NOVEMBER 20, 2011 • Our Lord Jesus Christ the King

5 2 8 L a t h r o p A v e n u e • R i v e r F o r e s t , I l l i n o i s 6 0 3 0 5 - 1 8 3 5

2 WELCOME TO ST. LUKE • River Forest, IL 60305-1835

THIS WEEK’S GATHERINGS

READINGS

Readings for the Week of November 20, 2011

Sunday: Ez 34:11-12, 15-17/1 Cor 15:20-26, 28/ Mt 25:31-46 Monday: Dn 1:1-6, 8-20/Lk 21:1-4 Tuesday: Dn 2:31-45/Lk 21:5-11 Wednesday: Dn 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28/ Lk 21:12-19 Thursday: Dn 6:12-28/Lk 21:20-28 Friday: Dn 7:2-14/Lk 21:29-33 Saturday: Dn 7:15-27/Lk 21:34-36 Next Sunday: Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7/1 Cor 1:3-9/ Mk 13:33-37

©Liturgical Publications Inc

MASS INTENTIONS

Monday, November 21, 2011 6:30 am † James M. Lynch 8:00 am † George Quinn Sr Tuesday, November 22, 2011 6:30 am The Blessed Sacrament Ministries 8:00 am † Sean Martin Kelly Wednesday, November 23, 2011 6:30 am † Helen Dowling 8:00 am † Dr. Edwin J. Liebner Thursday, November 24, 2011 (see below) Friday, November 25, 2011 6:30 am † Mary Liebner 8:00 am † Angela Devereux Ebzery Saturday, November 26, 2011 8:00 am † Alan Tillquest

ALTAR SERVERS

Monday - Tuesday, November 21-22, 2011 8:00 am Mon-Wed: M/W Smith, M Smith Wednesday & Friday, November 23 & 25, 2011 8:00 am Wed & Fri: Adult Servers

THANKSGIVING DAY

Thursday, November 24, 2011 9:00 - Mass Intention: † Jerry & Marie Rout Servers G O’Brien, P Moore; Cross Bearer: K J Slepicka Readers Fred Heiss, Julia Mannix Euch Min B Altier, K Heiss, L Winikates

WEEKEND LITURGIES

Saturday, November 26, 2011 5:00 - Mass Intention: † Jim Butler Servers C Josephs, M Malone; Cross Bearer: N Martin Readers Dottie Chemler, Michael Mrkvicka Euch Min M Coleman, B Coleman, L Hogan, J Megall, P Romano, R Romano, M Shalloo

Sunday, November 27, 2011 7:30 - Mass Intention: † The Maroon & Bemis Families Servers C Parrilli, L Sloan; Cross Bearer: J Atkins Readers Terry Roche, John Showel Euch Min S Butler, J Lynch, E Sloan

9:00 - Mass Intention: † Matthew Rothrock Servers G Murray, K Murray; Cross Bearer: R Goslin Readers Barbara Best, Caitlin Lutz Euch Min P Muldoon, T Murray, D Murray, L Neal, K Roche, A Roche, C Saunders

10:30 - Mass Intention: † Liz Kennedy Servers P Ebzery, P Moore; Cross Bearer: J Valenti Readers Noel Moore, Bob Samko Euch Min L Brennan, J Clark, J Clark, M Moore, B Murray, S Murray, A Valenti

12:00 - Mass Intention: The People of St. Luke Parish Servers E Ponce, C Riggs; Cross Bearer: L Riggs Readers Gene Lawrence, Max Brown Euch Min M Galente, T Harnett, S Piper, D Piper, W Piper

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR SICK:

Michael Brady, Kathleen Callahan, Edward Evangelista, Frank Kurr, Kay McGee,

Dick Prince, and Lu Prince

AND FOR OUR DECEASED.

Rosemary McVeam and David J. Wojcik

STEWARDSHIP

Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.

~Matthew 25:46

In today’s readings we see that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who will care for us in our time of need. However, our relationship with Jesus should not be all take and no give. We, in turn, are expected to care for one another just as Jesus cares for us. From the weekend of November 13, 2011

Weekly Giving Goal . . . . . . . . . . . . . $16,000.00* Actual Weekly Giving . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,072.00

2011-2012 Fiscal Year to Date

Weekly Giving Goal . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320,000.00* Actual Weekly Giving . . . . . . . . . . . . 268,403.00 Unmet Needs for Year . . . . . . . . . . . . ($51,597.00)

* Goals have been recalculated due to Budget revisions made by the Parish Financial Council. Budget cuts have been made to reflect income restatements.

~

We are always very grateful for the sacrifices you make to support the mission, goals, and ministry of St. Luke Church. Thank you for your generosity!

GATHER IN PRAYER AND SERVICE

3 NOVEMBER 20, 2011 • Our Lord Jesus Christ the King

LET’S MEET “AT THE TABLE” ON THANKSGIVING

Please consider starting Thanksgiving Day offering praise and thanksgiving to God! As Christians, as Americans who experience the great privilege of personal freedom, as a parish, as persons who have loving family and friends ─ we have many reasons to gather to give thanks. Whether you are with your family or will be alone, consider beginning this holiday by gathering with your parish family at our 9:00 am Thanksgiving Day Mass, Thursday, November 24, to give thanks to God for the many blessings in our lives.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the holiday, there will be no regular office activity this Thursday or Friday.

Have a safe and blessed holiday.

Grace Before Your Thanksgiving Meal

God most provident, we join all creation in raising to you a hymn of thanksgiving through Jesus Christ, your Son.

For generation upon generation peoples of this land have sung of your bounty; we too offer you praise for the rich harvest we have received at your hands.

Bless us and this food which we share with grateful hearts. Continue to make our land fruitful

and let our love for you be seen in our pursuit of peace and justice and in our generous response to those in need.

Praise and glory to you, Lord God, now and for ever.

Amen.

PREPARING FOR ADVENT

The Advent season begins next Sunday. We invite you to take a little time to prepare for it. In particular, we encourage every household to have an Advent Wreath on the dinner table or in some other prominent place.

The Advent Wreath is simply a circle of evergreen branches into which are inserted four candles. Traditionally, three of the candles are violet and the fourth is rose. However, four violet or white candles may be used. The candles represent the four weeks of Advent, and the number of lighted candles each week corresponds to the number of the current week of Advent. The rose candle is lighted on the third Sunday of Advent.

On the first day of Advent, the wreath is blessed by a parent or another family member saying this prayer:

Lord God, Your Church joyfully awaits the coming of its Savior, Who enlightens our hearts and dispels the darkness of ignorance and sin.

Pour forth Your blessings upon us as we light the candles of this wreath; may their light reflect the splendor of Christ, Who is Lord, forever and ever. Amen.

May this simple daily ritual and prayer help us be attuned to the Lord during these holy days of Advent.

4 WELCOME TO ST. LUKE • River Forest, IL 60305-1835

SAINTS ALIVE!

If you attended the 9:15 All Saints Day Mass at St. Luke, you didn’t miss it! Thirty-eight 2nd graders embodied a collection of love honoring their patron saints. It was much more than children dressed in their saints’ costumes. It was the spirit of the Communion of Saints that reminded us that we too are called to become the Body of Christ. Thank you, St. Therese, for showing us your “little ways”! Your “little ways” teach us how to always have the faith of a child in loving Jesus more fully!

GATHERINGS FROM THE PARISH AND THE COMMUNITY

5 NOVEMBER 20, 2011 • Our Lord Jesus Christ the King

NEW MASS TRANSLATION STARTS NEXT WEEKEND

We have been learning about the New Roman Missal (the new translation of all the Mass prayers) for a long time now, and here in today’s bulletin you’ll find a brochure entitled “Why Is the Translation of the Mass Changing?” To help all of us learn and pray our parts, pew cards are now in the pews for use during Mass. These little pamphlets contain the music for the sung parts of the Mass, as well as the words for all of the congregation’s responses. Please use this pew card during every Mass, and then leave it at the end of the pew as you leave. (Please do not remove any pew cards from the church.) As we pray and sing the parts of the Mass together in the coming weeks and months, they will become as familiar to us as the previous translation. May we offer our worship with humble and sincere hearts.

IMPORTANT LETTER FROM FR. KEN

Last weekend at Mass you heard the words of one parishioner about his/her personal experience at St. Luke’s and the reasons for their own commitment to our parish. We thank them for their witness.

In your mail this week you should have received a letter from Father Ken asking every parishioner to respond to our “Growing in Stewardship” campaign by filling out an enclosed pledge card. Thank you for taking time to prayerfully consider God’s many gifts, and responding in a spirit of gratitude with a new level of commitment to St. Luke’s.

If you have not already done so, it is not too late to return your completed pledge card. You can drop it off at the rectory during the week, bring it to church next weekend and drop it in the collection basket, or mail it to the St. Luke rectory. Your thoughtful and generous response at this time to commit to “Growing in Stewardship” will help us meet our needs and to become the parish that God calls us to be.

Thank you.

THE “LITTLE BLUE BOOK”

FOR ADVENT

Many parishioners have found the “Little Blue Book” of daily meditations for Advent a helpful way to spend six minutes in prayer and reflection each day. We are happy to offer this new edition of this booklet to you again this year.

Please pick up your personal copy at the doors of the church next weekend, the First Sunday of Advent.

INTERFAITH THANKSGIVING SERVICE:

ONE HUMAN FAMILY THANKING GOD

From diverse religious traditions, our congregations come together once a year to celebrate and give thanks. This year, Ascension Catholic Church will host the service on Sunday, November 20, at 7:00 pm. Adult and children’s choirs will sing. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and other clergy will inspire us. Rabbi Robin Damsky of West Suburban Temple Har Zion will deliver the keynote sermon.

Come sing, pray and reflect with us, then get to know your neighbor better at the reception following the service.

2012 CATHOLIC CALENDARS

NOW AVAILABLE!

Thanks to the generosity of Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home, the 2012 Catholic Calendars are now available for St. Luke parishioners. Calendars can be found near each of the church doors and will also be available during office hours at the rectory (9 am to 5 pm).

To allow more families to receive a calendar, we suggest a limit of one calendar per household.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS

CHRISTMAS WREATH SALE

The St. Luke Respect Life Committee will sponsor its

annual Christmas Wreath Sale on the weekend of December 3-4.

The following will be available for sale in the vestibule of St. Luke Church after all the Masses:

24” Mixed Wreaths for $23.00 24” Balsam Wreaths for $18.00

If you wish to purchase a larger undecorated Balsam Wreath, please call Lauretta Froelich at 771-0252 to preorder:

36” Wreaths for $28.00 48” Wreaths for $33.00 60” Wreaths for $43.00

Thank you for your continued support of the Culture of Life. May you and your families be blessed at Christmas and all year through.

COUNSELING SERVICES AVAILABLE

Hello, my name is Nick Calingaert and I am a counselor from the Claret Center, a group of professional psychotherapists and spiritual directors that has served the greater Chicago area since 1979. The Claret Center, in association with St. Giles Parish, is offering counseling services to all St. Luke parishioners. As the new counselor at St. Giles, I would like to welcome you to come meet with me if you would like help with any concerns that are currently troubling you, such as feelings of depression, anger or anxiety, relationship and work/career difficulties, or if you are questioning your direction and meaning in life. People commonly seek help for issues related to loss and grieving, emotional distress, and behaviors that are causing problems for them. There are times in each of our lives when we may need supportive listening and guidance by a trained professional. If you find yourself in this position, my services are available to you at the Counseling Office in the St. Giles Parish Center in an atmosphere of anonymity and confiden-tiality. As a means of serving all those in need, a sliding fee scale is available. If you would like to make an appointment or if you just wish to know more, please call me at 773-643-6259, ext. 36.

PRAYERS FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL

As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continue, let us pray that all our military personnel may be kept safe from harm and return safely home to their loved ones.

We pray especially for those who have died recently: CPO Raymond J. Border, SFC Kristoffer B. Domeij, 1LT Ashley I. White, LCpl Jordan S. Bastean and PFC Steven F. Shapiro. May they rest in peace.

And let us pray that the leaders of our nation and of all nations may work untiringly to end all war and violence and to build a true and lasting peace among all peoples.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

COUNTDOWN TO THANKSGIVING

There will be no Religious Education classes on Wednesday, November 23.

Classes will resume on November 30

in the afternoon and evening.

6 WELCOME TO ST. LUKE • River Forest, IL 60305-1835

CATHOLICISM SERIES STUDY

AT ST. LUKE

If you missed the recent airing of the documentary series CATHOLICISM on public television, or would to see it again, you now have an opportunity to view it and join in a discussion group right here at St. Luke. In this DVD series, Father Robert Barron, theologian and author, illuminates what Catholics believe and why.

The study group will take place in the Faculty Lounge (lower level of the school) on Tuesday evenings from 7-9 pm beginning November 15.

For more information, please contact Lauretta Froelich at 771-0252.

Peace, Amanda Collins, Coordinator of Youth Ministry 708-435-8922 ● acollins@stlukeparish.org

Check-out the YM page at www.stlukeparish.org.

PRIME TIMERS YOUTH MINISTRY

2012 Youth Service Trip Registrations are now open, and we are going on four fantastic trips this summer: Bethlehem Farm in Summers County, West Virginia, on June 17-23; Franciscans for the Poor in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 24-29; Villa Maria in Pennsylvania, July 22-28; Habitat for Humanity in Clarksdale, Mississippi, on July 29-August 4. These trips are an incredible mix of prayer, service and social time, and even if you missed the information meeting on October 30, you can still sign-up: just contact Amanda.

Registration forms for the FR-SO Retreat are due on Monday, November 21. You will want to be part of this amazing experience. Contact Amanda today with any questions.

7 NOVEMBER 20, 2011 • Our Lord Jesus Christ the King

The Prime Timers will be visiting the Hull House Museum on Wednesday, November 30. Hull House was the first settlement house in Chicago founded by Jane Adams. We will have a docent-led tour of the Museum and learn about the history of Hull House, its foundress and present programs.

We will leave the Hospitality House parking lot at 11:00 for our luncheon in Greektown and then tour the Museum at 1:30. This will be our last event for the 2011 season. Please call Anne Canapary at 708-366-9221 by Monday, November 18, to make your reservation.

PRIME TIMERS VISIT BASILICAS

The Prime Timers listened attentively as the docents told the history of both Queen of all Saints Basilica and St. Hyacinth Basilica.

They really admired the fine art and beautiful windows.

500 CLUB

The St. Luke Athletic Committee would like to congratulate the following winners of the 500 Club drawing:

November 13, 2011 Richard & Mary Jo Carey

Thank you to all who have purchased memberships in the Club, the proceeds of which go directly to fund the school’s athletic programs.

PASTORAL STAFF

Rev. Kenneth J. Fischer, Pastor 435-8915 / frken@stlukeparish.org

Rev. Robert P. Marchwiany, Associate Pastor 435-8919 / rmarchwiany@stlukeparish.org

Rev. Leroy A. Wickowski, Retired 435-8917 / lwickowski@stlukeparish.org

PARISH INFO

Rectory

528 Lathrop Avenue, River Forest 60305-1835 771-8250 / stlukeparish@stlukeparish.org

Sue Gamache, Office Manager: 435-8912 / sgamache@stlukeparish.org

School

519 Ashland Avenue, River Forest 60305-1824 366-8587 / jschwarzbeck@stlukeparish.org

Barbara Rasinski, Principal 366-8587 / brasinski@stlukeparish.org

Religious Education

519 Ashland Avenue, River Forest 60305-1824 771-5959 / religiouseducation@stlukeparish.org Sr. Colleen Nolan, O.P., Director 771-5959 / cnolan@stlukeparish.org

Music Director Arlene Michna: 435-8926 / amichna@stlukeparish.org

Assistant Music Director Sr. Maureen Sauer: 435-8914 / msauer@stlukeparish.org

Coordinator of Youth Ministry Amanda Collins: 435-8922 / acollins@stlukeparish.org

Parish Business Manager Glenn Wagner: 435-8921 / gwagner@stlukeparish.org

Director of Stewardship & Development Sheila Price: 435-8927 / sprice@stlukeparish.org

Hospitality House (former Convent) Sr. Mary Ann Mueninghoff, OP: 771-5280

MASSES

Saturday - 5:00 pm Sunday - 7:30, 9:00, 10:30 am & 12:00 noon Weekdays Monday-Friday 6:30 and 8:00 am Saturday 8:00 am

RECONCILIATION

Monday-Friday - After 6:30 & 8:00 am Masses Saturday - After 8:00 am Mass, and by appointment

8 WELCOME TO ST. LUKE • River Forest, IL 60305-1835

WORTH SEEING/HEARING

The Siena Center presents . . . “How the Pendulum Swings: The New Translation of the Roman Missal” Tuesday, November 29, 2011, 7:00 pm Auditorium/Priory Campus, Dominican University, 7200 W Division, River Forest Admission is $10

Father Edward Foley, Capuchin, will lead our exploration of the changes in liturgical life being implemented in the Catholic English-speaking world this Advent. While some suggest that the New English Translation of the Roman Missal is the result of one or two factors, it is better understood as the result of multiple pendulum swings in the post-Vatican II Church.

To purchase tickets or for more information, go to www.siena.dom.edu or call 708-714-9105.

The Well presents . . . “Advent Morning of Reflection: Holy Darkness”

As we enter into the season of darkness, a time when Earth lies fallow, you are invited into your own quiet space in order to listen, to pay attention, to reflect, to ponder the miracles waiting to be born within and around you. The morning includes input, quiet reflection, and sharing.

Join facilitator Bridget Sperduto on Thursday, December 1, from 9:00 am to Noon at The Well located at 1515 W. Ogden Ave, LaGrange Park. The cost is $30.

Visit the website at www.csjthewell.org to register, or call 708-482-5088.