Letters to the Editor

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Poignant story is a tribute to celebrating family and All Pro Dad

We at All Pro Dad were touched by John Shaughnessy’s article in the Sept. 21 issue of The Criterion about the development of All Pro Dad’s Day at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, and the widespread influence that this spark is having on families across the world.

We especially loved this quote from Bill Bissmeyer: “If Dad’s Day was just based on loss, it would have dried up and fizzled out,” he says. “It isn’t about the loss of a child. It’s about celebrating the kids we have. It’s about celebrating family.”

What a wonderful tribute to the Lord’s awesome power and grace!

Our program offers practical fathering assistance—updated daily—available 24-hours a day, 365 days a year.

All Pro Dad is structured around a football theme, which appeals to many men due to their interest in sports in general, and professional football specifically.

More than 48 NFL players, coaches and alumni are All Pro Dad supporters who speak out on the importance of being a good father.

To learn more about our organization, please visit www.AllProDad.com.

- Darrin Gray, Tampa, Fla.

Students: St. Luke the Evangelist authored two books in the Bible

As an educator, I was pleased to see the Religious Education Supplement in the Sept. 14 issue of The Criterion.

I was particularly fond of the “Q & A about Catholicism” editorial—a quiz of some 15 questions about our Catholic faith. I shared this quiz with my classes at Cardinal Ritter High School in Indianapolis, and my students pointed out the need for a correction.

Question 12 reads: “In the entire Bible (Old and New Testaments), only one book was not written by a Jew. Who was he?”

The response given in the quiz is St. Luke.

While the evangelist Luke was likely a Gentile by birth, my students rightly pointed out that he was the author of not one, but two books.

The introduction to the Acts of the Apostles from The New American Bible indicates that it is “the second volume of Luke’s two-volume work, [and] continues Luke’s presentation of biblical history, describing how the salvation promised to Israel in the Old Testament and accomplished by Jesus has now under the guidance of the Holy Spirit been extended to the Gentiles.”

I thank my students for pointing out this error with humble enthusiasm and The Criterion for its coverage of Catholic education.

- Anthony Basso, Indianapolis

Let us pray for married couples who choose sterilization, not life

I applaud Dr. Hans Geisler and others who condemn embryonic stem-cell research and euthanasia, and fight against the principles of Planned Parenthood.

Yet I witness silence on the related issue of sterilization, which is also a principle of Planned Parenthood.

I ask Catholics to ponder the beliefs that drive couples who are active in their faith to choose sterilization and on what this may mean for our Church.

I believe that the Church cares because this issue is mentioned in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#2399).

Let us pray for these couples that they will be reconciled to God the Father through his son, Jesus Christ.

- Henry Kurz, Indianapolis