Evey once in a while, it is good just to stop and celebrate the good things that are happening around us. It helps us to be grateful. We devote one day of the year to thanksgiving. If we are not careful, every other day can turn into “complaint day.” Even if our life is stressful and difficult right now, we still know that God has blessed us in many ways.

So, what is the good news? Well, let’s start by celebrating the fact that the political campaigning will be over on Tuesday. We know we won’t get much of a break from campaigning; therefore let’s enjoy the break we do get. People from other countries have much to envy about our country, but surely they do not envy our seemingly endless election cycle. It is not only exhaustive and repetitive, but it sucks our attention away from some truly important issues (like war, hunger, and climate change) which cannot be solved by a barrage of words at a rally. Whatever our favorite candidate for President, we can all hope for a peaceful transition of power come January.

There is also good news at Assumption. Every October the Archdiocese asks us to count the people at weekend Mass. Our October attendance is 8% higher than last year. We are now at about 85% of our pre-COVID attendance, which is slightly above average for the Archdiocese. October is not our best month for attendance, since it includes Marathon Weekend. While the Saturday evening Mass more than doubles in attendance with runners and their families, on Sunday morning we turn into a ghost town.

For over a year our Sunday morning Hospitality Ministry languished without leadership. Now a new group is heading it up, with a whole new approach to creating community after Mass in the Parish Hall. Thanks to our Pastoral Council, one Sunday a year focuses on reaching out to newly registered members, personally inviting them to Hospitality Sunday and offering them tours of the church. Our OCIA, for adults seeking baptism or full communion with the Catholic Church, has twelve members formally enrolled in the journey to Easter sacraments, one of our largest groups ever. For the first time we have an OCIA for youth, which has three of our youth in formation. We had a very positive response to the faith formation program on the Eucharist, and, after a long absence, we have a daytime Bible Study going again. Deacon Kevin’s Adult Catechism Class has added new members, and we have another group experiencing Alpha on Thursday nights. And we cannot forget about our Italian Dinner this week that builds community between the young and the old, helps support our mission, and, for the first time in many years, looks to be a sell-out.

We have a core group of members who are very dedicated to feeding the hungry, welcoming refugees, and connecting needy people with social, legal, and medical services. Chicago Help Initiative, which offers many of these services, held a big fundraiser last Thursday. It was good to see so many people invested in caring for their brothers and sisters. Some are also advocates at the government level for resources to become more easily accessible to people.

Although it has not drawn a lot of attention locally, Pope Francis’ Synod on Synodality has completed its 2025 session. No startling developments are expected from this meeting, but the Synod does point the Catholic Church in a new direction for the future. Each of us (not just the Pope, not just the bishops, not just the priests) received the gift of the Holy Spirit at baptism. That gift was renewed at Conformation. The idea behind synodality is that we must learn to listen together for the voice of the Holy Spirit, who can choose to speak through any one of us at any given time. The real significance of this is not what a small group of Catholics are doing in Rome, but how this process trickles down to the local level. At Assumption, we have a head start, on synodality, because we discern rather than elect the members of our Pastoral Council, and we try to make our decisions by consensus. Synodality will mean change not only for those of us who hold office in the Catholic Church, but also for everyone else. For each one of us, we will need to start taking our own faith, our own inner life, our own life experience seriously. Back in the 1960’s, when the bishops met in Rome for the famous Vatican Council, they called upon all Catholics “to read the signs of the times.” It was a call to reflect deeply on the events unfolding before our eyes and to respond to them with a mature faith. Sixty years later, we are being challenged to do so once again.

                                                          Fr. Joe