26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Parishioners,
We are continuing to plan for the 100-year anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of Sacred Heart Church. This celebration will take place on October 20th. We will have an outdoor Mass that day and a reenactment of the events of the day in 1919. We will have a procession of vintage cars with the Mayor of Moline and Mayor of Rock Island Rock Island present.
We received two special pieces of news the past week. The first is that there will be 6-8 Belgium visitors here on October 20th. It just so happens that this is the 100th anniversary of the Honorary Belgium Consulate in Moline. The Belgium Consulate has always helped with passports and other official correspondence with the Belgium government. There were so many Belgium immigrants in this area one hundred years ago that it was considered important to have representatives of the Belgium government to help with official business between Flemish people here and in Europe.
The honorary consulate still exists. Patrick Van Nevel is the official representative. He has promoted our celebration with representatives in Belgium. He is an immigrant from Belgium, he speaks Flemish and has much knowledge of the Flemish presence in the Quad Cities. I have spoken with him and he has a lot of information about Fr. Culemans our first pastor and the founders of Sacred Heart. He is also eager to gain information from the extensive archives of Sacred Heart Church.
He took it upon himself to write to the current Cardinal Archbishop of Brussels describing our celebration. Cardinal Jozef De Kesel has responded with a very warm letter. The letter will be shared at the anniversary reenactment on October 20th.
I again urge everyone to put this celebration on your calendar. Tell former members of Sacred Heart to come as well. We remember one of the most historically significant events in the history of the Quad Cities. If you want to be a part of history come and join us in commemorating the past and praying for the future of Sacred Heart Parish. God has blessed us in so many ways. We continue to rely on the Lord’s kindness.
Blessings,
Fr. Mark
P.S. The Feast of St. Francis is coming up this Friday. We will have a pet blessing on Friday, the 4th of October. It will be at the end of the school day at 2:45 p.m. This will take place at the Sacred Heart Statue in front of Culemans Hall. Also, we will have a pet blessing on Sunday, October 6, after the 9 a.m. Mass in the same location.