Welcome to Chicago Bishop Blase Cupich!

His Holiness Pope Francis has appointed the Bishop of Spokane, Washington, Most Reverend Blase J. Cupich, (pronounced "sue-pitch"), as the ninth Archbishop of Chicago.  Archbishop Cupich will be installed as Archbishop of Chicago on November 18, 2014, at Holy Name Cathedral. Francis Cardinal George, OMI, retains the office of Archbishop until November 18th, when Archbishop Cupich is installed.

Archbishop Cupich said, “The Holy Father’s appointment of me to Chicago humbles but also encourages me.  I am grateful to God for giving me this blessed opportunity to be his servant in this great city and this great local Church.  As Pope Francis began his new pastoral ministry in Rome by asking the people to pray for him, so too now I bow my head in the hope that everyone in Chicago will pray for me in the days ahead.”

Cardinal George remarked, “I am deeply grateful to our Holy Father, Pope Francis, for appointing Bishop Blase Cupich as the ninth Archbishop of Chicago.  Bishop Cupich is well prepared for his new responsibilities and brings to them a deep faith, a quick intelligence, personal commitment and varied pastoral experiences.”

Archbishop Cupich was born on March 19, 1949, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Blase and Mary (Mayhan) Cupich.  He is one of nine children, five sisters and three brothers.

Archbishop Cupich was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Omaha on August 16, 1975, and was ordained and installed as Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, on September 21, 1998.  He was officially installed as Bishop of Spokane on September 3, 2010.

Archbishop Cupich obtained his B.A. in Philosophy from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1971.  He attended seminary at the North American College and Gregorian University in Rome where he received his Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology in 1974, and his M.A. in Theology in 1975.  Archbishop Cupich is a graduate of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he received his License of Sacred Theology in 1979.  He also holds a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree in Sacramental Theology from the Catholic University of America awarded in 1987, with his dissertation entitled: ADVENT IN THE ROMAN TRADITION: An Examination and Comparison of the Lectionary Readings as Hermeneutical Units in Three Periods.

Additionally, Archbishop Cupich was the Secretary at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C.  He was pastor of two parishes in Omaha, Nebraska and also served as the Chair for the USCCB Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People from 2008 until 2011.

A hint of the pastoral sensibilities Cupich will bring to Chicago could be found in a pastoral letter he released last month in Spokane, “Joy Made Complete.” You can read his pastoral letter in its entirety by clicking on this link: Joy Made Complete

The letter spells out a four-year pastoral plan for the Spokane diocese. The basis for the plan is a list of priorities established by the Know Love and Serve (KLS) Leadership Summit, a weekend conference for 50 Catholic leaders, lay and clerical, from the Spokane diocese that Cupich hosted last spring.

To prepare for the summit, Cupich had participants read Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel,” which he said “beautifully articulates a vision for the Church in our time.” You can read the entire text of Pope Francis' "The Joy of the Gospel" by clicking on this link: The Joy of the Gospel

Cupich’s pastoral letter begins with a Scripture quote:

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands…we proclaim to you, so that you may have fellowship with us, a fellowship which is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. (I John 1:1-3)

The letter then goes on to say:

“The brave souls who wrote these stirring words nearly 2,000 years ago were facing dark threats from within and without. Divisions were tearing at community life. Public persecution throughout the Roman Empire threatened their very survival. Yet, these first disciples of Jesus of Nazareth did not fix their attention on the crisis of the present moment, nor on their own personal interests or impulses of self-preservation.

“As daunting as these concerns were, the life-transforming experience of encountering the Risen Lord compelled them to set their sights higher. Jesus spoke to them in a way that left their hearts burning for more, and that “more” was sharing Him with others. Nothing else mattered."

Cupich offers this challenge in his letter: “Are you ready to join me and your fellow parishioners and take personal responsibility for the work of renewing the Church? Simply put, this is about making sure that Know Love Serve are not just three words on a page or a catchy slogan, but that they are the distinguishing actions which define each of our lives as believers, as intentional disciples of Christ.”

Citing the change in hearts of church leaders following the Second Vatican Council, he said that ordained leaders must take seriously the "joys, sorrows, heartaches, and challenges of laypeople."

In the winter of 2013, when the U.S. bishops conference and the Obama administration had locked horns over the contraception mandate in the health care reform law, Cupich wrote a letter to church employees who might have become worried that their ministries would be shut down or their health insurance cut-off. He wrote:

"In visiting with many of you about the issue of insurance coverage, I know you have been concerned by calls for the Church to shut down her organizations or withdraw health coverage to those who serve in our various institutions as a protest to regulations that may infringe on our religious freedoms. These kinds of scare tactics and worse-case scenario predictions are uncalled for and only unnecessarily disturb the hardworking and dedicated people who are employed by the Church. I am confident that we can find a way forward, and this latest response of the government appears to provide some new openings, which we need to explore and for which we should express appreciation."

Cupich’s homily for a Prolife Mass in January 2013, seemed to have echoes of another Chicago archbishop, the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, who spoke of a “seamless garment” or consistent ethic for life that embraced equally anti-abortion, anti-poverty and anti-war strains of Catholic social teaching. In the 2013 homily, which fell on President Obama’s second inauguration and the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, and came a month after 20 schoolchildren where shot to death in Newton, Conn., Cupich seemed to stitch together the prolife, anti-violence and anti-poverty themes in a similar way:

"The Gospel today gives us the image of the futility of trying to patch a torn old cloak with new unshrunken cloth, for “the fullness of the new eventually will pull away.” That is an apt image for what we want to say to our fellow citizens on this day, a day that offers so much promise. The tear in the fabric of our nation wrought by no defense of the children of the future cannot be fixed with a patchwork of defending only those fortunate to see the light of day, permitted to take that first breath or enjoy the work of their own hands. No, we are saying that we need a new cloak that covers all."

He then adds:

"We should not be disheartened or bitter if many of our fellow citizens do not heed us at this moment, nor should we pull back on our efforts to join hands with others to improve the lot of suffering people in need just because they don’t fully agree with us on everything. The truth will win out and we have to believe that a nation whose collective heart can break and grieve for babies slaughtered in Newtown has the capacity and God’s grace to one day grieve for the babies killed in the womb."

I hope this gives you all at least an initial glimpse into the mind and heart of our new Archbishop. Please pray for him that God's Most Holy Spirit will give him the strength and the courage that he needs to bring his loving vision to the Archdiocese of Chicago, and continue to pray for Cardinal George during the important days of transition ahead.

In God's Love,

Saint Anne Feast Day Celebration 2014

We hope that you and yours will come and join us for our Annual Saint Anne Feast Day Celebration. Our festivities will begin with a special Feast Day Mass at 10:30 AM on Sunday, July 27th. Mass will be followed by our "Taste of Saint Anne" Potluck Dinner in Father Sweeney Hall.

We invite everyone to bring a dish that will serve six people. Your contribution to the dinner should reflect a family favorite or a dish that represents your ethnic heritage. With the wonderful diversity of our parish family, our dinner should be a delicious meal with dishes from all over the world.

So please plan on joining us for our Feast Day Mass and our "Taste of Saint Anne" Potluck Dinner! We will look forward to seeing you there!

He Is Risen!

Holy Saturday, April 19th

Blessing of Easter Baskets and Easter Egg Hunt

12:00 NOON

Easter Vigil

7:30 PM - Father Ralph Zwirn and Deacon Gary Michael Miarka 

Easter Sunday, April 20th

8:30 AM Mass - Father Patrick Murphy

10:30 AM Mass - Father Ralph Zwirn and Deacon Gary Michael Miarka

In my name, in the name of Father Pat and Deacon Gary Michael, our parish staff, and our Early Learning Center, I would like to extend to you and all those you love our every wish for a Blessed and Very Happy Easter. We welcome to our parish family all of our friends and relatives who are here visiting with us this Easter, and we pray in a special way for those members of our parish family who cannot be here with us this Easter, especially for our sons and daughters who are serving our country in the armed forces.

Our heartiest congratulations to our RCIA Elect, Ahren and Jordan Hawken, who complete their Sacraments of Initiation at our Easter Vigil. Our love and congratulations as well to their parents and to their sponsor who have supported Ahren and Jordan on their journey. And our special thanks to Elaine Bulanda who worked with so much love and devotion to bring them to this special moment. May the love of our parish family support them as they continue their life-long journey of faith with us here at Saint Anne!

Easter is a time when many people “come home” to the church. If you have been away from Saint Anne for a while and are home again with us for Easter, or if you have been away from the church for a while and have found your way to our parish family for Easter, I want you to know from my heart how welcome you are and how glad I am that you have come home to Saint Anne for Easter. I hope that your experience here with us this Easter will make you feel welcome and at home with us throughout the year. Please feel free to contact me personally if there is anything that I can do to make your homecoming a happy one.

I would like to conclude by thanking everyone who has worked so hard to make our parish celebration of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter so very beautiful. Thank you to everyone who helped with the decorating of our church. Thank you to everyone who prepared the delicious food for our Lenten Soup & Bread dinners. Thank you to everyone who helped prepare the Easter Egg Hunt for our children. Thank you to our many ministers who served us at our liturgies. Thank you to our musicians, vocalists and choir members who, under the direction of Bill Rosas, made our celebrations so very moving. And many thanks to Deacon Gary Michael who took vacation days from work so that he could be our Deacon during Holy Week.

May the Grace and Peace of our Risen Lord fill you all with the joy of Easter!

Retreat Day: Humility and Contemplative Prayer

We hope that you can join us for a Day of Retreat on Humility and Centering Prayer on Saturday, April 5th, from 9 AM to 3:30 PM right here in Father Sweeney Hall. There is still time to reserve your place with us! Please call Elaine Bulanda at (708) 335-2286. Our retreat leader will be the Reverend Doctor Shawn Kafader, who did such a wonderful presentation for us on Centering Prayer a few weeks ago. You will not want to miss this opportunity to deepen your spirituality and broaden your understanding of contemplative prayer. We look forward to seeing you!

Lenten Resolutions

If you are anything like me, you are always searching for more and better ways to keep the season of Lent. I received an E-Mail with the following ten resolutions, each of them based on the teachings of our Holy Father, Pope Francis:

1. Don't Gossip

It's one of our hobbies. For Pope Francis, it's also one of the most evil activities. Francis denounces gossip as “murder.” He feels so strongly about it that in less than a year as pontiff, Francis has preached against gossip in at least 6 different instances. He says when we gossip, we “are doing what Judas did,” and “begin to tear the other person to pieces.” “Every time we judge our brother in our hearts or worse when we speak badly of them with others, we are murdering Christians,” Francis says. “There is no such thing as innocent slander.”

2. Finish your Meals

No leftovers, please. Pope Francis slams a “culture of waste” that neglects the plight of the hungry.Nearly 870 million people suffer from chronic malnutrition. The Pope says: “We should all remember... that throwing food away is like stealing from the tables of the poor, the hungry! I encourage everyone to reflect on the problem of thrown away and wasted food to identify ways and means that, by seriously addressing this issue, are a vehicle of solidarity and sharing with the needy.”

3. Make Time for Others

Tending to 1.2 billion members, Pope Francis should be too busy for anything else. But instead he calls up strangers, or entertains a random biker, or sends a handwritten letter to a Jesuit he has never met. The Jesuit who got the letter, Father James Martin, says “If the Pope can find time to be kind to others, if he can pause to say thank you, if he can take a moment make someone feel appreciated, then so can I. So can we.”

4. Choose the 'More Humble' Purchase

Take it from the head of state who rides a 29-year-old Renault. In July, he warned against luxurious lives that seek “the joy of the world in the latest smartphone, the fastest car.” “Cars are necessary,” he says, “but take a more humble one. Think of how many children die of hunger and dedicate the savings to them.” The Pope preaches against materialism. “Certainly, possessions, money, and power can give a momentary thrill, the illusion of being happy, but they end up possessing us and making us always want to have more, never satisfied. ‘Put on Christ’ in your life, place your trust in him, and you will never be disappointed!” He calls for a “sober and essential lifestyle.”

5. Meet the Poor 'In the Flesh'

Sure, we donate to charity. But this is not enough for Pope Francis. Commitment to the poor, he says, must be “person to person, in the flesh.” “It is not enough to mediate this commitment through institutions, which obviously help because they have a multiplying effect, but that is not enough. They do not excuse us from our establishing personal contact with the needy. The sick must be cared for, even when we find them repulsive and repugnant. Those in prison must be visited.” He calls for long-term commitment. “Hospitality in itself isn't enough. It's not enough to give a sandwich if it isn't accompanied by the possibility of learning to stand on one’s own feet. Charity that does not change the situation of the poor isn't enough.”

6. Stop Judging Others

In the same way he denounces gossip, Pope Francis condemns prejudice. He reminds “intolerant” Catholics to respect atheists. “If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good.” He also says of gays: “If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?” Francis urges us “to keep watch over ourselves.” “Let us not forget that hatred, envy, and pride defile our lives!”

7. Befriend Those who Disagree

What can we do to our worst critics? In November, Pope Francis surprised Mario Palmaro, a traditionalist who wrote the article, 'The Reason Why We Don't Like This Pope.'” “He just wanted to tell me that he is praying for me,” said Palmaro, who is gravely ill. Francis does this in line with what he calls a “culture of encounter.” He said in July: “When leaders in various fields ask me for advice, my response is always the same: dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. It is the only way for individuals, families, and societies to grow, the only way for the life of peoples to progress, along with the culture of encounter, a culture in which all have something good to give and all can receive something good in return. Others always have something to give me, if we know how to approach them in a spirit of openness and without prejudice.”

8. Make Commitments, such as Marriage

Don't be afraid to say “forever.” Pope Francis advises the youth, for instance, not to fear marriage.The Pope says: “Today, there are those who say that marriage is out of fashion; in a culture of relativism and the ephemeral, many preach the importance of ‘enjoying’ the moment. They say that it is not worth making a life-long commitment, making a definitive decision, ‘forever,’ because we do not know what tomorrow will bring.” “I ask you, instead, to be revolutionaries, to swim against the tide; yes, I am asking you to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes that you are incapable of responsibility, that you are incapable of true love. I have confidence in you and I pray for you. Have the courage ‘to swim against the tide.’ Have the courage to be happy.”

9. Make it a Habit to 'Ask the Lord'

Bothered about the future? Pray, Pope Francis urges us, especially the youth. “Dear young people,” he says, “some of you may not yet know what you will do with your lives. Ask the Lord, and he will show you the way. The young Samuel kept hearing the voice of the Lord who was calling him, but he did not understand or know what to say, yet with the help of the priest Eli, in the end he answered: 'Speak, Lord, for I am listening' (cf. 1 Sam 3:1-10). You too can ask the Lord: What do you want me to do? What path am I to follow?”

10. Be Happy

The true Christian, says Pope Francis, exudes great joy. He says keeping this joy to ourselves “will make us sick in the end.” So important is joy to him that his first apostolic exhortation is titled "Evangelii Gaudium" (The Joy of the Gospel). “Sometimes these melancholy Christians' faces have more in common with pickled peppers than the joy of having a beautiful life,” Francis said in a homily. “Joy cannot be held at heel: it must be let go. Joy is a pilgrim virtue. It is a gift that walks, walks on the path of life, that walks with Jesus: preaching, proclaiming Jesus, proclaiming joy, lengthens and widens that path.” Francis says, “The Christian sings with joy, and walks, and carries this joy." This joy, he reminds us, should translate to love of neighbor.

As we continue on our Lenten journey, may we do our best to keep these ten resolutions! A joyful Lent to all!

First Holy Communion Ritual of Enrollment

Our First Holy Communion Candidates, their catechists and their families will be celebrating their "Ritual of Enrollment" at our 8:30 AM Mass on Sunday, March 16th. We hope that you will be able to join us for this celebration and stay afterward for our "Coffee And..." in Father Sweeney Hall. Prayer cards with the names of the candidates are available in the Hospitality Area of the church. We encourage everyone to take a card home with you and pray in a special way for your candidate. May God Bless our First Holy Communion Candidates and fill them with HIs Most Holy Spirit as they enter these final weeks of preparation for the reception of our Lord Jesus in the Eucharist!

Nightfever

Nightfever began in Germany after World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne. It began as an idea from two students and has spread to over 90 cities in Europe and North America. And on October 5th of this past year, it came for the first time to Chicago.

The idea behind Nightfever is simple and brilliant at the same time: we want to open the church during the night and invite everyone to a moment of tranquility to find their inner peace. And the effect has been remarkable.

Holy Name Cathedral was opened from 9pm-Midnight on Saturday, October 5th. With the Eucharist exposed on the altar, priests available to talk or hear confessions, and quiet music playing, young adults stood on the streets around the Cathedral and invited people inside to simply light a candle before going on their way for the evening. Everyone was welcomed to stay for as long or as short a time as they liked, and to come and go as they pleased. Over 400 people came into the Cathedral to pray before going on their way. Some lit a candle and left, others stayed for over an hour. Some were not even Christian; others received the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time in decades. Hearts were touched and healed and transformed, not only in those who were invited in but also in the volunteers themselves. It was an outstanding experience of Christ’s love for all involved.

As our Saint Anne Liturgy Team discussed our many plans for Lent, it was decided that we would bring Nightfever right here to our own parish family. Every Tuesday evening during Lent, it has been our tradition to gather for a simple meal of soup and bread followed by a Holy Hour of Eucharistic Devotion. In bringing Nightfever to our parish, it is our intention to open our church and begin Eucharistic Adoration at 6 PM, the same time that we are beginning our soup and bread meal. This would allow people to quietly visit the church and enjoy the peace of prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament for however long or short a period of time they would like to stay. Father Ralph will be present in the church for anyone who would like to visit with him, ask him questions about their faith, pray with him, receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation or the Anointing of the Sick, or simply receive his blessing. At 7 PM, the prayers of our regular Lenten Holy Hour will begin as usual, but people who are present for Nightfever will of course be welcome to stay or go as their own hearts guide them. Father Ralph will continue to remain available for conversation or for the Sacraments until the very end of our Holy Hour, which concludes with Benediction and Reposition of the Blessed Sacrament at 8 PM.

It is our hope that combining Nightfever with our traditional Lenten Holy Hour will create a new way to welcome people to our church during Lent for prayer, meditation, healing and reconciliation. We will be doing our very best to get the word out about Nightfever and we ask all of you to help us spread the word.

All are welcome to join us for however long or short a time you like. All are invited to sit and rest in the loving presence of our Lord Jesus, to pray, to visit, to be reconciled, to be healed by His amazing grace. Please invite your friends and family to join us. Please come and be at peace in the Eucharistic presence of our Lord Jesus!