MAY 2022
In This Issue: 2 The True Meaning of the Word “Stewardship” 3 The Month of Mary: A Time for Celebration and Joy 4 Meet Parishioner Glynne Kinard 6 The May Crowning 7 Sunday Morning Series: The Wild Goose
HOLY FAMILY CATHEDRAL MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
Our St. Francis Ministry Joyfully Caring for God’s Creation at Holy Family Cathedral
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an you remember your first visit to Holy Family Cathedral? Maybe you grew up here and have seen the church through multiple renovations, or maybe you recently moved to town and decided to join the Mother Church of the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma. Either way, first impressions can make a lasting impact, and the St. Francis Ministry intends to make sure our cathedral’s first impression is a good one for those who enter our campus. “We aim to beautify and maintain the landscaping at Holy Family Cathedral,” says Carol Lambert, ministry leader of the St. Francis Ministry. “We work with Fr. Kastl to envision a welcoming campus and then execute the plans as a group.” The St. Francis Ministry started during the 2021 Stewardship Renewal at Holy Family Cathedral. Carol, a longtime member of the Cathedral Choir, was asked to take on a leadership role in this ministry because of her affinity for gardening. “My education background is actually in horticulture,” Carol says. “But I was raised in a family that is very keen on gardening. My mother grew roses, and my father would grow wonderful veggies. I was asked to lead this ministry two weeks before I retired from work. In many ways, it was a ‘God thing.’ As I was anticipating retirement, I had prayed about being able to help out more at the church and He provided a way.” Most of the work done by this ministry happens during parish workdays with the occasional weed pulling. Last October, members attacked the weeds on the northeast corner of campus and evaluated how they could spruce up that area. Carol then worked with Fr. Kastl to plan a welcoming garden in that spot. “One of my first ideas was to add height through grasses,” Carol says. “We also planted at the spring parish workday to add color to the northeast corner. Any changes to the landscape will likely happen seasonally, but we also want to be continued on page 5 8TH STREET & BOULDER AVE • TULSA, OK 74119 • (918) 582-6247 • TULSACATHEDRAL.COM
HOLY FAMILY CATHEDRAL The True Meaning of the Word “Stewardship”
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here is a stigma attached to the word “stewardship” in some Catholic parishes, likely because many pastors and parish leaders mistakenly equate stewardship to money. But a true steward knows that couldn’t be further from the truth. Stewardship is a biblical principle that has nothing to do with money. Nineteen of the main parables of Christ relate directly to stewardship. And, in those parables when Christ speaks of stewardship, He never mentions raising money. Surprised? Stewardship simply means being grateful for all of God’s blessings. Everything we have — each breath we take on earth, the tremendous talents we possess, and our ability to earn income to sustain ourselves — all stem from God. We come into the world with nothing and we leave with nothing. Recognizing this and being grateful for our bountiful blessings is the first step of stewardship. Once these realizations fall into place, we are then eager to find a way to respond to God’s generosity and embark upon a stewardship way of life. And stewardship is just that, a way of life. It is not like a TV show to which you can tune in whenever the mood strikes and shut off when you are no longer interested. It is truly a way of living. Yet, the mere word “stewardship” has gotten a bad rap over the years — and not just by us laypeople. According to the late stewardship pioneer Msgr. Thomas McGread, when a pastor speaks about money during his homily, 75 percent of the congregation immediately stops listening. However, did you know that tithing is mentioned in the Old Testament 39 times, and in the New Testament
11 times? Tithing is biblically based, and it simply means to give a portion of our gifts back to God. In 1992, when the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops were forming the Pastoral Letter on Stewardship, they originally didn’t want to title it Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response. “Instead, they wanted to just call it A Disciple’s Response, with the reason being that they felt stewardship meant money,” said Msgr. McGread before his passing in April 2013. “I convinced them at the time that ‘stewardship’ is a biblical term and it is our job to explain what a steward is. Before the Pastoral Letter, most of us didn’t understand the spiritual dimension of stewardship.” So, how do we go about sharing the spiritual dimensions of stewardship with fellow parishioners and lay leaders? First of all, Msgr. McGread cited the importance of being hospitable and discovering the needs of parishioners. He felt that when parishioners were welcomed and their needs were met, they were fulfilled and felt a sense of belonging to their parish. This, in turn, creates ownership. Once parishioners felt like they were part of the parish, they wanted to respond by sharing their time, talent, and treasure to help make it the best parish community possible. And, as parishioners support their parish with all of their resources out of gratitude, the entire parish blossoms. Prayers increase, ministries grow, and yes, the offertory increases. These blessings are natural outcomes of living a stewardship way of life and they are why we must always remember the true meaning of the word “stewardship.”
Stewardship simply means being grateful for all of God’s blessings. Everything we have — each breath we take on earth, the tremendous talents we possess, and our ability to earn income to sustain ourselves — all stem from God. We come into the world with nothing and we leave with nothing.
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MAY 2022 A Letter from Our Rector
The Month of Mary:
A Time for Celebration and Joy Dear Parishioners,
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n the Catholic Church, we designate a particular devotion for each month — and May is when we honor our Blessed Mother Mary. Thus, this is a good time for us to think about and concentrate on our devotion to the Mother of God. Perhaps we can add a few more Marian prayers to our daily routine — adding the Rosary is an excellent choice. Of course, that assumes that daily prayer is part of our daily routine — which it should be. Our Blessed Mother is important to our faith and our Church. Her willingness to serve in a way that allowed the Lord to take human form made our salvation a possibility. Because of her complete trust in God, she lived her life free from sin, and after her life, she was assumed into heaven by the power of God and crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth. She is, of course, not divine. We worship only our Lord Jesus Christ, but we honor Mary as a saint, and also in many other ways. We honor God when we remember the role of Mary in our salvation. Devotion to Mary always leads to Jesus Christ Himself. Mary was joyous when she said “yes” to God. That is the kind of joy we need to seek — and we, too, must say “yes” to the Lord. Let us be grateful to Mary for bringing us her Son. This is why we crown her on our Catholic version of Mother’s Day. Through Mary, we are given an invitation into the Catholic fold. Her feminine presence and the safety of her motherhood may help us grow. For most of us, this time of year is a month of growth in relation to nature. It is difficult not to have May as one of our favorite months for so many reasons. May is a beautiful time. We are called to make it even more beautiful, and we can do that as we serve and love one another. I am deeply blessed to be your pastor. I may say that often, but it is true. My priesthood has been a blessing and serving you all has made that blessing even more significant. I pray for you daily. Please pray for me. God bless you and keep you always. Sincerely yours in Christ,
Very Rev. Gary D. Kastl Rector 3
HOLY FAMILY CATHEDRAL MEET PARISHIONER
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ere at the Holy Family Cathedral, we have a pretty good thing going. While Glynne Kinard loves to bake, she doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth herself — so, many of her baking delicacies end up here! Glynne serves in the St. Elizabeth Bakers, making sweets for everything from the Newcomers Breakfast to Wednesdays at the Cathedral and retreats. Having formerly worked as a pastry chef at a local restaurant and several bakeries, she certainly knows what she’s doing! “I love baking,” she says. “It’s so relaxing to me.” Glynne also shares these skills with the Hospitality
For Glynne Kinard, Holy Family Cathedral is home.
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Glynne Kinar
Ministry, where members make food for youth and social events at the cathedral. She is also active with the Food and Fellowship group and Women’s Club and serves as an usher. And since Glynne is a licensed therapist, Fr. Kastl will occasionally ask her to meet with an engaged couple preparing for marriage. “It means a great deal to me to have Fr. Kastl ask me to help these couples that are preparing to take the Sacrament of Matrimony,” Glynne says. “Once they are married, they have been given this light, and they take that light and continue it in the community.” She feels so blessed by this community and each cathedral member she has met along the way. “This church is my home,” Glynne says. “I’ve really come to embrace my faith over the past 15 years.” Glynne was raised in New York City. To attend a respectable school at the time, you had to be Jewish or Catholic. Glynne’s parents were Protestant, but they wanted their children to attend a good school. “So, I was raised Catholic by Protestant parents,” Glynne says. Glynne remembers the sisters who taught her asking the students what they wanted to do as adults. “I always said, ‘I don’t know what I want to be, but I know I am called to serve,’” Glynne says. “That’s what I strive to do is serve God’s people.” Mental health is very important to Glynne — she serves as the Community Mental Health Officer for the Tulsa Police Department. In turn, she strives to educate people and break the stigma surrounding mental health. Another important aspect of Glynne’s faith is being a committed adorer for Eucharistic Adoration at the Cathedral. “Adoration has served as the place and time when the rest of the world stops for me, and I get to spend time with the Lord,” she says. It’s important to Glynne that parishioners and visitors feel welcome at Holy Family Cathedral. She believes a simple way to be hospitable is to smile at folks during the Sign of Peace and make sure you show people you mean it when you say “peace.”
MAY 2022
d Striving to Share the Love of God Each Day “We can let our light come through in just those few seconds,” Glynne says. “We need to show the love of Christ, and we want people to feel that love. I don’t care who you are — come through the doors and know the love of God.” Glynne has found it is important to do more than attend Mass and receive the sacraments. Following Christ means serving Him in whatever way you can. And that
is what she strives to do, whether she’s baking cookies for the St. Elizabeth Bakers or bringing up the gifts as an usher. “I feel honored that God has called me to serve His people,” says Glynne. “During a stewardship retreat, Fr. Golka said that God calls us to serve because He believes in us. That has carried me through many tough times and always makes me smile.”
“We need to show the love of Christ, and we want people to feel that love. I don’t care who you are — come through the doors and know the love of God.” — GLYNNE KINARD
The St. Francis Ministry intentional about choosing plants that are sturdy enough to handle the Oklahoma weather.” Anyone, with a green thumb or not, is invited to join the St. Francis Ministry. Various talents can be used for the assortment of tasks this ministry handles. “The work of this ministry isn’t very glamorous,” Carol says. “We sometimes get covered in dirt and might spend a long time pulling weeds or raking leaves, but there’s so much joy found in these simple tasks. Then you remember that you’re doing this work to make our campus inviting to all and it brings an even greater sense of wonder at the gifts we have been given.”
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“We sometimes get covered in dirt and might spend a long time pulling weeds or raking leaves, but there’s so much joy found in these simple tasks. Then you remember that you’re doing this work to make our campus inviting to all and it brings an even greater sense of wonder at the gifts we have been given.” — CAROL LAMBERT
Are you interesting in lending a hand to the St. Francis Ministry? If so, please reach out to Carol Lambert at cjlambert@cox.net for more information.
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HOLY FAMILY CATHEDRAL The May Crowning Celebrating the Coronation of Mary
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or many Catholics, May Crownings of statues or icons of the Blessed Mother have become rites of spring. Like flowers blooming or Mother’s Day, this annual Marian devotion reminds us that the cold of winter is behind us, and it ushers in a month during which the Catholic Church pays special homage to Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Mother of God. Generally taking place during the first weekend of the month, May Crownings bring children — often, recent First Communicants — out in their Sunday best to participate in processions and adorn statues of the Blessed Mother with crowns of flowers or gold. Additionally, the children often place roses at her feet, and Catholics carry out similar practices in their homes by placing roses around statues of the Blessed Virgin, or even adding ornamentation to images of Mary. But where did this practice come from, and how did it develop into the tradition that we currently know and love? The Coronation of Mary has been a popular subject in European art and literature for centuries, but the tradition of the May Crowning can be most accurately traced back to the late 16th century. Perhaps inspired by the practice of adding ornamentation to Marian icons that had been carried out by some Eastern churches, Pope Clement VIII added two crowns to the icon of Mary with the Infant Jesus in the St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome. The crowns were eventually lost, but were replaced by Gregory XVI in 1837 in a rite that was to become the standard practice for crowning. While the May Crowning is not an official liturgical celebration on the Church calendar, it is an important practice in honoring Mary as the Queen of the Universe, and its imagery is especially influential in the faith formation of children. As Liz Kelly writes in May Crowning, Mass, and Merton and Other Reasons I Love Being Catholic, “One of the defining aspects of being Catholic is devotion to Mary. I favor no Marian celebration more highly than May Crowning, the feast that recognizes Mary as queen of heaven and earth. To a person of any age, this is a mighty big title, but to a child of five or six or seven, it expands to enchanting, magical proportions. How many queens does one get a chance to meet in a lifetime, much less crown?” This year, make a special effort to honor the coronation of Mary through participation in a personal or public May Crowning devotion.
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BRING FLOWERS OF THE RAREST Bring flow’rs of the fairest, Bring flow’rs of the rarest, From garden and woodland And hillside and vale; Our full hearts are swelling, Our glad voices telling The praise of the loveliest Rose of the vale. O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today, Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May, O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today, Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May.
MAY 2022
Sunday Morning Series: The Wild Goose
A Valuable Opportunity for Formation in Our Cathedral Community
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any Catholics would agree that, through their faith formation, they have come to know the first two persons of the Trinity, the Father and the Son, more intimately than the Holy Spirit. The Wild Goose — Developing a Deeper Relationship With the Holy Spirit aims to change these preconceptions or lack of knowledge about the Third Person of the Trinity. It is through series like The Wild Goose that the Sunday Morning Series offers opportunities for Sunday morning formation. “I approached Fr. Kastl last year about offering an additional Sunday morning formation opportunity,” says Paul Louderback, facilitator of the Sunday Morning Series. “We began with the Symbolon series and went through parts one and two. Last fall, we began The Wild Goose series and that ran for 14 weeks. We
try, if possible, to frame the series around the liturgical season and will begin the Catholicism series from Bishop Barron this Ordinary Time.” For those that have not seen it, The Wild Goose is a series featuring Fr. Dave Pivonka. The series follows Fr. Dave, now President of Franciscan University of Steubenville, through various interviews and invites each viewer into a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit. The program’s name, The Wild Goose, refers to the name the ancient Celts gave to the Holy Spirit. “The Wild Goose is one of my favorite names for a series we have covered through this formation opportunity,” Paul says. “The term is so ‘out there’ for something in the Catholic world, so it piques the interest of the viewers and draws them into learning more about the Holy Spirit. Oftentimes, our content does continued on back cover
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PO Box 3204 • Tulsa, OK 74101-3204 (918) 582-6247 • tulsacathedral.com
Sunday Morning Series: The Wild Goose continued from page 7
not coincide with the readings of the weekend, but that makes the opportunity to encounter our faith on a Sunday morning even greater. Parishioners that attend the Sunday Morning Series can delve deeper into the faith and their Sunday mornings are more well-rounded with faith enrichment.” The Sunday Morning Series is hosted in the Halpine Room on Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. All gatherings include an opening prayer and a closing prayer as well as a video. If time allows, those gathered will participate in a discussion. The group meets at a time that allows 8 a.m. Mass-goers to participate after Mass and parishioners that typically attend the 10 a.m. Mass can come early for
formation before Mass. Since the nursery is offered on Sunday mornings, this is a wonderful opportunity for parishioners of all ages to participate. “There is so much more to our faith than attending Mass on Sunday mornings,” Paul says. “Engaging in Symbolon, The Wild Goose, and particular Lenten studies is only the beginning of what we are called to know about our faith. I am looking forward to our next series and seeing the fruits that will come of it. Engaging in this formation as a community allows participants to learn from others who are also on the same journey. As we learn more about Catholicism, The Wild Goose inspires us to delve into a deeper relationship with our Lord.”
Holy Family Cathedral invites you to participate in the Sunday Morning Series. Parishioners are welcome to drop in any week, even without prior knowledge of the series, and join in this formation offering.
