Saint Isaac Jogues Roman Catholic Church 306 West Fourth Street Hinsdale, Illinois 60521 630/323-1248 www.sij.net

Father William De Salvo, Pastor Father Michal Twaruzek, Parochial Vicar

Permanent Deacons Deacon Paul Kelly Deacon John Sebastian Deacon Randy Waring

Assisting Priests Father Gerald Tivy, Father Daniel Stempora, Father Larry Dreffein, OFM

Director of Evangelization and Outreach Deacon William Dunn

Saint Isaac Jogues School Mrs. Carol Burlinski, Principal Miss Diane Sullivan, Vice-Principal

Religious Education & Youth Faith Formation Mrs. Joan Latto, Director of Religious Education Ms. April Pickett, Director of Youth Formation & Associate Coordinator of Religious Education

Director of Liturgical Music Mr. Nicholas Thomas

Executive Director of Development Tony Brandolino

Campus Engineer Mr. Bruce Barker

Rectory Office Mrs. Cathy Booth, Administrative Assistant Mrs. Michele Blando, Business Manager

October 4, 2020 Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday Masses Saturday evening: 4:30 pm Sunday: 7:30, 9:00, 10:30 am, Noon and 6:00 pm

Daily Masses Monday-Friday: 7:00 am & 5:00 pm Saturday: 8:00 am

Confessions Saturday afternoon: 3:30 - 4:15 pm Sunday evening: 5:00 - 5:45 pm

Saint Peregrine Devotions Devotions in Honor of St. Peregrine — patron of those who suffer with cancer or any incurable disease or condition — first Tuesday at 7:00 pm.

Pope Saint John Paul II Eucharistic Adoration Chapel The Chapel is located behind the sanctuary of the church, and is available 24 hours a day for private prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. For information: Linda Lannert, linda@sijhinsdale.com or 630/408-9567.

Baptisms 1st& 3rd Sunday of the month at 1:00 p.m. Please phone the Rectory to register for the required Baptismal Preparation meeting.

Marriages Arrangements must be made with the Rectory at least six months in advance. Contact the Rectory before making any other arrangements.

Visits to the Sick Due to hospital admitting policies, it is necessary to inform the Rectory when hospitalized parishioners would like a visit from a priest or deacon. Likewise, call if you would like a visit while convalescing at a facility or at home. Before being admitted to a hospital for surgery it is advisable to call the Rectory and arrange a time to receive the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. Please contact the Rectory regarding communion visits to the homebound.

Funerals It is the responsibility of the parish to bury their dead. The funeral director will contact the Rectory Office regarding arrangements. Funerals are ordinarily celebrated at 10am. According to Diocesan policy, if family members wish to offer eulogies, they should do so during the wake. #382 of the General Instruction for the Universal Church states: At the funeral Mass there should as a rule be a short homily, but never a eulogy of any kind. No specific offering is required in connection with the funeral liturgy.

New Parishioners welcome! Please call the Rectory Office to register.

630/323-1248

Page Two October 4, 2020

Sunday, October 4, 2020–Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time 7:30 AM-Michael Westphal 9:00 AM-Lillian Knopp 10:30 AM-For the Parish Family and Pearl Piccatto 12:00 PM-Lester Hochhalter Monday, October 5, 2020–Weekday 7:00 AM-Michele Novak 5:00 PM-Marie Lapinski Tuesday, October 6, 2020– 7:00 AM-Unborn Babies and Their Mothers 5:00 PM-Evelyn Pavilionis Wednesday, October 7, 2020-Our Lady of the Rosary 7:00 AM-Michael Wolfe 5:00 PM-Tom Sullivan Thursday, October 8, 2020–Weekday 7:00 AM-James Brennan 5:00 PM-Patricia Hallan Friday, October 9, 2020-Weekday 7:00 AM-Jennifer Healy 5:00 PM-John Jordan Saturday, October 10, 2020–Weekday 8:00 AM-Guy D’Amico-Special Intention 4:30 PM-Dorothy Hughes Sunday, October 11, 2020–Twenty Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time 7:30 AM-Robert Lopez 9:00 AM-Jo Valdrighi 10:30 AM-For the Parish Family and John Sullivan 12:00 PM-Frank Mastro

Bob O’Connell Ryan Collins

Jerry Kowalski Baby Henry Agne Donna Monaghan Thomas Mueller June McGannon Karen Skokna Doris Sanders

Shirley Jones Ken Crane

Baby Aleman Ken Ruminski Theresa Boyle Don Kaminski George Sekera

Dan Obiala Susan Grisko

Dear Parish Family, October is a beautiful month — it is dedicated to the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and also is observed throughout our Country as Respect Life Month. The white crosses you will see on our lawn serve as a silent but powerful reminder of the sanctity of life, and the sad scourge of abortion on our Nation. I’m grateful to our Pro-Life Committee for their efforts to keep sanctity of life issues before us. Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta said: I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because Jesus said, ‘If you receive a little child, you receive me.” So every abortion is the denial of receiving Jesus, the neglect of receiving Jesus. It is really a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child. During this Respect Life Month do what you can to better understand and give witness to the Church’s consistent and deeply rooted teaching on the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death. Our Catholic stance on life begins with conception. Without respect for life at its beginning all of the other issues pertaining to respect for life easily fade and fall away. Let’s pray and ask Mary — The Mother of Life — to pray with us and for us that we may be courageous in our witness to life! This past week the Diocese of Joliet welcomed Bishop Ronald Hicks as the 6th bishop of the Diocese. I’m sure you join me in enthusiastically welcoming our new Bishop, and in offering him our prayers and support as he begins his episcopal ministry as the head of our wonderful Diocese. God bless him, and grant him many happy and fruitful years in the Diocese of Joliet! God’s Blessings! Father De Salvo

October 4, 2020 Page Three

Please remember our church in your will. Contact Tony Brandolino

at 630-655-5523 for information on how you can include St. Isaac Jogues Parish.

September 26, 2020 Cora Fischer Diorio

Daughter of Sarah and David Diorio Bailey Catherine Gleitsman

Daughter of Catherine and Matthew Gleitsman

We welcome these children into our church family of faith.

READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday: Gal 1:6-12;          Ps 111:1b-2, 7-9, 10c;          Lk 10:25-37 Tuesday: Gal 1:13-24; Ps 139:1b-3, 13-15; Lk 10:38-42 Wednesday: Gal 2:1-2, 7-14; Ps 117:1bc, 2;          Lk 11:1-4 Thursday: Gal 3:1-5; Lk 1:69-75; Lk 11:5-13 Friday: Gal 3:7-14; Ps 111:1b-6; Lk 11:15-26 Saturday: Gal 3:22-29; Ps 105:2-7; Lk 11:27-28 Sunday: Is 25:6-10a; Ps 23:1-6;          Phil 4:12-14, 19-20; Mt 22:1-14 [1-10]

Raymond Dufour Father of Donald Dufour

Nancy Evola Mother of Maria Klughenek

Charlann Sirovatka

Please pray for our beloved deceased and for their families

ONLINE GIVING Our parish provides Online Giving as an electronic tool for contributions so you can give via the ‘web’.

Online Giving helps you maintain your giving especially while you cannot be here at Mass. This

also helps the parish streamline our cash flow, especially during this time when mass attendance is not allowed or bad weather or vacation times keep

us from attending our church.

Go to our parish website at www.sij.net to get started today.

Our deepest thank you to all who have already signed up for Online

Giving.

It truly has been such a help to us during this time.

The Blessing of Animals In honor of St. Francis of Assisi The bond between person and pet is like no other relationship, because the communication between fellow creatures is at its most basic. Eye-to-eye, a person with their pet are two creatures of love. No wonder people enjoy the opportunity to take their animal companions to church for a special blessing. Church is the place where the bond of creation is celebrated. As the prayer is offered, your pet may be sprinkled with holy water. Who knows what spiritual benefits may result? This traditional Blessing of Pets, given in honor of the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi [whose Feast Day is celebrated on October 4th], is a reminder of the many ways God shows His love for us. It also is a beautiful reminder of the admonition found in the Book of Genesis... “Let them have dominion over... all the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth....have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” [Genesis 1:26,28]. In His goodness, God gives us everything we need to see His love at work. Because of the restrictions associated with the Coronavirus pandemic, we are unable to hold the traditional blessing this year. However, below is a prayer you might want to use at home, with your family, to offer a special blessing to your pets...

O God, you have done all things wisely, in your goodness you have made us in your image

and given us care over other living things.

Reach out with your right hand and grant that the animals you have created

may serve our needs and that your bounty in the resources of this life

may move us to seek more confidently the goal of eternal life.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

[If holy water is available, you may want to sprinkle you pet with the water of blessing.]

Page Four October 4, 2020

Angels by: Michele Martin [Catholic New World, Chicago]

October is the month to honor the Holy Angels, to grow in our knowledge, and to foster and increase in devotion. Angels we have heard on high;' according to the Christmas carol, and "Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here ..." the prayer says. In Scripture, the archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary, telling her that she would become the mother of Jesus. Most Catholics also are familiar with Clarence, the angel assigned to persuade George Bailey not to kill himself in "It's a Wonderful Life." Such images of angels in popular culture often obscure the truth about them, but their existence is an article of faith, said Peter Kreeft, a Boston College philosophy professor whose books include

"Angels and Demons: What Do We Really Know About Them?" The answer, Kreeft said, is quite a bit. Angels are mentioned throughout the Bible, from Genesis to the Book of Revelation. They are invoked throughout the Mass: in the Confiteor during the Penitential Rite, The Gloria is the song the angels sang at Christ’s birth, the sanctus is the song of the angels from the Old Testament. They have their own section in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and were a topic for St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas and Blessed Pope John Paul II. The catechism says: The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls “angels” is a truth of faith. The witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition (#328). Saint Pope John Paul II said of angels: “Their purely spiritual being implies first of all their non-materiality and their immortality. The angels have no body (even if, in particular circumstances, they reveal themselves under visible forms because of their mission for the good of men), and therefore they are not subject to the laws of corruptibility, which are common to all the material world. Let us note that Sacred Scripture and tradition give the proper name of angels to those pure spirits who chose God, his glory, and his kingdom in the fundamental test of their liberty. They are united to God by the consummate love which flows from the beatific vision, face to face, of the Most Holy Trinity.” According to Scripture and tradition, Kreeft said, we know this: “Angels are created spirits. They have intellects and wills but no bodies. The job of the ones mentioned in Scripture is to be God's messengers and instruments to mankind. Jesus said that children have guardian angels. They are not ghosts or gods.” Indeed, the Church has a name for people who have died and gone to heaven: They are saints, not angels. Angels are active in the world now, just as they were in the past. Jesus said all children have guardian angels, and he never said the angels leave those children when they grow up. “Just as God reveals what we need to know, he sends angels when we most need them. We do not know what times these are; that is why angels usually surprise us. God, however, does know what these times are, both in the lives of each individual and in history.

Pray the Rosary... The Rosary in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary is prayed every weekday in Saint Isaac Jogues Church. Join us to honor the Virgin Mary, and to pray for your own needs, the needs of your family, the Church, and the whole world. There is no surer means of calling down God's blessing upon the family than the daily recitation of the Rosary. (Pope Pius XII) Come honor Mary by praying the Rosary every weekday after the 7am Mass and before the 5pm Mass at 4:30 p.m.. On Saturday, the Rosary is prayed after the 8am Mass. All are welcome to this beautiful devotion to ask Mary to protect our families, our Church, our Country, and the world!

October 4, 2020 Page Five

October: The Month of the Holy Rosary October is traditionally known as the month of the Most Holy Rosary. Early in the month, on October 7th, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. It was originally instituted to celebrate the victories of the Papal Forces over the Turkish invaders in the Battle of Lepanto in the year 1573. The victory, decisive in thwarting the Muslim invasion of Europe, was attributed to the praying of the Rosary. The development of the Rosary has a long history. First, a practice was developed of praying 50 Our Fathers in imitation of the 150 Psalms. Then there was a parallel practice of praying 150 Hail Marys'. Soon a mystery of Jesus’ life was attached to each Hail Mary. Through the legend, which tells of Mary giving the Rosary to St. Dominic, the Dominicans have done much to spread the devotion of the Rosary throughout the world. In the 16th century the Rosary developed into its present form ~ The 15 joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries. The purpose of the Rosary is to help us meditate on the great mysteries of salvation.

Pope Pius XII called it a compendium of the Gospel. The main focus is on the Lord Jesus ~ His birth, life, death and resurrection. The Our Father reminds us that Jesus’ Father is the initiator of salvation. The Hail Marys' remind us to join with Mary in contemplating these mysteries. They also make us aware that Mary was and is intimately joined with her Son in all the mysteries of His earthly and heavenly existence. The Glories remind us that the purpose of all life is the glory of the Holy Trinity. The Rosary appeals to many. It is simple. The constant repetition of words helps create an atmosphere in which to contemplate the mysteries of God. We sense that Jesus and Mary are with us in the joys and sorrows of life. We grow in hope that God will bring us to share in the glory of Jesus and Mary forever. During this month of the Holy Rosary, remember to pray the Rosary alone and with your family. It is a beautiful mediation upon the mysteries of our redemption: And just as the Blessed Virgin Mary was immersed into the mysteries of the Lord’s life, we too are invited into the those same events so that we can inherit the promise of eternal life in Heaven with Him. During this month of October, pray... and ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to pray for you, that you may be made worthy of the promises of Christ! Let this month of the Most Holy Rosary help you to form a life-long, daily habit. Throughout the year, we pray the Rosary daily in our church after the 7am Mass and before the 5pm Mass, Monday through Friday. On Saturday, Rosary is prayed after the 8am mass.

Second Collections through December 2020 Rescheduled Because of the Coronavirus During the time of the Coronavirus pandemic this past spring and summer, national and international collections have been postponed and rescheduled. Now, with upcoming regularly scheduled national collections, there is a formidable list in the face of our own parish’s financial recover and reopening. Nonetheless, the needs of the poor continue, and are heightened at this time. We are being given the opportunity to help those in need. Please be generous... • September 26/27th — Collection to support natural disaster relief efforts from hurricanes, wildfires & floods • October 2/3rd — Rescheduled Peter’s Pence Collection • October 17/18th World Mission Sunday for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith • November 21/22nd — Catholic Campaign for Human Development • December 12/13th — Retirement Fund for Religious Please use the envelopes in your packets on the above dates. We will post reminders in the Sunday Bulletin, and announce them at our Sunday Masses. Please also continue to be generous in your Sunday Offerings. In these difficult times we need to see a generous Sunday Offering to meet our expenses, which continue throughout this pandemic. Consider signing-up for On-Line-Giving through the parish website, or be calling the Rectory Office.

Page Six October 4, 2020

The 40 Days for Life Prayer Vigil is underway. It is a wonderful ‘life saving’ opportunity to join with our community and hundreds of other cities around the world in prayer, fasting and keeping a peaceful vigil in front of a place where children are aborted. Through God, and your prayers and fasting, 40 Days for Life has saved more than 17,000 lives from abortion. It has led to the conversion of clinic workers and has seen many abortion facilities close completely. “We often forget the incredible power of prayer and loving witness, but 40 Days for Life reminds us of the fruits of dialogue with the Lord.”

Please sign up to pray for an hour at Access Clinic in Downers Grove, (1700 75th St.). Visit www.40daysforlife.com/downersgrove and click on “Vigil Schedule”. 40 Days Vigil runs Sept. 23rd – Nov. 1st 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Reserve your spot today! Pr ivate prayer and fasting are also ways in which you can be a part of 40 days for Life. Find a vigil near you at www.40DaysforLife.com. And mark your calendar for Saturday, October 10th at noon for the Our Lady of Fatima rosary rally at Access. More about this later. 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.

Come join the 2020 Public Square Rosary Crusade. As our nation becomes more secular and turns further

away from God, there is a great need for public prayer, repentance and

conversion. On the 103rd Anniversary of Fatima, we ask God to save

America through the Rosary of His Most Holy Mother.

Prayer rallies will take place at over 21,000 locations across America.

Please join us to pray on

Saturday, October 10, at 12:00 Noon 75th Street & Lemont Road / Main Street – S.E. corner

Any questions, contact Maureen Greene 630-850-9199

“Public prayer is far more powerful than private prayer to appease the anger of God and call down His mercy.

And Holy Mother Church, guided by the Holy Ghost, has always advocated public prayer

in times of public tragedy and suffering.” St. Louis Marie de Montfort

Second Collection This Week: Saint Peter’s Pence Collection The second collection this weekend will be the annual Saint Peter’s Pence Collection. Our gifts are sent to Rome for the Holy Father to use in the administration of the Universal Church, and to distribute to His many charitable causes. Please be generous in this weekend’s second collection for our Holy Father, Pope Francis I.

Can you give an hour for Life?

The annual Life Chain will be held Sunday, October 4, 2020 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the corner of Ogden and York in Hinsdale. A Life Chain is formed by people of all faiths standing in prayer and holding signs that read “Abortion Hurts Women”, “Jesus Forgives and Heals”, or “Adoption the Loving Option”. Similar Life Chains will be formed at the same time at various locations along Ogden Avenue in the Chicagoland area. See www.LifeChain.org for more than 1950 Life Chain locations in 1600 cities and towns across the United States and Canada. The signs will be provided. The Life Chain is not political and does not break any laws. It’s simple yet powerful. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!! All ages are welcome. Questions? Contact Amy Keane at keane1657@sbcglobal.net or 630-234-3866.

ST. ISAAC JOGUES SCHOOL

Weekly News

October 4, 2020 Page Seven

Welcome to our New Teachers!! We are thrilled to welcome our new faculty and staff to SIJ for the 2020-2021 school year.

This week we will highlight our new 3rd grade teachers.

Mrs. Gallagher is very excited to be a par t of the St. Isaac Jogues community this year . After graduating from St. Mary's of Notre Dame, her teaching career began in a Catholic school in Carmel, California, then to Germany to teach children of American servicemen. After staying home to raise five children, being the Director of Religious Education at her parish in Wheaton, and substitute teaching in public schools, she decided to go back to her happy beginnings of teaching in a place where faith and learning come together to educate wonderful children.

Mrs. Hicks has taught students in 2nd through 8th grades. This is her 5th year in a row

teaching third grade. Mrs. Hicks received a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications & Advertising and completed her Masters of Business Administration degree at Bradley University. Mrs. Hick's realized God was calling her to be a teacher. She then went back to school and earned her second Master's degree with a Teaching Certification Type 3 Certificate with middle school endorsements from Aurora University. Mrs. Hicks and her husband have three boys. They support each other wholeheartedly, as they work, play, and pray together. Mrs. Hicks has made her third grade class official honorary members of her family!

WELCOME TO ST. ISAAC JOGUES SCHOOL!! WE ARE SO GLAD YOU’RE HERE!

Mrs. Gallagher Mrs. Hicks

Page Eight October 4, 2020

Teaching Our Children What it Means to be A People of Life This October will mark the 49th anniversary of the nation’s Respect Life Month. Although some of our children are still too young to fully understand the issue, we are all a People of Life, and we can begin to teach our children the “Three Rs” of a pro-life education: 1.) Recognize that every human life is special and sacred, no matter how small, sick, or old; 2.) Respect all human life and every living thing; 3.) Take Responsibility in helping to protect and defend all human life. So, how do we allow our young children to maintain their innocence and joy of life while also instilling a sense of compassion and prayerfulness for the unborn? How do we educate our older children without adding to their many pressures and fears? Here are some ideas: ♥ Children can be taught at a very young age that life begins at conception ~ from when the very first cell of a new baby is created. We must emphasize that life is a continuum. Just as a growing baby in its mother’s womb is less developed than a newborn baby, so is a toddler less developed than an eight-year-old child, who is less developed than a teenager, and so on. ♥ Explain how babies grow by reading books that show pictures of developing babies in the mother’s womb. There are three children’s books that explain, with beautiful illustrations, the wonderful nine-month journey of a baby in utero: Angel in the Waters by Regina Doman, The Miracle of Me by Amy Pedersen and Before You Were Born by Jennifer Davis. These books beautifully show children that, indeed, their life began before the day they were born! Check with the SIJ school library, the Hinsdale Public Library or wherever books are sold. ♥ As your family prays together, remind your children to pray for babies living inside “mommies’ bellies,” and for the parents who have just found out they are going to have a baby. They can pray for the disabled, the terminally ill, the elderly, the handicapped ~ all people who need our protection and deserve our respect. Older children can pray for more people to support pro-life causes and for the effectiveness of those who do pro-life work. ♥You can talk to your older children about the fascinating facts of fetal development, i.e., the baby’s heart starts beating at 3 weeks, at 2 months all body systems are present and the baby can suck its thumb, and at 12 weeks the facial characteristics already resemble those of the parents. There are many facts that your children might find very “cool” while simultaneously developing a greater understanding of the importance of protecting that human life. A good web site for facts about fetal development is www.nrlc.org/archive/abortion/facts/fetaldevelopment.html ♥ Encourage your older children to learn more and become active. The Respect Life Ministry has numerous opportunities through which teenagers can become involved. They can join or start a prolife club at their school, pray at the local abortion clinic or volunteer at a local pregnancy center. You can write or call your Illinois and US legislators if your teenager or family is interested in urging them to support pro-life legislation. If you have any questions, concerns or would like more information about how you can talk to your children about abortion or other Life issues, please call the parish office and ask for the Respect Life Ministry.

Join the Patrio c Rosary on October 7

Wednesday, October 7, is the Feast of the Holy Rosary. On this special day of intercessory prayer, we ask Almighty God to have mercy on our nation and give us the grace to vote in conformity with His will.

All parishioners are invited to join in praying the Patriotic Rosary at 5:30 p.m. immediately following 5 p.m. mass. Through the holy Rosary, we invoke the intercession of Our Blessed Lady on behalf of our country and world that is so in need of peace and reconciliation.

The Patriotic Rosary consecrates each U.S. state to Our Lady in a beautiful way. Each mystery begins with a short quote from a speech/letter from a founding father or an important person from the early years of the Republic and ends with a patriotic hymn.

Please let friends, both near and far, know that this special opportunity to pray the rosary will be live streamed. Let’s storm Heaven with our prayers and call upon the assistance of all the holy Angels and Saints.

A few important things to keep in mind: Participants in the Patriotic Rosary must sign up

via SignUpGenius for 5 p.m. mass on October 7.

Mass and the Patriotic Rosary on October 7 will be live streamed. Feel free to invite those who cannot attend to pray with us at www.sij.net

Masks must be worn, and social distancing will be followed.

The Parish Center will be open to handle overflow.

God Bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her,

through the night with the light from above.

October 1, 2020 Dear St. Isaac Jogues School/Religious Education Parents, The month of October has special significance in the life of the Church because it is Respect Life Month. It is a time to educate ourselves and others about life issues, to pray, and to affirm the teachings and truth of Jesus Christ in all parts of our daily life. We are all called by our baptism to defend life at all stages from conception to natural death. God Our Father is the only Author of Life. Through the teachings of His Son, Jesus Christ, we are lifted up by this truth. This October, our parish will join many parishes across the diocese and our nation and erect a Field of Crosses in solemn memorial to the nearly 3,500 innocent lives being abor ted daily in the United States. This is just one way our parish acknowledges the tragedy wrought by a diminished respect for the gift of life, as we seek to raise prayerful awareness and action to right this horrible wrong. It is also a message to all post-abortive men and women that the Church is a place of mercy, forgiveness and hope. We stand ready to assist those who need help dealing with the aftermath of an abortion. Various opportunities for assistance are available. Should you need help, contact one of our priests. Our hope is that this display moves people to work toward seeking mercy and peace, to become more active in protecting the unborn, and to pray. We are sensitive to the reality that the crosses raise questions in the minds of children. Abortion is not an easy topic to discuss. It is important for children to begin learning, and to continue learning, the truth of this matter. Attached is an information sheet with age- appropriate ways to help parents approach life issues, specifically abortion, with their children. The crosses will be erected on the parish lawn from October 4 through October 18. Hopefully, the visual impact of the Field of Crosses will be a powerful and moving reminder for your children, one that will lead them toward a yearning to learn, pray and act to end abortion. “Children, too, have an apostolate of their own. In their own measure, they are true living witnesses of Christ among their companions.” (Second

Vatican Council, Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People). We thank you for your attention to this important aspect of our Catholic faith. We encourage you to continue to familiarize yourself with the many aspects of the pro-life stance and mission of the Church. Know that your priests, deacons, staff and Respect Life Ministry are eager to answer your questions and help you grow in your faith and love for Jesus-who is the “Author and Giver of Life” May the Lord bless you, and may Mary, the Mother of Life, keep you in Her care! Sincerely, Father William De Salvo Pastor, St. Isaac Jogues Father Michal Twaruzek Parochial Vicar Amy Keane Respect Life Ministry

October 4, 2020 Page Nine

Thanks to the residents of Hinsdale and the many

volunteers who made our Annual Seeds of Service

another huge success.

We collected, sorted, and delivered an

incredible amount of food and other needed items

for various charities.

It was a wonderful day for our parish as we were able to accomplish great things for God and neighbor, in a safe,

faith-filled effort, where we all received far more than we gave.