Around The Diocese For Aug. 16
Learning to say
‘I can do this!”
“Watching my grandsons at the pool this summer got me to thinking about our journey to grow in faith and trust in God,” writes Deacon Dave Seibert, pastoral life coordinator at St. Theresa Parish in Evansville.
“In a sense, we’re all learning to swim. The goal is to make it to the deep end. But like a child learning to swim for the first time, we step into the water with hesitation and even fear.
“At a year old we get into the water and may be a little scared but only because it’s a new experience. We don’t appreciate potential danger of drowning and haven’t gotten totally wet. For the toddler being in the pool is no different than being in a big bathtub. It’s fun. Besides dad is there to hold us up. We might be a little unsure but we enjoy splashing around in the shallow wading pool.
“By the time we reach four years old we’re splashing in a little deeper water. Dad has stepped a bit farther away. We may get in up to our chins without any help. We can jump up and down, get our face in the water and move around with some freedom. This is the time when we begin to learn a few basic swim techniques like the dog paddle and practicing to float. You might even get a kick board and kick from one side of the pool to the other. There’s always an eye toward the deep end but now we’ve learned enough to know the momentary terror of slipping off our kick board and sliding into the water. Fear enters the picture.
“I think a lot of us are stuck at four years old as we look toward the deep end of the faith pool. We know that’s where we would like to go but are just too scared to do it. We want the assurance of a solid pool floor under our feet. We lack confidence and are afraid to try.
"Humans have the ability to swim. The body floats, the muscles will pull us through the water and the limbs work together to make us swimmers. But not everyone has the confidence to trust our human construction and its abilities.
“Properly trained, Christians have the ability to swim too. God has given us the gifts, or abilities, to make it to the deep end. But we have to trust our spiritual construction and its abilities. It’s an exhilarating experience the first time we swim from the shallow end of the pool to the deep end. We might be a little scared but with each stroke we gain confidence and realize ‘I can do this!’ Our first experience in the deep end of faith is the same. We know we can’t touch bottom but that’s okay. God will keep us afloat. Each time we place our trust in God gets a little easier than the last. Before long we’re able to move out into deeper water without any fear, it becomes very natural.”
Happy Birthday!
Deacon Michael Waninger, St. Martin Parish, Chrisney, and St. Bernard Parish, Rockport, and pastoral life coordinator at St. John Chrysostom Parish, New Boston, celebrates his birthday Aug. 23.
Father James Rogers, a retired priest of the Diocese of Evansville, celebrates his birthday Aug. 25. He resides at St. Paul’s Hermitage, 501 N. 17th Ave., Beech Grove IN 46107.
Deacon Mark McDonald, St. Wendel Parish, St. Wendel, and St. Francis Xavier Parish, Poseyville, celebrates his birthday Aug. 25.
Father Claude Burns, pastor at St. Philip Parish, Posey County, celebrates his birthday Aug. 27.
Anniversaries of ordination
Father John Breidenbach, sacramental minister at St. Theresa Parish, Evansville, was ordained to the priesthood Aug. 21, 1987.
Father Michael Madden, pastor of Holy Name Parish, Bloomfield, and St. Peter Parish, Linton, was ordained to the priesthood Aug. 22, 1975.
Saying thanks
“A big thank you goes out to those students who helped out at Bible School,” writes Mark Potts, youth minister at the four Martin County parishes.
“Those students include Halle Sheetz, Brandon Eckerle, Patrick Allbright, Garrett Williams, Mya Hedrick, Leonna Hedrick, Kashten Burch, Abbie Williams, Cassidy Esch, Kendra Lythgoe, Liz Burch, Tara Pennington, Renee Burch, Jocelyn Strange and Macy McAtee.
Welcome!
“I am very pleased to introduce you to Annie Shackelford, the newest member of our Catholic Charities team,” writes Sharon Burns, director.
“Annie will be serving Catholic Charities as a dedicated school counselor. She will be working 10 months each year, August - May. Her duties will include providing counseling to students of 10 of the Catholic schools in the diocese and conducting evaluations of all of our programming.”
She received her master of social work degree in July from the University of Southern Indiana.
