The mission of St. Theresa Parish is to share Christ with others through the sacraments, education, prayer, and service.
Mission Narrative
We, the people of St. Theresa, ask our patroness, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, to pray for us as she did for herself when she asked Jesus “to draw me into the fire of His love, and to unite me so closely to Himself that he may live and act in me”. We pray that we may also be able to share the fire of Christ’s love with those around us, both within and outside of our community. We ask too that as we are united with Christ, we may also be united with one another, to better bring the Good News to the world.
St. Theresa’s community is blessed with many families and individuals who are dedicated to making our parish a spiritual home where we can live our faith and deepen our relationship with God. It is a home where we come together to worship God through liturgies rooted in the Roman Catholic tradition, and in which we gain strength for our mission in the Eucharist that we share. We participate in faith formation through scripture study, prayer and adoration. Faith formation combined with academic excellence in our parish school, provides an award-winning education and prepares our young people for holiness.
The fire of Jesus’s love moves us to serve everyone. We have a long and rich history within the Palatine community of extending beyond our parish boundaries to share our gifts, talents and resources. We must go forward in the same way sharing the hope and joy that comes with representing Jesus Christ and His church to the world and being witnesses to the faith.
It is our call to go into the world and bring the Good News to all. Filled as we are with the Joy of the Gospel, what else are we to do? This Joy is both the gift we bear and the force that bears us forward. As we go out, we must heed the words of St. Paul to the Thessalonians, “putting on the breastplate that is faith and love, and the helmet that is hope for salvation.” (1 Thess 5:8)
Each of us, as members of St. Theresa, aspire to open our hearts to each other and become a more welcoming and collaborative parish. We strive to come together to create a true unity of believers so that from this oneness we may proclaim the gospel in one voice. We seek a continuously renewed unity that will support and nurture us all, and with the Holy Spirit, give us the courage to spread the Good News.
Firmly rooted in the church that provides us with strength, comfort and joy, we endeavor to go into our community and the world beyond to tell God’s story of salvation and make disciples. We see that we need to reach out to those who are seeking God and meet them where they are in their journey, especially to the young and to those who have felt the need to move to other faith communities. We need to be teachers for our brothers and sisters who may be lost, confused, or simply yearning. We are inspired by the story of Philip and the Ethiopian official in Acts: “Philip ran up and heard him reading from Isaiah the prophet and said ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ he replied ‘How can I, unless someone instructs me?’” (Acts 8:30-31)
Let us issue a call to gather those who have not yet come to Christ and to renew those who are his faithful servants. We look forward to seeing our parish grow and flourish through the fire of Jesus’ love as we share in the mystical body of Christ. As we go out, let us ask St. Theresa, the patroness of missionaries, for her continued intercession, and imagine her voice exclaiming, “We have seen the way, let us run together!”