Flocknote

Storm Lake Saint Mary's

300 E. Third Street

Storm Lake, IA 50588

PH: 712.732.3110

January 31, 2025

Message from Father Lingle

This Sunday, February 2nd is the celebration of the Presentation of the Lord, celebrated 40 days after Christmas to mark the moment that Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple to fulfill the Law of Moses. This feast is also known as Candlemas since the early Church observed this feast with lighted candles. The Church's liturgy honors this event by blessing candles and then carrying lit candles in a liturgical procession (to the temple of the Church). This feast rarely falls on a Sunday so it gives us a unique opportunity to observe this in a special way.

The liturgical observance of this feast is very much like on Palm Sunday except instead of carrying palms, it is a lighted candle. At the 5pm Saturday Mass and the 11am Sunday Mass we will observe the Solemn Entrance (people will gather in the church as normal) and I will bless candles before the ministers process in. The Sunday 9am Mass will begin in the parish center as we do on Palm Sunday where we will celebrate the blessing of candles and then process into the church to honor the procession of Mary, Joseph and Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem. You are invited into the parish center before Mass begins.

At the conclusion of this weekends Masses there will be some blessed candles for home use available in the east entrance of the church. We ask a $5 donation to help cover the costs of the candles (the blessing is free!). On February 3rd the Church celebrates the Memorial of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr, a day the Church traditionally offers the blessing of throats. I will offer this blessing at the conclusion of the 7am Mass on Monday. All are welcome to attend.

Father Lingle

Understanding the Liturgy with Father Lingle

You've probably noticed this new section in our weekly flocknote. I am going to use this column to occasionally offer some catechesis about the liturgy, specifically the Mass. Between now and the start of Lent (March 5), I want to focus on how we approach our communal celebrations of Holy Week and Easter and other celebrations throughout the year.

Did you know that there are around 31 different languages spoken in Storm Lake? We are one of the most diverse cities in the state of Iowa. That diversity is also reflected in our parish community. While our predominant languages in the parish are English and Spanish, we have a significant group of people who speak Vietnamese, Lao and Pohnpeian with our Micronesian community. There are also other languages as well.

Our Masses reflect the diversity of the Church, whose presence covers all the world. This diversity is a blessing as it allows us to witness firsthand the universal nature of the Catholic Church. It's easy to see this in places like St. Peter's Basilica in Rome but you don't have to travel outside of town to experience it. It also offers us a challenge. When we come together for major liturgical celebrations such as Christmas, Holy Thursday, Easter Vigil (just a few examples) language can be a challenge. With fewer priests available it is not always possible or practical to offer the various celebrations in particular languages. Some have said, we are in the United States of America so people should speak English. It's as simple as that. Except it isn't. Should we as a Church feel comfortable telling people if you don't understand English, too bad you can't enter into Mass more fully and just move on? Our celebration of Mass has nothing to do with our political preferences or the political climate of where we are at any given time. The Church has not adopted English (or Spanish, or French or...) as its official and only language. In fact the official language of the Church is Latin. More on that later. We should work to have a liturgical celebration that is inclusive of all the cultures that make up our parish.

"By its very nature, liturgy celebrates our common identity in Christ as Catholic Christians-an identity that flows from our common baptism...the overarching goal of planning such celebrations is assisting a diverse assembly to find its unity in Christ" (Liturgy in a Culturally Diverse Community: FDLC 1998). As we live in a more fractured world and country, it is important for us as members of the Catholic Church to find our unity in Christ and in the Eucharist we receive. The US Bishops remind us, "Each Christian must keep in mind that to live and worship in community often demands a personal sacrifice." To this end, I am going to be asking everyone to step out of their liturgical comfort zones when Lent starts as we will begin to learn the common parts of the Mass in Latin so that when we come together for our major liturgical celebrations we can express our unity with the common language of the Church.

I'll offer further explanation and catechesis as we go forward. Until then, stay tuned.

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Competition Champions Announcement: Knights of Columbus Crown Free Throw Champions! On Sunday, January 26th, thirteen boys and girls from the Storm Lake area, ages 9-14, gathered for the annual Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship. Six were named local champions of the 2025 and have earned the right to compete at the district level. St Mary’s Council 2326 in Storm Lake sponsored the local competition at the Panther Pit in Storm Lake. All youngsters ages 9-14 were eligible to participate. Esther Snyder was the winner of the 10-year-old girl’s championship. Tyce Boettcher sank 12 of 15 free throws to be crowned the 10-year-old boys division. Callie Campbell captured the 11-year-old girl’s championship. The boy’s 11-year-old division was won by Jasper Movall who sank 12 of 15 free throws edging out the competition in his bracket. Brothers, Ligohr and Parmenio Pelep each were the champion of the 12 and 13-year-old boys divisions respectively. All contestants were allowed 15 free throw attempts in the contests. Ties, though did not happen this year, are broken through successive rounds of five free throws until a winner emerged. All participants, champion or not, sank many free throws on Sunday! Each of the local Champions will compete in the district competition to be held at 1:00 PM on Sunday, February 16, 2025, at Newell-Fonda High School gym to move on to the state and international levels.

Tune into Faith in Action at 9 a.m., Monday, Feb. 3, on Channel 88.1FM. Host Joanne Fox interviews Heather Veik and Rachael Barlow about their retail endeavor, River Mill Coffee in Neligh, Nebraska, which has a subtle Biblical basis. This program replays at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8. Faith in Action is brought to you by Mary's Choice, a Sioux City Pregnancy Resource Center. Previous Faith in Action programs can be found at siouxlandcatholicradio.com, on YouTube, and several other podcasting platforms.