MONROE — Our Lady of Lourdes parishioners had even more reason to celebrate their patronal feast day this year, as the parish commemorated its 75th anniversary with Mass offered by Bishop Peter Jugis. He was pastor of the parish in 2003 when he received the call from Rome to become the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte.
Concelebrating the Mass were one of the parish’s longtime former pastors, Spiritan Father Ed Vilkauskas, now retired, and current pastor Father Benjamin Roberts.
“The 75th anniversary is a very important milestone in the history of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish,” Bishop Jugis said during his homily. “The first sentiment that must come to our hearts is that of gratitude to Almighty God for giving (Raleigh) Bishop Eugene McGuinness in the early 1940s the wisdom and the foresight to establish this parish here in Monroe, Union County.”
Bishop Jugis looked out over the church, filled to capacity, and said, “Look how the Lord has made us grow! We are still growing in Christ with each passing year. Our numbers are increasing – a sign of God’s blessing.”
Bishop Jugis outlined three reasons for the parish’s existence.
“First, we come together as a parish family to worship God, by offering to God the Sacrifice of Christ in the Sacrifice of the Mass. It is the most important work of the parish,” he explained. “What we do here is more important than anything else that what happens in any other building on the campus. This place, the church, is most important because the most important activity of any parish is worshiping God.”
The second reason for the parish, he continued is “for your salvation, for your sanctification, to make you holy and to prepare you for eternal life. If we are not trying to accomplish that goal, then why are we here? As a social group? A fraternal organization? No, we are here for the work of your salvation – to make sure each one of you gets to heaven, to prepare you for eternal life.”
The third purpose of a parish is to be a center of evangelization, he said. “We are here, yes, for our own salvation, but Jesus created a Church also, as Pope Francis says, to go out into the world, to be a leaven of God’s mercy, love, holiness and salvation to all the world.”
Father Benjamin Roberts also spoke a few words at the anniversary Mass, directing his comments to both former pastors.
“Thank you seems to be inadequate,” he said.
He continued by explaining that the motto of the seminary he attended, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, is “exiit qui seminat’ (‘the one who goes out and sows’).
“The reason it is the motto of the seminary is that the priest is sent out to sow the seed of God. We are not the harvesters. We are the sowers of the seed. St. Paul expresses the same sentiment when he says, ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.’ There is something better that I can say to these two priests than ‘thank you.’ Your Excellency, Father Ed, behold your harvest!”
Parishioner Lorraine Michael attended Mass and staffed a table for the prayer shawl ministry in the narthex, accepting yarn donations from parishioners and handing out shawls to anyone who needed one. Bishop Jugis blessed the shawls and yarn donations after Mass, and Michael presented a few completed shawls to Bishop Jugis.
A member of the ministry for three years, Michael said, “I needed a niche, I wanted to do something; I couldn’t figure out what. When I heard about the prayer shawl committee, that was my open door. I love it because we find ways to help people.”
She loves the parish, she added. “I found my home. It’s nice. Here, everyone has open arms. We have a nice mixed group. We have a good Hispanic community and an Anglo community.”
Danny Gurley, a former Baptist who came into the Church four years ago at Our Lady of Lourdes and was baptized by Father Roberts, was emotional when he met Bishop Jugis in person for the first time and asked him to bless a rosary.
“I almost want to cry,” Gurley said. “He’s an amazing man, a very godly man.”
Carol Ford, who served as lector at Mass, is a longtime parishioner who has been active in several ministries over the years. She has been at the parish since relocating from the Northeast with her family in 1979.
“When I realized I was on the schedule to read today for the bishop, I was very excited,” Ford said. “The little chapel (the original church) was not full back then. You knew if a new person came in, which was pretty nice. It was 80 families then. We have seen massive growth.”
Father Vilkauskas has the distinction of being the longest-serving pastor in the parish’s 75-year history, serving from 1988 to 2000. He also served as the evangelization director for the Diocese of Charlotte during that time.
“I was here for the 50th anniversary celebration,” he recalled. “There were some of the original parishioners here and they had the stories and the tales from 1942. This parish is built on the grounds of the former Camp Sutton. The soldiers (from the Northeast) met young ladies here and married and they stayed with their brides in Monroe. Mass was at the priest’s house in Monroe then. The soldiers formed the core group, and stayed on.”
“This is a very active parish,” he said. “A very dynamic parish, like most of the diocese. (Unlike the Northeast) here, it’s keeping up with the growth.”
“Every priest is running in order to keep up!” he joked.
During his homily, Bishop Jugis reminded everyone gathered of the reason why they were there.
“Our purpose, here at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, is to be evangelizers – to take the love of Christ that we celebrate here and not keep it locked up within ourselves, but take the love of Christ that fills your hearts and carry it with you into all of your activities out there in the community – joyfully living your faith out there in the world, so that people can come to know of Jesus through you.
“This is the mission, this is why we are here.”
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
BELMONT — The Sisters of Mercy and Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte hosted a service Feb. 8, the feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, to pray for an end to human trafficking.
The public and the sisters gathered together at the Sacred Heart Convent Chapel to pay homage to the patron saint of Sudan, held captive as a slave, suffering torture and abuse. The service was led by Catholic Charities’ Respect Life Program Director Jessica Grabowski; Tammy Harris, Respect Life coordinator at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte; Deacon Chip Wilson from Queen of the Apostles Church in Belmont; Joseph Purello, Catholic Charities’ director of Social Concerns and Advocacy; and Mercy Sister Rose Marie Tresp, director of justice for the sisters’ South Central Community.
“We came together as a community to pray for an end to human trafficking and for the victims of trafficking on this important day,” Grabowski said. “Trafficking is a human life and dignity issue, as it devalues human life in a way that hurts not only all those involved in the trafficking industry but the social and economical pillars of our society. Here at Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte we are working to raise awareness of this issue, call for more prayer, and collaborate with other community organizations who are actively fighting this issue and protecting victims who have been trafficked.”
Pictured: A Feb. 8 service to pray for the end to human trafficking was led by Catholic Charities’ Respect Life Program Director Jessica Grabowski; Tammy Harris, Respect Life coordinator at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte; Joseph Purello, Catholic Charities’ director of Social Concerns and Advocacy; Mercy Sister Rose Marie Tresp, director of justice for the sisters’ South Central Community; and Deacon Chip Wilson from Queen of the Apostles Church in Belmont.(Lisa Geraci |Catholic News Herald)
The service was filled with intentional prayerful silences, a reading of Psalm 126, a biography of St. Bakhita, and recitation of the “Prayer for an End to Human Trafficking” by Catholic Relief Services.
Mouths recited the prayer beginning with the line, “Oh God, we didn’t see them...”
This sentiment might ring true for many people, but Harris, development director at Redeeming Joy (a faith-based non-profit that ministers to female sex-trafficking victims), knows all too well that the problem of human trafficking in Charlotte is not hard to find.
“This population is being overlooked,” Harris said. “We need to focus on them and give them aid. If there is a marginalized population that is ignored, we (the Church) have an obligation to serve them.”
With eyes shut, attendees continued praying, “But you (God) did...”
Attendee Kara Griffin recalled the moment when she saw Pope Francis hug a prostitute and told her, “Today I ask for forgiveness from all of you, for all Christians and Catholics that abused you, and forgiveness from me for not praying enough for you and this slavery.”
“I cried. It was one of the most beautiful things I ever saw,” she said.
Fingers clasped in prayer as the next lines of the prayer echoed off the chapel’s arched ceiling: “The hundreds and thousands of human beings trafficked each year to join the millions who are trapped in modern-day slavery...”
Contrary to most assumptions, trafficking is a problem here in the United States, not just abroad. Harris explained, “Charlotte is the 10th-largest sex trafficking hub in the country. No city wants to admit they have a sex trafficking problem. Yet, in 2016, the National Human Trafficking Hotline identified approximately 2,700 victims of trafficking in North Carolina. Unfortunately, these estimates are underrepresenting the reality of the severe situation, since a lot of cases go unreported or undercharged.”
The crowd continued in prayer: “Under terrible conditions, they work in factories, plow fields, harvest crops, work quarries, fill brothels, clean homes, and haul water...”
Sister Rose Marie Tresp noted, “Most of us don’t realize how much we benefit from human slavery, as what we buy is very cheap but due to modern-day slavery.”
The prayer went on to describe: “Many are children with tiny fingers for weaving rugs and small shoulders for bearing rifles...”
Harris pointed out, “The average age of entry into sex trafficking is 12 to 14 years old. On average, the lifespan of a victim of sex trafficking is seven years, due to the violent nature of this crime. Foster children, homeless children, kids from broken homes, and kids with learning disabilities are high-risk potential victims.”
Looking up at a beaten and bloody Jesus on the crucifix, attendees continued to pray: “Their labor is forced, their bodies beaten, their faces hidden from those who don’t really want to see them...”
Harris described a harsh reality for trafficking victims, many of whom “can be anyone’s little girl or boy.”
“Most of these girls have been beaten to a pulp, raped over 20 times a night, and some have seen people killed with their own eyes. It is a lot easier to see trafficking if we imagine: ‘Oh, that girl was kidnapped and thrown in a truck.’ It is a lot harder to see grooming as: ‘Oh, little Suzie has an inappropriate relationship with someone on Facebook and he is not really in California, he is down the street, and he is not really 17, he is 20.’ It is a lot harder to see that path that this child is going down. Perpetrators will typically spend nine months grooming a young girl into the life of sex trafficking.”
Eyes started opening in prayer: “But you see them all, God of the poor. You hear their cry and you answer...”
These Catholics know God and have seen miracles.
“By opening our eyes, and breaking our hearts...” they prayed.
“We need to change our mindset,” Harris said. “We really need to wrap our heads around the fact that they are all victims. Pope Francis asked the prostitute for her forgiveness. This is a really good model for us Catholics. We don’t have a right to shame. We never walked a day in their shoes; we don’t know what they endured.”
They ended in prayer: “And loosening our tongues to insist: No mas. No more. Amen.”
— Lisa Geraci, Correspondent
Come learn more about how to combat human trafficking
CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Church will host a Forum on Human Trafficking starting at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 11, in New Life Center Room 239/240/241.
FBI Special Agent Karen Walsh, a St. Matthew parishioner, will talk about the realities of human trafficking in Charlotte.
Walsh will share tips on how to operate safely in today’s world of social media, how to identify the signs of human trafficking, and how to obtain help if you suspect someone is being trafficked.
Father Christopher Bond will speak about the messages from Pope Francis and the U.S. Catholic Bishops about the dangers of human trafficking and why we, as faithful Catholics, cannot just close our eyes to this modern form of slavery.
Lanie George, a survivor of human trafficking, who serves as the executive director of Redeeming Joy, a local non-profit aiding victims of human trafficking, will also share her experiences.
St. Matthew Church is located at 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy. in Charlotte.
For details, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
— Catholic News Herald