PARISH BULLETIN ARTICLE – JUNE 11, 2023
My mistake!… Our first courtyard concert is on Friday, June 16. However, the concert will not feature the songs of Frank Sinatra and the “Rat Pack” (that is scheduled for another date). The concert on this Friday will feature an Oak Park-based band playing rock and roll music from the 1960’s through 2000. The group was founded in 2019 by Tom Carraher, who sings lead vocals and is a long-time Ascension parishioner, and our own Jay Harris on bass and guitar. Other band members include Sarah Konsky, also from Ascension who plays keyboard and sings, Christina DeCillo from Ascension and Gary Soumar, both on guitar, and Jim Pittacora from St. Giles on the drums. Come hear the music of “The Island of Misfit Toys!” – Their sets will include songs from Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Janis Joplin, the Rolling Stones and everything in between.
So, mark your calendars for Friday, June 16, at 7 pm in our courtyard! Bring a chair, something to nibble on and a beverage to drink for a wonderful evening close to home. A free will offering will be taken up for the musicians.
This weekend, we celebrate the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus. The Eucharist is so central to who we are as Catholics. When we come together each week, we acknowledge the fact that Jesus gave us his Body and Blood to sustain and nourish us as we continue to carry out his mission.
Today we recall that, as Catholics, we believe the Eucharist is more than a symbol. Divine authority in scripture tells us that Jesus is really, truly and substantially present in the Eucharist. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” (John 6:54)
“When the priest, acting in Christ, consecrates the bread and the wine, we believe that Jesus becomes truly present. We come each week to share in this amazing mystery and be strengthen by the promise of Jesus to remain with us always, till the end of time.” (Matthew 28:20)
I am happy that this year on this Solemnity we can hear and fulfill the Lord’s command to “take and eat, take and drink.”
If you wonder, why should I make the effort to come to Mass when many have forsaken this opportunity to share in community and in Eucharist? If others ask you, why should they rethink coming to church when they made it through the pandemic and did okay without it? Here’s why: the one who offers the Bread of Life, eternal life, sustains us with this spiritual food and drink that we may be God’s gift to others.
Let’s keep all students and their teachers in prayer. As the school year has ended, may they have a safe and restful summer break.
God bless us all! Have a great week ahead.
With you a Christian. For you a priest.
Fr. Carl Morello
Pastor of St. Catherine-St. Lucy and St. Giles Parish
