Catholic Churches of NCC includes: Saint Patrick Parish Seneca WI; Saint Philip Parish Rolling Ground WI; Saint Mary Parish Gays Mills WI; St James Cemetery Rising Sun WI; Kneeland Cemetery Seneca WI catholicchurchesofncc.com

St. Mary, St. Patrick, St. Philip Parishes May 12, 2024

Ascension Sunday 

PO Box 35, Seneca WI 54654 

Website: https://www.catholicchurchesofncc.com/

Mass Intentions This Week:

Confessions: Usually, 30 minutes before every Mass and by appointment.

Monthly Eucharistic Adoration:

* St. Patrick: First Friday after the 8:30 AM Mass

* St. Philip: First Sunday after the 10:30 AM Mass with confessions for 30 minutes.

Pastor: Fr. Tom Huff -- frtomhuff@gmail.com St. Patrick's Rectory 608-734-3252

Bookkeeper: Angie Martin -- 608-734-3931 stpatricks.seneca.bookkeeper@gmail.com

Bulletin/Mass Intentions/Membership: Yvonne Hady -- 608 485-2109 hady@centurytel.net

Bulletin Information Deadline: Tuesdays at 4:00 PM. Bulletin is posted on our website.

UPCOMING PARISH EVENTS

Mother’s Day Roses this weekend: After weekend Masses. All proceeds support primarily local pro-life efforts. Cost of roses is 1/$3, 2/$5, 6/$15, 12/$30.

Wed., May 15 Adult Faith Study at St. Mary’s, 7:00 PM

Income from Last Week

From the Pastor’s Desk:

The Ascension of the Lord

We tend to think along a sequence, especially when it comes to the passing of time. One hour follows another; one year follows another, and so on and so on. The life of Jesus can easily appear to be one event following another; Holy Week, His resurrection, His appearances, His Ascension, and next week we shall celebrate Pentecost, the sending of the Holy Spirit. But what if in Jesus and also in us, eternity has become mingled with our earthly time? What if some events that happen in our lifetime last forever?

However, by the Ascension of Jesus we don’t mean that He used to be God up in heaven, then He lived among as a man for about 33 years, and then following His resurrection, He ascended back into heaven as before. Jesus would then start to look like some kind of meteorite that came from outer space, appeared briefly on our planet, and then went away again to some far-off place.

By His Ascension, Jesus has changed how we humans live in time; not just how He lives. Jesus has sanctified time and made it holy. When Jesus returns in glory all things will be transformed definitively. It is in this hope that we Christians can spend our lives in doing good, not afraid that goodness will be undone and blotted out by the passing of time. Glad too, that the evil we have done in the past can be repented of and forgiven.

Unbelievers may doubt that anything or anyone can last beyond time. Yet the Christian believer does indeed believe that the good done, the virtues lived out, and the person we become by God’s grace will not be dissolved by the unstoppable passage of time. Life is not a succession of moments that end when a person dies.

By His Ascension, Jesus, has made a human space within God's kingdom for us to be welcomed into. Already we are welcomed, although we do not yet dwell there fully or with absolute certainty. Already this union with God happens when we live out the supernatural virtues of faith, hope and charity. This union is touch-and-go, because while in this world of time we can be sinful as well as virtuous. On this Solemnity, let us be grateful that the ascended Jesus gives every human person the opportunity, time and the space to flourish, both here in this life and forever in the next.

Tri-Parish Announcements:

Dear Parishioners of St. Philip, St. Mary and St. Patrick Parishes,

My name is Dominic Carstens, a member of St. Philip's Parish. This summer, I will be journeying across the country in adoration with our Eucharistic Lord. Myself and a few other young Catholics will be second only to the Disciples in total distance walked with Christ! Our journey is part of the National Eucharistic Congress' mission to renew our country with the presence of Jesus Christ. If you would like to participate in this mission through me, please consider donating. The easiest way to do so is to write a check out to Dominic Carstens and then give it to a family member or mail it to me at: 43997 Barney's Dr, Soldiers Grove, WI, ZIP 54655 Thank you for your support! -Dominic

St. Mary Announcements:

Rosary – 30 minutes before weekend Mass -- St. Mary’s Church is open each day from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. You are welcome to stop in to pray and/or light a candle for your special intention.

St. Mary First Communion and May Crowning Brunch in the church basement after Mass this Sunday. All are invited.

Church Clean-up Note: If anyone was unable to help with the clean-up day on Sat., May 4, there is a checklist of things that need to be done on the counter in the church basement all week. Stop in whenever is convenient for you. Your help is greatly appreciated!

St. Philip Announcements:

St. Philip Candles: Contact Bonnie Murphy. The cost is $5 per candle.

• Blessed Sacrament: Health of Mick McCormick (Janet McCormick)

MARRIAGE MOMENTS: Mother’s Day -- Of course if you are alive you were born of a mother. Maybe you are also a mother to children of your own. As you remember your own mother this week, give gratitude for lessons learned and to your beloved spouse who joins you in loving.

DIVINE MERCY IN MY SOUL--- St. Faustina writes: “Help me, that my ears may be merciful so that I may give heed to my neighbors’ needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moanings.”  (Diary, Notebook I)

Tri-Parish Prayer List – We want to pray for the ill and others in our parishes who need ongoing prayer. To be placed on or to place someone on our prayer list, please call: Sue Peterson 608-735-4865, Bonnie Murphy 608-386-4954, or Ica Boylen 608-734-3287.

Did You Know? How Mother’s Day Started in the Catholic Church

First Part is by George Ryan

In the United States, the first Mother’s Day was celebrated by Anna Jarvis in honor of her late mother over 100 years ago in 1908. While Mother’s Day in the United States is a secular holiday, the Catholic Church has been celebrating the original “Mothering Sunday” since the earliest years of the Church.

The original Mother’s Day, “Mothering Sunday,” is a pious Catholic tradition that started in the earliest days of the Church and takes place on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in the liturgical season of Lent.

Laetare Sunday is a more celebratory day in the otherwise austere Lenten season. On this day, people would pay a visit and return to their “Mother Church” where they were baptized, otherwise their local parish church or the nearest cathedral (the mother church to all churches in the diocese.) Those that returned to their Mother Church on Mothering Sunday were said to have gone “a-mothering.”

From the earliest days of the Church, Christians have had a sense of maternal love; a love for Holy Mother Church, which through baptism gave them a new birth into God's Family. Christians have also had a maternal love for Mary as the Mother of God, given to all of us to be our Spiritual Mother.

And so, on Mother’s Day Weekend, we want to honor and cherish all the good and wonderful mothers in our lives. The vocation of good Christian mothers is so very important to a healthy and wholesome family life and society: By instilling family love with the Christian Faith and strong moral values. Parental love (of both moms and dads) can go far in helping children to stay on the right path in life or getting them back on the right path after they have gone astray. My mother once said: that the hardest thing for a good parent to experience is to see one of the children going down a destructive path in life. And I would think that all good parents would say the same thing.

A Christian mother’s love can provide helpful guidance to her children in living a life full of purpose, honesty, and moral goodness. Such love and goodness has the ability flow into society transforming it to be more wholesome, with strong Christian moral values, nurturing the Culture of Life and taming the more wild side of humanity.

The strength and goodness of our nation will depend much upon strong God-loving parents (fathers and mothers). Those who are willing to go against the tide of moral corruption in our society. Motherhood is no doubt a challenging vocation. And yet the rewards are evident when they look upon their children with a wholesome pride. A huge “thank-you” to all moms and God bless you! Because along with good fathers, you are so necessary and important! May we all appreciate our moms and show them our love today and always!