A Letter from Fr. Tim

Dear Friends,
 
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word rumor as follows: a currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth. Rumors have been circulating probably as long as human beings have had the capacity to communicate with each other. It should come as no surprise then, that rumors abound at
SS. Matthew & Hubert Parish.
 
Since the merger of these two parishes and the tragic loss of Fr. Mike Scherschel in August, we have endeavored to provide good and helpful communication of information about what is happening at our parish. Rumors tend to occur when there is a gap in communication or sometimes when people are bored!
 
I am going to take this opportunity to address some of the rumors that have been heard by our Unification Committee members.
 
1. The 7:00 AM Mass has not had more than 100 people in attendance since it began… therefore it will be eliminated.
 
That would be incorrect. The first Sunday Mass in any parish has the least number of people in attendance. The 7:00 AM Mass at St. Matthew has exceeded 100 people in attendance on several occasions and in fact has been averaging 108 attendees since the new Mass schedule began. I will NOT be amending the current Mass schedule before the new Pastor is named. He will have the opportunity to evaluate the schedule once he settles in.
 
2. The new Pastor has already been named.
 
Once again, that is incorrect. The Priest Placement Board for the Archdiocese of Chicago meets throughout the year to prayerfully discern recommendations for Cardinal Cupich to consider regarding pastor placement. That process will be ongoing until the end of March when the board meets with the Cardinal and Vicar Bishops to announce their recommendations. I’m not positive of this, but we should know who the new pastor will be for Ss. Matthew & Hubert Parish after Easter. Then that priest’s assignment will begin on July 1^st.
 
3. Fr. Tim has already been told he will be the new pastor.
 
I don’t know for whom this will be good or bad news, but I still have a year and a half remaining on my assignment as pastor at St. Theresa in Palatine. No one from the Priest Placement Board has approached me to gauge my interest in being pastor here.
 
4. Why are we doing a naming process? The name has already been decided.
 
Once again, that is incorrect. Once the top three choices selected by this parish is submitted to the Cardinal, it will be discussed at the next Presbyteral Council meeting in early March and the Cardinal will then decide which name the parish will be known as. Please remember… whatever the name will be for the parish, the two church buildings will retain their current names and the school will continue to be called St. Hubert School.
 
5. Maintaining two sites makes no sense and decisions on keeping only one site have already been made.
 
This is, as you might guess from the format of this letter, incorrect. I have seen no correspondence, emails or documents which reflect a decision has been made about the future of each campus. In fact, if that had been the case, they would have just announced that decision when the two parishes merged on July 1^st. 
 
If you have any more questions, please ask, and let’s self-monitor the rumor mill so that these kinds of communications do not become harmful to the vibrancy of the parish. May God bless you always.
 
       Fr. Tim Fairman