Catholic News Around Indiana
Compiled by Brandon A. Evans
Diocese of Evansville
Netbooks: New technology is a hit at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Haubstadt
By Mary Ann Hughes (Message staff writer)
This year, when fourth and fifth graders arrived at Sts. Peter and Paul School they were given their very own netbooks, which are small laptop computers featuring 10 inch screens and keyboards.
It didn’t take long for the students to adapt to the new technology, and it didn’t take the teachers much longer. Math teacher Katrina Martin said, “I’m in my twenty-seventh year of teaching, and when I started teaching we did not even have computers in the classroom.”
The netbooks have been incorporated into math, reading comprehension, writing and grammar classes, and she has found the netbooks “very easy, the way they are set up.” The Haubstadt school has wireless everywhere in the building, enabling the students to use their netbooks anywhere.
On a recent Monday morning, the fifth graders were solving multiplication problems on their netbooks under their teacher’s supervision. As she stood in the back of the classroom, she was able to see that all of the students were using a specific math program, and she was able to detect how many correct and incorrect answers they each had.
“I can see anyone who is struggling, and I can look at every screen and see if they are with me.”
She is able to easily work with students who are learning at different levels, and there are sites with tutorials if a student needs extra help.
The students can take their spelling tests on the netbooks, write papers and do research. The school has an internet filter which locks out inappropriate websites.
Bart Burke is the technology coordinator at the school. He said “there is always a teacher present when they are being used. The sources on the Internet are phenomenal, and they [the students] never go on the Internet without a teacher going there first.”
Photo caption: Sts. Peter and Paul teacher Katrina Martin watches as fifth graders solve math problems using their Netbooks. (Message photo by Mary Ann Hughes)
(For this story and more news from the Diocese of Evansville, log on to the website of The Message at www.themessageonline.org)
Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend
St. Pius X honored as runner-up for stewardship award
By Karen Clifford
GRANGER —The International Catholic Stewardship Council (ICSC) named St. Pius X of Granger as a runner-up for the Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy Award on Oct. 13. Julie Kenny, from Our Sunday Visitor and a member of the ICSC board of directors, accepted the award on the parish’s behalf in Dallas, Texas.
According to Michael Murphy, executive director of the ICSC, this award recognizes parishes that give witness to stewardship in many areas of parish life. St. Pius X was one of only five parishes in the country to receive this distinction.
St. Pius X “demonstrated their commitment to exercising stewardship in pastoral areas such as prayer and worship, formation and education, offering hospitality, cultivating leadership, communications and promoting among their parishioners the stewardship of time, talent and treasure,” Murphy emphasized.
Scott Bader, vice president of the ICSC and director of parish stewardship for the Archdiocese of Seattle, explained that St. Pius X helps to set the standard in stewardship for parishes nationwide: “St. Pius X Parish is a superb example of how a parish can build up the individual and collective practice of faith through stewardship. The parish is one we definitely suggest others consider emulating.”
In 2007, Betsy Quinn, the director of stewardship and evangelization at St. Pius X, oversaw the creation of a stewardship core team, which worked to develop a comprehensive, multiyear strategic plan for stewardship and development. Areas highlighted in the plan include volunteer appreciation, communication, education/catechesis, outreach and welcoming and hospitality.
Specific programs that have resulted from the plan include development of an adult education program, enhancement of the parish welcoming committee, formation of a young adult ministry and expansion of youth activities.
“With a large parish, of over 3,000 families, we are challenged to keep a tight-knit, community feel. By having an ongoing and active stewardship program, we are creating a true Christian atmosphere founded on the pillars of stewardship: hospitality, prayer, formation and service,” said Quinn.
Photo caption: Karen Clifford Bishop John M. D’Arcy, center, congratulates St. Pius X Pastor Father Bill Schooler and Betsy Quinn, St. Pius X director of evangelization and stewardship, on the parish’s selection as runner-up for the Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy Award.
(For this story and more news from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, log on to the website of Today’s Catholic at www.todayscatholicnews.org)
Diocese of Gary
No briefs available this week
(For news from the Diocese of Gary, log on to the website of the Northwest Indiana Catholic at www.nwicatholic.com)
Diocese of Lafayette
Two-day seminar at St. Maria Goretti offers introduction to ‘theology of the body’
By Caroline B. Mooney
WESTFIELD — Two hundred and nine people from six states heard Christopher West present “Into the Heart: Introduction to Theology of the Body” in a two-day seminar Nov. 13-14 coordinated by the marriage ministry team at St. Maria Goretti Church.
“I think his breakdown of the teachings of John Paul II and the ‘theology of the body’ has been very beneficial to the whole Church — to married couples, single people, even priests and religious,” said Father Kevin Haines, pastor of St. Maria Goretti. “What John Paul did was brilliant, but Christopher West helps us understand as he explains it. It is an honor to have him here.”
“Theology of the body” is the name given to 129 talks presented by Pope John Paul II between September 1979 and November 1984. The Scripture-based talks looked at humans before and after original sin, and in the age to come. The pope then applied the message to the vocation of marriage and celibacy.
West, a best-selling author, is a research fellow and faculty member of the Theology of the Body Institute. He has delivered more than 1,000 public lectures on four continents, in more than a dozen countries. He and his wife, Wendy, have five children and live in Lancaster County, Pa.
“It is not unusual for people to ask whether and how it is possible to make and keep a lifetime commitment in marriage,” Bishop William L. Higi said in opening the seminar. “Our Church has a vision for marriage that can sustain spouses in good times and bad, one that can lead them to happiness and holiness in their relationship. This message is based on both reason and faith; it is God’s plan for the good of the spouses, their children and family, and society as a whole.
“… It is my prayer that as you leave this session, you will do so feeling that you better understand the call to holiness God has extended to you through the vocation of marriage to which he is calling you.”
“We are made for one another,” West said. “The reason for sexual difference — two are designed to become one flesh. (Theology of the body) takes us on a journey. … What does it mean to be human? Every human being is searching for the meaning of life. We are made for one another. … Our sexual choices determine the face of history.
“What holds a family together?” he asked. “Properly ordered sexual choices hold everyone together. Why we are in such trouble as a culture? We are willing to indulge our lust. We remain starved for love. The number one idol in human history has always been sex. When we lose sight of God, sex is the next best thing. Behind the idolatry of sex, our desire for God has gotten all twisted up.
(For this story and more news from the Diocese of Lafayette, log on to the website of The Catholic Moment at www.thecatholicmoment.org)