Rotary Program: 11/26/03

Program Chairperson: Dennis Rohrer

Speakers: Father Bennie and Quentin Shultz

Father Bennie is a native of Southern India, the sixth of seven children. He was ordained a priest in the Catholic Church on Dec. 22, 1995 and served as a Seminary Professor in the Lexington Diocese as well as the Pastor of the Catholic Church in Barbourville, Ky. before he assumed the role of Priest of the Catholic Church here in Pikeville in July of 2003. The position also gives him the responsibility of overseeing the missions at Elkhorn City and Phelps. Father Bennie holds Masters Degrees in Divinity and Philosophy. He says he is asked two questions by most people. One, how long has he been a Catholic and was he a convert and two, why did he become a priest? He says that his family has been Catholics as far back as he can trace and it was that long-standing tradition of religion in his family inspired him at the age of 7 to want to be a priest. He said that although the total number of Catholics in India are only about 2% of the population, the two southern states are almost all Catholic. There, the Christian religion is said to have been established by St. Thomas and has flourished because of the tolerant nature of the Hindu faith and the secular Indian government that is respectful of all religions. Father Bennie expressed his appreciation for America and Her abundance of blessings from God and that we, as a people, ought to be the most thankful people in the world. He described the conditions in many third-world countries and how easy it would be to complain, but most were much more thankful than we are. We complain about the weather, the food, traffic, and a million other things, but to be ungrateful is the greatest sin against the God who loves us and provides for us. The greatest measure of one’s spirituality, says Father Bennie, is not how often we go to church, read our Bibles, or how much we pray, but how thankful we are. It makes us feel better and also gladdens the heart of God when we express our thanks to Him.

Quentin Shultz is the pastor of the Methodist Church in Pikeville. He and his wife, Becky, have two daughters and two grandchildren. He is a graduate of UK and Duke as well as the Lexington Theological Seminary. Rev. Shultz spoke of the historical nature of the Thanksgiving holiday and expressed how thankful he was that of all the national holidays, it is the one that business and the media has left alone and unspoiled the way that Christmas has been. It focuses not on the gifts, but the Giver of all life and blessing and enables us to return to the ideas of home and family, kids and grandkids, holding hands and praying, and brings us back to our roots as a nation and as a community. If those early Pilgrims, who had lost 40% of their population to hunger and disease that first year, could be thankful, then we ought to be also. The secret, says Rev. Shultz, is that they were thankful, not for their food or their belongings, but for the God who had provided a Savior. That kind of thankfulness can turn tragedy into triumph and our dungeons to castles. He spoke of a pastor-friend who has Multiple Sclerosis who has that kind of thankful spirit. He talked about seeing him during his last visit, laboring to breathe, bedfast and unable to stand, but found him saying he loved God and how thankful he was for God and His creation. He also spoke of a little girl named Lisa that he met while visiting the Bethel Agricultural Fellowship, which is an orphanage in a third world country. He said that she ran up to him and gave him a flower and said through broken English how thankful she was for Jesus. Whatever we have or don’t have, he said, we have Jesus, and He is enough. He is plenty, indeed. Thank you, Father Bennie and Rev. Shultz for the inspiring words. Submitted by J. Morgan Chapman