Saint Peter's Point- The Catholic Blog of Saint Peter Parish, Stevens Point Wisconsin

According to the Saint Peter Diamond Jubilee book, our parish “through all the years of its history, was blessed with pastors who were lovers of sacred music.  Good organs were the rule, and exceptionally talented choirs and organists have made Saint Peter’s noted for good Church music” (p. 103).  Indeed, the commitment of our parish to the highest quality authentic sacred music for use in the liturgy is manifested in our history.  From 1923 to 1946 Professor Eugene Walkiewicz was the organist and choir instructor at Saint Peter.  Following him was Professor Waclaw Betlejewski who served from 1948 to 1951.  These two native Poles were world-class organists, choirmasters, and composers.  While at Saint Peter, Professor Walkiewicz composed many pieces of sacred music and Professor Betlejewski later compiled them.  What a beautiful legacy this is, and for us what a responsibility – and privilege – to sustain!  As we give glory to God with sacred music at Saint Peter we are also more deeply connected to our Polish roots and history as a parish

In continuity with this great tradition, I am pleased to announce that Patrick Burkhart, our Director of Sacred Music and Organist currently at half-time, will move to three-quarters time effective July 1.  On that date he will also take up the responsibilities of the newly-created (quarter-time) post of parish Coordinator of Youth Apostolate.  But more on that later!  Patrick, a native of La Crosse, earned a B.A. in Music from Viterbo University, La Crosse, in 1983.  In 1988 he received an M.A. in Music from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, studying organ under Dr. John Chappell.  While a university student Patrick served as Organist and Director of Music at First Congregational Church in La Crosse.  Upon earning his M.A. he became the Director of Music at Saint Cecilia Cathedral, Omaha, Nebraska – a church known for having one of the finest programs of sacred music in the nation.  After nearly a decade at the Cathedral, Patrick relocated to Wisconsin during which time he served as a teacher and Director of Choral Activities at Rosholt Middle and High Schools as well as our own Pacelli High School.  While at Pacelli he additionally began taking on administrative posts acting as Assistant Principal and Dean of Students.  Most recently he has been the Principal of Aquinas High School, La Crosse, and then of Saint Adalbert (Rosholt) and Sacred Heart (Polonia) Elementary Schools.  Patrick earned a Certification in Educational Leadership from Viterbo University in 2007.

Earlier this year, Patrick decided to definitively exit the world of school administration (having previously served as an Acting Principal of two elementary schools I could sympathize with him!) as it seemed that God was leading him to once again dedicate himself more fully to the use of his musical talents.  Over the past ten years Patrick has experienced a real awakening and maturation of his Catholic faith.  Indeed, Saint Peter Parish – its priests and parishioners – has played a crucial role in the nourishment of his faith.  Patrick loves Saint Peter Parish – its faith-filled parishioners, its inspiring history, and its rich tradition of sacred music and the celebration of the liturgy according to the mind and discipline of the Church.  He expressed to me his strong desire to remain at Saint Peter but obviously could not do so on the meager half-time salary we pay him.  The fact is that, according to the national pay scale standard of the American Guild of Organists, a musician with Patrick’s academic background and experience could command salary and benefits (full-time) of more than $90,000.00.  Clearly, our parish cannot afford that!  And Patrick was not looking for that from us!  But what a loss for us if we would let a musician of his caliber “get away!” 

At this point of the discussion, another reality of parish life came into play.  Basically, since my second year at Saint Peter I have been alone in providing priestly pastoral care to you.  In this new situation, in order to meet your pastoral needs yet not kill myself in the process, I shifted a significant number of responsibilities to our own Phil Lawson.  Indeed, the job description of the Director of Catechesis and Evangelization got a complete “makeover” in 2006!  This has proven to be incredibly successful pastorally (Phil is so good at what he does!) as well as being helpful to relieve a portion of the stress on me (even though I am still regularly putting in 90 plus hour weeks serving you!).  However, the foreseen side effect is that Phil no longer has sufficient time to be able to dedicate to the labor-intensive task of development and cultivation of programs for our children and adolescents.  Already last year Phil and I talked about this lacuna in the pastoral works of our parish and that it would be important in the near future to have someone fill this need.  Well, in the meantime, our Pastoral Council and Finance Council in identifying our parish needs and goals for the next five years – our We Belong to Christ Campaign – established the youth apostolate as a priority.  A very modest amount of the monies collected through our We Belong to Christ Campaign is designated to fund the (quarter-time) position of Coordinator of Youth Apostolate at Saint Peter.  Just like in the cartoons, the light bulb appeared over my head as I thought about Patrick Burkhart’s years of work with youth as a teacher and principal that would certainly qualify him for this new post.  I first went to Phil Lawson, however, seeking his counsel and opinion.  And in the end, of course, Patrick would have to actually be interested in this! 

Yet another fact of contemporary parish life and finances became relevant at this stage!  With their convents and rectories sitting empty or barely occupied (like our behemoth rectory!) and having very limited financial resources, many parishes throughout our Diocese and the nation are offering as part of the compensation package for parish staff room and board in the convent or rectory.  This sort of creativity is enabling parishes to secure pastoral services that they would normally not be able to afford if they went the traditional route of virtually all compensation being given in the form of salary.  And so such arrangements are working out very well for all involved.  In fact, Saint Peter had such an arrangement with Phil Lawson when he was first hired!  This is nothing new for our parish!  For well over a year Phil lived in our rectory, his room and board being provided as part of his compensation package as our employee.

Assembling all these pieces of the puzzle I approached Patrick to gauge his interest in a creative compensation package that would be sufficient to retain his services meeting his financial needs while advancing our sacred music program and youth apostolate, removing yet more stress from my life, and – as an added bonus – saving the parish a ton of money for the quality of services received.  Patrick and I agreed in principle that he would accept the quarter-time position of Coordinator of Youth Apostolate plus he would go to three-quarters time as Director of Sacred Music and Organist with a very modest increase in his base salary but with the parish providing him room and board at the rectory (as well as other benefits that accompany full-time employment as the two posts combine for 40 hours per week).  The proposal was discussed and approved at the March 13, 2008, meeting of the parish Finance Council and it was presented at the May 19, 2008, meeting of the parish Pastoral Council.  Having received the counsel of these bodies, I formally offered Patrick the two positions.  To be continued next week . . . . .

Saint Peter, pray for us!  Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Father Kevin C. Louis

A warm welcome to all our guests who have joined us for our annual parish picnic For Pete’s Sake! We very much appreciate your presence with us this weekend – for prayer and for fun! Please know you are always welcome at Saint Peter!

A happy and blessed Father’s Day to all the men of our parish, especially those who have been called by Almighty God to the vocation of husband and father. “God our Father, in your wisdom and love you made all things. Bless these men, that they may be strengthened as Christian fathers. Let the example of their faith and love shine forth. Grant that we, their sons and daughters, may honor them always with a spirit of profound respect. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen” (Book of Blessings, 1733).

Last week all the priests of our Diocese gathered in La Crosse with Bishop Listecki for our annual Priest Unity Days. It is a delightful time to get caught up with brother priests whom I do not get a chance to see except on such occasions. Nearly everyone asks me how I am getting along in Stevens Point. I tell them that they would have to ask the parishioners, but I sure am grateful that our Polish Bishop entrusted the Poles (and all others!) of Saint Peter to me as Pastor! Several brothers in the priesthood then just could not resist commenting that the people of Saint Peter must be treating me right judging by my expanding midsection! They really know how to hurt a guy! The follow-up to the original question most times was: “Well, just how long have you been there?” It is hard to believe but June 21 will mark the beginning of my fourth year at Saint Peter. In more serious moments of conversation, brother priests quizzed me about the Sacrament of Penance at Saint Peter. “You hear confessions six days a week?” they would ask. “Yes, including two times on Saturdays!” I noted. “The lines can be long and there are many days that I cannot hear all the confessions before Mass so I go back into the confessional after Mass.” Some acted surprised at such a sign of spiritual vitality. “Well, I had heard that Saint Peter was a dead parish” they would say. “Hardly!” was my comeback. “You do not get confessions like these from a spiritual corpse!” And then I relished in noting other signs of the spiritual vibrancy of Saint Peter. We are in the midst of a mini-baby boom on a pace to double the number of baptisms compared to last year. Our average weekend Mass attendance approaches 45 per cent of our registered parishioners – still a sad figure but better than the national average by more than ten percentage points! I “hooded” three of our young parishioners – Emily Pehoski, Kyle Rosenthal, and Joshua Zdroik – at a recent gathering of the high school Dead Theologians Society (to be “hooded” means that they receive a hooded sweatshirt after having attended three consecutive sessions and then they also take on the responsibility of praying for the Poor Souls in Purgatory each day). As a bi-weekly follow-up to the Men of Christ Conference, I prayed Morning Prayer in church on Tuesday with a dozen men at 6:00 am (that is not a typo!), listened to a presentation on the saints of the day, and then went to breakfast with the guys. Having gotten wound up (!!) I continued noting that we have 24 consecutive hours of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament each week, our parishioners have developed our own Vacation Bible School program that has generated interest from literally around the globe, our parish fields its own city-league softball team (that is off to a respectable start to the season!), and we are spearheading once again the Theology on Tap summer gatherings for married and single people 21-39 years of age of the area. And these are just a handful of parish activities that have caught my attention in recent weeks. There is so much more! Dead? Hardly!

In case you have not noticed, Saint Peter Parish is in the midst of a mini baby boom! Upon my arrival in Stevens Point, I introduced the practice of praying for the deceased of our parish and for the consolation of the family at all the weekend Masses following the funeral. Because our parish is large and funerals are many, it seems that most weekends we are offering the three Hail Marys and so we can get the impression that all that happens at Saint Peter is burying the dead! Not so! For all of the last calendar year our parish celebrated a total of 25 baptisms. This year – only five full months into 2008 – we have already baptized 20 children with five more scheduled through the end of June! And we have quite of few families who are now pregnant and due before the end of 2008! Indeed, we are on a pace to have the most baptisms the parish has celebrated for quite some time! It is a sign of the spiritual (and physical!) vitality of a parish that those living the Sacrament of Matrimony are joyously welcoming the gift of new life!

As Saint Peter Parish officially says farewell to Father Sakowski this weekend, we also express our gratitude to him for his wise counsel offered in the confessional and in spiritual direction, for his faithful proclamation of the teachings of Christ and His Church, for his fidelity in celebrating the Sacred Liturgy according to the mind of the Church, and for his excellent homilies. Our best wishes and prayers accompany him as he begins advanced studies in Rome this fall. And we prayerfully anticipate the arrival of his successor!

Two times each year all the priests of the Diocese of La Crosse gather to strengthen our fraternity in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, to hear presentations by various speakers, and simply to enjoy some time of relaxation together. The summer gathering in La Crosse – called “Priest Unity Days” – begins at 4:00 pm on Sunday, June 8, and ends at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, June 10. Please pray for Bishop Listecki and the priests of our Diocese!

Our parish picnic “For Pete’s Sake” (June 14-15) is almost upon us! In this last week please do your part to publicize the picnic by inviting family, friends and neighbors. And sell those raffle tickets!

I warmly encourage you to consider having your children (or grandchildren!) take part in our Saint Peter Vacation Bible School to be held here from Monday, July 28, through Friday, August 1. This program for children in grades 1-5 was developed by our own parishioners and runs each day from 9:00 am to Noon. The week concludes with a potluck gathering and skits Friday evening. The theme this year – “Christ Our Hope” – is taken from the recent visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States. If you have questions or wish to register please contact Phil Lawson at the rectory. Early registration ($15.00) is due Friday, June 15.

I have always wanted to visit the Holy Land – to see and pray at the places made holy by Jesus and spoken of in the Bible. While I was a seminarian studying in Rome (1985-1989) I had several opportunities to travel to the Middle East but money was tight and the region was extremely unstable. So, I never went, although the desire has never left me. Earlier this year, Father Robert Schaller – former Pastor of Saint Peter now serving at Saint Elizabeth in Holmen – made his first visit to the Holy Land. He came back so moved and enthused that he called me from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport where he had just landed in order to convince me to lead a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with him in 2009! Well, it worked and Father Schaller and I will be leading a pilgrimage to the Holy Land February 8-18, 2009. We will be the spiritual guides celebrating the Holy Mass each day. We will have the opportunity to see and pray at those sights most holy to our faith. The number of pilgrims is strictly limited so that we can all travel together on one bus thereby creating a more intimate atmosphere conducive to a prayerful absorption of all that we will see and experience. Some of the highlights include visits to Caesarea Philippi (now known as Banias) where Jesus declared to Simon, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church”, Cana in Galilee where couples may renew their marriage vows, Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity, as well as Jerusalem where we will walk the Way of the Cross (Via Dolorosa) and visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Of course, this only scratches the surface of the magnificent and moving sights to be seen and places to offer prayers! The cost of $2799 includes airfare, expert native Christian tour guides, meals, and lodging in first class hotels. For a complete itinerary and more information please consult the brochures available in church or at the rectory.

Thank you to those who took part in the Corpus Christi procession following the 10:00 am Mass last weekend. Special thanks to Patrick Burkhart and our Schola Cantorum adult choir for the beautiful pieces sung during the Mass and for leading the singing during the procession, Darcy Bunn for chanting the sequence Lauda Sion and organizing the music for the procession, the army of altar servers who formed an honor guard for our Eucharistic Lord and assisted with the cross, candles, torches and incense, Darick Bloom who acted as Master of Ceremonies, and our sacristan Mary Stanczyk who always works so hard behind the scenes! After the celebration I was “mugged” by several visiting families who happened to “stumble upon” that Mass with the procession. They were thrilled and moved by the solemnity, beauty, and reverence of the Eucharistic procession and Benediction. May the Lord richly bless us for honoring Him in the Blessed Sacrament!

“The Parish Pastoral Council is a consultative body (Code of Canon Law, 536, 2) by which the Christian faithful of a parish, together with those who have pastoral authority in the parish, ‘give their help in fostering pastoral activity’ (Code of Canon Law, 536, 1). Its work is to be informed and inspired by the vision of the Church, exemplified in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council” (Bishop John J. Paul, On Consultation in the Parish and Deanery). Thank you to all those parishioners who accepted nominations for our Pastoral Council. Thanks, too, to all of you who voted. Congratulations to James Miller and Jeff Zdroik who were re-elected, as well as John Krupka who was elected. The fourth post to be filled by appointment of the Pastor will be announced shortly. The September meeting of the Council begins the two-year term of these returning and new members. Special thanks to Cynthia Calhoun who completes her term of service.

Congratulations to all our graduates – from various colleges and universities, area high schools, middle schools, and those home-schooled. “Lord our God, send your blessings upon these graduates and fill them with your wisdom and blessings” (Book of Blessings, 541).

We are very happy to welcome back to Saint Peter seminarian Daniel Oudenhoven who has been assigned to us for the summer by Bishop Listecki. Of course, you will recall Dan from his time with us last summer. He is a member of Saint Bronislava Parish in Plover and has just completed his first year at Mundelein Seminary in Chicago.

This Friday, June 6, is the First Friday of the month in honor of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. As always, we have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament following the 8:00 am Mass until Benediction at 5:00 pm. Please take some time during the course of your day to come to church to spend some moments of loving adoration and prayer before our Eucharistic Lord. And as usual the second Mass of the day is at 5:15 pm. “Jesus meek and humble of Heart, make our hearts like unto Thine” (from the Litany of the Sacred Heart).

Next Sunday, June 8, after the 8:00 am and 10:00 am Masses stop by Kolbe Hall to say thank you and farewell to Father Derek Sakowski. As you know, Bishop Listecki has assigned Father Sakowski to do further theological studies in Rome beginning this fall. Through the months of June and July Father Sakowski will be with us on and off until August when he departs for Italy.

Preparations for our parish picnic of June 14 and 15 are in full swing! By the hard work and dedication of every one of our parishioners we can make this another successful event. Do your part to publicize the picnic and sell those raffle tickets!

Saint Peter, pray for us! Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Father Kevin C. Louis