October 3, 2021

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!