"Let them praise His name with dancing..."
Psalm 149: 3

We did just that two Sundays ago as we were honored to host the Elk Grove Orchesis Dancers and what a wonderful performance they provided.  Under the leadership and tutelage of our Lisette Rodriguez, these young and talented high school students gave to us of themselves; their energy, their abilities, their passion.  The gift of dance God gave to them, they in turn made gift to us.  Personally, I look forward to their return to us...all are welcome to come, worship, sing, dance and rejoice in the Lord.

When we gather to worship, God wishes us to celebrate His Son with all our energy.  Whether or not we are blessed with pitch and the ability to carry a tune, still we sing aloud and make for one, beautiful voice.  As we offer peace to one another, we don't just turn to those sitting next to us, not at St. Nicholas.  We get up, walk the entire worship space and make sure we share peace, blessings, a smile and maybe a few words of encouragement and support with everyone.  I love this and I would not change how we share peace for anything.  We sit in silence as we meditate or if you will, we practice "mindfulness" together; absorbing and embracing the words shared in the passages from Sacred Scripture, the preached homily and again after we receive the Body and Blood of Christ.  We need this extra time to let God "work within us," and silence is the best way for us to truly "hear" what God is saying.

There are so many ways for us to worship and praise our God.  Certainly, first and foremost is by gathering on Saturday and Sunday to pray as a community.  Also, and just as important, we celebrate our faith with acts of mercy and ministry and there are plenty of opportunities for this at our spiritual home, our St. Nicholas Church.  What we must be mindful of is that our church is open 7 days a week, the Hall is used every day, afternoon and evening.  There's always some thing going on.  My friends, this is wonderful and exactly what should be happening in a church.  Personally, I find that a church void of activity and functions is a church that is dying.  Heaven forbid that such a thing happen to our church, no thank you. 

I cordially invite each and everyone to come, worship together, come and sing together, come and pray together, come and plant a garden together, come and spruce up our facility together, come and be part of the life of our church.  Remember what I shared with you some time ago, 'church begins with 'ch' and ends with 'ch,' U R in the middle.'  Simple but so very, very true.  Let's celebrate and rejoice in all the gifts we have received, gifts both great, small and everything in between. 

Amen.

 

-Manny

The blessing of Easter foods is a time-treasured tradition in many parts of the world.  We at St. Nicholas have embraced this tradition, too.

On Saturday, April 4th at 12 Noon in the church, all are invited to bring their Easter foods for a seasonal blessing.  Meats, vegetables, fruits, sweets and savory items...all will be blessed.

Because of the upcoming special worship services, our 4:30 Saturday Service will not be celebrated on March 28 and April 4. 

It is our hope and intention that as we celebrate Palm/Passion Sunday on March 29th and the Great Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, we have the larger St. Nicholas community gathered to celebrate together these great Church services.

We certainly hope to see you all at St. Nicholas on Palm Sunday and at all the Holy Week and Easter Sunday Services.  All are warmly and lovingly invited.

Soon we will gather to celebrate the great, high feast of Easter; Jesus' victory over death and sin.

We celebrate with song, with prayers and of course, we celebrate with flowers.

To perhaps commemorate a dearly departed loved one or to give thanks for favors granted, please consider contributing toward our Flower Fund. 

Traditional Easter plants and flowers will be purchased and placed throughout the worship space.  Envelopes for this Flower Fund are found on the Welcoming Table.  Remember to add the name(s) of the dearly departed, a prayer of thanksgiving or the commemoration a special occasion in the envelope.

Thank you one and all for your thoughtfulness and kindness.

The Healing Journey Chapter of OSL will be hosting a dinner and movie night at St. Nicholas Church on March 27th. We will be showing the movie Romero in memory of Archbishop Oscar Romero who was murdered because he spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations and torture. Dinner will begin at 6 pm, followed by a brief liturgy at 7 pm. The movie will start at 7:45 and end with discussion at 9:30.

 

The dinner will be a simple soup and bread meal If you are interested in attending, please contact Thelma Malecek @ 630.766.2724 or Jennifer Brundige @ 847.347.5425. RSVP by March 23.

 

All are cordially invited!

I ask special prayers for our St. Nicholas Bishop's Committee:  this Saturday, March 28th, the entire committee will participate in a full-day retreat experience. 

We will pray, talk, share and exchange ideas and thoughts, all generated and geared toward how we can make our church a stronger, more welcoming and secure environment.

It is an honor to serve the people of this worship community.  Together, banded in love, prayer and the Holy Spirit, we can do many great things.

 

As a reminder, the full master calendar is always available online at this link.  Here is the schedule for the next week: