August 21, 2009
St. John the Apostle Church to host Unity Mass
Father John Judie, a priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville and an internationally prominent preacher, will be the homilist at the sixteenth annual Unity Mass, to be celebrated at St. John the Apostle Church in Evansville on Sunday, Aug. 23 at 2 p.m. Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger will be the main celebrant, and all priests and deacons are invited to participate.
The Mass is hosted by St. John the Apostle Catholic Church on behalf of the Catholic Diocese of Evansville. The theme of the celebration is “We Are One,” and the Mass and reception are open to the entire community.
Guests are invited to wear ethnic attire, and to bring a covered dish for the reception if they wish.
Blessed Sacrament Sister Jane Nesmith, pastoral life coordinator, said the annual event “pro-mises to be an opportunity to celebrate our unity and to celebrate our diversity as one of God’s precious gifts to humanity.”
Father Judie was ordained to the priesthood on Aug. 1, 1987, and is currently pastor of Im-maculate Heart of Mary Church and Christ the King Church in Louisville.
Father Judie has been studying scripture and preaching since 1979, at various types of worship services in churches of different denominations in the United States, Mexico, Europe and East Africa.
He is also an accomplished musician and was involved in early consultations on the de-velopment of “Lead Me, Guide Me,” the first African American Catholic Hymnal ever produced. He also served on the committee which developed a pastoral letter on the liturgy for the Archdiocese of Louisville.
Since September 1998, he has been featured regularly on Ra-dio Icengelo, the Catholic Evangelization Radio Station in Ndola Diocese, Zambia. For this same period of time, his preaching has been aired regularly on the national television station in Zambia.
The book, “Priests are People, Too,” available from Thomas More Publications features a lengthy profile on Father Judie.