June 5, 2022

Dear Parishioners,

At my last Monday Evening of Prayer talk a few weeks ago, I meditated on the Veni, Sancte Spiritus. Here are the words from the hymn, also known as the “Pentecost Sequence”:

 

COME, Holy Spirit,

send down those beams,

which sweetly flow in silent streams

from Thy bright throne above.

 

O come, Thou Father of the poor;

O come, Thou source of all our store,

come, fill our hearts with love.

 

O Thou, of comforters the best,

O Thou, the soul's delightful guest,

the pilgrim's sweet relief.

 

Rest art Thou in our toil, most sweet

refreshment in the noonday heat;

and solace in our grief.

 

O blessed Light of life Thou art;

fill with Thy light the inmost heart

of those who hope in Thee.

 

Without Thy Godhead nothing can,

have any price or worth in man,

nothing can harmless be.

 

Lord, wash our sinful stains away,

refresh from heaven our barren clay,

our wounds and bruises heal.

 

To Thy sweet yoke our stiff necks bow,

warm with Thy fire our hearts of snow,

our wandering feet recall.

 

Grant to Thy faithful, dearest Lord,

whose only hope is Thy sure word,

the sevenfold gifts of grace.

 

Grant us in life Thy grace that we,

in peace may die and ever be,

in joy before Thy face.

Amen. Alleluia.

 

Praying in the Holy Spirit is a gentle kind of prayer. Many of us might be weary these days: weary from a long school year, from high gas and grocery prices, from violence and division, especially with another school shooting, and so forth. The Holy Spirit is the pilgrim’s sweet relief and refreshment from the noonday heat. If you are weary and tired, anxious or grieving, I encourage you to sit in stillness with the Holy Spirit. You might pray the Veni, Sancte Spiritus and invite the Holy Spirit to enter deeply into the innermost recesses of your heart.

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Please join us this Sunday, June 5th over in the gym for Donut Sunday. As always, thanks to Barb and her team for preparing the delicious treats and coffee. A shout-out to Door County Coffee, which also fuels the army of priests/seminarians in the rectory.

A reminder that we are pausing the Monday Evening of Prayer Adoration until after Labor Day. But this Monday we invite you all to join us at 7:30pm for a special concert by the St. John’s Boys Choir. We are privileged they are making a pit-stop at our parish throughout their worldwide tour!

The Walking with Purpose  Women’s Spiritual Group is having their last meeting this Wednesday until they reconvene in the fall. Thank you to Megan and Christine for organizing the group. There was a large turnout and I encourage you to think about it for the next session.

The last week of school is upon us. Pre-K will finish on Wednesday, Kindergarten on Thursday, and the rest of the school Friday with a special “closing Mass” on Friday at 10am. Enjoy the summer, students and faculty. Be safe and remain close to our Lord.

A final reminder that the “summer Mass schedule” goes into effect this upcoming weekend of June 11/12. The daily Mass schedule remains the same.

Looking ahead to the following week, I will be away on silent retreat from June 14-June 21. This is a retreat I take every year, where I completely unplug and spend time in prayer with the Lord. I will be completely inaccessible by phone or email, so if you need anything let me know this week! I will be keeping you all close in prayer. To that effect, I will leave a binder this week on the St. Joseph Altar. If you would like to write down any special intentions, please do so and I will offer prayers and Mass for those intentions.

Your servant in Christ,