Last week the Transition Committee (TLCC) met to review various aspects of the merging process that we have been engaged in since January. All in all, it was a positive meeting that concerned itself with an evaluation of the recent Town Hall Meeting and other events and activities that took place in the weeks since their last meeting. The consensus was that we are headed in a right direction and that—by and large—parishioners are cooperating with the merger process. We are not so naïve as to think that there are no challenges before us, but we are grateful for the significant steps that have been made since the beginning of the year.

One of those significant steps is the appointment of a Parish Pastoral Council that is representative of the new parish community. Beginning with their meeting this week, they will assume the role and the tasks that the TLCC had been responsible for up until now; namely, to continue overseeing the merger process and caring for the life of the parish community.

The change in name from Parish Congress of Ministries to Parish Pastoral Council better reflects the current mind of the Church regarding such bodies. A bit more formal than a Congress of Ministries, the Parish Pastoral Council is the primary advisory body to the Pastor and, along with the Finance Council, is required by the Code of Canon Law. Its purpose is to advise the Pastor on matters pertaining to the life of the parish community and to insure that the pastoral needs of our parishioners are being met. This is done by regular and honest dialogue with committees, groups, and individuals within the parish. Each time they meet, members of the Parish Pastoral Council will report on various areas of the parish’s life, e.g., liturgy, faith formation, social justice, stewardship and finance, maintenance, and parish administration. Normatively, meetings will be open to the parish community, but any individual or group who wishes to have time on the agenda must request time from the council chair (Lizz Waverek) prior to the meeting. If the Council finds itself discussing sensitive matters, i.e., personnel issues or salaries, the meetings may be closed and no visitors will be permitted. The announcement of a meeting, along with its agenda, will be published in the parish bulletin on the weekend prior to the meeting. I suspect that this new body and the format of the meetings will be an adjustment all around, but I am confident that we will find our way and that this will be a good thing for the life of the parish community.

It is my hope to install and introduce the members of the Parish Pastoral Council at both Masses on Pentecost weekend so that you will have a chance to know and meet them. I am grateful for their willingness to be of service to the community and the Church and I know you share my gratitude and appreciation.

Difficult as it may be to imagine, we are nearing the end of the school year and summer will soon be upon us. Although our schedules change and families may come and go on vacation or weekends at the lake, life at the parish community goes merrily along. We continue to need liturgical ministers each weekend, ministers to bring Holy Communion to the homebound and North Memorial Hospital, and array of other people to continue the ministries and activities that are important to the life of the parish community. If you know that you will be away on a particular weekend or for a period of time, be sure to let the coordinator of your particular ministry know that and they will schedule you accordingly. If you cannot make it for a particular commitment, it is your responsibility to find a substitute. With mutual respect and cooperation, we should be able to keep things going smoothly throughout the months ahead.

On Pentecost weekend—May 26 – 27—the weekend Masses will change location. The 4:30 PM Mass will be celebrated at St. Bridget’s and the 9:30 AM Mass will be celebrated at St. Austin. The Sacrament of Reconciliation will likewise be celebrated at St. Bridget’s on Saturday afternoons at 3:30 PM. We will remain on this schedule until the First Weekend in Advent.

It is my hope that people will remain faithful to their preferred Mass times and that there will continue to be a good congregation at both the 4:30 Mass on Saturday and the 9:30 Mass on Sunday. Although we have made many important strides at becoming one community in faith, I suspect that some members of the community continue to see us as two separate parishes who are sharing a pastor. As long as both churches remain open and Masses and activities are held at each of them, some people have not found it necessary to acknowledge and begin to accept the reality that we are one parish community and that we should be striving to get to know one another and forming a sense of community rather than placing our energies into demonstrating loyalty to a piece of property.

Since January, the transition committee (TLCC) and I have been very deliberate in scheduling activities at both campuses to demonstrate our intention to make the best use of the resources we presently have at our disposal. I sincerely hope that we have begun to earn the trust of anyone who may still be skeptical or on the sidelines and that whether a Mass or an activity is held at the St. Austin Campus or the St. Bridget Campus you will know that your presence and participation is welcomed and encouraged. The hype about the neighborhood around St. Bridget’s is just that—hype. Our two campuses are a mile and half apart and are a part of the same neighborhood. At both places you will find your sisters and brothers...at both places you will know the support and care of the parish community.

Last week was an eventful and proud week for our parish community. On Tuesday evening, about 60-70 parishioners at-tended a Town Hall Meeting held in the gym of the Sojourner Truth Academy. The purpose of the meeting was to acknowledge the progress we have made in the three months since we have been a merged community, reflect on the immediate and long-range future, and introduce new leadership. Those in attendance were very affirming of all that has taken place since January and the consensus seemed to be that we are on a right path. I encouraged those who were present to bring this good news to those who could not attend and to make a special effort to invite back any parishioners who may have left in anger or frustration due to all the initial misunderstandings. We would rejoice to have them be one with us.

For those who were not present and may not have heard, the following are the new administrative leaders of the parish community:

Trustees – Gerri Hare and Chris Piquet; Parish Pastoral Council – Lizz Waverek, Maxine Zappa, Mike Regan, Terry Hale, Linda Rogers, Millie Steckler, and George Ross; Finance Council – Peter Aubart, Diane Weber, Greg Gacioch, Gerri Hare, and Chris Piquet. We are grateful for their generosity and willingness to be of service to the parish community.

On Wednesday afternoon, we hosted the funeral service and luncheon for Jody Patzner, Jr., the young man who was shot while riding his bicycle to bring food to a neighbor, at the St. Bridget campus. Over 200 people were in attendance for the service and the luncheon, including a good number of parishioners who extended the hospitality of the parish to our guests both in the church and at the lunch. The family and friends of Jody were very grateful that we opened our doors and our hearts to them. They found comfort in the church service and in the care and concern of so many people who surrounded them in their grief. It was a wonderful example of the Church being the compassionate presence of Christ to our neighbors and in the wider community.

Thursday afternoon found the priests’ deanery gathered in the gym for their semi-monthly meeting. I am indebted to the Sojourner Truth Academy for re-arranging their schedule throughout the week to accommodate the various activities that we had going on. I am also grateful to Rick Mysliwiec for preparing the lunch for the Patzner family and for our deanery gathering.

On Friday, we celebrated a Mass for Healing at the St. Austin Campus, followed by the April Senior Lunch. Over 100 people attended the Mass and luncheon and it provided a wonderful opportunity to gather for prayer and fellowship. The meal, as always, was wonderfully prepared and cheerfully served—thanks to Arlene Scherber and her faithful kitchen crew—and those who stayed afterwards enjoyed some spirited card games.

The weekend saw our first Ministry Fair as a new parish community. Judging by the number of people who came down to Brennan Hall on Saturday evening and over to the gym on Sunday morning, it appears to have been a great success. In addition to people picking up their packets and ministry brochures, parishioners had yet another opportunity to come together to get to know one another. Throughout the week—at the various meetings and occasions—I was struck by how well we are working together at becoming one community in mind and heart. As I said at the outset, it was an eventful and proud week for St. Bridget’s...and I feel privileged to witness and be a part of the good things happening in our parish community.

Peace and Good Things!

This weekend, we celebrate a Ministry Fair to give everyone the opportunity to commit him or herself to some area of ministry or activity in the life of the parish community. Since January, many generous people have been working hard to keep everything going on both campuses since our merger went into effect. This Ministry Fair will give everyone the opportunity to commit or recommit themselves to a particular area or areas of ministry, or to let us know that the time has come for them to withdraw from a particular ministry. While we appreciate and encourage the active participation of all our parishioners, no one should feel indentured to a particular ministry or activity. Perhaps you are feeling a call to try something different, or maybe your personal situation has changed and a particular ministry no longer works for you. Whatever the case, I hope you will seize this opportunity to remain an active and vital member of the parish community.

Another important by-product of the Ministry Fair will be a more accurate census of who is and who not a registered member of the parish community. When the merger went into effect in January, we combined the parish rosters for St. Bridget’s and St. Austin’s. I know that there are some individuals and families who have chosen to register elsewhere, but not everyone has informed us of that decision. Registration and membership in a parish community is important, not only because it gives us a more accurate sense of who is and who is not a member of the parish, but—more to the point—it is a sign of your willingness to commit yourself—your time, your talent, and your treasure—to a particular faith community.

I know that the new parish community got off to a shaky start, thanks to bad information and misunderstandings, but we appear to have moved beyond that to a place where we can and do worship, work, and play together. If you know someone who may have left the community because of misunderstanding, perhaps you can reach out to them and invite them to consider coming back. We would welcome their presence, their membership, and their participation in the life of the community.

A special word of thanks to Lynn Picquet and Linda Rogers for all their work in preparing for the Ministry Fair and for what they will do in terms of follow-up and coordination of information. Thanks, too, to all of those ministry and committee representatives who made themselves available to staff tables, provide information, and answer questions. The rest is up to you...thanks for what I know will be your generous response to this invitation to deepen your commitment to and participation in the life of the Parish Community of St. Bridget.

One of the most powerful symbols of the Easter Season is the image of light. When we gather for the Vigil of Easter, the community is wrapped in darkness. There is a strange silence and, at the same time, a sense of expectation—something different, something important is going to happen. Then, into that darkness comes the light—a small, flickering light atop the Easter candle. As the cantor proclaims, "This is the Light of Christ!" the small flickering light is shared with all those who gather in the darkened church and a remarkable sight begins to appear—that small, quivering flame atop the Easter candle becomes a light that fills the church and makes it radiant. Through sharing the light, the darkness is overcome and the assembly is bathed in the Light of Christ. And what a difference this sharing makes!

During this season, many of the Scriptures speak to us about the light we have received and what we are to do with that light. You see, there is a certain amount of comfort—even safety—in the image of the church bathed in the light of Christ. Like Peter on the mount of the transfiguration we are tempted to say, "Lord it is good for us to be here", which really translates as, "It’s safe and comfortable here, so let’s just stay where we are." But this is not the way it was to be for Jesus, his apostles, or for us. Je-sus did not want the community of believers to be some privileged, special group, huddled together in an upper room isolated and afraid. They were not to be some secret society guarding what they knew and keeping it for themselves. Quite the contrary, they were to be a leaven, a net thrown into the deep water, a light in the world. It was not enough to simply have the message; that mes-sage is meaningful and effective to the degree that it is proclaimed to any and all who will listen. The safety, comfort and warmth of the Easter Vigil is not to be the end of our journey, but the beginning of our mission.

When Jesus appeared to the frightened disciples in the upper room, Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid." These are words for us as well. Gathered around the Light of Christ, Jesus says to us, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." Like Thomas, though, we can doubt the presence of Christ with us and within us and the power it gives us. Doubt and fear have been, throughout the centuries, a powerful obstacle to the building the Kingdom of God. They can prevent us from reaching out to the person who is isolated, alone, and sad. Fear makes us stand with the crowd, or do the unjust thing. Fear allows us to turn the other way, to remain silent in the face of injustice, to exclude those who do not think, act, pray, or love the way I think they should. The darkness of doubt allows us to escape our responsibility to speak up; it makes us fail to recognize the presence of Jesus in our brothers and sis-ters. And in the face of all that, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid" for the Light that is Christ dispels fear and doubt and replaces them with freedom, vision, hope, and justice and present in these things are signs of the Kingdom of God—not in some unknown future, but here and now.

My brothers and sisters, it would be nice to remain in the warmth and light of the Easter Vigil—in the comfort and security of our gathering here. But to do so would be to miss the point of our Easter celebration and Christ in our midst. The Light that dis-pels the darkness is not really in the Easter candle, it dwells in us who have been baptized and anointed, those of us fed regularly on the body and blood of Christ. We are to go into a world that is often bathed in darkness and fear and be that Light. And we can do it knowing that we do not stand alone. Christ stands with us, as do our sisters and brothers who make up with us the Body of Christ. We must leave our upper room—wherever it is that we go for security—and carry the Light of Christ into every darkness—every shadow—every hidden place, so that this Light, which has transformed us, may, through us, transform all things!

Christ is risen! Christ is truly risen, Alleluia! As we celebrate this holy season, may you know the Light of Christ in all the moments and places of your life.

This weekend marks three months since the merger between St. Austin’s and St. Bridget’s became official and we began striving to become one community of faith. As I reflected last week, in that short time we have accomplished many good things and have come together in a number of significant ways. I suspect that many of the fears that overshadowed the process at its beginning have dissipated as we have gotten to know each other and trust that we have each other’s best interests at heart as we move toward a future filled with hope, new life, and possibilities. In the weeks ahead, we will have a new Parish Pastoral Council and Finance Council in place and these bodies will assist me in clarifying the vision for our common future—in terms of our life as a parish community as well as the ways in which we can "be Church" on the north side. Working collaboratively with one another, our neighboring parishes, and other faith communities, we can be a stronger and more effective presence of Christ in the neighborhoods of which we are a part.

How appropriate that this should all be happening as the Church prepares to celebrate the great feast of our redemption. In the days of the Easter Season we hear beautiful stories from The Acts of Apostles about the life and vitality of the earliest Christian communities—how they cared for one another, shared everything in common, looked out for one another, and were fearless in sharing their faith with any and all who would listen. What gave our ancestors in faith the courage and strength to accomplish all they did was precisely the resurrection of Christ. The power that individuals and the community drew from the resurrection made them fearless in the face of their adversaries and those who misunderstood them. With great courage and conviction they strived to live with one mind and heart, putting aside anything that might divide them or hinder them from giving the most authentic witness possi-ble and, because of their fidelity, the Church grew and the needs of all were cared for. They recognized that like Mary Magdalene and the Eleven they could not stand in awe at the empty tomb. Filled with nothing less than the Spirit of Jesus, they went to all the corners of the earth to speak and be the Good News.

On the weekend of April 21-22 we are going to hold a Ministry Fair that will give each of us the opportunity to do what the earliest Christians did—put their faith and their energy at the service of God and God’s people. Information about all the ministries and opportunities that are part of the life of our parish will be available and you will be invited to reflect on those ministries and op-portunities and decide which ones you’d like to be a part of. This will not only help us to keep our parish a vital and active commu-nity; it will also help us to do a sort-of census so that we know who is a part of our parish community. Please plan to be present on the weekend of April 21-22 and spend some time browsing at the Ministry Fair, asking questions, and picking up the information that is available. With the dedication and fervor of the early Christian communities as our inspiration, let’s work together to make it a great success and another opportunity to show our commitment to our faith and our parish community.

During Holy Week and the Sacred Triduum, may we learn generosity from the example of our Savior who poured out himself that we might know life and freedom from sin.