Proclaiming Jesus Christ As Lord

Rectory: Pastor: Rev. Richard Simon Ministry of Care: Mrs. Carol Glueckert 8148 N Karlov Avenue Skokie, IL 60076 (847) 674-6456 Phone:(847) 673-5090 Rev. Know-it-all: E-mail: [email protected] reverendknow-it-all.blogspot.com To Register as a Parishioner: Call the rectory or email us.

St. Lambert Parish - Skokie, IL Deacon: Mr. Chick O’Leary Baptisms: Third Sundays of the month

at 1:30 pm. Please call the rectory for Music Director: Mr. Steven Folkers Website: www.StLambert.org guidelines and more information.

Religious Education : Jonathan Rivera Sunday Masses: (5 pm Sat) 8am, Weddings: Arrangements must be [email protected] 10am, 12pm made 6 months in advance.

Office Staff: Debbie Morales-Garcia Bulletin Guidelines: Submissions Weekday Masses: 7:15 am (Mon-Fri) [email protected] should be received 10 days preceding 8am on Saturday Mr. George Mohrlein the date of bulletin publication. Send to

Confessions: Saturday at 8:30am [email protected]. Page 2 St. Lambert Parish 6th Sunday of Easter

READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday: Acts 16:11-15; Ps 149:1b-6a, 9b; Jn 15:26 — 16:4a Tuesday: 1 Cor 15:1-8; Ps 19:2-5; Jn 14:6-14 Wednesday: Acts 17:15, 22 — 18:1; Ps 148:1-2, 11- 14; Jn 16:12-15 Thursday: Acts 1:1-11; Ps 47:2-3, 6-9; Eph 1:17-23 Saturday, April 30 or Heb 9:24-28; 10:19-23; Lk 24:46-53 5:00 † Samuel Holden (for Ascension); otherwise Sunday, May 1 Acts 18:1-8; Ps 98:1-4; Jn 16:16-20 8:00 † Hristo Devedjiev & Lydia Gard Friday: Acts 18:9-18; Ps 47:2-7; Jn 16:20-23 10:00 Joe & Carmen Redito 50th Wedding Anniversary Saturday: Acts 18:23-28; Ps 47:2-3, 8-10; Jn 16:23b- 28 12:00 People of St Lambert Sunday: Acts 7:55-60; Ps 97:1-2, 6-7, 9; Monday, May 2 Rv 22:12-14, 16-17, 20; Jn 17:20-26 7:15 † Barbara Vladex, Paulina & Laurano Panaligan or (for Ascension) Acts 1:1-11; Tuesday, May 3 Ps 47:2-3, 6-9; Eph 1:17- 23 or 7:15 † Donna Mohrlein Heb 9:24-28; 10:19-23; Lk 24:46-53 Wednesday, May 4 7:15 † Miguel Rios No Coffee Hour Thursday, May 5 next week, 7:15 † Josefa Jal & Angel Gonzalez Mothers Day. Friday, May 6 7:15 † Miguel DeLa Paz & Dscd. Members of the DeLa Paz Family Sunday Offertory Collection

Saturday, May 7 April 16/17, 2016 8:00 † Dscd. Members of the Pulido Family Envelopes: $ 6,899.00 5:00 † Dscd. Members of the Lynn/Ryan Families Loose: 2,250.48 Total: $ 9,149.48 Sunday, May 8 8:00 † Margaret Gannon YouthChurch $ 36.00

10:00 † Millie Sklena Thank you for your continued support!!

12:00 People of St Lambert For online giving go to www.givecentral.org

Ecuador Earthquake Emergency Appeal Relief Services 3525 S. Lake Park Ave., Chicago, IL 60653

On Saturday, April 16, a 7.8 magnitude Earthquake occurred along the coast of Ecuador. Catholic Relief Services teams are on the ground evaluang needs in the most affected areas for providing emergency relief and support. Please consider donang to support the families suffering loss and devastaon. This work will connue throughout the long recovery period. Thank you for your prayers.

There will be a collecƟon box in the vesƟbule of the and/or to find prayers, ongoing updates, and to donate, please visit: www.ChicagoPeaceAndJusƟce.org/EmergencyAppeal May 1, 2016 Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord Page 3 Flowers are a Mother’s favorite!

Mothers Day Flower Sale On Saturday May 7 & Sunday, May 8 St. Lambert will sell beautiful bouquets of fresh flowers after all Masses. You’ll find the perfect bouquet from a new, deluxe selections for this year. Each bouquet is wrapped in tissue and ready to present to your Mother…. Stepmother… Mother-in-law...or Grandmother.

The proceeds from your purchase will be used to help teen girls and young women who are in a crisis pregnancy situation and need assistance. Please support this life-saving work of The Women’s Center of Greater Chicagoland.

Thank you for your generous support.

Mixed floral Bouquets- $10, Roses Bouquet- $15, Bouquet of Carnations $10, Deluxe Hydrangea Bouquets $30

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On Mothers Day, each of us will have an opportunity to join in the Church’s sacred mission of charity through our donations to Catholic Charities Mother’s Day collection. Funds raised from the collection will be used to help struggling families and individuals living right in our own communities.

With 150 programs at 1654 locations throughout Cook & Lake Counties, Catholic Charities annually serves more than one million poor and vulnerable people of all ages , races and religions and economic backgrounds. Catholic Charities helps people overcome the challenges of poverty, hunger, homelessness, joblessness, mental illness, abuse and aging. Low income families, at risk children, courageous veterans, and vulnerable seniors rely on Catholic Charities for food, clothing, shelter and a host of other services.

Supporting the extraordinary work of Catholic Charities takes on special significance during this Jubilee Year of Mercy. By designing the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Francis has provided us a graced opportunity to appreciate more deeply how the mercy of God shapes our lives and, at the same time, how we can bring that mercy into the world through our own actions and the way we live our lives. Catholic Charities exemplifies how we are to transmit His love and compassion to our brother and sisters who are facing tremendous difficulties.

Mother’s Day is the one day set aside for Catholic Charities to request financial support of each of the parishes. Please show your support for the great mercy of the Church by contributing to Catholic Charities during the second collection, or make your donations directly to Catholic Charities at 721 N. La Salle St., Chicago, IL 60654, or www.catholiccharities.net/donate. Now is a particularly important time for us to give generously, as Catholic Charities must contend with the repercussions of the Illinois state budget crisis, which has placed tremendous financial stress on their ability to serve the poor and vulnerable.

During this Jubilee Year, let us take up the Pope’s challenge to bring the transformative power of God’s infinite mercy into our world. Working together, we can raise up our brothers and sister in need, providing compassion and concrete support to propel them to a new life filled with hope and dignity. Many tanks for considering a gift to Catholic Charities. May God bless you and your families. Sincerely yours in Christ Most Reverend Blase J. Cupich Archbishop of Chicago

Second Collection Next Week end for Catholic Charities Page 4 St. Lambert Parish 6th Sunday of Easter

In celebration of the 10 year

of the

The youth group, (SLY) will host a Variety Show on Saturday, May 21, 2016 after the 5pm Mass in Trainor Hall. $3 per person—$10 per family

Curtain time: 6:30 pm Food for purchase after mass

Proceeds will go to the St Lambert Youth Group (SLY) May 1, 2016 Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord Page 5 The Reverend Know-it-all of the Humble Carpenter of Nazareth were not “What I don’t know… easy to govern. The Germans had invaded the , not to destroy it, but to enjoy it. I can always make up!” They liked Roman amenities, like wine and olive oil Continued from last week… and white bread and bathing, far better than beer, bacon fat, bugs and barley bread. If the new In 313, when the emperor German aristocracy converted to Catholic Constantine issued his Edict of it might make acceptance by the Toleration, he started the ball Romans easier, which is precisely what they did. rolling to make Christianity the And, when the king was re-baptized Catholic, you official religion of the Roman had better believe that his court, accepted the Empire. The process was complete religion of the Romans. in 380, when emperor Theodosius issued Edict of Thessalonica. Christianity had been In times past, individuals had made a decision that a persecuted sect that claimed to be a variation of Jesus was the Messiah. Now the decision was the religion of Israel. It was founded by Jesus of made for you, if you were a Roman, or a Visigoth Nazareth who claimed to be the Jewish Messiah. or a Burgundian, or a Frank. In 785 AD His followers said He had risen from the dead and Charlemagne, the king of the Franks decreed that some even claimed that He was God in the flesh. “If any one of the race of the Saxons hereafter Now this rather strange little sect had managed in concealed among them shall have wished to hide just over three centuries to become the official himself unbaptized, and shall have scorned to religion of the Romans. Not only was Christianity come to baptism and shall have wished to remain the religion of the Romans, but a certain form of a pagan, let him be punished by death.” Christianity, Catholicism, was the religion of the Something similar happened in Russia. Prince Romans, and Catholicism came with all the Vladimir of Kiev went religion shopping and chose baggage of a God who was three persons, yet one Byzantine Christianity because the liturgy was so God, and that God had established an organization beautiful and, thankfully, Christianity did not with bishops, priests and deacons in leadership prohibit the drinking of alcohol of which the with a special emphasis on the bishop of , Russians were, and still are, quite fond. Vladimir who claimed to be the spiritual and theological was baptized, married the sister of the Roman heir to saints Peter and Paul. Byzantine emperor of and upon returning to Kiev, marched the entire population Things had come a long way since the days of down to the Dnieper River, starting with his 12 squabbling Israelite sects. The first squabbling sons and the boyars (nobles). The wooden idols of followers of Jesus had become the Official Religion the Russians were either burned or and thrown in of the Romans. They still managed to squabble but the river as was the statue of the main Russian now the emperors of Constantinople joined the god, Perun. In his enthusiasm for Christianity squabble. The Germanic peoples who overran the Vladimir even baptized the gods! The Kievan western half of the Roman Empire around 425 AD Russians were now , whether they liked were Christians, just not Catholic Christians. They it or not. could not care less about the bishop of Rome and they thought the was nonsense. They were What a lucky break for the Romans in their followers of , who believed Jesus was really shrinking empire! The Roman state, threatened in swell, just not equal to . When the the west by the Germans and in the east by those German barbarians set up their new kingdoms in Turks and Arabs who were not Christian (There are Spain and France and North Africa, they had a hard still many Turkic and Arabic speakers who have time controlling things. The contentious followers (Continued on page 6) Page 6 St. Lambert Parish 6th Sunday of Easter

(Continued from page 5) Dictatus is a list of twenty seven statements retained their Christianity despite a millennium of pointing out what sovereigns owed the Pope. In persecution) suddenly had a boatload of allies. addition to kissing the foot of the pope, the The sect of Christians first became the Religion of Dictatus said the pope may depose emperors, and the Romans. Now it was the religion of the Roman that “he may absolve subjects from their fealty to state as well the Frankish, Gothic, and eventually wicked men.” This meant that the pope could of the Russian states, as well as many others. Each dissolve any government in and of them came to think of themselves as uniquely release the subordinate of any emperor, king or chosen by God to do His will on earth by nobleman from their obligation of obedience to slaughtering his enemies who, coincidentally, the local authority. were the enemies of the state. Amazingly, people took all this seriously. It meant To serve the interests of the state was to serve that there was some non-violent international God. To refuse to serve the state was to refuse to control over the avarice and aggression of the serve God, and hence both treason and upper classes. The system worked, at least until blasphemy. It was never the tradition of the the Reformation in 1525, when certain German and church to burn heretics and blasphemers. It was French theologians decided that the papacy was most certainly the practice of the state to burn useless. With no pope to threaten traitors. And so the horrors began. Enemies of the excommunication, the monarchs of Europe were state were executed or expelled, and so Jews free to impose their superior chosen-ness on their continued their wandering, first to Spain, and neighbors. Europe dissolved into a century of war then, when expelled by the non-Christian in which half the population of certain areas Almohads around 1150, they fled to France, then perished. Strangely, Europe lost its religion during from France to the Rhine valley, then to Poland the wars of religion. To be Protestant, Catholic, or and Russia, always on the edge of the society. none of the above was no longer a matter of Oddly, the Jews of Italy were the safest Jews in choice. Your religion was a matter of a political Christendom until the Second World War and the unit that was hell bent on proving its superiority to Jewish community of Rome exists to this day. The those a little less chosen than itself. may have said unfortunate things but usually protected the Jews of Italy, as did Pope The mayhem started in 1525 when the German Pius XII in the Second World War. (C.f. Rabbi theologians reinvented Christianity and dumped David Dahlen: “The Myth of Hitler’s Pope”) The the papacy. The Great Peasants' War or Great Jews had become the un-chosen people, a Peasants' Revolt devastated Central Europe from stateless nation, once chosen, now rejected. 1524 to 1525. The peasants decided that, if the priests and aristocrats didn’t need popes and How does one convince ten or twenty national bishops, they didn’t need the aristocrats and ethnic groupings that they are each God’s new priests. They slaughtered thousands of the chosen people? Easy! You have a pope! The Papacy German governing class. The governing class who, managed to hold all these chosen nations and after all, had the money and the weapons returned their anointed sovereigns together in a crazy quilt the favor by slaughtering perhaps 300,000 of the of chosen-ness by cobbling together a super peasants. This was just a warm up. A century later, nation called Christendom. The aggression and the Thirty Years War, punctuated with bouts of arrogance of kings were limited by the threat of witch burning and cannibalism, killed about a third excommunication. No one could quite get the of the population of large parts of Europe. It upper hand, because “all must kiss the foot of the started as a religious conflict when the Protestant Roman Pontiff” or so says the Dictatus Papae, town council of Prague threw the representatives published by Pope Gregory VII in 1075. The of the Catholic emperor out a window (This is May 1, 2016 Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord Page 7 called the “Defenestration of Prague.” You’ve got to love the name, no?)

It started out Protestant versus Catholic, but by the end Catholic France was allied with protestant Sweden against Catholic Austria. The war spilled over from Germany into France, Holland, England and the Americas.

When it was all over the nation state was supreme, Christendom was gone and 11 million people were dead. No pope got his foot kissed by any monarch any more. The worship of God faded into the worship of the state. The state was no longer chosen by God. It was just chosen. European Christianity was completely separated from the idea of conversion and started to die. And the Jews? They were not part of any chosen state no matter how hard they pretended.

Next week: Just when things couldn’t possibly get worse….

ALL THE ADVANTAGES

We want to give our children what we didn’t have; but let’s make sure we give them what we did have: our faith.

—Anonymous