February 13, 2009
Worth Mentioning
Ash Wednesday Appeal for Eastern Europe
The 2007 Ash Wednesday appeal for Eastern Europe funded 340 projects in such countries as Serbia, Georgia, Albania, Poland and Macedonia.
In May 2008, construction was completed on a missionary house in Mukachevo, Ukraine. In the Eparchy of Stryi, also in Ukraine, the Ash Wednesday collection helped provide for 596 children in nine orphanages.
The annual collection supports church construction, ministry training, religious education and newspapers, missionary homes and children’s education programs. Ash Wednesday is Feb. 25
Operation Rice Bowl materials available
Prayer, fasting, learning and giving are the ways in which many Catholics participate in Lent. Operation Rice Bowl materials are available with ideas for this Lent, for schools, classes, families and individuals. See http://org.crs.org
Good Friday: For Christians and the holiest places
The annual Good Friday Collection will help support the struggling Christian community in the Middle East, and also protect Christianity’s holiest places. The collection is taken up in parishes throughout the United States. Good Friday is April 10.
Call for commitment
The Catholic Coalition on Climate Change will launch the Catholic Climate Covenant and the St. Francis Pledge to Protect Creation and the Poor this spring. Visit www.catholicsandclimatechange.org
St. Katharine Drexel Novena begins
The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament annually organize and publicize the “St. Katharine Drexel Novena” — named in honor of the foundress of their community.
This year, the novena runs from Feb. 22 through March 2. See www.katharinedrexel.org
Volunteer opportunity for young Catholics
Heart’s Home, an international Catholic organization committed to promoting a culture of compassion, is currently accepting applications for volunteers.
Heart’s Home provides an opportunity for young people to dedicate at least 14 months of their lives to serve the most suffering people in the world.
Founded in 1990 by Father Thierry de Roucy, the organization has 35 communities located in 20 countries, in addition to having recruited and trained more than 1,100 missionaries from 18 countries, and from every continent. Miss-ion countries include France, Italy, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Peru, India, El Salvador and the U.S.
Young Catholics interested in this opportunity should visit the Web site at www.hearts-homeusa.org or call (718) 522-2121.
Free showings of Lincoln films set
With the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln being celebrated on February 12, St. Meinrad Archabbey will present the 1988 film, “Gore Vidal’s Lincoln,” in St. Bede Theater, on Friday, February 13, at 6 p.m. CST.
The film stars Sam Waterson as President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Tyler Moore as his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. The film is three hours and eight minutes long.
A 30-minute film about Lincoln’s life in Spencer County will be shown 30 minutes prior to the starting time of the feature film. The presentation is free and open to the public.
Black History lecture at St. Meinrad
Rev. Clarence Williams, the founder and di-rector of the Institute for Recovery from Rac-isms in Washington, D.C., will deliver the an-nual Black History Lecture at St. Meinrad School of Theology, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. CST in the Newman Theater.
Rev. Williams’ presentation is titled “The Cath-olic Church and Racism: Yesterday and Today.”
He also serves as the senior director of ra-cial equality and diversity initiatives at the National Office of Catholic Charities USA in Alexandria, Va.
He is the author of “Recovery from Everyday Racisms, People of the Pyramids: The Dialogue Between the African American and the His-panic/Latino Communities” and his most recent book, “Racial Sobriety: Becoming the Change You Want to See.” In 1998, he received his doctorate in education and communications with emphasis in global and cultural studies from the Union Institute and Univer-sity in Vermont.
Father Williams has received the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus’ Lifetime Achieve-ment Award and the Archbishop James Lyke Award for Global Leadership from the Pan African Roman Catholic Clergy Conference.
He also received the Dr. Martin Luther King “Keep the Dream Alive” award in Detroit, where he served for 30 years as pastor of St. Anthony Church, director of Black Catholic Ministries and celebrant for the TV Mass for shut-ins.
The lecture is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Guest House and student parking lots.