08-08-10 - St. Thomas More Church

OUR LADY OF CHARITYAt the 12:00 Noon Mass on Sunday, July 25th, SteveZiemba, the immediate past State Deputy of the IndianaKnights of Columbus, along with a Fourth Degree HonorGuard, made a presentation of the icon of Our Lady ofCharity to our parish in gratitude for the past two years thatI gave to the state Knights of Columbus as their StateChaplain.The icon made the rounds of our state the past couple ofyears and has been presented to us to house.The new home for this icon is in our chapel where thosewho attend daily Mass will have the opportunity to see it ona regular basis.The story of Our Lady of Charity is a rather simpleone. Like many other Marian apparitions, it occurred ina nameless place and involved ordinary people.Around the year 1600, three boys were sent to gathersalt needed to preserve the meat of the town’sslaughterhouse, which supplied food for the workersand inhabitants at the Spanish copper mines nearSantiago, Cuba. Two of the boys were native Indiansand brothers, Rodrigo and Juan de Hoyos, and the thirdwas a 10-year-old black slave, Juan Moreno.On their way back to Santiago del Prado (modern ElCobre) and halfway across the Bay of Nipe, theyencountered a fierce storm that threatened to destroytheir frail boat.Suddenly, the waters calmed. In the distance theboys saw a white bundle floating on a piece of woodthat they mistook for a sea bird. In reality, it was a smallstatue of Mother Mary holding the infant Jesus in herleft arm and a gold cross in her right. Inscribed on thewooden board were the words, Yo soy la Virgen de laCaridad (I am the Virgin of Charity).According to recorded testimony, despite the motionof the ocean waves and the storm, neither the image ofMary nor her white robes were wet.As I have said so often in the past, the Knights ofColumbus is a very worthwhile fraternal organizationdedicated to family and church. It is an organization opento every man in our parish.Our parish’s Knights of Columbus Council is attempting toform the Squires program as well. The Squires are open toall boys aged 10 to 18. If you are interested, contact ourcouncil’s Grand Knight, Gregg Blocher, at 902-1171.Thank you to the Indiana Knights of Columbus for theirwitness to the faith as well as for their gift ofthe icon of Our Lady of Charity.The Pastor’s PageIcon of Our Lady of CharityON THE LIGHTER SIDEThe acrobat with a touring circus went to confession in asmall-town parish.The priest, an avid circus fan, was enthralled with theman's occupation.The priest asked the acrobat to demonstrate some of hisroutines.The acrobat obliged with some handsprings, comic falls,and tumbling tricks.In the back of the church, two women watched thedemonstration with a mix of fascination and horror."If that's the penance Father is imposing today,"whispered one woman to the other, "I'm going home andchanging into my slacks!"Priests and deacons have served the Diocese of Gary morethan fifty years. Others have served in the territory that isnow the Diocese of Gary. Please pray for those men whohave been called to God and whose anniversaries of deathare this week:August 12: Rev. Joseph Horvath (1998)August 13: Msgr. Paul S. Haney (1989)Msgr. Paul J. Schmid (1991)Page 5