Dear Brothers and Sisters of St. Andrew the Apostle,

For all the parish news and events, please read the bulletin or our parish website. Here's a glimpse of what is coming up:

• The second collection this weekend is our annual special needs collection for the parish. This year, donations will be used to purchase a new Sacred Heart statue. Our current statue is well-loved, for many people have a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and touch the Sacred Heart on the statue. I'm fine with that, but it has already been repainted once, needs another repainting, and also has some eroded parts. A new statue will be a great addition. Any donations collected that are more than the price of the new statue will help fund our new HVAC system, which we hope to begin this year. The total cost of the installation of the new HVAC system will be over $2 million. As always, thanks to all who support the parish financially. We would not be able to do anything without you.
• Our biggest yearly fundraiser for St. Andrew's School - Forks, Corks, and Kegs - is Saturday, May 10, beginning at 6:00 AM. Tickets are $85 per person, which includes music, all you can eat from the food truck vendors, and all you can drink (but not to excess!) from the vendors from the local breweries and vineyards. There is also a silent auction, and a limited number of programs of auction items are available at the church entrances this weekend. Join us for a night of fun for a good cause, and bid on the silent auction items to benefit our school and students!
• We are collecting intentions for our annual Mother's Day novena of Masses for our mothers living and deceased. Please take a card from the entrance of the church and return it to the parish office to be enrolled.
• After all Masses this weekend, the Mother's Day Bake Sale will take place in Hannan Hall to support our youth ministry Work Camp trip this summer. Volunteers are still needed to help sell or bake items for the sale. Sign up here.
• A Holy Hour for Vocations will take place next Saturday, May 17, at 9:45 AM (after the 9:00 AM Mass). This event is sponsored by the Serra Club of Arlington, whose mission is to promote vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. All are welcome. Please join us to pray for those discerning vocations, as well as for those who are currently priests and consecrated religious.

Habemus Papam! (We have a Pope!)

On Thursday, Pope Leo XIV was elected by the conclave of Cardinals to be the Successor of Peter and Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church. The biggest surprise to me is that the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, an Augustinian, was born in Chicago, IL, the first Pope to be born in the United States. I was not very familiar with him because he was never a Bishop in the United States, but spent much of his time as a Bishop in Peru.

I encourage you to read the text of his first homily as Pope, given on Friday morning in the Sistine Chapel to the Cardinal of the Church. It is wonderful, and he draws from scripture and papal documents to call us all to a greater holiness in a world that needs witnesses to the Gospel. His episcopal motto, "In illo uno unum" means "In Him [Christ, who is ] one, we are one." We are a Church that is often divided in a world that is often divided, and Pope Leo XIV's call to follow Christ and the unity that comes when we do is one we all need to hear and heed.

Let us pray for Pope Leo XIV, that he may be faithful to the Gospel, a man of virtue and holiness, and respond to the graces poured upon him to build up the Church and defend the faith in the manner Christ chooses. May his witness of sanctifying, teaching, and leading in Christ's name draw the world to Jesus and his Church for the salvation of all.

... I was convinced I would never see a Pope born in the U.S. during my lifetime. However, there have been some significant Americans in the recent history of the Church. The Archbishop of San Francisco, Cardinal William Leveda, was chosen by Pope Benedict XVI to replace him as the Prefect (the highest position) of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. Cardinal Leveda held that position from 2005 to 2012.

Currently, Cardinal Kevin Farrell is the Camerlengo, that is, the acting leader of the Church and organizer of the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV. Cardinal Ferrell was born in Dublin, but incardinated into the Archdiocese of Washington in 1984 when he was 36 and served in the United States for 33 years, including as the Bishop of Dallas, until Pope Francis appointed him the Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, and he moved to Rome in 2017.

So perhaps I shouldn't be that surprised to have a Pope from the United States, but I still am getting used to it. It is quite an honor for our nation. And as a bonus, he's fluent in English! I hope that he will be making a papal visit to the United States because patriotism would draw a lot of people who would not normally go see the Pope, and that could have a powerful spiritual result in a nation that too easily drifts from Jesus Christ. I choose to be optimistic in seeing the election of Pope Leo XIV during the Jubilee Year of Hope as a good sign for our nation.

Pope Leo XIV earned a degree from Villanova University, the Alma Mater of Bishop Burbidge and some of our parishioners. He also earned a degree from St. Thomas University in Rome (The Angelicum), where I received my licentiate (STL) degree. I'm embarrassed to say that the main reason I chose to study at the Angelicum was because I could take all of my classes in English and still get a degree, something unique at a university in Rome, where the vast majority of classes are taught in Italian. My guess is that Pope Leo XIV's classes were in Italian. He has a gift for languages, speaking English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese.

... The most important news, though, is that he is a baseball fan. Being from Chicago, the two teams he could have rooted for were the Cubs and the White Sox, and after his election, the two teams both proclaimed him as a fan. His brother had to step forth to bring clarity. Pope Leo XIV is a Chicago White Sox fan. He even attended the first game of the World Series game between the White Sox and the Houston Astros in 2005, where he was caught on camera during the nationwide broadcast. His days attending baseball games incognito are over.

The White Sox tied a Major League record by losing 21 games in a row last year (yes, they tied the 1988 Baltimore Orioles), and went on to set the record for the most losses in a 162-game season: 121. The White Sox continue to be lousy this year with a record of 11-28 going into last night's game. It is a blessing that suffering is such a redemptive aspect of our faith, because as a White Sox fan, Pope Leo knows the suffering of following a team that stinks. That being said, if the White Sox miraculously start winning games, I hope the pews in Chicago Catholic churches will be filled to capacity. So Go White Sox! Unless they are playing the Orioles.

... Sunday is Mother's Day, a day to thank the Lord for our mothers who gave us life, our grandmothers, and all the women who act as our spiritual mothers. I have been blessed with a mother who has always been steadfast in her faith despite the trials and triumphs in her life. She has been an inspiration to me and so many others in her nearly 86 years. May the Lord bless her abundantly, along with all mothers, on Mother's Day and always. We will have a blessing for mothers after all Sunday Masses this weekend.

Be assured of my prayers for you and your intentions. Please pray for me and Pope Leo XIV as well!

In Christ,

Fr. Wagner