To our Notre Dame of De Pere Families, Staff and Friends

who may be in need of physical, spiritual or emotional healing,

 including our amazing School Principal, Jeff Kaftan.

Gather with us for a special

MASS OF HEALING AND FORGIVENESS

Please join Fr. Getchel in hosting Fr. Richard McAlear and Fr. Ubald Rugirangoga.

Best-selling author and Rwandan genocide survivor, Immaculée Ilibagiza

will assist with translation.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2013   7:00 P.M.

St. Francis Xavier Parish of De Pere

220 S. Michigan Street

Arrive early. Space is limited.

In addition, Fr. Getchel and GRACE President, Fr. Dane Radecki, will co-celebrate on WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2013 AT THE ALL SCHOOL MASS AT 8:30 A.M.

at St. Francis Xavier Parish of De Pere,

so we may have a special opportunity with the

Notre Dame of De Pere student body and families

to come together and pray

for Jeff  Kaftan, Aleta Weigandt and all others in our school community

and their families who may need healing and prayers.

Background of the February 12, 2013 Guests:

About Father Ubald Rugirangoga

Fr. Ubald has been a Roman Catholic priest for 25 years in the Cyangugu Diocese of southeastern Rwanda. Cyangugu is situated very closely to the Congo and Burundi borders on the picturesque Lake Kivu. During the 1994 genocide Fr. Ubald lost over 80 members of his family and over 45,000 of his parishioners were exterminated. He escaped through the Congo on foot in the middle of the night. When he left Rwanda at that time he made a promise to his Bishop that he would return to bring healing to his people. He spent 3 months in Belgium during the genocide at which time he said that he cried every day. After a trip to Lourdes where he heard Jesus tell him "Ubald, carry your cross," he felt a release from the burden of his sorrows and knew he was called to preach healing, forgiveness and reconciliation.

Fr. Ubald has a beautiful healing gift and his focus is on healing and evangelization wherever he goes. There are many documented cases of physical healings, spiritual healings, healings in relationships and emotional healings through his prayers. It is not uncommon for him to celebrate a healing service in his country where anywhere from 10,000-60,000 people will be in attendance.  His masses are often held in football stadiums!

The Government of Rwanda seeks him out for advice on forgiveness and reconciliation as the country continues to rebuild after the devastation of the genocide. He continues to preach healing, forgiveness and reconciliation in Rwanda, the Congo and Burundi. He has also traveled all over Europe, the Holy Land and other parts of Africa. He made his first trip to the United States in 2009, at the request of Immaculee' Ilibagiza, author of "Left To Tell, " another genocide survivor, who currently resides in the US.

About Father McAlear

Father McAlear, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, entered the religious order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1960. He studied in Rome and was ordained there in 1970, after receiving degrees in Philosophy (Ph.L.) and Theology (S.T.L.). He returned to the United States, where he taught high school and received another degree in Religious Education (M.A.).

In 1972, Father McAlear became involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and he entered into the healing ministry in 1976. His ministry and work have brought him to every part of the United States, Asia, South America, Canada, Australia, New Guinea, Guatemala, Italy, France, Portugal, Scotland and Rwanda.

Father McAlear has been a member of the Association of Christian Therapists since 1977, and a past director of Our Lady of Hope Center in Newburgh, NY. In Newburgh, his charismatic work included healing prayer along with a strong outreach to the poor and needy in that area.

Father McAlear was subsequently appointed as the Vocation Director for the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. In this capacity he was stationed in Washington, D.C. where for ten years, he recruited young men for the priesthood. Upon completing his term as Vocation Director he was assigned to devote himself full time to teaching and the healing ministry.

About Immaculee Ilibagiza

Immaculée Ilibagiza is a living example of faith put into action. Immaculée's life was transformed dramatically during the 1994 Rwandan genocide where she and seven other women spent 91 days huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor's house. Immaculée entered the bathroom a vibrant, 115-pound university student with a loving family - she emerged weighing just 65 pounds to find her most of her family had been brutally murdered.

Immaculée credits her salvage mostly to prayer and to a set of rosary beads given to her by her devout Catholic father prior to going into hiding. Anger and resentment about her situation were literally eating her alive and destroying her faith, but rather than succumbing to the rage that she felt, Immaculée instead turned to prayer. She began to pray the rosary as a way of drowning out the negativity that was building up inside her. Immaculée found solace and peace in prayer and began to pray from the time she opened her eyes in the morning to the time she closed her eyes at night. Through prayer, she eventually found it possible, and in fact imperative, to forgive her tormentors and her family's murderers.

Immaculée's strength in her faith empowered her to stare down a man armed with a machete threatening to kill her during her escape. She also later came face to face with the killer of her mother and her brother and said the unthinkable, "I forgive you." Immaculée knew, while in hiding, that she would have to overcome immeasurable odds without her family and with her country destroyed. Fortunately, Immaculée utilized her time in that tiny bathroom to teach herself English with only The Bible and a dictionary; once freed she was able to secure a job with the United Nations.

In 1998, Immaculée immigrated to the United States where she continued her work with the UN. During this time she shared her story with co-workers and friends, who were so impacted they insisted she write it down in book form. Three days after finishing her manuscript she met best selling author, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, who, within minutes of meeting her, offered to publish her book. Dyer is quoted as saying, "There is something much more than charisma at work here - Immaculée not only writes and speaks about unconditional love and forgiveness, but she radiates it wherever she goes."

Immaculée's first book, Left to Tell; Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust (Hay House) was released in March of 2006. Left to Tell quickly became a New York Times Best Seller, with six weeks at #1. To date it has been translated into more than forty languages worldwide and has sold several million copies. Immaculée's story has also been made into a documentary titled "The Diary of Immaculée." She has appeared in numerous media including 60 Minutes, CNN, EWTN, CBS, NBC, The Aljazeera Network, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsday, and many other domestic and international outlets. She was recently featured in Michael Collopy's "Architects of Peace" project, which has honored legendary people like Mother Teresa, Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, and the Dalai Lama.

Immaculée has received numerous honorary doctoral degrees from institutions including The University of Notre Dame, Saint John's University, and Walsh University. She has been recognized and honored with numerous humanitarian awards including: The Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Reconciliation and Peace 2007; a finalist as one of Beliefnet.com's "Most Inspiring People of the Year 2006," and a recipient of the American Legacy's Women of Strength & Courage Award. Left to Tell has received a Christopher Award "affirming the highest values of human spirit," and been chosen as Outreach Magazine's selection for "Best Outreach Testimony/Biography Resource of 2007." Left to Tell has been adopted into the curriculum of dozens of high schools and universities, including Villanova University, which selected it for the 2007-2008 "One Book Program," making Left to Tell mandatory reading for 6,000 students. 

Immaculée recently hosted a documentary titled "Ready to Forgive, An African Story of Grace," a project sponsored by The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. The film focuses on the Acholi people of Northern Uganda and their desire to forgive their tormentors. "Ready to Forgive" has been broadcasted on NBC and the Hallmark Channel.

Illustrious Hollywood producer Steve McEveety and MPower productions ( The Passion of the Christ, Braveheart, What Women Want etc.)  has begun production of a major motion picture about her story.

Today Immaculée is regarded as one of world's leading speakers on peace, faith, and forgiveness. She has shared her universal message with world dignitaries, school children, multinational corporations, churches, and at many conferences. Immaculée works hard to spread her message and to raise money for her Left to Tell Charitable Fund which directly benefits the children orphaned by the genocide.