Communication is perhaps the most important factor in the proper functioning of any human institution, especially a parish community. There is no purposeful way for us to grow as a community unless we are always talking to each other and listening to each other when dealing with the issues that face us. We have grown in an almost accidental way, but we will do it better when we nurture and foster our communication.
The Archdiocese of Chicago calls upon all parishes to communicate in three formal ways. We are responsible for two of them: the Pastoral Council and the Finance Council. (We are not required to have a School Board because we have no parish school.) Holy Innocents Parish has a Finance Council, but I admit to not using it properly to this point as a way of making sure you know the financial needs we have to help us function. We have no Pastoral Council at this time, and that needs to change.
I would like to make one step to move forward to improve our Finance Council and to develop a Pastoral Council. It will begin, as all good things should, with prayer and continue with conversation.
I call all of us to participate in a Parish Day on November 8. The day will begin with our Eucharistic celebration at 11 am. Our recent anniversary celebration showed once again that Holy Innocents Parish prays together beautifully. This Mass will encompass our various languages and cultures and be the only Mass on the weekend of November 7-8. It’s really time for those who have not yet experienced this joint prayer to do so. It is a wonderful way to pray, and it really does bring our whole parish together in a way that no other activity we have can possibly do.
Our Parish Day will continue with a Town Hall meeting in the school hall. I have two items for the agenda of that meeting. The first has to do with our financial situation. We will present the finance report for Fiscal Year 2008-9 and our projections for the current Fiscal Year 2009-10. The second item is the first step in a process of discernment to build a Pastoral Council to serve our parish. The two main purposes of a Pastoral Council are to advise the pastor and to develop a plan of action for the community. We cannot do these things unless we sit together and talk in a formal way with representatives chosen by and from the community to bring all our concerns to one table.
My agenda will not be the only purpose of the Town Hall meeting. The third item calls upon you to present your concerns and dreams for the further growth of our community. In listening to one another, we will learn. In learning, we will grow. By growing, we will present a vibrant and viable parish to our Ukrainian Village community, especially to the new residents who come to our neighborhood as building and gentrification continue.
As part of our ministry of hospitality, I invite you to participate in the Town Hall meeting by providing the refreshments we will share that day. Please consult the volunteer sheets at the back of the church to help with the cakes and beverages we will enjoy together after Mass.
Please plan to participate in both the multi-cultural celebration of the Eucharist and the Town Hall meeting on Parish Day, November 8.
God bless you!
Fr. Phil Cyscon
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