Farewell, Fr. Alphonse

2023 Parish Service Award Recipients

Our deep gratitude and appreciation is expressed to our 2023 Parish Service Award recipients, those who nominated them, and all who make St. Josaphat the parish that it is.

Lifetime: Jim Klatt

Prayer & Worship: Edidiong Kaminska

Human Concerns: Jena Valdetero, Elisa Giacomelli, Liz Gonzalez

Parish Life: Kris Kause

Education: John & Ashley Medio

Youth: Grace O'Neil

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Winter Coat Drive Thank You!

The winter coat drive sponsored by St Josaphat School was a great success. Over 400 items were collected, enough to provide winter gear for 175 people! SJS students earned an out-of-uniform day on Wednesday, Dec 6th for exceeding the challenge to collect 250 winter items. Thank you to the SJS women who initiated, organized and delivered the clothing and to everyone who participated for your generosity. 

Advent Calendars for Sale This Sunday

For their Christmas service project, St. Josaphat School’s FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) is selling chocolate-filled Advent calendars! Buy one for your family, or for a child in need at a neighboring school, and a portion of all proceeds will be donated to charity. Calendars will be sold before and after the 10 am Mass on Sunday, November 19. Help kids in need—and count down to Christmas!

The Giving Tree

It's back! The Giving Tree is in the back of church now until Sunday, December 3rd. This ministry coordinates the needs of local partnering organizations and families with the generous spirit of our parishioners in order to provide gifts and the necessities of life (food, clothing, baby formula, diapers, car seats, etc.) to those in need in our neighborhood and beyond. If you are able to participate, just select a wish list tag off the Giving Tree or select from the online SignUp Genius. We need to collect all gifts by Tuesday, December 5th so that we can get them to their recipients before Christmas.

Read More About The Giving Tree >

Christmas Tree Lot opens Next Friday 11/24

Each year, our Fr. Grassi Community Park is transformed into a Christmas Tree Lot! Since 2006, the Latzig family has been bringing beautiful fresh cut trees straight from their Wisconsin tree farm for you to purchase, and they donate a percentage of each sale back to our parish. The lot opens on Friday, November 24 (Friday after Thanksgiving) and stays open until the trees are sold out. In recent years, the lot has sold out in less than 2 weeks, so please plan ahead.

Bethlehem Arts is Back

Looking for a meaningful Christmas gift? On Saturday & Sunday November 25-26, we will host representatives of the Catholic Christian Community from Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the Holy Land, who will be displaying handcrafted olive wood religious figurines and articles for sale. Due to the reduction of tourism, the Catholic Community has come to depend more on the sale of these articles abroad to survive. The woodcarvings are beautiful and reflect faith and love for the Lord. Please consider purchasing a gift that will be remembered and cherished for yourself or someone dear to you. The handcrafted olive wood religious figurines and articles will be available for purchase after all the weekend Masses.

Advent Wreath Making

All Parish families are invited to join our annual Advent Wreath Making event on Sunday, November 26th. Those who have participated in the past will tell you that it is an evening that will warm your heart. It is a great family activity, but it isn’t limited to the “traditional” idea of family. All are invited! Each year we will gather in the gym to assemble our wreaths and learn the true meaning of the Advent Wreath. Invite Grandparents! We supply all the materials. We are asking for a donation of $50.00 per wreath to help defray costs. Please reserve your spot before Thursday, November 23rd so that we have materials for you.

Read More and Sign Up! >

Nativity Nights

Our Nativity Nights offer you the opportunity to take part in Eucharistic Adoration. The church will be open each week on Tuesdays from 7-8pm beginning November 28, until Christmas. The Eucharist will be present on the altar in the monstrance surrounded by candlelight. The lights in the church will be dimmed and there will be Advent music playing in the background. It will be a very warm and inviting atmosphere for you to come and enter into as you spend some quiet time in prayer with our Lord. The expectation is that people will come and go throughout the evening. This is simply a time for you to be free of the hustle and bustle that can sometimes overtake the Christmas season and just spend a few minutes in quiet prayer with Jesus.  

Read More About Nativity Nights >

Help for Migrants

Following St. Josaphat School’s very successful coat/shoe drive, we are partnering with the other Lincoln Park/Old Town parishes to provide continued assistance to migrants: a hot lunch for some 200 men, women, and children housed at the 18th District Police Station. They’re staying there under adverse conditions as they await placement in a shelter. Having very few, if any resources of their own, they rely on the generosity of others to fulfill their basic needs. Please join this multi-parish effort on Sunday, December 3rd at 10:30am at Immaculate Conception parish hall (1431 N. North Park) to assemble and deliver a hot lunch - families welcome! If you’re not available on that day and still want to help, sign up to provide any one of several items needed for the lunch: chili, cornbread, apples, cookies, water, lunch bags, containers for chili. There’ll also be boxes outside of Immaculate Conception that day to collect needed items such as backpacks, warm blankets, tarps, diapers, etc. And if you can’t drop off your donations, let us know - we’ll get it there!  

SJS Tour & Coffee

Join us for a Tour & Coffee to learn all about St. Josaphat School! All tours begin at 9am on the following Fridays:

• December 1st, 2023
• January 12th, 2024
• February 9th, 2024
• March 15th, 2024

Facilities Update

One of our church/rectory boilers became functional last Monday, 11/6. We are very grateful for the heat, but have learned to be careful what we pray for as the temperature in the rectory and church have hit as high as 80 degrees. Unfortunately, due to the unseasonably warm weather the temperature cannot be adjusted at this time. The thermostat reaches temp before the condensate is even coming back to the boiler which is on low fire. Once the weather cools off and the second boiler is running (we’re told the week of 11/17), they will get tuned up and it won’t be so tropical during Mass.

You may have noticed that the scaffolding in the church has been taken down. We are monitoring the walls for moisture where the plaster was removed and hope that our recent replacement of the chimney liner will have resolved most of the problem. We expect this process will take some time as we try to identify where the water intrusion originates.

After waiting for delayed parts since March, the north set of doors on Southport are scheduled to have a pushbar (similar to the one on the south set of doors) installed on Thursday 11/30.

At the school, 5 rooftop HVAC units on the SE building were identified with cracked heat exchangers and have been repaired. We await estimates to replace them in the next 5 years as they are nearing the end of their 15-year lifespan.

Advent

Little Blue Advent Booklets and the Advent edition of The Word Among Us are available in the church, pick yours up after Mass!

Read More about Advent Here >

Unity Award Nominations

Every year we honor an individual or organization who has exemplified the spirit of bringing people together and making the Gospel present - as St. Josaphat gave his life in this effort - with the St. Josaphat Unity Award. The Award, which includes a $10,000 cash prize, is presented at the Unity Gala Kickoff Mass. Deadline for nominations is 12/31.

Read More & Nominate

Sunday Offering

Thank you for your continued support of our parish! You can donate any time - just click here or text SUNDAY to 312-625-5666.