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 Endurance in Hope - "From the perspective of the Gospel, fundraising is not a response to a crisis. Fundraising is, first and foremost a form of ministry. It is a way of announcing our vision and inviting other people into our mission.”— Henri Nouwen Watch this year's Annual Appeal video below
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 Gate of Heaven Fall Cemetery clean-up: Please remove any grave decorations you wish to keep by Oct. 1st. Any items left after that date will be removed and discarded. It is the family's responsibility to maintain and straighten the headstones. Contact the monument service that may have installed it if you need assistance. Also now would be a good time to choose a Cemetery Space before winter  Praised be Jesus Christ! If you’ve not yet read Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, you’re missing one of the best books of the 20th century. Written in 1945, it tells the tale of the timeless truths about the transcendence of love and how humans must err often (or at least, so it seems) before discovering true love. From frivolous friendship to passionate romance, the book convincingly leads the reader to realize that love takes time to master. And there are oh so many obstacles along the way. At one point Charles (the main character) is confronted with the fact that he is “living in sin,” a phrase that as a non-Catholic he does not fully understand. And so his lover Julia, who is Catholic (albeit non-practicing) provides the following explanation: “Living in sin; not just doing wrong.. .doing wrong, knowing it is wrong, stopping doing it, forgetting . .. Living in sin, with sin, by sin, for sin, every hour, every day, year in, year out. Waking up with sin in the morning, seeing the curtains drawn on sin, bathing it, dressing it, clipping diamonds to it, feeding it, showing it round, giving it a good time, putting it to sleep at night with a tablet of Dial if it’s fretful.” From this point the book shifts profoundly and one is reminded that people can change... “To live is to change, to be perfect is to have changed often,” (John Henry Newman). And just as we change from infancy to adulthood in gradual and manifest ways, so too does the Church’s doctrine develop in ways that once might have been thought unlikely. Lest you wonder where this article is going, the goal is to convince you that the Catholic Church’s “new” teaching about the death penalty is one that is in continuity with all that has been taught in times past. Keeping in mind that the enemies of the Church want you to think that her teachings are arbitrary and can change at the drop of a hat, the truth is more along the lines of the fact that even though we change throughout our lives, we’re still the same person as we were when first held by our mamas in the hospital. Catholic doctrine is like that too, in that so much is unseen at first but as the centuries pass we begin to see more clearly and so come to a deeper understanding than we had at the beginning. When Pope Francis recently modified the Catechism of the Catholic Church to effectively ban the death penalty, he was following a trajectory that has been in place for a very long time. Both of his predecessors taught similar things and so Pope Francis’ conclusion is a sound one: namely, that given the circumstances (and the efficacy of incarceration), the death penalty is now inadmissible because we have more humane ways of dealing with people who are a threat to society. This is a valid development of doctrine that reminds the world that we’re still learning more about the mysterious ways of God from Scripture and Tradition. Keep in mind that Pope Francis is not saying that there could never be a set of circumstances that would allow one to use the death penalty as a just punishment (this would make the death penalty intrinsically disordered, thus claiming that it’s a sin every time it’s used). What he is claiming is that the circumstances that would require putting a criminal to death are not in effect at this time, therefore making it inadmissible to use the death penalty. This teaching reminds us quite forcefully that every human being has dignity, even the most abject and unrepentant sinner. Pope Francis’ recent teaching about the death penalty is therefore a development of doctrine, not a reverse course. Such a teaching gives the criminal time to change, to repent and to offer acts of reparation for his terrible sin. And as the quote above makes clear, rooting sin out of our lives takes time, effort, and a lot of grace. So please pray for all who are caught in the grip of sin, that they may find freedom in Jesus and His willingness to forgive and forget all of our sins.
May God bless with peace those who are sorry for their sins and a change of heart for the unrepentant. Your friend in Christ, Father Martin  Evenings of Recollection: The next Evening of Recollection will be held Thursday, October 4th from 6:30-8:00pm. Plan of Life is the theme for the night. The evening will begin by exposing the Blessed Sacrament followed by a half hour meditation. There will be time for silent adoration and confession. Benediction will close the evening. This evening of Recollection will be held at Christ the King.
Movie of the Month: We have a new line up of movies for the fall / winter beginning on September 30th with The Keys of the Kingdom. As in the past we will watch this movie on the big screen in the Columbia room at 1:00pm. Feel free to bring snacks! Morning Prayer will be prayed in the Bride's Room Mon.-Fri. at 6:00am beginning Oct. 1st. Join us as we pray in reparation and for the healing of the Church. Newcomers and old pros welcome! St. John’s choir is looking for more singers! Women are especially needed, but men are welcome as well. We practice for about an hour on Wednesday evenings beginning at 6:30pm.
 Diocese of La Crosse Sesquicentennial Celebration Mass and Reception
October 7, 2018 | 10:30 a.m. Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman 530 Main St., La Crosse, WI Reception following Mass until 3 p.m. at the La Crosse Center 300 Harborview Plaza, La Crosse, WI Click here for more information...  Raise them Well Parenting Series | Registration Now Open Alice Heinzen and Jeff Arrowood from the diocesan office for Marriage and Family Life have created an on-line webinar series for parents. This series will help Moms and Dads guide their kids from childhood to adulthood. The series includes six, one hour sessions. Each will zero in on a key area of maturity and offer parents practical strategies and resources If you have children and want to raise them well, register today at diolc.org/marriage/webinars/.  Praised be Jesus Christ! When Luis Martinez became the Archbishop of Mexico City in 1937 one of the first things he told his people was “I give you my life.” Martinez was wise in the ways of God and lived a heroically simple and sacrificial life – it’s no wonder that his cause is open and moving forward toward what one day will be his canonization as a saint. I “met” him the first time when I read his powerful book on the Holy Spirit titled The Sanctifier. This is hands down the best book I’ve ever read about the third Person of the Trinity! This weekend our confirmandi will be receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit in a powerful way and we will be supporting them with our prayers as they become full members of the Catholic Church. As they receive these gifts it’s important for them to meditate on an insight that comes from Martinez’s book, namely “It’s better to know than love things that are inferior to us; it’s better to love than know things that are superior to us.” Many times we get this mixed up: how many people take the approach that because they cannot understand God, they therefore refuse to trust Him (in His defense, He told us repeatedly that His ways are not our ways and that we wouldn’t always see the wisdom in the way He runs the universe). And we also frequently err in loving things that are below us and cannot save us (e.g. inordinate attachment to money or possessions or fame or cigars). Worthy of prayer and meditation is Martinez’s insight: loving God leads to proper use of the things of this world; trying to figure out God or thinking we know better than Him leads to discouragement and a weakening of our faith. Receiving the Holy Spirit gives us the grace necessary to spend our life fruitfully loving God and His people – and wisdom comes from living this way. For this reason Jesus said that it was not to the wise and learned that He revealed Himself, but to the childlike. Worldly people are anything but childlike. They adopt an air of sophistication and haughty self-reliance. The childlike spirit of God is one of awe and wonder, not to mention acceptance of our limitations as crosses that bring us closer to God and His people. One of my classmates is a priest and has had a stutter for all of his life. He told me some years back that his stutter has inspired more people than anything else – he said countless people have thanked him for not allowing his weakness to define him or keep him from serving God. When our young people receive the Holy Spirit, it’s not to make them more powerful and self-sufficient. To the contrary, they are asked to accept their struggles in a spirit of faith: God only allows trials to help us grow and learn to love others who struggle too. In my life Psalm 119 has haunted and defined me all at the same time: “Before I was afflicted I strayed.” When things were going well for me as a newly liberated college student, I felt indomitable and lived as if I hadn’t a care in the world. But the struggles began and they really shook my self- confidence and lead to some pretty dark places. Somehow the prayers of others must have kept me from turning my back to God – it was in those struggles that I began to truly experience God’s love for me, even though I hardly deserved it. And wouldn’t you know, retrospectively I can see that His love for me began to free me from the compensatory behaviors I was engaging to find some peace in this world. Our Confirmation students will go through many tough times in their life. But receiving the Holy Spirit is a pledge by God to help them find wisdom at the foot of their crosses. Someday when these young people stand before their spouse or before the altar they will say words similar to Martinez’s all those years ago: “I give you my life.” And that will be proof that the Holy Spirit is alive and working in their hearts and souls.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of Your love! Your friend in Christ, Father Martin  Morning Prayer will be prayed in the Bride's Room Mon.-Fri. at 6:00am beginning Oct. 1st. Join us as we pray in reparation and for the healing of the Church. Newcomers and old pros welcome! St. John’s choir is looking for more singers! Women are especially needed, but men are welcome as well. We practice for about an hour on Wednesday evenings beginning at 6:30pm.
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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 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 Jean Kaiser 715-503-0118. 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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