Happy 50th Birthday, Fr. Jean-Philippe!

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Happy birthday, Fr. Jean-Philippe!

This past Saturday, we celebrated Fr. Jean-Philippe's birthday with a special blessing at the 5 p.m. Vigil Mass followed by cake, ice cream, and community. Shelley Benson and Cat Wolfe of the Parish Pastoral Council presented Fr. JP with a stole to commemorate his 50th year of life.

You can find pictures from the Mass on our Facebook page.

Below are the remarks, prepared by Shelley, that Cat read during the Mass.

"Hello! My name is Cat Wolfe and I am a member of the Parish Pastoral Council. I am delighted to stand here now to extend our warmest wishes on behalf of the parish council and all parishioners of St. John XXIII, for a very happy birthday to our pastor, Fr. Jean-Philippe! This is especially significant, as he turns the odometer into a new decade of life.
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"We invite everyone to join us after mass to enjoy some birthday cake. We’ll meet in the courtyard for a time of fellowship and celebration.
Fr. Jean-Philippe, we want to express our gratitude for all that you are, and all that you’ve done for St. John XXIII parish. The list is long, but let’s highlight three for today.
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" 1) Thank you, Fr. Jean-Philippe, for your deep and abiding faith.
We have witnessed a man who takes time to be with God. You are prayerful, obedient, humble, and wise. You have given your life to service, to mission, and to doing God’s work, wherever that may take you in this world, even in unlikely places like Evanston, Illinois!


" 2) Thank you, Fr. Jean-Philippe, for your dedication and commitment to this faith community at St. John XXIII. We see a man who truly loves this parish. You rejoice when we rejoice, and you hurt when we hurt. You listen, you take time to respond, and you are accessible.


" 3) Thank you, Fr. Jean-Philippe, for your vision to empower the laity to develop the pastoral plan for building a new reality for St. John XXIII.
We have teams of people working hard to bring life to the pastoral plan priorities for early 2025 and we honestly don’t know if we could’ve done this without your vision for the vitality of our parish.

[At this point, Shelley presented Fr. Jean-Philippe with the stole, pictured left (desktop) or above (mobile).]
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"As a birthday gift from the PPC, and on behalf of the entire parish of St. John XXIII, we’d like to present you with this stole. The two symbols at the top, a chalice, and the Greek abbreviation of Jesus’s name, reminds us of the vows you have taken as a Comboni Missionary of the Heart of Jesus. We hope when you wear this stole, you will be reminded of your parish family at St. John XXIII. Happy Birthday Fr. Jean-Philippe!!"