Bishop's Prayer

Please join Bishop Rice on March 27 via Livestream at 9am on FB @DioceseofSpringfieldCapeGirardeau or @CCSOMO in lieu of Bishop’s Walk to pray, raise funds, and awareness of the work of Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri. Thank you for being our partner in ministry!

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

Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving are the building stones of the Lenten Season and they actually all fit together. We know what prayer and fasting are, but I find that many people do not understand almsgiving. Almsgiving is not the donation in the Sunday collection or Catholic School tuition. Almsgiving is the extra. There will be boxes at the doors of the Church this Lent for our alms and at the next Parish Council meeting they will decide where the collected alms will be given. This year with the churches open we are able to celebrate Lent at the altar rather than virtual. Please use the opportunity to practice your faith. Last year was so sad with Fr. Joseph and myself celebrating Mass to only three people day after day as they helped us present the liturgy on line.

LENTEN FAMILY KITS

St. Agnes Youth Faith Formation program will be offering Lenten Family Kits to help our parish families to prepare for Easter. Some of the things that the families will receive will include a Lenten calendar, Stations of the Cross, Daily Lenten devotions explanations of Lenten guidelines. Saints to Celebrate during Lent, Simple recipes for Lent, Holy Week ideas, Directions and supplies for families to make their own family Paschal candle and more. If you would like to reserve one of these kits, please contact the parish office at 831-3565 or contact Iris Bounds at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org.Youth Event Sunday, March 7th, 6pm-8pm -stay tuned for details!

Camp Re-NEW-All, the summer camp program for the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau has begun taking applications for this summer. Camp is open to campers going into the 5th-9th grade in the Fall, high school staff going into 10th-12th grade and adult staff. Parents and grandparents are invited to volunteer too! Campers are placed on a first-come, first-served basis. At this time, we plan to fill the cabins to 50% capacity to comply with CDC recommendations. Brochures are available in the parish office, youth bulletin board in the cathedral and in the parish school. Apply online at https://dioscg.org/campl-re-new-all or contact Katie at the Catholic Center at 417-866-0841 or knewton@dioscg.org with questions.

Will a COVID-19 vaccination protect me from getting sick with COVID-19?

Yes. COVID-19 vaccination works by teaching your immune system how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19, and this protects you from getting sick with COVID-19.

Being protected from getting sick is important because even though many people with COVID-19 have only a mild illness, others may get a severe illness, have long-term health effects or even die. There is no way to know how COVID-19 will affect you, even if you don’t have an increased risk of developing severe complications.

www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nciv/vaccines/facts.html

From the Pastor’s Desk::

This Wednesday we will celebrate Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season. We will be marked with ashes, and the words of the blessing, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” Turning away from sin and seeking repentance is the theme of the Lenten Season. Turning away from sin many times means a change of mind, a change of heart and a change of behavior. This is true conversion and conversion cannot be limited to a dramatic, once-in-a-lifetime, so called “born again” experience. Lent gives us 40 days of working on that conversion, so we can walk faithful in the footsteps of Christ through His Passion, Death and the celebration of His Resurrection.

Several years ago I wrote about anger, especially anger in our country. With the pandemic, with the presidential election a few months ago, it seems as if our nation as a whole as moved into a whole new emotion of anger. With anger comes a lack of trust, forgiveness and basic love. The belief that, “ I am right and you are wrong” dominates our country on many different levels.. Jesus came to save all people, regardless of their race or nationality, we are all made in His image and likeness. When we begin to look down on others because they do not look like us or speak like us, then we begin to look at them as not fully human. My father was among 12 million who fought in WWII to defeat the “master race” who believed they were better than anyone else and could do what they wanted.

This Lent let each of us reflect upon Jesus’ teachings of love and compassion. Let each of us treat our neighbors as neighbors, the stranger on the streets as Christ. Look into the eyes of a person of a different race or nationality than you and see the face and eyes of Christ. If there is anger in your heart, let the love of Jesus heal that anger. The healing of our nation will begin with one person at a time.

As ashes are placed upon our foreheads we are called to repentance, to renew the practice of our faith so that death will actually be the moment we meet our heavenly Father not in fear but in faith and love. During Lent let us put the anger, the anxieties and fear of the pandemic behind us and let us focus on the love and compassion of Jesus.

LENTEN FAMILY KITS

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on Feb 17th. St. Agnes Youth Faith Formation program will be offering Lenten Family Kits to help our parish families to prepare for Easter. Some of the things that the families will receive will include a Lenten calendar, Stations of the Cross, Daily Lenten devotions explanations of Lenten guidelines. Saints to Celebrate during Lent, Simple recipes for Lent, Holy Week ideas, Directions and supplies for families to make their own family Paschal candle and more. If you would like to reserve one of these kits, please contact the parish office at 831-3565 or contact Iris Bounds at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org.

Youth Updates

St. Agnes has heard from Franciscan University and Steubenville for 2021 will take place with safety modifications being made for the upcoming conference. Those safety modifications include the number of participants will be cut from 5000-1700, food service will be altered and dorm accommodations will also be adjusted. Steubenville is sponsored by Steubenville University and will bring dynamic speakers, motivating sessions, fantastic music and the opportunity for Adoration, Sacrifice of the Mass and the reception of the sacraments. The conference takes place in July, but we will need to send in reservations by the end of March. Teens who graduate from 8th grade in the Spring as well as all students currently or who have just graduated from high school are invited. Monetary assistance and scholarships are available. If you need more information about Steubenville or would like to be placed on our list, please contact Iris at the parish office or by emailing ibounds@sta-cathedral.org.

The Youth Advisory Committee will be meeting on Sunday, Feb 21st from 6-7:30 PM. We will discuss upcoming events and conferences and planning for the upcoming months. If you need information on the committee, please contact Iris at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org.

CATHOLIC MEN'S CONFERENCE

All men, ages 18 and older, are invited to participate in the second annual Catholic Men's Conference featuring Super Bowl Champion Harrison Butker. Date: Sat., Feb. 20, 2021 Location: Springfield Catholic High School Speakers: Bishop Edward Rice, Fr. Joseph Kelly, Fr. Allen Kirchner, Fr. Patrick Nwokoye, Craig Henley, and featuring Super Bowl Champion, Harrison Butker **Masking, Social Distancing, and COVID-19 precautions will be enforced.

From the Pastor’s Desk:

God always brings goodness out of evil. God does not cause evil, but He works beyond it. Covid 19 it a terrible virus killing over 435,000 Americans and it is still raging across our country. I will stay that when we first went into lock down, there was not much to do. No school functions, no nursing home visits, no hospital visits, not much of anything except time It gave me time to think, reflect and pray. What a novel idea, prayer. Yes I had been praying my daily office, working on my personal prayer life, but now I had the time to mediate and reflect. As our society, schools and churches reopened I have been careful to not lose some of that time from the lockdown. My challenge to all of us, myself included, do we take time for prayer, to work on our relationship with God? Any relationship takes work, friend, family or God. Perhaps the better question would be, do we make time for prayer in the midst of all the stuff we are doing? Is prayer in a priority place in our daily lives or at the bottom of the “to do list” and it never gets done?

Our relationship with God should be at the heart of who we are and all that we do. Prayer cannot be taken for granted nor left to last place. We need that personal time to give God praise, worship, thanksgiving and petition. We need the Lord beside us every day and throughout the entire day. We need to be in touch with our God and allow Him to touch our minds and hearts through Sacred Scripture and in the silence of our hearts. This is not a luxury, it is a necessity if we want a strong relationship with God.

All of us have rituals, whether we are single, or married with children. Look over your daily schedule and plan a few minutes at the beginning of your day with that first cup of coffee, thanking God for the day and offering Him all that you will do that day. Invite Him along on your daily journey. Ask for His guidance as you think of the events you know you will encounter. If you drive to work, put on a spiritual CD, or simply talk to God along the way. Find the brief moments that are apart of all of our days in which we can talk with God about what we are experiencing. What is important is making the effort to be with the Lord, even if it is only for a few minutes, and establishing a consistent pattern as part of your schedule. If you are like me, when I get away from my schedule things do not always get completed.

Our whole purpose for being is to one day be with the Lord in His kingdom, in the place He has created for us. But there is a hard question to be answered, “If we don’t want the relationship with God now, why would He want us after death?” Prayer is so important in our relationship with God, since it is how we communicate with our God, that we cannot push it to the bottom of our “to do list” that never gets done.

Thank you to Sr. Elizabeth Ann and Joseph Nguyen who helped with the Christmas ceramics sale. We made $2,000 for our building fund.

PARISH HEALTH MINISTRY

Anyone who is 65 years old or older and/or has an underlying illness can go to mercy.net/movaccine to get on a list to make an appointment to get the Covid-19 vaccine. If you don’t have internet access Mercy now has an automated number 1-833-364-6777 that you can call to get on the list. After submitting your request either online or the automated phone system, please be patient. If you have already submitted your information online, there is no need to resubmit it. You will be contacted to schedule your appointment based on your eligibility and the availability of the vaccine.

Go to coxhealth.com/covid/vaccine for information about Covid vaccine and to register for an appointment to get the vaccine at Cox Health. You can also call 417-269-3000 to get information about the vaccine. Their website has information about the requirements for getting the vaccine at Cox Health.

Jordan Valley is also receiving vaccine soon. Their website to sign-up for an appointment to get the vaccine is jordanvalley.org/covid-19-vaccine. This website also gives information on which tiers will be receiving vaccine at their locations.

Youth Activities

CONFIRMATION

St. Agnes Cathedral will hold its Confirmation for 2021 on Sat, Feb 20th at the 5:00 PM Mass. Please pray for these young people as they are confirmed. Due to space limitations candidates will only be allowed to have 3 guests at the Mass. With 24 candidates who will be confirmed this will put the Cathedral at our maximum space allowance. We kindly request that parishioners who usually attend this Mass to please choose another that weekend. Thank you for your understanding.

LENTEN FAMILY KITS

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on Feb 17th. St. Agnes Youth Faith Formation program will be offering Lenten Family Kits to help our parish families to prepare for Easter. Some of the things that the families will receive will include a Lenten calendar, Stations of the Cross, Daily Lenten devotions explanations of Lenten guidelines. Saints to Celebrate during Lent, Simple recipes for Lent, Holy Week ideas, Directions and supplies for families to make their own family Paschal candle and more. If you would like to reserve one of these kits, please contact the parish office at 831-3565 or contact Iris Bounds at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org.

RCIA

Please remember in your prayers those who are preparing for full acceptance into the Catholic Church through the RCIA. The Lord has been silently preparing them for quite some time now, and they have been studying the faith diligently since August.

Catechumens

Kristen Evans

Warren Evans

Kathy Hon

Jessica Yount

Candidates

Blake Beshore

Kathy Bock

Erick Bulla

Tiffany Burrows

John Cooper

Mary Cooper

Tyler McClean

Dante Valdez

From the Pastor’s Desk:

This year National Catholic Schools Week begins this weekend and will continue through February 6th. The week is a multipurpose week. It is designated to help schools connect with prospective families, donors, educators, and other community organizations. Catholic schools across the United States, as well as here in Springfield will focus on the value that Catholic education provides to young people and its contributions to the church, communities and nation. From the 1st day of school to graduation, our Catholic Schools are committed to the celebration of faith, safety, academic excellence, student success, and empowering our students to actualize their potential. The physical and spiritual health and wellness of our students and school personnel remain our priority, our Catholic school principals and school board have developed plans to best serve our students academically, support their emotional and social well-being, and help halt the spread of COVID-19. To this end we have been able to have in person learning throughout the school year along with our daily mass schedule. The educational landscape may have changed, but the mission of our Catholic Schools to prepare our students to transform the world remains unchanged. Our students’ academic journey should be a meaningful experience that promotes the continuity of learning. I know that families are going through a lot during this time and I want you to know that you are not alone and that our staff at the St. Agnes School and here at the Cathedral Parish is here to help as best we can during the pandemic. I value our student body as well as our faculty, staff and parents here at St. Agnes Cathedral School as well as at Springfield Catholic High School. Catholic Schools Week is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate them, as well as the importance of Catholic education. Our Catholic Schools of St. Agnes, Immaculate Conception, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Springfield Catholic High School are all a part of the Catholic School System. The schools value the parishioners and local community, and appreciate all that they do for them. Catholic Schools provide a faith-based education to help support the values within our Catholic families, as well as strong academics to prepare the students for their future. Catholic Schools are a part of the community and family that shares support for one another with a focus on our young people. This week Sr. Cecilia Ann announced the new principal for St. Agnes Elementary school, Paige Duda. She succeeds our current principal, Mrs Lindsay Paulsell-Maricle who is relocating to Tulsa with her family.

LENTEN FAMILY KITS

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on Feb 17th. St. Agnes Youth Faith Formation program will be offering Lenten Family Kits to help our parish families to prepare for Easter. Some of the things that the families will receive will include a Lenten calendar, Stations of the Cross, Daily Lenten devotions explanations of Lenten guidelines. Saints to Celebrate during Lent, Simple recipes for Lent, Holy Week ideas, Directions and supplies for families to make their own family Paschal candle and more. If you would like to reserve one of these kits, please contact the parish office at 831-3565 or contact Iris Bounds at ibounds@stacathedral.org.

CONFIRMATION

St. Agnes Cathedral will hold its Confirmation for 2021 on Sat, Feb 20th at the 5:00 PM Mass. Please pray for these young people as they are confirmed. Due to space limitations candidates will only be allowed to have 3 guests at the Mass. With 24 candidates who will be confirmed this will put the Cathedral at our maximum space allowance. We kindly request that parishioners who usually attend this Mass attend Mass in the cafeteria on that day. Father Allen will say Mass in the cafeteria. You can also plan to attend Mass at another one of the parish weekend Masses. Thank you for your understanding.

STAND UP FOR THE UNBORN

I remember reading an article about the U.S. birth rate that had dropped for the second year in a row and the birth rate that year set the lowest level in a century. The experts thought it may be because of the recession or it may be because of a decline in immigration to the United States. Have they never heard of abortion?? Abortion kills approximately 4,000 babies in the womb each day. Can’t they do the math and see how this decreases the population? We must not sit back and let innocent babies be killed. We are Americans! Whatever happened to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all? Since when do we have the right to play God? To choose which baby lives or dies? We do not have that right. We must not sit back and let innocent babies be killed. Please do not be indifferent to the plight of the unborn. We have lived with this crime of abortion way too long. Stand up for life. Ruth Weber Davenport Iowa

From the Pastor’s Desk:

Jesus began his mission in a political, social and economic time that had many of the characteristics of our present economic system. The promised wave of Roman prosperity did not reach the bottom of society. Jesus challenged the political, financial and religious elite that created burdens for the people, rather than meeting the needs of the people. Global prosperity did not work for the Roman Empire, neither did it work for the British Empire and now we have found that it has not worked for the United States.

People during the time of Christ were searching for answers, good news and hope. Is that not the same today? The modern poor are confused, disappointed, uncertain and angry. The number of homeless continues to grow and the pandemic rages across our country with over 400,000 deaths in our country. The middle class is wanting answers and less taxation, while the rich upper class seems to get richer. Jesus talked about taxes, the plight of women, disability, social and economic exclusion and the arrogance of power. The mission of Jesus was not about offering the poor mirages, miracles or quick fixes. The mission of Jesus was about bringing the people back to His heavenly Father, and about accompanying vulnerable people in a struggle to make the structures of life resonant with the values and dignity of the individual in the light of the Gospel’s good news. We are in a time of change, and we must be certain that God is at the heart of the changes in our country and that the state or any individual does not become god and religion. We must look to the past and learn.

Our nation needs healing. There is a change in government whether people like it or not. The next four years can be a time of healing or it can be a continued time of anger, lies, death and a tearing down of our country. Rome the greatest empire in the western world was constantly attacked by barbarian tribes who eventually sacked the city of Rome, but what really drained her strength and destroyed her were the civil wars and political trouble on the inside. God needs to be the strength upon which our country relies. Please pray for our country.

THANK YOU! To the individuals, and to the Vietnamese Community, who enabled us to purchase our new (to us) piano!

WELL OF LIFE

For those who have considered becoming a Well of Life volunteer, I would like to tell you how it is being run during this time of Covid. Only 1 client at a time is allowed in the building and stays at least 10 feet from the interviewer. All clients and volunteers are masked. The food is packed up by volunteers and delivered to the porch. All surfaces that are touched by the clients are sanitized between clients. Temperatures are not currently taken. (I know of 4 people who had Covid and said they never had a temperature.) Other clients wait in the car after notifying volunteers they are waiting. They are called in turn. I understand very few clients are walking to the food pantry at this time. Generally once a client is seen, it only takes about 5 minutes per client. Call Sr. Elizabeth Ann at 831-3565 ext 103.

LADIES OF THE PARISH

There is a special envelope in your parish envelope packet in Feb for the Parish Council of Catholic Women. Please consider making a donation for PCCW. Like so many other organizations, PCCW was unable to hold any fundraisers in the past year. We still have bills to pay especially regional, state and national dues. We hope to begin our activities again soon as safety and health guidelines allow. Remember all women of the parish are automatically included in all activities. Thanks so much for your support and generosity.