Catholic News Around Indiana
Compiled by Brandon A. Evans
Diocese of Evansville
A quilt from a convict—and many more where that came from
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
Convicts and quilting. If you think that’s an impossible combination, you haven’t yet heard about a program at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Carlisle.
Steve Barron can tell you all about it. He’s a retired Vanderburgh County probation officer who now offers spiritual direction to prisoners in the PLUS program at the prison. That, of course, is another unlikely connection.
Barron recently received a gift that brought tears to his eyes — a king size quilt made by one of the prisoners. It has over 3,700 pieces of fabric sewn together to make the quilt top. The top, the batting and the backing are tacked together. It took three weeks of work to produce, and special permission for the inmate to give the quilt to Barron.
He said it was made “in appreciation of my giving my time to work with him and the other guys.”
“Some guys get no letters, have no family visitors,” but Barron makes the 145-mile round trip every week, as he has done for the past five years. He meets with five men, individuallly, “to spend time with them on their spiritual journey, to listen to them, to give them hope.”
PLUS stands for “Purposeful Living Units Serve.” Participating in it helps prisoners “to come to terms with what they have done, and the impact that it has had,” Barron said. “It helps them give back, to help others, and to prepare to come back to society.”
Barron gives credit to the former director of the Office for Adult Formation in the Diocese of Evansville for getting him into the spiritual direction program. Partway through the program, Benedictine Sister Geraldine Hedinger asked him to consider meeting with an inmate who was seeking spiritual growth.
“I can see where God has directed me, given me the opportunity to do this,” Barron said. “I was a perfect fit for this, as a retired probation officer.”
Photo caption: Steve Barron, a volunteer mentor for several participants in the PLUS program at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Carlisle, shows off the quilt made for him by one of the men. Quilts have been given for the homeless, to families of soldiers killed in action and to non-profit organizations. (Message photo by Paul R. Leingang)
‘The Catholic Place’: Daviess County flower gardens offer a haven for visitors
By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)
It’s so quiet at Bill Larkin’s place that you can hear the sound of a passing Amish horse and buggy. Listen closely, and you can hear the woodpeckers and the cardinals and the robins.
He lives in rural Daviess County, at the corner of County Road 1200 East and 500 North, a few miles from All Saints Church in Cannelburg where he is a cantor.
The first sighting of his place is the geodesic dome that he calls home. It was built in the mid 1970s, and he bought it in 1996. He didn’t do much to the house or the yard until he retired from Crane Naval Depot in 2003. He had spent his career locked in a computer room there, and when he retired he wanted to do something completely different with his life.
He started building steps and bridges on his property, and then he added wooden bird houses, and statues, and flowers.
Today his yard — which is less than an acre of land — is filled with thousands of flowers, hundreds of birdhouses and hundreds of small statues.
This spring, he planted 15,000 plants, including impatiens of every color, vinca and wave petunias. He also planted 10,000 seeds that he collected from last year’s marigold, zinnia and impatien plants. He has 600 birdhouses painted in bright shades of yellow, green, blue and rose, and over 100 angel statues, over 100 dog statues and nearly 100 gnome statues.
When a bus filled with senior citizens arrived from Olney, Ill., last Saturday, the air was filled with “oohs” and “aahs.” Their eyes lit up like children’s as they walked into his living room and found the birdhouses and butterflies all shining under the glow of twinkle lights.
A sign at the entrance to his yard invites people to “just laugh” and “have fun.” There is no fee to visit. “I don’t want any donations,” he says, “but people are always trying to give me gifts.”
He prints about 2,500 photographs each growing season and leaves them on his dining room table so people can take one to have a memory of their visit. “Last week we had 70 vehicles,” he said of his visitors. “Last year, we averaged over 80 vehicles a week.”
Photo caption: Bill Larkin stands in front of a display of flowers and birdhouses at his home in rural Daviess County. (Message photo by Mary Ann Hughes)
(For these stories and more news from the Diocese of Evansville, log on to the website of The Message at www.themessageonline.org)
Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend
No briefs available this week
(For news from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, log on to the website of Today’s Catholic at www.todayscatholicnews.org)
Diocese of Gary
No briefs available this week
(For news from the Diocese of Gary, log on to the website of the Northwest Indiana Catholic at www.nwicatholic.com)
Diocese of Lafayette
Seminarians lead retreat for Local Church youth
By Kevin Cullen
CARMEL — Ben Bussick didn’t know what to expect when his mom signed him up for the first annual “Called to Duty” vocations retreat at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School.
He was among 25 seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade boys from several parishes who shared a weekend of prayer, sports, competition and fellowship with six diocesan seminarians.
The event was staged July 30-Aug. 1. When they weren’t mixing it up with the younger kids on the basketball court, the future priests led discussions on prayer, fraternity, virtue and other subjects.
The boys attended Masses celebrated by vocations director Father Brian Doerr, and “camped out” indoors in sleeping bags.
“I wasn’t really looking forward to it, but when I came it was really fun. I hope to come back next year,” said Bussick, 12, an incoming seventh-grader at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School.
His uncle is a priest, but Bussick had the wrong impression about seminarians.
“I thought they just read the Bible all day, but they have fun,” he said.
He said he enjoyed the talks, “and it was a good teaching experience for the seminarians, too. ... It is practice for them when they get into church.”
The event was organized by Chris Helle, a college senior at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland. It was sponsored by the diocesan vocations office. Planning began in December 2009.
High-school students attend all sorts of retreats, such as The Call, J-Fest and Destination Jesus, Helle said, but there wasn’t much available in the diocese for younger boys.
“That is such an instrumental time for them as they approach high school. This is when their faith is challenged and when they start to ask questions,” he said. “Our goal is to lay a spiritual foundation of prayer, fraternity and the Eucharist.
“We want to make sure that in their own way they understand that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, and of this retreat, too,” said Helle, whose home parish is St. John Vianney, Fishers.
Bernie's Buffet serves up 'a meal of great fellowship'
By Caroline B. Mooney
CRAWFORDSVILLE — “Bernie’s Buffet,” a free weekly meal that began in February at St. Bernard Church here, now serves more than 100 people each Wednesday.
Edlawn Warner said he brings his daughter, Elizabeth Warner, age 5, to the dinner two to three times a month.
“The food is excellent — there are some good chefs,” he said. “This is a real blessing to me. Things are hard and I would love to take care of my girls a little better. God has opened doors for me and the Catholic Church has helped me.”
“People have really stepped up to the plate,” said Sister Jeanne Marie Greenen, CSJ, St. Bernard’s director of pastoral outreach. “When we asked parishioners to help, we had 278 volunteers. This is a wonderful thing that has pulled the parish alive.”
She said that the parish has helped in Haiti and New Orleans for years, and “we needed a new challenge. Feeding the hungry was a good idea. When we asked for volunteers, we asked if people could provide food and money, cook and help serve the meal. We didn’t ask for prayers because that is an easy out. We will all pray.”
The parish has a collection on the first Sunday of every month for the effort.
“People wear Bernie’s aprons and collect money after Mass,” Sister Jeanne Marie said. “We have averaged $1,000, which is enough to keep us going each month. We have also had people stop in the parish office and give donations.
“This is good for the parish,” she said. “People are getting to know each other and making new friends. We are getting more families in to eat each week, which we are so happy about.”
Twelve teams of approximately 20 volunteers organize each week’s meal. Sister Rosemary Eyler, SP, parish administrator to senior citizens, said individuals work about four times each year.
Photo caption: More than 100 people now attend each week’s dinner at St. Bernard Parish in Crawfordsville. (Photos by Caroline B. Mooney)
(For these stories and more news from the Diocese of Lafayette, log on to the website of The Catholic Moment at www.thecatholicmoment.org)