Pastor's Letter

The Deep Need to Pray
 
On Monday morning we woke up to the reality of the terrible event that happened in Las Vegas. Like so many people have been telling me, almost immediately and instinctively—when we don’t know what else to do—we turn to God. We pray. It’s the best thing we can do.
 
We turn to the source of love and goodness.
 
As the week unfolds, we are beginning to hear the stories of courage and heroism. We are hearing how in the midst of chaos, pain and fear, there were people who risked their life to help lead people to safety and take care of the wounded. There is the incredible story of a man who used his own body—and gave his life—to save the life of his wife. The story of a father who instinctively laid down on top of his adult children to protect them as people around them fled—even running over the back of the father.
 
God is never in acts of violence and hate. That is pure sin. God is in the acts of love and goodness that protect life and come to the aid of those who need help. Just as fast as hate explodes, the human spirit responds with love. That’s where God is.
 
In St. Paul’s letter today, he says goodbye to the people of Philippi who he lived with, prayed with, and stayed with; he encourages them to keep doing the things that build up the human spirit, the acts of love and goodness that turn our hearts and minds to God through Jesus. 
 
He encourages them to keep on doing the things that are true, noble, just, lovely and gracious. Those are the things of God and the ways we work to help one another in the midst of sin, chaos and doubt. As Paul says, it can lead to peace within us.
 
When we don’t know what else to do, we pray, which is an act of love and goodness. We give our prayers for compassion, concern and justice to God who hears the cry of the poor. It’s one of the best things we can do: to live in solidarity and concern for those who are in need.
 
The Need to Be Together and to Help the Hungry
 
The last two months have been some anxious times and it strengthens our desire to be together. We’re so grateful to our the Stewards Ministry for giving us the opportunity to celebrate the diversity and unity of our parish with “The Taste of St. Hubert.”  We will enjoy this opportunity to get to know each other better and to spend time with one another. 
 
I’m also blessed to report that, working together as a parish community, we have collected over 3,500 non-perishable food items to help stock the Catholic Charities food pantries through the Soup-er Stadium Challenge. In terms of the challenge, St. Hubert alone has filled almost 10 sections of the seats in Soldier Field! It is an expression of generosity, love and goodness of our parishioners, school families, Religious Ed. families and parish staff. We’re grateful to our St. Hubert School students who have taken on the responsibility of coordinating the drive and to Tom Binder and Ron Staffa—our maintenance crew—who helped with logistics. Together, we are actively helping to feed the hungry—the desire Jesus places within our hearts.
 
As we head into a new week, let’s continue to pray for each other, for unity and for peace,