(Letter from Msgr. Schaedel for bulletin of May 21, 2000)

Dear Parishioners,

May is a wonderful month. It’s the time of year when youngsters are making their First Holy Communions, students are preparing for the end of the year and for graduation, priests celebrate anniversaries of their ordinations, and new priests are ordained at the cathedral.

This Monday, May 22nd, is the eighteenth anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. How quickly these eighteen years have gone by! And never once did I dream in my wildest dreams that I would be doing the kind of work for the Church that I am doing now. Be assured, however, that I love it very much. Please pray for me and for all of our priests who are celebrating anniversaries this month and next month.

Speaking of that, one of our former administrators, Father Patrick Doyle, is celebrating his 25th Anniversary of Ordination next month. He served Holy Rosary from 1989-1994. As you know, Father Pat is now pastor at Saint Joan of Arc Parish. He will celebrate a special Mass of Thanksgiving on Sunday, June 11, at 10:30 a.m. at Saint Joan of Arc. An informal reception will follow. Everyone is invited. In case you’d like to drop Father Pat a note, his address is: Saint Joan of Arc Rectory, 4217 Central Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46205.

This weekend at the Saturday 4:30 p.m. Mass, we welcome members of the Indianapolis Catholic Home School Apostolate. We are pleased that they are celebrating their end of the school year Mass with us here at Holy Rosary. A pitch-in banquet will follow in Prior Hall. Many of the youngsters and their families are members of our parish; many are not.

When we speak of "Catholic Education," we most often think of parochial schools. Holy Rosary helps sponsor our own Central Catholic Grade School and Roncalli High School. Yet included in "Catholic Education" are those who attend Catholic Home Schooling classes. Many parents choose to do this for a variety of reasons. This weekend, we welcome them to Mass here and look forward to praying with them. May God guard and guide all students and teachers as we approach the end of the academic year.

The Indianapolis Catholic Home School Apostolate actually has four graduating seniors this year. For various reasons, they are not able to attend the Mass this weekend. However, I would like to recognize them and ask everyone to include them in your prayers as they move on to the next phase of their educational and spiritual life. They are: Susanna Davis, Alisha Due, John C. Farris, and Ivy Perry. God bless you all!

Bernie Greene, our business manager, continues to improve after triple by-pass surgery. He is at home now and getting stronger every day. Thanks to Father Duvelius, Marie Ann Mascari, David Walden, and the invention of the telephone to connect us to Bernie—we are surviving!

Mag Mascari is home from the hospital recuperating from her recent fall. I had a nice visit with her Wednesday afternoon. Mag Bisesi is also doing much better, but doesn’t want to chance going out too soon. Grace Short was at Sunday Mass last weekend for Mother’s Day. It was wonderful to see her. She was so happy to be here. Joe Mascari is back at Mass on Sundays and improving each week. Keep them and all who have been injured or ill in your prayers.

I had a delightful dinner Wednesday evening at a "grand opening." Matthew Iaria and David Page have opened Primo-West at the Plainfield exit just off I-70 West. What a beautiful new facility! And the food is the usual excellent cuisine that Matthew, David, and Primo are known for. I hope you all get a chance to see Primo-West sometime. Congratulations, guys.

I imagine most of you have noticed that I’ve been harping on people leaving Mass early. In order to harp some more, I’m going to reprint what I said here last week: If you absolutely must leave Mass early for some serious reason, then do it. It sure beats missing Mass. But if you don’t have some serious reason to leave early, and do it anyway, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

There are 168 hours in a week. If we cannot give at least one solid hour a week (six tenths of one percent of our week) to God—then we’ve got a problem. Is it a sin to leave Mass early? If you don’t have a very serious reason for doing so, you bet it is. Besides that, it’s giving bad example, particularly to young people. And that’s sinful too.

Mark your calendars: The Italian Street Festival is Friday and Saturday, June 9 and 10.

Faithfully yours in God’s Providence,

Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel