December 27 – The Holy Family

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family, and the majority of us probably think that our family is nothing like the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph – especially when it comes to holiness!  We say to ourselves that we could never be like “them.”  But why not?  Being a holy family does not mean everyone is perfect.  Being a holy family does not mean no one ever sins or loses their temper. Holiness does not mean there will never be disagreements or discord.  To think none of this happened with the Holy Family would be absurd.  So what is holiness?  Speaking from the experience of hearing confessions and counseling individuals for the past 38 years, I would say that the desire and effort to reconcile divisions within families is how a family becomes holy.  Unfortunately, I have seen too many times where funerals or weddings bring out the worst in family relationships.  How sad it is when family members refuse to attend a funeral or wedding due to an un-forgiven, un-reconciled grudge.  I have seen it many times, and it breaks my heart!

Another way families become holy is by exercising kindness and patience.  Again, speaking from my own experience and that of hearing confessions, I know how frustrating and at times embarrassing it is to care for a parent or family member suffering with Alzheimer’s or dementia.  My father had it for seven years before he died.  The repetition, the confusion, the repeating over and over, the hurt if there is lashing out is all very difficult to be patient with.  Then the embarrassing inappropriate outbursts in public! Yikes! It’s like role reversal…we become the parent and our parent becomes the little child! One of the options for the First Reading of today’s celebration of the Feast of the Holy Family gives us great encouragement!  It is from the Book of Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14.  It reads:  “My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives.  Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him; revile him not all the days of his life; kindness to a father will not be forgotten, firmly planted against the debt of your sins…”

Knowing that God will not forget the kindness you show to your aging father or mother, even if their mind fails, and that God will account for that kindness toward the forgiveness of your own sins should make it all the easier to be patient, even when it is difficult!

I pray that all our parish families become holier through reconciliation and kindness!

Enjoy this blessed Christmas Season!

Father Don

December 20 – Fourth Sunday of Advent

During the Advent/Christmas season, the company that publishes our Sunday bulletin has earlier than usual deadlines for getting each weeks bulletin to them for printing.  As such, I am writing today’s December 20 article on December 8 – one full week ahead of the normal deadline.  I am writing too as I am recovering from my unexpected surgery on December 3 to remove gallstones and my gallbladder.  A little concerning during the middle of a pandemic!

And so, on this 4^th Sunday of Advent, we are 5 days away from the celebration of Christmas!  And what a different celebration it will be for all of us this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  This was brought home for me today as I received an e-mail from friends in Wheaton where I have spent Christmas the last 19 years informing me they decided not to hold the annual dinner gathering with me and three other families that have traditionally come to their home on Christmas.  What a bummer!  I’ve sure many of you are experiencing the same thing in various ways.  For some, it doesn’t even feel like Christmas.  But you know what?  I’m OK with it, and even look forward to this Christmas alone (with the dog)!  Please, no pity parties! I know that many of you would invite me to your house for dinner, and I appreciate that.  But this Christmas IS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT – maybe even a great one!  Why?  The answer lies in a YouTube video I ran across the day before I wrote this article.  So, if you are feeling down about Christmas this year, I wish you would watch this 8 minute 30 second video.

Go to YouTube and search “This Could Actually be a Great Christmas” by Fr. Casey Cole OFM.  This young priest gives an insightful reflection that lifted me from this Christmas possibly being a depressing one to one that could be great!

So, I’ll be just fine!  After all the Christmas Masses, and still recovering from surgery, I know that I will be exhausted and I look forward to settling down for a long winter nap in the recliner next to the gas log fireplace with Chardonnay (the dog) in my lap and perhaps in a glass too.  And my friends from Wheaton are bringing me dinner too!  Life and Christmas, despite the pandemic, are grand!

Fr. James, our Deacons and wives, and all our parish staff wish you a most blessed Christmas.  In the midst of the challenges of our times, the truth still isn’t changed – God is with us!

Merry Christmas!

Father Don

December 13 – Third Sunday of Advent

It was previously announced that December 20 would be the last weekend that Deacon Mike Please would deacon Mass before moving to Tennessee.  Due to unforeseen circumstances, it has been moved to this weekend.  So, on behalf of the parish family of OLM I extend to Deacon Mike our love, support, and thanks for his diaconal ministry at Our Lady of Mercy, and we wish him well in his new position with FedEx in Tennessee.  God Bless you Deacon Mike and your wife Laurie and family! Deacon Mike shares his farewell message…..

Dear OLM Family,
It is with mixed emotions that I tell you I am leaving the only parish I have known for the past almost 30 years. I’m grateful for friendships made and for service to our parish as a deacon these last 4 years. I have talked about moving out of state for quite some time, but never had I envisioned this was going to take place so quickly. I guess I should have expected the unexpected this year, as 2020 was loaded with surprises. To cap off what has been a crazy year, I found out I’ll need to go under the knife for the first time on 12/21, nothing major though. What a way to end this year! Since we just had an offer accepted on a house in Tennessee, my thoughts turn to ministry at a new parish. While I will stay connected to many of you through my phone (call, text, social media), I understand we will have to make new friends and adjust to parish life in Tennessee. Wherever I end up, the parishioners might say the new deacon talks with a Chicago accent! I’ll do my best to try to bring a taste of Chicago to Murfreesboro (Portillo’s, Giordanos). As we all navigate the many changes that take place throughout our lives, just know you will always be in my thoughts and prayers, and this is just the next chapter in my life for which I am excited to begin. Turn the page!

In Christ,
Deacon Mike

December 6 – Second Sunday of Advent

Today is the Second of Advent and the feast day of St. Nicholas who unfortunately will not be making a visit today due to the Coronavirus.  So, I thought I would share some information about St. Nicholas.

St. Nicholas was the bishop of Myra and is the basis of the legend of Santa Claus.  He is a patron saint of Russia, Greece, and Sicily, and of many other cities and dioceses, as well as patron saint of children and pawnbrokers.  Born at Patara in Lycia (southwestern Turkey), a province in Asia Minor, he became bishop of Myra, the province’s capital, where he enjoyed a reputation for piety and pastoral zeal.  He was imprisoned during the Diocletian persecution (303 – 305) and was later present at the Council of Nicaea (325), where he joined in the condemnation of Arianism, the heresy that denied the full divinity of Christ.

He died at Myra, and there was a basilica built in his honor in Constantinople by the emperor Justinian.  In 1087 his relics were taken to Bari and a new shrine built in his honor there in 1095.  Pope Urban II was present for the solemn opening of the shrine.  From that time forward, Nicholas’s cult became almost universal in the West.  He also has had an important place in the Byzantine liturgical traditions.  He is thought to have been the most frequently represented saintly bishop for several centuries.

The tradition of giving gifts to children on his beast began in the Low Countries and became popular in North America through the Dutch settler of New Amsterdam.  The Dutch also combined with the gift giving the Nordic legend of a magician who punished naught children and rewarded good ones with presents.  His patronage of pawnbrokers is linked with yet another legend about Nicholas’s throwing three bags of gold through a window to be used as dowries for three young women who would otherwise have been given over to a life of prostitution.

The feast of St. Nicholas is also observed by the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches, the Church of England, the Episcopal Church in the USA, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Let us take a deeper look at the legends surrounding St. Nicholas.  Perhaps we can utilize the lesson taught by his legendary charity, look deeper at our approach to material goods in the Christmas season and seek ways to extend our sharing to those in real need.

Have a Blessed Advent!

Father Don

November 29 – First Sunday of Advent

Today we hit the reset button!  Liturgically speaking.  Today, the First Sunday of Advent begins a new year of scripture readings for Sunday and weekday Masses.  We are now in year B of the Sunday readings and cycle I for weekday readings.  But Advent is more than just a change in scripture readings.  Advent is a call to hit the reset button in our lives!  And I can’t think of a better time than NOW to reset the direction of our lives.  We are living in the midst of a pandemic.  We are weary, and sometimes suspicious, of government mandates in response to the pandemic.  We are weary of politics that has polarized us as a people, a nation, and a church.  We are weary of zoom meetings and online learning.  We are weary of minimal interaction with our family, friends, and neighbors.  As I said in my homily a couple of weeks ago, I think we are all experiencing a low-grade depression.  But you know what, things weren’t all that different 2,000 years ago when Israel was weary of wars and being ruled by the Romans.  They longed for a Savior.  We celebrate the birth of that long awaited for Savior at Christmas.  Advent is a reminder that we long for the RETURN of that Savior.  Advent is a time to refocus on the promise of Jesus that he would return in glory. We Christians have waited for two millennia.  The season of Advent is a season that invites us to deeper conversion.  As disciples of Christ, we learn anew what it means to wait as Christians.  Our weariness should be comforted in the fact that our Savior HAS come…..and will come again!  Let’s all hit the resent button, be a little more joyful, a little more patient with each other, a little kinder.  Though the uncertainties of our time can frazzle our nerves, we know one thing for sure…Jesus redeemed us and will return in glory.  Now that should bring a smile to your face!

Speaking of hitting the reset button, I share with you today that Deacon Michael Plese and his wife Laurie will be leaving the parish and moving out of state.  Deacon Mike has worked as a delivery driver for FedEx for 33 years.  He has accepted a new position to work out of their facility in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  Deacon Mike and his family have been members of OLM for 29 years.  Their adult daughters, Emily is married and lives in London, England, and Michelle will be married at the cathedral in Nashville in August 2021.  Deacon Mike was ordained in 2016 and has served OLM as a catechist in the RE program, celebrated baptisms and weddings.  He has   participated in Communion Services and Benediction.  He has taken the brunt of my teasing.  I’m not sure how Red Robin on Ogden Avenue is going to stay in business after he moves!  Deacon Mike starts his new job the first week of January 2021, and he and Laurie will be moving to the Nashville area with 2 dogs and 3 cats!  I personally thank Deacon Mike and Laurie for his ministry at OLM.  He has been one of the biggest recruiters for new permanent deacons from our parish.  He will deacon the 10:00am Mass on December 20 and give a farewell message at all the Masses that weekend.  We will miss you Deacon Mike!

Have a Blessed Advent!

Father Don