The Diocese of La Crosse has a handy page with most of the fish fries during the Lenten Season.
--> Check it out!
--> Check it out!
 Information Meeting for Adventure Camp & Steubenville Rochester. Join us on April 9th, 6:30pm-7:30pm in the St. Francis Hall of St. John's. There is an Adventure Camp Scholarship due April 1st (before the meeting), please contact me for details. Adventure Camp will be August 4th-9th, and Steubenville Rochester will be July 12th-14th. Cost: $450 for youth & $300 for chaperones.  Praised be Jesus Christ! The following, titled “The Dollar and the Cent” is a bit outdated. Nevertheless, as you’ll see, the principle is still valid today: “A big Silver Dollar and a little brown cent, Rolling along together they went. Rolling along the smooth sidewalk, when the dollar remarked... for the dollar can talk: I’m bigger and more than twice as bright. I’m worth more than you a hundred fold, and written on me in letters bold, is the motto drawn from the pious creed, “In God we trust,” which all can read. Yes, I know said the cent, I’m a cheap little mite, and I know I’m not big, nor good, nor bright, And yet, said the cent, with a meek little sigh... You don’t do to church as often as I!” Money, a very volatile topic: it always has been and most certainly always will be. Some years ago a man speaking about stewardship made the interesting point that only in church is $5.00 considered a huge amount! He went on to pose the question (and one I think of often): “If I can give more, should I?” Well, that’s a question each person should take to prayer and see what God has to say about it. Of course, be very careful what you ask of God... worldly people don’t ask such questions because they don’t want to know the answer. Some of us reading this, in our weaker moments, can look back and say there were times when we wished we hadn’t asked God for His opinion on whatever matter we were considering. But in the end, there is always more joy in giving than receiving – Jesus knew this and when He came to His “hour,” He knew His sacrifice would ultimately inspire countless men and women to follow Him and daily die to themselves so that others might live. Money is just paper (or a small piece of metal dipped in copper), but what we do with it says something about how much we really trust God. As the old adage puts it, “It pays to tithe.” But of course, that is something one can only learn by giving it a test run. Now you’re maybe wondering what I am building up to with such an auspicious start... first, to say that Saint John’s is the most generous parish I’ve ever served (actually, it’s the only parish, along with Christ the King, that I’ve ever served... but the point is still true!). We always do our part to support Bishop Callahan and the myriad works he and his staff offer for the salvation of souls. We are a few thousand dollars short of our goal for the Diocesan Annual Appeal, but the goal that we have of more participation is the one that we are really emphasizing. Thanks for all who have supported the good works of the Catholic Church by participating in the Annual Appeal. And now that the Saint John Paul II Adoration Chapel and the Mother Frances Streitel Center are humming with activity, we can thank God that all of it is paid for and we’re just making little adjustments here and there. Some have asked if you’re allowed to walk into the classroom and look around after praying in the chapel: yes, by all means. We host Catechesis of the Good Shepherd in that room every Thursday afternoon and it’s been a huge hit. This is basically Montessori for the Catholic faith, so it’s a lot of hands on and quiet time so that the kids can begin to experience an interior life. The ages are 3-6 year olds and the next level is 6-9 year olds. We won’t have enough room to host the 2nd level, but Father Kitzhaber is building at Sacred Heart and he said if someone can come up with the money, he’d be willing to modify their project so that they could host it. If you’re interested in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and the fruit that it is bearing, check out their classroom and pray to God that He will help it to grow. May God inspire us by His Son’s sacrifice, that we may become more like the One we receive each Sunday! Your friend in Christ, Father Martin  24 Hours For the Lord The Marshfield Deanery will sponsor this time of prayer and Confessions on Friday, March 29th at Sacred Heart parish, Marshfield. The day begins at 8:00am on Friday, March 29th with Mass. Confessions & Adoration will begin at 8:30am and go until midnight. At 3:00pm, the Divine Mercy Chaplet & Rosary will be recited. Priests from the Deanery will be available 15 hours to hear Confessions.
 From the Pope
In The Pope Video for the month of March, a project of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, Francis says that “it might be hard for us to believe, but there are more martyrs today than in the first centuries,” because “they speak the truth and proclaim Jesus Christ.” And this despite being “in countries where, in theory and on paper, they protect freedom and human rights.” He asks us all to “pray that Christian communities, especially those who are persecuted, feel that they are close to Christ and have their rights respected.” Read More...  Information Meeting for Adventure Camp and Steubenville Rochester. April 9th, 6:30pm-7:30pm in the St. Francis Room of St. John's Primary School. There is an Adventure Camp Scholarship due April 1st (before the meeting), please contact me for details. Adventure Camp will be August 4th-9th, and Steubenville Rochester will be July 12-14th. Adventure Camp will be $450 for youth and $300 for chaperones. Hope you can join us!
 Praised be Jesus Christ! If you attended Mass in the Diocese of La Crosse last weekend you heard something about Safehaven Sunday. As a follow up, I’d like to share a short scene from the book The Hiding Place: The author of the book is a little girl (10 or 11 years old) at the time of this scene (her name is Corrie Ten Boom – she’s the author of the book). She and her Dad are riding a train to Amsterdam and she had recently come across a word about human sexuality in a poem they read in school and she asks her father about it. Here’s the rest of the scene: He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case from the rack over our heads, and set it on the floor. “Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?” He said. I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning. “It’s too heavy,” I said. “Yes,” he said. “And it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.” And I was satisfied. More than satisfied – wonderfully at peace. There were answers to this and all my hard questions – for now I was content to leave them in my father’s keeping.” Now I found this to be just about the best explanation for preserving the innocence and wonder of our children. And that’s why pornography and its relatives are to be avoided and maybe even someday banned from our world. Recently Pope Francis spoke about the antecedents to child abuse, and pornography is almost without exception a constitutive part. Not everyone who looks at pornography abuses children, thanks be to God. But just about every abuser has indulged deeply in pornography and crossed the terrible threshold of realizing that just seeing such images was no longer enough. Pope Francis went on to point out how the devil is craftily leading us away from God by attacking the purity of our hearts. But God is never outdone. In fact, we must always remember that Jesus wins – He did at Calvary, He does in the confessional, and He will when Satan tempts us for the last time. Lent is a beautiful time for us to honestly approach God’s tender mercy and experience His relentless love. God never gave up on any sinner, and anyway, struggles with sins of the flesh are as old as the world. In the confessional we engage the spiritual battles that continue to rage in our time and place. An old priest once said, “A saint is just a sinner who loves God more than his sins.” And that is the key – plus priests who are available for confession and kind to people who struggle with habitual sins. Saint John Vianney was arguably the finest confessor of all time, and a story that appeared recently gave some insight as to why this was true. Young Vianney was to report for military duty, but somehow got lost on the way. When he came home his Dad was so angry at him that he would not allow him to enter the house. It turns out that while Vianney was lost, his brother had to take his place in the army and died on the German front. Vianney’s Mom, having thought that both of her sons were lost to her forever, died of grief. John Vianney was crushed by this and wrote many letters to his Dad begging for his pardon. Is it any wonder that once he became a priest Father John Vianney was so sensitive to the suffering of penitents who came to him filled with shame and guilt? And just like that, God drew a greater good from a sad situation than He would have had it never happened at all. God will do that with your sins if you trust Him enough to tell Him where it hurts. May God heal our world of the sins that cause us the deepest shame and guilt so that we might know His joy! Your friend in Christ, Father Martin  Movie of the Month: The last featured movie of the season will be shown on March 24th . Glory Road - a true story of the team that changed college basketball - and the nation - forever!. We will watch this on the big screen in the Columbia room at 1:00pm. Feel free to bring snacks!  Watch Bishop Callahan's Lenten Message for 2019: |
MASS SCHEDULE
Monday - Friday: 7:00 AM Saturday: 8:00 AM Saturday: 4:30 & 7:00 PM Sunday: 7:00, 9:00 & 11:00 AM CONFESSION SCHEDULE
Tuesday–Thursday: 6:30 - 6:50 AM Friday: 6:30 - 6:50 AM & 7:00-8:00 PM Saturday:3:45 -4:15 PM & 6:15 -6:45 PM ADORATION
PERPETUAL ADORATION: The Marshfield Deanery has the John Paul II Adoration Chapel located in the basement of St. John the Baptist Parish, at 201 W. Blodgett St. The chapel is accessible from the rear parking lot. For more information or to sign up: contact Dale at 715-383-2262 or Jean Kaiser 715-387-0571. Click on the image below for more information. 
Stay Connected with Our ParishWelcome From Our Pastor
Welcome to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church! Ever since 1877 this parish has been assisting souls in their quest for deeper union with God. Pope John Paul II called the parish a “school of prayer” and St. John’s is committed to promoting growth in holiness in every state in life. Each of us is called... Read More
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