Pastor's Message
HELPING YOUR LOCAL CHURCH
Most of us when we hear the term “local church” think of our own parish of Assumption; but in Catholic tradition the term “local church” actually refers to one’s diocese (or archdiocese) under the leadership of the bishop. Cardinal George is really the pastor of all Catholics in Cook and Lake County. Why do I say that? Well, in the early days of Christianity, there was usually only one congregation in a particular town, and the pastor of that congregation was a bishop. The bishop presided at all important celebrations of the community, including the baptism of new members. As the church began to grow and bishops assumed responsibility for a number of congregations, they had to delegate assistants (or presbyters, later called priests) to perform many of the functions they used to do personally. Yet, the sense of the local church being pastored by the bishop was preserved in Catholic tradition. Because a bishop could no longer be on hand for every baptism, it became customary in many places to delay the final anointing with chrism oil until the bishop could be present and anoint all the newly baptized in one ceremony. This custom is one of the sources of our present day sacrament of confirmation.
That our local church is really the Archdiocese of Chicago is made visible in both symbolic and practical ways. The sacred oils used in sacramental celebrations in all parishes in the Archdiocese are blessed by Cardinal George during Holy Week in a special liturgy called the Chrism Mass. Our adults preparing for Easter Sacraments will be part of an Archdiocesan– wide ritual called the Rite of Election at the Cathedral on February 19. Parishes within the local church also cooperate in many ways. While we depend on other churches to provide religious formation for children, we recently hosted an area-wide evening for Jewish- Catholic couples on the marriage journey.
Beyond the symbolic actions and the sharing of resources among parishes, there are certain hard facts that have to be faced by the local church. Not every parish and every parish school is self-sustaining. Plus, all parishes depend on the Archdiocese to provide certain services that no one parish could provide for itself-- no matter how large or wealthy it may be. That is why the Annual Catholic Appeal plays such a large role in sustaining the Catholic presence throughout the Archdiocese. For example, the ACA funds grants and scholarships for school serving economically disadvantaged areas; gives capital grants to struggling parishes; provides for the education and formation of lay ministers and deacons and for the on-going formation of priests; helps finance Catholic Relief Services; supports Special Religious Education in 100 parishes; and funds the Respect Life Office.
The Annual Catholic Appeal is not just another Second Collection. Rather it is the time that all Catholics are asked to make a significant pledge, payable in installments, to our Archdiocese so that it can meet the spiritual, educational, and temporal needs of parishes, schools, and people who make up our local church. Some of you will have already had the opportunity to make their pledge by mail. The rest of us will have the opportunity to do so next weekend, when our pastor, Cardinal George, will speak to us through a recorded homily. Assumption Parish is expected to contribute an amount equivalent to 6% of last year’s annual collection (or $25,400) to the ACA. Once our parish reaches its goal, 100% of additional funds received by the Archdiocese will be returned to us for our use at Assumption. Because of your past generosity to the ACA, the Archdiocese has received what it needed and our parish has been able to fund a number of repairs and improvements to our buildings through what has been returned to us.
The theme of the 2012 Annual Catholic Appeal is “Be imitators of Christ.” It is almost impossible to read the Gospels without noticing how broad Christ’s vision was and how he included the most unlikely people in his mission and ministry. We are being asked to do the same: look beyond our immediate neighborhood and the people we are most comfortable with and include in our Catholic vision all our brothers and sisters who make up the local church.