Pastor's Letter

The Prayer of the One Who Isn’t Cured

In the gospel today, we hear how the whole town gathered at the house where Jesus was staying after he cured Peter’s mother-in-law who had a fever.  When they heard what Jesus could do, they all went to the One who could help them.  But what can easily get overlooked in this passage, is Mark’s note that he cured many who were sick, but that means he didn’t necessarily cure everyone. 
 
And that’s exactly what makes the first reading from Job particularly interesting (Job 7:1-4; 6-7).  Job in many ways speaks the words of someone who wasn’t cured, someone who feels the night drags on and hope is fading away.  Why doesn’t God respond?  Why does he help some, but not everyone?
 
It’s one of the  mysteries theologians, philosophers, and plain ordinary people contemplate without coming to an answer.  What God eventually tells Job in the end, is simply to accept that God knows far more than we’ll ever know or understand.  Reading between the lines, his message is simply to trust Him.  He has a fuller picture.
 
And that means, even in the midst of the hard things we face, we need to keep praying. Sometimes we can think, “what’s the point?” But we can trust that God is listening.
 
God eventually responded to Job even when Job thought he was forgotten. But perhaps even more encouraging, is that Mark tells us Jesus got up before dawn and found a place to pray.  Even Jesus prayed, which tells us his prayer didn’t go into some great unknown place; it went into the heart of his Father and our Father.  Otherwise, why would he pray at all?  The Son has a relationship with his Father.  And his Father listens, just like he listens to us.  He may not lift our burden in the way we want or expect, but he won’t abandon us.  Every cross eventually leads to resurrection.
 
Prayer is never a waste of time or empty.  Prayer is sharing all of our life—our ups and downs and everything in between—with the One who hears the cry of the poor.  So we persevere…in hope.
 
2020 Vision: A Look at the Plan
Last week during Mass, I mentioned that, working with the Parish Council and Finance Council, we have realized that this is the year we will need to tackle some expectations that have been placed upon us as being part of the larger Church in the Archdiocese—to participate in the To Teach Who Christ Is campaign—as well as being part of the Village of Hoffman Estates—to install a fire prevention sprinkling system in the school to be in compliance with the village ordinance.
 
But it also compelled us to look at our current campus and identify important functional improvements to some of our buildings.  Our buildings are used virtually every day of the year, and it’s where our community building and ministry takes place as we live the gospel. 
 
We also felt it was important to include a way to reduce some of the debt we incurred in the church renovation, as well as to help our school students stay current with the trends in education that involve hands-on technology.
 
The working plan we are considering can be found on pages 6 and 7, as well as on our website.  We are presenting it so that you can see what’s involved and have some time to think and pray about it.  Then next weekend at the Masses, you’ll have a chance to complete a survey. Your insights will help us as we contemplate how to proceed from here.  We’re taking it a step at a time.
 
So we’re grateful to you for taking the time to consider the plan and to pray it through.  We do this work together, through Christ—with Him and in Him.  And that’s what will help us as prepare for the 2020s.  “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” (Phil 4:13).   

—Fr. Mike