This Week in Our Parish

February 26, 2017

Sunday Mass Saturday 6:00 PM

Sunday 7:30 AM & 11:00 AM

Daily Mass Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday

8:00 AM Wednesday and Friday

5:00 PM

Religious Education Sunday’s

Religious Education Pre-K through Grade 5

9:45 AM Grades 6 -12

6:30 PM

Liturgy of the Hours This ancient communal prayer of the

Church is prayed after all weekday Masses.

Rosary The Holy Rosary is prayed 30 minutes

before all Saturday, Sunday, and weekday Masses.

Sacrament of Reconciliation Confessions are heard before all

Sunday Masses and after all weekday Masses

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

First Thursday of the Month 8:00 AM to Noon

Benediction at Noon

Bethel Home Mass and Rosary held on 3rd Friday of

each month at 10:15AM

Norseland Mass and rosary held on 2nd & 4th

Wednesday of each month at 9:30 AM

LENTEN REGULATIONS - The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday,

March 1. Lenten regulations are as follows: Catholics who have celebrated their 14th

birthday are to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, all Fridays in Lent, and Good

Friday. In addition to abstaining from meat, Catholics who have celebrated their 18th

birthday, until they celebrate their 59th birthday, are to fast on Ash Wednesday and

Good Friday. Those who are bound to this regulation may eat only one full meal. Two

smaller meals are permitted if necessary to maintain strength according to one’s needs,

but eating solid foods between meals is not permitted.

Operation Rice Bowl - Through our generous almsgiving during Lent we can help

Catholic Relief Services help others. Jesus urges us to pray, fast and give alms during

Lent. Youth in our REP program participate in the Mite Box collection in support of our

diocesan mission parish in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Rice Bowls can be found in the large

basket in the Atrium. Please participate!

SUNDAY MEALS FOR FORTNEY HOTEL RESIDENTS - St. Mary’s Parish is

responsible for providing meals to the residents of the Fortney Hotel on the first Sunday

of every month; a sign-up sheet and pans will be available in the Atrium on the weekend

prior to the meal. Next time, St. Mary parishioners attending the 6:00 p.m. Mass on

February 25, 2017 will be providing meals on Sunday, March 5, 2017. Food should be

delivered to the kitchen in St. Mary’s Hall on Sunday, March 5 by 12:00 p.m. Noon.

Joseph Club – The Joseph Club will hold it’s annual membership breakfast on

Saturday, March 4. Please meet in the lower church parking lot at 7:30 AM before

heading to Dunnum’s Café. All men of the parish are welcome and encouraged to

attend this social event.

Lenten Program Ash Wednesday Mass will be held at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, March 1.

Communal Penance Service for all members of the parish will be held from

6:30 -8:00 PM on Sunday April 2.

Palm Sunday Mass will be celebrated at 6:00 PM on Saturday, April 8 and

7:30 AM and 11:00 AM Sunday April 9.

Holy Week

Holy Thursday Mass begins at 7:00 PM on Thursday, April 13 and will be

followed by Adoration, concluding with Night Prayer at 10:00 PM.

Good Friday Liturgy begins at 1:00 PM on Friday April 14.

Easter Vigil will begin at 8:30 PM on Holy Saturday, April 15.

Easter Sunday Masses will be celebrated at 7:30 AM and 11:00 AM on

Sunday,

April 16.

Fr. Joseph Arokiam OFM Cap, Parochial Administrator (715-937-5117) Julie Moore, Bookkeeper <stmarybookkeeper@mwt.net Kris Matheys, Secretary<stmaryparish@mwt.net Tara Lyons, Director of Religious Education <tara.m.lyons@gmail.com>

400 Congress Avenue, Viroqua, WI 54665, 608-637-7711

February 26, 2017

Trust in God and His Providence

The most important message for our reflection today is that we should place all our

trust in God and His providence. Jesus exhorts his disciples not to worry about what we

are to eat or what we are to wear. Unnecessary worries and anxieties bring upon us

sufferings and sickness. Hence we need to place our trust in the Lord, because the

more we keep them all in ourselves more we become sufferers.

St Peter invites us to cast all our burdens upon Him or unload all our worries unto Him

because He cares for us. [1 Peter 5-.7] Jesus reminds us that God who created us and

who takes care of even the birds of the air and the grass of the field surely will take

greater care of the people created in his own image and likeness, because we are more

valuable and precious than them all. We should know that worrying does not do any

good to us, but whereas it brings us disaster and ruin. Jesus says that by worrying no

man can add even a bit to his height or lengthen his life span.

Jesus goes on further to say that worry is a basic distrust in God. A Christian cannot

worry because he/she has to trust in the abundance of the Love of God. Jesus tells his

disciples how to overcome the worries. He says, first of all, we are to concentrate on the

Kingdom of God which is to fulfill the will of God and live according to His precepts.

We have to set our hearts on His Kingdom first, and on His Kingdom and his

righteousness and then all these things will be given to us. Therefore do not worry

about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. [Mathew 6.33-34]

Even though we are to depend on the providence of God and his Fatherly care we need

to make use of the gifts and talents we have received from the Lord and we have an

obligation to do something for our own good and for the good of the society in which

we live and we have to work to avoid idleness, because laziness or idleness can cause

lot of ruin or destruction in one's life. St. Paul, speaking to Thessalonian, speaks against

idleness, and he strictly ordered them to work and earn their livelihood because he

found some of them living in idleness and going about doing no work for themselves

and interfering with everyone else’s affair. [Thessalonians 3.6-13]

Trusting in His providence doesn't mean that one has to live in idleness Therefore as a

conclusion what I wish to say is that we need to trust in the Lord, but at the same time

we need to work for our daily bread and for our livelihood. This would bring on us the

Blessing of God in our Lives.

Fr.Joe

February 26, 2017

FINANCIAL REPORT Weekend February 19, 2017

Adults: $1987.00 Offertory: $209.71

Total: $2196.71 Needed Weekly: $3,400.00

Special Collection: Door of Hope $55.57

2016-2017 DIOCESAN ANNUAL APPEAL

Target: $36,869.00 Total Pledged & Received: $35,052.00

Thank you!

MASS INTENTIONS THIS WEEK Saturday, February 25, 6:00 PM + People of St. Mary’s Parish Sunday, February 26, 7:30 AM + Ed & Verna Mashak (Mashak Family) Sunday, February 26, 11:00 AM + Chuck Hemmersbach (People of St. Mary’s Parish) Monday, February 27, 8:00 AM + Roger Adel (Joe & Pat Biebl) Tuesday, February 28, 8:00 AM + Parish Council of Catholic Women Wednesday, March 1, 7:30 PM +Ash Wednesday Thursday, March 2, 8:00 AM + Roger Adel (Michael & Debra Fahey)

Friday, March 3, 5:00 PM + Stations of the Cross followed by Mass

Saturday, March 4, 6:00 PM + Lorraine Groh (Glen & Charlotte Monroe) Sunday, March 4, 7:30 AM + Jeanne Kabat Sunday, March 4, 11:00 AM + Rose “Betty” Dingels (Patricia Rubasch)

Saturday, February 25, 6:00 PM + People of St. Mary’s Parish Sunday, February 26, 7:30 AM + Ed & Verna Mashak (Mashak Family) Sunday, February 26, 11:00 AM + Chuck Hemmersbach (People of St. Mary’s Parish)

OF FURTHER INTEREST Past Sunday Bulletins will be kept in the church library until our new parish website is up and running. Please pick up a bulletin if

you missed one.

The Mass honoring the Fourth Anniversary of the opening of the Cause of Beatification and Canonization of Father Joseph Walijewski

will be celebrated at the St. Joseph the Workman Cathedral in La Crosse on Sunday, March 12, 2017, at 10:30. All are welcome and

encouraged to attend. For more information on the cause and to join the guild visit: www.frjoesguild.org.

The annual Chrism Mass will be celebrated at St. Joseph the Workman Cathedral on Tuesday of Holy Week, April 11, beginning at

10:30. This event will be live streamed for those who are unable to attend but wish to watch using their computer or other connected

device. Use the link at www.diolc.org/live the day of the Mass

PCCW News – The World Day of Prayer is an Ecumenical movement of Christians of many traditions and many countries to come

together to observe a common day of prayer. It is held on the first Friday of March. Our local World Day of Prayer this year will be

held at Immanuel Lutheran Church on Friday, March 3 at 1:00 PM. This year the women of the Philippines wrote the program.

The PCCW is in need of two individuals to co-chair the Mother Cabrini Circle and on to co-chair the Saint Anthony Circle. We are

currently working on updating our circles.

This week another month of the Parish Prayer Calendar is part of our bulletin. Please join the PCCW in daily prayer for special

concerns, families, individuals and clergy.

Ecumenical Lenten Prayers Services schedule -all services are held on Wednesdays and begin at 7:00 PM:

March 8 at Immanuel Lutheran

March 15 at Viroqua United Methodist along with serving their annual taco dinner beginning at 4:30 PM

March 22 at Annunciation of the BVM, service will be Stations of the Cross

March 29 at United Methodist, Liberty Pole

This Week we highlight Bethel Home and Services as the bulletin sponsor of the week

Please Support All Businesses That Support Our Bulletin!

Saints of the week

*St. Katharine Drexel St. Casimir