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 faithfully in the footsteps of Christ through His Passion, Death and the celebration of His Resurrection.

One of the important aspects of conversion is the acknowledgement of one’s sins and seeking absolution of those sins from God and the community in which we live. Sin is, before all else, an offense against God and at the same time it damages our relationship with others and the community. For this reason we need to confess our sinfulness seeking absolution from God and reconciliation with the Church (people of God). Within the tradition of the Catholic Church for the past 2000 years, this reconciliation has been expressed and accomplished liturgically by the Sacrament of Penance.

Christ instituted the Sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of His Church. The Sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to conversion and to recover the grace which began in our lives at Baptism. Many changes in the sacrament have occurred over the centuries, but there are two equally essential elements that have always been present: Contrition, confession and satisfaction on the part of the penitent; and God’s action through the intervention of the Church through the sacramental life of the Church.

The confession of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with others. Through such an admission the individual looks at the sins one is guilty of and takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens themselves again to God and to the communion of the Church. Confession of sins of even a lesser nature helps us to form our conscience and fight against evil tendencies and let’s ourselves be healed by Christ.

Our Lenten Penance Service here at St. Agnes Cathedral is on February 26th. Celebrate the sacrament and experience reconciliation with God and through the Church and receive God’s grace, peace and serenity of conscience.

Ladies of the Parish:

Mark your calendars for the "Morning of Reflection" to

be held on Sat, March 23 beginning at 9:00 AM. Our

featured speaker will be Bishop Emeritus John

Leibrecht. More details to follow; Hope to see all of

you there.

ANNUAL LENTEN FISH FRY

Please join the Knights for their

annual Lenten Fish Fry this Friday,

February 16th, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM

in the school cafeteria. Prices will be

the same as in previous years at

$10/adult, $5/child, or $25/family. There will be

many choices including fried and baked fish,

hushpuppies, cole slaw, mac-n-cheese, desserts, and

much more. See you Friday!

CONFIRMATION UPDATES

Volunteers Please!

We need several volunteers to help serve at our Confirmation

reception on Sat, March 2nd. The Reception will be held after the

5:00 PM Mass. Volunteers will need to help with the serving of

cookies, fruit and drink. This will only be a 2-3 hour time

commitment. Please call Iris at 831-3565 or ibounds@stacathedral.

org if you would like to help.

Confirmation Candidates: we will have our Service

project for Confirmation on Sunday, Feb 18th at 10:00

AM. Please meet at Catholic Charities of Southern

Missouri on Portland St. Please make certain that you

have completed your permission form. Questions please

contact Iris at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org or call the

parish office 417-831-3565 ext 107

From the Pastor’s Desk:

Normally as we begin National Catholic Schools Week my letter is at the beginning of the week of celebrations, but this

year I am placing it at the end of our week long celebration. The theme this year was Catholic Schools: United in Faith

and Community. Catholic education provides a well-rounded education for the whole person, engaging students

intellectually and spiritually.

The Catholic education provides a well-rounded education for the whole student engaging students in all aspects:

academic, spiritual, physical, the arts and social.

Academic Excellence: Catholic schools provide a quality education that prepares students well for college and careers.

Catholic school students tend to perform with higher reading and math scores, higher GPAs in college and higher

graduation rates from college.

Catholic schools provide a strong foundation of faith, helping students to develop a personal relationship with God and to

understand the importance of serving others as Christ.

Catholic schools work to instill values like teamwork, personal responsibility, and compassion. They are usually small

schools in numbers of students which help to provide a sense of community and belonging where students can grow and

thrive as a whole person. With smaller numbers of students, means more individualized attention for students.

Within our Catholic schools are found many different sports for both girls as well as boys. The arts, music, band, theater

and art are all provided with large numbers of students participating.

I want to thank all the parishioners here at St. Agnes Cathedral for their Sunday offering because each of you are

helping make our Catholic schools possible.

LENTEN FAIR

Our annual parish Lenten Fair sponsored by St. Anne's Group

and our Faith Formation Program will be held Sunday, Feb.

11th in the school cafeteria from 9:00 AM-11:00

AM. Resources, activities will be available for all ages. Come

prepare yourself and your family for this Holy Season by

attending. We will be making Valentines and Easter Cards for

the homebound of the parish. We will be celebrating Mardi

Gras by making masks and enjoying King Cake. Resources for

Stations of the Cross, Holy Week & much more. Invite family

and friends. Hope to see many of you there. We are also

looking for volunteers who may be able to help that

morning. Please contact the parish office for more

information or if you would like to volunteer to help.

Ladies of the Parish:

Mark your calendars for the "Morning of Reflection" to

be held on Sat, March 23 beginning at 9:00 AM. Our

featured speaker will be Bishop Emeritus John

Leibrecht. More details to follow; Hope to see all of

you there.

St Vincent de Paul Society

Thank you to all who have supported St Vincent

de Paul Society during this past year. We have

assisted the Well of Life and Crosslines each

month. Also, we have provided 224 gas

vouchers, 1, 920 bus passes, and have given

utility assistance to 135 families, many of whom were in

crisis. Your generosity is making it possible for us to serve so

many people in need. Thank you.

From the Pastor’s Desk:

Sometimes we get bent out of shape for reasons that are not worth arguing about. For example when people

ask, “What do you mean that the Church just set the date for Jesus’ birth? Was He or was He not born on

December 25th?” There was no one around taking notes as to the exact date that Jesus was born. In fact one

of the earliest references to the birth of Jesus being celebrated on December 25th appeared in Antioch in the

middle of the 2nd century. The Christians were still being persecuted by the Roman Empire and it was not until

the Council of Tours in 567, that the Season of Advent as a time of special preparation and grace for the birth

of Jesus was established. It was also at this time that the 12 days from Christmas to Epiphany was set as a

sacred, festive season.

Year after year, we have a choice of how to celebrate Christmas. We can just choose to have the kind of

Christmas we want. We can have a Christmas of tinsel, wrapping paper and gifts wrapped with pretty bows.

We can have a Christmas of special cookies and food. We can have a Christmas filled with special

decorations. All of those things and more are fine in and of themselves, but they do not express the very heart

of Christmas.

As Christians hopefully we are celebrating the second person of the Trinity, the Word made flesh, that chose to

step foot into our human world. The belief that the creator of all creation, took on the limitations of human

flesh. Within all the religions of the ancient as well as today’s world, the belief of God made man is unique to

Christianity alone. That’s what makes it so incredible, almost unbelievable.

Because it is a mystery that is so hard to understand and comprehend, that God would do such a thing

motivated by pure love, many settle for Christmas as something less, tinsel and pretty wrapping paper, cookies

and a beautiful tree with lights. These things do not require a response, because on December 26th we can

throw the tree out and get on with our lives.

But if we acknowledge a Christmas as the celebration of Jesus as the Son of God, then the Son of God will

eventually require a commitment from us. When he says in the Gospels, turn the other cheek, or forgive, or love

your enemies, or give food to the hungry and the refugees, we can’t walk away.

Whether you come to Christmas Eve Mass or on Christmas Day itself, celebrate the birth of the Son of God and

continue to celebrate throughout the year. May you all have a blessed and joyful Christmas with family and

friends.

Thank you for all the cards and gifts! And a special thank you to all who helped us decorate!

PARISH HEALTH NURSING

Coping Strategies for the holidays

Practice mindfulness and meditation, prevent burnout –

it’s ok to say NO, take a break, get some fresh air and

sunlight, if you’re in therapy, stay in therapy, and try to

avoid overspending and focus on celebrating together

and showing affection by being present, engaging, and

supporting each other.

Www.psychiatry.org

CHRISTMAS FLOWERS

CHRISTMAS FLOWERS

Michael Thomas Enos

Laurie “Enos” Martin

Deceased members of Bounds & Prenger Families

Dorsey Roe, Jr.

Ramon Enrique Tiong, Sr.

Joe Lloyd Roe

Fe Samson

Lourdes Nibres

Nicole Paeana

Shelly Denise Martin

Darline Rapp

Steven Refuerzo

‘Don & Judy Rippee

CRS Advocacy Alert

The U.S. House introduced an appropriations bill that would reduce foreign aid in the fiscal year 2024 federal budget by $7 billion. At a time when global hunger and poverty are on the rise, these cuts would have devastating consequences for millions of people around the world. Foreign assistance accounts for less than 1% of the U.S. budget.

You can make a difference to ensure this critical aid isn’t reduced further!

Visit https://support.crs.org/act/budget?ms=mamcrs0223m2c00gen00 

to send your urgent email.  It takes less than 1 minute! 

From the Pastor’s Desk:

As I spoke last week in my homily, Advent is a season of expectation.  However our society has taken the month of December and turned it into a hectic time of parties, traveling and overspending.  Everyone has the same amount of time to spend each day.  We have the time, but the struggle is deciding what really matters in our life and how we should spend our precious time.

We make time for what we regard as important.  In the creation account from Genesis, “the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters”.  Even before God created any living thing, God arranged the days and brought order from the chaos.  One of the major obstacles for spiritual growth today is that people’s lives are in chaos rather than order.  Many people struggle to find order amidst the chaos because we allow ourselves to be pulled in many different directions.  Our prayer life is overcome by immediate and unexpected demands from family, work or over tiredness.

We falter in our spiritual lives because we do not keep to prayer plan which can quickly become words and wandering without a purpose. True prayer is building and strengthening our relationship with God.  It takes work to truly pray, just as it takes work to maintain a good friendship or relationship within marriage.

Within our Catholic Faith there are many different forms of prayer.  The celebration and attending of Mass is the highest form of prayer/worship.  But there are many other forms of prayer, reading/mediating of Sacred Scripture, the rosary, spiritual books, personal type of prayer, Stations of the Cross.  As Advent is quickly moving toward Christmas, take the time (long or short) to pray each day.

On Sunday December 17 we will begin our Christmas Novena.  Beginning at 7 pm it will conclude about 7:35 pm.  In the quietness of the Cathedral, in candle light and white Christmas lights, different scripture readings are proclaimed all pointing to the coming of the Messiah.  Use one or more of these evenings to slow the pace and listen to the Lord speaking to us down from the ages. 

CHRISTMAS NOVENA/OPEN HOUSE

CHRISTMAS NOVENA/OPEN HOUSE

December 17 th Christmas Novena 7 pm

December 18th Christmas Novena 7 pm

December 19th Christmas Novena 7 pm

Open House 7:30 pm A-I

December 20th Christmas Novena 7 pm

Open House 7:30 pm J-P

December 21th Christmas Novena 7 pm

Open House 7:30 pm Q–Z

December 22nd Christmas Novena 7 pm

Open House 7:30 pm (those who missed)

December 23 Christmas Novena 7 pm

PARISH HEALTH NURSING

Coping Strategies for the holidays

Practice mindfulness and meditation, prevent burnout – it’s ok to say NO, take a break, get some fresh air and sunlight, if you’re in therapy, stay in therapy, and try to avoid overspending and focus on celebrating together and showing affection by being present, engaging, and supporting each other.

Www.psychiatry.org

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED at LIFEHOUSE CRISIS MATERNITY HOME

LifeHouse is bursting at the seams with 15 residents, ten babies, and four toddlers! Ladies, if you have a heart for holding babies and the occasional three-year-old, we have daytime, evening, and weekend hours available. Also, with so many residents who need to go to various appointments, we urgently need transportation volunteers. If you have a few hours per week or month to help our mothers and babies, please get in touch with Jill Guise at 417-720-4213 or jguise@ccsomo.org. Thank you!

From the Pastor’s Desk::

Waiting seems to be a part of our earthly life. We spend so much of our time hurrying to get somewhere and then----

waiting. Waiting is also an essential part of our spiritual life. But waiting as a child of God, a disciple of Christ is not an

empty waiting. It is a waiting with a promise in our hearts; we wait during Advent for the birth of Jesus. During the

Easter Season we wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit; and after the Ascension of Jesus, we wait for His coming again in

glory. We are always waiting, but it a waiting in the knowledge that we are walking in the footsteps of God.

As I spoke in my homily last weekend, “I”, we are not usually a very patient person/people. Our modern technology has

just made that worse. If the internet is slow by a few seconds, “What’s wrong??” We would not make a very good

Jewish person during the time of the prophet Isaiah. Promises and prophies from God to His people were simply not on

God’s timeline. All of those centuries before the birth of Christ, the people waited for God to fulfill His promise to send

the Messiah.

Waiting for God is an active and hopefully, joyful time. If we get impatient with God, we should stay cool, and look in

the mirror, because God is always waiting for us. As we wait for God, whether for His second coming, or for His answer

to our prayers, our waiting is to be an active waiting in which we live the present moment to the fullest, in order to find

the signs of “Him” whom we are waiting for. Waiting for God’s answer means paying attention to what is happening

right now before our eyes and seeing the first rays of God’s glorious coming.

Our St. Agnes Penance Service will be this Monday, December 11th. Please take the opportunity to receive the sacrament

at the beginning of Advent not at the end. Let the Advent Season be one of prayer and expectation, a longing and

preparing for the coming of the Lord.

ADVENT 2023

We will continue our project for the

poor and homeless this Advent. There will be baskets

with Advent symbols at the doors of the church. On the

back of each is a suggested item to buy for a child or

adult. As they are brought to the parish office I will see

that they are delivered to the right place. Please return

the symbol as well as I use them from year to year.

Saves work that way. Thank you in advance. S.

Elizabeth Ann

SUPPORT CATHOLIC CHARITIES

SUPPORT CATHOLIC CHARITIES

Our Faith Formation Program will be assisting Catholic

Charities during the Thanksgiving and Advent

season. We will be collecting hygiene products during

this time. There are 3 items that are greatly needed. The

items specifically requested are lip balm, men's and

women's deodorant and hand warmers. We will be

collecting those items through December 17th. You can

bring these items to the parish office, to PSR classes or to

the collection boxes in the Cathedral.

AREA PARISHES PENANCE SERVICES

Dec 10 @ 3 pm Our Lady of the Cove

Dec 11 @7 pm St. Agnes Cathedral

Dec 12 @ 7 pm St Joseph the Worker

Dec 13 @7 pm Sacred Heart

Dec 14 @ 10 am 12 pm, 6 pm I C

Dec 18 @ 7 pm St Elizabeth Ann Seton

Dec 19 @ 7 pm St Joseph