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Our long awaited Spring is finally here. As Mother Earth renews herself with wonderful tulips, pansies and daffodils, I am seeing wonderful energy here at St. Mary’s.

With Bishop Scantlebury’s heartfelt presence with us, as he confirmed five leaders to go forth into the world, everyone could feel the energy and joy of community friendships in the Great Hall that morning. The experience was absolutely electric. I was dazzled by the face of Christ in our midst. That face was you.

This wonderful energy continued a couple of weeks later at the Rosebud Gala Dinner. Once again it was the experience of a joyful, giving, committed community to make the event a true success going into its tenth year.

With at least four Baptisms coming soon and a growing Holy Communion class, I see the Holy Spirit at work. In last week’s Gospel, John 14:15-21 we read: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him or knows him.”

St. Mary’s is blessed with spirit-filled, people-gifted people. With this being said, we need all of you to participate in some small way. Let me help you “plug in” your special gift and talent as we go forward building up our community. If you are not already involved in some way, come be a ray of light with your special gifts.

Thank you for allowing me to serve you.

In His Love,
Mother Marilyn

The annual Letter Carrier Food Drive is Saturday May 10, 2008. You can help participate in two ways. First, You can donate non-perishable food items. Put them in a bag and leave the bag by your mail box. Second, do you have a few hours on Saturday, May 10, 2008 between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to help sort the food that has been donated? Please help show your support of this important food drive. Contact the Parish Office at 815-459-1009 for further information or to let us know you would love to help! This would be a great family or Youth Group event!!!!

St. Mary’s warmly welcomes back Mother Caroline Bain, who will be our guest priest on Sunday, May 11. She will be with us in the absence of Mother Marilyn, who is enjoying a wonderful family reunion weekend, with relatives from as far away as Europe!

Mother Caroline received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Mundelein College, and her MDiv degree from Seabury-Western Seminary, Evanston IL, being ordained to the Diaconate and then to the Priesthood in 1983. Over the years she has served as a Curate, Vicar, Interim Rector and Supply Priest at congregations in Illinois, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Iowa and Michigan. “Retired” since 1996, Mother Bain continues to do supply work for clergy in the Diocese of Chicago.

Mother Bain, who has been with us off and on for a number of years, is a simply delightful woman, full of energy and a love of people, and we thank her for being with us during Mother Marilyn’s absence. We encourage people to introduce themselves to her and help make her feel at home.

The Feast of Pentecost, on Sunday, May 18, concludes the great Fifty Days of celebration that began at Easter. The name Pentecost was taken over by the Church from Judaism and means, literally, “fiftieth” day. Among the Jews this festival was known as the Feast of Weeks, and it was a thanksgiving for the wheat harvest. In the time of our Lord the Jews also commemorated at this feast the giving of the Law to Moses, and thus marked the foundation of the Jewish segment of our Judeo-Christian tradition.

The importance of this Feast for Christians, observed from the very beginning of the Christian Church, comes from the passage in Acts of the Apostles 2:1-4 when Christ’s promise to his apostles of the power and gift from above was fulfilled, the time when the Church was infused with the Holy Spirit. Like its Jewish feast of the same name, the Christian Pentecost marks a time of foundation or new beginning, the foundation of the Christian era. It is also interesting to note that this Feast (and not Christmas!) ranks second among Christian festivals, after Easter itself.

The secondary name of the feast – “Whitsunday” – was derived from the English and other northern European peoples who called it “White Sunday” from the white garments worn by the newly baptized on this day, since the climatic conditions in the northern lands made this Feast much more highly favored than Easter for the conferring of baptisms.

This is one of the three feast days of our Anglican tradition that are so important to the spiritual and liturgical life of committed Church people. We encourage all members to be present on this happy and Spirit-filled day. And, you might want to wear a bit of red this day, as that is the liturgical color, reminding us of the tongues of fire that seemed to rest upon the heads of the Apostles.

Two special banners will be hung for the Feast of Pentecost, banners which, a number of years ago, were produced through the talented, artistic efforts of Catherine Carroll and Mary Hoelzel. The banners, hung in the Sanctuary of the church, graphically depict the giving of the Holy Spirit as seen in the imagery of the tongues of fire resting upon the Apostles.

This gives us another opportunity to thank these two women for their lovely and visually powerful gift to our Parish!

We wish to thank everyone who has been praying, and participating in our fundraisers over the last several years. The recent Rosebud Gala was a wonderful evening with great food and many laughs. It was great fun watching several people trying to out-bid each other for the wonderful auction items, and many participants went home with lovely raffle items. Many thanks go out again to Dave Palmer, our auctioneer, and to El Nyberg (“Ms. Vanna”). Thank you everyone for all your support as we continue on in His name to the Rosebud Reservation.

We still have room for more volunteers if you'd like to travel with us – June 14 to June 21. Please contact the church office at 815/459-1009 if you are interested. Thank you!