I think, at the heart of it, that is one of the important lessons of Cana which we hear in the Gospel this weekend.

I realized this as I reflected on the experiences of two unnamed guests that attended the same wedding feast where Jesus performed his miracle. The first guest knew he was going to a wedding, but didn’t expect much. Going to weddings is a normal part of society; maybe not frequent, but not unique either. He knew what to expect, what was coming. He noticed nothing, except some really good wine later in the celebration. He was not observant, did not expect much, and went home with all of his expectations fulfilled.

The second guest, however, was more observant than that; he noticed the wine ran out, that a man briefly spoke with the servants, that the jars were filled with water, and the steward of the feast drank some with a joyful look, and finally he was served the best wine he'd ever had. By being attentive, he noticed something, he saw something mysterious. For him, this ordinary situation turned into something quite extraordinary.

As we reflect upon the story of Cana, it reminds us of how important it is to be attentive to the movements of God even in the ordinary aspects of our life. In fact, that is God's preferred place to reveal Himself. If we think that our lives are ordinary, if we go from one moment to the next knowing what to expect, our expectations will be met and we just might miss Christ's extraordinary presence.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is upon us, and as such the office will be closed on Monday. The office will re-open as normal on Tuesday at 9a.

Save the date for a very special event on Sunday, February 6 following the 12pm Mass for an all-ages workshop on the Love Languages and Discipleship! This is for the young and the young-at-heart! We're grateful to be bringing members of multiple generations together to share their experiences about family, relationships, faith, signs of the times, what in the world people mean by "discipleship" and "accompaniment," and much more! Join us for lunch (there is such a thing as a free lunch), conversation, and more! Please see the attached flyer for more information.

Please save the date for our Parish Trivia Night on Saturday, February 26^th at 7:00pm. More details to come over the next month.

Last weekend, we found out that Lutheran General Hospital is not allowing visitors and, sadly, this includes priests. We are only able to access the hospital in case of an emergency and with the prior approval and direction of one of the hospital chaplains. Therefore, if you or a loved one are at Lutheran and need the anointing of the sick, please do not start by calling the parish. Have the nurse call the on-call hospital chaplain. That chaplain will then reach out to us with permission and instructions on how we can get access to the hospital. My apologies that it is a bit more complicated than normal, but we are unable to find a work-around for the hospital's policies.

As part of this process, certain individuals within the parish are invited to offer detailed feedback to the priest. Also included in this process is the opportunity for all parishioners to fill out a simple survey that, while less detailed, still provides important feedback and encouragement. I would appreciate it if you would take 10 minutes to complete this survey so I can continue to grow in my role as your pastor. Attached to this email is a letter from Bishop Bartosic explaining more of the process. Finding the survey on the Archdiocese website is a bit complicated, so after you read the letter, come back here and use the following as the direct link to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/parishwidesurvey-english-2021-2022