•
The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana
4'
--Taking the time to make a difference---
Directions and dates, past and futu
Two personal events are coin-
ciding and they started me think-
ing about the connections -- and
the directions -- involved.
The two events were a wed-
ding anniversary, which my wife
Jane and I have celebrated, hnd
the visit of some old friends, which
is just about to happen. These two
events, one past and one future,
are happening within a two-week
period.
The wedding anniversary was
not one of the "big" ones that fami-
ly and friends would help cele-
brate. It was significant for Jane
and me, within our immediate family.
The visit from friends will be a rare coinci-
dence. We have not seen them for quite some time,
probably about 15 years. We've sent each other
Christmas cards, and we've kept in touch in a dis-
tant kind of way.
Lou and Marlene live in Wisconsin. They are
planning a trip to Georgia, and they will stop in to
see us along the way, here in Indiana.
Lou is a friend, but when I first met him, he
was my boss. I used to work for him in Rock Island,
Ill. He and his family had set the tone for our rela-
tionship when I went to my first job interview with
him. I stayed at his house, and met his wife and
children -- and I learned as much about his family
values as I did about the job he was offering.
,ii ' !:
i
By PAUL
R. LEINGANG
EDITOR
Lou and his family left Rock
Island several years before I did. He
and Marlene went back to their
native Wisconsin. Some years later,
Jane and I and our children moved
on to Indiana.
After all these years, we are
looking forward to renewing our old
friendship. They have written. We
have called. I am sending them a
map to our house.
As I was preparing the map,
my thoughts about our wedding
anniversary and the visit of some
friends began to come together. The
map I was drawing included some
significant sights along the way. Landmarks. Street
names and highway numbers. Directions.
Our wedding anniversary, too, had brought us
to a point where we could look back to see signifi-
cant events. Landmarks, so to speak. The roads we
had taken. Directions.
* * *
Talk with the people in your family, or with
your friends, about the markers and the signs that
lead to your home. One of the points in the map I
drew was our parish church building -- and I know
that the church is a significant area in my life in
many ways.
What roads have you taken to get to the place
you live? Your job? Your family? Your relationship
with others you care about?
If you have children, tell them about:
journey leading up to their bi
events of their lives.
, €
Take some time to make a
life.
Include the signposts -- the
events which gave you guidance and
the way.
Include the wrong turns, if there
List the events along the way s
birth, a baptism, a first day at school,
child's last day at home, a wedding.
Recall the journeys Jesus
significant events in the life of
to Jerusalem. Recall the di§covery made
friends of Jesus on the road to EmmaUS'
Find out whaV guides newcomers
church. Help improve the path to full :
in the Christian community.
Make contact today with an
the time to renew an acquaintance,
write a personal note of appreciation f°r
ship you have enjoyed, friend. Become t
Help a child make a
brother or big sister, or find a
new relationship on your map.
Comments about this column are:
prleing@cfm.org or the Christian
P.O. Box 272, Ames, Iowa 50010.
Washington Letter
Teaching abstinence: Little- :nown welfare provision allows
By NANCY HARTNAGEL
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A
little-known section near the end
of the new federal welfare law
will provide up to $8715 million a
year over the next five years for
education programs on sexual
abstinence.
It is one of several provisions
in the welfare overhaul package
aimed at decreasing out-of-wed-
lock births, especially among
teens.
The MESSAGE
4200 N. Kentucky Ave.
Evansville, IN 47711
Weekly newspaper of the
Diocese of Evansville
Published weekly except last week in
December by the Carbolic Press of
Evansville
PVoiisher ............. Bshop Gerakl A. Gettelfinger
Editor ...................................... Paul R. Leingang
Prod Technn ............... Joseph Dietrich
Advertising ................................... Paul Newland
Staff Writer ............................ Mary Ann Hughes
Address all communications to P.O.
Box 4169, Evansville, IN 47724-0169
Subscription rate:
$17.50 per year
Single Copy Price: $.50
Entered as periodical matter at the post offce in
Evansville, IN 47701. PutP number 843800.
Postmaster: Return POD forms 3579 to Offce of
Puc, atn
CogFight 1996 Catholic Press of Eyanswlle
iiii i
According to Peter van Dyck,
an i)fficial of the Maternal and
Child Health Bureau, which will
administer the money, a $50 mil-
lion federal allocation will be dis-
bursed in formula grants to
states and other jurisdictions on
Oct. 1 of fiscal years 1998-2002.
How much each state gets is
determined "by the proportion of
poor children in the state to the
proportion of all poor children in
the nation," van Dyck told
Catholic News Service.
Under this formula, the District
of Columbia will get $120,439 of
the $50 million, while California
will get $5,764,199. And for every
$4 of federal money, van Dyck
said, there has to be a nonfederal
match of $3 from states, localities,
foundations, companies or other
private sources.
A much-awaited draft version
of the bureau's guidelines to
states concerning the application
process was to be mailed during
the week of Feb. 10, said van
Dyck. Though only states and
jurisdictions may apply for the
funds, he added, the guidelines
also were being sent to many
groups and organizations that
have requested them.
Applications are due July 15
at the bureau, which is part of
the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services.
"The explicit goal of the absti-
nence education programs is to
change both behavior and com-
munity standards for the good of
the country," according to a back-
ground paper of the Human
Resources Subcommittee of the
House Committee on Ways and
Means.
Republican lawmakers w
including North Carolina Sen.
Lauch Faircloth, who introduced
the provision in the Senate ver-
sion of the welfare bill -- crafted
it specifically to exclude pro-
grams containing information
about safe sex or contraceptives.
"Teaching the social, psycho-
logical, and health gains to be
realized by abstaining from sex-
ual activity" must be the "exclu-
sive purpose" of educational and
motivational programs eligible
for the grants, the law states.
The law also requires partici-
pating programs -- to be deter-
mined at the state level -- to
teach:
That abstinence from sex-
ual activity outside marriage is
the expected standard for all
school-age children and the only
We feel included
To the editor:
I want to thank you for the
very fine edition of the Message
(Jan. 31), with the State of the
Diocese insert. It was very well
done. Thank you also for the
Message throughout the year
and for being sensitive to small
parishes like Holy Name Bloom-
field. You include articles and
pictures of our people and
parish, not just the ones we.
send, but also from time-to-time
you call us for information. We
feel included and thank you for
that.
• We hope that you keep up the
good work as the year proceeds.
I especially enjoy the b.umai
interest stories on what people
and parishes in our diocese are
doing. Good luck as you contin-
ue this important work in our
diocese.
Sister Diane Fischer, O.S.B.
Pastoral Life Coordinator
Holy Name Church
Bloomfield
12th-grade
certain way to avoid out-of-wed-
lock pregnancy, sexually trans-
mitted diseases, and other asso- to
ciated health problems.
-- That a mutually faithful
monogamous relationship in the
context of marriage is the expect-
ed standard of human sexual
activity, and that sexual activity
outside marriage is likely to have
harmful psychological and phys-
ical effects.
-- That bearing children out-
of-wedlock is likely to have
harmful consequences for the
child, the parents and society.
In addition, qualifying pro-
grams must teach young people
how to reject sexual advances,
how alcohol and drug use
increases vulnerability to sexual
advances, and how important it
is to attain self-sufficiency before
engaging in sexual activity.
Given these criteria, "there said Best
aren't many programs out there ton,
that would qualify," said Ann
Guthrie Hingston, national pro-
gram director for Best Friends
Foundation, a Washington-based
organization that she noted
"would definitely qualify."
Best Friends is a character- somestate
building program for adolescent ed.
girls that includes abstinence "If theY
education, to the
Since it was founded in 1987 by
Elayne Bennett, Best Friends has
worked with 600 Washingten-aroa
girls from their fifth- through
HingstOn
"showed a
pregnancy ra
Friends' girls,
26 percent
the same
public
The
rently
Friends
fitness,
tion -- in 1
in WashingtOn
land,
girls
Hingston,
plans to apl
the annual
District of
real." BU t
companies
grants)
she said.
Bishop's sch
The following activities and events are listed o
ule of Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger:
Rite of Election Sunday,
Montgomery, 1:30 p.m. EST
Evansville, 5 p.m. CST:
Clergy Prayer Day,
Church, St. Henry, 9 a.m. EST.
Finance Council, Wednesday, Feb, ii
ter, 3:30 p.m. CST.
