THANK YOU: This is a special time of year, perhaps the one time of the year we have the opportunity to gather with some friends and family. It can become a very hectic time as well, with the various celebrations and other expectations, it can seem as if there simply is not enough time in a day nor days in a week to get it all in. Although it is impossible to isolate ourselves from all the material aspects of Christmas, we can always reserve some time for God; not only on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning, but each day throughout the Christmas season. The birth of Christ is such a monumental event in the life of the Church, we celebrate his birth for eight days. In addition to this, the Christmas season extends to the baptism of the Lord. Perhaps take in an extra weekday Mass or two, and listen to the various Christmas stories that are told. If schedules prevent this, consider taking 10 minutes or so each day to read these stories in the Gospels, and reflect on this truly awesome event, and how God may be seeking your presence through this personal encounter with the baby Jesus. Each year we all experience so many blessings in our lives, and with reflection, even difficult times become grace filled events. Coming to Marshfield and Spencer has been and continues to be a time of special grace, serving the people of St John the Baptist and Christ the King. I would like to thank all those who sent cards, prayers and gifts this Christmas season. These are deeply appreciated. I held you up in a special way at my Christmas Mass in thanksgiving for such a wonderful community to serve. May God flood your hearts with His presence and blessings during this Christmas season and into the New Year. Fr Jim LIVING THE JOY OF THE HOLY FAMILY The Feast of the Holy Family celebrates the human family, as well as the ultimate family unit: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The feast, not a solemnity, is usually celebrated on the Sunday after Christmas. The Holy Family is the name given to the family of Jesus: The Divine Son of God, Jesus, his mother, the Virgin Mary, and his foster-father, Joseph. We know very little about the life of the Holy Family through the canonical Gospels, other than birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the flight into Egypt, and the finding of Jesus in the temple. Devotion to the Holy Family is a recent development, but one that naturally grows out of a love for Jesus and his family. Pope Emeritus Benedict promoted the feast as a way to counter the breakdown of the family, as this feast is not just about the Holy Family, but about our own families too. St. John Chrysostom urged all Christians to make each home a "family church," and in doing so, we sanctify the family unit. Just how does one live out the Church in the family? The best way is by making Christ the center of family and individual life. Some ways to do this include: reading scripture regularly, praying daily, attending Mass at least on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, imitating the actions of the Holy Family, going to confession frequently, and so forth, all done together as a family. In short, it is about becoming holy ourselves, in imitation of the Holy Family, striving to become the family God intends for you, living with greater love and joy every day. Happy New Year! Fr. Jim
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New Year’s Eve. and New Year’s Day Mass times: Christ the King - Dec. 31 * No New Year’s Eve. Mass. Jan. 1, 2020 @ 9 am Mass Area Masses St. John the Baptist - Dec. 31 @ 5:15 pm / Jan. 1 @ 9 am Our Lady of Peace - Dec. 31 @ 4 pm / Jan. 1 @ 9:30 am Sacred Heart - Dec. 31 @ 6 pm / Jan. 1 @ 8 am Corpus Christi - Bakerville / Jan 1 @ 7 pm Men Renewal Retreat
February 15, 2020 St. John the Baptist 201 W Blodgett St, Marshfield, WI 9 A.M. – 3 P.M.Cost: $25/person (Includes morning snack and lunch) Cost $30/person at the door What does it mean to BE A MAN OF THE CROSS? Join us for a half-day retreat with time for prayer, reflection & renewal led by Deacon Ralph Poyo. Presented by Diocese of La Crosse – Office for Marriage and Family Life For more information please contact: Dan Kitzhaber at 608-791-2673 Don't Miss the St. John the Baptist Parish Mission February 16-19, 2020 featuring Deacon Ralph Poyo. The mission will be from 6:30pm to 8pm each night. Deacon Ralph is a popular speaker capable of communicating with a wide variety of audiences. His passionate, humorous, and playful style has captivated audiences of all ages with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His presentation style disarms and speaks directly to the issues that plague our efforts to live the Catholic Faith. Deacon Ralph is married to his high school sweetheart, Dr. Susan Poyo, and has five daughters, three sons (In-law), and three grandchildren. More information about Deacon Ralph can be found at NewEvangelizationMinistries.org “‘For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger,’ (Luke 2:11-12).” MERRY CHRISTMAS God’s sign is the baby in need of help and in poverty, exactly the same sign has been given to us...God’s sign is simplicity...God’s sign is that he makes himself small for us.. He does not come with power and outward splendor. He comes as a baby- defenseless and in need of our help. He does not want to overwhelm us with his strength. He takes away our fear of his greatness. He asks for our love; so he makes himself a child. He wants nothing from us other than our love, through which we spontaneously learn to enter into his feelings, his thoughts, and his will- we learn to live with him and to practice with him that humility of renunciation that belongs to the very essence of love. God made himself small so that we could understand him, welcome him and love him...Christmas has become the Feast of gifts in imitation of God, who has given himself to us. Let us allow our heart, our soul and our mind to be touched by this fact (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) The Incarnation of the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity as a man, turned the entire world upside down. We think of a king being born with all the trappings of the world, the best of everything; but he was born in a stable and wrapped with swaddling clothes. His birth was announced by angels to a group of sheep herders, themselves rejected by their countrymen. His kingdom would not be formed through military battles or worldly wisdom; but a kingdom of service to others, based on his teaching known as the Beatitudes. His crown would not be a crown of gold and jewels, rather a crown of thorns. He doesn’t enter his city with a procession of power, but riding on a donkey. His throne was not in a palace; rather a cross on a hill outside the walls of the city. His glory is not occupying a worldly empire; but an empty tomb, the pierced hands of a glorified body, burning memories of a walk to Emmaus, a breakfast of grilled fish on the shore of Galilee; his generals are a group of nobodies that all abandoned him in the moment of his greatest need. Everything is turned upside down, an inversion of all we hold dear as human beings. This is especially true in light of the scandals that continue to rock the Church. We do not make excuses for the actions of even one person in authority in the Church, but we need to learn to read the world through the eyes of the Gospels, bringing the real world into a sharper focus. On Christmas morning our expectations change. We worship a new born babe; a king who challenges us today and tomorrow, a king who will turn everything upside-down, a king who will lead us in our own journey to join him one day in heaven. May God bless all of you and your families this Christmas season. Fr Jim Office Changes: Beginning the first week of January, the parish office will be closed on Mondays. Office Hours will be 9 am to 3 pm * Tuesday through Thursday * 9 am-12:30 pm on Fridays. There are No classes on December 25, 2019 & January 1, 2020 ** Merry Christmas! Please pray for our students, especially our second grade students who will be celebrating their First Reconciliation in a few weeks. We have 10 children in second grade this year. They have been preparing for the sacrament with the new prep program by Matthew Kelly entitled “Blessed”. They will also use this program for First Holy Communion preparation. Advent is a Latin word for ‘coming’. It is a time of anticipation and waiting, mostly waiting with our Blessed Mother in her personal Advent of carrying Jesus in her womb for 9 months. But there is another thing we are anticipating: the return of the Lord. The time is approaching fast; this is the reason we wear rose (no, they are not pink) vestments this weekend. This is reflected in nature as well, as Dr Pius Parsch reflects on in The Year of Grace. He writes: ‘Nature’s annual cycle is characterized by two phenomena, light and life. Out of the darkness comes light, out of death comes life. The translation from night to light characterizes the winter season; the transition from death to life is proper to summertime. The holy year of the church is likewise divided into two phases which have similar characteristics.’ Violet calls to mind the diminishing light during Advent and the silence of life in the winter preparing for a new birth in the spring. Black is not a liturgical color, because black is the absence of all color, and we are never in complete darkness. Violet is a dark and penitential color, but it is also the ancient color for royalty and wealth. Through our baptism, we are immersed in light and life, and have the dignity of being children of the King of Heaven. In this sense, we see the significance of the color rose, a softening of violet, the promise of the light that is approaching, anticipating the birth of Christ during Advent and his resurrection during Lent. Gaudete Sunday is an anticipation and foretaste of the good things to come, things that we experience partially today and confident that we will experience them fully when Christ returns. The focus of our readings during the first 3 weeks of Advent is on the end times. Since the time of Christ, this has been on the minds of Christians throughout the world. Many have tried to predict the exact date or at least the correct year of the Lord’s return. Thus far, none have been right. But one thing is certain: we are living in the end times. This has been true since Jesus’ Ascension into heaven. ‘When is Jesus coming back?’ is the wrong question. Are the readings from Revelation or the prophets to be taken literally or symbolically? Again, the wrong question. It is a waste of time to speculate about the when or where or looking for signs. These are distractions from what we should be doing: actually preparing our hearts for his return. St Bernard teaches there are 3 comings of Christ. The first was fulfilled some 2000 plus years ago with his incarnation; this coming was cloaked in human flesh, and was hidden from many of his contemporaries. The 2nd will be his coming in glory, and there will be no such confusion. Lastly there is a third coming, and this is the one we live, as Christ is born in our hearts and minds. It is fulfilled in each heart throughout our lives, and this coming involves a birth as well. Like all births, there is pain involved and we are put to the test; as St John the Baptist puts it ‘He must increase, I must decrease’. This expectant birth does not just come about. We must prepare and plan for it. Much like a couple expecting a child, they want to prepare the home in the best way possible for the new arrival. This new arrival, whether it is the 1st or the 6th, will bring change into the life of the family. As we accept Christ into our lives, it will change us in ways we cannot imagine. The Lord is Near: so how do we prepare for such an event? Just as The Light approaches, his light is reflected in our liturgies; the violet of the season approaches the white of Christmas morning, and appears as rose. We rejoice in the fullness of the Truth; Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago, we rejoice in the promise of his return, and we rejoice now as he is born into our hearts today. We also prepare by calling others to faith in Christ, something all baptized Christians are called to do. As a beautiful way to evangelize this Christmas, consider inviting a neighbor, friend or family member to join you in celebrating Christmas and the birth of our savior at one of our Masses. God blessings upon your families and loved ones this Advent season Fr. Jim 2019 Christ the King Parish * Christmas Mass schedule: the times have not been changed and will remain the same as in previous years.
December 24 * Christmas Eve. * 4 pm * Children’s Mass December 24 * Christmas Eve. * 10 pm * Vigil Mass December 25 * Christmas Day * 10 am * Christmas Mass |
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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