Queen of Angels Catholic Parish Chicago

SPRED: Communidades de Amigos de Habla Hispana e Inglesa-- Companeros en la Fe

Dando la Bienvenida a Niños y Adultos con Necesidades Especiales

Al desenvolverse el año de SPRED, el verano es siempre un tiempo de sentidas despedidas que abren el camino a nuevos comienzos. Cada período de SPRED con nuestros amigos con discapacidades cierra el mes de Mayo. En nuestra sesión final, el Presidente de cada comunidad de SPRED pregunta a los catequistas y amigos quiénes regresarán para el siguiente período. A cada persona se le da la oportunidad de discernir cuidadosamente su compromiso de ser parte de una pequeña comunidad de fe. Al reunirnos para orar en esa sesión final, algunas veces se derraman lágrimas mientras cada persona lucha con la realidad de decir adiós a sus compañeros en fe, sus compañeros del alma. Cada experiencia de conclusión trae una cierta tristeza. Los finales son difíciles.

En SPRED prestamos especial atención a las transiciones de la vida, especialmente por el bienestar de nuestros amigos con diferentes habilidades y necesidades especiales. Para estas personas los cambios son particularmente difíciles. Trabajamos para encontrar modos de apoyar a la comunidad a través de estos continuos y predecibles finales. Hemos encontrado que es especialmente importante tratar cada partida como una celebración de vida. Debemos apartar el enfoque de la pérdida y acercarlo a un espíritu de gratitud y esperanza. Nuestros amigos nos han enseñado el valor de los rituales. Las acciones rituales son actividades repetitivas y ceremoniales que nos ayudan a aceptar y sentirnos cómodos con el desenvolvimiento de la vida. Nos permiten el tiempo para dar nombre a nuestros sentimientos y nos permiten concentrarnos en ellos. Nos ayudan a reconocer la mezcla de gozo y tristeza – oscuridad y luz. Como mentor de innumerables comunidades SPRED a través de la arquidiócesis, le recuerdo a los catequistas la importancia de estos ritos de conclusión. La gente no debería ser permitida a simplemente salir por la puerta mientras que guardan sentimientos de culpabilidad y remordimiento por su decisión de dejar el grupo o escoger un rumbo diferente en el camino. Les recuerdo a los grupos que tomen el tiempo para celebrar y expresar apreciación por los regalos que cada persona ha traído a la comunidad.

Nothing is Impossible With God

For many years the center article of The Guide has been called “Nothing is Impossible With God”. Over the years the themes of the article have touched on many areas of faith from reflections on the Scriptures, to current events in the Church, to happenings specific to Queen of Angels and a host of other topics. The very title calls us to be people of hope, and to seek God, through whom all things are possible, in the moments of our life when everything seems impossible.

Over and over again, in the Scriptures, God challenges people to have faith and find God in the most impossible situations. For example: the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt by the grace of God; the prophets were successful only when they realized that the message they preached was not theirs, but God’s; The Virgin Mary brought the Savior into the world because she accepted that God could do this miracle through her. We are called to believe that, if we have faith, nothing is impossible with God.

In today’s Gospel reading Jesus once again challenges his disciples to believe the impossible through the sign of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. The scene is a grassy place near the Sea of Galilee. The Gospel says that Jesus spent the day responding to the needs of the people who sought him out. He intended to spend some time by himself to pray, but he was “moved with pity” when he saw the crowd searching for him. He spent time with them curing the sick and ministering to them. The disciples spend the day in Jesus’ presence watching him do miracles by curing the sick and doing things that are not possible except with God. When the day was done the disciples were weary and hungry. When they suggested that Jesus dismiss the crowds so that they might go and buy food for themselves, which would be the normal thing to do, Jesus shows the glory of God in one last miracle. He takes five loaves and a couple of fish and feeds the crowd with them.

Announcements, July 31, 2005

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: REGISTRATION DAY NEARS
Registration Day, formerly known as Book Day, will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, August 16 in the Guild Hall Gym, 4416 N. Western Ave. School staff and parent volunteer members will be on hand to answer questions and facilitate registration needs to begin the new school year. See you there!

CELEBRATE ST. MAXIMILIAN KOLBE
Celebrate the Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe at 7 p.m. Saturday, August 13 in Solemn Evening Prayer and Conference in the main chapel at Marytown, National Shrine, 1600 West Park Ave., Libertyville. Learn about Kolbe’s life and work and the Nazi Holocaust through viewing pictures. Marytown is the national shrine to Kolbe, a Polish priest, canonized as a saint after he stepped forward to take the place of the family man chosen to die in a Nazi death camp. Call 847-367-7800.

Missionary Cooperative Plan

Sister Marjorie Craig, CSJ, a Sister of St. Joseph Carondelet, will speak at all the Masses on the weekend of August 13 and 14 on behalf of her community’s work in South America. Sister Marjorie is the Program Coordinator for Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly in Chicago.

The Sisters of St. Joseph have been serving in Peru for 42 years and Chile for 16 years. They minister to the very poor in both urban and rural areas.

Sister Marjorie is here in our parish under the auspices of the Missionary Cooperative Plan in this Archdiocese to educate us in the mission work of the Church.

Mass Schedule & This Week at Queen of Angels, August 1 - 7, 2005

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5— THE DEDICATION OF THE BASILICA OF ST. MARY MAJOR IN ROME
    7:00    MORNING MASS
        † Mae Grondin
    9:00    MORNING MASS
        † Mimi Tom

The Importance of the Gospel of Jesus in our Lives

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD

Jesus, in the short three years of his public ministry, taught his Apostles and other disciples many things. He laid down his teachings, which form the basis of our Catholic Faith, by having conversations with his followers, teaching the crowds, and also by the example of how he lived. He never wrote a book or dictated that any of his teachings be written down. His teachings and parables were passed on by word of mouth from his followers who knew him personally to new converts to the faith who did not know Jesus. As the Apostles and other disciples that had known Jesus and heard him teach began to pass on the early Christians began to feel the need to write down the teachings of Christ so that they would not be lost or changed, which is what happens when things get passed on by word of mouth from generation to generation. The works of four great men, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John, have preserved for us the teachings, parables and happenings of Jesus’ life that they felt were important for us to know. We call the works of these great men the Gospels, and they form the very pillars upon which our Catholic Faith is built. After all, how are we to know Jesus, if not through the words of the Gospels? A fundamental knowledge of the four Gospels is essential to the development of our faith.

Announcements, July 24, 2005

LEADERSHIP DAY PLANNED
Save the date! Parish Leadership Day 2005, Tool Kit for Sharing Christ’s Vision will be Saturday, October 22 at Gordon Tech High School, 3633 N. California Ave. Registration begins at 6:45 a.m. and the event is from 7:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Activities include Prayer and Song, a Conversation with Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., 60 workshops (many bi-lingual) with well-known speakers and Fired up for the Mission by Elliot Wimbush. Call Rita Kattner at 312-751-5357.

FINAL WEEK OF THEOLOGY ON TAP
This is the final week for theology on Tap. All young adults in their 20s and 30s, married and single, are invited to join us for this annual summer speaker series focusing on young adults and their Catholic faith. There is no cost to participate, free parking is available and light refreshments will be served.
Tuesday at St. Benedict, Heidenreich Hall (Multipurpose Room), 2215 West Irving Park: July 26, Points of Encounter with the Lord: Sacraments by Steve Smith.
Wednesday at Transfiguration of Our Lord, 2609 West Carmen (basement): July 27, When Your Heart Speaks, Take Note: A Spirituality for Everyday Life by Joanne Cahoon. Call Maitha at 773-655-5084.

BAPTISMS
Logan Daniel Gabor, child of Princess and Shaun
Elise Olivia Borelli, child of Lisa and Mark
Brian Romero, child of Patricia and Rafael
Sofia Arely Romero, child of Maria and Roberto
Andrew Ivan Pina, child of Diana
Kathryn Louise Siko, child of Kelli and Roark
Maeve Elizabeth Dwyer, child of Maria and Daniel
Robert Rivera, child of JoAnne and Robert
Amy Samantha Azcarate, child of Ruth and Jhon
Damian Anthony Castro, child of Illiam and Luis
Gisselle Alicia Castro, child of Illiam and Luis
Madeline McNamara Keith, child of Shena and Benjamin
Emily Morgan Owens, child of Kelly and Raymond

CELEBRATE ST. MAXIMILIAN KOLBE
Celebrate the Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe at 7 p.m. Saturday, August 13 in Solemn Evening Prayer and Conference in the main chapel at Marytown, National Shrine, 1600 West Park Ave., Libertyville. Learn about Kolbe’s life and work and the Nazi Holocaust through viewing pictures. Marytown is the national shrine to Kolbe, a Polish priest, canonized as a saint after he stepped forward to take the place the family man chosen to die in a Nazi death camp. Call 847-367-7800.

EUCHARISTIC PROCESSION SET
Cardinal Francis George invites you to join him in a Eucharistic Procession and Benediction in Grant Park Friday, August 5. Procession will begin at 1 p.m. at the Petrillo Band Shell in Grant Park. The event is sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Knights of Columbus in celebration of the Year of the Eucharist.

Bring lawn chairs or blankets. Join the Procession at Buckingham Fountain or gather at the Petrillo Band Shell. Consult the Archdiocese’s website at www.archchicago.org or call the Office for Divine Worship at 773-486-5153.

SUPPORT GROUP FOR GRANDPARENTS
Are you a grandparent caring for children in today’s world? Join the group that meets once a month to talk about children and how to help them grow. The next meeting is from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, August 16 at the Northeast Levy Senior Center, 2019 West Lawrence. The topic is Fun Things to do With Kids. Free Refreshments. Call Linda at 847-640-9590.

Mass Schedule & This Week at Queen of Angels, Week of July 25 - 31, 2005

Wednesday, July 27—
Citizenship Class, 7 p.m., Upper Voss
Overeaters Anonymous, 6 to 7:30 p.m., Upper Voss
Prayer Group (Spanish), 6 p.m., Lower Church Kitchen

A Letter From The Cardinal

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

One of the last gifts left to the Church by the late Pope John Paul II was his proclamation of the present Year of the Eucharist. As we all accompanied the Holy Father through the final months of his earthly life, he invited us over and over again to join him in reflecting on the theme of the year. By doing so, he called us all to focus on what is truly the center of our lives — the Body and Blood of Christ — the sacrament which fuels our hope that our intimacy with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament now will come to fulfillment in the life to come.

With this in mind, I invite you to join me and Catholics from across the Archdiocese of Chicago in a major public celebration to honor the Most Blessed Sacrament during the Year of the Eucharist on the afternoon of August 5.

“Society of St. Vincent de Paul” (Part of Queen of Angels Outreach to the Poor)

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE
About five years ago Carol Tipre, one of the past presidents of the Queen of Angels Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, asked me if I would consider becoming the spiritual advisor for the group. I must confess that I really didn’t know much about this old and prestigious Catholic group other than the fact that their ministry was directed to helping the poor and needy.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in 1833 by a young Frenchman named Frederic Ozanam, who was studying law at the Sorbonne in Paris at the time. Frederic, a faithful Catholic, belonged to a discussion group made up of fellow students that would meet on Saturdays to share ideas on many topics. At one particular meeting one of group challenged Frederic and other Catholic members of the group by saying, “I admit that the Catholic Church has done good work in the past, but what do you do now?”

Frederic must have thought that it was a good question because he called a meeting of five Catholic friends at the office of Mr. Emmanuel Bailey, editor of the “Tribune Catholique”, a Catholic newspaper to further discuss the question posed by their non-Catholic friend. At that meeting, Frederic and his friends, along with Mr. Bailey, founded a group dedicated to reaching out to the poor. The date was April 23, 1833, Frederic’s 20th birthday. The original name of the group was the Conference of Charity, which was soon changed to The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, after the saint they chose as their patron.