November 2007 Meeting Notes

Guest Speaker: John Fink

Good Afternoon to All,

Thanks to those of you who joined us on Friday morning for our All Soul's Day Mass and meeting. We had a very nice turnout. Msgr. Schaedel reminded us during his homily that we should pray for the poor souls in Purgatory who have no one to pray for them, and in turn, they will pray for us when they are in Heaven. He also said Purgatory is a sign of God's boundless mercy. Scripture refers to praying for the dead in the Second Book of Macabees and several other places, including St. Paul's First letter to the Corinthians.

Our speaker, John Fink, also said most Protestants reject Purgatory because it is "not in the Bible, when in fact it is referred to directly and indirectly in many places in the Bible. He said we need to think of it not as a place but a "process of purification". Just as it says that "nothing impure will enter the Kingdom of Heaven". We also see God's justice is shown by his mercy to us sinners. Pope John Paul II also said that there we are not separated from God, but immersed in His love.

Mr. Fink talked about how God calls us to a specific vocation in life and how this can change over time. He himself has done many things in his career with his work in editing, writing and doing the business side of journalism for several publications including Our Sunday Visitor, The Criterion and The Indianapolis Star. Through his work he has also been involved with the Catholic Press Association and its international counterpart. He had had contact with several popes and even wrote a book of Pope Paul VI prayers which he presented to him in Rome. Mr. Fink has written several books including "Married Saints" and "American Saints" and is currently working on his newest work "Biblical Women". His books are available at Amazon.com.

When asked about who were the most influential Catholic writers of today, other than himself, he said that John Wright, who writes for the National Catholic Reporter, is very good and that Mathew Kelly is terrific. Mathew Kelly is appearing this week at the "Celebrating Catholic Schools Values" dinner this week at the Convention Center. Msgr. Schaedel said they still have some tickets available for those that would want to attend.