Sauk Centre Catholic Parishes Newsletter — April 2021

S T. A L E X I U S - O U R L A D Y O F T H E A N G E L S - S T. PA U L ’S

Get to Know the Members of Our Area Catholic Community Council!

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he Leadership Team takes on the biggest ideas involving all six parishes — St. Donatus in Brooten; St. Alexius in West Union; St. Francis de Sales in Belgrade; Sts. Peter and Paul in Elrosa; Our Lady of the Angels in Sauk Centre; St. Paul’s in Sauk Centre. Their most ongoing topic is how to foster stewardship as a way of life. They are a great help to the pastor in guiding our ACC. The purpose of our team is threefold: 1. To be the primary body of the faithful for the pastor to consult for pastoral direction within the Area Catholic Community (ACC).

2. To study, pray, listen and act upon the inspirations of the Holy Spirit as a way to further the mission of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church in each parish and in the ACC. 3. To work together for the greatest pastoral good of each parish and of the ACC. There are 14 lay members including representation from each parish and from the Catholic school. In addition, we have representation from each priest.

ABBY ZENZEN 1. How are you involved in your parish?

I actually belong to St. John the Baptist in Meire Grove. I am the secretary of the St. John’s Society,

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which is a combination of our former men’s and women’s societies. I am also a Eucharistic Minister, hoping soon we can return to this ministry.

2. How did you get involved on the Leadership Team?

I was asked to represent Holy Family School.

It is very hard to say “no” to Fr. Greg or Lynn Peterson.

3. What is the best part about being on the team?

I think building relationships with all the different people from the different parishes has been the best part — understanding where they come from and how each parish has unique needs and gifts.

The common bond of loving our Lord and wanting to serve our parishes and schools is pretty awesome!

4. Being on the Leadership Team, what is your hope for the ACC? I think it is important to be fiscally responsible but also remember emotions are involved. When business decisions are made it is important to also

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ST. ALEXIUS - OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS - ST. PAUL’S

Parishes on the Prairie Annual Retreat Join us this Easter season for a time of prayer, reflection and fellowship at our community wide retreat! Talks will be given by Fr. Greg Paffel, followed by silent reflection and small group discussion. It’s a great opportunity to grow on our path of discipleship as we learn how to live stewardship in our day to day lives.

There are three opportunities to attend this event. All are welcome. We look forward to seeing you!

Schedule Date/Time: Friday, April 9, 7-9 p.m.

Location: St. Francis de Sales, Belgrade 7:00 p.m. Registration & Opening 7:20 p.m. Talk - Fr. Greg - Stewardship starts at Home!

7:55 p.m. Silent Reflection 8:15 p.m. Small Group 8:45 p.m. Commissioning & Blessing Date: Saturday, April 10, 1-5 p.m.

Location: Centre for Christ, Sauk Centre 1:00 p.m. Registration & Opening 1:25 p.m. Talk - Fr. Greg - Stewardship starts at Home!

2:05 p.m. Silent Reflection 2:25 p.m. Small Group 3:00 p.m. Commissioning & Blessing 3:15 p.m. Confessions 4:00 p.m. Mass at St. Paul’s (optional) Saturday’s session will be Live on Zoom Talks presented by Fr. Greg with small group sessions and Q&A (once registered, a follow-up email with Zoom link will be provided)

* Current COVID precautions will be used, including wearing masks, if that is a requirement at the time of the retreat. Max of 50 people allowed for each in person session.

To register for Friday, Saturday or Virtually visit: https://annualparishretreat.eventbrite.com or call 320-429-8127 and leave a message including name, phone number, email and preferred session (there will be no return call).

PLEASE REGISTER BY APRIL 7.

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A Letter From Our Pastor

Celebrating Christ’s Resurrection My Dear Friends in Christ,

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ow did you feel at the end of the Palm Sunday Mass? You may not have noticed, but there was an abrupt shift of tone in that liturgy. It began with great joy, as we celebrated Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem to the acclamation of the crowds. But then the mood shifted to sorrow, despair even, when the Passion Gospel was read, for we heard the shouts of “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” from those same crowds a few days later.

Palm Sunday, of course, was the beginning of Holy Week, the most important week in the Christian year. The confusion of conflicting moods is spread through the week, especially during the Easter Triduum — from sundown Holy Thursday to sundown Easter Sunday.

Holy Thursday offers us the glorious Mass of the Lord’s Supper celebrating the institution of the Eucharist before we pass to the sadness of the betrayal and arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. The next day brings us the Good Friday Liturgy of the Passion with our recognition of what our sins did to the Incarnate Son of God. Then, after a day of waiting as we mourn Jesus’ burial and repose in the tomb, we celebrate His victory over sin, Satan and death at the Easter Vigil on Saturday night or at the Masses the next day. If we have participated in all the main services of the Triduum, we arrive at Sunday evening exhausted but joyful.

This year, Palm Sunday fell on the final Sunday of March, and we observe Holy Week and Easter Sunday early in April. That means we will spend most of April in the Easter Season, a period filled with joy and thanksgiving. Our gladness comes not only because Christ rose from the dead, but also because we benefit from it. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (§654) puts it, “The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the

way to a new life.”

In other words, Christ’s Resurrection is the source of our own future resurrection. St. Paul wrote about it to the Romans in the following words (Rom 6:5): “For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.”

Eternal life in union with Christ — a hope for a new life beginning now and extending on into heaven — is the result of Jesus’ Resurrection. What greater grounds for thanksgiving can there be than this Easter hope? We should sing with joy about this promise from God! What’s more, Paul also wrote (Col 3:12): “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.”

Jesus’ Resurrection and His promise of a new life for us mean that we need to live in conformity with our status as adopted children of God. And how do we show our joy and our gratitude to God for this amazing gift He has given us? We join in worship and praise God by word and song. We share the Good News of Jesus’ victory over death with our family, friends and neighbors. And we offer back to the Lord a portion of the time, talent and treasure He has entrusted to us. Yes, the Easter message that we share in the benefits of Christ’s Resurrection is the ultimate foundation for all Christian stewardship.

The Lord is risen, alleluia.

In our Father’s hands,

Fr. Greg Paffel Pastor

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ST. ALEXIUS - OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS - ST. PAUL’S

Get to Know the Members of Our Area see the impact these decisions make to the emotions of the humans that are impacted. I think we all want the same thing — a healthy, thriving church where unique identities can still be maintained.

5. How long will you serve on the Leadership Team?

Holy Family School, Sauk Centre — I serve until June 30, 2024. I did just sign up for one more threeyear term, so they are stuck with me!

JUDY DETLOFF 1. How are you involved in your parish?

I am a sacristan, Rosary leader, lector, Extraordinary Minister, Anchoress of the Seven Sisters Apostolate in our parish, I do the laundry for the church, and I am on the ACC committee.

2. How did you get involved on the Leadership Team?

I was asked to serve by Fr. David.

3. What is the best part about being on the team?

We all work together like a family! We all have the same goal, to better our parishes, and increase the attendance and involvement in Faith Formation, by sharing resources.

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4. Being on the Leadership Team, what is your hope for the ACC? I hope that we can get the youth and young couples involved in our churches, and bring Stewardship to the Southern parishes.

5. How long will you serve on Leadership Team?

St. Donatus, Brooten — I serve until June 30, 2024.

Our mission is to bring souls to Our Lord, and help them gain the rewards of heaven. Our six parishes share one Pastor and two Parochial Vicars. We have combined and made one website, and one bulletin for all six parishes! We are also sharing resources for our Faith Formation!

DEB FRIE 1. How are you involved in your parish?

I’ve been a member at St. Alexius for 36 years. I’m involved with the Funeral Committee, Christian Mothers and help with sausage supper preparations for several days before the actual supper.

2. How did you get involved on the Leadership Team?

I was nominated by the Pastoral Council at the time. Fr. Greg called and asked me to be a part of the committee.

3. What is the best part about being on the Leadership Team?

I think the best part is getting to know people from all six of our parishes. Everyone is willing to work together for the betterment of all parishes.

Catholic Community Council 4. Being on the Leadership Team, what is your hope for the ACC? My hope is that all of us continue to grow in our faith and can come to work together like a well-oiled machine.

5. What goals are the Leadership Team working towards? Why are these goals are important?

The leadership team is working on trying to get more involvement from everyone in several areas, including adult faith formation, stronger youth formation and more community involvement with non-parishioners.

All of these are important because things go better when more people are involved. The old saying “many hands make light work for everyone” definitely applies.

6. Which goal are you most interested in and why?

What concrete things need to happen to achieve that goal?

I’d like to be more involved with mission trips for the youth. If more youth could go on these trips, they would realize a lot more about what’s really going on in the world. Not everyone has adequate food, clothing, education and shelter. The first thing that needs to happen before these trips can occur is for the COVID-19 pandemic to be brought under control.

JANET ZENZEN 1. How are you involved in your parish?

I am involved in the parish of Our Lady of the Angels by volunteering as a lector, a Weekend Rosary Leader, adorer of the Blessed Sacrament, praying for teenagers through Teen Intercessory Prayer, and a Money Counter.

2. How did you get involved on the Leadership Team?

Fr. Greg asked if I’d consider representing OLA as part of the ACC Leadership Team. I am grateful that my parents brought me to OLA to Mass every Sunday for as long as I can remember. It taught me the importance to have worship and the consistent renewal of faith in my life. I felt that was a good reason to say “yes.”

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3. What is the best part about being on the Leadership Team?

We share a unified intention for the Catholic faith to be a foundation for people.

4. Being on the Leadership Team, what is your hope for the ACC? My hope for the ACC is for our churches to become more vibrant; to welcome individuals and families to the Catholic faith, to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ; to learn His teachings through the sacraments and guidance by the service of the priests in our parishes.

5. What happens at the Leadership Team meetings?

When and where do they meet?

We pray together and discuss what is working well in each parish and what could be improved on. Through collaboration with each other, we hope to help build stronger parishes. We meet the second Thursday of the month at one of the six parishes or at the Centre for Christ.

6. If someone would like to submit requests to the Leadership Team, how do they do that?

Any requests to the Leadership Team may be made by contacting any one of the Leadership Team Members. Written requests may be dropped off at any of the parish offices, Attn: ACC Leadership Team.

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ST. ALEXIUS - OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS - ST. PAUL’S

PARISHIONERS MIKE AND MARY S

Trusting in

ometimes, when you ask God for something, He responds unexpectedly. This was most certainly the case for St. Paul’s parishioners Mary and Mike Thomas! Having been acquaintances in high school in Foley, Minn., they didn’t stay in contact after graduation. Mary began working as a nursing assistant at a hospital in St. Cloud and married her husband, John, in 1964. The couple moved to Sauk Centre and had two children. They were active at St. Paul’s in a variety of different ways, from bringing Communion to the homebound, to being active in the Divine Mercy prayer group. But in 2009, John passed away.

“Sometime after John passed away, I was sitting in our sunroom praying,” Mary says. “I had John’s picture on one side of me and the merciful Jesus picture on the other — I looked at them and I said, ‘You

know, John, Fr. Todd said you are more available to me now than you were when you were living on earth, so you talk to the merciful Jesus and you find me somebody that can make me laugh again.’ That was my prayer, and then I let it go.”

Not long afterward, Mary found herself at her 50th high school reunion, with an old friend joining her table. Mike was living in Colorado, but happened to be in town and decided to attend the event, despite not having a formal invitation.

“When he got back to Colorado, he started sending me little cards and stuff, and he called me and we started conversing,” Mary says.

After a year, Mike had moved back to Minnesota and his annulment was complete. One day, they went to chat with Fr. Greg and ended up leaving his office planning

Mike and Mary Thomas love being part of the parish community at St. Paul’s.

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THOMAS:

the Merciful Jesus and Serving with Great Love a wedding the following month. They were married on April 11, Divine Mercy Sunday, at a parish Mass.

“It all fell in place just wonderfully,” Mary says of their wedding, which involved both her and Mike’s children, as well as children from Holy Family School, where the couple volunteered with the lunch program.

Today, Mike and Mary love to use their time of retirement to give back to the parish community. Mike returned to his faith upon connecting with Mary and jumped back into the life of the parish with both feet.

“I was away from the Church for 10 or 15 years and until I re-met Mary, then I came back,” Mike says. “I’ve always jumped in with both feet — that’s kind of the way I am.”

The Thomases are now Eucharistic Ministers, greeters, wash the altar linens, and teach faith formation to children. They are also involved in several prayer ministries, praying with those who are dying through the NODA (No One Dies Alone) Ministry, those experiencing spiritual warfare through the Jesus Heals Ministry, and our young people through TIP (Teen Intercessor Prayers). Mike is also a member of the Knights of Columbus and Mary a part of the Seven Sisters Apostolate, a group dedicated to praying for priests.

They continue to have a great devotion to Divine Mercy and faithfully spend time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in our Divine Mercy Chapel.

They are also part of the Divine Mercy Prayer Group, which gathers monthly to read St. Faustina’s diary, as well as coordinating the parish prayer and festivities for Divine Mercy Sunday. In May and October, they

invite fellow parishioners to come to pray at their home, at their large outdoor Rosary, which was built in honor of Mary’s late husband, John. They also participate in a Bible study, visit nursing homes, feed the hungry with Caring and Sharing Hands in the cities, help at funeral dinners, and lead the Rosary.

“The Bible says, ‘Don’t put your light under a bushel basket,’” Mary says. “We tipped that basket over and we want our light to shine. You let your light shine a little bit and pretty soon you’re a 100watt bulb. You’re plugged in and there’s no unplugging you. The light gets brighter all the time.

“When we get plugged into these ministries, our light shines for everyone to see,” she adds. “We want to encourage people to get plugged in.”

Both Mike and Mary have found that trust in the merciful love of God is what sustains them through difficult times, whether it be a pandemic, loss of a spouse, or just regular life challenges. They encourage their fellow parishioners to find peace and consolation in Divine Mercy.

“I know for myself, to realize Who is in charge here, everything we have and we go through is because of God,” Mike says. “We have to focus on that.

It’s all God’s plan. I just say, ‘I don’t know what Your plan is, but You’ve got one.’”

“We say, ‘Jesus, I trust in You — Jesus, I give all of this to You and You will take care of it,’” Mary adds.

“Just pray, don’t worry about stuff.”

Thank you, Mike and Mary, for all the ways you serve and inspire our parish and community!

U PCOMING E VENTS • FIRST HOLY COMMUNION at St. Paul's Church — April 18 at 1 p.m.

• FIRST HOLY COMMUNION at Our Lady of the Angels Church — April 18 at 1 p.m.

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ST. ALEXIUS - OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS - ST. PAUL’S Parish Office: 304 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378 (320) 352-2196 www.catholic-sc.org Mass Schedule

Saturday 4:00 p.m. - St. Paul’s Saturday 5:00 p.m. - Our Lady of the Angels Saturday 8:00 p.m. - St. Paul’s Sunday 8:00 a.m. - St. Paul’s Sunday 8:30 a.m. - St. Alexius Sunday 10:00 a.m. - St. Paul’s Sunday 10:30 a.m. - Our Lady of the Angels

Reconciliation Schedule

Thursday 4:00 p.m. - St. Paul’s Saturday 3:00 p.m. - St. Paul’s Saturday 4:00 p.m. - Our Lady of the Angels Sunday 8:00 a.m. - St. Alexius

Irene Henry

COMMUNITY EXTENDS HEARTFELT GRATITUDE TO

T

he month of April marks 50 years that Irene Henry has served as dinner coordinator — a coordinator that has been the contact for funerals, special events-lunches, receptions, etc. Any time we have a social event that involves food, Irene has been our “go-to” person! What is so special about Irene is that she is always ready to help, lead and get the job done, whether it’s for a gathering of 10 or 500. Her experience and ideas have been so helpful, and she will be missed. As we read in Matthew 25:23, “Well done, my good and faithful servant...” — and this is certainly applicable to the work Irene has done for the church for so many years, and we offer her our heartfelt gratitude upon her retirement. Thank you, Irene!