St. Patrick Cathedral celebrates patron saint
St. Patrick Cathedral celebrates patron saintCHARLOTTE — Parishioners and clergy at St. Patrick Cathedral enjoyed Irish bagpipe music and traditional Irish dancing, courtesy of students from the Connick School of Traditional Irish Dance in Huntersville, during the parish’s patronal feast day celebration March 17.
— Photo provided byJane D. Pueschel
AOH hosts St. Patrick’s Day dinner at St. Mark Church
HUNTERSVILLE — A sold-out crowd of more than 220 people attended the annual St. Patrick’s Celebration Dinner and Show at St. Mark Church March 10, hosted by the St. Brendan the Navigator Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians of Huntersville. The event featured music by Banna, a popular Celtic band, dancers from the Connick School of Traditional Irish Dance in Huntersville, and a meal of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes by local caterer Waiters Choice.
The evening capped off with the singing of Irish ballads by St. Mark parishioner Heather Martin.
The event is organized each year by the AOH to support its charitable activities, including the Dick Seymour Education Award for Irish Catholic students entering college, named after the division’s recently deceased former president.
Applicants for the award must write an essay on a theme, which this year was “Dare to Dream: What does it take to be a Catholic in today’s world.” This year’s award was presented to Coleman Ziegler, a homeschool student from St. Mark Parish.
The AOH is a Catholic-Irish fraternal organization whose goals are to promote friendship, unity and Christian charity; foster and perpetuate Irish history, culture and traditions and to protect and defend all life. For details go to www.aohmeck2.org. PhotoS via Facebook
– Mike FitzGerald, Catholic News Herald
Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day
CHARLOTTE — St. Ann School took third place in the “Best Float” category during the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in uptown Charlotte March 17.
— Photos via Facebook
HENDERSONVILLE — Immaculata School has received a great gift from a local couple that hopes to continue the blessing of Catholic education for generations to come. Gayden and Janell Gauthier, parishioners of Immaculate Conception Church since 2012, have created the Gauthier Family Endowment Fund with a stock gift of more than $100,000 to benefit the school.
The Gauthiers, originally from Louisiana, have been married 45 years and have two adult sons and two granddaughters. The couple shares that they were raised in the faith and are graduates of Catholic elementary education, so they want to help pass on the faith to future Catholic school students.
“Gayden and I both came from families where devotion to our faith was strongly demonstrated to us by both our grandparents as well as our parents,” Janell Gauthier said. “That struck me from a very young age. It is an important part of who I am and it gives me strength in times of distress.”
She expressed that her Catholic school education helped her go forward in her life with a good faith and moral foundation.
“As a result of the benefits we reaped, we would like to see that opportunity continue going forward in the future (at Immaculata School). We think that the school is a very important resource. We want to help the school go forward for current and future generations,” she said.
Gayden Gauthier hopes the endowment will foster faith in the younger generation, as he thinks some young people have lost interest in the faith.
“Our experience with millennials has been that some of them have not kept up going to church,” he said. “We would like to encourage youth to go to church. We want to foster that continuation of going to church in young people today. I see that the faith is dissipating (with some of them) – that they go to church when it’s convenient.”
“By creating the endowment,” Janell Gauthier added, “we think it is a way to say ‘thank you’ to God for all the blessings He has given us in our lives.”
In addition to the endowment gift, the Gauthiers each plan to leave $150,000 from their estates to Immaculate Conception Parish.
The Gauthier Family Endowment Fund will be administered through the Diocese of Charlotte Foundation. Established in 1994, the foundation has grown to encompass more than 255 endowments and more than $48 million in total assets.
An endowment is a permanent fund, the principal of which is never touched, but the income from which can be used according to the wishes of the donor organization or individual. Endowments provide a way to generate income and help sustain the long-term strength and viability of the recipient parish or ministry.
Immaculata School now has nine endowments which have been made through the foundation, totaling $1,440,894. To date, $587,690 has already been distributed through those endowments.
“We are so grateful for the Gauthiers’ generosity. While most people set up endowments to be distributed through their estate after their death, the Gauthiers are setting up an endowment now and also leaving additional gifts to the Church in their estates to benefit others,” said Jim Kelley, diocesan director of development.
“More and more people across the diocese are remembering the Church in their estate plans – gifts from thousands of dollars to millions – and we are thankful for their generosity,” Kelley said.
For details about endowments or estate gifts, contact Ray Correia, diocesan director of planned giving, at 704-370-3364 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Church is helping build stronger families through programs that promote healthy relationships. For nearly 10 years, the parish has offered marriage and parenting classes to help members turn natural conflict into opportunities for greater connection and intimacy.
“The Power of Calm for Parents” is held each spring, and “The Power of Calm for Marriage” is held in the fall. Participants meet for six two-hour sessions that involve watching a DVD, group discussion and workbook exercises that help them explore their unique family dynamics.
The programs are based on the books “ScreamFree Marriage” and “ScreamFree Parenting” and material by Hal Runkel, a marriage and family therapist, author and international speaker. A major focus is learning how to manage emotional reactivity so that one can respond instead of react during conflict. Parents learn how to empower their children by giving them choice, while also allowing them to learn through natural consequences. Couples discover a “Calm Down. Grow Up. Get Closer.” approach to the natural conflict of marriage that draws them closer.
“St. Matthew sees the family as an essential element of a healthy faith community. When families are stressed, hurting and struggling, we as a church need to provide help,” said Michael Burck, the parish’s adult faith formation director. “We know parents feel resourced, supported and empowered by these programs, and we intend to continue supporting families in practical and meaningful ways in the future.”
Kara Griffin, mother of two, attended the parenting class with her husband Chris last year. “We had a great experience. The group process helped us to not feel so alone, to look introspectively at our behaviors and to explore techniques to try out when struggling. As parents, we don’t always have effective tools to fall back on. And it’s a wonderful way to discuss, share and adopt new methods of parenting and ‘managing self’.”
Catherine Sforza, who leads the St. Matthew Mom’s Group, agreed. “Having children is such a blessing, so I’m always looking for ways to improve my parenting skills to help me be the best mom I can be. Learning new tools enabled us to establish a peaceful home and allowed my relationship with my kids to grow in a positive direction, especially in how we communicate with each other and how we act as a family.”
An important component of both programs is the group environment that supports and affirms its members, said Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Associate Jenny Cox, who has facilitated the programs for five years. “Family relationships can be challenging. Providing an accepting and supportive space where we can come together to share our struggles and help each other grow is so powerful! We always end our sessions with the Serenity Prayer to remind us that we are works in progress and God is always with us.”
St. Matthew Church will offer the next Power of Calm for Parents from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, April 11-May 16. To register, go online to www.stmatthewcatholic.org/SMU For more information, email Cox at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
— Jenny Cox, correspondent and facilitator of the “Power of Calm” programs at St. Matthew Church.
CHARLOTTE — Looking to help make wishes come true for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, Father Christopher Roux, rector of St. Patrick Cathedral, will hike 28.3 miles for the annual Make-A-Wish Spring Trailblaze Challenge the weekend of May 18-20.
The Trailblaze Challenge is an endurance hike where participants tackle the terrain of the Foothills Trail – in one day. This is a hike, not a race, and it caters to all levels of hiking ability, from novices to advanced outdoor enthusiasts.
This is the sixth time in four years that Father Roux and small groups of cathedral parishioners, which he calls “Pat’s Peeps,” have participated to raise funds to help grant the wishes of children who have life-threatening medical conditions.
First-time hikers have a minimum goal of raising at least $2,500. In subsequent years, hikers strive to raise at least $2,400. This year Father Roux will be joined by parishioner Jason Murphy, so they have a combined minimum goal of $4,800.
Since on average each wish can cost approximately $6,000, Father Roux is really striving to raise enough to fund one wish and two if possible, so his goal is between $6,000 and $12,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
“It is a wonderful thing,” Father Roux said. “When we have our Make-A-Wish weekend, previous Wish families come down and tell their stories. In the midst of all of the difficulty they have – with their kids with doctor’s visits, treatments and day-to-day life responsibilities – this gives them a period of time when they have some good memories.”
“The family doesn’t have to worry about anything,” he said. “Make-A-Wish does everything they can to make this a pleasant experience where the family can just enjoy being a family with their child.
“As time goes on, if the child continues to be sick or, sadly, passes away, they have that memory to hold onto – a memory that was happy.”
Wishes range from a visit to Walt Disney World, to swimming with dolphins, from being a soldier at Fort Bragg for a day, to being a Carolina Panther for a day.
Make-A-Wish Central and Western North Carolina hopes to grant more than 360 wishes for children in need this year.
For more information about aiding in the effort, go to www.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1167406 and select Spring 2018 Hikes. Once on the webpage, select hiker name “Christopher Roux.”
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
CHARLOTTE — “If we live in Jesus and the risen Savior lives in us, we conquer sin and death.”
This was the message proclaimed by Bishop Peter Jugis as he celebrated the Easter vigil Mass March 31 at St. Patrick Cathedral, which was filled with young and old there to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The liturgy began with the blessing of the Paschal fire and lighting of the Paschal candle at the Marian grotto outside the cathedral. Then the hundreds of faithful processed behind Bishop Jugis – candles in hand –into the darkened cathedral to hear the Exsultet chanted by Deacon Brian McNulty. In part, the Easter proclamation stated, “This is the night, when Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld.”
After the Scripture readings and psalms, the cathedral’s lights were turned on and bells were rung as the faithful sang the Gloria.
In his homily, Bishop Jugis reflected on the reading from the vigil Mass Gospel according to Mark (Mk 16:1-7), “a very stirring gospel” which recounts how the holy women came to Jesus’ tomb and found it empty.
“Jesus Christ is risen from the dead!” the bishop said. “That is what we celebrate today and what we celebrate, in fact, every season of the year, at every liturgical time of the year. Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, is with us always – our living Savior, our living Lord.”
The Gospels’ eyewitness accounts of seeing, touching, speaking and eating with the risen Christ follow eyewitness accounts of His death and burial, he noted.
All of the eyewitness accounts affirm for us “the resurrection of Jesus is real,” he said. His resurrection is “the most amazing thing that happened in the history of the world since creation.”
The resurrection demonstrates that Jesus is triumphant over sin and death, he said.
“The message for us, we know – as Christians, as Catholics – is that if we live in Jesus and the risen Savior lives in us, we also conquer sin and death.”
The risen Jesus offers us freedom from sin and death, he reiterated. “One day we will also experience, then, the consequence of that freedom from sin, freedom from death: our own resurrection on the final day.”
Bishop Jugis welcomed three catechumens at the vigil Mass, giving them the sacraments of initiation – baptism, confirmation and Holy Communion.
During his homily, he explained the connection between baptism and the celebration of Easter.
“It is no accident that the Church likes to celebrate the sacrament of baptism during the Easter season, beginning with the Easter vigil,” he said.
“Of course, baptism is celebrated any time of the year. I was baptized on March 24, which was a Sunday in Lent, way back when,” he admitted with a smile.
But baptism at Eastertime is a special time “to begin a new life in the risen Christ,” he continued, because it “lets us see … the full meaning of Jesus’ resurrection.”
“Baptism joins us to the risen Christ. We begin to experience His own resurrected life within us as the risen Christ lives within us. We are washed of our sins, we are purified, and the divine life of Jesus Christ is imparted to our souls.”
That new life within the risen Christ “lasts forever,” he said. “That new and glorious life begins with us in baptism.”
And everyone at the Mass, not just the catechumens, receive a reminder of their baptism when they are sprinkled with holy water, he explained.
“We carry Christ’s victory over sin and death within us,” he said, “so there is no excuse to live as slaves to sin. Jesus is within you, the risen Savior lives within you.
“And if He can conquer death, He certainly can conquer anything that might be lurking in us.”
He concluded, “So with Easter joy, singing alleluia in our hearts, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, who says to each one of us now, ‘Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the earth.’”
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor
See more photos from Easter Masses
