​Dear Friends,

With the First Sunday of Advent we enter into the liturgical period preparing us for our Christmas celebration. These weeks during which the hours of sunlight are at their low point of the year remind us of the spiritual darkness into which Jesus, the light of the world, first emerged. Just as the days start getting longer after Christmas, the world’s hope began to light up after the birth of the Savior.

To help in your Advent preparations, we purchased some little booklets of daily meditations that you are welcome to take home with you. These are from Bishop Robert Barron, the well known author and speaker at the center of the Word on Fire ministries. There are lots of additional Advent resources, including inspiring videos and talks, available at that website: www.wordonfire.org. The website also has instructions for receiving the daily reflections found in the booklets via email each day. Another inspiring speaker and writer, Matthew Kelly, has Advent reflections and support available through the website: www.dynamiccatholic.com. You might also be interested in receiving daily Advent reflections from Chicago seminarians- you can sign up to receive these at: https://usml.edu/advent-reflections/

Here at the parish you might consider attending daily Mass during the week (if you are not working). Remember that we gather at 8:05 am for a 25-30 minute Mass- on Mondays and Wednesdays at Nativity and Tuesdays and Fridays at St. Gabriel. My parents attended daily Mass on most days during their entire adult lives, and regularly talked about how important that became as an anchor in their spiritual lives. Even if you don’t attend every day, consider trying just once a week. You may be surprised at the difference it makes.

I will make extra time to hear confessions during Advent: On Saturdays, I’ll be available 15 minutes earlier than usual, starting at 3:30pm. I will also be in the confessional during the Tuesday evening prayer and adoration from 6-7:30pm on December 14. At Nativity I will be in the confessional for the regular First Friday Holy Hour, December 3, from 7-8pm, and again on December 16 from 6 – 7:30pm. 

Remember that Saint Gabriel is also open for private prayer on Saturday mornings, from 9 – 10:30. 


May your week reflect the encounter with Christ We experienced at Mass today!

Dear Friends,

This weekend we close out the liturgical calendar of 2021, as we prepare to inaugurate a new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent next weekend. This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. The title of this is a not-so-subtle reminder that despite any appearances to the contrary, it is Jesus Christ who is running the show. The immense power and strength and glory of the Risen Lord is not shoved in anyone’s face… at least not yet. But at the End of Time (the technical term for this =  the Parousia) there will be no question as who Who is in charge. The first Sunday of each new liturgical year inaugurates the formal period of preparation for the celebration of the Incarnation of the Son of God (Christmas). Each liturgical year ends by celebrating the absolute and universal triumph of the One who was born in obscurity, died in infamy, rose from the dead in glory, and ascended to the Father in majesty.  

Thanksgiving Day is this coming Thursday! We will have Mass at 9 in the morning. Since we had this Mass at Nativity last year, this year we will gather at Saint Gabriel church. Though Thanksgiving is a secular holiday, its theme is religious and many people find meaning in starting the long holiday weekend by joining with fellow Catholics in a prayer that focuses on giving thanks. Please join us!

With Advent starting next weekend, we are reminded that Christmas is weeks away. Until we have some folks able to re-group and organize a formal “Giving Tree,” through which we can assemble Christmas gifts for individuals, we will take a different route. Just as we did last year, I am inviting parishioners to purchase gift cards for clothing stores, restaurants, toy stores, etc. that we can than package and give to a local organization to hand out to the poor that they serve. You can drop these cards into the offertory basket at Mass, or at the Nativity Parish Center or the St Gabriel rectory. We’ll wrap this up the weekend of December 12th, so that I can deliver the cards on December 13th.

Finally, the next batch of parish giving envelopes should be hitting mailboxes this week. As you will see, our Stewardship Envelopes have a new look. We have incorporated our new parish logo into the design and have provided boxes on the Building Fund, the School Support and the 50-50/Split-the-Pot envelopes with which you can designate Nativity of Our Lord or Saint Gabriel. Our regular stewardship offerings go towards general operations of the parish (as do the 50-50/Spit-the-Pot proceeds). 

May your week reflect the encounter with Christ We experienced at Mass today!

Dear Friends,
It was good to spend some days away for prayer and reflection last week. Priests make spiritual retreats annually, using the days of quiet and prayer to reflect upon and develop their spiritual lives and deepen their relationship with Jesus. I always find that these days help me to to re-set, to engage my faith at a deeper level. I know that it is often difficult for parishioners to make the time for spiritual retreats, but I also know that we all benefit from focused time alone with God. In lieu leaving home for a stay at a retreat house, making time each day for private prayer, for spiritual reading or watching spiritual shows on TV or the internet can help nourish our souls.

Each October all the parishes in the Archdiocese count Mass attendees and send the numbers to the offices downtown as part of the way for measuring parish health. Attendance at all the churches I know of continues to suffer in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, but we have seen some improvement here the past couple of months. Here is what we had this October: the Saturday 4:30pm Mass averaged 78 people; the Sunday 8am averaged 85 people; the 9:30 averaged 141 people; the 11am averaged 120 people. The average total number of weekend Mass-goers was 422. So we have this as our baseline… Clearly the goal is to improve this. 

Our first efforts will be to try to re-engage those who used to attend Mass regularly prior to COVID. I know that many simply got out of the habit or have gotten comfortable watching Mass on television or on the internet. I hoping that the coming Advent/Christmas season will prompt many of our former “regulars” to re-join us at the altar. Beyond that, we will work on attendance via the “backdoor” of evangelization. It’s not just a matter of getting “butts in the seats,” but in helping people to develop a living relationship with Jesus Christ. Once that is established, we can help them to see how Sunday worship facilitates an active encounter with the Lord of life. In the past, parishes sometimes thought that by staging “events” that guaranteed higher attendance (children reading, all-class Masses, RE Masses, etc), those who came for the show or special event would get hooked and keep coming back. This has been shown to be a failed strategy. The experts studying this have determined that we need to first work with folks outside of Mass to help them with their faith and their relationship with Jesus, and this will translate into a desire to attend Mass. 

May your week reflect the encounter with Christ We experienced at Mass today!

Dear Friends,

November’s Book of Dead is open and open and on a stand near the Saint Joseph altar. Parishioners are invited to inscribe the names of their deceased loved ones in this book, and we will remember them in a special way during the Masses this month. The Easter candle which is beside the Book of the Dead reminds us of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. This candle is lit during the 50 days of the Easter Season, as well as at all baptisms and funerals. We will also light it at our Sunday Masses this month. Our evening All Souls Day Mass last Tuesday was well attended and beautiful. 

I am very happy to report that our new parish web site is up and running. For the past months we had a temporary “landing page” with the basics, but the new page has now been launched! If you have not yet bookmarked this page on your computer, please do so. Here is our website’s address: www.nativitystgabriel.org

Thanks to Deacon Colm Mitchell for working on this with the website developer to whom the Renew My Church team directed us. We will continue to build out this site, but this is a strong start and a way of establish our public presence as we ramp up our engagement via social media. Our efforts now will involve getting the word out, not only for this, but for our new parish Facebook page. Jenni Simental has come on board part-time at our schools to work with marketing, recruitment, and development. She will also be working five or six hours/week on the parish side to coordinate our communications and outreach. Welcome, Jenni!

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 marked the formal end of World War I. It has been marked since then in the USA as Veterans Day, a celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. Interestingly enough, November 11 is also the feast of St. Martin of Tours, who is generally depicted as a Roman soldier and who, after his conversion to Christianity, left the military and eventually became a bishop known for his charity, devotion to prayer and good judgment.
​
Just a note that I will be on the seminary campus this week, making my annual spiritual retreat. Deacon Colm will celebrate communion services in lieu of Mass on Mon, Tues, Weds and Fri. I will be back for next weekend’s confessions and Masses

​May your week reflect the encounter with Christ we experienced at Mass today!

Dear Friends,

As I wrote last week, November is the month when we remember the dead in a special way. It begins with All Saints Day (November 1st) and All Souls Day (November 2nd). As a way of holding in prayer our loved ones who have died, we will have near the Saint Joseph altars of our churches (St. Joseph is the patron saint of a peaceful death) a “Book of the Dead,” into which parishioners can inscribe the names of deceased loved ones. In addition, if you would like to bring a framed picture of a deceased loved one and place it on the Joseph or Mary altar, please do so. We will leave those pictures out throughout the month as we hold close to our hearts the memories of these deceased loved ones. (Please be sure to write your name and phone number on the back so we can contact you in case you forget to pick it up at the end of the month).
 
Monday, All Saints Day, is holy day of obligation. We will have Mass at 8:15 am at Nativity of Our Lord (ten minutes later than the usual Monday morning time so that the school children can make it over); at 1:30pm at Saint Gabriel (primarily for the school children, but others are also invited) and at 7pm at Saint Gabriel.
 
On Tuesday, All Souls Day, we will have our usual morning Mass at St. Gabriel at 8:05. In the evening at 7pm all are invited to a special solemn Mass at Nativity of Our Lord church. We will pray in a special way for all whose funerals were celebrated at the churches of our parish over the past two years. Having lost my own mother last November, this Mass will have special meaning for me. I hope that you will also find this liturgy to be an occasion for healing and consolation as we remember and pray for our loved ones and encounter the Risen Lord in the sacrament of the altar. Please join us if you can.
 
May your week reflect the encounter with Christ
We experienced at Mass today

Dear Friends,
 
Many thanks to Bishop Lombardo and the 40 or so nuns, priests, brothers and seminarians who staffed the Night of Mercy last Monday evening. It was an honor for us that our parish was chosen to host the first of these events, which also took place on three other evenings last week at three other parishes in Vicariate III (which Bishop Lombardo’s territory, made up of about 50 parishes). I have to say that I was not sure what to expect or how it would go. It turned out to be a beautiful event, with many people of all ages stopping into church for some time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and to light a candle. Some went to confession. There was a great sense of peace as quiet music was prayed and people quietly came and went. A number of people with whom I spoke outside as they were leaving said, simply, “I really needed this.”
 
This coming Thursday at 7pm the Ancient Order of Hibernians (an Catholic Irish-American fraternal organization) will give a presentation in Saint Gabriel church on founding pastor, Father Maurice Dorney. Known throughout the world as “the Stock Yards priest,” Fr. Dorney was a friend to workingmen and company owners alike and assisted in procuring jobs and averting strikes. He even went so far as to attend and graduate from law school during his time as a pastor. In 1887, Fr. Dorney traveled to Ireland and played an instrumental role in exonerating Charles Steward Parnell, a champion of home rule for Ireland, after Parnell was accused of complicity in a murder. I am looking forward to learning more about my predecessor!
 
November is the month when we remember the dead in a special way. It begins with All Saints Day (November 1st) and All Souls Day (November 2nd). As a way of holding in prayer our loved ones who have died, we will have near the Saint Joseph altars of our churches (St. Joseph is the patron saint of a peaceful death) a “Book of the Dead,” into which parishioners can inscribe the names of deceased loved ones. In addition, if you would like to bring a framed picture of a deceased loved one and place it on the Joseph or Mary altar, please do so. We will leave those pictures out throughout the month as we hold close to our hearts the memories of these deceased loved ones. (Please be sure to write your name and phone number on the back so we can contact you in case you forget to pick it up at the end of the month).
 
Finally, the issue of vaccination mandates has been in the news of late, with much attention given to the mandate by the city to require all on its payroll to formally submit notification of vaccination status. The Cardinal has required that all employed by the Archdiocese do the same, including the priests. In fact, we received notice that unvaccinated priests will be contacted by a “priest influencer” to encourage vaccination, and that those persistent in their refusal will be removed from parish ministry. In addition, priests are prohibited from signing religious exemption forms for those experiencing a crisis of conscience regarding the vaccine. In the Cardinal’s judgement, getting vaccinated is a religious obligation. I am vaccinated, and I promote getting vaccinated; however, I must admit it is troubling that the Archdiocese requires that priests formally upload documents certifying vaccination rather than handle this on the “honor system.” We know how this pandemic has disrupted all our lives, and even ended many of them. We need to do whatever is necessary to end this disruption. Unfortunately, some ways of going about this seem to have caused division instead of bringing us together. Once we are in a safer, healthier place medically I think we’ll need to find ways to promote other kinds of healing.
 
May your week reflect the encounter with Christ
We experienced at Mass today!

Dear Friends,
 
October is “Respect Life Month,” a time when we focus especially on respect for the lives of the unborn. Recognizing that people of faith may differ regarding the best methods for eliminating abortion our society, we reaffirm our conviction that lives in the womb are human, and as such, they have value and deserve our respect and protection. We must work to give aid and support for women who find themselves facing a crisis pregnancy, those for whom abortion might seem like the “only way out.” Demonizing them does not reflect well on our baptismal vocation. However, we must designate as demonic any lie that calls the direct taking of innocent human life “health care.” Life is disrespected in so many ways in our society. May God help us to make progress in bringing about His Kingdom, where all human life is valued and treated with respect.
 
One way of praying for an increase in respect for human life is the Rosary. October is also the Month of the Rosary. Many pray the Rosary privately; I always carry a Rosary in my pocket as a reminder to pray it, or even just a decade or two. Parishioners gather to pray the Rosary as a group publicly each Wednesday at 5:30 pm at Saint Gabriel, outside near the respect life monument near the front of church (weather permitting).
 
On Monday evening, the 18th, Bishop Lombardo will be at Nativity of Our Lord church from 6 – 9 pm with a team of 40 priests, religious brothers and sisters, and seminarians for one of the Vicariate’s four Nights of Mercy. The Eucharist will be in the monstrance on the altar for adoration while meditative music and silence are alternated; priests will be available for confession or just a spiritual conversation; candles will be available to light. All are invited to stop in, even if for just a few moments, for a prayer. Refreshments will be available. Bring your children or come alone or with a friend. Invite a neighbor who has not been in church for a while.
 
 
May your week reflect the encounter with Christ we experienced at Mass today!

Dear Friends,

The need for Extraordinary Ministers of Communion at Mass has decreased quite a bit, since COVID has made us unable to offer the chalice to the congregation. At most of our Masses we have a priest and deacon, who are both “Ordinary Ministers of Communion,” and since most Masses only need two stations, we have not had many assignment slots available for lay folks. We do have three stations at the 9:30 Mass, and sometimes there is no deacon at the other Masses- so we do need to maintain a roster of some trained and mandated Extraordinary Ministers. If you would like to be trained for this ministry, please let me know. We could also use a few more Lectors, and so if you have a good public speaking voice and would like to proclaim the scriptures, please let me know- we’ll get you trained for this ministry. Ministers of Care are specially trained Extraordinary Ministers of Communion, who go through a somewhat extensive training process through the Archdiocese before they are given the commission and the permission to carry a consecrated host from church to the home of some who is sick or homebound. I need to work on getting a list of our current parish Ministers of Care, see if their Archdiocesan mandates are current, and then see if we could use a few more for this important ministry.
 
Bishop Lombardo will be bringing a team of religious sisters, seminarians and priests to our parish on Monday, October 18th, for one of four Nights of Mercy being held in our Vicariate. The church at Nativity will be open for prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, with priests available for confession or just a little spiritual conversation, from 6 – 9 pm. Quiet, reflective music will be played, free candles will be available to light, refreshments will be served outside or in the hall. Why not plan on coming by for 10 or 15 minutes to light a candle and say a prayer? This will be a beautiful opportunity for both children and adults. Or invite a friend or neighbor to come with you. It is a “low impact” and “low barrier” event, something requiring little time commitment and open to all.
 
May your week reflect the encounter with Christ we experienced at Mass today!

Dear Friends,

Many thanks to Leanne & Michael Costas, Pat McCarthy, Michael Hermle, Joe Hermle, Pat Arlowe, and Michele & Don Wort. Thanks also to the many sponsors and the 162 golfers who participated in last weekend’s Shamrock Classic Golf Outing, which provides support to our parish educational ministry at Saint Gabriel School. The weather was beautiful, and a good time was had by all!
The Shamrocks football team has been a connection point for some time for children of our parish living on both sides of 39th Street. While primarily made up of Saint Gabriel School students, it has also welcomed students from BCA. This may be one of the reasons it has been so easy for our children to adapt to our parish unification- they already know each other from extracurricular programs such as sports. I am thrilled that members of the football team have been attending Mass together each week in uniform.
 
Since I am in no position to enforce the mask mandate for the church I have chosen not to speak about it from the pulpit. I have no intention of publicly “shaming” those who choose not to wear a mask. I feel I should share, however, that I have heard from some who do not feel safe attending Mass if others are unmasked. I understand that there can be legitimate psychological reasons for not masking, even in situations where we are all asked to do so.  I ask those unmasked in church to reflect upon their decision not to mask. We are all about trying to build up the Body of Christ, which sometimes means accepting and abiding by rules we may not like or agree with, for the sake of unity and cooperation. I’ll be the first to admit that wearing a mask and dealing with others wearing masks has had an impact on my mental health, and I know I am not alone. But I think it is important that we try to see the value in getting on the same page in terms of practice, with the hope that this will go away soon.
 
The Special Religious Education Program (SPRED) of the Archdiocese of Chicago is a ministry serving developmentally disabled children and adults, helping them to learn about and encounter Christ through a specially developed model of catechesis and worship. The SPRED center is located right in our neighborhood, at 2900 S Lowe St. The folks at SPRED need some generous volunteers to take part in training and then to be part of a team running the sessions for children at that center. Do you think you might be called to this beautiful ministry? Or would you like to at least learn more about it? Please contact me to let me know. Once I have a few interested people I will arrange for someone from SPRED to come here to talk more about what this ministry involves.
 
May your week reflect the encounter with Christ we experienced at Mass today!

Dear Friends,

Each September I take a Sunday to offer a “State of the Parish” reflection as my homily, and this weekend is the time for it this year. The more extensive written report was mailed to every parish household, with the hope that it will have arrived at your home by the time you read this. If not, please keep your eyes open for it to arrive in the coming days. In addition to a snapshot financial report for the fiscal year that ended in June (the Finance Council reviewed and approved the much more detailed report in July), I reflect some on the highlights of the past year while looking ahead to the future.
 
Our Episcopal Vicar, Bishop Robert Lombardo, attended the Parish Council meeting last week. Deacon Colm and I have begun meeting regularly with the Vicariate Parish Vitality Coordinator, James Ehrler, to discuss the Evangelization effort and we were recently assigned an Evangelization Coordinator from the Archdiocesan Office of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship, and her name is Alicja Pozywio. I had a chance to meet with her for the first time this past week. Bishop Lombardo is putting together a team of religious sisters and seminarians to come to Nativity the evening of October 18th for a “Night of Mercy.” More on this in upcoming bulletins.
 
I am happy to report that it looks like work will begin this week to repair the cross embedded into the façade over the entrance doors at Saint Gabriel. Given the various inspections we have had over the past years, it looks like we can make a case for a possible lightning strike having weakened the stone, which means it could be an insurance claim. I’m crossing my fingers… Once that work is done, we will tackle the roof over the vestibule. I am still waiting for the formal revised report on the bell tower which we will use to get the wheels rolling on bids and finally tackling that project. At Nativity’s church we are working to schedule the roof work needed near the bell tower, where water has entered and caused some interior ceiling damage over the choir loft. We will pay for the roof work, but repairing the ceiling damage will be covered by insurance (we won’t do that, though, until we are sure that the water issue has definitely been addressed).
 
Please read Carl DeSanti’s piece in this weekend’s bulletin, in which he outlines his plan for beefing up our liturgical music ministry. We are blessed to have Carl and Kenned leading this ministry, and I hope that some new people will respond to his invitation to get involved!
 
May your week reflect the encounter with Christ we experienced at Mass today!