ST. THOMAS AQUINAS PARISH

MASS SCHEDULE

June 25th Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Saturday, June 24: 4:00 PM Mass at St. John the Baptist 5:30 PM † Andy Kohlmann 5:30 PM † Don White Sunday, June 25: 8:00 AM † Margaret Dippel 8:00 AM † Ed & Evangeline Lange 9:30 AM Mass at St. John the Baptist Monday, June 26: 8:00 AM Mass at St. John the Baptist Tuesday, June 27: 8:00 AM Mass at St. John the Baptist Wednesday, June 28: 8:00 AM † Wilbert Wagner 8:30-9:30 AM Adoration Thursday, June 29: 8:00 AM Mass at St. John the Baptist Friday, June 30: 8:00 AM For the People of St. Thomas Aquinas Saturday, July 1: 4:00 PM Mass at St. John the Baptist 5:00 PM Rosary for Life 5:30 PM † Janet & Chuck Leon 5:30 PM † Joan Mueller Sunday, July 2: 7:30 AM Rosary for Life 8:00 AM For the People of St. Thomas Aquinas 9:30 AM Mass at St. John the Baptist

Liturgical Ministers Schedule Saturday, 5:30pm June 24 Vigil: Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time Lector: Ann Buechel-Haack

Ministers: Don & Lynn Meerstein, Ann Buechel-Haack, Rhoda Dales, Duane Dippel, Lynette Fiebrink

Sunday, 8:00am June 25 Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time Lector: Ellen Cary

Ministers: Al Zemlicka, Bev & Dave Dippel, Mary Jo Jetzer, Arlene Klaetsch, Dori Schmitz

Saturday, 5:30pm July 1 Vigil: Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Lector: Konrad Kaczkowski Ministers: Kerry Gigot, Christine Koenigs, Don & Lynn Meerstein, Gerry Kulow, Duane Dippel

Sunday, 8:00am July 2 Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Lector: Mary Jo Jetzer

Ministers: Lori & Matt O’Connor, Red Platz, Dori Schmitz, Clarice Schneider, Diane Slabe

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1st Reading…Jeremiah 20:10-13 2nd Reading…Romans 5:12-15

Gospel…Matthew 10:26-33

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1st Reading…2 Kings 4:8-11,14-16a 2nd Reading…Romans 6:3-4,8-11

Gospel…Matthew 10:37-42

June 17 & 18

Stewardship Envelopes $2,051.00 Loose Offering $864.48

Building Mnt. Envelopes $230.00

Baptism Through the waters of Baptism we welcome

Gwendolyn into God’s grace, and our STA Parish Family. She was baptized on Saturday, June 24th Gwendolyn Elizabeth is the daughter of

Adam & Kathy Guerra Congratulations and God’s choicest blessings to the

parents and their newly baptized baby.

WEDDING BANNS July 7, 2017

III ~ Mary Kenkel & Kevin Tighe

The Parish family would like to extend our sympathy to the

family of Maureen Giese who passed away on Monday,

June 12th. A Mass of Christian Burial was held Wednesday, June 21st at St. Fridolin’s.

Please keep Maureen & her family in your prayers.

Lynette has two daughters, two great son-n-laws, two grandsons, two great granddaughters and a spoiled rotten dog. She was an EMT and worked in the Valley View ER, then went to Sargento as a maintenance clerk and finished as an administrative assistant to the Plant

Manager. She is very involved with activities at STA and is excited to serve on the Pastoral Council.

We would like to take a moment to thank Bev Dippel and Linda Leibham for all the years they have generously given to STA holding a position on the pastoral council. We THANK YOU BOTH!! Please welcome our new pastoral council members, Lynette Fiebrink and Christopher Donlon.

Christopher has been a member of STA for ten years, he and his wife Connie reside in Elkhart Lake. Christopher has pre-vious parish council experience at a previous parish and has been involved with the Archdiocese on other committees. The highlight of Christopher’s faith journey was a trip with Cardinal Dolan (then Archbishop) to the Vatican having multiple masses with Pope John Paul II. Christopher is an Associate Manager of Communications for the Kohler Company and is an avid race fan and race car mechanic.

TWELFTH Sunday in ordinary time~ June 25, 2017 Dear Parishioners:

Well, I’m all moved in: two offices, two computers, one bedroom suite (at STA) and almost all is in it’s place. (There are still some wall hangings I want to put up in my office and living area at STA, and one of my favorite hangings got “hurt” in transit; and I’ve got to look for a place to hook-up my little 12-inch Toshiba HD television, but these are all minor issues.

I had my first funeral as your shared pastor out at St. Fridolin’s last Wednesday – it’s call “baptism by fire” (even the funeral director had never been there before!). And, of course, there are the regular meetings to slip into (pastoral council here, prayer and worship there). Had a bit of a “side issue” with my new checks – they were sent to the right address, including the nine-digit ZIP Code; but the personalized address on the checks had the ZIP wrong.

The real “eye-opener”, though, were the stovetops in the two places. I make egg coffee. Done it for twenty years, following a technique I learned from our housekeeper at St. Anne’s, who learned it from a priest, who’d gotten the housekeeper at St. Thomas Aquinas in Milwaukee to share it with him. I’m no slouch when it comes to brewing it, if I do say so, myself! But, when I tried first thing Tuesday morning at STA, the burner was so hot that the brew boiled over long before it should have got-ten that hot; when I tried after Mass at SJB, it took an hour for the water to come almost to a boil; so I added the coffee and turned my back to do some office work. When I got back to the stove, that pot of coffee was boiling over, too! Hmmm . . . I wonder: a harbinger of things to come?

It is good to be here with both St. John the Baptist and St. Thomas Aquinas. I look forward to a wonderful six years (minimum) with you. Are you ready?

Fr. Phil

We are excited to announce this years Missionary Cooperation Plan

Dr. Eric Boos, and Dr. Karene Boos, and their children have been engaged in Catholic mission work in Tanzania for 23 years. They helped start a catholic college there in the 90's and have lived and taught there many times over the years. They have taken on many mission projects over the years including water filtration systems, establishing women's co-ops, sponsoring an orphanage, setting up a physical therapy clinic, starting a metal fabrication shop to make equipment for handicapped chil-dren, building a Catholic grade school, building a catholic hospital, starting a nursing program, building two Catholic radio stations, and helping establish a catholic law school. Dr. Eric and Dr. Karene are both International Human Rights lawyers so they also do legal representation for the poor and underprivileged in Tanzania, and for the past 6 years they have been fighting for the rights of albinos in Tanzania. Tragical-ly, albinos in Tanzania are believed to be evil spirits and so they are hunted, killed and mutilated; their body parts are sold on the black market for witch craft. Albinos live in constant fear and the children are the most vulnerable, so the Boos' established the "Mary Mother of God of Perpetual Help Center" which is a safe haven for albino children. With the help of Sr. Helena Ntambul-wa, they currently care for 66 children, some with other physical handicaps. It is dangerous and demanding work, but these are God's children and part of the "Body of Christ," and the Boos' are dedicated to protecting these children. The Boos' just sold their farm in St. Anne, Wisconsin, and will be moving to Tanzania in August to oversee construction of new dormitories, a new well, and a guest house at the center. Dr. Karene Boos will also be starting a physical therapy program at the Catholic University Hospital in Mwanza. You can view their work at: www.savethealbinochildrenorg. They look forward to sharing their story next weekend, with their home parishes of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John the Baptist before they leave for Tanzania! Please use the attached envelope and make your check payable to St. Thomas Aquinas. THANK YOU!

The JULY ROSARY FOR LIFE SPECIAL PRAYER INTENTION is for Americans to always recognize and protect our God-given freedoms, such as, the right to life from con-ception to natural death and the right to religious freedom. Also, keep in your prayers the Christians and people of other faiths who, in some areas around the world, are persecuted and even executed because of their religious beliefs.

When Pope Francis visited our country in September of 2015, he said, “The Declaration of Independence stated that all men and women are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that governments exist to protect and defend those rights”. He also stated that religious freedom “is a fundamental right which shapes the way we interact socially and personally with our neighbors whose religious views differ from our own,” and that this “freedom remains one of America’s most precious possessions”.

However, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, there is a concern to the religious freedom of many health professionals in our country. In letters they sent to both the House and the Senate, dated February 8, 2017, the bishops asked for their support to have “essential legislation protecting the fundamental rights of health care providers”. Their letters urged Congress “to support and co-sponsor the Conscience Protection Act”, that had been recently introduced in the House and Senate, which would “ensure that those providing much needed health care and health coverage can continue to do so without being forced by government to help destroy innocent unborn children”.

Please come and pray the Rosary for Life next weekend for the lives of all vulnerable people. Let us also thank God, especially

this 4th of July, for our Founding Fathers who recognized that our rights to life and religious freedom were given to us by God.

May God continue to bless America! Happy Independence Day from the Respect Life Committee of STA and SJB!