Historic St. James at Sag Bridge Church DECEMBER 25, 2011 THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD

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1 Historic St. James at Sag Bridge Church S. Archer Avenue Lemont, Illinois (Ph) (Fx) Website: DECEMBER 25, 2011 THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD 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. Rev. Edward D. Gleeson, Pastor Mr. John M. Wilkinson, Permanent Deacon, CKM Parish Boundaries The Village of Willow Springs Unincorporated Lemont Township Along Archer Avenue and Bell Road, Village of Burr Ridge (Cook County) Mass Schedule Weekends: Saturdays, 5:30 PM. Sundays, 8:30, 10:00, 11:30 AM Holy Days: 8:15 AM and 7:00 PM Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays: 8:15 AM Wednesdays: 7:00 PM Confession Schedule Saturdays: 4:30 to 5:15 PM By appointment. Baptisms First Sundays of every month by appointment. Parents must be registered parishioners. Weddings Minimum eight months in advance. At least one partner must be a registered parishioner. Religious Education Classes 1st through 8th Grade Tuesday evenings, September through May Parents must be registered parishioners. Registration In Rectory Office Hours Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays: 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM Thursdays: 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon. Parish Ministerial Staff Father Edward Gleeson, Pastor Deacon John Wilkinson, Minister of Care Brian Tishuk, RE Director Pamela Stafford, Music Coordinator Pamela Mikrut, Organist JoAnn Starha, Altar and Rosary President Rodney Poynter, Holy Name President Barbara Tishuk, Our Lady of the Forest President Rectory Support Staff Jane Mayer, Administrative Assistant/Bulletin Editor Bernice Raj, Housekeeper/Cook

2 Page Two December 25, 2011 For those of us of faith the crib is the center of our Christmas celebration. Some families put up the crib at the beginning of Advent; but it is empty. Gradually they add the figures. First Mary and Joseph, then the shepards, then the animals, and last of all on Christmas Eve they reverently place Baby Jesus in the manger. The crib has meaning because of faith. Imagine what Christmas would be like without faith. We would not know God and His great love. Without faith the first figure to go from the crib would be Jesus Himself. Why would we be concerned about a Jewish baby born in poverty twenty centuries ago? Next to go would be Mary. If we don t have any faith Mary would be an unknown Jewish girl who lived and died like the other girls in her village. We would not know and love her as the Mother of God and our own spiritual Mother. Of course Joseph would have to go too since without faith we would have no way of cherishing his relationship to Mary and to Jesus. We would have no use at all for the shepards. They themselves would take their sheep back to the fields. So what? And the animals would wander away to look for a warm place for the night. Not our problem. We ourselves would be the last to go. Without faith a great darkness would come over our lives; and we would be no better off than the homicidal maniac, King Herod, who attempted to murder the infant. Without faith our entire lives would be different. The crucifixion would appear to us as a failure, and all the sayings of Jesus would have no more meaning than the reflections of a forgotten rabbi or an unrecognized prophet. Without faith we would have no Church, no Eucharist, and no hope for eternal life. Jesus chose bread together with wine to be the FROM THE DESK OF THE PASTOR CHRISTMAS WITHOUT JESUS? elements of the Holy Eucharist. Having taken human nature from His Mother and having been nourished at her breast, He wished to nourish us by transforming bread and wine into His Body and Blood. The Eucharist sustains our spiritual lives. It helps us to grow more like the giver, Christ Himself. It repairs the wounds of sin. It gives joy to the heart of believers. The sacrament has cured us from our spiritual blindness. It has nourished our gift of faith. That is why our Christmas is so surrounded by lights, the symbol of faith. Candles adorn the altar in church and they add brightness to our home decorations. The ornaments on our Christmas tree come alive in the reflection of the lights strung throughout the tree. When Isaiah wrote of the future age which is ours to enjoy, he put a strong emphasis on vision and light. In the first reading of Midnight Mass he declares that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. We are those people. At Baptism the priest gave us a candle and said: Receive the light of Christ. That light is the gift of faith; and it is faith which makes all the difference. Even nature cooperates since from the time of Christmas the days gradually grow longer and the hours of light slowly increase. Light is the most important accompaniment to our Christmas celebration since light is the symbol of faith. Our custom of gift-giving at Christmas follows the example of God the Father who gave the first Christmas gift, His only begotten Son. And yet His Son is not His first gift since something is needed for us to embrace Jesus with understanding, love, and gratitude. That something is the gift of faith which puts Jesus back in the crib and which puts meaning and purpose into our lives. GOD BLESS OUR PARISH, FR. ED GLEESON, PASTOR

3 The Nativity of the Lord Page Three The large array of Christmas flowers surrounding our altar and crib scene were made available through the kindness of the CONTRIBUTING PARISH- IONERS OF ST. JAMES AT SAG BRIDGE. VOTIVES FOR SPECIAL INTENTIONS Seven day Votive Lights for special intentions are available for only $8.00 for 170 hours of continuous light. Blue lights are available in front of Holy Mary and red lights in front of St. Joseph. Envelopes are available in back of church. Just fill in your request and place the envelope with donation into the collection basket. Your name or intention will be written on each candle cylinder you purchase before it is lighted. Due to the Christmas and New Year holidays, the bulletin printer requires all bulletin copy be submitted far in advance of the normal schedules. Therefore, Our Weekly Offertory information will be delayed. The December 18th and December 19th and December 24th and December 25th collections will be published in the January 1, 2012 bulletin. BLESS YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED AND VALUED SUPPORT. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion, "Your God is King!" Hark! Your sentinels raise a cry, together they shout for joy, for they see directly, before their eyes, the LORD restoring Zion. Break out together in song, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the LORD comforts his people, he redeems Jerusalem. The LORD has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God. RECTORY BUSINESS OFFICE HOURS The Rectory will be closed on Thurs., December 29th & Fri., December 30, MASS INTENTIONS If you want Mass intentions for 2012 especially on weekends you need to request and pay for them now. The weekend Masses fill up very quickly and some of them are already spoken for. Come to the rectory or call during normal business hours.

4 Page Four December 25, 2011 Parish Christmas Party with St. Nick Sunday, December 4, 2011 Altar & Rosary Sodality Christmas Luncheon, Cog Hill Fri., December 2, 2011

5 Page Five Second The Nativity Sundayof ofthe Advent Lord Page Five

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7 The Nativity of the Lord Page Seven VOTIVE CANDLES Votive offering for the week of December 25th St. James Altar & Rosary Sodality Monday 8:15AM December 26 St. Stephen Int. for the Walsh Family WORLDWIDE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER WEEKENDS Spouses, give each other the perfect gift the gift of yourselves! Take some well deserved time for just the two of you to deepen your communication, strengthen your relationship, rekindle your romance and renew your sacrament by attending the next Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekends for the Chicago/Northwest Indiana area on January 27-29, 2012, March 2-4, 2012 or June 8-10,2012. Early registration is highly recommended. For reservations/ information, call Jim & Kris at or contact us through For a Weekend en Espanol (other dates), contact Oscar & Luz at or Aurelio & Letitia at The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. - John 1:5 Tuesday December 27 St. John 8:15 AM Living & Deceased Parishioners Wednesday 7:00PM Thursday 8:15AM Friday 8:15AM December 28 The Holy Innocents Noreen Salmon December 29 St. Thomas Becket Int. For the Bland Family December 30 The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph Edward, Sr. & Laurine Gleeson Saturday December 31 VIGIL: FEAST OF MARY MOTHER OF GOD 5:30PM Jerry Mogy Sunday January 1 FEAST OF MARY MOTHER OF GOD 8:30AM Betty Eby 10:00AM.Irene Slosowski 11:30AM Lauretta Kopping Mary Mother of God 5:30PM 8:30AM 10:00 AM 11:30 AM Dec 31 & Jan 1 Celebrant Father Gleeson Father Gleeson Father Gleeson Father Gleeson Altar Servers F. Zabilka J. Zabilka W. Tishuk D. LaSota K. Madden A. Dillenburg D. Veitkus R. Veitkus A. Bertucci S. Gallagher J. Beecher J. Beecher Lector J. Jagger L. Pieprzyca Dillenburg T. Gorski H. Veitkus M. Zubek Beecher Beecher LEM Deacon John Deacon John Deacon John Deacon John Ushers S. Hillstrom J. Quigley C. Hughes D. Strzempek J. H. Dillenburg M. Hally T. Lang F. Pearman D. Butalla M. Lavery J. Pajkos B. Czaja J. Neadly R. Poynter M. Fleckenstein