Bishop Earl Fernandes told young people at the annual Scout Day with the Bishop prayer service that he was grateful to recognize their formation as virtuous people through practicing the values they are learning in the Scouting movement.
“I know absolutely nothing about Scouting through my own experience, but the Scouts I have met – my brothers and nephews – are all young men of virtue, just as the Girl Scouts and American Heritage Girls are young ladies of virtue, providing credible witnesses to Jesus in our world,” the bishop said on Sunday, Jan. 29 at New Albany Church of the Resurrection.
During the program sponsored by the diocesan Catholic Committee on Scouting, the bishop presented more than 200 Scout Day uniform patches to members of Scouts BSA, the Girl Scouts of America and the American Heritage Girls from parishes throughout the diocese who in 2022 earned various awards based on knowledge and practice of Catholic teaching.
The Gospel reading for Masses on that day contained Jesus’ presentation of the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. “The Beatitudes are the attitudes which disciples of Jesus ought to have,” the bishop said. “These are great virtues, but people often are criticized and even persecuted for practicing them. … You may be persecuted for your faith but continue to practice those virtues.”
He spoke of the example of Blessed Clemens von Galen, a German count who was bishop of Munster, Germany during World War II and was known as “The Lion of Munster” for his outspoken opposition to the Nazis despite the risk to his life that such a stance involved. He was made a cardinal in 1946, shortly before his death, and was beatified in 2005.
In a homily on July 20, 1941, Bishop von Galen told his congregation, “Become hard! Remain firm! At this moment we are the anvil rather than the hammer. (But) … the object which is forged on the anvil receives its form not alone from the hammer but also from the anvil. The anvil cannot and need not strike back. … If it is sufficiently tough and firm and hard, the anvil usually lasts longer than the hammer. However hard the hammer strikes, the anvil stands quietly and firmly in place and will long continue to shape the objects forged upon it.”
“What is forged between the hammer and the anvil,” Bishop Fernandes said, “is the character of our young people, as emphasized in the virtues which are part of Scouting.”
The bishop then spoke of Jesus’ advice to His disciples to be salt and light for the world. “Jesus calls us to be light by practicing the virtues of Scouting that help foster the light of Christ,” he said. “That’s why I support Catholic Scouting, so you can be salt and light to the world and give glory to God the Father through your good works.”
The diocesan Scouting committee presented its Red Sash of Merit to Joe Gallo of Dublin St. Brigid of Kildare Church. He was honored for earning other Catholic Scouting emblems and demonstrating leadership, accepting responsibility and being active in his Scout troop, community and parish.
Two adult leaders were presented honors from national Catholic Scouting organizations for their work helping young people develop their spiritual lives within the context of Scouting. The St. George award went to Slade Hankinson of Columbus Our Lady of Peace Church and Scouts BSA Troop 169, and the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton medal was presented to Rhonda Timko of Hilliard St. Brendan the Navigator Church and American Heritage Girls Troop 0516.
Nathan Asbury of BSA Troop 332 from Powell St. Joan of Arc Church was recognized as the newest recipient of the Four Corners of My Faith emblem, given to members of Scouts BSA and Girl Scouts who have earned all four of their respective organizations’ national Catholic Scout emblems since 1992, when the current emblems program began.
Rayna Rodenkirchen of Reynoldsburg St. Pius X Church was recognized for her work on the St. Agnes of Rome patch program, which she developed in 2021 for the diocesan Scouting committee as a Girl Scout Gold Award project. It was adopted for national use in 2022.
BSA Troop 859 of St. Brendan the Navigator Church was recognized as the Bishop’s Troop for combining active participation in religious activities with service to the community and to Scouting. Troop 169 of Our Lady of Peace Church received a certificate of merit. Also honored were Cub Scout Pack 169 of Our Lady of Peace Church as the Bishop’s Pack and St. Pius X Church as the Bishop’s Parish for its Girl Scout programs, with American Heritage Girls Troop 0031 of Columbus St. Patrick Church receiving a certificate of merit.
Pack 169, Troop 169, Troop 859 and Pack 332 and Troop 332 of Mount Vernon St. Vincent de Paul Church were recognized for receiving Pope Paul VI Quality Unit awards from the National Catholic Committee on Scouting.
Reynoldsburg St. Pius X Troop 581 received the Bishop’s Parish award. CT photo by Ken Snow
More than 30 religious awards, some age-related and others for both young people and adults, are available to participants in Catholic Scouting. The diocesan Catholic Scout committee also sponsors the annual diocesan Catholic Scout Camporee each May at Somerset St. Joseph Church.
More information on all of these is available by email from catholicscouting@columbuscatholic.org, Jodi Hatherly at jlhatherly@gmail.com or Mike Manning at mmanning6608@gmail.com.