This weekend we are happy to welcome to our parishes Father Charlie Hiebl, a senior priest of our Diocese of La Crosse. He currently resides in the rectory in Abbotsford and continues to serve the faithful by providing coverage of Masses of the Lord’s Day in the absence of parish priests in our Diocese and the Superior Diocese. We are most grateful for Father Hiebl’s continuing generous priestly service in his retirement! Welcome Father Hiebl!

It has been a very active summer in our parishes and for your Pastor! The weekend of July 13-14 I was in my home parish of Sacred Heart in Marshfield for a celebration with family and friends of 25 years of priestly ministry. July 19-20 I only celebrated Masses at Elmwood as the parish observed its centennial with a special Mass and festivities. I celebrated all the Masses in our parishes July 26-27 and then took the next three weekends for vacation with my seminary classmate, Msgr. Bert Diaz, of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas. My first weekend back in Wisconsin (August 23-24) found me resuming my duties as Director of Spiritual Formation in the Permanent Deacon Formation Program leading a five-day retreat in Marathon City for the men to be ordained Deacons for our Diocese in October. I celebrated all Masses in our parishes August 30-31 and now this weekend my responsibilities as Director of Spiritual Formation take me back to Saint Anthony Spirituality Center in Marathon City to lead the annual retreat for the men who aspire to be Permanent Deacons along with their wives. Please pray for these men and their families as they continue to discern God’s will in their lives!

Summer vacation has ended for the children of our parishes and for our seminarians. Our own Levi Schmitt has returned to Saint John Vianney Seminary on the campus of the University of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul for his senior year. This past Tuesday Deacon Billy Dodge moved out of the Elmwood rectory after having ministered in our parishes throughout the summer. He has entered his final year of priestly formation at the Saint Paul Seminary looking ahead, God willing, to being ordained a priest next summer. Pray for them and all our seminarians that they may know God’s will and do it with joy!

We have joined our fellow Catholics throughout the Diocese of La Crosse in the 2014-2015 Diocesan Annual Appeal. The Appeal is the major source of funding for the ministries, programs, and services of our Diocese. Some people grumble about the Diocesan Appeal and refuse to take part: “The Diocese is not getting any of my money! Why should I give my hard-earned money to the Diocese anyway?!” Why indeed!!!! Think about it this way. Do you want priests to take care of your spiritual needs? How do you think Deacon Billy Dodge and Elmwood’s own Levi Schmitt are paying for years of study for the priesthood? Wishful thinking? IOUs? Not hardly. It costs cold hard cash to educate a priest. And lots of it. Guess who is helping Deacon Dodge and Levi pay for their seminary training? That’s right, those who give money to the Diocesan Annual Appeal. Funding of the education of the young men studying to be priests for our Diocese comes chiefly from monies raised through the Diocesan Annual Appeal. Have you assisted at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass this week? Has a priest absolved you of your sins recently? Have you received the Anointing of the Sick at the hands of a priest? Do you wish to continue to have access to these and all the Sacraments in the future, access that only comes through the ministry of the priest? Well, then, justice demands that you do your part to pay for the training of the priests who so generously serve you now and will serve you in the future!

Pray for Bishop Callahan and for the success of this year’s Appeal. Also, I encourage you to give prayerful consideration to your own financial gift. Please return your pledge card at your earliest convenience. I have already made the first payment on my total gift of $600.00. So I am not asking you to do anything that I myself am not prepared to do! Besides payment by check, note that you do have the option to have an automatic withdrawal made from your checking account or you may use your credit card. With your generosity, we can meet and even surpass our target. As always, one hundred percent of any funds beyond our goal are returned to us at our parishes for our own needs right here!

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us! Saint Luke, pray for us!
Very Rev. Kevin C. Louis, STL