Jan. 7, 2011

January 7, 2011

catholicnewsherald.com charlottediocese.org S E RV I N G C H R I ST A N D C O N N EC T I N G C AT H O L I C S I N W E ST E R N N O R T H C A R O L I N A

MARCHING FOR

LIFE

Doreen Sugierski | Catholic News Herald

O, tidings of comfort and joy “Light Up for Christ” was the theme for the blessing and lighting of the crèche outside Holy Spirit Church in Denver. For more scenes of Christmas celebrations around the diocese, turn to pages 8-9.

Missal changes

The Charlotte March for Life will be held Friday, Jan. 14, featuring Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life.

Changes in our prayers at Mass will go into effect next Advent.

Our year-long series highlighting the changes kicks off this week. 6-7

FUNDED by the parishioners of the diocese of charlotte THANK YOU!

INSIDE: Everything you need to know to get involved in the march and work for an end to abortion.

10-13

Calendar 4 Diocese 3-13

FAITH 2

mix 16

nation & World 18-21 Schools 14-15

Viewpoints 22-24

Call us: 704-370-3333 E-mail us: catholicnews@charlottediocese.org

Our faith

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | January 7, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

St. Hilary of Poitiers Pope Benedict XVI

Christmas is time to let God transform one’s life

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hristmas is not just a time to remember the past or to wallow in moralism and sentimentalism, Pope Benedict XVI said.

It’s a time to let God completely transform one’s life so that “we might attain our ultimate human fulfillment by sharing in His glorious divine life,” he said during his first weekly general audience of 2011.

Celebrating the incarnation and birth of Jesus is not just about recalling an event from the past, but it is about celebrating Christ’s continued presence in one’s own life and the world, he told pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall Jan. 5.

The Christmas season sparks joy and wonder in so many people because the birth of Christ reflects “humanity’s greatest aspirations and hopes,” he said. However, today’s consumerist attitudes can distract people from that “inner nostalgia” of sharing in the love of the divine, he said.

“But if in one’s heart there is the desire to welcome that child that came to give us life to the full, then decorative Christmas lights can become a reflection of that light that was illuminated with the incarnation of God,” he said.

He said it’s necessary to save the Christmas season from an attitude that is “too moralistic and sentimental.”

The pope asked that people make Christ even more present in their lives by taking part in the liturgy and celebrating the sacraments.

“Our appreciation of the deep bond uniting the Incarnation and the Redemption naturally draws us from the contemplation of the Child Jesus in the Crib to the adoration of his real presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist. The liturgical celebrations of this holy season, from Christmas through the Epiphany to the Baptism of the Lord, challenge us to be completely transformed by the Son of God who became man so that we might attain our ultimate human fulfilment by sharing in His glorious divine life.”

‘A searcher after God,’ a ‘troublemaker’ Feast day: Jan. 13 A saintly life

“They didn’t know who they were.” This is how Hilary summed up the problem with the Arian heretics of the fourth century.

Hilary, on the other hand, knew who he was – a child of a loving God who had inherited eternal life through belief in the Son of God. He hadn’t been raised as a Christian, but he had felt a wonder at the gift of life. Yet, his search for the meaning of life wasn’t easy.

In the words of Olivier Clément, “For a long time he was a searcher after God. He moved from hedonism, to stoicism, he tried out sects and esoteric cults... .”

In his heart, Hilary knew he wasn’t a beast grazing in a pasture. Human beings should rise above desires and live lives of virtue, philosophers wrote. But Hilary knew deep down that humans were meant for even more than living a good life.

So he kept looking. He was told many things about the divine, many that we still hear today: that there were many gods, that God didn’t exist and that all creation was the result of random acts of nature, that God existed but didn’t really care for His creation, that God was in creatures or images. His soul told him these ideas were wrong. God had to be one because no creation could be as great as God. God had to be concerned with God’s creation – otherwise, why create it?

At that point, Hilary later wrote, he “chanced upon” the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. When he read the verse where God tells Moses “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14), Hilary said, “I was frankly amazed at such a clear definition of God, which expressed the incomprehensible knowledge of the divine nature in words most suited to human intelligence.”

But still he was troubled. Now he knew the giver of life, but what was he, the recipient of the gift? Was he just created for the moment to disappear at death? It made sense that God’s purpose in creation should be “that what did not exist began to exist, not that what had begun to exist would cease to exist.” Then Hilary found the Gospel of John, where he read about the Son of God and how Jesus had been sent to bring eternal life to those who believed.

Finally, Hilary’s soul was at rest. He wrote, “No longer did it look upon the life of this body as troublesome or wearisome,

but believed it to be what the alphabet is to children... namely, as the patient endurance of the present trials of life in order to gain a blissful eternity.”

He was baptized in about 345, and about 350 the clergy and laity of his hometown, Poitiers, France, elected him bishop because of his intellect and zeal. And it wasn’t long before his newfound faith got him into trouble.

The Arians, who did not believe in Christ’s divinity, were growing in power and persecuting many faithful. When Hilary refused to support the Arians’ condemnation of St. Athanasius, he was exiled from Poitiers to Phrygia (in modern-day Turkey) in 356. The Arians couldn’t have had a worse plan – for themselves.

Hilary had known little of the whole Arian controversy before being banished.

But being exiled from his home and his duties gave him plenty of time to study and write. He learned everything he could about the Arians, and then he began to write: “Although in exile we shall speak through these books, and the word of God, which cannot be bound, shall move about in freedom.” Writings of his that still exist include the 12-book series “On the Trinity,” “Commentary on St. Matthew’s Gospel,” and “Treatises on the Psalms.”

After three years the emperor kicked him back to Poitiers because he was tired of having to deal with the troublemaker, “a sower of discord and a disturber of the Orient.” But no one told Hilary he had to go straight back home, so he took a leisurely route through Greece and Italy, preaching against the Arians as he went.

In the East he had heard the hymns used by Arians as propaganda. So when he was back at home, Hilary started writing hymns of propaganda himself to spread the true faith. These hymns are the first in the West with a known writer.

A favorite motto of his was “Ministros veritatis decet vera proferre” (“Servants of the truth ought to speak the truth”).

Hilary died in 367 or 368 and was proclaimed a doctor of the Church in 1851.

— Source: Catholic.org

Your daily Scripture readings SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK OF JAN. 2 - JAN. 8

Sunday (Epiphany of the Lord), Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6, Matthew 2:1-12; Monday (Most Holy Name of Jesus), 1 John 3:22-4:6, Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25; Tuesday (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton), 1 John 4:7-10, Mark 6:34-44; Wednesday (St. John Neumann), 1 John 4:11-18, Mark 6:4552; Thursday (St. Andre Bessette), 1 John 4:19-5:4, Luke 4:14-22; Friday (St. Raymond of Peñafort), 1 John 5:5-13, Luke 5:12-16; Saturday, 1 John 5:14-21, John 3:22-30

SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK OF JAN. 9 - JAN. 15

Sunday (The Baptism of the Lord), Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7, Acts 10:34-38, Matthew 3:13-17; Monday, Hebrews 1:1-6, Mark 1:14-20; Tuesday, Hebrews 2:512, Mark 1:21-28; Wednesday, Hebrews 2:14-18, Mark 1:29-39; Thursday (St. Hilary), Hebrews 3:7-14, Mark 1:40-45; Friday, Hebrews 4:1-5, 11, Mark 2:1-12; Saturday, Hebrews 4:12-16, Mark 2:13-17

Our parishes

January 7, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

catholic news heraldI

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2010 DSA campaign a success

In Brief

SueAnn Howell Staff writer

Celebrating First Communion CHARLOTTE — Capuchin Father Martin Schratz, pastor of Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte, celebrated First Communion with six young people from the parish’s faith formation program Dec. 18.

Pictured with Father Schratz are (from left): Natalie Warren, Nayira Warren, Allison Merritt, Lauren Merritt, Miles Merritt and Shalom Aziague.

— Father Martin Schratz

‘Why Catholic?’ faith formation program concludes MURPHY — Anne Scanlan, a member of RENEW International, recently conducted the final phase of the “Why Catholic?” Program that Bishop Peter J. Jugis charged the Office of Faith Formation to implement. This event at St. William Church in Murphy Nov. 18 culminates four years of training Small Christian Community Leaders on the four pillars of the catechism. Of the 40 parishes that originally signed up for the program, 20 continued to the end, involving more than 6,000 participants. In addition, more than 300 Hispanic leaders facilitated the faith sharing with more than 1,480 people.

Although this program on the four pillars of the catechism has formally ended, several parishes and small groups continue to explore ways and means to meet regularly for faith sharing.

— Dr. Cris Villapando

Corrections n A submitted news item in the Dec. 17 edition contained incorrect information. The Diocese of Charlotte’s first midnight Mass in the Extraordinary Form was celebrated in 2009 by Father Carl Kaltreider at Holy Redeemer Church in Andrews. n A caption in the photo essay “Out with the Old, In with the Older” misstated when a statue of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, now at Holy Spirit Church in Denver, was handcrafted. It was made in the early 20th century.

photo by Roberto Montilla, provided by Terri DeLuca

Fourteen-year-old choir member Clare DeLuca sings her original song “By His Side” during midnight Mass at St. John Neumann Church in Charlotte.

Teen expresses Marian devotion by writing Christmas song SueAnn Howell Staff writer

CHARLOTTE — Midnight Mass on Christmas is always resplendent with incense, candles, flowers, bells and hymns marking the birth of Our Lord.

This year, parishioners at St. John Neumann Church in Charlotte were also graced with an original song composed by 14-year-old choir member Clare DeLuca, who has had a lifelong devotion to the Blessed Mother.

“Clare sang all the time, even before she could talk,” says Terri DeLuca, Clare’s mother.

“She was born with a love of Our Lady. When she was only 2 years old our van was stolen in Miami.

Clare looked over at me and said, ‘The Blessed Mother will find it.’ She was just born with the gift of song and with the love of Our Lady.”

DeLuca, who is home schooled, started casually writing music about three years ago.

The original Christmas song, “By His Side,” is a song about Mary giving birth to Jesus Our Savior on Christmas night and her always being there for Him. “I want to be a singer and I like to write music, so I sat down at the piano one day and I started to write a song,” DeLuca says. “I wanted it to be a religious song, and since people don’t write a lot of new Christmas songs, I decided I wanted to write one instead of just singing the old ones all the time.”

Two weeks before Christmas, Peppie Calvar, the music director at St. John Neumann, came over to the DeLuca home and sat down with Clare.

See the performance A video of Clare DeLuca singing “By His Side” can be seen on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYmY7W_trHo.

During that session he wrote down the notes for her song on his computer and then created the whole accompaniment for the brass ensemble, guitar and drums. Calvar also accompanied DeLuca on the piano for the song at Mass.

“This song is spectacular,” Calvar says. “It is a testimony to how the Lord works in the lives of young people and moves them.”

DeLuca’s brother Joey, who is also musically gifted and plays the guitar in the youth band at St. John Neumann, accompanied his sister on the guitar as she sang the song during Holy Communion at Mass.

Father Pat Hoare, pastor of St. John Neumann, celebrated the midnight Mass and reflected on DeLuca’s song: “It is a blessing that Clare used her musical gifts to compose a song of praise for the mystery of the Incarnation. To have her share that gift with our congregation this Christmas Eve allowed them to contemplate more deeply what God has done for us.”

The DeLucas have copyrighted the song and hope it is the start of a blessed musical career for Clare.

CHARLOTTE — Despite the difficult economy, parishioners in the Diocese of Charlotte have proven that where there is a will there is a way in meeting the goals set in the 2010 Diocesan Support Appeal.

This year’s theme “Cast Your Nets into the Deep” raised pledges in the amount of $4,884,000, exceeding the campaign’s goal of $4,300,000.

“Currently we have 66 parishes/missions over goal in pledges,” said Barbara Gaddy, associate director of development for the Diocese of Charlotte.

“That means that 72 percent of our parishes did make or exceed goal.

Typically parishes that follow all aspects of the campaign plan make their goal. I imagine several more will go over with the year-end giving.”

One of the first parishes to exceed its 2010 goal was Our Lady of the Highways Church in Thomasville, with 400 registered families.

Oblates of St. Francis de Sales Father James Turner, pastor, said he attributes the parish’s success in exceeding its goal to educating parishioners about the campaign and the ministries it funds. “We show the video and put information in the bulletin to make people aware of the need and what they can contribute to help alleviate needs,” he said Periodically throughout the year, parishioners were kept updated on the progress towards their goal in collecting pledges, he said.

The annual Diocesan Support Appeal directly funds more than 50 programs for ministries in education, Catholic Social Services, housing, multicultural ministries and vocations.

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | January 7, 2011 OUR PARISHES

Diocesan calendar BELMONT QUEEN OF THE APOSTLES CHURCH, 503 N. MAIN ST.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following event over the next week: Jan. 11 - 11 a.m.

Presbyteral Council Meeting Diocesan Pastoral Center, Charlotte

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS CHURCH, 1400 SUTHER ROAD

— My Lord and My God: A Scriptural Journey with the Followers of Jesus, MAK Center Conference Room, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 9. Contact Lynn Spada at tandispada@aol.com or 704-398-2943, or faith formation office at 704-8259600.

This week’s spotlight: Fifth Annual March for Life Charlotte, Jan. 14

— Centering Prayer Sessions, Room B, 7-8:30 p.m.

Mondays. Contact Peggy Geiger at 704-865-0898.

— ST. PETER CHURCH, 507 S. Tryon St., Mass for the Unborn, 9 a.m.

CHARLOTTE CAMPUS MINISTRY, 9408 Sandburg Road — Wednesday Dinners, 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday, open to all college students. Visit sco.uncc.edu/catholic. diocesan pastoral center, 1123 s. church st.

— Natural Family Planning Introduction and Full Course, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Jan. 8. RSVP required to Batrice Adcock, MSN, RN, at cssnfp@charlottediocese.org or 704-3703230.

OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION CHURCH, 4207 Shamrock Dr. — Bible Study Groups, 9:45-10:45 a.m. Sundays or 7:30-9 p.m. Wednesdays. Contact Deacon Kevin Williams at 704-537-9973.

ST. GABRIEL CHURCH, 3016 Providence Road — Shining Stars Adult Day Respite for those with early to moderate Alzheimer’s Disease, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact Suzanne Bach at 704-335-0253.

— Shining Stars Adult Day Respite Caregivers Support Group, Ministry Center Room E, 10-11:30 a.m. last Monday of each month. Contact Suzanne Bach at 704-335-0253. st. matthew church, 8015 Ballantyne commons pkwy.

— Back to Basics, Catholicism 101: Mariology (Study of Mary), presented by Sister Mary Hugh Mauldin, RSM, NLC Room 203, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Jan. 12— Back to Basics: Survey of the New Testament, presented by Sister Mary Hugh Mauldin, RSM, NLC Room 203, 7-8:15 p.m. Mondays, 9:30-10:45 a.m. Wednesdays

— Diocesan pastoral Center, 1123 S. Church St., 11 a.m. March from Pastoral Center to Trade and Tryon streets, noon, followed by a march from Trade and Tryon streets to the U.S. Courthouse at 401 W. Trade St. for full coverage of the march, see pages 10-13.

— Support for Unemployed, Aquinas Hall, 10-11:30 a.m.

Mondays. Contact Steve Basinski at jsbas@carolina. rr.com or 704-456-7434.

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL CHURCH, 6828 Old Reid Road — The Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Meeting, 7 p.m. third Wednesday of each month. They welcome Irish-Catholic women who are interested in sharing their Catholic faith, Christian charity and the traditions of the Irish people. Contact Mary Herbert at mherbert@ carolina.rr.com or 704-231-9546.

GREENSBORO OUR LADY OF GRACE CHURCH, 2205 w. mARKET ST. — Mass in the Extraordinary Form, 4 p.m. Jan. 9 — The Battle of Prayer: How to Win It, presented with Father John Bartunek, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Jan. 12. Childcare available by calling David and Meg Froppe at 336-5104218.

— Answering the Call to Full Participation in the Life and Ministry of the Church, New Life Center Banquet Room, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13

st. pius x church, 220 state st.

— Cancer Support Group, New Life Center, 10 a.m.-noon first Thursday of each month

HUNTERSVILLE

st. peter church, 507 s. tryon st.

— Jewish Catholic Dialogue Group, 5 p.m. Jan. 9. This year’s theme is “Life Cycles: How Each Faith Celebrates.” Call Ann Weber at 704-364-9850 or Gail Breen at 704-5221495.

— Eleventh Annual Kennedy Lecture: “And You Welcomed Me,” Biss Hall, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Jan. 15. RSVP to kennedylecture@gmail.com.

— Ignatian Regtreat for Women, 8:30 a.m.-noon Jan. 29.

Free parking in the Green Parking Garage next door.

Register at ignatianretreat@gmail.com or 704-332-2901.

— Respect Life Mass, 7 p.m. Jan. 17

st. mark church, 14740 stumptown road — Our Lady of Perpetual Help Novenas, 6:30 p.m. Mondays — Eucharistic Adoration, Chapel, 7:30 a.m. Fridays-8:45 a.m.

Saturdays

WINSTON-SALEM HOLY FAMILY CHURCH, 4820 Kinnamon Road — Active Parenting of Teens Workshop, Family Center, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Jan. 15 and 16. RSVP by Jan. 12 to ahuman@ charlottediocese.org or 336-725-4678 ext. 226.

— Charismatic Prayer Group, Chapel, 7:15 p.m. Mondays — Eucharistic Adoration, Curlin Center, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m.

Thursdays

Is your parish or school hosting a free event open to the public? Deadline for all submissions for the Diocesan Calendar is 10 days prior to desired publication date. Submit in writing to catholicnews@charlottediocese.org or fax to 704-370-3382.

January 7, 2011 Volume 20 • Number 6

1123 S. Church St. Charlotte, N.C. 28203-4003 catholicnews@charlottediocese.org 704-370-3333 PUBLISHER: The Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis, Bishop of Charlotte

EDITOR: Patricia L. Guilfoyle 704-370-3334, plguilfoyle@charlottediocese.org COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT/CIRCULATION: Denise Onativia 704-370-3333, catholicnews@charlottediocese.org ADVERTISING MANAGER: Cindi Feerick 704-370-3332, ckfeerick@charlottediocese.org STAFF WRITER: SueAnn Howell 704-370-3354, sahowell@charlottediocese.org GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Tim Faragher 704-370-3331, tpfaragher@charlottediocese.org

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January 7, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

OUR PARISHESI

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In Brief

Mission weekend focuses on family HIGH POINT — Christ the King Church hosted a mission in their Multicultural Center on Thanksgiving weekend. Coordinated by the Oblate Apostles of the Two Hearts (OATH) brothers and the Leaven of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (LIHM) sisters of the Alliance of the Holy Family International, it began with a Youth Retreat for seventhand eighth-graders that included talks, skits, games and breakout sessions. The Two Hearts Seminar on Saturday opened with music and recitation of the Rosary. Father Jose Viola, spiritual director for the alliance, spoke about “Living the Fatima Message.”

The weekend events culminated with Two Hearts Family Day, which included talks and activities focusing on the importance and strengthening of the family.

— Kathy Roach

Campus minister gets national attention GREENSBORO — Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart Sister Eileen Spangler, the Greensboro regional campus minister serving the Diocese of Charlotte, gave the closing prayer during a recent breakfast meeting in Baltimore of the Catholic Campus Ministry Association, the national professional organization for Catholic campus ministers in the U.S. Sister Eileen serves on the executive board of the Catholic Campus Ministry Association. On Nov. 16, the CCMA hosted a breakfast for the bishops during their meeting in Baltimore, where Bishop Matthew Clark of Rochester, N.Y., was honored for his support of campus ministry. Above, Sister Eileen is pictured with Bishop Clark and Bishop Edward Kmiec of Buffalo, N.Y. — Matthew Newsome We welcome your parish’s news. E-mail items to Editor Patricia Guilfoyle at plguilfoyle@ charlottediocese.org.

photo provided by James Turner

Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B., of Belmont Abbey was invested as conventual chaplain ad honorem of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta (better known as the Order of Malta) during a Mass celebrated by Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte Dec. 11. Pictured from left are Joseph Tronco, Knight of Malta; Bishop Curlin, who places the cross of the order on Abbot Solari; and Michele Bowe, Dame of Malta, who served as agent for the investiture and read the proclamation from the grand master of the order in Rome.

Abbot invested as chaplain of the Order of Malta CHARLOTTE — Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B., of Belmont Abbey was invested as conventual chaplain ad honorem of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta (better known as the Order of Malta) during a Mass Dec. 11 celebrated by Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte.

As chaplain, Abbot Solari will work with Order of Malta members to carry out the

order’s charitable and humanitarian works in the region.

Charlotte area hospitaller Jerry Schmitt welcomed more than 40 members from Charlotte and the surrounding area for the investiture.

Michele Bowe, Dame of Malta, served as agent for the investiture and read the proclamation from the grand master of the order, who resides in Rome.

The Order of Malta is a worldwide lay

Operation Rice Bowl grant awarded WADESBORO — Father John Starczewski, pastor of St. James the Greater Church in Hamlet and Sacred Heart Mission in Wadesboro, presented Ann James, director of Anson Crisis Ministry, a check for $1,000 Dec. 19. The Operation Rice Bowl grant, given by the Diocese of Charlotte from funds received from Catholic Relief Services, will be combined with donations from other Anson County faith groups to provide food and clothing to the area’s poor.

Anson Crisis Ministry, the oldest and largest non-profit organization in Anson County, offers emergency assistance to the displaced, marginalized and unemployed.

“We ask our clients for proof of residency within the county, Social Security cards, income information and verification of food stamps, when applicable,” James said, “but you would be surprised at how many people don’t have Social Security cards. We help anyone the first time, then we try to direct them to programs, and to Rockingham, where they can apply for Social Security cards.”

To learn more, visit ansoncrisisministry.org.

— Melonie McLaurin

religious order of the Church founded in 1113 to serve the sick and the poor and bear witness to the faith.

With more than 900 men and women members, the order’s Federal Association serves the poor and sick throughout the U.S. and around the world from its headquarters in Washington, D.C. More than 40 active members are in North Carolina.

Father John Starczewski, pastor of St. James the Greater parish in Hamlet and Sacred Heart Mission in Wadesboro, presented Ann James, director of Anson Crisis Ministry, a check for $1,000 Dec. 19. The Operation Rice Bowl grant, given by the Diocese of Charlotte from funds received from Catholic Relief Services, will be combined with donations from other Anson County faith groups to provide food and clothing to the area’s poor.

Melonie McLaurin | Catholic News Herald

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | January 7, 2011 OUR PARISHES

Louie Verrecchio

Preparing the way for the Roman Missal

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hen Pope Benedict XVI received a hardbound copy of the approved English translation of the Roman Missal from members of the Vox Clara Committee on April 28, 2010, he said, “Soon the fruits of your labors will be made available to English-speaking congregations everywhere. Through these sacred texts and the actions that accompany them, Christ will be made present and active in the midst of His people.”

Besides striking a clearly optimistic tone, the Holy Father cautioned, “Many will find it hard to adjust to unfamiliar texts after nearly 40 years of continuous use of the previous translations.”

The target date for the newly translated Missal’s official use is the first Sunday of Advent 2011, and Pope Benedict exhorted clergy and laity alike to use these intervening months as a time of preparation.

“The opportunity for catechesis that this time presents will need to be firmly grasped. I pray that in this way any risk of confusion or bewilderment will be averted, and the change will serve instead as a springboard for a renewal and a deepening of Eucharistic devotion all over the English-speaking world,” he concluded.

Over the next several months, you will find in this space Catholic News Agency’s contribution to this effort: a series of nine columns excerpted from my book, “And with Your Spirit – Recovering a sense of the sacred in the English translation of the Roman Missal – 3rd Edition,” as well as commentaries from others at the USCCB and in the Diocese of Charlotte.

Besides reviewing each of the forthcoming new prayers and responses in the people’s parts of Holy Mass and exploring their deeper meaning, we will also address such important questions as: n What is the nature of the sacred liturgy as Holy Mother Church understands it? n How is the revised English translation of the Missal related to the teachings of Vatican II? n What is “fully conscious and active participation” as the Council intended it? n How does the revised text foster a more authentic form of active participation? n How will the revised translation help restore a sense of the sacred at Holy Mass?

My hope is that this series will serve as an opportunity for readers to engage in the sort of liturgical catechesis that the Holy Father has encouraged as we prepare for the great gift that we are about to receive in the revised English translation of the Roman Missal.

In hopeful anticipation, join me now in consecrating our efforts in this series to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Mother of the Liturgy – that with the aid of her guidance, protection and prayerful intercession, we may emerge from these pages with a greater love and appreciation for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, for the greater glory of her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and His Bride, the Church. Amen.

Ad Iesum per Mariam!

Louie Verrecchio is a Catholic speaker, author and Catholic News Agency columnist. For more information go to harvestingthefruit.com.

CNS | Paul Haring

The English translation of the third edition of the Roman Missal is seen in Rome. Announced by Pope John Paul II in 2000 and first published in Latin in 2002, the Missal underwent a lengthy translation process and received approval by the Vatican in 2010 for use beginning Nov. 27, 2011.

Key changes to Missal capture original meanings James Breig Catholic News Agency

Casual observers of the Roman Catholic Church often remark that it hasn’t changed in 2,000 years. Actually, just like any living institution, it is always changing. Over the centuries, where and when the Mass is celebrated, how saints are chosen, and the method of electing popes are some of the ways the Church has adjusted its traditions.

Now come changes to the Roman Missal, the book containing the prayers for the Mass. For years, the Church has been working to more accurately translate those prayers from the Latin in which the original Missal is promulgated into modern languages, including English. Monsignor Kevin Irwin, dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., says these alterations were necessitated by two factors.

“First, the committee charged with the English translation of the Roman Missal issued the post-Vatican II translations very quickly,” he notes, referring to the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. “They realized, after a few years’ use of the Missal, that some translations should have been more accurate. Second, some feasts have been added to the Church’s liturgical calendar in recent years, for example, Padre Pio’s.

Those Latin Masses need to be translated into English.”

Peter Finn, associate director of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, compares the changes “to the cleaning of an old painting whose images are brought to clearer light in the cleaning process. …The translations have sought to achieve a suitable balance between the word-for-word, literal

Learn more This is the first part of a year-long series featuring the revised translation of the Third Missal. Our series will be compiled online at catholicnewsherald.com.

For even more resources, check out the U.S. bishops’ extensive material online at usccb.org/romanmissal.

meaning of the Latin and the demands of good proclamation, style and intelligibility.”

One of the most significant changes, Monsignor Irwin says, involves the familiar phrase, “And also with you,” which the congregation recites after the celebrant of the Mass says, “The Lord be with you.”

He explains that “the congregation will now say, ‘And with your spirit.’ This places the English translation in line with most other languages. The response is not to the person of the priest but to the Spirit of God, who ordained him to permanent service in the Church.”

Monsignor Anthony Sherman, executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Divine Worship, says the revised translations “will invite the faithful to pause and reflect on what, after so many years, we may have taken for granted. People will listen more attentively to the various prayers proclaimed by the priest and these will convey a much deeper richness, which can be the basis for meditation and prayer for the enrichment of one’s spiritual life.”

OUR PARISHESI

January 7, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

Changes coming

Commonly asked questions Why was there a need for a new translation?

The Missale Romanum (Roman Missal), the ritual text for the celebration of the Mass, was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as the definitive text of the reformed liturgy of the Second Vatican Council. That Latin text, the editio typica (typical edition), was translated into various languages for use around the world; the English edition was published in the U.S. in 1973. The Holy See issued a revised text, the editio typica altera, in 1975. Pope John Paul II promulgated the third edition (editio typica tertia) of the Missale Romanum during the Jubilee Year in 2000. Among other things, the third edition contains prayers for the celebration of recently canonized saints, additional prefaces for the Eucharistic Prayers, additional Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Intentions, and some updated and revised rubrics for the celebration of the Mass. Since then, an English translation of the third edition has been under way and was approved by the Holy Father last spring.

The long-term goal of the revised translation is to foster a deeper awareness and appreciation of the mysteries being celebrated in the Liturgy. The axiom “lex orandi, lex credendi” — “what we pray is what we believe” — suggests that there is a direct relationship between the content of our prayers and the substance of our faith.

Some changes in wording at Mass that will come with the revised Roman Missal in English at Advent 2011 Part of Mass

Present Wording

Revised Wording

People’s response at the Greeting, Preface Dialogue, Sign of Peace and Concluding Rites

And also with you.

And with your spirit.

Penitential Act (form A)

...I have sinned through my own fault...

...I have greatly sinned...through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault...

Gloria

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory...

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father. ...

Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all this is seen and unseen...

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. ...

...one in being with the Father.

Through Him all things were made. ...

...consubstantial with the Father; through Him all things were made. ...

Sanctus

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. ...

Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts. ...

Mystery of Faith (Memorial Acclamation, form A)

Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

We proclaim your death, O Lord,

Who completed the work of translation?

The process of translation was a highly consultative work of several groups. The International Commission on English in the Liturgy is chartered to prepare English translations of liturgical texts on behalf of the conferences of bishops of English–speaking countries.

The USCCB and the other English-speaking conferences of bishops received draft translations of each text from ICEL and had the opportunity to offer comments and suggestions to ICEL. A second draft was then prepared by ICEL, which each conference of bishops approved and submitted to the Vatican for final approval. At the level of the Vatican (the Holy See), the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments examined texts and offered authoritative approval (recognitio) of texts, granting permission for their use. The Congregation was aided by the recommendations of Vox Clara, a special committee of bishops and consultants from English– speaking countries convened to assist with the English translation.

What’s new or different?

The unique style of the Roman Rite should be maintained in translation. By “style” is meant here the distinctive way in which the prayers of the Roman Rite are expressed. The principal elements of such a style include a certain conciseness in addressing, praising and entreating God, as well as distinctive syntactical patterns, a noble tone, concreteness of images, repetition, parallelism and rhythm as measured through the cursus, or ancient standards for stressing syllables of Latin words in prose or poetry. The texts of the revised translation are marked by a heightened style of English speech and a grammatical structure that closely follows the Latin text. In addition, many Biblical and poetic images, such as “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof…” (Communion Rite) and “…from the rising of the sun to its setting” (Eucharistic Prayer III) have been restored.

When will the revised translation start?

The full text will go into use the first Sunday of Advent, Nov. 27, 2011.

and profess your Resurrection until you come again.

— Source: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

7

8

charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | January 7, 2011 OUR PARISHES

‘O, tidings of comfort and joy’ ...

photo provided by Bernadette Such

St. Nicholas paid a visit to St. Joseph Church in Asheboro, Dec. 18. Participants enjoyed a pancake breakfast and getting their pictures taken with St. Nicholas.

Doreen Sugierski | Catholic News Herald

Spencer Wessel performs his altar server duties among the festive Christmas decorations adorning the newly-renovated sanctuary of Holy Spirit Church in Denver.

Parishioners at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in High Point helped decorate the church Dec. 23 for Christmas.

Paul Viau | Catholic News Herald

Kathy Roach | Catholic News Herald

Augustinian Father John Denny leads parish children to the Nativity scene at St. Margaret of Scotland Church in Maggie Valley during the Christmas Eve vigil Mass for children and families. The children and the children’s choir sang “Happy Birthday to Jesus.”

January 7, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

OUR PARISHESI

9

Scenes of Christmas spirit across our diocese

PHOTOS BY sueann howell | CATHOLIC news herald

Santa’s Helpers deliver Christmas goodies Members of the youth group, Boy Scouts of America and volunteers from St. John Neumann Church in Charlotte helped deliver food and toys to more than 1,000

photo provided by Mary Stapleton

children in need Dec. 18 as part of the Santa’s Helpers outreach this Christmas.

Two of St. Mark Church’s preschool classes in Charlotte presented a “Live Nativity” Dec. 17.

Jennifer Krawiec | Catholic News Herald

Father Bob Ferris of St. Aloysius Church in Hickory had a special homily just for the children at Mass on Christmas Eve. He named his game “Wheel of Christmas” and encouraged the children to participate in guessing the answer to the question: “What is the best reason to celebrate Christmas?” After his homily, Father Ferris and the children sang “Happy Birthday” to Jesus.

Patricia Guilfoyle | Catholic News Herald

Bishop Peter J. Jugis celebrated midnight Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte Dec. 25. In his homily, Bishop Jugis encouraged the faithful to welcome with joyful hearts Jesus, God’s only Son, who was sent for our salvation.

10

FROM THE COVER

MARCHING FOR In January we especially remember the rights of the unborn with the tragic anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. This week, coverage kicks off with the Jan. 14 March for Life Charlotte. In coming weeks, we’ll feature local people engaged in the pro-life cause, the Jan. 17 Right to Life Mass in Greensboro, the Jan. 24 March for Life in Washington, D.C., and prayers and ideas for you to help.

Come out and pray SueAnn Howell Staff writer

CHARLOTTE — All life is sacred, and on Friday, Jan. 14, the faithful can stand up for the rights of the unborn during the annual March for Life Charlotte, which is a local lead up to the national March for Life in Washington, D.C. Now in its fifth year, the Charlotte March for Life is drawing national recognition this year as Father Frank Pavone, the national director of Priests for Life, will attend the march and celebrate Mass.

Priests for Life is an international, ecumenical movement comprised of a family of ministries created to help equip clergy and educate people about the grave evil of abortion with the hopes of eradicating it through legislation and repeal of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the killing of unborn babies.

Father Pavone is well-known for his appearances on the Eternal Word Television Network, hosting the series “Defending Life” and celebrating Mass frequently during his visits to the Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, which broadcasts the Mass on EWTN three times each day.

Father Pavone will celebrate Mass at 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 14, at St. Peter Church on South Tryon Street in Charlotte. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Participants in the March for Life should gather at 11 a.m. at the corner of West Palmer and South Church streets in Charlotte, in the overflow parking lot of the diocesan Pastoral Center.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis, Father Frank Pavone, priests from the Diocese of Charlotte, and members of the Knights of Columbus and the lay faithful will begin the March for Life at noon.

From the Pastoral Center, the march will proceed up West Carson Boulevard, onto South Tryon Street towards uptown Charlotte, and then to the corner of Trade and Tryon streets.

Then Father Frank Pavone and a post-abortive woman will address the crowd.

After the presentations and time for quiet prayer, the march will proceed down West Trade Street to the Charles R. Jonas Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse. Recitation of the rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy will follow.

Everyone is welcome to attend any or all of the events to demonstrate support for the right to life for the unborn. Check out the March for Life route and more coverage on pages 12-13 of this issue.

For questions, contact march coordinator Tina Witt at 704-8467361 or marchforlifecharlotte@windstream.net.

LIFE

‘Proudly pro-life’ leader, preacher and teacher

Father Frank Pavone is one of the world’s most prominent pro-life leaders. Originally from New York, he was ordained in 1988. In 1993 he became national director of Priests for Life. He is also the president of the National Pro-life Religious Council, and the national pastoral director of the Silent No More awareness campaign and of Rachel’s Vineyard, the world’s largest ministry of healing after abortion.

He travels throughout the U.S. preaching and teaching against abortion, and he regularly produces radio and TV programs. The Vatican appointed him to the Pontifical Council for the Family, which coordinates the Church’s pro-life activities. He also serves as a member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life.

He received the “Proudly Pro-life Award” by the National Right to Life Committee and numerous other proPavone life awards and honorary doctorates. He is the author of two books, “Ending Abortion, Not Just Fighting It,” and “Pro-life Reflections for Every Day.” Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v.

Wade abortion decision, called Father Pavone “the catalyst that brought me into the Catholic Church.”

I

n advance of Father Frank Pavone’s visit to Charlotte, the Catholic News Herald posed a series of questions via e-mail to this renowned pro-life leader about his visit and the pro-life cause: CNH: A recent Pew survey found that 50 percent of U.S. Catholics think abortion is OK in some circumstances, despite the Church’s clear teaching and the U.S. bishops’ longstanding advocacy efforts. Why do you think this is the case, and what can be done about it?

Father Pavone: Public opinion on abortion in America, including among Catholics, is ambivalent and conflicted. On the one hand, Americans have never favored the kind of policy we have now, by which one can have an abortion for any reason or no reason at all throughout pregnancy, and by which there is no legal limit on the number of abortions one can have. On the other hand, a majority of Americans do not favor banning all abortions.

But when you look at the situations for which Americans, including Catholics, think abortion should be allowed, the highest numbers favor the situations for which the fewest abortions occur: rape, incest or a threat to the physical life or health of the mother.

The advocacy efforts of the Catholic Church have actually gone

a long way in shaping the public debate. Public opinion continues to move in a pro-life direction, and among Catholics, those who are most pro-life are those who actually practice their faith, and therefore are more frequently exposed to the teachings of the bishops. Moreover, the public strongly favors the kinds of legislative initiatives that the bishops have backed, including matters of funding, parental involvement, and the banning of partial-birth abortion.

What can be done to make more progress, especially in regard to those situations where most people favor abortion, is to let the public hear the voices of the men and women who have lost children to abortion. When someone says abortion should be allowed in a particular circumstance, they are trying to express concern for that mom and dad. By letting the moms and dads speak and make it clear that the proposed “solution” didn’t help at all, we help people to see that abortion does not do what they thought it would do.

CNH: What do you want people to know specifically about the March for Life and, generally, our call as Christians to work for an end to abortion?

Father Pavone: As we gather for the March for Life this month,

we want to send a clear, three-fold message to the public: a) No abortion is necessary; we the People of God are ready to help anyone who is pregnant and in need with solutions that respect her, the father and the child; b) We who oppose abortion do not oppose those who have abortions; rather, we embrace them with forgiveness, healing and peace; and c) Abortion is everybody’s business, and there are peaceful, effective ways by which we can all exercise our responsibility to eradicate it from our midst.

These three aspects of the prolife message have to permeate everything we do. Our goal is not simply to reduce abortion, but to end it. That is a goal we need to be convinced is possible, and we are progressing each day closer to that goal.

To pursue that goal of ending abortion, furthermore, is not just a cause, a movement, a hobby or a political ideology. It is a spirituality.

It is an aspect of our love of God and neighbor. As we learn that spirituality, we find both the “why” and the “how” of pro-life activism.

CNH: What do you hope to accomplish during this March for Life in Charlotte, and in the upcoming march in Washington, D.C.?

Father Pavone: Through these

January 7, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

FROM THE COVERI

11

Billboards along area interstates promote Charlotte march SueAnn Howell Staff writer

CHARLOTTE — From Jan. 10 until 14, drivers along I-485 and I-77 in Charlotte will be greeted with digital billboards encouraging participation in the March for Life Charlotte to be held this year on Friday, Jan. 14.

More than 85,300 drivers per day will view the billboard on I-485, which will be located near South Boulevard. More than 112,030 drivers per day are expected to view the digital billboard on I-77 North near Tyvola Road.

The digital billboards cost a total of $1,600 and feature an image of a baby with details about the local March for Life. Both billboards are being paid for by donations from local parishes, private donors and Bishop Peter J.

Jugis to the pro-life group led by Tina Witt, a parishioner at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. Witt has organized the March for Life Charlotte for five years.

“We hope the billboards will bring more people out to the March for Life on Jan. 14,” Witt says.

The ads inform motorists that marchers will gather at 11 a.m. at the corner of West Palmer and South Church streets, in the diocesan Pastoral Center parking lot.

‘Being persuasive and being popular do not necessarily go together.

No successful social reformer was popular.’ marches, we want to encourage those who are already active in the pro-life cause, we want to recruit others who are not yet active, and we want to let the rest of the public – including elected officials – know that we are not going away until we achieve our goal of full protection for all children in the womb. Marches are an opportunity for churches to give extra attention to the abortion issue, and for the media to cover the issue in their news stories and opinion columns.

CNH: What do you say to people who think protest marches, silent witness, etc., don’t have an impact?

Father Pavone: I would, first of all, point to my own experience. I became aware of and active in the pro-life effort precisely because I went to the third annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 22, 1976. As a high school student, I was impressed by the size, diversity, joy and determination of the large crowd gathered for this cause. And that spark has led me to my full-time, lifelong pro-life mission. We receive feedback all the time from young people who have similar experiences each time there is a march.

Beyond that, we also know from legislators that they notice the marchers, even though they may not want to admit it. To be successful, a march does not have to convince a politician that his/her views on abortion are wrong; it only needs to convince him/her that there are numerous citizens who are paying attention to this issue and who are demanding a change.

Moreover, sometimes the politician’s views do change. Former U.S. Senator Zell Miller from Georgia made it clear that seeing the women of the Silent No More awareness campaign marching in Washington with their signs “I Regret My Abortion” was a key factor in his change from being “pro-choice” to being pro-life.

CNH: One point of the pro-life movement has been that for people to oppose abortion, they need to see it in all its gruesomeness. But this shock campaign could turn some people off, with pro-life advocates being dismissed as “radicals” who just want to restrict women’s rights and “turn back the clock.” What ways can we as the laity in modern America spread the pro-life message persuasively?

Father Pavone: Recently, vigorous efforts to discourage smoking have again made the news because of the use of graphic images of the negative effects of tobacco on the lungs. In defense of these photos, those using them have claimed that the purpose is not to shock, but to educate and inform people of dangers that they may not have known existed.

Likewise, when the airing of the movie “Schindler’s List” on network television drew objections from some families, the networks’ defense was that the Holocaust was a horrible evil and steps needed to be taken to make sure it never happened again.

Ultimately, the question of the use of graphic photos of abortion is not a question of whether we like or prefer to use this tactic. The question is deeper. It is the question of whether

there are principles of social reform and whether the pro-life movement is exempt from such principles.

When we look at other movements of social reform in history that have succeeded in uprooting evils from society – such as slavery and discrimination and oppressive child labor – it is clear that visualizing the victims was key to changing the conscience of America.

The same is true now. Being persuasive and being popular do not necessarily go together. No successful social reformer was popular.

When considering other effective means of persuasion, the voice of experience is key. I have already mentioned the Silent No More awareness campaign. This project of Priests for Life and Anglicans for Life is mobilizing a tidal wave around the world of women and men who want to say something about their abortion experience, and show that abortion did not solve their problems, but only created new ones. The other side cannot contradict this. In fact, for decades the other side has been saying, “Listen to the voices of women!” We need to utilize these testimonies, which can be found at SilentNoMoreAwareness.org. We need to bring them onto our blogs, into our churches, and into our public events. Few tools are more powerful and persuasive than these voices of experience.

A whole array of additional effective activities can be found at Priests for Life’s action center, 10StepsToEndAbortion.com.

sueann howell | catholic news herald

Debbie Capen (left of center) holds a Silent No More sign while Kristen Giesler (center) gives her testimony during the 2010 March for Life at the corner of Trade and Tryon streets in uptown Charlotte last January.

Silent No More Women speak up about tragedy of abortion SueAnn Howell Staff writer

CHARLOTTE — Many women who have been affected by abortion never share their stories. The memories, the emotions and the pain are just too much to deal with. But for some women, opening up and reaching out has been a blessing and a source of healing.

Silent No More is an organization which gives women and men the opportunity to share their experiences and heal the wounds that abortion leaves behind.

Debbie Capen, assistant director at Room at the Inn, a Catholic maternity and aftercare program in Charlotte, had an abortion when she was in college and is now active in pro-life ministries and Silent No More.

“The first time I attended a Silent No More event, my abortion was still a secret,” Capen says.

“I had confessed it to my priest, my husband and a few select friends, but that was it. So as I arrived to the Silent No More rally that day, my intention was simply to be a friendly and understanding face in the crowd of spectators. I never expected that hearing other women share their abortion experience would help me to step out of the lonely darkness of secrecy into the healing light of truth. Yet that’s exactly what happened.”

“After sharing my story that day, I was encouraged by the leaders of Silent No More to attend a retreat for post-abortive men and women called Rachel’s Vineyard. Going to Rachel’s Vineyard was like spending the weekend with God’s Divine Mercy. Even though I had already experienced forgiveness through the sacrament of reconciliation, Rachel’s Vineyard brought much needed emotional healing and hope.

“Since that first Silent No More Rally, I have shared my story at churches, schools and even the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court. Not every post-abortive woman is called to publicly share her testimony, but I believe that God has asked this of me. It never gets easier, but if I can help one young woman avoid the tragedy of abortion, and another post-abortive woman find forgiveness, then it is all worth it.”

More information about Silent No More can be found at silentnomoreawareness.org, or contact Charlotte regional coordinator Andrea Hines at 704-541-9689 or charlotte@ silentawarenessnomore.org. Go online to learn more about Rachel’s Vineyard, which offers weekend retreats across the U.S. for any woman or man who has struggled with the emotional and spiritual pain of an abortion, at rachelsvineyard.org.

12 January 7, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life, And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.

I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the Resurrection of Your Son. I am ready to do my part in ending abortion.

Today I commit myself Never to be silent, Never to be passive, Never to be forgetful of the unborn.

I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement, And never to stop defending life Until all my brothers and sisters are protected, And our nation once again becomes

MARCHING FOR

LIFE JOHN

A nation with liberty and justice

W. MO R

Not just for some, but for all,

W. 4T W. 3RD

W. 1ST ST. W. STO NEWA LL

BELK

FWY.

EHEAD

Through Christ our Lord. Amen!

W. CA RSON

— Source: PriestsforLife.org

M in St B C St Tr

Go online to learn more Details about the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C.: marchforlifecharlotte.org Priests for Life: PriestsforLife.org Silent No More awareness campaign: SilentNoMoreAwareness.org Rachel’s Vineyard: RachelsVineyard.org

LYNX STATIO CARSON BLV

All of these groups are also on Facebook.

Check out the following: Go to prolifeprayers.com to join the Pray to End Abortion cause.

START HERE

Two Facebook pages supporting the prolife cause are at facebook.com/prolifepage and facebook.com/noabortion.

The March for Life will start at noon Friday, Jan. 14.

Line up at 11 a.m. outside the diocesan Pastoral Center parking lot at the corner of West Palmer and South Church streets. Free parking will be in the overflow lot accessible from West Palmer Street, across from the Pastoral Center. Buses, which cannot park in the overflow lot, should park where available along the sides of West Palmer Street or elsewhere nearby. The LYNX rail stop at Carson Boulevard is also one block away.

Priests for Life is at: facebook.com/ priestsforlife.org Silent No More is at: facebook.com/silentnomoreawarenesscampaign Rachel’s Vineyard is at: facebook.com/ rachelsvineyard You can also follow Father Frank Pavone on his blog at priestsforlife.org/blog, or on Twitter at twitter.com/frfrankpavone.

ST.

ST.

Priests for Life invites every Christian to say the following prayer each day for an end to abortion. The prayer emphasizes our personal commitment to speak and act on behalf of the unborn child. Rather than simply asking God to do something, it acknowledges that God wants to accomplish His will through us.

TRY ON

Priests for Life’s prayer to end abortion

FROM THE

SuEann HOwELL | caTHOLic nEwS HERaLd

Participants in the March for Life Charlotte process along Tryon Street last January.

The line-up for the march will be as (carried by Father Mark Lawlor), Fa Bishop Peter J. Jugis, the image of statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, t banner, the Knights of Columbus, p and the laity.

Marchers will proceed up South Ch right onto West Carson Boulevard.

E COVER

January 7, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

13

Bishop Peter J. Jugis (center) stands in front of the Charles R. Jonas Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse on West Trade Street in Charlotte during the March for Life Charlotte 2010.

Members of the Knights of Columbus and the lay faithful are also pictured with the bishop.

END HERE Marchers will then proceed down West Trade Street toward the U.S. Courthouse. After the recitation of the rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the march will conclude.

W. TRA D

E ST.

TH ST .

At the corners of Trade and Tryon streets, presentations will be made.

A time of quiet prayer will follow the presentations. March organizers caution everyone to be mindful of the busy uptown traffic and obey all laws for pedestrians.

SuEann HOwELL | caTHOLic nEwS HERaLd

Groups from around diocese show support for life SuEAnn HOwEll STaFF wRiTER

Free parking is available in The Green parking deck next to St. Peter Church for the 9 a.m. Mass. (Marchers attending the Mass with Father Pavone, celebrant and homilist, at St. Peter Church are encouraged to park here.)

Public restrooms are available in The Green parking deck.

CHARLOTTE — The annual March for Life Charlotte has some staunch supporters.

Whether they come in groups or individually, they show up for the march every January no matter the date, the time or the weather.

Members of the Knights of Columbus from around the diocese are one of those groups.

“We are so thankful to have the participation of the Knights of Columbus,” says Tina Witt, coordinator of the Charlotte march.

The Knights of Columbus are well known

for their support of the right-to-life movement and are recognized in any crowd by their regalia: tuxedos, chapeaus, capes and swords.

Youth groups, women and men affiliated with Silent No More, members of the local Hispanic community, and parishioners and clergy from churches around the diocese also all regularly attend the march.

Father Mark Lawlor, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte, will carry the crucifix and lead the march, which begins at noon Friday, Jan. 14, at the corner of West Palmer and South Church streets (outside the diocesan Pastoral Center).

Marchers will turn left at the ntersection of South Tryon Street and West Carson Boulevard, towards uptown Charlotte, and will continue past St. Peter Church to the corner of Trade and Tryon streets.

ON VD.

s follows: the crucifix ather Frank Pavone, of Divine Mercy, the the March for Life priests and deacons,

hurch Street, turning .

SuEann HOwELL | caTHOLic nEwS HERaLd

Members of the Diocese of Charlotte Hispanic community participate in the March for Life last January.

SuEann HOwELL | caTHOLic nEwS HERaLd

Father Mark Lawlor addresses the crowd at the corner of Trade and Tryon streets during the 2010 March for Life in Charlotte.

Our schools

14

charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | January 7, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

In Brief

Who’s wearing the ‘tackiest sweater’?

Faculty and staff at St. Pius X School in Greensboro recently enjoyed some Christmas fun competing in a “Tackiest Christmas Sweater Contest.”

Christmas craft fun at St. Michael School GASTONIA — Betsy Pruitt, secondgrade teacher, is shown helping second-graders make gingerbread houses Dec. 15 at St. Michael School in Gastonia. Students used their own recycled milk and juice boxes, icing and a variety of candies. The students enjoyed this craft project, especially tasting the goodies.

— Pat Burr

Thanksgiving with the monks For the second year in a row, St. John Neumann Church’s high school youth group from Charlotte cooked their favorite Thanksgiving foods and two turkeys to share with the nearby monks of Belmont Abbey Monastery in Belmont. During this Thanksgiving tradition, the teens engaged in lively discussions with the monks about faith, family and vocations.

— Meredith Magyar We welcome your school’s news. E-mail items to Editor Patricia Guilfoyle at plguilfoyle@charlottediocese.org.

photo provided by Anne W. Knapke and Jean Navarro

IHM students donate to Leslie House As part of their Advent preparation activity, students at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in High Point recently collected food and nonperishable items to donate to Leslie House, a place where battered women without children can find shelter and support. More than 1,000 items were collected and used to put on a Thanksgiving meal for residents and also stock the shelves with enough food to last for several months.

Kathy Roach and Gerry Bratt | Catholic News Herald

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sue ann howell | catholic news herald

Operation Santa’s Helpers Students from Charlotte Catholic High School helped deliver toys and food to more than 360 families in the Charlotte area Dec. 18.

Pilgrimage with Father Kottar of St. Mary Parish in Shelby Fatima and Lourdes with Barcelona — November 7-15, 2011 Fatima • Aljustrel • Valinhos • Nazare • Alcobaca Monastery • Cathedral of Burgos • Lourdes • Massabielle • Holy Hill • Carcassone • Barcelona • La Sagrada Familia—the basilica recently blessed by Pope Benedict XVI 9 Days / 14 Meals (7 Breakfasts/1 Lunch/6 Dinners) — Daily Mass *Per Person: Double $2599/Single $2899/Triple $2569

*Included in price: Hotel transfers, Round trip air from CLT *Not included in price: Air taxes & fees/surcharges of $120 (subject to increase until paid in full), Cancellation waiver, Insurance of $150 per person.

For more information, or to register, contact the St. Mary parish office at 704-487-7697 ext. 103.

January 7, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

catholic news heraldI

15

Diocesan school board helps steer Catholic education SueAnn Howell Staff Writer

CHARLOTTE — Members of the Diocesan School Board have begun a new communication effort this school year to work closely with the school boards for each of the Diocese of Charlotte’s 18 Catholic schools.

The Diocesan School Board, appointed by Bishop Jugis and comprised of six to eight people, is responsible for setting long-range plans for Catholic school education and recommending policies and guidelines to the bishop for all 18 schools.

Board members work with Father Roger K. Arnsparger, diocesan vicar of education, and Linda Cherry, superintendent of schools, and meet regularly during the school year.

“This school year, at the request of the chancery, the Diocesan School Board, along with local boards and parishes, will be gathering suggestions and recommendations as part of formulating a five-year strategic plan for all Catholic schools in the diocese,” says board president Felipe Villalon.

To better understand the needs of each local school and potential areas that have expressed an interest for an additional Catholic school within the diocese, members of the Diocesan School Board are working as liaisons with individual school boards and attending at least two local board meetings this academic year.

The first local visits were made during October and board members are planning to return to each school next month.

“The first local board visits have been very enlightening and rewarding, and have served to enhance communication between the local board members and the diocesan board,” Villalon adds. “The Diocesan Board members are encouraged by the participation and commitment of each local board member and the results of having a liaison could become a permanent goal of the diocesan board to continue in future years.”

“The liaison board relationship is a unique concept in Catholic education and was shared as a best practice at the fall CACE (Chief Administrators of Catholic Education) conference. Several Catholic superintendents were interested in sharing the idea with their local boards” Cherry adds.

The board will also meet in regions during

Meet the Diocesan School Board VICAR FOR EDUCATION: Father Roger K. Arnsparger, 704-370-3210, rkarnsparger@ charlottediocese.org

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SUPERINTENDENT: Linda Cherry, 704-370-3271, llcherry@charlottediocese.org BOARD MEMBERS: Jill Conner, 704-540-0064, jillconner@earthlink. net Dennis Gibson, 828-664-9381, dennis.gibson@ bellsouth.net Mary Morales, 704-264-5996. annettemorales@ carolina.rr.com Bernie Moorman, 704-455-3907, bmoorman@ carolina.rr.com

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Felipe Villalon (president), 336-768-0043, fvillalon@bbandt.com Joann Wasson, 704-543-1292, jwasson@carolina. rr.com For more information about the Diocesan School Board, go to charlottediocese.org/ catholicschools.

the 2010-’11 and 2011-’12 school years to solicit feedback from pastors, principals and local boards as board members work on a long-range plan for the diocese.

Their working meetings through the end of this school year will be held Jan. 11, March 10 and May 12.

The last meeting of this school year will take place June 15 at Bishop McGuinness High School in Kernersville. The local school board presidents and Catholic school principals will be invited to attend.

Two positions on the Diocesan School Board will be open beginning in the 2011-’12 school year.

Application information will be posted on the Diocesan Schools’ Web site in late January.

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Join the March for Life Charlotte and pray!!!

Friday, January 13 Be a witness for the sanctity of human life and an act of reparation for an end to abortion.

March for Life Schedule

Fr. Hayden Augustine of the Missionaries of the Poor will be our guest speaker and main celebrant for the 9am Mass at St. Peter Catholic Church prior to the march.

9am – Mass for the Unborn at St. Peter Catholic Church, 507 South Tryon St., Charlotte 11am – Gather in front of the Pastoral Center at 1123 South Church St, Charlotte to prepare for march

Classified SPACE FOR RENT The Palace in Cornelius, NC, rents THEATER SPACE for church meetings, youth groups, religious services, satellite services. Maura@platinumrealty.com or 704-892-7636.

Fr. Hayden Augustine

11:45am - Instructions and prayer before march Noon – Begin march to the Federal Courthouse at 401 W. Trade Street, Charlotte where we will pray the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Fr. Augustine will preach along the way at the corner of Trade & Tryon Streets.

Go to www.marchforlifecharlotte.org for details on parking and signs

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | January 7, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Catholics weigh in on teens’ excessive texting, networking

In theaters

Marianne Medlin Catholic News Agency

‘True Grit’ Exceptional second screen version of Charles Portis’ 1968 novel of the Old West in which a remarkably determined 14-year-old girl (Hailee Steinfeld) enlists the aid of a broken-down but resourceful U.S. marshal (Jeff Bridges) and a cocksure Texas Ranger (Matt Damon) in her quest to bring her father’s killer (Josh Brolin) to account. Amid its archetypical characters, writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s captivating drama uses its heroine’s perspective – as well as a fair number of biblical and religious references – to reflect seriously on the violent undertow of frontier life while the rival lawmen strive to overcome their shortcomings in the service of a larger cause. Considerable violence, brief gruesome imagery, some profanity.

CNS A-III (adults), MPAA: PG-13

‘Gulliver’s Travels’

‘How Do You Know’

Mediocre effort attempting to cash in on the elusive comic abilities of Jack Black, who plays a modern riff on the traveler Lemuel Gulliver, hero of Jonathan Swift’s classic 18th-century novel.

CNS: O (morally offensive), MPAA: PG

Cheerless romantic comedy in which a champion softball player (Reese Witherspoon), recently cut from her team, worries about her future. Brief nongraphic sexual activity, promiscuity, profanity.

CNS: A-III (adults), MPAA: PG-13

‘Little Fockers’

‘The Tourist’

Dull, tasteless comedy – the second spawn of 2000’s ‘Meet the Parents’ – dominated by raunchy and poorly staged gags.

Frequent sexual banter, some sexual situations; much profanity and crude language; toilet humor.

CNS: L (limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling), MPAA: PG-13

A flirtation with a mysterious fellow passenger (Angelina Jolie) on a train to Venice leads a vacationing American teacher (Johnny Depp) to be mistaken for a fugitive embezzler. It makes him the target of both a British police investigation and the quest for revenge of the brutal gangster the thief betrayed.

Brief graphic violence, profanity, occasional sexual references.

CNS A-III (adults), MPAA: PG-13

‘Tron: Legacy’

‘Yogi Bear’

The briskly entertaining, unpretentious and prescient 1982 cult classic has been loudly updated and turned into a bloated, stultifying 3-D bore by director Joseph Kosinski. Scenes of intense action and some images of severed limbs.

CNS A-II (adults and adolescents), MPAA: PG

TV’s ‘smarter than the average bear,’ Yogi (voice of Dan Aykroyd) is back in 3-D. Yogi’s still stealing food from campers in Jellystone Park, despite the warnings of his faithful sidekick, Boo Boo (voice of Justin Timberlake), and the resulting exasperation of a nerdy park ranger.

CNS A-I (general patronage), MPAA: PG — Catholic News Service

DENVER — A new study linking teen’s excessive use of Facebook and texting to alcohol abuse and sexual activity has ignited discussion among Catholics as to whether the drastic rise in impersonal communication among teens is a good thing.

But no matter one’s stance on the issue, Catholics from the parish priest to the tech-savvy teen agree that parental involvement is crucial – and often, sadly lacking.

Business Week sparked debate in November by reporting that teens who “hyper texted” (more than 120 messages sent per school day) and “hyper social networked” (more than three hours spent on networking sites per school day) showed a higher risk of dangerous behaviors such as smoking, drinking and sexual activity.

Hyper-networking was also associated with increased likelihood of stress, depression, suicide, poor grades, TV watching and parental permissiveness, according to researchers at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland.

The amount of texting and hours spent online cited by the study might sound drastic to some adults, but many teens don’t see it as abnormal.

“Today’s young people are raised in a media-saturated culture and using these various forms of communication is really like breathing to them,” Catholic author Teresa Tomeo says. Tomeo, a syndicated talk show host who also writes faith-based books for teens, says parents often can’t keep up with their children’s ability to communicate through modern technology. She added that many parents are also caught up in “their own addictive media habits” and lack the discipline to challenge their kids to use media responsibly.

“Parents need to be more involved and really get a handle on what their children are doing online,” she stressed.

Father Michael Warren, parochial vicar of Holy Ghost Church in downtown Denver, adds that aside from the dangers of early drinking and sexual behaviors outlined in the study, there are deeper, more ominous affects of faceless communication lurking beneath the surface.

He cites intense isolation and the inability to form real, selfless relationships with others.

“In real, face-to-face encounters, you stand before me as a real person in your own right, invested with value that does not originate in me,” he says. “But in the cyber world, I am the determiner of all value and therefore am free from the demands of the face-to-face encounter.”

Through online communication, he adds, “the only value you have in my eyes are the values I permit you to have in my own small world.”

Father Warren says an additional concern is having this mentality spill over into one’s spiritual life.

“As a person becomes habituated to living this way, it is not likely that God will be spared this indignity,” he says. “Like everything else in my cyber world, God will have the value I allow Him to have, and I can ‘defriend’ Him just as easily as I do everyone else.”

However, despite the possible dangers, both Tomeo and Father Warren agree new media can be used in proper context. “The Church in her wisdom recognizes the advantage of online communication for faith outreach,” Tomeo says, noting both Pope Benedict XVI and the U.S. bishops’ encouragement to use technology for evangelization.

“The domestic church – the family – is a place where children should develop the essential virtues of social communication face to face,” Father Warren stresses. “Parents should also help their children to know what the true ends of friendship and communication are. These discoveries help the young know that they cannot define themselves but are to understand themselves as part of a larger world over which they do not have command.”

On TV n Sunday, Jan. 9, 4-6 a.m. (EWTN) “Solemn Mass for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Live).” From the Sistine Chapel, Mass presided over by Pope Benedict XVI with the sacrament of baptism. Rebroadcast noon-2 p.m. n Saturday, Jan. 8, 8 a.m. (EWTN) “Missa Cantata for the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Live).” From the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Missa Cantata in the Extraordinary Form for the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with celebrant Father Dominic Mary.

Re-aired Jan. 9 at midnight. n Sunday, Jan. 9, 10 p.m. (EWTN) “What Every Catholic Needs to Know About the Bible.” Matthew Arnold hosts an informative presentation on the history, nature, structure and purpose of the Bible. He also refutes common misunderstandings about biblical theology. Featuring Dr. Brant Pitre, Michael Barber, Jesse Romero and Dr. Scott Hahn. Rebroadcast at 1 p.m. Jan. 11 and 5 a.m. Jan. 13. n Tuesday, Jan. 11, 10-11 p.m.

(PBS) “Children of Haiti.”

Filmmaker Alexandria Hammond’s documentary follows three teenaged boys who reflect on their country and their lives, while sharing a common dream of education, government assistance and social acceptance. Part of the series “Independent Lens” (TV-PG). n Wednesday, Jan. 12, 10 p.m.

(EWTN) “Thine Eyes: A Witness to the March for Life.” Actress Jennifer O’Neill tracks the journeys of young people who travelled across the U.S. to attend the 2009 O’Neill March for Life in Washington, D.C. Rebroadcast at 5 a.m. Jan. 15. n Saturday, Jan. 15, 9 a.m.-noon (EWTN) “A Morning of Prayerful Remembrance and Intercession.”

Broadcast live from St. Patrick Cathedral in New York City, this prayer service, created in the spirit of the New Evangelization, acknowledges abortion’s universal impact through reflections and testimonies. The day includes Eucharistic Adoration and concludes with Mass.

January 7, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

National Vocation Awareness Week set for Jan. 9-16 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. bishops conference has announced that the Church across the country will recognize and bring awareness to consecrated vocations during a special week in January. National Vocation Awareness Week will start Jan. 9, the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, which marks the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.

The bishops’ conference emphasized that vocations week, initiated by the U.S. bishops in 1976, focuses on vocations to the priesthood, diaconate or consecrated life.

The event “gives parishes across the country a chance to promote vocations through prayer and education,” said Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis, chairman of the conference’s Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations.

“It is our responsibility to encourage young people to be generous as they discern the possibility of a call to service in the Church,” he added. “Parents, families and parish communities must be involved in this work, since vocations recruitment is everyone’s responsibility. All need to foster a

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Discerning a religious vocation?

For those discerning their vocation, consider following Christ as a priest or in consecrated life. Call the diocesan Vocation Office at 704-370-3327, or go online to charlottediocese.org/vocations.html.

More information and prayer cards for National Vocations Awareness Week can be found at ForYourVocation.org.

culture of vocations.”

During Jan. 9-16, families and parishes should highlight religious vocations to their children and encourage them in the faith, the bishops’ conference urged.

— EWTN News

catholic news heraldI

704-549-4010 336-665-5345

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Our nation

charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | January 7, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

In Brief Pope names two U.S. cardinals to Vatican posts VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI named two U.S. cardinals to several Vatican offices.

Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C., and Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Vatican’s supreme court, were among the 24 new cardinals who the pope appointed as members of a number of departments Dec. 29. Cardinal Burke was made a member of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, Congregation for Bishops, and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. Cardinal Wuerl was made a member of the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Immigrant advocates remain determined with DREAM Act WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Senate’s inability to overcome a threatened filibuster Dec. 18 scuttled passage of the DREAM Act, prompting immigrant advocates to pledge to push forward on immigration reform next year with a new Congress. The bill would have given young people brought to the U.S. as children by their undocumented parents a path to citizenship under a strict set of requirements. The U.S. bishops have long been supporters of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. “With the passage of the DREAM Act in the House of Representatives and with a majority of the U.S. Senate voting in favor, it is clear that a majority of Congress and of the American public supports this common-sense humanitarian measure,” Coadjutor Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration, said Dec. 21. “I am confident that one day – sooner rather than later – the DREAM Act will become the law of the land,” he said, adding the filibuster vote was “a setback, not a defeat.”

USCCB praises Senate for ratifying arms control pact WASHINGTON, D.C. — Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, praised the Senate for ratifying a new arms control treaty with Russia Dec. 22, saying it was important that senators “joined across party lines” to support the New START treaty.

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty was signed April 8 in Prague by U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The accord calls for both countries to reduce their strategic arsenals to 1,550 each.

Under the previous START pact, which expired in December 2009, both countries reduced their strategic arsenals to 2,200 weapons each.

— Catholic News Service

CNS | Roxanne King, Denver Catholic Register

Monica and Marco Tesei and their children (from left, Matteo, Giorgia and Francesco) moved from Rome in 2008 as a mission family of the Neocatechumenal Way to serve in the Archdiocese of Denver.

Program sends missionary families to nontraditional places Julie Filby Catholic News Service

DENVER — Marco and Monica Tesei consider themselves a normal couple: married for 18 years; three children aged 16, 14 and 11; living in a peaceful family neighborhood in Denver.

The unusual thing about them is that the family left a comfortable home in Rome five years ago to serve as missionaries in the Archdiocese of Denver.

They’re part of the Neocatechumenal Way, a parish-based faith formation program that has sent hundreds of missionary families around the world over the past 30 years to live Christian lives of service, simplicity and poverty.

Monica Tesei describes it as fulfilling.

“When you experience missionary work, you become closer to the Lord,” she said “It’s a way to meet Him strongly.”

In 1988, Pope John Paul II started a tradition of blessing such families and their mission to evangelize when he celebrated Mass with 100 families of the Neocatechumenal Way in Italy and sent them across the globe.

Precedents for this evangelical mission can be found in the early Church: The New Testament tells of the family of Aquila

and Priscilla, who collaborated with St. Paul in his evangelization efforts. During the ministry of the Benedictines in the Middle Ages, monks were accompanied by groups of Christian families, and in North America, Franciscan Father Junipero Serra’s California missionaries included Christian families who helped the priests.

Rose Mary McLeod, who, with husband Don, is responsible for the Neocatechumenal Way in Colorado, said about 300 missionary families were sent worldwide last year. Another 250-300 are expected this year.

“Mission families are going ‘like crazy,’” she said. “There are a lot of requests (from bishops).”

Missionary families are sent to “announce the Gospel,” they say. Besides volunteering in parishes, seminaries and Catholic schools, families assist with marriage preparation, catechesis, religious education and more.

“They do whatever is needed; they’re there to serve,” McLeod said.

Marco Tesei, an accountant, and his wife volunteer at Denver’s Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary, where he helps the administration.

“I’m happy to give my help to the seminary because it’s where priests are formed to do this mission,” Monica Tesei

said.

The Teseis also conduct marriage preparation classes in English and Spanish at various parishes, assist at the seminary’s vocational center and present catechesis at parishes.

Marco Tesei said the family’s transition to missionary life happened fast.

They first felt a call to the work in 2004.

In May 2005, the couple attended a retreat and the following January they received a missionary crucifix and an apostolic blessing for their journey from Pope Benedict XVI. A month later, they said goodbye to family and friends, leaving what they called a “very beautiful life in Rome.”

“We left good jobs, our families, good schools – it was difficult, but that’s part of it,” Monica Tesei said. “We saw that the Lord is faithful. The Bible says ‘you will find a hundredfold if you leave something good for the Lord,’ and that was true for us.”

They return to Italy during the summer or at Christmas. Mission families often live in their assigned diocese for many years or even permanently.

“They go forever, theoretically,” McLeod said. “Sometimes they go back home, but for the most part they stay. They become acclimated to the culture, climate, language, everything.”

January 7, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

Army chaplain from Ohio named auxiliary bishop for U.S. military Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pope Benedict XVI has named a military chaplain from the Diocese of Cleveland as an auxiliary bishop of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services.

The appointment of Father Neal Buckon, 57, was announced in Washington, D.C., Jan. 3 by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the U.S. Bishop-designate Buckon has served as a U.S. Army chaplain around the world since 1998. His assignments have included posts in Korea; Fort Sill, Okla.; Germany; Iraq; Fort Stewart, Ga.; and Saudi Arabia.He also served in the Army from 1975 to 1982.

Born Sept. 3, 1953, in Columbus, Ohio, he attended Catholic elementary and high schools in Ohio and earned bachelor’s degrees in biology, history and philosophy from John Carroll University in Cleveland, Cleveland State University and Borromeo College in Wycliffe, Ohio, respectively.

He also holds master’s degrees in divinity and theology from St. Mary’s Seminary in Cleveland.

He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Cleveland May 25, 1995.

Bishop-designate Buckon served at St. Margaret Mary Parish in South Cleveland after his ordination until he began serving as an Army chaplain.

catholic news heraldI

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ACCOUNTING CLERK POSITION The Accounting Department of the Diocese of Charlotte is accepting applications for a seasonal part-time accounting clerk position. Responsibilities include preparing DSA (Diocesan Support Appeal) for processing, entering pledges and payments into Raisers Edge software and assisting with various related accounting duties as assigned. Applicants should be proficient in ten-key.

Experience in Excel, accounting software or Raisers Edge would be a plus.

Please send resume and salary history by January 17, 2011 to: Stella Nell, Controller, Diocese of Charlotte Diocese, 1123 South Church Street, Charlotte, NC 28203 Or email to sgnell@charlottediocese.org. The Diocese of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Olmsted has prohibited the celebration of Mass on the hospital’s campus and removed the Blessed Sacrament from the hospital’s chapel.

In Brief Phoenix hospital stripped of Catholic status

Church court defrocks New York priest

PHOENIX — St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix can no longer identify itself as “Catholic.� Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted recently revoked the 115-year-old hospital’s affiliation with the Church. In May, officials at St. Joseph’s acknowledged that an abortion occurred at the hospital in late 2009. In his decree, Bishop Olmsted wrote that he could not verify that the hospital provides health care consistent with “authentic Catholic moral teaching.� Bishop

NEW YORK — A Vatican court has found a suspended New York archdiocesan priest, Charles M. Kavanagh, guilty of sexually abusing a minor in the late 1970s and has dismissed him from the clerical state. The abuse occurred when Kavanagh, now 73, was a monsignor and rector of Cathedral Preparatory Seminary in Manhattan during the late 1970s and early ‘80s. — Catholic News Service

Important Upcoming Pro-Life Events for the Diocese of Charlotte March for Life/Charlotte; Friday, January 13, 2012.

Spiritual Exercises

For further information: Marchforlifecharlotte.org.

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Monday, January 23, 2012.

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Miles Christi 2ELIGIOUS /RDER s 0 / "OX s 0LYMOUTH -) s INFOUSA MILESCHRISTI ORG s WWW MILESCHRISTI ORG For more information and to register for these Exercises please contact Mary Jaye at northcarolina@spiritualexercises.net or at (248) 767-1669.

Respect Life Office Catholic Social Services Diocese of Charlotte

March for Life, January 23, 2012.

For updated information, including precise location, check their website: marchforlife.org.

For further information, please contact: Respect Life Office, mnadol@charlottediocese.org.

Youth groups, please contact Mr. Paul Kotlowski, pjkotlowski@charlottediocese.org.

Our world

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | January 7, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

In Brief Pope deplores deadly attacks on Christian churches VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI deplored a series of deadly attacks over Christmas and New Year’s against Christians around the world, saying that even at Christmas, “the earth was again stained with blood,” especially in the Philippines, Nigeria, Pakistan and Egypt.

The pope repeatedly appealed for peace over the past two weeks after bombs went off Dec. 24 and 25 in churches in the Philippines and Nigeria. In a Catholic chapel on the Filipino island of Jolo, a bomb blast near the altar injured the priest and eight others during Christmas Day Mass. On Christmas Eve, gasoline bombs against three churches in Jos, Nigeria, left at least six people dead. A bomb set to explode during midnight Mass was defused by police.

In Pakistan, a suicide bombing against a World Food Program depot Dec. 25 left at least 40 dead.

The pope called a Jan. 1 bombing of an Orthodox church in Alexandria, Egypt – which killed 25 parishioners and injured dozens more – a “despicable gesture of death.”

Seven Christians’ homes in Baghdad were also bombed Dec. 30, wounding at least 13 people.

The pope said the latest attacks “offend God and all humanity.”

Lack of religious freedom harms peace, pope says VATICAN CITY — Infringements on the freedom of religion threaten peace worldwide as well as stifle authentic human development, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Opening 2011 with a strong call for religious liberty, he condemned recent deadly attacks against Christians in the Middle East and Africa and announced a new interfaith meeting this fall in Assisi, Italy.

“Religious freedom is an authentic weapon of peace,” the pope said in his World Peace Day message Jan. 1, entitled “Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace.” He said religious freedom is challenged today by two extremes at work in the world: secularism that banishes religion to the private sphere and fundamentalism that seeks to forcefully impose religion on everyone.

Religious freedom is the best path for building peace, because wherever religious freedom is guaranteed, human dignity is also respected, he said.

He will invite religious leaders from the world’s major faiths to gather in Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis, in October to “solemnly renew the commitment by believers of every religion to live their religious faith as a service to the cause of peace.”

— Catholic News Service

CNS | Paul Jeffrey

Catholic schoolchildren in Southern Sudan participate in a procession through the streets of Juba Nov. 20 to pray for a peaceful January referendum on secession. The independence vote has widespread support throughout Southern Sudan, including among Catholics and other Christians.

Church’s peace-building to continue after Sudanese vote Paul Jeffrey Catholic News Service

JUBA, Southern Sudan — As Southern Sudan approaches a historic vote on independence starting Jan. 9, Church leaders are recommitting themselves to continuing their work of building peace.

Yet dealing with internal conflicts in what may become Africa’s newest country could prove just as challenging as its work during decades of civil war with the country’s North.

“Whatever happens after the referendum on Jan. 9, it shouldn’t make people enemies. Even if we’re going to separate tomorrow, we’ve got to work for our land to be free of the violence that has become our trademark,” said Father John Oryem, coordinator of the justice and peace commission of the Diocese of El Obeid.

As the referendum approaches, Sudan’s churches are ramping up efforts at peacebuilding.

Churches have long played a peacebuilding role in Southern Sudan. The 1972 accords that ended the 17-year First Sudanese Civil War were brokered by

Sudan Most of Sudan’s 5.8 million Catholics live in the southern region. The rest of the country is predominantly Muslim.

Khartoum Population ...

Catholics ......

Parishes .......

Priests ..........

37 million 15% 238 396

Sudan

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Rumbek Juba Source: 2010 Our Sunday Visitor’s catholic Almanac

©2010 cNS

CNS

Source: 2010 Our Sunday Visitor’s Catholic Almanac Church leaders. In the Second Sudanese Civil War, 1983-2005, churches took the lead in mediating scores of local conflicts.

Paul Nantulya, a technical consultant on peace-building in East Africa for the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Relief Services, said those local agreements were the “building blocks” that made possible the 2005 Comprehensive

Peace Agreement between the government in Khartoum and leaders of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. The agreement ended most of the fighting and outlined a process of autonomy that will culminate in January’s referendum.

“The Church had capacity that no one else possessed to mediate in the middle of the war. There was no real civil society in Southern Sudan at the time. The Church didn’t see itself as just evangelizing and taking care of the spiritual welfare of its followers. It became an agent of development, education, health services, a major player in governance, diplomacy and advocacy – a lot of things that governments would ordinarily do, but at the time the people of Southern Sudan didn’t have a government,” Nantulya said.

With the relative autonomy of the South since 2005 and the transformation of a liberation movement into a functioning government, the role of the Church is changing, though the work of peace-building at the grass roots has continued, as local SUDAN, SEE page 21

January 7, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

Pope signs measures to guarantee Vatican’s financial transparency John Thavis Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY —- Pope Benedict XVI has instituted a new agency to monitor all Vatican financial operations and make sure they meet international norms against money-laundering and the financing of terrorism.

The pope issued an apostolic letter Dec. 30 that established the Financial Information Authority as an independent agency to oversee the monetary and commercial activities of all Vatican-related institutions, including the Vatican bank.

The creation of such an oversight agency is unprecedented at the Vatican, where several departments have operated with some degree of financial independence for decades or centuries.

At the same time, the Vatican promulgated a detailed new law that defined financial crimes and established penalties – including possible jail time – for their violation. The list of transgressions includes corruption, market manipulation, fraud and virtually any activity that facilitates or provides funding to acts of terrorism. The new law, which reflects the latest European Union regulations, takes effect April 1.

The pope’s brief apostolic letter said the Vatican fully supported the international community’s efforts to coordinate a response to financial crimes, which often involve more than one country.

The move came several months after Italian treasury police, in a moneylaundering probe, seized 23 million euros (US$30 million) that the Vatican bank had deposited in a Rome bank account.

The Vatican criticized the confiscation, saying the deposit was legitimate and that the Vatican bank was committed to “full transparency” in its operations.

The Financial Information Authority will operate with full autonomy and monitor all Vatican agencies that have financial dealings or commercial transactions.

That includes major institutions like the Vatican City State, the Vatican bank, the Vatican’s investment agency (APSA) and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and smaller agencies like the Vatican pharmacy, supermarket and the Vatican Museums.

The authority will be headed by a president and a council of four others, all appointed by the pope. The president will name a director and additional staff. The appointments are expected to be announced in early 2011.

Besides investigating reports of suspicious activity, the authority is obligated to examine any new business relationships by Vatican agencies and any single transaction involving more than 15,000 euros ($20,000).

The authority has access to all financial and administrative records of the agencies; Vatican officials and employees are required to furnish all such information, an exception to the normal rules of secrecy in Vatican institutions.

The Vatican bank handles accounts of religious orders and other Catholic institutions. It was involved in a major Italian banking scandal in the 1980s, when fraud led to the collapse of Italy’s Banco Ambrosiano. Although denying wrongdoing, Vatican bank officials made what they called a “good-will payment” of about $240 million to the failed bank’s creditors.

SUDAN: FROM PAGE 20

communities deal with ethnic tensions, cattle rustling and disputed tribal borders.

John Ashworth, an adviser to the Sudan Ecumenical Forum, said local conflicts diminished in 2010, in part because the churches have reinvigorated local peacebuilding efforts. The Sudan Council of Churches is sponsoring peace conferences in each of the nascent country’s 10 states, as well as in the bordering Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

Ashworth said the renewed peacebuilding effort enjoys a new level of cooperation between the churches and the ruling government in the South.

As the country moves past the January referendum, which is expected to pass easily, and toward an official declaration of independence in July, the Church will face new challenges. If the South becomes independent, Sudan’s Catholic bishops, following a policy of “one people, two countries,” have committed themselves to remaining united in one episcopal conference. That will lend support to bishops in the North, where Christians as a small minority will inevitably face trials, something Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir made clear Dec. 19.

“If South Sudan secedes, we will change the constitution and at that time there will be no time to speak of diversity of culture and ethnicity,” al-Bashir said. “Shariah and Islam will be the main source for the constitution, Islam the official religion and Arabic the official language.”

catholic news heraldI

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In Brief Church must repent, repair damage caused by abuse VATICAN CITY — With the “unimaginable” scandal of clerical sex abuse, the Church must reflect, repent and do everything possible to rectify the injustices suffered by victims as it works to prevent such abuse from happening again, said Pope Benedict XVI Dec. 20 in his annual address to the Roman Curia, his reflection on the past year. “We must accept this humiliation as an exhortation to truth and a call to renewal. Only the truth saves.”

— Catholic News Service

ST. MICHAEL & THE SOLDIERS

A Radio Drama/CD written, produced and directed by Camille Fadia Docudrama on miracles of St. Michael and God in the Korean War. True miracles/stories of soldiers themselves. If it wasn’t for miracles of St. Michael and God, we would have lost that war.

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CD: $14 non-military; $12 Veterans/military POSTAGE: $5 Make checks payable to: Camille Fadia, PO Box 10624, Greensboro, NC 27404 Info: 336-315-0505

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | January 7, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Letters to the editor

They are ‘Christmas’ lights, not ‘holiday’ lights I was disappointed that in the Dec. 3 story about the fire at St. Matthew Church, the source of the fire was referred to as “holiday” lights. While secular newspapers may have policies requiring that term in their belief that “Christmas lights” is offensive to some readers, surely Catholic newspapers should not invoke the same policy.

Clearly St. Matthew Church is celebrating the birth of Christ Our Savior. Please don’t leave Christ or Christmas out of the celebration of one of our most sacred holy days. You are a Catholic newspaper targeting a Catholic audience, writing about a Catholic parish. Call the lights what they are: Christmas lights!

By the numbers

Running Catholic Schools The majority of U.S. Catholic college and

RUNNING CATHOLIC SCHOOLS university presidents are men, while mainly theand topuniversity position at U.S. Catholic The majority of U.S.women Catholictake college presidents are men, while mainly womenprimary take theschools. top position at U.S. Catholic primary schools.

College and University Presidents

LayMan

15%

Michele Mazelin lives in Waxhaw, N.C.

priest or reLigious brother

Mass is most important, not whether church is ‘drab’ As former members of St. John the Baptist Church in Tryon, we were shocked by the Dec. 10 headline, “From drab to fab.” To think that any house of worship would be referred to as drab is in our minds not very Catholic Christian. The simple pleasure of praying without all the “fab” distracting us was wonderful.

The Last Supper was not done in a palace, but in a simple room with simple furnishings. The celebration of the Eucharist is the most important part of the Mass, whether it is offered on the hood of a jeep in Afghanistan or in the former simple church in Tryon. We moved to this area to enjoy the simple pleasures of life away from a large city.

We now attend a Catholic church in South Carolina that your paper would refer to as “drab,” and we love receiving the Eucharist every week in this simple house of worship.

Kathleen and Roy Herdman live in Lynn, N.C.

Thankful for Mt. Airy’s pastor We have Catholic activity in this part of North Carolina. Just come to Mass at Holy Angels Church in Mt. Airy and hear an inspiring sermon by our pastor, Father Eric Kowalski.

He makes one proud to be a Catholic Christian.

Ted Griesenbrock lives in Pinnacle, N.C.

40%

27%

LaywoMan

18% reLigious sister

Primary sChool PrinCiPals priest, deacon or reLigious brother

62%

LaywoMan

1% LayMan

20%

17% reLigious sister CNS | Emily Thompson

Source: “Ecclesial Status of Catholic Education Leaders,” by Melissa A. Cidade (2010) source: “ecclesial status of Catholic education leaders,” by melissa a. Cidade (2010) ©2010 Cns

Letters policy The Catholic News Herald welcomes letters from readers. We ask that letters be originals of 250 words or fewer, pertain to recent newspaper content or Catholic issues, and be in good taste.

To be considered for publication, each letter must include the name, address and daytime phone number of the writer for purpose of verification. Letters may be condensed due to space limitations and edited for clarity, style and factual accuracy.

The Catholic News Herald does not publish poetry, form letters or petitions.

Items submitted to the Catholic News Herald become the property of the newspaper and are subject to reuse, in whole or in part, in print, electronic formats and archives.

Mail: Letters to the Editor Catholic News Herald 1123 S. Church St. Charlotte, N.C. 28203 E-mail: catholicnews@charlottediocese.org

catholic news heraldI 23

January 7, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

W.S. “Bill” Melton

This year, resolve to become more holy

W

ell, friends, it’s that time of year again. It’s out with the old year and in with the new. And with it come all those New Year’s resolutions we seem unable to keep.

Time for folks to try once again to stop whatever vice that afflicts them.

For a few days or perhaps even a few months, some of us will walk a little more and eat a little less. Then the newness will wear off and we’ll probably be back to our old habits again.

So this year I’ve decided to try something different – something in the spiritual realm instead of the temporal.

It was an idea spawned by a book Santa Claus brought me called “Mornings with Fulton Sheen.”

For those of you not acquainted with Archbishop Fulton Sheen, he was a great Catholic preacher of the Gospel who lived from 1895 to 1979. And during this short time span, Bishop Sheen wrote more than 100 books and hundreds of newspaper columns, had a successful radio program that aired for 20 years, and then took the Gospel to the new medium of television in 1951 with his show “Life Is Worth Living.”

During its six-year run, this show reached more than 30 million viewers each week. It was so popular its ratings rivaled the likes of performances by Frank Sinatra and TV’s Milton Berle (to which Uncle Miltie quipped, “He uses old material, too.”)

Each week Bishop Sheen, in full clerical regalia, would come into living rooms all across America, telling jokes and stories that put the Gospel into perspective for people of all faiths. He explained great spiritual truths in depth without consulting notes, a scripts or teleprompters, relying instead on an old-fashioned blackboard and a piece of chalk to draw out his messages of faith.

And he ended each broadcast with his joyous exclamation of “God loves you!”

When he received a Grammy Award for his show in 1952, he summed up all up by saying simply, “I feel it is time I pay tribute to my four writers – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.”

MELTON, SEE page 24

Deacon Jim Toner

The poison of popularity F ‘In practical ethics, I believe that the chief poison of the day is popularity – our often desperate need to be liked, appreciated and respected.

But our quest to be popular can easily displace our Christian duty to be holy.’

or nearly two decades, I taught ethics to senior military officers, many of whom would go on to “flag rank,” meaning that they would become generals and admirals.

In teaching about morality, I tried to inculcate a number of ideas and ideals, but chief among them was the very Catholic teaching that we must put principle before purpose and even before people.

I also taught cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Although these were gifted young men and women, their first inclination was to protect their buddies, and many had a hard time with the honor code, which required them not to tolerate anyone who stole, lied or cheated. If a cadet knew that someone – even, or perhaps especially, a close friend – had cheated on an examination, the cadet had to report his friend to the honor council.

Soldiers must learn loyalty to comrades; officers must take good care of those entrusted to them. That is a necessary component of public service ethics. But it isn’t enough.

Without integrity, public servants – military or civilian – are left only with nepotism or favoritism, meaning that there is then a different standard for family, friends and colleagues.

For example, in a city where I was invited to speak about ethics, a nurse told me about an unnamed surgeon who had a drinking problem and who occasionally got “the shakes.”

Doctors and nurses would not report him, believing that their first loyalty lay with him. She asked if they were right in not reporting him.

I replied, “How do you think his patients would answer that question?”

Our Lord said that no one could come to Him without “hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life” (Lk 14:26 NAB). The idea, of course, is that nothing should precede, or substitute for, our commitment to Christ. Moreover, we must reject what is contrary to the Gospel.

In practical ethics, I believe that the chief poison of the day is popularity – our often desperate need to be liked, appreciated and respected. But our quest to be popular can easily displace our Christian duty to be holy (1 Peter 1:15, 1 John 3:3). It is sometimes exceedingly difficult to report friends for cheating, to turn in a doctor with a drinking problem, or to refuse to let loyalty to a family member come before our commitment to Christ and His Church.

By the same token, our priests and deacons may have the same kind of problem. In preparing homilies, in teaching and in counseling, priests have an understandable and often laudable desire to be liked. Priests do not want to disappoint their parishioners. Imagine a couple who comes to the priest, in effect asking his blessing upon them as they tell him that they are going to resort to artificial insemination to have the child they yearn for. Artificial insemination, though, is immoral (see CCC 2376, 2377), and the priest has the duty truthfully and wisely to counsel that couple.

One of the reasons a priest wears black is that it reminds him of self-denial. It reminds him that his first duty must be to the truth. In the Gospel according to St. John, we read that many believed in Jesus but did not proclaim it among unbelievers because “they preferred human praise to that of God” (12:43). St. Paul, similarly, tells the Galatians that he does not first seek to please people: “If I were still trying to TONER, SEE page 24

Peggy Bowes

New Year’s resolutions and the fourth Luminous Mystery

I

t’s such a cliché, the New Year’s resolution list. Each year we are programmed to begin anew by making a list to correct our various shortcomings. We set goals to be more organized, save more money or get in shape. We are filled with hope, yet statistics show that the resolutions will likely be abandoned and forgotten before the annual Super Bowl game.

Perhaps we should resolve instead to simply practice virtue by turning to the 20 mysteries of the rosary for inspiration. Each mystery contains a fruit or virtue that shines forth. For instance, the Annunciation shows the virtue of humility. The Visitation exemplifies love of neighbor, and so on.

Frequent rosary prayer and meditation help us to practice these virtues.

The rosary mystery that best fits our drive to write New Year’s resolution lists is the fourth Luminous Mystery, the Transfiguration. When Pope John Paul II instituted the Mysteries of Light, or Luminous Mysteries, he put an emphasis on the fourth mystery: “The mystery of light par excellence is the Transfiguration... . The glory of the Godhead shines forth from the face of Christ as the Father commands the astonished Apostles to “listen to him” (cf. Lk 9:35 and parallels) and to prepare to experience with Him the agony of the Passion, so as to come with Him to the joy of the Resurrection and a life transfigured by the Holy Spirit.”

(Apostolic Letter “Rosarium Virginis Mariae”) We can transfigure our own lives by embodying the virtue of this mystery: To become a new person in Christ. The key words here are “in Christ,” for “…with God all things are possible” (Matt 19:26). Yet how do we begin this transformation?

Clearly, we must heed the advice from heaven and listen to Jesus, who will guide us on our own journey of transformation. It is important to pray, BOWES, SEE page 24

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | January 7, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

TONER:

BOWES:

FROM PAGE 23

please people, I would not be a slave of Christ� (1:10 NAB).

St. Paul also tells us that those entrusted with the Gospel – and that includes all of us, not just the ordained and consecrated – should speak “not as trying to please human beings, but rather God, who judges Read about our hearts� (1 a saint Thess 2:4 NAB). who didn’t There is a reason compromise on that the First the truth – and Commandment was called a is first! When troublemaker we treat for it. family, friends, See page 2. or military or civilian colleagues as more important than our commitment to truth, we are creating idols. The last command of the last apostle is: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols� (1 John 5:21).

The idols of popularity at any price and of preeminent loyalty to friends are morally poisonous. G.K. Chesterton had it right: Those who believe in nothing can tolerate anything. But we Catholics believe in Someone, who calls us always to speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15 RSV; cf. CCC 2488-2489).

Inside

Deacon James H. Toner serves at Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro. He is the author of “The Good Life: God’s Way� (K of C Veritas Series #315).

He holds a master’s degree from William and Mary College and a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame.

Trusted Professional Guidance to Help You Prepare for the Future You have important goals in life.

And you’re ready to plan for them, financially. But there are so many choices. Which way do you go?

Member St. Gabriel Parish.

Les Davaz Associate Vice President Financial Consultant 6000 Fairview Road, Suite 500 Charlotte, NC 28210-3254

t

les.davaz@rbc.com

Š 2010 RBC Wealth Management, a division of RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Member NYSE/FINRA/SIPC.

FROM PAGE 23

but we must also take time to place ourselves in Jesus’ presence and simply listen. Throughout the day, be receptive to His gentle but firm guidance.

With practice, you will soon learn the little clues that tell you if you are on the right or wrong path.

Regular rosary prayer will also help us to convert our lives. Study and meditate on the 20 mysteries of the rosary, for they are our guide to practicing heroic virtue.

It is also important to note that like Jesus, we must suffer. We cannot begin anew unless we learn to bear patiently our own crosses with humility. By accepting and offering up our suffering, we receive grace, practice virtue and become more Christ-like.

This year, throw away that itemized list of resolutions and decide to become a new person in Christ. I found further inspiration at how-to-praythe-rosary-everyday.com: “Let your life be transformed by Jesus. Offer yourself to Him and let Him transform you.�

‘Perhaps we should resolve instead to simply practice virtue by turning to the 20 mysteries of the rosary for inspiration.’

Peggy Bowes is a member of Holy Angels Church in Mt. Airy. and the author of “The Rosary Workout� (rosaryworkout.com).

MELTON: FROM PAGE 23

In the 1960s Bishop Sheen was again on the air with the “Fulton Sheen Program,� which broadcast from 1961 to 1968. And in addition to all of this, he served tirelessly as a parish priest, teacher, preacher, retreat master and bishop in an effort to convert as many souls to Christ as he possibly could in the short life he was given.

I just discovered Bishop Sheen about eight months ago when I began catching reruns of his shows on EWTN, and I’ve been drawn to him ever since. I tape his shows every Saturday evening, and I’ve begun collecting many of his writings.

This latest book I received at Christmas, though, wasn’t written by Bishop Sheen.

It was written after his death and is based on one of his key teachings: the dedication of a Holy Hour each day to Christ. Bishop Sheen practiced this himself for more than 60 years and preached its practice all over

the world.

Bishop Sheen gave three reasons for its importance. First, he said, the Holy Hour isn’t devotion; it is sharing in the work of redemption. He said, “In the Garden of Gethsemane, our Lord contrasted two hours – one was the evil hour, “This is your hour� with which Judas could turn out the lights of the world. In contrast, our Lord asked: “Could you not watch one hour with me?� In other words, Sheen said, Jesus asked for an hour of reparation to combat the hour of evil. Secondly, Sheen noted, the only time Christ asked His disciples for anything was when He asked them to keep watch with Him in the garden. But they fell asleep. Jesus responded, “Could you not watch one hour with me?� Finally, Bishop Sheen said, he kept this hour to grow more and more into the likeness of God. This year, I will resolve to work on improving my soul in this fashion. One hour at a time.

W.S. “Bill� Melton Jr. is a Southern writer, humorist, Catholic convert and member of St. Michael Church in Gastonia. Contact him at wsmelton@wsmelton.com.