June 27, 2021 – Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Friends,
Peace of Christ. This month of June has been filled with the celebration of any number of the lives of the saints. What a gift it is to have the example and intercession of so many holy men and women who have gone before us! This Tuesday, the Church continues our celebration of these blessed as we honor Saints Peter and Paul on their Solemnity. Two of our greatest saints were also deeply imperfect – I know for me, I find that a great source of hope!!
Last weekend, we returned in many ways to our “usual” celebration of Sunday Mass with the ropes no longer being in place and the congregation coming up to receive Holy Communion. As we gradually move forward from the pandemic, I couldn’t help but think back on everything in this last year. One of our many staff members who went above and beyond was our Director of Maintenance, Steve Altman. Steve and his team helped sanitize between funerals, weddings and Sunday Masses, which meant coming in every weekend. Everything was done joyfully, well and with a desire to help people encounter the Lord. Please join me in thanking Steve and his team for their tireless work behind the scenes! I’m so grateful for all that they do.
Blessings on the week and know of my prayers, especially for all of the living and deceased members of Saints Peter and Paul Parish! Don’t hesitate to reach out to me or any of the priests if we can be of assistance.
Sincerely, with love,
Fr. John
June 20, 2021 – Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” (Mk 4:41)
Dear Friends,
Peace of Christ and I hope this note finds you well in these beautiful summer days of June. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that He is “Immanuel”, our God who is always with us. Even though at times it can seem like our Lord is quiet or isn’t acting amidst the storms, somehow if we keep Jesus close things will work out in their own mysterious way.
Our deepest desire as your priests is that the whole world (and at least starting with our little part of the Kingdom!) would come to know the peace that comes from a friendship with Jesus Christ. It is a peace that the world can never fully give, for it comes from God alone.
To that end, we are excited to let you know that we will have another priest joining our staff. Fr. Michael Malucha, a newly ordained priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, will be with us as a half-time Associate Pastor beginning this weekend. He will be half-time in studies (finishing a licentiate degree in theology at Mundelein Seminary) and the other half with us doing weekend Masses, weddings, funerals, and helping with various other ministries. He is a holy man, a gifted homilist, good confessor, and already a wonderful priest! Please help me in welcoming him to our Family of Four Parishes. I will continue in my role as Associate Pastor and have known Fr. Michael since seminary, so I was very excited to have him be assigned here. Please pray for Fr. Michael…and for Fr. Tim, as he now has two young priests to keep him on his toes!!
Have a blessed week everyone! Know of our prayers, especially for all fathers here on this Father’s Day weekend.
Sincerely, with love
Fr. John
June 13, 2021 – Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.”
(The Gospel of St. Mark, ch.4)
Dear Friends,
With all that has happened in these crazy days, I find myself saying more than ever: “I don’t know.” It seems as if things are more uncertain than ever, and the right direction is not always to clear since we not only have a huge amount of problems, we have a huge amount of opinions as to how the problems should be solved. Plus it seems that civil discourse has taken a nose-dive, and instead of trying to find a common vision of charity and unity, more than ever selfishness and division are chosen.
So I have decided after reading this Sunday’s Gospel, I am replacing the phrase “I don’t know,” with the phrase “I WILL TRUST.”
I will trust Jesus Christ and his incredible and powerful love. I will trust in people of good will trying their hardest to work together, even when we don’t agree, because Jesus the bridge-builder will remind us that he is in charge.
I will trust that even the smallest attempt to plant even the smallest seeds of hope will produce abundantly because I will trust less in my own power and abilities, and more in Jesus and his love.
I WILL TRUST.
Have a blessed week,
Fr. Tim
Your Pastor
June 6, 2021 – The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
ANIMA CHRISTI
Soul of Christ, Sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds, hide me.
Separated from You let me never be.
From the evil one protect me.
At the hour of my death, call me;
and close to You bid me.
That with your saints and angels,
I may be praising You forever and ever. Amen.
(St. Ignatius of Loyola)
Dear Friends,
On this beautiful solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, we pause to give thanks for being a community of Word and Sacrament. We follow Jesus Christ in Sacred Scripture and the Sacraments through which His Presence comforts us and challenges us to bring Christ to a world so in need.
I received my First Holy Communion in 1967, and in the multitude of times I have shared in Holy Communion and the multitude of times I have been privileged to preside at Mass, I could cry at how much I love Jesus and how much He reminds me through Word and Sacrament, how much He loves me.
Let this holy day remind you of how much you are loved! Let it challenge you to bring that Love to every situation in life!
Sincerely, with love,
Fr. Tim
