July 5, 2015
Fourtheenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church
702 W 11th St · PO Box 259 · Neligh, NE 68756
Phone 402-887-4521 [email protected]
www.stfranciscc.org
Fr. Christopher Onuoha, Pastor
[email protected]
WEDDINGS: Contact the Pastor as
soon as possible, at least six months in
advance
MASS SCHEDULE AND INTENTIONS
BAPTISMS: Contact the Pastor about
time and class
CONFESSIONS: 30 minutes before all
Sat and Sun Masses; after 7 pm Mass Sat
and 10 am Mass Sun; 15 minutes before
weekday Masses; Thu evenings in Lent
PARISH REGISTRATION:
Call the Parish Office
ROSARY: Every Sat 10 am at the
Willows
MEETINGS:
Knights of Columbus: First Tue of the
month, 8 pm
Mon 6 July --------------Tue 7 July ------- 9:00 am (T)
Wed 8 July ---- 8:30 am (N)
9:30 am (GLC)
Thu 9 July------- 9:00 am (T)
Fri 10 July ---- 8:30 am (N)
No Mass - Father’s day off
Bud Bartak +
Dorothy Kremer +
Albert Schindler +
Nielsen & Blackburn Family +
Leo Dwyer +
Sat 11 July ---- 5:00 pm
7:00 pm
Sun 10 July ----- 8:00 am
10:00 am
Darlene Dolan +
Mark & Betty DeCamp +
Parishioners of OLMC & St. Francis
Betty Lennemann +
(N)
(T)
(T)
(N)
Rosary Sodality: next meeting is 14 July
Parish Council: Third Thu of the month,
7 pm
MASS TIMES
EMHCs
LECTOR
SERVERS
GIFTS
USHERS
Saturday 11 July 5:00 pm
Del & Susan Ames, Milly Clemens,
Dane & Jennifer Nielsen
Jim McNally
Sunday 12 July 10:00 am
Linda Wingate, Dr. Russ & Joan Vetick,
Doris Ternus, Dewayne & Germaine Voborny
Ron Gilg
Cameron Nielsen, Cody Booth,
Jose Booth, Andrew Jacobsen
Connor Ramold, Kaylee Ramold,
Colby Sehi, Haley Kerkman
Bill Lyons Family
Nick Ramold Family
Bill Lyons, Chad Kaup,
Dave Jacobsen, Dale Kallhoff
Don Zegers, Jack Sehi,
Merle Kallhoff, Ralph Klein
The Pope John students will hold a paper
drive on Saturday 11 July, 2015.
Francis and Joshua Houses are in charge.
Please place materials in the central location by
8:00 am. Papers, mailings, magazines, shredded
paper, cereal boxes and the like will be collected. If
at all possible, put them in double paper sacks.
**NOTE: We will no longer collect cardboard..
For assistance in Neligh, call Gracie Bullock (402929-0268).
For one morning only on Sunday 19 July Mass in
Neligh will be at 8:00 am and Tilden at 10 am.
This is to accommodate an event at Our Lady of Mount
Carmel. Saturday Mass as at St. Francis will remain at
5:00 pm.
Announcement
The missing Presider’s chair Fr. Broheimer used as
pastor has been found, it is in a safe place on church
property. The Pastoral Council members and the Pastor
have seen the chair, they know where it is.
Pray that we as citizens of a land of plenty may
open our hearts to welcome all unborn children.
Mark 6: 1-6
Opening Collect for the Fourteenth Sunday in
Ordinary Time
Your merciful love, O God, we have received in
the midst of your temple. Your praise, O God,
like your name, reaches the ends of the earth;
your right hand is filled with saving justice.
Weekly Collection Report
June 28, 2015
weekly offering budgeted
offering received on Sunday
weekly surplus/(deficit)
$2,846.05
$2,142.00
($704.05)
Sunday collection report for this fiscal year:
year-to-date budgeted
$148,148.70
year-to-date received
$130,463.09
year-to-date surplus/(deficit)
($17,694.61)
Peter’s Pence collection
$548.00
Thank you for your generous
donations to the parish.
Building God’s Kingdom
God’s Kingdom is within you!
This week we continue our subject and project of
building God’s Kingdom here on earth. We all began this
project at our Baptism. Baptism defines our destiny: what
we are, what we must do, how we must live, and what we
shall become. Everything we do as God’s precious
humans, matters. God’s Kingdom is not a physical
kingdom; Jesus said to Pilate, “My Kingdom is not of
this world.” But the question often comes up, where is
the Kingdom of God? Is it a place like the exquisite
beaches of the Bahamas, or some wonderland? Not at all.
God’s Kingdom is in our hearts. It is the kingdom of the
interior life, as Scripture says: the Kingdom of God is
within you (Luke 17:20-21).
God’s Kingdom is a state of existence, and it is built by
love. The language of this kingdom is truth, and its
foundation is humility. It is a spiritual kingdom
personified in the person of Jesus Christ. Only those who
live authentic spiritual lives enter it. For this reason Jesus
said to Nicodemus, you must be born again from above
by water and the Spirit (John 3:5). Paul says it clearly:
those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of
God (Rom 8:14). The Spirit of God and truth must be our
guide in this building project.
Last Friday June 26th, 2015, a terrible darkness befell our
nation. The Supreme Court (nine unelected lawyers) of
the United States, in a 5-4 ruling, legalized gay
“marriage” (sodomy) as the law of the land. Is this law
compatible with building God’s Kingdom? Not at all,
since it violates Divine Law as revealed in the Scriptures,
and written in the human heart. It violates natural law and
the complementarity between man and woman; male and
female He created them (Gen 1:27). Justice Scalia
described the ruling as “lacking even a thin veneer of
law.” We do not build God’s Kingdom based on what we
think, or feel, or imagine is right, or on public opinion.
We build successfully only in obedience to God’s Laws;
on Truth. If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do
the laborers build (Psalm 127:1). How can living a
homosexual lifestyle build up God’s Kingdom? In fact, it
will destroy it in the human heart and make the
attainment of Heaven a wild-goose chase. The Apostle
Paul warns that those who practice homosexuality will
not inherit God’s Kingdom (1 Cor 6:9; Gal 5:21).
The stipulations of God’s Kingdom are not subject to
debate; it is either we accept them, to our good; or we
reject them, to our detriment. It cannot be left to personal
or court interpretation, otherwise, we unleash the reign of
“dictatorship of relativism.” Jesus embodies the totality
of God’s truth and lifestyle—holiness. Jesus is the
wisdom of God, and the power of God. It is in the
Scriptures that we encounter Jesus. The Scriptures then
must be our constant guide in this building project.
Fr. Christopher
Please remember in your prayers:
Jolene Mosel, Dodi Bauer, Dr. Paul and Arlene
Thomassen, Phil Schaefer, Ken Hansen, Benjamin
Sauser, Shelly Meyer, Don Lallier, Stephanie (Voborny).
Please call the parish office to add names to this list.
Names will remain for three weeks unless otherwise specified.
Thank you for your prayers.
St. Francis families responsible
for cleaning the church in July
July 9
July 18
July 25
July 30
Joe Evans, Anita Donason, Natalie Bitney
Janice Hart, Linda Wingate, Jesse Mitchell
Tom Parks, Mary Ann Ashton, Merle Kallhoff
Lyle Meis, Tim Steffl, Pat Borer
Thank you for helping. If you cannot be present
at your assigned time, please find a substitute.
Pope John XXIII High School News
The Pope John XXIII Central Catholic High School
Alumni Banquet will be held Saturday, 25 July at the
KC Hall in Elgin. Tickets are $20 each and may be
purchased from Pope John High School, Dean’s Market
in Elgin or Rae Valley Market in Petersburg or by
sending payment with a self addressed, self stamped
envelope to Pope John High School, % Brenda Kuhlman,
P O Box 179, Elgin, NE 68636. Deadline to purchase
tickets is July 15th.
Principal Betty Getzfred was recently notified that grants submitted for
improvements at St. Boniface Elementary School and Pope John XXIII
Central Catholic High School were approved. The grant program is part
of the Ignite the Faith Campaign, which was conducted in every parish
throughout the Omaha Archdiocese last year.
St. Boniface School has received $ 8,663.00 for their new reading
program - Wonder's Series.
Pope John will be receiving $ 26,449.00 to cover costs associated with
remodeling the teacher's lounge & restrooms and re-carpeting the
computer labs and office areas.
Rural parishes in the Archdiocese of Omaha are allocating 40 percent of
the funds they receive to directly support Catholic education in their
local communities. The Ignite the Faith Excellence Grant Program is
above and beyond the parish allocations. A recent campaign update said
that "all schools can apply for these funds to be used for strategic
initiatives that will improve and sustain them for the future."
A special "thank you" to all parishioners who contributed so generously
to the Ignite the Faith Campaign! Your generosity is flowing back to
our schools
Events in Other Places
Rural Central Deanery's "Morning of Reflection" will be held
Saturday, July 18, at Immaculata Monastery and Spirituality
Center in Norfolk. Fr. Dan Andrews will be speaking on
"Dealing with Discouragement." Participants will also learn
Lectio Divina. The day will begin with registration at 8:00 am
followed by Mass at 8:30 am. The event will end around noon
with a light lunch. Cost is $10.00 per person; pay at the door.
Plan to attend, and bring friends! Direct further questions to Barb
Tassemeyer 582-3216.
KERMES: The Hispanic Community of Sacred Heart/St.
Mary’s Parish of Norfolk is sponsoring the annual KERMES
festival on July 19 in the north park of Immaculata Monastery
(300 N. 18th St). The festivities begin with a 1PM Mass in
Spanish, followed by authentic Hispanic food and drinks,
dances, music, games for the children, a raffle, and much more.
Please join us for this family friendly afternoon.