One faith community, two worship sites
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
28 May 2021 Volume 74
May 25, 2021
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
 
Last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost Sunday, which is traditionally referred to as the birth of the Church. On Pentecost, the body of believers was gathered in the Upper Room awaiting the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Now, when the soul is invested in the body, life begins. So when the Paraclete was sent into the Upper Room, the Church was born. Jesus promised to send the Paraclete to reveal the Truth to the Apostles. Because we are celebrating the sending of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, it is the perfect celebration for the Sacrament of Confirmation. 
 
Last Sunday I celebrated Adult Confirmation in the Mother Church of the Archdiocese, the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. Those to be confirmed were a collection of individuals from across the Archdiocese. They were there for many reasons. For some, it was a completion of the fullness of the Sacraments, which a family move or personal incident previously interrupted. For others, it was seeking the completion of a promise made to fulfill a sacramental Marriage. And, for others, it was a personal call to embrace the fullness of the life of grace offered by the Church. 
 
When an adult approaches the Sacrament of Confirmation, they are bringing with them a wealth of experiences, hopefully seeing the hand of God in these activities of their lives. We do not pay enough attention to the Sacrament of Confirmation. In it, we make a commitment to live fully the life entrusted to us by God and use grace as an instrument of spreading His love. 
 
A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of leading a tour of the Holy Land. During our various visits to the holy sites, we decided to celebrate the Sacraments of the Church. So, at the Jordan River, we renewed the promises of Baptism; in Cana, those who were married renewed their vows from Marriage. When we visited the Upper Room, we decided to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation. We devised a ritual for the renewal of that sacramental moment. Allow me to share that prayer with you and perhaps you could renew the moment of your Confirmation.
 
Jesus gave a mandate to His disciples: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
 
In Confirmation, you received a gift; you were sealed with the Holy Spirit. The fullness of the sacraments has been given to you as disciples of Jesus Christ. So now, I ask you:
 
Are you resolved to live fully the Faith? I am. 
Are you prepared to listen to the challenges of the Holy Spirit in our world today? I am.
Are you committed to building His Holy Catholic Church? I am.
 
Then receive the Holy Spirit as a sign that renews your confirmation and confirms your baptismal vows assisting your continuing efforts to conform your lives to Christ. Amen.
 
God’s sacramental grace gives us the strength to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
 
Sincerely,
 
 
Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee
New Mass Protocols
Please review

The Archbishop announced his decision to remove all COVID restrictions that remained in place. He encouraged individual parishes to meet with their leadership and define the best approach for returning to "normal". Leadership from both St. Clare and St Thomas met to define a phased approach that will transition everyone into the changing protocols. Details are as follows:

  • May 22-23 Remove signs from buildings regarding masks. Individuals may choose to wear masks if they wish. The baptismal fonts will be filled and available. All of the church doors will be unlocked and available for entrance and exit.

  • May 29-30 Remove ropes from pews. (Note: There will be a section of pews in the back of St Thomas church that will continue to have every other pew blocked off for those who wish to continue social distancing.)

  • June 5-6 Resume passing of the collection baskets

  • June 12-13 Resume presentation of the gifts

  • July 3-4 Return to distribution of communion beginning with the front rows

  • September Return to youth servers at Mass.

We respectfully ask for everyone's patience and prayers as we work to reimplement these practices over the coming weeks.

The Archdiocese released a new COVID Comeback matrix on May 20. Many changes. See below
This Weekend's Mass Worship Aid
Please watch this special message from our youth Minister Maureen LeGros regarding our first on-site mission trip!
If you have any questions or would like to know more..... contact me. 
 
Blessings,
 
Maureen LeGros
St. Clare/St. Thomas Youth minister
St. Thomas Preschool
2020-2021
 
St. Thomas Preschool has completed their first year of school. We were blessed with nine amazing families who were able to bring their kids to school everyday through these unprecedented times of Covid. We became very creative with activities we were able to do following the CDC guidelines. Our families were flexible and understanding of these measures all year. We created inhouse field trip activities, a birthday menu to celebrate students with inhouse treats, and “Royal Reader” visits just to name a few. We gave back to our community donating to the St. Thomas Food Pantry and also donating Hats & Mittens at Christmas. We are also working on a sustainable garden right here on campus! 
 
None of this would be possible if not for the support and commitment from our amazing Parish, staff and families that believed in our mission. We are excited to already be welcoming twelve families to our program in the fall and look forward to continuing to grow the program each year. They say it takes a village to raise a family and we believe our village here at St. Thomas has helped us create the foundation to raise an amazing Preschool family for years to come.
 
For everyone that has had a hand in supporting this program we thank you! A special thanks to Erika Rondeau, Marie Samson and Carol Ewald for creating and believing in a vision that is St. Thomas Preschool!   
WE DESPERATELY NEED HELP!!!
 
Although our Country Fair cannot take place this year, volunteers are planning to offer our traditional Fish Fry in June. This will be a drive-thru only so come out and take home some wonderful food.
 
We DESPERATELY need a few volunteers for our clean-up team! We have only 1 volunteer so far. Please look at the sign-up below and take a minute to consider donating a little time. Many hands make small work!
 
PLEASE CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING AND SIGN UP TODAY
April Financial Report
          KNIGHT’S COUNCIL 8172 FUND RAISER AT THE BEAR DEN

Things are returning to normal and we understand that the Bear Den has been busy with a good number of visitors after their opening on May 8th. As part of our ongoing efforts to support special needs and people with disabilities, Knight’s Council 8172 will be at the Bear Den in Waterford on June 12th between 11am & 2pm selling brats as a fund raiser for these worthy causes.

Come join us on June 12th in support of a great local zoo and have a brat to support members of our community. Thanks in advance for your support.

Knights Council 8172
Can we help?

Can we help with any outdoor projects such as yard clean-up, weeding, garage organizing, planting flowers, etc?? We are in need of a few jobs in the coming weeks to gain some experience since this is new to us. We will also have a high school mission trip in our St. Clare and St. Thomas community the week of July 5 thru 9 and will be looking for a number of projects for our youth to participate in during that week. Love Begins Here is a new initiative by the Archdiocese and we are hosting one of their first local mission trip programs for teens.  

We need to keep the jobs outdoors due to COVID restrictions. If you are unable to complete yard work or need assistance, please contact one of the parish offices or click the link below to sign-up. Projects will be considered once we match the teens to fill the type of service work needed. Although we can't make any promises, we need to begin creating a list of potential sites to keep our mission teens busy!  
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.