By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
September 25, 2002

The Diocese of Sioux City will present a spiritual bouquet to Pope John Paul II as a gift in honor of his 25th anniversary on Oct. 16.

Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo sent a letter in August to the parishes of the Diocese of Sioux City requesting they compile a spiritual bouquet.

In the letter, the bishop asked parishes to send in the sum totals of their spiritual bouquets to him at the Chancery. The types of things the spiritual bouquet should consist of are celebration of Mass, praying the rosary, visits to the Blessed Sacrament, reaching out to the poor, providing food for the needy, working at a food shelter or any other works of mercy.

"It was because of the respect that we have for our Holy Father and in celebration of his 25th anniversary of his pontificate that they wanted to offer him prayerful support in the form of a spiritual bouquet from each of the diocese," said Msgr. Michael Sernett.

After all of the spiritual bouquets come in, they will be sent to the pope with a letter of congratulations from Bishop DiNardo. All of the various items on the spiritual bouquet will be added into one to be sent to the Holy Father.

"Especially now, for all of the good that he has done for the church on the special occasion of his 25th anniversary, it shows the solidarity of all Christians with the Holy Father," said Msgr. Sernett. "He is our spiritual head, our spiritual leader. It shows the support that we have for him and the realization that all of these prayers will give him the special graces that he needs to continue to lead us in this modern world."

Msgr. Sernett sent out another letter to the parishes reminding that they have until Oct. 3 to get their spiritual bouquets into the Chancery. Thus far, he has received three or four. They continue to come to him daily from different parishes. Most parishes posted requests for the spiritual bouquet in their Sunday bulletins.

Father John Cain, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Sioux Rapids, sent the parish's spiritual bouquet to Msgr. Sernett. He made a list of the different things the bishop had requested and put them in the pews in church for people to pick up. He commented that he was satisfied with the numbers that he sent in to the Chancery.

Parishioners at St. Joseph offered up Masses, Holy Communions, works of mercy, food to the food bank, rosaries and fasting for the Holy Father.

"He has been the pope for 25 years," said Father Cain. "He has served very, very well all those years as our Holy Father. He bothered to visit us too around the world in his more than 100 visits out to the people."

The spiritual bouquets that the parishes of the diocese are compiling will allow the Diocese of Sioux City to express their gratitude and congratulations to Pope John Paul II on his 25 years of service to the universal church.

Any parish who has compiled a spiritual bouquet or is still in the process is encouraged to send them to Msgr. Sernett at the Chancery, 1821 Jackson St., P.O. Box 3379, Sioux City, IA 51102-3379.