THE GOOD NEWS
♦
In September, 2006, an
organizational meeting was conducted to establish a Prayer Shawl
Ministry at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Altoona, PA.� Love of
knitting and crocheting has been combined into a prayerful ministry
that reaches out to those in need of comfort and solace.� The
knitter begins each shawl with prayers for the recipient and
continues those prayers through completion of the shawl.� Upon
completion a special blessing is offered for the recipient and
maker.� To date over 30 shawls have been made and distributed.� Some
parishioners help to sustain the ministry by monetary donations for
yarn, and others continue to come forward to help make the shawls.
Robert
Juroszek was appointed as the
Spiritual Advisor to this growing ministry.
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♦
Raphael Eagle
continues to serve as a
certified NACC chaplain and is the supervisor of "Family Partners"
at Cook Children�s Medical Center.� Family Partners is a
hospital-wide program of volunteers that visit Catholic patients to
encourage them, lift their spirits, and become their friends during
their stay in the hospital.� For out-of-town families this is
especially important because a Family Partner will run errands and
inform the family of the services available for them and help them
find their way around Fort Worth, TX.� Many consolations are given
to the hospitalized patients and their families through Family
Partners.� Raphael�s ability to communicate in Spanish helps to calm
the frayed nerves of many an anxious mother and father.
�♦
David Liedl
has been re-appointed to the Coordinating Council of Spiritual
Directors International (SDI) for a second, three-year term.� SDI
has grown from a membership of 90 in the year 1990 to almost 6,000
members worldwide in 2007.� The organization now represents multiple
faith traditions from almost every continent.� SDI recently launched
the first-ever �Seek and Find Guide� enabling anyone to locate an
available spiritual director anywhere in the world. To learn more
about SDI visit their website at
www.sdiworld.org.
�♦
The Saint Bridget community, both
the friary and rectory, recently took a stand for economic justice
by canceling its membership to Sam�s Club.� Sam�s is run by The
Wal-Mart Corporation, one of the largest corporations in the world.�
Although its low prices are alluring, its treatment of workers is
unfair and its effect on the economy is detrimental to all.� When
one knows that Wal-Mart has received more than $1 billion in
development subsidies from tax-payer funded governments, you begin
to realize that the cost of an item in their store is much more than
it appears on its price tag.
♦��
An article about
David Kaczmarek
will be appearing in
The Florida
Catholic in the not too
distant future.� The Diocesan newspaper features a weekly interview
with a deacon, sister, brother, or priest as a vocation piece.�
David is happy to report that they emphasized the variety of
ministries in which Franciscans are engaged and they included the
Province website.� The only downside, he noted, is that his fifteen
minutes of fame is almost used
up!�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
�♦��
As of January 1, 2007, David K. is
appointed as Chaplain of the English Cursillo of the Diocese of
Orlando. In this capacity, he succeeds
Carl Vacek,
who is coaching him in this new role. David made his first Cursillo
on February 22-25.� Happily, Cursillo is returning to its spiritual
home of San Pedro Center in the Fall of 2007 in newly rebuilt and
expanded Campside facilities. Work is now underway on this project.
��♦�
A �Reverse Harvest Mass� was
celebrated at Bishop Ireton High School in conjunction with the
feast of Saint Francis.� Sponsored by the Alliance for Haiti Club,
participants at Mass were encouraged to pray and fast for the day
and donate the money saved to Louverture Cleary, Bishop Ireton�s
sister school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.� In addition to expressing
concern for Haiti, many students came to support
Didacus Wilson
on his feast day. Philippe
Halbert, a senior at Bishop Ireton, said, �It�s a great cause, and
in Brother Didacus we can see a teacher and a brother dedicated to
the cause of the poor.�� Reverse Harvests are celebrated nationwide
to raise money for various causes.� The occasion has been observed
at Bishop Ireton for several years.
�♦��
An association of Presbyterian pastors, called NO2Torture, dedicated
to the eradication of all forms of torture in the world and
especially by the U.S. government, included a poem by
David Kaczmarek
in their newsletter of the same name.� The poem�s title is, �Weapons
of Mass Creation.��� The poem can be found on the Province website.
♦��
Patrick Quinn
was invited back to the
Diocese of Rapid City, Iowa, to address participants and staff in
the Lay Ministries Formation Program.� He was very well received
last year and graciously accepted the invitation to return for
another round.� This thriving program helps to form dedicated lay
ministers to serve the needs of the Church.��
� Hats
off to the following friars who gave so generously of their time and
talent to preach on behalf of the Missionary Cooperative Plan for
2006:
�������������
Archdiocese of Newark--
Leonard Blostic,
Christopher Panagoplos and
Carl Vacek
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Diocese of Pittsburgh--
Leonard Blostic
�������������
Diocese of Cleveland--
Leonard Blostic
and
Christopher
Panagoplos
Diocese of
Altoona-Johnstown--
Leonard Blostic
,Christopher Panagoplos and
Gerard
Connolly,
The friars made
the appeal in thirteen parishes throughout these Dioceses. The total
contribution to the Missionary Cooperative Plan amounted to
$16,243.58. Nice going guys!
�
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