In the Feb. 27 Catholic Telegraph
Catholic Schools Week celebrations postponed due to inclement weather are celebrated belatedly
Your complete guide to Lenten fish fries throughout the archdiocese
As we conclude Black History Month, a black Catholic nun discusses her role in the 1960s civil rights movement
The Catholic world
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The losses incurred by Catholic institutions in the stock market since last autumn are roughly the same as the hits taken by other investors, according to a financier who estimates he gives investment advice to more U.S. dioceses than any other firm. Losses of about 25 percent in an investment portfolio "would certainly have been in the ballpark" for "Catholic foundations, endowments and pension plans, but also corporate and public en-dowment plans" across the country, said Steve Schott, a managing principal at CapTrust in Miami. Schott, in a Feb. 13 telephone interview with Catholic News Service from Miami, offered a guarded prognosis for church-based investors in 2009. He acknowledged that nobody had a crystal ball to see that the bottom would drop out of the financial markets at the end of 2008, and repeated a fam-iliar mantra that the outlook "may get worse before it gets better" this year. "We are biased to protect capital, and be defensive," said Schott, who is a Knight of St. Gregory and a trustee of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington.
YONKERS, N.Y. (CNS) -- President Barack Obama called Archbishop Tim-othy M. Dolan Feb. 23 to congratulate the Milwaukee archbishop on his ap-pointment as head of the New York Archdiocese, according to news reports. The 59-year-old archbishop spoke about what he called the "extraordinarily gra-cious" call during a late afternoon visit to St. Joseph's Seminary in the Yonkers suburb of Dunwoodie, where he cele-brated evening vespers and had dinner with seminarians. Archbishop Dolan said that when he received the call he thought at first that his brother was playing a joke on him. He said he and the president briefly discussed the financial problems facing the United States, with Archbishop Dolan offering a tongue-in-cheek solution — that the church hold additional collections. Archbishop Dolan invited Obama to his April 15 installation in St. Patrick's Cathedral and said the president told him, "I assure you of my prayers."
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Following weeks of controversy involving two of his decisions, Pope Benedict XVI has twice cautioned against destructive polemics inside the church. The pope, speaking in German at his noon blessing Feb. 22, asked for prayers to St. Peter so that "disturbances and storms do not shake the church" and that Catholics remain united in faith and love. Two days earlier, addressing students at Rome's diocesan seminary, the pope recalled St. Paul's admonition to Galatian Christians not to "go on biting and devouring one another" but instead to be guided by the Spirit. "St. Paul refers here to the polemics that emerge where faith degenerates into intellectualism and humility is replaced by the arrogance of being better than the other," the pope said. "We see clearly that today, too, there are similar sit-uations where, instead of joining in com-munion with Christ, in the body of Christ which is the church, each one wants to be superior to the other and with intellectual arrogance maintains that he is better," he said.
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Around the archdiocese
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All across the archdiocese rice bowls are appearing on tables — not for serving food, but to help Catholics observe Lent. There are 75 parishes, schools and a university participating in Operation Rice Bowl locally.“The cardboard rice bowls serve as a reminder that in Lent our faith calls us to fast, pray and give alms,” said Pam Long, archdiocesan director for Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community. “Operation Rice Bowl gives us a fourth Lenten tradition – to learn about our brothers and sisters throughout the world and to stand in solidarity with them.” Twenty-five percent of the Operation Rice Bowl gifts remain in the archdiocese and support local hunger and poverty alleviation efforts. For the second year the Catholic Social Action Office will encourage archdiocesan participants in Operation Rice Bowl to submit an application for two $500 grants. One grant is given for the best new participating parish or school and a second grant is for the most improved previous participant. The grants are designed to help further the social justice work in parishes or schools. For more information about Operation Rice Bowl call Long at 937-224-3026.
Dayton Right to Life and University of Dayton Students for Life present “The Franchising of Sex and Abortion,” a talk by Dr. Angela Franks, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, at UD’s Sears Recital Hall. Dr. Franks is the author of “Margaret Sanger’s Eugenic Legacy: the Control of Female Fertility.”The Athenaeum Chorale, under the direction of music director Anthony DiCello, will present Sunday Vespers at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 8, the Second Sunday in Lent. The vespers, held in the Chapel of St. Gregory the Great at the Athenaeum of Ohio/Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Mt. Washington, will highlight choral music of the Lenten season including Beati Quorum Via (Stanford); Cor Mundum (Helvey); and Ave Regina Caelorum (de la Rue). Father Earl Fernandes, dean of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, will preside at the liturgy.
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Men (and their wives) who are interested in learning more about the role of deacons in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati are invited to attend a meeting on Monday, April 20, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., at the Spiritual Center of Maria Stein. There will be a time for questions and discussion. If you plan on attending call Barry Mersmann, director of the Office of the Diaconate or Karen Brannon, in the Office of the Diaconate, at 513-421-3131 or call the Cluster office, 419-678-4118.
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In honor of the Year of St. Paul, the Holy Father has offered a plenary indulgence to those who make a sacramental Confession and Eucharistic Communion, offer prayers for the Holy Father and make a visit to one of the parish churches established by Archbishop Pilarczyk as a pilgrimage site: Sts. Peter and Paul, Reading; St. Paul, Englewood; St. Paul, Yellow Springs; Sts. Peter and Paul, Newport; St. Paul, Sharpsburg; and St. Teresa of Avila, Cincinnati. Persons wishing to make a visit should contact the parish. Learn more about the Year of St. Paul and the indulgence at www.catholiccincinnati.org/worship
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Storytellers: Youth Ministry Through Drama will present a message of faith and hope in Robert Fulghum’s “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: The Musical” at several Archdiocese parishes. Shows, featuring area high school students, are 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, at Ascension in Kettering; Saturday, Feb. 28 at St. John in Tipp City; March 6 at St. Brigid in Xenia, and March 7 at St. Christopher in Vandalia. Tickets are $5 each, sold at the door.
The Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains “Lunch with the Lord” Lenten Scripture Study, led by Father Mark Burger, begins on Thursday, Feb. 26 and continues through April 2 each Thursday at noon in the Synod Hall. The series is free and open to the public. Bring your lunch. Drinks are available for purchase. For more information, call 513-421-5354.
A Lenten Day of Reflection, “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me,” will be led by Mary Malloy from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, March 2, at St. John Vianney Church (Cincinnati). Participants are encouraged to bring a Bible and a notebook or journal. The cost of $10 per person includes coffee and rolls at 8:30 a.m. as well as lunch. All are welcome. For more information, call the church office at register: 513-271-0856.
St. Cecilia Church in Oakley invites you to share in their Lenten Prayer Services at 7 p.m. on the six Thursday evenings of Lent, March 5 through April. These are Evening Prayer services with various speakers, beginning with Father Anthony Brausch of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, speaking March 5 on “The Eucharist: The Heart of Lent.”
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The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick (FSSP) Glee Club will perform in concert at the College of Mount St. Joseph on Friday, March 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the College Theatre. Tickets are $10/person and all proceeds will benefit the FSSP Scholarship Foundation. Tickets are available for purchase online at www.ticketalternative.com, or by calling the Mount’s Department of Music at 513-244-4863. They can also be purchased at the Mount’s Ticket Office, located in the Theatre Lobby, the night of the show.
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The fourth annual House of Bread Hunger Awareness dinner fundraiser, sponsored by the Catholic Order of Foresters and the Wright State University Social Work Club, will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, March 6, at 9 Orth Avenue, Dayton. he meal, designed to raise awareness of hunger, is the same as served at the House of Bread – fish of the day, rice, salad, dessert, and beverages. There will be community leaders, guest speakers, and much more. Catholic Order of Foresters is matching all contributions/ticket purchases dollar for dollar up to $1,500. Tickets are $10, and all proceeds go directly to the House of Bread, the Dayton area’s only food kitchen. Buy tickets at the door or by calling Carl at 937-775-2751 or 937-277-4482.
The Adult Spirituality Institute offers its next Winter/Spring 2009 course, “Serving the Lord,” on Mondays, March 9 through March 30, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Athenaeum of Ohio in Mt. Washington. Fr. Timothy Scherer, professor of Biblical Studies at the Athenaeum, will explore selected Bible passages for their excellent examples of service to the Lord. The fee is $40 for the entire non-credit course. For more information, call 513-231-2223, extension 143.
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St. Vivian Parish in Finneytown will hold a “Lenten Hour of Reflection” on Sunday, March 8, at 8 p.m. in the church. Ron Miller, Jr., the music director at All Saints Church, will share one hour of inspirational music woven with meditations and scripture to deepen participants’ awareness of this powerful season.
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Catholic tradition of almsgiving gets special emphasis during Lent
"I was told by my parents, my teachers and the priest at our church that it was even more important to give to the needy during Lent, because we were honoring the fact that Jesus sacrificed so much for us," said the 38-year-old mother of two young children. "That has stayed with me all of these years and I think it's an important virtue and a way of celebrating our Catholicism," she said. "I'm teaching these same values to my children." Promoting almsgiving in the current economic climate, however, creates a challenge, but the need for charitable giving couldn't be greater this Lenten season, said Father William A. Moorby, pastor of Blessed Trinity and St. Patrick's churches in Owego, N.Y.
