First expressions photography MOTHER SETON

Transcription

1 Summer Issue N. Main St. Holmen, WI First expressions photography MOTHER SETON Whither St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish? By Katherine Warzynski Messenger To build or not to build? If the answer is build, then the quesons become: Build what? Build where? Build when? To aid in answering these quesons, we might explore the history of the parish building and grounds. Parish history begins with the establishment of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Holmen on August 3, 1983 with a membership of 299 families. The first parish building, purchased in 1983, was the rectory at 704 Hillcrest Drive. Inially, the lower level was used for daily Mass, RCIA (Rite of Chrisan Iniaon of Adults), religious educaon teacher training, meengs, and prayer. Sunday Masses were celebrated in the Golden Palace movie theater. In the spring of 1985, construcon of the present church building was begun on a 6acre site that had been donated by Robert and Irene Schaller, and the first Mass in the new church was celebrated on Christmas eve, Bishop Frederick Freking dedicated St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish Center on April 6, From then on, the parish worked diligently to rere the building debt. On February 22, 1998, the enre parish gathered together in the Holmen High School gymnasium for one Mass to celebrate the complete repayment of the building debt. The growth of the parish prompted a parish needs assessment survey in In response to the survey results, a longrange planning commiee was formed. When studies determined that expansion at the present site was not praccal, this informaon was presented to the parish. By consensus, it was decided that a larger church should be built on another site. In July 1999, the parish purchased 52 acres as a site for a new church. This property faces highway 35, just north of the McHugh Road intersecon. Building Block sessions were held and in 2000, a threeyear campaign, Building Bridges, was started to raise funds for the project. This campaign, which concluded in 2004, yielded about $1.5 million in pledges. In 2001, the parish center was offered for sale. A building commiee worked on plans for a new church and in spring 2004, site preparaon was begun. The cost of the land had already been paid as well as some site preparaon charges and preliminary architect fees. This le about $500,000 in the building fund then. In the interim, the parish had added about 300 families who had not been approached to contribute to the Building Bridges campaign. Another 3year campaign was undertaken to approach those parishioners and the rest of the parish. With projected cost for the new church esmated at $67 million, the goal of the Space for Faith to Grow campaign (which concluded in 2007) was to raise $3.5 million in new gis and pledges. (Connued on page 3.) The purpose of the Mother Seton Messenger is to assist a congregation of worshipers in becoming a communion of believers who act for the betterment of all.

2 Parr for the Course... Seeing is believing. Too good to be true. Oen when we hear good news, especially incredibly good news, we remain unconvinced. I think that is especially true when it comes to Jesus. His resurrecon, his presence with us, his total love. The disciples doubted that Jesus had risen because it seemed too good to be true. (Luke 24:41) The Risen Jesus does not seek to overpower us or amaze us. He meets his followers where they are and in ways they can understand. He talks with them, eats fish with them, walks with them, breathes upon them. I have a friend who tells me that he is waing for someone to ask him if Christ is truly risen. His ready response is, Of course he has. I just saw him. I know Jesus is risen because I see him every day in those I meet. Every day I meet people who wish no harm to others, love their spouse and children, prepare yet again another meal or work hard to ensure there is food to be put upon the table. Every day I meet people who are thriy yet generous, are grateful for home and simple comforts, put kindness and concern into places where it is not to be found. Every day I meet people who are at work building an empire of the heart. And I am sure that when the Kingdom comes, then we will know it is the Gospel faith of just such people who save not only themselves but the world. I am grateful to belong to a parish and live in a community where so many people are construcng an empire of the heart. And I am grateful to God for his work in us and assuring us that, when it comes to God, nothing is ever too good to be true. The Lord be with you. Father John Parr The identy of last issue s parishioner is Anne Imgrund, nurse, Stewardship Commiee member, and Minnesota Viking fan. For those who are stumped, the identy of this issue s parishioner will be revealed in the next issue of the newsleer. Do You Know This Parishioner? This parishioner was born in Evanston, Illinois, and was raised in LaCrosse. He is the youngest of seven children and has six sisters. He aended Blessed Sacrament School and Aquinas High School. Currently, he is employed as a dietary aide with the Gundersen Health System. He has also worked as a printer. Parish acvies include membership on the Food Pantry Commiee, where he assists with packing food, picking up and transporng Rotary Lights food donaons to the pantry, and financially supporng equipment needs of the pantry. He also assists with parish maintenance, notably cleaning the floor in the gathering space and doing other odd, and somemes unpleasant, jobs that arise. He is a Eucharisc minister and a minister of hospitality as well as a member of the Knights of Columbus. His hobbies include bowling and cooking. He has cared for a boom feeder fish for over eight years. Mother Seton Messenger 2

3 Parish Life Whither the Parish? Connued from page 1. In spring 2005, the parish sold 2.7 acres of the building site to Bethany St. Joseph Corporaon for an assisted living facility. For this sale, an access road (Malin Court) was constructed as well as sidewalks and ulity facilies. Prairie Home provides a range of care and is an appropriate neighbor for the new church. In May 2005, the diocese declared a building loan moratorium and would not extend any loans for construcon unless the parish had 7075% of the cost as cashonhand. With the start of construcon now at least three years away, a poron of the chapel was reconfigured as office space to ease the severe crowding of the parish staff. The worship space was rearranged to house the tabernacle, and the choir was moved. This allowed for a few more seats in the worship space. In October 2007, the diocesan campaign, We Belong to Christ, in support of parishes and the diocese was iniated. The goal for St. Elizabeth Parish was to raise $144,668 for diocesan needs, $74,830 for Catholic schools, and $1,424,170 for the parish building fund. In 2008, with $1.25 million in the building fund, construcng a new church was explored and new preliminary architecture plans were acquired. In 2010, with $1.3 million in the building fund, parishioners were informed that construcon of a new church was not feasible and a Present Site Development Commiee would be formed. In 2011, this 9member commiee began meeng. The charge to the commiee was to improve the value of the current site (for possible future sale), meet the short/mid range needs of the parish, and recommend sources of funding improvements. The needs of the parish included: meeng spaces/classrooms, a social hall that could accommodate 150+ people, new office space, food pantry space, converng the current gathering space for worship, and converng current office space for meeng rooms. The commiee agreed that addional space was needed and explored leasing space, construcng addions to the church or a building on the west side of the church, buying two lots close to the church on Hillcrest Drive for a new rectory, or construcng a new office building on the new site. In conclusion, the commiee raised concerns about the zoning for the current church property as it relates to resale value. They thought that building on the west side of the church offered the most alternaves to solving the space issues, but were unsure whether the building fund could be used for this purpose. They were not opmisc about the raising of addional funds from the parishioners who have yet to see a finished project. The commiee s report was never approved by the Parish Pastoral Council. Another consideraon that affects the building decision is parish growth. While the Holmen area is growing, there is no way to esmate how many new parishioners might be added, parcularly in light of the trend of fewer people idenfying as members of established religions. Also to be considered is the possibility that the parish would be combined with one or several neighboring parishes as the diocese seeks soluons to the shortage of clergy. In recent years, building fund dollars have been used for major maintenance projects in our current locaon: replacement of the church heang system and windows and crack filling and seal coang the parking lot. A lile over four acres of the new site is also being sold to the Town of Holland for the locaon of the Holmen Area Community Center. The need for addional space persists. So, to build or not to build Mother Seton Messenger 3

4 Parish Life Parishioners Celebrate 50th Wedding Anniversaries It has been said that a successful marriage requires falling in love many mes, always with the same person. From the Vacan II document Gaudium et Spres Pastoral Constuon on the Church in the Modern World, we learn that God Himself is the author of matrimony and that The wellbeing of the individual person and of human and Chrisan society is inmately linked with the healthy condion of that community produced by marriage and family. (47) By coming into the lives of married Chrisans through the sacrament of matrimony, Christ the Lord abundantly blesses this love that is structured on the model of His union with His Church. Thus a man and a woman, who by their compact of conjugal love "are no longer two, but one flesh" (Mahew 19:ff), render mutual help and service to each other through an inmate union of their persons and of their acons. Through this union they experience the meaning of their oneness and aain to it with growing perfecon day by day. (48) A number of parishioners have celebrated or will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this year. These couples (each with their wedding date) are: Roger and Phyllis Wilson January 20 Roger and Dorothy Litchfield October 5 Bud and Sharon Loomis March 9 Richard and Karen Matushek October 26 Dennis and Judy Pierzina April 20 Richard and Carol Brandau November 9 Philip and Diane Scholze May 25 Philip and Virginia Brochhausen June 15 Gerald and Mary Anne Heiderscheit June 15 Ernie and Rita Modjeski June 15 Barry and Susan Schaller June 15 Claire and Susan Norris June 22 Herb and Judy Basse August 10 Duane and Judy Hoff September 7 Ken and Naomi Williams September 21 As these spouses connue to fulfill their conjugal vows, may the spirit of Christ imbue their lives with faith, hope, and charity. St. Elizabeth Purchases Cemetery Plots for Cremated Remains Imagine that your spouse of many years has died. Perhaps you were just barely managing on your social security income. Now, you are faced with a decline in that income. It is difficult to deal with the death of a loved one, but when you have lile means to provide for a proper burial, the process can be overwhelming. The Parish Pastoral Council looked into what could be done to improve this situaon. Recognizing that cremaon is less costly than burial of a body and that the burial of cremated remains is the reverent disposion the Church requires, the council decided on purchasing three burial plots in Green Mound cemetery. Each plot can accommodate three urns of cremated ashes. These plots, obtained at a reduced price because they are short, are in the newer area of the cemetery. On behalf of the council, Len Beranek checked on markers for these plots as well as a small header stone that would be engraved with the parish name (at a cost of $460). The individual urns could be marked with baby markers that are 16 x 8 by 4 at a cost of $365 including the engraving. Use of one of these plots would be offered at the pastor s discreon. As a parish, this acon enables us to parcipate in the spiritual work of mercy of burying the dead. If you would like to assist further in this work, please consider a donaon toward the header stone or the individual markers. Mother Seton Messenger 4

5 Book Reviews By Kathy Smalley Lile Pieces of Light: Darkness and Personal Growth (Revised and Expanded Edion) By Joyce Rupp, OSM, 69 pages, paperback, 2016 Sister Joyce Rupp is a member of the Servite community who lives in Des Moines, IA. She is an awardwinning author, speaker, retreat and spiritual director.her book, Lile Pieces of Light may have few pages (less than 70), but it is definitely not short on insights, or hopefulness.she encourages the reader to reconsider the way they look at the painful parts of their lives, to reflect on them as opportunies for personal growth instead of heartbreaking trials to survive. Each chapter is divided into a commentary, a prayer, a short meditaon opportunity, and a few quesons for reflecon and/or journaling.all of us, at one me or another in our lives, will develop emoonal, mental and/or spiritual darkness due to severe pain, intense sorrow and grief, extreme discouragement or desolaon, as a response to evil and atrocity or constant retraumazaon due to painful memories or disturbing nightmares. Even Jesus, while hanging on the cross, fell into desolaon and darkness as he cried out, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? How we choose to live with and grow from these periods of darkness makes all the difference. Sister Joyce guides readers through their darkness to light through stories, Scripture, and prayers from her personal experiences. She encourages them to go into the darkness, to embrace it even, for just as a planted seed must wait in the darkness of the soil before germinang and sproung so their waing paently during these periods of darkness will lead to the promise of growth and new life. However, Sing in the darkness and waing doesn t come naturally for us even though each of us sat for nine months in our mother s womb One of the best features of this book is it short upliing chapters. For those of us who suffer through mulple periods of emoonal and spiritual darkness, brevity is important as it is hard to concentrate on anything for any length of me. Sister Joyce ends her book by saying, We carry our greatest treasure within us: a piece of light that will forever shine, a radiance always lighng our way home.let us trust this light.it will never go out. A SAND COUNTY ALMANAC By Aldo Leopold, 226 pages, paperback, 1949 This book review is dedicated to the Simple Living Group and their new Our Common Home Prairie project.aldo Leopold is considered the grandfather of Environmental Biology. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service and the University of Wisconsin before becoming an advisor on conservaon to the United Naons.What is truly remarkable about his work and his wring on conservaon and ecology is that he died in The book is divided into 3 secons.the first secon contains excerpts from Mr. Leopold s diary of his weekend trips to the family farm near Baraboo, Wisconsin (in Sand County) where he says: It is here that we seekand sll findour meat from God. Part two describes lessons he learned from travels in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.And in the last secon, Mr. Leopold raises the philosophical quesons of conservaon and stewardship versus economic gain from abuse and overuse of our land and its resources. No important change in ethics was ever accomplished without an internal change in our intellectual emphasis, loyales, affecons, and convicons. The proof that conservaon has not yet touched these foundaons of conduct lies in the fact that philosophy and religion have not yet heard of it. This was wrien in 1948, the mes have started to change, slowly. I believe Mr. Leopold would be happy with Pope Francis s efforts that focus on our Mother Earth and preserving its creatures.and I believe you will find this book delighul, challenging, and thought provoking. Mother Seton Messenger 5

6 Non Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Holmen, WI Permit #15 Mission Statement The parish of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is established to bring us together as a Catholic Faith Community. Our parish life centers on the Eucharist, during which we celebrate the presence of the Risen Lord among us. As a baptized faith community, we the people of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish are open to the Spirit of Jesus who brings to us new life. We provide support for all our members through liturgy, worship, the sacraments, religious education, service and social events. We reflect a familial love in our ministry to one another. We are witnesses to the Christ who has touched our lives. We are His Church and proclaim His Gospel. We pursue justice and peace. We are responsible to the community at large of Holmen, the Diocese and the World. Here to Serve You Staff Pastor Father John Parr Pastor Emeritus Monsignor Delbert J. Malin Pastoral Associate Sister Bridget Donaldson, O.S.B Pastoral Minister Carol Reider Coordinator Religious Education, 3 year old 5th Grade Mary Luebke Director Religious Education, 6 12th Grade/Youth Minister Patrick Brueggen Director of Music Beth Lakmann Secretary Sandy Jerue Editorial Staff Publisher.....Father John Parr Editor... Katherine Warzynski Book Review Editor....Kathy Smalley Publication Schedule Vol 6 No 1 March 2018 Vol 6 No 3 September 2018 Vol 6 No 2 June 2018 Vol 6 No 4 December 2018 Deadline for articles is the 1st of the preceding month. Send all inquiries to: Father John Parr Church of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton 515 N. Main St., Holmen, WI