Catholic News Around Indiana

Compiled by Brandon A. Evans

Diocese of Evansville

Campaign to bring more Hispanic students into Catholic schools

By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)

In November of 2009, a national task force commissioned by the University of Notre Dame launched a campaign to improve educational opportunities for the next generation of American Latinos by expanding their access to Catholic schools.

The U.S. bishops have lauded the campaign which seeks to double the percentage of Hispanic students enrolled in Catholic schools, bringing their number to one million by 2020.

Father Henry Kuykendall is the pastor at Nativity Church which is located on Evansville’s southeast side. It’s a parish with a growing Hispanic population.

He’s been the pastor there since 1990, and under his direction the parish has launched a campaign to get poor Latino students — in grades kindergarten, one and two — into four Catholic schools in Evansville: Christ the King, Holy Rosary, Holy Spirit and St. Theresa during the 2010-2011 school year.

Under an agreement with the four parishes, Nativity will pay $1,000 of each student’s tuition and the four parishes will cover the rest of the costs. Their Latino families, if they are able, will donate $15 a week to the “Adopt a Student” fund.

Providing Latino students with a Catholic education is the very best way to provide future leadership in the Church, Father Kuykendall believes. He cites sociologist Father Andrew Greeley who says, “the only hope of the Catholic Church are Catholic schools.”

There are an estimated 10,000 Hispanics currently living in Vanderburgh and Warrick counties, and “87 percent of Mexican Hispanics are Catholic,” Father Kuykendall said, asking, “What is the future for them?”

At Nativity, his Hispanic pa-rishioners come from Nicaragua, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.

“They have all different levels of education,” he said, adding that he believes “the only hope for the Latino community is Catholic education. That’s how the Germans, the Italians and the Irish made it. You get them in Catholic schools and integrate them.”

 

Program teaches what it means to be a man with Christian values

By EMILY SNIPES (Catholic Charities)

Over eight years ago Catholic Charities implemented a Mother-Daughter program aimed at allowing an atmosphere for mothers and daughters to learn together about God’s plan for becoming a woman. Girls ages 9-12 learned about the changes that happen during puberty, the sacredness of human life, respect, virtues and responsibility. The Mother-Daughter presenting team consisted of Natural Family Planning teachers from the Holy Family Center for Life and was held each spring in Evansville and Jasper.

Once the Mother-Daughter program was established parents began asking when the Father-Son program would be implemented. In answer to a definite need in our diocese, two teams of men were gathered this year and organized with the leadership assistance of Mark Ginter, assistant professor of Moral Theology at St. Meinrad, to present the program.

Boys 11-14 years old attend the afternoon program with their fathers or other significant male role models and listen to presentations, participate in team-building activities and a question and answer panel. Topics for the Father-Son program include what it means to be a man with Christian values, God’s plan for us and our bodies preparing for fatherhood.

The Jasper area team presented the first Father-Son program on Feb. 28 at St. Peter Celestine; the Evansville area team will present their program on March 7 at the Catholic Center.

Each program takes a three-pronged approach — biological, psychological and spiritual — to introduce young men and women to teachings about chastity and sexuality.

The purpose of both programs is to provide an atmosphere of love and learning to discuss the important topic of growing up and to establish a foundation for continued communication between the parent and child. Presenters emphasize respect, understanding and appreciation for God’s gifts.

Photo caption: Jerry Steckler and son Isaac, play Father-Son charades at an event sponsored by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Evansville.

(For these stories 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

Conference explores dignity of women

By Ann Carey

NOTRE DAME — The dignity and vocation of women and men were once again the focus of the fifth annual Edith Stein Project conference at the University of Notre Dame Feb. 12-13. The student-run conference has grown in scope and attendance since its inception in 2006, with 271 people registered for the 2010 conference. The approximately 30 speakers included students, recent graduates and scholars of national reputation.

Edith Stein was an early 20th century philosopher who championed the dignity of women. She converted to Catholicism and entered the Carmelite order, but was killed by the Nazis at Auschwitz in 1942 because of her Jewish heritage.

 The conference initially focused on women, but in recent years, an effort has been made to include men because conference organizers recognized that men and women must cooperate if both are to fully realize their dignity in society. The conference theme of “No Man is an Island: Creature, Culture and Community,” provided a wide variety of topics, including the family, community, Christian economics, sexuality and vocation.

In a session on motherhood, Lisa Everett, co-director of the Office of Family Life for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, spoke on married motherhood, and Franciscan Sister M. Benedicta Duna spoke on virginal motherhood.

“Love is a child’s deepest need, and he finds it first in the face of his mother,” Everett said, so we need to recover in our culture the theory that a mother cannot be replaced with just any caregiver.

As the mother of seven, Everett acknowledged that mothering does involve “stretching,” but she said parents should never fear the arrival of a child. “When a child is entrusted to us, in many ways it is Christ Himself, and we should never be afraid to welcome Him,” she said.

Sisters give up the right to children of their own, Sister Benedicta said, but they are given “God’s family,” and virginity allows them to remain more free to bear fruit for that family.

Sister Benedicta said that motherhood is conferred on the sisters in her order through their charism of perpetual adoration. Taking a turn in the middle of the night to rise and pray for the needs of people before the Blessed Sacrament is like a mother rising at night to care for her children, she said.

“Mothering people spiritually means you take them into your heart and care for them spiritually,” she explained, noting that the Blessed Mother is the model for generous spiritual motherhood.

Photo caption: Speaking on married and virginal motherhood at the Edith Stein conference were Lisa Everett, far right, and Sister M. Benedicta, OSF, second from right. Elizabeth Kirk, far left, chaired the session, and Sister Margaret Mary Mitchel, OSF, second from left, assisted with Sister Benedicta’s PowerPoint presentation.

 

Msgr. Lester remembered as a shepherd after the heart of Jesus

By Tim Johnson and Kay Cozad

FORT WAYNE — “I will give you shepherds after my own heart,” said Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades as he spoke of Msgr. J. William Lester at the Evening Prayer from the Office of the Dead for the Burial of a Priest celebrated Feb. 24 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne. Msgr. Lester died on Feb. 20 at the age of 90.

The words from Jeremiah, Bishop Rhoades said, were used as he reflected upon the priestly life and ministry of Msgr. Lester. “He was truly a shepherd after the heart of Jesus, the Good Shepherd,” Bishop Rhoades said. “Though I only knew Msgr. Lester for a very short time, I recognized in him his kind and generous spirit, humility and his joy — a shepherd after the heart of Christ.”

Retired Bishop John M D’Arcy, many priests and others shared with Bishop Rhoades about Monsignor’s exemplary priestly life and ministry through the years.

One of the priests told Bishop Rhoades, “that Msgr. Lester was a true giant in our diocese.”

In this Year for Priests, Bishop Rhoades related, “He was a great priest, a beloved priest, a faithful and devoted priest.”

Bishop Rhoades, in his homily, said, “In this time of sorrow, the Lord is in our midst. ... We gather here in hope because we know the many good deeds of Monsignor go with him. And we gather in hope because of our faith in the resurrection of the dead.”

Monsignor lived his life with joy and hope because he firmly believed in Christ’s victory, Bishop Rhoades said. 

The bishop added it should be the goal of each of us to live in God’s grace, so that we will die in His grace, and thus participate in His death and share His Resurrection. 

Msgr. Lester, Bishop Rhoades said, “poured out his life in service of others, in the service of the Church. … We thank God for the gift of Monsignor’s life, for his example and for his service. And we pray for him.”

Photo caption: Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades incenses the casket of Msgr. J. William Lester at the Mass of Christian Burial at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Thursday, Feb. 25.

(For these stories 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

For first time, church choirs 'hear each other'

Story by Steve Euvino

SAINT JOHN — One choir member from the St. Cecilia Choral Festival commented afterward, “This is what heaven must sound like.”  Some 150-160 voices came together Sunday, Feb. 28 at St. John the Evangelist for the first such combining of choirs.

Singing were choirs from the host parish, as well as St. Thomas More, Munster; St. Michael, Schererville; Ss. Peter and Paul, Merrillville; and Nativity of Our Savior, Portage.

Each choir performed three or four songs, after which the five choirs combined for three final selections. Afterward, several hundred audience members gave their choirs a standing ovation.

Some of the choirs had as many as 40 members, while one choir had a dozen singers. Some choirs sang as their directors played the piano. Other choirs brought accompaniment, e.g., trumpets, drums, tambourines, cymbals, guitars, and flutes.

Choir members came to St. John the Evangelist the previous day for a 90-minute rehearsal of the final three songs. The concert was named for St. Cecilia, a first century martyr and the patroness of church music because of the “song in her heart” for the Lord.

Precious Blood Brother Terry Nufer, choir director at Nativity of Our Savior, said that for the first time “we really got to hear ourselves, and it was a wonderful thrill.”  During the final three selections, Brother Terry and other Nativity members found themselves in middle of that larger body of the combined choirs. “All those voices surrounding us — it was a very special moment,” he said.

(For this story and more news from the Diocese of Gary, log on to the website of the Northwest Indiana Catholic at www.nwicatholic.com)

 

Diocese of Lafayette

No briefs available this week

 

(For these stories and more news from the Diocese of Lafayette, log on to the website of The Catholic Moment at www.thecatholicmoment.org)