sacredheartchurch-newton-ia-02-1154

Reflection on Parish Involvement and Growth

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 12:56:49 GMT

Reflection on Parish Involvement and Growth

As I begin my week, I find myself reflecting on the areas we need to focus on—not just this week but in the weeks ahead. As I review my task list, a recurring thought continues to emerge: Why are people stepping back?

Is it simply that life is busy, and people no longer have the time to volunteer? Or is it something deeper—are we not as welcoming a parish as we hope to be? Do we offer enough to meet the spiritual and communal needs of our members?

In the coming months, we will conduct a Stewardship Renewal to understand better how we can grow Sacred Heart through the gifts of time and talent. This will be an opportunity for everyone to reflect and provide input.

I invite each of you to prayerfully consider:

· What would I like to see here at Sacred Heart?

· Is the parish providing what I need to grow spiritually?

· Are there enough activities and ministries to keep my family

involved and connected?

During this time of Stewardship Renewal, please join me in prayer for guidance. Let us ask the Lord to show us how we can grow as a parish—deepen our faith, strengthen our community, and encourage more people to get involved. Together, we can make Sacred Heart a place where all feel welcomed, nourished, and inspired to share their gifts.

Helping young people to be fiercely Catholic in today’s world

Tue, 27 May 2025 14:42:24 GMT

Helping young people to be fiercely Catholic in today’s world

The Catholic Church is facing a crisis of faith among young people. In recent years, there has been a steady decline in the number of young people who identify as Catholic, and those who do remain often have a weak understanding of their faith.

If we want the Church to thrive in the years to come, we need to find ways to reach out to young people, help them to cultivate a better understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and give them the tools for how to do it.

The conversation that we as a Church need to have with young people begins with listening to them. According to the Springtide Research Institute report, The State of Religion & Young People (2021), during the COVID-19 pandemic, only 6% of young Catholics ages 13 to 25 report that a faith leader personally reached out to them.

As that same age group reported extremely high levels of suicidal thoughts and loneliness (with suicide rates reaching a 20-year high among youths ages 10-24 in 2020-2021), we can see clearly how we failed to meet them in a distinct hour of need.

Pope Francis repeatedly has called for the Church to listen to young people. “Too often we talk about young people without asking what they think,” the pope said on the eve of the 2018 Synod of Bishops on the theme “youth, faith and vocational discernment.” We need to hear the concerns of young people and their questions, and we need to be willing to engage them authentically, where they actually are.

What it means to listen

Listening to young people will mean many things. First, it means that older generations have to be willing to set aside rather than hand on the weight of their experience with the Church. One generation might be attached to a mode of preaching, particular hymns or retreat models that don’t attract another. Similarly, aspects of Catholic social teaching resonate more or less easily depending on the day. Young people experience the Church as she is now, bearing today’s wounds and glories. The experience of previous generations is not the experience of young people today.

Second, it means taking seriously the desires young people actually have, not the desires we project upon them. It means we have to connect them with the traditions, teachings and truths of the Church, for which they often yearn.

Pope Francis has advised us to take full advantage of “various manifestations of popular piety, especially pilgrimages,” which “attract young people who do not readily feel at home in ecclesial structures, and represent a concrete sign of their trust in God.” We must help them worship the Lord in reverent, beautiful liturgies, taking full advantage of the joy many young people find in Eucharistic adoration and confession.

Listening to young people is a vital first step in nurturing their faith. However, the Catholic Church must go beyond listening to young people and embrace the responsibility to instruct and evangelize them. Listening opens a dialogue; that dialogue cannot terminate in a vague sense of affirmation or in relativizing the truth. Listening must grow to conversation, which, in turn, must lead to a genuine revealing of the truths of the Catholic faith.

Authentic accompaniment

This is the authentic accompaniment young people need: conversation that leads to the discovery of eternal principles. Those eternal principles will help young people discover the joy of faith, allowing them to flourish and build a lasting personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Young people need clear guidance to navigate the complexities of today’s world while remaining rooted in their Catholic identity. We must provide them with a solid foundation in Catholic moral thought. By offering instruction that addresses their unique challenges, we equip them to face societal pressures, temptations and moral dilemmas with confidence and wisdom.

We must not shy away from raw conversations about difficult topics, like human sexuality or abortion, which they readily discuss in any number of other forums. We owe them the full breadth and depth of Catholic teaching, including and especially on controversial topics, responding directly to their needs, curiosities and desires.

But catechesis reaches much deeper than instruction in Christian morality. Education in the faith must be an ongoing process, engaging both the mind and the heart. It should incorporate the broad range of teachings of the Church, the lives of the saints and an exploration of sacred Scripture. Encouraging young people to actively study and engage with these aspects of their faith leads them to encounter Christ and empower them to embrace the faith as their own. That’s how they will become effective ambassadors of Christ’s message in the world.

Following World Youth Day in Portugal and the Synod of Bishops preparing to meet in Rome in October, the Church must listen to young people, but that is only the beginning. The Church must also accompany young people by handing on, with humility and love, the faith that has been handed down to us.

As Pope Francis told young people, “The Church needs your momentum, your intuitions, your faith.” But that faith must be formed, shaped by authentic catechesis and instruction that takes seriously the heartfelt desires of young people today.

Our Sunday Visitor Editorial Board includes Dominican Father Patrick Briscoe, Gretchen R. Crowe, Scott P. Richert, Scott Warden, and York Young.

Finding God in the Quiet: My Journey on a Silent Retreat

Wed, 07 May 2025 15:47:11 GMT

Finding God in the Quiet: My Journey on a Silent Retreat

In a world filled with constant noise—notifications, conversations, and the ever-present hum of distraction—choosing silence can feel radical. But that’s exactly what I did. I stepped away from my routine, turned off my phone, and entered into a time of deep stillness on a silent retreat.

At first, the silence was uncomfortable. No talking, no scrolling, no background music to fill the space. Just me, my thoughts, and God. But as the hours passed, I began to notice something unexpected: peace. Beneath the surface noise of my everyday life was a stillness I hadn’t accessed in a long time. And in that stillness, I found clarity.

Guided by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, I spent time in Scripture, prayer, and reflection. Passages like Psalm 139 reminded me that I am never hidden from God:

“You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.” (v.5)

Even in silence—especially in silence—God was present, closer than I had imagined.

Another passage that spoke deeply to me was Luke 12 , where Jesus urges us not to worry about our lives—what we will eat or wear—but to trust in God’s provision. Letting go of noise helped me let go of anxiety. I stopped striving, even internally and simply rested in God's care.

Two other passages became especially meaningful to me:

1 John 4:7–8, 18–19 teaches us that God is love and that as we grow in faith, we come to know and believe in that love. It reminded me that love is not something we earn—it's something God gives freely and abundantly.
Luke 10:38–42 , the story of Mary and Martha, convicted me in a personal way. Like Martha, I often feel compelled to stay busy, to “get things done.” At first, I struggled with how Jesus responded to her. But as I sat with the passage in prayer, I realized He wasn’t being harsh—He was inviting her (and me) to sit with Him, to be present, to listen. The other things can wait. This verse reminded me of my need to seek a better balance between action and stillness—to live both as a Martha and a Mary.

What surprised me most wasn’t just the absence of stress or distraction—it was the presence I felt. God’s nearness was almost tangible. I came home not only with insight, but with a quiet joy and a renewed sense of direction.

If you’ve ever felt the ache for more—more peace, more clarity, more of God—I encourage you to consider a silent retreat. It’s not easy to unplug. But sometimes, stepping away is exactly what we need to draw closer to what truly matters.

Michelle Miller

Memoriam...Pope Francis

Thu, 24 Apr 2025 14:11:46 GMT

In Memoriam....Pope Francis

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In Memoriam....Pope Francis

I was at the grocery store on March 13, 2013, Shortly after noon when my Pope alarm on my phone went off. We have a new Holy Father. i rushed home to watch in the kitchen with my Parochial vicar Fr. Bruce and a few other staff people. I remember the words:

I announce to you a great joy; we have a pope: the most eminent and most reverend Lord, Lord Jorge Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Bergoglio

who has taken the name Francis!

We all looked at each other and said "Who?" The world would quickly get to know this humble servant when he greeted the crowd as he stepped onto the balcony introduced himself with a humble "Buona sera." - "Good Evening". I remember him bowing to the crowd and to all of us and asked for our prayers. This would be the start of a humble papacy that would walk with the people, touch their wounds, and met them where they are. His papacy was never one of distance or protocol, but of proximity.

The picture about was taken in 2018 when I had the chance to shake his hand as a Missionary of Mercy. I had the honor to concelebrate 4 Masses with him. I have truly been blessed.

Pope Francis died as he lived - with his boots on wanting to b with the people he served. he did that on Easter Sunday. his last homily went like this:

"Dear brothers and sisters, in the Lord's Paschal Mystery, death and life contended in a stupendous struggle, but the Lord now lives forever. he fills us with the certainty that we too are call to share in the life that knows no end, when the clash of arms and the rumble of death will be heard no more let us entrust ourselves to him,

for he alone can make all things new."

As he shared his illness with the world, Pope Francis gave me new hope and courage as I continue my journey. "Our bodies are weak but, even like this, nothing can prevent us from loving, praying, giving ourselves , being for each other, in faith, shining signs of hope." Rest easy in the arms of Jesus, Holy Father. Rest in peace.

Father Marty.

Pope Francis

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 15:36:59 GMT

New Title

Memories of Pope Francis: A Pontiff of the People

When Jorge Mario Bergoglio stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in 2013 and greeted the world with a simple "Buonasera," the tone of his papacy was set: humble, approachable, and deeply human. As the first pope from the Americas, the first Jesuit, and the first to take the name Francis — after St. Francis of Assisi, the champion of the poor — Pope Francis marked the beginning of a new chapter for the Catholic Church .

A Pope Who Walked the Streets

One of the earliest and most enduring memories of Pope Francis was his choice to reside in the modest Casa Santa Marta rather than the Apostolic Palace. It was symbolic of his preference for simplicity over grandeur. He often emphasized "a poor Church for the poor," a vision that took root in his visits to refugee camps, prisons, and slums. Unlike his predecessors, he didn’t just speak from the pulpit — he went where the people were.

A Voice for the Voiceless

Pope Francis will be remembered for his impassioned calls for justice. Whether addressing climate change in Laudato si’, advocating for migrants, or condemning economic systems that marginalize the vulnerable, he constantly redirected the Church's attention toward the edges of society. His deep concern for creation and the environment introduced a spiritual dimension to ecological awareness that resonated globally.

Moments That Moved the World

There were unforgettable moments — like when he embraced a man with neurofibromatosis, a gesture of raw compassion that rippled across social media and into the hearts of millions. Or when he wept with survivors of clerical abuse, acknowledging the Church's failure and pledging transparency and reform. Or that haunting, rain-drenched prayer in an empty St. Peter’s Square during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — alone, yet speaking for the world.

Controversy and Courage

Francis was not without critics. His calls for inclusivity — particularly regarding divorced and remarried Catholics, LGBTQ+ persons, and women’s roles in the Church — sparked both praise and pushback. His pontificate often walked a delicate balance between progressive ideals and the traditions of a two-thousand-year-old institution. But it is perhaps this tension that defined his courage — not in always pleasing, but in always listening.

The Legacy of Mercy

Above all, Pope Francis made mercy the centerpiece of his papacy. In declaring the Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2015, he urged believers to "be merciful like the Father," inviting a return to the heart of the Gospel. His papacy reminded the world that religion could be gentle, inclusive, and deeply personal — rooted not in dogma, but in love.

A Living Memory

Pope Francis is not just a figure in history books. His memory lives on in the countless lives touched by his words, his gestures, and his unwavering call for kindness. For many, he was a bridge — between faith and action, between tradition and progress, between the Church and the world.

What Does Christian Stewardship Teach Us?

Wed, 02 Apr 2025 21:57:11 GMT

What Does Chrisitan Stewardship Teach US?

The life of a Christian steward models the life of Jesus. It is challenging and

even difficult, in many respects, yet intense joy comes to those who take the

risk to live as Christian stewards. Women and men who seek to live as

stewards learn that & quote ;all things work for good for those who love God & quote ; (Rom

8:28).

After Jesus, we look to Mary as an ideal steward. As the Mother of Christ, she

lived her ministry in a spirit of fidelity and service; she responded generously

to the call. We must ask ourselves: Do we also wish to be disciples of Jesus

Christ and Christian stewards of our world and our Church? Central to our

human and Christian vocations, as well as to the unique vocation each one of

us receives from God, is that we be good stewards of the gifts we possess.

God gives us this divine-human workshop, this world and Church of ours. The Spirit shows us the way. Stewardship is a part of that journey.

Stewardship

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 14:04:06 GMT

How Can I improve my Faith Through Stewardship

How can I improve my faith and spiritual life as a Catholic? Setting aside personal time and attention to personal spiritual growth is the answer. Below are some suggestions for a Steward’s Personal Growth in Faith:

Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father.
Pray with your family.
Spend 15 minutes a day in prayer.
Refrain from gossip.
Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Go to confession once a month.
Attend a weekday Mass.
Spend one hour a week in adoration.
Pray for the intentions of Pope Francis.
Join a parish prayer group.
Read the Bible for 25 minutes a week.
Read the book “Rediscover Catholicism” by Matthew Kelly.
Schedule a spiritual retreat.
Refrain from complaining.
Visit someone who lives alone or is homebound.
Share a meal with your family.
Practice hospitality by greeting others at Mass.
Discuss the Catholic faith with your children and parents.
Unplug from all social media for a period each day.
Answer this question: What more can I do to reach the deeper, more personal level of discipleship?

Easter Egg Hunt

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 13:36:18 GMT

Easter Egg Evangelization

Sometimes in the Church we worry about diluting what is essential to our tradition to the point where our actions are not recognizably Christian. This is of particular importance is our non-Christian (or post-Christian, if you like), American context. Pastoral action should always build a bridge of resonance between the good news of Jesus, the meanings available to a cultural setting, and the needs of a given local community. That is exactly what the parish at Sacred Heart in Newton is up to.

Memories of youth-time Easter egg hunts often permeate our culture. While Easter, like Christmas, is often secularized, this is an opportunity to draw, to attract, to engage, and we ought not pass up such opportunities.

While the parish hasn’t done an Easter egg hunt for several years, the community sees this tradition as an effective way to connect with young families they might otherwise not reach. This isn’t just an event for longtime parishioners, the whole community is invited. Getting the word out will be a full on effort: there will be yard signs, ads in the newspaper, promotion on social media and website, and flyers in every business that will let them put them up, from Hy-Vee to the YMCA.

Welcoming newcomers is going to be especially important, so the folks at Sacred Heart are going to make sure to visit with anybody they don’t recognize. Handing on the faith comes down to human relationships, and this setting is a great opportunity to start up a conversation.

As adults engage in conversation, the children can delight in the egg hunt. But it won’t be just candy that fills the eggs this spring. Eggs will include kids religious tattoos, prayer cards, cards with Mass times and contact information of parish staff. Some eggs will even have nicer items like a necklace or medal of a saint. The folks at Newton want to bring this full circle by invited attendees to Mass on Easter. The egg hunt will be the Sunday before Easter. Not only does this give people who are traveling for the holiday a chance to participate, it also gives space to invite people to our most meaningful celebration of the liturgical year.

Through our baptism we are always called evangelize. Easter (April 20 ^th ), Ascension (June 1 ^st ), and Pentecost (June 8 ^th ) give a particular focus to that energy this time of year. The Lord has risen, the Lord has ascended, the Spirit comes upon us and sends us out. Here are some evangelization-related questions you can take to prayer for each of these feasts:

Easter

In the resurrection, God achieves victory over sin and death. As John Paul II said in a visit to Australia in 1986, “We are an Easter people and alleluia is our song.” This is a joyful life.

What seeds of joy does your faith plant in you. How can you share that joy with one other person during the Easter season?

Ascension

Through Christ’s ascension we recognize that he is no longer bound by time and space. He is no longer an itinerant preacher in Palestine, but present through all the earth, where the Church is sent to go.

Christ is already everywhere all the time, even though he may not be recognized. Where are the corners of your world where Christ’s presence has not yet been named? How can you joyfully name his presence?

Pentecost

At Pentecost the disciples become apostles, the learners become the teachers, the evangelized become the evangelizers. We share in this apostolic mission.

We all have comfort zones, and God regularly interrupts these comfort zones. What comfort zone is getting in the way of you living out the good news? What concrete steps can you take to move beyond this comfort zone?