Thank you to our parishioners for continuing their financial generosity to St. Petronille Parish. 

For all who have not already done so, we invite you to simplify your financial contributions to 

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Questions, please contact Diane at

 makowskid@stpetschurch.org

May 4, 2021

Dear Parishioners of Saint Petronille,

“…love one another as I love you…”

Our Lord teaches us this core lesson of Christianity in Sunday’s gospel reading. 
We ought love one another as He loved us.  The lesson is simple and straight forward.  Allowing this lesson to form our thoughts and determine our actions is more challenging, because it requires something of us.

When I was studying in seminary, I had the privilege to sit in class with nearly 250 students from all over the world…my best friend is from Brazil and my regular companions were friends from Portugal and Brazil and Italy and Germany and Scotland. Because my Portuguese did not exist, our common language was Italian.  I struck up a friendship with a priest from Nigeria who would come to the United States to work for the summer in my home parish.  My two German friends, Klaus and Franz-Joseph, tutored me in German for a year.  I had a friend from Glasgow, Scotland, with whom I would regularly have a Cappuccino and his English was so different from my our conversations consisted in me asking repeatedly, “What?”  I cannot say I am an expert in any of these cultures and I cannot make generalizations about the people of these nations; however, I did learn a few things…which I often have to relearn even today:

• First, I learned that our Catholic Church is massive and encompasses many different people, cultures, places and languages.
• Second, I learned that our Church is truly universal and these people who make up the Church share the same soul…the same identity as children of God…at the very core of our being, we are the same.

I would find that the issues that made up my life here in the United States were not even in the top 10 in other countries…not even on the radar…and some of the issues facing people in Venezuela or Scotland or Nigeria were not in the top 10 here in the US.  But, the dignity with which God made us is shared by all…no matter where we are from.

I remember attending the Armed Forces pilgrimage (Warriors to Lourdes) way back in the early 1990s in Lourdes, France.  Although my pilgrimage had taken place several years after the Berlin wall came down, this pilgrimage had taken place annually since the late 1950s and still occurs each year (although postponed this year due to Covid).  Many thousands of soldiers from all over the world come every year to pray together at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes…this includes Catholics and non-Catholics alike.  They not only fill all of the hotels in Lourdes but they fill the valley with tents.  German, French, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Nigerian, American, Brazilian, French Foreign Legion and many more…some soldiers who had been pointing rifles at each other across the no man’s land only a couple years earlier were now praying together to our Lady of Peace at the underground shrine holding 10s of thousands of people.  The marching bands of opposing armies marched into the underground shrine playing their instruments and forming a ring around the main altar…but no battle ensued…no riot…no violence…they prayed.  Did you know this happens every year?  Did you know that the governments of the world decided to do this after the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War in the hope of preventing future wars?  It may not have worked perfectly, but we haven’t had a World War since this started.  I still have the large group photo of the Americans attending hanging on my wall as a reminder of what unites us.

My friends, it is good that right now our society seeks to address inequities based in prejudice of all sorts.  It is good that we as a society profess not to accept violence against anyone based on race, income level, religion, gender, etc.  We want to be careful, however, that this quest for justice not divorce itself from the commandment of love…not divorce itself from the Creator who is Love.

“Love one another as I love you.”

How did Jesus Christ love us?  He loved us by giving His life on the cross so that we might have eternal joy in His kingdom?  This “us” is all of us no matter who we are; where we are from; what our skin color is; what our gender is; how tall we are; how smart we are; how liberal or conservative we are.  If you are angry with someone right now, then God is calling you to love that very person.  If you are angry at someone for not sharing your point of view, perhaps even this principle which I articulate now, then this is the person Christ is calling you to love.  Love, however, does not mean affirming the other person’s every thought, word or action.  Love does not mean telling the other that everything they do or say is wonderful.  If this were the case, then I would have been correct as a child telling my parents they did not love me because they told me I had to do my homework.  Love means recognizing the person’s dignity and worth as a child of God, created in His image and likeness, and being willing to give everything so the person we love can find their path to the peace and joy of Jesus Christ.  If we love someone, then we introduce them to their Creator…Love Incarnate.  If we love, we are willing to sacrifice out of love.  Notice:  I did not say coerce them.  I said introduce them.  This does not mean haranguing them.  It means showing them the source of all love.

May Almighty God bless you and keep you.

Prayers.

In Christ,

Fr. Thomas Milota

Click here to read letters from Fr. Milota since the beginning of the COVID pandemic

Compiled by St. Petronille Vaccine Helpline Volunteers

Covid-19 Vaccine Resource Guide

BRAIN, HEART, WORLD Introduction: 

Fr. Milota introduces the docuseries Brain, Heart, World.
This series of three 30 minute documentaries reveals the devastating effect of pornography and the porn industry on society and families, the long-term impact of pornography on the brain, and the predatory practices of this billion dollar industry.

Thank You for taking the time to watch this docuseries and learn more about the serious dangers of the pornography industry and how it is deeply hurting individuals, relationships and families.

Click here for Fr. Milota's closing remarks

Now that you have this information, we want to provide you with resources to get the help you need.
Click here for additional resources

If you do not find what you are looking for here,
please reach out to Fr. Milota at frmilota@outlook.com. 

I am Lauren Cassidy and I am a Rosary Rally Captain with an organization called America Needs Fatima.  This Public Square Rosary Rally will be one of over 20,000 rallies that will take place all across the US.

              Please join us in offering reparation for the sins and offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to fervently pray for the conversion of the United States.   

We will meet at NOON on the SW corner of Main St GE and St. Charles Rd (“5 Corners”) on the first Saturday of each month during 2021 beginning on March 6.

Handmade signs are encouraged! 

"Pray the Rosary" 

"God bless America"    

All participants must wear masks.

 We will have a beautiful statue of

OUR BLESSED LADY. 

Call 630-673-0052 or email: colourcassidy@yahoo.com for additional information.