I have a newspaper from May 28, 1899 with a story about St. James. It starts off saying “St. James is the richest and the largest church in Chicago.” Fast forward 123 years and, after all of the reorganization of parishes, St. James is probably the smallest parish in Chicago. The question of Elizabeth has a certain resonance: how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? How does this happen that St. James is responsible to bring the presence of Christ into our neighborhood despite our small size? What a vivid reminder that the Holy Spirit has commissioned us to be apostles, to be missionary disciples, just in being who we are no matter our (lack of) size or riches.
MAY312022
By Church Staff
