PRIEST S MASS INTENTIONS Monday, February 23 8:30 AM Jim Franxman/Sandy Tuesday, February 24 - Northgate 8:30 AM Glen Hartman/Colleen Haun Wednesday, February 25 8:30 AM Mary Nostheide/Mary Groh Thursday, February 26 8:30 AM Julianna Mack/Randy Mack Friday, February 27 8:30 AM Carol Wurzelbacher/Mary Ann Bowling & Family Saturday, February 28 4:30 PM Glen Rieman/Elizabeth Sunday, February 29 8:30 AM George Brandie/Theresa & Bob 11:00 AM For the Parish PREPARE TO HEAR GOD S WORD SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT GENESIS 22:1-2, 9A, 10-13, 15-18 Abraham s love of his only son, Isaac, is tested to the utmost limit, but his faith in God does not falter and Isaac is spared from death. ROMANS 8:31B-34 There is a link between this reading and the first: Abraham s willingness to give up his only son foretold the gift of the only Son of God, who was not spared from death. MARK 9:2-10 A glimpse into the glory of Christ as the Son of God, yet tinged with the sadness of his suffering and death as the Son of Man. We extend our sincerest sympathy to the family and friends of Rosemary Allen and Thomas Owens (Father of Doris Woodruff) give them strength during this difficult time. 1 LITURGICAL MINISTERS Saturday, February 28, 4:30 PM Mass Servers: A. Threm, M. Threm, A. Siemer Lectors: Jack O Brien, Steve Bissmeyer Eucharistic Ministers: Joe Siefert, Taylor Greene, Tom Sunderhaus, Kathy Wood, Nancy Schuster, Diane Henschen Sunday, March 1, 8:30 AM Mass Servers: M. Gabriel, M. Gabriel, S. Richter Lectors: John Stehlin, Bob Richter Eucharistic Ministers: Bill Kist, Lynn Kist, Donna Sunderhaus, Bob Engel, Claire Sillies, Heather Gabriel Sunday, March 1 11:00 AM Mass Servers: A. Watson, E. Gardner, A. Burke Lectors: Bob Carle, Matt Molony Eucharistic Ministers: Michelle Burke, Mike Burke, Sam Kreimer, Andrea Neff, Begona Naciff, Tabitha Peters, Terri Molony, Michael Hayes, Michelle Zerhusen, Joyce Behrmann Want to know what s going on? Sign up to Receive Parish News, Prayer Chain Requests, Funeral Notices, Youth Updates via E-mail Visit our website at www.stjohnsdr.org to get started on your registration. TABLE OF CONTENTS Bulletin Sponsors Page 10 & 11 Finance Report Page 3 Fish Fry Page 5 Honor Roll Page 7 Lenten Fast & Abstinence Page 8 Pastoral Council Update Page 7 SJB School Registration News Page 3 Taize Prayer & Soup Supper Page 2 This Week in Lent Page 4 Youth & Young Adult Ministry Page 6
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT THIS WEEK IN OUR PARISH Monday, February 23 Grade 3 Mass, 8:30 AM Adoration, 9:15 AM, Chapel Monday Martha s Group, 9:30 AM Rosary, 7:00 PM, Chapel Finance Commission Mtg, 7:00 PM, POCR Tuesday, February 24 Mass, 8:30 am, Northgate Park Young Adult Group, 7:00 PM, POMR#2 Wednesday, February 25 Grade 6/7/8 School, 8:30 AM Soup Supper, 6:00 PM, GS Taize Prayer, 7:00 PM, Church Thursday, February 26 Grade 5 Mass, 8:30 AM Shopping Cent, 9 AM, POMR#1 Joseph s Group, 9 AM, POMR#2 Thursday Martha s Group, 3:30 PM Friday, February 27 Grade 4 Mass, 8:30 AM Saturday, February 28 Confessions, 2:30 PM, Chapel Mass, 4:30 pm Sunday, February 29 Mass, 8:30 am Sunday Religious Ed, 9:45 AM, Cafeteria Mass, 11:00 am Youth Ministry, 7:00 PM, POMR#2 THIS WEEK IN OUR PARISH FAIR TRADE PRODUCT SALE - Fair trade coffee, tea, cocoa, olive oil, and other goodies will be available in the Parish Library Room located off the Gathering Space this weekend after Masses. Your purchases support the Catholic Relief Services Fair Trade Program. Thank You! PARISH LIBRARY SPOT Conceived Without Sin will take you on a journey into the hearts and lives of real people who struggle with real problems. This novel establishes Bud McFarlane as a master Catholic storyteller. You explore the grace that people receive - how it comes, how it changes their lives. It is a life changer. Check it out! Check out our parish website: www.stjohnsdr.org Please pray for all the sick and ill in our parish. Taizé Prayer T he monks of the Taizé community of France have developed a contemplative style of prayer, using chants and other simple musical melodies, accompanied by symbols and candles, to focus their prayer. This prayer service is a time to listen, to reflect, to allow the Spirit of God to work within you during this time of prayer. Join members from our pastoral area three parishes for Taizé prayer at St. John the Baptist Church Wednesday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m. [Simple Supper at 6:00 p.m.] Nothing is more conducive to a communion with the living God than a meditative common prayer with, as its high point, singing that never ends and that continues in the silence of one s heart when one is alone again. When the mystery of God becomes tangible through the simple beauty of symbols, when it is not smothered by too many words, then a common prayer, far from exuding monotony and boredom, awakens us to heaven s joy on earth. Brother Roger of Taizé, founder of the ecumenical Taizé Community. 2
STEWARDSHIP OF FINANCE FEBRUARY 15, 2015 COLLECTION REPORT Adult Collection (includes Electronic Donations) Children Collection St. Vincent de Paul Debt Reduction Easter Flower Fund Eastern Europe This Year to Date Last Year to Date Comparison to Last Year Adult Envelopes Children Envelopes Thank You! RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT 9,605.11 2.75 0.00 140.00 5.00 70.00 476,152.29 483,500.71-10,348.42 194 3 SHOPPING CENT - Going out to dinner? Stop by Shopping Cent first to pick up a few gift cards to one of the many fine restaurants in stock including, PF Chang s, The Cheesecake Factory, Maggiano s Little Italy (Chili s cards), or The Yard House (on the Dardin Card). All profits from Shopping Cent help to offset tuition increases for St. John School families. Remember, we are not asking you to buy anything, we are asking that you consider changing the way you buy/pay, for the benefit of the school. Thanks again to all your support! St. John the Baptist Catholic School Registration News Registrations for Grades K through 8th Being accepted now through March 1st. Interested families are welcome to tour the school. For more information, please visit the school s website at www.stjohnsdrschool.org, or to register, call the school main office at 385-7970. A Pastoral Area School: Three parishes One commitment to Catholic Education SHOPPING CENT Shopping Cent will be open before and after weekend Masses. Weekday sales take place on Thursdays in the Parish Office basement. www.stjohnsdrschool.org School Website Please visit their website at www.marketday.com to order or for more information. JUST A REMINDER - ST. JOHN S SCHOOL collects the following items: Box Tops, Tyson Labels, Labels for Education (Campbells), Ink Cartridges, Prescription Bottles, Coke Rewards. Place them in box on the welcome center. Thank you for your support! 3
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT This Week in Lent St. John the Baptist Church Sunday, February 22 First Sunday in Lent After 8:30 a.m. Mass Threshold Bible [Bride s Room] (SJB) 12:30 p.m. Stations of the Cross [Daily Chapel] (SJB) 7:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross (CC) Monday, February 23 9:00 7:00 p.m. Eucharistic Exposition [Daily Chapel] (SJB) 7:00 p.m. Rosary [Daily Chapel] (SJB) Wednesday, February 25 9:30 a.m. Coffee, Conversation, & Threshold Bible [Bride s Room] (SJB) 6:00 p.m. Soup Supper (SJB) 7:00 p.m. Taizé Prayer (SJB) KEY Friday, February 27 (A day of abstinence) 6:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross (SJN) CC = Corpus Christi SJN = St. John Neumann SJB = St. John the Baptist Sunday, March 1 Second Sunday in Lent After 8:30 a.m. Mass Threshold Bible [Bride s Room] (SJB) 12:30 p.m. Stations of the Cross [Daily Chapel] (SJB) 7:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross (CC) 4
St. John the Baptist Fish Fry FRIDAYS of Lent February 27, March 6, 13, 20, & 27 4:30-7:30 pm in the Cafeteria Dine-in or Carryout Call ahead 923-2900 to place your order. COME AND ENJOY LaRosa s Pizza, NCH Bakery Bread, Fried Cod, Baked Cod, Beer Battered Shrimp, Popcorn Shrimp, Cheese Sticks, Tomato soup, Desserts from the Girl Scouts AND all our wonderful side dishes! 5 Page 7 The Torch
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT High School Ministry Some of our high school youth continue to participate in the West Side High School Volleyball League. They play on Sunday evenings and enjoy volleyball with other parishes and the also have the opportunity for a youth ministry session before/after each game. We are always open to having more teens play, so if you know anyone interested please contact Rod Dunlap at rdunlap@stjohnsdr.org or 614-1789. Young Adult Ministry Our young adults continue to meet every Tuesday night at 7pm in the Youth Ministry room. As we enter into this new year, the group continues to do a weekly Gospel reflection, have great discussion, and also enjoy fellowship with one another. Coming up here in March, some of our young adults will be attending a day-long young adult retreat at the Holy Spirit Center. If you are in your 20 s/30 s and wish to join us please contact Rod Dunlap at rdunlap@stjohnsdr.org or 614-1789. Junior High Ministry Our 8th graders have began their Confirmation preparation so please keep them in your prayers throughout their journey! Also, many of them are taking a Theology of the Body class which meets every Wednesday for the next eight weeks. This is a great opportunity for them to learn more about themselves and how God is calling them in their lives. 6
PASTORAL COUNCIL UPDATE FEBRUARY, 2015 Pastoral Council had a very informative session with Mr. John Bick, summer festival chairperson, during the February meeting. Council learned a great deal about the festival and what it takes to produce a festival. Although the 2015 festival is six months away John asked us to let all parishioners know he is in need of several booth chairpersons. If interested please call John at 413-5020. Council was also very pleased to hear that our school has been granted a Naturalization Ceremony for December 11, 2015 during which 70 immigrants will become citizens of the United States of America. Pastoral Council will have one open position starting this September. Anyone interested in becoming a member of Pastoral Council is asked to call Al Grote at 245-9943 or the parish office at 385-8010 CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR HONOR ROLL STUDENTS MT. NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL FIRST HONORS - Amanda Burke, Madeline Lees SECOND HONORS - Elizabeth Bissmeyer, Sarah Kendall, Caroline Middendorf If you know of any additional honor roll parishioners, please contact Terri at the Parish Office at treder@stjohnsdr.org. Our Parish Mission Statement: We Love God. We Love Others. We Make Disciples. 7
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT Lenten Fast and Abstinence: An Invitation to Awareness W hat are you hungry for? Sometimes the answer is obvious: pizza, Chinese food, a juicy steak. Our spiritual hungers are rarely that easy to identify. The season of Lent, our 40-day preparation for Easter, is our annual invitation to grow in awareness of those deeper hungers. We need Lent to help us recognize that our meaning and mission are rooted in Jesus dying and rising. Together with those preparing for baptism, we join in outward signs of our inner conversion. Our year-round prayer, fasting and almsgiving take on new meaning during this season. Catholics were once well known for their practice of not eating meat on Friday a specific form of fasting called abstinence. Stories abound of the lengths Catholics would go to keep this law. Of course, as with any law, it was not that difficult to meet the letter of the law and violate its spirit. One might enjoy a fine lobster dinner or fish fry at a local restaurant and still meet the law s requirements. Catholics were also called to limit their food intake on a variety of other fast days. The reforms which followed the Second Vatican Council sought to simplify the often complicated questions that arose regarding fast and abstinence while re-emphasizing the continuing need for such practices. The current laws took effect in 1966. They read simply: Catholics who have celebrated their 14th birthday are bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and each : The Spirit of the law may invite us to fast from other activities Friday of Lent. Catholics who have celebrated their 18th birthday, in addition to abstaining from meat, should fast, i.e., eat only one full meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Smaller quantities of food may be taken at two other meals but no food should be consumed at any other time during those two days. The obligation of fasting ceases with the celebration of one s 59th birthday. The spirit of the law may invite us to fast from other activities as well: from television or computer games, from eating out or from gossiping. These minimum requirements make the most sense when they are combined with prayer and almsgiving. These age-old disciplines reflect our most fundamental concerns: our relationship with God (prayer), with our bodies (fasting) and with each other (almsgiving). Copyright 1997 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622-1101; 1-800-933-1800. Text by Kathy Luty. Art by Rita Corbin. 8
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