St. Paul the Apostle
Parish
www.stpauljoliet.com
815-725-1527 parishoffice@stpauljoliet.com
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Dear sisters and brothers,
The recent homilies of Fr. Mark have focused on entering into a deeper relationship with God. Specifically, he spoke about how attachments (possessions, practices, attitudes, etc.) hinder our relationship with God. He related how the blind Bartimaeus, “threw aside his cloak,” encountered Jesus, received his sight, and followed Jesus. What are we holding onto that is hindering us from encountering Jesus? Last Sunday we heard that loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves is at the heart of Jesus’ message and it is a requirement for all disciples (followers) of Jesus Christ.
What does it look like to live as a disciple? As a disciple we come to recognize that all we have and all we are comes from God, our time, our talents, and our treasure. Jesus gave everything, to save us and to offer us the gift of eternal life. How can we make a return to God for such a great gift? The answer is stewardship. For most of us Catholics, when we hear that word we think, “they’re asking for money again.” It’s true, we do ask for money, but it is key to following Jesus. In this Sunday’s Gospel Jesus praises the poor widow saying, “she contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.” We know that Jesus challenged the rich, young man with “go and sell all you have and give it to the poor and then come and follow me.” It said he “went away sad because he had many possessions.” How much do we give? I like what St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) said in response to this question, “give until it hurts.”
We also have stewardship of talent. We all have different talents, knowledge, compassion, strength, determination, just to name a few. We think of talents in terms of how they advance our secular lives, but in God’s economy there is no wall between secular and spiritual. It all belongs to God. How do we use these gifts for the advancement of the Kingdom of God?
We can have varying degrees of talents and treasures, but the one thing we have in common is time. We all have 24 hours in a day and 525.600 minutes in a year (except leap year). Many of us have busy lives, but if we give back just 5 percent, that’s 1.2 hours a day or 22,776 minutes a year that we could spend in prayer (Mass, devotionals, scripture, meditation) and service. I spend more time than that watching TV. Communication is the lifeblood of relationship and prayer is communication with God. Recently, I read that relationship is the “mutual self-revelation” between persons. Prayer is not one-sided, we reveal ourselves to God and God reveals himself to us and it results in love. The beginning of the new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent would be a great opportunity to up our commitment to the God who gives us every good thing.
During this month we remember all our departed loved ones.
Your brother in Christ,
Deacon John
Have a beautiful week and please let the parish office know if there is anything we can do for you. God bless~
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All Souls Day Mass
Thank you to all that attended our
All Souls Day Mass.
May the Souls of the
Faithfully Departed,
Through the Mercy of God,
Rest in Peace.
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Veteran's Weekend - Nov 6 & 7 |
Your community would love to honor you
Veteran's Day 2021!
Please let the office know your name, branch and years of service - a picture would be great too! (If you don't have a picture easy to find, please just stop by and we'll take a new one!)
We look forward to honoring you at our masses!
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Just Married!
Congratulations to newlyweds
Jacki & Michael Vollmer
who were married
October 29, 2021~
May this day be grounded in love,
Illuminated by light,
and Graced with Blessings.
God Bless you both today and always!
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We love tradition and are blessed this year we were able to celebrate it yet again.
Each year our 5th grade Giants choose a saint to research and learn about to present to the 4th grade class. They then dress up for their presentations and for All Saints Mass.
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Our Parish Mass & Prayer Intentions ~ |
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MASS
INTENTIONS
Saturday, November 6th
Joseph & Margaret Midlok
Sunday, November 7th
8am Thomas Brown
10am Bob Kapella
Suzanne McDonnell
Monday, November 8th
Brunch Lehman
Tuesday, November 9th
Warren Lonzo
Wednesday, November 10th
8:15am Robert Allen
9:30am The People of St. Paul
Thursday, November 11th
Warren Lonzo
Friday, November 12th
Ron Smith
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PRAYER INTENTIONS
Josephine Allegretti
Irene Bedeski
Britney Breseman
Norine Ceplecha
Matthew Connor
Isaiah Cwik
Steve DeChiara
Bill DeLaurenti
Mary Beth Gracey
Monica Hernandez
Sr. Norma Janssen
Kenneth Kelch
Daniel Kero
Constance Kozikowski
Fr James Lennon
Helen Locher
Helen Malinowski
Sheila Mellor
Mary Meyer
Darin Peterson
Jeanine Piscotti
Val Rand
Rebecca Ruggiero
Joann Sulaica
Rebecca Tako
Alley Varela
James Weglewski
Kenneth Welch
Adlar Williams
Lois Yakich
Norbert Zelinski
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Please continue to pray for our parishioners in need of prayers.
If there is someone you would like to add to the prayer list,
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Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord
We remember in prayer all who have passed before us.
St Paul, pray for us.
Anthony Bebej
Lisa Fulla
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Our Parish Archives...
So fun rediscovering our history! Looking forward to sharing a new memory every week. For us 'newbies' to the parish, we'd love to hear any stories behind the photos. Please call us here at the parish office
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Looking for something to warm you up on a cold fall evening....look no further!
Thank you Joseph Augustyniak for this recipe!
Still a few cookbook copies available in the parish office for a donation to Chipata.
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The behavioral health ministry of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Naperville will offer the free, virtual program, "Handling Grief During the 2021 Holidays," from 7pm to 8:30 pm on Tues., Nov. 9.
Paula Kosin, licensed clinical professional counselor, will discuss challenges the upcoming holidays can pose & identify strategies to help experience the season with some quiet joy, including ways to honor deceased loved ones and experience the healing presence of Jesus.
To register for this Zoom meeting, contact Susan Kearney, coordinator of St. Thomas’ behavioral health ministry, at sdkearney@comcast.net or 630-355-8980, ext.108 by Thurs., Nov. 4. Participants’ email addresses will be confirmed and information about joining the Zoom meeting will be provided on Nov. 8, the day before the program.
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