Easter Matters
A number of years ago, I wrote the following five lines on the first page of my Bible. At the time I believed they were true.
- Life is hard
- Life is not fair
- I am not in control
- My life is not about me
- I am going to die.
For a number of years I believed they were true and would often use them in counselling situations, conversations with others and they would even appear in funeral and wedding homilies. One day I began to see things just a little differently. I could not get past the fact that even the unbeliever, the atheist and the agnostic could offer those same lines. I began asking ‘how does the person of faith look at these five lines and how does faith change my perspective?’
Thus the revised lines in my Bible now include:
- Life is hard but God is with me. (Mat 1:23)
- Life is not fair but God rewards the just. (Heb. 11:6)
- I am not in control but I am going to trust God’s plan for my life. (Jer. 29:11-13)
- My life is not about me but the Master has need of it. (Luke 19:31)
- I am going to die but I shall live forever. (John 6:58)
The resurrection of Jesus is a big deal and changes how we view life. The life of faith involves entering into the struggles of daily life with its uncertainties confident that God is with us and that the best is yet to come!
Happy Easter
Get FORMED
Saint Dennis has recently purchased a parish subscription to FORMED. FORMED is sort of like a Catholic version of NETFLIX which has great Catholic movies, faith enriching programs, teaching series along with audio podcasts. All are free and available through your mobile devices, iPAD’s and laptops.
Priests for Our Future
In the summer of 2014, the Diocese launched a financial campaign to endow the formation and education of our future priests. Thank you for your faithful participation in this ever important diocesan initiative. If you would like to participate in this campaign please contact our Diocesan Director of Stewardship, Jill Driscoll; jill.driscoll@straphael.org 608-821-3039 or make a pledge on-line at http://www.madisondiocese.org/.
Our parish totals as of March 27, 2016:
| Goal | Pledged | Paid | |
| Saint Dennis Totals | $ 855,000 | $ 998,278 | $ 416,864 |
| 117 % | 49 % | ||
| Diocesan Totals | $ 32,770,000 | $ 43,800,613 | $ 18,378,256 |
| 134% | 56 % |
2016 Annual Catholic Appeal – Easter Update
Thank you to those who have recently pledged for the ACA. If you have not yet pledged, please consider a one-time gift or a monthly pledge by accessing http://www.madisondiocese.org or contact our parish office (246-5124) for a pledge form.
| Goal | Pledged | Paid | |
| Saint Dennis Totals | $ 91,447 | $ 61,317 | $ 46,867 |
| 67 % | 51 % | ||
| Diocesan Totals | $ 3,200,001 | $ 2,699,640 | $ 1,672,252 |
| 84 % | 52 % |