Brandon Wu is a professional golfer currently on the Korn Ferry Tour, named after the primary sponsor, Korn Ferry Consulting from Los Angeles. This tour is similar to the minor leagues of professional baseball. Participants hope to move to the next level and, in Brandon’s case, the PGA tour. He obviously embraces the process, journey or pilgrimage that he is on. He was recently quoted as saying he is, “Chipping away at the masterpiece inside of him.” This is clever because a short shot near the green in golf is often called a chip. It is not a full swing, but a rather limited or small one focusing on accuracy. His statement is even more profound in light of the pilgrimage of faith that I believe we are all on. One way of viewing this coming year at Holy Family is that we are chipping away at the masterpiece inside each of us and inside our community.
Adventures in Grace: A Pilgrimage
Please circle Sunday, September 26 and Wednesday, September 29 on your calendar. Those are the dates that our Pilgrimage of Grace will begin. Dr. Terry Nelson-Johnson and his Soul Play team will help us to kick off the adventure of delving deeply into the grace of the Sacraments as indicated by our church, but also the grace that emanates from the sacramental moments well beyond the confines of church or religion. I am asking all of you to participate in this adventure. Engage your spiritual imagination with us and spread the word. Get ready for a meaningful, exciting and all-parish spiritual journey.
My Term Extension
Given the pandemic and many clergy personnel changes involved with Renew My Church, the Priest Placement Board has experienced a delay in some assignments. Recently, the Board recommended, and Cardinal Cupich approved, an extension to my 12-year term as your pastor. My term had officially ended a little over a month ago on July 1, 2021. This extension includes further discussion with the Board in January of 2022 regarding my extended future with you. I thank all of you who participated in my 360 evaluation. I deeply appreciate your feedback. More importantly, I thank you for your support over these past 12 years and I look forward to continuing adventures with you, particularly our Adventures in Grace Pilgrimage coming in September.
New Color
We have been able to accomplish several updates to our beautiful facility recently, many because of your generosity in our Providing for Our Family’s Future capital campaign. Thank you for continuing your faithfulness to your pledges and please note some of these improvements. One of the most noticeable will be the darker color of the back wall of the church sanctuary. Many, many parishioners and staff were consulted in helping to choose a darker color that will heighten many of the other lighter features of our sanctuary. Most importantly, the darker backdrop will make our beautiful Cross of New Life stand out even more. It is paint so, like all other painted surfaces, it can be changed in the future, but we hope this new color brings a backdrop that will enhance the colors, light features and textures of many elements of our church environment.
Assumption
The Church teaches that Mary, “…having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” This became dogmatic teaching of the Catholic Church in 1950 when Pius XII was Pope. One of the scripture groundings for this belief is Genesis 3:15 stating Mary’s victory over sin and death through her association with the New Adam, Christ and in Corinthians 15:54, “Then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”
The Gospel passage for this Solemnity (a feast day of the highest rank celebrating a mystery of faith) is of course from the Gospel that celebrates and includes women more than the others, Luke. It tells us of Mary, who has just recently become pregnant, visiting her cousin Elizabeth who is 6 months pregnant with John the Baptist. Elizabeth’s appreciation of Mary’s deepest identity inspires Mary to respond with one of the most poetic passages in all of scripture that we commonly call The Magnificat.
This passage has inspired me to write a song for one of my alma maters, St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein where I received much of my preparation for priesthood, a place named in honor of Mary. Part of the song is a prayer that I pray all of the time:
Lift us up when we are lowly
Scatter us in our conceit
Magnify our souls oh Lord
In victory and defeat.