St. Peter Catholic Church Newsletter — October 2021

OCT | 2021

CONTENT PAGE 2 The Principles of Catholic Social Teaching PAGE 3 October: A Month to Turn to Our Lady

of the Rosary

PAGE 4 The Fr. Tolton Memorial Wall

A Devoted and Holy Life, Inspiring All

PAGE 6 St. Thérèse of Lisieux: Saint of Love PAGE 7 Parish 2020-21 Fiscal Year Report

A CLOSER LOOK AT

THE RESTORED ORDER OF SACRAMENTS Parish Youth Receive Graces of Confirmation and the Eucharist

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hen four grades of St. Peter Parish students are confirmed during Advent, this will have our youth “caught up” as we return to the Restored Order of the Sacraments of Initiation. Students in the third, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades will be confirmed, and the third-grade students will also receive their First Communion during the same Mass.

Gina Bergman, Director of Religious Education, says the Diocese of Springfield is one of 13 in the United States that has adapted the Restored Order.

“What this is, it goes back to a long time ago in the Church when families were confirmed before receiving the Eucharist,” she says. “It goes back to the early centuries of Church history in Europe when Confirmation got pushed back because the bishops couldn’t travel easily.”

Under the Restored Order, the three Sacraments of Initiation — Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist — each gives graces and enables the recipient to receive

the Holy Spirit before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.

Although there was initial uneasiness when the changes began here three years ago at St. Peter, Gina says that Fr. Leo met with the families and provided clarification.

“Fr. Leo emphasized that we’re never done learning about our faith,” Gina says. “We are encouraged to keep learning about our faith and get out in the world to be disciples of Christ. He addressed the situation that students were being confirmed in high school and third grade. He said that any time you receive these sacraments, you are receiving graces from God. He explained it’s kind of a build-up to the Sacraments of Initiation, to receive Jesus.”

When it was decided last spring to “catch everyone up” with the Restored Order, preparations were made to clarify that only third-graders would be confirmed and receive First Communion next year. continued on back cover

ST. PETER THE

CATHOLIC CHURCH Human Dignity

PRINCIPLES OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING

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hat makes being Catholic, well, “Catholic”?

Things like the Mass, the Rosary and the Seven Sacraments come to mind.

But there is also an element of Church teaching that’s often overlooked and sometimes misunderstood — Catholic Social Teaching.

Catholic Social Teaching guides Catholics on how to apply the faith to all aspects of life, and lays the framework for the Church’s teachings on the dignity and sacredness of human life.

Catholic Social Teaching can be explained with 10 key points.

These 10 principles demonstrate the depth of the Church’s teaching on social justice, and they call Catholics to take an active role in shaping the world in which we live. Catholic Social Teaching, when taken to heart, can become the catalyst that causes positive change in a world that desperately needs it. Consider these principles and strive to apply them in your own life.

Human dignity is the fundamental principle within the Church’s teaching on social justice. A firm understanding of this principle is required so that the rest of Catholic Social Teaching can be viewed from the appropriate perspective. God created us in His image and likeness, so we all are worthy of respect.

Respect for Human Life Whether unborn or seconds away from death, no life deserves to be prematurely ended. The Church sees this principle as crucial to the health of any society.

Association Association holds that social relationships must be developed so that all people may reach their fullest potential. The Church teaches that the family is the basic unit upon which all other elements of society rest. We must uphold the sacredness of the family, and foster the growth of other societal organizations that preserve the well-being of all people.

Participation All people deserve the right to work and to participate in God’s creation.

The joy of accomplishing a task and performing honest labor should be made available to all people.

Protection for the Poor and Vulnerable Society exists in a balance between those with power, and those without it.

The vulnerable — those with disabilities — and the poor must be protected from those with power who choose to wield it in an unjust manner.

Solidarity “Love your neighbor as yourself” — this commandment extends beyond the boundaries of any town, state or country. The principle of solidarity encourages all people to reach out to their brothers and sisters in need and to help them, even if they live halfway around the world.

Stewardship Everything we have — even our own lives — is a gift from God. Our talents, our time and our financial resources are not our own, but God’s. The same goes for the natural resources we so often take for granted.

Responsibilities and Limits of Government Governments, while created for the common good, sometimes overstep their boundaries. The Church teaches that all governments should seek to operate at the lowest level of organization possible — striving to solve problems at the source, with those who understand them best, and not through oppressive force.

Human Equality God made all humans equal, including those of different ethnicity and race, and in different stages of life. No one person is of more value than another.

Common Good It is especially important in our society to promote the common good — the social well-being and development of the “human group.” If we consider the entire human race as one family, the common good urges us to support our brothers and sisters so that they may reach their full potential.

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A LETTER FROM OUR PASTOR

OCTOBER:

A Month to Turn to Our Lady of the Rosary

Dear Parishioners,

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ay by day, our heavenly Father provides spiritual food and graces to His beloved children, nourishing us on our earthly pilgrimage. October brings us the grace of the Holy Rosary, a prayer buried deeply in the heart of the Church, as one of its most precious treasures.

The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, which takes place Oct. 7, is a commemorative feast established

by St. Pius V on the anniversary of the naval victory won by the Christian fleet at Lepanto. The victory was attributed to the help of the Mother of God, whose aid was invoked by praying the Rosary.

This victory revealed the power of the Holy Rosary more than ever. Catholics who were open to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit took with deep resolve the Rosary as their link to God. Pope St. John Paul II, in his 2002 Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, writes: “The Church has always attributed particular efficacy to this prayer, entrusting to the Rosary... the most difficult problems. At times when Christianity itself seemed under threat, its deliverance was attributed to the power of this prayer, and Our Lady of the Rosary was acclaimed as the one whose intercession brought salvation” (39).

Thus, not merely through the Rosary, but more significantly, through the woman behind the Rosary — the glorious Mother of our Savior, Christ the Lord — a wellspring of God’s love has been discovered.

Indeed, the Rosary is truly a way to discover Christ’s infinite love through the tender heart of His Mother.

“With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. Through the Rosary the

faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 1).

A great number of saints, such as Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who had a special concern for the preservation of the Christian family, sensed that its salvation would be through the Holy Rosary. And as Pope St. John Paul II wrote, “Today I willingly entrust to the power of this prayer... the cause of peace in the world and the cause of the family” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 39). Our Lady of Fatima, who pleaded with families to pray the daily Rosary, would agree with him!

Let us entrust everything to the Rosary along with the saints. As our hearts burn with hope, let us give to the Mother of God every concern that we bear, each cross we carry, piece by piece, worry by worry. She will be there to offer everything to our Heavenly Father, Whose care for each one of His children reaches beyond anything we could ever imagine.

In Christ,

Rev. Msgr. Leo J. Enlow

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ST. PETER

CATHOLIC CHURCH

THE FR. TOLTON MEMORIAL WA

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The Fr. Tolton statue, now situated above the plaques

The first two plaques on the Fr. Tolton Memorial Wall

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enerable Fr. Augustus Tolton overcame numerous obstacles to answer God’s call to the priesthood. A St. Peter’s parishioner, Fr. Tolton became the first known Black American priest and is on the path to canonization.

“God calls us all, and though sometimes we may think we are insignificant, we are very significant to our God,” says Fr. Leo Enlow.

“Fr. Tolton was born into slavery and endured prejudice and rejection even from the Church.

With God’s grace, he persevered, obtained his freedom, and became a priest.”

A new memorial wall in Quincy celebrates the life of Fr. Tolton across nine granite plaques.

They exist as a tribute to Fr. Tolton, who attended St. Peter School and received the support and patronage of Fr. Peter McGirr.

“He was an altar server in our parish, and the priests here took a special interest in him and his vocation,” Fr. Leo says. “He is buried in the cemetery in the same area as the pastor who was here at the time.”

The inspiration for the memorial wall came out of a practical concern. When the church wall facing the school needed securing, Fr. Leo wondered what might adorn the metal brackets that restored the wall’s structural integrity. After considering different ideas, he realized this was an opportunity to capture Fr. Tolton’s life.

“I asked parishioners if they would like to contribute towards the memorial and had an overwhelming response,” Fr. Leo says. “It cost approximately $2,000 a plaque, and parishioners responded immediately and generously.”

The plaques were created by parishioner Tim Haubrich and move chronologically from Fr. Tolton’s birth and escape from slavery to his seminary and ordination with the final plaque highlighting his path to canonization since being declared “venerable” by Pope Francis in 2019.

“We studied much of his history, at least that which we know of, and details of his life,” Fr. Leo

LL A Devoted and Holy Life, Inspiring All says. “The plaques have so much symbolism. In the last one, Fr. Tolton stands on the world, in a sense, as part of the Communion of Saints.”

Our local faith community and our school children will now have the opportunity to learn from and be inspired by the life of Fr. Tolton on a daily basis.

“I continue returning to this phrase that ‘nothing is impossible with God,’” Fr. Leo says.

“His grace is sufficient for all of us, and He calls each of us to serve Him. We can look at Tolton’s life and see the hand of God, and hopefully also see the hand of God in our own lives.”

While this memorial wall is already impacting our local faith community, someday it may also become a pilgrimage site for many others who will draw inspiration from the life of Fr. Tolton.

“Thank you, Fr. Tolton, for responding to God’s call to become a priest in the Catholic Church,” Fr. Leo says. “You have become a model for all of us.”

“I continue returning to this phrase that ‘nothing is impossible with God.’ His grace is sufficient for all of us, and He calls each of us to serve Him. We can look at Tolton’s life and see the hand of God, and hopefully also see the hand of God in our own lives.”

— FR. LEO ENLOW

The Fr. Tolton Memorial Wall

If you would like more information about the Tolton Memorial Wall, please contact the Parish Office at 217-222-3155.

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ST. PETER

CATHOLIC CHURCH

ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX: Saint of Love “In the heart of the Church, my Mother, I will be love!”

— ST. THÉRÈSE

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ll of us were made for love.

Only love can fulfill our hearts and help us realize our human destiny. We have been created from all eternity to love God and neighbor with all of our beings.

St. Teresa of Calcutta, who was named after St. Thérèse of Lisieux, once said, “I am not just a number. I was made for great things, to love and be loved.”

St. Thérèse of Lisieux, whose feast day is Oct. 1, was a saint who understood the beauty of true love. As patroness of missions, she knew what it meant to quietly spend herself for the salvation of souls, making countless daily sacrifices in imitation of her Crucified Savior.

Thérèse Martin was the last of nine children born to Louis and Zelie Martin on Jan. 2, 1873, in Alençon, France. She was an overwhelmingly sensitive child. Her mother’s death — Thérèse was only 4 at the time — certainly did not help to alleviate her moodiness.

However, when she was 14, on Christmas Eve, Thérèse experienced a miraculous conversion that transformed her whole life. That evening, her sensitive spirit turned away from selfishness and turned toward love. Receiving strength from God, whose very being is love, Thérèse resolved to sacrifice herself for the happiness of others.

When Thérèse was 15, she entered the Carmelite cloister in Lisieux, giving her whole life to God. There, she lived up to her religious name, Sr. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the 6 Holy Face, by her profound devotion to Christ

Incarnate in the Eucharist, and to His Passion, as revealed in His Holy Face.

Thérèse fulfilled her vocation in Carmel to the utmost of her ability, embodying the essence of an authentic contemplative in every way. She died on Sept.

30, 1897, following a long struggle with tuberculosis.

Her last words captured the meaning of her life well lived, “My God, I love you!”

Day by day, St. Thérèse lifted her soul towards heaven and her heart towards the face of Christ, both in times of trial and in joy. She practiced through detachment from earthly things so that her spirit could soar to unite with God above. As she writes in her poem, Jesus Alone, “Jesus, you alone can satisfy my soul. Nothing can charm me here below... My only peace, my only happiness, my only love is you, Lord!”

When it came to loving others, St. Thérèse understood that Christians must first love Christ. As the shape of the cross demonstrates, our focus must be first and foremost on loving our Father, and then on loving others.

“You want my heart, Jesus, I give it to you.

I surrender all my desires to you, and those whom I love, O my Spouse, my King, from now on I only want to love them for you,” her poem continues.

Let us take a moment to thank God for all of the saints who have gone before us, paving the way to Eternity for all. This Oct. 1, let us remember this mystical “Saint of Love” and imitate her in a special way.

Parish 2020-21 Fiscal Year Report Regular Church Support Envelopes / Online Annual School Fund MASS Regular Church Support

PARISH $1,604,129.24 $0.00 $1,604,129.24

SCHOOL

TOTAL

$0.00 $1,604,129.24 $391,700.27 $391,700.27 $391,700.27 $1,995,829.51

Other source of Parish Support Bequest - Parish Fundraiser Other Tithing Other source of Parish Support

$11,145.85 $0.00 $15,678.86 $26,824.71

$0.00 $16,973.20 $0.00 $16,973.20

$11,145.85 $16,973.20 $15,678.86 $43,797.91

Investment Income Interest from Diocese Savings Restricted Donation Investment / Restricted Income

$22,475.96 $89,713.64 $112,189.60

$0.00 $190,411.43 $190,411.43

$22,475.96 $280,125.07 $302,601.03

$0.00 $0.00

$900,738.43 $900,738.43

$900,738.43 $900,738.43

Tuition Tuition Income TOTAL INCOME Expense Payroll Expenses Contractual Services Utilities Insurance - Property & Liability Repairs and Maintenance Equipment and Furniture Supplies Professional Fees Professional Development Transportation Travel & Auto Ex Support to Other Parishes Religious Education Expenses Parish Organization Expense Athletic Expense Library Expense Vending Machine Expense Marketing and Advertising ACSA Expense Catholic Times Subscription Exp Other Expenses TOTAL EXPENSE

NET INCOME

$1,743,143.55 $1,499,823.33 $3,242,966.88 $412,875.60 $1,901,377.40 $2,314,253.00 $16,011.93 $12,385.81 $28,397.74 $49,603.98 $39,669.07 $89,273.05 $13,333.92 $11,833.92 $25,167.84 $23,249.49 $24,640.00 $47,889.49 $1,708.42 $0.00 $1,708.42 $70,715.51 $138,787.86 $209,503.37 $707.70 $708.60 $1,416.30 $362.95 $15,494.95 $15,857.90 $245.01 $0.00 $245.01 $30,000.00 $0.00 $30,000.00 $4,756.69 $0.00 $4,756.69 $51,966.75 $0.00 $51,966.75 $0.00 $11,750.00 $11,750.00 $0.00 $1,120.32 $1,120.32 $0.00 $780.35 $780.35 $0.00 $388.79 $388.79 $189,069.29 $0.00 $189,069.29 $21,442.00 $0.00 $21,442.00 $25,917.36 $16,922.57 $42,839.93 $911,966.60 $2,175,859.64 $3,087,826.24 $831,176.95 ($676,036.31) $155,140.64

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2600 Maine Street Quincy, Illinois 62301 www.cospq.org

RESTORED ORDER OF SACRAMENTS

continued from front cover

“This spring, we started an overview about what Confirmation is, to all the kids being confirmed this fall,” Gina says. “Both our grade school and Parish School of Religion started preparing all four grades this spring. We will have fall meetings with the families to go over the sacraments, why the kids are getting them, why they are important to their faith.”

Currently, the plans are to have the sacraments given over three Masses — Dec. 5, Dec. 12, and Dec. 19. There are about 150 children who will be confirmed. There also is a retreat planned for the

eighth-graders on the church campus.

As the four grades prepare for Confirmation, they will learn that it is just one of the Sacraments of Initiation, and its importance.

“Confirmation enables us to receive graces from the Holy Spirit and learn more about what gifts we may have, and to go out and use them,” Gina says.

“The third-graders are beginning to understand what this means. We should take it seriously and grow from that. Our faith is a journey. Even after Confirmation, I hope they learn about their faith, and use their gifts, and grow from that.”

Anyone with questions about the upcoming events may call the parish office at 217-222-3155.

MASS SCHEDULE Weekend Masses Saturday: 5:00 p.m., Sunday: 8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 a.m.

Weekday Masses Mon-Sat: 8:00 a.m., except for Wednesdays & Thursdays: 8:30 a.m.

Reconciliation Saturday: 7:30-7:50 a.m., 3:30-4:30 p.m. or by appointment