SAGINAW – More than 100 people made a statement on the front lawn of a local Knights of Columbus Council on Saturday, Oct. 16, praying a noon rosary to combat an erosion of morals in today’s society.
It was the third straight year Saginaw Township-based Council 4232 held the rally, part of a campaign by America Needs Fatima (ANF) that holds several thousand rosary rallies across the country. The purpose of the rallies is to reveal the gravity of today’s moral corruption, to explain it in light of God’s plans and to outline how to prevent the chastisement, according to the group’s website. (more…)
By Steve Sirianni
The Catholic Weekly
SAGINAW — Nouvel Catholic Central High School’s first political candidate forum on Monday, Oct. 18, at the school turned out to be a success, both for the contested candidates and for those who showed up to learn about the candidates.
About 40 students, their families, teachers and members of the general public listened to the 14 candidates, who each were given three to five minutes to briefly discuss their background and qualifications and tell what they would do if they were elected.
Then moderator Katie O’Mara from WNEM TV-5 turned over the remainder of the program to the audience to question the candidates.
The forum was targeted at high school seniors, many of whom would be voting for the first time on Tuesday, Nov. 2. (more…)
Priest was saved by uncle, old woman and God to serve the Church
By Laura K. Brestovansky
Special to The Catholic Times
DRYDEN — They say it takes a village to raise a child. In one case, that village benefited when the child brought the Catholic faith to his birthplace.
When Adem Okoh — now Fr. Philemon Okoh — was born Dec. 6, 197,1 in the village of Ogoli-Ipagbo in Ugboju, State of Benue, Nigeria, Catholicism was unknown in the area. A few Methodist missionaries were in the area, but neither his parents nor Adem’s 16 siblings were Christian.
“People could go to church if they wanted,” Fr. Okoh said. “Not a lot went to church.”
Life in Nigeria was hard and baby Adem was small and sickly, but there was nothing to be done. There was no hospital nearby and the family could not afford treatment if there was one. Neighbors and relatives advised Adem’s parents to forget about the child, to literally dump him in the garbage. (more…)
LANSING — An election year statement from the Roman Catholic bishops of Michigan:
Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men,” wrote John Adams in “Thoughts on Government” in 1776. Later that year, the Declaration of Independence announced to the world “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” The nation’s Founding Fathers created a government where all who reside in these United States are free to pursue the common good — they are free to speak, free to assemble peacefully and free to worship God and practice their faith.
With these freedoms comes responsibility. Catholics are called to evaluate all matters, including politics, through the lens of faith, to participate in the public square, to engage the political process and to allow Gospel values to transform our society into a more just and better world for all. In other words, Catholics are called to be “faithful citizens.” (more…)
Thank-you note leads woman to start website, which generates a book
By Mark Haney
The Catholic Times
Anne Hughes
ADA – At one of the lowest points in her life, a priest helped Anne Hughes.
In turn, she thanked him. Then, she decided to help others do the same. And, in the process, shine a light on all of the unsung heroes in the priesthood.
The priest was Fr. David Harvey, now pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Fenton but who was pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in Ypsilanti when Hughes was growing up there.
Hughes turned to Fr. Harvey almost two years ago, at a time in her adult life when her husband of 27 years had left her and their three children — Jason, now 20; Lindsey, now 16; and Jackson, now 9 — and her father, Bernard, was dying of prostate cancer.
“I was completely overwhelmed,” said Hughes, now a member of St. Robert Newminster Parish in Ada. “I didn’t have very good skills. I was looking through my parents’ pictures, their photo albums, and I see a picture of Pope John Paul II. He is standing with Fr. David Harvey. In my parents’ pictures. And it was just this incredible feeling that you have the Catholic Church behind you. It was just an overwhelming feeling that there is strength here. ‘I am the strength you can count on. You can let your dad die. You do not have to tell him (about her husband leaving her). You have the strength of the Catholic Church behind you.’ It was just this overwhelming feeling that came from seeing Pope John Paul II next to a priest that I knew so well. I felt so connected.” (more…)
GAYLORD — Parishes and Knights of Columbus councils throughout the Diocese of Gaylord are getting a vocations poster featuring the diocese’s 10 seminarians.
This year’s poster continues the theme of being “Fishers of Men.” It encourages people to “Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4) and to “Pray for vocations and the seminarians of the Diocese of Gaylord.” The poster features photos of each of the current seminarians preparing for priesthood for the diocese set against a backdrop of a fishing net. (more…)
Fr. Mike O’Brien, taking a call at his desk at Good Shepherd Church, is the lone full-time employee at the Montrose parish. He came to the rural parish after five years at large parishes in the Lansing area. Lisa Briggs/Catholic Times
By Lisa Briggs
The Catholic Times
MONTROSE — Fr. Mike O’Brien just got off the expressway and drove into a small town.
Literally and figuratively.
After five years serving in various parishes in the Lansing area, including the past year at the combined parish of St. Thomas Aquinas/St. John Student in East Lansing, he is now settling into his role as parochial administrator at 200-member Good Shepherd Parish in the small, rural, farming community of Montrose.
It is quite the change.
“This is definitely a smaller setting here at Good Shepherd,” said Fr. O’Brien, who also serves as chaplain at Fr. Luke M. Powers High School in Flint. “There are days when it’s just me and the parish secretary and nobody even comes in. It’s so much quieter here than when I served in the city.”
It’s all quite new for Fr. O’Brien, who grew up in the neighboring Diocese of Saginaw, where he attended Catholic schools. (more…)
KALAMAZOO — Christopher West is coming to town and he’s going to be busy.
West, the 41-year-old Catholic author and speaker best known for his work on Pope John Paul II’s series of audience addresses entitled “The Theology of the Body,” will be the featured speaker at the ninth annual diocesan conference on evangelization, catechesis and initiation on Saturday, Nov. 6, at St. Augustine Cathedral’s Crowley Center, 542 W. Michigan Ave. “An Introduction to the Theology of the Body” begins with Mass at 8:45 a.m. and concludes at 3:30 p.m. (more…)
Kalamazoo Bishop Paul Bradley visited St. Monica School on Friday, Oct. 1, as part of the school's annual Grandparents' Day observance. The bishop gathered with the school's student council officers, (from left) Katie Romano, Becca Radomsky, Mitchell Lapps, Joe Wenzel and Carrie Radomsky, and eighth-grade teacher and council advisor Diane Matyas. Kathy Doud/Catholic Weekly
KALAMAZOO — Kalamazoo Bishop Paul Bradley paid a visit to St. Monica School on Friday, Oct. 1, as part of the school’s annual celebration of Grandparents’ Day. The bishop led a prayer service for students and their grandparents that concluded in the recitation of the rosary. The bishop reminded students, and the nearly 300 grandparents who attended, that “living a life of love is more important than anything.” Grandparents also had a chance to visit classrooms and chat with their grandchildren during this special day. The theme for this year’s celebration was: “We Are God’s Family.”
VATICAN CITY (Catholic News Service) — The Catholic Church obviously believes it has an important message to share with the world. And with relatively easy access to the printing press, the airwaves and the Internet, it would seem communicating the Gospel would be easier than ever today.
In North America and Europe, especially, the Church has relied for decades on the Catholic press to provide the faithful with news, information and the perspective they need to understand the Church’s position on a variety of current political, social and ethical issues.
Church officials, though, recognize that even as opportunities to communicate expand, its message is often muffled. (more…)