S T. A L E X I U S - O U R L A D Y O F T H E A N G E L S - S T. PA U L ’S
An Inside Look at Our
GREETER MINISTRY
Fostering Hospitality in Our Faith Community
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e’ve learned a lot of new ways to do things during the COVID-19 pandemic, from electronic clinic visits to virtual Mass and much more. We’ve also learned that an important part of our faith is celebrating with one another. The Mass is to be experienced in person, alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ. And, what could be more important than making sure every single person seated around us knows they are truly welcome in God’s house? A dedicated group of greeters at St. Paul’s makes sure of this. They are there to open the door, lend a smile, or even a hug, once the threat of the spread of COVID-19 has passed. Ruth Pohlman and her son, Shannon, are committed to making sure everyone who enters the doors at St. Paul’s for 8 a.m. Sunday Mass receives a smile. About four years ago, Ruth signed up to be a greeter, along with Shannon, as part of the stewardship renewal. The mother-son duo makes a great team — Shannon opens the door and Ruth does the talking. “I am a social butterfly,” Ruth says. “I like being around people.” The Greeter Ministry is a great way for Ruth and Shannon to use their gifts to give back to our Lord. And, Ruth is a familiar face at St. Paul’s. She and her husband, Dan, have been members at St. Paul’s since they moved from Melrose in 1979. Ruth has actually been a member since birth, except for the few years when they lived in Melrose. Ruth really believes in the value and importance of the Greeter Ministry, especially as the threat of the virus wanes and we continued on back cover
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(From left) Shannon and Ruth enjoy serving as greeters at St. Paul’s Parish.
ST. ALEXIUS - OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS - ST. PAUL’S
UPC OMING EVENTS SEARCHING SOULS — YOU’RE INVITED! Are you seeking to find answers and wanting to grow in your Catholic faith? Join other searching souls every Monday evening at 6:30 p.m. at Our Lady of the Angels Church in Sauk Centre for videos and small-group discussions with a different topic each week! Text or call 320-298-6778 to register or for questions. MONDAY, MAY 3 15 Promises of the Rosary MONDAY, MAY 10 Marian Devotion MONDAY, MAY 17 Why Does the Devil Hate Mary So Much? MONDAY, MAY 24, AT 6:30 p.m. Baptism With Fire ***CENTRE FOR CHRIST LAWN*** Please join us for a bonfire, questions and answers, small group discussion regarding Pentecost Sunday. Bring a lawn chair or blanket. MONDAY, MAY 31 Holy Trinity HFS Kindergarten Mother’s Day Service Friday, May 7 Sixth-grade Graduation Wednesday, May 26 Last day of school for K-5 at HFS Thursday, May 27
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First Saturday Devotions at Our Lady of the Angels Saturday, May 1 7:45 a.m. Confessions 8 a.m. Adoration 8:30 a.m. Rosary 9 a.m. Mass Let’s Celebrate! (and burn the mortgage) Saturday, May 1 Congratulations! We have paid off the mortgage for the new addition we opened in 2015. The elevator, offices, chapel and gathering areas have been a great blessing to our parish! Thanks again for all the ways you supported this successful project! Join us after the 4 p.m. Mass for a very short ceremony, fire, root beer floats and s’mores. Bring your own lawn chairs and roasting sticks. Location: St. Paul’s West Entrance 304 Sinclair Lewis Ave St. Theresa Mission Group Thursday, May 6, at 1 p.m. St. Paul’s Church Basement May Crowning — Mother’s Day, May 9 10 a.m. Mass at St. Paul’s Church 10:30 a.m. Mass at Our Lady of Angels Outdoor Rosary, Prayed at the Michael and Mary Thomas Residence 1821 So. 2nd St. Sauk Centre Sunday, May 16, 1 p.m. Bring a chair and rosary — everyone is welcome! Organ Concert — to celebrate the restoration and repair of the organ Sunday, May 16, at 3 p.m. St. Paul’s Church Happy Memorial Day — Parish Office closed on Monday, May 31 Fr. Greg’s birthday — Saturday, May 1 Deacon Tom M. birthday — Sunday, May 9
A Letter From Our Pastor
PENTEC OST:
The “Birth” of Stewardship My Dear Friends in Christ,
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s we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost on May 23, which is one of the most significant events in the life of the Church, I can’t help but relate the outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the first disciples as “the birth of stewardship.” As stewardship parishes, we have come to understand it in our personal lives and our parish life as the work of the Holy Spirit, active and inspiring us to be the disciples Jesus called us to be, just as He did those very first disciples. It just makes sense to once again realize and acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit in our decisions to be authentic disciples of Jesus Christ. As every parent knows, birth brings new life to every family, and the “birth of stewardship” here in our parish has brought new life to us, personally and communally, and continues to do so. We had a “Pentecost event” when the message of stewardship was first brought to our parish, and it hasn’t been the same since. Many curious people of our parish and from around the country ask the question, “How did all of this begin?” The only answer is, “moved by conversion, we knew stewardship was going to be the ‘plan’ for our future as disciples and as a parish.” It makes sense. For some, like me, it took a conversion of sorts to move us from unbelievers to believers, and from fear or suspicion to courage and confidence in the values and ideals of stewardship. Reading the accounts of the Acts of the Apostles, it wasn’t much different for them. Their experience is our experience and continues to encourage us to be open to the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. That “Spirit” renews the “Pentecost event” in each of us, as we practice discipleship as we know it through the stewardship way of life. Also, as with each new birth, the life that begins needs to be nourished, nurtured and loved. Through our understanding of the four pillars of parish stewardship — hospitality, prayer, formation and service — we each are called to nourish, nurture and love our parish family
with the gifts we bring to each other. And without ever really knowing how much of an impact we have on each other’s spiritual lives, we trust the Holy Spirit to continue the “good work of faithful stewardship” in each of us and to those around us. Isn’t that what the first Pentecost event started, and isn’t that what you see in our parish, especially since our own “birth of stewardship”? God has blessed our parish family and continues to do so, as the Holy Spirit continues to pour out gifts upon us and send us forth to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. As we grow and mature in our stewardship efforts, how fortunate we are that the stewardship way of life has become our way of life. May we always give thanks to God for the Holy Spirit’s gift to each of us — for, when we do, it seems only natural to be inspired to live discipleship as it was intended to be lived in the first disciples and in each of us. In our Father’s hands,
Fr. Greg Paffel Pastor
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ST. ALEXIUS - OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS - ST. PAUL’S
Getting to Know the Members of Our T
his month, we speak with Tom Overman, Scott Henderson, Andrew Bromenshenkel, Jim Bottelberghe and Sheila Jaeger about their involvement on the ACC Council and in our faith community. TOM OVERMAN 1. How are you involved in your parish? I am involved in many different things at our parish, taking my turn mowing the church lawn, ushering at Mass, involved in our Spring Cash Raffle planning, and volunteer my help at our annual Fall Turkey Dinner. 2. How did you get involved on the Leadership Team? I originally was involved on our parish council at St. Donatus — when we were establishing the ACC leadership team at the meeting at the Padua Pub, the group added my name to the list of possible people. My first reaction was I really did not want to be involved in this council. Over the next few days, I really felt a tug from God that kept pulling me to be on the council. So I accepted, and very glad that I did 3. What is the best part about being on the team? We as a team mesh very well — I have made new friends and really feel like I am a part of making decisions that steer the future of our ACC. 4. Being on the Leadership Team, what is your hope for the ACC? My hope is that in the future, we as an ACC will all feel as one group, and work closely and diligently together to become closer to God 5. Tell us more about the mission of the ACC. Our mission is to establish a prayerful and holy ACC with a focus on all members feeling a part of something special. While still maintaining the roots and personality of each individual parish along the way. We as a team are taking steps to utilize our strengths at each individual parish to do greater good for the ACC.
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SCOTT HENDERSON (Not Pictured) 1. How are you involved in your parish? Our family belongs to St. Paul’s Church and I did sign up to be an usher in 2020, but with the pandemic, I haven’t had the opportunity to serve in that capacity. I currently sit on the HFS School Board 2. How did you get involved on the Leadership Team? As a member of the HFS Board, it was important to have representation of the Board on the ACC. Fr. Greg asked if I would be the liaison between the Board and the ACC. 3. What is the best part about being on the Leadership Team? Personally, besides getting to know all the great individual people serving on the leadership team, I would say learning about the nuances of each parish, especially the southern parishes, and getting to understand more about what makes each parish tick was the best part. 4. Being on the Leadership Team, what is your hope for the ACC? I hope to increase the connection between all of the parishes to HFS. I think by adding the southern parishes to the line of communication, it will increase the stewardship of the community to the school. ANDREW BROMENSHENKEL 1. How are you involved in your parish? In addition to being involved in the Parishes on the Prairie Leadership Team, I am an active member of the Knights of Columbus. 2. How did you get involved on the Leadership Team? Fr. David Grundman approached me about it, saying he thought I’d be a good fit since I grew up attending St Paul’s in Sauk Centre and now am a member of St. Francis de Sales. I wanted to be more involved in our parishes, so I agreed.
Area Catholic Community Council
The Second Installment in Our ACC Series
3. What is the best part about being on the Leadership Team? We’re the first group of parishioners to set the foundation for the Parishes on the Prairie for years to come. 4. Being on the Leadership Team, what is your hope for the ACC? My hope for the Parishes on the Prairie Leadership team is to help bring these six parishes closer together and to find ways for each individual parish to benefit from the larger group. 5. What goals are the Leadership Team working towards? Please tell me why these goals are important. Our upcoming goals include continuing to learn about stewardship, supporting faith formation, developing communications and community outreach, like interacting with the elderly and involving the youth. 6. Which goal are you most interested in and why? What concrete things need to happen to achieve that goal? Stewardship. The southern parishes just completed our first Stewardship Commitment, and I think that’s an excellent start. JIM BOTTELBERGHE 1. How are you involved in your parish? Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister, greeter, money counter, Treasurer for St. Joseph Society, Homebound Ministry, on the Maintenance Committee, on the Sausage Supper Committee, assist and sing in the choir. I have been on the Finance Council, Parish Council, and have served as a Trustee. In the past, I taught religion classes for the youth.
2. How did you get involved on the Leadership Team? Fr. Greg asked me if I would be willing to serve our parish in this capacity. 3. What is the best part about being on the team? Meeting other people from all the different parishes, and working together with them on different projects and goals. 4. Being on the Leadership Team, what is your hope for the ACC? To continue to develop and grow community bonds between the six parishes in our ACC while maintaining each parishes’ individual identity. SHEILA JAEGER 1. How are you involved in your parish? Right now I am a lector, Eucharistic Minister, religion teacher, and on the ACC at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Elrosa. 2. How did you get involved on the Leadership Team? I became a member of the Leadership Team after serving on the Parish Council and being asked to become part of the ACC. 3. What is the best part about being on the Leadership Team? The best part of being on the Leadership Team is being able to work with others to get ideas about how our parishes can stay vibrant and inviting to all. 4. Being on the Leadership Team, what is your hope for the ACC? My hope for the ACC is to continue to be guided by the Holy Spirit to work together to foster growth and stewardship in our parishes.
If anyone has questions or concerns for the ACC team, please contact any member of the ACC. Please go to our website, parishesontheprairie.org, to find current members! 5
ST. ALEXIUS - OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS - ST. PAUL’S
Remembering St. Damien of Molokai on His Feast Day, May 10
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hen Joseph de Veuster — who later the received the name Damien in religious life — was born in Belgium, in 1840, few in Europe had any understanding or knowledge of leprosy, or Hansen’s disease. But upon his death at the age of 49, people all over the world knew about this disease. Just as importantly, they also understood the role that human compassion held in softening the ravages of this disease. Having quit school to work on the family farm at the age of 13, Joseph entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary six years later. When his brother, a priest in the same congregation, was too ill to go to the Hawaiian Islands as assigned, Damien volunteered in his place. In May 1864, just two months after his arrival, Damien was ordained a priest in Honolulu and assigned to the island of Hawaii. In 1873, Damien made his way to the Hawaiian government’s leper colony on the island of Molokai, which had been established seven years earlier. His first project, building the Parish Church of St. Philomena, was carried out so that the people would be able to learn the Catholic faith and have a place to worship. As part of a team of four chaplains who took the assignment in Molokai for three months each year, Damien soon volunteered to remain on a permanent basis, caring for the physical, medical and spiritual needs of those in the colony. He would eventually become their most effective advocate in ob-
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taining promised government support. The settlement soon had new houses and a new church, school and orphanage. Damien contracted Hansen’s disease, and on April 15, 1889, he died of its complications. As requested, he was buried in Kalaupapa. However, in 1936, the Belgian government succeeded in having his body moved to Belgium. In 1995, after his beatification, part of Damien’s body was returned to his beloved Hawaiian brothers and sisters. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 11, 2009. His symbols are a tree and a dove, and he is the patron of outcasts, and people with leprosy, HIV and AIDS.
St. Damien, brother on the journey, Happy and generous missionary, who loved the Gospel more than your life, who for love of Jesus left your family, your homeland, your security, your dreams, Teach us to give our lives with a joy like yours, to be in solidarity with the outcasts of the world, to celebrate and contemplate the Eucharist as the source of our commitment. Help us to love to the very end and, in the strength of the Spirit, to persevere in compassion for the poor and forgotten so that we might be good disciples of Jesus and Mary. Amen.
Annette Kittelson M E E T PA R I SH ION E R
GRATEFULLY LIVING A STEWARDSHIP WAY OF LIFE
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ur Lady of the Angels Parish has been an essential part of Annette Kittelson’s life for as long as she can remember. She has been a parishioner her entire life, receiving the Sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation, First Communion, Confirmation, and Holy Matrimony there. Thanks to the example of her parents, Don and Virginia Toenies, Annette has always known the abundant blessings that come from a stewardship way of life. “My parents have been invaluable role models on how to live a life with God being of utmost importance,” she says. “They have always devoted time and treasure to the important work of the church in our community.” Twenty years ago, Annette married Sam Kittelson, her high school sweetheart and a fellow lifelong parishioner at Our Lady of the Angels. The couple has two daughters, Emma, 16, and Sara, 14, who are also active in parish life. “My greatest joy has been to see the involvement of our daughters in the church,” Annette says. “Our oldest daughter, Emma, is an accompanist at both Our Lady of the Angels and St. Paul’s Church, and it makes me so happy that she is sharing her musical talent with the church and loves being involved and sharing her talent.” By raising their children in the Church, Annette and Sam hope to
The Kittelson family — (from left) Sam, Emma, Annette and Sara
give them a strong foundation in the faith that will withstand the trials and temptations of high school and college life, and beyond. For the Kittelsons, the cornerstone of this foundation is a sense of gratitude for the many blessings received and a desire to give back to God, His Church, and His people. “It is important to make time for stewardship, just as if we were asked to make time for anything else,” Annette says. “It has to be a commitment to make it a priority. The blessings that my family and I possess are gifts from God, and I feel that gifts are to be shared. What better way to show my appreciation of those blessings than to give back to my church in any way I can and to instill in my daughters to do the same.”
Thankful for the example of her parents, as well as the countless other devoted parishioners who have been a part of the faith family at Our Lady of the Angels over all these years, Annette prays that the younger generations will continue the parish’s beautiful tradition of active faith and loving service for many more years to come. “There are parishioners at Our Lady of the Angels who I see now at Mass when I go with my own family who I saw when I was a small child going to Mass with my parents,” she says. “Our Lady of the Angels has many strong, faithfilled parishioners who truly love the Lord. I would like to see more involvement by the youth since they are our future.”
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ST. ALEXIUS - OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS - ST. PAUL’S Parish Office: 304 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378 (320) 352-2196 www.catholic-sc.org Mass Schedule
Saturday 4:00 p.m. - St. Paul’s Saturday 5:00 p.m. - Our Lady of the Angels Saturday 8:00 p.m. - St. Paul’s Sunday 8:00 a.m. - St. Paul’s Sunday 8:30 a.m. - St. Alexius Sunday 10:00 a.m. - St. Paul’s Sunday 10:30 a.m. - Our Lady of the Angels
Reconciliation Schedule
Thursday 4:00 p.m. - St. Paul’s Saturday 3:00 p.m. - St. Paul’s Saturday 4:00 p.m. - Our Lady of the Angels Sunday 8:00 a.m. - St. Alexius
Greeter Ministry welcome more and more people back to Mass. “It’s simple,” she says. “It’s just offering a friendly face to greet people and make people know they are welcome.” The Pohlman family has experienced being on the receiving side of this ministry when they have visited parishes out of town. So, Ruth wants people to have that same welcome feeling at St. Paul’s. As she notes, this would be a great ministry for families, especially those with smaller children. Plus, there are no meetings, and you are already at Mass. Why not offer your time? Since so many people arrive early to Mass to pray the Rosary, Ruth and Shannon try to arrive about 30 minutes before the start of Mass.
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There are many ways we can all work to show hospitality to parishioners and guests, alike. Ruth’s work as a chairperson for a funeral group is another form of hospitality. The funeral groups make a meal for bereaved families for after the burial of the deceased. So, for Ruth, greeting people as they enter God’s house to celebrate the Mass is just one way she welcomes others. “It is just a simple ministry, but an important one,” she says. Serving with the Greeters is also the first ministry in which Shannon has been involved. He enjoys serving in this ministry alongside his mom. “Any way any of us can get involved and use our talents is important,” Ruth says.
If you would like to get involved as a greeter for any of our parishes, please call 320-352-2196.