Ordinary Time THIS WEEK LORD S DAY WORSHIP

Transcription

1 Ordinary Time July 2018 THIS WEEK MONDAY 2 JUL / Am 2:6-10, 13-16/Ps 50:16bc-23/Mt 8: :15 AM - Mass (+Frank Richter) TUESDAY 3 JUL / Eph 2:19-22/Ps 117:1bc, 2/Jn 20: :15 AM - Mass (+Elizabeth McCreary) WEDNESDAY 4 July / Am 5:14-15, 21-24/Ps 50:7-17/Mt 8:28-34 Parish Offices Closed THURSDAY 5 JUL / Am 7:10-17/Ps 19:8-11/Mt 9:1-8 8:15 AM - Mass (+Stanley Kwasny) 9 AM-3:30 PM - Eucharistic Adoration - 3 PM - Divine Mercy Chaplet FRIDAY 6 JUL / Am 8:4-6, 9-12/Ps 119:2-40, 131/Mt 9:9-13 8:15 AM - Mass (+Elizabeth Sprecher) SATURDAY 7 JUL / Am 9:11-15/Ps 85:9-14/Mt 9:14-17 No Reconciliation LORD S DAY WORSHIP 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time 7/8 JUL Ez 2:2-5/Ps 123:1-4/2 Cor 12:7-10/Mk 6:1-6a 5 PM Saturday (+Evelyn Ciesielski) 8 AM Sunday (+Linda Miller) - 7:30 - Rosary 10 AM Sunday (+Stan and Harriett Trebatoski) 6 PM Sunday SPREAD THE WORD - AND REMEMBER: Holy Spirit s Sunday night Mass is celebrated throughout the year, including summertime. This is Fr. Tom s final Lord s Day as pastor of Holy Spirit Parish. On Thursday he will become pastor of St. Anne Parish in Wausau. In the meantime, there will be some last-minute packing and moving, as well as celebrating Mass on Tuesday, the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, at 8:15 a.m. Fr. Steve Brice, our new pastor, will celebrate Mass with us next weekend, July 7/8. We look forward to welcoming him that weekend. For the last six years, Fr. Steve has been pastor of the parishes in Loyal, Greenwood and Willard; Loyal is Fr. Tom s home parish. Prior to that assignment he was pastor for 18 years at St. Anne Parish in Wausau, where Fr. Tom has been assigned. 22 years of good and faithful service! Thank you Fr. Tom for your leadership, compassion, witness, counsel and presence. As you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you, may you excel in this gracious act also. 2 Cor 8:7

2 To be continued... L ife is not like television. First of all, while many of the people I encounter are interesting and sometimes even amusing, they are not usually as clever or laugh-out-loud funny as sit-com characters or late-night hosts. As emotional as the plot of a TV drama might be, the life and death, the struggles and regrets that are part of our stories or those of the people we love are necessarily more intense, because they re real. And rarely do all the elements of our lives resolve themselves in a neat, tidy one-hour package, like a TV show does. The distinction between real life and TV also is evident in how the stories end. A TV series comes to a certain point and for various reasons the premise or the story is getting old, or maybe the actors are; ratings have spiked; someone just knows it s time the story ends. For good. In the history of television and its dozens, if not hundreds, of attempts to bring a series and a story to a memorable, emotional, amusing and/or dramatic conclusion, rarely has there been success. I still appreciate The Mary Tyler Moore Show s tear-jerker of a tight group hug, but it s not very realistic. Bob Newhart s second hit series ended on the odd premise that it had all been a dream of characters from his first hit show. M*A*S*H ended just as the war during which it was set had ended: inconclusive and complicated. My favorite series, Seinfeld, had a dreadful final episode contrived, long and, most tragically, unfunny. But, as I indicated at the outset, life is not television and the various chapters of our lives are not resolved as neatly or cleverly as a TV sitcom. Reality also is immune, I suppose, from being simplistic and contrived. Sometimes we might wish it were. Thus a pastor leaving a parish does not lend itself to a simple resolution. The fact that this pastor has been in the area for going on 22 years complicates the plot and the conclusion. There have been so many significant people who have been part of the story, encounters and relationships of trauma and loss, of joy and celebration. Circumstances of gratitude and of regret. They are the people who dominate so many memories, moments that even pictures fail to adequately portray or record. Too many of us can t be contained by a picture. There are so many people who should be identified by name for their generosity, faithfulness, patience and mercy, but also too many who would be overlooked in such a litany. There are so many who ve remained steadfast to our Church, despite the imperfection of its people, from top to bottom. There are so many whose attentiveness to one another, family, strangers and friends, as well as our parish, is explained only by the wonder of grace. There are so many who ve accepted the change of recent years, despite understandable struggle; who ve recognized that parish life, as with all life, evolves and that this year really shouldn t resemble last year. Disciples, ideally, thrive on change. I shared this prayer as part of my homily a couple weeks ago. Several people have asked for a copy and this seems a fitting occasion upon which to share it again. - TL MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. - Thomas Merton ARE WE THERE YET? Fr. Tom Lindner And so this chapter of my story and our parish story does not lend itself to a concise or appealing conclusion. Indeed any story premised on the gospel and the challenge of discipleship cannot end. There are too many elements of our story yet to unfold, too many loose ends. We are a new community still developing new traditions and, now, doing that with a new pastor. We ve initiated a building project that is so fundamental to our future, but which is yet to be realized. Those, of course, are merely sidebars to the bigger picture of who we are as followers of Jesus. They are aspects of parish life meant to help us better focus on our mission and consider the immensity of its challenge, to reinforce our determination to be Disciples called to worship, sent to serve! And so I end with this: To be continued! TL

3 Transitions of Grace New Life: Last weekend we welcomed Samuel Andrew Lindow to faith through the waters of baptism. He is the son of Gus and Kat Lindow. Wedding Anniversaries: These couples of the parish are celebrating significant milestones of marriage during July: Jim and Karen Cooper, 50 years, July 13; Nick and Dianne Somers, 50 years, July 20. Matthew 25 Collection at Masses Next Weekend At the beginning of each month, parishioners are invited to donate items needed for area charitable organizations. Next weekend, please consider bringing all or some of these items to Mass to help fill the shelves of Operation Bootstrap and Mobile Pantry of Portage County: Meals in a can/box (Beef-a-roni, Hamburger Helper), pork & beans (regular & vegetarian), canned tuna & salmon, pasta & sauce, chicken & beef broth, canned fruit in light syrup, rice & rice mixes, peanut butter & jam/jelly, graham crackers, microwave popcorn. Donations can be left in church entranceways. It s Parish Picnic Season St. Bronislava Parish, Plover, will hold their picnic Sunday, July 8. In addition to a Traditional Chicken Dinner served between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., there will be a Bake Sale, Basket Raffle, Bingo, Cherry Tree, General Store, Silent Auction, Children s Games and music all day. St. Mary Parish, Torun, will hold their picnic July 14. Look for more information next week! Franciscans Downtown at Year 5 This is the fifth year that Fr. Placid Stroik and volunteers have offered a safe space for conversation, to exchange empathy and to grow in resiliency. If you d like to learn more about volunteer opportunities call Fr. Placid at or Leo Jacoby at Also, helping hands are needed to transport a spiritual library from Polonia to a new location during the first week of July. Send an to wisdom@wctc.net or call if you are able to help. The movie Mister Rogers & Me will be shown on Wednesday at 1 p.m. All are welcome. HOLY SPIRIT PARISH Disciples called to worship, sent to serve. St. Stans: 838 Fremont St., Newman: 2108 Fourth Ave., Father Tom Lindner, Pastor - frtom@holyspiritstevenspoint.org BEING GOOD STEWARDS Of time, talent and treasure PARTICIPATION AT MASS June 30/Jul 1 5 p.m a.m a.m p.m. 194 HOLY SPIRIT PARISH GIVING June 30/Jul 1..$21, Please support our bulletin advertisers. Providing Hope, Curbing Hunger There are still three dates available to share in our summer Salvation Army Meal Ministry at the Hope Center. Gather family and friends, fix and serve a meal for about 40 guests, dine and discuss issues of common interest with careful and caring people. Please consider helping on any of the following Tuesdays, beginning at 4:00 p.m. at the Hope Center: July 3, August 21, August 28. For more information call Lee at the rectory office, CATHOLIC CEMETERIES: Parishioners interested in purchasing burial spaces for caskets or cremated remains in our area Catholic cemeteries can call the Cemetery Office at

4 The work of Building Upon A A Firm Foundation continues Continue honoring your pledge, or begin honoring your pledge. The sooner the funds come in, the sooner our project becomes a reality. If you can increase your contribution, that would be great. Again, we are eager to get the project underway! GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY IN SUMMER, OR ANYTIME, SPEND TIME WITH THOSE IN THE WINTER OF THEIR LIVES S ince the beginning of the year, we have had just over a dozen funerals, here, at Holy Spirit Parish. During one recent Funeral Mass, the adult son of the deceased shared a loving reflection on the caring and complex, curious and compelling life of his mother; in essence, someone who was a very normal person with a very normal life. At the close of his remarks, he offered a gentle, albeit urgent, reminder: Please take the time to be with your loved ones who are in their golden years it is time you will come to treasure and time which, once it has passed, is past. Well, of course, we might say to ourselves upon hearing these, or similar, comments, this is obvious. So obvious, in fact, that many of us often overlook the profound nature of the message and sometimes, even, neglect the particular opportunities we have to enter more intentionally into such an invitation. Through familiarity, we may feel we know everything there is to know about an aging loved one or, being younger, we may assume we have more time to share. Time, however, is fleeting and there is always something new we can learn from, or about, another person. This summer, then, make a special effort to meet and visit with some of your aging family members, friends or neighbors. Join in an activity they like or invite them to participate in one you enjoy; ask questions of their lives, past and present; encourage them to share family wisdom and history; discuss current events and call upon their counsel; or, simply, sit together in silent companionship. Becoming better acquainted with the many interesting and engaging older members of our parish family is fun and easy, too. Here are a number of ways to do so: Visit with those in the pews around you before and after Mass. Share in the many and varied ministries of our parish, most of which are supported primarily by volunteers in their golden years. Become a member of, or participate in activities sponsored by, the Holy Name Society or the Parish Council of Catholic Women (PCCW). Volunteer to bring communion to the homebound or connect with those in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities. The golden days of summer are a golden opportunity to come to know and love members of an older generation in a new and wonderful way. Make the time, take the time, treasure the time and memories you will carry with you into your own golden years. Julie Meadows, pastoral care director

5 SPIRITFEST info WE ALL MAKE IT HAPPEN Parishioners are needed to help will all aspects of SpiritFEST: set-up, clean-up and all the activities and tasks in between. Find out how and when you can help by visiting the parish web site to sign up online or you ll also find sign-up sheets on a table at the main entranceway in church. We cannot overemphasize the importance of your participation in helping to help us have a great celebration. CASH RAFFLE Raffle tickets are available at all the church entrances and both parish offices. The sale of raffle tickets is important in helping to promote the picnic, as well as in raising funds to offset other picnic expenses. Sold raffle tickets and money can be put in the collection at Mass or brought to the parish office during the week. The Raffle drawing will be at 5 p.m. on the day of SpiritFEST. BASKET RAFFLE Let your creative juices flow in considering a themed basket you could create for SpiritFEST. Baskets are valued at $100 or more and should include items in new or like-new condition. Use your creativity to develop a theme and provide basket contents. The baskets should be arranged, wrapped and decorated by the donor, if possible. If you d like to learn more, please contact Julie Meadows at CAKE WALK If you re willing to bake a cake for this popular picnic activity, please plan to do so. Only cakes please. Bring cakes to the school entrance hallway from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 21 or on the morning of the picnic. BOOK NOOK What s needed: Gently used or new books (hard and soft cover), video games, DVDs, CDs, puzzles (sealed shut), audiobooks. (Please no encyclopedias, magazines, VHS tapes). Leave donations in church entrances. QUESTIONS If you have any questions about SpiritFEST, contact Brant Bergeron, picnic chairperson, at (715) or bergeron@dcopy.net. > > HELP SPREAD THE WORD: SpiritFEST is Sunday July 22!

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