Being God’s Hands and Feet: Mission Trip to Knoxville, Tennessee

As many of you are aware we now pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet after every Mass on the fourth weekend of every month (a ten minute prayer). Are you also aware of why we say the prayer, and where it came from? Like the Our Father, this prayer came directly from Jesus himself in appearances to St. Faustina, who he commissioned to spread the prayer, image and devotion worldwide. Jesus asked St. Faustina to paint an image of himself as he appeared to her. This is the image that appears on the prayer cards and pictures we see today. In this Divine Mercy image the pale ray stands for the water which makes us righteous, and the red ray stands for the blood which is the life of souls. These two rays came from the very depth of his Mercy when his agonized heart was opened by a lance on the cross. He promised that those who venerate this image will not perish. 

As planning begins for the 15th Annual St. Leonard Turkey Trot, we’d like to celebrate the incredible success of last year’s race and thank everyone who made it possible.  A special thank you goes to Allen and Loretta Jorn. Through Allen’s leadership and dedication, the Turkey Trot has grown into one of our parish’s largest community events and most successful fundraisers. We are deeply grateful for his years of service and wish him all the best in his well-earned retirement as race director. We also extend our sincere thanks to the many volunteers whose time and talents make this event safe, welcoming and successful. If you’d like to join our volunteer team, contact the Parish Office. We’re always happy to welcome new helpers. Thanks to your participation and generosity, the 2025 Turkey Trot welcomed a record 1,916 participants and raised nearly $32,000 in net proceeds- more than 30% higher than our previous record. These funds will help support future parish capital projects and continue strengthening our parish community. Mark your calendars for the 15th Annual St. Leonard Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26 at 9 a.m. Watch for registration announcements later this year. Thank you for your continued support, generosity and prayers. We look forward to seeing you at the starting line!

Pastoral Council Nomination 2026

It makes us happy to see our faith community being recognized for the ways our families are living our mission. St. Leonard was featured in two news outlets recently: Members of our Knights of Columbus Dynamic Men’s Group went on a walking pilgrimage from Holy Hill to the Shrine of Our Lady of Champion. The Milwaukee Catholic Herald featured them in an article sharing their route and experiences. You can read all about it here .

Over the last few months we’ve been alluding to a new digital parish system. We are implementing a program called ParishStaq- a parish management platform that will integrate many of our services and communications- making it easier for parishioners and staff to stay connected, informed, and engaged. ParishStaq uses industry-leading security and encryption to keep your personal and financial information secure. With ParishStaq, you will be able to log into your own profile where you can: Stay more connected to your ministry groups Register for events and ministries more easily Access ministry schedules, volunteer opportunities and giving in one place Update family contact information conveniently Receive communications more consistently We are also excited to build our own mobile app for quick access to parish life and resources. This transition will help our parish staff and ministry leaders work more efficiently by reducing duplicate work, improving communication and streamlining administrative tasks. We will be able to focus more time and energy on our mission. As part of this process, our online giving platform has already transitioned to Pushpay (which is part of the ParishStaq system). We are grateful to everyone who has already made that change. As we continue to implement ParishStaq over the next few months, we will provide clear instructions and support. Thank you for your patience and support as we take this important step forward together.

Deacon Nathan Budde- one of our former parish seminarians visiting from the Diocese of Green Bay, WI- will be ordained to the priesthood on Saturday, May 30. You are invited to support Dcn. Nathan through prayer and by following along with the ordination and other celebrations surrounding this blessed occasion. Ordination & Other Masses Ordination | Saturday, May 30, 10 a.m. at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Green Bay, WI The Ordination Mass is open to the public, with a light reception and opportunity to receive a blessing to follow. This Mass is also livestreamed . First Mass | Sunday, May 31, 2 p.m. at St. Mary Catholic Church, De Pere, WI This Mass is open to the public with a light reception and opportunity to receive a blessing to follow. Masses of Thanksgiving at St. Leonard | Sunday, June 21, 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Light refreshments to follow these two Masses only. Our 9 a.m. Mass is also livestreamed . These Masses are also opportunities to receive a Plenary Indulgence. Continue reading below to learn more about indulgences and how to prepare to receive it.

The Human Concerns Committee's Lenten and Easter collections were a great success, thanks to the generosity of our faith community. Through the Lenten collections we helped 5 organizations: The HOPE Center , Community Smiles Dental , Kathy's House , The Women’s Center and Street Angels . In addition to the items sent directly to the organizations through their Amazon wish lists, we donated 30-45 packed boxes/bags each week. The organizations themselves also thank you, with comments including the following: “Thank you for coordinating this effort! We are so thankful for everything. It will definitely be put to good use in the house,” (Kathy’s House). “We want to say how grateful (and still surprised) we are! So many children and families will benefit from this. It truly is an amazing thing your congregation does to help the community,” (Community Smiles Dental). Through the Easter Food Collection, we were able to provide a wonderful Easter meal and other necessities to 19 families. We are over-joyed to share that an anonymous parishioner also assembled and donated Easter baskets for all of the children in each family that benefitted from Easter Food Collection. Our elementary Christian Formation students who participated in an enrichment program on "The Plight Of the Working Poor" donated food items for and assembled shelf-stable meal kits to add to the Easter food being donated. The meal kits included a handmade card and recipe instructions for the meals. The assembled recipes were taco soup, chicken parmesan and an Italian spaghetti dinner. Thank you, parishioners, for your incredible generosity! Thank you to the Human Concerns Committee for coordinating these efforts to help us live our mission and carry out the Lenten pillar of almsgiving.

On behalf of the Auction Committee, thank you so much for your generosity and support for this year’s auction fundraiser, Luck of the Auction. Due to your support, we have raised more than we ever have before! We have raised over $58,000 for Home & School and the Church to use for our school students to improve their educational experience as well as purchase much-needed playground equipment! This amount is a 25% increase over our proceeds from last year’s auction! We also had our highest auction attendance in recent years with 196 attendees! This fundraiser could not be successful without the support of our school staff, church staff, parishioners, and community supporters! Thank you for your donations, support, and hard work! Make sure you are on the lookout for “The Good, the Bad, and the Lucky,” our Wild West/Country themed auction for 2027!

A youth participant shares their story.