Historic St. James at Sag Bridge Church 10600 S. Archer Avenue Lemont, Illinois 60439-9344 (Ph) 630.257.7000 (Fx) 630.257.7912 E-mail: stjames1833@att.net Website: www.historicstjames.org Facebook: https://facebook.com/saint 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. February 5, 2017 Fifth Ordinary Sunday Register with www.formed.org & 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. e-mail: unlikeothernations@gmail.com. Register on Flocknotes to receive important text messages and emails. Text: jamesatsag to 84576 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: Saturdays, 9:30am-10:00am Wednesdays, 6:30pm Otherwise by appointment 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.
Page Two February 5, 2017 FROM THE DESK OF THE PASTOR, FR. THOMAS KOYS, M.A.,S.T.L. Your Parish Vitality Committee asked that everyone be made aware of the status of the To Teach Who Christ Is campaign. Here is the statistic that should impress us the most. On a typical Sunday, about 100 people use parish envelopes. That represents about 35-40% of the people who like to come to Mass here. Although, that s not so impressive, what is worth a Shout Out Thank YOU is that there are 131 people who have participated in the TTWCI campaign with a pledge. If you are 1 of those 131 people, God bless you abundantly! One hundred percent of us need to be thankful for the generosity of the 35%. If you are not 1 of the 131, God bless you anyways. We pray God will bless you still, and perhaps this year, you might be able to help out. Schofield Here s the skinny on the TTWCI Barracks Campaign Amount spent on projects: windows, parking lot # of donors Total pledge amount Amount banked for St James (60%) Amount behind pledge schedule 131 $446,453 $48,227 $18,403 $39,624 $8,803 FOR INFO CALL 312-534-8500 Available TTWCI funds for renovations Besides the great big THANK YOU to all those who are on board and sharing their talents and treasure for our renovation plans, two other friendly notes follow: A) Those who made a pledge and are behind, (a little or a lot) please consider putting a check in the Sunday basket MADE OUT TO: To Teach Who Christ Is NOT to St. James. You can also make your payments online through the GIVE CENTRAL icon on our parish website, www.historicstjames.org. Payments through GIVE CENTRAL go automatically to the archdiocesan bank, not our local parish bank. B) If you are now in a better position to make a pledge and an initial gift, or if you are new to St. James and missed the pledging phase, it s not too late to help with a pledge. Do it online, or simply ask Fr. for a pledge card. The archdiocesan office for TTWCI, who can answer any and all questions related to payments etc. is at 312-534-8500. With all the news in today s bulletin about funds and contributions and such, Here s something great for FREE. Come to beautiful Ottawa, IL Sunday Feb 19 th to enjoy the play The Adams / Jefferson Letters. Ottawa is just an hour-fifteen minute drive from Lemont. The play takes place at the restored Reddick Mansion, 100 W. Lafayette Str, Ottawa, IL, where Steven Douglas spent the night before his famous debate with Abraham Lincoln. Play begins at 3:00pm. The event ends after lively questions and answers by our two reenactors; Phil Lauricella and Fr. by 5pm. Dinner afterwards in Ottawa optional contact Fr. directly. Many of you have responded to the Annual Catholic Appeal mailing from Cardinal Cupich. On behalf of those served by the ministries and services funded by the ACA, we thank you for your gifts. If you received the mailing and have not responded, please do so as soon as possible. The ACA offers a wonderful opportunity to Love Your Neighbor As Yourself. In addition to providing for ministries and services throughout the Archdiocese, the Appeal also funds services that are of great help to ministries here in our Parish. For example, Appeal funds support the training of catechists and the social justice issues of today. As we contemplate God s many gifts to us, we should also reflect on our gratitude for these gifts. Your financial support for the work of our Parish, our Archdiocese, and the Church throughout the world is, in fact, one way to express this gratitude. Please give generously to the 2017 Annual Catholic Appeal. When our parish reaches its goal of $12,163 in paid pledges, 100% of the additional funds received will be returned to us for use in our Parish.
Fifth Ordinary Sunday Page Three IT S A BLUNDERFUL CHURCH: A few weeks ago during Sunday Mass, the intercessory prayers we say right after the Creed were proceeding as usual. But then the Lector said, And for all those who are sick of this parish, we pray to the Lord. I started the rote response, but then realized what he had said. My response came out like this: Lord, hear our what?! I had to work hard to suppress giggles. I m sure he meant to say something like, all those who are sick IN this parish. Or, all those in our parish who are sick. Although, when you think about it, I m sure there are some people who are sick OF the parish, and in that case, they definitely need our prayers. However, I m pretty sure that s not what he meant to say. Quite often verbal blunders are made during Mass. I can remember one time hearing the Lector read from one of St. Paul s letters, and instead of saying, you were made for immortality, the Lector said, you were made for immorality. Oops. A reading from the Old Testament refers to a burning brazier. But a Lector once called it a burning brassiere. Those Old Testament folks must ve been the first feminists. In case you re not sure, Moses in fact did not go up Mount Cyanide to receive the Ten Amendments. And one of the commandments is not, Thou shall humor thy father and mother. I m a Lector in my parish, and I ve blundered plenty of times. Once I was reading from the 23rd Psalm, and those darn o-u-g-h letters got me again. I proclaimed, And thru I walk tho the valley of the shadow of death Ugh, I soon as I said it, I realized my mistake. I m not sure which is worse, the valley of the shadow of death or the valley of the shadow of embarrassed public speaking. Some of the most classic church blunders occur in the bulletins. These were actually printed and handed out to the congregation: Potluck supper: prayer and medication to follow. Weight Watchers will meet at 7 p.m. Please use large double doors at the side entrance. Tuesday at 4 p.m. there will be an ice cream social. All ladies giving milk will please come early. The choir invites any member of the parish who enjoys sinning to join the choir. Low Self-Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 p.m. Please use the back door. Don t let worry kill you off let the church help. Due to the pastor s illness, Wednesday s healing services will be discontinued until further notice. The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare s Hamlet in the church basement on Friday at 7 p.m. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy. Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24th in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days. The pastor will preach his farewell message, after which the choir will sing, Break Forth Into Joy. Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa. Maybe one of the most shocking church blunders occurred many centuries ago, when a publishing house in England printed a new edition of the Bible. One of the commandments was printed as, Thou shalt commit adultery. Not only was the printer embarrassed, but he was fined 3,000 British pounds by the government for his mistake, which is probably more than a million dollars in today s money. As Christians, we understand that only God is perfect. Whenever there s a blunder at church, we should relax and just laugh. And we should remember to pray for all those who are sick of the parish. PRIESTLY PATIENCE ON DISPLAY AT CATHOLIC FUNERALS: For a long time I ve been searching the Bible trying to find exactly where it says members of the Catholic Church always behave perfectly. Unfortunately, I can t seem to locate that verse, which probably explains a common situation I ve observed over the years. Here s the situation: an elderly person in town passes away, and a family member contacts the local parish office and requests a funeral in the church. No, request is the wrong word. The family member DEMANDS a funeral in the church at a particular time and on a particular day. However, neither the dearly departed nor any of the surviving relatives have ever set foot in that church, nor have they ever been registered in the parish or involved in a single parish activity. It doesn t matter. The family member indignantly says, Grandma was raised Catholic, so you are REQUIRED to give her a full funeral. Frankly, I m not sure what local parishes are required to do in this situation, but I know on the few occasions when I ve observed this scenario, the parish priest did not do what I would ve done if I had been the priest. If I were in charge, I m pretty sure the expression, Don t let the door hit you in the *bleep* on the way out! would ve been part of my concluding comments. When I ve observed this scenario in local parishes over the years, the priest has gone out of his way to provide the appropriate service or funeral for the deceased even if, as I suspect, he had to work hard to suppress the urge to smack the family member upside his ungrateful head. These are the moments when we get a good glimpse at why a man became a priest in the first place. He was called by God to minister to hurting souls here in our broken and fallen world. And even though it can be infuriating to have to deal with someone who is rude and demanding, that very behavior often indicates the person is hurting deep down inside. Most priests understand this and are able to ignore boorish and offensive behavior, and are able to offer genuine spiritual help even under the most unpleasant circumstances. There is a very good reason why I am not a Catholic priest, even better than the fact I was married with a child before I stopped being an atheist. The even better reason is the fact I m much more prone to blurt out, Don t let the door hit you in the *bleep*, when someone makes a rude and demanding request of me. I ve been searching the Bible trying to find out exactly where it says, When someone strikes you on the cheek, turn the other fist and deck him, but I can t seem to locate that verse. I am constantly amazed at how compassionate and forgiving our priests really are. They do an amazing job of ministering to hurting people. Despite this, there still are situations that make you shake your head in amazement. Many years ago, here is the exact scenario that occurred: After an elderly person died, the family demanded a Catholic funeral, even though no one in the family had been active in the parish for decades. The pastor did the funeral Mass, and did the best job he could, considering he had never met the deceased. So, a few days later a scathing letter-to-the-editor appeared in the local newspaper, written by one of the family members. The letter ripped the priest to shreds by name. Apparently, the family expected the priest to drop everything he was doing and focus his undivided attention on them for three straight days. When he didn t, they decided to insult him publicly. Nice, huh? I ve been searching the Bible trying to find exactly where Jesus commands us to tell people, Don t let the door hit you in the *bleep*, but I can t seem to locate that verse. It s a good thing our priests are a whole lot more understanding than I am.
Our Weekly Offertory collections from Sunday, January 29, 2017 was $3,277.00 and the number of envelopes was 110. OUR MANY THANKS TO OUR REGISTERED FAMILIES USING ENVELOPES AND THE CASH-AND-CARRY FOLKS. Our CHURCH CLEANERS FOR FRIDAY 2/10/17 Are Margaret, Dottie, Bronislawa & Volunteer. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the rectory office 630.257.7000. VOTIVE OFFERINGS FOR THE WEEK OF 2/05/17 St. James Altar & Rosary Society Speedy recovery for Edward Golom In honor of Ryan Pierzynski& Family In memory of Lillian Simanavicius Our beautiful bouquets of flowers surrounding our altar were made available for the special int. of Robert Pouliot THANK YOU! 6th Ordinary Sunday 2/11 & 2/12/17 Celebrant 5:00 PM 8:00 AM 9:30 AM 11:30 AM Fr. Bender Altar Servers Dooley J. Szarzynski T. Szarzynski S. Carver F. Casiple Dillenburg A.Bertucci J. Strzelczyk J. Strzelczyk J. Jacobek A. Ramirez J.P. Ramirez Lectors L. Pieprzyca C. Stach- Pearman B. Grandat S. Hagan
Monday February 6th-St. Paul Miki & Companions 8:15 AM Ludwika Glod Tuesday February 7th 8:15 AM Bronislaw Glod Wednesday February 8th-Sts. Jerome Emiliani & Josephine Bakhiata 7:00 PM Mike Alagno Thursday February 9th 8:15 AM In Loving Memory of John & Helen Nowocin Friday February 10th-St. Scholastica & Tu B Shvat (Jewish Yr. of Trees) 6:00 PM Jozef Dziaba FIFTH ORDINARY SUNDAY Saturday February 11th-Our Lady of Lourdes & World Day of the Sick 5:00 PM John P. Bernacchi Sunday February 12th 8:00 AM Birthday Blessings for Dolores Lang 9:30 AM James & Irene Wall 11:30 AM Birthday Blessings for Dianna Foran SAVE THE DATE Feb 7, Tue, 7pm Feb 11, Sat, 6pm Feb 12, Sun, 11:30-3pm Feb 19, Sun, 3pm Mr. Fairman history talk Everest Gala banquet Confirmandi mini -retreat Adams/Jefferson Play Kingswood Academy Sag hall Reddick Mansion, Ottawa