26, 1993 The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana 5
" Bishop's Forum --
Reflecting on family, Thanksgiving
! thank my God through Jesus
Christ for all of you - .
I mention you always n my The family is
which allows no time together for
families.
Prayers the domestic
church. It is there that the sacra-
Those Words of St. Paul I make ment of marriage comes to fulfill-
ray own as we anticipate Thanks- ment. It is there that loving rela-
fvin.g, our national holida of tionship of husband and wife is
.nmg God for all the Lifts Ywith personified in their children. It is
-inch our Country, indeed ea
us, has be ch of the environment in which children
en so richly endowed.
Earlier this month I learn how to relate to parents and
ra the ;a o _ _part]clpated to their brothers and sisters. It is
Mnd:°°uth Catholic Educa- there that love for one another is
ti0n merence at Barkle By BISHOP
Kentucky .... y Lake, GERALD A learned and expressed in word and
. - ..... ,ly eaucational lead GETTELFINGER deed.
lronl ou- -"
0s " mocese along with Above all in the family, the do-
e from Birmingham in Al- mestic church, do parents.and chil-
exington in Kentucky, Knoxville, dren come to appreciate a special relationship with
and Memphis, in Tennessee, Louisville Almighty God. There children come to know of God
in Kentucky. The panel of four
led by a moderator shared reactions to a
the National Conference of
on "Putting Families and Chil-
opportunity for all of us
to put families and chil-
ahead of self-gratification and
pleasure. First, ahead of amassing
Wealth. First, ahead of hyper-activity
Ops
from Page 1
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and learn to love God through their observation
and experience of their parents love for them.
There they come to learn of Jesus' love for them
his love of them even to giving his life for them.
They also learn to love others outside the home as
Jesus has shown us.
Children -- that includes us all -- learn first to
give thanks at home. Parents teach children to be
grateful and give example by their own expressions
of gratitude in daily living. Parents also teach chil-
grants in times of recession
and anxiety.
In other actions at the meet-
ing, Msgr. Robert N. Lynch
was re- elected to a one-year
term as NCCB general secre-
tary and Archbishop Thomas
J. Murphy of Seattle was cho-
sen as treasurer of the NCCB
and its public policy arm, the
U.S. Catholic Conference. The
bishops also approved extend-
ing for a fifth and final year
the national collection to aid
the church in Eastern and
Central Europe and adopted a
1994 NCCB-USCC budget of
$41.7 million.
Archbishop Keeler opened
the meeting with a presiden-
tial address that contrasted
the crime problems of Wash-
ington with the weeklong calm
that took over Denver when
186,000 youths from around
the world met there this sum-
mer for World Youth Day.
The archbishop said that
while news coverage allowed
millions of people to share in
some of the World Youth Day
events in Denver, the media
was less refined when trying to
describe the American Catholic
Church in general.
"The media's 'American
Catholic Story' is a caricature
wherein complex issues are
crudely stated -- crudely and
dren how to thank God in the context of prayer.
On the other hand, we must never get trapped
into thinking that families are always flower beds
of perfect joy, happiness, and peace. It is in the
family that children learn how to be truthful, how
to be understanding, how to be compassionate,
how to be forgiving; how to forgive. They learn the
rich lessons of dealing with healthy conflict. These
virtues learned at home give us greater reason to
give thanks.
Families are not perfect, nor are family mem-
bers. My father taught us kids: "Do not expect per-
fection in your life, at the same time, do not relax
your vigilance in your efforts to achieve it." He
knew his weaknesses and ours which, when
summed up, was clear evidence that our family
was a long way from perfect. That of course did not
excuse us from trying.
The domestic church is the place where the act
of thanksgiving, the family eucharist, is celebrated
around the table. This family experience of giving
thanks is most clear on the special day we call
Thanksgiving.
I suggest you unite with other families in the
Parish Church on Thanksgiving to join in the ulti-
mate act of thanksgiving, the Liturgy of the Eu-
charist.
quickly stated, he said. The
archbishop said he was invited
on NBC's Today Show to ex-
plain the Catholic Church's po-
sition on abortion, birth con-
trol, celibacy and the male
priesthood -- in 30 seconds.
Among those honored during
the meeting was Catholic Re-
lief Services, celebrating its
50th anniversary this year.
Prelates and politicians gath-
ered at the Basilica of the Na-
tional Shrine of the Immacu-
late Conception for a Mass
honoring the relief agency.
The U.S. bishops Nov. 16 re-
elected Msgr. Robert N. Lynch
as general secretary of the Na-
tional Conference of Catholic
Bishops and U.S. Catholic Con-
ference.
They elected Archbishop
Thomas J. Murphy of Seattle
as NCCB-USCC treasurer.
Archbishop Murphy received
137 votes to 99 for Archbishop
Daniel M. Buechlein of Indi.
anapolis.
Elected to head the USCC
committee on Education was
Bishop Robert J. Banks of
Green Bay, Wis., with 122
votes to 112 for Bishop Gerald
A. Gettelfinger of Evansville
day. December 5
00hieken Dinner
&
(Orld's Largest Youth Hand Bell Choir)
b00er: .
.1 am 2 pm Learning about vocations
. " " 5.oo 5
hil&ren ( O* extra all white meat) Forty-eight students in the religious education program at Christ the King Church,
llela der I0 - $I.00 Evansville, and from Christ the King School visited St. Meinrad Archabbey, St. Meinrad,
t, ":sWI_ durnplin.s, vegetables, dessert & drink) and Monastery Immaculate Conception, Ferdinand, Nov. 14. The trip was sponsored by
the parish Vocations Committee. i
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