January 15, 2017 Second Ordinary Sunday

Transcription

1 Historic St. James at Sag Bridge Church S. Archer Avenue Lemont, Illinois (Ph) (Fx) Website: Facebook: James At Sag Bridge 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. January 15, 2017 Second Ordinary Sunday Register with & use our St. James code: KFWMDB (ALL CAPS) Listen to The Winds of Change 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm on WNDZ AM 750. Fr. substitutes every other Wednesday. Visit: windsofchangeshow.com, Fr. unlikeothernations@gmail.com. Register on Flocknotes to receive important text messages and s. Text: jamesatsag to MASS SCHEDULE: WEEKENDS: Saturdays: 5:00pm Sundays: 8:00, 9:30 & 11:30am HOLY DAYS: 8:15am & 7:00pm WEEKDAYS: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday: 8:15am Fridays 6:00pm Wednesday: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at 5:00-7:00pm, w/confessions at 6:15pm & Mass at 7:00pm. CONFESSION SCHEDULE: Mon./Dec. 19th - 7:30pm, Tue./Dec. 20th - 7:00pm Wed./Dec, 21st - 6:00pm, Fri./Dec 23rd - 6:45pm & Sat./Dec. 24th - 9:30am. 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, M.A.,S.T.L., Pastor Fr. Ed Gleeson, Pastor Emeritus Deacon, John M. Wilkinson, CKM, Minister of Care/ RCIA Deacon, Doug Szarzynski, Ann Noonan, Secretary/ Bus. Mgr. Mike Dillenburg, Parish Council Chair Doug Witter, Finance Council Chair Pamela Mikrut, Organist Rodney Poynter, Holy Name Society, President Margaret Ryan, Altar & Rosary Giovanna Imbarrato, CCD Teacher Mary Coughlin Lenzen CCD Teacher Steve Hagen CCD Teacher Bunny Heppner, CCD Teacher, & Joyce McNamara -Coughlin, CCD Director.

2 Page Two January 15, 2017 FROM THE DESK OF THE PASTOR, FR. THOMAS KOYS, M.A.,S.T.L. The Ashes That Still Remain A special welcome to any and all visitors to St. James this weekend. The Pro-life office of the Archdiocese of Chicago, (I am aware that there is no office Schofield such name, today Barracks the people that are focused on defending life and advocating for a human life amendment are part of the Office of Human Dignity and Life Long Formation ) have organized the third Chicago March for Life. It kicks off at 2:0pm, Sunday Jan. 15, at Federal Plaza, 219 S. Dearborn (Dearborn and Adams). Please consider making the trip downtown to participate in this important witness of God s precious gift of life. This is a fine time to remind any of our wonderful St. James parishioners and inform our visitors of a great read. It s a re-visiting of our American Civil War and looking at the political debate of that era which of course included the contentious debate about slavery and comparing it to our present debates over the right to life. A while back, I happened to read the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision which involved the slave who made his way into Illinois and sought his freedom. As I read the statements and arguments of this famous court decision I encountered a powerful similarity between what we are living through today. Both the Dred Scott decision and the Roe vs. Wade decision are totally about a debate over the definition of the human person. In the 1860 s, it was the black person who wasn t a person. Today, it is the unborn child, whether black, white, brown or red. Since so many of today s voices that frequently reference the American past and the blemish upon our character that slavery is are also the same people who defend with intense passion the right to abortion, it is of great importance to look again at our American Civil War and compare these two fundamental moral debates of our nation. The Ashes That Still Remain, is a quick read, but it focuses on an ideology that is at the heart of so much turmoil today. To be perfectly honest, once I carefully read Dred Scott, and heard politicians comparing President Obama to Abraham Lincoln, a passion came over me to illustrate the radical difference between these two Presidents. Once one sees the parallel between the fight over the black person s personhood and the unborn s personhood the stark difference cannot be ignored. Here s what some people have said about The Ashes That Still Remain. Those who owned slaves wanted to hide even from themselves what slavery really is. Think how dear are the plantations and the springtime cotillions. How dare you ask us to read Uncle Tom s Cabin. Today, the abortion crowd speaks in the same way. Fr. dares us to have the courage to see things as they really are. Fr. Ronald Lawler, author, lecturer, theologian. Fr has written a reflective book comparing two U.S. legal systems; one that protected human slavery and another that protects the killing of the unborn. This book for those willing to think in unaccustomed ways, I hope has many readers. Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. Copies of The Ashes That Still Remain available at St. James at Sag Bridge, $10. Make plans to celebrate President s Day in Ottawa, IL at the Reddick Mansion. Fr. will portray President John Adams, Phil Lauricella, a professional Thomas Jefferson reenactor presents our third President and Brookelyn Skrezyna is the lovely Abigail Adams. The play The Adams/Jefferson Letters is a great insight into our American story. Make plans to be at the Reddick Mansion 100 W. Lafayette Street (on the town square, where the famous Lincoln Douglas debate happened) Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017 at 3:00pm. I just discovered my age group! I am a Seenager. (Senior teenager) I have everything that I wanted as a teenager, only years later. I don't have to go to school or work. I get an allowance every month. I have my own pad. I don't have a curfew. I have a driver's license and my own car. I have ID that gets me into bars and the wine store. I like the wine store best. The people I hang around with are not scared of getting pregnant, they aren t scared of anything, they have been blessed to live this long, why be scared? And I don't have acne. Life is Good! Also, you will feel much more intelligent after reading this, if you are a Seenager. Brains of older people are slow because they know so much. People do not decline mentally with age, it just takes them longer to recall facts because they have more information in their brains. Scientists believe this also makes you hard of hearing as it puts pressure on your inner ear. Also, older people often go to another room to get something and when they get there, they stand there wondering what they came for. It is NOT a memory problem, it is nature's way of making older people do more exercise.

3 Second Ordinary Sunday Page Three I'LL BE YOUR MULE IF YOU WILL BE MY DONKEY By Michael A. Durney Can you imagine each person on earth serving the needs of others? Neither can I, yet by nature, there are some things that are harder for each of us and require a helping hand. You may argue that in times of crisis people help people and you would be correct. A fire truck is dispatched to a fire. An ambulance attends the fallen. Storms and earthquakes bring out emergency services. But for the everyday task that quietly brings on a momentary crisis for each of us backs that can no longer carry the burden where is the collective? Where is the mule that serves the donkey? We are more easily convinced to give our treasure to an organization that provides the portions of help; we are less likely to give the time or the talent to our neighbor directly. It is far easier for us to allow someone else to find our neighbor in need rather than to face him ourselves a paradox between compassion emanating from guilt and indifference that forms from our selfish desires. The cynic among us invents the concept of quid pro quo, the giving of something in exchange for something else. At first glance it appears a noble idea until we extract its truest meaning, i.e., it exists on the basis of what I can get by serving you, rather than what I can give by serving you. Because you may not have anything to give me that I can get from you I may not include you in my charity, stretching the word as far as one can. The prevailing attitude in our culture speaks the underlying truth that if I don t need you, I will remain indifferent towards you. Passing you on the street is as easy as ignoring the trees and bushes that surround it. The idea of indifference towards your fellow man until opportunity exists only works so far in the commerce of charity. When personal debts rise or your burdens become too cumbersome, you may find yourself with a hand out seeking a lifeline from strangers who serve the same philosophy. The process creates an economy of love and friendship that becomes stagnant, putrid and inoperative. One hand that does not wash the other ultimately creates a figurative stench in our culture that repulses everyone but surprises no one. In the Bible, Christ tells us a parable of the servant called to settle accounts and pay his debts to the king, but he begs mercy when it is discovered that he cannot pay. The king forgives the debt with great charity but is later forced to revoke his charity when it is found out that the servant threatens his debtors with prison if they do not pay him what is owed. The economy of charity was halted by the black market of greed. You may say, as have I, that you have personally responded to friends in need. Thank God for the goodness that prevailed, but this formula may be flawed for two reasons. Is it possible that we have formed a habit of reactive charity and added a qualifier that it will only be offered to a friend, perhaps only one that you trust? One that will pay us back, remember the favor when the time is right, or who will bring you status or bragging-rights for your charitable hand? Have we not inserted, unwittingly, a quid pro quo into our charitable decision? If not, the world needs more of you. If so, consider a new formula. The Lord tells us of another similar parable in which a dishonest overseer loses his position and is about to be punished. He very wisely goes to his debtors and forgives all of their debts so that he is welcomed by many friends when he is released from his chains. Our Lord does not rebuke his cleverness, but rather encourages us to consider the strategy of making many friends along our life s journey, in a more perfect way by not waiting for need to motivate our charity. In effect, he is suggesting to us that the imperfect is the quid pro quo; the perfect is to bear one another s burdens. How would the new formula be made manifest? Imaginatively, it would be each person on earth serving the needs of others. But we do not live in a perfect world. No, in fact, we have jobs to do, responsibilities, families and plates that are full, and, most often, an unyielding, inflexible time schedule. It is understandable. After all, we are the overlords of our own lives and we must protect our wealth from dishonest servants and harsh winters. Yes, we need to protect our futures, but what of today? Can you spare to shoulder a burden today? There is a reason why the Lord suggests that we live in the moment and leave the past in the past and he warns us to allow the future to take care of itself: The past reminds us of follies not to be repeated and lessons that turn us into cynics. Retribution wars against forgiveness, and charity is replaced by suspicion. The future scares us for the thief that hides around the corner. We hold our purses tighter and treat our fellow man as suspects for the crime that might be committed against us. Nervously, we attempt to forecast the duration of our store of goods and find sharing to be too risky. Ah... but if we live in the moment, inside the frame of rising and setting suns, there is a certainty that we can easily last for the day. That is the moment when burdens can be exchanged and when fear does not follow us from the past nor worry us in the future. It is this day this very moment when our Lord is calling us home and gives us our last chance to demonstrate our ability to partake in love, to show what we can do with it as worthy servants. Just as the Lord rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey anticipating our release from the burden of death, we must present our backs to release others from their burdens. He does not want us to look back to see the results or ahead to the benefits. He wants us to lift our neighbor into the air so that they might pull us into heaven today. ST. MICHAEL, DEFEND US IN BATTLE ~ By Bill Dunn Have you ever heard of the Prayer to Saint Michael? Many generations of Catholics recited this prayer at the end of every Mass. But beginning in the 1960s we stopped saying the prayer. (Hmm, we stopped doing a lot of holy and beneficial things beginning in the 1960s. Just sayin.) The prayer was written by Pope Leo 13th way back in the 1880s. The story goes that Pope Leo had a terrifying vision. In the vision he saw Satan being allowed by God to have one century in which to do his most destructive work. Satan chose the 20th century. You d have to say the vision came true since during the 20th century there were two world wars, and atheist regimes such as the Nazis and Communists murdered well over 100 million innocent people. After having this vision, Pope Leo quickly wrote the prayer, asking St. Michael the archangel to protect God s people. In the Bible, only three angels are given proper names, and all three are considered by the Church to be archangels. This is a higher category of angel. It s kind of like they got their Ph.Ds., while the rest of the angels only got bachelor s degrees. (Well, actually, it s nothing like that.) St. Gabriel is the messenger angel. He appeared to Zechariah, Joseph, and Mary during the Nativity episodes in Scripture. St. Raphael is the healing angel. We read about him in the book of Tobit in the Old Testament. And St. Michael is the warrior angel. He is mentioned by name in the book of Daniel, and whenever we read about the angel of the Lord defending Israel, most scholars believe that was Michael in action. The prayer to St. Michael, written by Pope Leo, is rather simple and yet very profound. It goes like this: St. Michael the archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin & destruction of souls. Amen. Dr. Peter Kreeft discusses the Prayer to St. Michael in his brilliant little book, How to Win the Culture War. Kreeft explains that the conflicts we see in our world today are not based on politics or economics or ethnicity; they are instead spiritual battles. Kreeft writes, Our enemies are demons. Fallen angels. Evil spirits. Unfortunately, most people nowadays in our modern, sophisticated world do not realize this. However, the New Testament is quite clear. Jesus warned Peter, Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat (Luke 22:31). St. Peter learned this lesson and passed it on to us: Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). St. Paul wrote, Our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the evil spirits in the heavens (Ephesians 6:12). And Pope Leo 13th understood this fact. That s why when he had his horrific vision of spiritual warfare, he called on a spiritual warrior to defend us. Although most Catholics today are unfamiliar with the Prayer to St. Michael, it s beginning to make a comeback. In 1994 Pope John Paul II urged Catholics once again to recite this prayer. Some parishes are reviving the practice of offering this prayer at the end of Mass. Even though the 20th century was unprecedented in the amount of evil that occurred, our current century is still quite young, and it has the potential to be even worse. As Catholics, let s call on all of our resources in the Communion of Saints. Let s implore St. Michael, the warrior angel, to defend us in this battle for souls.

4 Our weekly Offertory collections from, Sunday, January 8, 2017 was $3, and the number of envelopes was 100. Our maintenance collection was $ OUR MANY THANKS TO OUR REGISTERED FAMILIES USING ENVELOPES AND THE CASH-AND-CARRY FOLKS. Our CHURCH CLEANERS FOR FRIDAY 1/20/17 Are Irene, Barbara, Bronislawa & Volunteer. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the rectory office VOTIVE OFFERINGS FOR THE WEEK OF 1/15/17 St. James Altar & Rosary Society Get Well, Karyn Cimaroli In memory of Lillian Simanavicius Our beautiful bouquets of flowers surrounding our altar were made available by the generosity of our ST. JAMES PARISHIONERS THANK YOU! 3rd Ordinary Sunday 1/21 & 1/22/17 Celebrant 5:00 PM 8:00 AM 9:30 AM 11:30 AM Fr. Ed Gleeson (?) Altar Servers A. Ramirez J.P. Ramirez T. Szarzynski S. Carver F. Casiple Dillenburg A. Bertucci J.P. Colarelli M. Colarelli G. & D. Estrada E. & L. Glenn J. Jacobek Lectors L. Pieprzyca T. Gorski R. Podlowski R. Augustyn

5 Monday January 16th-Martin Luther King 8:15 AM For Peace in the World Tuesday January 17th-St. Anthony 8:15 AM For the Poor Souls in Purgatory Wednesday January 18th 7:00 PM Don Schneider Thursday January 19th 8:15 AM In loving memory of Bob Czaja Friday January 20th-Sts. Fabian & Sebastian 6:00 PM Health & Healing for Franciszka Dziaba THIRD ORDINARY SUNDAY Saturday January 21st-St. Agnes 5:00 PM Special int. for the Pabin Family Sunday January 22nd 8:00 AM In loving memory of Rodney Poynter 9:30 AM Special int. for the Fugiel Family 11:30 AM Special int. for the Radzajewski Family JOIN US FOR OUR ANNUAL FAMILY SUPER BOWL PARTY SUNDAY FEB 5TH Watch the game on 4 big Screens Buffet Style Dinner by Falco s Pizza Raffles & Prizes throughout the night. $20.00 Donation or $50.00 Family Plan Signup Sheet will be in back of Church Doors open at 4pm at Saginaw Hall Sponsored by the St. James Holy Name **DONATIONS NEED FOR RAFFLE (GIFT CARDS ETC.)