St.

Mary Magdalene Parish

St. Catherine, Aledo • St. Anthony, Matherville
Rev. John Thieryoung, Pastor

106 NE 4th St. Aledo, IL 61231

(309) 582-7500 • www.cpomc.org

THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME November 19, 2023

Monday 7:30 AM St. Catherine James Fuller by Dianna Davisson

Tuesday NO MASS
Wednesday NO MASS
Thursday NO HOLY HOUR
Thursday NO MASS
Friday NO MASS
Saturday NO HOLY HOUR
Saturday 4:00 PM St. Anthony Donald & Rosemary Thieryoung
Saturday 5:30 PM St. Catherine Shirley Barnes by Michael Orth
Sunday 8:00 AM St. Catherine Parishioners of St. Mary Magdalene
Sunday 9:45 AM St. Anthony Dianne French by Family

TODAY’S OPENING PRAYER

Grant us, we pray, O Lord our God, the constant gladness of being devoted to you, for it is full
and lasting happiness to serve with constancy the author of all that is good.
Next
Week’s Readings: Ez 34:11-12, 15-17/ Ps 23:1-3, 5-6 / 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28/ Mt 25:31-46
Weekly Collection $1,695
Parish office hours: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 9am-12pm. Please leave a message at any other time.

Confessions: Thursday, 7am to 7:50am, during Holy Hour. Saturday at St. Catherine from 7am to 7:55am, during Holy
Hour. Saturday at St. Anthony from 3:00pm to 3:50pm, and Sunday at St. Catherine from 7:10am to 7:50am.

Father will be visiting his family in Cleveland for Thanksgiving. He is leaving after Monday morning Mass and will
return on Friday. In case of emergency and the need for a priest, call the rectory on Monday or Tuesday during
business hours, or call JoDene Huntley any other time, 309-337-9737, and a priest will be contacted. Next week,
Father makes his annual retreat in Princeville beginning Monday, November 27th.

St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta – “People ask me: 'What will convert America and save the
world?' My answer is prayer. What we need is for every parish to come before Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament in holy hours of prayer."– Although our Holy Hour schedule is erratic in the next couple
of weeks, here is our usual schedule: Holy Hours are Thursdays at 7am at St. Anthony, and Saturdays at 7am at St.
Catherine. We also have a Holy Hour the first Monday of every month at 7pm at St. Catherine Church. Spend some time
in growing in your relationship with Jesus. (The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be available too.)

RUAH: All high school students are invited to the youth group meeting this the Sunday November 19 th at 6pm. We will
meet in Aledo.

Community Thanksgiving Service: A Thanksgiving service will be held at College Avenue Presbyterian Church tonight,
Sunday, November 19th at 6pm. The collection at the service will benefit The Churches of Mercer County Food Pantry.

Where Two of More Are Gathered: Tuesday evening, November 28th at 6:30 pm, at the Bean Field Coffee House in Viola.
Adults and families are invited to gather and informally discuss and share our life in Christ and our spiritual journey.

St. Anthony Christmas Baskets: St. Anthony is sponsoring 10 families for Christmas, including 31 children.

St. Catherine Christmas Baskets: St. Catherine is sponsoring 20 families for Christmas, including 49 children. There are
cards on a tree in the vestibule that tell you whether it is a boy or girl, his or her age, and their gift needs as well as a
sign- up sheet. For more information, or if you would like to help deliver gifts on Saturday, December 16th, call the
rectory or Traci Cook: 371-4121.

New Missalettes: will be available beginning the First Sunday of Advent and will provide an opportunity to follow all the
prayers of the Mass which our not featured in the Missals we currently use.

Please pray for the blessed repose of the soul of Theda McManus

NO CCD NEXT SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26TH

FORMED: Our parishes subscribe to Formed.org – a great resource for video, audio, and e-books. Movies, study
resources, fiction and non-fiction books, children’s programs, are at your fingertips. Go to the site and register. Enter our
Parish name: St. Mary Magdalene, 106 NE 4th ST., Aledo, IL 61231. Check out the “AMEN” app at FORMED.

2023 ADA UPDATE: Thank you to all who have already pledged to the appeal. No gift is too small. The goal for our parish
is $29,364 and we can only reach it with your help. Your gift supports ministries throughout the Diocese and helps
continue Catholic witness in central Illinois. If you received your pledge card in the mail, please complete it and mail it
back; if you have not received a card contact the parish office for one. As of the November 7th, 52 donors have pledged
$14,350 towards our goal of $29,364. Please remember, your contribution helps our parish, which must pay any
shortfall of our goal.

SAP Program Month Six: Your spiritually adopted baby is developing quite beautifully now. His/her weight is
approaching 2 pounds. Babies born prematurely at this time have a very good chance of surviving. Each passing year, we
witness medical advances that allow medical professionals to save younger and younger premature infants.

An Unusual Saint and His Unique Calling

Benedict Joseph Labre was born in the northern French province of Artois in 1748. His father, Jean-Baptiste Labre,
was a prosperous shopkeeper. He and his wife, Anne Grandsire, had 15 children. Benedict was the oldest of them
all.

Benedict had an uncle who was a parish priest. Although he lived quite a distance from the family home, his uncle
agreed to take Benedict and begin his early education for him with the goal of Benedict becoming a priest.

When Benedict was 16, he asked his uncle if he could become a Trappist monk. He and his uncle approached his
mom and dad about it, but they thought he was too young. They asked him to wait until he was older, and he
honored their request. But things took an unexpected turn when a plague broke out in the city. His uncle
immediately began taking care of the sick and dying, including many accumulating bodies. Benedict took charge
of caring for the cattle, cleaning their stalls, and feeding them. Among the last to pass away was Benedict’s uncle.
The priest had given all that he had.

Benedict set out for the Trappist Abbey in hopes of joining the Order. However, he was underage, too frail, and had
no recommendations. The Carthusians and the Cistercians also rejected Benedict. He simply did not meet their
rigid requirements. He did manage to gain admission to the Cisterian Abbey of Sep-fonts, but after six weeks, his
health failed him, and he had to leave. He realized that his calling to serve was somewhere else.

The short time he spent in the monastery did help him realize his true vocation. He had come to understand that
even though he felt called to the monastic life, he could not live that way. He was not like the others and could not
live in a confined environment. He now understood that the outside world would be his cloister, and he would be
the “loneliest of the lonely.” He would be a vagabond, God’s own poor man living on whatever others might give
him. He would be a poor pilgrim serving God for the rest of his life. He was 25 years old.

Benedict Labre knew he had been called by God and was inspired by Alexius of Rome. He resolved to become a
member of the Third Order of St. Francis. He was even determined to abandon his parents, siblings, country, and
whatever else might provide contentment and pleasure in the world. Planning to lead a life of pain and penance,
he would set out and devoutly visit sacred shrines of Christian devotion.

Benedict joined the Third Order of St. Francis and entered into a life of poverty and pilgrimage. He headed to
Rome on foot, sustaining himself by begging. Losing weight and feeling weaker and weaker, Benedict still
managed to visit most of the major shrines in Europe. He went to Loreto, Assisi, Naples, Paray-le-Monial in
France, and Santiago de Compostela in Spain. He always traveled on foot and, most of the time, slept outdoors. On
rare occasions, he was able to get the corner of a room to sleep in. Once, he stayed at the farmhouse of Matthieu
and Mari Vianney, who would become the parents of the Cure d’ Ars.

Benedict was profoundly spiritual and would swoon when thinking of Jesus’ crown of thorns. He started to levitate
and bilocate. He also began to cure some of the homeless people who were ill, and he reportedly multiplied bread.
During his later years, he lived near the ruins of the Colosseum and would only leave once a year to make a
pilgrimage to Loreto. He was so devoted to the Holy Eucharist that he became known as the “Saint of Forty-Hours.”

On April 15, 1783, Benedict collapsed in the Church of Santa Maria ai Morti. He wanted to be taken back to the
Colosseum, but his friends took him to a place nearby. Benedict Joseph Labre died the next day, April 16. The cause
of his death was malnutrition. He was 35 years old. It was Holy Week, and he was buried in the Church of Santa
Maria ai Monti.

In St. Benedict Joseph’s biography, it is written that 136 cures were attributed to his intercession. These all occurred
within three months of his death. These miracles also were the cause for the conversion of a first American
Protestant clergyman to convert to Catholicism. His name was Reverend John Thayer and he was a resident of
Rome at the time of Benedict’s death.