January 12, 2020 - Baptism of the Lord
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St. Stephen Deacon & Martyr Catholic Church 17500 84th Avenue, Tinley Park, Illinois 60487 708-342-2400 St. Stephen Deacon and Martyr Catholic Church 17500 South 84th Avenue, Tinley Park, IL 60487 www.ststephentinley.com Parish Office Phone: 708-342-2400 | Parish Office Fax: 708-342-1545 Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs. 8:30am—12:30pm and 1–8:00pm | Friday 8:30am—12:30pm and 1-6pm Saturday Noon—5pm | Sunday 9:30am—1:00pm Religious Education Phone: 708-342-1544 RE Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs. 8:30am—12:30pm and 1pm-4:30pm | Friday 8:30am—12:30pm Evenings and weekends by appointment. Please call to schedule. Cardinal Joseph Bernardin Parish School (CJB) 9250 West 167th Street, Orland Hills, IL 60487 Phone: 708-403-6525 | Fax: 708-403-8621 | web: cjbschool.org | email: [email protected] Pastor Anointing of the Sick—Please contact the parish office if you or a loved one Rev. Thomas A. Bernas need this sacrament. Associate Pastor Rev. Mirek Kulesa Baptisms must be prescheduled and are celebrated every Sunday at 3pm in Pastor Emeritus English and 1pm in Polish. Baptisms can also be celebrated with the Parish Rev. James Finno Family at one of our weekend Masses. Please contact Fr. Tom in the parish Deacons office for the necessary preparations. A baptism preparation class is required to Robert Conlin have your child baptized at St. Stephen’s. New parishioners are required to William Engler register. Chuck McFarland William Schultz Communion for the sick, elderly, handicapped, or homebound parishioners Pete Van Merkestyn can be arranged by calling Barbara Black at 708-466-9962. Administrative Asst. to Pastor Funerals can be arranged through the parish office. Laura Uher Marriages - St. Stephen’s Parish welcomes the celebration of the weddings of Business Manager both registered parishioners and the children of registered parishioners. For Kim Osowiec more information, please contact the parish office. Adult Formation Barbara Black New parishioners are invited to register: Maintenance Director • After the 10am Mass on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of every month. Dean Thompson • At the parish office. Director of Music and Liturgy For those in need: David Boyle • Counseling services are available through the Holbrook Counseling Center Morning Receptionist of Catholic Charities. To get help, call 312-655-7725 or visit the website at Noreen Galvin catholiccharities.net • For Grief and Crisis Counseling, please contact Deacon Pete Van Director of Religious Education Merkestyn. Appointments will be taken on Wednesdays at 10am, 11am, and Sandi Morgan 12pm. Please call the parish office or email Deacon Pete at [email protected] to arrange for an appointment. Religious Ed. Admin. Assistant • For parishioners struggling and in need of assistance, please contact Dee Zvejnieks the St. Vincent de Paul Ministry through the parish office. • For those seeking help through a twelve-step program, St. Stephen’s offers CJB Interim Principal James Antos English and Polish support groups. Please contact the parish office for more CJB Admissions Director information. Cynthia Labriola Devlin • For information about Domestic Violence awareness, services, and prevention, please contact Deacon Bill Schultz at the parish office. FATHER TOM’S TIDBITS Dear Friends, This weekend we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The baptism of Jesus is attested to in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The account that appears in Matthew is the only one to include the dialogue between Jesus and John, however. Another difference in Matthew’s presentation of this event is the announcement made by the voice from heaven, which says, “This is my beloved son . .” In Mark and Luke, this voice addresses itself to Jesus: “You are my beloved son . .” The baptisms that John performs prefigure Christian Baptism. John baptizes for repentance from sin. In accepting this baptism, Jesus unites himself with all sinners even though he is sinless. In Matthew’s Gospel, John the Baptist distinguishes his practice of baptism from the Baptism that the Messiah brings: “I am baptizing you with water . He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” The baptism of Jesus is another manifestation of Christ, another epiphany. Christ’s baptism inaugurates his mission. In the same way, our Baptism inaugurates our mission as Christians. This weekend marks a transition from the Christmas season to Ordinary Time. In a way, today’s feast is the high point of the Christmas season. Before Jesus’ birth, angels announced to Mary and to Joseph who Jesus would be. At his birth, the shepherds and the Magi recognize Jesus as the Messiah. At his baptism, Jesus accepts that he is God’s son and inaugurates that mission. Christmas Time and Easter Time highlight the central mysteries of the Paschal Mystery, namely, the incarnation, death on the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Sundays and weeks of Ordinary Time, on the other hand, take us through the life of Christ. This is the time of conversion. This is living the life of Christ. Ordinary Time is a time for growth and maturation, a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things are finally caught up in Christ. The goal, toward which all of history is directed, is represented by the final Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Ordinary Time will continue through the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday, February 26th. This weekend we are celebrating our Commitment Sunday for the young people of our parish who are preparing to receive their First Communion this May. They will be joining us for the 5PM Saturday evening Mass and at the 10AM Mass on Sunday. At these Masses they will publically state their willingness to prepare themselves, spiritually and intellectually, for receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord at their First Communion. I ask that you keep them in your prayers at this most special time in their lives. Prayer partner cards, with the names of the students, are available on the tables in the back of our church. If you would like to be a prayer partner with one of these students, I ask that you take a card with you and keep that child in your prayers. If you have been attending Mass each weekend you may have noticed that many of the same people are serving in the various liturgical ministries, week after week, or there are Masses when we are short of liturgical ministers. Unfortunately, because of a shortage of volunteers willing to assist at our weekend Masses, these volunteers are making personal sacrifices and performing their ministries quite frequently. I hope we can change this and increase the level of participation by more of our parishioners who are attending our weekend liturgies. Serving as a liturgical minister is one of the easiest ways you can serve our parish. The time commitment is minimal; you will serve at the Mass you normally attend, and training will be provided. Liturgical ministry is an excellent opportunity to fulfill your baptismal call of service to one another. Our liturgies should utilize the talents and gifts that God has given this community to the fullest extent. As members of the Body of Christ, we are called to actively participate in liturgy through presence, ritual action, prayer, silence and song. Some are called to participate also as liturgical ministries – to serve as ministers of hospitality, servers at the table of the Lord, Lectors, Extraordinary Ministers of Communion and as music ministers. Training sessions have been scheduled for new Eucharistic Ministers and Lectors, beginning this Monday, January 13th, from 7-9pm, at Saint Michael’s Parish, 14327 Highland Avenue, in Orland Park. If you are willing to help us in serving as a Eucharistic Minister or Lector, I ask that you see me after Mass today or call Laura at the parish office or email her at [email protected] so that she can get you registered for the classes. After much preparation and effort the day for our first bingo has finally arrived. This afternoon/Sunday we will be hosting our first bingo. I hope you will join us for a fun-filled afternoon. Who knows you may go home as one of our lucky winners. Please invite you family, friends and neighbors to join you as well. The doors of the Parish Life Center will open at 12:30PM and the games will begin at 1:30PM. All funds raised by the bingos will be used to help pay down the outstanding balance of the mortgage for the Parish Life Center. Hope to see you at the bingo! Have A Great Week! From Our Associate Pastor CHRZEST PAŃSKI „Wtedy przyszedł Jezus z Galilei nad Jordana do Jana, żeby przyjąć chrzest od niego” Chrzest Jana dla przyjmującego go Izraelity był znakiem i świadectwem zmiany sposobu życia, czyli nawrócenia i pokuty. Sam Jan oświadczył, że Jezuus tego nie potrzebował. Jezus nie przyszedł nad Jordan żeby się nawrócić i pokutować za swoje grzechy świata. „To jest mój syn umiłowany, w którym mam upodobanie”. Dla Jezusa rozpoczyna się nowy etap życia. Ukryte, życie w Nazarecie zmienia teraz na życie wędrownego nauczyciela. Przemierzy całą ziemię izraelską wzdłuż i wszerz przepowiadając Radosną Nowinę, która zostanie przypieczętowana przelaniem Krwi na Kalwarii. Do wypełnienia tego ważdnego zadania Jezus otrzymał pełnomocnictwo od Boga w włowach: „To jest mój Syn umiłowany”. Chrzest Jezusa jes obrazem naszego chrztu, który ma być punktem zwrotnym w naszym życiu. Święty Paweł napisał: „Wszyscy dzięki tej wierze jesteście synami Bożymi w Chrystusie Jezusie. Bo wszyscy, którzy zostaliście ochrzczeni w Chrystusie, przyoblekliście się w Chrystusa”.