Shanah Tovar!
Just as there are holy days in the Catholic liturgical calendar, there are also holy days in the Jewish calendar. This month, Jewish people are celebrating two holy days. The first is Rosh Hashanah, the first holy day of the Jewish Civil New Year and is observed on the first day of the seventh month. The second is Yom Kippur, a day of atonement and forgiveness of sins, observed on the tenth day of the seventh month and is the holiest day in the Jewish year.
Catholics and Jews have a surprising amount of commonality in our holy days. There are several themes that we share. After all, God chose to fulfill his salvific mission through Jesus, born as a Jew. Those traditions are not lost on us Christians and many of the sacraments we celebrate, including Baptism and Eucharist, have a Jewish root.
The Catholic liturgical year begins on the first day of Advent in anticipation of Christ's birth. Jewish tradition holds Rosh Hashanah as not only the first holy day of the year, but also the date that God created Adam and Eve. On Rosh Hashanah, Jews attend synagogue and sound the
shovar
, a ram's horn. Rosh Hashanah is intrinsically connected to Yom Kippur, as it's the day ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur that the three accounts of the book of life are rendered by God. The righteous are entered into the book of life, the wicked are blotted out, and the intermediate are given a ten day period to reflect, repent, and choose righteousness.
In Jewish custom, Yom Kippur is the only day that forgiveness of sins can be obtained. It can only be obtained after the ten day period of reflection and atonement after Rosh Hashanah. Yom Kippur is the final day of atonement in which the person seeking forgiveness begins a 25 hour period of fasting and prayer, spending time in the synagogue.
If this seems familiar to you, it's because the Catholic Church does something very similar. When we've sinned we should make a thorough examination of conscience and confess our sins regularly with a sincere heart and contrition. But more specifically, we have a forty-day period of preparation for the Paschal Triduum in which t
hrough
prayer, penance, repenting of sins, almsgiving, and self-denial we make straight our paths and prepare the way of the Lord.
As you can see, we share traditions with the Jewish faith, as this is the faith on which ours is based.
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Important Upcoming Dates!
Sunday October 1st- Family Mass (Catechetical Sunday)
Sunday October 8th- Blessing of Pets (after noon mass)
Friday, October 13th- 100th Aniversary of final Fatima Apparition
Monday October 16th- Baptismal Preparation Class
Saturday October 28th- PreCana Class
Tuesday October 31st- All Hallows Eve
Wednesday November 1st- All Saints Day (Holy Day)
Thursday November 2nd- All Souls Day
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Shop for Schools on Roscoe Street between Damen and Western Thursday, 10-5-17 from 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 - 20% back to SJS
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St. Josaphat Private Wine Tasting Event at VIN!
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OCT 26th from 7-8:30pm at
VIN Chicago, 1836 N. Elston Ave
Join us on Thursday OCT 26th at 7pm as we experience some new wines and and taste some of VIN Chicago's exclusive offering.
A portion of the proceeds benefit the St. Josaphat Unity Gala and VIN will graciously donate 10% of sales to St. Josaphat.
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Are you looking for a playgroup for your lil Tot?
Are you looking to connect with other mothers of Tots at St. Josaphat?
The Tots Playgroup meets Thursday mornings in the Rectory Dining Room from 10-11AM.
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Homeless Outreach:
Volunteers
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Signup to help with the Homeless Outreach Program
HERE!
We need volunteers on weekdays for about 2 hours. The Food Pantry operates from 9:30-11AM.
No experience needed!
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Religious Ed is starting up again.
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Has your Child been Baptized and received Reconciliation and First Communion?
Enroll your Children in Religious Ed on Tuesdays evenings from 6pm-7:30PM.
Contact Mary Jane Sullivan for more info and to schedule your child.
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On Saturday February 10, 2018, our Parish's will run our largest annual fundraiser: the "St. Josaphat Unity Gala". Just like the Unity Ball and Sweet Home Chicago fundraisers in the past, this event will bring us all together and raise essential funds for the place that we all call "home".
Pulling off an event of this size and scale requires a lot of volunteers, so we need YOUR HELP! Opportunities to volunteer at the Committee level or for small 1-2 hour tasks are available now and throughout the year. Please contact the Unity Gala Volunteer Coordinator, Stephanie Samz, at [email protected]
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Become an SJS Substitute Teacher
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St. Josaphat School is always on the lookout for new Substitute Teachers. If you are interested in becoming a Substitute Teacher for SJS please contact Jen Kowieski.
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Meeting dates for the SJ School Board:
SB meeting dates 2017-2018
(all regular meetings begin at 6:30pm in the Rectory)
Wednesday, September 6th, 2017
Monday, October 16th, 2017
Monday, November 20th, 2017
Monday, December 18th, 2017
Monday, January 22nd, 2018
Monday, February 26th, 2018
Monday, March 19th, 2018
Monday, April 16th, 2018
Monday, May 21st, 2018
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