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. November 15, 2020 | 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Don’t forget to sign up for Thanksgiving Mass! Registration is required. 9:00 am English 11:00 am Spanish 4:00 pm Spanish 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 25:31-46 Turn to Page 6 for a complete list of the weekly readings! A LETTER FROM OUR PASTOR Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, All Saints Day and the month of November are an opportune time to talk about the Saints and their heroic lives. Their stories will continue to edify and inspire us if our hearts are open. Many great men and women became Saints themselves because they know other Saints or read about their lives and were inspired by them. The likes of St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Anthony, St. Claire of Assisi, and St. Catherine of Siena can easily come to mind. I would like to highlight in the coming weeks the American Saints hoping that you may read further and learn more about them and draw inspiration from their lives of holiness. Our calling is to be holy and to be, therefore, a saint like these following Americans. That there are quite a few American Saints now is relatively a new phenomenon in the history of the Church. The US Catholic Church has truly been blessed by God with the elevation of these holy men and women to sainthood. First we have the North American Martyrs: St Isaac, St. Rene Goupil, and St Jean de Lalande. These three Jesuit priests were missionaries to the Huron. They were tortured and killed in their mission territory in what is now upstate New York and southern Ontorio in the mid 17th Century. They were canonized on June 29, 1930. Then we have St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Mother Cabrini lived a life of dedicated service in the Americas, meeting the needs of the local Catholic Church, immigrants, and the orphans in both North and South America. Mother Cabrini also founded the Columbus Hospital in New York as well as other hospitals throughout the United States. Mother Cabrini died in Chicago in 1917. She was canonized on July 17, 1946. Then we have (a) New York-born St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, founder of the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph, the first Religious Order for women that was established in the United States. St. Elizabeth also founded the St. Joseph Academy and Free School, laying the foundation of Catholic Education in the United States. Today, the Sisters of Charity, St. Elizabeth's great legacy, work on the unmet needs of people living in poverty in the United States, Canada and beyond. Mother Seton, as she was fondly called, died at the age of 46 in Emmitsburg, Maryland, in 1821. She was canonized on September 14, 1975. Then we have St. John Neumann, Bishop of Philadelphia, and founder of the Sisters of Saint Francis. Neumann was a passionate pastor and educator. He became the Superior of the Redemptorist Order in the United States. When he was made Bishop by Pope Pius IX in 1852, he dedicated his life to building churches, schools, and asylums for his Diocese of Philadelphia. He was devoted to Catholic Education and was the first ecclesiastic to organize a diocesan school system in United States. Bishop Neumann died in Philadelphia in 1860. The cause of death was said to be exhaustion, due to hard work. He was canonized on June 19, 1977. St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, founder of the first community of her religious order in the US - the Society of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus- served for many years in the Midwest founding academies and boarding schools, caring for orphans, and working among the Native Americans. St. Rose Philippine Duchesne died in St Charles, Missouri, in 1852. She was canonized July 3, 1988, by Pope John Paul II. To be continued Sincerely Yours In Christ, Fr. Burt Absalon, Pastor 2 | St. Mary Parish · Woodstock, Illinois *All holiday Masses will be live streamed and are subject to change pending COVID restrictions. St. Mary Parish · Woodstock, Illinois | 3 EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES More information coming soon! Are you or someone you know in need of help running errands, dropping something off, or picking up groceries? Maybe you know someone who just needs a friend to drop by for a quick conversation. Our COVID ministry is here to help! Call the office (815) 338-3377 and you will be connected to one of our loving volunteers! In the month of November; we are asking for Spaghetti- Journey with us this Advent and Christmas as we O's, instant potatoes, experience the beauty of the Nativity story. canned fruit and vegetables. Check our website for more details! Please place all donations in the box located in the St. Joseph Center doors on Thursdays from 9-4. New Women’s Virtual Bible Study Attention Men of St. Mary Parish beginning soon! Please contact Scott Emricson We will begin discussing our new at [email protected] or 815-455-6889 if book, Joy to the World by Scott you are interested in attending the current TMIY Hahn, on November 20, 2020. The session. bible study will meet on Fridays from 9-10:30 am through Google Meet. When: Saturday mornings at 7:00 am If you would like to join, please email Marleen Week 9—Speaker: Dr. John Bergsma, A Powerful at [email protected]. Conversion Story, Does Behavior Really Matter?, The Universal Call to Holiness, What Jesus Left Us to Unify Us, Are You an Inexplicable Catho- lic?, Exploring Our Apostolic Fathers 4 | St. Mary Parish · Woodstock, Illinois Winter is coming: cold winds, snow, icy roads, gray skies. Are you shivering yet? Well, think about those in our community who have no warm clothing to keep those cold winds from their bodies; no mittens or gloves to protect their hands; no boots to keep their feet dry and warm. YOU can help! St. Vincent de Paul is teaming up with the Clothing Closet to host a Share the Warmth event. ALL WINTER, you can drop off your donations of coats, hats, scarves, mittens and gloves, and shoes and boots. Make sure your donations are new or like new and take them to the Clothing Closet at 221 East Calhoun Street in Woodstock on Wednesdays or Fridays from 10 am to 4 pm or on Saturdays from 10 am to 1 pm. Your donation will warm your heart and will also warm another person’s body! Just 2 weeks left to get your gift cards in for our 2020 Giving Tree! YOU can help us bring the joy of giving to the children in our community who need it most. We are collecting gift cards for children ages 17 and under. Please make sure gift card busi- nesses are age-appropriate (Visa, Walmart, Target, Kohl's, Amazon, etc.). Put your gift cards or cash in an envelope labeled “giving tree” and drop them off at the par- ish office before November 21st. If you are writing a check, please make out to St. Vincent de Paul. St. Mary Parish · Woodstock, Illinois | 5 WEEKLY MASS INTENTIONS THE WEEK AHEAD Monday, November 16 Readings for the week of November 15, 2020 12:30 pm Spec. Int. for Evan Lumpkin Sunday: Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31/Ps 128:1- Tuesday, November 17 12:30 pm Spec. Int. for the Marian Class of 1961 2, 3, 4-5 [cf. 1a]/1 Thes 5:1-6/Mt 25:14-30 or 25:14- 15, 19-21 Wednesday, November 18 8:40 am †Brian McPherson Monday: Rv 1:1-4; 2:1-5/Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 12:30 pm †Sister Michelle Germanson [Rev 2:17]/Lk 18:35-43 Thursday, November 19 Tuesday: Rv 3:1-6, 14-22/Ps 15:2-3a, 3bc-4ab, 12:30 pm †Pat Seipp 5 [Rev 3:21]/Lk 19:1-10 Friday, November 20 Wednesday: Rv 4:1-11/Ps 150:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6 [1b]/ 12:30 pm †Frank Bartlett Lk 19:11-28 Saturday, November 21 Thursday: Rv 5:1-10/Ps 149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 4:30 pm †Primitiva Capistrano 6:30 pm †Silvia Ortiz Ayala 9b [Rev 5:10]/Lk 19:41-44 †Joaquin Zarate Friday: Rv 10:8-11/Ps 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131 Sunday, November 22 [103a]/Lk 19:45-48 8:30 am †William Desmond †Raul del Toro Saturday: Rv 11:4-12/Ps 144:1b, 2, 9-10 [1b]/Lk 10:30 am Spec. Int. for the People of the Parish 20:27-40 12:30 pm †Guillermo Rodriguez Next Sunday: Ez 34:11-12, 15-17/Ps 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6 WEEKLY STEWARDSHIP INFORMATION [1]/1 Cor 15:20-26, 28/Mt 25:31-46 Differ- As of 1/9/20 Actual Budget % ence Observances for the week of November 15, 2020 Weekend $9,549 $14,142 ($4,593) -32.5% Sunday: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year to Date $242,530 $268,698 ($26,168) -9.7% Monday: St.