ARTICLE FROM OUR PARISH BULLETIN – APRIL 28, 2024
Dear Parishioners,
In May, the Archdiocese of Chicago will ordain only four men to the priesthood. This year, 22 parishes are asking for associates with only 10 on the list available to be transferred. There are several large parishes in need of Pastors. The Personnel Board is working hard to meet all the needs; trying to place priests in the parishes that need them the most. Having the right personality, and some experience in both leadership and administration all come into play on where and how the priests are assigned. It is not just about placing a priest at a site but having the right person to be pastoral as well as to lead and manage the many areas of parish life. For this reason, the Archdiocese has encouraged larger parishes like our two Oak Park united parishes, St. Catherine of Siena-St. Lucy and St. Giles and Ascension and St. Edmund, to have Operation Directors to help with the administrative piece so that the priests and other pastoral ministers can focus on the sacramental and pastoral care of the parish.
Along with this, we have been given the opportunity to develop not only our Parish Councils and Finance Committees but create a Leadership Team that can work together to build and support strong lay leadership in our individual parishes and the larger Oak Park Catholic Faith Community in areas where we are working together. One example is the Spirit and Light Collaborative and its Board that we have been developing these last two years. Having one Pastor is not the ideal or what our parishes have been accustomed to. However, this is a reality we are facing as we look to the future. The Archdiocese has supported us in our efforts to create a new structure that can work for this community as we move forward and to be considered as a model for other areas of our church that are facing similar situations. This is a wonderful opportunity as well as a challenge for us all. I have heard the excitement of some and the concern and fear of others.
I share all this during this Easter season as a reminder of what it means for us to act as disciples of Jesus. We can only imagine how the disciples and friends of Jesus must have felt as they struggled with His resurrection, trying to understand it and what it would mean for them as they walked into the future with their new reality. Each time we come together for Eucharist, our Lord is present to us, and we are asked to renew our commitment to follow Jesus. Let’s not forget, disciples act with love. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
True disciples of Jesus know that how we treat others proves that we know Him and follow Him. Disciples answer the call. God chooses us first, but we must answer the call. If Peter had not dropped his nets and followed Jesus, he would not have been one of his disciples. Discipleship involves a choice to drop everything for Him. This might mean dropping a negative attitude about the changes we are facing, stopping the gossip about what we are unhappy about, and choosing to step up and take a new leadership role or to help support in some way all the new initiatives we are offering.
And one of the most important goals for us all is remembering disciples help make other disciples. Ultimately, we need to do what Jesus did, which is to make more disciples. This was His final command, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19)
At the core of our parish life is the goal – for our staffs, councils, leadership teams, formation programs, and for all of us – to follow the command of Jesus. All we do should have this mission as our goal, to make disciples who make disciples.
Today’s scriptures remind us, that with his care and tending, God makes us his vineyard. When we attend Mass and participate as members of our faith community, we grow together as a fellowship of disciples nourished by Jesus’ word. Jesus remains with us here at the table and in community. Together, we will remain in Jesus as his disciples who then go out and make more disciples. This is Easter, the vineyard grows and becomes more beautiful!
Have a safe and blessed week ahead.
With you a Christian. For you a priest.
Fr. Carl Morello
Pastor
St. Catherine of Siena – St. Lucy and St. Giles Parish
Ascension and St. Edmund Parish
