C A T H O L I C P A R I S H E S O F
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, WI 53821
St. John Nepomuc
710 S. WACOUTA AVENUE · 326-6511
St. Gabriel Archangel
Tuesday / Thursday ...................................................................... 6:45 am Monday / Wednesday / Friday ................................ 8:30 am Saturday ...................................................................................................... 4:00 pm Sunday ............................................................................................................ 8:00 am
Monday / Wednesday / Friday .................................6:45 am Tuesday / Thursday .......................................................................8:30 am Saturday .......................................................................................................7:00 pm Sunday ....................................................................................................... 10:00 am
ST. GABRIEL’S ST. JOHN’S MASS SCHEDULE
Rev. Hubert G. Boschert S.J. Pastor
Rev. James B. Warosh S.J. Associate
THIS WEEK at St. Gabriel’s and St. John’s
SUNDAY, AUGUST 31 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 - LABOR DAY No Bingo because of the Holiday TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 6:00 pm 1st meeting for St. Gabriel’s Fall Fest will be held at St. Gabriel’s School Hall - all interested parties, especially chairpersons should attend WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 7:00 pm Depression Support Group will meet in St. John’s Church Hall THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
9:00 am Exposition & Adoration at St. John’s Church until 1:00 pm 6:30 pm Education committee will meet at St. Gabriel’s School Hall FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 AND SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 9:00 am Coffee & Rolls will be served in St. John’s Hall by the September Group plus drawing for the Lottery Sweepstakes Calendar E-Mail Address: [email protected] Website: www.prairiecatholic.org
August 31, 2008 - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
506 N. BEAUMONT ROAD · 326-2404
Baptism Please make arrangements with the Pastor Marriage Please contact the Pastor at least 6 months prior to the wedding date. Joint Parish Pastoral Council Joe Faust, Mark Forsythe, Jim McGrath, Holly Nicholson, Mike Mezera, Steve Schwager, Pat Mercaitis, Keith Neisius, Patrick Nolan, Carl Orr Joint Parish Finance Council Lucy Cornford, Pat Dagnon, Mark DuCharme, Mike Gar-rity, Mark Mara, Phil Mezera, Brad Linder, Tom Stram, Jim Welsch, Jerry Wachuta Endowment Trustees: St. John’s: Roy George, Mary Pellock & Mike Leard St. Gabriel’s: Dan Kussmaul, Mary Jaynes, Cathy Bierman Prairie Catholic School Phil Mezera, Paul Stark, Mark Mara, Leslie Orr Prairie Catholic School Principal Kathleen Schwartz Parish Administrator Paula Check Office Managers Paula Check, Lana J. Gratace Director of Religious Education Pat Prochaska Parish Nurses Rose Bauer & Shirley Cipra (357-2000) Education Committee Deb Trautsch, Rochelle Fulcher, Kathy Schneider, Tracy & Laurie Pedretti, Rochelle Neisius, Dixie Jackson, Tim Steger Confessions Saturday St. Gabriel’s 3:00 pm to 3:45 pm St. John’s 6:00 pm to 6:45 pm At Rectory anytime; phone to set up a time
Rectory Office Hours at St. Gabriel’s - 8 am to 3 pm
Rectory Office Hours at St. John’s - 8 am to 4 pm
August 31, 2008 St. Gabriel’s Parish
Offertory Gift Bearers-September 6/7 Saturday 4:00 pm Karla Rogers & Family
Sunday 8:00 am Terry Meyer Family
Eucharistic Ministers-September 6/7 Saturday 4:00 pm Laura Meyer & Tom Steiner-
Bread
Lyle Marfilius & Virginia
Konichek-Cup
Sunday 8:00 am Karen Fritsche, Don Cipra-
Bread
Mary Osterhaus & Donna
Teynor-Cup
Home Communion Ministers for Sept. 7th: Bonnie Reilly, Rose Trautsch
Servers-September 6/7 Saturday 4:00 pm Claire Stoeffler & Lauren
Nicholson
Sunday 8:00 am Natalie & Nathan Stram
Lectors-September 6/7 Saturday 4:00 pm Mary Stoeffler
Sunday 8:00 am Barb Welsch
Ushers-September 6/7 Saturday 4:00 pm Joe Barrette, Bill Check, Randy
Ginsterblum, Ed Steger
Sunday 8:00 am Tom Stram, Ed Mezera,
Dick Tesar & Volunteer
Scrip Workers-September 6/7 Saturday 4:00 pm Terri Strandlie/Jeff or Sue
Groom
Sunday 8:00 am Ken Stoeffler/Sam or Sandy
Halverson
Parish Support This Year Last Year Envelopes for 8/24 $3,208.00 $3,464.00
Plate for 8/24 647.90 707.23
Students 5.40 3.07
Heat Envelopes 67.00 68.00
Holy Day (addt’l) 10.00 .00
Total $3,938.30 $4,242.30
Our average weekly goal at St. Gabriel’s for adult
envelopes is $4,650.00.
The second collection at St. Gabriel’s came to
$3,487.25 and will be used for school expenses.
Thank you for your offering!
St. Gabriel’s Mass Intentions
Monday, September 1 - Labor Day
8:30 am †Clement V. Mezera:
by Pat & Kay Lorenz
Tuesday, September 2
6:45 am †William Hoffman, Jr: by M. Fagan
Wednesday, September 3
8:30 am †June Tyler: by Family & Friends
Thursday, September 4
6:45 am †Marie Mahan: by Lorraine & Dan Groh
Friday, September 5
8:30 am †Viola Kane: by Family & Friends
Saturday, September 6
4:00 pm †Mayme Quinn: by Family & Friends
Sunday, September 7
8:00 am For the People of St. Gabriel’s Parish
and St. John’s Parish
Bingo Winners from Monday, August 25th:
$25.00 - Jenni Stagman, Bob Heinrichs; $30.00 - Peg
Stoeffler, Maggie Check; $40.00 - Helen Ellenbolt -
$100.00 - Lindsey Davis; Consolation Progressive
($100.00) - Helen Ellenbolt
50/50 Winner ($53.50) - Luke Wright
Bingo will not be held on Monday, September
1st because of the Labor Day Holiday. Bingo
will resume on Monday, September 8th.
Choose Life: On the eve of the Pope’s visit to the
United States, it was reported that he had
experienced the horror of the Holocaust first hand in
the death at Nazi hands of a cousin with Down
Syndrome. A Holocaust expert has noted that the
medical crimes of the Holocaust “started with the
acceptance of the attitude basic to the euthanasia
movement, that there is such a thing as a life not
worthy to be lived.” (Dr. Leo Alexander, NEJM article, 1949)
The first meeting for the St. Gabriel’s
Fall Festival will be held Tuesday, Sep-
tember 2nd at 6:00 pm at St. Gabriel’s
School Hall. All interested parties, es-
pecially chairpersons, are encouraged
to attend.
In Sympathy Please remember Lorraine Betz in your prayers. Her funeral was held at St. Gabriel’s on Friday, August 29th. May God grant her eternal life and comfort to her family.
Reminder: Prairie Catholic School and Par-
ishes now has a website at www.prairie
catholic.org. We encourage you to browse
through it and tell others about it. Inside you
will find information about our school and par-
ishes, church groups, news, schedules, calendars,
church bulletins and more. Please visit us often
because this is a dynamic site which offers up-
dated news and content that is growing and
changing each week.
St. Gabriel - St. John, Prairie du Chien
Notes Common to Both Parishes
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading: Jer 20:7-9:; Rom 12:1-2; Mt 16:21-27
Theme: Love Implies Sacrifice. Those who are dedicated to a once given commitment know that their dedication implies sacrifice. Married people may think of their mutual commitment in love; religious sisters, broth-ers and priests may think of their vows; chil-dren and parents, if committed to mutual happiness in the family, may think of their daily living under one roof. Love means giv-ing of self. This self-giving is a source of happiness but it entails sacrifice as well. For Jeremiah, duped by the Lord into loving, it was “derision and reproach all the day” (First Reading). After Paul has described God’s redemptive work in Christ (Rom 1-11), he explains the human response in love: “Offer your bodies (selves) as a living sacrifice...to God” (Second Reading). Christian life, although seen as a response to God’s love for human beings, implies car-rying a cross, as the Lord Himself has done (Gospel). Is Christian life then a miserable life, a life of those trapped in a situation from which there is no escape? No, as long as “sacrifice” is seen in the perspective of love. The secret of a happy Christian life is not to avoid “the cross,” but to keep love alive! “Lord God…….place in our hearts a desire to please You and fill our minds with insight into love” (Alternative Opening Prayer).
Vocation Viewpoint: If you wish to follow Jesus, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow. Are you courageous enough to fol-low as a priest or deacon, religious brother or sister? (Mt 16:21-27)
Brothers & Sisters:
I was talking recently with the Bishop and
brought up the topic of what will be hap-pening to the 2 parishes in Prairie after mid
-October. The Bishop commended me for
being concerned for my parishioners but
encouraged me not to be concerned about
the matter as any provision for the future
would be his responsibility. Earlier he had suggested to me to contact Tom Farrell
with whom the Bishop is personally famil-
iar and confident in because of Tom’s
chairmanship of the diocesan finance
council. I was to see whether Tom would be willing and available to work with our
parish administrator, Paula Check, until a
new pastor might be appointed next June.
Tom was willing to become so involved and
so I later informed the Bishop of this. Sub-
sequently the Bishop encouraged me not to bear this burden of providing for the future
and so it is presently unclear just what ar-
rangement the Bishop will make and ap-
prove.
Should the above be part of the Bishop’s interim solution, should there be those who
would question the authority of said lead-
ers, this is exactly what needs to be
avoided. Whatever the final arrangement
approved by the Bishop, that is what the
parishes will be working with. Were all to cooperate, as would be hoped, it would be a
powerful manifestation that the laity can be
sharers in the role of authority, serving
their brothers and sisters in whatever day-
to-day decisions have to be made in the interim period. Otherwise, parish life
would be extremely strained and even un-
manageable.
Along these lines also, let me encourage
you to remain faithful to your volunteerism
and financial support that you have mani-fested over the years. Should you let the
interim period be a source of frustration or
discouragement and you were to give up
your involvement and/or financial contri-
butions during this time, it would be a strong example of “cutting off your nose to spite your face.” On the other hand, if you
were to focus on keeping parish life afloat
during this period, even increasing your
involvement in a positive way, it would see
the parishes coming through with flying
colors and would provide a strong founda-tion for the new pastor to build upon when
he arrives.
If anyone would still like to donate to
our new Reading Series at Prairie
Catholic School - there is still time to
do so. As was stated before it will cost
an average of $130.00 per student for
the program. Many thanks to those
who have already contributed.
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time St. John’s Parish
Offertory Gift Bearers-September 6/7 Saturday 7:00 pm Dan Schickert Family
Sunday 10:00 am Philip Mezera Family
Eucharistic Ministers-September 6/7 Saturday 7:00 pm Mary Pellock & Gail Ehlers-
Bread
Nell Bowar & Sharon Boylen-
Cup
Sunday 10:00 am Pat Dagnon & Jan Duve-Bread
Phil Dagnon & Mary Jaynes-Cup
Home Communion Ministers for Sept. 7th: Chris Ingham, Cathy Swenson, Mary Steiner
Servers-September 6/7 Saturday 7:00 pm Brandt & Anna Zeeh
Sunday 10:00 am Peyton Hall & Ryan Garrity
Lectors-September 6/7 Saturday 7:00 pm Carroll Polodna
Sunday 10:00 am Donna Cipra
Ushers-September 6/7 Saturday 7:00 pm Dan Schickert, Curt Root, Doug
Rickleff & Scott Vorwald
Sunday 10:00 am Richard Panka, Steve Steiner,
Paul Porvaznik, Mark Forsythe
Scrip Workers-September 6/7 Saturday 7:00 pm Arlene Kozelka/Jeff or Karen
Fisher
Sunday 10:00 am Paula Check/Duane or Laurie
Fritz
Parish Support This Year Last Year
Envelopes for 8/24 $2,689.00 $3,115.00
Plate for 8/24 402.75 386.50
Students 1.00 1.50
Holy Day (addt’l) 100.00 .00
Heat & Utilities 30.00 50.00
Total $3,222.75 $3,553.00
Our average weekly goal for adult envelopes at St.
John’s is $4,500.00.
The second collection at St. John’s came to
$216.65 and will be used for school expenses.
Thank you for your offering!
St. John’s Mass Intentions Monday, September 1 - Labor Day
6:45 am †Al Duve: by Maurice & Letty Oehler
Tuesday, September 2
8:30 am †Marie Reger:
by Maurice & Bette Mayer
Wednesday, September 3
6:45 am †Audrey & Harry Lochner: by Family
Thursday, September 4
8:30 am †June Novacek: by Family & Friends
Friday, September 5
6:45 am †Don Shea: by JoAnn Shea
Saturday, September 6
7:00 pm †Teresa Tarrence: by Family & Friends
Sunday, September 7
10:00 am †Fae Schneider: by Family & Friends
BAPTISMS
We welcome into the family of God, Andrew
Norman Geisler and Alexius Elise Geisler, chil-dren of Brian Geisler & Amanda Otte, through the sacrament of Baptism. May God continue to bless Andrew Norman and Alexius Elise.
Coffee & Rolls will be served in St. John’s Hall next Sunday, September 7th by the September Unit. September Unit Chairpeople are: Jean Ann Dillman, Marguerite Engelhardt, Gail Ehlers
Rummage Sale….At this time I will not be
able to conduct the rummage sale in Octo-
ber. If there are any grade levels, that
would like to take over - it would help you
to raise money for your Washington D.C.
trip. Or maybe there is another group that
would like to take it over. If so please con-
tact Fr. Boschert.
Thanks again for giving the rummage
sale committee a helping hand.
-Millie Senesac
IN SYMPATHY Please remember Paul Kueter and Clem
Mezera in your prayers. Both funerals were held at St. John’s Church this past week. May God grant them eternal life and comfort to their families.
FROM SCRIPTURE: Mt. 16:21-27: In this reading
Jesus shocked His disciples - Peter, in particular - by predict-
ing His own horrible death. Like many Jews of the day, Peter
believed that the Messiah would be a triumphant king who
would trample the enemies of his people. Instead Jesus blew
their notions of the Messiah’s role in salvation.
Like any good friend, Peter tried to save Jesus from any
discomfort or pain. He hoped there was an easier way. But
Jesus knew that unless He suffered and died, we would all
die in our own sins. He couldn’t turn from His purpose and
He rebuked Peter for tempting Him, even out of love.
Sometimes our most difficult temptations come from our
loved ones trying to spare us pain. Saving ourselves from
earthly death might mean doing something that causes us to
lose eternal life. Avoiding the pain and sacrifice that comes
with being a Christian could cause us to die spiritually and
emotionally. The secret of a happy Christian life is not to
avoid “the cross,” but to embrace it with love.
St. Gabriel - St. John, Prairie du Chien
Religious Education Classes (Grade
School CCD) will begin on Wednesday,
September 17th at 6:45 pm in St. John’s
School. All new students and all First
Grade students will need to register -
please call Pat Prochaska at 326-8774.
New Fundraiser. We have started col-
lecting aluminum cans to raise money for
Prairie Catholic Schools. We have set up
two fenced in areas - one against the play-
ground fence outside St. John’s Rectory
and one behind St. Gabriel’s School.
Please collect your cans, put them in plas-
tic bags and drop the bags in our new bins.
We would like to thank Mark Mara for
taking the lead in setting up this new
fundraiser. If everyone would participate
by collecting their empty cans, this could
be a great new source of income for our
school. Thanks for your support.
Q & A: I have been away from the Catholic Church
but want to come back. What do I do?
The Church is eager to welcome back her children.
You may want to start by meeting with your local
parish priest or pastor so he can guide you in the proc-
ess. Every priest is happy to help Catholics come
home.
Then, you’ll want to experience God’s mercy
through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. A good way
to prepare is to think of ways you may have sinned
through word, thought, action or omission. For guides
use the 10 Commandments and the Beatitudes.
Come to Mass, even if you are not able to receive
Communion at first. If you feel rusty, consider buying
an aid such as the St. Joseph Sunday Missal. It is
available at many Catholic bookstores and the Daugh-
ters of St. Paul (800-836-9723).
Many, many thanks to the crew from
both St. John’s & St. Gabriel’s who
gave up their whole Saturday morning and
early afternoon and into the following
week to restore St. John’s Parish and
middle school parking lot. It’s a thousand
percent better and has been provided an
extended life-span. Many thanks and may
God bless all of you.
HAVE A HAPPY
&
SAFE LABOR DAY