Dear Parishioners,

On this Labor Day Weekend, when our minds and hearts naturally direct our attention to the gift of work, I am pleased to introduce two recent additions to our work force here at St. Joan of Arc parish. The first of these is Rubi Garfias, hired as our new parish secretary replacing Karen Eldrenkamp. Karen held this position for three years, and although she was hired as a part time employee, she served our parish and its staff in a full time capacity. She has decided to explore and enjoy new possibilities that retirement will offer her and her family. We are all grateful for the selfless devotion and professionalism that were hallmarks of her service to us.

Dear Parishioners,

This weekend, it is an honor and a joy to welcome Deacon Rob Visher into diaconal ministry here at St. Joan of Arc Parish. Deacon Rob was ordained as a permanent deacon by Bishop Hicks on Saturday, August 23, 2025 at the Cathedral of St. Raymond in Joliet. Deacon Rob was raised in Downers Grove and married his wife, Julie, in 2009. In 2014 they were blessed with their daughter Ellie who is currently enrolled in our parish school. In 2022 the Visher family, (Rob, Julie and Ellie) became members of our parish community where they have been active ever since in a wide variety of ways.

“We are going to sell out all the tickets instantly!” That was my spontaneous reaction when I first heard the news: Father Mike Schmitz had agreed to be our keynote speaker for our 2025 Youth Conference in the Diocese of Joliet.

If you do not know who Father Mike Schmitz is, it likely means you do not spend much time online or listening to Catholic pod casts. A priest of the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, Father Schmitz has become one of the most recognizable Catholic voices in the digital world. His Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year podcasts have touched millions of lives. With a rare mix of clarity, humor, and conviction, he brings the Faith alive to all generations.

Dear Parishioners,

August the 15th is the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is one of the three major festivals in honor of Mary, all of which are holydays of obligation. The belief that underlies this liturgical celebration is that at the end of her earthly life, Mary, the mother of Jesus, was assumed body and soul into the glory of heaven.

Dear Parishioners,

Every year on August 6, the church celebrates the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The event of the Lord’s transfiguration is recorded in all four gospels, and one of these accounts is always proclaimed on the Second Sunday of Lent. August 6th however, is the liturgical commemoration of this highly significant moment in the life of Jesus and the select apostles Peter, James and John who are led, by Jesus, to Mount Tabor. This mountain is about five miles southeast of Nazareth and rises to the peak of 1,650 feet. Tabor was consistently regarded as a holy mountain by a number of religious traditions including that of Israel.

Dear Parishioners,

One of the perpetual struggles within the church has been, and continues to be, the notion of change. We rightfully want to know which aspects of the church may change and which aspects may not. In a more specific inquiry one could focus on the church’s beliefs (creed), or on its ritual practices (cult) or on its moral demands and expectations of behavior (code). These “3 Cs” are common to all religious traditions and to most secular organizations and societies as well. What aspects contained in the church’s creed, cult and code are able to be changed and which must be forever constant?

Dear Parishioners,

You may recall that on the weekend June 7/8, the feast of Pentecost, I spoke at all the liturgies asking people to increase their weekly Offertory Gift if this were possible. We had incurred a significant deficit which we did not want to carry into the new fiscal year. This deficit resulted from the general inflation we are currently experiencing as a nation. I believe it is important to identify the source of the deficit to avoid creating or blaming other factors such as the capital campaign, the school or frivolous spending.

Dear Parishioners,

Having reached the summertime apex of July 4th , it won’t be long before we begin seeing the gradual descent from this plateau into the late summer weeks of August. I once read that August is summer that has heard the rumor of fall. -- a lovely poetic description for the month that offers us a seamless transition into the season of autumn. In Ohio, (and perhaps elsewhere too) farmers measure the present time of year by the height of the sweet corn. I grew up hearing, “Knee high by the Fourth of July,” not only as a measuring concept, but also as an expressed hope for the bountiful crop needed to sustain the farmers’ livelihood. Roadside stands punctuated the rural roads on Ohio where one could purchase freshly picked corn as well as a wide variety of homegrown fruits and vegetables that found their place on countless dinner tables.

Dear Parishioners, It’s rare that June 29th falls on a Sunday. It’s even more rare that this feast (or any feast) of Sts. Peter & Paul, which is commemorated on June 29, is permitted to trump the ordinary celebration of a Sunday. Given the antiquity of this commemoration as well as the enormous significance of these two pillars of the church, we are privileged to honor them on the Lord’s Day. The great esteem in which all the apostles were held in the early church is evident in the New Testament letter to the Ephesians (2: 19-20) that proclaims, the community of the saints and members of the household of God is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

Dear Parishioners,

As time rushes by as it seems to do the older one gets, last Friday, June 20, marked the official beginning of summer with the occurrence of the Summer Solstice at 10:42 PM. The solstice occurs twice a year, at winter around Dec. 21, and at summer around June 21. According to NASA, a solstice happens when one of the earth’s poles reaches its maximum tilt toward the sun. The word itself is derived from the Latin solstitium, meaning “sun stands still,” referring to the moment when the sun’s apparent path pauses before reversing its direction.

Dear Parishioners, On June 1, 2025, I blessed the Time Capsule (and its contents) that was one of the closing moments of our parish centennial celebration. Our time capsule was designed and organized by the committee that has overseen all the components of our year-long celebration.

The purpose of a t ime capsule is to preserve a snapshot of a specific period in history so that future generations will be able to better understand and appreciate its roots. Within capsules are objects, documents and other items that represent the accomplishments of those people.

Dear Parishioners,

On this great festival of Pentecost the Church brings the Easter Season to its solemn close. This day is sometimes referred to as the Birthday of the Church. I recently read an article that offered a creative way for us Americans to understand Pentecost. If July 4th commemorates the day when the 13 American states were liberated from England’s rule, then September 17th commemorates the day when this collection of states became the one United States, for it was on this day that the Constitution, our charter document, was signed allowing us to take our place among the other nations of the world.

Dear Parishioners,

In a recent weekday homily, I noted the distinction between two realities that we sometimes conflate—jealousy and envy. Strictly speaking, jealousy is the desire to rigidly guard what we already possess. Envy, on the other hand, is the resentment toward another for what he/she already possesses and the desire to deprive them of it.

Dear Parishioners,

I’m calling my bulletin article for this week, Familiar Places with New Faces, as hopefully will be evident.

The first of these familiar places is Vatican City, the smallest sovereign state in the world. It is home to what may be the largest Catholic church in the world that is built over the necropolis where the apostle Peter is buried. It is also the place where the pope, successor of St. Peter, resides.