July 8, 2010                                                                                                                                                             +JMJ+

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I recently returned from an 11 day pilgrimage from Italy in celebraton of the ending of The Year for the Priest. It was an awesome experience as there were 50 pilgrims who travelled together. We had many youth on this trip who worked very hard this past year to raise money so that they could go. We specifically visited Rome, Nettuno, San Giovanni Rotondo, Lanciano, Siena and Assisi and enjoyed visiting many sacred places and getting to know one another.

I will share the highlights that I experienced in each location that we visited. I love Rome and always enjoy being there. As you know, I lived in Rome for 2 years shortly after being ordained a priest, in 2000 – 2002 and I always look forward to going back.  For many, celebrating Mass at St. Paul Outside the Walls and attending the Papal Angelus Blessing were the highlights of the time spent in Rome. However, walking the streets of Rome, eating pasta and visiting my favorite gelato shop for tartufo is also reason to celebrate! For those of you who don’t know - tartufo is chocolate ice cream with a frozen cherry in the center and whipped cream on top – and is my favorite dessert while in Rome!

Our group also visited Nettuno, located on the western coast of Italy and home of St. Maria Goretti. In the shrine there is a crypt where lie the mortal remains of the saint.  We also traveled south to San Giovanni Rotondo to visit the home of St. Padre Pio. His remains are in a tomb that we were able to touch. To conclude our visit there, we were each blessed with a glove that Padre Pio wore to cover the painful stigmata in his hands that he experienced for many years of his life.

We saw two different Eucharistic miracles. The first was in Lanciano in the church of St. Legontian. During Holy Mass, after the two-fold consecration, the host was changed into live Flesh and the wine was changed into live Blood, which coagulated into five globules, irregular and differing in shape and size. The second Eucharistic miracle was in Siena at the Church of St. Francis. Thieves broke into the church and stole the gold Ciborium containing 351 Consecrated Hosts. When it was realized what had happened, all events of the day were halted and prayers recited for the safe return of the Consecrated Hosts. Three days later, they were found protruding from the church poor box and the correct amount of hosts were there. The Host containing Our Lord were cleaned and then processed slowly back to the church where They were venerated. The Hosts were not consumed at that time. Years went by and periodically Hosts were consumed and were always found to be fresh. In 1850 the Bishop ordered testing which determiined the Hosts to be fresh. They also checked unconsecrated hosts put in an airtight box in 1789 and little was left of them. This miracle is of importance to the faithful as the Lord kept it in existence in the original species of unleavened bread. In all the other miracles, the bread and wine changed into another form.

We also visited Assisi  the home of St. Francis and St. Clare. We had Mass at the tomb of both of these saints. The Mass at the tomb of St. Clare was very special since we were able to pray for our very own Poor Clares living in Kokomo. During our time in Assisi the priests spent the afternoon with the youth with special time for meditation, confession,  a silent walk and faith sharing. Spending that faithfilled time with the youth was very special to me and fills me with joy that in Kokomo Indiana we are raising  a young Catholic generation who are truly coming to know, love and serve their Lord, Jesus Christ.

We were very blessed to have my brother’s, Frs. Andrew and Brian Dudzinski be part of our pilgrimage. It is always a blessing  to experience travelling to holy places and daily celebrating Mass with them. As an added blessing, our niece, Shelby (I am with her in the the picture to the left), was able to experience this pilgrimage with us. God is good!
St. Joan of Arc pray for us!

Fr. Ted Dudzinski
Pastor

——————————————————————————————————

Lent 2010

Pope Benedict XVI Lenten Message�
My Lenten letter
——————————————————————————————————-

My Pastoral Letters

Fr. Ted’s Pastoral Letter Ad Mundi Sanctificationem – For the Sanctification of the World

Fr. Ted’s Pastoral Letter Manete in Dilectione Mea – Remain in My Love

Fr. Ted’s Family Initiative Letter

Fr. Ted’s Pro-Life Letter 1-15-2010

—————————————————————————————————–

The information listed below is very important to me and I want to encourage you to read it and or learn more about it. 

• How are we doing on Catholic Youth Formation?
  Click here to see St. Joan of Arc and Sts. Joan of Arc and Patrick School Acre results.
• Health Care Reform

We need to know what our government is proposing for our healthcare and how it impacts what we believe as Catholics. To read the USCCB’s position on Health Care Reform visit this website http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/.
To view a 25 slide presentation on the Catholic Church’s standing on the Healthcare Debate, please click here.

• What is YOUR Temperament?
  
  What are the four temperaments?
  The four temperaments were originally proposed by Hippocrates (the “father of medical science”) 350 years before the birth of Christ, to explain differences in personalities, based on the predominant bodily fluid—hence the rather unappealing names: choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, and melancholic. Even today these same terms are used to describe temperament, by which we mean an individual’s tendency to react in a certain way throughout their life, forming an identifiable pattern.
  For example, the choleric tends to react quickly and intensely, and to take action immediately and decisively. The sanguine is your classic “people person,” known for their warmth, enthusiasm, and cheerful optimism. The melancholic is deeply thoughtful and analytic, slow to respond, skeptical, sensitive, and idealistic. The phlegmatic is usually a “peace-maker”—slow to react, calm, cooperative, and reserved.

To find out what your temperament is go to this website www.4marks.com , become a member and take the temperaments test. The test is comprised of 120 questions and takes about 20 minutes to complete.

This is what you need to do:

1.    Go to the website www.4marks.com

2.    Register as a member (do not use your email address as your username)

3.    Choose the tab “explore” and then choose temperaments

4.    Take the test! It takes about 20 minutes.

—————————————————————————————————–

Year of the Priest

During this Year Of The Priest please pray for the priests of the World, those in the Diocese-of-Lafayette, our priests in Kokomo, those in Seminary and those discerning the priesthood that they may be the Holy Priests that God has called them to be.

More information about the Year of the Priests:
Download the letter from the Pope.
Read the letter from the Pope.
Vatican’s website for the Year of the Priests.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops – Year of the Priests.
Special Indulgence for the Year of the Priests.