November 23, 2025

Dear Parishioners,

The other day I overheard during our school’s morning drop-off the song “I just can’t wait to be king” from The Lion King. I think we all whistle that tune subconsciously, and justifiably so. For when we are baptized, we are baptized into Christ’s kingship. This is why the newly baptized is anointed on the head with the Sacred Chrism, resembling a coronation.

The question is, can we not wait to be a king like Christ or can we not wait to be a king like (name your worldly king… a figure of fame, wealth, power in sports, music, politics)?

To be a king like Christ isn’t to be a star. Jesus is poor, humble, obedient, sacrificial, and loving. When we imitate Christ and become a king like him, all those things of the world don’t matter to us. Sure, we can have our jobs, our homes, our wealth, and even our relationships. But we are not attached to them. We can let go of them all in a second, if we had to. We are free.

If you find yourself preoccupied with the social circles you run in, how good you look, how nice your car or your home is, your child’s success and popularity, your career track, or what you want to do for vacation and fun—then you are focused on being the worldly king. That’s okay, but be aware: you will be disappointed. You will pray for the grace to fall in love with Jesus and see his beauty in his simplicity.

We don’t need to wait to be king. We are kings and queens. Do you believe that? Have you felt Christ crown your heart? You’ll need to go on bended knee to receive it.

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The St. Catherine of Siena Guild this weekend at Masses will be passing out jumbo plastic bags for their annual Christmas Care Bag effort, collecting hats, gloves, scarves and socks. More details are in the bulletin.

We will have a special Thanksgiving Mass on Thursday at 10 a.m. Please note, that will be the only Mass that day. Also note, the rectory office will be closed Wednesday at noon, all day Thursday, and all day Friday of this week. There is no SPC School this week either—enjoy your break and welcome home to our college students.

Inside this week’s bulletin is the Parish Annual Report. Allow me to make a few general comments about the previous year.

We welcomed to the staff Mr. Mike Einarsen, our new Operations Director, this past January and Mr. Jim White, our new School Principal, this past July. These are two significant positions for a parish, to say the least, and we were fortunate to fill the big shoes left by Nick Testa, who relocated to Alabama, and Erika Mickelburgh, who took the position of principal at St. Viator High School.

We also said farewell in June to Fr. Nick Cavallari, who finished his five-year term as associate pastor, along with our seminarian, Fr. Lee Noel, who was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming. We have been blessed with the wonderful addition of Sr. Pia Shelton, our school and parish youth minister, and three seminarians: Dominic Jinak, Tim Kujawa, and Greg Wilk. Sr. Pia and the seminarians are a great presence. Seeds of faith are being planted around the school and parish.

As you may recall, we were asked last year to be in the pilot wave of the Archdiocesan Capital Campaign, Generation to Generation. We officially concluded the campaign in December 2024. I tried to make as little noise around this as possible, since I know you all are already so generous with your support. I’m very grateful to those who donated to the campaign and allowed us to surpass our goal. We haven’t yet broken ground on the campaign projects (the annex building and stations of the cross), as we are waiting for all the pledges to come in. Also, we had some major maintenance expenses in 2024 (the new church chiller, parking lot repair, concrete work and other tuckpointing, and school bathrooms to name a few), and I did not want to overextend ourselves with a major capital project in the midst of these other significant and necessary projects.

I’m proud of the vitality of this parish. I’ve always said since becoming pastor of St. Paul of the Cross that I feel my job is simply to not mess things up, as such great things are happening thanks to me. Our volunteers are incredible—parishioners who run Bible studies, That Man Is You, Walking With Purpose, the Men’s and Women’s Clubs, Scouts, GriefShare, Contemporary Ensemble, Candlelight Rosary, Bereavement and Wedding Ministers, the Adoration Chapel, the Finance Council and E-Team, the Children’s Faith & Music class; parishioners who open up the church for weekday and weekend Masses, who sacristan, usher, fix broken toilets, vacuum water from a broken pipe, replace the votive candles; parishioners who clean and decorate the church, set up the Christmas lights, plant the beautiful flowers around the campus, especially around the Adoration Chapel, run the Donut Sunday and New Parishioner Sign Up. I could go on with the list of people who dedicate their time to our parish, and I haven’t even mentioned all the school and RE activities. I’m able to manage being the only priest at St. Paul of the Cross because of you… and your prayers.

And, finally, let me just highlight our charity to the poor. It would be one thing to thrive “in-house” with all of the above-named efforts. But the fact that we look outward to serve our brothers and sisters in need shows we are truly inspired by God. Our parish food pantry, the second collections (particularly the support of Mother of Mercy Parish in Alabama—the Lenten Almsgiving project), and the coat drive, baby bottle drive, the sock drive, and the Misericordia drive, are just some examples that show God has given us all a compassionate and generous heart.

A blessed Thanksgiving to all of you. May you know how special you are in God’s eyes and the great plan he has in store for you.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. James F. Wallace, Pastor