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December Pastor's Report
December 2024

Parish Vitality: Listed below is an update of our efforts this past month and moving forward to help accomplish some of the goals pertaining to our parish’s vitality.  

• Service to Others:

-Our Social Justice Committee is working on completing the 2^nd on the 2^nd program for 2025. We were blessed with a good response to the monthly programs this past year and look forward more opportunities to assist and grow in knowledge of the efforts offered through various charitable organizations we will help sponsor this next year. Our December program for this year is a bit of a carry-over from the later part of November and it is our Giving Joy Program. This year’s contributions fell a bit short of last year’s numbers, but with the variety of support we offer people in need this time of year (even more so than in the past), I think that it is to be expected. 

• Sense of Belonging
  1. We are hoping to have our Pictorial Directory ready for distribution sometime in January (that’s the last word we received anyway). It has been a long process and so it will be good to finally have the directories completed.
  2. We have recently sent out our “Care Packages” to those from our parish who graduated from High School last year and have started college or joined the military. A special thank you to our Evangelization Committee for organizing and sending these packages out.

• The Mass:

During the Advent Season, we will be offering Bible study and reflection on the Readings, Psalm, and Gospel for the upcoming weekend Masses. These sessions will take place at 7:00 pm on Tuesdays during Advent and will take place at Paraclete Hall at Holy Ghost Church.

Some other happenings around the parish and the archdiocese include our promoting, along with all parishes in the archdiocese, full participation in a Disciple Maker Index (DMI) survey conducted by Catholic Leadership Institute. If you recall, many of us participated in the archdiocesan survey for the global synod during January and February of 2022. Archbishop Zinkula has reviewed the synod report generated by 16,000 household responses. The DMI survey is the next step in a process that will lead to new mission and vision statements, and pastoral priorities. The survey assesses our unique strengths and opportunities. The survey opens this Thursday, December 5. The link will be published in our parish communications. It is very important that everyone participate so we can best serve our parishioners.

On the parish level, we are happy to welcome to our parish staff Lindsay Maxwell who will assist with much of our promotional and social media needs and Liz Meehan who will assist us with much of our in-house communication needs. Both Lindsay and Liz will be part time staff support and we are grateful to have them serve our parish in their respective roles. 

On Nov. 1^st  we hosted our annual “Trunk or Treat” event to celebrate All Saints Day. We had a good turn out and are very grateful to Raegan for organizing this event and to all who participated in handing out candy to our children. A lot of smiles from the children, parents and adults who received many delicious treats.

On Nov. 2^nd (All Souls Day) we hosted our “Mass of Remembrance” for those from our parish who have passed away this past year. We had a great turn out and it was very well received by those who attended. I received many compliments and heartfelt thanks from many of the families who were present. A special thanks to Raegan and all of our ministers and volunteers who helped to make this such a wonderful and healing ministry event for so many.  

On November 19^th our combined RE program celebrated 1^st reconciliation with our students  at Holy Ghost Church. It was a joy and a blessing for these students to receive God’s grace in this sacrament. Let us keep them in our prayers as they now start their preparation to receive their 1^st Holy Communion this spring.

Our committees and councils continue to keep pace with their various strategic plan initiatives; however, during the season of Advent (and Lent), we abstain from holding committee meetings (to the best of our ability). The reason for this is to help keep our focus on the special season given us for preparation. For this reason, I try to avoid “it’s business as usual” meetings or gatherings during those seasons. With that being said, I do encourage everyone to attend our Sunday Evening Holy Hour and Night Prayer on December 15^th beginning at 7:00 pm at Sacred Heart Church. Let us take advantage of this opportunity to pray for our parish and for one another as we anticipate the coming of Christ.  

In closing, let us continue to keep our archbishop and priests in our prayers. This has been a challenging year for the presbyterate. We have lost many of our retire and active priests this past year (either due to death or for other reasons).  The vineyard is still vast, but the laborers are getting fewer and fewer.

God’s blessings to all.

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Steve

November Pastor’s Report
November 2024

Parish Vitality: Listed below is an update of our efforts this past month and moving forward to help accomplish some of the goals pertaining to our parish’s vitality.  

• Service to Others:

-Our 2^nd on the 2^nd program continues to do well. We were able to raise about $1,000 in  October in support of Dubuque County Right to Life. We also included a second collection for the Archdiocese Call to Share collection on the weekend og Oct. 19^th and 20^th. Although most of our parishioners will be receiving envelopes in the mail in the coming weeks (as there was a delay from the post office in sending these out), our collection at Mass was directed more specifically to World Missions.

-Additionally, we are collecting clothing and donations throughout the next several weeks for the Coasts for Kids program sponsored through the Knights of Columbus Council #510. We did a good job last year in support of this program and look forward similar results this year.

-Lastly, let us also keep in our prayers those affected by hurricanes throughout the world. We especially remember the victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. To support the work of local Catholic Charities agencies responding to this disaster, please visit www.catholic charities usa.org. 

• Sense of Belonging
  1. We are still in the process of putting together our Pictorial Directory—no word yet on its progress.
  2. On October 20^th following the Holy Ghost 9:30 am Sunday Mass we hosted our fall New Parishioner Gathering. We had 10 families invited to this event but only one person showed up. We will continue to look for ways to get better participation and attendance for this event.

• The Mass:
  We will be continue to promote (through our bulletin and social media) the series “The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church” with Bishop Andrew Cozzens that is offer through “Formed”.

Some other happenings around the parish include our combined RE program kicking off reconciliation sacramental prep with a session with the parents and students on Oct. 23rd. We had pretty good participation for the most part and look forward to those receiving that sacrament for the first time at Holy Ghost church on Nov 19^th. Let’s keep them in our prayers. 

Later this month our Evangelization Committee will be sending out parish “Care Packages” to those who graduated from High School last year and have started college or joined the military. Our plan is to send those pachages out after the Thanksgiving break.

On Nov. 1^st  we will be hosting our “Trunk or Treat” event to celebrate All Saints Day. The event will take place at Holy Ghost Church following the 5:30 pm Mass. We hope to see you there.

We will also be hosting on All Soul’s Day (Nov. 2^nd) our “Mass of Remembrance” for those from our parish who have passed away this past year. The Mass will take place at 11:00 am at Sacred Heart with snacks and beverages to follow in Krieb’s Hall. This event is usually well attended and the grieving families are always very appreciative of our remembering and praying for their loved ones. I invite all who can attend to do so.  As a reminder, this event is for parishioners who have passed away and have celebrated services within our parish from Oct. 1^st the previous year to Sept 30^th of the current year.

Our committees and councils continue to keep pace with their various strategic plan initiatives. One of the programs we will be working on in the coming months is the Framework for Adult Evangelization and Formation that was formulated by our archdiocese. Our Pastoral Council along with a few of our other committees will continue to through this document and its implementation as we move forward. 

Don’t forget some of the other events coming up this month, like the K.C. Memorial Mass on Nov. 4^th at 6:30 at Sacred Heart church, our parish Omelet Breakfast fundraiser on Nov. 10^th at Holy Trinity from 8 am to 11 am, and the Women of Worth’s Fellowship night on Nov. 16^th at 6:30 pm at Kriebs Hall. And remember too that we will be offering the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick following our parish Masses on the weekend of Nov. 9^th and 10^th.

In closing, let us continue to keep our parish and parishioners in our prayers as we continue to build up God’s kingdom on earth so that we can build up His kingdom in heaven.

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Steve

October Pastor's Report
October 2024

Parish Vitality: Listed below is an update of our efforts this past month and moving forward to help accomplish some of the goals pertaining to our parish’s vitality.  

• Service to Others:

-Our 2^nd on the 2^nd program continues to do well. We were able to raise $1,107.60 in September to support the good work of Convivium Urban Farmstead which distributes and delivers free fully prepared casseroles each week to those in need of food. Additionally, they host bi-weekly food box distributions and maintain garden beds that anyone can harvest from.

-Our October 2^nd on the 2^nd will be for Dubuque County Right to Life (Lifesaver Sunday) and will be collected at the church entryways following Mass. Since October is Respect Life month, let us keep in our prayers all those organizations who support life from conception to natural death--and those too, who are impacted in one way or another by decisions made which run contrary to this tenant of our faith.

-Since the weekend of October 19/20 is the Archdiocesan Call to Share weekend, we will also be offering a second collection during that weekend’s Masses to support this effort (many you have received a mailing and envelope from the archdiocese and may have already contributed).

-Lastly, let us also keep in our prayers those affected by Hurricane Helene. To support the work of local Catholic Charities agencies responding to this disaster,please visit www.catholic charities usa.org. 

• Sense of Belonging
  1. We are still in the process of putting together our Pictorial Directory (it’s been a year and a half now). Please be patient, as we are hopeful that we can get these out soon.
  2. On October 20^th following the Holy Ghost 9:30 am Sunday Mass we will host our fall New Parishioner Gathering. While not specific to our vitality goals per se, I would like to encourage everyone to join us for Mass and the gathering afterwards to welcome those to our parish family (I believe we have about 10 adults and 6 children who have joined our parish recently).

• The Mass:

In the coming weeks, we will be promoting (through our bulletin and social media) on “Formed” the series The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church with Bishop Andrew Cozzens. Bishop Cozzens (before he was bishop) was one of our priest professors while I was in the seminary and roomed next to me for a year or so. He was one of my favorite teachers and I am grateful for his instruction, witness and mentorship.

Some other happenings around the parish this past month include our Fall Festival on Sept 8^th and Soup R Chill Cookoff on Sept 28^th. Both were wonderful parish events and we owe a ton of gratitude to all those who helped make these events a great success. I heard nothing but compliments by many of those who attended. THANK YOU to all who were involved.

Later this month our Evangelization Committee will be sending out parish “Care Packages” to those who graduated from High School last year and have started college or joined the military. It is our way of keeping these young adults connected to the parish and encourage them to keep practicing their faith while away from home.

As November is fast approaching, our Parish Life Committee will again be hosting our “Trunk or Treat” event to celebrate All Saints Day. The event will take place at Holy Ghost Church following the 5:30 pm Mass. It is always a fun event for our kids and those young at heart.

We will also be hosting on All Soul’s Day our “Mass of Remembrance” for those from our parish who have passed away this past year. The Mass will take place November 2^nd at 11:00 am at Sacred Heart. We are always in need of volunteers to help assist with this Mass and the gathering afterward. Please contact Raegan if you are able to help with this event. This event is usually well attended and the grieving families are always very appreciative of our remembering and praying for their loved ones. I invite all who can attend to do so. 

Our “That Man Is You” and “Women of Worth” programs are off to a good start this fall. I am hoping my schedule lightens up a bit so that I can attend a few of these worthwhile faith enrichment opportunities. My sincere gratitude to those who help run and coordinate these programs on behalf of the parish.

As we move forward into the fall season, our committees and councils continue to keep pace with their various strategic plan initiatives. New to the list of these initiatives is the Framework for Adult Evangelization and Formation that was formulated by our archdiocese. Our Pastoral Council will be working through this document and its implementation in the coming months. 

In closing, we released our fiscal year-end financial report on the weekend of September 21/22. Jeff Jochum, Dir. of Parish Finance, recapped this report  and offered some ‘state of the parish’ comments at all of the Masses on that same weekend (copies of the parish financial statements were made available at the church entryways). As Jeff conveyed, the parish has operated in the black these past three years and our budget for the current fiscal year remains balanced. Likewise, our year-to-date operations continue to remain in line with this budget. This is good news as we move forward, for we also recognize and acknowledge there is still more work that needs to be done to uphold the mission and vibrancy of our parish.  

May we continue to build up God’s kingdom on earth so that we can build up His kingdom in heaven.

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Steve

September Pastor’s Report
September 2024

Parish Vitality Update: We have continued working on fulfilling some of our parish vitality goals and this continued throughout the summer.

Service to Others:

1. Our 2^nd on the 2^nd program has done well thus far since the start of the program in January. Listed below are some of the results thus far:            

2. Summer Faith Formation Project-- our Summer Faith Formation Program which ran from June 10^th thru June 21^st this year focused on the Corporal Works of Mercy and The Beatitudes. We had about 9 students sign up for the program between the combined parishes of Holy Spirit, St. Patrick’s and the Cathedral. The students engaged in charitable works at different locations throughout the community. The program was very engaging and the kids had a lot of fun. We also had a few students attend the summer Totus Tuis Program offered through Nativity Parish. It is a good program and I am sure those who attended are grateful for the experience.

3. We were grateful for the opportunity to partner with The Grand theatre in offering a “Free Family Night” to the community on August 16^th. The movie was “Cool Runnings” and we gave away free popcorn to anyone who wished to attend. It was a good opportunity to provide a little entertainment and family time to those in our area. We hope to do it again in November if it fits our budget.

Sense of Belonging (which includes programs through our Parish Life Committee like our Pictorial Directory, Card Program, and IGNITE program.) We are still in the process of putting together our Pictorial Directory—and very frustrated with the progress thus far. We will keep working at it. This spring we put in place the various cards for our Card Program. With our new parish software finally available to us, this should make it easier to implement this program moving forward. We also had a pretty successful IGNITE program response during the Lenten Season. I believe we had about 75 flames filled out for assistance and participation in the many needs of our parish family.

The Mass: We offered a teaching session on the Mass on June 19^th and had a descent turn out for that event. Additionally, we offered through FORMED, resources, education and videos on the Mass which are available through our parish subscription.

Some other happenings around the parish this summer included our Women of Worth program offering a couple of gatherings which included a Pizza Party and Movie in June. A gathering with appetizers followed by evening Adoration and Night Prayer in July. And finally, a fun night with games and grilled food in August. Too much fun was had by all that attended--as far I could tell.

We also celebrated this summer; three Weddings, three Baptisms, one First Communion, one Confirmation and 1^st Eucharist for an Adult, and two persons were received into the Church through the initiation process (RCIA). We likewise welcomed 16 new parishioners in June and July. We thank God for these blessings and continue to keep them all in our prayers.

Work has also continued on the hillside behind the Holy Ghost Church with the landscape and plants, outdoor Stations of the Cross, and the Shrine area (St. Bernedette even got her arm back so she can pray properly to our Mother Mary). Many thanks to all who have done a tremendous job with the upkeep of our landscaping and grounds at all three of our church campuses.

As we move into the fall season and our committees and councils resume, we look forward to keeping pace with our various committees’ strategic plans that are in place. Additionally, this year we will also be placing an emphasis on evangelization as outlined in the Archdiocesan Framework for Adult Evangelization and Formation. I am not sure what that will look like at this point, but I imagine it will in large part be determined by our pastoral council  with the assistance of our Evangelization Committee.

Looking ahead, don’t forget our Fall Festival on Sept 8^th and Soup R Chill Cookoff on Sept 28^th. We are blessed with a good fundraiser and festival crew who always make these successful events for the parish both as a fundraising effort and a parish community building opportunity. Many thanks and appreciation for all their efforts.

All-in-all, there has been and continues to be a lot of good things happening in our parish this year—and I want to thank all of you for helping to make that happen. Know of my prayers for you and ask that you continue to pray for me. May we continue to build up God’s kingdom on earth so that we can build up His kingdom in heaven.

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Steve

January Pastor’s Report
January 2024

December was a busy month and being short staffed, I am grateful for those who stepped up and put in a ton of extra effort to get us through the liturgical celebrations, faith enrichment offerings, added busyness of the day-to-day requests and needs of parishioners. Also, a big thank you to those who decorated the churches for the Advent and Christmas Seasons. With such a short turn around (only a few hours) to transition from Advent to Christmas, it was amazing to see the beautiful results from their labor—great job by all! I want to thank all who helped make the Christmas liturgies so special—especially the music ministry and all the other ministers who assisted at our Masses. Please note that we are still in need of a part-time secretary and so your help is needed to get the word out and help us recruit someone. Moving forward, we also will be needing someone to fill our Dir. Of Faith Formation position that has be vacant for the last few years. This will be a full-time position to handle RCIA; Adult Confirmation; Sacramental prep for Confession, Holy Eucharist, and Confirmation, and to oversee, assist and promote several of our adult, children and family life programs here at the parish. (Jan Thyne will still be in charge of our Combined Religious Education programs –and we are very grateful and blessed for the work she and her crew do for our programs).

Given the challenge of finding someone to fill our secretary position, we are currently looking at changing our parish office hours at some point in the near future. Currently we are open Monday thru Thursday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. We are looking at moving to Monday thru Thursday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and Friday 9:00 am to 2:00 pm (essentially opening up one hour later each day).

On January 9^th we will be welcoming Fr. Felix from Ghana to the Holy Ghost priest residence. Fr. Felix will be doing an internship for his course work for his Master’s degree in Dubuque and needed a place to stay. His internship will end in early May and may help us out from time to time with weekend Masses. You may not see too much of him as he may have some added responsibilities to fulfill with the Archdiocese. Please welcome Fr. Felix to our parish community.

On January 14^th we will have Archbishop Thomas Zinkula here at the parish to celebrate the 11:00 am Mass at Sacred Heart. It is our small way of welcoming Archbishop back home and given his history here, we thought it would be nice to have him celebrate Mass and attend a reception for him afterwards in Kreibs Hall.

On the Feast of Christ the King on Nov 26th, we welcomed fully into the parish those who will received either the Sacraments of the Eucharist and/or Confirmation. Let us continue to keep in our prayers.  

A brief update on our committees:

We held our annual Christmas gathering/dinner for staff, Pastoral Council, and Finance    Committee members on December 8^th. Thanks to all who help put this event together.

Since we typically refrain from holding meetings during the Advent and Lenten Seasons, our other committees did not meet during December.

On the financial side of things, we are still holding our own and have even made a payment of $5,000.00 on our debt of $160,000 to the archdiocese (first time in several years that we are able to start working at reducing this debt.)

Moving into the new year, we will continue to work on fulfilling our parish vitality goals which are listed as follows: 

• Service to others (which our 2^nd on the 2^nd program and summer Religious Education program addresses)
• Sense of Belonging (which includes programs through our Parish Life Committee like our Pictorial Directory, Card Program, and IGNITE program which will we will run again in the beginning of Lent next year. Additionally, will be engaged in outreach programs for our Marshallese and Filipino communities).
• The Mass—we are hoping to put a big push on ministry involvement and training, as well as include Liturgy tidbit informational inserts in the bulletin. Additionally we will be offering a teaching Mass presentation and faith enrichment sessions on the Mass and the Eucharist.

Finally, I am hoping to send out a mailing sometime in January to address a few questions that have come-up recently—namely, 1) information and guidelines for Mass intentions, 2) addressing the recent Declaration “Fiducia supplicans” issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, approved by Pope Francis regarding the pastoral meaning of blessings, and 3) the process, findings, and implementation of our archdiocesan and parish vitality goals.

I wish everyone a blessed and prosperous new year!

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Steve

November Pastor’s Report

We welcomed our new Archbishop Thomas Zinkula on October 18th. The installation ceremony was wonderful and Archbishop Zinkula offered a good homily as he reflecting on his call to the priesthood and the humble journey which has led him back to his home diocese. We are grateful the Lord has provided us with such a good shepherd.

Earlier this month Jeff Jochum, our Director of Parish finances, offered a brief summary of the parish’s finances at the of the weekends Masses on Oct. 7th and 8th. Additionally, fiscal year end reports were provided for our parishioners to take home and review. As Jeff mentioned, we are staying within budget and ended fiscal year in decent shape. I credit his efforts, those of the finance committee and in fact, all the staff and parishioners at Holy Spirit Parish for their work and contributions. Amidst keeping expenses in line, we were able to complete a lot of “much needed” maintenance projects throughout our three parish campus buildings and grounds. And although we have come along way with the help of the government’s Paycheck Protection Program during COVID, and even more substantially, the negotiated reduction of our parish assessment to Holy Family Catholic School system, we still need to keep our ‘hands to the plow’ if we wish to keep our parish vibrant. We are still lacking a faith formation leader to maintain, develop and promote programs for: O.C.I.A. (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults and Children); Y.A.M. (Young Adult Ministry); F.M.I. (Family Ministry Initiatives)--as well as any new or ongoing parish wide faith enrichment programs and opportunities. And needless to say, we are still in need of additional secretarial help at the parish office. Thus, there still is a lot of work that needs to be done as we move forward—and I am confident that we will get there with the help and prayers of all.  

Later this month at the Feast of Christ the King on Nov 26th, we will welcome fully into the parish those who will receive either the Sacraments of the Eucharist and/or Confirmation. We are blessed to have ten candidates this year (we started with twelve but one has dropped out and the other will receive her sacraments at a later date). Also this month we will celebrate the Rite of Acceptance on Nov. 19th for another five catechumens who will be received into the Church at the Easter Vigil on March 30, 2024. Let us keep them all in our prayers in the weeks and months that lie ahead.

Committee Highlight Recaps (with most being a continuation of last months recaps):

Pastoral Council: We did not meet in October

Faith Formation: We reviewed Fr. Steve’s Pastor’s Report and his recaps from the reports from the other committees. We likewise received the Holy Family Board of Education Report to Parish Leadership for September 2023. Jan (Director of Faith Formation) shared that she is working on combined spreadsheets for Religious Ed program from the three parishes. There was some discussion regarding possibly adding adult education for Hispanics. Jan also shared with us the Ministry at Mass initiative which involves a service project to make up survival bags. If members of the Committee hear of any additional service projects to implement, please let Jan know. Fr. Dennis Quint had recently sent us Cathedral and St. Patrick’s faith enrichment programs for the coming months and we will be working to combine these as well as those of Holy Spirit Parish in our promotion of faith formation opportunities.

Parish Life: “Trunk or Treat” event will take place after 6:30 pm Mass on Nov. 1st  “and it looks like we will have a good showing of volunteers to hand out candy for the kids. Let’s hope for favorable weather. The “Card Ministry” program is moving closer to completion with the rough draft of cards being approved. In the coming months, we will begin working on offering service opportunities through the INGNITE Program which will be offered during Lent in 2024.

Evangelization: Our College and Military care packages were sent out in mid-October.  After completion of viewing Dr. Sri’s program “Who Am I To Judge” and we will begin working on the next steps of our program which involves 1) providing information to parishioners, 2) giving witness (sharing our faith), and 3) meeting those we encounter where they are at with regard to level of faith and belief. 
Liturgy: Committee did not meet in October. Upcoming liturgical events in November include --All Saints Day (Nov. 1st), All Soul’s Day “Mass of Remembrance” (Nov. 2), Anointing of the Sick (following the Masses on the weekend of Nov. 11th and 12th, and Rite of Acceptance during the 9:30 Mass on Nov. 19th. 

Social Justice:
The committee will be meeting in Nov. to continue their work on the 2nd on the 2nd program. We are hoping to implement this program at the start of the new year.

We are continuing to work on and fulfill our parish vitality goals which are as follows:

1) Service to others (which our 2nd on the 2nd program and summer Religious Education program addressess
2) Sense of Belonging (which includes programs through our Parish Life Committee like our Pictorial Directory, Card Program, and IGNITE program which will we will run again in the beginning of Lent next year. Additionally, will be engaged in  outreach programs for our Marshallese and Filipino communities).
3) The Mass—here we are going to put a big push on ministry involvement and training, as well as include Liturgy tidbit informational inserts in the bulletin. Additionally we will be offering a teaching Mass presentation and faith enrichment sessions on the Mass and the Eucharist.

During the month of November, please keep our deceased parishioners, family members and loved ones, and all the faithful departed in our prayers—may eternal rest in heaven be granted to them.

I was able to enjoy a bit of respite as I took some time off near the end of October. I am glad to be back in the swing of things and look forward to the various liturgies and events in November—it looks to be a very busy month in our parish. God’s blessings on our parish.  May we continue to build up God’s kingdom on earth so that we can build up His kingdom in heaven.
       
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Steve

October Pastor’s Report

We had another successful Parish Festival on September 10^th and finished a little ahead of last year with regard to fundraising. We are so very grateful for the effort and work of the many volunteers and leaders of the Festival Committee to bring about this community building event and the food was outstanding as usual. Unfortunately, I was suffering with a migraine headache throughout much of the day and was not as involved as I would have like to have been (too much excitement I guess).

October is an exciting month as we welcome our new Archbishop Thomas Zinkula on October 18^th as our new shepherd. Our prayers and support are with him as he carries on the good work of his predecessors. Having one of our own installed is a really special and a joyous occasion and we certainly do give thanks to God for blessing us with such a humble yet very wise leader.

We wish to welcome as well, seminarian Liam Dale to our parish community. Liam has been assigned to our parish for continued formation during this school year as a part of St. Pius X seminary program. Liam is a senior at Loras college and is a seminarian for the Diocese of Des Moines. He will only be with us a few hours a week and will be working mostly with Raegan (assisting us with some of parish events and liturgies). We are grateful to have Liam join our parish family during this school year and offer him our support and prayers.  

We also were blessed to welcome five new families to our parish these past few weeks and look forward to their being a part of our parish family and their participation at Mass. I am hoping to have a few more register in the coming weeks.

Our Faith Formation program has gotten off to a good start. Our Religious Education Students of the combined Holy Spirit, Cathedral, and St. Patrick program began the school year with a “Teaching Mass” for the students and their parents. Additionally we had 16 students attend our Sacramental Prep program for 1^st Reconciliation and 1^st Communion. (Our Confirmation program will begin after the 1^st of the year.) This year we are also offering a combined youth ministry program with Cathedral, St. Patrick, and Resurrection (offered at the Resurrection church site). Hopefully, this will help fill the void we downtown parishes have been missing these past few years with our youth ministry.  And finally, it is with God’s grace that this year we have twelve candidates in our R.C.I.A program who will receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist, and/or Confirmation at the Feast of Christ the King on Nov 26th, and we have an additional five catechumens who are in a separate R.C.I.A program who will be received into the Church at the Easter Vigil. In the past we have had only one or two candidates/catechumens in the program, and so this year we are truly grateful to be blessed with so many.

Our Fall Faith Formation programs have gotten off to a good start. There has been good attendance at our Monday night “Popcorn Faith Formation” with viewing and discussion on the series Chosen. Likewise, we have had good turnouts for both the That Man Is You and Woman of Worth programs. We are still working on more opportunities for faith enrichment for the month of November and during our Advent and Christmas Seasons.

Committee Highlight Recaps:

Parish Life: “Trunk or Treat” event will take place after 6:30 pm Mass on Nov. 1^st. “Card Ministry” program to include 1^st and 5^th year anniversary cards. Also we looking at possibly holding a New Parishioner gathering event sometime in Nov. The Pictorial Directory is still in the works (photos have been submitted). We will be offering service opportunities through the IGNITE Program which will be offered during Lent in 2024.

Evangelization: Our review of Dr. Sri’s program is almost complete and we will begin working on the next steps of our program which involves 1) providing information to parishioners, 2) giving witness (sharing our faith), and 3) meeting those we encounter where they are at with regard to level of faith and belief. Additionally, we will be offering the College and Military care packages which will be sent out in October

Liturgy: Dcn. Dave Roth will be stepping down as Dir of Liturgy and doing the ministry scheduling.  Fr. Jeff will assume those responsibilities moving forward. The commissioning of EMs will take place after the weekend Masses on October 15^th and 16^th and Altar Server training to begin soon and will be ongoing. The upcoming liturgy preparations include the following--All Saints Day (Nov. 1^st) and All Soul’s Day “Mass of Remembrance” (Nov. 2). Advent and Christmas decorations.

Social Justice: 2^nd on the 2^nd Committee is working to implement this new program in the coming months. 2nd on the 2^ndinvolves not only a second collection on the second Sunday of each month (with some exceptions) in support of selected charities and organizations but also providing education and volunteer opportunities for some of these selected organizations.

We are continuing to work on and fulfill our parish vitality goals which are as follows:

• Service to others (which our 2^nd on the 2^nd program and summer Religious Education program addresses)
• Sense of Belonging (which includes programs through our Parish Life Committee like our Pictorial Directory, Card Program, and IGNITE program which will we will run again in the beginning of Lent next year. Additionally, will be engaged in outreach programs for our Marshallese and Filipino communities).
• The Mass—here we are going to put a big push on ministry involvement and training, as well as include Liturgy tidbit informational inserts in the bulletin. Additionally we will be offering a teaching Mass presentation and faith enrichment sessions on the Mass and the Eucharist.

On a sad note, we wish our parish secretary Judy Hoffmann and parish bookkeeper Jane Walker farewell as both have retired recently. We are grateful for their many years of dedication, hard work and great service to our parish. We wish them all the best as they enjoy their much-deserved retirement. That being said we wish to welcome Mathew Drake and Lisa Hoftender to our parish staff. Matthew will take over the bookkeeping, payroll and human resource areas of the parish, and Lisa will be taking over some of the secretary responsibilities and parish bulletin (on a part time basis). We are still looking for a full-time/part-time person to assist with all the other the secretary duties.   

Overall, there are a lot things happening this month in our parish—and I again want to thank all of you for helping to make that happen. Know of my prayers for you and ask that you continue to pray for me. May we continue to build up God’s kingdom on earth so that we can build up His kingdom in heaven.

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Steve

September Pastor’s Report

We wish to welcome our new members to the Faith Formation Commission, Ann Kelleher, Karen Roth, and Renee Gorman (also one of our new secretaries). We are glad to have you aboard. Leaving the committee because their terms were up are Kim Scmidt and Lisa Schroeder. We want to thank them both for their awesome service and commitment--especially as we moved on from COVID and the combining of our Commission with St. Pats and the Cathedral.

We would also like to welcome our new members to our Pastoral Council, Becky Seymour, Ben Schroeder, and Brooke Pfeiffer, it is great to have you on board as we build on the mission of our parish family. Leaving our committee because her term has been completed is Sue Dazey. We thank Sue for her work, commitment and dedication these past several years (just a reminder to all, you can be nominated again to serve after you have been off the council for one year.)

We have had a busy spring and summer with various projects around our three church campuses (cement work, fixing of a broken water pipe, the wonderful upkeep up on the landscape at all of our church campuses, the removal several trees at Holy Ghost, the installation of lights for our outdoor stations at HG and the lighting and repairs made to our statues and statue casing along with the general upkeep of the HG Shrine (we get a lot of visitors throughout the week who stop by and visit.) We have done a lot of work as well with refurbishing and cleaning up of our church’s vessels. And through a generous memorial contribution, we are in the process of replating several of our liturgical items—candlesticks, chalices, processional crosses (which we just got back this past week.) These are but a few of the projects embarked on this past spring and summer.

Additionally, we have the new three-year strategic plan set up for each of our committees. There are some exciting programs that we will continue to build upon and some good new faith enrichment opportunities on the Mass, the Eucharist, Evangelization, and on the Second on the Second program which we will be finalizing and introducing in January. These along with several other mission-oriented programs will help ensure the vibrancy of our parish both now in in the years to come.

In a better effort to communicate these things and the work of the various committees and mission of the parish, I will be posting a monthly pastors report available to all though our parish media sources. It has always been my intent to do this, but unfortunately, with being short-handed on the priestly ministry side of things it was impossible for me to get that done. But now that we have Fr. Jeff on board (hurray) we can get back to some normalcy on that side of things. And a part of that includes getting around to visit all of our homebound and nursing home parishioners on a bi-monthly basis.

Also included the pastor’s report will be the progress on the vitality goals of the parish as submitted to the archdiocese as a part of their review of parishes. After review of the archdiocesan survey and discussion on what was presented to the parishes. The pastoral council selected these areas for our parish vitality goals:

• Service to others (which our 2^nd on the 2^nd program and summer Religious Education program addresses)
• Sense of Belonging (which includes programs through our Parish Life Committee like our Pictorial Directory, Card Program, and IGNITE program which will we will run again in the beginning of Lent next year. Additionally, will be engaged in outreach programs for our Marshallese and Filipino communities).
• The Mass—here we are going to put a big push on ministry involvement and training, as well as include Liturgy tidbit informational inserts in the bulletin. Additionally we will be offering a teaching Mass presentation and faith enrichment sessions on the Mass and the Eucharist.

All-in-all, there are a lot of good things happening this year in our parish—and I want to thank all of you for helping to make that happen. Know of my prayers for you and ask that you continue to pray for me. May we continue to build up God’s kingdom on earth so that we can build up His kingdom in heaven.

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Steve