It always surprises people when they say, “What do you mean, I am not a member of the parish? I have gone to church here for 3 years, etc.” My response, “You are not listed. Did you ever register?” Well…no, but you know me. That may be true, that I know a person; but if they have not registered, they could just be attending mass here because it is convenient. Belonging to a parish at the very least, means being registered and attending mass on a regular basis, (Christmas and Easter liturgies is not a regular basis).

Our Children learn from example. Many adults believe that children do not understand many things; but as a former teacher and being around young people constantly, believe me they understand.

Springfield Catholic High School presents their fall musical, Hunchback of Notre Dame on November 14, 15, & 16 at 7:00pm, November 17 at 2:00pm. Tickets are available at Springfield Catholic High School, 887-8817, and St Agnes parish office, 831-3565. Order soon – they’re going fast!

We hope you can join us for a night of hospitality and love Monday, November 4th featuring guest speaker Sister Richard Mary Burke. We will meet from 7-8:30pm in the school cafeteria. Dessert & coffee will be provided.

Coming the weekend of Nov. 2/3 we will hold our annual parish bazaar. There will be several booths for you to come and browse and, hopefully, find something for yourself or a Christmas gift or stocking stuffer. If we support our vendors they will continue to come each year and support our causes! We can always use volunteers to help for an hour or two each day:

For the past two years I have been presenting an adult class on Sunday mornings. One set of classes covered St. Paul the Man, another set of classes covered Church history, another set looked at the New Testament. This fall I began a set of classes which I have titled, The Beginning of the Church. I chose this topic because many people do not have a good knowledge of early church teachings and doctrine, how and why they developed.

The Catholic Church gave the world the Bible, the Church didn’t come from the Bible. The Bible is not a historical record of events, but it is a book of FAITH. The New Testament is the most reliable of ancient texts. The earliest copies date to the early 200’s. The originals of the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John have not survived, but their copies have survived.

The next Confirmation session will be held Sunday, Oct 13th beginning at 3:00 pm in the cafeteria. All candidates should plan on attending. Remember if you were not baptized at St Agnes, a copy of your Baptismal certificate is required. Contact Iris Bounds at ibounds@stacathedral. org with any questions.

All are invited to our upcoming PCCW activity; "Wreath Making Party!" The event will take place Tuesday, Oct 22nd from 6:30-8:30 in the dining room. We will have all the supplies necessary to make a fall wreath or a Christmas wreath. We will have wreath bases, pine cones and every kind of ribbon to create your own festive wreath. More importantly, you can spend time with other ladies of our parish. What a great way to create community among our ladies!

Next weekend is October’s breakfast sponsored by your St. Agnes Knights group after the 7:00 & 8:30 Masses. This month is French toast, eggs, sausage and/or bacon. Please come join your fellow parishioners for good food and fellowship.

When I mention stewardship, is seems like people only think about, “Father wants more money!” Within marriage,

money is a lot of times a touchy subject due to budgets and unexpected emergencies, so it is within “church”. It is not

easy to tackle this subject within the parish family. So let’s forget about money, budgets and talk about true

stewardship.

The next Confirmation session will be held

Sunday, Oct 13th beginning at 3:00 pm in

the cafeteria. All candidates should plan on

attending. Remember if you were not

baptized at St Agnes, a copy of your Baptismal certificate

is required. Contact Iris Bounds at ibounds@stacathedral.

org with any questions.

Youth in grades 8-12 are invited to dinner & a movie on Wed Oct 9th beginning at 6:30 pm In the dining room. We will begin with a brief discussion of the rosary, followed by lasagna & movie fun with “Hocus Pocus”. All are invited! No cost!

Coming the weekend of Nov. 2/3 we will hold our annual parish bazaar. There will be several booths for you to come and browse and, hopefully, find something for yourself or a Christmas gift or stocking stuffer. If we support our vendors they will continue to come each year and support our causes!

We can always use volunteers to help for an hour or two each day:

Last weekend in my homily I talked about all the unique characters in Jesus’ parables. Many of them were not the most

upstanding, and for most of His listeners they were disturbing. Jesus was not entertaining, His parables were meant to

challenge old ways of thinking. Actually this was nothing new of God. All we need to do is study the Old and New

Testaments of the Bible. God used many different people in His plan of our salvation. I do not believe I am being

irreverent in my next paragraphs. In fact I think it should give all of hope that we can be of use to God in some way

regardless of our past.

Everyone enjoys coffee & donuts on Sunday mornings! Right now we need a couple of volunteers who are willing to make the coffee and lemonade. If you can help (even on occasion) we would love your help! Please call the parish office at 831-3565 or contact Iris Bounds at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org. Thank you for helping!

Thank you for joining us for the Stewardship Fair. We hope that you prayerfully consider getting more involved In Your parish. If you have any questions about a specific group, please fill out the ministry card in the pews or the back of church and place it in the boxes or you can call the parish office at 831-3565. Thank you for sharing your time, talents, and gifts with your St. Agnes parish. We are truly blessed to have you.

On Friday, October 4 at 1:00pm in the Dining Room, representatives for SENIOR RESOURCE NETWORKOF THE OZARKS will be present to inform, and answer questions, regarding resources in our community. In the past, a lawyer dealing with wills and probate, a financial advisor, a pharmacist, a Medicare Insurance specialist, car insurance agent and people from health care and/or\ hospice have spoken to us. Although they represent individual businesses, there has NEVER been any pressure at the meeting to use them specifically, and they are always informative.

Last weekend in the Gospel from Luke we heard one of the most endearing of the parables, the Prodigal Son. Jesus used simple word-pictures to help people understand who God is and what his kingdom or reign is like. Jesus’ teachings used images and characters taken from the everyday life and world around Him to create a drama to illustrate his message.

TODAY, Sunday, Sept 22nd from 6:30-8:30 PM, St. Agnes Youth will sponsor a bonfire. All youth in grades 8- 12 are invited to join us for hot dogs, s'mores, music and stories by the firepit. We will be gathering by the priest garage in the grassy area by the parking lot. Free food and Father Joseph promises to share his musical ability on the guitar. Bring a friend and a lawn chair or blanket. All are invited, no cost, but bring a drink and a snack to share. Wednesday, October 9th, 6:30-8:00pm, Movie night in the cafeteria. Mark your calendar! More details to come.

On Friday, October 4 at 1:00pm in the Dining Room, representatives for SENIOR RESOURCE NETWORK OF THE OZARKS will be present to inform, and answer questions, regarding resources in our community. In the past, a lawyer dealing with wills and probate, a financial advisor, a pharmacist, a Medicare Insurance specialist, car insurance agent and people from health care and/or hospice have spoken to us. Although they represent individual businesses, there has NEVER been any pressure at the meeting to use them specifically, and they are always informative.

Join Bishop Edward Rice at the Annual Unity on Division

Gathering, Saturday, September 28, 11am to 3pm, at

Tom Watkins Park in Springfield, where he will preach on

the theological virtue of Hope (1 Corinthians 13) as part

of the opening prayer service at 11am.