Immersed in Faith @ Chula Vista!

We had a great weekend at Chula Vista in Wisconsin Dells as we joined over 470 youth from the Diocese of La Crosse for the Immersion Retreat.

We ran into one of our "hometown favs," Alice Heinzen, who spoke to us about the importance of human dignity. Jeremy Stanbary of Epiphany Productions performed his one man play Alessandro & later spoke to the youth. We danced (jumped?) and sang along with Traditional Division and basked in some prayerful silence during Mass, Adoration & Reconciliation.

And of course - there was plenty of time for Waterpark fun.

We had a great group of 8th-12th graders from St. Joe's, Elk Mound, Eau Claire & even Eleva :) Thanks to Chris Rogers & Jen Mickschl for all of the work you put into making this a great experience for our youth, and thank you to the youth for making it a spectacular weekend for Pam & I :)

Check out some pics from the weekend:

Giving Tree

Giving Tree service project information was handed out last night during the Confirmation session... groups have contact information for the organization they will be working with this year, as well as all of the details about what needs to be accomplished.

If you were unable to be at the session, please contact someone from your group to find out when they'll be meeting to create the tags for the Giving Trees.

Here are the requirements:


1. Contact the organization you will be working with to learn about what they do. Get their input and make any needed changes on the wish list.

2. Write a short “blurb” for the bulletin about your organization - what they do, who they serve, etc. Include a description of the ornaments you have designed for the tree so that people know which to pick (try to keep it to one paragraph).

3. Create ornaments for the Giving Trees - include the name of the organization, and the wish list item on each tag (please include instructions to place gas cards/phone cards/scrip in the collection baskets).

4. Complete the bonus task on the bottom of your organization’s sheet.

Completed ornaments need to be dropped off @ St. Joe’s office, and “blurbs” for the bulletin need to be e-mailed (or dropped off) by Monday, November 23rd…

NOTE: IF ORNAMENTS ARE NOT HANDED IN BY NOVEMBER 23RD, PLEASE PUT THEM DIRECTLY ON THE TREES IN THE CHURCH.

And of course, candidates, please remember that this is a service project for your sacrament preparation, not your mentor’s!!! It is important that you participate fully in this service project.

Thank you for your work to continue this service project! The organizations in our community count on and are appreciative of all the support St. Joe’s gives during the holiday season.

We meet quite late in January this year, so I will be sorting the gifts and they will be grouped (with a sign to indicate which organization gets which gifts) and ready for delivery to the organization by Monday, January 4th.

Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another.

George Eliot

It's Been A Long Time...

Almost a month has gone by since the last post. Luckily that snow is long gone, and we've already had session #3! Time moves swiftly.

Thanks Fr. Tom for sharing your time with us on Sunday... maybe we can't experience God's love by simply taking a pill, but hopefully in this beautiful fall weather, or in sharing laughter with a friend, or time with family, we'll recognize God's love this week.