“Jesus, what made You so small? LOVE!”- St. Bernard of Clairvaux
As we remember the birth of Jesus coming into this world, let us every day welcome Him into our heart, and there remain attentive in quiet adoration of God made man.
Merry Christmas!       Love, Father A. Antony
 

Dear friends,
Hope you are doing well. I had been insisting that all need to make a good confession for a better celebration of Christmas. I am happy some are coming to make confession. But most do not seem to commit any sin as they don’t see the need to make confession. I would earnestly ask you to make your confession before the Christmas and make the celebration a little more meaningful and fruitful.
I was watching a reality show on the television. The show was about some celebrity, who would go out to do some work or any other project through which they would raise some funds that would be given to some needy deserving family which was already selected by the television channel crew. Anything that the celebrity does would be cashed in. Some people would ask the celebrity some questions, and the celebrity would get some money to answer the questions and the audience would give the money for that answer because they knew the purpose of the event.
In one such occasion, one person asked a celebrity, “What is your greatest achievement in your life?” The celebrity immediately said with a wink, “What else, except that I was born?” The person who asked the question was puzzled. The celebrity continued, “Yes, to be born in this world is the biggest achievement, and much more to live as a good human person”. I would add one more sentence to the celebrity’s answer. That is: and much more to live a good Christian life.
This actually is something that we need to reflect upon. Among the millions of life-cells from our parents only few cells gathered together to form us into a human person and that is who we are. And among many people that are born, only few are baptized and become Christians. Among too many of those baptized only few cling on to the faith that was handed over. And among those who cling on to the faith, only some realize the value of being a Christian and only some really know what it takes to be a Christian, and much more to be a Catholic.
This season of advent, we are expecting a birth which made history. Even this birth was a tough one. The person whose birth we are waiting for found it very hard to live His own life as the person he was meant to be, the Christ our Savior. We know what happened to Him for living as He was supposed to. This gives us the reason as to why it is hard to live like a good Christian and Catholic. The way that Christ lived was in contrast with the material and worldly values which were based on short lived pleasure. He lived a life of everlasting uncompromised values. That is the kind of life that we are called to live and that is what we have opted for, through the sacrament of Baptism.
As we are awaiting the birth of Baby Jesus, let us ask him for the courage to live like he did, the courage to witness to him despite anything that may hinder us in this life of a Christian.
God bless,
Blessed Advent,
Yours sincerely in Christ Jesus,
Fr. A. Antony.
 

Dear friends, Hope all of you are doing good.
This past week we had two funerals one for Marvin Schill (in Auburndale) and the other was for Jeffrey Belongia (in Blenker). I would invite you to keep both of them in your prayers, also the families of these two, too. May God bless them and be with them in this time of loss and pain.
I would like to thank you all for your wishes and prayers on my Birthday. The party held in Hewitt was great, and thank you all the PCCW ladies of St. Michael’s, and also my thanks to the PCCW in St. Mary’s and St. Kilian’s. That was a good day I had, thanks to your prayers and wishes.
We are already in the second week of the season of Advent. As I told you last week, kindly try to make your confession during the times scheduled or making an appointment. We will be in the Christmas Eve before we could know it. So, make this Christmas a better one than the other years.
Once a man was searching for something under the street light. He looked desperate and frustrated. Another man who was observing him for a long time thought that the man was frustrated because he might have lost something very important. So, with a will to help him, he approached him and said, “Hello friend, I have been looking at you for a while. You are searching for something that you lost, and I figure that you lost something important to you. Could you tell me what you lost and where exactly did you lose it, so that I can search with you to help you find what you lost?” The searcher said, “Oh! That is so very kind of you. Yes, I lost my wedding ring when I was doing some work inside my house. Would you help me find it out?” The helper was bewildered and asked him, “Okay if you lost it in your house, you should search for it inside your hose. But how come you are searching for it here?” The searcher solemnly replied, “Yes, you are right. But it is dark inside and it is bright with the street light here. Could you search anything in the dark and find it? You should search where there is light, so it will be easy for you to find in the light. That is why I am searching here”. The helper was astounded by his logic and quietly left away.
Most of the time this is what we do. We lose something somewhere and look for it elsewhere. Take for example, God, religion, morality, faith, discipline and many more. We have lost God from within ourselves and from our lives. We need to look for Him within. But what we do is we look for Him everywhere except where we lost Him, never to find Him. We have lost Him in our liturgy and sacraments and we look for Him elsewhere. We have lost Him in our families and we look for Him elsewhere. We have lost Him in our schools and we look for Him elsewhere. We have lost Him in our society and we look for Him elsewhere. Do you think we will ever find Him, if we look for Him in places other than where we lost Him? Never ever it will happen. We need to look for Him where we lost Him.
We need to look for Him in ourselves, in our liturgies and sacraments, in our families, in our schools, and in our society, and any other places we have lost Him. If we try to find Him in any man-made materials, our search will never end up with a desired result. As we are in the season of Advent, let us try hard to look for Him after figuring out where we have lost Him.
Have a blessed advent. Yours sincerely in Christ Jesus, Fr. A. Antony
 

Dear friends,
Now that we have begun a new liturgical year at the start of the Advent, I welcome you all and wish you a spiritually nourishing year.
As the new liturgical year begins, I would like to get you focused on the first big feast of Christmas. Christmas is one great event in history and we as Christians are proud to celebrate it. Because it is for us that this event happened first of all. So, we have the right and responsibility to celebrate this in a grand manner. The celebration of Christmas should be not just ritual, but it should be fruitful so that we really get what we need to get from this celebration. As I said in the Mass, the best way to celebrate Christmas or any other feast, is to make a good confession and take part in the Mass, and receive communion.
So, I would urge all of you to make a good confession and take part in the Mass. Though I have spoken to you about how to make your confession, I would like to give you few tips as to how to go about it. The primary part of making a good confession is to make a good examination of conscience for which you have many resources to do that. (One for sample: http://usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/sacraments-and-sacramentals/penance/examinations-of-conscience.cfm) Only when you do a proper examination of conscience,  will you be able to make a good confession and you will be able to avoid some guessing statements like, I think…, I might have…, I am not sure… and many more like these. Otherwise, you may end up confessing what you might not have really committed.
When you confess your sins, try to be direct in what you are saying. Say “I did (this)”. It is as simple as that. Do not try to beat around the bush and let the priest guess something for you. For example, say “I used profane words”. Do not say I might have said some profane words, or I think… words like these would tend to confuse the priest and he may end up guessing something grave about what you confessed and give you more penance and you end up feeling guiltier of even what you did not really do.
Another thing is that you have to confess the sins that you committed since the last confession. You need not recall the sins of the ages past. Because when you come to confession, all your sins are forgiven. Then you become like a clean slate. God does not want His sons and daughters to feel sorry or guilty for the sins that were already forgiven. He does not keep record of our sins. Once He forgives, He also forgets. “If you, LORD, keep account of sins, Lord, who can stand?” (Ps: 130:3). But we should remember the sins and their gravity, to remind ourselves that we should not commit the same sins again and again, but not to make ourselves to feel guilty or sorry about them.
To conclude, I once again urge you all affectionately to make a good confession and celebrate the Christmas more meaningfully and fruitfully.
God Bless and have a Blessed Advent.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Fr. A. Antony
 

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/
 

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
 

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

Dear friends,
 Hope you are all well. By the time you read this I will be at home. Thank you very much for your prayers and kindly keep praying for me. Hope we don’t have any snow till I come back!
 I was reminded of something that happened when I was in the third grade. I was having my lunch with some of my friends. I saw a small, cute baby squirrel that was all alone running hither and thither. No wonder I was fascinated by that baby squirrel. So, I caught it and slid it in my pocket. I wanted to take it home and grow it. After catching the squirrel, my first and the last pet, I went to the class.
 As you may not know I was very mischievous when I was a little boy. Eventually, my teacher in the class for that particular hour caught me for some mischief in the class. The teacher was a nun. Now you would know what would have happened. Yes! She started to whack me with a stick she had. She was beating me on my thighs where the pocket was and the baby squirrel in. I was anxious that the squirrel should not be beaten. So, I held my hand against the pocket in order to protect the squirrel. All the beatings fell on my hand, palm and some just right on the joints. It was really painful. Despite the pain, I did not move my hand away for the fear that the squirrel would be getting the beatings and it may die.
 The teacher nun finally stopped beating me and I was relaxed. After the class I ran out to check if the squirrel was alive. Thank God! It was alive. I went home and after few days I realized that I can not rear the squirrel and so I let it go free.
 After a very long time when I was thinking about this incident I really could not help thinking about how God protects us all. For that small little squirrel, I was able to bear all the spankings to protect it. The pain and the agony were intolerable. But I could bear it all for the sake of the squirrel I found accidently. If I as a little boy can bear so much pain for that stray and estranged baby squirrel, how much more God would care for the people He himself created. His love, we can not measure. We can only understand that, if only we could be in His place.
 Even in our lives, we are ready to make any amount of sacrifice or lose anything, or bear any amount of pain or shame for something or someone we love. If that can be so, why don’t we hesitate to believe that God would love us more than we do? It is our faithlessness. We need to realize that the love and providence of God is more enormous than we could ever imagine. Let us try to understand and believe that.
 God bless.
Yours sincerely,
 
Fr. A. Antony