Holy Spirit Catholic Church

Ash Wednesday Mass Times

dschnabel — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:20:07 +0000

Ash Wednesday is February 22nd! Below are the Mass times for this mark to the beginning of Lent.

Mass Times: (Ashes distributed at all Masses)

6:30 AM
8:30 AM (School Mass)
6:30 PM

From the Desk of the Pastor

dschnabel — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:16:19 +0000

Apparently the strong negative reaction these last several weeks by Catholic bishops, leaders in the Church and the Catholic faithful in regards to the Health & Human Services mandate requiring religious institutions to pay for abortion inducing drugs, contraception and sterilization, all in violation of Catholic Church teachings, has gotten the attention of the administration. There is capitulation, but according to Archbishop Dolan, president of the U.S. Bishops, the “capitulation” is nothing more than “manipulation.” Let me once again reiterate what this is really about. If you think this is about free birth control for those who “need it,” even if they are Catholic, you are wrong. The federal government through Planned Parenthood and other agencies already subsidizes free birth control so that it is readily available to anyone who wants it. No. To quote the Archbishop again (soon to be a Cardinal this week), this is about the federal government defining a religious individual’s or religious entity’s very identity. Not my Catholic doctrine, not the Gospel, not the Pope (the vicar of Christ on earth), not the bishops (successors of the Apostles), but the government, the government, is going to tell you and tell me, and tell those institutions who represent our faith how to “define” themselves. Religious freedom is the lifeblood, the cornerstone of the American way of life. When the Founding Fathers determined that the innate rights of men and women should be enshrined in our Constitution, they so esteemed religious liberty that they made it the “first” freedom above all the rest, and related to it, the freedom that no one can be forced to violate their conscience. Let us continue to pray that our President and our elected officials will come to their senses.

God Bless!
Fr. Morgan

From the Desk of the Parochial Vicar

dschnabel — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:49:53 +0000

What is the history of Lenten fasting? In the very earliest years of the Church, Easter was commemorated every Sunday and the Passion was commemorated every Friday. Each Friday, therefore, was a day of fasting. However, very early on, emphasis was placed on the annual celebration of Easter. In the first 100 or so years of the Church, it seems there were varying customs of how long to fast before Easter. In most places the days of fasting were relatively few. However, the custom of fasting for forty days before Easter had already arisen by the 300’s. By the time of St. Gregory the Great, who died in 604 AD, it was the common practice. Since in Rome they did not fast on Sundays, the fast beginning on the First Sunday of Lent had only 36 days of actual fasting. The days of Lent from Ash Wednesday to the First Sunday were added specifically to make 40 fasting days. In the earliest days, fasting consisted in one meal taken in the evening, after Vespers (Evening Prayer). However, it became tolerated, very early on, to take the meal after None (Mid-afternoon Prayer). But since None could be said right after Sext (Midday Prayer), people started thinking of None as midday. This is the origin of our English word “noon.” Thus the meal was taken at Midday. Soon monks began taking a little wine, and later food, in the evening to maintain strength. In more recent times, permission was given for a very light breakfast. This is the reason why today we are permitted a small snack in the morning and again in the evening on fasting days. Also, fasting originally always entailed abstaining from meat and, for a long time, from milk and eggs (which is why we eat eggs at Easter). By the middle of the 20th century, however, meat was permitted at the one meal on many days of Lent. In the second half the 20th century, the discipline was further relaxed to its present state with only Ash Wednesday and Good Friday as days of obligatory fast and abstinence and the Fridays as days of abstinence. While the Church has relaxed her “discipline” with regards to fasting, she has not changed her “mind.” We are no longer obligated to the forty days fast of our forefathers, but we are invited to impose freely upon ourselves, according to our strength, certain austerities.

Fr. Venner

From the Desk of the Parochial Vicar

dschnabel — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:53:21 +0000

On Thursday, February 2nd, the Church celebrated the feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple. This feast has also been called Candlemas and the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It has been called Candlemas (i.e. Candle-Mass, like Christmas and Michaelmas; Keep the Mass in Christ-Mass!), because the Church blesses candles on this day and carries them in procession, reminding us of Simeon going to the temple and finding the Christ child. It also reminds us of his prophecy at that time, “My eyes have seen thy salvation…a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” The feast has been called the “Purification” because, according to the Law of Moses, a woman was unclean for forty days after the childbirth and needed to have sacrifices offered in the Temple for her purification. Our Lady, being ever-pure and sinless, had no need to follow this law, but did it as a manifestation of her love and humility. This feast completes our observance of the Christmas Cycle of the Liturgical Year. This Sunday, the Fifth in Ordinary Time, is also the third Sunday before the First Sunday of Lent. Traditionally, on this day the Church began to count the days to Easter and called the day “Septuagesima Sunday,” meaning the 70th, whereas the Latin word for Lent is “Quadragesima” (40th). Formerly, on this day, the Alleluia was suppressed and violet vestments began to be worn. This was a way of easing us toward the austere fasts of Lent, which until the 20th century obliged almost every Catholic to fast on one meal per day for forty days (excluding Sunday). Today is, therefore, an appropriate time for us to begin to ask ourselves what we will give up for Lent.

Fr. Venner

From the Desk of the Parochial Vicar

dschnabel — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:19:37 +0000

It is hard to believe that in a couple of weeks I will have already been a priest for 6 months. The time has flown by. Nevertheless, in some sense it almost feels as if I have always been a priest. As I look back at these last few months, I am filled with gratitude. I still have to ask the Lord, “Who am I to be your priest and serve your people?” Ultimately, I know that it is all bound up in the mystery God’s plan. So while I continue to recognize my unworthiness, I can do nothing but give thanks and praise to God for the immense gift of the priesthood and ask him to draw me more deeply into its mystery. It was such a gift to be able to spend my first Christmas as a priest here at Holy Spirit. I am grateful for all the cards, gifts, and kindnesses I received. I am grateful for the support of all of you and, in a particular way, for the parish staff. I am even grateful for those of you with whom I have, perhaps, never spoken. For the greatest gift to me this Christmas was to be your priest; to offer the Holy Sacrifice, to hear confessions, to pray and to preach among you and for you. However well I have, or have not, gotten to know you, know that I am praying for you, and that this, to me, is a great gift. Who am I to be a priest? I don’t know. But I do know that God knows; and I know that there are many other young men with a vocation to this life who also might be asking the same question. Trust in God.

Fr. Venner

From the Desk of the Pastor

dschnabel — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:40:42 +0000

It’s a great thing to know you’re loved. I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of Christmas greetings and gifts from you, thank you very much. Also, thank you for your concern and prayers while I was convalescing from knee surgery. I have had quite the medical year. This is my fourth surgery since late September: cataract surgery on both eyes; some carcinoma removed from below my eye; and now a scoping on my left knee. It continues to humble me and remind me that youth is of the spirit and mind, and not necessarily corporal. In our Gospel for this weekend, John the Baptist, in his characteristic humility, is eager to point beyond himself to the Christ. He did not hesitate to direct his disciples to the Lord Jesus and not to himself. Our health serves us only if it leads to a way of humility and gratitude, so we might hear Jesus say to us: “What’s the goal of your life? Do you come to Me for something more than what this life can give you?”

Blessings as you begin 2012 with a healthy soul!
Fr. Morgan

From the Desk of Deacon Tom Bates

dschnabel — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:54:35 +0000

To pray as a family is to share in the life of the Trinity, to share in the love that exists between God, the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. When the family gathers together to share a meal and thank God for the food that they will consume, they join themselves together in the love they share with each other and with God. When the parents pray with their children before going to sleep, the entire family places itself under the protection and love of God. After praying, the parents can ask God to bless their children by praying:

May almighty God bless you For all the days of your life Both now and forever.

While the blessing is very short, the deep down desire of every father and mother is that someday their entire family will be reunited in Heaven where they will live forever in the love of God. To ask God to bless their children as they journey to Heaven is to fulfill the greatest desire that a father and mother have for their children. Praying the rosary with or for your children is also a good practice.

God’s Blessings,
Deacon Tom Bates

Catholicism Series to be Shown at Holy Spirit

dschnabel — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:42:46 +0000

Holy Spirit will be presenting the Catholicism Series by Rev. Robert E. Barron beginning Monday, January 16th at 8:45 AM and 7:00 PM. The classes are only opened to people that are pre-registered. You MUST have the materials to attend. There are workbooks needed for each of the 10 sessions. We will NOT be ordering any extra materials. Please contact Kathy Davis in the parish office by Monday January 9th to sign up. The cost for the materials is $40 per person.

See below for a trailer of the series:

From the Desk of the Pastor

dschnabel — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:03:36 +0000

What’s the significance of a name? For the Jewish people the giving of a name had great importance. A person’s name expressed the reality of his or her being at its deepest level. A Jewish child was named at the time of circumcision, eight days after birth. This rite was instituted by God as an outward sign to single out those who belonged to the chosen people. It was a sign of the covenant that God made with Abraham and his posterity. In fulfillment of this precept, Mary’s newborn child is given the name Jesus on the eighth day according to the Jewish custom. Joseph and Mary gave the name Jesus because that is the name given by God’s messenger before Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb. This name signifies Jesus’ identity and His mission. The literal Hebrew means the Lord saves. Since God alone can forgive sins, it is God who, in Jesus His eternal Son made man, will save His people from their sins (Mat. 1:21). In the birth and naming of this child we see the wondrous design and plan of God in giving us a Savior who would bring us grace, mercy, and freedom from the power of sin and the fear of death. The name Jesus signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of His Son who became man for our salvation. The name Jesus is at the heart of all Christian prayer. It is through and in Jesus that we pray to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. Many Christians have died with one word on their lips…the name of Jesus. Today, as we recognize Mary as the “Mother of God” we exalt the name of her Son and pray with confidence in His name.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Fr. Morgan & Rudy (a.k.a. “the donkey”)

From the Desk of the Pastor

dschnabel — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:27:39 +0000

Each year, the JC Penney Christmas catalog would arrive at the Morgan house with great fanfare. It sometimes came as early as the end of August. Though it was meant for the living room magazine rack, it didn’t stay there long. It usually made its way first to the girls’ room for a few weeks, then to the boys’ room for more than a few weeks, and finally would end up in the bathroom…its cover gone; its pages torn, curled and frayed like an ancient crossword-puzzle dictionary. For hours, we would sit and drool over the latest colorful gizmos and toys, revising the Christmas list continuously from September through December. That catalog was the big book of hopes, dreams and desires. How our hopes, dreams and desires change over successive Christmases. How our lists include less and less “things” and the need for more and more “blessings.” What are frayed and worn are our lives, not our catalogs. For when one peeks into the Manger and sees the fulfillment of every hope and dream in the birth of “the God Who is with us,” everything pales in comparison. We long to have that serenity and peace which is connected with the eternal rather than with the fleeting. Let us never forget that we carry the very life of God within us, through sanctifying grace in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Mary gave birth to the Lord Jesus in a manger…we give birth to Him in the deepest recesses of our hearts when we do His will in our lives. May you and your family have a very Blessed Christmas, my Holy Spirit family; and may the birth of the Christ child answer all your hopes, dreams and desires.

Christmas blessings!
Fr. Morgan & Rudy

From the Desk of the Pastor

dschnabel — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 16:40:17 +0000

The understanding of a “Messiah” in the Hebrew religion developed over time, much like Christian doctrine has developed over time. This is how God works in His creation: He allows us to peel back the truths of the faith one layer at a time much like peeling back the skin of an onion one layer at a time in order to get to the core. For ancient Judaism, the general hope was that God would bring peace and justice for his people by a divine intervention, but “messianism” was not focused on a particular person until the prophecies made by King David: Your dynasty will last forever, says the prophet Samuel in today’s First Reading. This is the beginning of what Jews called “royal messianism,” the Messiah would be a descendent of David, a great King, and a powerful leader who would establish a vast earthly kingdom. His coming would resound around the world. Other Old Testament prophecies predicted that the Messiah would unite Jew and Gentile. The understanding was that the Gentiles would be merely “included” in the messianic kingdom, but not given any status or claim. The Messiah was never expected to be divine, but certainly he would have the blessing of the divine. It was blasphemy for Jews to even consider that the divine could be born of a woman. Then came the prophet Isaiah. He would write about another kind of Messiah, the “suffering servant,” a designation that Judaism rejected. What Messiah would come into the world to be a victim rather than a conqueror? So the identity of the Messiah was never really clear to the Jewish people. There was always the given expectation that the Messiah would come, but the “how” and “who” and “when” was never etched in stone. In our Gospel, Luke wants to show the connection between Jesus and all the Jewish prophecies made down through the ages. Jesus is the Messiah. Born of a woman. He is the Expected One. Yet, it takes everyone by surprise: The birth of a baby to a poor peasant woman (from the lineage of David though) was not how the Messiah was supposed to come; and He was certainly not supposed to be God. At any rate, we have been let in on the truth…thankfully. We know the rest of the story. May we ready ourselves this last week of Advent to expect the unexpected. Like Mary, let us proclaim that “His will” might be “our will.”

Advent Blessings

Fr. Morgan

Christmas Mass Times

dschnabel — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 23:30:13 +0000

Christmas Eve: Saturday, December 24
4:00 PM (Children’s Mass) 7:00 PM 12:00 Midnight
**No 5:00 PM Mass**
Christmas Day: Sunday, December 25
8:00 AM and 10:30 AM
**NO 6:30 PM Sunday evening Mass**

From the Desk of the Parochial Vicar

dschnabel — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 23:27:36 +0000

The coming of Advent signifies for us the beginning of a new “liturgical year” or “year of grace.” The Church puts before us every year, in the cycles of her liturgical feasts, the principle mysteries and events of our Faith. The Church is the Mystical Bride of Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit. When the Church does something, we should pay attention. The Bride knows how to please her Spouse. She has a chant, a sacred canticle, which she sings to Him unceasingly. It is a canticle of love flowing from the depths of her heart. It is, in fact, a reverberation of the song of the Bridegroom himself; for it is Christ’s own Love, it is Christ Himself in fact, alive and active within her, that produces this song. As children of the Church, we must learn her song. While this canticle flows from the depths of her heart, it is also expressed outwardly. It is, perhaps, nowhere more perfectly and more efficaciously expressed than in her liturgy. Every liturgical feast, every mystery celebrated in her annual cycle, is an expression of her thoughts and desires. These thoughts and desires already belong to us in virtue of our baptism; just as the whole Catholic Faith belongs to the newly baptized infant. As the infant grows, however, he must begin making explicit and actual the faith he received implicitly at baptism. He does this by making “acts of faith” and by learning the content of the Faith, Catholic doctrine. Just as we have received the Church’s Faith, we have also been made partakers of the Church’s worship. We should, therefore, labor to make the thoughts and desires of the Church personal and living realities in our lives. We do this foremost by actually praying with the Church, attending Mass and praying the Liturgy of the Hours. However, we can also allow the liturgical prayer of the Church, as expressed in her seasons and feasts, and, especially, as expressed in the actual changeable texts of each day’s Mass or Office, to affect our own private prayer and meditation. To this end, it is helpful to acquire a hand missal or a periodical which reproduces these texts. With such aids, we can linger with the thoughts of the Church and allow them to penetrate our hearts and our minds and so carry them upward to Christ our Lord, as in a stream of adoration of love.

Fr. Venner

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

dschnabel — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:39:14 +0000

Feast of the Immaculate Conception is December 8th, 2011. Mass for this Holy Day will be on Wednesday, December 7th at 6:30 PM and Thursday, Dec. 8 at 8:00 AM (School Mass) and 6:30 PM.

From the Desk of Deacon Bates

dschnabel — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:13:33 +0000

The season for preparing for Christmas Day has descended upon us with the intensity of a South Dakota blizzard that has the delightful promise of closing every school in the state. There are Christmas presents to buy, Christmas carols to listen to, Christmas parties and concerts to attend, Christmas cards or letters to send, and Christmas cookies to bake and eat. In the hustle and bustle of trying to accomplish everything that should be done, including preparing the Christmas Day meal, sometimes we forget about the why of the preparing.

The why is Christ. Christ came to us as a baby in a family so we would know the importance of family life, of grandparents and grandchildren spending time together, brothers and sisters retelling stories from their childhood, and cousins playing together. Christ brings to our families a peace that finds its fulfillment as we gathered together as a family to celebrate Mass and sing the praises of God with all the saints and angels in Heaven.

Deacon Tom Bates

From the Desk of the Pastor

dschnabel — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 20:00:27 +0000

November is significant for two great traditions. The first, is the religious tradition of remembering the members of our family laid to rest over the years. The second is secular in nature, but still reveals our true religious purpose: thanksgiving. November is set aside to “pray for the dead” and to “give thanks.” This seems like quite a dichotomy. But they are actually closely connected. God did not create us to be alone in giving thanks…nor alone when mourning. Since last October I have buried three of my relatives, so this November brings with it a certain introspection on death… and a true thanksgiving for family and friends. On Monday, while I was home for the funeral of my uncle, I noticed how nostalgic I have become for my home and for the people that I remember as a youngster. I jokingly commented that my mother’s St. Patrick’s Day party has less and less attendants each year because of the loss of relatives. Yet, if our spiritual life is well-grounded, at some point we look beyond the mere sentimental in a memory, and see that behind it all – good and bad – is something greater than just the memory, even greater than just the people, or the event, or the image. We see that in God’s big, enormous plan to save the world, little insignificant me has a role to play. And then God becomes very, very close to us.

Fr. Morgan

From the Desk of the Pastor

dschnabel — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 18:41:30 +0000

(Part IV on the Liturgy of the Mass) With the advent of the new translation of the Mass, bishops, pastors, liturgists and composers around the country have been scrutinizing liturgical Hymns and music with the same objective in mind: a better appreciation and appropriation of the mystery celebrated. Thus, they have been paying as much attention to the words in liturgical songs as to the melodies. If some hymns are not being sung at our Masses anymore, it may be because the words are theologically incorrect and certainly don’t proclaim what we believe. In 1997, Pope John Paul II spoke on the pastoral care of the liturgy: Hymns and Sacred Music have an essential role in reinforcing everyone’s communion, in a form very sensitive to the acceptance and assimilation of the word of God, through the unity of prayer…See to it that beautiful hymns based on worthy texts and in harmony with a meaningful content are chosen and composed. This statement reminds us that unity is the essence of the Church. Unity of the Church is the reason why the Eucharist exists in the first place. At Clergy Days 2009, Dr. Patrick Gorman, Director of the Office of Worship for the Diocese of Madison, WI, presented to the priests of our diocese a synthesis of JPII’s statement by ranking hymns based on the vertical/horizontal understanding of worship. So for example, Hymns/Songs addressed to God (Holy God We Praise Thy Name) ranked 5 star; Hymns about God but addressed to each other (Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence) ranked 4 star; Hymns quoting scripture (On Eagle’s Wings) ranked 3 star; Songs about what we are doing (We Gather At Your Table) ranked 2 star; and finally songs about us (We Are Called) ranked 1 star. Most (but not all) contemporary hymns composed today are in the 1, 2 and 3 star categories. Thus, many churches today load their liturgies with these songs to the exclusion of 4 and 5 star songs, according to Dr. Gorman. He said that we must be careful that the focus does not become what we “like” rather than “what” we are singing. He also said that the New Translation will lend itself to help us create a better balance of hymns in our liturgies, so that we incorporate all forms of music of praise. At Bishop Swain’s direction, this is what we have been attempting to do at Holy Spirit for the past four years now – mesh the contemporary with the traditional to create a “harmony with meaningful content that reinforces the unity of the Church.”

Blessings!
Fr. Morgan

From the Desk of the Parochial Vicar

dschnabel — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 01:20:45 +0000

In looking at the Sunday readings and seeing the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” I thought we might do well to reflect on the Catholic doctrine of merit. The following entries from the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church might be helpful:
426. What is merit? (See CCC 2006-2010, 2025- 2026)
In general merit refers to the right to recompense for a good deed. With regard to God,we of ourselves are not able to merit anything, having received everything freely from him. However, God gives us the possibility of acquiring merit through union with the love of Christ, who is the source of our merits before God. The merits for good works, therefore must be attributed in the first place to the grace of God and then to the free will of man.

427.What are the goods that we can merit?(See CCC 2010-2011, 2027)
Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification and for the attainment of eternal life. Even temporal goods, suitable for us, can be merited in accordance with the plan of God. No one, however, can merit the initial grace which is at the origin of conversion and justification.

Fr. Jonathan Venner

From the Desk of Deacon Bates

dschnabel — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 15:17:31 +0000

There is an old and holy Catholic belief that we should pray for the dead. We believe that all who have died in God’s grace and friendship but who were not perfectly purified by their life on Earth are assured eternal salvation. Purgatory is that place where they will be made perfect in the eyes of God. Christ tells us in the Sermon of the Mount “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” To be perfect is difficult be- cause perfection is much more than just avoiding all venial and mortal sin. To be perfect is to use the suffering we endure on Earth to purify ourselves of all sinful inclinations and to give glory and praise to God in all that we think, say, and do. If we would see our children, parents, or grandparents drowning in a lake, we would immediately come to their aid. To pray for those souls who may be in purgatory that their time of purification would come quickly to an end is an act of charity and forgiveness. Some- day, may there be kind and generous people who will pray that we would be quickly purified in Purgatory and live in the peace and joy of Heaven.

Deacon Tom Bates

From the Desk of the Pastor

dschnabel — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 01:04:53 +0000

I want to take a break from liturgy and talk about finances for a moment. Every registered household will receive a copy of the 2010-2011 Financial Report in the November edition of the Holy Spirit Newsletter mailed this week. I encourage you to look it over and call if you have any questions. Thanks to you and your generous response, our parish has always been able to end the fiscal year with a balanced budget, or near balanced budget. This year was no different. However, with the economic downturn we budgeting very conservatively these past few years. Our budgeted expenses have been bare bones in many areas, and in some cases cuts were made to ministries/programs that will need to be restored. Also, we have been delaying some of our facility maintenance and improvements for the same reason. Each spring, the Finance Council attempts to assess just how much the cost of utilities, supplies, materials and general maintenance will increase for the following year. I thank them for their commitment and diligence. This year, we have written in a 3% increase in the budget to make sure we are meeting the demands. Yet, last year utility expenses came out 9% higher than what we budgeted, so even though our goal is to be precise, it’s hard to speculate about the fluctuation in prices that occurs during the course of the year. If we end up with a surplus (which is good), just know that we have more than enough need for it and apply it appropriately. Sometimes when churches are in the middle of a capital campaign, regular giving can waver. Our collections have been holding their own, so I’m quite pleased that people are understanding the difference between “regular giving” which drives operations on the one hand, and “capital giving” which goes toward the retirement of the debt and a Building Maintenance Endowment on the other. Though we have decreased the debt significantly and are on track to meet our objective, it’s also important that the parish collect every dollar pledged over and above the loan balance, so that the Building Endowment will become a reality. Please keep up the good work on both “regular giving” and “capital campaign giving” and we will have nothing to worry about. Once again, thank you Holy Spirit Parish for your great stewardship and generosity! You are one of a kind!

Peace & Blessings in Christ,
Fr. Morgan