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Dear Friends,
Today our country marks a remarkable milestone: the 250th anniversary of its founding. Two and a half centuries of a story that is still unfolding, still being written in the lives of ordinary people in ordinary places, including a parish like ours here in Lincoln Park.
I would like to invite you to mark this day with us. This morning we will gather for a special 10:00 a.m. Mass to give thanks to God for our nation and for our country, to pray for those who lead and serve it, and to ask God’s blessing on the years ahead. There is no better way to begin a day of celebration than at the altar, lifting up in gratitude all that we have been given.
I am an immigrant. I came to this country from Poland as a young adult, and like so many who have made that journey, I arrived as a stranger in a place that was not yet home. This nation, for all its imperfections, opened its doors to me. It gave me the freedom to build a life, to follow my faith, and eventually to be ordained a priest. On a day like today, that is very much on my heart, and I do not take it for granted.
But after six years as your pastor, I have come to see something deeper too. When I look for what is best in our nation, I do not have to look far. I see it in you. I see it in the dedication of the people of Saint Clement, in your commitment to one another, and in a generosity that still astonishes me after all these years. The willingness to give, to serve, to show up for a neighbor, to build something larger than yourself, that is the very best of what this country can be. To be your pastor and to be part of this community makes me proud to call America my home.
So come and give thanks with us this morning. Bring your family. Bring your gratitude. And then go and enjoy the day, the parades, the cookouts, the fireworks, knowing that we have first offered all of it back to the God who made it possible.
With gratitude, and a blessed Fourth of July to you and yours,
Fr. Peter Wojcik
Pastor of Saint Clement Parish
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Please note, our usual Saturday evening offerings will be held today as well:
- 4:00 p.m. Confessions and
- 5:00 p.m. Weekend Mass celebrating the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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