Grateful Living:  The Joy of Stewardship:  There still is time to join a group or form one of your own and learn the way of stewardship through the faith formation resource, Grateful Living. The groups will meet for six sessions of an hour and a half to hear the Word of God and reflect on the Lord’s call to be a steward of God’s graces. This is the program you have been looking for to understand better the disciple’s call to live as a grateful steward. The program was designed especially for the Diocese of Jefferson City by Renew International, the same folks who brought us Disciples in Mission and Why Catholic. This is the perfect Lenten program for you.  Join others in sharing our journeys of faith to better be able to discern God’s voice amidst the cacophony of noise in the world around us. Contact Msgr. Mak at monsignor.mak@miparish.org or at the parish office number for further details.
Lent 2022:  Just in case you have missed the news, Lent began on March 2 with Ash Wednesday. Please remember that Fridays are a day of abstinence from meat. All throughout Lent we are called to more fervent prayer, more sacrificial charity, and grow in humility through acts of self-denial.  Lent also is an important time for celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Our penance service this year will be at 2:00 PM on Sunday, April 3 at the Newman Center. There will be five priests available. Regularly scheduled time for confession is at 4:30 PM each Saturday.  I will also be available for confessions on Tuesdays from 4:30 PM to 5:15 PM before the evening Mass and also from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM each Friday afternoon.
School Accreditation Review:  It was a great privilege to witness the site visit for the process of renewing our school accreditation. Mrs. Gray, school staff, and the review team did a great job preparing the self-study. The school community were marvelous hosts. I have been a part of many school reviews in previous years for many different parish schools and I can tell you that this review has been the most well-prepared I have encountered. On Friday I was part of the group who listened to the feedback of the visiting team. I know that Mrs. Gray will be sharing that response, especially as we work toward our five-year plan of action; however, I can tell you that the visitors affirmed that we are a strong, thriving school. They agree with one of the self-study’s observations—and in no way undervaluing other aspects of our community—that Mary Immaculate Catholic School is the best part of living in Kirksville!
Worship Commission:  We met for two hours on Sunday, February 27^th to review quite a few things, especially in preparation for Lent. A couple of the highlights:  The liturgy does have significant differences in Lent, noticeably the omission of the Gloria and the change of the Gospel acclamation, along with other thematic changes. To highlight the penitential aspect of Lent, we will be using the second option for the Penitential Rite, that begins with the priest saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord.” Be prepared for that. We will also sing the Greek “Kyrie” to conclude the Rite. One way to emphasize the difference of Lent is to ensure that the periods of silence as called for in the liturgy are observed more intentionally. I have requested that musicians refrain from practicing for the ten minutes before Mass so that we are more attentive to the voice of God. We will also eliminate the announcements at the beginning of Mass so that we aren’t distracted by more practical concerns at the beginning of our worship. Other clear pauses for silence will be a bit more noticeable.  For example, the pause for silence at the beginning of the Penitential Rite, for the presidential prayers, before and after each reading, after the homily, and after communion. We will also keep the verses of the songs to the accompaniment of the ritual actions and not extend them unnecessarily. And as stipulated, instrumental accompaniment will be used to support the congregational singing and not be played when there is no singing.
Stations of the Cross:  The school will celebrate the Stations during Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, concluding with Benediction, each Friday in Lent except March 11 during spring break and March 18 which is a no school day. I encourage everyone to take time on Friday to go to Church, no matter how briefly, on Fridays and make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. If you do not include Eucharistic Adoration as part of your spiritual discipline, this Lent is a great time to start. Evening Stations of the Cross will be each Friday at 7:00 PM in the Church. Various individuals and groups will be taking the lead on their celebrations. I urge each family to attend at least one Stations of the Cross together during Lent. It is the best way to get involved in the story of our salvation and prepare to celebrate the Paschal Mysteries.
Social Concerns Commission:  Lynn continues to do a wonderful job responding to the many requests for assistance. The stories she hears are reminders to all of us that the harvest is great and all of us are called to respond by engaging in the corporal works of mercy, especially in almsgiving during Lent. The Quarter Sunday collection continues to make a difference in people’s lives. The work parishioners do with the local food pantry, Life-Line pregnancy help center, the Ministry of Visitation, and simply reaching out to their neighbors and assisting them in transportation and daily household chores is a witness to the Gospel. In the coming months we will begin meetings to form a Social Concerns Commission to better coordinate our efforts and most importantly, help people to find ways to help others.
Administration Commission:  After Pat Lehr’s retirement, we have an opportunity to address those two rooms which she used so effectively for so many years. There was some work done for the bathroom back when Father Pat was pastor, but it hasn’t been updated for quite some time. For example, it still has mainly the two pronged outlets in the sockets, one of several electrical issues. The classic, old blue bathroom tile is damaged and hadn’t been repaired when the shower was taken out. There was painted paneling on the sitting room walls that wasn’t properly secured and developed cracks. The molding hadn’t been finished. I will be moving my office to those two rooms after the rehab is completed. Deacon Chris and Chris Koch will be working out of my corner office and use the sitting room between the office and the kitchen for smaller meetings. I appreciate the work that Deacon Chris and Chris did last week in emptying the religious ed office and sorting through things. And thanks to the work crew who stripped the rooms down to get them ready for the rehab. We will still have a lot of work to do in sorting through all the materials we have between all these offices and figuring out how to store what we need to keep. Thank you for your patience during this remodeling process as the parish center will be a bit noisy at times and materials will be in odd places awaiting further disposal or storage.
RCIA:  With the arrival of Lent, our parish will once again have an opportunity to support those who will be baptized or received into the Church at the Easter Vigil. The first Sunday of Lent offers the Rite of Election. The catechumens will become the elect after their names are inscribed in the Book of the Elect. It is customary for the catechumens and candidates to be presented to the Bishop at the Cathedral in Jefferson City; however circumstances have impeded our participation for this year and we will have the Rite of Election at the 11:00 AM Mass on Sunday, March 6. Three other rites will be offered for the elect and the candidates for full reception, which are the Scrutinies that will take place at the 11:00 AM Mass on the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sundays of Lent. Our catechumens this year are Matt and Sawyer Berkus, and Dawn and Hayden Howd. Our candidate for full communion is Brianna Vice, a student at Truman State. Please pray for them during the final phase of their journey into the Church.