Winter 2006

Thanks for looking at our Quad Parish website. I am approaching my fourth year as the pastor of these beautiful historic churches in the picturesque countryside of Monroe County, Wisconsin. If you would do me a favor, I would be grateful to receive an email from you, just saying "Father, I looked at your website." My address is eberns@centurytel.net. I am trying to get a feel for how many people are looking at our website and what their connection to our churches might be.

I was recently walking through the downtown area of my hometown, Richland Center, Wisconsin. I walked into an art gallery. I was proud to see several professional prints featuring our own Cashton area. One was even called "Winter in Cashton." The store owner (a kind woman whom I didn't know) asked me, "Are you still out there on the Ridge?" (I love that phrase . . . "out on the Ridge"). I was surprised that she knew of St. Mary's Ridge, given that Richland Center is an hour away. Our place has a reputation for natural beauty and the best of country and small town living. I was proud to answer her, "Yes, as a matter of fact I am . . . "out on the Ridge." It brings to mind a description in Ben Logan's book, The Land Remembers. In it, Ben Logan recalls his early years growing up on a farm not far from here, and he describes in admirable terms the sort of people that live on the ridge. The people around here that fill our parishes are just that - admirable people. They are, in general terms, hardworking, honest, faith-filled and, in the best sense of the term, simple. I am especially proud of our young people. I have had lots of experience working with teenagers in my almost-ten years as a priest, and I can honestly say that our youngsters stand out. It has a lot to do with their families, and their families have a lot to do with our parishes, and our parishes have a lot to do with the land. And the land, like our kids and our families, comes from God. Just like the faith that brings us together.

Lest I get carried away describing this place as a sort of paradise (which I could easily do), I must admit we have our difficulties. As with most good parishes, we have financial constraints that challenge us to trust that God will always provide. And this is my first stint as pastor. I had two other assignments as a priest before I was sent here to the Quad Parish. In the mist of the "problems" of this place, it gives me great satisfaction to say without hesitation, "this is my best assignment yet." I love it here! It would take too much time and space to attempt a poetic and full description of life in these parishes. I did make such an attempt last year in the October issue of Country Magazine. I wrote a section called "A week in the country," and I intended it as a nod to these parishioners whom I love.

We wave to Amish buggies, we have the whole town come together for charitable benefits, we roast pigs and ride horses, we hunt, fish and farm, and gather at the local produce auction in the summer. We sell, repair, and pull tractors. People driving trucks wave to each other. We staff the local businesses. We play cards into the wee hours of the night and then get up early for Mass. It's sort of like the song goes . . . "You get a line, I'll get a pole. We'll go fishin' at the crawfish hole. Five-card poker on Saturday night, church on Sunday morning." We have outdoor concerts and candlelight dinners in the church yard.

But most importantly, we worship Jesus Christ together in the house of God. When I visit the homes of our parishioners, their manner of praying together before dinner reminds me that their faith is not just something for Sunday morning. I joke with my parishioners that I intend to stay here for 35 years. That's my way of saying I like being their priest. I love these people. I would have more than 31 years to go. Yes, I know I won't get to stay here that long. Our good Bishop Jerome Listecki will ask me at some point to take another assignment, likely one where I won't be able to put my horses in the pasture in front of the church. He'll ask me to leave here. As I tell my parishioners, "I'll weep like a baby, but I'll go." Actually, I'll accept whatever assignment he gives me and with as little fanfare as possible. We are not just independent churches. We are tied to the local and universal Catholic Church, faithfully following the lead of our chief shepherd, Pope Benedict XVI. We are as proud to be Catholic as the people who founded this place 150 years ago.

Pray for us. Visit us. If you give me 24 hours notice, I promise to serve you dinner in my back yard under a hefty barn-beam shelter my parishioners built. The view stretches for miles, the silos and windmills perfectly framing the wooded valley. Or, more importantly, you can join us for the most important gathering ever known to us Catholics - the Sunday Mass.