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homerhorizon.com LIFE & ARTS
the Homer Horizon | March 15, 2018 | 23
Our Mother of Good Counsel grows with fresh programs, events
Church finds need
for individuals to
participate more
actively in their faith
Thomas Czaja, Editor
Our Mother of Good
Counsel Parish in Homer
Glen thinks of itself as a
family.
As such, it is a big family,
one where everyone needs
to stay involved, according
to its pastor, the Rev. Joseph
Broudou, Order of Saint
Augustine, who first came
to the church in September
2016. To always remember
this simple notion, the parish’s
family prayer is read,
calling on themselves to be
the light of Jesus Christ to
lead all to unity with God.
“I am big on more people
being involved than just a
few people doing everything
for a long time,” Broudou
said. “Another thing I am
kind of for is term limits for
people in charge of groups.
… Think about family. … If
just one person does everything,
that’s a bit difficult.
Each one does little parts
that makes life easier.
“Just like in the family,
someone cooks, cleans,
sets up for dinner, dishes,
laundry. Same thing for the
church - everyone needs to
kind of do something.”
That same lesson of doing
one’s part translates to becoming
involved with different
groups at the parish, located
at 16043 S. Bell Road.
In the process, the purpose
is to help those individuals
become better Christians
and better evangelizers to in
turn invite others back to the
church, Broudou said.
The pastor sees one level
of faith as what the parish
can impart, which is why
Broudou has increased the
programs offered at Our
Mother of Good Counsel,
with the goal “to help parishioners
get better at who they
are as sons and daughters of
God.”
By doing so, he said they
then can be prepared as missionary
disciples, following
Jesus’ call from their baptism.
“We need people to be involved
not just in the parish,
but in the world,” Broudou
said.
Broudou, who is a native
of Mauritius, an island nation
off the southeast coast of
Africa, lived in several other
countries before coming to
America and becoming ordained
in 1996 in Omaha,
Nebraska. He has lived and
spent time as an Augustinian
priest there, as well as in
Colorado, Ohio and Wisconsin
before his current post in
Homer Glen.
His journey has been one
of answering God’s call, and
he now is working to help
his local parishioners do the
same.
Lenten learning
The church has things
going on for Lent found at
Catholic parishes all over,
from soup suppers to Stations
of the Cross to an upcoming
penance service. It
also had a Lenten mission
held on March 5 and 6.
The mission focused on
the life of St. Augustine,
who was nonreligious but
eventually found Christ after
hearing St. Ambrose speak.
He had went to church to
hear St. Ambrose to observe
his oratory technique, as St.
Augustine was a great orator
himself.
The mission spoke on
how St. Augustine had that
struggle on whether to follow
God and the spiritual
or the flesh and ways of the
world, Broudou said. St.
Our Mother of Good Counsel parishioners enjoy refreshments at the March 6 portion of the
two-day Lenten parish mission held at the church. The parish believes in dividing tasks
among its family and having different programs to inspire and form others in their faith, so
they can then be inspired to help and evangelize to others. Photo submitted
Augustine chose God, and
he left everything behind to
follow Christ. It is meant to
be an example to those today
that saints, too, had the same
journey to go on.
We face the same struggles,
and with the grace of
God, can overcome them, he
said.
“I remind people we are
sinners on a journey to sainthood,”
Broudou said. “…
We have to go through these
struggles; every day, we
need to say yes to God and
no to our struggles about doing
our own thing.”
In that regard, Broudou
added it is a journey we simultaneously
take on together,
sharing in struggles
united as a family as a community
worshipping and
praying together.
The Choice Wine and That
Man is You
Sticking with the emphasis
on family, Broudou
makes the comparison of the
parish being the bedrock of
the church with family being
the bedrock of society. He
believes in stronger families
being needed for the church
to grow, and the base of the
family is the couple, the husband
and wife.
The Choice Wine is a
program that was started
and has been meeting for
90-minute sessions and will
meet on Wednesday, March
21, as well as March 28 and
April 11, for couples to learn
about their own marital life
and pray while sharing in
fellowship and stories with
other couples.
“If you share mistakes and
success from another couple,
they can learn from it and
use it for themselves,” Broudou
said.
After the completion of the
program, the pastor hopes
to start a possible monthly
meeting for couples to again
share ups and downs in the
family in that same vein of
peer-to-peer ministry.
Another group aimed to
serve a specific portion of
the parishioners is That Man
is You men’s group for those
21 and older. It delves into
the pressure and temptations
men face today, specifically
targeting husbands
and fathers, using a variety
of church teachings, saintly
wisdom and more to push
each other to become better
men.
Mati Principe, the secretary
and bookkeeper for
the parish, has been a parishioner
for 18 years and
been working there since
June 2016, not long before
Broudou arrived. She said
Broudou has done a lot to
help herself in her duties
and bring the parish together
through his hard work and
involvement.
“There are a lot more
programs since [Broudou]
began here,” Principe said.
“… It’s all meant to bring us
closer together. It’s all very
good programs. It’s just a
matter of getting people to
open up to ideas of coming
together. The mission is to
strengthen our relationship
with not only God, but family,
friends and community.
“A lot of these parishioners
have been here a long
time, and there is a lot of
positive feedback on the programs.”
She pointed to other
events, such as the Knights
of Columbus annual spaghetti
dinner and upcoming
Easter Bunny party put
on by the church’s Council
of Catholic Women from
10 a.m. to noon Saturday,
March 17, in the narthex, as
further examples of what the
church does. She added turnouts
have been good for the
Lenten events, and that they
always hope more and more
will continue to come out to
try different things.
“I’ve been coming to the
missions and love the missions,”
Principe said. “For
me, working here and actually
really getting to know
everyone makes such a difference.
When you actually
get to know the people, I
think that’s the most important
thing. … Now I actually
know names and know families;
that just makes such a
big difference.”
From the beginning and
what is ahead
Our Mother of Good
Counsel Religious Education
Coordinator Janet Litterio
attended the first mass of
the parish with her husband
and two sons back when it
started at Homer Jr. High
in the 1990s. She has seen
it come a long way and said
the warmth and vitality of
the parish allow it to have
the range of programs and
things it does.
“We have a lot of people
that want to share that faith
with each other and the rest
of the community,” Litterio
said. “It’s a win-win situation.”
In her role, she oversees
the parish’s biggest faith
formation — the teaching
of the youth. Currently,
that instruction for those in
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