Contemplating meditation? World-renowned monk coming to Erie. SEE BELOW www.ErieRCD.org BI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF ERIE September 3, 2017 Consider a gift Inner-city school opens with new name BY MARY SOLBERG | FAITHLIFE Teresa is really over- whelming,” Brim The fi rst day of school was fi lled with said. “I have very big fi rsts Aug. 28 at the newly named Moth- shoes to fi ll. I just er Teresa Academy in inner-city Erie. want to be the very New principal, Jamie Brim, greeted Catholics in the Diocese of Erie are best for these kids.” the elementary school’s students who asked to give generously to the Sept. Brim wore a neck- poured through the front doors of the 16-17 Catholic Education Collection, lace engraved with a brick building on E. 9th Street. For the which allocates funds to the Religious quote from Mother Te- past century, the school has been known Education Endowment Fund (REEF), resa: “Do small things as Holy Family, but declining enrollment as well as to the Catholic Foundation with great love.” and fi nancial concerns prompted the Di- of the diocese, The Catholic University “It’s our philoso- ocese of Erie to rename it and reassess its of America, and Catholic parishes in phy here, day by outreach as a mission school. the 13-counties of northwestern Penn- day,” Brim added. Brim’s jitters and excitement matched sylvania. First-grader Olivia that of fi rst-graders Baylee Lightner and Since the fi rst Catholic Education Hughes walked into school Olivia Hughes, who walked past the Collection more than 25 years ago, with her mother, Amber large statue of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the people of the diocese have do- Hughes, a graduate of Holy the Holy Family that has greeted stu- Photos by Mary Solberg nated more than $3 million. Half of the Family. Olivia attended a nearby dents for generations. money collected stays in parishes to public school for kindergarten, but was Jamie Brim, principal at the new Mother Te- “To run a school named after Mother support education programs. enrolled in Mother Teresa this year after resa Academy, welcomes Baylee Lightner to her Bishop Lawrence Persico announced its fi rst-grade year. innovative tuition structure. “It’s nice because we wanted to send her to a Catholic school last year, but it First-grader Baylee Lightner happily was just not affordable,” Amber Hughes walked into Mother Teresa on the fi rst Remember churches said. “I knew Holy Family was a really day. She was a veteran, after all, having good school for me, so I know she’ll be been in kindergarten at Holy Family. Her in estate planning really good here, too.” aunt, Jessica Green, dropped her off, Although annual tuition will be set at along with Green’s son, Shane, a sixth- FAITHLIFE staff report $5,000, those who qualify for free lunch grader. under the Federal Poverty Guidelines Despite the tuition reduction, Green Retired businessman Bob Crowley of War- for Free and Reduced Lunch will only said she still would gladly pay whatever ren advises his peers to ask themselves one have to pay $250 per year. Families who it costs for a Catholic education. question: “What do you want your legacy to qualify for reduced lunches pay $500 per “I have no other choice but to send be?” year. Needy families also benefi t from my son to a Catholic school in order to Family comes fi rst to Crowley, of course, before- and after-school care as part of keep our faith. I feel like kids need more but his legacy also is inextricably tied to his the tuition costs. church in their lives,” Green said. Catholic faith. That’s why he and his wife, Mother Teresa is modeled after Jubi- Enrollment at Mother Teresa Academy Barbara, have a provision in their will— lee Catholic Schools in Memphis, Tenn., doubled from what it was at Holy Family through the Catholic Foundation—to benefi t and other cities. last year, jumping to 188 registered stu- St. Joseph Parish in Warren. “I like it and I’m a little shy,” Olivia dents. According to Chris Hagerty, di- “My Catholic faith is my family, too,” says Hughes admitted before meeting her art rector of strategic initiatives at the Erie the 67-year-old Crowley, a retired senior vice teacher, Griffi n Currie. Catholic Preparatory School, which in- president of Blair Corp. Currie also is new to the school; it’s cludes Cathedral Prep and Villa Maria In May, Crowley joined Betsy Williams, This Jesus, Mary and Joseph statue had her fi rst year of teaching. Academy, there is a waiting list of 100 the advancement director of St. Joseph Par- been a fi xture at Holy Family School, Erie, “I am very excited. I think it’s a won- but now looks over the new logo for Moth- derful opportunity for the kids,” Currie er Teresa Academy. said. >> MOTHER TERESA ACADEMY, page 2 SEARCHING for GOD Monk offers contemplative prayer retreat Contributed photo Attorney Christine Kuntz makes a point at a recent estate planning seminar at St. Joseph Church, War- FAITHLIFE staff report in cloisters, convents or abbeys. ren. Also pictured, from left, are: Bob Crowley, a “No one even suspected it was a kind The laity need contemplation more of prayer they could do,” he said. member of St. Joseph’s fi nance council; Mike Lewis than anyone else because of the stresses of the Donald E. Lewis Funeral Home, Warren; and In 1994, he published The Loving Search of everyday life, according to Father Wil- for God. Today, at age 85, he still is pre- Scott Nelson of Nelson Funeral Home & Cremation liam Meninger, OCSO, a Trappist monk Services, Youngsville. senting workshops on the various aspects who will be in Erie this month to present of contemplation as an advanced form of a two-day retreat at Mount St. Benedict prayer. Centering prayer as taught in The ish and School, and Bill Grant, director of Monastery. Cloud of Unknowing is just one of many the Offi ce of Stewardship and Annual Giving “Lay people live in a situation that forms of contemplation. of the Diocese of Erie, in organizing an doesn’t necessarily commend itself to “It’s simply loving God. This is the estate planning seminar at St. Joseph. Nearly quiet and meditation,” Father Meninger highest form of prayer you can do,” he 40 people attended from Warren area par- told FaithLife in a phone interview. “But said. “Everyone is called to love God.” ishes. they have a greater need for it because of He believes the daily practice of con- “If people do not make a will, the state the hectic life people live today.” templation is “transformative” and can of Pennsylvania will make one out for you, One of three principal architects of the lead to an elevated sense of insight and which may not distribute your estate accord- Contemplative Prayer movement, Father experience of God. One has only to look ing to your wishes,” Grant says. “Remember- Meninger will lead at the fruits of Pope Francis’ papacy, he ing your parish in your will helps sustain it the Sept. 15-16 re- said, to see the benefi t of centering one’s for the future.” treat, The Loving thoughts and prayers on God alone. A member of St. Joseph in Warren the past Search for God, which Father William Meninger, OCSO “He [Pope Francis] has a handle on 39 years, Crowley is pleased with the ongo- is the title of his pop- “This is the the pulse of the world,” Father Meninger ing support from individuals to grow separate ular 1994 book print- said. “He’s not blinded by his position highest form of endowments for the church, the parish school ed by Bloomsbury or the entrenchment of people who sur- and scholarships. The interest income from Publishing. The Lov- prayer you can enable the average person to prayerfully round him and who are oblivious to what those endowments ensures the viability of ing Search for God was do. Everyone experience God. is going on in the church.” the three areas. inspired by the anon- is called to He immediately began teaching con- The weekend retreat is sponsored by The need to enhance parish and school en- ymous 14th-century love God. templative prayer, using The Cloud of Un- St. George and Our Lady of Mercy par- dowments was a key focus of recent pastoral spiritual classic, The knowing as a guide. With his colleagues, ishes, both in Erie, the Benedictine Sisters planning recommendations in the Diocese of Cloud of Unknowing, Father Basil Pennington and Father of Erie, and House of Prayer in Erie. Erie, Grant says. He’s hoping to offer more a little-known, dusty Thomas Keating, he re- estate planning seminars this fall. Discussion ” volume that Father introduced the volume to is expected to include fi nancial planning in Meninger found in 1974 in the library at the world and organized such areas as bequests, life insurance, retire- St. Joseph Abbey in Spencer, Mass. the Contemplative Prayer RETREAT SEPT. 15-16 ment funds and brokerage and fi nancial Although written in Middle English, movement. accounts. The Loving Search for God The Cloud of Unknowing provided what In the mid-1970s, con- Cost: $95, which includes the retreat program and four meals. To inquire about estate planning, contact Father Meninger considered a simple, templative prayer was “al- Grant at 814-824-1192, or email him at teachable process by which to learn con- most completely dead,” Fa- Register online at www.stgeorgeerie.org/news/weekend-retreat.