Interested in helping?

Call the Parish Office at 352-8748.

It will be held on Wednesday, May 29, 2013, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Holy Cross Parish Center.

Hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served.

If you are planning to attend, please call the Parish Office at 352-8748.

We’re asking all Holy Cross parishioners to pray the Holy Spirit Novena for the parish during the nine days leading up to Pentecost Sunday.

The novena begins on Friday, May 10th and can be found www.praymorenovenas.com.

Go to the site, enter your name and email address, and you’ll get the novena prayers for the day delivered to your inbox.

You can also go directly here to get the Holy Spirit Novena prayers if you don’t want to sign up for email deliveries.

Please pray for our pastor, our staff, and an ever increasing growth in faith for our parishioners.

Of course, you can pray for any personal intentions as well.

We also collect non-perishables goods for St. Vincent de Paul Society, who among other things, help single mothers who chose life instead of abortion.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 18th, at 12:00 p.m. and please BRING A FRIEND!!

Our goal is to collect as many NEW baby items as possible, from baby beds and car seats, to pacifiers and rattles, with everything in between that is needed for newborns:  formula, sheets, blankets, clothes, bottles, diapers, wipes and so on.

Monetary donations are also welcome.

There will be fun games to play and light refreshments to eat and all are welcome.

Please call the Parish Office at 352-8748 if you plan to attend and if you are unable to attend you can still make a donation by dropping it off at the Parish Center.

This may seem like a small thing to do, but it’s amazing what a BIG help it is to mothers who have very little.

Thank you for your generosity and for supporting LIFE.

Well, now’s your chance to study the Catechism, while being guided by experts who will help you understand it.

As part of the Year of Faith, Pope Emeritus Benedict asked all the faithful (that’s you) to study the Catechism and become reacquainted with the richness of the Catholic doctrine.

It’s also the 20th anniversary of the Catechism, so it’s the perfect time to give the Catechism a go.

Our summer Catechism study will be on Mondays at 6:30 p.m., beginning June 10th and will run for 4 sessions.

This summer session will study the section of the Catechism on Prayer. There’s 4 sections to the Catechism called Pillars. They are: Creed, Liturgy, Sacraments, and Prayer. Prayer is the last section but it’s also the shortest…perfect for the summer.

We plan to continue these Catechism studies and do the largest section, the Creed, this fall. Stay tuned for more on that later this summer.

The cost will be $25 for materials–this is a workbook that will be used the study. However, the same workbook will by used for all the studies so you won’t have to buy anything else later.

To register, call the Parish Office at 352-8748. The deadline for registration is May 28th.

Photo Credit: thicke via Compfight cc

Those who are able to do so should bring a covered dish and their own table service.

A Parish Nurse will be available for blood pressure checks and health-related questions.

We will be discussing plans for the summer and enjoying each other’s company.

There will be no nursery.

We hope to see you there.

Last weekend began the 2013 Annual Diocesan Appeal.

Our goal this year is $77,991. Much less than last year.

We easily met last year’s goal so I’m sure your generosity will carry us through this year as well.

The Annual Diocesan Appeal is a very necessary fundraiser for our diocese and our parish. Basically, it’s how the diocese pays the bills. You financially support the parish, and the parish financially supports the diocese.

There are many services you benefit from in giving generously to the Diocesan Appeal. Funds are used to:

• Educate our future priests
• Support retired clergy
• Fund Catholic Charities relief services
• Pay salaries and fund programs in the departments of Catholic Schools, Religious Education, Evangelization, and Family Life
• Support the Catholic Newman Centers on the many college campus’ around the diocese
• Support the office of Divine Worship ensuring the integrity of our Catholic liturgies

Your financial gift is necessary for the administration, oversight, services, and programs that run our diocese and keep our parishes running smoothly. It would be impossible to operate this large operation spread across the entire east/west borders of Illinois without these funds.

Please consider giving generously to this year’s Annual Diocesan Appeal. And don’t worry that you’ll give too much and go over our goal. If that happens 100% of the funds go back into the parish.

You can get donation slips in the back of church or in the parish office. Call 352-8748 for more details.

Thank you for your support.

Save the date!

The 5th Annual Catholic Connected will be on Saturday, June 1st.

This year the guest speaker is author and radio personality Elizabeth Ficocelli. Elizabeth is the author of 14 books including Seven From Heaven: How Your Family Can Find Healing, Strength and Protection in the Sacraments; Lourdes: Font of Faith, Hope & Charity; Shower of Heavenly Roses: Stories of the Intercession of St. Thérèse of Lisieux; and The Imitation of Christ for Children.

Elizabeth is a frequent guest on EWTN television as well as on Catholic radio. She is the host of “Answering The Call” on St. Gabriel Catholic Radio AM 820, in which she interviews priests, deacons, and religious about their spiritual journeys.

Elizabeth talk is called, “The Year of Faith: Encountering Christ Through the Sacraments.”

We hope every Catholic wil plan to be a part of this great event.

In mid-May, the Parish Office will have free tickets/name tags for attendance.

Whether you know movies, math, history, pop culture, or maybe just random trivia–form a team, register, and come have fun.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for auction and raffles, dinner at 6:00 p.m., trivia at 7:00 p.m.

$150 per team/table of eight.

Click here to download the Trivia Night registration form

Hope to see you there!