October 28, 2011
Jasper K of C Council 1584 celebrates 100 years
Members of the Msgr. Wernsing 4th Degree Assembly Honor Guard join Father Ray Brenner and Bishop Charles C. Thompson during the 100 year anniversary celebration for the Jasper Knights of Columbus Council 1584. Above, the group includes, front row, Father Brenner, Joe Steltenpohl, Bishop Thompson, second row, Ray Persohn Jr., Steve Hopf, third row, John Seng, Kenneth Leisman, Ron Seger, Ron Hoppenjans, Bernie Fallon, Noel Fleck, fourth row, Raymie Eckerle, Joe Fierst, Jason Schmitt, Steve Dunn, Daniel Buechlein, Gene Hurm, fifth row, Michael Leisman, Mike Hoppenjans, Ernie Jacques, Ed Hopf and Chad Lueken. Click for a larger version.
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
A few tears, a lot of smiles and just a few words marked the evening as Amy Hagedorn went to Mass with her family and friends on the night before beginning her postulancy with the Little Sisters of the Poor.
Hagedorn, 26, left southern Indiana Oct. 21 to go to Washington, D.C., where she was to start her formation program at a home similar to the home for the aged operated by the Little Sisters of the Poor in Evansville.
“Excited . . . nervous,” she said, searching for the words to describe her mood in the moment before Mass and the evening celebration marking her departure from home and her entry into religious life.
Her sister, Mary Jo, stood with her outside the doors of the Little Sisters’ chapel, and together they settled on the words to describe the occasion: “Amy, who always loved helping others, is beginning a new way to serve other people.”
Amy is a certified nursing assistant whose life up to now has included volunteering at Little Sisters and working as a nurse two years at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville. She is a graduate of the University of Evansville, and was an active member in campus ministry leadership.
She has also been active in the Teens Encounter Christ community and Source and Summit — the annual retreat weekend for youth and young adults focused on the Eucharist.
It was at the Source and Summit weekend in April this year that she made her decision to plunge into religious life. Other postulants for the Little Sisters have already begun the program in Washington, D.C., but Amy delayed her entry so she could be with her family at the wedding of her brother Shawn a week ago.
The formation program she has now entered includes postulancy – which takes about nine months. Then there is a two-year novitiate in Queens, N.Y., after which a woman may take her first vows as a member of the community.
After the first vows will be a period of five to seven more years at a home for the aged somewhere in the world, and during that time there is a year-long “second novitiate” at the motherhouse in France – to prepare for final vows as a life-long member of the community.
These are big steps, with a certain amount of uncertainty, but Hagedorn was eager to move ahead. She might choose the name, “Sister Amy Catherine” in honor of her grandparents, but that’s a decision still in the future. Leaving home, family and friends is the present reality.
“My parents are supportive,” she said, “but I know they will miss me.”
Her parents are Joe and Marilyn Hagedorn — and like their daughter, needed only a few words to describe the moment.
“Proud,” said Marilyn, with tears in her eyes. “We’re a pretty close-knit family,” Joe said to explain their mixed emotions.
The family home for the Hagedorns – Joe and Marilyn and their five daughters and two sons – is in Perry County near Tell City, Ind. Their pastor at St. Mark Church, Father Dennis Duvelius, came to concelebrate the Mass at Little Sisters. Benedictine Father Barnabas Gillespie from churches at Troy and Cannelton, Ind., also concelebrated.
Father Ted Tempel, chaplain at Little Sisters, was the main celebrant. Also concelebrating were several priests of the Diocese of Evansville, including Father Robert Deig who resides at the home; Father Bernie Etienne, vicar general; and Father Alex Zenthoefer, diocesan vocations director.
“We pray everyday for vocations here,” said Father Tempel, during the Mass. “Amy, you are a sure sign that God answers our prayers.”