The other day I was asked to teach students about stewardship at one of our local Catholic schools. To get us started, I turned to the students to teach me something first. Have you heard about this “floss” dance? The “floss” is a new dance that has swept the social media networks and shows a person moving side to side with their arms moving in a similar fashion back and forth. At first glance, it looks easy, but don’t be fooled! In fact, the dance takes great coordination, which at one point in my life I probably had! When I asked for volunteers to help me with “the floss,” the kids were jumping out of their seats. I am not sure which was more appealing, the attention of doing the “floss” in front of their peers or showing “Church-lady Katie,” an adult, how to “floss.” Both probably sounded equally ridiculous and funny, which is perfect for a child! Once the students approached and I incredibly embarrassed my poor daughter in the audience, the laughter was contagious and we were “flossing!” Well, I was attempting, I wouldn’t say successfully.

As the students took their seats again and the laughter turned into “shhh” from the teachers, we regrouped and I asked if they could tell me what any of that had to do with stewardship. As you are reading this, you are probably wondering the same thing! The students responded with some great answers, “It’s fun,” “We did it together,” “We volunteered.” I asked them if they felt joy or laughed. All responded, nodding their heads. Then I said, “Perfect, that is the beginning of stewardship, acknowledging the gifts we receive.” Acknowledging that gifts are not just tangible, but often the grace filled moments of laughter, friendship, joy, and happiness.

Living a stewardship way of life is being intentional about prayer, service, and giving. But stewardship is not just sacrifice, it is acknowledging the many gifts around us. Because of the good stewards in the pews, we have many gifts at the Cathedral. The sacred space is maintained and beautiful. The ministries and formation programs are welcoming and plentiful. We celebrate daily Mass and have beautiful music ministry volunteers to enhance the Sunday Liturgies. We are grateful for the committed volunteers who serve the Alpha guests. We are truly blessed at the Cathedral and it is because of the stewards in the pews. Are you one of them? If so, thank you! If not, consider joining us in a stewardship way of life. Start by acknowledging the gifts in your life, spending time in thankful prayer to the Lord and giving the Cathedral your time and talents. Stewardship is the act of acknowledging these gifts and sharing them with others. It is the activity of the disciples and we are each called to respond!

Katie Price is the Coordinator for Stewardship at the Cathedral and within the Diocese of Springfield. She can be reached at the Parish Offices or at [email protected].

You may have seen me serving the 5:15 daily mass at Cathedral. No, I’m not a seminarian, and yes I’m a working young adult. So, why do I serve? I moved to Springfield five years ago after graduating college. As I journeyed out into the “real world” I knew I wanted to continue the practice that I developed right after graduating college of attending daily mass. I started to go the 5:15 mass at Cathedral and after about a year of attending, Fr. Seth Brown contacted me and asked if I would be interested in serving daily mass there. Somehow growing up I was able to wiggle out of altar serving all together (unlike my two brothers). I decided to give it a shot however when Fr. Seth Brown asked and quickly grew to love donating my time to serving the holy sacrifice of the mass. Serving has given me a greater appreciation for the mass and helped me grow into a deeper relationship with our Lord. It allows me to give back to the Lord for all the blessings and love He has shown me. Being involved in the mass in a different way has also helped in my own discernment in both big and little life decisions. If you have the slightest interest in altar serving (no matter how young or old you may be) I encourage you to give it a shot. I think you’ll be surprised of the graces you will receive from your service to the Church.

-Nicholas Gray, Parishioner and Altar Server

The Mass is without a doubt one of the most privileged moments in the life of a Christian. It is there that we hear the Word of God proclaimed once again among the community of the faithful. It is there that we gather as a community around the altar of sacrifice, offering ourselves and our intentions and uniting them to the one true sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. It is there that we receive His very Body and Blood—the “source and summit of the Christian life”—which makes us united to God and to each other, giving us the strength and grace to live our mission as disciples in the world.

In the reforms to the liturgy called for by the Second Vatican Council, the council fathers explicitly stated that their aim was to consider before all else the “full and active participation by all the people.” It’s a phrase which has been oft-misunderstood in the fifty years since the close of the council. But primarily, this “full and active participation” consists of every individual offering their entire selves in the Mass—by engaging themselves in the Mass in every aspect: praying with the priest, singing, and, where appropriate, serving the liturgy through various roles.

One of those ministries of service—and a privileged one at that—is altar serving. An altar server is entrusted with serving the priest in the act of sacrifice. This entails holding the book during the various prayers offered by the priest, helping to prepare the altar, receiving the offertory gifts alongside the priest or deacon, and carrying the cross, incense, or candles during the processions into and out of the Church. But more than the mere responsibilities of the altar server, the role is privileged because of its proximity and importance to the Mass. Altar servers have a unique opportunity to serve directly the Body and Blood of Christ, to be present in the sanctuary for the sacrifice of Calvary, and to aid the priest as alter Christus (an “other Christ”).

Our Cathedral parish has a faithful corps of men and women, girls and boys who assist the priests and deacons at the altar, and for that we are all very grateful. Nevertheless, we invite anyone who has considered this ministry in the past or who is currently interested to come forward and join our team. This new year of God’s grace is a perfect opportunity to offer your full and active participation in the liturgy by joining this ministry—or any of our other opportunities to sing, pray, and serve.

Please RSVP for training! New and returning altar servers should attend!

A training for all youth servers (5th grade and older, current and new) will occur on Monday, January 21 at 11 am, with a pizza party to follow. Parents are invited as well! Training for all adult servers (weekday and weekend, new and experienced) will occur on Wednesday, January 23 at 6 pm, with a dinner hosted in the Cathedral rectory (TBD) to follow.

For interest and to RSVP to the training, please contact Fr. Friedel at 522-3342 or email Vicki Compton at [email protected].

My first experience with Eucharistic Adoration occurred in sixth grade at my Catholic elementary school when my homeroom teacher took my entire class to the church to pray in silence in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. If you’re thinking it was difficult for 35 12- year-olds to sit still and pray in silence for an hour, then you’d be right. We squirmed and fidgeted and poked our neighbors to avoid giving our undivided attention to the Lord. Our behavior earned a mild scolding from our soft-spoken teacher, who reminded us of Jesus’ own words in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before he was crucified: “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?”

After that, I didn’t go to Adoration again for many years. First, there was the challenge of carving out an hour in the middle of the week to get there, when so many other activities and errands felt more pressing. Secondly, I was worried that Adoration might only be for super holy people — ones who spend time with God in perfect, prayerful contentment. My mind is full of worldly concerns and distractions, so maybe Adoration wasn’t for me. Finally, my inner, fidgety sixth grader was concerned Adoration might be, well, boring. I assumed a Holy Hour would look like waiting for a big revelation from God and hearing nothing but crickets.

After moving to Colorado, though, I discovered that my new parish had a perpetual Adoration chapel, which meant I could sit with the Blessed Sacrament at any time of the day or night. And despite my years of doubts, I somehow found myself wanting to try again. Here are some things I that helped me commit to a weekly Adoration practice:

It’s not all about me

Like Mass, Adoration isn’t necessarily about what we will get out of it. True, the graces dispensed by God help us grow in holiness, but the primary purpose of Adoration is right there in the name of the act: to adore the One present to us in the Eucharist.

Just be

Remember that you don’t actually have to do anything. The Catholic faith recognizes that the greatest gift God gives us is himself, and Adoration is another way for us to recognize that gift outside of receiving the Eucharist at Mass. So, don’t overthink it. Just receive the gift.

Pray (with a little help)

If it’s been awhile since you’ve entered the Adoration chapel and you’ re wor r ied you might be a l i t t le bored ( that ’s understandable!), or you have no idea where to start (it’s okay!), I’ll offer the following suggestions:

• Pray the rosary. To contemplate the mysteries of Jesus’ life in the rosary is to contemplate the mystery of the Eucharist given to us and the Blessed Sacrament we praise in Adoration. So, pairing these prayers is a great habit to get into.
• Write in your prayer journal. Writing in a prayer journal is a great way of making your relationship with God seem more tangible, since we’re getting the words out of our heads and onto the paper. Think of the practice as writing a letter to God. Take all your worries of the day and lay them down during Adoration. Or write to him about everything that’s going well in your life right now.
• Listen to music. Music can be an extremely effective way to focus our thoughts on God. Just make sure you have headphones that will keep everyone else in your vicinity from hearing your music if they’d rather spend their time in meditative prayer. I usually find that slow, reflective melodies work best for this environment — anything by Audrey Assad usually does the trick for me.
• Read. While Adoration isn’t really the time to break out that thriller you’ve been working your way through, it is a great opportunity to pull out a book by one of the saints (such as “The Diar y of St . Faus t ina, ” St . Franc i s De Sales’ “Introduction to the Devout Life,” or St. Thérèse’s autobiography “The Story of a Soul.” Or prayerfully consider a few lines of the Catechism. You may also choose to read a set of devotional essays like Caryll Houselander’s “The Reed of God,” which is full of meditations on Mary. And of course, don’t forget the Bible!

You don’t have to sit still during your Holy Hour in order to make it count. It’s okay for it to be a natural extension of the rest of your prayer life. So, if there’s something that really helps you focus your prayer, bring it to Adoration. Most of all, remember to receive the gift of Christ in the Eucharist and just be present to God.

Sarah Zentner is a freelance writer and graduate student of literature at Colorado State University, who believes the written word can be an extraordinary place to encounter the grace and goodness of God. When she’s not ensconced in her studies, you can find her enjoying a steaming mug of tea, engaging in great conversation, or daydreaming about her next trip abroad. You can learn more about her at www.sarahzentner.com.

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Cathedral will be offering Adoration on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4PM to 5PM starting on Feb. 5th. We will have more information in the next coming weeks. If you are interested in participating, please contact Vicki Compton at [email protected].

The time has come for us to move beyond the manger; for white and gold to give way to green. This Sunday we come to the end of the Church’s celebration of Christmas with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and we prepare to enter into the liturgical season of Ordinary Time. This feast jumps us about thirty years forward in the Lord’s earthly life and is understood as the event that inaugurates his public ministry. The Scriptures that the Church has chosen for this feast bring us full circle from where our pre- Christmas journey began in Advent, to Christmas Day, and now to the end of this holy season.

Some six weeks ago we began our Advent journey and over the course of that journey we heard those familiar words of the Prophet Isaiah that are proclaimed to us again this Sunday. The second reading for this feast, from the letter of Titus, is the same second reading that was proclaimed at the Mass at Night on Christmas. We might say that in today’s feast we are given a recap of what has already been revealed and proclaimed: that God has heard the cry of his people and has responded to that cry in the coming of Christ his son. What was already made known to Mary & Joseph, the Shepherds, Simeon & Anna, and the Magi is made known to a wider audience by the Spirit at the Jordan River when the voice of God proclaims of Jesus “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Today’s feast is a continuation of last week’s celebration of the Epiphany because Christ is once again made known for who is; his identity is not a secret as it is revealed by the Father and his purpose as revealed in the preaching of John. As with the Magi so now at the Jordan, God continues to make known through Jesus that his life and love are open to all people who will receive him and all who receive him belong to him.

Now that we have celebrated the coming of Jesus at the beginning of the Church year, we are now prepared for the unfolding of another great mystery; the mystery that is life in Christ and what that means for us as his disciples as the events of his passion, death, resurrection, and overall ministry are recounted for us over the rest of the Church year. This mystery of life in Christ is what we are called to contemplate and celebrate each day and in every season. We have been called and chosen to be children of God, not because of any merit of ours but because of God’s great love for us; because of this we should in turn see our lives as something extraordinary.

Luke’s Gospel for today’s feast tells us that “the people were filled with expectation.” May it be the same for us. ay expectation of the good things that God wants to do for us each day be the fruit of our faithful discipleship. May we carry the light and joy of Christmas with us throughout the year and as this liturgical season of Christmas gives way now to Ordinary Time may we remember that, because of Jesus, there is nothing ordinary about who we are because we belong to him.

Father Christopher House is the Rector of the Cathedral and serves in various leadership roles within the diocesan curia, namely Chancellor and Vicar Judicial.

Catholics have different strategies for putting Christmas decorations away, but it is always a bittersweet day.
Some choose the Octave Day of Christmas, January 1. Some choose the 12th day of Christmas, the eve of the Epiphany, or January 6, the feast of the Epiphany.

Others wait all the way until the last feast of the infancy of Christ — the Presentation, February 2.
As our house returns to normal — for us on the last day of the liturgical Christmas Season, the feast of the Baptism of Christ (January 13 this year) — we pray this prayer. I have printed it out and hung it on the attic door as a reminder all year long.

Prayer for Putting Away Christmas Decorations

Lord Jesus, today we have put all of our Christmas decorations away. We are entering into Ordinary Time, and our house looks “ordinary” again, too.

But Lord, you know and we know that our house has a secret. Deep inside it, all of our Christmas decorations are still here. The blessing of Christmas is always with us, kept in the deep, quiet places of the house.

And Lord, our lives will become ordinary again, too, but you know that each of us has the grace of baptism. The grace you gave us is always with us, in the deep, quiet places of our soul.

May we live the grace of Christmas every day, only without all the trappings: May we always give generously, receive gifts gratefully, welcome others, and study your life.

Make our house be a home with Christmas at its core, and our souls a home where Jesus always dwells.

Amen.

 This article is written by Tom Hoopes and originally appeared on January 6, 2019 in Aleteia. (https://aleteia.org/2019/01/06/prayer-for-putting-away-christmas-decorations/)

The Mass is without a doubt one of the most privileged moments in the life of a Christian. It is there that we hear the Word of God proclaimed once again among the community of the faithful. It is there that we gather as a community around the altar of sacrifice, offering ourselves and our intentions and uniting them to the one true sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. It is there that we receive His very Body and Blood—the “source and summit of the Christian life”—which makes us united to God and to each other, giving us the strength and grace to live our mission as disciples in the world.

In the reforms to the liturgy called for by the Second Vatican Council, the council fathers explicitly stated that their aim was to consider before all else the “full and active participation by all the people.” It’s a phrase which has been oft-misunderstood in the fifty years since the close of the council. But primarily, this “full and active participation” consists of every individual offering their entire selves in the Mass—by engaging themselves in the Mass in every aspect: praying with the priest, singing, and, where appropriate, serving the liturgy through various roles.

One of those ministries of service—and a privileged one at that—is altar serving. An altar server is entrusted with serving the priest in the act of sacrifice. This entails holding the book during the various prayers offered by the priest, helping to prepare the altar, receiving the offertory gifts alongside the priest or deacon, and carrying the cross, incense, or candles during the processions into and out of the Church. But more than the mere responsibilities of the altar server, the role is privileged because of its proximity and importance to the Mass. Altar servers have a unique opportunity to serve directly the Body and Blood of Christ, to be present in the sanctuary for the sacrifice of Calvary, and to aid the priest as alter Christus (an “other Christ”).

Our Cathedral parish has a faithful corps of men and women, girls and boys who assist the priests and deacons at the altar, and for that we are all very grateful. Nevertheless, we invite anyone who has considered this ministry in the past or who is currently interested to come forward and join our team. This new year of God’s grace is a perfect opportunity to offer your full and active participation in the liturgy by joining this ministry— or any of our other opportunities to sing, pray, and serve.

Fr. Michael Friedel is a Parochial Vicar at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

The most influential chapter of any book I have ever read has to be the one entitled “The hour that makes my day” in the autobiography of Venerable Fulton Sheen, Treasure in Clay. I remember reading it over twenty-three years ago as a seminarian and being so inspired that I too resolved, from that time on, to make a holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament every day. Apart from the Mass itself, this hour of prayer remains the fulcrum of my day even still.

Recently I gave a talk to a group of promoters of Eucharistic Adoration in my diocese. These are the good folks who are involved in promoting Eucharistic adoration in parishes. During the talk, I mentioned that while it is important to encourage people to commit themselves to regularly spending a holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament, it is also important to teach and guide them how to make that holy hour. Without this deeper catechesis, we can easily become bored, begin to fidget, and lose sight of what Adoration is all about. Without the necessary spiritual direction and guidance of how to make a holy hour, we can forget that this precious time with the Lord is more about his desire to be with us than our desire to be with him. He is the one who longs for our company more than we long for him: “Could you not watch with me one hour?” (Mark 14:37). Here I offer a few guidelines of how we can make a holy hour by dividing it into three blocks of twenty minutes.

The first twenty minutes before the Lord really present in the Eucharist is a sacred time of intimacy between us and him. It is a time to just be present to our God who welcomes us and accepts us. In the words of St. John Vianney, it is a time when “I look at Him and he looks at me.” Before the Eucharist is a time when we lean on Jesus’ breast, like John did at the last supper, and allow his heart to speak to ours. This was the episcopal motto of Blessed John Henry Newman: cor ad cor loquitur (heart speaks to heart). We begin to grow in our “interior knowledge of the Lord” as we contemplate his words, his life, and his real presence before us (St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, 104). Here is the zone into which we are drawn in the first third of our holy hour, where our heart speaks to his. It is also a time when we listen to him and allow him to speak to us. This is a time when we can tell him everything about how we are and how we feel. It is a time to tell him about our day and to ask his help in ways in which we need it. Above all it is a time to thank the Lord for his presence and action in our lives and to adore him for his goodness, truth, and mercy. It is also an opportunity to present to him the things we don’t understand, our sins, failings, and the worries that burden us. In this twenty minutes of our holy hour, we bask in the light of his love that never fails us.

The second twenty minutes can be a time when we intercede for all the people we know and are part of our lives. At this stage of our prayer, we bring to the Lord all who have asked us to pray for them, our families and friends both living and dead. In this time we pray for all we have met in the past day or week, the conversations we had, the things we have said and done. Often during this time in the holy hour, some person will arise in our minds who we feel the Lord is calling us to pray for, reach out to, to contact or to visit. It is also a time to focus on what lies ahead —our next appointment, our next challenge, or perhaps a courageous conversation we need to have with someone to clear the air. In this time of prayer, our hearts are reminded that our call is to love others in Christ’s name, and that the same Lord before us in the Eucharist is the same Lord present in everyone, especially in the least of his brothers and sisters (cf. Matt 25:31ff).

The final twenty minutes can be a time when we pray for the entire human family and the whole universe. So we might pray for persecuted Christians around the world, for the victims of famine, and for an end to conflicts and wars. We might pray for the Church around the world, for the Holy Father on a foreign visit, or for all missionaries away from home. We might pray for the environment and for the care of the earth, thinking of ways to conserve more and consume less. For his beauty revealed in creation, this is a time to thank God for the sun, moon, and stars that were made through his Word present before us in the Eucharist. Finally, we can pray in this time for the peace among all nations for which Jesus lived and died—and that it might become a reality in our troubled world today.

There are many ways of praying and many ways of making a holy hour for “the Spirit blows where it wills” (John 3:8). But sometimes we need a little guidance that helps us to focus. Above is a guide for a holy hour of Adoration before the Lord, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. It starts off with his love for us but ends with a prayer that blesses God for the whole of creation. In this way we exercise our share in Christ’s priesthood that lovingly embraces every individual but extends to the entire cosmos we inhabit.

“O sacrament most holy, O sacrament divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine!”

Fr. Billy Swan is a priest of the Diocese of Ferns, Ireland. He served for four years as the Director of Seminary Formation at the Pontifical Irish College, Rome. He is currently based at St Aidan’s Cathedral, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford.

Ever since I was a kid I have had a fascination with the Magi and that fascination evolved into a religious devotion to these mysterious, sainted travelers. The Gospel of Matthew tells us little about them, and history and Tradition tell us even less. Matthew names three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh and so developed the tradition of three individuals who have been given the names of Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar.

Popularly we have called them kings and wise men; the former in an attempt to show fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and the latter being possibly more accurate. The Scriptures only give them the title of Magi, plural for mage. Another tradition says that they came representing Europe, Africa, and Asia, but that is probably not the case either. Most historians and Scripture scholars point to their origin as being from ancient Persia, modern day Iran. They were likely followers of Zoroastrianism, which in its more ancient form placed an emphasis on the study of the stars by its priests.

Matthew’s Gospel tells us that they observed “the star at its rising.” What they exactly saw we do not know. Modern day astronomers have suggested a possible supernova or an unusual alignment of planets. The fact that this may have been a natural phenomenon does not in any way diminish the fact that this sign heralded a supernatural event on earth; after all, does not creation serve its master and creator? More fascinating still is that there is evidence that this astronomical event took place within the constellation of Aries which was the Zodiac sign for Judea and would have lead the Magi to Jerusalem its capital and then on to Bethlehem following their audience with Herod.

Following the star would not have been easy. The journey from Persia to Bethlehem would have been long, difficult and fraught with danger, yet the Magi made the journey. Why? God called them.

On their hearts was placed the hope that something wonderful was waiting for them beneath that star.

While they were guided by the star’s light, it was actually faith and hope that moved them. They did not know where they were going, when the journey would end, or what they would find, but they were called and they went.

This is why the story of the Magi remains relevant for us as disciples. God is always calling to us, many times through the natural realities of our lives, beckoning us to follow the light that leads to him. The path is not always easy, sometimes we do not know where we are going, and maybe we might ask ourselves at times is the journey worth it?

The Magi did indeed find the journey worth it because in presenting their gifts to the Christ child they were given a special gift: the joy that comes from God alone.

Of course, there is a great tragedy in this story and that is Herod and his brutal decision to murder all boys in Bethlehem two years old and younger. God was calling Herod also, not through the star, but through the Magi themselves when they came asking about the new born king, but Herod was closed off to anyone but himself and was only concerned with following his own light. God was not seeking Herod’s throne or his kingdom, just his heart.

May the grace of this wonderful Solemnity of the Epiphany teach us to guard against being selfreferential and closed off, from thinking that life is all about us and that we have all the answers. May the grace of God open our eyes in faith to behold the many and varied ways that God’s light is calling to us through the challenges and difficulties of this life, to the path that ultimately will lead us to true life in Christ and the joy that he alone gives.

Father Christopher House is the Rector of the Cathedral and serves in various leadership roles within the diocesan curia, namely Chancellor and Vicar Judicial.

“The Story of the Other Wise Man” by Henry Van Dyke was first published in 1895. It tells the fictional story of Artaban, a fourth wise man who began a journey to visit Jesus, the newborn King. Unlike his fellow Magi, he failed to make it there for the birth of Jesus because he kept pausing to help various people in need. In fact, it took him about 33 years of searching before his quest comes to an abrupt end when he is hit in the head with a falling roof shingle. His final breath takes place in Jerusalem near the place where Jesus is being crucified. As he lies dying, he hears the voice of Jesus telling him that the gifts he has given all along the way to “the least of these” he has actually given to Jesus himself.

If you have never read this story or seen the made-fortelevision movie based on the tale, you really should seek it out. It is a story that reminds us of a profound truth: Jesus himself rests in the lives of all those around us in need. In the story, it was the wise man’s constant response to a stewardship call that prevented him from getting where he wanted to go. In the end, where he needed to go was more significant than where he thought he should go.

If we live lives of generosity and graciousness, we may find ourselves on constant detours from the road on which we are traveling. It is in the detours and the unexpected circumstances of our journey that often times we find our true purpose in life. We think God is somewhere we must travel to, when in reality, God is closer than we think in the least likely of places.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Tracy Earl Welliver works for Liturgical Publications, Inc. and writes on various stewardship topics. This article is used with permission.