1995
The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana
5
The ancient prophet Ezekiel
for us Almighty God's fi-
made to his cho-
L Pe0ple. Despite their wrong
;od promised to cleanse
their sins. He promised to
them from captivity and
cities would be rebuilt and
lands could be once again be
"I, the Lord, have
ill do it!"
- have been given the ulti-
promises" in
suffering, death and
Jesus further
to ask the Father to send
the Paraclete, to accompany us,
and console us on the journey of faith.
Pentecost Sunday the day on which
kept.
is currently a popular movement in our
"Promise Keepers." It is a Christian
a Colorado football coach. It is
to get men -- and boys -- to keep
make. Its ideals are most commend-
Is encouraging to know of so many men
willing to walk with their fathers, sons
to keep the promises they have made.
Promise Keepers is designed for
ys only, the same principles apply to
op's Forum--
Promises... promises.., promises
ByBISHOP
GERALD A.
GETTELFINGER
women and girls.
The Cursillo Movement, rooted
in the Catholic Faith, was begun in
Spanish speaking countries to en-
courage men to return to the prac-
tice of their faith and that boys
would not abandon it. Its very
name means "a little course in
Christianity." Even though it
sprang up for men and boys only, it
has been expanded .to include men
and women. "Teens Encounter
Christ" has the same intent for the
young.
Keep in mind, nonetheless,
that movements are one thing. The
keeping of promises made on a day-to-day basis is
quite another. We have before us daily those who
give us the examples we need to be faithful.
There are promise keepers that we sometimes
take for granted. Consider all the men and women
who have committed themselves to each other in
marriage and are faithful in that commitment. We
so often hear of failures. This is the time of year for
the celebration of Mother's Day and Fatlier's Day.
Along with wedding anniversaries, these are mo-
ments to celebrate promises that have been kept.
There are promise keepers that families can
sometimes take for granted. They are the young
men who commit themselves to the service of
Christ and His church with the courage to kneel
before the bishop and promise in a most public
fashion "obedience and respect." This promise is
over and above the commitment of a life of celibate
chastity. The lives of the faithful priests are over-
shadowed by the ugly publicity around the failure
of others. We are inspired by Father Jack Durch-
holz and Father Brian Holtz as they have made
such commitments of fidelity to God and His peo-
ple. Also I am filled with joyful gratitude to the cu-
mulative years of fidelity humbly noted in the "An-
niversaries" section of the Message.
There are promise keepers that parishes and
dioceses can sometimes take for granted.
They are the men and women who have com-
mitted themselves to lives of celibate chastity and
community living along with their special charism
of service to the Church. On June 4, 1995, I concel-
ebrated Pentecost Sunday Mass at the renewal of
promises kept for 50 years of four Benedictine Sis-
ters at Monastery Immaculate Conception in Fer-
dinand. Consider all the other men and women
who continue to keep their promises.
As Jesus promised, he asked the Father to
send us the Holy Spirit to enable us to keep the
promises we have made. Jesus promised and he
did it. The rest is up to each of us.
of exercising authority open to discussion, pope says
News Service
CITY (CNS) --
cal reasons, the
ristians need one
and for rea-
ROman Catholics
eader must be the
Orae, Pope John
his new encyclical, he
in which the
of Rome could
and author-
Christian
a topic open to dis-
"Ut Unum
They May Be
Paul puts his
of the most obvi,
ous points of Christian division
and does so with hints at flexi-
bility but also with a clear ex-
planation of Catholic faith.
The pope acknowledged that
the papacy "constitutes a diffi-
culty for most other Chris-
tians," and he apologized for
times when the exercise of
papal authority brought pain
to other Christians.
Pope John Paul invited lead-
ers and theologians from other
Christian churches to join him
"in a patient and fraternal dia-
logue" to find ways of exercis-
ing papal primacy "which,
while in no way renouncing
what is essential to its mission,
is nonetheless open to a new
situation."
Although the encyclical, re-
leased May 30 at the Vatican,
did not provide a prospective
job description for a new pa-
pacy, it did suggest that the
answer would be found by ex-
amining the first thousand
years of Christian history,
when the church was undi-
vided.
In setting the stage for the
dialogue, Pope John Paul out-
lined elements that the Roman
Catholic Church considers to
be essential to the ministry of
the bishop of Rome.
The fact that he is the suc-
cessor of St. Peter and there-
fore head of the church is not
open to debate, even though
the Catholic Church is the only
Christian community that has
church at work in Bangladesh
Office Director
in Bangladesh
One of the
st COuntries, and
most frequent
atural disaster,
les to feed
many people.
se Who suffer the
Two out of
children are
Less than half
Years of school.
of four children
often doing
terrible poverty
When times are
extr to help
abandoned or
like little An-
can be a death
tara was only a
When someone
St. Peter's Or-
g. Told
be thrown
if the sisters
Sister Mary
Nicholas gladly welcomed her
to the warm, bustling world of
the orphanage. Antara has
been living happily at St.
Peter's and attending school
there for several years now.
Bangladesh can tell all too
many stories of forgotten chil-
dren, but like Antara they too
can have hope. St. Peter's --
and similar places, like the Sis-
ters of Charity Convent School
and the Bhabarpara Orphan-
age -- are reaching out to
Bangladesh's abandoned, ne-
glected, and orphaned chil-
dren, providing homes, meals
-- medical care, and education
that are changing the lives of
children -- one child at a time.
Catholics everywhere can be
proud of our Church's efforts in
Bangladesh and many other
developing countries where
missionaries "are bringing the
Good News of Jesus Christ.
These priests, sisters, brothers,
and lay missionaries are the
feet of Christ that bring a mes-
sage of hope, the hands of
Christ that heal, the eyes of
Christ that shine with love for
children who often have had
little reason to believe in to-
morrow.
But the good work done at
places like St. Peter's wouldn't
be possible if it weren't some
essential contributions from a
surprising source: CHILDREN.
For almost 150 years, U.S.
Catholic children have been
supporting the mission work of
our Church through the Holy
Childhood Association, the
Catholic Church's official mis-
sion agency for the young.
Thse kids pray for children in
need and sacrifice their own
money to help provide milk,
rice, vitamins, vaccinations,
shoes, schoolbooks, blankets,
and other necessities to chil-
dren growing up in desperate
poverty.
To find but how you can help
HCA's young members reach
even more children in
Bangladesh, Somalia, Mexico,
Haiti, and other countries, con-
tact your diocesan Mission Of-
rice: Rev. Msgr. Clarence A.
Schlachter, Diocesan Director -
Catholic Center, P.O. BOX
4169, Evansville, Indiana
47724-0169.
preserved the ministry Christ
entrusted to Peter and his suc-
cessors, the pope said.
The church's conviction that
the bishop of Rome has pri-
macy is not based only on tra-
dition, but on Scripture, he
said.
"The place assigned to Peter
is based on the words of Christ
himself, as they are recorded
in the Gospel traditions," he
said.
Peter's own weaknesses and
wavering faith remind the
church that his primacy was a
matter of God's will and grace,
not personal merit, the pope
said. And his power and au-
thority were not personal re-
wards, but gifts to the church
to ensure its unity, tranquility
and fidelity. '-. ..... .... :::
Christian unity, the pope
said, is impossible without the
unity of Christian leaders with
the bishop of Rome.
