St. Mary & St. John Weekly Update!
August 22, 2025
The God Who Comes Looking for Us
My brothers and sisters in Christ,
Have you ever spent time looking for something, only to discover it was right there in front of you all along?
Maybe it was your glasses, your car keys, or that phone you were holding in your hand while searching the house for it. (Yes, I've done that!)
Sometimes I wonder if we do something similar in our relationship with God.
We spend so much time looking for Him. We pray for a sign. We ask for direction. We wonder where He is when life becomes difficult, when prayers seem unanswered, or when the road ahead is anything but clear.
And all the while, God has been looking for us.
There's something particularly beautiful about today's first reading from the Book of Wisdom. We hear about people searching for wisdom, but then something remarkable happens. Wisdom doesn't simply sit somewhere waiting to be discovered. Wisdom comes looking for those who seek her, meeting them along the way.
What a wonderful image of our God!
We worship a God who takes the initiative. A God who doesn't wait for us to get everything figured out before drawing near. A God who knows our struggles, our doubts, our fears, and even our stubbornness, and loves us anyway.
Think about the people Jesus encountered throughout the Gospels. Zacchaeus climbed a tree hoping to catch a glimpse of Jesus, only to discover that Jesus was already looking for him. The woman at the well came looking for water and found someone who knew the thirst of her heart. The disciples on the road to Emmaus were walking away in disappointment when the risen Lord quietly joined them on their journey.
In every case, God was already there.
And I believe the same is true for us.
Sometimes He finds us in the quiet of prayer. Sometimes through the kindness of a stranger, a conversation with a friend, or the reassuring words of someone who seems to know exactly what we needed to hear.
And sometimes He finds us in the middle of life's messiness, when we least expect Him.
As we move through November, a month when the Church especially remembers those who have gone before us, we are reminded that God's love reaches beyond even the boundaries of this earthly life. St. Paul reassures us in today's second reading that our hope rests in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again.
That is a hope worth holding on to.
My friends, perhaps the question for us this week isn't simply, "Where can I find God?"
Perhaps the better question is, "Where has God already been trying to find me?"
Because the beautiful truth is that we never have to convince God to come looking for us.
He already has.
And He hasn't stopped.
May we have hearts open enough to recognize Him when He draws near.
God bless you all!
Deacon Don
AMDG — For the Greater Glory of God!
Since the tornado, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of people asking one simple question:
“How can we help?”
There are many answers to that question. Pray for us. Worship with us. Help a neighbor. Support our restoration efforts.
But there is also one very simple way to help that doesn’t cost you anything extra: use Scrip.
Right now, our parishes are facing a difficult reality. While the needs created by the tornado continue to grow, our regular parish support has declined. With our churches temporarily closed and our parish family worshiping together at St. Patrick, we are also missing the loose collection offerings that normally help support the day-to-day mission of St. Mary and St. John.
That makes every opportunity to support our parishes especially important right now.
And Scrip is one of the easiest ways all of us can help.
When you purchase Scrip, you are simply buying gift cards for places where you already spend money—grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, retailers, and especially Home Depot, Lowe’s, Menards and other home-improvement stores. You receive the full value of the gift card, while the retailer gives a percentage back to our parishes.
It costs you nothing extra.
Think about what is happening throughout our community right now.
People are repairing roofs. Replacing windows. Buying lumber, tools, paint and supplies. Families are replacing things that were damaged or lost in the storm.
Those purchases will be made anyway.
What if those same purchases could also help St. Mary and St. John recover?
A $50 gift card may not seem like much.
Neither does $100.
Neither does one trip to the hardware store or grocery store.
But multiply those purchases by hundreds of parishioners and friends of our parishes, week after week, and suddenly those little percentages become something much bigger.
Every little bit helps. And right now, we truly need every little bit.
The easiest way to stop by the Parish Office during the week. You can also purchase online using the RaiseRight App, where many gift cards can be purchased instantly as eGift cards right from your phone or computer.
And this Saturday, we will once again have a Scrip table before and after our 5:00 p.m. Mass at St. Patrick Church. If you have never used Scrip or RaiseRight before, please stop by. Our volunteers would be happy to help you get started.
Our beloved churches have been wounded, but our Church is very much alive.
We see it every time we gather for Mass. We see it in neighbors helping neighbors. We see it in volunteers giving countless hours. We see it in your prayers, your encouragement and your generosity.
Now we can see it in something as ordinary as buying groceries, filling the gas tank or making that next trip to the home-improvement store.
Before you make your next purchase, please think Scrip.
You were going to make the purchase anyway.
Why not let it help rebuild our parish family, too?
One gift card. One purchase. One small act at a time.
Together, it adds up.
Together, we make a difference.
And together, with God's help, St. Mary & St. John Strong will rise again.
Thank you for loving our parishes. Thank you for standing with us. And thank you for helping us rebuild.
Our three cemeteries are now open again for visiting. Please use prudence when visiting as we work to restore a few areas with downed branches still to a safe status; please refrain from visiting the particular areas with downed branches.
Sharing our Gifts
As with our family, we care deeply for our church and want to ensure that it will continue to flourish and grow long after we are gone. St. Mary & St. John Parishes are sustained by the generosity of our parishioners through time, talent, and treasure. We are sincerely grateful for kind remembrances in memorials, donations, and wills. Donations may be tax deductible. For all that you do Thank You!!
Bequests & Legacy Giving
Charitable gift planning is stewardship of our assets, just like our weekly offering. Please consider St. Mary and/or St. John the Baptist Parish in your estate planning.
The simplest planned gift to St. Mary and/or St. John the Baptist Parish is a bequest in your last will or testament or in your living trust. This demonstrates the obvious necessity to have a valid will or trust in order to accomplish your goal of leaving a legacy to the Church as your final act of stewardship.
Even if you choose to make an outright bequest to St. Mary and/or St. John the Baptist Parish, you may consider the parish as the beneficiary of a contingent bequest in the event all your other named beneficiaries no longer exist at the time of your death. This is sometimes referred to as a “clean up” provision. It ensures that your property is distributed according to your plan rather than the state law on estate distributions.
A tax planning point for bequests: To the extent possible, your bequest should be from assets referred to in the Internal Revenue Code as “income in respect of a decedent.” Some examples of these assets are U.S. savings bonds and retirement plans such as 401(k) plans and IRAs. Such gifts to St. Matthew are ideal because they are subject to income tax if received by a tax-paying beneficiary, such as a family member. However, since the Church like other charities, is tax-exempt, income tax can be avoided on bequests of these assets. Other assets, such as bank accounts, life insurance and corporate stocks and bonds, and real estate proper-ties which do not involve income tax shortcoming, are better assets to distribute to family members.
Bequests may take several different forms:
A bequest of a specific amount
“I give $$$ to ….”
A bequest of specific property:
“I give 100 shares of XYZ Corporation to….”
A bequest of a portion of the residue of your estate:
“I give 10 percent of the remaining property in my estate to….”
A bequest of the complete residue of your estate:
“I give all of the remaining property in my estate to.…”
If you are seriously considering a bequest or legacy contribution to St. Mary and/or St. John the Baptist Parish, contact your family attorney to see how you can best give to St. Mary and/or St. John the Baptist Parish
. Attorneys have information with respect to the documentation you will need.
IRA Giving
Age 70 ½? — Make a Tax-Free Charitable Gift through Your IRA!
Normally, a distribution from your IRA is taxed as ordinary income. However, federal tax legislation enacted in December 2015, allows you, if you are 70½ or older, to make a direct gift from your IRA to the Church through your parish, or other qualified charity without the distribution taxed as income to you. Unlike prior years, this legislation has no expiration date.
The IRA charitable rollover law may provide a very good charitable giving vehicle if you are age 70 ½ and take the standard deduction rather than itemize deductions on your tax return. The law may also allow you to avoid a tax increase on your Social Security benefits. Thus, your IRA could be considered a special fund for distributions to the Church and charities without the normal consequences of reporting additional taxable income.
The distribution must be from your IRA, not a 401(k) or other retirement plan. However, consult with your financial or tax advisor about the possibility of transferring funds from one of these other plans to establish an IRA, with the distribution to charity coming from the newly established IRA.
The IRA distribution must be a direct charitable gift and not a distribution to a donor-advised fund, a charitable remainder trust or for a charitable gift annuity. Distributions to charity cannot exceed $100,000 in a taxable year.
To take advantage of the IRA charitable rollover to support the Church, please review the following helpful tips on how to handle your charitable gift correctly:
- Contact your IRA custodian or representative before making a gift to arrange for the proper transfer of funds from your IRA directly to the Church and other qualified charities. The check or other payment issued from the IRA must be made payable to the charity.
- If you have elected to have income tax withheld from your normal IRA distributions, advise your IRA administrator not to withhold taxes from distributions to charity.
- Consult your tax advisor for the tax reporting of the special election described above.
While this topic is fresh on your mind, ask your attorney and financial advisor how to make the Church a beneficiary of your will or trust or your IRA.
For more information about how you and the Church can benefit from an IRA charitable rollover, contact the parish office at 920-725-7714.
These helpful tips are only for your information and are not to be considered as legal, tax or financial advice. You should consult with your legal, tax and financial advisors to implement the benefits of the IRA charitable rollover law and related matters.