Your Voice — Today’s Catholic Blog

On Friday, March 21, Father John Jenkins, CSC, phoned to inform me that President Obama had accepted his invitation to speak to the graduating class at Notre Dame and receive an honorary degree. We spoke shortly before the announcement was made public at the White House press briefing. It was the first time that I had been informed that Notre Dame had issued this invitation.
President Obama has recently reaffirmed, and has now placed in public policy, his long-stated unwillingness to hold human life as sacred. While claiming to separate politics from science, he has in fact separated science from ethics and has brought the American government, for the first time in history, into supporting direct destruction of innocent human life.
This will be the 25th Notre Dame graduation during my time as bishop. After much prayer, I have decided not to attend the graduation. I wish no disrespect to our president, I pray for him and wish him well. I have always revered the Office of the Presidency. But a bishop must teach the Catholic faith “in season and out of season,” and he teaches not only by his words — but by his actions.
My decision is not an attack on anyone, but is in defense of the truth about human life.
I have in mind also the statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops in 2004. “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” Indeed, the measure of any Catholic institution is not only what it stands for, but also what it will not stand for.
I have spoken with Professor Mary Ann Glendon, who is to receive the Laetare Medal. I have known her for many years and hold her in high esteem. We are both teachers, but in different ways. I have encouraged her to accept this award and take the opportunity such an award gives her to teach.
Even as I continue to ponder in prayer these events, which many have found shocking, so must Notre Dame. Indeed, as a Catholic university, Notre Dame must ask itself, if by this decision it has chosen prestige over truth.
Tomorrow, we celebrate as Catholics the moment when our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, became a child in the womb of his most holy mother. Let us ask Our Lady to intercede for the university named in her honor, that it may recommit itself to the primacy of truth over prestige.

From what I have read, and from my experience of attending mass for over 7 decades, the host is supposed to be elevated after the consecration so that  the congregation can look upon the consecrated host and offer adoration. But lately, it seems things have been changed. and the host is only partially elevated.

Catholic churches are constructed so that those in the back of the church , expecially if you are not too tall, have diffculty in seeing everything that happens at the altar. When the host is only semi-elevated, it is able to be adored only  by the priest and those in the first few rows. 

I don’t understand why they call it an elevation  when it is no longer elevated.

I don’t understand why the host is not  fully elevated so all can see it .

Book of the Month Club 
This month’s featured selection: 
“The Blessing of Christmas” by Pope Benedict XVI

This little crimson book may be small in size but it is mighty in meaningful text and brilliantly juxtaposed ancient artwork. The preface tells the reader it “brings together in one volume two earlier books by Joseph Ratzinger that perfectly compliment each other: ‘The Light That Shines upon Us,’ 1978 and ‘Praise of Christmas,’ 1982.” 

The text curiously begins with the “burden of sickness,” which then-Cardinal Ratzinger relates to the purification and waiting of Advent. In that anticipation there is hope, he says, while using examples of the beauty of nature and the frailty of man to illuminate his message of eternal joy in Christ.

Three of the seven chapters begin with a numbered Scripture verse that brings to life the message on the pages. Scripture and surprising personal anecdotes are interspersed throughout the tome and the text is packed with new meaning to an age old Biblical inheritance.

Ratzinger describes how some of the most cherished Christmas customs come from the Advent liturgy, such as the Christmas tree and decorations. Even the custom of Christmas baking comes from liturgy: “In that day, the mountains will drip sweetness and the rivers will flow with milk and honey.”

In the genealogy of Jesus, Pope Benedict XVI writes of the Scripture reference lineup focusing on the five women of “faith and grace.” He speaks at length of the freedom of love and how the child Jesus brings us new awareness of God’s love each Christmastide. 

Historical church figures, the likes of St. Francis of Assisi, who was the first to create a crèche, and St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who spent her last hours of life telling of the life of Jesus, add to the rich texture of church history the pope presents. And the stunning artwork sprinkled throughout draws the reader into the beauty and depth of mankind’s ancient journey of Christmas.

The author challenges the reader to consider the silence of the yuletide as God works to change hearts from within. He addresses the truth that God came to mankind as the child of Jesus, the light that shines in the darkness. His message: “It is of course true that the freshness, the purity, and the openness of a child give us hope.”

“The Blessing of Christmas” is an easily understandable yet powerful reminder that the child Jesus in the Christmas story is beautiful and good. And when men encounter it, they become good. For they have seen the glory of God in this world.

Questions for discussion

• When have you experienced the “burden of sickness,” whether physically or spiritually? How did the waiting purify you?

• Discuss the ramifications of the four women from Jewish history and Mary in Matthew’s genealogy account in chapter two.

• How are you like the ox and ass in chapter four, who bow before the Christ child born in a stable? 

• What does “Silence is the space of this child. Silence is the sphere where God is born” mean to you? How can silence bring you closer to God? (Page 90)

• How can a renewed focus on the truth and beauty of the Christmas message bring you hope for your personal future?

This month’s Book of the Month Club selection is the captivating memoir “Called Out of Darkness,” by Anne Rice

“Called out of Darkness” is the powerful story of Anne Rice’s journey of spiritual transformation from cradle Catholic, through adult atheism, to a return to devout Catholicism.

Rice shares the childhood memories of her home, church, family life and traditions in New Orleans. This view is a rich and colorful reflection of “faith, beauty and harmony” that she experienced growing up as a devout child in a deeply religious Irish Catholic family.

The deterioration and death of Rice’s alcoholic mother led her to a powerlessness that she resented. Rice’s “faith began to crack apart,” and she left for college to explore the world in search of broader experiences, risk and the life of an artist. As she settled into school and marriage in Berkeley, Calif., she became a nationally know writer for books on vampires and the realms of good and evil, reflecting her own moral struggles. She says during this time she retreated from Catholicism, and stopped believing in the God of her youth.

During that time, Rice experienced personal tragedy when her 5-year-old daughter died of leukemia. She then had a son, Christopher, and spent 38 years writing books that took her on a spiritual journey back to God. 

While researching her books, the groundwork for the atheism she embraced became shaky and she eventually lost her faith in the “nonexistence” of God.

In her courageous struggle back to her roots in the church, Rice says it was only through love and trust that belief followed. This book allows religious and secular readers to enjoy the colorful and descriptive world of Anne Rice and her intensely powerful conversion. 

Questions for discussion:

1. Think about times when you have doubted your faith. Did you think that you were alone? 

2. How do you think that the you could help someone who has questions about their faith and is considering leaving the Catholic Church?

Archbishop Oswald Gomis of Colombo, Sri Lanka spent a week in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, visiting Sri Lankan priests stationed at parishes in the diocese, but also visiting the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne and dropping in on his friend, Bishop John M. D’Arcy. Bishop D’Arcy, who has known Archbishop Gomis for about a decade, presented His Excellency with a copy of “Worthy of the Gospel of Christ,” the history book of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, when the two met in D’Arcy’s office.

Archbishop Oswald Gomis of Colombo, Sri Lanka and Bishop John M. D'Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend

Priests from Sri Lanka serving in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend who were visited by Archbishop Gomis included Father Danny Pinto, administrator at St. John Bosco Parish in Churubusco, and Father Polycarp Fernando, pastor of St. Dominic Parish in Bremen. The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend is continually served by over 20 priests from Sri Lanka, India, Africa and other corners of the globe.

Every year, the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend celebrates its priests who are celebrating their 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th and, if necessary, 70th anniversary of ordination. Each year, this yields an array of priests from around the diocese who celebrate with a Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne and then join the bishop for a celebratory luncheon.

In 2006, the diocese honored Fathers Dave Voors and Jim Delaney (25 years), Msgr. Owen Campion and Fathers John Pfister and Ed Erpelding (40 years), Father Robert Yast (50 years) and (the now late) Msgr. William Faber (70 years).

In 2007, the diocese honored Fathers Adam Schmitt, James Rose and Dan Leeuw (all 50 years), as well as Father Dale Bauman (25 years).

In 2008, however, the jubilarian number stood at one solitary priest, Father Barry England, pastor of St. Bavo Parish in Mishawaka and a priest since May 25, 1968. On Sept. 16, the priests once again gathered for Mass and honored Father England’s jubilee with lunch on the garden level of Archbishop Noll Catholic Center in Fort Wayne.

Father Barry England, right, celebrates his 40th anniversary as a priest with a luncheon at the Archbishop Noll Catholic Center Sept. 16. He is joined, at left, by Father Ed Ruetz, retired in South Bend, and Father Paul Bueter, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Warsaw.

Next year, the number of priest jubilarians swells once more with an anticipated 12 priests celebrating anniversaries.

As if the school’s anniversary wasn’t enough, Most Precious Blood Parish, Fort Wayne, experienced another reminder of its age on Sunday, Sept. 14, when it blessed and dedicated a new base for its statue of Mary and the child Jesus. The original base had gradually crumbled over time. The new base was constructed — and the area around the statue landscaped — by parishioners who donated their time. Here, Father Joe Gaughan, pastor of Precious Blood, blesses the statue after the 10:15 Sunday Mass. Photo by Charity Moss.

Father Joe Gaughan blesses the parish's Mary statue after Mass on Sunday, Sept. 14.

Most Precious Blood School in Fort Wayne celebrated 110 years on Sept. 12. This involved a “birthday party” service in the school gym/cafeteria. After the Scouts presented the flag and principal Alexandria Bergman led a prayer, the students received red helium balloons.

Students at Most Precious Blood School, Fort Wayne, receive red balloons as part of the school's 110th birthday celebration Sept. 12.

 The students then moved out to the parking lot, where the situation quickly became elevated. See the following video link…

students-release-balloons

On Sept. 5, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School in Fort Wayne, already one of the largest in the diocese, grew some more with the dedication and blessing of a new wing that provided individual classrooms for the school’s Spanish, French and health teachers and made possible, for the first time in the school’s history, kindergarten.

This embellished student body, numbering now at 774, gathered in the St. Vincent de Paul gymnasium for an assembly, in which St. Vincent pastor Father John Kuzmich first welcomed Bishop John M. D’Arcy.

Father John Kuzmich

Father Kuzmich told the student body how, the day before, he had visited each kindergarten classroom, asking the students who was coming to the school tomorrow. When one student finally replied, “Bishop D’Arcy,” Father Kuzmich related that he had told the student he was right and asked who Bishop D’Arcy was, to which the student replied, “Your boss.”

The student body laughed as Father Kuzmich noted that the bishop is “a nice boss.”

Bishop D’Arcy also addressed the student body, noting St. Vincent parish’s strength in attracting new people to Catholic faith every year, in charitable giving to less fortunate parishes and schools, both in the diocese and in Latin America, and in attracting more priestly vocations than any other diocesan parish at this time. This was received with loud applause.

Bishop D’Arcy then joined Father Kuzmich and the rest of the students, teachers, staff and parents gathered in a prayer of dedication.

St. Vincent School prays at the dedication of its new wing.

After the dedication prayer, Bishop D’Arcy joined Father Kuzmich, St. Vincent associate pastor Father Jason Freiburger and superintendent of Catholic schools, Father Steve Kempinger, on a walk-through of the new addition, blessing students and classrooms as they went.

Bishop D'Arcy and Father Jason Freiburger bless a classroom in the new addition of St. Vincent School, Fort Wayne.

This eventually took them to the school library, which, thanks to the addition, is now handicap accessible.

Bishop John M. D'Arcy blesses the library at St. Vincent School, Fort Wayne.

On Aug. 21, Fort Wayne observed an annual tradition held at each end of the diocese, the Andrew Dinner. Also known as a “Come and See Dinner,” these events invite young men from various parishes to come and see and hear what the priesthood is all about. In this case, it involved talks by two seminarians, Ben Muhlenkamp and Ryan Briscoe, as well as a showing of a video, “Fishers of Men.” The Fort Wayne dinner was held at the Archbishop Noll Catholic Center downtown.