October 25, 2020 | 30Th Sunday in Ordinary Time
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OUR MISSION: The Community of St. Mary, a diverse people sharing a common pilgrim journey within the Catholic Church, committed to following Jesus’ commandment to love God, love neighbors and go make disciples. October 25, 2020 | 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time No contact necessary! No requirements for requesting a box! Welcome to St. Mary! We’d love you to connect with us! St. Mary Catholic Church @StMaryWoodstock stmary-woodstock.org Text LoveGod to 84576 Next Week’s Gospel: Mt 5:1-12a Turn to Page 6 for a complete list of the weekly readings! A LETTER FROM OUR PASTOR Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, In this Month of October, the Month of the Holy Rosary, we continue to talk about the things that pertain to our Lady, Mary the Mother of our Lord and our Mother. That she made thousands of apparitions throughout history is a sure sign that our Lady plays an active role in salvation. Rightfully so, the Church gave Her the title Co-Redemptrix as an appropriate attribute because with Her son and through Him, She calls for conversion and renewed fidelity to God. In the apparitions which took place all across the globe, Mary always called for the return to her Son, echoing her own words in the Gospel: “Do whatever He [Jesus] tells you.” The earliest record of a Marian apparition is attributed to Apostle James who saw our Lady while he was preaching by the Ebro River in Saragossa, Spain. According to scholars, there are about 2,500 Marian apparitions on record; about 500 of these took place in the 20th Century alone. While most of these apparitions are unverifiable and don’t yet have the approval of the Church, a few have gained wide acceptance and Vatican endorsement. According to Theotokos Books, a Catholic Publishing Company, there are 9 major Marian apparitions with Vatican approval. Below are the following Marian Apparitions from Theotokos: The Apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico Mary appeared four times to Juan Diego in 1531 at Tepeyac hill near Mexico City. She proclaimed herself the spiritual mother of all mankind and left her miraculous image on Juan Diego's outer garment, his tilma. To this day Mexicans have a great devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Apparitions at Rue du Bac, Paris, France Mary appeared to Catherine Labouré three times in 1830, in the chapel of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, at Rue du Bac in Paris. She showed her the design of the the medal of the Immaculate Conception, the "Miraculous Medal." This medal, when propagated, helped to renew devotion to Our Lady, both in France and eventually around the world. The Apparition at La Salette, France Mary appeared to two children, Maximin Giraud, aged 11, and Mélanie Calvat, aged 14, in 1846, one afternoon while they were looking after the animals high up on the mountain. She appealed for penance and an end to Sabbath breaking and blasphemy in the region. This apparition is credited with a major revival of Catholicism in the area. The Apparitions at Lourdes, France Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous, aged 14, a total of eighteen times at Lourdes in southern France, at the Grotto of Massabielle. She asked for penance and prayer for the conversion of sinners, and described herself as the "the Immaculate Conception." Lourdes is most famous for the miraculous spring which has been responsible for many cures accepted by the Church. To be continued … Sincerely Yours In Christ, Fr. Burt Absalon, Pastor 2 | St. Mary Parish · Woodstock, Illinois EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES Please be advised that we are going to be doing Fall Clean-up in Calvary Cemetery at the end of October. If you wish to save your decorations such as artificial flowers, flags, or- This year we will be collecting gift cards for our Giving Tree. We are currently collecting gift naments, etc. you should remove them cards for ages 17 and under. Please make sure immediately. gift card businesses are age-appropriate (Visa, Walmart, Target, Kohl's, Amazon, etc.). You can We will discard all those decorations THIS also donate cash and members of SVdP can shop for gift cards for you. WEEK. Please do not put any new decorations Please put your gift cards or cash in an envelope out until Nov 1st. labeled “giving tree” and drop them off at the parish office any time now through November 21st. All Souls’ Day Prayer Intentions We can still make this a wonderful Christmas for Please use the Google form on our website to people in need if we are creative! The Spirit of submit your intentions for All Souls’ Day so we Christmas cannot be dimmed by this pandemic! can include your loved ones in our prayers for the faithful departed. Let’s make 2020 a year of generosity! You can also submit your intentions by calling the parish office (815) 338-3377 or at the weekend Mass registration table. Mass will be offered on Monday, November 2, As we all know, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at 12:30 pm in English and 6:00 pm in Spanish. has created hardship for many of our brothers and sis- ters. With the establishment of our COVID ministry, we hope to do small acts of kindness for those most vulner- Our Adoration chapel is now able during this pandemic. Our ministry will offer to pick open 24/7. Please view our tu- up groceries, run errands, make appointments, or help torial on the parish website un- in other ways necessary for those who are not able to der “Prayer” -> “Eucharistic Ad- resume their normal daily activities. We are looking for volunteers to help run our ministry. If oration” to familiarize yourself you feel called to serve our brothers and sisters, please with our new guidelines and re- contact Maricela at mduenas@stmary- strictions. woodstock.org or call the parish office. St. Mary Parish · Woodstock,! Illinois | 3 EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES BROTHER KNIGHTS OF COUNCIL 776 St. Mary - Woodstock ILLINOIS KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS VOCATIONS RAFFLE Attention Men of St. Mary Parish All proceeds benefit Illinois seminarians on their The TMIY team is looking to restart the in-person journey to priesthood. Last year the Council and video series and discussion. Please contact Scott church members sold enough tickets to provide Emricson at [email protected] or 815-455 financial support to our summer seminarian, Ian Or- donez. -6889 if you are interested in attending or helping plan the start of the in-person series. If you would The challenge this year is getting the raffle books to like to attend by the virtual sessions, please con- parishioners who would like to support this cause. tact Scott to be added to the distribution list for Due to COVID and restrictions on Mass attend- ance, selling tickets in the St. Joseph Center is not those sessions. possible. BUT . you can get your very own raffle book by When: Saturday mornings at 7:00 am contacting Mark Heiress, Vocations Chairman, at [email protected]. Week 6 - Mary, Mother of all People He will send you tickets! You complete the stubs and return them with ● Speaker: Dr. Mark Miravalle $15.00 to: ● Mary as Our Spiritual Mother Knights of Columbus ● Mary as Co-Redemptrix P.O. Box 1054 ● Mary as the Mediatrix of All Graces Woodstock, IL 60098 ● Mary as our Advocate ● Marian Doctrines Becoming Dogmas Stubs and money due November 1st. Make check ● Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of payable to: Mary Knights of Columbus - Woodstock Council 776 Contact Scott Emricson at 815-455-6889 or [email protected] for more information. "Only with prayer—prayer that storms the heavens for jusce and mercy, prayer that cleanses our hearts and souls—will the culture of death that surrounds us today be replaced with a culture of life." —U.S. Catholic Bishops, 4 | St. Mary Parish · Woodstock, Illinois Don’t forget to send us your questions! Future Hurricane Tours Attention Veterans! Tour our campus and find out what it means to be a Hurricane. Visitors must pre St. Mary School will celebrate Veterans Day a -register at least 24 hours in advance. In little differently this year! We will be live stream- our effort to maintain social distancing, ing the celebration. If you would like to partici- only one family will be allowed per tour. pate, here is how you can help! All visitors will have a temperature check upon arrival and are required to wear a We are looking for veteran volunteers to join us mask. virtually and tell us about their experience in the military. Students will listen to your story and a Every Tuesday & Thursday, October 20 - moderator will ask questions submitted by the November 19, 2020 students. 30 minute tours offered be- tween 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm If you are interested, please e-mail me To register: visit the Marian at [email protected] or call the Central website school and leave a message. We hope to at www.marian.com. make this a great celebration for our veterans and students alike! St. Mary Parish · Woodstock, Illinois | 5 WEEKLY MASS INTENTIONS THE WEEK AHEAD Monday, October 26 Readings for the week of October 25, 2020 12:30 pm Spec. Int. for Cheri Willerschidt Sunday: Ex 22:20-26/Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51 Tuesday, October 27 [2]/1 Thes 1:5c-10/Mt 22:34-40 12:30 pm Spec. Int. for Evan and Shawn Lumpkin Monday: Eph 4:32—5:8/Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 Wednesday, October 28 [cf.