Fr. Don asked me to write for Heidi Howls this week as this Sunday marks my one year anniversary as a priest. The seminary, I believe, prepared me well, or at least, as much as the seminary is able. It has become apparent to me during my first year as a Priest that there are things that the seminary just can’t prepare one for—one of those things, of course, is the seminary failing to teach me how to live with a dog that sheds more than a….well, anything I have ever seen.

There is no way the seminary can prepare a man for everything he is going to experience in his first year as a priest. Ministering in tragic situations; burying children; ministering to countless heartaches….no shot. But that’s okay. It doesn’t need to. It doesn’t need to because of what happened one year ago this weekend. After Bishop Conlon laid his hand on my head, he said the words of priestly consecration. He called forth the Holy Spirit and I was changed. I was now tapped into a new power that would always be present when I called upon it. The seminary can’t “teach” this: “With the sacramental outpouring of the Holy Spirit who consecrates and sends forth, the priest is configured to the likeness of Jesus Christ, head and shepherd of the Church, and is sent forth to carry out a pastoral ministry….The sacrament of holy orders confers upon the priest sacramental grace which gives him a share not only in Jesus’ saving “power” and “ministry” but also in his pastoral “love.” At the same time it ensures that the priest can count on all the actual graces he needs, whenever they are necessary and useful for the worthy and perfect exercise of the ministry he has received.”

 These words from St. John Paul II’s Pastores Dabo Vobis are comforting to say the least. The demands and trials of the priesthood calls one forth to greatness (just as the trials and demands of marriage and the other vocations calls one to greatness). That greatness, we often times do not reach. In the face of those demands and trials we become acutely aware of our failures and weaknesses. In this spot of weakness is where Jesus wants to dive in and go to work. In this spot of weakness is where Jesus wants us to know that we can count on Him. During this first year, I have “counted” on Him and leaned on Him time and time again.

That being said, the joys of my first year as a priest have been so much greater than I could have imagined. As I mentioned in a homily a few weeks ago: I love being a priest! I love being your priest.

Much has been made over the tears I shed when I found out I was assigned to OLM. Aurora?!? Where is that? Diocese of Rockford? Now, I can’t imagine having been sent anywhere else. OLM is now home. Thank you! Thank you for all your support and encouragement. Thank you for your prayers. Most of all, thank you for teaching this guy fresh out of the seminary how to be a priest.

In Him,

Father Mark

Almost everybody loves a birthday – unless you are of an age when you would just as soon forget another birthday.  But generally speaking, everybody loves a birthday.  It’s a time to celebrate a life and to inaugurate a new year of that life as best wishes and blessing are shared.  Cake, ice cream, and presents top off the day.

Today, the feast of Pentecost, we celebrate the birthday of the Church.  Jesus’ mission takes on a new life as the Holy Spirit fills the faithful with gifts needed to continue Jesus’ work in the world. Now it is up to the Church to be the presence of Christ in the world.

And today I would like to celebrate a gift that has been given particularly to THIS Church of Our Lady of Mercy.  With Fr. Mark, I offer congratulations and gratitude to OLM parishioners Cynthia Hapke, Kimberly Harris, Douglas McIlvaine, and Emilia (MiMi) Tse who graduated on May 5^th with a Lay Leadership Certificate from the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.  They received their certificates from Cardinal Blasé Cupich during an academic convocation held at St. Mary of the Lake.  The two-year program forms parish volunteers who demonstrate leadership potential.  The program seeks to deepen their personal spirituality and engage in theological reflection; to study Church doctrine, Scripture, sacramental theology and Church history; and to refine their communication and leadership skills.  Graduates of the certificate program are prepared to assume many roles of volunteer leadership in their parish. Previous OLM graduates of the program include: Bettye Abbott, Phil Britton, Claudia Molina, and Zara Tan.  These eight parishioners truly have been a gift of the Spirit to our community through their leadership and involvement in so many ministries at our parish.  May God continue to bless them and us as Cindy, Kim, Doug, MiMi, Bettye, Phil, Claudia and Zara so generously share their gifts of the spirit with us!

The Holy Spirit has also gifted us with a new Director of Religious Education for K – 5.  Our new DRE is Mary Jo Trapani.  She served for 16 years as Director of Religious Education and RCIA at Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Madison, Wisconsin.  In her letter of application she wrote:  “Led by the Spirit, I am seeking the DRE position at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church to engage students, their parents and volunteers creatively in the faith in order to facilitate personal encounters with Christ that energizes them to witness a life of discipleship.”  We look forward to welcoming Mary Jo and the gifts she will bring to our children, families, and staff.  She is in the process of re-locating to our area and will begin her position on June 18, 2018.

As Pentecost concludes the Easter season, may the joy of the Risen Lord continue to fill your heart!

Have a Blessed Week!

Today we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord and Mother’s Day.  When I thought about these two celebrations happening on the same day, I could actually see some correlation.  Ascension celebrates when Jesus was taken up to heaven 40 days after his resurrection.  In those 40 days, much like our mother’s do as we are growing up, Jesus prepared his disciples to go out on their own.  At some point in our life, as hard as it sometimes is for both mother and child, the apron strings have to be cut so that we may become who we are meant to be.  Jesus had to “cut the apron strings” with his disciples so that they could go out and proclaim the good news.  But, like our mothers who will always be there to support and encourage us during their life, Jesus is and always will be there for us when we face the challenges of life.  So let us take great comfort knowing we are never alone!

Mother’s Day always make me think of the women that have had a tremendous impact in my life.  I’m here because a nun told my parents that my brother, who was always in trouble at school, needed a brother!!  I was 5 years old and my brother 18 when our mother, Dorothy died the day after Christmas.  My dad re-married the following November and now I had a step-mother Evelyn.  She died when I was 27 years old and I was in the seminary.  After being ordained a priest for 5 years, my father at age 77 got married again!  I officiated the wedding!!  So, I’ve had three mothers, Dorothy, Evelyn, and Sylvia – all whom I credit with influencing who I have become.  My birth mother was a registered nurse and cared deeply about people.  I think that had an early influence in planting the seed of a vocation to the priesthood.  The nuns who were so loving and supportive of my family after my mother died I think also planted the vocational seed.  My second mother I credit with giving me a playful sense of mischievousness and humor.   She is the one whom I still quote today: “some people in hell want ice water!”  “don’t get your bowels in an uproar!”  She would try anything once, and always challenged me to step outside my comfort zone. A convert, she also had a deep faith that also influenced my vocational calling.  Having a third mother at age 35 and her love and care for my aging father as he developed dementia, showed me the sacrificial love of the vocation of marriage and that I was called to that same sacrificial love in my vocation as a priest.  There are numerous other women throughout my life –  grandmothers, aunts, cousins, friends that I am so appreciative of their love, example and support.

So, on this Mother’s Day, let us give thanks to God for our mom’s and all they have done for us.  May they know our deep appreciation for the sacrificial love they have given to us.  The vocation of motherhood is a sacred and holy vocation.  Let us also give thanks to God for all women who have nurtured us with love, care, support and encouragement.  May God bless them all!

Happy Mother’s Day!

I hope you’ve noticed!  After almost 21 years of countless praying knees, the padding on the kneelers in church were pretty worn down. Those worn out pads have been replaced!  We thank parishioner Peyton D’Orazio who, for his Eagle Scout project, organized and coordinated a team of volunteers (mostly youth) to remove the old padding and install new padding on the 287 kneelers in church.  This was all done in 1 day!  Way to go Peyton and team!!  And the project was funded by the profits of last year’s Mercy Fest.  And I have my sights set on another project for MercyFest profits this year. I think most of you would agree with me……. the sound system/acoustics in church definitely needs improved and updated!  I don’t know about you, but at times, depending where I sit in church, I find it difficult to hear what is being said from the ambo, cantor stand and even the presider’s mic.  In the 21 years the current sound system has been in use, there are many technological advances that new systems have today.  And I especially want to add hearing devices and technology for those with hearing loss.  I have already received bids from 3 companies and the project is not cheap.  So, we need to have a really successful MercyFest this year!  I know that chairs Tony/Jennifer Leazzo and Tom Martin are already hard at work planning this year’s MercyFest.  I know they want to make MercyFest special this year in celebration of the parish 30^th anniversary.  It’s not too soon to volunteer your help! If you’ve never been involved with MercyFest, now is the time!  And I make a special invite to those who are “alumni” volunteers and workers from the past who so generously gave of your time and efforts to make previous Mercy Fests so successful, for old times’ sake and unity of celebrating our parish 30^th anniversary – come back and help this year!!!  Contact Tony at 630.566.9870 to volunteer.  The dates for MercyFest this year are October 4^th – 7^th.

I know you always find Fr. Mark’s homilies very inspiring – I do!  Fr. Mark spends a great deal of time praying and preparing (and sometimes agonizing) over his homilies.  Sometimes he will say to me on a Thursday morning “I ain’t got nothing!” worried about what he will preach on that weekend. Well, the Holy Spirit always seems to come through and inspire him. I’ve told his mom I haven’t decided yet if I am living with a future bishop or saint! I think he could be the modern day Bishop Sheen! If you missed the homily he gave at all the Masses two weeks ago (April 22^nd) you need to go to the parish APP and listen to it! He spoke about the need to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.  He also spoke about the need for men to step up to the plate and be more involved in the faith formation of their children, but also for men to become more deeply in touch with their masculine spirituality.  And to do this through sharing faith with other men through the common bond of simply working out (exercising) with each other.  So, last Saturday 70 guys of all ages showed up at 7:00AM in our parking lot to exercise with Fr. Mark (I went on a bike ride).  I could only help but think – with in shape, blonde haired Fr. Mark leading exercises – that Fr. Mark is the Jack LaLanne of our times!  Unfortunately, he and most of the guys exercising with him have no idea who Jack LaLanne was!  God bless ‘em!  Ah! To be young again!

Have a Blessed Easter Season!

This weekend and next, we celebrate First Ho- ly Communion with 156 children of our parish. What a special day it is for them and their  families! To receive  Jesus in this holy sacrament is the nourishment we all need to live  and grow in our relationship with Jesus. As  we all need to nourish our bodies daily with  proper nutrition to keep strong and physically  healthy, we too need to feed our souls, at least  weekly, with the Eucharist to have a healthy  spiritual life. Eucharist is the original “soul” food! So, I pray that this First  Communion for our children won’t be th eir last. When children confess that  they missed Mass, I tell them they haven’t sinned because they can’t get to  Mass on their own. That is the responsibility of parents. I tell the children to  tell their parents that they need and want  to go to Mass. So parents, I implore  you, don’t let your children become spiritually malnourished by missing the  opportunity to be fed by Jesus weekly in Holy Communion. And don’t be- come malnourished yourself!!

I want to thank the staff of our Religious Education Office, Cheryl Lohse and Jean Rehmer for all their assistance in preparing for this day. Also, I  thank Kim Harris, Cleo Hesselbach, Phyllis Anderson, Marie Reitenbach,  Chris Harvey, Rose Rolando, Catey Genc and Barb Toschak for their assistance with the liturgies. Thanks to Carrie Nadziejko and Jeanne Daill for  photography. And, a special thanks to our catechists, and parents for preparing theses children for this special day.  On behalf of Fr. Mark, and the parish  family of Our Lady of Mercy, I congratulate our children on the reception of  their First Holy Communion, and am delighted to welcome them to the table  of the Lord!

As we smile at the joy and excitement of our first communicants, perhaps  nostalgically remembering our own 1^st Communion Day, maybe it would be a  good time to examine our own beliefs and attitudes toward our reception of  the Eucharist. Has receiving communion  become so routine that we forget  the reverence and awe we should feel as we approach our Lord in Holy Communion? Is the Eucharist simply something you get for yourself, or does receiving communion transform you to become Jesus for others? In recent surveys, sadly a significant number of Catholics do not believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist believing the consecrated bread and wine are  only symbols of Jesus’ presence. To BE Catholic is to accept by  faith that, at  their deepest reality, but not in physical characteristics, the bread and wine  become the Body and Blood of Christ when they are consecrated at Eucharist.  After consecration, the bread and wine  still appear as such, but they actually  are the Body and Blood of Jesus.

As we celebrate the simple faith of our children receiving 1st Holy Communion this weekend, may we have that same childlike faith when we come  forward and receive the Body and Blood of Jesus!