Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time February 12, 2012

Transcription

1 Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time February 12, 2012 Pastoral Staff Pastor Rev. Denis Condon Pastor Emeritus Rev. John C. Hergenrother Associate Pastor Rev. Joseph J. Wojcik Deacon Mr. Michael McLynn Deacon Mr. Kevin Reynolds School Principal Ms. Kelly Zawisza Religious Education Coordinator Ms. Anne Watylyk Music Director Mr. Jim Harrold, Secretary/Bulletin Editor Ms. Maureen Johnson, Spiritual Companion Mrs. Jane Kucera, Parish Counselor Ms. Monica Seggio, , ext. 30 Parish Council Chair Dr. Elisabeth Hahn, Rectory 1144 Harrison Ave., FAX School 1125 Harrison, LaGrange Park, Religious Education Weekend Mass Schedule Saturday Evening: 5:00 p.m.; Sunday: 7:30, 9:30, 11:00 a.m. Weekday Masses Monday through Friday at 8:30 a.m. Sacraments and Ministries Reconciliation/Confessions Saturdays 9:00 9:30 a.m. or on request. Baptisms Second Sunday: 12:15 p.m. A baptismal class is necessary prior to scheduling a Baptism. Marriage Contact the rectory six months prior to wedding. Home Communion Visits Mike McLynn, Parish Nurses, Hours as posted in church. New Parishioners Register at the rectory. Website parishoffice@slmparish.org Bulletin Deadline Monday at 10:00 a.m. Traveling? Call or

2 Fasting Lent begins in 10 days. It s time to prepare for how we will spend these six weeks of the year. We can approach Lent with negative reservation Oh, no! Lent again. Or we can view this season as a great opportunity to honestly look at how I m living compared to what the Lord has called me to. There s bound to be contradictions; life is made up of those. How we live with contradictions in our life is the key I used to dread Lent. I viewed it as long weeks of ponderous church services and onerous practices. I mean Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return doesn t exactly lead one to jump up and dance a jig. The purple vestments and the call to remember how sinful I am just didn t make the sun shine for me. And, of course, I had to give up something. (I tried once to give up Lent, but that didn t go over well.) To top it off the whole season ends with a morose Friday strangely called Good. How weird is that?! It has taken me years to see Lent through different glasses. Perhaps it s been the lessons of life that have led me to a better appreciation of this time of year. Mind you, I still wrestle with the self-denial part, but I have at least come to terms with the why and wherefore of Lent. There s some adage proclaiming that we fool ourselves most easily. We tend not to face or think about the nastier side of who we are and we can find all kinds of excuses to justify almost anything. One scholar I read quite bluntly said reason is given to us so we can justify doing whatever we want. When put so boldly, that sounds a bit shocking, but when you think about it, it s true. I can come up with all kinds of reasons to justify getting what I want or doing what I want. Only when someone else comes along to challenge me or even straight forwardly say no, do I realize how bogus my thinking was. Lent is the one to challenge us and say no to us. Lent is the season that the Lord uses to speak the painful truth to us, if we have ears to hear. And the way to open our minds to hear what Lent is saying is fasting. Fasting has got to be one of the least attractive things in life. It s right up there with lima beans, liver and going to the dentist. Fasting is one of the sternest teachers in life and while we may not be crazy about the practice, it does teach us some very valuable lessons. Think of that coach or teacher who never let us get away with anything, but harped on us to do better. While we were in their charge, life was no picnic, but afterward we knew they had given us more than anyone else the life lessons we needed to learn. That s what fasting is; the life coach. Fasting comes in many shapes and forms. The obvious one is to stop eating. As I mentioned at Mass a couple of weeks ago, fasting as the church defines it means we basically eat only two meals in any given day. One meal is the normal main meal. If that main meal is dinner, then at breakfast we can only eat ½ of what we would eat at dinner. The same goes for lunch. Of course, there s no eating between, before or after any of those three meals no donuts with mid-morning coffee, no afternoon snacks and no munchies while watching TV at night. This is tough stuff. Start small by just cutting out all eating between meals. Then, gradually cut down on the meals. All of the major religions of the world require fasting at some time during the year. And this has been going on for centuries. The wisdom of the ages tells us fasting is important if we are serious about learning what life is all about. Medical science will tell us that fasting sharpens our awareness of the world about us. Our brain, suddenly deprived of its usual source of energy, wants to know what s happening. Like it or not, wisdom and science suggest fasting is good for mind and soul. Fasting need not only be from food. Try fasting from TV or computer games. That will test your mettle. Instead of these two, read a book that has to do with the faith. Read something on how to improve your relationship with the Lord or an explanation of Mark s Gospel or the life a saint or something on a method of prayer you re not familiar with. You don t have to spend hours each day reading such a book. Many of them need to be read slowly, allowing time to digest what you ve just read. And doing just that reading and then thinking about what you ve just read constitutes a form of prayer, namely meditation. So, replacing TV or time on the computer with spiritual reading means you not only fast you pray. You fulfill two of the three Lent practices at once! Since you won t be doing such reading for hours, you ll have to come up with something else to do with the remaining time. Of course, you could always talk with or play a board game with a member of the family. Or come to the Stations on Friday. Fasting is a teacher like no other. She has much to teach whether we re 16 or 60 or 86. But she can t teach us unless we are willing to listen, that is, really fast. Lent is the school and fasting is one of the three teachers in this school. Are you willing to learn? Fr. Denis February 12, 2012 Page 2

3 Monday, February 13 6pm-Play Practice-PC 6:30pm-Boy Scouts-C Tuesday, February 14 5pm-Sports-C Wednesday, February 15 5pm-Sports-C 5 & 6:30pm-Religious Ed Thursday, February 16 2:30pm-Daisies-M 2:30pm-Children s Choir 4:30pm-SPRED-R 5pm-Sports-PC 6:30pm-Cub Scouts-C 7pm-Boy Scouts Committee-M 7pm-Choir Friday, February 17 Play Tech-PC 2:45pm-Girl Scouts-M Saturday, February 18 Play Tech-PC Sunday, February 19 Food Drive-All Masses 8am-Pancake Breakfast-C 11am-Boy Scout Mass/Reception-PC 2pm-Bingo-C 5pm-Play Practice-PC/M 6pm-BEDS-R 7pm-Venture-M 7:30pm-AA-R How Do You Spell Success? Congratulations to Brendan Copp, Michael Keegan, Leanna Keen, John Suba, Allison Wasielewski, and Brandon Ripoli who participated in the annual Knights of Columbus Spelling Bee. After several rounds of competition among students from area schools, Brandon Ripoli and Leanna Keen finished 2nd and 3rd place, advancing to the next level of competition. Great job! Super Bowl or Academic Bowl? It was definitely the Nazareth Academy Academic Bowl for 7th graders Andrea Guzman, Michael Keegan, Leanna Keen, Brittany Schneider, and Allison Wasielewski. The group did a wonderful job, advancing to the semi-finals and gaining valuable academic bowl experience. What a great team! Alumni Expertise A tremendous vote of thanks goes to Eagle Scout Candidate Chris Dziagwa (St. Louise Class of 2008) for his St. Louise School video project. Chris created a video tour of our school, capturing the students and staff in action. To access it, go to St. Louise School homepage at stlouisedemarillacschool.org. Thanks also to Chicago Camera Works for their donation of camera rental and location equipment for this special project. Honor Roll Congratulations go to these students for making the Second Quarter Honor Roll: 8th Grade: A Guillermo Arroyo, Andrew Copp, Gina Crisanti, Ashley Sablich, Grace Watylyk B Matthew Arenas, Julia Melone, Matthew Suba Ash Wednesday is February 22. The schedule for the distribution of ashes is as follows: 6:30 a.m. - Service 8:30 a.m. - Mass 12:30 p.m. - Service 5:15 p.m. - Service 7:00 p.m. - Mass LECTOR/EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS SIGN-UP Volunteers are needed for Ash Wednesday (times above.) Sign-up sheet is in the Gathering Room in back of church. 7th Grade: A Brendan Copp, Connor Diggins, Andrea Guzman, Leanna Keen, Allison Wasielewski B Steven Gaber, Michael Keegan, Madison Melone, Taylor Rosicky, Brittany Schneider, John Suba 6th Grade: A Lilliana Dziagwa, Luke Graham, Gabriella Watylyk B Tea Rose Abraham, Emily Graham, David Hanson, Gerald Hopkins, Suzana Jukic, Daniel Keegan, Lidjia Kutlesa, John Panek, Aimee Paradee, Autumn Schwer, Laura Yarka 5th Grade: A Brendon Diggins, David Keen, Braden Schneider B Kiley Blatt, Lauren Dunn, Neha Immaneni, Joseph Johnson February 12, 2012 Page 3

4 ~LENTEN SOUP SUPPER~ ~EVENING OF REFLECTION~ All women of the parish are invited for an evening of nourishment for body and soul on Thursday, March 1 in the Colonnade Room. The evening begins at 6:00 p.m. with a supper of homemade soup, salad and bread. At 7:00 p.m., Sister Jane Schlosser, RSM, presents the program Pearls, Mustard Seeds & Yeast, a look at the unusual stories Jesus uses to explore the kingdom of God. The evening will finish with Mary s Way of the Cross, followed by coffee and dessert. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling Sue at or Kate at Mark your calendars and plan to join us. EASTER CHOIR The St. Louise Easter Choir will be rehearsing on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. in the church, starting February 21. Anyone who is interested in singing with the choir is encouraged to join. There are no auditions. The Easter Choir will lead song at the Holy Thursday Mass on April 5, the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, April 7, and at the 10:15 a.m. Mass on Easter Sunday morning, April 8. If interested, contact Music Director Jim Harrold: or at paulushookpiano@yahoo.com LENTEN FAITH GROUP mall group sessions are a very important S part of the parish s spiritual growth and development process. They provide opportunities for us, the people of God, to share our faith, listen closely to the Holy Spirit and to witness that God has called us. A Faith Group will meet during Lent on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. in the Trinity Room led by Pat Thorburn. Come when you can every week or as your schedule permits. Everyone (young adults to seniors are welcome.) My name is John Keen, a Life Scout in Troop 111. I am in my junior year at Riverside Brookfield High School and participate on the cross country, swim, and track teams. At St. Louise, I serve as a Eucharistic Minister and Altar Server. Currently, I am working on my Eagle project that consists of repairing and replacing parts to the kneelers in church. Many kneelers are missing rubber parts that reduce the noise the kneelers make when raised or lowered. The project will reduce disruptive noise during the liturgy. Also, some kneeler brackets that connect to the pews are broken. My plan is buy and replace these parts. I ask your assistance for donations to aid me in buying the numerous materials and supplies required for my project. Please put cash donations or checks payable to Boy Scout Troop 111 in the envelope inside of today s bulletin. Next weekend, envelopes can be placed in the collection basket, brought to the rectory or mailed to the below address. I am very grateful for any assistance you can provide. John Keen, Eagle Scout Candidate-Troop th Street, Brookfield, IL Phone: SCHOLARSHIP AVAILABLE The Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women is, once again, offering a $1,000 renewable scholarship for high school girls who are continuing their education. Applications must be postmarked no later than March 1, For info/application, contact Rose at Children have the right to be born and to be raised in a family founded on marriage. Pope Benedict XVI, Dec. 3, 2005 February 12, 2012 Page 4

5 HOLY NAME PANCAKE BREAKFAST The Holy Name is sponsoring a Pancake Breakfast on Sunday, February 19 from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. On the menu is all-you-can-eat pancakes, sausage, fresh fruit, orange juice and coffee. Donation: $5 per person, six and older with a maximum of $20 per family. Save this date for a breakfast outing! There will be Teen Club on February 17 from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Upcoming Events: Eighth Grade Lock-In, 30-Hour Famine Kick-off Event, Lenten Liturgy of the Hours, Bible Breakfast. B* I* N* G* O* FEBRUARY 19 2:00 p.m. Doors open at noon $2100 CASH prizes Raffles.Refreshments There will be Eighth Grade Teen Club on Friday, February 17 from 2:30 to 4:45 p.m. Upcoming Events: Eighth Grade Lock-In WOULD YOU LIKE TO REDISCOVER YOUR FAITH? Journey with us this Lent as we uncover our faith life and plant the seeds for our future. Awaken and nourish your faith as we meet weekly to discuss Rediscovering Catholicism by Matthew Kelly. Join us on Tuesday evenings during Lent at 7:00 p.m. in the Trinity Room. Each week we will discuss sections of the book followed by some social time. Contact Deacon Kevin at if you need a copy of the book or have any questions. Valentine s Day There are only four questions of value in life: What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for? What is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same: Only Love CRAFTERS WANTED Crafters are wanted for the Spring Fling Craft Show and Bake Sale Saturday, March 31 at St. Barbara Parish. Call Jenny at for an application. February 12, 2012 Page 5

6 February Monday 8:30 - Otto & Mae Weiler Tuesday, SS. Cyril & Methodius 8:30 - Joseph A. Ruzek Wednesday 8:30 - Stephen Magura Thursday 8:30 - Jane Demko, Michael Czubik Friday, Seven Holy Founders of Servite Order 8:30 - Petrovic & Mehlin families Saturday 5:00 - Joseph Smuda, Harry Schwass, Bernice Grzesiak Sunday 7:30 - Joan Zogata 9:30 - Bruno Szudy, Anne Stock, John Keeffe 11:00 - Jane Demko, Mary Murphy Presiders February 18 February 19 Confessions - Fr. Denis 7:30 - Fr. Denis 5:00 - Fr. Denis 9:30 - Fr. Joe 11:00 - Fr. Joe Altar Servers Mon. - Wed., February 13, 14, 15 8:30 - A. Guzman, D. Hanson Thurs. - Fri., February 16, 17 8:30 - K. Jarvis, C. Melone Sat., February 18 5:00 - J. Suba, M. Suba, B. Ripoli Sun., February 19 7:30 - C. Melone, M. Melone, A. Guzman 9:30 - M. Kraus, A. Kraus, T. Rosicky 11:00 - A. Haage, A. Porras, A. Menendez Our Sympathy to the family of Stanley Golom. In Your Prayers Remember those who have died between February Josephine Zurowski, Roger Alberico, Joseph Mueller, Michael Czubik, Mary Murphy, Carolyn Oswald, Raymond Pasquesi, Loretta Rimkus Readers February 18 February 19 5:00 - P. Hammerschmitt 7:30 - P. Szymczak 9:30 - B. Prack 11:00 - J. Derus Eucharistic Ministers February 18 5:00 - R.&B. Stepina, C. Hammerschmitt, P. Erickson, D.&J. Kucera, M. Gyorke, T. Popernik February 19 7:30 - J. Heetel, R. Arredia, C. Arredia, M. Voss, R. Voss, F. Johanek, M. Wahlstrom 9:30 - M.&P. Golden, K. Krajniak, J. Krajniak, J. Keen, S. Krajniak, N. Crisanti, S. Czarnik, D. Parcel 11:00 - G.&M. Sapp, S. Buckley, P. Cavaliere, L. Mate, J. Discipio, C. Lemkau, V. Rolewicz, L. Sroka Our Lord s Housekeepers February 13 Need Help February 14 Need Help February 15 P. Cavaliere February 16 E. Siuda February 17 Need Help February 18 H. Janecek Contributions February 5 Sunday Collection $13,002 Loose Coin & Currency $ 424 Total Sunday Collection $13,426 Capital Improvement Fund $ 2,007 Church in Latin America $ 2,226 Envelopes Returned 492 February 12, 2012 Page 6

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8 St. Louise de Marillac Presents Oliver! is the musical adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic tale of the orphan boy who dared to ask for more! It includes some of the most well loved songs in musical theatre history, such as Consider Yourself, Food, and Who Will Buy! On February 24th, 25th, March 2nd and 3rd, performances are at 7:00 p.m. On February 26th and March 4th, performances are at 2:00 p.m. The St. Louise Players are proud to present this musical starring our very talented cast of parishioners and friends. Tickets: $10 adults and $5 children 12 and under. Tickets are now available at the rectory and will also be available at the door on performance dates.