Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“He made a whip of out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area…” (John 2:15) (Gather #911)

Impressive women.  This letter was written before our Parish Mission began but after I had the chance to share a meal with Sr. Mary Margaret and her parish member hosts, Sr. Barbara Bell and Sr. Carol Hlava.  Sr. Mary Margaret is celebrating her 50th Jubilee this year.  Sr. Barbara has already celebrated her 60th.  And Sr. Carol is somewhere in between.  Listening to their stories I began to understand that the wisdom and joy we experience in these good women is born of years of service and hard work.

All three of them have experiences ranging from teaching oversized elementary classes in inner city schools, to serving their Dominican Order in roles of leadership, to working as professionals in hospitals or universities.  Their understanding of human nature is first hand and profound.  Their familiarity with God manifests in their humility and joy.  Not with a whip made of cords, but by the even sterner method of entering into relationship, they have been scoured, cleansed and made into beautiful temples of Spirit.

We bid Sr. Mary Margaret goodbye on Thursday morning though I sense our paths will cross again.  For now we will savor the insights and new understandings she shared with us.  And we can give thanks that Sr. Barbara and Sr. Carol remain with us, hopefully for many years to come.  Impressive women!

We have many such great souls around us, of course.  I was so pleased with our Gathering of Ministers on March 1st.  We did not have hundreds of people come but almost everyone of those who did come offered themselves for a role of leadership on one of our Commissions.  The dream is coming true!  Ideally each Commission has eight or nine members and with those who came forward we are pretty much there.

We express our gratitude to those ending their term on a Commission.  They have seen us through a time of significant transition these past three years.  All of them would agree, I believe, that it has been a time of personal growth for them as well.  Dealing with change and sometimes confusion forces you to clarify your values and commitments.  It clears away all lesser values making pure what is most important.  It cleanses the temple.

Our fully staffed Commissions have plenty of work ahead of them. There are so many ministries in need of growth and development.  High on my list would be additional people to assist with preparing couples for marriage.  We are in need of people to assist with the Pre-Cana Program (one Saturday every few months) and the FOCCUS Inventory (meeting once with several couples each year).  Getting involved with people is challenging but also very rewarding.

The challenge of course is that engaging other real human beings often brings to light our own weaknesses.  Matthew Kelly, our Lenten guide, challenges us in this third week to face our weaknesses head on.  He writes:  “We don’t want to talk about them, and we certainly don’t want anyone else to point them out.  This is a classic sign of mediocrity, and this mediocrity has a firm grip on the Church…  The proof is our collective attitude and approach toward Confession….  Great men and women want to know their weaknesses.  They see those weaknesses as the key to a richer, more abundant future.”  (Pg. 145)

I would like to spend this whole week just on chapter twelve of Rediscover Catholicism: Reconciliation.  We will consider the other six pillars of Catholic Spirituality next week.  For those so moved, we are offering Communal Reconciliation next Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. and again on Wednesday, March 14th at 6:30 p.m.  We will have a number of priests present to hear individual confessions.  I am also available the other Wednesdays of Lent from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.   And all year long, I hear confessions after the 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning Mass.

Christ wants to lead us out of mediocrity.  He wants to free us from the grasp of the foul spirits of this age:  individualism, hedonism, and minimalism.  He wants to help us discover and become the best version of our selves possible.  One of the habits of great souls in the past is bringing one’s weaknesses to God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

“He made a whip of out of cords and drove (our weaknesses) out of the temple area…”

-Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them up….”  (Mark 9:2) (Gather # 908)

They went like hotcakes!… the books and the fish.  Matthew Kelly’s diagnosis of the condition of the Catholic Church must have rung true to a lot of people last Sunday.  Because when the invitation was extended to come forward and take a copy of the book, they went like hotcakes!  In fact, all five hundred donated books disappeared by the end of the 10:30 a.m. liturgy.  The good news is that Matthew Kelly believes his message is so important that he will send you a free copy.  Go to DynamicCatholicism.com and select “Rediscover Catholicism.”  For the cost of shipping they will send you your own copy.  There are many other good materials on his site as well.

This week we will read Part Two:  The Authentic Life (Chapters 6-11).   Like a doctor after diagnosing the nature of the disease, he makes his prescription for returning the Church back to health.  He says the cure for a people who have lost their way is to restore to them their true purpose in life.  Catholics have become mired in all of present society’s difficulties because we have forgotten our true purpose for being in the world: to become Holy.  And Holiness, in his down-to-earth thinking, is becoming the best version of ourselves possible.  Contrary to what many believe, spirituality does not oppress us, but sets us free to be who we truly are.

We are most blessed to have Sr. Mary Pazdan with us this weekend and for the next three days to lead our parish mission.  Sr. Mary had agreed to this a year ago and so began her planning long before our Lenten planning team had settled on our theme and the work of Matthew Kelly.  When she saw where we were heading she wrote:  “It is amazing how the Spirit works.”  For the Spirit was leading her and us in the same direction!  So Sr. Mary comes at the perfect time to lend her Scriptural insight, theological training, and passion to the work of becoming our true selves in Christ.

For your good, for the good of St. Anne’s, for the good of our country!  Come!!  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.  Each morning at 9:30 a.m. and again at 6:30 p.m. in the evening she will speak about the spiritual life.  There will be time to socialize after each session, so come also expecting to enjoy the company of friends new and old.

Surely a highpoint in our year, our Parish Mission is not, however, the only great opportunity coming our way. This Saturday, March 10^th, the Fifth Annual Catholics Alive In Christ Conference is being held right here at St. Anne’s.  In keeping with Matthew Kelly’s call to “humbly but heroically live by what is good, true and noble…” this conference equips Catholics to engage society on the ethical issues of our day.

The keynote speaker, John Huebscher, is the executive director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference.  That means he speaks on behalf of the Wisconsin Bishops to our state legislators and guides the Bishops as they engage in the legislative process. John has also been active on a national level including being the President of the National Association of State Catholic Conference Directors. His keynote address is on “Faithful Citizenship.”  There will be breakout sessions with other speakers during the day.  The conference will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.  There is a $15 registration fee.

But not only did the books go like hotcakes — the fish did as well!  Our opening Fish Fry was a great start to the season.  First of all because we had an abundance of customers from 94-year-old Althea Hughes who hasn’t missed a Fish Fry in decades, to many who were there for a first time.  And just as important, we had a wonderful turnout of volunteer workers.  The dining room was split between our parish youth working to raise funds for their mission trip, NTC SEEDS students, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.  Mixed in there and in the kitchen were a group of men from the Randlin Homes.  It was a wonderfully diverse and happy team.  Apart from the list of Take Out workers that got misplaced and so never called, it was an almost flawless opening night.  Thank you to all who stepped in last minute to fill the gaps.  And most of all thank you to Vernell and Joe Theisen for leading us!

We have begun another rich Lenten season.  And we all know, of course, that through Matthew Kelly, Sr. Mary Pazdan, John Huebscher, and Joe and Vernell…. it’s really Christ who…. “leads us up”…. along with Peter, James and John.

-Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“I will bring you back… I will give you a new heart, a new spirit within you, for I will be your strength.”
(Deep Within # 419 Gather) (Based on Ez. 36:26)

With Jesus we begin Lent, going out into the desert to face our demons.  Those voices we can bury in a busy, distracted life, but they cry out inescapably when we grow still.  Our guide through the desert this year is Matthew Kelly, a surprisingly young man from Australia.  In his book Rediscovering Catholicism, which every household is receiving as a gift this weekend, he states: “People are tired; they are worn out, overloaded with information, and overwhelmed with the social, political, and economic climate… they are merely trying to survive.” (pg. 10)  Until we face the demon, the truth we don’t want to admit, we cannot change and move on to a healthier place.

And from this place of exhaustion, continues Matthew Kelly, people cry out:  “Don’t tell me.  Show me.”  Fed up with the fabricated appearances found in words, books, CDs and media, people search for someone who is actually living an authentic life —  “Someone whose words are spoken by the authority of his or her actions;  someone striving humbly but heroically to live by what is good, true and noble in the midst of and in spite of this modern climate.” (pg. 11)

Matthew Kelly describes well what I sensed in our sophomores during last weekend’s Confirmation Retreat.  Young people bursting with dreams and abilities but held back, if not bound up, by a culture that can appear cynical and apathetic.  They are just looking for someone to follow, someone who is taking the risk of being their authentic selves.  Thank you retreat leaders and parish Youth Minister John Schmitt for providing them with such models.  In just the few hours I was present, I saw a visible change taking place in them.  We ended Saturday night with Eucharist. Instead of reciting the creed, we passed a candle and invited them to stand up and express their faith in their own words.  Almost all of them took the candle, rose to their feet in front of their peers, and shared what God means to them or how important their family is.  It was beautiful to behold.

Matthew Kelly also describes well our Catechumens and Candidates, some of whom are able to go to La Crosse today for the Rite of Election.  Jim Bakken, Wameng Yang, J. Miller, C. Zirngible, F. Xiong and M. Xiong have all had quite diverse lives and experiences.  They search for a place, a community, in which they find people “humbly but heroically living by what is good, true and noble…” so that they can find the courage to do the same.  That search has led them to us!

Surely it is people like Jeanette Le Noir and Carol Luetmer that have drawn them here.  Leaders of our Gospel of Life Ministry, Jeanette and Carol have prepared the insert in this bulletin to update us on the debate over health care taking place between our Church and civil leaders.  They are risking stepping up to take action on Bishop Callahan’s request that we contact our public representatives to let them know where we stand as citizens of this country.  Next week Gospel of Life Ministry members will be in the back of church to assist anyone who seeks help with sending in a letter.

There are many people in this parish “humbly and heroically living by what is good, true and noble…”  Whether it is helping middle schoolers form their faith, visiting someone in hospice care, or fixing the home of a New Orleans family, there are quiet heroes all around us.  I invite you to come and meet some of them.  This Thursday is our annual Gathering of Ministers.  Everyone who volunteers for some service in this parish is asked to gather in McKillip Hall at 6:30 p.m.  There some “quiet heroes” will share their dreams for the future of our faith family.  Seeing them taking the risk to live a more authentic life will, I am confident, inspire others to do the same.

And if neither Confirmation leaders, nor Gospel of Life ministers, nor Commission chairpersons get you moving, surely Sr. Mary Pazdan will.  She will be introduced at all of the liturgies next weekend.  Then beginning Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Monday evening, she will lead us out of the desert and into a fully authentic life in Christ in our Parish Mission.

For all those who do take the risk of a more authentic life the Lord promises:  “I will bring you back and give you a new heart and a new spirit.”

- Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“Behold, I am doing something new!  …In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers.”  (Isaiah 43:19)  (Gather # 999)

“I feel like I have rediscovered my Catholic faith,” a very excited parish member exclaimed.  She had been to another parish where they had given everyone in the Church a book as a gift.  Our parishioner took one home, read it and came running shortly thereafter to say: “We must give this book to everyone in our parish.”

As you may have caught in the last issue of The Spirit, our Lenten Planning Team had come to the conclusion that many people feel like they are in a spiritual desert.  Prolonged, chronic, stress dries up one’s spirit.  It leaves one feeling empty.  Soulless.  And there are so many sources of stress in our lives —  unemployment, the great recession, deep and heartfelt political conflicts, the never-ending clergy abuse scandal, climate change, the new Roman Missal, and on and on it goes.

So when a parish member says, “Behold, I have found something new that has brought me life in the desert,” we paid attention!  In fact when she said she felt so strong about this, she was willing to put money on the table to make it happen.  We ordered the books! Next weekend, as we celebrate the First Sunday of Lent, we are giving out this book as a gift to every household.  Each week of Lent we will read together a section of the book and talk about it on Sundays.  I pray that through the book, you will rediscover your Catholic faith, too.

Also next weekend, our new Gospel of Life Ministry was all set to launch a letter writing campaign on the health care issue Bishop Callahan wrote about a couple of weeks ago.  At the time of this writing the Bishops had not yet responded to President Obama’s compromise proposal. We are waiting for the Bishops’ lead to see whether a letter writing campaign is still needed or not.

On another moral issue, I did sign a letter along with thirteen other area pastors, and with hundreds of pastors around the state, in support of the 11 X 15 Campaign being launched this Tuesday. In order to create safer communities, end the senseless waste of human life, and save the state millions of dollars, the Treatment Instead of Prison (TIP) task forces around the state are uniting behind the goal of reducing the prison population in Wisconsin to 11,000 inmates by the year 2015.  Thus the name:  11 X 15.

With there being 22,000 inmates in state prisons right now this may seem like a daunting task.  But when you think that over half of the people put in prison are there because of addictions or mental illnesses, and that without treatment they are set up to fail again and again when released, it becomes quite reasonable, if not imperative, that we begin to provide treatment instead of more prison. You will be hearing more about this in the months to come.  I find it a remarkable movement of courage and hope.  God doing something new.  Life appearing in the desert.

Great ministries like these take place in our parish because great people step forward and provide leadership.  If everyone sat back to let the next guy do it, our liturgies would be thoughtless and drab and we would not be engaged in the great moral issues of our time.  I am so grateful to the parish members who are speaking at each Mass this weekend to share why they have stepped into leadership and to invite you to do the same.

This weekend and next there are nomination cards in the pews.  Please take a moment to recommend a few people you feel would be good leaders.  They will be called and invited to our Gathering of Ministers on March 1^st.   No arm twisting!  At that meeting they will hear the dreams our commissions have for the future of the parish and then be invited to help make those dreams come true.  If you are not going to be in church, you can also nominate someone by dropping me or the parish office a line with the name of a parish member and what qualities you feel they have to offer the parish.

Please see the liturgy schedule for the times of services this Ash Wednesday.  And when you come, let the barren apple tree branches in the sanctuary hold the truth for you that though these seem to be dry and barren times, within them — and within us — are deep currents and tremendous gifts fully capable of bursting forth in new life.  I look forward to this journey through Lent to Easter with you.

- Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“He cured many who were sick…Rising very early he went off to a deserted place where he prayed…Then he told them, let us go on…” (Mark 1:34,35,38) (Gather # 993)

A long, long time ago, I think in 1981, Henry Nouwen gave the retreat for the seminary I was in at the time.  Some may recognize this widely read author’s name.  He left a deep impression, one that remains with me to this day.  He spent his three days with us talking about today’s Gospel.  He said it formed a “tryptic.” That is three panels, each a distinct story in itself, yet all three related to one another.

On the first and third panels, or parts of the Gospel, Jesus is working miraculous healings and travelling the countryside proclaiming the Good News.  But it is the middle panel, said Fr. Nouwen, that reveals the secret of his power:  He spent long hours absorbed in prayer.  His point was “if Jesus needed to spend as much time in prayer as he did working, who do you think you are to do with any less!”

This continues the theme of last Sunday where we noted that Jesus’ authoritative words that drove out unclean spirits were filled with peace.  “Be still” he said with a stillness that had come from his hours of solitude with the Father.

I also noted last week that Bishop Callahan’s letter about changes in federal law began with the extension of peace.  “Peace be with you,” he wrote.  It takes great stillness and reflection to pick out of the cacophony of things happening in the world today those that are truly most significant and needing top priority.  We include Bishop Callahan’s letter as an insert in this bulletin for those who were not here last week and for those who would like to take action and go to the Bishop’s website for more information.

What I understand is that the new Health Care law going into effect requires all institutions hiring or serving the general public to provide health insurance to their employees that includes coverage of birth control.  Institutions that hire and serve people primarily of their own faith are exempt from this requirement.  Thus parishes and dioceses are exempt, but Catholic Hospitals, orphanages, and such are not.

As Bishop Callahan says so clearly in his letter, the US Bishops and other religious bodies feel this is a direct assault on the First Amendment Right to Freedom of Religion.  It would require a Catholic Hospital, like St. Clare’s, to either provide insurance coverage for contraceptives for its employees or not offer health insurance at all; both of which are contrary to fundamental beliefs of our Catholic faith.

The federal government has given Churches a year to come into compliance.  The Bishops are asking all of us to act immediately to ensure that within this year our civic leaders change this part of the Health Care law to be less restrictive.  Please see the address for the website of the US Bishops on Bishop Callahan’s enclosed letter for links to further guidance on what next steps to take.

And while you are at your computer, and after you have gotten informed on this important concern, head to the St. Anne’s website.  This weekend we have Chrystal Collet with us from the Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) publishing company.  One of the services OSV has offered parishes is the printing of collection envelopes.  Keeping up with the times, they now assist parishes with online giving.  As a large company they can negotiate good rates with credit card companies and so make it realistic for parishes to accept contributions through credit cards.

Chrystal will be available after all of the Masses this weekend in the parish office and would be happy to show anyone interested how to get set up.  They work with parishes across the US and feel it is what will one day be the way most people handle their parish contributions.  The security, the convenience, the perks, and the automatic record keeping make it an easy choice for those comfortable with doing things online.

It is obviously a win for the parish.  Then regardless of who is playing football that day, or what the weather is like, the deeper commitments people make in moments of thoughtful reflection are still carried out and the healing deeds of Christ continue in this world.
Please consider it.  Maybe, rise up early tomorrow morning, go off to a deserted place…. And pray.

-Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and said:  Be still.  Come out of the man.”  (Mark 1:25)  (Gather #990)

There does not appear to be anything “still” about the Penny Carnival.  This event that kicks off our celebration of Catholic Schools Week each year is wild and exciting.  Many stalls, each with a different game to play or contest to enter, turn McKillip Hall today into a Carnival that yields wide eyes and big smiles from small children and grownups alike.  There is good food, too, but the real medicine is in all the good people who come together to enjoy the afternoon.  It is just the thing to chase away winter blues, worldly anxieties, and even unclean spirits.  Something about simple games, lots of laughter and good people says to the soul:  “Be Still.  Fear come out.”

What is a bit hidden at Penny Carnival will be made perfectly clear on Monday when the whole school gathers in Church for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  Here the real presence of God in our lives will be given full attention.  Gathering as a whole student body, taking time away from all other activities, singing songs from the heart, uniting voices in prayers of thanksgiving, pondering in prayerful silence, the Eucharist enthroned in the monstrance, all demonstrate the reality that God is with us.  Could anything more powerfully say to a young soul:  “Be Still.  Fear come out.”

This whole week will include special activities highlighted by the All School Liturgy with Bishop Callahan Thursday at Newman High School at 9:30 a.m.  As beautiful as this gathering will be, it is highlighting the wonderful environment these children experience every day in our Catholic Schools.  What could more powerfully rebuke the unclean spirits of our day than a community filled with God’s Holy Spirit because it lives in a way based on the values and truths of his Holy Word.  From the prayer at the start of each class day, to the assignments in the bible, Christ’s voice is heard:  Be Still.  Fear come out.

It is not only our schools, of course, that bear God’s healing word.  The parish community does as well.  And it is with a desire to make that word heard all the more clearly that we begin a new process for welcoming people into our parish beginning next Sunday.

The often unhappy children and the long list of people who say they want to join but haven’t, tell us that asking people to stay an hour and a half after the 10:30 a.m. Mass over the lunch hour is not family friendly programming. We also heard back from people that the attention they got the day they joined was wonderful, but then they were left to find their own way after that.  Some felt let down by there being no further outreach once they had “signed up.”

Drawing upon the wisdom and experience of Fr. Sweetser, we will begin to welcome new people to our parish in a more hospitable way.  Starting next Sunday there will be a volunteer in the parish office between the 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Masses and again after the 10:30 a.m. Mass until noon.  The commentator at the end of the liturgy will invite anyone who would like to join the parish to stop in the office after Mass.  There their registration information will be taken, and they will be given a packet of information.

They will also be assigned a Mentor who will call them within the week and set up a time to meet, possibly at Mass the next weekend.  Over the following weeks the Mentor will give them a tour of our parish facilities and go through the information packet with them, helping them get connected with the ministries they are looking for.  If those joining are a family with children, their Mentors will be a family with children.  If a single person joins, a single Mentor will be assigned.

Quarterly or so we will invite all those who have joined the parish to the rectory after the 10:30 a.m. mass for a brunch. This will give me a chance to meet them and for them to size up the pastor.  Parish staff will also be invited.  We will again check with people that they are finding the ministries here they are looking for.  We have enough Sunday volunteers and Mentors to start, but more are most welcome.  If you are interested in helping, please call the parish office, Jennifer Gabriel or Jill Warsaw.  It will be a most meaningful way to serve.  People often come to the parish caught in the unclean spirits of our day.  Through you our Lord will speak:  Be still. Fear come out.

-Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17) (Gather #987)

“Eighty-seven lives have been forever changed” said Fr. Mauthe as he packed up his boxes after the 10:30 a.m. liturgy.  Eighty-seven children and elderly people were adopted through the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA) last weekend.  I asked him if that was good.  “Good?” he said.  “I sometimes drive four or five hours to the middle of Minnesota or Iowa and come back with eleven or twelve children adopted.  This was fantastic!”  You should have seen the smile on his face. He had the look of a fisherman pulling in a full net as he thumbed through those application forms.

Many people stopped me to say “bring this guy back again.  He’s funny, but he speaks with power.”  We are working on just that. You probably picked up from his homily that he has a tremendous interest in and passion for the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.  This October 12^th marks the 50^th anniversary of the beginning of that historic event in the life of the Church. An inter-parish committee has begun working on a fitting celebration of this anniversary and Fr. Mauthe has already agreed to come and be part of it. This visit we will be sure to give enough time to really unwind!

This coming celebration of the 50^th Anniversary of the Second Vatican Council holds a special meaning for our parish family. Perhaps you know our parish Vision Statement begins:  The Parish of St. Anne’s embodies the vision of the Second Vatican Council which affirms that creation is sacred and the Holy Spirit is at work in all people.   So this coming celebration will be a renewal of our parish vision.  But it will also be a celebration of all that has been already accomplished, since the principles set forth by the Council have been at work in this parish for the last fifty years.  Presently we translate the Council’s words: the Holy Spirit is at work in all people into:  This is a parishioner led parish.

We put this theological principle into very concrete form these first months of each year.  At this very time all of our Commissions and Committees are setting their goals for the next few years.  They are prayerfully asking what this parish should look like, what should it be engaged in, where should it be involved, in the coming years.  This is really a beautiful thing.  The Holy Spirit, alive in the hearts of all the baptized, is being listened to by this parish.  What is God calling us to?

Once our goals and objectives are clear, we cast the net.  We share them with the parish community and extend the invitation to help make them happen.  The first Thursday of March, this year the 1^st of March, we hold our Gathering of Ministers.  Everyone who is presently involved as a volunteer is asked to gather with their Commission leaders to affirm or amend the goals and objectives the Commissions and Committees have proposed for that ministry area.

Once the goals and objectives are agreed upon,  the attainment of those goals depends upon getting the right people, with the right gifts, into the right roles of leadership and service.  Where as in the past we elected or appointed people to various leadership positions from the parish at large, now we are inviting people who have been involved in a ministry area and who have a passion to make it grow even better, to step onto a Committee or even a Commission.

I know everyone is very busy.  But I also believe the saying is true, that if you want something to get done, ask a busy person.  For they are engaged in life and putting their gifts to use.  So I dare to ask,  is it important to you that our parish provides quality liturgies, quality baptisms and weddings?  Is it important to you that our sick and elderly receive support?  Is it important to you that our youth remain active in their faith through their adolescent years?  Is it important to you that our parish be engaged in making this world a better place for others as well as ourselves?  If the answer is yes, then mark your calendar for March 1^st.  Come and find the place where your passion can best be expressed in action.

Oh you should have seen the smile on Fr. Mauthe’s face.  It was like that of a fisherman pulling in a full net.  And that look, can be yours.

-Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“Come and see.”  (John 1:39) (Gather# 984)

Second Sunday of ORDINARY TIME???  Some of you long-time church goers may feel like we skipped something this week.  Where is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord which usually brings the Christmas Season to a close?  Well if you feel that way, you are right!  We are not celebrating Christ’s Baptism on Sunday this year.  We are in a kind of Christmas Season Leap Year.

Our normal sequence for the Christmas Season is:  Christmas (Dec.25), The Feast of the Holy Family (the following Sunday), Mary the Mother of God (Jan.1), Epiphany (First Sunday of January), Baptism of our Lord (Second Sunday of January).  This year, because Christmas fell on Sunday it took the place of the Holy Family celebration. And since Mary the Mother of God was on the first Sunday of January it moved Epiphany to the second, taking the place of the Baptism of the Lord.  The Baptism of the Lord was celebrated on Monday January 9^th.

Though we are officially out of the Christmas season our Gospel today is the perfect sequel to the Feast of the Epiphany.  The Kings “came to see” the new born king and placed their own kingdoms in his service.  In today’s Gospel Jesus extends the same invitation to all of us:  “Come and see.”

I am very pleased at the turn out for our Parish Pictorial Directory.  Even the Olan Mills photographers complemented us on the number of people who have signed up to get their pictures taken.  This is no doubt due in part to the hard work of our co-chairs Barb Laurent and Win Spencer.  We are all grateful for their part in getting this much needed next pictorial directory together.  (Olan Mills will be here yet this week, so if you haven’t signed up for your picture yet, please go to our parish web-site and pick your time and date.)

But the great turn out is also due to the strong sense of community many people feel here and the desire by many more for that community sense to grow even stronger.  I hope the new directory will extend to all our Lord’s invitation to “come and see” the wonderful people in this parish.  Look them up.  Call them.  And then, go and see!

This weekend we are blessed to have
Fr. Richard Mauthe speaking at all the Masses.  Fr. Mauthe was the campus chaplain at UW-Green Bay for 30+ years where he was affectionately known by hundreds of students simply as “Pa.”
I was one of those students.  In his retirement he is not only helping out at St. Peter the Fisherman Parish in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, but he also travels the Midwest speaking on behalf of the Christian Foundation For Children and Aging (CFCA)

Earlier in his life “Pa” would vacation in Mexico.  Being of an adventurous spirit he would wander away from the hotels and tourist areas and find himself at orphanages and schools full of poor children.  He personally helped many of the children there out of poverty and then began looking for a way to touch even more lives.  Through CFCA he has now found sponsors for over three thousand children in Central and South America. He invites us to experience the same joy he has found in putting his gifts at the feet of the Christ child.  He invites us to: Come and See.

This coming Thursday, the 19^th, St. Anne’s will be hosting along with many other parishes around the diocese, a Holy Hour for Life.  Bishop Callahan has asked the Deacons of the Diocese to take leadership in the work of upholding the dignity of all life and to lead a Holy Hour as one specific step toward that end.  All are invited to come from 6:30pm to 7:30pm.  This mixture of song, prayer and meditation in the presence of the Eucharist will give us all a chance to rest in God and know again our own dignity and worth.  Then we will be able to share that same sense of dignity with others.  I am most grateful to Deacon Bob and the Gospel of Life Ministry members for putting this together and leading it.

Fresh from Christmas, and the mystery of the Word made Flesh, no one can miss that the invitation to look into the faces of fellow parish members, or third world children, or those of the unborn is really an invitation to gaze upon the face of Christ.  Each is an invitation to us no less than it was to his first Apostles.  An invitation to ‘come and see.’

-Fr. Steve

Dear People of St. Anne’s,

“They prostrated themselves and did him homage.  Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”  (Matthew 2:11) (Gather # 899)

The name of today’s Feast Day “Epiphany” was once used to describe the visit of an important personage to a community. The presence of the three kings indicates Christ’s epiphany or “appearing” here on earth is of world-wide significance.   We had a sense of that international flavor in our own Christmas celebration two weeks ago. If you look closely at the pictures on the cover of this bulletin you will see the exact same costumes worn by two different casts. One cast was predominantly Caucasian and told the Christmas story in English. The other case was entirely Asian and told the story in Hmong.  Christ’s birth touches hearts of every kind.

Ipads, American Girl Dolls, and ping-pong ball guns we some of the answers I received to the question “what was your favorite gift this year?”  I wonder what Jesus would answer to that question?  What gifts given most pleased him this year?  It’s going to take a while to answer because there are so many gifts to sort through!

Just before Christmas we received two gifts toward replacing the badly corroded divider in the men’s bathroom in the south entrance of the Church.  The new non-metal divider will never become the terrible eye-sore the present one has.  Thank you Fred & Rita Straub and Kathy Wilde!  The new divider has been ordered and should be installed in the next few weeks.

We have also received a first donation toward fixing the wall paper in the Church.  Surely you’ve noticed the unsightly cracks and wrinkles along the south walls.  Our Buildings & Grounds Committee is getting bids on three possible wall treatments for the walls presently wallpapered in Church.  We are comparing re-wallpapering, painting and dry-walling with insulation.  The present wall paper was glued right to the external cinder block walls.  Moisture wicks through the brick and loosens the wall paper glue.  The extreme dryness inside the church then causes the paper to shrink and pull away.  As soon as we settle on what is going to work best, we will publicize our decision and the cost in case others would like to assist with this project.

Sitting in the rectory garage since just before Christmas is a brand new lawn and garden tractor with a 50” mower deck that will make cutting the ball field a snap.  This much needed piece of equipment is a gift to the parish from Ed and Mary Burish.  Ed’s thinking that if we had nicer equipment to operate we might have more volunteers to help with the grounds come spring and summer.

Thanks to the gift of professional services from a parish attorney and contractor we are finally making progress on our leaking school roof.  The rubber flat roof installed over the flat portion of the school in 2004 was not installed correctly and leaks have been developing.  After several years of attempted fixes by the installer, just before Christmas we finally, with the help of the attorney and contractor, were able to get the installer’s insurance company to come and acknowledge the problem and the damage it has caused.  What we need is a new roof.  We are still waiting to see what the insurance company proposes.

All of these most generous gifts by parish members will have a significant impact on our community life in this coming year.  Thank you!  But I wonder if the gifts collected next weekend might still be higher on Jesus’ list.  Next week Fr. Dick Mauthe will be speaking at all of our liturgies about the Christian Foundation For Children and Aging (CFCA).  You may remember Fr. Mauthe as the priest from Green Bay who spoke here at St. Anne’s on the occasion of my 25^th ordination anniversary. He is a huge hearted man and taking care of children in need has become his passion during retirement.

CFCA was brought to our parish Mission Outreach Committee for presentation to the parish by Jan and Gary Yonke.  They saw the presentation in another Church and felt it is a ministry the people of St. Anne’s would want to be involved in. Our Mission Service Committee agreed.  As you will learn next weekend, this is a program where you have the chance to sponsor a child that has been selected by CFCA and through modest monthly contributions give the young person the basics they need to be successful in life.

Every gift given out of love to one of God’s children is no doubt pleasing to Him, no less than the gold, frankincense and myrrh of that first Epiphany.

-Fr. Steve