Trinity Heights holds Prayer and Celebration Day

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
June 17, 2004

Trinity Heights held its 13th Annual Prayer and Celebration Day on June 13.

According to Beanie Cooper, executive director of Trinity Heights, the celebration began 13 years ago in order for supporters of Trinity Heights to gather for prayer and to celebrate everything that has been accomplished.

The day began with an open house starting at noon on the grounds of Trinity Heights. Visitors were invited to view the progress at the development such as the Way of the Saints.

Msgr. Leonard Ziegmann, spiritual director of Trinity Heights; along with members of the board led a prayer service at 3 p.m. The service celebrated the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, which was formerly known as Corpus Christi. The rosary followed at 4 p.m.

The celebration continued at the Sioux City Convention Center with a 5:30 p.m. banquet.

In the invocation, Msgr. Ziegmann said he appreciated Christ's "presence among us tonight as we pray and celebrate the good things at Queen of Peace - Trinity Heights. So many good things have happened and we need to thank all of those people who have done so many things for us."

He thanked God for all of the blessings of the last year.

"Help us continue to make Queen of Peace - Trinity Heights a beautiful place because beauty is one of the great attributes of God," said Msgr. Ziegmann. "When people come and see the beautiful place we have, they see the image of God. When they see that beautiful statue of Mary pointing toward her son - telling us to do whatever Jesus tells us to - it offers a powerful message for one and all."

As the time nears when the statue of St. Francis will be placed in the pond at Trinity Heights, he said he felt it was appropriate to close the invocation with the Prayer of St. Francis. Everyone was invited to say the prayer.

Terry Moran, manager of the Marian Center on the Trinity Heights complex, extended words of welcome. She explained that her family moved to Sioux City 17 years ago.

"I am amazed after 17 years what has evolved at Trinity Heights," she said.

Trinity Heights, noted Moran, has gone from "the beautiful to the somewhat in need of repair campus of Trinity College" to the first building, the Marian Center; to the statue of the Queen of Peace in 1992, the wood carving of the Last Supper, the statue of Christ on the hill, all of the wonderful shrines to the blessed mother and pretty soon we will have the statue of St. Francis and the beautiful Way of the Saints," she said.

Moran added that in the chapel located at Trinity Heights, adoration was offered every Friday and Saturday.

Cooper recognized three individuals for their contributions to Trinity Heights: Marty Gubbels, Larry Schuetz and Duane Sudbeck.

"There are a lot of people in this room who have contributed greatly to everything we do, but these three people from day one have been leaders - getting everything done no matter what," noted Cooper.

Ellen Soukup, a contemporary Christian singer, offered the entertainment and inspiration for the evening. She has performed for thousands of people throughout the Midwest at such events as the Midwest Catholic Family Conference, Marian Peace Conference, the Nebraska State Knights of Columbus Convention and nationwide via EWTN Radio and the Catholic Music Network.

The Christian singer, a mother of two, pointed out that she recorded her first CD just a few years ago. The CD contained what she referred to as "borrowed music" and then she also had one original piece.

"I thought that (her original song) was a one time only, wonderful little morsel from God. Well, a couple of years ago after the release of my second CD, which was a Christmas CD, I had major surgery," said Soukup, who added that she was unable to do any of the household chores so had a lot of time on her hands. At that point, God inspired her to write several numbers.

She relayed how her life experiences played a role in her songwriting.

Soukup had the audience repeat one of her special prayers. She started with the word "Jesus" and then said that was it. That was the prayer.

"Do you know that just saying the name Jesus can be a prayer?" she asked. While some people may use the name improperly, she added that in most instances "you cannot say the name Jesus without it calming you down."

With this in mind, she sang one of her songs called Speak His Name.

The banquet closed with Cooper informing those gathered about the new happenings at Trinity Heights.

He spoke about the typical traffic at Trinity Heights such as school groups, an occasional young woman who meditates at the Circle of Life, prayer groups who meet in the Marian Center, and a large group of Vietnamese parishioners from Cathedral that meet there monthly for the rosary. Whether in groups or individuals, visitors from near and far are continuous.

Then he gave "the pitch." He announced that Trinity Heights was starting an endowment fund.

He reminded people that gifts to this fund should come from their surplus.

"You always take care of your parish. You always take care of your diocese and you always take care of Catholic education," stressed Cooper.

He also reported on the progress of the Way of the Saints as well as told those gathered that they will continue to investigate the possibilities of a senior housing complex. A recent survey showed there was interest in such a project.

As his presentation drew to a close, Cooper revealed a large photograph of a clay image of Father Harold Cooper, his brother who founded Trinity Heights - Queen of Peace. The same artist who created the statues of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Sacred Heart of Jesus is presently molding an image that will eventually be made into a statue of Father Cooper.

The program ended as the crowd sang God Bless America.