St. Gertrude Chicago

All are Welcome

1420 W. Granville,

Chicago, IL 60660

773.764.3621

stgertrude1420@stgertrudechicago.org

www.stgertrudechicago.org

Bulletin for Sunday, March 3, 2024

Third Sunday of Lent

From Fr. Mike Gabriel

Lent is supposed to be a somber time, filled with penitence, prayer, sacrifice, fasting, abstinence, and almsgivings. Yet this Lent, the word that keeps coming up for me is gratitude. 

Of course, it is good for us to pause, acknowledge, and atone for our personal failings. It is good for us to follow the many practices of Lent, but as I stated on Ash Wednesday, we need to put our hearts into these Lenten practices. I love that Pope Francis recently said, “Pray more, complain less.” Right on! Yes, Lent is a time for all these things, but gratitude will come.

Lent is also a time of meeting Jesus. There are so many ways that we meet Jesus; in the sacraments, scripture, community, and through action. From these various encounters, gratitude will sprout. 

Last Sunday, I decided to put away anxieties, cynicism, complaining, worries, sadness, and despair (for the most part) and just observe. It started with listening to the lectors, watching the Eucharistic ministers, the ushers, seeing those giving to the Sunday collection and Almoners Ministry, and those going out on behalf of the parish to distribute alms, and seeing your hands stretched out for the Eucharist. This is gratitude in the midst of Lent.

This gratitude is not a Pollyanna way of viewing the world, acknowledging only goodness and ignoring bad things. Gratitude is what comes amid our difficulties, struggles, illness, loss, isolation, our… whatever it maybe. True gratitude comes when there is nothing else to do but acknowledge our limitations and gaze on ever present goodness, mercy, and love of God.

What could be more Lenten? Being fully aware that everything we have and are comes from God. In your everyday comings and goings, just stop and see the many ways you are meeting Jesus. 

When was the last time you were forgiven?

You are invited to participate in the many different times and ways to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

• Reconciliation is offered every Saturday afternoon in church from 4:00-4:45 pm. ( There is no confession on Holy Saturday, March 30.)
• The parish's communal reconciliation is Sunday, March 17 at 1:00 pm in church.
• Our Deanery's Reconciliation Service is Monday, March 25 at 7:00 pm. It will be held at St. Ita’s/Church of Mary Mother of God parish. Priests from the deanery will be there. 

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.

Collection for Asylum Seekers is This Weekend

This Lenten season, please consider sharing your gifts and donating to St. Gertrude's monthly food and supply drive for Care for Real, benefiting our neighbors in need.

This weekend, March 2-3, is our food and supply drive for asylum seekers. Items needed for migrants include: 

• Protein bars
• Ramen or other instant noodles 
• Snack size chips and crackers
• Juice boxes
• Fruit cups
• Menstrual pads *most urgent
• Gloves (only, no scarves, other winter wear, etc.)
• New underwear (all genders and sizes) *most urgent
• Shampoo/conditioner
• Body wipes
• Bar soap

Thank you for helping our neighbors in need!

What are the Scrutinies?



This Sunday, we begin the “Scrutinies.” These are special rites for the women and men who have been meeting weekly to explore their faith and their movement into the Catholic Church on Holy Saturday.

On the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays of Lent each year, we call these candidates and catechumens forward and invite them to reflect upon their past lives and commit themselves to repentance as they continue this spiritual journey to a new life. We celebrate these rites publicly in order for all of us, already baptized and confirmed Catholics, to reflect upon our own lives and how we have or have not lived up to the promises made at our own baptisms.

And, like these searchers, we also are invited to reject whatever has been sinful in our lives, leading us away from the Lord. We ask God’s help to cleanse us of our sins and follow the true path of Our Lord’s Gospel.

Lenten Simple Supper Planned for March 6

All are welcome to join us during Lent for Simple Suppers, offered weekly in the Ministry Center at 6:00 pm. This Wednesday, March 6, the Men's Basketball League will host the Simple Supper.

• Additional dates and hosts are:
• Wednesday, March 13 - the Prayer Porch Ministry 
• Wednesday, March 20 - TBD
• Wednesday, March 27 - the Gym Mass

Thank you to those who joined us last week!

The Silence of God: Finding God in a Void: Lenten Retreat/Bible Study on Wednesday, March 6

Please join Fr. Paul Àdajà for a special Bible study during Lent! The sessions will be held twice on Wednesdays, at 10:00-11:00 am and again from 7:00-8:00 pm. Here are the dates, topics, and the readings: 

• March 6 - Elijah on Horeb: 1 Kings 19: 1-18
• March 13 - The Syrophoenician Woman: Mark 7: 24-30
• March 20 - Jesus on the Cross: Mark 14: 32-42; 15:33-41; Psalm 22

The programs will be held in the Ministry Center. The evening sessions will be live-streamed on our Facebook page, facebook.com/stgertrudechicago/. You do not need a Facebook account to watch the live-stream!

Questions? Email Fr. Paul at padaja@stgertrudechicago.org.

Lenten Rosaries for Immigration Reform 2024: 40 Days of Prayer, Fasting and Action for Immigration Reform on Wednesday During Lent

All are welcome to join in the 2024 Multilingual Lenten Campaign for Immigration Reform. The campaign provides the opportunity to share one’s faith through prayer, fasting and acts of mercy to raise awareness of the need for immigration reform.

Please register at https://bit.ly/lenten-rosary. For more information, please visit https://pvm.archchicago.org/immigration-lenten-campaign.

The group meets every Wednesday at 6:00 pm during Lent, through March 27 via Zoom (Meeting ID: 84967379237) or Facebook Live at https://www.facebook.com/pastoral.migratoria/.

Contact Mauro Pineda at mpineda@archchicago.org or 312.534.8103 or Huguet Gonzalez at mdgonzalez@archchicago.org, with any questions and/or if you would like to pray a decade in your native language.

This Saturday is NCA's Soiree

The 2024 NCA Soiree will be held this Saturday, March 2 at Loyola University with food, drinks, dancing and a live auction. 



Tickets can be purchased at ncasoiree.com, where we're also selling tickets for the Grand Raffle. Three winners of the Grand Raffle will receive either $1,000, $2,000, or a $3,000 prize and the buyer does not need to be present at the event to win. 

Spring Ahead! Daylight Savings Time is Next Weekend

Reminder: We change clocks next weekend! Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, March 10. Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed on Saturday, March 9.

Confirmation Rehearsal and the Sacrament of Confirmation is Coming Up!

The Sacrament of Confirmation will take place next week. We ask that families of these students please note these important dates:

• Sunday, March 10 - After the 10:30 am Mass in Church, there is a rehearsal for Confirmation.
• Tuesday, March 12 - The Sacrament of Confirmation will take place at 7:00 pm in Church. Confirmation candidates are expected to attend a meeting with Bishop Bartosic at 6:30 pm in the Ministry Center. 
• Thursday, April 25 - There is a second Confirmation Retreat planned in the Ministry Center from 6:00 - 8:00 pm.

Questions? Contact Eloy Escamilla at eescamilla@stgertrudechicago.org. 

Next Book Club is Monday, March 11

Please join the book club in the Ministry Center on Monday, March 11 at 7:00 pm. We will discuss The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn, and we would love new voices and opinions. There are 22 copies of the book available at the Chicago Public Library.

On Monday, April 8, our group will talk about The Man Who Broke out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freeland. The library has 26 copies of the book.

Contact Lea Cloninger at 773.973.2465 or Sue Benjamin at 773.551.8401 with questions.

Blood Drive Planned for Sunday, March 17

The next parish blood drive will be held on Sunday, March 17 from 8:00 am–1:00 pm. The Vitalant Bloodmobile will be located on Glenwood Avenue in front of the entrance to St. Gertrude Church. 

Blood donors are greatly needed in our area to help local patients. Every blood donation can save up to 3 lives in our community!

Please prepare for your donation by eating well and hydrating before your appointment. Additionally, bring ID.

To schedule your donation, call Vitalant at 877.258.4825. An online registration link will be shared in the near future. Walk-ins are welcome!

For more information, contact Pat Knowles at pknowles2@gmail.com.

St. Gertrude’s Youth Mission Experience Planned for This Summer

Is your teen interested in making plans for the summer? Do they need service hours? All parish teens in sixth grade through high school are invited to take part in St. Gertrude's Youth Mission Experience! From July 22-26, the group will volunteer with a different Chicagoland organization each day.

There is a $100 fee for the week. A $50 deposit is required at the time of registration. Please note that there are scholarships available!

All participants will receive a t-shirt, water bottle, and a sports drawstring backpack.

To reserve a spot or to get more information, contact Eloy Escamilla at eescamilla@stgertrudechicago.org.

Growing in Faith: Jesus’ Protest in the Temple

Without any authority yet conferred on him, writes R. Donovan, Jesus “takes it on himself to do what is needed”, turning “everything upside down on one of the temple’s busiest days of the year.” Just as he was “thrown” by the Spirit into the desert a few weeks ago, now in the Temple, Jesus “throws” all out of his Father’s Temple.

I imagine Jesus’ inner drive, his anger, rooted in deep hurt, profound offense, and his awareness that his actions, though necessary to make it clear that what had become an acceptable practice was in fact a violation, an exploitation, an irreverence, would greatly anger the people in power and put his life at great risk.

Jesus’ actions bring to mind many in our own lifetime like Rosa Parks, Malala, and Rachel Corrie, or parents whose children were killed by gun violence, or Palestinians and those supporting them desperate for an end to the bombing, who, fed up with what is simply not right, have taken big and small, yet radical and risky, actions.

Each of us, at different moments in our lives, is nudged, perhaps “thrown” by the Spirit, by “enough is enough,” to act in small and sometimes big and riskier ways, to do what is needed, to move out of our comfort zone, to speak up, to march, to write letters, to donate to organizations, to engage in acts of civil disobedience, because in the moment we know that any injury to any part of the mystical body of Christ is an injury to all of us.

~ Jim Manzardo

NCA: Be a Part of Something Greater 



The best way to learn about Northside Catholic Academy and to see if it’s the right fit for your family is to walk through our halls and visit our classrooms. We encourage prospective parents to discover first-hand what makes NCA a Blue Ribbon School. We accept applications up to one year in advance.

Private admissions tours are available by 

appointment. Please contact Brad Gschwendtner at bgschwendtner@ncaschools.com or 773.743.6277 with any questions about our admissions process or to schedule a tour.



Ministers of the Word

• Saturday, March 2 at 5:00 pm - Joseph McMahon, Millie Slane
• Sunday, March 3 at 8:00 am - David Sullivan, Jennifer Kiedaisch
• Sunday, March 3 at 10:30 am - Sarah Millar, Patrick Robinson

Eucharistic Ministers

• Saturday, March 2 at 5:00 pm - Kathy Wall
• Sunday, March 3 at 8:00 am - Barb Daly
• Sunday, March 3 at 10:30 am - Tim Love, Michael Kowalsky, Steven Monti

Cantors

• Saturday, March 2 at 5:00 pm - Martin Downs
• Sunday, March 3 at 8:00 am - Michael Callahan
• Sunday, March 3 at 10:30 am - Rob Schroeder

Altar Servers

• Saturday, March 2 at 5:00 pm - TBA, cross bearer
• Sunday, March 3 at 10:30 am - Mary Kate Cashman, cross bearer; Henry Villareal, and Xavier Lassus, acolytes

Almoners Lenten Ministry



Each weekend during Lent, we have a weekly second collection for the Almoner’s Program. The funds raised are used to purchase $10.00 McDonald gift cards which parishioners can pick up at the weekend Masses and share with those in need.



Last weekend, we collected $1,005.00! Thank you for your generosity!

Rest in Peace

• Mary Elizabeth Buttitta, daughter of Peter and Nancy 

New Parishioners

• Helen Lambin

Upcoming Mass Intentions

• Sunday, March 3: 8:00 am - Marie McKee Baylan+; 10:30 am in church - Mary Lou O'Toole+ and Bobby Udrow+; 10:30 am Gym Mass - People of God
• Monday, March 4: 7:30 am - Purgatorial Society
• Tuesday, March 5: 7:30 am - Feliza Velasquez+
• Wednesday, March 6: 7:30 am - Greg Wall+
• Thursday, March 7: 7:30 am - Communion Service
• Friday, March 8: 7:30 am - Feliza Velasquez+
• Saturday, March 9: 7:30 am - People of God; 5:00 pm - Richard O. Barnhart, Jr.+

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.