What's Happening During Our Catholic Comeback
As we navigate our Catholic Comeback, this newsletter will continue to bring you
updated information.
Parish News
Fr. Michael is in quarantine under the health department's directive until August 25 after he came in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. He is doing well and showing no symptoms. Please keep him in your prayers.
Welcome
 
This weekend at the 4:30 Saturday evening Mass, we will formally welcome two new folks into the Catholic community. Alyssa Radke and Steve Jambor will make their Profession of Faith to the Catholic religion. In addition, Shawn Rios and Thomas Szews will be confirmed. Welcome! Usually these rites are done on Holy Saturday at Easter Vigil, but due to the Covid-19 virus, they were postponed to August 15.
 
Begging For Festival Money
 
To date, we have received $49,500 to replace the $70,000 we lost when we had to cancel the festival. Please prayerfully consider donating to the Festival Replacement Fund to help us meet all of our financial responsibilities in the coming year.
 
Also, if you have not picked up your packet or two or three of Raffle Tickets, please do so soon. They may be picked up in the back of church, and also in the parish office. Please sell the tickets and return the ticket stubs and money to the parish office or place in the collection basket.
 
Coming soon, we will have an online auction of items that would have normally been raffled off at the festival. This year, the specialized items will be raffled online.
 
On behalf of the entire parish, I want to say a word of thanks to the parishioners, as well as friends of the parish, who have been supporting the parish so generously, especially during the pandemic. We have been able to keep up with all of our bills. People have been generous with financial sacrifices, sharing of talents, and their time. We, as a parish, are very blessed with such self-giving men, women, and children.
United States Grace Force

Fr. Richard Heilman, from the diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, has organized a growing group of Americans to pray. They are called The United States Grace Force. Their goal is to pray, especially for the United States. More specifically, Fr. Heilman is asking that for the next 54 days, we all pray a Novena for the spiritual well-being of the United States. We will begin on Saturday, August 15, when we celebrate the Solemnity of the Blessed Mother’s Assumption into Heaven and will continue to pray a Rosary each day until the Feast of the Holy Rosary on October 7.
 
St. Louis de Montfort, the leading saint on the promotion of the Blessed Mother, is quoted as saying,“The only thing the devil fears more than one person praying the Rosary is having many people praying the Rosary. The devil can attack one person, but it is more difficult to attack when there is an army of faithful people praying."
 
So much of the negativity we are experiencing in our country is being fought not just with words, anger, hate, violence, and guns, but underneath all that, are negative powers and principalities. This kind of negativity can only be overcome through prayer and sacrifice. I ask all of you to make a commitment for the next 54 days to pray and do penance. May I also suggest we pray and do penance until the end of this year?
 
Public Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet

Every weekday, Monday through Friday, the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet will be recited in Church beginning at 3:00 p.m. Masks and social distancing are required. All are invited to attend and participate.

 New Ministry Opportunity

We are still in need of a few people to help oversee the computer when Mass is being live-streamed. If you are relatively comfortable around computers, and especially if you attend daily Mass or on the weekends, please consider joining our “Stream Team” of volunteers. If you are interested or would just like more information, please contact Denise Kasulke in the parish office at (414)321-1965 or email dkasulke@stjohns-grfd.org and let her know you might be interested in being trained in this new ministry.

Scam Alert

Please be aware of telephone calls, texts, and emails that appear to be from myself, or other Parish staff or Parish leaders. There has again been a recent increase in this kind of activity. The sender’s email address is mmerkt.stjohnsgrfd@gmail.com or revfr840@gmail.com. Do not reply to this email address. It is not my legitimate email address. I will not ask you for a favor, or ask you to buy gift cards for myself, for staff or for other Parish leaders. Please be on alert for these and similar scams. Ignore and/or delete any such messages.

24-Hour Perpetual Adoration

“In the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Mary says to us: ‘Look at my Son Jesus, keep your gaze fixed on Him, listen to Him, speak with Him. He is gazing at you with love. Do not be afraid! He will teach you to follow Him and to bear witness to Him in all that you do, whether great or small, in your family life, at work, at times of celebration. He will teach you to go out of yourself and to look upon others with love, as He did. He loved you and loves you, not with words but with deeds.’” —Pope Francis
St. John’s is fortunate to have 24-hour Perpetual Adoration. Please take advantage of this beautiful opportunity to stay close to God in these difficult times. Hand sanitizer is available in the Adoration entrance (south side of Church), and we ask that you practice social distancing and stay at least six feet from others while in Church.
 
There are currently two open hours for Adoration
on Monday from 4:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
 
Please call Kay Shomperlen to volunteer (414) 763-1250. Come join us!
Confessions will be held on Friday and Saturday at 8:30 a.m. at the northwest entrance (opposite the Adoration entrance) of the church.
Live-streaming: Mass and Adoration
 
We are live-streaming daily and Sunday Masses as well as Adoration for those who are unable to attend:

  • Monday at 8:00 a.m.
  • Tuesday at 7:30 a.m.
  • Wednesday at 8:00 a.m.
  • Thursday at 7:30 a.m.
  • Friday at 8:00 a.m.
  • Saturday at 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
  • Sunday at 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

Our YouTube channel is SJE-Greenfield.

If you miss the livestream, you can watch the upload of each daily Mass on our YouTube channel.
Your donations are needed and will help us
continue to operate during these unsettling times.
Twentieth Sunday in
Ordinary Time
August 15/16, 2020

Our Gospel today, from Matthew, reminds us to trust in Him even when it seems He is not answering our prayers.

God wants to lead us to the joy of heaven to spend eternity with Him. For that, we must be strong in faith and live our lives as an act of love and gratitude to Him. In other words, we must allow Him to transform us into saints. This is what the stewardship way of life is meant to do. Sometimes, that will feel painful for us. Often, it will be challenging.

Jesus certainly challenged the Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel passage from Matthew. She called out to Him on behalf of her daughter, who was being tormented by a demon. What did Jesus do in reply to this mother’s desperate plea? Nothing. He “did not say a word in answer to her.” Undeterred, the woman continues to call out to Him, yet He still does not give her what she asks for. Instead, He continues to challenge her faith.

And she rises to the challenge to such an impressive degree that Jesus exclaims, “O woman (a term of deep respect in that day), great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” Imagine hearing those words proclaimed over us by God. Indeed there could be no higher honor than hearing our Lord say that to us.

So we must accept the difficulties that come with the stewardship way of life. Some days will be a real challenge to our trust in God. But those are the days when God is making saints of us.

Let’s embrace the hard days during these difficult times. The deep joy that eventually comes, the eternal reward He promises, will be so worth it.
CDs from Augustine Institute

Did you know we have CDs (and other items) located in the narthex? Each week we will highlight one of the available CDs.

Cost is $4 each.
In 1527, Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca led an expedition to Florida. Craig Turner here tells this amazing story: a tale of shipwrecks and slavery, of miracles, battles, apparitions, privations and hardship, of spies and bribery, of human sacrifice, and above all, an astonishing journey through a wilderness that took all but four lives out of three hundred. Those who sought to gain the most fared the worst, and those who accepted their terrible fate performed miracles.
Start earning the easy way with the new mobile app: RaiseRight by ShopWithScrip
RaiseRight is simply the right way to fundraise for our organization. Shop gift cards from more than 750 top brands to earn on your daily purchases—right from your phone.

Turn your shopping list into fundraising
·      Discover new earning opportunities every day 
·      Narrow your search with categories that fit your everyday shopping needs
·      Easily browse brands offering bonus earnings
·      Add brands you love to your Favorites for faster shopping
·      Manage your gift cards in one place: your Wallet

Pick up right where you left off. Sign in with your same ShopWithScrip username and password. Access your gift cards right away. And check out with payment information already saved to your account.


SCRIP will now be sold before and after all weekend Masses. We will be outside under the tent in front of the church. As always, SCRIP is available at the parish office during regular business hours. We have materials available below if you would like to set up an online account.






Our enrollment code is 18DE7D4F11822. Once you have an online account you can pay by direct debit from your checking account (Presto Pay), by credit card, or by check here in the parish office. If we do not have the item in stock, we will order on Monday and have the cards by Thursday. Once you have the physical card you can enroll it in your "wallet" and reload it as needed.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the parish office at 414-321-1965.
This program allows .5% of your shopping on Amazon to be donated to St. John the Evangelist.

If you purchase Scrip, St. John's receives an additional 2.25%. That's 2.75% of your purchases to St. John's if you are already shopping Amazon.
School News
The newsletter is published on Wednesdays. Articles for each week's publication are due on Mondays at noon.

To submit articles e-mail to: newsletter@stjohns-grfd.org
"Remember God's Will in Yours!"

Please keep the needs of St. John the Evangelist in mind as you do your estate planning. For information on how to include the parish as a beneficiary, contact the Parish Office at 414-321-1965.
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