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On a beautiful Easter morning, Holy Family was filled with the faithful to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. The enthusiastic congregation sang joyfully, and celebrated the Mass with Holy Family's hallmark vitality and welcoming spirit. Fr. Mike's stirring homily shared his hope that like Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Holy Family will continue to have Sunday morning Mass and holiday celebrations. "Like the embers and ruble, the pain and shock of Notre Dame, fire is not the end of the story. It will be rebuilt. Just like Holy Family, I know and believe somehow. The light will shine, for we believe that He is risen. He is truly Risen, " he said. For FULL STORY, please click on the title link or picture.

Holy Family was packed with hundreds of worshipers who made the traditional Holy Thursday pilgrimage to pray and reflect. Three buses from St. Bede's, on the south side, joined worshipers from distant Wheaton as well as people from all over Chicagoland to join in prayer with members of the Holy Family community. Those in attendance shared their disbelief and sadness that under the Cardinal's decree, Holy Family will no longer hold Sunday Masses and other holy day celebrations.

After a beautiful and moving service on Holy Thursday, a group of Holy Family parishioners and friends "kept watch" by visiting and praying with our friends at the altar of repose at The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii and Notre Dame de Chicago. Catholics from all over the city also visited Holy Family, as the church remained open until midnight for prayer and reflection.

Thank you to all who assisted with last week's Hospitality following the 9:45 Mass. We had a significant assembly to welcome Fr. McQuinn, and numerous parishioners generously helped with serving and supplied treats and refreshments. Special thanks to Ellen Skerett, Arlyne Jackson, Col Chin, Rita Crosse, Sharon Igoe, Vernon Lam and the students of the Year 1 Confirmation class for embodying the welcoming and hospitable spirit that makes Holy Family community so special.

Our new pastor, Fr. Peter McQuinn concelebrated Mass with Fr. Mike and was witness to some good old Holy Family hospitality and vitality. Fr. Peter received a warm welcome from all in attendance, while seeing first hand why parishioners are passionate about maintaining a Sunday Mass at Holy Family.

Attending Mass at Holy Family to greet the newly appointed pastor of Holy Family Notre Dame de Chicago, were: ( l. to r.) Patti Bellock, Robert Emmett Nolan, Barbara Nolan and Michael Nolan. Holy Family was honored to welcome these members of our founding families. FOR FULL STORY please click on the title link or picture

St. Ignatius College Prep makes frequent use of Holy Family Church for special events, devotions and liturgies. One of the regularly scheduled events is a well- attended optional Mass every First Friday morning at 7:15 a.m. during the academic year. Most of the school’s 1,400 students, many faculty and often alumni, parents and former parents of St. Ignatius students participate in this Mass. For FULL STORY, please click on title link or picture.

Congratulations to all our young people from Holy Family and Notre Dame de Chicago who were confirmed on April 3 by Bishop Rojas. May the Holy Spirit continue to bless them with strength, courage and love. The confirmandi are: Owen Aguilar, Ruby Aguilar, Richard Caccavale, Joshua Cardenas, Daniel Casarez, Col Chin, Jackson Chin, Olivia Dietrich, Emily Dominguez-Soliz, Jesus Federico, Esteban Garcia, Maritza Gutierrez, Matthew Guzman, Saul Guzman, Angel Rosales, Fidel Rosales, Alaric Rylon, Javadia Rylon, and Ariana Salgado

Fr. Peter McQuinn, newly appointed pastor of the combined Holy Family/Notre Dame parish, has shared with Fr. Mike that he will be visiting Holy Family this Sunday, April 7 at the 9:45 Mass. This will be a good opportunity for all parishioners to meet our new pastor, and for him to get to see the renowned welcoming environment at the Sunday morning Mass, and why it is so important that it be maintained.

On March 29, family and friends remembered the amazing life of John King. Born in Chicago in 1936, John was a life long member of Holy Family. During the beautiful funeral service presided over by Fr. Mike, many wonderful memories and stories were shared. John was a person who gave of himself as a volunteer in the food pantry, at the VA, and as a sponsor for AA. We will miss his engaging stories and warm smile. May he rest in peace.

Holy Family has received the final installment of the Catholic Appeal rebate of $2,579.80 from all funds collected in excess of our parish goal. If you are interested in making a pledge to the 2019 Catholic Appeal, please click on the title link or picture. Thank you for your generosity.

Members from Holy Family and Notre Dame met on March 25 to get acquainted and to begin the conversation on the upcoming transition to merge the parishes. The team discussed the initial steps that are needed to develop a positive dialogue between the parish representatives, as well as strategies that encourage current parishioners to give the merger a chance to succeed. The transition team has asked to have a meeting with Fr. McQuinn and to begin the process of developing a shared vision for the newly merged parish. The possibility of maintaining a Sunday Mass at Holy Family continues to be part of the conversation, and that is a question the team hopes to discuss with Fr. McQuinn.

As Illinois faces so many pressing issues involving human life and dignity, it is incomprehensible that our elected officials have decided the pressing issue of the day is to enhance the chances that the lives of the most vulnerable and voiceless will be taken. Their efforts, similar to recent actions in New York and Virginia, focus on corrupting our God-given right to life and sowing unnecessary division. House Bill 2495 and Senate Bill 1942, misnamed the Reproductive Health Act, include so many harmful provisions the full effect of these bills can hardly be imagined. To read the bills and to contact your legislator, please click on the title link or picture.

On March 11, Cardinal Cupich informed the parish through the letter posted above that he has reaffirmed his earlier decision that all regular Sunday morning Masses of the merged parishes will be celebrated at Notre Dame de Chicago. Sunday morning Mass will continue at Holy Family during the transition, but will likely end on or before June 30, 2019. Weddings and baptisms that have been scheduled at Holy Family will still take place at Holy Family. Additionally, during the transition, requests for weddings and baptisms at Holy Family will still be accepted. Please click on the "Weddings" or "Baptism" buttons above for information.

Cardinal Cupich has appointed Fr. Peter McQuinn as the new pastor of the combined Holy Family/Notre Dame parish. Fr. McQuinn is currently the pastor of All Saints-St. Anthony parish in Bridgeport. He has also served as pastor at Epiphany Parish in Chicago, administrator at St. Mark's in Chicago, and as an associate pastor at Our Lady of the Wayside parish in Arlington Heights. He was ordained in 1991. Welcome, Fr. McQuinn!

Special thanks to Kathy Walton and Elizabeth Rylon for hosting our March hospitality gathering. Kathy and Liz helped us celebrate St. Patrick's Day with delicious treats and festive decorations to celebrate the day. Thank you, Kathy and Liz!

The Women Of The Spirit are collecting travel size toiletries and hotel samples for both men and women. There will be boxes in the back of the church to receive these offerings. Once collected, the items will be packaged and distributed to those in need. Our goal is to make 200 care packages.

Click on the tile link or picture to see Maureen Callahan's article in the Irish American News. The article can be found on p.76.

Holy Family's own Sr. Pat Cummings, SSND has been appointed by Cardinal Cupich to a three year term on the Board of Advisors of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Holy Family is blessed to have Sister Pat as one of our parishioners. Please keep her in your prayers as she takes on this new role. Also, keep Catholic Charities and the individuals and families they serve in prayer as well.

Gazette Chicago - 3/1/2019 Click on title link for full story.