Dear parishioners and friends of St. Therese Chinese Parish,

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

THANK YOU

Thank you to Henry and Jennifer Chan for cleaning our church this past Saturday and to Allen and John Dennis for helping them. New volunteers are always welcome. After church cleaning, Allen served the 5 P.M. Mass for the first time. He is planning to come more regularly. We thank and welcome him and his grandpa, John.

Thank you to Tony Lin, Eric Chan, Henry Chan, and Jimmy Lin for finishing the painting of our church doors. They did a great job!

Thank you to our newly-formed Garden Club for your willingness to take care of our beautiful garden: Dorothy Albanese, Gertrude Li, Regina Cheong, Wing Chan, Andrew Feng, John Moy, and Sheila and John Lin. Sheila, the head of our Maintenance Committee, is going to be the coordinator of our Garden Club. Thank you Sheila also for arranging to have my carpet washed.

Thank you Edy for creating our parish email accounts and doing a wonderful job maintaining the St. Therese website. My email address is: fli@stthereseparishchinatown.org. I do check my email quite regularly. Please feel free to email me with your questions, thoughts, or concerns.

Thank you Joe Delfin for cleaning and updating the information board in front of our church.

Finally, a million thanks to our Summer Fair Chairs--Jennifer Sin, Raymond Lin, and George Lee--and to all volunteers and those who came out to support us on that day. Our visitors were very complimentary to our beautiful church and garden. Quite a few people made remarks to me about the friendliness of our volunteers and the inspiring sound of our band. Go 23-7! The rain made a lot of us wet, but it didn’t stop us from having fun. Thank God it was short. Lily May is working hard to put a detailed financial report for the Summer Fair. We will have it in next weekend’s bulletin.

This Sunday’s readings speak about God’s mercy for us and the need for us to be persistent with our prayers. Abraham dared to bargain with the Lord, He found out that God’s mercy is beyond our understanding. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray and affirmed them: “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” In my short time at St. Therese, I have experienced the truth of those words. I have asked you to step up and help us to take care of our garden. You have responded generously. You were asked to help with our Summer Fair. A lot of you responded positively and quickly. There were many more incidents that I can name here. My point is: if we are generous with our time, talents, and treasure, how much more would God be to us?

+ St. Therese Church “Preservation Fund” and “Matching Contribution” $10,673.74 raised so far! (Target: $25,000 by 10/31/10)

As communicated previously, to preserve our beautiful church, we have established the St. Therese Church Preservation Fund with a funds target of $50,000. We have a generous donor who will match the funds that we raise between July 1, 2010 and October 31, 2010, dollar for dollar, up to $25,000.

As of July 23, 2010, we are at the $10,673.74 mark, versus the $25,000 target!

We need YOUR help to raise the remaining $14,326.26, so we can benefit fully the $25,000 matching contribution from the donor!

Let’s pull out all the stops to raise the funds! The fundraising committee will recruit helpers to organize various activities to reach out beyond this parish. Please be supportive when you are requested to assist this important initiative!

Thanks in advance!!

+ FORCE Foundation Scholarship

The FORCE (Future of Our Children’s Education) Foundation is proud to announce the 2010-2011 FORCE Foundation Scholarship. Scholarships will be awarded to active parishioners who are students in elementary and high school in amounts of $500, $750, and $1,000. Applications will be judged on both academic merit and financial need. Completed applications are due by August 9th and all applicants will be notified of the committee’s decision by September 1st.

For more information or to request an application, please email FORCEFoundation@aol.com

+ 21st District Community Police National Night Out

They are “giving crime, drugs, and gangs a going away party” and we are invited to join the community police for food, fun, and entertainment on August 3, 2010 from 6 P.M.— 8 P.M. at Promontory Point, 55th & the Lakefront. Guest speaker: Fr. Michael Pfleger.

+ Guitar Mass

There will be a Guitar Mass on Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 9:30 A.M.

+ Let's make some JOYFUL noise! CCD Summer Music Camp

Have you noticed the young musicians in our parish at the Sunday Mass? They are applying their musical talents to support the Liturgy. Let’s encourage them!

At the CCD Summer Music Camp, while having fun, the kids are learning rhythm and teamwork and discovering the joy of music-making with various percussion instruments. They are taking turns playing Conga drums, tambourines, guiro, claves, and the keyboard!

More kids are welcome! It’s not too late - Join In!

When: Sunday, 10:45am - noon
Last session: Sunday, August 29, 2010
Where: CCD Classroom

Any questions, please contact Lily via email: LILYL.MAY@gmail.com

+ 24th National Catholic China Conference

We have been invited to attend this conference titled “A Chinese Catholic Life of Faith: Continuing China—U.S. Conversations” held by the U.S. Catholic China Bureau on September 24-26, 2010 at Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, IL. The keynote speaker is Most Rev. Pei Jun-Min, Bishop of Shengyang, China. The model of dialogue will be based on Matteo Ricci and we will be updated on the Church in China and have the opportunity to explore possible partnerships in this mission. For more information, please call the U.S. Catholic China Bureau at (973) 763-1131 or email: chinabur@shu.edu

+ Does your company match donations?

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

+ PARKING

Just a reminder that our parking lot across the street from St. Therese School is also available to regular parishioners who attend the Saturday 5:00 P.M. Mass and the Sunday 8:00 A.M. Mass and limited parking for those who attend the 9:30 A.M. Mass. If you wish to obtain a permit, please contact the rectory. Another parking option is the Chinatown parking lot next to the CTA Red Line. The parish can provide validation for free parking there for up to 5 hours.

+ Wish List

So far, the weekly English and Chinese bulletins have been copyedited, printed, copied, folded, and stapled by the church secretary, and it requires 4-6 hours of her time. I think that her skills and time can be better used for doing other things for our parish if we replaced the manual labor with a machine. We have been researching online for different paper folding machines that fold 8-1/2" x 14" size paper. If anyone wishes to donate a used or new machine, please contact me. The cheapest one found so far costs $638.10 from Office Depot. If you only wish to donate a smaller amount towards this purpose, you may do so too. Thank you in advance. ~ Fr. Francis

+ Job Search Workshops

The North Lawndale Employment Network is hosting a series of sessions geared towards preparing job-seekers for an effective job search from July 26th-August 26th at United Baptist Church, 4220 W. Roosevelt Rd. Please call 773-638-1825 for more info.

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

+ THANK YOU BARBEQUE

+ Teach Us to Pray

+ The Empty Chair

+ Monies: