July 27, 2007

July 27, 2007

The Catholic News & Herald 1

www.charlottediocese.org

Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte

Perspectives Father Dietzen discusses baptizing the deceased; Father Catoir reveals the rewards of forgiveness

Established Jan. 12, 1972

by Pope Paul VI july 27, 2007

Big hearts in Brevard

| Pages 14-15 Serving Catholics in Western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte

Families, human rights report tell stories behind deportations

by PATRICIA ZAPOR catholic news service

KAREN A. EVANS staff writer

BREVARD — Tucked away in the mountains of Transylvania County, Sacred Heart Church in Brevard is home to about 1,500 Catholics.

One might think that a relatively small parish would be content with an active parish council, enough funds to maintain the church and a few outreach committees. But in less than five years, Sacred Heart Church parishioners have donated nearly $1 million to the parish’s planned giving and endowment programs.

An endowment is a permanent fund in which the principal is never used.

The income from the interest generated may be used in accordance with the wishes See GIVING, page 6

no. 35

Divided by laws and land

Small mountain parish fosters large endowment goal by

vOLUME 16

CNS photo by Rafael Crisostomo, El Pregonero

Diego Lino stands with his children, Jonathan, 12, Judith, 5, Juliana, 5, and Britzy, 6, during a press conference and prayer service on the plaza at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington July 17. Dozens gathered to speak out for families across the United States whom they say are being torn apart by deportation.

A diocese on the rise

Bishop Jugis elevates four missions to parish status by

KEVIN E. MURRAY editor

Photo by Kevin E. Murray

Bishop Peter J. Jugis stands outside St. Joseph Church in Charlotte before its dedication Mass May 2, 2004. The church was one of four missions elevated to parish status in the Diocese of Charlotte July 1, 2007.

CHARLOTTE — Four missions in the Diocese of Charlotte have recently been elevated to parish status.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and St. Joseph Church in Charlotte, St. Joseph Church in Kannapolis and Our Lady of the Americas Church in BiscoeCandor were designated as parishes July 1.

In early 2007, Bishop Peter J. Jugis commissioned

a study to determine which of the 23 missions in the diocese might be ready for parish status. The study, conducted by the diocesan planning office, took into consideration t h e mi s s i o n s ’ r e g i s t er e d households, Mass attendance and recommendations from the diocesan strategic plan.

“The study pointed to four missions as being ready to be elevated to parish status,” said See PARISHES, page 5

WA S H I N G T O N — Children wearing T-shirts reading “Born in the USA, Don’t take my mommy, daddy away” talked knowledgeably about deportation to reporters on the plaza at the Supreme Court July 17, explaining what happens when family members are sent away to another country.

The same day, Human Rights Watch issued a report estimating that 1.6 million children and adults, including perhaps 540,000 U.S. citizens, have had a family member deported since a 1996 law reclassified many minor crimes as deportable offenses and eliminated judicial discretion in waiving the penalty.

Joshua James, 9, from Jersey City, N.J., was 6 when See STORIES, page 9

Clarifying the church’s teachings

Document on nature of church aimed at Catholics, U.S. cardinal says by

DAN MORRIS-YOUNG catholic news service

SAN FRANCISCO — The recent Vatican document emphasizing that only the Catholic Church possesses the fullness of the means for See CHURCH, page 7

Around the Diocese

Hands raised in faith

Culture Watch

Students clean, pray; Sisters of Mercy reconfigure

Study: Hispanics drawn to charismatic churches

Project for imprisoned moms; actor visits Catholic school

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| Page 8

| Pages 10-11

July 27, 2007

2 The Catholic News & Herald

InBrief

Current and upcoming topics from around the world to your own backyard

Catholic connections

CNS photo by Reni Newsphotos, courtesy of Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

President Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson pose with daughter Luci, a convert to Catholicism, before her Aug. 6, 1966, wedding at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

President, Lady Bird Johnson had long association with Catholics WASHINGTON (CNS) — Lady Bird Johnson, an Episcopalian, died just after a Catholic priest finished reciting the litany of the saints with her family at her bedside in Austin, Texas.

This ecumenical interaction July 11 was not unusual for the former first lady or for her husband, former President Lyndon B. Johnson, a member of the Disciples of Christ.

Their closest Catholic relationship was with their daughter, Luci Baines Johnson Turpin. It was Turpin who called Paulist Father Robert Scott of St. Austin Church in Austin, Texas to come to the LBJ Ranch when it became clear her mother was close to death.

Father Scott has known Turpin and her family for 25 years. He said Johnson attended every first Communion, confirmation and graduation for her Catholic grandchildren.

And when Turpin’s daughter, Nicole Nugent, was preparing for her confirmation, Johnson invited the whole class out to the LBJ Ranch for a retreat.

In the shock and confusion following the assassination of the nation’s first and only Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office as chief executive Nov. 22, 1963, placing his hand on a Catholic Bible aboard Air Force One. Like Kennedy before him, Johnson seemed to be popular among Catholics.

A Gallup Poll in 1963 said nine out of 10 Catholics questioned said they would vote for President Johnson, a Democrat, over Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater in a presidential election.

Johnson’s association with Catholics

dates back to his vice presidency, when he met with Pope John XXIII. Luci Johnson converted to Catholicism at age 18; she was the first daughter of a president to marry in a Catholic church. Her marriage at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception also marked the first time a president had visited the church.

According to the 1982 book “The Politician: The Life and Times of Lyndon Johnson,” Luci encouraged her father to pray to her “little monks” at St. Dominic Church in Washington when he was worried about the progress of the war in Vietnam.

President Johnson was known for making nocturnal visits to Washington area churches, such as St. Dominic, during his presidency. He also occasionally attended Mass at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Stonewall, Texas, when he was at his ranch.

He would typically attend a second, Protestant service on the same day.

When President Johnson met with Pope Paul VI, he asked him to pray for U.S. efforts for world peace. The pope did so, and also prayed for the U.S. leader’s quick recovery after his 1965 gall bladder operation.

When he died, several Catholic leaders spoke highly of the former president.

Upon hearing of Lady Bird Johnson’s death, Austin Bishop Gregory Aymond honored the lifelong environmentalist by saying she was “truly a Texas treasure.”

“She found and spread God’s beauty in the simplicity of wildflowers and nature,” he said. “In faith, we trust she is resting in comfort in the Lord’s garden.”

Bishops to discuss efforts to end war in Iraq with House Democrats WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. bishops have agreed to meet with a group of Catholic House Democrats to discuss how to pursue the goal of a “responsible transition” to end the war in Iraq.

They also reiterated their call for members of Congress and the Bush administration to break the political stalemate in Washington and “forge bipartisan policies on ways to bring about a responsible transition and an end to the war.”

“The current situation in Iraq is unacceptable and unsustainable,” wrote Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., chairman of the bishops’ Committee on International Policy, in a July 17 letter to Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio.

Bishop Wenski’s letter was a response to a June 28 letter Ryan wrote to Bishop Wenski and Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., USCCB president.

Ryan’s letter on behalf of himself and 13 other Catholic House Democrats, urged the bishops to increase their involvement in efforts to end the war in Iraq.

Diocesan planner ASHEVILLE VICARIATE

CANDLER — Preston Smith will perform a free Organ Concert at St. Joan of Arc Church, 768 Asbury Rd., Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. A reception will follow. For more information, call Andrew Huska at (828) 285-9678 or e-mail eahuska@charter.net.

CHARLOTTE VICARIATE

CHARLOTTE — The St. Matthew Summer Bible Institute will take place Aug. 6-10, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the New Life Center banquet room of St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy. Susan Brady will present “Born From Above,” based on the Gospel of John. To register, call (704) 541-8362, ext. 4.

CHARLOTTE — Brad Jones and David Miller, seminarians for the Diocese of Charlotte, will present various topics in Wednesdays with Brad and David. All sessions meet 7-8:30 p.m. in the reception room at St. Vincent de Paul Church, 6828 Old Reid Rd. Miller will present “The Five Marian Dogmas: Defending the Truths of Christ” Aug. 1. For more information, call the church office at (704) 554-7088.

CHARLOTTE — The Vietnamese Cursillo of Charlotte School of Leaders meets the second Sunday of each month at 2:30 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1400 Suther Rd. For more information, contact Nam Le at (704) 549-1525.

CHARLOTTE — The Young Widowed Group meets at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month in the Fellowship Hall of St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Rd. For more information, contact facilitator Sister Therese Galligan at (704) 362-5047, ext. 216.

“Throughout our nation’s history Catholics have been at the forefront of the fight for social justice. Now, at another critical moment, we respectfully urge the USCCB to join with us in mobilizing for Congress’s efforts to end the war,” Ryan wrote.

Bishop Wenski said the bishops “share your deep concern for the dangerous and deteriorating situation in Iraq,” and would welcome the opportunity “to meet with you and other policymakers to discuss ways to pursue the goal of a ‘responsible transition’ to bring an end to the war.”

“Too many Iraqi and American lives have been lost,” he wrote. “Too many Iraqi communities have been shattered.

Too many civilians have been driven from their homes.”

He also added that church and government officials should use their “shared moral tradition” to guide their dialogue with other leaders in seeking a way to “bring about a morally responsible end to the war.”

CHARLOTTE — A Support Group for Caregivers of a Family Member with Memory Loss meets the last Monday of each month, 10-11:30 a.m., at St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Rd. For more information, contact Suzanne Bach at (704) 376-4135.

CHARLOTTE — The 50+ Club of St. John Neumann Church, 8451 Idlewild Rd., meets the second Wednesday of each month at 11 a.m. with a program and lunch in the parish hall. For reservations and more information, call Elaine at (704) 847-2835.

CHARLOTTE — The Happy Timers of St. Ann Church meet the first Wednesday of each month with a luncheon and program at 1 p.m. in the Msgr.

Allen Center, 3635 Park Rd. All adults age 55 and older are welcome. For more information, call Charles Nesto at (704) 398-0879.

GASTONIA VICARIATE

BELMONT — First Saturday Devotions take place on the first Saturday of each month at Belmont Abbey Basilica, 100 Belmont-Mt. Holly Rd. Devotion begins at 9:30 a.m. with the recitation of the rosary, followed by reconciliation and Mass. For more information, call Phil or Terri at (704) 888-6050.

HICKORY VICARIATE

MORGANTON — As Christians we struggle daily with negative emotions such as anger, anxiety and despair. “Spirituality of the Emotions” offers an opportunity to bring together insight, prayer and group support in this struggle. Dr. Ronda Chervin will present this program Wednesdays, 7:30-8:45 p.m., through Aug. 8. These free classes will meet at St. Charles Borromeo Church, 728 West Union St. For more information, call Dr. Chervin at (828) 413-4624 or St. Charles Borromeo Church at (828) 437-3108.

MORGANTON— The Cursillo Movement of the Diocese of Charlotte is hosting a diocesan-

July 27, 2007 Volume 16 • Number 35

Publisher: Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis Editor: Kevin E. Murray Staff Writer: Karen A. Evans Graphic DESIGNER: Tim Faragher Advertising MANAGER: Cindi Feerick Secretary: Deborah Hiles 1123 South Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203 Mail: P.O. Box 37267, Charlotte, NC 28237 Phone: (704) 370-3333 FAX: (704) 370-3382 E-MAIL: catholicnews@charlottediocese.org

The Catholic News & Herald, USPC 007-393, is published by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, 1123 South Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203, 44 times a year, weekly except for Christmas week and Easter week and every two weeks during June, July and August for $15 per year for enrollees in parishes of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte and $23 per year for all other subscribers. The Catholic News & Herald reserves the right to reject or cancel advertising for any reason deemed appropriate. We do not recommend or guarantee any product, service or benefit claimed by our advertisers. Second-class postage paid at Charlotte NC and other cities. POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to The Catholic News & Herald, P.O. Box 37267, Charlotte, NC 28237.

July 27, 2007

The Catholic News & Herald 3

FROM THE VATICAN

Cardinal calls Chinese Catholic reaction to papal letter positive VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican has not had any official comment from the Chinese government on Pope Benedict XVI’s letter to Chinese Catholics, but the reaction has been “positive from the faithful and the bishops,” said the Vatican secretary of state.

The 55-page letter, released June 30 in Chinese, has led to “an extraordinary movement of meditation and reflection, especially through the Internet, by the official patriotic community and the clandestine community,” said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The pope’s letter urged cooperation between Catholic communities officially registered with the government and those that have continued clandestinely since the 1950s, when the Chinese government began closing churches.

While the papal letter criticized Chinese government limits on church activities, it also invited civil authorities

to open a new dialogue on several key issues, including the appointment of bishops.

The letter, said Cardinal Bertone, was an attempt to demonstrate “confidence in the Chinese people and in their government so that they would reconsider a bit their position toward the Catholic Church, which wants to work for the good of the Chinese people.”

The cardinal also said that the pope tried to tap into and build on a Chinese cultural sensitivity to moral questions that comes from Confucianism.

From the viewpoint of its moral code, Confucianism has roots that are close to Christianity’s, he said.

The Catholic Church wants to build on the strong moral code emphasized by traditional Chinese culture, showing how Christianity emphasizes not only correct behavior, but also solidarity, love and forgiveness, which benefit the entire society, he said.

wide Grand Ultreya at Steel Creek Parka and Campgrounds Sept. 29, 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis will celebrate Mass at 12 p.m. Please bring covered dish and a 2-liter drink.

Other events include guitar music, group reunion, spiritual talks, and hiking/nature trails for children.

For more information and directions, call Kathy Hack at (704) 548-1834.

WAYNESVILLE — Adult Education Classes are held the first three Wednesday evenings of each month beginning at 6:45 p.m. in the St. John the Evangelist Church Social Hall, 234 Church St. For more information, call Charles Luce at (828) 648-7369 or e-mail luce54@aol.com.

HENDERSONVILLE — The Widows Lunch Bunch, sponsored by Immaculate Conception Church, meets at a different restaurant on the first Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. Reservations are necessary. For more information and reservations, call Joan Keagle at (828) 693-4733.

WINSTON-SALEM VICARIATE

SALISBURY VICARIATE

SALISBURY — Our Lady Rosary Makers of Sacred Heart Church, 128 N. Fulton St., are making cord rosaries for the missions and the military. The group meets the first Tuesday of each month in the church office conference room, 10-11 a.m. For more information, call Cathy Yochim at (704) 636-6857 or Joan Kaczmarezyk at (704) 797-8405.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN VICARIATE

Is your parish sponsoring a free event open to the general public? Deadline for all submissions for the Diocesan Planner is 15 days prior to desired publication date. Submit in writing to kaevans@charlottediocese.org or fax to (704) 370-3382.

calendar

Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following events:

July 29 — 11 a.m.

Installation of Father Francis Cancro as pastor Queen of Apostles Church, Belmont

congregation during the eucharistic prayer. The congregation at the morning Mass generally is made up of the pope’s valet and the consecrated women who staff the papal apartment.

The images Father Lombardi referred to were released by the Vatican to coincide with celebrations of Pope Benedict’s 80th birthday April 16. Father Lombardi heads the Vatican Television Center, which produced the footage, as well as serving as director of the Vatican press office and Vatican Radio.

Father Lombardi also said the fact that the pope’s two private secretaries concelebrate the Mass with him each morning “obviously means he is using the new Missal,” since the Tridentine Mass strictly limits concelebration.

At public Masses with an international congregation, Pope Benedict uses the post-Vatican II Mass with most of the prayers in Latin. However, on occasions such as the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, which is considered a Rome diocesan celebration although there is an international congregation, the pope recites the prayers in Italian.

‘To nourish the spirit’

CLEMMONS — Holy Family Church, 4820 Kinnamon Rd., has eucharistic adoration each Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-9 p.m. For more details, call Donna at (336) 940-2558 or Carole at (336) 766-4530.

W I N S TO N - S A L E M — T h e H e a l i n g Companions is a grief support group for the bereaved that meets the first and third Thursdays of the month in conference room B at St. Leo the Great Church, 335 Springdale Ave. For further details, call Joanne Parcel at (336) 924-9478.

Episcopal

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI concelebrates his daily morning Mass in Italian using the current edition of the Roman Missal, the Vatican spokesman said.

Claims that the pope celebrates his private Mass using the Tridentine rite are incorrect, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said July 17.

The Tridentine Mass is the Latinlanguage liturgy that predates the Second Vatican Council; it was last revised in the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal.

Less than 10 days after Pope Benedict July 7 issued his letter and norms providing greater opportunity for the celebration of the Tridentine Mass, news reports claimed Pope Benedict already had been celebrating the old rite privately.

“The confusion probably was caused by our footage of the pope celebrating facing the altar, which is due to the fact that the altar is against the wall” in the private chapel of the Apostolic Palace, Father Lombardi said.

With the altar against the wall, the concelebrants in the private chapel end up having their backs toward the

WINSTON-SALEM — A course on Natural Family Planning will begin Aug. 19, 1:303:30 p.m. at St. Leo the Great Church, 335 Springdale Ave. Class dates are Aug. 19, Sept. 16, Oct. 21 and Nov. 18. The SymptoThermal Method of NFP is safe and medically proven 99.9% effective. Couples with marginal fertility will also benefit from working with their natural mutual fertility instead of against it. Call Todd and Stephanie Brown at (336) 765-2909 for more information.

MOORESVILLE — A Support Group for Parents Who Have Lost a Child of any Age meets the second Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at St. Therese Church, 217 Brawley School Rd. We draw strength from others’ experience of loss and grief.

For more information, call Joy at (704) 664-3992.

MURPHY — A Charismatic Prayer Group meets Fridays at 3:30 p.m. in the Glenmary House of St. William Church, 765 Andrews Rd. join us for praise music, witness, teaching, prayers and laying on of hands for those in need. For more details, call Gery Dashner at (828) 494-2683.

Vatican spokesman: Pope concelebrates daily Mass using current missal

Aug. 4 — 9 a.m.

Mass for Crossroads Walkers St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

Aug. 9 — 5 p.m.

Serra International Convention opening Mass Atlanta, Ga.

Aug. 10 — 10 a.m.

Finance council meeting Pastoral Center, Charlotte

Aug. 5 — 12:30 p.m.

Holy Sepulchre Scrolls Mass St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

Aug. 10 — 2 p.m.

Vocation Discernment Day Mass St. Dorothy Church, Lincolnton

Aug. 6 — 6 p.m.

Seminarian and priests’ reception Bishop’s residence, Charlotte

Aug. 10 — 7:30 p.m.

Couples for Christ National Conference Westin Hotel, Charlotte

CNS photo by L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters

Pope Benedict XVI admires the scenery in Lorenzago di Cadore, Italy, July 23. The pope is on vacation in the Alps until July 27.

“Before this scenery of meadows, forests and peaks reaching toward the sky, the desire to praise God for the marvels of his works rises spontaneously from the soul and our admiration of this natural beauty easily transforms itself into prayer,” said Pope Benedict July 16. “Every good Christian” knows that a vacation is a time not only for physical relaxation, but also “to nourish the spirit through greater space for prayer and meditation, to grow in a personal relationship with Christ and to conform oneself ever more closely to his teaching.”

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters in Lorenzago di Cadore that Pope Benedict was spending most of his vacation time working on the next volume of his book, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Father Lombardi said the pope also was spending time on his next encyclical, which, like “Deus Caritas Est” (“God Is Love”), would focus on a topic related to Catholic social teaching. He said, however, that the encyclical was still in the earliest stages of development.

Diocesan requirements for reporting ministry-related sexual abuse of a minor 1.

2.

3.

Any individual having actual knowledge of or reasonable cause to suspect an incident of ministry-related sexual abuse is to immediately report the incident to the Chancery.

The Chancery will then report the incident to the proper civil authorities. The individual reporting the incident to the Chancery will be notified of the particulars regarding the Chancery’s filing of the incident with civil authorities.

This reporting requirement is not intended to supersede the right of an individual to make a report to civil authority, but is to ensure proper, complete and timely reporting. Should an individual choose to make a report to civil authority, a report is still to be made to the Chancery.

4 The Catholic News & Herald

around the diocese

July 27, 2007

Rallying around the rosary

Heart at work

Courtesy Photo

Catholic Heart Workcamp volunteers spruce up the front porch at House of Mercy in Belmont July 2-3.

Students volunteer at House of Mercy BELMONT — Middle school students from four states recently made a difference at House of Mercy in Belmont.

The students traveled from Delaware, Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee to participate in the Catholic Heart Workcamp held at Charlotte Catholic High School. The Orlando, Fla.-based workcamp provides teens opportunities to carry out service projects during the weeklong camp held at locations around the country.

During the week in Charlotte, the group camped at House of Mercy July 2-3, where they cleaned windows and walls.

House of Mercy was established in 1991 by the Sisters of Mercy to provide compassionate 24-hour nursing care to persons living with advanced AIDS. After the cleanup, the students learned about the ministry and visited with residents.

The staff and residents were grateful for the students’ hard work and interest.

“Thanks to the Catholic Heart Workcamp volunteers who contributed ‘heart work’ to House of Mercy,” said Marjorie Storch, director of development.

Since its founding in 1991, 238 men and women have made House of Mercy their home.

Courtesy Photo

Seanna, Mariah, Stephen, Matthew, Mercedes and Michaela Dalley are pictured in first Communion attire during the Semi-annual Rosary Rally at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte May 20. The 33-year-old tradition included recitation of the rosary, a eucharistic procession and Benediction. It is held in January to commemorate Respect Life Month and in May, as the month of May is devoted to Mary and is traditionally celebrated with a crowning and praying of the rosary.

The youths above took part in the event by helping to carry a float of the Virgin Mary during a Marian procession, by throwing rose petals before the

Sisters of Mercy approve governance plan for new community CINCINNATI — Approximately 500 sisters recently assembled to set goals for the newest community of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas.

Approximately 500 Sisters of Mercy from 18 states, Guam and Jamaica gathered at Xavier University in Cincinnati July 26-28 to approve a governance plan for the new South Central Community.

The new community — comprised of more than 750 sisters, 590 associates and one Companion in Mercy from regional communities based in Baltimore, Md.; St. Louis, Mo.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Jamaica; Guam; and Belmont, N.C. — will become official Sept. 1, 2008.

The governance plan signifies an important step in the reconfiguration process for the sisters, as it establishes structures and processes for the new community.

With fewer sisters than in years past, the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of the Americas in 2001 announced plans to gather 25 regional communities and missions into six communities to strengthen their ministries and mission.

Mercy Sisters and associates based in Buffalo, N.Y.; Erie and Pittsburgh, Pa.; Rochester, N.Y.; and the Philippines

assembled in Buffalo July 20 to announce they are forming The New York, Pennsylvania, Pacific West Community.

That new community will become official Jan. 1.

By restructuring, the Sisters of Mercy will develop strategies for combining and using their resources to better serve persons suffering from poverty, lack of education and insufficient health care, according to a press release.

The Institute of the Sisters of Mercy is an international community of Catholic women religious vowed to serve people who suffer from poverty, sickness and lack of education with a special concern for women and children.

The institute includes more than 4,400 members and 2,800 associates who serve in North, South and Central America, the Caribbean, Guam, and the Philippines.

Members of the South Central Community will gather in July 2008 to elect leadership and set new goals.

WANT MORE INFO? For more information on the Sisters of Mercy in North Carolina, visit www.mercync.org.

monstrance during a eucharistic procession, and by serving as altar servers.

July 27, 2007

from the cover

The Catholic News & Herald 5

Four missions elevated to parish status in diocese PARISHES, from page 1

George Cobb, diocesan planning director.

All four of the new parishes began as missions that were to serve immigrants to the diocese, primarily Hispanic and Vietnamese. Keeping with the diocese’s policy of not creating “national” parishes – parishes exclusive to one nationality or culture – the four new parishes are to be territorial, with membership consisting of all Catholics within the parish’s geographical boundaries.

St. Joseph Church in Charlotte will serve the Steele Creek community, while Our Lady of Guadalupe Church will serve primarily northwestern Mecklenburg County. St. Joseph Church in Kannapolis will serve the entire Kannapolis area.

Our Lady of Americas Church will serve Catholics in Montgomery County.

In the Diocese of Charlotte, parishes must have sufficient numbers of faithful to carry out the mission of the church and have the financial capabilities of maintaining themselves.

Other factors may include geographic considerations and whether there are a sufficient number of priests to staff the parish, now and in the future.

The pastor, the canonical head of a parish, is charged by the bishop to exercise pastoral care of the community

entrusted to him.

In a letter to the new pastors, Bishop Jugis told them they would “direct the liturgical and spiritual life of the parish.”

“As pastor … you will carry out the functions of teaching, sanctifying and governing the faithful under the authority of the diocesan bishop,” wrote Bishop Jugis. “The model for your pastoral ministry is the Good Shepherd himself, Jesus Christ.”

Bishop Jugis instructed the pastors to ensure that all parishioners — adults and children alike — are taught the truths of the faith; that evangelization occurs within and outside the church; and that the faithful are encouraged to “promote the spirit of the Gospel through works of charity and social justice.”

The new parishes will be working with the diocesan planning and finance offices to establish pastoral and finance councils, if they don’t already have them.

These councils will advise the pastors concerning policies and pastoral matters of the parishes.

“The laity are charged with cooperating with the leadership and direction of the new pastors in carrying out Christ’s mission in the Diocese of Charlotte,” said Cobb.

Cultural catechesis Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph churches in Charlotte began as cultural centers for Hispanic and

SPACE IS LIMITED— CALL TODAY

Photo by Karen A. Evans

Young men carry the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe down the aisle during the dedication Mass of Our Lady of the Americas Church in Biscoe in June 25, 2006. Our Lady of the Americas Church was one of four missions recently elevated to parish status in the Diocese of Charlotte.

Vietnamese populations, respectively.

Formerly known as the Catholic Hispanic Center, Our Lady of Guadalupe was dedicated by then-Bishop William G. Curlin in June 2002. At the time, the facility was regularly packed for each of its seven weekend Masses.

Calling the facility a positive step forward for both Hispanics and the Catholic Church, Vincentian Father Vincent Finnerty, pastor, said in 2002 that plans were already in the works to expand the facility to accommodate population growth.

There were only about 20 Vietnamese Catholic families in Charlotte in the early 1980s. By the late 1990s, there were 1,500 Vietnamese attending Mass at the newly acquired cultural center under the patronage of St. Joseph.

Bishop Jugis dedicated a new 22,300-square-foot facility in May 2004, to serve the more than 9,000 Vietnamese in the area.

“The church allows Charlotte’s Vietnamese community to have a place of worship, a place of education for young people and a place for us to preserve the mother language, tradition and morals of our culture,” Father Tan Van Le, pastor, said in 2004.

Both Our Lady of the Americas Church in Biscoe-Candor and St. Joseph Church in Kannapolis were mission churches with predominantly Hispanic populations.

In the late 1980s, Oblate Father Gerard Clarke, then-chaplain at the Hispanic Center of Charlotte, became

administrator of the new Our Lady of the Americas Mission in Biscoe, then a mission of Our Lady of the Annunciation Church in Albemarle.

Thousands of immigrants, many from Mexico, have moved to the area since then, prompting the construction of a new 24,000-square-foot facility dedicated by Bishop Jugis in June 2006.

The emphasis on community is strong in the parish, with ethnic lines disappearing in a cooperative effort involving both Hispanic and Anglo parishioners.

Sixteen parishioners comprised the original parish in Kannapolis in 1954.

As the area and its industry grew, so did the number of local Catholics. In August 1969, the St. Joseph community became a mission of St. James the Greater Church in Concord.

By 2001, more than 500 Hispanic families were worshipping regularly at the mission and then-Bishop Curlin dedicated a larger facility that year. By 2005, the congregation had a ratio of three Hispanics to one Anglo.

A bilingual staff, including Redemptorist Father Alvaro Riquelme, pastor, helps bridge the gap between the Hispanic and Anglo parishioners.

The four new parishes are a positive sign of the constant growth in the Diocese of Charlotte, which includes more than 150,000 registered parishioners at 92 parishes and missions.

Bishop Jugis is continuing to study additional areas of the diocese where new parishes may be justified.

6 The Catholic News & Herald

July 27, 2007

stewardship

Teaching stewards Down Under

Brevard parish fosters large endowment goal GIVING, from page 1

Courtesy Photo

Jim Kelley, director of the diocesan development office, addresses parish leaders in the Archdiocese of Brisbane, Australia, June 16.

Diocesan development director speaks to bishops, parishes in Australia by

KAREN A. EVANS staff writer

CHARLOTTE — Jim Kelley, director of the diocesan development office, recently spent four weeks in Australia teaching parishes how to foster stewardship programs.

Kelley, who also serves as chairman of the International Catholic Stewardship Council, gave 60 talks at stewardship events in several cities. He addressed more than 2,000 people, mostly bishops, priests and parish leaders.

The Brisbane Archdiocesan Stewardship Support Committee and the Diocese of Wollongong co-sponsored Kelley’s visit, titled.

“Stewardship is a relatively new concept in Australia, even though it is mentioned in the Bible,” said Kelley. “The parishes were very excited about the idea of stewardship — it’s a new lens for them to view their Christian life through.”

Kelley has spoken on the subject of stewardship at nearly 90 dioceses in the United States. In 2004, he made a two-and-a-half week speaking tour of Australia.

During his most recent visit, Kelley spoke on 17 different topics, including, “How to start a stewardship program in

your parish,” “Stewardship as a way of life,” “Stewardship in action” and “How stewardship changes parish life.”

“The audience members were excited about the concept of stewardship,” he said. “It’s going to change the Catholic Church in Australia.”

Kelley said stewardship in U.S. dioceses received a considerable boost when the U.S. bishops issued the 1992 pastoral letter, “Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response.”

“The letter advocated that stewardship be made a priority in all parishes,” Kelley said.

In 2004, the Australian bishops issued the Oceania edition of “Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response.”

Oceania is comprised of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the islands of the South Pacific.

“Stewardship can transform the life of a parish and the lives of its parishioners,” said Kelley. “It encourages a spiritual conversion to a more Christian way of life.”

WANT MORE INFO? For more information on promoting stewardship as a way of life in your parish, contact Barbara Gaddy, associate director of development, at (704) 370-3302 or visit www.charlottediocese.org/stewardship.

of the donor organization or individual.

Once an endowment is established, anyone may add to the fund.

“Parishioners have contributed more than $900,000 in varying sizes — some modest, some substantial,” said Father Carl Del Giudice, pastor. “Some parishioners have made memorials in honor of loved ones.”

The parish now has a “living, working corpus of funds to provide for ministries now and in the future,” said Father Del Giudice.

“We don’t see it as the primary source of our operating funds, but as a way to augment ministries in the parish for charitable outreach, education and faith formation opportunities, and other similar needs,” he said.

In March 2002, then-parish finance council chair Giles Flanagan suggested to Father Del Giudice that the parish begin an endowment program.

That same year, Sacred Heart Church established the first planned giving committee in the Diocese of Charlotte.

Shortly thereafter, the committee embarked on an ambitious and active campaign to build their endowments.

The Sacred Heart planned giving committee initially set a goal to collect $1 million by 2010. Through their marketing campaigns, that goal will likely be met by the end of 2007.

“Parish leaders must not be afraid to aim high,” said Flanagan. “A challenge brings out the best in your people.”

The committee uses bulletin announcements, special mailings, brochures and estate-planning seminars to educate Sacred Heart parishioners about planned-giving opportunities.

“Endowments grow the most in parishes that actively market their planned giving and endowment programs,” said Jim Kelley, director of the diocesan development office.

“Every Catholic church should aggressively move to establish an endowment program,” said Flanagan.

“Due to the constant changing and addition of new members to the parish, it is essential that a parish building an endowment fund constantly advertise this fact by using special mailings urging members to include the church in their estate planning,” he said.

Kelley also said that endowment programs do not negatively impact other types of giving, such as weekly tithing and special collections.

“Another aspect of an endowment program is the fact that the diocese does the investing and reporting,” Flanagan said. “This gives the parishes professional expertise, simplifying administrative work and fund management.”

The Foundation for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte was incorporated in 1994 to provide endowments for the diocese and its parishes, agencies and organizations.

Through the creation of endowments, the foundation provides a means to generate future and sustainable income for Catholic entities in the diocese.

“I’m overwhelmed that our parish is willing to commit a portion of their estates and assets to the church,” said Father Del Giudice. “They love their church, and this is their way of helping to fulfill the church’s mission.”

WANT MORE INFO? For more information on the diocesan foundation and endowments, call Jim Kelley at (704) 370-3301 or e-mail jkkelley@charlottediocese.org.

July 27, 2007

from the cover

The Catholic News & Herald 7

Document on nature of church aimed at Catholics CHURCH, from page 1

salvation was created primarily as an instructional tool for Catholics and should not be read as a diminishing of other faith communities, according to the churchman who signed it.

On the contrary, said Cardinal William J. Levada, who heads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which issued the document July 10, the narrative itself points out that “outside the Catholic Church elements of holiness and truth do exist and that the Holy Spirit is working in those other communities and churches as well.”

During a July 17 interview while visiting San Francisco, Cardinal Levada commented on his congregation’s work, Pope Benedict XVI’s recent instruction on the Tridentine Mass, emerging themes of the papacy and challenges facing the universal church today.

The former archbishop of San Francisco described as “purely coincidental” the f a c t t h a t h i s congregation’s document on the nature of the church was made public only three days after the pope’s announcement of his decision to allow broader use of the Tridentine rite.

“Many have tried to see it as some

kind of one-two punch,” Cardinal Levada said with a laugh, “but the truth is that it is simply a coincidence that they were published in such proximity.”

In restoring easier access “to the principal way of worship in the church for more than 400 years,” Pope Benedict “expressed a great generosity” toward those intensely devoted to the Tridentine Mass, the cardinal told Catholic San Francisco, the archdiocesan newspaper.

The Tridentine Mass is the Latinlanguage liturgy that predates the Second Vatican Council; it was last revised in the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal.

The papal directive “was not primarily aimed at the United States,” he said, adding that he feels it will have more impact in France, Germany and Switzerland and little effect in Latin America or Italy.

Tu r n i n g t o t h e d o c t r i n a l congregation’s recent “Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church,” the cardinal said it addresses five questions about the nature of the church “and all five are a commentary on Vatican II documents.”

“It has the advantage of collecting all that has happened since Vatican II up to the present time” and explaining how church articulation of its own nature as well as its views of other Christian communities have developed, he added.

CNS photo by Greg Tarczynski

Cardinal William J. Levada distributes Communion during Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary in San Francisco July 23, 2006. In a document released July 10, 2007, the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation, led by Cardinal Levada, reaffirmed that the Catholic Church is the one, true church.

He has been “somewhat surprised” at the amount of “ecumenical commentary” the document has generated.

“It is primarily a document addressed to Catholics as believers and teachers and is intended to clarify the teachings of the Second Vatican Council,” he said, “especially the teaching on the nature of the church.”

Reaction to the document on the church’s nature in the United States, where many religious persuasions exist side by side, clearly reflects the nation’s “egalitarian approach to society and therefore to churches,” he said, “where for you to say that your church is the one true church of Christ, and that another’s is not quite, is considered not to be the American way.”

“Underlying a typical American idea of what a church is,” Cardinal Levada said, “is the idea that we are the ones who make the church, we create the church.

“There is the slogan, ‘We are the church.’ And, of course, there is the sense of the church being made up of all the baptized,” he continued. “But we do not make the church. God makes the church.

We receive the church as a gift.”

He said the congregation’s document could be “very helpful” to Catholics in the United States who are “culturally conditioned” to accepting self-organized groups of worshippers as churches.

In its emphasis on Vatican II teaching, the congregation’s document was in step with what Cardinal Levada said is one of the clear themes of Pope Benedict’s papacy — underlining that the council represents a continuity of church life, not a point of discontinuity. At the time of Vatican II, there was a temptation and a tendency to place church practices and teachings in preconciliar and postconciliar “baskets,” he said.

“I know I did it. I think many of us regret that,” said Cardinal Levada.

Challenges facing the universal church include “the disconnect between faith and reason in the modern world” cited by the pope in his address in Regensburg, Germany, last September, Cardinal Levada said.

He said the pope “rightly identified as a very significant challenge” a growing view that modern civilization “makes religion no longer necessary, or some would say, even possible.”

Another challenge, he said, is to infuse “into the body politic” an active “love of neighbor and the service we are called to give each other” by Christ to address global issues of war, starvation and disease.

The pope, he said, “often returns to this theme” and exhorts Christians “to use our human ingenuity and creativity to overcome these evils.”

8 The Catholic News & Herald

in the news

July 27, 2007

Hands raised in faith

Study finds U.S. Hispanics drawn to charismatic churches

by PATRICIA ZAPOR catholic news service

WASHINGTON — The church familiar to and preferred by Hispanic Catholics in the United States is a livelier, more charismatic place than the one most American Catholics are used to, finds a new survey on Hispanics and religion.

A detailed survey by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released April 25 says about a third of U.S. Catholics are Hispanics and that they are bringing a more evangelical style of faith into the broader church as their numbers grow.

Despite an overall drop in the percentage of U.S. Hispanics who are Catholic — due largely to those who joined evangelical and Pentecostal churches — Hispanics will continue to represent an ever-larger share of the U.S. Catholic population because of immigration and high birthrates, it said.

About 68 percent of U.S. Hispanics say they are Catholics.

While in many respects Hispanics differ little from the general U.S. population in their religious attitudes and activities, Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center, said analysts were surprised to see the depth of what he called “renewal Christianity” among people of Hispanic origin or descent.

In a telephone press conference about the study, “Changing Faiths: Latinos and the Transformation of American Religion,” Suro said Hispanics are much more likely than the general U.S. public to be involved in churches where an enthusiastic, hand-clapping, arms-raised style of worship and prayer is typical.

Fifty-four percent of Hispanic Catholics were identified as charismatics on the basis of what religious practices people said they have in their churches, the survey said.

Among the characteristics the survey used to classify people as charismatics was participation in prayer groups where participants pray for miraculous healing or deliverance or where people speak in tongues. The survey found that 62 percent of Catholic Hispanics say the Masses they attend at least occasionally have “displays of excitement and enthusiasm, such as raising hands, clapping, shouting or jumping.”

Among non-Hispanic Catholics, only about 12 percent consider themselves charismatics, Suro said.

Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum, said at the same teleconference that becoming involved in the charismatic style of religious practice strengthens people’s religious identity.

Whether Catholic, Anglican or mainline Protestant, Hispanics who adopt a more charismatic style of practicing their faith remain within their original church and become stronger in their religious commitment, he said.

“There’s absolutely no evidence that it’s diminishing or undercutting their Catholic orthodoxy or their connection to parish life,” he said.

Hispanic Protestants were proportionally even more likely to belong to “renewal” churches, with 57 percent in that category. Thirty-one percent of Hispanic Protestants said they were Pentecostals and 26 percent described themselves as charismatics.

“The contrast to the non-Hispanic population is stark: Fewer than one in five non-Hispanic Protestants are renewalists,” the survey said.

About 18 percent of all Hispanics said they had changed churches or stopped considering themselves members of a faith altogether. Former Catholics (13 percent) were the majority.

Conversion was much more common among second- and thirdgeneration Hispanics than among recent immigrants, the survey found. And

CNS photo by Nancy Wiechec

Worshippers sing during a Spanish Mass at St. Martin of Tours Church in Gaithersburg, Md., last year. A Pew Hispanic Center study shows that Hispanics are influencing U.S. religious practice, especially Catholicism. the majority left Catholicism to join evangelical churches.

Forty-three percent of evangelical Hispanics said they formerly were Catholic. Just 2 percent of Hispanic converts became Catholics.

Catholics who became evangelicals were asked to discuss their feelings about the Catholic Church and why they left.

The greatest dissatisfaction was voiced about liturgy.

Sixty-one percent of former Catholics said they found the Mass “unexciting,” although only 36 percent said that was a factor in why they left.

Forty-six percent said they disapprove of church restrictions on divorce, but only 5 percent said that was why they left.

In response to questions about other possible areas of dissatisfaction, majorities of former Catholics said they think the church respects women at least as much as men (66 percent) and is welcoming toward immigrants (75 percent).

Among all Hispanics surveyed, 83 percent of those who converted said their main reason for changing faiths or churches was a desire for a more direct, personal experience of God. The second most common reason, given by 35 percent, was the inspiration of a particular pastor, followed by 26

percent who said it was related to a personal crisis and 14 percent who converted because of a marriage.

The study counted as a conversion any change such as leaving one Protestant church for another, moving into or out of the Catholic Church, or dropping out of religious practice altogether.

A personal invitation also was important. Among all Hispanic converts, 74 percent said they first heard about their new church from a family member or friend.

The study of 4,016 Hispanic adults was conducted by telephone between August and October 2006. The sample size was larger than is typical in sociological surveys to get a better sense of what non-Catholic Hispanics had to say, Suro and Lugo said.

The margin of error for the entire survey is plus or minus 2.5 percent; plus or minus 3.3 percent for Catholic respondents; and plus or minus 4.8 percent for evangelicals. Interviews were conducted in both English and Spanish, depending upon the preference of the person being interviewed.

The survey also delved into connections between religious beliefs and politics, the role of ethnic churches and religious practices and beliefs.

July 27, 2007

Families tell stories behind deportations STORIES, from page 1

his dad, Calvin James, was deported to Jamaica three years ago.

At a press conference and prayer vigil at the Supreme Court, Joshua carried a poster reading “Another fatherless child” and bearing photos of himself and his family in happier times.

He took the microphone to describe what it’s like to be apart.

Others at the event urged Congress to pass legislation such as the Child Citizen Protection Act, which would give immigration judges more discretion in deciding when deportation is not in the best interest of children who are U.S. citizens. They also asked the Bush administration to stop immigration raids and deportations.

The Supreme Court and the InterAmerican Commission for Human Rights both have pending cases about the rights of U.S. citizen children of immigrants who are in deportation proceedings.

Troublesome technicality Diego Lino of Chicago and his children, Jonathan, 12, Britzy, 6, and twins Juliana and Judith, 5, talked to reporters about their fears of their wife

The Catholic News & Herald 9

from the cover

and mother being deported to Mexico.

All five of the other Linos are U.S. citizens, but an error made in filling out the application form for Francesca Lino to legalize her status could force the whole family into a two-country existence, with the children and their dad shuttling across the border every few months for school and work.

Diego Lino explained that when his wife applied to legalize her status as the spouse of a U.S. citizen, the aide at a church agency helping her fill out the paperwork didn’t accurately take down her response to a question about whether she had been arrested for illegal entry.

Her answer was “yes.” But the caseworker wrote down “no.” The government caught the mistake as her application proceeded through background checks.

Lino’s wife was arrested. While answering “yes” to the arrest question would not have prevented her from getting a “green card,” lying on the application form is a deportable offense.

For now, Francesca Lino remains in Chicago, awaiting final deportation orders. When those arrive, “we’ll have to go,” even though in her home state of Zacatecas, Mexico, good jobs are scarce and schools are not as good as in Chicago, Diego Lino said.

in Jamaica over the summer. But he’s unable to get work there that pays as much as he earned in the New York area, so it’s more of a financial struggle and such trips must be rare.

“We considered moving with him but there are not a lot of ways to make a good living there,” McArdle said.

Instead, the whole family is considering moving to Canada so they can be together.

To immigrate to Canada, Calvin James would need to provide a letter of evidence that he has been rehabilitated from his early 1990s crime that triggered his deportation, she said. But there isn’t a way to accomplish the same thing to enable the family to live in the United States, where both McArdle and Joshua were born, she said.

At the very least, she said, her son has a good attitude about the separation.

“He told me, ‘Mom, at least we still have Daddy’s love.’”

CNS photo by Rafael Crisostomo, El Pregonero

Edwin Plata, 6, displays an American flag in his backpack during a press conference and prayer service on the plaza at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington July 17.

He said they would sell their home in Chicago and he, and maybe the children, would shuttle back and forth every six months or so, enabling him to work at higher paying jobs in the United States.

‘Forced Apart’ The Linos’ case is typical of many of those studied by Human Rights Watch for the report “Forced Apart: Families Separated and Immigrants Harmed by United States Deportation Policy.”

Since a 1996 immigration law criminalized many minor crimes and made their status as deportable offenses retroactive, the United States has deported 673,000 immigrants because of criminal convictions.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement data showed that 65 percent of immigrants deported for crimes in 2005 were convicted of nonviolent offenses, including petty crimes such as shoplifting, the report said.

Extrapolating census data about immigrants and their families, Human Rights Watch estimated that as many as 1.6 million people have been affected by those 673,000 deportations. Of those, about 540,000 people are U.S. citizens, the organization estimated.

The report included anecdotal stories of people who were deported decades after committing minor crimes for which they had served only probation or minor jail time and had lived without legal trouble since then.

“When these members of American society are deported,” the report’s executive summary said, “their absence is felt because shops close, entrepreneurs lose their business partners, tax revenues are lost, and, most tragically, U.S. citizen and lawful permanent resident children and spouses are forced to confront life without their fathers, mothers, children, husbands and wives.”

Love knows no bounds For three years, Joshua James and his mother, Cathy McArdle, have had a two-country family.

Joshua and his mom have visited their father and husband, Calvin James,

Calling for reform The Senate’s failure to pass a recent bill to reform the current immigration system has frustrated many U.S. Catholic leaders around the nation. They said reform would have addressed a moral concern, since millions of immigrants live in fear of deportation and separation from their families.

The Senate’s inability to agree on comprehensive immigration reform is a “monumental failure for our country,” said Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA. In a June 28 statement, he lamented the unchanged fate of illegal immigrants living in fear of deportation.

“Today’s action to give up on the bill leaves in place the status quo — a deeply flawed, untenable and much-criticized immigration system that is (in) desperate need of reform,” he said.

Had it passed, the bill would have established a path toward citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States and would have strengthened security along the U.S.Mexico border. Many Republicans and some Democrats voted against ending discussion on the immigration bill June 28, effectively blocking its passage.

Opponents of the immigration bill argued that the U.S. borders must first be secured before expediting the citizenship process for the 12 million illegal immigrants in the country.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis of Charlotte joined other bishops of the Province of Atlanta in a 2006 letter to the senators and representatives for their respective states, urging the passage of “comprehensive and fair” immigration reform at a national level.

The bishops expressed strong belief that “immigration is a moral concern, impacting the human dignity and human rights of every person.”

The ultimate goal of the letter is political action to enact legislation to “help heal our communities and provide for a secure and prosperous future for all our children,” said the bishops’ letter.

Bishop Jugis said that in discussions about undocumented immigrants, “we must remember that they are still fellow human beings, our brothers and sisters.”

Contributing to this article is Editor Kevin E. Murray, Kaitlynn Riely and Ellie Hidalgo.

July 27, 2007

10 The Catholic News & Herald

Culture Watch Through the bars

Project Storybook helps imprisoned mothers stay close to their kids

CLINTON, N.J. (CNS) — Once a month, Pat Brisson enters the gates of the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton to spend an evening with as many as 60 inmates.

To Brisson, however, they are not just convicted criminals; they are also loving mothers.

Brisson, who has been writing children’s books for more than 20 years, volunteers at the prison to coordinate Project Storybook, a program that allows women serving their sentences to be recorded reading books to their children, grandchildren or other family members.

Brisson recalled being struck at an early age by the passage in the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus says, “For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; ... I was in prison, and you came to me.”

“I would think, ‘Well, I see how we do all those other things, but when does anybody ever go visit anyone in prison?’” said Brisson, a parishioner of St. Philip and St. James Church in Phillipsburg.

“I never heard of any kind of prison ministry in the church. I just thought it was totally ignored,” she said.

As an adult, discussions with a friend working as a psychiatrist at a men’s prison led her to think even more deeply not only about those in prison but the families they had left behind. These questions inspired her to write the book “Mama Loves Me From Away,” about a young girl whose mother is in prison.

“I felt like I was being called to step up and do something,” she said.

“Whatever you think about the women, yes, they’ve made bad choices and they’re in prison for a reason, but their children didn’t make any bad choices,” she said. “The children are missing their mothers through no fault of their own.”

In 2003, Brisson began the Project Storybook program, which has since grown to one of the most successful

WORD TO LIFE

A roundup of Scripture, readings, films and more

programs at the facility.

Inmates are able to choose from a variety of donated books for children of all ages and are given 15 to 20 minutes to record their readings. Volunteers assist the women in completing the recordings and then package the tapes along with letters from the inmates to the children.

Heather Lindorff said the program has helped her to maintain a relationship with her two sons, whom she has not seen in 11 months.

“My boys absolutely love it,” Lindorff said. “The first tape they got they played over and over again. My son said that when he feels like he wants to be close to me, he plays the tape so he can hear my voice.”

Milagros Candelaria, a first-time participant in the program, said she hopes Project Storybook will familiarize her 1-year-old son with her voice while she cannot be with him.

“When I first got locked up, he was only six days old. It was heartbreaking,” said Candelaria. “He knows my voice, he knows that I am his mother, but I just want to know him a little better.”

Brisson said the response of the women participating in the program is often emotional.

“We see these women at their most vulnerable,” she said. “They are in a very tender moment in their lives. We see them in tears. We see them get choked up doing these recordings.”

Although Brisson and her volunteers, who come from a variety of different religious backgrounds, do not discuss their faith with the prisoners, she feels their actions will do more to teach the inmates about the meaning of the Gospel than preaching.

“I feel that they will know we are Christians by our love, whether we mention Jesus to them or not,” she said.

“I hope that when they see us there, they see God present in us, because I know we see God present in them.”

Sunday Scripture Readings: AUG. 5, 2007

Aug. 5, Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C Readings: 1) Ecclesiastes 1:2 and 2:21-23 Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9 2) Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 3) Gospel) Luke 12:13-21

Practice makes perfect by

SHARON K. PERKINS catholic news service

My teenage son and I recently attended a traveling show featuring some of the country’s best drum and bugle corps.

Since he is a drummer, he was quite inspired by the sights and sounds, so after the performance he and some fellow drummers gathered for the better part of the night to jam and share drumming tips.

When my bleary-eyed but invigorated son came home the next morning, he enthusiastically demonstrated a newly acquired method of practicing rudiments (“paradiddles,” nine-stroke rolls and flams, to be exact), strokes that are absolutely essential to master but which are incredibly tedious to practice over and over.

The drum session spent with friends and the new method removed a lot of the tedium from the repetition and gave him a new perspective on the formerly dreaded practicing.

All of today’s readings are about changing one’s perspective from the “vanities” of earthly life — especially greed and its companions impurity and immorality — to a view that places God’s priorities at one’s center. Jesus’ rather sobering parable echoes Qoheleth’s warning against the acquisitive practices of working to excess and amassing wealth for its own sake — habits that have become almost sacred in contemporary materialistic society.

The more one practices these culturally sanctioned habits, the more ingrained they become and the more difficult they are to “put to death” through Christian practices of gratitude, simplicity and generosity.

But St. Paul’s letter maintains, equally firmly, that those who are in Christ have in fact died to their former selves and are being renewed in the image of their Creator. The psalmist prays for “wisdom of heart” that teaches the proper perspectives on time, work and prosperity. And through the support of Christian community we can encourage one another to persist in those life-giving and corrective practices that can be challenging, unattractive and tedious, but which also can become the paths to joy and gladness.

Questions: What Christian practice have I found to be particularly burdensome lately?

How do today’s readings and the support of my fellow believers encourage me to find a new perspective?

WEEKLY SCRIPTURE SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 29-AUG. 4 Sunday (Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time), Genesis 18:20-32, Colossians 2:12-14, Luke 11:1-13; Monday (St. Peter Chrysologus), Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34, Matthew 13:31-35; Tuesday (St. Ignatius Loyola), Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5-9, 28, Matthew 13:36-43; Wednesday (St. Alphonsus Liguori), Exodus 34:29-35, Matthew 13:44-46; Thursday (St. Eusebius of Vercelli), Exodus 40:16-21,34-38, Matthew 13:47-53; Friday, Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37, Matthew 13:54-58; Saturday (St. John Mary Vianney), Leviticus 25:1, 8-17, Matthew 14:1-12.

SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK OF AUG. 5-11 Sunday (Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time), Ecclediates 1:2, 2:21-23, Colossians 3:1-5, 911, Luke 12:13-21; Monday (Transfiguration of the Lord), Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, 2 Peter 1:16-19, Luke 9:28-36; Tuesday (St. Sixtus and Companions St. Cajetan), Numbers 12:1-13, Matthew 14:22-36; Wednesday (St. Dominic), Numbers 13:1-2, 25--14:1, 26-29, 34-35, Matthew 15:2128; Thursday (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), Numbers 20:1-13, Matthew 16:13-23; Friday (St. Lawrence), 2 Corinthians 9:6-10, John 12:24-26; Saturday (St. Clare), Deuteronomy 6:4-13, Matthew 17:14-20.

The Catholic News & Herald 11

July 27, 2007

Faith, film and fun

CNS photo by Chris Sheridan

Actor Kevin Spacey (seated at right) looks on with other students as Amin Fernandez acts out a part in Theatre Row Studios in the Manhattan section of New York in late May. The students, who are all part of the advanced-placement English class at All Hallows High School in the Bronx, were chosen to meet the award-winning actor by the Theatre Development Guild.

Kevin Spacey gives acting tips to N.Y. Catholic school students by

JULIANN DosSANTOS catholic news service

NEW YORK — If you didn’t recognize him from his movies or theater work, you would never have known he wasn’t just another drama teacher.

Kevin Spacey, the actor who has won both Oscar and Tony awards, nonchalantly walked into the theater studio in jeans, a gray button-down shirt and sneakers. The boys in the room continued to warm up with acting exercises as Spacey watched.

Spacey, who is also the artistic director of the London-based Old Vic Theatre Company, was the lead male in the Broadway production of “Moon for the Misbegotten,” which the students recently saw.

The students, part of the advancedplacement English class at All Hallows High School in the Bronx section of New York, met with Spacey at Theatre Row Studios in Manhattan May 22.

The Christian Brothers’ school was chosen by the Theatre Development Guild, which has a partnership with the Old Vic Theatre Company.

Paul Fontana, the advancedplacement English teacher, noted that most of the students had never been to a Broadway play before because they couldn’t afford it.

He thought “Moon for the Misbegotten” was a good choice because the playwright, Eugene O’Neill, is a “great troubled Irish Catholic New York writer, so he deals with the goodness and hardship that goes with being a Catholic.”

Spacey told the boys that he wanted to be available for the workshop with them because when he was taking drama classes the professional actors he met gave him confidence and taught him about collaboration.

“I’m just a guy like the rest of you,” he told them.

And after hearing the boys read essays they had written about the play, he told them that they really understood it.

When the students acted out scenes from the play, he told them to react to what someone else does, saying “that’s truly at the heart of acting.”

Ronnie Garcia, a senior at All Hallows, said he enjoyed the workshop, but added, “It’s hard to act, even in front of my friends.”

He said that acting in front of Spacey was also intimidating at first.

Another student, Andrew Padilla, said he liked the casual atmosphere Spacey created in the workshop.

“I’ve been to acting workshops before,” he said, “but this one’s been really fun.”

12 The Catholic News & Herald

July 27, 2007

around the diocese

Confirming faith

Photo by Joanita M. Nellenbach

Above: Bishop Peter J. Jugis questions confirmands on St. Margaret of Scotland Church’s lawn in Maggie Valley prior to confirmation June 9.

The confirmands are from the three Catholic churches in Haywood County.

From St. Margaret of Scotland Church: Wade Barboza, Megan McLeod, Christopher Peterson and Joshua Turner; from St. John the Evangelist Church in Waynesville: Joseph Beckner, Kelly Escaravage, David Greene, Joshua Huber, Samantha Huppe, Daniel Pelletier and Kaitlyn Raber; from Immaculate Conception Mission in Canton: Norma Brown and Maria Averza.

Below: Bishop Peter J. Jugis stands with Knights of Columbus honor guard from the Great Smoky Mountain Assembly 3001 in Maggie Valley following the confirmation at St. Margaret of Scotland Church in Maggie Valley June 9.

Classifieds SERVICES EMPLOYMENT

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July 27, 2007

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July 27, 2007

14 The Catholic News & Herald

Perspectives

A collection of columns, editorials and viewpoints

Baptizing the deceased?

Q. Somewhere in the letters of St. Paul I came across a reference to baptizing the deceased. The passage as I recall comes somewhat in the form of a question: “If x-y-z isn’t true, why are you baptizing those who have died or gone before you?”

I don’t have the quotation right, but the idea is that Christians (like Mormons?) can baptize the dead who were never baptized.

I am a deacon in a Catholic Newman Center, and obviously doubt all this is true. But what could St. Paul have had in mind? (Massachusetts) A. The subject is surely a puzzling one. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul describes at length how the resurrection of Jesus is essential to our faith. If Christ has not been raised, he said, our whole religion is absurd. “So too in Christ shall all be brought to life” (15:22).

At one point, he uses a baffling argument. If we are not raised from the dead, he writes, “what will people accomplish who have themselves baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are they having themselves baptized for them?” (15:29).

Through the centuries these verses have provoked endless speculation.

One of today’s theories argues that the passage is not authentic. Baptizing the living for the dead is so foreign to Paul’s theology he would never have alluded to such a practice even as an argument.

Perhaps the more predominant interpretation is that some early Christians did have themselves baptized for deceased non-Christian, perhaps their own family members. (This was true of the Marcionites, a Christian sect which appeared, however, long after Paul.)

This is not to say, of course, that Paul promoted or approved the practice.

At any rate, it never became part of Christian liturgical practice.

The Mormon policy of baptizing the living for the dead grows out of their theology of faith and salvation that is alien to other Christians. (Mormons often seem to wish to identify themselves in some way as Christians.)

The Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints was founded, or as they say, “restored,” in 1830 by Joseph Smith.

According to Smith’s testimony, he discovered near Palmyra, N.Y., a set of golden plates on which was inscribed the Book of Mormon, sometimes erroneously called the Mormon Bible.

According to Mormon belief, there is not one God; there are several gods who, through countless generations, produce innumerable “children.” Through a sort of sexual relationship with female counterparts, these gods, or Fathers, bring into existence other beings, including Jesus and other earthly inhabitants, who take bodies here, after (for some, at least)

Question Corner FATHER JAMES DIETZEN cns columnist

a pre-existence in heaven.

Those who reach the most exalted states of “salvation” become in their own right gods, or Fathers, to others, in and through the continuation of the family unit in eternity (see “Mormon Doctrine and Covenants,” pp.131-132).

For adherents, “there is no salvation of this type outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints” (“Mormon Doctrine,” p. 670). This explains the well-known Mormon promotion of the family, and why devout Mormons want their deceased ancestors to be baptized, even by proxy.

Ancestors entering the Mormon Church this way, it is believed, will have the opportunity to reach the “celestial” level of eternity.

On June 5, 2001, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ruled that Mormon baptisms cannot be considered valid. Among other reasons given, their baptism formula is not a true invocation of the Trinity because, according to Mormon teaching, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three gods who formed a divinity when they decided to unite; and God the Father has a wife with whom he shares responsibility for creation.

Questions may be sent to Father John Dietzen, Box 3315, Peoria, IL 61612, or e-mail: jjdietzen@aol.com.

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Gratitude for Tridentine Mass

It was with great joy that I received the Holy Father’s “motu proprio” concerning the Latin-language Mass (“The old is new again,” July 13). I am not old enough to remember it, being 39 years old and a convert since 1991, but I have been assisting at this immemorial Mass since that time.

It is wonderful that the Tridentine Mass is finally being recognized as having not been juridically abrogated and that any priest can celebrate it. It is truly the most beautiful thing this side of heaven and truly expresses Catholic doctrine, without question, on the holy Eucharist and the sacrificial nature of the Mass.

It is the Mass of the saints, martyrs, missionaries and is truly universal — the same everywhere. The Tridentine Mass shows a mystery and a common tongue, regardless of who or where one lives. It is not hard to follow — all one needs is a Latin-English missal and a little study.

Anything worthwhile takes a little effort!

My 9-year-old can follow along easily and is learning to serve at the Mass.

For those who desire the Tridentine Mass as a regular feature in the WinstonSalem area, now would be the time to approach Bishop Jugis.

— Emmanuel Kafant Winston-Salem

Caution urged when offering support While I appreciate Bishop Jugis’ call for Catholics to fight pending legislation that would provide public funding for embryonic stem-cell research in North Carolina (“Defending all life,” June 29), I wonder if any consideration has been given to the financial support Catholics may inadvertently be providing for such research via individual private donations.

The promise of improved treatments and/or cures for chronic, debilitating and deadly diseases has many well-known and well-respected health advocacy organizations supporting embryonic stem-cell research. Surely donations collected via private funding to such organizations are being used right now to promote the passage of N.C. House Bill 1837 even as we voice our opposition.

Sadly in this way, we may accidentally find ourselves ultimately on both ends of this debate.

— Tracy Webb Charlotte

The ‘just war’ theory rebuttals

A recent conference in Maggie Valley indicated that the Iraq War is not “just” (“Resisting evil,” June 29). The conference on nonviolence seemed to condemn the war mainly because of the violence generated. However, for a just war, the present administration took a page directly from the Catholic Code of Canon Law (No. 2309). The conditions for a just war listed in the article’s

Letters to the Editor sidebar were all met.

Jesus was big on convincing anyone that violence was not the typical solution.

But in Iraq, one out of every six Iraqis was either killed or tortured by Saddam Hussein; women were raped; those who spoke ill of Hussein had their tongues cut out. Would Jesus have stood by and allowed that to happen if he were there?

Jesus said the best anyone could do is to lay his life down for a friend. The U.S. troops who have died have done so for every American who would have been killed by future terrorist attacks in our country.

In Iraq, Americans are building schools, allowing better water and electrical access, setting up a democratic government; we have eliminated Hussein’s torture and rape rooms.

Jesus knew when physical conflict was necessary. He cleansed the temple with a whip (John 2:15) of those bartering in his Father’s house. There wasn’t much of a choice 2,000 years ago, and neither is there now.

— Kevin Roeten Asheville E d i t o r ’s n o t e : T h e a r t i c l e ’s author responds to the above letter to the editor: My article lays out the conditions for a just war. Have all the conditions been met in Iraq? Type “Iraq War Timeline” into your Internet search engine and see what you think.

Paragraph 2309 isn’t in the Catholic Code of Canon Law. Paragraph 2309, on “the strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force,” is in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1997 edition).

The article’s point is that a Christcentered life means nonviolence: “Jesus is the nonviolent lamb of God, who shows us God’s face: justice, mercy, compassion, and steadfast love.”

Mr. Roeten says that, “Jesus was big on convincing anyone that violence was not the typical solution.” No — Jesus taught that violence was never the solution. None of the buyers and sellers died when he drove them out of the temple (and it isn’t recorded that he actually hit anybody).

After describing atrocities in Iraq, Mr. Roeten asks, “Would Jesus have stood by and allowed that to happen if he was there?” Jesus did not pick up a sword, raise an army and go to war against Israel’s enemies, including the Romans.

Rather, Jesus said, “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:12–13).

How did Jesus love? Nonviolently.

How did he lay down his life? Without killing anyone.

My article quoted Pope Benedict XVI, who said, “It is understood that nonviolence for Christians is not just a tactic. It’s an entire way of being.”

— Joanita M. Nellenbach Clyde

July 27, 2007

The Catholic News & Herald 15

The rewards of forgiveness Letting go anger, bitterness makes room for God’s joy Forgiveness purifies your soul and brings relief to your wounded spirit.

Forgiveness reconciles your mind and heart with God, with neighbor, and, most of all, with self.

In countless ways it helps both the one who forgives and the one who is forgiven.

Pope John Paul II said this about forgiveness: “The forgiven penitent is reconciled with himself in his inmost being, where he regains his own true identity. He is reconciled with his brethren whom he has in some way attacked and wounded.

He is reconciled with the church, and he is reconciled with all creation.”

The Lord stands ready to forgive everyone; you in turn must be ready to forgive others and yourself, as when you pray in the Our Father: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

These words tell us all we need to know about the obligation to forgive neighbor and self.

A true Christian prays for the grace to forgive. Jesus forgave his tormentors before they asked: “Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34).

You can forgive yourself simply by turning your guilt over to God’s mercy.

You can forgive another simply by

willing it, without ever going through a painful confrontation.

Once you decide to forgive, you will gradually be released from all resentment and hurt.

Do not wait until you feel like forgiving or it may never happen.

Forgiveness is in the will. Forgive now — and get on with your life.

Repeat this over and over again: “I forgive and I am forgiven.” Feelings will follow in time. Do not wait for good feelings to spur you on; simply forgive.

You give it before you feel like giving it.

You “fore-give.” Do it now.

Forgiving someone who has hurt you, even if you do it secretly, will be good for your mental health. Once you decide to forgive, pay no attention to those feelings of resentment that will surely return.

Angry feelings will subside in time.

Once you let go of them you will be able to make room for God’s joy.

Accept the negative feelings that come into your heart, and learn to laugh at them. Just will to forgive — and be patient. The good fruits of peace and joy will return in time. Just knowing that you did God’s will and not your own will bring relief and solace.

Mysteriously, by God’s grace, you will begin to change as your angry spirit gradually calms down. Gradually your

A marvel way beyond iPhone Unlike latest gadgetry, the Eucharist offers real blessings It fits in the palm of your hand. It connects people around the world. And people were lining up for it in late June in dioceses across the nation.

No, we’re not speaking of the iPhone, the latest “must have” technogadget released in stores June 29 on the crest of a giant wave of publicity. But that weekend it seemed nearly everyone else was talking about the new product from Apple.

The anticipation of the tiny marvel’s arrival sent tens of thousands of consumers into near frenzy, eager to be among the first to own the device that seems capable of doing everything but the laundry.

It’s a mobile phone. And a camera.

And a music source, able to hold enough songs to fill a library. Oh yes, it plays videos too, like those from YouTube.

Finally (or more likely not), it’s a connection to the Internet offering e-mail, Web browsing, maps, etc., at the owner’s fingertips wherever he or she goes.

But enough about the iPhone.

We want to talk about something far better — so much better that the two don’t belong in the same sentence. In fact, hundreds of thousands of Catholics lined up to hold this miracle in the palm of their hands that same weekend.

Still, we’re willing to wager that few went home and excitedly told family,

neighbors and friends that they were privileged to receive this incredible gift.

Sadly, we doubt that many gave another thought to what is considered the church’s greatest treasure—the Eucharist—15 minutes after receiving it.

And it makes us wonder: How filled would our churches be if Catholics behaved like what we claim to believe about the Eucharist is true?

That Jesus Christ, the Son of God and savior of the world, is really present — body, blood, soul and divinity — in the consecrated host. Shouldn’t we be telling others? That, while an iPhone may connect us with someone living on the other side of the world, the Eucharist connects us with every believer not only on earth but even in heaven.

You want time travel? The Eucharist takes us back to Calvary, to the foot of the cross. It can change the future.

Can the iPhone heal? The Eucharist can. On Sunday, I was privileged to witness as Christ began to heal broken hearts in LaSalle, Ill., as members of Resurrection Parish came forward to receive Communion during the final Mass at their church.

“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord,” they sang, even as they dabbed their eyes with tissues.

The Eucharist offers peace.

And hope.

Spirituality for Today FATHER JOHN CATOIR cns columnist

joy will return. “A cheerful glance brings joy to the heart” (Prv 15:30).

Cultivate too a joyful smile. A smile on your lips can change the hurt in your heart. Cultivate positive, healthy thoughts.

The poet Yeats once alluded to a special moment of joy in his life, a time when he experienced an unexpected elation: “My body, of a sudden, blazed.”

He had forgiven someone and was free once again to dance.

You can tap into the spiritual reservoir of joy within your soul by forgiving others, and especially by forgiving yourself.

Meister Eckhart, the German mystic, wrote, “For this joy is close to you, it is in you. None of you has a spirit so heavy, nor an intelligence so feeble, none of you is so far from God so as not to be able to find joy in him.”

Guest Column THOMAS J. DERMODY guest columnist

It is love.

There isn’t enough space here to write about all the wonders of the Eucharist, even if we could. The Eucharist, after all, is a mystery. But how can we watch as the nation goes gaga over a gadget and remain mysteriously silent when we have been given a marvel as far beyond the iPhone as that device is beyond two tin cans linked by string?

Americans love their gadgets.

Catholics must love their Eucharist. And we must share that love.

“We should always be ready to promote this life-changing reality to our children, our relatives, our friends, our neighbors and even to strangers,” wrote Peoria Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, of the Eucharist in his 2006 festival letter to the Diocese of Peoria. When is the last time we did so with enthusiasm befitting the reality?

Let’s behave like what we believe is true. Let’s start this week.

Thomas J. Dermody is editor in chief of The Catholic Post, diocesan newspaper of Peoria, Ill.

Old? It’s only a matter of opinion Coming of Age KAREN OSBORNE cns columnist

Old things. In the city of Rome, they’re everywhere. Walk down one street and you’re peering at a palace from the Renaissance or a third-century fresco.

Turn the corner and you’re face to face with the majesty of the Imperial Forum.

Before coming here for vacation, I used to refer to my circa 1870 house as “old,” but that’s small potatoes compared to the Renaissance-era Palazzo Spada.

A church in my town established in the late 1600s is now regarded as a historical landmark. But old?

Only if you ignore the open-air ruins of the sixth-century Christian basilica in Ostia Antica, Rome’s ruined port city.

Rome, it seems, likes to teach people that “old” is really only a matter of opinion.

American culture has a tendency to push aside things that are considered “old.” Americans raze blocks and forests to construct new big-box stores instead of renovating older buildings.

It is unlike parts of Rome where people still live in apartments whose foundations date back to the 13th century. Rome learns from the old and coexists with it. It’s hard to ignore the accomplishments, advancements and excesses of ancient Romans and Renaissance artists, because modern people can see and touch them.

Lessons from Republican Rome and its neighbor Greece form the underpinnings of Western society. In some parts of Europe, old Roman roads still exist — and people still use them.

All “old” things have a lot to tell us about who we are today.

As a teenager, I found it hard to believe my parents could speak to the same concerns I had, such as with school.

Turns out they’d gone through much the same thing and could offer sound advice.

If I had taken society’s advice that the “old” could have nothing to do with my “modern” experiences, I may have had a very cold, hard fall semester.

The old things in my life make me who I am: the memories inherited from my grandparents, the history of my town, the history of my family and the lessons of the past — even if those lessons are painful.

Ostia is quiet now, but if you imagine hard enough, the ruins can form a roof and become an apartment building, a church or a market. There people are laughing, crying and living, just like people today — the elderly and the teenagers, teenagers who become the elderly.

The old things aren’t all that different from the new things after all. The people who came before us share our fears and hopes, whether they’re friends, strangers or ancient Romans. All we have to do is be open enough to listen and learn.

Old? A matter of opinion. Obsolete?

Never.

July 27, 2007

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