Fall 2011

Quarterly News from SS. Cyril & Methodius Catholic Parish

News from the Pews

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By Fr. Larry Lisowski

By Fr. Larry Lisowski

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Caught Up in the Cycle of Life

By Fr. Larry Lisowski
The silver casket was slowly being lowered into the perfectly carvedout hole in the ground, inch by inch. We bowed our heads watching the peaceful descent. People stood standing with grief in their hearts and there was an eerie hypnotic look on their faces. The funeral was over and now it was time to go home. A loved one is laid to rest. We walk away and go back to life. that all does not end in death. With God, there is always new life coming. If you look closely, you will see the beauty of parish life unfolding as people grow and change in time. It is a joy to watch children mark out their journey of faith as they receive one Sacrament after another. It is a blessing to prepare a couple for their wedding day and watch them grow closer to each other in carried into church by their parents to be baptized. The parish family we are today is different from the parish family we were ten, twenty and fifty years ago. There are new faces and new names. In a sacred way, people come in and out of our life. When we gather each week to share in our Sunday Eucharist, we are reminded that God is with us in all the changes and moments of our life. God is there in the good and the bad, in our joy and sorrow, in our hopes and fears. God is there as we experience the cycle of life.

The grave was right next to a huge oak tree. Before the families returned to I love the lyrics to their cars, I asked one of our traditional them to pause for hymns that we a moment and take often sing at Mass a good look at the during the week: tree that was just about to show its Oak tree in SS. Cyril & Methodius Cemetery photographed by Father Larry fall colors. The "O God, our Help in ages past, Our mutual love and respect. It is rewarding tree would be transformed from a Hope for years to come, to see someone get involved in the healthy summer green to a crisp coat of Be Thou our God while life shall last, parish and know that they truly find red in the next couple of weeks. And our eternal home." satisfaction in using their gifts and I told them, God has an interesting talents for the life of our community. This is the time of the year when the way of reminding us that things change days get darker and the weather gets Who we are as a parish family keeps with time. The beauty of creation colder. We can easily get depressed changing from year to year. It never that surrounds us keeps moving along knowing that we have to endure another stays exactly the same. Families move from one season to the next. The leaves Chicago winter. into Lemont and register with our on the oak tree will probably be gone parish and some families move on to by Thanksgiving and the branches will Have faith! Look for the signs of life other Catholic parishes. We remember be bare in our parish cemetery during that God is with us. God is always and celebrate the faith and life of the winter months. We can only dream giving us hints of new life even when parishioners in the 30 funerals we of the return of the new buds in the we are standing in a quiet cemetery. perform a year. At the same time, we spring. This is all part of the cycle of The cycle of life keeps spinning. Look welcome around 50 infants who are life. The world around us reminds us and listen. God is near.

News from the Pews - Fall 2011

Capital Campaign Begins 2012 Outlook

By Shaune Jones, Co-Campaign Director
In May of this year, our parish launched a twoyear capital campaign, entitled Our Faith, Our Gift, Our Home. Our goal is to raise $1 million which will enable us to take care of the needed improvements to the interior of our historic church. These improvements will be completed across several phases with the first one soon to be completed. New washrooms have been added to the church and our Reconciliation rooms have been renovated to provide a more reverent and sacred space to celebrate the Sacrament. Planning is now taking place so that we can embark on the much larger second phase that is targeted to begin in June 2012. This will include painting of the interior of the church, lighting improvements, restoration of the pews and the installation of new flooring and a permanent baptismal font. The good news is that as of midNovember more than 500 families of our 2,448 registered parishioners have committed over $580,000 in pledges to our capital campaign, bringing us halfway to our goal. We still need your help and continued support to reach it. If you have not yet made a pledge to the campaignits not too late and every pledge counts. Pledge cards and brochures regarding Our Faith, Our Gift, Our Home will continue to be available at the tables in back of church throughout the duration of our campaign. Please consider all the ways our parish has touched your life through the celebration of daily, weekly and sacramental prayer. Through your pledge, we can continue to care for our church which plays such an important role in the spiritual life of so many people.

Students Win in Academics and Try New Sport By Shirley Tkachuk, Principal
Congratulations to all of our students who participated in the Providence High School Academic Bowl on Saturday, October 1st. They competed against 16 other schools and over 240 students. Our eighth grade team finished in third place overall. We are very proud to acknowledge the following students: Matas Maleiska: Science First Place Spenser Bailey: Science Third Place Anne Arnold: English Third Place Maddie Coules: Social Science Third Place Jason Phelan: Math Fifth Place Thank you to the talented and dedicated team of Junior High teachers who prepared them so well for this event, and to the parents of the competing students for their help. Our entire school is so very proud of them! Recently, the younger members of our school family have started to learn to play golf! Thanks to Mr. Nick Mokelke and Cog Hill, we have been able to become a part of the First Tee program. The program teaches students the basics of golf while also stressing good sportsmanship. We are very happy to have the opportunity to offer this as a part of the physical education program within our school!

News from the Pews - Fall 2011

Works of Art Complement Words of Wisdom

Inspired Art Corner By Judith Mokelke
Our parish bulletin had a makeover last year. Not only is it now in color, we also enjoy a weekly image on the cover, which depicts an element from that weeks gospel. These images cover a wide range of styles, artists and eras, from paintings, frescoes, mosaics, photography, sculptures, and stained glass; even a Biblical quilt has been showcased. Every week there is a new masterpiece! Just looking back over the last several months, there are diverse artists such as Duccio di Buoninsegna (The Sending of the Twelve, September 4, 2011), a 14th century Italian artist who did the masterpiece, Maest, for the Cathedral of Siena. The painting on our bulletin cover was one of forty-three scenes in the life of Christ that was part of the beautiful altarpiece. Last July17th, the parish bulletin featured a Van Gogh painting, Sower with the Setting Sun, and inside the bulletin was an image of the same parable in stained glass found in Lincoln Cathedrala very different depiction styleshowing us there are many ways to tell a story. Last September 25th, one of the most interesting pieces of art was shown. The gospel was about the two sons who are asked to work in their fathers vineyard. The picture on the bulletin cover is done in an unconventional stylebright, bold and allegorical. Nelly Bube, a Kazakhstan artist who works with UNESCO to promote women in Asian culture, did this painting. She began by painting childrens book illustrations and progressed to doing representations of Bible parables. In Two Sons, the entire gospel story is revealed in one paintingthe father is the central figure and he stands with his back to us, as if observing his sons; a bunch of grapes is in the upper right corner. On the left, one son refuses to work, but has a change of mind and helps with the harvest. On the right, a son agrees to help, then decides to toss his shovel and avoid the work. Nelly Bube uses the fathers placement of his outstretched arms to connect the brothers in the story. Ms. Bube typically uses bright colors, strong shapes and Biblical subjects. She also likes to use her

Moest: The Sending of the Twelve Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1311 Museo dell Opera del Duomo, Siena, Italy

News from the Pews - Fall 2011

countrys nomadic culture, the ideal of brotherhood and a peaceful work vision in her paintings. She is greatly admired in her native land. Information about the weekly cover art is found on page 12 of the bulletin, crediting the artist, medium, date and location where the art is housed. Every image of art depicted is used with permission of the artist or copyright holder. Our editor then forwards a copy of the bulletin to living artists in appreciation of their work, so our bulletin has been seen around the world, even as far as Kazakhstan! As each week goes by, take another look at the weekly art that comes through our bulletin. It will reinforce the gospel message, while giving us the experience of a variety of art and artists It can be enjoyable just to look at the pictures for what they are, a visual interpretation of Gods image.

Sower with the Setting Sun Vincent Van Gogh, 1888 Krller-Mller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands

The Sower Ward & Hughes, 1869 Lincoln Cathedral, England

Two Sons Nelly Bube, Kazakhstan artist

News from the Pews - Fall 2011

Parishioners Answer Lord's Call to Teach Our Children By Trish Nickleski

The Religious Education Program is off to a good start. Classes started on the week of September 11th. We have 560 students enrolled in Religious Education classes. There are students in kindergarten through eighth grade on Sunday and first through eighth grade on Monday and Wednesday. All classes have a Catechist and a Catechist Aide who work with the children. On Sunday, September 18th we celebrated Catechetical Sunday at the Noon Mass. This is the day that the United States Bishops set aside to honor all those who teach religion to our young people. Here at SS. Cyril & Methodius we honored all the parish school teachers, the religious education catechists and the John Paul II Polish School teachers, by calling them in front of the assembly where Fr. Larry commissioned them and then blessed them. We thank the following parishioners who have answered the Lords call to work in our Religious Education Program. Please keep them in your prayers this year as they educate the young people of our parish.

Kindergarten: First Grade:

Shelley Kral and Jennifer Budz Jacqueline Mackowiak, Margaret Rogers, Judy Bronner, Shannon Davis, Bernice Hill, Sophia Otreba, Margy Zagorski, Matthew Orednick Laura Hernandez, Michelle Xheka, Zoraida Odegaard, Lisa Lochen, Jennifer Irwin, Margie Dzielski, Mary Beth Lipowski, Stephanie DiNardi, Cathy AHearn, Joanna Szudzinski Dottie Gottardo, Kristen Juarez, Allie Dickerson, Maggie Ernst, Terri Theodore, Agnieska Mietus, Beth Rendak, Kiley Rendak, Teresa Kobylak, Debbie Arenberg, Mary Arenberg Jenifer Mansell, Bonnie Oswald, Tina Madanowski, Ashley Bobak, Barb Damiani, Sue Stapleton, Teresa Ehle, Shannon Ehle, Christine Voss, Jonathan Pacheco Dave and Marilou Purpura, Tracy Simon, Krystyna Ulanski, Margaret Tomecki, Veronica Szaflarski, Julie and Amy Gebka, Maria Meeder, April Kogut

Sixth Grade:

Susan Dziekan, Nicole Oprzedek, Laura Sciacca, Diane Szaflarski, JoAnn Kowalewski, Kathy Machaj, Margaret Pilecki, Alyssa Papiernik, Bob Schmidt, Jillian Toth Vince Rigler, Mary McKevitt, Kurte Korte, Maria Pochecki, Adrianna Swiderek, Beata Mietus, Mike Laskowski, Sara Lesnicki, Lillie Gajda, David OSullivan Mark Czerwinski, Bob Sutkowski, Bob Gembara, Julie Smagacz, Denise Ciciura, Nicholas Holy, Marv Gonsiorowski, Kathy Eggers, Steve Woynerowski, Michelle Gerbino-Kancewick Theresa Cisneros Anne Blickhahn, Lupe Czerwinski, Denise Schneider, Lisa Nickleski, Lucy Kuharchuk Alicja Jablonski, Karen Moravek, Judy Rzonca, Marianne Siple, Jennifer Knippenberg, Anna Ryttel, Mary Hinchley, Joanne Totura, Laura Malak Jim Crockett, Susan Conway, Sherri Jasper, Peter Bator, John Stoch, Scott Bozych, Elizabeth Goryl, John Lesnicki

Seventh Grade:

Second Grade:

Eighth Grade:

Third Grade:

Tutor: Special Needs Aides:

Fourth Grade:

Office Staff:

Fifth Grade:

Crossing Guards:

News from the Pews - Fall 2011

Baby Bottle Project to Help Women's Center

By Trish Nickleski
During the month of October, the Parish School and the Religious Education Program participated in the Baby Bottle Project. Each student received a baby bottle and was asked to fill it with loose change. All money collected was used to help the Womens Center providing counseling in Des Plaines, Evergreen Park and Chicago. The primary work of the Womens Center is to provide support for less fortunate women and their babies along with helping other families with their ongoing needs. The funds collected will also help support the pro-life work of The Womens Center. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to show support for life and for children, and to learn the beauty of giving to help others.

RCIA Brings New Life

By Doreen Dabney, Pastoral Associate
What is RCIA? We hear those initials frequently throughout the year, but do we know what they mean? Actually they represent the hope of the church! It stands for Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. RCIA is the process by which adults become Catholics. The people who come to us are from a wide variety of backgrounds. Some come who have had little or no religious upbringing and some from other traditions in which they were very involved, but after prayer and seeking have chosen the Catholic Church. As the Bible reports in the book of Acts, this is how people first came to the Church, and now over 2,000 years later, people are still coming. What a privilege it is to celebrate with those in our RCIA program! The three Catholic parishes of Lemont, SS. Cyril & Methodius, St. Alphonsus and St. Patrick, are in joint effort in the RCIA process. All the RCIA candidates/catechumens meet as a group and go through the process together. We start the year in midSeptember and continue until Memorial Day; quite a commitment! We meet every Monday night and have a wonderful experience together and a very strong community is formed. Each candidate/catechumen will celebrate the Rite of Welcoming, Sending and the Lenten Rites at their individual parishes, then come back together and discuss the experience. This year we have six candidates and one catechumen supported by five mentors. Some of the sponsors meet with us as well. On any given evening, we can have 13 or 14 in attendance making up our lively group. A candidate is a person who was baptized but has had little or no religious education or someone coming to us from another faith who has been baptized. A catechumen is someone who has not been baptized. This year we have two candidates from SS. Cyril & Methodius, three candidates and one catechumen from St. Alphonsus and one candidate from St. Patrick. Please try to get to know, or at least introduce yourself, to the soon-to-be members of our family of faith.

Jessica Finocchio and Linda Pachl are SS. Cyril & Methodius RCIA Candidates

News from the Pews - Fall 2011

Extending a Hand Bridges Cultures

By Nancy Kosek
And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:16
This scripture passage echoes the objective of the Archdiocese of Chicagos Office for Peace and Justice Parish Sharing Program. Its mission is to link parishes in the Archdiocese in order for each to benefit from sharing the financial, spiritual and personal resources that God gave us. community today. It is not a surprise to find out that our parishioners have Polish ancestors and friends who were parishioners of St. Adalberts. Founded in 1874, ten years before SS. Cyril & Methodius' formation in 1884, it was the third Polish parish established to serve the growing immigrant population in Chicago. At its height, as many as 4,000 families were registered in the parish with over 2,000 children enrolled in the school. Described as the mother church, from it a number of additional parishes were formed to support the huge numbers of Catholics living in the surrounding area. Located in the Pilsen neighborhood, today it is predominantly Hispanic. Reflective of the changes that many Chicago neighborhoods have undergone, it respectfully blends the old with the new. It still offers Polish masses, and in addition to English also has Spanish masses. The church is built in the Italian Renaissance style and modeled after St. Pauls Basilica in Rome. Parishioner Pat Graczyk has visited the church a number of times. noting that, It is quite an impressive architectural gem, full of really beautiful features. In addition to a large white-marble statue of St. Adalbert, the churchs patron and evangelizer of Poland, above the altar are inscribed the opening words of the oldest Polish hymn, "Bogurodzica," which some claim was written by St. Adalbert himself. On a missionary trip to convert the Prussians, he was martyred in 997. Legend says that Boleslaw, the King of Poland, bought back the saints body by paying its weight in gold. Other murals of Queen Jadwiga of Poland and Our Lady of Czestochowa adorn the walls. A shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Hispanics beloved Patroness of the Americas draws large numbers of devoted worshipers. To appreciate the size, parishioner Ray Walschlager said what surprised him the most on his first visit to the church was how big it was. All of St. Cyrils could fit inside it. Although the Sharing Parish program originally started to help poorer parishes stay afloat, by no means is it a one-way street. Fr. Larry feels that it enriches our understanding of the world around us and takes us outside of ourselves as we learn more about each other and spend time together. How often do we hear the giver receives more

Intricate windows decorate St. Adalbert's entry way

than the recipient? God asks that we give, and when we do, He showers us with blessings. Kathy Jenner became involved with the Tree of Love program a number of years ago and has seen it expand from providing Christmas gifts for St. Adalberts, to now supplying gifts for the Womens Center and Mercy Home for Boys & Girls. While she has since passed on the leadership responsibilities, she cant imagine not continuing to participate, as it has become such an integral part of her familys Christmas activities and one that has given them so much joy. Over the years, parishioners from both parishes have shared, worshiped and participated in a number of activities together. There is a variety of easy ways each of us can continue to support our Sharing Parish:

St.St. Adalbert's, founded in 1874 Adalberts has been our Sharing Parish for over 25 years and enjoys many connections with SS. Cyril & Methodius. Both were originally founded by Polish immigrants and continue to support the Polish

News from the Pews - Fall 2011

USE the monthly St. Adalbert Sharing Parish envelope that is included with your regular weekly collection envelopes. DROP OFF food for the Helping Hands program. Many years ago Helping Hands started supplying St. Adalberts with food for the Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter holiday seasons. DONATE diapers and baby essentials to the Respect Life Committees October Baby Shower. PURCHASE gifts for the Tree of Love Christmas present program. PARTICIPATE in fellowship with St. Adalberts at events such as St. Cyrils bilingual English/Spanish Mass every October and the reception graciously hosted by the Altar and Rosary Society in the gym afterward, or the beautiful Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass and celebration at St. Adalberts each year on December 12. PRAY for St. Adalbert parishioners and their community. St. Adalberts is rich in history and culture and strong in dedication and devotion. Your support does make a difference within the parish. Fr. Michelini would like the parishioners of SS. Cyril & Methodius to know how deeply grateful we are for your prayers, help and all you do. Fr. Mike extends an open invitation to all our parishioners to visit the church located in Chicago at 1650 West 17th Street, between Paulina Street and Ashland Avenue. He especially extends a welcome to visit during Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration on December 12. See you there!

A large white marble statue of St. Adalbert graces the alter as well as words to the hymn "Boqurodzica," thought to be written by him

Thanks to Pat Graczyk, Ray Walschlager, Kathy Jenner and Mary Beth Rudis for their input.

St. Adalbert parishioners perform during Mass celebrated at SS. Cyril & Methodius

News from the Pews - Fall 2011

Year of the Teen

By Mike Lundberg, Youth Minister
The Archdiocese of Chicago has proclaimed June 2011 to June 2012 the Year of the Teen. I have been a youth minister for 20 years now and to me every year is the year of the teen! This is a good way to bring attention to other teens out there who want to be part of our Catholic faith. This year in Lemont, we are in full swing offering the tri-parish teens many great things. In September, we met with Lemont High School teacher Matt Doherty who gave us a wonderful perspective of our priorities in life. We went to Drury Lane in October to hear Francis Cardinal George speak about keeping God close in every aspect of our lives. Then, at our monthly teen meeting in October, we watched a great DVD by Matthew Kelly who spoke on the genius of the Catholic Church, noting that without it the world would be in terrible shape. In November, we are going to St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Streamwood to hear youth minister speaker, Justin Fatica, give his presentation entitled You Are Amazing! to inspire us and help us grow in confidence that we are loved by God. the Stable. For January we will have a special presentation from Fr. Joe Noonan who will be speaking about his pilgrimage to Medjugorie in Eastern Europe and how he found his vocation there. So, as you can see, it is going to be the year of the teen indeed! We have also started a new program called College Connection. This program links students who are away at college to their parishes back home. Students have been receiving mailings the old-fashioned way to their dorm rooms and also had a visit from Fr. Larry. The mailings have included church bulletins, cookies, a Matthew Kelly book and some Halloween treats. For those teens interested in becoming a part of any of our programs, just email me, Mike Lundberg: lemontyouthm@sbcglobal.net

This December, we will once again present our nativity play Song of

College connection partcipants left to right: Brian AHearn, Rachel Rendak, Joe Marusarz, Joe Conway, Justin Rigler and Fr. Larry; not pictured, Clare Rogers (who joined them for dinner)

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News from the Pews - Fall 2011

Master Talent Guided Art & Environment Ministry

By Claudette Walschlager
Thirty-seven years ago Miss Janice Nieroda (then Sr. Janice) asked if I would be interested in helping her and Fr. Richard Jozwiak (then Pastor of SS. Cyril & Methodius) decorate the church for the various holiday seasons. As a graduate of the Chicago Floral Design School and operator of a small florist business from my home, I loved working with flowers and other decorations and gladly accepted the opportunity to expand upon what I learned and loved doing. At this time, I also met Don and Pat Graczyk who, together with other members of the Graczyk family had been decorating the Christmas Crib in church for years. Whatever it takes to make something work clicked. Soon we realized that we could not do what we envisioned for the church without help. So, we recruited Antoinette Slomczynski and Gibe Ende (now Deacon Ende) to join us. Shortly thereafter, Althea Wesolowski and Debbie Keppler joined our group. Back then, even Deacon Norb Lesnieski was not above being asked to stick around and help. As the decorations became more and more involved, Antoinette recruited her husband Rich, and I got my husband Ray, to help along with other family members and friends until three and four in the morning to finish what we were working on. What started out as an informal decorating committee of a handful has evolved into what is now the Art and Environment Ministry. Its membership has grown to 15 to 20 members. The Ministrys mission has also expanded from decorating the church for the various holiday seasons to doing the same for the overflow Masses in the gym for Christmas, Palm Sunday and Easter. While everyone enjoys the Ministrys accomplishments, not seen are the hours of work behind those decorations and the effort it takes to water the plantsyes, they are live plants. Today, after thirty-seven years, I have decided it is time for me to retire from a job I have loved and enjoyed more than anything else. What I have enjoyed were the comments we would hear from parishioners about how beautiful SS. Cyril & Methodius looks, season after season. In retiring, I want to take this opportunity to thank the parishioners of SS. Cyril & Methodius for their generous flower offerings used to purchase the flowers and other decorations. And special thanks to all the current and past members of Art & Environment, especially my family, including my husband Ray, my daughter Denise and her husband Mike, and my son Paul, who didnt complain too much when I grabbed his friends who are not Catholic to help. To Patti Williams and Tami Ziebell who will replace me, I wish the best and hope they enjoy the task as much as I did.

Tami Ziebell and Patti Williams Co-chairs of the Art & Environment Committee

News from the Pews - Fall 2011

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Gym Kitchen Makeover

By Denise Duda, Business Manger
Have you seen the school gym kitchen yet? If not, take a look at it and notice that it has been completely renovated. The school gym kitchen is used for many parish and school events and it has been in need of some updating. Back in the 1950s, the SS. Cyril & Methodius Kitchen Club was instrumental in furnishing the gym kitchen. The kitchen now has brand new custom made cabinets, countertops, fresh paint, new sink and faucet, new floor and a new roll top door for easier access when serving refreshments. Many thanks to Athletics, Altar & Rosary Society, Polish Club and our Parish for monetary contributions, and to parishioners who volunteered their time, effort and expertise to the renovation.

NOTE: Cover Art by renowned artist Marian Osher

News from the Pews

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