HUNTERSVILLE — Hundreds of people attended a Mass of Reparation Aug. 22 at St. Mark Church, offered in response to the latest news of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
The Mass was followed by a period of Eucharistic Adoration and benediction. In his homily, Father Noah Carter, parochial vicar, said, “It is time for a spiritual renewal in the Church. It is time that we look at our own hearts and identify anything that keeps us from Him, and we turn it over to His throne for Him to dispose of. We must call ourselves back to a true interior life that integrates self-denial, penance, prayer and mortification. All this for God’s glory and our sanctification.
“We must willfully offer our sufferings for those victims who still hurt and are in need of healing. We must unite ourselves, for them, to the cross of Our Lord. We must accept them and love them within our community. We must listen to their sorrows and pains, knowing that there is no way to truly understand the evil they have suffered. We must walk beside them and, many times, carry them on our shoulders.”
— Photo provided by Amy Burger
Read Father Carter’s complete homily.
HIGH POINT — Immaculate Heart of Mary Church welcomed its new pastor, Oblates of St. Francis de Sales Father Peter Leonard, who was installed Aug. 18 during the 5:30 p.m. vigil Mass by Bishop Peter Jugis.
Pictured (from left) are: Deacon Wally Haarsgaard, Oblate Father Thomas P. Norris, outgoing pastor; Father Leonard; Bishop Jugis; and Oblate Father Joseph C. Zuschmidt.
— Carrie Vest