Due to my health, I have prayerfully decided to resign from my position as the Coordinator of Family and Youth Ministry. I would like to express my gratitude to Fr. Mike McGovern, my fellow coworkers, the whole parish, and the families for everything. I have learned so much from my time here and am very grateful for all of the opportunities and experiences I have had at St. Raphael. I will miss working at St. Raphael's. Please be assured of my continued prayers for the whole parish. God Bless, Marirose Tan Coordinator of Family and Youth Ministry

Bishop Robert Barron has produced two DVDs about the Holy Eucharist. We shared them with a group of parishioners in February and everyone expressed their appreciation for how much they learned about the Sacrament of Christ's Body & Blood. We will be showing two 30 minute episodes about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist on Tuesday May 7 at 7:00pm and repeat the program on Wednesday May 8 at 9:10am. All meetings will be in the Fellowship Hall. Please join us.

Envelopes are available in the narthex to include women, living or deceased, in our Mass intentions during May. For living mothers there are cards available to present to your mother. April 22 is the deadline for submitting names for publication in the bulletin. Kindly place your envelope in the collection basket or return it to the parish office.  Thank you.

St. Raphael's has invited Andy Duran  of LEAD (Linking Efforts Against  Drugs) to speak on drugs and alcohol to parents. There will be a morning  and an evening session. All parents/  guardians are welcome to participate! Daytime Session - 11:00 am Evening Session - 7:00 pm

Lately someone has been using my name in sending fraudulent emails to people in our area requestion that you respond and send items such as gift cards. Please do not open any emails that claim to be from me without first sending an email to me at the address below and verifying that I sent the initial email. Any questions, please call me at the parish. Father Mike Thank you.

There will be a Holy Hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in church on Sunday, January 20th from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. This is an opportunity to pray for an increase in respect for human life and for the end of abortion and euthanasia. The hour include time for silent prayer and concludes with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Please Join Us.

St. Raphael is looking for additional Altar Servers. If you are between the ages of 9 and 14, and would be interested in becoming a server for our weekend Masses, please have your parents fill out this form. You will be contacted to schedule training sessions. Your service to our Church and parish is greatly appreciated. Click on the picture to complete the Request Form and You will be contacted to schedule training sessions

CHRISTMAS SEASON As we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord today, we reach the conclusion of the Christmas Season. Before we take down the manger scene and Christmas lights, I want to thank once again all who helped us with the liturgies. I am also grateful for those who helped us welcome 1,600 people on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It seems the last three weeks we have seen many new faces in church; I hope that our guests and visitors consider becoming part of our parish. Thanks also to all who donated in support of our Christmas collection; as we go to press it looks good that our parish met our financial goal for this year. God bless you!

Time to Reflect on 2018 & Solemnity of Mary

Each year we accept donations for our Families in Need Fund. This fund helps our parish assist people in our parish family who are hurting financially and need help during the Christmas Season and beyond. There is a lot of "quiet good" that goes on in our parish thanks to the kindness of parishioners. If you can contribute to this year's fund, please place a donation in an envelope marked "Families in Need"; you may place the envelope in the collection or see me in church. Thank you for helping some of the families in our parish this year.

RENEW MY CHURCH: EVANGELIZATION In October a group from our parish participated in three days of meetings in Rosemont learning how we can share our Catholic faith with one another and the wider community. Every parish in the Archdiocese of Chicago will participate in these meetngs with the goal of becoming more effective in living and spreading the gospel. With that in mind, I encourage you to invite your friends, neighbors and families to come to St. Raphael for our liturgy or any of the programs we are offering. If you have ideas about how we can better connect with people in the community please let us know. There is a "suggestion box" in the narthex; please feel free to write a note and share your ideas. Thank you.

Interested in becoming Catholic? Are you baptized and in need of completing full ignition into the Church? Catholic and desiring to update your catechism? The Church's process for this is called RCIA, or the "Rite of Catholic Initiation of Adults. At St. Raphael, we begin each year in late September. Times and location vary with participation needs. If interested, contact Fr. Mike (mmcgovern@archchicago.org; 847.395.3474) or Deacon Greg (brotherinthestole@gmail.com; 517.258.1463).