Here's a thought...embrace a ;ott;e [eace and qioet/ Om what may just be the busiest time of the year, why not allow yourself a break on your way to or from wherever you may be going? Leave a half hour rearly to come and refocus on what really matters most. Receive the true peace that only God can give and then return it to a world that so desperately needs. it. If you plan on visiting the chapel for the first time, please check in as a visitor on teh iPad to the right as you enter.
For information regarding Perpetual Eucharistic Adorations call Kathy Clark, Coordinator, at 203-816-7737 or one of the division leaders listed on the home page of the PEA website website www.shjea.com
The diocesan initiative One Church invests each year in a small mission church within our diocese that needs a leg up to become a thriving community. The 2022-2023 partner is Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Magnolia. All funds donated to One Church for the next twelve months will help the church expand its parish center to include classrooms, a conference room, a larger kitchen and offices. Please pray for this project and give today. To give or for additional information visit www.dolr.org/one-church.
Do you have any roosters in the woodpile? Listen to Ken Yasinski's 45 minute talk "Freedom through Forgiveness" on FORMED to help you understand that question. This popular speaker reveals what we can do to ease the burden of sins through the sacrament of Reconciliation. Advent is quickly approaching and FORMED is a wonderful resource provided by our parish for you to prepare for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Simply search on FORMED using the term "advent" and check out what is available. Set up your free account by visiting formed.org/signup and select our parish.
Angel Tree gifts and food will be available for volunteer pick up after December 10. Help be an integrel part of the true spirit of Christmas. Please refer questions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Having spoken about Deacon Bernie in my homily last weekend after hearing of his passing, as well as at a Memorial Mass for him on Monday morning, I feel blessed to share something with his wonderful family and friends who have gathered at St. Peter's in Skokie this morning.
Having only known him for the last twelve years of his life, while serving as pastor at Sacred Heart Church in beautiful Hot Springs Village Arkansas, my experiences with him are fairly limited, when one ponders his almost 100 years of life in this world and all the blessings that came to him and through him in all those years. After reading the obituary that his wonderful family put together, it is clear to me that the qualities that I was blessed to see for a relatively short time, were qualities that he carried throughout his life. He was a gentle, kind, humble, other-centered disciple of Christ who loved the Lord and all those the Lord put in his life starting with his family of origin, and then his beautiful wife of over 70 years, his six children and the many grandchildren and great-grandchildren who were all listed by name in the obituary. That very listing of all of their names said to me, among other things, that they were all uniquely loved by him. Add to this, the large number of extended family Bernie had, including his beloved parish families such as yours and ours, and we have reason to rejoice and give thanks for the many who were blessed to know and love him and be loved by him.
For the sake of brevity during this funeral Mass, which I grieve I could not be a part of in person, I want to share something about Deacon Bernie that I look forward to sharing with the parishioners at Sacred Heart Parish that I pray will inspire more than a few to participate in something that is near and dear to my heart and clearly to Deacon Bernie's life for much of his life, that being the Celebration of the Mass, including in a special way, weekday Mass. In the obituary, it was shared that in his growing up years in Indiana, he LOVED getting up in the wee hours of the morning for his 6;30a.m. daily Mass assignment as an altar boy. Recalling these cherished memories, he said "I was so full of joy when leaving church, that I would run and leap like a stag, and scream. I was so happy! One day, this young Bernie paused, knelt at the altar of St. Joseph and asked the Lord to teach him how to love. I dare say that all of us who knew Bernie can attest that he was a good student of the Lord who learned and practiced love his entire life.
Fast forward to the last seven years at Sacred Heart Parish where there were few if any times that Bernie missed daily Mass, assisting me as a deacon on the altar countless times or in the pews with his fellow parishioners whom he offered the precious Blood of Christ at almost every Mass he participated in. I have no doubt that this daily part of his life served as the fuel that gave him his wonderful innocent, child-like, Christ-like demeanor and a perpetual desire to serve the Lord and others with compassion and love.
Like an uncle of mine, who was also born in 1923, Deacon Bernie was quick to laugh or giggle in his own way in almost every circumstance, which was an obvious sign (at least to me) that he lived with the joy of the Lord in his mind and heart, the Lord that he was privileged to receive at Mass daily from his early years to the later years of his life.
God bless Deacon Bernie with the beatific vision and eternal rest from the many years he was given in this world and to this world to love as Jesus loved and blessed him!!
We will keep you in our prayers and please keep us in yours. If you are interested in supporting my Capuchin Province, please see www.brownrobe.com to view the ways in which you may donate via the Brown Robe Benefit.