Welcome to St. Thomas More Parish

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.". 2 Corinthians 3:17 Here are some helpful resources: Tune in tonight for May's Discipleship Formation or any of the past Discipleship Formation Live sessions, you can find them on the STM Facebook page. Be sure to check out any sessions you have missed! View the pick of the week on Formed.org Thank you for participating in the Disciple Maker Index. The results are being compiled and will be presented at our parish Annual Meeting in June. Ideas for living the four key discipleship skills. We continue to ask you to sign up for Mass. Please pray for those intentions on our prayer tree. Check out this week's new meaningful meals starter question, and faith sharing help! This week's Log and a podcast update. Check out the News, Updates, and Links to the bulletin and other great resources. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT ON BISHOP-ELECT FELTON ORDINATION & INSTALLATION  And something to make you laugh. Know that you are in our prayers during this Easter season.   Sign up for Formed   Ideas for the Four Skills... Simple is the magic word this year. While these four skills are simple, they take commitment to get started. Please make the effort this year. The long-term benefits are fantastic! We are taking a back to basics approach for Discipleship Formation by focusing on four key skills for individuals and families: To use the bible as individuals and as a family Idea: During the Easter season, we read from the Acts of the Apostles. Take some time to read through this exciting book about the spread of the Gospel (See the "Lincoln's Log" below.) To pray regularly as an individual and as families Idea: Pray with the new parish intentions listed below. To share a meaningful meal together regularly Spend some time at a meal discussing your summer plans and how you will make God a priority in them. To have faith sharing conversations - "faith talks" and "faith walks" New questions every week! Use this week's "Faith Talk" questions in the Mealtime Moments section below at a meal or some other time as a chance to go deeper in your faith as a family. It will be awkward at first, but stick with it and it gets easier. In case you missed it, watch our April Discipleship Formation Session at our  STM Facebook page. Other formation videos can also be found there.     Breaking Open the Word with Question of the Week - Google Docs.pdf     National Day of Prayer is May 6, 2021, below you will find a prayer list to assist you. Thank you for joining us in prayer!  Our nation to unite Our nation’s leaders to focus on liberty Our nation to be more compassionate and understanding with one another Our nation to learn to respect ALL life   Sign up for this weekend...         Mass May 8 & 9           Sign Up                 Sat. 5pm Sun. 8am Sun. 10am During the pandemic, Bishop Ricken reinstated the dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday and Holy Day Masses in the diocese until further notice. This means that you are not obligated to attend Mass on Sunday (or Saturday night) or Holy Days for the duration of this dispensation (see attached letter from Bp. Ricken). Please know, that even with the reinstatement of the dispensation, St. Thomas More will continue to celebrate Mass publicly every weekend for those who are able to attend and willing to strictly follow the proper health protocols (attached). During this time of increased infection, our parish will be even more vigilant in observing the health protocols shared in the diocesan guidelines to help prevent the spread of disease and allow as many people as is safe to come to Mass without fear of infection. The wearing of masks is mandatory at Masses celebrated here and throughout the diocese. We thank you for your support and compliance as we find ourselves in this time of very high alert throughout the diocese. We will continue to monitor the situation and make adjustments as needed.     Guidelines_for_Public_Masses_during_Very_High_Alert.pdf     Anna Marie (Vosters) Donnermeyer, 47, of Appleton, passed peacefully into the loving arms of her Savior on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. Her reach was far and wide to many in our community and beyond. There will be a livestream mass for Anna at 11am on Saturday, May 8, by visiting the St. Thomas More Catholic Church of Appleton, Facebook page. For those of you who would like pay your respects in person, there will be a visitation form 9-11 am at the church with the Mass to follow Please share this information with anyone who knew Anna. All are invited to attend this time of prayer to remember, honor and celebrate her beautiful soul!   Please pray for the safety of all police officers. Pray for a younger man with Parkinson’s. He is not doing so well. For Jenna, who recently miscarried. Continued recovery of successful ACL reconstruction surgery Dale, in hospital. for my oldest son who has lost his way, that he finds peace and strength in God  For my teenage daughter. May God watch over her as she struggles with friends. May she feel His love for her and may He send others to surround her with His love.  Please pray for my daughter and all the students at the school, as a teacher at the school passed away unexpectedly last evening.   Please pray for a 2 yr old boy recently diagnosed with leukemia and for his family.  He will spend 30 days in the hospital receiving chemo.  May our Lord cleanse his body of all cancer cells and restore him to full health.  Jesus, comfort his parents and family as they deal with this diagnosis and give them the strength they need to get through this difficult time.   Mealtime Moments...  Remember, a weekly meaningful meal is a key discipleship skill. You can even make them more meaningful by having a "faith talk" around the table. Here is a gentle starter question to get the ball rolling:   What would be your perfect weekend? See what they are into, and you’ll have plenty to talk about. Everyone loves talking about things they love. And for that "faith talk"... based on this weekend's readings   TAKE TIME TO CHAT In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you.” Jesus does love you! Do you believe that? Why or why not? Jesus encourages us to keep his commandments. Is it hard or easy to keep God’s commandments? Explain your answer. Share a time when the love of Jesus has been shared through your mother or a mother-figure in your life. ... or you can just use these questions at a meal or any time for a "faith walk"!   Adult Question: When have you been "pruned" by your experiences in a way that led to greater abundance? Child Question: When have you felt stronger or better because you did something hard to help another person?     Mealtime moments.pdf     Previously, in the Acts of the Apostles... “... Peter proceeded to speak and said, ‘In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.” Acts 10:34 All through the Easter season, we read from the Acts of the Apostles. This book is a sequel to the Gospel of Luke and tells the story of the early church. Each Sunday of Easter, we read a small snippet of Acts so it is challenging to get the context for each reading. Here is some context for this Sunday’s reading: Peter was deeply Jewish and knew Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. He was very skeptical about proclaiming Jesus to non-Jews. What did a Jewish Messiah mean for those who were outside of God’s chosen people? However, Jesus came to save ALL people. God sends a vision to Peter... Click to read more   Exploring His Kingdom Podcast Check out the podcast for the latest homilies and an interview with Maximus Cabey, the Director of the Encounter School of Ministry which will be hosted at St. Thomas More this year. Find out more and consider enrolling in this life-changing school. You can also find all the previous episodes at stmcath.org or wherever you subscribe to podcasts.   BISHOP-ELECT FELTON ORDINATION & INSTALLATION Please be advised that the ordination and installation of Bishop-elect Daniel Felton will take place on Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 11:00 am. We are happy to share this link to the livestream from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary in Duluth, MN. This link is housed on the Diocese of Green Bay website and will be active when the livestream from the Cathedral in Duluth begins: https://www.gbdioc.org/duluthordination. Notes of congratulation can be sent to Bishop-elect Felton at the following address: Bishop Daniel Felton Diocese of Duluth 2830 East Fourth Street Duluth, MN 55812 Sunday Mass with Bishop David Ricken Please note NEW TIME - Every Sunday at 10:30 AM until the football season begins again. All are invited to tune in every Sunday morning to WFRV-Channel 5 and pray with us from wherever you are! You also may access by clicking this link https://www.gbdioc.org/ Sacraments: See above for information about the dispensation for Sunday Mass obligation. If you plan to attend Mass this weekend, you can sign up using the sign-up form above or on the website or by calling the office. We are celebrating weddings and funerals and baptisms and anointing of the sick with some precautions in place. The Sacrament of Reconciliation continues with our regular schedule (see below for details). We have resumed the public celebration of the Sacrifice of the Mass with precautions (see above for details). Our regular schedule for celebrating the sacrament of Reconciliation (4:15 pm on Saturday and 9:15-9:45 am on Sunday). Click here for the bulletin   Links Virtual events going on throughout the Diocese of Green Bay Sign up for 52 Sundays Resource for family Faith St. Thomas More Facebook Page St. Thomas More website

Join us as we pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet following the 8am mass Sunday May 2nd, 2021. The Chaplet will be prayed every first Sunday of each month.