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Bishop's parish pastoral visitations are underway

Bishop Edward K. Braxton spent the first weekend in Advent (Nov. 29-30) at St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish in Belleville continuing his Parish Pastoral Visitations.

He was the celebrant and homilist at all of the weekend Masses. He also met with Parish leaders after the Masses, and met privately with Father Patrick Okwumuo, the Administrator of the Parish. On Sunday morning he had breakfast with members of the Parish Staff. In the afternoon he visited several parishioners who could not participate in the Eucharist due to illness. He brought them Holy Communion, blessed them, learned about their health concerns, and visited with their family members.
During the course of each Mass, the Bishop reflected on the Sacred Scripture in a dialogue homily.

He invited the Christian Faithful to speak about their experience in the community of faith and the centrality of Jesus Christ in their lives. He urged them to think of Sunday Mass as the high-point of their week. “It is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who invites you to the Eucharistic Banquet. Why not come early, sit up front, and remain afterwards to thank Him?”

As he walked among the parishioners in the church, they told him how many years they have been members of the parish and they shared some of the reasons why St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish plays a central role in their lives of faith. Quite a number of parishioners have been members more than fifty years. They shared memories of the early days in the life of their parish family during the formative years when Msgr. Urban B. Kuhl was Pastor. Still others spoke of the importance of St. Augustine School in developing their Catholic faith. They attended the school as children and now their children are enrolled in the school now combined with St. Mary School. A number of families were present as a group, filling up entire pews. They talked about the great sense of community in the Parish. The people expressed their faith in very practical ways providing support and comfort for parishioners in times of financial hardship, sickness, suffering, and grief.

Several of the faithful expressed gratitude for the dedicated priests who have served the Parish over the years. They particularly appreciated the generosity of Father Okwumuo, a priest of the Archdiocese of Onitsha, Nigeria, who is serving in our Diocese as a missionary. Some of the members of the Youth Choir mentioned that they liked contributing to the Parish worship. This made them feel more needed and involved in the Parish. The Bishop reminded them of the words of another St. Augustine (of Hippo) who wrote, “Those who sing pray twice!” At the conclusion of each Mass, Bishop Braxton led the people of God in the Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood.

The Bishop hopes to eventually spend a weekend at each of the more than one hundred and twenty parishes in the Diocese.

Past Parish Pastoral Visitations have been at the Cathedral of St. Peter Parish and Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish. In the weeks before Christmas, the Bishop’s Visitations will take him to Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Waterloo and St. Joseph Parish in Freeburg.

These informal visits to the parishes of the Diocese will assist the Bishop in gaining a firsthand knowledge of the day to day life of each Parish. They also provide him with the opportunity to thank the members of the Body of Christ, who make up the parishes, for their dedication to learning their Catholic faith, loving their faith, and living their faith.