USCCB Chairmen Call on Congress to Consider Moral Criteria During Debates on Health Care Policy3/17/2017 News from the USCCB
USCCB Chairmen Call on Congress to Consider Moral Criteria During Debates on Health Care Policy - WASHINGTON—As Congress prepares to discuss possible changes to the Affordable Care Act, the chairmen of four United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committees called on lawmakers to consider important moral criteria, especially pertaining to the most vulnerable among us, including the unborn and those experiencing deep poverty. The Bishops of the United States have consistently advocated for a health care system in which—as the late Cardinal Francis George used to say—everyone should be cared for and no one should be deliberately killed....Read More News from the Pope: Vatican announces Pope Francis’ visit Colombia in September - (Vatican Radio) The Vatican announced Friday that Pope Francis will make an Apostolic Journey to Colombia from 6 to 11 September 2017. A communique from the Holy See Press Office confirmed that the Holy Father will visit the cities of Bogotá, Villavicencio, Medellín, and Cartagena:...Read More News from the Church: Pope Appoints Former Bank of America Executive as Washington Auxiliary Bishop - On Wednesday the Vatican announced Pope Francis’ appointment of Father Roy Edward Campbell Jr., a former vice president for Bank of America, as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Washington. “All of us in the archdiocese are deeply grateful that our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has named Father Roy Campbell to be an auxiliary bishop in our Church of Washington,” Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, said in a statement March 8...Read more
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Shadow Stations This Lent, we will be presenting the passion of our Lord using a multimedia method known as Shadow Stations. We need both young people AND adults to help bring to life this dramatic performance. A cast of ~ 12 young people grades 6-12 will learn and share this prior to Easter. We also need help with music. Practice will begin Thursday, March 23rd. There will be one presentation at 6:30pm April 12 at the Marshfield Sr. High Auditorium.
World Youth Day 2019 in Panama update The next World Youth Day gathering will be in Panama in 2019. Because it will be in January, we will not be organizing a pilgrimage but are instead looking at offering a for- eign mission trip in the summer of 2019. If you have any other questions, please contact Mr. Dan Kitzhaber. Help with Feed My Starving Children Program Apr. 20-22 Join with others from our parish family to help assemble food packs for starving children around the world. This year’s goal for this community-wide effort is to have 1500 volunteers of all ages to pack 273,292 meals!! It will be held at Zion United Methodist (by Menard’s). We have three time slots reserved. Th 4/20, 6:30-8:30pm / Fr 4/21, 4-6pm / Sa 4/22, 8-10am Contact Mr. Dan Kitzhaber to reserve spots. CATHOLIC Adventure Camp July 9-14. This is for teens currently in grades 6-12. Crosswoods Christian Adventure Camp, located south of Ashland, has been reserved for the Diocese of LaCrosse! This high adventure week will offer you the chance for rock climbing, repelling, canoeing, mountain bike riding, low ropes and high ropes, adventure trails, hiking, and time for prayer, the sacraments and reflection on God’s marvelous creation. The total cost will be about $400 for youth and $200 for adults. Signup soon. Financial help is available. If you have any other questions, please contact Mr. Dan Kitzhaber. Praised be Jesus Christ! “Keeping holy the Sabbath” ends the first part of the Decalogue, namely the part that instructs us as to how we are to relate to God. For many of us, we think of God as ra- ther unapproachable and intimidating – a bit like the Wizard of Oz, who constantly used fear to motivate anyone audacious enough to approach him. In the fullness of time Jesus came to heal this primordial distrust of God, which began with the first sin and Adam and Eve’s subsequent shame and recourse to hiding from God. To this day, our sins confuse us about God and we tend to run from Him so that He won’t expose us for the phonies that we feel we have become. However, the Jesus we see over and over again in the Gospels seems keenly interested, not so much in our sins, but in our willingness to open our hearts to Him. Remembering Jesus’ words that “healthy people do not need a doctor, but the sick do,” our life slowly but surely exposes the areas of our hearts that for whatever reason need a divine physi- cian. Keeping the Sabbath holy is a commandment because we wither and die spiritually without the healing and rest God alone can give. The night before He died, Jesus implored us to “do this in remembrance of me” and thanks to the Holy Spirit and the sacrament of Holy Orders, we can honor His dying wish by as- sisting at Mass every Sunday. What keeps people away from Mass? Among other things, the shame and guilt that we’re just too sinful for God and that we’d be unwelcome at Mass and judged by others if we did come. Sometimes there is the pride that blinds us to our struggles – we feel that we’re fine without God and don’t really see the urgency of going to Mass. There are other reasons too: we are busy, we need that time to sleep, the priest is boring, the music insipid, and the experience unfulfilling and meaningless. Maybe we could learn to love the Mass and Jesus more this Lent so as to win grace for those who have not yet experienced the glory of the Mass. By the way, when people leave the Catholic Church for another religion they often claim that their new way of worshipping feeds them so much more than Mass ever did. It is for this reason that we have to do a better job of explaining the meaning and beauty of the Eucharist, because no other religion in the world has the capacity to bring Jesus to us in this real yet sublime way. Moving now into the second part of the Decalogue, there are seven commandments that regulate our relationships with our fellow man. “Honor your father and your mother,” – for many people, this can be a great challenge. As Oscar Wilde put it a century ago, “Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; some- times they forgive them.” Our parents opened their hearts to God’s will and thus we were born. For many of us, our parents made heroic sacrifices so that we could grow up knowing we were loved and secure. Just the same, as Father Flanagan of Boys’ Town fame once put it, “There are no bad boys. There is only bad environment, bad training, bad example, bad thinking.” None of us had a perfect upbringing, but some of us really suffered from abusive situations. Jesus’ Father is perfect and He loves the brokenhearted most of all – Jesus wants us to trust His Father so He shares Him with us by teaching us to call God “Our Father.” May the Father’s tender love heal us and help us to know His Son’s Real Presence in each and every Mass! Your friend in Christ, Father Martin Message from Bishop William Callahan * Diocese of La Crosse /Bishops Grant Dispensation in Honor of the Feast of St. Pat- rick The bishops of Wisconsin announce a special dispensation for Catholics statewide from adhering to the law of abstinence for Friday, March 17, 2017. This Lenten dispensation will allow the faithful to celebrate the Feast of St. Patrick. Those who utilize the dispensation should perform another act of penance (self-denial, charity, prayer, etc.) in observance of the day.
Communal Penance Services @ Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Mfld. on Thursday-March 30, 2017 at 5:30 p.m. "Are you interested in living the Divine Mercy message more fully? Come and see on Thursday, March 30th at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Mfld. following the 5:30 Communal Penance service. At 7:00 p.m. on the 30th, Sister Mary Veronica Fitch will meet in Dillenburg Hall at Our Lady of Peace with all people who want to learn more about Divine Mercy and the religious community and the lay association she would like to form. She welcomes emails at [email protected]. Men / Sons of the Parish: Mark your calendars for the Annual Father/Son Breakfast taking place on Sunday-March 19, 2017 after the 8 a.m. Mass sponsored by the Parish Council of Catholic Women. Menu will be Biscuits and gravy * Scrambled Eggs with sausage and beverage. We look forward to having you attend . Save the date: Our next parish pilgrimage (God willing) is tentatively scheduled for April 16-26, 2018. The date could change a day on either end, depending on flight confirmation. We’ll start in Paris, then fly to Lourdes, then bus from Lourdes across Spain from east to west, ending in Fatima and flying home from Lisbon. Cost will be in the range of $3,000.00.
News from the USCCB
U.S. Bishops’ Chairman On Interreligious Affairs Responds To Recent Rise In Anti-Semitic Actions Across U.S. - WASHINGTON—In response to the recent rise in anti-Semitic actions that have taken place across the U.S., the Most Reverend Mitchell T. Rozanski, Bishop of Springfield and Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, has issued the following statement expressing solidarity and support for our Jewish brothers and sisters, while also calling for the rejection of these hateful actions:...Read More News from the Pope: Pope: true fasting is helping others - (Vatican Radio) True fasting is helping your neighbour; while false fasting mixes religiosity with dirty deals and the bribes of vanity. That was the message of Pope Francis at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on Friday....Read More News from the Church: Try a Fatima-Focused Lent - “Penance, penance, penance,” cried the angel, pointing to the earth with his right hand in the “Third Secret” of Fatima. This Lenten season is a perfect time to tie repentance into Fatima’s century-old call for penance and sacrifice. In his book Fatima for Today, Fatima authority Father Andrew Apostoli of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal reveals that Carmelite Sister Lucia, the longest-living Fatima visionary, assured that we learn from Fatima that our penance and sacrifices will turn our hearts toward God, help convert sinners, and make reparation for offenses committed against God.....Read more Shadow Stations This Lent, we will be presenting the passion of our Lord using a multimedia method known as Shadow Stations. We need both young people AND adults to help bring to life this dramatic performance. A cast of ~ 12 young people grades 6-12 will learn and share this prior to Easter. We also need help with music. Practice will begin Thursday, March 23rd. There will be one presentation at 6:30pm April 12 at the Marshfield Sr. High Auditorium.
SHS High School Luncheon Bible Study: Every Tuesday meet in room 310 during your lunch period. Bring a hunger to grow in your faith 7 a bag lunch (or school lunch). We read, discuss & share God’s Word and the food. This is a GREAT opportunity! Bring your friends!! Teen & Young Adult Retreat Team Looking for teens and young adults to help lead youth retreats. Living Stones is the name of the group and it rocks! Meet lots of great people, grow in your faith, and have tons of fun. If interested, contact Mr. Dan Kitzhaber CATHOLIC Adventure Camp July 9-14. This is for teens currently in grades 6-12. Crosswoods Christian Adventure Camp, located south of Ashland, has been reserved for the Diocese of LaCrosse! This high adventure week will offer you the chance for rock climbing, repelling, canoeing, mountain bike riding, low ropes and high ropes, adventure trails, hiking, and time for prayer, the sacraments and reflection on God’s marvelous creation. The total cost will be about $400 for youth and $200 for adults. Signup soon. Financial help is available. If you have any other questions, please contact Mr. Dan Kitzhaber. Praised be Jesus Christ! And hello Lent! As promised, we’re reflecting on the role the 10 Commandments ought to play in our life. The first Commandment prohibits idolatry – i.e. putting something or someone before God. Though it might not be the first thing one thinks of, pornography is one of the many ways we can violate this commandment. For those who wonder how this can be true, remember that we are to worship God alone; anyone who has ever struggled with pornography realizes that we can begin to worship the human flesh in a way that enslaves us terribly. Recently a new documentary revealing the harmful effects of pornography was released. Titled “Chasing the Cardboard Butterfly,” it features a wide array of well-known figures in pop culture and is narrated by the lead singer of Metallica, James Hetfield. At the moment this compelling video is available for screening and has already helped many people turn away from the scourge of pornography forever. Among some of the many memorable quotes, the following comes from Hugh Grant (who starred in Notting Hill): [When asked when was the last time he watched pornography] “Ah, I’m rather proud of this, about three years ago. I went cold turkey.” [When asked if quitting porn changed his life] “I now have three children. I think there is a correlation.” And for those who think it’s a hidden vice that really affects no one else, Terry Crews concludes differently: “Pornography in a lot of ways, it really, really messed up my life . . . my wife was literally like, ‘I don’t know you anymore. I’m out of here’ . . . . By not telling people, it becomes more powerful. But, when you tell and when you put it out there in the open . . . . it loses its power.” God knows such addictive habits are very difficult to break, but with the grace God gives and a deep devotion to the Mother of God, there is always the hope of a new beginning. The 2nd Commandment prohibits blasphemy; “You shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain.” Besides the holy names of God that are always to be used with love and piety, other rough and vulgar language is also bad for the soul. Profanity coarsens us but we are blinded to this fact when we speak this way because it makes us feel sophisticated. However, it just doesn’t seem as impressive when the person we’ve always dreamed of marrying uses vulgar language to express something. A factor that contributes mightily to taking God’s name in vain is alcohol and drugs. Once we begin to give away our freedom, it’s then that the devil suggests all sorts of regrettable things that we think and say. Even just hearing rough language affects us, as I know all too well from the song lyrics I still remember from music I wished I’d never heard. Our fallen minds gravitate quickly to fallen ideas – anyone can use God’s name in vain, but it takes a good person a lifetime to learn to honor God by praising His name in thought and deed. We live in a world that exposes us to a lot of sinful things. Please God, give us the strength to lessen your load by learning to “say only the good things men need to hear,” (Ephesians 4:29). May God bless you and your efforts to know, love, and serve Him more consistently this Lent!
Your friend in Christ, Father Martin Men / Sons of the Parish: Mark your calendars for the Annual Father/Son Breakfast taking place on Sunday-March 19, 2017 after the 8 a.m. Mass sponsored by the Parish Council of Catholic Women. Menu will be Biscuits and gravy * Scrambled Eggs with sausage and beverage. We look forward to having you attend .
Save the date: Our next parish pilgrimage (God willing) is tentatively scheduled for April 16-26, 2018. The date could change a day on either end, depending on flight confirmation. We’ll start in Paris, then fly to Lourdes, then bus from Lourdes across Spain from east to west, ending in Fatima and flying home from Lisbon. Cost will be in the range of $3,000.00.
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MASS SCHEDULE
Tuesday - Friday: 8:00 AM Saturday: 4:00 PM Sunday: 8:00 AM & 10:00 AM RECONCILIATION
Saturday: 3:15 - 3:45 PM OFFICE HOURS
Monday - Thursday: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM Friday: 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM Stay Connected with Our ParishWelcome from Our PastorWelcome to Christ the King Catholic Church! Ever since 1938 this parish has been assisting souls in their quest for deeper union with God. Our mission statement is essentially found in the stained glass window above the main altar: “For Christ our King.” Insofar as God made us and we belong to Him, we have come to... Read More
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