The Anchor Diocese of Fall River
F riday , July 16, 2010
Government expands definition of family By Christine M. Williams Anchor Correspondent BOSTON — In a continuing effort to chip away at the uniqueness of the natural family, President Barack Obama’s administration has interpreted federal law to allow homosexual partners the right to take time off work to care for their partner’s children. In June, the U.S. Department of Labor clarified the definition of son and daughter in the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), saying in a statement that employees who care for a child should receive parental rights to family leave “regardless of the legal or biological relationship.” The Labor Department hailed the news as “a win for all families no matter what they look like.” “This action is a victory for many non-traditional families, including families in the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender community, who often in the past have been denied leave to care for their loved ones,” the statement said. The Family and Medical Leave Act, signed into law in 1993, allows full-time employees of companies that hire 50 or more workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period to care for loved ones or themselves. They are also allowed to take time off for the adoption or birth of a child. Family advocates said the clarification was another step taken to equate same-sex relationships with traditional marriage. Peter S. Sprigg, senior fellow for policy studies at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., told The Anchor that homosexual activists want a same-sex couple to be treated exactly the same as a married mother and father. Turn to page 18
VOCATION FOR VACATION — Father Karl Bissinger, vocations director for the Fall River Diocese, addresses a group of 22 young men from across the diocese who attended the first-ever Quo Vadis retreat held at the Sacred Hearts Retreat Center in Wareham last week. The purpose of the week-long retreat was to help teen-age boys discern God’s will for their lives and to share in prayer and fellowship. (Photo by Kenneth J. Souza)
Diocesan youth embark on first-ever Quo Vadis Days By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff WAREHAM — While many families were traveling to summer vacation hot spots last week, a group of 22 teen-age boys from across the Fall River Diocese descended upon the scenic Sacred Hearts Retreat Youth Center in Wareham to participate in the first-ever diocesan Quo Vadis Days retreat.
The five-day program, held July 5-9, was an inaugural effort by the diocesan Vocation Office to help young men discern their vocation in life and perhaps answer a special calling to serve God as priests. “It’s basically geared to help them think about some of the practical things involved with vocations,” said Father Kevin A. Cook, associate director of Vocations Turn to page 18
Cape Cod Baseball League: More than ‘Where the stars of tomorrow shine tonight’ By Dave Jolivet, Editor
directory assistance — The new 2010-11 Diocese of Fall River Catholic Directory will soon be available. Story on page 12.
HYANNIS — It’s considered by many baseball gurus as one of the premier amateur baseball leagues in the country. The Cape Cod Baseball League, an entity consisting of 10 teams strewn across the Cape, can trace its roots all the way back to 1885. There is a flyer in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown advertising a game between Sandwich and Barnstable at 3 p.m. on July 4, 1885. Since its inception, the CCBL has produced nearly 800 players who went on to play Major League Baseball in some capacity. Some of these “stars” became supernovas that went on to or are still in the middle of, illustrious careers on the diamond. Others didn’t burn quite as brightly, but still left a mark on the national game, on their former CCBL squad, and on themselves. Some of the notables to make it from east of the Sagamore and Bourne bridges to MLB ballparks include Red Sox standouts Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Varitek, Nomar Garciaparra, and Mo Vaughn. CCBL alums playing outside the friendly Fenway confines are many: Frank Thomas, Joe Girardi, Mark Teixeira, Evan Longoria, Eric Hinske, Barry Zito, and Tim Lincecum. Incredibly, according to the CCBL website, one in seven MLB players were on a CCBL team, and in 2009, 217 were on Major League rosters. The league motto is “Where the stars of tomorrow shine tonight.”
There is no question the league is one of the sport’s brightest stars, but there is much more to the organization than just the horsehide. Turn to page 15
making his pitch — Matteo D’Angelo, from Bologna, Italy, and attending Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. delivers a pitch for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in a recent Cape Cod League Baseball Game in Cotuit against the Kettleers. (Photo by Dave Jolivet)
News From the Vatican
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July 16, 2010
Choose the good no matter what it costs, pope says at general audience VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI urged young people to be inspired by St. Maria Goretti’s courage and strength and to always choose the good no matter what it costs. This young virgin and martyr was “a girl who, despite being very young, knew how to show strength and courage against evil,” the pope said during remarks in Italian at the end of a weekly general audience. The 11-year-old girl was repeatedly stabbed by a young neighbor after she refused his sexual advances. She died in the hospital the next day, July 6, 1902, after forgiving her attacker. The day after the Church
The Anchor www.anchornews.org
celebrated her feast day, the pope called on young people to pray to St. Maria to help them “always choose the good, even when it comes with a price.” Speaking before a packed crowd in the Paul VI audience hall, Pope Benedict delivered his last weekly general audience talk for the month of July. The pope was scheduled to leave for the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, by helicopter July 7. All private audiences were to be suspended during the summer period, according to Vatican Radio. During the blessing, the pope said a prayer about vocations and charity toward the poor and orphans. OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 54, No. 28
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Published weekly except for two weeks in the summer and the week after Christmas by the Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River, 887 Highland Avenue, Fall River, MA 02720, Telephone 508-675-7151 — FAX 508-675-7048, email: theanchor@anchornews.org. Subscription price by mail, postpaid $20.00 per year, for U.S. addresses. Send address changes to P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA, call or use email address
PUBLISHER - Most Reverend George W. Coleman EXECUTIVE EDITOR Father Roger J. Landry fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org EDITOR David B. Jolivet davejolivet@anchornews.org NEWS EDITOR Deacon James N. Dunbar jimdunbar@anchornews.org OFFICE MANAGER Mary Chase marychase@anchornews.org ADVERTISING Wayne R. Powers waynepowers@anchornews.org REPORTER Kenneth J. Souza k ensouza@anchornews.org Send Letters to the Editor to: fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org PoStmaSters send address changes to The Anchor, P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA 02722. THE ANCHOR (USPS-545-020) Periodical Postage Paid at Fall River, Mass.
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garden party — Pope Benedict XVI waves during an unveiling ceremony for a new fountain in the Vatican Gardens recently. The fountain was dedicated to St. Joseph in honor of Pope Benedict XVI’s baptismal name. (CNS photo/Max Rossi, Reuters)
Long, hot summer: Vatican faces external and internal challenges VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Early July is when things usually slow down at the Vatican, as top Church officials wrap up loose ends and prepare to go on vacation. But the mood at the Vatican this year is anything but serene. Pope Benedict XVI and his key advisers are facing a series of external and internal conflicts that threaten to make this a long, hot summer of problem-solving and strategizing. One hesitates to use the word “unprecedented” when writing about the Vatican. But it’s difficult to remember a time when so much bad news has landed at the Vatican’s doorstep. The Belgian police raid on the archdiocesan headquarters and residences near Brussels June 24 left Vatican officials stunned, and illustrated just how much the sex abuse crisis has lowered the Church’s standing in the eyes of some civil authorities. The country’s bishops were held for nine hours as police confiscated files, computers and cell phones. The ultimate affront came when the police drilled into the tombs of two dead cardinals and inserted cameras to look for supposed hidden documents — which were not found. The police action brought sharp criticism from Pope Benedict, who was careful, however, to defend the right of civil authorities to investigate priestly sex abuse. The problem is that the Church also claims a responsibility to investigate such abuse according to Church law. In the Vatican’s view, the Church and civil responsibilities are parallel, but in Belgium they collided head-on. Police confiscated more than 400 files belonging to an investigating commission created by the Church, prompting commission members to resign, saying they could no longer do their work and the privacy of victims had been violated. Belgian officials dismissed that argument. Their unspoken presumption seemed to be that because of their inaction in the past, Church leaders cannot be trusted to act in
the public interest on sex abuse allegations. This is a huge issue for the Church, and Vatican diplomats will now work quietly with Belgian authorities to try to restore some measure of autonomy for bishops’ handling of sex abuse cases. The fear is that other countries may take similar action. Four days after the Belgian raid, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that said the Vatican, even as a sovereign foreign state, did not have immunity from potential liability for the actions of a priest accused of sexual abuse. Although the case hinges on a peculiarity of Oregon employment law, which is unlikely to affect similar lawsuits elsewhere, the action allows a lawsuit against the Vatican to go forward, raising a series of new difficulties. One is a basic public relations problem: The Vatican will be going to court against an alleged victim of sexual abuse by a priest. It will also be emphasizing that priests and bishops are not “employees” of the Vatican — an argument that, whatever its legal merits, may leave the impression that the institutional Church is trying to distance itself from the actions of its pastoral ministers, instead of assuming responsibility. That’s not how Vatican officials see it, of course. “We need to explain what the universal Church is and what the role of the Holy See is, with its various levels of responsibility, and show that it’s a mistake to try at all costs to involve the Vatican in juridical responsibilities that it does not have,” Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told Catholic News Service. In Italy, meanwhile, Italian Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, a former Vatican official, was formally placed under investigation by judicial authorities in connection with a corruption scandal. Cardinal Sepe, currently archbishop of Naples, headed the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2001 to 2006, and has denied all
wrongdoing. In Italy, being investigated is not like being charged with a crime. But the headlines left many Italians presuming guilt, not innocence. It also left some inside the Vatican wondering how much oversight there was over the evangelization congregation’s financial activities, which range from funding missionary projects to managing real estate in Rome. For centuries, the congregation has enjoyed a certain financial autonomy. The developments in Italy, Belgium and the United States all posed new challenges in the Church’s relationship with civil law and civil authorities. But the most shocking — and surprisingly public — conflict at the Vatican in recent days was an internal Church matter between two cardinals. In May, Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna told journalists that Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano, former secretary of state, had once blocked an investigation of sexual abuse and had offended victims by calling their complaints “petty gossip.” On June 28, Cardinal Schonborn met with Pope Benedict to “clarify” his statements on these and other issues, including priestly celibacy. Then Cardinal Sodano and the current secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, joined the meeting — in what must have been a fascinating exchange. The statement issued afterward chastised Cardinal Schonborn, saying essentially that a cardinal does not level accusations against a fellow cardinal — that’s something to be handled by the pope. It also tried to put Cardinal Sodano’s “petty gossip” remark in context. Cardinal Sodano is not just any cardinal. He is dean of the College of Cardinals, the prelate who, in the case of papal death, would preside over the funeral and lead the church through the interregnum. It was therefore inconceivable to many in the Roman Curia that Cardinal Schonborn’s finger-pointing would be allowed to go unchallenged.
July 16, 2010
The International Church
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Pope names Vatican canon lawyer as interim head of Legionaries
precious package — Firefighters carry the relics of St. Celestine V, a 13th-century pope who resigned, before a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI during his pastoral visit to Sulmona, Italy, July 4. (CNS photo/Giampiero Sposito, Reuters)
Pope says life of hermit pope shows silence still important By Catholic News Service SULMONA, Italy — The life of a 13th-century monk who became pope should be an inspiration for contemporary people living in a society of materialistic excess and false values, Pope Benedict XVI said. The German pope honored the birth 800 years ago of St. Celestine V in his hometown of Sulmona, Italy, in a Mass and meetings with local residents and young people July 4. St. Celestine, who lived 12091296, is best known for being the last pope known to have given up the throne of Peter. He abdicated in 1294 after only four months in office and has been known through history as a holy man who rejected the political machinations of the medieval papacy. Pope Benedict chose not to emphasize St. Celestine’s short tenure as pontiff, but rather the importance of both the inner and outward silence that allowed him “to perceive the voice of God, which guided his life.” The pope acknowledged the difficulties faced by residents of the small city of Sulmona, which was seriously affected by the April 2009 earthquake in nearby L’Aquila. He encouraged them to take heart and example from St. Celestine in gathering strength and perceiving the needs of others. “We live today in a society in which every space, every moment must be ‘filled’ with initiatives, activities and sound,” so that there is no time for listening and dialogue, the pope said. “Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be afraid of silence outside and inside ourselves, if we want to hear not only the voice of God but also of those who are close to us, the voices of others,” he said. In a meeting with young Catho-
lics from the area, the pope warned of the false promise of the “current consumer culture” which he said ignores the lessons of the past and “takes away the ability to understand, perceive problems, build for tomorrow.” Young people searching for answers and guidance should look to St. Celestine to understand the importance and beauty of “living moments of interior silence” in order to “learn to listen to the voice of the Lord,” Pope Benedict said. He told the young people that while faith and prayer don’t directly resolve problems, “they allow us to face them with light and a new strength.” Studying the lives of the saints shows that by turning to God, creative solutions to concrete problems become evident, he said. The pope said people might be inclined to think that St. Celestine and others like him who cut themDIOCESAN TRIBUNAL FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS Decree of Citation Since her present domicile is unknown, in accord with the provision of Canon 1509.1, we hereby cite Julia A. Plante to appear in person before the Tribunal of the Diocese of Fall River (887 Highland Avenue in Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts) on August 2, 2010 at 2:30 PM to give his testimony regarding the question: IS THE PLANTE-MOORE MARRIAGE NULL ACCORDING TO CHURCH LAW? Anyone who has knowledge of the domicile of Julia A. Plante is hereby required to inform her of this citation. Given at the offices of the Diocesan Tribunal in Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts on July 12, 2010.
(Rev.) Paul F. Robinson, O. Carm., J.C.D. Judicial Vicar (Mrs.) Denise D. Berube Ecclesiastical Notary
selves off from the world to be closer to God are excessively individualistic or are escaping responsibility. But the Church believes that the solitary life of prayer and penitence is always at the service of the community and that monasteries and hermitages are “oases and sources of life from which all can benefit,” he said. He reminded the young people that St. Celestine held nature and creation in great respect and that they should do the same. The pope arrived in a helicopter and flew over the mountainous area where St. Celestine spent his years in solitary contemplation, including the Hermitage of St. Onofrio, where word that he had been elected pope reached him in 1294. It was the second time Pope Benedict was able to see the area still devastated by the earthquake; he visited the region shortly after the disaster to offer hope and prayers to the afflicted population.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI named Italian Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, an expert in Church law who specializes in religious institutes, to be his personal delegate with authority over the Legionaries of Christ. The 74-year-old canon lawyer will act as an interim leader while the Vatican investigation of the Legionaries proceeds. The Vatican announced the appointment July 9 but provided no specifics of Archbishop De Paolis’ role. The Legion said it expected the practical details on how the archbishop will fulfill his duties would be defined in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the Legionaries said they welcomed the appointment “with gratitude” and that they looked forward to receiving the archbishop’s guidance. “As they welcome the pontifical delegate, the Legionaries of Christ once again express their deep gratitude to the Holy Father for his fatherly solicitude and put themselves completely at the disposal of Archbishop De Paolis,” the order said on its website. The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, told journalists July 9 that the papal delegate would be meeting with the Legionaries’ current superiors “very soon” to spell out the nature and extent of his mandate as well as any changes to the status of the order’s current leaders. He also will inform them of the terms and nature of the commission that will study the order’s constitution, Father Lombardi said. The pope’s intention in assigning a papal delegate and setting up the commission is to “accompany and help” the Legionaries on the “challenging path of purification and renewal that awaits the order,” said the papal spokesman. The papal appointment was one of a number of steps Pope Benedict has taken in the reform of the Legionaries of Christ after revelations that their founder, the late Mexican Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, had fathered children and sexually abused seminarians.
Last year the pope ordered a visitation of the Legionaries’ institutions. Five bishops appointed by the pope visited almost all the order’s religious houses and most of its pastoral institutions, meeting with more than 1,000 Legionaries. The pope received the bishops’ report at the end of April and on May 1 the Vatican said the pope would name a papal delegate and a commission to study the order’s constitutions. He was to also name a visitor for the Regnum Christi movement, at their request. The Vatican’s May statement also said that the Legionaries would need to undergo very deep changes, including a redefinition of the order’s religious charism and a revision of the way authority is exercised among its members. The pope will have the final word on whatever changes are eventually imposed. Archbishop De Paolis is president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See and is a member of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature. Father Lombardi said Archbishop De Paolis will continue to serve as head of the prefecture for the time being. The archbishop also serves as a consultant to the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Congregation for Eastern Churches, and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. He was born in Sonnino, Italy, in 1935. He was ordained a Scalabrinian priest in 1961 and named a bishop in 2003. He was made an archbishop in 2008. Archbishop De Paolis received his doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, his licentiate in theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, and his law degree from Rome’s La Sapienza University. He has taught moral theology and canon law for many years in Rome. He has also served on the governing body of his religious order and held the positions of counselor and procurator general for the institute.
July 16, 2010 The Church in the U.S. Illinois professor fired for giving Catholic teaching on homosexuality
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Champaign, Ill., (CNA/ EWTN News) — The University of Illinois has fired an adjunct professor for teaching in a class on Catholicism that homosexual acts violate natural moral law. In response to his firing, Howell wrote a letter to friends explaining the events surrounding his dismissal. Howell said in the letter, which was obtained by CNA, that he first came to teach at the St. John’s Catholic Newman Center in 1998. At the time, courses on the Catholic faith were taught through the Newman Center, he explained, but in 2000, an agreement was made
with the University of Illinois’ department of religion, and he became an adjunct professor in the department and taught classes on Catholicism. “Since the fall of 2001, I have been regularly teaching two courses in the department of religion,” Howell explained. One of the classes, “Introduction to Catholicism,” includes an explanation of Natural Moral Law as affirmed by the Church as well as an application of Natural Law Theory to a disputed social issue. “Most of those semesters, my chosen topic was the moral status of homosexual acts,” he ex-
plained. Howell said he taught the Catholic Church’s position on homosexuality. He summed it up by saying, “A homosexual orientation is not morally wrong just as no moral guilt can be assigned to any inclination that a person has. However, based on natural moral law, the Church believes that homosexual acts are contrary to human nature and therefore morally wrong.” To show how homosexual behavior would be considered under competing moral systems, Howell sent an email to the students contrasting utilitarianism with natural moral law. “I tried to show them
that under utilitarianism, homosexual acts would not be considered immoral whereas under natural moral law they would,” Howell said. “This is because natural moral law, unlike utilitarianism, judges morality on the basis of the acts themselves.” A complaint about Howell’s statement was sent in a May 13 email to Robert McKim, head of the religion department. The email was sent by a student who was not in Howell’s class, but said he was writing on behalf of a friend who was in the class and wished to remain anonymous. The email complained about Howell’s statements on homosexuality, calling them “hate speech.” “Teaching a student about the tenets of a religion is one thing,” said the email, according to The News-Gazette. “Declaring that homosexual acts violate the natural laws of man is another. The courses at this institution should be geared to contribute to the public discourse and promote independent thought; not limit one’s worldview and ostracize people of a certain sexual orientation.” Howell said that at the end of the semester, he was called into Robert McKim’s office and told that he would no longer be permitted to teach for the department. Howell objected that to dismiss him for teaching the Catholic position in a class on Catholicism was a violation of academic freedom and first amendment rights. “This made no difference,” he said. “After that conversation and a couple of emails, Professor McKim insisted that this decision to dismiss me stood firm.” According to the local paper The News-Gazette, Howell said he has had students disagree with him in the past, but never in such a manner. “My responsibility on teaching a class on Catholicism is to teach
what the Catholic Church teaches,” he said. “I have always made it very, very clear to my students they are never required to believe what I’m teaching and they’ll never be judged on that.” The News-Gazette reported that Howell also said he was open with students about his own beliefs as a practicing Catholic. “It’s not a violation of academic freedom to advocate a position, if one does it as an appeal on rational grounds and it’s pertinent to the subject,” he said. Later, Howell said, Msgr. Gregory Ketcham, the current Director of the St. John’s Catholic Newman Center, informed him that the Center would not be able to continue employing him since there was no longer any teaching for him to do. “I suggested that we work together to have courses on Catholicism taught at the Newman Center that could be accredited by a Catholic university and that could be transferred into the University of Illinois for credit,” Howell said. “In this way, the students whom we had been called to serve could continue to be instructed in the Catholic faith.” However, Msgr. Ketcham said that he had no interest in such a plan, according to Howell. Howell is currently working with the Alliance Defense Fund to seek legal redress. David French, senior counsel for the ADF said in a written statement, “A university cannot censor professors’ speech — including classroom speech related to the topic of the class — merely because some students find that speech ‘offensive.’ Professors have the freedom to challenge students and to educate them by exposing them to different views. The Alliance Defense Fund is working with Professor Howell because the defense of academic freedom is essential on the university campus.”
Shrine of The Little Flower of Jesus JUBILEE CHURCH & SHRINE
17th Annual Feast Day Celebration First Shrine To St. Theresa In America
Sunday, August 15, 2010 Rain or Shine
10:30 AM ~ Prayers at Holy Stairs 11:15 AM ~ Stations of the Cross 11:30 AM to 12:00 PM ~ Lunch 1:00 PM ~ Concert 1:30 PM ~ Outdoor Living Rosary 2:45 PM ~ Procession with St. Theresa 3:00 PM ~ Chaplet of Divine Mercy Solemn Feast Mass - Celebrant: Father John Randall (Pastor Emeritus of St. Charles Borromeo Church, Providence, R.I.) Blessing with St. Theresa’s Relic ~ Continuous video showing of St. Theresa’s life ~
• Gift Shop • Food & Refreshments • Canopy - Covered benches at outdoor altar • Bus Groups welcome • Priests are invited to concelebrate the Feast Mass • Bring Chairs and umbrellas for the sun
For information please call (401) 568-0575 • (401) 568-8280 E-mail: shiirl@cox.net www.SaintTheresaShrine.com
Shrine is located at intersection of Rt. 102 and Rt. 7 in Nasonville (Burrillville), R.I. (near Wright’s Farm Restaurant)
July 16, 2010
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The Anchor
Family Rosary’s interactive website encourages prayer
By Deacon James N. Dunbar
NORTH EASTON — A fascinating new website that uses an animated rosary that not only teaches the basic elements of prayer but offers video and audio programming on the rosary as well as inspirational worldwide interviews, has been launched by Family Rosary, a member of Holy Cross Family Ministries. Seen as offering online evangelization 24/7, the recently opened website (www. FamilyRosary.org) encourages Internet visitors to share their faith stories, submit prayer requests, invites others to join them in prayer, and even provides rosaries. The site includes sections such as “Get Involved,” which offers tips on encouraging rosary prayer at home, at school and in one’s parish; “Get Inspired,” which features stories on how others live and daily pray the rosary; and also “Prayer,” which explains many other forms of Catholic Christian prayer. There is also a full media section offered, which includes video programs and social media opportunities in order that contributors can share what they find and what they submit. Visitors to the site can also order free rosaries for themselves, their families, or any schools, parishes and organizations. Providing rosaries is essential to the mission as the founder, sainthood candidate Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton, a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross, strove to bring families to daily rosary prayer and wanted every member of the family to have a rosary in their hands. “As we follow Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton’s tradition of using mass media to reach families everywhere, expanding what we’re doing on the Internet makes sense,” said Congregation of Holy Cross Father John Phalen, president of Holy Cross Family Ministries. “We have email and cell phone technology and much more. We hope and pray we can reach families around the world in an impactful way … check it out … FamilyRosary. org,” he added. Even as they open the new website, Family Rosary also launched its new “World at Prayer” blog, to which mission staff members as well as special guests regularly post interesting stories about how families pray together and the experiences bloggers encounter as they promote the organization’s mission. The blog can be accessed directly at http:// blog.familyrosary.org/ or through the website FamilyRosary.org. “Today, its all about reaching people where they are,” Father Phalen pointed out.
“We know they’re on the web … all around ment of Family Theater Productions in Holthe world. We’re looking to dialogue with lywood, Calif., the past two years bringing people about their experiences with praying together all facets for the new website, have the rosary as families.” been exciting. The new website was designed by Boston “It’s been wonderful,” said the 48-yearInteractive, whose business is creating such old priest who has been intimately involved communicain writing, tion tools. editing and diCharles recting — esMurphy, its pecially in the founder and teaching and CEO, talked people impact recently with facets of the The Anchor website — in about how the addition to his site was develwidespread oped. broadcast “More product rethan me, it insponsibilities volved the 36 such as films members of and videos. our team and While it has because of him commutThe home page of Family Rosary’s new complexities ing between website at: www.familyrosary.org and challenges the West Coast it took us six and to Bosmonths to put it together before we com- ton where the web was being built, Father pleted it and launched the site just two weeks Guffey said he “feels blessed because at the ago,” Murphy explained in an interview. same time I have also had the opportunity to “This is our flagship project, and because participate in pastoral duties at St. Monica’s the site is user-centric and reaches out to Parish in Santa Monica, Calif.” people, it necessarily involved a great deal of “While the Internet site is up and running challenges, including teaching and encour- we will be adding to it during the coming two aging people to pray and more especially to years with subsites,” he explained. “Without pray the rosary,” he noted. being redundant, what this is all about is getAmong the “complexity of challenges” he ting to people wherever they are, to involve, said, was even getting people “to know the prayers and to learn the various mysteries of the rosary,” Murphy added. To make that easier, Boston Interactive “took the time to create a guiding video” in which lay people explain the Glorious, Joyful, Sorrowful, and Illuminative Mysteries, offer reflections on them, and lead the prayers. And in doing that, he said, “we worked very closely with those at Family Rosary and Family Ministries.” “It also had me very involved in learning as well, because I am not a Catholic,” Murphy added candidly. As for the blog, said Murphy, “It is a very active one, with Family Rosary staff and priests continually participating. Its ongoing goal is to successfully reach out to people, families, not just encouraging them to become involved together in prayer, but to talk about it. And it also informs about what is happening in the world of faith and prayer, and events as well.” For Congregation of Holy Cross Father David L. Guffey, since July 2008 director of the, Film, Television and Video Depart-
action! — Holy Cross Father David L. Guffey, left, is the director of the, Film, Television and Video Department of Family Theater Productions in Hollywood. (HCFM photo)
inform and educate them. For instance, someone may want to know more about the rosary and prayer; how people pray and feel when they pray. This web can help them,” he added. What’s most obvious is God’s plan to weave Father Guffey into Family Rosary’s media outreach. Growing up in rural Mount Carroll, Ill., he used his parent’s 8mm camera for homemade films in his basement. He was an avid still photographer in high school and became a free-lance reporter for several community newspapers. Although he discerned a religious vocation and was ordained a priest in 1991, that penchant never left him. In May 2008, his parents watched as he graduated with a masters of fine arts degree from Loyola Marymount University’s Graduate School of Film in Los Angeles. As a priest he honed his outreach skills working among the poor and homeless and running a soup kitchen in Phoenix, Ariz.; and taught and did spiritual direction at his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame in Indiana as well as serving as novice director at the Holy Cross Novitiate in Colorado. Later, he spent six months as an intern at Family Theater Productions in 2005. “My superiors had encouraged me to do further studies and be involved in Catholic media,” Father Guffey told The Anchor. “I discerned the best way to do this and use my talents was a degree in film production. And so we’re underway.”
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The Anchor The New Evangelization, and our part in it
On June 28, at the Roman basilica built over the human remains of the great Apostle St. Paul, Pope Benedict announced that he was founding a new Vatican dicastery, which will be called the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. In contrast to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which is entrusted with supervising the Church’s classical missionary work in remote areas where the faith has not yet been planted or grown, the new Pontifical Council will be given the task of re-proposing the Gospel to areas that have already been Christianized but where many have given up the practice of the faith. Pope Benedict — and the cardinals who elected him — have long been concerned with the rapid secularization, de-Christianization and desacralization of the West. Countries or regions that 50 years ago seemed to be vibrant places of faith — European countries like Holland, Belgium and France, North American regions like Quebec and the northeastern United States — have not only seen a massive exodus of practicing Catholics in recent decades, but also experienced a radical rejection of the faith in public policy and culture through attempts to enshrine a practical atheism as the religion of their land and to push policies with regard to abortion, euthanasia, marriage and education that are total contradictions to the Christian message. The creation of a Vatican dicastery is always an institutionalization of a priority. The creation of this new dicastery is a palpable sign of Pope Benedict’s and the Church’s commitment to respond to what Pope Benedict on June 28 called “a serious crisis of the meaning of the Christian faith and of belonging to the Church.” The principal task of the new council, he said, will be to “promote a renewed evangelization in the countries where the first proclamation of the faith has already resonated and where Churches with an ancient foundation exist but are experiencing the progressive secularization of society and a sort of ‘eclipse of the sense of God.’” In a March 2009 letter to the world’s bishops, Pope Benedict described that the “real problem at this moment of our history” is “that God is disappearing from the human horizon, and, with the dimming of the light which comes from God, humanity is losing its bearings, with increasingly evident destructive effects.” The re-evangelization of the West is not something that can be accomplished by a Vatican office, no matter how many competent and diligent staff members it will employ. It’s something that will only occur if those who still believe in Christ throughout the world collaborate in the effort. The documents of the Second Vatican Council stressed that the Church’s missionary efforts are not the task of a few specialists in missionary orders but the responsibility of all the people in the Church. During the evangelization of several African countries in the 20th century, when the Church wanted to bring the Gospel to a particular village, the first step was not to send in a team of foreign missionaries to proclaim the truths of the faith with words; it was to seek one or more Christian families that would be willing to move there in order to proclaim the truths of the faith by the way they lived each day. Likewise, for the cultures and societies of the de-Christianized West to receive the Gospel again, it is not going to happen principally by beautiful documents prepared by the new Pontifical Council, but by Christians living a sincere, ongoing, saving encounter with Jesus Christ who invite others into that communion. Pope Benedict made this point a decade ago, prior to being elected pope, in a powerful December 2000 address to catechists who had come to Rome during the Jubilee Year. This lengthy speech on the new evangelization crisply defines what evangelization is and isn’t, and what ought to be its structure, methods and content. His insights should serve not only as marching orders for the new Pontifical Council but for all believers called to collaborate in bringing about the new evangelization of our culture. Evangelization does not mean to communicate isolated truths but “to show [the path to happiness], to teach the art of living,” Cardinal Ratzinger noted in that discourse. Jesus came to proclaim the good news to the poor and the “deepest poverty” is the “tediousness of a life considered absurd and contradictory. This poverty is widespread today, in very different forms in the materially rich as well as the poor countries. The inability of joy presupposes and produces the inability to love, produces jealousy, avarice —all defects that devastate the life of individuals and of the world. This is why we are in need of a new evangelization: if the art of living remains an unknown, nothing else works.” Jesus came precisely to teach the art of living by example, to say, “Follow me,” to become the way toward happiness. The new evangelization is needed because “a large part of today’s humanity does not find the Gospel in the permanent evangelization of the Church; that is to say, the convincing response to the question: How to live?” Christianity for them is no longer considered a way of life but often a group of teachings that fail to connect them to Jesus the way, truth and life. Cardinal Ratzinger said that the method of re-evangelizing the desecularized world cannot be just to use the new means of social communication — television, internet, Facebook and Twitter — to announce our faith in Christ, but must involve re-introducing people to the Lord. “Words and the whole art of communication cannot reach the human person to such depths as the Gospel must reach,” the future pope said. To proclaim the kingdom of God is to proclaim that God is alive and calls us to enter into his reign, and for evangelization to be effective, those proclaiming the kingdom must give evidence of the fruits that come from union with Christ. This means at least two things. First, “the word of the announcement must always be drenched in an intense life of prayer,” which is “faith in action,” when we seek union with the God we proclaim is alive. Second, the proclamation must be united to suffering together with Christ out of love for others, by uniting oneself to his passion. Referring to the parable of the grain of wheat in the Gospel, the pope illustrates that Jesus shows us that “we cannot give life to others without giving up our own lives.” It’s that witness of life, that willingness to suffer for God and for others, that makes the words credible. With regard to the content of the message being proclaimed by words and witness, Cardinal Ratzinger specified four essential parts: conversion, the kingdom of God, Jesus Christ and eternal life. To convert means “not to live as all the others live” but to seek to live like Christ, to live for love of God and love of others. Living in the kingdom means that “God exists, God is alive, God is present and acts in the world, in our — in my — life.” To preach Jesus means not merely to say we need to imitate him but rather to be “assimilated into” him, to “attain union with him.” That’s why the sacraments can never remain “a secondary theme,” but must be presented and lived as the “realization of our relationship with God.” Finally, to preach eternal life means that God “enters into history to do justice,” and that our and others’ actions matter; they have eternal consequences. “Only if the measure of our life is eternity,” Cardinal Ratzinger wrote, will “this life of ours on earth” become “great and its value immense.” Evangelization in short is not to speak about a “whole lot of things” but simply to “speak about God and man,” and to bring God and man together. This is the task of the Church. This is our task, which, God-willing, the new Pontifical Council will catalyze.
July 16, 2010
Forgiveness and repentance
Ten days ago the Church celebrated the feast munion side-by-side. In the midst of a stunned of St. Maria Goretti, whose Christian response congregation, he acknowledged his sin, and asked to suffering sexual abuse as a minor is a light not for God’s forgiveness and theirs. He would spend only for those who have endured the darkness of the rest of his life doing penance as a gardener at a this horror but also charts a path for their parents Capuchin monastery and was present with Assunand even for their abusers. In this mini-series on ta, many of those parishioners and others, when the truly Catholic response to the scandals demon- Pope Pius XII canonized Maria Goretti in 1950. strated for us in the lives of the saints, her powerful From St. Maria Goretti’s story, the Church can witness, and the enormous impact it had on others, draw powerful lessons for those who have sufdeserves to be highlighted and imitated. fered sexual abuse, for their family members and In 1902, Maria Goretti was an 11-year-old girl for those who have committed it. living in Ferriere di Conca, about 40 miles south For those who have suffered sexual abuse, of Rome. Her father Luigi had died two years be- there is the powerful lesson of forgiveness. In fore of malaria, leaving her mother, Assunta, with imitation of Jesus’ prayer from the cross and St. the difficult task of providing for her, her two older Stephen’s during his stoning, Maria prayed for the and three younger brothers and sisters. While her forgiveness of the one who had terrorized her and mother and other siblings were working in the taken her life. As hard and as heroic as forgivefields, Maria’s duties were to baby-sit her infant ness may be for those who have been abused — sister Teresa, cook, sew and clean their side of a and we shouldn’t minimize the difficulty — the duplex they were sharing with the Serenelli Fam- Lord does call each of us to it, which means that ily. he will always supply the means to live up to that About this time, Alessandro Serenelli, 20 and summons. He called us to forgive 70 times seven strong, began to lust after his 11-year-old next- times. When he taught us the Our Father, he told door-neighbor. He would conveniently try to visit us that God would forgive our sins provided that her while her mother and older siblings were out we forgave others theirs. He gave a parable saying working. He pressured her to join him in one the that all the sins others commit against us are like bedrooms, but she repeatedly refused. When she “one hundred days’ wages” compared to the sins said that she was going to tell her mother about we’ve committed against God, which are simihis advances, he showed her a 10-inch dagger and lar to “ten thousand talents,” or 10 million day’s threatened to kill her, a warning she took seriously wages. If God has forgiven us that sum for what enough to remain reticent. we’ve done against him, then we are called to forAlessandro give others what noticed that his they’ve done threats of physiagainst us. cal violence had Maria Goreworked to keep tti lived these her quiet about lessons. She had his sexual harassa Christian heart ment, so he decidthat loved even By Father ed to up-the-ante. her enemies and Roger J. Landry On July 5, Alesprayed for her sandro entered persecutors rathher house, showed er than held bitter her the dagger, and threatened to kill her unless grudges to the grave. she slept with him. She refused to submit, insistForgiveness does not mean that we pretend ing that that would be a mortal sin for which they that what others did was not evil or that we comcould go to hell. He pulled her into an adjoining mute the requirements of justice for the evil others bedroom and started to rip off her dress. When she have done to us; in forgiving Alessandro, Maria began to scream, “No! It is a sin! God does not Goretti did not ask that he not go to jail for his want it!,” Alessandro began to choke her. As she crimes. insisted that she would rather die than submit to Likewise, forgiveness does not mean forgetting him, he began to strike at her with the dagger, stab- the evil done. Jesus never said, “Forgive and forbing her 11 times. Though severely injured, Maria get,” because it is impossible for us to forget some still tried to escape, but Alessandro stopped her at types of evil done to us or to family members. the door by stabbing her three more times before Forgiveness means changing the significance of running away. Eventually the cries of little Teresa past wickedness in the present, converting it from drew the attention both of Alessandro’s father and something evil and painful in order to draw good Maria’s mother, who discovered Maria in a pool out from that evil, through prayer or other means. of blood. She was rushed to the hospital, where Forgiveness allows us to transform the “manure” the doctors tried to say her life, but their efforts of past wickedness we’ve suffered into “fertilizer” were futile. The wounds had pierced her lungs, for our Christian growth and the good of others. heart and diaphragm. Surgeons were amazed she The greater the amount of evil suffered, the great was still alive. the amount of possible fertilizer. Maria awakened during the surgery, which It was Maria’s forgiveness that taught her was carried out without anesthesia. In the midst of mother how to pardon Alessandro for murdering tremendous pain, she told everyone what had hap- her daughter and to express that forgiveness by pened and how she had long feared Alessandro, mutually approaching the altar. who on two previous occasions had tried to rape It was Maria’s forgiveness — not so much his her. When those present asked her to pray for them just civil punishments — that eventually paved the in paradise, she realized that she was about to die. way for Alessandro’s conversion, for his recognizIn the presence of the doctors and her family, she ing and repenting for the evil he had committed, expressed her forgiveness for her murderer and and for his begging forgiveness from God, from said that she would pray for him one day to join Maria, from her family and society. This request her in heaven. She died the following day, looking for forgiveness, this type of conversion of life, this at an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. willingness to accept one’s punishment for past Alessandro was sentenced to 30 years in pris- evil, is what most victims hope for most deeply on. For approximately six years, he was hardened from those who wronged them, and it is what perand unrepentant, physically attacking priests who petrators most owe their victims. had come to visit. Then one night, he had a dream The most effective means, however, to in which Maria appeared gathering lilies and of- achieve this repentance and reparation, often fering them to him. When they were placed in will not come from the earthly standards of civil his hands, they burned and melted. The dream justice, but through the profound beauty of the had an enormous impact on him, convincing him Christian standard of heroic forgiveness. It conthat Maria was in fact praying for his conversion, verted the centurion at the cross. It converted that he, too, one day come to the resurrection. He Saul at Stephen’s stoning. It converted Alesturned his life around and began to pray each day sandro. to Maria, referring to her as “my little saint.” He Let us pray, through the intercession of St. became so exemplary a prisoner that he was re- Maria Goretti, that such examples of forgiveness leased from prison three years early. on the part of those who have suffered abuse at His first action upon being released was to visit the hands of Church ministers will convert their Maria’s mother to beg for her forgiveness. Assunta abusers and so many others in the Church and in Goretti said that if Maria had forgiven him on her society. deathbed, then she could do not less. The next day Father Landry is pastor of St. Anthony of they attended Mass together, receiving holy Com- Padua Parish in New Bedford.
Putting Into the Deep
July 16, 2010
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ohn Henry Newman didn’t consider himself a theologian. Though earning a “Doctorate of Divinity” in Rome, as a convert from Anglicanism he had received none of the “scholastic” training Catholic theologians received in his day. That he didn’t view himself as a theologian is pretty ironic when one considers Newman’s influence on theology since the last century. Newman’s contemporary Cardinal J.J. Döllinger called Newman’s “Lectures on Justification” “a gem,” and “the greatest masterpiece of theology that England had produced in a hundred years.” For historian Henry Chadwick this work is a major monument of the ecumenical movement. Sheridan Gilley considers Newman “the greatest of English theologians. He is, after [John] Bunyan … the most profound and passionate of our religious pilgrims.” The great historian of Christian thought Jaroslav Pelikán (himself not a Catholic) called Newman “the most influential English-speaking theologian who ever lived,” and “in many respects the fountainhead of the Second Vatican Council.” Hans Urs von Balthasar called Newman the most vital Chris-
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The Anchor
John Henry Newman: ‘Doctor of divinity’
tian thinker of modernity. tions be found? As a friend of The list of those influmine once said, “I can’t say enced by Newman’s thought it all, so I’m not even gonna reads like a “Who’s Who” of try.” Still, we can start with the Catholic intellectual life in theology of “justification.” the 20th century: St. Edith’s In being made “righteous” Stein’s mentor Erich Przywara, before God, Newman writes Cardinal Henri de Lubac, how “justification is wholly the Yves Congar, Louis Bouyer, work of God; it comes from Bernard Lonergan, Jan Walgrave, Karl Rahner, Aidan Nichols, Stanley The Enduring Jaki, Alasdair MacInImportance of tyre, Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, Pope Cardinal Newman Benedict XVI. And this Dr. Peter J. Mango is just the “short” list. Yet it would be a mistake to think it was only Catholics who’ve been God to us; it is a power exinfluenced by Newman. A hiserted on our souls by Him. … torian of science, evangelical The Almighty Father, looking Dr. Mark Kalthoff writes, “Too on us, sees not us, but … His few Protestant Christians today dearly beloved Son spiritually know the life and mind of John manifested in us. … Though Henry Newman. But this is no the Gift which justifies us is … reason for Protestant Christians something distinct from us and to dismiss Newman and to lodged in us, yet it … takes up close the door of contemporary into itself that renovation of debates to his ideas.” Evangeli- the soul, those holy deeds and cal scholar Alistair McGrath, sufferings, which are as if a and current Anglican Archradiance streaming from it.” bishop of Canterbury Rowan The Church always taught Williams, also have acknowlthe justification of Christians, edged Newman’s influence on at baptism, is God’s free actheir thought. tion. The same is true of the Where might a good slice of gift of “final perseverance” Newman’s theological reflec(or of “final repentance.”) One
It was over before it started
here’s not much I like better winter. My mind says, “Go for it,” and than a little competition ... my body responds, “Can’t find it.” make that a lot of competition. Recently, I’ve found competiEver since I was a lad, I’ve tive events more suited to my age always enjoyed “the thrill of the chase,” so to speak. Whether it was and body disintegration. Now my thrill of the chase is on the golf a Little League baseball game, course playing for the tempting a pick-up game of hoops, the and delicious Coffee Coolata. I strategy of Risk, or a lively card game of pitch, I loved to win, and got rankled when I didn’t. But win or lose, the important thing was that the competition was close. The more in doubt the By Dave Jolivet outcome, the more fun it was, and still is. Granted, the occasions win some, I lose some, but by and when I now play baseball or picklarge, the games are competitive. up basketball are rare — nonexisThere was a time fairly recently tent would be more accurate — but when my opponent sucked all the there are other ways to keep my fun out of the challenge before it competitive juices flowing. There’s the time when I strained even started. I don’t want to mention his my back in a sword-fighting name, so I’ll just call him Paul competition on Wii. I’ve also Berube. We headed to the first tee aggravated already sore knees by continuously riding the halfpipe on on a beautiful, dry summer day for an 18-hole contest. the Wii version of “Shaun White I hate the first hole. Always Snowboarding.” That’s what I get from watching the red-headed phe- have and always will. There are two reasons: 1) I haven’t swung a nom, (aka “The Flying Tomato,” club in at least two weeks; and 2) or “Red Zeppelin,” or his favorite, “The Animal”) win gold by nailing there are people watching. On this day, my first tee-shot traveled an his incredible “Double McTwist amazing 20 yards on a 200-yard 1260” at the Winter Olympic hole. Great start. Games in Vancouver this past
My View From the Stands
Up steps Paul. He lets go with a high, straight drive that hits the front of the green and releases another 15 yards. Pleased as he should be, he reached down to pick up his tee as I disgustingly kept track of the ball — as it dropped into the cup for an ace. I told my adversary he just nailed a hole-in-one and all the way up the fairway he kept doubting my report, thinking the ball rolled off the green. When we reached the green, he spied his ball in the cup. Deep inside I was thrilled for him, but never let it show, again, for several reasons: 1) he didn’t believe me and said so at least a half-dozen times; 2) it took me six shots to finish the hole; and 3) I was down by five strokes after the first hole. I never regained my composure to make a game of the next 17 holes, and had to break into my wallet at the nearest Dunkin’ Donuts on the way home. Paul and I plan on playing while I’m on vacation next week, and I hope the only ace I see is an Ace bandage on my opponent’s wrist or ankle. I’ll have to let him borrow my “Shaun White Snowboarding” game beforehand. Just don’t tell him why.
doesn’t “earn” such things. Newman’s willingness to speak of justification as “wholly the work of God” was not the way most Catholic theologians might have expressed themselves. Yet Newman also criticized those who “think individuals are justified immediately by the great Atonement — justified by Christ’s death, and not, as St. Paul says, by means of His Resurrection” as well. He criticized that brand of “born again” theology which says it’s enough to trust Christ died for me, rather than to fully share his risen life — a life requiring I imitate Christ by “dying” to myself too. Newman understood Scripture and the Church Fathers too well to believe we’re born again by making an act of trust in Christ’s Atonement alone. “This,” he wrote, “is what they call casting themselves upon Christ — coming before Him simply and without self-trust, and being saved by faith. Surely we ought so to come to Christ … we must believe … we must look; but the question is, in what form and manner He gives Himself to us; and it will be found that, when He enters into us, glorious as He is Himself, pain and selfdenial are His attendants.”
Newman continues, “It is in this way that justification actually does involve … a crucifixion of the flesh, or sanctification. The entrance of Christ’s sacred presence into the soul, which becomes our righteousness in God’s sight … makes us travail and be in pangs with righteousness, and work with fear and trembling…. It is the fashion of the day to sever these two from one another, which God has joined … justification and renewal. You hear men speak of glorying in the Cross of Christ, who are utter strangers to the notion of the Cross as actually applied to them … in holiness and mortification.” God in Christ justifies us. Yet this process is incomplete without bearing in our bodies “the dying of Jesus,” so “that the life also of Jesus may be manifested” (2 Corinthians 4:10). Newman may be ecumenical, but he is also clear. No pain, no gain. No cross, no crown. Dr. Mango, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on Cardinal Newman, teaches philosophy at the Thornwood Center for Higher Studies as well as at the Archdiocese of New York’s St. John Neumann Pre-Theology Program and Institute for Religious Studies. This is the seventh in a 10part series.
Revised and updated ...
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braham gives us a wonderful example of the ancient virtue of hospitality in today’s first reading from the book of Genesis. At first, he offers the three strangers a little food, after bathing their feet, so they can then rest before going on their way. A “little food” turns into a tender choice steer, some homemade rolls made by his wife, Sarah, and some curds and milk served up not by a servant but by none other than Abraham himself. If we were to read on in Genesis, we would see the stranger, who prophesized that the elderly Sarah would have a son within the next year, was God himself. Martha is merely following the honorable Jewish tradition of hospitality in preparing and serving food to her guest, Jesus. However, the behavior of her sister, Mary, and the words of Jesus challenge Martha to consider her priorities. It is not a question of whether Mary is right and Martha is wrong, but a question of which activity is more important. Listening to
July 16, 2010
The Anchor
The 100 year test God’s word prevails over food end. Since we profess all of preparation. Put another way, these amazing things, wouldn’t the Lord of the work always it be wise to spend some time comes before the work of the during the week with Jesus, Lord. The Gospels tell us rewith whom we want to spend peatedly that one thing only is all of eternity? That is, time in required for salvation: a true, living faith in Jesus Christ. Homily of the Week We might ask ourSixteenth Sunday selves: Do we provide in Ordinary Time hospitality to God, welcoming him into By Deacon our lives, listening to Robert L. Surprenant him, and following his way? Certainly we do prayer, time reading the Bible. so when we gather at Mass as What sometimes holds us the body of Christ. But do we back from spending time with respond to what we hear in the God is our schedule. We are Sunday Gospel during the rest so busy. Recently I watched a of the week? Do we respond well known TV host who had during the week to what we invited a “life organizer coach” profess in the creed: that we to help a family of four, a fambelieve in one God, Father, Son ily that was in danger of falling and Holy Spirit; that the one apart. The first thing the coach Son born of the Virgin Mary did was to have the family by the power of the Holy Spirit eliminate the physical clutter in suffered, was crucified, and the home, whether it was toys, died for us, before rising again tools or clothing. That gave the on the third day; and that he, home at least the appearance Jesus, will come in glory to of being peaceful. Next, he got judge the living and the dead the family to agree to drastiand his kingdom will have no
cally limit use of the Internet, emails, telephone, texting and TV. All those activities were taking an enormous portion of their time. He even had the radical idea that this family of four should eat together at least three times a week. The net result was that the family began speaking to each other regularly. Mom and dad were going out alone to a restaurant at least once a week; and the family was spending at least one day a month together in some type of activity. I think you know where I am going with this. Yes, we are all busy, we are all doing many things. Are they really that important? Do we need to do them all? Like Martha in today’s Gospel, we need to prioritize, to set goals. One way to do that is to use the “100 year test.” When you have to choose between two or more conflicting activities, ask yourself what difference will it make in 100 years if you do one or the other. You need to do
that in the context of your life goals. In our business office, we like to write down our long term goals and then list the steps we will need to take to achieve those goals. Your goal, and mine, is to attain eternal life with Jesus Christ in heaven. We know that the way to achieve that goal is to follow Jesus. We are each called to do that in different ways. No matter what our specific calling, we are all nurtured by prayer, Scripture and the sacraments. If you should struggle this week in finding enough time to pray, read the Bible, or get to Mass, just use the “100 year test.” That is, ask yourself which activity will advance you toward your ultimate goal. Will it be Scripture, or television? True humility allows us to recognize that everything is a gift. Today we pray for the grace, the gift, to prioritize our life goals, and particularly the steps we need to take to achieve them. Heaven depends on it. Deacon Surprenant serves at St. John Neumann Parish in East Freetown.
Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. July 17, Mi 2:1-5; Ps 10:1-4,7-8,14; Mt 12:14-21. Sun. July 18, Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Gn 18:1-10a; Ps 15:2-5; Col 1:24-28; Lk 10:38-42. Mon. July 19, Mi 6:1-4,6-8; Ps 50:5-6,8-9,16bc-17,21,23; Mt 12:38-42. Tues. July 20, Mi 7:14-15,18-20; Ps 85:2-8; Mt 12:46-50. Wed. July 21, Jer 1:1,4-10; Ps 71:1-4a,5-6b,15,17; Mt 13:1-9. Thur. July 22, Jer 2:1-3,7-8,12-13; Ps 36:6-7b,8-11; Jn 20:1-2,11-18. Fri. July 23, Jer 3:14-17; (Ps) Jer 31:10-12d,13; Mt 13:18-23. Sat. July 24, Jer 7:1-11; Ps 84:3-6a,8a,11; Mt 13:24-30. Sun. July 25, Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Gn 18:20-32; Ps 138:1-3,6-8; Col 2:12-14; Lk 11:1-13. Mon. July 26, Jer 13:1-11; (Ps) Dn 32:18-21; Mt 13:31-35. Tues. July 27, Jer 14:17-22; Ps 79:8-9,11,13; Mt 13:36-43. Wed. July 28, Jer 15:10,16-21; Ps 59:2-4,10-11,17-18; Mt 13:44-46. Thur. July 29, Jer 18:1-6; Ps 146:1b-6b; Jn 11:19-27 or Lk 10:38-42. Fri. July 30, Jer 26:1-9; Ps 69:5,8-10,14; Mt 13:54-58. Sat. July 31, Jer 26:11-16,24; Ps 69:15-16,30-31,33-34; Mt 14:1-12. Sun. Aug. 1, Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Eccl 1:2,2:21-23; Ps 90:3-6,12-14,17; Col 3:1-5,9-11; Lk 12:13-21. Mon. Aug 2, Jer 28:1-17; Ps 119:29,43,7980,95,102; Mt 14:13-21. Tues. Aug. 3, Jer 30:1-2,12-15,18-22; Ps 102:16-23,29; Mt 14:22-36 or Mt 15:1-2,10-14. Wed. Aug. 4, Jer 31:1-7; (Ps) Jer 31:10-13; Mt 15:21-28. Thur. Aug. 5, Jer 31:31-34; Ps 51:12-15,18-19; Mt 16:13-23. Fri. Aug. 6, The Transfiguration of the Lord, Dn 7:9-10,13-14; Ps 97:1-2,5-6,9; 2 Pt 1:16-19; Lk 9:28b-36.
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lot has changed over the 20 years I’ve been coming to the beautiful city of Cracow. The grayness and disrepair that were by-products of communism have been replaced by architectural and decorative splendor in one of the world’s great urban spaces — the Cracow Old Town. There were two possible restaurants in the entire city when I first visited Cracow in 1991; there are now dozens within the Old Town alone. People walk with their heads up rather than shuffling along, looking down, trying not to be noticed by the secret police ferrets who were everywhere in the bad old days. Plastic shoes — a staple of communist-era footwear — are nowhere in sight. Yet some things haven’t changed. On any given Sunday, Cracow remains an intensely Catholic city in which going to church is the chief civic activity. The Sunday evening students’ Mass at the Dominican basilica is still standing-room-only. Pilgrim-
Surrounded by martyrs
ages regularly leave from Cra- beatified in Warsaw on June cow for the Holy Land shrine 6 before a vast throng that inat Kalwaria Zebrzydowska or cluded his 90-year-old mother. the shrine of the Black MaPerhaps it’s understandable donna at Czestochowa. that Americans would be a bit There’s one disturbing vague on the details of Blessed change of which I became Jerzy’s story: his chaplaincy aware last summer, however: some bright and engaged Catholic young adults simply don’t know the heroic narrative of the Polish Church’s resistance to By George Weigel both Nazism and communism, the Church’s role in the communist crack-up, and the price to Solidarity workers and Catholics paid for standing his monthly “Masses for the fast against the swastika’s Fatherland” after the comcrooked cross and the Marxmunist government tried to ists’ hammer-and-sickle. This crush Solidarity under martial unhappy fact was driven home law; the threats to his life, to my colleagues and me last which finally resulted in his summer when one of the Polbeing beaten to death by the ish students in our seminar on secret police; the dredging up Catholic social thought asked, of his battered corpse from a “Who is this ‘Father Popieriverbed, and the creation of luszko’ the professors have what Solidarity people called mentioned?” a “little piece of free Poland” “This Father Popieluszko” around his grave in the churchwas, of course, the martyryard of his Warsaw parish. But priest of Solidarity, who was for a 25-year-old Pole not to
The Catholic Difference
know who Jerzy Popieluszko was, and what his life meant, suggests that a history of great importance for Poland’s future — and the Church’s future — is being lost. So in our teaching here this summer, my colleagues and I are making a special effort to remind our central and eastern European students that the freedoms they enjoy today are the fruit of the sacrifice of martyrs. Martyrs like Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, who in many ways was the voice of John Paul II in Poland when the Pope couldn’t be there himself. Martyrs like Blessed Michael Czartoryski, a Dominican friar from a noble Polish family who nursed the wounded during the August 1944 Warsaw Uprising and who was shot by German troops, along with those for whom he was caring, in September of that year. Martyrs like Blessed Julia Rodzinska, a Dominican nun who took care of typhus victims, often
Jewish, in the concentration camp at Stutthof, and who died of that dread disease a few months before the Third Reich collapsed. In his last book, “Memory and Identity,” John Paul II wrote of the importance of memory for a country’s sense of its proper trajectory into the future, and suggested that countries that cut themselves off from what is noble in their cultural and historical roots deprive themselves of a rich source of nourishment. The same is true for the Church, whose indebtedness to its “story” is made evident by its daily reading of the Scriptures in the Mass and in the Liturgy of the Hours. The Church’s living and formative memory today must encompass the fact that the 20th century was the greatest century of martyrdom in Christian history. That is why the stories of martyrs must be told, and learned, and reverenced. George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
July 16, 2010
9
The Anchor
Leave a message at the beep Monday 12 July 2010 — Birth civilized world would one day anniversary of futurist Buckmincarry a pocket telephone. How ster Fuller ( 1895-1983) ridiculous, I thought. Whoever ’m sitting here contemplatwould want to do that? The cord ing, of all things, the effecwould never be long enough. tive use of the telephone as a tool Kids these days don’t use of ministry. A family story comes to mind. One day, my great-grandfather was out working on his farm. Reflections of a He was approached by a Parish Priest salesman selling shares in some new-fangled invenBy Father Tim tion. My great-grandfaGoldrick ther, not about to be duped by this shyster, knew the invention would never amount to cell phones to talk. They use cell anything. He finally chased the phones to send text messages. The persistent salesman away with a reason for the popularity of text hoe. Turns out, the guy was sellmessaging is that it saves time. ing 25-cent shares in a start-up Nobody answers their telephone company called American Telepersonally nowadays, so you end phone and Telegraph (AT&T). up leaving messages at the beep. Alas, for a hundred dollars back This begins a game of “telephone then, I would be a rich man today. tag.” Why not just send a text In the 1970s, I was watching message and be done with it? a TV program in which a futurI’m old-fashioned. I’ve never ist predicted that everyone in the sent a text message, but I’ve left
I
The Ship’s Log
countless voice messages. The return call can take days or even weeks. Sometimes there is no return call. My great-grandfather was right. Telephonic communication (as Msgr. Tom Harrington calls it) can be a big waste of time. I’ve found that, when I finally do make telephonic contact, the first five minutes are spent listening to reasons why my phone call wasn’t returned. Strangely, I never asked. The script runs something like this. “I’m sorry I never returned your call but I’ve just been so busy lately you won’t believe it.” Then follows a list of activities intended to prove that the person is far busier than I am. I don’t remember how long ago this routine began, but it’s now standard operating procedure. In the old days, once your party line was free, you simply called someone up and talked. People
Needed: Ambassadors of motherhood
A
“The experience of birth itself, s we wring our hands especially for first-time mothers, over the state of family is generally nasty, brutish and life in America, we would do well to look at England — which long. To pretend that with the right ‘informed choices,’ you can precedes us in the death spiral — turn it into something beautiful to see if we cannot make some seems to me almost unscrupuessential adjustments before it’s lous: like telling a cancer sufferer too late. that they can beat the disease Any given week, there if only they cultivate the right are myriad articles in secular attitude.” publications that serve warning True, childbirth is no picnic, that there are swaths of women but that’s an abominable comparalready within our post-Christian ison. I think anyone with cancer culture who have lost all understanding of the feminine call to nurture. In particular, they approach the most natural of events — the birth of an infant — with the most unnatural trepidation, and twist and turn over each sordid By Genevieve Kineke detail as if they were contrived to entrap the unsuspecting in insidious would love to trade their sufferbonds of perverse suffering. ing for a condition that will end Certainly, this hasn’t hapon a certain date with a healthy pened overnight. Decades of baby as a take-home prize. indoctrination about the joys of If a woman in England does contraceptive devices have built courageously opt for a baby, up enough angst over fertility it seems that the government to cripple two generations of will still try to facilitate her women, while the men who are transition into motherhood, as invited into sterile encounters the appointed agency will next have likewise lost touch with “introduce her to a ready-made fatherhood and its concomicircle of local mothers, some of tant responsibilities. This often whom she may genuinely come leaves the woman alone in her to like, and whose company will thoughts — as well as alone in ease the loneliness and bewildermyriad other ways — wondering ment that come from swapping if there’s ever a safe time to take the brisk pace of office life for the plunge into childbirth. the long, empty-but-full days of One British woman looks at baby-rearing.” the government agency that has How awkward — both the been established there to help decision to have children, and with the anxieties about labor then the faltering steps at each and finds that it fails to deliver.
The Feminine Genius
junction to know what to do. Have we really lost touch with the skills needed to raise the next generation? Must we really weigh each decision to have a child against boredom, career paths and potentially crippling isolation? Behind all the glossy images of pampered babies and sleek paraphernalia, there seem to be deeply conflicted choices about the requisite trade-offs, and the jarring ambivalence of the wider community tips the scales against the most natural process of all — women receiving into their arms their own expected offspring. This is where women of all ages can become ambassadors for motherhood. How simple it is to reach out to pregnant women, to smile and affirm their generosity. Can you include in your busy schedule an invitation to coffee, a moment to share the joys of this entirely natural gift of self and a gentle reminder that the inevitable pain attached provides us with a powerful prayer on behalf of all? As Christians we know that suffering is the bittersweet backdrop to authentic love and the surest path to the God who suffered for our spiritual birth. Rest assured, no government agency can begin to share that deeply personal message. Mrs. Kineke is the author of “The Authentic Catholic” Woman (Servant Books) and associate editor of woman. catholicexchange.com.
had more time for each other. Now everyone seems on the verge of emotional collapse brought on by manic activity. Is busyness the new measure of a meaningful life? In a eulogy, do the comments center on how busily the dearly departed lived and how he or she never had any time for anyone? I don’t think so. Now-retired Archbishop Daniel A. Cronin, during his episcopal ministry here, had a rule, they say. Nobody in the Chancery Office could go home for the day until all telephone calls received that day had been returned. It now seems such a quaint procedure for any office staff. I’ve observed people with an effective “telephone ministry.” I know the telephone can be used to communicate the Church’s joy, concern, compassion and understanding. As a deacon, my boss was Msgr. Dan Shaloo. After supper, he would spend hours on the phone, checking to see how parishioners about whom he was concerned were faring. Another telephone minister with whom I’ve worked was Father Tom O’Dea. He was constantly on the phone, reaching out to others. Tom didn’t own a car, but it seems to me he really didn’t need one. He was well respected in New Bedford for his compassionate outreach to those in need. Often telephone contact is only the beginning of service to the needy.
The newest staff member here, Dominican Sister Mauricia, is proving to be gifted in telephonic ministry. When word is received of the birth of a baby, Sister is on the phone congratulating the parents. When the message arrives of a death of a parishioner, Sister immediately calls the family to offer condolences and a listening ear. This telephone contact frequently results in a home visit. In the case of a newborn, it can lead to a pre-baptismal session for parents. In the case of death, her personal contact can lead to grief counseling and to liturgical planning for the funeral Mass. How wonderful it is that Sister not only meets with the survivors but also prepares and prints an Order of Worship. She then stands at the door on the day of the funeral, greeting arriving worshippers and distributing the Order of Worship. Sister is also in the process of visiting all parish households. She has created a team of home visitors. They go out two-by-two. Sister telephones ahead to make sure the family is able to welcome Church visitors at a particular time. The telephone can be used to reach out or, conversely, to be reached out to. “Leave your message at the beep” just doesn’t cut it, especially if the call is never returned. Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Nicholas of Myra Parish in North Dighton.
10
The Anchor By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff
July 16, 2010
Cape Cod woman puts her faith into action
HYANNIS — While prayer and the sacraments are an important part of Marilyn Lariviere’s spiritual life, she also devotes much of her time to helping others. “You need the sacraments to feed yourself, but they should inspire you to do something else,” Lariviere said. “I get energized by being with people — particularly young people — and I enjoy helping other people discover their gifts.” For nearly 40 years now, Lariviere has put her faith into action as a vibrant and vital member of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Hyannis, where she’s done everything from serving as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion to running retreats for the parish confirmation students. She also divides her time between her home parish and St. John the Evangelist in Pocasset, where she is the parish youth minister. With everything she’s involved in — including positions with the interfaith Cape Cod Council of Churches and Church Women United — it’s a wonder Lariviere can find time to spend with her husband, Ed, and their four children, 10 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. “I just can’t imagine not being involved,” she said. “The thing is I think Jesus was radical for his time — he wasn’t just hanging around in the temple, he was out among the people. That’s what we’re called to do: to be with the people who need us.” What’s more amazing about her commitment to the faith is that Lariviere wasn’t even brought up Catholic — she converted a few
years after marrying her husband. “I actually approached the priest right after we were married and said I wanted to convert, but he wisely told me I should wait and do it for myself and not for my husband,” she said. “Ten years later it just seemed like the appropriate time.” Since joining St. Francis Xavier Parish in 1971, there’s been no looking back for Lariviere. Over the years she’s been active with the Cursillo and ECHO retreat programs on Cape Cod; she directed the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults at her home parish for 17 years; and she’s been involved with countless youth ministry programs. Thankfully, her husband Ed is Anchor person of usually right there Lariviere. alongside her. “He’s pretty much involved in everything with me,” she said. Although she’s dabbled in just about every parish ministry, Lariviere admitted she’s
mostly drawn to youth-oriented programs. “I’ve always been interested in working with young people and I actually went back to school as an adult learner and got a degree in Religious Education,” she said. “My first job, actually, was at the North Falmouth Congregational Church. I went there to practice interviewing and they hired me. I was there for six years.” In 1996 Father Robert C. Donovan, then-pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Pocasset, approached her about starting a youth ministry program and she’s been there ever since. “Marilyn is a very gracious lady who looks for all sorts of ministries the week — Marilyn to do,” the now-retired Father Donovan said. “She’s involved in youth ministry, she’s involved with various adult ministries such as Cursillo and she’s a devoted and faithful Catholic.” Of the many programs she’s helped to initiate, Lariviere said one of the more fulfilling and interesting would have to be Youth Street Reach, where teen-agers spend time with and serving the poor and homeless in their community. “That was started through Church Women United,” she said. “City Reach in Boston is a program where teen-agers come and sleep overnight in church, meet the homeless, and provide them with breakfast. We wanted to do something similar on the Cape. It was a huge undertaking but our kids said they really wanted to do it. “We have six programs a year — three where the kids sleep overnight — and then we prepare breakfast to feed the homeless. These are kids from churches all over Cape Cod. It’s really quite an eclectic group. We have a cookout planned for this Sunday during which we’ll be picking up people from local shelters and bringing them to the beach.” Another key program that Lariviere helped jump-start was Residents Encounter
Christ — a prison ministry effort at the Barnstable County Jail. “I’ve been involved with that for quite a few years,” she said. “It involves people going into the prison to put on a retreat for inmates. I’ve directed a few and been on team for a few. The thing about prison ministry is you don’t have to have any talent — you just need to show up. That is the most important thing. People are so impressed that you take time to go there. It’s just good to show them there’s a God who loves them and they can turn their lives around if they want to.” She also helped start a book club for female inmates at the prison. “There seemed to be a lot of programs for male inmates, but not as many for women,” she said. “I suggested a book club and that’s been going on for a couple of years now. We go in on Thursday mornings at 11. They are given a book to read and we discuss it. For many of these women, they’ve never completed anything — so for them to participate is a great thing.” Since Lariviere and her daughter are cancer survivors, she’s also been involved with the annual Relay for Life at DennisYarmouth Regional High School for the past 13 years. “We actually had our youth ministry from the parish with us,” she said of the recent event. “The kids actually run it now.” Not even the summer season provides a respite for Lariviere — she’s now in the midst of running one of her Vacation Bible School sessions and will begin another next month. “The kids do crafts and music and have Bible study,” she said. “It’s a fun summer camp with a Christian twist to it. Last year at St. John’s I think we had about 50 kids participating.” Never content to be just another parishioner who attends Mass every week, Lariviere stressed how important it is to remain active in her parish. “I think if people don’t get involved, they’re missing so much,” she said. “So often people don’t think they have anything to offer and I encourage them to do whatever they want. And don’t be afraid to fail. People are always afraid something isn’t going to work, so they don’t try. I’m not afraid to try anything.” While some might say these activities have helped to enrich Lariviere’s faith, she seems to view it the other way around. “I think my spirituality is based on everything I do and the people I come in contact with,” she said. To nominate a person, send an email to: FatherRogerLandry@anchornews.org.
11
The Anchor
July 16, 2010
Archbishop Kurtz criticizes rulings against Defense of Marriage Act B y C atholic N ews S ervice WASHINGTON — The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage July 12 criticized a federal judge’s
ruling in two Massachusetts cases that a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. “To claim that defining marriage as the union of one
man and one woman is somehow irrational, prejudiced or even bigoted is a great disservice not only to truth but the good of the nation,” Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louis-
ville, Ky., said in a statement July 12. “Marriage exists prior to the state and is not open to redefinition by the state,” he explained. “The role of the state, instead, is to respect and reinforce marriage.” The archbishop’s comments came four days after U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional because it prevents the state from exercising its right to define marriage. In the rulings, which only affect the law as it applies to Massachusetts, Tauro said the federal ban
also violates the Equal Protection Clause; the plaintiffs had argued the U.S. law discriminates against spouses. Archbishop Kurtz argued that Tauro’s July 8 decision “uses the power of the state to attack the perennial definition of marriage, reducing it merely to the union of any two consenting adults.” “Only a man and a woman are capable of entering into the unique, life-giving bond of marriage, with all of its specific responsibilities. Protecting marriage as only the union of one man and one woman is not merely a legitimate, but a vital government interest,” the committee chairman said. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of General Counsel described Tauro’s rulings as “mistaken” because of the unique meaning of marriage and said “nothing in the Constitution forbids Congress from defining marriage — as that term is used in federal statutes, regulations and rulings — as the union of one man and one woman.” The fabric of U.S. society depends on the definition of marriage as remaining unchanged, Archbishop Kurtz said. “Nothing compares to the exclusive and permanent union of husband and wife,” he added. “The state has a duty to employ the civil law to reinforce — and, indeed, to privilege uniquely — this vital institution of society. The reasons to support marriage by law are countless, not least to protect the unique place of husbands and wives, the indispensable role of fathers and mothers and the rights of children, who are often the most vulnerable among us,” he said.
12
The Anchor
July 16, 2010
Newly-revised, updated Catholic Directory in the works FALL RIVER — A new and updated 2010-2011 Catholic Directory for the Diocese of Fall River has been completed and will be released next month. This annual information resource, published by The Anchor, is the go-to reference guide for all parishes, offices and apostolates within the Fall River Diocese. “Every year the directory just seems to get bigger and better,” said Kenneth J. Souza, staff reporter for The Anchor and coordinator of the directory for the past three years. “We keep trying to pack in as much pertinent information as we can while making it a userfriendly resource for everyone.” As in past years, the directory will provide updated telephone and address listings of all diocesan offices, personnel, archives, priests’ residences, councils and apostolates ranging from the AIDS Ministry to Catholic Social Services and its many offices, Campus Ministry, summer camps, Catholic Charities Appeal, the Development Office, Chancery, Cursillo, Family Ministry, Insurance, Legal, Communications, Scouting, Shelters, Vocations, and Youth and Adult Ministry, along with a necrology of diocesan priests and deacons.
Continuing the trend begun with last year’s edition, most of these can be found using handy pull-out “tabs” for quick reference. “We’ve added a new tab for deacons this year — so we now have nine separate tabbed sections,” Souza said. Two of the more popular sections added last year — a photo gallery of all priests and deacons in the diocese and a listing of parish statistics — are back as well. “We hope the directory will provide readers with not only a quick snapshot of their own parish, but a better understanding of the entire diocese,” Souza said. “The inclusion of parish statistics can help people discern trends in certain areas of the diocese.” The colorful cover of the 20102011 directory features a striking stained-glass image of Jesus at the wedding at Cana taken from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in New Bedford. Remarkably, this year’s directory squeezes everything into 164 pages, plus nine tab index pages. “Even though we try to finetune it and weed out any obsolete information, the directory still seems to expand every year,” Souza said.
One of the reasons for expansion this year is a noticeable increase in the number of advertisers interested in supporting the directory venture. “Actually we have 15 more advertisers in this year’s directory, which is a 23 percent increase,” said Wayne R. Powers, advertising director for The Anchor and the directory. “I think people know it’s one of the best ways to make their products and services known throughout the diocese.” While Souza thinks the latest directory is the best produced to date, he’s already planning to implement some improvements next year. “I’m hoping to streamline the specific information for each parish so it will be more uniform,” he said. “Some parishes list every key staff member while others only provide bare-bones information. We’re looking at ways to fix that.” Last year’s expanded and improved edition of the directory was so popular, it became an unprecedented sell-out, forcing an increase in the print run of this year’s follow-up. Still, Souza encouraged everyone to place their orders early to ensure they don’t miss out on this year’s edition. “We’ve upped the print run by 50 percent this year, but orders have already been coming in since June, so I wouldn’t wait until the last minute to buy a copy,” he said. To order a copy of the Directory, complete the form on page seven of this edition and return in with a check for $18 made payable to “Anchor Publishing,” to Anchor Publishing Co., P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA 02722; or place your order at The Anchor website at www.anchornews.org, or call 508-675-7151.
Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, July 18 at 11:00 a.m. Celebrant is Father Kevin J. Harrington, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in New Bedford.
Sunday, July 25 at 11:00 a.m. Celebrant is Father Edward A. Murphy, chaplain at Morton Hospital in Taunton and in residence at St Jude the Apostle Parish in Taunton.
Sunday, August 1 at 11:00 a.m. Celebrant is Father Andrew Johnson, OCSO, chaplain at Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River and in residence at St. Michael’s Parish in Fall River.
This week in 50 years ago — Mercy Sister Mary Noel, a member of the faculty of Nazareth Hall in Fall River was appointed Superior of Nazareth on Cape Cod in Hyannis. The second diocesan school for exceptional children would open in September 1960 with accommodations for 32 children.
Diocesan history
10 years ago — Thirteen faithful from the Diocese of Fall River attended “Encuentro 2000,” a four-day cultural exchange for Catholics held in Los Angeles. The event entitled, “Many Faces in God’s House,” gathered more than 5,000 Catholics from 150 dioceses. The event centered on reconciliation, peace and unity among the diverse peoples 25 years ago — Holy Union Sister Bar- who make up the Church in the Americas. bara Walsh, a former principal at Holy Name School in Fall River, who became an outreach One year ago — Diocesan youth prepared worker in Appalachia, began a two-week sum- for the first of two Steubenville East Youth Conmer program to help the people there, invit- ferences that would be held at the University of ing five diocesan young adults to assist. They Rhode Island in Kingston, R.I. The conferencwere Tommy Gorman, Jim Perry, Maureen es were open to youth from freshmen in high Ross, Jack Barbour, and David Laine. school through freshmen in college.
13
The Anchor
July 16, 2010
What to do about pornography WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, Penn. (ZENIT.org) — Last month, Peter Kleponis, assistant director of Comprehensive Counseling Services, led a conference for the clergy of the Archdiocese of New York on addressing the problem of pornography in society. Then he conducted a world-wide internet webinar for priests, psychological science professionals and other interested parties as part of a continuing series of free webinars sponsored by the Institute for Marital Healing (maritalhealing.com) Kleponis, a Catholic psychotherapist who specializes in marriage and family therapy, men’s issues and pornography addiction recovery, said that New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan sponsored the conference along with the archdiocesan Family Life Office, the Priest Personnel Office and the Safe Environment Program, in response to multiple requests from priests who asked for help in addressing the pornography issue in their parishes and in the confessional. The archdiocese developed informational cards with suggestions for priests to advise people in this area, and with resources for men who are struggling with pornography use. It is also in the process of launching a new website on this topic, Kleponis said. In this interview, he speaks about the nature of the pornography problem, its causes, and how to address it on the personal and societal levels. ZENIT: What are the latest statistics on the prevalence of pornography use today? Kleponis: The prevalence is huge, and even the statistics that we have are underestimates, because this is something that is going on late at night in the privacy of people’s homes, so we really don’t know how serious it is. What we do know is that it is a $97 billion industry, and $13 billion of that comes from the United States. Also, looking at the sheer number of pornographic websites, we see that it’s huge. ZENIT: How does this use compare between men and women? Kleponis: Currently about 83 percent of pornography addicts are men, and 17 percent are women. For women, it’s the chat rooms rather than the visual pornography that they’re looking at. Men and women are wired differently. Men are visually stimulated. When a man looks at a pornographic image, there is a chemical reaction going on in the brain. Dopamine is released, there is euphoria, and, when combined with sexual arousal and orgasm, it becomes what I call the “perfect recipe” for an addiction. Thus they’re going to be more attracted to the pictures and videos. Women, on the other hand, are more relationally oriented, so they’re looking into the chat rooms
where they can develop a false persona. Here they can be anyone they want to be, look anyway they want to look, and engage in these erotic relationships with men on the Internet, all through words. It is like they’re working with this man and writing their own romance novel together — and that is what they get addicted to. There are some women who do get addicted to the visual pornography, but it is a very small amount. There are a number of younger women who are forced into this because their boyfriends insist that this be part of their relationship. They fundamentally don’t
this addiction? Kleponis: First, it can be difficult to identify this conflict in marriage and in family life. I ask men to reflect upon a number of questions about their behaviors to evaluate whether they are dependent upon pornography: Have you withdrawn from your emotional and loving relationship with your wife? Have you lost your ability to appreciate your wife’s beauty and goodness? Do you share this part of your life with your wife? When an attractive person walks by, do you lock onto them? Do you hide certain magazines, or other things from your
there a way to approach the topic without making her spouse defensive? Have you seen any success in this area? Kleponis: Yes we have seen success in uncovering and addressing this serious conflict in marriage. However, confronting a husband about his pornographic use is very challenging and requires a great deal of wisdom. The initial response in a wife to identifying pornography use in her husband is as devastating as discovering an affair. She responds strongly from her sensitive heart and powerful emotional life, and experiences
CNS photo/Anchor enhanced graphic for illustration purposes only. Not a real pornography viewer.
want it, and that’s a different issue. This gets into the issue of what pornography has taught young people. First of all, it has taught young men and teen-age boys that women are there for their own sexual pleasure — call it the sexual utilitarian philosophy, or on college campuses they call it the “hook-up culture.” This is the belief that it’s OK to use someone for your own sexual pleasure. What this teaches young women is that in order to get a boyfriend and keep him, they have to be sexually active and participate in pornography. Right now it’s a popular thing for women to use their camera phones to take nude pictures of themselves and email them to their boyfriends. They feel that this is what they have to do. Do they like it? No. If you ask them, deep down inside they feel that it is degrading, and they’re very angry about it. But they feel that they’re stuck, that it’s what they have to do. Thus you can see where it warps a person’s sense of what a healthy, loving relationship really is; they don’t learn about respect for one another. ZENIT: What are some signs of pornography dependence or addiction? How can a person tell if he, or a loved one, is developing
spouse? Do you have a place where you hide things from your wife? Are there certain behaviors that you cannot share with your wife? Do you look forward to going away on business trips? That’s a big one for a lot of men, because in the hotel rooms they can look at all kinds of pornography on television. Also, a lot of times when they go on business trips they’ll go to strip bars, pornography shops, or do other things. These are all warning signs that a person could be developing dependency on pornography. For wives, the initial thing that they feel is a weakening of the marital friendship with less affection and less intimacy. Their husbands seem much more distant, unappreciative and often irritable and critical. Wives in this situation usually sense that something is seriously wrong. Their responses are similar to those seen with marital infidelity which, in fact, pornography use is. When a wife comments on these changes, the response from a husband who is using pornography is often one of initial denial, which again is similar to the response to questions about marital infidelity. ZENIT: If a wife is picking up these signs and suspects that her husband is using pornography, is
feelings of betrayal, pain, sadness, strong anger, mistrust and a loss of her sense of goodness and beauty. It is hard for her to respond in a calm manner and communicate, “Honey I noticed this and I think you have a problem.” She’s devastated. Often times the husbands cannot understand why their wives are so upset, as they think: “I’m just looking at pornography; no big deal.” But it’s a big deal to the woman. She thinks, “My husband would rather be with these women on the computer screen than with me.” It’s devastating for the woman’s self esteem. These young girls in pornography, they’re 18 or 19 years old. Many of them have already had a lot of plastic surgeries. They use a ton of makeup, and thanks to the things they do with digital technology, they don’t exist. So here you have a woman who is maybe in her mid-30s, been married several years, has had a few children; she may be beautiful, but doesn’t look like an 18-year-old. Thus she thinks: “How can I compete?” She often feels rejected and unattractive. We recommend that when a wife discovers pornography use, she correct her husband by describing her betrayal pain to him. We also
encourage her to try to master her anger by entering into a forgiveness process that often is initially spiritual, by praying, “God forgive him” or “God take my anger.” Strong correction should be given with an expectation of change and fidelity to the marriage and children. The response to such correction varies. Some men are grateful that the darkness in their lives has been exposed, while others respond: “There’s nothing wrong with it; it’s not a problem; everyone’s doing it.” If the later response persists in spite of proof of pornography use, wives should insist on the couple discussing this problem with a third party such as a trusted relative or friend, a priest or a counselor. Most married men with pornography conflicts we work with are in our offices because their wives demanded treatment. ZENIT: Pornography is often portrayed as acceptable in our culture. Some people might argue that using pornography in a marriage is OK, even helpful. What would you say about this? Kleponis: Look at the extensive harmful effects of pornography upon the person who uses it, upon marriages, young adults and children. The most common cause of pornography use is selfishness, which turns a man in upon himself, thereby damaging his calling as a man to be a protector and a mature giver, another Christ to his wife and children. In pornography the man is entering a fantasy world devoid of a true loving and intimate relationship, which is really about using another person for his own personal pleasure. It damages his ability to see the beauty and goodness of his wife and of marital love, sexuality and chastity. A man who engages in pornography regresses into a childlike state in which he is driven to seek pleasure. He loses his sense of healthy masculinity and fulfillment as a husband and as a father. Pornography weakens men in every way and harms their ability to lead. As men we are called to be leaders, providers and protectors, of our families, parishes and society. We cannot do that if we’re enslaved by pornography. We also encourage men to understand God’s plan for a healthy sexuality as outlined in Church teaching. We often cite the wisdom of the catechism: Pornography “offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a grave offense” (CCC, 2354). We challenge the cultural view that there is no harm coming from using others as sexual objects, and explain that this view is rooted in profound selfishness and a lack of respect for others. The husband Turn to page 14
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What to do about pornography? continued from page 13 needs to understand that the issue is not his alone, but it is a marital and family issue and needs to be addressed with his wife. And of course, what does pornography do? It also promotes contraception, because it makes sex nothing more than a recreational activity. It takes away the relational and procreative aspects of it, so nothing good can come out of it. It is vitally important in this “pornified” culture that priests communicate the fullness of the Church’s teaching on sexual morality and criticize strongly the cultural view that no harm comes from using others as sexual objects. The profound wisdom of John Paul II in “Love and Responsibility” and the “Theology of the Body” can strengthen and purify men and the entire culture in this struggle. ZENIT: If a person came to you and asked, “Am I addicted to pornography?” how would you define this for him? Kleponis: A person who uses it on a regular basis is not necessarily addicted. What I ask is: Do you find yourself drawn to it? Do you find yourself thinking a lot about it? Do you find yourself looking forward to coming home from work at night and getting online and looking at the pornography? Do you rely upon it to deal with the stress of loneliness, male insecurity or job pressures? Is it very difficult for you to go several days without looking at pornography? If you’re answering
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yes to these questions you very well may be addicted to pornography. ZENIT: What problems do you see in single men and how to you counsel them? Kleponis: We tell single young men that by engaging in pornography they’re giving into profound selfishness, which is undermining their ability to relate in a healthy way to young women. We tell them case studies of the growing problem of younger men, college students, who are incapable of relating to females. They lack confidence and subsequently have to struggle with anxiety. Also, pornography use contributes to overreacting in anger as men lose a sense of refinement and true manly confidence in how to relate to a woman. The women they see in pornography don’t have feelings, needs and opinions. When the men leave their fantasy world and meet a real woman who does have emotions and opinions, they often don’t know how to deal with her, and withdraw due to insecurity or overreact in anger. Parents need to respond to this crisis in masculinity by teaching their children the truth about sexual morality and the dangers of pornography and compulsive masturbation in their lives. ZENIT: Let’s talk about the healing process. What are some ways a person can begin to address this problem? Kleponis: First, the person needs to accept that there is a problem with pornography and then try to grow
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in self-knowledge about its causes. The person cannot do it alone. So many men think, “I’m going to pull myself up by my bootstraps; I’m going to do it by myself.” They are rarely successful. The six point plan we recommend includes: protection of the home; peer support (or a 12 step program for severe addictions); counseling or an increased self-knowledge as to the origins of the pornography use; growth in faith and a commitment to work on the virtues that will help with the resolution of the causes; friendship; and education. The most common problems leading to the use of pornography that are uncovered are: selfishness, various types of loneliness, male insecurity, excessive work pressures, marital conflicts and a weak spiritual life. Virtues can assist in the resolution of these conflicts. When a person commits himself to the hard work of growing in virtues, he usually experiences much less vulnerability to pornography. Next, growth in peer support and in friendships is very helpful. Many men who struggle with pornography don’t have any close friends, not even their wives. Sharing one’s struggle with one’s spouse or with a close male friend is helpful. Friends can be an extra support for accountability and can receive weekly printouts of websites visited through covenanteyes.com and other programs. We have witnessed the truth of the Scripture passage, “A brother strengthened by a brother is like a fortified city” (Prov. 18:19). Another important part of the healing process is education. The influence of the contraceptive mentality over the past 40 years cannot be underestimated in regard to an appreciation of marital love and sexuality. The contraceptive mentality has strongly influenced the serious difficulty of men viewing women as sexual objects and has contributed in a significant way to the pornography epidemic. An outstanding document of the U.S. bishops’ conference in this area is “Married Love and the Gift of Life.” Other excellent educational resources are the websites: www.socialcostsofpornography.org and www.pornharms.com. Helpful books include: “Boys to Men” by Tim Gray and Curtis Martin; “Out of the Shadows” by Patrick Carnes; “Every Man’s Battle” by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker; “Breaking Free” by Stephen Wood; “Be a Man,” by Father Larry Richards; “Theology of the Body for Beginners” by Christopher West; and “Genuine Friendship” by Father Philip Halfacre. Next, the home should be protected by putting the computer in an open area, monitoring its use and decreasing the use of television.
July 16, 2010 Of course, another challenge to the family is the transmission of porn on cell phones. The role of faith is very helpful in fighting against pornography use. Many men who struggle experience relief and grace when they admit that they are powerless over their use of porn and then turn it over to God. The sacrament of reconciliation, a spiritual plan for life, spiritual direction, Scripture reading and the reception of the Eucharist facilitate the resolution of the emotional, personality and spiritual conflicts that drive the compulsive use of pornography. ZENIT: The field of positive psychology also supports the role of virtues in addressing emotional and personality conflicts. What virtues are particularly helpful with pornography? Kleponis: The virtues that are helpful in resolving selfishness are generous self-giving to one’s spouse and to children, friendship with one’s spouse, self-denial, gratitude, responsibility, temperance, humility and much greater love for one’s spouse and for the Lord that would motivate a person not to inflict further hurt and pain. The virtues that help with growth in male confidence include gratitude for one’s God-given gifts and body, forgiveness of those who have damaged one’s confidence, healthy friendships and faith. Growth in faith can help one to appreciate the presence of the Divine love of God the Father or Our Lady if a person did not feel affirmed and loved by a parent, or the presence of the Lord if a person did not feel affirmed and loved by male friends. The virtues that help with loneliness include cheerful self-giving to one’s spouse and to the Lord, hope, forgiveness of those who have not been emotionally sensitive, positive communication, detachment with less self-reliance, and trust and faith in the reality of Divine love if a person did not feel loved at different developmental stages. Often men can benefit from spiritual direction so that they can grow in the capacity to receive love. The virtues that decrease the excessive anger associated with loneliness and sadness are forgiveness, compassion, kindness, respect and humility. The virtues addressing anxiety are trust, detachment, wisdom to see the goodness in one’s spouse and faith in God’s protective love and in his ability to lift the burdens and worries of daily life. As a person grows in virtue he experiences greater happiness and fulfillment in his self-giving in the vocation. ZENIT: Could you say more about addressing loneliness in married life? Kleponis: Married couples need to protect their romantic love, marital friendship, and betrothed love, which includes intimacy. Couples should spend time together in the evenings
in the same room as much as possible and should communicate. Communication is essential to the marital friendship. They should also try to follow the advice of marital communications expert, John Gottman, and offer five positive comments for each negative comment. They should try to trust the Lord daily with their marriage and family, which will protect the marriage from the excessive worries that can create stress and tension in marital friendship. They should also try to go to bed at the same time. One of the reasons some men get caught up in pornography is because they spend the evenings in a different room from their wives and go to bed at different times. This sets the stage for loneliness and then pornography use. Couples need to be sensitive to the Lord’s words in Genesis that it is not good for man to be alone. ZENIT: What can parents do to protect their children from pornography and help in the healing of this epidemic? Kleponis: We recommend that parents evaluate their parenting style and try to engage in responsible parenting, not in permissive or controlling parenting. The permissive parenting style is the most prevalent in the culture and can contribute to the pornography epidemic. Permissive parents usually fail to correct selfishness in their children and, in fact, model it. They are often weak in faith and do not provide the effective spiritual leadership that can protect children from the obsession with the body and with sex in this culture. They fail to warn children about the dangers of pornography, compulsive masturbation and the hook-up culture. Bishop Paul Loverde of Arlington, Virginia, in his letter on pornography wrote: “The human person progressively builds or destroys his or her character by each and every moral choice. When one’s gaze is directed askance, one becomes the kind of person who is willing to use others as mere objects of pleasure.” Responsible parents commit themselves to form their children in virtue, warn them of the dangers of using others as sexual objects, provide regular loving correction and teach their children the beauty of God’s plan for human sexuality within the sacrament of marriage. They show and teach their children that sacramental married love makes present in the world the love and beauty of the Trinity. Finally, John Paul II wrote in Letter to Artists (1999): “The beauty of created things can never fully satisfy. It stirs that hidden nostalgia for God, which a lover of beauty like St. Augustine could express in incomparable terms: ‘Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you!’” A true appreciation for love and beauty can contribute to healing the pornography epidemic.
July 16, 2010
Cape Cod Baseball League: More than just sports continued from page one
Most of the players who are invited to play are college players with at least one more year of college eligibility left. The players are recommended by their coaches, and a CCBL selection committee decides whom to invite based on athletic ability, as well as character. Since the invited players are, in a sense ambassadors of their college or university, it’s important for the school and the league to accept those of good character. The invited players are matched with host families, who will be their summer family and home away from home. Host families submit certain criteria that should be met by potential guests. These include whether there are pets in the house, how much room they have in the house, if the player drives his own car, etc. The logistics must mesh for a successful and pleasant stay. Each team has a host family coordinator to see that things run smoothly and seemlessly. The Anchor corresponded with the general managers of each of the 10 teams, and most agreed that the young men who come to play summer baseball on the Cape are of good character and also bring along a faith life with them. “Most of our boys are from the deep South and raised among the more popular faiths there,” said Cindy Parola, media person for the Wareham Gatemen. Bruce Murphy, general manager of the Cotuit Kettleers concurred and added, “Some attend local services with their host families. In fact we recently had a baseball service at the Federated Church that was a good experience, and we had a rabbi at opening day. There is a wide array of faiths.” That would, of course, include Catholics. Just as the CCBL is not your average league, a host family couple living in Barnstable and parishioners of Our Lady of Victory Parish in Centerville, is not your average couple. Ann Rascati and John Porlier have been married for 20 years. Ann kept the Rascati name out of a profound love for her grandfather, and also for professional reasons. They are as faith-filled a couple as can be found. “Our spiritual life matters deeply to us,” said Ann in an interview with The Anchor. Ann and John are currently hosting their fifth CCBL player, Matteo D’Angelo, from Bologna, Italy, and a student at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. D’Angelo, who plays for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks, is Catholic and Ann and John make every effort to attend weekly Mass with their guest. “I try to attend Sunday Mass as often as I can,” D’Angelo told
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The Anchor. “Sometimes with Ann and John’s schedule, and my team schedule, it’s not always possible, but I take part in Bible study when I can.” When asked what the couple does to make their guest feel as comfortable and welcome as possible, as soon as possible, John quipped, “I cook them good meals. And we let them know the we’re here to help them succeed and help them do their very best.” “You develop a strong bond with them,” said Ann. “We’re entrusted to help them make their dreams come true. Most of the boys are very good kids, and every host family lets them know there are rules to follow, such as curfews, and that’s important. Last year Ann and John hosted Eric Maust, a hardball standout from the University of Notre Dame. “Eric was a very spiritual kid,” said Ann. “When we met him, he had a bracelet with the Blessed Mother on it. He was not uptight about his faith, and we encouraged him with that while he was here. “Of course, there are those who aren’t as spiritual. A few years back we had a guest who was Catholic and his mother gave every entreaty to get him to go to Sunday Mass, but he just wouldn’t do it.” “These are good kids and we ease into a relationship with them,” said John. “You can’t be too pushy. It takes time for them to open up. But if you’re forthright with them, you gain their trust.” “Christ was about hospitality,” said Ann. “And that’s what we’re about too.” “They’re a great family,” D’Angelo said of Ann and John. “They are like a second family to me. We all have busy schedules and don’t see each other as much as we’d like, but when we do, it’s quality time.” D’Angelo grew up 15 miles from Nettuno, Italy, the baseball hotbed in that country. The town is home to one of the most important Italian baseball teams, Danesi Nettuno. Baseball was brought to the region by U.S. GIs during World War II, and it caught on quickly. “Living in the Nettuno area sparked in me a great interest in baseball,” said D’Angelo. “My dad played baseball as a youngster.” Nettuno is also home to the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial where nearly 8,000 U.S. soldiers are laid to rest. The Harbor Hawks’ neighbor, Pope John Paul II High School is also very involved with the team. “For one thing, we share the field with them,” JPII Principal Chris Keavy told The Anchor. “But
our relationship is much more than that. JPII High School is committed to make a difference in the community, and together with the Hawks we bring a vitality to the downtown area, which is struggling through the tough economy.” The Hawks share the field and utilize school facilities during the summer season. “Our school’s Parent Association joins forces to work the concession stands at the Hawks’ home games and some of the proceeds go to help the school,” added Keavy. “Also, some of our students intern with the Cape League, putting up signs, selling raffle tickets, and working game events. It’s a great partnership. It allows us to flex our muscles on a community standpoint. We’re here not just to provide an education, but to also be a positive presence in Hyannis.” Christine and Bob Clark, another Catholic couple, are heavily involved with the Falmouth Commodores. Christine is the team president and Bob is the general manager. “We’ve been hosting players for 13 years now,” Christine told The Anchor. “Most of the players we’ve hosted are from the South and are of Protestant denominations, but they see to it that they fulfill their Sunday obligations. This year we have a young man from Georgia who is not Catholic, but he knows that he is in a Catholic household. We say grace before each meal, and he’s very respectful of that, and he attends Sunday services of his own. In fact he told me, ‘I’ve never been to a Mass,’ and I told him ‘You’re always welcome to come with us.’” Christine mentioned a few years back she and Bob hosted a young man from New York who attended Boston College. “Matt Eldfelt was a good Catholic young man,” she said. “And he was battling cancer, and it was his Catholic faith that got him through the tough parts. We’ve been in contact with him since and he’s doing very well.” “I remember a young man a few years back, Chad Shepherd, who was a fine Catholic young man, and he attended Sunday Mass with us,” added Bob. “My wife and I have strong Catholic ties and we maintain that faith while being a host family each year.” “All of the boys in the league are of good character, with good morals,” said Catherine. Paul Galop, currently the CCBL commissioner, has been involved with the league for 25 years. “I can tell you, this league wouldn’t exist without the host families and the wonderful job they do with our young men,”
he told The Anchor. “We have young men, at a very impressionable age, from all over the country, and with very different backgrounds. Some of them haven’t really been home since Thanksgiving or Christmas. They’re far away from home and the host families have a great relationship with them. For some of the young men, it’s a life-changing experience. Some of the past players who were fortunate enough to make the pros have left tickets for their host families, and others get invited to family weddings and christenings and so on. Many become very close. Being part of a host family myself for a while, I know it is very worthwhile for the families. In fact I recently received a phone call from a former Providence College player who played in our league and he wanted to express how thankful he was for making a difference in his life.” Galop also had strong praise for the players. “A high percentage of our players know what a great opportunity it is for them
to play in this league,” he said. “There are thousands of players who would give anything to play here. These young men are well behaved and of good character.” For well over 100 years the Cape Cod Baseball League has been the home of thousands of talented ballplayers, many of whom moved on to the professional ranks in the minors and Major League Baseball. Every indication points to the fact that will continue for years to come. But what shouldn’t be overlooked is the fact that the league also produces young men of good character, who become temporary sons to families of great character and morals. The combination is a grand slam for all involved.
The Anchor www.anchornews.org
REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER The Anchor is seeking a part-time staff member. Applicants need to possess journalism skills and some photography skills. Layout and editing abilities are a plus. Potential candidates should be practicing Catholics in good standing, with knowledge of the faith. Those interested are asked to send a resume to Father Roger J. Landry at fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org by July 30.
St. Patrick’s Church
306 South Street, Somerset, MA Sat., 7 August 2010• 508-672-1523
8:00 am Church Hall: Fatima Video Presentation.
9:10 am Church: Procession of Our Lady. Angelus. Crowning Ceremony. Sung Litany of Loreto. The Five Joyful Mysteries. 10:10 am Mass of Our Lady: Main Celebrant and Preacher: Fr. Marek Tuptynski, Pastor; Consecration of Parish to Our Lady by Fr. Tuptynski. 11:25 am
Lunch break (please bring bag lunch). Bookstore will be open.
12:25 pm Exposition and Procession of the Blessed Sacrament. 12:50 pm Sermon on Our Lady by Fr. Joshua, FI. Silent Adoration. 1:20 pm
Meditations of the Passion of Our Lord.
1:50 pm
Break. Bookstore will be open.
2:05 pm The Five Glorious Mysteries. 2:25 pm Act of Consecration. Benediction. 2:55 pm Enrollment in the Brown Scapular and Conferment of Miraculous Medal. Procession of Our Lady. - Confessions available throughout the day - Finish approx 3:10 pm Wheelchair accessible SELECTION OF VENUES FOR 2010: Saturday, 4, Sep 2010 St. Francis Xavier, Acushnet, MA Saturday, 2, Oct 2010 St. Margaret’s, Buzzards Bay, MA Saturday, 6 Nov 2010 Holy Cross, Easton, MA Saturday, 4 Dec 2010 Our Lady of the Assumption, Osterville, MA
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Youth Pages
July 16, 2010
St. Vincent’s Home holds second annual Summer Celebration
on the high seas — At Holy Trinity Regional School in West Harwich summer campers are having lots of fun during “Pirates, Mermaids/Riding the Rails” Week. Each week offers a different theme with opportunities to learn while having fun. The camp runs for four weeks and all are welcome.
a way with words — Catholic Family Life Insurance, the oldest Catholic fraternal organization in the United States, sponsored its national annual essay contest entitled “What Catholic Education Means to Me.” The contest was open to students in the third through eighth grades who attend Catholic schools across the country. St. Mary-Sacred Heart School fifth-grader Gavin Lancaster’s submission placed second in the national essay contest for the third through fifth grade level. Louise Belanger, vice president of the New England chapter along with Paul Pinnsonault, the local chapter president, presented Gavin with a plaque and a $250 U.S. Savings Bond while the school received a $250 cash award. From left: Essay winner Gavin Lancaster; school director Father David Costa; regional vice president of CFLI, Louise Belanger; Principal Denise Peixoto; and CFLI local president Paul Pinnsonault.
FALL RIVER — Under a clear, crisp evening sky, St. Vincent’s recently held its second annual Kick-Off To Summer Celebration on the deck of the Battleship Massachusetts at Battleship Cove in Fall River. Approximately 250 guests enjoyed a gourmet dinner prepared by Cuttyhunk Shellfish Farms, Inc., BCC Department of Culinary Arts, Lafrance Hospitality Company, Ma Raffa’s, Mesa 21, Trio Café and Lounge, Waterfront Grille, Green Mountain Coffee, Cinderella Bakery, Diman Tea Room, and Sysco Foods. Complimentary beer and wine was provided by Quality Beverage and Running Brook Vineyard & Winery. The celebration, marking the “unofficial” start of the summer season, was sponsored by Mechanics Cooperative Bank. By the end of the evening under a brilliant full moon, nearly $57,000 was raised to benefit youth in St. Vincent’s Life Skills Program who are transitioning to independent living and young adulthood. St. Vincent’s youth who are aging-out of care and transitioning to independent living are provided with the skills and tools necessary to complete their education, obtain employment, and live as productive adults within society. Jack Weldon, executive director of St. Vincent’s, presented the chairman of the
Summer Celebration, Deborah Grimes, senior vice president and human resources director at Mechanics Cooperative Bank, with a bouquet of flowers and thanked her for her dedication and unwavering commitment to St. Vincent’s children, youth, and families. Weldon also thanked Joseph T. Baptista Jr., president and CEO of Mechanics Cooperative Bank, by presenting him with the Champion of Youth Award on behalf of all the youth served at St. Vincent’s. The award recognized Mechanics Cooperative Bank for strengthening the community in which we live, work, and play, for giving youth the tools to succeed, and for providing them with hope for a brighter future. George Oliveira, executive vice president and division head at Citizens-Union Savings Bank accepted the Friend of Children and Families Award from Weldon in recognition of the bank’s sponsorship of the evening’s entertainment: Compaq Big Band and celebrity emcee Billy Costa, host of NECN’s TV Diner. Exclusive silent and live auctions were held. The 15-piece Compaq Big Band provided the music for dancing. Mechanics Cooperative Bank was the Presenting Sponsor of the Kick-Off To Summer Celebration. Citizens-Union Savings Bank was the Entertainment Sponsor.
ship shape — Enjoying St. Vincent’s Home’s annual Summer Celebration aboard the USS Massachusetts in Fall River were, from left: Joseph T. Baptista Jr., president and CEO of Mechanics Cooperative Bank; Deborah Grimes, senior vice president and human resources director at Mechanics Cooperative Bank; and Jack Weldon, executive director of the Home.
it’s all fun and games — Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro recently celebrated its fourth annual Feehan Day, in honor of its namesake Bishop Daniel F. Feehan. Known as the “Benevolent Bishop,” Bishop Feehan served from 1907 to 1934 — the longest running tenure to date. Students enjoyed inflatable amusements, entertainment and casual competitions. As a finale, the senior class was announced as winner of the year-long “Class Challenge,” competition that encourages school spirit throughout the year. At left, Ryan Murray and Will Clerx face off in the ring, while Jennifer O’Neill enjoyed her turn on the slip ’n slide.
S
omeday, I would like to write a book entitled “Why I Believe.” I don’t feel the need to explain what I believe, since I am a Roman Catholic: the Holy Bible, the creeds, and the teachings of the Catholic Church contain the essential truths that I live by. But I am compelled to explain why I believe, since so many seem to have rejected living a Catholic life … or have simply let it slip away. My identity as a Catholic is not just a matter of being raised in a Catholic household. I have wrestled with my faith, I have searched for the truth, and I have questioned my religion … because it was important enough to question and search and wrestle with. So, over the next few months, I would like to share with you some thoughts and reasons for my beliefs. I’m a pretty simple person, and fairly “down to earth,” so my explanations are just as simple as I am. It is my hope that my example will cause you to dig deeper and give solid arguments for the beliefs you hold. Too often I will hear students reject some element of our faith without sound reasoning; simply a statement of
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Youth Pages
July 16, 2010
Why I Believe — part one
truths that can be verified through “I don’t believe that … I believe historical documents … so there this” as if one belief is as good as really isn’t a lot of faith involved. another, no different than simply The question is, was he merely a a matter of taste, like choosing an man or is he the Son of God? Risice cream flavor. One “flavor” of religion is not the same as another. ing from the dead would definitely And having no religion but calling remove him from the “merely a yourself “spiritual” seems like the lazy way out. Why do we believe what we believe? The health of our souls is directly related to the answer to this question. The resurrection of By Jean Revil Jesus is the pivotal point to all Christian faith, so let’s start there. St. Paul man” category. The resurrection tells us that if Jesus did not rise changes everything … but did it from the dead, then our faith is really happen? meaningless. I firmly believe that Now we need faith, but that Jesus Christ was a real person, was crucified by Pilate, was buried doesn’t mean we throw logic and reason out the window. I think it and rose from the dead. First, that must have happened, and one reahe was a real person can be verison is that the Apostles changed fied from writings, not only of the early Christians, but of non-Chris- dramatically. Something happened to them … and it was big. When tian historians as well. There was Jesus died, these men hid. They indeed a man named Jesus, who were afraid for their lives, as well some claimed to be the Christ. they should have been. But in 50 He was known to be a wonderworker, and he was known to have days’ time, they went from being been crucified. These are historical locked in a room afraid to be seen,
Be Not Afraid
to preaching in the middle of Jerusalem about Jesus Christ who was raised from the dead. They had seen him, spoke with him, and ate with him during that 40day period from his death to his Ascension. It wasn’t a dream, and it wasn’t just something they made up; these are not logical conclusions. Dreams don’t cause life-changing and lasting effects in our lives. They may scare us, or shake us up, but in a while the effect wears off and we are relatively unchanged. Whatever happened to these men, it wasn’t a dream. For those who think the Apostles just made up the story, think again. Do you know that all but one of these men died a martyr’s death? They were crucified, clubbed to death, beheaded, skinned alive, subjected to these horrendous deaths because they refused to stop teaching in the name of Jesus. They could have saved themselves if they had just gone home and gotten back to fishing. But they chose to give their lives to God in the name of
Jesus. Rational, sane people do not die for something they made up, and there is no evidence that the Apostles were insane. It is logical to me to conclude that they saw Jesus Christ alive after the crucifixion, just as they said, and they followed his instructions to go and make disciples of all the nations. They were willing to die to fulfill that great commission. So, do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead? If you do, your reasoning may be like mine … based on what we know of human nature, the lives and deaths of the Apostles and the other martyrs after them provide us with reasons for our belief. If you do not believe that Jesus rose from the dead, what do you do with the lives and deaths of these men … and the men and women who followed? How do you account for the willingness to die for something that didn’t even happen? Wrestle with it, study it, be unsettled by it; this is how we grow in our faith. Jean Revil teaches theology and is campus minister at Bishop Stang High School. Comments welcome at: jrevil@bishopStang. com.
Pope becomes first person to register for 2011 World Youth Day VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI became the first person to register for the international World Youth Day gathering in Spain next year. The pope kicked off the registration process at a meeting July 2 with Cardinal Antonio Rouco Varela of Madrid and other organizers of the event. In a talk to the group, the pope said the gathering offers young people a great opportunity to know Jesus Christ and learn to trust his guidance in their lives. They will also be able to share their values and aspirations with
others from around the world, united by “the desire to build a better world inspired by Gospel values,” he said. The World Youth Day international gathering is to be held in the Spanish capital Aug. 16-21, 2011. Pope Benedict will join the young people for a vigil August 20 and Mass August 21. The pope told the Spanish cardinal the event “is not just a mass gathering but a privileged occasion for the young of your country and of the entire world to allow themselves to be conquered by the love of Christ Jesus, the
Son of God and of Mary, the faithful friend, the victor over sin and death.” The young people will find, the pope said, that “those who trust in him will never be disillusioned, but will find the strength necessary to chose the right path in life.” Pope John Paul II established World Youth Day in 1985. Organizers in Madrid are encouraging early registration because it helps them predict attendance and plan activities and builds funding for the events. Registrants are being asked to contribute 10
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The Anchor
July 16, 2010
Diocesan youth embark on first-ever Quo Vadis Days
Government expands definition of family
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and Seminarians for the diocese. “If they’re trying to discern what God is calling them to do, we hope this week will help them examine their relationships with others.” To that end, Father Cook noted the retreat experience was designed to include prayer and reflection but also fun and social activities for participants. “It’s a mix of quiet time and a lot of interaction with the other participants,” Father Cook said. “Each day we have two different periods of sports. Today we went swimming down the beach and later this week we’re going mountain hiking. After the hike, we’re planning to have Mass at the bottom of the mountain to give them a different experience.” Quo Vadis Days — which takes its name from the Latin phrase meaning “where are you going?” — consists of a team of priests, seminarians and adult advisors who provide guidance and advice to help high schoolaged young men deepen their faith and better discern what God is calling them to do. According to Jason Brilhante, a third-year seminarian student from St. Michael’s Parish in Fall River working on the team, Quo Vadis is a great way to help foster potential vocations. “None of them are saying they are going to become a priest, but that’s OK,” Brilhante said. “This is really a time to examine all options and realize that the priesthood is one of those potential options. We hope this week will give them some direction through prayer and reflection and help them to make that decision.” “It’s a mixture of fun activities to build community and
fraternity with one another and also times to reflect on talks, an opportunity for prayer and adoration, along with daily Mass,” Brilhante added. “We have a talk by different priests on various topics each day but we also have fun activities in the afternoon.” Eric Queenan, another team member and second-year seminarian student currently assigned to Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. James Parish in New Bedford, said he wished he’d had a Quo Vadis Days experience when he was younger. “I think it’s great to have a retreat for young men to help them to discern what God’s will is in their life,” Queenan said. “Since everyone arrived they’ve been really charitable to one another and they’ve instantly clicked. I think they’ve enjoyed the prayer and the talks as much as the sports activities.” Just two days into the experience, many of the participants seemed upbeat and impressed with the retreat — despite nearrecord temperatures and oppressive humidity. “I think the heat’s been the worse part of it, but it’s been great so far,” said Andrew Farinha from Our Lady of Grace Parish in Westport. “The seminarians are great and the priests are really helpful. I’ve enjoyed all the talks.” Tyler Freitas, a parishioner at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet who attended Quo Vadis at the suggestion of his pastor, Msgr. Gerard P. O’Connor, said he’s already made some new friends. “I actually didn’t expect to have this good of a time, but it’s been pretty good,” he said. Likewise, Tommy DeSouza of St. Anthony of Padua Parish
in New Bedford, who decided to attend based on a recommendation from his pastor, Father Roger J. Landry, said the retreat has been better than he expected. “I’ve never been on a retreat before and it’s been a great experience,” he said. While most attendees said they were unsure if they might have a calling to the priesthood, some said they have at least considered it. “I’ve been looking into being a priest and I’m interested in the whole theory about it,” said Kyle Sirois of Notre Dame Parish in Fall River. “My pastor, Father Richard Chretien, showed me the flyer and I decided to attend.” After an afternoon of swimming and an impromptu game of football, the young men eagerly filed into a small air-conditioned chapel for a brief talk about reconciliation from Father Michael Fitzpatrick, chaplain at UMass-Dartmouth. Father Fitzpatrick said he was “very impressed” that the 22 participants were there and urged them to open their hearts and minds to a potential calling. “If the Lord starts to open your mind to something going on in your heart, jot it down,” he said. This being the first-ever Quo Vadis Days experience sponsored by the diocese, Father Cook said he was very happy with the turnout. “It’s a great group of guys and a nice mix of ages — from 14 to 18 years of age,” Father Cook said. “They were all in great spirits as soon as they arrived. Most didn’t know each other, but while they were showing up guys were helping each other and they immediately seemed to get along. They just have a great attitude. There haven’t even been too many complaints about the heat.” Like many retreats, Father Cook also hopes this initial experience will plant the seed for future reunions and an ongoing relationship between the participants. “My hope is that from here, we can also offer opportunities to these guys — and others as well — throughout the year, maybe once a month, where they can get together again and reexamine certain aspects of their faith,” he said. Seminarian Queenan is confident future Quo Vadis Days will draw even more participants. “I’m sure once the word gets out about this one, we’ll have more the next time,” he said.
Federal law, through the Defense of Marriage Act, still recognizes that marriage between one man and one woman is unique and should be protected, he said. “Families are formed by relationships of blood, marriage or adoption and only in those three ways. A person who is not related by blood, marriage or adoption is not a family member even if they share the same household,” he said. Sprigg is a Baptist minister and author of the book “Outrage: How Gay Activists and Liberal Judges Are Trashing Democracy to Redefine Marriage.” The Department of Labor’s clarification undermines the principle of DOMA by parceling out benefits to people who are not married husbands and wives, he said. “It’s hard to make a legal claim that this constitutes a direct violation of DOMA, but it violates the spirit of DOMA,” he said. “I don’t think it’s likely that any kind of challenge would prevail.” The change is an interpretive regulation and, therefore, not subject to public notice or public comment. “That’s another way that the Obama administration has avoided subjecting this change to any sort of democratic process or even any sort of public comment, and I find that unfortunate,” he added. The move was made for political reasons in order to impress homosexual activists. Obama is using all the tools at his disposal to appeal to that constituency, which is part of his base, he said. In his Father’s Day message this year, Obama specifically mentioned households with two fathers. The next day, the same day the Labor Department’s clarification was announced, Obama hosted a LGBT event at the White House. During a speech, he outlined the ways his administration has helped the homosexual cause, calling them “matters of basic equality.” Obama cited the Department of Labor’s clarification, the Hate Crimes Bill, the expansion of partner benefits to homosexual federal employees and the requirement that all hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid allow samesex partners the same privileges and visitation rights as straight couples. He also promised to continue pushing for an employee nondiscrimination bill, to overturn the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and to repeal DOMA. “I believe that committed gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country, I have called for Congress to repeal the so-called De-
fense of Marriage Act,” he said. On July 8, Federal District Court Judge Joseph Tauro, in Boston, struck down DOMA, ruling that it discriminates against gays and lesbians and infringes on the rights of states to define marriage. President Obama’s Justice Department was obliged to defend the federal law, but the lawyer assigned by the Department instead told Judge Tauro that President Obama supports repeal and finds the law discriminatory. The ruling, for the moment, applies only to Massachusetts and may be appealed. Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute told The Anchor, “The president is undertaking any measures that he can implement with his authority to undermine the Defense of Marriage Act. He is committed to repealing the act, but he does not yet have the political base to do it in Congress.” So instead, Obama has opted for smaller, incremental changes, which put together represent significant, lasting change, he said. In a May letter to Congress about the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops stated their concern that such an act could be used as a basis for creating a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Courts in some states have already used similar state laws for that purpose, calling traditional marriage “discriminatory.” In the letter, the USCCB also outlined the Church’s position that persons with same-sex attraction must be treated with respect, but that their relationships do not warrant the special protection afforded by the state to married couples. Experts find it hard to predict what effect the new interpretation of the Family and Medical Leave Act will have. In Massachusetts and other states with same-sex marriage, most companies likely already provided family leave for those couples. Sprigg emphasized that this change is important because it goes beyond the reach of similar changes and affects private businesses, including religious organizations that meet the FMLA criteria. “This as far as I know is the first time they’ve implemented a policy like this which has a direct impact on private employers,” he said. “Private employers are being forced to treat unmarried partners as the equivalent of parents,” he added. “It could be seen as a violation of the conscience rights of an employer to force them to do that for a relationship that the employer does not consider a family relationship.”
July 16, 2010 In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks July 19 Most Rev. Daniel F. Feehan, D.D., Second Bishop of Fall River, 1907-34, 1934 Rev. Francis M. Coady, Pastor, SS. Peter & Paul, Fall River, 1975 Msgr. Joseph R. Pannoni, Retired Pastor, Holy Rosary, Fall River, 1992 July 20 Rev. Joao Medeiros, Retired Pastor, St. Elizabeth, Fall River, 1983 July 22 Rev. Francis L. Mahoney, Retired Pastor, Holy Name Fall River, 2007 July 23 Rev. Patrick F. Doyle, Founder, SS. Peter & Paul, Fall River, 1893 Rev. George B. McNamee, Founder, Holy Name, Fall River, 1938 July 25 Rev. Michael J. Cooke, Pastor, St. Patrick, Fall River, 1913 Rev. Raymond R. Mahoney, SS.CC., Former Pastor, Our Lady of Assumption, New Bedford, 1984 July 26 Rev. Msgr. Alfred J.E. Bonneau, P.R. Retired Pastor, Notre Dame de Lourdes, Fall River, 1974 July 27 Rev. Damien Veary, SS.CC., Former Pastor, St. Anthony, Mattapoisett, 1981 July 29 Rev. Mathias McCabe, Retired Pastor, Sacred Heart, Fall River, 1913 Rev. Charles P. Trainor, S.S., St. Edward Seminary, Seattle, Washington, 1947 July 30 Rev. Francis Kiernan, Pastor, Sandwich, New Bedford, Wareham, 1838 July 31 Rev. Daniel Hearne, Pastor, St. Mary, Taunton, 1865 Rev. Hugh J. Munro, Chaplain, Marian Manor, Taunton, 2003 Aug. 5 Rev. Martin J. Fox, Founder, St. Paul, Taunton, 1917 Rev. Thomas A. Kelly, Pastor, SS. Peter & Paul, Fall River, 1934 Aug. 6 Rev. Joseph P. Lyons, Pastor, St. Joseph, Fall River, 1961 Aug. 7 Rev. John F. Hogan, Pastor, St. Julie Billiart, North Dartmouth, 1986 Very Rev. Roger L. Gagne, V. F. Pastor, St. Mark, Attleboro Falls, 1987 Aug. 8 Rev. William Bric, Founder, St. Joseph, Fall River, 1880
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The Anchor Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese Acushnet — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Mondays and Wednesdays 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Fridays 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays end with Evening Prayer and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.; Saturdays end with Benediction at 2:45 p.m. ATTLEBORO — St. Joseph Church holds eucharistic adoration in the Adoration Chapel located at the (south) side entrance at 208 South Main Street, Sunday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to midnight, with overnight adoration on Friday and Saturday only. Brewster — Eucharistic adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays following the 11 a.m. Mass until 7:45 a.m. on the First Saturday of the month, concluding with Benediction and Mass. Buzzards Bay — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, every first Friday after the 8 a.m. Mass and ending the following day before the 8 a.m. Mass. EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic adoration takes place First Fridays at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, following the 8:30 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 8 p.m. FAIRHAVEN — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration. Refreshments follow. FALL RIVER — St. Anthony of the Desert Church, 300 North Eastern Avenue, has eucharistic adoration Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and on the first Sunday of the month from noon to 4 p.m. FALL RIVER — Holy Name Church, 709 Hanover Street, has eucharistic adoration Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady of Grace Chapel. HYANNIS — A Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration will take place each First Friday at St. Francis Xavier Church, 21 Cross Street, beginning at 4 p.m. FALL RIVER — Good Shepherd Parish has eucharistic adoration every Friday following the 8 a.m. Mass until 6 p.m. in the Daily Mass Chapel. There is a bilingual Holy Hour in English and Portuguese from 5-6 p.m. Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory. MASHPEE — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m. Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of eucharistic adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass. NEW BEDFORD — Eucharistic adoration takes place 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 233 County Street, with night prayer and Benediction at 8:45 p.m., and confessions offered during the evening. NEW BEDFORD — There is a daily holy hour from 5:15-6:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue. It includes adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Liturgy of the Hours, recitation of the rosary, and the opportunity for confession. SEEKONK — Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish has eucharistic adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549. NORTH DIGHTON — Eucharistic adoration takes place every First Friday at St. Nicholas of Myra Church, 499 Spring Street following the 8 a.m. Mass, ending with Benediction at 6 p.m. The rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 8 a.m. OSTERVILLE — Eucharistic adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays following the 8 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 5 p.m. The Divine Mercy Chaplet is prayed at 4:45 p.m.; on the third Friday of the month from 1 p.m. to Benediction at 5 p.m.; and for the Year For Priests, the second Thursday of the month from 1 p.m. to Benediction at 5 p.m. Taunton — Eucharistic adoration takes place every Tuesday at St. Anthony Church, 126 School Street, following the 8 a.m. Mass with prayers including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for vocations, concluding at 6 p.m. with Chaplet of St. Anthony and Benediction. Recitation of the rosary for peace is prayed Monday through Saturday at 7:30 a.m. prior to the 8 a.m. Mass. WAREHAM — Adoration with opportunities for private and formal prayer is offered on the First Friday of each month from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church, High Street. The Prayer Schedule is as follows: 7:30 a.m. the rosary; 8 a.m. Mass; 8:30 a.m. exposition and Morning Prayer; 12 p.m. the Angelus; 3 p.m. Divine Mercy Chaplet; 5:30 p.m. Evening Prayer; 7 p.m. sacrament of confession; 8 p.m. Benediction. WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street (Rte. 28), holds perpetual eucharistic adoration. We are a regional chapel serving all of the surrounding parishes. All from other parishes are invited to sign up to cover open hours. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716. WOODS HOLE — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Joseph’s Church, 33 Millfield Street, year-round on weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. No adoration on Sundays, Wednesdays, and holidays. For information call 508-274-5435.
Around the Diocese 7/11
St. Joseph Manor’s Barbecue Bash will be held on July 17 at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 375 Foundry Street (Route 106), North Easton, from 6 to 10 p.m. Enjoy this fun summertime event with all-you-can eat barbecue, live music and great raffle prizes. For tickets or more information call 508-583-5834 or email mdunton@SJMBrockton.org.
7/17
Plan to gather your family July 17 for a Family Rosary Conference at Holy Cross Family Ministries, 518 Washington Street, North Easton. It will include workshops for adults, teens and youth, a Mission Rosary, vigil Mass, reconciliation, and keynote speaker. For more information visit www.hcfm.org or call 800-299-7729.
7/19
The Son Quest Rainforest Vacation Bible School will be held July 19 to July 23 from 9 a.m. to noon at St. Julie Billiart Parish, North Dartmouth. For more information call Terry LeBlanc at 508-995-2476.
7/24
COURAGE, a welcoming support group for Catholics wounded by same-sex attraction who gather to seek God’s wisdom, mercy and love, will next meet July 24 at 7 p.m. For location information call Father Richard Wilson at 508-992-9408.
7/26
The Son Quest Rainforest Vacation Bible School will be held July 26 to July 30 from 9 a.m. to noon at Immaculate Conception Parish, New Bedford. For more information call Terry LeBlanc at 508-995-2476.
7/26
The Pro-Life Prayer groups of Holy Trinity and Holy Redeemer parishes will hold a Holy Hour on July 26 at 1 p.m. at Holy Trinity Church, Route 28, West Harwich. The rosary will be followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. All are invited to bring a friend and pray for an end to abortion.
8/14
“A Life in the Spirit Weekend” will be offered at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Parish (formerly St. Mary’s), 385 Central Avenue, Seekonk on the weekend of August 14-15. Sign-up deadline is August 4. For more information or to register call Rita Beaudet at 508-399-7519 or Janet Nerbonne at 508-944-2431.
8/16
Summer Vacation Bible School for kindergarten through grade five students will be held at Holy Cross Church, 225 Purchase Street, South Easton, August 16-20 from 9 a.m. to noon. Registration forms are available at the parish office or online at www.holycrosseaston.org. For more information call 508-238-2235.
8/30
The Diocesan Health Facilities Third Annual Golf Classic will be held August 30 at LeBaron Hills Country Club in Lakeville. The day begins at 10:30 a.m., rain or shine, with registration. Shotgun start is noon with a “Florida Style Scramble” format. Registration deadline is July 30. To register call 508-679-8154 or visit www.dhfo.org.
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The Anchor
July 16, 2010
Please note The Anchor
will not publish on July 23 and July 30. We will return with the August 6 edition.