Odds And Ends About Unity Across Our Diocese

 Odds and ends – all founded in the concept of unity.

 This issue includes decrees announcing changes in alignment that are part of the ongoing parish reorganization. It IS that, of course – but it’s more. I’ve seen it first-hand.

 Parishes come together and, in the process, create new life. They create stronger, more vibrant life. They grow in spirit and faith – when they are open to the will of God.

 I remember a listening session from earlier this year, when Bishop Thompson faced two parish families and broached the concept of merger. Some balked, and the atmosphere grew tense for several minutes. The last parishioner to speak, however, diffused everything with a simple question.

 “Merging parishes,” she said, “is kind of like getting married. You form a new life by merging two existing lives. You know going in that everything won’t be perfect, but you’re committed to it out of faith, hope and love.

 “So my question is this,” she added, looking into a portion of the audience that had been particularly resistant to the suggestion of parishes merging.

 “Will you marry me?”

 Everyone clapped. Everyone. Consider the decrees in this issue a form of collective wedding announcement.

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 Make no mistake – this move to consolidate St. Mary Catholic School in Ireland with Jasper’s Holy Family and Precious Blood Catholic schools was proactive – NOT reactive. Years ago, the Jasper Deanery Core Team recommended this move.

 Holy Trinity will offer Catholic education to students across the entire county, and do so in a way that will most effectively use all available resources.

 Father Gary Kaiser, pastor of Precious Blood and St. Mary parishes, is Bishop Charles C. Thompson’s official delegate for administration of the Holy Trinity school system. He has worked for the past almost-10 months with a transition team that created a number of subcommittees to address issues in a variety of areas.

 Their work continues, and we’ll report developments as they occur – leading up to the first day of classes for Holy Trinity Catholic School. Because of our early deadline for this all-diocesan issue, we couldn’t get anything more than the announcement of the name, colors and mascot in this issue. Look for lots more next week!

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 Elsewhere in this issue, Deacon Jim Woebkenberg recounts the story of the naming process, which involved significant input from members of all the parishes. It’s another great testament to the fruits of being “one holy catholic apostolic Church.”

 We’ve seen it elsewhere over the past year. Examples include Annunciation of the Lord Parish in Evansville and the new St. Boniface Parish in Evansville – each created by mergers that we announced this time last year.

 At the Vincennes listening session held earlier this year, the first question Bishop Thompson got from the audience made one of the most emphatic statements about our unity I’ve heard in this whole process.

 “What I want to know,” someone asked, “is how come you didn’t announce us last September? We’re ready to go!”