YOUTH & FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENT:

St. Agnes is working to provide our youth with some safe and fun opportunities to join together. Please stay tuned! We would love the input of families and those who might wish to volunteer to help us in planning and to assist in activities. If you have questions or would like to volunteer, please email Iris at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org. We would love your input!!

Employment Opportunities

Employment Opportunities – ALL Employment Opportunities and applications are available on the Springfield Catholic School’s website at www.scspk12.org. Click on the ABOUT link at the top and scroll down to Employment Opportunities.
Online Registration to re-enroll students in Springfield Catholic Schools in grades K-12 is now taking place. Current families should go to the parent portal OR click the link to be taken directly to the http://sis.scspk12.org. For assistance, please call the school office of your student(s).

YOUTH ACTIVITIES

We will have our first event of the summer this Sunday, June 7th. We will meet in the cafeteria beginning at 6:30 & ending at 8:00 PM. Pizza and drinks will be provided. We will follow that with "Unique Stories of the Bi-ble" by Father Joseph. Come join us; Wearing a mask is recommended. We will have the cafeteria to ourselves so there will be plenty of room to social distance as we spread apart. Hope to see many of you there!!
Our parish Facebook page and website will be featuring 8th grade graduates and high school graduates of our parish. We would like to recognize students from our Catholic Schools, public schools and those who are home-schooled. Please email information about your child & a photo to ibounds@sta-cathedral.org.

From the Pastor’s Desk,

Pentecost comes the Greek language and it means "50th day." Fifty days after Easter Sunday, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and their followers, and the beginning of their Earthly ministry to make disciples of all nations according to the directive of Christ as He ascended to the heavens. It is the birthday of the Church. Pentecost is also a Jewish holiday, which the Jews use to celebrate the end of Passover. Jews celebrate the gift of the law to Moses at Mt. Sinai on this day.

At Pentecost, the Apostles and their followers were gathered in a room. Jews from all over the world were gathered with Peter, the leader of the Apostles and the Eleven. At this time, a great wind blew and a flame appeared as a tongue of fire, which split itself into many individual flames above the heads of all those present. The Holy Spirit came upon these people and each began to speak in tongues. Despite the fact many had no common language, they were perfectly able to understand one another.

In the Acts of the Apostles we find Peter presenting to all present one of his greatest sermons on Jesus Christ. He presents Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophets and prophecies of the Old Testament. Peter then called all those present to be baptized and about three thousand people were baptized that day.
The symbols of Pentecost which are the flame, wind, and the dove, which represents the Holy Spirit. The color of Pentecost is red and the priest wears red vestments on this day.

This weekend unfortunately Missouri made the national news twice. My niece and nephew called to ask what people in Missouri were thinking by their actions. My niece’s husband is working in the hospital with Covid 19 patients and it is not pretty. Both are doctors and live in Portland on the frontline of this pandemic. Completely non- understandable was the Lake of the Ozarks, with its huge pool parties and no social distancing. I am not a person who goes to extremes, but I do believe we should follow guidelines of doctors. The only answer that I can come up with is they're thinking, “it’s my right and if I want to be in a huge pool party no one is going to stop me”. Americans have for too long looked to “me, myself and I” and think little of how their actions affect others. Many have lost the “we”, and think only of what they want. There is plenty of food on the store shelves, it may just not be what I exactly the brand I want, oh well too bad. As we begin this summer, take the time to pray, take the time to be family. I want everyone to feel safe coming to church, we are doing what we can to make our liturgies safe, liturgical and prayerful.
~Rev. Lewis Hejna

In a few weeks, we will be conducting our Diocesan Development Fund
Campaign. I know some of you are suffering financially and may not be able
to contribute this year. However, if you are able to contribute, we ask that
you consider a pledge. If those parishioners who are able to contribute
would give a little more, it could make up for those fellow parishioners who
are not able to donate this year.
All of our registered households should have received a DDF mailing by
now. If you have not received the mailing, please call Tammy Stander at
417-866-0841. She will mail you the information. Please review the materials.
We are stressing participation. We need for all of us to work together,
especially this year. Every gift helps. Please prayerfully consider assisting the
diocese in funding the many ministries it provides for our parish and the
other 85 parishes and missions in southern Missouri.

New Mass Schedule

Following the directives of the Springfield Road to Recovery formula, we will be offering the following weekend masses.  We will have greeters that will direct parishioners to the available seats at the north door (side) of the Cathedral facing the Rectory.  The Jefferson St. entrance will remain locked. We will fill the Cathedral with a total (in all areas) of 130 people.

Please be Patient! At this time, there is NO OBLIGATION to attend Sunday Mass.

FACE MASKS WILL BE REQUIRED AT ALL MASSES

SUNDAY MORNING: 

11:30 am (English) 130 people total

10:00 am (Vietnamese Community) 130 people total

8:30 am (English) 130 people total

SATURDAY EVENING: 

5:00 pm (English)  130 people total

Employment Opportunities

Employment Opportunities – ALL Employment Opportunities and applications are available
on the Springfield Catholic School’s website at www.scspk12.org. Click on the ABOUT link
at the top and scroll down to Employment Opportunities.
Online Registration to re-enroll students in Springfield Catholic Schools in grades K-12 is now taking place. Current
families should go to the parent portal OR click the link to be taken directly to the http://sis.scspk12.org. For assistance,
please call the school office of your student(s).
Online version of Irish Connections
Find the latest version of the Irish Connections publication from the Springfield Catholic schools at
http://www.springfieldcatholicschools.org/IrishConnections

YOUTH & FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENT:

Steubenville Youth Conference has been cancelled; Information was sent to us by the
Archdiocese of St. Louis which cancelled this conference for high school students. St. Agnes
had 40 youth and adult chaperones scheduled to attend. Camp Renewal was cancelled
by the diocese . This annual event is popular with our young children and many of
our high school youth serve as volunteers.
These cancellations are a big disappointment but were made with the sole desire
to keep our youth and those volunteers who assist safe. Now, St. Agnes is
working to provide our youth with some safe and fun opportunities to
join together. Please stay tuned! We would love the input of families and those
who might wish to volunteer to help us in planning and to assist in activities. If
you have questions or would like to volunteer, please email Iris
at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org. We would love your input!!
Our parish Facebook page and website will be featuring 8th
grade graduates and high school graduates of our parish. We would like
to recognize students from our Catholic Schools, public schools and those who are homeschooled.
Please email information about your child & a photo to ibounds@stacathedral.
org.
YOUTH ACTIVITIES
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton has informed us that the Vacation Bible School which was originally
scheduled for June 14-18th at SEAS has been postponed. SEAS, along with the
other local parishes who participate in this annual event will be considering options about
rescheduling later this summer. We will inform you as we receive new information about
Vacation Bible School this summer.

From the Pastor’s Desk,

The 2019–2020 school year has ended: summer has finally come, and it is time for a break—for teachers, staff, students, and parents. It’s been good year. It’s a time to end online learning. I am very proud of our teachers, our school staff, our students and our parents. To leave for spring break with the knowledge that they might not be returning for several weeks which turned into the rest of the year. There were problems off and on with the zooming, etc. but for the most part we never lost a beat. As I wrote before, the sadness is for all the end of the year activities, especially the graduations. And for myself and all our theater students, the loss of the spring musical, Newsies was extremely sad and depressing. One of the seniors I had baptized and worked with since first Holy Communion. For all of our teachers, whether at the high school or middle school level, it simply ended.
We have about three months to kick back, watch the flowers grow, and mow the grass. For many people, summer is the busiest time of the year, with so much packed into a short time period: vacations, soccer, baseball, dance, gymnastics, summer camps, but this summer it will be different, and perhaps that is not all bad. Many of the normal summer activities have either been postponed or cancelled. That leaves time for families to be families. We do not need to constantly be doing so many structured activities. We need to be family with one another, family somehow safely with church. As summer officially begins this week, with Memorial Day, make a resolution to take time to breathe and smell the roses.
Take the time to pray as a family. Take the time to be a family, to do things together and even to be bored once in a while. That helps all of us to exercise our creativity. So often our young people are in so many structured activities, that they do not learn to be creative or how to express themselves freely. It is from creativity of individuals that produce our artists, scientists, musicians, business people, and inventors of tomorrow.
For Catholic Christians, the celebration of the Eucharist is the center of our faith, because it is through the Eucharist that the Lord comes to us. Since the middle of March with our churches closed due to the pandemic, we have not been able to be a church family gathered together around the altar. Now as the churches are slowly opening, we know that Mass will not go back to the way it used to be, PLEASE BE SAFE. PLEASE USE HAND SANITZER AS YOU ENTER THE CHURCH. PLEASE WEAR A FACE MASK, IF NOT FOR YOURSELF DO SO FOR OTHERS. PLEASE SIT APART. When schools start in the fall, they will not go back to the way they were. Things are going to change until there is a vaccine for Cobvid-19. We can be angry, depressed, and cynical or we can look to God for the grace and strength to move forward. The choice is ours. Our need is to keep holy the Lord’s Day, taking the time out of our daily lives to gather around His Table with the family of God. That gathering and receiving of the Lord in the Eucharist is the heart of our faith and the honoring of the Third Commandment.
~Rev. Lewis Hejna

Online Registration

to re-enroll students in Springfield Catholic Schools in grades K-12 is now taking place. Current families should go to the parent portal OR click the link to be taken directly to the http://sis.scspk12.org. For assistance, please call the school office of your student(s).

YOUTH ACTIVITIES

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton has informed us that the Vacation Bible School which was originally scheduled for June 14-18th at SEAS has been postponed. SEAS, along with the other local parishes who partici-pate in this annual event will be considering options about rescheduling later this summer. We will inform you as we receive new information about Vacation Bible School this summer.

Our parish Facebook page will be featuring 8th grade graduates and high school graduates of our parish throughout the month of May. We would like to recognize students from our Catholic Schools, public schools and those who are home-schooled. Please email information about your child & a photo to ibounds@sta-cathedral.org.

STEUBENVILLE UPDATE

I wanted to let all know that Steubenville has been cancelled for this summer. The following is from the notification that I received from the Archdiocese of Springfield/Cape Girardeau
“Over the last couple months our office has been in close contact with Franciscan University, Missouri State Univer-sity, and the Greene County health department as we have monitored the Covid-19 pandemic and projections for what mid-July will look like. Due to the size of our conferences, social distancing guidelines, and an incredible con-cern for the safety of all of our participants, we will NOT be hosting the 2020 Steubenville STL Mid-America Confer-ences. While we are heartbroken that the conferences are cancelled, we know that this is the safest decision for all involved and we also know that the Lord has a victorious return planned for 2021!"
We here at St. Agnes realize that there have been many disappointments for our young people this year. We are in the process of planning some activities which will align with all the guidelines set forth by the City of Springfield as we determine the best ways to meet the needs of our young people during this time. If anyone has any questions or would like to help in any way with planning for our youth activities, please contact Iris at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org or call the parish office at 831-3565.

From the Pastor’s Desk,

These weeks would has been weeks of celebration for our graduates in both eighth grade and senior in high school. Instead we are looking at different types of celebrations which will center more on the immediate families of the young people. My heart goes out especially to our high school graduates who have missed out on the end of the high school rituals. Who could have guessed that when they/we left on spring break we would not return to the school classrooms, the stage, and the sporting events to the end of year banquets. Most of our eighth grade graduates will continue on to Springfield Catholic High School,
but our graduating seniors will move on to colleges across the country, into the military or the workforce. Wherever they go, they will be beginning a new life. They will be making new friends, having new teachers, studying new subjects, or subjects much more in depth, all the while struggling to figure out who they are and what they are headed in their adult life. It is an exciting time and a scary time. Some may even study abroad to get a much larger view of life. Regardless of where they end up for the next years of their lives, their lives will never be the same. They are moving into the adult world with adult consequences for their actions.

This coming Sunday, I will celebrate my 39th anniversary to the priesthood. On May 24th, 39 years ago I knelt before Bishop Law and placed my hands inside of his hands and promised Obedience, Prayer Life, A Spirit of Poverty and Celibacy to him and to his successors. I am now working under my fourth bishop. These 39 years have been filled with joy, happiness, sadness and frustration. There have been days when I said, “Why did I ever answer the call to priesthood?” and then there are days when I say, “Thank you Lord for the vocation of my priesthood and for my parents who encouraged me.”

My life as a priest has been rewarding. Out of the 39 years this Lent and Easter has been the strangest and the saddest for me. To not attend the Chrism Mass with all the priests, to celebrate the Triduum liturgies without a congregation. To be constantly in front of cameras knowing that everything I do and say is out on the internet is the most stress I have every been under. If I have not met the needs of everyone, I am sorry. I have tried to the best of my abilities to use our technology to stay in touch with our parishioners and to provide opportunities for our spirituality.

I continue to thank all of you for your support in prayer, in your notes and cards and in your financial donations to the parish. With the cuts in the budget due to lower utilities, cleaning and no extras we have with your generosity have been able to pay our bills. Thank you.

On Monday, May 18th we will once again be able to be together about the altar to celebrate the Eucharist as a part of God’s family at daily Mass. Our Sunday Masses will begin the weekend of May 23 /24. To prepare please make sure that you have read the social distancing guidelines from Bishop Rice that we have posted on our St. Agnes Cathedral group Facebook page and www.sta-cathedral.org.

Annual Memorial Day Mass Cancelled – Mass Will be Live Streamed on Facebook
Bishop Rice has cancelled the Memorial Day Mass due to COVID-19. A Memorial
Day Mass will be live streamed on the Immaculate Conception Facebook page on
Monday, May 25, at 8:30 a.m. It is a public page, so people do not have to become
a member to view it. Those interested in viewing the Mass should visit Immaculate
Conception’s website at https://www.ic-parish.org/ and click on the
Facebook icon on the homepage. Once on IC’s Facebook page, scroll down until
you see the live Mass. St. Agnes parishioners will find a special Catholic Cemeteries
of Springfield envelope in their packet for donating toward the maintenance
of our two Catholic cemeteries. Your generosity is appreciated so much.

~Rev. Lewis Hejna

Daily Masses Resume Beginning Monday, May 18th, 2020

Daily Masses will be held in the main Cathedral the north door facing the rectory will be unlocked 30 minutes before Mass

The day chapel will be unlocked from 8:00 am- 5:00 pm

Those who are sick or at high-risk should stay home

Hand sanitizer will be at the entrance of the Church

Masks are highly recommended during Mass

Eucharistic Ministers under the age of 60 and wearing masks will distribute Holy Communion at the end of Mass

The 6 foot distancing is to be observed between individuals/or family groups- please spread out!

Youth Activities

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton has informed us that the Vacation Bible School which was originally scheduled for June 14-18th at SEAS has been postponed. SEAS, along with the other local parishes who participate in this annual event will be considering options about rescheduling later this summer. We will inform you as we receive new information about Vacation Bible School this summer.

Our parish Facebook page will be featuring 8th grade graduates and high school graduates of our parish throughout the month of May. We would like to recognize students from our Catholic Schools, public schools and those who are home-schooled. Please email information about your child & a photo to ibounds@sta-cathedral.org.

Steubenville 2020
For our high school students, as of today, Steubenville is still a go for July 17-19 on the campus of MSU. If we have anyone who has signed up and plans to opt out, please contact Iris by May 1st. In addition, if anyone would like to be placed on the substitute list for Steubenville, please contact Iris at Ibounds@sta-cathedral.org
ONLINE VIRTUS OPTIONS
In light of the current health concerns, the most prudent and preventative measure we can take is to make the VIR-TUS© Protecting God's Children training available Online as an option. This is a temporary precaution and we will still offer the live training sessions available as an option. If you have already pre-registered for a live training, click this link to find out how to log into your account and change your registration to the Online version. If you have never created a VIRTUS© account or registered for a training session, click here for directions. If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Child and Youth Protection, (417) 866-0841.

Camp Renewal is still accepting applications for one of its summer sessions, To register online go to dioscg.formstack.com/forms/camp_re_new_all_2020. You can also call 417-866-0841. You will have the option to pay online or to send a check.

Online version of Irish Connections

Find the latest version of the Irish Connections publication from the Springfield Catholic schools at http://www.springfieldcatholicschools.org/IrishConnections

From the Pastor's Desk

Our loving God has given us many great gifts and among them is the gift of creating new life. Becoming a
parent, whether a mother or father, is participating with God in creation. From the moment of birth every
day brings a new surprise, every age brings a new challenge, and every moment brings new growth. Being
a good mother takes work and the job is not finished until the day the “mother” dies.

Pregnancy is only the beginning of love and concern for a mother. Once the baby is born, mothers worry
about every little thing that can happen to the child. Then there is child/elementary years, followed by the
teenage/high school years, then the separation years of college or marriage. God does not promise mothers
to have an easy life, but He does promise to walk the journey of parenthood until the end of time.

Within our Catholic faith there are 2 aspects of prayer that I spend time talking with our Confirmation Candidates about: community prayer and private prayer. When parents teach their children to pray, they are
helping their child to begin and deepen their child’s relationship with God. Prayer; whether with Scripture,
rosary, traditional meditative prayers, or what I call free-form talking with God, prayer is communicating
with God. The celebration of Sunday Mass is the center of our community prayer. It is the second aspect
of prayer, private prayer leads to the community prayer. Without a private prayer life we are not ready to
unite around the Eucharistic Table.

Mothers have a very hard task of not only saying yes to the children, but also saying no. Just because
something is popular, does not make it right or good for children, even if other parents say yes to their children. Movies with graphic violence, mild or suggestive sexuality, song lyrics that demean women or other
races contradict the message of Jesus Christ. It is the job of parents to say yes or no and not to simply be
their child’s friend. Young people have friends, they need good strong mothers and fathers.

Perhaps one of the hardest task for a motherhood is letting their child go. As I was growing up, it was called
cutting the apron strings. The goal of motherhood is not to control children, but to prepare them to be happy, healthy, faith-filled adults. And at times this may mean stepping back and allowing young people to face the consequences of their actions. This is so hard for a loving mother, but sometimes letting go is the best love
one can give.

As we celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend, let us not only pray for our own mothers, but for all mothers who have answered God’s call to participate with Him.
~Rev. Lewis Hejna

Graduate Spotlight

Our parish Facebook page will be featuring 8th grade graduates and high school graduates of our parish throughout the month of May. We would like to recognize students from our Catholic Schools, public schools and those who are home-schooled. Please email information about your child & a photo to ibounds@sta-cathedral.org.

Camp Re-New-All

Camp Renewal is still accepting applications for one of its summer sessions, To register online go to dioscg.formstack.com/forms/camp_re_new_all_2020. You can also call 417-866-0841. You will have the option to pay online or to send a check.

Vacation Bible School Postponed

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton has informed us that the Vacation Bible School which was originally scheduled for June 14-18th at SEAS has been postponed. SEAS, along with the other local parishes who partici-pate in this annual event will be considering options about rescheduling later this summer. We will inform you as we receive new information about Vacation Bible School this summer.

From the Associate Pastor’s Desk,

Happy Sunday Everyone,

           Father Joseph here. Father Lewis invited me to substitute for him in the weekly bulletin page this week. I asked him the other day for project ideas I could work on, and he suggested this. So, here goes! I decided to give you a glimpse into life as a priest during the covid times and tell you what my days have looked like. I can’t promise it’ll be interesting.

To start with, Father Lewis and I agreed early on, even before Greene County set stay-at-home restrictions, that we would take the most precautions. Because he falls just inside the age bracket for the vulnerable group we didn’t want to take any chances of bringing it into the rectory. Bishop Rice reaffirmed this in a letter to the priests of the diocese, encouraging us to make this a time of retreat, for prayer and reading. He emphasized protecting the health of our priests. Cancelling public masses isn’t just for your safety. It’s for ours. So, all of that is in the back of my mind as I have settled in for the extended stay-cation, as I like to call it.

I have also been named chaplain to Cox for emergency calls. I have been a few times for last rites, but none virus related so far. I wear my mask, use my disinfectant wipes on my book and equipment each time, and burn my cotton ball of oil then get a fresh one; it’s a little extra work than usual. Usually Father Lewis takes night calls and I take them during the day, but now my phone is on 24/7. Thankfully, that continues to be infrequent, but if a second wave hits Springfield hard I may be a regular in the covid ward. Prayers there please.

So what has this young priest done to live this “time of retreat?” The staples have been prayer, reading, and exercise. I give thanks to God that He has prepared me in self-discipline for this unstructured time. After all, much of the priest’s work is unstructured. He always works from home, so to speak. I rise about the same time, eat my typical meals, drink lots of hot tea and coffee, and take my dog Chip for about four walks a day (“ruff-ly” 3-4 mi). I’ve also done a lot of video calling with friends and family to stay connected. Easy peasy.

But let’s be honest. It’s all been a little crazy in between the structure. I reorganized all of my drawers and closets in the beginning week, followed by a redoing of the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen. Before long I was out of chores. I’ve also read a few books off my list (Hunchback of Notre Dame, Jesus of Nazareth: Baptism to the Transfiguration, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week, working on Dante’s The Divine Comedy). I keep multiple going at once for variety. Just last week I started learning Vietnamese on my phone. Finally, I’ve played a new video game called Animal Crossing in which you move to a deserted island and develop it into a thriving community of talking animals. Think Christopher Robin and the 100-Acre Wood, but Oceanside. It’s a poor substitute for reality, but when reality is shut down it’s nice to be able to go to the store, visit your neighbors, go fishing, bug collecting, and gardening. I can only walk so far and read and pray so much at this stage of life.

I miss all of you very much, and I pray for you constantly in the divine office, rosary, holy hour, and mass each day. If we are in God we are with one another, so I hope you’re praying too. Jesus Our Lord who is risen from the dead taught us not to be anxious. Our Father in Heaven looks after the smallest sparrow and the grass of the field, so much more so does he care for his sons and daughters. See you when the doors reopen!

~Fr. Joseph Stoverink