Published: 20 July 2016

SALISBURY — Five thousand miles away, students in a village in western Ghana are using a new computer lab. Patients suffering from malaria and skin infections are getting treatment. And everyone in town is grateful to the people of Sacred Heart Church and School, who reached across the miles with their hearts and their hands to help them.
Butre is a small fishing village nestled amid the sparkling white beaches of the Gulf of Guinea and the tropical rainforests that cover much of Africa’s west coast.

The Sacred Heart parish and school began serving this impoverish community several years ago and has developed a close relationship with the local pastor. According to Sacred Heart’s Principal Frank Cardelle, this “Ghana Friendship Mission Project” is all about living the Gospel.

“One of the fundamentals of our mission statement at Sacred Heart Catholic School includes teaching the importance of community service to our students,” Cardelle said. “We stress the unselfish dedication of time, talent, resources and prayer to those who are less fortunate. Class work is not all ‘talk.’ Our students participate in many community service projects throughout the school year, with our Ghana mission project lasting over 10 months.”

In June, 12 people including Cardelle made the 5,300-mile trek from Salisbury to Butre, bringing medical and school supplies collected over the past school year. The missionaries traveled in two mission trips June 4-10 and June 17-24. Father Noah Carter from Our Lady of Grace in Greensboro, the former parochial vicar of Sacred Heart Church, led the spiritual part of the mission team.

The first trip was led by Sacred Heart parent and hospitalist Dr. Matt Harrison and critical care nurse Jeffrey Motes, both from Novant Health Rowan Regional Medical Center; and Harrison’s daughter Rachel, a rising junior at Christ the King High School and 2014 Sacred Heart alumnus.

Harrison and Motes have both served in Ghana before – Harrison has made seven medical mission trips, and Motes one trip last year. The trip was conducted in partnership with Helping Hands Medical Missions.

The medical team went door to door, visiting homes built from handmade bricks and mud, searching for the sick and offering prayer and support.

They diagnosed and treated many tropical diseases such as malaria, elephantiasis, parasitic intestinal infections and skin infections. They counseled on nutrition, healthy drinking water and other community health concerns. They supplied medicines for pain, infection, allergy, hypertension and a host of other problems.

They traveled to three different villages – setting up temporary clinics in schools and even outdoors under pavilions – seeing more than 1,300 patients in five days.

“Every day was absolutely amazing and life changing,” said Harrison’s daughter Rachel. “We traveled to help serve and convert, promoting the Catholic faith through evangelization and assisting of the needy.”

The second group of Sacred Heart mission workers followed on June 17, bringing with them bookbags, school supplies, refurbished computers and iPads, and soccer uniforms and balls that had been collected by Sacred Heart students over the past school year.

The missionaries included Cardelle’s daughter Cecilia, a 2013 alumnus of Sacred Heart and a rising senior at Salisbury High School. She spent all last year raising money and collecting items for the mission trip, which she called “a privilege.”

“The experience was nothing short of life-changing,” she said.

“The people of Butre are truly like no other. To say that my father and I were welcomed with open arms is an incredible understatement. From the very first day, the townspeople, the school children, the teachers and even city officials accepted us with great hospitality and kindness.”

They worked at the Butre primary school for five days donating book bags, school supplies and setting up a computer lab composed of 10 laptops, four iPads and a projector.

“Our primary role was to set up the lab and train the teachers on how to use the interactive learning applications, Microsoft applications on the laptops, and the interactive projector. Eventually, we trained the students to do the same,” Cecilia explained.

“The gratitude that my dad and I received after completing the lab was unparalleled,” she added. “On our last day in Butre, the town held a dedication to thank us for the work we did. The celebration was full of life and rich in culture – a truly extraordinary experience.

“During our stay, the Butre people were nothing short of grateful for our work, but by the end of our trip I felt like I should be thanking them. The things that we were able to donate to those students can be measured in dollars, but the things those students gave to me was priceless.”

Cecilia has made the Ghana Friendship Mission part of her senior project at Salisbury High School. And the missionaries aim to return next year as well as establish relationships in the area to ensure ongoing medical care for the Ghanaian people they felt so privileged to serve.

— Robin Fisher, Special to the Catholic News Herald. Robin Fisher is the communications director of Sacred Heart School.

Learn more
At www.hhmm.org: Get more information on how to join or donate to these missions at the Helping Hands Medical Missions website. Contact Sacred Heart School at 704-633-2841 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to donate school supplies, book bags or computers in nice condition.

Published: 28 January 2016

This story was published Jan. 28, 2016

CHARLOTTE — Our Lady of Victory, pray for us!

That is the appeal from Charlotte-area Catholics as the Carolina Panthers gear up for Super Bowl 50 on Sunday, Feb. 7, against the Denver Broncos.

To help get Panthers fans into the game-day spirit, the Catholic News Herald, the newspaper for the Diocese of Charlotte, is promoting a novena to Our Lady of Victory starting Jan. 29. Catholics across the Charlotte diocese, as well as Panthers fans everywhere, are encouraged to come together in prayer to cheer on the NFC champion team, which recorded a stunning 17-1 season in 2015.

The Panthers are one of only 10 teams in NFL history to complete a regular season with just one loss.

They have been to the Super Bowl only one other time in franchise history – for Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston on Feb. 2, 2004, where they were defeated by the New England Patriots, 32-29.

The Patriots missed a rematch with the Panthers for this year's Super Bowl 50. But Denver beat New England for the AFC Championship, so the Panthers will face the Broncos (12-4) on Feb. 7 in Santa Clara, California. The Broncos are a seasoned team, one of only four teams to have made eight appearances in the Super Bowl.

On Jan. 28 as the Panthers finished practice, Catholic News Herald senior reporter SueAnn Howell caught up with All-Pro middle linebacker Luke Kuechly, just one of several Catholics on the team besides head coach Ron Rivera.

Kuechly credits his parents and his Catholic faith for having a positive impact not just on his NFL career, but on his outlook on life generally.

"I went to a Catholic grade school, Jesuit high school and a Jesuit college, and I think you just learn certain things growing up in that environment. Really, the biggest thing I learned from it is respect and to treat people correctly," he told the Catholic News Herald.

"Your background has something to do with it, but my parents I think were the biggest impact on that, as far as to be a good person. You know, it's not that hard, as long as you're nice to people, everything works out. Treat people how you want to be treated. It's pretty straightforward stuff, and I think it makes things easier."

Kuechly, a product of St. Xavier High School, a Catholic school for boys, near his hometown of Evendale, Ohio, and a graduate of Boston College, is known as a fierce competitor who does not give up, a natural and humble leader, the person everyone calls "the nicest guy on the team."

When he was in the fourth grade, Kuechly first played organized football with Cincinnati's Catholic Youth Organization.

At "St. X," Kuechly played linebacker and racked up 147 tackles, six sacks, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, two interceptions and a TD in his junior year. He helped his team go 15-0, winning the Division 1 Ohio state title. As a senior in 2008, he had 130 tackles, a sack, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and an interception. He was a two-time All Greater Catholic League selection at St. X, gaining first-team honors in 2008.

Kuechly, a three-time All America linebacker for Boston College, was the ninth overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft.

He was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in the 2012 season, and followed that up by being named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press in 2013, joining Lawrence Taylor as the only players in NFL history to win the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and NFL Defensive Player of the Year in successive years.

Kuechly said he doesn't really have a special patron saint or a special prayer he always says before a game.

"We say a couple prayers in the locker room before games, though," he said.

The team is often seen praying at each game, and players are known as much for their charitable works off the field, especially for children in need, as much as they are for their sportsmanship on the field.

Perhaps Kuechly will join in the nine-day prayer with us, as the Catholic News Herald gave him information about the prayer as well as a number of blessed items, including a prayer card from the Church of Our Lady of Victory in Paris, France, a prayer card with a religious medal of Our Lady of Victory from the Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Our Lady of Victory in Buffalo, New York, and a Miraculous Medal.

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter

NOVENA PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF VICTORY

This nine-day novena starts Friday, Jan. 29, leading up to the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 7.

Our Lady of Victory, we have unshaken confidence in your influence with your Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Humbly we ask your intercession for all of us associated under your title, Our Lady of Victory.

We beg your powerful assistance also for our own personal needs (Please mention here your special intention). In your maternal kindness please ask Jesus to forgive all our sins and failings, and to secure His blessings for us and for all the works of charity dedicated to your name.

We implore you to obtain for us the grace of sharing Christ's victory and yours forever in the life that knows no ending. May we join you there to praise forever the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, one God, for all ages to come.

Amen.