Dear Parishioners,
I love our opening line from St. Paul in our second reading: “We are always courageous.”
Paul isn’t arrogant. He’s realistic. He and the disciples have the Holy Spirit, and so they can be courageous. They might be imprisoned, slandered, beaten, or rejected. It doesn’t matter to them. God is with them. They are doing God’s will, and that gives them peace. And should the worst possible thing happen to them or their loved ones–they die–then they’ll be with God in heaven. This fact gives them the ability to do anything for God. It gives them courage.
Dear Parishioners,
The scribes in today’s Gospel accuse Jesus of being “possessed by Beelzebub.” Beelzebub, as you know, is synonymous with Satan. The name was taken from one of the Philistine pagan gods, who was the lord over the insects (the Hebrew word for Lord is ba’al and for insect is zebub).
Dear Parishioners,
At our parish’s First Communion last month, I pulled out during the homily some of my favorite gift cards–Lou Malnati’s, White Castle, Portillo’s, Dairy Queen. However, the best “gift card,” I told the children, and the one that never runs out, is their First Communion banner. If we receive the Eucharist every Sunday, our souls will be made stronger and stronger, and our bodies too will be healthy. We can’t say the same about regular partakings of Dairy Queen or Malnati’s. Also, our taste in the Eucharist never changes. Or, if it changes, it’s only for the better. When I was in 2nd grade I liked chicken McNuggets. Now, I don’t really care for them. My taste has matured (arguable, I know). But with the Eucharist, as I’ve grown older, my “taste” or appreciation for communion has only grown.
Father James Wallace grew up in Winnetka, Illinois and attended Sts. Faith Hope and Charity grammar school, New Trier High School, and then The George Washington University in Washington DC, where he earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science in 2007. He attended seminary at The Pontifical North American College in Rome and was ordained a priest in 2012 for the Archdiocese of Chicago. In addition to being the pastor of Saint Paul of the Cross Parish, he serves as a canon lawyer for the Archdiocese, a dean in Vicariate II, and a professor of canon law and spiritual director at Mundelein Seminary. He is also one of the featured Mercy Home Sunday Mass celebrants, airing Sundays at 9:30am on WGN.
Phone: (847) 825-7605
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