St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church Newsletter — February 2021

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Living Lent in 2021

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Growing in Our Faith During Lent PAGE 3 The Lenten and Easter Seasons Bring Opportunities for Renewal PAGE 4

A Word From Our Youth PAGE 6

The Significance of the Presentation of the Lord

ST. ANTHONY of PADUA

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Sharing God’s Mercy Through the Adult Funeral Server Ministry

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he first time that Paul Soebbing served at the altar made a great impression on him — one that has borne beautiful fruit ever since.

“I was 40 years old when I served for the first time because I never served when I was in grade school,” he says. “I was nervous, but at the same time, it was very rewarding and special, especially because I was serving for the funeral of a man whom I knew. Then, about four years ago, Rich Rakers asked me if I would take over the Adult Funeral Servers Ministry, and I agreed to do it.”

Paul now enjoys coordinating the ministry, which has about 14 members. Whenever there is a funeral for which servers are needed, the parish office contacts Paul.

Generally, Paul does not make up a schedule because it is not possible to plan.

“I have a list of all my servers, and I mark how many times they have each served,” Paul says. “I know if they are usually available on weekdays or weekends, and I just keep calling until I find two who can help for that particular funeral. Sometimes, one of the servers knows the deceased personally, so they request to serve their funeral.” continued on back cover

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LIVING LENT IN 2021

uring the 40 days that Jesus spent fasting and praying in the desert, Satan was constantly tempting Him. He preyed on Jesus’ humanity, trying desperately to get Him to test God. Of course, we all know that it didn’t work. As Jesus is 100 percent God at the same time that He is 100 percent man, the devil was unable to take hold of Him. Yet, the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert communicates an all-important truth to us. Jesus, the Godman, experienced everything we have and everything we ever will as human beings. Satan even tried to tempt Him, just as he tempts us every day. But because Jesus is God at the same time that He is human, He had no tendency to give in to Satan’s attempts.

Even so, Christ fought Satan tooth and nail, putting him in his place — “Get away, Satan! It is written, ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship, and Him alone shall you serve’” (Matthew 4:10). At that, the devil left Him. We all find ourselves in similar situations. We live in a world wrought with sin, and, in his ever-so-cunning way, Satan makes the sinful look appealing. We must stand firm in our faith and tell Satan to “get away,” just as Jesus did.

Only then will we truly experience the glory of the salvation

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that Christ came to give. Lent offers us a particular time to fight Satan, taking courage in the resurrection that we are preparing to celebrate. It is a time that we spend focused on strengthening our relationships with the Lord. Armed with His power, which we receive in many different ways, we can resist the temptations of the devil and accept the salvation Christ offers each one of us.

How can we do this? Get to know the Lord through prayer. Read the Scriptures often. St. Jerome tells us that ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. So, we must be steeped in Scripture. Read it daily — chapter by chapter, or verse by verse. It is, after all, the Word of God! Draw close to the Blessed Mother — she is eager to bring us to her Son. Join her at the cross, where she witnessed her most precious Son die for each one of us. Pray the Rosary — individually and as a family. It is a powerful prayer through which, with Mary, we walk through Christ’s life, His death, and His resurrection. Unite with Christ Himself in His suffering.

Let us focus on the spirit of the season. We are to be preparing ourselves, just as Christ did, for the great event that won for us salvation!

ST. ANTHONY of PADUA a letter from our pastor

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Dear Parishioners,

in Our Faith

During Lent

eb. 17 marks the beginning of Lent with a unique day — Ash Wednesday. While not a Holy Day of Obligation, we are offered a special opportunity on Ash Wednesday to take a step back from the daily grind to focus on an important element of our Christian lives.

As the ashes are placed on our foreheads in the sign of the Cross, we are told, “Remember you are dust and to dust you will return” or “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” This is a significant reality to keep in mind as we begin our journey through Lent. All of us are sinners and each is in need of seeking the Lord’s help and forgiveness. Our very breath is a gift from Him – without God’s mercy and grace, we can do nothing.

The way of Lent should be the life of the steward, one in which we acknowledge that all we have is from God and that our lives are meant to be lived as a gift of gratitude for all He is and does for us.

Many of us associate our Easter preparation as a time for self-denial and sacrifice. While those elements are important, they will do us little good if we do not remember that the whole point

of those actions is to improve our relationship with God and each other. Sometimes we get caught up in the complexity of Lent and lose sight of our calling as stewards to actively pursue depth in our relationship with the Lord while we live out our faith.

Lent is an important time for us to refocus and to recognize the magnitude of Christ’s victory over the grave. It is by overcoming sin and death on Easter Sunday that we are set free from the bondage that sin puts us in and rejoice that, “By his wounds, we are healed” (Is 53:5).

As we journey through Lent this year, let us pause to praise God for the gift of life that He has given us. Let us thank Him for the opportunities He presents to us each day to grow, to accept the challenges thrown our way and to choose Him. When we live out our lives in humble service to God and to one another, dying to the desires of the flesh, we think of ourselves less and give Him the glory that He so greatly deserves. May we join in the prayer of St. John the Baptist, “He must increase, I must decrease” (Jn 3:30).

Sincerely yours in Christ, Fr. Tom Donovan Pastor

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The Lenten and Easter Seasons Bring Opportunities for “Lent will be a preparatory period for those willing to come to church, but the key is really going to be renewing our discipleship in the Risen Christ during the Easter season. For people who have been away, this is an opportunity to celebrate the grace of God that has brought us through. It’s time to mourn those who have passed, but also a time to give thanks and go forward in confidence that God has plans for us, and to know that we will never again take for granted the opportunity to gather for Mass every Sunday.” — Fr. Tom Donovan

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n two months, the Church will celebrate the greatest solemnity of the liturgical year — the Paschal Triduum, which begins with Holy Thursday and concludes with the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.

And just as our world is beginning to emerge from a global pandemic that kept many of the faithful in their

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homes this past year, the rebirth and renewal that we celebrate every Easter take on even greater meaning as we prepare to return to a life of active discipleship.

“We’re taking the Easter season to reboot and renew everything,” says Fr. Tom Donovan. “Vaccines are rolling out, and hopefully by April, we’ll be able to pack our church full again. This is the time to make some good resolutions — to stand up and say, ‘We’ve made it through, thanks be to God — now let’s get back to the business of church!’”

Taking advantage of this unique opportunity to “reset,” our parish decided to move its annual stewardship renewal from last fall to this Easter season. As always, the commitment cards parishioners use to indicate how they plan to share their time, talent and treasure remind us all to take a moment and prayerfully consider the best way to use our gifts as disciples of Christ.

In contrast to previous years, when we may have

simply opted to continue in our regular ministries and activities out of a sense of habit, this last year has disrupted our normal routines and ways of serving. As a result, the Lord is now asking us to reflect and pray on our commitments on a deeper level.

“When you get the card, try not to mark it and just stick it back in the mail,” Fr. Tom says. “Make it a prayerful commitment. Don’t short circuit the process. Take it to your prayer and really think about it. This year, it’s not just a continuation of how you have always done things.

It’s an opportunity to start from being turned off to completely starting fresh again.”

Throughout the Lenten season, a daily Holy Hour will be held at St. Anthony. Prayers will be offered for those sick with COVID-19, for those who have passed away, and for the return of the faithful to the Church.

This quiet time spent with the Lord is also a wonderful opportunity for personal prayers of renewal and for reflection on the ways God may be calling us to more active discipleship.

“Lent will be a preparatory period for those willing to come to church,

Renewal

but the key is really going to be renewing our discipleship in the Risen Christ during the Easter season,” Fr. Tom says. “For people who have been away, this is an opportunity to celebrate the grace of God that has brought us through. It’s time to mourn those who have passed, but also a time to give thanks and go forward in confidence that God has plans for us, and to know that we will never again take for granted the opportunity to gather for Mass every Sunday.”

Fr. Tom invites all the faithful to join him in opening their hearts and minds during this time of transformation.

Coming on the heels of a lifechanging pandemic, this celebration of renewal during the Easter season is an unprecedented opportunity for spiritual reflection and growth for all of us.

“I look at my own stewardship as a pastor here, and this is a once-ina-lifetime opportunity to really freshen things up, really embrace things in a conscious and intentional way,” Fr. Tom says. “I’ve been a priest for almost 16 years now, and it’s so easy to fall into a pattern of doing things the way we always have. But the last year changed all that.

“Now that we’re going back to a little bit of normalcy, let’s not work too hard and pray too little, and let’s not take things for granted,” he adds. “Let’s take advantage of this opportunity to not only renew the parish but to renew ourselves. I need that, too. This time to reboot and be more intentional has been a tremendous gift to me, and I’d like that to take root in the parish as well.”

ST. ANTHONY of PADUA Sharing God’s Mercy Through the Adult Funeral Server Ministry continued from front cover

The adult servers are asked to come early to the funeral so that they can put on their altar server robes, make sure there are enough unconsecrated hosts and incense available, put the pall out, and make sure the holy water is ready, etc. During the funeral, when the celebrant begins his homily, one of the servers leaves to light the charcoal for the incense.

“There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work we do to make sure everything is set up properly,” Paul says. “This helps Father to concentrate on what he needs to during the funeral and ensures that things will run smoothly. The adult servers are thoroughly trained and know exactly what to do, which makes him feel comfortable and confident.”

Those who give their time and talent to this ministry find it to be a wonderful way to live out the stewardship vision.

“When we are called to serve, we say ‘yes!’” Paul says. “This ministry is definitely an extension of our faith and our apostolic service to the Church. It is also a way to show our concern for those who are grieving. It is a form of stewardship, and a means to give back from the Altar Server Ministry itself.”

To those who would like to help with this ministry but are hesitant, Paul has some encouraging words to share.

“I always encourage anyone who is even thinking about signing up for this ministry to at least call me and talk to me about it,” Paul says.

“I always remind them that they will not be alone when they serve — there will always be someone with them that knows what to do.”

“This ministry is definitely an extension of our faith and our apostolic service to the Church. It is also a way to show our concern for those who are grieving. It is a form of stewardship, and a means to give back from the Altar Server Ministry itself.”

— Paul Soebbing If you would like information about this ministry of God’s mercy, please call Paul Soebbing at 217-653-3571.

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A Word From Our Youth

This month, we speak with St. Dominic student Joe Warning.

School: St. Dominic Grade: Eighth grade

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Joe Warning

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I am an only child and live with my parents, Rob and Sharon Warning.

I am lucky to have 22 cousins in the Quincy area.

I enjoy playing basketball, tennis, soccer and running cross country.

I enjoy spending time hiking.

I started serving at Mass when I was in the fifth grade and continue to serve in this way.

I also enjoy working the fish frys, picnics and dinners for the school and parish.

Fr. Tom, Deacon Harry, Dennis (Holbrook) and Bonnie (Nytes) are great role models for me.

The Church helps me understand that God has a path for me, and I need to trust and follow in His teachings to be a good Christian.

ST. ANTHONY of PADUA The Significance of the

Presentation of the Lord

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raditionally, the Church has set aside Feb. 2 in observance of the Presentation of the Lord — or the day in which Joseph and Mary presented Jesus to the priests and elders in the Temple.

For years, this feast — which in the United States is only formally celebrated when it falls on a Sunday — marked the end of the Christmas season. In old days, the Presentation was often referred to as “Candlemas” and was celebrated by a candle-lit procession into the church, signifying Christ as the “light of nations.”

Known originally as the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is a relatively ancient celebration. We know that the Church at Jerusalem was observing the feast as early as the first half of the fourth century, and likely earlier.

According to Jewish law, the firstborn male child belonged to God, and the parents had to “buy him back” on

the 40th day after his birth, by offering a sacrifice of “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons” (Luke 2:24) in the temple — thus the “presentation” of the child. On that same day, the mother would be ritually purified — thus the “purification.”

St. Mary and St. Joseph kept this law, even though, since St. Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Christ, she would not have had to go through ritual purification. In his Gospel, Luke (2:22-39) recounts the story.

Originally, the feast was celebrated on Feb. 14, the 40th day after Epiphany (Jan. 6), because Christmas wasn’t yet celebrated as its own feast, and so the Nativity, Epiphany, the Baptism of the Lord (Theophany), and the feast celebrating Christ’s first miracle at the wedding in Cana were all celebrated on the same day. By the last quarter of the fourth century, however, the Church at continued on back cover

THINGS TO DO: † Hold your own candlelight procession at home, teaching your children the significance of the light as a symbol of Christ. † Ask a priest to bless the candles you hope to use at home this year. † R ead the Gospel account of the Presentation, found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2, verses 22 to 35. † P ray a decade of the Rosary, focusing upon the Presentation of the Lord, the fourth Joyful Mystery.

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ST. ANTHONY of PADUA Return Service Requested

2223 St. Anthony Rd. Quincy, IL 62305 217-222-5996

www.stanthonypadua.org St. Dominic School of St. Anthony of Padua Parish 4100 Columbus Road Quincy, IL 62305 217-224-0041

The Significance of the Presentation of the Lord

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Rome had begun to celebrate the Nativity on Dec. 25, so the Feast of the Presentation was moved to Feb. 2, 40 days later.

When Christ was presented in the temple, “there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.” When St. Mary and St. Joseph brought Christ to the temple, Simeon embraced the Child and prayed the Canticle of Simeon: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which your prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

Because of the words of the canticle — “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” — by the 11th century, the custom had developed in the West of blessing candles on the Feast of the Presentation. The candles were then lit, and a procession took place through the darkened church while the Canticle of Simeon was sung. Because of this, the feast also became known as Candlemas. While the procession and blessing of the candles is not often performed in the United States today, Candlemas is still an important feast in many European countries.

To learn more about stewardship at St. Anthony of Padua, please contact the Stewardship Committee at stewardship@stanthonypadua.org

Daily Mass: Mon, Tue, & Thu - 7:30 a.m. | Saturday, 4:00 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. | Sunday, 8:00 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.

Confessions: Saturday, 5:15 - 6:15 p.m.