St. Gertrude Chicago

All are Welcome

1420 W. Granville, Chicago, IL 60660

773.764.3621

stgertrude1420@stgertrudechicago.org

www.stgertrudechicago.org

Bulletin for Sunday, June 11, 2023

The Body & Blood of Christ

Best Wishes on your Retirement, Mary Clare!

This weekend, we are celebrating our Director of Music, Mary Clare Barker, as she retires after many years of dedicated service.

Mary Clare's musical talent has made significant contributions to our parish. We have been deeply blessed to sing, clap, listen, and pray to her beautiful music over the years - much of it her original compositions.

In addition to playing at Mass, she's led our choir and musicians, organized numerous beautiful concerts, and played at countless benefits. She created our parish composting program, our parish garden initiative that benefits Care for Real and St. Thomas of Canterbury soup kitchen, our monthly food and supply guide for Care for Real, and so many more enriching programs to our parish’s ministry.

Above all of this, Mary Clare is an incredibly kind, sincere, hard-working, woman who has touched the lives of innumerable parishioners and visitors. We are deeply grateful for her presence at St. Gertrude over the years and for sharing her many talents with us.

Congratulations on your retirement, Mary Clare! You will be missed!

Baby & Toddler Supply Collection for Asylum Seekers at Ismaili Jamatkhana Center on Saturday, June 10

On Saturday, June 10 from 10:00 am-2:00 pm, there will be a baby and toddler supply collection for newly arrived asylum seekers. The event will be held at the Ismaili Jamatkhana Center's parking lot, located at 6259 N. Broadway. Please enter off of Broadway.

Donations will go to Centro Romero and Care for Real. The following items will be accepted:

• diapers
• baby wipes
• baby formula
• snacks for babies and toddlers
• over-the-counter medications
• gently used baby and toddler clothing
• Roller suitcases that are in proper working order - no broken wheels or zippers

The donation drive is being coordinated by Sacred Heart, Ismaili Civic, the Church of the Atonement, and St. Gertrude. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer, please contact jane.steinfels@shschicago.org or mariapaz@shschicago.org.

Letter from Cardinal Cupich

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

With Father’s Day next Sunday, I am reminded not only of the importance of the many fathers who tend to their families in our archdiocese, but also of our parish priests who serve as our spiritual fathers. So first, allow me to wish all the fathers in our parishes my heartfelt thanks and congratulations. You truly make a difference in the lives of those who know and love you. 

As well, Father’s Day also gives us an opportunity to thank and support our priests who minister in the Archdiocese of Chicago. These 430 active and 257 retired priests have chosen to dedicate their lives to serving you and your family through pastoral care, celebration of the sacraments, and leadership of our communities of faith.

With this letter, I ask you to join me in supporting the health and well-being of our priests 

by making a generous gift to the Priests’ Health and Retirement/PRMAA collection for the benefit of their healthcare and retirement needs. Your sacrifice on their behalf not only contributes to their health and well-being, but it also demonstrates to them your support of their ministry in our parishes and communities.

You might not be aware that this is the only collection for our archdiocesan priests’ health and retirement, which totals nearly $13 million annually in health care, nursing, and retirement costs. As well, this collection is separate and distinct from the annual collection for religious order priests, sisters, and brothers.

Join me in making a generous contribution to this weekend’s second collection. I also ask that you consider naming the Priests’ Health and Retirement/PRMAA as beneficiary of your will, something I personally have done.

As I ask you to join me in praying that God continue to bless our dedicated priests, I assure  you of my remembrance of you and your families in my prayers and at the Lord’s Table.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Cardinal Cupich

A Note from Eloy Escamilla, Pastoral Associate

Dear Community of St. Gertrude, 

I just want to share with you that I will be away from the parish from June 12 to June 27. I want to take this time for a retreat as I am walking “El Camino” to Santiago the Compostela.

Please, keep me in your prayers so I can have a nice encounter with God.

~ Eloy Escamilla 

Book Club - Monday, June 12

On Monday, June 12, the book club will discuss The Lincoln Highway: A Novel by Amor Towles. The group will also talk about the book at their July 10th meeting.

We would love new voices and opinions!

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

PPC Meeting is This Wednesday, June 14/Leader Needed for a Welcoming Committee

This Wednesday, June 14, the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) will meet in the Ministry Center at 7:00 pm.

The PPC is looking for someone to lead a Welcoming Committee. This person would lead a group in thinking of ways to help reach out to new parishioners as well as visitors. If this ministry appeals to you, contact the PPC at stgertrudeparishcouncil@gmail.com.

Save the Date - ECRA Juneteeth Celebration Planned for Sunday, June 18/Note: New Time is 2:00 pm

All are invited to attend the second annual Juneteenth Ecumenical Service on Sunday, June 18 with the Edgewater Community Religious Association (ECRA). The event will be held at 2:00 pm at Edgewater Presbyterian Church, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Please note, the time has changed, the event will start at 2:00 pm, not 3:00 pm.

Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans and is also often observed for celebrating African-American culture. Originating in Galveston, Texas, it has been celebrated annually on June 19 in various parts of the United States since 1865.

Growing in Faith: On the Feast of Corpus Christi

We have all had the wrenching experience of saying “Goodbye” to someone we love, and we try to give a gift that expresses what our relationship is, and always will be.

The Feast of Corpus Christi, celebrates this “goodbye gift” of Jesus, which in fact, connects us to him and each other, forever in a gift of love. 

Jesus was an observant Jew, and the Torah teaches, that blood is never to be consumed, because “the life is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:10-14 ). The flesh of the animal or bird is sufficient for our nourishment, but the “life is in the blood”, and God alone gives life. 

When we bring this realization of Jewish law to the last supper, Jesus’ idea for a ‘goodbye’ gift, becomes.. not a ‘goodbye’ at all, but a gift of his ongoing life in us all forever, until we meet face to face. 

So on this wonderful , amazing feast of Jesus’ gift to us, as we receive the eucharist, we recommit ourselves to him and to each other once again, to live the life of love as his own life empowers us to do.

~ Sister Wendy Cotter CSJ, Ph.D.

Parish Garden: Help Needed with Watering

Our parish garden is growing beautifully, and the produced from it will be shared with both Care for Real and the St. Thomas of Canterbury soup kitchen.  

We are looking for people to help with the daily watering of our garden. If you can assist, please reach out to Mary Clare Barker at mcbarker@stgertrudechicago.org.

Ministers of the Word

• Saturday, June 10 at 5:00 pm - Patrick Reardon, Susan McKean
• Sunday, June 11 at 8:00 am - Hallie Burhoe, Art Lyons
• Sunday, June 11 at 10:30 am - Bob Backis, Rafael Melendez

Eucharistic Ministers

• Saturday, June 10 at 5:00 pm - Tim Harrington
• Sunday, June 11 at 8:00 am - Kathryn Stimac
• Sunday, June 11 at 10:30 am - Michael Kowalsky, Tim Love, Lisa Schneider

Cantors and Musicians

• Saturday, June 10 at 5:00 pm - Jim Manzardo
• Sunday, June 11 at 8:00 am - Jon Blake
• Sunday, June 12 at 10:30 am - Siobhan O’Neill Meluso; Ellie Siegle-flute; Dana Sullivan-flute; Denise Goodman-Bb clarinet; Jim Szmurlo-trumpet and violin; George Siegle-trumpet; Nicholas Bussey-trombone; Amir Ghazaleh-bass trombone

Altar Servers

• Sunday, June 11 at 10:30 am - cross bearer-Ethan Craft; acolytes - Carter Dant, Grace Cashman

Upcoming Mass Intentions

• Monday, June 12: 7:30 am - Living & deceased parents of St. Gertrude parishioners
• Tuesday, June 13: 7:30 am - Fred Lackar +
• Wednesday, June 14: 7:30 am - Living and deceased Torreano family members
• Thursday, June 15: 7:30 am - Communion Service
• Friday, June 16: 7:30 am - Living and deceased Torreano family members
• Saturday, June 17: 7:30 am - Purgatorial Society; 5:00 pm - Betty McKee+
• Sunday, June 18: 8:00 am - Living and deceased fathers of St. Gertrude parishioners; 10:30 am Mass in church – Living and deceased fathers of St. Gertrude parishioners; 10:30 am Gym Mass - Living and deceased fathers of St. Gertrude parishioners

Click HERE for the daily readings for Masses. Here is the list of readings for this week for parishioners that prefer to look them up:

• Monday, June 12: 2 Cor 1:1-7/Mt 5:1-12
• Tuesday, June 13: 2 Cor 1:18-22/Mt 5:13-16
• Wednesday, June 14: 2 Cor 3:4-11/Mt 5:17-19
• Thursday, June 15: 2 Cor 3:15—4:1, 3-6/Mt 5:20-26
• Friday, June 16: Dt 7:6-11/1 Jn 4:7-16/Mt 11:25-30 
• Saturday, June 17: 2 Cor 5:14-21 (364)/Lk 2:41-51
• Sunday, June 18: Ex 19:2-6a/Rom 5:6-11/Mt 9:36—10:8

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.