Dear Parishioners,
This weekend we celebrate Labor Day. For many it is about boating one last time before fall turns the water cold, or perhaps a 3 day weekend to get away, picnics and fun. Labor day is to honor and celebrate all the different workers who have made and make our country strong. Immigrants both legally and illegally have come to our country to find work, to find shelter to find safety and to find freedom to find a better life for themselves and their children. As the waves of immigrants have come to our country they brought their skills and a willingness to work.
Most people do not know the role of the Catholic Church in the labor movements here in our country. The Church has a long standing tradition of advocating for labor rights and social justice here in the United States. This tradition is rooted in the teachings of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum. It emphasizes the rights of workers to organize and the im-portance of just labor conditions. The Catholic Church has played a major role in shaping the labor movement in the U.S., influencing the formation of unions and advocating for workers’ rights. The Church’s teachings have been influential in the development of labor protections, fair labor standards and collective bargaining rights. The Catholic Church continues to support workers’ rights and the dignity of work.
Pope Francis stated: “Work is fundamental to the dignity of a person. It gives one the ability to maintain oneself, one’s family, and to contribute to the growth of one’s own nation.” Unfortunately, millions of workers today are denied this hon-or and respect as a result of unemployment, underemployment, unjust wages, wage theft, abuse, and exploitation throughout the world, as well as here in our own country.
To all those who are retired, I thank each of you for your many years of hard work. For all who are working today, I thank you also. In one way or another you are making my world/our world, a better place in which to live. We also want to thank all the members of our armed forces who are stationed all over the world fighting, or on some type of border patrol to keep our nation free and safe.
Annual Holiday Market
ARE YOU A CRAFTER? WE NEED YOU!
The annual Holiday Market will be held on Nov. 1st & 2nd in the Catholic Center Gym. We are looking for vendors to participate in this event. If you are a crafter or
have a business, we need you! Cost is $35 ($40 if you do not have a business license) Please contact Judy at 1-641-751-6632 or judyhauschildt@gmail.com
Hope to see you there!
First Reconciliation/Ecucharist
Reconciliation/ First Eucharist Family Session is scheduled! If a family has a child or children who would like to receive the sacraments this year, please make plans to attend an informational session on Sunday, Sept 28th at 10:15 in the dining room! We will discuss the curriculum, schedule & ways families can prepare their children for these special sacraments. Please call the parish office or email Iris at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org if you have specific questions or want to make certain your young person is on our list for this year. We are also working with families that may have older children who will need preparation for these special sacraments.
PSR
Parish School of Religion (PSR) is beginning a new year! Classes are held on Sunday mornings at 10:00 AM in St. Agnes School. We offer classes for students in K-8. We also offer classes for students who may have special needs. We welcome all students in Public, Catholic and those who may be homeschooled. We also prepare students for the reception of the sacraments. If a family has any special circumstances, we will work with each individual family to meet those needs. All of the teachers and assistants are Virtus trained. Please use the QR code to register online. You can also contact Iris at the parish office for details or email ibounds@sta-cathedral.org
FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
Dear Parishioners,
May 23, 2025, school was out. Summer began with all its fun, relaxation, and perhaps even vacation. August 14, 2025 school start-ed and this past week public schools are back in session. Where did the summer go? It seems like only yesterday that school was let-ting out for the summer, and now we have begun the 2025-2026 school year. Where does the time go? As I get older it seems to go even faster. As I have said before, this year is going to take patience on the part of each of us with the construction happening on our doorstep. That area of life which will effect each of us, myself included are the carline and parking for masses.
Each grade level comes with its own challenges for parents, students, and teachers. The Second grade is the year of preparation and reception of the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist. Please work with your children at home and the St. Agnes grade school and PSR will do our part. In the eighth grade and above we will prepare our young people for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Thus these two class levels are extremely important years of our young people’s faith growth.
I urge parents to not forget their children’s spiritual life–the most important part of educating a child. All outside activities need to be balanced. The best way to keep families together and our young people strong, is to keep God in the picture always. Do not wait until a crisis comes into your family’s life. Come to church regularly on Sunday, and pray together as a family. Work your spiritual life and language into everyday conversation. School whether parochial or public brings new opportunities for parents to teach their young people respect, service, and to take responsibility for their actions.
Parents who always come running to straighten situations out for their children are missing good teachable moments. Don’t pass up an opportunity to give your young people practice in figuring things out for themselves while they are still young. Many times in our fast-paced world it is tempting to do things that kids should do for themselves. It’s quicker and we are pressed for time. No parent wants to see their child in trouble, but children need to learn that poor choices bring consequences that sometimes are not pleasant. There are many ordinary opportunities to explain to young people that just because their friends are allowed to do something, doesn’t mean that they should also. The sooner parents become parents, rather than their child’s best friend, the more respect their child will have for them. They have best friends. They need parents who will teach, guide, set limits, and provide discipline. All of this will help them deal with peer pressure today. To say no to different types of addictive behaviors, hard-to-deal-with bosses in the future, and to be able to follow rules and laws.
I pray for all administrators, teachers and students as we begin this new school year.
CONFIRMATION UPDATE
Families if you have a student who will be entering 8th grade and above and is planning to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in Feb, 2026, there will be an informational session on Sunday, Sept 14th at 12:30 PM in the dining room of the cafeteria. The session will include information on curriculum, class schedule, choosing a sponsor, retreat information and much more. You will also get a chance to meet the instructors for the class. If you have specific questions about Confirmation, please call the parish office or contact Iris at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org
FRIENDS OF THE POOR WALK
WHAT: Friends of the Poor Walk - Benefitting Springfield Area Societies of St. Vincent de Paul
DATE: Saturday, September 27, 2025 - The Feast Day of St. Vincent de Paul
TIME: Registration and refreshments at 8:30 AM; walk at 9:00 AM
WHERE: Saint Agnes Cathedral in Springfield
1-mile walk for the Relaxed and Fun-Loving Walker
3-mile walk for the Serious and Experienced Walker
Start and finish in parking lot, rear of building
For more information and to register, visit: www.fopwalk.org
"Why we walk: The Friends of the Poor Walk is a unique fundraising effort organized nationally and locally by the Counsels and Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul. It allows community members from all walks of life across the country to participate in a simultaneous, nationwide event to raise national awareness of the challenges faced by the nation's people in need and to raise funds for use in direct service to people in poverty. Funds raised locally will be used locally."
School Begins!
Coffee & donuts will resume this Sunday, August 24th after the 8:00 AM Mass. Join other parishioners in the dining room for donuts and fellowship. Coffee and donuts will not be held on holiday weekends.
Parish School of Religion (PSR) is beginning a new year! Classes are held on Sunday mornings at 10:00 AM in St. Agnes School. We offer classes for students in K-8. We also offer classes for students who may have special needs. We welcome all students in Public, Catholic and those who may be homeschooled. We also prepare students for the reception of the sacraments. If a family has any special circumstances, we will work with each individual family to meet those needs. All of the teachers and assistants are Virtus trained. Please use the QR code to register online. You can also contact Iris at the parish office for details or email ibounds@sta-cathedral.org
Children's Liturgy of the Word (CLOW) will resume at the 11:30 AM Masses. Children preschool through 2nd grade are encouraged to attend. Children will study the readings for Sunday at an age appropriate level. All of our teachers are Virtus trained. We will not offer CLOW on holiday weekends.
Dear Parishioners,
One of my favorite liturgies to celebrate is that of the baptism of a baby or a young child. To begin the child on their spiritual road through the waters of Baptism is a great celebration. I know that some people moan and groan a little, “Oh, a baptism at Mass today. We will be here forever.” However if you notice it adds very little time to the celebration of the Mass. If the baptism is worked into the liturgy as it is meant to be: parts of the Mass are omitted because of the baptism itself.
It is so important for baptisms to take place within the Sunday Liturgy, because a person, young or old is being brought into God’s family and we are that family. Baptism is not a “biological family” thing, or a “personal” thing; it is a “God” thing, and it makes us a “parish family.” All the sacraments are parish celebrations, taking place within the parish community is important for the parish.
Baptism is a great responsibility for the parents, as well as for the parish family. The parents are asked a series of questions: You are asking to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training him/her in the practice of the faith. (Do you understand what you are asking?) It will be your duty to bring him/her up to keep God’s commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor. ( Do you clearly understand what you are undertak-ing?) Then later in the rite: Is it your will that (child’s name) should be baptized in the faith of the Church, which we have all professed with you?
Baptism is the beginning on the spiritual journey to Heaven, and it is the responsibility of the parents and the parish community to help that young person along the road. Parents are the first teachers of their children in the ways of the Faith and the re-sponsibility of the parish community is to provide added religious education in our Faith. It is much easier to provide the reli-gious education in a Catholic School setting, but that does not mean that those who do not go to a parochial school are left along the side of the road without religious instruction. On Sundays we have are PSR, Parish School of Religion. It is an im-portant ministry within our parish, since all of our young people do not attend a Catholic grade school or high school.
All of this letter explains why Baptisms within the context of the Mass are so important and why these celebrations are among my favorites.
CONGRATULATIONS!
CONGRATULATIONS!
St. Agnes Cathedral Parish congratulates Harper and Grayson Brown who were Baptized on Sunday, July 27th during the 11:30 AM Mass. Grayson and Harper are the children of Adam and Miranda Brown. Please keep the Brown family in prayer as they continue to grow in faith and in grace.
BACK TO PSR PARTY!!
AUGUST 17, 2025 –12:30 pm
We will have a Taco Fiesta and celebrate Young Saints
GRADES K-8
Families are busy and may often ask “Why should I enroll my child in the Parish School of Religion?”
Children are welcome and appreciated as Children of God with small class sizes to enhance learning.
Families have special needs and circumstances –we consider those: we have a special needs class.
We prepare children for First Reconciliation, First Eucharist and Confirmation.
We feature special parish activities for families: all teachers are Virtus-trained faithful Catholics.
Even if your family may not have participated recently, you will be warmly welcomed!
For more info: call Iris at 417 831-3565 or email at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org
CLOW
Children's Liturgy of the Word will begin on Sunday, August 24th during the 11:30 AM Mass. CLOW is open to children preschool through 2nd grade. Virtus trained leaders share the Sunday readings with these children at a level that they can understand. All children are welcome and there is no need to register. We can still use volunteers who may serve as substitutes for our regular teachers. All teachers need to be Virtus trained. If you have questions or would like to volunteer, please call the parish office.
Dear Parishioners
The Catholic Church began the moment Jesus sent the apostles forth, “to preach, teach and baptize until the end of time”.
That instruction is still with us today. Since Jesus’ ascension, the Church has gone through different eras of time, with each
era having it’s good and bad aspects. In each era, the Church has struggled and has grown through the Holy Spirit.
In the first 500 years of the Church the doctrines and teachings were confirmed and the Church went from a time of persecution
to a time of privilege as it became the favored religion of the Roman Empire. That in itself brought its own problems
from wealth to some persecution on the part of the Church.
Next came the “Dark Ages”. This time period saw the collapse of the Roman Empire and the loss of knowledge, engineering,
stability, clean drinking water, as well as medicine. The Church became the one single force in the Western world,
however with the loss of so much knowledge, much superstition evolved in the church and society.
The Dark Ages only ended when Crusaders began to bring back knowledge of engineering and medicine along with
Greek philosophy from the East. In the 1200s the Church began many of the universities of Europe, as the Church was a
major patron of education and scientific inquiry. That brought new challenges for the Church which saw some of its teachings
challenged and power slip away.
Over the past 400 years the Church has become a major supporter of scientific and medical research. Clergy, sisters,
and monks have contributed to various fields of science and medicine. The Church has funded numerous hospitals and
research institutions worldwide. The Church’s teachings have often emphasized the compatibility of faith and reason, suggesting
that both science and theology seek truth.
In the last 50 years the Catholic Church has recognized the importance of scientific findings in areas like evolution and
environmental science. Pope Francis had integrated scientific conclusions into his teachings and emphasized the need for
true stewardship of the environment based on scientific understanding. Science and the Catholic Church have had a mix of
conflict and collaboration, with rising tensions at times, while being a major advancement of scientific knowledge. The
relationship highlights the potential for needed dialogue between faith and science.
BACK TO PSR PARTY!!
AUGUST 17, 2025 –12:30 pm
We will have a Taco Fiesta and celebrate Young
Saints
GRADES K-8
Families are busy and may often ask “Why should I enroll
my child in the Parish School of Religion?”
Children are welcome and appreciated as Children of
God with small class sizes to enhance learning.
Families have special needs and circumstances –we
consider those: we have a special needs class.
We prepare children for First reconciliation, First Eucharist
and Confirmation.
We feature special parish activities for families: all
teachers are Virtus-trained faithful Catholics.
Even if your family may not have participated recently,
you will be warmly welcomed!
For more info: call Iris at 417 831-3565 or
email at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org
Congratulations
Congratulations to Ambrose Robert Dill who was Baptized on
Sat, July 19th at St. Agnes Cathedral. Robert was Baptized by
Rev Andrew Williams and is the son of Asa and Abigail
Dill. Please keep Ambrose in prayer so that he will continue to
grow in the graces of Baptism.
Special Needs PSR class: As we prepare for our upcoming
Parish School of Religion year, we invite families with children of
special needs to consider joining our Parish School of Religion
Special Needs program here at St. Agnes Cathedral. We have a
certified special needs Teacher and aide who works with our
families. We will also prepare our students for sacraments
including Reconciliation, First Eucharist and Confirmation. We
meet on Sunday mornings at 10:00 AM in St. Agnes School. We
also invite youth from other parishes to join us on Sunday
mornings. Contact Iris Bounds at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org for
more information.
THANK YOU!!
A heartfelt thank you to our St Agnes family who
have shown our family so much support during this
time of grief at the loss of our son , James (Jim). We
thank Father Lewis, Sister Catherine and the office staff. A very
special thank you to Kevin & Genevieve Otradovec for the
beautiful music at Jim’s Mass. Thank you to those who helped at
the luncheon . We have been blessed with Masses, food, cards,
messages, phone calls & lots of prayers and hugs. We
appreciate our St. Agnes family so VERY much! Blessings!
-Bounds Family
JUBILEE YEAR OF HOPE
The two cathedrals of the diocese, St. Agnes Cathedral, Springfield, and St. Mary of the Annunciation Cathedral, Cape Girardeau, are the designated locations for the Jubilee Year of Hope. In St. Mary Cathedral, to the front left, pilgrims may find an actual relic of the True Cross. In St. Agnes Cathedral, near the Blessed Sacrament, pilgrims will find a crucifix on display. As part of the Jubilee Year, those who participate in the sacrament of penance and reconciliation and attend Holy Mass along with the reception of Holy Communion within a 20-day period of visiting the cathedral—praying the Nicene or Apostles Creed, the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be for the intentions of the Holy Father—may receive a plenary indulgence. Additional information can be found on the diocesan Website at https://dioscg.org/year-of-jubilee-2025/
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Margaret & Samuel Moore whose son, Charles David was Baptized at the 5:00 PM Mass on Saturday, June 7th. Fr Lewis Hejna officiated at the Baptism. Please keep the family in prayer as they grow in faith!
Attention Seniors!
Mark your calendars to join us for an Indoor Picnic!
It will be held in the Dining Room on Thursday, June 19th, from 12:00 – 2:00. A variety of small sandwiches will be provided, along with baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw, chips, fresh fruit, iced tea and lemonade. Feel free to bring a side dish or dessert, but it is not necessary! After our luncheon, we will be creating small succulent gardens in teacups, along with a variety of other types of containers. Plan on taking these home to enjoy or share with a friend! Hope to see you there!
If you have any questions, please contact Yvonne Heath (417) 414-7320.
From the Pastor’s Desk
Dear Parishioners,
The Ascension of Our Lord occurred 40 days after Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Easter. It is the final act of our redemption that Christ began at His birth and continued through the Triduum. On this day, the risen Christ, in the sight of His apostles, ascended bodily into Heaven. The reality of Christ's Ascension is so important that the different Christian creeds all affirm, in the words of the Apostles' Creed; that "He ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead." The denial of the Ascension is as grave a departure from Christian teaching as is denial of Christ's Resurrection.
Christ's bodily Ascension foreshadows our own entrance into Heaven not simply as souls, after our death, but as glorified bodies, after the resurrection of the dead at the Final Judgment. In redeeming mankind, Christ not only offered salvation to our souls but began the restoration of the material world itself to the glory that God intended before Adam's fall.
The Feast of the Ascension marks the beginning of nine days of prayer before the descent of the Holy Spirit. Before His Ascension, Christ promised to send the Holy Spirit to His apostles. Their prayer for the coming of the Holy Spirit, which began on Ascension Thursday, ended with the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, ten days later.
In the 1990s The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops began to look at moving the celebration to the following Sunday. Many countries had already done so in the 70s and 80s. Several reasons were given, the two most important being: 1) Ascension is so important to our Christian Faith; 2) celebrating it on Sunday meant more people would truly celebrate it.
As of Friday May 23, summer began. The school year, 2024–2025, has finished. What a glorious season of the year, but then I enjoy all seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. As we enter the summer months, I always take a look at our prayer life, especially regarding weekend Mass. Can’t we just pray at home, or on the lake, or on the mountain top and do just as well in our relationship with God?
The Mass is the best expression of what it is to be a Catholic. It is the very first thing that the early Christians felt they needed to do. After Pentecost, they recalled that Jesus had instructed them to gather for the “breaking of the bread” (their way of speaking about the Mass). In this way, they believed they would experience the presence of the Risen Lord. Wherever you are during the summer, take the time to go to Sunday Mass, take the time to pray. Please do not take a vacation from God.
interested in being on parish council please contact me at 417-831-3565