Dear St. Raphael Parishioners,

As we enter into summertime, we are also in the “Ordinary Time” of the Church year. The Mass vestments are green, which mirrors the green of nature around us during the summer. The gospel readings during these weeks feature the parables and miracles of Jesus during his three years of public ministry. I also realize that we have a larger number of people who may be traveling on vacaon this summer. Don’t forget to include Sunday Mass in your vacation schedules. I remember from childhood; my parents were diligent in finding the local Catholic church on Sunday, wherever we went. It was interesting to attend Mass in different parts of the USA on these vacations. I considered it a part of the overall “vacaon package”, and it helped me appreciate the diversity and size of our Church.

Welcome to our Founding Pastor: Fr. Jamnicky’s Anniversary Mass on Sunday will be followed by a reception in the outdoor tents. I hope that many of you will be able to join us for this celebration.

This may be a good me to review some of our parish history. For those who have joined St. Raphael in recent years, Fr. John Jamnicky was our founding pastor, and played a big role in the construcon of our unique church building. He worked closely with the then Cardinal Archbishop Francis George on the elaborate plan to repurpose parts of older churches in Chicago. So as we welcome him back for this anniversary celebration, it is a chance for him to see how the parish he helped found has grown and thrived. After twelve years, we have reached our largest number of registered households. Although Covid is still keeping our attendance down, numbers are gradually recovering from the low of two years ago. Baptisms have increased over the last year, to probably the highest number in our short history. With our financial picture holding steady, we look toward the coming year with hopes of continued outreach to the souls of northern Lake County.

Rummage Sale Thank-Yous: Gratitude is due to the volunteers who helped with the Sale this past week. It’s too early to report as I’m writing this, but our volunteers have put in a great deal of work to sort and categorize the donaons. It’s not likely we will match last year’s numbers, because we had a two-year accumulation of items in 2021. But the sales inventory sll looks pretty good this year, and we’re hoping for a successful event.

Priest Convocation 2022: I will be away from this Monday to the end of the month. Every four years the priests of the Archdiocese gather together, this year in Lake Geneva. Present plans are for Communion services Monday and Tuesday, and Fr. Jelinek saying Masses Wednesday and Thursday.

God bless us all,
Fr. Matthew Kowalski