Leaven ‘village’ loves to show and tell

by Father Mark Goldasich

It’s said that it takes a village to raise a child. Honestly, it takes a village to do most things in life, especially to produce a newspaper.

I realize this every February when Catholic Press Month is celebrated. In his message on the 59th World Day of Social Communications on Jan. 24, Pope Francis told journalists to “communicate goodness with hope and with heart. . . . Hope is always a community project.”

In this issue of The Leaven, you get to peek behind the scenes to see a couple of our “village staff.” The front page features the efforts of our production and business manager Todd Habiger. Although you see his stellar work each week, you probably didn’t know much about the veteran journalist behind it.

Page 3 will introduce you to our cub reporter at The Leaven, John Sorce — new to Catholic journalism but a veteran reporter in the secular press. He’s already been the “source” of many stories here and continues to make great strides in learning our “Leaven style.” And he’s a huge Royals fan, despite growing up in New Jersey. How can you not like a guy like that?

Another behind-the-scenes villager is managing editor Anita McSorley, the brains behind finding and organizing stories to fill the pages; doing the tough task of editing the stories as they come in; brainstorming ways to keep The Leaven at the top of its game; and keeping me (and the rest of the villagers) on task.

Moira Cullings is our hardworking senior reporter, churning out excellent and informative stories from across the archdiocese. And if that isn’t enough, she’s also our social media editor and guru, keeping us current in this new century of journalism.

Beth Blankenship is another villager who handles the nonstop flow of ads and calendar items in The Leaven. She’s the daily, smiling, in-person face of the paper if you happen to visit our office.

How can I describe our staff? The following story does a good job of it:

Some missionaries in the Philippines set up a croquet game in their front yard. Several of their Negrito neighbors wanted to join the fun. The missionaries explained the game and started them out with a mallet and ball. As the game progressed, an opportunity came for one player to take advantage of another by knocking that person’s ball out of the court.

A missionary explained the procedure, but his advice puzzled his Negrito friend. “Why would I want to knock his ball out of the court?” he asked. “So, you’ll be the one to win!” said the missionary. The man shook his head in confusion.

As the game continued, not one of the native people followed the missionaries’ advice. When one player successfully got through all the wickets, the game wasn’t over for him. He went back and helped the others. And when the final player navigated the last wicket, the “team” shouted happily, “We won! We won!”

In that Negrito society, all were considered part of a team. They all won together. (Story adapted from “Working as a Team,” found in “Illustrations Unlimited,” edited by James S. Hewett.)

Every Catholic Press Month, I listen again to these powerful words of St. Paul: “And how can they believe in him (the Lord) of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent?” (cf. Rom 10:14-15).

After my 35-plus years as editor of The Leaven, I can tell you with great confidence that the villagers here continue to say, “Here we are! Send us!”