Happy Mothers’ Day to all the women of our parish! May the Lord richly bless all of you! In his Apostolic Letter On the Dignity and Vocation of Women (15 August 1988) John Paul II wrote: “The Church gives thanks for each and every woman; for mothers, for sisters, for wives; for women consecrated to God in virginity; for women who watch over the human person in the family, which is the fundamental sign of the human community; for women who work professionally and who at times are burdened by a great social responsibility; for all the women as they have come forth from the heart of God in all the beauty and richness of their femininity and as they have been embraced by His eternal love” (31).
At 11:00 am on Thursday, May 25, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick will be celebrated within Mass at Saint Peter. In the Letter of James we read of this sacrament: “Are there any who are sick among you? Let them send for the priests of the Church, and let the priests pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick persons, and the Lord will raise them up; and if they have committed any sins, their sins will be forgiven them” (5:14-15). The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that the Anointing of the Sick “is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as anyone of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the fitting time for him to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived” (1514). What is more, “the faithful who receive this sacrament can receive it several times if their illness becomes worse or another serious sickness afflicts them” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 316). In the Roman rite the priest anoints with the Oil of the Infirm the sick person’s forehead and hands saying: “Through this holy anointing may the Lord in His love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up” (Pastoral Care of the Sick: Rites of Anointing and Viaticum, 124). Immediately following the Mass a lunch will be served in Kolbe Hall. Please make your reservation now by calling the parish office.
Preparations for our parish picnic of June 10 and 11 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!
We are fortunate that Bishop Listecki is assigning one of our seminarians to live and work at Saint Peter’s this summer. Philip Kosloski, a member of Saint Wenceslaus in Milladore, will be moving into our rectory on May 25. Phil is just completing his first year of college at the Saint John Vianney Seminary on the campus of the University of Saint Thomas, Saint Paul, Minnesota (the same college seminary from which I graduated!). He is no stranger to our parish as he was a faithful member of our Dead Theologians Society (DTS) and often participated in weekday Masses during vacation periods. Please be warm in your welcome of Phil. Pray for him and all the young men studying to be priests for our Diocese of La Crosse!
Saint Peter, pray for us! Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!