From the Pastor’s Desk

March 14 – The Fourth Sunday of Lent

Have you noticed? It began on Ash Wednesday. A change in the conclusion of some of the prayers at Mass. I bet you didn’t even notice…it’s so small. I even wondered why the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments made a big deal of it, and why they didn’t catch it before we started using the third translation of the Roman Missal which is a more accurate translation of the Latin, on the First Sunday of Advent 2011. So what’s the change? It is in the concluding doxology of the Collects in the Roman Missal and other liturgical books. Most of the prayers conclude with “Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.” Specifically, the Congregation points out that the current translation is incorrect. There is no mention of “one” in the Latin, and that “one” was added when the texts were published in English, after the Second Vatican Council. So, now we conclude with “Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.” If you ask me, they must have run out of things to do in Rome!

This coming Friday, March 19^th is the Feast of St. Joseph. Pope Francis declared this a year in honor of St. Joseph. At all the Masses the weekend of March 20 & 21, we will recite the Prayer of Consecration to St. Joseph, and you will receive a holy card of St. Joseph as you leave Mass courtesy of Beidelman-Kunsch Funeral Home.

Most depictions of St. Joseph show him holding the child Jesus, but sometimes he is depicted holding a church like the statue of him on the wall in our church. This is because St. Joseph is the patron saint of the Universal Church. Pope Francis in proclaiming the Year of Saint Joseph wrote: “Saint Joseph was a father in varied ways; beloved, tender and loving, obedient, accepting, creatively courageous, working, and ‘in the shadows’.” Pope Francis concluded his letter with a short prayer to Saint Joseph as a synthesis of his teachings. This prayer will be on the back of the holy card you receive.

In the bulletin today and on our website, you will find a list of what you can do to receive a Plenary Indulgence during the Year of Saint Joseph.

Have a blessed week and Lent!

Father Don

From the Pastor’s Desk

March 7 – Third Sunday of Lent

Today is the Third Sunday of Lent. This Sunday and the next two Sunday’s we celebrate the SCRUTINIES with those who will be baptized this year at the Easter Vigil. And while I write about the Scrutinies every year at this time, a reminder might be helpful. Even if these rites are not celebrated at the liturgy you attend, it can be wonderful to reflect upon the journey the Elect, those preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil, as an inspiration and source of renewal for us in our journey. At the Mass the Scrutinies are celebrated, the A cycle of the Sunday readings are used. This week, the woman at the well, next week the man born blind, and the following week, Lazarus being raised from the dead.

These are ancient rites and they may, at first, seem strange to us. But they are profoundly rooted in our human experience. We need to examine (scrutinize) the areas of our lives where we are tempted, or seriously in, in what we do and what we fail to do. We really need healing and the strength that can come from the support of our sisters and brothers.

Unfortunately this year, due to the COVID pandemic, we have not been able to conduct the RCIA as it usually is done. Missing has been the group coming to Mass together and after the homily being dismissed to gather together and reflect deeper on the Word of God they just heard. The formation sessions have been held through Zoom instead of gathering each week in person. So, you have not had the opportunity to see those who are preparing for baptism and those preparing to be received into the Church. So, in these final weeks of preparation, I ask you to intentionally keep them in your prayers.

At this time of year, some households get turned upside down for the annual ritual of spring cleaning. More zealous housekeepers go to great extents. Bedding is taken outside and aired, bed springs rinsed of the year’s dust. Floors are waxed, rugs and furniture vacuumed, windows washed, nook and crannies dusted. Lent is our spiritual spring cleaning. We are called to go again to the center of our faith – our share in Christ’s death and resurrection. We are asked to examine how our conviction and practice may have gathered dust during the past year (especially since when have been dispensed from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass during the COVID pandemic). It is only human for us to get complacent, to slack off, to compromise with evil, to get comfortable with our sins. Do we really have to take out all the furniture for an airing? Yes, we do!

Have a blessed Lent!

Father Don

From the Pastor’s Desk

February 28 – Second Sunday of Lent

How easy do you find it to trust in God? I don’t know about you, but there have been times in my life that I have found it difficult to trust in God, believing that He really has a plan. When I have to conduct the funeral of a parent leaving behind small children, or the funeral of a teen who died by suicide or a drug overdose, I find myself asking God a lot of questions. Trusting in the paradoxes of God is challenging! For example, in today’s first reading from Genesis, Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac appears to make no sense at all. The promise to the patriarch seems to be in jeopardy since Abraham can realize the blessing of a great posterity only through Isaac. God’s command is apparently counterproductive. In this account however, the author informs us that this entire actions is designed as a divine testing. It is meant to evoke the patriarch’s wholehearted commitment to God. Abraham thus emerges as the paragon of faith and trust. He learns, painfully perhaps, that we are called to trust in the paradoxes of God.

In the second reading Paul also struggles with trust in divine paradox. He speaks of God as one who did not spare his own Son but handed him over to death for the sake of all humanity. Paul then quickly adds the human trust component to this paradox of live via death. If God has acted in this seemingly bizarre way, the “how will he not also give us everything else along with him?” Paul captures the depth of divine paradox in the death and resurrection of Jesus to elicit human trust in One who apparently does not go by the book! We are called to trust in the paradoxes of God.

The early Christian community saw Good Friday as the great paradox. The kingdom so eloquently proclaimed by Jesus was obviously in jeopardy, if not already snuffed out. However, Mark in today’s Gospel uses the transfiguration to establish the divine paradox. Jesus had earlier enunciated the plan of passion, death, and resurrection. In the transfiguration story, the three disciples share in the divine revelation yet come away discussing the meaning of resurrection. For Mark, the transfiguration makes sense only on the grounds that one presupposes the resurrection follows only after suffering and death. In Mark too, we are called to trust in the paradoxes of God.

The Eucharist provides a fitting setting for the theme of the paradoxes of God. It is the paradox that Jesus’ dying can lead to Jesus’ being raised. The bread and the wine become the symbols of divine paradox. They challenge us to transcend the world of effort and results to accept a God of concern who writes straight with crooked lines. In the Eucharist, too, WE are called to trust in the paradoxes of God!

Have a blessed Lent!

Father Don

From the Pastor’s Desk

February 21 – First Sunday of Lent

This Wednesday I begin a six-week reflection and discussion series “Living Your Baptism in Lent.” It is held on Wednesdays from 7:00pm – 8:30pm. You can participate in person or via zoom. Registration is on the parish website.

So why discuss baptism in Lent? Most people think of Lent as a time of penance, giving up some pleasure, going to confession, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. Lent is that, but it is also more. Lent is also a time for the faithful to PREPARE to renew your baptismal promises on Easter Sunday. Most people give little thought to their baptismal promises because most people were baptized as infants and your parents and godparents made the baptismal promises for you at a time you were not cognizant of the meaning of those promises. When you were baptized, your parents and godparents said “yes” for you to the following questions:

• Do you reject sin so as to live in the freedom of God’s children?
• Do you reject the glamour of evil, and refuse to be mastered by sin?
• Do you reject Satan, the father of sin and prince of darkness?
• Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
• Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
• Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?

The question then as we have grown up is how well each of us have understood, embraced and lived those promises that were once made for us by our parents and godparents? The Lenten theme of conversion is also an important part of our understanding of Baptism. Conversion is a LIFELONG process and Lent helps us to remember that. Lent is about responding to the grace of Baptism. Lent is a time to intentionally respond to God’s call. At our baptism we were given the Holy Spirit. Lent invites us to consider the movement of the Holy Spirit already in us.

Whether you are able to join my presentations and discussion, use the above questions to reflect on your baptism this Lent, and be PREPARED to renew YOUR baptismal promises this Easter.

Have a blessed week!

Father Don

From the Pastor’s Desk

February 14 – Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

In addition to today being the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, it is also World Marriage Sunday. How appropriate – Valentine’s Day! I will share with you some points about the day from the Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

The readings for today highlight our need for Jesus as the Divine Physician. The Old Testament reading from Leviticus lays out the law for those who have contracted leprosy: such persons would be declared unclean, turned out from society, and made to live apart from others in efforts not to spread the disease. If a person were to touch a leper, they would then be declared unclean as well, facing the same restrictions.
Jesus, “moved with pity…stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, ‘I do will it. Be made clean.” The act of Jesus actually touching a leper would have shocked those around him. Love reaches out and touches others. Jesus touches this man, regardless of the risk of being ostracized himself. True love does not count the cost. Jesus gives all for all, unreservedly because his love knows no limits.
Every marriage is meant to be a little icon of the love of Christ and his bride, the Church. The love shared between a man and a woman in holy matrimony points us to the self-emptying, self-sacrificing love God has for each one of us.
The promises that married couples make to each other illustrate what this love looks like lived out in the day to day experience: to have and to hold, exclusively, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, to cherish, to honor until death. A person gives everything to his or her spouse.
The continuation of living life amid a global pandemic may have some married couples reflecting that this has been a season of “for worse, for poorer, and in sickness.” There are many married couples who are suffering right now: marital strain, illness, unemployment, etc. The sacrament of marriage provides the grace necessary to weather the storms of marriage and family life.

On this World Marriage Day, I thank all married couples for the witness of their sacrificial love “to have, to hold, to honor”!

Have a blessed week!

Father Don

From the Pastor’s Desk

February 7 – Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Why me? That is the universal question everyone asks when faced with suffering! That suffering can be physical with a terminal diagnosis. That suffering can be the loss of a job or home. That suffering can be the emotional pain and grief of losing a loved one or a divorce. That suffering can be the loss of broken family relationship. The list can go on and on. And “why me” seldom if ever leads to a satisfying answer. And so today we hear of the plight of the Old Testament figure, Job.

At the time of Job, suffering was seen as punishment for sin. It still is by many today. In the time of Job, there was no understanding of an afterlife of happiness, and hence no hope of God’s “making it up to you” for suffering. This compounds Job’s misery. He has lost the only happiness he thinks possible – in spite of being a good and righteous man. It seemed that God was punishing him for no reason at all.

As Christians, we are taught to live by faith, and usually we do. When doubt casts a shadow over our faith, it’s especially unsettling. We feel a second loss – loss of confidence in the faith we counted on. However, doubt IS NOT THE SIGN OF A WEAK FAITH OR A SINFUL SPIRIT. It’s NOT an insult to God, nor is it an act of disloyalty. Pope Francis wrote that “trusting in God does not mean never arguing with Him.” Thomas Merton wrote, “Faith means doubt. Faith is not the suppression of doubt. It is the overcoming of doubt, and you overcome doubt by going through it.” Paul Tillich wrote, “Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith; it is an element OF faith.” In other words, do not doubt that God can handle your doubt, whether occasioned by suffering or by something else.

The valuable question about our personal suffering is not “why?” Instead the valuable and practical questions is, “What am I going to do with it?” We can chose the “woe is me” path, or we can chose, like the suffering of Christ himself, to accept and offer our suffering WITH Christ and then our suffering has the power to accomplish good. When suffering comes your way, and it will, pray to God for the grace to offer your sufferings for the good of others.

Today Boy Scout Sunday is celebrated. We look forward to the time when our Cub and Boy Scout Troops sponsored by Our Lady of Mercy can meet again at OLM.

Ash Wednesday is two weeks away. Please remember to pre-register to attend a Mass or Scripture Service. Also, due to COVID, the sign of the cross with ashes will not be traced on your forehead. Instead, ashes will be sprinkled like a “pinch of salt” on top of your head.

Have a blessed week!

Father Don

From the Pastor’s Desk

January 31 – Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

This week the Church throughout the country celebrates “Catholic Schools Week.” The theme this year is: “Catholic Schools: Faith. Excellence. Service.” Catholic schools have a specific purpose to form students to be good citizens of the world, love God and neighbor and enrich society with the leaven of the gospel and by examples of faith.

Our Lady of Mercy parish is one of the five financially supporting parishes of the inter-parish Catholic grammar school All Saints Catholic Academy on Aurora Avenue in Naperville. There are many choices of Catholic grammar and high schools in the area for parishioners who want to send their children to a Catholic grammar school. Our Lady of Mercy specifically promotes All Saints Catholic Academy because the school and our parish is in the Diocese of Joliet. The other ten Catholic parishes in Aurora are a part of the Diocese of Rockford. While we provide tuition assistance for registered and active parents of OLM for their children attending a Catholic grammar school in the Rockford Diocese, our primary support and promotion is for All Saints Catholic Academy.

All Saints Catholic Academy provides Catholic education from pre-school through 8^th grade, and has had in person instruction since school began last August. Mass is celebrated weekly on Wednesday at 8:15am. Often times I am the celebrant. It is an excellent school with a strong and dedicated administration, faculty and staff. I invite you to check it out at: ascacademy.org

As communities of faith, Catholic schools instill in students their destiny to become saints. Academic excellence is the hallmark of Catholic education intentionally directed to the growth of the whole person – mind, body and spirit. Service is fundamental to Catholic education and the core of Catholic discipleship. Service is intended to help form people who are not only witnesses to Catholic social teaching but also active participants through social learning. Catholic schools, like the Catholic Church is not a building or an institution, but it is the people. As the people of God, we work together to bring the Kingdom of God to Earth and raise up the next generation to do the same!

I encourage our parents with grammar and high school age children to check out Catholic Schools as an option for their children’s education. And I thank all the dedicated staff and teachers who make a financial sacrifice by their dedication to Catholic education!

Have a Blessed week!

Father Don

From the Pastor’s Desk

January 24 – Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the bulletin of January 10, I gave a Big Christmas Thank You to those involved with the planning and implementation of our Christmas liturgies. Whenever I publicly recognize persons or groups for their service, inevitably I forget to mention someone or group. This time I failed to include the many volunteer greeters in my Christmas Thank You. I apologize. The greeter ministry at OLM is so very important. It is the greeters, holding the doors open and welcoming all who come to OLM that give that first sense of hospitality to those who pass through our doors. So thank you! Not only at Christmastime but all those Saturday/Sunday Masses throughout the year, rain, cold, snow we thank you for your smiling face and words of welcome! We welcome additional individuals and families who would like to join the greeter ministry. Please contact Phil Zwick at philiipzwick@yahoo.com.

Today, the Third Sunday in Ordinary time is “Word of God Sunday” proclaimed by Pope Francis in 2019. In the Introduction to the Lectionary for Mass, we are reminded of the role of the Word of God in the life of the Church:

“In the hearing of God’s word the Church is built up and grows, and in the signs of the liturgical celebration God’s wonderful, past works in the history of salvation are presented anew as mysterious realities. God in turn makes use of the congregation of the faithful that celebrates the Liturgy in order that his word may speed on and be glorified and that his name be exalted among the nations. Whenever, therefore, the Church, gathered by the Holy Spirit for liturgical celebration, announces and proclaims the word of God, she is aware of being a new people in whom the covenant made in the past is perfected and fulfilled. Baptism and confirmation in the Spirit have made all Christ’s faithful into messengers of God’s word because of the grace of hearing they have received. They must therefore be the bearers of the same word in the Church and in the world, at least by the witness of their lives. The word of God proclaimed in the celebration of God’s mysteries does not only address present conditions but looks back to past events and forward to what is yet to come. Thus God’s word shows us what we should hope for with such a longing that in this changing world our hearts will be set on the place where our true joys lie.”

Have a Blessed Week and take some time to read Sacred Scripture this week!

Father Don

From the Pastor’s Desk

January 17 – Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

This coming Friday, January 22, marks the 48^th anniversary of the landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. Ever since, the Catholic Church, along with some other Christian denominations and some non-Christians have taken up the campaign to reverse that decision. Over the years that sometimes took on violent confrontations and even bombing of abortion clinics. These, the Catholic Church has ALWAYS condemned. Just as our Bishops condemned the recent violence at our nation’s capitol. No matter what the cause one defends, violence is never an acceptable way to protest. Catholic across the country are encouraged to observe a nationwide prayer vigil from Thursday, January 28 to Friday, January 29, 2021. Since the Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling, over 60 million abortions have been performed legally in the United States. Due to COVID-19 pandemic the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception where the vigil is held will be closed to the public. Instead, it will be televised live on EWTN. Here is the schedule: (Time listed is our time zone)

Thursday, January 28

7:00PM National Rosary for Life

7:30PM Opening Mass with Archbishop Naumann

8:45PM Holy Hour for Life

10:00PM Live-stream of holy hours throughout the night

Friday, January 29

7:00AM Closing Mass

We at Our Lady of Mercy are conducting a Novena for Life beginning on January 21 through January 29. The novena will be prayer before the weekday and weekend Masses those dates. You will also find the novena on our website. Friday January 22 is a National Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. We will have Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction on Friday, January 22 INSTEAD of Thursday January 21. Let us pray for the conversion of heart of our new president, Joe Biden to defend the right to life of the unborn and promote the dignity of life from conception to natural death.

Have a Blessed Week!

Father Don

From the Pastor’s Desk

January 10 – The Baptism of the Lord

Today we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. In doing so, we end the Christmas Season and move from the manger to the river Jordan. The baptism Jesus received was not the Christian baptism that we received, most of us as infants. Unlike us, Jesus did not need to be freed from the stain of original sin. He was like us in all things, but sin. The baptism of Jesus inaugurated his public ministry. In Jesus’ baptism, he was revealed and affirmed as the beloved Son of God. In our baptism, we were affirmed as adopted sons and daughters of God. In Jesus’ baptism, God spoke the words “Listen to him.” And in our baptism, we are called to grow as disciples of Jesus and listen to him. Our baptism was not only for the removal of the stain or original sin, but also a commissioning to become a disciple of Jesus, and to make disciples of Jesus. Our parish mission is to give each and every person a life changing encounter with Jesus, to make disciples, and send them on mission. And that mission is not in foreign lands. We are called to bring to good news of Jesus to our family, our homes, our schools, our places of work, our neighbors, our local community. So, as we celebrate the baptism of Jesus, let us remember our own and what it calls us to do!

Today I would like to recognize one group who have responded to their baptismal call of discipleship. That group is our permanent deacons who have served us at Our Lady of Mercy Parish. I thank our deacons and their wives for their selfless service to our parish community and beyond. Deacon Tim Kueper (Gail); Deacon Tony Leazzo (Jennifer); Deacon Tony Martini (Allyson); Deacon Mike Plese (Laurie); Deacon Phil Rehmer (Jean); Deacon Art Tiongson (Babes). We appreciate you and your ministry!

As you know, Deacon Mike and his wife have recently moved to Tennessee. But God has provided! In early December, I met with Deacon Guadalupe (Lupe) Villarreal who recently moved with his wife Carmen to Aurora. Deacon “Lupe” as he is known, asked to transfer his assignment from St. Dennis in Lockport to OLM. I have agreed, and he starts next weekend. He was ordained a permanent deacon in 2007. Prior to serving at St. Dominic in Lockport, has served the parishes of St. Isidore in Bloomingdale, Divine Savior in Downers Grove, St. Dominic in Bolingbrook (where Fr. James was a deacon). He has been Catholic Chaplain at the DuPage County Jail for 10 years and conducts a weekly communion service there. He is Hispanic and bi-lingual and will be a great help as we minister to our bi-lingual parishioners. He and his wife have five adult sons. We welcome Deacon Lupe and his wife Carmen to Our Lady of Mercy!

Also on the Permanent Deacon front…We congratulate parishioners Michael Raiz (Mass Coordinator at Sunday 8:00am Mass) and Carlos Briceno (Fit Shepherds and editor of the Diocesan Magazine) who have been accepted into the Aspirancy program to be ordained permanent deacons. They join parishioners Doug McIlvaine and Buggsy Sindac who are in their second year of studies for the permanent diaconate.

Have a blessed week!

Father Don