Photos of sister parishes--Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church in Kingston, Jamaica, and
St. Mary's Church in Florence, Wisconsin.
Called to be Holy, Fully Engaged, Fully Alive
WELCOME BACK! St. Mary’s is pleased to announce the return to public Masses with moderate limits on public gatherings and moderate social distancing (effective June 13th and 14th). Guidelines for this phase (phase II) of re-opening can be found in the church entryway or on the parish website by visiting www.stmaryflorence.org. We are happy to welcome you back to the celebration of Mass in this limited way, and look forward to seeing you in church!
THROUGH THE WATERS OF BAPTISM, we welcome Benjamin Robert Wood, son of Tyler and Sara Wood, into our faith community. May Benjamin and his parents come to know and understand the love of the Lord and grow in faith.
THANK YOU to Meg Dallapiazza and MaryKay Williams for displaying their lovely flower arrangements in front of the altar last weekend; THANK YOU to MaryJo Bomberg for helping prepare and distribute the monthly prayer line; and THANK YOU to Sue King for washing and ironing church linens.
FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS . . . If any one has fresh cut flowers or outdoor pots of flowers they would like to display in the worship space this summer, please feel free to bring in an arrangement. Simply drop them off at the parish office before noon on Friday, or feel free to contact MaryKay Williams at (906) 282-4937 to arrange to have them picked up and brought to church. Please note that due to some allergies, we kindly ask that any flowers with a strong fragrance be omitted.
ST. VINCENT de PAUL REFLECTION: In the Gospel, Jesus says: “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves,” and taking the five loaves and two fish, he blest them and gave them to the disciples to feed the crowd. This week, please say a special prayer each day for the poor and forgotten in our parish.
THE WEEK AHEAD
SATURDAY, AUG. 1st — Mass at 6:00 pm. Kick-off of Seminarian collection.
SUNDAY, AUG. 2nd — Mass at 8:30 am. Benjamin Wood baptism during Mass. Kick-off of Seminarian collection.
Rosary at 8:00 pm (temporarily suspended).
TUESDAY, AUG. 4th — Mass at 5:30 pm.
THURSDAY, AUG. 6th — Eucharistic Adoration from 4:00 pm—6:00 pm (temporarily suspended).
FRIDAY, AUG. 7th — Mass at 8:30 am. Liturgy of the Word with Communion at Florence Health Services at
10:00 am (temporarily suspended).
SATURDAY, AUG. 8th — Mass at 6:00 pm. Parish hall rental.
SUNDAY, AUG. 9th — Mass at 8:30 am. Rosary at 8:00 pm (temporarily suspended).
A SPECIAL THANK YOU . . . Heartfelt thanks for the altar servers’ albs and other church garments. I collected your valuable donations . . . , and we had an altar servers’ fashion show for those in attendance at Sunday’s Eucharist. Now, we are only partially open due to the coronavirus protocols where there are no servers to assist at the liturgies. But, once we can have a full collection of altar servers, I will document the event and send pictures. Please let us keep each other’s communities in our prayers. We are doing our best to prepare for this new reality . . . Thank you, again, and God’s blessings! Br. Bernie Spitzley, SVD, Administrator of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church in Kingston, Jamaica (St. Mary’s sister parish)
SEMINARIAN COLLECTION KICK-OFF! A spiritual family needs spiritual fathers. That is why the 15th annual Seminarian Collection: Hope for the Future, Help Them Today is so important. By now, you most likely received a letter from Bishop Ricken requesting your help in supporting our local seminarians. Please return your generous contribution to this collection using the pledge card and return envelope you received in the mail. A gift of $15, $150, $515 or more will help our seminarians move forward in their work of becoming missionary disciples. Every gift makes a difference. Our seminarians are our Hope for the Future, let us Help Them Today! As a diocese, we anticipate costs of $1,000,000 this year for tuition, room and board, health insurance, support of the Office of Vocations and the work of Fr. Mark Mleziva and Fr. Adam Bradley. Friends and followers of Jesus support one another! To make your gift today, visit (If you did not receive the mailing, feel free to take an envelope with you from the church entryway. We ask that checks be made payable to CF– Seminarian Collection and mailed directly to the Catholic Foundation, PO Box 23001, Green Bay, WI, 54305-3001. Thank you in advance for responding in faith to our Seminarian Collection.
-----------------------------------------week of July 25/26, 2020, below-----------------------------------
Called to be Holy, Fully Engaged, Fully Alive
WELCOME BACK! St. Mary’s is pleased to announce the return to public Masses with moderate limits on public gatherings and moderate social distancing (effective June 13th and 14th). Guidelines for this phase (phase II) of re-opening can be found in the church entryway or on the parish website by visiting www.stmaryflorence.org. We are happy to welcome you back to the celebration of Mass in this limited way, and look forward to seeing you in church!
THANK YOU to Stan Nowak and an anonymous parishioner for helping with building and grounds repairs and roofing issues; THANK YOU to our valuable worship space and parish hall cleaning crews; and THANK YOU to Roy Rietz, Dan Doll and Fr. Timothy for making deliveries to and from Niagara.
THE WEEK AHEAD
SATURDAY, JULY 25th — Mass at 6:00 pm.
SUNDAY, JULY 26th — Mass at 8:30 am. Rosary at 8:00 pm (temporarily suspended).
TUESDAY, JULY 28th — Secular Carmelite Meeting from 3:30 pm—5:30 pm, in the parish hall. Mass at
5:30 pm.
THURSDAY, JULY 30th — Eucharistic Adoration from 4:00 pm—6:00 pm (temporarily suspended).
FRIDAY, JULY 31st — Mass at 8:30 am. Liturgy of the Word with Communion at Florence Health Services at
10:00 am (temporarily suspended).
SATURDAY, AUG. 1st — Mass at 6:00 pm. Seminarian collection.
SUNDAY, AUG. 2nd — Mass at 8:30 am. Benjamin Wood baptism during Mass. Seminarian collection.
Rosary at 8:00 pm (temporarily suspended).
Prayer to St. Joseph
Good St. Joseph,
As you led the Holy Family, watch over our families.
Help our family and all families to know and share God's love.
In our family relationships, may we find healing
and seek to be holy.
May our fathers help us to become faithful disciples of Jesus
who share our love for Him.
As foster father of Jesus, watch over all
who serve as spiritual fathers.
In a special way, bless our Holy Father, our Bishop,
and our priests.
May they follow your humble example in their fatherly care
for the people of God, the Church.
With Mary, you raised Jesus the High Priest.
You know our need for priests.
Please raise up good and holy priests from our families
to serve the people of our diocese.
May our children and grandchildren hear and say "yes"
to the call of Jesus, just as you and Mary did.
Good St. Joseph, pray for us.
CARING FOR SOMEONE WITH AN INJURY OR ILLNESS? Consider attending the Powerful Tools for Caregivers Workshop hosted by the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) of Florence County and taking place virtually for 6 weeks every Tuesday beginning August 11th—September 15th, from 10:00 am—11:30 am. Learn valuable skills to help cope with the demands of caring for someone, including effective communication, handling challenging situations, stress management and much more! The class is FREE, but participants will need access to a computer or tablet and internet. Pre-registration is required, space is limited. To register, call the ADRC at 715-528-4890.
ST. VINCENT de PAUL REFLECTION: In the Gospel, we find that the demand of daily Christian living is to spend our life primarily searching for the kingdom of God. Know that as you donate to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to help the poor, you have indeed found the kingdom of God.
OUR SEMINARIANS NEED YOUR HELP . . . Over the past 15 years, our diocese has witnessed incredible growth in all vocations including the priesthood. Let’s keep that growth going and support our future spiritual fathers! Please be generous with our Annual Seminarian Collection: Hope for the Future, Help Them Today. An important letter will arrive in your mailbox this week asking for your help. Next weekend is the kick-off of the 15th year of this annual collection. Your donation provides tuition, room and board, insurance, a small stipend for our seminarians and will support the Vocation Office’s efforts to call forth more candidates. The total annual cost for our 14 seminarians is around $1,000,000. As friends and followers of Jesus, we support each other. In order to make your gift today, visit
ON-LINE GIVING OPTIONS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: While the parish has received many generous donations throughout the past weeks during the shutdown, and we have applied with many other small businesses for the Payroll Protection Program, I did want to make you aware that the diocese has made available to all parishes an on-line giving option during these days of parish shutdowns, so people may continue to support the work of their parishes. You can make a one-time online gift, or setup a recurring (weekly, monthly) gift that will be made and then forwarded on to the parish of your choosing. To access the online giving page through the Diocesan Catholic Foundation, simply visit https://www.givecentral.org/appeals-form-registration/acp5e7d16110ebfd/user/guest.
Thank you for your consideration of our parish needs during this difficult time for us all! Gifts may also be dropped off at the church using your envelopes at St Mary’s any weekday morning, or left in the mailbox outside the main entrance.
God bless! Fr. Timothy
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