
Making Christmas Merry and Bright
by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B. | 11/17/2024 | A Message from Our PastorDear Parishioners,
It seems to come earlier and earlier every year! many of us exclaim. “It” being Christmas. For example, the Hallmark channel has been running its “Countdown till Christmas” movies for at least a month. Radio stations are now playing time honored Christmas songs as well as the cultural favorites like “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman.” Stores have been selling indoor and outdoor Christmas decorations since August and are now actually decorating their stores with these same trappings.
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Faith in Action: Jubilee Style
by Bishop Ronald A. Hicks | 11/10/2024 | A Message from Our PastorDuring our year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois, we have emphasized that we are “Founded in Faith, Called to Witness, Sent Forth to Serve.” During the month of October, we decided to focus on the last four words, “Sent Forth to Serve.”
Specifically, I asked every parish to undertake a communal service project during the month of October. I did not care what date they selected or what type of service project they chose. The goal was simply for every parish to do something - anything - of service in the name of the Lord.
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Remembrance and Prayer
by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B. | 11/03/2024 | A Message from Our PastorDear Parishioners,
For many centuries Catholicism has set apart the month of November as a particular time to ponder the mystery of death and to pray for those who have already been embraced by this inevitable mystery that awaits us all. Frequently I am asked, Why should we pray for the dead? for as Fr. Ronald Rolheiser once quoted one of his students as saying, If the person we are praying for is in hell, then we can’t help them, and if they are in heaven then they don’t need our help. Rolheiser’s answer to the question, Why pray for the dead? is, For the same reason we pray at all: we simply need to.
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All Saints Day / All Souls Day
by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B. | 10/27/2024 | A Message from Our PastorDear Parishioners,
Our upcoming celebrations of Halloween (Oct. 31), All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2) remind us of one the most fundamental aspects of our Christian faith – it rests on the belief in the supernatural. This belief is so fundamental that we may unknowingly take it for granted and think very little about it. Or perhaps our culture has tamed or domesticated religion (and its practices) to where we dismiss the notion of anything that is beyond the natural. There might also be the possibility that somewhere deep within our human psyche we fear the prospect of another world besides our own – a world that is unseen and over which we have little or no control. Rather than befriend this unseen reality, we may choose to trivialize it or pretend it does not exist, thereby freeing us from the need to interact with it.
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A prayer answered: Our new Auxiliary Bishop
by Bishop Ronald A. Hicks | 10/20/2024 | A Message from Our PastorSometimes I get the impression that many people view the Diocese of Joliet as a "small" diocese. Perhaps this is because we border the mammoth Archdiocese of Chicago. However, to refer to us as "small" is rather misleading and inaccurate. The Joliet Diocese serves over half a million Catholics in a geographic area of 4,218 square miles throughout DuPage, Kankakee, Will, Grundy, Ford, Iroquois, and Kendall counties. We are blessed with 117 parishes, 7 missions, 43 grade schools, 8 high schools, and 3 universities within our diocesan boundaries.
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Embracing and Accepting Change
by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B. | 10/13/2024 | A Message from Our PastorDear Parishioners,
Autumn is a month when change and transition is poignant. The trees give us one last blast of color and then their leaves shrivel, die and fall back to the earth. Temperatures become cooler announcing the bleak months of winter that are yet to come. Autumn sunsets fill the evening skies with resplendent reds and oranges, which although strikingly beautiful, are the colors of war. In classical Christian mythology the archangel Michael, whose feast day is September 29, is thought to replace the warrior god Mars who was always clothed in red. Not surprisingly, so is the angel Michael.
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Saint Feast Days of September and October
by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B. | 10/06/2024 | A Message from Our PastorDear Parishioners,
The autumn weeks of September and October are especially rich with the unique array of saints’ days that are celebrated during this time. On September 8 we commemorate the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary, only one of three birthdays that are featured in the liturgical year. September 21, is the feast of the apostle and evangelist (once tax collector) St. Matthew.
Given how violently tax collectors were despised by their own Jewish people, this day assures us that conversion is possible for anyone – both those who are despised and those who do the despising. September 23 honors the beloved Padre Pio whose visible signs of Christ’s Passion (i.e., the stigmata) invite us to look beyond what we immediately see in others to discover what sufferings they endure below the surface of the skin.
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Re-Entry into our Enhanced Church
by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B. | 09/22/2024 | A Message from Our PastorDear Parishioners,
Reentries can often times be difficult, disconcerting and even dangerous. Whether it’s reentry into the earth’s atmosphere from outer space, reentry into a family or society from which one was alienated, or reentry into a building, such as a place of worship, the action of coming back to some reality from which we were separated, poses numerous challenges. It demands giving up a familiar way of doing things from the past.
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Welcome Home
by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B. | 09/15/2024 | A Message from Our PastorDear Parishioners,
Most of us are probably familiar with the colloquial expression The walls have ears. More often than not, this expression serves as a warning to those who are under the impression that their “private” conversations are truly private. Whether the conversations were at home, a workplace or some other context, experience indicates that confidentiality is not always as diligently observed as one would expect. Information gets leaked.
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Bishop Hicks' September Column: God Blessed the Seventh Day and Made it Holy
by Bishop Ronald A. Hicks | 09/08/2024 | A Message from Our Pastor"I don’t have time for this!” These were the words that were on replay in my head as I drove from Joliet to Mundelein Seminary a few weeks ago. I was headed to a 3-1/2 day regional retreat for all the bishops from Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. In my justified view, my saturated work schedule simply did not leave any room for this spiritual “indulgence.” Yet, motivated mostly by duty, I checked into my room and asked the Lord to help me check my bad attitude at the door.
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New Director of Religious Education
by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B. | 09/01/2024 | A Message from Our PastorDear Parishioners,
I am pleased to introduce our newly hired Director of Religious Education (DRE) Julie Dillenburg. Julie comes to our parish with twenty-six years of having served in this ministry at number of parishes in the Joliet Diocese. She has a vast array pastoral experiences that include: teaching general education with certification to teach kindergarten through 9th grade, as well as, religious education, coordinating Religious Education programs, working as a Youth Minister as well overseeing the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA).
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