• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Quicklinks:
  • Bulletin
  • Calendar
  • Mass Schedule
  • Saint Anne Parish School
  • Upcoming Registrations
  • Funerals during COVID-19
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Saint Anne's Catholic Community

Saint Anne's Catholic Community

A Roman Catholic Church In Barrington, Illinois

  • Welcome
    • Bulletins – Clarion
    • History of Saint Anne Catholic Community
    • Media Gallery
    • Mission & Core Values
    • Parish Leadership Groups
      • Core Staff
      • Finance Council
      • Parish Council of Ministries
    • Parish Registration
    • Saint Anne Parish Staff
    • Pastor’s Welcome
    • Ministry Interest
    • 2019-2020 Annual Stewardship Report
  • Community Life
    • Fundraising and Social Events
    • Saint Anne’s Guys Group (STAGG)
    • Saint Anne’s Women’s Club
    • Seniors Group
    • Young Marrieds
  • Youth & Young Adult Ministry
    • Confirmation Preparation
    • Youth Ministry Resource Links
      • Saint Biographies
        • PATHS (Confirmation) First Year Saint Biographies
        • PATHS (Confirmation) Second Year Saint Biographies
      • Decision Point
    • Retreats
      • Kairos
      • Kairos Retreat Leadership Application
      • Spiritus
    • Service Opportunities
      • Summer Service Mission Trip
      • Soup Suppers
      • Volunteer Opportunities
  • Faith Formation
    • Faith Formation Overview & Registration
    • Becoming Catholic – RCIA
    • Adults
      • Men of Action and Contemplation (MAC)
      • Parish Library
      • SPRED
      • Women’s Book Club
    • Children’s Faith Formation
    • Middle School Journey
  • Donate
    • GiveCentral
    • Capital Campaign-Legacy of Faith
  • Human Concerns
    • Care and Support
      • Domestic Violence
    • Care Ministries
      • Bereavement Ministry
      • Ministry of Care
      • Ministry of Praise
    • Faithjustice
    • Hope Ministries
      • House of Hope Resale
      • Project Hope
        • Client Intake
        • Food Pantries
        • Holiday Programs
      • Service Opportunities
    • Sharing Board
  • Sacraments
    • Anointing of the Sick
    • Baptism
    • Confirmation
      • Adult
      • PATHS Teen
    • First Eucharist
    • Marriage
      • Sacrament of Marriage
        • Weddings
        • Wedding Guide Booklet
        • Next Steps
        • Wedding Music Fairs
        • Music Grid
    • Reconciliation
  • Worship
    • Music
    • Presider Schedule
    • Worship Ministries
      • Children’s Liturgy of the Word
      • Environment and Art
      • Eucharistic Ministers
      • Family Ministered Mass
      • Greeters and Ushers
      • Lectors
      • Mass Coordinators
        • Overflow
          • Church and Chapel Photos
          • Saint Anne School Advisory Board
          • Office of the Pastor
          • Social
            • Community Building Events
            • Saint Anne Social Committee
            • Welcoming Ministry
          • Church Statues
      • Servers
      • Schedules
    • Funerals

Old Ways or New Dreams?

February 4, 2021

Believe it or not we are already several weeks into 2021!  For some people, swinging into the new year was easy, nothing different.  Perhaps that’s because they weren ‘t  actually expecting nor even thinking about doing anything different.  And then there were those who were satisfied with the way things were going in their lives and not willing to try anything different.  Most of us simply carry the same baggage from year to year.  Someone put it this way:  “Baggage is what most people take into each year – just old stuff in a new bag.”  

But maybe it doesn’t matter whether we made a resolution in January or not!  One statistic tells us that only 25% keep their resolutions after 30 days and only 8% actually accomplish their resolution.  There’s got to be a better way!  There is!  Erma Bombeck , in assessing her life, wrote a wonderful piece that expressed her goals which certainly could take her out of the “same old, same old” pattern and into a higher level of expectations for herself.  She offers her personal thoughts as possible suggestions to help us in determining how we might forge a new path for ourselves that can begin right now.  

She wrote:  “If I had my life to live over…

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten popcorn in the “good” living room and worried less about dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken time to listen to grandma ramble about her youth.

I would not be worried about the children playing on the lawn and getting grass stains on their clothes.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching TV and more while watching life around me.

I would have gone to bed early when sick instead of pretending the earth would stop if I weren’t there  for a day.

There would be more “I love you” and “I’m sorry”, more listening to hearts and speaking to hearts.

I would have seized every minute of life, looked at it and really saw it… tried it on…lived it… exhausted it  and never would give a minute back until there was nothing left!”

What are the changes we wish to make in our lives?  When we consider making those changes, the first thing we should address is what we can do that will make a positive difference not only in our own but in others’ lives as well.  A powerful way to make that difference is by choosing something that prompts us to be more giving.  Bombeck vowed to give “until there was nothing left.”  What would the world look like if we all decided to give more?   Here lies a challenge. We’re human and, as such, we don’t always like to step out of our comfort zone.  But change is growth.  Change is opportunity.   Change is powerful.  Someone once said:  “Get comfortable with the uncomfortable and see how your life changes for the better.”  So what’s the secret to embracing change?  Socrates said it best:  “The secret of change is to focus all of our energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”  Spiritual mentors suggest that we might want to look at something that will be a building block of peace and joy.  They remind us that we should choose something we never even dreamed we could accomplish.   C. S. Lewis said it so well.  “We are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.  We all need things to which we aspire, for without hopes and dreams,” he says, “one’s life becomes stagnant. “  

Footer

Contact Us

Address: 120 N. Ela Street • Barrington, IL 60010 Phone: (847) 382-5300
Fax: (847) 382-5363
Click to Contact Us & Directions

Sign Up for E-Newsletter from SACC

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Questions, Comments, Suggestions?