For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree, and still I have found none. ~Luke 13:7

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1 528 Lath rop Aven u e Ri ver Forest, Il li n oi s For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree, and still I have found none. ~Luke 13:7 why no fruit, little tree is this the wrong time, wrong clime is there too much stress too many demands too much disappointment in the orchard is fig production harder than you thought and you would rather rest in the sun do not fear the One who cares has given a year of reprieve a year of jubilee and will see that there is water to shake you into life and enrich the soil in which you grow do not fear little tree there is enough time but nothing extra should you fall asleep again shake off lethargy spring is almost here the time of reckoning stir yourself producing figs is after all what you were born to do E.M. Jeep Febr uar y 28, Third S unda y of Le nt

2 MASS INTENTIONS Monday, February 29 6:30 am John Lattner 8:00 am Maria Martinez Tuesday, March 1 6:30 am Kathryn Ann Froelich 8:00 am Anna L. Maroon Wednesday, March 2 6:30 am The Shooting Victims in Kalamazoo, Michigan 8:00 am Robert C. Atkinson Thursday, March 3 - St. Katharine Drexel 6:30 am Margaret and Emmett Barder 8:00 am Sarina Conmy Friday, March 4 - St. Casimir 6:30 am Liz Kennedy 8:00 am Robert C. Atkinson Saturday, March 5 8:00 am John W. Donoghue 5:00 pm Mary McMahon Sunday, March 6 7:30 am The People of St. Luke Parish 9:00 am Joseph Harris 10:30 am Special Intentions of the St. Luke Chancel Choir Members 12:00 pm Elizabeth Breysse MINISTERS OF THE LITURGY Monday-Friday, February 29 - March 4 8:00 am Servers R Crotty, M Morrissey Saturday, March 5 5:00 pm Servers K Cahill, E Smith, C Carr Lectors Marcelo Aspiras, Frank Auteri Euch Min J Bresnahan, E Dieschbourg, J Megall, K Smith, A Valenti, D Valenti, J Willoughby Sunday, March 6 7:30 am Servers N Altier, E Halfpenny, S Altier Lectors Dave Erfort, Terry Roche Euch Min J Duszynski, J Sullivan, M Sullivan 9:00 am Servers G Ruggie, D Westerman, D Ruggie Lectors Nan Brouilette, Diane Ruggie Euch Min B Nickels, MK Nickels, R Norton, G Rara, C Saunders, J Winikates, L Winikates 10:30 am Servers S Goslin, J Wiktor, P Gorman Lectors Doug Kurtenbach, Noel Moore Euch Min L Amison, P Brennan, S Brennan, B Elwood, L Goslin, M Goslin, M Moore 12:00 pm Servers E Dillon, J Williams, L Lazos Lectors Max Brown, Kevin Roche Euch Min J Courtney, B Huerta, L Ortiz-Lazos, V Perera, A Roche Cover Art: Painting of The Vine Dresser and the Fig Tree by French artist James Tissot ( ) is used here courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum. Background image of fig tree by G41rn8 is used here courtesy of Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 4.0]. 2 WELCOME TO ST. LUKE River Forest, IL FROM THE PASTOR Where will you be on March 26? As a priest and as pastor, I will be celebrating the Easter Vigil here at St. Luke Church on March 26, of course! Don t bother asking! This is the highest and most solemn celebration of the year for Roman Catholics, greater than a funeral, feast, or marriage, First Communion or Confirmation Mass, or ordination. It celebrates the saving Paschal mystery of our Lord, especially His Resurrection. It celebrates the new vitality of the Church in its new members those who are seeking baptism or professing their faith or being confirmed or receiving Eucharist for the first time. In last Sunday s bulletin, short profiles were given for the three individuals being incorporated into the Church at St. Luke on March 26. Please get to know about them and welcome them when you see them. Beginning today and over the next two weekends they will be called forward so that all of us can pray over them, asking the Lord to strengthen their resolve to move forward in their faith toward Easter. I remember being in Church for the Easter Vigil as a high school sophomore. I wasn t on for anything. I had served at Masses during my high school years, but this particular time it was good to just sit in the pews. I noticed five individuals in procession, among whom were a mom, dad, and their 10-year-old son. I had attended Easter Vigils before and had even served at them in my parish and at a nearby hospital chapel where the Sisters on staff had called me up to assist the priest chaplain in a very simple form of the Easter Vigil. But this one was different. It became apparent that these people were preparing to be baptized. Adults being baptized with their children? Unheard of, at least to me. Confirmed, too? Even more incredible! And First Communion later on the same day? Unbelieveable! And accompanying all this was beautiful sacred music and ritual, the wonderful prayers of the Church and God s inspiring Word, the symbols of fire, light, and water to guide us. All the theology in the world couldn t teach what the people all around me that holy night were experiencing; the feeling of God s abiding presence welling up inside was made manifest to all who gave their gift of time to the Lord and showed up with an open ear and heart. That s just priceless! So consider where you will be and how you will spend this most holy evening! ~Fr. John

3 The Jubilee Year of Mercy makes us aware that God is merciful. But where exactly do we find that mercy? In the Catholic tradition, a privileged place to meet the mercy of God is in the sacrament of Penance. Most of us, I believe, who are born Catholic take many things for granted, including the forgiveness of our sins in this sacrament. We sin. We confess. We are absolved. We move on. In fact, there is so much more to the story of our forgiveness and our participation in the Sacrament of Penance. God s mercy is his loving kindness that makes him always ready to forgive us if we repent of our sins. Actually, this is quite amazing and nothing that we should take for granted. God is not obliged to forgive us, as if it were owed to us. Behind his forgiveness made tangible in the Sacrament of Penance is God s tender and loving willingness that arrives in our wounded lives as a sheer gift, nothing earned or deserved. That truly is amazing. At the same time, I am very much aware that Catholics of all stripes have a wide range of attitudes about going to Confession. They may have encountered a tired and cranky confessor. They may be reluctant to take a look at their lives and make an honest examination of conscience. They may feel reluctant about going to confession, because they don t know what to say. They may experience profound discouragement, because they find themselves struggling with the same sins over and over again. They may even feel that their sin whatever it may be is so serious that it just cannot be forgiven. Whether going to Confession and celebrating the Sacrament of Penance is something of a thoughtless routine or if it is something that we hesitate to approach for a variety of reasons, the Jubilee Year of Mercy summons us to take another look. Even more, the Jubilee invites us to be amazed at the gift of mercy given to us when we experience the forgiveness of our sins. Many people wonder, What does God think of me? The better question that stays faithful to the Word of God given to us in the Bible is: How does God feel about me? The Sacrament of Penance: A Path for Meeting the Mercy of God By Father Louis J. Cameli MARCH 5-7, 2016 And the many passages about God s mercy, his tender love, his tireless patience, his joy when we are found after being lost, and his loving outreach to us in his only Son, Jesus Christ all this tells us how God feels about us. And it is amazing. Almost too good to be true, because we always measure things on our human scales, forgetting God s infinite capacity to love us. Whatever our history of going to Confession or our elements of personal reluctance, it may be time in this Jubilee Year of Mercy to take another look. What really happens in the Sacrament is a meeting with the mercy of God. And this is no abstraction. It is the father of the prodigal son waiting for his son to come home and then running out to meet him on the way. It is the shepherd who rejoices when he finds the one lost sheep. It is the woman who throws a party to celebrate finding the money she lost. It is the risen Jesus who accepts Peter s pledge of love after his denials of Jesus in his hour of trial. It is Jesus, the friend of sinners, who eats and drinks with them and brings them to new life. Yes, it truly is amazing. And even more amazing, God s mercy is available to us right here, right now when we celebrate the Sacrament of Penance. The Archdiocese of Chicago is celebrating the Days of Mercy and Forgiveness next weekend with added opportunities for the faithful to receive the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. A guide to making a Confession and questions for an adult Examination of Conscience is available at this link: The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation will be offered at St. Luke at these special times: Saturday, March 5: 9:00-11:00 am and 3:30-4:30 pm Sunday, March 6: 8:30-9:00 and 10:00-10:30 am, 11:30 am-noon, and 1:00-1:30 pm. FEBRUARY 28, 2016 Third Sunday of Lent 3

4 St. Luke s Parish Transformation Committee has issued a final call for any parishioners who have not yet filled out a parish survey to do so today. The form takes less than 10 minutes to fill out. Both adults and teens are invited to complete the form online at Paper copies of the survey are also available at the exits of church. Thank you for your help and support! The next stop on our CRS Rice Bowl journey is the African nation of Rwanda, where we re reminded to care for the unborn. This week we pray for pregnant mothers, that they may have the medical and nutritional support they need to raise healthy, thriving children. We learn what we can do to provide medical and nutritional support to pregnant women and to their babies when they are born. We act on what we have learned when we keep adding our loose change to our Rice Bowl each day. The Stations of the Cross are prayed each Friday in Lent at 6:00 pm. After following in the footsteps of Jesus, everyone is invited to a community supper in Waldron Hall. The meal is simple a meatless main course, vegetable and fruit trays, bread, and water. This week the meal will be prepared and served by St. Luke Parish School parents and students. A free-will offering is taken up. Any excess funds will be given to the John Clark Lenten Haitian Appeal. Please join us this Friday to pray the Stations and share a meal. All are invited for our monthly time of prayer and Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament next Saturday, March 5. Right after the 8:00 Mass, the rosary will be prayed. Then the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for silent prayer until 11:30, followed by Benediction. The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be available from 9:00-11:00 am. Volunteers are needed for Housing Forward (formally known as PADS) on the second Sunday of the month in March and April. The program provides overnight shelter and three daily meals for 40 to 70 individuals at 10 rotating sites in Berwyn, Forest Park, Franklin Park, and Oak Park. The program is a gateway for a wide array of supportive services aimed at reducing the length of homelessness for the overnight clients. Volunteers help set up and break down the shelter, prepare meals, and generally supervise the space to ensure a safe environment. If interested, please Meg Francis at mlaundry@smartstaffing.com. 4 WELCOME TO ST. LUKE River Forest, IL

5 Catholic Charities 13 th Annual St. Patrick s Day Celebration Thursday, March 10, 6:30-9:30 pm FitzGerald s Nightclub 6615 Roosevelt Road in Berwyn Reservations are $50 by March 7 and $60 after. This promises to be a fantastic evening of Irish cheer, featuring the McNulty Irish Dancers, the Shannon Rovers, and the Irish Musicians Association-Chicago. Reservations include food, beer, and wine. There will also be a silent auction and raffle (tickets $10 each or five for $40). Winners need not be present. Register or donate online at Every 30 seconds someone counts on Catholic Charities for help. The charitable branch of the Archdiocese of Chicago is now asking everyone to help it by calling for the State of Illinois to end its budget stalemate and pass a budget that cares for the poor and most vulnerable in our communities. Catholic Charities is currently owed more than $25 million by the State of Illinois a number that grows by about $2 million a month. Everyone is asked to call or write his or her state elected officials and urge action to free up the necessary funding. For more information on how to find your representatives and what to say, go to The Marriage and Family Ministries Office of the Archdiocese offers the following support groups: 1. Phoenix group for divorced and widowed meets on the second Thursday of each month at St. Barbara Parish in Brookfield. For more information, contact Deacon John Debnar at Divorce and Beyond meets at St. John of the Cross Parish in Western Springs. For more information, contact Ann Marie at Catholic Divorce Survival Program meets at St. Giles Parish in Oak Park. For more information, contact Deirdre at ext SCRIPTURE READINGS For Masses the Week of February 28-March 6 Sunday: Ex 3:1-8a, 13-15/Ps 103:1-4, 6-8, 11/1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12/Lk 13:1-9 Monday: 2 Kgs 5:1-15ab/Ps 42:2-3; 43:3-4/Lk 4:24-30 Tuesday: Dn 3:25, 34-43/Ps 25:4-9/Mt 18:21-35 Wednesday: Dt 4:1, 5-9/Ps 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20/ Mt 5:17-19 Thursday: Jer 7:23-28/Ps 95:1-2, 6-9/Lk 11:14-23 Friday: Hos 14:2-10/Ps 81:6-11, 14, 17/Mk 12:28-34 Saturday: Hos 6:1-6/Ps 51:3-4, 18-21/Lk 18:9-14 Next Sunday: Jos 5:9a, 10-12/Ps 34:2-7/2 Cor 5:17-21/ Lk 15:1-3, Liturgical Publications Inc PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR SICK: Willard Boyer, Rita Brown, Margaret Creedon, John Cusack, Bill Darley, Mary Elwood, Fred Heiss, Stephen Kehoe, Frank Kurr, John Lennon, Paul S. Novak, Kelly Petersen, Geraldine Redmond, Fr. Paul Reicher, Patti Sheehan, Tom Trankina, Deacon Joe Walsh, Mary White, Michael Gerard White, Ann Marie Wojcik AND FOR ALL OUR DECEASED. Stewardship of Treasure He said to the gardener, For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. ~Luke 13:7 Are you like the barren fig tree? How will you respond when God asks what you have done with all the gifts He has given you? Remember, not only are we called to be generous, we are called to develop and nurture our gifts and return them with increase. Our Weekly Offerings From the weekend of February 21, 2016 Weekly Giving Goal $15, Actual Weekly Giving $15, Fiscal Year to Date (From 7/1/15) Weekly Giving Goal $510, Actual Weekly Giving $483, Goal to Date for Year +/(-) $ (26,678.00) We are always very grateful for the sacrifices you make to support the mission, goals, and ministry of St. Luke Church. Thank you for your generosity! FEBRUARY 28, 2016 Third Sunday of Lent 5

6 The St. Luke Athletic Committee congratulates the following winners of the 500 Club drawing: John E. Dillon, Jr. and Rachel H. Dillon Thank you to all who have purchased memberships in the Club, the proceeds of which go directly to fund the school s athletic programs. The following people were killed in the city of Chicago between February 8-17: Reginald Bonner, age 37 Latania Anderson, age 27 Vincente Avila, age 23 Lorenzo Garcia, age 24 Steven Tate, age 26 Jeremy Hunter, age 25 Iaron Brooks, age 23 Rashawn Gooden Jr., age 21 Tiana Brown, age 20 Lawrence Campbell III, age 22 Terrell Peters, age 39 Hassan Childs, age 22 May we keep their families and others touched by violence in our prayers. May we also pray for the perpetrators and the impact the violence will have on their lives as well. 6 For one-time gifts or your weekly Sunday contribution, GiveCentral.org makes it fast and convenient for you to support St. Luke Parish with payments from your bank or credit card account using your computer or smartphone. Try it today! Mass Schedule Saturday Vigil (anticipated) Mass 5:00 pm, and Sunday 7:30, 9:00, and 10 : 30 am and 12:00 noon Weekdays: Monday-Friday, 6:30 & 8:00 am, Saturday 8:00 am Confessions The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation is offered after 6:30 and 8:00 am weekday Masses and by request. Adoration and Benediction Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament occurs every first Saturday after the 8:00 am Mass and rosary. Rectory Office Hours Monday through Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Saturday 9:30 am to 4:30 pm Interested in Learning More About the Catholic Faith? Anyone wishing to complete their sacraments or learn more about the Catholic faith may inquire about our adult faith formation program (RCIA) by calling the rectory for more information. WELCOME TO ST. LUKE River Forest, IL Rev. John Szmyd, Pastor jszmyd@stlukeparish.org Rev. Steven Bauer, Associate Pastor sbauer@stlukeparish.org Rev. Leroy Wickowski (Retired) lwickowski@stlukeparish.org Rev. Mr. Jim Doyle deacondoyle@gmail.com Rev. Mr. Paul Faherty pfaherty00@aol.com Rev. Mr. Terry Norton reneeterrynorton@gmail.com Rev. Mr. Bob Slobig bobslobig@comcast.net Lathrop Avenue, River Forest stlukeparish@stlukeparish.org Sue Gamache, Office Manager sgamache@stlukeparish.org Glenn Wagner, Parish Business Manager gwagner@stlukeparish.org Sheila Price, Director of Stewardship & Development sprice@stlukeparish.org Arlene Michna, Music Director amichna@stlukeparish.org Bradley Collins, Communications Coordinator bcollins@stlukeparish.org Ashland Avenue, River Forest jschwarzbeck@stlukeparish.org Maryanne Polega, Interim Principal mpolega@stlukeparish.org Ashland Avenue, River Forest religiouseducation@stlukeparish.org Sr. Colleen Nolan, O.P., Director cnolan@stlukeparish.org Ashland Avenue, River Forest Sr. Mary Ann Mueninghoff, OP New Parishioners Are always welcome to stop by the rectory to introduce themselves and provide their registration information. Communion Visits and Ministry of Care A parish priest or Minister of Care will be happy to visit those who are sick or homebound. Please call the rectory to make arrangements. Baptism Baptisms take place on the first and third Sundays of each month except during Lent. Preparation meetings are held on the first Monday of every month for the parents of children who will be baptized. Arrangements can be made by calling the rectory. Marriage Couples wishing to be married should call the rectory to set up an appointment with one of the parish priests at least six months in advance of the desired wedding date. Anointing of the Sick Elderly parishioners, those in poor health or who are anticipating surgery can call the rectory to arrange to receive the sacrament of anointing.