Giving Praise

and Thanks
Learning
and Growing
Serving
March, 2015

Words
Of Faith
by Fr. Don Thimm

Pope Francis,
Lent, and Easter!

I was recently at a conference in Baltimore for those

involved in the work of the church. One of the
speakers talked about the impact Pope Francis is
having on our world and our church. A survey in 2014
of lapsed Catholics in North America reported that
26% of those surveyed were considering or open to
re-visiting or strengthening their relationship with the
Church because of Pope Francis. That would mean
14 million lapsed Catholics may
be looking for a parish or
about 800 for each parish in
North America. Are we ready to
welcome them? Are will willing to make space or share our
space with them? Will we help
them experience the presence of
Jesus with us when we gather for
prayer, to hear the Word of God,
and break the Bread? Will they
want to return? Maybe someone
you know is waiting for you to
talk about your experience at church and your invitation to come and pray with us. Please consider making
this a part of your daily prayer:

but for the rest of your life. Are you ready for change?
Are you ready to return to the Lord with your whole
heart? How good are you at forgiveness and mercy,
with kindness, with gratitude? Do you begin each day
with awe and enthusiasm for Gods gift of another day
and more time? Have you learned the joy of generosity
with whatever gifts you have been given by God? Lent
also invites our parish community to change so that we
can become more alive in our faith, more amazing in
our service, and more vibrant in our praise and thanks.
Give some extra time each day or each week for
prayer. Dont miss any of the Lenten Sundays. Join in
the singing. Fast from negativity, from a lack of charity
towards others in need, from bullying, from technology,
from an unwillingness to forgive yourself or someone
else, from being so busy that there is no time for your
spouse or your children or your
neighbors. What kind of almsgiving is part of your life? With
whom do you share your bounty
and blessings? Is it planned and
prioritized or is it an afterthought
or if anything is left over? Jesus
teaches that it is in giving that we
receive. How good are you at
giving to others?

Lent is the invitation to

make changes in your life
so that you may become
the best version of who
God made you to be.

For the Catholics in New Berlin especially those

who are no longer coming to church that their hearts
may be opened to return to our church community
and that we provide a gracious welcome.
Lent is the invitation to make changes in your life so
that you may become the best version of who God
made you to be. It is an invitation for you to become a
more intentional disciple of Jesus not just for 40 days

Easter brings new joy and hope.

It is the season in which we
welcome children to the Lords Table for the first time.
We have been busy preparing parents and children for
this special day and the constant invitation to come
to the Table of the Lord every week. What do you
remember about your First Communion? Has the joy
and excitement grown? Has it continued or has it
disappeared from your life?
Thanks for making Holy Apostles a part of your life.
Peace and Blessings,
Fr. Don

Lenten Practice:

Apostleship Of Prayer Morning Offering

by Mary Cumiskey
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of Your
Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for the
intentions of the Bishops and of all Apostles of Prayer, and in particular for those recommended by our Holy
Father this month, March, 2015 Intentions Universal: scientists that those involved in scientific research
may serve the well-being of the whole human person. Evangelization: contribution of women that the
unique contribution of women to the life of the church may be recognized always.
It has been said that it takes 21 days to form a new
good habit. We all have a great opportunity to use
over double that time the 46 days of Lent and Holy
Week, to form a new God habit that can change our
own personal and family life, and also connect us in
daily prayer with over 50 million of our fellow Catholics
for the good of the world, the Church and each other.
Maybe youve noticed something similar to the above
intentions in our church bulletin at the beginning of
each month and wondered what it was all about and
connected to. The answer is the Apostleship of Prayer
Morning (or Daily) Offering. I have been reciting this
prayer since I learned it as a young person, and I
definitely know the mornings I dont remember to say
it (Im human!) because I feel like Im having to climb
huge mountains during my day instead of little hills!

tian a practical way of living life in union with Christ

and evangelizing His presence to the world with motive our love for Him, and technique the Morning/Daily Offering. It is simple, but profound. How
many times have we come to the end of our day and
said to ourselves well that was an unproductive (or
boring, or monotonous, or useless) day I just went
through? In the secular world that thought might
have a grain of truth in it, but in the Catholic Christians world when we totally surrender our dawning
day to the Lord through the recitation of the Morning Offering, nothing in it will ever be a waste of time
again. It feels redemptive to know our lives can have a
meaning and purpose much higher and more significant then what we can see on the surface of them.

Anyone can become a member of the Apostleship of

Prayer simply by committing to say the Morning/Daily
Offering prayer every day. The national A of P office is
The Apostleship of Prayer has been called the Popes
own prayer group. It was started by the Society of Jesus located right here in the Milwaukee area. It is not necessary to contact them to join, but if you do, they will
in France in 1844. It was a way for Jesuit seminarians to
support your efforts with their prayers and materials.
supernaturally begin their missionary work while still in
They use any gifts to them to introduce and promote
school by becoming long distance apostles Apostles
of Prayer through offering up their daily lives in union this devotion to a whole new generation of Catholics.
It is so important that children especially know how
with the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the spread of the
kingdom for the salvation of souls. By the 1880s the A of precious they are to Jesus and how powerful their
P had become so popular that Pope Leo XIII announced prayers are to Him to positively affect the world, as
well as themselves. Those of you with children, please
prayer intentions to go with the daily offering, and in
consider saying the Morning Offering, as a family, before
1929 Pope Pius XI added a specific missionary intenbreakfast, or in the car on your way to school and
tion for the month. Pope Francis recently approved the
work, as my family of 15 did when I was growing up.
re-creation documents of the worldwide Apostleship
of Prayer. The document and recreation process, like the Remember: The family that prays together stays
new evangelization, seek to speak a new language which together.
will touch the hearts of people and help them unite with Apostleship of Prayer
1501 S. Layton Blvd.
the heart of the Lord.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53215-1924
Pope Pius XII called the Apostleship of Prayer the sum 414-486-1152
total of Christian perfection because it gives the Chris- www.apostleshipofprayer.org

THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

by Terri Engsberg
Fat Tuesday at Holy Apostles was a day to celebrate all
the wonderful volunteers who give their time, talent,
and energy to Holy Apostles in so many ways!
Lofy Hall had tables full of delicious food, from nachos, to
shrimp, to fruit, to desserts. Ministry members gathered to
share fellowship and joy. There was even music to help set
the festive mood! Almost every ministry was represented,
so there were many stories to share.

Thank you to everyone that attended and

ALL who minister here at Holy Apostles.
We are truly blessed.

If you are interested in getting involved or learning more about the ministries available at Holy Apostles,
please contact Jennifer Flanagan, jflanagan@hanb.org or call 262-786-4086.

Building Relationships Helps Us

DO JUSTICE
by Rob Doucette

opening ourselves up to
the world where Jesus
lived. When we do this,
we allow the miracle
of Love to transform
everything. We may
originally think we are
helping others but in the
end we realize we are
being saved instead. In
these experiences we are
humbled by what we see,
what we hear and most
Christmas Gifts
importantly, what we feel.
Intellectual understanding is nice, but Jesus was after
our hearts not our minds. Jesus stood with the poor
out of great compassion and this higher form of love
can motivate us to not only serve others, but change
conditions that create great injustices around us.

For the past year the Charity and Justice Commission has worked towards two central goals:
Building relationships with those that we serve and
growing Justice. At first glance, building relationships seems eminently easier than growing justice.
In reality relationship building is a somewhat
radical idea, one that sealed the fate of Jesus. It
implies that when you stand with the least, the last,
the lost and the lonely you are transformed in a
way that calls you to do justice for them and with
them. Jesus Himself elevated the love of others
to stand alongside the love of God.

La Sagrada Familia

Holy Apostles has a long and rich tradition serving others and organizing impressive efforts which model the
Charity that we are called to as Disciples of Christ. I
think most people would agree that
doing works of charity is easier than
the work of justice. In fact, from my
vantage point, most parishes spend
95% of their time and energy on
Charity and less than 5% on Justice. The reasons for that could fill up
another article in the future. For now
it is enough to say, that for our parish,
building relationships is justice work.
When we intentionally seek out
relationships with people who come
from other cultures, other lived experiences and other histories, we are

It is an intentional act for Holy Apostles to build new

relationships with La Sagrada Familia, Lapham Park
and now All Saints Parish. Our prayer is that these
relationships change and transform us. Now that we
know real people in the Dominican Republic and
Haiti; does that make us think differently about the
issue of immigration? Perhaps. When we hear the stories of our African American friends who are a part
of Lapham Park and All Saints, does that motivate us
to get involved in Milwaukee in new ways? Hopefully.
When the Gospels call us to move outside of our
comfort zone and embrace those in need because of
our love for God, should we take heed? Absolutely. Will we
be saved by those we meant to serve? Most certainly!!

Lapham Park Fish Fry

A powerful line in one of

my favorite songs states
that to love another
person is too see the face
of God. It is only when
we look into the eyes of
those who truly need us
that we recognize them as
our brother and sister. It is
then we feel the transformational love of God in the
midst of it all. It is then that
justice does not seem
such an unreachable goal.

Children and Youth Ministry Program Registration

by Ben Rogalla
Beginning April 12th, Childrens Ministry and Youth
Ministry will be launching their registration for the
2015-2016 school year!
Much work and planning is taking place to
provide and present great and solid formation and
preparation for the families of our parishioners.
The following is information regarding the different
areas offered for our children and youth:
3K-5K Given Sundays at 9:15am in School
Grades 1-6 Given Sundays at 10:30am in School
Grade 7-8 Given Sundays at 6:30pm in School
(Subject to change)
Confirmation (High School) Process begins
Freshman year, with Confirmation celebrated in
the Fall of Junior year.
There will be more program details to come. Please

watch the bulletin to get the most current information!

All registration will take place online at myhanb.org.
Paper registration will not be available.
For help or if you have questions about
registration, please contact Rachel Madden at
262-786-2035 or rmadden@hanb.org.
For program questions about Childrens Ministry,
contact Teresa Tobin at 262-754-0157 or
ttobin@hanb.org, for Youth Ministry; contact
Ben Rogalla at 262-754-0158 or brogalla@hanb.org.
*Registration will begin April 12th and be
available through July 31st. Following July 31st,
a late fee of $50 will be applied to your
program costs.*
We look forward to serving our children, youth, and
families of our parish!
God bless!

USHERS PRIDE IN SERVICE

by Rich Stopczynski

Over the past few months, the Usher Ministry has lost
the service of some long term members. Three have
left us to be with our Lord; Jim Mareno, Ed Cunningham
and Ed Wisner. Bill Casper decided to retire after ushering since 1954. In addition, through the years there have
been many other dedicated parishioners who served
Holy Apostles as ushers for many years. Those serving
over 30 years include Joe McKean, Chuck Conway, Dewey
Fraunenfelder, George Beres, Gerry Shanahan, Jim Thrune,
Paul Oleinik, Bob Jenson, James Keane, Jim Giyan, Bob
Szyba, Rich Stopczynski and Bob Nolan and those with
over 20 years include Dave Heerey, Mike Maney, Greg
Schoepke, and Mike Vukovic. To all of them and to their
families, our parish thanks them for their time and talents
given to serve the needs of our parishioners.
It might make one think; what has drawn them to serve
and why did they serve for such a lengthy time? The
answer probably can be found in the underlying reasons
people volunteer.. Is it the idea of giving back to our
church, desire of helping others, or enjoyment of working
with friends in serving others? As with all the ministries at
HA, there are a great number of people doing many good
deeds for a variety of reasons.

The Usher Ministry has recently taken the time to reflect

on its past history and look to the future as to how it can
best contribute to the goals and mission of Holy Apostles
Parish. Over the recent few years, it is great to see the
increased diversity of the ministry with more women and
young folks becoming ushers.
It was also important to realize that ushers do more than
usher.The very word, usher, implies showing someone to
their seat. As HA ushers, they are doing more than that.The
ushers collect the offerings, assist the congregation for communion, and with our HA greeters, greet parishioners and
visitors to our church and distribute the Orders of Worship and bulletins. But equally important, the ushers are also
working with our priests and the other Prayer & Worship
ministries to create a welcoming and prayerful experience
for our parishioners and visitors to Holy Apostles.
All parishioners are invited to assess their own talents
and treasures and see how they can contribute to the
growth and development of our parish and further the
work of our Lord. Consider joining the many and varied
ministries at Holy Apostles. Youll find that many hands
make work light and provide many unexpected rewards.

Gaining Independence
by Jay Sugar
What would you do with $300? Maybe take a long
weekend vacation or buy a smart phone? For many
parishioners of La Sagrada Familia (LSF) $300 could
mean the difference between living life day to day,
performing manual labor jobs or gaining independence and starting their own small business. Money
distributed in $200 to $500 increments through
a micro loan program funded in part by Holy
Apostles and administered by Father Juan of LSF
has helped many disenfranchised members of the
LSF community start a small business. Consider the
following examples:
An enterprising woman purchases a sewing
machine and converts her one room cinder block
home into a tailor shop
A second woman purchases cooking utensils and
ingredients and starts a road side lunch caf
A family purchases a glass display case to
showcase cakes and pastries which helps establish
their bakery in the local community

quick growing peppers before the plantain plants grow

to a height which blocks all sunlight.The wealthy farmer
does not charge the couple rent for use of the space in
exchange for watering and tending the entire field.
Through the generous donations of two Holy Apostles
parishioners our church has provided $5,000 to the
micro loan program over the last
two years. In that time Father Juan
has awarded 22 loans. 64% of
the loans have been partially
or completely repaid. All loan
payments are put right back into
the micro loan program.
There is one more important
purpose of the micro loan
program I need to share. All loans
are targeted to two groups of the
LSF community which include:
Haitian Citizens that have
sought refuge in the DR
DR Citizens that lack an official
birth certificate.

My favorite example of a loan that exemplifies the

entrepreneurial spirit of the people of LSF involves a
husband and wife team that tends a field of plantains
for a wealthy Dominican Republic (DR) farmer. Using a micro loan to purchase tools and green pepper
seeds, they planted pepper plants between the rows
of plantains.The couple is then able to harvest the

Both groups are not recognized

by the DR government and
therefore lack access to the local banking and credit
systems. One of their only hopes for creating a better
life is the micro loan program.
If you are interested in learning more about LSFs
micro loan program please contact Jay Sugar at
ssugar@wi.rr.com.

Catholic Schools Week/Catholic Memorial High School

STEM Challenge
by Melissa Trepte

To celebrate Catholic Schools Week, seven Holy Apostles

middle school students spent the day at CMHs first
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)
Challenge competition. Students from eight different
Archdiocese grade schools were placed randomly into
groups. Each group was challenged to build
a car of recyclable materials that could drive
towards and stop on a target. With the help
of CMH mentors, each group went through
CMHs Propel process which is similar to Holy
Apostles & PLTWs Design Process (Project
Lead The Way), in order to plan, build, test,
and redesign their product. This was a great
experience for our middle school students to
be able to complete the entire Design
Process all in one day and to work with other
Catholic grade school students to accomplish

a task. Congratulations to Matt Klements team whose car

won second place for reaching the target. Students who
participated were: Theo Buchholz, Carson Christianson,
Mitch Godec, Annika Hubecek, Matt Klement, Megan
Kosidowski, and Izzy Mohorich.

New Members Welcoming Dinner

The Winter Event

by Don Evans

With a snow storm looming, around 25 new members

to Holy Apostles were recently delighted to dine on a
variety of soups and breads as part of our welcoming
them to our congregation. Although all new members
were invited, a few new families, seniors and young
couples came to the buffet that offered a savory selection,
from vegetarian to hearty. Not that anyone kept count,
but there were more than a few who came back for
second helpings or to try a couple more. And, to round
out the simple meal, there were almost as many choices
of cookies and sweets for dessert just enough for
everyone! Even though the bulletin extended the invitation to everyone, Father Don invited everyone again at
the end of the 4:30 pm Mass that Saturday, January 31st.
So, overall, there were about 50 people who enjoyed
fellowship and soup that evening before the snow fell.
After most had their fill, and during a small lull in the
festivities, a short program described different options to
participate more fully in the church. A few representatives
from several ministries explained the basic missions of
their particular groups praise & thanks, learning &
growing and service. Everyone was provided a way to
connect to those ministries for those who would be

interested. In addition, during

the evening, those who took
up Father Dons offer at
Mass also provided a more
informal, personal explanation to the new members
about how participating in
the ministries was so satisfying. Needless to say, there
was a lot of socializing, too.

NEW MEMBERS
Ray Allen
Ms Zheng Zhu
Randy and Teresa Tobin
and family
Robert and Collette
Smith
Mitch and Amy Reichert
and family
Mike and Tina Wengren
and family
Ms Claire Hager
Ms Holly Shabel
Ms Lorna Tamms
Rob Tallinger
John Bartkoski
Kevin and Eva Hollfelder
and family
Neil and Krystal Pesch
Joyce Stoner
Jonathan Tassone

The next New Member

Event comes on May 31st,
2015 after 9:15 Mass. So,
whether youre an old
member or brand new, save
the date! Breakfast will be served, ranging from scrambled
eggs to bagels. Look for more information in the bulletins
leading up to the event.
If you need more detailed information on the
New Member Breakfast or how to join the
New Member Welcoming Ministry, contact Anne Kinzer
at 262-814-1955 or amkinzer@att.net.

[Dates To Remember]
4-7pm (Gym)

March 20-21 Haiti Food Pack

(School Gym)

March 21 Communal Reconciliation

at 10am in Church

March 21-22 Anointing of the Sick

during all Masses

Holy Week
April 2
Holy Thursday Mass of the Lords Supper

7pm (Church)

April 3
Good Friday Passion of the Lord

3pm (Church)

April 4
Holy Saturday Blessing of Easter Food

11am (Church)
Easter Vigil
8pm (Church)

April 5
Easter Sunday Masses of The Resurrection

of the Lord
7:30, 9:15, and 11:15am
(Church)

June 26, 27, 28 Festival

16000 West National Avenue

New Berlin, WI 53151-5599

March 13, 27 Fish Fry

Permit No. 22
New Berlin, WI

PAID

Non-Profit Org
U.S. Postage