St. Paul the Apostle
Parish
www.stpauljoliet.com
815-725-1527
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Dear brothers and sisters,
In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus told his followers, his disciples, that “anyone who wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” This doesn’t sound like “good news” to me. Yet our decision to follow Jesus completely will have a cost.
Liz and I just watched the newly released “Fatima Movie.” It tells the story of the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three young children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917 as they tended their sheep. The visionaries were Lucia, age 10, Francisco, age 9 and his sister, Jacinta, age 8. The story is told through the eyes of Lucia, who later became Sister Lucia. Although the film relates the message of Fatima, to pray, especially the Rosary for peace and conversion of hearts, but the part of the story that I found most challenging was the suffering that these three young children endured as a result of their encounter with the Mother of God. They were accused of making up the story by their parents, they were persecuted by the secular government officials and even interrogated by the Church authorities without recanting their stories. As disciples of Jesus we are given a message to share with others. This message, which is good news to us may not be such good news to others. St. Paul even said the message of the cross is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. Some of us have experienced this unbelief in our own families.
Two weeks ago, 16 men were ordained deacons by Bishop Pates for the Diocese of Joliet. He presented each with the Book of the Gospels with the words, “Receive the Gospel of the Lord, whose herald you now are; believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach.” Although priests and deacons are called to teach the truths of our faith, all baptized Catholics share in this mission, especially in our homes and in our circles of influence. To convey the truths of the faith isn’t just an academic exercise, but it begins with belief, which is nurtured through an intimate relationship with the One who is Truth. This intimacy transforms “our stony hearts into hearts of flesh,” making us instruments of God’s love and peace. Lord make us instruments of your peace!
Your brother in Christ,
Deacon John
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Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta
1910 – 1997
September 5 – Memorial (In certain countries/ecclesiastical provinces)
Liturgical Color: White
Patron Saint of Calcutta, India
She equals in holiness and generosity the great
‘Teresas’ she chose to emulate
Anjezë (Agnes) Gonxha Bojaxhiu was a tiny Albanian woman whose strong-as-iron faith served as a fulcrum to budge the world closer to God. She was born into a devout family in Skopje, in present day Macedonia. Her parent’s marriage had been arranged, according to custom, and was happy and fruitful. The family was prosperous and regularly helped the poor and abandoned. There was seldom not a destitute person sharing the family table at lunchtime. Little Agnes benefited from the then recent reforms of Pope Saint Pius X lowering the age of First Holy Communion and thus received the Eucharist for the first time at the very young age of five and a half. After her father died young, Agnes’ firm, loving, and religious mother had the greatest influence on her. The vibrant life of her local parish also impacted her faith. The priests there talked about the missionary work of the Church in far away lands, and Agnes internalized every word they spoke. Feeling the call to serve Christ and the Church, Agnes decided to become a nun with the Loretto Sisters who were based in Dublin, Ireland. So when she was eighteen, a large procession of family, classmates, and parishioners accompanied her to Skopje’s train station. After tender farewells, everyone wept and waved handkerchiefs as the train slowly pulled out of the station, and Agnes leaned out the window and wept and waved her handkerchief back at them until the train disappeared around a bend. Agnes would never see her beloved mother again. In the convent, Agnes chose the name Thérèse in honor of the Saint of Lisieux. But another nun had already chosen that name, so Agnes became Teresa, spelling the name in the Spanish style. After learning the rule of her Order and basic English, she sailed on the long voyage to India, arriving in Calcutta in January 1929. India would be her home for the rest of her life. Sister Teresa taught at a girls’ primary school in Calcutta, taking final vows in 1937, and was known warmly as Mother Teresa. Due to her open personality, self discipline, deep prayer life, organizational abilities, and native intelligence, she became the school principal in 1944. Everyone loved her, especially her students, and Mother Teresa was a contented nun doing important work for the Church. Her youthful zeal had been fulfilled. But then something happened to alter her life’s course, something entirely unexpected. In 1946, while riding on a train to her annual retreat, Mother Teresa received her “call within a call.” Jesus told her, by mysterious means, that He desired her to serve Him in the poorest of the poor, who were so ignorant of Him and of His love. She must start a religious order. Two years of organizing passed until, in August 1948, Mother Teresa donned her famous white and blue sari for the first time. She left the comfort and predictability of the Loretto convent school for a hard life on the street among the slums of the poorest, hungriest, and dirtiest people in Calcutta. Her order, the Missionaries of Charity, was formally established in 1950 and drew its first sisters from among Mother Teresa’s former students. The order soon exploded with growth and expanded internationally. Missionaries of Charity sisters worked with AIDS patients, the dying, the starving, in soup kitchens, orphanages, and directly with the poor lying in filthy gutters. By the time of her death in 1997, the Missionaries of Charity had over four thousand sisters serving in about one hundred and twenty countries. Mother Teresa became internationally famous, an icon of charity and peace, for all the right reasons. After her death it was revealed that she struggled to feel God’s presence for much of her life but persevered in prayer and sacrifice nonetheless. She was constructed of steel, in perpetual motion, and operated on almost no food or sleep. All of her religious sisters are similarly indestructible. She was canonized by Pope Francis in 2016.
Saint Mother Teresa, your generosity to the poor and destitute inspired millions. Your life of dedication to prayer, to the Church, and to the dignity of all life inspires us still. May we emulate your life of total service and total love by loving God first.
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Please click the link below to register for mass. Be sure to select the time that you wish to attend. You will receive a confirmation email upon registering to confirm your spot.
The Guidelines for attending mass can be found
below at the end if the email blast.
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Part Time Maintenance for Church and School
St Paul the Apostle Parish in Joliet is seeking to fill a Part Time Maintenance position for our Church and School. This integral role will be accountable for performing a variety of general maintenance duties as assigned by the Director of Facilities. These duties will include: building repairs and maintenance, lawn and grounds care, custodial duties, and other projects as assigned by the Director. Some cleaning and sanitizing duties may be requested. Flexible hours will be needed during the winter months for snow and ice removal. Given the breath and scope of this ministerial position, the right person will have strong organizational skills and value attention to detail. Must be able to multi-task and prioritize and work well with others. This is a part time, non-exempt position. Normal hours are from Monday to Thursday, 10am – 2pm. If you feel you would thrive in this type of position, please send your resume to maintenance@stpauljoliet.com. Thank you for considering joining our team.
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Do you need morning or afternoon extended care for your children? Do your children like to have a quiet place to do homework, read a book, play games and have socially distant fun before or after school? Check out our Extended Day Program!! See the link on the
SchoolSpeak homepage or email
for more information
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Seeking Someone Spectacular |
Extended Day Care Program Student Supervisor needed on Mondays and as a substitute, if needed. Hours are after school from 3:00 – 6:00 pm. College students are welcome to inquire. Please call Mrs. Colleen Brodhead to inquire or receive more information (815) 725-3390 or cbrodhead@stpauljoliet.com.
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Curriculum Night is scheduled for Wednesday, September 9th
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
We ask that one parent attend the Curriculum Night presentations to limit the number of people in each classroom. We will not have a general presentation. Parents will report right to their student's classroom at 6:00 pm. We will offer two presentations to that parents with students in multiple grade levels can see the teachers' presentations. More information will be sent to parents in the coming weeks.
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As we continue on our journey to keep our teachers, staff and students safe and healthy, we want parents to know what will happen if a student gets sick. Learn more about our preparations for returning to school at https://bit.ly/2EgwPGS. #WeTeachMore
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You Know You Went To A Catholic School If
- Those who didn’t have nuns thought the school was haunted by nuns! Especially the girls bathroom. You could imagine Sr. Irene or whichever nun once taught there now a ghostly spirit making sure the girls weren’t smoking in the stall
- You had to remember your uniforms for school and you got demerits if you forgot your blazer. And you might get sent home if your skirt was too short. Also, your socks had to cover your ankles because, well, I suppose the nuns thought ankles were a temptation from the devil.
- Uniforms were often the ugliest of colors. Green & Yellow. Scarlet & White. Plaid!
- Being disciplined! Remember being forced to stand in front of the room, or in the corner, or in
- Having a school locker. Trying to remember your lock combination.
- Having spelling bees. Having handwriting lessons. Good penmanship was next to Godliness!
- Standing in front of the class to read.
- Having so many desks in the classroom, the aisles were only three-feet wide.
- Being left-handed and forced to learn to write with your right hand.
- Having a school dance and being told to leave room for the Holy Spirit.
And so many other memories! Kids today will have their own memories. The pandemic will be a blip.
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Religious Education and School Parents - How You Can Help
Thank you for choosing to partner with your parish or school to form your child in Catholic faith! Did you know that actually you are your child's first and most important catechist (teacher of the faith)? Your parish religious education program or Catholic school depends on what you do at home to reinforce what we teach. Nothing we do will make your child have faith or stay a Catholic later in life, unless you participate in Catholic faith in your family. Don't worry if you are not sure what to do! We are here to help you in your very important role.
How you can help
- Pray at home with your child. Start by using and helping your child learn the familiar traditional prayers which are often found in the back of your child's textbook. You may also receive some assistance with prayer ideas from items sent home your child's catechist or teacher.
- Take your child to Mass. Studies have shown that young adults who attended Mass as children and adolescents are more likely to remain Catholics when they leave home.
- Talk about faith with your child. Ask them about God. Share stories about times when you felt closest to God. Make it a natural topic of conversation.
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Support what your child is learning. Talk about what they are learning, just like you would any other subject. Your child's catechist or teacher may send home parent pages that explain what is being covered in the current unit, or you can find this information at the end of chapters in your child's textbook. This parent brochure, about the Diocese of Joliet Faith Formation Curriculum, can help.
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FOLLOW YOUTH MINISTRY
Meets weekly on Tuesday's 5:00-8:00 in the Parish Center courtyard. Bring a chair and don't forget your mask. For more information contact
Jeremy Hylka @
jhylka@stpauljoliet.com
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Greeting to all weeders (future Planters),
I would like to thank everyone that has pitched in so far in the weeding endeavors. And a very special thanks goes to Tom Piskur who has been working 2-3 times a week if not more. Nearly everyone listed in the addressees has helped on one of the 2 scheduled Saturdays or some time during the week.That is fantastic! I've had many uplifting comments from parishioners and passersby. Our work is being noticed and appreciated. The following message (starting with PROGRESS section), is what I put into St Paul's Constant Contact e :mail, but that doesn't appear until Thursday. I'm hoping to recruit more people. It's getting close to Fall planting time and there still is a lot of work to be done. Not only do we have more weeds to pull, but we have some dead/dying shrubbery that needs to be removed before they can be replaced. I'm hoping that we can do some soil prep before the end of September. I'm looking into getting some soil samples taken. And we need a plan for which I need some help. Do you know any parishioners with a "eye" for garden design? They would be a great source of input and guidance. There is just a lot of 'stuff' that needs to be done yet. And hopefully we can get to a point where we don't have to worry about distancing ourselves so this can be more of a party atmosphere. We won't have to just "whistle while (we) work", we'll be able to actually converse and joke around while we work.
PROGRESS: The progress with the Weeding efforts are proceeding slowly but surely. The beds around the church have been weeded with the bed edging hopefully completed this week. Weeding is continuing on the beds around the school and office. I know many of you haven’t been able to go to mass and see what’s going on, so I hope to have some before and after pictures for next weeks “Constant Contact”. We are currently planning to work every Saturday from
9am-Noon, and we can always use some more helpers. It looks like it will be another beautiful day this Saturday! Yes, I know it’s Labor Day Weekend. But aren’t we supposed to be laboring on LABOR day?? Just joking!! (You have to know I’m retired, and I need to get off my ___ and labor a bit). So, if you are available, you will be welcomed “with open arms”.
PLANNING: I would like to meet with any interested parties to discuss ideas for Fall planting. I have my visions, but this is OUR parish not MY parish. AND … you don’t need physical strength to use your imagination. With the best time for planting perennials rapidly approaching (Mid to End of September), I would like to try to meet after this Saturday morning’s cleanup. (Sept 5, Noon until ) If you are interested, just show up at noon in the parking lot between the school and the office, or send your contact information to me at jklikape@aol.com so I can keep you informed of any activities related to this ministry.
I do not want to dissuade anyone from donating plants. I know there are parishioners that will do that. But what I hope does not happen is, all of a sudden, we become ”buried” in a lot of plants (I’m not dead yet), with nowhere to plant them within the plan, or the ground isn’t ready to receive them, or not enough people are available to do the work. There are a lot of “ifs” there but there is a lot that needs to be done before we “go crazy”. Some things will have to “wait ‘til next year”. I ask that you be patient and wait until we can put together a workable plan. And we could use some help doing that. We want this to be a project that the whole parish and school can be proud of.
STAYING INFORMED: If you are interested in up-to-date information related to this ministry, please send me your contact information, preferably e:mail. Once we come up with a plan, we can prepare a list of specific perennials that are available and/or are needed. Wouldn’t it be beautiful and attractive to have color throughout the year? We can make it happen!
John Klika
St. Paul Garden Ministry
(815) 325-7400
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Please continue to pray for our parishioners that are in need of prayers at this time
If there is someone you would like to add to the prayer list please
contact the Parish Office at 815-725-1527 or email parishsec@stpauljoliet.com
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September 5th
Evelyn Davis
September 6th
Don Cordano 8AM
Marion & Dorothy Lis
The People of St. Paul the Apsotle
Rosemary Zielinski 10AM
Deceased Members of the
Klika & Ellis Families
September 7th
For All Those Who Labor
September 8th
John & Rosemary McCormack
September 9th
Joyce Weston
September 10th
Jones & Scholtes Families
September 11th
Dan Kobe
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Pope Francis Tweet
of the Week
The current pandemic has highlighted our independence: we are all linked to each other, for better or for worse. Therefore, to come out of this crisis better than before, we have to do so together, all of us, in solidarity.
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Song Of The Week
Lay Me Down
by Chris Tomlin
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Recipe Of The Week
Restaurant-Style Garlic Mashed Potatoes
by: Darcy Klika
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb. red potatoes (8 sm.)
quartered, skin on
1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt, divided
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Directions
Place potatoes (with skin on, and quartered) into a large pot, cover with water and add 1 tsp. of the kosher salt. bring to a boil, then cook at a simmer about 25 minutes. Put remaining kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder and sour cream into mixing bowl. Stir in Parmesan cheese and cubed butter. When potatoes are tender, drain and put into the mixing bowl with mixture. Mix until smooth, then serve.
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All of these delicious recipes can be found in the Cookbook for Chipata. Please contact the Parish Office to purchase a cookbook. The holidays will be quickly approaching and what a great gift this would make. |
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If you would like a blanket to give to a loved one or perhaps you may need one, please call the parish office. We handed out our first prayer blanket last week, The blanket was blessed by Fr. Mark and is now providing warmth and prayers.
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Please click the link below to register for mass. Be sure to select the time that you wish to attend. You will receive a confirmation email upon registering
to confirm your spot.
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