April 17, 2020: Divine Mercy Sunday
Parish Newsletter
The Church of St. Mary :: 201 E. Illinois Lake Forest, IL 60045
Virtual Office: 847-234-0205 :: Email: receptionist@churchofstmary.org
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From the Desk of Fr. Mark Augustine, Administrator
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April 17, 2020
Dear St. Mary's,
Thank you for all the outpouring of love and support as I worked through my illness. I am on the mend but still needing to take it easy for the time being. It is my sincere hope that I will be able to get back to normal soon, whatever "normal" means these days. I hope that while none of us were able to celebrate Holy Week and Easter in the way we desired and are accustomed to, it was still a time of prayer and grace. Churches were empty, yes. Thankfully though, so was the tomb. That is what we were preparing for through the Holy Season of Lent: an empty tomb and a Resurrected Lord! Alleluia!
Personally, as a priest, I found Holy Week extremely difficult. Not being able to even live stream Masses during these most sacred days; no washing of the feet on Holy Thursday; no veneration of the Cross on Good Friday, no Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil; and no packed Church (& gym) on Easter Sunday. It was odd and a little unsettling. Everything felt a little...less...
I am incredibly grateful, however, that our faith is not simply about how I feel or what my personal experience of everything was. Our faith is tangible and concrete. The graces of Holy Week, the various ways in which we were able to pray, and the fact that the Paschal Mystery of Jesus' Passion, Death, and Resurrection were all present! Easter was unlike any other Easter is our lives. That's ok. We couldn't pray it as we hoped for. That is alright. It is alright because of the fact that sin and death have been conquered and the victory of life has been achieved through Jesus Christ! Christ banished the darkness and has allowed his light to enter into the world once more! In that we place our trust and hope. In that we find our reason to keep moving forward. There is a reason why Lent is only 40 days while the Easter season is 50 days.
The Second Sunday of Easter which we celebrate this week is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday. In the early 20th century Jesus appeared to a young Polish nun, Sr. Faustina, and revealed the image of Divine Mercy. The light pouring for Christ's Sacred heart are red and blue, symbolic of the blood and water which gushed from his side on Good Friday. He told St. Faustina that what flowed from his heart was an ocean of mercy! How wonderful that is. The mercy of God as an ocean, far more than we could ever take in. Yet it flows out of love for all of us. May we receive that mercy in our own lives with grace and peace.
Under the image of Jesus is a simple scroll with the words: Jesus, I trust in you. Perhaps we all need to remind ourselves of that phrase right now. Let it be a mantra in your daily routine - instead of singing Happy Birthday while washing your hands, repeat "Jesus, I trust in you." Before settling in for the latest movies or television watching, repeat the phrase. Say this when you wake up in the morning and before you go to bed at night. Allow your trust in Jesus to be secure. Allow your trust in Jesus to be complete. Trust that God will continue to guide us and get us through the pandemic. He will grant us new life. He will restore and guide us.
Jesus, I trust in you.
May we continue through this Easter season as a people of hope and joy!
Fr. Mark Augustine
Administrator
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Divine Mercy Sunday & Praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet
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The Church celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday a week after we celebrate Jesus' Resurrection from the dead on Easter Sunday. Divine Mercy Sunday is a feast of the Church.
The message of devotion to Jesus as Divine Mercy is based on the writing of St. Faustina
Kowalska
. St. Faustina followed the guidance of her spiritual director and wrote a diary of 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God's mercy. Even prior to her death in 1938, the devotion to the Divine Mercy began to spread. St. Faustina was beatified on April 18, 1993 and canonized on April 30, 2000. Her feast day is October 5.
The message of mercy is that God loves us - all of us - no matter how great our sins. He wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins so we can call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy. It is a message we can call to mind simply by remembering
A
-
B
-
C
.
A - Ask
for His Mercy. God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour out His mercy on us and on the whole world.
B - Be
merciful. God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us.
C - Completely
trust in Jesus. God wants us to know that the graces of His mercy are dependent on our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we receive.
Praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet
1. Begin with the Sign of the Cross, 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary and The Apostles Creed.
2.
Then on the Our Father Beads say the following:
"Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world."
3.
On the 10 Hail Mary Beads say the following:
"For the sake of His sorrowful Passion,
have mercy on us and on the whole world."
(Repeat step 2 and 3 for all five decades).
4.
Conclude
by praying the following three time:
"Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world."
The Divine Mercy chaplet is a beautiful and powerful prayer. You can find
more
information
at the following
link
:
www.thedivinemercy.org
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April 19, 2020: Diving Mercy Sunday Gospel Reflection
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We pick up almost where we left off in John's gospel. It is still that first day of the week, the first day of a new way of being. In this gospel the risen Christ will commission the disciples, give them the Holy Spirit whereas in Luke's gospel Pentecost, the receipt of the Holy Spirit, occurs on the 50th day of Easter.
The disciples are in the upper room locked up in fear of the religious elite and the Roman Empire; afraid of being caught and put to death as Jesus was. The risen Christ appears to them and the first thing he says is "Peace be with you". He will say it twice in fact. The first time to dispel any fear the disciples have. Fear of the authorities as well as the internal turmoil they wrestled with knowing that they abandoned Jesus in his greatest need. However Jesus came to offer them peace. Not the peace of the world which is fleeting, but the peace of Christ which is eternal.
Now that their fear is alleviated, the risen Christ will offer them peace a second time. This peace is to give them their God given mission. "So as the Father has sent me, I send you". Jesus is commissioning the disciples to carry on his mission and ministry to the ends of the earth. What is the heart of Jesus' ministry? Forgiveness. It sounds simple, but we humans know that is not always the case. If we want oneness with God we must forgive others for if we don't there will be a barrier between us and that person(s). That barrier prevents us for unity; unity with God and each other.
The author is writing to an audience that never knew Jesus as he walked the earth, they only knew the risen Christ. We have that in common with them! We walk by faith, faith in the teachings of Jesus and carrying out that ministry in our everyday lives. When we see God in everyone, we must try to see things from their perspective. In trying to understand others we build empathy and compassion. We may not always agree with others but we may try to understand them and live in the knowledge that they, like us, are the beloved of God. That is what it means to be a follower, a disciple of Jesus. God loves each of us infinitely and we are in turn to pass on that love to the world.
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Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you.'
Are you good at making people feel welcome? Many of us can probably do a much better job at this. When we make people feel welcome, we make them feel like they are included instead of being excluded. A simple "hello" and a smile goes a long way, whether in person or in the virtual meetings of these days.
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Family Resources & Activities
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We are here to support your family as you discover new ways to share faith. New content continues to be added to help families dive deeper in their relationship with God and the celebration of our Catholic identity. There are activities for children to better understand the Mass as you attend from home, faith-filled videos to enhance your family's celebration of Easter, as well as various faith activities you can incorporate into your child's day. These resources can be found on the
Religious Education website, under the "Formation at Home" tab.
Highlights Include:
- Mass Resources: Children's Missalette Videos, Printable Mass Prep Coloring Sheets, Printable Tiny Saints Mass Reflection and more
- Home Catechesis Links: Strong Catholic Families Materials, Growing Up Catholic, Word on Fire by Bishop Barron
- Easter Video: A collection of videos that can be shared throughout the season to help celebrate and discuss this blessed time
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Plenary Indulgence in Time of Crisis
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Plenary Indulgence
The Apostolic Penitentiary, a branch of the Vatican offices which focuses on mercy and the forgiveness of sins, issued a
decree granting a Plenary Indulgence
during this extraordinary time. Here are some of the ways we can still participate in the life of grace and the life of the Church during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- As a refresher, here is a brief summary on the Church's teaching on grace, or participation in the divine life:
- Fundamentally, indulgences (plenary/full or partial) refer to a repairing and healing of the damage inflicted by sin.
- In the English language, the word "indulgence" carries the connotation of "permission" or "license to do something." In the Church and with regard to sin, this certainly is not the case.
- In traditional language, this is the "remission of temporal punishment due to sin." That we, through prayer and action recommended by the Church, can engage in this healing and repair is not because of our own efforts, merit, or power.
- The Church, drawing on the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ and the Communion of Saints speaks of drawing grace from the "treasury of the Church."
- In this moment of isolation and disconnection, the proposal to seek an indulgence re-affirms our connection in the Body of Christ and with the saints.
- The Plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful suffering from Coronavirus, who are subject to quarantine by order of the health authority in hospitals or in their own homes if, with a spirit detached from any sin, they:
- unite spiritually through the media to the celebration of Holy Mass, the recitation of the Holy Rosary, to the pious practice of the Way of the Cross or other forms of devotion,
- one way to carry this out would to be pray one of the seven penitential psalms, which are: Psalm 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 138 and 143.
- or if at least they will recite the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and a pious invocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, offering this trial in a spirit of faith in God and charity towards their brothers and sisters,
- with the will to fulfill the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer according to the Holy Father's intentions), as soon as possible, when the suspensions are lifted.
- In addition, health care workers, first responders, family members and all those who, following the example of the Good Samaritan, exposing themselves to the risk of contagion, care for the sick of Coronavirus according to the words of the divine Redeemer: 'Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends' (Jn 15: 13), will obtain the same gift of the Plenary Indulgence under the same conditions.
- Especially in this challenging moment, seeking an indulgence is a way of doing something spiritually and a way of praying for ourselves and for others.
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During these uncertain times some of our parishioners have reached out to the Parish Office either wanting to volunteer while others need assistance. If you would like to volunteer or are in need of assistance, please fill out the appropriate form and someone will be in touch with you.
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TV, Radio & Online Mass Offerings
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Here is a List of Places You may watch Mass on TV, Radio or Online:
- TV: EWTN
- DirecTV Channel 370
- Dish Network Channel 261
- Verizon Fios Channel 285
- XFinity Channel 33, 291, 1668
- Online:
- Relevant Radio:
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Prayers for the Sick and Deceased
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Please remember in your prayers those who are sick, especially:
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Pierre Adam
Renata Adamiec
Peggy Adams
Beny Alvarez
Alexa Anderson
Baby Bower Triplets:
Rose Marie, Adelaide Marie,
and Josephine Marie
Baby Mercer
Baby Peter John O'Rourke
Elvera Baeza
Dolores Beck
Beverly Beinlich-Pasquesi
Jack Brown
Mason Jeffrey Browner
Baby Virginia Bunimovich
Jerry Burns
Francesco Camoletto
Nancy Carani
Nova Carlson
Sember Carlson
Luis and Maria Cardenas
Michael Carpenter
Jeffrey Chicoine
Carolyn Cimarrusti
Jacqueline Cimarrusti
Marianna Cimarrusti
Charles Cook
Virginia Cordoba
Mary Elizabeth Cran
Greg DeBoer
Louis Degaetano
Mimi Degaetano
Mike Dellefield
Lewis Dilts
Joan Dolan
Annamarie Elfering
Hannah Erickson
Susan Ewert
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Abby Furco
Esperanza Galikay
Dorothy Gimbut
Jenny Green
Jeanne Gross
Jesus Guzman
Edward Halle
Elizabeth Hand
Margaret Hartman
Jack Hempstead
John Herbert
Hannah Hodgson
Patricia P. Huber
Juan Hurandas
Rafael Ibarra
Shirley Jacksack
Dolores Jansyn
Dick Jaworski
Christian Jenko
Dr. Mickey Jester
Mark Kalbus
Raine Kamm
Oceana Kashul
Mason Kelly
Genevieve Kluza
Patsy Leonard
Caroline Lyczko
Fely Macalalad
Angela Martinez
Carolina Martinez
Ralph Mastro
Will Matthei-Schmidt
Derrick Mathews
Donna Mathews
Kathryn McConnell
Janet McCue
Margaret Mary McIntyre
Mary Anne Minich
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Dolores Morrison
Rick Nacius
Barbara Neis
Dana Nelson
David O'Brien
Peter O'Brien
Joaquin Padilla
John Paleczny
Tom Palella
Mary Margaret Pawl
Mary Butterfield Peddle
James Dean Penar
Lisa Pommer
Lil Porter
Marianne Powers
Carol Pozdel
Marcia Ries
Mathew Rowley
Susan Schey
Leroy Schwaba
Bill Shafer
Colleen Sheerer
Tai (Pascal) Shin
Martin Sobey
Joan Sparrow
Ellen Sreenan
Debbie Sternberg
John Sternberg
Maureen Strassburger
Elzbieta Szymanska
Leonard Teifeld
Linda Trueblood-Lambert
Joseph Urso
Amanda Van Vleet
Brittany Van Vleet
Jim Wenzel
Martha Williams
Barbara Wilson
Robert Yale
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Please remember in your prayers those who have gone to their eternal rest with Our Lord, especially:
Robert Price (husband of Phyllis Price)
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Mass Intentions will be prayed for during a private daily Mass.
April 17, 2020:
Mario Spizzirri; Ehret-Carey Families; Mary Ellen Rohrbach; Peter Gillespie
April 18, 2020:
Michael Bryant; Anna Nowak; Bob Pommer & Anna & Carl Deckmeyer; Dorina Mentuccia
April 19, 2020:
Donald Wilson; Betty Milite; Charles; Joseph Kleinbrook; Irene Oddi; Robert LeClercq, Jr.; People of St. Mary's
April 20, 2020:
Marie Richards; Deno Moroni; Christopher Weier; Mark Kalbus
April 21, 2020:
George Grumley; Joan P. McKenna; William Rohrbach, Sr.; Betty Milite
April 22, 2020:
Dennis Jayesuria; Robert LeClercq
April 23, 2020:
Jack Wolfe; Rob Dehoney; Betty Milite; Joseph Sitka
April 24, 2020:
Sara Cappeller; Melburn & Suzanne Laundry, Sr,; June Lorge; Morgan Fellows
April 25, 2020:
Tom McDougal; Helen J. Kiwala; Aldo Raganelli; Eliseo Elisei
April 26, 2020:
Robert LeClercq, Jr,; Zofia Adamiec; Mary Margaret Center; Joseph Steele; Megan Starsiak;
Deceased Members of the Atkinson Family; People of St. Mary's
If you would like to request a special Mass Intention, please email our Parish Receptionists at: receptionist@churchofstmary.org and they will kindly assist you!
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Please Continue to Give to the Church of St. Mary
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PLEASE CONTINUE TO GIVE to the Church of St. Mary
Although public Masses are suspended, Parish Staff are still working to support our Parish as well as our School. The Parish will continue to incur utility, insurance and maintenance expenses. Payroll and benefits are still being paid, yet the collection basket is not being passed on Sunday. Please prayerfully consider continuing to support your parish by mailing your contribution to the Parish Office or scheduling your online donation.
Ways To Give
Mail Your Contribution:
Church of St. Mary
c/o Business Office
201 E. Illinois
Lake Forest, IL 60045
OR
Online Giving:
Schedule your recurring donations via our online Giving safe and secure portal, GiveCentral. You don't have to leave your home. Goto:
Church of St. Mary GiveCentral or click the image below.
Thank you!
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Donate or Register for Events
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Church of St. Mary Website
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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.
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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!
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