I hope that this New Year is one of peace and health for you and your families.
During the Christmas holidays I realized that there is some confusion about my retirement. Some thought that I was retiring December 31; others thought it would be very soon, and I suppose most didn’t know anything at all, or don’t care to know.
This will be a year of transition for us. As I have stated before, my term as Pastor ends June 30, 2017. I will have completed 12 years here at St. Hubert. There are 2 plans in place with the Cardinal about our parish. First, if he appoints an experienced Pastor, I will retire on July 1 or thereabouts. The second plan is that I will stay to help mentor a priest who has never been a Pastor. I would retire after a period of mentoring, and his readiness to Pastor St. Hubert Parish.
Bishop Rassas and the Placement Board for priests were here in November to hear your concerns for a new Pastor. On January 24, at 7:00 p.m. a few members of our PPC and the Finance Council will be attending a Parish Information Night at St. Domitilla Parish in Hillside, Illinois. Parishioners from each parish in the Pastor Pool (priests who are transitioning to a Pastorate), come with materials about their parish and make themselves available to speak with the prospective pastors.
After this meeting, the potential Pastors can see a parish profile and meet with the present Pastor and staff. After a few weeks, the priest is expected to give the Placement Board the names of 3 parishes where he would be willing to serve as Pastor. Sometime at the beginning of March, the Board, along with the Vicars and Cardinal, has a meeting scheduled to determine which priests will be assigned to which parishes. The Cardinal has the final say about the appointment. So, we at St. Hubert should know sometime in March who the Cardinal has decided as our new Pastor (will be?).
During his first few months, the new Pastor will be required by the Archdiocese to run the campaign,
To Teach Who Christ Is. This campaign will have a goal of $1.8 million, of which 60% will go to the Archdiocese for Catholic Schools, and 40% will stay in the parish for our Pastoral needs. If we exceed that amount, the excess will remain with us at St. Hubert.
Another transition is in liturgical music. We have been without a Music Director since September 1, 2016. I do not know the exact date, but around the middle of February, Ed Magistrado will become our new Music Director. At that time, we will publish his picture, along with a brief bio, and indicate what we hope to accomplish with our liturgical music. I am deeply grateful to Chris Severin and our choir for continuing to function and sing well during this transition period.
On June 25, we will be saying farewell to Yvonne Cassa as our Director of Liturgy. Yvonne and her husband will be retiring to Florida. She will have been here 20 years, and has become a familiar face to all of our parishioners, especially those involved in a liturgical ministry or RCIA. She was extremely influential and invaluable in helping us renovate our church in 2006 thru 2008.
As the time approaches, more will be said about each of the above situations. Clearly, I am just stating the time frame. There are plenty of emotions that go with each one of these situations. I hope that we can talk about them during these next 6 months
, and I will address some of them in these letters.