SPECIAL DAY St. Joseph students, teachers, and staff listen to Bishop Richard F. Stika shortly before he blesses the Knoxville school’s new gymnasium and performing-arts center on Dec. 18. Seen in the background are (from left) Dr. Sherry Morgan, superintendent of Catholic Schools, Father John Orr of Holy Ghost Parish, and Father Joe Ciccone, CSP, of Immaculate Conception Parish. Monsignor Xavier Mankel, Holy Ghost pastor, is partly hidden. Photo by Mary C. Weaver

St. Joseph School celebrated a milestone on Dec. 18, with the dedication of its new gymnasium. For the first time, the Knoxville elementary school, built in 1962, has a regulation-size basketball court and a generous space for the performing arts.

During morning Mass before the dedication ceremony, Bishop Richard F. Stika exhorted students, teachers, staff, and dozens of adult patrons and friends to be like St. Joseph, the carpenter, in building up the church.

“Today is very special for St. Joseph School, and it’s special for me because St. Joseph is one of my favorite saints,” the bishop said. “He was a carpenter. What do carpenters do? They make things, like the people of Blaine Construction [of Knoxville, who built the structure].”

The architect for the project was Robert Krusenklaus of Rlk Architecture in Knoxville.

But Christians can be builders even without doing manual work, the bishop said. [%END%]

“I like that sign [on the wall here]: ‘All I do today, dear Lord, I offer up to you.’ In some ways, that’s like building things. It’s called building church.”

That occurs when we have Jesus in our life, the bishop said, and Jesus in turn “invites us to come together like a family.”

The 13,000-square-foot, $1.4 million facility will serve not only as a gym but also the site of plays, musical performances, the annual Advent–Christmas program and Mardi Gras fundraiser, dinners, and other activities. Ground was broken on Nov. 21, 2008.

Bishop Stika asked the students in the congregation to remember the day—“because maybe 50 years from today, you will be visiting the school with your grandchildren, and you might look around and think of all the wonderful things you learned here.”

Near the end of Mass, the bishop reminded the schoolchildren of a young boy who attended St. Joseph School years ago. The boy thought of becoming an engineer, the bishop said, but then decided he wanted to be a priest.

“Then one day he got a phone call from some guy who had an Italian accent. I got the same phone call. On the other end was a guy named Pietro Sambi [apostolic nuncio to the United States], and he said, ‘Father Johnston, the Holy Father has named you a bishop of the church.’”

St. Joseph School alumnus Bishop James Vann Johnston Jr. is now head of the Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau, Mo.

“The reason I bring this up is that you never know what God is going to invite you to be,” said Bishop Stika.

He explained that the priests and deacon present for the Mass—Fathers Joe Ciccone and Chris Riehl of Immaculate Conception, Knoxville; Monsignor Xavier Mankel and Father John Orr of Holy Ghost, Knoxville; Father Chris Michelson of St. Albert the Great, Knoxville; and Deacon Sean Smith, diocesan chancellor—were all “a part of something called holy orders.”

“God invited them to be a priest or deacon, and they said yes.”

“I would like you [boys] to think about being a priest,” he said, “and I’d like the girls to think about being a sister, like the Sisters of Mercy.”

The bishop expressed special thanks to Monsignor Mankel, who, he said, “has a love of this school, and he loves each and every one of you, like the other priests, like Dr. [Aurelia] Montgomery, and all your teachers.”

Dr. Montgomery has been principal of St. Joseph School since 2005.

In a telephone interview the principal said that the children’s reaction to the new facility “told the whole story.” Dr. Montgomery said she had taken all the students, in three groups, for a brief tour of the new building before the official dedication.

“When they hit the door of the gym, every group just said ‘Oh!’ They started hollering and running around, and they just kept saying, ‘Thank you, thank you so much.’

“The happiness and the awe in the children’s faces and in their voices—that’s something I will always remember.”

Dr. Montgomery spoke of her deep gratitude to all who made the building possible: parents, donors from Holy Ghost, Immaculate Conception, and other parishes, the Diocesan Finance Council and Bishop Stika “for having enough faith in us to take on this project,” Monsignor Mankel, and the people of Blaine Construction. “I can’t say enough about [them] and about Dorman Blaine and the men [Henry Sutton and Matt Mitchell] who were there every day.”
 

BUILDING BLESSING Knoxville Catholic High School principal Dickie Sompayrac reads during the blessing ceremony for the Faris Field House on Dec. 13 as Bishop Richard F. Stika looks on. The expansion of the field house, which adds a locker room, weight room, and training room, totals more than 8,000 square feet. Mr. Sompayrac said athletes and non-athletes alike are using the roomier new facility. Photo by Dan McWilliams

The dedication last month of the Faris Field House at Knoxville Catholic High School, an expansion of the existing All Sports Complex, honored a couple who have long supported KCHS and sent all four of their children to the school.

Bishop Richard F. Stika blessed the field house Dec. 13 with John and Sondra Faris in attendance. Also on hand were John Faris Jr. of the KCHS class of 2004 and his younger brothers Jay (’06), Jeffrey (’08), and Jake (’10). Others present included KCHS principal Dickie Sompayrac, football head coach Scott Meadows, booster-club members, and school parents, students, donors, and staffers.

The $950,000 field-house addition, which includes a new locker room, weight room, and training room, completes the third and final phase of the school’s Living Our Mission Through Growth capital campaign. The expansion added more than 8,000 square feet to the athletic facilities. Before the campaign more than 420 student athletes were sharing locker rooms designed to serve 100.

The senior Faris thanked the bishop for blessing the building and recalled how far the high school has come in the way of facilities since moving west to its current site a decade ago.

“I also want to thank Dickie Sompayrac for his foresight in two things: letting me raise money and taking my check for the building,” he added.

The field house also honors three additional families. Rooms are named for the Fox family, in honor of Bob and Jean Fox; John Mark Stallings, in memory of the son of former Alabama football head coach Gene Stallings; and the LoCascio family.[%END%]

The Fox Family Head Coach’s Office recognizes donors Dr. Daniel and Terry Fox (’79). The Foxes have five children who are attending or have graduated from KCHS.

Mr. Stallings spoke at the high school in May and attended the dedication then of the Johnny Stallings Training Room. The coach’s son, who had Down syndrome, died in August 2008. KCHS parents Tim and Robin Harris, who have a son who played football at Alabama, made the donation to establish the Stallings room.

The field house’s LoCascio Family Conference Room is named for Dr. Steven and Christl LoCascio, parents of one current and one future KCHS student.

The building’s weight room is sponsored by Mercy Health Partners.

FIELD HOUSE GROWS Freshman Savannah Fox takes part in the blessing ceremony. With her is Father Christopher Riehl. The Fox Family Head Coach’s Office, the Johnny Stallings Training Room, and the LoCascio Family Conference Room are among the expanded Faris Field House’s new additions. Photo by Dan McWilliams

The Faris Field House is not meant only for KCHS student athletes. Mr. Sompayrac said that the facility is “great for athletics and our football program, but I’m not sure everybody understands how many kids who are non-athletes are using this All-Sports Complex on a daily basis through weight-training classes and other things we’ve got going on.”

Bishop Stika, a St. Louis native and Cardinals baseball fan, said he now knows two families for whom sports facilities have been named.

“You know, my life is complete now. I was friends with members of the Busch family, so we have Busch Stadium, and now with the Faris family we have the Faris Field House.”

The bishop said the field house is not a lesser component of the school but rather an equal one.

“This whole building fulfills what we’re all about,” he said. “We’re mental persons and physical persons, and we’re spiritual and academic. With this new complex we can give a superior education to all the students who come.

“Just think of all the lives that will be touched over the next decades: people who will build up their bodies, their minds, and a relationship daily, becoming closer and closer to God. It might seem insignificant—a gym, weights, a field house, or a football or baseball field—but they all contribute to the education and formation of young adults.”

The Farises in addition were the principal donors for the school’s track. Mr. and Mrs. Faris, whose Faris Enterprises operates several area McDonald’s restaurants, also have supplied food for KCHS events and contributed their time as well as treasure, said Mr. Sompayrac.

“John and Sondra Faris have given so much to our school through the years,” he said.

“What a lot of folks don’t see are the things they do that go above and beyond the monetary gifts to the school.

Johnson Architecture and J. A. Fielden General Contractors led the building team, along with Carson Branum and Living Our Mission Through Growth chair Father Chris Michelson.

The capital campaign launched in November 2006 and raised $5 million toward a new academic wing, endowment growth, and the athletic facilities expansion. Diocesan administrator Father Al Humbrecht blessed Schaad Hall, the academic wing, in January 2008. The Farises have a science lab named for them in Schaad Hall to honor their contributions to that project.

A donation by the late Isabel Ashe Bonnyman (’39) helped the school complete the endowment-fund phase of the capital campaign.

The school also thanked Monsignor Philip Thoni, who taught there in the 1950s, and St. Mary Parish in Gatlinburg for their support of KCHS. Monsignor Thoni was the St. Mary pastor before his recent retirement.

“Monsignor Thoni is not here today, but he has helped every time I’ve said I need some help,” said Mr. Faris. “He drives hours to come to the games. He’s always in our thoughts and prayers and has done a great job.”

Mr. Faris said he hopes Knoxville Catholic’s current students will help support the school after they graduate.

“We’ve been inspired and hope that as these boys and girls grow into young men and women that they’ll be inspired to give back, as we’ve encouraged our boys to do,” he said. “Bishop, thank you, and Dickie, thank you for your help and for giving us the opportunity to do it.”
 

NEW YEAR’S DAY Pope Benedict XVI greets the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square for recitation of the Angelus prayer at the Vatican Jan. 1. CNS Photo/Paul Haring

VATICAN CITY (CNS)—The keys to peace and a better future are having respect for every human being and all of creation as God’s handiwork and trusting in God’s overwhelming love, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Marking the new year with the celebration Jan. 1 of the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and World Peace Day—and with Angelus recitations Jan. 1 and 3—Pope Benedict reminded Christians that God’s promises require a response.

“The divine plan is not accomplished automatically because it is a plan of love, and love generates freedom and asks for freedom,” he said during his Angelus address Jan. 3.

Although God’s kingdom of peace and justice is already being realized on earth, he said, “every man and woman is responsible for welcoming it into his or her own life day by day. So 2010 will be better or worse to the extent that people, accepting their own responsibility, learn to collaborate with the grace of God.”

“There are problems in the church and in the world, as well as in the daily lives of families, but thanks to God, our hope does not depend on improbable prognostications and even less on economic forecasts. Our hope is in God,” he said.

The pope also spoke about personal responsibility Jan. 1, commenting on the theme he chose for World Peace Day 2010: “If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation.”[%END%]

The resources of the earth must be used with justice and wisdom, he said during his Angelus address Jan. 1.

“I want to underline the importance that the choices of individuals, families, and local administrations have in protecting the environment,” he said.

In educating people to respect creation, the pope said, they must be helped to recognize that the human beings God created in his own image and likeness require special respect and protection.

“If we must take care of the creatures around us, how much more care must we have for people—our brothers and sisters,” he said. “On the first day of the year, I want to appeal to the conscience of those who are part of any kind of armed group. To each and every one I say: Stop, reflect, and abandon the path of violence.”

In his homily during the morning Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 1, Pope Benedict said people will respect the environment only to the extent that they respect themselves and others because true respect for creation means seeing all creation as a reflection of God, the creator.

Teaching people to respect others must begin early in childhood, he said.

“From the time they are small, it is important to educate children to respect others, even when they are different from us,” he said.

Multiethnic children have an advantage, he said, because the faces of the children “are a prophecy of the humanity we are called to form: a family of families and peoples.”

“The smaller these children are, the more they elicit from us tenderness and joy for an innocence and brotherhood that is evident: despite their differences, they cry and laugh in the same way, they have the same needs, they communicate spontaneously and play together,” he said.

However, the pope said, the smiles of too many children are extinguished by suffering, and their hearts are poisoned by violence.

In them one can see “faces lined by hunger and disease, faces disfigured by pain and desperation. The faces of these innocent little ones are a silent appeal to our responsibility,” the pope said.

Recognizing their helplessness, “all the false justifications for war and violence fall away. We simply must convert to projects of peace, lay down weapons of every kind, and, all of us together, make a commitment to building a world more worthy of humanity.”

Copyright 2010 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
 

                     —Harry Hogan Knoxville

We welcome letters to the editor and carefully consider all submissions. Letters should be 350 words or less and will be edited for grammar, style, clarity, and length. Submit them by e-mail, mail, or fax: mweaver@dioknox.org, 805 Northshore Drive Southwest, Knoxville, TN 37919, 865-584-8124. Letters to the editor reflect the opinions of their authors and not those of the editorial staff or the publisher.

By now almost every store in the country has put away anything that had to do with Christmas. It’s been replaced with white sales and whatever comes after that. For the merchants, Christmas is only one gimmick for selling goods. But for God, Christmas is not a passing season. Jesus’ birth was not only the culmination of centuries of preparation but also the beginning of an age wherein Christ’s presence in the world grows ever stronger. In actuality, the Christmas season will not end until the whole world experiences and accepts the grace of God.

Today’s Gospel relates one of the subsequent movements of Christmas. Jesus had been born and spent the first 30 or so years of his life listening. He listened to Mary and Joseph and was obedient to them. Here, Luke narrates the start of his public ministry. God’s presence becomes stronger, even to the point of becoming visible and audible. Luke asserts that “the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven.”

That was a profound moment. The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity had been on Earth for more than 30 years, and the people thought someone else, namely John, was the Messiah. Jesus came on the scene gently—even, one could say, humbly. That was according to the plan made known 700 years earlier by Isaiah. In the first reading we hear the prophet say, “Comfort, give comfort to my people . . . speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her service is at an end.”

Then Isaiah describes the Baptist’s role by ordering every valley to be filled in and the mountains and hills made low. Only after that preparation will it be time to cry out at the top of your voice, “Here is your God!” That is what today is about. God is in our midst.

Christmas continues through Jesus’ public ministry and his death, resurrection, and ascension, until we reach the point where we are right now. Christ can be seen in this world in the form of the church. That means us. And we don’t go away. The Christmas sales and commercials and music may have disappeared, but we are here. You and I are here to keep Christ’s message and spirit and body alive and growing.
 

The land and the bride

Christ’s gift of the Holy Spirit ‘makes us, the spouse of Christ, fertile.’

Jan. 17, second Sunday of ordinary time
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 96:1-3, 7-10
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
John 2:1-11
 

The beautiful rolling hills of Eastern France are now what they have been from the time of the Roman Empire. They are laden with vineyards, producing the most desired wines on earth and cheering people’s hearts in every corner of the world. But that land, less than 100 years ago, was reduced to quagmires of mud pockmarked with hundreds of thousands of craters formed by the impact of artillery shells aimed at destroying entrenched armies on both sides of “no man’s land.”

Israel’s land, after the Babylonians conquered it, was no better off than France at the end of World War I. It was desolate. To many, the land was dead and beyond redemption. Isaiah, speaking for God, addressed that attitude. The land of Israel is like a virgin waiting for a bridegroom. When the marriage takes place, she will make him rejoice with many children. Thus, the land of Israel will be fertile when the captives return from Babylon. They will be filled with the bountiful produce of the land.

Jesus invoked the same theme when he blessed the couple at Cana with an abundance of choice wine, even as people were noticing the wine had run out. Yes, the wine of the Old Covenant was growing weak, until all that was left was water fit only for washing. Jesus was bringing in the New Covenant. In comparison to the water that was left, Jesus brought in choice vintage wine.

In the present age of Christ’s New Covenant his finest and greatest gift to us is the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who makes us, the land and the spouse of Christ, fertile. In the second reading Paul reminds us that we are all beneficiaries of Christ and therefore receivers of the Spirit’s gifts. Each of us receives spiritual gifts that are particularly suited to our state in life. From our own perspective we can rejoice in what we have become and thank God. If we had a view from heaven, gazing on the church, however, we would see a marvelous sight. It could be described as a lush, fruitful countryside. Or it could be called a beautiful bride dressed and ready to meet her husband. The whole world rejoices in the new life that ensues.

WEEKDAY READINGS

Monday, Jan. 11: 1 Samuel 1:1-8; Psalm 116:12-19; Mark 1:14-20
Tuesday, Jan. 12: 1 Samuel 1:9-20; 1 Samuel 2:1, 4-8; Mark 1:21-28
Wednesday, Jan. 13: 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-20; Psalm 40:2, 5, 7-10; Mark 1:29-39
Thursday, Jan. 14: 1 Samuel 4:1-11; Psalm 44:10-11, 14-15, 24-25; Mark 1:40-45
Friday, Jan. 15: 1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22; Psalm 89:16-19; Mark 2:1-12
Saturday, Jan. 16: 1 Samuel 9:1-4, 17-19 and 10:1; Psalm 21:2-7; Mark 2:13-17
Monday, Jan. 18: 1 Samuel 15:16-23; Psalm 50:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23; Mark 2:18-22
Tuesday, Jan. 19: 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 89:20-22, 27-28; Mark 2:23-28
Wednesday, Jan. 20: 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51; Psalm 144:1-2, 9-10; Mark 3:1-6
Thursday, Jan. 21: Memorial, Agnes, virgin, martyr, 1 Samuel 18:6-9 and 19:1-7; Psalm 56:2-3, 9-13; Mark 3:7-12
Friday, Jan. 22: 1 Samuel 24:3-21; Psalm 57:2-4, 6, 11; Mark 3:13-19
Saturday, Jan. 23: 2 Samuel 1:1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27; Psalm 80:2-3, 5-7; Mark 3:20-21

Father Brando is a retired priest of the diocese.

 

• St. Mary Church, Johnson City, 6:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21
• Holy Spirit Church, Soddy-Daisy, 6:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22
• Holy Ghost Church, Knoxville, 9 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 23
• St. Alphonsus Church, Crossville, 1:30 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23
• All Saints, Knoxville, 1:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24.

Father Orapankal has visited the East Tennessee several times to offer faith-enrichment workshops since the diocese’s Why Catholic? program launched in fall 2007.

Renew: Why Catholic? is a comprehensive adult-faith-formation program that is solidly based on Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It offers a concrete approach that helps adults deepen their faith and connect its teachings to everyday life.
 

• Tuesday, Jan. 12, St. John Neumann Church, Farragut
• Tuesday, Feb. 16, Holy Family Church, Seymour

Spirituality, taught by Father Michael Woods. Explores the foundations of how our faith is expressed and deepened through prayer and spirituality. The class will examine the concept of spiritual development and how intimate communion with God is available to all people.

• Tuesday, Feb. 9, Sacred Heart Cathedral
• Tuesday, March 9, St. Alphonsus Church, Crossville
• Tuesday, April 20, location TBD
• Tuesday, May 11, Notre Dame Church, Greeneville

Personal morality, taught by Father Michael Sweeney. Explores the foundations of what we believe as Catholics and why we believe it. How do we know the church’s position on moral issues is correct? How do we live as faithful Catholics in a world that seemingly rejects the church’s teachings at every turn? This session will examine the concepts of human dignity, freedom, law, sin, virtue, and conscience as well as current moral issues. It will also provide insight into how we may explain the church’s position to those who are searching for answers in a confusing world.

• Tuesday, March 2, St. Dominic Church, Kingsport
• Tuesday, Oct. 5, St. Stephen Church, Chattanooga
• Thursday, Nov. 4, location TBD
   

What we believe, taught by Deacon David Lucheon. Explores the foundations of what we profess as Catholics. The class will examine the principal truths of the faith as expressed in the creeds of the church.

• Tuesday, April 20, location TBD
• Thursday, Oct. 14, location TBD
• Tuesday, Nov. 9, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Chattanooga

Catechist orientation
The diocese’s catechetical formation program for adults also continues in 2010, with three catechetical days and one catechist-orientation session.

The program, presented in collaboration with Aquinas College in Nashville, is intended for parish catechists, teachers in Catholic schools, ministry leaders, and other interested adults.

Each catechetical-formation session will take place on a Saturday and will include hourlong modules on the Creed, the sacraments, morality, prayer, and methods. All sessions are offered free of charge.

The orientation session will take place from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 27, at St. Mary Church in Oak Ridge. Those who have taken part in an orientation session need not attend.

Catechetical days, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (choose one)

• March 6, St. John Neumann Church, Farragut
• March 20, Notre Dame Church, Greeneville
• March 27, St. Jude Church, Chattanooga