Where is Your Treasure? by Fr. Chris House
August 5, 2022
Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
Where Is Your Treasure?
Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
Unless you happened to buy a Lottery ticket in Des Plaines a few weeks ago, I am assuming that none of us won the $1.3 billion dollar jackpot. It’s probably just as well. Many of us fantasize about the fun and the ease that such a windfall could provide for us and, of course, all the good things that we could do with all that money. It’s a nice day dream that, should it become a reality, has the real possibility of becoming a nightmare. A jackpot could buy many things, nice things, but just that…things and things of the world, which are all finite and thus have the potential to lead us to great sorrow.
In last Sunday’s first reading from Ecclesiastes, we heard the emptiness that Qoheleth felt regarding the vanity of the things of the world as well as their finite nature. This Sunday’s readings continue to invite us to look beyond the things of this present life, placing our faith and hope in that which is eternal. Jesus tells us this Sunday that our heart will be wherever the things are that we place value in. Again, we are faced with the question: is my treasure here in this life or is my ultimate fulfillment yet to be revealed in heaven?
The world does not place much value, if any, on faith, at least not in faith in something other than itself. Sadly, neither do many Catholics. Faith is paid a good lip-service by many, but is it a priority in our lives, something that is worth spending our time and energy on to cultivate? For the true disciple, faith is more precious than gold because, as the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews tells us, faith is the realization of what is hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. If our faith is in the things of this world, the realizations of our hopes will come to nothing. If our faith is in God and the things of heaven, then what we will come to know will exceed all expectations and that same faith will give us glimpses here and now of those greater things still to come.
You know the old saying, only two things are certain, death and taxes. Some people manage to avoid taxes, but no one can avoid death and standing face to face before God. So where is our faith placed; where is our treasure? If our faith is in God, and if we have placed God as our greatest good, then we can go forward in true hope. If this is not the case, then it’s time to reprioritize our lives.
Blessings to you and yours for the week ahead!
Father Chris House
Happy 4th Sunday of Lent! This Sunday, we celebrate Laetare Sunday marking roughly the middle point of Lent. Laetare Sunday shifts our focus to the coming liturgies of Holy Week and Easter Season. Laetare means rejoice in Latin and comes from the Entrance Antiphon at Mass which announces Rejoice, Jerusalem, and who love her from Isaiah 66. Holy Week Schedule is below for reference. Next Sunday, March 22nd at 2pm, Christthe King will host a Penance Service for our Parish plus Parishes of Blessed Sacrament and St Agnes. Anyone is welcome to attend. 6 priests will be available for the Sacrament of Confession/Reconciliation. Our new Church project that we will be doing this summer is installing a Hearing Loop system. A hearing loop allows more hearing access for those with hearing aids. This hearing loop will be installed sometime this summer; we do not have a date yet. After installation, those who use hearing aids will just need to turn on telecoil in their hearing aids to use the system. If you would like to donate to the project, you can place a check in collection or drop something offto the office just put Hearing Loop in the memo. You can also donate online for the project by giving to the offertory and putting Hearing Loop in the note. Lent Information Stations of the Cross Every Wednesday 5pm Every Friday 12:05pm Lent Penence Service March 22 at 2pm Blessed Sacrament, Christ the King and St. Agnes Hosted by Christ the King 6 Priests will be available for confessions Holy Week Schedule: March 29-April 4 Palm Sunday: Normal Mass Times Holy Thursday: 5:30pm Good Friday; 5:30pm Easter Vigil: 8pm Easter Sunday:April 5 8am and 10am (Please note no 4:30 or 5pm this weekend) Confessions Monday through Friday: 6:30am-6:50am Every Saturday: 3:00pm-4pm Every Sunday: 4-45pm Military Weekends April 12-25 and May 16-17
Happy 3rd Sunday of Lent! Thank you to Fr. Alex, Dcn. Scott, and Dennis offer their insightful reflections on God’s Mercy. Each night was a greattime of prayer, insight, and some fellowship on the last night at the social. Our Parish Mission leads well into a few different formation opportunities at CTK. Dcn. Scott will be offering formation reflections on the Sacrament of Confession weekly during Lent Feb. 25 through March 25th . We also are offering Life Everlasting on the 4 last things Feb 19th – March 19th . All are welcome to attend and more details in the bulletin. I will be out of town this week, if you need anything, please reach out to Parish Office. On March 9 at 7am in place of Mass, we will have Communion Service provided by Dcn. Scott. I want to thank you for your generous support of our 1st Annual School Fund Appeal that began Dec 2, 2025. We started with a modest goal this year of 25K and we have raised over 42K! The Annual School Fund Appeals runs through May, if you like to donate visit https://www.ctkcougars.com/support-ctk/annual-fund.cfm. We began this yearly appeal to assist with School Capital improvements and support teacher/staff appreciation including bonuses and quarterly lunches. All funds from the annual school fund stay at CTK school. For next year’s Annual School Fund Appeal will replace the teacher appreciation envelope and school fund envelope. Below is list of projects: Summer of 2026 Projects Pre-K and K-8 Tuckpointing Pre-K HVAC Pre-K and K-8 Playgrounds safety improvements School Security Cameras-Interior Lent Information Stations of the Cross Every Wednesday 5pm Every Friday 12:05pm Lent Penence Service March 22 at 2pm Blessed Sacrament, Christ the King and St. Agnes Hosted by Christ the King 6 Priests will be available for confessions Confessions Monday through Friday: 6:30am-6:50am Every Saturday: 3:00pm-4pm Every Sunday: 4-45pm Military Weekends April 12-25 and May 16-17
Happy 2nd Sunday of Lent! This Sunday, March 1 at 6:30pm, we bring our Lenten Parish Mission here at Christ the King on the Mercy of God revealed in Jesus Christ. Fr. Alex will speak the 1 night on the Mercy of God in the Sacrament of Confession. On March 2nd , Dennis will reflect on the Road to Emmaus from Luke 24 with Adoration and confessions being available afterwards. Finally on March 3rd, Dcn. Scott will reflect on a Parable from Jesus that reveals the Mercy of God with a social afterwards in the Parish Center. Anyone is welcome to attend these 3 evenings. I want to thank you for your generous support of our 1st Annual School Fund Appeal that began Dec 2, 2025. We started with a modest goal this year of 25K and we have raised over 41K! The Annual School Fund Appeals runs through May, if you like to donate visit: https://www.ctkcougars.com/support-ctk/annual-fund.cfm . We began this yearly appeal to assist with School capital improvements and support teacher/staff appreciation including bonuses and quarterly lunches. All funds from the annual school fund stay at CTK school. For next year’s Annual School Fund Appeal will replace the teacher appreciation envelope and school fund envelope. Below is list of projects: Summer of 2026 Projects Pre-K and K-* Tuckpointing Pre-K HVAC Pre-K and K-8 Playgrounds safety improvements School Security Cameras-Interior Lent Information Stations of the Cross Every Wednesday 5pm Every Friday 12:05pm Lent Penence Service March 22 at 2PM Blessed Sacrament, Christ the King and St. Agnes Hosted by Christ the King 6 priests will be avaialbe for confessions Confessions Monday through Friday: 6:30am-6:50am Every Saturday: 3:00pm-4pm Every Sunday: 4-45pm Military Weekends March 4-6 and April 12-25
Happy 1st Sunday of Lent! Our Gospel this weekend recalls Jesus 40 days in the desert after His Baptism. A time of prayer and fasting for Him before He began His public ministry which revealed overtime that He was the Messiah and Son of God. Throughout the Old Testament, time in the desert, recalls the Israelites 40 years in the desert before they entered the Promised Land. Jesus’s time in the desert is a foreshadowing then that He is going to lead a New Exodus through the desert to a New Promise Land. Our Lenten journey of 40 days intimates Jesus’s 40 days in the desert and prepares for Holy Week when we call the New Exodus and New Passover accomplished by Jesus Christ. This past week our 3rd graders received the Sacraments of Confirmation and 1st Holy Communion on Feb 17 at the Cathedral. We will celebrate them as a Parish on Feb 22 at 10am Mass. They will process in and receive Holy Communion first during Mass. We will have A Parish Lent Mission Sunday March 1, 2, and 3 at 6:30pm on the Mercy of God revealed in Jesus Christ. Fr Alex, Dennis, and Dcn. Scott will each take a night. Fr. Alex will discuss the Sacrament of Confession one night. Dcn. Scott and Dennis will each speak one night on a Parable from Jesus that reveals God’s Mercy. We will have a social on March 3 after the Mission. Reminder during Lent, we will use the Penitential Act Form B seen below. It is not commonly used at Mass, but is a nice option for Lent. Below is more information on Lent. Lent Information Stations of the Cross Every Wednesday 5pm Every Friday 12:05pm Confessions Monday through Friday: 6:30am-6:50am Every Saturday: 3:00pm-4pm Every Sunday: 4-45pm Lent Resources Lenten Companion by Ascension Press Exodus 90 and Magnify Halo App Lenten Parish Mission March 1-3 at 6:30pm More information to come Penitential Act The Priest then says: Have mercy on us,O Lord. The faithful reply: For we have sinned against you. The Priest: Show us,O Lord, your mercy. The faithful: And grant us your salvation. Military Weekends March 4-6 and April 12-25
Happy 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time! Hard to believe, but Lent is right around the corner. Ash Wednesday falls on Feb 18 this year. Below is some Lenten Information. I am away next this weekend on annually priestly retreat. I will be on retreat spending time with prayer with Jesus at St Meinrad from Feb. 5-11. If you need anything during that time, simply reach out to the office. During Lent, we will use the Penitential Act Form B seen below. It is not commonly used at Mass, but is a nice option for Lent. You might have noticed the 3 new planters outside of a Church. We installed those planters for security reasons after a security audit. It was recommended in our security audit to install a barrier to prevent easy access to our Church front doors. I pray that these barriers are never needed. Unfortunately, in our world today, extra security measures are required. We plan to add some flowers to the planters in the spring. Lent Information Lenten Parish Mission March 1-3 at 6:30 PM Ash Wednesday 7am Mass, 8:30am (School Mass), 12pm Penitential Act (Ash Service), 5:30pm Mass The Priest then says: Have Mercy on Us, O Lord Stations of the Cross The faithful reply: Every Wednesday 5pm For we have sinned against you. Every Friday 12:05pm The Priest: Show us, O Lord, your mercy. Confessions The faithful: Monday through Friday: 6:30am-6:50am And grant us your salvation Every Saturday: 3:00pm-4pm Every Sunday: 4-45pm Lent Resources Lenten Companion by Ascension Press Exodus 90 and Magnify Halo App Military Weekends Feb. 21-22 and March 4-6
Happy 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time! This Sunday, Jan 25, we kick off Catholic Schools Week for our Parish School. At 10am Mass, some kids from our school will serve as lectors and greeters at Mass plus the Cougar Chorus will sing at Mass. Catholic Schools week each year is an opportunity to celebrate the uniqueness of our Catholic schools especially their Catholic Identity. The National Theme for Catholic Schools Week this year is United in Faith and Community. This theme emphasizes the uniqueness of a Catholic School. Our uniqueness as a Catholic School flows from education and formation being centered around Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one who unites us. At our Baptism, Jesus brought us into a bigger family, the family of God. Our faith in Christ unites then and calls us to community, to live as part of the family of God. We will celebrate Catholic School Weeks with a variety of activities that celebrate this theme of being united in Faith and Community through Jesus Christ. We will celebrate with Sunday Mass with kids in ministry roles, Eucharistic Procession at School on Thursday, and many other fun activities. Please keep us in prayer this week as we celebrate the uniqueness of being of Catholic School. Finally, one minor change that we will begin in February for Christ the King Parish is a new procedure for those receiving low gluten hosts. Anyone needing a low gluten host beginning in February will simply proceed to the priest distributing Holy Communion at Mass. The priest will have low gluten hosts in a special pyx. Military Weekends Feb. 21-27 and March 4-6
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Happy Feast of the Baptism of the Lord! I am sad to miss this great feast with yall. I am away on military drill Jan 10-11. Please keep me in prayer and know of my prayers. This great feast moves us from the Nativity scene with Mary, St. Joseph, shepherds, and Magi to roughly 30 years later in Jesus’s earthly life. The Feast of Baptism of the Lord manifests that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Messiah. This Feast of Baptism of the Lord serves as a Bridge to Ordinary Time because Christmas Season is all about the long-awaited Messiah being born and Ordinary Time is about seeing Jesus prove and show forth in His public ministry that He is the Messiah. At His Baptism, we hear the Father’s voice and Holy Spirit appearing as a Dove to confirm that Jesus is the Messiah as he begins His public ministry which will end with His Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. This manifestation of the Holy Spirit at Jesus’s Baptism also harkens back to the Old Testament Kings and Prophets being anointing with the Spirit of the Lord as they began their Mission. So, the appearance of the Holy Spirit signifies that Jesus is the Anointed Messiah beginning the next stage of His Mission, His public ministry. For more information of this great feast visit https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/why-jesus-was-baptized or Why Was Jesus Baptized? -Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon on YouTube. After this weekend, we will begin taking down Christmas decorations. We will leave the Nativity Scene up until Presentation of the Lord on Feb. 2. Presentation of the Lord traditionally closed Christmas Season until recently since it was 40 days after Christmas. We also have a very beautiful Nativity Scene, and it will be nice to enjoy its beauty through Feb. 2. Military Weekends Jan. 10-11 and Feb. 21-27
Happy Feast of the Epiphany! Epiphany, traditionally on Jan. 6 closes out the 12 days of Christmas celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ our Savior. We will the conclude the Christmas Season next weekend with the Baptism of our Lord. The Feast of Epiphany focuses on the Magi – the 3 wise men coming from the Persia area to see the newborn King of the Jews. Most likely these 3 wise men, Magi, would have been part of a bigger caravan. These 3 wise men would have studied astrology, philosophy and many other academic disciplines. They also were most likely of the priestly class of Persia who, with their astrology training, interpreted Divine messages from the stars. And as the Scriptures convey, gave 3 gifts to the newborn King: gold for a King, frankincense for a God used in worship, and myrrh to signify his death and burial. The significance of this great Feast is that the Magi represent the first Gentiles (non-Jews) encountering Jesus Christ. Throughout the Old Testament, the Messiah is expected, based on God’s promises to Israel, to be a light to the Gentiles. Meaning the Messiah through Israel would bring the Gentiles into the Covenance and family of God. For more information on the Magi visit https://catholiceducation.org/en/culture/the-magi.html or https://catholicinsight.com/2025/01/04/themeaning- of-the-magi-and-the-star-of-bethlehem/ Military Weekends Jan 10-11 and Feb. 21-27
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