Bringing Joy. Heart of Mary. Charity towards others doesn t always. Sunshine Greeting Card Ministry. to the Elderly Members of the Family of God

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1 M a r c h 2015 Inside This Issue... 2 The Wise Men s Gifts Symbolize Our Lenten Obligations Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church Sunshine Greeting Card Ministry Bringing Joy to the Elderly Members of the Family of God Charity towards others doesn t always have to involve a grand gesture. Sometimes, it s the smallest things that remind us that we are loved by God and members of His family. That s precisely why Ilene Marking decided to become part of the Sunshine Greeting Card Ministry. It s wonderful, Ilene says of her participation in the ministry. It s a simple but important way to show our love and concern. This allows us to keep in contact with the faithful and to let them know that we still care. We re interested in them, as God is interested in us. Many older parishioners are unable to make it to Mass or parish events, which can leave them feeling isolated and alone. To remind the elderly that we are a community, one Body in Christ, the Sunshine Greeting Card Ministry distributes cards to members of the parish who are 80 years and older or are a current resident of a nursing home. Ilene herself was homebound for a year. She wants to make sure our fellow parishioners are not forgotten and that our parish remains connected to them. Many elderly parishioners have experienced the joy of receiving a Christmas, Easter, birthday, sympathy, or get well soon card. Ilene remembers how one woman, who has since passed away, used to keep all of her Christmas and Easter cards taped on the wall of her apartment. Some cards are store-bought, while others are hand-made. All are tasteful, perhaps with a Scripture verse or inspiring quote. Whatever the appearance, this small gesture brings joy to those who need our love, care and attention. They are reminded that they are a part of God s family. continued on back cover 3 The Joy of Lent 4 The Legacy and Future of Our Parish and School Community Alumni and Friends Committee 6 Feast of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary March 19 7 Results of Our 2014 Stewardship Renewal A handwritten note reminds the recipient that they are still part of the parish family.

2 Immaculate Heart of Mary The Wise Men s Gifts Symbolize Our Lenten Obligations 2 We experience great joy when we celebrate the coming of the Magi at Epiphany each year. For many of us, it is the completion of Christmas. Yet, the gifts offered by the Magi gold, frankincense and myrrh can be a guide for us as we plan our Lenten observances this year. It may seem strange to connect the joyful celebration of Epiphany with the penitential season of Lent. Yet, our spiritual life should not be divided into separate bits having no connection with each other. In the same way, the Church s liturgical year should also flow from one season to another. The different feasts and seasons certainly have different emphases, but they are intended to build on each other. So let s see if we can connect what the Magi gave Jesus with what we re going to offer Him this Lent. The basic ingredients for our Lenten rule normally come from what are termed the Three Notable Duties prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These in turn come from Jesus Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). How do we connect the wise men s gifts with the notable duties? Actually, what the gifts symbolize matches up surprisingly well. Frankincense is the basic ingredient in the incense used in the worship of God, in the ancient world and in the Church today. Offering it to Jesus points out His divine nature, and so it symbolizes prayer. Our Lenten rule needs to include prayer and worship. Of course, we are bound to worship at Sunday Mass year-round. Maybe during Lent, we might add a weekday Mass. Perhaps we can increase the time we devote to private prayer at home or at adoration. Devotional reading from the Bible or another appropriate book can be added. And don t forget the possibility of adding family devotions during Lent, so the whole family prays together. When we offer our gold to Christ to build His Church and to help His poor, we are engaged in almsgiving. While giving from the treasure God has entrusted to us is a duty throughout the whole year, maybe this Lent we can practice being a little more generous than usual. If our giving is a thankful response to the gift of eternal life that God has given us, we will find that the giving is indeed a means of grace. For centuries, myrrh has been associated with fasting. Although myrrh comes from the same family of plants as frankincense, it has a more pungent scent and bitter taste. In the ancient world, it was regularly used in embalming. Generations of theological writers have seen the gift of myrrh as a foreshadowing of Christ s sufferings. And fasting strengthens us in holiness and prepares us to come into God s presence after our own deaths. St. Thomas Aquinas himself linked myrrh with repentance and fasting when he wrote that myrrh represents the penance by which we preserve our souls from the corruption of sin. Fasting may be the most difficult of the three notable duties for modern Americans. After all, most of the advertising and many of the magazine articles we see are devoted to making us more, not less, comfortable. We usually think of fasting only under the heading of dieting to lose weight. Instead, try to think of fasting as a way to become more spiritually fit. Body and spirit affect each other. The whole sacramental system is built on the truth that we can receive spiritual grace through material things and physical actions. Our specific requirements of fasting are limited abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, and a reduction in the quantity of food we eat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. But discipline of our physical bodies for our spiritual well-being does not have to be limited to Lent! Gold, frankincense and myrrh were indeed valuable gifts for the wise men to present to the Child Jesus. When we look at their symbolism, we can see their relationship to the three notable duties of almsgiving, prayer and fasting. What gifts are we going to offer to Jesus this Lent?

3 M a r c h 2015 A Letter From Our Pastor The Joyof Lent Dear Parishioners, Have you ever thought about the joy in sacrifice that Lent provides? Most of us don t delight in sacrifice; in fact, in our daily lives we often do our best to avoid challenges and practices that push us outside of our comfort zones. In Christianity, there is a beautiful irony between joy and sacrifice, and we are presented with a wonderful opportunity to embrace this in a unique way during Lent. In his 2014 Lenten message, Pope Francis shared, Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty. While giving up sweets in favor of healthy snacks for Lent is a common and noble endeavor, the goal of Lent should not only be a spiritual excuse to lose weight! In choosing acts of self-denial, we are saying no to things in order to get into the practice of saying no when inclined towards sin, ultimately deepening our faith and our relationship with the Lord. Victory can be found when we deny ourselves and pick up our crosses and hardships in order to grow closer to Christ! Therein lies the joy. When we grow closer to God by denying our will, we say yes to a life of abundance with Him. Our God is a benevolent God; He will not hold back His grace from those who honor Him and choose challenging things to grow and give Him glory. Christ even tells us Himself, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Without question, Lent is a time for conscious penitence and for spiritual preparation for Easter. And, it is important to remember that God loves us whether we make Lenten changes or not. At the same time, Lent provides us an opportunity to make God a greater part of our life, and to take our faith to new levels. Stewardship is a God-centered way of life a spiritual way of living that, above all, acknowledges God s presence in all we do. Lent is a time for each and every one of us to do more than simply deny ourselves; we need to welcome God into our lives in greater ways, so that when we get to Holy Week and Easter, we have an even greater appreciation for the sacrifice the Lord made for us. Talk about pure joy! May you and your loved ones enjoy a holy and joyous Lenten journey, and a blessed Easter. Sincerely yours in Christ, In choosing acts of selfdenial, we are saying no to things in order to get into the practice of saying no when inclined towards sin, ultimately deepening our faith and our relationship with the Lord. Victory can be found when we deny ourselves and pick up our crosses and hardships in order to grow closer to Christ! Fr. John Silva Pastor 3

4 Immaculate Heart of Mary The Legacy and Future of Our P Alumni and Frie When we consider the legacy of a parish school, the alumni certainly play an important part. It is that unique formation in Catholic faith and the fostering of values that makes these alumni good leaders within a parish and community. Each generation continues to build on the foundation of the Church, and pass it along to future generations. Our school alumni, their parents and families, are the greatest ambassadors of IHM School. And with our school playing such an integral role in their lives, they are more likely to invest in the future of our Catholic parish and school community. The mission of this committee is to plan and host events that invite not only alumni of IHM School, but also parishioners, current school families, and former and current faculty. The events include school reunions, which bring old friends and classmates together, as well as fun social activities such as golf or bowling, that also serve as fundraisers for our school. Funds raised at our alumni and friends events support our school s tuition assistance scholarship program this helps families who desire a Catholic education for their children, but are unable to pay the full cost of tuition. Whenever there is an alumni event, it starts with Mass at IHM Church. Our faith in Jesus Christ is at the forefront of all we do, even during those times when we get together just for fun. This is an important ministry within the IHM community. Our alumni newsletter, sent annually, provides current news from IHM School, as well as articles that spotlight some of our alumni and what they ve been up to since their years at IHM. We truly need to remain connected with our school alumni. After they graduate and go on to high school, college and their adult lives, it is important that they remain an important part of our parish and school family. That is what we truly are in the Catholic Church one family that we pray will 4

5 M a r c h 2015 arish and School Community nds Committee continue to grow and thrive for our students now and in the future. We are in need of a committee to not only organize events, but also help keep our alumni database up-to-date. In 60 years of Catholic education at IHM, we have had over 1,000 students graduate from IHM School, and our database only contains about 750 names. If a group of our school alumni would be willing to work together on this, the commitment would not fall on just one or two people, the responsibilities could be shared, and the members of the committee would have a lot of fun working on this together. For more information on the Alumni and Friends Committee, to find out how you can help, or to add your name to our alumni mailing list, please contact Kathy Marshall at , or via at kmarshall@ihmparish.org. IHM Lenten Schedule 2015 Stations of the Cross Friday, March 6 4 p.m. Friday, March 13 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 20 4 p.m. Friday, March 27 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 3 Good Friday, noon Friday Fish Fries at IHM School 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. March 6 March 20 Lenten Prayer Services IHM School in Marian Hall Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m. March 4 March 11 March 18 March 25 East Madison Lenten Communal Reconciliation Services Sunday, March 22 3 p.m., St. Bernard s on Atwood Ave. Tuesday, March 24 7 p.m., St. Peter s on Sherman Ave. Wednesday, March 25 7 p.m., St. Dennis on Dempsey Road Thursday, March 26 7 p.m., at Immaculate Heart of Mary Holy Week and Easter Schedule Holy Thursday, April 2 Mass of the Lord s Supper, 6 p.m. Good Friday, April 3 Stations at Noon, Service at 6 p.m. Easter Vigil, Holy Saturday, April 4 7:30 p.m. Easter Sunday, April 5 Mass Times, 8 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. Divine Mercy Sunday, April 12 Service begins at 2:30 p.m. Chaplet at 3 p.m. 5

6 Immaculate Heart of Mary Feast of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary March 19 D evotion to St. Joseph began relatively late in Church history, primarily because his role of husband to Mary and head of the Holy Family was underplayed in early Christianity by many unauthenticated legends of Christ s childhood. These legends almost always portrayed Joseph as an old man, a simple guardian of Mary and Jesus. Modern theology places Joseph in a much more important position. Because of his true, sacramental marriage to Mary, Joseph shared in Mary s parenthood Joseph was a father to Jesus in every way except physical generation. Joseph appeared publicly as the natural father of Jesus, thus shielding the virginity of Mary and the reputation of Jesus. Joseph s fatherly love, authority, and watchful service were all necessary circumstances in God s plan for the Incarnation. Joseph was born in Judea or Galilee in the first century B.C. Little is stated in the Bible about the influence Joseph had on Jesus. History tells us that he brought Mary and Jesus to the temple each Passover and taught Jesus the carpentry trade. He seems to be the silent family man who shows his love for his family by providing them with security. The very safety of Mary and Jesus was guarded by Joseph when he took his family into Egypt to avoid the massacre of male babies ordered by King Herod. In the history of the Church, Western veneration of Joseph began with the introduction of the Feast of St. Joseph in the late 15th century. In 1870, at the end of the First Vatican Council, Pope Pius IX declared St. Joseph to be the patron of the Universal Church. He is also the patron of carpenters, workers, fathers, and a happy death given that he died in the presence of Mary and Jesus. The title of Joseph s March 19 feast day is Husband of Mary. Pope Pius XII later declared May 1 to be the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, to counteract the Communist May Day holiday. A traditional prayer to St. Joseph O Blessed St. Joseph, faithful guardian and protector of virgins, to whom God entrusted Jesus and Mary, I implore you by the love which you did bear them, to preserve me from every defilement of soul and body, that I may always serve them in holiness and purity of love. Amen. 6

7 M a r c h 2015 Results of Our 2014 Stewardship Renewal Immaculate Heart of Mary recently conducted the 2014 Annual Stewardship Renewal. The results are very encouraging, and show signs of growth within our parish community. So far, over 385 of our active parish households participated in the Stewardship Renewal by turning in a commitment card. What a wonderful sign that our parish is growing to embrace stewardship as a way of life! Just a few of the outstanding results from the 2014 Stewardship Renewal include: Love the Lord your God with all your heart. In order to keep this commandment, we have to spend time in prayer, talking to the Person we love most. Below you can check off your commitments to make prayer a priority. b Time Spending Time with God in Prayer Attend Mass every Sunday and Holy Day Attend weekday Mass at least once a week Spend one hour a week in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament Invite a friend or acquaintance to Mass Pray together with my family Pray for the sick, the lonely and the deceased Discuss our Catholic Faith with my children/parents Read the Bible for a half hour a week Spend at least 15 minutes a day in personal prayer Pray the Rosary at least weekly Go to Confession at least every other month Spend extra time with my spouse each day Talent Using My Talents in Parish Ministries Love your neighbor as yourself. Love requires that we act in the best interests of others. How can you serve others by your involvement in parish ministries? When you sign up for a ministry, the leader will call you to explain how to become involved. = Currently Involved = Interested in Joining Clearly write the first name of family member on the line. Activities Alumni and Friends Committee Buildings and Grounds Cub Scouts/Boy Scouts Federation of North American Explorers Garden Angels Girl Scouts IHM Memorial Day Festival IHM Winter Gala Knights of Columbus St. Anne s Society Communication Archivist Parish Mailing Group Education Between Sundays- Adult Faith Enrichment Tuesday Morning Group Tuesday Evening Group Wednesday Evening Study Group Thursday Morning Study Group continued on back panel Treasure Making a Consistent Gift to the Offertory For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own free will but first they gave themselves to the Lord (2nd Cor. 8:3-5). At Immaculate Heart of Mary, we ask that each household give: 5% to Immaculate Heart of Mary 1% to the diocese, and 4% to other charities My Gift to Immaculate Heart of Mary: Please complete either a Weekly or Monthly offertory gift $ Weekly gift x 52= annually Monthly gift x 12= Or annually $ $ $ Did You Know? Immaculate Heart of Mary offers an electronic giving option! Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) is safe, secure, and saves money and time for both you and the parish. Withdrawals from your account are automatically deducted on the 10th of each month. If you are interested in this simple way of giving to the parish, please complete the form at right. Current Electronic Givers If you currently give to the parish via EFT, please make sure to indicate that you do so on the form at right so that we may adjust your monthly giving amount, if necessary. ElEctronic GivinG Form Member Information Member Name(s) Home Address City State ZIP Home Telephone Check one of the following instructions regarding your Electronic Giving: Start new Electronic Giving Stop my existing Giving Change my existing Giving Funds will be transferred on the 10th of each month. New commitments will begin on January 10, PLEASE ATTACH A CANCELED CHECK for the account you wish to use. Let Me Be Your Servant Please withdraw $ from my account on the 10th of each month. Authorized Account Holder Signature(s): Immaculate Heart of Mary I (we) hereby authorize Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church to initiate the transaction to my account. Signature: Date: 2014 Stewardship Renewal All together, our parish families made 1,565 commitments to spend time in prayer, such as reading from the Bible, praying the Rosary, praying with family members, and praying for the sick, lonely and deceased. Participating households made 1,012 Talent commitments, either recommitting to a parish ministry through which they were already serving, or signing up for a ministry with which they were not previously involved. Of the many Talent commitments, 217 were new commitments to join a parish ministry. The five most popular ministry commitments were IHM Memorial Day Festival, Luke House, Offertory Gift Bearers, St. Anne s Society, and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. My offering of Time, Talent & Treasure First & Last Name (One card per family) Street Address City State ZIP The average annual offertory commitment this year was $1,497 While the statistics from the 2014 Stewardship Renewal are encouraging, the real effect of emphasizing stewardship can never be quantified, for two reasons. First, the spiritual benefits are inestimable. Second, even families who didn t return a commitment card this year are nonetheless impacted by the stewardship message and become more generous with their time, talent, and treasure. Thanks to all parishioners who support Immaculate Heart of Mary and make our parish a vibrant, faith-filled community. Telephone (Important) Please bring your completed card to Mass on Commitment Sunday, November 8/9 or mail to the parish office. 7

8 5101 Schofield Street Monona, WI (608) NON-PROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE PAID MADISON, WI PERMIT NO 934 Sunshine Greeting Card Ministry continued from front cover The cards tell people that the parish is still here for them, Ilene says. We care for them we re a family. We have not forgotten them. Ilene lives only a block and a half from the parish, so committee members can pick the cards up at her house or at the church, whichever is more convenient. Postage on all cards is provided volunteers simply pick Ilene Marking up the cards, write a quick message and put them in the mail. If you have questions or would like to get involved, please contact Ilene Marking at The Sunshine Greeting Card Ministry can always use more volunteers. This is an incredibly easy but effective way to live Christ s thoughtful, attentive love. It s a feel-good program, Ilene shares. People really enjoy doing it, because they feel more connected to other people in the parish. People do care. It s something anyone can do, and when people help, even when it s a small thing, it helps the whole parish in the end. People really enjoy doing it, because they feel more connected to other people in the parish. People do care. It s something anyone can do, and when people help, even when it s a small thing, it helps the whole parish in the end. Ilene Marking