January 29, 2010
Changing ourselves one mission at a time
By LINDA COX (Catholic Foundation of Southwestern Indiana, Inc.)
Reading the memoirs of the late Father Jim Lex, one sees that he began experiencing the benefit of mission trips many years ago. What Father Lex learned was that by taking these trips, a reverse mission was occurring for himself. As Third World countries received Christ, he was returning with the message of love and community to his parishes in this diocese.
In 2001, Father Lex established an endowment to allow others the benefit of experiencing this love. The endowment has helped send a young wom-an to Bolivia to work with Habitat, a family to Haiti to aid the people in an orphanage, and another to a Mexican border town. Others have gone on trips to Belize, South Africa and other countries as a result of the endowment and the annual distributions that have supported these trips.
Earlier this year, a committee wanted to increase the endowment that Father Lex established to allow more people to experience the immersion process. When Jim Schroeder responded to the appeal, he also sent a letter of appreciation for how the endowment has benefited his life. According to Schroeder, who has taken two mission trips to Carrefour Des Peres, Haiti, “the experience truly changed my life like no other Catholic/Christian experience that I have ever had. My 14 days in Haiti has helped me to pay more attention to the messages in the Bible more than any other educational experience in my lifetime.” According to Schroeder, “every day is a gift and I whole heartedly believe that all people who call themselves Catholic should be giving all they can to people in a Third World coun-try.”
Father Lex understood this ministry and lived by this philosophy. Proceeds from Father Lex’s book, “Fifty Years in a Jealous Marriage,” continue to support the endowment. His good friend, Father Earl Roh-leder, has also recently written a book, “Peace to the Whole Place.” It is the story of his journey and he hopes to help fund his mission to help young people become aware of their place in the quest for peace, as citizens of the world. Father Roh-leder has asked those who are enjoying the gift of his book to donate to the Global Social Justice endowment to allow more people to travel and experience the peace that comes with living with the people of another land.
For more information on the Global Social Justice Endowment, or for information about establishing an endowment at your parish, please contact the Catholic Foun-dation at (812) 424-5536 or by email at foundation@evdio.org.