We are in this together, and THIS this weekend is the Feast of the Trinity.
The other THIS is a welcome to Fr. Rich Jakubik as an Associate Pastor here at Holy Family, to be in this with us, and the THIS is our mission as a community of faith.
Fr. Jakubik is a 1989 graduate of Niles College of Loyola University, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 22, 1993. While residing at Five Holy Martyrs Parish on the south side of Chicago, he completed his studies at the University of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, with an S.T.B. (Bachelor of Sacred Theology) and S.T.L. (Licentiate Degrees in Sacred Theology) in 1994. He then served as an associate pastor for the next four years at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Glenview, Illinois. In 1998, he became a resident at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Wilmette, Illinois. For five years, he served on the faculty at Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary. While teaching at AQPS, he completed a Master’s degree in Social Work (MSW) in 2004. For the next twelve years, he served the Archdiocese as a psychotherapist at the Holbrook Counseling Center of Catholic Charities, providing individual, marriage and family counseling services. While at Catholic Charities, he graduated from the Illinois School of Professional Counseling (ISPP) in 2011, completing his Doctoral Degree in Clinical Psychology.
Welcome, Rich, and we hope you find Holy Family to be a warm and welcoming community and home!
There are 21 chapters in the Gospel of John. Five of them tell us about the Last Supper. That means that almost 25% of the entire Gospel (Chapters 13-17) are devoted to the events and sayings of Jesus during that most sacred meal. Chapter 13 tells us that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet as a sign of the kind of service he was asking them to do for the mission of the church. Chapters 14-17 are significant scriptural underpinnings for our theology of the Trinity. These chapters give us significant grounding as to why we believe that God is three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. Chapter 17 is a prayer from Jesus to God the Father that the disciples are undoubtedly listening to very intently.
As we celebrate the feast of the Trinity, I urge you to read chapters 13-17 of the Gospel of John this week and pray with them. They will inspire you once again to reflect on the very essence of who God is.
As promised last week I want to share a bit more detail of three great resources connected with the great commissioning of Ascension, to go and make disciples; and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to carry out the mission or action of that commission.
I mentioned that I have been inspired by three books that you may or may not be familiar with. The first is Rebuilt by Michael White and Tom Corcoran. Mike is a priest and Tom is a lay member of the staff at The Church of the Nativity in Timonium, Maryland. They, along with many others in their community, ReNEWed and rebuilt their parish by focusing on three things: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost and Making Church Matter.
The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic, a book by Matthew Kelly, tells us that there are four essentials of a Dynamic Catholic (and several significant saints): Prayer, Study, Generosity and Evangelization. Kelly also very simply describes a disciple as one who is willing to learn more and more about Jesus Christ.
In Bill Simon’s book Great Catholic Parishes he tells us that every GREAT parish has 4 characteristics: 1. Shared Leadership; 2. Fosters Spiritual Maturity and plans for Discipleship 3. Excels on Sundays (Weekends); and 4.Evangelizes in intentional and structured ways. We are humbled to be included as one of those parishes by Bill Simon, but we should all be attentive to these resources and grow even stronger in carrying out our very vibrant mission here at Holy Family.