Letters from Father Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“So then the Lord Jesus… was taken up into heaven… But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them.”    (Mark 15:20) (Gather# 967)

Coming and going.  Beginning and ending.  Ascending and sending. Spring is such a tumultuous time of life.  We have arrived at the season of promotions and graduations.  This Wednesday Newman Catholic High School will be holding Baccalaureate here at St. Anne’s at 7 p.m.  Graduation is this Friday at 7 p.m.  Next week on Wednesday NCS at St. Anne’s will celebrate the promotion of our 5th graders at the morning Mass.  That evening East High has its Graduation ceremony.  On Thursday evening, May 31st, both NCS Middle School and West High Public High School will hold their graduation exercises.

From parents tearing up over their last child leaving 5th grade here at St. Anne’s to those saying good-bye to sons or daughters leaving college and home for their first job, the mixture of joy and sorrow, hope and fear, holding on and letting go… is… tumultuous.  How appropriate that we would celebrate the Feast of the Ascension at this time in our lives with its comforting message: “While the Lord worked with them.”

Though Christ was physically absent from the disciples after the Ascension, he continued to work with them, and in them and through them.  In fact, the disciples would never have discovered him at work within them if they always had him with them outwardly.  The Feast of the Ascension teaches us that during times of transition and change we need to look within to find the spirit and wisdom of our loved one.  For many, it is not until they move on to another school or away from home that they really begin to hear and appreciate what a teacher or parent shared with them.

Congratulations to all graduates, all parents and all teachers and staff.  And do not let that which is changing blind you to that which remains and grows deeper and richer.

I feel a bit like a soon-to-graduate student myself.  It feels like its “cram for finals” time.  There is so much that needs to get done before the “coming and going” of pastors takes place June 26th.  Fr. Al Burkhardt is going to step into a pastor’s dream of a parish:  many, literally thousands, of faithful, committed, gifted people; an outstanding parish staff to work with; the best of Catholic Schools, and beautiful facilities and grounds.  There are, however, a few things I sure would like to get in order before turning over the keys.

Top on my list is completing the Annual Diocesan Appeal.  The last thing I want to greet Fr. Al with is new debt.  Last year we went over our $98,000 goal by more than $3,000.  474 families participated.  At present we have 379 families participating and we are $44,000 short of our $95,000 goal.  It is understood that we are still in a major recession.

I am, though, aware of some people who have issues with the Bishop or the Church hierarchy and are trying to send them a message by not supporting the Annual Appeal.  Please write them a letter or call instead!  Withholding support from the Annual Diocesan Appeal doesn’t affect the Diocese in the least.  It just forces us as a parish to take funds away from our ministries to make up the shortfall.  And as has been said many times past, we as a parish benefit tremendously from the Appeal: from funding for our Hmong staff person, to the Services of Catholic Charities, to support for our Catholic School system.  And the Appeal does great good for many beyond our parish and Diocesan borders.

Another high priority project to finish is calling forth people to take on the next term of leadership in some areas.   I would match St. Anne’s to any parish anywhere in terms of the number of deeply involved people we have serving in the parish.  Still, maintaining a healthy team takes constant attention.  High on my list of leaders to identify would be a couple of parents to assist in leading the preparation program for First Reconciliation and First Communion next year.   It would also be wonderful to have a couple shadowing our St. Anne’s Fest chairpersons to relieve one of them next year.

Still, I guess one should remember that when Christ ascended, there was a great deal yet needing to be done.  Like the first disciples, we trust the Spirit will continue to be at work in all with open hearts.

-Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain….”  (John 15:16)  (Gather# 996)

Blessing to all mothers today!  Without your readiness to surrender your own comfort and freedom, none of us would be here.  Thank you for accepting God’s call to bring life into the world.  No one chooses this on their own.  Anyone who has experienced the birth of a child knows it is from start to finish a miracle, a power at work in us that comes from beyond us.  Motherhood is the perfect example of today’s Gospel truth:  We do not choose what we want of God.  Rather God chooses for us. And if we embrace his call we find lasting fruit.  I know from parents who have been given special needs children to raise, that were God to give us only what we ask for, we would never be stretched into whole and holy souls capable of real life and love.  We would never know the fruit that remains…. for all eternity.

This week celebrates God’s wisdom and loving providence in several other ways as well.  This Tuesday the RCIA community gathers for a last time to share an Agape Supper.  After this last Eucharist and meal together they enter fully into their life as members of  the parish community.  At the Agape Supper the newly baptized and team reflect on the calling from God they have experienced and the wonderful, enduring, love it has led them to.

Our parish women’s organization, the Fatima Council, is also celebrating God’s work in their midst.  At their end of year pot-luck Wednesday they will be thanking their outgoing officers and welcoming their new.  The whole parish owes a profound thank you to outgoing president Deb Marten, vice-president Barb Knauf, secretary Mary Gilles and treasurer Jeanne Cline.  And we welcome incoming president Hannah Huryk, vice-president Kay Voigt, secretary April Weis and treasurer Sandy Gilge. What a tremendous sign that God continues to “choose” and people of good faith continue to accept being “appointed to go.”

A third example of today’s Gospel truth, that we find fruit that will remain when we embrace God’s choices for us, is the changing of pastors announced throughout the diocese last weekend.  As was announced here at St. Anne’s last Sunday, Fr. Al Burkhardt will be the seventh pastor of The Church of St. Anne.  The Burkhardt name is very familiar to us.  Fr. Al’s brother, Erv Burkhardt is a parish member who will be ordained a Deacon this coming October.  Fr. Al and Erv’s mother Mary, in the last year, has become a member of the parish as well.  Fr. Al was ordained in 1986 which puts him a little over 50 years of age.  For this past year he has been pastor at St. Agnes in Callon and St. Florian in Hatley.  Prior to that he was pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Stevens Point.

What is equally exciting is that after 13 years of having only one priest on staff, St. Anne’s has been assigned an assistant pastor as well.  Fr. Jeffery Hennes will be ordained July 23^rd and begin his service shortly thereafter.  We will be sharing Fr. Jeffery with Newman High School where he will be Chaplain.  Fr. Jeffery is originally from Colby.

My next place of service will be at St. Anthony Parish in Loyal.  When the diocese asked me where I would be interested in going I listed four options:  staying at St. Anne’s, being assigned somewhere close so I could continue taking the Hmong Mass, being assigned a smaller parish that would allow me to take up ecumenical work again, or go to Eau Claire or La Crosse where there are groups like NAOMI with which I could continue the work for justice.  Loyal is close to an ecumenical retreat center that I was once very involved in just after being ordained.  Also, I have been informed that in a year or two, it is very likely that St. Anthony’s will be combined with two other parishes in that area. A process I will need to facilitate.

I feel Fr. Burkhardt is a good choice for St. Anne’s.  He is filled with the spirit of the Second Vatican Council.  He is a team player.  And he likes people!  As for myself, I haven’t really begun to think about the “next chapter” yet.  But this I do know.  The future happiness of this parish, as well as my own future happiness, rests not on who is pastor or which parish I am in.  It rests solely in the heart of God.  I sincerely believe, if we remain in him, we will know fruit that endures.

-Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, but without me you can do nothing.”  (John 15:5) (Gather #962)

Can you believe we are into May and the fullness of spring; the season when everything is fresh and new?  This is the time when seeds that have remained patiently in the ground finally get the light and warmth to begin to grow and make their way to great fruit.  And as it is in the physical world so it is in the spiritual world.  We as a parish are in a season of new and fresh things.

I wish everyone could have been at our New Parishioner Brunch April 22nd.  The rectory was filled with warm greetings and family story telling.  It was a good thing not everyone could make it.  We would not have had nearly enough room!  Since the first of this year we have had 31 households join the parish.  In those households there are a total of 73 people, so a nice blend of families and individuals.  Ten households a month is a record pace for us which would put us at 120 new families in the year!

In part this wonderful news is due to our new New Parishioner Welcome Ministry that has redesigned the process by which people become a part of our family.  Another example of when you entrust great people with leadership roles, wonderful things happen!  Thank you Jill Warsaw, Jennifer Gabriel, Helen Luce, Jean Laber, Shaun and Melissa Eades, Scott and Debb Feldbruegge,  and Dan and Theresa O’Brien for remaining steadfast through all of the planning and preparation so that we could reap this great fruit!

I say part of this wonderful news is due to our New Parishioner Welcome Ministry.  But a larger portion of the credit goes to … you!  I recently sat with a couple who are living out of town but wanted to have their wedding here.  One of them owns property in the area and “when we retire” she said, “we are moving here.”  She went on to say that every time she comes to Mass at St. Anne’s she cries.  I asked her why that was.  She said she had been thinking about it a long time.  And as she gathered her thoughts, I too was gathering up possible reasons from their stories.  Both had been through very difficult lives with previous marriages, mental illness in their families, and periods of unemployment.  My thoughts were interrupted when she spoke.  “I have finally figured it out,” she said.  “It is because this is the first place in my life where I truly feel safe.  It’s in the music, it’s in the preaching, and it is in the people.  I don’t feel judged here.”  It is the  genuine warmth and love of this faith family that is drawing 10 households a month to this parish.

Other signs of spring are popping up around us as well.  After months of remaining steadfast through the recruiting and organizing, two brave men are ready to launch a monthly pancake breakfast in the parish.  Jeff Beever and Sparky Bacon will be flipping cakes and sausage on the second Sunday of the month beginning next weekend.  A great way to start a Mother’s Day!  There are also a few brave souls working on the community garden plot raising food for area food pantries, a new initiative of our Outreach Ministry which would welcome many more hands.

Newness, however, is not always welcome.  I am expecting the Diocese to publish on their website the new assignments for priests this weekend or early this week.  We should find out who will be the next pastor of St. Anne’s and where I will next be pastured!  It will also be published in the next Catholic Times newspaper. And as soon as I know I will send out a letter to all parish members with as much information as is available.  For me this very difficult time of change has been made bearable by the tremendous outpouring of love and support of many good people in our parish and community.  Thank you!

What gives me the greatest comfort is knowing that we are securely rooted in Christ.  This parish remains in him.  I will remain in him.  All the good fruit we have enjoyed over eighteen years has come to us because we are rooted in him.  So we can be confident that there will be years of good fruit ahead.  It’s his promise:  “Whoever remains in me and I in them will bear much fruit.”

-Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  (John 10:11)  (Gather# 959)

First Communion Sunday is one of the highlights of our parish family’s year.  God truly works through this Blessed Sacrament to call forth the very best in our children and in all of us.  Pictures of a child on their First Communion day often catch them at one of the most innocent and pure moments of their life.  Let us praise God today for entrusting us with such beautiful children, pieces of Himself!  And we congratulate all parents for keeping the promise they made to share their faith with their child on their child’s baptism day.  And most of all congratulations to you children on this day your relationship with Christ takes on new depth and richness.

I say a First Communion picture catches us at one of our most “innocent” and “pure” moments in life.  But I wouldn’t say it is necessarily the “Holiest” moment of our life.  For “Holiness,” or wholeness of soul, only comes with much life experience and many dyings and risings.  Or in the words of today’s Gospel, until one has laid down their life for another, they have not yet experienced the fullness of life and love.

Herein lies the possible hidden blessing in such difficult news being shared on Confirmation and First Communion weekends.  It calls us to move beyond innocence into holiness.

Just in case you haven’t heard, last weekend at all of the Masses except the Confirmation liturgy, I made the announcement that I will be moving to another parish June 26^th.  All of the clergy moves for this summer will be announced May 6^th.  I wanted you to hear it from me before you heard it on the news or read it in a paper.  And not wanting the announcement to be made this First Communion weekend, I shared the news at liturgies last weekend.

Three years ago, under Bishop Listecki, the Diocese completed a Pastoral Plan that laid out how parishes would be configured to accommodate the decreasing numbers of priests.  When finished, Bishop Listecki announced that it was now time to start aligning our personnel with the plan:  any priest in their parish over twelve years should expect to move the coming summer. Then Bishop Listecki got moved and the implementation of the plan was delayed.

After a year of getting settled in, Bishop Callahan picked up the work begun by Bishop Listecki.  At the end of June last year he moved 45 priests and reconfigured a number of parishes in accord with the Diocesan Pastoral Plan.  In early June of last year at our annual Priest Unity Days, Bishop Callahan shared with me that he was not moving me that summer only because he did not want it to appear that he disapproved of my involvement in NAOMI.  However hat certainly put me on notice for this year.

This past October, at our annual Fall Clergy Conference the director of the Personnel Board informed me that I would be moved this summer and began a conversation about where I would go and who would come to St. Anne’s after me.  A number of parishes and a number of priests have been brought up in the conversation but at the time of this writing I do not know where I will be going or who will be coming to St. Anne’s. The personnel board has a number of people and places to align and at present cannot make commitments until all the parts fit together.

I am very sorry that time has not allowed me to bring this news to you in a more personal way.  There are many, many people here whom I love.  I have been grieving this whole year and will continue to for a long time to come.  But as deep as this decision cuts, it is what I signed up for when I took the vows to be a priest.  And I do believe those vows keep me and you on the spiritual path.

We are blessed to have a couple of months to process this change.  There is much more I’d like to share in the coming weeks about where we have been, where we are, and where I hope St. Anne’s will go.  But for the moment I am trying to stay open to the graces of this experience and the possibility that through this dying there is greater life ahead for us all.  I pray to be a good shepherd, even one who will lay down his life for his sheep.

-Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures….Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations….”   (Luke 24:45-47) (Gather # 956)

It is with pride and joy we welcome Bishop Callahan to St. Anne’s this afternoon for the Sacrament of Confirmation.   Along with other staff members I had the pleasure of interviewing some of our forty seven candidates a few weeks ago.  We were all genuinely impressed with the sincerity and competency of these young men and women.  Perhaps you know in this year of final preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation we look for four “Vital Signs” that assure us faith has taken solid root in their heart.  Those four signs are: they pray, they serve, they are woven into a community of faith, and they understand their faith enough to share it.  Over the years they keep a journal of their involvements in each of these areas.  It is really inspiring to listen to them witness—to speak from experience–about their faith in these concrete ways.

Congratulations to you parents and thank you for keeping the promise you made at the baptism of your son or daughter to do all within your power to share your faith in Christ with them.  Your pride… and gratitude… are well founded this day.  And thank you, too, to parish Confirmation Coordinator John Schmitt and to all who assisted him in the formation of these souls.  I am sure both parents and catechists have a sense of what Christ wanted to share with his disciples.  That questioning and struggle are an essential part of the process in coming to strong and mature faith.  Like Christ, parents too suffer before they know resurrection.

Jesus encouraged the disciples to look beyond the struggle and suffering to the joy and peace it would give birth to.  I am sure we will have many challenges in the months ahead but I see so much beauty and joy ahead, it draws me into the future with a hopeful heart.

Next weekend we will celebrate First Holy Communions at each of the liturgies.  What a message it writes on the hearts of these children to see not only their grandparents celebrate with them, but their whole parish family.  I realize Mass may take a little longer, but isn’t that exactly the message we want to communicate to these children?  That they are the most important thing in the world to us?  And does not their innocence and purity of faith call us back to purity and sincerity of heart as well?  Come and remember there is life above and beyond our day to day struggles.

Our parish Leadership Night April 12 was most enthusiastic, both because of the fourteen new commission members who joined our ranks after our March Gathering of Ministers, and because of the great things our ministries are involved in planning.  October marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.  This four year long gathering of all of the Bishops of the world in Rome was a tremendous watershed in the history of the Church.  It has special significance for us here at St. Anne’s in that our parish Vision Statement begins:  “The Church of St. Anne embodies the vision of the Second Vatican Council which affirmed that creation is sacred and the Holy Spirit is at work in all people.”  (See your Parish Directory for the whole Vision Statement.).

On October 25th Bishop Sklba of Milwaukee, an international leader in the work of ecumenism, will be speaking in our deanery on “The gift the Second Vatican Council is to the Church and to the World.”  The following week Fr. Dick Mauthe will speak here at St. Anne’s on “The Experience of the Second Vatican Council.”  Perhaps you remember him.  He spoke at St. Anne’s in January on behalf of sponsoring children oversees. And the following week Jackie Witter will speak on “The person of the Second Vatican Council:  Pope John XXIII.”  These three events will kick off a year long series  culminating with Bishop Callahan coming to speak on “The role of the laity in the Church” next October.

“Why are you troubled?  And why do questions arise in your hearts?” Jesus asks in today’s Gospel.  “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures… the Christ must suffer and then rise from the dead…”

-Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“He breathed on them and said:  Receive the Holy Spirit.”  (John 20:22) (Gather #954)

It took Troop 427 five tries, but they would not give up until their mission was accomplished. Because of the wind and rain Holy Saturday night we did not go out to the Easter fire.  The Catechumens, Candidates, their sponsors and families all watched from the West Lobby, waiting for a light to break the night.  Finally, we could see sparks, then a fire rising beneath a huddle of umbrellas.

Thinking they had a fail-safe plan, two scouts came each with burning candles shielded from wind and rain by umbrellas to deliver the Easter fire to the waiting Easter Candle.  But when we opened the lobby doors to receive them, both candles were immediately blown out!  A second flight of scouts tried again.  Then a third.  Then a fourth!  Each time we opened the doors a strong draft from in the Church quenched the flames.  Finally we opened all of the doors in the lobby to reduce the force of the draft and a candle made it successfully into the lobby.  The Easter Candle was lit and the fire quickly spread throughout the assembly.  The breath of God is so powerful you have to throw all the doors open wide to let it go where it will.

That’s how this Holy Week felt to me:  the Spirit blowing freely through wide open hearts.  Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday were all very rich and powerful experiences.  I think we broke the record for attendance at one Mass with over 900 people at the Easter Sunday 9 a.m. liturgy.  All week long people flowed in and out of the entrances like that Holy Saturday wind.  By Sunday night over 2,300 people had celebrated Easter with us.

Three adults and seven children were baptized. Three more people were received into our Catholic Faith family from other Christian traditions.  Especially touching was the sight of Wameng standing in the font holding his daughter Fayth as the water was poured over the two of them Saturday night.  That moment was equaled in beauty only by the sight of baptismal water flowing over Mai, with Mason in her arms and Evelyn at her side on Sunday afternoon.

With thirteen major liturgies in one week (five Palm Sunday weekend, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and five more Easter Sunday) getting all of the right people and supplies in the right places at the right time is quite a feat. At the risk of not including everyone who deserves to be recognized I do want to publicly thank some truly amazing people.   Deb Marten, Tracy Scheel and Keri Wulf are a next generation of volunteers who come with great organizational skills and have taken a great deal of stress off of the staff by taking over the scheduling of all liturgical ministers.  And thank you Fatima Council for the new server robes just in time for Easter!!!  Jeanette Le Noir has given us a tremendous gift in organizing volunteers for all of the set changes during the week.  Imagine finishing an Easter Vigil at 10:30 p.m. and having the entire church rearranged and cleaned for 900 guests Easter morning!  All by volunteers!

Mary Lee Schulta  led our decorating team for Lent and Holy Week.  A few of her members were  Sallie Bachar, Jill Warsaw, Jean Abreu, Lee Jojade, Wendy Furrer, Mary Jo Onopa, and Lisa Madagame. There is no more beautifully decorated church than ours! Supporting all of the above was our unfailing parish maintenance team:  Timm Hollis, David Lo, Jack Vue and Mike Brice.

But our gifts flow far beyond these.  It struck me this Holy Week that our choirs are the strongest they have ever been.  Each of them probably prepared and sang over thirty different selections during the week. I know I speak on behalf of many when I say we are blessed with the very best in music ministry.   And how about that groundskeeping crew that delivered beautiful spring flowers right on time for Easter!  Well, God may have had some part in this.  But we do have a wonderful team of volunteers caring for our gardens:  Michelle Allen, Doris Erdman, Ben Ziolkowski, Jeff and Jen Brown, Pete and Kathy Roth, Jane Fischer, Dorothy Rutz, Sandy Gilge, Jill and Lauren Jeoffroy, Barb Dernovsek and Lisa Rennie.

Next Sunday Bishop Callahan will be here to celebrate Confirmation at 3 p.m.  The weekend after, we will be celebrating First Holy Communions.  Are you getting the feeling, of wind—of life—blowing unrestrictedly through this community?  Surely it is the Risen Christ.  “He breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit.”

-Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also entered. He saw and believed.”  (John 20:8)

What did John believe as he looked at the burial cloths lying in the tomb?  What did the early Christian community believe generations later when this Gospel was written?  And what are we to believe?

For the first disciples, belief came slowly;  the reality so beyond anything they could grasp. The Risen Christ’s opening their minds and hearts was more difficult than rolling away the stone at the tomb. The next verse in our Gospel simply says “Remember that as yet they did not understand the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.  With this the disciples went back home.” No rushing out to tell the world.  Evidently they went back and locked themselves in the upper room.  Still frightened.  According to the Synoptic Gospels even when Mary Magdalene came with her account of seeing the risen Lord, they simply did not believe her.  Only after repeated appearances and further signs did the disciples finally come to believe that the life and love they had known in Jesus continued to live and love them in a new and more glorious way.

If it was so difficult for them, who knew him in the flesh, how much more difficult for us who did not hear him talk or witness his miracles?  Our feelings were shared by the Christians who lived just a couple of generations after Christ.  It was to instill faith in them, and us, that the author of the Gospel of John wrote.  As he concludes his Gospel: “…these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.” (John 20:29)

The climax in John’s Gospel comes when Christ cries from the cross “it is finished” and “hands over his Spirit.”  (19:30)  And as visible form of His Spirit going forth, water and blood pour forth from his heart. (19:34)  The pouring forth of the water and blood is so significant to the author that he steps into the narrative and affirms: “This testimony has been given by an eyewitness and his testimony is true.  He is telling what he knows to be true that you too may have faith.” (19:35)

In this “water and blood” theologians and scripture scholars believe the mystical author of this Gospel is referring to the Sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. The Holy Spirit pouring forth from the heart of the Risen Christ is visible in the world in people who are moved to surrender their lives to Christ in Baptism and who offer their lives in sacrifice for the sake of reconciliation in Eucharist. Here is where we experience what slowly dawned on the disciples as they stared at the burial cloths in the empty tomb:  God’s love is powerfully at work in this world and triumphant over sin and death.

Those who have walked with those being baptized this Easter weekend will joyfully testify to the presence and power of Christ.  Jim Bakken’s spiritual journey to Baptism at the Easter Vigil began in Native American Spirituality.  His search has been far, wide, and deep. He has come to a rich faith in Christ.  Wameng Yang, also being initiated into the  Body of Christ Holy Saturday began his journey in traditional Hmong Animism.  His becoming Catholic instead of his wife becoming Animist is deeply counter to Hmong tradition where the woman always takes on the man’s culture.  Though following Hmong tradition by taking on their husbands, faith, Foua Xiong and Mai Xiong have been radiant in joy as they have approached their baptisms at today’s 2:00 p.m. liturgy.

Already baptized, Jacob Miller and Carter Zirngible have also been unmistakable examples of the Risen Christ’s activity as they have prepared to be Confirmed and enter into Holy Communion at the Easter Vigil.   Is it not the Risen Christ at work in all of the Sacraments: The first wedding of the new year this Saturday, the Confirmation of our high school youth on April 22nd and the first Holy Communions of our second graders on April 29th.

And along with the water flowing from the heart of Christ through these Sacraments,  does not his blood flowing in the Eucharist we celebrate this day make unmistakable the presence and power of the Risen Christ?  Reflect on all the people whom Christ drew to the altar today to offer their lives for the sake of bringing reconciliation to this world.  Even more than an empty tomb and burial cloths does it not make you cry out:  He is Risen!

-Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“Amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” (John 12:24) (Gather #918)

“Are you and I willing to become the change the Church needs,” Matthew Kelly, our Lenten guide, asks in the final chapter of his book (pg. 285).  He has given his diagnosis of the situation Catholicism is in today.  He has prescribed a cure in the seven habits that lead to holiness. And now he asks the patient:  Are you willing to take the cure?

When he talks about the need for the Church to change, he is not thinking about window dressing.  In fact he compares our day to the days of greatest change in the history of the Church since its founding:

In 1517 when Martin Luther began the Reformation, there was no doubt that the Catholic Church was in need of reform.  Today the Church is in need of reform again. I pray that this reform will be the result of the flourishing caused when you and I embrace the ancient tradition we call Catholicism in a dynamic way, becoming the-best-version-of-ourselves… (pg. 280)

And in this work of changing the Church by becoming more virtuous ourselves Matthew Kelly says: be bold.  “Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.” (Goethe pg. 306).  “Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful.” (Shakespeare pg. 307)  We could add to these encouragements today’s Gospel:  “unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies…”

Matthew Kelly has been a most challenging guide this Lenten season.  I thank again the donors who made this book available to the parish.  The first 500 didn’t last through the first weekend and the next batch of 150 disappeared just as fast.  Time will tell if the enthusiasm for the book translates into new behaviors, new habits, transformed lives and a transformed Church.

I am sure Matthew Kelly would be pleased if his book deepened old good habits, as well as started new ones.
One old habit in our parish I think of is reaching out to those in need.  Already Friday evening, members of our New Orleans Sister Parish Project team headed south.  This will be the sixth year that members of this parish have gone down to assist families whose lives have still not returned to normal after hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the city.  Seven are going down this year under the able leadership of Rachel Riehle.  Keep them in prayer this week!

Another habit that has deepened by our Lenten reflections is our RCIA process, coming now to its climax with the approach of Holy Week.  This coming Friday evening and Saturday the Catechumens will be at St. Anthony’s Spirituality center on a retreat led by our RCIA team.  The experience of Reconciliation and the Paschal Mystery witness talks are two of the highlights of this annual experience.  In the Paschal Mystery witness talk, one or two parish members share their story of dying and rising with Christ.

No doubt for all of us, this coming Holy Week will be especially rich after our communal reflection on Rediscover Catholicism.  And Holy Week is here! Next Sunday is Palm Sunday.  I am delighted to say we are blessed with a team of school children, this time boys and girls, who will lead the Palm Sunday procession with dance.  We are still working on scheduling, but they should be present at least at the 4 p.m. and 10:30 a.m. liturgies.

Holy Thursday service with the Washing of Feet will be at 7 p.m.  Good Friday with the Veneration of the Cross will be at 12:10 p.m.  The Holy Saturday Easter Vigil will be at 8 p.m. And Easter Sunday liturgies will be at 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.  I encourage everyone to attend the Three Holy Days.  Holy Week is the diamond on the ring of the year.  And Holy Saturday is the richest and most beautiful of all our celebrations as a Catholic community.

Along with the Catechumens that night we can all ponder Matthew Kelly’s challenge:  Are we willing to become the change the Church needs?  Do we believe Christ when he says:  Unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies it remains just a grain of wheat….

-Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16) (Gather # 914)

“… so that whoever believes in him…”  Trust is based upon experience.  Our trust in someone deepens as we have more and more experiences of their honesty or reliability.  Even if we give someone the shadow of a doubt, it is because we have known many other trustworthy people and wager that this new one can be trusted, too.

“Belief” in God is trusting God.  And so belief, like trust, grows with experience of God’s presence in our lives. But to discern God’s presence in our lives requires reflection and listening.  It requires prayer.  Our Lenten guide, Matthew Kelly, simply says, “A Christian life is not sustainable without prayer.” (pg. 170.)  I find that a very profound statement.  If we do not have a regular, disciplined prayer life, it is impossible to live the Christian life.  If we do not have belief based on the experience of God’s love and support, we cannot withstand the pressures of our secular culture.   For those who do enter into the experience of God’s love through regular prayer, Jesus promises: “They will not perish but will have eternal life.”

Prayer is the second of the seven habits Matthew Kelly finds marking the lives of the saints.  And he proposes the way to start is with taking ten minutes somewhere in your day to stop, reflect, and ask God the Big Questions: God, what do you think I should do? Through even so small an opening, God will slowly reveal God’s self to us.

I am finding Matthew Kelly an insightful and challenging spiritual writer but there are some aspects of the Christian life he does not address.  Who could possibly cover everything in one book!  So I’d like to suggest an eighth habit of the disciplined disciple’s life:  stewardship of treasure.  As spring approaches and we begin the final quarter of our fiscal year, I offer the following report.

Again I am relieved and happy to say that our Adult Envelope income has reversed a three year trend of decline.  We have experienced a significant upturn in contributions the past few months.  I hope that means that all of you are also experiencing some relief from the Great Recession.  If you are, thank you for sharing it with the parish!  If you are not, thank you for digging even deeper into limited resources.  Another encouraging aspect of our financial situation is the savings on utilities and snow removal during this mild winter. A strong beginning to our Fish Fry season is also a significant plus.

Even with these encouraging trends it will take us several years to climb back out of the recession as a parish.  We have taken on additional debt.  And, as you are surely aware, we are running without a parish administrator.  The staff who remain have had their positions reduced to part time or their job descriptions doubled. We as parish staff are very aware that many other people are experiencing the same stresses in their places of work.

There are two challenges that could slow, stop, or reverse our present positive trend.  The first is the Annual Diocesan Appeal.  As you may have read in past bulletins, with four months to go, we are at less than 50% of our target of $95,552.  Only 347 families out of our parish of 1600 households are presently participating.  Any shortfall at the end of the fiscal year becomes a debt we must pay out of our operational budget.  For information about what contributions are used for, check the Diocesan website. Many hands would make this project quite light.

Another challenge we are facing is a leaking roof.  We are in negotiations with the insurance company of the person who installed the flat roof over the school.  We feel the leaks we are now experiencing are due to defects in its installation.  If and what kind of settlement we are able to get will also have a significant impact on our financial future.

I do not mean to beg or whine.  For I trust.  There is lots of history in this parish with Diocesan Appeals and building projects that put a pastor’s heart at ease.  I just write to say Matthew Kelly should have had an eighth habit of great people:  stewardship of treasure.  They put flesh and blood on God’s life, like Christ did.

“God so loved the world that he sent his Son…”

-Fr. Steve