St. Laurence Parish 225 Jewett St. Elgin, IL 60123 Parish Office: 565 Standish St. 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM Monday - Friday P - 847-468-6900 F - 847-468-6904 After Hours - 847-531-6203

EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION Saturday - 4:00 PM, Spanish - 6:00PM Sundays - 7:15, Bi-lingual 9:00, 11:00 AM Daily Mass - 8:00 AM Monday - Friday SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION Wednesday 5:00 - 7:00 PM Saturday 3:00 - 3:45 PM Special times upon request. SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE & BAPTISM Check our website for more information. Stlaurencechurchelgin.com/parish-information

Rectory: 226 Orchard St.

PASTORAL STAFF Pastor - Fr. Andrew Mulcahey pastor@stlaurencechurchelgin.com Fr. Robert Camacho - Priest in Residence Secretary - Belinda Bermea office@stlaurencechurchelgin.com Bookkeeper - Agnes Mozdzen accounting@stlaurencechurchelgin.com Religious Education Coordinators - Mike & Toni Kmiecik religioused@stlaurencechurchelgin.com Deacons - Robert Plazewski, Joe Bermea deaconjoe@stlaurencechurchelgin.com Finance Council - Joe Malas, Chairman Education Commission - Ron Szopa, President SCHOOL http://stlaurenceschool.com Principal - Wendy Kelly wkelly@stlaurenceschool.com

Secretary - Kathy Laudont office@stlaurenceschool.com

P - 847.468.6100 F - 847.468.6104

http://stlaurencechurchelgin.com

We still have open dates to remember your loved ones with altar flow-ers. Please check the binder at the back of the church.

Adoration and Confession is offered every Wednesday from 5-7 pm, in the Church. Come and rest in the Lord.

January 11 - Jeanine Austin

Stewardship Collection

Monday 1 Jn 3:22 ‐ 4:6; Ps 2:7bc-8, 10-12a; Mt 4:12-17, 23-25

Tuesday 1 Jn 4:7-10; Ps 72:1-4, 7-8; Mk 6:34-44

Wednesday 1 Jn 4:11-18; Ps 72: 1-2, 10, 12-13; Mk 6:45-52

Thursday 1 Jn 4:19 ‐ 5:4; Ps 72:1-2, 14, 15bc, 17; Lk 4:14-22a

Friday 1 Jn 5:5-13; Ps 147:12-15, 19-20; Lk 5:12-16

Saturday 1 Jn 5:14-21; Ps 149:1-6a, 9b; Jn 3:22-30

Sunday Is 42:1-4, 6-7 or Is 40:1-5, 9-11; Ps 29:1-4, 3, 9-10 or Ps 104:1b-4, 24-25, 27-30; Acts 10:34-38 or Ti 2:11-14; 3:4-7; Lk 3:15-16, 21-22

Readings for the Week

Hospital Minister

Altar Flowers

4:00 PM

Lector - Linda Meyer Eucharistic Ministers - Vickie Muno, Daniela Sandoval, Jamie Szopa, Ron Szopa Altar Servers - Ariana Jackson, Autumn Jackson

6:00 PM

Lector - Cecilia Espinosa Ministro Eucarístico - Servidor del Altar - Karen Perez, Natalia Ramos

7:15 AM

Lector - Kathy Newcomb Eucharistic Ministers - Deacon Joe Bermea, Vicky Giuliano, Joanie Gronnert, Bob McDonough Altar Servers - Alejandra Arambula, Natalie Arambula

9:00 AM

Lector - Yesenia Aydt Eucharistic Ministers - Deacon Joe Bermea, MaryAnn Bruneman, William Hejnosz, William Misek Altar Servers - Rocco Boss, Jonathan Godinez

11:00 AM

Lector - Jane Reyes Eucharistic Ministers - Gail Essary, Jim Kararo, Kimberley Mailloux, Benard Pettinger Altar Servers - Tiffany Angelito, Liz Salzmann

Altar Ministry January 12/13

Dec 22/23

Total Giving This Week $ 8,523.22

Weekly Budget Amount Needed $ 7,900.00

Christmas

$20,690.12

Happenings

Love of heaven is the only way to heaven.—John Henry Newman

Give the gift of time and yourselves to your spouse. Join us on one of the next Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekends on Jan 25-27 in Brookfield, WI; Feb 15-17 in Geneva, IL or March 15-17 in Madison, WI. Visit our website at - alifetimeoflove.org or call (888) 574-5653. Para un fin de semana en Espanol por favor llamen a Candelario y Emilia al 815-375-4250. Las fechas son Feb. 8-10, April 26-28 and August 9-11.

St. Vincent de Paul Society - We have a joint group with members of St. Thomas More Church in Elgin. Our next meeting will be at St. Thomas More Church (Westminster Room) on Tuesday, January 8, at 7:00 p.m. Please come to one of our meetings and learn about all the worth-while work that we do for the needy of our community. If you have questions, call 847 628-5170.

Christmas Flowers

GOD OF ABUNDANT GIFTS, SHOW US WHERE YOU WANT US TO POUR OUT OUR GIFTS IN CELEBRATION OF YOUR LIFE ALL AROUND US. WHEN WE SEE THE DARKNESS AND FEAR IT IS TOO GREAT, FIX OUR EYES ON YOUR LIGHT. HELP US TO WALK IN THE WAY OF THE MAGI, FOLLOWING THE STAR TO THE PLACES WHERE YOU ARE BREAKING INTO OUR BROKEN WORLD. AMEN. (Prayer from WWW.CCCB.CA)

TREASURES from our TRADITION

St. Laurence Church | Jewett & Standish St. | Elgin, IL 60123 | 847-468-6900 | http://stlaurencechurchelgin.com

Monday 8:00 AM Faithful Souls Departed

Tuesday 9:00 AM Faithful Souls Departed

Wednesday 8:00 AM Faithful Souls Departed

Thursday 8:00 AM Faithful Souls Departed

Friday 8:00 AM Marlene Reinert offered by her Nieces and

Saturday 4:00 PM Kay Witt offered by Donna Fisher

6:00 PM Faithful Souls Departed

Sunday 7:15 AM St Laurence Parish Community

9:00 AM Faithful Souls Departed

11:00 AM Jose and Lazara Camacho offered by Family

Please Pray for:

For the strengthening in faith of all who are afflicted in body, mind or spirit please pray for: Patricia Anderson, Sandra and Herbert Bolding, Sergey Bolotov, Kathleen Camarena, Alexandra Collovati, Bill Essary, Kay Hogan, John G. Kolakowski, Guyla Kramer, Gordon Lee, Gary Mahoney, Tim Neal, Juli Novak, Bonnie Penera, Deacon Bob Plazewski, Lisa Rednour, Julieta Regaldo, Nathan Thomas, Sharon Walden, and Kimberly Winfree.

Lord, Hear our Prayer.

Remember O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaid-ed. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

Mass Intentions - Jan 7-13

May God protect our members who serve in the armed forc-es and return them safely to their families: ARMY: Staff Sgt. Jennifer (Clough) Korfmacher, COAST GUARD: Ensign Allison Rychtanek

Monday of this week is Christmas Day in Russia and in much of the Orthodox world. This curious difference in schedule has a lot to do with how calendars have been developed and changed over the years. In the year 45 B.C. Julius Ceasar gave the empire his Julian Calendar, with the winter solstice on January 6. This put an end to a system in which officials called “pontiffs” were able to tweak the calendar by adding extra days in as needed. He invented two new months at that time, December and Janu-ary; and in order to correct the mess the pontiffs had made, forced a year of 445 days on the empire in what he named “The Last Year of Confusion.” The new months varied in number of days according to a complex schedule, but the calendar was still off by nearly twelve minutes a year, and lost a full day every 130 years. Pope Gregory XIII reformed the calendar in 1583, but not eve-ryone appreciated his efforts. England held out for two hundred years. The year 1700 was a leap year in England, but not in France; they were eleven days apart! George Washington was really born on February 11; when the Gregorian calendar was finally adopted in the English colonies shortly before the Revolu-tion, he had to move his birthday to February 22. Now the calen-dars are thirteen days apart, which accounts for Russia’s Julian calendar Christmas. And Caesar thought he had brought confu-sion to an end! —James Field, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.

Es tiempo de añadir los reyes magos al pesebre. En 1448 llegaron los pesebres italianos a las iglesias españolas, pero no fue hasta que el Rey Carlos III le regaló un pesebre a su hijo en el siglo XVIII que el uso de pesebres se expandió en los hoga-res. Desde entonces, el uso de nacimientos llega al continente americano en donde se convierte en la decoración principal para las fiestas navideñas. Así como en todo país latinoamericano el montaje del Belén es una tradición, lo es también en Venezuela. Con el pesebre venezolano llegan también aguinaldos, parrandas, Misas y pati-nes. ¡Sí! ¡Patines! Desde la mitad del siglo pasado los venezolanos celebran la época navideña con “patinadas”. Estas “patinadas” normalmen-te se hacen por las mañanas y muchas calles están cerradas a los autos hasta las 8 a.m. para que niños y jóvenes puedan dis-frutar de los patines, bicicletas y otros juguetes que les regala el niño Dios. Por eso, muchos niños duermen con un “cordoncito” atado al dedo gordo de los pies, que cuelgan por la ventana para que los despierten los que pasan patinado.

El amor al cielo es el único camino al cielo.— John Henry Newma

Christmas Eve - Children’s Mass

Kid’s Corner

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. — Isaiah 60:1

ENCUENTRO CON DIOS Los espléndidos Reyes Magos –destellantes, majestuoso y solemnes–, salen hoy de las páginas de Mateo y van rumbo a nuestra iglesia. Solamente Mateo nos habla de esta grande e interesante historia para que podamos ver la luz y saber que el niño que visitaron los Reyes Magos era el cumplimiento de la profecía, el rey cuyo mensaje llega hasta la tierra natal de estos magos y mucho más allá, hasta nuestra época. Nosotros también nuevamente podemos ver y entender. Al igual que estos magos, nuestros santos patrones en este día, vemos en el niño recién nacido al rey del universo y la luz del mundo. Como los Reyes Magos, encontramos dentro de nosotros una nueva fe y una nueva vida. Como ellos, regresamos a casa por una nueva ruta. Se nos pide terminemos esta temporada festiva renovados y consientes de la presencia de Dios entre nosotros. Se nos pide encontrar a Dios donde se le puede encontrar, que estemos atentos y listos para, con asom-bro, inclinarnos en adoración y ofrecer nuestras ofrendas. Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.

FINDING GOD

The splendid magi, all sparkle and dash and solemnity, march right up off the pages of Matthew’s Gospel and into our church-es today. Matthew alone tells us this grand and seductive story so that we might see the light and know that the child these ma-gi visited is the fulfillment of prophecy, the king of the world that stretches to the magi’s home country and beyond, right down the ages to us.

We too see and understand anew. Like the magi, our patron saints for this day, we see in the newborn child the king of the universe and light of the world. Like the magi, we find in our-selves a new faith and a new life. Like them, we return to our home by a new route. We are asked to come away from this festive season our-selves renewed and awake to the presence of God among us. We are asked to find God where God is to be found, to be atten-tive and surprised and ready to bow down in adoration and to offer our gifts. Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.

St. Laurence Church | Jewett & Standish St. | Elgin, IL 60123 | 847-468-6900 | http://stlaurencechurchelgin.com

The Northeast Window continued: The center lancet portrays St. Laurence, patron saint of our parish. He wears the robes of a deacon and holds a Gospel book. The small figures on either side of the saint recall the main events of his life. In the year 254, the Emperor Valerian ordered the Christians put to death and their goods confiscated. St. Laurence was responsible for the possessions of the church. Knowing the property would soon be confiscated he converted it to money and gave it to the poor. When the Emperor demanded the treasures of the church, St. Laurence brought forward the poor to whom he had given the money. The gridiron beneath his figure indicates the martyrdom he suffered because of his charity. The palm and cross symbolize the victory which the saint merited by his death. In the left lancet the resurrection of Christ is presented in a dramatic way. An angel has removed the stone from the Sepulchre out of which Our Lord rises by His own power holding the banner of victory over death and sin. The guard is blinded and turns away from the sight of the Risen Savior. Lilies symbolize this glorious event - to appear in all their splendor, bulbs must first be placed in the ground. The right lancet shows the Blessed Vir-gin and the Apostles in the Cenacle where they gathered after the savior as-cended into Heaven. "And sud-denly there came a sound from Heaven as of a violent wind blow-ing...and there ap-peared to them parted tongues as of fire which settled upon each of them." On Pentecost strength and grace were given by God to do the work of His Church on earth. Window donat-ed by The Thomas Heslin Family.

St. Laurence Church | Jewett & Standish St. | Elgin, IL 60123 | 847-468-6900 | http://stlaurencechurchelgin.com

Ministry Meetings - Jan 6 - 12

Sunday 9:30 AM Confirmation Class - School Noon Discussion Group - Sacristy

Tuesday 6:00 PM PTC - School 6:30 PM Scouts - Cafeteria

Thursday 6:30 PM Parish and School Meeting - Cafeteria

Friday

Saturday 9:00 AM Knights of Columbus Free Throw Contest - Gym and Cafeteria

Monday

Wednesday 5:00 PM Adoration & Confession 6:00 PM RE Classes - School

Submission deadline for bulletin entries is Monday at Noon. Send all entries to: office@stlaurencechurchelgin.com for approval. You can also call 847-468-6900

Attention: All additions, cancelations, or changes to meetings/events MUST be coordinated through the church office 847-468-6900

office@stlaurencechurchelgin.com

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Vocations Corner- Fr. Manny

A debt of love - The other day I received a called from a friend. He needed advice about an old debt he never paid off. After I heard his story, I asked a few questions by way of scolding. He answered among other things that he didn’t pay because he forgot about it, and thought the bank would do the same. But the bank never forgets about our debts, now my friend must to pay. So we start thinking what he could do. My friend does not have the money he owes to the bank, but running away is not an option. The first thing he has to do is to go to the bank and inquire about his debt. Once he knows exactly the amount of the debt plus interest generate, he has to ask for a plan, and begin paying installments according to his income. I hope he will find solution to this situation. Anyway, I just wanted to share his story because it brings light to a deeper reality that affects all of us. Think for a moment: from the very first second of our existence God begins to give us many gifts. God gave us our bodies, our souls, our minds, our feelings; in a word he gave us our lives. The more we think, the more we discover how great the gifts that he has given us are. I just wonder if God de-cides ‘to collect’ all the things he has given me, I wouldn’t be able to pay him back. Some of the things he gave me are already gone (the capacity for amazement as a child), others were never used (abilities never developed i.e. playing guitar), and others were wrongly used. I am very grateful for all the gifts God has given me, and I want to pay him back but I cannot. What I do every time I have the opportunity I talk to him in prayer is say three things: 1. Thank you for your gifts; 2. I am sorry I have not used them well; 3. How do you want me to use this gift? I think when we realize that God has given us everything, we begin to fulfill our vocation to life and holiness. Let us turn to God and ask him: How do you want me to use this life that you have given me? Just like my friend had to go to the bank to ask for payment plan, so we turn to God and ask him: How can I pay all the love you have for me? How do you want me to fulfill my vocation?

ConsiderRememberingYour Parish in

Your Will.For further information,

please call the Parish Office.

LISA BUCAROBROKER ASSOCIATETHE FOOTE TEAM24 Year Parishioner

Cell: 847.652.4040Email: lisa.bucaro@bairdwarner.com

Website: LisaBucaro.bairdwarner.com

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