Youth Activities

Steubenville Information: Hard to believe that it is time for Steubenville sign up for this summer.  Our parish will need to send their numbers for initial registration by Feb 14th. Steubenville, a youth conference held each July on the campus of MSU is open to youth who will be entering high school in the Fall of 2023 and to those who may have just graduated from high school in May of 2023.  This weekend event features fantastic speakers, lots of music, Adoration, Eucharistic celebrations, Reconciliation, lots of fellowship and so much more.  St. Agnes parish helps its youth with financial assistance and there are also grants available from the diocese.  If you would like to sign up or need more information about Steubenville, please call Iris at the parish office or ibounds at sta-cathedral.org

Congratulations to over 21 young people who received their First Reconciliation during the month of December.  Please keep these young people in your prayers as they prepare for their First Eucharist.

First Eucharist Upcoming Dates:

     Sunday, Feb 5th at 10:15:  Families of Children receiving their First Eucharist will meet to discuss plans, answer questions and to receive resources.  

     Sunday, Feb 5th at 11:30 Mass:  Children who are preparing for their First Eucharist will be recognized at this Mass of Commitment.

CHRISTMAS FLOWERS

Deceased members of Rapp and Rippee Family

Vernon & Ida Hanson                         

Lee & Angie Viorel

Lee Viorel, Jr

Mac & Mary  Hammock

Susan Jurgensmeyer

Barb McMillian

Joan Bean

Dorsey Roe, Jr                                    

Ramon Enrique Tiong, SR

Joe Lloyd Roe

Suzette Catimbang Taclindo

Nicole Paena

Fe Samson

Lourdes Nibres

  Paul, Betty & Richard Hund               

  Francis Finch

  Randy Friga                                        

  Friga-Foot Families

  Matthew Zimmerman                          

  Dorothy Gilcrease                               

  Max Sorey                                            

  Ryan Family      

  Procop & Mary Francka

  Jake & Rosie Francka

  Bill Horton

  And In Honor of:

  Fr Lewis Hejna

  Fr Timothy Tran

  Sr Elizabeth Ann Weiler

  Staff                                 

From the Pastor’s Desk:

As Catholic Feasts are celebrated, the Feast of the Holy Family is a relatively new feast. It began to be celebrated in the universal Church in 1920. Devotion to the Holy Family became popular during the 17th century. The theme of family and this feast dedicated to it, is of special importance today in the face of challenges to the contemporary family. Mary and Joseph along with the Christ Child gives us a perfect example of working together as a family. Love, compassion, sharing, caring for one another, are all examples that the three members of the Holy Family provide for us. As couples today have problems and concerns with one another, I invite them to take a good look at Mary and Joseph. Mary, a young girl finds herself expecting a child, and the child was not that of her betrothed. Joseph finds his betrothed carrying a child which he knows is not his. That had to put a strain on the relationship! It took a lot of faith on the part of Joseph to accept the story of the Angel Gabriel and the Holy Spirit. Joseph had the legal right to divorce Mary, as they in the eyes of the Jewish Faith were married, but were in the year before they lived as husband and wife. Finally, it took the Angel Gabriel face to face with Joseph before the situation becomes calm. If all of that was not enough to break Mary and Joseph apart. What followed was that trip to Bethlehem with Mary ready to give birth, especially riding on a donkey, a birth in a stable, and the sudden flight to Egypt, leaving behind home and job. All of this was with the fear of King Herod seeking to kill the new born child. Couples today who are having problems need to sit down together and really look to what the Holy Family teaches through their own lives as family. In fact all of us can learn many virtues from Joseph, Mary and Jesus if we would study their lives. Joseph and Mary work together to provide for the Christ Child and in turn the Scriptures tell us that as Christ grows, He is obedient to Mary and His foster father, Joseph. All three members of the Holy Family have much to teach each of us, single, married, male or female, young or old. As we celebrate this feast, let the members of the Holy Family be our examples of how to treat those whom we should love the most; our spouse, our parents, our children. **Thank you to all who have helped in decorating the church for the Christmas Season. **Thank you to all the members of the choirs, the servers, the liturgical ministers who have given of their time to help lead us in our liturgical celebrations this Christmas. **Thank you to all of you for your gifts and cards

END OF THE YEAR GIVING

Almost half of all charitable giving is made during the last two months of the year. It is a time to give thanks for the blessings we’ve received. It is also a time to review finances and do tax planning. Consider a gift to St. Agnes Cathedral Parish Hall Building Fund as part of your year end planning. To make a gift please visit our website by using the QR code above or by calling 417-831-3565 Ext 110. Thank you and may God Bless you with a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

CATHOLIC CEMETERIES OF SPRINGFIELD ANNOUNCEMENT:

A new columbarium was placed at Resurrection Cemetery (on West Division) on December 9. For information, please contact the cemetery director, Russ Koeneman, at catholiccemeteriesofspringfield@outlook.com

SACRED HEART OVERNIGHT COLD WEATHER SHELTER

Did you know there are at least 600 unsheltered people living on the streets of Springfield? Sacred Heart Parish has opened their cold weather shelter, and we are in need of volunteers to stay overnight while our guests sleep. Volunteers are also needed to prepare dinner and breakfast. Please contact the Parish Office at 417-869-3646 if you are able to help with this ministry.

From the Pastor's Desk

With Christmas on Sunday we are celebrating a very short Christmas Season. Next Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, the following Sunday the celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord and the next day Monday, January 9, the Baptism of the Lord ending the Christmas Season. The Holy Family falls on Friday December 30th. Devotion to the Holy Family became popular during the 17th century. The theme of family and this feast dedicated to it is of special importance today in the face of challenges to the contemporary family. Students were complaining about the shortness of Christmas vacation. It truly is a short Christmas Season. As I spoke about being on a holy road to the stable in my homily for the third Sunday of Advent be careful so you do not miss it. God choosing to being born in our human form is itself a true wonder. The creator of all, the universe, galaxy and beyond. The creator of all life, human, animal and plant, chose to become a creature in all things but sin. That truly is a wonder. Mary and Joseph along with the Christ Child gives us a perfection example of working together as a family. Love, compassion, sharing, caring for one another, are all examples that the three members of the Holy Family provide for us. As couples today have problems and concerns with one another, I invite them to take a good look at Mary and Joseph. Mary, a young girl finds herself expecting a child, and the child was not that of her betrothed. Joseph finds his betrothed carrying a child which he knows is not his. That had to put a strain on the relationship! It took a lot of faith on the part of Joseph to accept the story of the Angel Gabriel and the Holy Spirit. Finally it took the Angel Gabriel face to face with Joseph before the situation becomes calm. If all of that was not enough to break Mary and Joseph apart, then there was that trip to Bethlehem; a birth in a stable, and the sudden flight to Egypt, leaving behind home and job. All of this was with the fear of King Herod seeking to kill the new born child. Couples today who are having problems need to sit down together and really look to what the Holy Family teaches through their own life of family. In fact all of us can learn many virtues from Joseph, Mary and Jesus if we would study their lives. Joseph and Mary work together to provide for the Christ Child and in turn the Scriptures tell us that as Christ grows, He is obedient to Mary and His foster father, Joseph. All three members of the Holy Family have much to teach each of us, single, married, young or old. As we celebrate Christmas and celebrations of the Mother of God, and Epiphany. If we think we are rushed, with our activities, at least we do not have to flee to a foreign country with soldiers seeking to take our lives.

CHRISTMAS FLOWERS

If you wish to donate to the Christmas Flowers for the Cathedral in memory of Loved ones, send a list to the parish office of those you wish to remember along with your donation in an envelope marked Christmas Flowers.

YOUTH ACTIVITIES

There will be no Children's Liturgy of the Word, Confirmation sessions or Parish School of Religion classes on Sunday, Dec. 25th or Sunday, Jan 1st. CLOW, Confirmation and PSR will resume on Jan 8th, 2023 A new semester of Parish School of Religion will begin on Sunday, Jan 8th. Classes are held in the school on Sunday mornings at 10:00 AM. If you have not registered your child for any reason, the beginning of a new semester is a perfect opportunity to come. Classes are open to children in K-8th grade. We also offer opportunities for children who may have not been attending in the past few years. Please contact the parish office or email ibounds@stacathedral.org.

END OF THE YEAR GIVING

Almost half of all charitable giving is made during the last two months of the year. It is a time to give thanks for the blessings we’ve received. It is also a time to review finances and do tax planning. Consider a gift to St. Agnes Cathedral Parish Hall Building Fund as part of your year end planning. To make a gift please visit our website by using the QR code above or by calling 417-831-3565 Ext 110. Thank you and may God Bless you with a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

From the Pastor’s Desk:

This year due to the calendar with December 25 falling on the fourth Sunday of December we have four full weeks of Advent. The longest of the Advent seasons. Please do not wait to prepare spiritually. Advent is to be a time of waiting, longing, a time to pray. The Christmas Novena which we will begin on December 17th will help make this a prayerful and spiritual end to the hectic season of preparation. With all the preparations that many families or individuals do to get ready for the celebration of Christmas, it becomes tempting to become “too busy” to pray or go to Mass. Going to Mass is a major part of preparing for Jesus’ arrival at Christmas. As we attend those parties, run those Christmas errands, perhaps plan for extra holiday travel, bake those cookies, decorate the house, send the Christmas cards, I hope you take the time to pray and attend Mass. The greatest prayer we can pray is the celebration of the Eucharist. It is this special time when God come to us to give us His strength, courage and grace to meet the world and all our problems head on. Human life is a promise by our creator God, that one day He would send a Messiah. We were/are created in His image and likeness and the Messiah would come and show us the way to God the Father. That event occurred in human history when Jesus was born thirteen centuries after Moses led the chosen people of Israel out of Egypt, one thousand years from the anointing of David as King over Israel, in the seven hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome. As the Christmas Proclamation states (which I sing at the blessing of the manger during the 11:00 pm Christmas Eve Mass) in the forty-second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus; the whole world being at peace, Jesus Christ, eternal God and Son of the eternal Father, desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, and nine months having passed since his conception, was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary. All of this comes into the realm of prophecy. That is part of the “spiritual” need of Advent, to take a studied look into one thousand years of what the prophets said would occur concerning the coming of the Messiah. We need Advent with all of its’ hectic activity to also be one of preparing for the time when according to prophecy, the Son of God will return once again. Then the Advent season is followed by the Christmas Season in which we celebrate what had been proclaimed. CHRISTMAS RECTORY OPEN HOUSE DATES : 12–16, 12-17, 12-18, 12-19 at 7:30 pm following the Christmas Novena. Join us for the novena in the Cathedral then come for cookies, punch and a tour of the 45 Christmas trees and decorations from all over the world!

END OF THE YEAR GIVING

Almost half of all charitable giving is made during the last two months of the year. It is a time to give thanks for the blessings we’ve received. It is also a time to review finances and do tax planning. Consider a gift to St. Agnes Cathedral Parish Hall Building Fund as part of your year end planning. To make a gift please visit our website by using the QR code above or by calling 417-831-3565 Ext 110. Thank you and may God Bless you with a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

YOUTH ADVENT PROJECT

Our PSR program will be collecting rain ponchos during the Advent season. These will be shared with area homeless shelters such as Grace Methodist and Sacred Heart Catholic Church. These simple ponchos are easy to carry and inexpensive. They can be found at local retail outlets for around $1.25. They are great to help keep people dry and coats from getting wet. Anyone is welcome to contribute and these ponchos can be brought to the parish office. Please contact Iris if you have additional questions.

ADVENT PROJECT 2022

ADVENT PROJECT 2022 Once again this year you will see Advent symbols in baskets near the doors of church. On the back of each symbol is a suggested item that you can purchase. These UNWRAPPED items are given to the homeless men and women or poor and/or foster children through Sammy”s Window, and Grace United Methodist church. If you go shopping before Advent or just plain forget to pick up a symbol, just purchase any of the following and bring it to the office for me to distribute: books and toys/stuffed animals for children, or clothes of any size for children or adults including stocking caps, gloves, scarves, flannel shirts, underwear and socks of ANY SIZE, hoodies, etc. St Agnes has always been able to help a lot of people this way. PLEASE BRING THESE ITEMS TO THE PARISH OFFICE BETWEEN 9-4 ON WEEKDAYS IF POSSIBLE. Thank you for your generosity in the past.

From the Pastor’s Desk:

This weekend beginning on the evening of December 17th we begin our Christmas Novena here at St. Agnes Cathedral. It is a beautiful tradition which many people do not even think about or enjoy.  The Christmas Novena which we celebrate comes to us from the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood in O’Fallon Missouri.  It is built around the O Antiphons.  Their main theme is messianic, stressing the hope of the Savior’s coming.  Within them Jesus is proclaimed by various titles, mainly taken from the prophet Isaiah.  Each O Antiphon begins with an invocation of the expected Messiah, followed by praise of him under one of his particular titles.  Each ends with a petition for God’s people, corresponding to the title by which he is addressed in the Antiphon.

On December 17th, Wisdom from the Most High:  O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care.  Come and show your people the way to salvation.

On December 18th, Ruler of House of Israel:  the Lord will be there with us, majestic, our judge, the Lord our lawgiver, the Lord our King, he it is who will save us.

On December 19th, Root of Jesse:  remember that Jesse was the father of King David, and the prophet Micah had prophesied that the Messiah would be of the house and lineage of David and be born in David’s city, Bethlehem.

On December 20th, Key of David: O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of Heaven, leading the captive people into freedom and He will rule forever.

On December 21st, Rising Dawn and Dayspring: for the people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.

On December 22nd, King of the Gentiles:  a King of all the nations, and He shall judge between the nations and impose His justice and terms on all peoples.

On December23rd, Emmanuel:  the King and lawgiver, the desire of the nations and Savior of all peoples.  The title itself means, “God is with us.”

Many people have asked me, “Are not novenas normally nine days?”  The Christmas Novena continues at the Christmas Eve Mass when I sing the Christmas Proclamation and concludes on Christmas Day with Mass and the Gospel of Jesus’ Birth from John’s account.

I invite everyone this year to share in this beautiful Advent tradition leading up to the celebration of our Lord’s birth on Christmas.  Let the Christmas Novena help make this a truly spiritual time.

A reminder that St. Agnes Penance Service is this coming Tuesday, December 13 at 7 pm.  Come and celebrate the healing love and forgiveness of God.

Knights of Columbus Breakfast

Parish Breakfast - Your Knights of Columbus is sponsoring their monthly breakfast for December next Sunday the 18th after the 8:00 AM Mass.  Come join us for French toast and various side items.  See you there!

ADVENT PROJECT 2022

Once again this year you will see Advent symbols in baskets near the doors of church.  On the back of each symbol is a suggested item that you can purchase. These  UNWRAPPED  items are given to the homeless men and women or poor and/or foster children through Sammy”s Window, and Grace United Methodist church.    If you go shopping before Advent or just plain forget to pick up a symbol, just purchase any of the following and bring it to the office for me to distribute:  books and toys/stuffed animals for children,  or clothes of any size for children or adults including  stocking caps, gloves, scarves, flannel shirts, underwear and socks of ANY SIZE, hoodies, etc.  St Agnes has always been able to help a lot of people this way.

PLEASE BRING THESE ITEMS TO THE PARISH OFFICE BETWEEN 9-4 ON WEEKDAYS IF POSSIBLE.    Thank you for your generosity in the past.

END OF THE YEAR GIVING

Almost half of all charitable giving is made during the last two months of the year. It is a time to give thanks for the blessings we’ve received. It is also a time to review finances and do tax planning. Consider a gift to St. Agnes Cathedral Parish Hall Building Fund as part of your year end planning. To make a gift please visit our website by using the QR code above or by calling 417-831-3565 Ext 110. Thank you and may God Bless you with a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

From the Pastor’s Desk::

Each year I include the following paragraph in my Thanksgiving letter in the bulletin, because we need to be reminded of where and why we celebrate Thanksgiving.  It’s not about turkeys and Native Americans, but was to give thanks during a sad time in our history.

In 1941, the “Thanksgiving Day” was officially set by the United States government on the fourth Thursday in November.  All of the early Thanksgiving celebrations had one thing in common; the celebrations were always directed toward God.  It did not matter how good or bad the times were, the people knew God was their creator and provider and that all good things ultimately came from Him.  As the United States celebrates Thanksgiving this week, the secular holiday has nothing to do with our Catholic faith, but at the same time it has everything to do with our faith.  Each time we gather around the Eucharistic table we are giving thanks to our God who sent His Son to suffer and die for us, that we might have eternal life.

The Catechism reminds us that “Believing in God, the only One, and loving him with all our being has enormous consequences for our whole life,” and then it adds that this involves, “living in thanksgiving: if God is the only One, everything we are and have comes from Him: “What have you that you did not receive?”  “What shall I render to the Lord for all his bounty to me?”

Each family has their own traditions, their own way of celebrating; birthdays, weddings, the different sacraments, the holidays of Fourth of July, Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving.  I encourage that your family include God in every holiday.

This coming week as we celebrate with family and friends, let us not forget that the whole reason for the day, is to GIVE THANKS TO GOD. If you are here in the Springfield area, come to church Thanksgiving morning at 8:30 for our Thanksgiving Day Mass, and give thanks to God for all that He has given you/us. 

This year we have no break between Thanksgiving and the first week of Advent.  The first Sunday of Advent and the 4 week count down to the birth of Christ begins immediately.  Enjoy and give thanks, first of all to God for all that He has given you/us this year, and then make the time to spiritually as well as physically get ready for the birth of Christ by walking through the Advent Season.

AN INVITATION ALL TO THE LADIES OF THE PARISH

All ladies of all ages are invited to the PCCW Christmas party which will be held on December 6 from 6:30 to 8:30.  Food and drinks will be provided.  We'll have dinner, then a gift exchange (around $5 for whatever you bring and be aware--someone might steal your gift pick right from under your nose!), and sing a few Christmas carols.  Sounds like fun!  

Hope to see many of you that evening.  We would like for you to call the parish office if you are planning to attend so we know how much food we'll need.  BUT if you forget or decide at the last minute, don't let the fact that you didn't call stop you from coming.  Everyone (meaning ladies) is welcome!