This year's Communion Breakfast is being broadcast live on international Catholic Radio on a station called Radio Maria. This opportunity came out of the blue. They approached us and asked to broadcast it free of charge. After checking with Father Thesing and some of the other speakers, we agreed.
I had not heard of Radio Maria before, so I took a look at its website. It operates primarily through the work of volunteers and has stations on five continents throughout the world. In Ohio, you may listen to the channel on 88.7 FM, broadcasting from Anna, or 1600 AM, broadcasting from Springfield. You may also listen online from the Radio Maria site.
So if you can't make it to the Communion Breakfast in person, be sure to join us online or on the air.
Jim Brogan's daughter is getting married to another Domer. He has a fabulous story about how his daughter met her fiancee at the 2005 Notre Dame-USC game ("the Bush Push game").
Apparently, in the week before the game, his daughter was a medical student at Loyola University in Chicago and wanted to go to the game. She sent an email to a list of Domers in the area asking for a ticket. Her future fiancee responded that he had an extra ticket (sitting next to him) and that she should meet him at the stadium before the game.
Well they talked and cheered and screamed and cried with the Irish that day. Today, they are engaged.
Next time you see Jim, ask him about this great Notre Dame story.
The Archdiocese is moving out of the Oregon District to North Dayton. It issued the following press release:
Archdiocese's Dayton Offices to Move
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 25, 2010
Dayton administrative offices of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati are moving to newly purchased quarters around the end of March, ensuring their long-term presence in Dayton.
“The acquisition of this building in the city of Dayton makes us owners instead of renters,” said the Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr, Archbishop of Cincinnati. “This demonstrates our long-term commitment to the Miami Valley. Our new quarters are handicapped-accessible, energy-efficient and easily reached from I-75.
“Our staff supports the ministries of more than 50 local parishes in the region, and this permanent facility will help us more effectively deliver services to our parishes.”
For about 35 years, Dayton offices of the Archdiocese have rented space at the former Holy Trinity School building at 266 Bainbridge Street. Affected by the move are 23 employees of the Offices of Catholic Schools, Evangelization and Catechesis, Catholic Social Action, Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Family Life and The Catholic Telegraph, the Catholic Education Collaborative, and HealthSmart Protective Services.
The Archdiocese bought the former State Farm Building at 1436 Needmore Road for a purchase price of $825,000, including the building, acreage, and office furniture and fixtures. The purchase, which closed today, comes after more than a year of exploring other options, including the possibility of renovating existing Church properties.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati is the 26th largest Catholic diocese in the country, with almost 500,000 Catholics, and has the eighth largest network of Catholic schools in terms of enrollment. The 19-county territory includes 218 parishes and 115 Catholic primary and secondary schools.
In case you are not familiar with the new location, here is a map.
As many of you know, the Congregation of Holy Cross, the order of priests and brothers that founded and runs Notre Dame, has a large presence in Haiti. The order is organized into provinces with one of them being the Haiti Provence. (Another provence is the Indiana Provence.)
The Congregation of Holy Cross has been serving the poor in Haiti for more than 60 years. Holy Cross missionaries from Canada first came to Haiti in 1944 to direct an existing secondary school in Cap Haitien. That initial mission, now called College Notre-Dame, sparked the establishment of other Holy Cross educational, social, and parochial ministries throughout Haiti, now organized as the Province of Notre-Dame du Perpetual Secours, with 70 religious members, including two Holy Cross bishops.
Early Friday morning, Holy Cross leaders reported that massive damage almost completely destroyed the provincial house and the Congregation’s school, Ensemble Scolaire Basile Moreau, which opened in 1989 to serve the poor in Port-au-Prince. In addition, a seminarian who taught at the Congregation’s high school in northern Haiti was killed in the collapse of a building at the University Quisqueya.
Below is a video of the damage at Quisqueya University.
If you wish to support the Congregation, please send donations in care of Holy Cross Mission Center, P.O. Box 543, Notre Dame, IN 46556.
The best part about the article is where Mark talks about his father's decision to be ordained:
"My father loved medicine very much, which was the perplexing thing for me," Father Thesing said. "He loved helping people and listening to their stories; that’s what made him a very good doctor. A lot of what he did was what a minister is to do."
"When I was in high school, he said, ‘You should go into medicine. You can do both.’ He handed me articles of missionaries doing both. After he was ordained a deacon, I said I won the argument."
The task force has issued its preliminary recommendations, which include plans for the following:
Research and academic programs
Investment policies
Pregnant student policies
Alumni Association efforts
In addition, President John Jenkins will hold a mass at Notre Dame for the students travelling to Washington DC for this year's March for Life. He will also travel to Washington as the head of the Notre Dame delegation, becoming the first Notre Dame President to make the trip.
God of all creation, as we weep with our family in Haiti, console us.
In this time of crisis, open our eyes to look beyond the disaster to see Christ in our brothers and sisters in Haiti, as Christ sees us.
Be with all creation; strengthen us in solidarity with those living and working in Haiti. All creation returns to you in mourning and your grace guides our efforts to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, comfort the grieving and stand for justice.
With your mercy, sustain us at this time as we continue to work for peace and justice.
Amen.
To make a donation to help the relief efforts, please consider the Catholic Relief Service, which has had a longstanding presence in Haiti and the Dominican Republic for many years and has over 300 people on the ground in Haiti, as well as the American Red Cross.
