May 15, 2009
Worth Mentioning
Degrees earned at St. Meinrad School of Theology
Graduates of St. Meinrad School of Theo-logy were awarded master’s degrees on May 9.
Among them were Nicholas Seib, a seminarian for the Diocese of Evansville who received a Master of Arts in Catholic Philosophical Studies, and Benedictine Brother Christian Raab of St. Meinrad Archabbey who received a Master of Divinity degree.
Graduates, 41 all told, accepted their diplomas from Archabbot Justin DuVall of St. Mein-rad Archabbey and chairman of the School of Theology’s Board of Trustees.
The convocation address was given by Bishop George Lucas of Springfield, Ill. “I congratulate our graduates,” he said in his talk. “Thank you for your desire to learn, to internalize and to articulate the truths of our faith.”
With People to People to Australia
Olivia DeWeese, an eighth grade student at St. Joseph School in Vanderburgh County, has been accepted for the People to People Student Ambassador Program to Australia this summer. Along with the honor, howver, comes the need to raise program tuition of $6,500 — which includes all transportation, accomodations, meals and educational activities. Any assistance would be welcome.
Olivia is the daughter of Jerry Joe and Karla DeWeese. Her trip, along with a delegation from Princeton, Ky., will begin June 13.
The 15-day experience will include meetings with government officials, interaction with other students, educational activities, and home stays with host families. She will travel to Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns.
Contact Olivia at (812) 963-8920, or e-mail odambassador@sbcglobal.net for more information.
Creating Congregational Cultures of Generosity
Workshops will be presented Monday, May 18 in Indianapolis and on Wednesday, June 10 in Evansville, for faith leaders who want to be “creating congregational cultures of generosity.”
William Enright and Richard Klopp, leaders at the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving, will discuss congregations, stewardship and giving as a way of life — rather than an annual campaign.
Contact the Center for Congregations, (812) 618-2012 or visit www.centerforcongre-gations.org.
‘How the good news gets around’
Sunday, May 17, is the day set aside for the Catholic Communications Campaign collection in parishes throughout the United States. Half of all funds collected stay in the diocese. The other half supports development and production of a wide range of media initiatives carried out by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
See www.CatholicCommunicationCampaign.org.
Musicians to meet
The National Association of Pastoral Musi-cians will hold its annual convention, “Sing to the Lord!” from July 6 to 10 in Chicago. The convention will include more than 150 workshops, master classes and clinics.
Registration forms are available at www.npm.org.
Ascension to be observed Sunday, May 24
Scripture informed us that 40 days after Easter the Lord ascended into heaven, said Matt Miller, diocesan director of worship in a recent newsletter. Ascension was long celebrated liturgically as a holy day of obligation. “In 1998, however, because of dwindling attendance and wanting as many of the faithful as possible to be able to gather to celebrate this great feast, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (now the USCCB) petitioned the Holy See for permission to allow U.S. ecclesiastical provinces to vote to move Ascension to the following Sunday (Seventh Sunday of Easter).
The Holy See approved this request in 1999. Subsequently, the province of Indianapolis (which contains the Diocese of Evansville) voted to move Ascension to the seventh Sun-day of Easter, where it remains to this day.
Therefore, the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord will be celebrated on Sunday, May 24, 2009.
Memorial Day
Catholic Center offices of the Diocese of Evansville will be closed on Monday, May 25, Memorial Day.
Bulletin board items, advertising commmitments and other materials submitted to the Message should be received by noon on Thursday, May 21, one day earlier than usual.