February 8, 2026

Dear Parishioners,

“Share your bread with the hungry,” Isaiah says. “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn and your wound shall be quickly healed.”

We usually don’t think of this when we consider service — that we are the ones healed. We might recognize that we benefit from serving others, but to say that we are healed when we serve? Interesting.

As a priest, confessor, spiritual director, and pilgrim, I am almost every day confronted with the matter of healing. I am able to be with people as they confront the wounds on their heart — difficult relationships in the past and present, personal consequences of having gone down a wrong path, loneliness, depression, anxiety, or confusion about what they are to do with their life. I could go on with examples. It’s all to say that we have our crosses, and as a priest it is my greatest privilege to share in peoples’ crosses.

Many people are aware of their crosses and are aware of the need for healing, hence they go to reconciliation or seek counsel or receive the sacrament anointing of the sick. But many people are not aware of their crosses. It doesn’t mean they don’t have crosses. It means they don’t recognize the weight on their heart. It’s like being sick without realizing you are sick. You just continue to be tired all of the time, have that nagging cough, and accept that you’re just not meant to ever be your full, vibrant self. We know people who don’t seem to be alive or joyful. They need healing, and their lives will be made more difficult if they don’t know it.

This is where service comes in. ‘Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and homeless, clothe the naked,’ doesn’t have to be taken literally. In fact, sometimes the constant emphasis on ‘serving the poor’ is actually detrimental, for we see the ‘poor’ as this vague and anonymous category of people that we can help at a distance. Drop food off at the pantry, write a check, donate your old winter coats, preach about social justice, and we’ve ‘served the poor.’ Good. But not good enough. And certainly not something that will heal us.

Instead, we can look at service as helping the person in your life who is struggling. Helping them doesn’t have to mean necessarily talking to them or giving them advice. It can mean thinking about them, praying for them, lifting them up to the Lord. It can mean taking time to ask God in your own private prayer what God might be calling you to do to help them. The answer might be something you weren’t expecting.

At the recent Young Adult Retreat on the Eucharist we held at our parish, the participants were surprised to know that the Mass is a powerful form of intercession; that when the gifts are brought to the altar, we can place our own spiritual gift as well on the altar for the priest to consecrate. That offering for a person in your life who needs a prayer can be one of the greatest gifts they ever receive. And they don’t even have to know about it.

Full, active, conscious participation in the liturgy — something the Church has advocated since the Second Vatican Council — doesn’t mean having more laypeople be Eucharistic Ministers or lectors, or having more people sing the hymns. That stuff is not all bad, but bringing your heart that is in need of healing to the altar, and bringing someone else’s heart too — that’s a way to meaningfully participate.

Back to the immediate subject of healing as a result of service, there’s almost an intrinsic healing process in the act of service. The wounds we’ve suffered can make us think we are damaged, unlovable, hopeless. But when we serve, we implicitly see we are in a privileged position, a position to give. One can only give if one is blessed. So, breaking out of our own pain and serving others heals us by allowing God’s grace to pour into our wounded hearts, a grace that speaks the truth that we are pure, lovable, and heirs to the kingdom.

So, the next time you are feeling pretty down on yourself — when you are feeling the pain of your cross — you might consider praying for someone else, maybe even offering a Mass for them. The love you pour out will be like a blood transfusion. Our Savior’s Precious Blood will be poured back into you and make you fully alive.

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We are excited to welcome back Fr. Victor Ingalls and Fr. Pat Arensberg from Mobile, Alabama. They will be present at all the Masses this weekend, February 7-8, for the Lenten Almsgiving Appeal. As you may recall from last year, Fr. Victor is the pastor of seven parishes (that’s right–seven parishes), six of which are predominantly African American and one that is Native American. These parishes are in a very poor part of Alabama and are in need of a lot of support, so our partnership is a major deal for them. Last year we were able to raise over $150,000 (our largest Lenten Almsgiving ever) so that Mother of Mercy Parish could build a parish hall to meet and hold activities (they had nowhere to meet before). Thank you for your warm welcome and support.

Congratulations once again to the 8th graders who received the Sacrament of Confirmation this past Saturday, February 7th. We are proud of you and look forward to the beautiful ways you will glorify God in your lives. Thank you again to all who made this possible.

The Serving Our Seniors (SOS) ministry will be holding a Valentine’s luncheon this Friday, February 13th in the Holy Family Chapel. We look forward to seeing you there.

Our Adoration Chapel is in need of more committed adorers. We are so blessed to have an Adoration Chapel at our parish, and while many people stop in throughout the day to pray, which is wonderful, we are struggling to find people to sign up for an hour-long slot, which allows us to keep the chapel open. Please consider signing up for an hour, if you haven’t done so already, and perhaps encourage someone else to also sign up.

We are in the midst of the Annual Catholic Appeal, the annual collection all parishes are required to take up for the Archdiocese of Chicago, to help the Archdiocese fund all of its ministries, as well as support needier parishes in the Archdiocese. This year our parish’s assessment is $154,129. Thank you for your support of the ACA and helping us meet our goal.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. James Wallace