From the Pastor’s Desk:
April 5, 2026
Dear Parishioners,
We find ourselves in the glow of the Easter Candle for the 50 days after
Easter. Lent has ended very quickly, perhaps before some even knew it had
begun. Our secular society is rushing after whatever will sell next in the stores, but the Catholic Church continues to celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior. Christ walked the earth following His resurrection, appearing and strengthening the apostles and disciples for their mission ahead. Within the liturgy of the
Catholic Church, we relive those events of Jesus’ life.
As we celebrated the liturgies of the Triduum, each of those liturgies were
a reliving of those most special events of Jesus’ life. Those liturgies use all of
our senses to help us experience those events. From the washing of feet, to
processions, to incense, music, candles, extra readings, darkness, fire; all the senses were engaged. Some
may ask what is the importance of celebrating these liturgies each year. Easter is Easter, let’s go to Church,
out to eat, and get on with the next thing.
We as adults are no different than children, repetition is an important role in imprinting both our brains and our spirits. Symbols and signs connect us to the universal church, through generations and across the world. Our Easter Candle is an essential part of our worship, as it proclaims Christ alive, shining in a world
of darkness and sin. The Easter Candle is light during the Easter Season, during each baptism, and the
celebration of a funeral liturgy. Throughout the Easter Season, our churches are decorated in flowers, white and gold altar cloths, along with the Easter Candle—all in celebration of the risen Christ.
It was the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. that established that Easter should be observed on the first
Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. That made it a moveable feast that can fall
between March 22 and April 25. Next year, Easter will be celebrated on March 28. Easter blends religious
and cultural elements. Many traditions, such as Easter egg hunts, festive meals, and family gatherings
symbolize renewal, new life. Easter is also linked to Passover, which highlights its roots in Jewish tradition.
First Eucharist ReceptionVolunteers Needed
Our young people will be receiving First Eucharist on Sunday, May 3.
We are looking for volunteers who might help with the reception. We are especially asking for families who may have children in Kindergarten or first grade, as your children will be receiving the sacraments soon.
The reception will be simple and you can volunteer to help setup or serve and clean up on May 3. All supplies will be provided!
This is also a great opportunity for high school students to earn service hours.
Please contact Iris, ibounds@sta-cathedral.org, or call the parish office.
THANK YOU!
A HUGE thank you to all who contributed candy and eggs to our annual Easter Egg Hunt. St. Agnes Cathedral is such a generous parish and your generosity is greatly appreciated. The Easter Egg Hunt is such a fun activity for our children and for our families.
Thank you, again!
From the Pastor’s Desk
Dear Parishioners,
As the Christmas Season ended and I began preparations for Lent, I did not see the weeks of Lent filled with surgery,
therapy, and ice. I am not complaining. I had been in pain since Thanksgiving. I must admit this has been one of my
most reflective Lents. It became a time to pray without rushing, to reflect upon ministry and understand a little better
people who struggle with their health. Within my priesthood, I have been blessed with good health, and this is the first
time I have had to stop, place myself totally in the hands of others, and trust completely in God.
I thank every one of you for your prayers, your cards, encouragement, and understanding.
As Lent is drawing to a close, I want to reflect upon what Jesus was doing during the last days of what we call Holy
Week, before His Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
On that first day of the week, Jesus came into Jerusalem from the countryside. The city was excited with thousands of
pilgrims coming to celebrate at the Temple. Many had heard about Jesus and wanted to see Him. The streets were lined
with people who were crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:1-11)
Perhaps it was Monday that Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus’ feet with fragrant oil. In tradition, it has been called
“Extravagant Monday” in remembrance of her act of worship. (John 12:1-11)
In the Gospel for Tuesday, we read how Jesus predicted that Peter would deny Him three times. This sad event will
take place on Good Friday. (John 13:31-38)
Wednesday, the day before the Passover Meal, Judas met with the priest of the Temple and accepted thirty pieces of
silver in exchange for betraying Jesus. He then looked for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to the chief priests.
(Matthew 26:14-25)
Those were the ordinary days which led up to the Tridium of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil.
Jesus was busy preparing for what lay ahead.
Faith Formation Lenten Project
Please Donate to St. Agnes Cathedral
Faith Formation Lenten Project
We are asking families and parishioners to support the
Child Advocacy Center by bringing the following items to
PSR classes on Sunday or to the parish office. We ask that
all items please be brought by Sunday, March 29.
The Child Advocacy Center serves local child victims of
sexual and physical abuse. https://childadvocacycenter.org/
Current needs include:
Children’s underwear, socks, and clothing
Individually wrapped snacks (GoGo Squeez applesauce,
granola bars, Goldfish)
Fidgets and sensory items (such as Play-Doh)
Towels, Laundry detergent
Toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, chap stick)
Thank you for your support!
YOUTH
Youth Group Activity Today!
March 22
Please join us today in the
cafeteria after the 11:30 a.m.
Mass, to help fill the eggs for the
Easter egg hunt. Becky Wieberg
will provide pizza, snacks, and
drinks for those who help. This is
a great way for our youth to earn
a couple of service hours. Thank
you so much for helping with this
fun project for our families and
little ones of the parish!
ANNUAL EASTER EGG
HUNT CONTINUES!
This annual event will be held
Easter Sunday morning at 11:00
a.m. on the school soccer field.
Come bring the entire family and
meet the Easter Bunny. Don’t be
late!
Bishop’s Mass
You are invited to a special Mass for
Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri,
lead by Bishop Rice at 9 AM March 28 at
Holy Trinity Church, Springfield.
This Lenten Season, please keep Catholic
Charities in your prayers and consider them
in your Lenten Almsgiving.
From the Pastor’s Desk:
Dear Parishioners,
Change and believe the good news. The New Testament Greek word for conversion is Metanoia, which means “a change of heart,” or “an act of repentance.” You might be surprised at how infrequently conversion is used in the Gospels. John’s Gospel never mentions it. Mark uses the word only three times, and Matthew, seven times. Only Luke uses the word with frequency, some fourteen times. Yet the concept of conversion certainly lies at the heart of Jesus’ message in all the Gospels. “This is the time of fulfillment. The reign of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the good news!”
This is the theme of the Lenten season. At the root of any act of conversion is change. Heeding the message of Jesus
involves a change of mind, a change of heart, and a change of behavior. Christian conversion always moves a person beyond their present state and into a new and vital relationship with God. Conversion cannot be limited to a dramatic, once-in-a-lifetime, “born again” experience. Christian conversion is more often the gradual process of God’s grace transforming our lives. It
entails being born again and again and again… Here are some of the basic features of Christian conversion:
*Conversion is an act of God’s grace. God initiates the process and we are invited to respond.
*Conversion is a movement from sin, darkness, and blindness toward God, light, and sight.
*Conversion is a personal encounter with Jesus Christ which radically transforms the way we think, speak, and live.
*Conversion is an ongoing process which begins with Baptism but which requires constant surrender to God’s will.
*Conversion changes the whole person, with an internal (attitudinal) and external (behavioral) change in life.
*Conversion results in tremendous joy and a desire to share the good news with others.
Lent is a perfect time for each of us to move closer to God. It is a time for us to move away from sin, toward God. The
best way to begin our conversion is to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to live a better life based upon Jesus’
teachings found in the Gospels.
0
St. Agnes Penance Service
Tuesday, March 17, 7 p.m.
PLEASE DONATE CANDY & EGGS
PLEASE DONATE CANDY & EGGS
Our annual Easter Egg Hunt will take place at St. Agnes on Easter morning.
We are asking for donations of wrapped candy so our youth can fill the plastic Easter Eggs. If you would like to donate wrapped candy or Easter Eggs, please bring them to the parish office before March 22, when our youth will fill the Easter Eggs.
Please join us Sunday, March 22, after the 11:30 a.m. Mass
in the cafeteria to help fill the eggs for the Easter egg hunt. Becky Wieberg
will provide pizza, snacks, and drinks for those who help. This is a great way for our youth to earn a couple of service hours. Thank you so much for helping with this fun project for our families and little ones of the parish!
ANNUAL EASTER EGG HUNT CONTINUES!
This annual event will be held Easter Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m.
on the school soccer field. Come bring the entire family and meet the
Easter Bunny. Don’t be late!
Special Collection for The Mirror
Our invoice for The Mirror has arrived! The total invoice this year is $7,264.00. So far, parishioners have contributed $1,868.00 toward the bill. Every registered family at St. Agnes receives a subscription, which is $14.
Please use the contribution envelope or via electronic donation and, if possible, perhaps consider contributing an additional subscription to cover for a parishioner who is unable to contribute.
Bishop’s Mass for Catholic Charities
You are invited to celebrate a special Mass for Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri, lead by Bishop Rice at 9 AM March 28 at Holy Trinity Church, Springfield.
This Lenten Season, please keep Catholic Charities’ clients, volunteers, and staff in your prayers.
Please prayerfully consider Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri in your Lenten Almsgiving.
Thank you for Reaching Out, Providing Hope, and Changing Lives!
From the Pastor’s Desk:
Dear Parishioners,
“Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” With the words spoken on Ash Wednesday, the Church invites us all to begin a three-month spiritual renewal program. It is a program to remove the dust and rubble by the remembrance that we came from dust and rubble and will once again become dust, regardless of who we are. These are the weeks of Lent themselves. The next part of the program is the celebration of the event that took place in the darkness of the night, three days after the death of the Son of God.
So there are a total of 90 days—three full months that the Church has set aside for this program. That is
one fourth of the year for all of us to be renewed in Christ. Let us remember that it was through His suffering and cross that Jesus entered His glory. We are invited to die to ourselves and our sinful habits to be renewed
in the Lord.
Lent provides us with a time of self-evaluation. Have I/we been faithful to my/our baptismal promises
of rejecting evil and living in Jesus’ friendship? In the Ash Wednesday Gospel reading from the sixth chapter of Matthew, we have the means of living and walking in the footsteps of Jesus’s friendship through PRAYER,
FASTING, and ALMSGIVING (in other words, helping those less fortunate than ourselves).
Lent is our chance to let God restore what time, sin, and neglect have covered. It’s quiet work that takes place in our hearts, in chambers of prayer, and through humble acts of love.
Our Lenten Alms boxes are at the doors of our church. Drop something in a box each week—by giving up something—that candy bar, ice cream, glass of wine, expensive coffee, etc.
Congratulations!
Newly Confirmed:
Ruth Brandel
Vy Bui
Forest Coletrain
Quyen Doan
Logan David Dusenberry
Cinecio Duarte
Aethan Shaun Guirey
Kathyrn Ann Hartman
Zion Hauschildt
Oskar Hawkins
Jonathan Kuria
Avery Lassen
Sophia Le
Van Le
Vy Le
Evelyn Moellering
Gibson Morris
Thien Nguyen
Brian Nwodo
Jaden Phan
Reagan Soetaert
Kendall Stuhlsatz
Greyson Tetlow
Annie Thieman
Brooks Thieman
Calvin Tran
Nicky Truong
Georgia Verbarg
Vincent Wellever
Kylia Wise
Adults:
Heather Dorsett
Matthew King
Michael Klem
Stephanie Newton
Oanh Pham
Jorge D. Torres
Special Collection for The Mirror
Our invoice for The Mirror has arrived! The total invoice this year is $7,264.00. So far, parishioners have contributed $1,784.00 toward the bill. Every registered family at St. Agnes receives a subscription, which is $14.
Please use the contribution envelope or via electronic donation and, if possible, perhaps consider contributing an additional subscription to cover for a parishioner who is unable to contribute.
Reconciliation Services
Our Lady of the Lake, Branson
Sun, March 8 - 3 PM
St. Francis of Assisi, Nixa
Mon, March 9 - 7 PM
St. Joseph the Worker, Ozark
Tues, March 10 - 7 PM
Our Lady of the Cove
Kimberling City
Sun, March 15 - 3 PM
Immaculate Conception
Sun, March 15 - 4 PM
St. Agnes Cathedral
Tues, March 17 - 7 PM
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Mon., March 23 - 7 PM
Holy Trinity Church
Tues, March 24 - 7 PM
St. Joseph Church, Springfield
Thurs, March 26 - 7 PM
From the Pastor’s desk
Dear Parishioners,
This Wednesday begins the 40-day Season of Lent. It is to be a time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with the evening Mass on Holy Thursday. It is a period of preparation to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus at Easter. There are many ways we can prepare, including read Sacred Scripture, use our Lenten Book which the parish provides, come to the Stations of the Cross, come to a weekday Mass, and give alms to a particular need beyond the Sunday gift to the parish. Perhaps fasting is the hardest—practicing self-control in eating,
drinking alcohol.
For centuries, the Church has asked us to abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent. For me, that is not much of a sacrifice since I like all types of fish. Abstaining from meat is more of a discipline. We do not like to be told not to do something.
The giving of alms is one way to share the gifts God has given to us. Alms can mean more than sharing our money. We can also share our talents and the gift of time. In our fast-paced world, time is the most precious gift we can give to another.
Penance is something that we Americans do not like to hear about. We look at it as a punishment. That is a
misconception. Penance is an action that is to be used to help us look deep within ourselves and change ourselves to
become more like Christ. In our penance, we are to pay more attention to God and the things of God. During the Lenten Season, celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
In the past, people thought of Lent as a personal retreat: forty days to get in spiritual shape by Easter. The opening prayer of the liturgy on Ash Wednesday clearly spells out the proper meaning of the Season of Lent: “O Lord, as we begin with holy fasting, may we take up battle against spiritual evils, armed with weapons of self-restraint.” If we make the Lenten journey with open hearts and minds, we will arrive at the tomb and see that it is surrounded by the light of the resurrected Christ.
From the Pastor’s Desk
Dear Parishioners,
The Season of Advent has a two-fold character. It is a time of preparation for Christmas, a time for us to remember and celebrate the birth of the Son of God almost 2,000 years ago. It is also a season when our minds are directed by the scripture readings that Christ’s second coming is in our future. It is a season of joyful and spiritual expectation. For some, it might even be a season of fear as we read and study the scriptures.
With the scriptures, there is an added push that we look toward the second coming of Christ. From December 17th through the 24th, the prayers at Mass prepare us more directly for the celebration of Christmas. Advent’s general atmosphere could be described, as I said in my homily last weekend, as preparation, expectation, and anticipation.
On December 17, we begin our Christmas Novena. A novena is a special prayer form. It originally comes from the word novem which means 9, and, in this context, 9 days of prayer. A novena is a religious celebration which falls into 1 of 4 types. There is a novena of mourning, a novena of preparation, a novena of preparation, or a novena of seeking mercy. The novena we begin on Wednesday is of preparation.
Our Novena was written by the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood located in O’Fallon, Missouri in 1980. Instead of 9 days, it is a novena of 7 days of preparation titled, MARANATHA, Preparation for Christmas. As a Christmas Novena, the sisters wrote it as a nighttime candlelight service, to which I have added the white lights of our Christmas decorations.
The novena is comprised of music, petitions, psalms from the Old Testament, prophecies concerning the Messiah, Canticles, and Scripture Reading, all in the prayer of Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction. The Novena each evening is between 25 and 30 minutes in length and is a beautiful spiritual way to prepare for the Birth of Christ.
I am inviting all of our Eucharistic Ministers and those who would like to be Eucharistic Ministers to the Novena
on December 18, followed by a special gathering and updating coming from the Liturgical Office of the Diocese in the Dining Room.
On December 22, I am inviting Lectors, Ushers, and Greeters to the Novena on December 22, followed by a special gathering and updating in the Dining Room.
A Season of Gratitude & Giving
As we reflet on the blessings of this year, we are reminded of the incredible work God has done through our St. Agnes Parish. Your generosity has helped us serve our parish and community, support our capital campaign for our new Parish Hall, and grow together in faith. Thank you for being a vital part of this journey!
As the year comes to a close, we invite you to prayerfully consider making an end-of-year gift to support the continued work of our ministry. Every contribution, no matter the size, makes a meaningful impact and helps us prepare for the opportunities God has in store for the coming year.
You can give in person, online, or by mail.
For more details, please scan the QR code, visit
www.sta-cathedral.org, or contact Connie McNabb,
cmcnabb@sta-cathedral.org or 417-831-3565 x720.
Together, let’s finish the year strong and
step into the new year with faith and purpose.
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS BREAKFAST
SUNDAY, DEC. 21
After 8:00 a.m. Mass
in the Cafeteria
Hot fluffy pancakes & syrup,
eggs, sausage, fruit, juice
Bring the whole family!