Editorial

Each year at this time, I write an editorial about the annual appeal for the Retirement Fund for Religious (RFR), mentioning a sister who had impacted my life.

I was fortunate to have many outstanding sisters as teachers during my years in Catholic grade school and high school. One of them was Sister Clarice, my eighth grade teacher at Blessed Sacrament School in La Crosse, Wis. She was a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA), who, incidentally, celebrated 125 years of continuous adoration this year.

Sister Clarice provided me and my classmates with excellent preparation for high school. Perhaps it was no coincidence that many of us did very well at Aquinas High School and a number of us graduated in the top of our class. I give Sister Clarice a great deal of credit for our success in English, mathematics, and social studies in particular.

Besides teaching a class of about 40 students, Sister Clarice was also the school principal. Looking back I realize she was one busy person, yet she always had time to talk with us. She must have been very organized, to say the least!

Show appreciation. It is important to show our gratitude to the many women and men religious who have touched our lives. My husband and I have contacted other sisters whom we knew in our youth; some of them have communicated with us, too.

Beyond the words of appreciation, we should also consider giving financial support to religious orders. One way is through the Retirement Fund for Religious (RFR). Now in its 16th year, the RFR helps offset the more than $6 billion of unfunded retirement liability for more than 79,000 Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests. RFR has generated more than $400 million in donations since it was established.

Crisis continues. The crisis in funding retirement needs of religious became evident in the early 1970s. Small salaries and stipends received by active religious were not able to keep pace with higher costs for elderly members, who had little retirement savings. There were severe shortfalls in retirement funds.

To help these dedicated people who served the church for so many years, the RFR was launched in 1988. Grants are awarded to religious orders according to a formula based on age, membership, and level of retirement need. Special grants are given to meet emergency needs and to fund projects.

Now it's our turn. We must promise to help religious orders serve the needs of their retired members, so that they can continue their ministry in schools, hospitals, parishes, and social service agencies.

It's our turn to have an impact on them by continuing to show our appreciation and by giving financial support.

Mary C. Uhler, editor

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To the editor:

The decision of Bishop Robert C. Morlino along with the Presbyteral Council concerning kneeling during Mass was in harmony with Sacred Scripture. The following Scripture passages are examples:

"That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth" (Phil. 2:10); "For it is written: As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall give praise to God," (Romans 14:11); "And on entering the house they saw the child with Mary His mother. They prostrated themselves and did Him homage" (Matt. 2:11); "For this reason I kneel before the Father" (Eph. 3:14); "When he had finished speaking he knelt down and prayed with them all" (Acts 20:36); "All of them, women and children included, escorted us out of the city, and after kneeling on the beach to pray, we bade farewell to one another" (Acts 21:5,6); "After withdrawing about a stone's throw from them and kneeling, He prayed" (Luke 22:41).

The bishop's decision certainly wasn't in conflict with Sacred Scripture.

Charles J. Sippel, Waterloo