Pastoral Message from Fr. Rick – March 25, 2020

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Greetings to Brothers, Sisters and Friends of St. Christopher’s:

I hope all are bearing up well under our trying circumstances.  This pastoral message will be the first in a weekly (at least) series that you will receive via parish website, email or snail mail.  Each week you will be receiving an abbreviated Sunday bulletin, a Pastoral Message and my Sunday homily.  (Please note that if my homily should exceed ten pages, feel free to read it in more than one sitting…JUST KIDDING).  As we continue to work through our various challenges, we will develop a vision for how we can proceed together as a parish faith community and to be of service to our Kane County Community.

  1.  Keep in touch with each other regularly and if you need to talk to me, please feel free to call the office and leave a message as needed.  (435-644- 3414)
  • As mentioned briefly in our bulletin, we are going to focus some immediate efforts on helping to replenish the local Care and Share Food Pantry which is very stretched at this time.  The need for food assistance will likely persist and increase as people try to cope with volatile employment situations.  At any time, you can make a donation to St. Christopher’s Parish and earmark the amount to our Charity Account and a good portion will be sent to Care and Share.
  • As local groups organize and assess other community needs that are most immediate, we will evaluate how we might assist.  We will keep you informed and strive to participate in ways that are commensurate to our numbers and resources.
  • We continue to do our pastoral planning process along with the rest of the diocese and are focusing on Catholic identity and religious formation.  In our recent Pastoral Council meeting, we agreed that a good next step would be to start a Bible Study that reviews the major events of Salvation History.  The program which we will be using allows for streaming the video sessions on your home computer and a student guide which facilitates an interesting and accessible method for learning.  As appropriate, in a group of TEN OR LESS we will try to meet in the social hall to view and discuss the lessons together.  We will be looking into the purchase a big screen smart TV for the social hall to facilitate our studies and other activities. The new TV will likely run between $400 to $500 with installation and tech service.  We already have a pledge of $200 toward this purchase, so if you would like to match or contribute to this outlay, please MAIL IT IN.  This study will be formative, but also help us stay connected as committed PEOPLE OF THE WORD while we are not able to celebrate the Eucharist together.  More info to come.
  • While we are on the subject of money….. We realize that these are precarious times for everyone, but as you know the bills go on at all levels.  Please continue your generous support of St. Christopher’s regular collection, the Diocesan Development Drive and our Special collections as they occur.  I always feel much more hopeful when I am contributing what I have to worthy causes and efforts that help a larger group prosper and thrive.
  • We are still very much united in Spiritual Communion.
  • There are many websites available which are streaming daily Mass.  Two are featured on our website: usccb.org and dioslc.org

PLEASE NOTE: ALL RELIGIOUS SERVICES ARE SUSPENDED TO AT LEAST EASTER, APRIL 12. WE WILL UPDATE AS APPROPRIATE.

Be nice!!

Fr. Rick