ISSN: 0029-7739 $ 1.00 per copy THE BSERVER OOfficial Newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Rockford Volume 83 | No. 41 http://observer.rockforddiocese.org FRIDAY OCTOBER 5, 2018 Aurora School Thankful for Grant St. Rita of Cascia receives gift from Dunham Fund BY AMANDA HUDSON News Editor AURORA— The word “thrilled” is a good description of Principal Elizabeth Faxon as she describes how St. Rita of Cascia School is using a grant from the Dunham Fund. Faxon joined with retired St. Rita lan- guage arts teacher Pat Heneghan and Mary Rockwood, technology director and teacher, to work on the Dunham Fund grant application for a year and a half before it was submitted. They received a phone call in June that it had been ap- proved, no additional steps needed. The $275,000 grant, part of which was received over the summer, is providing interactive whiteboards for classrooms and handheld laptop computers for sev- enth- and eighth-grade students. The school’s computer lab will be upgraded as well. Faxon referred to a STREAM cur- riculum in her remarks given before the ceremonial check presentation after an (Observer photos/Amanda Hudson) all-school Mass on Sept. 25. Accepting gifts from St. Rita of Casica students is Wendy Hirsch, several fund representatives who attended the ceremonial check “Our expanded technology will serve chair of the Dunham Fund Board of Advisors. She was among presentation at the Aurora school on Sept. 25. students in the areas of science, technol- Ethical use. Our students are expected people with respect.” ogy, religion, engineering, the arts and The Dunham Fund math,” she said, adding, “As students in to use their skills in ways that contrib- After the check presentation, Faxon a Catholic school, the ‘E’ also stands for ute back to the community and treat all chatted with Wendy Hirsch, chair of the “Established by John C. Dunham Dunham Fund Board of Advisors. in 1996 . funded in 2007 in ac- Hirsch said she was happy to meet cordance with the provisions of Mr. student representatives when they pre- Dunham’s trust . and nurtured sented her with handmade gifts and said during the intervening years by Mr. she felt, as she looked into the students’ Dunham and a board of personally eyes, that she is part of an important appointed advisors, the Dunham gift that will benefit a whole generation. Fund honors Mr. Dunham’s life and Bishop David Malloy celebrated the philanthropy through grants to Mass, which welcomed also a number Aurora, Illinois, area organizations of parents and parishioners. He talk- that have the vision and programs ed about the importance of the Mass, to help fulfill Mr. Dunham’s dream of which, he said, he likes to describe as a ‘making the world a more comfort- place where heaven touches earth. able, safer place for mankind to live He also spoke a bit about his experi- and prosper.’ ” Representatives from the Dunham Fund Advisory Board join Bishop David Malloy and ences in Catholic school as a youngster Source: www.dunhamfund.org parish priests, Father Oscar Cortes and Father Adalberto Sanchez in the ceremonial and encouraged the students to realize check presentation. Around the check are (from left) Wendy Hirsch, Mark Truemper, Bish- and be grateful for the generosity be- present who built and who continue to op Malloy, Robert Vaughan, Father Cortes, Principal Elizabeth Faxon, Michael Morcos and hind the Dunham Fund grant — and support St. Rita of Cascia School. Father Sanchez. the generosity of many people past and Continued on page 3 This Issue Quick News Inside Bishop Malloy ....................... 2 DAC Closed 14 Men Headliners ............................... 3 Oct. 8 Welcomed to Diocesan ....................... 4-7, 16 In recognition of Permanent Seasoned Observer ............. 8 Columbus Day, Diaconate Nation/World .................. 9-10 the Diocesan Their ordination Around the Diocese ... 11-12 Administration Center Sterling SVdP Society was Sept. 29 at the Our Catholic View .............. 13 in Rockford will be Cathedral of St. Peter. closed Oct. 8. Marks 60th Year For the Record .................... 14 pages 6-7 Media/Arts ............................ 15 page 4 2 | FRIDAY OCTOBER 5, 2018 | The Observer We Believe That Hell is a Reality ecently I was sent a would not be mentioned in any ourselves, naturally). The Observer (ISSN 0029- copy of a column from discussion of what awaits us Nor is it a fi ctional device 7739), is published weekly, except fi ve times a year by a newspaper. It was when we conclude this life. designed to frighten us into better the Diocese of Rockford, entitled, “Do We Still It is so much easier to focus behavior. Because it is real we are 555 Colman Center Dr., P.O. RNeed to Believe in Hell?” only on the loving and merciful not free to abandon the truth by Box 7044, Rockford, IL 61125 The author was an historian, Jesus. From there it is easy to somehow “foreclosing” hell. Phone: 815/399-4300; Fax not a theologian. Still, the slide into a comfortable belief But the reality of hell is also a 815/399-6225. question and the author’s answer that heaven is assured and hell, if consequence of the beauty of how Periodical postage paid at BY BISHOP illustrate a great deal about it exists at all, is virtually empty. God has made us. Being created Rockford, Ill., and additional DAVID J. modern society and what is taken To the modern and skeptical in God’s image and likeness, part mail offi ces. MALLOY for faith. mindset, what is real is that which of our dignity is that God has POSTMASTER: send address The author fi rst reviewed can be perceived by the senses. given us the freedom to choose changes to The Observer, 555 the history of the role of hell On that basis we might not only for Him. Colman Center Dr., P.O. Box o be 7044, Rockford, IL 61125 free to in human consciousness. His disbelieve in hell. We might also That is the ultimate test of T subsequent conclusion can be disbelieve in the existence of, being received into Jesus’s For ADVERTISING information: choose God Contact The Observer at the summarized in several brief say, oxygen which we cannot Kingdom for all eternity. means to address above or call 815/399- sentences. perceive. If we had no real freedom of 4300; fax 815/399-6225, be free even “Has Hell outlived its In both cases, disbelief in the choice, if our one lone option was Email: kmccarthy@ to choose usefulness to modern society? reality that we are part of presents heaven itself, we would not be rockforddiocese.org. against Him. Probably not. The doctrine still a lethal danger to us. truly free. To be free to choose Send NEWS information to The serves Christianity as it has Instead, because we take Jesus God means to be free even to Observer at the address or fax for centuries, as a frightening at His word, we believe that choose against Him. And only number above; send email to deterrent to sinful behavior. … hell is a reality from which He if we are free can we really love Observer@rockforddiocese. In some distant, better future, has come to off er us salvation. Him. Because love involves the org; or fi ll out a form at http://observer.rockforddiocese. the foreclosure of Hell will be an He has told us that at the end use of our will in a free choice. org/contact-us. important step in the maturation of time, the human race will be This is why it is wrong to think of human communities that can judged and separated according that God puts anyone in hell. Subscription rate $28.00 per year (48 issues); Canadian mete out justice on their own, to how we have loved God. For Instead, hell is chosen by those and Pan American $29; other without supernatural aid. In the those who did not love Jesus in who, in faith and in the acts of foreign: surface mail $37, air meantime, Hell is here to stay.” others in this world, the Lord tells their lives, do not love God. God mail $97; single copies $1. (Dr. Scott G. Bruce, Wall Street us¸ “these will go off to eternal simply respects our choice and The Observer Online digital Journal, Sept. 15 -16, 2018) punishment.” (Mt. 25:46). our freedom. subscriptions are also available. The author is not alone in his Hell, therefore, is real and not Do we still need to believe in Publisher: misconception of hell and its merely a creation of the human hell? Yes! Because it is the truth Most Reverend David J. Malloy reality. Many people today, even psyche in search of an ultimate and it ultimately shows how God Editor: Penny Wiegert faithful people, wish that hell justice for evildoers (other than respects our dignity. News Editor: Amanda Hudson Features and Multimedia Editor: Sharon Boehlefeld Circulation/Proofreading: True Freedom is a Gift of Mercy and Love Susan Sabrowski, Keith Ludolph From the General Audience, St. Peter’s Squre, example of St. Maximilian Kolbe the lustful, the miserly, the quick Accounting: Jill Bonk Sept. 12. or Cardinal Van Thuan who tempered, the envious, the bitter, transformed dark oppression into the arrogant, and so forth — they Advertising and Marketing: In today’s catechesis we places of light. are slaves to their vices which Kevin McCarthy return again to the Third There are also people marked oppress and torment them. Production and Web Commandment, the one by great interior fragility who, There is no relief for the greedy Administrator: Gary Haughton (CNS photo/C.