St. Anne Catholic Church

SEE HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE BELOW | DAILY MASS TIMES: Tues-Sat. 7 a.m. | CONFESSION FOLLOWING Wed, Friday & Sat. Mass | ADORATION FOLLOWING Wed & Friday Mass | WEEKEND MASS TIMES: Saturday 5:15 p.m., Sunday 9:15 a.m. & 11:30 a.m. (262) 942-8300. 

Archives for December 2011

Celebrate Christmas Every Day

The commercial world tells us that Christmas is over on December 26, perhaps giving way to sentiments of sadness or even triumph that we made it through the madness of yet another holiday.  Yet, Christmas has only begun.  We are called to celebrate God’s word more profoundly in this season and be witnesses of our faith.  As St. Paul of the Cross said so eloquently, “Celebrate the feast of Christmas every day, even every moment in the interior temple of your spirit, remaining like a baby in the bosom of the heavenly Father, where you will be reborn each moment in the Divine Word, Jesus Christ.”

 

Love One Another by Archbishop Listecki

Love One Another (reprinted from December 27, 2011)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The week after Christmas is filled with celebrations of well-known saints.

On the 26th of December, we honored St. Stephen, deacon and martyr, the first Christian to die for the Faith. He was one of the original seven deacons called to serve the needs of the community by assisting priests. At his martyrdom, St. Stephen prayed, “Lord do not hold this sin against them.” St. Stephen was already using Christ as his example in begging forgiveness for those who did him harm (“Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.”).

Tomorrow on the 28th, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Innocents. They were the martyred babies slain as King Herod sought the newborn Jesus. These innocent children were baptized in blood. It will be Jesus’ blood which offers us salvation. One can’t help contemplating the continued lawful destruction of the innocent children in our day when we should understand the dignity of human life. Let us pray that minds and hearts be changed to reflect the intrinsic value of innocent life in the laws of our society.

On the 29th of December, we recognize St. Thomas Becket, bishop and martyr. St. Thomas Becket speaks to our modern society as we attempt to defend the rights of the Church and the religious expression constantly under attack by the secularists who want to privatize all religious practices. St. Thomas Becket was slain in the cathedral and his courage inspired the people of England. If you have a few moments, I encourage you to rent “Becket.” An inspiring movie of faith and dedication, it’s a spiritual treat.

On December 30th, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family. This is a reminder of just how important family is, both in our lives and the salvific life of the Church. Family life these days is under attack. We need to be vigilant about marriage and family life and understand just how essential “family” is to our societal well-being and spiritual development. God’s Son was given to a family: a mother, Mary, and a foster father, Joseph, to reflect the unconditional love of God. Let us pray with gratitude to our Lord for the families who helped shape our love and faith.

On the 31st of December, one of the first non-martyred saints is honored: St. Sylvester, a pope who participated in the Council of Nicaea. We pray the creed from Nicaea at all Sundays and holy day Masses. This creed shaped our identity as Christians, firmly establishing our belief in Jesus Christ, true God and true Man. I had an uncle who was named Sylvester. Of course he would take a lot of teasing from all of his nieces and nephews about the famous Sylvester the Cat. But perhaps my grandmother was much more prudent in naming him after a saint whose leadership was so profound in the early Church.

I know that many of you are already saying that I left out today’s feast, December 27th. I purposely left it for last because it is the feast of St. John the Evangelist, the youngest of the apostles and, by his own admission, the one who Jesus loved. St. John the Evangelist was the one apostle who did not abandon Jesus and is often depicted with Mary and the other women, at the foot of the cross. Mary was entrusted to St. John’s care and he is the only apostle to have died from natural causes. Perhaps he was spared martyrdom because St. John suffered with Jesus at the foot of the cross. St. John the Evangelist is the patron of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and our Cathedral is named after him. So, in a sense, today is our feast day celebrating a saint who inspires our devotion to the Lord on so many levels.

In “Butler’s Saint for the Day,” author Paul Burns refers to St. Jerome, the famous scripture scholar of the early Church, who tells us that when St. John was too feeble to preach, he would have himself carried into the assembly and tell his people, “My little children, love one another.” When asked why he would always use the same words, he replied, “Because it is the word of the Lord and if you keep it, you do enough.” On this the feast of St. John the Evangelist, let us follow Christ’s word to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

In His Name,
Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee

“A Virtue: Asking for Forgiveness”

Pride.  Fear.  Hurt.  These are raw emotions that can dwell in the heart for a long time if left alone and unreconciled.  They can lurk and arise just as fast as a fresh wound.  Asking for forgiveness is probably one of the greatest challenges humans can face.  It demands peace in the heart to take place.  And, once done, a great burden can be lifted.  This Advent season, challenge yourself.  Are there relationships in your life that need healing?  Francis Cardinal George of Chicago recently reflected on forgiveness, “Without forgiveness, there’s no freedom. If we’re not forgiven, we’re not free.  And if we can’t forgive somebody else, we’re not free. There’s no possibility of relationship without forgiveness.”  (Source:  “Cardinal George Explains Faith, World Challenges” Interview with NBC Chicago, 5/11/2011)

Individual reconciliation at St. Anne’s is being offering on Wed., Dec. 21, 4:30-6 p.m.

 

Winter Social: Save the Date, Friday, February 10

Dear St. Anne Parishioners:

I hope you are well and having a blessed Christmas season.  I wanted to send out a message and “save the date” for our St. Anne Winter Social which will be held on Friday February 10th 2012 at Bristol Oaks Country Club.  This year’s event will be adult only and will include a social hour, dinner, live and silent auction and entertainment.  Reservations for the event and auction items will be accepted in January.  Reservation forms will be available in January at the church, on our website and by email.

Thank you,

Fr. Bob

Enjoy pics from last year’s social!

Biernes enjoying dessert.

 

 

 

 

 

Lowes smiling big for the camera!

 

 

 

 

Rena finding a little down time.

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers of the Field: Reflections On Family

Reflections on Family by Mike Nuzzo

Good morning everyone, my name is Mike Nuzzo.  My wife, Anna, and I have been members of St Anne since 2005.   I have been asked to share some of my experiences with you, and reflect on our current efforts towards the Flowers of the Field campaign, which I am blessed to serve as part of the committee.

Over the past several years, I have grown significantly in my faith, in large part due to this parish.   This has helped my life at home and at work, giving me guidance and inspiration to do the right thing, and find peace when times are difficult. At home I have had more patience with my two boys, and at work I am able to trust in God’s will and not constantly worry about the future.  This in turn makes me more pleasant to be around at home.  It is the little moments that have made this change, interactions with different members and ministries.

I think the best summary of this journey is when we went to the movies with several families from our parish.  When one of the younger children was told about it, she asked “will our whole family be there?”  Her mom said yes, mommy, daddy and all of us are going, and she said, “No, I mean our WHOLE family” …meaning all of the families that were coming.  I thought about this a lot afterwards, and it came to me that this is the same thing I have experienced:  St. Anne is my family, and this parish is our home.

So with that thought, I would like to say “Welcome Home”.

I was reflecting on the goals of this campaign, and as a business owner, I tend to start looking at things with a business perspective.  But then it hit me, these aren’t business type goals:  Human Concerns, Outreach, Music Ministry, etc.  These are the goals of a Family!  Yes, we have to view them with a financial perspective, but isn’t that true of any family planning?

Take music for example.  Most of you have probably decorated for the season.  When I was a boy, one of my fondest memories was listening to “The Little Drummer Boy” while decorating the tree.  I still remember walking around the living room banging on my imaginary drum.  I’m sure all of you have a similar memory, or there is a special song that really brings the Holy Spirit into your heart, especially this time of year.

The same is true for Human Concerns and Outreach: reaching out to the needs of our parish and the community, inviting people to our church, and strengthening the relationships within our parish.  Is this really much different than what we do with our own families every day?

Or how about the gathering area remodeling?  At home, I like to think of myself as a fairly handy person, and regularly dive into different home improvement projects.  One year, I installed Pergo flooring in our kitchen.  After a hard weekend of work, the floor was done, but I didn’t have the energy to finish the trim.  I thought the floor looked good, and gave myself a nice pat on the back, saying I would finish the trim…”tomorrow”.  Well, it was quite a while before I finished that trim, and every day I got more used to the floor without it.  Finally I got it done, after some “friendly urging” from Anna. I was shocked at how much better it looked now!

Friends and neighbors probably weren’t as impressed with my flooring project as I was, until the trim was done.  We have a similar “unfinished project” at our home here.  While many of us are used to the concrete block and exposed steel, it is very noticeable to visitors and newcomers.  I think we will all be surprised at how much impact a finished gathering area will have.

Now we get to the part everyone loves to talk about, our mortgage… Every January my family sits down and puts together a budget for the coming year, and reviews what we did the year before.  A key focus of this is looking at additional needs of the family, and sacrifices we need to make.  We recently refinanced our home mortgage to take advantage of a lower rate.  In the near future, our St Anne Family would like to refinance our mortgage to more favorable terms, but to do this we have to reduce our debt ratio for the banks.  This is the primary goal of our campaign, and is a major step towards making room in our monthly budget for the future needs of this family.

St Anne Church is where your family in Christ gathers. As you can see, our family has some things to do, and we need everyone to pitch in.  At the presentation of this campaign to the leadership of the parish, there was a strong positive response that we are running this campaign In House, and I think you will agree that this is due to the sense of Family this parish has.

So again I say to you “Welcome Home.'”  You will soon see a garden growing in our gathering area, with a flower representing each $1,000 pledged.  We ask your help in planting our garden.

Thank you, and have a Merry Christmas!

 

St. Anne Catholic Church
9091 Prairie Ridge Blvd.
Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158
(262) 942-8300 or (262) 331-0906

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