St. Pius Catholic Church

Hello Everyone,

We are more than half-way through summer and school is only a little more than a month away for Jordan and Alleman.  We continue to stay busy around the parish, even during the summer months.  Last week we had two deaths in the parish and Father Schaab lost a friend in Orion, whose funeral he went back to Orion to do.  This week as well, there a few events going on that we encourage everyone to attend.  Tuesday July 13th, is the Saint Pius X Youth Ministry Fund Raiser night at Noodles and Company on 53rd Street (Located next to Starbucks and across from Dynasty Chinese Buffet) in Davenport.  10% of all sales of food between 4pm-9pm at Noodles and Company will be given to our Youth Ministry Program, please consider stopping bye, enjoying a great meal, and helping our teens with your purchase.  Wednesday night, July 14th, at 7pm at Farrell Hall, we as a parish will be hosting a free screening of the “Archbishop Fulton Sheen: Servant of God” film.  It is a new film made by the Diocese of Peoria about the life and times of Archbishop Sheen, it runs about one hour long and is being shown all over the diocese.  If you have not seen it or if you love Archbishop Sheen, it is well worth the time to come and see this film. 

Father Schaab, enjoyed his weekend away from the parish at a conference in Wisconsin, where he learned the fine art of Cheese Making.  This weekend I will be hosting my brother, Andy, here at Saint Pius X, who will be visiting from Chicago.  If you happen to see him walking around, don’t be afraid to go up and say hello, he is a nice guy and a great brother to have.  On Friday night July 16th,  at 7:30pm Casting Crowns is coming to town with an opening act yet to be named at the Adler.  My brother and I plan on attending the concert that night and if you have not yet bought your tickets there are a few tickets still available for the show through Ticketmaster. 

I would like to continue to invite everyone to continue praying about joining the pilgrimage that I will be spiritual director for coming up in October.  This trip is coming up quite quickly, register before its too late.  Your not going to want to miss this trip, we again are going to: Portugal, Spain, and France, with stops in: Fatima, Lisbon, Santarem, Salamanca, Avila, Burgos, Loyola & Lourdes from October 9-19, 2010.  Then there is also a post-trip excursion, for four more days in France, available for an extra fee to: Nevers (This is where St. Bernadette's incorrupt body is), Lisieux (To see the Carmelite Monastery where Saint Therese of Lisieux was a nun), Rouen, and Paris.  All the details and information, as well as, registration are available at: www.pilgrimages.com/frzorjan

Otherwise than that there is not a whole lot else to report at this time.  On Wednesday of this week, we as a church will be celebrating the memorial of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American to ever be declared “Blessed” by the Church.  Her feast day every year, is celebrated with much joy by native Americans, especially those with ties to the Mohawk Indians, as Kateri was a Mohawk herself.  Below is a brief biography of Blessed Kateri and her amazing story. 

Till next week.

In Christ,
Father Peter Zorjan
Assistant Pastor at Saint Pius X
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(This article came from The Catholic Conservation Center website, full source citation is given at the end of the article.)


Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680)

    Also known as Blessed Catherine Tekakwitha,  is honored by the Roman Catholic Church as the patroness of ecology and the environment.  Tekakwitha's baptismal name is Catherine, which in the Iroquois languages is Kateri.  Tekakwitha was born near the town of Auriesville, New York, USA.  Tekakwitha's father was a Mohawk chief and her mother was a Catholic Algonquin.

    At the age of four, smallpox attacked her village, taking the lives of her parents and baby brother, and leaving Tekakwitha an orphan.  Although forever weakened, scarred, and partially blind, Tekakwitha survived.  The brightness of the sun blinded her and she would feel her way around as she walked.  Seeing her groping about, they named here Tekakwitha, which means "The One Who Walks Groping for Her Way."   Her name is sometimes translated as "The One Who Puts Everything in Order" or "To Put All Into Place."

    Tekakwitha was adopted by her two aunts and her uncle, also a Mohawk chief.  After the smallpox outbreak subsided, Tekakwitha and her people abandoned their village and built a new settlement, called Caughnawaga, some five miles away on the north bank of the Mohawk River.  In many ways, Tekakwitha's life was the same as all young Native American girls.  It entailed days filled with chores, spending happy times with other girls, communing with nature, and planning for her future. 

    Tekakwitha grew into a young woman with a sweet, shy personality.  She helped her aunts work in the fields where they tended to the corn, beans, and squash, and took care of the traditional longhouse in which they lived.   She went to the neighboring forest to pick the roots needed to prepare medicines and dye.  She collected firewood in the forest and water from a stream.  Despite her poor vision, she also became very skilled at beadwork.

     Although Tekakwitha was not baptized as an infant, she had fond memories of her good and prayerful mother and of the stories of Catholic faith that her mother shared with her in childhood.  These remained indelibly impressed upon her mind and heart and were to give shape and direction to her life's destiny.  She often went to the woods alone to speak to God and listen to Him in her heart and in the voice of nature.

    When Tekakwitha was eighteen, Father de Lamberville, a Jesuit missionary, came to Caughnawaga and established a chapel.  Her uncle disliked the "Blackrobe" and his strange new religion, but tolerated the missionary's presence.  Kateri vaguely remembered her mother's whispered prayers, and was fascinated by the new stories she heard about Jesus Christ.  She wanted to learn more about Him and to become a Christian.

    Father de Lamberville persuaded her uncle to allow Tekakwitha to attend religious instructions.  The following Easter, twenty-year old Tekakwitha was baptized.  Radiant with joy, she was given the name of Kateri, which is Mohawk for Catherine.  Kateri's family did not accept her choice to embrace Christ.  After her baptism, Kateri became the village outcast.  Her family refused her food on Sundays because she wouldn't work.  Children would taunt her and throw stones.  She was threatened with torture or death if she did not renounce her religion.

    Because of increasing hostility from her people and because she wanted to devote her life to working for God, in July of 1677, Kateri left her village and fled more than 200 miles (322 km) through woods, rivers, and swamps to the Catholic mission of St. Francis Xavier at Sault Saint-Louis, near Montreal.  Kateri's journey through the wilderness took more than two months.  Because of her determination in proving herself worthy of God and her undying faith she was allowed to receive her First Holy Communion on Christmas Day, 1677.

    Although not formally educated and unable to read and write, Kateri led a life of prayer and penitential practices.  She taught the young and helped those in the village who were poor or sick.  Her favorite devotion was to fashion crosses out of sticks and place them throughout the woods.  These crosses served  as stations that reminded her to spend a moment in prayer.

    Kateri's motto became, "Who can tell me what is most pleasing to God that I may do it?"  She spent much of her time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, kneeling in the cold chapel for hours.  When the winter hunting season took Kateri and many of the villagers away from the village, she made her own little chapel in the woods by carving a Cross on a tree and spent time in prayer there, kneeling in the snow.  Kateri loved the Rosary and carried it around her neck always.  

Often people would ask, "Kateri, tell us a story."  Kateri remembered everything she was told about the life of Jesus and his followers.  People would listen for a long time.  They enjoyed being with her because they felt the presence of God.  One time a priest asked the people why they gathered around Kateri in church.  They told him that they felt close to God when Kateri prayed.  They said that her face changed when she was praying.  It became full of beauty and peace, as if she were looking at God's face.

    On March 25, 1679, Kateri made a vow of perpetual virginity, meaning that she would remain unmarried and totally devoted to Christ for the rest of her life.  Kateri hoped to start a convent for Native American sisters in Sault St. Louis but her spiritual director, Father Pierre Cholonec discouraged her.  Kateri's health, never good, was deteriorating rapidly due in part to the penances she inflicted on herself.  Father Cholonec encouraged Kateri to take better care of herself but she laughed and continued with her "acts of love.”

    The poor health which plagued her throughout her life led to her death in 1680 at the age of 24.  Her last words were, "Jesus, I love You."  Like the flower she was named for, the lily, her life was short and beautiful.  Moments after dying, her scarred and disfigured face miraculously cleared and was made beautiful by God.  This miracle was witnessed by two Jesuits and all the others able to fit into the room.

    Kateri is known as the "Lily of the Mohawks."  The Catholic Church declared Kateri venerable in 1943.  She was beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II.  Kateri is the first Native American to be declared Blessed.  Her feast is celebrated on July 14th in the United States.  Pope John Paul II has designated Blessed Kateri as a patroness for World Youth Day 2002.

Source: http://conservation.catholic.org/kateri.htm