Daily Mass Schedule (during the School Year):
Monday, Thursday & Friday:
6:30am and 8:00am
Tuesday: 6:30am and 9:00am
Wednesday: 8:00am and 9:10am (9:10am is at St. Patricks)
Saturday: 8:00am
Weekend Mass Schedule:
Saturday: 5:00pm
Sunday: 8:00am, 10:00am, NOON & 6:00pm
Sacrament of Reconciliation:
Saturday: 8:30am or by appointment with a parish priest
|
|
From the Desk of Fr. Mike Nacius, Pastor
|
I mentioned in last week's article in the parish bulletin, and for several weeks prior, to mark your calendars and to save the date - October 4, 2019 at the Church of St. Mary. Maybe you were asking, why is Fr. Mike telling us as parishioners to "save the date"? Some parishioners responded to me, "You must be speaking about the Feast of St. Francis?" Others ask, "Fr. Mike, what is it with save the date?"
If you keep reading you will find the answer. I have been asking you to save the date because beginning on October 4 parishioners will be able to help parish staff and parish leadership set goals and initiatives in the parish by completing a parish survey as part of the
Renew My Church
process. This survey is titled "
ME25
" and was created by Gallup for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
The
ME25
survey will be available through our parish website with links to access the survey. The survey link will be sent to all parishioners, all families in Religious Education, and all families in our parish school. For those who do not regularly use a computer or the internet, paper copies will be available at all entrances of the church and at the Parish Center.
The
ME25
is an engagement survey that the Archdiocese of Chicago is using to help parishes that are involved in
Renew My Church
. Our grouping, Holy Cross in Deerfield and St. Patrick's in Lake Forest, will be formally activated in 2022. In having parishioners of St. Mary's take the
ME25
at our parish next month, it will give me, as pastor, and our parish staff and parish leadership a focus to direct our ministerial efforts and financial means of the parish moving forward.
The results of the
ME25
, measuring parish engagement, will be scored by Gallup and translated by people of the
Renew My Church
initiative of the Archdiocese of Chicago. These results and themes will be shared with the parish as soon as they become available.
Prayer is at the center of our lives. Prayer will be at the center of the
Renew My Church
initiative. At the entrances of the church, you can find prayer cards with the Cross of San Damiano and a Prayer for
"Renew My Church."
I include the prayer below asking for you to pray it on a regular basis for our parish as well as for all parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Lord Jesus, you speak to us today,
as you spoke to holy men and women
who have gone before us.
In every age and in our own time,
you call to us and say: Renew My Church.
Pour out the gift of your Holy Spirit upon us,
and so enable us
to hear you clearly; to listen to each other attentively
to imagine our future boldly; to discern your direction wisely
to persevere in your holy will courageously; to stay together in charity
to surrender our own plans readily; to embrace the greater good
to hand on your gifts to future generations.
May we remain in the holy company of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, the apostles and all the saints.
May their example and presence
inspire us with patient confidence
in the work of your grace.
We ask this of you who live and reign
with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
forever and ever. Amen.
We selected the date of October 4
because of the connection with St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis brought renewal to the beautiful hill top town of Assisi. From there, renewal stretched out across the entire Church. Rooted in prayer, may we be guided by the spirit of St. Francis and the Holy Spirit.
There are a variety of resources and information about the
Renew My Church
efforts of the Archdiocese to be found at:
www.renewmychurch.org/
.
The Parish Strategic Planning Team decided that using the
ME25
this fall would be a wonderful opportunity for parishioners. I would ask that you take the time in October to complete the survey and share your experience of being a parishioner at the Church of St. Mary. May we be open to the power of the Holy Spirit, bringing renewal in our lives as followers of Jesus Christ, parishioners of the Church of St. Mary.
God bless you with hearts open to renewal and hope.
|
|
Phase Four and Message from Father Mike
|
Listen to Fr. Mike Nacius share more about the Phase Four and More for St. Mary's Construction Project.
|
Click the GiveCentral Logo to securely and conveniently donate to the
Phase Four and More for St. Mary's, Fr. Barry Preservation Fund.
Thank you for your generosity!
|
September 28-29
Frophseshmanmore Retreat
T
his weekend is our
annual Frophseshmanmore retreat. The retreat is led by juniors in high school! Please pray for our amazing junior volunteers and all the freshman and sophomore students who will be coming. For many of them it will be their first retreat! Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. There will be no COR or SOK meetings this Sunday night- see ya next week!
|
 Celebrating your 25th Wedding
Anniversary this year?
Anyone celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, we would love to celebrate your happy occasion
during the 5 PM Mass on October 5!
Please rsvp to:
Parish Office at 847-234-0205.
|
We need gift cards!
The Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program is running very low on gift cards. They use gift cards to purchase household items, food, toiletries, etc. for their clients (including our family, Claudina and children). St Mary's would like to help and collect gift cards for the Resettlement Program. The most useful gift cards would be for places like
Walgreens, Walmart, Target, Jewel, Aldi (all denominations welcome because a client advocate shops with the client.) In addition, they can always use
Ventra passes also (1 day, month-long, or a regular card with money loaded on to it).
You may place the gift cards in an envelope addressed to "Refugees" and deliver to the Parish Office, or place in the collection basket (by September 30th).
Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do for our family and the program, especially during these challenging times!
|
Carmel Catholic High School is launching new speaker series, Spiritus. The mission of Spiritus is to inspire faith and dialogue in the local Church community. All events will be held at Carmel Catholic, are open to the public, and will be free admission. A brief overview of our first couple of events follows.
October 16:
"Broken Mary" presentation by Kevin Matthews
Join us as one of Chicago's most beloved radio personalities shares his inspiring journey from successful careers in comedy and radio with 10 million weekly listeners, to finding a broken Virgin Mary statue in a dumpster that changed the course of his life. Told with Matthews' signature humor, your heart will be moved and empowered to recognize the gift of God's love through His Heavenly Mother.
More Coming in 2020... For more information: CCHS Spiritus Speaker Series
|
We are excited to report there are a total of 320 students from 224 families enrolled in Religious Education classes this year! As classes began, students gathered with parents for an opening prayer service. After the classes were dismissed to classrooms, parents stayed for an informational meeting on the year ahead.
St. Mary's RE program follows the curriculum of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Although parents are the primary educators of the Faith, our program provides a structured and systematic study of the Catholic Faith where children learn traditional prayers, read Scripture, develop faith concepts and vocabulary, as well as make use of service opportunities to help others.
Please check our website for more detailed information.
Important Reminders:
October 1
-
7th Grade Parent & Student Service Meeting at 7:00pm in the Multi-purpose Room
October 5/6
-
8th Grade Confirmation Enrollment Masses (all Masses
except
6:00pm Sunday)
October 6
-
Intensive Classes resume (immediately following the 8:00am Mass) 9:00-11:45am
October 21
-
8th Grade Parent, Student & Sponsor Meeting in the Church (not Gym)
|
Thank You!
A huge thank you to everyone who participated in the school's first ever 5K Fun Run & 1 Mile Walk! Whether you walked, ran, volunteered, or cheered us on- it was a great community event! We had over 310 participants!
We couldn't do this without the support of all of you, the participants & volunteers, so a huge Thank You for being there!
|
Save the Date / May 11 - 21, 2020
Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of St. Paul
Join Fr. Mark Augustine and Deacon Bob Thomas for a 10-day pilgrimage through Greece and Turkey, stopping at many of the sites St. Paul visited on his apostolic journeys to proclaim the Gospel! We will spend three nights in Athens, three nights in Thessalonica, and three nights on the Aegean Sea as we visit many local islands, including Patmos, where the Book of Revelation was written.
To register, please pick up a packet at the Church entrances and complete the registration forms. Spots will be given on a first come, first serve basis. Please contact Deacon Bob Thomas for further information at:
Bthomas@churchofstmary.org
. You may also find the flyer w/ paper and online registration by clicking HERE.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Donate or Register for Events
|
|
|
Church of St. Mary Website
Bookmark our parish website for information on all parish ministries, events, contact information and more!
Information on our Mass Schedule, Sacraments, School, Religious Education, Youth Ministry, Guild of St. Mary, Liturgical Ministries, Bible Study, RCIA, Bulletins, Gospel Reading Podcasts, Homily Podcasts and more can all be found on our webpage.
Like the Church of St. Mary Facebook Page
Like the Church of St. Mary Facebook page to see regular updates from popular Catholic pages such as the Archdiocese of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich, and the USCCB. See news from the School of St. Mary, Guild of St. Mary, Religious Education Program, Youth Ministry and upcoming events at our parish!
Homilies & Gospel Readings!
Listen to past Gospel Readings and homilies anytime, anywhere! Click on the podcast image or goto our website. Click on Multimedia/Podcasts.
Enjoy!
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
|
