Saint CATHOLIC CHURCH
Contents: 2 Stewardship and
Lent: How the Wise Men’s Gifts Symbolize Our Lenten Obligations
3 Marching Into Lent ― A Season of Conversion
6 Highlights of Our
2021 Stewardship Renewal
Our Church Dedication Anniversary Celebrating Four Years of the Spiritual Home for Payne County
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ach March brings an air of anticipation for Catholics in Payne County as we prepare for the anniversary of the dedication of St. Francis Xavier, our beautiful church. This year is no different as we remember that beautiful Sunday four years ago that our spiritual home was dedicated. “It was a magical day,” Fr. O’Brien says. “Bishop Konderla was here along with Bishop Slattery, as well as a dozen priests including many former Stillwater pastors and OSU grads. The Mass began with the bishop knocking on the door of the church and then I, as pastor, let him in! Then he handed the architectural plans and literal keys to the building.” During the course of that dedication Mass on March 11, 2018, Bishop Konderla blessed the church with holy water, dedicated the continued on page 4
MARCH 2022
Saint CATHOLIC CHURCH
Stewardship and Lent: How The Wise Men’s Gifts Symbolize Our Lenten Obligations
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e experience great joy when we celebrate the coming of the Magi at Epiphany each year. For many of us, it is the completion of Christmas. Yet, the gifts offered by the Magi — gold, frankincense, and myrrh — can serve to guide us on our stewardship journeys as we observe Lent this month. It may seem strange to connect the joyful celebration of Epiphany with the penitential season of Lent. But our spiritual life should not be divided into separate, unconnected bits, and in the same way, the Church’s liturgical year also f lows from one season to another. The different feasts and seasons certainly have different emphases, but they are intended to build on each other. So, let’s see if we can
connect what the Magi gave Jesus with what we’re going to offer Him this Lent. The basic ingredients for our Lenten rule come from what is termed the “Three Notable Duties” — prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These in turn come from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). How do we connect the wise men’s gifts with the Three Notable Duties? Frankincense is the basic ingredient in the incense used in the worship of God, in the ancient world, and in the Church today. Offering it to Jesus points out His divine nature, and so it symbolizes prayer — the stewardship of time. Our Lenten rule needs to include prayer and worship. Of course, we are bound to worship at Sunday Mass year-round. Maybe during Lent, we might add a
weekday Mass. Perhaps we can increase the time we devote to private prayer at home or at adoration. Devotional reading from the Bible or another appropriate book can be added. In addition, don’t forget the possibility of adding family devotions during Lent, so that the whole family prays together. When we offer our gold to Christ to build His Church and to help His poor, we are engaged in almsgiving — the stewardship of treasure. While giving from the treasure God has entrusted to us is a duty throughout the whole year, maybe this Lent we can practice being a little more generous than usual. If our giving is a thankful response to the gift of eternal life that God has given us, we will find that the giving is indeed a means of grace. continued on back cover
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A LETTER FROM OUR PASTOR
Marching into Lent — A Season of Conversion Dear Parishioners,
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elcome to March and the Season of Lent! This is a time of conversion! Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving the Lord brings about our conversion as individuals, families, and as a parish family. I hope you will enter into Lent starting with Ash Wednesday Mass, daily Masses, Friday Stations of the Cross, and our Lenten Lectio series. I also encourage you to frequent the Sacrament of Confession in addition to your own personal devotions in prayer, in fasting, and in almsgiving. In the pages that follow you’ll see a wonderful update on our 2021 Annual Stewardship Renewal. This was our best year yet with so many beautiful and generous commitments in the area of time, talent, and treasure. Thank you to all who participated. If you’re new to the parish or didn’t get a chance to fill out your commitment card, send me an email at frobrien@sfxstillwater.org and we’ll get you set up. During the Season of Lent, we’ll also have an opportunity to do some celebrating. Friday, March 11 is the Solemnity of the Dedication of St. Francis Xavier Church. Even though it’s Lent, this is a day of celebration for us because it marks the fourth anniversary of our new church. Our church building continues to radiate the love of Christ in our community. Join us for Mass on Friday, March 11, at 5:30 p.m. Let’s have a great March and a great Lent! The Lord is calling us to great things. May we listen and respond with generosity. In Christ,
Father O’Brien Pastor, St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church
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Saint CATHOLIC CHURCH
Our Church Dedic continued from front cover
“This is the spiritual home of Catholics in this part of Payne C or a priest would celebrate an anniversary, a parish ou altar with sacred chrism as well as the walls, the Eucharist was celebrated for the first time, and at the end of the Mass, Bishop Konderla installed Fr. O’Brien as the Pastor. These significant actions during the dedication Mass remind us of the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and First Communion. The church was packed for this celebration, during which 13 priests and deacons assisted. In fact, there were so many people who wanted to be there that day, over 200 attendees witnessed the celebration via real-time video in the new parish hall, and two more Masses were offered so that as many people as possible could come to Mass on the dedication day. Attendees also enjoyed tours of the new church conducted by the newly formed Ambassador Ministry. As we joyfully look forward to Friday, March
11, Fr. O’Brien invites all in the community to celebrate our fourth anniversary. “Every year on March 11, we go all out,” Fr. O’Brien says. “We have a big Mass and a dinner afterward. We use the readings for the anniversary of a dedication of a church. One different thing to mark the occasion is we light the candles on the walls of the church because they can only be lit on the anniversary of the dedication.” As Fr. O’Brien and Fr. Robert Duck anticipate March 11, they want to emphasize the importance of this celebration for our parish community. “This is the spiritual home of Catholics in this part of Payne County,” Fr. O’Brien says. “Like a married couple would celebrate an anniversary or a priest would celebrate an anniversary, a parish ought to celebrate their dedication day. Even though it’s during Lent, it’s a Solemnity!”
Please join us on Friday, March 11, as we celebrate the fourth anniversary of the dedication of St. Francis Xavier. The Mass (bilingual) will begin at 5:30 p.m. All in our community are invited to celebrate this day with us.
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cation Anniversary
County. Like a married couple would celebrate an anniversary ught to celebrate their dedication day.” — Fr. O’Brien
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Saint CATHOLIC CHURCH
Highlights of Our 2021 Ste A Process of Continuous Conversion and a
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his past autumn, our St. Francis Xavier parish leadership conducted the 2021 Stewardship Renewal. The Stewardship Renewal gave our parish community the opportunity to discern how we are using our gifts of time, talent, and treasure in service to the parish and in return to God. As we adapt to these everchanging times, our community has held fast to what St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, Chapter 5: “…we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Although parish life may not look the same as it did two years ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic, our parish community has strived to move forward with conviction, armed with the confidence that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide our St. Francis Xavier community and allow us to persevere despite the challenges we may face. This month, we are happy to share with you some of the highlights of the 2021 Stewardship Renewal at St. Francis Xavier.
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wardship Renewal Daily Commitment to Christ • There were 228 commitment cards received from 41 percent of active households. • There were 1,855 prayer commitments — the stewardship of time — from 93 percent of participating households. • There were 1,078 ministry commitments — the stewardship of talent — from 83 percent of participating households. Of these, 267 were new ministry commitments, while 811 were re-commitments to parish ministries. • There were 176 offertory commitments — the stewardship of treasure — from 77 percent of participating households. The average pledge was $3,387.
We thank all those who participated in our Stewardship Renewal. If you did not have the opportunity to fill out and return a commitment card, we invite you to consider the ways you may share your gifts of time, talent, and treasure with God and the parish community. After all, stewardship is a way of life — a process of continuous conversion and a daily commitment to Christ. Therefore, let us tirelessly work until the day the Lord calls us and hopefully says, “well done my good and faithful servant… come share your master’s joy.”
Our young parishioners also participated in the 2021 Stewardship Renewal, filling out Teen Commitment Cards and indicating how they will share their gifts of time, talent and treasure with God and the St. Francis Xavier community. Some of our youth commitments included: • A total of 39 commitment cards returned. • A total of 270 prayer commitments. • A total of 92 ministry commitments, with 37 of these being new commitments and 55 being re-commitments to ministries.
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Saint CATHOLIC CHURCH St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church 711 N. Country Club Rd • Stillwater, OK 74075 Web: www.SFXStillwater.org Phone: (405) 372-6886
The Wise Men’s Gifts
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For centuries, myrrh has been associated with fasting. In the ancient world, it was regularly used in embalming. Generations of theological writers have seen the gift of myrrh as a foreshadowing of Christ’s sufferings. Fasting may be the most difficult of the Three Notable Duties for modern Americans. We usually think of fasting only under the heading of dieting to lose weight. Instead, try to think of fasting as a way to become more spiritually fit. Body and spirit affect each other. The whole sacramental system is built on the truth that we can receive spiritual grace through material things and physical actions. Our specific requirements of fasting are limited — abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, and a reduction in the quantity of food we eat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. But the discipline of our physical bodies for our spiritual well-being does not have to be limited to Lent! Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were indeed valuable gifts for the wise men to present to the Child Jesus, which is stewardship as its very core. So, when we look at their symbolism, we can see their relationship to the Three Notable Duties of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. What gifts of our time, talent, and treasure are we going to offer to Jesus this Lent?
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