Steve and Audrey Laszewski are featured in the January, 2026, issue of Green Bay Parish Neighbors West. Click the image to read the article.
The article below written by Fr. Don Everts was published in Green Bay Parish Neighbors West magazine.
This article about the Boughton family was in the September, 2025, issue of Green Bay Parish Neighbors West.
Click the image to read the article.
Here’s an article written by Sr. Mary Peters, our Pastoral Minister, that was published in the July, 2025, issue of Green Bay Parish Neighbors West magazine.
A Jubilee Year is a special time of grace that encourages us to re-center our lives around Christ. The faithful are invited to turn away from sin, restore a relationship with God and one another, and strive for holiness. Jubilees are every 25 years in addition to any “extraordinary” jubilees such as Pope Francis’ Year of Mercy in 2015.
Pope Francis began Jubilee Year 2025 – Pilgrims of Hope on December 24, 2024, by opening the Holy Doors of St. Peter’s Basilica. The Jubilee within the Diocese of Green Bay began January 6, 2025, at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral and will conclude on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord on January 6, 2026.
Along with this Jubilee’s emphasis on spiritual growth and holiness, the faithful are also provided with the opportunity to receive a plenary indulgence which removes our temporal punishment for sin. Indulgences may be obtained for oneself or for the souls of the deceased. Bishop David L. Ricken’s Decree follows here. Click here for a PDF version.
To discover other ways you can participate in the Jubilee 2025—Pilgrims of Hope, visit www.usccb.org/jubilee2025.
Christ is fully present – Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity – in the consecrated communion host. Effective June 2, 2024, Bishop David L. Ricken decreed that Holy Communion under both kinds can be offered but only for certain liturgical celebrations. The practice of offering under both kinds was discontinued when COVID-19 became a pandemic in 2020.
The fundamental obligation is to make Lent a penitential season, choosing practices that are adapted to one’s own circumstances. The following highlight practices for Ash Wednesday, Fridays in Lent, and Good Friday. The Church no longer attempts to prescribe Lenten practices in detail.
▪Fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday
Those between the ages of 18 and 59 are to fast. Fasting means having only one full meal and two small meals, if necessary, for strength.
▪Precept
All Catholics are bound to confess their sins once a year.
▪Abstaining from Meat on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent (including Good Friday)
Those from the age of 14 and up are to abstain from eating meat. Exclusions include pregnant or nursing women, the physically or mentally ill, and individuals suffering from chronic illnesses such as diabetes. In all cases, common sense should prevail, and ill persons should not further jeopardize their health by fasting.
▪Easter Duty
All Catholics are bound by the obligation to receive Communion at least once a year. This precept is to be fulfilled during the Easter Season up to Trinity Sunday or anytime during the weeks of Lent.
All are welcome to participate in the Synod by completing a questionnaire — The Gauging the Spiritual Health and Wellbeing of the People and Relationships in the Greater Green Bay Area at
https://etkg.questionpro.com/WSEYD1-2?custom1=SEAS.
Invite other family and friends, including those who no longer feel a connection to the Catholic Church, to participate. The results of this anonymous questionnaire will be shared within the community and will also be sent to the Diocese and to Rome. We want your voices and hearts to be heard! For more about the Synod, please click the following link and go to page 3 to read Sr. Marla Clercx’s, ANG, reflection from the May 15 bulletin.
The Cellcom Marathon is this Sunday May 15th. The route utilizes South Point Road and will mainly affect our morning Masses. Use Oakwood Drive for access. More information can be found on the marathon’s website at http://www.cellcomgreenbaymarathon.com/2022/05/09/road-traffic-disruption-information/.
With the sounds of a storm in the background, the heavens are calling us to justice. In this 10-minute 30-second video recorded on June 11, 2020, Sr. Marla Clercx, ANG, reflects on racism.
Jesus Christ, you traveled through towns and villages “curing every disease and illness”. At your command, the sick were made well. Come to our aid now amid the global spread of the coronavirus, that we may experience your healing love.
Heal those who are sick with the virus. May they regain their strength and health through quality medical care.
Heal us from our fear, which prevents nations from working together and neighbors from helping one another.
Heal us from greed, which can make us concerned only for ourselves, and hoard beyond what we need.
Heal us from our pride, which can make us claim invulnerability to a disease that knows no borders.
Jesus Christ, healer of all, stay by our side in this time of uncertainty and sorrow.
Be with those who have died from the virus. May they be at rest with you in your eternal peace.
Be with the families of those who are sick or have died. As they worry and grieve, defend them from illness and despair. May they know your peace.
Be with the doctors, physician assistants, nurses, researchers and all medical professionals who seek to heal and help those affected and who put themselves at risk in the process. May they know your protection and peace.
Be with the leaders of all nations. Give them the foresight to act with charity and true concern for the well-being of the people they are meant to serve. Give them the wisdom to invest in long-term solutions that will help prepare for or prevent future outbreaks. May they know your peace, as they work together to achieve it on earth.
Whether we are home or abroad, surrounded by many people suffering from this illness or only a few, Jesus Christ, stay with us as we endure and mourn, persist and prepare. In place of our anxiety, give us your peace.
Jesus Christ heal us. Amen.
Submitted by: Sr. Marla Clercx, ANG, Pastoral Leader
We have more leisure than any people before in the history of the world, and we need it because, for many of us, our lives are so hectic and tiring. Fortunately, for most of us, there’s a different pace in summer. Many of us take breaks from our usual routines. We tend to enjoy more hospitality in summer as our spirits are especially receptive to God’s deep desire for us to know divine love. We see long-lost friends, go to family reunions, and may even travel. We see how beautiful life can be, and how God breaks into our world with signs of love for us.
Keeping Sunday holy throughout the year is a good habit to cultivate. Like summer celebrations and special occasions, Sunday can be used to take a break from the daily grind, worship God, relax in his presence, and find refreshment as we prepare for the week ahead.
Instead of thinking it a duty to keep holy the Sabbath (Sunday), view it as a gift from God. Treasure it as a source of renewal and restoration. Jesus wants to spend unhurried, leisurely time with us so that he can minister to us. Let him provide you with the grace you need to accomplish all that he is calling you to do in the next six days. Sunday is an invitation to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection with our parish family at Mass. It’s also an invitation to reconnect with family and friends, enjoy some recreation, or to just curl up with a good book. Embrace the gift of Sunday.
Excepts adapted from J.S.Paluch, and The Word Among Us
In early September, Bishop David Ricken published an “action steps to accountability” report in which he listed ways the Diocese of Green Bay would commit to addressing the clergy sexual abuse crisis. Since that report was published, Bishop Ricken attended a series of listening sessions across the diocese. He’s responding to questions from those listening sessions via open letters to the faithful. Herewith are those letters.
Click Here for Part One through Four of Responding to Questions
In follow up to the *present crises facing the church, Bishop David L. Ricken, Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, reaffirms his full-hearted commitment to ensuring that all people will be safe within our church. He has issued “Action Steps to Accountability” plus several departments of the diocese have followed up with their procedures and processes, i.e. Vocation Director, Safe Environment Coordinator, Chair of the Independent Review Board, and Victim Assistance Coordinator. Those documents follow herewith.
*stemming from accusations about Archbishop Theodore McCarrick and the release of the grand jury report from the State of Pennsylvania (August 2018)
“Jesus, as our life, is calling us to this moment of conversion, cleansing and purification in our church so that disgrace may be transformed into the grace of a new heart, new beginnings and, especially to those harmed by sexual abuse, abundant life…We ask the assistance of the Holy Spirit to bring healing to victims and survivors, and to bring health to the entire church.” ~Bishop David Ricken
In light of the call for more accountability on the part of bishops, Bishop Robert Morneau voluntarily withdrew from public ministry. His letter, and Bishop David Ricken’s acceptance letter, follow herewith.
Pope Francis responded on August 20, 2018, to recent reports of clerical sexual abuse and the cover-up of abuse. The letter is addressed to the People of God. Click here to read the letter.
The Most Reverend David L. Ricken, Bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay, writes that he has a very, very heavy heart regarding the recent public accusations and reaffirms his full-hearted commitment to ensuring that all people will be safe within our Church. See letter below.
I enjoy watching and feeding birds and have come to realize we have so much to learn from them. (Which is true of all of creation – everything has a lesson to share.) I’m sure people have heard the lessons from the geese. I offer two additional ones to reflect upon.
Eagles have much to teach us. The eagle is the only bird that loves a storm. While most birds hide in the branches and leaves of trees, when the weather turns and clouds gather, the eagle gets excited. Once it finds the wind of the storm, it stops flapping and uses the pressure of the storm to soar above the clouds and glide, giving it the opportunity to rest its wings. They can do this because the eagle is the only bird with the ability to lock its wings in a fixed position which enables them to be at rest as it soars. The eagle soars until it is above the storm and rests there until the storm passes.
Reflecting on them can help us look at how we react to the storms of our lives. Do we withdraw, wait it out and hope for the best? Or do we reach to the sky, knowing we can rise above the storm, lock our wings, and rest in the heavens? A powerful saying I try to remember is: “Don’t tell God how big your storm is; tell the storm how big your God is.”
An important lesson on community building is seen in the developing eggs of the meadowlark. The adult meadowlark lays four eggs, each one two hours after the last. If left to their own corner of the nest, with no physical contact with each other, the eggs would hatch just as they were laid, at two-hour intervals. If, however, the eggs move so the shells are touching one other, an amazing change takes place. By somehow reading one another’s heart rates, the developing embryos adapt to one another. The eggs laid earlier slow their heart rates, thus slowing their development. The eggs laid later speed up their heart rates so that a developmental common ground is reached. All four eggs now develop at the same rate and hatch only minutes from one another.
Within the nest of the meadowlark, there is no competition to see who comes in first or who gets the most attention or food. Instead, the effort is made by all to see that there is no ranking of order. Unfortunately, competition can sometimes invade our lives. We can quickly want the best or most for ourselves, letting others fend for themselves. While we can be grateful for what we have, we can forget to work for the betterment of others. We can try to go it alone, seeing only our view of life, or we can allow the ideas and views of others to add their piece of the truth. Rather than allowing this competitive nature to enter in, perhaps we can pool our collective “heart rates” and once again get in touch with our call to community and with our responsibility to see that no one is left behind. For this is what Jesus meant when he spoke of God’s kingdom coming to fullness. It doesn’t happen piece by piece with a ranking of first, middle and last, but only when we are all equal in helping bring God’s presence to our world.
Let’s be attentive to the lessons that we can learn from nature.
A friend of mine gave me the test kit for 23 and Me for Christmas so I could determine my ancestry. The results were exactly what my parents had said all these years. What was new, however, was to be able to attach percentages to the nationalities. Basically, I am Northwestern European – 96.9%. Of that, I am 37% French & German (my dad’s ancestors are from French Netherlands), 31% Irish (my mother’s side), and 8% Scandinavian. I like knowing this. There is a certain sense of belonging when you know where you are from and know a little more of who you are.
The same was true when I found out I was named after my parents’ best friends – Marlyn and Ella. I was to be named either Marla or Ellyn using parts of each of their names. Once I knew this, I felt an even stronger connection to them. They were people of deep faith, integrity and hard work, and I wanted to honor them, as well as my parents, by taking on these attributes myself. It is important to me to strive to live up to my namesakes and ancestors.
Hopefully, we have a strong sense of security in knowing where we are from. In addition to our personal ancestries, we are, more importantly, from the hand of God. St. Ignatius of Loyola summed up our faith in these few words:
“We come from God. We belong to God. We return to God.”
How wonderful to know we existed in the presence of God before our birth and that we head home after this part of life’s journey. Charles Dickens knew this when he wrote about children, “I love these little people; and it is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from God, love us.” We were all born fresh from the hand of God. A challenge as we age and grow is to not lose the freshness, nor lose our memory of what it means to be made in God’s image and likeness.
It’s spiritually a good practice to take stock of our lives and look at things God might be calling us to leave in the past in order to prepare us for new life. These could also be those things that have caused us to lose some of our “freshness” or God memory. These may have included our quest for power, materialism, or popularity; our need to be right; our apathy or indifference; the burdens we place on ourselves or others; our comfort in staying where we are; our old views of God, others and ourselves; our lack of hope; our relationships we have allowed to die. Letting go of those things that are not of God or are not life giving can be difficult, and yet to do so returns some of the “freshness” of coming from God.
May God continue to open us to new life and memories of coming from Him. Let us commit ourselves more fully to living up to God as our namesake and His presence as our ancestry.
My first real time away from home was at the age of 10. My parents drove from Jasper, Minnesota, to Sioux City, Iowa, so I could babysit my 2-year old nephew. I stayed with my brother and sister-in-law for a week while they worked. I remember feeling very grown up. I was proud to be trusted with such a responsibility and took it very seriously.
I felt the same the first year I taught a room full of fourth-graders at Holy Rosary School in Medford. I was in heaven. The students were engaging and I was enthusiastic. Then one day, about a month into the school year, it suddenly occurred to me – I was entrusted with these young souls. Their parents hoped / prayed / trusted that when their son or daughter went to school, they would be well cared for. It was up to me to teach them, yes, but more importantly, to care for them. It left me in awe, and a tear came to my eye as I promised to never take the responsibility or the trust for granted.
When we talk about trust as an action of our faith, we might first define it in light of the trust we have in God, and rightly so. Whether it be from Proverbs, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not,” or Isaiah 26:4, “Trust in the Lord forever! For the Lord is an eternal Rock” we learn from early on, our God is worthy of trust. We might even have heard from parents or teachers to trust God that things will work out, our lives are in God’s hands, or trust that God has a plan for you. Trust is indeed an important basis for our relationship with God. I also think it is a two-way trust.
Bishop Bob Morneau shared, “Belief is believing in God. Faith is knowing God believes in us.” I also hear that as, “Faith is knowing God trusts us.” Often in prayer or when reading the scriptures, it occurs to me just how much God trusts us. We are entrusted with the faith of our parents and grandparents; of carrying the baton as it were, of all who have gone before us in faith, from Abraham on. God trusts us to allow this faith to fully take root within us. As Paul states in his letter to Timothy: “God saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus… Take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.” (2 Tim 1:,14)
I’m not sure how often we think of God’s trust in us, but perhaps it could become part of our prayer and reflection. As we are aware of all of the ways God has blessed us, there is the trust that we will use those blessings well. As God has given us influence over creation, there is the trust we will do what we can to care for all of creation. As God has created us with the gift of faith, there is the trust we will deepen that faith, share it with others, and pass it on to all we can. Friends, let us be grateful for the trust God has in us, seeing it as a privilege and a responsibility, and never taking it for granted.