SCHOOL AND PARISH CONNECTIONS

Though the summer is young, I am thinking about ways the

parish and the school can be more connected. One

possibility would be for Parishioners to become Reading

Buddies with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders. Working with

children will require permission for a background check

to be done as well as Virtus training for the protection of

children. EVERYONE directly connected with children in

the school and all parish employees must do this.

Another possible connection is Adopt a Teacher. The

details of how this might work will have to be worked out

depending on the number of participants. In the

meantime, think about it and call or e-mail me if you are

interested in either one. I will send your name to the

principal of the school.

Sister Elizabeth Ann 417-831-3565 ext 103

From the Pastor's Desk

We have been talking about it for years and now it is the reality. The Diocese of Springfield Cape Girardeau has a

priest shortage. In all fairness, many dioceses are faced with the same shortage, more elderly priests are retiring than

are being ordained. What did Jesus tell the apostles and the people, to ask the master of the harvest to send more

laborers. Prayer is the first step in working on the shortage. Another is for families, friends and parishes to support

anyone thinking about a religious vocation.

What does the shortage mean for St. Agnes, in fact for the city of Springfield? Of the six parishes only Immaculate

Conception will have more than one priest. Here at St. Agnes we will no longer have an associate pastor. There will be

some changes since I cannot take on more sacramental responsibilities. As long as I am able to receive help from several

of our retired priests, we will continue to offer the 5:30 pm mass throughout the week along with confessions on

Wednesday and Friday. The weekend mass schedule will not change. The only mass that will no longer be offered after

August 15 will be the 8:30 am Saturday morning mass. Saturdays are a funeral and wedding day, along with

confessions and the Saturday vigil Mass for Sunday.

The past two associate pastors (Fr. Alan and Fr. Timothy) have both held another pastoral assignment and so the parish

has truly had a priest and a half, if I can say that. I myself also hold another assignment along with Sr. Elizabeth

sacramentally caring for the Catholics at South Cox Hospital.

For fourteen years I have been the Director of Springfield Catholic High School Theater. Working with Ann Marie

Coleman my assistant we are both moving into different roles. Madie Wilder will become the Director overall and I am

assuming the role of Artistic Director which frees me from being at the theater every night. Madie has been the

choreographer for the past 4 productions and I trust her completely. I have promised our students that I am not

abandoning them, but I am going to need some free time.

I just ask that everyone be patient and keep me and our parishes in prayer. As we close out the fiscal year I want to

thank everyone for your financial contribution, it has made running the parish much easier when I know that we have the

money to pay our bills on time. Along with the finance committee we have kept the budget as tight as we can, but also as

everyone knows everything has gone up in cost. I also want to thank everyone who have

PARISH HEALTH MINISTRY

If you suspect your hearing isn't as strong as it

used to be, don't wait to get your hearing

checked, advises Dr. Kozin, physician at Mass

Eye and Ear in Boston. The same goes if the people in

your life have suggested that you've missed or

misunderstood parts of conversations. It's not just your

hearing that's at stake -- your physical, mental and

emotional health are too. Check your insurance

Evidence of Coverage (EOC) to find out if your plan has

a hearing benefit. Taken from www.AetnaMedicare.com

BUZZ BOOK ADVERTISING

We will be doing our yearly update to our Buzz

Book in July. Guide Book Publishing does the

updating for us and delivers the completed

product directly to your homes. The Buzz Book

is provided and mailed to each member at no

cost to our church. Local businesses are being

solicited to advertise in the

book. Advertisements from businesses that are

owned/managed by members of our

congregation are preferred. If you own or

manage a business and would like to find out

about advertising in our book, please call our

office at 417-831-3565 by July 1, 2023.

Attention Families!

If you have a child who has not received the sacraments

of Reconciliation and First Eucharist and who will be

entering the 2nd grade or above in the Fall, please

contact Iris at the parish office. We want to make certain

that we have a complete list so we have all records such

as Baptism, dates of birth etc. in place. If you have any

special considerations or needs, call the parish office at

831-3565 or email Iris at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org.

On Tuesday we will celebrate the great birthday of our country. For some it may be a “four-day” weekend filled with

fireworks, parties, and summer fun. Even in our troubled and uncertain times, we have much to be thankful for as

Americans. We still live in the greatest nation on earth. Yes, we can complain about high taxes, governmental waste,

and all the goofy politics. We can complain about the cost of gasoline, utilities, and rising food costs. While we have the

freedom to complain, we must count our blessings, and remember that in so many other nations, as we have seen in

Eastern Europe, one man can destroy those freedoms.

Since I have traveled to so many “unique” places of the world–places not usually on the tourist map–I have experienced

the lack of the freedoms that we in the United States take for granted. Even China, with all of its growth and moving

toward capitalism, Catholic Christians are not free to worship openly outside the government-sponsored churches. I was

told not to wear clerical shirts, because I might be arrested.

Regardless of how bad we believe our problems to be, look around and you can always find those whose problems are

greater. During World War II, between the Nazis and the Communist government, Christianity was to be destroyed in

much of Eastern Europe. From Poland to the Baltic nations, priests, bishops, brothers, and nuns were put in camps from

which most never returned. Only through the power of God did the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches survive.

Slowly those churches are rebuilding their congregations, their schools and their hospitals. Two of the greatest

evangelization tools the Catholic Church has are our schools and hospitals. These institutions are open to anyone of any

faith. Back then, these places were the first that were attacked and closed when the Nazis and Communists took control

of Eastern Europe. Today the Russians have destroyed over 2,000 Ukrainian schools and 10 major hospitals. When the

Nazis took control of Poland they closed schools and imprisoned or killed teachers and professors. The Ukrainian

language, history and culture is under attack as was Poland 85 years ago.

So, as we have fun this weekend, thank God for all the freedoms we enjoy. Thank God that we live in a land that can

feed itself and provide jobs for our people. The food may not always be what we like, but it’s better than what two

thirds of the people of the world could even dream about. There are jobs here, even if they aren’t what we would like to

do, or for the salary we want. On average, we spend more money on entertainment (movies, vacations, cable, internet,

and sports) during the year than the great majority of people in the world even make. So if we complain about the cost

of gasoline, remember the majority of the world population is walking or riding public transportation this weekend. Give

thanks to God and ask Him for His guidance, for His protection, for His very love. May we all have a fun-filled and safe

4th of July as we celebrate our freedoms.

Attention Families!

If you have a child who has not received the sacraments

of Reconciliation and First Eucharist and who will be

entering the 2nd grade or above in the Fall, please

contact Iris at the parish office. We want to make certain

that we have a complete list so we have all records such

as Baptism, dates of birth etc. in place. If you have any

special considerations or needs, call the parish office at

831-3565 or email Iris at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org.

WOMEN OF FAITH

Ladies of the parish are invited to join the

Women of Faith group for the 8:30 am Mass on

Wednesday, July 12 followed by brunch in the

Pavilion on the parish grounds. Please bring a

breakfast/brunch food item to share.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We are updating our Buzz Book for 2023. If you have

had changes in your address, phone number,

children no longer living with you, please contact the

parish office at 417-831-3565 by June 30, 2023. If you

have never registered in our parish, please contact

the office for a parish registration form. If you did not

receive a Buzz book by mail for 2022, that may mean

that your family is not in our database. Please

contact us for a registration form.

From The Pastor's Desk:

I am continuing from last week’s letter when I began to take a look at Vatican Council II, 61 years later. As a part of our Eucharistic Revival, the parish council has looked over and we have quietly changed a few areas in our celebration of the mass. This week I am giving some of the directives from the Council found in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. As a side note, when I was in graduate school at St. Meinrad School of Theology we were told it takes a 100 years for a council’s decrees to truly be implemented. We still have close to 40 years on that type of time line and we can see people in the church pushing back against the documents especially in the area of liturgical worship.

The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, was approved almost unanimously by the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican and was promulgated in solemn session on December 4, 1963. The Roman Missal which we now use at the altar, was a result of the Council. It took a little over 50 years for the revisions and translation into English to be accepted by the Commission on Liturgy at the Vatican. During those years we had a number of books called Sacramentary as the Commission worked on the Roman Missal translation. What we now use called the Roman Missal is as close to the Latin translation of the past.

The directives out of the Constitution was to promote, the active participation of the people. The whole of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy is not just changing of the liturgical rites, texts and language. Its aim was to foster the formation of the people and that the pastoral activity of the sacred liturgy is the fulfillment of that activity.

The liturgy, even though it is the center of our Catholic worship, is not the whole of the Church’s activity. As the Constitution states, “great care must be taken that pastoral work be properly linked with it.” To conclude that paragraph, “there are to be close links between liturgy, catechesis, religious instruction and preaching.”

This year beginning this month of June, through June of 2024 of the National Eucharistic revival, we are in the Year of Parish Revival. There are four areas, or four invitations 1) to Reinvigorate our worship, 2) Personal Encounters, 3) Faith Formation and 4) Missionary sending among those in need.

Please welcome our Mission Co-op Priest next weekend.

Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri

Volunteer Opportunities

Come garden with us on the 4th Thursday of every

month. Our garden feeds the women and babies of

LifeHouse Crisis Maternity Home. We also need helpers

every Thursday morning at 8:00 to harvest the fruit and

vegetables. Additionally, if you would prefer to volunteer

indoors, we need women who know how to prepare,

can, or freeze the produce so that nothing goes to

waste. Please contact Jill Guise at 417-720-4213

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We are updating our Buzz Book for 2023. If you have had changes in your address, phone number, children no longer living with you, please contact the parish office at 417-831-3565 by June 30, 2023. If you have never registered in our parish, please contact the office for a parish registration form. If you did not receive a Buzz book by mail for 2022, that may mean that your family is not in our database. Please contact us for a registration form.

GARAGE SALE THANK YOU!!

Another parish garage sale is in the books and we have a lot of people to thank!! Almost $4800 was cleared. The profits will help the ladies groups of our parish, but a large portion will be donated to our parish center fund!!!

Thanks to so many people! Whether you worked for an hour or for 10 hours, your time is greatly appreciated! Of course, we could not have a sale without the generous donations that we receive! Thanks also to those who shopped our sale!

We also want you to know that any items that are not sold are donated or recycled. We made a large donation to Thrift Haven. Books were donated to the Friends of the Library, Safe to Sleep & Grace Methodist Church also received donations

Again, we thank all of you who helped to make our sale a success. You are greatly appreciated!

From the Pastor’s Desk:

This weekend, June 10-11 the Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  It is a festival of the Roman Catholic Church which honors the Body of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.  It began in the 13th century by lay people in Belgium who wanted a feast day outside of lent to honor the Eucharist.  After 40 years of prayer, petitioning and composing a special liturgy, their diocesan bishop approved the texts in 1246.  It was not until 1311 that Pope Clement IV instated the feast at the Council of Vienna.

Over the centuries, different areas of the world have developed their own ways of celebrating Corpus Christi.  Before Vatican II many parishes in the United States had some type of Eucharistic procession.  Following the Second Vatican Council many religious practices from the Middle Ages were discontinued, the Corpus Christi Procession was one of those.  In the past few years we are discovering that the Catholic Church lost much of its uniqueness and prayer forms and we are rediscovering our Roman Catholic heritage.  For example our Christmas Novena which I began here at St. Agnes is a beautiful evening prayer celebrated for seven evening before Christmas.

Saint Pope John Paul II led annual Corpus Christi processions through the city of Rome.  This coming Sunday beginning at 4:15 our St. Agnes Corpus Christi procession will begin in front of our chapel and continue to the Mary Queen Convent and circle around our property ending back at the Cathedral for Benediction and the 5 pm Mass.  The Mass will be followed by our Parish Picnic and going away party for Fr. Timothy.  Please come and celebrate.

Corpus Christi Sunday celebration begins our National Eucharistic revival’s Parish year.  The Eucharist is the greatest gift that Jesus has given us because it contains his very self.  In Luke’s Gospel, “This is my Body given up for you...this is my Blood poured out for you”.  The Eucharist, the receiving of Holy Communion must be the heart and center of our Catholic parishes if we are to be a community of faith and welcoming to those in need.

Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri Volunteer Opportunities

Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri Volunteer Opportunities

. Additionally, if you would prefer to volunteer indoors, we need women who know how to prepare, can, or freeze the produce so that nothing goes to waste. Please contact Jill Guise at 417-720-4213 or jguise@ccsomo.org.

WOMEN OF FAITH

Ladies of the parish are invited to join the Women of Faith Group at Mass on Wednesday, June 14 at 8:30 am in St. Agnes chapel.  After the Mass we will be going to a brunch at Bev Steelman's house at 625 South Street,  You may want to leave your car in the St. Agnes parking lot.  Please call the parish office, 831-3565 by Friday, June 9 if you plan to attend the brunch.

Youth Activities

Our parish was blessed with 3 Baptisms on Sunday, June 4th:  Peter Michael Duda was baptized at the 11:30 AM Mass .  Peter is the son of Martin and Paige Duda of our parish.  Fr. Lewis Hejna officiated at the Baptism.  

Immediately following the 11:30 AM Mass Scarlett and Lydia Vernoy were baptized by Father Timothy Tran.  Scarlett and Lydia are the daughters of Christopher & Desiree Vernoy of our parish.

Please keep these children and their families in your prayers as they continue their faith journeys.

From the Pastor’s Desk:

On Tuesday evening here at St. Agnes Cathedral, our eighth grade class walked through the doors of the Cathedral, for their last trip down the aisle as a St. Agnes Cathedral eighth grade class. In the fall they will begin a new life, a high school student. Most will continue their education at Springfield Catholic High School. They will meet new friends, while continuing old friendships, new teachers, new freedoms which come with added responsibilities. They will be studying new subjects while building upon old ones. It will be an exciting time and a scary time, all the while struggling to figure out who they are and what life really is all about.

Graduation is NOT the end of something as much as it is the beginning of something. Being in education as a teacher for 17 years, director of the theater for 14 years and once again a chaplain for years at both Notre Dame High School as well as Springfield Catholic High; young people are not really completing something as much as setting the table for themselves to accomplish something great in their lives, whether from Middle School or High School graduation. I believe it can be summed up in 3 words: unselfishness, servanthood and love All three are found in the life of Jesus Christ who is our brother, friend, example and God.

UNSELFISHNESS – is the key to real success. So often people think only of themselves and at the cost of hurting others or neglecting others, actually in the long-term find themselves empty and always wanting more because they were selfish. Christ is our example.

SERVANTHOOD – is the 2nd key to real success. Serving others is what enables a person to experience gratitude, appreciation and a sense of community. Christ is our example.

LOVE – is the 3rd key to real success. Listen, you don’t have to like everybody. For that matter you can like just a few people. But we’re commanded to love everyone. Regardless of color, ethnicity, language, etc. Each of us is made in the image and likeness of our God, each of us have been given the opportunity to be loved and it begins by us loving ourselves, others and Christ.

These are why we have Catholic Schools, to put Jesus Christ as the reason for all we do, and the example to follow. The Holy Eucharist we receive in Holy Communion at Mass fills us with God’s strength and love. United about the altar we truly are members of God’s family. Congratulations to all of our young people in a job well done.

DDF

To date our parish has $43,034.65 toward our $123,717 goal. Thank you! If you have not yet made your pledge, please add your gift, whatever the amount, in unity with those who have already given by returning a pledge card.

The diocese and Church in southern Missouri needs your participation.

SPRING AND SUMMER PROJECT

Our food pantry THE WELL OF LIFE-- near the corner of Elm and Kimbrough-- would appreciate hygiene items for women and men including toothbrushes, toothpaste, bar soap, shampoo etc. All 8 churches-- FIRST BAPTIST, FIRST AND CALVARY PRESBYTERIAN, SACRED HEART, WESLEY UNITED METHODIST, CHRIST EPISCOPAL, SOUTH STREET CHRISTIAN WESTMINISTER PRESBYTERIAN, AND St AGNES-- which sponsor the food pantry will be supporting this project. If you find a bargain on any of these, you may bring it to the parish office and I will see that it is delivered.

Thank you. Sister Elizabeth Ann, ASC

Diocesan Director of Youth and