September 28, 2021 // Diocese

Around the Diocese: October 3, 2021

Todays Catholic

OSV Challenge winners announced

HUNTINGTON — OSV Institute for Catholic Innovation awarded three $100,000 prizes to Catholic In Recovery, FemCatholic and Red Bird Ministries Sept. 18 at the OSV Challenge Showcase, the culmination of an eight-month contest designed to incubate project ideas that will make a profound impact on the Church and the world. 

The OSV Challenge Showcase was hosted vairtually and attended by more than 400 fellow entrepreneurs, investors, mentors, Catholic thought leaders and many supportive family members and friends. A total of 12 finalists presented their pitches to a panel of five expert judges followed by the long-awaited announcement of the three winning organizations. 

Beginning this past February, nearly 600 Catholic entrepreneurs submitted applications for their “napkin idea” to be considered for the OSV Challenge, now in its second year. The OSV Challenge was an incubator experience for participants who aimed to think beyond the status quo and to view the Catholic Church through the lenses of innovation and creativity. 

The competition narrowed down to 12 finalists at the end of August, and the initiatives were selected to receive funding to advance their missions and build the Church.    

Catholic In Recovery is a nonprofit organization that offers hope and healing to those recovering from addictions, compulsions and unhealthy attachments, blending the wisdom of 12-step recovery with the sacramental life of the Catholic Church.   

FemCatholic, a platform that combines feminism and Catholicism, was founded under the patronage of St. Edith Stein and the belief that women are not only the greatest untapped resource in the Church but also the world, FemCatholic strives to promote women through education, encouragement and empowerment.   

Red Bird Ministries guides individuals and couples through the complexity and trauma that happens with the loss of a child from pregnancy through adulthood. It was formed when founders Ryan and Kelly Breaux felt called to help others navigate the pain and unexpected challenges that result from the loss of a child after finding a lack of uniquely Catholic bereavement support during their own personal journey of suffering.      

For more information about the OSV Challenge, visit www.osvchallenge.com.

Mass for the sick at St. Felix Catholic Center

FORT WAYNE — St. Felix Catholic Center, 1280 Hitzfield St., Huntington, will host a Mass for the Sick, tours of the former friary and a eucharistic exposition 12:30-3:30 p.m. Oct. 16.

The afternoon will begin with a rosary in the chapel, followed by Mass at 1 p.m. The Mass for the Sick will be celebrated by Father Joseph Tuscan, OFM Cap.

Refreshments will be provided following the Mass. Worshippers will be welcome to take a tour of the center and view an exposition on eucharistic miracles, and at 2:30 p.m. Father Tuscan will give a presentation. All events are free and are sponsored by the Praying with Father Solanus group in Huntington.

For more information about Praying with Father Solus, visit www.prayingwithfrsolanus.org. 

USF to celebrate St. Francis of Assisi with four events

FORT WAYNE — The University of Saint Francis will celebrate its patron saint, Francis of Assisi, with upcoming events on campus, 2701 Spring St. These events are free and open to the public, and USF will accept donations of personal care items for adults, children and infants to benefit Vincent Village.

A blessing of pets will take place Sunday, Oct. 3 at 4 p.m. Pets and their owners are welcome to gather near the St. Francis statue in front of Brookside Mansion for a brief service commemorating St. Francis’ love for animals and all creation. USF Chaplain Father John Sheehan, S.J., will bless each pet at the end of the service.

The Transitus will be read and sung Sunday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. at St. Francis Chapel. Participants will recall the night of St. Francis’ passage with Sister Death into eternal life. The Transitus will be followed by Mass at 7:30 p.m. Parking is accessible from entrances on the east side of campus.

A Mass for the feast of St. Francis will be celebrated Monday, Oct. 4 at 11 a.m. in St. Francis Chapel. People of all faiths and persuasions are invited to join in this celebration of St. Francis’ life and birth into heaven with Scripture readings, songs and the sacrifice of the Holy Mass. USF president Father Eric A. Zimmer will be celebrant for the Mass, and USF chaplain Father John Sheehan, SJ, will concelebrate.

“Environmental Sustainability, Social Justice and St. Francis” is the topic that will be presented Monday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. in the North Campus Auditorium, 2702 Spring St. New Community Project director David Radcliff will discuss NCP’s goal to change the world through partnerships that heal the earth and support women, girls and native communities in Africa, Asia and the Americas. A model for NCP’s work is USF’s medieval, but strikingly relevant, patron saint.

Born in 1182, Francis Bernardone’s dramatic reversion to the Christian faith, his imitation of Christ through a life of poverty, and his service to the needy sparked a spiritual and social movement that continues to inspire and impact society and the Church today through the three religious orders he founded. He became known as St. Francis of Assisi.

For more information, contact Assistant Vice President for Mission Integration Sister Anita Holzmer at 260-399-7700, ext. 6705 or [email protected].

St. Jude Parish Mission

FORT WAYNE — St. Jude Parish, 2155 Randallia Dr., will host a parish mission “Gather Us In” beginning Sunday, Oct. 24, and concluding Wednesday Oct. 27.

Father Peter Schavitz, a Redemptorist priest from St. Louis, will lead the mission each night beginning at 6:30 p.m. There will be an adult program and a children’s program for students in grades kindergarten through fifth each night. 

Black Catholic Theological Symposium to convene at Notre Dame

NOTRE DAME — The University of Notre Dame will host the 31st annual meeting of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium Oct. 7-9, featuring two public lectures and an inculturated Mass led by Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington, D.C. 

Sponsored by the University’s Department of Africana Studies and Department of Theology, the event also includes two days of private meetings for symposium members and an invitation-only listening session for Black Catholic students, community members, faculty and staff.

The Black Catholic Theological Symposium, founded in 1978, seeks to foster an ethical community of scholarly dialogue characterized by a commitment to the fundamental humanity of all people; a regard for plurality of cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds; and the development of an authentically Black and Catholic theology.

The annual meeting shines a light on this often overlooked segment of the Catholic community, said Father Paulinus Odozor, CSSp, a professor of Africana studies and theology and member of the symposium.

“This is an exciting opportunity to celebrate and to engage academically with the Black Catholic Church in the United States,” Father Odozor said. “It is wonderful to bring people to Notre Dame who will address what is happening theologically, pastorally and socially within that Church and highlight its contributions to the worldwide communion of Catholicism.”

The annual meeting will open with a public lecture, “#BlackLivesMatter as Public Theology,” by M. Shawn Copeland, professor emerita of theology at Boston College, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7, in McKenna Hall. At 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8,  in McKenna Hall, Bishop Emeritus Edward Braxton will present a lecture for the Department of Africana Studies’ Colloquy on Black Church Studies, “The Catholic Church and the Racial Divide in the United States.”

A public celebration of the Eucharist led by Cardinal Gregory at 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart will conclude the event. 

All three events will be livestreamed at theology.nd.edu/bcts.