Sunday May 25th, 2025 – Sixth Sunday of Easter
He is Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
We are nearing the end of the Easter season, but we continue to celebrate the resurrection throughout the season. This year, the Easter Season was a little different. What a few weeks we have had together. First, Pope Francis leaves this world the day after Easter, and now we have a new pope. The church in Milwaukee has ordained six men as transitional deacons (preparing to be priests next Easter) and three men as priests. Praise the Lord! I sometimes have to remind myself to slow down in the Easter Season and appreciate the grace that flows from the side of Christ on the cross. My encouragement for everyone in the final weeks of Easter is to slow down and spend time reflecting on the resurrection.
This weekend, we also pay tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country as we celebrate Memorial Day. My brother, a veteran, once shared a quote with me: “A veteran is a person who wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to and including one’s life.” The quote is a poignant reminder of the sacrifices that our military personnel make, alongside many other professions. Many people in the pews on Sundays, and we meet on the streets, are veterans, and I thank them for their service every day. There are also people in our pews and on the street who have lost someone in the war. We pray and honor those whose checks were cashed with their blood. We also pray for the family members who still struggle with the loss in their lives. I am thankful that my brother came home and cannot imagine how I would do without my brother. Please pray for all who are struggling with the loss of a family member, and if you know someone, reach out and check in with them. We are called to support each other.
God Bless,
Fr. Joseph
Sunday May 18th, 2025 – Fifth Sunday of Easter
Dear friends,
This weekend, we have the joy of welcoming three new priests for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. They were ordained at our Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist in the morning of May 17 by Archbishop Grob. Their new names are now, Father Brady Gagne, Father Timothy Sanchez, and Father Aaron Siehr.
We give thanks to God for the gift of their “yes” to serving his people as they live out their baptism call as ordained ministers in the church.
At the same time, this weekend the Word of God will invite us to live out our own baptismal call by having love for one another. Jesus says in the gospel, “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35). The key here is the fact that Jesus first draws our attention to the love that he has for each of us. When we know ourselves to be deeply loved by the Lord, we will then become loving people. The Lord is not asking us to “invent the wheel” or to do the impossible. If we receive the love that God has for us, Jesus only asks us to share that same love with others.
This coming week, as we appreciate the commitment that three new priests have made to the Lord and to the church in Milwaukee, I invite us to renew our own commitment to our own Baptism. If there’s anyone in our lives we have done wrong or even wished poorly, maybe we can send them a kind text or have an anonymous gift be delivered to their place. In this way we are making up for an act that lacked kindness and love. We must have true charity for others. Only then we will be the Lord’s disciples, if we have love for one another.
With my love,
Fr. Carlos
Sunday May 11th, 2025 – Fourth Sunday of Easter
Dear Sisters & Brothers,
On behalf of all the parishioners of the Family of Five Parishes, I offer our prayerful congratulations to the 70 children receiving the Body and Blood of Christ for the first time this month. We also thank their parents, our Family Faith Formation staff, and all who prepared them for their First Eucharist.
This weekend, we also celebrate our mothers and all women who have fulfilled that role in our lives. I will be using the following blessing for mothers at Masses this weekend. I share it with you so you can use it to celebrate and bless your moms at other times of the year.
God of Holy People, of Sarah, Ruth, and Rebekah;
God of holy Elizabeth, mother of John, of Holy Mary, Mother of Jesus, bend down Your ear to this request and bless the women of our families.
Bless them with the strength of Your Spirit, those who have taught us how to stand, to walk, to speak, to sing, and to pray to You.
Bless those who lost a child through death; give them hope and support.
Bless those who have died; may they be in the joy of your heavenly kingdom.
Bless these women, that they may be strengthened.
Grant that we, their children, grandchildren, godchildren, and friends, may honor them always with a spirit of profound respect.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Fr. Brian
Sunday May 4th, 2025 – Third Sunday of Easter
PRAISED BE JESUS CHRIST, NOW AND FOREVER!
Dear Friends,
After an incredible Easter celebration at our Family of Five parishes, remembering the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and welcoming 15 new members into the Body of Christ, the Church, we received the news of the passing of our beloved Holy Father Pope Francis. We pray for the repose of his soul and entrust him to the mercy and love of God whom he served so faithfully.
We now enter the Great 50 days of Easter, culminating with the great feast of Pentecost! We pray for the outpouring and guidance of the Holy Spirit as the process of electing a new Pope will begin. We pray for the outpouring and guidance of the Holy Spirit as our parishes move forward in all the various ways we live the mission of Jesus to a world so in need of him! There will be Baptisms, Confirmations, First Holy Communions, graduations, quinceañeras, Ordinations, weddings, maybe a funeral or two, religious formation of our youth, adult enrichment and education, visits to the sick and elderly, the continual work we do for the poor in outreach, formation, advocacy, daily and weekend Masses—in short the regular work of parishes at the front lines of the proclamation of God’s Kingdom!
Helping us to do our jobs as parishes are our parish priests. In the next month we begin the process of saying farewell to our two beloved associates, Fr. Joseph and Fr. Carlos. Stay tuned for the various celebrations we have planned to say thank you to them.
Archbishop Grob has appointed two new associate pastors who will join Fr. Brian and me in the priestly servant leadership of our parishes. We will be welcoming our new fulltime associate Fr. Ariel Orozco, an archdiocesan priest, who has been serving at St. Charles, Hartland, and our new half-time associate Fr. Silas Henderson, a priest of the Society of the Divine Savior, the Salvatorians, who in addition to work here will be serving in his religious community and as chaplain at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School. Our new associates will be starting June 17.
So, fasten your seat belts! Changes always, but trusting in the Lord Jesus, who has promised to be with us till the end of the ages!
