A conversation with Bishop Michael O. Jackels

I was recently visiting Holy Name Parish in Coffeyville. And at each Mass, there were children of all ages who brought forward these buckets that they had in their classrooms at school, in their Parish School of Religion classes, and in the children’s collection during Mass that weekend.

A little sign on the buckets invited children to give change for our Cathedral. And the sign listed the TOGETHER vision goals: to strengthen the communion across our Diocese, deepen our practice of stewardship and to help fund some true needs in our Church.

Now probably very few, if any, of these kids have ever seen our Cathedral, but they understood that this is a place of significance for them. And while it may not seem like much to some, the $409.68 that those children collected was a lot. It was a lot like the Widow’s Mite. It may not seem like much objectively, but it is much.

When a child releases a quarter or a fistful of pennies into a bucket for the old church up in Wichita, that’s a true gift, and it’s a beautiful thing to behold. It is inspiring.
And it is inspiring that the Cathedral Parish has raised more than $1 million in gifts and pledges to the TOGETHER vision.

The Cathedral parishioners have shown an outpouring of support in this effort. The makeup of the Cathedral Parish is different than it was in the past. There are about a thousand families, very faith-filled people, some of whom have means, but many of whom do not. So for that thousand families to contribute more than $1 million is very significant.

It fills me with great pride.

It helps me to see that the priests and the parish leadership have been working very hard, and with great effect and fruitfulness, at showing the importance of this whole project – not just the Cathedral campus renovation but also this sense of communion in the Church and our practice of stewardship and the importance of educating future priests, and of fostering and promoting faith formation programs.

There is effect to their efforts, and it can be seen in this level of participation and in the amount gifted and pledged.

You look at the people in the Cathedral Parish, and you look at the children of Holy Name Parish in Coffeyville, and I could bring up any number of other examples, because they are just that – examples. They are examples to the rest of us to take a part in this work because we recognize ourselves as a part of this larger diocesan Church family.

These efforts stand to benefit us all: whether it’s our Cathedral, strengthening and even etching into the very stones our oneness/our family spirit; whether it’s the education of seminarians, ensuring our future because we’ll have priests; or whether it’s faith formation programs because we will continue to create the potential for people to act with the values and the light from the Gospel of Jesus and the teachings of his Catholic Church.

All of us stand to benefit from the success of the TOGETHER vision.

Goals of the TOGETHER vision
• Strengthen the oneness between parish and diocese.
• Deepen our practice of stewardship as a way of life, sharing responsibility for the mission of the Church.
• Invite everyone to help fund seminarian education, Catholic formation programs and a renovation of the Cathedral campus.

Where will Bishop Jackels visit next?
Bishop Michael O. Jackels continues his TOGETHER vision visits. Here is a schedule for the next few weekends.
Dec. 18-19, Independence, Cherryvale
Jan. 15-16, Haysville
Jan. 29-30, Schulte
Feb. 5-6, Winfield - Oxford