Unleash the Gospel | Catholic Schools | Spring/Summer 2022

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS SPRING/SUMMER 2022 A MAGAZINE OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DETROIT

Old St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church | Downtown Detroit-Greektown 646 Monroe, Detroit 48226 313-961-8711 oldstmarysdetroit.com rectory@oldstmarysdetroit.com Free secure parking in our church lot

Daily Mass (Mon thru Sat) 12:15 pm Saturday vigil Mass 5:30 pm Sunday Masses 8:30 am, 10:00 am Latin, 12:00 noon First Friday Tridentine Mass 7:00 pm Confessions 30 minutes prior to all Masses For the most updated information on Mass schedules and events please visit our website, oldstmarysdetroit.com and our Facebook page, facebook.com/OldStMarysGreektown

SPRING/SUMMER 2022 VOLUME 3: ISSUE 4 P U B L I S HER

The Most Rev. Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit EX E C U TI VE E DITO RS

Dr. Marlon De La Torre Edmundo Reyes ED I TO R I N C HIE F

Emily Mentock

INSIDE THIS ISSUE 5 ABOUT THE COVER AND CONTRIBUTORS 7 A MESSAGE FROM THE ARCHBISHOP

M A N AGI N G E DITO R

Casey McCorry

A D V E RTI SING MANAG E R

Michelle St. Pierre I L LU S T R ATO RS

Diego Diaz Caitlin Hottinger Zach Steuf P HOTO GR A P HE RS

Madi Myers Cook Marek Dziekonski Naomi Vrazo Valaurian Waller CO N T R I B UT ING W RIT E RS

Joe Boggs Dr. Tiffany Boury Dr. Marlon De La Torre Sister John Dominic, OP Daniel Gallio Mark Hart Father Boniface Hicks, OSB Dr. Daniel Keating Laura Knaus Kate Lochner Father Brian Meldrum Joe Pelletier Sister Maria Pacis Polakovic, RSM Colleen Pressprich Julianne Stanz Wayne Stanz

F E ATU R E S 8

LIVING WITNESS Leading Mom back to Church

14 REAL TALK How has your Catholic education prepared you to live as a disciple of Christ?

18 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS At the heart of the Church 22 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS Shaping the next generation of saints 26 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS The role of Catholic schools in evangelization of our communities

C U LTU R E Elizabeth Martin Solsburg

P R AYE R 46 CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD St. Elizabeth Ann Seton: The fruitful heritage of America’s daughter 50 PRAYER 101 Holy guardians, eternal companions 54 WISDOM FROM THE CHURCH St. Basil the Great: Should we read nonChristian books?

D I S CI P LE S 56 FAMILY CHALLENGE The classroom at home: Teaching the faith through implicit catechesis 62 THE DOMESTIC CHURCH How does a parent teach with grace?

64 GRO WING IN VIRTUE ‘Ask, seek, knock’

31 POETRY The May Magnificat

68 PURSUING HOLINESS ‘Growing better’ together for those we serve

32 MOVIE REVIEW Now playing: Schools on screen

D E TR OI T

P R ES I D E NT AND C E O

Rachel Squibbs GR A P HI C DE SIG NE R

EM A I L U S : utgmagazine@aod.org V I S I T U S O NL INE : unleashthegospel.org F O L LO W U S O N FAC E BO O K, INSTAGRAM T W I T TE R AND YO UT UBE : @utgdetroit

36 SACRED PL ACES Cloisters on the Platte: Seeking God in silence 40 OUR HISTORY Founding father of education: Father Gabriel Richard’s academic endeavors in Michigan

72 UNLEASHED QUESTIONNAIRE Mark Hart

TO GET TO KNO W OUR CONTRIBUTING WRITERS BETTER, WE ASKED THEM:

WHAT ROLE DID CATHOLIC EDUCATION HAVE IN YOUR F ORMATION?

J OE BOG G S : For grade school, I attended St. Charles in Newport. As a high school student, I went to St. Mary Catholic Central (SMCC) in Monroe. I was blessed to have some amazing teachers at both schools who served as models for my own teaching career. Perhaps most important to my formation were the lifelong friendships I developed with my classmates. Many of the guys I went to school with from St. Charles through SMCC are still faithful Catholics who have helped me at various points on my life’s journey.

D R. K EATI NG : Catholic education played a crucial role in my life and in the formation of my faith. Twelve years of Catholic education — eight years at our parish grade school, followed by four years at a boys’ Catholic high school — placed within me a Catholic culture and mind-set that have shaped my entire life. I am immensely grateful to all those priests, religious and laity who poured out their lives so generously and sacrificially for me and my classmates.

BY CAITLIN HOTTINGER

THE COVER When ideating about how to creatively portray the heart and spirit of Catholic schools, collagestyle seemed like the perfect medium to stitch together all the wonderful and diverse aspects of schools. In this design, Jesus is central, surrounded by collage elements portraying the heart of Catholic schools. With Jesus at the center, His light radiates throughout the leaders, students, learning, prayer, friendships, and fun that make Catholic schools the vibrant, inclusive, and formative places they are.

FATHER BONI FACE HI CK S : As an adult convert, I did not attend Catholic schools growing up. The rest of my life is now dedicated to Catholic education, however, in my previous role as a professor of computer science at St. Vincent College and now as spiritual director for St. Vincent Seminary. I have been moved to see the formative impact that having the Catholic faith fully integrated into education can provide.

FATHER B RI A N MELD RU M: In my 23rd year of Catholic education, I would say: It has played a crucial role! I thank God for the Felician Sisters, Christian Brothers and teachers who were great witnesses to the faith. They taught me to pursue God through goodness, truth and beauty. I am most grateful to my parents for their sacrifices, which continue to bear fruit in my current doctoral studies and for future students at the seminary.

L A U RA K NA U S : My Catholic education played a critical role in my formation.

I attended Catholic schools for grades K-12 and graduate school. I was challenged academically but, more importantly, I also gained broad knowledge and deep understanding of the Catholic faith. My experience in Catholic schools prepared me to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ and to serve effectively in the ministry of Catholic education.

KATE LOCHNER: I think my Catholic education was most impactful during my earliest years of elementary school. In elementary school, we ask such “big questions” that being exposed to the idea of Jesus’ love by teachers in classes and various lessons set the groundwork for my faith at an early age. The fact that the teachings of the faith were so deeply embedded into my education was paramount in my early formation.

COLLEEN P RES S P RI CH: My parents sent my brother and me to East Catholic in Manchester, Connecticut, for high school. While there, I had the amazing opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Fatima. It was on that trip that I had my first real personal encounter with Mary. It changed the trajectory of my life, though I didn’t realize it at the time.

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“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Galatians 6:10

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THE MOST REV. ALLEN H. VIGNERON Archbishop of Detroit DetroitArchbishop @DetArchbishop @DetroitArchbishop

DEAR JOYFUL

MISSIONARY DISCIPLE! MY DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED SACRAMENT WAS GREATLY INSPIRED BY SISTER JANE FRANCES, WHO SERVED WITH LOVE AND DEVOTION AT THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL WHERE I ATTENDED THE FIRST THROUGH EIGHTH GRADES. These many years later, I still remember her. Along with all the sisters, clergy, faculty and staff at that parish school, Sister Jane Frances taught me and my classmates not only how to read and write, but also how to become men and women of virtue who know and love Jesus Christ and are prepared to live as his disciples.

This is the mission of Catholic schools; this is our charge as we seek to renew and reinvent Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Detroit. God is calling our children to become joyful missionary disciples of Jesus Christ, and our schools exist to assist

NAOMI VRAZO, PHOTOGRAPHER

parents in equipping their children for this mission.

To successfully renew Catholic education in Southeast Michigan, we first and foremost must affirm that our schools are the responsibility of all Christ’s faithful.

This is our foundational principle, the direction we heard from the Holy Spirit through Synod 16. We discerned together that our Catholic schools are one of the most effective ways to make Christ’s presence manifest in our communities.

To implement this vision of renewed Catholic education in our archdiocese, we also must reimagine funding and governance of Catholic schools so that any Catholic family seeking an excellent Catholic education for their children can have one. Woven through these efforts is our commitment that school leaders will make evangelization and discipleship the heart of their ministry and their

highest priority. Catholic schools should be places where children fall in love with Jesus and find their God-given purpose in this life.

Catholic schools cultivate servant leaders who bring the light of Christ out into their communities and future families. They have Jesus Christ, the master teacher, as their guide. They are integral to the life of the Church, not optional. Our future as a missionary archdiocese is closely tied to the success of our renewal of Catholic schools in Southeast Michigan.

We are well on our way to this vision, with schools in the archdiocese committing themselves to serving as centers of evangelization and discipleship. Let us thank God ahead of time for his continued graces and guidance as we work to ensure all our children grow and move forward with hearts and minds of Christ, ready to unleash the Gospel wherever they will go.

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LI VING WITNE SS

LEADING MOM BACK TO CHURCH Oronde Manson

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A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

KATE LOCHNER, WRITER • VALAURIAN WALLER, PHOTOGRAPHER

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Students gather for Mass at Gesu Catholic Church.

Students at Gesu Catholic School in Detroit.

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MAREK DZIEKONSKI, PHOTOGRAPHER

ORONDE MANSON WAS ONLY 3 WHEN HE FELT DRAWN TO JESUS IN THE EUCHARIST. ENROLLED IN GESU CATHOLIC SCHOOL IN DETROIT, HE ATTENDED MASS EVERY WEEK WITH HIS PRE-SCHOOL CLASSMATES. BEFORE LONG, GOING TO MASS HAD NOT ONLY FOUND A PLACE IN ORONDE’S ROUTINE, BUT THE MASS FOUND A PLACE IN HIS HEART.

“He started coming to me on Sundays and said, ‘Can we go to church?’ And I said, ‘Well, we don’t have a church.’ And he said, ‘Yes we do. Gesu is our church.” When Oronde’s mom, Chantel, told him that they didn’t belong to Gesu, he had that pure and innocent look of disappointment, the kind only little ones are capable of displaying. But his disappointment didn’t deter him from being persistent in asking, all the while thinking, “That’s my church.”

Chantel grew up a devoted Baptist, so attending a Sunday service and being a part of a church community wasn’t foreign to her.

Every Sunday, she settled into the pew with her grandmother, but when her late grandmother fell ill and was no longer able to attend church every Sunday, Chantel’s faith life began to take a turn. Her grandmother belonged to the same church for decades, more than 50 years. She served on various boards and committees, but when

she got sick and the community didn’t check in with her, that left Chantel questioning the faithful people around her and the thought of religion on a larger scale. The negative experience steered Chantel away from the church for years.

“I had my reservations about church in itself and questioned some things that I had experienced.

I was questioning some of those things with God.” But Oronde kept asking.

“Then he came to me and said, ‘God told me that we need to go to church.’ And I was like, OK, hold on, wait a minute. I couldn’t ignore it anymore, he’s serious.” Chantel recalls. “I didn’t want to deny him his spiritual faith, I didn’t want to take that away from him.” Thus began their joint conversion story.

Chantel felt it was important for her to convert alongside Oronde, and she inquired how to do so. She was advised by a catechist at Gesu to attend church for one month and “see what happens.” After that

month, led by God’s grace and her little boy, Chantel began the formal process of becoming a Catholic with Oronde. For almost an entire year, Chantel attended catechesis lessons while Oronde went through the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd curriculum. And in 2016, they were officially welcomed into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil.

Oronde carried his gentle yet convicted spirit into the halls of Gesu. “Oronde loves God and others with a generous heart. He brought a great sense of peace to the classroom and treated all those he came across with kindness and respect,” his fourth grade teacher says. Beloved by his peers, he was described as having a “generous heart” and was unafraid to have complicated, nuanced discussions.

He showed up, and if an academic challenge presented itself, he rose to the occasion as his teachers provided extra support and guidance.

At the onset of his last couple

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On the campus of Sacred Heart Catholic Church

On the campus of St. Lucy Catholic Church

VISIT CCSEM.ORG OR SNAP A PHOTO OF THE QR CODE ABOVE FOR MORE INFORMATION Áǝƺ !ƏɎǝȒǼǣƬ !ǝƏȸǣɎǣƺɀ Ȓǔ ³ȒɖɎǝƺƏɀɎ xǣƬǝǣǕƏȇ‫ٯ‬ɀ ƳɖǼɎ (Əɵ ³ƺȸɮǣƬƺɀ Əȸƺ ǔɖȇƳƺƳ ɖȇƳƺȸ ÁǣɎǼƺ XXX Ȓǔ Ɏǝƺ ǼƳƺȸ ȅƺȸǣƬƏȇɀ ƬɎ ǔȸȒȅ Ɏǝƺ ȸƺƏ ǕƺȇƬɵ Ȓȇ ǕǣȇǕ ‫ ډת‬ɎǝȸȒɖǕǝ Ɏǝƺ xǣƬǝǣǕƏȇ ǕǣȇǕ ƏȇƳ ƳɖǼɎ ³ƺȸɮǣƬƺɀ ǕƺȇƬɵ٫

of years at Gesu, COVID-19 struck, which altered the stability of families everywhere, and Oronde’s family was no exception. An opportunity presented itself for Oronde to finish out his eighthgrade year through a Ste. Anne scholarship, which aims to ensure deserving students are able to pursue a desired Catholic education.

This scholarship, awarded by the Catholic Foundation of Michigan, is funded by the generosity of Archbishop Vigneron, the Archdiocese of Detroit, and more than 30 donors who want to support Catholic education.

Being awarded the scholarship meant Oronde could complete his time at Gesu without his family needing to worry about any financial strain, but it meant even more to Oronde. “If I wasn’t in the Catholic school community, I may not have been able to understand God’s love as I have. The scholarship means the chance for me to be around students that have the love and passion of God,” he said. “This school raised me to become a young man, and as a Black man in this world, I need all the help I can get from my teachers and friends.”

If you were to ask Chantel why she wanted to send her son to Gesu, she would say, “For the education and the safety,” but the time spent in this Catholic school community reached further than an eighthgrade graduation. In commenting on Oronde’s initial attraction to the faith, Chantel says, “He just had so much spirit in him, and I know that came from school, it came from Gesu.” She continues, “If you’re surrounded by like-minded people, it kind of draws you in or it brings it out of you.”

It wasn’t only Oronde who was touched by the community. “As a single mom, you try to expand your village, and Gesu is definitely

Students doing schoolwork in the school library.

an extension of my family,” Chantel reflects. And further, their story inspired others in the very community that brought them to conversion. “To see a young son lead his mother into the faith was one of the most beautiful events I have ever witnessed in my life as a Catholic, let alone as a Jesuit,” their parish priest, Father Phil Cooke, says.

Today, both Oronde and Chantel are flourishing, both independently and as a family, with their faith as their foundation. Now a freshman at U of D Jesuit in Detroit, Oronde has brought his passion and drive to the soccer field, where he’s found a love for the sport. When he’s off the field, you might catch him watching a documentary, as his love of history penetrates his hobbies and pastime.

Hoping to follow in his older brother’s footsteps, he’s thinking about pursuing higher education at Michigan State University and maybe one day will step into the political scene.

They attend Gesu together on Sundays and the conversations they have regarding the faith are still, in Chantel’s words, “mind-blowing.”

She’s embraced her faith and has incorporated it into the daily

workings of her life. She says, “It has made me bring God into my home — meaning, hanging a crucifix, being more prayerful, creating that time to either just sit in silence or just pray.”

Father Cooke recently blessed their house, something Chantel never had even thought of doing before. And to bring it full circle, Chantel now serves as a catechist at Gesu. “[The process] has made me comfortable enough in the things that I have absorbed to go and be a part of it with the kids. I get to share that spiritual side with them and you know just guiding them into their beliefs to be even deeper than it already is.”

At 14, Oronde still has the same on-fire spirit for the faith as he did as a preschooler. On getting back to Mass for the first time after the pandemic calmed down, Oronde told his mom, “It felt so good to be back, Mom.” Chantel remembers when Oronde came to her as a little boy wanting to go to Mass and initially thinking he was just being a “silly kid.” She goes on, “I looked at it as maybe this is God’s way of leading me back, he purposely gave me Oronde to lead me back to the Church.”

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RE A L TA LK As a member of St. Augustine St. Monica’s Catholic Church, Monsignor Daniel Trapp has always been a role model for me to live as a believer, reinforcing my Catholic school lessons since my early childhood. I attended St. Brendan and St. Peter the Apostle Catholic schools for my elementary and middle school education. After middle school, I was accepted into Our Lady of Mercy High School.

While the curriculum offered at each of the Catholic schools that I attended was more than rewarding, the most vital concept was that our faith was presented during each class in some way; many classes would start with reciting the Our Father. Each Friday, all students attended Mass with the community. This Mass would allow students to act as a disciple by helping the parishioners during the Mass. Some parishioners were elderly or handicapped; being able to support a fellow parishioner as a student built a pathway into my adulthood.

Presently, as we live day to day in a world that is forever changing, my decision-making capability is always based on my discipline and accountability. These attributes were instilled in me through my Catholic school teachings; we were taught to always behave based on our beliefs and Christ’s sacrifices for all of us.

-VICTORIA JONES, ST. AUGUSTINE ST. MONICA’S CATHOLIC CHURCH, DETROIT

HO W H A S YO U R CAT H O L IC E DUCAT IO N P RE PAR ED I am extremely grateful that God blessed me with a Catholic education. I am also very lucky to have had a fantastic theology teacher in middle school who has educated me so well on the history and teachings of the Church. I feel prepared to go out into the world and love.

Since I’ve been going to Catholic school my whole life, I see a lot of the same people year after year. But I am so excited to enter into adulthood and meet new people.

Without my Catholic education, where the main focus is on loving one another as God loves us, I wouldn’t be as outgoing and open with my love. Catholic school has made me proud to be Catholic, and I want to share the love I feel with the world because there is nothing like love from the Father.

-KENDAL LAVIGNE, ST. FABIAN PARISH, FARMINGTON HILLS

PHOTO PROVIDED BY KENDAL LAVIGNE

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A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

VALAURIAN WALLER, PHOTOGRAPHER

When I was the associate pastor at St. Hugo of the Hills, I was moved by the school’s motto: “As followers of Jesus, it must be different with us!” While St. Hugo was on the opposite side of town from where I grew up and having never heard of the saying until years later, it was nevertheless instilled in me from the moment I stepped into my kindergarten classroom at St. Pius in Southgate, continued in my time at Gabriel Richard in Riverview and further strengthened in my years of seminary formation.

My Catholic education has taught me that the “it” that must be different with me is the influence my faith is meant to have on my life. My living relationship with Jesus is meant to shape everything about me — what I do and say, how I live and with whom I choose to associate. I am forever grateful to my parents for giving me the gift of a Catholic education and for all of those who pray for me along the path of discipleship. My Catholic education laid the foundation and now, with God’s grace, each day is a new opportunity to take another step with Jesus.

-FATHER MARIO AMORE, PRIEST SERVING ST. ALOYSIUS PARISH, DETROIT

YO U TO L I V E A S A

DISCIPLE OF CHRIST?

My Catholic education started in 1951 when I was startled with cold baptismal water at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church. This awakening sacrament was most likely performed by Monsignor Frank Pokriefka. Under his loving and stern guidance, and with the help of the IHM Sisters, my lasting Catholic education began.

A person’s education was much slower back then. Times were at a standstill compared to today’s hustle and bustle.

I was taught to be kind and listen to what others had to say. Treat others as you want to be treated. Now we listen to what the Gospel teaches us, reflect on it and pass those teachings on to others in our life.

My Catholic education during grades 1-9 at St. Gregory School was the most influential time of my life’s journey.

As a Christian, one never stops learning and sharing the Church teachings, and sharing those words with others.

That is what being a disciple of Christ is all about!

-RICK GIFFIN, SR., SS. JOHN & PAUL PARISH, WASHINGTON

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Year of PraYer for PriestlY Vocations Archbishop Vigneron is inviting the faithful of the Archdiocese to join in prayer for an increase in priestly vocations. Confident that God hears us and knows what we need, we dedicate this year to praying for Him to call forth a new generation of holy priests for the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Our Year of Prayer starts with a Holy Hour led by Archbishop Vigneron at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament at 10 a.m. June 4, the Vigil of Pentecost. It will conclude with the Solemnity of Pentecost on May 28, 2023.

For more information on how you and your parish can participate, visit

prayforvocations.com

I was able to attend Catholic schools from grade school through college with my siblings because of my parents’ sacrifices. My mom and dad lived a very active faith life and shared their faith generously with us growing up.

I will never forget the amazing teachers I had in grade school. I was very shy, but through their loving care and encouragement, I came out of my shell. They inspired me with a passion for the arts, and to this day nothing moves my soul like music and singing my heart out for the Lord.

Each year was another building block on top of the secure foundation of a truly Catholic home. We didn’t always love to go to daily Mass or the fact that we had to pray the rosary every night. Looking back, their sacrifice gave me an amazing education influenced by holy people, and they did it to make sure that what we were receiving in our home was reinforced in school. I am forever grateful for my parents’ and teachers’ witness, and I now share that same witness of faith with my children, loved ones, neighbors and those I encounter every day at work.

-SANDEE COULES, OUR LADY OF SORROWS, FARMINGTON HILLS

I never would have imagined that I would be the principal of St. Michael the Archangel School — now the early childhood campus of Monroe Catholic Elementary Schools where I attended as a student — as Christ’s disciple.

I am called to that vocation both as husband and principal.

Catholic education was important to my family, and my formation at St. Michael, St. Mary Catholic Central and the University of Notre Dame all provided me tools to make God known, loved and served to all the families that we serve in Monroe Catholic Elementary Schools. If I had not had this calling to lead a Catholic school, I would not have realized my leadership potential. Nor would I have met my wife — a fellow Catholic school leader at Divine Child — as we met when we were in graduate school preparing to be Catholic school leaders. My 10 years in Catholic education have taught me God has a plan, we cannot always see it, but we have to be open to it. He can do great things through us and through our students. We are disciples first.

-KYLE KUBICK, ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL, MONROE

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CATHOLIC SCHOOL S

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LAURA KNAUS, WRITER • MADI MYERS COOK, PHOTOGRAPHER • CAITLIN HOTTINGER, ILLUSTRATOR

L AU R A K NA U S is the interim superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Detroit.

“THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL AT THE HEART OF THE CHURCH.” THESE WORDS FROM THE DOCUMENT “THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE THIRD MILLENNIUM” (1997) DEMONSTRATE JUST HOW IMPORTANT THE MINISTRY OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION IS TO THE CHURCH. WHAT DO OUR HEARTS DO FOR US? THEY PUMP BLOOD TO EVERY EXTREMIT Y AND SEND LIFE-SUSTAINING ENERGY AND OXYGEN TO EVERY CELL IN OUR BODIES. IF OUR HEARTS AREN’T WORKING PROPERLY, THE REST OF OUR BODY’S SYSTEMS BEGIN TO SHUT DOWN. OUR HEARTS ARE ESSENTIAL TO THE FUNCTIONING OF THE WHOLE BODY. IT’S MUCH THE SAME FOR OUR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS. OUR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS BRING LIFE TO THE CHURCH; THEY BRING ENERGY, YOUTH AND VIGOR. OUR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS ARE CRITICAL TO THE CHURCH’S EVANGELIZING MISSION. AS ARCHBISHOP VIGNERON HAS REITERATED TIME AND TIME AGAIN: “CATHOLIC SCHOOLS ARE INTEGRAL TO THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH. OUR SCHOOLS ARE NOT OPTIONAL. THEY’RE PART OF HOW WE LIVE OUR VOCATION AS DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST.”

The core identity of the Catholic school and the clear articulation of its purpose and role in evangelization are well documented by the Church. Canon law, papal encyclicals and documents written by the Congregation for Catholic Education (CCE) expound upon the importance of the place that the Catholic school holds in the evangelizing efforts of the Church.

These themes and ideas have been succinctly summarized by Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, the former secretary of the CCE, into five marks that characterize the identity of an authentically Catholic school. Our schools are inspired by a supernatural vision, founded on a Christian anthropology, animated by community and communion, imbued with a Catholic worldview and sustained by Gospel witness.

INSPIRED BY A SUPERNATURAL VISION The educational pursuits in a Catholic school are aimed at forming the mind and the soul of each child.

Each person was created by God, in his image and likeness, to be loved and to love, and to be with him for eternity.

Acquiring knowledge, skills, habits and dispositions are all part of the educational process — a process that is guided by this principle that God loves us and wants to be in relationship with us. Students are being formed for freedom, orienting their pursuit of truth toward Jesus, who is truth.

A supernatural vision means that every action, effort and interaction in the Catholic school — from learning to read to creating art to advanced calculus — is done with our “eyes fixed on Jesus.”

“Discovery and awareness of truth leads man to the discovery of Truth itself.” (“The Catholic School,” para. 41)

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IMBUED WITH A CATHOLIC W ORLDVIEW Our Catholic faith must be present in every aspect of the school: in practice through daily prayer and regular reception of the sacraments, in every subject area, not just the direct instruction of religion, in every interaction that takes place, in every decision that’s made. The Gospel should be present in every aspect of the curriculum and indeed in our very pursuit of knowledge and truth. Our understanding of the inherent and inviolable dignity of every human person informs how we view history, the person sitting next to us and how we make decisions.

F OUNDED ON A CHRISTIAN ANTHROPOLOGY At our baptism, we became children of God — joined to Christ and other Christians. Our deepest identity is as beloved children of God. The formation of the mind and body necessitates an understanding of what it means to be human. Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine, provides this understanding, as “He is the One Who ennobles man, gives meaning to human life, and is the Model which the Catholic school offers to its pupils.” (“TCS,” para. 35) ANIMATED BY COMMUNION AND COMMUNIT Y Our school communities are composed of many people: priests, religious, parishioners, students, school faculty and staff, parents and extended family. It takes the effort,

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time, talent and support of many people for our Catholic schools to work. “The implementation of a real educational community, built on the foundation of shared projected values, represents a serious task that must be carried out by the Catholic school.” (“Educating Together in Catholic Schools,” para.

5) Our faith communities make Catholic schools possible, but our unity is deeper than just attending a particular school or church. Our intimate union with God in the holy Eucharist also unites us with the others in the body of Christ. This call to community and communion requires close collaboration and cooperation with everyone: between clergy, religious and lay faithful; between parents and school personnel; and between teachers and students.

SUSTAINED BY GOSPEL WITNESS Priests, principals, teachers and staff share their very selves with one another and with their students as they live their vocation as Catholic educators. Those whose vocation it is to teach and lead children to know and love the Lord do more than teach students how to read and write and multiply: “The teacher does not write on inanimate material, but on the very spirits of human beings.” (“TCSTTM,” para.

19) They witness, by their lives of faith, their actions and their words, how the life-saving message of God’s mercy and love has transformed their own lives. “The nobility of the task to which teachers are called demands that, in imitation of Christ, the only teacher, they reveal the Christian message not only by word but also by every gesture of their behavior.” (“TCS,” para. 43) These characteristics that we aspire to embody in our Catholic schools don’t happen by accident.

Building an authentic Catholic culture takes significant prayer, formation, dedication, study and responsiveness to the Holy Spirit.

These investments are worthwhile

as we continue our efforts to unleash the Gospel through our Catholic schools.

Our Catholic schools are important to the families we serve, to the Church and to society. Our schools are places that are both set apart to be vibrant centers of evangelization where students and their families come to know and love Jesus Christ and are actively

engaged in the sacramental life of the Church but also exist within the construct of contemporary society. The mission of the Catholic school is the mission of the Church: to “make disciples of all nations” (Mt 18:19) as Jesus instructed the apostles at the great commission. What a privilege and opportunity we have in our schools to walk together with students,

educators, parishioners, priests and religious and families on the path of discipleship, pursuing truth, beauty and goodness while acquiring knowledge, skills, habits and dispositions that all lead to truth himself: Jesus Christ.

Our schools aren’t an arm of the Church — they’re the very heart of the Church. The stronger and more vibrant our Catholic schools are, the stronger and more vibrant the Church herself. As we renew and strengthen our Catholic schools and work to ensure that the daily reality of our school communities embody these characteristics that the Church has so beautifully articulated, we foster an environment where we are better equipped to live as disciples of Jesus but also to go out — to share the love and mercy of Jesus Christ with everyone we meet so that “by leading an exemplary apostolic life [students] become, as it were, a saving leaven in the human community.” (“Gravissimum Educationis,” para. 8)

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CATHOLIC SCHOOL S

It is not news to any of us how in the past 50 years the landscape within the Church and our larger society has shifted drastically.

THE DAYS OF A COMMON CATHOLIC WORLDVIEW HAVE DIMINISHED OR, IN SOME PLACES, DISAPPEARED OUTRIGHT. IN THE END, THE ONES WHO TRULY SUFFER ARE THE CHILDREN. IT IS FOR THEM THAT WE MUST PRAYERFULLY WORK TO RENEW THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL, TO FOSTER A CULTURE IN WHICH CHILDREN CAN EXPERIENCE THE FULLNESS OF CHRISTIANIT Y AND, THEREFORE, BE BEAUTIFULLY FORMED INTO THEIR TRUEST IDENTITIES AS SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF A LOVING GOD.

SUCH A FORMATION DOES NOT JUST HAPPEN. SUCH A CULTURE MUST BE INTENTIONALLY CREATED, CULTIVATED AND NURTURED. IT IS PRECISELY HERE, WHERE THE T WO WORLDS OF HOME AND SCHOOL MUST CONVERGE, THAT PROMOTING THE RICHEST FORMATION OF A CHILD’S BODY, MIND AND SOUL IS POSSIBLE. ONLY IN SUCH A CULTURE WILL LITTLE ONES COME TO KNOW WHO THEY TRULY ARE. AS A CATHOLIC SCHOOL PRINCIPAL FOR 20 YEARS NOW, I HAVE SEEN THE FLOURISHING CHILDREN EXPERIENCE WHEN THEIR HOMES AND THEIR SCHOOL BEAT WITH THE SAME HEART, THE HEART OF JESUS CHRIST! THIS IS WHAT WE CALL VIRTUE EDUCATION — TRAINING ALL ASPECTS OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN TO FIND GOD IN ALL EXPERIENCES, EMOTIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS.

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S I S TER J OHN D OMI NI C RA S MU S S EN is the co-founder of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor, where she serves as the bursar general and oversees the financial growth of the community and schools.

Sister has also been involved in Catholic education for more than 35 years as a teacher and administrator.

SR. JOHN DOMINIC RASMUSSEN, WRITER • MADI MYERS COOK, PHOTOGRAPHER • CAITLIN HOTTINGER, ILLUSTRATOR

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After all, what does every parent and educator desire for those entrusted to them? Goodness. Beauty. Truth. Holiness.

It is not insignificant to realize that the word “educate” comes from the Latin word educere, meaning “to draw out.” This is the responsibility of every parent and educator, namely, to “draw out” and thus form the potential and innate goodness in every child. We see this invitation in the first pages of Scripture: all are made in the image and likeness of a loving God (Gn 1:26-30) and the goods of this creation are given to us to help us grow in that divine resemblance. Furthermore, St. Paul reminds us that since the foundation of the world, we are called to be holy and blameless (Eph 4:24) until Christ’s own life is formed deep within each of us. (Gal 4:19) Accordingly, in raising and educating children, we can never fail to ignore

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these truths and must work tirelessly to create a culture that unites the two worlds of home and school. As such, these responsibilities should not be the sole responsibility of either world. A while back, a frustrated parent expressed a sentiment that captured what our schools should be about: “I didn’t sign up for a conversion, I just wanted to drop my kids off each day.”

While this overworked and stressed-out mother wanted to use a Catholic school for nothing other than a daily respite for her and a safe place for her daughter, she had wandered too close to our mission.

Through her daughter’s own joy and growth in knowledge of the faith through school, this mother’s home was being changed as well. Once again, through the simplicity of a child, a Christian culture is formed and human hearts are converted.

My moments of deepest conversion have

come in searching my mind and heart, seeking the Holy Spirit’s counsel on how to lead. At other times, I would listen to what a parent would teach me about this child, enabling us to enter into an honest dialogue sharing common hopes, difficult differences and a plan of action for this child’s flourishing.

We must always remember, therefore, that Jesus Christ alone can unite us in this common purpose. Only Emmanuel, the Lord present in our midst, can renew the riches of our shared Catholic faith and common sacramental life. But to live fully in Christ, we must speak and live a common language, a way of life which everyone knows, understands and sees reflecting Jesus back into his world. This is the beauty of knowing and understanding the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are abundantly given to each of us

at our baptism — the gateway to all the sacraments. (CCC 1213) At this moment we are drawn into the life of the Trinity and the Spirit breathes forth the sanctifying life of grace. (1266) This grace restores our relationship with our loving Father and we are drawn into Christ’s own life as adopted sons and daughters of the very same Father and even Mary our Mother. (1265) The graces of this extraordinary event are what must be “drawn out” in the life of every child, which can happen only when the parents understand the awesomeness of their vocation in shaping the next generation of saints.

The Catholic vision of the human person teaches that our human nature is perfected by grace. The Holy Spirit is therefore given to us at baptism to grant us the grace to act lovingly instead of selfishly, prudently as opposed to hastily, moderating our

desires rightly so we may live in this world with integrity and joy. The same Spirit empowers us to walk through difficulties and see others, not from our own limited perspectives (so often hampered by stress and our own immediate needs), but from the eyes of our loving Father in heaven.

This is the way of life Christ offers, mapped out in the Gospels and most especially in the beatitudes.

Cultivating the virtues is the way to remain fully in Christ and thus continue his life in our own daily circumstances.

(1 Jn 2:6) This way of life is acquired by an education which enables us to develop the habits which provide us with a firm and stable disposition for goodness. (1833) Children must be able to freely navigate the many “worlds” in which they must live today, from their neighborhoods to their classrooms to their sports fields. This need

to live in the world is precisely why we must give them a culture of virtue, one in which parents, teachers and coaches all embody and bear witness to what it means to aspire to goodness, to live an upright and integrated life in and for Christ.

This formation requires bringing together the two worlds of home and school so the inner lives of each child will live in harmony and unity. Only in this tandem culture can a young mind know the joy of living fully alive as a child of God. This must be the ultimate goal and purpose of every Christian home, of every Catholic school. These places must become training grounds and merciful havens where a child can feel safe to ask questions, to make mistakes, to know there is such a thing as absolute truth and to be free enough to be open to the movements of the Spirit, thereby becoming ever more aware of their vocation to become saints.

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CATHOLIC SCHOOL S

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TIFFANY BOURY, PH.D., WRITER • MADI MYERS COOK, PHOTOGRAPHER • CAITLIN HOTTINGER, ILLUSTRATOR

DO NOT NEGLECT TO SHOW HOSPITALITY TO STRANGERS, FOR THEREBY, SOME HAVE ENTERTAINED ANGELS UNAWARES. -HEB 13:2

GROWING UP, MY MOTHER WAS THE ORIGINAL MARTHA STEWART. SHE WAS ALWAYS QUICK TO PULL A PACKAGE OF HOMEMADE COOKIES FROM HER PURSE, BUNDLED AND TIED WITH FANCY RIBBON FOR EVEN THE LITTLEST ACT OF

TI FFA NY BOU RY, P H.D ., is an associate professor of education, director of the Master of Catholic Leadership Program and coordinator of academic partnerships for Franciscan University of Steubenville.

Her research focus centers on international education and building partnerships with Franciscan University of Steubenville.

KINDNESS. SHE IRONED HER TEA TOWELS — IF YOU ARE UNDER 25, YOU MAY NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT THOSE ARE. SHE WAS THE MASTER OF GRACIOUSNESS. LOOKING BACK, MY CHILDHOOD WAS A MASTER CLASS IN EVANGELIZATION. THESE “LITTLE WAYS,” AS ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX SHARES, WERE NOT GRAND GESTURES BUT MOMENTS OF SEEING CHRIST IN OTHERS. TODAY, I TRY TO IMITATE HER EXAMPLE AND I BELIEVE IT IS THE SECRET OUR RELIGIOUS HAVE USED FOR YEARS TO EVANGELIZE IN OUR SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES — SMALL ACTS OF KINDNESS, ACCOMPANYING PEOPLE AND MEETING THEM WHERE THEY ARE.

THROUGH MY ROLE AT FRANCISCAN UNIVERSIT Y, I HAVE BEEN AFFORDED THE GIFT OF COLLABORATION WITH BOTH DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL CATHOLIC SCHOOL PARTNERS. I HAVE ESTABLISHED ENGAGEMENT PATHWAYS IN IRAQ TO HONG KONG AND AS FAR SOUTH AS AUSTRALIA. WHAT I KNOW TO BE TRUE IS THAT JUST AS THE CHURCH IS FAITHFUL TO HER TEACHINGS, CATHOLIC SCHOOLS ARE THE FOUNDATION OF EVANGELIZATION. NO OTHER ESTABLISHED COMMUNIT Y WITHIN THE BODY OF THE CHURCH HAS THE SIGNIFICANT, ONGOING RELATIONSHIP THAT A SCHOOL COMMUNIT Y HAS WITH OUR MOST PRECIOUS GIFT — OUR CHILDREN.

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hundreds of former students returning to show their support. A Mass with a reported 180 people, community dinner and daily stream of alumni stopping to share their testimonies went on for weeks. Whether one was Catholic or not, if you lived in the town, the Carmelite sisters were your sisters. As we see our religious orders and the call to the priesthood declining, there is no greater need than for the community Catholic school to be the center of evangelization. We can no longer depend on religious to take on the responsibility.

“THE PRAYER OF ONE SOUL ALONE UNITED TO THAT OF JESUS IN THE TABERNACLE CAN SAVE THE WORLD.” —VENERABLE MOTHER LUISITA Recently, I traveled outside the country for work and happened to sit beside a Catholic school teacher originally from Romania. This middle school English teacher spoke four languages and could have easily left Catholic education to work for a large corporation.

Moreover, her colleagues held degrees in medicine, architecture and biology. This was an intimidating faculty in a K-12 school; however, when our conversation

For the past four years, I have traveled to a small Catholic school on the border of Mexico and America.

This modest school was the center of Catholic formation led by Carmelite sisters for more than 34 years.

Returning each year, there was a familiarity that I would long for: the comfort of the sisters’ quiet presence and the all-too-sweet greetings from the children, “Good morning Dr. Boury, may God bless you.” Their devotion to Venerable Mother Luisita, the Mexican nun who founded the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles, was inspiring. The Mexican-American community saw themselves in the school. They connected themselves in the fortitude and courage that the Venerable Mother Luisita represented.

However, after 34 years serving the Catholic community school, in 2021, the Carmelite Order had to make the financial decision to leave. As I walked with Sister Caridad, we cried a little for what was to come. Still, she also explained that they felt confident they had given the laity in the school the foundation to continue. Their legacy reflects a common struggle in our communities today. The last week before the sisters departed, a community parade was held with

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turned toward evangelization, she expressed she felt unqualified to take on the role, “I am but a simple teacher” was her statement to me. This comment has continued to replay in my mind. How is it that such an accomplished educator in her academic discipline does not see herself equally contributing to the community’s faith formation? Perhaps it’s because no one has acknowledged her abilities to do this.

Where it once was the assumption the religious would take the lead on being the Gospel witness, educators and all who contribute to a Catholic school must sit with our religious orders and develop the tools and professional development to build confidence in our teachers and administrators to see themselves as the subsequent evangelization.

As part of this “altar call,” I take full responsibility for the role higher education faculty play. We need to be more purposeful in providing tools for teachers to feel confident with evangelization. But it goes deeper.

Evangelization in a community is not only speaking about the Gospel; it reflects the culture, languages, saints and historical events the community shares.

The Carmelites were not just any order; their Mexican heritage, language and traditions breathed life into their evangelization.

“I AM THE VINE, YOU ARE THE BRANCHES: HE THAT ABIDETH IN ME, AND I IN HIM, THE SAME BRINGETH FORTH MUCH FRUIT: FOR WITHOUT ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING.” —JN 15:5-6 A school community cannot give what they do not have. We live in a world that is so easily connected and still very much alone. If your school, or your student’s school, still has religious interaction in the day-to-day, give thanks. Support them by creating opportunities to document and share their legacy.

More importantly, ask your students how they see their community creating space for the Gospel and works of mercy. Let them own their own evangelization and offer the resources and adult support. This is not a service project; credit or grades are not part of the process. The only expectation is to be centered in one’s own faith life and willing to share the Gospel, offering support and welcoming the community to their school family living, as Venerable Mother Luisita reminded her sisters, “For greater things you were born.”

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Catholic Schools are a place where children...

Find purpose for this life and the next, form lifelong friendships, reach their full potential, and encounter Jesus and grow in faith.

Visit detroitcatholicschools.org to find a Catholic school near you.

PO E TRY

Ask of her, the mighty mother: Her reply puts this other Question: What is Spring?— Growth in every thing— Flesh and fleece, fur and feather, Grass and greenworld all together; Star-eyed strawberry-breasted Throstle above her nested Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin Forms and warms the life within; And bird and blossom swell In sod or sheath or shell.

All things rising, all things sizing Mary sees, sympathising With that world of good, Nature’s motherhood.

Their magnifying of each its kind With delight calls to mind

The May Magnificat

How she did in her stored Magnify the Lord.

Well but there was more than this: Spring’s universal bliss Much, had much to say To offering Mary May. When drop-of-blood-and-foam-dapple Bloom lights the orchard-apple And thicket and thorp are merry

MAY is Mary’s month, and I Muse at that and wonder why: Her feasts follow reason, Dated due to season— Candlemas, Lady Day; But the Lady Month, May, Why fasten that upon her, With a feasting in her honour?

Is it only its being brighter

With silver-surfèd cherry And azuring-over greybell makes Wood banks and brakes wash wet like lakes And magic cuckoocall Caps, clears, and clinches all— This ecstasy all through mothering earth Tells Mary her mirth till Christ’s birth To remember and exultation In God who was her salvation.

Than the most are must delight her?

Is it opportunest And flowers finds soonest?

GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS, WRITER • DIEGO DIAZ, ILLUSTRATOR

G ERA RD MA NLEY HOP K I NS (1844 - 1889) was an English poet and Jesuit priest. He is regarded as one of the greatest poets of the Victorian era.

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MOVIE REVIEW

NOW

PL

AY I N G

“BELLS OF ST MARYS,” 1945, RAINBOW PRODUCTIONS

SCHOOLS ON SCREEN FROM ITS EARLIEST MONASTIC FORM IN YOUNG CHRISTENDOM, THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL HAS BEEN SET APART FROM OTHER INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING, QUICKLY COMING TO BE RECOGNIZED WORLDWIDE AS SERVING A GREATER PURPOSE THAN SIMPLY A PLACE FOR THE TRANSFERENCE OF FACTS. IN THE WORDS OF ST. JOHN PAUL II, CATHOLIC SCHOOLS ARE CENTERS OF SAINTLY FORMATION BY WHICH IS TRANSMITTED “A COHERENT, COMPREHENSIVE VISION OF LIFE.”

J OE P ELLETI ER is a video producer with the Archdiocese of Detroit and a perennial student of film and filmmaking.

WHILE THE VAST MAJORITY OF ON-SCREEN DEPICTIONS OF THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL TEND TO CAPITALIZE ON THE CHEAP JUXTAPOSITION OF THE PROFANE AND THE SACRED, THERE ARE STILL SEVERAL FILMS WHICH EARNESTLY WORK TO SHOW HOW THESE SCHOOLS CAN SERVE AS THRESHOLDS TO THE DIVINE AND PROVIDE INSTRUCTION IN THE WELLORDERED LIFE, THE EFFECTS OF WHICH EXTEND BEYOND THE INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS INTO THE COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD AT LARGE. PRESENTED HERE ARE FOUR SUCH FILMS.

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JOE PELLETIE, WRITER

“AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS,” 1987, MK2 PRODUCTIONS

THE BELLS OF ST. MARY’S

AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS

1945 • Starring Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers • Directed by Leo McCarey

Goodbye, Children • 1987 • Starring Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejtö, Philippe Morier-Genoud • Directed by Louis Malle

This 1945 classic finds Bing Crosby’s unconventional Father Chuck O’Malley, a role originated by Crosby the previous year in the Oscar-winning “Going My Way,” assigned to the inner-city St. Mary’s Catholic Church and its run-down parochial school, which, despite the best efforts of the good sisters who manage it, is on the verge of being condemned. To make matters worse, Father O’Malley quickly realizes that his more practical solutions to the problem are at sharp odds with the sisters, particularly the headstrong Sister Mary Benedict (a luminous performance from Ingrid Bergman), who prayerfully consigns the problem to the grace of God. In addition to their own clashes, the priest and his friendly rival are confronted with the problems of several schoolchildren, which they assume with genuine dedication and affection. The film is an unapologetically wholesome vignette of the Catholic parochial school and, while a school as utterly winsome as St. Mary’s may have never actually existed (not even in the 1940s), it does strike at the core of what Catholic schools are called to be: environments brimming with a love of education, a love of the Church and, despite what differences may arise, a love for one another.

Runtime: 2hr 6min Recommended ages: Kids and up

Partly based on director Louis Malle’s real-life experience as a youth at a Carmelite boarding school in Nazi-occupied France, “Au revoir les enfants” is a poignant depiction of burgeoning friendship, innocence lost and heroic example. Overall, the film is less concerned with moments of heavy drama; most of its runtime focuses largely on the hum and rhythm of daily life at this particular Catholic school at this particular time in history. It is a pattern of life that appears to have been seared into the memory of the director, as the most minute details are given emphasis and understandably so: It is this routine that offers a reprieve for the young minds boarding there from the encroaching and unknown horror of the Nazi occupation.

Apart from the occasional math lesson in an air-raid shelter or the random inspection of the grounds by the French Militia “collabos,” there is very little indication of the greater conflict setting to explode at the school. The film certainly has its moments of adolescent rebellion and immaturity, but the students refer to the priests as “monkeys” with as much affection as mockery and it is clear that in his later years Malle came to understand how significantly the example of the school’s clerics had impacted him. The film is underpinned by their inconspicuous yet heroic example and demonstrates how the Catholic school plays a crucial role not only in the lives of the students but in the world at large, whatever dire straits it is found to be in. **French, German with English subtitles Runtime: 1hr 44min Recommended ages: Adults and up

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“THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELS,” 1966, WILLIAM FRYE PRODUCTIONS

“RUDY,” 1993, TRISTAR PICTURES

THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELS

RUDY

1966 • Starring Rosalind Russell, Hayley Mills, June Harding • Directed by Ida Lupino

1993 • Starring Sean Astin, Ned Beatty, Charles S. Dutton • Directed by David Anspaugh

What begins as a standard comedy of schoolyard rebellion, pranking and general friction between the younger and older generations — more specifically, the worldly and the professed — gradually gives way to a tender story of maturation and a deeper understanding of the joys and sorrows of both religious life and, with one particularly poignant scene in mind, life in general. While not ground in strict realism (this is a fairly whimsical and nostalgic take on the Catholic school, even for 1966), the film has some incredible moments of “otherworldliness” that seem to reach far beyond the quaint or sentimental: a habited sister walking the school grounds as the autumn leaves swirl about her; the sisters entering the darkened chapel on Christmas Eve singing “Angels We Have Heard on High”; the mother superior kneeling before the coffin of a dear friend, hands gently placed on either side, offering a word of affection for the deceased.

Each of these moments, which resound with a palpable sense of the sacred and of deep mystery, are witnessed in secret by our protagonist, the rebellious Mary Clancy (Hayley Mills), and have as profound an effect on her maturation as any classroom lesson or word of wisdom.

In this way, among others, “The Trouble with Angels” is a gentle reminder that the aesthetic experience of Catholic schools can be conduits for a more profound encounter of the mysterious reality we live in.

Runtime: 1hr 52min Recommended ages: Kids and up

Based on the life of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, the film recounts a young man’s hard-fought journey from his parochial school football team to the famed field at the University of Notre Dame in pursuit of a dream he has harbored since early childhood. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that what is often called one of the greatest sports films of all time is also one permeated with Catholic imagery and spirit; the history of the Catholic athletic program is as rich and famed as any of its secular counterparts. From the earliest frames, the film is brimming with crucifixes, birettadonned priests and statues. Throughout the film, we witness Rudy finding solace in the elements of his faith: the priests of Notre Dame, votive candles at the Lourdes Grotto and in the pews of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Not only is “Rudy” an acclaimed celebration of the fortitude of human spirit, but it is also a recognition of the storied tradition of the U.S. Catholic scholastic sports program, the standards of excellence that it demands and the camaraderie that it instills.

Runtime: 1hr 56min Recommended ages: Teens and up

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SACRE D PL ACES

CLOISTERS ON THE PL ATTE SEEKING GOD IN SILENCE

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DAN GALLIO, WRITER • PHOTOS PROVIDED BY CLOISTERS ON THE PLATTE

MAKING A PILGRIMAGE TO NEBRASKA — IT’S NOT SOMETHING MOST DETROITERS W OULD CONSIDER OFFHAND.

NO W, WITH THE OPENING OF AN OUTSTANDING NEW RETREAT COMPLEX, DETROITERS MAY WANT TO LOOK WEST WARD AND TAKE A JOURNEY OF THE SPIRIT TO THE NATION’S HEARTL AND. LISTENING WITHIN The Cloisters on the Platte sits like a shining retreat city on a hill, halfway between Omaha and Lincoln, overlooking the Platte River Valley.

It is the newest of 28 retreat centers in the U.S that specialize in the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) and his inspired life-work, the Spiritual Exercises.

During the Cloisters’ four-day silent retreats, held 47 weekends per year, attendees become immersed in this nearly 500-year-old method of interior discovery. Assisted by expert guides, they learn to listen for the voice of God within, “to find intimacy with God,” in the words of St. Ignatius, “through all created things.”

WHY NOT EVERYONE? DANI EL GA LLI O writes from Ann Arbor, where he is a member of St. Francis of Assisi Parish.

The Cloisters on the Platte exists solely because of the passion of entrepreneur and philanthropist Joe Ricketts.

Nebraska native Ricketts, 80, is co-founder of what is now TD Ameritrade, the online brokerage

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firm. In a conversation we had in early March, Ricketts describes how he never lost hold of the Catholic beliefs bequeathed to him by his working-class parents and nurtured by the Catholic schools he attended.

He admits, though, that he had “grown away from my religion” as his business success grew.

What recharged Ricketts’ faith, fortunately, were the yearly retreats he began attending in the 1990s. Based on the Spiritual Exercises, the retreats taught him the art of meditative prayer, to seek the face of God first amid the daily free-for-all of family and work life.

“They gave me the time to be quiet,” he explains, “to think about my relationship with Christ.

“It was exactly what I needed.”

If the silent retreats helped him so much, Ricketts surmised, wouldn’t they help everyone? From this spark of an idea evolved a monumental decision.

Using the wealth the Lord had allowed him, he would develop — and fund — his own Ignatian retreat center, as a gift to the people of Nebraska and the nation.

THE OUTDOORS IN Simply put, the Cloisters on the Platte retreat complex is an architectural stunner.

Visitors instantly notice the Cloisters’ unique sense of place.

The offsite underground garage is

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built into a hillside to blend with the rolling terrain. A shuttle bus transports retreatants to the campus, passing by groves of oaks, aspens and elms. No unsightly parking lot mars the natural splendor of the grounds.

“The oaks have been here since the pioneer days,” Ricketts says with quiet pride. The complex, in fact, is just across the Missouri River from Council Bluffs, Iowa, a starting point of the Oregon Trail.

Cloisters’ staff members warmly welcome retreatants inside the Spanish Revival-style main building, with its stucco walls, red roof tiles and arched entryways. Beneath the building’s massive ceiling timbers are meeting rooms, a dining hall, library and resident rooms. A glass solarium is a favored place for retreatants to relax, meditate or just be.

The Cloisters’ chapel, clad in limestone and cool gray slate, suggests a simple Gothic country church.

Natural light pours in from sliding panels in the outer halls; bells ring out each morning from a soaring tower for 7:15 prayer.

“I wanted to bring retreatants into an environment unlike anything they may have at home,” Ricketts explains.

“To be in a beautiful place that puts them into a mode of contemplation” was the guiding architectural principle.

Home for the weekend is one of seven rustic lodges, each with a

different look. Some lodges hug the shoreline of a lake; others back up against a shady woodland. The use of rough natural materials — bark and log siding, fieldstone accents, floors of reclaimed wood — exemplifies the Prairie-style design concept “of blurring the lines,” explains one architect, “between the outside and the indoors.”

Healing nature becomes part of the retreat experience. So does the communion of saints. Each lodge is named for a famous Jesuit, such as St. Jean De Brebeuf, missionarymartyr to Canada, and Father Peter De Smet, evangelist of the U.S. western territories. No doubt, many retreatants petition the help of their lodge patron during times of reflection.

FLEEING TO WARD CL ARIT Y The beauty of the grounds and buildings is the face of the Cloisters on the Platte, but the heart of the complex is the Ignatian retreat experience.

On Thursday evening, attendees gather for an opening conference by the retreat director, often a Jesuit from Omaha’s Creighton University, as well as directors from across the U.S. and even overseas. Then begins the Grand Silence. Retreatants maintain a prayerful quiet, listening for the Lord’s promptings, until Sunday afternoon.

“Clarity emerges from silence,” St. Ignatius teaches.

Educator Father Robert McTeigue, SJ shares this insight: in the silence of an Ignatian retreat, you are not fleeing away from something. Instead, you are fleeing toward something — that which will “feed you, heal you, enliven you, console you and perfect you.”

Supporting this process are spiritual talks, Mass, confession, Liturgy of the Hours and eucharistic adoration.

Retreatants have more than enough time to wander the landscaped grounds of the Cloisters’ 292 acres, listening for God’s “still, small voice” in the quiet.

(1 Kgs 19:12) “The Lord will speak to you.

He always shows up,” retreatant Sharon Doran says, describing her own Cloisters experience.

HO W IT W ORKS But what makes the weekend an Ignatian retreat?

The Spiritual Exercises have four sections, or “weeks,” modeled after the periods of Christ’s life. Briefly, in the first week, retreatants go “into the desert” to root out patterns of sin. The second week examines how to hear the call to follow Christ. Making sense of suffering is the focus of week three.

Living a life of joyful service is the hoped-for result of week four. The retreat director abridges elements from each section to suit the Cloisters’ four-day timeframe. Private spiritual direction might include learning about St. Ignatius’s “daily examen”: how to discern God’s will through emotion, imagination and all created things.

WAY OF SORRO W An important part of the exercises is mental visualization: imagining walking step-by-step with Christ as a disciple.

Retreat attendees are helped in this practice by encountering the morethan-life-sized figures along the Way of the Cross walking path.

Ricketts commissioned 10 of the best sculptors for the project. These masters designed 60 individual images cast from bronze, each about 7 feet tall,

to portray the 14 traditional episodes of Christ’s Passion.

“They show Christ in all of his agony, the Roman soldiers in all of their brutality, the empathy and sympathy of the crowd,” Ricketts describes.

“I like to think that each artist [has been] moved by the Spirit,” Deacon Alan Spears expresses in one of the outstanding Cloisters’ videos. An example: sculptor Martin Eichinger began design work as a religious skeptic. He casually attended a Cloisters’ retreat and became “profoundly moved,” which led him to reconnect with his father — and take Communion for the first time in 50 years. (Learn about the sculptors’ collaborative design process at stationsofthecross.com.)

The Way of the Cross meanders over streams and footbridges for about 2,500 feet, the traditional length of Christ’s Way of Sorrow. The stations have become a national destination.

Thousands of day pilgrims per year take the shuttle from the parking area and make their own self-guided tour.

“In just three years, I think we have had visitors from 47 states,” Ricketts relates.

NONE EXCLUDED Learn more about Cloisters on the Platte retreats at cloistersontheplatte. org. Although most weekends are booked for 2022, add your name to a waiting list; the names move up quickly. The cost is free will.

No one is excluded.

To Detroiters traveling along Interstate 80 near Omaha, Ricketts holds out a personal invitation: “Turn off the Gretna exit and come and see the stations. They are some of the most magnificent in the world.”

To those considering an Ignatian retreat, his advice is straightforward: “You ought to do it once.”

“It’s very profound. It changed my life,” retreatant Paulette Paprocki shares. “I would recommend it to everyone.”

IGNATIAN RETREATS — HERE IN DETROIT Can’t make it to Nebraska?

Detroit has its own center of Ignatian spirituality. Manresa Spirituality and Retreat Center has been welcoming seekers of the spirit since 1926. Located in Bloomfield Hills on a 39-acre former estate, the center’s Jesuit priests offer weekend and weekly retreats, days of reflection and individual spiritual direction.

A Lourdes grotto and rustic Way of the Cross enhance the retreat experience. Manresa-sj.org, 248.644.4933.

WHO IS ST. IGNATIUS? A hotheaded, swashbuckling aristocrat found himself knocked off his horse and into a hospital bed after a horrendous battle injury. Months of pain and devotional reading began a conversion process that led Spaniard Iñigo Lopez de Oñaz, St. Ignatius of Loyola, to found the Society of Jesus religious order, the Jesuits, in 1534.

Ignatius’ great contribution to the Church’s mystical tradition is his manual of Spiritual Exercises.

For this military man, the spiritual function is “exercised” through a rigorous 30-day silent retreat. The result is new spiritual freedom, described by one Jesuit as “the ability to be less pushed around by the movements within us that are not from the Holy Spirit.”

Sixty years after his death in 1556, more than 1,000 Jesuit “contemplatives in action” were ministering worldwide. Today, there are 27 Jesuit universities just in the U.S.

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F E D U C AT I O N O ER H AT

FOUND

ING

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OUR HISTORY

Fathe r Gabriel Richard’s acade mic e ndeavors in M ichigan

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JOE BOGGS, a parishioner at St. John the Baptist in Monroe, has written about local history for more than a decade. He has been married to Bridget for eight years and teaches history at a public high school in Perrysburg.

HE COINED DETROIT’S ICONIC CITY MOTTO AFTER A DEVASTATING FIRE IMPERILED ITS FUTURE. AS AN ELECTED MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, HE DUTIFULLY SERVED THE TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN AT A CRUCIAL TIME AND WAS THE FIRST PRIEST EVER TO BE A CONGRESSMAN. WHILE MINISTERING TO THE GRAVELY SICK DURING A PANDEMIC, HE CAUGHT THE DISEASE HIMSELF AND DIED DAYS LATER.

Main image: Fr. Gabriel Richard, perhaps the most well-known priest in Detroit’s history, was an educator, politician, developer and city-builder, but his heart always remained with the people of the city of Detroit, especially his parishioners at Ste. Anne Parish, where he is buried today. Pictured is a bust of Fr. Richard that rests upon his tomb. (Photo by Tim Hinkle)

Background: The Catholepistemiad building established in 1818.

(Illustration by Silas Farmer)

JOE BOGGS, WRITER

The extraordinary life of Father Gabriel Richard, a pastor who served at Ste. Anne’s in Detroit from 1798 to 1832, is now being closely analyzed. Church officials are trying to determine whether to begin the lengthy canonization process in earnest. Simultaneously, the recently formed Father Gabriel Richard Guild is working to promote the lasting legacy of this area priest and encourage local Catholics to pray for his intercession.

It is doubtful, however, that he would have considered himself a saint. Father Richard was a man of great humility, but his contemporaries, ranging from bishops to presidents, praised his many talents and activities.

Foremost among his lifelong passions, Father Richard tirelessly worked for the education of Southeast Michigan’s youth despite numerous setbacks. Father Richard’s persevering pursuit of education for all left a legacy of learning that continues to impact our region today.

It’s important to remember that Father Richard was not always fond of academic endeavors.

Initial reports from the French Catholic boarding school his parents sent him to were not promising.

The schoolmaster indicated in several letters home that the teenage Richard was mischievous, took nothing seriously and cared very little for advancing himself in the classroom.

Then, during Gabriel’s second year at school, a dramatic event seemingly transformed the teen. The prankish youngster decided to climb scaffolding that was being used to erect a new chapel next to the school.

Gabriel lost his footing, fell about 25 feet and sustained serious facial injuries that would disfigure his jaw for the rest of his life.

Apparently, there was discussion about expelling the 13-year-old Gabriel Richard, but the school administrators decided the traumatic fall was punishment enough. They were right; Gabriel learned his lesson. On June 14, 1781, he wrote a letter home to his parents apologizing for all the headaches he caused them. “I beg your forgiveness for all my disobedience to you and for all the sins I have caused you to commit,” wrote Gabriel. In addition, he expressed sorrow for “all the quarrels you have had, of which I have been the cause through my misbehavior.”

After the traumatic accident, Gabriel soared to the top of his class. Reports from the boarding school a year after the accident were now glowing with praise and he graduated with top honors in numerous subjects. With the encouragement of a schoolmaster, Gabriel enrolled in the Sulpician Society seminary and later discerned he was being called to the priesthood. By the time he finished there, as one historian has noted, Richard had become a “scholar of considerable stature.”

Yet as the seminarian finished up his theological studies, his country was crumbling around him. What began as moderate reforms in the late 1780s quickly gave way to radical measures. Every entity and institution associated with the old regime was targeted, including the Catholic Church. The revolutionary government demanded that the Church completely submit to the new state and sever its ties with the Vatican.

Out of 132 bishops and about 50,000 clergy members, only four bishops and a handful of priests and nuns submitted to the revolutionary government. The Church essentially went underground and much of its property was confiscated. Hundreds of French priests and consecrated religious were publicly martyred for the faith.

In this chaotic context, the scholarly seminarian was ordained on Oct. 9, 1791, in a private house with a secret chapel. Father Gabriel Richard’s dreams of celebrating his first Mass in his hometown or becoming a professor in a French seminary were now impossible. Behind the scenes, the Sulpician seminary was able to obtain safe passage to America for him and other priests. Richard’s ship departed on April 9, 1792. He would never see his native country or family ever again.

Fast forward to the summer of 1798. After a brief stay in Baltimore — the seat of the Catholic Church in America — and serving five long years on the Illinois frontier as a missionary priest, Father Richard arrived at Ste. Anne’s in Detroit. Obeying the orders of his superior, Father Michael Levadoux, Father Richard spent much

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of his first couple years ministering to the northern congregations of the expansive parish near Lake St. Clair and the Straits of Mackinac. It was on Mackinac Island where Father Richard seems to have first put his teaching charism to good use.

In a letter to Baltimore’s Bishop John Carroll, Father Richard described his educational endeavors. He taught catechesis every morning and opened the island church for evening prayer followed by lively discussion about “different points of Christian doctrine.” Father Richard reported that many locals attended at night and traders from far away distances flocked to these makeshift religious seminars.

After several months of witnessing spiritual growth but widespread addiction to alcohol, Father Richard actually asked his superior if he could be permitted an extended stay in the Straits region. Father Levadoux declined the request, as his own health was declining.

He needed the vigorous Father Richard back in Detroit.

Just two years later, Father Levadoux would resign his position due to lingering illness.

Right around the same time that Father Richard took the priestly helm at Ste. Anne’s, the United States acquired considerable territory to its west with the Louisiana Purchase. Father Richard immediately thought of the need to establish a seminary to supply the future western Church with priests. In turn, he and his associate pastor, Father Jean Dilhet, began to encourage local boys to consider enrolling in a “clergy school.”

In October 1804, the school opened with nine pupils.

The curriculum consisted of history, geography, Latin, sacred music and prayer. This junior seminary, however, only operated for a year.

A devastating event in Detroit played a considerable role in the school’s quick demise. On June 11, 1805, a fast-moving inferno engulfed the frontier city made almost entirely out of wood. Detroit was burned to the ground in just a few hours. Ste. Anne’s pastor took immediate action. “Day and night,” Father Richard sought to assist all who were left homeless “without regard to creed or race.” The French priest negotiated with American military officials to secure tents and other provisions for the needy. Father Richard was also able to obtain emergency foodstuffs from farmers throughout the Detroit River region. The city of Detroit’s enduring motto, Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus — “We hope for better things; it shall arise from the ashes” — was coined by Father Richard in the aftermath of the fire.

From the ashes, numerous educational projects seemingly arose from the mind of Father Richard.

In 1806, the priest petitioned local government officials “for the purpose of erecting a young ladies school.”

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“FATHER RICHARD’S PERSEVERING PURSUIT OF EDUCATION FOR ALL LEFT A LEGACY OF LEARNING THAT CONTINUES TO IMPACT OUR REGION TODAY.”

Father Richard recruited four young French Catholic women to spearhead the new school. Within a couple of years, 30 female scholars were in attendance. The pastor of Ste. Anne believed so much in the education of the region’s ladies that Father Richard wrote in his will that all of his possessions and money would go directly to the four female instructors.

Unfortunately, the Spring Hill school ultimately failed in just a few years. Though students attended and learned, financial support was the primary issue.

Father Richard actually traveled to Washington, D.C., in 1809 to secure assistance from the federal government, emphasizing the fact that local indigenous students had little food to eat and not much to wear.

President Thomas Jefferson and federal officials verbally supported the mission of Father Richard’s school, but federal funding for Spring Hill never materialized.

Unable to support Spring Hill himself, Richard could only look on as the farm school was sold away at public auction a few years later.

Soon thereafter, tensions mounted between the United States and Great Britain. The War of 1812 commenced in the Detroit region and many of the midwestern Native warriors took up arms on the British side. Brutal warfare and extreme poverty gripped Southeast Michigan and Detroit itself was surrendered. Father Richard, due to his open criticism of British conduct during the war, was imprisoned for a time in Canada, though he was quickly released.

It took the region several years to recover from the devastating effects of war. Through it all, Father Richard was a driving force behind the recovery. Thankfully, the federal government came to the assistance of the area’s residents suffering from hunger and property loss. Unsurprisingly Richard, “a gentleman … of unquestioned purity and virtue” as noted in one official communication, was selected to distribute the aid. A visit

by Quebec’s Bishop Joseph-Octave Plessis in 1816 further documented the ever-active Father Richard during these years of recovery: “He has the talent of doing, almost simultaneously, 10 entirely different things … thoroughly learned in theology, he reaps his hay, gathers the fruits of his garden, manages a fishery fronting his lot, teaches mathematics to one young man, reading to another, devotes his time to mental prayer, establishes a printing press, confesses all his people, imports carding and spinning-wheels and looms to teach the women of his parish how to work, leaves not a single act of his parochial register unwritten, mounts an electrical machine, goes on sick calls at a very great distance, writes letters and receives others from all parts,

preaches every Sunday and holyday [sic] both lengthily and learnedly … ” The bishop, believe it or not, left a few things off the list. At the time of the bishop’s visit, Father Richard also began to engage in cordial conversations with John Monteith, the new Presbyterian minister in town.

They shared similar ideas about education and the two talked openly about grand ideas for a “university” for the Territory of Michigan. A year later, the University of Michigania, or the “Catholepistemiad,” was established by law. Much different than its current status today, the University of Michigan was envisioned by its founding members to actually be a system of public schools ranging from elementary to college. In fact, Father Richard and Monteith opened up an elementary academy in Detroit in 1818 that was actually the first University of Michigan. One hundred eighty young pupils coming from both poor and prominent families attended. Monteith served as its first president and Richard as its vice president.

Like many of the educational ventures he helped initiate, Father Richard did not witness the University of Michigan’s full flowering into an elite academic institution. Father Richard died in 1832 while heroically serving the people of Detroit in the midst of a cholera outbreak.

Joe Serwach, the vice president of the Father Gabriel Richard Guild and a graduate of the University

A 1794 sketching of Detroit, just a few years before Fr Gabriel Richard arrived. (Courtesy of the Detroit Public Library’s Digital Collections)

of Michigan, asserts that Father Richard should be remembered as the primary founder of Michigan’s robust educational system. Serwach also points out that Father Richard was a visionary, advocating for educational ideas and endeavors decades ahead of his time. “The University of Michigan began in 1817 — 20 years before Michigan was even a state. The first plans for a seminary — though not carried out until years later — were his.

The first printing press was also brought here by Father Richard,” shared Serwach.

In one of his final letters that posterity has preserved, Father Gabriel Richard admitted, “God knows how many other large and small mission and school projects pass through my head for the Indians, for the deaf mutes, for the poor children, but the means are lacking in a new country where it is necessary to create something from nothing.” Later in the letter, he expressed how he could not stop “thinking that happier days will soon shine for Michigan.”

As scholars and Church officials currently evaluate the merits of Father Richard’s cause for sainthood, one aspect of his life does not need to be debated.

Father Gabriel Richard’s efforts on behalf of education in Southeast Michigan were remarkable. His endeavors and ideas about providing high-quality schooling experiences for the poor, the marginalized and those considering religious life provided a firm foundation for future generations of local scholars.

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CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD

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FATHER BONIFACE HICKS, OSB, WRITER • ZACH STEUF, ILLUSTRATOR

S T. E L I Z A B E T H A N N S E T O N The fruitful he ritage of Ame rica’s daughte r

THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL PROCL AIMED: “BEAUTIFUL INDEED AND OF GREAT IMPORTANCE IS THE VOCATION OF ALL THOSE WHO AID PARENTS IN FULFILLING THEIR DUTIES AND WHO, AS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE HUMAN COMMUNITY, UNDERTAKE THE TASK OF EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS.” ( GRAVISSIMUM EDUCATIONIS NO. 5) BECAUSE TEACHERS ARE EXPECTED TO BE AN EXTENSION OF MOTHERS AND FATHERS FOR THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN, THEY ARE INVOLVED NOT ONLY IN COMMUNICATING FACTS OR TEACHING SKILLS BUT ALSO IN FORMING CHILDREN IN CULTURE AND VALUES. THE CULTURE OF THE SCHOOL SHOULD THUS BE IN HARMONY WITH THE CULTURE OF THE HOME, PROMOTING INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS “BETWEEN PUPILS OF DIFFERENT TALENTS AND BACKGROUNDS [A SCHOOL] PROMOTES FRIENDLY RELATIONS AND FOSTERS A SPIRIT OF MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING…”.

DIFFERENT SHADES, THE SAME END Few have embodied the maternal role of a school teacher quite like the first U.S.-born saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton. We see the same points that the council made shine through in an Aug. 3, 1810, letter to her friend Eliza Sadler: “[Y]ou know I am as a Mother encompassed by many children of different dispositions — not all equally amiable or congenial, but bound to love, instruct and provide for the happiness of all — to give the example of cheerfulness, peace, resignation — and consider individuals as proceeding from the same Origin and tending to the same end than in the different shades of merit or demerit.”

FATHER BONIFACE HICKS, OSB has been a monk at St. Vincent Archabbey since 1998 and currently serves as director of spiritual formation and the director of the Institute for Ministry Formation at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Together with Father Thomas Acklin, OSB, he is the co-author of Spiritual Direction: A Guide for Sharing the Father’s Love and Personal Prayer: A Guide for Receiving the Father’s Love, both published by Emmaus Road Publications.

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EQUIP YOURSELF TO SHARE THE GOSPEL Did you know that classes at Sacred Heart Major Seminary aren’t just for priests, seminarians, and religious?

Through our Certificate in Catholic Theology program, you receive in-depth instruction on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. With the opportunity to enroll completely online, you can complete the Certificate with flexibility within your own home.

“As a student who had been away from the classroom for many years, the thought of participating in the online version of the Certificate in Catholic Theology program at Sacred Heart Major Seminary was a little daunting at first. But the online CCT has been a very positive, smooth, and faith-enriching experience. Every course has strengthened and deepened my faith beyond my expectations.”

—Mark Laginess CCT 2021 Whether you want to take the next step in your ministry or grow as a missionary disciple, we will help you discern the best option.

To get started: • Call our admissions team at (313) 883-8696.

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• Visit our website at shms.edu/laity

EYES ON HEAVEN

A MOTHER TO MANY

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s passion for teaching initially began as a means of financially supporting her family after the death of her husband. At the young age of only 29, with five children, she opened an academy for young ladies. Soon after, she converted to the Catholic faith, a decision that left her deserted by most of her family and friends and inspired parents to withdraw their daughters from her school.

In her writings she reflects, “The black clouds I foresee may pass by harmless, or if in Providence of grace they fall on me, Providence has an immense umbrella to hinder or break the force of the storm.”

What a comfort. But it was in these years of anxiety, where the livelihood of so many lay on her shoulders, that she kept her eyes steadfastly on heaven, her ultimate end, as evidenced in one of her most beloved prayers: Lord Jesus, Who was born for us in a stable, lived for us a life of pain and sorrow, and died for us upon a cross; say for us in the hour of death, “Father, forgive,” and to Your Mother, “Behold your child.” Say to us, “This day you shall be with Me in paradise.” Dear Savior, leave us not, forsake us not. We thirst for You, Fountain of Living Water. Our days pass quickly along, soon all will be consummated for us. To Your hands we commend our spirits, now and forever.

Amen.

After losing most of her family and friends due to her conversion, she left New York and went to Baltimore, where she was asked by the archbishop to establish a school and found a religious order. She was a quintessential mother and quickly embraced the call to mother children in the school, including her own, and also to found a new family of spiritual daughters, also including her own biological daughters. She had a heart to mother all the poor children of the world.

After establishing the Sisters of Charity, a new religious order that spread broadly, and raising a great many children through her schools, Mother Seton died at only 46 years old. She was canonized by Pope St. Paul VI in 1975 as the first canonized saint born in the United States.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton demonstrated an essential element of Catholic education in the way she approached schooling as a mother. As Vatican II taught, the school should be an extension of the parents’ role in raising children. Mother Seton cared for her diverse classes of children in a maternal way, forming their intellects but also nourishing their hearts with her tender, motherly care. “The girls knew that she loved them, and they loved her in return: not only for her charm, her playfulness, her smile, her solicitude, but because of what shone from her eyes and lighted all her face. It was this that sent them running to her, that made them desperate for her approbation. … It was the maternal tenderness within her that made them always remember her best with arms flung wide to embrace.”

(Joseph Dirvin, Mrs. Seton, Foundress of the American Sisters of Charity, New York: Basilica of the National Shrine, 1993, 327)

ROUND THE CLOCK CATHOLIC TEACHING In a time when public schools were thoroughly Protestant, Mother Seton’s schools were decidedly Catholic. She taught the children prayer and Catholic culture, taking them to Mass, preparing them for sacraments, introducing them to saints and forming them in their Catholic faith. They began every day at 6:30 a.m. with their morning prayers, followed by Mass and then, after a morning of instruction, they prayed the rosary at 11:30 a.m. There was another period of adoration before afternoon instruction began at 3 p.m., and the end of the day included spiritual reading for the older children at 7:15 p.m. Mother Seton also gave the children spiritual conferences twice per week. Everything was imbued with Catholicism, including the punishments and rewards: “time out” required sitting in front of a picture of the Redeemer, while rewards included holy pictures and holy medals.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was singularly holy, but her approach to education from a spirit of motherhood was imitable and able to be passed on to her religious daughters in the Sisters of Charity and subsequent generations of teachers in schools. Her little school in Emmitsburg was the beginning of the great movement of parochial schools in the United States, and the Catholic faith that children received in those schools formed generations of holy Catholics.

We continue to learn from Mother Seton’s goodness and zeal. We can take Pope St. Paul VI’s words to heart from his homily during the Mass for the Canonization of Mother Seton: “Rejoice, we say to the great nation of the United States of America. Rejoice for your glorious daughter. Be proud of her. And know how to preserve her fruitful heritage.”

(Pope St. Paul VI, Canonization homily for Elizabeth Ann Seton)

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PR AYER 101

HOLY GUARDIANS, ETERNAL COMPANIONS “I AM SENDING AN ANGEL BEFORE YOU TO GUARD YOU ON THE WAY.” (EX 23:20) In the not-so-distant past, after returning home from an evening out, a member of your family might have pressed a button on a little device near your home phone to “check the messages.” Today, the answering machine has probably disappeared from your family’s living room, and so too has the home, or “landline,” phone. Our world seems to be connected by instant communication. Direct messages appear on your Instagram, and text messages appear on your cell phone just waiting to be answered. Some friend, family member or co-worker is communicating a message to you.

Hopefully, the person’s contact info is saved in your phone, sparing you from having to send the embarrassing message in reply: “Hey, sorry. Who is this?”

Your spiritual life is not so different from your daily life. Every day, throughout the day, God the Father communicates with you, his beloved son or daughter. Hopefully, you devote some time each day to “check the messages,” that is, you

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FATHER BRIAN MELDRUM, WRITER • ANTÔNIA FELIPE (UNSPLASH), PHOTOGRAPHER

devote some time to pray. Hopefully, too, you have an ever-deepening relationship with the Father, never having to respond to him with, “Hey, sorry. Who is this?”

God communicates and reveals himself to people through various means: through the inspiring power of nature in the world, but also in the “light,” almost “silent sound” in your heart (see 1 Kgs 19:9-11 and especially 12); through sacred Scripture, the Church and the sacraments; through friends and family, like our “ancestors” who received God’s messages through “prophets” (Heb 1:1); and, most importantly, through God’s Son, “whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe.” (Heb 1:2) Throughout the history of human salvation that Scripture records, God also entrusts his messages to humanity to special messengers. We know them as the angels, an English translation of the Hebrew word for “messengers” (mal’akim). The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the angels are “purely spiritual creatures” with “intelligence and will” who surpass “in perfection all visible creatures, as the splendor of their glory bears witness.” (330) The name “angel,” however, tells us less about what these spiritual beings are, and more about what they do. Throughout Scripture, angels communicate various messages.

God entrusted the message of utmost importance — the message about Jesus’s incarnation and humanity’s redemption — to an archangel, Gabriel, who delivered this good news to the Virgin Mary. (Lk 1:26-38) God entrusts messages for humanity to angels, but God also entrusts

humanity itself to them. The angels guard God’s messages, faithfully delivering them to men and women, and the angels faithfully guard men and women too. Speaking about the most innocent among us, Christ instructs us: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.” (Mt 18:10) Inspired by Jesus’ words about angels, the catechism teaches that, “From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession.” (336) Scripture speaks about angels guarding individuals like Sarah and Tobiah (Tb 3:17; 5:4-10; 12:12-14), God’s chosen people Israel (Ex 23:20; Ps 34:8), and even nations. (Dt 32:8; Dn 10:9-12)

Your guardian angel is there — and has been there all through your life — to protect you and to lead you closer to God. You can thank God and honor your guardian angel with that simple, rhyming prayer you learned as a child, “Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here.

Ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide.” The Church celebrates the Holy Guardian Angels on Oct. 2 and prays on that day, “O God, who in your unfathomable providence are pleased to send your holy Angels to guard us, hear our supplication as we cry to you, that we may always be defended by their protection and rejoice eternally in their company.”

Your guardian angel strives tirelessly that you might hear the message of God’s salvation for you in Jesus’ dying and rising. Your guardian angel, who is mysteriously present with you and at the same time before God’s face (see Mt 18:10), has been entrusted with the

task of bringing you safely home after life’s perilous journey. At the end of the Christian funeral, the priest prays, “May the angels welcome you to paradise.”

The guardian angels show that God wants nothing of his loving message of salvation to be lost in the message’s transmission. The guardian angels show that God wants none of those who receive this message to be lost, too.

In Scripture, three angels appear by name. Their names reveal God’s plan for those who experience their protection.

Gabriel means “God is my might or strength” (Dn 8 and 9; Lk 1); Raphael means “God heals” (throughout the Book of Tobit); Michael means “Who is like God.” (Dn 10 and 12; Jude; Rv 12) While not personal guardian angels, these three archangels are powerful intercessors for all people before God. They can help you know the Father better. They can help you respond to the Father’s messages. Then your “hey” will be like Gabriel’s “Hail!”

(Lk 1:28), your “sorry” will remind you of Raphael, “God heals,” and your “Who is this?” will sound like Michael, “Who is like God?” All this so that you can be more like your heavenly Father, too.

FATHER B RI A N MELD RUM was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese

of Detroit in 2015 and served as the associate pastor at Our Lady of the Lakes Parish in Waterford. Before attending Sacred Heart Major Seminary, he was a music minister and theater director and member of St. Thecla Parish in Clinton Township. He is currently studying sacred Scripture at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

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WISD OM FR OM THE CHURCH

St. Basil the Great

SHOULD WE READ NON-CHRISTIAN BOOKS?

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ZACH STEUF, ILLUSTRATOR

CAN WE REALLY EXPECT TO GAIN INSIGHT ABOUT MODERN CATHOLIC EDUCATION FROM AN ANCIENT CHRISTIAN SOURCE? MOST CERTAINLY! IN HIS REMARKABLE BRIEF ADDRESS TO YOUNG STUDENTS OF HIS DAY, ST. BASIL THE GREAT OFFERS WISDOM FOR HOW TO MAKE USE OF SECULAR, NON-CHRISTIAN LITERATURE IN THE EDUCATION AND THE FORMATION OF THE YOUNG. Basil’s answer to this question is: Yes, there is much to be gained from reading non-Christian literature in the education of young people. In his day, this “literature” meant the Greek and Roman classics: Homer (The Iliad and the Odyssey), the poets and playwrights, the historians and the philosophers. Yes, we should read these, Basil says, but we should do so with great discernment. We should take what is good and leave behind what is not.

For Basil, the divine words in the sacred Scriptures provide our genuine source of truth and life. But “pagan” literature also has its positive role to play.

How, then, do we discern what is good from what is bad? Basil proposes that “virtue” is the main criterion.

If the books portray what is virtuous and good — if they show and illustrate exemplary conduct — then we can read them with profit. But when they portray evil and immorality, then we should turn aside and not “imbibe” these stories and examples.

Basil warns against young people becoming “intoxicated” with non-Christian literature in a way that causes them to take in “poison along with honey.”

He recommends the example of honey bees: just as bees know exactly how to extract just what they need from each flower — and leave the rest behind — so we need to discern what is good in non-Christian literature and leave the remainder behind.

For Basil, non-Christian literature cannot give us the full portrait of the redeemed life — only the sacred Scriptures can do this. But this literature can help form us in what is good and virtuous and praiseworthy.

In a beautiful phrase, Basil says that these books possess “a silhouette of virtue” that is valuable and worth our effort to obtain.

Should Catholic education make use of non-Christian literature as part of its formation? According to Basil the Great, yes certainly, but only when we apply careful discernment to sort the good from the bad.

CO M M E N TARY BY DR . DA N I EL K EAT I NG Dr. Daniel Keating is an author and professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary.

ST. BASIL THE GREAT, “ADDRESS TO YOUNG MEN ON THE RIGHT USE OF GREEK LITERATURE”1 Now this is my counsel, that you should not unqualifiedly give over your minds to these authors, as a ship is surrendered to the rudder, to follow wherever they lead, but that, while receiving whatever of value they have to offer, you recognize what it is wise to ignore. Accordingly, from this point on I shall take up and discuss the pagan writings, and how we are to discriminate among them. (paragraph 1) The Holy Scriptures lead us into life eternal, which teach us through divine words. But so long as our immaturity forbids our understanding their deep thought, we exercise our spiritual perceptions upon profane writings, which are not altogether different, and in which we perceive the truth as it were in shadows and in mirrors. … Consequently we must be conversant with poets, with historians, with orators, indeed with all those who may further the care of our soul. (paragraph 2) When the poets recount the words and deeds of good men, you should both love and imitate them, earnestly emulating such conduct. But when they portray base conduct, you must flee from them and stop up your ears, as Odysseus is said to have fled past the song of the sirens, for familiarity with evil writings paves the way for evil deeds. Therefore the soul must be guarded with great care, lest through our love for letters it receive some contamination unawares, as men drink in poison with honey. (paragraph 4) For just as bees know how to extract honey from flowers, which to men are agreeable only for their fragrance and color, even so here those who look for something more than pleasure and enjoyment in such writers may derive profit for their souls. Now, then, altogether after the manner of bees must we use these writings, for the bees do not visit all the flowers without discrimination, nor indeed do they seek to carry away entire those upon which they light, but rather, having taken so much as is adapted to their needs, they let the rest go. So we, if wise, shall take from such writings whatever befits us and is allied to the truth, and shall pass over the rest.

To be sure, we shall become more intimately acquainted with these precepts in the sacred writings, but it is incumbent upon us, for the present, to trace, as it were, the silhouette of virtue in the pagan authors. For those who carefully gather what is useful from each book are capable, like mighty rivers, to gain many additions from every side. (paragraph 10)

1 Translation by F.M. Padelford, Essays on the Study and Use of Poetry by Plutarch and Basil the Great, Yale Studies in English 15 (1902), 99-120. The translation has been modified from the Greek text for modern usage.

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FAMILY CHALLENGE

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COLLEEN PRESSPRICH, WRITER • VALAURIAN WALLER, PHOTOGRAPHER

T E ACH I N G TH E FA I T H T HR O U G H IM P L I CI T CATE CH E S I S

THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC

CHURCH TELLS US THAT PARENTS ARE MEANT TO BE THE PRIMARY EDUCATORS OF THEIR CHILDREN IN THE FAITH. THIS CAN BE AN OVER WHELMING TASK AND ONE THAT WE MAY NOT FEEL READY F OR. WE DIDN’T ALL GRO W UP IN CATHOLIC HOMES, AND WHILE SOME OF US WERE BLESSED TO HAVE SOLID CATECHESIS AND QUALIT Y FAITH WITNESSES IN OUR YOUNGER LIVES, MANY OF US (MYSELF INCLUDED) DIDN’T. THIS CAN MAKE PARENTING CHILDREN IN FAITH FEEL ESPECIALLY OVER WHELMING. WHEN OUR ELDEST WAS BORN, I WASN’T SURE I W OULD BE ABLE TO DO IT BECAUSE I DIDN’T KNO W HO W. BUT I’LL TELL YOU A SECRET: YOU ARE THE PARENTS GOD GAVE YOUR CHILDREN. HE CHOSE YOU F OR THEM. HE KNEW YOU WERE CAPABLE OF LEADING THESE PRECIOUS INDIVIDUALS THAT HE CREATED CLOSER AND CLOSER TO HIS HEART. AND IT’S EASIER THAN IT SOUNDS. I PROMISE.

COLLEEN PRESSPRICH is the author of Marian Consecration for Families with Young Children and a former Montessori teacher. She and her husband live in Michigan with their four children and beloved Gram. In between writing and homeschooling, Colleen can usually be found looking for her cup of (cold) coffee or reading, which she does any chance she can get. You can read more of her work at elevatortoheaven.com.

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IMP L IC IT CAT E C H E S I S When we talk about educating our kids in the faith, we are talking about catechesis. There are two ways to think of catechesis of transmitting the faith: explicit and implicit.

Explicit catechesis happens when you sit down with a religious curriculum or a lesson you have prepared and set about teaching your child something about God directly. Explicit catechesis is valuable and should be happening for all of our children one way or another, whether during the homeschool day, in the classroom or during religious education at the parish.

For this family challenge though, I am going to focus on implicit catechesis. Implicit catechesis happens when we show, rather than tell, our children about our faith. These are the lessons we teach our children in the everyday activities of life, and they can be even more powerful than the recitation of Church doctrine.

So how do we “do” implicit catechesis?

There are a lot of ways! Here are six of my favorites.

MO D EL L EAR NING The first and easiest way to teach our kids is to model learning ourselves.

By reading books by Catholic saints and theologians, listening to Catholic podcasts and studying Scripture, we can make sure that we are well-prepared as primary educators. This will also model to our children a habit of lifetime learning and growth in faith, helping them to internalize the truth that education doesn’t stop at the school doors and that we can and should always be growing as Catholics.

Whatever way you learn best, by choosing Catholic sources at least some of the time, you can show your child that you find the Catholic faith interesting and engaging. The implicit lesson here is that they should too.

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LIT U R G ICA L L I V I NG F O R B E G I NNE R S “Liturgical living” is a popular phrase right now in Catholic circles. It sounds good — fancy even. But it’s really quite simple and within the reach of even the busiest family.

It means that you take to heart the liturgical seasons of the Church, the rhythms of feasting and fasting, and find ways to live them out in your everyday life. There are a million different ways to do this, and they can be tweaked to fit your individual family’s needs and personalities.

When we first started trying to incorporate more of our Catholic faith into our family life, this is where we began.

We started small. The first step was looking at the calendar and choosing one feast day a month that we were going to celebrate. Some families do this by cooking a meal from that saint’s home country or completing a craft project having to do with their life. But it can also be as low-key as mentioning to your kids that it’s a particular feast day, sharing a few facts and asking that saint to pray for you.

Another way that I love to incorporate the liturgy into our life is by praying the Liturgy of the Hours. These prayers of the Church are prayed by priests, religious orders and laypeople all over the world. I try to pray morning and evening prayer each day, each of which only takes about 20 minutes. Now that I’m a busy mom, I retain the habit by praying along with the Sing the Hours podcast while I make breakfast and dinner. (You can find it atsingthehours.org or download from Apple, Spotify or YouTube)

TU R N OR DIN ARY AC T I V I T I E S IN TO OP P ORT U NI T I E S F O R EXT R AOR DINARY CO NV E RSAT I O NS One of my very favorite ways to teach topics of faith to my kids is by using ordinary activities. My younger kids, like most, love to color. So instead of using traditional coloring books, I choose Catholic ones.

As the kids color I ask simple questions to draw out their thoughts: What do you notice in this picture?

What’s happening?

What do you think ______ is feeling here?

I encourage their questions too. Oftentimes they’ll ask questions about the objects they see a saint holding, which is the perfect chance for me to tell them about that person. Or they’ll notice something in a facial expression that makes them curious.

These quiet moments have sparked some of the deepest conversations I’ve had with my children, all because I made a simple tweak to an ordinary activity.

CATHOLIC COLOR BOOKS Artists Rebecca Gorzynska (delphinaroseart.com) and Adalee Hude (“Light of Heaven” coloring book on Amazon) both have collections that are wonderfully suited for kids of all ages.

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Coordinated Care in the Comfort of Home You may have heard the term “Palliative Care.” But, what is it all about?

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WHAT IS PALLIATIVE CARE? Palliative Care is an extra layer of support that works side-by-side with your current health care team. Our objective is to create a care plan that matches your individual goals, and improves your quality of life by reducing the need for ER visits and hospitalization.

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WHO CAN RECEIVE PALLIATIVE CARE? Anyone living with serious illness may benefit from Palliative Care. Consultation visits can be made to patients living at home, in an assisted living facility, or in a nursing home.

HOW IS IT PAID FOR? Medicare Part B, Medicaid, or private insurance may cover this service. Co-pays may apply. Please refer to your insurance plan or call our team to learn more.

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A F EL IC IA N - S P ON S OR E D MI NI S T RY

CHOOSE G R E AT BO O K S Reading is another area where a small tweak can make a big difference. Most of us have a collection of children’s books in our homes. In our home, we read to our kids all of the time, and we try to make sure that faith-based books are always in the mix. As an added benefit, reading is a snuggly activity and we get to tie those warm, cozy emotions to faith when we read Catholic books. Some of our favorites include: God the Father and the Best Day Ever

by Gracie Jagla, The Teeny Tiny Theology series by Michael Heinlein, The Weight of a Mass by Josephine Nobisso and Saints Around the World by Meg Hunter Killer.

P R AY O UT LO UD

LEA R N TO TE L L YO U R WITN ESS STO RY If you’ve mastered (or are trying to) the art of praying out loud in front of your children, I would encourage you to take the next step and share moments from your own faith life with your kids. Often called a witness story, this sharing of your personal relationship with the Lord is one of the most powerful tools you have as you seek to teach your kids about Catholicism and why practicing their faith is important. The more you can do this, the more your children will understand just why faith is so crucial and why it’s worth investing their time and effort in.

As we work toward raising faithful, Catholic children (and hopefully future saints), these six, simple ways to teach our children have been hugely helpful to my husband and me. I hope that you will give them a try, even the ones that feel outside of your comfort zone.

And know of my prayers for you as you do!

For many of us, this can be a stretch, but for children, hearing their parents pray regularly can be life-changing.

One of the ways my husband and I have gotten into this habit is by making sure we stop and say a prayer when we pass by a cemetery, when we hear sirens or when we drive past a homeless person by the side of the road. We say a quick, verbal Hail Mary or “Jesus pray for them.”

Having set prayer times can also be helpful. I put an alarm on my phone for noon and 3 p.m. The beeping reminder is just what I need to pause and pray, and it lets my kids know that I’m going to pause my day and make time for God. It’s wonderful to see them getting into the same habit and joining me in prayer.

We also make sure that we acknowledge Jesus when we pass by a Catholic church. We make the sign of the cross and say, “Hello Jesus! We love you!” It’s quick and easy, but it shows our children how much the real presence matters to us.

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THE DOMESTIC CHURCH

HOW DOES A PARENT TEACH WITH GRACE? A SPIRITUAL CHALLENGE ALL PARENTS ENDURE IN RAISING THEIR CHILDREN IS MAKING SURE THEY DO NOT IMITATE OUR SINFUL HABITS. OUR HUMAN CONDITION IS CONSTANTLY INVOLVED IN A SPIRITUAL BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL THAT, IN MANY WAYS, AFFECTS OUR ROLE AS PRIMARY TEACHERS OF OUR CHILDREN. THIS SPECIFIC CHALLENGE BECOMES MORE APPARENT IN OUR DESIRE TO BE HOLY WITNESSES FOR OUR CHILDREN AND AT TIMES IS THWARTED BECAUSE OF OUR OWN SINFUL BEHAVIOR.

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St. Francis De Sales in his “Introduction to the Devout Life” provides us with the following insight into our human condition: “God did not create you because He had any need of you, for you are wholly useless to Him, but only that He might exercise towards you His goodness, bestowing on you His grace and glory. To accomplish this, he has given you an understanding to know Him, a memory to remember Him, a will to love Him, an imagination to recall His mercies, eyes to see the wonders of His works, a tongue to praise Him, and so with all your other faculties. Therefore, being created and placed in the world for this purpose, you should avoid and reject all actions which are contrary to it; and despise as idle and superfluous all which do not promote it.”

THE ART OF TEACHING The ability to pass on information is not as difficult as one might perceive if the person’s intentions are truthful.

The basic premise of teaching whether it’s religion, economics or philosophy is to convey truth aimed at assisting the person to navigate life and apply that acquired knowledge in daily living.

When religion, specifically Catholicism, is the subject matter the aim as revealed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church is to partake in the divine nature of Jesus Christ. (CCC 457-460) An effective teacher of religion embraces a responsibility to convey the truths of the Catholic faith. The delivery of the Catholic faith should not be contrived or convoluted where the only thing the child encounters is a confusing list of themes and words that convey no relationship with Jesus Christ. Effective religious instruction provides a child with an opportunity to seek a trustful and active relationship with Jesus Christ. This initial step paves

DR. MARLON DE LA TORRE, WRITER

the way toward a response of faith or the willingness of the child to act on what he or she has learned.

THE PARENT AS TEACHER The primary duty of any parent is to convey the truth to their children.

This requires a basic and systematic approach of providing an authentic witness of Christian living that touches the mind and the heart and serves as part of the delivery of the holy deposit of faith and morals that originates from Jesus Christ. For the process to bear fruit a parent must demonstrate a joyful desire to embrace an active relationship with Jesus Christ. Part of this active relationship involves the profession of faith in the creed and a willingness to live a life that embraces the Trinity and imitates Jesus Christ.

Parents serve as the primary motives of credibility and the first example of authentic love a child will see and experience. (CCC 156) This first instance of instruction reflects a two-fold process of presenting the message of Christ, first, proclamation of the Gospel and second, providing instruction on how to actively live a sacramental life in Christ.

TEACHING WITH GRACE The doctrine of grace is defined as a participation in the life of God beginning with the sacrament of baptism that allows us to participate in the grace of Christ. Grace is a favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God. It introduces us to the intimacy of Trinitarian life by virtue of our baptism. (CCC 1996-1997) St. Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians 5:17-18 explains the free and undeserved gift in the following way: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All

this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.

By our Christian baptism, we are already inclined to receive the gift of grace from God whether through the habitual gift of sanctifying grace aimed at perfecting the soul to live and act with God, or habitual grace which is a permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God’s call. (CCC 2000) When a parent expresses a visible desire for their child to encounter Jesus Christ organically and lovingly, this act of faith is a work of grace.

This could be through establishing virtuous habits within the home: praying before meals or over your children before they go to bed, designating time for the rosary, reading Sacred Scripture — especially lectio divina — and intercessory prayer where the family prayerfully intercedes for one another and those in need.

As God the Father loves us so, our children must see our love for them.

The human expression of divine intimacy is nurtured by our motives of credibility rooted in a joy for Christ and his Church. The words of St. John Paul II validate the importance of teaching with grace: The whole of Christ’s life was a continual teaching: His silences, His miracles, His gestures, His prayer, His love for people, His special affection for the little and the poor, His acceptance of the total sacrifice on the cross for the redemption of the world, and His resurrection are the actualization of His Word and the fulfillment of revelation.

Hence for Christians the crucifix is one of the most sublime and popular images of Christ the Teacher. (“On Catechesis in Our Time,” 9) DR. MARLON DE LA TORRE is the Executive Director of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship for the Archdiocese of Detroit.

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GROWING IN VIRTUE

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‘ASK, S E EK, KNOCK’ “ HAPPY THE ONE W HO FINDS WIS DOM…” (PRV 3 :1 3 ) IN T E AC HIN G HI S STU DENTS, S T. T HOMAS AQUI NAS WROTE, “A MON G ALL HUM AN PURSU I TS, T HE PUR SU I T OF WISDOM IS MOR E PE RFECT, M ORE NOB LE, MOR E US EFUL, AND M ORE FULL OF JOY.” ( SUMMA CONTRA GENTILES ) IF T HIS IS TRU E, JU ST WHAT IS WIS DO M AND HO W CAN WE PUR S UE I T SO AS TO OB TAI N I T? IN T HIS ARTI CLE, W E WILL CON S IDE R THE M U LTIFACETED F OR MS OF WISDOM —W I SDOM AS A N IN TELLECTUAL VIRTUE, WIS DOM AS THE HIGHEST OF T HE PHILOSOPHI CAL SCI ENCES AN D WISDOM AS A GIFT OF THE HOLY S PIRI T. W E WILL EXAM INE T HE S UBTLETIES B ET W EEN THE WIS DOM OF THIS W ORLD AND T HE WIS D OM OF GOD, CHRIST AS OUR W I SDOM , AND HO W TO GR O W I N WISDOM .

INTELLECTUAL VIRTUE When colloquially speaking about wisdom, many today would perhaps consider a wise man to be one who is learned, one who knows a lot about the world and has a lot of experience and possibly one who sees deeper into the reality of things. In his work entitled Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle teaches that the intellectual virtues (wisdom, understanding and science) are habits that perfect the intellect, that consider the truth of things as they are and that they are acquired by human effort. They develop and grow in a person over time through learning and experience. Wisdom is the highest of the intellectual virtues as its grasp is more universal and it considers the higher things.

HIGHEST OF PHILOSOPHICAL SCIENCES In another work, Metaphysics, Aristotle teaches that wisdom is the highest of the philosophical sciences. While the various sciences and arts inquire into particulars in different areas, such as carpentry or biology, they cannot answer questions that transcend their limited inquiry, such as the “why” of things. What’s the cause of this or that, what is it and what is its purpose? In a sense, wisdom considers the big picture and knows how everything fits together in an ordered whole. To have an understanding and knowledge of the highest cause, that which sets all other causes in order, that is to be truly wise. That highest cause, that first mover, is God himself.

GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Within the Christian tradition, St. Thomas Aquinas further teaches how wisdom is also one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. For him, wisdom considers the highest cause and orders and judges things according to the Divine truth and the Divine laws. (cf. Summa Theologiae II-II) It seeks “God’s ways.” (cf. Is 55:8) This gift is imparted by the Holy Spirit to all baptized souls in the state of grace.

This wisdom, according to St. Thomas, has a kind of connaturality or union with Divine things, which presupposes both faith and charity in a person. As an acquired intellectual virtue, wisdom can judge aright about Divine things and is obtained through learning and human effort, but it is the gift of wisdom to have a kind of harmony with Divine things, which stems from a union with God in charity.

Thus, the gift of wisdom is higher than the intellectual virtue of wisdom because it “attains to God more intimately by a kind of union of the soul with him.” (Summa Theologiae II-II) This gift, as St. James tells us, “… is from above.” (Jas 1:17)

SISTER MARIA PACIS POLAKOVIC, RSM, WRITER • ZACH STEUF, ILLUSTRATOR

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W O R L D LY W ISDO M VS. ‘ W I S D O M F RO M ABO V E ’ Throughout Scriptures, we encounter these dichotomies: the wise man versus the fool, the wisdom of this world versus the wisdom of God, the unspiritual man versus the spiritual man. St. James clearly lays out for us the different types of wisdom, exhorting the faithful: “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show his works by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. Wisdom of this kind does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity.” (James 3:14-17) St. Thomas Aquinas, reflecting on worldly wisdom, notes that the worldly wisdom — that which is “earthly, unspiritual, demonic” — is a wisdom that is fixed upon an improper end. (cf. Summa Theologiae II-II) It is seeking its end in external goods, goods of the body, or one’s own excellence. What does that mean?

It means that it is ultimately ordering and judging things according to its own standard, not God’s. Certainly we can see how that leads to “disorder and every foul practice”.

The wisdom which is from above is that which is set upon one’s proper end, which is God himself. Ultimately, do I know myself as a creature? Do I know that I am created by God to know him, serve him and love him in this life, so as to be with him in the next? Am I serving God or myself? The wise man shows his wisdom, according to St. James, “by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom.”

SR. MARIA PACIS POLAKOVIC, RSM is a member of the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan. She currently serves as the directress of novices at the community’s Motherhouse in Alma. Originally from Denver, Colorado, she entered the community in 2009, making perpetual profession in 2017. In addition to Alma, she has served in Rome and Winona, Minnesota.

THE PARADOXICAL WISDOM OF CHRIST CRUCIFIED St. Paul, too, addresses the question of the wise man. For him, it is all about Christ, “who became for us wisdom from God.” (1 Cor 1:30) Eloquence in speaking, having all knowledge of the learned, having all strength and power is worthless before the wisdom of God, revealed in Christ crucified. The cross of Christ is the ultimate paradox — a God-man who was crucified for our redemption and sanctification. This is true wisdom for those who have faith, those “who are being saved.” (1 Cor 1:18) Throughout time, and certainly in our culture today, often we are lured by the wisdom of this world, a wisdom that seeks one’s own comfort or luxury, one that seeks self-satisfaction in security or one’s own gifts and talents, a wisdom that is self-sufficient.

Pain becomes the ultimate enemy rather than sin or fear of what displeases God. It is subtle often, and it gently prods, “How can that cross be good? How can this suffering be God’s plan? How is it possible to forgive that offense?” As St. Paul reminds us, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” (1 Cor 1:25) As Christ is the wisdom of God, look to him and find wisdom.

GRO W TH IN WISDOM Growth in wisdom is simply stated — “But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it. But he should ask in faith, not doubting …” (James 1:5-6) St. Thomas Aquinas, in a famous sermon called “Puer Iesus” (“the child Jesus”), reflects upon the reality that the Lord “advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.” (Luke 2:52) As “everything that the Lord did or suffered in the flesh is an instruction and an example for our salvation,” St. Thomas writes that four things are necessary to grow in wisdom: “He should listen willingly, seek diligently, respond prudently and meditate attentively.” Listen to those who are wise in faith. Make the search for wisdom a priority. Lovingly offer the wisdom you have received with others. Meditate on the word of God, meditate on Christ. Think about him, speak about him and through the spirit of faith allow him to be revealed within you.

If the pursuit of wisdom is one that is more perfect, more full of joy, more noble, we see that, according to St. Ambrose, “When we speak about wisdom, we are speaking of Christ.” (Liturgy of the Hours) Pursue Christ in faith! Who more exemplifies the blessedness that comes from the pursuit of wisdom than our Blessed Mother? She is said to have “kept all these things in her heart.” (Lk 2:51) May she teach us about true Wisdom, as she carried him in her womb and reigns with him forever.

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PURSUING HOLINESS

FOR THOSE WE SERVE

SAM LUCERO, PHOTOGRAPHER

WITH BOTH OF YOU ENGAGED IN MINISTRIES OF SERVICE, WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE F OR COUPLES WHO STRUGGLE TO FIND BAL ANCE IN LIFE?

LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT BROKENNESS, HO W DO YOU HELP AND ACCOMPANY INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES WHO ARE EXPERIENCING BROKENNESS?

JU L I AN N E : For the past 20 years, I have ministered in diocesan and parish settings in the areas of adult faith formation, catechesis, evangelization and discipleship.

My schedule can be unpredictable at times, especially during the Lenten season when I offer parish missions, days of reflection and formation events. Early in our relationship, we spent time discussing our faith, how our values aligned and how we were going to prioritize faith and family. Wayne and I realized that our vocation to marriage was the foundation from which we would build our family and our lives. We decided that our family maxim would be Mother St. Teresa’s line — live simply so that others may simply live — to reflect the simplicity that we were striving for in all areas of our lives. Wayne’s schedule allows him to be home during the day, as he works evenings. This means that our children have always been with us, which has been a great blessing for our family. During busier times of the year, when we are on the go, it is incredibly important to make sure that we have quality time built into our week. It really is the little things sometimes — Wayne makes me a cup of tea every morning, and we always find time at the end of the day to pray and reflect together.

J U LI A NNE: I often say that “hospitality, healing and hope” are the keys to walking with people who are experiencing any form of brokenness. All of us are broken in some way but those who reconcile their suffering and brokenness to the cross of Jesus Christ find great comfort and peace. Providing a welcoming space where people are treated as Christ would treat them, receiving them with love and care and practicing deep listening help people to open up and share what is weighing on their hearts.

W AYN E : My path has taken me from law enforcement to juvenile court and included school administration and male mentoring. These professions all may seem unrelated, but at the heart of each of these professions is a focus on relationships and the people we are serving. That’s where Julianne and I find common ground — we care deeply about making a difference in our world and see this as a natural outgrowth of our Catholic faith. I see what we do as very similar — Julianne and I minister to people who are searching for faith and or for their purpose in life.

While Julianne’s ministry prepares people to live their faith out in the world, my ministry helps those who are struggling in life to find meaning and purpose specifically with those struggling with substance abuse issues.

A common theme with all those we meet is the brokenness at the heart of the world and within each of us.

Speaking healing words, offering prayer and encouraging them to find comfort in their Catholic faith (particularly the sacraments), are incredible avenues for healing our woundedness. Lastly, I don’t think we should be afraid to speak the sacred name of Jesus, which holds power. We often are afraid as Catholics to talk about our own personal faith, but while faith is personal, it is not meant to be private.

WAYNE: Two keys for me in helping individuals and families with any form of brokenness are “acceptance and accountability.” I meet many people who struggle with finding purpose in life and avoiding responsibility.

This often leads to situations where people are not held accountable for their actions, and, unfortunately, the brokenness increases throughout their life rather than decreases. Many times it is a sense of overwhelming fear and shame that paralyzes them from accepting what is happening in their lives. I have personally seen that those who have faith, even when they encounter tremendous struggles, can find a way to bring meaning to their suffering and find a way to overcome it. For those without faith, I have witnessed how difficult it is for them to find a meaningful path forward that leads to true happiness and positive change.

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GIVEN THESE REALITIES, HO W DO YOU FIND TIME TO STAY HEALTHY AND BAL ANCED? J U LI A NNE: It is always a struggle to have everything “perfectly” balanced in life. We try our best to care for our family and each other with devotion and sensitivity.

Wayne and I recognize when one of us is in need of rest and renewal. Wayne is very good about telling me when he thinks I need to rest and put my feet up since I have a lot of energy! I also love to take the time to spend the whole day in my kitchen cooking and baking Irish scones when I need a complete break from anything ministryrelated. Our kitchen is the heart of our home. We have many visitors to our home and entertain all kinds of people — bishops, priests, monks, sisters and people from all walks of life. Hospitality is such an important part of my culture and Wayne and I love to share our home and be hospitable. But we also value quiet time and just being together. In terms of ministry, once the “doing” for God outweighs “being with God,” we are on thin ice. Quiet prayer, adoration and Lectio Divina always help me to reset that balance between doing and being.

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WAYNE: A strong faith secures a strong marriage and a strong home. We can sometimes work long hours, so quality time is a priority. We pray as a family every day and enjoy the simple pleasures of doing jigsaw puzzles, game nights and movie nights. Supporting each other’s need for self-care is also very important. A short drive or a short hike can be all we need to get back on track and count our blessings. Communication is a huge part of maintaining our balance. We check in with each other throughout the day and always find time to talk through areas where we feel like we need to devote extra time and attention. We recognize the value of healthy choices whether it comes to our diet, exercise, sleep or faith and are pretty disciplined in this regard.

F OR COUPLES FROM VERY DIFFERENT CULTURES AND BACKGROUNDS, HO W DO YOU STAY ALIGNED ON THE BIG ISSUES IN LIFE? J U LI A NNE: When I moved to the United States, there were parts of life in Wisconsin that were a surprise — particularly the winters! We have very specific faith traditions in Ireland with respect to food, prayer, beliefs and practices that help me to stay connected to and nourished by my Irish heritage. Wayne and I decided upon the traditions that we wanted to share with our children and how they would shape our lives. For example, teaching our children about the witness of the early Christian saints of Ireland such as St. Brigid and St. Patrick has deepened our faith and family life. I also have learned new traditions here in the United States and how to

integrate them into our home lives. I had never celebrated Thanksgiving until I came here, but now it is an important part of our family as Wayne has some unique traditions with respect to Thanksgiving (clue: Thanksgiving often falls in the middle of the deer hunt in Wisconsin).

W AYN E : Julianne brings the perspective of the “wider world” than what I initially grew up with. This has allowed us to travel together to some beautiful places. We hope to take our children to Lourdes one day. Since I met Julianne, I have had a greater sense of my family heritage and have been doing quite a bit of genealogy research into my roots. I feel that our ability to give our children another worldly perspective and greater exposure to other cultures and traditions is a significant blessing, and that, in turn, has enriched our home and our faith lives.

HO W DO YOU BOTH STILL FIND THE CAPACIT Y TO GIVE TO EACH OTHER AND CHILDREN WHEN MUCH OF YOUR W ORK IS POURING YOURSELVES OUT F OR OTHERS? JUL I AN N E : My greatest joy in life is being a wife and mother. Wayne is my rock and our home is our sanctuary and place of security. It is where we find peace and regain our strength to get up and pour ourselves out for others each day. We come home and we are filled. We go to Mass and we are filled even more. There’s a lovely Irish expression that applies to our marriage, “He, She and Thee, all things in Three,” which emphasizes that in every relationship there are three people — husband, wife and God. The phrase “where there is love, there is life” is painted on our kitchen wall as a reminder that goodness begets goodness and for our family to continue to be open to the gift of life in God’s love.

W AYN E : I often refer to our home as our “castle.” It’s a small house physically, but we have created a space of great peace and comfort. Thus, our “castle.” In addition, I often refer to how we live in a “bubble” in that we are intentional about weeding out distractions. We strive for a home free of many negative influences that are happening all around us: news, politics, world events and social media. When they are toxic, they can be obvious distractions that weaken individuals and families. For me, I am often rewarded with the classrooms of people that I meet endlessly. So many stories of pain and brokenness, all of which are constant reminders for me to be grateful for the wife and kids I have been blessed with. Mass is where we all go to reset and refocus on what is most important for us. We may be tired after a long week but sitting in Mass together reminds us how blessed we are, how much God loves us and how he is at the center of our lives.

JULIANNE STANZ is the director of discipleship and parish life for the Diocese of Green Bay and for the past 10 years has also served as consultant to the USCCB Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis.

She has written four books and regularly speaks throughout the country on topics of faith, spirituality, parenting and theology. Her newest book is inspired by her Irish heritage and entitled Braving the Thin Places: Celtic Wisdom to Create a Space for Grace, published by Loyola Press.

Her husband Wayne has worked in the areas of law enforcement and juvenile court and school administration. He currently teaches at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in the Public Safety Department, more specifically in the field of substance abuse. They have three children.

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UNLEA SHE D Q UESTIONNA IR E

WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? I’m actually re-reading What Jesus Saw from the Cross by the late Father Sertillanges and To Know Christ Jesus by Frank Sheed.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? The Lord looking at me and saying, “You didn’t know me.” After that, not a lot. I can handle snakes, but I do hate rats.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE? Close talkers with no sense of personal space … especially in line for confession or at Subway.

WHO DO YOU ADMIRE? Parents who really take their vocation seriously. Priests and religious who love their vocations.

IF YOU HAD UNLIMITED RESOURCES, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? The exact thing I do now … preach and share and teach the Gospel (I’d just sleep in later).

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FEAST DAY?

Mark Hart

Feast of St. Joseph, hands down. Only day he gets the props he so rightly deserves.

WHAT IS YOUR BEST QUALITY? My humility … just kidding. Can you imagine if someone actually said that?

I like to make people laugh and, whenever possible, help them to spiritually and emotionally exhale a bit.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST RISK YOU’VE TAKEN? MARK HART WAS PREVIOUSLY A PARISHIONER AT ST. HUGO OF THE HILLS IN BLOOMFIELD HILLS AND CURRENTLY SERVES FULL TIME AS CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER OF LIFE TEEN, A CATHOLIC YOUTH MINISTRY MOVEMENT BEING IMPLEMENTED IN THOUSANDS OF PARISHES IN THIRTY COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE. A GRADUATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME, MARK IS A BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF OVER A DOZEN BOOKS, A POPULAR SPEAKER AND SIRIUSXM RADIO HOST. MARK AND HIS WIFE, MELANIE, HAVE THREE DAUGHTERS (HOPE, TRINITY, AND FAITH) AND ONE SON, JOSIAH. THEY LIVE IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA.

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I said yes to ministry. Biggest and riskiest decision of my young life and now, 27 years in, I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I hadn’t. God is never outdone in generosity, and I wouldn’t do it any differently.

WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST MEMORY? Growing up in the snow in the Midwest, all bundled up in winter gear to a point where I couldn’t put my arms down (like that kid in “A Christmas Story”).

There’s a reason I live in the desert now.

DIEGO DIAZ, ILLUSTRATOR

WHAT VIRTUE DO YOU MOST ADMIRE IN OTHERS? Humility is the most attractive and admirable virtue in anyone. After that, trustworthiness, candidness and steadfastness.

WHAT WORDS DO YOU USE TOO MUCH? “Unbelievable,” both in joyful amazement of things my kids do and in shocked awe of people’s ridiculousness.

WHAT GIVES YOU THE MOST HAPPINESS?

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB? I had a paper route from age 10 until age 14 in the Arizona sun. I was always tan (arms, not chest).

WHAT IS YOUR MOST CHERISHED POSSESSION? I have a rosary I was holding when my wife, Melanie, and I met Pope St. John Paul II and he blessed it.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT?

Receiving the Eucharist, date nights with my wife, family nights with our kids on the couch, watching football.

At a high school swim meet my junior year I inadvertently mooned the entire Pom & Cheer squad from our high school.

WHAT’S THE FIRST THING YOU DO WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING?

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOBBY OR PASTIME?

If I’m being honest — press snooze, but then I pray. Then I read the morning readings, then sports, then the news.

Writing. I never considered myself a writer or author but I have grown to love words and storytelling and it brings me true joy.

WHAT TALENT OR SKILL DO YOU WISH YOU HAD? Bilocation. Not sure if it’s technically a talent or skill, but it would be amazing.

After that, I wish I could play guitar. I learned the drums as a kid instead and they’re harder to travel with or play spontaneously.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? My kids. They are amazing. Yes, I’m biased but I spend a LOT of time with teens and my wife — with the Holy Spirit’s help — has overcome me to raise the most incredible and funniest kids ever.

WHAT IS YOUR VISION OF HEAVEN? Notre Dame winning the National Championship in football, again.

After that, a life with no pain, no vanity, no ego, no pressure, no hurt, just loved ones and the overwhelming reality of fulfillment. Oh, and being surrounded by music in perfect pitch as we worship (not like Mass).

WHAT DO YOU VALUE THE MOST IN YOUR FRIENDS?

HOW DO YOU DEFINE A “MISSIONARY DISCIPLE”?

Every follower of Jesus is a missionary disciple whether or not he or she understands it. By virtue of our baptism we are called to be missionary disciples.

If you wake up with air in your lungs, God’s not done with you yet and you have a mission this day.

WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT? Teenage kids — literally. They want to hang out all night long, which is fun but exhausting. After that, I work full-time in ministry, so there are a thousand things that keep me awake and I have to continually turn over all of my stresses to God (a la Pope St. John XXIII).

HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED WHEN YOU DIE? He was madly in love with his wife, adored his kids and gave everything he had to Christ and his Church.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE MOTTO OR MANTRA?

Trustworthiness is the most important quality in a friend.

Actions follow beliefs. Don’t tell me what you believe with words, show me with your life.

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR?

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?

The Holy Spirit. Sincerely. No book can compare to the Bible. After that, St. John, but that’s still the Holy Spirit ultimately. After that, I really appreciate Dante Alighieri, G.K. Chesterton, Pope St. John Paul II and St. Teresa of Avila.

People who get upset about really silly things. Life is too short. The only reason to take this life too seriously is if it’s your only one. God laughs. (Ps 2:4)

WHO IS YOUR FICTIONAL HERO? I’ve always liked Han Solo. I like that he’s not a superhero and is aware of his own brokenness and selfishness but digs deep enough and allows greatness and virtue to be unleashed over time.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS? To discover what God created and designed you to do and to do it with everything you have and are. Those who figure this out, in a weird way, have it all figured out.

WHICH SAINT DO YOU TURN TO FOR INTERCESSION THE MOST? St. Joseph is my go-to guy. I ask him for intercession pretty much daily.

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Family is everything.

With the promise of everlasting life and the hope of Resurrection in Christ, Catholic cemeteries offer a place to celebrate the treasured lives that have gone before us.

C AT H O L I C F U N E R A L & C E M E T E RY S E RV I C E S

Phillip Vallar, visiting the remains of his father Phillip Vallar, Sr. at the St. John Pope Paul II Mausoleum, Our Lady of Hope Cemetery.

As Catholics, giving our loved ones a final resting place in a Catholic cemetery is an act of faith and love. The Rite of Committal (burial or interment) represents the communion that exists between the Church on earth and the Church in heaven. Ensuring that the Rite of Committal takes place in a Catholic cemetery respects the lives the deceased led as daughters and sons of God.

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