With this issue of the bulletin, we begin a new monthly series that will examine the liturgy and teaching of the Catholic Church. In May and June, we will be examining the Sunday Mass.
THE SUNDAY MASS
The Sunday Mass has two parts. These are called the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. In this two- part series, we will look at both parts of the Sunday Mass, what they hold and what they teach us. This month, we will examine the Liturgy of the Word.
LITURGY OF THE WORD
Following the Greeting, the Liturgy of the Word begins with the Penitential Rite. This rite has different forms, which may begin with, "I confess to Almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters...," or a series of prayers followed by, "Lord have mercy...Christ have mercy...Lord have mercy." A Sprinkling Rite (a reminder of baptism that is often done during the Easer season) may also serve in the place of the Penitential Rite. The Penitential Rite provides the opportunity before each celebration of the Eucharist to acknowledge and seek forgiveness for our sins. [Any time that we are aware of serious sin in our lives, we should seek the Sacrament of Reconciliation with individual confession to a priest. It is also recommended by the Church that the regular reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation can be an important help in our spiritual development. Our parish has this sacrament available every Saturday at 4:30 pm, and each Advent and Lent, as part of our communal prayer services.] In this way, every time we gather for Mass, the Penitential Rite prepares us to receive the Eucharist with a clean heart.
The Gloria is the wonderful hymn of praise that is sung (preferably) following the Penitential Rite at each Sunday Mass and other major celebrations of the Church. Its omission during the seasons of Advent and Lent is noticeable and leaves us anticipating the grand arrival of Christmas and the fullness of life that Easter brings. The Opening Prayer is next. This prayer prepares us for what we are to receive from God in scripture, as well as in the Eucharist that we will later share.
The Readings come next. These include a First Reading is followed by a selection from the Book of Psalms, and is usually sung, as a Responsorial Psalm. The Second Reading follows. This is usually a reading from one of the letters of St. Paul or other writers to an early Christian community. The Gospel Acclamation (usually a sung Alleluia, though not in Lent) precedes the proclamation of a reading from one of the four Gospel writers.
The Sunday readings are prepared for us in a book called The Lectionary. The Sunday Lectionary has three cycles, or three years worth of readings (so that all four Gospels will be heard through the completion of all these cycles.) [There is also the Lectionary for Weekday Masses. This lectionary has two cycles and holds within it many readings we do not hear on Sunday. For example, the weekday lectionary holds most of the readings containing stories about women in scripture.] Someone who celebrates Mass each Sunday for three years (the priest presides but we all celebrate) and is also able to celebrate daily Mass for two years will just about be able to hear the Holy Scriptures in their entirety.
Following the Readings is the Homily by a priest or deacon (here at Mary Queen of Heaven, this may sometimes be followed by further reflection by the Pastoral Life Coordinator). The Homily is followed by recitation of the Nicene Creed. When there are Masses with children present, the Apostle's Creed may be used in its place. Reciting the Creed gives us the opportunity to affirm what we have heard in scripture and to profess our faith. At the Easter Vigil and on some other occasions, there will be a Renewal of Baptismal Promises at this time in the Mass. If this happens, it takes the place of the Creed, for in renewing our baptismal promises, we are professing our faith.
After the recitation of the Creed are the Prayers of the Faithful. These prayers follow a similar pattern in every Catholic Church all over the world (prayers for church and world leaders, for those who suffer from oppression, for the sick and those who have died, etc.), but each parish composes their own. This completes the Liturgy of the Word.
In the June issue of "Did You Know?" we will continue with our examination of the Sunday Mass by looking at the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
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 Peggy Delbeke
Trudi Dolato Anna Heffel
Jen Huwalt Tom Huwalt
Pat Holmes Maureen James
Tom Janicke Albert P. Kabat
Irene Kmieciak Bernadette Kohn
John Lane Robert Manion
Bobbi Nannini Vincent Scilluffo
Eileen Shea Jeff Smith
Cathy Ward
Rest In Peace
Nancy A. Maloney
Robert E. Doyle
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.
VITAS Hospice Care
VITAS Hospice Care is offering Volunteer Training to
prepare caring individuals to work with terminally ill patients
and their families. Classroom sessions will be held:
Saturday and Sunday, June 4th and 5th
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p. m. (both days)
VITAS Innovative Health Care
580 Waters Edge, Suite 100, Lombard
Course content includes Hospice Movement & the VITAS Story,
VITAS Palliative Care, Spiritual Care, Communication techniques,
Psychosocial Needs & Family Dynamics, and a host of related
topics. Volunteers may provide services in homes, nursing homes,
or our inpatient Hospice House. We care for patients near your
home or office! For further information call Nancy Petersen,
Volunteer Services Manager, at 630-268-6237.
Good Friday Holy Land Collection
"Dear Mary Foley:
My special thanks to you and your people for the excellent
results obtained in the Good Friday collection taken up to help
support the mission of the Church in the Holy Land.
All the Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land
join with me in thanking you for your prayers, kindness and the
generous help of yourself, priests, and your people in this work
entrusted to us by the Holy Father.
Yours fraternally,
Fr. Romano Stephen Almagno, O.F.M. (Signed)
Commissary-Guardian"
St. Vincent de Paul
Spring Clothing Drive
Mary Queen of Heaven Parish St. Vincent de Paul Society is
sponsoring a Spring Clothing Drive on Saturday and Sunday, June
4/5. The St. Vincent de Paul truck will be in the parking lot
from about 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning until approximately 1:00
p.m. on Sunday.
Last spring our parish held a clothing drive and it was a
huge success! We filled the truck with items to benefit the
needy. This seems like the perfect time to do it again. Pick
out those things you have been holding on to. Someone else can
use them right now. People are in need of clean, gently used
items: clothing, shoes, purses, linens, bedding, house wares,
books, small working appliances, knick-knacks, toys, etc. There
is a special need for clothing for children. Donation bags are
available in the church vestibule.
For pickup of furniture and heavy items, please call 630-
231-4658. Tax receipts are gladly given.
"Thank You for Helping Us to Help People"
"Ladies Night Out" Dinner
The Council of Catholic Women is sponsoring a "Ladies Night
Out" on Tuesday, June 21st at 7:00 p.m. This is a wonderful
opportunity to relax and enjoy fellowship with your friends from
MQH. We will be honoring Diane Bernstein, our Woman of the Year,
for her dedication and work in our parish over the years.
The celebration will be held at Casey's Restaurant, 415
East North Avenue, Lombard. There will be a choice of three
entrees: Casey's Prime Rib, Broiled Breast of Chicken, and
Broiled Orange Roughy. Dinner will also include soup or salad,
coffee, soft drinks and dessert. A cash bar will also be
available. The cost for the evening will be $25.00 per person.
Please make checks payable to Mary Queen of Heaven CCW
The deadline for reservations is Sunday, June 12. For your
convenience, registration forms are available in the church
vestibule . Please take one and return it with payment as soon
as possible. It can be dropped in he collection basket or sent
to the rectory. For further information, please call Mary White
(833-9809) or Sheila Reiter (833-6657).
Religious Education News
First Communion Banners
The banners that our First Communion children made have
been adorning the walls of the church for the last 3 weeks.
However, now it is time for them to hang in their own homes. We
ask that you please retrieve your child's banner from the Church
by June 5. Any remaining banners will have to be discarded.. If
your child's banner is still hanging in Church or you know
someone who has a banner still up, please claim it today.
Last call for discounted
RE registrations!
June 1st is this Wednesday. If you want to register at the
discounted fee, get those forms in to the office before that.
FYI - another reason to get those registration forms in is if it
is essential that you have your children in at a certain session.
Grade 5 at Session 2 (5:15-6:30) is already filled to capacity.
Our classes are filling up and we are trying to keep the class
sizes down to continue our high quality of religious education.
So please if you have not registered, do so ASAP. Tell your
friends and neighbors to do the same.
Help is still needed.
Thank you to the five people who came forward this week to
be catechists in our program. We are slowly and we hope surely
filling our positions for next year. However, help is still
needed. We need help at the following sessions and grades:
Session 1- (3:15-4:30)
Pre 3 - 1 catechist Grade 1 - 1 catechist
Pre 4 - 1 catechist Grade 4 - 3 catechists
Session 2 - (5:15- 6:30)
Pre 3 - 2 catechists Grade 6 - 1 catechist
Grade 8 - 2 catechists
Grade 3 - 2 catechists Grade 7 - 1 catechist
Session 3 - (7:15-8:30)
Grade 5 - 2 catechists Grade 6 - 2 catechists
In addition we still need folks to help direct traffic in
the parking lot at all sessions (at least 3, preferably 6) and
office helpers and hall monitors. We have a thriving and, as you
can see, growing religious education program. But we cannot do it
without you. Please pray about whether God is calling you to
minister to our young people.
If you have any questions or need more info., please call
Mary Ann Woods at the REO, 832-8962.
A Memorial Day Mass
will be celebrated on
Monday, May 30, at 9:00 a.m.
in the Assumption Cemetery Chapel Mausoleum located at
1S510 Winfield Rd., in Wheaton.
Parenting Programs
Catholic Charities will offer the following parenting
programs at Catholic Charities, in Lombard:
Effective Choices, Effective Parenting, a one day workshop
that helps parents build on existing strengths for better
relationships with their children. Saturday, June 18, 1-4 PM.
Cost $20/per person; $25/per couple.
All About Attention Deficit Disorder, a video-based program
of four 90-minute sessions that enables parents to interact more
effectively with children who are suspected to have symptoms of
ADD or have been diagnosed with ADD. Classes on four consecutive
weeks, June 7-28, at 7:00 PM. Cost $50/per person; $70 per
couple.
For more information or to pre-register, please contact Jim
Gilligan, Parenting Instructor, at 630-710-8226.
A Vocation View
That we can collaborate with God is a humbling truth. That
God lives among us is startling. That we are the Body of Christ
is our vocation.
L.O.S.S. Support Group
(Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide)
Through the collaboration of Catholic Charities (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. These groups meet monthly at each location
from 7:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. The next meeting dates are:
June 7 - Catholic Charities Office
270 N. Schuyler Ave. in Kankakee
June 15 St. Paul the Apostle Activity Center
130 Woodlawn in Joliet
June 28 St. Daniel the Prophet Parish Center
101 West Loop Drive in Wheaton
Thank You from Mary Alice
Dear Friends, my Mary Queen of Heaven Family,
Because walking to church was always a part of my family
tradition, particularly my mother and my grandmother before her,
I treasured my Sunday morning walk to church each weekend in the
years since we have lived in Villa Park. I especially loved, in
the short three-block walk, passing two other congregations of
worshipers all coming together for the same reason that I was
walking down the street.
When Father John called me nine years ago to ask whether I
would be interested in changing parishes, I said no because I did
not want to give up my special Sunday morning tradition. At the
same time I had been praying to know the next direction in my
life (evidently I did not recognize the first phone call as my
answer, so I was given a second chance!). By the time Father
John called me back a few weeks later several things had happened
to show me that indeed I was to make the move.
I am so grateful to God for this piece of my journey.
Walking with you, my family at Mary Queen of Heaven, has been
like walking with the men traveling to Emmaus. The more deeply I
came to know you, the more deeply you have become Jesus to me.
You have touched my life and changed me, you have taken my soul
and stretched it, you have shared your gifts with me and made me
more aware than ever before that we are one in the Spirit.
Once again, as in every shift of direction in my life, the
Spirit of God has moved over the waters of my journey and made
the next direction very clear to me. On June 10, my husband,
Bill, who you may know as the CCD parking attendant, and I will
be moving to Hennepin IL., in the Starved Rock area. This small
town of 750 people is named for an early explorer, missionary and
cartographer, Father Louis Hennepin. Among other things, Fr.
Hennepin, was the historian on LaSalle's first expedition in 1680
and was the first European to describe Niagara Falls. And my
husband, with great delight, found a Hennepin Ale named after
this same Father Louis Hennepin of Belgium.
So we are off on the next leg of our journey and God is
good, I will again be walking to church on Sunday mornings,
through the soccer field and through my nephew's back yard.
People have asked "What will you do?" I do not know but I can
say that in every turn in the road of my life's journey I have
always been shown the way.
I leave you, dear and treasured friends knowing that we
will always be one in the Spirit and that our meeting and working
together has all been part of God's plan. He loves you all and
will continue to bless you every day of your lives.
Bill and I thank you sincerely for the many ways in which
you have blessed our lives. Mary Alice Steck.
R.C.I.A. Summer Schedule
With Mary Alice Steck moving out of town there will be a
change in the leadership for the RCIA. Mimi Wolak who has been
part of Mary Queen for the past six years, will assume this role.
More information about Mimi will be published in the future. For
now, however, we would like to share with you the summer
schedule. We will meet at 9:00 on the following Sunday mornings
in Room 6 of the school building: June 19 and 26, July 17 and
24, august 14 and 21. We will spend an hour "breaking open the
word" as we explore the readings of the day. After our
discussion we will all go to the 10:15 Mass together. Call Mimi
at 941-3851
You are invited to "Come and See"
* If you would like to inquire about the Catholic Faith
* If you are not Baptized
* If you are a Baptized Catholic but have never received the
Sacraments of Eucharist and Confirmation
* If you might like to bring someone you know who is interested
in our Catholic Faith
* If you would like to be a sponsor for someone along the
journey