Last updated 05/16/2013 3:00 PM
Catholic News Around Indiana
The Catholic newspapers of the five dioceses of Indiana -- Evansville, Fort Wayne-South Bend, Gary, Indianapolis and Lafayette -- have agreed to share news stories with each other on a regular basis. They are compiled by Brandon A. Evans.
Sometimes these new stories appear in the print edition of The Catholic Moment; many more will be appearing here.
Diocese of Evansville
Heading To New York To Help Out Hurricane Sandy Victims
By Mary Ann Hughes (Message correspondent)
Benedictine Sister Teresa Gunter doesn’t think in terms of days or weeks in her work as a youth minister. She looks 25 years in the future.
She’s currently organizing a six-day trip to New York so that about 50 people from Good Shepherd and St. Anthony parishes in Evansville can help the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
They plan to leave by bus on the evening of May 23 and drive through the night to Long Island. Once there, they will stay at St. Dominic Parish, thanks to the generosity of pastor Father Kevin Smith.
“I do a lot with the scouts,” explained Sister Teresa, youth minister at St. Anthony Parish, “and I make the St. George Trek every other year.”
That’s where she met Father Smith. As she watched the devastation of Hurricane Sandy back in October of 2012, a plan began to grow about taking the young adults there to help out.
“Our youth already do so much to help out our local community such as picking up trash in the parks, cleaning area homes, painting and working with the homeless.”
She thought it was “time to introduce them to opportunities to work with our neighbors that are a little farther away.” She wanted to take them “to a place where they can see how blessed their lives are and how working hard for four or five days can change a family’s life as well as their own life for a lifetime.”
The cost for such a trip? $14,000.
“This is not the richest parish,” Sister Teresa said, “but they have helped us so much.” She compared the parishioners’ generosity to the “widow’s mite.” Some handed her $2 or $3 and others gave her $100.
The youth group painted houses, whitewashed fences, cleaned houses and did yard work, all for donations.
“God has been amazing, and we’ve raised the $14,000,” she said.
Once the decision was made to make the trip, Sister Teresa started contacting agencies in the devastated area. “Nobody wanted us,” she lamented. Then she called Father Kevin. “He said, ‘Come on out,’” suggesting they help his parishioners who haven’t qualified for other assistance.
The southern Indiana volunteers will work on homes during the day, and stay at his parish in the evenings.
“We will be removing sand, removing and replacing drywall, painting, siding and doing yard work,” she said.
“We will also be pulling the youth in the area together to participate in games and activities that I hope will build community and help everyone realize that we aren’t so different.”
(For news from the Diocese of Evansville, log on to the website of The Message at www.themessageonline.org)
Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend
Mission work impacts life of Bishop Dwenger student
By Tim Johnson
FORT WAYNE — On the surface, Jake Malmstrom is a typical teen. A senior at Bishop Dwenger High School in Fort Wayne and a parishioner of St. Charles Parish, Malmstrom enjoys track, cross-country, sings in choir, is enrolled in National Honor Society and cherishes time with his friends. But Malmstrom has a story to share with his fellow classmates at Bishop Dwenger, one that touches the heart of this young man who has served as a missionary in Haiti.
For one year in 2011, the Malmstrom family, Jake with his dad Rick, a paramedic, and mom Liz, a nurse, and brother Zach, now a freshman at Bishop Dwenger, relocated to Mission of Hope Haiti to assist the people there after a devastating earthquake in January of 2010 dislocated so many in this impoverished Caribbean nation.
And soon after graduating from Bishop Dwenger in just a few weeks, Jake Malmstrom will return to Haiti to serve an internship this summer at the Mission of Hope. And he is seeking funds to pay expenses for the internship.
Mission of Hope has long-term staff and short-term mission trips that come from the U.S. and Canada and serve in outreach, construction and smaller short-term tasks.
“As an intern, my job will be as a liaison between the short-term missionaries and the mission,” Malmstrom noted. “I would escort them into villages, and just really be their leader — brief them, debrief them, make sure their trip is smooth.”
Those wishing to financially assist Malmstrom may send a check directly to him or they can go online to the mission website, www.MOHHaiti.org, click the “donate now” tab and then when filling out the donation form type “Jake Malmstrom, intern 2013” in the “comments” section.
Malmstrom describes Haiti as a country that “really grabs at your heart.”
“The people (of Haiti) are so great, but they are given so little,” he noted.
(For news from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, log on to the website of Today’s Catholic at www.todayscatholicnews.org)
Diocese of Gary
No briefs available this week
(For news from the Diocese of Gary, log on to the website of the Northwest Indiana Catholic at www.nwicatholic.com)
Archdiocese of Indianapolis
‘One in Christ’ marriage prep program presents ‘authentic teaching of Church on Christian marriage’
By Natalie Hoefer
When it comes to weddings, there are dresses to choose, flowers to order, invitations to send out, a reception hall to book … who has time for marriage prep?
Considering that a couple is not entering into a contract with options to renege, but rather into a lifelong covenant intended to help each other get to heaven, the question should rather be, “Who doesn’t have time for marriage prep?”
Among the marriage preparation programs offered in the archdiocese, “One in Christ” (OIC) is the newest.
With its emphasis on catechesis, presentations by young couples and an extensive look at Natural Family Planning (NFP) and the procreative element of marriage, the program has already changed many hearts about the true nature of marriage.
While there were already many marriage preparation programs in existence in his archdiocese, Father Thomas Aschenbrener of the Archdiocese of Chicago felt compelled to create a new one with a more catechetical approach.
“I knew young adults were entering marriage uncatechized, not practicing their faith. Our culture says children are bad, expensive, a burden, and that with contraception you can control your life and family life,” he says. “They weren’t aware of Church teaching—that marriage is faithful, fruitful and forever.”
Then-vicar general of the archdiocese of Indianapolis Msgr. Joseph Schaedel knew Father Aschenbrener and asked to see the program when it was completed.
“I was very impressed. It’s very thorough and complete. It pulls no punches about the truth, but in a very pastoral way,” says Msgr. Schaedel, pastor of St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis. “It presents the authentic teaching of the Church on Christian marriage.”
He also appreciates that the program is led by young married couples who sign an oath of fidelity to the magisterium—the teachings of the Church.
The program was implemented in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in the fall of 2010.
Marian University kicker invited to Colts rookie minicamp
By Sean Gallagher
Michael Josifovski had worked for years for this moment. Now it was time for the work to come to fulfillment.
He lined up to kick a game-winning field goal on Dec. 13, 2012, for the football team of Marian University in Indianapolis.
The ball was snapped. The holder caught it and put it squarely in place. Then Josifovski kicked the ball through the uprights.
In just the sixth year of its existence, the Marian University Knights’ team was the football champions of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
“It was a great feeling that came over me,” Josifovski said. “It made me feel like I hadn’t been lost all this time. There was some type of plan behind it. I stayed true to my faith. I stayed true to myself. I stayed true to my goals and my morals. And they did pay off.”
As an all-state kicker at Hobart High School in Hobart, Ind., Josifovski dreamed of playing in the NFL. But poor grades, the death of his father and playing for a junior college that only won two games in two years seemed to have brought those dreams to an end.
Josifovski’s kick made in Rome, Georgia, and a 51-yard game-winning field goal he booted on the last play of Marian’s semifinal game not only garnered him the praise of his teammates, fellow Marian students and the school’s alumni and supporters. It also attracted the attention of NFL teams, the ultimate goal of all football players who dream big.
A few weeks before the NFL draft held from April 25-27, Josifovski was invited by the Indianapolis Colts to participate in a pro day at their facility in which local college players could show their skills to the team’s coaches.
The camp will be held from May 10-12 at the Colt’s Indianapolis facility.
“It was an amazing feeling. It was validating. All of my hard work had paid off.”
He’ll be trying out for a team that features four-time Super Bowl champion kicker Adam Vinatieri (whom Josifovski calls “The Legend”) and up-and-coming punter and kicker Pat McAfee, whose nickname is “Boomstick.”
The reputation of these pro kickers doesn’t intimidate Josifovski, however, who is confident in his abilities.
“I’ve been blessed with a very strong leg,” said Josifovski, who gained the nickname “Megafoot” at Marian. “I feel like there’s no distance I can’t kick from. So I really never focus on what yard line it’s from. I just make sure everything is going down the middle.”
(For news from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, log on to the website of The Criterion at www.CriterionOnline.com) †