The Family of Saint Gerald 9310 S. 55th Court

Oak Lawn, Ill. 60453 February 7, 2021

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Catholic School’s Week

SCOUT SUNDAY

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Growing up in a mixed marriage????

My dad was Irish and my mom was Polish. I tell you it was truly a great combination. I learned at a very early age how to respond to the question of my nationality. When I was at my Bushia’s house and she would ask me Catherine what nationality are you? I would say I am Polish. When I was at my Grandma Langan’s house and she would ask me Kate, what na-tionality are you? I would respond I am Irish. I truly believed they enjoyed asking me this question. After I would answer they would both have a good laugh. Thank God I never made a mistake with my answer. This reminds me of the song the Orange and the Green. But in that song the child was Irish but the mom was Catholic and the dad was Protestant. I thank the good Lord that both sides of our family are Catholic.

I learned so very much from both my mom and dad. Dad was very outgoing, always had a

smile and a kind word. Mom was very loving and also kind. Mom was a great cook and baker. She taught me how to make golumbki, kolacky and many other dishes. Dad always had a story to tell and a song in his heart. No one could tell a joke like he could.

My mom and dad taught my brothers and me many things over the years. What really

stands out is their compassion, tolerance and great faith. They always were helping others that were down on their luck. I remember my parents meeting a family who had six children. The parents were Catholic but had fallen away from the church. My parents befriended them and talked at great length to them about coming back to church. Not only did they come back to church but my parents were Godparents to all six children. They were a great team. I really don't remember either one of them saying anything negative about another person. They al-ways saw the good in people. When I look back at my childhood I know how truly blessed we were to have such wonderful parents and teachers. My dad would always tell us if you cannot say something kind about a person, just say they are a good swimmers. They are both gone now and I often think back to those happy more gentle times, that I miss so very much. I thank God for them both everyday.

Catherine (Kate Langan) Zagata My Grandmother and Bushia would be very pleased.

The Stewardship of our Family of Saint Gerald 01/24/21 $ 1/31/21 $ Collections Utilities $ These figures include masses, give central and mailed in. Thank you for your continued support. Our parish family depends upon your support and

cannot exist without you. When you are not able to be here we thank you for remembering your financial commitment to our faith community and each other.

Marriage Banns

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We congratulate our parents and families, whose child was welcomed into the new life of Baptism. May God protect this little one, reborn into the Family of God.

DEATHS

MISSION STATEMENT We are the Family of St. Gerald- People of God, brought together in the Eucharist as the Body of Christ. We gather as sisters and brothers with the Lord, welcoming and inviting others to journey with us to become more like Christ. We strive for

A Friendly Reminder Please remember that all parishioners are required to cover their mouth and nose as they attend Mass or any liturgical gathering at St. Gerald. Thank you for your cooperation.

May choirs of angels welcome him.

Leo Edward Maca Son of Joshua nad Miranda Akers Maca

Baptisms

Arlene J. Cesario

I Meghan Troy & Michael Hooker II Jemma Valeroso & Robert Danko III Erika Veen & Robert Szczechowicz

The Stewardship of our Family of Saint Gerald 1/31/21 Collections $6153.00 Give Central $1378.00 Mailed/Dropped off $2365.00 Masses $2410.00 These figures include masses, give central and mailed in. Thank you for your continued support. Our parish family depends upon your support and

cannot exist without you. When you are not able to be here we thank you for remembering your financial commitment to our faith community and each other.

Sunday, Feb 7 7:30am Special Intentions for Samantha 9:15am Dan Carroll, Mary Weigand, Dolly Klimek, Barbara & Al Orsi 11:00am Sarah “ Sis ” Calzaretta, Salvatore Vancheri, Jan Mereno, Michael Fleming Monday, Feb 8 8:00am Liv and decd member of SVDP Tuesday, Feb 9 8:00am Ron Bidochka Wednesday, Feb 10 8:00am Marion Safranek Thursday, Feb 11 8:00am David Walsh Friday, Feb 12 8:00am Rita Walsh, Bud McGrail, Marian Andersen, Pete M. Quattrocchi Saturday, Feb 13 5:00 Ann Burke, Lawrence Nash Sunday, Feb 14 7:30am Kenneth Ritter Sr., Mildred Uidl, Grant Garbys 9:15am Jacqueline Giebelhausen, Jerome Kostal James Vasicek 11:00am LaVerne Franek, Fei Family Grant Family, All Souls in Purgatory, Helena Lesnicki, Stella Folwarski, Stella Folwarski, Dominic M. Duran, James McGrath, Tami Frederick, Daniel Morales

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Feb 13-14 MASS TIMES LECTOR EUCHARISTIC MINISTER

J Anderson, L Keiner M Fekete, M Yerkes K Dansart, P Dansart M Blaha, M Kowalewski

Pray for the sick list

5:00PM 7:30AM 9:15AM 11:00AM

J Egan D Kobzaruk T Jones D Czaja

Baby Anthony-1 Rosemary Bingenheimer Risslar-1 Maria Briano-1 Ron Cerevic-1 Baby G.-1 Annie Grant-1 Patricia Griffin-1

Samantha Latarski-2 Roselyn Peary-4 Bruce Renz-4 Paula Sacino-1 Linda Stearns-1 Gene Martyn-2 Robert Walsh-2

In order to add a person’s name to our Pray for the sick listing, the person that is ill or a relative must call. Please call the office at 708 422-0234 to add the name of the person that is ill. We will keep the names of the sick for 4 weeks. After 4 weeks we will clear the list. If you want to add yourself or a loved one on again please call the office.

Ash Wednesday & Safety Protocol Ash Wednesday is on February 17, 2021. Our services are as follows:

FEBRUARY 17: 8:00 AM Mass-Reservation Required

4:30 PM Ashes Only-Reservation Required 5:30 PM Ashes Only-Reservations Required

7:00 PM Mass-Reservations Required You may call the parish office at 708-422-0234 for reservations or go to www.stgerald.com

and use the Sign Up Genius link to reserve on line. In order to provide a safe distribution, ashes will be distributed in the following manner: 1 .After blessing the ashes and sprinkling them with holy water in silence, the priest or dea-

con will address those present, reciting general prayers. 2. The ushers will instruct the attendees pew by pew to line up while keeping everyone so-

cially distant. 3. The priest, minister or deacon will then put on a face mask and a shield, sanitizes his/her

hands and distributes ashes to those who come to him by sprinkling the ashes on top of each person’s head without saying anything. This is a new procedure due to Covid. 4. Once you have received your ashes please go back to your pew and leave after closing prayers and as directed by the usher.

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Each year on Feb. 8, the Boy Scouts of America celebrates its birthday. It’s a date officially known as Scouting Anniversary Day, and we celebrate another year of outdoor fun and adventure.. This year is the 111th anniversary. On the Sunday before the anniversary, scouts also celebrate the 12th point of the scout law, - A Scout is Reverent. That point of the Scout Law reflects a scouts duty to God.

The Scouting program at St Gerald - which is 3/4s of a century old! - provides fun, fellowship, and train-

ing to our parish and community youth . It emphasizes honesty, self-reliance, and respect. Through a year-round program, it affects character, citizenship, and personal fitness. But the success of our Scouting depends on our volunteers, who serve in a variety of leadership roles so that our young people may benefit from our-Scouting ministry. As the Boy Scouts of America celebrates its anniversary, we salute the splendid volunteers who serve as Cubmasters, Scoutmasters, and other positions of leadership. Our Cubscout Pack 3619 and our Troop 619 would like to invite you and your family to be a part of their program. ( You can contact Mike Pav-lik ( 708-422-9428) for information.)

2021 Annual Catholic Appeal Come, follow me … and bring hope to the world

I invite you to spend some time this week reflecting on the Annual Catholic Appeal materi-

als you should have received in your bulletin or in the mail. The Annual Catholic Appeal is much different than a one-time special collection: It is a pledged commitment to make a gift over time. Your pledge can be made payable in installments.

Each pledge makes a difference because all parishes participate in the campaign and the gifts of many enable our archdiocese to deliver needed ministries and services to answer the call of Jesus to “Come, follow me … and bring hope to the world.”

If you received your pledge form in the mail, please complete it and mail it back. This year, we also encourage our parishioners to make their Annual Catholic Appeal gift online: http://annualcatholicappeal.com or go to www. stgerald for the link.

February 2021 Programs Portiuncula Center for Prayer

9263 W St. Francis Road Frankfort, IL 60423

Register by calling 815.464.3880,

emailing info@portforprayer.org, or on our website at www.portforprayer.org

WOMEN’S SACRED CIRCLE Dates: February 8 (Meets second Monday of each month) Time: 7 – 9 p.m. Fee: Donation

Each month a small group of women meets at the Port to support one another in their efforts to

walk a spiritual path in the midst of the busy-ness of their lives and the challenges of the times we are living in. A unique theme is introduced each month. New members accepted in February.

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REQUESTS FOR 2021 MASS INTENTIONS

Please fill out this form and return to the parish office. We will try and honor as best we can the dates and times you have requested, and if not possible, will assign the closest available date. Please note that individual mass intentions will be accepted on all days and for all masses with the following exceptions: Holy Thursday (4/01/2021), Good Friday (04/02/2021), Holy Saturday (4/03/2021) and All Souls (11/2/2021). All our deceased loved ones will be remembered in prayer on those days.

In order to provide available open Mass dates for families who have recently lost a loved one, we ask that initially

you limit your requests to eight (8) Mass intentions. After all our families have had an opportunity we will make the Mass Book available to those who wish more intentions.

The suggested donation is $10.00 per mass intention. We ask that you include the donation with your request form.

We will contact you by mail with confirmation of your requests. Thank you for your patience, understanding and sup-port.

Name of Intention_________*Requested Date/Time_______Confirmed/Changed To ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

Your Name ____________________________________ Phone___________________ *PLEASE BE SURE TO HAVE A 2021 CALENDAR WHEN YOU ARE CHOOSING YOUR MASSES.

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The Family of Saint Gerald www.stgerald.com Oak Lawn, Illinois

WEEK END LITURGIES SATURDAY 5:00 p.m. SUNDAY 7:30, 9:15, 11:00

WEEKDAY LITURGIES MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY 8AM ADORATION CHAPEL NOT OPEN AT THIS TIME THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

Saturdays,4:00-4:30 p.m. please call the parish office for an appointment.

Weddings should be scheduled at least six months in advance. Please contact the Wedding Coordinator.

Baptisms are celebrated every Sunday. Parents are expected to go through a Baptismal preparation session. Classes are held on the third Thursday of the month at 7PM in the Par-ish Meeting Room. Please call the Parish Of-fice to register for the class.

What does the Convalidation of a Marriage Mean?

A convalidation is when a couple married outside the Church seeks to have their union offi-

cially recognized by the Church. For various reasons, A Catholic party or parties find them-selves in a civil marriage or in a marriage that took place before a non-Catholic minister. In time, some seek to have their marriages approved or “blessed” by the Catholic Church. A con-validation involves the willingness of both parties to enter into a sacramental marriage.

Does this describe your situation? Were you married in a civil service and are a baptized Catholic? Were you married in a civil service, divorced and remarried? Have you wondered if you can have your marriage blessed and recognized by the Church? If you answered yes, to any of these questions feel free to start a conversation to get some answers!

A convalidation does not mean you need to plan a big wedding ceremony with all the frills. Actually, it requires some paperwork, possible attendance to Pre Cana and a meaningful cere-mony in church to crown your marriage with the sacrament. St. Gerald can offer you a pri-vate ceremony or to be included in a Sunday mass group ceremony!

Feel free to contact any of the following staff members to discuss your situation: Fr. Michael Flynn………………...708-422-0234 (25) Mrs. Laura Kowalski……………..708-422-0234 (24) or lkowalski@stgerald.com

The school and parish office will be closed on Monday 2/15/21. This is in observance of President’s Day.

At my Lowest: God is my hope At my Weakest: God is my strength At my Saddest: God is my comforter

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ST. GERALD PARISH STAFF

Rev. Robert Pajor…………Pastor frrpajor@stgerald.com Rev. Michael Flynn………. Associate Pastor Rev. William Browne…….. Resident Rev. Mr. Michael Fekete….Deacon mfekete@archchicago.org Mr. Thomas Forbes……….Parish Business Manager tforbes@stgerald.com Mrs. Kemberly Markham…Principal kmarkham@stgerald.com Mr. Leo McGinnis…………Coord. of Religious Education rey@stgerald.com Mrs. Sandy Weber…………Ministry of Care sweber@stgerald.com Mr. Michael Glowacki……. Music Director mgmusicservice@yahoo.com Ms. Debbie Janicke……….. Dev Director development@stgerald.com Mrs. Laura Kowalski………Wedding Coordinator lkowalski@stgerald.com Mrs. Kate Zagata…………...Bulletin Editor kzagata@stgerald.com Parish Office 9310 S 55th Ct. Telephone 708 422-0234 Fax 708 422-0822 School 9320 S 55th Ct. Telephone 708 422-0121 Fax 708 422-9216 Religious Education (REY) Office 708 423-0458 Convent 708 422-0280

CHURCH NAME AND NUMBER Saint Gerald #587 ADDRESS- 9310 s. 55TH Court Oak Lawn, Illinois 60453 PHONE- 708 422-0234 CONTACT PERSON- Kate Zagata SOFTWARE- Ms Publisher 2003 Windows 7 Adobe Acrobat 9.0 PRINTER- Hp Color Laserjet 2550 NUMBER OF PAGES SENT- Cover through 1-10 SUNDAY DATE OF BULLETIN Feb 7, 2021 SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS-We want 300 bulletins this time. Please deliver the bulletins to the Parish Office not the church. The parish office is the building south of the church. Thank you.