DENVER — At the request of the Knights of Columbus Council 10389 at Holy Spirit Church, the ladies of the parish’s Blanket and Shawl Ministry began making red, white and blue lap robes for veterans in Salisbury as a thank-you for their service to the United States.
The project was enthusiastically received and some of the ladies bought their own yarn and went to work. As word spread about the project, other ladies in and outside of the parish wanted to be involved. The Knights contacted Coats & Clark and asked for a donation of yarn.
They were kind enough to contribute six cases of red, white and blue yarn. The Knights also bought yarn from their funds. The project started in mid-February and by the end of October, more than 190 of the 210 lap robes needed were completed by 35 ladies.
The Knights delivered the first 125 lap robes to veterans on Nov. 3. The remainder will be delivered soon when they are finished.
— Doreen Sugierski | Catholic News Herald
HIGH POINT — Holy Mass on the patronal feast of Christ the King Sunday capped off more than a week of diamond jubilee celebrations Nov. 20 by members of Christ the King Church in High Point.
The diverse parish, comprised of more than 160 Anglo, Latino, Indian, African and African American Catholic families, marked the 75th anniversary of the dedication of their church with a litany of devotions and activities leading up to the feast day: a novena to Christ the King, Eucharistic Adoration and outdoor procession, a pilgrimage to the Door of Mercy at St. Pius X Church in Greensboro, a healing Mass, and a food drive that netted more than 1,000 pounds of donations for a local food pantry.
Pictured: Bishop Peter Jugis sprinkles holy water on parishioners at Christ the King Church in High Point during the parish’s 75th anniversary celebration Nov. 20. (Photos by Patricia L. Guilfoyle | Catholic News Herald)
Then on Nov. 20 hundreds of people filled the fellowship hall for a bilingual Mass – the church next door was too small – celebrated by Bishop Peter Jugis and Father Gnanapragasam Mariasoosai, pastor. Bishop Jugis administered the sacrament of confirmation to 10 young people, and he blessed a new tabernacle and Stations of the Cross for the church.
In his homily, Bishop Jugis reflected on the kingship of Christ, the anniversary of Christ the King’s dedication in High Point, and the responsibility of every Catholic – including the newly confirmed – to serve Christ the King in everything they say and do.
In the Gospel reading of the day describing the scene of His crucifixion, Jesus shows “in a most marvelous way” His kingship and His gift of love and mercy to the whole world, Bishop Jugis noted.
“He’s sitting on His throne, which is the cross, from which He is ruling the entire world. For the royal crown, He is wearing a crown of thorns indicating His great humility in suffering to save us from our sins and make us free. Instead of a royal purple cloak ... He’s wearing His Blood.”
“We proclaim Him as our king over all those who govern in our world, whether they be called kings or prime ministers or presidents,” Bishop Jugis said, because “all of that is subservient to Jesus, who reigns as supreme ruler over all of creation, over all of our lives, over every single nation.”
He encouraged the confirmation students to follow Jesus as their King. Receiving the sacrament of confirmation, he said, means being sealed with the Holy Spirit and “accepting that great privilege, that great honor and dignity of being a confirmed Catholic, of completing your sacraments of initiation and entering wholeheartedly into the service of the King.”
He said the confirmation students, indeed all Catholics, have a duty to be ambassadors for Christ, “to go out into the world and to do our work for Christ. We’re not here to serve ourselves in this world. We’re here to serve Jesus.”
“Sometimes it may be difficult because the world does not always want to follow Jesus’ commandments and is not interested in what Jesus has to say,” he continued. “But we are His witnesses, so that everything we say, everything that we do, should reveal our love for Jesus and should let people know that we stand with Jesus. We stand with Him and not with the passing values of this world.”
Bishop Jugis also reflected on the anniversary of when Bishop Eugene McGuinness came to High Point to consecrate the church in 1941.
“Just think of the witness that this parish has served here on Kivett Drive for 75 years, a witness to the Catholic faith, a witness to our love for Jesus,” he said. “Now it’s our turn in 2016 to stand on the shoulders of that great foundation that has been set down for us, to do our part and take up our role as witnesses for Christ here in this part of High Point.”
A church has three purposes, he reminded everyone. First, it is set aside as a place for people to worship God in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. A church also serves as a place for their sanctification through reception of the sacraments, so that they may attain heaven. Third, a church is a center of evangelization, enabling people to act as witnesses of Christ in the wider community.
“I’m very proud of all that you do to make Christ the King Parish that center of Christ’s presence here in High Point,” Bishop Jugis said, and “to grow as a parish family – in love, in holiness and in mercy, with Jesus Christ as the center.”
In remarks at the end of Mass, Father Mariasoosai thanked Bishop Jugis for his presence and for his homily message to help “make us grow more spiritually.” He also thanked all those who organized and participated in the anniversary celebrations.
As Mass ended, people processed behind Bishop Jugis from the parish hall to the church, where he placed the Blessed Sacrament inside the church’s new tabernacle and blessed new Stations of the Cross.
He then sprinkled the people and the walls of the church with holy water, and – even as the last Holy Door was closing for the end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy – he prayed the blessing of the doors of a church:
“We praise you, Lord God, Father all-holy. You sent Your Son into our world to gather by the shedding of His blood those whom the destructive power of sin had scattered. You sent Him to unite us all in the one sheepfold. He is the Good Shepherd. He is the door through which those who follow Him enter and are safe, go in and go out, and find pasture. Grant that those who enter this church with confident faith in Him may persevere in the teaching of the apostles, in the breaking of the bread, and in unceasing prayer, and so be built up into the heavenly Jerusalem. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, Editor
CHARLOTTE — The international 40 Days for Life campaign leadership passed through Charlotte, finishing a 50-state tour Nov. 5. The event drew close to 100 people, Catholic and Protestant, and featured David Bereit, the CEO of the 40 Days for Life campaign, as well Steve Karlen, the 40 Days for Life North America campaign director.
Local pro-life leaders also spoke including Andrea Hines, leader of Silent No More and a St. Ann parishioner who shared the trauma she experienced from an abortion and encouraged post-abortive women to seek help and healing.
The event also drew a handful of protestors which the 40 Days for Life team later noted was one of the more angrier (albeit small) group of protestors.
After the event, several people stayed behind to pray the rosary for an end to abortion. The 40 Days for Life campaign tour also visited Winston-Salem and Raleigh before ending in Virginia Nov. 6, the final day of the campaign.
— Mike FitzGerald and Gretchen Filz, correspondents
KERNERSVILLE — Parishioners, local veterans, Knights of Columbus and Boy Scouts from Holy Cross Church took part in a flag retirement ceremony Nov. 12, the day after Veterans Day.
— Photos by Paul Doizé | Catholic News Herald
CHARLOTTE — At its “Gifts of Mercy” banquet in uptown Charlotte Oct. 20, nearly 1,000 supporters of MiraVia gathered to raise money and hear the good news about the outreach ministry which helped more than 420 young mothers and children last year.
MiraVia, which began as Room At The Inn in 1994, helps abortion-vulnerable women choose life and build independent, healthy lives for themselves and their children. MiraVia offers life skills classes, material assistance and moral support to the women who come to them for help – free of charge. Since its founding, MiraVia has helped nearly 7,000 women and their children at its outreach facility in Charlotte.
“You continue to be the face of mercy,” Executive Director Jeannie Wray told the more than 963 supporters in attendance at the annual banquet.
Donors contributed more than 25,600 diapers, 1,100 bags of clothing and 5,200 pounds of food over the past year, she reported.
Fourteen mothers and their babies were served by MiraVia through their residential facility for college student mothers on the campus of Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, and two of the mothers graduated from college, she also said.
“More than 90 percent of the women who come to us first considered abortion,” Wray noted. “These babies are your gifts of mercy… This program works.”
Over the past year, MiraVia was able to retire its debt on the Belmont facility, Wray also said. That was three years earlier than anticipated, she stated.
She illustrated the effectiveness of the ministry and the support of the women and their children by sharing a story of one toddler’s return to the facility in Belmont recently, saying to his mother when he came through the doors, “Mama, we home!” She then took Wray by the hand and said, “Let’s go see Jesus (in the chapel).”
In her remarks, Wray reminded those gathered that “God is using all of us as conduits of His mercy.”
Kerri Caviezel offered the keynote address at the banquet. Caviezel has been active in pro-life ministry for more than 20 years. She and her husband have adopted three children.
She spoke of her great love and admiration for women who reject abortion, especially those birth mothers who choose life and place their children for adoption.
“You’re a real mother any time you give a child love. That is what MiraVia is showing these women,” Caviezel said.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Pictured above: Sister Mary Elizabeth of the Daughters of the Virgin Mother, a lay apostolate which serves the women and their children at the MiraVia residential facility for college student mothers and their babies, plays on the floor with one of the younger residents. (Photo provided by MiraVia)