Saint Mary, Saint Michael & Saint Kilian Parishes
Saint Mary, Saint Michael & Saint Kilian Parishes
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  • Home
  • About
    • Homilies
    • Pastor's Column
    • Parish Histories
    • Cemetery Rules & Regulations
  • Bulletin
  • Mass Schedule
  • Religious Education
  • Resources
  • Sacraments
    • Baptism
    • Sacrament of Penance
    • First Communion
    • Confirmation
    • Holy Matrimony
    • Becoming Catholic
  • Online Giving
  • Contact Us

Christ the King

11/25/2018

 
Christ’s lordship over the universe is commemorated in various ways in feasts of the liturgical year, including the Epiphany, Easter, and the Ascension. With the Solemnity of Christ the King, instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 in the context of the growing secularization of the world, the Church wishes to highlight even more clearly Christ’s sovereignty over all creation, including human history.
Jesus’ reign, as the liturgy of the Mass underlines, is a regnum veritatis et vitae; regnum sanctitatis et gratiae; regnum iustitiae, amoris et pacis.[1] Truth, life, holiness, grace, justice, love and peace: these are the values that the human heart most longs for, and we Christians can contribute to bringing them about. We can do so especially through works of mercy done for the most needy, as the gospel for this feast in Year A tells us. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you made me welcome.[2]
Nevertheless, Jesus himself warned us, my kingdom is not of this world.[3] His sovereignty will be seen in its fullness at his second coming in glory, when there will be new heavens and a new earth, and all creatures, free from the slavery of sin, will serve and never cease to praise him.[4] Now is the time of expectation, of working for his kingdom, confident that the final victory will be his.
Jesus is the center of history: not only the history of mankind as a whole, but also of each individual person. Even when it seems that everything is lost, it is always possible to appeal to our Lord like the good thief, as the gospel for Year C tells us.[5] What peace comes from the fact that, in spite of our past, with sincere repentance we can always enter the Kingdom of God. “Today we can think about our own story, the path of our life. Each one of us has our history; we each have our mistakes, our sins, our happy moments and our sad ones. On a day such as this we do well to think about our own history, and to look at Jesus, and to say often, but from the heart, in silence, each one of us: ‘Remember me, Lord, now that you are in your kingdom. Jesus, remember me, because I want to be good, I want to be good, but I don’t have the strength, I just can’t. I’m a sinner, a sinner. But remember me, Jesus. You can remember me because you’re in the center, you’re right there, in your kingdom’.”[6]
[1] Roman Missal, Preface for the feast of Christ the King.  [2] Mt 25:35.  [3] Jn 18:36.  [4] Roman Missal, Mass of Christ the King, Collect.  [5] Cf. Lk 23:35-43.  [6] Pope Francis, Homily, 24 November 2013.
Article used from: https://opusdei.org/en/article/liturgical-feast-of-christ-the-king/
 

Aim High

11/18/2018

 
Dear friends,
Hope you are all doing well even after the snow made its first more visible landing this past week. Yes! We are in Wisconsin and winter is here. Brace yourselves for the white stuff season.
I would like to thank Bill, Helen and Bob profoundly for the committed service they rendered for such a long time being members of St. Mary’s finance council. We appreciate their willingness and commitment to the welfare of our parish community. A hearty welcome to Gene Brueggen, Paul Peplinski and Jodi Griepentrog to be on the finance council and expect a more committed rendition of their time and talent to our parish. Wish them well in their future.
When I was in college, we had a professor who was a jovial man and we liked his class, because he would keep the class lively with his funny jokes and thoughtful anecdotes. At the end of the third year, it was a custom that all the students of the class would go for an excursion. The particular professor was in charge of the arrangements. So, one day he started discussing about this topic. The students said they would want to go to Kashmir, which the north most part of India.  After some discussion, the place changed to Andaman Islands (like Hawaii for USA), which is an exorbitant place of tourism and the finance to go to that place was not sufficient. Then the place was decided on Mysore and Bangalore which are in another state and they are good tourist spots, too.  For some reason it was abandoned and finally ended up with Chennai, our State Capital (like Madison for Wisconsin).
The professor who was listening to all the discussions, selection and abandonment of places finally said with a vicious smile on his face, “Guys, you know what? When you started your discussion with Kashmir, I started planning about going to Chennai. Only when you start with Kashmir, I was sure enough, you could at least end up with Chennai. Had you started with Chennai, you would have ended up with the outer side of our campus. Only when you start with longer distance you would end up with some mediocre distance.” This gave us a frustrated smile on our face and also understood he was right.
Aim High. This is what we need to do in our life too. Only when we aim for the stars, we can at least end up with butterflies. We must try to do the best things possible, only then at least we can end up with some better or good things. Try to be the best husband and wife, at least you would make a good husband and wife. Try to be the best parent, at least you will be a mediocre parent. Try to be the best student, at least you will end up being an average student. Try to be the holiest person, at least you will end up becoming an unharmful being. Try to be the sincerest person, at least you will end up with being least insincere. Try to be the most loving person, at least you will end up being least hateful person. Try to be the humblest person, at least you will end up being the least proud person. Try to be the most humane person, at least you would end up being the least inhumane person. Try to be the best Christian ever, at least you will end up being a mediocre Christian. Try to become a saint, at least you will end up being an ordinary righteous person. So, try the best that you may at least achieve the smallest or the least.
God bless.
Yours sincerely in Christ Jesus,    Fr. A. Antony
 

Achieve the Era of Goodness and Truth

11/10/2018

 
Dear friends,
Hope you are all doing well. By the time you read this I hope you all will be out of election fever. I hope you have exercised your voting power. The weather had been a bit nasty this past week. Not only that we lost three members from our parishes, two from St. Mary’s and one from St. Michael’s. They are: Don Wilcott, Mike Dillinger and Bob Ertl, respectively. May our prayers and support be with them always and especially at this time of loss and pain. As we celebrate the Veteran’s Day today, let us also remember them and their service to the nation. But for their sacrifice and commitment to the welfare of the country, this country would not be what it is now. Appreciation to all the veterans all over the country and in a special way to those that are from our parishes.
November 6th in India was a great festival for Hindus. That festival is based on a puranic story in which an evil incarnation called Narakasura was killed by another good incarnation called Sathyabahma, the mother of Naraskaura in the previous birth. So, this day of the killing of the evil incarnation is the day of the festival of Deepavali. The story may be true or may not be true. But the mainline and idea of the story is that the evil would be overcome by goodness. That is why the people celebrate this day happily by a lot of activities like burning crackers, buying new dress, making sweets and sharing, cleaning the house thoroughly, and having an oil bath. That day is also a good day for the business people when they would make a lot of profits by increases in the purchases.
This day is celebrated by Christians too, remembering that the Lord Jesus is the light of the world as He himself claimed in the scriptures. On this day solemn Holy Masses would be celebrated in the churches. This is an inculturation, that is absorbing the Indian culture into Christianity. While we try to imbibe the Indian culture, we keep the spirit of Christianity unstained.
Coming back to the festival, though sometimes the evil seems to thrive it is not always so. The evil will be overcome by good someday. And when that happens, the good will prevail forever. This is what we understand from the life of Christ too. That is the reason we are called to be the people of witness to Christ, which means to be the agents of goodness and truth. Though at times this may seem tough and a matter of impossibility, this is achievable. This needs a lot of courage and commitment. This is possible through perseverance and prayer.
From the things that we witness around the world, this age seems to be an era of evil. We are called to be the soldiers in the battle against evil. We are a people supported by the valiance of the Sacraments that we have received, from the teachings of Christ and His Church, we can definitely achieve the era of goodness and truth. Let us strive hard for that new age. God will be with us always. God bless.
Yours sincerely in Christ Jesus,      
Fr. A. Antony

    Pastor's Column
    Posted here is the weekly column featured in the bulletin of Saint Mary, Saint Michael & Saint Kilian parishes.

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