Dear parishioners and friends of St. Therese Chinese Parish,

Greetings of Christ’s Peace and Joy! Hope you all had a blessed week.

Our Lunar New Year celebration last Sunday was both uplifting and joy-filled. It was awesome to see our church packed, even the choir loft was filled with people. Some of our parishioners shared with me that this was definitely one of the most attended celebrations at our parish. We had a lot of visitors. Quite a few of them remarked to me how beautifully decorated our church was and how welcoming our parishioners were. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have our church packed like that every Sunday?

Many thanks again to all who helped with the celebration. From liturgical planning to stuffing the red envelopes, from decorating to cooking, from dancing to venerating ancestors, our leaders and volunteers did a very impressive job. In a special way, we want to thank our CCD children, our school dancers and choir, and the Indonesian, Mandarin and Cantonese choirs. Their participation and angelic voices added much to our prayer experiences. Million thanks also to our photographers: Jay McMahon, Kien Chai, Mr. Ouda and Mr. Martino. They took hundreds of pictures, some of which are in today's bulletin.

Thanks to Al Difranco for donating to our parish a beautiful panoramic-framed picture with a view of the top of our church, parts of Chinatown and US cellular field. It is hung up on the east wall next to our TV in the Community Room. It undoubtedly adds more beauty to our newly painted and decorated Community Room.

Fr. Christopher Ciomek and Chicago seminarians from Mundelein Seminary are visiting and celebrating the Eucharist with us today. Please extend St. Therese's warm hospitality and welcome to them!

In honor of St. Blaise whose feast we celebrated this past Friday, we will bless throats after all masses this weekend. As the legendary story says, when a child had a fish bone caught in his throat, his mother didn't know what to do other than bring him to Bishop Blaise. St. Blaise prayed and blessed the child's throat and threw out the fish bone. This is why we have our throats blessed today and we pray that through the intercessions of St. Blaise, we might be free of throat and other illnesses.

Blessing is important to us as Catholics. We have our houses, cars, boats, holy metals blessed. We ask God for blessings; we ask our priests for blessings; we bless ourselves, children and others. We want to be blessed and be a blessing for others. We count on God's blessing on our journey of faith. Rabbi Abraham Heschel wisely says that "Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy."

In the Gospel, we continue to hear stories of healing from Mark. Jesus prayed and blessed Simon's mother-in-law; she was cured. Then the whole town came to Jesus and wanted Jesus to bless them. The power of God was made manifest through the blessings of Jesus.

Let us strive to be a blessing and to be blessed in our daily lives! Knowing our blessings helps us to be grateful and joyful. William Pen describes this beautifully by saying: "The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles."

St. Therese Catholic Church Mission Statement

+ Finance Council Meeting

Is Monday, Feb. 6th, at 7pm.

+ Tax Exempt Letter If you are a registered parishioner and would like to receive a year end tax exempt letter, please contact our parish office at 312-842-6777.

+ Annual Catholic Appeal The announcement is this weekend. The commitment weekend will be Feb. 11th & 12th.

+ Blessing of the Throat

Traditionally the blessing of the throat is on the Feast of Saint Blaise, which is Friday, Feb. 3rd. This year the blessing of the throat will take place after the 8:00 am Mass on Feb. 3rd; 5:00 pm Mass on Feb. 4th; and the 8:00 am & 9:30 am Masses on Feb. 5th.

+ Parking

If you are doubled-parked in our parking lot, please leave your phone number on your dashboard. This is so that the owners of the blocked cars can contact you in case they leave before you.

+ Donations Now Accepted Online

Our parish is now able to accept donations online through PayPal. Please visit our church website at http://www.sttheresechinatown.org/church_home.html or in this page and you will see the yellow “DONATE” button at the bottom of the page.

Our parish is now able to accept donations online through PayPal! Please go to www.paypal.com, or visit our church website at http://www.sttheresechinatown.org/church_home.html and click on any yellow "PAYPAL" button.

PayPal charges an administration fee per donation - but if you have a PayPal account, there's a way around that! When sending a donation:

1. Please log in and go to the "Send Payment" tab.
2. Fill in "Send To" as sttherese@archchicago.org along with your donation amount.
3. Select PERSONAL; click Continue.
4. Note in your Personal Message what you'd like your donation to go towards (e.g., weekly donation, Church Preservation Fund, Other - please specify).

The above steps should now show that the fee is $0 to both parties, and your donation will be sent 100% to St. Therese only!

Please note: For donors who do not have a PayPal account, PayPal will charge you an additional $0.59 flat fee to use a credit/debit card; this can be avoided by signing up for a free PayPal account or by using a personal checking account for the transaction.

Thank you for your continued support!

+ Does your company match donations?

Remember to check if your company matches donations - your gift could be multiplied!

+ LEADERSHIP DAY

The annual Leadership Day will be held Saturday, February 18th. This is a day of formation for parish members involved in ministries of leadership. This year the workshop will be held at Loyola Academy in Wilmette. The day goes from 8:30 A.M. to 3:45. At 4:00 P.M., Mass will be celebrated and Cardinal George will preach as well as be a presenter of a workshop.

Some interesting workshops include titles such as: Revitalizing Your Parish Pastoral Council, A Teen-Friendly Parish, It's Not Too Late to Connect Young Adults to Your Parish…, Establishing Youth Ministry, Forgiveness, Taking Justice in Your Own Hands, Viewing the Liturgy through the Cultural Lens of Music, The Church Needs You…What Would Jesus Facebook?

We encourage everyone who can, to participate in this wonderful day of formation. For further information talk with Father Li or Sister Caritas. See also the Leadership Website on the Archdiocese of Chicago Website.

+ Catholicism—Journey Around the World and Deep into the Faith

Join a 12-Week study! Starts 1st Saturday of Lent, every Saturday of each month from 10:30 am to noon; February 25-May 12, 2012. Live instructor: Seminarian Dominic Clemente at Pauline Books & Media, 175 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL. Please call (312)346-4228 to register now!

+ Sacraments Meeting for School Parents

Will take place on Monday Feb. 13th from 6pm to 7:30pm in the Community Room.

+ Annual Catholic Appeal

The announcement weekend will be Feb. 4th & 5th. The commitment weekend will be Feb. 11th & 12th.

+ PPC Meeting

is Feb. 15th at 7pm.

+ North American Chinese Catholic Cursillos in Christianity

will gather in Houston this year from March 15th to 18th. If you are interested in attending, please speak to Fr. Francis. More information in Chinese can be found at the church entrance table.

+ Liturgy Committee Meeting

will be held on Feb. 13th at 7pm in the St. Therese Room.

+ February Family Mass

Is next Sunday at 9:30am

+ Upcoming Special Events and Schedule

+ Words from a new choir member....

Can't sing? I didn't think I could, either. I had every excuse - I can't sing, I don't know how to sing, I can't read sheet music. None of that matters. What matters is that I like singing and that I like spending time with people in the choir. Lily and Kimberly took care of the rest. They are teaching me how to read music, how to hear the right note, and how to sound great with everyone else. Best part is - I am having fun. If you were hesitant to join the choir for these reasons, please reconsider! You are welcome and we want you to join the choir. If you are afraid, feel free to talk to me about it! ...or at least sing during Mass!
~Anne Choate (annechoate@gmail.com)

+ Televised SUNDAY MASS!

A televised Sunday Mass is now airing on ABC Family from 5:30 to 6:30am each Sunday Morning. THE SUNDAY MASS is produced by the Passionist Fathers & Brothers out of New York City.

+ Please remember in your prayers those who are ill, hospitalized, and homebound...

+ “Everyone is looking for you”

+ Contemporary Mass

+ Mary, Mother of God

+ Mary, the Immaculate Conception

+ Do You Hear Jesus? "Can you hear Jesus now?"

+ What does a Parish Council do?

+ Super Duper Bowl

+ Chinese Lunar New Year Celebrations

+ Trusting in God's Care & Love for us as Job Did

+ ? Choir Corner ??

+ Evangelization

+ Monies:

TOTAL Christmas Donations to date: $24,989 Thank YOU!