St. Gertrude Chicago

All are Welcome

1420 W. Granville,

Chicago, IL 60660

773.764.3621

stgertrude1420@stgertrudechicago.org

www.stgertrudechicago.org

Bulletin for Sunday, May 25, 2025

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Collection Drive for Care for Real is This Weekend, May 24-25

Our next collection drive for Care for Real is this weekend!

Care for Real is urgently seeking donations of new socks and underwear, diapers in sizes 4-6, shampoo, hand soap, and adult incontinence briefs.

Our collection drive for Care for Real is always the fourth calendar weekend every month, and our asylum seekers’ collection is the first weekend of each month.

We are so grateful for your help supporting Care for Real as they work to provide food and much-needed supplies to our neighbors who are struggling.  

Rectory Office Closed on Memorial Day

The office will be closed on Monday, May 26 for Memorial Day.

Morning mass will be held at 7:30 am.

A Celebration of 20th Century Women Composers Planned for This Thursday, May 29

Please join us in church on May 29 at 7:00 pm in church for a free concert! The event will feature compositions from Amy Beach, Florence Price, Marian McPartland, and Dana Suesse, noted 20th century female musical trailblazers.

Mary Clare Barker, our former Music Director and an accomplished pianist, will perform.

All are welcome!

Guadalupanos Rosary Group (Grupo del Rosario de Guadalupanos) on Friday Evenings

All are welcome to attend the weekly Rosary group held on Friday evenings at 7:00 pm.

The bilingual gathering is held in the dining room of the Ministry Center, located at 6214 North Glenwood Avenue.

Upcoming Youth Group Activities: Car Wash on May 31and a Hot Dog Sale During the Edgewater Yard & Garden Sale on June 7

The parish youth group has two upcoming events: a car wash and a hot dog sale. All proceeds will go towards youth group activities.

The car wash is planned for next Saturday, May 31. Teens will be available to wash cars from 10:00 am-1:00 pm in the parish parking lot. The cost is $15 per vehicle.

The Edgewater Yard and Sidewalk Sale is Saturday, June 7 from 9:00 am-5:00 pm. Our parish youth group will sell pop and hot dogs to attendees in the parish parking lot from 10:00 am-2:00 pm.

If your teen in grades six and up is interested in joining our youth group, please contact Eloy Escamilla at eescamilla@stgertrudechicago.org.

Help Needed for Father Mike Gabriel’s Retirement Celebration

After years of dedicated service, Father Mike Gabriel is heading into a well-deserved retirement—and we want to send him off with all the love and gratitude he deserves!

To make this event a success, we are looking for volunteers to assist with the following:

• Set-up & clean-up in the Social Hall
• Staffing during the event, including monitoring food and beverages
• Baking for our sweet treats table

If you are able to lend a hand, please contact Michael Kowalsky at mkowalsky@rcn.com or call 773.633.6692.

Thank you in advance for your help—and we look forward to celebrating together!

Second Collection on June 7-8 for Priests’ Health and Retirement

Priests have dedicated their lives to ministry, serving our needs as Catholics from the moment we are baptized until we receive last rites before entering eternal life. A second collection on June 7-8 will provide for the health and well-being of 386 active and 247 retired archdiocesan priests.

Your generosity to this special collection directly impacts both the many active and retired archdiocesan priests who we have come to rely on throughout our lives.

As we’re all aware, healthcare and retirement costs continue to rise, so there is an urgent need for your gifts to this fund. Your generosity will not only ensure the health and well-being of our priests, but also support their ability to continue meaningful work in our parishes and communities.

Adult Faith Formation Commission Forming

One of the “hungers” identified in the St. Gertrude Parish Strategic Plan is that of developing and supporting opportunities for ongoing adult faith formation in our parish. 

If you are interested in being part of a group whose mission will be to support current adult faith formation ministries in the parish as well as to discern and develop new possibilities for adult faith formation, please send your name and email address to Bob Backis, PPC Co-Chair, at rjbackis@gmail.com by June 1st.

For more information, please email Bob or call him at 773.510.6553.

An initial meeting of an Adult Faith Formation Commission will be held in June.

Growing in Faith

You and I live in a world that can be scary in many ways. In the face of our fears, we can curl up in a ball and hide out. But that’s not the way of Jesus.

In this weekend’s gospel, Jesus tells us: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.” And he adds: “Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”  In the world, people try to achieve peace by protecting themselves with as much money as they can gather, with as much power as they can accumulate, with as much stuff as they can clutter around them.

Jesus, however, is countercultural. When asked the greatest commandment, he said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.” In other words, instead of running away in fear from other people, run toward them, embrace them.

Although he warned the disciples that he would leave, Jesus told them: “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” That’s because the Holy Spirit is with us. There is no way for me or you to control our world. We have to trust that the Spirit will show us the right way to go. And we have to be willing to follow the Spirit. 

If we believe, we will trust. And, if we trust, we will feel the presence of the Spirit, the way that the great Jesuit poet Gerard Manly Hopkins did when, in “God’s Grandeur,” he wrote: “The Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.”

~ Patrick T. Reardon

Easter Flower Offerings

• In memory of Helen and Andrew Galoney from Marie Galoney 
• In memory of: Beatrice "Trixie" Muchman from Marilyn Klein
• In memory of Mary A. Pierce and John A. Pierce from Ellen Pierce
• In memory of Pope Francis from Marilyn Klein 
• In memory of the Charles Strubbe Family from Marie Galoney 

The Parish Pastoral Council is Looking for New Members!

The Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) is renewing its search for new members. If you are interested in learning more about the PPC or are interested in joining, please complete this INTEREST FORM. 

Questions or comments for the PPC can be sent to stgertrudeparishcouncil@gmail.com.

Join the Ignatian Volunteer Corps!

Want to make a difference? Want to grow in your faith? The Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC) matches the skills and experiences of adults 50+ with Chicagoland nonprofits dedicated to walking with and assisting those most in need. IVC supports members in deepening their faith through formation opportunities rooted in the Ignatian tradition.

Learn more by attending an upcoming information session: 

• St. John XXIII Parish (Evanston) - June 12, 11:00 am
• Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish (Glenview) - June 17, 2:00 pm
• Old St. Mary Parish (Chicago) - June 26, 2:00 pm

Register online at www.ivcusa.org/chicago or call Program Manager Cathy Buescher at 201.407.6052.

Ministers of the Word

• Saturday, May 24 at 5:00 pm - Joseph McMahon, Christine Lincoln
• Sunday, May 25 at 8:00 am - Kathryn Stimac
• Sunday, May 25 at 10:30 am - Troy McMillan, Patrick Robinson

Upcoming Mass Intentions

• Monday, May 26: 7:30 am - Sherl Patterson
• Tuesday, May 27: 7:30 am - People of God
• Wednesday, May 28: 7:30 am - Fr. Mike Gabriel
• Thursday, May 29: 7:30 am - Communion Service
• Friday, May 30: 7:30 am - Billy Tobin+
• Saturday, May 31: 7:30 am - Eduardo Soto; 5:00 pm - Helen Ann and Helen Mary Long+
• Sunday, June 1: 8:00 am - Larry Rossi+; 10:30 am - Sr. Susan Quaintance; 10:30 am Gym mass - People of God

If you would like to add a name to the prayer list, please contact the Rectory at 773.764.3621 or email stgertrude1420@stgertrudechicago.org. Names will remain on the list for three weeks. After that time, please renew the name using same contact information.