are". The question should be of a Christian, "how will you be of service in your adult life?" Greed can be cured with virtue.
Blessings,
Fr. Tom

October 19, 2008    Catholic Minimum

Dear Parishioners,
The last few weeks I have been doing a lot of signing of papers as pastor for those asked to be Confirmation sponsors in other parishes. Some were surprised by this. Beginning this school year our SVF parents have also needed signed an Archdiocesan #124 form. All of this is based in what is the absolute minimum to be called a Catholic.
If you are asked to be a godparent or sponsor somewhere and are asked for any of these papers, it is simply a quest for folks to identify their parish base of regular Sunday worship. Many think they are documented Catholics because they are baptized. Seldom is the parish our baptism the same parish of our adult practice.
There is a base for the absolute minimum of being called Catholic. These are called the precepts of the church:
+ you shall attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of obligation. You are to rest from servile labor (only reasons to miss are sickness or no travel availability).
+ you shall confess your sins once a year.
+ you shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season.
+ you shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the church.
+ you shall provide for the material needs of the church.
+ you shall abide by the laws of the church regarding marriage.
In former years these were the applied sequel to the Ten Commandments. They are still in our children’s texts. The church is our spiritual director; these precepts are the absolute minimum in her direction of us. These precepts are also listed in the SVF school handbook.
Most of you reading this are beyond the minimal of being Catholic. Many of you are daily communicants. This makes you catechists in evangelizing others in our wonderful faith.
Blessings,
Fr. Tom

October 12, 2008    The Vote

Dear Parishioners,
This week this letter and my preaching are basically the same. I want to address the Catholic vote especially for our youth exercising their freedom for the first time. One teen said to me "I am really confused!" My response was "That’s good. It is complicated". Whatever youth you know, the following may help in sorting out some of the challenges as an informed Catholic.
First and foremost, there is no such thing as a Catholic Political Party. Over 40% of Catholics are not registered with a party. Remember the words of John Paul II when he referred to the USA as a "Culture of Death". Our political systems solve problems with death choices; therefore, whomever we vote for is in a political system nurturing death decisions.
With all the fiscal happenings these last weeks, we have heard financial, political, and business analysis. We have not heard spiritual analysis. I can do the spiritual analysis: it is greed. Greed can become an epidemic. A culture of death is born from greed. Profit has become the idol—the god. We are obsessed with greed. As moral and ethical Catholics in the business world, we are first about service. We can be of service and still profit in a decent way. The common good proceeds must not become our private gain.
Know your Catholic doctrines as you face a sinful nation: As a nation we are a disposable culture—that includes humans. These death decisions are abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. Human life is compromised and violated with cloning and stem cell research. Capital punishment, genocide, and war are also systemic killers. The Catholic Church doctrine is about being life based. This month of October is Respect Life Month. We cannot make life issues a menu to pick and choose from. This sensitivity to life is an everyday faith awareness.
This is also complex because the leader of the USA is a major leader in our global village. Respecting life is not just for us in this nation but in the greater world. The plot thickens even more because in a death culture the "prince of lies" rules. To get factual information on candidates is very difficult. Spin, drama, theatrics, personalities, appearances, etc, seem to fuel the media. Media even endorses their candidates! That certainly makes for a biased coverage! Talk about polluted information! One teen said to me that it seemed that the pressure was to vote on gender with one party and race on the other.
Life is crystal clear in being the platform of the Catholic Church. Even Catholic candidates can be confused, misinformed or compromising on this. We are baptized to be the Body of Christ alive today. We are to work everywhere for the kingdom to come; for the city of God to become visible. So much involved here is the principle of double effect. The NCCB has made it clear that voting for a candidate because of anti-life reasons is truly mortally and morally wrong. On the other hand, voting for them on a life issue but knowing other evils will come, is an acceptable decision. It is messy. It is complicated. No matter who you vote for, you will not satisfy our Catholic teachings. The principle of double effect is tough stuff to cope with.
Having said all this it is easy to become negative. Going red with anger or blue with depression are easy options. As Catholic Christians we must not go there. Young people need to take on these political parties and change them both. Rebuilding a society for the common good will cause shelter to the homeless, food to the hungry, education for all, health care for all, and not create a perpetuation of a society of greed. This also includes employment opportunities. Immigrants deserve human respect and dignity—remember, our ancestors were in that place not too many generations ago. Rebuilding society also means protecting the environment.
I encourage our new young voters to enter the arena of politics and vote with prayer and conscience. We have not always been a culture of death nor did we get here overnight. Our entire society needs as Pope Benedict XVI said at Lourdes last month "a new positive secularism". Your Catholic values can cause this. Keep at this so generations to come we will be seen as a culture of life under God smiling upon us.
Please know that you need to register to vote. For more Catholic information go to www.catholicconferenceofillinois.org.
Blessings,
Fr. Tom

October 5, 2008     The Rosary

Dear Parishioners,
October is the month of the rosary. For us at SVF this is something special because the rosary is associated with the Dominican Order. The mosaic shrine on the west side of our church has the Blessed Virgin giving the rosary to St. Dominic de Guzman and the Child Jesus giving the rosary to St. Catherine of Siena.
All the windows in the front half of the church nave are the mysteries of the rosaries. One mother giving her children a tour of the church was overheard as saying that it was the Blessed Mother taking back the rosary because no one was saying it. While this is erroneous information, it does say that the rosary is to be prayed more than it is. The mantras of the rosary are outstanding ways of daily prayer. The 150 "Hail Mary’s" were to mirror the 150 Psalms. The Mysteries of the Rosary are the bible; the rosary becomes a portable bible. In earlier times, the illiterate could even become alive with the scriptures. In the pontificate of John Paul II the Luminous or Mysteries of Light were added to the rosary. These are basically the sacramental life of the early church and us today.
Below are the revised mysteries and days of recitation. Use them. So often I see rosaries hanging from rear view mirrors. I pray they get used for more than dẽcor. In this month of Respect Life, the rosary will take us there every time.

The Joyful Mysteries -- Monday and Saturdays
1.The Annunciation of Gabriel to Mary
2. The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth
3. The Nativity of Jesus
4. The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple

The Luminous Mysteries -- Thursdays
1. The Baptism in the Jordan
2. The Wedding at Cana
3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God
4. The Transfiguration
5. The Institution of the Eucharist

The Sorrowful Mysteries -- Tuesdays and Fridays
1. The Agony in the Garden
2. The Scourging at the Pillar
3. The Crowning of Thorns
4. The Carrying of the Cross
5. The Crucifixion and Death

The Glorious Mysteries -- Wednesdays and Sundays
1. The Resurrection of Our Lord
2. The Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit
4. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven
5. The Coronation of Mary in Heaven

September 28, 2008      Amusing Ourselves

Dear Parishioners,
Do you ever find yourself exhausted with everything that is happening around us? Or I could even ask if your life is a frantic schedule that you have trouble keeping up with? These thoughts have come to me observing myself and others’ lives. Some years back the retired journalist of the Boston Globe, Neil Postman, wrote a book entitled Amuzing Ourselves to Death. He may have something there. This is not a book about religion; it is a reflection of his on our culture.
Retired folks are sometimes the most busy. We amuse ourselves with an entertainment motif. After a while we find even entertainment not so entertaining. It is more that surfing channels; we are surfing life in great frustration. This amusing-ourselves-todeath culture can easily take a toll on our lives of holiness.
Have you ever heard that the church should kick things up a notch for amusement or marketing? It is not unusual for people to want to spice up a wedding, funeral, Sunday Mass, or whatever. They want some zip and zing thrown in there. You know, the feel-good stuff that amusement and entertainment create. Actually, church has been removed from many peoples lives and definitely prayer because they are not entertaining. They can be boring, drab and just routine.
In a recent census looking at what baby-boomers seek in their church quest: number one is good parking and number two is music that is entertaining. (Number three is preaching that makes you feel good and is not threatening.) So where do prayer and worship fit for us in this feel-good backdrop of amusing ourselves until death? It certainly does not put them on the top charts. Polling will not give them good reviews. As Roman Catholics we are a sacramental religion. We are mystical. We believe that every sacrament is a miracle—each Eucharistic gatherin g. Are miracles entertaining? Well, if you are making a movie about them, I suppose that they could be. But in the everyday life of a Catholic praying the sacraments, no, they are not terribly entertaining.
So can we be in the culture Postman talks of ? Absolutely! Sacraments are the palate cleaner of the soul. We get saturated with noise, eye-candy, distractions, etc, of every kind. Once we realize what the sacramental life is, we welcome the quietness, the routine, and the season rhythm. We find reality in a world of fantasy. We welcome time to reflect on loved ones who have journeyed before us. We welcome the time to examine our shortcomings and try again with God’ s grace. We reflect on how we can relate better at work or at home or in the neighborhood. We ask how we can minister our days to death trying to make a difference. We welcome amusing ourselves through Him, with Him and in Him—even unto death.
Holy musings!
Fr. Tom

September 21, 2008     Parish Profile

Dear parishioners,
Often I am asked what the profile of SVF looks like. The PDS (parish data system) has some charts that may be of interest to you. Below is a pie chart of whom SVF is by zip codes. The number per village is also listed.
The total number of households in SVF is 2,926. There is a category called "friends of SVF" which may be former members, alumni, a sacrament received, etc. These are no longer active households. With the high density of Catholics in the Chicago area, many never register and just float to several parishes.
Mind you there is nothing wrong with that; it is a wonderful luxury we have. The snag comes when that person/family have no home parish where they are documented. When asked to be a sponsor, godparent, or receive a recorded sacrament, they are not registered as a member anywhere.
Nearly half of the SVF funerals, weddings and baptisms are non parishioners. Not a problem. As the bulletin states sacramental policy, a letter from the pastor of the parish gives permission to SVF.
The chart numbers contain only those who not only call SVF home but have their household recorded and active. As you well know with deaths, children moving out, relocating neighborhoods, etc. keeping records updated is a challenge. My guess is that the pie chart is in the high ninetieth percentile of accuracy.
You may be thinking geographic boundaries—do they still exist? Yes, they do. But there is also intentional parish. The NCCB allows this but, they also are clear in stating that when a parish is chosen outside of the geographic boundaries, folks need to register in that parish of choice. SVF covers twelve villages which means many chose our parish life.
Enjoy reading the chart.
Blessings, Fr. Tom

August 31, 2008     Parking

Dear Parishioners,
This letter is not new information. It is the age old parking problem. We seem to feel entitled to Dominick’s lot for our church parking even when our lots are not full. Just because we might shop there one day does not entitle us to park there any day. They are limited in parking availability. I am baffled at what to do. I am baffled by the comfort of those who use the space at the expense—pun intended—of their business. Here we go again.
We have sinned!! On the holy day—of all days—our parish shut down Dominick’s with our own church use of their parking. Mind you, our lots were not full. The justifiable complaints of customers to manager Erlinda were horrendous. She finally promised them she would connect with me and did. Elderly were not able to get to the store because of our "praying on a holy day". Erlinda went out into the lot and said that "there was not one parking space to be had". One person blocked the driveway to go to church. No trucks could move. There is something wrong with this picture. Think about what this does to our Catholic reputation. Are we good neighbors?
Disobedience and disrespect has been an on-going problem here at SVF. We continue to abuse the norms of our own space. SVF handicapped parking is sometimes taken for someone in a hurry. The fire lane is constantly used for parking. Mind you a 911 call is not exactly rare at church. Blocking in other cars by parking in unlined places is common. I myself have been blocked in during the noon Mass. For whatever virtue we are building in church, it would behoove us to use some obedience and respect on the way.
I am embarrassed for our parish with this continuing behavior. Our bulletin regularly carries the information about our three lots and the street parking. The option to be a good neighbor is ever before us. Could we use parking as a small application of "love thy neighbor"? Mea culpa to us; mea maxima culpa.
Please, respect our parking boundaries on the SVF property and also with our neighbors. Apologizing to Dominick’s with no excuses could be welcome. Reminding each other that parking regulations are for a reason that might help.
We need to rectify this. Bless those of you who have changed your parking habits using the school lot. You do help our reputation.
Blessings!
Fr. Tom

August 24, 2008      Living life to the fullest

Dear Parishioners,

Recently I noticed a quote of Carl G. Jung that perked my reflective juices. You may recall that Jung was a student of Sigmund Freud but very religious. He was the son of a minister grounded well in deep theology. Jung has written much on sign and symbol so you can well imagine he champions our Roman Catholic faith.

The quote is: “Nothing influences children more than the unlived lives of their parents.” Doesn’t this give us pause to reflect! I recall jesting that I don’t know how to swim because my Mom was afraid of the water. How is that for an application of his statement? Some therapist’s claim it is easier to work with abused than those neglected. Neglect can induce depression, confusion, lethargic behavior, etc. When we are talking unlived lives in religion and faith, the child becomes literally a lost soul.

I think that the quote hit me because of the huge elements of unlived lives of faith in our culture. Faith is the gift of our family life and especially our parents. So often I find that in working with young adults they speak of spiritual neglect—it is the norm—not the exception.

Two major ways of living life to the fullest is making Sunday the source and summit of the week for the family. It is a day of the Lord; a day of rest. Resting in the Lord is a good agenda for the day. Going to church, connecting for a meal, hanging out as family is so great. It is living the best of values. Recently I was told a family story where grandma went to the Saturday vigil Mass and then the family went to her house for Sunday after they went to church. Grandma got to the condition of not being able to prepare the meal. The family kept the same practice but cooked for grandma even using her recipes.

The second major way of living faith is through catechesis. We are beginning the school year. Even though the parents are the primary catechists of their children, I encourage parents, grandparents, godparents, and guardians to register their children for classes. Let your faith be lived and support their learning everything about Jesus and His Church. At SVF we have two schools of religion: one is on Wednesday afternoon and the other one is on Sunday morning. The day school is the best option because so much faith and religion is the core of curriculum.

If your folks lived their faith to its fullest, you got the best of the parenting package. No parent is perfect, but being given the lived experience of faith is the gift that keeps on giving. As the scripture says, from generation to generation.

Blessings,
Fr. Tom

August 17, 2008      "Be still..."

Dear Parishioners,

Do you have a favorite passage of scripture? What text or story gets you through your tough times? This is a great exercise in scripture class when doing an inventory of our spiritual life. It even works with young people because the story or text has healing and comfort.

My personal favorite is “Be still and know that I am God.” So often in the spiritual life we are trying to produce something—good works, virtue, charity, forgiveness, patience, etc. Those are all wonderful. Being still is my biggest challenge. Our culture is full of human doings—not human beings. If we are what we do, when we don’t then we aren’t. We become what’s instead of who’s. The answer to the question of who we are is our name or to say we are a child of God. The answer to the question what we are includes a resume. We talk of family pedigree, credentials, competitive achievements, mom/dad, priest, doctor, broker, etc. Even bragging on our children we can do the what/thing answer.

We men have this problem more than women. Often when men retire they are lost. If our production is our identity, then ceasing producing causes depression, anxiety and a myriad of unpleasantness. This is such a vivid memory of my own Dad. Retirement for him was literally a death sentence. He died the last day of his work. Now granted thirty years ago retirement had a different stigma, but there is still truth in this spiritual reality. I like the passage of being still because each day that needs to be my most intense prayer. This is not saying prayer; it is being prayer. This passage brings me to the sobriety of knowing it is God’s show and not mine. Sometimes when I reflect on it, seemingly God says “basta, enough! stop impressing me.” Or even that wonderful space in a relationship where talk has become obsolete.

This is a great passage also for meditation. Dropping words one at a time from the end of the sentence causes some great centering. “Be still and know that I am” is the starter sentence until I get to “Be”. My “who-ness” takes different meaning and even my breathing changes.

So what is your favorite passage? Do you use it every day? If you do not have one, start hunting for one. It is already in your soul. It will pop out in your journey. You are free to borrow mine until yours becomes conscious and crystal. One of my friend’s is “I hold you in the palm of my hand.” Tailoring the texts of scripture to our lives makes all the difference in coping.

Blessings,
Fr. Tom

August 10, 2008      Designated Monies

Dear Parishioners,

You are all familiar with designated moneys. This is where moneys given go to specific areas. A common example being all the second collections whether in parish or a charity to the greater Catholic beneficiaries. Accounts in a non-for-profit of parishes of our size are many. Sometimes wills and bequeaths are very specific (and anonymous) in what they wish sponsored or endowed. I say this because some get upset over when they see spending feeling it should be done in some other area. I can often agree wholeheartedly. As true as that may be, spending designated moneys for other than their destination is a misuse of funds.

There are several areas that I am looking for designated moneys at present. The first is to sponsor two of our day school students in their tuition and fees. A family had been generously doing this in the past but now are unable to continue. You understand well the changing times of finances in your own household budgets. I desperately wish to keep these wonderful children in SVF. They are blossoming.

The second is either the purchase or re-plating of the assembly chalices (6) for Mass. We had a generous anonymous donor do this in 2004 when I first came to SVF. They need plating every few years because of their constant daily use. Wine breaks down the gold as well as the use of linen fabric. Unfortunately gold is way up there in the present market. When you receive the Precious Blood of Christ, you can see the inner lining of the cup’s condition. I am not asking you to be distracted from the sacrament for such an inventory, but it is becoming more and more obvious. Sacred vessels are always a priority.

The third area is the literature for our racks. The pamphlets are all stamped “read and return” but guess what?! The good news is that the good news is getting out. The literature racks are loaded with catechesis for the everyday Catholics to learn more and more of Christ and His church. Sustaining and creating Catholic family life in the distractions of the culture is an ever present challenge. SVF already is entering into an evangelization renewal. You will note that much more literature is available to you. Often we seek clarity on the Roman Catholic teaching in a given area. This literature becomes a great catechetical tool. Catechesis and faith formation is a lifetime journey; we need all the help we can get to grow in grace.

The last is for campus banners and a church sign on North Avenue. Do you remember the 75th banners on the SVF campus? All the hardware is still in place. Some SVF banners would be nice. It would mark the campus a bit more in our identity. Our present sign is in wood and rotting out. Something in stone or granite would be most stately for the front of such a church as this.

I present all these in an order of need. The first is the major one to me. All these needs will be on the table for some time. Pray about them. If any of these areas finds your heart and budget saying yes, please give me a call. We can talk out the details. These three areas are out of the domain of ordinary operational expenses—as I opened in speaking of designated moneys. Keep up your good stewardship of budgeting God first with SVF. When times get tough as they are now with so many, we continue to tithe (giving our first percentage to God) realizing our source of all that is both material and spiritual.

Bless your generosity,
Fr. Tom

August 3, 2008      Feast of St. Dominic

Dear Parishioners,

This week on Friday is the feast of our holy father, Dominic de Guzman. The cover of this bulletin has two of our SVF stain glass windows. Can you see the dogs? Living in a Dominican parish means that you have to know the dog story.

Blessed Jane of Aza was the Mom of Dominic. While pregnant with him she had a dream of a dog with a torch in its mouth running around the world. The torch was lighting the entire globe; she knew that this baby would do great things.

A dog is a barker. Barkers are the people who sell their crafts and wares at high volume in the market place. In our world barkers are on the midways of fairs and the like. It is not a common job in this culture. The preacher is a barker. Barking the Word of God—the torch—was Dominic’s call. Preaching at the time of Dominic was limited to the bishops only. The faith was not being spread.

Dominic first founded the nuns to pray for preaching; next came the preachers (the barkers). The founding of the lay brothers followed caring for the many traveling needs (horses, etc). Sisters come on to the scene sometime later.

So look at the doggies in the windows and explain them to children and adults alike. They are peculiar to the Dominican Order. The larger dog on the east side of the church is very visible even in the darkened space as he sits looking onto Jackson. Well, maybe he is looking at Dominic’s Store to be fed—pun intended.

We talk about dogs as “man’s best friend” in our chatty exchanges. Dominic himself knowing this story from his mom must have heard it repeatedly growing up. When he saw a dog, what must he thought? We can go to the dogs if it is the direction of the canines Dominicanus—“of the Lord”. Get the Word out; bark.

Blessings,
Fr. Tom

July 27, 2008      ….getting wired.

Dear Parishioners,
You are all aware that we live in a computer age. SVF is no exception. While the church is first and foremost about Jesus Christ both lived in prayer and the sacraments, the material realities are part of us. We are also—though secondarily—a business. Business today is technology and technology is business.

In the last decade SVF moved into web sites for both the school and parish. Bookkeeping has all gone to computer from the former paper world. PDS (parish data systems) is a computer world SVF has had but we are attempting to update. For example: new comers are entered into the system; long term parishioners will be contacted soon to update information for the data system. Stay tuned. With all this computer updating, equipment is also needed and budgeted for. Beginning this year, the billing for tuition and fees for the parish day school will be done through our parish based technology.

In 2004 SVF began moving into information technology (IT) with a budget, focus, and vision. The short term goal, to build a unified campus network using high-speed data service (T1 line), is close to realization. By the beginning of this school year the initial phase will be completed Fiber optic cabling has already been laid connecting the campus. This will mean we are all on one system at high speed. The result will be improved communication and collaboration.

None of this happens without personnel and cost. Kevin FioRito is taking SVF through this transition. He formerly worked at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center and was a consultant for SVF. Now we are blessed to have him working full time here. Though his position as network designer and builder is temporary, he will be our ongoing consultant for technical needs.

The office personnel was formerly high school students who basically did their home work or read books. That is a former model of operation. SVF offices are open seven days a week. You know that schedule from the bulletin. Soon all desk personnel will be both computer savvy and also majors—as opposed to minors.

Another new face coming to our staff is Jo Anne Smith Kennelly. (More about JoAnne will be coming before the summer is over.) SVF has hired her as a Development Director for the parish. Most parishes depend on volunteer development personnel. This position anchors those already existing peoples into a stronger ministry force of stewardship. Technology is a major part of development, fundraising, communications, alumni, etc. SVF is now ready for this step.

I am chuckling inside as I write this because I can turn on my computer, find the web, and use e-mail. This is the end of the story. I would not qualify for what is required of staff personnel. In the end, the gospel message is being carried out in this day and age with what is available. Have faith will travel. Thanks for your support and patience as we better connect as His family.

Blessings,
Fr. Tom

July 20, 2008      ... some funeral clarity

Dear Parishioners,
Many of you are old enough to remember the method of Catholic funeral: rosary the night before and a Mass the next day. Cemetery rites were usually done at the graveside. In l989 the revised rite of Church came out for funeral services. It is yes to all of the above options with lots more.

Know that there are many variations on what can be done. The Mass of Christian burial is central to all the rites. This can be done only in church. It may be in the evening or the morning. The body can be present either in the casket or in cremated form. (Permission is no longer needed for cremation.) If the body is not present, then we call it a Memorial Mass. The readings and music of the Mass are from the scriptures and the hymnals respectively. Recorded music is never used at the Mass but can be used at a wake service.

The wake service may be in the church or at the funeral home. Some desire the wake service in church immediately before the Mass of Christian burial. (Here at SVF this only works if it is a small amount of people attending; otherwise the time of beginning the Mass can not be respected.) The wake service may be a rosary. The revised rite of 1989 has a scripture service with several variations. The wake is the place for secular music, readings not of the scripture, eulogies, poetry, obituaries, memories, etc. Recently for one of our Dominican brothers waked at SVF, there was a wake service of the Office of the Dead with more than ten eulogies following. This is most acceptable. His wake service was a larger attendance than the funeral the next day.

When the body is waked in the church, the rite of reception is done when the casket is taken from the hearse. This is the rite you are familiar with that is done at the cross aisle of a Mass of Christian burial. The casket may be left in the church overnight. Some funeral directors do not wish this and we comply.

The Mass of Christian burial speaks of the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection. The Mass is offered for the forgiveness of sins of the deceased. Nothing should detract from this focus; no one should apologize for our Roman Catholic rites of death. Nothing should be added or subtracted from the Mass of Christian burial.

Secular groups have very appropriate rites for their beloved dead. Veterans, police, firefighters, fraternal groups, etc. all have lovely services. These can be done at the cemetery. Most cemeteries prefer the chapel service to the graveside. Much of this is safety.

The Chicago Archdiocese printed a funeral brochure called In A Sure And Certain Hope. This brochure has much more in it than I am saying here. It can be found in the literature rack in the back of church. Help yourself.

While there are some basic principles of worship, it is important to realize that the huge area of choices in our Roman Catholic funeral rites. Sometimes folks will think that anything goes. Because of so many choices it may seem that way. Maybe this helps with some clarity.

Blessings,
Fr. Tom

July 13, 2008      ...aging is not for sissies!

Dear Parishioners,
One of my greatest experiences and challenges was to give a dinner keynote at a convention entitled “Retirement Revisited”. The topic given to me was “the joy of aging”. I have never worked harder on any oration I have ever delivered. My opening line was that “aging is not for sissies!”

Thoughts of aging has been with me a lot as I minister to the aged and become myself aged in a country where the aged are out numbering the young. In my letter last week I gave the SVF Priory update and mentioned Fr. Kilbridge. Talk about aging with wisdom and grace! Ready to enter his ninth decade, he is a great teacher on aging. When Father came back from Africa, he wanted parish ministry. SVF became the beneficiary of that wish; he wanted to be close to the sacraments with people. Up until last month he was hearing confessions. What a joyful friar!

Parenthetically, religious (not seculars) do not retire. We have what is call “limited service.” We have a 94 year old friar still teaching at our Aquinas Institute. Sometimes I think I should have read the fine print before I entered. The theology is simply this: we never retire from our Christian ministry.

Statistics tell us that we have to make more changes in our latter years than in the rest of our years put together. These are changes imposed by the limitations of our bodies: movement, energy, acuity, and just plain stamina and focus. With aging routines are our greatest friends. Father Kilbridge is a hero to me with his transitions. Routines with our prayer life, and brethren he has known for years, and familiar surroundings he embraces with a simple joy all at a new address. I could also see this in my Mom who had a full decade on Father Kilbridge. Those habits of holiness made each day.

Our elders are great teachers in courage. Sissies need not apply. May I commend that each of us—no matter how much chronology we’ve accumulated—do a bit of spiritual homework. Just in the last month SVF has numbered nearly twenty funerals. Each is a story of grace to be told. In a non-reflecting culture this does give us pause. I will suggest three simple items:

1) Allow yourself or others to talk about aging, sickness and even dying. Do it when you are young and healthy and clear minded and in a good space with God. Invite the conversation never shushing someone on the topic. Since none of us get out of this world alive, the mode of exit should be worthy of a chat. Do not be afraid to allow this to be a positive conversation no matter how tough. Remember—sissies can’t handle this.

2) St. Joseph is the patron of aging and a happy death. Befriend him. Pray for the aging, the sick and those who have died. This is a communion of reality—not a community of depression. Prayer not only can ease pain but give it focus with the mystery of suffering. No Mass should pass where we not connect with the heroes who have shown us the way. Healthy Catholic parenting will always have this dialogue. Normally the parent will initiate the conversation; children need to know that we do not live forever.

3) Let your wishes be known; don’t make your loved ones guess what you want. This is layered with two legal terms: durable power of attorney and executor. The former is while we live with physical realities and the latter is for when we die. Having our house in order is the most wonderful gift we can give to our loved ones. I am not talking about money—that can sometimes be the least of it all. Recently with my Mom’s funeral arrangements a couple suggestions were made that got nowhere because she had spoken while alive. These were such easy no’s; she had made it clear what she wanted. No guessing.

When these three items are part of life, our energy increases. We are more focused. We have applied our Catholic teachings.

Couples vow until death. Filling in the details while yet young is a courageous thing. Even if things get changed along the way it means the conversation is being had.

We live in a death-denying culture so everything I am saying here can seem morbid or dark. We also live under the impression that we are all entitled to health with long years. All the prayers of baptism talk about dying with Christ. The litany of saints is said for where we want to be going; “bring this white garment unstained into the eternal kingdom”; ….and when our lives are ended we should bring the flame of faith to meet all those of the heavenly kingdom.

Courage wipes out the sissies. Our faith and religion itself is not for the weak hearted. We do handle the real issues of life standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. With so many aging around us, we have lots of teachers and so many teachable moments.

Blessed reflections,
Fr. Tom

July 6, 2008      …..make it better!

Dear Parishioners,
There are some reoccurring concerns that I will address that have variable solutions. This is not an ongoing discussion but some information for you. On all these methods of handling matters, there are multiple alternatives. Hopefully even with alternative solutions, you will better understand.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AT MASS: Formerly these were done between the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist. From the recommendations of the 2006 SVF Survey, we have already moved them to the beginning of Mass. The former decision was made so late comers and early goers would be accommodated. We will stay with announcements only before Mass and from the lector—not the music ministry. As an aside to this: our culture is very consistent on their coming late and leaving early. This is not limited to church.

COLLECTIONS: Some want all second collections stopped. It is part of our Catholic designated giving and will remain. There are some twenty special needs collections in a given year all approved by the NCCB (National Catholic Conference of Bishops). Some are in parish and some go to our greater Catholic giving.

Some want baskets with handles. There were problems with people getting hit with the handles. Some felt the ushers were watching what they gave. Passing the common basket works if we make it work. Some resist. Some will not get up to make certain it moves on correctly. Ushers are most sensitive when they take care of those who cannot get up with the basket. It is a vessel of the Mass to be touched in common. We will stay with this method because not all Masses have ushers. One person can take up the collection with this passing method. Having two sets of baskets—one with handles and one for passing—is too complex for the usher ministry. Some folks put their offerings into the basket at the back of church as they enter.

MODESTY IN CHURCH ATTIRE: The summer months can bring some embarrassing attire. “How can I let people come in looking like they do?” Short shorts, bare shoulders, strapless tops, open midriffs, etc are all inappropriate in church on either men or women. Actually the truth be told some of these are inappropriate for a Christian to wear period. Clothing with printed logos that are demonic, profane, etc. are equally inappropriate in church. Modesty should override fashion. Will I preach on this? No. This should come from the home preaching of parents. Whatever happened to “Sunday Best”? Again, our culture does not respect a dress code for anything. I am embarrassed when I see guests at weddings and funerals in T shirts, flip-flops, etc. I am embarrassed that they are not embarrassed. Keep modeling good attire that is both Sunday appropriate and Christian appropriate. You are the good preaching of what is right.

CHURCH CONDUCT: Prolonged talking in church and during the Mass has been repeatedly brought to me. This is usually in the back of the church. I have brought this to the violators when I can. I have addressed it to the ushers who have been very positive in their response. Sometimes people are chatting in the back of church with their backs to the altar even during the Eucharistic prayer. Greeting folks is one thing but catching up on the weeks news is over the top. This has gotten better and there is still room for improvement.

All these honest concerns are good. I have consistently addressed them all but some want policing of them. We cannot do that in a Catholic-Christian manner. The pulpit is for instruction, catechesis, and proclamation. One of my personal struggles is disrespect for sacred space. Some treat the church like an event—sports, social, or otherwise. We are more than that. I also feel that we have grown better with all the above but I clearly hear the concerns. Can I make it better? No. Can we make it better? Absolutely!! When we start with ourselves dressing for the Lord, it has begun. The majority of people get it and do what is appropriate.

Bear in mind that we live in a culture that thrives on conflict and criticism. Our way is the right way. We keep reminding ourselves who we are and thus become better. This is a reminder. It is hard to change when we get comfortable, lazy or out-of-step with call to holiness. Thanks for your support and understanding.

Blessings,
Fr. Tom

June 29, 2008            SVF Priory 2008-2009

Often I am asked who lives in our priory—note I did not say “rectory” because that is a diocesan term. The Dominicans have three priories in the Chicago area: the “mother house,” St. Pius V Priory at 1909 S. Ashland, our SVF Priory and St. Thomas Aquinas Priory located at Dominican University’s campus on Division at Harlem. You well know we are a revolving-door order; that could be the secular term for itinerant preacher. Below are the friars in residence for the 2008-09 year. Fr Michael Kyte is the prior and I am the sub-prior.

Fr. Al Judy, O.P. serves SVF as a parochial vicar and functions as a “go-to” man for all things technological. He has been here since 2002. “Dr.” Judy holds his degree in medieval studies from Toronto. He has worked on the Leonine Commission of the works of Thomas Aquinas.

Fr. Michael Kyte, O.P., serves at SVF as parochial vicar. He arrived here in 2004. Before SVF, Fr. Michael served for 12 years as Novice Master. He was a Chicago Southside pastor at St Basil before it merged with Visitation. Fr. Kyte is in his second term as house prior.

Fr. Michael Garcia, O.P. is in his third year at SVF priory. He ministers as a counselor to children at MacNeal School. This is a specialized secular school for the young with special needs. Fr Garcia is a licensed therapist and often concelebrates Mass.

Fr. Kevin O’Rourke, O.P., accomplished theologian and medical ethicist, teaches at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. He lectures world-wide in medical/bio ethics. Fr. Kevin works on the Catholic identity of hospitals.

Fr. Kevin Fane, O.P., serves as a chaplain at Resurrection Hospital. He came to our priory in 2000. Fr. Fane was on the SVF staff several years back and has a parish background.

Fr. Vincent Zarlenga, O.P., is the house elder having moved here in 1971. He fosters the development of religious art and artists and often concelebrates at Sunday Mass.

Fr. Peter Hereley, O.P., preaches on behalf of the poor at parishes across the country. The organization he works with is called the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging. Visit www.cfcausa.org.

Fr. Jack O’Malley, O.P., has lived at the priory here since 1987. Like Fr. Peter, Fr. Jack also travels to solicit aid for the poor. He works with Cross International Catholic Outreach. Visit www.crosscatholic.org

Fr. Brian Walker, O.P., is in his third year at SVF priory. For 12 years he was pastor of St. Basil/Visitation Parish on Garfield at Halsted. (This is where I was based before SVF.) Fr. Brian is active in the itinerant preaching ministry. Visit www.opfriar.com

Br. Andrew McAlpin, O.P., is originally from the Twin cities of Minnesota. A veteran of both the U.S. Navy and the tech industry; he professed solemn vows at SVF on June 13th. He will be teaching theology and coaching football at Fenwick this coming academic year. In October he will be ordained a deacon and a priest in May.

Br. Paul Byrd, OP is originally from Covington, Kentucky, and made profession of simple vows on August 12th, 2007. He comes to SVF as part of his first summer ministry assignment as a student brother. From June 16th through July 18th, he'll be teaching Fenwick High's summer school program. Br. Paul's vocation is to the cooperator brotherhood, not the priesthood. To learn more about Br. Paul and/or the cooperator brotherhood, visit his website and blog @: http://cooperatorbrother.googlepages.com/home, http://dominicancooperatorbrother.blogspot.com/.

Our beloved Father Kilbridge has been transferred to St. Pius V Priory. Because of his physical decline, the Provincial assigned him to our health care unit. Fr. Kilbridge was most open to his transition, meeting it as a truly joyful friar. You can write Father at St. Pius V Priory, 1909 South Ashland Avenue, Chicago, Il. 60608. Please keep him in your prayers.

...So we are a motley crew not unlike most followers of Christ. Yes, the house is very full. Please pray for our ministries in all these directions of the holy preaching.

Blessings to you,
Fr. Tom

July 22, 2008       ...as summer approaches

Dear Parishioners,
In June the Finance Board is meeting twice. The first meeting was a late approval of the 2008-2009 parish budget. Please note that while we have many designated areas, the entire campus and personnel and faculty and staff are under one budget. (The SVF Priory Friars are independent of this.)

The business numbers for this year close at the end of June. It is the custom of our parish to post everything in the fall when more folks are back from their vacations.

Steve Senski has been blessed with a music position in Wisconsin—his motherland. Steve will increase his pay and cut his work load; he will be directing choirs of over twenty voices apiece. His dreams comes true and his prayers are answered. Steve has been very upfront with me with all his interviewing. Be happy for him and with him on this transition. Steve himself will have details soon in the bulletin.

In late summer after one of the Sunday 5:30 p.m. Masses we will have a thank you for Steve. The exact details will be in the bulletin. Brides and grooms need not panic; Steve has everything covered until September.

The ad for the DPD (Director of Parish Development) is continuing in its running. There have been several very excited applicants; however, none of them have the credentials of the ad. There is a SVF hiring team on this who will discern what SVF needs.

The gym is painted—again! Scott Pasquesi, a SVF parishioner, brought in his team and did a great job. Many of you will remember that this is the second painting in three years. The “friar” is back, the one of years back was a Franciscan. This Friar is truly Dominican. The roof, vents, and flashings are all done. Thanks for your patience through all this. Scott’s business is SFP Painting at 708 769 5582. Support our parishioners.

So we continue through the summer enjoying the heat and thinking about our thirty five snow falls this last winter. To every season….
Blessings,
Fr. Tom

June 15, 2008      ...June wrap-up

Dear Parishioners,
After such a long winter, summer feels like an invasion. So much has happened so fast in these last weeks with professions, ordinations, graduations, etc. Transitions all over the place.

Many of you ask about our dear FR. KILBRIDGE. After a short bout in the hospital he is doing a little bit of recouping at St. Pius Priory. There are nearly 30 friars in that house with 3 prepared meals a day, plus an elevator. Right now Fr. is with one of his classmates; they seem to be good for each other. FR. KEVIN O’ROURKE is doing some post surgery recovery near Detroit. He is in good spirits and mending slower that he would like. Hold them in your prayers.

FR. MICHAEL KYTE was elected into a second term as prior for the SVF priory. This is a three year term that is only renewable once. Fr. Michael does well in being the first among equals at our priory of twelve. BR. ANDY MCALPIN has moved into the SVF priory. He will be on the faculty of Fenwick plus doing some help with the athletics. In October Br. Andy will be ordained a deacon. Before the summer is over, I will have the annual full photo spread of the house in the bulletin.

On the local parish level some major kudos and thanks to those who wonderfully put together the “event” at Elmcrest for SVF school. Honors go to PATTY STRANSKI, LISA PASQUESI, CINDY ROSASCO, SAMANTHA CHIERICI, CHRISTINE BENITEZ, and LYNNEA FRANSON. Much was done in a short time by this team. Thanks to all who made it a success.

Terms end for the SVF Parish Council in the summer. Three who have served so well are PATRICIA WALLENBERG, NANCY MORELLI, and VERONICA ZEMGULYS. Please join me in thanking them for so many generous hours in parish ministry.

Have a safe and holy summer no matter what your plans are.

Blessings,
Fr. Tom

June 8, 2008      ...concluding the school year

Dear Parishioners,
We are concluding another good year for SVF school. This week was graduation; they are the cover names.

A couple issues back there was an article of SVF sweeping the winner’s circle of Zonta International Club of Oak Park. This international women’s organization sponsored an essay contest. Of the four winners, three were SVF eighth graders. Congratulations Olivia Caputo, Macklin Pooler, and Kathleen Tardella. They each receive a $200.00 USA Savings Bond. Six essays were selected for honorable mention; five were SVF students. Congratulations to Emily Dones, Nick Giannotti, Matthew Karol, Angelina Raimonde, and Meredeth Stopka.

If you are doing the math, that means that of the eleven awards given, SVF students took nine (that’s 82%). This is not an accident. Our SVF school teaches writing across the curriculum—not just in the language arts but in all subjects.

More good news: SVF does an exit exam in religion for the eighth graders. One section is an essay and the other is academic. Both carry scholarships to the high school of the winners. The essay section is an in-depth reflection on the film Akeela and the Bee. Tying for the $500.00 scholarship are Angelina Raimonde and Elisa Defeo-Romanucci. The $500.00 academic scholarship goes to Carlos Pike.

There is The Pastor’s Award. This is given only in the years when a student shows a worthiness for its honor. Outstanding Christian character exemplified in an expression of Catholic faith both on campus and off the campus. SVF is blessed with Kathleen Tardella putting virtue into action.

The class of 2008 has many gifted and beautiful youth in it. Young folks that have been eager to say “teach me” and “thank you.” With that kind of spiritual intelligence, they are already successes who keep us proud and the world a better place. All God’s choicest blessings continue to those you have already used so well.

Blessings,
Fr. Tom

June 1, 2008      ...June events

Dear Parishioners,
Many thanks to you for your prayers when my Mom died last month. Thanks for the understanding with my time away. Often I have preached on holy orphan hood. This is when our second birth parent dies. Life changes big time! Memories of the past are not enough and the dreams of that future family reunion become very real. I am in that space and experiencing that void which many of you already know. We do it in and with our faith. Thanks for your condolences.

Some items with church environment: Did you notice the triple lanterns in the Shrines of the Rosary on the west and Saint Vincent Ferrer on the east? We found these down stairs. They are pure brass. They have been rewired and constructed for the shrines. The older shield fixtures over-lit the mosaics to cause glare and under-lit the alcoves for reading the prayers. This is better lighting and a much older look. The domed ceiling area is yet to be done.

Many of you liked the Lenten purple framing on the stations so much that you wanted them to stay up permanently. The white oak frames that are up now will stay until the day before Ash Wednesday. The Lent/Easter season will have the purple as we did this year. Folks really like the attention they bring to the stations. Bill Walsh is the quality carpenter who made all these—both sets.

Brother Joseph Minuth, O.P. has finished his internship at SVF. These internships run from late August to early May of an academic school year. Brother Joseph now goes to summer learning in the Office of Evangelization for the Archdiocese of Chicago. This is also Dominican-run by our own Fr. Jordan Kelly, O.P. With the coming of the new school term, Brother Joseph will be back in St. Louis at the Aquinas Institute of Theology. SVF says “thank you” and we wish him all the best in growing with wisdom, age and grace.

The parish gym is being re-plastered again. The gym roof is finally done. Thank you, Jesus!!! When all the prep work is done, it will be painted. It has been a long spell with the defective roofing. Thanks for your patience.

Mark your calendars: on Friday, June 13th at 10 a.m. SVF will be the site for solemn professions of five brothers. Two you likely know: DePorres Durham, O.P., who is the present president of Fenwick High School, and Timothy Combs, O.P., who was an intern last year. It is an experience that cannot be described; it needs to be experienced. If you are free, please plan to come. Solemn Profession into a religious order is the most important part of the life. It is the end of the “engagement” period. This is when the friar and the community have said yes to each other for life. Everything to that point was processing the fit. For us profession is a commitment preceding ordination.

Summer has begun. Enjoy this season after such a long and tough winter.

Blessings,
Fr. Tom

May 25, 2008 --- Corpus Christi…it’s crazy out there!!

Dear Parishioners,

The other day I saw this young adult walking toward me gesturing and talking up a storm—to himself mind you. I got a little nervous because he was put together like a pro wrestler. Is he going to engage me? Is he cuckoo enough that I will be invisible? I can only hope so. Well, none of the above. As he got closer I figured out that he was on a cell phone. He was not some marginally mental case. I read it all wrong. You cannot even tell who is what at a glance.

I got to thinking. We are so connected—or even over-connected. Technology has us connected at the ear—never mind the hip. Our world has never been so disposed to communication of such technological excellence. What is missing is the content. Yes, we have all the equipment but we do not have our hearts connected with one another. Many of our young people are more capable of connecting with a piece of hardware/software than they are with the social skills like talking with another human being. We are in a sibling society where parents want to be friends with their children. Children and youth can trust one another more than their parents and guardians. Content is missing. Cyber bullying is even one of our present fall outs. Much of our information lacks the intimacy of love. We are saying more but communicating less. We are over-informed but suffer from compassion fatigue with it all. It is crazy out there!!

Another crazy happening is the literal shift of the world with food. In this last year we have made history. For the first time our stomachs and our fuel tanks are eating the same thing. At last observation one hundred percent of the world population have stomachs; less than five percent have gas tanks. You no doubt heard about the spiking in food availability in these last months. Riots are breaking out. Someone was saying that Costco was rationing rice—first time since World War II. It is crazy out there! Today is the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. We are told that we are the Body of Christ—not by technology but by faith. We need substantial, quality communication about our identity. This frequency is only through prayer; this channel is sacrament. The silence of our nothingness communicates everything we need to know about ourselves. The inner connect is the ultimate communication.

This solemnity takes us to a food that this world cannot give. We are made crazy by the physical starving of the globe; the spiritual starving is even greater. We hunger for so much to be the Body and Blood of Christ. The more that we are in tune with the world’s craziness, the more we need the Eucharist. In the daily bread we sort out many things that in turn change our values, heighten our virtues, prioritize what is non-negotiable, and become not followers of Jesus Christ but the Body and the Blood of Christ at this moment in time.

Yes, it is crazy out there. We need to be concerned about what is within and among us. We need not become crazy or negative or stressed or ready to snap. Today’s solemnity is applied Christianity. Everything we’ve learned as an Easter people is now spinning off within us. We can live in a crazy world bringing the Lord to one another. Being Christ only happens when the message gets through and the soul is fed. When did you hear Him whisper to you in your nothingness? Who has fed your soul to become a feeder for others?

“the Body of Christ!”…..Amen! “the Blood of Christ!”……Amen! Happy feast day!

Blessings,
Fr. Tom

May 18, 2008 --- 2008 State of the Parish Report

Dear Parishioners,

For several weeks, I have not been writing because of my completing the annual parish report. Pentecost Sunday is when it becomes public—the birthday of the church. For those who do not have the web, the report can be picked up in hard form at the office. Remember that the parish offices are open seven days a week. It is most assessable on the web with a click on the cover page.

Allow me to do the theme of the report. If you have been tracking with my reports since 2004 when I was appointed to SVF, you know that I have focused on structural leadership as opposed to charismatic leadership. (All those reports are on the web in the archives.) Both types of leadership are necessary to run a balanced institution. SVF has been stronger in charismatic leadership than structural leadership.

The structural leadership of the last years has created norms, guidelines, schedules, calendars, programs, etc in many areas. Written structural expectations make for a level playing field with no favorites. In the area of sacraments alone there needs to be structural protection keeping our Catholic treasury from the erosion of cultural fads and trends. Physical structures are no small item; maintaining buildings and making needed repairs, improvements and meeting codes are all core. The next great structural area was with best policies for contracts, banking, and various fiscal processes. Not only has this been worked on in these last years but we just came through an audit with kudos and very little tweaking.

So where do we go from here? Creating structures is not a point of arrival. What comes next is our mission. Structures make it possible to manage our lives and our common life in the Lord. From management we grow into mission—the gospel mission. Everything about us must say service. That is no small goal of Christian life in a self absorbed and self serving culture.

SVF is not perfect in her structures but ready for a 2020 vision. I like to even say 20/20 as in a vision test. What will the campus of SVF look like in 2020? What buildings will endure? Which will need minor and major attention? Will we have a complex with a gym that is larger than our present one with viewing space? A parish hall where several hundred can gather with a licensed kitchen feeding our school children and more? A common set of offices for parish and school? Parking accommodating more parishioners? What is our vision? Beyond the physical vision and at the same time we also look our evangelization. How will sacraments become central to faith life—not events, not notches on the belt of our religion—but lived experiences of the Lord? What is our faith vision for ourselves, our children and grand children? What are the seeds of faith in our pews at present? Is SVF a mission of Christian hospitality?

SVF is a parish with nearly eighty years of history. That spirit of the past and in the past will build our tomorrows. From our prayers, to our moneys, to our commitments in service to God, we want to create for new generations what they have already done for us.

Hopefully you can read the report. It is made up of three components: my own observations and spiritual fathering, the staff’s visions in their given areas, and the leadership of the general parish boards, committees, etc. It is a quick read and a good one for your investment in SVF.

Blessings,
Fr. Tom

May 4, 2008 --- Ascension

Dear Parishioners,

Today is “Ascension Sunday.” For many of us that is a new term; we are used to the former term of “Ascension Thursday.” The National Council of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) has moved many of the Holy Days to Sundays because of the necessity to observe them.

There are twelve Holy Days in the Roman Catholic Church. Here in the USA we observe six of them. It is customary for the NCCB to determine what those are. Epiphany was moved to Sunday some years back. More recently, the Ascension. We have moved from an agricultural country to an urban one. In the agricultural world the church came first. In our climate, church going happens when it can comfortably fit. The important thing is that we are observing these holy days in our lives.

May begins the month of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This also is agricultural. She begins with the planting season and her concluding day of celebration is on her Assumption— a Holy Day—which is the harvest. Her assumption into heaven is the harvesting of her soul by God. On the 15th of May is Isadore the Farmer feast which begins the 90 day growing season to the August feast of the Assumption.

Next Sunday concludes the fifty days of Easter with Pentecost Sunday. Two satellite Sundays follow: the Solemnities of the Holy Trinity and then Corpus Christ (this formerly was also a Thursday celebration moved to a Sunday). Once the Holy Spirit of Pentecost comes, we have the Trinity together again. Corpus Christi is about us becoming the Easter People of Jesus. We carry out and live out the mandate of being church.

Think of all this as spiritual spring fever. It is a season loaded with the sacraments of initiation—baptisms, confirmations, and first communions. Weddings are also in full bloom. Jesus uses the vine, branch and growing images in our readings the last weeks. As Catholics we struggle to be pruned and produce in the master gardener. It will take us to the garden of paradise that we all so dearly desire.

“Bloom on,”
Fr. Tom

April 27, 2008 --- Easter People, That's Us

Dear Parishioners,

Our Easter season quickly passes—the spring season is another story, but we are well into these fifty days of grace. On April 8th our eighth graders from the parish school and the day schools were confirmed. First Holy Communion with the same schools happened yesterday. Once Easter Sunday passes we are into the wedding season. The baptisms dormant during Lent are also back and flowing again. Funerals in the Easter season are so much more vibrant in the risen Lord. It truly is a season where we are reminded who we are. Do you hear family in all the sacraments I have just mentioned?

Being an Easter people does not come easily. Being of the family of Jesus takes discipline, focus, discernment and scheduling. From the earliest stories of the scriptures to our present day, it is difficult to live that Christ is risen and will come again. We as Catholics live this in sacraments. They are our treasury. Will all our confirmandi and communicants be faithful to the weekly life of Eucharist? You know that answer. Will we be an outward sign at work and school and neighborhood? You also know that answer. Should I ask the same questions of our baptized and married? This season is reminding us what we so easily forget: the risen Christ makes the difference.

Easter people—that’s us, are trying to be counter culture. We live in a consumer world that wants to be served. As Christians being sacramental, we are called to serve. It is tough. SVF parish is in the process of changing an Archdiocesan written history of being too busy to serve—service not in hours but in attitude. Service is not money. Service is ministries ofthe Mass, in the parish and greater church, in the common good, in the neighborhood, in the environment—it does not stop.

Our culture calls us to consume and the Easter gospel calls us to live for more than the here and now. The culture calls us to put ourselves first—individuality. An Easter people have eyes for the common good. There is no new information dispensed during these days of Easter. It is a message that we need to hear again over and over. One of my scripture professors used to say that the bible has nothing new in it, but if we pray it, study it and read it often enough, we will get it.

The symptoms of an Easter people are in those stories: our hearts burn within us for the truth. We recognize Him in the breaking of the bread. Holding all things in common becomes desirable and wonderful. The breath of peace upon us causes us to be forgiving and accept forgiveness. Easter people do make a difference. It all comes from the source and summit of our sacraments. Without Him showing us all this, we would still be in the darkness of the grave. Alleluia for the teachings He is still doing with us these fifty days.

Easter blessings,
Fr. Tom

April 20, 2008 --- The Rabbi's Lecture

Dear Parishioners,

Recently I heard a lecture by a Rabbi on the development of spirituality in children and youth. The focus of the talk pointed out that we, as a culture, have done some things absolutely outstanding in forming our children. The two great lessons we have taught them is to compete and to consume. These do effect spiritual development.

Competition is good. When taken to an extreme what begins to happen is that the only reality becomes winning. Everyone else has to be seen as a loser. This can be sports, conversation, family life, etc. When the competition becomes an obsession, lying and cheating and all sorts of sinful behaviors become acceptable. Appearance and perception as the winner become the reality.

Consumption is a human necessity. What has happened is that we can no longer sort out our needs from our wants. As one parent said of her child: “I don’t know where we went wrong. We gave her everything.” Consumers become consumed. It is called addiction. We are in an addictive culture. We need to choose our addictions well. Bear in mind that the number one recreation of the USA culture is shopping. That does not mean buying. Shopping is the consumer rehearsal of buying. At the beginning of the Iraq war, President Bush asked us to shore up the economy by buying. That was our part in the support of war. In the USA culture the majority spend money they have not yet made. Most are over-extended. Most are over consumed.

The Rabbi said we have taught these lessons in consumerism and consumption very well. These leave our children and youth incomplete if not outright empty. Their lives have no meaning or purpose when these realities are not grounded in something more.

The more is the lessons of gratitude and graciousness. Gratitude delivers us from entitlement. We are not entitled to health, aging, beauty, things, bounty, attention etc. Graciousness is grace. Graciousness is not just good manners; it is the skill to engage, affirm, and live with pre-meditated virtues. These make us team players. We become volunteers in making a difference in the world. Even the professions our youth embrace need to be about more than money—they must be about service, respect, common good, community, family, and others.

Even though I heard all this from a Rabbi I kept thinking in my Christian milieu of Easter and resurrection. Consumerism and competition puts us in graves of darkness. We become children of the dark. They suffocate us. The truth be told, consumerism and competition can literally put us into the grave.

The first words of Easter are a peace greeting. Graciousness! Our response is gratitude. While the culture has taught some lessons very well. Our children and youth need more. We are the mentors to give our next generation more. We need to be children of the light. The Church becomes the vehicle of virtue in articulating the Easter call to graciousness and gratitude. What we seek is in the risen life. Rising above consumerism and competition gives us the fuller life on both sides of the grave.

Enjoy being an Easter people.
Fr. Tom

April 13, 2006 --- Good Shepherd

Dear Parishioners,

This fourth Sunday of Easter is also called “Good Shepherd” Sunday. The lamb that was slain is now the one caring for the flock. Being urban more than rural, the bible time warps us to the world of Jesus with all His images, parables, and metaphors. Even today a bishop still carries the staff or crook of the shepherd. The hook can pull a sheep back when hanging off the side of a cliff.

While we may want to think wooly and coddles, the world of the sheep and shepherds is not all that romantic. Jesus picked the dumbest animal for a metaphor. Sheep are very high maintenance. They easily panic. They have no self-protective skills. They will eat and drink what kills them. They resist care for their health or even their sheering. No animal needs the 24/7 that sheep need—even when they are sleeping. We were well understood when Jesus called us sheep.

When I was a diocesan priest in the Colorado mountains, many of my parishioners were shepherds. Even though I have rural roots I do not have experience with sheep. I learned. Let me share two stories. Both of these shepherds are women.

A new employee was brought on to work the sheep. She ran them all over the field in an attempt to gather them in. She ran and they ran. Finally the veteran shepherd said “let me show ya.” Standing at the sheep gate she called out sweetly “here, lamby! Here lamby!” and they all came bleating as they went through the gate. Remember the voice story of the shepherd? The trust of the voice is the safety of the flock. Do other voices distract us from The Shepherd’s?

The oldest image of Jesus is the shepherd on the tombs of the catacombs. He is carrying the lamb across His shoulders. Here is the second story. A shepherd explained to me that every flock has a “lost sheep,” one that will not stay with the rest, daring to go all over the place being a dare devil. This puts the entire flock at risk with his not staying with the shepherd. Remember, sheep have herd instinct and can follow any bad-leading sheep. When a flock has a sheep like this the shepherd breaks a leg on the sheep and carries them across their shoulders while it heals. After mending, the sheep becomes bonded and obedient to the shepherd. When fully healed, he does not leave the flock. Remember Jesus’ story of the one that strays and the ninety nine who are just fine?

We may all be city slickers but the story still fits spiritually. We need our ears checked from the noises distracting and attacking us. The Shepherd’s voice is the one we are tuned into. And yes, we all need to be broken a bit to become obedient. Easter people are of one flock and one Shepherd. Slow learners, we are getting better—thanks to the Shepherd.

Blessings in the Shepherd,
Fr. Tom

April 6, 2008 ---Easter People

Dear Parishioners,

These 50 days of Easter are wonderful for the reflection on being a people and not just a person. Our culture certainly emphasizes the personal over the collective. The Easter message has us looking at “we” and not “me.” Our new theme song is “I did it my way,”—and often at the expense of many.

I was always taught that if I were the only person who ever lived, Jesus still would have come to redeem just me. Well, somehow we all know that the human reality is a more-than-one tally. Being redeemed from death through victory over the grave is a collective blessing. Jesus redeems humanity. Humanity becomes the “we.”

Have you noticed this collective calling from Pope Benedict of late? When he was in Germany with the youth, he called them to make Sunday worship something of the community. The Pope encouraged youth to go to church out of their need for Jesus and not just obligation. The recent Vatican reference to “new” sins are all beyond the personal. Yes, there are many personal sins. The collective sins are the ones we really look at in a much more globally changing way. This included everything from road rage to the use of earthly resources. Our working together in grace is what brings the resurrection mystery into a reality and experience rising above much every day.

As an Easter people we seek as a collective identity—not just the personal one. Our identities in the culture are encouraged to be personal and private. What do I want to do? How do I feel about it? Wants trump needs constantly. The choices of a given day seem eternal. In the faith arena everything is about others—it is about service. Nothing we do is without effect on someone else. My favorite example of this is marriage. Have you ever heard someone say that their love is theirs and it doesn’t effect others? Yeah! Right! Unions of love effect everyone for better or for worse—not just the couple. Marriage and family is never private and personal. Sixty percent of grandparents are raising their grandchildren in some form. That is a collective reality—not a private decision.

An Easter people is one who seek to know the world of the “we.” The early Christian community tried to get all their communication of Jesus risen together for one another. When Jesus gathered them at the first brunch of charred fish, their “hearts burning within them” at Emmaus, etc., it was always an assembly of “two or more” coming together. Our identity in the risen Lord is not private property. When our identities flow from Him, much of our live is pre-sorted beyond the superficial choices of culture commodities—the kingdom of “me.”

We live the fast forward of a life beyond the grave. We have the Easter lens and experience bonding us into more than we would ever be on our own. The spiritual growth of the future is going to come from healthy faith revealing the common self. Our Easter experience is the only the foundation of building our tomorrows.

Blessed Easter,
Fr Tom

March 30, 2008 --- Divine Mercy Sunday

Dear Parishioners,

This second Sunday of Easter has two titles: the most ancient is “low Sunday”; more recently under the late Pope John Paul II it became “Divine Mercy Sunday. Both are good labels for an Easter people to identify this experience of Easter resurrection.

The “low Sunday” label comes from being high on resurrection for an entire week. All the ‘’alleluia-ing” after the disciplines of Lent and the Triduum can just about put one over the edge. Even too much of a good thing can be hard on us. Think of it as trying to keep an Easter lily fresh and blooming. They are some of the fastest withering of the flowers. We need to sustain fifty days here of joy and sometimes we are brought low. We loose our bloom. (I think with the longevity of Christmas poinsettias, we have our flowers in the wrong seasons.) Still high on the Lord, we are lower than the initial Easter high. Maintaining an alleluia demeanor is very challenging.

Even Mary Magdalene, the apostles, and all who heard of the Risen Lord were presuming His return at any moment. They tried to maintain the message and the experience. “and Christ will come again!” What is the delay? OK, we’re ready. Waiting in joy is hard to maintain. We are all in some post partum Easter joy—just a notch lower.

The “Divine Mercy” Sunday takes us into the virtue that builds us as an Easter people. The Risen Lord is now being experienced and touched (Thomas?!) by the community. Mercy from the Divine changes lives. We rise to new life in being merciful.

When we become Dominicans, the question is asked in the rite of the vows: “What do you seek?” The friar answers “God’s mercy and yours!”. Again this is risen life here on earth in the community. We are all in need of the shared mercy of community life in family, work, school, you-name-it. Mercy gets the ball rolling on a lot of virtue in the Christian life. Our Risen Lord was doling out a lot of mercy to His betrayers, weary followers, and doubters. Mercy again gathers the flock.

As an aside, this June 13th at 10 a.m. SVF will be used by the Albert the Great Province for the solemn profession of about six friars—last year’s intern, Brother Timothy Combs, being one of them. The “mercy” question will be asked. Any rite of passage is an invitation to rise to new life even here and already now.

So now a little lower than the start, we are in the fifty day sprint with the Risen Lord. As an Easter people, we grow. From the last supper, to the charred fish breakfast, to the Emmaus meal, we feast on the divine mercy of Jesus risen. We learn about Him and about us. Even in our lows, we are high on the Lord and will continue to be as we grow in mercy.

Blessed Easter,
Fr. Tom

March 23, 2008 --- Easter Blessings

Dear Parishioners,

Alleluia, He is Risen!!

A blessed Easter to all of you. If He had not risen from the dead, then we are the deadest of the dead. This is our day as Christians. This is what it is all about. This is the most important day of our faith lives.

May this be a blessed day with the loved ones in your life—the risen Lord being at the top of that list. No matter what weighs you down today, let Him lift you now as He will for all eternity.

Parents, teachers, grandparents, and all catechists: teach the little ones about Easter through the seemingly secular symbols. The egg is the tomb. Chicks and ducks become the symbols from the new life in the encasement of the shell/tomb. The rabbit comes from the hole in the ground—the tomb. Easter grass is new life. We eat lamb at Easter because the lamb was slain for us. I love leg of lamb so that should heighten my faith in resurrection. Whoops, that over used the symbol. Spring is resurrection of mother earth.

Easter week goes for a full eight days being treated as one. Easter season is fifty days. Forty day of penance followed by fifty of celebration. Try to stay high on the Lord for fifty days and you may think Lent was easier.

Blessings as we journey to Pentecost. May the full joy of the Easter linger with you.

Easter Blessings,
Fr. Tom

March 16, 2008 --- Holy Week

Dear Parishioners,

Today we have begun the holiest week of the year. Make certain that you take home your palms and put them over a crucifix or sacred picture or the last supper art in your eating area.

Lent will end on Wednesday of Holy Week and then we begin the intense prayer, fasting and almsgiving of the Triduum. We have been warming up for this. My call to you spiritually is that you profoundly inconvenience yourself this week: remember who you are in Christ and His wonderful Pascal mystery. Please do not let this week be the same old, same old.

If you have not said the stations during Lent, please drop into the church and do so this week. You can even do them without a book because they are written on each station. If you do not know where to begin, they are numbered in Roman numerals. The first one is near the statue of the Blessed Mother in the front by the baptistery. These are truly one of the greatest Catholic meditations you will ever pray.

Monday through Wednesday has the morning and noon Masses as usual. Attendance has been good. So many of you have done well this Lent despite the wintry challenges. Bless you!

The Triduum is three days treated as one. The Last Supper, arrest, trial, condemnation, execution, burial and finally the resurrection from the grave. Each day flows to the next; each liturgy begins where the last left off. Sometimes folks want multiple times for the services on these days. Each day is to be once of each service. The tabernacle is empty, the fonts are empty, the sanctuary lamp is out, we are empty looking forward to an empty tomb in humble silence. The parish becomes the family united in these days. No repeats. We pray the triduum as one.

Holy Thursday is a quiet day of prayer until the evening with the Mass of the Lord’s supper. At 7:30 p.m. we will begin. Feet will be washed, the table of the altar will be set. Following this solemn Eucharist we will process the sacrament to the adoration chapel where it will remain until midnight. The sanctuary will be stripped and darkened allowing the church building itself to become the empty tomb of waiting.

Good Friday we encourage silence and silent prayer. From noon to three—the hours while Jesus hung on the cross—try to observe silence even if it is at work. At three o’clock we will have the Good Friday service. This is stark. The scriptures of the passion , adoration of the cross, the intercessory petitions and communion. In the evening the “Seven Last Words” will be presented in church. This is a musical reflection of Jesus last seven phrases while yet human.

On Holy Saturday is the Solemn Easter Vigil. This is the mother of all vigils. Historically, the people gathered and prayed the night with the readings culminating with the gospel acclamation scheduled for the rising of the sun (Son) on Easter Sunday morning. This vigil is four rites: the blessing of the fire; the narrative of the complete bible in abridged form—ten readings; the rites of initiation (baptism, confirmation, and Holy Eucharist); and finally the table of the Lord.

The Triduum vigil culmination is truly the greatest prayer of the Roman Catholic Church. Everything we teach and believe is done in one service in one night. It is a privilege for me to preside over the Triduum Rite as your spiritual father. The readings alone take us from the beginning of creation to the risen life at its eternal magnificence. In the early church baptism, confirmation and Eucharist (in that order) were the annual initiation into the flock. The Solemn Easter Vigil is an experience of prayer like no other.

This vigil is the time when those preparing for the Catholic faith are brought into the fold. At SVF this year we have five persons entering the faith.

On Holy Saturday the Easter food is blessed in the church. Different cultures do this in various ways: some bring the meats readied for Sunday, some have pastries, others bring the special breads or sausages. Everything is blessed.

My friends, please inconvenience yourself for Jesus this week. No matter how you do it, make certain that you know His love was great inconvenience for us to be graced, blessed, redeemed, and saved. A holy Holy Week to all of you.

Blessings,
Fr. Tom

March 9, 2008 --- This year only

Dear Parishioners,

We talked about this being an unusual Lent: the earliest since 1913 and not to be repeated until 2078. There are some other things that are effected also that are a “this year” only category.

St, Patrick, our dear Irish Apostle, does not get his feast day this year. He literally moves out of the way for Jesus’ Holy Week. Because March 17th falls during Holy Week, nothing can supersede the feasts of the Lord. Make certain that the corn beef and soda bread become realities but all secondary to the major Lenten praying of Holy Week. Cardinal George wrote on this in the last bulletin.

St. Joseph is moved from the 19th of March to the 15th of March—that is the Saturday before Holy Week begins. St Joseph is major in the church calendar so he does not get suppressed but moved. Any St Joseph tables should be on this Saturday but definitely not during Holy Week.

One other move during this early Lent: the Annunciation on 25th of March is moved to the 31st of March. Easter in our church calendar is not one day but the entire week— yes, the Solemnity treats an entire week as a day. In doing this the first opening for the celebration is the 31st of March. If you remember what the Annunciation is, you recall the angel Gabriel approached the Virgin and the conversation ended with her conception of Jesus—nine months to the day before Christmas. Soooooo !?!?!?!? will Christmas be on the 31st of December this year? Absolutely not. We just have a shorter period of liturgical pregnancy.

Some of you ask when Lent is over. The answer is with evening prayer of the Wednesday of Holy Week. Lent’s ending ushers in the triduum. This is the three days treated as one culminating with Easter Sunday. The penances of the triduum should be more intense than those of Lent. Remember that these three days are even barren in the sacraments and sacramentals. The tabernacle is empty and open. The fonts are dry. The sanctuary lamp is extinguished. No funeral Masses are allowed. Our world stops for these three days of the most intense of prayer.

So are you betting on a white Easter? When I lived in Colorado most were white. Spring storms can be most blustery. Regardless, we all look forward to the empty tomb and an early one at that.

Blessed Lent,
Fr. Tom

March 02, 2008 --- Faith Moment

Dear Parishioners,

Let me share with you a great faith moment from early Lent. Our eighth graders can do some heavy duty adult praying. To share the story I first need to set the stage.

In my four years here I taught the junior high students about IQ, EQ and SQ. IQ everyone knows—intellectual intelligence. We are each given X amount of gray matter and that is that. EQ is emotional intelligence. This is how we manage our feelings—or do they manage us? Guilt, shame, anger and fear are the big four with which we all struggle. For kids, their conduct mark is the EQ. They know this conversation because I give out the junior high report cards.

In 1996 Dr. Daniel Goleman wrote EQ changing the landscape of education, therapy and emotional development. Have you ever noticed when you go to the class reunion that the most successful person is not the valedictorian? Someone you never knew with a high EQ took the lead. EQ keeps developing until we die. We never stop working with our feelings—or they with us.

The SQ is our spiritual intelligence. This is my term. SQ is premeditated virtue. The daily formation of respect, kindness, and honor will make us grow in our faith formation. It does not happen by accident or wanting to be a better person. SQ is tough work just as now in Lent through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Soooooo, having said all that, finally, I will tell the story. By the time our eighth graders reach their last year at SVF, they have heard the IQ, EQ, and SQ information a lot. On a Friday during Lent I took the class to church for the Stations of the Cross. Mind you faith is more caught than taught. The stations we did were different. They were about the EQ and SQ of Jesus and Mary. After each station is announced, the text goes to Jesus saying what is going on within Him; then it goes to Mary and she does the same. These are powerful. I invited forward 14 boys to be Jesus’ voice and 14 girls to be the voice of Mary. Unrehearsed and text unseen, these young people prayed and were emotionally present. We all prayed together—teachers, priests, students. You would have been awe struck with the gathering. Experiencing the stations is one of the most Catholic experiences possible.

When the stations were over, the youth said an act of contrition. We used the stations as an examination of conscience. Humbly and holy, they came forth and confessed. You would have been proud of them again. This story is open to adults also. On March 15th, at noon, we will have our Lenten Reconciliation Service; our confessions for Easter preparation. This is a Saturday. Multiple confessors will be available as usual. The format of examination will be exactly like the story above. Powerfully upgrading of EQ and SQ.

This personalized text of the stations we have used the first three Fridays of Lent. It brings tears to my eyes each time I pray it. I am always blessed when someone finds it filled with grace for them. I told the kids that I can talk about something forever; experiencing it makes the difference. They experienced the Way of the Cross and the way to forgiveness all in one gathering of prayer. I was blessed. These children are blessing.

Lenten blessing,
Fr. Tom

February 24, 2008 --- Early Lent
Dear Parishioners,

The other day the newspaper mentioned that this is the earliest Lent has come since 1913. That predates my memory but I do know that we are having a white Lent and perhaps a white Easter. Even with all the moisture, Lent is the dry season—the desert.

Jesus was forty days in the desert. Have you ever been in a desert? The air is different, the terrain is different, the resources are few. In the desert our senses pick up on everything. Dehydration accelerates. Jesus’ senses were picking up much in His temptations. The growling stomach, the wanting affirmation of family and disciples, the want of righteousness on His time schedule and not the Father’s, food—any thing to eat, if not water, some cactus moisture. The bareness of desert makes us thirst for many things. Water never looked so good. A mirage is seeing water that isn’t even there. Most of this is beyond our urban and verdant experiences. In Lent we are trying to dry out.

In Lent the baptized return to the plunge and immersion of baptism. We do not re baptize folks when they become spiritually arid; rather, annually the church does have us go into the dry and parched places of ourselves to find the living waters. In Lent we do not baptize unless there is a danger of death. In Lent some churches observe minor fonts empty. At the Triduum (Holy Thursday through to the Solemn Easter Vigil) all churches have all the fountains empty as well as the tabernacle itself. Still sign yourself even after touching the dry stone font. In Lent those coming into the church are “processed”. This is called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. They are getting ready for the plunge into Christ. We—the baptized—are reflecting on the plunge we have been struggling to live.

Lent is when religion tries to beget spirituality. There is a difference. Both religion and spirituality are necessary. Moses went to the mountain and experienced God spiritually. The commandments of that mountain are the religion—the container of that experience. Does everyone keeping the commandments have a spiritual experience? Don’t we wish! Lent is calling us to be more than the container and become the experience. Good Lenten observances make the Lord’s way possible. Desert. Austerity. Simplicity. Less. “be still and know that I am God.” How fast does all this happen? Don’t watch the calendar or you clock. Maybe in a lifetime. Most of us finish our lives with minor spiritual experiences at best.

We are containers wanting, thirsting, longing. Every year we look at the container and make it ready. At the end of this Lenten journey we will find and empty container—the tomb, in a garden—not the desert. Lent is tough on the soul entering into Him who did not know sin who become sin. Lord, saturate us in You!

Lenten blessing,
Fr. Tom

February 17, 2008 ...more resurrection than requiem
Dear Parishioners,
Can I get extra credit for writing today’s letter? I teasingly say that because many of our eighth graders are doing just that. They are getting extra credit for attending and writing a reflection on the first production of the Vincent Project: Requiem for a Heavyweight. On the frigid weekend of February 8-10, three performances graced the stage of Trinity High School. Let me say up front that heavy subject matter is not my quest for entertainment. This was heavy and excellent. As I was absorbed in this play I kept telling myself these are high school kids. Not a word lost; not a character casting questionable. The Requiem cast is not exactly Disneyesque material. Lightweights need not apply.

Here were Catholics from at least six different Catholic institutions coming together with vigor, talent, and depth. It is they who pushed for this to happen. Yes, Steve Senski directed it excellently but they—the kids—wanted to do something together. Mind you these kids are not exactly bored looking for something to do. These kids are the busiest in their respective schools. The playbill recording their previous productions was overwhelming. A goodly portion of this cast is the youth ensemble that played for the Cardinal and many other SVF Masses.

You often see in the bulletin the “Phreeky Philm Phriday” nights for youth and wonder what is happening. It is the same group. This troupe has gathered to view science fiction at its worst and just enjoy it and each other. In a culture over saturated in both fiction and science, sounds like a good escape hatch to me. So where is Jesus in all this? Well, He is in their gathering. He is in their levity. He is in their insight.

The church is of the arts. Theatre is church when messages of the gospel make it through to the masses in some parabolic way. Requiem puts thug against virtue; harlot face to face with the users. It shows how we rape friendships and pillage lives. It seems quite relevant to me getting out the gospel message.

My bottom line of reflection on this night is that we have had attempts that have tried and failed with our youth—I am referring to SVF as well as parishes everywhere. Youth create their way and we need to be their for them. If we designed a “Phreeky” series it would have crashed. If we said we are putting on a play and we want you to do this that and the other—c and b—crash and burn. Youth create their way.

Thank you, SVF youth! Thank you, Steve! Thanks to all of you who braved the cold to support them. I feel that I have already gotten extra credit just experiencing Requiem. I want to use the “A” word as I would at any “requiem” but it is still Lent. Stay tuned for coming talent!
Gratefully,
Fr. Tom                 

February 10, 2008 “Which way should I go?”
Dear Parishioners,
   We are already into Lent and might I say a very early one. It feels like we just took down the Christmas environment.
   In Lent we see the human side of Jesus more than any where else. We are not reflecting on His miracles; we are entering His wounds and bruises and suffering. In the twelfth century when people were thinking about Jesus being just God rather than true God and true man, Francis of Assisi made the humanity of Jesus Christ very real.
There is nothing more human than to be born and to die. Francis taught this to the people with the crib catechizing Jesus’ birth. The original one was with real animals for the people to experience. Sounds like today’s scratch and sniff approach. The way Francis taught the death was through the way of the cross. We also call these the stations.
Catholic churches have the fourteen stations of meditation on the walk from being condemned to the Roman capital punishment to the laying of His body in the tomb. To this day when churches have their stations blessed, it is by a Franciscan who actually leads the people in the prayers of the way of the cross.
   Here at SVF we have the gorgeous mosaics of the Way of the Cross. The first one is at the front right of the church. There are Roman numerals journeying the final steps of Jesus in His human condition. These stations can be prayed privately anytime. They are offered on Fridays in Lent at 7p.m. Also at 2:15p.m. they are done on some of the Fridays with the SVF day school children. All are welcome. Consult the bulletin for the exact schedule.
   The Stations of the Cross is one of the most powerful meditations in the Roman Catholic church. I strongly encourage you to pray them in Lent. We can become lax in our prayers, devotions, and spiritual discipline. When looking for the extra for Lent, put this on the list. SVF has small gatherings for the way of the cross. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have the attendance comparable to Mass?!
   In a comfort culture we avoid suffering at all costs. Seeking suffering is sick; causing suffering in others is sicker. The mystery of suffering enter our lives daily. What is the way we get through it? Jesus is the way in all things. His way of the cross gives meaning to our way of sufferings. Suffering without meaning is the greatest suffering of all. In the way of the cross we can find the way to resurrection. There is no alternate routes. Embrace His way as you find your way.
Blessings,
Fr. Tom

February 3, 2008    Get MAD for Lent
Dear Parishioners,
   Pope Gregory I in 604 introduced Lent into the Liturgical year. He called it spiritual tithing; one-tenth of the year with intense effort at change and sacrifice in our lives. It was not about giving up something—it was about "making a difference." MAD = Making A Difference. This was and is a call to the social order—not just our personal order.
Western civilization is not about sacrifice; we are called to comfort at the expense of our deeper self and others. Often in the tough world scape of war, hunger, displacement, injustice and oppression, we get quite depressed changing our inner channel. "Well, thank God it isn't me!" We go on.
   Making a difference—getting MAD—we are invited to use Lent to change the social order. Being positive in a negative environment is a great starting place. Today you and I will hear a lie, a bent truth, some gossip, or slander that we will have to empower and allow to continue or give it a quick and needed burial. This is a simple social order of difference. Stopping these sins with all of our God-given graces remedies a difference.
Our Lent of Making A Difference is flipping the beatitudes. When we are persecuted for our faith in Jesus, we are blessed and happy. When we are poor in spirit and embrace mourning, we are blessed and happy. When we show mercy, a smile, a kind word, we are happy and blessed.
   Most of us figure out somewhere in life that we are good. The shallows of our self-help world would have us stop there. In the depth of Jesus Christ and His sacramental presence, we cast into the deep and figure out God made us good. For many this is a point of arrival. To make a difference (MAD) this is only a beginning. Once we experience our God goodness we are driven to cause it everywhere.
   Lent is not about being good. Lent us about doing good. This is how we make a difference (MAD). The pre-Lenten word "carnival" means "farewell to meat." That can be not just what is on the table but even not taking a bite out of someone's anatomy. Back-biting and chewing up each other is not being of Jesus Christ. St. Paul makes that crystal clear. At the 9:00 a.m. Mass of Catholic Schools week the church was more full than Christmas. Parents and children praying together! For many families this is not a habit of holiness but what a difference this day made. People were happy at the sacrifice of schedule to pray. This was a MAD moment.
   Teens make a difference MAD when they realize their adult caregivers are their friends. They resist the stereotypes and enjoy being good and causing good at school and home. How happy and blessed they are in the social order of the family. They fit into Jesus Christ's goodness.
   Our jobs, neighborhoods, family life, and parish have ruts of sin with which we have become comfortable. Get MAD about it. Maybe we've neglected meal prayers or morning and evening prayers—get MAD, use Lent to reshape the habits of goodness, Ministries on boards and councils or the Mass ministries are constantly classified as optional. Use Lent to get MAD. Prioritize commitments to God. Who do we love to hate in our neighborhood or at work? Lent MADness can be the penance we need to revisit our sins of comfort. Even two collections can be seen as an annoyance. They are about awareness of the universality of "catholic." Making A Difference MAD is seeing the world not as we/they but only WE. Second collections are more about awareness of “we” than money.
   Lent is not about my personal relationship with candy, movies, chocolate, etc. Lent is about tithing one-tenth of 2008 to changing the social order for those we cast aside or have chosen to make invisible. When we get MAD—by making a small difference—sacrificing to cause good, we are blessed and happy. Maybe we have cast aside our own spiritual life. Lent we connect. We make the effort with our tithing of time to challenge sin. We are blessed and are becoming more blessed through our MADness.
Blessed Lent,
Fr. Tom

January 27, 2008       Bullying
Dear Parishioners,
   Have you found yourself bothered by the lack of civility in our world? Should we accept it as a sign of the times? I hope not! While I could easily cite the fifth year of the Iraqi War, I am thinking of lack of civility more close to home—our jobs, our families, our parish, our neighborhood, etc. Civility is a virtue that cannot be presumed. It needs to be prayed for and daily cultivated. It is a rough world that we are part of and we can make it rougher if we do not actively work on being civilized by the gospel. We are in a war zone just coping with Christian values in an uncivilized milieu.
   SVF is not isolated with this collapse of virtue. To be honest about it, we have a pandemic situation. Recall a decade or so ago when the in-word was harassment. This could be sexual harassment or simply outright in-your-face harassment. This behavior spawned a great reassessment of the workplace. Workshops became requirements of employees and employers. Those who said harassment did not exist came away from the workshops saying “I never knew that all that stuff was harassment—we were just messing around and having fun.”
   Bullying is a form of harassment yet way beyond the workplace. Bullying is coming from the home. It is in marriages and in parent-child relationships. Many children only know bullying as the form of parenting they have experienced. Many spouses bully each other. Often parents will say I tell my child not to start a fight but never walk away from it. That is permission to bully. It also means the child has not been equipped and skilled to handle the conflict before them. Bullying has become normative in our secular culture and therefore seeps quickly into the life of the faithful. We quickly villanize those we do not understand, are different from or with whom we simply disagree with.
   We have come to a moment in our culture when we do well to reassess our behaviors; examine our consciences. Bullying is done through gossip, intimidation, threats, ultimatums, manipulations, put-downs—whatever it takes to control someone. This can even be done with body language. You will note that much of the humor of our movies and sitcoms is bullying. When we have selected a runt, authority figure, minority, racial profile, etc. to laugh at, we are bullying.
   Have you seen the movie The Devil Wears Prada ? It is about bullying. It has a woman CEO played by Meryl Streep who bullies everybody in sight. She never raises her voice—actually she whispers her commands. Some companies are even using it to show the subtleties of bullying.
   The easiest way to see this unleashed demon is through the instructions of the esteemed Mayo Clinic. They have the most extensive literature that I have seen on this malady. The Mayo Clinic is on the edge of all health and healing. Their reputation is world renown. They list the symptoms, the hit groups, the likely targets, etc. It is all too much for this column.
   As we are on the fresh side of 2008 and making our resolutions for betterment, we do well to check out our environment. Sometimes what is normative is not healthy. We have all heard the old adage that just because everyone is doing it…. Invest in family virtues and values that are based in truth. Hold your solid Christian ground. Actually the best recipe is one part truth to at least four parts charity. Our goal is to never fit in at the loss of our holiness. In Jesus Christ we can handle all the war zones of our lives. He was constantly bullied but did not bully. Virtue is premeditated through our prayer lives.
Blessings,
Fr. Tom

January 20, 2008    Shrine of the Americas
Dear Parishioners,
   On February 2nd, the Feast of the Presentation of Mary, at 8 a.m. Mass our SVF Shrine of the Americas will be dedicated. You all know only too well that this has been years in the making. The banner of the nations was completed and hung just before Christmas.
   Many people have been involved with the happening. The SVF Art and Environment Committee under the chairing of Peggy VanZeyl have tweaked this every inch of the way—even repainting the Juan Diego statue. Graphic artist and parishioner, Gus Unti, has done the calligraphy and layouts of the prayers, the litany of saints, and the banner presentations. The Jimenez family permitted and encouraged the moving of the Guadalupe statue that was donated in their family’s name. The donor plaque was moved when the statue was moved. Gene and Connie Barsanti, also parishioners, used their woodworking company to transform the niche to the vintage quality we enjoy. They also created the map of the Americas. FunQuilts donated their skills to do the banner of the nations. Weeks and Bill Kerr operate FunQuilts.com Bill is an instructor of graphic designs at Dominican University. They are in Oak Park with a website of FunQuilts.com. Rob Apuzzo, also a parishioner, did the stands for the area. He is in the bulletin patrons under Mastercraft.
   The apparitions of Guadalupe occured in 1531 on the hill of Tepeyac from the 9th to the 12th of December. Keep in mind the world scene of this century: the European colonial period was well underway. One of the discussions in Rome responding to the “new peoples” of the “new world” wondered if they had souls. Mary seems to have answered that well through St. Juan Diego. Pope Pius XII declared this patronage of Mary the “Patron of the Americas.” In 1999 the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments raised the rank to “feast” for all countries.
   The Shrine of the Americas has two prayers in it that many pray daily. One is to Guadalupe as Patroness of the Americas. The other title she holds is Patroness of the Unborn. Of all the Marian apparitions, Guadalupe is the only one pregnant. She is in native garb with the waist band indicating her with child. Both prayers are listed below.
Blessings,
Fr. Tom

January 13, 2008    St. Jude Novena
Dear Parishioners,
   Likely you have seen the publicity for the Shrine of St Jude Thaddeus Novena being hosted here at SVF. The bulletins have had coverage and detail. The courtyard and North Avenue have banners with a gorgeous icon style Jude depicted.
   There are several novenas per year at the Shrine on Ashland Avenue. Dating back to my preaching life, I had the privilege of preaching them three different times. For the Novena to travel is new. We here at SVF are blessed.
   In recent years the relics have traveled with renewals called “Hope and Healing”. St Louis, Missouri and Albuquerque, New Mexico have been two Dominican sites where these prayer gatherings have been most successful. SVF has had the relics here before but not for a full Novena. This is a first!
   The schedule is printed below. Come to whatever part you can; bring your healing needs for the entire novena. As you can see, weekdays have the noon and evening option. Weekend schedule is a modified to once on Saturday and once on Sunday.
   Rather than one preacher for the Novena, it will be done in team style. Part of that team is Brother Timothy Combs, O.P. who was a resident intern at SVF in 2006-2007. You will be able to reconnect with him. Our present intern, Brother Joseph Minuth, O.P., will be the resident on-site coordinator of the Novena.
   Being a Dominican Parish is a blessing because we reach to our larger family and enjoy the treasury of graces of our religious order heritage. In the past SVF has hosted ordinations and anniversary celebrations. This June we will be blessed with the hosting of solemn professions. It is a large class and will include some familiar faces to SVF.
Hopefully the Novena here will be a source of healing and blessing to you, your family and the parish.
Blessings,
Fr. Tom

 

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