These words are etched on the new pro-life memorial in front of St. John the Baptist Church in Fort Calhoun.
Dedicated Aug. 21, the memorial was an Eagle Scout project for Brendan Gepson, a Life Scout member of Boy Scout Troop 114 and a member of St. John the Baptist Parish.
Gepson, a 16-year-old junior at Fort Calhoun High School, worked in collaboration with Knights of Columbus Council #10305.
Mike O'Brien, a member of the Knights, said the council had wanted to establish a pro-life memorial for some time. The joint effort started about a year ago when Gepson contacted the Knights looking for a project, O'Brien said.
He said he thinks the pro-life project is important for the parish.
Next fall's implementation of a new Roman Missal will not only be a change in language at Catholic Masses, but also the most significant opportunity to educate people on the liturgy since the Second Vatican Council.
"It's the biggest catechetical opportunity we've had on liturgical catechesis since we went from Latin to English," said Christian Brother William Woeger, executive director of the Archdiocesan Worship Office and chairman of a task force coordinating archdiocesan preparations for the Roman Missal. "That's almost more important than this new translation ... this opportunity that has presented itself."
The Roman Missal, the ritual text containing prayers and instructions for the celebration of the Mass, will include new phrasing and responses.
But because change is sometimes a challenge, Brother Woeger said the archdiocese will embark on nearly a year of catechetical events to prepare people for and to better understand the changes.
The archdiocese will begin preparing priests and liturgists this month.
The changes will impact all English-speaking countries, including the United States, England, Wales, Australia, some of the Philippines and some of Africa.
Students going to college or graduate school this fall will see some changes mandated by the federal student loan program overhaul that was part of the health care legislation Congress approved earlier this year.
The good news? The changes are administrative and won't impact interest rates or repayment terms, said Joan Jurek, director of college planning at EducationQuest Foundation in Omaha.
"As of July 1, all colleges have to use the direct loan process, which just means now that the government is issuing all Stafford student loans. No banks or credit unions will be making or issuing federal student loans," Jurek said.
While the government always was an optional lender for this type of loan, Jurek said the Congressional changes have mandated the government as the lender.
A major stumbling block to exploring private, faith-based education can be its perceived costs, two Catholic college officials told the Catholic Voice.
But Katherine Frohoff of Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo., and Sheila Kuchta of Mount Marty College in Yankton, S.D., believe Catholic schools can meet the cost issue challenge in the competition for students.
"What a lot of people don't realize is that private universities can offer good financial aid packages," Frohoff said. "What you see listed as tuition isn't necessarily what you would pay. People shouldn't be scared away from coming here and investigating."
But beyond the financial aid, Frohoff and Kuchta said they know their institutions' strengths are things that resonate with students and their families, even in the face of perceived cost differences.
Safe environment training isn't new to the Archdiocese of Omaha, but a program developed by the archdiocese for the archdiocese gives that training a new look.
Called Circle of Care, the program was launched July 1, and provides comprehensive training on the key safe environment elements and policies for any adult - volunteer or paid - entrusted with the care of children and youth in the name of the church.
It replaces the previous safe environment training program for adults: Protecting All God's People, developed by Boys Town.
"It (the previous program) served us well and was really good, but it was time, really we felt, to do something different," said Mary Beth Hanus, victim outreach and prevention manager for the archdiocese.
Such was the expression of hope that marked the beginning of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy, and is an expression that is incarnated in the thousands of service ministry and learning programs available to students at Catholic colleges nationally.
College is a place where the student decides how a respective discipline ought to serve God and humanity, said Benedictine Father Brendan Rolling, director of ministry at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan.
"Action is an expression of faith," he said. "We not only study the truth, we are to live the truth. A Catholic college should not only teach what Jesus taught, but it is also our job to show students how to do what Jesus did."
Immersion in these opportunities often creates a different kind of student, and a different kind of graduate.
Visiting the Middle East wasn't included on Steve McCarville's bucket list of things to do in life.
But through the Anti-Defamation League's Bearing Witness Advanced program, McCarville, along with other Catholic school educators from 18 schools and colleges from 13 states, visited Israel July 8-16 for what he called the "trip of a lifetime."
McCarville, who teaches at Holy Name School in Omaha and is a parishioner at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Omaha, visited Christian and Jewish sacred sites including Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth where, McCarville said, he was "thrilled to be able to walk where Jesus Christ walked."
The group also made stops at the Sea of Galilee and the Western Wall.
The hallways of archdiocesan Catholic schools are no longer empty but instead buzzing with students.
More than 20,000 of them fill the archdiocese's 75 schools.
In addition to new faces, archdiocesan Catholic schools will experience some changes this year, including new assessment tests and a revised technology curriculum.
This year, schools will use the TerraNova, Third Edition (TerraNova 3) assessment tests by CTB/McGraw-Hill, the company chosen after a year of research by a committee of administrators from the rural and metro Catholic schools and members of the Archdiocese of Omaha Catholic Schools Office.
"Assessment is very much one of the issues of the day," said Msgr. James Gilg, superintendent of Catholic schools for the archdiocese. "We see the new tests as a way to provide our schools, teachers and parents with very, very up-to-date information about the skill levels of their students."
In the past, the archdiocese used the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) test to track students' progress throughout the years.
When it comes to finding a reliable source for Catholic information on the Internet, Jesuit Father Andy Alexander has one simple rule of thumb to follow.
Does it unite the church or divide it?
"Jesus said to love one another and to not judge one another. The night before he died, Jesus prayed, 'Father, let them be one,'" said Father Alexander, vice president of University Ministry and director of the Collaborative Ministry Office at Creighton University in Omaha. "So if a website is attacking another person, it doesn't pass the test."
Father Alexander, who, with Maureen Waldron, associate director of the Collaborative Ministry Office, established Creighton University's Online Ministries websites, said there are many Internet sites that have point-of-views and some label themselves as authentically Catholic but "they're taking a chunk out of part of it."
"What they say about St. Augustine, for example, might be accurate because they took it off of 'Butler's Life of the Saints,'" Father Alexander said. "But what they say about other things might be more argumentative and not representative of the whole Catholic point of view."
Finding websites with correct and accurate Catholic information is a challenge, he said, because "there are so many sites labeled as Catholic. So, how do you know?"
Deacon Randy A. Grosse, a Catholic Voice staff member for nine years, has been named general manager of the archdiocesan newspaper.
Responsible for all aspects of the newspaper operation - news, advertising and marketing, business, online media and the Archdiocese Directory - Deacon Grosse succeeds Charlie Wieser, former editor, who passed away in July.
"I'm grateful to Deacon Randy for accepting the position of general manager," Archbishop George J. Lucas said in announcing the appointment. "I appreciate his dedication and count on his experience as we use the Catholic Voice to help meet the changing challenge of communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ."
It was another busy summer for youth camp coordinators in the Archdiocese of Omaha.
Nearly 350 young people participated in the archdiocese's five summer youth camps in Bellevue, Wayne and near Elkhorn.
Camp Spiritus I and II for junior high students and SWAT Week for high school students, held at the Elden F. Curtiss Youth Camp and Retreat Center near Elkhorn, drew 130 students - a 55 percent increase in attendance from last year, said Tom Murray, camp director.
Students participated in typical day camp activities, such as archery, ropes courses and hiking, as well as faith experiences and liturgies, but because of flood damage were unable to canoe on the Elkhorn River. Instead they went to Two Rivers State Park to canoe, fish and swim.
"There was a great staff, and we had wonderful chaplains each week who helped with all the catechetical and prayer and worship experiences," said Rita Ramos, coordinator of archdiocesan youth ministry.
A recent college graduate looks to the big city for big money? Not always.
Instead, James McDermott and 27 others are moving their lives to Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Omaha, as well as the Dioceses of Rapid City, S.D., Sioux Falls, S.D., Grand Island and Lincoln for a stipend through the Magis Catholic Teacher Corps.
"It wasn't about just finding the next thing to do. It was about finding something to commit to," McDermott, 24, said. "I am doing Magis because I really feel called to teach students in urban Catholic schools."
Established in 2002, the Magis Catholic Teacher Corps is a volunteer program through Creighton University in Omaha designed specifically to answer the resource needs of rural Catholic schools, and help contribute to a strong Catholic identity.
"It is really inspiring to have a young, passionate, dedicated, Catholic educator enter a school," said Colleen Keller, assistant director. "They are on fire with their faith."
Strong Catholic schools are a priority of the archdiocese, but also important is parish religious education (PRE), which serves about 18,000 public school students annually, said Cathi Snyder, coordinator of elementary catechesis and catechist certification for the archdiocese.
"All of the catechetical documents refer to religious education as a priority for every parish," she said.
It's done in a variety of ways, including through a Catholic school associated with the parish or through PRE programs, she said.
Starting this month, students will be involved in PRE in nearly every parish in the archdiocese. Parishes not offering the classes - usually because of a low number of students - work with another parish for classes.
"Not every child is able to go to a Catholic school, but the obligation to provide faith formation still exists for all parish children ... and for adults, too," Snyder said.
Just because a child has a disability doesn't mean that child is that much different than others children.
That child is unique just like every child.
And that's the message of "The Little King and his Marshmallow Kingdom," a new children's book written by Omahan Louis Rotella III about his son, Louis "Louie" IV, who has Down syndrome.
Rather than explain the syndrome, as is done in many books on the topic, "The Little King" looks at the differences and similarities in everyone - such as hair or eye color - which makes life better and more interesting.
Getting more than 325 men to spend a Saturday at a retreat is quite a feat ... but one accomplished by the Catholic Faith Formation Office last month.
Men of all ages from four states and more than seven dioceses attended the first annual Heartland Men's Conference Aug. 14 at DJ Sokol Arena on the Creighton University campus in Omaha.
Together they listened to speakers who guided and encouraged them to be better leaders in their community, their church and their family.
"The conference was a chance to learn about leadership that is firmly planted on a relationship with Christ and his church, leadership in our families, in the pew and in the world," said Peter Kennedy, coordinator of catechist and evangelization formation for the archdiocese.
Archdiocese of Omaha deacons took time to honor their own Aug. 28 at the annual diaconate anniversary dinner.
Deacons reaching 30th, 25th, 15th and 10th anniversaries of their ordination were recognized during the dinner at the German American Society in Omaha.
Describing it as turning the page to the next chapter, Jesuit Father John P. Schlegel has announced his plans to step down as president of Creighton University in Omaha as of July 1, 2011.
Father Schlegel, Creighton's 23rd president, in a release July 14, said he had discussed his possible retirement at length with William Fitzgerald, chair of the university board, and they agreed the university had reached a point where the change could be made.
