February 15, 2026

Soon we begin the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday. That is this week already! Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Please join us for the many prayer opportunities during this holy time. And mark your calendar for our Tri-Parish Mission at Saint Elizabeth Seton on the evenings of March 15, 16 and 17. Father Jerry Kaywell of Punta Gorda, Florida will guide us. Not to be missed!

 Three years ago, Saint George participated in a parish survey conducted by the Catholic Leadership Institute, called the Disciple Maker Index. It was an interesting time in our history because between the time you made your responses and the time we received the results, we had made many changes in the parish! We are doing the survey again this Lent. Having new data and using the old survey as a baseline, will give us a good indication as to the direction of the parish.

But the survey will only work if you take it! It will take only 10 to 15 minutes. It can be accessed at www.catholicleaders.org/chicagodmi starting Ash Wednesday. All responses are confidential and the parish will receive only information about the community as a whole. We will have paper copies available in church and at the parish office. To submit the completed paper survey, please drop it off at the parish office. We will also have people with computers available on upcoming weekends who can help you with the online survey.

Last time, we had a very good response. This year it  will be even more helpful to have strong participation. This information will be invaluable to me and the whole staff and parish leadership as we plan our future ministry. Thank you for helping us with this important project!

A couple weeks ago, I preached about a movie called “Truth or Treason” the true story of Helmut Hubener, a teenager in Nazi Germany who dared to speak out against Adolph Hitler. It is a stirring film. Some people asked where it could be found. As I write this, it is currently available on Amazon Prime Video. I highly recommend this movie that tells an important true story of courage, conviction and sacrifice.

As you read this, I am in Mexico City, visiting some friends and spending some time at the beautiful Shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe. If you don’t know the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I urge you to google it! That may whet your appetite to learn more of this beautiful story. Our Lady of Gudalupe is the patroness of the Americas. She watches over all of us in the Western Hemisphere from the North Pole to the South. And there are a lot of people all in between! I will be praying for all of you before the beautiful image of her that has been preserved for 500 years.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

And to all you lovers out there, Happy Valentine’s Day!