August 20: Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 20, 2023:

The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

PARISH NEWSLETTER

The Church of St. Mary :: 201 E. Illinois Lake Forest, IL 60045 (office)

Summer Office Hours: 8:30am to 1:00pm Monday - Friday

Phone: (847) 234.0205 :: Email: receptionist@churchofstmary.org

www.churchofstmary.org :: https://www.facebook.com/ChurchofStMaryLF/

Last week at the School of St. Mary (SOSM), the final touches were completed on maintenance projects for the opening of the new school year. Mrs. Kathy Thompson, school principal, welcomed faculty and staff back to the SOSM. Last week was filled with teachers in-service, returning faculty renewing their friendships with other teachers while at the same time welcoming the new faculty into the school community. As the doors for the new year are ready to be opened, the only thing remaining is for the students to be brought to the Primary Grade Center (PGC) and the Upper Grade Center (UGC) this coming week.

We open the doors of the School of St. Mary this coming Tuesday, August 22nd. We are anticipating opening the school year with 430 students combined at both school campuses. Mrs. Thompson, building on the theme of “Respect” last year, has chosen the theme of “Courage” for this year. Woven into Masses, classroom activities, and prayer services, we will bring to life the passage from 1 Chronicles 28:20. Thanks to all parishioners and benefactors of the School of St. Mary.

If you were praying at St. Mary’s last weekend, you were able to receive the Precious Blood. The ministers of the Precious Blood will be stationed near the side aisles in the front of the altar. If you are planning on receiving the Precious Blood, you are encouraged to sit in the main body of the church. If at any time you are feeling ill or sick, you are asked to refrain from receiving the Precious Blood from the common cup.

As a reminder, you are to receive the host upon having it offered to you. It is not proper to carry the host with you back to the pew. After you respond AMEN, take one step to the side, place the Eucharist in your mouth, and continue to your pew for the prayer of thanksgiving. The Staff and mandated EMHC are glad that we are able to return to the practice of offering the Precious Blood at Mass on Saturday evening and Sunday at St. Mary’s. We will be able to resume this practice as long as mandated EMHC are able to attend the Masses and minister to the faithful.

Beginning on Sunday, September 10th, through Pentecost Sunday in May, we will be offering an evening Mass on Sundays. Due to the dates of holidays, there will be some occasions when a Sunday Mass is not offered during the next nine months. We will communicate any changes in the Mass schedule through the bulletin and social media. You are always encouraged to check the website of our parish or any parish you visit when traveling to see any updates or changes in the Mass schedule.

Using John 6:51, “my flesh for the life of the world,” the United States Catholic Bishops are leading the American Church towards the Eucharistic Renewal in Indianapolis in July 2024. Their Mission is “to renew the Church by enkindling a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. “ Their Vision is to foster a movement of Catholics across the United States healed, converted, formed, and unified by an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist and sent out in mission “for the life of the world.”

An effort at the parish level is to offer the reflection by Bishop Robert Barron, “This is My Body,” A Call to Eucharistic Revival to all parishioners. Copies of this book are available at the entrances to the church this weekend. I am inviting all households at the parish to spend some time becoming a bit more intentional in living Eucharistic lives beginning this weekend. If asked, “How intentional are you in living a eucharistic life?” would you answer in the affirmative? I will be focusing on this theme in the coming months in conversations, homilies, bulletin articles, and interactions with you and others.

God bless you in “Eucharistic lives” of gratitude, generosity, and compassion,

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time – August 20

Is Jesus discriminating against the Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel? It can sound like it. She comes to him in need; her daughter is suffering greatly, and she believes He can heal her. And what does Jesus say in response to her need? “I came only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (and she’s a Canaanite… aka, not an Israelite). It can be a puzzling Gospel passage, but there’s a key that can unlock a meaning far below the surface. The key is found in the desperate, faith-filled cry of the woman: “Lord, help me.”

Last Sunday, the Gospel reading came from one chapter earlier in Matthew’s gospel. You’ll remember it was the story of the Lord walking on water. Peter (you could say he’s a “lost sheep of the house of Israel”) bravely tells Jesus to invite him onto the waves with Him. But as he takes His eyes off Jesus, he sinks and cries out: “Lord, save me!”

It’s almost the exact same response that the Canaanite woman gives! It’s no accident that these two stories happen almost back-to-back in Matthew’s gospel. In the first instance, an Israelite man who is a disciple of Jesus cries for help from a place of faithlessness: “Lord, save me!” Jesus saves Him but says he has “little faith.” In the second instance, a Canaanite woman who is not a disciple of Jesus cries for help from a place of faithfulness: “Lord, help me!” Jesus helps her and says she has “great faith.”

What can we draw from this? I’d suggest simply this: God far exceeds our limited expectations. God’s love works far beyond the boundaries that we create.

The disciples who witnessed both of these events would have expected the man who is a member of the house of Israel to be recognized for his great faith by the Messiah. They would not have expected a female foreigner to be recognized for having great faith… But the Lord helps them both. God’s saving power, God’s vast love, does not conform to the standards and systems that we set up.

Jesus’ actions toward the Canaanite woman echo our First Reading (something the men from the house of Israel would have known): “The foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, ministering to him, loving the name of the Lord… them I will bring to my holy mountain.” Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of Israel. But He also says that when He is lifted up on the cross, He will draw all people to Himself.

As God says through the prophet Isaiah: “my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” What can we do to cooperate with God in making this house of prayer a place for all people? What do we need to do to broaden our limited perspectives and recognize that God is not limited by our expectations and experiences? What relationship in your life needs to be refreshed by the vastness of God’s saving love?

Chase Hawkins, Church of St. Mary Director of Youth Ministry & Coordinator of Liturgical Evangelization

St. Mary’s Church Livestream has moved to YouTube™

Go to the Official Church of St. Mary YouTube™ channel to view any and all live-streamed Masses. See the link to our Livestream YouTube™ channel at the top of our Facebook page.

COR YOUTH MINISTRY

CHURCH SCHEDULE

SCHEDULE: Sunday, August 20, 2023 - Sunday, August 27, 2023

Sunday, August 20, 2023:

+ 8:00 am: PUBLIC MASS

+ 10:00 am: Livestream & PUBLIC MASS

+ 12:00 pm: PUBLIC MASS

Monday, August 21, 2023: