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In This Issue: 2 What Does Stewardship Mean? 3 Renovations Bring New Life to Holy Family Cathedral 4 The Three-Year Priority Plan for Holy Family Cathedral: “A Witness of the Church Alive” 6 Meaningful Connection in the Midst of Social Distance
HOLY FAMILY CATHEDRAL MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
A Letter from Our Rector
Introducing Our New Parish Stewardship Newsletter!
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elcome to the first issue of our new monthly parish newsletter! As our parish community continues to grow and develop stewardship as a way of life, we have recognized the need for increased communication. Through this newsletter, we hope to share stories that will help us all to better understand who we are as Catholics and what we are doing as individual members of Christ’s family. In upcoming issues, we will focus on what’s going on in the Holy Family Cathedral community, and how those activities and events are changing hearts and minds and helping parishioners grow closer to Christ and each other. Each article will ultimately focus on Christ at work within our community through the stewardship way of life. Our hope is that this newsletter will be a successful means for ongoing education and formation in our faith. I pray it will be a vehicle through which you are informed and inspired to become more actively involved in the life of Christ and the parish. Another way I hope to further develop stewardship as a way of life in our parish will be through a spiritual retreat that will be held in the spring of 2021.The retreat will be a unique opportunity for Holy Family parishioners to come experience a spiritual renewal as they learn more about stewardship and their ability to transform both their individual lives and enrich our faith community. We will announce more details about the retreat in the coming months, so look for that in this newsletter, in the parish bulletin, and on our website and social media platforms. Perhaps the most important next step in our stewardship journey will occur this fall, when we conduct our Annual Stewardship Renewal. The Renewal is the time each year when we ask each other to re-prioritize the way we use God’s gifts in the Church. It is the time we write down how we will become more devoted to Christ over the next year with our commitments of time (using our time on earth wisely; making time for personal prayer, family prayer, continued on back cover 8TH STREET & BOULDER AVE • TULSA, OK 74119 • (918) 582-6247 • TULSACATHEDRAL.COM
HOLY FAMILY CATHEDRAL What Does Stewardship Mean?
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hat comes to mind when you hear the word “stewardship”? Do you think of it as just another way to talk about money? Do you quickly dismiss it as a notion that has nothing to do with being Catholic? Stewardship is actually a concept that is Scripturally based, and is absolutely vital to our life as Catholics. God tells us, in the very first book of the Old Testament, “Be fertile and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and all the living things that move on the earth” (Gen 1:28). What does that mean to us today? It simply means that God is telling us, “This is yours, so take care of it.” One of the first things God tells us to do is to be good stewards of the gifts He has entrusted to us! The Old Testament is not the only place where we can find references to stewardship. Indeed, of the 36 parables in the New Testament, more than half of them deal with time, talent, possessions, or money. Therefore, if Jesus spoke of stewardship that much, it should be a very important part of our lives! As Catholics, we refer to the three facets of stewardship as “time, talent, and treasure.” Although these are three concrete ways to express and measure stewardship, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops tells us that stewardship is part of discipleship. Stewardship is a way of responding to God’s call in every aspect of our lives. The Scriptures and Church traditions teach us one important point that cannot be overstated — that stewardship is primarily based on our
need to give in gratitude, not on the Church’s need to receive. Of course, both the Catholic Church and our particular parish will always need money. However, we are not asked to give simply to defray costs and fund charitable programs. We are instead asked to remember our need to gratefully return a portion of our time, talent, and treasure to God, recognizing all that He has given to us. It is important to remember that stewardship is a way of life, and not a program. True Catholic stewardship involves an ongoing call to live as followers of Christ. It takes time to find and define personal goals. You can begin by examining your personal commitments to the parish. How do you live your faith in your daily life with your family and friends? How much time do you spend in daily prayer, going to Mass or being involved in parish ministries and activities? What percentage of your income should you give back to God every week? What talents do you have that could be used to strengthen our parish family? In the coming months, we will be increasing and intensifying our education and communication on stewardship. We will be developing a better understanding of how stewardship is a way of responding to God’s call to discipleship. And with God’s help, changes will occur in each of our hearts as we devote ourselves to a stewardship renewal within our parish. Examine how you are currently responding to God’s call to stewardship. If God called you home tomorrow, would He proclaim, “Well done, my good and faithful servant”?
The Old Testament is not the only place where we can find references to stewardship. Indeed, of the 36 parables in the New Testament, more than half of them deal with time, talent, possessions, or money. Therefore, if Jesus spoke of stewardship that much, it should be a very important part of our lives! 2
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Renovations Bring New Life to Holy Family Cathedral
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or over 100 years, our current church structure has comfortably housed the parish of Holy Family Cathedral and beautifully represented the Catholic Church throughout Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma. In order to maintain the beauty, comfort and functionality of our parish structures, various construction projects are currently underway. Parishioners and other Catholics from across the diocese have demonstrated remarkable support for these projects by donating to our Elevate Campaign over the last two years. Next month, they will see the fruits of their love in the completion of our parish renovation projects. After a period of fundraising for the Elevate Campaign, construction began in February 2020 with a budget of $3.7 million. Work is expected to be completed in mid-September, and the bishop will hold a special blessing of the cathedral following the noon Mass on Oct. 4. The building projects focus on updating the lower level of the cathedral, including Heiring Auditorium, the nursery, the kitchen space and restrooms. The addition of an elevator connecting the south vestibule level, the cathedral level and the lower level allows parishioners with limited mobility access to the entire building. The exterior of the parish and school are also receiving some much-needed care with the update of the roof systems, the replacement of the HVAC system, and the installation of storm protection for our 93 stained glass windows. The successful completion of these renovation projects serves as a sign of the strength and vitality of the faith community here at Holy Family Cathedral. “As Catholics, we believe that our church is where Christ dwells in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and so our churches need to be maintained with a certain dignity that represents the Person who dwells there,” says Fr. Gary Kastl, Rector. “The fact that it is clean and safe is an outward sign of hospitality for those who will come and pray here. The spaces speak to the spiritual health of the community as well. If the community is alive, the space speaks of that reality.” Fr. Kastl is pleased that the updated nursery space will provide parents with a trusted place to leave their children while they are nourished by the sacraments and the liturgy. As our largest gathering area, he is excited to see Heiring Auditorium outfitted with modern amenities and transformed into a truly beautiful place to hold parish functions, wedding receptions and diocesan events. When parishioners gather in our new spaces, they will
continue to build community and grow together in faith — looking to the future of our parish with great hope and enthusiasm. “I’m looking forward to this as a new beginning for the community,” Fr. Kastl says. “Whenever a project of this scale is completed, it gives the community the opportunity to rethink and reconsider who we are, how we want to gather, and how we want to grow in our faith, which connects to our strategic plan. It’s just a fresh start for life and ministry together in the cathedral.” As the Mother Church of the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma, our cathedral is blessed to serve our bishop in a special way, as well as Catholics from across our area and visitors from around the world. With our Elevate Campaign renovations, we have ensured that we will be able to continue serving God’s people well into the future. “Once this project is completed, Holy Family Cathedral and the infrastructure of Holy Family Cathedral Parish and School will have the modern amenities to serve the community for many years to come,” Fr. Kastl says. 3
HOLY FAMILY CATHEDRAL
The Three-Year Priority Plan for Holy Family
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ithout a doubt, the year 2020 has brought many unexpected challenges and changes as our country continues to navigate life in the midst of a global pandemic. And while our parish was in the first stages of developing a priority plan before COVID-19 was even on the horizon, the need to move forward as a community with renewed focus and intentionality is more important now than ever. As our diocesan cathedral, Holy Family is the beating heart of our diocese. With the help of the priority plan, our parish hopes to continue serving as a witness to the vibrant and dynamic faith of our Church to all of God’s people in Eastern Oklahoma. Shortly after his arrival as Rector in fall 2019, Fr. Gary Kastl decided to begin a nine-month planning process that would ultimately lead to the formation of a priority plan for the parish. An Envision Team was formed, consisting of our parish edral h t a C y clergy, Parish Council members and l i Holy Fam and School other parishioners. In addition, all Parish parishioners were asked to take 0 the digital Disciple Maker Survey 2 0 lan · 2 P y it r io provided by the Catholic Leadership r 3 2 P 0 st 2020-2 o c te n e Institute. P of Solemnity A priority plan was created by taking into account the survey statistics and feedback, as well as the experiences and suggestions of our Envision Team. Recognizing the contribution of so many participants to the plan, Fr. Kastl describes it as a “shared vision.” “It is important to have a mutual vision,” he says. “Particularly as it relates to stewardship, when we all recognize that parishioners have a responsibility for the spiritual and material health of the community, then the community begins to be materially and spiritually healthy. Everyone has a part to play in that. This priority plan provides a way for parishioners of all ages to
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y Cathedral: “A Witness of the Church Alive” take part in that spiritual growth, which in turn has an effect on the spiritual growth of the whole community.” The priority plan highlights three main areas of focus for the parish — hospitality, faith formation, and outreach. For Fr. Kastl, the goal of improved hospitality is of the utmost importance. As a large cathedral, Holy Family allows people to spread out in its expansive space, which may decrease parishioners’ interaction with their fellow churchgoers and clergy. By emphasizing a culture of hospitality and welcome, Fr. Kastl hopes to increase the number of registered households in our parish and encourage members to become more engaged in our faith community. The first steps in this process include the creation of a greeter ministry and a more intentional approach to our existing usher ministry. A second goal of the priority plan is the expansion of opportunities for faith formation in the parish. The Envision Team is evaluating the possibility of a change in the Mass schedule that would allow for a block of time to be set aside on Sundays for various faith formation opportunities for youth, adults and families. Last but not least, the priority plan looks to establish a three-pronged approach to outreach aimed at serving our parishioners here at the cathedral, as well as those in need in our broader community. “The first thing we want to do is better understand what is and is not happening in our immediate area when it comes to outreach for the homeless population,” Fr. Kastl says. “We would also like a greater awareness of what our own parishioners need. There is an opportunity to serve our brothers and sisters who are parishioners and to care for the sick, the dying, and the vulnerable in our own community. The third focus is on the spiritual poor — those who have yet to come into a fuller understanding of the Catholic faith — and how to bring them into the fold.” Everyone in our faith community is invited to come together to help make these goals in hospitality, faith formation, and outreach a reality. Fr. Kastl asks all parishioners first and foremost for their prayers for the success of the priority plan. He also hopes that we will
remain open to change — both in the structures of the parish, but also in our understanding of what it means to be members of a cathedral parish. And finally, it is Fr. Kastl’s prayer that parishioners will feel called to respond when opportunities to serve arise. With the goodwill and commitment of everyone at Holy Family Cathedral, implementing our three-year priority plan will ensure that our parish continues to be a living example of God’s kingdom here on earth! “At the end of the day, it’s not just about the numbers, but about how we are more authentically living the Gospel message and how we are becoming more a witness of the Church alive,” Fr. Kastl says. “I think we have an obligation as the cathedral to be as vibrant and as relevant in meeting the needs of the people of God in Eastern Oklahoma as we can be. As God’s Church, we should mirror a place where the faith is visibly alive.”
“At the end of the day, it’s not just about the numbers, but about how we are more authentically living the Gospel message and how we are becoming more a witness of the Church alive. I think we have an obligation as the cathedral to be as vibrant and as relevant in meeting the needs of the people of God in Eastern Oklahoma as we can be. As God’s Church, we should mirror a place where the faith is visibly alive.” — FR. GARY KASTL, RECTOR
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HOLY FAMILY CATHEDRAL MEANINGFUL CONNECTION IN THE MIDST OF Our COVID Response Team and Ushers
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ospitality plays an important role in the life of a parish. For most people, finding a community that makes them feel welcome and cared for is a significant consideration in joining a church. But what does that look like when people aren’t able to be physically present at Mass? And, how does it continue once they are able to return to the liturgy, but nothing seems quite as familiar as it once was? Here at Holy Family Cathedral, we’re finding creative ways to extend hospitality to our parish family in the midst of these unprecedented times. Early on in the pandemic, our clergy and staff came together to form a plan of how to connect with and support our parishioners, especially those who were elderly, throughout the time of quarantine. Thus, the COVID Response Team was formed, with volunteers from the parish stepping forward to help. The members of this team have called parishioners to share information about how to connect with the parish during this time, ensured that people’s needs were being met, and gathered prayer requests to pass along to our priests and Bethany Intercessors.
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“We anticipated needing to get groceries and medications and things like that, but that’s not at all what we ended up doing,” says Monica Conro, Ministry Coordinator. “Most people seemed to have the connections they needed to have their physical needs met. What we ended up doing was ministering to people’s spiritual and emotional needs, because they may have had what they needed physically, but were lonely and wanted to know how else they could connect with the parish, since they weren’t attending Mass. “A phone call seems like such a small gesture, but it really meant a lot to people,” she adds. “People said things like, ‘You don’t know how much this means to me that you took the time to make a phone call.’” In addition to phone calls, our clergy and staff collaborated to offer outdoor Confessions, virtual tours of the church construction, “fireside chats” with our priests, and Bingo nights. “We wanted them to know they weren’t forgotten,” Monica says. Then, after weeks of being unable to celebrate Mass
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SOCIAL DISTANCE Work to Help Our Community Stay Connected together as a community, we began to slowly reopen the church. During this time of transition, the role of our ushers has become even more crucial than in times past. And, due to the fact that many of our longtime ushers fell into the high-risk category, new volunteers have stepped forward to be trained and fill this vital role. “Our ushers have made it possible for us to open back up and to follow the guidelines and make it a good experience for parishioners,” Monica says. “Without the ushers, it would be a bit chaotic — having the ushers there means people can come and pray.” The role of the ushers also looks a bit different than
it has in the past, with ushers participating in training on how to create a prayerful environment that still upholds the new safety guidelines. Through all of it, they have worked to generously serve our community. “St. Therese of the Little Flower did little things with love — she did all these things in the background,” Monica says. “That’s how I see the ushers. Not everyone knows they’re staying after to clean, or that they participated in training, they studied our map of the cathedral — they’ve put time and effort in, beyond what you see there. It is a ‘little thing,’ but it has a huge impact.’”
Special thanks to all of the parishioners who have stepped up to serve our community as part of the COVID Response Team. We are so grateful for your help! Parishioners are needed to volunteer as greeters, ushers, lectors, and altar servers. For more information, or to become involved serving our parish in a liturgical ministry, please contact Ministry Coordinator Monica Conro at mconro@tulsacathedral.com.
Stewardship in the Family Congratulations to the Healey Family on the ordination of Fr. Robert Healey on June 26. We are so proud to have a son of our parish ordained to the priesthood.
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HOLY FAMILY CATHEDRAL PO Box 3204 • Tulsa, OK 74101-3204 (918) 582-6247 • tulsacathedral.com
Introducing Our New Parish Stewardship Newsletter! continued from front cover
and quality time with friends and loved ones); talent (using our Godgiven gifts to strengthen the Church through service to parish ministries and other activities), and treasure (the wise and just management of our financial resources; giving a proportionate amount of our income to the parish). As we strive to develop stewardship as a way of life at Holy Family Cathedral, the support and involvement of each individual parishioner is necessary to sustain the life of our parish. All of you have a place here, and all of you have a role to fill in the life of the parish as we live our lives as disciples of Christ. May the Holy Spirit renew and refresh all of us as we work together to build our parish family through the use of our time, talent and treasure. Sincerely yours in Christ,
Fr. Gary Kastl Rector
