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Yesterday, two Franciscan postulants began their ministry at our parish food pantry. As postulants, Kole and George are in a year-long formation program with the Conventual Franciscans to see if they would like to join the Order. In addition to regular ministry work, they are living in community with the friars and learning the daily rhythm of the Religious Life. This is the stage of formation directly after a young man's application is accepted by the friars. Are you called to a life of service, fraternity, and prayer? Click here to learn more about the Conventual Franciscans! The Archdiocese of Chicago has put together a list of links and contact information for organizations that offer pastoral, humanitarian, and legal advocacy support for immigrants, refugees and all in need. The descriptions are provided by the respective organizations. Please see their websites for a full understanding of programs and services offered. Click the button below to visit the website. PASTORAL AND HUMANITARIAN SUPPORT
United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) - Responding to Immigration Enforcement Efforts Pastoral Migratoria: The Immigration Ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago answers the call to welcome all immigrants in Cook and Lake counties. In doing so, we build communion between immigrants and non-immigrants as brothers and sisters in Christ and accompany and empower immigrants toward their formation and integration as members of society and people of faith in the one family of God. https://pvm.archchicago.org/human-dignity-solidarity/immigration-ministry/immigrant-social-ministries Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago: We accompany anyone in need, regardless of their faith, gender, race, or ethnicity. In fact, the majority of the thousands of people we serve each day are not Catholic. https://www.catholiccharities.net/
ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SUPPORT American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA): Find an immigration lawyer by practice specialization, geographic area and language fluency. https://www.ailalawyer.com / 202.507.7600 National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC): NIJC’s mission is to establish and defend the legal rights of immigrants, regardless of background, and to transform the immigration system to one that affords equal opportunity for all. https://immigrantjustice.org / 312.660.1328 Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC): Embracing the Gospel value of welcoming the stranger, CLINIC promotes the dignity and protects the rights of immigrants in partnership with a dedicated network of Catholic and community legal immigration programs. https://www.cliniclegal.org/issues / 301.565.4800 The Resurrection Project: We provide the tools and services necessary to navigate a complex immigration legal system, ensuring access to justice for immigrants. We strive to keep families together and protect the rights of our most vulnerable community members. We advocate for immigration policies and offer high-quality legal screenings, representation, and bilingual trainings. https://resurrectionproject.org / 312.666.1623 National Immigration Legal Services Directory - Immigration Advocates Network: allows users to search for free or low-cost immigration legal services providers by state, county, or detention facility. Users can refine their search by areas and types of legal assistance provided, populations served, and languages spoken. https://www.immigrationadvocates.org/legaldirectory/ Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS): CVLS is comprised of 2,100+ volunteer attorneys who donate free services to thousands of low-income Chicagoans annually. Our services are 100% free, accessible & real. We have done our best to bring together all the resources of the great city of Chicago. We do this by utilizing our small staff to support and train a pool of thousands of volunteer attorneys from more than 990 firms, companies, and organizations throughout the city. We support, organize and train these wonderful volunteers in order to make the biggest impact in the most cost-effective way possible. https://www.cvls.org / 312.332.1624 North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic: We provide accessible, quality, equitable, free legal services in the areas of domestic violence, housing, and immigration to give low-income, at-risk community members access to justice and the opportunity to live productive and secure lives. https://nslegalaid.org / 847.737.4042 Life Span (domestic violence): provides comprehensive services for survivors and children, enabling them to live without violence, build upon their strengths and become self-sufficient. https://life-span.org / 312.408.1210
 El domingo 19 de enero la comunidad guatemalteca de nuestra parroquia nos invitó a todos a celebrar la fiesta del Señor de Esquipulas en la misa de las 12:30 p.m. en la iglesia de Santa Ita. La misa incluyó una procesión con la imagen del Señor de Esquipulas y música especial de nuestro coro. Después de la misa, hubo una recepción en el Salón Jubileo con comida tradicional guatemalteca. Gracias a todos los que ayudaron a hacer posible esta celebración y estamos agradecidos con la comunidad guatemalteca por incluir a toda nuestra parroquia en esta fiesta especial. On Sunday, January 19 the Guatemalan community of our parish invited us all to celebrate the feast of Senor de Esquipulas at the 12:30 PM Mass at St. Ita church. Mass included a procession with the image of Senor de Esquipulas and special music from our choir. After Mass, there was a reception in Jubilee Hall with traditional Guatemalan food. Thank you to everyone who helped to made this celebration possible and we are grateful to the Guatemalan community for including our entire parish in this special feast. *Photos courtesy of parish volunteers Damian Chlanda and Carmela.
 At a recent meeting, the Filipinos of Saint Gregory the Great presented our Pastor Fr. Alejandro Lopez a check for the needs of the parish including the purchases of chalices for the distribution of Precious Blood that Mass. We thank them for the tireless care they give Mary, Mother of God parish and their continued generosity.
Happy New Year from the volunteers at the parish Soup Kitchen! We would like to thank the anonymous donors who sent a ladle, package of reusable grocery bags, a bag of bite-size candy, three bags of dry lentils, and a six pack of Scotch tape to St. Thomas of Canterbury. Below are photos of volunteers putting these gifts to good use. Enjoy these photos of the Nativity scenes (creches) around the parish. We hope you were able to see them sometime during the Christmas season! Sunday, January 7, the Mary, Mother of God Parish Choirs presented their annual Christmas Concert. Representatives from our parish choirs and ensembles shared the sounds of the season with the assembled audience. A heartfelt thank you to those whose assistance and encouragement made this event possible and successful. The directors and members of our parish choirs, ensembles, and musicians for their fine work and dedicated service to our parish. Our friars, pastoral staff, and maintenance staff for their encouragement, assistance, and support. Our Children's Choir parents, parishioners, and friends for being an encouraging and grateful audience. Mr. Todd Gresick, for accompanying our singers us so beautifully, and for sharing his mastery and love of the pipe organ with our parish. Christmas Season blessings and a Happy, Prosperous New Year 2025! Special Thanks to: |
