Palm Sunday and Holy Week
Palm Sunday is this Sunday, April 13. Please wear something RED to church to help us celebrate the official color of the Palm Sunday Liturgy. At the 8:30 a.m. Mass, the Slovenian community will come to church in their traditional Slovenian dress and help bring and distribute the palms. Following the two Palm Sunday Masses, all are invited to join us for a free Pancake and sausage breakfast with many Slovenian treats.
Please join us this coming week, which we call Holy Week. One of my former pastors once said, “Holy Week should be lived out with a greater commitment to the practice of living our Catholic faith, both with prayer and acts of charity.”
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we have our normal 8:00 a.m. The recitation of the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet will follow Mass. On Tuesday, April 15, at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in downtown Milwaukee, Archbishop Grob will officiate the Chrism Mass. The Holy Oils used for the sacraments, Confirmation, Ordination, and Anointing of the Sick will be blessed at the Chrism Mass. There will be no 8:00 a.m. Mass on Holy Thursday: Our daily Mass will be at 7:00 p.m. At this Mass, we celebrate bringing back the Holy Oils into our sanctuary, Jesus washing the feet of his apostles, and the celebration of the first Eucharist. On Friday, April 18, our Good Friday Service begins at 1:00 p.m. On Holy Saturday, there is no morning Mass. We start the day with the blessing of Easter Baskets and the Blessing of our Easter foods at Noon in the church. The Easter Vigil is at 8:00 p.m. We begin by gathering in a darkened church. We then move outside (weather permitting) for the blessing of fire and the lighting of the new Easter Candle. We will then return to church for the Scripture readings, proclaiming our Salvation History, Gospel, Blessing of Water, the Baptism of five adults, and the Confirmation of nine adults. The following day, Easter Sunday, we will have our two Masses at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.. Please invite a family member or friends to attend Easter liturgies with you.
Easter Sunday
On behalf of the entire St. John the Evangelist staff and myself, we wish you a very blessed Easter season. Remember, the Easter Season is 50 days long, so don’t eat all your jelly beans in one sitting!
Justification of Graduation Presentations
May 7 and 9
This year, our 8th-grade students will continue the St. John’s Justification of Graduation (JOG) tradition on May 7 and 9. Our 8th-grade students will present to their parents, mentors, and members of the parish and school community and explain how St. John’s Parish School has prepared him or her for the future.
Would you be interested in being part of the viewing panel? As a member of the panel, your job is to listen to an 8th-grade student's accomplishments in the Catholic faith, academics, service, extracurricular activities, and future plans and then offer positive feedback.
Please consider being a part of this event. Each PowerPoint presentation should last approximately 20 minutes. Please consider listening to two or three students’ presentations. The two presentations will take about one hour.
Presentations are scheduled for May 7: 12:30-2:30 p.m. and May 9: 8:30-11:00 a.m. and 12:00-2:30 p.m.
If interested, please contact Mr. Oberdorf at 414-321-8540 or email boberdorf@sje.school by Wednesday, April 30, to inform us of your availability.
Please visit our Facebook page: facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063321523652 to see more pictures!
"Go Out and Set Your Soul on Fire for God!"
May Crowning
May Crowning will take place Tuesday, May 6, at 1:00 p.m. The time has been changed to during the school day so all of our students can participate in honoring Mary.
Deacon Steve will be on hand to share his love of Mary. Please mark your calendars and join us.
Join us in the St. John’s Parish Church Hall on Saturday, April 26, after the 4:30 p.m. evening Mass for our monthly Parish Board Game Night! We’ll have a variety of games available for you to enjoy with family, friends, and fellow parishioners. Feel free to bring along your favorite game to share with others! Come for the fun, stay for the fellowship—it's a great chance to connect with your neighbors in the pew. We’ll be playing until 8:30 p.m.
Save the date! Milwaukee’s premier Christian theater company, Acacia Theatre, is bringing its acclaimed performance of Fish Eyes to St. John the Evangelist Parish on Wednesday, April 30. Written by Ted Swartz and Lee Eshleman and directed by Janet Bouman Peterson, Fish Eyes is a delightful comedy that has captivated audiences around the globe for 20 years, reaching across cultures, generations, and denominations.
This timeless story about Jesus's life and ministry unfolds through the unique perspective of two fishers of men, Peter and Andrew, who touchingly misunderstand their Lord while trying to follow His call. Join us in the St. John’s Parish Church Hall at 6:00 p.m. for the performance starting at 6:20 p.m. (Please enter through door #13.)
To keep up to date, join our SJE Adult Formation Flocknote or follow us on Facebook.
The Christian Women Society will meet on Thursday, April 10, at 6:00 p.m. in the church hall. Our guest speaker will be from Street Angels - Milwaukee Outreach. Please bring your almsgiving items from the donation list you were provided.
The next St. John’s Prayer Shawl Ministry meeting will be on Friday, April 11 (10:30 a.m. to Noon). Bring your new creations of Prayer Pockets, Shawls, Lap Blankets, Twiddle Muffs, and Baptismal Gifts. If you enjoy knitting and crocheting, they would love you to join us and learn more about this ministry. Thank you for the monetary and new yarn donations dropped off at the Parish Office to help us in this mission!
The meeting location is near St. John's in the Highland Ridge Complex, Hill Crest Building Community Room, 3993 S. Prairie Hill Lane, with easy access and no stairs.
For more information, contact
Diane Oakland at 414-617-0721 or dianeoak@gmail.com.
Divine Mercy Sunday
In addition to the nine-day Novena to The Divine Mercy, which Our Lord gave to St. Maria Faustina, He revealed to her a powerful prayer that He wanted everyone to pray, The Chaplet of Divine Mercy. The Chaplet can be said anytime, but the Lord specifically asked that it be recited as a Novena, especially on the nine days before the Feast of Mercy, starting Good Friday, April 18, until Divine Mercy Sunday, promising Extraordinary graces to those who would recite this special prayer. As the church celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday on April 26 & 27, all are invited to join us as the Divine Mercy Chaplet will be recited in church after ALL Masses that weekend. The Novena/Chaplet will also be recited after the Daily Masses from Monday, April 21, through Saturday, April 25. All are invited to participate.
Sunday, April 13, 2025
Friends, how dark are the readings for Palm Sunday! We read through Luke’s Passion narrative, leaving out the good news of the Resurrection. To understand this emphasis on suffering, to decipher its religious meaning, is to uncover the theological significance of this day.
Do you remember the first time that life really knocked you around? It might have been an extraordinary failure; it might have been the first time you confronted real violence or real hatred; it might have been a massive disappointment; it might have been the death of someone that you loved. This mess, this problem, bedevils all of us.
The biblical approach is clear: God sets about a rescue operation—the formation of a holy people, Israel, who would follow his commands, worship him aright, and thereby become a magnet to the world. They would teach and show the way out of the dilemma.
He would form a people ready to receive him, gradually effect a unity between divinity and humanity, and one day, a servant of Yahweh would appear, someone despised and reviled by men. This mysterious figure would solve the problem by bearing away the sins of the world, by carrying them off through his suffering.
-Bishop Robert Barron
Explore the goodness, truth, and beauty of the Faith.
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St. John’s is fortunate to have 24-hour Perpetual Adoration. Please take advantage of this beautiful opportunity to stay close to God.
Please read carefully, as many of our open hours have changed. We are currently in need of one (or ideally two) people for the following:
Mondays, 3:00 to 4:00 a.m.
Thursdays, Midnight to 1:00 a.m.
Saturdays, 11:00 a.m to Noon, and 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Call Mary-Eileen Swart at 414-687-3512 if you are interested.
Live-streaming: Mass and Adoration
We are live-streaming daily and Sunday Masses as well as Adoration for those who are unable to attend:
Daily Masses:
Monday thru Saturday 8:00 am
Weekend Masses:
Saturday at 4:30 pm
Sunday at 8:30 and 10:30 am
If you miss the Livestream, you can watch the upload of each Mass on our YouTube channel.
Scrip is available at all weekend Masses or during regular business hours at the parish office.
Download the RaiseRight app to reload cards, purchase ecards, or purchase physical cards. Contact the Parish Office or School Office for the enrollment code.