BELMONT — Parishioners of Queen of the Apostles Church took a closer look at discipleship and humility this Lent, taking part in a multimedia Lenten study entitled “Foot Washing: A Model of Christian Living.”
During the four-week study crafted by their pastor, Father Frank Cancro, participants considered the humble act of foot washing as they contemplated how they could better serve Christ and each other. They also considered what actions they could take to ensure lasting conversion in their own hearts and the hearts of others.
The study was part of the parish’s ongoing small community faith groups, which enable parishioners to interact more closely with one another and encourage each other’s faith beyond weekly Mass attendance and general parish activities.
This particular Lenten study focused on the commitment of washing another’s feet – following the example of Christ with His disciples at the Last Supper – and the personal outreach to others that foot-washing signifies. To boost interest in the program, button pins advertising the effort were even handed out to parishioners that read “Got feet? Let me wash ’em.”
“Our Small Community Faith Study Group programs are published twice a year, one in Advent and one in Lent,” explains Debbie Seeger, the parish’s faith formation director. “These studies provide an opportunity to build community among our parish members and to educate the participants in the faith. It is also designed to challenge those involved to take their faith into the reality of everyday life.”
The DVD studies are produced in-house with video assistance from parishioner John Oshman.
The growing Belmont parish has seen these study groups becoming more and more popular as new members are called to serve in this ministry of helping others grow their faith.
Parishioners who are homebound and anyone else who is interested can also take part in the studies by going to the parish’s website to view the materials and find the Scripture, questions and prayer for each week’s study.
Father Cancro notes, “This small group process is a significant part of our overall commitment to not only forming Catholic adults in the faith, but also challenging them to put on the mantle of discipleship.”
One of the study group facilitators, Roger Duncan, says the effort “brings others together in such a holy and sacred time of the year” and “help us to grow stronger and closer together as family.”
“We are to grow in wisdom of understanding our faith and who we are as children of God,” Duncan says. “It is a time to come together as community to open our hearts to receive what this time of the season truly means. As we share our thoughts on the readings and Father’s commentary, we begin to understand perhaps what each of us believes and how we can live out a deeper understanding of God’s call for all of us.”
During the seasons of Lent and Advent, the parish’s usual Bible studies go on hiatus so that parishioners can focus instead on the small faith group studies.
According to facilitator Mary Kane, “The small faith group study of ‘Footwashing’ provided the most robust and lively discussion of any of our previous studies. Father Frank presented the simple tradition of the washing of the feet and used it as a powerful message that enabled us to deepen our understanding of what it means to be a Catholic in today’s world.”
She notes, “We are called to be servants and wash between the toes of others. We will never look at feet the same way.”
– SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
MIDLAND — More than 500 young people and adults from across the Diocese of Charlotte attended the annual Catholic Camporee March 2-4 at Belk Scout Camp.
The 42nd annual camporee’s theme was “Young, Faithful and Called,” and Scouters of all ages enjoyed a weekend of fun scouting activities, food and fellowship.
The camporee culminated with Mass, offered March 4 by Father Christopher Bond, parochial vicar of St. Matthew Church in Charlotte. Father Bond commended the young people for focusing on their faith as part of their Scouting activities.
Pictured: Seven Scout leaders in the Diocese of Charlotte were honored for their leadership March 2 during the annual Catholic Camporee. The highest national recognition in Catholic scouting, the St. George Emblem, was bestowed on Joe Hack of St. Mark Church’s Pack 97 and Troop 97 in Huntersville (right and below). Six Scout leaders received the Bronze Pelican emblem, the highest adult honor given locally in Catholic scouting: Richard Cashman, Troop 288, St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte; Joe and Carrie Fernald, both of Troop 958, St. Leo Church in Winston-Salem; Bill Hobbs, Pack 8 and Troop 8, St. Matthew Church in Charlotte; and Carrie Robinson and Marilyn Wilson, both of Troop 26, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in High Point. (Photos by Patricia L. Guilfoyle | Catholic News Herald)
After Mass, religious emblems exemplifying the Catholic ideals of Scouting were awarded.
The highest national recognition in Catholic scouting, the St. George Emblem, was bestowed on Joe Hack, of St. Mark Church’s Pack 97 and Troop 97 in Huntersville, for his outstanding and sustained contributions to the spiritual development of youth in Scouting under Catholic auspices. He was nominated for the national award by multiple Scout leaders for his Christian witness and leadership.
During more than two decades as a Scout leader, Hack has served in numerous leadership positions with the pack and the troop since he and his family moved to Huntersville and joined the parish in 1997. Notably, he helped develop the youth religious emblem program at Troop 97, which has grown to be one of the most successful in the Diocese of Charlotte, the nominating committee said.
Hack and his wife Kathy are also active in their faith in other ways, teaching Natural Family Planning classes in the diocese and serving with Cursillo and the parish’s LifeTeen program.
“But perhaps more important has been the example Joe has set, consistently demonstrating and expressing a love of God for the scouts,” the committee noted.
Six other Scout leaders were honored for their service with the Bronze Pelican emblem, the highest adult honor given locally in Catholic scouting: Richard Cashman, Troop 288, St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte; Joe and Carrie Fernald, both of Troop 958, St. Leo Church in Winston-Salem; Bill Hobbs, Pack 8 and Troop 8, St. Matthew Church in Charlotte; Carrie Robinson, Troop 26, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in High Point; and Marilyn Wilson, Troop 26, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in High Point.
Scouts who earned their Catholic religious emblems during the course of the Scouting year were also recognized.
St. Joseph College Seminary student Matt Harrison, who is an Eagle Scout, visited with Scouts during the Catholic Camporee.Light of Christ recipients were from Pack 260: Carson Nicholas Wilson; Pack 8: Jacob Carson, Luke Lyberg, William Malheiro, Ryan McNally, Ethan Pereira, Jackson Perno, William Roth, Ethan Strain, Ryan Ward, Lee Wofford and Jacob Wolf; Pack 16: Ronan Crilly, Miles Gladstone and Ryan Kalbaugh; Pack 97: Joseph “Hank” Aiello, Carter Gilbert, Tyler Gilbert, Patrick Lis and William “Liam” McClusky; and Pack 174: Brendan Anderson.
Parvuli Dei recipients were from Pack 31: Kaden Pohlmon; Pack 260: Conner Alexander Wilson; Pack 171: Nicholas Moore and Sean Raffan; Pack 8: Raymond Defabio, Nathan Gilbert, Andrew Hobbs, Daniel Loughran, Jason Pereira, Brady Roberts, Enzo Turner, Jared Ward, Lee Wofford, Joseph Wood, Simon Wood, Luke Wolf and Mark Zaric; Pack 164: Brady Johnson, Patrick Johnson, Ceolfrid Philomin, Brendan Roman and Jack Roman; Pack 16: Logan Koch and Ronan Crilly; Pack 97: Zebulon “Zeb” Kolb; Pack 721: Trevor Boland; and Pack 363: Aidan Bennett.
Ad Altare Dei recipients were from Troop 958: Owen Hopgood; and Troop 8: Aidan Abbinante, Ryan Hobbs, Will Kennedy, Alexander Knudsen, Seamus Murphy, Alex Pezold, Caden Roberts, Brian Smith and Mark Smith.
Pope Pius XII award recipients were from Troop 26: Lei Bui, Matthew Garmer, Christopher Wilson and Peter Wilson; Troop 103: Peter Sparks; Venture Crew 12: Christopher Silvestri and Nathan Silvestri.
Matilda Silvestri of Venture Crew 12 received the Spirit Alive Award.
Pillars of Faith awards were earned by Owen Hopgood of Troop 958; Peter Sparks of Troop 103; Lei Bui, Christopher Wilson and Peter Wilson of Troop 26; and Christopher Silvestri, Matilda Silvestri and Nathan Silvestri of Venture Crew 12.
Matilda Silvestri was the first female Scout in the Charlotte diocese to earn the Pillars of Faith award, which is a special recognition to those youth in Scouting who have earned all four of the Catholic religious awards.
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor
More about the Catholic Scouting religious emblems
Ministry to young people is an important aspect of the Church’s life and mission. One of the ways that the Church ministers to young people is through both Boy and Girl Scouting. Through the National Catholic Committee on Scouting and the National Catholic Committee for Girl Scouts and Camp Fire USA, recognitions for adult and youth members are developed and implemented so that the youth in Scouting can learn more about their Catholic faith.
For Boy and Cub Scouts and boys in Venturing Crews, there are four religious recognitions offered to those of the Catholic faith:
· The Light of Christ emblem is for 6- and 7-year-olds in hopes that the Cub Scout will see Jesus as a friend.
· The Parvuli Dei award is for Cub Scouts who are 8 to 10 years old with the goal of discovering how God is a presence in their lives and to be aware of the contributions that they can make to their community.
· The Ad Altare Dei Award is for Boy Scouts who have completed the sixth grade to see how the sacraments are a means towards spiritual growth.
· The Pope Pius XII award is for high school Boy Scouts to discover how different life choices both in the form of vocations and occupations are calls from God.
Mark Mellon, a Life Scout with Troop 109 and a member of St. Elizabeth Church, is working towards his Ad Altare Dei award. He believes it is important for Catholic Scouts to earn these recognitions.
“It really helps to deepen your understanding of the faith and the mysteries that occur during the sacraments and Mass.”
Owen Hopgood from Boy Scout Troop 958, chartered with St. Leo the Great Church in Winston-Salem, was recently awarded the Pillars of Faith award, which is given to Scouts (boys and girls) who earn all of their Catholic Scout recognitions.
He said the Pope Pius XII emblem was the hardest award to earn, as there was a lot of discussion. But through these awards, Hopgood said, he learned more about the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and saw how the Scout Law and the Ten Commandments compared with each other.
For Girl Scouts and girls in Venturing Crews, there are six Catholic recognitions that they can earn:
· Girls in kindergarten and first grade can earn the God is Love award, where girls discover an appreciation that God love them.
· The Family of God award is for second- and third-graders where girls discover the presence of God in their lives through their families and their parishes.
· I Live My Faith award, for girls in fourth and fifth grades, helps them discover what it means to be Catholic and how the sacraments and prayer fit into those beliefs.
· Girls in the sixth through eighth grades can earn the Mary, the First Disciple award where they will get to more intimately know Mary.
· The Spirit Alive is for ninth- and 10th-graders to discover how the Holy Spirit is alive in their lives.
· For 11th and 12th grade girls, Missio helps the girls discover what discipleship means in their own lives. Missio was jointly created by the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States and the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry.
Alicia Smith of Troop 1768, which meets at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte, was one of the moms who helped to coordinate the Family of God award for the Brownies in her Girl Scout unit.
She said the girls were happy to work through the program and that they were able to learn more about the Church, especially more about the faith outside of going to Mass and attending Scouting activities.
Both national Scouting programs also have ways to honor the adult Scout leaders who guide boys and girls along their journey of faith.
The St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and the St. Anne Award are given to exemplary Girl Scout leaders, and the St. George and Bronze Pelican emblems are awarded to exemplary Boy Scout leaders.
The national Scouting programs also have patch programs to help Scouts learn about the rosary, the saints or scripture.
The NCCGSF also develops patches yearly to encourage the girls to learn more about their Catholic heritage. In 2017, there was a patch in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima and in 2016 there was a patch for the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
Theresa and Hannah Copenhaver, members of Girl Scout Troop 10492, which meets at St. Elizabeth Church in Boone, both liked earning the Our Lady of Fatima patch and learning more about the story of the three seers of Fatima.
— Amber Mellon, correspondent
For more information:
http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/who-we-teach/youth/catholic-scouting.cfm
http://www.nfcym.org/about-nccgscf/