Father Ferd’s mission is titled “Be Ye Transformed” and he will preach on separate topics each evening. Sunday’s topic is “From Termination to Regeneration: A Matter of Life and Death” Acts 9:32-42; Monday’s topic is “Seven Ducks in Muddy Water” 2 Kings 5:1-14; and on Tuesday it will be “What the Church Needs Now” Acts 1:1-8/Mt 10:1-10.
| How to prepare for a mission Father Ferd Cheri, OFM, has these suggestions for preparing for a mission:
“St. Paul was always encouraging the church to be transformed by the renewal of their minds,” Father Ferd says. “Our duty is to do God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect.” |
It is important to attend a mission during Lent, Father Ferd says. “Lent is a time that calls all to come back to God with all your heart. The church gives us this season to rend our hearts through fasting, prayer and almsgiving. We are to embrace this mission as a time of spiritual awakening to set our souls at ease. We are to realize we are invited to be a community that works together to make this real in the lives we touch.”
Sister Jane Boos, SSND, who is director of the Office for Social Concerns and Respect Life, agrees. “This deanery mission comes during the holy season of Lent — a time when we look for ways to transform our lives,” she says. “I am grateful for the cooperation of our pastors of the parishes in the Springfield deanery for their willingness to join us in making this opportunity a reality.”
Father Ferd, who describes himself as a fifth-generation Catholic Creole from New Orleans, was a diocesan priest for 13 years before joining the Franciscan friars. He has been ordained for 36 years and served at Our Lady of Lourdes Church and St. Francis de Sales in New Orleans; St. Joseph the Worker in Marrero, La.; and St. Vincent de Paul in Nashville. He also taught at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans; Hales Franciscan High School in Chicago; and Althoff Catholic High School in Belleville. He was an assistant campus minister at Xavier University of Louisiana and is now director of campus ministry at Quincy University.
Father Ferd also has a long history of studying, writing about and archiving Black religious and gospel music. “I love to sing and listen to gospel songs and I enjoy and love the Catholic Church,” he says. “I have given several missions across the country. The most recent was in Washington, D.C., for the East of the River Deanery in October.” This is his first mission in the Springfield diocese.
“For those who are able to join me in the mission, I think we will be enriched and experience the gifts of another culture,” says Sister Jane. “My hope and prayer is that many Catholics will take the time to join us at Christ the King Church. And, with all our events, we hope to evangelize and invite you to bring a friend.”
For more information on the mission, contact Nancy Murray in the Office for Social Concerns and Respect Life at (217) 698-8500, ext. 167 or email .