Dear Friends,
This weekend marks my official installation by Bishop Bartosic (as the delegate of Cardinal Cupich) as the Pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Parish. This liturgical rite is much more than a formality required by the Church for new pastors. On the contrary, the installation is meant to signal the support of the Cardinal for our parish community by appointing a Pastor for a stable period of time. This is a commitment to the future of Our Lady of Mercy Parish. I am very happy that my appointment will continue through at least June 30, 2029. I am aware that there has been so much transition in our parish over these past few years, with COVID, Renew My Church, priest assignment changes, etc. Please know that laying a stable foundation for the future is at the top of my list of priorities.
In this first year of my ministry among you, I look forward to focusing on three areas in particular:
The Liturgy. Celebrating the Sunday Mass and other Sacraments of the Church together is the reason we exist as a parish. Called by the Lord out of darkness and into his wonderful light, we gather to worship God in the Eucharist, especially on Sundays. I look forward to investing in our young people as we welcome more altar servers to the sanctuary. I am also so glad for the response of our liturgical ministers to our recent training sessions. On the weekend of November 4th and 5th we will return to the option of receiving Holy Communion under both species at Sunday Masses.
Team Leadership. The Archdiocese has been working closely with all the priests to emphasize a leadership style based in a team approach. I hope you will be able to see this change come through more and more throughout my time with you. While the Pastor may have the last word on parish decisions, the leadership of a parish (especially one this size) is NOT a one-man job. I look forward to investing in many of our leaders in the parish to continue to share leadership as we move forward together.
Financial viability. As you many know, the school building here at Our Lady of Mercy was leased to Chicago Public Schools for the last number of years. This provided an important stream of income to the parish and saw to upkeep of the school building. Now that CPS has decided not to renew their lease, we will have to review our income and expenses in a new way. While we are always looking for tenants, it is in no way guaranteed that we will find one. I will be giving more information about our financial status at all Sunday Masses at SFX on October 29th and at all Sunday Masses at OLM on November 4/5th. A written report will also be included in the bulletin on the latter weekend. I look forward to sharing more information with you about how you can share responsibility for the future viability of our parish ministry.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Fr. Thomas J. Byrne