Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Springfield, IL
As we start to prepare for the fall What’s for Dinner program, we need your help! The What’s for Dinner program meets the first Thursday of the month. If you are able to provide childcare during the program, please contact the Parish Offices. We want to continue providing an evening of family formation for the Parish!
Have some news you would like to share? Please email Katie Price at [email protected].
It gives me great joy to welcome Father Michael Friedel to the Cathedral Parish this weekend! Father Friedel (pronounced FREE-dull) was ordained with Father Stock in May of 2017 and returned to Rome to finish advanced studies in biblical theology. He completed those studies the last week of June, returned from Rome and, after a few days with his family, arrived at the Cathedral last Sunday evening and has spent the past week getting settled.
Father Friedel grew up in Rosewood Heights (East Alton) and was a member of St. Kevin Parish which was eventually merged with St. Bernard Parish in Wood River to become Holy Angels Parish; it was there that I first met the young Michael Friedel when I was pastor from 2005-2007. He is graduate of Marquette High School in Alton and the University of Illinois at Urbana. From the U of I, Father Friedel entered seminary formation at Mundelein Seminary in the Archdiocese of Chicago, spending two years there for his philosophy studies before being sent to the Pontifical North American College in Rome for his theological training. Please join me in welcoming Father Friedel to the Cathedral Parish!
For the past several weeks there has been a lot of activity in our school building with cleaning and moving. Preparations are also being made for the CCCW’s annual garage sale the first weekend of August. Moving forward, the plan is to eventually move the parish offices to the first floor of the school building. The fact is that the building must be used. It is in very good condition but it is 90 years old and we need to be using it to keep it that way.
Moving – Slogan on Cardboard Box on Hand Truck White Background.
The current location of the offices in the rectory has become problematic because we have run out of office and storage space, which was never abundant, and the rectory, because of its age, is not accessible while the school building is accessible. The second floor of the school building will eventually be given over to diocesan use as a center for the diocese’s Discipleship and Stewardship initiatives. This transition will take some time with planning needing to be done as to how some minor re-configuring is to be made for the offices. I will keep you informed as the project progresses.
Finally, I hope that your summer is going well and that it is affording you some leisure time. It is hard for me to believe that we are already well into July, but time never stops. Let us be continually mindful of the goodness of God and his blessings as we move through these summer months and always. God bless you and yours!
Father Christopher House is the Rector-Pastor of the Cathedral and serves in various leadership roles within the diocesan curia, specifically Chancellor and Vicar Judicial.
The image of a mustard seed was something very familiar to those living in the Holy Land 2,000 years ago. The mustard seed was symbolic for the smallest of things. The Lord Jesus teaches us in this Sunday’s Gospel to be cautious in underestimating something simply by its initial appearance.
A mustard seed yields a mighty tree, an image not unique to this Sunday’s Gospel. A strong tree was symbolic in ancient times, including in the Old Testament, of various empires on the earth. From this Sunday’s Gospel, the mustard tree becomes a symbol for the Church, singular in her beginning yet growing large and strong to the point that others some and dwell in her shade and strength. Two millennia ago, the religious and secular authorities thought nothing more of Jesus after he was crucified, but his life, death, and resurrection became the singular see from which the Church came forth. The world did not think much of the early Church either. Today, the Church draws all people to herself as the source and fount of God’s grace in the world.
The Church is both a static and active reality.
We are the living stones that make up the Church. We must make the active choice to advance her agenda of the Gospel, given to her by our Lord.
The mustard seed may seem insignificant to many, not getting a second thought, but locked within is so much potential. The same is true with us. To the world we may seem insignificant or unremarkable, but not to God. God knows the potential that lies within each and every human life; the power and possibility to change the world by simply being the men and women that he has called each of us to be, to use the gifts and talents given by him to build up the Kingdom here and now.
Before the parable of the mustard seed, we were presented with the parable of the farmer who scatters the seed but knows that the rest is not up to him. Jesus is reminding us that we must rely on God’s grace. The farmer cannot make the seed grow on his own. He does his part in sowing the seed but nature does the rest; so it is with our discipleship. We are called to do what we can with what God has gifted us and to allow God to do the rest; this demands trust. Trusting in the gifts and talents that God has given us, trusting that he will do his part, and trusting that, in the end, all things will work for his purposes.
Use your God-given gifts for his glory and for the good of your fellow sisters and brothers. If each of us would simply do our individual part in God’s grand design then we would find the world set ablaze with his grace, his love, and his mercy. God bless you!
Father Christopher House is the Rector-Pastor of the Cathedral and serves in various leadership roles within the diocesan curia, specifically Chancellor and Vicar Judicial.
Stewardship of Time
This summer try adding a Mass Journal into your routine. Draw from the Readings or the homily and take time to write and reflect how God is speaking to you each Sunday.
Stewardship of Talent
Thank you to our ministry volunteers who celebrated with us last Thursday evening. Please pray for them!
Stewardship of Treasure- June 2nd & 3rd
Envelopes: $4,817.00
Loose: $4,376.31
Maintenance: $170.00
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TOTAL: $9,363.31
Needed to operate weekly: $15,907.89
Difference: $6,544.58
May EFT: $18,261.10
As you have noticed, the summer edition of the Weekly is going to be a bit lighter. We have done this to save on costs, but will maintain a vibrant E-news weekly and social media presence to provide additional faith formative resources and articles. We will resume the larger Weekly this fall.
1968 Cathedral Class Reunion (50th Reunion) on June 23rd, 2018 in the School Hall, following the 4pm Mass. We look forward to hosting and it is handicap accessible. No need to RSVP, just show up!
Have some news you would like to share? Please email Katie Price at [email protected].
We are hosting a Cathedral Parish Ministry Volunteer Appreciation Reception on June 14th at 6:30PM in the Cathedral Atrium. If you are a part of a Cathedral Ministry you are invited and we hope you will attend! If you are able to join us, please R.S.V.P. by June 8th to [email protected] or by calling the Cathedral Offices at 522-3342.
Dominic is a seminarian for our diocese in formation at Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis. Dominic will be entering his third year of theology studies and will be ordained a deacon next spring. We are happy to welcome Dominic to the Cathedral Parish for the summer!
This weekend we celebrate the feast formally titled the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, but popularly known as Corpus Christi. Every time the Church gathers to celebrate the Mass, the Eucharist, which is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord, is at the center of our worship. We must avoid the danger of growing lax in our reverence and awe due to our familiarity with this great and wonderful sacrament, which is one reason why the Church dedicates a particular day of solemnity to focus solely on this mystery. The Eucharist is the life source of the Church, the ultimate manifestation of Christ’s presence among us, and it has been the strength of the faithful for the Church’s entire history. It is not a sign or symbol, because a sign or symbol points to another reality. It is itself a reality because the Holy Spirit changes the humble gifts of bread and wine that we offer into the real presence of Jesus.
Two years ago at Father Braden’s first Mass, the rector of Saint Meinrad Seminary preached and in his homily he recounted a wonderful story told by the 20th century American Catholic writer Flannery O’Connor. In a letter, Flannery recounted that she was invited to a dinner party and how she felt out of place in a group of “intellectuals.” She goes on to say that she said nothing all night until the conversation turned to the Church and the Eucharist and that her hostess talked about that, even though she had left the practice of the faith, she still thought that the Eucharist was a wonderful “symbol.” Having heard enough, Flannery stated: I then said, in a very shaky voice, ‘Well, if it’s a symbol, to hell with it.’ That was all the defense I was capable of but I realize now that this is all I will ever be able to say about it, outside of a story, except that it is the center of existence for me; all the rest of life is expendable.
May we have the same grace that Flannery O’Connor did to recognize just how vital the Eucharist is for us. The Eucharist has been the strength of martyrs, it has comforted the faithful over the centuries in the face of adversity, it is the source and summit of our life of faith, and the remedy for our mortality that will lead us to everlasting life.
Father Christopher House is the Rector-Pastor of the Cathedral and serves in various leadership roles within the diocesan curia, specifically Chancellor and Vicar Judicial.
Stewardship of Time & Talent
Summer plans can mean lower Mass attendance, which leads to a greater need for volunteer and financial support. Please consider stewarding your talents in Liturgical Ministry this summer or sharing an extra gift toward the offertory during these summer months.
Stewardship of Treasure- May 19th & 20th
Envelopes: $5,113.00
Loose: $3,649.00
Maintenance: $1,434.00
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TOTAL: $10,196.00
Needed to operate weekly: $15,907.89
Difference: $6,864.67
Stewardship of Treasure- May 26th & 27th
Envelopes: $5,335.00
Loose: $2,281.35
Maintenance: $70.00
__________________________
TOTAL: $7,686.35
Needed to operate weekly: $15,907.89
Difference: $8,221.54
April EFT: $18,486.10
We want to extend a big Thank You to the Cathedral Council of Catholic Women who have generously supported the new Alpha series (launching June 20th) with a donation of their resources, time and talents! We would not be able to host this program without these amazing women! Thank you ladies!
We are looking for childcare volunteers for the What’s for Dinner program! If you are willing and available the first Thursday of most months, please let us know. Please contact the Parish Offices if you would like to volunteer. We would love to continue providing an evening of family formation for our Parish! The next What’s For Dinner is Thursday, June 7th. We will be hosted by the Knights of Columbus and Deacon Larry will be leading us in faith formation.
Have some news you would like to share? Please email Katie Price at [email protected].