Where Two or Three are Gathered

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Condition of Discipleship

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). These words of Jesus within the context of dealing with one who sins communicates the Lord’s presence and nearness to the established structure of the Church. When the Church administrates collectively in the name and authority of Christ, He is there in the midst of them. This concept of “collectively” or in other words, togetherness is crucial to our understanding of ecclesiology. The Church is “One”, founded on Christ. In the words of St. Paul: “[strive] to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace, one body and one Spirit … one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4:3-6). Therefore, in many ways, and as church father St. Cyprian of Carthage once suggested, the actual presence of Christ is contingent upon authentic unity among the members of the one body of Christ.

The Eucharist that we celebrate here at St. Francis de Sales indeed is the sacrament of unity and bond of charity. Where two or three gather in Jesus’s name, he is Really Present in the midst of them. In fact, we become what we receive: the Lord Jesus is truly in us, and the power of the Holy Spirit – a protagonist in how this miracle occurs on the altar – binds and connects all of us together in the one Christ. We have deep spiritual union with Jesus and communion with every other member of the Body of Christ who has also received the Risen Lord in the Eucharist.

A parish is defined as a stable community of Christian faithful who gather regularly to celebrate the Sacraments, finding the source and summit of worship in the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. This makes us one: for what we have in common, most importantly, is the living communal witness of our faith in Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life.

We are blessed to welcome three seminarians into our shared experience of faith at St. Francis de Sales. Alex Klein (Diocese of Wichita), Benjamin Wemhoff (Diocese of Wichita), and William Jordan (Archdiocese of Chicago) began their assignment with us this past weekend, attending and acolyting the 9am Mass. They will continue to celebrate Sunday Mass with us, rotating Mass times and being present to meet and greet parishioners before and after Mass. In addition, for their Fall semester, Alex and Will will take on Youth Ministry, working under the direction of Diana Arizmendi. Ben will serve in the Religious Education Program under the direction of Mimi McGlauchlin. All three of them will occasionally visit our parish school and do ministry there, such as teaching a Religion class or giving a presentation to students. Additionally, Alex, Ben and Will will undertake some minister of care opportunities as well as preside at a Communion Service at our neighboring assisted living facilities. They will also attend a finance council and evangelization team meeting, and engage in other ministerial opportunities as well as special parish and school events. In terms of the length of their assignment, the vision of the Tolton Teaching Parish Program is that the seminarian remains at the same parish over the course of their formation, until they are ordained. This is a unique feature of the program, allowing the seminarian to develop continuity of relationships over the course of multiple years. I know we will be blessed by their witness of faith and ministry and for what they will also teach us. I am grateful to parish staff (and parishioners who will be asked in the future) for serving as mentors to our seminarians. Please continue to pray for Alex, Ben and Will, and count on their prayers for us!

Wishing you God’s peace and everything good, I remain –
Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Christian Shiu
Administrator