Holy Spirit Catholic Church http://holyspiritsf.org Sioux Falls, SD Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:17:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 From the Desk of the Parochial Vicar http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-6/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-6/#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:53:21 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1568

On Thursday, February 2nd, the Church celebrated the feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple. This feast has also been called Candlemas and the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It has been called Candlemas (i.e. Candle-Mass, like Christmas and Michaelmas; Keep the Mass in Christ-Mass!), because the Church blesses candles on this day and carries them in procession, reminding us of Simeon going to the temple and finding the Christ child. It also reminds us of his prophecy at that time, “My eyes have seen thy salvation…a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” The feast has been called the “Purification” because, according to the Law of Moses, a woman was unclean for forty days after the childbirth and needed to have sacrifices offered in the Temple for her purification. Our Lady, being ever-pure and sinless, had no need to follow this law, but did it as a manifestation of her love and humility. This feast completes our observance of the Christmas Cycle of the Liturgical Year. This Sunday, the Fifth in Ordinary Time, is also the third Sunday before the First Sunday of Lent. Traditionally, on this day the Church began to count the days to Easter and called the day “Septuagesima Sunday,” meaning the 70th, whereas the Latin word for Lent is “Quadragesima” (40th). Formerly, on this day, the Alleluia was suppressed and violet vestments began to be worn. This was a way of easing us toward the austere fasts of Lent, which until the 20th century obliged almost every Catholic to fast on one meal per day for forty days (excluding Sunday). Today is, therefore, an appropriate time for us to begin to ask ourselves what we will give up for Lent.

Fr. Venner

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-6/feed/ 0 From the Desk of the Parochial Vicar http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-5/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-5/#comments Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:19:37 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1554 It is hard to believe that in a couple of weeks I will have already been a priest for 6 months. The time has flown by. Nevertheless, in some sense it almost feels as if I have always been a priest. As I look back at these last few months, I am filled with gratitude. I still have to ask the Lord, “Who am I to be your priest and serve your people?” Ultimately, I know that it is all bound up in the mystery God’s plan. So while I continue to recognize my unworthiness, I can do nothing but give thanks and praise to God for the immense gift of the priesthood and ask him to draw me more deeply into its mystery. It was such a gift to be able to spend my first Christmas as a priest here at Holy Spirit. I am grateful for all the cards, gifts, and kindnesses I received. I am grateful for the support of all of you and, in a particular way, for the parish staff. I am even grateful for those of you with whom I have, perhaps, never spoken. For the greatest gift to me this Christmas was to be your priest; to offer the Holy Sacrifice, to hear confessions, to pray and to preach among you and for you. However well I have, or have not, gotten to know you, know that I am praying for you, and that this, to me, is a great gift. Who am I to be a priest? I don’t know. But I do know that God knows; and I know that there are many other young men with a vocation to this life who also might be asking the same question. Trust in God.

Fr. Venner

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-5/feed/ 0 From the Desk of the Pastor http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-25/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-25/#comments Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:40:42 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1548 It’s a great thing to know you’re loved. I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of Christmas greetings and gifts from you, thank you very much. Also, thank you for your concern and prayers while I was convalescing from knee surgery. I have had quite the medical year. This is my fourth surgery since late September: cataract surgery on both eyes; some carcinoma removed from below my eye; and now a scoping on my left knee. It continues to humble me and remind me that youth is of the spirit and mind, and not necessarily corporal. In our Gospel for this weekend, John the Baptist, in his characteristic humility, is eager to point beyond himself to the Christ. He did not hesitate to direct his disciples to the Lord Jesus and not to himself. Our health serves us only if it leads to a way of humility and gratitude, so we might hear Jesus say to us: “What’s the goal of your life? Do you come to Me for something more than what this life can give you?”

Blessings as you begin 2012 with a healthy soul!
Fr. Morgan

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-25/feed/ 0 From the Desk of Deacon Tom Bates http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-deacon-tom-bates/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-deacon-tom-bates/#comments Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:54:35 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1542 To pray as a family is to share in the life of the Trinity, to share in the love that exists between God, the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. When the family gathers together to share a meal and thank God for the food that they will consume, they join themselves together in the love they share with each other and with God. When the parents pray with their children before going to sleep, the entire family places itself under the protection and love of God. After praying, the parents can ask God to bless their children by praying:

May almighty God bless you For all the days of your life Both now and forever.

While the blessing is very short, the deep down desire of every father and mother is that someday their entire family will be reunited in Heaven where they will live forever in the love of God. To ask God to bless their children as they journey to Heaven is to fulfill the greatest desire that a father and mother have for their children. Praying the rosary with or for your children is also a good practice.

God’s Blessings,
Deacon Tom Bates

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-deacon-tom-bates/feed/ 0 Catholicism Series to be Shown at Holy Spirit http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/catholicism-series-to-be-shown-at-holy-spirit/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/catholicism-series-to-be-shown-at-holy-spirit/#comments Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:42:46 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1537 Holy Spirit will be presenting the Catholicism Series by Rev. Robert E. Barron beginning Monday, January 16th at 8:45 AM and 7:00 PM. The classes are only opened to people that are pre-registered. You MUST have the materials to attend. There are workbooks needed for each of the 10 sessions. We will NOT be ordering any extra materials. Please contact Kathy Davis in the parish office by Monday January 9th to sign up. The cost for the materials is $40 per person.

See below for a trailer of the series:

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/catholicism-series-to-be-shown-at-holy-spirit/feed/ 0 From the Desk of the Pastor http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-24/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-24/#comments Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:03:36 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1522 What’s the significance of a name? For the Jewish people the giving of a name had great importance. A person’s name expressed the reality of his or her being at its deepest level. A Jewish child was named at the time of circumcision, eight days after birth. This rite was instituted by God as an outward sign to single out those who belonged to the chosen people. It was a sign of the covenant that God made with Abraham and his posterity. In fulfillment of this precept, Mary’s newborn child is given the name Jesus on the eighth day according to the Jewish custom. Joseph and Mary gave the name Jesus because that is the name given by God’s messenger before Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb. This name signifies Jesus’ identity and His mission. The literal Hebrew means the Lord saves. Since God alone can forgive sins, it is God who, in Jesus His eternal Son made man, will save His people from their sins (Mat. 1:21). In the birth and naming of this child we see the wondrous design and plan of God in giving us a Savior who would bring us grace, mercy, and freedom from the power of sin and the fear of death. The name Jesus signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of His Son who became man for our salvation. The name Jesus is at the heart of all Christian prayer. It is through and in Jesus that we pray to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. Many Christians have died with one word on their lips…the name of Jesus. Today, as we recognize Mary as the “Mother of God” we exalt the name of her Son and pray with confidence in His name.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Fr. Morgan & Rudy (a.k.a. “the donkey”) ]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-24/feed/ 0 From the Desk of the Pastor http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-23/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-23/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:27:39 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1518 Each year, the JC Penney Christmas catalog would arrive at the Morgan house with great fanfare. It sometimes came as early as the end of August. Though it was meant for the living room magazine rack, it didn’t stay there long. It usually made its way first to the girls’ room for a few weeks, then to the boys’ room for more than a few weeks, and finally would end up in the bathroom…its cover gone; its pages torn, curled and frayed like an ancient crossword-puzzle dictionary. For hours, we would sit and drool over the latest colorful gizmos and toys, revising the Christmas list continuously from September through December. That catalog was the big book of hopes, dreams and desires. How our hopes, dreams and desires change over successive Christmases. How our lists include less and less “things” and the need for more and more “blessings.” What are frayed and worn are our lives, not our catalogs. For when one peeks into the Manger and sees the fulfillment of every hope and dream in the birth of “the God Who is with us,” everything pales in comparison. We long to have that serenity and peace which is connected with the eternal rather than with the fleeting. Let us never forget that we carry the very life of God within us, through sanctifying grace in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Mary gave birth to the Lord Jesus in a manger…we give birth to Him in the deepest recesses of our hearts when we do His will in our lives. May you and your family have a very Blessed Christmas, my Holy Spirit family; and may the birth of the Christ child answer all your hopes, dreams and desires.

Christmas blessings!
Fr. Morgan & Rudy ]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-23/feed/ 0 From the Desk of the Pastor http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-22/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-22/#comments Sat, 17 Dec 2011 16:40:17 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1504 The understanding of a “Messiah” in the Hebrew religion developed over time, much like Christian doctrine has developed over time. This is how God works in His creation: He allows us to peel back the truths of the faith one layer at a time much like peeling back the skin of an onion one layer at a time in order to get to the core. For ancient Judaism, the general hope was that God would bring peace and justice for his people by a divine intervention, but “messianism” was not focused on a particular person until the prophecies made by King David: Your dynasty will last forever, says the prophet Samuel in today’s First Reading. This is the beginning of what Jews called “royal messianism,” the Messiah would be a descendent of David, a great King, and a powerful leader who would establish a vast earthly kingdom. His coming would resound around the world. Other Old Testament prophecies predicted that the Messiah would unite Jew and Gentile. The understanding was that the Gentiles would be merely “included” in the messianic kingdom, but not given any status or claim. The Messiah was never expected to be divine, but certainly he would have the blessing of the divine. It was blasphemy for Jews to even consider that the divine could be born of a woman. Then came the prophet Isaiah. He would write about another kind of Messiah, the “suffering servant,” a designation that Judaism rejected. What Messiah would come into the world to be a victim rather than a conqueror? So the identity of the Messiah was never really clear to the Jewish people. There was always the given expectation that the Messiah would come, but the “how” and “who” and “when” was never etched in stone. In our Gospel, Luke wants to show the connection between Jesus and all the Jewish prophecies made down through the ages. Jesus is the Messiah. Born of a woman. He is the Expected One. Yet, it takes everyone by surprise: The birth of a baby to a poor peasant woman (from the lineage of David though) was not how the Messiah was supposed to come; and He was certainly not supposed to be God. At any rate, we have been let in on the truth…thankfully. We know the rest of the story. May we ready ourselves this last week of Advent to expect the unexpected. Like Mary, let us proclaim that “His will” might be “our will.”

Advent Blessings

Fr. Morgan

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-22/feed/ 0 Christmas Mass Times http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/christmas-mass-times/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/christmas-mass-times/#comments Sat, 10 Dec 2011 23:30:13 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1489 Christmas Eve: Saturday, December 24
4:00 PM (Children’s Mass) 7:00 PM 12:00 Midnight
**No 5:00 PM Mass**
Christmas Day: Sunday, December 25
8:00 AM and 10:30 AM
**NO 6:30 PM Sunday evening Mass**

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/christmas-mass-times/feed/ 0 From the Desk of the Parochial Vicar http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-4/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-4/#comments Sat, 10 Dec 2011 23:27:36 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1485 The coming of Advent signifies for us the beginning of a new “liturgical year” or “year of grace.” The Church puts before us every year, in the cycles of her liturgical feasts, the principle mysteries and events of our Faith. The Church is the Mystical Bride of Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit. When the Church does something, we should pay attention. The Bride knows how to please her Spouse. She has a chant, a sacred canticle, which she sings to Him unceasingly. It is a canticle of love flowing from the depths of her heart. It is, in fact, a reverberation of the song of the Bridegroom himself; for it is Christ’s own Love, it is Christ Himself in fact, alive and active within her, that produces this song. As children of the Church, we must learn her song. While this canticle flows from the depths of her heart, it is also expressed outwardly. It is, perhaps, nowhere more perfectly and more efficaciously expressed than in her liturgy. Every liturgical feast, every mystery celebrated in her annual cycle, is an expression of her thoughts and desires. These thoughts and desires already belong to us in virtue of our baptism; just as the whole Catholic Faith belongs to the newly baptized infant. As the infant grows, however, he must begin making explicit and actual the faith he received implicitly at baptism. He does this by making “acts of faith” and by learning the content of the Faith, Catholic doctrine. Just as we have received the Church’s Faith, we have also been made partakers of the Church’s worship. We should, therefore, labor to make the thoughts and desires of the Church personal and living realities in our lives. We do this foremost by actually praying with the Church, attending Mass and praying the Liturgy of the Hours. However, we can also allow the liturgical prayer of the Church, as expressed in her seasons and feasts, and, especially, as expressed in the actual changeable texts of each day’s Mass or Office, to affect our own private prayer and meditation. To this end, it is helpful to acquire a hand missal or a periodical which reproduces these texts. With such aids, we can linger with the thoughts of the Church and allow them to penetrate our hearts and our minds and so carry them upward to Christ our Lord, as in a stream of adoration of love.

Fr. Venner

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-4/feed/ 0 Feast of the Immaculate Conception http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/feast-of-the-immaculate-conception/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/feast-of-the-immaculate-conception/#comments Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:39:14 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1478 Feast of the Immaculate Conception is December 8th, 2011. Mass for this Holy Day will be on Wednesday, December 7th at 6:30 PM and Thursday, Dec. 8 at 8:00 AM (School Mass) and 6:30 PM.

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/feast-of-the-immaculate-conception/feed/ 0 From the Desk of Deacon Bates http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-deacon-bates-8/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-deacon-bates-8/#comments Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:13:33 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1476

The season for preparing for Christmas Day has descended upon us with the intensity of a South Dakota blizzard that has the delightful promise of closing every school in the state. There are Christmas presents to buy, Christmas carols to listen to, Christmas parties and concerts to attend, Christmas cards or letters to send, and Christmas cookies to bake and eat. In the hustle and bustle of trying to accomplish everything that should be done, including preparing the Christmas Day meal, sometimes we forget about the why of the preparing.

The why is Christ. Christ came to us as a baby in a family so we would know the importance of family life, of grandparents and grandchildren spending time together, brothers and sisters retelling stories from their childhood, and cousins playing together. Christ brings to our families a peace that finds its fulfillment as we gathered together as a family to celebrate Mass and sing the praises of God with all the saints and angels in Heaven.

Deacon Tom Bates

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-deacon-bates-8/feed/ 0 From the Desk of the Pastor http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-21/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-21/#comments Fri, 25 Nov 2011 20:00:27 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1472 November is significant for two great traditions. The first, is the religious tradition of remembering the members of our family laid to rest over the years. The second is secular in nature, but still reveals our true religious purpose: thanksgiving. November is set aside to “pray for the dead” and to “give thanks.” This seems like quite a dichotomy. But they are actually closely connected. God did not create us to be alone in giving thanks…nor alone when mourning. Since last October I have buried three of my relatives, so this November brings with it a certain introspection on death… and a true thanksgiving for family and friends. On Monday, while I was home for the funeral of my uncle, I noticed how nostalgic I have become for my home and for the people that I remember as a youngster. I jokingly commented that my mother’s St. Patrick’s Day party has less and less attendants each year because of the loss of relatives. Yet, if our spiritual life is well-grounded, at some point we look beyond the mere sentimental in a memory, and see that behind it all – good and bad – is something greater than just the memory, even greater than just the people, or the event, or the image. We see that in God’s big, enormous plan to save the world, little insignificant me has a role to play. And then God becomes very, very close to us.

Fr. Morgan

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-21/feed/ 0 From the Desk of the Pastor http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-20/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-20/#comments Sat, 19 Nov 2011 18:41:30 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1457 (Part IV on the Liturgy of the Mass) With the advent of the new translation of the Mass, bishops, pastors, liturgists and composers around the country have been scrutinizing liturgical Hymns and music with the same objective in mind: a better appreciation and appropriation of the mystery celebrated. Thus, they have been paying as much attention to the words in liturgical songs as to the melodies. If some hymns are not being sung at our Masses anymore, it may be because the words are theologically incorrect and certainly don’t proclaim what we believe. In 1997, Pope John Paul II spoke on the pastoral care of the liturgy: Hymns and Sacred Music have an essential role in reinforcing everyone’s communion, in a form very sensitive to the acceptance and assimilation of the word of God, through the unity of prayer…See to it that beautiful hymns based on worthy texts and in harmony with a meaningful content are chosen and composed. This statement reminds us that unity is the essence of the Church. Unity of the Church is the reason why the Eucharist exists in the first place. At Clergy Days 2009, Dr. Patrick Gorman, Director of the Office of Worship for the Diocese of Madison, WI, presented to the priests of our diocese a synthesis of JPII’s statement by ranking hymns based on the vertical/horizontal understanding of worship. So for example, Hymns/Songs addressed to God (Holy God We Praise Thy Name) ranked 5 star; Hymns about God but addressed to each other (Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence) ranked 4 star; Hymns quoting scripture (On Eagle’s Wings) ranked 3 star; Songs about what we are doing (We Gather At Your Table) ranked 2 star; and finally songs about us (We Are Called) ranked 1 star. Most (but not all) contemporary hymns composed today are in the 1, 2 and 3 star categories. Thus, many churches today load their liturgies with these songs to the exclusion of 4 and 5 star songs, according to Dr. Gorman. He said that we must be careful that the focus does not become what we “like” rather than “what” we are singing. He also said that the New Translation will lend itself to help us create a better balance of hymns in our liturgies, so that we incorporate all forms of music of praise. At Bishop Swain’s direction, this is what we have been attempting to do at Holy Spirit for the past four years now – mesh the contemporary with the traditional to create a “harmony with meaningful content that reinforces the unity of the Church.”

Blessings!
Fr. Morgan

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-20/feed/ 0 From the Desk of the Parochial Vicar http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-3/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-3/#comments Sun, 13 Nov 2011 01:20:45 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1449 In looking at the Sunday readings and seeing the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” I thought we might do well to reflect on the Catholic doctrine of merit. The following entries from the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church might be helpful:
426. What is merit? (See CCC 2006-2010, 2025- 2026)
In general merit refers to the right to recompense for a good deed. With regard to God,we of ourselves are not able to merit anything, having received everything freely from him. However, God gives us the possibility of acquiring merit through union with the love of Christ, who is the source of our merits before God. The merits for good works, therefore must be attributed in the first place to the grace of God and then to the free will of man.

427.What are the goods that we can merit?(See CCC 2010-2011, 2027)
Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification and for the attainment of eternal life. Even temporal goods, suitable for us, can be merited in accordance with the plan of God. No one, however, can merit the initial grace which is at the origin of conversion and justification.

Fr. Jonathan Venner

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-3/feed/ 0 From the Desk of Deacon Bates http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-deacon-bates-7/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-deacon-bates-7/#comments Sat, 05 Nov 2011 15:17:31 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1444

There is an old and holy Catholic belief that we should pray for the dead. We believe that all who have died in God’s grace and friendship but who were not perfectly purified by their life on Earth are assured eternal salvation. Purgatory is that place where they will be made perfect in the eyes of God. Christ tells us in the Sermon of the Mount “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” To be perfect is difficult be- cause perfection is much more than just avoiding all venial and mortal sin. To be perfect is to use the suffering we endure on Earth to purify ourselves of all sinful inclinations and to give glory and praise to God in all that we think, say, and do. If we would see our children, parents, or grandparents drowning in a lake, we would immediately come to their aid. To pray for those souls who may be in purgatory that their time of purification would come quickly to an end is an act of charity and forgiveness. Some- day, may there be kind and generous people who will pray that we would be quickly purified in Purgatory and live in the peace and joy of Heaven.

Deacon Tom Bates

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-deacon-bates-7/feed/ 0 From the Desk of the Pastor http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-19/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-19/#comments Sat, 29 Oct 2011 01:04:53 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1437 I want to take a break from liturgy and talk about finances for a moment. Every registered household will receive a copy of the 2010-2011 Financial Report in the November edition of the Holy Spirit Newsletter mailed this week. I encourage you to look it over and call if you have any questions. Thanks to you and your generous response, our parish has always been able to end the fiscal year with a balanced budget, or near balanced budget. This year was no different. However, with the economic downturn we budgeting very conservatively these past few years. Our budgeted expenses have been bare bones in many areas, and in some cases cuts were made to ministries/programs that will need to be restored. Also, we have been delaying some of our facility maintenance and improvements for the same reason. Each spring, the Finance Council attempts to assess just how much the cost of utilities, supplies, materials and general maintenance will increase for the following year. I thank them for their commitment and diligence. This year, we have written in a 3% increase in the budget to make sure we are meeting the demands. Yet, last year utility expenses came out 9% higher than what we budgeted, so even though our goal is to be precise, it’s hard to speculate about the fluctuation in prices that occurs during the course of the year. If we end up with a surplus (which is good), just know that we have more than enough need for it and apply it appropriately. Sometimes when churches are in the middle of a capital campaign, regular giving can waver. Our collections have been holding their own, so I’m quite pleased that people are understanding the difference between “regular giving” which drives operations on the one hand, and “capital giving” which goes toward the retirement of the debt and a Building Maintenance Endowment on the other. Though we have decreased the debt significantly and are on track to meet our objective, it’s also important that the parish collect every dollar pledged over and above the loan balance, so that the Building Endowment will become a reality. Please keep up the good work on both “regular giving” and “capital campaign giving” and we will have nothing to worry about. Once again, thank you Holy Spirit Parish for your great stewardship and generosity! You are one of a kind!

Peace & Blessings in Christ,
Fr. Morgan

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-19/feed/ 0 From the Desk of the Parochial Vicar http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-2/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-2/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 01:54:10 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1429 As we begin to recite the new translation of the Nicene Creed, it seems appropriate that we reflect a bit on this prayer. We might ask what a Creed is in the first place. The English word “Creed” comes from the Latin, “credo.” This word means “I believe” and is the first word in the Latin version of both the Nicene Creed and the Apostle’s Creed. According the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Creeds, also called symbols of faith or professions of faith, are “composite formulas…with which the Church from her very beginning has set forth synthetically and handed on her own faith in a language that is normative and common to all the faithful.” It is the Catholic Church who first possesses the true faith. In the Creed, the Church expresses that faith. When we pray the Creed, we profess that the Church’s faith is our faith also. The most ancient Creeds were baptismal Creeds. In the earliest days of the Church, as today, when a person came to be baptized, they first had to recite the Creed (parents do this now for their children, often in a question-answer format). The “Apostle’s Creed” is the ancient baptismal Creed of the Church of Rome. The Nicene Creed, or more precisely, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, was developed at the Ecumenical Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople (325 and 381 AD). In the Nicene Creed we see special emphasis on the doctrines that were being clarified at those councils. One example was to oppose the heresy of Arianism. Arianism claimed that Jesus was not fully God, and so we see great emphasis on the full divinity of Christ, “born of the Father before all ages, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.” The Creed has been included in the Holy Mass on Sundays and certain Feasts since the fourth century, precisely to combat heresies. When we profess our faith in the Creed, we are responding to the truth that we hear in the Scripture readings and the Homily by renewing our belief in the faith of the Church. In special reverence for the mystery of the Incarnation, the Second Person of the Trinity becoming a Human Being, we are all asked to bow from our waist during the words, “and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became Man.” On the Solemnity of the Annunciation and on Christmas, instead of bowing, we are asked to genuflect during these words.

Fr. Venner

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar-2/feed/ 0 From the Desk of the Pastor http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-18/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-18/#comments Sat, 08 Oct 2011 20:04:09 +0000 dschnabel http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1416

We were blessed and honored to have Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., director of theological formation at the Institute for Priestly Formation and at the Pontifical College – Josephinum, Columbus, Ohio, speak to us at Clergy Days about spiritual warfare and pastoral ministry. As was expected, Dr. Keating talked about the implementation of the new missal and the Church’s duty to continually renew herself so that her worship and liturgy is authentically capturing what happened on the night of the Last Supper. Dr. Keating’s insights to the human mind and heart were mesmerizing. He is certainly a man with knowledge and in love with our Lord Jesus Christ. He has been around for a while, so he could speak to the changes in the church the last 40-50 years. He said the problem with understanding worship today, and more specifically, the continuity of ritual in the Mass, is that American people do not have a theological imagination. What we possess is something more nationalistic than Catholic: We have an entertainment imagination, an athletic imagination, an economic imagination, a political imagination, but we rarely think with a theological imagination, thus we attempt to project everything secular into the sacred. And so, in some churches (if not many) there was a movement to make everything seem “the same,” reducing worship to an exercise in “feeling” and “preference.” Our lack of a theological imagination has fed into this. A good example of this would be the advent of the so-called “rock n’ roll Mass.” Let’s take something we like, something we encounter everyday, something we are familiar with and put it in the Mass…then it will be relevant (or so the thinking goes). With the New Translation, we will be reminded that the Mass has its own rhythm, flow, introspection, disposition, temperament and character. The Mass is eternal; it’s not bound to a particular age or to cultural mores. Deviating from this is Satan’s way of tricking us into refusing to look deep within our hearts, because meeting God in that place can be a terrifying thing. Looking deep within ourselves also forces us to meet our sinfulness on a continual basis too, and we don’t like to do that. I asked Dr. Keating about the so-called “entertainment” churches that are cropping up everywhere and expanding in numbers of people, even here in Sioux Falls. His response was that many of those people will never be satisfied with worship, and will continually look for something that feeds their feelings, not their soul. “They are looking for ‘relief,’ he said, not for ‘healing’ in Christ.” And then he said something that made all the sense in the world: “The Mass is what Jesus left us with, we know this for a FACT, it’s in scripture; And we cannot do violence to the Mass.” Today, Jesus says in the Gospel, Give to God what is God’s. The Church in her great wisdom does not shrink from this responsibility…even in 2011.

Fr. Morgan

]]> http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-pastor-18/feed/ 0 From the Desk of the Parochial Vicar http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar/ http://holyspiritsf.org/blog/from-the-desk-of-the-parochial-vicar/#comments Mon, 26 Sep 2011 02:33:37 +0000 Admin http://holyspiritsf.org/?p=1356 Having been ordained a priest on August 4th, I am happy to reintroduce myself to you as Father Venner. I have now been at Holy Spirit Parish as a priest for just over a month and have found the parish very welcoming and am grateful not only for your kindness, but for the work which God is doing here. In my short time here, I have been very impressed by the life and vitality of Holy Spirit Parish. The distinctive vitality, unity, and life of a Catholic parish come from its unity in the true Faith and the love of God. I believe that I have seen this unity and vitality at work here. I am reminded of one of my favorite moments in the Byzantine Catholic Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. This is an ancient form of the Eucharistic Liturgy (Mass) which developed in Greece and Eastern Europe (whereas our Roman, or Latin, Liturgy developed in Rome with elements from Western Europe). In the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, every Sunday, after Holy Communion, the whole congregation sings together in beautiful chant, “We have seen the true light; we have received the heavenly Spirit; we have found the true faith, worshiping the undivided Trinity, for the Trinity has saved us.” We too have found this “true faith” and have partaken of the one “heavenly Spirit” and we come together each Sunday to worship the true God in his one true Church. May this bond of unity and charity in the True Faith continue to find practical and spontaneous expression in the community life of Holy Spirit Parish; and may we continue to foster this community life by immersing ourselves in Catholic doctrine and the life of prayer.

Fr. Venner

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