Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 13, 2025
Confessions are held on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. at the northwest entrance (opposite the Adoration entrance) of the church.
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Office Hours Parish (414) 321-1965 (414) 321-8540 School
Friday: 8 a.m.-12 p.m.
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Father Michael Merkt, Pastor Email: mmerkt@stjohns-grfd.org
Steve Pemper, Deacon Email: spemper@aol.com
Denise Kasulke, Dir. of Administrative Services Email: dkasulke@stjohns-grfd.org
Karen Schulteis, Dir. of Liturgy & Music Email: kschulteis@stjohns-grfd.org
John Paul Shimek, Dir. of Lifelong Faith Formation Email: jpshimek@stjohns-grfd.org
George Pitman, Jr., Bookkeeper, Building & Grounds Email: gpitman@stjohns-grfd.org
Jan Sadlon, Parish Secretary Email: rectory@stjohns-grfd.org or jsadlon@stjohns-grfd.org
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Gospel Reflection
July 13, 2025
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I used to be a bad neighbor. I’d get wrapped up in my life and ignore those around me. Then I found sage advice from Benjamin Franklin to this effect: to be a better neighbor, ask someone to do a favor for you. It’s counterintuitive, isn’t it? Tell strangers that I need their help? Yuck. I’ll risk looking needy. Worse, I’ll be indebted to them. But I tried it, and it works like a charm. Recently I asked my neighbor Alan for a hacksaw, and Inga for an egg. They kindly obliged, and our friendship is growing.
This week we hear a scribe of the law cynically ask Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29). Like him, we prefer to keep the list of our “neighbors” as short as possible. It requires less interruption and inconvenience. But when Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, he exposes the lonely, cold-heartedness tendency of the scribe’s (and our) heart. My “neighbor” is anyone I encounter who manifests a concrete need. There isn’t time to require any other credential because human need opens us to the happy reciprocity which is love.
Jesus’ words challenge us this week to ask a neighbor for help in some small way. How marvelous that God himself shows us how. He moves into our world and asks us to love Him with small deeds of love. Maybe that’s where Ben Franklin got the idea.
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Love One Another Catholic Campaign
In the Summer of 2021, we entered the pilot wave of the Archdiocesan campaign, "Love One Another." Below is a video we produced to present some of our case elements. For a more detailed description of our case elements, or if you want to donate, please click here.
Welcome
St. John the Evangelist is a Roman Catholic Eucharistic community faithful to the values and traditions of the Church. We strive to live our faith every day, to embrace stewardship, and to be nurtured by continuous Christian Formation.