“From the Archives” — Father Kleinmann And The Packers
No discussion about Father Dennis Kleinmann’s years at Saint Mary (2000-2015) would be complete without mentioning that he is from Wisconsin and an avid Green Bay Packers fan. During football season, his weekly pastor’s message, entitled “From Green to Gold,” in Saint Mary’s parish bulletin, may have referred to the Church’s liturgical colors, but green and gold also just happen to be the Packers’ team colors. His opening lines in the column usually mentioned something about the Pack’s recent game and related the latest sports stats to some deeper spiritual message. For example, on a bye week when Green Bay did not play, Father Kleinmann remarked, “Sometimes our spiritual life needs a bye week, just as the NFL. Our spiritual bye week is a retreat.”
Another week, both the Packers and then-Washington Redskins lost. Father Kleinmann was not oblivious to the fact that he was ministering in Redskin territory. On home-game Sundays, Mass-goers frequently sported their burgundy-and-gold for Washington. So, his next bulletin message addressed faith in God’s presence all the time, and the importance of prayer and trust in God’s divine providence, no matter how bad things may seem.
Mass attendees could count on Father Kleinmann for an interesting homily. Saint Augustine of Hippo advised preachers to always have a “hook” to draw the listeners’ attention into a sermon. Father Kleinmann’s “hooks” often were introductory stories, which generally preceded the subject of his homily and gained everybody’s attention. Not surprisingly, his homily hooks also frequently included a football reference!
— Kitty Guy, Parish Historian
In 2020, to commemorate the 225th anniversary of our parish, we started “From the Archives” as a weekly feature online and in our bulletin to spotlight the history of Saint Mary’s. Due to its popularity, we are continuing the series in 2022. An archive of the features is located here.