From the Desk of Fr. Mike

June 2, 2024

 We welcome families to our 10:00 a.m. Mass today, families that have had a child baptized Catholic over the last year. Families will gather in the Upper Grade Center for a time of fellowship and community building following the Mass. May these families, and all families with children, always be welcomed at the parish as they bring their children to Mass and teach them the importance of giving thanks to God.

Following the Noon Mass on Sunday, June 2, we will have a Eucharistic Procession through the streets of Lake Forest. The revised route will start from the altar, going out to Illinois Road to Green Bay Road, processing south on Green Bay Road to Vine, and going east on Vine to Western. There will be altars of prayer and praise along the way of the Eucharistic Procession. We will continue from Western to Deerpath, then Deerpath west, where we will gather at St. Mary’s Green, concluding the procession back in the Church of St. Mary with benediction. All are invited to participate in part or all of this Eucharistic Procession on the Feast of Corpus Christi this Sunday.

This coming Friday, we will celebrate the Graduation Mass of the Class of 2024 of the School of St. Mary. The faculty, staff, administration, and families are very proud of all of our students in our three-time Blue Ribbon award-winning school.

Some information for you about the Class of 2024 from the School of St. Mary: 

• There are 41 students in the Class of 2024. 

• These 41 students will be going to 6 different high schools to continue their education.

•  Of the 41 students, 31 of the students have been in the School of St. Mary since 1st grade.

•  24 of the students are the youngest or the only child in their family.

•  The graduates will take a lifetime of memories with them.

They have been introduced to Chase Hawkins, the Youth Minister. Chase looks forward to the students joining COR Youth Ministry at St. Mary’s as they grow in faith in high school. Connected to God, their parish, and their peers, may our youth flourish over the summer as members of the Church of St. Mary.

With Cardinal Cupich leading the way, the Archdiocese of Chicago is laying the groundwork for an upcoming capital campaign; the Generation to Generation: Answer the Call Capital Campaign of the Archdiocese of Chicago. The goals of the campaign are to assist parish communities, support priests and seminary education, spiritually renew our parishes, and strengthen local parishes across Lake and Cook County. Earlier this week I was able to meet with a group of parishioners and representatives of the Archdiocese and the consultants for the Generation to Generation: Answer the Call Capital Campaign.

St. Mary’s is one of fifteen parishes that are part of the “Pilot Phase” of the Archdiocesan campaign. These fifteen parishes come from across the Archdiocese, the city of Chicago, and many suburbs. Preliminary work is being completed so we are able to have a successful campaign at St. Mary’s. In the coming months, additional information about the campaign and ways for your participation will be shared through the pulpit, bulletin, and mail. I wanted to give this brief overview to the parish in case you hear about a $300 million campaign that the Archdiocese is starting. Our involvement as a pilot parish will be from July 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024.

I pray that in addition to summer rest and summer travel, we will always prioritize and make time to worship and celebrate Mass with friends and parishioners, coming together to give thanks to God for blessings in our lives. 

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