Christian Experience WeekendTake a weekend to grow in faith and community

The CEW can be a very motivating experience. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you may actually be lead in directions that you never thought of. Two great examples of CEW impacting our home parish of St.Mary’s are Fr.’s William (Bill) Roush and Ray Powell. Rosemary and I have been Friends with Fr. Bill and his family for many years. After the death of his wife Cindy, we took many trips with him, his daughters, and several exchange students we had. I remember prior to the first CEW I attended, he placed a registration form in front of me and said, «sign up. I’m going and we should share the experience.» It was a fantastic weekend for each of us, and I am positive that through attending subsequent weekends, these experiences helped him to discern that he wanted to become a Priest. I met Fr. Powell on a similar weekend and feel the same might be said of him. They are two very Faith-filled men of God that want to be the mouth, hands and feet of our Lord, in service to others.

The Iowa City Deanery CEW weekends have been scheduled for 2018. The women’s weekend will be held February 23rd-25th, and the men’s weekend will be held March 2-4. Both events will be held at the Retreat Center at St. Mary’s Church in

continued on pg. 8

RENEWING OUR FAITH P.2

THANKING GOD P.3

ST. MARY’S IN THE MAKING P.4

PASTOR’S LETTER P.5

ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA P.7

WHY THE NAME FRANCIS P.6

LESSONS FROM THE EARLY CHURCH P.7

CEW CONTINUED P.8

St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic ChurchNEWSLETTER

CONTENTS

February 2018 Volume 2

Now that the New Year is upon us and we are formulating our New Year’s resolution, a wonderful one to keep in mind is to attend a CEW, or Christian Experience Weekend.

What is CEW? A Christian Experience Weekend is an opportunity to take a weekend to step away from the many things in life that compete for our time. It gives us a chance to take a look at who we are and where we are headed. Throughout the weekend we will be given the time and tools to rediscover ourselves, our Faith and our God. At CEW, we will listen to ordinary Faith-filled speakers share the joys and challenges of life.

If you open your heart and mind to everything presented to you, the CEW can be a life changing experience. My wife, RoseMary, and I each attended our first CEW’s several years ago. The weekend helped me to realize that I was basically just living my life day-to-day and what I needed was a more Faith-filled, prayerful life. I needed to be more of a participant in my Faith and in my church. The weekends helped RoseMary and I grow closer as well. We started to spend more time together praying and reading scripture. They helped us to better recognize God’s blessings. I also began assisting Rosemary teach Religious Education at Regina on Wednesday evenings.

Article By: Mark & Rosemary Fiagle

St. Mary’s Church in Riverside Iowa where CEW will be held

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O n November 14th and 15th St. Mary’s of the Visitation in Iowa City hosted a renewal of the faith event that celebrated the 175th

anniversary of the completion of the first Church of St. Mary in Iowa City. Father Mike Weldon, pastor of St. Mary’s Basilica in Phoenix, Arizona was the keynote speaker. Fr. Weldon, a native of Parnell, Iowa spoke of the history of the church in Iowa City but emphasized the renewal of faith

through our mission as Church, which to put it simply, is to love. Father Mike pointed out very clearly that Church is constantly changing. The way we perceive church, whether that be as a servant church (a church whose purpose is to serve the world), or a cultic church (ritualistic and organized through hierarchy). However you look at it, Church is changing.

Fr. Weldon led the two- evening session and following Mass on the first evening, he assigned homework, to read an American Magazine Article entitled, “The Uncertain Future of Parish Life.” The article indicates four major changes that will and are currently impacting the way in which we experience church.

Renewing our FaithOn a Mission to Love Through a Changing Church

Community Gathered at Event

Fr. Mike Weldon Speaking at Event

1) “The number of parishes in the United States declined from 19,559 in 1990 to 17,337 in 2015 while the Catholic population increased proportionally, remaining at 25 percent of the total U.S. population.»

2) There is a shortage of priests. “In 1990, there were just over 34,000 diocesan priests in the U.S.; in 2014 there were 16,462 active diocesan priests.”

3) “There have been significant decreases in Mass attendance and participation in the sacraments. More than 100 million in the United States in 2014 were baptized Catholics and more than 78 million self-identified as Catholic, but only 18.7 million attended Mass on a weekly basis.”

4) “There has been a major increase in cultural/ethnic diversity in the American church. About a third of all Catholic parishes serve a particular racial, ethnic, cultural and/or linguistic community, and some serve two or more of these communities.”

What these changes beget is more change. The afore to mentioned changes will inevitably lead to reconfiguration. Some churches may need to close, others may need to merge, but as Catholics, we are familiar with change. Catholicism, as we know it today, is built upon change and reformation. We made it through Vatican II intact, maybe even stronger than before,

and as we face these changes, Fr. Weldon calls us to, “reach out to all demographics and try to keep everyone gathered around the table. Put histories and disagreements aside so that we may stay in sacred communion. Doing this will help us on our mission.”

While we hold the teachings of our fathers close to our hearts, as a tradition of what has always been done, we must simultaneously embrace change, so that we might bring what we hold to be true in tradition to our ever changing demographic. Hope for our faith in the next generation of Catholics is based on the truths of tradition mixed with enlightenment, justice, equality, and above all love for all those who gather around the table to join us in Faith.

Fr. Weldon explained that “Church doesn’t have a mission; the mission has a Church. 

Jesus came because he loved us so much that word became flesh and the church participated in that mission to spread that love and all parts of the church should be focused on that.” Fr. Weldon’s parting words were a quote from Pope Francis, “Let Church always be a place of mercy and hope, where everyone is welcomed, loved and forgiven.” Let us remember this as we live to bring a changing Church to the world.

REACH OUT TO ALL DEMOGRAPHICS AND TRY TO KEEP EVERYONE GATHERED AROUND THE TABLE.

OUR MISSION AS CHURCH, TO PUT IT SIMPLY, IS TO LOVE

Article By: Jeanette Roush-KrafkaArticle By: Jeanette Roush-Krafka

Fr. Mike Weldon speaking at the renewal of the faith event

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O ne way we can show our thanks to God for all we receive is by sharing our blessings with others. In the U.S. many people observe

Thanksgiving Day by partaking in meals with family and friends to celebrate the benefits in their lives. However, not everyone has an opportunity to gather with their family and friends in a Thanksgiving meal. They are separated from family or may lack the means to join their loved ones. To help meet this need, St. Mary’s Parish has been hosting a Thanksgiving Day Dinner for the Iowa City community for over 25 years.

Not everyone has an opportunity to gather with their family and friends in a thanksgiving meal.

The annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner takes place in the parish hall with serving from 1:00-3:00. However, as with most Thanksgiving meals, the work begins much earlier as helpers make ready the parish hall and cooks prepare the food. The traditional menu includes turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables, salads, cranberries, rolls, desserts and beverages. Much of the food is donated by generous parishioners, including dozens of pies. The meal typically serves 150-200 people between guests and volunteers. In addition to serving those attending at the parish hall, meals also are delivered to

people who are unable to travel to the church to eat.

The meal typically serves 150-200 people between guests and volunteers.

Each year the guests are a mix of people looking for food and fellowship. Some folks are homeless or in poverty, while others are far from home. The Thanksgiving Day Dinner gives them all a chance to gather with others to enjoy warmth, good food and St. Mary’s hospitality. This year a family from North Carolina joined in to eat. They were in Iowa City because a family member was receiving treatment at the University of Iowa Hospital & Clinics for a serious health issue. A nurse at the hospital had mentioned to them that St. Mary’s was serving a dinner that afternoon. They were able to share a delicious meal at

Volunteers serving thanksgiving dinner

a difficult time for their family, and to be thankful that their loved one was receiving quality care.

It takes dozens of volunteers to make and serve St. Mary’s Thanksgiving Day Dinner. The leader of them all is Sr. Agnes Giblin, who has helped serve these meals since St. Mary’s started serving Thanksgiving Day Dinner many years ago. In addition to the cooks, volunteers help serve the food, prepare meals for delivery, and clean up. Some volunteers return year after year, finding that serving others is an outstanding way to thank God. Volunteers range from children to older adults. While a core of volunteers comes from St. Mary’s Fellowship Commission, other helpers come from outside the parish to participate in the bustle and joy of the community meal.

Like any Thanksgiving meal, there are leftovers. In this case, remaining food either is given to guests to take with them or is brought to other places for feeding others. This year some food was brought to the Catholic Worker House and some was brought to the Iowa City Free Lunch program, which does not serve a meal on Thanksgiving Day. Participating in the Thanksgiving Day Dinner at St. Mary’s allows all to share God’s bounty for us. Sr. Agnes sums it up, “The meal is the sharing of time, talent and treasure – that is real stewardship. Many people are fed physically, but their spirits are nourished as well.” Even as we thank God, He continues to shower us with His blessings.

Thanking Godat St. Mary’s Thanksgiving Day Dinner

Sister Agnes entertaining guests

Article By: Bill Doucette

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I f someone were to ask me what my favorite subject was in school, I would have a hard time answering because

I enjoyed many things; but I’ve always known that my least favorite subject was history. There was just something about learning names of historical people and places that put me to sleep. So when I was asked to write about the history of the Catholic society in Iowa City, I was less than eager to accept the request. To my pleas-ant surprise, though, as I started reading the Chapter about “The Making of a Mid-western Catholicism: Identities, Ethnicity, and Catholic Culture in Iowa City, 1840-1940 ” by Michael J. Pfiefer, I found myself drawn into the past and even amazed by the background of the very church to which I belong; St. Mary of the Visitation.

I’ve always understood the connotation of the United States being the “Melting Pot” of many different nationalities in the larger context of the country, but I did not consider that my own little Iowa City also had to resolve the differences of many cultures that made it up. Iowa City was a growing community of many different nationalities including the Irish, Germans, and Bohemians (now Czech Republic), and each nationality had its own particular in-fluence to make on the Catholic Identity in Iowa City.

The different nationalities that made up our Catholic heritage maintained the views and connections with their home-lands, which sometimes conflicted with the views of the other nationalities. The Irish Catholics, for example, preferred “a relatively simple and austere form of wor-ship” and readily followed the authority of the clergy, minimizing the involvement of lay ministries. The German Catholics valued an “elaborate baroque communal-istic devotional style that included proces-sions and pilgrimages, confraternities, rich orchestral music, and richly embellished churches” as well as an emphasis on the inclusion of lay participation. The Bohemi-ans Catholics were fairly similar to the Ger-mans in regards to their devotional styles, but preferred to minimize the emphasis on lay ministries, and were generally less sup-portive in their financial contributions. All of these differences created conflict within the Catholic community which resulted in congregations that were divided accord-ing to ethnic backgrounds.

These devisions were thought to have physically manifested through the statues on the high alter. It was rumored that the Irish Catholics rented pews on the west side of the church in coordination to the statue of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. On the other hand, the German Catholics pre-ferred pews on the East side of the church coinciding with the statue of St. Boniface, the patron saint of German Catholicism. While the story is somewhat humorous, it is indic-ative of some of the conflicts between the different nationalities that made up the first Catholic parish in the area.

The Catholic presence in Iowa City was rec-ognized shortly after the city was founded in

1839, when in 1840 Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli, an Italian Dominican Friar, was given per-mission from then Bishop Mathias Loras, a French immigrant and the first bishop of Dubuque, to acquire 2 lots in Iowa City with a security of $2,000, in order to build a Cath-olic Church.

Bishop Loras who laid the first cornerstone of the original (old) St. Mary’s Church on July 12, 1841, and the church was completed in the spring of 1843. “Old” St. Mary’s was ded-icated The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The 1850 Johnson County census found the ratios of German born to Irish born was roughly 2 to 1, but over the next ten years that ratio changed to nearly 1 to 1 as nu-merous Irish immigrants flooded into the country to avoid starvation in their home country. The 1860 Johnson country census found the Bohemian population to be wildly under-represented. As these ratios changed, German and Bohemian Catholics grew

steadily frustrated, that their ethnic commu-nities were not being equally recognized in comparison to their Irish counterparts.

In 1858, Fr. William Emonds, a young German priest, was called to lead St. Mary’s and to help bridge the distinctions between the ethnic communities, but much animosity had already accumulated and the German and Bohemian parishioners, under the lead-ership of Fr. Franz Xavier Werniger, left St. Mary’s parish to form a new Church, St. Fran-cis Xavier, in 1862. The rationale for leaving was due to overcrowding at St. Mary’s and allegations that Fr. Emonds actually favored the Irish and English over the Germans and Bohemians.

The newly formed St. Francis Xavier Church was located at the corner of Johnson and Brown streets. This church lasted only 5 years, closing in 1867 due to conflicts between the Germans and Bohemians surrounding the differences in the financial support between the two major nationalities. The parishioners returned to St. Mary’s parish. As a side note, St. Francis Xavier Church was destroyed in a fire in 1869.

When the two parishes were brought back together, it was recognized that St. Mary’s Church structure needed to grow, so expan-sion of the structure began. On August 15, 1869 the “new” St. Mary’s Church, St. Mary of the Visitation, was dedicated. The reuni-fication of the Germans and the Irish is epit-omized in the “new” St. Mary’s Church high alter design which contains the opposing St. Patrick and St. Boniface statues on either side of the portrait of “The Visitation”. In addi-tion, to appease the Bohemian community, along the east side of the church are murals depicting the four key Bohemian Saints, Wenceslaus, his grandmother Ludmila, John of Nepomuk, and Adalbert.

St. Mary’s in the MakingA Brief History of Compromise

ARE THE SAINTS ON THE HIGH ALTER, A SYMBOL OF DIVISION OR UNITY?

Article By: Paul Adam

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Baptisms

NATALIE LOUISE JENNINGS

OLIVER ALEXANDER MENDOZA

REID GEORGE GLASS

LENNON SCOTT HENRICH

THEODORE CHARLES FIAGLE

Weddings

TAYLOR MCBURNEY AND MADISON MEARDON

KATHRYN TEMPLE AND TYLER DUNKEL

N ew Year’s greetings to all! The new year has come along with some of the most frigid weather that we have encoun-

tered in a very long time. My hope for you all is that the cold weather has not dampened your spirits or left you with anything less than a heart overflowing with the love of God.

The number of people attending mass on weekends is higher!

We had a wonderful year as a community, having celebrated many joy filled weddings and births. We have also felt the loss of several of our long- time parish family members. All the joys and pains that we as a community of faith experience as we journey through life were experienced by some or all of us some-how this year and yet, I feel an overwhelming sense that we are going and growing in the right direction. I was looking over our atten-dance numbers for the masses in November and I am delighted that the number of people attending mass on weekends is higher with the three masses that we celebrate than when we had four. You are an amazing community of people and continue to be a blessing.

Our wonderfully diverse community has con-tinued to thrive as our Congolese brothers and sisters had their own New Year celebration at St. Mary’s, despite the frigid temperatures. Our Vietnamese community members continue to celebrate once a month in their native lan-guage while maintaining their active role in the community at large.

Finally, I have to say something about the music for liturgies celebrated here at St. Mary’s. The choir under the leadership of Nathan Gibbs, has grown in strength and numbers and has done an excel-lent job of providing quality music for the 8:30 Sunday Mass as well as the special liturgical events that we have had here such as Confirmation and the Lutheran-Catholic celebration in October. In addition to the choir, I want to compliment Patti Mc Taggart for the great work that she has done in bringing together the talented group of young musicians that have coupled with those veteran musicians that provide music for the 10:30 Mass. What a joyful sound they all raise to the Lord.

Our wonderfully diverse community has continued to thrive

May all of you, who are gifts to St. Mary’s, continue to live as God’s gift to one another.

Fr. Steve

Pastor’s LetterMusic is but one form of harmony in our wonderfully diverse community.

Fr. Steve Witt Age: 13

A Prayer for Enduring Strength

Oh Lord, Grant me solidarity to resolve in your name these battles which have been waged for the sake of our amelioration.For I know pain, as I’ve seen it stain the cheeks of a mother as she watches the untimely death of her first born child.And I know death, as I saw the blood of an unwary victim of an armed robbery taint the sandy soil crimson.I know desire, as it wells from the eyes of a ravenous child.Lord, your endeavor is my quintessence, it is the essence of who I am. Though what I am in this moment is weak.In the midst of such strife, the outlook seems bleak, and in apprehension I will surely sink,for I cannot feign the strength I could only gain in You.So Lord, I beg of you, guard me on my way, maintain, sustain and keep my doubts at bay, that I may accomplish to the fullest of my ability the ambitions with which you have adorned this path. That I may learn to love through each crusade, from every strain along the way of this journey which you have created me for.

By: JRK

In order of events sinceNovember 1st.

In order of events sinceNovember 1st.

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Funerals

LYNN AKERS

ROBERT GAFFEY

BOB SCHNEIDER

HENRY MADDEN

MARCIA MUNDY

W hen the pope’s birth and papal names were announced from St. Peter’s balcony

in March 2013, many assumed that the first Je-suit pope was selecting the great Jesuit mission-ary St. Francis Xavier as his patron. But it soon became clear that it was Francis of Assisi who inspired Cardinal Bergoglio.

“For me,” the new pope explained a few days after his election, “he is the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation.”

When Cardinal Bergoglio chose the name Fran-cis, he won the hearts of Italians on the spot by embracing the saint from Assisi who immersed himself in the lives of the poor. Introducing him-self with a bow to the people of Rome as their bishop struck a tone of modesty, of pastoral essence.

“’I want you to bless me,’ Francis said in his first appearance from the balcony of St. Peter’s Ba-silica, asking the faithful to bow their heads and pray for him.”

“I want you to bless me,” Francis said

It was the first time in 600 years a living pope re-signed; the first time a Cardinal from the Amer-icas was elevated to the throne; the first time a pope was named Francis with reverence for the saint’s mission for the poor, and the first time our pope came from the Jesuit order.

Jesuits are known for their universities, but the ‘Society of Jesus’ order are much more than administrators of prestigious universities. Also known as “God’s Marines” or “The Company,” the order of priests and brothers was founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1534.

Jesuits are famous for their intensive educations (it can take 10+ years to progress from entering the order to taking final vows as a priest), con-templative spirituality and variety of vocations.

St. Ignatius had a military background, and early adherents referred to themselves as the “Com-pany of Jesus,” hence both of the nicknames live to this day.

As the head of the new order, Ignatius sent his

Our Jesuit Pope Francis

Why the Name Francis?Pope Francis, our Jesuit Holy Father

priests throughout Catholic Europe to start schools, colleges and seminaries. With mis-sionary work as a core value, the Jesuits are known for spreading Catholicism throughout the world.

When Pope Francis speaks of going to the fron-tier and reaching out to the peripheries, that too, can be traced back to his Jesuit mindset. As mis-sionaries, Jesuits were the first to evangelize in parts of Latin America, India, Africa and the Far East (You can learn more about St. Ignatius and the Jesuits by picking up a copy of Lighthouse CDs at St. Mary’s)

Jesuits talk about finding God in all things.

But it’s not just about being a missionary in faraway countries. One can be a missionary at home.

Jesuits talk about finding God in all things. That’s why you’ll also find members of the Society of Jesus in places other than college campuses. Members of the order go all-out for the lord and the church, using the gifts that are given to them.

And the gift now for Pope Francis? The world.

Article By: Tim Blake

In order of events sinceNovember 1st.

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Our Catholic Christian Faith is based on 1) scripture and 2) Tradition, and these teachings are defined by the Magisterium of the Church. The Church has many traditions (customs), but Sacred Tradition (note the capital “T”) constitutes our “lived understanding of the deposit of faith as set forth in the pages of Scripture” (Madrid, 2002). Tradition is the Church’s lived experience of Christ’s teaching. The importance of Tradition has been stressed throughout the centuries by the immediate disciples of the apostles (A.D. 50-150), often called “apostolic fathers” and then by apologists who wrote between A.D. 150 and A.D. 325. It is important to know how the faith was taught by those who knew Christ personally, or those individuals taught by the apostles. For example, Pope Clement knew both Peter and Paul and wrote to the Church in Corinth explaining that the apostles intended an orderly succession of authority in the church. He warns that no one should disobey the things which have been said by Christ through the bishops and their elect, and warned against schisms. St. Ignatius a Bishop of Antioch (martyred in about A.D. 110) presented a clear view of a hierarchical Church and the Eucharist as the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ. He repeatedly designates the Church as “Catholic” and emphasizes that it is a universal community of believers and noted the importance of Sunday as the Sabbath because it honors the day of the

Lessons from the Early ChurchOral Traditions, Scripture, and manuscripts

resurrection. He was martyred, like so many others, e.g., St. Polycarp, Bishop and Apostolic Father (a hearer of St. John the Apostle). These witnesses provided the Church with an understanding of the apostolic truths. Like Pope Clement in the first century, validation of Tradition was proclaimed in subsequent centuries. St. Irenaeus of Lyons in the 2nd century wrote that anyone who may wish to know the truth should contemplate the Tradition of the Apostles. St. Justin Martyr, arguably the most important 2nd century apologist, wrote about the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and that the Eucharist should be brought to those unable to attend mass. St. Basil the Great in the 4th century and St. John Chrysostom in the 5th century reaffirmed that messages preserved in the Traditions of the Church were passed down through time, orally and in written word. Further documentation regarding the teachings of the early church appeared when a manuscript was discovered in the 11th Century, but not published until 1883. This manuscript is called “Didache” (pronounced did-a-kay), a Greek word for teaching, and defines the teaching of the 12 Apostles. The evidence from these writings suggests that a Christian editor in Egypt during the first half of the 2nd century found documents that appear to be 1) the earliest catechism and 2) Church order (an instructional manual regarding the conduct of worship). The Didache, along with the writings of the apostolic fathers, addresses the sanctity of the Eucharist and the importance of confession.

We can appreciate that during its earliest years the Church’s teaching was oral, and handed on as a deposit of faith. Then inspired writers, e.g., John, Paul, Peter, who received the oral teaching provided us the words which constitute the New Testament. Accordingly, the voices of the early church fathers bring us closer to the teaching of Christ.

References: • Madrid, P. Why is that in Tradition? Our

Sunday Visitor Publ., 2002. • D’Ambrosio, M. When the Church was

Young: Voices of the Early Fathers. Servant Books, Franciscan Media, 2014

Your Input Requested

If you have any comments, suggestions, concerns, ideas, or if you would simply like to write for St. Mary’s Newsletter, please contact Jeanette Roush-Krafka at jeanette.roush@gmail.com

Article By: Robert Tomanek

Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) originally a soldier, was a Spanish priest and theologian, who founded the religious order called the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) The Jesuit order served the Pope as missionaries, and they therefore emerged as an important force during the time of the Counter-Reformation.Ignatius became an expert in spiritual direction, collecting his insights in his book ‘Spiritual Exercises’, a simple set of meditations, prayers, and other mental

exercises, and one of the most influential books on the spiritual life ever written. He is the patron saint of all spiritual retreats and the foremost patron saint of soldiers.

St. Ignatius of LoyolaArticle By: Tim Blake

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Contacts for both weekends:

Women’s weekend: Linda Gent 319-461-2486 Nancy Wagner 319-430-7120

Men’s weekend: Tim Blake 319-331-2438Chris Harris 319-331-2470

The cost of the weekend is $50, but there will be a reduced rate of $40 if registration is postmarked by February 2nd, and please remember, cost will never prevent anyone from experiencing the weekend. (Scholarships are available for those who request assistance)

Riverside, Iowa. Sleeping accommodations and meals are provided. My final suggestion is this. If you are have ever thought about attending an event that could help you grow in your Faith and in your relationship with God, please take a weekend and give CEW a try. I can honestly say that you will come away with several new friends as well as a deeper spiritual connection.

St. Mary of theVisitationCatholic Church

302 E. Jefferson St. Iowa City, IA 52245

CEW Men’s Leader:Tim Blake

CEW Women’s Leader:Nancy Wagner