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 17, 2024

Fifth Sunday of Lent

From Fr. Mike Gabriel

Easter is getting close. Sometimes it helps to take a pause and reassess where we are. How has this Lent been different than in the past. How have you grown? Any disappointments or challenges? Can you say, “I am ready to embrace Easter?” And if not, maybe ask, “How can I use this time left to be able to do grow?”

Our Elect will participate in the Third Scrutiny this weekend at the 5:00 pm Mass. The three Scrutinies are attempts to see more clearly the new life of grace that is theirs through the Easter sacraments, which often get blurred and distorted in all of our lives.

May I suggest, if you have not done so thus far, reach out to one of our elects. Write a note or a card and let them know you are praying for them, and that you are genuinely happy and excited to welcome them into the church. You will see from the poster at the back of the church that they are Salwa Fadhil, Ilse Vielma, and Adrean Herrera.

Confirmation

I am proud to congratulate our NCA and Religious Education students who were confirmed on Tuesday night. Seeing them all in the church last Sunday and Tuesday was heartwarming. They add so much to the life of the parish. Please continue to pray for them.

Reconciliation Opportunities

This Sunday at 1:00 pm is our Lenten Reconciliation service. This Monday, March 25 is the Deanery Reconciliation at St. Ita’s at 7:00 pm. There will be many priests on hand to celebrate the Sacrament with everyone.

Election Day

Remember Tuesday is Election Day. Get out and vote! We wish good luck to Joy Cummingham, a parishioner here at Gertrude’s.

Palm Sunday Info

Next Sunday is Palm Sunday. At the 5:00 pm and 8:00 am masses, we will have a short procession starting at the back of the Church. Weather permitting, the 10:30 am combined mass will begin between the Ministry Center and Church.

This Holy Thursday we are supporting the mission of Catholic Extension Society

Chicago-based Catholic Extension Society works in solidarity with people in America's 

poorest regions to build up vibrant and transformative Catholic faith communities. We seek to deepen and expand our commitment to Catholic faith communities by providing 

resources to develop leaders, ministries, and facilities, while inviting more people across our country to invest in this work.

Catholic Extension Society is a papal society that is answering Pope Francis' call to go out to America's "peripheries." Since their founding in 1905, they have helped with the construction and repair of over 13,000 churches, and today, through the generosity of donors and parish partners, we support the ministries and leaders in 87 dioceses of the United States and its territories.

Friday, March 15

• 12:00-3:00 pm - Eucharistic Adoration in church
• 3:00 & 6:30 pm - Stations of the Cross in church
• 7:00 pm - Guadalupanos Rosary Group

Sunday, March 17 

• Third Scrutiny
• Second Collection for our Almoner’s
• Program/McDonald’s cards distributed to give to those in need
• 8:00 am-1:00 pm - Blood Drive in the Bloodmobile located on Glenwood Ave.
• 1:00 pm - Lenten Reconciliation Service

Wednesday, March 20

• 10:00 am - Lenten Bible Study in the Ministry Center
• 6:00 pm - Simple Supper in the Ministry Center
• 7:00 pm - Lenten Bible Study in the Ministry Center and live-streamed on Facebook

Thursday, March 21

• 9:30-11:00 am - NCA open house at the primary campus, 6216 North Glenwood Avenue

Friday, March 22

• 12:00-3:00 pm - Eucharistic Adoration in church
• 3:00 & 6:30 pm - Stations of the Cross in church
• 7:00 pm - Guadalupanos Rosary Group

Saturday, March 23 (Eve of Palm Sunday)

• 5:00 pm - Mass
• Care for Real Food and Supply Drive

Palm Sunday, March 24

• Care for Real Food and Supply Drive
• 8:00 am - Mass
• 10:30 am - Combined Mass in church (no Gym Mass)
• Second Collection for our Almoner’s Program/McDonald’s cards distributed to give to those in need

Monday, March 25

• 7:00 pm - Deanery's Reconciliation Service at Church of Mary Mother of God (St. Ita's campus)

Holy Thursday, March 28

• No morning Mass
• 7:00 pm - Mass of the Last Supper (live-streamed on Facebook)
• Collection for the Catholic Extension Society

Good Friday, March 29

• No morning Mass
• The Rectory office is closed. 
• 3:00 - Living Stations of the Cross
• 7:00 pm - Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion and Veneration of the Cross (live-streamed on Facebook)
• Second collection for the Pontifical Good Friday Collection for the Holy Land  

Holy Saturday, March 30

• No morning Mass
• 11:00 am - Blessing of Easter Baskets 
• 7:00 pm - Easter Vigil (live-streamed on Facebook)

Easter Sunday, March 31

• 8:00 am - Mass in church
• 10:30 am - Mass in church (live-streamed on Facebook)
• 10:30 am - Gym Mass

Easter Monday, April 1

• The rectory office is closed.

Monday, April 8

• The 2025 Mass Intentions book opens.

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.

Parish Blood Drive This Sunday, March 17

There is a blood drive at St. Gertrude Church this Sunday, March 17 from 8:00 am–1:00 pm. The Vitalant Bloodmobile will be parked on Glenwood Avenue in front of the entrance to St. Gert's. 

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 or register online at vitalant.org and use code ORD00591. Walk-ins are welcome!

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

Lenten Reconciliation Service This Sunday at 1:00 pm/Other Reconciliation Opportunities  

There is a communal parish reconciliation service on Sunday, March 17 at 1:00 pm. 

Additionally, all the parishes in our deanery (Deanery 2B) are invited to a Lenten 

Reconciliation service on Monday, March 25 at 7:00 pm at the St. Ita campus of Mother of God Parish.

Private confession is available every Saturday from 4:00-4:45 pm.

Lenten Simple Supper Planned for Wednesday, March 20

All are welcome to join us during Lent for Simple Suppers, offered weekly in the Ministry Center at 6:00 pm. This Wednesday, March 20, NCA will host the Simple Supper.

The final Simple Supper is Wednesday, March 27, with the Gym Mass hosting the dinner.

The Silence of God: Finding God in a Void: Lenten Retreat/Bible Study on Wednesday, March 20

Join Fr. Paul Àdajà for the final Bible study of Lent! The sessions are held twice on Wednesdays, at 10:00-11:00 am and again from 7:00-8:00 pm. The final topic and reading is 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/ and then posted to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@saintgertrude1117/videos. You do not need a Facebook account to watch the live-stream!

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

NCA Open House This Thursday, March 21

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.

NCA has planned an Open House on Thursday, March 21, held from 9:30-11:00 am at our primary campus, 6216 N. Glenwood Ave.



Please contact Brad Gschwendtner at bgschwendtner@ncaschools.com or 773.743.6277 with any questions.

Our Monthly Care for Real Food and Supply Drive is Next Weekend

Next weekend, March 23-24, is our monthly Care for Real Food and Supply Drive. When we asked CFR staff what they needed this month, they shared, "We still cannot seem to catch up on the demand for diapers, baby wipes, and personal care. We would be immensely grateful for whatever baby care and personal care items we can collect!"

Below are some examples: 

Baby care:

• All size diapers
• Baby wipes

Personal care:

• Menstrual pads
• Shampoo/conditioner
• Individually wrapped toilet paper rolls
• Body wipes
• Soap
• Toothbrushes/toothpaste
• Etc.

Food items:

• Ramen or ready-to-eat noodles
• Peanut butter/jelly
• Protein bars

No Gym Mass Next Weekend

There will be a 10:30 am combined Palm Sunday Mass in church. There is no Gym Mass.

There will be a short Palm Sunday procession beginning at the back of church at the Saturday 5:00 pm Mass and the Sunday 8:00 am Mass.  

The procession for the 10:30 am combined Mass will begin between the Ministry Center and Church if the weather is good.

2025 Mass Intentions Book to Open

The Mass Intentions book for 2025 will open on Monday, April 8.  

If you would like a Mass Intention said for a person that needs prayers or in memory of someone who has died, please call the Rectory at 773.764.3621 or stop by the Rectory office at 1420 West Granville Avenue during office hours. We’ll help you find an available Mass and prepare a card for you to give to the person or family of the intention. 



A $20 donation is suggested.  

St. Gertrude’s Youth Mission Experience is This July!

Teens in sixth grade through high school are invited to take part in St. Gertrude's Youth Mission Experience! The group will volunteer with a different Chicagoland organization each day from July 22-26.

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.

Congratulations to Our Newly Confirmed Teens!

We are so proud of our newly Confirmed teens from NCA and our Religious Ed program! May they continue to grow in God's love.

Families of these students, please note that there is a mandatory second Confirmation Retreat planned in the Ministry Center on Thursday, April 25 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm.

• Ella Marie All
• Roy Barone
• Grace Brett
• Jasmine Camacho 
• Alex Campuzano 
• Anthony Carrasco
• Nyla Carraway
• Melissa Colima
• Kirwin Cooper
• Andrea G. Cruz
• Henry Cunningham
• Natalie Daily
• Rhianna Z. Damalerio
• Leonardo Garcia
• Alexander Gil
• Maeve Gray
• Michael Hanafee
• Guillermo Hernandez
• Angel Hernandez

• Samuel Hixenbaugh
• Lucien Ind
• Brady Kiedaisch
• Ash Marcel
• Juan Mogollon
• Eva Mueller
• Seamus J. O'Reilly
• John Paul Ott
• Maja Pasic
• Daniel Perez
• Sarah Perez
• Vicente Quintero
• Brennan Robbins
• Dominic Rubino
• Troy Shalaveyus
• Yair Solorzano
• Patrick Stegeman
• Grayson Sweeney
• Lulu Tabora
• McKee Wyman

Happy Birthday to Fr. Paul!

Members of the Lenten evening bible study group surprised Fr. Paul earlier this week with a birthday cake and well wishes.

Happy birthday, Fr. Paul!

Growing in Faith

The pattern of our lives and of the history of humanity is tragicomic: fall and redemption, death and resurrection. It is a pattern that seems to be embedded in human understanding from the beginning. In the natural world the pattern exists in the death and rebirth of crops and of the year.

In John’s Gospel Jesus tells Philip and Andrew that “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies it produces much fruit.” He is not giving His disciples a scary warning, but a loving reminder of what they already know, that death is followed by more abundant life.

That does not mean that the suffering of death is insignificant. Whether it is our own inevitable death, or the death of someone we love, or a loss that may be a kind of symbolic “death,” the pain is real, even frightening and terrible. Jesus acknowledges this reality from His own experience— “I am troubled now”—as He faces suffering and death on the cross.

But Jesus also assures His disciples that His death will lead to His resurrection and to ours: “when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” The image of Jesus lifted up on the cross to everlasting life is a perfect representation of our human tragicomedy: the suffering of death and the glory of eternal life become indistinguishable in the same moment of divine reconciliation.

~ Verna Foster 

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 $950.00! Thank you for your generosity!

Upcoming Mass Intentions

• Sunday, March 17: 8:00 am - Cheryl Veccie+; 10:30 am in church - John and Lilian McCall+; 10:30 am Gym Mass - James McKee+
• Monday, March 18: 7:30 am - Mary Elizabeth Buttitta+
• Tuesday, March 19: 7:30 am -Jimmy Victory/Purgatorial Society
• Wednesday, March 20: 7:30 am - Peggy Sue Riordan+
• Thursday, March 21: 7:30 am - Communion Service
• Friday, March 22: 7:30 am - Therese Goode+
• Saturday, March 23: 7:30 am - Charles Tobin+; 5:00 pm - Emmett McKee+

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.