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St. Thomas More Church July 19, 2020

Sunday, July 19, 2020 LITURGY SCHEDULE Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (English Mass) Weekend: Saturday Vigil, 4:30 pm Sunday, 10:00 am, 12:00 pm (Tridentine) Seventh Sunday after Pentecost () Weekday: Monday-Friday, 12:00 pm Saturday, 8:00 am

Sunday, July 26, 2020 Reconciliation Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Saturday, 4:00-4:20 pm (English Mass) Sunday, 9:30-9:50 am, 11:30-11:50 am Thursdays, 1:00-2:00 pm Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Also, you may request an appointment with a (Tridentine Mass) priest for confession.

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament Thursdays, 12:30-2:00 pm

Devotions First Friday, 12:00 pm Mass, followed by adoration, First Friday Prayers and the Rosary. First Saturday, 8:00 am Mass, followed by adora- tion, First Saturday Prayers and the Rosary.

The Pastor’s Page

Renew My Church: What is it? Why are we doing it?

Our parish, like all parishes of the Archdiocese of Chicago, is participating in an effort of renewal. Some may ask, “why now?” since we have just reo- pened, there is still a great deal of concern for people’s well-being and we are focused on healing the racial injustice in our city and country. The most honest answer I can offer is that the opportunity for renewal is ever-present and is perhaps more important now than ever.

When we look at the signs of the time, what do we see? A culture more am- bivalent toward religion; declining faith participation of younger generations; Mass attendance in our archdiocese that has decreased by 27% over the past 20 years; across the U.S., 2 in 5 children baptized are not confirmed; and, 85% of children that are confirmed stop practicing their faith by age 21. In many quarters of our , Christian morality, once the norm, is pushed aside. The consequences are all around us: breakdown of families, disregard for innocent life and human dignity, violence in our communities, addictions, depression, loneliness and despair. For many of us, we see this in our own fami- lies and neighborhoods, brokenness and separation from the life of Jesus Christ.

Now, consider the actual words, “renew my church.”

What a wonderful gift we have as Jesus invites us to renew His Church. The Lord of the universe speaks these words to us just as he spoke them to the before us. Finally, we have the word Church. It seems like a tall order to renew the Church. Isn’t that someone else’s ? Our own little parish, maybe. But the whole Church? Yes. And we will, because renewal always, always, always begins within our own hearts.

To be clear, Renew My Church is much bigger than anything we’ve ever done in the Archdiocese of Chica- go. It is a faithful response to Christ’s call to renew His Church, a journey that is both spiritual (to re-encounter Jesus Christ as disciples and parish communities) and structural (to ensure our parishes have adequate re- sources for vitality).

Through Renew My Church initiatives, the Archdiocese will re-commit our local Church to our com- mission to make disciples, build vital communities of faith and inspire witness to bring the light and hope of Christ to a world in need. These mission imperatives guide all that we do in and through the spiritual and structural efforts of renewal.

One initiative of Renew My Church is focused on increasing the vitality of our local communities. Cardinal Cupich has asked our parish to come together with the other parishes in our grouping to start a process of reflection, discernment, and planning to consider how we can collaborate and combine resources so that we are better equipped to bring Jesus Christ to the world today.

Let’s acknowledge up front that change is not always easy and renewal can be stressful. For a lot of parish- es, this renewal means some form of structural change, such as uniting with another parish. For others, it will be painful with the closure of a church or school.

(continued on page 5)

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PARISH INFORMATION SUNDAY, July 19 Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Parish Office 2825 West 81st St., Chicago, IL 60652 10:00 am Harden & Offutt Families (Rosetta Hooker) Irma Elia Sanchez (Guadalupe Rosales) Phone 773-436-4444 - Fax 773-778-9087 Email address: [email protected] 12:00 pm James J. Farrell (John Lowery) Visit our official Facebook page at: Loretta Barry (Mike Barry) St. Thomas More Chicago Website address: MONDAY, July 20 St. Apollinaris, Bishop & http://stthomasmorecatholicchurch.org/

12:00 pm James Riley, Sr. (Family) Office Hours Monday-Thursday - 9:00 am to 4:00 pm TUESDAY, July 21 St. , Priest & Friday-Sunday - Closed 12:00 pm Harry J. O’Sullivan (Adele O’Sullivan) Rectory Helen & Robert Patnos & Delores Patnos LaBriola Rev. Msgr. Richard Zborowski, Pastor (Ron & LuAnn Bloom) Rev. Scott Haynes WEDNESDAY, July 22

St. Business Manager Pat Lave 12:00 pm Lynn Joda (George & Debbie Ksycki)

THURSDAY, July 23 Director of Music St. Bridget, Religious Michel Domingue 12:00 pm Birthday Blessings for Bill Jendzio & Coordinator of Religious Ed Birthday Blessings for Frances Kabat Debbie Ksycki (Bill & Theresa Jendzio)

FRIDAY, July 24 Registration St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest New parishioners should register at the parish office. 12:00 pm Wedding Anniversary Blessings for Religious Goods Store Chika & Kate Aguanunu Open on the third weekend of the month. Marilyn M. Lowery (Ken Watterson)

SATURDAY, July 25 SACRAMENTS St. James, Apostle Visitations Hospital or Homebound; Please contact the Parish Office at 8:00 am Wedding Anniversary Blessings for Chika & Kate Aguanunu 773-436-4444 as soon as possible for Communion, Confes- sion or Anointing of the Sick. (Vigil Mass)

4:30 pm Intentions for Peggy Dwyer, her family & E.I.K. Marriage Special Blessing for Walter Quasthoff (Mom) Registered and supporting members should call the parish office. A date should not be set until consulting with the SUNDAY, July 26 Pastor. Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

10:00 am Living & Deceased of Lahart & Lustig Families Baptism Ms. Anne Egan (Adele O’Sullivan) Registered parishioners should contact the parish office. Wedding Anniversary Blessings for Chika & Kate Aguanunu Funeral 12:00 pm For the Parishioners Registered parishioners should contact the parish office.

Bulletin Catholic Charities: General Number 312-655-7000 Please submit all requests for bulletin announcement on Counseling Center 312-655-7725 Mondays by 10:00 am. Catholictherapists.com http://www.purityispossible.com/ Project Rachel (post-abortion healing): 888-456-4673 Suicide Prevention: 800-273-8255 Aid for Women (crisis pregnancy): 312-621-1100 Courage and EnCourage Apostolates: (203) 803-1564 http://www.couragerc.org/ Page 3

FOR THE SOULS OF THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED

Kathleen Sheehy

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in .

PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL FOR THE SICK

Sarah Dalton Tricia Quasthoff Diane & Jim Flaherty Walter Quasthoff Sandra Halper Len Reilly Mike Lave Pat Sheehy Celeste Phifer Phyllis Spizzirri Dolores Pogor Ken Watterson

Omnipotent and eternal God, the everlasting Salvation of those who believe, hear us on behalf of Thy sick. PIO

Have courage and do not fear the assaults of the Devil. Remember this forever; it is a healthy sign if the devil shouts and roars around your since this shows that he is not inside your will.

Each day we're open for Mass, Confessions or Adoration, we need volunteers to sanitize and clean the church. If you are in good health and between the ages of 18-65, please contact Fr. Scott Haynes in the Church Office, to indicate your willingness to serve. Thanks to our wonderful volunteers, our parish is able to be open once again, as we meet the requirements of the Archdiocese.

FOR ALL WHO SERVE IN THE MILITARY INCLUDING: OUR FINANCES ~ Your Gifts Matter

MSG Kevin Daley SUNDAY COLLECTION

Cpl. Brian Husum AZ2 Marcellus J. Lane 7/5/20 $6,154.00

PVT. Andy Oziemkiewicz Debt Relief $1,351.00

PFC. Luis Rosales 7/12/20 $3,651.00 LCPL. Xavier Rosales

THANK YOU FOR OUR FREEDOM! THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!

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(continued from page 2)

Renew My Church: What is it? Why are we doing it?

But something new is needed. Despite the valiant and beautiful efforts of so many pastors, lay leaders and ministry leaders, fewer and fewer people are encountering Jesus and experiencing him in parish community. Change we must, and it will involve frank discussions and some hard decisions to help all of our parishes in- vest in new ways of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Over the course of the year, our parish is going to work with St. Denis and St. as part of a group to discuss, share, pray, and discern what the best structures and forms of collaboration are to create a sustainable, vibrant and vital Catholic presence in our area.

Renewal always begins within our own hearts. As we open our hearts to the renewal process, we will pray the special Prayer for Renewal (below) throughout the upcoming months. I invite you to reflect upon each line of this prayer slowly and deliberately. Thousands of people across our Archdiocese and beyond are praying these words on behalf of our local Church. Allow this to become your prayer, as well.

Please reach out with any questions and feel free to visit RenewMyChurch.org to learn more about the vi- sion for renewal in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Lord Jesus, you speak to us today, as you spoke to holy men and women who have gone before us. In every age and in our own time, you call to us and say: Renew My Church. Pour out the gift of your Holy Spirit upon us, and so enable us to hear you clearly to listen to each other attentively to imagine our future boldly to discern your direction wisely to persevere in your holy will courageously to stay together in charity to surrender our own plans readily to embrace the greater good to hand on your gifts to future generations. May we remain in the holy company of the Blessed Mary, the apostles, and all the saints. May their example and presence inspire us with patient confidence in the work of your grace. We ask this of you who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen

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Renew My Church: Creating Vibrant Parish Life

On pages 2 and 5, we talked about the importance of renewal and the vision of Renew My Church. Over the past few months, the pastors from the parishes in our grouping gathered together to begin the process of figuring out the best path forward to a sustainable, vibrant and vital Catholic presence for our en- tire area. We have invited leaders from each parish to form a Grouping Feed- back and Discernment Team (GFDT), made up of the pastor, associate pastor, and five people from each parish. Details on their selection and responsibilities can be found below.

Creating vibrant parishes requires that we evaluate the business structures (how we operate), buildings, facilities, and financial requirements of existing parishes to assess where we can more prudently apply our resources to sup- port and strengthen key ministry leadership roles, programs and activities. Ulti- mately, we must be good stewards of the gifts we have today to ensure they’re able to support the faith lives of Catholics today and in the future.

The GFDT will meet beginning later this summer through the Fall to discuss and prayerfully discern the ministe- rial and operational strengths and challenges of the parishes and schools within our particular grouping. Eventually the team will provide feedback and information about our grouping for archdiocesan leadership to review and present recommendations to Cardinal Cupich so he can make final decisions regarding po- tential changes to school and parish structures.

Along the way, there will be opportunities for everyone in our own parish to learn about the details of those conversations, ask questions, and share their own points of view on the strengths and concerns of any po- tential changes.

Based on the experiences from the first 33 groupings (more than 115 parishes) that have progressed through the Renew My Church parish grouping process, it is clear that those on the GFDT are called to exercise tre- mendous leadership through very challenging conversations.

This team is not to be confused with our reopening team, who have dedicated hours to preparing our church to reopen in a safe and healthy way for all parishioners. I deeply appreciate the work of both teams to reopen our church building and renew our Church.

While the reopening team’s responsibilities are fairly obvious (preparing the church for worship and ensuring all parishioners practice safe distancing while inside and directly outside the church), the GFDT team war- rants further explanation about what it means to be part of the challenging work of renewal.

First, the purpose of our GFDT is to draw close to the Lord as a community of believers from across our group- ing parishes. We also call upon the Holy Spirit as we prayerfully discern spiritual and structural renewal, or more specifically, models of collaborative parish structures that present the most viable scenarios to effec- tively carry out the spiritual renewal and mission of the Church in our area.

Second, the discussions the GFDT will have ultimately result in a feedback summary report submitted to the Archdiocese. This feedback will be vital input regarding how our parishes will be structured in the future.

Like you, all those who are part of the team have ideas, concerns, frustrations and hopes about what re- newal can look like for our local community in the future. As our recent Sunday Gospel reading said, we must be the rich soil where seeds can be sown in order to hear with our ears and understand with our hearts. We must pray that, above all, we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts, our words and our actions in this important work.

As always, for more information, visit RenewMyChurch.org, or ask Msgr. Richard.

Page 6 A Meditation for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

THE MUSTARD SEED

“Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.” St.

These words from 1600 years ago from St. Augustine, one of the pillars of Western Christian faith, reminds us that faith is forward looking, hoping, ready to see before us what we believe in our hearts. This was true of the disciples too, who eagerly asked Jesus to increase their faith in today’s Gospel. But Jesus, as Jesus so of- ten does, makes them see faith in a different light for if we had faith as tiny as this mustard seed, we could move mountains said Jesus. This tiny seed, as a symbol of our faith, if we had it, we could move a mighty mountain. We are called to live out such faith in our lives, that we can with that faith do things that seem im- possible, things we do not yet see.

It reminds me of the words from a Franciscan Benediction: “May God bless us with discomfort at easy an- swers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts…And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done.” These words written well after the life of St. capture I think his spirit and his life. For one who was raised in wealth and privilege, who gave it up as he searched for meaning in his life, found God asking him to do impossible things and yet by his prayers and witness lived deep within his heart for the people and creation he encountered. His faith like a mustard seed, guided him in all things.

A story is told of Francis’ visit to the Holy Land in 1219, a time of war, a time of the fifth crusade. Francis pro- posed an armistice between the two warring sides but was unable to get the Christians at the time to agree. On his way to the Muslim leader, Francis was captured and beaten. But when he got to the Sultan, Francis proclaimed his faith, proclaimed the Gospel to the Sultan, the Sultan who was deeply impressed, remained unconverted, but allowed Francis free passage throughout the lands, even giving him gifts. Francis was an instrument of peace.

But of all the images that stick with us about St. Francis, is his connection to God’s creation, and especially the animals. I think of those garden statues with Francis standing and animals swirling about him. , a member of Francis' religious order who knew the saint personally, wrote about him and his interac- tions. He reveals in his book how Francis' love for animals and his conviction that his faith and care for God's creatures go hand-in-hand.

“One time as Francis was passing through the Spoleto valley, he came upon a place near Bevagna, in which a great multitude of birds of various kinds had assembled. When the holy one of God saw them, be- cause of the outstanding love of the Creator with which he loved all creatures, he ran swiftly to the place. He greeted them in his usual way, as if they shared in reason. As the birds did not take flight, he went to them, going to and fro among them, touching their heads and bodies with his tunic.”

St. Francis bids us to remember the creatures we care for, our pets, and all living creatures. "If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." (St. Francis). It is St. Francis that reminds us that everything is connected. How we treat animals is the way we also deal with each other. Whether it was birds he met or a Sultan he was going to visit, Francis revealed in God’s creation and lived out of that mustard seed faith he had.

“Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.” It was true for St. Augustine and St Francis. It is true for us too & that is mustard seed faith. And its in you and in its me. So we need not worry about increasing our faith, or if we have enough, we just need to live the faith that is inside us, live it in the midst of God’s beautiful creation with one another. In the words of St. Francis, “The deeds you do [out of your faith] may be the only sermon some persons will hear today.” Amen. Page 7 Chalet Florist

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