I. Happy Mothers’ Day: today we pause in celebration to honor the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. We honor those, living and deceased, who nurtured or continue to nurture  us. Unable to be everywhere, God created mothers!

II. Mother Church: The cathedral church for Bishop William Francis Medley is Saint Stephen Cathedral, which is the Mother Church for all the other parishes and Catholic institutions in the Owensboro Diocese. How can St. Stephen Cathedral, as the Mother Church, better connect with other parishes, and the community at large? This is the reason the Marketing/Communications Committee was established. This committee has accomplished much: Diocesan Event Welcomers, hotel cards with Mass and Reconciliation information, annual Christmas ornament, concerts, Arts at the Cathedral fund, tour guides, etc. if you have any ideas for this committee, or if you are interested in serving on this committee, contact: Rob Abney, Randy Clemens, Mary Beth Hurley, Bo Ivey, Kathy Rasp, Sr. Suzanne Sims, John or Kathy Wright.
III. Church Porch/Landing Fund: to reiterate what was in  Pastor’s Corner on 2/21/16 bulletin, the financial commitment to the Diocese, who loaned us money to complete the inside restoration of our beautiful Cathedral, has been honored/repaid in full. This is good news! Thank you for your generosity!
Hopefully, you are aware that our front church entry must be rebuilt; the limestone, which has been flipped/turned already, must be replaced because of wear, leakage, and freezing. One preliminary estimate given over two years ago was $750,000 to totally rebuild our front entry way and to add restrooms below. Bishop Medley has been appraised of this challenge, and is totally supportive of the additional restrooms which are sorely needed, especially for larger parish and diocesan events. Therefore, I ask you to continue your giving as we finish this one last major need of our church building. Everything given to the Renewal and Restoration Fund after February 29, 2016 will be funneled into the recently established Porch/Landing Fund. Thanks to the following people who make up the front the porch entry the Church Porch/Landing Committee: Dean Behnke, George Hagan, Ben Hartz, Eddy McFarland, Garry Pierce (chair), and myself.

IV. A Memorable Hawaiian Journey! A young priest from Belgium requested to be stationed on the island of Molokai, where the lepers and the diseased were “dropped off” to die. Outraged by the deplorable conditions of the island, he sought to restore a sense of dignity to the “untouchables” discarded there. Within a short period of time, the sick were living in clean houses instead of caves, and upon death they were given a proper burial rather than being dumped into mass graves. Even though the leprosy was highly contagious, Fr. Damien chose to remain in close contact with his people, and align himself even more with the “crucified” in society. Damien de Veuster (1840-1889) eventually contracted the disease and died from it; he was canonized a saint by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009.