Story by
Steve
Euvino
This story
has been edited for Web space. Entire story can be read in the print
edition dated July 25, 2010.
GARY — An unexpected visit from one’s mother can
be cause for alarm.
That is, unless the woman is Blessed Mother Teresa of
Calcutta. Relics of the humanitarian foundress of the
Missionaries of Charity and candidate for sainthood made
an unexpected stop in the Diocese of Gary July 17.
Bishop
Dale J. Melczek is the
principal celebrant at a
Mass at which relics of
Blessed Mother Teresa of
Calcutta were on display at
St. Mark in Gary, July 17.
(Tim Hunt photo)
Joined by priests of
the diocese, Bishop Dale J. Melczek celebrated Mass at
St. Mark Church, where he blessed the relics — a lock of
Blessed Teresa’s hair, blood, a rosary, crucifix, and
her sandals.
Although Missionaries of Charity sisters do not grant
interviews, Sister Marcella, the order’s regional
superior, did describe the stop in Gary as a “surprise
visit from our Mother.”
The relics are making
their way around some of the order’s 50-plus convents in
the U.S. and Canada, including 17 in Sister Marcella’s
region, because of the ongoing centennial celebration of
Blessed Teresa’s birth, Aug. 26.
They were only in Gary one day, after which they were
taken to Chicago. They are to be returned to Calcutta by
July 30. Despite news coming quickly and 90-plus degree
weather, several hundred people filled St. Mark for the
Mass, after which they were permitted to venerate two of
the relics. Also, Missionaries of Charity Sisters, who
have served this diocese from the former St. Mark
convent since 1999, accepted the faithful’s prayer
petitions to be taken to Calcutta. Some of the people
had met Blessed Teresa on earlier visits to this
country. Others assist the Missionaries of Charity’s
ministries in this diocese, including a soup kitchen and
other community service. Others, such as Dr. Lou Miceli,
worked with the sisters in Haiti following the Jan. 12
earthquake. This visit of the relics, Miceli said,
“really means that I have an example to follow. ‘Give
yourself to Christ’ — those aren’t just words. I’m
embarrassed and encouraged at the same time. I hope to
get over my embarrassment and hope to be encouraged to
do more.”
Bishop Dale J.
Melczek censes relics of Blessed Mother Teresa of
Calcutta on display at St. Mark. The relics are part
of the centennial celebration of Blessed Teresa's
birthday. (Tim Hunt photo)
Missionary of Charity Sister Maria
Agnes becomes emotional during a Mass to honor
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and to display her
relics at St. Mark. (Tim Hunt photo)
In his homily, Bishop
Melczek noted that Jesus calls each person according to
that person’s gifts and vocation to be “Christ’s light
to people in our communities and our world — we have no
better example that Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.” He
continued, “Today we recall her example and seek her
intercession so we might be faithful to our vocation as
she was to hers.” The bishop likened Blessed Teresa’s
childlike simplicity and confidence in God to that of
another woman — Jesus’ mother, Mary. “We come together
as a people of faith for [God’s] gift of Blessed Teresa
of Calcutta to us,” Bishop Melczek said. “We’ve all been
touched in various ways by her example and
intercession.” The bishop called the Missionaries of
Christ’s presence in this diocese a “special blessing to
us.”
A priest holds a relic of Blessed
Mother Teresa of Calcutta following a Mass and
display of her relics at St. Mark. (Tim Hunt photo)
A woman touches her rosary to a
rosary which belonged to Blessed Mother Teresa of
Calcutta during a display of her relics at St. Mark.
(Tim Hunt photo)
Blessed Teresa, who
received more than 700 awards and honors for her
ministries, died Sept. 5, 1997 at age 87. At the time of
her death, her religious order had 3,842 sisters serving
in 594 homes in 120 countries. The order also includes
male religious. Pope John Paul II declared Mother Teresa
“blessed” on Oct. 19, 2003. Mary Magaña, one of many
waiting in line to venerate to relics and deliver a
prayer intention, said, “I admire her so much for her
work among the poor. Hopefully we can learn from her to
grow in service to one another.” (For more stories around the
diocese, subscribe to the print edition)
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- It has
been a year in the making, but
the first 1,000 MP3 players
prepared by the host of a
Catholic radio program are
making their way to Catholic
troops and wounded soldiers.
They're not just any MP3
players, though. They're "filled
with Catholic content,"
according to Cheri Lomonte, host
of the Gabriel Award-winning
radio program "Mary's Touch" and
the force behind a project she
calls "Frontline Faith."
It's been a year in the
making, but the first 1,000
MP3 players prepared by the
host of a Catholic radio
program are making their way
to Catholic troops and
wounded soldiers. (CNS/photo
illustration courtesy
Frontline) (July 21, 2010)
The intent
of the distribution program
is to provide Catholic
inspirational messages and
recordings to tide Catholic
soldiers over between the
infrequent visits of a
Catholic chaplain to battle
zones in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Lomonte,
in a July 20 telephone
interview with Catholic News
Service from Austin, Texas,
said her radio program had a
guest who helped bring
wounded soldiers to Lourdes,
France. Lomonte said she
asked the guest, "What can
we do to help?" The answer
she got was: "Make sure they
don't get to this point. Do
something before they get to
this point."
Previously, Lomonte had
distributed MP3 players to
some of Austin's homeless.
"We put appropriate things
on the player, including
snippets from the 'Mary's
Touch' radio program," she
said.
But this
project would prove to be a
more exacting effort. The
MP3 for use by troops are
"packed with Catholic
things," Lomonte said --
seven hours' worth. "They
could listen to a Mass, they
could listen to a rosary."
The Mass
is a Memorial Day Mass
celebrated by Archbishop
Timothy P. Broglio of the
U.S. Archdiocese for the
Military Services at St.
Matthew Cathedral in
Washington. The rosary is a
"Warrior Rosary" conceived
by Lynda MacFarland, the
wife of a career military
man, using the sorrowful
mysteries. Other
programming on the MP3
includes "Centurions of
Rome," a presentation made
by the late Archbishop
Fulton Sheen at the U.S.
Military Academy at West
Point, N.Y.; children's
letters to soldiers read by
the children themselves; an
examination of conscience;
interview features from
"Mary's Touch"; and
two-and-a-half hours of
stories about faith in
military life, including
"The Grunt Padre" about a
priest who ministered to
infantry soldiers and a tale
of a soldier who carried the
Eucharist into battle.
The
military archdiocese is
distributing the MP3 players
through its chaplains. But
that can take some time,
with a shortage of Catholic
chaplains in the military.
"Our
troops do not get to see a
priest for sometimes seven
to eight months," Lomonte
said. "That would be like
you and me not being able to
receive the Eucharist until
Valentine's Day, or sometime
in the spring. ... How can
our troops go without the
Eucharist for that long when
they need it the most?" It costs
about $24 to buy the MP3
player, load it and prepare
it for shipment. The funds
raised have allowed for
1,000 players to be readied
for distribution. "We have
330,000 Catholics in our
military, and our long-term
goal is to have an MP3
player called 'Frontline
Faith' to every member in
our military who wants it,"
Lomonte said.
The MP3
players aren't just for
combat zones. "One of the
first places we send this to
is our hospitals," Lomonte
said. "They have nothing.
Our chaplains hand them
out." Lomonte
noted that the suicide rate
among active-duty soldiers
is at an all-time high.
"They're deprived of their
spirituality," she declared.
"At a time when they need
some kind of spirituality,
this will help them. ...
That's why we're doing
this."
- - -
Editor's Note: More
information about the MP3
player project for the
troops is available at
www.frontlinefaithproject.com.
END
07/21/2010 4:10 PM ET
Copyright (c) 2010 Catholic
News Service/U.S. Conference
of Catholic Bishops
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When her
daughter Kate was born with a
complex set of significant
disabilities known as CHARGE
syndrome, Peg Kolm believed that
the only things the church had
to offer her could be summarized
by the "three B's -- they would
baptize her, they would bury her
and they would put us at the
back of the church."
But then she
discovered the U.S. bishops'
1978 pastoral statement on
people with disabilities, which
she describes as "very powerful
in its vision of the church as a
community that welcomes
everyone, one flock under a
single Shepherd."
Camp volunteers Mary Pat
Michaels and Katie McNeal
join their respective
campers Debra Lucier and
Diane Ricketts during a
sing-a-long at Toni's Camp
in Rutledge, Ga., in early
May. The camp is sponsored
by the Atlanta Archdiocesan
Disabilities Ministry. (CNS
photo/Michael Alexander,
Georgia Bulletin) (July 22,
2010)
Kolm's
experiences finding a place for
her daughter Kate, now 19, led
to her current posts as director
of the Office for Ministry with
Persons with Disabilities in the
Archdiocese of Washington and
development director of the
National Catholic Partnership on
Disability.
She and her
husband, Rich, are parents of
"two great kids -- one very tall
and one very short," Kolm said.
Richard, 22, recently graduated
from college, while Kate faces
"enormous challenges," including
vision and hearing impairments,
heart problems and difficulties
with eating and speaking.
CHARGE
syndrome is a rare genetic
disease named for its various
effects -- coloboma of the eye,
heart defects, atresia of the
nasal choanae, retardation of
growth and/or development,
genital and/or urinary
abnormalities and ear
abnormalities and deafness.
Children such as Kate "never
existed before" the past two or
three decades, because they owe
their survival to new
technologies, Kolm noted. But
they and other people with
disabilities "force community,"
she added. "Kate has forced us
to be in a community we didn't
expect."
A member of
Blessed Sacrament Parish in
Washington, Kolm is spearheading
a new initiative called
Affirming Life, designed to
train Catholics at the parish
level to provide pastoral
support for the parents of
unborn children who receive a
prenatal diagnosis of a
disability or fatal defect.
In a recent
letter urging participation in
the initiative, Father William
Byrne, secretary for pastoral
ministry and social concerns in
the archdiocese, called clergy,
parish ministry leaders and
health care workers "our first
responders" in providing support
for those parents.
"When given
the resources and specialized
training needed for such unique
circumstances," parish and
health care leaders "can be the
beacon of hope and support these
parents need in such a difficult
time," he added.
Like any
parent, Kolm said she often
thinks about the legacy she will
leave her children, what she
will pass on to them.
But with Kate, she feels that
there is a "reverse legacy --
she's given me more than she's
gotten."
"She's made me
grow," Kolm added. "She's
created opportunities for me."
END
07/23/2010 11:19 AM ET
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Service/U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops
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