Bishop McRaith’s life of ministry guided by Holy Spirit

By Matt Weafer

Western Kentucky Catholic

For Bishop John McRaith, retirement won't be much different than the past 26 years. He'll have fewer responsibilities, especially when the new bishop takes his seat as administrator of the 32-county diocese, but those responsibilities were just a part of God's calling.

Bishop McRaith's main job was to let the Holy Spirit work through him to spread the Good News, the love of Jesus Christ, which he will continue to do in retirement.

Even as the leader of the diocese, Bishop McRaith said he never felt like he was in control.

"When I think that I'm in charge," he said, "I'm in trouble. . . . We have to go back and remember that the Holy Spirit is in charge of the mission of the church."

And he defined that mission simply as spreading God's love.

"When I realize through my faith that I know God is in charge then I know I only have to do the best I can," he said. "And that doesn't mean I don't make mistakes. We all make mistakes."

For just more than a quarter of a century, Bishop McRaith dedicated his life to spreading the Good News in the Diocese of Owensboro, reaching out to the people that needed it most.

Sister Joseph Angela Boone, Director of Administration, said "He has started a lot of ministries in the diocese that had never been here before."

Some of the ministries the bishop helped found include the Family Life Office, the Social Concerns Office, the Religious Education Office, the Office of Wisdom, the Stewardship Office and the Safe Environment Office.

"He has also been a very strong advocate for Hispanic ministry," Sr. Joseph Angela said. "Another big thing that he has accomplished was getting just wages for the employees in the diocese, including staff and teachers."

But his most admirable trait, she said, was his patience with the people of the diocese, especially in administrative positions.

When he founded the Diocesan Pastoral Council, which currently has about 30 people from eight deaneries, Sr. Joseph Angela said, organizing the body into a coherent focus was difficult at its inception in the late 80s.

"His patience in trying to get that started was unbelievable," she said.

The Bishop's goal for this council was to bring forth concerns and suggestions from the grassroots level from parishes and deaneries.

"(But the members') reasons for being there was to carry out the mandates of the bishop," Sr. Joseph Angela said. "But he did not mandate things. He wanted solutions to come from the grassroots."

Sr. Joseph Angela recounted her first meeting with the Diocesan Pastoral Council: "It was prior to 1989 when I came. One member said, 'Bishop, just tell us what you want us to do and we'll do it.' That's not what he wanted. He wanted the people in the pews to come up with ideas. He wanted the body of the church to be aware of what needed to be done. He was very very collaborative."

Fr. John Vaughan said, "He's a great listener and believes in broad consultation. That's one of his trademarks that has served us well."

Bishop McRaith treated consultation not as a challenge but as a necessity to truly let the Holy Spirit work through the Diocese.

"We are a people with diverse abilities and diverse roles with a lot of questions," Bishop McRaith said. "And the Holy Spirit or God or Jesus expects us to live as one body. That will always be the challenge, not to let petty differences get in the way of serious work that needs to be done and to bring the Good News to all the people of God."

Catholic Schools Superintendant Jim Mattingly remembered Bishop McRaith saying in one of his homilies at CPC morning Mass, "We don't have to have all the answers. But if we have faith in God, the Spirit will lead us to the answers."    

While Bishop McRaith accomplished much during his time with the Diocese, he takes credit for very little.

"I just have immense gratitude for how the people have accepted me and how they have worked with me and how they have helped me grow in the model of God," he said. "There's a real sadness in leaving the ministry that I did have as the bishop, though I'll still be a bishop."

For the next year, Bishop McRaith will still help with confessions and the Chrism Mass or "whatever they want me to do," he said. "I'll wait to be asked."

With so many years invested into the dioceses, Bishop McRaith said picking out a favorite memory was too difficult. "There are so many things that have happened over those 26 plus years," he said, "some of it very very exciting and challenging, but generally we've had some great celebrations."

He said some of his favorite celebrations were when people traveled from across the diocese to celebrate as one. He also said one thing he wished he could have devoted more time to during his ministry was ecumenism.

"We've tried to put a great emphasis on the need for unity and oneness both in how we live out our lives whether bishop or priest or laity," he said, "but also it's an absolute essential to carry out the mission of the church. So there's been great effort put into building a sense of unity and culture of unity, if you will. How effective it's been only God can judge that."

The group of people that will directly feel the effects of the Bishop retiring the most is the staff that works with him every day.

"I'm going to miss working with the staff and working closely with the priests and the consultative bodies, and the laity I'll miss a lot," he said.

Sr. Joseph Angela said, "He has great devotion to the liturgy and is generous in celebrating the Eucharist with the staff here as often as he possibly can whenever he is available. That was one of his great contributions, I thought, that made him so great. He wanted to celebrate the Eucharist everyday. I appreciated it and a lot of other people did too."

For the future Bishop McRaith said he will say mass where he's invited or in his chapel. He also said that while he has lived at his house on 5^th St. his entire career with the Diocese, the new bishop has the choice to live their. "If he would want the house," Bishop McRaith said, "he would have the right to have it. If he doesn't, I would probably remain here."

And while he has too many fond memories to single any out, he also had many trying times.

"The sexual abuse scandal was probably the most trying time because you're working with hurting people, trying to do the best you can to reach out to those who are hurting and help them in ways that we could," he said. "I certainly learned the pain of those who have experienced sexual abuse and those who have experienced any kind of abuse that affected their lives."

While the Owensboro Diocese was just one of many dioceses mixed in the scandal, the image of the entire Catholic Church suffered in the public eye. But the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops worked along with many others to redeem the sanctity of the Church.

"It depends on who you ask of course, but I think the bishops have done a great job of helping the diocese put together programs, safe environment programs which will hopefully not only be helpful to the church but as well as any entity that is dealing in particular with children," Bishop McRaith said. "I think that a tremendous amount of effort was put in on the part of many people to make the programs we have. The sexual abuse policies are probably some of the first since 1985. We've had a policy but it hadn't been updated."

But for the individuals directly affected by the scandal, there were more important things than the Church's image.

"(Bishop McRaith) was a perfect model of listening to people and not making them feel that it was all their fault," Sr. Joseph Angela said. "If you listen to someone sometimes that's all they need. Someone to listen to them and believe they are telling the facts as they really are."

She said the Bishop even offered to pay for counseling for anyone involved in the scandal.

"That's when we set up the safe environment office," Sr. Joseph Angela said. And all the employees and volunteers had to have a criminal background check."

"The many people I have talked to made me much more aware of the seriousness of the problem, the magnitude of it," Bishop McRaith said.

Former editor of the Messenger-Inquirer Dan Heckel said, "When the church was struggling to get through the abuse scandal, I was always impressed that the Bishop never avoided any of the reporters at the Messenger-Inquirer. Anytime a reporter called him, even though he knew it was going to be an unpleasant question, he always made himself available. That's rare these days, but Bishop McRaith has always stood a bit taller than the rest of the crowd."

Bishop McRaith's calm composure and gentleness permeated every aspect of his ministry.

"He was very very collaborative," Sr. Joseph Angela said. "He had extreme patience. He would listen to you and maybe if you were completely on the wrong track, he would very gently say 'but' and you would see the Holy Spirit coming out of him. He had a gentle way of educating you to the real thing and not what you thought it ought to be."

His dedication to the Holy Spirit was his constant guide and his compassion helped form his and the Diocese's argument against abortion, another difficult issue during the bishop's ministry.

"I think we need to see that Roe v. Wade was just one of the great injustices and the most serious injustice that was ever perpetrated on the people," Bishop McRaith said. "We're very much a church that believes in the dignity of the human person, the right of every human person to be treated with dignity the dignity that a child of God should have."

The bishop said that while there are many global issues the Catholic Church is hoping to impact, abortion is the first.

"Only in working on all of those issues will we make strides toward success," he said. "But the first issue is abortion because you have to be born before you can receive any injustices. This is the most defenseless group of people that deserve our best efforts to be their voices because they don't have one."

Perhaps surprisingly, the bishop's argument against abortion stems from stewardship.

"It really comes down to the question of who owns what, and God owns everything, which is the truth, and we are stewards of him," he said. "Once we get it through our heads that God owns everything, we'll begin to divide up resources and we'll play a major roll in shaping the future of the world and never to forget two things: how much God loves us, and from scripture, never to forget (that God said), 'You have not chosen me; I have chosen you.'"

As good stewards, good choices become obvious.

"It's very misunderstood when you talk about stewardship," he said. "People think you're talking about trying to give money, and that's the furthest from the truth. It's the question of where do we get our gifts from, and they came from God and they were given to us not for our own honor and glory but for the building up of the body of Christ, which means reaching out to everyone who's being treated unjustly and unfairly and who are not being able to use their gifts to the fullest."

For Bishop McRaith, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Good News of the Lord, and stewardship all role into one. "It's so simple people don't listen to it," he said. "To live out the answer is going to mean suffering and pain. It's going to mean a close loving relationship with Jesus and truly carrying out the great commandment to love each other as Jesus has loved us."

As for his hopes for the future bishop, Bishop McRaith said he hopes to see "someone who truly loves the wonderful faith-filled people that are here, and that includes the laity and priests, religious and the deacon. I just pray that he will find them as faith-filled as I have found them to be."

Sr. Joseph Angela said, "It will be hard for anyone to follow him. His generosity is great."

St. Gerard Life Home aids young unwed mothers-to-be

By Matt Weafer
Western Kentucky Catholic

Pregnancy at a young age is stressful enough. But when the girl doesn’t have a family to depend on or a home to sleep in safely, pregnancy can seem like the beginning of the end in more ways than one.

The St. Gerard Life Home is designed to aid homeless, unwed mothers, older than 18 — offering a safe, comfortable home for the girls to reside in during their pregnancy and up to three months after the birth of the baby.

“St. Gerard Life Home was started because Birthright is no longer housing girls,” Rita Heinz, director of programs for Catholic Charities, said.

Catholic Charities will operate the home.

The house, which was donated anonymously, is currently under renovation and should be open by June.

Heinz said the address will not be published for future residents’ safety.

Sister Joseph Angela Boone, OSU, director of administration for the Owensboro Diocese, said the St. Gerard Life Home will offer unwed mothers a place to stay, provide clothing and prenatal care.

“It’s going to be absolutely well worth the time and energy that goes into it if we can save one life,” Sr. Joseph Angela said.

The home will hopefully help prevent young women from aborting the pregnancies or from living in unsafe environments.

Named after the patron saint of pregnant women, the St. Gerard Life Home will offer pregnant girls the time and counseling to help them prepare for motherhood and independence.

“In addition to providing shelter we want to assist girls in obtaining healthy pregnancies,” Heinz said. “We want to provide them information on parenting and budgeting and assist them in finding employment and housing after the child is born.”

Many young women after becoming pregnant are either abandoned by parents or boyfriends, or their home life is — or becomes — abusive.

In such a vulnerable situation, the young woman often has no place to retreat.

“Basically our purpose is to help them obtain shelter and proper nutrition and facilitate independence and their ability to parent after the baby is born,” Heinz said. “They can stay there with their babies for up to three months after the baby is born. We want to help them get back on their feet.”

Through a variety of programs such as counseling and education, the St. Gerard Life Home will hopefully help save the lives of many unborn babies and help the young mothers find a firm foothold in the workforce, hopefully creating a stable, happy and healthy new family.

For more information contact the Owensboro Pastoral Center at 270-683-1545.

Chrism Mass homily, the Bishop calls us to spread the Good News

By Matt Weafer
Western Kentucky Catholic

Hundreds of people slowly filed into the Sports Center for the Chrism Mass on March 18.

As the procession of clergy ambled toward the altar, I noticed something missing in the congregation, youth.

With the exception of a swath of grade-schoolers sitting in the benches, a dozen or so babies and a handful of kids, the congregation was populated by older generations.

The church sang “One in Christ” as the gathering song, symbolic of the parishes uniting under one roof for an evening of prayer and consecration. I sang along quietly, reminding myself and the people around me that I can’t sing.

Vases of what looked like olive oil stood on the altar as the church signed the cross in unison.

The ceremony started out as any average Sunday morning mass — only with twenty times the amount of people and forty extra priests.

The biggest difference, though — at least for me — was how powerful some of the readings were; the one’s spoken in English that is. The second reading in Spanish demonstrated the growing diversity of our diocese.

The gospel and Bishop John McRaith’s homily were packed with insight. The words were nothing I hadn’t heard before, nor was the message. But something struck as a little more meaningful.

I’ve been attending Catholic masses since I wore diapers 24 years ago and for some reason this mass spoke to me, stood out from the hundreds of others masses I’ve attended.

Perhaps I got more out of this mass because I jotted notes in my notepad, preparing for this story. I don’t know. Either way, this was no ordinary mass, at least for me.

The carafes of oil stood waiting to be blessed and the congregation sat relatively peacefully listening to the first reading from Isaiah, which read like poetry and set the stage for the Bishop’s homily.

“The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners.” (Isaiah 61:1)

The Bishop started off the homily with, “What a great night. What a great sight.” He then segued into a sermon sighting the significance of our gathering, thanking anyone associated with the church and imploring us to live up to God’s call, our mission, the mission Jesus gave to his disciples.

“To proclaim the Good News wherever they go,” Bishop McRaith said. “Proclaim the love of God, the risen Lord. Can you imagine how the world would change if that were taken seriously?”

I tried to imagine it, a world of peace, a world of plenty in which we share wealth, we feed the poor until they need to buy bigger pants, we forgive neighbors and offer assistance rather than threaten war, and we love one another because part of proclaiming the Good News is living it.

Then I realized how far from reality that world really is, though many of us try.
“Each of us in the building and diocese — rich, poor, young, old — everyone has a job,” he said. “No one is too young, uneducated or too old to have a call.”

Then he reflected on the state of our status quo: “While the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, we have a lot to think about tonight.”

The Bishop then spoke of deeds we should all strive to achieve, and they reminded me of a growing trend in America, the push for social responsibility. Similar to Americans’ fight for a greener world, a cleaner world, a more loving world, the Bishop implored us to reach out through our stewardship, time and talent to spread God’s love, provide liberty to captives and sight to the blind — proverbially, of course.

“Captives of material things, pleasure,” he said. “The stronger our relationship with Jesus, the less we are apt to become captives to anyone or anything.”

One of the toughest things to adjust to is dependence, he said. “People have to admit we are dependent upon God before he will heal them.”

And all this, which on paper looks like common sense, words we’ve read a thousand times, weighed heavy in my mind that night as I thought of our society: war, greed, poverty and indulgence in excesses.

He spoke a few other gems in the homily such as: “The will of the world would have us under its thumb.” And: “Oppression is a disrespect for life — abortion, murder, capital punishment.”

And then he challenged us: “Look at our lives and see where we show disrespect then set out to change how we treat one another. Free the oppressed. Love one another as Jesus loved us.”

His final words settled on the congregation like a refreshing mist: “Jesus came to save the world from sin and death. United with one another and him and each other we can have a better world from here to eternity. Pray we’ll take that seriously for a better world for all of us to travel on our pilgrimage. God bless you all.”

He plodded back to his seat and the congregation sat in silence. Perhaps awe struck them into contemplation, perhaps his words provided a glimpse at how they may disrespect life, perhaps they weren’t paying attention at all and were falling asleep, or perhaps it was a little of all three. But then a baby started to cry, someone coughed, the air conditioner hummed, programs flapped as make-shift fans and a chair scooted before mass continued.

And even though the Chrism Mass was a celebration of the anointing of oils and the priests’ renewal of their commitment to service, the Bishop’s words stood out like neon at night in a world where common sense and love seem lost in the amalgamation of media hype, political disturbance and greed that seems to dominate our society.

But perhaps, in God’s blessing, as the Bishop said, we may learn to love and spread the Good News.

David Morris’ Love for Music a Gift from God, Family, Friends

By Matt Weafer
Western Kentucky Catholic

A steady buzzing noise travels down the hallway of St. Mary of the Woods Elementary School in Whitesville emanating from the door labeled Mr. Morris, as though a giant bee hive stood in the classroom.

Though no bees buzz in the classroom, a swarm of fourth graders plucks, strums, hammers and bows string instruments. The students concentrate on the sheet music on the stand in front of them and try to find the rhythm to “Drunken Sailor,” the English sea shanty song popular at Ho-Downs.

Meanwhile, music teacher David Morris walks from student to student, coaching, snapping beat and correcting finger placements.

For David Morris, music is not just a hobby or something he bops along to on his commute to work; it is his work, his life and his passion.

Next to his family, playing and teaching music occupies most of his time.

Since he was a 13-year-old student in Whitesville, Morris has been infatuated with music, more specifically string instruments.

Morris grew up around music. His mother played guitar and so did a few of his siblings. Naturally, he picked up the guitar.

“I started playing the guitar with my brother Barry when I was in eighth grade,” Morris said. “If it wasn’t for Barry, I wouldn’t be playing. And he doesn’t even play anymore.”

When Morris was 14, his mother bought a fiddle from Lewis Edge, a family friend. But before she had the chance to practice, Morris had swiped the fiddle, started playing and fell in love.

“My mom had been playing the rhythm guitar behind fiddle players my whole life,” Morris said. “And that’s the best thing for a fiddle player is to have a rhythm guitar player to keep the beat.”

So, over the next several years, Edge taught Morris all of his first songs and his mother helped him practice as he discovered his passion for the fiddle.

“When I started playing that fiddle,” he said. “I found what I wanted to do.”

Edge, 88, celebrated his 70th wedding anniversary with his wife Nora this year. But Edge is now on his death bed, Morris said.

“I can’t be thankful enough for all that he taught me,” Morris said.

Morris said his first audience outside of his house was with Edge and Whitesville Ho-Downers. “They were good to me,” he said.

After graduating, Morris moved to Eastern Kentucky and worked in the Floyd County school system and with the Kentucky Opry.

Morris and other musicians traveled around to 17 high schools in the area, demonstrating and teaching music to children.

Along with a few other instructors and artists in the area, Morris helped found the Mountain Arts Center.

But once Morris married his wife Monica, they moved back to Whitesville to start a family. To support this family, Morris started working at a factory.

Five years later, Don Ralph, the principal at St. Mary of the Woods Elementary School called Morris and asked him to teach.

“We worked up a contract and I left my factory job and never looked back,” Morris said.
Now Morris has been teaching music at both St. Mary of the Woods and Mary Carrico Elementary Schools for almost six years, and he is right where he belongs, surrounded by music and its students.

Since Morris moved back to town he has also been performing music at St. Mary of the Woods masses.

With several of his six children old enough to begin their journey in music, they also join him in performing.

Morris’ children are Charlotte (12), Cecilia (10), Reuben (8), Blaise (7), Xavier (6) and Gianna (6 months).

“The biggest thrill for me in the last few years is when my kids finally got old enough so that we can sing together and lead the music at mass,” Morris said. “Before then, when I got up there to sing at mass, my wife was stuck in the pew with five squirrels.”

The Morris family performs at St. Mary’s mass on Sunday at either the 7 a.m. or 8:30 a.m.

“It’s the Johnny Cash mass,” Morris said “because it’s so early everything has to be dropped down a key or two.”

Morris teaches various types of music in his classes and performs any hymn at mass as long as it’s good.

“There is a great treasury of hymns in The Bible,” Morris said. “A lot Christians since our Lord have been putting truths to music. Some of these pieces of music go back 1500 years or even later than that.”

The students at both elementary schools will perform their music at school masses, so they also learn hymns. But Morris also introduces them many other types of music including bluegrass.

“If somebody asked me to pick out my favorite song, I’d have to pass,” he said. “I don’t care when something was written or when something was built; if it’s beautiful, it’s beautiful. If it’s not, it’s not. I have no problem playing something that’s 1500 years old if its truths are still applicable. But if it’s a hymn that was written yesterday and it’s beautiful, I want it.”

Over the past 27 years, Morris has not only taught music, but he’s also performed in a number of mediums. He has played on several CDs and recorded a few solo albums. He’s also working on another solo album tentatively titled Turquoise Moon.

Morris is also a member of the Backstage Band, the house band at Goldie’s Opry House.
“Sometimes a guy gets tempted, if I could just go and do something,” Morris said, “and then you realize, I am doing something. It’s God’s will. I’m a husband and a father and that’s all that matters.”

And with his family rooted in music, Morris will continue to follow his passion and share it with his neighbors.

“I can’t think of anything that I can do better,” he said. “I’m not the best at it. I’m still learning, but I teach and give a lot of private lessons — just passing it on.”

Holy card swap deepens students’ understanding of faith

By Matt Weafer
Western Kentucky Catholic - March, 2008

Saints are models of Catholic Faith — teachers and examples of devotion and sacrifice.

At the OCES K-3 Campus, learning about saints is more than educational; it’s fun. Students trade saint cards like baseball cards or Pokemon and hunt for new and different saints, earning cards by performing good deeds and achieving academic milestones at school.

During Catholic Schools Week in February, teachers hosted spin-off games from popular television shows, such as Deal or No Deal or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The only difference was students won holy cards by answering questions based on religion.

First-grader Sarah Englert had never watched Deal or No Deal before, but was the big winner of the K-3 Deal or No Deal. In Diane Fulkerson’s classroom, as the “cases” hung on the chalkboard and one of the student’s moms hid behind a screen and played the banker, the students took turns picking cases and making deals to win holy cards.

Fulkerson even fashioned a buzzer out of a bell and a little box that students could hit if they wanted to make a deal.

During Englert’s turn, she picked her first case and held on to it until the end of the game, never wavering, never making a deal. And when she opened her case, she saw the number 25, which was the highest number of holy cards in the game.

Englert now has collected 166 different saint’s holy cards. She collected them through good deeds at school, good grades and games, and some she purchased at stores.

Some of the other games during Catholic Schools Week were Bible Jingo, Bible Jeopardy and a religious version of Wheel of Fortune.

Principal Lori Whitehouse said holy card collecting was popular 50 years ago but has lost popularity lately. “At the K-3 campus, we wanted to bring the tradition back while teaching about the saints,” she said.

Every morning before class, Whitehouse reads a paragraph about the saint of that feast day over the intercom.

“Our goal is for all the children at the K-3 Campus to learn about the saints, the holy men and women who were models for us on how to live our Catholic Faith,” Whitehouse said. “We also emphasize that the saints are powerful intercessors for us. They don’t answer our prayers, but they pray for us and since they are already in heaven, we hope they have an inside connection.”

And the children love it. They love the collecting, trading and learning about new saints.
Fulkerson said most students can tell you who his or her favorite saint is and explain why.

On Saint Day, when students dress as their favorite saints, Englert dressed as St. Elizabeth of Hungary because she helped the poor, she said.

“Teaching about the saints was already part of the religion curriculum,” Whitehouse said, “but by adding holy card collecting to that, it has given the children a hands-on way to learn more about them.”

Parents join in the collecting, too. Whitehouse said many parents have reported enjoying flipping through the students’ binders where they store their cards and refreshing their memories off saints.

Also, parents purchase large collections of holy cards and donate them to the school to help provide a wide selection of cards for the students.

Fulkerson said the classrooms are stocked with a few saint books as well so students can learn even more about new saints.

“The children love the stories of saints,” Whitehouse said. “Some had ordinary lives and some were heroes and martyrs, but the one thing they all had in common was their belief in their faith.”

On parent told Whitehouse that her son and daughter — both of whom attend the K-3 campus — spent the entire summer playing with their collection of cards. They would hold them up like flash cards and see who could guess the saint first, she said.

“In today’s society, our children need good role models,” Whitehouse said. “The saints are perfect role models that our children can look to as examples of how to live their lives and their faith.”

Printed first in the Western Kentucky Catholic.