Sat. Apr. 15 Easter Vigil
8:00 Miguel Bazquez, Jr.
by Maria Gulierraz
5:30 No Mass this week
7:00 People of St. Gerard Majella

Sun. Apr. 16 Easter, Resurrection of the Lord
8:00 People of St. Gerard Majella
11:00 People of St. Gerard Majella

THANK YOU
Thank you to all whom contributed to the collection on the weekend of April 1st and 2nd. The amount collected was $1,844.00.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SICK
Jack Seniw
Ann Knight
Rita Schreiber
Len Murphy
Corine Murphy
Ann Dytrych
Bill O'Connor
Adeline Deneen
Betty Nemecek
Helen Blaha
Betty Paschal
Ann Mysliwiec
Linda Jones
Osie Dompier
Eileen Desidero
Bernadine Smith
Chloe Ochoa
Terry El
Eugene Orris
Margaret Lee
Marie Craig
Brittany Dubs
Mr. Graves
Dorothy Loeffler
C. Campbell
Marge Straub
Shaun Deneen
E. Thielmann
Della Herrod
Sandra Thomas
Virgil Barron
Dorothy Barron
Toni Velez
Loretta & John
Szewczyowski
Jackie Weirbicki

Anyone who is ill in our parish and would like to receive Holy Communion; call (708) 331-8400. If you can be removed or added from the sick list at this time, please call the parish office.

DATES TO REMEMBER
Apr. 9 Guild Bake Sale (All Masses)
Dinner & Theater (3 PM) Shevlin Hall
Apr. 17 Guild Election of Officers (7 PM)
Apr. 23 Ministry Meeting (10:00 AM)
May 7 First Communion

DINNER AND THEATER
Ascension St. Susanna and St. Gerard Majella will be co-hosting a Dinner and Show event on Sunday, April 9, 2006 at 3:00 in the afternoon in Shevlin Hall. We invite everyone to attend and have some fun and good food. The Dinner will be first, followed by a one act play presented by the children (plus a few adults) of both churches. Tickets are $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children under 12. For more information or to purchase tickets call the parish office.

WOMEN'S GUILD MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
Once again it is time to invite all women of St. Gerard Majella Parish to join the Women's Guild. Our meetings are only one hour each month. Dues are $5.00 for the year. A real bargain! Envelopes will be in the back of the church. They can be dropped in the weekly collection basket at each Mass. We have a wonderful and dedicated group of ladies. They help at all the parish functions and events. It is through their help and hopefully your help in the future that we will continue to have such a vibrant and devoted group to aid our church.
If you have questions please call Shirley Roskos at (708) 560-0071.

WOMEN'S GUILD NEWS
The Women's Guild will be accepting nominations for club officers at their March 20th meeting. Anyone interested in running for office should contact Frances Smith and/or attend the meeting on March 20 at 7 PM in the school meeting room. This organization does a great deal of good for our parish. Every woman in the parish is strongly urged to join this organization. You will enjoy the fellowship of the women in the parish and contribute to the well being and energy of our parish.

EASTER BASKETS
Fr. Altman and Fr. Gilbert will bless "Easter Baskets" on Saturday, April 15th in the church at 1:00 PM. This is an old and very interesting tradition. Why not bring a basket of food (which you will eat Easter Sunday) and be a part of this beautiful celebration.

MINISTRY MEETING
There will be a meeting for all the present and future members of the following ministries: Readers, Eucharistic, and Ministries of Care. Father Gilbert would like to review procedures and train new members of each ministry. The meeting will be held on April 23rd, at 10:00 AM in the Church Gathering Center. All are encouraged to attend. Coffee and doughnuts will be served.

HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE
Apr. 10 Parish Reconciliation Service (7 PM)
Apr. 13 Holy Thursday Mass (7 PM)
Apr. 14 Good Friday (7 PM)
Apr. 15 Easter Vigil (7 PM)
No 5:30 Mass
Apr. 16 Easter Masses (8 & 11 AM)

The above schedule shows the times and dates for Holy Week. You are strongly encouraged to attend all the Masses. On Thursday, Apr. 13th, Friday, Apr. 14th, and Saturday, Apr. 15th there will be no morning (8 AM) Masses celebrated. On Saturday, Apr. 15th there will be no 5:30 PM Mass. On Monday, Apr. 10th, there will be a parish Reconciliation Service at 7 PM in the church.
If you have any questions, please call the parish office.

FR. JOE'S 30TH ANNIVERSARY
Mark your calendars for Sunday, May 23rd at 1:00 PM. We will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of Fr. Altman's ordination as a priest. There will be an afternoon of great food, friendship and fun. The festivities will be held at the Orland Chateau located at 145 LaGrange Road in Orland Park.
Please join Fr. Joe, his family and friends from Ascension / St. Susanna, St. Daniel the Prophet, St. Julianna, and St. Gerard Majella in celebrating this milestone in our pastor's life.
To reserve your seat, please call the parish office any weekday afternoon. Reservations must be made and paid for by May 7th. The cost of the event is $50.00 per person. The cost of the tickets will cover the meal and a special remembrance for Fr. Altman.
This would be a lovely opportunity to show our pastor how much we appreciate all that he does for us.
There will also be a card in the back of the church in the coming weeks for everyone to sign and write messages on.

MOTHER AND DAUGHTER EVENING
The Family Ministries and the Respect Life Offices of the Archdiocese of Chicago, in conjunction with Gordon Tech High School are, sponsoring a Mother-Daughter evening program for high school-aged girls and their mothers. The program will be offered on Sunday, April 23, at Gordon Tech. There will be two national speakers, a delicious buffet and music. The topic will be the true beauty of God's gift of womanhood in today's world. For more information call Maria Garcia at (312) 751-8273.

WHAT'S YOUR CATHOLIC IQ?
The answers to last week's questions are: 1. (c); 2. (a); 3. (b); 4. (d); 5. (d).

This week's questions are:
1. An organization of Catholic laymen who support each other and promote works of charity is the (a) Knights of Columbus; (b) Knights of Malta; (c) Knights of the Round Table; (d) Knights of the Garter.
2. The faithful Old Testament young woman who told her mother-in-law Naomi "Wherever you go, I will go" was (a) Sarah; (b) Ruth; (c) Jezebel; (d) Elizabeth.
3. The scholarly saint who led a wild life but later became a famous Docyor of the Church was (a) St. Augustine; (b) St. Bartholomew; (c) St. Thaddeus; (d) St. Boniface
4. At Mass right after the Gospel is proclaimed, we say (a) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ; (b) Thanks be to God; (c) Lord, hear our prayer; (d) And also with you.
5. The only Apostle left at the foot of the cross with the three women was (a) Jude; (b) Antoninus; (c) John; (d) Peter.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
Our Lenten journey of repentance and conversion has led us to the gates of holy city of Jerusalem. Mark's Gospel is about the crowds cheering and blessing Jesus with palms and shouts of "Hosanna" which means "Pray, save us!". They were showing this teacher and healer public respect and honor. Today's Gospel continues the story a few days later. Now the crowds are calling for Jesus' death.
Jesus' passion and death have held the power to bring billions of people to redemption across the expanse of two millennia. Palm Sunday begins this holiest of weeks. It beckons us to enter the Paschal Mystery once more. Let us enter this week with hearts willing to be transformed again by a paschal love that has the power to lift us from the grave of sin and into the light and life that comes only from God.

O God of love and mercy,
From the cross your Son cried out to you. Hear the prayer of your people baptized in his image. We ask this in the name of Jesus, the crucified and risen one, who is Lord forever and ever. Amen.