St. Mary of Gostyn Catholic Church...9:00 AM - The Weaver Family req. Deb Kelsey-Davis & Kelly Johnson Tom Gowgiel req. Family FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2020 9:00 AM - George Drobney Sr. req.

St. Mary of Gostyn Catholic Church July 12, 2020

Page 2 Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Here’s a question: Have you received the Holy Spirit? An informed Catholic would answer, "Sure. I received the Holy Spirit in Baptism. The Spirit's presence within me was confirmed at the Sacrament of Confirmation."

Another question: Do you experience the Holy Spirit? Some might say, "Yes! And what a joy!" Others might respond, "Experience? Can the Spirit be experienced?" Still others might say, "No, that is a theological concept which I accept, but it's abstract."

Whatever our immediate answer, it is always helpful to reflect on how we relate with the Holy Spirit in our daily life. If we already relate consciously to the Spirit, then prayerful reflection deepens that intimacy. If we don't yet know the Spirit in our experience, we can open ourselves to the Spirit's presence and enjoy the adventure unfolding within us.

Our first step is to know where we are in relation to the Spirit. We want to be honest, because if we don't know where we are at the outset, we'll have a hard time moving in the direction we want to go. It would be like trying to get to Denver when we don't know where we are. Once we know where we are in relation to the Spirit, we can look again at the questions above and answer them for ourselves.

One vital bit of information: The Holy Spirit can indeed be experienced; the Holy Spirit is not an abstraction. If we're not aware of having had an experience of the Holy Spirit, we do well to ask, "Have I simply not recognized the Spirit in my life? Am I, in fact, open to the Spirit?" Keep in mind that the baptismal birthright of every Christian is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in the depths of our everyday being. We need not doubt whether this is so. We

need only sharpen our awareness if we want to be in active, experiential relationship with this most marvelous aspect of God.

We probably need to know one more thing: The Holy Spirit is for us. Jesus calls the Spirit "Comforter" or "Advocate." In modern language, we could call the Spirit our personal mentor. That's the quality of relationship offered us. The Spirit brings unconditional respect and love for us, is eager to assist us, and offers us joy and peace. The Spirit is truly present and truly on our side in every circumstance. The Spirit lives deep inside us.

Where are you today with the Holy Spirit? Where would you like to be?

Liguori Publications. Liguori, MO

St. Francis Xavier Patron of the Diocese of Joliet

1506—1552

St. Francis Xavier was born in Spain shortly after the discovery of America. As a student at the University of Paris, he heard God's call to the priesthood and later became a missionary to India. One of his letters from India echoes Jesus' words about the few workers for the harvest: "Many out here fail to become Christians for one reason only. There is nobody prepared to undertake the task of teaching them about Christ."

What is one way I might help to gather in the harvest in the everyday area of life where I find myself?

The Feast Day of St Francis Xavier is December 3rd

July 12, 2020 Page 3

SAINT VINCENT DEPAUL FOOD PANTRY JUNE 2020 REPORT

Thank You St Mary’s for your continu-ing generosity to the food pantry. This month St Mary’s provided food for 253 Individuals within 102 Fami-lies. So far, this year we have fed 1,673 Individuals within 648 Families. We continue our outreach ministry serving four homeless shel-ters in Chicago three days a week.

Notice we dropped one shelter and one trip each week into Chicago. This move was made due to fewer donations from our Stores and a higher number of homeless with the virus at these Shelters.

Thank you for the parishioners who stepped forward to help staff the food pantry and our outreach ministry during the pandemic. Parishioners helping are Julie Romenesko and family, Annie, Brian Gaughan and family, and Sally Smyrski. Thanks to Ray Sieracki and Greg Pua for keeping our pantry operational. Others have stepped forward and we thank them but we are trying to limit the number of people working in the pantry avoiding the risk of flu. Pantry item most in need is pork and beans. FRIENDS OF THE PANTRY DONATIONS 1. If you shop at Trader Joe’s thank them for their

continuing generosity. 2. Thank you Jim/Lois Murawski for your large food

donation 3. Thank you Ron/Linda Cuchna for your large food

donation. 4. Jenny Miranda donated a large amount of canned fruit

for the homeless shelters in Chicago. 5. Thanks to Charlotte Sholeen for her weekly donations. 6. Thanks to Theresa Pevitts for your large food donation.

Don't forget Amazon Shoppers! You can donate to St. Mary's SVDP Conference at no cost to you by going to smile.amazon.com and selecting St. Vincent de Paul - St. Mary of Gostyn. A percentage of your purchase is automat-ically donated to SVDP with every Amazon order you place. Thank you for your support! June Adage: We the people are the rightful .master of both Congress and the Courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overflow the men and women who would pervert the Constitution. Abraham Lincoln. Thank you, St Mary’s, from all of us at Saint Vincent DePaul, we could not accomplish all we do without your support, and God bless you. Please keep us in your pray-ers. Parishioners experiencing financial hardship are most welcome at our Food Pantry. The pantry is open every Wednesday from 8:00 to 11:00am.

PADS FOOD DRIVE

St. Mary’s PADS will be coordinating a “drive-by” food drive on Friday, July 17th, from 5 – 6 p.m. in the SMG parking lot. Drop-off will be contact-free. The donations will be delivered to the PADS Client Center in Wheaton to help out with feeding the homeless who are being housed in hotels and other temporary housing during the COVID19 crisis.

The most needed items include:

1. Food: (single servings) • Water Bottles • Cereal • Chips • Crackers • Crystal Light • Easy Mac, Mashed Pota-toes • Fruit Cups • Gatorade, Juice Boxes • Granola Bars • Instant Coffee, cream and sugar • Instant Oatmeal, Rice • Jerky, Meat Sticks • Microwave Meals (just add water) • Peanut Butter, Jelly 2. Pop-Top Cans– Ravioli, Spaghetti Os, Soup • Fruit, Vegetables • Pudding, Jell-O • Raisins • Ramen • Trail mix • Tuna/Chicken Salad kits 3. Toiletries: • Body Wash (full size) • Facial Tissues (travel and full size) • Hand Sanitizer (all sizes) • Sham-poo (full size) 4. Supplies: • Hot/Cold Disposable Cups • Microwave Safe Bowls • Napkins • Paper Plates, Bowls • Paper Towels • Plastic Silverware • Toilet Paper • Trash Bags • Ziplock Bags

5. Gift Cards for Basic Needs: ($10, $20, $30) • Walmart, Jewel, Aldi, Walgreens

SAFE ENVIRONMENT REQUIREMENTS

Out of concern for the safety and well-being of children, every diocesan parish, school or religious education employee or volunteer 18 years and older who is involved with minors on a regular, recurring basis and those who may have an opportunity to be alone with children during parish, school or religious education sponsored events, are required to attend a VIRTUS® Protecting God’s Children program. Of all the safe environment programs available, Protecting God's Children was selected for the Joliet Diocese. It was determined to be the best possible pro-gram primarily because it is comprehensive, professional and appealing. Through October 31, 2020, the Virtus Workshop can be viewed online. Registration is done online by going to www.Virtus.org . I encourage everyone to take advantage of the online version as I don’t know if this will be offered beyond October 31st. If you have pre-viously taken a PGC Workshop, you do not need to take it again. Those who do have a Virtus account, I encourage you to log in to your account and verify all information is up to date. Please refer any questions to Deacon Bob at [email protected] .

Page 4 Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020 6:00 PM - Tom Liszka req. Mary Calistro TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020 9:00 AM - John Egermann req. Esther Byrne Alice Ciesla req. Corazon Sambo 12:00 PM - Kay Selfridge req. Selfridge Family WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2020 9:00 AM - Cindy Ruginis req. Al Ruginis 6:00 PM - Henriette Leahy req. St. Mary of Gostyn Parish THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020 9:00 AM - The Weaver Family req. Deb Kelsey-Davis & Kelly Johnson Tom Gowgiel req. Family FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2020 9:00 AM - George Drobney Sr. req. Shirley Twardzik 12:00 PM - Gerry Shannon req. Mike & Mary Signer SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020 4:00 PM - Edward O’Donnell req. Margie Connelly & Mary Mulcrone George Drobney Sr. req. Ed & Sue Belsan SUNDAY, JULY 19, 2020 8:00 AM - Nick Almeida req. St. Mary’s Homebound Ministry 10:00 AM - Joseph Karlinski req. Family Peter Bensen Sr. req. Enochs Family 12:00 PM - Anthony Mark req. Family 6:00 PM - People of the Parish

Stewardship

Our Catholic Faith with Fr. Keith: When I was younger I did not regularly practice my Catholic faith. In fact, like many young adults, I did not even attend Mass at either Christmas or Easter. There were several experiences in my personal life that led to my distancing from the Church, but such disaffiliation was not sudden, rather, it was more gradual. However, when I moved to the dorms at Northern Illinois University the resident assistant on my floor invited me to go to Mass with him. While at that first Mass in many years I realized not so much what I had been missing out on but Who I had been missing: Jesus. Evangelization, introducing people to Christ, begins with an invitation. In recent decades many parishes focused on being welcoming, based on a Protestant method of “radical hospitality.” But, there is nothing “radical” about hospitality; we should be welcoming to anyone who walks through our doors. Instead, we need to recover or recondition our Catholic mindset to include or begin with invitational discipleship. We follow the Lord and invite others to walk with us. Today, such a disposition takes on a vital importance. It has been very encouraging to see parishioners register to return to Mass. Each weekend, Fr. Jim and I have seen people returning to Mass for the first time since the quarantine. Without minimiz-ing the real threat from the pandemic, nonethe-less, we must all answer the call to invite our family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and acquaintances to return to Church. This is not for the sake of anything other than to reintroduce them to the most important relationship of our lives: Christ. Indeed, as Pope Benedict once remarked, “Christ offers more! Indeed he offers everything! Only he who is the Truth can be the Way and hence also the Life.” The task of evange-lization is for everyone to carry the graces they have encountered in their own lives, most especially through the sacraments, and invite oth-ers to experience the same by introducing them to Jesus.

A CALL TO STEWARDSHIP

Weekly Collection 06/28/2020 $31,606.49

Weekly Collection 07/05/2020 $29,257.50

Weekly Goal (Fiscal Year 20/21) $28,500.00

Goals to Date Sunday Goal to Date $28,500.00 Collections to Date Sunday Collection to Date $29,257.50 Total Over Goals to Date $757.50

Thank you for your continued support and generosity. We are very grateful!

Prayer Requests

Kevin Braasch Michael Martel Natalya Brechlin John Svoboda Christopher Fountain Nathan Kijowski Bob Lang Zachary Frana

Pray for our Military Let us pray for all of our military personnel, especially the men and women of our parish who are serving

in harm’s way:

Timothy Randazzo Kyle Ng Christopher Randazzo Joe McSweeney Maggie Benhart Kevin Hanlon Brendan Vrtis

The following persons have requested prayers from our parish community:

Karli Brown William Hennessey Mary Kaye Sally Moll Maurine Taylor Breanna Deaton Carmela Martini Donna Wiencek David Franks

Patricia Wright Nancy Gatto Sharon Kling Sandra Stevens Joseph Leto Bob Earley Franco Albian Mark Gowgiel Spencer Mehr

July 12, 2020 Page 5

Youth Ministry

CALLING GARDEN HELPERS! The SMG Children's Garden needs you, for just

an hour and in a socially distant, safe way. Follow this link to sign up and a coordinator will

let you know how to help. Thank you!! https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/

showSignUp/30e0844ada82ea02-smgchildrens

PRAYER FOR THE SELECTION OF A NEW BISHOP

As our diocese awaits the selection of a new Bishop, pray the following prayer each day as we seek God's guidance:

Lord God, you are Eternal Shepherd and guide. In your

mercy grant the Diocese of Joliet a Shepherd who will walk in your ways, and whose watchful care will bring us your blessing. In your love for us, give us the joy of receiving a

Shepherd who will be an example of goodness to your people; and who will fill our hearts and minds with the truth of the Gospel. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives, and reigns with You and the

Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.

A Warm Welcome

We welcome: Philip & Kathleen Cline

Dan & Lauren King Anthony & Tammy Perna

who registered at St. Mary of Gostyn Parish recently.

Baptism St. Mary of Gostyn Parish Family welcomed the following child to the Catholic Faith through the Sacrament of Baptism recently: John George Vlagos, son of George & Kristen Vlagos

Adult Faith

Page 6 Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

ONE topic night

The One Topic One Night speaker series con nues — with a talk on Marriage, and Why Marriage is only between a Man and a Woman. One audience gathered in person, prac cing safe distancing, and another group listened online. (Thank you to those who were online as we con n-ue to work though the tech issues to con nue to provide these learnings. Your kindness and pa ence is certainly appreciated.) Here are some highlights.

God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and God said to them: Be fer le and mul ply.

Beginning with a relevant quote from Pope Francis, the dignity and wholeness of the human person was empha-sized. Defining people by only one aspect of their life, such as sexual preference, is a reduc onist approach to iden ty. God only and ever sees us as His beloved sons and daughters, the principle iden ty of our bap sm. In nature, marriage is properly between one man and one woman. Science helps us understand this through biolo-gy, anthropology, and sociology. If marriage is meant for the unity of the couple and the propaga on of offspring, then, biologically, the design and func on of the human body demonstrates this fact. Furthermore, anthropology demonstrates the essen al func on of the family as a communion of persons. Finally, sociology affirms that children flourish in life with the healthy influence of a two parent household with a mother and father. Our faith "bap zes" these scien fic facts in Genesis with the four principles of marital union and conjugal love: comple-mentarity where the differences in the sexes dynamically complement one another, permanence and fidelity where the commitment provides for family life, and pro-crea vity where the love is frui ul not sterile.

In conclusion, we must show love, respect, and compassion toward our brothers and sisters who experi-ence homosexual inclina ons. And, we righ ully affirm and assert the truth of faith and reason.

July 12, 2020 Page 9

NEW PARISHIONERS: We are happy to welcome new members to our community, and encourage you to register either in person at the Parish Office, or register online through our website, www.stmarygostyn.org.

BAPTISMS: St. Mary of Gostyn offers baptismal preparation sessions on a monthly basis. If this is your first child, you will need to participate in a baptismal preparation session before you can receive a date for your baby’s Baptism. Parents are the first and primary educators in the practice of the Faith. Godparents play an important role in the faith life of your child. While considering godparents for your child, be aware that at least one must be a baptized and confirmed Catholic who is active in his/her faith. Please call the parish office at 630-969-1063 to register for a preparation class and to schedule a baptismal date.

BECOMING A CATHOLIC: The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is a process of welcoming and preparing adults for the Sacraments of Initiation - Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation - for full membership in the Catholic Church. Unbaptized adults, adults baptized in another Christian faith, and baptized Catholics with little or no formal religious education are invited to participate. Please call the Parish Office for further information.

ANNULMENTS: We are available to help anyone who is in need of information about how to apply for an annulment. Please contact the Parish Office at (630)969-1063.

SACRAMENT of ANOINTING: The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is available at regularly scheduled liturgies throughout the year, or by appointment. You may ask the presiding priest before any Mass for an anointing. Communal Anointing Masses are held on the 1st Saturday of the month in August, December and April at the 8:00 AM Mass. The Eucharist will also be brought to those who are ill, upon request. Please notify the Parish Office if members of your family are in the hospital or homebound.

FUNERALS: Arrangements are usually made by the Funeral Home or by a family member. A member of our Bereavement team will meet with you to plan the Funeral Liturgy. Eulogies can be given at the Wake Service, Interment at the Cemetery or at the Funeral Luncheon, but not at the Mass of Christian Burial.

MARRIAGES: Arrangements should be made at least six months in advance to provide ample time for preparation of this sacrament.

PRAYER GROUPS: Monday evening Rosary at 6:30 PM in the Church; Tuesday evenings at 6:00 PM in the Parish Center chapel.

RECONCILIATION: Confessions are heard Saturday, 8:30 to 9:30 AM in church. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is also available by appointment. Please call the Parish Office (630-969-1063) to arrange to have your confession heard by a priest.

St. Mary of Gostyn Parish