News - Welcoming + Belonging RSS Feed

St. Ambrose University Professor Matthew Coomber, presenter for the Diocese of Davenport’s celebration of the Sunday of the Word of God, explored with participants what the Bible teaches about hospitality.

When 2-year-old Brooklynn Dop learned Christmas was approaching, she imagined eating cake and joyfully singing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus.

Catholics identifying as LGBTQ had an opportunity to talk about their sense of belonging in the Catholic Church during a gathering Jan. 7, the Epiphany of the Lord, at St. Thomas More Parish.

Q. Is there an appropriate time to announce birthdays or anniversaries during the liturgy? A. Practices on this vary widely across parishes. We are trying to balance two goods here: (1) a respect for the integrity, solemnity and “noble simplicity” of the liturgy and (2) a polite and appropriate acknowledgment of members of the community, which can serve to foster a deeper sense of communion.

Each year, the Gospel reading for Christmas Mass during the day is the prologue from John’s Gospel. In summary and cosmic fashion, these 18 verses articulate the core of Christian faith.

Fired up by the diocesan Synodal Summit June 17, parish representatives returned to their parishes to begin implementing measures to become a welcoming community where people have a sense of belonging.

One month after the Diocese of Davenport published its “Guidelines for Pastoral Accompaniment of Gender and Sexual Minorities,” clergy, parish and school leaders listened as two presenters well versed on the sensitive issue shared their insights.

The recently published diocesan Guidelines for Pastoral Accompaniment of Gender and Sexual Minorities has prompted much dialogue. What follows is intended to aid dialogue as we reflect as a diocesan community on welcoming and belonging this year.

BURLINGTON — Sidewalk chalk hearts, crosses and encouraging messages greeted religious education students and catechists as they walked into Notre Dame Catholic School Sept. 20 for their first catechesis class of the year.

A significant portion of parish and school representatives requested to receive weekly emails with resources related to welcoming and belonging. Last week was the first of such emails. While these communications are designed primarily for the reps, they are available to anyone who would like to receive them.

It is hard to see people we love and for whom we want the highest and best things walk away from something we hold so dear. Many parents of adult children who have stopped going to church heap guilt on themselves as though it is exclusively their fault their children did not keep the faith.

What we shared with the representatives can be shared with everyone. Welcoming and belonging is not the job of a few but of the whole community.

Schein suggests that we live in a culture of “do and tell,” where we try to do everything by ourselves (instead of leading others). If we do involve others, we usually tell them what to do. In a world that is rapidly changing and increasingly complex, leaders need to listen to the people who are closest to the problems we are facing.

The question now on people’s minds: Who will be the next Bishop of the Diocese of Davenport and when will the successor of Archbishop-elect Thomas Zinkula take office?

Pope Francis’ call for a Synod on Synodality has produced a lot of talk about listening, i.e. synodal listening. But is anyone really listening? What does it mean to really listen? How can we open our eyes to see and ears to hear new things? How can we open our minds to consider new ideas and our hearts to empathize with the emotions of our conversation partners? How can we open our will to change our behavior based on what we understand?

Our intentional focus on welcoming and belonging is not about keeping things the way they are in a positive-maintaining-the-status-quo kind of way. We need to live deeply into questions that bring the state of things as they are into focus. Are we collectively prepared to come to terms with areas that we need to grow in?

Previously we saw how an annulment case is started and evidence is gathered. We also heard from some people about their own experience in this process. In concluding our series, I thought it would be helpful to hear from me, as a judge, how the case is deliberated and how anyone can come to a conclusion about something as important as the sacramental nature of a marriage.

Tom and Sharon Hegewald first walked down the aisle together in 1978 — as a groomsman and bridesmaid — at the wedding of Tom’s brother and Sharon’s girlfriend. Neither remembered each other until 22 years later when they met for the second time, on a date. Both had been married and divorced and took time getting to know each other before walking down the aisle as husband and wife on March 23, 2002 in a Christian church in Williamsburg.

In the first article from the Tribunal, we took a look at some prevailing trends in Chris¬tian marriage. Unfortunately, not every marriage succeeds. People seek divorce for innumerable rea¬sons, but before we look at some of these I would like to dispel some misguided notions about separation and divorce.

“Mission,” the third dimension, “is intended to enable the Church to better witness to the Gospel, especially with those who live on the spiritual, social, economic, political, geographical, and existential peripheries of the world,” Pope Francis said.