News and Views from St. Patrick�s Catholic Church
By Your Pastor, Fr. Pete Jankowski

Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. -Lk 24:5

On behalf of the staff of St. Patrick's Church and School, I would like to welcome you to our humble home. Whether you are celebrating the sacraments here for the first time or if you are life-long parishioners, you are entering the oldest parish in Northern Illinois, celebrating our 169th year of service here in Joliet.

If you were here at Christmastime, you may recall how I explained that the Catholic Church suppressed any pagan notion of a Sun God in the Fourth Century by replacing that image with the Son of God who entered the world on December 25th. In the same way, Mother Church suppressed the Springtime celebration of the pagan Moon God with the Solemnity of Easter (the holiest celebration on our Church calendar). In pagan rituals, the Moon God appeared to give life to the soil and the crops that laid within. As Catholics who understand that there is but one God who came down on earth for the salvation of us all, we remember today how the Son of God suffered and died for us and how, during this commemoration of Easter, he rose from the dead. Jesus is our Spring, our life, and our reason for hope.

For this reason, our beloved Church established a general rule concerning the placement of the Easter Season in our secular calendar. More than 99% of the time does this formula work:

In the Latin Church, Easter falls on the Sunday following the first full moon following the first day of Spring (March 21). May you have a most blessed Easter Season. Know you are in our thoughts and prayers. Please keep us in your prayers as well.

May God Bless All of You.

Fr. Pete

Gloria Dei Vivens Homo (The Glory of God is Living in Man)
- St. Irenaeus of Lyons

In the Catholic Faith, the word "neophyte" means "newly planted." This year, St. Patrick's Catholic Church is honored to welcome our newly planted members of the faith below who expressed a desire to join our parish community six months ago and have spent that time learning about the faith. During our Easter Vigil Service on April 7th, these individuals made/renewed their vows of baptism and were welcomed to our parish community. Much thanks to Loretta Crawley and Lynn Michels for guiding our neophytes into our faith. Thanks as well to Denis & Michelle Brunner, who provided the refreshments at an Easter Vigil reception that was offered in their honor.

Thanks to the generosity of these donors of monies for our Easter Flowers.

And to these families who commemorate a loved one with their donation for our Easter Flowers:

Palm Sunday: On April 1st, "Little White Books" will be available for the season of Easter. A donation of $1 is asked to help defray the cost of the books.

Everyone needs to be fed by spiritual experiences. Every Monday at 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. we experience the presence of Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration and the Rosary. Come and join us in Church for one hour. All are welcome� Come and be fed!

Come and experience the Eucharist every FIRST FRIDAY beginning after morning Mass and ending with Benediction for the Repose of the Blessed Sacrament.

It would be very fitting to have at least three persons committed to Eucharistic Adoration for each hour from 9am to 5pm on each First Friday.

There will be a sheet in the vestibule of the Church for you to sign your name and the time you prefer. Please consider this hour with our Lord a privilege!

St. Jude Parish in Joliet has Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the Chapel of the Little Flower. The Chapel is located directly west of the school and is open from 5:00am to 10:00pm to all. After hour adorers (10:00pm-5:00am) need to register. Please call 725-2209.

The Young at Heart 55 Club is sponsoring a trip to Marriott's Lincolnshire Theatre on May 16th. The cost for the day, the bus, dinner and play is $65 per person. The play is a musical, "Shenandoah", and dinner selections are baked orange roughy or 1/2 roasted chicken. Reservations may be made with Joyce Hutten at 815-744-1188.

Fr. Vytas Memenas will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of his Ordination to the Priesthood on Sunday, April 29th at 1pm with a reception to follow until 7pm here at St. Patrick's. Fr. Vytas served as Pastor of St. Pat's from 1978-1990. Please join Fr. Vytas in celebrating this momentous occasion.

Natural Family Planning Classes are available throughout the year at St. Patrick's. Please contact John and Barbara Halbur at 815-727-3018.

All women of the parish and friends are cordially invited to attend the CCW general meeting on Sunday, April 22nd at 1pm in the school gym.

An afternoon of fun is planned. A short business meeting and election of officers will be followed by a "Bunco Party". For those unfamiliar with Bunco, it is a very easily learned dice game which proves to give most players a lot of laughs!

Please join us for an hour or two. No reservations needed; any questions please call Judy Valek at 725-1528. We hope to see you there!

Raffle tickets for the Rome Pilgrimage November 5-15th are now being sold! As part of our last major fundraising project for the 2006-2007 fiscal year, we are honored to offer two tickets to our Italian Pilgrimage. The Big Raffle will be held at the Pentecost Vigil Mass on May 26, 2007. The trip is valued at $5,000 with a second cash prize of $500 and a third cash prize of $250. Tickets cost $10 and will be available in our upcoming newsletters, in our school office and parish office. You can also buy the tickets after Masses at our Manna Table. Proceeds for this event benefit St. Patrick's Church.

• April 10th St. Patrick's is hosting Life Line Screening. Stroke Screening/Carotid Artery, Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm screening, Peripheral Arterial Disease screening and Osteoporosis screening is being offered. Please contact 1-800-324-1851 for your appointment. Pre-registration is required and space is becoming very limited!
  
  
                      
  
  
• April 12th, 7-9pm: Young adult Eucharistic Adoration offers a night of amazing worship of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Fr. Burke Masters will also be sharing thoughts on: "What do I do in Adoration?" The evening concludes with refreshments and fellowship. University of St. Francis Chapel, 3rd Floor, Tower Hall, 500 N. Wilcox, Joliet. Questions? Call Sue Stroka at 815-740-2274.
  
  
                      
  
  
• April 18th 12:30pm: Provena St. Joseph Medical Center Auxiliary Spring Card and Bunco Party at Knights of Columbus on Infantry Drive. Please Call 725-4122 for tickets and info.
  
  
                      
  
  
• April 28th Benefit for Will County Deputy John Ruettiger will be held at the Pearl Room at the Colosseum Complex 19081 Old LaGrange Road in Mokena 6pm to 1am. Tickets are $35/person. John Ruettiger is a parishioner of St. Pat's and has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He has faced several critical and life threatening surgeries to address this cancer. John has been fighting this battle since last summer and he continues to fight and never quits. Please come out and join us in supporting John and his family. Guet speaker is Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger of Notre Dame. Contact 815-4946556 for information or tickets.
  
  
  
                      
  
  
• April 28th 8am Mass with the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick will be celebrated at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Joliet. Following the Mass, all persons in attendance are invited to the Parish Center for refreshments. Reservations: 815-4625766.
  
  
  
                      
  
  
• Religious Education Registration forms for the 2007-2008 School Year will be available beginning this weekend. Please contact the Rectory for any questions. We look forward to seeing you this year!!    Please check Religious Education's web site for more information.
  
  
                      

Photographs for a pictorial directory will be scheduled for the final week in June and the last full week in July this year. We are in need of volunteers to help with signups before and after Masses as well as greeters for the days the photos are taken. Every family who registers for and comes in for their sitting receives a free 8x10 portrait. When completed, this directory will contain our Parish and School Commissions, the member pictorial directory as well as the alphabetical list of our parishioners all in a beautiful hard bound cover to commemorate our 170th anniversary. Contact the Rectory with any questions or if you are interested in offering of your time and talent!

2:00pm: Welcome, Procession with Image and relic
2:45pm: Holy Hour

• Reflections
  
• Veneration of Relic
  
• Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
  
• Chaplet of Divine Mercy
  
• Benediction
  

3:45pm: "Trust & Mercy to Others"
4:45pm: Holy Rosary
5:15pm: End of Program

St. Patrick School Mission Statement

St. Patrick School embraces a mission to provide the finest academic environment for all of our children. We emphasize achievable goals and high moral ethical standards. We instill in our students a lifelong commitment to excellence and dedication to their Catholic Christian faith. Saint Patrick School is marked by a spirit of hospitality, a parent-school and parish partnership with a nurturing atmosphere in which our children develop in mind, body and spirit.