Hello Everyone…
Today we celebrate the second Sunday in Ordinary Time. It also kicks off the week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Please spend some time this week in prayer for Christian unity.
By now you should have received the State of the School Report that I talked about at last weekend’s Mass. Parishioners at St John the Baptist will hear my announcement about that report at Mass today. If you haven’t received this report in the mail please contact Cindy in the school office or Kris in the parish office. We will be kicking off the School's Annual Appeal the weekend of January 29 and 30.
This weekend at Mass you will hear me speak about a synod that Pope Francis is calling for in the spring of 2023. We have all been called to prepare for this synod starting this month and next month. As I mentioned a synod is a gathering of all the Bishops with Pope Francis to discuss a certain topic. Synod are nothing new. In Acts chapter 15 we see really the first synod when Peter calls all the apostles together to make a decision as to whether or not the gentiles who are coming into the church need to be circumcised. The Pope is calling this synod to discuss “Communion, Participation, and Mission.” The Pope has nicknamed it the Synod on Synodality. A very confusing title. The unique feature of a synod is that it relies heavily on the Holy Spirit for discernment. Also sort of unique to this synod is that the Pope is looking for input from not only the bishops…but also priests, deacons, religious brothers and sisters, and the laity. In the next few weeks, you will be hearing more information about the Synod process. We will provide information thru Flocknote. We have been invited by Pope Francis to embark on this journey together. Through listening and discernment rooted in the Holy Spirit, the entire people of God will be called to contribute to a process by which the Church deepens its understanding of Her mission and looks toward the future. The essence of a Synod is a journey of discernment, in which the people of God are called to pray and reflect upon the Holy Spirit’s will for the Church. Through our listening and our sharing, we will seek to understand what the Holy Spirit’s will is for the topic being discussed and thus, for the Church. Again Pope Francis has called that topic synodality. Simply put, synodality is discerning how the Spirit is moving through and with the Body of Christ, so that we may continue to fulfill our mission to evangelize in the world.
Yesterday I emailed out a letter from Bishop Powers regarding the state of Covid. I have been notified that some of you were unable to open the letter. I have attached the letter to this email. Also copies of this letter are available in the back of church.
The Diocese of Superior has cancelled their plans to attend the March for Life this year. In lieu of that…they are having a Diocesan Gathering for Life at St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Rice Lake on Saturday January 22nd. There is more information on this event in the bulletin.
I would like to that thank all of you who helped un-decorate our cluster churches. We had a really good turnout at St Francis and I am deeply appreciative of the time that you put in to help do that.
A big thank you to the parishioners at St John the Baptist for your patience in waiting for the missals to arrive. They have arrived and are in the pews.
Catholic School’s week is fast approaching. The kickoff for CSW will happen the weekend of January 29 and 30 and will feature a spaghetti dinner after the 4pm Mass on Saturday January 29.
We are sadden to hear that Mike Perry passed away on Monday. His obituary is available on the Waid funeral home website. Please pray for the repose of his soul and for Jan and their family as they go through this time of grieving.
The Diocese of Superior is hosting a Men’s retreat and a Women’s retreat in February. I have attached a copy of the flyer for these retreats to this email. I encourage all of us to attend these retreats. The diocese does a really good job of putting them on and promise that you will find them spiritually fruitful.
That is all for this week. Stay warm and have a blessed week!
Dcn Jim
