St. Cecilia Catholic Church, Claremore, Oklahoma

04/10/2026

Are you in need of spiritual healing? Join us for a multi-day retreat on June 6th and June 13th.

Register here: https://stceciliacatholicchurch3.flocknote.com/signup/252693

03/27/2026

Holy Week is fast approaching. Join us for this solemn time in the life of our Lord.

Visit our website to see the full schedule: https://stceciliaok.org/Resources/News/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25979/Holy-Week-Schedule

11/16/2025

Join us for an evening Advent Retreat for the women of the parish and their friends. https://stceciliacatholicchurch3.flocknote.com/signup/235290

10/10/2025

10/09/2025

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM OUR PARISHIONERS! The survey is now LIVE!! https://portal.catholicleaders.org/dmi/survey/c55d17

The survey assesses our unique strengths and opportunities. Share your perspective now to help strengthen St. Cecilia and better prepare us for the future!

10/02/2025

Beginning the month of October, Bishop David Konderla will launch a series of columns entitled "Families on Mission" and examines the importance of the Domestic Church for the mission of Jesus Christ in the world.

You can find Bishop's English/Spanish columns here: https://www.dioceseoftulsa.org/bishop-eoc-columns

Additional columns will follow over the next several months.

09/26/2025

COMING SOON! We will be conducting a parish wide survey to assess our greatest strengths and opportunitites, to serve you better! The Disciple Maker Index (DMI) is an important survey tool that invites you to reflect on your discipleship journey and is designed to:
· Invite parishioners to reflect on their journey of discipleship.
· Enable parish leadership to make data-driven decisions.
· Help parishioners grow in their faith.

The 10–15-minute anonymous survey can be accessed through an online link from 10/8 – 11/11. We will share the link with you a bit closer to the launch of the survey. Paper surveys will also be available for those who do not have the ability to complete the survey online.

Together we must embrace Christ’s vision for missionary discipleship so our parish can thrive and be a place for others to grow together in faith.

Please continue to pray for this intention and for the growth and protection of our parish.

08/30/2025

REFLECTION FOR THE 22ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C.
By Rev. Fr. Sylvanus Ifeanyi Amaobi

(1st Reading, Sirach 3:17-18,20,28-29; 2nd Reading, Heb. 12:18-19,22-24; Gospel, Luke 14:1, 7-14)

Dear brothers and sisters, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).

THE VALUE OF HUMILITY

In the first reading of today (Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29), Ben Sirach admonishes us thus, "conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God". God loves and lifts up the lowly or the humble but despises and detests the arrogant and the prideful (Proverbs 15:5).

In her beautiful canticle called the 'Magnificat,' Mary acknowledges and teaches us the value of humility, which comes with God's favors, blessings, and upliftment. Also, she teaches us the disfavor that comes with arrogance and pride (Lk. 1:48-55).

CULTIVATING HUMILITY AS A VIRTUE

In the Gospel (Lk 14:1, 7-14), Jesus, through His parable, expounds more on the need for everyone to cultivate the virtue of humility. Not only does the virtue of humility attract God's favors and blessings, but it also saves us from embarrassment, gives us high esteem among friends, and presents us as reasonable and responsible people. Humility is the quality of being modest, meek, temperate, unassuming, and to a large extent, submissive. It is a great virtue.

The virtue of humility is defined as "a quality by which a person, considering his own defects, has a lowly opinion of himself and willingly submits himself to God and to others for God's sake." St Bernard sees it as "a virtue by which a man, knowing himself as he truly is, abases himself." The virtue of humility helps us to recognize and appreciate our own limitations. It helps us to render God his due glory instead of basking in vainglory.

We need to cultivate the virtue of humility to conquer the vices of arrogance, pride, vanity or vainglory, aggression, and ostentatious lives. Regrettably, humility is fast becoming a forgotten virtue in the contemporary world. We should take to heart this eternal truth from our Lord Jesus Christ, "for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

THE HOUSE OF GOD, THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM

The author of the Look to the Hebrews (Heb. 12:18-19,22-24) reminds us that whenever we gather in the house of God, our places of worship, we are in Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, where countless Angels gather in festivity and where we are all firstborn citizens.

It is a privilege that we are given the opportunity or allowed to be in the house of God and glorify Him with the Angels. Therefore, let us submit ourselves to God and pray for the wonderful virtue of humility to inherit not only the earth but also God's kingdom.

Always remember that Jesus loves you!

08/25/2025

08/24/2025

Family Faith Formation begins in September on Wednesday evenings. Please check out the website for more details: https://stceciliaok.org/Resources/News/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25022/Up-Coming--Family-Faith-Formation

08/23/2025

REFLECTION FOR THE 21ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C.
By Rev. Fr. Sylvanus Ifeanyi Amaobi

(1st Reading, Is. 66:18-21; 2nd Reading, Heb. 12:5-7,11-13; Gospel, Luke 13:22-30)

Dear brothers and sisters, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSE TO FAITH IS VITAL

In the first reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah (Is 66:18-21), the Lord announces that He comes to gather nations of every language so that they shall see His glory. He also sends fugitives to the nations that have never heard of His fame nor seen His glory. The fugitives thus serve as missionaries, proclaiming the mighty deed of God, His glory, and His salvation to the nations.

It is the Lord's desire to make His glory and salvation known to all the nations. But the response to this call to salvation, the call to experience the glory of the Lord, is always an individual response. Thus, when the Lord was asked by an admirer, as is read in the Gospel today (Luke 13:22-30), "Will only a few be saved?" He responded by emphasizing the need for individual response to faith and commitment to salvation. "Strive to enter through the narrow gate."

Jesus' answer did not show salvation as a general given but rather a reward for individual efforts. Therefore, Jesus' answer is a challenge to our individual selves to seek after those things that can help us gain entrance to the Kingdom, namely: committed faith, resolute and unwavering hope, docility to God's will, and ardent love of God and neighbor, etc.

Jesus is challenging us to live out our Christian faith as true and faithful disciples, one worthy of the name and who is without duplicity, deceit, or guile. The above thought should remind us of the testimony of Jesus Christ on Nathaniel, a true Israelite in whom there is no duplicity (Jn. 1:47). Can it be said of us as true Christians in whom there is no duplicity or guile?

TURE AND AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN IDENTITY

Jesus' answer is also against lukewarmness, weakness of character, and a lackluster attitude towards God's message and salvation. God already warned us in the book of Revelation, "Because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth" (Rev. 3:16).

It is not enough to eat and drink in Jesus' company or to listen to Him speak. It is not enough to claim membership in a particular church or to claim to be baptized. It is not enough to be churchgoers. These practices, though good, are not the authentic and true Christian identity. If these practices do not translate to a fervent observance of God's will, then our relationship with Him is peripheral, and the Lord can say to us, "I do not know you", and we might not be admitted to His presence. Our true Christian identity is our commitment to do the will of God. It is a mark of an authentic relationship with God.

If we read and understand this in relation to the word of God spoken to us in Matt 7:21, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?' Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers".

Jesus might as well tell us, "I do not know you. Depart from me, you evildoers!" The worst or most unfortunate thing that can happen to anyone as a Christian is for one to be displaced or supplanted by others in the Kingdom of heaven on the last day. May this never happen to any of us. But for it not to happen to any of us, we must possess our credible Christian Identity, which is faith manifested in our righteousness through good deeds, bearing in mind the words of St James, "faith without works is dead" (James 2:17).

The author of the book of Hebrews reminds us, "do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him, for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, he chastises every son he acknowledges. We can never doubt the love of God for us. God's laws, ordinances, and the challenge to do his will to attain salvation are proof of God's love. Sometimes, we fail to understand this fact.

Always remember that Jesus loves you!

08/16/2025

REFLECTION FOR THE 20TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C.
By Rev. Fr. Sylvanus Ifeanyi Amaobi

(1st Reading, Jer. 38:4-6,8-10; 2nd Reading, Heb. 12:1-4; Gospel, Luke 12:49-53)

Dear brothers and sisters, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).

THE PLIGHT OF GOD'S PROPHETS

A Prophet is a harbinger. He is a messenger of God. The Prophet gives God's messages without adulteration, fear, or favor. He speaks the truth without sugarcoating it. This unique role of the Prophet makes his task a difficult, risky, and daunting one. Such was the experience of Jeremiah in the first reading of today (Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10).

In discharging his duty as God's Prophet, Jeremiah made some prophetic utterances that were against the city and its soldiers. Giving the message from the Lord, he said, "This city shall certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon; he shall capture it (Jer. 38:3). Therefore, Jeremiah was accused of "demoralizing the soldiers who are left in the city, and all the people,… not interested in the welfare of the people". Because of these accusations, "they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah, which was in the quarters of the guard."

What was the sin of Jeremiah, one may ask? Was he really guilty as he was charged? Jeremiah's 'sin' was that he spoke the mind of God. His 'guilt' was that he delivered the message of God and condemned the ills prevalent in the city. His 'guilt' was that he did not adulterate nor sugarcoat the message of God; as such, the leaders and princes of his time took offense and persecuted him.

LESSONS FOR US AS CHRISTIANS

Jeremiah's story can be our own story, too. It is not only Jeremiah who faced challenges while delivering God's message, but also the saints, the martyrs, and all our spiritual heroes who lived and proclaimed the Gospel message before us. The second reading from the book of Hebrew tells us (Heb. 12:1-4) that we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. These great clouds of witnesses stood for God, suffered persecutions, trials, and tribulations, and persevered to the end.

Jeremiah's story and the story of the saints and martyrs serve as lessons for us, Christians. We, as children of God, are also called to the prophetic apostolate and to the mission of delivering the message of God to the people. Our task is not easier by any standard. Like Jeremiah, we should deliver God's message without mitigation. We should have the courage to stand by the truth of the Gospel and resist the temptation of watering it down to suit the ears that hear it.

Let us be encouraged by Jeremiah's story and those of the saints and the martyrs. Let us persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and 'perfecter' of faith, as the author of the book of Hebrews admonishes us.

GOD VINDICATES

Jeremiah's story did not end with his persecution. God sent Ebed-melech to intervene on his behalf before the King. Ebed-melech realized that the princes were at fault and that they were wrong in their accusations and in all they had done to Jeremiah. He spoke to the King about it. Jeremiah was rescued and vindicated. Our prayer for all the messengers of God's word, the prophets, the preachers of the word, and those who witness and preach Christ's Gospel is that God always sends an 'Ebed-melech' to intervene on your behalf, plead your cause, and effect your vindication.

In the Gospel (Luke 12:49-53), Jesus says to his disciples, "I have come to set the earth on fire and how I wish it were already blazing." The statement of Christ sounds like an oxymoron, a contradictory statement about facts. But by saying this, Jesus Christ simply stated a fact that goes with the preaching and proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Some people embrace the Gospel message; others do not. Some accept it with joy, while others reject it with passion. That is the reality of the Gospel of Christ. As a commentator on the Gospel observed, "God's message will always set people against one another because it won't be possible to remain neutral in the face of one who has been set ablaze with the Gospel." It is the reality of the Gospel, and every one of God's prophets, priests, messengers, and preachers should realize this singular fact. Therefore, we should not be afraid to preach the Gospel and communicate God's message, for God will always vindicate us in the face of the challenges we face in preaching the Gospel.

Always remember that Jesus loves you!