e-newsletter companion of Eastern Oklahoma Catholic magazine
Faith Formation Conference Draws Faithful for Fellowship, Worship, Talks
The Diocese of Tulsa hosted the 2025 Faith Formation Conference at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center this past weekend. More than 400 faithful from around the diocese attended the Friday-Saturday conference entitled, "Come Holy Spirit."
Keynote speakers included: Rev. Rafael Capo, National Eucharistic Revival Preacher, Vice President of St. Thomas University, and Pontifical Missionary of Mercy; Dr. Timothy O'Malley, McGrath Institute for Church Life, University of Notre Dame; Dr. Joseph White and Jose Hernandez-Aguirre, Our Sunday Visitor; Jose Gonzalez, Sophia Press; Very Rev. Duy Nguyen, Vocations Director for the Diocese of Tulsa.
For more photos, see our Facebook page.
EOC Photojournalist Daniel McCay captured scenes from this past weekend's Faith Formation Conference in Tulsa.
Vicars Forane of Diocese Take Oath of Fidelity
TULSA — Vicars Forane for the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma took an Oath of Fidelity in the presence of Bishop David Konderla during a brief ceremony held last week at the Chancery chapel.
Taking the oath were Very Rev. Robert Duck of the Eastern Vicariate, Very Rev. Jack Gleason of the Tulsa South Vicariate, Very Rev. Emannuel Nduka of the Northern Vicariate, Very Rev. Brian O'Brien of the Western Vicariate, and Very Rev. John Grant of the Tulsa North Vicariate. Not able to be present was Very Rev. Jovita C. Okonkwo of the Southern Vicariate.
In 2019, Bishop David Konderla adopted a vicariate structure for the Diocese. A vicariate is a group of parishes within the Diocese that are defined by geographic region for the purposes of support and administration.
In 2019, Bishop David Konderla adopted a vicariate structure for the Diocese. A vicariate is a group of parishes within the Diocese that are defined by geographic region for the purposes of support and administration.
When possible, the Vicariates were organized to offer a mix of both rural and metropolitan parishes to further establish unity in the geographically expansive and culturally diverse Diocese of Tulsa. Each Vicariate has a priest serve as the Vicar Forane to foster a spirit of fraternity among the priests, develop regional cooperation, and coordinate with the various ministries at the Chancery for the good of the Church in eastern Oklahoma.
Purposes of Vicariate Structure:
• Offers growth in fraternity and support among priests.
• Regular attendance at meetings gives priests an opportunity to invest in each other and see how one another is doing personally.
• Vicariate meetings give priests a way to communicate more effectively and collaborate.
• Provide the Bishop the opportunity to interact personally with the priests and parishes.
• Offer deacons, youth ministry volunteers, catechists, parish administrative staff, etc., a natural structure to foster collaboration and support.
EOC Photo by Daniel McCay
From left to right are: Very Rev. Robert Duck of the Eastern Vicariate, Very Rev. Jack Gleason of the Tulsa South Vicariate, Very Rev. Brian O'Brien of the Western Vicariate, Bishop David Konderla, Very Rev. Emannuel Nduka of the Northern Vicariate, and Very Rev. John Grant of the Tulsa North Vicariate. Not able to be present was Very Rev. Jovita C. Okonkwo of the Southern Vicariate.
September Jubilee Mass to be Celebrated at St. Augustine Catholic Church
TULSA — The 9th First Saturday Pilgrimage, as part of the Jubilee Year of Hope 2025, will take place at St. Augustine Catholic Church in north Tulsa this Saturday, Sept. 6.
Pastor, Fr. Celestine Obidiegwu, will welcome Fr. Gary Kastl, Vicar General of the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma, to celebrate mass at 10 a.m. Confession from 8:30 - 9:45 a.m. will precede the Mass. September's theme is Evangelization Effort through Sports, Athletes and Coaches. One of the major ministries of St. Augustine, in conjunction with St. Monica parish, is the North Tulsa Soccer League for elementary school aged children.
Twelve (12) pilgrim sites were chosen for the faithful to travel around the Diocese throughout the 2025 Jubilee Year to pray and strive for a greater integration of the theological virtue of Hope in their lives. The closing Mass concluding the Jubilee Year of Hope will take place at Holy Family Cathedral on Dec. 28, at 2:30 pm.
For more about the Jubilee Year of Hope in the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma, and the remaining pilgrimage sites for 2025, go to: https://www.dioceseoftulsa.org/jubilee-pilgrim-sites
Sixth Annual 35-Mile Penitential Walk Set for October 9-11
TAHLEQUAH — Each October, pilgrims from across the U.S — offering physical and spiritual sacrifices for the defense of the traditional family and the sanctity of life — gather for a 35-mile penitential walk through the hills of Eastern Oklahoma.
This year’s Three Hearts Pilgrimage, the sixth annual, will take place Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 9-11.
The pilgrimage guides thousands of participants through a rigorous terrain for 35 miles over two days, beginning near Tahlequah, to their destination — the Benedictine monastery of Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey near Hulbert. Last year's sacrificial walk of reparation saw a record number of pilgrims from nearly every state in the nation endure record heat on their penitential journey.
“During the very early formation days of the pilgrimage, I recall sitting with Fr. Abbot on a garden bench just outside his parlor room. We were discussing the pilgrimage, and at one point he turned to me and said, 'Marcus, I just want to see something beautiful created for Our Lady,'" says Marcus Robinson, Three Hearts Pilgrimage director. “After five years and now over 3,000 pilgrims returning each year, I think it can be said that we are all helping build something truly beautiful for Our Lady.”
According to organizers, the Three Hearts Pilgrimage is a sacrificial walk by design, with the intention of providing a safe journey for souls to offer their spiritual and physical suffering for the sanctity of life and in defense of the traditional family unit, in which God intended to be modeled after the Holy Family. Although difficult and penitential, many pilgrims return each year to experience the joy and beauty they find when they come with thousands of others to sacrifice in union with one another.
The Three Hearts Pilgrimage is organized by the St. Placid's Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Oklahoma. To find out more about this year’s pilgrimage or to register, click here.
Cross Removed from Atop Cathedral Spire as Massive Roof Project Continues
TULSA — A cross atop one of the two front spires at Holy Family Cathedral (the cross on the matching tower was blown off during the Father's Day windstorm in 2023) was removed last week as the massive roof replacement project continues.
According to Michael Malcom, communications director at HFC, the removed cross will provide a template for replacements to adorn the top of each of cathedral's three spires as the roof project progresses.
"This cross is significant because it was the first one to be raised to the tops of the towers at the cathedral, long before Dedication Day on April 1, 1914," said Malcom.
In a video update released last week by HFC, Malcom describes the scene as the historic downtown church's first pastor, Father John Heiring, climbed to the top of the tallest spire, 251 feet above street level, to bless the city in 1913. Writing in third person, Heiring states, "He could view the neighborhood as far as eye could reach, and here he sought Almighty God, raising his hand in benediction to bless the people of the country in sight."
The ongoing roof replacement project, expected to be completed sometime before Christmas, will be the fourth roof installed on the Cathedral in its 111-year history. The original 1914 roof was made of red slate tiles. The second roof, installed in 1959, was made of aluminum. A third roof installed in 2009, which has been badly damaged by successive recent windstorms, was made of copper-foil wrapped shingles. The latest roof will be made of solid copper and is expected to last for decades, according to the contractor.
For additional updates and information on the construction progress at the cathedral, go to the HFC website here.
September Saint of the Month:
Our Lady of Sorrows
Feast: Sept. 15
BY CANDACE BRYANT-LESTER/FAITH CATHOLIC
The Blessed Mother is venerated under many titles and through various images in the Church, all of which guide and support the faithful in their journey toward her Son. Our Lady of Sorrows is a popular representation, commonly depicted with her heart surrounded by a wreath of roses and transfixed by one or seven swords. Each of the swords represents one of the seven dolors (sorrows) of Mary:
The prophecy of Simeon (Lk 2:35)
The flight into Egypt (Mt 2:13)
Losing the Christ Child in Jerusalem (Lk 2:48)
Meeting Jesus on his way to Calvary
Standing at the foot of the cross (Jn 19:25)
Jesus being taken from the cross
The burial of Jesus
These sorrows were first venerated by the founders of the Servite Order in 1239 as the foremost devotion of their order. Their reverence for the Blessed Mother’s sorrows resulted in the development of the three most common devotions to her: the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows, the Black Scapular of the Seven Dolors of Mary, and the Novena to Our Sorrowful Mother.
According to tradition, Mary promised that those who devote themselves to her sorrows would gain certain graces, including true repentance for sins and consolation and protection in tribulations and spiritual battles.
Following the growth of this devotion among the faithful, the Church in Cologne, Germany, began to commemorate Our Lady of Sorrows as a local feast day. This observance quickly spread beyond Germany, and beginning in 1413, the feast has been observed throughout the universal Church.
For many Catholics, reflection on Mary under the title of Our Lady of Sorrows provides consolation and hope. This devotion reminds us that we are not alone in our trials and suffering; Christ and his Blessed Mother are always near to us, supporting us by their grace and care.
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!
From the Editor...
Recent statistical reports and news stories are beginning to confirm much of the anecdotal evidence being observed in many dioceses around the country — Catholicism is growing in the U.S.
A story released yesterday by National Catholic Register reports that the number of Catholics in the U.S. has grown by 40 percent in the past 40 years. That is an increase from 48 million to 67 million parishioners during that time.
But that growth is not happening evenly across the country. In fact, in certain cities of the Midwest and Northeast, Catholicism has atrophied or even declined. But rapid, even explosive, growth is happening elsewhere. From the NCR article:
"Several dioceses in the South and the West, centered on growing cities, have gained literally hundreds of thousands of Catholics in recent decades, to the point where some of those dioceses have found themselves lacking the infrastructure to accommodate the new crush of parishioners."
The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University studied this phenomenon in depth in a 2021 study. The Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma, although not pointed out specifically in the recent reporting (at least not yet), has recently begun to show visible signs of this same upward growth trend.
As pointed out in his homily this past Sunday, Fr. Brian O'Brien, rector of Holy Family Cathedral, noted that more than 200 people will have come into the Church via that parish's OCIA program during the last 18 months. The mother church of the diocese is in the midst of an ongoing renaissance of sorts as its parishioner numbers have doubled in the past six years and its classical school is on a robust growth trajectory.
Many may also be aware of the explosive growth taking place in east Tulsa at the parish of St. Thomas More. Built in the early 1970s as a mid-size suburban church, it is now busting at the seams with eight obligation Masses celebrated in either English or Spanish each weekend in order to accommodate an estimated 6,000 worshipers. Visible signs of growth — building projects, fundraising campaigns, two rural missions, vocations, baptisms, etc. — are happening many places in the diocese.
It's an exciting time to be Catholic here in what has often been called the buckle of the Bible Belt, a reference to Tulsa's historic and largely Evangelical Protestant dominated culture. But the times they are a changing and the evidence is happening right before our eyes.
Until next week, thanks for reading!
Chris Rush
Chief Editor
"Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" — Philippians 4:8
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