On Sunday October 14th, the Cathedral Church will celebrate being 90 years young. While the 14th is no longer the liturgical celebration for the Cathedral’s dedication, since its dedication anew on December 2nd, 2009, we will still celebrate this important day in our parish life of faith with a concert of sacred music on Saturday evening, October 13th at 7:00PM in the Cathedral. The choirs of the Cathedral, Blessed Sacrament, Christ the King, and St. Boniface in Edwardsville have been working to provide what will surely be a wonderful evening of song and praise. I hope to see you there.
I described the Cathedral’s birthday as “90 years young” because, while the building may need some care here and there due to time, the church itself is the epicenter for many great things happening in the parish. If you have not noticed in past issues of the Cathedral Weekly, there are many things happening in our parish. The parish’s faith formation program is in full swing with weekly offerings from talks on various theological topics, to Bible and book studies, to the Forge young adult ministry, and the parish high school youth group. The Parish School of Religion program is running, as is the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. And if you are looking for service and fellowship opportunities, I invite you to check out the parish choir and other liturgical ministries, the Cathedral Council of Catholic Women, or the Father Tolton Knights of Columbus Council. If you have any questions about any of these offerings, please contact Vicki Compton at the parish office.
Each week, Katie Price drafts our publication of the Cathedral Weekly and I am very happy to share with you that Katie and her husband Darren welcomed twins this past Monday, October 1. Please join me in thanking the Lord for the gift of Anne Marie and John Eugene. I would also like to thank Katie’s brother, Chris, who is filling in for Katie for the next several weeks to help keep the Weekly coming to you.
Blessings to you and yours for the week ahead!
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 office was a large historic brick building on the south side of Peoria, nearing the downtown area. I remember thinking it was a mansion! Growing up I remember visiting the “mansion” when my mother would be at a Board meeting and I was an important “member” of the office staff. At the age of five, my first experience in “volunteering” was at the Peoria United Way “mansion” and my role included stuffing envelopes, but organizing the suckers and office candy was also a high priority for me. My mother thought it was very important to give back to her community. She brought me along to the United Way, but also to plant the initial flower beds at the Heartland Clinic in Peoria, which she was a Board Member of as well. From these experiences to many more over the years, she was example of a Christian servant and steward. I never realized at the time how much she was planting a seed within me. I am sure her demanding job and raising my brother and I kept her quite busy, but I always remember my father and mother giving back to the community in some way.
We all have unique ways in which we are called to serve. Some might find ourselves on Boards, some of us might be helping a neighbor next door, some of us might be serving at Mass. All of these are excellent examples of how to act as a disciple and answer God’s call in your life. We also should acknowledge that we are examples for each other. Just as my mom was providing an example to me, we provide examples to children around us. We also serve as examples to each other. I am sure many of you have volunteered for an event or ministry before, in which you were asked by your friends and family why you participate. Your witness story is important and you should be encouraged to share it!
Think about your favorite restaurant for a moment. Maybe it was fancy, maybe it is a local favorite, but think about that exceptional restaurant. When you think about getting the chance to go there, how does that make you feel? When you arrive, does someone greet you or do they recognize you warmly? Think about the ambiance, the feelings you get when you are seated. How does the ambiance, the smells, or the music make you feel? How about the service at the restaurant? Are the servers attentive, warm, knowledgeable, and engaging with you? Think about the tables that surround you, how are those individuals feeling? Are those people at the tables around you also sharing in the positive experience and seemingly enjoying this restaurant?
People can spend their entire lives looking for their most suitable partner. Some have an unattainable ideal in their minds that makes the search impossible. Others may choose a different partner over and over again without any real discernment, leading to a long series of breakups and heartache. Perhaps the greatest obstacle for people lies in their assumption that the most important criteria for choosing a partner is that the person they choose to love needs to be devoted to them and be faithful to them above all others. The truth is that if you want to have a suitable partner who you find yourself drawing ever closer to as the years go by, then the focus of both people involved needs to be on a much more important being than the two of you.
The book itself was inspired by actual events concerning a Lutheran boy in Silver Spring, Maryland whose family turned to the Catholic Church for help. The quest for help eventually took them to the Jesuits in St. Louis, Missouri where the boy was delivered from the power of demonic forces after a major exorcism in 1949. In the story The Exorcist there is a break in the ritual being performed by the two Jesuit priests. During this break, the younger priest, who is having a crisis of faith, asks the older priest why a twelve-year old girl; the older priest responds “to make us despair.”
The Lord gives us strong words in this Sunday’s Gospel reading from Mark: if your hand, foot, or eye are going to keep you from entering into heaven, then get rid of them. The Lord Jesus is telling us that there is nothing in this life be it material things, relationships, pleasures, behaviors, whatever that are worth risking the gift and the promise of eternal life with God in heaven. We are also warned sternly to be on guard that we do not lead anyone else into sin, because the punishment for that will be severe.
When faced with the power of sin, when tempted to lose hope because of evil in the world, let us always remember the words emblazoned under our Lord in the image of Divine Mercy: Jesus, I trust in you.
When you give of your time, you are giving unselfishly because you will never get that time back. Consider this, if you gave $5 extra to the offertory basket this weekend what are the chances that you would get that $5 back at some point? Probably high because you might get a promotion, or a monetary birthday gift, or perhaps win on a lottery card. However, when we give our time toward deepening our relationship with Him, we prioritize this unselfish gift. You will never get time back. But isn’t that time with God a worthy sacrifice? Despite our busy lives, stewardship of prayer is an act of trust. When you are worried you won’t have time to make it to Mass, make time and trust. When you are worried you won’t have time to make it to Bible Study, prioritize it and trust. When you feel overwhelmed with your calendar, prioritize your relationship with Jesus, don’t squeeze Him in.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”