5 2 8 L a t h r o p A v e n u e R i v e r F o r e s t, I l l i n o i s w w w. s t l u k e p a r i s h. o r g Whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God. ~ John 3:21 M a r c h 1 1, 2 0 1 8 F o u r t h S u n d a y o f L e n t
MASS INTENTIONS Monday, March 12 6:30 am Special Intention for parishioner 8:00 am Josefina Santos Tuesday, March 13 6:30 am Special Intention for parishioner 8:00 am Walter Cheely Wednesday, March 14 6:30 am Sam Nicosia 8:15 am Josefina Santos Thursday, March 15 6:30 am Robert Barder 8:00 am Judith Lake Friday, March 16 6:30 am Thomas F. and Helene Dittrich Kenny 8:00 am Joseph Walsh Saturday, March 17- St. Patrick 8:00 am Richard A. King Family 5:00 pm Helen and Raymond Schmid Sunday, March 18 7:30 am Elizabeth Kennedy 9:00 am The People of St. Luke Parish 11:00 am The Crowley and Cusack Families MINISTERS OF THE LITURGY Monday-Friday, March 12-16 8:00 am Servers J Gleason, R Gleason Saturday, March 17 5:00 pm Servers C Broaddus, C Carr, M Carr Lectors F Auteri, L Hogan Euch Min J Bresnahan, P Chase, C Czarnecki, C Madden, M O'Donoghue, C Weiler, L Zarate Ushers C Cox, J Fisher, M Nelson, R Nixon Sunday, March 18 7:30 am Servers C Glinke, P Gorman, O Tsitovich Lectors J Lynch, T Smedinghoff Euch Min MB Smedinghoff, J Sullivan, M Sullivan Ushers B Hickman, J Langton, C Maroon, M Oller 9:00 am Servers M Keith, A Perry, E Perry Lectors L Hoey, K Iammartino Euch Min LM Froelich, T Graefe, M Martinez, A Ramirez, J Slowik, J Winikates, J Winikates Ushers B Aquilino, L Driscoll, P Driscoll, J Nowicki 11:00 am Servers R Graves, B Greenberg, C Vlerick Lectors Y Hafner, A O'Connell Euch Min B Elwood, M Karasis, D Kurtenbach, J Mannix, J Meek, B Stumbris, J Stumbris Ushers D Carey, J McInerney, 2 Needed 2 Cover Art: French painter James Tissot created this image entitled Jerusalem, Jerusalem to illustrate a difficult moment in Jesus life as he rebukes the crowd in the Temple plaza for killing the prophets and foretells of his own imminent rejection at their hands. (Image used with permission of the Brooklyn Museum in New York.) WELCOME TO ST. LUKE River Forest, IL SCRIPTURE READINGS For Masses the week of March 12-18 Mon: Is 65:17-21/Ps 30:2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a and 13b [2a]/ Jn 4:43-54 Tue: Ez 47:1-9, 12/Ps 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9 [8]/Jn 5:1-16 Wed: Is 49:8-15/Ps 145:8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18 [8a]Jn 5:17-30 Thu: Ex 32:7-14/Ps 106:19-20, 21-22, 23 [4a]/Jn 5:31-47 Fri: Wis 2:1a, 12-22/Ps 34:17-18, 19-20, 21 and 23 [19a]/ Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 Sat: Jer 11:18-20/Ps 7:2-3, 9bc-10, 11-12 [2a]/Jn 7:40-53 Next Sunday: Jer 31:31-34/Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15 [12a]/ Heb 5:7-9/Jn 12:20-33 LPi PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR SICK: Monica Affleck, David Carlson, Frank Kurr, Sr. Michelle Germanson OP, Robert Gorman, Sr. Colleen Nolan OP, Kevin Nolan, Douglas Norman, Paul Novak, Nick Perisin, Fr. Paul Reicher, Patti Sheehan, Joyce Tasch, and Tom Trankina AND FOR OUR DECEASED: Louise F. Pendarvis and Asuncion Vivar STEWARDSHIP OF TREASURE For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son ~John 3:16 Of all the wonderful gifts that God has given to us, the gift of His own Son is truly the greatest. How can we ever thank God for a gift like that? God does not ask us to sacrifice our own precious firstborn, but He does ask that we are grateful and generous with our God given gifts. That we nurture and develop them and return with increase. Our Weekly Offerings From the weekend of March 4/5 Weekly Budget... $15,000 Actual In-Church Contributions... $11,122 TOTAL Weekly Contributions... $11,122 2017-2018 Fiscal Year to Date (From 7/1/17) Budget to Date... $540,000 Actual Weekly Giving... $439,278 Difference to Date for Year +/(-)... $(100,722) We greatly appreciate the sacrifices you make to support the mission and ministry of St. Luke Church. Thank you for your generosity! Here s a convenient way to support St. Luke Parish with payments from your bank or credit card account using your computer or smart phone. Try it today at GiveCentral.org.
On the Third through Fifth Sundays in Lent, we pray the Scrutinies at a different Mass each weekend. This is to give many of our parishioners the opportunity to meet and pray with our Elect who are preparing to receive the sacraments at the Easter Vigil and to reflect on our own need for conversion as we, too, prepare for our Easter celebration. Please keep Abby, DeVona, Kade, and Brent in your prayers, and give them the encouragement they deserve on their journey of faith. St. Luke's is blessed to have them! Abby Ekstrand I grew up in a non-denominational Christian household and was exposed to learning about God s love as a young child. My family s faith became my own as I participated in church Bible studies, Bible camp, and Christian schooling. In college, I met a number of Catholics with very strong faith, including my RCIA sponsor, Dan Rogers. Through interactions with them, my curiosity about the Catholic Church grew. After years of questioning, starting in Advent of 2016, I committed to going to weekly Mass and praying for guidance if the Catholic Church should be my home. I joined RCIA this year and have been continually challenged and blessed through weekly interactions with Deacon Bob and the other program participants. The community and deep tradition has attracted me to the Church, and I am beyond excited to be baptized and confirmed and take my first Communion at the Easter Vigil! DeVona Whiting Where you lead me, Lord, I will follow. I have elected to pursue this journey to follow the pathway laid before me. I would like to thank my children, Amani and Noble, for teaching me the important nuances of life as well as my fiancé, Mr. Martin Gutilla, for his wisdom and charm. I would also like to thank my dear friend Mrs. Suzi Ilic for leading me as my sponsor and sharing with me her elegant strength. I also add a special thank you to Deacon Bob for sharing his vast knowledge of the Catholic Faith. Brent Magnussen My faith journey through RCIA has been both challenging and rewarding. In the beginning, I struggled with the enormity of this massive undertaking. But with the help of Bob, Paul, and Ray, and my fellow future Catholics, I have embraced my new love of Christ and am now enjoying Lent for the first time. Kade Seyfried I have fully enjoyed my RCIA experience. I joined this group late, but I have found it rewarding and fulfilling nonetheless. Growing up with my mom, I was raised in the Christian faith and we identified as Presbyterian, but never really practiced it. I was baptized Presbyterian, but did not attend church on a regular basis. When I was in 8th grade, I became a student at St. Luke Parish School and enjoyed every second of it. After that, I continued my Catholic education at Trinity High School, where my desire to become part of the Catholic faith grew even stronger. After being with my then-boyfriend for four years, he proposed. My willingness to become Catholic became as great as it possibly could be when we decided to have a traditional Catholic wedding ceremony, at none other than St. Luke Parish. Going through this journey has brought me closer to God, and that is what I have always longed for. MARCH 11, 2018 Fourth Sunday of Lent 3
Our weekly Way of the Cross continues again at 6:00 pm this Friday, followed by a simple, meatless supper at 6:30 pm in Waldron Hall. We are very grateful to the Religious Education Program for hosting this week s hospitality. Simplify your Friday meatless meal planning and leave the cooking to us this Lent. Families with babies and young children are especially welcome. Then stay afterwards for our lively exploration of the Rediscover Jesus book (see below)! Reservations for the St. Joseph Table at Dominican University are due tomorrow (Monday). Please call Noreen O Malley at 366-7327 as soon as possible if you would like to join us for this delicious treat on Wednesday. We will leave from the Hospitality House parking lot at 11:00 am. A $5 donation is suggested. The Prime Timers will be playing Bridge tomorrow in the Hospitality House from noon to 2:30 pm. Newcomers are always welcome. The Amen Stitching Group invites all those interested in any kind of needlework to attend their next monthly gathering this Friday from 9:30 to 11:30 am in the Hospitality House. There are still two more weeks to join our Lenten discussion groups and explore the ideas raised in Matthew Kelly s book, Rediscover Jesus. The women s group meets on Tuesdays from 1:30-2:30 pm in the Hospitality House. A second group, open to all, meets on Fridays right after the Simple Supper (approximately 7:15 pm) in the school s Faculty Lounge. The discussion is different every week, so newcomers are welcome to drop in for any of the meetings. 4 The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation reconciles us with God and each other so we can renew our baptismal promises and fully celebrate the good news of Easter with faith, hope, and joy. To make the sacrament more available, especially for those planning to attend the 5:00 vigil Mass, we are offering Confessions on the next two Saturday afternoons from 4:00-4:30 pm. Of course, the sacrament also is available after the two weekday morning Masses and the 8:00 am Mass on Saturday, and by calling the rectory to make a special appointment with a priest. WELCOME TO ST. LUKE River Forest, IL Our monthly Youth Mass will be next Sunday, March 18, at 5:00 pm. All teens and their friends, young adults, families, and all those looking for an engaging experience of Mass are invited. Right after Mass, high school and junior high youths are invited to stay for supper in Waldron Hall and a program of fun activities. There also will be updates on these two summer events: ECHO Retreat - June 25-28 These jammed-packed four days will help sort out life, love, God, sex, inner peace, dating, true happiness, real friendship, your calling in life, and what it means to be human with lots of other youths from across the Chicagoland in a fun summer atmosphere! ECHO is open to those entering junior year of high school or above this coming fall. (An ECHO retreat for young adults in their 20s runs from June 22-24). For more info, visit tinyurl.com/echo2018. Youth Service Trip - July 8-14 Join a crew of teens from the parish as we head to Catholic Heart WorkCamp in Kansas City, Kansas, to serve, pray, work, play, sing, paint, open, adore Jesus, play, laugh, sweat, travel, help, fun, pack, learn, and grow. It s a great chance to make new friends for life. This experience is open to all those who will be freshmen and above this coming fall. See the Youth Page on our parish website at www.stlukeparish.org for full details and application forms. Limited space remains, so act fast and submit your forms today! Questions? Contact Fr. Steve at sbauer@stlukeparish.org.
St. Luke has three advisory boards that oversee the various aspects of our parish operations and serve as counsel to the pastor. Each one is looking for new members to fill vacancies that will be created by members whose terms are expiring this fall. The Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) is seeking parishioners who want to be actively involved and are willing to delve deep into pastoral matters, to listen to differing opinions, integrate varied points of view, and discern with others what is best for the parish. The Board of Specified Jurisdiction (BSJ) consists of school parents, members of the parish. and the community at-large. Its members develop, propose, and adopt policies that govern the operation of St. Luke Parish School in accordance with guidelines set by the Archdiocesan Office of Catholic Schools. The Parish Finance Council (PFC) is composed of lay parishioners and the parish staff who serve as an advisory board of financial matters of the parish. The three boards generally meet once a month from September to June. Members are also assigned to committees that have specific areas of interest and their own separate meetings. Being on a parish council is a privilege and an inspiring experience. We need members with a range of skills and life experience, so please pray, consider what God is calling you to do, and reach out to the chairs listed at right to share what talents and experience you have that might enhance our parish. If you would like to learn more about any of the parish boards, or volunteer to serve as a member, contact the chair listed here: Board of Specified Jurisdiction Cassie Crotty, BSJ Chair cassieacrotty@gmail.com Parish Finance Council Kevin Hanley, PFC Chair k_hanley@ml.com Parish Pastoral Council Tom Jacobs, PPC Chair thjacobs@earthlink.net It is our human nature to depend on each other, and that is expressed through our commitment to family and community. This week s CRS Rice Bowl story shows us how Andrise, a first-grade teacher at a small Catholic school in Haiti, is forming young people who will give back to the community and their country. See how Andrise is making a difference with your support in a streaming video at crsricebowl.org. Then reflect on the role teachers have played in bringing you closer to God and your dream. How did you learn to appreciate the concepts of service, cooperation, community, and teamwork? Consider dropping 50 in your Rice Bowl this week for every teacher and mentor who encouraged you! Be sure to try the recipe for Haitian Vegetable Stew for a meatless meal alternative. Include the following intention in your prayers at mealtime: For Andrise and her students in Haiti, who we ve met through CRS Rice Bowl: that what they learn together may increase the betterment of their community. MARCH 11, 2018 Fourth Sunday of Lent 5
6 The St. Luke Athletic Committee congratulates the following winners of the 500 Club drawing: Julie and Tom Jacobs Thank you to all who have purchased memberships in the 500 Club, the proceeds of which go directly to fund St. Luke Parish School s athletic programs. Go to www.school-stlukeparish.org/domain/99 to learn how you can join our great group of supporters and enter our weekly drawing! All articles must be submitted no later than the following deadlines for the remainder of this month: March 18/Fifth Sunday of Lent bulletin (covers events from March 18-25): Due 9:00 am, Monday, March 12 March 25/Palm Sunday bulletin (covers events from March 25-April 1): Due 9:00 am, Thursday, March 15 April 1/Easter bulletin (covers events from April 1-8): Due 9:00 am, Wednesday, March 21 Help is right around the corner! 24-Hour Crisis Line: 708-386-4225 www.sarahsinn.org Mass Schedule Saturday (Vigil) 5:00 pm, and Sunday 7:30, 9:00, and 11:00 am Weekdays: Monday-Friday 6:30 & 8:00 am (except 8:15 am on Wednesdays during school year), Saturday 8:00 am Confessions The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation is offered after 6:30 and 8:00 am weekday Masses and by appointment. Call the rectory to schedule a time. Adoration and Benediction Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament occurs every first Saturday after the 8:00 am Mass and rosary. Rectory Office Hours Monday through Friday 9:00 am-12:00 Noon and 1:00-4:00 pm and by appointment (Call 708-771-8250). Interested in Learning More About the Catholic Faith? Anyone wishing to complete their sacraments or learn more about the Catholic faith may inquire about our adult faith formation program (RCIA) by calling the rectory for more information. WELCOME TO ST. LUKE River Forest, IL Rev. John Szmyd, Pastor jszmyd@stlukeparish.org... 435-8925 Rev. Steven Bauer, Associate Pastor sbauer@stlukeparish.org... 435-8922 Rev. Leroy Wickowski (Retired) lwickowski@stlukeparish.org... 435-8917 Rev. Mr. John Baier johnbaier@isp.com... 630-655-0088 Rev. Mr. Terry Norton reneeterrynorton@gmail.com... 771-6635 Rev. Mr. Bob Slobig bobslobig@comcast.net... 771-6430 Rev. Mr. Paul Faherty (retired) 528 Lathrop Avenue, River Forest 60305-1835 stlukeparish@stlukeparish.org... 771-8250 Carol Karlowski, Office Assistant ckarlowski@stlukeparish.org... 435-8912 Daniel Szymanski, Director of Operations dszymanski@stlukeparish.org... 435-8921 Sheila Price, Director of Stewardship & Development sprice@stlukeparish.org... 435-8927 Arlene Michna, Music Director amichna@stlukeparish.org... 435-8926 Bradley Collins, Communications Coordinator bcollins@stlukeparish.org... 435-8910 519 Ashland Avenue, River Forest 60305-1824 jschwarzbeck@stlukeparish.org... 366-8587 Timothy Wesley, Principal twesley@stlukeparish.org 519 Ashland Avenue, River Forest 60305-1824 (Enter through Lake Street door of school building) religiouseducation@stlukeparish.org... 771-5959 Mary Beth Smedinghoff, Religious Ed Secretary 533 Ashland Avenue, River Forest Sr. Pat Farrell, O.P. pfarrell@stlukeparish.org... 771-5280 New Parishioners If you re new to the community or just new to our church, please stop by the rectory to introduce yourself and register so we can welcome you into the full life of our parish. Communion Visits and Ministry of Care A parish priest or Minister of Care will be happy to visit those who are sick or homebound. Please call the rectory to make arrangements. Baptism Baptisms take place on the first and third Sundays of each month, except during Lent. Preparation meetings are held on the first Monday of every month for the parents of children who will be baptized. Arrangements can be made by calling the rectory. Marriage Couples wishing to be married should call the rectory to set up an appointment with one of the parish priests at least six months in advance of the desired wedding date. Anointing of the Sick Elderly parishioners, those in poor health or who are anticipating surgery can call the rectory to arrange to receive the sacrament of anointing.