Since I was young, I’ve been fascinated by discovering why certain feast days always happen on certain dates. As it turns out, many of our Catholic celebrations closely imitate or pay homage to the patterns of life and worship that were first observed by the ancient people of Israel. For example, whenever a Jewish mother gave birth to her firstborn son, she and her husband would travel to the Temple in Jerusalem to offer their child to God 40 days after the child’s birth. This ritual purification symbolized (among other things) the child’s special status of being claimed by God. It also invoked the Lord’s special love for His people that kept their firstborn children safe on the night of Passover – the same love that sent us God’s firstborn Son. (Another great example is the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25th, which is celebrated exactly nine months before the Nativity!)

So it’s no coincidence that this weekend’s Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (also known as “Candlemas”) takes place 40 days after Christmas each year. As told in Saint Luke’s Gospel, Mary and Joseph received a shock when they arrived at the Temple with their child. Simeon, a holy man who had been awaiting the Messiah his entire life, rushed up and swept the infant Jesus out of Mary and Joseph’s arms, tearfully uttering the beautiful hymn of praise known as the Nunc Dimittis: “Lord, now You may let Your servant go in peace, for my own eyes have seen the salvation which You have prepared in the sight of every people: a light to reveal You to the nations, and the glory of Your people Israel.” Simeon immediately recognized the presence of […]

Many of the things that were required of this law were already in place in the United States as a result of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (a.k.a the “Dallas Charter”) adopted by the bishops in 2002, which called for mandatory reporting, zero tolerance and Safe Environment training programs.  At their June meeting, they adopted some more measures to build upon the Charter and deal with some of its inadequacies and loopholes.  Specifically, they did the following:

Expanded the Dallas Charter to include bishops.
Authorized the development (by May 31, 2020) of a third-party system for receiving reports of possible violations by bishops.
Established protocols for imposing limitations and restrictions on bishops who were removed from office for any abuse of power.
Presented a plan for implementing the rest of the reforms mandated by Pope Francis.

I think it’s important for all Catholics to stay up-to-date on what is being done in this area.  We all felt shock and pain at the revelations of […]

This year our school introduced a new school service program.  The School Board, along with other dedicated parent volunteers, spent a year forming this program, and each grade partnered with a local service agency with whom they worked throughout the year.  So many good things happened this first year that I wanted to make sure the whole parish knows about them!

Kindergarten & Pre-K:  Wellbrooke

Kindergarten and Pre-K visited Wellbrooke at different times of the year to deliver crafts for Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day, as well as to sing Christmas carols.  In the classroom, the teachers taught children about the aging process so that they understood more about the needs of the elderly.  They remembered the residents of Wellbrooke every day during prayer intentions, and they dedicated decades of the rosary to the residents and staff of Wellbrooke.  They also introduced a Christmas service project by collecting over 100 puzzles and delivering them to the residents.

1st Grade:  St. Joseph County Soil & Water Conservation District

First graders learned about care for the environment as an important part of service.  The District’s Education Coordinator came into the classroom several times to talk about soil and composting, and waste vs recycling. She taught the students how to set up and maintain a compost with red wiggler worms in the classroom.  Then in culmination, they joined her for a day at the Mishawaka Reservoir, where they examined the outdoor environment for signs of decomposing matter and also signs of a healthy environment, including microinvertebrate life in the river.

2nd Grade:  LOGAN Center

This year, second graders went to LOGAN in December and performed Christmas songs for the clients.  A LOGAN representative come into the classroom in October to enlighten them on what LOGAN […]

Today is the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (the Body and Blood of Christ), which means that today is the feast day for our sister parish, Corpus Christi Parish in Jalchatra, Bangladesh.  We’ve had a sister parish relationship with Corpus Christi for the last 10 years, and it’s truly been a blessing to all of us.

Bangladesh is a very poor country about the size of Wisconsin, but with a population of over 160 million.  Jalchatra is in the northern part of the country, and the Catholics there are members of the Garo tribe.  In an overwhelmingly Muslim country, where fewer than 1% of the population is Catholic, the parishioners are both a religious and ethnic minority.  This creates many challenges on a daily basis.

In the face of such challenges, the faith of our brothers and sisters in Jalchatra is inspiring.  Corpus Christi is a vibrant parish that serves more than 5000 Catholics.  Since parishioners are so spread out – and since travel can be very difficult – parish life looks a lot different than it does in the States.  There are many outpost chapels that serve people who can’t travel to the main church, and when a priest is unable to make it to those chapels, then trained catechists take responsibility for prayer and religious education.  There are also several schools as part of the parish, including some boarding schools, and other ministries in fields such as health care, vocational training and social justice.  The parish does an incredible job of ministering to the spiritual and material needs of its parishioners with very limited resources.

While our relationship with Corpus Christi is more about prayer and solidarity than it is about financial assistance, the humble funds that […]

Today is the Groundbreaking Ceremony for our new addition!  I hope you can all join us for the ceremony this weekend right after the 12:15pm Mass.  We’ll pray for good weather, but we’ll be out there rain or shine!

Many of you have told me that you can’t believe that this day is finally here, and I feel exactly the same way.  It’s hard to think that, when I moved into Christ the King four years ago, my office was completely empty except for a rolled-up document that Fr. Neil left me, along with a note saying “good luck”.  So much has happened since then to get us to this point.  First came over two years of planning, with a terrific committee of parishioners helping us refine our design and assess the feasibility of a capital campaign.  Then came our campaign, which we announced about a year ago.  Under the leadership of an incredible group of parish volunteers, we planned an ambitious $5 million campaign.  The response from all of our parishioners was absolutely amazing.  Not only were we able to reach our goal before the end of the calendar year, but the goodwill and enthusiasm that I saw throughout the campaign reminded me daily why this is such a special parish.  And since the close of the campaign, we have spent the last several months getting ready for groundbreaking.  After signing Majority Builders as our contractor, we’ve been working to finalize our design and make sure that our total project cost stays under $5 million.

Now the day is finally here, and we’re ready to break ground!  I know there will be a lot of headaches and inconveniences over the next 14 months, as the construction […]