A special message regarding Renew My Church from Father Tom

January 14, 2021

I am pleased to announce that the Renew My Church Decision Announcement will occur on Friday, January 22nd at 6:30 PM.

Please join us at www.renewmychurch.org/announcements on your computer or smartphone.

The announcement will be made by Bishop Manz our regional Vicar and Cardinal Cupich’s representative to our region of the archdiocese.

We will meet online due to Covid restrictions with the people of Mater Christi, St. Pius X and St. Hugh to share the Cardinal’s decision for our grouping.

Once the announcement has been made, the work of RMC begins in a different way, as we embrace the new reality and work together toward the unity and mission of our new parish.

Let us pray for all in our grouping as we hear the decision and respond with faithfulness for the future of the Church in our area.

A special message from Father Tom:

January 12, 2021

The violence at the United States Capitol building on January 6 clearly demonstrated the deep divisions in our county.  It was horrifying to watch the lawlessness and violence in the very heart of our country’s government.  As Catholics and citizens of the United States, we have a responsibility to decry such actions.Let us keep in our prayers those who lost their lives and those that were injured, physically and emotionally.Thankfully, order was restored, and our elected officials were able to return to work and finish the job they swore an oath to do – defend our democracy and uphold the Constitution of the United States of America.We must remain hopeful for the future.  We must find ways to heal the wounds that divide us politically;  the responsibility lies with each and every one of us.As leaders in our faith community and examples to our children, we must demonstrate an openness to listen to those who have different views than ourselves, a willingness to respectfully discuss those differences and the courage to find common ground so that we can move forward and do the hard work to fix the many problems our nation and world are experiencing.As disciples of Christ we are called to love our neighbor as ourselves.Let us learn from yesterday.  We are called to treat one another with dignity and respect, find ways to work together, and find the common ground on which our democracy was founded so we can truly be the united states.

Statement of Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, on Today’s Attack on Democracy at the U.S. Capitol

January 6, 2021

What has been unfolding at the Capitol today should shock the conscience of any patriotic American and any faithful Catholic. The eyes of the world look on in horror as we suffer this national disgrace. For many months we have witnessed the deliberate erosion of the norms of our system of government. Peaceful protest is a sacred right. It has been an essential component of much social progress over the course of human history. But violence is its opposite. Violence in the service of a falsehood is worse. Please join me in praying for the woman who was shot during the rioting, and who has died, and for law enforcement who protect us against mob rule.We pray for peace at this bracing moment in U.S. history, a history that has been marked by one of democracy’s greatest virtues—the peaceful and orderly transition of power. May our elected officials heed the counsel of their better angels to stand up for the Constitution they swore to defend, to speak the truth, and to recognize threats to democracy, no matter their source. May God’s love suffuse our political life together, reminding all Americans that politics is the peaceful resolution of conflicting points of view. This is our tradition as a democratic nation—and we undermine it at our own peril.