Kaukauna Catholic Parishes

As we enter into our sixth week of the Easter journey, St. Peter reminds us of our ability to share with one another and our world the great gift of hope that God bestows upon us as people of faith who have opened our hearts and minds to the truth of the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  

This hope that St. Peter proclaims is absolutely essential to the human being. It is a hope that enables us to open ourselves to our encounter of the Risen Christ. It is a hope that defeats the darkness and the evil of despair and doubt. It is a hope that frees us from the tomb and allows us to follow Christ into the glory of the Resurrection and the fullness of life God created us to experience.  

St. Peter proclaims: “We must always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” In other words, he calls us to be very intentional about sharing our experience of the love of God, poured out on the cross, to give new life and resurrection to all who believe.  

As we continue our journey through these challenging times, I must admit to you that at times I find it extremely difficult to not allow the darkness to dim the blazing glory of the grace given to me in this gift of hope that God has bestowed. My struggle is in a sense of doubt and inadequacy of taking care of our family here in Kaukauna and Hollandtown. That the limitations are such that I simply cannot tend to the family I am a part of here and a sense of failure because of the feeling of falling short.  

Yet know this: Rooted in faith I simply seek to surrender to God’s plan. I pray constantly for the ability to understand what God needs me to do and to respond as fully as possible to God’s request. That somehow, even in my weakness, God will give me the grace to do and be what I need to in order to fulfill His will.  

This grace, this gift of Hope, is what sustains me. I believe beyond any shadow of a doubt that God is with me and that God will provide. And even in my limited understanding of God’s plan and God’s will I trust that God will get us to where we need to go. And I accept the reality that this is hard. It takes hard work to stay connected to The Source of Life and not surrender to the evil of darkness, doubt, despair and above all fear.  

So I, like you, get up every day. Seek to open my heart to God’s will and do whatever I can, through the grace of God, to share the gift of Hope that God has given us. 

If you have any spiritual needs that we can help with, please contact the parish office or email me directly at deverts@kaucp.org. It is as a family we will live our faith, follow Christ, and share the  glory of the Risen Christ with our world.  

Peace and Joy,
Fr. Don Everts, Pastor
Holy Cross and St. Katharine Drexel Parishes