CCATHEDRALATHEDRAL N NEWSEWS February 2013 Volume 18 Issue 7 Tulsa, Oklahoma

Holy Family

Bishop Slattery celebrates Ash Wednesday Mass in a full Cathedral. [Photo: 2009]

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Identification Statement: The Cathedral News Issue 7 February 2013 (USPS 022-729) is published 10 x per year (monthly, except for June and July) by Holy Family Cathedral at 122 W 8th St., Tulsa OK 74119-1402. Periodicals postage paid at Tulsa, OK. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: CATHEDRAL NEWS, PO BOX 3204, Tulsa, OK 74101-3204.

Dear People of Holy Family,

At the beginning of the Mass on Ash Wednesday, you

will hear me pray,

“Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy

fasting this campaign of Christian service.”

Lent is our great campaign of Christian service when

we evaluate how well we serve God. We fast, we abstain,

we give up those things that distract us from becoming

the best servants of God we can be.

We plan too. We plan where and when we will go to

church to receive our ashes. We make plans to obey

Monsignor Halpine’s command to “Go to Confession!” We

plan our personal or family schedule for Holy Week and

for Easter.

As your pastor, I pray that your planning goes well.

May your Lent be spiritually productive. May you be open

to God’s loving action as He reaches into your heart and

perfects you.

I am making plans too: both for my own observation of

Lent and for a much more public and ambition series of

events. In April of 2014, our beloved Cathedral Church will

be 100 years old. I have assembled a Centennial Commit-

tee to determine the best way for our parish to observe

this milestone.

Since all of the Centennial Committee members are

good Catholics, they told me, “Oh, Monsignor, our Cathe-

dral deserves better that one tiny event. We must cele-

brate for a whole year.”

Father John Grant and I took the Committee’s recom-

mendations to Bishop Slattery. He approved a year of

celebrations beginning in April of 2013 and leading up to

the 100th Anniversary of Holy Family’s dedication Mass

in April of 2014.

It is too early to list all of the events we are planning.

Please be aware of this Centennial and pray that it – like

Lent – will bring us all closer to God.

The The

Rector’s Rector’s

ReportReport

Yours in the Holy Family,

Msgr. Gregory A. Gier, Rector

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Cathedral News deadlines: Please submit articles and announcements to the Cathedral News by the 15th of the preceding month.

Email mikemalcom@gmail.com or send your article to Mike Malcom at the parish office.

Fridays of Lent

5:05 Mass

5:35 Adoration

6:00 Dinner

6:45 Benediction

7:00 Stations of the Cross

7:45 Movie (starting on Feb. 15)

Various parish organizations will provide meatless dinners on

Fridays of Lent. Your donations are most welcome to help them

cover costs.

The Knights of Columbus will be showing a religious themed

movie in the Halpine Room on Fridays of Lent beginning on Feb-

ruary 15.

Ash Wednesday and Lent

Ash Wednesday Masses

7:00 and 9:00 a.m.

12:05 and 5:05 p.m.

All Masses will be in the Cathedral. Ashes will be distributed at

all Masses. Bishop Slattery will be the celebrant at the 12:05

p.m. Mass.

Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and abstinence.

Catholics, age 14 and older abstain from meat on Ash Wednes-

day, Good Friday, and all the Fridays of Lent. On Ash Wednes-

day and Good Friday, Catholics age 18-59 abstain from meat

and limit themselves to one full meal each day. Catholics are

encouraged to pray more during Lent, especially with Scripture.

Lenten Dinners Schedule:

February 15: Women’s Club serving Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

February 22: Holy Family Cathedral School

March 1: RCIA

March 8: Youth Group serving Macaroni and Cheese

March 15: Knights of Columbus

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I want to take this opportunity to brag on our faculty. This

year they have handled changes in administration,

changes in faculty members and positions, new materials,

new methods, as well as more students; and they have

taken it all in stride.

Your child’s teachers do so much more than you may

know. They spend summers, holidays, nights and week-

ends planning, creating, grading and meeting to discuss

how we can improve what we teach and how we teach.

They give their time and talent to insure that your child’s

educational, physical and spiritual needs are met, and they

strive each day to create a safe and loving environment

where educational excellence can be achieved. They do

these things not for the monetary rewards, but for the sat-

isfaction of seeing happy students,

joyfully learning.

Please take time to acknowledge and

thank your child’s teachers for the tre-

mendous work they are doing here. It

will make their day.

Yours in Christ,

Mrs. Southerland

Left: The Eighth Grade loaded our “gently used” lunch

tables into a truck to be sent to San Miguel School.

Right: HFCS received new round lunch tables to ac-

commodate a growing student body.

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Above: Students enjoyed sundaes

after lunch on Thursday of Catholic

Schools Week.

Below: Catholic Schools Week ended

on Friday with a pizza lunch and a

great volleyball game between the

Eighth Grade and the Teachers.

Catholic Schools Week at Holy Family

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We are prepared to enter Lent and our class is learn-

ing what fasting and abstinence is all about. They

study the sacraments in detail and discover the struc-

ture of the Church and they find ways to express their

faith in daily life. Members of our class have been at-

tending Mass and learning how this is the source and

summit of Catholicism. They appreciate being able to

join other parishioners in the communion line as they

receive a blessing, and they look forward to Easter

when they will join us in receiving the Eucharist.

Sponsors have had the opportunity to attend a ses-

sion on the responsibilities of being a sponsor. They

understand the importance placed on their support

Entering Lent with RCIA BY T H E RCIA MI N I ST RY T EAM

and guidance of their charge during the rites and

in assisting the neophytes enter the Catholic

community.

The catechumens and candidates sign the

Book of the Elect at the Rite of Sending on Febru-

ary 10 at 10 a.m. Mass. They will be meeting the

Bishop in the Rite of Election, gathering with other

candidates and catechumens from around the

diocese.

Please continue to pray for our group as they

make this journey within our Church.

J ORD AN A CA T UREG LI WI LL HA M M OCK DA N NY HI G HT OWER MELOD Y HURLEY CH RI ST Y J ON ES

HON G L E MI C H A EL MC GEE KI M B ERLY MOORE- WA I T E J OH N PRI CE WI LLI A M T OWN S

AB OV E: DEA C ON T OM GORM AN T EAC HES A C LA SS ON BA P T I SM . BELOW: CA N D I D AT ES & CA T EC HUM EN S WH O A RE WORKI NG T OWA RD FULL C OM M UN I ON A T EA ST ER

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For now comes upon us

the cleansing weeks of Lent

a time for errant souls

of their sins be spent.

These forty days to ponder

our redemption from our loss

by the trials of Christ

Who died upon the cross!

So don sackcloth and ashes

or what you always wear.

Reflect upon your sorrow

and turn to Christ in prayer!

Hardly are we done with the joy of Christmas when we enter

the somber season of Lent come Ash Wednesday with its omi-

nous warning: "Remember, man, thou art dust and unto dust

thou shalt return!" These words had little import on me as a

child for Lent meant little more than no more double feature on

Saturday afternoons (mother's idea-not mine!) for six weeks -

seemingly a lifetime - and the family rosary every night. A pen-

ance on top of a penance! Death was simply an inconceivable

event that happened to old people - some of whom I was aware

but had no reason to know. Though I served as an altar boy at a

few funerals these were just a chance to get out of class for an

hour. Death was simply a foreign event that may happen so far

into the future that it may be possible to avoid it altogether. So,

as the youth becomes the man the dictum becomes a prophecy!

Today I can hardly read the obituaries without recognizing a

familiar name and in the wisdom of old age I have come to the

realization that death cannot be avoided. Death is forever linger-

ing in the shadows whispering ever so softly that paraphrase,

“Remember, you are but a grain of sand in the hourglass of

Time!” So it is that I come to this Lenten season with a renewed

sense of appreciation and when I contemplate for what I must

answer, and wish to God that I had done many things differently,

skipping the movies and saying the rosary for six weeks does

not appear to be the penance it seemingly was at one time. Oh,

that life could be so simple as to absolve our faults and sins

with a prayer said and movie delayed! However, God, in the wis-

dom that is God, recognized that Lent would weigh heavily upon

us so He gave us Mardi Gras for an evening of joy and elation

before our coming trial of contemplation. The Council, in con-

junction with the HFWC, is sponsoring an evening of merriment

on Saturday, February 9th in Heiring Hall. Last year was our first

Notes from the Knightstand BY MA RT I N REI D Y

time out for this event and it had, to be sure, a few hits and

misses. However, we learn from our mistakes (we hope,-praise

God!) and it is our further hope that you will join us for an eve-

ning of levity. Tickets are $25.00/couple - about the cost of a

movie with popcorn!

Homeless dinner report:

We report to you that our December Homeless dinner at the

Day Center had a cost of $289.15, or about $2.41/person. How-

ever, recall the January Newsletter where at our many volun-

teers – our “hovering angels” so to speak — donated approxi-

mately $300.00 worth of food in the pies, dressing, potatoes

served along with the purchased items. It is only with their un-

stinting assistance do» we feel that we can continue the feeding

program without resorting to our "beggar's cup" at the door of

the Cathedral. Also, and I realize that there were individuals who

went the extra "mile" in organizing the various donations there

was not room in the January Newsletter to specifically thank

Sharon Thierry who organized the potato dressing, and gravy

brigade and her husband, Johnny, for his help and patience. This

accolade by no means takes away the thanks we owe to all of

these volunteers who gave their all! We also extend a tip of the

chapeau to the various classes at Holy Family School who take

monthly turns in bagging the cookies for the dessert.

A final note: it is my understanding that a Lenten meal will be

offered in Heiring Hall on Fridays before the Stations of the

Cross. You may not find lobster bisque on the menu but it will be

filling, nourishing, and CHEAP! PAX!

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Holy Family Cathedral

P.O. Box 3204

Tulsa, OK 74101-3204

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

The Cathedral Women’s Club is collecting items for our annual

Garage Sale. It will be held March 21 from 7:30 to 4:00; March

22 from 7:30 to 4:00; and March 23 from 7:30 to Noon. Contact

Ann Owen, 918-748-9419 to arrange pickup. Beginning March

18, you may bring donated items directly to the Auditorium.

Garage Sale