DAVENPORT —Ground was blessed and dirt turned over for the future Project Renewal Youth Center Nov. 29. Ann Schwickerath, Project Renewal’s executive director, wondered what founder Sister Concetta Benedicente, PHJC, and supporter Msgr. Martin Mottet (both deceased) would think of the organization’s development since its start nearly 50 years ago. “I hope my work lives up to their vision and feistiness,” she said with a laugh during the ground blessing ceremony.
By Barb Arland-Fye The Catholic Messenger DAVENPORT — After replacing 1,400 incandescent light bulbs with 1,400 energy efficient LEDs at diocesan headquarters, Facilities Manager Rich Hatfield and co-worker David Houdyshell look forward to not replacing another light bulb for at least 10 years. That painstaking job, completed this fall, required hours on ladders, removing light ballasts and rewiring the fixtures for LED lights. It represents one component of the Diocese of Davenport’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform plan, introduced a year ago, Oct. 4, on the memorial of St. Francis of Assisi.
Q. Is there an appropriate time to announce birthdays or anniversaries during the liturgy? A. Practices on this vary widely across parishes. We are trying to balance two goods here: (1) a respect for the integrity, solemnity and “noble simplicity” of the liturgy and (2) a polite and appropriate acknowledgment of members of the community, which can serve to foster a deeper sense of communion.
Each year, the Gospel reading for Christmas Mass during the day is the prologue from John’s Gospel. In summary and cosmic fashion, these 18 verses articulate the core of Christian faith.