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  • Vocations are everybody’s business

    Seminarian numbers show an increase

    YODER — “Vocations are everybody’s business” is the slogan used by the Knights of Columbus, and Msgr. Bernard Galic, the director of the Vocation Office and pastor of St. Aloysius Church, Yoder, said that slogan “hits the nail on the head.”

    “If everybody was living the faith, and if everybody was teaching the faith, then everybody would be comfortable in recommending people who show the signs of one who would be a good priest that he consider it,” Msgr. Galic told Today’s Catholic. “If people would do that it may help plant the seeds of vocations.”

    In a sense, those seeds are sprouting. The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend is seeing an increase in the number of seminarians and an increase in the numbers of men inquiring about the priesthood. That follows a national trend as seminaries are seeing the largest numbers of men studying for the priesthood since the 1970s and 1980s.

    “That includes two of the (seminaries) where our men are studying,” Msgr. Galic said. “The Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, and Mount Saint Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Md., both of them have the largest enrollments they have had in 20 years.”

    Currently there are men studying in five seminaries: Pontifical College Josephinum, Mount Saint Mary’s, Immaculate Heart of Mary in Winona, Minn., Seminario Hispano de Santa Maria de Guadalupe in Mexico City and the North American College in Rome.

    The local numbers have grown. Msgr. Galic said, “Last year there were nine new men that began seminary studies. This year there are eight new men. Right now I have seven sets of application papers out and it’s still relatively early.”

    The newest applicants tend to be college-age or college graduates. Msgr. Galic noted that last year, the largest numbers were younger men coming out of high school or just beginning college.

    Although Msgr. Galic has some doubts that the Church will see the numbers of priests that it saw after World War II, “… I do think we are going to see seminarian numbers continue to grow,” he said.

    “And that’s partly because young parents today are taking a more serious interest in the Church and are raising their kids with spiritual values,” he said. “Those kids are more likely to hear and respond to a call in Church ministry.”

    Msgr. Galic also credits this increase in seminarians from the Blessed Pope John Paul II generation — young men who were profoundly influenced by the pope’s ministry.

    “I think a lot of young people’s (men of college age) love for the Church grew out of their experience of him,” he said. “They just had a great love for that man and his charism.”

    Msgr. Galic told Today’s Catholic that qualities that make a good priest include a welcoming personality, someone who deals easily with young and older people. Other qualities include someone who typifies a healthy young man — interest in sports and outdoor activities. Another quality would be an interest in the faith, someone who regularly attends Mass, is involved with parish activities — a reader, choir member, a leader of the youth group.

    Msgr. Galic said that when one of the faithful notices these qualities in a man, they may want to suggest to that person: “You know, did you ever think about being a priest?” or “You would make a good priest.”

    “Sometimes, that’s what gets people thinking,” Msgr. Galic said.

    However, many seminarians have stated that they first gave the priesthood serious thought when a priest asked, “Have you ever thought about being a priest?”

    Msgr. Galic noted, “God would not have given us a sacramental Church if He didn’t intend to provide us with priests to administer the sacraments, especially the Eucharist.”

    He said, “I don’t believe there is a shortage of call, a shortage of vocations. I think there is a critical failure of those who are being called to respond positively to the call.”

    Posted on January 4, 2012, to:

  • ‘Madre Mary’ feted at St. Joseph Parish

    More photos are available in the photo gallery.

    By Jodi Magallanes

    LAGRANGE — In honor of the Virgin Mary’s first known appearance in the Western Hemisphere, St. Joseph Parish in LaGrange celebrated the feast Our Lady of Guadalupe on Monday, Dec. 12, with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades.

    Although Blessed Pope John Paul II publicly recognized the Virgin of Guadalupe as the Mother of the Americas, she is particularly precious to Mexican Catholics. Since she appeared as a mixed-blood Indian to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin in 1531 near Mexico City, the devotion of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been integral to the Mexican Catholic tradition.

    At St. Joseph, members of the parish’s Spanish-speaking community also remembered her appearance with flowers, dancing, food and music. According to parish administrator, Conventual Franciscan Father Andrew Martinez, the observance is one of the biggest for the parish’s Hispanic community, in addition to the Passion and another Christmas season activity, the Shepherd’s Play.

    Bishop Rhoades immediately called worshippers’ attention to the story of Our Lady’s appearance, which includes the well-known Marian question “Am I not here, she who is your mother?” The question, asked of Juan Diego, requires the modern faithful as well to recognize that they are in the presence of the Holy Queen, Bishop Rhoades said.

    A believer can’t embrace Jesus without recognizing the role that Mary played in salvation and the maternal, spiritual role He assigned her over all people, Bishop Rhoades continued.

    Mary’s appearance revived evangelization efforts in the New World, which is the reason Our Lady of Guadalupe is referred to as the Star of Evangelization. She also is with people today during their faith journeys.

    In an age when secularism, relativism and consumerism are challenges, evangelical values come under attack. The Virgin helps the faithful to defend values, such as respect for life from conception to natural death, the sanctity and indissolubility of Christian matrimony and the stability and dignity of the family. But there is no social peace without respect for those values, and Marian devotion helps the faithful live as faithful disciples of Christ so that they can be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, Bishop concluded.

    Prior to the Mass, Trini Muñoz and others faithful to a rosary tradition ended a pilgrimage with an Our Lady of Guadalupe icon by placing it in the church sanctuary. The image, which was brought from Mexico, had visited numerous homes during the preceding 46 days for small group recitations and other prayers.

    St. Joseph’s Hispanic young adult group brought to life the story of Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego through a pre-Mass drama. The enactment took place before a crowd of about 300 people who seemed appreciative as well as engaged by special effects like a spotlight and fog machine that were employed to make the scenes more accurate and inspiring.

    “This is the second year we’ve done it and I think the crowd is getting bigger. More young people are coming up to us and wanting to get involved,” said Nancy Flores, who heads the group with her husband, Cesar.

    A reception that included a meal of chicken and rice, typical Mexican breads and desserts followed the Mass. Dancers entertained participants with Mexican folkloric dances.

    About 250 families call St. Joseph their parish home, half of which Father Martinez estimates to be Spanish-speaking. Some of those have been in the LaGrange area for 15 or 20 years. They were first ministered to by Father Mark Weaver, followed by Father Paul Bueter. Father Martinez, a Franciscan friar, has cared for the parish for the last two years.

    Posted on December 21, 2011, to:

  • Archbishop Dolan affirms dignity of person at ND

    Archbishop Timothy Dolan, left, was welcomed to Notre Dame by Holy Cross Father John Jenkins, president of the university.

    NOTRE DAME — Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York spoke at the University of Notre Dame Dec. 6 to inaugurate the university’s Project on Human Dignity. The project is a new program of Notre Dame’s Institute for Church Life that will offer events to help define and defend the concept of human dignity.

    Archbishop Dolan, who also serves as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, noted that when the faithful think of Catholic doctrines, they usually think of doctrines such as the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Redemption and the Eucharist.

    “I wonder why we never include the Doctrine of the Dignity of the Human Person?” the archbishop asked. “It’s pivotal; it’s way up there; it’s normative. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, ‘Man alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God’s own life. … This is the fundamental reason for his dignity. Being in the image of God, the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone.’”

    He stressed that the doctrine of human dignity is a “central doctrine of our faith” and is so important that it should be taught children along with the Sign of the Cross and memorized the same way older generations memorized the “Baltimore Catechism.”

    The doctrine of human dignity is in fact so central, he said, that it “cleanly fits in with the other core dogmas of our religion.” It mirrors the eternal love of the Trinity; it is shown in the Incarnation when God took on our nature; and it is proven by God’s Son dying to redeem us.

    Archbishop Dolan noted that the human dignity doctrine may seem novel, but it has a long history: It gave rise to Christian morality with its emphasis on the protection of life, respect for the person, care for the vulnerable, defense of women, babies, children, family, elders and slaves. The doctrine also gave rise to the greatest system of healthcare, education and charity the world has ever known.

    “The Church, which has as a primary doctrine the Dignity of the Human Person, is not a shrill, crabby, nay-saying nag, but a warm, tender, gracious mother who invites, embraces, and nurtures her children, calling forth from within the truth, beauty and goodness she knows is within them,” the archbishop observed.

    If we truly believe the doctrine of human dignity, it would make a difference in how we live our lives and treat others, and it would be “life-saving,” he said.

    “If we are ‘divinized,’ reflections of God, created in His image and likeness … then we ought to treat ourselves and others only with respect, love, honor, and care,” Archbishop Dolan said, noting that the “others” include everyone: the unborn, the immigrant, the person on death row, the homeless, the sinner.

    However, he cautioned that this doctrine that gave rise to the “grand tradition of respect for human rights” also calls us to “duty and responsibility.” He cited Blessed Pope John Paul II, who said “Genuine freedom is the ability to do what we ought, not the license to do whatever we want.”

    In the question-answer period following Archbishop Dolan’s lecture, an audience member cited a letter from Holy Cross Father John Jenkins, Notre Dame president, to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services. That Sept. 28, 2011, letter urged that the definition of religious employer in the rules for the new healthcare law be broadened to provide conscience protection. Father Jenkins noted that the current rules put Notre Dame in the “impossible position” of being required either to provide services and insurance coverage contrary to Catholic teaching, or to discontinue employee and student health care plans.

    The questioner said that non-Catholics also attend and work for Notre Dame who believe that contraception and sterilization are moral. He asked how this “conflict between two consciences” could be resolved without offending the equal human dignity of either side.

    Archbishop Dolan replied that he was “grateful” Father Jenkins had taken a “brave and courageous stand” on this issue.

    “Our religion would require us to respect the rights of all and never to denigrate them,” he said. “However, it would also obviously require us to obey our own consciences and follow the allegiances of our own faith.”

    With a “defined community” that stands for a given set of values, people expect that community to live out the demands of the faith it professes, Archbishop Dolan explained. So, it is not a judgment against people who do not share the faith, but rather an insistence on the rights of conscience and insistence that the government would never have the right to compel violation of conscience.

    “That of course is not only a Catholic principle,” Archbishop Dolan said, but also a principle of our country. So, while Father Jenkins is making a religions claim, “He also is calling America back to its most cherished principles that never would we force someone or an institution to do something contrary to its conscience.”

    Another audience member asked Archbishop Dolan for concrete ways to affirm human dignity. The archbishop passed along advice he heard from Pope Paul VI when he was a seminarian in Rome: When you see people, smile.

    ““When we try our best to radiate in a very simple, practical way a smile, an openness, a nod of greeting, we do two things: First, We acknowledge the dignity in the other person, and secondly we say ‘We as well have that and have something to give.’”

    This acknowledgement is like the new response in Mass to “The Lord be with you,” when we say “And with your spirit,” he continued.“We are acknowledging in the other person that the spirit is there, the hint of God, the trace of God, the icon; and we look at that and smile, and that just speaks volumes.”

    Posted on December 13, 2011, to:

  • ‘Mission: Possible’ draws teens to rally

    FORT WAYNE — Young Catholics preparing for the sacrament of Confirmation joined their peers Saturday in Fort Wayne for the annual Confirmation Rally. The title, based on an upcoming movie release, was “Mission: Possible, Holy Spirit Protocol” and based on Philippians, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

    This year’s rally, held at Gerig Activities Center at the Summit, was organized by the Office of Catechesis and included a keynote address by APeX Ministries, a juggling group consisting of Gene Monterastelli and Brad Farmer.

    Popple, a Catholic band consisting of Kyle Heimann of Fort Wayne, Dan Harms of Merrillville and Jon Pressimone of Baltimore, Md., rocked the youths and provided the music for concerts and inspiration throughout the day and again at Eucharistic Adoration in the afternoon.

    APeX Youth Ministries used juggling, humor and storytelling to appeal to the teenagers. The duo focused on the superhero theme, talking about “ninjas” and saints in the same breath.

    “The real superheroes are the saints,” emphasized Farmer, “regular, ordinary people who inspire us. Having studied at the school of the saints, I believe the miraculous really exists. It’s in front of us every day, and we can miss it.”

    Farmer shared a personal story of growing up with a younger sister who had cerebral palsy. He described how while 11-year-old Brittany didn’t look like a superhero on the outside, she was truly a heroic girl who loved others unconditionally. In and out of hospitals much of her young life, Farmer recalled knowing something was very wrong one day. His parents had taken Brittany to the hospital again, and this time her older brother went to his room to pray.

    As he prayed the rosary, Farmer described a moment when he had a vision of Brittany running smoothly, not stumbling as she usually did because of the cerebral palsy. He later discovered it was at that very moment Brittany died while at the hospital. But because her brother was communicating with God in prayer, he was given the peace of knowing in his heart all was well with his sister.

    Farmer acknowledged he wasn’t always one to pray, but something that day nudged him along. He encouraged his audience to persevere in their prayer lives.

    “The rosary is a real powerhouse,” he said. “If you’ve tried it before, and didn’t get much out of it, give it another try. Stick with it and you’ll be amazed.”

    Continuing with the superhero theme, Brad encouraged the teens to remember their mission.

    “Our job is to be like the saints,” he said. “We were created to be superheroes. The only way we can do that is to recognize the gifts we’ve been given. Take those gifts everywhere, not just where it’s safe to be religious.”

    Father Terrence Coonan, parochial vicar at St. Pius X Parish in Granger, offered the young people catechesis on the sacrament of Confirmation. He explained how Confirmation unites the faithful to the Church and can call God the Father, Abba, through the Holy Spirit.

    He explained that Confirmation increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and “we need to continually pray and foster the gifts of the Holy Spirit,” Father Coonan said.

    He added that one of the effects of Confirmation is that it “makes us officially full members and active members of the Church.”

    Father Coonan said Confirmation provides a special strength of the Holy Spirit. In Confirmation, he said, there is a “permanent seal imprinted on our souls that can never be removed. It marks us out as a child of God.”

    As students listened to the catechetical sessions, their peers lined up to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation. Priests from across the diocese assisted in hearing confessions.

    In the afternoon, a portion of the retreat was devoted to Eucharistic Adoration, which included the recitation of the rosary.

    At the afternoon keynote, APeX’s Monterastelli told the young people how he dealt with some learning disabilities and social anxiety.

    Monterastelli amazed the crowd by demonstrating how a straight jacket works as he allowed a member of the audience to lock him into one. While he proceeded to work his way out of the jacket, a seemingly impossible task, Monterastelli demonstrated the parallels of breaking free from sin.

    “As long as we keep Christ in our lives,” he said, “all things are possible, and not even sin can keep us down.”

    Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades celebrated Mass with attendees to close out the rally.

    In his homily, Bishop Rhoades spoke of John the Baptist who called the people to repent and prepare for the Lord.

    Just as in Advent we prepare for the Lord at Christmas or His Second Coming, those preparing for the sacrament of Confirmation are preparing to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, Bishop Rhoades noted. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He promised the Apostles He would send them His Spirit.

    The Spirit, Bishop Rhoades said, “will be with you for the rest of your lives — to guide you, to help you, to strengthen you in your Christian lives.”

    John the Baptist called for repentence — to turn to the Lord.

    “There is no better way to prepare for Christmas — or Confirmation for that matter —than to have our souls cleansed of our sins and be in friendship with Christ,” Bishop Rhoades said.

    He encouraged all, “Prepare for the way of the Lord, to welcome Jesus in our lives every day by praying, by being close to Him, and by striving to live as He taught us — to observe His commandments, to love one another as He has loved us.”

    “In these coming months,” Bishop Rhoades said, “my simple message to you is to prepare the way of the Lord, the message of John the Baptist. Prepare for your Confirmation, especially by going to Confession and by praying every day and by being close to Jesus.”

    This is the first year Corpus Christi School from South Bend has participated in the diocesan Confirmation rally. Fifty-three seventh and eighth graders were among the loudest to cheer during the introductions. The eighth graders were just confirmed this fall, while the seventh graders are beginning their preparations.

    “They interspersed great solemnity and prayer,” said Corpus Christi religion teacher Marilyn Ahearn. “Then the next minute they’re bouncing beach balls! I think they did a really good job of mixing it up.”

    “It was great because I got to be there with all my friends,” smiled Corpus Christi eighth-grader Collin Greve. “It was nice, because our class has already received Confirmation, to see so many other kids being prepared for it.”

    “I thought it was a really exciting day!” added Corpus Christi Principal Maggie Mackowiak. “I hope this is the first of many trips we can make over to Fort Wayne, or wherever they have it, so the kids can be with each other, from all different churches and schools … and celebrate and hear about the power of the Holy Spirit.”

    “I think it’s really fun — the stories are touching,” said Elise Vorndran of Queen of Angels Parish in Fort Wayne.

    “Very inspiring!” added Juliahna Clark, also of Queen of Angels.

    “It’s great — very informational!” said Jack Johnston, of St. Joseph-Hessen Cassel Parish in Fort Wayne.

    Posted on December 6, 2011, to:

  • Christ the King Church celebrates 50th

    For more photos visit the photo gallery

    By Lisa Kochanowski

    SOUTH BEND — “I remember being here a year ago for Confirmation and after Mass I said to Father Neil, ‘you know what this church needs is stained glass windows,’” said Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades to a packed Christ the King Church on Sunday, Nov. 20. “Little did I know that this plan was in the works.”

    To commemorate the feast of Christ the King and the 50th anniversary of the church building (the parish was formed 78 years ago), Bishop Rhoades celebrated a special Mass with the Christ the King parish community. Along with the celebration came the blessing of stained-glass windows that were recently given to the church from a parish in Pennsylvania in the town the bishop was born.

    “In an effort to add beauty to our place of worship, the parishioners launched an extensive renovation project. The centerpiece of the renovation is stained glass windows,” said Heather Coyne, parishioner and volunteer. “The current church and rectory, built in 1961, were completed with single-pane ‘temporary’ windows. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the church, stained glass windows are being installed, in addition to a new floor and refinished pews.”

    According to Coyne, the stained-glass windows for the project have come from a parish in Pennsylvania that recently closed. Renovation work began in August.

    “Funding for the project was developed through sponsorships, small fund-raisers, and a 50-mile walk by (Holy Cross) Father Neil Wack and (Holy Cross) Father Kevin Grove (parochial vicar of Christ the King),” said Coyne. “Father Neil is pastor at Christ the King, and a 1984 graduate of the school. Father Wack is excited to be completing the work begun by Father Funke (Holy Cross Father Clement Funke, pastor at that time) and parishioners who built the church 50 years ago.”

    Coyne noted that founded in 1933 as an offshoot of Sacred Heart Parish at Notre Dame, the little white church by the highways opened its doors in 1935. It was not long before the parish community outgrew the small church, so plans were made to build a bigger church on the property. The new church was completed, but without the resources necessary to include the stained glass windows in the original plan.

    Members of the Knights of Columbus and several Holy Cross priests accompanied Bishop Rhoades down the aisle at the beginning of Mass. He thanked the community for their generous donations and support of this church.

    “It is a wonderful demonstration of your faith, your commitment to your parish, and your desire to make this sacred place, dedicated 50 years ago to the glory and honor of Christ the King, an even more beautiful house of God. We remember in our prayers today all the faith-filled and generous parishioners since this parish’s founding in 1933, 78 years ago. We remember all the priests and sisters who have served here. In a special way, we remember the first pastor of Christ the King Parish, Holy Cross Father Clement Funke. I am using Father Funke’s chalice for this Mass today,” said Bishop Rhoades.

    In his homily, Bishop Rhoades talked about the kingdom of God and the differences between Jesus and other rulers and kings in history.

    “In today’s Gospel, we heard the last teaching of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel before His entering Jerusalem to face His crucifixion and death. The parable presents the great scene of the last judgment, with the Son of Man, Christ the King, seated upon His glorious throne. The Lord of history and King of the universe separates the sheep from the goats. The judgment is based on their acceptance or rejection of Jesus, who identifies Himself with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the ill and the imprisoned,” said Bishop Rhoades.

    “After Jesus taught this parable, He made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem,” continued Bishop Rhoades. “Christ the King entered into the holy city not on a great chariot of war, like other kings, but He entered riding on a donkey, the animal of the common man and of the poor. He is not a king who dominates by political or military might. He is the king who reigns with humility and meekness.

    “Our King entered the world as an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger,” he said. “Our King brought peace to the world through the cross, the sign and instrument of reconciliation and forgiveness, the sign that love is stronger than violence and hatred, stronger even than death. Through the cross, evil is conquered by good, by love.”

    The homily was concluded with enlightenment on the feast of Christ the King and how it enters God’s people through the Mass and carries through to daily life.

    “Here in this newly beautified church, your parish community enters into communion with Christ and one another through the Eucharist, the sacrament that makes the Church. Christ’s sacrifice of love becomes present on the altar. We who are nourished by Jesus’ Body and Blood are thus strengthened to go in peace when the Mass is ended, to go forth as loyal subjects of Christ the King, not with weapons of war or earthly power, but with the gift of self, with love carried even to our enemies.

    “Jesus does not conquer the world with the force of arms, but with the force of the cross, which is the true guarantee of victory” (Pope Benedict). As disciples of Jesus, we are to be His envoys, His ambassadors, as St. Paul said. This means that at times we will be treated as He was treated. Jesus said that to be His disciples, we must deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Him. The Eucharist strengthens us to do so,” encouraged Bishop Rhoades.

    He concluded, “Being members of a parish with the title of ‘Christ the King,’ you are particularly led to reflect on the mystery that the whole Church celebrates today: the mystery of Christ’s Kingship and His Kingdom. We honor and serve our King when we practice the works of mercy, when we recognize Him in the least of our brothers and sisters. May we all serve our King with love and fidelity.”

    Posted on November 30, 2011, to: