From the Church:
One of the highlights of the first day of the World Meeting of Families in Dublin, Ireland, was a presentation titled, “Testimonies: Young People on their Hopes and Dreams for Marriage & the Family in the Third Millennium.” The presentation included young people who were married, engaged, and single. Each had his or her own story to tell, expressing to those present how their Catholic faith has given them new life, even when the culture around them remains hostile to the Gospel. Read More...
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The Religious Education office has been busy, busy, busy! Registration letters have been mailed out so if you have not received your letter, please let Deb know. Catechists needed: We are need of catechists for grades 5 & 6. Please contact Deb for more information. In-Service on August 29 starting at 6:30pm. Please pray for our catechists as we begin a new year of Religious Education. Registration and first night of class for grades 1-8 is September 5, 2018. Everyone should report to church by 6:30pm for a meeting with Father Martin and to dismiss students to their classes (as long as a catechist is available). Parents will be able to pick up their children by 7:30pm. Praised be Jesus Christ! Well, a new school year is about to begin and the kids are chomping at the bit. Fittingly, this column will be dubbed a back to school special and will demand that you put on your thinking cap. Are you ready? A classmate sent me the following canonical conundrum a month ago: Canon 916 states that “A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess. In this case, the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.” What does this mean in layman’s parlance? Well, let’s say a Dad is with his family at Mass and the kids know that their Dad has not broken the one-hour fast. If all of them go to Communion and their Dad hangs back the kids might wonder “what did Dad do that he can’t even receive Holy Communion?” They would surmise that Dad must have done something really bad. Now you probably already know that the Church’s teaching is that one is not obliged to reveal publicly the state of his soul because doing so might have grave implications. In other words, nobody has a right to know whether or not a person is in the state of sanctifying grace or not. If the Dad knows his children will be fully aware that he has not received Communion and that this will cause them a real crisis in faith, he is allowed to receive the Lord (but only if he intends to go to confession as soon as possible so that the grave sin can be forgiven and forgotten by God). I share this anecdote here because I remember as a kid sometimes trying to get to confession before Mass but the line was too long for me to succeed. I was correctly taught that I could receive but that I must promise to get to confession as soon as possible. Nowadays there is also the possibility of coming up for a blessing – this is another way of loving Jesus enough not to receive Him when we’re ill-prepared. Again, this respects the state of our conscience but does not disclose to others that we need to go to confession before receiving the Lord. While I’m not exactly sure this will make sense as it’s written, it also gives me an opportunity to share my philosophy about sin and conversion. Some priests do not allow couples living together to get married in the Catholic Church (or they do not allow them to have a Mass, only a ceremony). I think this is a valid approach. Just the same, my take is to try to bring the couple to a place of conversion. In other words, I allow them to get married, but make it clear that they cannot receive Holy Communion without making a good confession. My hope is that such an approach will give the Holy Spirit room to move in their hearts and help them to recognize that sin only brings sadness and discouragement in the long run. Please hear what I’m saying: 1) Living together before marriage is morally dangerous – it’s sinful if the marital act is engaged; 2) God wills that all sinners find the path that leads to true happiness and love; 3) conversion is the process that results in the aforementioned happiness and love – and this conversion, an act of God, is best fostered with patience, truth, and charity. I would say that around half of the couples getting married in our parishes are living together before their wedding. More and more couples see the disillusionment that cohabitation entails and are choosing a narrower but more rewarding path. But for those who are living together, the Church opens her heart and invites them to taste and see the goodness of the Lord. Does this approach foster a higher rate of conversion than others? I suspect we’ll only know the answer to that on the other side. For now we trust the Lord best when we spend time with Him in Adoration, receive Him devoutly in Holy Communion, and confide in Him wholeheartedly in confession.
May God bless all students, teachers, and parents as we embark on a new school year! Your friend in Christ, Father Martin REMINDER to Parishioners * 24 Hour Eucharistic Adoration for 2017 - First Friday – Sept. 7 through Sept. 8 ** Starting at 9 am on Friday an ending at 9 am on Saturday) Note: There will be a prayer petition book placed out the week prior to our First Friday Eucharistic Adoration. Anyone wishing to have petitions offered during Adoration may enter their petition into the book and they will be prayed for. Attention: Church doors are locked @ 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. if you are coming to pray during this time please knock on door (under carport) 5 minutes before the start of each hour and you will be let in by person already inside of church.
From the Pope:
The Holy See's Press Office announces Pope Francis' schedule for his upcoming Apostolic Visit to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families, August 25-26. Pope Francis' Apostolic Visit to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families begins on Saturday morning, 25 August, when he departs from Rome and arrives in Dublin at 10:30. Read More... We welcome Dave Alcott to our parish staff ! Dave is married and the father of 5 (with number 6 on the way). He will be stepping into the formidable shoes of youth ministry and evangelization. Please pray for a smooth transition for Dave and his family and when you see him, make him feel welcome with open hearts and arms!
Praised be Jesus Christ! Did you know that Father Barry is the 5th priest I’ve lived with since coming to Saint John’s and Christ the King in 2011? And that doesn’t include the three international priests that spent time here too. Over the years I’ve watched the associates drag their feet as the time inevitably came for them to pack up and move to their next assignment. When it’s something we’d rather not do, it’s impressive the ways we find to procrastinate. For example, Father Sedlacek was intently poring over old parish directories and he was happy to share with me a page he found titled “Call Your Pastors.” It lists 7 times when you ought to at least consider calling your parish priest: 1) When you are facing a serious problem, 2) When someone is interested in the Church, 3) When there is illness, 4) When there is death, 5) When you must make an important decision, 6) When there is a wedding, and 7) When someone desires to become a Christian. These are generally very good reasons to call the priest. You know that we were ordained to serve and by the help of God and the support of your prayers, we’ve even been caught serving joyfully on occasion. In all seriousness, it would be desirable to complement the above list with a page titled, “When not to call your pastor.” Such a list could include the following: 1) When the Brewers or Packers are playing and it’s a close and exciting game, 2) When your cat is sick and is in need of the last rites, 3) When it’s after midnight or before 5:00 a.m. and you just feel like talking to someone, and 4) When it’s Christmas eve and you’re not sure what time the midnight Mass begins. Okay, by this point maybe you realize this is a light and frothy column that is meant to bring a smile to you and healing for me. Before I actually write something substantial, there is one more list I’d like to compose, namely “When to call the Associate Priest:” 1) When you’re angry with something or someone in the parish and just need to take it out on a priest, 2) When you’re certain that the Masons have infiltrated the Vatican and are brainwashing everyone, 3) When you realize you’re all out of holy water and it’s 3:00 a.m. on Friday the 13th, 4) When you have a crazy plan for bringing your fallen away relatives back to church and it involves a wild goose chase for the priest, and 5) When you need to know how to make beer. Now what you might not realize is that we are on-call pretty much all of the time and we do our best to respond in a timely fashion. And while I rarely answer the phone at night anymore (due to the bizarre nature of many of those calls), I always get up and check to see if a voicemail message was left. Moreover, we’re on call if there’s an emergency at the hospital – the folks there call our cell phones and we split up the days so that everyone gets a chance to help out. Typically I cover weekends at the hospital. Given the volume of phone calls, sometimes it does become a burden to answer the phone because doing so can completely alter the rest of the day. That’s why your prayers for priests are really important – we need your spiritual support so that we have sufficient patience and charity to do our job. Finally, allow me to conclude with one last list: “When to call your parish secretary:” When you’re sick and tired of all these silly columns and want to lodge a complaint! May God help us serve generously and find joy in His service! Your friend in Christ, Father Martin The Religious Education office has been busy, busy, busy! Registration letters have been mailed out so if you have not received your letter, please let Deb know.
Catechists needed: We are need of catechists for grades 5 & 6. Please contact Deb for more information. In-Service on August 29 starting at 6:30pm. Please pray for our catechists as we begin a new year of Religious Education. Registration and first night of class for grades 1-8 is September 5, 2018. Everyone should report to church by 6:30pm for a meeting with Father Martin and to dismiss students to their classes (as long as a catechist is available). Parents will be able to pick up their children by 7:30pm.
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MASS SCHEDULE
Tuesday - Friday: 8:00 AM Saturday: 4:00 PM Sunday: 8:00 AM & 10:00 AM RECONCILIATION
Saturday: 3:15 - 3:45 PM OFFICE HOURS
Monday - Thursday: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM Friday: 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM Stay Connected with Our ParishWelcome from Our PastorWelcome to Christ the King Catholic Church! Ever since 1938 this parish has been assisting souls in their quest for deeper union with God. Our mission statement is essentially found in the stained glass window above the main altar: “For Christ our King.” Insofar as God made us and we belong to Him, we have come to... Read More
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