It’s Easy Being Green
40 Days of Lent with 40 ideas to reduce your carbon footprint each day and “go green!” Be good stewards and care for God’s creation, which is one of the Seven Principles of Catholic Social Teaching. As you pray, fast and give alms this Lent, fast from using too much water, heat or electricity, etc. See the jumbo calendar on the bulletin board near the SCRIP table, check out that calendar online at or take a paper copy with you if you don’t have a computer at home. These 40 Days of Going Green lead up to our parish’s Green Fair after Easter on April 14 & 15!
Special thanks to: Faith Petrick, Sue Bielinski, Marilyn Kubalak & Mary Kay Nielsen
From co-sponsors: Family Life, Social Justice & Outreach, Worship/Spirituality Committees and the Green Fair Planners
Bishop’s Appeal
A Christian Steward: “One who receives God’s gifts gratefully, cherishes and tends them in a responsible and accountable manner, shares them in justice and love with others, and returns them with increase to the Lord.” Read more to link to the Diocesan Bishop’s Appeal page. Please give generously to the Bishop’s Appeal 2012.
Reflection from Bp. Robert Morneau
Do you ever wonder who decides what our monthly celebrations and observances should be? I mean, why is February “National Caffeine Addiction Month?” Then there is, in February, “Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month.” Add to this “Potato Lover’s Month” and “Bird Feeding Month.” Where do these come from?
I have no trouble with Lincoln’s birthday on Feb. 12th and Washington’s birthday on February 22nd. There is some logic here. More difficult is Feb. 2 (Groundhog Day) and Feb. 14 (Valentine Day).
Hopefully, this question of February celebrations and observances will not cause sleeplessness. One thing we can be assured of: February is another gift from God – the gift of time, to be used well. We need not be lovers of potatoes or watch birds, we need not be overly concerned about shopping carts or the groundhog appearance or not. But we are called to treasure the time God’s given us and to use it well. Come February 22nd we begin again the season of Lent. February invites to set our eyes on the Easter mystery (April 8th) and to come to this celebration with minds and hearts renewed.
2012 Parish Retreat
This year’s parish retreat is a life-changing opportunity for any age adult in our parish!!! If you’ve never been on retreat, now is your chance! If you’ve been on retreat in the past this will be a great opportunity to refresh your faith as we begin the season of Lent.
“Souper” Bowl of Caring
Sunday Feb. 5th
On Super Bowl Sunday, donate $1.00 or a can of soup as you leave Mass. Youth/families with soup kettles will be at each entrance.
“Lord, as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us to be mindful of those without even a bowl of soup to eat.”
More than 20 years ago, the Souper Bowl of Caring began with that simple prayer at a youth group gathering.
Since that day, more than $81 million has been raised for local charities across the country through the Souper Bowl of Caring.
With all the money spent on parties, lodging, food and tailgating, this movement is transforming the time around the Super Bowl weekend into the nation’s largest celebration of giving and serving.
Share God’s love with those in need. Soup cans will go to St. Patrick’s Food Pantry on Green Bay’s west side. Monetary donations will go to the NEW Community Shelter.
Thank you!
Post Christmas work begins!
New Year’s Reflection from Bp. Robert Morneau
For some reason, I like the word osmosis. It has a ring to it that rivals the word sauerkraut. But what is osmosis? According to my little Merriam-Webster Dictionary, we read: “movement of a solvent through a semi permeable membrane into a solution of higher concentration that tends to equalize the concentrations of the solutions on either side of the membrane” – I think I’m getting a headache.
Then I came across this sentence from Aelred Squire’s Asking the Fathers: “Like a little drop of water in a quantity of wine, or red-hot iron in the burning flame, we take on the character of that in which we are immersed.” That’s it! That’s osmosis made visible. We become what we get next to.
We venture into a new year, 2012. One of the most important things will be our decisions of what we allow in our minds and hearts. The books we read, the movies we watch, the companions we select, will, (“osmostically”) get inside us and shape our days. A drop on water in wine knows this; a piece of iron in a fire knows this; and, if we are wise, we will know too the power of osmosis in our lives.
Follow the stars to Bethlehem
Bethlehem—“house of bread” Jesus—the Bread of Life, born in Bethlehem, in a food trough. Our parish theme is Sunday Supper—the Eucharist, and eucharist. The Mass, and our own meals in the “church of the home” Formed by Eucharist, and sent in mission. Welcome all to the Lord’s table, and to our own tables/homes. Make the house of bread, Bethlehem, real today, right here. Feed, love and care for the least of our sisters and brothers. Be Jesus to the world.
Christmas at Resurrection
Join us for our Christmas Masses!
Christmas Eve Masses
*Concerts begin 30 minutes before the Masses
4:00 PM Mass, Children’s Choir
6:30 PM, Youth Music Team
9:00 PM, PRAYSE Coir, organ & brass (Note the time Change from previous years)
Christmas Day Masses
8:00 AM Mass, Organ & Cantor
10:00 AM Mass, PRAYSE Choir, organ & brass
New Year’s Eve and New Year Masses will be our regular weekend Mass schedule
Saturday, 4:00 PM Mass Sunday, 8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 AM Masses
Story Time with St. Nicholas
St. Nicholas stopped by this past Sunday to tell his story of kindness. Children gathered in the Day Chapel during the 9:30 Mass for the Liturgy of the Word led by “St. Nicholas.” After Mass a treat was given to all the children. St. Nick also stayed to have his picture taken with children. Sponsored by the Family Life committee.
So, what is your favorite Christmas hymn? Silent Night? Angels We Have Heard on High? The First Noel? Joy to the World? O Come All Ye Faithful? Go Tell It on the Mountain? Just to hear the titles of these hymns can stir the heart into song.
Songs carry our theology, telling us who we are and what life is all about. Our Christmas songs focus on the person of Jesus, God-made-manifest. Indeed, how can we keep from singing if Divine Love has entered into history? Our challenge is to be open to the grace of knowing that we have been and are loved. This is the Christmas gift that will transform our world and our personal life.
But our singing is tempered by the darkness and evil in the world, by our own struggles be they interior or external. BUT, there is a star in the sky: Jesus is the Light of the world guiding us toward his kingdom. The darkness and tragedies of history cannot extinguish the great Christmas message: Emmanuel – God is with us! Thus, we can sing with confidence and joy. We can look toward the new years with hope, for the God who created us also knows, loves, and awaits us.
Birthday in Bethlehem
Twenty years ago, the idea for the first “Birthday in Bethlehem” program was born in the hearts of two moms who desired to have their children celebrate the true meaning of Christmas by acting out the story of the birth of the Christ Child. It was enthusiastically received from the parents of the children involved in the program.
It is not a large commitment, but one that is worthwhile as well as gratifying. We are asking you to consider getting involved by encouraging your child to participate in the program and then volunteering to assist in one of the areas on the attached sheet. But first, a little bit about the program itself.
The twentieth annual “Birthday in Bethlehem” program will be presented on Saturday, December 10 at 10:00 AM in church by the 3rd and 4th graders of Resurrection Parish. The program consists of acting out of the Nativity and singing Christmas Carols. “Birthday in Bethlehem” on December 10 will consist of the play (about 20 minutes), followed by a birthday celebration (cupcakes and family art project) for the entire family in the cafeteria.
The story of the birth of Jesus has been carried on down through the ages by its telling and retelling. Help make this story become real to your child by encouraging him or her to participate in this memorable event, on December 10. please do not hesitate to call.
Follow the Stars to Bethlehem
Follow the path of stars to the stable in the town of Bethlehem (Day Chapel). Resurrection students decorated the stars; some even have a poem on them. The stable will be empty and waiting during Advent.
“The stable is where God draws close to us. In a world where so many are rejected as unwanted and of lesser importance to humanity, Bethlehem shouts God’s unconditional choice of every human being. In this insignificant stop-off place, the divine choice is lived out in the birth of the very Son of God. God has pitched God’s tent among us. The stable at Bethlehem is the place where God reaches out to the human family in love.” How will we reach out to others during this Advent-time?
Nestor Gregoire, OMI, The Overlooked Actor in the Christmas Story, Emmanual, November/December 2011, p. 528 – 533.
Thanksgiving Day – Give Thanks to God
Join us for 9:00 AM. Mass!
You are invited to bring a non-perishable food item to Mass.
Bring a new loaf of bread with your name on it for a blessing & exchange of breads for an Advent Prayer Partner.
Reflection from Bp. Robert Morneau
November offers each of us the opportunity to once again give thanks for the blessings that come our way. Here are a few that come to mind.
November 1: Feast of All Saints. Within our rich Catholic tradition we have a great band of witnesses who lived the Gospel to the full: St. Augustine who reminded us that “Our hearts are restless until they rest in the Lord!”; St. Therese of Liseux who, though dead by age twenty-four, shared her faith in a God who is Mercy and Love; St. Josephine Bakhita who experienced God as creating, knowing, loving and awaiting her. The saints light the way on our way home.
November 2: All Soul’s Day. We pause to remember and pray for all those who have been part of our family, community, and inner circle. So many of our acquaintances have beaten us to our heavenly dwelling. We cannot afford to forget them; we cannot afford to be ungrateful for all that they have done for us.
November 11: Veteran’s Day. We live in a free country, a freedom that has been purchased at a very high cost. The word here is sacrifice, even to the point of giving one’s life. Those who serve in the military deserve our profound appreciation. We need but view the cemetery at Normandy to have visual evidence of the price that was paid for our freedom.
November 13: World Kindness Day. A phrase from the poet George Herbert says it all: “All worldly joy go less / to the one joy of doing kindnesses.”
November 24: Thanksgiving Day. Oh, yes, the Packer-Lion game as well. But at the center of this Thursday is the table where we share a meal together and give thanks to God for the gifts that we have been given: family-friends-freedom-faith and so much more. Except for turkeys, this is one great day.
Blessed November!