About Us
Why Our Community is Unique
Hallmarks of our community are dialogue homilies and potluck socials. We invite you to join us in our conversation.
We are a small, lay-led Intentional Eucharist Community rooted in the Roman Catholic tradition and the spirit of Vatican II, which was called into session by our namesake, St. John XXIII. We hold liturgies twice a month at the Provincial House of the Clerics of St. Viator (CSV), located at 1212 East Euclid Avenue in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Our presiders are priests from the surrounding area. A distinguishing characteristic of the liturgies are dialogue homilies, and potluck socials that follow the services are a mainstay of our community.
Everyone of good will is welcome to attend our liturgies and socials. And if our services touch where you are in your faith journey, or open a path you wish to explore, then join us as often as you can. Perhaps one of our ministries, listed on the Ministries page will appeal to you and challenge you to invest more of yourself in serving the wider community.
Our History
In 2009, the nucleus of what was to become St. John XXIII Community came together. Initially, we were a house church, meeting in homes of several different community members. As the spirit of our community and its liturgies became better know, we attracted more members and could no longer accommodate the community in a home environment.
We moved out liturgy location to the Barrington Area Library in July of 2010. It served as our home through January of 2013. During this period we formally adopted the name Blessed John XXIII Community and began to identify ourselves as an Intentional Eucharist Community (ICE).
The library’s renovation plans for 2013 caused us to once again seek a new site for our liturgies.
Our new home, since February 3, 2013, has been the Living Word Center located at 800 North Fernandez in Arlington Heights, Illinois. In April of 2014, after the canonization of John XXIII, our name was hanged to Saint John XXIII Community.
Our Mission
St. John XXIII is an Intentional Eucharistic Community committed to the goals of the Second Vatican Council and dedicated to work for the Gospel imperative of Social Justice.
Our Vision
As a faith community inspired by Vatican II and the evolution of theology promoted by that Council, members of St. John XXIII striver to work out the call of our Baptism in this Intentional Eucharist Community.
We are formed by Sacred Scripture, the liturgies we celebrate and the Sacrament we share. These move us to extend ourselves beyond our group and our neighborhood. So, we respond to God’s call focusing on the poor and marginalized (both in our suburban neighborhood and in the inner city) as we strive to live out Jesus’ Gospel message of inclusiveness, compassion and forgiveness.
Our Values
Our Sunday liturgies are celebrated with dialogue homilies in which anyone present may participate. At the Council, all participants had a voice because Pope John XXIII knew that the Holy Spirit could speak through the most junior, as well as the most senior bishops: so all are listened to and heard. Our Eucharistic celebrations are prayed in the revised tradition of Vatican II with inclusive (gender-neutral) readings.
Our governance model is also collegial. We are lay led, and members are encouraged to participate in leadership roles according to their own preferences and availability. We try to discuss matters of policy and governance to arrive at consensus: especially regarding the dispersal of our financial resources.