August 11, 2024

 Dear Parishioners,

It’s surprising, even scandalous, how many prophets in the Old Testament pray for death. Elijah does in this week’s first reading. Moses did in last week’s reading. Jeremiah, Job, Jonah, and others…all struggle with their burdens and ask to be relieved. Recall Saint Thomas’ words: “Let us go to die with him.”

            Let me first say this: it’s not “sinful,” as the conventional wisdom might say, to contemplate death or even suicide. Many holy men and women, saints and the prophets above, thought about death and considered suicide. Christ himself contemplated his own death. In fact, he predicted it three times before dying.

             It’s important to acknowledge that the thought is okay. If we think the thought itself is sinful, then we’ll simply repress it. We won’t pray about it and the deeper issue or struggle we are facing won’t have the opportunity to be addressed. The chances, then, are high we will do something we regret. Whereas if we don’t condemn ourselves and feel shame, and just lift to the Lord our heavy hearts, like Elijah does when he prays under the broom tree, God will be able to speak his love and wisdom to us. We will be able to move forward. 

              We experience this reality in many other ways with temptations, bad thoughts, bad dreams, and so forth. We feel we are committing a sin by just having the thought or dream, and so we don’t pray about it. Now, indulging the temptation or acting on the thought is a different story. But that’s not what we’re talking about. Praying about it isn’t a sin. In fact, you can trust that God wants you to pray about the struggle you are having. That is how he will be close to you.

              Jesus calls himself the Bread of Life and says that whoever eats of him will not die and “will live forever.” Praying about your heavy thoughts is incredibly helpful. Taking your heavy thoughts with you to Mass, laying them on the altar, and asking for help as you receive communion is even better.

               The other day I was given a lesson by some Gen Z’ers in the Gen Z slang. For instance, “mid” means mediocre. So, a Gen Z’er might say, “that homily was mid.”  Or, “bussin’” means really good: “that burger was bussin’.” Well, when I was in high school and college, a common saying, sort of slang, was “I hate my life.” You would say it when you were given a 20-page paper to write or your football team lost. But over time people started saying it more frequently and actually meaning it.

               If you’ve had that thought before–”I hate my life”--whether or not you truly meant it, I invite you to pray about it. Even better, I invite you to come to Mass on Sunday and offer it over to the Lord. You’ll begin to love your life and see all the challenges as blessings.

+

On Wednesday, August 14th in the evening we will be hosting here at St. Paul of the Cross in the gym a capital campaign event for us and other parishes in our pilot wave of the Archdiocesan Capital Campaign. Cardinal Cupich will be present to give a more detailed explanation of the campaign. Doors will open at 6:15pm for appetizers, refreshments and socializing, and the event will begin at 7pm. As I’ve mentioned in previous bulletins, thank you for your contribution to this campaign. Funds we raise will go to support priest health care and retirement, scholarships for Catholic schools, and building here at our parish outdoor Stations of the Cross and a large meeting space off the parking lot. If you are able to attend, please RSVP online using the following link: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/q5rbuek

            Thursday, August 15th is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We will have Masses at 6:25am, 8:30am, 12pm, and 7pm that day. 

            We’re almost midway through August, which means the return of school is approaching. Next Sunday, August 18th we will have a special Back-to-School Mass at 4pm for our school families. The first day of school is Wednesday, August 21st. Enjoy the rest of your summer break, teachers and students.

            Please save the date for our parish picnic on Sunday, September 8th at 1pm in the parking lot.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. James