Historic St. James at Sag Bridge Church

Transcription

1 Historic St. James at Sag Bridge Church S. Archer Avenue Lemont, Illinois (Ph) (Fx) Website: Listen to The Winds of Change 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm on WNDZ AM 750. Fr. Koys substitutes every other Wednesday. Visit: windsofchangeshow.com. Fr. Koys Register on Flocknotes to receive important text messages and s. Text: jamesatsag to Founded in 1833, St. James at Sag Bridge is the sole country parish of the Archdiocese of Chicago, serving a growing community of Catholics who come together to worship God through the celebration of the Eucharist and traditional devotional activities within truly unique and beautiful surroundings. Our faith-filled community strives to bear witness to Jesus Christ by loving and serving one another to bring about the Kingdom of God. August 30, nd Ordinary Sunday Mass Schedule: Weekends: Saturdays: 5:00pm Sundays: 8:00, 9:30 & 11:30am Holy Days: 8:15am & 7:00pm Weekdays: Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays 8:15am, Fridays: 8:15am & 6:00pm Wednesdays: 7:00pm Confession Schedule: Saturdays: 9:30-10:00am Wednesdays: 6:30pm Baptisms: Sundays after the 11:30am Mass by appointment. At least one parent must be a registered parishioner. Weddings: Minimum eight months in advance. At least one spouse must be a registered parishioner. Marriage preparation by appointment only. Funerals: For families of registered parishioners, or for non-parishioners to be buried in our own cemetery. Sick & Homebound Pastoral Care: Please notify rectory Rectory Office Hours: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu & Fri: 9:30am to 1:00pm Apostolic Disciples: Fr. Thomas Koys, M.A.,S.T.L., Pastor, Pastor Emeritus Deacon John M.Wilkinson, CKM, Minister of Care/RCIA Mike Dillenburg Parish Council Chair Mike Wall, Finance Council Chair Mrs. Pamela Stafford, Cantor Mrs. Pamela Mikrut, Organist Rodney Poynter, Holy Name Society, President JoAnn Starha, Altar & Rosary Mrs. Giovanna Imbarrato, CCD Teacher Mr. Seamus Coughlin CCD Teacher Mrs. Mary Coughlin Lenzen CCD Teacher Mr. Steve Hagen CCD Teacher Mrs. Joyce McNamara-Coughlin, CCD Director.

2 Page Two August 30, 2015 There is a memorial in the beautiful lakeside mountain town of Lucern, Switzerland that honors the approximately 600 Swiss Guards who were killed in Most of us are familiar with the Swiss Guards because for hundreds of years they have been the security force that protects the Pope. They wear funny looking uniforms that look like they come out of the middle ages. That s because they are. Those uniforms were designed by Michael Angelo. But rest assured, today they are equipped with all the modern means of security and defense they can carry. But what is the story behind the Swiss Guard s memorial? It was in 1792 that the angry mob captured and beheaded King Louis XVI of France. It was the 600 Swiss Guards who tried to protect the king by resisting their advance upon the Tuileries (the house in which the royal family had been held captive) All were eventually killed by dismemberments and beheadings. What lessons can we draw from this today? First, the Catholic make up of the guard is significant. It is significant because it displays the Catholic spirit to support traditional values and institutions. Conservative thinkers today support traditional values and institutions. Unless you ve been living under a rock lately, or the only source of news you get comes from the late night comedy shows, you can see that many traditional values and institutions are under siege today. So honoring the 600 Swiss Guards who lost their lives defending the doomed tradition of the monarchy does not call us to revive the crown princes in the spirit of the Bourbon household. But what we should see is the connection between earthly powers and the powers of God. Although we modern Americans can look back and take delight in the fact that Kings rule over us no more, we can and should be willing to fight for the kind of political structure that reveres a power that comes from above. Such is the spirit within all our present arguments that claim human rights and human dignity come from God and not the state. The Catholic soldiers from neutral Switzerland saw this connection and were fighting as much for a divine source of human authority as much as for the institution of the monarchy. They saw the mob was vehemently secular or worse, vehemently satanic. The desire for heads of state to reject the watch guard nature of the Church is as much alive today as it was in the 18 th century. It was King Louis XVI s father, Louis XV who dramatized this arrogance during his coronation rite. Louis XV insisted that the Pope come to Paris to crown him king. The Pope, knowing the King s immoral reputation reluctantly arrived carrying the King s newly fashioned jewel Letter from the Pastor Earthly Powers v.s. the Powers of God studded crown. But the audacious King, rather than humbly receiving the crown from the Pope grabs the crown from the Pope s hands and places it upon his own head to the shock of many and the delight of others. Furthermore, it was the monster Jean Paul Marat of the angry mob who made famous (at least in French history books) the cry, toujours l audace, audacity, more audacity, always audacity. How terribly important for us modern Catholics to avoid the temptation to live like blissful aristocrats and how terribly important it is to do our best to help men and women of sincere faith take the positions of authority that effect our lives. Is it only coincidence that in our time we have heard a similar cry in radically secularizing a cherished theological virtue by the audacity to hope? Unlike Other Nations, Fr. Thomas Koys, M.A.,S.T.L., Pastor UPCOMING EVENTS Mon, Sept 7 th Parish Labor Day picnic. 10am Mass, food, fun & raffle prizes. Sat. Sept 12 th Women s Guild meeting Mon. Sept., 14 th Sat. Sept 19 th 1 st C.C.D. class, with parents introduction presentation Lemont Historical Society street fare (10-4pm) ST. JAMES AT SAG BRIDGE OPEN REGISTRATION FOR 2016 CCD CLASSES DEADLINE : 9/07/15 If you have questions about the program, required forms or CCD schedule, visit our website at historicstjames.org or contact either Fr. Koys: unlikeothernations@gmail.com, or the rectory office or Joyce Coughlin: jcoughlin1117@sbcglobal.net ST. RITA HIGH SCHOOL REUNION Saturday, Saturday, September 12 th 7740 S. Western Ave There will be a 4 p.m. mass in the high school chapel, followed by a reunion reception 5 p.m. 9 p.m. Tickets are $30 pre-sale and $35 at the gate, and it includes dinner and an open bar. Please visit for details or contact Catherina Wojtowicz at stritareunion@gmail.com.

3 22nd Ordinary Sunday Page Three IT'S TIME TO TAKE BACK FRIDAYS: By STERLING JAQUITH For most of my life, I have considered Fridays to be a big party! Who doesn t love making it to the end of the week so you can kick back and enjoy your weekend? Fridays were for happy hours, hanging your business suit up in the closet, forgetting about your work and enjoying life. And the excitement over Friday starts buzzing Thursday night. Hey, what are you doing tomorrow? Got any plans for the weekend? We start reaching out to our friends to celebrate this special day of the week to leave behind the workweek grind and enjoy a relaxing two day holiday. I continued to feel this way and hold on to this American tradition after getting married, becoming Catholic and even after having my first baby. Babies do really ruin your sense of happy hour Friday celebrations but I tried my best to recreate the fun at home with Netflix and hard apple cider with my husband. Then my heart started to change. I don t remember the exact moment or even a specific book I was reading to cause this, it just sort of happened slowly. The more I immersed myself in Catholic tradition by reading about the lives of the Saints or modern books by Scott Hahn, Matthew Kelly or Patrick Madrid, I began to feel that Fridays should be set apart. We get a glimpse of this during Lent when we go without meat or completely fast on a Friday. But even these small practices didn t completely open my eyes to how sorrowful and also how very special Fridays should be. Spending three months reading the Pieta prayers every day really brought me closer to the harsh reality of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. Reading about the Passion in such a detailed way will absolutely change your view of just what He did to wipe away our sins. And the more you meditate on the broken body of Christ on the cross, the harder it is to turn away from it. The more I read, the harder it became to throw a party on Friday. You see, the devil wants us to forget about Jesus. The devil wants us to think only of ourselves and our hard workweek. The devil wants us to feel as if we re entitled to kick back and throw ourselves a party simply because we ve completed five days of working. Forget about Jesus, he whispers. Nothing important happened on Friday. Have a drink and hang out with friends, it s good for you. You are free; free to do whatever you want and enjoy your life. God exists in church on Sunday but that s it. He definitely isn t part of your Friday celebrations. And the devil is winning this battle. We ve almost all fallen for this lie. We no longer come home on Friday to contemplate Jesus dying on the cross. Few of us serve a simple evening fare of soup and bread lit by candle light, followed by prayer and silence. We have lost the tradition of setting Fridays apart. Instead, we have drowned out this sorrowful event with so much noise that we can t hear Jesus cries for our hearts and our conversion. It s time that Catholics take back Fridays. We have to stop having a party. We have to be different. We have to be weird. We have to start protecting this evening by giving it back to Jesus. After all He did for us, cannot we manage this for him? I know it s hard. I know you want to go hang out with your friends. And maybe you can t yet give up the whole night. My own faith has come in baby steps so I understand the need to change slowly. But we have to start moving in the right direction, even if it takes us a while to get it right. Here are 10 ways that you can start setting Fridays apart: 1. Don t eat meat all year round. 2. Give up alcohol. 3. Turn off all electronics after the sun sets. 4. Eat a simple and dare I say, boring meal, like soup & bread. 5. Say a family Rosary. 6. Spend one hour in adoration. 7. Spend half an hour in silence at home. 8. Read your Bible for 30 minutes. 9. Read the Pieta prayers. 10. Say a Divine Mercy Chaplet. I know this isn t going to be popular. I know it s a bubble bursting idea for most of you. But I want to challenge you. After reading this article, I hope a seed has been planted in your heart. I hope you feel a small twinge of longing when you re out on a Friday, a longing for Christ. I want you to remember Him and His sacrifice. We must live our lives as a light for Christ. We want others to look at the rhythm of our life, the choices we make and see that we are different. We want them to ask us questions. Setting Fridays apart is a great way to do this. It starts conversations and hopefully it will also start conversions. Labor Day Holy Mass at 10:00am & Annual Parish Picnic Sept. 7, 2015 Come join us for our annual LABOR DAY PARISH PICNIC following the Holy Mass at 10:00am. Please bring a side dish or dessert. Raffle tickets are $2.00 ea. or 3 for $5.00. Raffle Prizes are 1) Red wagon, 2) Two Lawn Chairs, 3) Cooler & 4) Chicago Bears Tent. See Deacon John or come to the rectory to purchase raffle tickets or for bringing a side-dish or dessert.

4 The Sunday collection for the weekend of August 23rd was $3, The number of envelopes was 118. Our many thanks to our Registered Families using envelopes and the cash-and-carry folks. MAY GOD BLESS YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED AND VALUED SUPPORT! Our Church Cleaners for Friday, 9/4//15 are Margaret, Bronislawa & Volunteer. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the rectory office VOTIVE OFFERINGS FOR THE WEEK OF 8/30/15 St. James Ladies Guild Special int. for Joseph Curry Speedy Recovery for Ruth Kaminski Special int. for Kimberly Randle The two beautiful bouquets of flowers surrounding our altar were made for the special int. of The Aiello Family THANK YOU! We pray for all those in the service of our country in all capacities, both at home and across the seas, especially in the Middle East. Please keep Nick Imgrund in your prayers as he continues his service in the United States Navy. Please keep Lucas Gough in your prayers as he continues his service in the United States Air Force. Please keep Kelsey Smith in your prayers as she continues her service in the Peace Corps in Africa.

5 Monday August 31st 8:15 AM Special int. for Helen Kane & Mary Frantz Tuesday September 1st 8:15 AM Special int. for Julia & Frank Kalata Wednesday September 2nd 7:00 PM Safety of Kelsey Smith Thursday September 3rd 8:15 AM Special int. for the Howard/ Kozowski Families Friday September 4th 8:15 AM Robert Pero 6:00 PM Special int. for Donald & John Francis Wilkinson 23rd Ordinary Sunday Saturday September 5th 5:00 PM Barbara Pieprzyca Sunday September 6th 8:00 AM Guy & Doreen Pearman 9:30 AM Repose of the Soul of John Pazda 11:30 AM Liane DeSitter LABOR DAY 9/07/15 10:00 AM Altar Servers Lectors R. Augustyn 23rd Ordinary Sunday 9/05/ & 9//06 Celebrant Altar Servers Lectors 5:00 PM E. Dooley M. Dooley L. Mikrut L. Pieprzyca 8:00 AM J. Beecher J. Beecher Dillenburg M. Dillenburg 9:30 AM 11:30 AM Fr. Tom Koys G. Estrada A. Fugiel J. Jacobek S. Hagen