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

Sunday, January 11^th, 2026                         The Baptism of the Lord

St. Mary, St. Patrick, St. Philip Parishes

Mailing address for all three parishes: PO Box 35, Seneca WI 54654

Website: https://www.catholicchurchesofncc.com

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

Normal Monthly Eucharistic Adoration:

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

St. Philip: First Sunday after the 10:30 AM Mass

Mass Intentions This Week

Pastor: Fr. Tom Huff – Rectory 608-734-3252 email: frtomhuff@gmail.com

Bookkeeper, Bulletin and Mass Intentions: Kevin Murray 608-391-0434 or 608-734-3931 email: secretary@ncc.diolcparish.org

Membership: Yvonne Hady 608 485-2109 email: hadyy@mwt.net

New Bulletin Information Deadline: Mondays at 6:00 PM. Bulletin is posted on our website.

NOTICE: The Weekly Bulletin Email will no longer contain a copy of the bulletin as an attachment. Instead the email will contain a link to the bulletin page of our website. The bulletin page of our website is updated weekly on Fridays. We have had a numbers of problems with people receiving this email. If you would like to receive an email with the Weekly Parish Bulletin link; please email secretary@ncc.diolcparish.org and you will be added to the email list. Here is the web address that is the link to the Weekly Parish Bulletin:

https://www.catholicchurchesofncc.com/bulletins

ALTERNATIVE: You can also copy and paste the above link to your pc/cell phone front page or tab bar to always click directly the most recent bulletin.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Caroline and Therese Mann for their very generous donations to St. Mary's Parish and to St. James!

UPCOMING PARISH EVENTS

Adult Faith Study at St. Mary is on Tuesday January 13^th at 1:30pm

St. Patrick Announcements:

None at this time

St. Philip Announcements:

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

Food Pantry items are needed. Please leave any gift at the rear of the Church.

St. Mary Announcements:

Eucharistic Adoration: January is the month we celebrate Right to Life, with a special Day of Prayer dedicated to the Life of the Unborn, and, especially, for those who are considering ending a life.  We pray that they may receive guidance from our Lord to seek caring counselors for healing and support. Please join us in prayer at our Eucharistic Adoration at St. Mary's on January 24th, from 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM.  Father Tom will hear Confession at 2:30, with Benediction at 3:00 PM.  Sign up sheets are at the back of our churches. Please pray with us....God Bless.

Rosary – 30 minutes before Mass -- St. Mary’s Church is open each day from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm (winter hours). You are welcome to stop in to pray and/or light a candle for your special intention.

First Sunday Potluck Brunch after Mass each first Sunday of the month. All are welcome, dish to share is appreciated, but not required. Next potluck is Sunday, Feb. 1^st.

Saint Mary’s is open 7:00am – 6:00pm (winter hours) daily. Please feel free to come and pray and light a candle if you would like.

Food Pantry Donations can be left in the basket in the rear of the Church.

Tri-Parish Announcements:

St. Mary's is hosting our annual Christmas Season party on Sunday, January 18th at 12:30 PM, at the new American Legion Hall in Gays Mills.  Parishioners from all 3 parishes are welcome to attend.  If you'd like the Christmas Spirit to last a bit longer...come join us! Here's a chance to chat with friends you haven't visited with all year! The cost is $22.00 per person.  A complete dinner of meat balls, chicken, etc. will be served (catered by Kickapoo Corners), including beer and wine!  Of course, there will be BINGO and Prizes! Please sign up on the sheets at the back of the churches no later than January 14th so we can plan on the number attending.... or contact Judy Geyer at 608-208-2592.  Hope to see you there!

We need more Mass Intentions for All Parishes

Youth Envelopes: If the youth members of our parishes would like their own youth envelopes for giving to the Church let us know. Youth envelopes are available. Please contact Kevin if you are interested.

2026 Donation Envelopes are available now. The envelopes do really help us here in the office and are a good reminder for special collections throughout the year. If you do not receive envelopes currently and would like to, please contact Kevin Murray 608-391-0434 or 608-734-3931 email: secretary@ncc.diolcparish.org

Other Announcements:

None at this time.

Feast of The Baptism of our Lord

Already in 300 AD, the Eastern Church celebrated the Epiphany and the Baptism of Jesus on January 6th. In the Western Church, this feast was mentioned in the Liturgy of the Hours. The Christmas Season concludes with the celebration of this Feast, even though a “window” is left open until 2 February, the day on which the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple is celebrated. The latter feast is also known as Candlemas since Christ is proclaimed as the “light for the gentiles”.

If the baptism performed by John the Baptist was meant as a sign of repentance of sin and conversion to a new way of life, it’s reasonable to ask: Why did Jesus, as the sinless Son of God, receive baptism? Narrated in each of the four Gospels, the baptism of Jesus marks the inauguration of His public ministry — His emergence from a life of seeming obscurity into a life of growing popularity on account of His preaching, miracles, healings and proclamation of mercy and forgiveness.

Jesus steps into the Jordan River and into His mission of redemption through this public religious act. The descent of the dove symbolizes the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus receives as the Christ, Greek for “the Anointed One.” This mark of divine blessing is accompanied by the voice of the Father in heaven who proclaims, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. This mysterious utterance reveals Jesus as the Son of God, the One sent from the Father to accomplish the salvation of the human race. In this dramatic scene we already grasp the identity and function of the Most Blessed Trinity — we see the Father as the One who begets and sends the Son to redeem the human race, the Son as the obedient servant who accomplishes the will of the Father, and the Holy Spirit as the Sanctifier who empowers the mission of redemption.

Already at the beginning of His ministry, Jesus’ fundamental identity is situated in this Trinitarian relationship. In the early Church, the visit of the Magi, the baptism of the Lord and the miracle at Cana together constituted the meaning of Epiphany, for each of these three events reveals, manifests and unveils who Jesus is.

Drawing profound parallels between Jesus’ baptism and our own, we can see that, just as Jesus is revealed as the beloved Son at the Jordan, so, too, we receive a new identity in baptism as adopted children of the Father. The fruit of Christ’s victory over the power of sin and death is the divine invitation for us to share in the very life of the Trinity. Jesus Christ freely shares His very nature with us through the transforming waters of baptism. At the moment of our spiritual rebirth in the font, the Father beholds us with delight, exclaiming, “This is my beloved son or beloved daughter with whom I am well pleased.” Christianity first and foremost is about whom we have become in Christ before it is about what we do or how we act. This saving act of spiritual adoption draws us into the very life of God and His merciful grace.

DIVINE MERCY IN MY SOUL – The Lord said to me, “It should be of no concern to you how anyone else acts…That is no concern of yours. As for you, be always merciful toward other people, and especially toward sinners.” (Diary, 1446}

                                                                                           Income from Last Week

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.

Reflection on Our Lord's Baptism

It was not only the Eternal Son Who was present at His baptism, but the Father and the Holy Spirit as well. The Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and the Father’s Voice spoke to acknowledge His oneness with His Son. Therefore, every time we make a humble act of sincere repentance either within the Sacrament of Reconciliation when needed, or outside this Sacrament, we not only encounter our Lord but also receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and share more fully in our adoption as sons and daughters of the Father in Heaven.

As we commemorate Jesus’ baptism liturgically, we celebrate the fact that our Christian baptism was the beginning of this new unity with the Holy Trinity. But we also celebrate our oneness with God, which is renewed every time we humbly go to confession when needed or make an interior act of repentance for our sins. If we fully understood what happens every time we acknowledge our sins and repent of them, we would never grow tired of repenting. Every time we acknowledge and repent of our sins, we meet Christ anew, receive a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and affirm and deepen our adoption by the Father in Heaven.