Editor's Note
Behind the News
One of the purposes of NC Catholics is to let readers know about all the events going on in this vibrant Diocese. Well, there’s almost never space for all the events, but we try to include as many as we can. Still, as I’m compiling lists of anniversaries, special liturgies, awards, milestones and important announcements, I’m aware of how inadequately a brief news story often conveys the human story at its heart.
For example, you’ll read in this issue about the passing of Glenmary Father Mike Langelle. But if you could have attended his funeral Mass in Windsor in early May, you would have seen the real grief and sensed the deep affection of the Catholic Community of Bertie County for its first Pastor.
You’ll read that some 150 couples attended the Bishop’s Mass for those celebrating 25, 50 or more than 50 years of marriage. But to be at the Mass, to see the expressions on the faces of the husbands and wives, the pride of their children and grandchildren, was to realize that behind the event were 150 complex stories of love, patience, respect and faith. I wish there were space to convey even one of those stories.
There’s not room in a news story about the Mass of Thanksgiving honoring Mrs. Lesley Ferguson, retiring after 32 years as Principal of Saint Egbert School, to mention a moment during that Mass that brought complicated tears – parts nostalgia and gratitude and mutual affection -- to almost everyone there, when the schoolchildren stood and sang to Mrs. Ferguson You’ve Got a Friend.
I attended the Mass celebrated in French by Bishop Cyprien Mbuka from Congo for a congregation mostly composed of African immigrants. The important human story behind that event – you could feel it – was the experience of leaving a familiar culture behind and seeking a home and a role in a very different place; the tension between proud cultural identity and the pressure for assimilation, a tension in some way mitigated by Catholic faith.
These are just a few examples of “moments” that happen every month. Without a doubt, one part of my job for which I’m most grateful is the opportunity to travel around the Diocese of Raleigh and experience these stories behind the stories. They reinforce my faith.
Thanks for your letters and story ideas! You can reach me at 715 Nazareth Street, Raleigh, NC 27606 or reece@raldioc.org.
- Rich Reece