January 28, 2011
People of Faith:
‘What is really important in life’
BY STEVE HALBIG
The People of Faith feature is compiled by Steve Halbig, who asks a series of questions of people of the diocese — some who have reached the “age of wisdom” and some who are younger. For this feature, Deacon Phil Pierpont interviewed Diane Bono of Vincennes, and she shares her faith.
Diane Bono, wife of Bud Bono, mother of six children, grandmother of 13, and step-grandmother of another three, has lived her entire life in Indiana and has been a lifelong member of Sacred Heart Church in Vincennes.
As a young girl, Diane was the quiet member of a sometimes boisterous family. While her siblings sought out careers beyond Vincennes, Diane says that her early goals were to marry and raise a family much like the one in which she grew up. She also says that she was heavily influenced not only in her family life, but also her spiritual life by her mother who had a particular devotion to Mary. She was also influenced by the nuns who taught at Sacred Heart School, and she still maintains contact with her second-grade teacher, Sister Wilma, who now is in retirement at Ferdinand. She remembers that one of her nun-teachers always told her to “smile at everyone,” because you never know when it might lift someone’s spirit.
These influences have led her to a lifelong habit of prayer and service. It was a recognition of her selfless service that caused her to be nominated in the parish for the Mother Teresa Award. She daily says a prayer called “Little Things,” and also the full “Serenity Prayer.” The persons she holds as role models in this life involve not only lay people like Mary Weiler, now in her 90s who was her role model as wife and young mother, and other members of her Vincennes prayer group such as Katie Carie, Ramona Thompson, Virginia Walker and Susie Hagerty. She also holds in high regard saintly figures like Mother Teresa and St. Teresa of Avila. For a time she was very active as a lay member of the Carmelite Monastery at Terre Haute and was inspired to live in the “little way” of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus. She is very grateful to her friend, Lucille Pierpont, who first introduced her to Carmel.
When asked how she has dealt with difficult times in her life — the deaths of family and close friends, serious illnesses in her family, Diane says that she has always found peace through her life of prayer. She says that such trials have taught her “what is really important in life,” and she has followed up on those convictions by serving the needs, physical and spiritual, of her fellow parishioners. In fact, her only real “hobby,” as she called it, is sending get well and prayer cards to persons who have been ill or have experienced a loss in their families.
Her early memories of her life as a Catholic include her First Holy Communion — and later that of each of her children — and participating in “Forty Hour” devotions and processions. When asked what she liked most about being Catholic, Diane didn’t focus on any one particular thing, but rather she said that she couldn’t imagine not being Catholic. She feels thankful that being Catholic has offered her so many opportunities to gain grace through prayers and good works, and thankful that the Church offers so much hope to her and others. Her positive thoughts about life as a Catholic make it no surprise that her favorite saints are St. Thérèse of the Little Flower, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St. Padre Pio and St. Faustina. Diane also says that she frequently thinks of and prays to the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance.
If she could change anything about this Church that she so loves, Diane thinks that it might be a good idea to make celibacy and married life options for the priesthood. She feels that God has chosen many holy people to be celibate and to live remarkable lives, but she also feels that many who are called to married life could also serve well as priests and models for family life to their parishioners. She understands, of course, that married life joined to priestly life would require special persons with special devotions to the Lord.
When asked what part of her spiritual life she would recommend to others and what wisdom of life she would impart to others, Diane said that she prays “first thing every morning,” and that that habit of prayer has affected the way she has lived her whole life. She recommends to young people that they form a habit of prayer early in life — a habit that then would be easier to maintain as they grow more mature. She hopes that young people know that “God loves us,” and that they should know that love is sometimes a two-way street, i.e., that they have to pray for belief and that they sometimes have to want spiritual comfort from God in order to recognize it as genuine when it comes. Sometimes we gain this recognition only when we take a step back from the world.
Diane was originally very reluctant to take part in this interview because she felt like “such a hypocrite when so many other people do so many good things.” After all, she said, “Who would want to be like me?” She feels that she is who she is because she has gotten so many blessings and encouraging words from her Church, her family, friends, and, most importantly, from her husband.