Joyful Witness / Kimberly Pohovey

God’s ‘goodness’ on display at archdiocese’s Legacy Gala

Emotion welled up inside me as I looked across at the 800 individuals seated in one room. As I tried to identify what I was feeling, I eventually landed on the word “goodness.”

The second annual Legacy Gala in support of the archdiocese and three of our key ministries—Catholic schools, Catholic Charities and Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis—was a sold-out event held on Feb. 25 at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis. While the event was certainly a fundraiser to support our ministries, it was actually much more.

Maybe so many people attended because it’s been quite some time since we could gather in a large group. Or perhaps folks came because they too wanted to support the evening’s honoree, Msgr. Paul Koetter, who is a beloved priest of the archdiocese and an amazing witness to our faith. Looking out at the audience, I couldn’t help but feel grateful that such a large crowd in attendance affirmed support for our local Church and our Catholic faith. That felt like pure goodness.

The program featured several meaningful videos that eloquently told the story of the impact of our schools, charities and seminary. From the visually-impaired woman who benefitted from the services of Holy Family Shelter in downtown Indianapolis, to the couple whose son was killed in a senseless shooting and how they are making a difference in supporting Catholic education in the inner-city in their son’s memory, to the seminarian whose family fled their native country of Burundi due to an assassination attempt on his father’ life and how his family’s past has played a role in his discerning a call to the priesthood—each story unfolded in God-inspired goodness.

The fact that the archdiocese was able to share its good works with such a large audience gathered at the event, in addition to countless others watching live online from home, created a large-scale forum to make others aware of the goodness we share with the community every day.

So many of our supporters may only know the goodness of a particular ministry they support. This event allowed us to highlight many areas in which we change lives. No amount of advertising can generate the good will created by an event that builds awareness, but does so within the context of our Catholic faith.

Personally, it affirmed for me, a small cog in the wheels of the archdiocese, that I am part of something bigger, something important, something for which the Lord has called each of us.

This event was but a microcosm of the Church as a whole, but it was heartening to see this great Catholic crowd pray together, laugh together, enjoy each other’s company and, ultimately, show support for the ministries who care for our brothers and sisters, educate our children, and form young men for the priesthood, and quite literally, the future of our Church. We began the evening united in our prayer for Ukraine. We laughed and enjoyed the humorous commentary provided by the evening’s emcee, Rafael Sanchez. We ate, drank, took funny photos and we danced. Goodness all around.

If you came to the event, thank you for celebrating the goodness of our faith with us. If you could not attend or watch online, please take some time to watch the event at the link www.archindy.org/LegacyGala2022. And if you wanted to attend but were told the event was sold out, you will be happy to know that we have booked the grand ballroom at the JW Marriott for Feb. 10, 2023, so that next year we will not have to limit the amount of our faithful who want to join in celebrating the goodness of our God, our faith and each other.
 

(Kimberly Pohovey is a member of St. Jude Parish in Indianapolis. She is the director of major and planned gifts for the archdiocese.) †