1) The Ministry Center Parking Lot is Closed through Monday
As you make your plans to attend Masses on Saturday and Sunday or Monday, please note most of the Ministry Center Parking Lot will be closed to traffic for the upcoming St. James School Oktoberfest Auction. We ask that you please park in the main Church Parking Lot accessible from Fawell Blvd. We wish the school a blessed and successful event!
The Ministry Center will remain open for normal hours on Monday. There will be limited parking available for visitors to the office. Thank you!
2) There are New Updates to Our COVID Directives from the Diocese of Joliet
A Gentle Reminder: We thank you for your ongoing cooperation with the indoor mask mandate for everyone age two and above that remains in place at this time in church and our parish facilities at the direction of our Bishop. If you come to Mass and forget yours, they may be found in baskets at the back of the church near the doors to the narthex.
If you do not wish to wear a mask indoors at church this time, we ask you to continue participating in our live stream weekend Mass from the comfort of your home, as the dispensation to attend public Mass remains in place.
We greatly appreciate your respect towards your fellow parishioners who gather to worship and those serving as Welcome Ministers, Eucharistic Ministers and Lectors at each Mass.
New Update on Congregational Singing: For the first time since March 2020, we have been given the authorization to resume congregational singing while wearing masks, beginning the weekend of October 23-24. We invite you to read more about it in the attached article written by our Director of Music, Pat Mooney.
3) The Catholic Church has convened a Synod that will conclude in 2023. The synod entitled “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission” solemnly opened the 9th – 10th of October 2021 in Rome and on the following 17th of October in each particular Church. Our Diocese will celebrate a Mass at the Cathedral this Sunday with representatives from each parish present.
With this convocation, Pope Francis invites the entire Church to reflect on a theme that is decisive for its life and mission: “It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.”2 This journey, which follows in the wake of the Church’s “renewal” proposed by the Second Vatican Council, is both a gift and a task: by journeying together and reflecting together on the journey that has been made, the Church will be able to learn through Her experience which processes can help Her to live communion, to achieve participation, to open Herself to mission. Our “journeying together” is, in fact, what most effectively enacts and manifests the nature of the Church as the pilgrim and missionary People of God.
Click Here to Learn More about the Synod: https://www.synod.va/en.html
4) This Weekend we Conclude the Undy Sunday Collection
Most people take things like underwear for granted. At Catholic Charities, we have found that low-income families and seniors living on poverty-level incomes do not spend money on underwear and they desperately need it.
Catholic Charities is proud to announce that the 19th Annual Undy Sunday will be held on the weekend of October 16/17, 2021. We are asking parishes to collect underwear on that date. Last year, nearly 50 parishes, schools and organizations participated in the program. They collected thousands of pairs of underwear and socks which were distributed to low-income children, families and seniors through our various locations throughout the Diocese of Joliet. This year we are hoping for even more participation!
THE Most needed items in DuPage County are:
• Long underwear
• Diapers, pull-ups, wipes
• Women’s underwear (small and medium)
• Men’s boxer briefs (all sizes)
Donations may be dropped in any of the Undy Sunday boxes found in the church narthex this weekend.
St. James the Apostle Parish 