I recently saw a meme that had great insight into the role that parents play in teaching their children. It said this: “To my children: Never make fun of me for having to help me with my phone. I taught you how to use a spoon.” The entirely of a child’s life is spent learning – how to eat, how to talk, how to be fair with siblings and friends. Parents help their kids learn by experience – the first few times using a spoon are always a disaster. But with humor and patience, everybody learns how to use a spoon. Parents are the first teachers of their children in every respect – especially when it comes to the faith. Parents are the first catechists of their children and the first ones to teach them what it means to

live in relationship with God. The unconditional love of a child’s father and mother is the first experience of God’s love in the family.

Unfortunately, many parents feel unequipped to be the first catechists of their children. Through no fault of their own, maybe they did not receive a good catechesis from their own parents or during their upbringing. However, even if there is still room to grow in knowledge of the faith, this is no excuse to abdicate this responsibility. It is never too late to learn about prayer and the teachings of the Church. Most important is the witness of faith that parents give to their children. This means prioritizing one’s relationship with God throughout the day by interspersing moments of prayer in the morning, and regularly talking about faith matters during meals and conversations. Attending Sunday Mass as a family may be the best witness that parents can give to their children. Prioritizing Sunday Mass above sporting events and other entertainment teaches children, without even using words, that keeping holy the Lord’s Day is a commandment from God meant for our own happiness and for the glory of God.

When parents help their children to grow in holiness, this is not a one-sided exchange. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains in paragraph 2227, “Children in turn contribute to the growth in holiness of their parents. Each and everyone should be generous and tireless in forgiving one another for offenses, quarrels, injustices, and neglect.” Children can also teach parents what it means to be generous and loving, usually just by being themselves! A child’s love and trust teaches us how to become like children so that we can enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3).

Father Dominic Vahling is a newly ordained priest. He serves as parochial vicar at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and as co-chaplain of Sacred Heart-Griffin High School.

Have you ever stopped to contemplate the statues around our Cathedral? One month into lockdown, as one more afternoon rolled by and the strangeness of the silent church sunk a bit deeper, I was taking the chance to slowly wander around. This time, like never before, I was struck by the statue of a mother and daughter back at the southeast corner of our church. The mother is depicted as serene, beautiful, even elegant, yet what strikes even more profoundly is her love. Her demeanor and posture radiate love and delight in her young daughter whom she gently holds close and earnestly points out some detail

written upon the scroll held in her daughter’s hands.
It is the perfect icon to begin our hearing here the stories of the saints.

Not because we know heaps about St. Anne – for the woman is St. Anne, and the young girl clasping the scroll in our statue is her child is Mary – and we know almost nothing about Anne. The Gospels do not even tell us her name, much less any historical details about her life or how she and Joachim raised Mary. We get a few anecdotes from the ancient “Gospel of James”, but otherwise we are left with the insights of a few mystics, and our own prayer, to imagine the characteristics, personality, and bearing of the woman carved into stone at the back of our Cathedral.

Nor also because I have some tremendous devotion to Anne. I spoke above of “our” hearing the stories of the saints, and I mean it! I am not an expert on the saints, nor an eloquent story-teller, nor even someone who feels their friendship keenly and constantly. Yet I want to be all of those things, and it is in learning their stories, walking in their shoes (or sandals), studying their words, and imagining them living out ordinary human lives with the extraordinary grace of God, that allows us to reach the same destiny and joy that they did.

Nor, lastly, is it because Anne is the most applicable or approachable of all the saints. She is the mother of Mary, how can any of us find camaraderie with someone of that significance?!

Yet still, this statue seems the perfect place to start because it depicts a real moment not only in Anne’s
life, but in all of ours. Anyone reading this who is a mother has told stories to their children. Probably anyone reading this has told stories to someone: a sibling, a niece, a grandchild, a friend… So did St. Anne. Yes, she was entrusted with the child who would be the mother of God. Yes, she was given a grace and dignity because of that role and call. And yet, she cared for that child the same way any mother would: she told Mary the stories of her relatives, her ancestors, her history … and so she told Mary about God.

You see, to evangelize is not nearly as hard as we make it out to be. It might just be clasping a friend on the shoulder and really showing that you care about them. It might just be telling a story to a wide-eyed little girl or boy that communicates to them the truths about who they are, about who have come before them, about who God is, and how God has been a part of those stories. It might just be staying serene when storms are on the horizon and you are caring for precious cargo. It might just be pointing out to someone a word of God that you needed one time in your life when things were crazy.

St. Anne, mother of Mary, tell us the stories of God’s grace written in human lives, just as you told those same stories to your little girl. Amen.

Father Dominic Rankin serves as the Master of Ceremonies and Priest Secretary to the Bishop and as an Associate Vocations Director for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. Father Rankin resides at the Cathedral.

Late summer / early fall is always a time of new beginnings for young people engaged in any form of study. Without a doubt, this new school year is unlike any other! Some of our students are back in school in person (though with certain modifications), others are in class virtually, while still others are in some hybrid form of education. Whatever the case may be, the common sentiment is that “the show must go on”, meaning that the pandemic cannot be a reason not to continue with something as important as education.

The same is true with the practice of our faith. While we felt the need to suspend public masses for a time, we knew that continuing along that path was not tenable. While we can be sustained for a short period with making a Spiritual Communion, doing so long-term is virtually impossible except in rare circumstances. While we know the Eucharist to be the source and summit of our lives as Catholics, we also need other ways of practicing our faith and growing in our understanding and appreciation for our faith.

With that in mind, we are trying to be more intentional here at the Cathedral in presenting all of you with ways to stay engaged and to keep moving forward, even during these challenging times. One of the ways that we hope to do that is through our Cathedral Weekly. Beginning with this issue, we will be implementing a slightly new format. We will be returning to our larger 8-page issues in order to provide some more content for all of you in your efforts to continue to grow in your faith. Each month will be dedicated to a particular theme. Those themes have been chosen to coincide with the themes we will be using this year in our Family of Faith program here at the Cathedral. The overall theme for this year is the Sacraments. In each issue, you will find content on the monthly theme with articles written by clergy and laity in the parish. We will have a weekly focus on one of the saints of the Church whose story will hopefully inspire us as we continue on our path of discipleship. Overall, it is our hope that this will be a weekly resource that continues to sustain you throughout the week.

The theme that we will be focusing on this month is The Role of Parents in Education. Even if you do not have children, or if your children are grown up and out of the house, I think you will still find the content helpful. And if it does not apply to you personally, I can bet that you know somebody to whom it does apply and you can share the content with them.

While our young people are heading back to school, let us see the opportunity that lies ahead for all of us to recommit ourselves to this lifelong task of formation in our Catholic faith. Keep your eyes and ears open for other opportunities for growth that will be available soon, both virtual and in person. As I mentioned earlier, “the show must go on”, and it is our hope that this “opening act” of introducing a new bulletin format will entice you to stay tuned in for what lies ahead.

Father Alford is the Rector of the Cathedral and serves in the diocesan curia as the Vicar for Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations

This past week we had the privilege of celebrating the feast day of a mother and her son. On Thursday, August 27, the Church celebrated the feast of St. Monica. On the following day, the Church celebrated her son, St. Augustine. St. Augustine is recognized by many as one of the greatest and most prolific writers in the nearly 2000-year history of the Church. In fact, there is a saying that if someone claims to have read all of his writings, they would be lying.

But the Church would not have a St. Augustine without a St. Monica.
And that fact is true both on a natural level (which is obvious) and on a spiritual level. You see, St. Augustine was far from a saint in his early years. His mother saw that he was living an immoral life, but she supposedly had a vision that he would come back to the faith one day. With the hope given from that vision, she dedicated herself to prayer and fasting for her son. Finally, after 17 years of prayer, St. Augustine was finally baptized in Milan by another future saint, St. Ambrose.

There is a moving passage from the Confessions of St. Augustine, his spiritual autobiography, where he recounts a conversation he had with his mother as the end of her life drew near. He records the following words from his mother:

Son, as far as I am concerned, nothing in this life now gives me any pleasure. I do not know why I am still here, since I have no further hopes in this world. I did have one reason for wanting to live a little longer: to see you become a Catholic Christian before I died. God has lavished his gifts on me in that respect, for I know that you have even renounced earthly happiness to be his servant. So what am I doing here?

One of the greatest struggles faced by parents is the sadness they experience when their children have left the practice of the faith. If you, or somebody you know, is in that situation, I encourage you to ask the intercession of St. Monica for their loved ones. Her powerful prayers on earth helped to bring about one of the most important conversions in the life of the Church. From her place in Heaven, her prayers to the Lord on our behalf are even more powerful!

St. Monica, pray for us!

Father Alford is the Rector of the Cathedral and serves in the diocesan curia as the Vicar for Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations.

A little over a year ago, our seminarian Grant Wilson and I had a conversation about the possibility of his taking a Pastoral Year in the diocese. As you may know, seminarians in formation for the priesthood for our diocese study at seminaries located outside of the diocese, limiting their ability to connect with this local Church. And while Christmas and summer breaks offer the opportunity for these men to reconnect with their home diocese, it can still be difficult to get a good idea of what it is like to serve locally for more than a month or two at a time. In Grant’s case, he had not only been outside of the diocese for the past two years, he had been outside of the country, a practice in place for seminarians studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Suffice it to say that Grant was eager to be back home for more than just a summer, and we were glad to welcome him home for a more extended time.

During the past year, Grant has invested himself in various ministries here at the Cathedral. He has been involved in the ALPHA program, GriefShare, Family of Faith, and visits to the homebound, just to mention a few. He filled in on several occasions as Master of Ceremonies for Bishop Paprocki and was a regular presence for the various Cathedral liturgies. Grant shared in the common life of the Rectory by being present for prayer, meals, and other times of recreation with the clergy of the house. Over the past few months, he and Ryan Kehoe kept busy finding things to do, even as opportunities were limited due to the pandemic restrictions.

A couple of weeks ago, as he was preparing to conclude his Pastoral Year, Grant approached me to inform me that he had prayerfully come to the decision that he planned to step away from priestly formation for the time being. On the one hand, this was sad news as he has demonstrated so many fine qualities that would serve him and the faithful well as a priest. At the same time, I know Grant is at peace with his decision, knowing that it comes after having fully invested himself over the past year. He leaves the Cathedral and seminary formation a better man, and in that sense, this is not a loss for the Church, for I have no doubt Grant will continue to put the gifts he has developed in seminary and here at the Cathedral at the service of the Church in some fashion. In the end, God’s will is being done, which is all any of us should ever hope to do, and I fully believe that Grant is being obedient to what he believes God’s will is for him at this time in his life.

As Rector and Vocation Director for the diocese, I take this opportunity to thank Grant for his time here at the Cathedral over the past year, and for the several years of seminary formation with our diocese. I know that Father House, my predecessor as Rector, echoes these sentiments. We assure Grant of our prayers in thanksgiving for what he has shared with this Cathedral Parish for the past year and we pray for many blessings upon him in whatever lies ahead.

Father Alford is the Rector of the Cathedral and serves in the diocesan curia as the Vicar for Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations.