Diocesan News and Events
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Bishop Callahan’s Letter Decree-Holy-Day-Obligation-Nov-2020
Father Toms Letter July 27 2020
St. John’s Parish and School want to take this time to share event updates as of August 1, 2020:
- Bishop Callahan has reopened weekday Masses to the public at up to 25% seating capacity at St. John the Baptist and Holy Family Parishes. The Mass days and times will be published in the bulletin.
Public Masses on weekends resumed on Saturday, May 30, 2020, at the usual times. Please call the parish you would like to attend to reserve a spot:
Saturdays, 4 PM at St. John the Baptist Church and 7 PM at Holy Family Church;
Sundays, 9 AM at St. John the Baptist Church and 10:30 AM at Holy Family Church.
Confessions are available before the weekend Masses at normal times. - St. John’s Church will be open daily from 7:00 am-7:00 pm.
Diocesan Annual Appeal 2020-21:
Goal: $33,575.00
Received: 11,485.00
Amount needed: $22,090.00
Thank you for considering to donate.
Current Fundraisers
Seroogy’s
Seroogy’s bars are available again this year for $1.50 per bar. A full box of forty-eight (48) bars is sold for $72.00. Flavors available include Peanut Butter, Almond, Chocolate Crisp, Chocolate, Pure Milk Chocolate, Pure Dark Chocolate, and Shock Rock.
Seroogy’s bars are currently sold at the Parish Office, after weekend Masses at St. John the Baptist Parish, and at Berg Sales.
Contact the Parish Office (715-352-3011) if you would like to have your order pre-packaged and ready to be picked up at a certain day / time.
Ave Maria Press Fundraiser
Help our parish and school earn money! Shop for Catholic books and resources online at avemariapress.com with our unique code through December 31 and we will earn 30% of the proceeds on each purchase (and you’ll get FREE SHIPPING!). You MUST use this code at checkout to receive the 30% back.
Ave Maria Press is a non-profit Catholic book publisher serving the mission of helping people know, love, and serve God.
View this link for more details on the fundraiser.
Parish Advent Mission
As worded by the Diocese of La Crosse – The focus of the Advent Mission will be “Preparing for the Birth of the Christ Child through the Eyes of St. Joseph.” There will be four presentations, one for each week of Advent. The length of the talks will be roughly 30-40 minutes with discussion questions available at the end of each presentation and available to print from the website. The purpose of this mission is to bring people together to prepare for Christmas and strengthen the community in light of so much isolation. Parishioners may participate by gathering at their parish or by watching at home. Each presentation will be available at diolc.org/advent. The link to each presentation will be available on the Friday before the corresponding Sunday of Advent, and will be available throughout the rest of Advent.
The presenters and titles of the presentations for each of the Four Weeks of Advent are:
- Week 1) St. Joseph: The Man Selected by God to be Closest to Mary and to Jesus. – Msgr. Joseph Diermeier
- Week 2) Joseph and Mary: A Holy Love Story – Msgr. Joseph Hirsch
- Week 3) That Holy Night, through Joseph’s Eyes– Father Woodrow Pace
- Week 4) Joseph, Son of David…You are to Give Him the Name Jesus – Bishop William Patrick Callahan
Youth Life Retreats
Upcoming virtual retreat options for the youth of our Parish:
- One for youth in grades 7 and 8
We are very excited about the response for these retreats so far! It is going to be a great experience connecting parishes virtually together on these days. The retreat will be held for youth in grades 7-8 on Sunday, December 6, 2020 from 12:30-3:30pm. These retreats will be led by Young Life Catholic Retreats and will feature speakers and musicians from around the country to minister to our young people. Right now, the plan is to have each parish youth group gather at your parish (while following all COVID/Social Distancing protocols) to listen to powerful speakers, music, games that are virtually interactive with the other joining parishes, and small group discussions (that will be done at your parish). Prior to the retreat, you and your young people could attend Mass together, then gather to eat lunch together in a way that follows all safety protocols for serving food to groups (i.e. box lunches, sack lunch from home, etc.). Then, following the retreat, depending on the availability of your priest or deacon, you could spend time as a group together in Adoration. The cost for these retreats is $10 per person.
A Year Devoted to St. Joseph: May 1, 2020 – May 1, 2021
On Friday, May 1st, Bishop Callahan began a special year of thanksgiving, petition, and honor to St. Joseph with a special Mass. In case you missed the Mass, you can view it here. In the year ahead, the diocese will offer prayers for his blessings upon our families (Patron Saint of Husbands, Fathers, and Families), our beloved dead (Patron Saint of a Happy Death), and the special needs of our Diocese (Patron Saint of the Universal Church).
As we make our way through the year, several events, prayers and novenas will be available for publication in parish bulletins. It is, of course, painfully obvious for all of us to know that our plans often turn to dust in the midst of possible tragedies and sicknesses that come our way. Please follow the Diocesan website diolc.org/year-of-st-joseph for further information and possible events.
AMAZON SMILE
This unique link will automatically ask if you want to support St. John Catholic Church. By our specific Amazon Smile link, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible smile.amazon.com purchases to St. John Catholic Church.
Don’t forget you can also use Amazon.com Scrip to pay for your purchase.