Rev. Artur Sowa, Pastor

The St. Francis of Assisi Community is a welcoming Christian family. We believe in Jesus Christ and are guided by the Holy Spirit and the example of St. Francis. We gather to celebrate, to grow in the knowledge of our faith rooted in the Catholic tradition, and to recognize our responsibility to reach out to the world.

December 13, 2020 Third Sunday of Advent

MORSELS & TIDBITS FROM OUR PASTOR Gospel in everyday English There once was a man, John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light. When Jews from Jerusalem sent a group of priests and officials to ask John who he was, he was completely honest. He didn’t evade the question. He told the plain truth: “I am not the Messiah.” They pressed him, “Who, then? Elijah?” “I am not.” “The Prophet?” “No.” Ex-asperated, they said, “Who, then? We need an answer for those who sent us. Tell us something—anything!—about yourself.” “I’m thunder in the desert: ‘Make the road straight for God!’ I’m doing what the prophet Isaiah preached.” Those sent to question him were from the Pharisee party. Now they had a question of their own: “If you’re neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?” John answered, “I only baptize using water. A person you don’t recognize has taken his stand in your midst. He comes after me, but he is not in second place to me. I’m not even worthy to hold his coat for him.” These conversations took place in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing at the time (from John 1). 3rd Sunday Advent Today is Gaudete Sunday or Rejoice Sunday! Why are we rejoicing? We shout for joy on this Third Sunday of Advent because we know that the com-ing of the Lord is near. Regardless of what hardships we experience in this life - pandemic or not, joy is always possible because we know that Christ came to us as and will come again in glory. Knowing that the Lord is near re-lieves our anxiety and gives us hope! Rejoice in the Lord always!

Christmas Soon and very soon. Christmas is just around the corner, however, this year it will be different in many ways. No matter what your plans are this year, please, allow the spirit of Christmas to enter your heart. Let us renew our faith, hope and joy. Let us look into our future trusting God’s plan.

As we prepare for the Christmas celebration at St. Francis, I want to share with you our schedule. There are 13 Masses to choose from between Christ-mas Eve and Christmas Day. For safety reasons we will keep our limited numbers, so it is very important to register ahead of time. We will allow regis-tration for all our Christmas Masses starting this Monday. At the same time, please keep in mind that we will live stream our Christmas Eve and Christ-mas Day Masses - those will be available on our website and our YouTube channel. Here is our schedule:

Christmas Eve: 2pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm, 4pm, 5pm, 10pm

Christmas Day: 7:30am, 8am, 9am, 9:30am, 10:30am, 11am, 12pm

God Bless,

EDUCATION & FORMATION COMMISSION

In-Person Religious Ed classes are now Remote.

We anticipate our return date for IN-PERSON classes to be

January 19, 2021.

Contact the RE Office if you have questions.

(708) 460-0155

LITURGY COMMISSION

HUMAN CONCERNS COMMISSION Our 29th Annual Christmas Outreach Appeal

Each Christmas Saint Francis of Assisi Parish has fol-lowed the example of Christ to love and serve one anoth-er. We remember to not only sharing our blessings with the people we love, but also with those less fortunate; the hungry, the poor, and those facing the challenges to overcome life’s difficulties.

Let us, as a parish, share God’s blessings this Christmas to assist our fellow man, especially those in need of our help and prayers.

Final Weekend

Christmas Outreach Program supports:

St. Agatha Sharing Tree: purchasing Christmas gifts for over 400 people

St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Charities Committee programs

Dinners at Bishop Goedert Residence

Women Crisis Center and Courage Program

Hunger Relief Programs

St Vincent de Paul

Tags will not be distributed and Wrapped Gifts will not be collected the year

Donations will be collected

Dec 12 & 13

ONLINE Donations can be made

via Give Central See SFA web-site for more information

Simbang Gabi 2020 with the St. Fran-cis Fil-Am Catholic Community, December 20th @ 4:00PM Simbang Gabi is a Filipino Catholic Novena Tradition, which celebrates a series of Nine Advent Evening Mass-es, that are meant to help Filipino Americans and other Catholics in the area intensify their Spiritual preparation for the grace-filled Celebration of Christmas. This year, the celebration will be different because of Covid and so we are unable to gather with other parishes to give the full 9-day novena celebration. Instead, St. Francis will cele-brate for one night on December 20th @ 4:00PM. For your safety and health, after the Mass we will not be serving food, but we encourage you to celebrate afterwards at home with your family. This event will also be livestreamed.

Check the parish website at www.sfaorland.org for the link in order to sign up for the Simbang Gabi Mass Cele-bration and for the livestream link so that you can join us at home if you are unable to come. You can also call the office in order to sign up as well at (708) 460-0042

Please keep those listed below in your daily prayers

Saturday, December 12 4:00PM Marian Ward, rq. by Ross Family, Larry Ostrowski, rq. by Jim, Carmen and Anna Walsh, Bernard “Bernie” McErlean, rq. by Fred and Virginia Pesek, Van Virva, rq. by Indigo Team of Hadley Middle School. David & Gary Catalanello, rq. by Marilyn Catalanello 6:00PM Jack Decoursey, rq. by Dr. Bill & Renee Farrell, The Schweiger & Norris Families, rq. by The Family

Sunday, December 13 8:00AM The People of St. Francis of Assisi 10:00AM Joan Eckel (Good Health), rq. by John Eckel, Marga-ret Kulovitz, rq. by Family, John Duda, Rq. by Liptak Family, Jozef Zdanowski, rq. by Krystyniak Family, Marian Ward, rq. by Marty Ward

12:00PM Kevin Benes, rq. by Mom & Dad, Penny Prokop, rq. by Family, Jim Mersereau, rq. by Topolski Family

Monday, December 14 8:30AM Mary T. Foley, rq. by Mike & Tom Foley, Bernie McEr-lean, rq. by Bill & Ann Carroll Tuesday, December 15 8:30AM Josephine Zbos, rq. by John & Virginia Zbos

Wednesday, December 16 8:30AM Frank Ross, Jr., rq. by Ross Family, Clifford Lavin, rq. by Jean Belski

Thursday, December 17 8:30AM Michael Grekowicz, rq. by The Grekowicz Family, Mark Topf, rq. by Jill Topf and Family Friday, December 18 8:30AM Joan Pecor, rq. by Patricia Grasso, Paulette Virgil, rq. by Dr. Danny & Precious Martinez Saturday, December 19 4:00PM Kevin Connolly, rq. by Family, Joe Sankey, rq. by Teri Sankey, Richard Donovan, rq. by Family, George Buckner, rq. by Family, Jim Mangan, rq. by Bobbi Mangan 6:00PM Stanley Pytel, rq. by Pytel Family, Lea and Norb Retis, rq. by Murawski Family Sunday, December 20 8:00AM The People of St. Francis of Assisi 10:00AM Joan Eckel (Good Health), rq. by John Eckel 12:00PM Joyce March, rq. by Joe March

WEEKLY MASS INTENTIONS

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed many challenges to the Archdiocese of Chicago and our parishes, in-cluding offertory funds lost due to the suspension of public liturgies. If you prefer electronic giving, please visit: (https://www.givecentral.org/location/207) to make a one-time or recurring gift to the parish and sup-port the vital ministries and services it provides.

SICK RELATIVES & FRIENDS Names of sick relatives and friends normally appear in the bulletin for

six weeks. After six weeks, the names are written into our parish book of prayers for continued remembrance. At the request of the

Christine Becker Fred Clavio Carol Colby Jolie Dryer Joan Eckel Rich Egan Alex Fisher Joan Fox

Jo Janakowski Lorraine Kowalkowski

Cami Letsos

Debra Molinari Mary Oleszkiewicz

Theresa Oleszkiewicz Vince Picciola

Giovanna Picciolini Dr. David Raminski Florence Sanchez

Rich & Martha Schmitz Scott Schmitz Louis Tassone Bob Winiarski

Ken Kulik Nathan Philip Tholl

Pamela Hallisey Sam Flores

Jerry McMahon Dolores Mooha

THIRD WEEK The joyful Sun-day in Advent (known as "Gaudete") is represented by rose (or pink). Each night during the third week the mother of the family lights the pink, as well as the two previously burned pur-ple candles, after the following prayer has been said.

Leader: O Lord, we beg You, incline Your ear to our prayers and enlighten the dark-ness of our minds by the grace of Your visitation. Through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

The three candles are allowed to burn during the even-ing meals of the third week.

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St. Francis of Assisi Parish Community 15050 South Wolf Road, Orland Park, Illinois 60467-3028 Website: http://www.sfaorland.org Parish office e-mail: parishoffice@sfaorland.org Parish phone: 708-460-0042

WEEKEND MASS SCHEDULE: Saturday - 4:00 & 6:00 PM; Sunday - 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, also special Liturgies with Eucharist will be held on Sundays at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM in Upton Hall

WEEKDAY MASS SCHEDULE: Monday-Friday at 8:30 AM

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR ALL MASSES - CALL 460-0042 OR REGISTER ONLINE

The Parish offices are located in the lower level of the church. En-trance is via the walkway at the west side of the church building. Hours 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM, Monday thru Friday. Masks are required in the building. Evenings and weekends are by appointment. The Chapel is located at the northeast corner of the Church. ADMINISTRATION Phone: 460-0042, Fax: 460-0136 Office Manager: Paula Belski (pbelski@sfaorland.org) Director of Facilities & Operations: Jim Hahn (jhahn@...) Parish Accountant: Kathleen Biederman (kbiederman@...) Receptionists: Ann Carroll (acarroll@...), Teri Sankey (tsankey…) Comm. Coordinator: Allison Domenick (adomenick@...) Liturgy Coordinator: Gina Vitucci (gvitucci@...) Facilities Maintenance: Monika Czajczyk, Al Becker MUSIC MINISTRY Phone: 708-460-9831 Director: Leanne Stoterau (music@sfaorland.org) YOUTH MINISTRY Phone: 708-460-0042 Youth Minister: Matt Toohill (sfyg@sfaorland.org)

The Religious Ed Offices are located in the St. Francis Center, up the hill, west of the church. Religious Ed office hours ar Monday thru Thursday, 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM. The Religious Ed offices are closed on Fridays. Masks are required in the building. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 15010 Wolf Rd., Orland Park, IL 60467 Phone: 708-460-0155; FAX: 708-460-5086 Dir: Mary Kay Burberry, ext. 240 (mkburberry@sfaorland.org) Coordinator: Jackie O’Malley, ext. 242 (jomalley@...) Office Manager: Maureen Krzyminski, ext. 244 (mkrzyminski@...) CARDINAL JOSEPH BERNARDIN (CJB) SCHOOL 9250 W.167th St., Orland Hills, IL 60487 Phone: 708-403-6525 Principal: Kelly Bourrell Web page: www.cjbschool.org

REV. EDWARD F. UPTON, Pastor Emeritus (edfupton@aol.com)

SR. GAEL GENSLER, OSF, Pastoral Associate (ggensler@sfaorland.org)

DEACON DANIEL CARROLL, Permanent Deacon (dcarroll@sfaorland.org)

DEACON JOHN DONAHUE, Permanent Deacon (jdonahue@sfaorland.org)

DEACON MICHAEL KILEY, Permanent Deacon (mkiley@sfaorland.org)

DEACON TIM McCORMICK, Permanent Deacon (tmccormick@sfaorland.org)

REV. ARTUR SOWA, Pastor (asowa@sfaorland.org)

REV. JAY SUERO, Associate Pastor (jsuero@sfaorland.org)

DEACON MICHAEL PINDELSKI, Permanent Deacon (mpindelski@sfaorland.org)

REV. RICH YOUNG, OSA, Weekend Presider

REGISTRATION Become a registered member of the parish by completing a registration form which is found in Church.

BECOME A CATHOLIC - R.C.I.A. The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. Anyone interested in becoming a Catholic, please contact the parish office at 708-460-0042

SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM Baptisms can be arranged by appointment. A baptismal conference will be set up with the parents.

CARDINAL JOSEPH BERNARDIN CATHOLIC SCHOOL Our elementary Catholic regional school is located on the campus of St. Elizabeth Seton parish at 167th & 94th Ave. For registration information, contact the school at 708-403-6525.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION Sessions are held on alternating Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 4:30pm- 5:30pm for all grade levels 1-8. Saturday class is from 8:30am-9:30am. Remote classes for all grades 1-8 are available for those who are unable to attend in person. Please call the Religious Education office at (708)460-0155 or email religioused@sfaorland.org to register or to obtain more infor-mation. .

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION Communal celebration of the Sacrament will be held during Advent and Lent. Individual confessions are heard on Saturdays at 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM. Individual Confessions will be heard at 9:00—9:30 AM to allow time for sanitizing the church before Funerals and Weddings.

SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE Weddings need to be scheduled at least 4-6 months in advance upon approval of a priest. Couples are remind-ed to secure the church date before the reception hall. Please check our website for more details.

SACRAMENT OF ANOINTING OF THE SICK Those of advanced age or suffering from a chronic or serious illness are invited to be anointed. A priest is available to offer the Sacrament whether the ill person is at home or in the hospital. Please call 708-460-0042.