St. John the Baptist Parish, Plum City, WI St. Joseph Parish, Arkansaw, WI

Home , Joseph, Joseph (Genesis)

PARISH STAFF Pastor: Very Reverend Joseph Okine-Quartey St. John the Baptist Parish, Plum City, WI Suzanne Brunner, Housekeeping, St. John the Baptist Rectory Dave Drier, Maintenance Director, St. Joseph St. Joseph Parish, Arkansaw, WI Gwen Glaus, Housekeeping, St. John the Baptist Church Vickie Hartung, Housekeeping, St. Joseph DECEMBER 13, 2020 Pete Helmueller, Maintenance Director, St. John the Baptist Dorothy Kopp, Bookkeeper Denise Pelzel, Secretary Aletha Pullen, Bulletin Editor Robyn Trannel, Director of Religions Education

PARISH COUNCILS St. John the Baptist Parish Pastoral Council Connie Ahlers, Kevin Coulson, Peggy Gilles, Gwen Glaus, Sarah Hinrichs, Steve King, Dianne Lecheler, Terry Pelzel, Mike Rhiel, Audrey Ryan, Jacqui Steele, and *Dan Wieser (Chair) Parish Finance Council Lawrence Bechel, Marie Berger, Jeff Bergmann (Chair), *Todd Glaus, and Deb Radle

St. Joseph Parish Pastoral Council Dave Anibas, Brad Bauer, Bud Bauer, David Drier (Chair), Gerald Leiffring, Linda Leiffring, Howard Martin, and Dennis Milliren Parish Finance Council *Jeff Brunner, *Dale Klein (Chair), and Sue Milliren

*Corporate Board Members

ORGANIZATIONS Holy Name Society Parish Council of Catholic Women Knights of Columbus St. Ann’s Altar Society BIRTHDAY & ANNIVERSARY BLESSINGS Elaine Hartung’s Birthday: 12/13 Bob Binkowski’s Birthday: 12/16 Felix Berger’s Birthday: 12/16 Dean Gilles’ Birthday: 12/17

Central Office, Rectory, and St. Joseph Catholic Church Bulletin Announcements St. John the Baptist Catholic Church W7805 County Road Z, Arkansaw, WI, 54721 [email protected] 212 Church Road, Plum City, 54761 [email protected] Bulletin Deadline: Monday Noon

[email protected] Office: 715-647-2901 | Rectory: 715-647-2301 Follow us on Facebook for Live Stream Masses, Bulletins, and More! (The Parishes of St. John the Baptist & St. Joseph) THE GIFT OF JOY A farmer and his wife were hit by a bad situation which made it very difficult for them to make ends meet. They tried every means to live above their difficulties, but no better days came. Life got unbearable; happiness eluded them, but they had one thing - the spirit of prayer. As their difficulties multiplied, so were their temptation to curse God and the day of their birth. However, having been raised in the fear of God, they prayed, constantly begging God neither to let them be too poor as to curse him nor too rich as to forsake him. Every day, they prayed for their daily bread, lifted their lives into his hands, and asked at least to be happy and satisfied with their lot. One day they had the chance to welcome three elderly strangers to their home. As fate would have it, the couple was supposed to accommodate only one of them in accord with their priorities. They hosted the three men to a meal prepared from their scarce victuals. After the meal was the time for choice. The strangers introduced themselves as the angel of wealth, the angel of happiness, and the angel of love. After battling over the choice of either wealth or happiness, they decided to accommodate the angel of love. To their surprise, wealth and happiness followed their choice of love and the couple lived ever joyfully after. They constantly rejoiced in their love and love conquered in all the battles they had to fight in life. Dear friends, this Sunday is Gaudete Sunday. As the name implies, Gaudete means Rejoice and so the liturgy calls us to a life full of joy. It is in the spirit of joy that we light the rose candle of our advent wreath. It is in the same spirit that the priest dons the rose vestments. We rejoice because the Lord whose coming we await is the only source of our joy. He is our God who is love. We choose him when we choose to love and love spells out the abundance of wealth and joy. Pope Francis once laid out a beautiful distinction between joy and happiness when he said that to be happy is good, but joy is something more. There is one thing being happy and another thing being joyful. Whereas the former has external undertones, the latter does not depend on external motivations or transient issues. Joy, according to the Holy Father, is more profound, it is a gift. The Pope intimated that to be happy at all moments, at all costs, can, in the end, turn to superficiality and shallowness in the Lord, which robs us of Christian wisdom and makes us as dumb and naïve as to think that all is joy. Joy is a gift, a given from God, the God who is himself the source of our true joy. Gaudete Sunday thus reminds us that in the difficulties of life, we need not be afraid, because our God comes, he comes with might, his recompense is with him, he comes to save us, he comes to give us joy. Ours is to give our lives to him no matter what. Ours is to rejoice in him always. Our kindness should be known to all because the Lord is near. We should have no anxiety at all; rather in all things, let us by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make our requests known to God. So the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Gaudete Sunday then must be a moment to stop and reflect on the source of true joy. If in this season of Advent, we have been chasing happiness like chasing the wind, then lighting the rose candle is an opportunity to refocus on the fact that Christmas is about joy to the world. Joy because every heart prepares a room to receive the King whose love makes us wealthy and truly happy. Have a joy-filled week Fr. Joseph Okine-Quartey THAT MAN IS YOU “That Man Is You” program meets this Friday, December 18th from 6:00 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. on the first floor of St. John the Baptist’s School Building. The topic for week twelve is The Battle Against The ADVENT CONFESSION SERVICE Dictatorship of Noise. Please wear a mask. All men Wednesday, December 16th from 6:30 p.m. until all confessions are heard. are welcome to attend. If you have any questions, please contact Dan Wieser at (715) 279-2152 or Tom CHRISTMAS MASSES Pullen at (607) 244-3010. Thanks! St. Joseph: December 24th at 3:00 p.m. St. John’s: December 24th at 4:30 p.m. YEAR END GIVING St. John’s: December 25th at 9:00 a.m. Please note, due to IRS tax laws, all contributions for We will have sign up for each of these Masses with an attendance of 25 2020 must be received by Thursday, 12/31/2020. Any people at St. Joseph’s and 60 people at each Mass at St. John the Baptist. mailed contributions must be postmarked by 12/31/2020 To attend Mass at St. Joseph’s, please call Linda Lieffring at 715-285-5285 in order to be reported for 2020 contributions. Any or Vickie Hartung at 715-285-5219. To attend Mass at St. John the envelopes received in 2020 will be counted for 2020. Baptist, please call Denise at 715-495-4883 or Peggy at 715-495-3199. Thank you for the continued support of our parishes.

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church • Page 2 • St. Joseph Catholic Church MASS SCHEDULE & DAILY READINGS ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISHIONERS

Parish Christmas Tree Monday: December 14 - St. John of the Cross We will be having a Parish Christmas tree again this year. If you • No Mass would like to purchase an ornament for the tree, please do so and • Readings: Nm 24:2-7, 15-17a/Ps 25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9 [4]/ place it in the baskets at each entrance of the Church. Mt 21:23-27

Tuesday: December 15 LITURGICAL ROLES: ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST • Mass: 8:30 a.m., St. John the Baptist - Bill Newcomb Money Counting Rosary • Readings: Zep 3:1-2, 9-13/Ps 34:2-3, 6-7, 17-18, 19 and 23 [7a]/ Wed., December 16, 9:00 a.m. Sun., December 20, 10:15 a.m. Mt 21:28-32 Denise Pelzel, Teresa Fedie, Holy Name Society

Wednesday: December 16 & Steve King Servers • Mass: 8:30 a.m., St. John the Baptist - Darlene Dettling Announcements & Lector Sun., December 20, 8:00 a.m. Sun., December 20, 8:00 a.m. Gary Lecheler • Readings: Is 45:6b-8, 18, 21c-25/ Ps 85:9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14 [Is 45:8]/Lk 7:18b-23 Theresa Kane Sun., December 20, 10:15 a.m. Sun., December 20, 10:15 a.m. Bristal & Cooper Books Thursday: December 17 Ryan Trannel Usher • Mass: 8:30 a.m., St. John the Baptist -  Clarence & Loretta Jilk Extraordinary Minister Sun., December 20, 8:00 a.m. • Readings: Gn 49:2, 8-10/Ps 72:1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17 [cf. 7]/Mt 1:1-17 Sun., December 20, 8:00 a.m. Pete Helmueller & Peggy Gilles Chad Steele

Friday: December 18 Sun., December 20, 10:15 a.m. Sun., December 20, 10:15 a.m. Ramona Schneider Dan Wieser & Terry Pelzel • Mass: 8:30 a.m., St. John the Baptist - Ray & Lucille Budewitz Music • Readings: Jer 23:5-8/Ps 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19 [cf. 7]/Mt 1:18-25 Sun., December 20, 8:00 a.m.

Bob & JoAnn Larson Saturday: December 19 Sun., December 20, 10:15 a.m. • Mass: 8:30 a.m., St. John the Baptist -  Ollia Fay Caturia Arleen Ebensperger & • Mass: 4:00 p.m., St. Joseph -  Tammy Sam Jeff Bergmann • Readings: Jgs 13:2-7, 24-25a/Ps 71:3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17 [cf. 8]/ Lk 1:5-25

th Sunday: December 20 - 4 Sunday of Advent LITURGICAL ROLES: ST. JOSEPH • Mass: 8:00 a.m., St. John the Baptist - St. John the Baptist & St. Joseph Parishioners Announcements & Lector Sat., December 19, 4:00 p.m. • Mass: 10:15 a.m., St. John the Baptist - Ed & Emma Nelson Don Peterson • Readings: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16/Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29 [2a]/ Extraordinary Minister Rom 16:25-27/Lk 1:26-38 Sat., December 19, 4:00 p.m. The Rosary is prayed before Mass Dale Klein Music TO THE MARRIED - AN EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE Sat., December 19, 4:00 p.m. Week 3 - Do I make a strong effort to satisfy the emotional and Beth Pattison spiritual needs of my spouse?

CHEESEBURGER SOUP INGREDIENTS Yield: 8 servings (2¼ quarts) • ½ pound ground beef • ¾ cup chopped onion DIRECTIONS • ¾ cup shredded carrots • In a 3-qt saucepan, brown beef; drain and set aside. In the same pan, add 1 tbsp butter and • ¾ cup diced celery sauté the onion, carrots, celery, basil, and parsley until the vegetables are tender. • 1 tsp dried basil • • Add broth, potatoes, and browned beef. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until the potatoes 1 tsp dried parsley flakes are tender. • 4 tbsp butter, divided • 3 cups chicken broth • In a small skillet, melt the remaining butter. Add flour and cook for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly, • 4 cups diced, peeled potatoes stirring constantly. Add to soup; bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. • ¼ cup flour • Reduce the heat to low; add cheese and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Heat until the • 8 oz Velveeta cheese, cubed cheese is melted, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and blend in sour cream. • Salt & pepper • ¼ cup sour cream With Love from the Kitchen of Dianne Lecheler

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church • Page 3 • St. Joseph Catholic Church FRUITS OF OUR GENEROSITY - ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST November 5th through November 23rd, 2020 Adult Envelopes (52).…..…..….…..…. $ 4,313.00

Offertory…………...…...... ….………… $ 259.00 Votives.…………...…...... …..………… $ 122.75 Utilities (3)………...…...….…………… $ 255.00 Easter (1)………...…...…..…………… $ 25.00 We are blessed by the continued support of our advertisers. World Mission Sunday (2).…………… $ 40.00 We wouldn’t be able to bring you our bulletin every week without them. We would appreciate it if parishioners would Total Income.…..………….………….. $ 5014.75 reciprocate their generosity by patronizing their goods and November 24th through December 4th, 2020 services. Thank you!! Adult Envelopes (39).…..….….…..…. $ 3,356.00

Offertory…………...…...... ….………… $ 357.00 3RD SUNDAY OF AVENT - JOHN THE Building Repair (2).…....…...…………. $ 485.00 BAPTIST PREPARES FOR JESUS Utilities (1)………...…...….…………… $ 5.00 ABOUT THE GOSPEL Total Income.…..………….………….. $ 4203.00 John the Baptist not only prepares for Christ’s arrival, but also gives his testimony. We too are FRUITS OF OUR GENEROSITY - ST. JOSEPH called to tell our stories of Jesus coming into our lives. We November 5th through November 23rd, 2020 are asked to be other “voices in the desert,” proclaiming Jesus to the world. Adult Envelopes (23).…....….…...…… $ 1910.00 IN CHURCH Offertory…………....…….….….……… $ 65.00 Visit the baptismal font. Fuel (2).………………...... ….…..……. $ 120.00 FAMILY PRAYER World Mission Sunday (2)……………. $ 100.00 Dear Jesus, show us how to teach others about You. Help us to be voices of faith. Amen. Mission Coop (1)..…...... ….…..……. $ 60.00 Who are the people whose words and actions Total Income.…...………..………….. $ 2,255.00 have taught you about Jesus? November 24th through December 4th, 2020 Adult Envelopes (16).…....….…..…. $ 860.00

Offertory…………....…….….………. $ 75.00 Fuel (4).………………...... ….…..…. $ 200.00 Total Income.…...………..………….. $ 1,135.00

GUIDELINES FOR ATTENDING MASS • If you are experiencing a fever or flu-like symptoms, please stay at home and use television/social media to participate. • We will have the sign up for Mass process each week until we can open up fully. For St. John the Baptist, please call ADVENT FOR ADULTS Denise at 715-495-4883 or Peggy at 715-495-3199. For St. Joseph, please call Linda Leffring at (715) 285-5265 or Vickie La Crosse Diocese Advent Virtual Mission Hartung at (715) 285-5219. Week 3 - December 613th • Please arrive 15 minutes early to be seated by the ushers. That Holy Night, through Joseph’s Eyes. - Father Woodrow POPE FRANCIS’ MONTHLY INTENTION December: For a Life of Prayer

We pray that our personal relationship with Jesus Christ be nourished by the Word of God and a life of prayer. View presentation at: diolc.org/advent FRUITS OF OUR GENEROSITY - ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST November 5th through November 23rd, 2020 Adult Envelopes (52).…..…..….…..…. $ 4,313.00

Offertory…………....…….….………. $ 75.00 Fuel (4).………………...... ….…..…. $ 200.00 Total Income.…...………..………….. $ 1,135.00

We pray that our personal relationship with Jesus Christ be nourished by the Word of God and a life of prayer. View presentation at: diolc.org/advent Designs Results By Dianne Lonnie Larson Custom Homes, Post Frame Buildings, 715-647-5050 Licensed in MN & WI Ag Buildings, Light Commercial • Fabric & Quilting Supplies Cell: (651) 208-1439 • Custom Machine Quilting • Maple Syrup [email protected] (715) 672-8496 408 1st St., Plum City, WI 54761 www.LonnieLarson.com [email protected] Each office Independently Owned and Operated glausbrothers.com www.diannelecheler.wixsite.com/designsbydianne

Ave Maria Academy & Little Lamb Preschool 208 Church Rd, Plum City, WI JOANNE HINES AGENCY, INC. 3 year old preschool - 8th grade Joanne M Hines, Agent (715) 647-4630 Contact Tom Maakestad to place an ad today! [email protected] 450 E Wall St Ellsworth, WI 54011 130 Pine Ave, Plum City, WI 54761 [email protected] or (800) 950-9952 x5858 715-647-2554 | jmwatkinsmeats.com www.avemariaacademypc.org 715.273.5212 AREN’T YOU GLAD YOUR MOTHER WAS PRO-LIFE?

PREGNANT? ALWAYS FREE & CONFIDENTIAL [email protected] • 715-425-8539 Sponsored by St. John and St Joseph Parishioners PLUM CITY Milliren Custom FOOD PANTRY Crop Service 301 1st St, Plum City, WI 54761 Tom & Sue W7966 County Road Z (715) 647 2191 Arkansaw, WI 54721 DONATIONS OF CASH GO THE FURTHEST $1 dollar of cash buys $4 worth of food. 715-495-6597 Consider in your giving plan this year. [email protected] PRECISE CONRETE Holmstadt WALLS, INC. Collision & Serving the Area Since 1978 Restoration RON LONGSDORF PO Box 632 Stockholm, WI 715-442-4364 Tim Holmstadt OUR RATES ARE GREAT. CALL US FOR A QUOTE. (715) 647-4083 Plum City Hardware, Inc. N2477 50th Street SOREN SVEDVIK 715-448-3174 Plum City Plum City 715-647-2713 LEE SKOG 715-273-4261 715-308-8633 [email protected] Serving Plum City area since 1948 SERVING PIECE PEPIN DUNN ST CROIX BUFFALO EAU CLAIRE [email protected] HEIKE PHARMACY Complete Prescription Service Become a Knight Free Mailing Contact Pete Helmueller, Grand Knight Durand Phone 715-672-5202 Plum City/Arkansaw Knights of Columbus Toll Free 888-672-5202 (715) 672-5691 Fast, Friendly, Reliable Service 715 781-4580 www.rhielfuneralhome.com Bauer Plumbing & Septic Service, Inc. Building a New Home or Remodeling!! Need a Perk or Septic System? Perk Test • New Plumbing In-Floor Heating Sewer Camera Service Septic Repair & Installation MP #220684 Call Chris Bauer • 715-672-8224

Precast Concrete Specialists www.wieserconcrete.com 800-325-8456 For ad info. call 1-800-950-9952 • www.4lpi.com St. John the Baptist, Plum City, WI A 4C 02-0985