Holy Childhood of Jesus Catholic Church
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Holy Childhood of Jesus Catholic Church
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March 16, 2008
FATHER'S TWO-CENTS WORTH
Well, here we are at the last week of Lent. Today is Palm Sunday, and we are in Holy Week. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are the three holiest days of the Church Year. We celebrate the institution of Holy Eucharist on Thursday. It is a day when all Catholics should come to church and receive the Body and Blood of Christ—Christ present to us for the journey through life. After the service, there will be an hour or so of adoration time to commemorate Christ’s prayer in the Garden of Olives. We will close this time of prayer at 10:00 P.M. On Friday, we celebrate the suffering and death of Christ, when He gave Himself to the cross to save us from our sins. Again, we should come to church to appreciate how much God loves us that He gave His Son Jesus, to die for our sins; we conclude the service by receiving Christ in the Holy Eucharist. And on Saturday evening, we celebrate the new life Christ gives us in the Sacrament of Baptism, as we bless water and fire and renew our Baptismal promises. All of this surrounds the remembrance of Christ’s death and resurrection. It is for our sins that He died—to free us from our sins, eternal damnation, and to open heaven to us. Our presence or absence to these services will show our faith and our love for Christ. Jesus asks for our heart! Where will our heart be during these holy days?
Friday, at 12:00 P.M., we will have the community Stations of the Cross, sponsored by the Ministerial Alliance. It will begin at St. John’s United Church of Christ, and proceed down Church Street to the small park across from Region’s Bank. The Stations of the Cross is a devotion/service of the Catholic Church. It is a reenactment of Christ’s road to Calvary and His death and burial. It is our way of joining in with Him in prayer and pilgrimage. Please come and pray with us! Please come and demonstrate our faith, and personal commitment.
On Tuesday, at 10:00 A.M., I will have mass at the Grange Nursing Home for the residents; on Wednesday, at 10:00 A.M., I will have mass at Mar-Ka Nursing Home; on Tuesday, at 12:00 P.M., the Blessing of the Holy Oils will take place at the Cathedral by our Bishop. We are invited to attend this Mass of the Holy Chrism at which the Bishop blesses the Chrism that will be used in Confirmation for our students and in the Sacrament of Baptism, along with the Oil of the Catechumens and the Oil of the Sick.
The collection on Good Friday is for the Holy Land and helps to maintain the churches in that area, and those who are responsible for them.
On Easter Sunday, we have our special Easter collection for the parish, as well as the second collection for the poor (the final one for Lent). We ask you to be generous to your parish at this time, in gratitude for the many blessings God has given to you.
To all of you, then, I wish a blessed Easter. I wish you a new life in Christ, and the joy of the risen Lord and the promise of heaven to all of you. May His peace be with you in a special way this week, and all of the days of your life! May your faith be a light to yourself, and to the entire world! May Christ be alive in you!
REMINDER There will be NO PSR on Easter Sunday, March 23rd.
Lenten Project PSR will be collecting dry goods for the Food Pantry as a Lenten service project. The 8th grade will be heading up this project and will be responsible for collecting and assigning items to each grade. The food pantry is in need of paper towels, tooth paste & brushes, dish soap, face soap, toilet paper, lotion, shampoo, etc. PSR will be collecting these items during the six weeks of Lent. Thank you for your help.
News IN OUR PARISH
PLEASE NOTE The rectory office will be closed March 21st, Good Friday and March 24th, Easter Monday. And due to some added time off that week I would like to request all bulletin articles for the week of March 30 be submitted no later than noon March 25th, earlier is better, thank you.
HC BOOK CLUB For a great Lenten read join us on Tuesday, March 18 at 7:00 in the parish center as we discuss The Day Christ Died by Jim Bishop. Several copies are available through the library system; if you would like one contact Susan Anderson at 746-4775.
EASTER FLOWER MEMORIALS Now is the time to send in your request for Easter Flower memorials for your deceased loved ones. For $10 you can list one or two individual names or one or two family names. Please make checks payable to the HCCCW who sponsors the program. Donations are needed by March 19th, to insure your loved one's names are included on the list displayed at all entrances to the church. For more information contact Pat Bowker 566-7089.
HCS KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION Holy Childhood School will begin Kindergarten registration on Tuesday, March 18th, and continue through June 6th. To register, you will need your child's birth certificate, social security number, and Baptismal certificate, if Catholic. For more information, please call Deacon Ron Karcher, Principal at 566-2922.
ATTENTION ALTAR SERVERS There will be a training session for the Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil services. The training will be held at 10:00 am on Holy Thursday, March 20th. If you are not able to attend the training please call Mrs. Schneider at 566-2871 or Mr. Grawitch at 566-4319. Training session will take approximately one hour.
GIFT BEARERS Volunteers are needed to bring up the Offertory Gifts for the Easter Sunday 8:00 AM Mass. If you would like the honor please call the rectory at 566-2958 or Ruth Wilhelm at 566-2885.
SHEPHERD SUNDAY March 22-23, The Concerned Christians Food Pantry of Mascoutah needs the following items this month: Hamburger Helper, Chili, Sloppy Joe sauce, fruit juice, applesauce, jelly, canned milk. Thank you for your donation to the food pantry.
CHURCH CHATTER It's time to submit your parish news letter items and plans for the Church Chatter. We are looking for the news from Holy Childhood school organizations, parish organizations, and committees. If you have something to tell or share with the rest of the parish please contact Linda Zacharski at 566-8022 or mail to 717 Knipp Ave or email to kzacharski@charter.net by March 25th.
HCCCW Bi-Monthly Quilt Drawing Winner was Luke Meng, 6 wk old son of Craig & Kristin Meng of our parish. Thank you to all who purchased and sold tickets to make this raffle a big success. There are still 5 drawings left so tickets can still be returned by way of the collection or to the rectory.
A BIG THANK YOU!!! To all of those who helped make the Vatican International Exhibition of Eucharistic Miracles of the World last weekend a success. Over 300 men, women and children viewed the display. Special thanks goes out to Danny Beck, Debbie Harne, Jenn Kordick, Scott Anderson, Mary Elmore, Alethea Paradis, Anthony and Kathleen Ptacek, Michelle Fohne, Cathy and Courtney Jung, Cheryl & Jordan Rasch, Wayne & Samantha Wilhelm, Rachel Bishop, Colin Rener, Danielle, Jordan and Victoria Anderson for their help.
EUCHARISTIC ADORATION "Could you not then watch one hour with me?"
Celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday
Our Lord told St. Faustina, the first saint of the new millennium, to tell the world about the Feast of Divine Mercy. Jesus told her it is to be celebrated on the octave of Easter (the first Sunday following Easter Sunday). All those who celebrate this feast of mercy will obtain complete forgiveness of sins and the punishment attached to those sins. In a true sense, celebrating the Feast of Divine Mercy is a renewal of the graces we received at Baptism – a pure soul. In order to receive the graces of Divine Mercy Sunday, Jesus requires a simple preparation by us…
1. Receive the sacrament of Reconciliation on or before the Feast Day some time during Lent 2. Pray the Novena of Divine Mercy, beginning on Good Friday, March 21, at 7:00 PM, ending the Saturday (March 29) before Divine Mercy Sunday.
Please join us at 7:00 PM daily in the church; if unable to attend, please say at home. (booklets are at the back of church) On Divine Mercy Sunday, (March 30) we will have holy hour from 2-3 pm and will say the chaplet at 3 pm. Please call Alethea Paradis for more information, 233-6637.
Mass Intentions
Tuesday, March 18, 8:00 AM Emma Feller
Wednesday, March 19, 8:00 AM Ryan Hathaway
Holy Thursday, March 20, 7:30 PM People of the Parish
Good Friday, March 21, 7:30 PM Communion Service
Holy Saturday, March 22, 8:00 PM People of the Parish
Easter Sunday, March 23, 8:00 AM People of the Parish 10:30 AM People of the Parish
TITHE FOR March 9, 2008
THIS COMING WEEK
MONDAY, March 17,
Tuesday, March 18, 8:00 AM Mass followed by Adoration until 7:00 PM 9:00 AM & 6:00 PM Quilting 7:00 PM HC Book Club-pc
Wednesday, March 19, 8:00 AM Mass 7:00 PM Confessions
HOLY THURSDAY, March 20, No school 9:00 AM Quilting 10:00 AM Altar Server training-church 7:30 PM Mass of the Last Supper
GOOD FRIDAY, March 21, No school/Rectory closed 12:00 PM Community Stations of the Cross 7:30 PM Communion Service
HOLY SATURDAY, March 22, 8:00 PM Easter Vigil Mass
EASTER SUNDAY, March 23, Shepherd Sunday 8:00 &10:30 AM Masses NO PSR NO BOTW
HOLY CHILDHOOD SCHOOL
WEB SITE:
holychildhoodschool.com
My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” This is the beginning of Psalm 22 and what Jesus said as he hung on the cross. (Eli Eli Lama Sabactani)
To me it is one of the most haunting phrases. It is something you remember, hangs in the air like a curse. It seems like a sense of loneliness, betrayal, despair.
Throughout his life, Jesus did the will of God. He loved people; he cured the sick, fed the hungry. Yet, we see here a Jesus showing the human condition, ‘hunger, fear, discouragement’. At the end, there was the Cross.
I see it from time to time. Seven years ago when I was told I had kidney cancer and in the last two years as I was by my father-in-law and father as they died; many years ago when I came out of church at the end of Confirmation and a parent was hit by a car and killed. As I prayed over her, I was thinking the same thing that Jesus said. You probably have had times when you felt that way. If not, you will.
It is a sad moment, a time of abandonment. Why do we read it every year? Because it is not a terrible story. It is not the end.
That mournful sentence was only the beginning of the Psalm. In fact, the title of Psalm 22 is “The prayer of an innocent man.” Jesus knew the whole story. He knew the ending. “God has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted ones. God’s face is not hidden but God has listened to their cry for help.”
We do have times when we feel God has abandoned us or he doesn’t seem present for us. Yet we know he is always there.
The message of the mournful cry was not the end. God is there with us. God is there for your darkest moments. Just as crucifixion was the darkest hour, Easter comes.
Sincerely, Deacon Ron Karcher
MARCH CALENDAR
March 20 7:30 pm Mass followed by Egg Hunt and prayer service at Jamie Norrenberns' house. Bring flashlights. March 21 11:45 am Living Stations -- Meet at St. John's UCC March 23 Happy Easter! March 26 7-8:30 pm Meeting March 28 6:00 pm Meet at HCS for DYC. March 30 5:00 pm Return from DYC
ATTENTION FRESHMEN AND SOPHOMORES COMING UP April 12-13, there will be a Quest experience held at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish in Herrin, IL. For more information or an application contact Ron Hulliung or Kathy Renth.
YOU'RE INVITED to join the Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton as he celebrates the Mass of Chrism in our Cathedral of St. Peter on Tuesday, March 18th at 12:30 PM. The Christian Faithful, especially those preparing for the sacraments of Christian Initiation at the Easter Vigil, and our young people, are most enthusiastically invited to participate in the Chrism Mass, an important time of prayer for the Church in Southern Illinois.
OLD FASHIONED QUILTING BEE at St. George Elementary School Gym, 319 E. Maple St., New Baden. March 24th & 25th from 9 AM to 3 PM also 6 to 9 PM. Lunch and good conversation will be served 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Sponsored by the St. George Ladies Sodality, Christian Mother's Club and Quilt Committee. The quilts to be worked are for the St. George picnic on August 9, 2008. Mass will be offered at 8 AM on Monday for those who wish to attend. Attendance Prizes!
WELCOME JESUS into your Marriage like he was welcomed into Jerusalem. The next Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend in this area is April 11th to 13th. To register or for more information call 888-9963 or go on line www.aweekendofdiscovery.org.
National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows We Were There - A Dramatic Presentation of "The Way of the Cross" on Tuesday, March 18, 7:30 pm. This prayerful presentation is told through a cast of characters who played an important role in Christ's journey, helping us to identify with Jesus and the sacrifice that He made for us.
GOOD FRIDAY FISH DINNER on Friday, March 21st from 4 to 7 PM. Dinner includes Home battered fish, fried potatoes, stewed tomatoes, green beans, slaw, jell-o salads, bread, dessert and beverages. Cost: $7 for adults, $3.50 for children 6-12 and children 5 and under are free. Sponsored by: St. George Youth, Dinner served in St. George Hodapp Hall, 318 East Maple, New Baden, IL. Carry outs Available.
CARD PARTY St. Anthony's, Lively Grove on Tuesday, March 25th at 7 PM.
QUILT & CASH BINGO on Sunday, March 30th. St. Michael's Church, Radom, IL. Starting at 1:00 PM, doors open at 11:30 AM. Plate Lunches, Refreshments and Raffle Tickets Available. Sponsored by St. Michael's Altar & Rosary Sodality.
National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows 2008 Roundtable Series with Aquinas Institute. Tuesday, March 25, 11:30 AM - 1 PM. "Crystals, Cards and Catholics" - Presenter: Sr. Carla Mae Streeter, O.P. Crystals, tarot cards and pendulums - what does New Age "spirituality" mean for Catholics? This session will draw a clear distinction between New Age practices and the rich spirituality of the Catholic sacramental tradition. Cost: $20 (lunch included). Call 618-397-6700, Ext. 6272 to register.
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