Dear friends,

Happy 5th Sunday of Easter! Jesus Christ is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!

And, happy Mother's Day to all of the moms of our parish! May God continue to bless you and may you always know of our gratitude for you!

In what follows I want to provide you with a few brief updates.

First, I want to sincerely thank all of you who continue to financially support the parish during this difficult time by giving online (www.btcatholic.us/give) and/or by mailing in or dropping off your envelopes. Your continued generosity is greatly appreciated and I do not take it for granted, especially now.

Second, to those of you who are struggling financially yourselves and/or as a family because of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine, please know of my prayers for you! And, be assured that I completely understand if you are unable to make your normal contributions at this time. I hope and pray that things will ease up for you (and for your family) very soon - as well as for so many others in our local community who have lost jobs, businesses, etc.

Having said this, I want to provide you with an update/keep you informed regarding our parish's financial situation. As soon as the "safer at home" directives/quarantine began I did what I could to cut/limit our expenses. In addition, we applied for the government's new "Paycheck Protection Program" a few weeks ago and we ended up receiving a loan (that will convert into something like a grant if we use it properly) that will cover our payroll expenses until the middle to end of June. This was a great gift as it allowed us to keep all of our regular (and dedicated!) staff members employed at the parish and school for the time being. We also, as a parish, have money in our savings and investments that we can use to help us weather this storm for the next few months. So, all of this is good news.

On the other hand, because of the pandemic and subsequent quarantine/restrictions we have had to cancel (or postpone indefinitely) 2 fish fries, our annual Roseanne Mills School Gala, our annual "Fun Run," and most likely we will end up having to cancel our "End of Summer Festival" and raffle as well. Missing out on all of these normal and substantial parish fundraisers will certainly hurt us financially going forward.

All of this is to say, then, that currently we are not in a dire financial situation by any means; but at the same time, like so many of you and like so many other institutions across the state and nation we will more than likely have some real challenges down the road, especially if this continues well beyond the summer months. As such, I will continue to work with the parish finance council to make wise decisions and to plan as best as we can for the fiscal year ahead (which begins on July 1) and to be good stewards over all that God has entrusted to our care. On your end, please continue to do what you can to assist us and once again please know of my ongoing gratitude for all of you, always.

If you have any questions about any of this please feel free to contact me or Chris Taylor, our bookkeeper.

Next Sunday, May 17, from 11:00am to 1:00pm Deacon Michael (our Blessed Trinity Catholic School principal) and I are hosting a "We Miss You BBQ" at St. Michael in Dane. We will have a drive thru/carry out set up with brats, hot dogs, potato salad, chips, baked beans, and soda available for purchase. Everything will be very reasonably priced because this isn't intended to be a fundraiser but rather just a chance to have you come by with your families so that we can see you (from a proper distance, of course!), say hi, and offer a blessing. Please consider stopping by for lunch! More details will be forthcoming later this week.

Also, because of this, next Sunday's live-stream Mass will air live at 7:30am. As a reminder, however, the live-stream is archived and you will be able to watch it at any time in the day, at your convenience. Also, there will not be Parking Lot Adoration at 11:00am next Sunday at St. Patrick as I can't be in two places at the same time! Thanks for your understanding.

I want to bring to your attention a very exciting brand new video series that is being produced by the Augustine Institute (a Catholic graduate program that I was apart of for a semester before entering seminary) called The Search. As they describe it, "The Search is an innovative video series that tackles the key questions of every human heart. In seven beautifully filmed episodes, Chris Stefanick and experts from multiple fields of science, medicine, psychology, art, and religion examine our place in the larger story of existence. Whether you’re a practiced inquirer or a jaded skeptic, The Search will speak to you. You may be reassured by some parts, and challenged by others. Either way, you’ll find a lot here to think about. And when all is said and done, life’s questions demand to be answered."

Right now you can watch The Search for FREE (1 episode per week) by visiting here:

(The first episode is also available here if you are unable to see it at the link above: https://vimeo.com/413804111?fbclid=IwAR3O5cwsTny1vI3R8Ge0dE7p7cxFAQbqhPTp81IzAumtFiw2vaxS0G6Xn2o)

After recently viewing the first episode myself I can't wait to see the rest of the series, and I can't help but think that this might be a GREAT resource to share with family members and friends who have fallen away from the practice of the faith or aren't Catholic or struggle to live/practice the faith. Please consider sharing it with those you know! And, please consider watching it yourself!

A musician friend of mine, Aaron Thompson (who used to help with the music at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Madison and St. Bernard Parish in Watertown before moving to California), recently wrote a song called "Forward to the Cross" as a way of inspiring people during these difficult days. A few weeks ago he contacted me about filming a few seconds for the accompanying video that he was producing. If you are interesting in seeing my music video debut (and St. Patrick's Church in a national video!) you can view the video here:

Finally, I am looking for a few people who might be interested in helping with some landscaping work/projects at both St. Patrick and St. Michael in the next few weeks. If you are interested please email me or call me (fr.scott.jablonski@btcatholic.us or 608-592-5711, ext. 1) this week. Thanks!

Well, that's all for now. I'll probably be in contact again sometime within the next week or so.

Until then, and with my continued prayers,

Fr. Scott