CONGRATULATIONS!

St. Agnes Cathedral parish celebrated First Eucharist with 15 young people on Sunday, May 9th at a special 2:30 PM Mass. The children who received their First Eucharist include LeAnn Bruce, Brooklyn Cooper, Fionn Dalton, Josiah Dalton, Brynley Eck, Cecilia Herbster, Clare Jones, Henry Leas, Alex McLaughlin, Mary Ellen Meek, Sophia Mowry, Elisabella Palazzolo, Kennedy Paulsell, Luca Renda and Bryce Richards. Please continue to pray for these young people as they continue to grow in their faith. We would like to acknowledge and thank all of our parents and family members who helped to prepare their children for the sacrament. We also thank their teachers: Kayla Weskamp, Jen Velten and Genevieve Vallentine. Thanks to Ryan Villapiano and Kevin Otradovec for providing the music. A special word of thanks to St. Ann's Group; especially Melissa Palazzolo & Elizabeth Hicks for decorating and serving at the reception immediately following Mass.

From the Pastor’s Desk:

As we celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend, let us pray for all mothers who have answered God’s call to participate with Him in bearing and raising her children.

Mothers have a very hard task of not only saying yes to their 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. I say this every year and throughout the year. Parenting is not easy, it is a job, but it has great rewards.

It is also a bitter sweet time of the year when students are graduating from middle school and high school. Perhaps one of the hardest task for a mother 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 the Blessed Virgin Mary during the month of May, we see that great example in her life as she watched her son mature, become a great rabbi and then die on the cross.

This weekend here at St. Agnes Cathedral fifteen of our young people will receive Holy Communion for the first time. From this time until the Lord calls them home, the Eucharist will be available to them, as well as to all practicing Catholics. The Eucharist is that special gift from God in which He can come into each of us individually to give us the grace and the guidance we need; Christ coming into us in that most special and intimate way. We become one with Christ, as Christ becomes one with us. May the Lord bless these young people.

2021 GRADUATE RECOGNITION

Graduates and Parents of high school and 8th grade graduates: During the month of May, we will be featuring profiles of our 8th grade and high school graduates. These profiles and pictures will be placed on our parish website and on our Facebook page. Our goal is to acknowledge the accomplishments of our graduates whether they attend Catholic, public or are home schooled. If you would like to have your graduate recognized, please contact the parish office for forms or email Iris at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org. Thanks so much and we cannot wait to share the accomplishments of our graduates.

YOUTH: ADORATION UNDER THE STARS

Sunday, May 16th: 6:15-8:30 PM. Join us for an evening of food, outdoor games and Adoration Under the Stars. We will begin with a cookout, outdoor dodgeball, and Adoration. All are welcome; Please bring a lawn chair or blanket. All are welcome! Please contact Iris at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org for more information.

HERE YE, HEAR YE, SENIORS UNLIMITED OF ST. AGNES!

We need to get back together, don’t we? I am hoping, after school is out, to begin using the dining room for lunches each month and games weekly. I am asking that you come only if you have had the COVID vaccine since the virus is still out there making people sick. There will not be as many seated at the tables and we will wear masks except when eating.

I will give you specific dates in a couple of weeks and you will have to sign up for the luncheons. Let me know if you are interested. If you have any questions, call me.

Sr. Elizabeth Ann 831-3565, ext 103

From the Pastor’s Desk:

On December 8, 2020, Pope Francis issued the apostolic letter Patris Corde proclaiming a Holy Year in honor of St. Joseph. He called upon the Church to follow Joseph’s powerful example of quiet obedience, courage and tenderness and to pray to him for the “grace of graces: our conversion”.

In the life of the Church, the devotion to St. Joseph did not truly begin until the 16th century, and his title as Patron of the Universal Church. There is not much to be seen of St. Joseph in the Gospels. They do not record a single sentence or word spoken by him. Mark’s Gospel does not even mention St. Joseph. In John’s Gospel he gets two little lines. In the opening chapters of Matthew and Luke he is seen only briefly. Perhaps the reason is that so much emphasis was placed upon the virginity of Mary. It was with Joseph that Christ grew into a boy, a teenager, a man. Joseph played an important part in the raising of Jesus.

In the 5th century, St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom emphasized Joseph’s role in God’s plan and expanded upon the Gospels few lines concerning him. St. Joseph began to be seen in prayer books beginning in the 9th century. In the late Middle Ages, St. Bernardine of Siena and others began to propose Joseph as a model for men to imitate, especially husbands and fathers.

It was here in the new world that the devotion to St. Joseph began to take root and spread. Perhaps one of the reasons for the spread of the devotion was European diseases. They ravaged the native populations, and conquistadores of South and Central America, along with the Southwestern area of our country had children with native women, but took little care of their offspring. The Franciscan missionaries introduced devotion to St. Joseph in order to give these thousands of children a fatherly presence in their lives. By the late 16th century, images of St. Joseph was found in the art all through the areas where Spanish Franciscan missionaries built missions.

St Joseph was the man chosen by God to guide and protect the beginnings of the history of redemption. It was through the actions of Joseph that God saved His Son and the Blessed Virgin Mary from King Herod. Jesus the God of all creation came into this world as a tiny, baby boy. Joseph defended, protected and cared for the Son of God. During this Holy Year, place yourself in the loving hands that provided for the Son of God.

2021 GRADUATE RECOGNITION

Graduates and Parents of high school and 8th grade graduates: During the month of May, we will be featuring profiles of our 8th grade and high school graduates. These profiles and pictures will be placed on our parish website and on our Facebook page. Our goal is to acknowledge the accomplishments of our graduates whether they attend Catholic, public or are home schooled. If you would like to have your graduate recognized, please contact the parish office for forms or email Iris at ibounds@sta-cathedral.org. Thanks so much and we cannot wait to share the accomplishments of our graduates.

MINISTRY SCHEDULES

Copies of the Ministry Schedule for May and June are available in the vestibule of the church for you to pick up. Please call the office, 831-3565 if you would like to be added to the schedule for July, Aug., and Sept or send an e-mail to eschatz@sta-cathedral.org.

SPRING/SUMMER CLOTHES NEEDED

As noted in the bulletin, because of Covid and limited space this year, the garage sale WILL NOT BE accepting clothing. However, you may bring your clean tee shirts, jeans and shorts for women and men to the office any time this spring and I will see they are given to Grace Methodist Church or to the Connecting Grounds ministry. No winter clothes at this time please. Sr. Elizabeth Weiler 417-831-3565, ext 103

From the Pastor’s Desk:

The Covid Virus took many things from us over the past 14 months, beginning with over 500,000 American lives. It has destroyed businesses, jobs and hurt education on every level. Governments across the world have sometimes acted together and at other times separately to protect their countries and peoples. But we have also learned from the pandemic. We have learned how to clean and sanitize, and how to work together for the good of all by wearing a mask. I bring all of this together today to say thank you for your support during this past year. Your notes, your e-mails, your financial support for the parish have all been encouraging to both Fr. Allen and myself.

I want us to take a look at a major project for the future. We have a great need for space. We NEED a parish center. A parish center would give us space for parish functions. At the moment all we have is the school cafeteria, which has limited availability, due to the fact that for 9 months of the year it is in use by the school. Through the pandemic we have been able to pay all of our bills on time and I believe that it is now time to move forward.

We began the ground work over two years ago when the Loretto House, whose roof was rotting and walls bowing outward, was taken down. Next a topographical survey was undertaken for the entire city block, including school, rectory, cathedral, Catholic Center and convent (Catholic Center helped with the cost). A survey had not been done in the over 100 years since the founding of the parish. Finally, working with the city, we needed to show the correct easement and waterline of what was Cherry street and to know where our property begins. All of this was behind the scenes before we could imagine and plan.

Now we come to the fun part, but also the hard part. What to build and how much money will we need to raise if we are to build? When we build, we will need to build a large enough parish center to have a variety of functions. If we are to serve meals, we will need a kitchen. What kind of meeting space will be needed for different organizations to meet during the school days. Should we include new parish offices? Do we hire a firm to help us raise money, or can we have a capital campaign on our own? I do not like giving money away, especially in the amounts that fundraising organizations charge. If we as a parish want a parish center then I believe that we are capable of raising the money ourselves without paying 4-6% of the fundraising goal for a company to tell us how to have a capital campaign. In the coming months we will be reaching out for your input. I place all of this before you the parishioners of St. Agnes Cathedral. Do we stand still? Or begin to move forward?

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations to Owen Robert Harrop who was baptized on Wed, April 7th after the 5:30 Mass at St. Agnes. Owen is the son of Brad & Andrea Harrop. Owen is also the grandson of Jeanne & Mike Skahan. The minister of Baptism was Rev. Allen Kirchner. Welcome to Owen! Many blessings along your faith journey!

Special Congratulations go to James Marlon Burroughs son of Levi and Tiffany Burroughs who was baptized on Sunday. April 11th here at St. Agnes Cathedral. We welcome James into our St. Agnes Cathedral family and look forward to watching you grow in faith.

PROJECT GRADUATION

On May 14, 2021, 96 seniors will graduate from Springfield Catholic High School. Following graduation, parents will host an all night drug and alcohol free celebration known as Project Graduation. Funding for this event is solely from parents and the community. Please consider making a contribution for the success of the evening. Checks may be made payable to SCHS Project Graduation 2021 and mailed to SCHS attn: Project Graduation, 2340 S Eastgate, Springfield, MO 65809. You may also donate online by credit card at https://scs.revtrak.net/springfield-catholic-high-school/pg/ . The Class of 2021 sincerely appreciates your financial and prayerful support for Project Graduation and the graduates.

PCCW

Parish Council of Catholic Women invite all women of the parish to join us on Sat, May 1st for a morning of prayer and fellowship. We will begin our morning with the 8:30 AM Mass in the Cathedral. The Mass will be offered for deceased members of PCCW. Mass will be followed by the rosary as we begin the month of Mary. After the rosary, we ask the ladies to join us for a simple brunch. Weather permitting, we will meet under the tent. If weather does not permit, we will meet in the dining room. Please remember that all ladies of the parish are invited, no matter your age. We do ask that you continue to wear masks and that you call the parish office to sign up to make certain we have enough food. Hope to see many of you who can join us.

From the Pastor’s Desk:

Why do we go to Church? Why do we give money in the collection basket? Why did I choose to be a priest, giving up the choice to have a family? The answers to these questions are found in Jesus and the Resurrection. That is the key central event, Jesus rising from the dead. We find ourselves in the glow of the Easter Candle during the Easter season reminding us of that key central event.

The Church exists to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ. Anything we do that does not fit into that purpose is outside our mission and is a waste of time and money. If people are in a relationship with Jesus, the church’s mission is to help them grow closer to Him. If people do not know Jesus or have grown away from Him, it is the Church’s mission to introduce or reintroduce them to Jesus Christ. For people who already are on the discipleship path, it means helping them to go deeper in their relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Acts of the Apostles describes the church as a movement that “turned the world upside down.” The Church exists to be a movement establishing the kingdom of God in people’s minds and hearts and to manifest itself concretely in our world. To be a movement, the church must move, never to be satisfied. When we think of church we so often think of buildings, but church is the people of God. St. Agnes Cathedral can be destroyed in a tornado, but unless every single member of parish was inside and were killed, the church of St. Agnes would continue. Since we are the church, the people of God, it means that the people have to move into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

When we read the Gospels, we find people coming to Jesus because they wanted something from Him: they came to hear him speak, they came to be healed, and they came because family or friends needed his help. They were simply consumers, focused on their needs. Even the apostles didn’t follow Jesus because they liked him or believed in his mission. He was a rabbi who taught with authority and they felt good about themselves and he was popular. They were focused on being on Jesus’s left and right when he was made king. Even at the Last Supper the Apostles were arguing about who was the greatest.

Today the church many times may seem to be stagnant and the reason for that is that people are still so often in the consumer mode. Our parishes do not exist to help people with guilt relief or to make sure people fulfill their obligation to worship God. Our parishes exist to help move people to develop their own personal relationship with Jesus Christ, taking ownership of their own faith, and then, out of that relationship, taking ownership of the mission of the church to go and make disciples. And all of this is strengthened by uniting around the Eucharistic table on Sundays and being fed with the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

SCHS SPRING MUSICAL

Springfield Catholic High School invites you to the production of Little Women the Musical. Performance dates are Friday, April 30th at 7 pm, Saturday, May 1st at 7 pm and Sunday, May 2nd at 2 pm. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students.

Youth Activities

Youth in grades 8-12 are invited to join us for a Movie night; We will be showing the movie "Fatima" PIZZA, POPCORN and drink provided. NO cost. We will meet in the cafeteria on Sunday, April 18th from 6-8:30 PM. Come join us! All are welcome!

A huge thank you to everyone who donated eggs and candy for our recent Easter Egg Hunt. Not an egg was left standing after the hunt. A huge thank you goes out to our Easter Bunny and to all who helped "hide" the eggs on Easter Morning! St. Agnes parishioners are a truly generous parish!!

Scheduling Parish Ministers

We will begin scheduling Servers, Ushers, Lectors and Eucharistic Ministers for the Masses beginning in May. Eucharistic Ministers must be under the age of 60. If you wish to serve our parish in one of these ministries, please contact the parish office at 838-3565 or send an e-mail to eschatz@sta-cathedral.org and tell us your ministry and which Mass you want to serve at by Monday, April 19, 2021.

From the Pastor’s Desk:

We find ourselves in the glow of the Easter Candle for the 50 days after Easter. Lent has ended very quickly, perhaps before some even knew it had begun. Our secular society is rushing after whatever will sell next in the stores, but the Catholic Church continues to celebrate the Resurrection of our savior. Christ walked the earth following His resurrection, appearing and strengthening the apostles and disciples for their mission ahead. Within the liturgy of the Catholic Church we relive those events of Jesus’ life.

As we celebrated the liturgies of the Triduum, each of those liturgies were a reliving of those most special events of Jesus’ life. Those liturgies use all of our senses to help us experience those events. From the washing of feet, to processions, to incense, music, candles, extra readings, darkness, fire; all the senses were engaged. Some may ask what is the importance of redoing these liturgies each year? Easter is Easter, let’s go to Church and get on with the next thing. This past year as Covid 19 has darkened our world, let us give thanks to God and celebrate our lives with true devotion to our Eucharistic Lord.

We as adults are no different than children, repetition is an important role in imprinting both our brains and our spirits. When I work with our young people in the musical, we practice the actions, the script and the music until it becomes a part of them. That is why they are so good up on the stage and are not nervous. Some students that are shy or reserved in person can become alive up on the stage. When we experience a stimulus over and over, the memories become a subconscious part of who we are. If that is true on the stage, it is true in liturgy.

Symbols and signs connect us to the universal church, through generations and across the world. Our Easter Candle is an essential part of our worship, as it proclaims Christ alive, shining in a world of darkness and sin. The Easter Candle is lite during the Easter Season, during each baptism, and the celebration of a funeral liturgy. Throughout the Easter Season our churches are decorated in flowers, white and gold altar clothes along with the Easter Candle all in celebration of the risen Christ.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION? WHAT IS THAT?

Sometimes individuals no longer find our prayer meaningful. Persons seeking spiritual direction bring whatever is in their hearts and minds to a person who is trained to listen to what they have to say and through their listening, help them find God in their lives and perhaps a different way to pray. If you think you may be interested, but don't want to make a commitment, call Sr. Charlotte Flarlong SSND for further information 417-231-5300. You may not think you need it now, but might want some information for later.

-Sr. Elizabeth Ann ASC

RCIA

Congratulations to those who were received into the Church at the Easter Vigil Celebration this year! Please keep these new Catholics in your prayers and make them feel welcome as a part of St. Agnes parish.

Catechumens

Kristen Evans

Warren Evans

Kathy Hon

Jessica Yount

Profession of Faith Candidates

Blake Beshore

Kathy Bock

Erick Bulla

Tiffany Burroughs

James Burroughs

Troy Carroll

John Cooper

Andrew Wheeler

Confirmation Candidates

Mary Cooper

Tyler McClean

Dante Valdez