Love is Found in Service and Ministry

Dear Parishioners,

Spring has sprung, albeit in a very wet way. Yet, we all know we need the precipitation given our drought situation. In addition, many of our ministries are becoming more active after being shuddered or reduced due to the threat of the pandemic. It has been heart-warming to see many parishioners who have been away return to regular attendance at Mass. Last weekend, we had our annual Spring Cleaning event. I hope you noticed how much better the campus looks. A big thank you needs to go out to Kirk Chapman of our Maintenance Committee who lead the charge of this wonderful event and all who participated in it.

In this weekend’s Gospel, we hear from Jesus, ‘I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’” Our Lord created the Church, founded upon Peter as the first leader, so that we would be able to live out this commandment more easily and allow it to energize us to go out and love others. This is done in many ways, including the ministries of the parish. Thank God our ministries are starting to come back to life again so that we can get busy about living out this new commandment from our Lord.

Here is a simple list of the ministries winding up again at St. Anne:

• “Newcomer’s Ice Cream Social” which will take place this Sunday at 1:30 PM in the Sky Room. If you are new to our parish in the last two years or so, please consider coming. We will have, of course, ice cream with various toppings. The leaders of various ministries will be present to help you get acquainted with the activities and mission of our parish.  

• This Saturday (May 14), we witnessed the return of our school’s BINGO & Spaghetti Dinner. 

• One of the most important ministries is that of funerals. Connected to our funerals is our ability to offer receptions afterwards. In this regard, I hope that our Funeral Reception Teams will return so that we can host these important receptions again. 

• I have been told, as of this writing, that we may very well have Coffee & Donuts after the Sunday Masses this very weekend. Ah! Yes! Coffee & Donuts, the eighth sacrament!  Just kidding of course. I have a feeling this ministry may need more help with set up and take down of tables as well as cleaning.

• The removal of the temporary 9 AM Sunday Mass which we had added due to COVID, means that we can start hosting other events between the Masses on Sunday’s such as “Catholicism 101."

At Our Lady of the River, the community was quickly able to start up Coffee & Donuts after Mass once the mask mandates were dropped. At St. Patrick of the Forest, I hope, they will be able to do similar soon. I know that they have are will soon restarted their Pastoral and Administrative Council meetings. 

None of this would be possible had people not responded in faith to God’s prompting. Please pray and ask God how you are being called to participate in these or other ministries of our parish and/or missions. We are called to be in greater communion with our Lord, and he wants us, consequently, to be in greater communion with each other. Participating in any of these and other ministries of our parish or missions, is a magnificent way to encounter God and his people. And by doing so, others will come to know that we are His disciples.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Ministry Personnel Opportunities

Dear Parishioners,

In the past several months, we have been working hard to lift up our ministry staffing in the parish office. As such, Carol Scherf recently move from our Bookkeeper position to our Parish Manager position, replacing Stephen Voehl who moved on to other employment late in 2021. Carol’s move left a hole in our Bookkeeper position which we have been working to fill. This is an important aspect of our work to serve our parish, our missions, and our school. From the foundations of financial stability and accounting comes healthy pastoral ministry for the church. If you or someone you know would like to join our team as a part-time bookkeeper, please email a resume and cover letter to BookkeeperSearch@stannegp.com or come by the office and give them to Carol.

Next, we are looking for someone whom God is calling to be our part-time Coordinator of Youth Ministry. If you or someone you know may be qualified for such an important ministry position here at St. Anne, please encourage them to apply. The details for applications in this regard are found in this bulletin. If this is not you, then let us all pray that God will bring to us just the right person who help lead and inspire our teens in their faith with Christ.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Ministry To Our Homebound During COVID-19

Dear parishioners,

This past weekend, I was able to host a Zoom meeting (think teleconferencing via the internet) with almost half of our 30+ member Phone Call Ministry Team. Yes. That is right! Secretly, we created a stealth group of staff and parishioners who have been, not-so-systematically, contacting fellow parishioners who are registered in our parish and many who are not and just asking them how they are doing, praying with them, and simply letting them know we care. Now, isn’t that novel idea? In this Zoom meeting, we shared many stories of how grateful people were. In several cases, some needed extra help or were running low on food. A few couldn’t get out to go shopping. With God’s grace and a little creativity, we found a way to make it happen for them. To every cloud, there is a silver lining. And that, my friends, is the love of Christ which has been poured into our hearts and desires to reach out to you.

With regard to our parish family who are homebound not due to COVID-19, we learned that we have some 70 parishioners spread out in about 12 care facilities and 19 private residences. For these folks, we sent out some 215 cards so that they would know that they are not unloved or uncared for. 

Now, our job is not yet done. We may be nearing 50% of our parishioners. But, here’s the deal. This group of ninja phone-callers need to be the only ones.Oh! No! How about you? What don’t you pick up that phone, write a card, text or video chat with a friend or neighbor? Yes. Just do it. You don’t need our permission. You just need the desire to share you love and kindness to whomever you know.

Christ prayed that we would al be one, and we have found ingenious ways to reach out and let others know of our love and the love of God.This is the heart of the Gospel. This is the heart of evangelization. This is what Church is. No need to have a reason to call other than to reach out and love them with no agenda or strings attached. When was the last time you received such call? Likely, never! So, let’s do it. Let’s get busy. Go make a list of people you know and care about. Then go reach out them by whatever means is allowed in this time of quarantine. Don’t let technology get in your way. Get a piece of paper. Write a letter. Fold it up and tape it closed. Put an address on the outside along with a stamp, and mail it!! Boom! Done. If that is too much, pick up your phone and just dial them. Leave a loving message if they don’t answer. So, you need not join an official team, no! Just do yourself. Reach out and let others know you care.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor