When Leon and Nancy Gergen’s pastor, Father Stan Mader, asked them to host this year’s Rural Life Sunday celebration at their Hastings farm, they jumped at the chance.
“Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” With these words, along with his exhortation to “do this in memory of me,” when he took the bread and wine into his sacred hands at the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the sacrament of holy orders — the sacrament of the priesthood.
Twice in two days this week I’ve stumbled upon published claims that the Catholic Church and the Catholic priesthood as we know it are, if not doomed, on life support.
One analyst offered that, due to the pedophilia scandals and the failure of leadership to be sufficiently accountable (in his estimation and in the estimation of others) in the aftermath, the Catholic laity’s disillusionment with the current church leadership model is “extensive and probably permanent.”
Catholic Cemeteries in the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., will unveil an outdoor memorial monument, honoring the heroes of Sept. 11, 2001, immediately following a Memorial Day Mass on Monday, May 30.
Minnesota Catholic Conference continues work on priorities as special session looms
As state legislators appear headed to a special session to complete the unfinished business of passing a state budget, the Minnesota Catholic Conference is working to ensure that a final agreement meets the needs of the state’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens.
In the meantime, it expressed gratitude to lawmakers who voted in favor of a marriage amendment bill that was among the MCC’s top legislative priorities.
Did you know that your parish is a corporation, legally speaking, and that it has a board of directors?
Hundreds of parish trustees from throughout the archdiocese recently attended gatherings to learn about their role as parish board members. The archdiocese held the gatherings as many parishes begin proceedings to merge or cluster according to the archdiocese’s Strategic Plan, released last October.
Microsoft Vista and “New Coke” have proven that not every change is for the better. Furthermore, when change comes to important elements of life, it is often resisted with the cry of “we never did it that way before.”