Stories of people living their faith bring joy to work

Sometimes we don’t see the value of people, situations and events until they are in the past. With retirement from the Catholic Voice just weeks away, rearview mirror images already are popping up about my 16 years at this 114-year-old institution.

Although detoured by a mid-career hiatus into corporate communication/advertising, I’m a newspaperman at heart. And when I returned to newspapering – in the Catholic press – I made it a point to smell the roses of newspapering (or should I say ink?) here at the Catholic Voice.

Editing and managing a primary communication tool for the archdiocese makes for interesting and rewarding challenges. Through news stories and columns, the Catholic Voice fulfills that communication role by keeping people informed about archdiocesan programs, projects, financial efforts, personnel changes, ordinations, as well as the church’s views on any number of issues.

And that’s an important – even vital role. No other medium provides all of that information. But sharing that information makes up just part of what the Catholic Voice does as a community newspaper – not your typical community newspaper, but a community newspaper just the same.

The Voice focuses on what’s going on in the Catholic community – not within the confines of one community’s city limits or county lines, but throughout the 23 counties of the Archdiocese of Omaha. Stories look at what’s happening in parishes, schools and religious education programs, and in the ever-growing number of service and faith groups in the archdiocese.

But even those stories just scratch the surface of what the Voice delivers. We focus considerable effort on stories about people and their faith. Issue after issue, I’m in awe of the faith of the people in the stories that cross my desk for editing and the examples of people living their faith discussed in staff story meetings.

The joy of working at the Catholic Voice, in part – a big part – comes through sharing those stories:

• Senior citizens dedicating their retirement "free time" to hours and hours of service at their parish or out in the community.

• Young people finding Christ in a service project, whether down the street or halfway around the world.

• Married couples making Christ the center of their relationship and modeling the sacrament of marriage for the world.

• Priests who find time for community service projects or initiate their own efforts to help the poor or feed the hungry.

• Volunteers who make standing up for a faith-based cause more than a mission, they make it a ministry.

The endless list of examples perhaps in a way reflects the depth of faith found in the people of the archdiocese. What a blessing, what a resource of faith for the archdiocese. And what a privilege it’s been to share their stories.

THANK YOU

With just one issue a month during the summer, this marks my final issue and the final installment of this column. And no final column could be complete without a note of thanks.

My thanks starts with Archbishop George J. Lucas, who gave me the opportunity to serve as editor and general manager of the Voice. Thanks, too, to Deacon Tim McNeil, chancellor, for his support.

I also want to thank members of the clergy, school and religious education leaders, archdiocesan officials, business owners/managers, organization leaders and many more for their support and assistance over the years.

My special thanks, however, goes to a group of people I’ve seen every day – my co-workers at the Catholic Voice – Karen Suchy, former business manager who retired in May after 22 years of service to the archdiocese, along with senior administrative specialist Joan Karre, news editor Joe Ruff, senior graphic designer John Bosco, advertising representative John Donahue, and senior writer Mike May.

I’ll miss everything about publishing the Catholic Voice – the news, the business, the advertising, the promotions and special projects, the deadlines … even this column, but I’ll most miss sharing all of that with my co-workers, my friends, here at the Catholic Voice.

Deacon Randy Grosse is editor and general manager of the Catholic Voice. Contact him at ragrosse@archomaha.org.