July 25, 2021 – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Friends,
Praised be Jesus Christ! With great joy, we return this weekend to St. Rita to celebrate the 10:30 am Sunday Mass.
In doing so, we give thanks and praise to God for the generosity of so many amongst us now, especially Mr. Jim Tarantino, as well as those Catholics who have gone before us and whose shoulders we now stand upon as a people of faith, especially those faithful men and women of Milwaukee’s Italian American community.
Of course, we return this weekend not to the old Church of St. Rita, but rather to the new one, which was dedicated and blessed by Archbishop Listecki on September 18, 2020. Until you can make your own pilgrimage to pray at St. Rita, a virtual tour can be found on the Three Holy Women Parish website.
Our new Church of St. Rita stands not on its own, but rather on its living foundations, both of the community of St. Rita that has gathered to worship at Pleasant and Cass Streets since 1933, and our city’s Italian parish, Blessed Virgin of Pompeii, whose bells once rang out in Milwaukee’s Third Ward.
In a similar way, the words of the Lord in the Gospel this weekend also ring out and call us to renew our faith in that most firm of our foundations, the Holy Eucharist, the Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord.
Each time we come to worship at Holy Mass, be it at St. Rita or another one of our beautiful parish churches, Jesus invites us to recline, just like those five thousand, and find our rest and our fill in Him.
On behalf of Fr. Tim, Fr. John and our entire parish staff, you have our love and our prayers.
See you at Mass!
Very truly yours,
Fr. Michael Malucha
July 18, 2021 – Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Friends,
Peace of Christ and I hope you are well. This week in our parishes we had the joy of welcoming Latanya Bacon as a new member of our staff! Latanya and her family are parishioners, and she will serve as the Family Ministry Coordinator for SS Peter & Paul Parish. Welcome Latanya! We are grateful for your help as the good work of Family Ministry and UPLIFT Family Formation continues to grow.
Next Sunday in the universal church we celebrate the first World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly. This day was instituted by Pope Francis this year in recognition of the beautiful role they have in our society, but also with the realization that this group really suffered during the COVID pandemic. As Pope Francis writes, in this last year, many of the elderly “fell ill, others died or experienced the death of spouses or loved ones, while others found themselves isolated and alone for long periods”. Dear grandparents and our beloved elderly, please know how much we love you! Thank you for your beautiful witness of faith and perseverance amid everything you have gone through.
To the rest of our parish family – is there something you can do this week to let your grandparents or elderly in your life know they are loved? A simple call or visit will mean the world. Is there a small sacrifice we can do or a hidden prayer we can offer for them? Consider also getting involved in our newly formed “Little Way Outreach” Ministry for the homebound (contact Terri Balash, Director of Pastoral Care, at 469-6173 or tbalash@ffpmke.org).
May all of us continue to bring Christ’s promise that we are never alone to all those in need. Have a blessed week and be assured of my prayerful support, always!
Sincerely, with love,
Fr. John
July 11, 2021 – Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Friends,
In the first reading this Sunday, the prophet Amos describes himself as a “dresser of sycamores.” I had no idea what that meant so I looked it up, and it was the person who pierced the husk of the fruit of the tree so it could mature and sweeten for harvest.
What a great symbol for not only the work of a prophet, but for anyone who seeks spiritual growth and sweet maturity. Needless to say this has been a year of being pierced through with all sorts of pain and suffering. As believers in Jesus Christ, who himself was pierced through on the Cross, we have the choice of being angry, cynical, hopeless and divisive, or perhaps to see our experiences as the means to new growth and maturity. With grace we can find meaning in all suffering, and the means to grow despite seeming defeat and pain.
Jesus the Way shows us the Way. In self-sacrificial love for others we find ourselves. And a life lived for others is the sweetest life of all!
Have a blessed week.
Fr. Tim
July 4, 2021 – Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Friends,
Praised be Jesus Christ! In our Second Reading this weekend, Saint Paul encourages us to remain faithful, no matter what. “Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10). With Christ, fidelity is no burden, but a great adventure, and a call to love within His Body, the Church.
How grateful, then, are we to count Saint Paul as one of our parish patrons, who together with Saint Peter, not only have inspired countless generations of Catholics in Milwaukee, but also have interceded for us since the cornerstone of the Church of SS Peter & Paul first was laid on June 1, 1890. As our Family of Four Parishes begins to reengage the hearts of our parishioners and those people of our city, we beg the intercession of Saints Peter and Paul to help us to do so with great faithfulness and love.
At Mass, we receive the strength we need to remain faithful, a strength which can neither be bought nor manipulated, but rather which comes to us as a gift, Our Lord’s Body and Blood, the Holy Eucharist. After so long of a time away, it’s a great privilege to gather again in person for Mass!
While we’re grateful for the faithful generosity of our parish sacristans, we could always benefit from additional acolytes (servers), lectors (readers) and ushers as we return to worship in our beautiful parish churches. Please contact Mary Robertson (Our Lady of Divine Providence and Three Holy Women) or Meggie Moyer (Old St. Mary and SS Peter & Paul) if you would like to actively participate in the source of our strength in these ways! Thank you for your consideration.
On behalf of Fr. Tim, Fr. John and our entire parish staff, you have our love and our prayers, as do the men and women of the Armed Forces, as well as our police officers, firefighters and paramedics on this Independence Day weekend.
Very truly yours,
Fr. Michael Malucha
