Historic St. James at Sag Bridge Church 10600 S. Archer Avenue | Lemont, Illinois 60439-9344 | (Ph) 630.257.7000 | (Fx) 630.257.7912

Email: stjames1833@att.net | Website: www.historicstjames.org Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Saint James At Sag Bridge

Altar & Rosary Society All women of the parish are invited to join us at our MEETING on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER

8TH at 9:30am in Sag Hall. Our guest speaker will be Kathy O’Brien, RN, CLL (Laughter sessions). Our MEMBERSHIP DRIVE AND BAKE SALE will be on the weekend of

SEPTEMBER 15TH & 16TH.

Pres: Barbara (708.257.9129) V.P: Irene (773.366.2185) Sec: Judi (630.243.9414) Treas: Linda (630.257.8252)

St. James at Sag Bridge 185th Special Event IL License Plate

Be part of history! We have created a limited amount of special event license plates marking our 185th Anniversary. Display on your Illinois vehicle or in your home that you are a proud member of historic St. James. For more information and/or questions, contact Fr. Tom Koys or Claudette Zarzycki at historicstjames185@gmail.com.

August 19, 2018 | Twentieth Ordinary Sunday

WHOEVER EATS MY FLESH

AND DRINKS MY BLOOD HAS ETERNAL LIFE,

AND I WILL RAISE THEM ON THE LAST DAY.

John 6:54

Page Two August 19, 2018

FROM THE DESK OF, FR. THOMAS KOYS, M.A., S.T.L., PASTOR

(continued from last week’s article: Peter Kreeft, part II)

But is not God forgiving? He is, but the unrepentant refuse forgiveness. How can forgiveness be received by a moral relativist who denies that there is anything to forgive except a lack of self-esteem, nothing to judge but “judgmentalism?” How can a Pharisee or a pop psy-chologist be saved?

But is not God compassionate? He is not compassionate to Moloch and Baal and Ashta-roth, and to Caananites who do their work, who “cause their children to walk through the fire.” Per-haps your God is—the God of your dreams, the God of your “religious preference”—but not the God revealed in the Bible.

But is not the God of the Bible revealed most fully and finally in the New Testament rather than the Old? In sweet and gentle Jesus rather than wrathful and warlike Jehovah?

The opposition is heretical: the old Gnostic-Manichaean-Marcionite heresy, as immortal as the demons who in-spired it. For “I and the Father are one.” The opposi-tion between nice Jesus and nasty Jehovah denies the very essence of Christianity: Christ’s identity as the Son of God. Let’s remember our theology and our biology: like Father, like Son.

IMPORTANT UPDATE ABOUT OUR TO TEACH WHO CHRIST IS PROJECTS.

In our original pitch for gifts for this five year capital improvement campaign, we had planned to outfit the exterior of our parish hall with a log cabin style siding and the addition of an exterior deck on the main floor level. You may recall this architect’s ren-dition of our most ambition plans.

We also asked for funds to update our outdated heating and air-conditioning equipment as well as a small roof to provide a dry space over the usual grilling area. The estimated costs of the Hall phase was $100,000.

Because of both esthetic and practical reasons, I have proposed to change the scope of our hall work from the “log cabin” exterior siding and new second floor deck to the more modest option of a ground level patio and stucco repair and paint job of the exterior of our hall. Our finance council and building committee have approved of this change of strategy and I’m confident that our parishioners will find this new face lift to the hall most agreea-ble. Plans for upgrading our heating and air-conditioning equipment as well as the small roof are still in the scope of our project.

This change will more realistically fit the revenue generated from our To Teach Who Christ Is cam-paign, since the siding and deck were actually more than originally considered, the log cabin look proved to be less popular among parishioners than originally thought and the interior improvements already completed has used up more funds than originally thought.

August 10, 2018, the feast of St. Laurence, Deacon and Martyr, Deacons across the world are celebrating 50 years since the ordination of the first deacons as a permanent or-der in the Western Church for more than 1,000 years. Fol-lowing the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s the diac-onate was restored as a per-manent order. After final per-mission was granted in 1967 by Blessed Pope Paul VI the ordination of men to the diaco-nate began in 1968. The first of these deacons were or-dained in Germany and Cam-eroon. Since that time thou-sands of men have been or-

dained as deacons across the globe and there are now more than 45,000 deacons in more than 50% of the Roman Catholic Dioceses across the world and the number continues to grow. They are to be found in Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, North America and Europe. One of the latest dioceses to begin a program of diaconal formation is in Russia.

Twentieh Ordinary Sunday Page Three

Deacon John Greetings from the Sandbox: I'm in the Middle East but I can't say where or much of any-thing else. It is really a lot like MASH 4077 here. We're all in tents, sleep on cots, and survive the heat and sand. I'll try and keep you in the loop and write when I can. It's a bit dangerous here as well. Here's a couple of pics I can send you of me and my body guards and one of a parish priest getting into his limo to visit the flock. – Fr. Paul Guzman.

Fr. Paul & myself were ordained deacons Class of 2002.

FAITH ADDS YEARS TO YOUR LIFE By Bill Dunn

A recent study published in the journal “Social Psychological and Personality Science” found that people who are religious live an average of four years longer than people who have no ties to religion. A smart-aleck friend of mine made this com-ment: “Religious people don’t live longer; it just SEEMS that way because church is so boring.” Ha ha, very funny. The researchers at Ohio State University were quite surprised at the findings, and they were not sure exactly why average lifespans increased so much for folks who are involved in their churches. Maybe religious believers live longer because faith in God helps people cope better with the stresses of life. Or maybe it’s because if a person knows he’s going to church on Sunday morning it makes him less likely to stay out until the wee hours carousing on Saturday night. Or maybe the reason religious people live longer is because church potluck suppers serve only healthy food. Um, wait a minute. The church potluck sup-pers I attend serve the greasiest and fattiest—and tastiest!—food imaginable. So, it can’t be that. Well, whatever the reason, it’s nice to know that faith in God and regular church attendance can increase a person’s longevi-ty. The government passes many laws and imposes countless regulations, which are designed to improve the health and safe-ty of citizens. Some examples include seat belt laws, prohibi-tions against smoking in public areas, outlawing the use of cer-tain toxic chemicals, and laws that prohibit the sale of alcohol and tobacco to minors. Maybe it’s time for our politicians to pass a law that requires everyone to attend church each week. After all, if it adds an average of four years to people’s lifespans, it seems like the perfect opportunity for legislators to improve the health of the American public. I think I’ll contact our U.S. Senators and de-mand they propose a bill that forces people—in the name of health and safety—to go to church every week. OK, OK, I’m kidding. I would never do that. Our poor secular senators would probably have nervous breakdowns. You see, I’m a big fan of the First Amendment’s freedom of religion, which of course, gives people the freedom not to prac-tice religion if they choose. Throughout history, whenever soci-eties forced people to get involved with religion, bad things usu-ally occurred. Besides, faith is not the kind of thing you can force a person to have. Faith in God is a lot like falling in love. It happens be-cause of a powerful attraction, along with much hope and joy. Also, God is a gentleman who never forces Himself on us. He longs to be in a loving relationship with us, but ultimately, we must decide it we will enter into the relationship. In addition to the benefit of living on average four years longer, faith in God can give us the most awesome benefit of all: eter-nal life in Heaven. That’s the real reason religion exists, to help us enter into a faithful relationship with the Lord, which is the path to eternal life. To paraphrase what St. Paul wrote to the

believers in Corinth, if Christ has not been raised from the dead, then our faith is in vain and Christians are the most pitiful people of all. However, Christ did rise, and He promised that if we put our faith in Him, we too can rise to eternal life. So, the four extra years of life here on this earth are a bonus. But dwelling in God’s heavenly kingdom forever is the real prize. In the mean-time, feel free to indulge during those yummy church potluck suppers. Apparently, no matter how greasy the sausage and peppers are, we’re still going to live longer because we have faith!

Our weekly Offertory collection from August 12th was $3,694.00. The number of envelopes received was 94. The second collection for Maintenance amounted to $410.00.

OUR MANY THANKS TO OUR REGISTERED FAMILIES USING ENVELOPES & THE CASH-AND-CARRY FOLKS.

Our CHURCH CLEANERS FOR FRIDAY – 8/24/18 Are Julie, Grace, Gosia, Bronislawa & volunteer. If you are interested in volunteering, please con-

tact the rectory office at 630.257.7000.

VOTIVE OFFERINGS FOR THE WEEK OF 8/19/18

St. James Altar & Rosary Society Special int. for Baby Girl Ocenas

The Soul of Sharon Stach In Memory of Lillian Simanavicius

In Loving Memory of Donna Wilkinson

Our beautiful bouquets of flowers surrounding our

altar were made available in Loving Memory of

HELEN NOWOCIN & THEODORE &ANN A. SWIGON

MASS SCHEDULE

WEEKENDS: Saturdays: 5:00pm Sundays: 8:30, 10:00 & 11:30am HOLY DAYS: 8:15am & 7:00pm

WEEKDAYS: Mon, Tue, Thu 8:15am & Fri 6:00pm WEDNESDAY: Adoration at 5:00 & Mass at 7:00pm CONFESSION SCHEDULE: Weds 6:00-7:00pm & Saturdays: 9:30-10:15am, otherwise by appointment BAPTISMS, WEDDINGS & FUNERALS: Contact the rectory office SICK & HOMEBOUND PASTORAL CARE: Please notify rectory RECTORY OFFICE HOURS: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu & Fri: 9:30am to 1:00pm

MONDAY AUGUST 20TH – St. Bernard 8:15 AM In Loving Memory of Cathy A’Hearn

TUESDAY AUGUST 21ST – St. Pius X 8:15 AM In Loving Memory of Cathy A’Hearn

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 22ND – Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary 7:00 PM All the Poor Souls in Purgatory

THURSDAY AUGUST 23RD – St. Rose of Lima 8:15 AM Louis F. DeSitter & In Loving Memory of Donna Wilkinson

FRIDAY AUGUST 24TH 6:00 PM Jozef Dziaba Twenty-First Ordinary Sunday SATURDAY AUGUST 25TH 5:00 PM Barbara Pieprzyca & Leon John Pieprzyca

SUNDAY AUGUST 26TH 8:30 AM Wedding Anniversary ~ Jan & Sylwia Raj 10:00 AM Helen Kane & Mary Frantz 11:30 AM Dylan Marx

21ST ORDINARY SUNDAY

8/25 & 8/26/18

Celebrant

Altar

Servers

Lectors

5:00 PM Fr. Tom Koys

J. Jacobek S. Imbarrato

R. Augustyn

8:30 AM Fr. Tom Koys

S. Carver Dillenburg Dillenburg

M. Dillenburg

10:00 AM Fr. Tom Koys

A. Bertucci J.P. Colarelli M. Colarelli

S. Kelly

11:30 AM Fr. Edward Gleeson

N. Akroush A. Pawlikowski B. Zabilka

M. Fleckenstein