Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. Luke 1:45

Transcription

1 Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. Luke 1:45 St. Lambert Parish Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord December 20, 2015 ~Fourth Sunday of Advent

2 Page 2 St. Lambert Parish 4th Sunday of Advent Masses for the Week December 20, 2015 O LORD of hosts, look down from heaven and see; take care of this vine, and protect what your right hand has planted. Psalm 80:15 16 Saturday, December 19 5:00 Ed Nemmers Sunday, December 20 8:00 Josef Kepes 10:00 Dscd. Members of the Lantin/Lojo Families 12:00 People of St. Lambert Monday, December 21 7:15 Dscd Members of Eufracio Family Tuesday, December 22 7:15 Chau Tran Wednesday, December 23 7:15 Chau Tran Christmas Eve - December 24 7:15 People of St Lambert 5:00 Surath Gunawardana 9:30 Christmas Carols 10:00 Pedro & Victoria Alvarado Christmas Day - December 25 8:00 Gannon & Weides Families 10:00 Pulido Hernandez 12:00 Luis & Carlos D Avis Saturday, December 26 8:00 Donato Gonzales Jr. 5:00 Dentzer & Poglitsch Families Sunday, December 27 8:00 People of St. Lambert 10:00 Chester Kizior 12:00 Joseph Dunne Family READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday: Sg 2:8-14 or Zep 3:14-18a; Ps 33:2-3, 11-12, 20-21; Lk 1:39-45 Tuesday: 1 Sm 1:24-28; 1 Sm 2:1, 4-8abcd; Lk 1:46-56 Wednesday: Mal 3:1-4, 23-34; Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-10, 14; Lk 1:57-66 Thursday: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Ps 89:2-5, 27, 29; Lk 1:67-79 Friday: Vigil: Is 62:1-5; Ps 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Mt 1:1-25 [18-25] Night: Is 9:1-6; Ps 96:1-3, 11-13; Ti 2:11-14; Lk 2:1-14 Dawn: Is 62:11-12; Ps 97:1, 6, 11-12; Ti 3:4-7; Lk 2:15-20 Day: Is 52:7-10; Ps 98:1-6; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18 [1-5, 9-14] Saturday: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59; Ps 31:3cd-4, 6, 8ab, 16bc, 17; Mt 10:17-22 Sunday: Sir 3:2-6, or 1 Sm 1:20-22, 24-28; Ps 128:1-5 or Ps 84:2-3, 5-6, 9-10; Col 3:12-21 [12-17] or 1 Jn 3:1-2, 21-24; Lk 2:41-52 NATURE RESTORED Christ is born, that by his birth he might restore your nature. St. Peter Chrysologus Rectory 8148 N Karlov Avenue Skokie, IL Phone:(847) St. Lambert Parish - Skokie, IL saintlambert@aol.com Website: Sunday Masses: (5 PM Saturday) 8am, 10am, 12pm Weekday Masses: 7:15 am (Mon-Fri) 8:00am on Sat. Pastor: Rev. Richard Simon saintlambert@aol.com Rev. Know-it-all: Deacon: Mr. Chick O Leary Music Director: Mr. Steven Folkers Ministry of Care: Mrs. Carol Glueckert (847) Religious Education : Jonathan Rivera To Register as a Parishioner of St Lambert, please call the rectory or us. Office Staff: Debbie Morales-Garcia debbie.stlambert@aol.com Mr. George Mohrlein Weddings: Arrangements must be made 6 months in advance. Baptisms: Third Sundays of the month at 1:30 pm. Baptismal Prep Class is the first Tuesday of each month at the rectory. Please call to register. Confessions: Saturday at 8:30am For Online Giving: Bulletin Guidelines: Submissions should be received 10 days preceding the date of bulletin publication. Send electronic formats to debbie.stlambert@aol.com.

3 December 20, 2015 Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord Page 3 The Reverend Know-it-all What I don t know I can always make up! Dear Rev. Know it all, I heard in a lecture at my church that the whole story about Jesus being born in Bethlehem was just mythology. Could this be true? Yours, Nathaniel Nat Yvitei Dear Nat, I suppose it could be true, but I, for one, doubt it. To understand what is going on here you have to go back to the Age of Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was a European philosophical movement in the 18th century. The gulf between the aristocracy and the poor reached a pping point in Europe, and much of the hierarchy of the Church seemed to be just part of the aristocra c government. Reason, scien fic progress and the ques oning of state and church authority were at the heart of the enlightenment. In most countries church and state were anything but separate. The Enlightenment was all about free individual thought, experience, and empirical knowledge. Religious orthodoxy was par cularly mistrusted by the philosophers of the enlightenment. So it was, that the Bible, the sacrosanct text on which the culture of the West was built, became fair game for cri cal scholarship. The enlightenment began in 1715, the year Louis XIV died and it exploded onto the European and American stage in the years following. The enlightenment begot the American Revolu on, the American Revolu on begot the French Revolu on which begot Napoleon which begot the Franco Prussian War which begot the First World War which begot the Russian revolu on which begot the Second World War which begot the Chinese Revolu on, etc. etc. When Napoleon spread the Revolu on to much of the rest of the world, it found its way into the established religious world as well. Catholicism was almost obliterated by the French Revolu on, but survived because Napoleon thought it wise to make peace with the pope. There was no pope in non-catholic northern Europe, whose Chris anity was based on the principle of sola scriptura, Bible alone. When the lens of the enlightenment was focused on the text of scripture, the result was earth shaking. The enlightenment philosophers did not easily believe in things supernatural, and so discounted the miraculous nature of the Chris an faith as a remnant of Dark Age supers on. Combine Bible Only theology and Enlightenment skep cism and the Bible becomes problema c. In 1804, or thereabouts, Thomas Jefferson, one of the great lights of the Enlightenment in the Americas, wrote The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth also called the Jefferson Bible, as represen ng the true teachings of Jesus in which he cut out sec ons of the New Testament. He removed all the miracles of Jesus including the resurrec on and any passages which supported the divinity of Jesus. He created a New Testament acceptable to the most materialist enlightenment thinkers. Fast forward two centuries to the a ermath of World War I. In the 1930 s, the post-world War I turmoil in Germany produced Hitler as well as a movement for a German Chris anity purified of its Jewish influences. This movement in turn, produced the Ins tute for the Study and Eradica on of Jewish Influence on German Church Life. In 1941, the Ins tute published Germans with God: a German Catechism. It le out miracles, the virgin birth, incarna on, resurrec on, and portrayed an Aryan Jesus, just a human being who died martyred by the Jews. They wanted to make the faith acceptable to the Nazis, but the Nazis were opposed to Chris anity even in its mildest most materialist forms. The Nazifica on of the Bible was of a piece with prevailing Chris an enlightenment thought however. The enlightenment spawned numerous a empts to conform Jesus to the prevailing poli cal and cultural need, to create an acceptable form of Chris anity that a well-educated post enlightenment man could use to occupy his Sunday

4 Page 4 St. Lambert Parish 4th Sunday of Advent mornings. The Scriptures were not a superior revela on, but to those who were enlightened, it was a text like any other, something that they could purify of its unenlightened catholic supers ons. The German theologian Rudolf Bultmann was not a collaborator with Nazis. He was especially opposed to their an - Semi sm, but nonetheless he was part of the move to demythologize the Scriptures. In his 1941book New Testament and Mythology he claimed that it is no longer plausible for Chris ans to believe the mythical view found in the New Testament. We cannot use electric lights and radios and, in the event of illness, avail ourselves of modern medical and clinical means and at the same me believe in the spirit and wonder world of the New Testament. New Testament mythology must be replaced by a more human understanding that discloses the truth of the kerygma (a Gospel proclama on) as kerygma for those who do not think myth logically. There is nothing specifically Chris an about the mythical world picture, which is simply the world picture of a me now past which was not yet formed by scien fic thinking. It was a er the Second World War that Catholics really started to pay a en on to the enlightenment currents in Scripture study. Many adopted the prejudice that miracles are impossible, and thus seemingly accurate prophecy must be an anachronism, a later text wri en as if previous to the event, or if a prophecy, such as the prophecy regarding the birth of the messiah in Bethlehem, it must be invented. These scholars point out that the journeys and place changes between Bethlehem and Nazareth are impossible, and that the possibility of a virgin birth is completely nonexistent. These ideas rest en rely on the assump on that people who went before us were stupid or dishonest or both. The effort to rescue a sort of Chris anity from the swamp of stupidity that they believe the Bible to be, just seems sad to me. If it is just a pile of myths with a few good slogans, why not give up the whole thing? (unless, of course, you are a tenured professor of theology with a nice office and a good parking space on campus.) In a fit of enlightenment honesty, most of Europe has given up its belief in the Jewish mythology that is the Bible. And Europe is dying. I was rigorously schooled in the enlightened demythology of the 60 s, that hold over from the pro and an -Nazi demytholigizers of the early twen eth century. I half believed them ll I met someone named Amer, a tour guide from the Holy Land who was a graduate of the University of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He convinced me that Jesus really did mul ply loaves and fishes and that he really was born in a cave in Bethlehem. I ll tell you about him in my next installment. Sunday Offertory Collection Dec 5/6, 2015 Envelopes: $6, Loose: 1, Total: $7, YouthChurch: $ SVD: $ Thank you! The Coffee Hour will be hosted by the FFOS and the contact is Teresita Decilio. She can be reached at Your donations and participation are always welcome! As we continue to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ-child at Christmas let us live in his love in all we do, especially in our marriage relationship. The next Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekends are February 12-14, 2016 or April 8-10, 2016 or June 10-12, 2016, all at Elk Grove Village, IL. Early registration is highly recommended. For reservations/ information, call Jim & Kris at or contact us through

5 December 20, 2015 Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord Page 5 Attention Youth Church Parents THE SAINT LAMBERT YOUTH CHURCH PARENTS REQUEST THE PLEASURE OF YOUR COMPANY AT THE First Annual Youth Church Social TO CELEBRATE PARISH LIFE AND THE SUCCESS OF YOUTH CHURCH On Saturday, the ninth of January Two thousand sixteen from seven o clock until eleven o clock in the evening Maggiano s Little Italy 4999 Old Orchard Shop Center East Ring Road Skokie IL Tickets: $20.00 per guest Cocktail Attire Child care provided by Youth Church staff Free. Only serving children potty-trained and up. Dinner included. Please RSVP guest count and the number of children attending child care by Saturday, January 2, As families may receive multiple invitations, we ask that you confirm your guest count before you RSVP to help us avoid duplicates. You can RSVP at saintlambertsyouthchurch@gmail.com RESURRECTION ENTRANCE EXAM AND SHADOW DAYS Resurrection College Prep High School invites eighth grade girls to take the Class of 2020 Entrance Exam on Saturday, January 9, 2016 from 7:45 am to noon. No pre-registration is necessary students should bring #2 pencils and a $25 testing fee. Water and snacks will be provided to testers. Calculators are not permitted. Students must test at Resurrection to be eligible for the Block Scholarship for Top Testers and other scholarships opportunities at Resurrection College Prep. Information regarding limited accommodations on the Entrance Exam may be requested by Tuesday, January 5 by contacting Registrar Mary Kaye Ulczak at mulczak@reshs.org or Parents are welcome to attend an optional Parent Information Session at Resurrection at 8 am on the day of the Entrance Exam. Parents can learn about the curriculum and programs at Resurrection, including AP and college credit classes, technology initiatives, the advantages of single gender education and the unique Resurrection Practicum Job Shadowing Program. Information will also be presented about athletics, tuition assistance and scholarship opportunities. Shadow Days are available for girls to spend the day at Resurrection to experience the school first-hand. Select days remain for eighth grade girls to spend the day at Resurrection to shadow a current student. Seventh grade girls are invited to a special Experience Res Day on Friday, February 12, As seventh graders rotate through the nine academic areas at Resurrection, students meet with teachers, learn about the curriculum, the block schedule, clubs and activities and get a taste of life at Resurrection. Registration and additional information is available on the Resurrection website at or by contacting Nancy O Leary at noleary@reshs.org or Ext 129. Resurrection College Prep High School, located at 7500 West Talcott Avenue in Chicago, is the largest all girls Catholic, Christian college preparatory high school for young women on the north side of Chicago. Since its founding in 1922, Resurrection has graduated over 14,000 alumnae. For more information about Resurrection College Prep High School, call Ext 129 or visit

6 Page 6 St. Lambert Parish 4th Sunday of Advent Can you help Mary & Joseph find a place to stay? Bethlehem Have a Blessed Christmas!

7 The FFOS Christmas Party With Santa & Friends!