One faith community, two worship sites
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
04 March 2022 Volume 114
A PRAYER FOR PEACE BY POPE FRANCIS
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms.
How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced?
how much blood has been shed?
how many lives have been shattered?
how many hopes have been buried?
But our efforts have been in vain.
 
Now, Lord, come to our aid!
Grant us peace, teach us peace;
guide our steps in the way of peace.
Open our eyes and our hearts,
and give us the courage to say: "Never again war!"; "With war everything is lost".
Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace.
 
Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters.
Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace;
enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister.
Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens
who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace,
our trepidation into confident trust,
and our quarreling into forgiveness.
Keep alive within us the flame of hope,
so that with patience and perseverance
we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation.
In this way may peace triumph at last,
and may the words "division," "hatred," and "war"
be banished from the heart of every man and woman.
 
Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands.
Renew our hearts and minds,
so that the word which always brings us together will be "brother,"
and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam!


Amen
This Weekend's Mass Worship Aid
Volunteers Needed!!!!
We have only one week until the Wild Game Dinner. We need help in offering this event. Please consider donating a little time for this parish fundraiser. We need bartenders, food servers, setup, cleanup and more!

Please use the link below to sign up!
Come join our team
 
St. Clare/St. Thomas Communications & Marketing Specialist 
Part-time, 20-30 hours/week

Perfect for a college intern with opportunities for a long term position after graduation. A few of the duties include:
  • Create parish communications, using multiple means (web, bulletin, newsletters, social media),
  • Create engaging and creative content and design
  • Review and update parish websites on a regular basis and manage content across all social media platforms
  • Website redesign, video creation, communication strategy development
 
For more information contact:
 
Blaise Beaulier at blaisebeaulier@outlook.com
or visit the job posting on the Archdiocese of Milwaukee website (archmil.org)
Volunteers Needed!!
We have a few more spots to fill for our first Fish Fry on March 4 and many more openings in the following Fridays. PLEASE consider helping with clean-up for a Fish Fry or two. Sign up below.
Attention All 8th Graders! 

Catholic Central High School is hosting a placement exam for incoming freshmen on March 12, 2022 @ 8am. If you are looking for a high school where you can shine and have new opportunities please register online here:

Or, if you just have questions or would like to see the school, feel free to contact us: 262.763.1506 or email admissions@cchsnet.org.

****************************************************************************************************

THE
FIGHT FOR FREEDOM THROUGH CATHOLIC EDUCATION
 
Pope Benedict XVI stated that “Catholic educational
institutions should have three goals in order to be able to fulfill their primary mission.” These goals are
  1. to provide an environment in which students are enabled to build and deepen their relationship with God;
  2. to foster an academic culture aimed at the pursuit of truth, and
  3. to actively promote growth in virtue. 
 
Not only the Catholic Church recognized the need for virtue. To our country’s Founding Fathers, it was obvious that a democratic republic could only be maintained by the self-governed, and that these self-governed needed to be virtuous. George Washington once said, “Human rights can only be
assured among a virtuous people.” Benjamin Franklin stated
that Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom,.” Lastly, the great Thomas Jefferson wrote,  “No government can continue good but under the control of the people; and … their minds are to be informed by education of what is right and what is wrong; to be encouraged in habits of virtue and to be
deterred from those of vice … These are the inculcations necessary to render the people a sure basis for the structure and order of government.”
 
In our society today, we certainly do not see any effort to actively promote the growth of virtue. War and lawlessness fill the news and the constant, hedonistic messages of instant gratification and entitlement are everywhere. Where are we to turn? We need to turn to God, our family and to our Catholic schools. 
 
I attended public grade school. In my day, we said a prayer to begin school, the pledge of allegiance, and sang patriotic songs out of a little red songbook filled with titles such as “America the Beautiful,” “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and “My Country Tis of Thee.” We proudly sang words like the
final verse of “America:” Our Fathers God to thee,
author of liberty, to thee we sing. Long may our land be bright with freedom’s holy light, protect us, by thy might, great God our King!”
 
Can you imagine those words being sung in a public place today, let alone being taught to children in a public school? I believe this is a stark example of just how far away our country has drifted from God, and from virtue. 
 
Catholic schools in general, and Catholic Central specifically stands as a beacon of hope in the preservation and cultivation of the goals outlined by Benedict XVI. We honor the words of Pope Benedict XVI by building and deepening our students’ relationships with God, we have a rigorous academic culture aimed at the pursuit of truth, and our comprehensive faith formation program, The Habits of a Hilltopper, promote the growth of eight virtues: Courage, Gratitude, Discipline, Joy, Compassion, Humility, Resilience and Honor. 
 
Now is the season to register for the new school year. Families all over the country are discerning the best possible educational opportunities for their children. Sadly, their decisions are often based on the secular values of our society. Questions like “What is the cheapest option?” Where can I play the sport I like?” “Where can I do the least work and still get a diploma?” Where are my friends going?” weigh in the decision, instead of questions like “Where will my child be given an opportunity to grow in his or her faith?” “Where can my child receive an education that rigorously pursues the
concept of truth?” and “Where can my child be trained in virtue?” The Second Vatican Council stated that, “The exercise of a Catholic education contributes to the highest degree, the protection of freedom of conscience, the rights of parents, and the betterment of culture itself. It is my hope that there
is a renewal of Catholic education everywhere, as I truly believe it is one of the last bastions of virtue, and therefore guardians of liberty, that we have left in our country. 

With Topper Pride,
Bonnie Scholz, NBCT
Head of Schools
We would like to highlight and thank a few of our loyal sponsors in each email.
St. Thomas and St Clare thanks you very much!
A complete list of all our sponsors can be found on our website. Please support them whenever possible
St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Clare of Assisi parishes
Waterford and Wind Lake, WI.