Faithful can subscribe to the notes by contacting the parish office and providing their e-mail address. Thanks for your support of our border town parishes!!! | |
Please remember - Fr. Pete does not send out text messages, e-mails or social media posts to solicit
funds for himself or any organizations outside of the parishes he serves. Fr. Pete's emergency phone
number is (815) 685-1359 and his e-mail addresses
are either pjankowski@yahoo.com or pjankowski@stfrancis.edu.
Please do not trust any correspondences that
utilize any other phone number or e-mail address.
THE TERM FOR THIS SCAM IS "PHISHING,"
IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH
| | Please support our parishes by clicking the ONLINE GIVING picture - these are your local homes where God is present! Let's share this grace with those of the next generation! | | PLEASE REMEMBER... In order to keep our parishes open and serving the needy, we need to average $3,000 a week at St. Patrick's and $2,000 a week at St. Anne's. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. | | |
News & Notes with Fr. Pete Jankowski
LOTS O' SUMMER STUFF!!!
| | | | Feel free to contact Fr. Pete at email pjankowski@yahoo.com. If you have an emergency, please contact Fr. Pete at (815) 685-1359 | | |
This week, I am spending time over in Lake Itasca, MN (where the Mississippi River begins) to upload the SEVENTEEN Online Masses we recorded for June & July, including the TEN NOVENA MASSES in July for St. Anne’s Church (more on the Novena later this week). This is time for me to recharge the batteries, so to speak, and to get ready for what is yet to come. Much thanks to Fr. Tom Conde & Fr. Uriel Martinez for helping me with Masses this month – they are both ESPECTACULAR!!!
In addition to the Novena Celebrations, three specific activities we have planned for the summer are beginning to take shape. Bobbi Volek and Maddie Meyer asked me some time ago about hosting a “Vacation Bible School” for the kids in the summer. We have not had one of these for a while in the area and we are really blessed that our young families in the area are getting as invested as they are. VBS will take place the week prior to the Novena from July 20-24; more information about VBS is forthcoming (although I did find the video of what Bobbi and Maddie want to do with the kids that I have provided for you).
Another round of Birthday Baseball with Fr. Pete takes place on August 13 this year with the Joliet Slammers! The Knights of Columbus provide the transportation, the tickets are $10 each for the bus and the ticket and the altar servers get to go free. What a deal!
Our Parish Picnic will take place in September. More on the picnic is yet to come. We also will talk about the 50/50 Raffle for the picnic in the weeks ahead.
I received a really nice e-mail from Sherriff Mike Downey and the Kankakee Couinty Sherriff’s office after last week’s funeral took place for one of their own (Luis Barrera). Sherriff Mike wrote us the following…
Father Pete, what a wonderful eulogy and the funeral was so well attended. Shows you how much Luis was loved. I appreciate everything you did for Luis and for our department. Thank you again.
I also received a very nice e-mail from one of my 117 Vietnamese students who is finishing up our “Business Ethics” online course next week. The student writes,
Dear Professor Jankowski,
Thank you for your kind message and for everything you have done for us during this course. I am truly grateful for your teaching, support, and encouragement throughout the semester. At the beginning, I was nervous about taking your class, but after meeting you and learning from you, I always looked forward to coming to class. The two weeks when you taught us in Vietnam were my favorite experiences at university.
I especially appreciate how patient and supportive you were with students. You always gave us opportunities to try not to be afraid of making mistakes.
You once mentioned that some colleagues said students might take advantage of your generosity. I just want to say that I will always remember and appreciate the support you gave us. Your kindness and encouragement meant a lot to me and many other students. Thank you for teaching us not only about business ethics but also about respect, integrity, and building positive relationships with others.
I feel very lucky to have been your student. I wish you good health and the opportunity to meet many people who treat you with the same kindness and respect that you have shown to all of us.
With sincere gratitude,
Quynh
In a day or two, I will be writing you about what we are doing with the Novena and Feast Day – you will not want to miss out!!! God bless all of you! – Fr. Pete
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Meanwhile, over at St. Anne’s, a couple wonderful souls saw what we had being doing at Pat’s and inquired about getting a St. Anne's Parking Lot Project similar to St. Pat's. As a response, we asked Scott Crawford to visit St. Anne’s and provide us two bids for the parking lot – it will cost us around $24,000 to upgrade the lot in front of the church and the small section of the parking lot adjacent to the senior care center; the price rises to $59,000 if we address the entire lot at St. Anne’s by the Senior Center.
Towards that end, we inserted an envelope in our St. Anne Novena mailing which will be sent out next week. Jackie Bruhn will talk about the parking lot during the May 31 Mass at the parish as well. The “pipe dream” is that we can get these donations to pave the lots by the St. Anne Feast Day on July 26!
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Earlier this month, we encountered pretty bad damage in our kitchen at St. Patrick’s Rectory. I guess a “P-Drain” in one of the upstairs bathrooms had corroded after years of use, causing sewage to drip into our kitchen ceiling. John Cousin and the nice folks at Cousins Plumbing repaired and replaced the P-Drain at minimal cost. Then, Robert Piquet and his son from Vista Painting came to repair the ceiling. Just FYI, Vista Painting repaired TWO of the inside church stucco walls for the price of only materials, painted accent walls in both rectories, painted the St. Anne House Chapel and so much more! Robert was so kind as to offer his services that I felt it right to include his contact information for anyone is the area would might want to utilize his painting services.
To contact Vista Painting, e-mail rob.vistapainting@gmail.com or call them at phone (815) 272-3455.
| | Finally, I am recording the last of the SEVENTEEN ONLINE MASSES I celebrated for the Online Parishioners around the world. As you know, we have received cards and messages from around the world concerning these Masses (including a visit from our friends in Whittlesea, Australia!) and we want to do what we can do for those who cannot join us for the July 17-26 celebrations. I just spoke to Fr. Sebastian Genoni from Buenos Aires, Argentina; he will be celebrating a “parallel” Novena in Spanish for our community, culminating with our Final Mass in Spanish at St. Anne’s on July 26. | | Sandy Malpasuto asked me to put the St. Patrick’s Golf Outing Information Online; in the event you would like to join us or be a sponsor. CLICK THIS LINK for more information... | | |
FR. PETE'S COMPLETE BUSINESS ETHICS COURSE!!!
The dean of the University of St. Francis’ School of Business & Heath Administration asked me to teach 117 Vietnamese Students a Course on “Business Ethics” from a Franciscan Point of View. When I told the leaders of the university that I am no expert in this subject (as was the case in Hispanic Ministry), they responded that my experience is in “practical” business, applying the skills that we learn in this course to a couple of parishes that we needed to fortify in order to keep them alive.
For your consideration is the first video in the course that I am offering our friends in the Vietnamese Community. Later this Spring, I will be traveling to Hanoi Vietnam for two weeks to instruct these students in-person; I just received my Visa to enter Vietnam yesterday. I was told that the papal nuncio in Vietnam is a Polish Archbishop who learned his English in Chicago and a Marian of the Immaculate Conception (Fr. Bill Heyward) whom I knew in the Joliet Diocese now serves as a pastor in Hanoi. Please pray that I can serve as an effective teacher to the students across the pond and the University of St. Francis for putting their faith in me!
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Because of THREE SNOWSTORMS which swept through our area this winter, this has wreaked havoc on our finances, since we did not make up the finances in our collections needed to keep up afloat. Thanks to a couple of my "friends from the outside" who donated $3,000 total to help St. Anne's Church.
Please remember… the budgets that our Finance Committees established last June only work if St. Anne’s collects $2,000 a week in her collection and $3,000 a week at St. Patrick’s. We have been blessed that a couple major donors have assisted us in keeping the ships afloat but, if you can, please remember that the “Online Giving” Portal is always open Online and we continue to encourage you to remember St. Anne’s & St. Pat’s in your Will and Estate Planning. With a new bishop coming into the area later this year, a new bishop brings new and different ideas – let’s not let the bishop think about St. Patrick’s or St. Anne’s for a long time!
If any of our farmers might consider donating something “when the time comes” as part of an estate gift, if someone who attends our St. Anne Novena helps us maintain that Novena through a foundation gift, we would be well-served to allow the Lord to work through our communities to offer the same grace as has been offered since the 1850s.
| | Finally, I am recording the last of the SEVENTEEN ONLINE MASSES I celebrated for the Online Parishioners around the world. As you know, we have received cards and messages from around the world concerning these Masses (including a visit from our friends in Whittlesea, Australia!) and we want to do what we can do for those who cannot join us for the July 17-26 celebrations. I just spoke to Fr. Sebastian Genoni from Buenos Aires, Argentina; he will be celebrating a “parallel” Novena in Spanish for our community, culminating with our Final Mass in Spanish at St. Anne’s on July 26. | | |
MASS FOR THE 11TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME AT THE BORDER TOWN PARISHES
(JUNE 14, 2026)
At our Border Town Parishes, so many good souls model these "Laborers in the Vineyard" who sacrifice their time, talent and financial resources on behalf of our parishes and especially the poor and needy of our area. In Fr. Pete's ministry, he, too, wears many "hats" to do God's work in the Border Town Parishes, including the most important "work" of all - the "Work" of the Church, which is defined as "Liturgy." Today's homily focuses on that good work, often ignored or pushed aside by the community at large but sacred to the eyes of God.
| | HOMILY IN SPANISH AT ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH (JUNE 7, 2026) | |
- The St. Patrick’s Golf Outing on June 20 still has spots available and will be held at the Oak Springs Golf Club. Please check the bulletin for more details
- St. Patrick’s Parking Lot will be finished with the laying of asphalt on Monday-Tuesday and striping later in the week. Hopefully, we will have a NEW LOOKING parking lot next weekend. Thanks to Mayor Chuck Steele, Police Chief Patrick Siemsen, Ted Peterson and those who donated the $60,000+ to make this dream possible! Jackie Bruhn is working on helping us renovate the St. Anne Parking lot as well.
- Jackie Bruhn from St. Anne’s inquired about upgrading our parking lot at St. Anne’s (which, I guess, used to be paved but weeds and such took control of the pavement). We have set a goal of $60,000 to pave one small area of the pavement. Jackie asked that we place envelopes in the St. Anne Novena mailing that will go out shortly and she will discuss the project at the May 30-31 Masses.
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ST. PATRICK'S / ST. ANNE'S
PHOTO DIRECTORIES
| | Thanks to Ruth Sparenberg, Anne Andrade & Joanne Hermann for assembling, scanning and editing the follow Photo Directories from the Church History of St. Patrick's and St. Anne's Churches! | | | THE COMPLETED CEMETERY PROJECTS FOR BOTH ST. ANNE'S AND ST. PATRICK'S CEMETERIES | | | | The Holy Father provides a wonderful opportunity to receive an Apostolic Blessing for Birthdays, Baptisms, First Communions, Confirmations, Weddings, Religious Professions, Ordinations and Anniversaries of these sacraments. | | |
- The production of Papal Blessings has been suspended for the time being due to the installation of the new pope. Now that the Website is Open for Acquiring Blessings, we have sent the following requests to the Vatican to Honor these Special Unions...
If you would like to receive a papal blessing for a milestone anniversary, please contact the parish office.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR OWN APOSTOLIC BLESSING!!!
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Parish Hotline... If you know of someone who is sick and in need of the sacraments or if you know someone who wishes a visit at the hospital or care facility, please contact the parish office or Fr. Pete Jankowski at (815) 685-1359.
| | | Fr. Pete offers the Anointing of the Sick at both parishes at the First Friday Masses every month (St. Patrick’s at 9:15 a.m. and St. Anne’s at 5:00 p.m. (English) and 7:00 p.m. (Spanish). | | |
To View St. Patrick's Bulletin for
JUNE 14, 2026
CLICK HERE!
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To View St. Anne's Bulletin for
JUNE 14, 2026
CLICK HERE!
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PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR BELOVED DECEASED: Carissa Chouinard, Alani Camargo & Luis Barrera
Please note: Chris Sutherland sent the following text to Fr. Pete today,.,. I’m sure you have read about the terrible accident in Momence. The girl that died, Alani Camargo, is from St Anne. Her mom is Sandra Zarate. I’m quite sure Alani made her 1st Communion and Confirmation here. To read about this tragic passing, please CLICK HERE.
PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR SICK: William Brown, Mike, Ashley & Jesse Childress, Mike Cronk, Maria DeLeon, Dave Fieramosca, Herve Gomichon, Linda Goodman, Don Hout, Gustavo Lopez, Jesus Ariel Lopez, Evelyn Provost, Art Schmidt, Frank & Louidr Shainauskas, Ruth Sparenberg, Cynthia Vickery, Joe Wielgus and all those on our sick list.
At St. Anne's... Eva Bell, Paula Bertrand, Lola Billings, Duane Blanchette, Sue Bonvallet, Cheryl Boswell, June Burns, Cindy Capriotti, Ashley & Jesse Childress, Abraham Daily, Aria Dionne, Carol Futcher, Raelynn Garrett, Tommy Klonowski, Val Lagacy, Pam & Bentley Lottinville, Linda Miramontes, Josh Odelson, Ruth Sparenberg and John Wojnowski.
At St. Patrick's... P. Anderson, N. Atkinson, R. Bailey, D. Barth, Beedle Family, D. Brown, M. Cárdenas, P. Caro, B & E. Coffman, S. Conner, M & D Cousin, M. Cruz, A. Delaney, M. Dionne, J. Dobbins, E. Duke, D. Dunlap, G. Field, C. Fritz, A. Fuhrmann, Judy & Ron Gall, Tony & Adrianne Gallinaro, J. Grill, R. Harper, K. Hensa, J. Hibbs, D. Hiller, C. Jones, L. Kane, R. Kazee, A. Kijewski, Joe Kraus, L. Lee, L. Leranth, E. Lopez, B. Love, J. Marcotte, W. Marten, J. McCracken, L. Mercado, R & V Morse, C. Ortman, C. Piec, J. Prather, C. Provost, E. Provost, P. Reising, D. Roberts, M. Saldaña A. Schaff, J. Schopf. D. Schmied, K. Simpson, B. Siwicki, B. Spagnola, M. Tolbert, M. Tolmer, H. Tousignant, M. Velazquez, M. Williams, Gary Witherell, M. Witherspoon, S. Young, J. L. Zagal, A. Zimmerman, M & L Zink and G. Zokal.
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Fr. Pete Jankowski posts his homilies online at the parish website for those who wish to keep up with the gospel message each week.
| | | PARISH REGISTRATION FORMS | | CLICK HERE to watch Fr. Pete’s Twelve Part Series “Stories on the Journey,” Broadcast on Shalom World TV! | | | ITEMS FOR PURCHASE / DONATION TO HELP OUR PARISHES!!! | | Call the Offices at (815) 472-2864 or (815) 427-8265 for more information... | | Since 2019, We Have Raised Over $250,000 in Pew Donations!!! | | |
For only $100, you can dedicate a brick to someone special at St. Patrick's Outdoor Grotto (where the Our Lady of Lourdes Outdoor Masses are celebrated)!!!
(815) 472-2864
| |  | For only $25, you can dedicate a Journeysongs Pew Book from either parish. Please call (815) 472-2864 (St. Patrick's) or (815) 427-8265 (St. Anne's) for more information! | | |
St. Patrick's T-Shirts
$10 Each or
Three for $20
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St. Patrick's or St. Anne's Blessed Water / Oil $2 a Bottle
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Greeting Cards of These Images are Now Available for Purchase in the Parish Office.
$25 for Books of Twenty...
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St. Patrick's or St. Anne's Mugs
$10 Each or Three for $20
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LINKS TO CATHOLIC WEBSITES
CLICK ON PICTURE TO ACCESS SITE
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