Happy Father’s Day to all our dads, and father figures today!

This weekend, we also celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity reminding us that at the very heart of God is relationship – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, united in love. That same love shapes and holds our human relationships too, especially the ones we honor this Father’s Day. Whether with our fathers, father figures, or those who guide us in faith, we celebrate the self-giving love that mirrors the Trinity’s own communion.

At the same time, I am very much aware of a more tender moment we are moving toward next Sunday, June 22, when many will gather at 10 am to offer the final Mass at Saint Catherine of Siena-Saint Lucy worship site. It is one of our four worship sites in the Oak Park Catholic Community. Like Saint Giles, Saint Edmund and Ascension, this sacred space has held years of prayer, laughter, tears, baptisms, weddings and farewells. Despite this sad reality, we hold to this truth – a church building may close, but the CHURCH, the PEOPLE of GOD, remains alive. In the mystery of the Trinity, we find the courage to move forward in the hope, that knowing every ending in Christ carries seeds of new beginnings.

The Saint Catherine-Saint Lucy and Saint Giles community extends open arms and hearts of welcome to those who choose to continue and worship and build community together. And I know, arms and hearts are open to anyone who may feel at home at Saint Edmund or Ascension as a new spiritual home.

I write about this today to ask for your prayers but also to remind us, we walk forward in faith, rooted in love, and trusting in God’s ongoing work among us. May the unity of the Trinity inspire us to remain united, even as we grieve the ending of this sacred space or any other ending we may be facing in our lives at this time. Every time we bless ourselves at the beginning of our prayers or at Mass – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – we are expressing our hope that every ending in Christ carries the seeds of new beginnings.

Have a blessed and safe week ahead.

With you a Christian. For you a priest.

Father Carl Morello
Pastor
Ascension and St. Edmund Parish
St. Catherine of Siena – St. Lucy and St. Giles Parish