MOQ parishioners began the Holy Week observance by commemorating the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

Devotions, celebration greet the news of the Resurrection

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A quarterly newsletter for the community of Mary Our Queen Church, Omaha, Nebraska, April 2015

A season of sanctification and remembrance . .

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Preparations for Easter at Mary Our Queen included the traditional

Palm Sunday service (above) and a Lenten Mission with Father Kevin

Joyce (left), assisted by the 11 o’clock choir (below).

A letter from the pastor

Page 2, The Steward, April 2015_________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Mary Our Queen Parishioners, The MOQ Parish Offices/Rectory is updating its security system. We are having swipe cards/entry pads installed on some of the outer doors and cameras installed around the building. To enter the main reception area on the east side, you will need to be buzzed in. A buzzer and camera will be installed for this purpose. We hope to have everything installed by summer. The Finance Committee decided to look at ways of raising Sunday collections here at Mary Our Queen as it is getting more and more difficult to balance the budget. We are looking at sending let-ters to school parents and other parishioners to educate people, having town hall meetings and other possible options available to us. These past few months we have been working on a Strategic Five-Year Plan for Mary Our Queen grade school with representatives from the school administration, Parish administration, school faculty, school board and par-ents. Feedback was obtained on all aspects of the school program from stu-dents, faculty and parents to identify the school’s strengths, weaknesses, op-portunities and threats. The strengths are: Catholic Identity/Environment, Small Class Sizes, Students Prepared for High School, Involved Parents, High Academic Expec-tations, Supportive Community, Good First Impression, Attractive/Affordable neighborhood and Established Endowment. The weaknesses are: Communication, Aging Facility/Limited Growth Potential, Loca-tion/Demographics, Teacher Compensation, Teacher/Staff Retention, On-boarding New Families, Lack of Diversity (ethnic) and Flat Sunday Contributions. The opportunities are: Increased Financial Commitment, Communication of MOQ (marketing), Expanding Community/Parent Engagement, Teacher Development (continuing education, use of technology), Capacity Utilization (more fully use school facilities), Returning Alumni. The threats are: Economy, Move of Families to the West, Competition for Staff and Students, Technology and Tools for Collaboration, Technology Refresh Rate, Public School Offerings and Fi-nancial Dependence on Endowment. Goals for the Strategic Five-Year Plan were then formulated and prioritized. The committee de-cided to focus on four goals - Goal 1: Protect and Grow Our Catholic Identity through Academic and Educator Excellence, Goal 2: Enrollment Growth/Management, Goal 3: Financial Management, Goal 4: Technology and Facilities Planning/Management. The Strategic Five-Year Planning committee is now developing the action plans that will make it possible to achieve these goals. The committee hopes to have the strategic plan completed in April. Committee Members are Brad Muse, Lisa Nelson, Fr. Robert English, Tara Petersen, Mary Alice Laferla, Marge Welch, Luke Ranck, Ann Timmerman, Sheila Lynch Sully and Melissa Siedlik.

May the Lord continue to bless you,

Fr. Bob English

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Members of the Humphrey family from left: Chris, Kare, Patrick, Jack, the late Denny Humphrey, Marilyn, Stephanie,

Elle, Noah, Danielle. Foreground: Madden, Doug and Ava.

Spirit of MOQ Award honors the Humphreys By Kris Vigneri, MARQUEE co-chair

At the 2014 MARQUEE, a tradition began with

the introduction of the Spirit of Mary Our Queen

award. First recipients were Mary Kay Esser and Peg-

gy Olsen. We are honored to continue the tradition of

recognizing a family that has demonstrated abiding

love for and exemplary service to our Parish.

It is with great love and pride that we named the

Humphrey family as the 2015 Spirit of Mary Our

Queen Award recipient. The Humphreys have been

members of the Parish for over 40 years and raised

three children, all who attended MOQ School.

We are so blessed to have this family in our Par-

ish. Combined, they have donated an incredible

amount of time, talent and treasure to Mary Our

Queen, serving our community in many ways.

Denny was a sports coach, EMHC, usher and

development director. He participated in the golf

league, served on the Stewardship Committee, volun-

teered at the Day House and was a member of the

Knights of Columbus. He was a constant at Knights of

Columbus activities, including the Lenten fish fries.

Denny truly loved being a part of Mary Our Queen

Parish, demonstrating this by his active involvement.

Denny’s passing in 2014 was a loss felt by many.

Marilyn is an EMHC, participates in Catholic

Daughters, works the Human Needs Garage Sale, vol-

unteers at the Day House and was a member of the La-

dies Guild. As a school room parent, she volunteered

for recess duty and continues to help Knights events

such as the fish fries and the Fall Festival.

Denny and Marilyn’s sons, Chris and Doug, both

participated in sports and youth group while growing

up in the Parish, and both are members of their local

Knights of Columbus councils.

Their daughter, Stephanie, remains an active

Parish member of Mary Our Queen. She is an EMHC,

volunteers with Catholic Daughters, works the Human

Needs Garage Sale, was a member of the Ladies Guild,

participated in youth group and continues to be a vital

part of the Lenten fish fries, the Fall Festival and other

Knights of Columbus events. Her son Madden will

start Kindergarten at Mary Our Queen this fall. He

plays micro soccer and enjoys helping at Fish Frys, the

Fall Festival and other Knights of Columbus events.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Page 4, The Steward, April 2015_________________________________________________________________________________

Larry Reiff, a member of Knights of Columbus Council 11700 at MOQ, slaves over a hot stove at the Knights’ weekly

Lenten fish fry events, a feature of growing popularity at MOQ. The event fills the social hall (below) with weekly attend-

ance ranging from 1,200 to above 2,000. Proceeds go to support the Knights’ service to MOQ Parish and their support of

Catholic causes, including education, human needs, vocations and pro-life activities. (Photos by Gene Schlegel.)

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More scenes from a fish fry

Clockwise from upper right: A coat-check

concession raised money for Boy Scout

activities. The wait line filled the tunnel

and halls. A party atmosphere prevailed in

the Social Hall. Longtime volunteers took

a break to be photographed by Gene

Schlegel -- Ann Cunningham, Betty Hage-

dorn, Marge Stolte, Jane Krajicek and Sis-

ter Stephanie Matcha.

Page 6, The Steward, April 2015_

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Home and School asks: what’s cooking? A pinch of this and a dash of that, mix it all

together and what do you have? If you guessed a new

Mary Our Queen cookbook, you are right!

As a way to help celebrate the 50th

anniversary

of Mary Our Queen School, the Home and School As-

sociation is putting together a cookbook to celebrate

this special milestone. Please keep a lookout for ways

to contribute a recipe for the cookbooks to come out

in late summer.

Home and School also held its second annual

volunteer celebration and open house in March. All

parents of MOQ students are automatic members of

the Home and School Association. Volunteers help

with anything from cutting out box tops to planning

holiday parties to organizing the used uniform room

and so much more! Home and School has many ways

to get involved.

For more information contact Christine Jonaitis

at: christinej0424@gmail.com ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MARQUEE glitters for MOQ

with elegance and generosity Increasingly important as a mainstay in the Parish

financial structure, the annual MARQUEE dinner-dance

took place Feb. 14 at the DC Centre with dinner, auctions,

and a program that reatured lots of pride and enthusiasm in

the Parish and its traditions.

The event was chaired this year by two couples (pho-

to at left), Scott and Jamie Kinnaird and Kris and Vincent

Vigneri.

A highlight of the program was a video produced by

Tom Elkins (below left, with his wife, Suzy) celebrating

the 50th

anniversary of MOQ school. Elkins drew on new

and archival material to present a memorable montage of

images and sounds in honor of the event. Guests at the

event included Father Bob English and longtime parishion-

er Jim Timmerman (below, right).

Bidding in the silent and oral auctions was spirited.

Scouts, from left: Jack Kramer, Jack Duff, Jackson Petrzilka,

Gerald Righter, Joe Nussrallah, Will Culjat, Ben Harrel, David Mal-

donado, Jared Burns, J.J, Nigh, Cameron Mulholland, Jacob Blair,

Henry Talacko, Jordan Blair, Matthew Wagoner, Cal Tietjen, Aaron

Rooker, Aidan Conrad, Sam Matney, Ben Olson.

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TNT lays out its schedule for upcoming activities The TNTs, MOQ’s over-50 group, provide a

variety of activities. In January we had a Mass and

soup supper for our members. In February a pot-luck

luncheon for parishioners was held, with Nancy Foral,

executive director of Essential Pregnancy Services

speaking. A free-will offering of $230 and many

hand-made baby items from the Craft Ministry were

presented to the speaker.

A St. Patrick’s Day get-together was held in

March at Granite City restaurant and brewery. We in-

vite all to the Intergeneration Orchestra of Omaha’s

Thirtieth Anniversary Concert April 19 at Joslyn Art

Museum Witherspoon Concert Hall. Two parishion-

ers, Megan Brookhouser and Mickey Riesberg, play

in the orchestra. See the Bulletin for ticket infor-

mation.

May 1 we will have a May Day dinner catered

by Bob Hurtado with entertainment by the Dancing

Grannies. In June we are planning another EAT

PRAY LOVE Church tour. And on Aug. 5 we will

meet at the Durham Museum for a trip on Ollie the

Trolley for the Magic City tour of historic South

Omaha.

We continue to offer Movement and Improve-

ment classes and Card/Game day the first and third

Fridays in the St. Joseph room. Mickey Riesberg,

mickr99@cox.net

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Here’s what you may have wondered about MOQ’s Boy Scout troop The Mary Our Queen Men’s Club has

sponsored Boy Scout Troop 448 for 47 years.

The purpose of the Boy Scout program is to

provide youths with an opportunity to learn

leadership and outdoor skills and to encounter

an environment where moral and ethical

choices are encouraged and taught. The Troop

is under the leadership of the senior patrol

leader with assistance from his staff; he is

guided in his efforts by the scoutmaster. We

camp almost every month and try to have an

outdoor activity those months when we aren’t

able to camp.

The Boy Scout motto is “Be Prepared,”

and the slogan is “Do a Good Turn Daily.”

Troop 448 engages in a variety of service pro-

jects including “Project Linus” (making fleece

tie blankets for children who’ve experienced a

traumatic event), Scouting for Food (collect-

ing food donations for the food pantries in the spring),

serving meals at the Ronald McDonald house, clean-

ing up trash and loading rented materials after the Fall

Festival, providing a color guard during the Parish’s

annual Veteran’s Day celebration and helping in other

areas as the need arises.

The Troop meets on Sunday evenings with the

exception of many holiday weekends, from 6:30 to

8:00, usually in the Parish cafeteria. The program is

open to all young men who have either reached 11

years of age, earned the Cub Scout Arrow of Light or

completed the 5th

grade. They are eligible to advance

in rank until their 18th

birthday. The Troop currently

has 39 registered Scouts: 5 Eagle scouts, 8 Life

scouts, 5 Star scouts, 11 First Class scouts, 1 Second

Class scout, 1 Tenderfoot, and 7 new Scouts. The

Troop has had 114 young men reach the rank of Eagle

during its 47 years of existence, including one father

and son duo. Visit www.moqtroop448.org for more information about scouting.

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Page 8, The Steward, April 2015_________________________________________________________________________________

‘Unbound’ program looks to June for next seminar On Feb. 26, we finished our second "Unbound"

seminar at the Kenney Center. It consisted of watch-

ing and discussing DVDs for eight Thursday eve-

nings, 7-8:30. These DVDs supplemented the book

entitled "Unbound – a Practical Guide to Deliverance"

by Neal Lozano, as well as the "Unbound Companion

Guide." (Both are available at Catholic book stores

such as Gloria Deo. Author Neal Lozano is a cousin

of Fr. Mike Scanlon, past president of Franciscan

University in Steubenville, Ohio.)

As you know, "Unbound" is a non-

confrontational deliverance prayer ministry that relies

on the power of God and focuses on people, not evil

spirits. It is a safe, loving and reproducible model that

helps people respond to the good news of the Gospel

and apply the truth to their lives using the Five Keys -

- Repentance and Faith, Forgiveness, Renunciation,

Authority and the Father’s Blessing. By using the Five

Keys in individual prayer sessions and in personal

prayer, people experience freedom from the influence

of deception and lies and embrace the reality that they

are known and loved by the Father.

We are considering starting another eight-week

seminar in early June and perhaps condensing it into a

six-week seminar. (We are also hopeful that Fr.

Nolte, pastor of St. Bernard, will facilitate the return

of the Lozanos for a follow-up conference in Septem-

ber or October.) If you have questions, feel free to call

me before 8 p.m. at 402-289-3862 or email me at

deaconpaul@cox.net. - Deacon Paul Rooney

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Front Row, L-R - Kelly Williams, Molly Kramer, Joey O'Hara, Cal Tietjen, Alex Schumacher, Cameron

Mulholland, Jared Burns

Another good season for MOQ’s robotics wizards The Mary Our Queen robotics program had

another strong season with lots of active participation

from students. We had five teams with a total of 23

sixth, seventh and eighth grade students. We kicked

off the season hosting a skills challenge. Our teams

then competed in five area tournaments, plus league

play.

The students earned seven trophies – one tour-

nament champion, three finalist, two programming

and a sportsmanship trophy. All the teams qualified to

compete for the state championships, held in Stroms-

burg, Neb. There we had a team come in second place

and another team win the design award. Two teams

are headed to the Create U.S. Open at the Mid Ameri-

ca Center in Council Bluffs in April. We will soon

begin our recruiting for next year, so any students en-

tering sixth, seventh or eighth grade should watch for

announcements.

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Last Updated: April 1, 2015

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Winners of the Knights of Columbus Poster contest, shown

with Police Officer Jenny Nelson, left, and Father Walter

Jong-a-Kiem, were Sophia Virgillito, Sidney Sledge, Delaney

Whitney, Stacey Geist, Mary Kate Nusrallah and, in the

foreground, Ryan Sully and Colleen Sully. Theme of the

contest was the danger posed to young people by alcohol

and drugs.

MOMS SETS SIGHTS ON AUTUMN The Ministry of Mothers Sharing had a very

successful spring, co-sponsoring the Ladies Morning

of Spirituality with the Ladies Guild and completing

our 39th eight-week spirituality series in March.

Participants in this spring's session were LeAnn

Anderson, Sarah Weber, Aura Krist, Sarah Ash-

ley,and Shelly Ranck.

Another eight-week session will begin in the

fall. To register or obtain more information, contact

Melissa Siedlik at 402-709-8769 or Sarah Moline at

402-213-4669.

KNIGHTS’ FREE-THROW WINNERS

Boys winners in the 2015 Mary Our Queen

Knights of Columbus Free Throw competition were

Connor Capece (age 9), Nicholas Kenney (age 10),

Ben Militti (age 11), Carter Plum (age 12), Mitchell

Harrison (age 13) and Nick Connelly (age 14).

Girls winners were Taylor Moffatt (age 9), So-

phie Weinrich (age 10), Ashley Moore (age 13) and

Avery Hanken (age 14).

Carter Plum (age 12) won the district contest at

St. Roberts and placed second at the regional contest

at St. Wenceslaus.

Serving fish fry desserts: Mary Tracy, Shirley Payton,

Jan Mickels, Sandy Storc and Germaine Rice .

Catholic Daughters posts goals The mission statement of Catholic Daugh-

ters is that it “strives to embrace the principle of

faith working through love in the promotion of

justice, equality and advancement of human rights

and human dignity for all.”

The theme our National Board chose for the

2015-2017 term is “Whatever you do for the least

of my brethren, you do for Me.” We have been

asked to focus on: One new project each year, in-

creased membership and spirituality.

The National Projects that our Courts cur-

rently donate to are: Apostleship of the Sea, Cath-

olic Relief Services, Covenant House, Disaster

Relief, Habitat for Humanity, Holy Cross Family

Ministries, Labouré Society, Misericordia, Mo-

rality in Media, Pontifical North American Col-

lege, Sisters of Charity (Mother Teresa), Smile

Train, SOAR! And the Tutwiler Clinic.

if you would like to learn more about our

donations to these organizations, refer to the CDA

website: http://www.catholicdaughters.org/

Our Court has been busy making and serv-

ing desserts at the Knights of Columbus Fish Fries

at Mary Our Queen on Feb. 20, March 6 and

March 20.

The biennial state convention will be held

in South Sioux City on April 18-19 at the Maria-

na Inn Hotel and Conference Center. The theme

is: Life is a Gift from God. Contact Mary Tracy for

information.

DATES FOR HUMAN NEEDS GARAGE SALE

It will be on July 31 and Aug. 1-2. Dona-

tions will be accepted July 26-30.

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Last Updated: April 1, 2015

Return service requested

Page 10, The Steward, April 2015________________________________________________________________________________

The Parish Record, Jan. 1 – March 31

BAPTISMS

Blaize Garrett Dvorak, Paxton Marie Lee

Hanken, Bailey Anne Hirchert, Makenzie Michelle

Hirchert, Isaiah Henri Johnson, Samuel Joel

Knofczynski, Lillie James McCarville, Aubrey Rae

Naughton, Kennedy Claire O’Riley, Emilia Marie

Rowell, Michael Anthony Stull, Michael David Vol-

ler, Isaac Michael Walden, Bianca Marie Watson.

NEW PARISH REGISTRATIONS

Ronald and Patricia Andersen, Mike and Alicia

Battershell, Tina Benning, John and Kylee Best, Mi-

chael and Alisson Bragg, Thea Costello, Jessica and

Brandon Hirchert, Kelsey Knofczynski, Curtis and

Jennifer Krobot, Jessica Koza, Jeffrey and Maureen

Lohmeier, Jason and Anne McGill, James and Karen

Murphy, Carl and Katie Parys, Jerry and Celine

Pivovar, Jacob and Mallory Pole, Oystein and Jeanette

Solberg, John and Debra Stalnaker, Kerry and Mary

Stull, Michael Tesch, Zachary and Sara Voller, Ryan

and Melissa Wolken.

DEATHS

Leona Bergstrom, Birute Bezousek, Thomas

Brusnahan, Frank Corritore, Todd Davis, Joan Fi-

cenec, Kathryn Foster, Phyllis Glogowski, Mary Col-

lette Lee, Judith Lewis, Donna Maliszewski, Michael

J. McAlpine, John Nownes, Sr., Phyllis Stokes.

WEDDINGS

Nathan Coulombe and Kassandra Oropeza – Feb. 28

Jordan Eckersley and Megan Efferding – March 7

Thomas Frederick and Kristin Reinsvold - March 14

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