Year 2 of our Legacy Campaign is quickly coming to an end.  We are halfway through our 4-year goal, but have not quite reached the halfway point of our $4,994,000 goal.  In the coming weeks, I will be using this space to update you on the current financial status and some future plans.  This campaign benefits us all.  Whether you are a long-time parishioner, a brand new parishioner or a school parent, we need you to be part of our legacy.  The generations that preceded us gave us much for which to be thankful.  Now it is our turn to return the favor and leave our legacy for those generations still to come.

If you have not yet paid off your Year 2 pledge yet, I hope you will do so soon.  Statements for Year 3 will be sent out in April.  If you haven’t yet pledged to our campaign, pledge cards are available in the back of the Church and in both the rectory and school offices.  If you would prefer to make your payments via credit card, debit card or electronic check, you can visit www.givecentral.org and register for the SJB Legacy Campaign (pledged) event.  There are a wide variety of payment options available.

If you have any questions regarding the Legacy Campaign or Give Central, please contact Jennifer Cortez in the rectory office or by email at jcortez@stjohnberchmans.org.

THANK YOU! Last week we received our final rebate check for the 2012 Annual Catholic Appeal.  Because of your generosity, we received a rebate of $60,445.  This rebate will be used to help fund the necessary capital repairs to our Logan School building.

If you have not yet pledged to the 2013 Annual Catholic Appeal, it is not too late. All money we receive over our  $20,659 goal will be given to our Legacy Campaign to further our goal.  Pledge envelopes can be found in the vestibule of the Church.

If you have any questions regarding the Legacy Campaign or the Annual Catholic Appeal, please contact Jennifer Cortez in the rectory office or by email at jcortez@stjohnberchmans.org.

Are you in?  As we come to the end of the first half our Legacy Campaign, we are still just short of meeting our Year 2 goal.  While we continue to research grant opportunities and other outside funding sources, it is important that we, as a community, show our commitment to this campaign.  Currently, 58% of our parish and school families have made a commitment to the Legacy Campaign.  Are you in?  We remain committed to reaching our goal of 100% participation and need your help.  Even a small monthly gift will grow over time, and will help to secure our financial future.  The more support we have within our community, the easier it is to ask others to commit to us.

If you have any questions regarding the Legacy Campaign, please contact Jennifer Cortez in the rectory office or by email at jcortez@stjohnberchmans.org.  As always, pledge cards and contribution envelopes can be found on the tables in the back of the Church.

After today, the in-pew process for the 2013 Annual Catholic Appeal will be completed.  If you haven’t already done so, we encourage you to make your pledge.  Pledge forms are available in the parish office, or you can visit the appeal website at www.annualcatholicappeal.com. Although we will not have the matching opportunity this year that we have had in the past, the appeal will still be part of our Legacy Campaign.  In past years, St. John Berchmans has greatly benefitted from the Annual Catholic Appeal in the receiving of both operating grants for our school and capital grants for various building projects throughout our campus, and this is our opportunity to help other parishes throughout the Archdiocese.  Additionally, all monies collected over our $20,659 goal will be returned to us and will assist our Legacy Campaign, allowing us to continue our work.

If you have any questions regarding the Legacy Campaign or the 2013 Annual Catholic Appeal, please contact Jennifer Cortez in the rectory office or by email at jcortez@stjohnberchmans.org.

For over 30 years, Mrs. Nancy Salamone loved and cared for her “Busy Bees” kindergartners here at Saint John Berchmans.  As a way to honor Ms. Nancy, we have decided to dedicate her Kindergarten classroom in her memory.  This classroom will always be the home of her Busy Bees.  Additionally, we have established a memorial fund in her name.  The Ms. Nancy Salamone “Busy Bees” Scholarship Fund will provide scholarship help to a kindergarten student in need of financial assistance.

Memorial contributions can be made online at www.givecentral.org by clicking on the link at the left of this page.  Checks can also be mailed to Saint John Berchmans School, 2511 W. Logan Blvd, Chicago, IL 60647 Attn: Jennifer Cortez.

Please join us as we keep the memory of Ms. Nancy alive and continue her legacy at Saint John Berchmans.

What a great year it has been.  As we continue to receive pledge payments from our participants, we also seek to increase participation within our community and find outside funders.  In early December, we received a $30,000 grant to our campaign, and just last week we received a $5,000 gift that will be matched by another foundation.  This has been a great way to end our year and a great way to increase our momentum for 2013 as we hope to begin work on our Logan School building this spring.  We also hope to receive additional support for our window program and our organ restoration project.  You’ll hear (and see!) more about these directed campaigns in the coming weeks.

We are continuing to work at leaving a legacy, and we are grateful to all who are helping us to accomplish our goals with their generosity, their prayers, their ideas and their support.  We are truly a community.  If you have any questions about the SJB Legacy Campaign, or if you know of a corporation or foundation that might be willing to help, please contact Jennifer Cortez in the rectory office.

We have said it before, but we cannot say it enough – THANK YOU!

Congratulations Father Paul!  St. John Berchmans is honored to celebrate the legacy of Father Paul Reicher. Fifty years ago this week, Father Paul was ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of Chicago, and as evidenced by all whom I have spoken with during the past several weeks, he has certainly created a legacy in the lives of all he has touched along the way.

We are blessed to have Father Paul as part of our community. As we celebrate this afternoon, we rejoice in all that Father Paul has done, not only for us at Saint John Berchmans, but also for his work in the Archdiocese of Chicago throughout the 50 years of his priesthood. We rejoice with the parishioners of Saint Joseph (Libertyville), Saint Lucy, Saint James (Maywood), Saint Luke and Notre Dame de Chicago.  We are pleased to honor Father Paul and continue his legacy into the future.

If you are interested in making a gift to our Legacy Campaign in honor of Father Paul, please contact Jennifer Cortez in the rectory office or by email at jcortez@stjohnberchmans.org. You can also click the link on the left side of this page to donate online.

Rejoice! In the fall of 2010, when our Legacy Campaign began, the campaign committee worked to put together a list of needs and wants, and to categorize them in order of priority.  Because at that time, we were under the impression that our existing pipe organ could not be repaired and because the replacement cost for a refurbished pipe organ was budgeted at $500,000, this project was not slated to be completed until the very end of our campaign – after all our needs and other wants.

Over the past month or two, since joining our parish as the new Director of Music, Jonathan Mercado has researched our existing instrument.  With the help of some highly qualified experts, it has been determined that our beautiful organ can not only be completely refurbished – it actually already works!  Although Jonathan has been able to play a few pieces on this grand instrument, some repairs are needed to make it fully functional.  We have received a quote of just over $5,000 to clean and repair this instrument so that it can be used in our liturgies.  (The complete refurbishment of this beautiful instrument will cost us just under $150,000 and will remain as the final priority of our Legacy Campaign.)

If you would like to make a directed gift to the Legacy Campaign to offset the costs of this initial organ repair, please contact Jennifer Cortez in the rectory office.  We currently have an anonymous donor who will contribute the final $1,000 to the project, if we as a community are able to raise the first $4,000.

Each day we are grateful for our blessings.  The commitment of our community and our friends remains strong.  We are working hard to continue our Legacy Campaign, and we are grateful for all who are helping us to accomplish our goals with their generosity, their prayers, their ideas and their support.  They say it takes a village, and at Saint John Berchmans we see this in action.  Each of us, coming together, contributing in whatever way we can, is the reason that great things are happening at Saint John Berchmans.

We have said it before, but we cannot say it enough – THANK YOU!  Happy Thanksgiving!

WE LOVE YOU SR. JOYCE!  It’s still June, so at St. John Berchmans it is still “We love you, Sr. Joyce” month.  Sister’s calm presence is so much a part of this place that I’m quite sure that our love won’t end when June does.

It has been a great year to celebrate all that Sr. Joyce means to St. John Berchmans.  In January we honored her legacy as we celebrated her 50^th Anniversary as a Dominican Sister.  At that time we talked about all that she had done and all the lives she has touched, never thinking for even a moment that in just six short months later she would be leaving us.  I know that she leaves us with a heavy heart, but I also know that she will find joy in these new challenges and that she will bring her calming presence to a new group of those who need her.

As we say good-bye, let us all take a moment during these last days of June to honor Sr. Joyce – each in our own way.  Let us remember all that she has done for us, both as individuals and as a community.  Let us remember to honor her as we remember that the legacy of Sr. Joyce that will live on in all the lives that she has touched.  WE LOVE YOU SR. JOYCE!