Queen of Angels Catholic Parish Chicago

EASTER SUNDAY - 2005

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD

Morning Prayer for Easter Sunday
God, creator of us all,
Today is the day of Easter joy.
This is the morning on which the Lord appointed to his friends
Who had begun to lose hope.
He opened their minds to what the Scriptures had foretold:
That he first must die and then would rise and later ascend into your glorious presence.
May the risen Lord breathe on our minds and open our eyes
So we may know him always in the breaking of the bread,
Receive and give his peace,
And follow him through this life into his risen life.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Final Week of Lent

PRE-EASTER SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION (confessions)
Monday, March 21 – 7 to 8 p.m.
Friday, March 25 – 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
(There are NO confessions on Saturday, March 26, Holy Saturday.)
Reconciliation (confessions) is celebrated in the Reconciliation Room in the Gathering Space, either face-to-face or anonymously. If a second priest is needed for Reconciliation, the confessional to the left of the Reconciliation Room is used.

HOLY WEEK LITURGIES
HOLY THURSDAY, MARCH 24
9 a.m. – Morning Prayer. This is not a Eucharist and there is no communion at this morning prayer.  The Church allows only one Mass, in the evening, on Holy Thursday.
7:30 p.m.– Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The Blessed Sacrament remains in the church until midnight for prayer. The church remains open from midnight on.

Organ Restoration Continues; Will Be heard Again for First Time at Eater Vigil

It has been two months since the organ restoration project began. The first week of January Berghaus Organ Company started to work. In that first week the organ console and most of the 1,500 pipes were taken to the Berghaus workshop in Bellwood, Illinois where the work of refinishing and rebuilding started. The old mechanism in the console was totally removed and the console was refinished. The pipes were cleaned and repaired as necessary. At the same time a new chest was being constructed to hold the 240 new pipes for the new four rank Mixture on the Great division which will give an even more splendid sound to the organ.

The Upcoming Easter Sunday Collection

THE UPCOMING EASTER SUNDAY COLLECTION  MARCH 27 AND SOME PRESSING NEEDS
Easter is two weeks away. Rather than take time at Mass to outline needs and goals, especially during the final weeks of Lent, please consider now your Easter sacrifice to the Parish.

Last year’s Easter collection goal was $27,000. It came in at $23,600, short of the goal. Based on last year’s performance, this year’s Easter collection goal has been scaled back to $25,000. We hope that everyone’s thoughtful sharing will bring us to goal this year, or even beyond.

Recently necessary repairs were made to the church or are pending:

Collection for the Holy Land on Good Friday; St. Vincent DePaul on Holy Thursday

Your help is needed now, as in the days of St. Francis, to protect the Holy Places of the Holy Land. Even more important, we need your help to protect the Holy Name of Our Lord in this troubled land which He chose for His birth, sacrificial death and victorious resurrection.

That is why Franciscan Missioners in the Holy Land minister—in Christ’s name—to the people found there. That is why a refugee child is fed in your behalf. Or some young pilgrims are given a warm place to spend the night on their once-in-a-lifetime adventure for God. Or a poor local Christian family is helped to build a roof over their heads.

Reconciliation

FOURTH AND FINAL HOLY HOUR – THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
We end our Lenten Holy Hours in Queen of Angels church at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 8 with our pre-Easter Communal Celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This Tuesday we gather as people recognizing our imperfections and bringing them to the forgiving mercy of God and the prayerful comfort of one another. There will be song, Scripture, a brief homily and a litany of forgiveness. Then all who wish may go to confession and receive individual absolution. It is an evening of peace and renewal.

Remember The Guide article two weeks ago inviting us to and preparing us for this sacrament. The Sacrament of Reconciliation has personal and growth filled steps. Confession: The telling of sin not simply for disclosure, but recognizing responsibility for our actions to facilitate our reconciliation and reunion. Confession to a priest: A dialogue, face-to-face acknowledgement to another person who is also a sinner that I have hurt others with the priest inviting the penitent to charity and peace. Satisfaction: A penance.

The taking up of an action offered by the priest as a way to right what was harmed. Forgiveness: The prayerful reception of the words of absolution, or forgiveness from the Lord. All of this is preceded by our personal Examination of Self, or Conscience: We hold our life in our hands and look to see how it compares to the ways of Christ.

Finish the Lenten Holy Weeks and move to Easter as a refreshed Christian!
Other times for your pre-Easter Sacrament of Reconciliation, or confession are 9:30 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, March 19; from 7 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, March 22; and from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Friday (Good Friday) March 25.

Holy Hours: The Tuesdays of Lent – Annual Parish Mission With St. Matthias Parish

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD

Two Sundays before Lent, many of you heard the invitation to take six hours out of our time and make them Holy Hours. The first Hour was the evening on Celtic Spirituality. That night, 108 people came for a look at a source of many of our foundations of Faith. That was the highest ever number of participants for an adult faith formation night.

The next Hour was to go to Mass on Ash Wednesday. Certainly, many people went to Mass other than here at Queen of Angels. Although an exact count was not taken, all three priests who were at all of the liturgies agreed: more people attended Mass this past Ash Wednesday than in previous years!