PARISH NEWS
This site will contain information about current Parish news and events.
ST. GREGORY THE GREAT INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT
St. Gregory the great now has an Instagram account. You can access it at https://www.instagram.com/stgregorythegreat_chicago/. It is currently a work in progress. In the future we will be adding additional pictures and videos. Check it out. If you have any pictures from parish events, please share them with us. You can email pictures to Bernadette Daniels at bdaniels@stgregory.net.
PARISH EMERGENCY EVACUATION PLAN
The weekend of March 16-17 at all our Masses, I shared our Parish Emergency Evacuation Plan. I ask you to study the plan so that you will know what to do in the event of a fire, a tornado or an active shooter. Periodically we will review this plan at our weekend Masses. A copy of the plan can also be found in the back cover of our parish Ritual Song Hymnal. I hope that we never have to make use of this plan, but in our day and age, we need to be always prepared and know what to do. If you have any questions about our plan, please do not hesitate to call me. - Fr. Paul
PRAYER FOR THE HEALING OF THE CHURCH AND FOR VICTIMS OF CLERGY SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
Clergy Sexual Misconduct and its cover-up has been a serious issue for the Church for a long time. As more instances come to light, it is important that we as church members pray for the healing of our the Church and its leadership and for victims and for all members struggling with these issues.
Communal prayer is very effective. We would like to suggest that anyone who wishes to participate take a few minutes at 6p.m. every Wednesday evening, to stop and pray with each other, for each other, wherever they may be, with our families, our friends or as individuals.
It can be a simple prayer – a calling to mind of the problem and asking God for his help in bringing about healing. Another suggestion is to pray the Angelus - a traditional Catholic call to prayer. It is a way of praying together in praise of God and asking him for his help. The Angelus is a prayer that traditionally was prayed daily at 6a.m., noon and 6p.m.
A reminder will be sent on Wednesdays to email subscribers of St Gregory the Great. A reminder will also be placed in the bulletin each week. Please pass it on to others.
The Angelus:
V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with Thee;
Blessed art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death. Amen
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.
Hail Mary, etc.
V. And the Word was made Flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary, etc.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
LET US PRAY
Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
CLERGY SEXUAL MISCONDUCT UPDATE
The Archdiocese of Chicago has a website - http://heal.archchicago.org – which gives detailed information about what the Archdiocese of Chicago is doing to protect children and to hold bishops and priests accountable for their actions. Please also note that on our parish website, there are two links. If you go to our homepage at www.stgregory.net, click on the pull down menu that says About Us. At the bottom you will find a link that says Clergy Sexual Misconduct – Resources. This link contains detailed information about what the Archdiocese of Chicago has done since the 1990’s to protect children, about resources that are available to provide healing for victims of sexual misconduct, about how to report instances of sexual misconduct to civil authorities and to Church authorities and about the offices and services of the Office for the Protection of Children and Youth of the Archdiocese of Chicago. There is a second link entitled Clergy Sexual Misconduct – Articles. This link contains several articles related to clergy sexual misconduct. Please check them out. If you have any questions or concerns related to this, please contact Fr. Paul.
RENEW MY CHURCH
The Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Chicago is in the midst of a new initiative of Cardinal Blase Cupich called Renew My Church. It is an effort on the part of Cardinal Cupich to make sure that as the Catholic Church in Chicago moves into the future, every parish has the financial, personnel and facilities resources it will need to thrive and not just survive. Every parish in the Archdiocese of Chicago has been placed in one of 97 groupings. The groupings will be activated in waves over the next three years. Each grouping when activated will be asked to look at what might need to happen in order to make sure that their people will be well served sacramentally and spiritually. St. Gregory is in a grouping with 3 other parishes and one school. The other parishes in our grouping are St. Gertrude, St. Ignatius, and St. Jerome. The school is Northside Catholic Academy. Our grouping will be activated on Sept. 1, 2020. What follows is a website where you can go to find out more about Renew My Church. After our grouping is activated, I will keep you informed about the decisions that we will be made. If you have any questions about Renew My Church, please do not hesitate to call me. – Fr. Paul
https://www.archchicago.org/renew/what-is-rmc
ST. GREGORY THE GREAT HELPING HANDS
At St. Gregory the Great, we have created a new parish ministry known as St. Gregory the Great Helping Hands. This new parish ministry will provide emergency assistance to parishioners and to other people living in our immediate neighborhood. To fund this new ministry, we will continue to take up a collection on the last weekend of every month. A portion of the funds we receive each month will be sent to the Pope Francis Center to support their work with the poor and those in need. In this way, we will support the Renew My Church initiative of Cardinal Cupich. Renew My Church seeks to make sure that every Catholic parish has the facilities, staff and financial support they need to thrive. It also invites every parish to care for and support not only its own parishioners but also to reach out beyond their parish boundaries to provide care for people who are experiencing great need regardless of race, creed or color. – Fr. Paul
LET THE CHILDREN COME TO ME
In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, we hear Jesus say to his disciples, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
People have various reactions to the presence of little children at Mass. Some people are happy to see little children in Church with their parents. Some people find the activity of children at Mass to be a distraction to their own worship and prayer. While I do acknowledge the concerns that people have, my own personal view mirrors the words of Jesus. I welcome parents who bring their little children to Mass. As you know, little children have a lot of energy and short attention spans. They like to walk and move around and vocalize when they are in Church. Yes, sometimes the baby cries or the toddler runs around, but I am still glad that they are present in Church along with their parents. These children are our future. We need to be patient with them as over time they learn how to be quiet and still, pay attention and participate at Mass.
Given that, if you, as a parent, experience your small child crying non-stop, talking too loudly or running around too much during Mass, I suggest that you take them to the vestibule of Church or to the North Courtyard Entrance of Church for a little break to calm them down before bringing them back into Church. - Fr. Paul
ST. GREGORY THE GREAT APP
St. Gregory the Great Church now has a mobile app that is compatible with your iPhone/iPad or android phone. You can obtain the app by going to your iPhone store or by going to the Google Play Store on your android phone. It can be found at St. Gregory the Great, Chicago. iPhone users can also text great1 to 555888, and android phone users can text great2 to 555888. Our app is still a work in process. We are still learning how to best make use of it, but it does currently contain several buttons with up to date information about what is happening at St. Gregory the Great as well as other informative sites. If you have any suggestions as to how we might make this mobile app more helpful to you, please do not hesitate to get in contact with me. – Fr. Paul
AMAZON SMILE – A NEW WAY TO MAKE A DONATION TO ST. GREGORY
There is now a new way to make a donation to St. Gregory. It is called Amazon Smile. Our user name on the website where you can made a donation every time you purchase something on AmazonSmile is St. Gregory Church.
What is AmazonSmile?
AmazonSmile is a way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the same low prices, selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization.
How do I shop at AmazonSmile?
To shop at AmazonSmile simply go to smile.amazon.com from the web browser on your computer or mobile device. You use the same account on Amazon.com and AmazonSmile.
How do I select a charitable organization to support when shopping on AmazonSmile?
On your first visit to AmazonSmile, select a charitable organization to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. We will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make will result in a donation. Our user name is St. Gregory Church.
How much of my purchase does Amazon donate?
The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases. The purchase price is the amount paid for the item minus any rebates and excluding shipping & handling, gift-wrapping fees, taxes, or service charges.
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY BOOK
At the time of the Fiftieth Anniversary of St. Gregory the Great Church in 1954, a group of parishioners put together a book which contains the history of the parish along with pictures of the Church and many of the people who have been a part of our Church history since its beginning. Recently this book was put on line, and we are able to access it. Go to the following link to access our Fiftieth Anniversary book. https://archive.org/details/saintgregorystor00chic
ST. GREGORY THE GREAT – GUN FREE ZONE
On July 9, 2013, Governor Quinn’s veto of the concealed carry bill was overridden making Illinois the final state to issue concealed gun carry permits. Certain places are exempt from the law, but one of the provisions of the law as it is currently written is that people may bring a concealed gun into Churches and places of worship. In light of that, after consultation with our Parish Staff, we have made a decision to declare St. Gregory the Great Church and all of its buildings to be a gun free zone. A sign stating this will be placed in the Gymnasium Building, the Church and the Parish Center. I ask that all parishioners and visitors to our Parish keep St. Gregory the Great Church as a gun free zone. The only exception to this would be legitimate law enforcement personnel.
ST. GREGORY THE GREAT – POPE AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH
Sept. 3 is the feast day of St. Gregory the Great. He lived from 540 to 604 A.D. St. Gregory was the Prefect of Rome before he was 30 years of age. After five years in office, he resigned, founded six monasteries on his Sicilian Estate, and became a Benedictine monk in his own home at Rome. Ordained a priest, he became one of the Pope’s seven deacons and also served six years in the East as Papal Nuncio in Constantinople. He was recalled to become Abbot and at the age of 50 was elected Pope. He served as pope from 590 to 604. As pope, he was direct and firm. He removed unworthy priests from office, forbade taking money for many services, emptied the papal treasury to ransom prisoners of the Lombards and to care for persecuted Jews and the victims of plague and famine. He was very concerned about the conversion of England and sent forty monks there from his own Monastery. He is known for his reforms of the liturgy, for strengthening respect for doctrine, and for introducing the type of music known as Gregorian Chant. His book, Pastoral Care, on the duties and qualities of a Bishop, was read for centuries after his death. He described Bishops mainly as physicians whose main duties were preaching and the enforcement of discipline. In his own down-to-earth preaching, Gregory was skilled at applying the daily Gospel to the needs of his listeners. Gregory lived in a time of perpetual strife with invading Lombards and difficult relations with the East. When Rome itself was under attack, it was he who went to interview the Lombard king. An Anglican historian has written of him, “It is impossible to conceive what would have been the confusion, the lawlessness, the chaotic state of the Middle Ages without the Medieval Papacy; and of the Medieval Papacy, the real father is Gregory the Great.” If you look at the high altar in our Church, Pope St. Gregory the Great is the figure located at the far right.