St. Alphonsus Church

Ash Wednesday is February 22
Mass/Service Schedule:
7:00 AM Service
8:30 AM Mass, with our AACA School
12:00 PM Service
3:30 PM Service
6:00 PM Mass (en Español)
7:00 PM Mass

There are traditional practices for Lent which help us to engage in the penitential nature of the season. All adults from the age of 18 until their 59th birthday are asked to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. This means eating only one full meal that day. One can eat at two other times, but the total food should not equal a full meal. This does not apply to those who are ill, pregnant or nursing. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon Catholics from age 14 onwards.

"Lenten penance is a commitment, sustained by grace, to overcoming our lack of faith and our resistance to following Jesus on the way of the cross".
Pope Francis

There are free Lenten Little Black Book, Magnificat, and Word Among Us reflection books available on the table(s) in the narthex to help you keep the season. You can also sign up for a free EBook with Lenten reflections.

Catholic Family Faith complies a list of Lenten resources that can be used by all members of the family. Visit their site for resources to learn more about the season of Lent and for ideas on how we can all live out our call to engage in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving during the Lenten season.

Please note there is a subtle new change in the prayer of absolution during confessions starting this year.

The Stations of the Cross will be prayed every Friday during Lent at 7 PM, (except for March 24, which is Confirmation)


Men's Retreat
This weekend February 24-25, our parish Knights of Columbus council will be hosting an overnight retreat at Joseph & Mary Retreat House, Univeristy of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein. Our associate pastor and KoC chaplain Father Patrick Gorman will lead the retreat. Opportunities for Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Confessions, talks(s), rest, and leisure time to walk around and enjoy the beautiful campus. Sign up here!

The Stations Art Exhibition
Our friends next door keeping their mission of bringing beauty all around us at the Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture have programmed a wonderful exhibition from artist Lucas Reiner. Learn more here. All are also invited to RSVP to a meet and greet with the artist this Wednesday February 22 from 7-9 PM! There will be future events accompanying this exhibition as well.

Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl
This Lent, our community will participate in CRS Rice Bowl, a program that invites us to reflect on the challenges of global hunger—and our Gospel call to care for our global human family.
 
CRS Rice Bowl gives us a wonderful opportunity to encounter different people from around the world, know more about their lives and recognize them as our sisters and brothers. We will see how, through our prayer, we encounter Jesus, who is present in the face of every member of our human family. When we fast, we encounter the obstacles that prevent us from fully loving God and our neighbor. And when we give alms, we share in solidarity with those who need our support.
 
By joining our prayers, fasts and alms this Lent with those of other parishes and Catholic schools in the United States, we will help millions of women, men and children around the world whose economic challenges have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Together as a Church, through CRS Rice Bowl, we can contribute to the efforts of those who seek to build a better world for themselves and their communities.
 
CRS Rice Bowl provides many resources for daily reflection throughout the liturgical season. Consider these suggestions in your family’s Lenten plan:
  • Use your CRS Rice Bowl and Lenten Calendar each day to guide your prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

  • Read the Stories of Hope and daily reflections to inspire your Lenten journey.

  • Use the CRS Rice Bowl recipes to prepare simple, meatless meals on the Fridays of Lent to eat in solidarity with our sisters and brothers around the world.

  • Visit crsricebowl.org to watch videos of the people and communities you support through your Lenten gifts to CRS Rice Bowl.
 
Your sacrifices during this holy season have the power to change lives by providing enough nutritious food for families to thrive. And by practicing the pillars of Lent through CRS Rice Bowl, I hope both your faith and connection to our one human family deepens.
 
CRS Rice Bowls will be collected at the end of Lent. Thank you for participating in CRS Rice Bowl with your family.

Archdiocese of Chicago Survey
The Disciple Maker Index (DMI) is an anonymous survey of parishioners that provides insights into the level of missionary discipleship in the parish in addition to the effectiveness of the Mass experience, preaching and other aspects of the parish.
All parishioners in the Archdiocese of Chicago are invited to take part in the Disciple Maker Index survey. Your participation will help provide your pastor and parish ministerial leaders with a better understanding of where to focus efforts and energies to help you grow in your faith and achieve our parish's mission.

The DMI survey will be open for responses starting TOMORROW February 22-March 31.