Vacation Bible School: Due to all the uncertainty that we have been experiencing it has been decided that we would not hold Vacation Bible Study this summer. We hope and pray that it will be offered once again the summer of 2021!
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Vacation Bible School: Due to all the uncertainty that we have been experiencing it has been decided that we would not hold Vacation Bible Study this summer. We hope and pray that it will be offered once again the summer of 2021!
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 Wedding bibles are available at the parish office for $35 ($110 value) as are the Ignatius personal size soft cover bible for $15. New Testament Bibles: We have in stock the New Testament Bible for $10. This Bible is broken down into daily readings which allows you to read the entire New Testament in one year! These, as well as the Catholic Catechism and the YouCat can be purchased in the parish office during regular business hours.  FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
THANK YOU For all those that have responded to our COVID Appeal, I would like to express a very deep sense of gratitude. The response has been very generous, and will allow us to continue moving forward with many of our projects and obligations. This has been a very difficult time for many in our community and our families as the shutdown has had a direct impact on life in our nation, and we are no exception. The success of this appeal to date is a great testimony to the values we hold as Catholic Christians, and the sacrifices made are certainly appreciated by your greater parish family. May God continue blessing you and yours in all manners. Fr Jim OPENING THE CHURCH This remains a stumbling block for me personally. I would love to see our churches lead the way back to a sense of normalcy, but we are not there as of yet. I know there are many that have told me they will not return until it is a normal activity, and I certainly appreciate that. However, we are part of the diocese, which is a good thing, even when challenges arrive. We strive to remain faithful, praying for our bishop and all in leadership as they are dealing with a very diverse response from across the diocese, the state and the nation. After conversations with our bishop and others in La Crosse, I cannot say when these restrictions will be lifted. So for the time being, we will continue using the online sign up forms and taking precautions such as checking temperatures, offering masks for those that wish to have them, hand sanitizer stations and disinfecting the church between Masses. In addition, the water bubbler has been shut off and we ask that bathroom usage be limited. Holy water will not be in the fonts for the foreseeable future, but holy water is available in the font. If you would like holy water for your home or business, and need a bottle, please let us know and someone will get one for you.  Deb Mlsna’s last day as DRE for St. John’s will be June 30th, 2020. Beginning July 1st, Deb will be working solely at Christ the King. She will continue to work with the First Communion families for their preparation until we are able to celebrate the sacrament (please pray for our second graders!). Deb has posted a letter to the parish on the Religious Ed portion of the website and she feels blessed to have been a part of your parish community for the past 10 years.
On behalf of St. John the Baptist parish we thank Deb for her inestimable service to St. John’s. Deb, we loved you as our DRE! We will miss your cheerfulness, kind heart and your joy in and love of the Faith. God Bless you in your continued work at Christ the King!  Vacation Bible School: Due to all the uncertainty that we have been experiencing it has been decided that we would not hold Vacation Bible Study this summer. We hope and pray that it will be offered once again the summer of 2021!  ROM THE PASTOR’S DESK HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! I read an article recently that spoke of the lack of maturity in many men these days. As evidence of this, it stated that one of the largest markets for video games was young men in their 20’s and 30’s. Advertisements featuring men playing video games are commonplace today, and in light of the recent shutdown these behaviors were promoted as good things to do since you cannot go to work anyway, why not? Living in this make-believe world is not a healthy place to be, and if adults are caught up in this world, is it surprising that children become confused about what is real and what is fantasy? This lack of maturity has a negative impact on society in general, and on families in particular. It also impacts our church in a negative manner, both the universal church and the local parish, as I believe this is one of the root causes of the abuse scandal that continues to rock the priesthood and the Church. Our society today is in desperate need for real men to take up difficult positions. The pro-choice mentality has allowed men to shirk responsibility, and has promoted the use of women as objects to be used, rather than holding them up as persons to be esteemed. This has also promoted the false idea of freedom; that to be free means simply unlimited choices that one can have. This false notion of freedom has imprisoned many men and women in our world today, and sadly most do not even recognize how little freedom they actually have. To be truly free is to be able to choose that which is good, both for you and for others. St. Paul was a man who was truly free, despite being held in prison. He taught and spoke the truth, evangelizing even his jailers. St. Joseph was a free man as well. When the angel announced to him that Mary had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, what was his response? He freely chose to take her as his wife, to be the foster father of Jesus, to protect them against the threats of Herod, to provide for them and to love them. This is the model of fatherhood we need today. To help address this crisis, the Knights of Columbus created a web resource with many ideas to help men become the father they are called to be. fathersforgood.org is the web site (this is for Knights and non-Knights as well), and it has many articles, book suggestions and reviews, movie reviews for family viewing, videos and podcasts that are designed to strengthen our families through strengthening fathers. I would encourage all men to take a look at this site often and take advantage of these resources. Our world today needs men to be men; to stand up for their families, to stand up for life, to stand up for their church. Discover what true freedom is. It is so easy to just go along with the culture, everybody does it...It takes a man to stand up for life, for decency, to take a stand against pornography, to be a leader in his church, to go against the grain. Call upon St. Joseph or St. Paul to intercede for you on this Father’s Day. Pray with and for your children and grandchildren, those you have and those God may give to you in the future, and give thanks for the gift of this vocation. Have a blessed Father’s Day. May God bless you and your families on this special day and always. + Fr Jim  Parish Office: Mary will be out of the office from June 15th - June 19th. There will be coverage from 10am through 2pm if you need to drop anything off. Otherwise, please wait until the following week. Thank you!  ORDINARY TIME As we move back into the second phase of Ordinary Time, a far from ordinary event in the life of the Church, a time to grow in our faith lives away from the big moments of Christmas and Easter, following are some suggestions from Deacon Mike Bickerstaff of The Integrated Catholic Life website on means at our disposal to continue growing deeper in our relationship with the Holy Trinity: Surrender to Christ – There is nothing we can do to be saved or to progress in the spiritual life except by Christ. Begin each new day by surrendering yourself to Him and His Will. Replace the habit of pride with the practice of humility, trusting in the Lord. Enter into and Remain in a State of Grace – We can make no progress in the spiritual life if we are not in a state of sanctifying grace. Those who believed and were baptized were freed of sin and its eternal punishment, justified by Christ’s grace and said to be in a state of sanctifying grace. If they have not knowingly and freely committed a mortal sin, they remain so. If you are not in a state of sanctifying grace, you need to be. If you are not baptized, seek to be baptized in the Catholic Church. If you are baptized, but have committed a mortal sin, that sin needs to be confessed in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Develop a daily prayer habit – If we love someone, we desire to be with that person. The same is true if we love God. Prayer is how we spend time with God. Commit to pray daily prayers of Adoration, Petition, Intercession, Thanksgiving and Praise. Devotionals, such as the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet and liturgies, such as the Divine Office, are great practices to assist you. Meditate on the Sunday Mass Readings – Take time each week to prayerfully read and think about the coming Sunday’s Mass readings; what they mean and how they apply to your life. Be Christ to Others – Jesus Christ came not to be served, but to serve. He calls His followers to do the same. We cannot claim to follow Christ if we do not serve those people He places in our daily lives. Service always requires us to be Christ to those around us, but we are also called to serve those we do not easily recognize. In what way can you help others? Who can you serve? Take these questions to daily prayer and ask Jesus to show you those in need for whom you can make a difference. Then get on with the Lord’s good work. I hope some of these will find a way into your daily faith life. God bless Fr. Jim  Youth Servers: At this time we would like to thank the following youth of our parish who so diligently assisted as a Mass server for many years. Their willingness to commit to serving many Masses has been much appreciated! We wish them the best as they graduate and move on. So we thank, Paul Kollross, Olivia Mahoney, Ryleigh McGiveron, Angela McQuillen and Emily Nemitz. We also thank Logan Clubb for his years of service. If you would like to participate more fully in the Mass, and are in fourth grade or older, we would love to have you as a Mass Server. We are especially in need of servers for the Saturday 4:30pm and the Sunday 7:00am Masses. If you are interested, please call the parish office at 715-384-3252. We will set up a training date before the new schedule begins in September.  CHURCH IS OPEN Dear Parishioners, Thank you to all that helped getting our church ready for re-opening. This went very well, and we are hopeful that we will continue on the road to a full opening in the not too distant future. In the meantime, we will continue doing what is being asked of us, and appreciate your understanding and patience. Getting used to some new routines is not something any of us enjoy, and I think it is especially taxing for us when it involves the church, something that is intuitive within us which should be a stabilizing institution in our lives. We will continue using the sign-up Genius App to keep a limit on the attendance within the limits we have been given. For those that may wish to take advantage of other Masses in the area, you may contact Sacred Heart or O L P later in the week to see if they have openings. I know there were openings last weekend, but as word gets out these may fill up as well, so please double check with their parish offices. PROTESTS AND RIOTS As I write this, many cities in our nation are affected by protests and riots. In my opinion, the protests are justified in light of events in Minneapolis. However, these have led to a series of riots, and violence for violence is never an act of justice. The reaction of the Government must be tempered as well, or this ends up being a similar reaction of violence for violence, and whether it is the first act or the response, if these are not checked they continue to devolve as the situations become more and more dreary. The innocent are impacted as much, or even more, than the guilty, and this is where we find ourselves. Most people do not desire the destruction of their homes and local businesses, but are driven to this as they join in. We ask for prayers for the Floyd family and for all whose lives have been impacted in these events. MONTH OF THE SACRED HEART The Month of June is traditionally devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. With the mention of above events, it is perhaps a great time to deepen or develop a devotion the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He is one who understands mob violence, and where this can lead, for that is the heart of what occurred on Good Friday. The mob was whipped into a frenzy by the High Priest, the Sanhedrin and Pharisees to demand blood. Many went along with the crowd, a similar reaction to the events of our day. So what is a proper response? Bishop Don Hying of Madison has a very good article on devotion to the Sacred Heart. Here he writes: Radical Act: In this radical act of redemption, the Lord serves like an aikido wrestling artist. Aikido is a form of martial arts in which the goal is to leave one’s opponent disarmed, unhurt and lying on the ground laughing! By absorbing and deflecting the aggressive negative energy of the attacker, the aikido wrestler disarms the other by turning violence into a gentle yet firm force that hurts no one, but stops the aggression. Is this not what Jesus did in His passion and death? He absorbed all the violence, evil, hatred and sin of the world into himself, letting it kill Him and seemingly destroy His vital force of love, healing and peace. But by taking in all of the darkness, Jesus conquered its power in one supreme offering of self to the Father on the altar of the cross. The death and resurrection of Christ is the gentle yet powerful absorption, deflection and transformation of violence into love, sin into grace, hatred into forgiveness and death into life. The triumph of the Sacred Heart is the ultimate victory of love. The full article and how to practice this devotion can be found here: (https://www.simplycatholic.com/why-the-sacred-heart/) Jesus offers us an example to follow, and devotion to His Sacred Heart is our path. He offers 12 promises to those devoted to His Sacred Heart: 1. I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life. 2. I will establish peace in their homes. 3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions. 4. I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death. 5. I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings. 6. Sinners will find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy. 7. Lukewarm souls shall become fervent. 8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection. 9. I will bless every place in which an image of My Heart is exposed and honored. 10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts. 11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart. 12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in My disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment. May God bless you and Keep you in His Love always, Fr. Jim |
MASS SCHEDULE
Monday - Friday: 7:00 AM Saturday: 8:00 AM Saturday: 4:30 PM Sunday: 7:00, 9:00 & 11:00 AM CONFESSION SCHEDULE
Tuesday–Friday: 6:30 - 6:50 AM 1st and 3rd Fridays: Confessions begin at 6:00* Saturday: 3:30 - 4:15 PM *Friday confessions begin at 6:00, but vary in duration ADORATION
PERPETUAL ADORATION: The Marshfield Deanery has the St. John Paul II Adoration Chapel located in the lower level of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, at 201 W. Blodgett Street. The chapel is accessible from the rear parking lot. For more information or to sign up, contact Jean Kaiser at 715-503-0118 or Deacon Ray Draeger at 715-207-6085. 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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