We hope that your Lenten season has gotten off to a good start. If you came in feeling unprepared, no worries - today is a great day to make resolutions (especially of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving) that will guide you through this season and draw you closer to Jesus.
- Fr. Joe and the Pastorate 18 Staff
Q+A with Fr. Joe this Sunday
Catholic and Catholic interested adults in the area are welcome to join at Rex's Innkeeper in Waunakee this Sunday (February 18th) to meet and connect with other Catholics, learn more about Father Joe Baker through a Q & A time, and grow in faith together. The gathering will take place from 6:30 - 8:30PM.
Parish Name Voting
Thank you to the many parishioners who weighed in on the naming of our new parish. With over 700 votes (from students, staff, parishioners, etc.), here are the three finalists we've submitted to Bishop Hying for consideration as our new parish name.
Pope St. John Paul II
St. Maximilian Kolbe
Stella Maris
Building and Grounds Update
The following is an update from Pastorate 18 parishioner Patty Clemens, who is spearheading the Building and Facilities Committee in the midst of Phase 1 of the Into the Deep transition process. Phase 1 began last July and will continue until the parish merger takes place.
The Building and Facilities Committee’s goal in Phase I is to look at all of the property in the Pastorate and determine how they fit into our mission as a new parish. Along with looking at the four church buildings and associated structures, we have been collecting data on each of the four cemeteries, as well. The committee includes individuals from Blessed Trinity, St. John the Baptist, and St. Mary of the Lake.
After a guided tour through all of the churches, schools, and rectories, it was decided to contract with a professional firm to do a facilities assessment. CG Schmidt completed their detailed inspections with their Director of Field Operations and a Project Engineer in early December and presented their report to the committee and Fr. Joe on January 31. They investigated and documented the condition of visible elements of the buildings, cemeteries, and parking lot infrastructures.
They identified for us both general maintenance issues and long-term concerns. The report breaks down what they recommend should be completed in three different categories, based on their opinion of need. For example, what should be done in 2024, versus 1-4 years and 5-9 years.
The categories they used included general building, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, exterior, and sitework. Then, those general categories are broken down into specific line-item details. They have provided a photo narrative of needed repairs, detailed location of where in the building, and budgets for those items noted. The budgets provided are for the purposes of prioritizing and decision making only.
This committee has made great progress so far in setting our new parish up to be in a great position to make decisions on future building maintenance and usage.
Simultaneously, we have also been discussing the need for a centralized parish office - i.e., 10 to 12 office spaces located in the same building. The goal is to help the pastorate's staff more effectively communicate and to function as a team. Fr. Joe has been exploring the possibility of renovating the St. John the Baptist rectory for this purpose. More information will be forthcoming.
Simultaneously, we have also been discussing the need for a centralized parish office - i.e., 10 to 12 office spaces located in the same building. The goal is to help the pastorate's staff more effectively communicate and to function as a team. Fr. Joe has been exploring the possibility of renovating the St. John the Baptist rectory for this purpose. More information will be forthcoming.
Additional Lenten Offerings
In addition to regularly scheduled opportunities for sacraments, prayer, and devotion throughout the Pastorate, please note the following things happening during the season of Lent. We hope these are a helpful aid in drawing closer to the Lord during this season of penitential preparation!
Extra Confessions
- Thursdays (SJB - Old Church), 8:00 - 8:50PM
- Saturdays (SJB), 8:30 - 10:00AM
Candlelight Adoration with multiple Confessors
- Wednesday, Feb. 28th (SJB - Old Church), 6:00 - 9:00PM
- Wednesday, March 13th (SP), 5:30 - 8:00PM
Stations of the Cross
- Tuesdays (SP), 8:30AM - Parishioner Led
- Fridays (SJB), 8:30AM - Priest Led
- Fridays (SM), 2:00PM - Will happen (and be led by children) when school is in session.
Holy Week Schedule
Looking ahead to the great celebration of the Holy Week liturgies and commemoration of our Lord's passion, death, and resurrection, please take note of the following schedules.
Holy Thursday - March 28th
- Confessions (SJB), 5:30 - 6:15PM
- Mass of the Lord's Supper (SJB), 6:30PM
- Adoration following Mass until midnight (SJB - Old Church)
- Spanish "Living Stations" following Mass (SJB - Gym)
- Night Prayer (SJB - Old Church), 11:30PM
Good Friday - March 29th
- Spanish "Living Stations" (SJB - Gym), 11:30 AM
- Stations of the Cross (SML), 12:00 PM
- Stations of the Cross (SM), 12:00 PM
- Celebration of the Lord's Passion (SJB), 3:00 PM
- Celebration of the Lord's Passion (SP), 5:30 PM
Holy Saturday - March 30th
- Confessions (SJB), 9:00 - 10:00AM
- Confessions (SP), 9:00 - 10:00AM
- Easter Vigil Mass (SJB), 8:00PM
Easter Sunday - March 31st
- Mass (SJB), 7:30 AM
- Mass (SM), 8:00 AM
- Mass (SML), 9:00 AM
- Mass (SP), 10:00 AM
- Mass (SJB), 10:30 AM
- Spanish Mass (SJB), 1:00 PM
SJB = St. John the Baptist, Waunakee
SM = St. Michael, Dane
SML = St. Mary of the Lake, Westport
SP = St. Patrick, Lodi
Any interested adults from Pastorate 18 are welcome to join in our ongoing study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
This study takes place on Sundays from 11:45am - 1:15pm in the school library in Waunakee. To get to the library, enter through the cafeteria doors (the eastern entrance on 3rd St.).
Fr. Enan will begin classes on the third pillar of the Catechism (Life in Christ) in the second week of Lent:
- Sunday, February 25th - Man’s Destiny and Why Morality Matters
- Sunday, March 3rd - Catholic Differences: Grace and the Moral Law
- Sunday, March 10th - The Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments
HS Teen Lenten Series
Dates for the spring series of High School formation are here! Any high schoolers are welcome to join on the following dates this spring. The Teen Series takes place on Sundays in the parish office/rectory living room from 11:30am - 1:00pm.
During Lent, our series will focus on some of the big questions about life: Who am I? Why a God? Am I saved?
- February 18 - Lent
- February 25 - Lent
- March 3 - Lent
- March 10 - Lent
- March 17 - Lent
- March 24 - Lent
- April 7
- May 5
Return - Lenten Book Study
All adults in Pastorate 18 are welcome to a small group study and discussion with the book Return by Fr. John Burns on Tuesday mornings during the season of Lent this year. Return is a book that will help you reorient your mind and heart this Lent so you can more fully experience the joy of Easter - Christ's victory over sin and death. For more information, contact Eileen Daley.
Gathering Room at Saint John the Baptist Church
Tuesdays, February 13 - April 2
Tuesdays, February 13 - April 2
9:15 - 10:00am
Thank you the prayers and enthusiastic support for our Pastorate 18 schools and staff members during Catholic Schools Week. You can check out some of the highlights of CSW by visiting the school Facebook pages - Blessed Trinity and St. John the Baptist.
St. John the Baptist school enrollment is open to current school families. New family enrollment opens on February 18th. Reach out to Principal Kalee Kozinski to learn more!
Blessed Trinity school enrollment will be open to current school families from February 16 - 29. New family enrollment opens on March 1st. Reach out to Alicia Zepp to learn more!
- Join the hundreds of other happy families that come to partake in one of the best Fish Frys in the Midwest this Lent at St. Michael in Dane! The Fish Fry is available by Drive Thru from 4:30 - 7:00PM. Keep an eye out in the drive thru line, as the priests of Pastorate 18 take turns handing out the numbers!
To get in touch with someone in the pastorate or submit something for a future newsletter, send us an e-mail and we will make sure it gets to the right person or someone who can best answer your question.
Lent is a time of profound truth, which brings conversion, restores hope and, by putting everything back in its proper place, brings peace and optimism. Lent is a time that makes us think about our relationship with “Our Father”; it re-establishes the order that should reign between brothers and sisters.
- Pope St. John Paul II