ST. Welcome to

6060 WEST LOOMIS ROAD • GREENDALE, WI 53129 4 1 4 - 4 2 1 - 2 4 4 2 • w w w . s t - a l p h o n s u s . o r g

The Holy Family • December 29, 2019

November 1

When Herod had died,

behold, the angel of the

Lord appeared in a

dream to Joseph in

Egypt and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead.” He rose,

took the child and his

mother, and went to the

land of Israel. - Mt 2:19-

21

Excerpts from the Lectionary for

Mass ©2001, 1998, 1970 CCD.

S t . A l p h o n s u s N o t e s 2

Advertiser of the Week

Allergy & Asthma

Centers S.C. 4811 S. 76th Street, Suite 400

Greenfield, WI 53220 414-281-0404 www.allergyasthmacrs.com

Terry Graves, M.D.-John Basich, M.D. (parish member)-Walter

Save The Date

St. Alphonsus 21st Annual Parish Benefit Auction—Friday, April 24, 2020

Mark your calendar for “Springtime in Paris” the annual parish Auction on Fri-day, April 24, 2020. The Auc-tion is always a fun way to spend the evening with your fellow parishioners while sup-porting the parish. We hope you’ll join us!

Also please remember the Parish Auction as you shop the “after Christmas sales.” Take advantage of the many post-holiday sales while shopping for a good cause. All donations are greatly appreciated: household items, sporting goods, wine, liquor, electronics, gift cards, etc. – Have fun and be creative!

If you have any questions about the parish Auction, please contact Sue Ruedinger at 414-731-0537, or Doris Jome at 414-529-4739. Thank you for your support!

For Your Participation The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has undertak-en an initiative in 2020 entitled ‘Called for More.’ This is funded by a grant from the Lilly Endowment, and its goal is to pilot a new pro-cess for supporting priests/parishes to further thrive their ministry. As part of this goal, each adult parishioner is asked to complete a short 15-minute survey in late February, 2020. As we get closer to the survey date, more infor-mation will be available. We thank you in ad-vance for your participation!

The Parish Ministry Center will be closed New Year’s Eve Day, Tuesday, December 31, 2019, and New Year’s Day, Wednes-day, January 1, 2020. It will

reopen on Thursday, January 2, 2020, at 8:00 a.m.

The Christian Formation Office is closed through January 1, 2020, and will reopen at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 2, 2020.

The Holy Family - December 29, 2019 “‘Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you.’” 725 kilometers. That’s the distance on modern roads from Bethlehem to Cairo. Assuming one covered 40km a day on foot — ambitious for two young parents and their infant son — the journey would take well over two weeks. Of course, the Holy Family didn’t have modern roads. They would travel through wil-derness, fear bandits, run low on water, and cross the vast Sinai Peninsula in a reverse of their forefathers in Exodus. Here, in struggle and sacrifice, are the beginnings of the forging of the Holy Family.

“Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod.” Large Jewish communities existed in most major cities of the ancient Mediterranean world, after the collapse of their kingdoms chronicled in the Old Testament, and Joseph could likely find work as a carpenter. All the same, today’s Gospel reminds us that the first formational years of Jesus as a babe-in-arms were spent in a strange land. The members of the Holy Family were foreigners, outsiders, immigrants.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God took on our humanity. He is in solidarity with our own trials and difficulties. On the feast of the Holy Family, we honor the special place of the family within society. We are invited, too, to recall those families who share in the struggles of the Holy Family in a particular way. We pray for immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. We pray for all parents who sacrifice their own well-being and comfort so their children may have a better life. ©LPi

The Giving Tree Our Christmas Giving Tree was again a big success this year. We would like to thank all of our parishioners, who so generously purchased more than 1,200 toys for boys and girls, ages 4-8.

The toys were distributed to six Milwaukee parish schools and to our parish, St. Alphonsus. Those schools are: Notre Dame Primary, Nativity Jesuit Prima-ry, St. Josephat Grade School, St. Anthony Elementary, Messmer St. Rose and Messmer St. Mary. Additional toys were donated to the Ronald McDonald House.

Words cannot express the appreciation of the staff and families from these schools. The children have truly been blessed because of your kindness.

The St. Alphonsus Christmas Committee will keep all of you in our prayers. Saint Alphonsus con-tinues to do good work in helping those less fortunate.

UNPLANNED—The Movie The most important movie you'll see on the most controversial issue of our time. Join in Thursday, January 2, 2020, in the Community Room, 6:30 p.m. No RSVP needed; no cost (freewill offer-ing). For information, see unplannedmovie.com or www.prolifewi.org/unplanned.

Do You Know About Our Prayer Networks? Saint Alphonsus Parish has two active prayer networks: St. Ann and St. Patrick. The volunteers on each network treasure the opportunity to pray for your needs. The net-works are confidential: they use first names only, and pass on your prayer request immediately. Please feel free to call them at any time and allow them to pray with you. St. Ann Prayer Network: Geri—281-4507; St. Patrick Prayer Network: Rosemary—421-2548

S tewar d sh ip : T ime , Ta l en t & Tr ea su r e 3

Year-End Donations We truly appreciate all of the year-end donations we receive from parishioners and visitors to our Parish but want to share the guidelines we have to follow in accepting these towards your 2019 contribution.

The IRS allows individuals to deduct charitable dona-tions from their income in the year the donations were delivered. Gifts delivered in the weekend collections are easily recorded with those dates. When a donation is mailed, we are required to use the postmark date to determine when the donation was made.

The Parish Office will be closed Tuesday, December 31, and Wednesday, January 1. If you will be dropping off your donation, please stop in on Monday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Thank you for your continued generosity and support of the parish! -Kathy Jaeckels, Director of Finance

St. Vincent de Paul Annual Report The St. Vincent de Paul Society conference at St. Alphonsus would like to share with you the generosity of donors and our financial expendi-tures for our fiscal year October 1, 2018 – September 30, 2019.

We have 12 active and 8 associate members who had 981 hours of service, plus the bread run drivers who had 525 hours of service, and a combined 8,847 estimated miles in service. We did 46 home visits, serving 114 people and 2958 other in-person visits, helping a total of 10,586 people. In-kind donations of food, furniture, clothing, and miscellaneous items helped 2,957 times, valued at $32,482. We ran events for school supply drive, Friends of the Poor Walk, ministry fair, 1st Communicant talks, and held meetings twice a month.

We are humbled to represent you, as we make our home visits and provide aid, service, referrals, and prayers to those in need. If you know of someone in our local area needing assistance or you wish to become a member, please call the parish office at 421-2442. May

God bless you, as you have blessed the poor!

Thank you for supporting our work in the name of Christ.

Revenue/Income

Expenses Balance

Beginning balance $5,047

Income: Donations from members, annual church envelopes, poor boxes

$15,841

Income: fundraising events (trivia, communion banks)

$6,633

Restricted income: school supply $716

Direct aid to clients (rent, appliances, beds, medicine, bills, etc. ), local hot meal programs, and needy

$20,844

Solidarity contributions (dues/tithing) $172

International Twinning SVdP conference in Bu-caramanga, Colombia (client aid, micro busi-ness, medicine, food, seminarian)

$850

Operating expenses - bulletin flyers for events, prayer cards for Communicants

$121

Operating expense - thank you notes/receipts and postage for 2019-2020

$556

Ending balance Sep 30, 2019 $7,393

Pray For Our Military Please remember in your prayers all the men and women serving in our military. If you know someone who is currently serving in our armed forces and would like to have their name mentioned here, please specify their name and title and your relationship. Call the parish office at 421-2442, or email stals@st-alphonsus.org. This list will run monthly. Please pray for:

Warrant Officer Jerry Spears, Jr., SPC Derek Dutkiewicz, SSG Daniel Nowak, A1C Zachary Zellner, Christopher Grimm, AMN Jordan, Colin & Kyle Tubbs and PFC Patrick Fischer, SGT Kristen Dodds, SSG Brandon Newman, LT CMDR John Zablocki, SGT Kevin Zastrow, SSGT Chadd Sievert, 1LT Anna Kastelic & 1LT Brian Kastelic, SSG Jake Prochnow, Navy Seal CPO Adam Smith & Navy Seal PO Nicho-las Smith, PO Zachary Lachman, SGT Robert Hintz, SSGT Joshua Dozier, CPL Matthew Seipel, MAJ Mary Ayres, Lt. J.G. Michael Bek, PVT Julianne Nolan-Phillips, PVT Jared Stuck-ey, A1C Katie Pospyhalla, CAPT Katie Duffy, PVT Joshua Knier, Ben Shaffer, LT COL Jef-frey Ignatowski, PVT Tommy Hodkiewicz, ETV 3 (SS) 3C Austin Bonk, PFC Jonathan Schmidt, AWS2 Michael Fischer, A1C William Lomax, Airborne Ranger Michael Lomax, PFC Jacob Bartaczewicz, LCLE3 Jake Banach, SGT Evan Miller

Join Us On Saturday, Janu-

ary 18, 7:00-8:30 P.M. For

“Musica Oramus” In

Church Saint Mary’s Visitation Choir of Elm Grove will present a con-cert of classical Sacred Music from Gregorian Chant to the present. If you haven’t heard Gregorian Chant or polyphonic liturgical music, you’ll be in for a genuine treat. Refreshments served. No Registration needed.

Parish Giving Results

Due to the early bulletin transmission time for the December 29 bulletin, we are not able to give the weekly parish giving results. Therefore it will be re-ported in next week’s bulletin, along with that week’s results.

4

Y o u t h & S c h o o l N o t e s

P a s t o r a l S h a r i n g s

School Scene December has been a busy month for everyone! On De-cember 13, Ms. Steinke’s 5K class joined up with their 5th grade buddies (Mrs. Duck-ert’s class) to create, design and decorate gingerbread houses. It was a fun time for everyone coming up with a plan on how to build the houses with graham crack-ers. Of course, the best part was decorating with all of the different candies. They had gumdrops, marshmallows, sprinkles, candy canes, skit-tles, M&Ms, Lifesavers, gummy bears, and more! There was definitely some nibbling going on throughout the morning.

Each week, buddy classes sit together during our school Masses on Wednesday mornings. We also plan additional activities in the classroom about once a month. The older students are such great influences and role models for their younger kindergarten friends. They really look forward to being with their buddies.

You might also have noticed that the children were not in their regular uniform. On this day, stu-dents could wear their “Ugly Christmas Sweaters” with a $1 donation to the St. Alphonsus Parish Food Pantry to help purchase turkeys and hams to give to 46 families for Christmas.

Please pray for the souls of those who have recently died and for their families and friends:

Richard Warzinski Margaret Kreinz Jennifer Niemiec Andrew Niemiec Robert Polewski Rita Betlej Christine Becker Dorothy Balistreri Caroline Dzibinski Catherine Metten Ronald B. Galecke Richard Doleschy

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,

and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed, Through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

A People of Faith, Grow in Faith “May the peace of Christ find welcome in our world and in our hearts.”

Saint Alphonsus Parish Community has a long history of providing opportunities to assist adults in dynamic Chris-tian living. Twice yearly, all parish households are mailed a special brochure describing these opportuni-ties. Some are one-time programs; others are studies or faith-sharing groups which take place over several months. We try to balance daytime and evening offer-

ings to accommodate everyone’s busy schedules.

To review the past Fall Season: Scripture study, Milwaukee and U. S. History, Theology, Faith-Sharing, and book discussions drew many folks from our parish and the community-at-large. Doctor Dan Scholz engaged us in “The New Testament Gospel Resurrection Narratives.” Living Historian, Jessica Michna, spoke to us as Mary Todd Lincoln, engaging her listeners with tales of the Lincoln Family. Professor Ste-phen Hauser energized participants with “Milwaukee’s Love Affair with Baseball,” especially delightful during the 2019 Brewers’ baseball sea-son. Father Aaron challenged us to learn about the “Catholic Church: A Communion of Churches,” teaching us about the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches that are fully Catholic. Doctor Mike Brummond reminded us of practical ways to live out our own “Baptismal Priesthood.” Parishioner Ed Block facilitated an animated book discussion of Nickolas Butler’s Little Faith, with participants gathered in the Parish Library. The annual Morning for Women took place at a new site, The Conservancy for Healing and Heritage Chapel, where Joan Carey engaged the women with her presentation “Hope, Happiness, and Him.” Sister Eileen intro-duced us to the conversion story of beloved Christian writer,

C.S. Lewis, as actor Max McLean, by DVD, dramatized this “Most Re-luctant Convert.”

Our daytime and evening Small Faith Communities came together for five weeks to share the Scriptures and “Life After Sunday.” The Little Rock Scripture Study Group, facilitated by parishioner Barbara Bova, completed their study of St. Paul’s “Letters from Prison: Part II.” Our Pastoral Care volunteers gathered to share coffee and conversa-tion, as a former Hospice Chaplain, Cathy Labinski, shared ways of ministering to others with a deepened sense of compassion.

These past months, approximately 700 folks participated in our adult offerings.

What’s on the horizon for Winter? We will once again offer Scripture Study and Theology programs, Small Faith-Sharing groups, and Terrific Tuesdays in Lent. Additional programming will be offered through our Faith and Beauty Initiative, as we enrich our Faith by exploring beauty in art, the written word, and music. A new program brochure will be mailed to the parish-at-large in January.

Coming in Fall 2020: “Amazing Possibilities,” with Matthew Kelly. Saint Alphonsus Parish will host this special event on Sunday, November 8, 2020.

Thanks to everyone for your feedback and your eagerness to partici-pate! Special thanks to the Adult Learning Program Board (ALP) mem-bers who work together with me to implement these programs. During this Christmas season, may your days be blessed with peace, joy, and fun!

-Sr. Eileen Kazmierowicz, Pastoral Associate

Wedding

Banns Please pray for this couple, who is about to celebrate the Sacra-ment of Matrimony:

II—Matt Polakowski & Lindsey Youngs

F o c u s o n t h e W o r d 5

W h a t ’ s H a p p e n i n g

Care For Creation We continue in the year 2020 to face the challenge Pope Francis’ encyclical letter has given us. "Replace consumption with sacrifice, greed with generosity, wastefulness with a spirit of sharing."

Laudato Si -"Praise be to you," from the Care For Creation Committee. Each month for the next 12 months, we will again offer "One Simple Act" suggestions to incorporate in our daily lives. Two weeks of doing something can make it a habit.

From Pope Francis' encyclical letter: "Greater scarcity of water will lead to an increase in the cost of food and the various products which depend on its use." ONE SIMPLE ACT TAKE THE WATER FOOTPRINT CHALLENGE! Go to www.watercalculator.org/ and find out your water footprint. Use this information to understand your impact and as a tool to make the most impactful changes.

Begin The New Year Studying The Gospel! Join us on Tuesday evening, January 7, 7:00-8:30 p.m., in the Community Room. Dr. Dan Scholz returns to present, “Year A: What to Expect from the Gospel of Matthew.” The season of Advent began the new liturgical year. Throughout this year, we will be hearing from Matthew for our Sunday Gospel readings. In this presentation, we will discuss how Matthew tells the story of Jesus, and highlight some recurring themes. Doctor Scholz is Vice President of Academic Affairs &

Associate Professor, Religious Studies Department, Cardinal Stritch University. Registration help-ful: 421-2442 x 225. Freewill offering.

Scripture Readings Readings for the week of December 29, 2019 Sunday: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14/ Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 [cf. 1]/Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17/Mt 2:13-15, 19-23 Monday: 1 Jn 2:12-17/Ps 96:7-8a, 8b-9, 10 [11a]/Lk 2:36-40 Tuesday: 1 Jn 2:18-21/Ps 96:1-2, 11-12, 13 [11a]/Jn 1:1-18 Wednesday: Nm 6:22-27/Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 [2a]/Gal 4:4-7/Lk 2:16-21 Thursday: 1 Jn 2:22-28/Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4 [3cd]/Jn 1:19-28 Friday: 1 Jn 2:29—3:6/Ps 98:1, 3cd-4, 5-6 [3cd]/Jn 1:29-34 Saturday: 1 Jn 3:7-10/Ps 98:1, 7-8, 9 [3cd]/Jn 1:35-42 Next Sunday: Is 60:1-6/Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13 [cf. 11]/Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6/Mt 2:1-12

Observances for the week of December 29, 2019 Sunday: The Holy Family Monday: Tuesday: Saint Sylvester I, Pope Wednesday: Mary, the Holy Mother of God (holy day of obligation); New Year’s Day; World Day of Peace Thursday: Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazi- anzen, Bishops & Doctors of the Church Friday: The Most Holy Name of Jesus Saturday: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious; National Migration Week Next Sunday: The Epiphany of the Lord

Mary, the Holy Mother of

God This solemnity is a rather recent addition to the cycle of seasons, Sundays, and feasts in our liturgical year. We have Pope Paul VI to thank for the 1974 enshrining of the devotion to Mary into our calendar on January 1. It is also a day in our calendar as a World Day for Peace.

Let us pray...

God of heaven and earth, you came to us and took our earthly flesh through the gift of Mary's yes. She is our Mother in faith, as she is your earthly mother.

We are thankful beyond our ability to thank you for the gift of her Son as our brother and savior. Through her self-giving, we have been reconciled to you.

Bless us as we begin this New Year and endow us with the desire and ability to create a world of peace.

We ask all this, through the intercession of Mary to you, one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Please pray for these babies, who were re-cently baptized and for their families:

SOPHIA JACQUELINE TERRANOVA, daughter of Nicholas Terranova and Melissa (Rahlf) Terranova ELISE CAROLINE ALLEN, daughter of Justin Allen & Claire (Weiss) Allen DECLAN JAMES ANDERSON, son of Ran-dall Anderson & Samantha (Bruski) Anderson WESLEY EARNEST REMBERT, son of Mat-thew Rembert & Emily A. Wenninger

Question Of The Week Theme: Jesus is God made flesh. (Emmanuel = God is with us!) Question for Youth: God speaks to us in our intuitions and imagination, as he did to Joseph in his dream. What is your experi-ence of hearing God speak in this way? What is God asking of you? Question for Adults: What experiences do you have of God “speaking to you” and di-recting your life and work? How does God speak to you in prayer?

World Day Of

Peace January 1

Tear Along Perforated Line

Mass Intentions Saturday, December • 28 The Holy Innocents 4:30 pm † Richard J. Biedrzycki (Wife, Frances) Sunday, December • 29 The Holy Family Of Jesus, Mary & Joseph 7:30 am † Gil Smieja (Shirley & Richard Fitzgerald) 9:00 am For the Parishioners † Paul Schwabe (Karen Forecki) 11:00 am † Mary Warkoczewski (Terry & Cory Hoffman) Monday, December • 30 Sixth Day Within The Octave Of The Nativity Of The Lord 7:00 am † Donna Bart (Husband, Dennis)

Thursday, January • 2 St. Basil The Great & St. Gregory Nazianzen 7:00 am † All Souls 4:30 pm Eucharistic Adoration Friday, January • 3 Christmas Weekday 7:00 am † Shari & Scott Hennessy (Charlotte & Tom Chvala) Saturday, January • 4 St. Elizabeth Ann Seton 8:00 am † Joanne Ubl (Ellen Moodie) 8:30 am Confessions 3:30 pm Confessions 4:30 pm † Robert Mc Jinty (Jo Anne Pierzchalski) Sunday, January • 5 Epiphany Of The Lord 7:30 am † All Souls 9:00 am For the Parishioners † Tom Frohna (Wife, Rita) 11:00 am † Andrew Wasielewski (Bernice Wasielewski) Baptisms

50th Wedding Anniversary—Sandra & Randy Steiner

Contacts Church Building 6060 West Loomis Road • Greendale, WI 53129 Parish Ministry Center & Christian Formation Office…….414-421-2442 5960 West Loomis Road • Greendale, WI 53129-1824 Fax…………………………………………………………………414-421-8744 E-mail…………………………………………………..stals@st-alphonsus.org Website………………………………………………….www.st-alphonsus.org Pastoral Staff…………………………………………………….414-421-2442 Pastor, Rev. Aaron Esch………………………… fraaron@st-alphonsus.org Associate Pastor, Rev. Britto Suresh…….. .brittosuresh@st-alphonsus.org

eileen@st-alphonsus.org Office & Technology Manager, Bill Kelly……………..bill@st-alphonsus.org Director of Finance, Kathy Jaeckels………………kathyj@st-alphonsus.org Director of Liturgy & Music, Terry Piontkowski ……terry@st-alphonsus.org Director of Christian Formation, Julie Lobitz…………..lobitzj@st-alphonsus.org

School Principal, Mary Stallmann…………………. mary@st-alphonsus.org Facilities Manager, Jacob Majstorovic…………….jacob@st-alphonsus.org Permanent Deacon, Ted Gurzynski……….theodore.gurzynski@gmail.com Permanent Deacon, James Leggett..jleggettfarmersinsurance@gmail.com

Rev. Walter Vogel………………………………………….Priest In Residence School Offices…………………………………………………..414-421-1760 6000 West Loomis Road • Greendale, WI 53129 School & Gym Entrances…………………………...6080 West Loomis Road Fax…………………………………………………………………414-433-0709 Pastoral Council Chairperson, Denna Flemming…………………..430-1482 Parish Trustee, Mary Sue Taft……………………………………….425-6400 Parish Trustee, Robert Lange………………………………………..940-2755 Neighborhood Outreach Program……………………………………488-6500 Emergency Food Pantry……………………………………………...514-4400

Prayer Network If you have a Special Intention for which you would like prayers, please call one of the St. Alphonsus Prayer Networks: St. Patrick (Rosemary)………………………………………………..421-2548 St. Ann (Geri)…………………………………………………………..281-4507 The networks are confidential; please feel free to contact them with your requests.

Eucharistic Celebrations Weekend……...Saturday 8:00 am 4:30 pm; Sunday 7:30, 9:00 & 11:00 am Weekday…………………………………………………………..See schedule

Sacrament of Baptism For Baptismal arrangements, call the Parish Office, 421-2442.

Sacrament of Reconciliation Saturday 8:30 am 3:30 pm or anytime by appointment.

Anointing of the Sick Please contact the parish office to make an appointment to be anointed

New Membership Joining our parish community can be easily done at the Parish Ministry Cen-ter, Mondays through Thursdays from 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., or Fridays from 8:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m. You can also register online at www.st-alphonsus.org.

S t . A lphonsus D i r ec to r y and Ca l enda r s 6

This Week

Monday, December 30, 2019 7:30 pm AA Reality Support Group PMC/P-101 Tuesday, December 31, 2019 7:00 pm Recovery (Mental Health Support Group) PMC/P-103 Thursday, January 2, 2020 10:00 am Bereavement Support Group (1st & 3rd Thursday) PMC/P-101 6:30 pm Lector Practice Church 6:30 pm Movie - Unplanned Community Room 7:00 pm Handbell Practice Fr. Alan Meeting Room Saturday, January 4, 2020 8:30 am Instrumental Rehearsal Church Sunday, January 5, 2020 9:30 am RCIA PMC/P-101 10:15 am Christian Formation Gr. 5K-5 School 5:30 pm Christian Formation Gr. 7 School 6:30 pm Christian Formation Gr. 10 PMC 6:30 pm Christian Formation Gr. 6, 8, & 9 School

Do you know that St. Peregrine is the cancer saint?

Tuesday, December • 31 Seventh Day Within The Octave Of The Nativity Of The Lord (New Year’s Eve) 4:00 pm † Pat Fleming (Cletus & Carol Fleming) Note Time Change Wednesday, January • 1 Solemnity Of Mary, Mother Of God, The Octave Day Of The Nativity Of The Lord (New Year’s Day) 9:00 am For The Parishioners † Joe Kazmierczak (Family) Note Time Change