MARCH 29 FIFTH SUNDAY 2020 OF LENT Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus come out!” Page 2 St. Paul of the Cross Welcomes… Make your Easter Contact the Parish office to register Donation Online • From your desktop computer • From our Parish APP Your Easter donation to St. Paul of the Cross goes directly into our operating budget and helps support parish ministries and maintenance of our campus. You can give online by vis- iting our web site www.spc-church.org or by downloading our Parish App. Find our App by searching “St. Paul PR”. Please call the Rectory at least 6 months in advance. Please note: Parish events have been cancelled out of an abundance of caution due to the coronavirus pandemic. Please refer to our parish website at www.spc-church.org. or contact the Ministry Leader for the most up to date schedule of events. As a reminder, Fr. Britto, Fr. Matthew and Fr. Peter continue to pray for our parish Mass Intentions when they celebrate Mass in private. The video of the Mass will be available on our website daily. Page 3 Dear St Paul of the Cross Parishioners, As I write this column, there seems to be a certain heaviness in the air. We are all locked up in our homes unable to go anywhere, unsure of what is happening, and uncertain of the future. If there is one emotion that we all seem to share, it is fear. We are experiencing fear of the unknown, fear of catching the virus and fear about when all this will end. Our fears will increase exponentially if we somehow pretend that we control our lives. We can allay our fears if only we can surrender to faith. One of my favorite gospel stories depicts a scene where the disciples are helplessly tossed about in a storm. It is about three or four in the morning and the morning light has not yet broken in. Seeing Jesus walking on the water, they are terrified because they think they are seeing a ghost. As Jesus draws closer to them, He assures his followers: “Do not be afraid. It is I.” Fear kept the disciples from seeing straight. We also live in a society that constantly preys on our fears. In his book, The Culture of Fear, Barry Glassner asks: “Why are so many fears in the air and so many of them unfounded? Why, as crime rates plunged throughout the 1990s, did two-thirds of Americans believe they were soaring? How did it come about that by mid-decade 62 percent of us described ourselves as ‘truly desperate’ about crime – almost twice as many as in the late 1980s, when crime rates were higher?” Emerging from the last election year, we know firsthand how politicians play on our fears for their own political gain. Many years ago a university in Germany conducted a research study. It asked students to identify the emotion that they experienced most frequently. The results surprised the researchers. The most common emotion that people experienced, according to the research, was not love or anger or hate. It was fear. Whether we are children or grown-ups, we all have our fears. Some of us are afraid of the dark; others are afraid of the future and the unknown; some others are afraid of failure. We are afraid of what people think of us. We are afraid of getting old. We have so many fears. God put fear into us to keep us safe. Without fear we will put ourselves in danger. The total lack of fear is risky and it is called temerity. On the other hand, we cannot allow fear to keep us from living our lives fully. We cannot become paralyzed by fear. Courage is not lack of fear; it is the ability to face our fears and do what must be done. We can face all things because the Risen Lord is with us. With St Paul, we can say, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Especially during the Lenten season we are reminded that we cannot be fearful because by His death and resurrection, Christ has conquered sin and death. For us believers the source of our courage is the assurance of God’s presence with us. When we read the Bible we find God calling many individuals to do extraordinary things for Him. For instance, God calls Moses and asks him to tell the Pharaoh to free the people of Israel. When Moses objects that he does not know how to speak, the Lord pledges to go with him. That is the assurance that God gives to all those He calls. This God will not allow us to face the storms of life alone. Do you know what sentence occurs the most in the Bible? It is this: “Do not be afraid; it is I.” These words and their equivalents appear in the Bible not just a hundred or even two hundred times. They appear 366 times. It is as if God tells us that He is with us once for every day of the year and an extra once for each leap year. We have nothing to fear. I know that we are all concerned about many things. We have enough reasons to worry. Thinking about our huge parish, from time to time I too worry. However, over the last ten years, God has given me unmistakable proofs of His continued presence with us. He constantly surprises me by solving problems when I go to Him in prayer. I invite you to rely on His unfailing support. Take all your burdens to Him in prayer. As long as Peter kept his eyes focused on Jesus, he was fine. Once he turned his gaze to the wind and the waves, he began to sink. Let me leave you with the words of Scripture: But now the Lord who created you, says, “Don’t be afraid, for I have ransomed you; I have called you by name. You are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up – the flames will not con- sume you. For I am the Lord your God, your Savior, the Holy One of Israel... Others died that you might live; I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me and honored and I love you. Don’t be afraid for I am with you.” (Isaiah 43: 1-5) Storms will always rage and winds will not die down. Even though many things around us cause fear, we rest in the assurance that the Lord is with us, within us. He is for us! Let us pray for one another! Yours warmly, PS I would like to remind you that even though our parish is closed, our expenses remain. Please do not forget to support your parish. You can give on-line or mail your checks. Thank you! Page 4 October 12-21, 2020 www.pilgrimages.com/frberchmans PALM SUNDAY Stations of the Cross are cancelled. However, we have posted a video of the stations on our website so that you can pray Because of the stay at home order effective until them at home. April 7, we will be unable to celebrate Palm Sunday in the church. Our vendor. who procures palms for us, canceled the order. As a result we regret to say that palms will not available this year. Page 5 A T, D (847) 692-6767 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH 2020 Lenten Almsgiving You can make a big difference by helping the Purépecha indigenous community in Mecca, CA build a church. Sisters Aida and Maria Teresa work with a community that is mostly made up of indigenous Purépechas, who have their own language and customs. The sisters believe they have three responsibilities to this com- munity: to walk toward the people, to participate in their lives and to preach the Gospel message that God unconditionally loves each one of us. The sisters go out to engage the people in the community by actively participating in their fiestas, their devotions, their prayers and their struggles. Simply put, the sisters seek to be in communion with the migrant Purépecha people. The Purépecha people in this community speak Purépecha as well as Spanish, and some especially the children, also know English. While the sisters do not speak Purépecha, they speak the language of love and companionship. The people in this community have experienced discrimination due to their language and traditional clothing. The sisters presence at community leader meetings, which take place in the Puré- pecha language, serves more than anything else, as a witness of the sisters companionship. At least 90 percent of the Purépecha community is Roman Catholic, but they are not being adequately ministered to because they live in the farther reaches of the valley. The sisters continue to remind the com- munity that they are here to accompany them in their Catholic faith. Thank for your support and generosity! Page 6 Name: Address: Phone #: Email: Name & Grade of Student Earning Service Hours: By signing and submitting this form with your payment you agree to the project requirements as outlined above. Sign Date Page 7 Rising Star Annual Scholarship In an effort to promote and encourage Catholic Education, the St. Paul of the Cross Men’s Club will award our 10th annual scholarship, worth $4,000, to be utilized at any approved Catholic High School Institution in the Chicagoland area.