Mary's Corner
Mary Queen of Heaven Catholic Church
426 N. West Avenue
Elmhurst, Illinois 60126-2171
Parish Office: 630/279-5700
Fax: 630/279-4667
A Vocation View
The Lord called Abram to go forth to a new land and begin a new
nation. There's no telling what we can become by responding to
the Lord's invitation to us.
YOUR DINING OUT AND YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT CAN HELP THE
PARISH!
Parishioners who dine at the Elmhurst Family
Restaurant on Lake Street can help contribute to the
parish. Just identify yourselves as being from Mary Queen
of Heaven and 10% of your restaurant bill comes back to the
parish.
Also, parishioners who open a new checking account
with $100 at Standard Bank and Trust in Villa Park will
receive $75 from the bank and another $75 will come to the
parish. For details, please contact parishioner and banker
Karen Biggs at (708) 499-2062, ext. 61115.
SENIORS INVITED TO DEFER PROPERTY TAXES
Qualified senior citizens, aged 65 years and older are
invited to apply for the Senior Citizen Real Estate Tax Deferral
Program. The program allows participants to defer property tax
payment until the property is sold. The deferral is treated as a
loan and accrues 6 percent simple interest until paid. To
qualify, the applicant's household income cannot exceed $50,000.
Additionally, the property must be used exclusively for
residential purposes.
The application period closes March 1, 2008. For more
information, contact the DuPage County Treasurer's Office at 630-
407-5900 or www.dupageco.org/treasurer.Gwen Henry, Treasurer
STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Please join us on Fridays during Lent at 7:00
PM to pray the Stations of the Cross.
Market Day
Orders for February are due Monday, February 18, at noon.
Turn in your order form in the box in the back of church or at the
rectory. Pickup on Saturday, February 23, from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. in
the Social Hall.
If you have questions or would like to place an order, please
call Karen at 279-4108 or Beth at 833-5469 or email her at
ekujawa121@sbcglobal.net .
REST IN PEACE
Eric Peterson
YOUTH NEWS
Any youth interested in finding out more of what it means to be
called to a vocation in the priesthood or religious life, please
note the following programs held in our diocese.
OPERATION ANDREW DINNERS: These dinners with Bishop
Sartain are open to all men who are high school age or older.
Each evening begins at 6:00 p.m. and ends by 8:00 p.m. They will
have dinner with Bishop Sartain, hear a vocation story, ask
questions and meet other young men interested in knowing more
about the priesthood. There are four different locations
throughout the Diocese of Joliet so that each person who is
interested can attend one of these dinners. Have the men speak
to the pastor if they are interested in coming to one of the
following:
Thursday, February 28 - Holy Family Parish in Shorewood
Thursday, April 10 - St. Isaac Jogues Parish in Hinsdale
Thursday, April 24 - St. Teresa Parish in Kankakee
JEREMIAH DAY: Boys in grades 7-10 are invited to Mundelein
Seminary on Saturday, March 1. This day will provide the young
men a chance to visit a seminary and experience the life of a
seminarian. For more information, contact the Vocation Office by
phone ((815-834-4004) or email noral@dioceseofjoliet.org.
MARIAN DAY: Girls in grades 7-10 are invited to Loretto Convent
on Saturday March 1 to learn more about religious life. The day
will provide young women a chance to visit a convent and
experience the life of religious sisters. For more information,
contact the Vocation Office by phone ((815-834-4004) or email
noral@dioceseofjoliet.org.
YOUTH GROUP MEETINGS:
Wings to Heaven ... Lock in
Mark your calendars for Friday April 11th
Food, fun and worship
Cost is $15 and every child must have a permission slip
We hope you will join us.. it is a BLAST!!
Destiny (high school)
Youth Leadership Conference June 27-29th
Lewis University, Romeoville
PLEASE NOTE THE FRAMED CANVAS IN THE BACK OF CHURCH FOR
MEETING TIMES AND INFO REGARDING YOUTH GROUPS.
If you would like to be added to our email list or have any
questions
Please call Kathleen Gusloff 630-832-4348
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE Please call the Preschool for
information. Become a part of our growing school. Schedule a
visit, meet the teacher, come "Light the Way" with us.
The Preschool is accepting Registration for the 2008-2009 school
year. We have opened up a second classroom for the Monday,
Wednesday, Friday class and look forward to being able to serve
your child and your family for the 2008-2009 school year. We are
offering Open Houses for those interested in visiting our
classroom.
OPEN HOUSE SCHEDULE
Thursday, March 6, 2008 6:00p.m.-8:00p.m.
Monday, April 14, 2008 6:00p.m.-8:00p.m.
May date to be scheduled
Please see our website at www.maryqueenpreschool.org and contact
the school office for more information and registration.
(630) 833-9500
Preschool tours scheduled upon request.
MARY QUEEN OF HEAVEN
CHOIR CONCERT
Next Sunday, February 24th, at 2:00 p.m. is our Mary
Queen of Heaven Choir Concert and this will be Molly
Lindberg's last weekend with us. Concert tickets are still
available before and after this weekend's Masses. Please
come enjoy the concert! You are also invited to join Molly
for cake at Fellowship after the 10:30 a.m. Mass this
Sunday, February 17th. We want to thank Molly for all of
her hard work over the last four and one half years and for
sharing her incredible talent with us. We wish her the
very best blessings in her future career pursuits!
SEARCH PROCESS FOR MUSIC DIRECTOR
We are beginning a national search process for our new
Music Director. The search process will be led by
parishioner Paul French, who is Music Director of Our Lady
of Mount Carmel Church in Chicago. Paul is a nationally
known liturgical musician who has served on the Board of
Directors for the American Federation Pueri Cantores, the
official student choral organization of the Roman Catholic
Church. If you are interested in being part of the
committee working together with Paul, please contact the
Parish Office.
Eastern DuPage Deanery
Joliet Diocesan Council of Catholic Women
Lenten Evening of Reflection
Open to all Women of the Parish
Thursday, February 28th
A Lenten Evening of Reflection is being planned for members
of the Eastern DuPage Deanery. It will take place at Christ the
King Church at 1501 South Main Street in Lombard. Fr. Peter
Jarosz, Pastor of Christ the King Parish and Moderator of the
Council of Catholic Women Eastern DuPage Deanery will be the
Spiritual Director of the evening. Mark your calendar and plan
to come. The date and time for the event is Thursday, February
28th at 7:30 PM. The Eastern DuPage Deanery Council of Catholic
Women sponsors this event.
Are you someone who is drawn to the Catholic Faith?
Were you raised in another faith tradition, married a
Catholic, and are raising your children in the Catholic
Faith? Do you wish to be confirmed in the Catholic faith?
Or perhaps you were not raised in a religious
environment, but now feel drawn to a deeper relationship
with God. Would you like to explore the richness of the
sacramental life of the Catholic Church?
Well, COME AND SEE! Our RCIA team meets each Tuesday
evening. We are there to share our faith, answer questions
and learn from one another. Questions? Call Tom @ 530-4502
or Mimi @ 941-3851.
There is no obligation to commit; just COME AND SEE!
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS
Thanks to all who made last Saturday's Family Mass so special.
Our next Family Mass is scheduled for Sunday, March 2 at 10:30AM.
RE families please mark your calendars:
Saturday, February 23rd
Market Day pick-up is from 9:45 to 10:30AM in the Social Hall of
the school building. Please consider ordering from Market Day. It
supports our Religious Education Program.
Saturday, March 1st
Our 8th grade Confirmation candidates will be interviewed for the
final time from 9:00AM to Noon in the School classrooms. Parents
of candidates should have received an Interview time in the mail
this past week. Please let us know ASAP if there is a conflict
with the date and/or time.
Please note the date has been changed from the original March 8
which appears on the RE calendar.
For more info on any of the above, please call Mary Ann Woods at
the REO, 832-8962.
FELLOWSHIP SUNDAY
This Sunday, immediately following the 10:30 a.m. Mass
Fellowship will be held in Barrett Hall. This fellowship
is being hosted by the Peace & Justice Ministry and the
Young Adult Ministry. Aside from enjoying conversations
with fellow parishioners and enjoying refreshments
including coffee, tea, juice and goodies, we invite you to
visit the information tables which will feature the works
of both these Ministries. Ministry Members will be happy
to answer your questions and invite you to join them in
their works if you care to do so.
Christian Worship Commission
EXCERPT OF MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE BENEDICT XVI
FOR LENT 2008
"Christ made Himself poor for you" (2 Cor. 8: 9)
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Each year, Lent offers us a providential opportunity to
deepen the meaning and value of our Christian lives, and it
stimulates us to rediscover the mercy of God so that we, in turn,
become more merciful toward our brothers and sisters. In the
Lenten period, the Church makes it her duty to propose some
specific tasks that accompany the faithful concretely in this
process of interior renewal: these are prayer, fasting and
almsgiving. For this year's Lenten Message, I wish to spend some
time reflecting on the practice of almsgiving, which represents a
specific way to assist those in need and, at the same time, an
exercise in self-denial to free us from attachment to worldly
goods. The force of attraction to material riches and just how
categorical our decision must be not to make of them an idol,
Jesus confirms in a resolute way: "You cannot serve God and
mammon" (Lk 16,13). Almsgiving helps us to overcome this constant
temptation, teaching us to respond to our neighbor's needs and to
share with others whatever we possess through divine goodness.
This is the aim of the special collections in favor of the poor,
which are promoted during Lent in many parts of the world...
According to the teaching of the Gospel, we are not owners
but rather administrators of the goods we possess: these, then,
are not to be considered as our exclusive possession, but means
through which the Lord calls each one of us to act as a steward
of His providence for our neighbor. As the Catechism of the
Catholic Church reminds us, material goods bear a social value,
according to the principle of their universal destination (cf. n.
2404).
In the Gospel, Jesus explicitly admonishes the one who
possesses and uses earthly riches only for self. In the face of
the multitudes, who, lacking everything, suffer hunger, the words
of Saint John acquire the tone of a ringing rebuke: "How does
God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a
brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?" (1 Jn 3,17).
In those countries whose population is majority Christian, the
call to share is even more urgent, since their responsibility
toward the many who suffer poverty and abandonment is even
greater. To come to their aid is a duty of justice even prior to
being an act of charity...
Almsgiving teaches us the generosity of love. Saint Joseph
Benedict Cottolengo forthrightly recommends: "Never keep an
account of the coins you give, since this is what I always say:
if, in giving alms, the left hand is not to know what the right
hand is doing, then the right hand, too, should not know what it
does itself" (Detti e pensieri, Edilibri, n. 201). In this
regard, all the more significant is the Gospel story of the widow
who, out of her poverty, cast into the Temple treasury "all she
had to live on" (Mk 12,44). Her tiny and insignificant coin
becomes an eloquent symbol: this widow gives to God not out of
her abundance, not so much what she has, but what she is. Her
entire self...
The Lenten practice of almsgiving thus becomes a means to
deepen our Christian vocation. In gratuitously offering himself,
the Christian bears witness that it is love and not material
richness that determines the laws of his existence. Love, then,
gives almsgiving its value; it inspires various forms of giving,
according to the possibilities and conditions of each person.
Dear brothers and sisters, Lent invites us to "train
ourselves" spiritually, also through the practice of almsgiving,
in order to grow in charity and recognize in the poor Christ
Himself... Let this time, then, be marked by a personal and
community effort of attachment to Christ in order that we may be
witnesses of His love. May Mary, Mother and faithful Servant of
the Lord, help believers to enter the "spiritual battle" of Lent,
armed with prayer, fasting and the practice of almsgiving, so as
to arrive at the celebration of the Easter Feasts, renewed in
spirit. With these wishes, I willingly impart to all my Apostolic
Blessing.
From the Vatican
Mixed Marriages and Blended Families: A Day of
Refreshment and Renewal
Saturday, March 8, 2008
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Mixed Marriage = Catholic and Protestant Couple
Blended Families = his kids + her kids
The Mary Queen of Heaven Adult Spirituality and
Education Committee is pleased to sponsor a day of
refreshment and renewal for couples who are in mixed
marriages and/or blended families. This is a wonderful
opportunity to enrich your faith and the life of your
family. This free program runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
on Saturday, March 8, and includes lunch, speakers from
different denominations, break-out sessions on issues
unique to mixed marriages and blended families and
sharing opportunities for couples and small groups.
This program is being funded by a gift from Marion
Young-Bodmer and Gerald A. Bodmer. Jerry Bodmer was a
faithful member of Mary Queen of Heaven from 1986 until
his death in May 2007. He was a graduate of Immaculate
Conception High School and Loyola University. Marion
is an elder at Elmhurst Presbyterian Church, where she
serves as church librarian and is active in the church
mission and adult studies. The couple raised a blended
family of nine.
To RSVP for this special program please call the Parish
Office at 630-279-5700 by Wednesday, February 27.
LENTEN MINI-RETREAT: WOMEN AT THE CROSS
FOR ALL MEN AND WOMEN
PRESENTED BY: SISTER JANE SCHOSSLER
Enrich your Lenten journey by participating in
a mini- retreat on Friday, February 29. As part of a
year-long celebration of Women in the Church/Bible, the
Adult Education and Spirituality Committee is proud to
present Sister Jane Schlosser, who will present a
Lenten mini-retreat on Women at the Cross, at 7:00 p.m.
on Friday, February 29 in Church. This mini-retreat
will take the place of our weekly Stations of the Cross
for that evening.
All interested men and women are invited. For
further information, contact the Church office at 630-
279-5700.
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