L.O.S.S. Support Group (Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide) Through the collaboration of Catholic Charities (from the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Joliet), support groups are in place for anyone who has lost a relative or friend to suicide. A trained facilitator and a mental health professional assist these groups. The groups meet from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on either the first Tuesday of the month, the third Wednesday or the fourth Tuesday of the month. The next meeting dates are as follows: Feb. 1 Catholic Charities Office 270 N. Schuyler Ave. in Kankakee Feb. 16 St. Paul the Apostle Activity Center 130 Woodlawn in Joliet Feb. 22 St. Daniel the Prophet Parish Center 101 West Loop Drive in Wheaton For further information, please call the L.O.S.S. Program Center at 312-655-7283. Help Others With Your Extras The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is collecting house wares that are clean and in good condition to help people in need. Check around your household. Do you have items that you just don't use anymore? Do you need a little space? There are people that would be delighted to receive your extras. The Society is looking for glassware, dishes, pots and pans, bake ware, utensils, small working appliances, lamps, knick-knacks, and miscellaneous household items. Please call 630-231-4658 for the society to send their truck to your home to pick up your donations. Clothing donations will be accepted along with your house wares. Receipts are always gladly given. Scripture Study Starting Soon: The Acts of the Apostles "Now when they [rulers, elders, and scribes] saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed..." Acts 4:13 We are looking for additional facilitators and co- facilitators for our Bible study groups, which will begin in the spring. Even if you are an "uneducated and ordinary man" (or woman), you would be amazed at how easy facilitating can be. Training and support will be provided, including four training sessions (on Saturday mornings in February) and facilitator materials. Each group will have a facilitator and a co-facilitator. If you would consider becoming a facilitator, please contact Lynn Suwanski at 630-530-2523 or the Parish office at 630-279-5700. A firm commitment does not need to be made until after the training sessions. Also, the facilitators get to select when the study group will meet! Christian Service Commission Pre-Lenten Mission: "Resolving Our Conflicts - Growing in Care" Immaculate Conception Parish, Elmhurst. Saturday, February 5, at 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Conflict seems to be a way of life. This day will offer constructive ways to explore conflicts, and grow in care. Tools to make our relationships more affirming and hopeful will be discussed. Father Michael Crosby is a nationally known speaker, and an annual presenter at Retreats International at Notre Dame University. He has written 15 books. Babysitting is provided. Suggested Donation of $15.00 includes continental breakfast and lunch. Space is limited, and reservations are recommended by February 1. Call 530-3483 for reservations. Community News Host Families Sought for Children of Northern Ireland The Irish Children's Fund is seeking host families to welcome children from the troubled areas of Northern Ireland into their homes during the summer of 2005. This will be the 24th summer that the ICF has brought an equal number of Catholic and Protestant children to the Chicago area. During their visit, the children will participate in activities designed to foster the spirit of cooperation and friendship, breaking the barriers of mistrust they have been brought up with. Upon returning to Northern Ireland, the children have a follow-up program available to them through which they can continue to come together in ICF-sponsored activities and maintain the friendships formed in the United States. For additional information, call 630-833-1910. Youth Groups Reminder Meeting Dates: January 30, Feb. 13, and February 27 Wings to Heaven 5th-8th grade, 6:00-8:00 PM in Barrett Hall. Destiny-High school 8:30-10:10 AM, School Building Prayer Requests To pray for our sick is an important privilege of our parish family. We hope that you will pray for these persons every day, alone or as a family. Thank you. Pam Bondfide Heather Marie Brennan Kathleen Bryers Rose Caffarelli Kathy Calzante Jim Clynch Jenie Colletti Trudi Dolato John Doyle Jeannette Elderkin Dan Focht Paul Francetic Anna Heffel Jen Huwalt Tom Huwalt Pat Holmes Maureen James Tom Janicke Irene Kmieciak Baby Emma Ann Lynde Nancy Maloney Robert Manion Bobbi Nannini Jeff Smith Tyler Vincer Myron Watry If you or a family member would like to be included in our prayers, please call the rectory at 279-5700. Also, please let us know when a name should be removed. Rest in Peace Lillian O'Laughlin Candlelight Bowl Friday, February 18th The Council of Catholic Women and the Men's Group are co- hosting a Scotch Doubles Candlelight Bowl at Stardust Bowling Lanes, 27 E. Lorraine in Addison. Dinner will be served at 8:30 p.m. followed by three games of Scotch doubles (including one "crazy bowl" game). There will be raffles and prizes will be awarded. The cost is $45.00 per couple. Call your relatives, neighbors, and friends and invite them to join in the fun!! For reservations, call Mary White (833-9809) or stop at the table in the church vestibule starting this weekend. The final deadline for selling tickets will be Sunday, February 13th, but we would like to get as many reservations as possible in by the 6th so that the bowling alley can make food arrangements. Christian Education Commission Religious Education News Mark Your Calendars: Wednesday, February 9th is Ash Wednesday. There is no regular class scheduled for that day. However, all RE families and children are invited to attend a Communion Service with Distribution of Ashes at 4 PM. in the church. If you are not free in the afternoon, please plan on your family attending Mass with Distribution of Ashes at 7:30 p.m. in church. Saturday, February 12th at 5:00 p.m. will be Family Mass. Please plan on attending with your family. We have asked Grade 4 and their families to be responsible for the readings, gift bearing, altar dressing, etc. Hope to see all of our RE families there. Reminder to all Parents Please caution your children to be extra careful when crossing the parking lot, walking on the sidewalks, etc. We ask that all our parents be extra careful as well when driving in and out of the parking lot. With the snowy, icy weather we want all of our children to be safe. Have You Ever Thought Of Being a Catechist? This is the perfect time to start thinking if you are being called to be a catechist in our Religious Education Program next fall. It's a great time to come by on a Wednesday and see what goes on after the children arrive. The only qualification is that you love children and you want to share your faith with them. Everything else is provided. With our enrollment nearing the 500 mark, the need for catechists is even greater. If you have ever thought about it or know someone who might be interested, call the office for details. For more information on any of the above, please call Mary Ann Woods at the REO, 832-8962 Parish Library To Open February 20 Mary Queen of Heaven's new parish library, located at the north end of Mary's Gathering Place, will open for the first time on Sunday, February 20 from 9:00 a.m. until Noon. This will enable parishioners to have the books available for nearly all of Lent-not that we think reading is a form of Lenten penance, but rather a chance to deepen our spiritual knowledge. Members of the Library Committee have divided the books into various categories and color coded each category to help parishioners using the library. Among the topics covered are Church History, The Church Today, Theology, Christian Reading, Spirituality, Devotional, Saints, Biography, Women, Fiction, Psychology, Children, and Young Adults. In addition, a number of magazines will be available in the magazine rack for reading. Some additional books have been ordered to fill in the gaps in certain categories, which we hope will arrive before February 20. There is some overlap between a few of the categories, but since ours is a small library this should not present a serious problem. For example, Spirituality focuses on the ideas involved in the spiritual life, while Devotional emphasizes the "how to" in developing one's spiritual life. The library will be open from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays and from 9:00 a.m. to noon on Sundays. Books may be checked out for three weeks at a time by filling out the cards in the pockets in the back of each book, and leaving the cards in the library. Members of the Library Committee will be present to answer questions during library hours. Anyone wishing to volunteer to help with the work of the library should call William Barnds at 630-782-5966. William Barnds, a former U.S. government official and author, joined the parish last year. He is also a member of the Finance Committee. Joyful Again! Widowed and Wondering? Does it ever get better? - Yes, it does. Does anything help? - Yes, it does. Times Feb. 12-13, Holy Family Parish, Inverness Mar. 5-6, St. Charles Center Apr. 2-3, Lutheran General Hospital For more information about our program for widowed men and women, please call 708-354-7211. St. Charles Borromeo Open House Sunday, Jan. 30, at 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. and Tuesday, Feb. 1, at 9:00 a.m.-11:20 p.m. Registration for the 2005-2006 school year will be taken during the Open House. A birth certificate, baptismal certificate, social security umber and $40 non-refundable fee are required at registration. For information, please call the school office: 766-0116. Immaculate Conception H.S. Makeup Placement Test for Class of 2009 Saturday, February 5, at 9:00 a.m. The test is open to all 8th grade students who have not taken a private high school placement test yet. Pre-registration is required and there is a $25 fee. Please bring two #2 pencils. No calculators or dictionaries allowed. To pre-register, call the main office at 530-3460 by Thursday , February 3. VITAS Hospice Care Is offering Volunteer Training To prepare caring individuals to work with terminally ill patients and their families. Classroom schedule is: Saturday, and Sunday, February 26 and 27 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (both days) at VITAS Innovative Health Care, Lombard Topics include palliative care, spiritual care, and family dynamics. For further information call Nancy Petersen, Volunteer Services Manager, at 630-268-6237. Late Nite Catechism Saturday, February 5, at 7:30 p.m. Ascension of Our Lord Parish, Oakbrook Terr. $25 (Includes Pre-performance Reception) Call Jim Fennell at 630-629-5810, ext. 201. Love Letters of Support We are asking all parishioners to take a moment to write a letter to the survivors of the tsunami disaster. When things like this happen it seems that we struggle to know how we can help. Aside from donating money to various relief funds, we as a faith community have decided to write letters of love and support. So far some of our religious education classes and our wings to heaven youth group have written letters. They are so beautiful and truly demonstrate what a loving community we are. I was brought to tears as I read the thoughts and prayers our young people wrote. Please consider being part of this and write your letter of support. We will continue to gather letters for the next couple of weeks. Letters can be given to Kathleen Gusloff. There is also be a box in the back of church for your letters. Thank you for taking time to help us with this. Lenten Vatican II Series A five-week series on the recommendations of the Vatican II Council will be presented during Lent by the Adult Education and Spirituality Committee. Hard as it is to believe, this ground- breaking Council occurred about 40 years ago! The Lenten season is a good time to re-familiarize ourselves with the recommendations of the Council and to reflect on how they relate to the Church in 2005. The series will be presented on Tuesday evenings, starting on February 15 and through March 15, starting at 7 p.m. in Barrett Hall. All adults are invited to come to one or more of the sessions; each session includes a video of the Council conclusions and guided discussion. "Gather Books" You may have noticed that our "Gather" books are looking tattered and many of them have been lost. A new edition is now available. The cost for each hardcover book, engraved with our parish name, is $15. Replacing our books would be quite an expense to the parish, so we thought perhaps our parishioners would like to donate a book. Every book donated will have a donor bookplate with the words, "Gift Of" and your family name, or inscribed with the words "In Memory Of." These books are an important part of our liturgies. We hope to provide four "Gather" books at each end of our pews (8 per pew). There are forms available in the church vestibule. Please return the form with your check made out to Mary Queen of Heaven. Thank you for your generous contributions to our thriving parish. "Dust Thou Art and Unto Dust Thou Shalt Return." As in past years, we again plan to burn palms blessed last year for use in our upcoming Ash Wednesday services. If you have palms that you wish to return for burning, please do so by Wednesday, February 2nd. This ceremony will take place at the 8:30 and 10:15 a.m. Masses on Sunday, February 6. A box will be available in the vestibule of church for the palms. "Just Women" (Women of Justice) This is an opportunity for women to walk with Mary of Nazareth, pray with women in scripture, stand in solidarity with women who are suffering injustice throughout the world and within the United States, and share our own stories. When: Tuesday, February 1, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Friday, February 4, 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. (The same program will be presented on Tuesday evening and on Friday morning, to accommodate participants' schedules.) Where: Barrett Hall Facilitator: Mary Ann Reed 834-4840 Registration is not required. However a courtesy phone call would be appreciated, so that we may know how many people to expect. Please call MaryAnn. Ice Skating at the "Y" The Men's Group is at it again!. We are sponsoring an Open Skate for the entire Parish, all families, children, grandchildren, etc on Saturday, February 5, at 2:20 p.m. at the Elmhurst Family YMCA. This is a FREE event. Ice skates are available at no charge. We will have goodies and hot chocolate. If you have questions, call Steve Lindberg at: 630-941-1355. Super Bowl Party Sunday, February 6, in Barrett Hall (Details are posted on bulletin board in Church)