Dear Parishioners,

In this week when gratitude is in the forefront of our minds and hearts, I wish to express my gratitude to all our parishioners who participated in our “Campaign Readiness Assessment Survey.” CLICK HERE to see a summary of the survey results. I hope everyone is as pleased with the results as I am.

I am also grateful to Lorraine Klemz who conducted the survey and met with various individuals and focus groups as part of this first phase of our campaign. In my opinion Lorraine has done an excellent job for us because she is thorough, creative, energetic and inclusive of all our parishioners.

In addition to all of those qualities that attest to her professional credibility, she also has a joyful exuberance that attracts people to this cause and makes them happy about being a part of it. Lorraine has served us so very well thus far, and I am confident she will continue to do so with the same excellence.

Our next steps will be to establish a detailed timeline with specific goals, fine tune the scope of the three facets of this project, and begin getting bids to present to the Diocesan Building Committee for their approval. In concert with the approval of the Diocesan Building Committee, we will also seek the approval of the Diocesan Office of Divine Worship since our project pertains to a church building. My experience with the Diocesan Offices has always been characterized by genuine support and a desire, on their part, to promote whatever is best for our parish. We are blessed to have this finely tuned structure of offices in our Diocese.

In order to name our capital campaign, I wanted to include our already existing parish tagline, Tradition with Vision, which was created by Sr. Carolyn Sieg, OSB a number of years ago. I composed 8 different possibilities and asked the members of our parish to indicate their preference. The option that multiple members chose was Cherish Tradition, Create Vision. I believe this phrase summarizes what our campaign hopes to accomplish in our upcoming centennial celebration in 2024. We certainly wish to cherish the tradition that has been handed down to us during the past 100 years. It is a tradition that was forged not only from Roman Catholicism, but also from the unique perspective of Benedictine spirituality that was appropriated by the parishioners of St. Joan of Arc Parish in Lisle, IL. Without a vision for the future, however, a tradition risks becoming an artifact in a museum. And so while we appreciate our past and the legacy with which it has gifted us, it is imperative that we create a vision for tomorrow so that we can perpetuate the unique charism of our parish and the blessings we have received. The formation of this vision is in its incipient stage with our School Board and Parish Pastoral Council. It will undoubtedly be an ongoing task so that it can respond to the needs of people at this moment in our history.

And so, we have much to thank God for this Thanksgiving Day of 2022 – for our past, no doubt, but also for the apparent desire to make a future out of that past here at St. Joan of Arc Parish. We will cherish our tradition by recalling the graciousness of God, and we will create a vision by remaining open to the wild and creative possibilities that the Holy Spirit offers us. Together we will make something beautiful for God, as St. Teresa of Calcutta was fond of saying. May she, along with our heavenly patron, Joan of Arc, assist us in this noble and life-giving challenge. I offer the following sonnet by Malcom Guite as a Thanksgiving reflection that, hopefully, puts into words what we feel in our collective heart.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving starts with thanks for mere survival,
Just to have made it through another year
With everyone still breathing. But we share
So much beyond the outer roads we travel;
Our interweavings on a deeper level,
The modes of life embodied souls can share,
The unguessed blessings of our being here,
Threads of connection no one can unravel.
So I give thanks for our deeper coinherence,
Inwoven in the web of God’s own grace,
Pulling us through the grave and gate of death.
I thank him for the truth behind appearance,
I thank him for his light in every face,
I thank him for us all, with every breath.

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