Aug. 8, 2008

August 8, 2008

The Catholic News & Herald 1

www.charlottediocese.org

Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte

Perspectives Strength and virtue; remembering the Sisters of Mercy’s work in N.C.

Established Jan. 12, 1972

by Pope Paul VI August 8, 2008

Laying down the law

| Pages 14-15 Serving Catholics in Western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte

no. 35

Faith rising from the ashes

Bishop Jugis dedicates renovated parish hall damaged by fire

Catholic woman works to strengthen N.C. sex offender laws by

vOLUME 17

by

KATIE MOORE

KEVIN E. MURRAY editor

staff writer

CHARLOTTE —Although a fire had scorched a portion of their parish hall, the Charlottearea Vietnamese Catholics worked to turn a negative into a positive.

After raising funds and performing much of the manual labor, they have repaired and expanded the parish hall at St. Joseph Church in Charlotte.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis dedicated the renovated facility July 27. The event was a visual pageant featuring native Vietnamese dress, music and expression of worship.

“Today is a joyous day for St. Joseph Church,” said Bishop Jugis, who celebrated a Mass preceding the dedication.

GASTONIA — On July 28 Gov. Mike Easley signed the Jessica Lunsford Act, making North Carolina the 43rd state to pass a law strengthening penalties against child sex offenders.

There to witness the signing was Janet Morrison, president of the Child Protection Coalition for North Carolina and parishioner of Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro.

“It’s a sad situation to be in,” said Morrison, “that a child had to have lost its life for government to go into action to pass a law.”

The Jessica Lunsford Act mandates a minimum 25-year Photo by Kevin E. Murray

See LAW, page 6

Parishioners of St. Joseph Church in Charlotte lead a procession from the church to the newly renovated and expanded parish hall, which was dedicated by Bishop Peter J. Jugis July 27.

Hope for Haiti

Unwavering dedication

Annual food drive bigger than ever

CSS employee retires after 30 years by

by

KATIE MOORE

See RETIRE, page 6

KATIE MOORE staff writer

staff writer

CHARLOTTE — In her 30 years of working for Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Charlotte, Barbara Bazluki has worn many hats.

She began as a volunteer, worked as director of the Refugee Resettlement Office

See HALL, page 5

Photo by Katie Moore

A volunteer shrink-wraps a palate containing 50-pound bags of rice at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte July 27. More than 100,000 pounds of food, paper products and supplies were collected by parishioners and sent to Haiti.

CHARLOTTE — Bags and boxes of cereal, rice, pasta and other non-perishable items towered over volunteers in the gymnasium of St. Matthew Church in Charlotte July 27.

This year parishioners collected more than 100,000 pounds of non-perishable food and other products for the parish’s sixth annual Haiti Food Drive for the Missionaries

of the Poor.

The items were stacked on pallets and secured with shrink wrap in preparation for shipment to Cap Haitien, Haiti, where they will be used by the Missionaries of the Poor to serve hundreds of Haitian families living in extreme poverty.

Founded by Father Richard HoLung in 1981, See HAITI, page 7

Knights of Columbus

Culture Watch

Youths In Action

Councils donate funds, install new officers, guard martyrs

Farmer’s work deepens faith; Scripture readings

Youths raise funds, complete service projects

| Pages 8-9

| Page 10

| Page 12

August 8, 2008

2 The Catholic News & Herald

InBrief

Current and upcoming topics from around the world to your own backyard

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (CNS) — The pastor of the Catholic parish in Morris and a spokeswoman for the Diocese of St. Cloud have urged Catholics to contact the University of Minnesota-Morris to express their anger about a professor who desecrated a host reported to be consecrated.

They also asked Catholics to pray for Paul Z. Myers, the professor, and for others who share his views.

Myers, in a blog posting in early July, vowed to desecrate a consecrated host and asked readers to send him “some consecrated Communion wafers.”

On July 24 he posted a photo showing he had put a nail through a host he said he had received in response to his request.

Catholics should “share their outrage that the school continues to employ someone who so blatantly attacks the Catholic Church’s beliefs and what she holds to be most holy,” said Rebecca

From Atlanta to Beijing

CNS photo courtesy of Marist School

Kathleen Hersey, 18, an All-American swimmer and 2008 graduate of Marist School in Atlanta, is at the Olympic Games in Beijing, China, where she’ll compete in the women’s 200-meter butterfly. She is pictured in an undated photo.

Catholic school grad to compete in Olympic swimming event ATLANTA (CNS) — The video camera was on in swim coach Terry Blish’s office at Marist School in Atlanta, and all day teachers, friends and teammates stopped by to record words of encouragement and good luck to alumna Kathleen Hersey.

They were sending gold-medal wishes to Hersey, 18, an All-American swimmer and 2008 Marist graduate who will compete in the women’s 200-meter butterfly at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Blish planned to send a DVD of everyone’s good wishes to Stanford University, where Hersey was training prior to the Aug. 8-24 games.

At the Hersey home, the swimmer’s parents have been speaking to their daughter briefly on the phone every night, trying to keep the conversation light, her father said. They don’t talk about swimming.

“As parents we try to be supportive and capture the lighter things, like what are you doing for fun,” he said.

Swimming became Kathleen Hersey’s life once she took first place at a county meet when she was 6, and it became a natural extension of her parents’ lives.

She also played soccer and took ballet, tennis and piano lessons, but soon realized that she wanted to devote all her energy to swimming, said her mother, Regina.

Kathleen joined the swim team when she was accepted at Marist for seventh grade; the school has students in

Calls for action, prayer follow professor’s desecration of host

grades 7 through 12.

In her four years on the varsity team, she won 13 individual state titles in the 100-meter butterfly and 200-meter individual medley, breaking school, state and national prep school records, Blish said.

Between 2005 and 2007 she rose from 77th to sixth in world rankings in the women’s 200-meter butterfly. Last summer she won four gold medals at the Pan American Games.

At Swim Atlanta, where she trained, she swam three to four hours a day, six days a week. She participated in all Marist team meetings, retreats and meets and maintained a 3.6-grade-point average.

While they will be hoping for a gold medal for their daughter, the Herseys have already had their prayers answered, they said. The St. Jude the Apostle Church parishioners could not have children, but always prayed for a child. Eighteen years ago they adopted Kathleen.

Despite her swimming accolades, it was her gratitude for her adoption that she wrote about in her senior-year essay, said Blish.

“She wrote that she was so grateful that her birth mother chose life and that she was so grateful that her parents are her parents,” he said.

Hersey, who will attend the University of Texas on a swim scholarship in the fall, will make a mark in Beijing, said Blish. “It’s going to be recognized all over the world what a wonderful young lady she is.”

Diocesan planner For more events taking place in the Diocese of Charlotte, visit www.charlottediocese. org/calendarofevents-cn.

ALBEMARLE VICARIATE MONROE — A holy hour is held every Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 725 Deese St., until December 2008 in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady in Lourdes.

The holy hour consists of evening prayer, recitation of the rosary and Benediction.

The celebration is open to all. For more information, contact the parish office at (704) 289-2773.

HENDERSONVILLE — The St. Francis of the Hills Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order meets the fourth Sunday of each month 1-3 p.m. at Immaculate Conception Church, 208 7th Ave. West. Visitors and inquirers are welcome. For more information, call Joanita Nellenbach, SFO, (828) 627-9209 or e-mail jnell@dnet.net.

BOONE VICARIATE SPRUCE PINE — A rosary of intercession for priests is recited each Friday at St. Lucien Church, 695 Summit St., before the 9 a.m.

Mass. Prayers are offered for bishops, priests, deacons and for an increase in vocations to the priesthood. For more information, call the

Kurowski, director of communications for the St. Cloud Diocese, which includes Morris.

“While we must condemn the attacks he makes, we must not condemn him, but pray for him out of love,” said Father Timothy Baltes, pastor of Assumption Church in Morris. “Only God can touch such a heart, and that is what we pray for.”

Myers, who teaches biology at the school, announced on his personal blog July 24 that he pierced a Communion host — along with pages from the Quran — with a rusty nail and threw it in the trash. A picture of the act is posted along with the entry. He called the host “a cracker.”

“The diocese is horrified about P.Z. Myers’attacks against holy Communion,” Kurowski said. “We wholeheartedly condemn the attacks he makes. Yet, legally, there is nothing that we can do to stop this outrageousness.”

church office at (828) 765-2224.

CHARLOTTE VICARIATE CHARLOTTE — “Christ’s Presence in the Eucharist: A Eucharistic Spirituality for Today” will be held Aug. 26 at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., 1-3 p.m.

This two-hour faith formation and enrichment session is sponsored by “Why Catholic?” and presented by RENEW International. For more information, contact Michael Coyle at (704) 598-3049.

CHARLOTTE — An Opus Dei recollection for men will be held at St. Ann Church, 3635 Park Rd.. Sept. 5, 7-9 p.m. Confessions will be heard from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Opus Dei is a personal prelature of the Catholic Church that helps people find God in their everyday lives. For more information, contact Joe Ignacio at (704) 752-7155 or e-mail joremy.ignacio@gmail.com.

CHARLOTTE — An Opus Dei recollection for women will be held at St. Ann Church, 3635 Park Rd., Sept. 6, 9 a.m.–12 p.m. Meditations will begin at 10 a.m. followed by Mass at 12 p.m. Confessions will be heard at from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. Opus Dei is a personal prelature of the Catholic Church that helps people find God in their everyday lives. For more information, please contact Remy Ignacio at (704) 752-7155 or e-mail joremy.ignacio@gmail.com.

GASTONIA VICARIATE DENVER — The Senior Group of Holy Spirit Church meets once a month for fun and fellowship. All are invited to join. For more information on upcoming events, contact Irene Brunner at (704) 483-1210.

August 8, 2008 Volume 17 • Number 35

Publisher: Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis Editor: Kevin E. Murray STAFF WRITER: Katie Moore Graphic DESIGNER: Tim Faragher Advertising MANAGER: Cindi Feerick Secretary: Deborah Hiles 1123 South Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203 Mail: P.O. Box 37267, Charlotte, NC 28237 Phone: (704) 370-3333 FAX: (704) 370-3382 E-MAIL: catholicnews@charlottediocese.org

The Catholic News & Herald, USPC 007-393, is published by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, 1123 South Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203, 44 times a year, weekly except for Christmas week and Easter week and every two weeks during June, July and August for $15 per year for enrollees in parishes of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte and $23 per year for all other subscribers. The Catholic News & Herald reserves the right to reject or cancel advertising for any reason deemed appropriate. We do not recommend or guarantee any product, service or benefit claimed by our advertisers. Second-class postage paid at Charlotte NC and other cities. POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to The Catholic News & Herald, P.O. Box 37267, Charlotte, NC 28237.

August 8, 2008

The Catholic News & Herald 3

FROM THE VATICAN

Muslim leader expresses hope that pope will visit Syria for Pauline year

Cardinal: Pope may visit Africa in 2009 VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The grand mufti of Syria, Ahmad Bader Hassoun, said he has invited Pope Benedict XVI to Damascus to celebrate the year of St. Paul, the apostle converted on the road to Damascus.

The grand mufti, a leader of Syria’s 18 million Muslims, met with Italian journalists who were visiting Damascus as part of their own celebration of the Pauline year.

Vatican Radio reported Aug. 1 that Hassoun said he hoped to meet Pope Benedict in Rome and he hoped the pope would visit Damascus before the Pauline celebrations end next June.

The pope convoked the yearlong celebration to mark the 2,000th anniversary of St. Paul’s birth.

The Vatican Radio report said

Syria is not the only country that has extended a Pauline year invitation to the pope.

“Other nations in the Middle East that saw the passage or presence of St. Paul on their territory” have done likewise, Vatican Radio said, although it did not name the countries.

The Vatican has not confirmed any papal trips outside Italy after the pope’s Sept. 12-15 trip to Paris and Lourdes, France.

However, in late July, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, told an Italian Catholic newspaper that while decisions about papal travel for 2009 have not been finalized, Africa is likely to be on the list.

“The church in Africa deserves a trip by the pope,” Cardinal Bertone told the newspaper Avvenire.

GREENSBORO VICARIATE GREENSBORO —Area Catholics meet each Saturday at 8 a.m. for prayer at the abortion clinic A Woman’s Choice, 201 Pomona Dr. A rosary and a divine mercy chaplet are prayed.

If you are interested in participating, contact Carolyn Dominick at (336) 292-3612.

KERNERSVILLE — A “Why Catholic?” workshop on “Christ’s Presence in the Eucharist: A Eucharistic Spirituality for Today” will take place Aug. 25, 7-9 p.m. at Holy Cross Church, 616 South Cherry St. The workshop, presented

by RENEW International, is free and open to the public. Call Jeannine Martin (336) 294-4696, ext 225 at the parish office, or e-mail jmartin@ stpaulcc.org no later than July 31 if you plan to attend.

Washington at (704) 637-0472 or Sharon Burges at (704) 633-0591.

HICKORY VICARIATE HICKORY — A charismatic Mass is celebrated the first Thursday of each month in Sebastian Chapel of St. Aloysius Church, 921 Second St. NE, at 7 p.m. For further information, contact Joan Moran (828) 994-0880 or e-mail jgmoran@charter.net.

SALISBURY VICARIATE MOORESVILLE — “Christ’s Presence in the Eucharist: A Eucharistic Spirituality for Today” will be held Aug. 26 at St. Therese of Lisieux Church, 217 Brawley School Rd., 7-9 p.m.

This two-hour faith formation and enrichment session is sponsored by “Why Catholic?” and presented by RENEW International. For more information, contact Michael Coyle at (704) 598-3049.

SALISBURY — Elizabeth Ministry is a peer ministry comprised of Sacred Heart Church parishioners who have lost babies before or shortly after birth. Confidential peer ministry, information and spiritual materials are offered at no cost or obligation to anyone who has experienced miscarriage, stillbirth or the death of a newborn. For details, call Renee

Episcopal

calendar

SMOKY MOUNTAIN VICARIATE SYLVA — “Spreading the Good News: How Catholics Share Our Faith” evangelization training for lay leaders and volunteers will take place at St. Mary Mother of God Church, 22 Bartlett St. Aug. 23, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The workshop will present the basics of Catholic evangelization and help participants begin to develop an action plan for their parish, group or organization. For more information and registration, call Frank Villaronga at (704) 370-3274 or e-mail favillaronga@ charlottediocese.org.

Aug. 16 (5 p.m.)

Sacrament of confirmation St. Philip the Apostle Church, Statesville

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Because Eluana Englaro is alive, caregivers must continue to give her food and water, said the president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life.

Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, president of the academy, hailed a July 31 decision by the procurator general’s office in Milan to ask Italy’s Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision authorizing the withdrawal of nutrition and hydration at the request of the young woman’s father.

The procurator general’s office said that when Milan’s civil Court of Appeals ruled July 9 that the provision of nutrition and hydration could be stopped, it did so without obtaining a clear scientific opinion that the young woman’s condition could never improve.

In addition to saying it would take the case to the Supreme Court, the procurator general’s office asked the Court of Appeals to suspend its ruling so that Englaro’s family does not act before the Supreme Court can rule.

Now 37 years old, Englaro was injured in a car accident in 1992. She has been in what doctors describe as a

persistent vegetative state for 16 years.

Archbishop Fisichella said Aug. 1 that the Italian justice system must “put the value of life back in first place.

Eluana is a young woman who is alive; she is not attached to any machine and this does not involve pulling any plug.”

Carrying out the appeals court decision would involve “simply not giving her anything to eat or drink and this would be a crime, an immense crime,” he said. The Italian justice system, he said, also has to recognize that science cannot say with certainty that her condition is irreversible, “which brings us back to the larger theme of the inviolability of life always, everywhere, despite everything.”

At the same time, Archbishop Fisichella said no one who has not had a similar experience can judge the young woman’s family or families dealing with similar cases.

“I think we need to make a great effort to be close to these people, very close to the families and insist with great force that no one be abandoned in this condition,” left alone to care for their loved ones for years on end, he said.

Bishop brings the torch

WINSTON-SALEM VICARIATE CLEMMONS — Father Eric Kowalski, pastor of Holy Angels Church in Mount Airy, will celebrate a solemn high Mass in the extraordinary form at Holy Family Church in Clemmons on the feast of the Assumption, Friday, Aug. 15, at 12 p.m. For more information, contact Father Kowalski at (336) 786-8147.

CLEMMONS — Holy Family Church, 4820 Kinnamon Rd., will conduct an ongoing series called “Catholics Returning Home” on six consecutive Tuesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. beginning Sept. 9. These sessions are for nonpracticing Catholics who are interested in returning to the church. There will be informal sharing and an update on the Catholic faith. For more details, call Sean or Kelly Hines at (336) 940-6053 or e-mail hinesnc@adelphia.net.

Is your parish or school sponsoring a free event open to the general public?

Deadline for submissions for the Diocesan Planner is 10 days prior to desired publication date. Submit in writing to kmmoore@charlottediocese.org or fax to (704) 370-3382.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following events:

Aug. 15 (10 a.m.)

Mass and blessing of independent living center Pennybyrn at Maryfield, High Point

Vatican official defends life of Italian woman in vegetative state

Aug. 21 (10 a.m.)

Diocesan foundation board meeting Catholic Conference Center, Hickory Aug. 22 (5 p.m.)

Mass and blessing of new convent for Missionaries of Charity Charlotte

CNS photo by UCAN

Coadjutor Bishop Peter Fang Jianping poses with the Olympic relay torch in front of a Catholic shrine July 31 in Tangshan, China. The bishop was among the 200 torchbearers who were completing the final leg of the relay. The Olympic summer games start Aug. 8 in Beijing.

Indian bishops offer prayers, concern after stampede NEW DELHI (CNS) — India’s Catholic bishops expressed condolences and concern after the deaths of 146 Hindus, including 42 children and 50 women, in a stampede at a northern Indian Hindu pilgrimage center.

“It is a matter of great concern for all of us that similar incidents occur at places of pilgrimage and worship,” Divine World Father Babu Joseph, spokesman for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of

India, said Aug. 4.

He said it was time that “we created better facilities and enforced discipline for the safety and security of pilgrims.”

The bishops want authorities to draw up long-term plans to ensure “similar unfortunate incidents do not repeat,” Father Joseph said.

The stampede is the third such incident this year at Hindu pilgrim centers in India.

4 The Catholic News & Herald

AROUND THE DIOCESE

August 8, 2008

Celebrating catechists

Courtesy Photo

Father Roger Arnsparger, pastor of St. Michael Church in Gastonia, talks to children participating in the parish’s faith and culture camps in July.

Fun while following in the footsteps

Courtesy Photo

Above: Leslie Choate holds her certificate of appreciation from Bishop Peter J. Jugis after Mass at St. Frances of Rome Mission Aug. 3. Choate, who recently retired as parish catechetical leader, was honored for her nine years of service to the church in various capacities — including faith formation coordinator, pastoral council and finance council member, chair of the Family Life Commission, chair of the Community Life Commission, extraordinary minister of holy Communion, usher and lector.

Also pictured are (from left) Dr. Cris Villapando, director of diocesan faith formation programs; Father Joseph Dinh, pastor; and Ruth White, Choate’s aunt who traveled from Maryland for the celebration.

Below: Carol Brown is pictured with her certificate of appreciation from Bishop Peter J. Jugis after Mass at St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country Church in Boone July 27. Brown retired after 20 years of serving as parish catechetical leader.

Also pictured (from left) are Dr. Cris Villapando, director of diocesan faith formation programs; Father Joseph Mulligan, pastor; and Larry Brown, Carol’s husband.

Courtesy Photo

GASTONIA — In keeping with Pope Benedict XVI’s convocation to celebrate the 2,000th anniversary of St. Paul’s birth, “In the Footsteps of St. Paul” was the theme of this year’s faith and culture camp at St. Michael Church in Gastonia.

More than 70 children of the parish took part in the daily sessions and events July 21-25. Each day’s program included Mass and centered on various aspects of St. Paul’s life and mission.

“We had a focus each day, such as his conversion, teaching and sharing,” said Theresa Webster, parish faith formation secretary.

The children also took part in service

projects such as making rosaries, writing cards for shut-ins and collecting items for needy children and the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry.

“With the help of 40 volunteers, the children made crafts, played games, traded holy cards of the Apostles, listened to stories, sang, danced and watched the middle schoolers act out St. Paul’s life from Acts each day,” said Webster.

The 25 high school and college students who volunteered also spent time in eucharistic adoration and prayer, and visited area churches.

“It was a wonderful week for the children, teens and adults,” said Webster.

August 8, 2008

The Catholic News & Herald 5

from the cover

Bishop Jugis dedicates new parish hall at St. Joseph Church HALL, from page 1

Photo by Kevin E. Murray

Bishop Peter J. Jugis, along with Father Peter Pham (left), priest in residence, and Father Tan Van Le, pastor of St. Joseph Church in Charlotte, cuts the ceremonial ribbon before the dedication of the parish’s newly renovated and expanded parish hall July 27.

Filling up fast – don’t wait!

YOUR air space will be released Sept. 4!!

“Jesus promised that wherever two or three of his disciples are gathered together in his name, he is present there,” the bishop said during his homily.

“The parish hall is an important center where we will gather for parish activities now and in the future, and Christ will be present there,” he continued. “In the activities that take place in the parish hall, we will come to know the presence of Christ, and we will experience the joy of his friendship and grow in his love.”

After Mass, Bishop Jugis; Father Peter Tan Van Le, pastor; and Father Peter Pham, priest in residence, took part in a procession of parishioners in traditional Vietnamese costumes, dancing dragons, banners and drums.

After Bishop Jugis and the priests cut the ceremonial ribbon across the parish hall’s doors, firecrackers exploded as parishioners and guests filed inside.

They watched proudly as Bishop Jugis blessed the hall and those inside with holy water.

“We are very honored to have him with us on this special event,” said Paul Tran, parish finance council chairman.

The parish hall was dedicated in memory of the 117 Vietnamese martyrs, who lived during the 18th and 19th centuries and were declared saints by Pope John Paul II in 1988.

During the ceremony at the Vatican, Pope John Paul said the martyrs had remained patriotic despite persecution for their faith.

Building on beliefs Persecution was something familiar to the first Vietnamese in Charlotte.

The Vietnamese community in Charlotte began in 1981 as a mission program of three churches — Our Lady of the Assumption, Our Lady of Consolation and St. Ann. The 20 or so original Vietnamese families were political refugees, resettled in North Carolina by a number of humanitarian organizations including Catholic Social Services.

Many of the Vietnamese Catholics had been imprisoned by the Communists for their beliefs prior to coming to Charlotte in search of jobs and religious freedom, said Father Tan Van Le. The priest, who was imprisoned for 13 years and had to celebrate Mass in secret, came to Charlotte from the Diocese of Vinh Long in Vietnam via a diocesan sponsorship.

The community continued to grow and a Baptist church was purchased in 1998. Then-Bishop William G. Curlin dedicated the cultural center under the patronage of St. Joseph in November 1999, when approximately 1,500 Vietnamese were attending Mass regularly.

A church was constructed next to the existing building and dedicated by Bishop Jugis in May 2004. The existing building became the parish hall, to be used for parish functions and activities,

“In the activities that take place in the parish hall, we will come to know the presence of Christ ....”

— Bishop Peter J. Jugis

and community and cultural events.

The entire facility, which thenencompassed almost 22,300 feet, was to serve the spiritual and educational needs of then more than 9,000 Vietnamese in the area.

“The church allows Charlotte’s Vietnamese community to have a place of worship, a place of education for young people and a place for us to preserve the mother language, tradition and morals of our culture,” said Father Tan Van Le in 2004.

Elevating faith On Sept. 17, 2006, a flash fire from a propane burner damaged a portion of the parish hall. No one was injured and the Vietnamese Catholic community began making plans to repair and expand the facility.

“About 4,000 square feet were added, with a new kitchen area of about 1,800 square feet,” said Charlie Scism, the general contractor who oversaw construction.

“A lot of guys from the church volunteered on the construction,” he noted.

“We are grateful for all those who, by their work and their contributions, have helped to build this new parish hall,” said Bishop Jugis.

St. Joseph Church was one of four missions in the 46-county Diocese of Charlotte to be elevated to parish status July 1, 2007.

The move came after a 2007 study commissioned by Bishop Jugis to determine which of the 23 missions in the diocese might be ready for parish status. The study took into consideration the missions’ registered households, Mass attendance and recommendations from the diocesan strategic plan.

The four new parishes all began as missions to serve immigrants of the diocese — Vietnamese and Hispanic.

Keeping with the diocese’s policy of not creating “national” parishes — parishes exclusive to one nationality or culture — the four new parishes were to be territorial, with membership consisting of all Catholics within the parish’s geographical boundaries.

St. Joseph Church now serves all Catholics in the Steele Creek community.

Contact Editor Kevin E. Murray by calling (704) 370-3334 or e-mail kemurray@charlottediocese.org.

6 The Catholic News & Herald

August 8, 2008

FROM THE COVER

CSS employee retires after 30 years of service RETIRE, from page 1

and most recently served as business manager of the CSS administrative office. Through it all, she demonstrated her ability to adapt to change and took the challenges of each position in stride.

“The challenges,” she said, are what she’ll miss the most.

“No two days were ever alike,” said Bazluki. “Every day was a different challenge.”

Bazluki retired this month. She was honored with a farewell party at the diocesan Pastoral Center in Charlotte July 31.

“In each of the subsequent jobs she has undertaken with CSS, she has demonstrated dedication, compassion and a remarkable skill for organization and implementation of services,” said Elizabeth Thurbee executive director of CSS.

“Initially, she was a foster parent and opened her home and her heart to pregnant women who needed a safe place,” said Thurbee.

Bazluki said she opened her home to pregnant women because she wanted to provide an alternative to abortion.

“Being Catholic, I always thought that while we didn’t believe in abortion you couldn’t just tell somebody ‘no,’” she said, “you had to provide an alternative.”

After years of volunteering, she earned a reputation for her reliability and her willingness to help.

It wasn’t long before she was asked to assist in other areas of CSS. First, she was asked to put her accounting background to use in the Refugee Resettlement Office.

“They were literally three months behind,” she said, “so the challenge was not only to catch it up, but then to set up the accounting system.”

Then in 1979, she heard about the

Catholic woman works to strengthen sex offender laws LAW, from page 1

sentence and a maximum of life in prison for first-time child sex offenders.

Known more commonly as “Jessica’s Law,” the act was first passed in Florida in 2005 and was named after Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a sexual predator who had previously been convicted of sex crimes against a child.

The North Carolina signing took place in Gaston County, where Jessica Lunsford was born and lived with her father until they moved to Florida when she was 8 years old.

“All the laws that are passed — Jessica’s law, Amber Alert, Megan’s Law — they are all named after dead children,” said Morrison. “To me, that is the sad part about it.”

“The happy part,” she said, “is that for years to come, this law will protect children here in North Carolina and other states around the country and hopefully there won’t be anymore Jessicas or Ambers or Megans.”

Morrison, who has been advocating on behalf of Jessica’s Law for the past three years, views her efforts as a mission from God. “It was never for me,” said Morrison.

“I did this for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. He wanted me to do something to help the children.”

She recalled praying before the image of the Divine Mercy at Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro in October 2005 when she heard a voice that said, “Help the children. You can help the children.”

At the time, “I didn’t know what that

“I did it for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He wanted me to do something to help the children.”

— Janet Morrison meant,” said Morrison.

“A few days later on one of the television news shows, they talked about Jessica Lunsford,” she said.

Morrison remembers watching the program and seeing a map designating states that were lacking strong legislation to protect children from sexual offenders — North Carolina was one of those states.

Then she heard the broadcaster say, “Find out how you can help the children.”

“And I said to my husband, ‘This is what we are supposed to do. This is what God wants us to do.’”

Photo by Katie Moore

Raury Bazluki watches as her grandmother Barbara Bazluki opens presents during her retirement party at the diocesan Pastoral Center in Charlotte July 31.

Bazluki retired this month after 30 years of working with Catholic Social Services. impending arrival of 100 Cambodian refugees to be resettled in Charlotte. She knew she wanted to help, so she asked for the job.

During that year “everything kind of fell into place,” said Bazluki, whose primary responsibility was helping the refugees find homes and jobs.

“I found an apartment complex that was completely empty and had been

newly renovated. I found a company that was starting up and expanding and hired all my heads of households, and I got all the kids enrolled in school,” she said.

When her work was complete she left CSS. Less than one week later, they asked her to come back.

This time Bazluki worked as an assistant in the Refugee Resettlement Office, where she would eventually become director — a position she held for about 10 years.

“When she was hired as director of the Refugee Resettlement Office, she turned her considerable talents toward helping newly arrived refugees adjust to life in the United States,” said Thurbee.

“One of the neatest things was working with the refugees,” said Bazluki.

“You would go to the airport and pick up broken human beings. And within three to six months they were healthy and vibrant and productive members of society again. It was like a complete rebirth.”

Now that she is retired, Bazluki plans to travel and get things done around her house.

“I’m not in a hurry to do anything,” she said, “just take one day at a time and enjoy it.”

Protecting God’s Children • The Protecting God’s Children program utilized in the Diocese of Charlotte educates and trains adults (clergy, religious, teachers, staff, volunteers, and parents) about the dangers of abuse, the warning signs of abuse, the ways to prevent abuse, the methods of properly reporting suspicions of abuse, and responding to allegations of abuse.

• The program began in response to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (charter) issued by the U.S. bishops in 2002.

• To date there have been 690 workshops held throughout the Diocese of Charlotte.

• 18,200 people have participated in the program.

• 17,400 background checks have been processed.

Not sure exactly where to begin, Morrison started by contacting Joe Dawson, founder and C.E.O. of Child Protection Coalition who had lobbied on behalf of the Jessica Lunsford Act in Florida.

Dawson gave Morrison permission to use his petition.

She spent the next three years traveling across the state, speaking to groups of all sizes and gathering signatures in support of the act.

“I come here and I ask you for your signature on a piece of paper to show your support of children,” she told the groups.

“And so that was my mission,” said Morrison. “And I was happy to tell the story everywhere I went.”

“I just think it is important for people to know that God works miracles and uses us if we listen and we pay attention,” she added.

“If we listen, God talks to us all the time. We just have to open our ears and our hearts,” she said.

Contact Staff Writer Katie Moore by calling (704) 370-3354, or e-mail kmmoore@charlottediocese.org.

August 8, 2008

from the cover

The Catholic News & Herald 7

Parishioners donate food to help poor in Haiti HAITI, from page 1

the Missionaries of the Poor is an international monastic order of brothers dedicated to serving the poorest of the poor, according to the order’s Web site.

The order, which has grown to more than 500 brothers, serves the poor around the globe with missions in Jamaica, India, the Philippines, Uganda, Kenya and Haiti.

Taking initiative The Haiti Food Drive at St. Matthew Church was started by parishioner Joe George in 2003.

George had visited Cap Haitien in 2002 and was shocked by the level of poverty and the extreme need for food.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with approximately 80 percent of families living below the poverty line, according to the Central Intelligence Agency.

For them, “a good day is when the kids are healthy and they get enough to eat,” said Mark Creasser, who took over the food drive in 2006.

Creasser recalled his first visit to Haiti in 2005: “I went down there thinking that I was going to help them,” he said.

WANT MORE INFO? To learn more about the Missionaries of the Poor, visit their Web site at www.missionariesofthepoor.org.

But after the first day he knew he was going to get more out of the experience than he could ever put in.

“They were helping me realize how blessed I am,” said Creasser.

A growing need This year the food drive is needed more than ever as the cost of food continues to climb.

“Prices are up quite a bit from last year,” said Creasser, “so for the parish that was a bit more of a struggle.”

Last year it cost $9 for a 50-pound bag of rice, according to Creasser. This year that same bag of rice costs $25.

The cost of food in Haiti is even higher than it is here in the United States.

As a result, many Haitian families have cut back to eating only one meal a day or every other day.

“The crazy thing to me is that they’re really happy and content with what they have,” said volunteer Brian Nelson.

Nelson, a 19-year-old student at Lynchburg College in Virginia, saw the extent of Third World-type poverty firsthand while on a mission trip with his family to Jamaica in 2004.

“It was way beyond anything you could ever imagine,” he said “With a lot of food drives, you don’t see where the food is actually going,” said Nelson.

It’s different when “you’ve actually seen the people who need this food,” he added.

No small task It takes a lot of people to make it happen, according to Lucie Tonon, who assisted Creasser in coordinating

Photo by Katie Moore

A volunteer walks through the maze of food and supplies in the St. Matthew Church gym July 27. Volunteers helped organize and pack more than 100,000 pounds of donated goods to be sent to the Missionaries of the Poor in Haiti. The shipment will leave from Charleston, S.C., and arrive in Haiti in mid-September. the food drive.

“The most exciting part is seeing how the committee has grown,” said Tonon, who has seen it expand from about 12 volunteers in 2006 to more than 30 this year.

“All of our parishioners have responded so enthusiastically to this effort,” she said.

The food drive has also had the support of Msgr. John McSweeney, pastor.

“Six years ago one of our parishioners, Joe George, brought to my attention this unique and desperate situation in Haiti,” said McSweeney.

“I believe it’s important that we as a parish community respond to this global effort to assist those who are less fortunate than ourselves,” he said.

The next step Creasser will go down to Haiti in mid-September when the food arrives to make sure it gets to the right location.

The hope is that eventually Haiti will become self-sufficient in food production.

The Missionaries of the Poor currently have a working farm and recently received a donation of 500 chickens.

“We need to get these farmers back on the farms,” said Creasser.

“Short term we’re committed to having food drives,” he said, “but long term we need to encourage every way we can to have them grow and support their own food products.”

Contact Staff Writer Katie Moore by calling (704) 370-3354, or e-mail kmmoore@charlottediocese.org.

8 The Catholic News & Herald

knights of columbus

August 8, 2008

Remembering the martyrs

Taking up the cross

Photo by Deacon Gerald Potkay

Above: Men stand in the shape of a cross during the installation of new officers to the Knights of Columbus Immaculate Mary Council 6970 at Holy Infant Church in Reidsville July 20. New officers include Grand Knight Christopher Neubauer, Deputy Grand Knight Michael Smith, Chancellor Arnold Brown, Recorder Lawrence Amann, Treasurer Joseph Merchak, Advocate Steve Zdanski (not pictured), Warden Donald Hock, Inside Guards Manuel Rodriquez (not pictured) and Anthony McGoldrick, Outside Guard Enrique Silva, First-year Trustee Steve Hale, Third-year Trustee Andy Feldhouse and Financial Secretary George Brewer.

Below: Oblate Father Joseph Tustin, pastor of Holy Cross Church in Kernersville and chaplain of Knights of Columbus Council 8509, stands with the newly-elected officers and members of Council 8509 after Mass June 18. Knights District Warden Jerome Dixon (right of Father Tustin) bestowed medallions of office upon the new officers, and District Deputy Marshall Perry (front, right) served as master of ceremonies.

Also pictured is Warden Herb Pennington, Grand Knight Guy Harley, Chancellor Anthony Belline, Recorder Sal Vita, Financial Secretary Bruce Badin, Outside Guard Mike Hamilton, Inside Guard Carl Darkes, past Grand Knight and First-year Trustee Lance Cancro, past Grand Knight Fred Schaefer standing in for Third-year Trustee Jean Dion Trustee, past Grand Knight Richard Meyer standing in for Advocate Phillip Lamendola, Armand Mosca standing in for Treasurer Dave Shepherd, Joseph Lozano standing in for Second-year Trustee Charles Evans II and Deputy Grand Knight Steve Salvitti.

Courtesy Photo by Fred Hogan

Courtesy Photo by John Gouldie

Augustinian Father James Cassidy, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Monroe, and fourth-degree members of Knights of Columbus Council 10615 and members of two other Knights councils are pictured at the church July 17 with the relics of six of the 25 Mexican martyrs canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000. The relics were brought to several churches in the Diocese of Charlotte as part of a 10-day pilgrimage throughout North Carolina, part of a nationwide tour sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. Each of the martyrs had been a priest and a member of the Knights of Columbus. All 25 martyrs were killed during the persecution of the church in Mexico in the 1920s and 1930s.

August 8, 2008

knights of columbus

The Catholic News & Herald 9

For the LAMBs among us

Knights, Columbiettes present check to St. Matthew Church CHARLOTTE — The Knights of Columbus and Columbiettes at St. Matthew Church recently gave $4,000 to the parish’s special religious education program.

Richard White, grand knight of Council 10852, and Sara Warnecke, president of the Columbiettes Auxiliary 10852, presented the check to Msgr. John McSweeney, pastor, during the council’s installation banquet for new officers in the parish’s New Life Center June 28.

The funds were provided through the LAMB Foundation of N.C., a nonprofit public charity — supported by Knights of Columbus councils throughout the state — that assists the intellectually disabled.

The foundation’s name, LAMB, is derived from the Gospel of Matthew 25:40: “Whatsoever you do to the least among my brethren, that you do also to me.”

For the past 34 years, Knights of Columbus in North Carolina have raised funds for the foundation through their “Operation LAMB” Tootsie Roll campaigns, soliciting donations at retail

locations while handing out Tootsie Rolls.

Recently, corporate and individual donations also have become a major source of funding for the foundation.

The Knights are assisted in LAMB fundraising by the Columbiettes, the women’s auxiliary, and the Columbian Squires, a youth group for males under the age of 18, who volunteer hundreds of hours throughout the year.

During the June 28 banquet, Msgr.

McSweeney thanked those in attendance for their efforts and described how the parish’s special religious education programs have blossomed dramatically over the last few years.

In particular, the parish’s S.P.R.E.D. ministry, which serves parishioners with intellectual disabilities, has tripled in size in the past three years and is now assisting other parishes in the area with starting similar programs.

“The Knights of Columbus of St. Matthew recognize the importance of supporting and fostering the growth of the parish’s special religious education programs,” said White.

Courtesy Photo

Sara Warnecke (left), Columbiettes Auxiliary 10852 president, and Richard White, grand knight of Knights of Columbus Council 10852, present a $4,000 check to Msgr. John McSweeney, pastor of St. Matthew Church in Charlotte, and Father Patrick Toole, parochial vicar, during a Knights installation ceremony at the parish June 28.

WANT MORE INFO? “We are happy to help in any way For more information on Knights we can to ensure they flourish. Programs of Columbus Council 10852, visit such as these help us truly support the www.kofc-stmatthew.org. least among our brethren while fostering For more information on the Columbiettes a sense of community and a more Auxiliary 10852, visit http://home. meaningful spiritual life,” he said. catholicweb.com/Columbiettes/

Knights help Holy Angels

Funds will provide covered walkway for residents

Courtesy Photo

John Gouldie (left), Knights of Columbus N.C. state deputy, and Bill Scott (right), past state deputy, are pictured with Maria Morrow, the first resident of Holy Angels in Belmont, and Regina Moody, Holy Angels CEO and president, at the facility July 3. The Knights presented a $20,000 check to Holy Angels.

BELMONT — Holy Angels recently received a $20,000 check from the LAMB Foundation of North Carolina John Gouldie, state deputy of the Knights of Columbus, and Bill Scott, past state deputy, presented the check to Regina Moody, president and CEO of Holy Angels, July 3.

Holy Angels is a private, nonprofit corporation that provides programs and services for its residents — children and adults with varying degrees of mental retardation, some of whom have physical disabilities and are medically fragile.

The donated funds will provide for the installation of a canopy over the sidewalk connecting the Moody Place group home and the Morrow Center, where the residents attend school. The covered walkway will allow for a drier, more comfortable walk to and from school during inclement weather.

The LAMB Foundation of North Carolina is a nonprofit public charity

— supported by Knights of Columbus councils throughout the state — that assists the intellectually disabled.

For the past 34 years, Knights of Columbus in North Carolina have raised funds for the foundation through their “Operation LAMB” Tootsie Roll campaigns, soliciting donations at retail locations while handing out Tootsie Rolls.

Gouldie and Scott toured the Holy Angels facility and were impressed with the scope of the programs and services offered, especially the high level of medical care provided to the residents.

They enjoyed seeing firsthand the difference that the many donations from the Knights of Columbus councils to Holy Angels have made over the years.

WANT MORE INFO? For more information about Holy Angels, visit www.holyangelsnc.org.

August 8, 2008

10 The Catholic News & Herald

Culture Watch

A roundup of Scripture, readings, films and more

Farmer says working the land deepens his Catholic faith OMAHA, Neb. (CNS) — For Curt Arens, working the land of his grandparents’ farm along Bow Creek in Crofton not only brings him pleasure and a source of income, but also deepens his Catholic faith.

Raised on that land, the 44-yearold Arens writes about learning how to farm and the importance of his Catholic faith in his first book, “Down to Earth: Celebrating a Blessed Life on the Land.”

Arens’ 110-page book is filled with short stories about his upbringing and the people who impacted his life — his family and friends and those in his parish and community. It traces his development as a farmer and a Catholic.

“The book is a tribute to the sacredness of rural life, particularly those hardworking, generous people in my own community,” Arens said. “It is about the faith and farm lessons I’ve learned from my parents and grandparents, from my wife, children and in-laws, and from my neighbors and friends.”

Arens tells about growing up on the family farm, imparting his personal stories about the details of farm life, of being a good steward, experiencing college and eventually marrying and taking over the family farm from his parents, all with faith at the base of each story.

A veteran freelance writer, Arens and his wife, Donna, have three children.

Arens said he wrote “Down to Earth” because he felt there was a need for more materials and books for rural Catholics and Christians that focus on the unique aspects of being in a rural parish and community and on a family farm.

He said the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, based in Des Moines, Iowa, is a “great organization” that works in this arena, and he wanted to write the book to add something to what is already out there.

“I also think farming is maligned by young people as a career choice because it appears too difficult and poverty-stricken,” he said. “It is difficult, sometimes grueling.”

“However, there are important rewards in raising a family in a rural area, wrapping oneself in the safety and loving embrace of a close-knit rural parish and community, and being closer than most to God’s wonderful creation,” he added.

Arens spoke of two messages in the book: that food should never be taken for granted and the importance of deep devotion to the Eucharist and the Mass.

“We have gotten so used to cheap and plentiful food, but family farmers know that food is never guaranteed,” he said. “A few minutes of hail or a few weeks of drought can destroy a crop before our very eyes. Months of labor and expense can be dashed away in short order. We truly need to value the gift of food from our Creator.”

Jesus could have chosen any medium in which to be present at the Mass, but during the Last Supper he chose the bread, a product of wheat from the fields, and wine, a product of the vine — both agricultural products — to be present every time Mass is celebrated, he said.

“The consecration is a sacred time — one of truly solemn awe — and as Catholics and farmers, we have a special appreciation for this great gift of his presence with us in these products of the land,” he said.

Arens said his faith is strong, but still forming. “I am a Catholic who goes through the rhythm of faith like anyone else. However, I have a deep devotion — dating back to my preparation for first Communion with Sister Veronica Wolff at St. Rose of Lima School — to the holy Eucharist and I love the Mass,” Arens said.

“I also am keenly aware of God’s presence not only at Mass, but in the fields and meadows that I have the honor to steward over,” he said.

He said he learns something new about his faith every day from God, his pastor, his family and his friends.

“And believe me,” he said, “I’m paying attention.”

WORD TO LIFE

Sunday Scripture Readings: Aug. 17, 2008

Aug. 17, Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A Readings: 1) Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 Psalm 67:2-3, 5-6, 8 2) Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28

Jesus’ teachings will nourish our salvation

by JEAN DENTON catholic news service

I’d been hearing about my friend’s housemate, Joe, for awhile before I actually met him. My friend Guy was a leader in our parish, but he also had many rich and interesting involvements outside church life. As I picked up bits and pieces about Joe through Guy’s offhand comments, he certainly seemed to fit into the “interesting” category.

Joe was a disabled, working-class guy, a good bit older than Guy, who offered to let him move into his house because he was homeless. I don’t know where they met, but they had a friendship that was only occasionally strained by the fact that Guy provided for most of Joe’s material needs.

Joe was “unchurched” and not from our community. But after a few months he began coming to church with Guy to

meet some new people, and he sort of latched onto his friend’s friends.

I was surprised to see that the two men had little in common. Guy was artistic, highly educated, with a deep, broad spirituality. Joe was pretty simple, in poor health and indigent.

A gentleman, Joe didn’t push himself on anyone. He slowly immersed himself into the community, one friend at a time.

Joe was interested in every person he met and was naturally compassionate.

He found ways to “do” for many people in need in the parish. Soon he was practically a fixture at the church at Bible studies, serving at social events and ushering at Mass.

Joe’s story reminds me of the woman in this weekend’s Gospel. A Canaanite, she wasn’t one of the “chosen” people Jesus had come to serve — and he told her so. But she knew him and believed in his saving power, so she insisted on hanging around him, feeding on the “scraps” of his offering. Drawn by her unquestioning faith, Jesus assured the woman of her salvation.

For Joe, the scraps from Jesus that he found in the church community were food enough, but his great faith drew him ever more deeply into the Savior’s infinite grace.

Questions: What offerings do you expect to receive as a member of Jesus’ family? In what ways does your fundamental faith need to grow?

WEEKLY SCRIPTURE Scripture for the week of Aug. 10-16 Sunday (Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time), 1 Kings 19:9, 11-13, Romans 9:1-5, Matthew 14:22-33; Monday (St. Clare), Ezekiel 1:2-5, 24-28, Matthew 17:22-27; Tuesday, Ezekiel 2:83:4, Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14; Wednesday (Sts. Pontian and Hippolytus), Ezekiel 9:1-7; 10:18-22, Matthew 18:15-20; Thursday (St. Maximilian Kolbe), Ezekiel 12:1-2, Matthew 18:21-19:1; Friday (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary), Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6, 10, 1 Corinthians 15:20-27, Luke 1:39-56; Saturday (St. Stephen of Hungary), Ezekiel 18:1-10, 13, 30-32, Matthew 19:13-15.

Scripture for the week of Aug. 17-23 Sunday (Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time), Isaiah 56:1, 6-7, Romans 11:13-15, 29-32, Matthew 15:21-28; Monday (St. Jane Frances de Chantal), Ezekiel 24:15-24, Deuteronomy 32:18-21, Matthew 19:16-22; Tuesday (St. John Eudes), Ezekiel 28:1-10, Deuteronomy 32:26-28, 30, 35-36, Matthew 19:23-30; Wednesday (St. Bernard), Ezekiel 34:1-11, Matthew 20:1-16; Thursday (St. Pius X), Ezekiel 36:23-28, Matthew 22:1-14; Friday (The Queenship of Mary), Ezekiel 37:1-14, Matthew 22:34-40; Saturday (St. Rosa of Lima), Ezekiel 43:1-7, Matthew 23:1-12.

Scripture for the week of Aug. 24-30 Sunday (Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time), Isaiah 22:19-23, Romans 11:33-36, Matthew 16:13-20; Monday (St. Louis of France, St Joseph Calasanz), 2 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 11-12, Matthew 23:13-22; Tuesday, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 14-17, Matthew 23:23-26; Wednesday (St. Monica), 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10, 16-18, Matthew 23:27-32; Thursday (St. Augustine), 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, Matthew 24:42-51; Friday (Martyrdom of John the Baptist), 1 Corinthians 1:17-25, Mark 6:17-29; Saturday, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Matthew 25:14-30.

August 8, 2008

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12 The Catholic News & Herald

August 8, 2008

youths in action

Helping the hungry

Lemonade brigade

Courtesy Photo

Molly Patella and Grace Nieters are pictured with food they helped collect during a vacation Bible school event at Holy Family Church in Clemmons in June. As part of the program’s mission component, children were asked to bring in food for the Catholic Social Services food pantry in Winston-Salem. Each day they collected a different type of food — cereal, macaroni and cheese, canned pasta and peanut butter and jelly. By the end of the week on June 27, they were able to fill the trunk of a car and the bed of a pickup truck with the collected food.

Courtesy Photo

Sam, Charlie, Lucy and Sarah Cochran work a homemade lemonade stand at a Charlotte neighborhood pool June 21. Their effort was part of the Crayons Pink Lemonade Stand project, a mission component of their vacation Bible school program at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte to raise funds for the Catholic Social Services food pantry. The siblings raised $120 and their mother, Natalie Cochran, brought them to CSS’s administrative office in Charlotte to deliver the money July 14.

Catholic Scout earns Eagle rank HICKORY — Daniel Patrick Aberle, 16, of Boy Scout Troop 351 recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America.

Family and friends gathered for Mass celebrated May 31 at St. Aloysius Church in Hickory by Father Bob Ferris, pastor.

A court of honor ceremony followed.

To achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, Daniel earned 25 merit badges and completed a service project at Bakers Mountain Park in Catawba County. The project involved building a memorial to a soldier, Pfc. A.G. Clark of Catawba County, who was killed in action during WWII at age 22.

The memorial, which is made of local stone and includes a bronze plaque and lithographic photo of Clark, is located at the cabin site where he resided.

In Troop 351, Daniel held the offices of patrol leader, assistant patrol leader and librarian. Daniel also earned the Arrow of Light award, the highest award of Cub Scouts, and the only one that can be carried over into the Boy Scouts.

Daniel is an active member of Life Teen at St. Aloysius Church and serves

Courtesy Photo

Daniel Patrick Aberle, 16, of Boy Scout Troop 351 recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America. as altar server at St. Joseph Church in Newton, where he is a parishioner.

He is a founding member of the Holy Crusaders Club, a Catholic serviceoriented boys club.

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If so, please share them with us.

Contact Staff Writer Katie Moore at (704) 370-3354 or kmmoore@charlottediocese.org.

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Perspectives

A collection of columns, editorials and viewpoints

Strength is virtue, and virtue is strength Strength myth is spiritual problem in need of attention When you were a child, did you ever invite an elder to “feel my muscle”?

Little boys and girls alike, but mostly boys, will extend an arm, clench a fist, bend an elbow and stare at the slightest hint of a bulging bicep in the upper arm, saying, “See how strong I am!”

Boys at play (perhaps girls as well) like to adopt strong names. “Call me Steve,” was a familiar request in my own childhood circle of friends that included no one named Stephen. “Bobby,” “Billy” or “George” just wouldn’t do it. Neither would “Jimmy,” even in those days of tough-guy Jimmy Cagney movies where the hoodlum was the hero and the cops often objects of ridicule.

“Let me carry him” (usually a younger brother). “I can lift it” (often a piece of porch furniture).

We can all recall our participation in claims or demonstrations of physical strength in those tender years before we ever heard of hernias. The strength myth (strong man, strong woman, strong arm, strong will, strong statement, strong medicine) persists to the point of locking our minds and emotions into some kind of strongbox to which we have lost the key.

This key will open us up to tears, admissions of error or defeat, and an open declaration that we stand in need of help. This is a spiritual problem that needs attention.

Bravery is sometimes prideful ignorance, and ignorance can leave one blissfully unaware of where the real dangers lurk. Strength is virtue, and virtue is strength. The virtuous person will become strongest in the broken places.

This season of summer fun and games is a good time to think seriously about teaching our children the real meaning of strength and especially the relationship of strength to virtue. All of us, young or old, need to be reminded

Looking Around JESUIT FATHER WILLIAM J. BYRON cns columnist

that we can, by God’s grace, become strong in our broken places.

Job loss, health setbacks, marital stress, geopolitical problems and personal tensions large or small can drain anyone’s strength. I can still hear my exasperated mother saying, “God give me strength!” in reaction to the summertime carelessness of her offspring who hit baseballs through garage-door windows and, on one otherwise unchallenging summer day, dug a large hole behind our house in the first stage of a children’s tunnel project intended to connect Philadelphia with Peking.

Perhaps we should make “God, give me strength” a national prayer in these days of soaring gasoline prices, plummeting real estate values, rising unemployment rates, urban crime, highway mishaps and a lengthening list of societal problems.

Many of these problems are likely to get worse over the next few decades.

Those who will then be in the driver’s seat of any vehicle designed to move us toward social progress are the very youngsters that are enjoying their fun and freedom this summer.

They need adult encouragement now to understand that real strength is strength of character and that qualities like creativity, courage and intellectual competence are the muscles most in need of development.

The faithful pioneers

Sisters of Mercy start new chapter of service in North Carolina This July, unnoticed by most of us, a new chapter was added to one of Guest the longest, continuous stories of the Catholic Church in North Carolina. The Column North Carolina Regional Community of the Sisters of Mercy joined together with communities from St. Louis, Cincinnati and Baltimore to form a new and expanded South-Central Community of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas.

The Sisters of Mercy in Belmont were pioneers in both the dioceses of Charlotte and Raleigh. They trace their roots back to the to the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, now the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy, a congregation in Charleston, S.C., founded by Bishop John England.

In September 1869, Sisters from that community arrived in Wilmington, N.C., where a month later they opened the Academy of the Incarnation. The Sisters formed their own North Carolina community in 1872 and, in 1913, accepted the rule written by Mother Catherine McAuley and became affiliated with the Sisters of Mercy as an independent religious community of pontifical right.

The Sisters began Catholic education in North Carolina. In addition to the academy in Wilmington, they established Mount St. Joseph Academy in Hickory in 1880, and schools in Charlotte in 1887, Asheville in 1888 and Belmont in 1892.

For more than 70 years, the Sisters of Mercy staffed the Catholic orphanage at Nazareth, near Raleigh. Nazareth had been founded by Father Thomas Price, one of the first North Carolina priests, whose sister, Sister Mary Catherine Price, was a member of the Mercy community.

The Sisters were active as well in numerous schools in the dioceses of Raleigh and Charlotte. Two particularly significant contributions of the Sisters of Mercy for Catholic education are Charlotte Catholic High School and Sacred Heart College.

The Sisters were the teachers at O’Donoghue School at St. Patrick Church in Charlotte when, in 1955, Charlotte Catholic High School was begun as a separate school for boys. The Sisters continued to administrate Our Lady of Mercy High School for girls.

When the Marianist brothers left Charlotte Catholic, the Sisters of Mercy stepped in to continue with a coeducational program that saved Catholic secondary education in Charlotte. It is due to their generous service that Charlotte Catholic has survived and flourished as the institution it is today.

The Sisters came to Belmont in 1892 and established their motherhouse there.

They began a girls’ academy in 1892 to serve as a finishing school for young ladies. From this beginning, Sacred Heart College emerged as a junior college in 1935 and a senior college in 1966.

In 1987, financial constraints forced the closing of Sacred Heart College, which was one of only two Catholic colleges in the Southeast between northern Virginia and Florida.

The health care ministry of the Sisters began in the midst of a yellow fever epidemic in Wilmington in the

ABBOT PLACID SOLARI guest columnist

1860s. Through Mercy Hospital in Charlotte, established in 1906, and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Asheville, begun originally as a tuberculosis sanatorium, the Sisters provided quality health care permeated by faith and respect.

When these hospitals were sold in the 1990s, the Sisters established one of the largest private foundations in the Carolinas to continue to address the educational and healthcare needs, especially of women and children.

The Sisters once again proved to be pioneers in North Carolina when, at a time when AIDS was poorly understood and greatly feared, they established House of Mercy in Belmont as a residence for persons in the terminal stages of the disease.

They continued to reach out to those in need with the founding of Catherine’s House, a residence where homeless women could find shelter and assistance for themselves and their children.

Perhaps best known of all the works sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy is Holy Angels. This ministry began when a distraught young mother left her severely-handicapped infant daughter on the Sisters’ doorstep.

Mercy Sister Marie Patrice Manley, with the support of her community, took in this little girl, Maria, who is now well into her 50s. She was to be the first of countless children with special needs who have received the love and compassion of this special work.

Holy Angels has grown to be a regionally respected developmental center for children and adults with varying degrees of mental retardation.

The work of the Sisters of Mercy has extended far beyond the Southeast. In 1946, a U.S. Marine returning home to Gastonia from the the Pacific approached the Sisters about a foundation in Guam.

Mother Maura Buchheit requested three volunteers for the mission. The result is a thriving community of the Sisters on Guam, which has maintained its affiliation with the Belmont community and become a part of the new SouthCentral Community.

For 139 years, the Sisters of Mercy have built up the church in North Carolina by fidelity to their vow to serve the poor, the sick and the uneducated.

The new chapter now beginning in their story holds promise of further blessings.

We N.C. Catholics, beneficiaries of the Sisters’ labors, ought to take note of this new chapter as a part of our own story, and accompany the Sisters of Mercy with our prayers and good wishes.

Abbot Placid Solari is abbot of Belmont Abbey.

August 8, 2008

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Planned giving and stewardship Giving back ensures the Catholics Church’s mission continues “Planned giving” is a term that can sound imposing and confusing to many people. Simply stated, planned giving is charitable giving that is part of a family’s overall financial and estate planning.

For people of faith, estate and financial planning is a key component of stewardship. Stewardship is realizing in our minds and hearts that everything we are and everything we have are God’s loving gifts to us; we are merely stewards of those blessings.

There are four basic principles of stewardship: — praying to God with grateful hearts; — nurturing our family with time and love; — sharing our gifts with our community; and — returning to God the first fruits of our labors.

We understand these principles pretty well during our lives. We pray; we spend time with our families; we volunteer for ministries and activities in our parishes, schools, neighborhoods and communities; and we contribute funds to the Catholic Church and other charities that are important to us.

These same stewardship principles apply to our estate planning — our estate

plan can rightly be considered our final act of stewardship.

We should pray for God’s guidance on the appropriate distribution of our estate property.

By making a will and executing other estate planning documents, we ensure that our family is taken care of after we are gone.

By making a bequest or other special gift to the church through our parish, school, the Diocese of Charlotte, the diocesan foundation or other Catholic agency, we help ensure that those ministries and activities we supported with our time, talent and treasure during our lives will continue to flourish for many future generations.

And certainly, these bequests and special gifts do in fact return to God the first fruits of our labors.

Estate and charitable gift planning is stewardship of our assets, just like our weekly offerings during our lives is stewardship of our income.

It is common, however, to plan our estate with everything eventually distributed to our family.

However, we should ask ourselves several questions as food for thought in determining our estate and financial goals and objectives:

Critical of comprehensive reform I am appalled at the suggestion that we consider rewarding illegal aliens under any circumstances into America (“Considering comprehensive reform,” July 25).

According to the U.S. bishops’ Justice for Immigrants Web site, “the Catholic bishops are proposing an earned legalization for those in this country in an unauthorized status and who have built up equities and are otherwise admissible.” By accepting this premise, we would be rewarding law breakers and criminals.

That policy, or any policy that offers any sanction to illegal immigrants for a nominal punishment, emboldens others to keep trying.

As a first-generation American, I am sickened by the conditions of these poor people’s home countries and I strongly relate to their desire to immigrate to our great nation. In many instances, the immigrants pay their life savings to smugglers who abuse them or to be herded under unbearable conditions across the border. If they survive the journey, many end up in gang-controlled barrios (neighborhoods), and their children are indoctrinated into street gangs before their 14th birthdays.

Yes I am saddened that many families are being split by deportation.

But by letting people stay, we are encouraging more to come in illegally and suffer under the hands of hardened criminals.

Unfortunately, history has taught us this.

— José M. Rodriguez High Shoals

Mission trips to help Americans

I usually look forward to Father Peter Daly’s Parish Diary column, but I take issue with his writing about mission trips (“Mission trips on the rise: Are they a good thing?” July 25).

Father Daly’s response was that they are a good thing. But I disagree with his implication that there are no alternatives to a young person’s mission trip except “some drunken ‘beach week’ in Cancun” and the only alternative for “retired folks” is to “spend money on five-star hotels.”

I feel like the money spent on airline tickets by missioners of any age would be far better spent on building materials and food for people in this country who are in need — from the poor in Appalachia to victims of flooding in the Midwest to those who have lost their homes to fires in the West.

For far less travel money, our missioners could help rebuild homes and churches and prepare meals for firefighters and those who are trying to start over after losing everything. I know that our young parishioners at St. Francis of Assisi Church have worked hard to finance mission trips to places like Jamaica — this hard-earned money

Legacy Notes JUDY SMITH guest columnist

— Is giving relatively large sums of money to my children when they are young a wise thing to do?

— Did I give everything to my children when I was alive, or did I give to the church and other charitable organizations as well?

— Is making a charitable bequest or other special gift in my estate plan my final opportunity to teach my children that everything we are and have is God’s gift to us?

These are questions that only you can answer as you develop your estate and financial plan with your family and then review your plans periodically to determine if they continue to meet the goals and objectives of you and your loved ones.

Judy Smith is director of planned giving for the Diocese of Charlotte.

Contact her at (704) 370-3320 or jmsmith@charlottediocese.org.

Letters to the Editor could have gone far in aiding people in our own country.

Father Daly writes that we should “go only where invited.” We can’t expect pastors in every ravaged area to contact all other parishes asking for help. But I expect if we asked those pastors in devastated areas if they would like us to help, the answer would be “yes!”

They’d probably even offer floor space in churches, schools and gyms to visitors who brought sleeping bags — thus saving motel money for construction materials and food.

— Donna Coennen Franklin

Write a Letter to the Editor The Catholic News & Herald welcomes letters from readers. We ask that letters be originals of 250 words or fewer, pertain to recent newspaper content or Catholic issues, and be in good taste.

To be considered for publication, each letter must include the name, address and daytime phone number of the writer for purpose of verification. Letters may be condensed due to space limitations and edited for clarity, style and factual accuracy.

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What’s behind all these shortage crises?

The Human Side FATHER EUGENE HEMRICK cns columnist

There is an old saying that multiple accidents need to happen before stoplights are installed at dangerous intersections.

The oil crisis and its repercussions, much like multiple accidents, are finally causing us to erect overdue stoplights, dramatically changing our way of life.

Take, for example, travel plans and patterns that are radically changing in order to conserve jet fuel. Recycling and innovative ways of conserving energy are hitting all-time highs.

Sales of hybrid cars are on the rise, and automobile companies are phasing out SUVs in favor of cars offering even greater gas mileage. Ridership on public transportation has jumped.

Giant windmills now dot the mountainsides of numerous states.

Not long ago all of this was nonexistent. Why the sudden change?

I believe it is because we are in what some refer to as a “Mother Nature” crisis, with Mother Nature adamantly teaching us that we can go to the well only so many times before it dries up. Sooner or later, our burgeoning and unrestrained populations are bound to dry up our natural resources.

We saw this coming but were too sluggish in erecting the stoplights needed to slow us down.

When asked what was behind the oil crisis, a mayor of a large city replied, “We are stuck on stupidity!”

The word “stupidity” means being sluggish in understanding. In our case, too many people who could have made a difference were sluggish in understanding that they were duped by the philosophy of secularism.

The word “secular” means being stuck on the temporal, living for the day and letting tomorrow take care of itself. It translates into not looking beyond our nose, being shortsighted; and it treats nature as if it isn’t governed by definite laws.

Secularism is the direct antithesis to our Catholic faith that teaches we are God’s stewards charged with caring for his world. A good steward is a guardian who is constantly scanning the horizons for oncoming dangers.

Could it be that the new stoplights, energy and food conservation efforts, are signs of a re-embracing of our Godgiving duty of stewardship?

St. Augustine defines prudence as a virtue that helps us to “look, as it were, from afar.”

Could it be we are entering a new age of prudence, one in which we are again looking afar rather than just beyond our noses?

August 8, 2008

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