office for the protection of children and youth - St. Francis Xavier Parish

PASTOR’S NOTES
The catastrophe on the East Coast is unimaginable, except in
the movies. We will have a special second collection at all
the masses this weekend, sending the funds to the Red
Cross. You can also drop off a contribution at the Rectory.
We have a special occasion at the 10:30 liturgy this Sunday.
We are celebrating those in adoptive families and in foster
families. The awesome generosity of parenthood is focused
today on those who have adopted and those who have
opened their hearts and homes to foster children. I have
been amazed and delighted since I came to St. Francis
Xavier, becoming aware of a large number of families who
have adopted children from around the world. Some have
adopted after they had their own children, some before, and
some have adopted only as their family. There are several
families who have welcomed foster children into their
homes as well. God bless all of you. Coming from a family
of 6 adopted children myself, it is heart warming to see so
many children being embraced into homes and families.
This weekend some men from our parish are participating
in their Christ Renews His Parish Weekend. God bless all of
you–those participating and the team of men who have put
it together. It is an excellent opportunity to focus on our
relationship with God and one another.
Next weekend High School students from St. Francis will
join others from St. Cletus and St. John of the Cross for a tri‐
parish sponsored KAIROS retreat. There are three such
retreats offered each year, with each parish taking a turn to
be the host, with a team made up of students from each
parish and students from all three attending. If you listen to
those who have attended one of these KAIROS they are
deeply grateful for the experience. This is enriched even
more for those who are willing and able to be a team for the
next retreat.
Speaking of retreats, I will be going on one this week.
Please pray for me that I will sit down, be quiet and listen!
On this Sunday afternoon, there will be the Concert for
Detained Immigrants at The Well, 1515 West Ogden Avenue
from 2:00‐4:00 p.m., hosted by the Interfaith Committee for
Detained Immigrants. Sr. Kathy Sherman, C.S.J., Fr. Mike
Shanahan and the Holy Cross Marimba Band will be
performing. You may have see programs on TV about Sr.
Joann Persch and Sr. Pat Murphy and their tireless and
extensive work in this ministry. All the proceeds will go to
their work in the McHenry County Jail Pastoral Ministry
Program and the Post Detention Accompaniment Program.
If you can’t attend the concert, you can still contribute.
Information is in this bulletin, or on‐line at
lib4paz@comcast.net.
Tuesday of this week the Day School will have the Annual
Book Fair, details are in this bulletin. Also, on Friday the
students and families of our Religious Education Program
will have their Annual Pizza Party.
Vote!
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
“One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, “Which is
the first of all the commandments?” So begins the Gospel for
this weekend. Jesus then replies, “The first is this: “Hear, O
Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with
all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other
commandment greater than these."
When the scribe hears this, he seems to agree and
essentially repeat what Jesus just said. The gospel then
states: “And when Jesus saw that he answered with
understanding, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the
kingdom of God.’”
For many years this interchange puzzled me a bit because
the scribe seemed to be just mimicking what he had first
heard from Jesus. How did Jesus know that the scribe
understood anything that Jesus was saying if he was just
repeating what Jesus had said?
There is one phrase that Jesus does not say and the scribe
adds: “…is worth more than all burnt offerings and
sacrifices." Ah, there must be the key!
For thousands of years people thought that the god’s
needed to be appeased, lest things go badly in their lives. So
to win their favor, a sacrifice had to be offered. It was like
trying to bribe the judge. “If I can just get the god to think
favorably towards me, I can get what I want or need.” The
Hebrews had continued this idea, but they knew that they
only had one God to please.
The scribe in our story, however, catches on that the God of
Jesus is not looking for a bribe. It is not about God. It is
about us. It is about our relationship with God and our
neighbor. It is all about love. God wants us to be happy,
connected and fulfilled. If we are right with God, our self,
and one another we are not far from the Kingdom of God.
The question for us is: do we still have a tendency to see
living a good moral holy life as the ultimate bribe to God to
get prosperity in this life and happiness in the next? Or do
we love God, our self and others because it is what a child of
God does.