 The Church presents us with three readings from the Sacred Scriptures each week at Sunday Mass. This is done so that we can be exposed to more of the Bible and can learn from the truth presented in the Word of God. Today’s lessons instruct us in the importance of forgiving others from the heart. Typically, we appeal to this teaching when we desire to be forgiven, but conveniently forget it when it comes to forgiving others who have wronged us. Don’t let hatred or vengeance blacken your soul. Listen to what our God teaches us in the Scriptures.
The Church’s liturgical year is filled with many beautiful celebrations: commemorating the lives of the Saints and of the Blessed Mother, and especially celebrating the Feasts of the Lord. The Feast of the Holy Cross was observed September 14. Hail Cross! Our only hope!! This Feast calls our attention to the means by which our Lord accomplished our salvation: on the Cross. We just observed the 22nd anniversary of the attack on 9/11. Who can forget that terrible experience of evil visited on our country? And who can forget the sign of hope which emerged from the rubble where once the Twin Towers stood? Do you remember how – seemingly miraculously – there appeared in the midst of that destruction the Cross formed by the intersection of two steel I-beams? The Cross is truly one of the deep mysteries of our Faith. God desired to have His own Son experience our own lives, and our own suffering. The Cross represents His suffering – and ours – by which we are also saved. It's now been over 10 weeks since SS Peter & Paul and St. Vincent de Paul parishes came to be served by a common Pastor and Associate Pastor. How are you doing? How am I doing? Among my goals as pastor is to preserve the identity of each parish while doing those things in common which can benefit both parishes. So today we begin publishing a joint parish bulletin. You’ll continue to receive the news and info proper to your parish, while also seeing what’s happening in the other Eastside parish. Let me know how you like it – or how it can be improved. May God bless you! Fr. Schaller  "No man is an island.” The English poet John Donne wrote those words nearly 400 years ago. They express a truth found also in the Sacred Scriptures, especially in today’s readings. None of us lives in a vacuum; rather we are bound together by our common humanity. And much more than that, we are bound together by our Faith, by Baptism. We are truly responsible for each other. This is most easily seen within the family, where parents take care of their children and children watch out for each other. This also provides the motive for evangelization. We need to do all we can to bring others to know, love, and serve God, and to live the Faith. Out of love for others, we should assist them with their physical needs, and teach them in word and action the moral and spiritual truths of our Faith.
It has been an adjustment for our two Eastside Parishes of WI Rapids, SSPP & SVdP, these past two months. The changed Mass schedule is certainly the most noticeable and has the biggest impact on many families’ Sunday routines. The staff from both parishes is also adapting to some changes. We have converted both parishes to a new phone system which will provide better service and at a much-reduced cost. We have been making needed improvements in the St. Vincent de Paul parish office building (former convent, then rectory), which now also hosts the central office of Assumption Catholic Schools (north end of the first floor). This provides a mutual benefit: rent for SVdP and modest cost to ACS. By the end of the month the SSPP parish secretary will be moved to the SVdP parish office building, where Fr. Williams and I already have our offices. Each parish’s secretary works part-time. By staggering their hours, we will be able to provide greater accessibility for all our parishioners. And beginning next Sunday, September 17, we will publish a single bulletin for the Eastside Parishes of WI Rapids. That will reduce bulletin preparation and provide fuller information for both SSPP & SVdP parishioners. I have been attending the Catholic Medical Association conference in Phoenix, AZ the past week, and will be back this Tuesday. My thanks for Fr. Williams for holding down the fort! May God bless you! Fr. Schaller  “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” This acclamation by Simon Peter (from today’s Gospel) was not simply a conclusion he had come to after careful consideration using human logic. Rather, it was an insight given to him by the Father. It is yet another example of how God chooses us, rather than the other way around. Simon Peter then receives from the Lord authority “to bind and to loose”. The Church has always seen this event as key to understanding the authority that Peter and the other Apostles (and their successors) exercise in the Church. It is not mere human authority. They do not derive it from any human consent. We have the Lord’s promise that no human power, nor “the gates of the netherworld” shall prevail against the Church which He establishes upon the authority of Peter.
The late Pope John Paul II said that the new millennium is a time for renewed evangelization. In addition to the formation in faith which our Catholic schools, religious education programs, confirmation program, and adult faith classes provide, our parish also provides opportunities for those interested in becoming Catholic to learn more about our Faith. The RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) is designed for those who have never been baptized, and for baptized Christians from other churches, who are interested in becoming full members in the Catholic Church. Please call Deacon Jerry Ruesch at the SSPP or SVdP parish office (423-1351 or 423-2111) to register. May God bless you! Fr. Schaller  We celebrated the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven this past Tuesday, August 15. This solemnity is always observed on August 15, and is a Holy Day of Obligation (except when it falls on Saturday or Monday in the Dioceses of the U.S.). Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer, is rightfully honored by the Church because she was first honored by God. She was preserved from the stain of original sin (which we commemorate on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 8). By the power of the Holy Spirit she conceived the Savior of the world within her womb. She was the first and most perfect disciple of the Lord. She stood at the foot of the Cross at His crucifixion. The Solemnity of Mary’s Assumption acknowledges and celebrates the fitting end of her life on this earth: namely, that at the end of her life on earth she was assumed body and soul into heaven by the power of God. Eastern Rite Catholics and Orthodox Christians refer to this feast as the Dormition of Mary, that is, her “falling asleep”. The belief of the Catholic Church is that Mary never suffered the corruption of her body, but that she was taken to heaven while still alive (or perhaps, at the very moment of death). This feast of Mary, like all the Marian feasts, is another way of recognizing the saving work which God has brought about through His (and Mary’s) Son, Jesus Christ. Mary, as the best disciple – as the one who cooperated most perfectly with God’s Grace – fittingly should be the first to enjoy everlasting life in heaven. May God bless you! Fr. Schaller  It is commonly observed that the world in which we live is increasingly fast-paced, hectic, and noisy. The human brain just can’t take all of that input. Advertisers understand this phenomenon as well; that’s why they make their commercials so loud and fill them with images geared to grab our attention. We have become so conditioned by this loud and active culture in which we live, that many people are now uncomfortable when experiencing silence. (Do you start to fidget after 30 seconds silence during Mass?!) But the Scriptures indicate that it is necessary for us to be silent - to be quiet inside as well - in order to hear God speak to us. The first reading from today’s Mass recounts how Elijah did not find the Lord in the strong and heavy wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in a “tiny whispering sound.” The Gospel, too, tells us how Jesus went up on the mountain by himself to pray. If Jesus Himself needed some quiet time alone to pray, just think how much we need it! Make a quick examination of your life, and of the routines that you follow. Do you automatically turn on the TV or radio whenever you enter a room? Are you frequently checking your phone or tablet? Do you find that you need to have some background noise present so that you don’t get uncomfortable or fidgety? Then I suggest you consciously decide to make some time each day - especially on Sundays - when you leave all the noise aside. It may take some effort at first to do this. The troubling events in the Church and in our country - political, social, and economic - make it more necessary. But if we are going to be able to hear the Lord speak to us in a tiny whisper, we will need to be quiet. This Tuesday, August 15, is the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, a Holy Day of Obligation. Mass at St. Vincent de Paul is at 8:00am, and at SS Peter & Paul at 5:30pm. See you at Mass! May God bless you! Fr. Schaller  Among the many challenges of the modern world the crisis of marriage and the family is perhaps the greatest. This includes issues like divorce, same-sex unions, transgenderism, laboratory production of life (cloning, in vitro fertilization, etc.), premarital sexual activity, and STDs (AIDS, etc.). At the beginning of the sexual revolution Pope Paul VI promulgated his encyclical letter Humanae Vitae (On Human Life). In this encyclical (published on July 25, 1968, 55 years ago) the Holy Father reaffirmed the constant teaching of the Church regarding the dignity and purpose of Christian marriage. God made man and women, and He is their final end. We properly fulfill our human nature when we live according to God’s wise plan. Marriage (and especially Christian marriage), according to God’s plan, is directed toward the mutual good of husband and wife in a lifelong covenant of love, and the begetting and raising of children (the very fruit of their parent’s love). These two reasons for marriage - for love and for life - are intimately connected. In fact, to separate them is to attack the very heart of marriage. The Holy Father’s encyclical has often been characterized only as an attack against artificial birth control. It is true that he does restate the Church’s constant teaching against artificial birth control. But Humanae Vitae is primarily an affirmation of the beauty and dignity of Christian marriage when it is lived according to God’s plan: in fidelity, fruitfully, generously. Beginning decades before the 60’s, we have been subject to the “world’s” influence in regard to our understanding of sexuality, marriage, and the family. In fact, many Christians have rejected the Church’s teaching in favor of the “world’s” standards. Perhaps the time is right to reconsider what the Church has to say on these most important issues: not what people think the Church teaches, but the actual teachings themselves. One can easily download the document on the internet from a number of sources (including www.vatican.va). I hope you will take the opportunity to see how beautiful, good, and true the Church’s teaching is. May God bless you! Fr. Schaller  One of the common objections that people make about God’s providence and His goodness is the reality of evil in the world. How can it be, they ask, that God allows sin and evil to exist alongside His good creation? The key word in this is “allows.” As the first parable in today’s Gospel makes clear, sin and evil (the weeds growing among the wheat) exist not by the hand of God, but rather because “an enemy has done this.” Like the good wheat which must struggle to bear fruit while fighting against the weeds, we must struggle to live holy lives in a world infected with sin and evil. God intends for us to be saved, and so He gives us the strength necessary (through the Grace of the Sacraments) to persevere until the “harvest time.”
Another aspect of this question about the existence of evil involves the possibility of human freedom. If it were not possible for a man to choose evil, there would be no virtue in having chosen the good. Human freedom would not exist if it were not possible for us to choose one or the other. It is precisely the existence of human freedom – and the possibility of choosing good or evil – that warrants the praise of virtuous acts and the condemning of evil acts. Parents experience this simple principle when their child “who is old enough to know better” does something which is wrong. Out of respect for their child who is now able to make moral choices they show their displeasure. Conversely, when they witness their child doing something good it is right to give praise. May God bless you! Fr. Schaller  We Wisconsinites have a deeper sense of appreciation for summer than our fellow citizens from the South. It is time for vacations, travel, cookouts and family reunions – valued even more now because of time lost during the past 3 years by the covid lockdowns. Since five of my siblings still live in the La Crosse area we always find an excuse to get together, though we sometimes head out to South Dakota, where some of the family now lives. We save money by putting up all the “out of towners” at the homes of those who live in the area. We get some pretty full houses. My parents (now both deceased) had 12 children (three are now deceased), 48 grandchildren, and over 100 great-grandchildren. Including the spouses of their children and grandchildren, they have nearly 200 descendants. (When you get this many, who can keep count?!) As the “family priest” it is my pleasant responsibility to preside at a fair number of baptisms and weddings. I don’t bring this up to brag about my family (after all, I am not the cause of this big family, only one of the many happy beneficiaries), but to reflect upon the fruitfulness of human love which is possible by God’s Grace. The scripture readings of today’s Mass (especially Isaiah and Matthew) speak to us about God’s Word, which potentially “bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.” Is God’s fruitfulness not also demonstrated in the blessings of children, by which the human family - made in the image of God - grows and develops? Too frequently children are seen merely as burdens, or as a drain on our material resources. Such an attitude is the corrupt fruit of a culture of death. But the Gospel of Jesus is a Gospel of Life! I feel tremendously blessed by God to have been born into my family (the eleventh of twelve!). My mother, at her death, had over 120 direct descendants. What a blessing that she lived to see her “hundredfold” and more!
May God bless you! Fr. Schaller  The Feast of Corpus Christi (The Body of Christ) is an opportunity for the Church to reflect more deeply on the mystery of the Gift which the Lord left us in the Mass. At every Mass our offerings of bread and wine are brought to the Altar of Sacrifice and, by the words and actions of the priest who stands in persona Christi (in the person of Christ), they become the Body and Blood of Christ. Though the appearances of bread and wine remain, by faith (in the promise the Lord Himself gave at the Last Supper) we know that we receive the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Savior Jesus Christ. According to the constant teaching of the Church, we receive the “whole Lord” whether we receive Him under the “form of bread” or the “form of wine”. Therefore, when we receive the Sacred Host (or the Precious Blood) alone, we do not lack the full Gift of the Lord in the Eucharist. Lord, we thank You for giving us Your very Self in the Holy Eucharist! “Sweet Sacrament, we Thee adore! Oh, make us love Thee, more and more! Oh, make us love Thee, more and more!”
The celebration of the Holy Eucharist is a true Sacrifice and a Sacred Banquet. It is our highest expression of worship to our God. It is for this reason that all who participate in the Mass should prepare themselves properly – interiorly and exteriorly. It is most fitting that the priest wears special vestments in order to indicate the special and sacred character of the Liturgy. A similar principle applies to all the faithful who participate in the Mass. Though styles may change depending on a number of variables (culture, place, climate, time) there still remains the necessity for all to dress in such a way as to express our love and reverence for the Lord (and respect for each other). The argument that “God doesn’t care what I wear in church” indicates a careless attitude towards God and others. The careful manner with which we groom and dress our body always demonstrates our respect for others. I hope these few guidelines may help: don’t wear shorts, t-shirts, beach wear, clothing with advertising, or any clothing which is immodest. Many people still recall the meaning of a phrase which was commonly used in past years: wear your Sunday Best! God deserves it! May God bless you! Fr. Schaller |
