Sacred Heart Parish Fathers Message

Sacred Heart Church
~ where all are welcome ~

SACRED HEART PARISH
Founded in 1882
Address 1609 N. Summit,
Springfield, Mo., 65803
417-869-3646
Fax: 417-869-2218
email: sheartch@sbcglobal.net

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My brothers and sisters in Christ,

Peace. Welcome to Sacred Heart Church, a welcoming parish in the
Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, which encompasses the southern part of Missouri. Our parish of about 400 families is about half English-speaking and half Spanish-speaking. Though small in size, we are very active, especially in our outreach to recent immigrants. And we have been designated as a "Welcoming Parish" by our Bishop, John Leibrecht. Hence many of our parishioners drive an hour or more to celebrate with us and be a part of our parish family. Among other things, we have surveyed the needs of the immigrants in our community, with the following receiving the highest priority: receiving English classes (ESL), obtaining basic information (regarding transportation, housing, work, medical care and schooling, etc.) to more quickly adapt to their new environment, and legal services to become permanent residents and citizens. Already we have begun to respond to these needs. We are building a larger hall to accommodate the larger parish family for the various parroquial celebrations, and to have offices dedicated to our Hispanic Ministry. Both the cost of the hall and offices ($1.5 million), and the annual funds necessary to provide the services mentioned above ($50,000 or more) are beyond our means. We are a small and poor parish. But we are also a people of faith and hope, and have every confidence that with our own sacrifices and the enlistment of support from others we shall indeed reach our goal. After all, this is more than a social project; this is a ministry and a response to God's call. If you want to experience a faith community that is warm in its welcome and active in living the Gospel come and join us. We'd love to have you.

A goal of our parish, indeed the dream expressed by our Parish Council, is that we might all be one ~ one community, regardless of language, ethnicity, or age. Each of us has been gifted with talents and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is in the sharing of these that we discover our blessings and become one. To be one, of course, we must know who we are and what we are about. We are more than our name and address. We define ourselves as a people of faith, and we reveal the essence of our faith by our love for one another and in our actions (within the parish and in the greater community). While many of our acts of charity and kindness are done daily on an individual basis, it is when we come together as a people of God that we grow in the awareness of God’s active love and presence, and we manifest this profound wonder to others.

In our parish directory we list our membership and our activities and ministries, to know each other better, and to make us evermore aware of both the needs of our parish and community and what we are doing to respond to them. All are invited to join us, and to offer to us other opportunities to serve and to grow as one ~ with each other and with God. It is not a question of being invited to volunteer, but of being a true disciple. There is no such thing as a Christian volunteer. Discipleship is our calling, from the moment of Baptism. Discipleship means not only following Jesus, but better yet being just like him. It is in the active living of our faith and imitation of Christ that we experience his presence, and are most fully alive! That is why Christ came, so that we “might have life, and have it abundantly”.

Come and join us in making Sacred Heart, a parish where all are welcome, and our community fully alive with the Spirit of Christ. Wishing you God’s every blessing.

Your Servant and Brother in Christ,

Fr. Frank