| September 10, 2007 | Volume 82, Number 23 | |
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Good memories from childhoodRecently as I read the letters in The Catholic Virginian, one specifically deeply distressed me and I was compelled to write. I was six years old in the first grade at St. Anthony’s School. The entire eight grades would take their assigned places in church for a Requiem Mass. The Mass started and the beautiful soft strains of the Dies irae, Dies iela began. We were not in a choir loft, but in church singing in pews. No one was cramped or uncomfortable. Everyone knew the words — Sister saw to that. As young as I was, I strangely found the music beautiful and moving. I couldn’t explain emotions (or even knew what emotions were). I certainly did not find it “dull.” Over the years, I never forgot the beautiful Dies Irae and often find myself humming it. I realize now it was the solemnity that came forth from the music and the Mass. It saddens me that the Dies irae, Dies iela is lost, never to be heard in some church sending a soul so beautifully to our Blessed Lord.
Catechetical Sunday to be observedParishes across the Diocese of Richmond, indeed across the entire United States, will celebrate Catechetical Sunday on September 16. This is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on one of the foundational ministries of the Church: catechesis, or the ministry of the Word. (Our own diocesan vision statement “We Walk By Faith” proclaims Word, Worship, Service, and Community as the four foundational ministries that lead us to Christ.) The “Word,” of course, refers primarily to the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, but also is used to refer to our sacred scriptures. This year’s theme for Catechetical Sunday, “Encounter the Living Christ,” proclaims the basic focus and goal of all catechesis, which is to meet and encounter the person of the risen Jesus Christ. This focus is given to us by both Roman (General) and U.S. (National) documents that we call “directories” for catechesis. Closer to home the Office of Christian Formation has published and is implementing “Called to Be Disciples: Catechetical Norms for the Diocese of Richmond.” These Norms are how our diocese implements the Roman and National directives. Our Norms are raising the status of catechesis in each parish and the confidence and competence of individual catechists who are being certified through the PATHWAYS Catechist Formation process. Over 2,100 individual catechists have registered for the process, almost two-thirds of the estimated 3200 catechists in the diocese. I salute and thank those parishioners who have volunteered to hand on their faith and lead others to a relationship with Christ, whether in bringing others to faith as part of RCIA and sacramental preparation teams or helping deepen the faith of parishioners. No catechist can bring another person to Christ by themselves. All catechetical situations involve a partnership with parents (in the catechesis of children and youth) and with the other ministries of Worship, Service and Community which are all essential ingredients of helping a parishioner’s relationship to Christ grow. So we are all in this together, from our bishop to our pastors to our catechetical leaders to our catechists to our parents and peers: all have an important role to play, for we go to Christ in community. I encourage all who might read this letter to engage yourselves with the Word, with the living Christ, not only on Catechetical Sunday, but day to day, at home, at work, and in civic situations.
Schools official called ‘blessing’Our family was very happy to read that Frankie and Chris Conway will not be moving from Virginia to Florida (Aug. 27 issue, The Catholic Virginian). We have been fortunate to have had three of our four children educated at Peninsula Catholic High under Mrs. Conway’s wonderful and compassionate leadership. She will be a great asset and blessing to all the Catholic schools in the diocese now. Florida’s loss is Virginia’s gain!
Lynchburg school students laudedMy hope is that The Catholic Virginian will publish more information which encourages Catholic families to send their children to our schools. My husband and I have a son at Holy Cross Regional Catholic School in Lynchburg. Holy Cross honors its outstanding writers. Each year Holy Cross students participate in a writing competition known as the Young Authors Contest, sponsored by the Piedmont Area Reading Council, a chapter of the Virginia State Reading Association (VSRA). The VSRA developed this writing contest in 1987 and made it available to all students in an effort to improve writing skills and enhance creativity among students K–12. This competition begins at the individual school level with each student competing within his own grade. Independent judges select 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in fiction, poetry, and essay. These winning books are then judged on the district level. For Holy Cross School that is the City of Lynchburg, consisting of 24 schools. Of the 11,000 students in Lynchburg, 310 attend Holy Cross School. With less than 3 percent of the total student population, Holy Cross students won 57 percent of the district awards. For the final level these district winning books proceed to the regional level for judging. In the Piedmont Region there are 107 schools. The total student population is approximately 52,000, of which 310 students attend Holy Cross School. Holy Cross students comprise less than 0.6 percent of the total population, but still won 17 percent of the awards. Of particular interest is the performance of Holy Cross School 2nd graders, who comprise approximately 2 percent of the district yet won 90 percent of the awards. Holy Cross Regional Catholic School has demonstrated for a very long time that strong reading/writing skills are a key ingredient to academic success. Holy Cross School has always participated in the Young Authors Contest and has traditionally done extremely well. It was about time to let everyone else know about the kind of successes our Holy Cross School students experience all the time.
Amelia grateful to Ireton CouncilWe at the Good Samaritan Church in Amelia represent a small rural parish with needs common to any Catholic parish and few resources with which to meet those needs. A group of Catholic men from the Knights of Columbus, Bishop Ireton Council in Chesterfield County, became aware of our needs and responded with unbounded generosity. Services in our little church are at 6:30 PM, Saturday evenings. Mass is held by Father (Jeffrey) Garcia on one Saturday a month, the remaining Saturdays a Communion service is held with a Deacon officiating. Our church had only 24 families in 2001; this has now increased to about 34 families. Most of our parishioners are retired and on fixed incomes. We have but modest resources and so are dependent upon help from others within the larger diocesan community. The attention of the Bishop Ireton Council 6189 Past Grand Knight Tom Hoof was first drawn to our need for assistance in 2001 in establishing a setting for a statue of the Blessed Virgin and assisting in a modest landscaping project around the church. The Council supported us with financial assistance to complete this project. Following this and at Tom’s initiative, inquiries were made by the Council disclosing that the parish had a monthly mortgage of $350. The Council voted to pay this mortgage. Over the last four years, the Council has paid the mortgage with donations of approximately $6,000 per year. With the Council’s recent donation of $1,500 the mortgage is now paid in full. The Council views their relationship with Good Samaritan as a long range commitment to assist this small rural Catholic community. There are new and emerging needs — a paved parking lot, new carpeting; repairs of a water system that has unpalatable drinking water and the renovation of a basement that once again can be used to hold religious education classes. Our faith in these Catholic men and their embrace of the principles of their Order is affirmed by their relentless commitment in service to their Church and community.
Abuse settlements raise questionThe article about the settlement of the Los Angeles Archdiocese regarding sexual abuse lawsuits requiring the archdiocese to pay more than 500 alleged victims a total of more than $660 million (The Catholic Virginian, July 30, 2007 issue) never mentioned what happened to the priests, religious, deacons or laypersons who committed these vile acts. What happened to them? Hopefully they have been brought to justice and are in jail.
This article did not appear in the Web edition of the Catholic Virginian.
Bishops said right on immigrationOn an issue so critical for the future of the Church, there have been a few letters on immigration. On July 16 John Wagner and Eric Demyanovich each penned letters critical of undocumented or illegal immigrants. On Aug. 27 Michael Rudmin discussed God’s law and immigration. The U.S. Catholic bishops have been clear on what is required by Catholic teaching:
Last June a number of prominent U.S. senators from both parties compromised on an approach to immigration reform, but they were defeated by those senators who voted to “pass the buck.” The nay sayers in the Senate called upon rhetoric and prejudice to roil up the Senate and the American people against the immigrants. Catholics have a great equity in the immigration issue. We cannot be bystanders. Our bishops have spoken out many times for faith and just treatment on all immigrants. Hispanics are a very healthy percentage of U.S. Catholics and they constitute most of the growth of the U.S. Catholic Church. Undocumented or illegal immigrants are an important part of this Hispanic Catholic community. The current immigration debate and its continuing spiral down into prejudice is a challenge for the U.S. church. The immigration reform debate seems now to be at something of an intractable place. There needs to be more dialogue and more compassion. And there needed to be renewed consideration of our bishops’ advice.
Abortion fight needs more courageIn the August 13 issue of The Catholic Virginian, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson (of the Knights of Columbus) calls on all Catholics to persevere against the evil of abortion. But how do we fight the status quo and the hidden killing fields for our unborn children? We Catholics, and especially the men of the Knights of Columbus, have to actively publicize and educate on the facts about abortion. The number one issue, THE most important above all others in the abortion fight, is the Church’s unwavering position on overturning Roe vs. Wade. EVERY CATHOLIC in Virginia should have the opportunity to learn the facts and the complete teachings of the Church on abortion and the return of full legal protection for the unborn. Every faith leader in Virginia should publicly declare their full support for the reversal of Roe vs. Wade and challenge our elected officials to stop politicizing this moral and constitutional issue. We cannot change hearts and minds on this issue without a public call to action, led by our faith leadership. With the constitutionally flawed Supreme Court rulings of 1973, the battle was won by the abortionist and unrestricted abortion became legal in the United States. The abortionist now have the high ground and sit at the top of their mountain out of sight. If we continue to stand at the bottom of the hill in silence on this issue, we will have to answer to our God for those stains and why we did not have the courage to stop the killing. The reality is that if you are silent on the issue of returning legal protection to the unborn, you by default are pro-choice. Save yourself and the unborn by not being silent and showing the courage to publicly live your faith.
This article did not appear in the Web edition of the Catholic Virginian. About Us | Archives | Around | Articles | Columns | Contact Us | Editorial | Hispanic Apostolate | Home | Opportunities | Parish Profile | Shortakes | The Catholic Diocese of RichmondCopyright © 2006 The Catholic Virginian Press. Articles from Catholic News Services, including Fr. Dietzen’s column, may not be reproduced here due to copyright considerations.The Catholic Virginian is a biweekly publication serving the people of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. This website includes some, but not all, of the articles from the print version of The Catholic Virginian.For subscription information Contact Us. |
