A Thought for the day
By: Fr. Brian Johnson, C.Ss.R.
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Monday, September 14th
Today, the Church celebrates "The Exaltation of the Holy Cross."  It seems a rather strange Feast.   After all, the cross was not an instrument in peoples' lives that brought exaltation and gladness.  No, it always brought sorrow, humiliation, and great shame.  Yet we as Christians are called to look beyond all that shame and disgrace and see that Jesus' death on that cross ended up transforming it into an instrument of salvation.  Today is the opposite of Good Friday, if you will.  On Good Friday, we remember the pain and death that the cross brought to Jesus.  Today, we remember that Jesus' faithfulness to the Father led to his death being the passageway to life and redemption for all of us!  It is similar with our own lives.  We can all remember moments of great pain that we were forced to travel through in our lives.  Somehow, when we remained faithful, when we refused to be conquered by depression and hurt, the suffering ended up making us stronger, making us better people.  It is that mystery of pain and death transformed by the love of God that we celebrate today!

Tuesday, September 15th
Today is the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows.  It is fitting that this remembrance of Mary's sufferings as she walked through her life, especially the horrendous pain of watching her son suffer and die, should be celebrated the day after we remember Jesus and his transformed suffering!  Sometimes we like to think that because God loved Mary so much, he must have protected her from pain and death.  However, the opposite is true:  God loved Mary so much, that she was granted the ability to grow in her faith and in her humanness by entering into human suffering.  God's hand was with her, holding her up each step of the way, just like he does for us.  Mary is the woman of faith who did not let the feelings of abandonment that come with suffering ruin her peace and strong faith that God was always with her, supporting her and leading her.  Mary is a reminder to all of us that although we too have to walk through darkness and suffering, and even death, we need to keep reminding ourselves of God's love for us.  Our faith will carry us to a resurrection experience!  I also can't help but to think that we are all called to walk with others who are suffering, to support them and help them to cling to their faith in a loving God always with them.

Wednesday, September 16th
Today, we celebrate two men who suffered and died for their faith.  We celebrate St Cornelius (pope) and St. Cyprian (bishop).  Both of these men were put to death because their love of the church led them to stand in witness to the church against civil authorities.  Their willingness to die for the church should make us pause and think.  St Cyprian made the statement, "He cannot have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother."  Love for God cannot be separated from love of the3 Church that is led by His Spirit.  No, the Church is not perfect.  No organization made up of sinful humans can be perfect.  But, Cornelius and Cyprian remind us that even though that is true, God is present and guiding his church.  He gives us this great gift to guide all of us deeper and deeper into the truth.

Thursday, September 17th
In today's Gospel, we have the story of the sinful woman who comes to Jesus and lets her tears fall on his feet, and wipes them away with her hair.  The Pharisees who witnessed it say" “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”  It was appalling to these holy men of Israel that anyone would be involved in the life of a sinner.  They saw contact with such a person as a being a destruction of one's holiness.  The good would" catch" the evil of the sinful one.  But, Jesus saw things differently.  When he touched such a sinner, he saw the sinner "catching" his goodness and being changed into a saint.  He never condemned sinners as such.  He always invited them to move from sin to love.  You and I, we have nothing to fear from Jesus.  Though we are always sinners, he is always there to "touch" us with his forgiveness and cleansing love!

Friday, September 18th
Today's Gospel mentions a group of women who traveled with Jesus as he moved about the Holy Land.  It further states that these women "provided for them out of their resources."  If not for these women, and their financial support, Jesus' mission and its impact on the world would have been lessened.   Jesus depended on these women to keep his mission rolling.  This is a great reminder to all of us that God has not chosen to act alone in Salvation history.  Rather, he chooses to work through the people who accompany him with financial and other resources.  We cannot be passive and figure God will provide.  God is counting on you and me to share with our parish community and with our world-wide Church.  We are partners in this project of building up the kingdom of God in our world.  We must share our gifts, whatever they may be.

Saturday, September 19th
In today's gospel, we have the parable of the sower and the seed.  Jesus' explanation of this parable speaks of differing responses to the seed of the word being tossed out by the sower.  Some grow, some don't grow.  However, I like to think of this parable in a different way.  Notice that the sower does not really care where the seed ends up.  He simply tosses the seed into the wind and lets it go where it may!  I think that is very important for us to notice!  We have been asked to sow the kingdom of God in our world.  So often, we can make judgments about where we will sow.  We will see some people as unworthy of our time and love because we don't like them.  There will be some who we see as beyond hope.  However, our job is not to decide who we will love, who we will treat with respect.  Our job is to simply throw our love out there to all we meet.  Whether or not it takes root is not our concern.  We simply are called to let our love and service land where it may.

Mark your Calendar NOW! 

Rain Date in Effect
Concert date moved to September 17 6:00pm

St. Michael's Parish Center lawn.

Bring your chair, enjoy the music!
 

A perfect September evening!

Free will donations will be accepted.

Reserve your place at Mass!!

We have reopened for reconciliation, weddings, funerals, baptisms and public Masses with  a maximum of 100 people in attendance. Our public Masses at this time are in St. Michael's Church and are on Sunday at 9:00 and 11:00am and daily Mass on Tuesday at 8:00am with the devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help afterwards. Click one of the red buttons below to reserve your spot at one of the Sunday liturgies.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be held every Saturday from 11:am - noon. There is no need to make reservations for this but you will need to sign in upon entry into the church.

Each weekday (Monday through Friday) daily Mass is offered at 8:00am across our Renew My Church grouping.  To see the schedule for each day and the location of the Mass, Click Here! To reserve a spot at a Tuesday morning Mass click the red button below.

PLEASE NOTE: At this time, you MUST social distance, wear a mask and have a reservation to attend any liturgy in the church.. All reservations are being done on Eventbrite. If you have problems making a reservation, call the Parish Office and we will assist you, 312-642-2498.

All liturgies require volunteers present to Set-up, Greet, and Clean (disinfect) as part of the Re-Opening plan set forth by the Archdiocese of Chicago.. We will always be accepting new volunteers, especially as the number attending liturgies and those present increases. If you are interested in helping, please call the Parish Office (312-642-2498) or email and we will connect you with the team leader. Thank you!

Make your reservations for a Sunday, 9:00am Mass NOW!
 

Make your reservations for a Sunday, 11:00am Mass NOW!
 

You must wear a mask and socially distance from others!

Be Aware of Utility Scams

The utility companies are reporting an increase of consumer fraud incidents across the region. Customers are being contacted, either by phone or in-person, and are being told they owe a past-due balance and need to pay immediately, or risk their service being cut-off. Some have reported, the suspects are in utility marked vehicles, or have received a call from a number belonging to the utility company. If you are approached by a utility company for a meter inspection or suspect possible fraud at any time, please contact ComEd, Customer Service Dept. 

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Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Live streaming will be on Sundays at 9:00am)
Presider: Fr. Larry Sanders, C.Ss.R., Pastor

All Masses and services are streamed live on
St. Michael's Facebook page
Sunday 9:00AM
Weekday Mass 10:00AM.
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St. Michael in Old Town
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Check out ALL the streaming offerings,including (past) Masses, OMPH devotion and Redemptorist Workshop
with Fr. Greg May, C.Ss.R.

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Thank you to those who have donated!

St. Michael's operate on a very tight budget. We continue to have salaries, utilities, maintenance, insurance and other expenses to pay. Without weekend liturgies, St. Michael's is losing a significant amount of income from the Offertory. We ask that you continue to support St. Michael's Church today and every chance you are able.

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