The Month of September 2026
My Friends,
“…that we might be changed”
In our Catholic tradition, when speaking about prayer, we identify four forms it takes.
The first is adoration, as we wonder at God’s awesome and gracious otherness. Thanksgiving is the second, as we recognize the blessings beyond that we can number. A third form is contrition, which springs from an acknowledgement of our sin and of our need for God’s mercy. Finally, we speak of prayer of petition, presenting our needs in all their many forms.
The latter, prayer of petition, can sometimes seem a mystery. We ask for what we think we need. It happens that this might not be what we received.
Bishop Robert Barron, whom we know well from our ongoing faith formation initiatives, has addressed this mystery. He offers this valuable insight:
“St. Augustine offers a perspective on petitionary prayer. God wants us to ask persistently—not in order that he might be changed but that we might be changed. Through the initial refusal to give us what we want, God compels our hearts to expand in order to receive adequately what he wants to give.
“In the very process of hungering and thirsting for certain goods, we make ourselves worthy vessels. It is not as though, in petitioning God, we are approaching a stubborn pasha or big city boss who we hope might be persuaded by our persistence. Rather, it is God who works a sort of spiritual alchemy in us by forcing us to wait.
“In his treatment of the Lord’s Prayer, Thomas Aquinas tells us, very much in the spirit of Augustine, that the initial petition of the Our Father, ‘hallowed be thy name,’ is not asking for something to change in God, for God’s name is always holy; rather, it is asking that God might work a change in us so that we hallow God above all things.”
“…to work as co-creators”
As we observe the Labor Day Holiday, on September 7th, this reflection by the Paulist Fathers is food for thought:
“God invites us to work as co-creators. When the work of our hands and minds advance our sense of wonder and curiosity, when our skills and training engage our intelligence, when we truly partner with God to share in the ongoing work of creation-we can celebrate work, our accomplishments, the advances in technology and the increasing production of the fruits of the earth. We can see how work is indeed dignified, humanizing, and how it is a major factor in our sense of satisfaction with our lives.
“As we celebrate the Labor Day holiday, let us celebrate the labors of our human family. Let us take the time to recharge our batteries and to renew our hope and faith in humanity. May we see the blessed humanity and inherent dignity in each other and in all others.”
You did it for me…
Each year the Archdiocesan Annual Catholic Appeal funds people programs that serve over one half million children, women and men in our metropolitan community. People of all faiths, and of no faith, benefit.
Our challenge goal this year, set by the Appeal leadership, was $32,647.00. As I write this, to date, our gifts total $39,381.00. Our new donor goal was two. We have three new donors this year! Our participation rate was 52 percent of our 38 households!
In my twenty-four years among you we have never not reached goal. That is so again this year! You are, consistently, as generous to God and the things of God, as God has been generous to you!
I am grateful. Archbishop Rozanski is grateful. All those who benefit from your generosity are most grateful!
Responsible stewardship
Your consistent financial support of our mission and ministry is vital for sustaining the life of this Pro-Cathedral Church and its family.
Every pastor/rector in the Archdiocese of St. Louis is accountable for responsible stewardship of church resources both spiritual and material. One way this is accomplished is through the presentation of the Annual Financial Statement to Members each year. I am happy to provide that to you now. It has been prepared by our parish accountant in the Finance Office of the Archdiocese of St. Louis according to the standard policies and procedures of that agency.
The statement presents a realistic picture of our position as of 30 June 2026. In addition to your generosity, and the positive interest return on our reserve funds account for our position. The results appear on page three of the bulletin. Thank you! Thanks be to God!
Deepening Faith
Our St. John’s Faith Enrichment Group observed a hiatus for the month of August and did not meet. The group usually gathers on the first Sunday of the month, in the church hall, following the 10:00 o’clock Mass. In September, because of the Labor Day Holiday weekend, the group will meet, instead, on Sunday, September 13th. The group that gathers reflects the diversity of our membership.
The life and impact of soon-to-be-beatified Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be the springboard for continuing conversation at the next meeting. The meeting usually lasts about one hour. Light refreshments are served. All are welcome.
A Saint in the making
The late Archbishop Fulton Sheen is considered by many to be the greatest preacher the Catholic Church in the United States has known. He was born in Peoria, Illinois, and, as a young priest served in the Diocese of Peoria. Later, for many years, he led the global missionary outreach of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. His earthly remains are entombed in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria.
Archbishop Sheen is soon to be beatified, as the last step, before he is canonized a saint. The beatification will be celebrated in St. Louis, on September 24th, at the Dome at America’s Center. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the head of the Vatican Congregation for Evangelization, as the delegate of Pope Leo XIV, will preside at the celebration. Complete details about attending the Beatification Mass are available at: https://www.celebratesheen.com/.
In Brief
On September 5th, parishioners Greg and Laura Griffin celebrated fifty years of marriage during a Mass of Thanksgiving at the Pro-Cathedral with family and friends. Thanks be to God for their faithful witness, in the Sacrament of Marriage, to the truth that “love never counts, love alone counts.”
Father John J. Johnson was my predecessor, and 17th pastor of this parish, from 1997 until 2002. In recent years Father Johnson has lived in retirement at our Regina Cleri Residence. Father Johnson is in advancing stages of pancreatic cancer and has entered hospice care. We pray God keep a careful eye on Father Johnson in his Homegoing.
Until a work-related relocation to Eau Claire, Wisconsin two years ago, Brett and Kaitlyn Louviere were members of our Pro-Cathedral Parish. They are expecting their first-born now. We share their joy and pray God’s best blessings for the three of them as they “wait in joyful hope” for the blessed event.
Grace was abounding on Sunday, August 30th, when Sarah and Charles Clements presented sons Charlie and Caleb for Holy Baptism. In the pouring of the water, and anointing with Holy Chrism, they were “Christened” – “Christed”. Alive in Christ, may they fill the world with the spirit of Christ.
On Sunday, October 11th, Will and Eva Schuller O’Shea will present their first-born, James Daniel to be baptized in Christ. James Daniel is proof-positive, in flesh and blood, of the age-old intuition of the Church that “love creates life.” May God keep a careful eye on the O’Shea’s always.
We keep in prayer Father John Johnson, Margaret Czapla, Dan Prater, Paul Hogan, Cardinal Justin Rigali and all who are ill, together with their loved ones and caregivers. May God give them strength, grace, and peace.
Faithfully,
Monsignor Delaney