All Are Welcome
Welcome to St. Gertrude Parish
Confirmation info - how to sign up to attend/May retreat info/appropriate dress/rehearsal info
Here is the Latest News:
Congratulations to our First Communion Families
Confirmation Info: Sign up to Attend Confirmation/May Retreat Info/Dress Code/Rehearsal Info
Confirmation Info: Sign up to Attend Confirmation/May Retreat Info/Dress Code/Rehearsal Info
Confirmation Info: Sign up to Attend Confirmation/May Retreat Info/Dress Code/Rehearsal Info
Confirmation Info: Sign up to Attend Confirmation/May Retreat Info/Dress Code/Rehearsal Info
Confirmation Info: Sign up to Attend Confirmation/May Retreat Info/Dress Code/Rehearsal Info
Resurrection Compost Project
Confirmation Info: Sign up to Attend Confirmation/May Retreat Info/Dress Code/Rehearsal Info
Mass Schedule, Registration, Live-Stream & Rectory Hours
Mass Schedule, Registration, Live-Stream & Rectory Hours
Missing the Latest Parish News? Check out (or Sign up for) our Weekly E-Bulletins
Mass Schedule, Registration, Live-Stream & Rectory Hours
Missing the Latest Parish News? Check out (or Sign up for) our Weekly E-Bulletins
Missing the Latest Parish News? Check out (or Sign up for) our Weekly E-Bulletins
Missing the Latest Parish News? Check out (or Sign up for) our Weekly E-Bulletins
Read our Religious Education Weekly Newsletter
Missing the Latest Parish News? Check out (or Sign up for) our Weekly E-Bulletins
Missing the Latest Parish News? Check out (or Sign up for) our Weekly E-Bulletins
Donate to St. Gertrude
Support St. Gertrude Parish & our Ministries
Thank you for supporting our parish!
Parishioners are welcome to text the word Donate to 1.773.741.9505 to make a donation via their phone. ! Click here to donate via PayPal.
Congratulations to our first communion families
On Saturday, May 8, 32 children from the Religious Ed program and NCA made their First Communion at 10:00 am in church. We are so proud of their hard work and are so blessed by their kind hearts and loving presence in our parish. Congratulations!
Parish News
Religious Ed Update: First Communion is This Saturday, May 8; Confirmation is Saturday, May 22 & Sunday, May 23; Classes End on Tuesday, May 18
We are coming to the end of our Religious Ed program for the school year! The next few weeks are very busy, especially for families of children making their First Communion and their Confirmation.
I am so heartened by the commitment our Religious Ed families have shown, especially in light of the day-to-day stressors of the pandemic and that our weekly classes were held online. We had 50 children enrolled, and they showed up each Tuesday evening ready to learn and happy to participate. I am also so grateful for our teachers, who worked so hard to engage their students, an especially difficult task given that our classes were held after a long day of e-learning at our students' regular school.
Our final class will be Tuesday, May 18. Registration forms for next year will be sent with next week's Religious Ed newsletter and will be available on our website next Friday, May 14.
This Saturday, May 8 is our parish's First Communion Mass! There are 32 children from the Religious Ed program and NCA who will make their First Communion at 10:00 am in church. The children have worked so hard to prepare, attending both classes and retreats online, creating their banners at home, and committing to attending an in-person rehearsal today, Thursday, May 6 at 6:30 pm in church. We can't wait to share the pictures with you!
We also have a number of teens from NCA and the Religious Ed program making their Confirmation on Saturday, May 22 at the 5:00 pm Mass and Sunday, May 23 at the 10:30 am Mass. They too have worked hard, and all have completed service projects and reflections, attended numerous retreats on top of our regular Tuesday classes, researched saints, and written letters to Father Rich.
Thank you again to our Religious Ed families, who truly honored their commitment to nurturing their children's faith and our teachers and parish priests who helped guide them during the stressors of the pandemic. Please keep all of our students, especially our children making the First Communion and Confirmation, in your prayers!
~ Kevin Chears, Pastoral Associate
Resurrection Compost Program
I am excited to inform you of a new composting/gardening project that we are starting at St. Gertrude this spring. Working in partnership with a composting team from St. Gregory, we will build three new composting bins. Parishioners can donate their composting materials to a specific bin before or after coming to church. The composting material then becomes a natural fertilizer, which we will use to grow a vegetable garden. Once the vegetables are ready for harvest, they will be donated to St. Thomas of Canterbury’s soup kitchen to feed the poor and the hungry.
This is a win-win program in every facet and is a rooted in the principles of Laudate Sí. Pope Francis tells us, “As stewards of God’s creation, we are called to make the earth a beautiful garden for the human family.” The Resurrection Compost Program is a full circle project bringing new life to discarded debris and using that new life to grow food to help feed the needy and marginalized people in our community.
Of course, a program of this size will need many volunteers. I am hoping that some of the many gardeners in our parish will wish to lend their talents to this project. It will also be an ideal format for students looking for service hours.
In the coming weeks, there will be detailed instructions on how this program works and to what aspects parishioners can lend their talents. Please be on the lookout for these updates that will contain information on how to sign up and get involved. Information will be posted in our weekly e-bulletin and also on our parish website.
I look forward to implementing this program at our parish and bringing to life the ideas of Laudate Sí.
Please email me at mcbarker@stgertrudechicago.org if you'd like to be part of this initiative or if you have any questions.
~ Mary Clare Barker
Congratulations to Father Rich, Father Mike Gabriel, and Father Mike Bradley!
This month, Father Rich celebrates 42 years of priesthood, Father Mike Bradley celebrates 43 years, and Father Mike Gabriel celebrates 37 years! Thank you all, including Father Louis, whose anniversary is in January, for your loving service to our church and our parish.
Father Bill Kenneally's 60th Ordination Anniversary: Cards Requested
Father Bill Kenneally, pastor of St. Gertrude for 22 years, is celebrated the 60th anniversary of his ordination this year on May 1. Currently, Fr. Bill is residing at St. Benedict's nursing home in Niles, a retirement home for priests.
Anniversary greetings can be sent to him here anytime in May:
Rev. Bill Kenneally
c/o Ascension Living St. Benedict Village
6930 Touhy Ave.
Niles, IL 60714
Please consider including a photograph with your name(s) on the back and date.
Renew My Church Update
We have begun implementing the tri-parish transition process as a result of the Renew My Church initiative. Fr. Noel Reyes from St. Jerome presided at the Spanish language Mass at St. Ignatius on Sunday, April 18, followed by a gathering and Q & A opportunity for parishioners of St. Ignatius with parishioners and pastors from St. Jerome and St. Gertrude.
On Sunday, April 25, I presided at the 9:00 am English language Mass and all of us will again were available at a gathering for St. Ignatius parishioners after the Mass.
In the next few weeks, we will share some dates when we have invited St. Ignatius parishioners to visit St. Jerome and/or St. Gertrude parishes to see if they are interested in joining either parish.
As we have been discussing since this initiative began, while we expect most of the Spanish-speaking parishioners to transition to St. Jerome and most of the English-speaking parishioners to transition to St. Gertrude, it is up to each parishioner to make their own determination. For parishioners with children, Religious Education may be a significant part of the decision-making process. Families may choose to join St. Jerome, where they have the option of a Spanish-language R.E. program and worshipping in Spanish. Or if they prefer an English-speaking R.E. program and worship in English, they may opt to join St. Gertrude.
~ Father Rich
Chicago Vaccine Angels Will Help Seniors and Essential Workers Schedule a Vaccine
If you or a loved one aged 65 and over are having difficulty finding a vaccine, or have trouble using a computer to book one, a group called Chicago Vaccine Angels will help you. Started by an Evanston teen in February, the group has booked over 1,200 people for vaccines in the Chicago area for free.
Please fill out this google form for help. If you have any questions, please email chicagovaccineangels@gmail.com or call 312-600-8925.
RCIA: Celebrating the Easter Sacraments
On Holy Saturday, April 3 at the Easter Vigil, those in the RCIA celebrated the Easter Sacraments. Congratulations to Jessica Navarro, Corina Cleja, and Daniel Geihsler on becoming members of the Catholic Church and our faith community!
First Reconciliation
On Monday, March 15, 31 students from Northside Catholic Academy and our parish's Religious Education program made their First Reconciliation. We were so grateful to the students who worked hard to prepare for this important day and for the loving support they received from their families.
Special thanks to the following Religious Ed and NCA teachers for preparing their students - Kevin Chears, Ginevra Clark, Ewa Jablonska, and Cristine Salazar.
We also thank Mary Clare Barker, our musician, as well as Father Mike Gabriel, Father Mike Bradley, Father Louis, and Father Rich.
Golden Wedding Anniversary Celebration Planned for Sunday, September 19, 2021
The Archdiocese of Chicago's Golden Wedding Anniversary Mass is scheduled to be held on Sunday, September 19, 2021 at 2:30 pm at Holy Name Cathedral. Couples celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this year are invited to participate. Please note, this Mass is planned as a live event with participants attending on-site.
With the uncertainty of how the COVID-19 virus will be this fall, this Mass may need to be moved to an online liturgy due to ongoing mitigation efforts associated with the pandemic. More details on the Mass, including location and relevant COVID-19 precautions, will be available in early summer 2021. Couples interested in participating can register here. Please contact familyministries@archchicago.org with any questions.
St. Gertrude’s Virtual Auction!
Thank You for Supporting our Parish Auction
We are so grateful for the overwhelming support of our parish's Auction 2021! We have raised more than $28,000 - exceeding our target of $25,000!
There were so many people that helped make the Auction a success. The Auction Committee - David Sullivan, Laura Pigozzi, and Kathy Krokar - did an amazing job planning the auction and guiding us all through it! Dorothea Tobin worked so hard to get donations for our auction, Mary Clare generously shared her incredible musical talent with us, and Greg Pierce served as our auctioneer at our live event. We are equally grateful for Margie Guadagno, Laurie Hasbrook, and Kevin Chears, some of our amazing Rectory staff, who put in so much time to make the Auction happen.
Thank you to everyone that donated items, placed a bid, and joined in our Live Auction. We are so grateful that so many people helped and participated!
If you did bid on an item and win, it is available to pick up at our Rectory office, open from 9:00 am-2:30 pm Monday-Saturday and 8:30-11:30 am on Sunday. Please call us at 773.764.3621 before coming and observe the Parishioner Guidelines for Visiting the Rectory.
If those times do not work for you, please call the office or email stgertrude1420@stgertrudechicago.org to make alternative arrangements.
mother's day may crowning
On Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 9, our annual May Crowning will take place at the 10:30 am Mass. Families are encouraged to bring flowers for our altar. Children who made their First Communion on Saturday, May 8 are welcome to wear their dresses and suits to Mass.