Aug. 24, 2007

August 24, 2007

The Catholic News & Herald 1

www.charlottediocese.org

Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte

Perspectives Father Catoir examines how to find one’s purpose: Magliano urges being just to the world’s poor

Established Jan. 12, 1972

by Pope Paul VI August 24, 2007

With gratitude Upcoming collection to benefit priests’ retirement by

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

no. 37

So long summer, hello school Students return to Catholic schools in Diocese of Charlotte

KAREN A. EVANS staff writer

by

CHARLOTTE — When Msgr. Joseph Showfety was ordained in 1955, his meager salary barely covered his expenses, which included a car payment. Like many of his fellow priests, he often didn’t have extra income to save for retirement.

Fortunately for priests of the Diocese of Charlotte, in 1998 then-Bishop William G. Curlin re-established an assessed annual Priests’ Retirement and Benefits Collection to raise funds to provide income for retired priests.

So, when the five priests ordained in June 2007 retire decades from now, they will

KAREN A. EVANS staff writer

CHARLOTTE — This month, thousands of students began classes at the 18 diocesan Catholic schools.

Because the Diocese of Charlotte is committed to consistent improvement of the quality of education students receive in their schools, new academic programs are in place at several schools, and a variety of upgrades and renovations were completed at schools over the summer months.

Contact Staff Writer Karen A. Evans by calling (704) 370-3354 or e-mail kaevans@charlottediocese.org.

See COLLECTION, page 7

All for the glory of God

vOLUME 16

Photo by Karen A. Evans

Jessica Walton readers to her kindergarten class at St. Gabriel School in Charlotte on the first day of school Aug. 22. Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools started classes Aug. 22. Other diocesan Catholic schools also began classes this month.

SEE MORE PHOTOS For more back-to-school photos, go online at www.charlottediocese.org.

Anxious for aid

Catholic family’s stewardship recognized by Secular Franciscans

Working through parishes, church assists Peruvian quake victims

JOANITA M. NELLENBACH

by

correspondent

catholic relief services to help provide supplies

RIDGECREST — “I think I see more peace in him (since he became a Secular Franciscan),” Laureen Hair said of her husband, Randy. “I think he’s found his niche.”

That the whole Hair family is in that niche led to their selection as Family of the

CNS photo by Reuters

See SFO, page 5

Peruvians remove debris from a destroyed church in Pisco, Peru, Aug. 16, after an earthquake the previous evening. The quake killed hundreds of people, mainly south of Lima, the Peruvian capital.

by BARBARA J. FRASER catholic news service

LIMA, Peru — When it comes to dealing with disasters like the powerful earthquake that struck Peru’s southern coast Aug. 15, the Catholic Church has an advantage — the pastors know the people.

In responding to an emergency, “you build on your strengths,” said Aaron Skrocki, South American emergency program manager for Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ overseas humanitarian and development agency.

“Having a local (parish) community in place that knows the people better than any local See PERU, page 9

Around the Diocese

Culture Watch

Summer fun, faith

Catholics explore stewardship, strengthening families

Digital world dangers; Catholic TV show ends run

Vacation Bible school, camp, Bible series

| Pages 4-5

| Pages 10-11

| Pages 12-13

August 24, 2007

2 The Catholic News & Herald

InBrief

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

WASHINGTON (CNS) — In contrast to the decision of the Irish bishops’ conference to request Vatican permission to move the liturgical celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in 2008 to avoid a conflict with Holy Week, the feast day “will not be commemorated liturgically” in most U.S. dioceses next year, according to the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for the Liturgy.

Because March 17 falls on the Monday of Holy Week next year, the Irish bishops’ conference requested and received permission from the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments to move the solemnity of St. Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint, to the nearest Saturday, March 15.

But an earlier decision by the Vatican congregation to transfer the feast of St. Joseph in 2008 from March 19, the Wednesday of Holy Week, to March 15 “impedes the transfer of the solemnity of St. Patrick to March 15” in the United States, said an article in the liturgy secretariat’s newsletter for April.

Catholic umpire with distinction

CNS photo by Owen Sweeney III, Catholic Review

Catholic umpire attendant Ernie Tyler ended his 3,769-game streak with the Baltimore Orioles to attend the induction of Cal Ripken Jr. into the National Baseball Hall of Fame July 29. Tyler is pictured in Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

Orioles’ staffer ends 47-year home-game streak for Ripken induction BALTIMORE (CNS) — Witnessing the induction of former Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken Jr. into the Baseball Hall of Fame July 29 was a heady experience for Ernie Tyler, a parishioner at St. Ignatius Church in the Baltimore suburb of Hickory.

While attending the festivities in Cooperstown, N.Y., caused the 83-yearold to end a baseball era of his own — Tyler missed his first home game as an umpire’s attendant for the Baltimore Orioles since 1960 — he said he could think of no better reason to end his 3,769game streak.

“It’s actually a good feeling that my streak is over,” said the father of 11, whose number of in-season home games was posted during the game at Oriole Park July 27, before he left for Cooperstown. “It takes the pressure off.”

The obvious comparisons between Tyler and the baseball great have been made by co-workers and former Oriole baseball players, since Ripken still holds the record of 2,632 consecutive baseball games played in the major leagues.

“Ernie has known Cal since he was a boy,” said Monica Pence, director of public affairs for the Orioles. “I think it was appropriate that he would break his streak for Cal.” Tyler began his association with the Orioles in 1954 as a part-time usher at Memorial Stadium during the team’s first season in Baltimore.

Though he maintained a day job,

No liturgical transfer for St. Patrick’s Day 2008 foreseen in U.S.

the man who served as an altar boy as a youngster at Ss. Philip & James Church in Baltimore became a full-time usher in 1958 before moving into his current position in 1960, assisting the umpires before, during and after games.

Tyler continued working for the Orioles and didn’t miss a home game until the weekend of July 28 to see his former colleague with the same work ethic presented with one of baseball’s supreme honors.

In 2004 Tyler was named winner of the Herb Armstrong Award, presented by the Oriole Advocates’ Hall of Fame Committee to nonuniformed personnel who have distinguished themselves in service to the team.

With no plans to retire from his baseball gig any time soon, he returned to Oriole Park Aug. 1 to help get things ready for the impending home games and doesn’t foresee another reason to take time off.

Continuing a lifelong passion for sports, Tyler doesn’t view his duties at the ballpark as work. As a home away from home, nine Tylers — including his wife, Juliane, and seven of their children — have worked for the club at one time or another, and sons Jim and Fred currently serve as the home and visiting clubhouse managers, respectively.

“Everything in baseball is a fun job,” the spry 83-year-old said with a hearty laugh. “It has to be something special for me to want to miss a game.”

Diocesan planner ASHEVILLE VICARIATE

ARDEN — The St. Martin de Porres Dominican Laity Chapter meets the fourth Monday of every month at 7 p.m. in the Arden/Asheville area.

Inquirers are welcome. For more information, contact Joe Kraft at (828) 648-1036 or jebkraft@juno.com.

HENDERSONVILLE — The St. Francis of the Hills Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order meets the fourth Sunday of each month 1-3 p.m. at Immaculate Conception Church, 208 7th Ave. West. Visitors and inquirers are welcome. For more information, call Joanita Nellenbach, SFO, (828) 627-9209 or jnell@dnet.net.

CHARLOTTE VICARIATE

CHARLOTTE — St. Ann Church, 3635 Park Rd., will host a three-part adult educational series entitled “Worshipping with the Church” Sept. 5, 12 and 19. Classes will meet 7-9 p.m. in the Allen Center cafeteria and will focus on deepening and enriching our experience of Catholic worship. For details, call the church office at (704) 523-4641, ext 221.

CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., will host a Christian Coffeehouse Sept. 15, 7:30-9:30 p.m. in the Banquet Room of the New Life Center.

Single and married adults are invited for an evening of contemporary Christian music, food and fellowship. For more information, call Kathy Bartlett at (704) 400-2213 or e-mail kschwabent@aol.com.

CHARLOTTE — Deepen your faith this fall with “Lunchtime Spirituality” at St. Peter Church, 12-12:45 p.m., in the Annex, 507 S. Tryon St.

CNS photo by Mike Crupi, Catholic Courier

The feast day may be moved to Friday, March 14, 2008, in dioceses “where St. Patrick is the principal patron of a particular church” and where “it is customarily commemorated as a solemnity,” the newsletter said.

The U.S. bishops have not requested such a transfer as a conference, however.

“In the vast majority of the dioceses of the United States of America, where the feast of St. Patrick is commemorated as a nonobligatory memorial, the feast will not be commemorated liturgically in the year 2008,” the newsletter said.

Bring your lunch, listen to a talk on spirituality and participate in a short prayer session — a great way to renew during the workweek and to prepare for Advent and Christmas. Topics will be: Sept. 20: St. Bernard of Clairvaux’s “On Conversion”; Oct. 18: The Jesus Prayer; Nov. 15: Caryll Houselander’s “Advent”; and Dec. 13: Hans Urs von Balthasar’s “Unless You Become Like This Child.” For more information, call the office at (704) 332-2901.

CHARLOTTE — Join thousands across the nation for the 2007 Life Chain. Life Chains are a very important event to save lives of precious unborn children. Stand for one hour in peaceful prayer as a witness to the sanctity of each human life. A Life Chain will form Oct. 7, 2-3 p.m., on the corner of Kings St. and Morehead St. Parking is available at The Map Shop at 1500 East Morehead St. For more information, call Tina at (704) 846-7361.

CHARLOTTE — The Semi-annual Rosary Rally will be held Oct. 14 at 3 p.m. at St. Patrick Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Rd. East. This 33-year-old tradition will include the rosary, a eucharistic procession and Benediction. For more information, call Tina at (704) 846-7361.

HUNTERSVILLE — A Mass to Honor Deceased Loved Ones is celebrated the last Friday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mark Church, 14740 Stumptown Rd. For more information, call Pam Schneider at (704) 875-0201.

CHARLOTTE — The St. Maximilian Kolbe Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order gathers the first Sunday of each month at 2 p.m. at Our Lady of Consolation Church, 2301 Statesville Ave. Those interested in learning more about the SFO and the Franciscan way of life are invited to attend. For more information, call Tom O’Loughlin at (704) 947-7235.

GREENSBORO VICARIATE

GREENSBORO — All practicing Catholic women

August 24, 2007 Volume 16 • Number 37

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.

August 24, 2007

The Catholic News & Herald 3

FROM THE VATICAN

Spokesman: Charges that Vatican manipulates Wikipedia absurd VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Accusing the Vatican of manipulating entries on Wikipedia, a Web site billed as an encyclopedia that anyone can contribute to or edit, “lacks any seriousness and any logic,” the Vatican spokesman said.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the spokesman who also serves as director of Vatican Radio, said Aug. 17 that even if another Web site accurately identified a Vatican Radio computer as the source of a change to the entry on Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, the person using the computer was not acting on behalf of the radio agency, let alone the Vatican.

WikiScanner, a new Web site that tries to identify the owners of computers used to make changes in Wikipedia articles, reported in mid-August that Vatican-owned computers were used to make at least 86 edits in Wikipedia

articles since 2003.

Most were spelling changes, clarifications or updated information.

However, the change that drew attention and controversy regarded the entry on Adams, leader of the predominantly Catholic Sinn Fein party in Northern Ireland. In October 2006, the computer user allegedly deleted references and newspaper links to stories about accusations that Adams’ fingerprints were found on a car used in a 1971 murder.

Father Lombardi said it was “absurd” to think someone at the Vatican officially was directed to make the change in the Wikipedia article.

According to Wikipedia itself, the edit that supposedly was made by the Vatican Radio computer Oct. 17, 2006, was reversed three minutes later by another Wikipedia reader.

of Irish birth or descent, or who are the wife of a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians are invited to participate in the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, a social, cultural and charitable group for an ongoing series of fun and informative activities. LAOH will meet Sept. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Kloster Center of St. Pius X Church, 2210 N. Elm St. Please join us for refreshments and to learn more about our group. Any questions can be directed to Mary Driscoll at (336) 785-0693.

Tilly at (828) 479-9278

GREENSBORO — Catholic Daughters of the Americas, Court Greensboro 1200 will meet Sept.

10 at 7 p.m. in Our Lady’s Cottage at Our Lady of Grace Church, 2205 West Market St. Catholic Daughters strive to embrace the principle of faith working through love in the promotion of justice, equality and the advancement of human rights and human dignity for all. For more information, call Lawrene Kirwan at (336) 292-2776.

WINSTON-SALEM VICARIATE

HICKORY VICARIATE

MORGANTON — The Cursillo Movement of the Diocese of Charlotte is hosting a diocesanwide Grand Ultreya at Steel Creek Park 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.

SALISBURY VICARIATE

MOORESVILLE — Jesuit Father Joseph Kappes, parochial vicar at St. Therese Church, 217 Brawley School Rd., will celebrate 50 years as a Jesuit with a Mass of Thanksgiving, Sept. 9 at 12 p.m.

For more information, call the church office at (704) 664-3992.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN VICARIATE

MAGGIE VALLEY — There will be a Day of Prayer based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius at Living Waters Reflection Center, 103 Living Waters Lane, Sept. 8.

For more information, call David and Cathie

Episcopal

calendar

FRANKLIN — The Respect for Life group meets the first Wednesday of every month after the 5:30 p.m. Mass in the Family Life Center at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 299 Maple St. All those interested in promoting the sanctity of human life are invited to attend. For more information, contact Julie Tastinger at (828) 349-9813 or jatastinger@aol.com.

Vatican: Pope’s meeting with priest does not affect Jewish relations VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI’s brief encounter with a Polish priest accused of anti-Semitism does not indicate any change in the Vatican’s position concerning CatholicJewish relations, the Vatican said in a written statement.

Redemptorist Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, who heads Poland’s largest Catholic broadcast agency and has been accused of making anti-Semitic remarks, met with the pope Aug. 5 at the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, after the pope’s noontime Sunday Angelus prayer, a Vatican source told Catholic News Service Aug. 8.

The Vatican statement, released Aug. 9, said the fact that the pope met briefly with Father Rydzyk “does not indicate any change in the Holy See’s well-known position regarding relations between Catholics and Jews.”

The statement was issued after Jewish groups expressed concern over the meeting after photographs of the pope with Father Rydzyk and two other priests surfaced in the Polish media Aug. 7.

The Vatican statement, written in Italian, described the Aug. 5 encounter as a “baciamano” or a brief handshake rather than a private audience.

Both Father Rydzyk and the radio station he heads, Radio Maryja, have been criticized for inflammatory broadcasts. Complaints have been levied against Radio Maryja, which ranks fifth in Poland’s national ratings, for producing nationalist, anti-Semitic broadcasts.

Father Rydzyk faced possible jail time recently after describing Polish President Lech Kaczynski as “a crook subservient to the Jewish lobby.”

The priest denied making the remarks, published in July, and insisted he was the victim of “another provocation.”

Some church leaders in Poland have tried to rein in the radio. In April, in response to the complaints of antiSemitism, the Vatican’s representative in Poland urged the nation’s bishops to reassert control “in a united action.”

Cardinal Jozef Glemp of Warsaw also complained the station had promoted “only a specific kind of godliness” and “selectively applied church teaching.”

“If Radio Maryja wants to be Catholic, it should help unify the church, whereas its activities are fomenting divisions,” the cardinal said in a December 2005 interview with the Polish Catholic news agency KAI.

Hanging on to hope

WINSTON-SALEM — A course on Natural Family Planning will meet Sept. 16, Oct. 21 and Nov. 18, 1:30-3:30 p.m. at St. Leo the Great Church, 335 Springdale Ave. The Sympto-Thermal 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.

WINSTON-SALEM — The Compassionate Care-Givers meet the first, third and fifth Thursdays of each month at St. Benedict the Moor Church, 1625 East 12th St. This group provides affirmation, support and prayer for people who have cared for and are caring for loved ones living with Alzheimer’s and any other chronic illnesses. For more information, call Sister Larretta Rivera-Williams at (336) 725-9200.

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.

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.

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

Aug. 28 — 1:30 p.m.

Building Commission meeting Pastoral Center, Charlotte

Aug. 31 — 10 a.m.

Home School Association Mass St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

Aug. 30 — 10 a.m.

Foundation Board meeting Catholic Conference Center, Hickory

Sept. 1 — 11 a.m.

Consecration of Sacred Heart Cemetery Jake Alexander Blvd., Salisbury

CNS photo by Kenny Crookston, Reuters

A tattered sign hangs on a fence outside Canyon View Junior High where family members wait to hear the status of rescue efforts at the Crandall Canyon Mine to save six trapped coal miners in Huntington, Utah, Aug. 13. Family and friends continue to pray for the men trapped since Aug. 6 when the mine collapsed.

Father Donald E. Hope, pastor of San Rafael Mission near the mine, has been meeting with miners’ families every day since the collapse. He said the families were “coping as well as they can amid the slow progress of rescue operations and their attempts to keep their hopes up that the miners are still alive.”

Mine and rescue officials decided Aug. 16 to suspend rescue efforts. The decision came shortly after another cave-in took the life of three rescue workers and injured six others. They had been trying to dig through rubble to try to reach the trapped miners. On Aug. 17 the head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said underground rescue efforts will be suspended indefinitely.

Bishop Baker to head Birmingham Diocese WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop Robert J. Baker of Charleston, S.C., as bishop of Birmingham, Ala. He succeeds Bishop David E. Foley, who retired in 2005.

The appointment was announced in Washington Aug. 14 by Msgr. Martin Krebs, charge d’affaires of the Vatican nunciature. The same day, Bishop Peter J. Jugis of Charlotte issued a statement regarding Bishop Baker’s appointment.

“I am offering prayers to the Lord for God’s blessings upon Bishop Baker as he begins his ministry as Bishop of

Birmingham,” said Bishop Jugis.

“Bishop Baker is known for his affirmation and encouragement of his collaborators in sacred ministry. This is a true reflection of his episcopal motto ‘Rejoicing in Hope,’” said Bishop Jugis.

“I am confident that he will continue to serve Christ and his church with the same zeal and love which marked his faithful service as Bishop of Charleston,” said Bishop Jugis.

Bishop Baker, 63, has headed the Charleston Diocese since 1999. He will be installed in Birmingham Oct. 2.

4 The Catholic News & Herald

around the diocese

Renewing faith in families

‘Called and Gifted’

Parish workshop explores God’s gifts to laity, stewardship opportunities

Couples for Christ strengthens faith lives by

KAREN A. EVANS staff writer

CHARLOTTE — Catholics dedicated to renewing and strengthening Christian family life are growing in North Carolina.

About 900 Catholics, mostly Filipino-Americans, gathered at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte Aug. 10-11 for the East Coast Leaders’ Conference for lectures, inspirational talks, forums, music and worship.

“North Carolina is fertile soil for the Lord,” said Glen Santayana, Couples for Christ regional head for the Southeast United States.

Couples for Christ found its start in 1981 in Manila, Philippines, where a local Christian community tried out a new approach in evangelizing married couples for renewing and strengthening Christian family life.

The early ministry consisted of small groups of prospective couples meeting in private homes. There they were invited to a renewal of the Holy Spirit’s power through a series of weekly informal discussions of the Gospel in a social setting.

Four years later, Couples for Christ expanded beyond its Filipino borders to India, then to China. In 1987, the first Couples for Christ group began in the United States. Today, Couples for Christ ministries exist in 160 countries.

Although Couples for Christ’s membership remains primarily Filipino and Catholic, Santayana said that Christians of all denominations and ethnic backgrounds are welcome.

Couples for Christ is not solely a ministry for married couples — ministries for children, young adults, single women and widowed people are also offered.

Couples for Christ has only been in North Carolina for two-and-a-half years, but there are already 32 couples, four handmaids (single women) and two servants (single men) meeting in Charlotte.

Santayana said the mission of Couples for Christ is “renewing the face of the earth” by bringing God to families, and families to God. New members are assigned to a household group, usually consisting of six other couples, which meets weekly for faith sharing, moral support

August 24, 2007

Photo by Karen A. Evans

PJ Solon of Hillsborough, N.C., dances with a young boy during a break in the East Coast Leaders’ Conference for Couples for Christ at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte Aug. 10. PJ attended the conference with his parents and sister, AJ. and Scripture study.

The conference in Charlotte included Masses celebrated by Bishop Peter J. Jugis; Msgr. John McSweeney, pastor of St. Matthew Church in Charlotte; and Father James Hawker, vicar of education in the Diocese of Charlotte and pastor of St. Luke Church in Mint Hill.

Aida Solon of Hillsborough called Couples for Christ a “womb-totomb” ministry.

“This conference provides ‘spiritual reinforcement,’” Solon said. “It’s a renewal for us, to get together with our brothers and sisters from other places.”

Solon’s 17-year-old daughter, AJ, agreed.

“It’s exciting to see so many people gathered together to worship God,” she said. “We’re like one big family, because we have so much in common.”

WANT MORE INFO? For more information on Couples for Christ, visit www.couplesforchrist.us or call Glen Santayana at (954) 345-5428 or e-mail santayanadesign@msn.com.

CHARLOTTE — No matter who you are, you have a role to play in building up God’s kingdom on earth.

That was the message discerned by nearly 100 people, including clergy and seminarians, who attended “Celebrating the Role of the Laity: Called and Gifted” at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte July 28.

The workshop, organized by parishioners Bob and Rachinda Faille, was designed to help Catholics in the parish discern their gifts of service and understand the laity’s important and unique roles in the mission of the Catholic Church.

The event began with Mass and included lectures, activities and prayer.

Deacon John Kopfle, permanent deacon at St. Vincent de Paul Church, gave a presentation on the history of the laity in the church. Barbara Gaddy, associate director of development for the Diocese of Charlotte, helped participants complete a “Catholic Spiritual Gifts Inventory,” which helped them identify their top five or six spiritual gifts and how those could be expressed through parish ministry.

“Each of us has a unique call or mission in both communicating our faith to the world and applying our faith in the world as lay apostles,” said Gaddy in an interview with The Catholic News & Herald.

“When we are called, the Holy Spirit gives us the gifts, or charisms, needed to answer that call,” she said. “Knowing our

“Each of us has a unique call or mission in both communicating our faith to the world and applying our faith in the world as lay apostles.”

— Barbara Gaddy charisms enables us to be more effective in our parish ministry, avoid ‘burn outs’ and reduce conflicts.”

Other presentations included the structure of a Catholic parish and the roles of pastoral councils and commissions.

“The workshop provided a good impetus for the process of updating the parish pastoral plan and staffing the parish commissions,” said Deacon Kopfle. “Work on the plan will continue and meetings will be held to identify members of the commissions.”

Gaddy said that Catholics are stewards of the gifts given by God, and those charisms are given to us for the sake of others, “not for us to keep, but to give away.”

“As our parishes promote stewardship as a way of life, the parish will grow more vibrant when the parishioners know their own unique charisms — gifts that they are called to give away for the sake of the Kingdom,” she said.

Courtesy Photo

Barbara Gaddy, associate director of the diocesan development office, speaks during the “Celebrating the Role of the Laity: Called and Gifted” workshop at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte July 28.

August 24, 2007

from the cover

The Catholic News & Herald 5

Family’s stewardship honored

by Secular Franciscans SFO, from page 1

Year in the Brothers and Sisters of St. Francis Region (BSSF) of the Secular Franciscan Order.

They were honored at the BSSF Annual Regional Gathering in Ridgecrest Aug. 10-12.

The nomination, from Randy Hair’s fraternity, St. Francis of the Hills in Hendersonville, described how the family exemplifies Franciscan values of faith and community service and their involvement in his vocation.

Laureen; son, Matthew, 18; and daughter, Bethany, 14, supported their father during his three years of Secular Franciscan initial formation. He made his perpetual profession to the order (a permanent commitment to the gospel life) in September 2006 and was elected fraternity treasurer in November.

Hair converted to Catholicism after the family moved from Charleston, S.C., to Hendersonville in 2002. St. Francis of the Hills Fraternity member Tim Gibson, an RCIA facilitator at Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville, told his group about St. Francis of Assisi and the Secular Franciscan Order.

In St. Francis, Hair said saw a connection to Hannah and Samuel (1 Sm 1:24–28), his favorite Scripture story:

“Instead of holding onto that child, the most precious thing in her life, instead of being selfish, she gave that child to God. I see Francis doing the same thing. Instead of holding onto the glory of becoming a knight, he gave that service to God, realizing that everything you have is God’s.”

The family has helped with the fraternity’s apostolate — doing mailings for the Free Clinics in Hendersonville, which provide medical care to needy individuals. They also prepare some of the food and attend fraternity celebrations.

St. Francis’ example “is part of their natural way of looking at things because of our family lifestyle,” said Hair.

Sharing God’s gifts Bethany sings in the Immaculata School children’s choir and assists her father in teaching fourth-grade faith formation classes.

She received the Daughters of the American Revolution Citizenship Award when she graduated this year as valedictorian of her eighth-grade class at Immaculata School.

She and other class members organized service projects, such as cleaning up around the school and reading to pre-kindergarten and first- and second-graders.

Matthew has been an altar server since second grade, an extraordinary minister of holy Communion in his

Photo by Joanita M. Nellenbach

The Hair family — mother Laureen (left), daughter Bethany, father Randy and son Matthew — are honored as Family of the Year in the Brothers and Sisters of St. Francis Region of the Secular Franciscan Order in Ridgecrest in August. Randy Hair is a member of St. Francis of the Hills Fraternity in Hendersonville.

LifeTeen group, has volunteered as a tutor at Immaculata School and worked in the food pantry at the Interfaith Apostolic Ministry, which assists people with emergency needs.

Among his awards when he graduated this year from Hendersonville High School was the $8,000 Mary Evelyn and Harry Laurent Community Foundation of Henderson County scholarship. He plans to study civil engineering at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

When he received the Hannah L. Edwards Service Award for his community work, his civics teacher, Kendall Taylor, said that Matthew exemplies St. Francis’ peaceful spirit.

“Of course, Matthew would never tell you these things,” Taylor said. “He lives according to St. Matthew’s gospel: ‘Don’t pray in order to be seen.’ He’s very humble and quiet about the things he does.”

Immaculate Conception Church sponsors Bounty of Bethlehem, and Randy, Matthew and Bethany are there to help. Some 2,500 people enjoy an in-thegym, takeout or home-delivered dinner on Christmas day.

Bounty preparation begins months in advance, and Randy Hair takes vacation time from his job to coordinate the event during the week before Christmas.

Bethany helps wrap presents and fill stockings; in 2005 and 2006 Matthew coordinated the kitchen volunteers and helped cook the from-scratch dinner.

“That’s the other part of Franciscanism for us,” Randy Hair said. “All the (early Franciscan) brothers had different gifts.

Matthew has very good rapport with adults. Bethany has the same things, and she’s very creative, helping me with posters and decorating the gift bags.

“Laureen is kind of like Peter: She’s the rock of this little domestic church.

She makes sure everything is taken care of at home.”

An emergency-room nurse at Margaret R. Pardee Memorial Hospital in Hendersonville, Laureen is always on duty Christmas Eve or Christmas day.

“That’s one reason we got involved with Bounty — so we could be close to her on Christmas,” Hair said.

He invited his fellow fraternity members to help with Bounty, and they chopped herbs for the dressing. In an e-mail the day after Christmas, he wrote that, “It is most appropriate that you chopped herbs, the fragrant seasoning of the meal. May we season everything with the fragrant love of Christ.”

Every June for the past eight years the Hair family has spent a week at Camp Billo, sponsored by Immaculate Conception/St. Anthony Shrine parishes in Montgomery/Boomer, W.Va. The children from the two parishes, and their guests, experience positive adult role models, worship services and encounter groups, and play games.

Laureen and Randy Hair give vacation time to work at Camp Billo: Laureen as camp nurse; Randy as a counselor for 9- to 11-year-old boys.

Bethany helps with the younger girls, and Matthew obtained his certification so he could volunteer as a lifeguard.

After returning from Camp Billo this year, Matthew went with a BSSF Region youth group for a weekend at St. Francis Inn, a soup kitchen in Philadelphia, Pa., then helped give a presentation about it at this year’s annual regional gathering.

In 2005, Randy Hair and Matthew participated in “Il Poverello,” a play that Capuchin Franciscan Father John Salvas, Immaculate Conception Church’s parochial vicar, wrote about St. Francis’s life. Hair played a friar and Matthew was the pope’s attendant.

6 The Catholic News & Herald

‘One of a kind’

around the diocese

Making music

Dawson retires after 34 years of parish work by

August 24, 2007

KATHLEEN HEALY SCHMIEDER correspondent

HENDERSONVILLE — After three decades of devotion and service, Carol Dawson has retired from her parish post.

A reception was held Aug. 4 to acknowledge her 34 years as business manager of Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville.

“It was a job I got paid for, but I loved it and I felt at home here,” said Dawson as she sat surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as parishioners and staff.

“I will miss the closeness I have with the priests, being able to see them everyday. I’ll miss seeing everyone,” she said.

During her tenure, Dawson saw the construction of two church buildings, worked through the terms of four bishops and served seven pastors. She witnessed the growth of the parish from 400 families to more than 4,000 families, and she became the trusted guide for those who entered the church offices and needed assistance regarding church or school related issues.

For 24 years until his death, Dawson’s husband, Digger, worked as parish maintenance director. When he passed away, Dawson found the added challenge of coming to work every day — she felt his spirit remained in the parish.

“Digger is here in every room, in every nail,” said Dawson.

The Dawsons converted to Catholicism in October 1959 while living in Miami, Fla. They moved to Hendersonville in 1976. Their son Dale Dawson spoke of learning from his parents’ example.

“If I had to use one word to describe them, it would be commitment. No matter where we were — on vacation, camping — they always found a church and we went to Mass,” he said.

Their commitment to their faith was evident in their work at the parish.

Photo by Kathleen Healy Schmieder

Carol Dawson hugs a fellow parishioner during a reception to honor Dawson’s 34 years as an employee at Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville Aug. 4.

“For them it wasn’t a 9-to-5 job.

Many nights they were still working, or on the weekends. If the priests called, they would go to the church. Commitment was always there,” he said.

“Her (Carol’s) friendship is the heart and soul of her faith,” said Sandy Donecho, parish faith formation director.

“She gives it freely, without question.

Carol is a loving and caring person and I will miss her day-to-day hugs. She is the inner spirit to Immaculate Conception.”

“Carol is one of a kind — difficult to find, more difficult to lose,” said Capuchin Father John Aurilia, pastor.

As for Dawson, her plans include spending time with her still-growing family and time with her beloved church.

“This is my life, I’ll always be involved,” she said, adding, “I’ve already told the office I’m not changing my phone number — right away.”

The Dawsons’ legacy will live on through Digger Dawson Scholarship Endowment Fund, set up in June 2006 through the Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte to provide scholarship assistance to Immaculata School students who otherwise might not be able to attend the school.

Becoming Smart Marthas

Courtesy Photo

Musician Preston Smith plays the organ for Linda Elrod, music minister at St. Joan of Arc Church in Candler, and Father John Pagel, pastor. Smith, organist of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Raleigh, performed a free concert on the church’s newly installed Johannus Custom Edition Rembrandt Model 3900 organ to a packed house Aug. 7. The three manual full pedalboard organ features 140 speaking stops, pumping out 1,530 watts of sound. A reception was held after the public concert. While a director of an international consulting firm, Smith lived and played his way around the world, including Africa, New Zealand, Europe and Asia.

Blankets of love

Courtesy Photo

The “Blanketeers” of Holy Spirit Church in Denver display finished blankets in this July photo. The Blanketeers gather periodically to create “warm hugs” — security blankets for Project Linus, a volunteer nonprofit organization that donates blankets and afghans to seriously ill children throughout the United States. The Blanketeers’ blankets, created in child-friendly colors and patterns, are donated to Project Linus chapters in Charlotte and Catawba County, as well as to parishioners as need arises.

The Holy Spirit Church Ladies Guild became involved with Project Linus in May 2000 and have donated more than 3,600 blankets, and are busy making more. Students taking part in Vacation Bible School and confirmation classes at the parish have helped make blankets.

Because the need is ongoing, the group is looking for more Blanketeers.

“We are always looking for ladies who are inspired by the Holy Spirit to share their time and talents to help ease the suffering of a child in distress,” said Margaret Carpenter, parish coordinator for Project Linus.

To volunteer or for more information, contact the church office at (704) 483-6448.

Courtesy Photo

Approximately 40 Catholic mothers take part in the Smart Martha Seminar at St. Mark Church in Huntersville Aug. 11. Let by Catholic author and speaker Tami Kiser, the seminar — named from the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible — helps women be productive, effective mothers while developing a relationship with Jesus.

“The message of Mary and Martha is a very important one for mothers today as well as the helpful information given on running a household in today’s busy society,” said Kiser.

The seminar included group discussions, personal workbook time and question and answer sessions.

August 24, 2007

around the diocese

The Catholic News & Herald 7

Priests, seminarians take part in spiritual pilgrimage to Fatima FATIMA, Portugal — Priests and seminarians of the Diocese of Charlotte recently journeyed to Fatima as part of a peace pilgrimage.

Father John Putnam, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury; Father Christopher Roux, priest secretary to Bishop Peter J. Jugis; and Father Richard DeClue, priest in residence at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte; as well as seminarians Joshua Bradford, Paul McNulty and Joel Stroot took part in the Fatima Peace Pilgrimage July 1831, this year sponsored by the Te Deum Foundation.

Nineteen lay persons from parishes throughout the United States also participated in the pilgrimage.

The annual pilgrimage, which began in 1984, celebrates the anniversary of Mary’s appearance at Fatima, Portugal, and is designed to foster a devotion to Our Lady of Fatima in priests, seminarians and other religious. The Marian apparitions to three children in Fatima began 90 years ago May 13.

“When I first visited Fatima, I had recently entered the Catholic faith and was still questioning whether the priesthood was the right path,” said Father Putnam. “My pilgrimage to the holy site of Our Lady’s apparitions confirmed that yes, indeed, I had made the right choice.”

“Our Lady’s message 90 years ago is still relevant today,” said Father Roux.

Courtesy Photo

(Back row, from left) Father John Putnam, Father Christopher Roux, Father Richard DeClue; and (front row, from left) seminarians Paul McNulty, Joshua Bradford and Joel Stroot are pictured in the Church of the Born Jesus in Braga, Portugal June 25.

“In today’s world of war, terrorism and atrocities against the sanctity of life, the people of the world need to be reminded of Our Lady’s message of hope.”

In addition to Fatima, other sites visited included the Church of the Born Jesus in Braga, Jeronimos Monastery and St. Anthony of Padua Church in Lisbon, the home of Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa in Balasar and the Church of the Holy Miracle in Santarem.

The Te Deum Foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides for the material and spiritual needs of seminarians.

Photo by Karen A. Evans

Msgr. Joseph Showfety, a retired priest of the Diocese of Charlotte, greets Victoria Eckman and her mother, Dr. Connie Eckman, following Mass at Our Lady of the Annunciation Church in Albemarle July 7. Like most retired priests, Msgr. Showfety spends many weekends celebrating Mass at parishes throughout the diocese.

Collection to benefit priests’ retirement COLLECTION, from page 1

have an income provided by the annual collection, this year themed “From Ordination to Retirement...With Gratitude for Years of Service.” The collection will be taken up in every church in the diocese the weekend of Sept. 8-9.

After serving in churches throughout North Carolina and as chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, Msgr. Showfety retired in 2002.

“It’s a privilege to be a priest — it’s something no man is worthy of,” said Msgr. Showfety “I often ask myself, ‘Why did God choose me?’ It’s not something you enter into lightly, but every night I thank God for choosing me to be a priest.”

Like most retired priests, Msgr.

Showfety spends most weekends filling in for other priests, hearing confessions and celebrating Mass.

“This is the best part of life as a retired priest — I can visit a parish, hear confessions, celebrate Mass and go home,” he said. “There are no administrative duties, no construction hassles to worry about.”

Msgr. Showfety is grateful that the stipend to retired diocesan priests is generous enough to allow them to live independently, with dignity.

“The Diocese of Charlotte has been very good to us — the priests’ retirement collection is a blessing to the retired priests,” he said.

Catholics in the diocese soon will have the opportunity to show their support for the 26 retired diocesan priests, including Bishop Curlin, who have faithfully served the Diocese of Charlotte for 1,119 years collectively.

“Contributing to the Priests’ Retirement and Benefits Collection is a tangible way for Catholics to show their gratitude for the faithful service of our retired diocesan priests,” said Barbara Gaddy, associate director of development for the Diocese of Charlotte.

Contributions also help provide for the future retirements of the 80 diocesan priests currently involved in active ministry, as well as the retirement funds of the 42 religious order priests serving in the diocese.

“This program is in place so that when our recently ordained priests retire, there will be funds available to help support them,” said Gaddy.

The campaign’s goal is to collect $1,342,417 — $928,880 to fund the diocesan priests’ retirement and benefits plans; $383,537 to support the retirement funds of religious order priests currently serving in our diocese; and $30,000 to cover campaign expenses.

Each parish is assessed 3.5 percent of its annual offertory collection to raise funds needed to support the Priests’ Retirement and Benefits Collection. In most parishes, that amount is slightly less than two times the regular Sunday offertory.

Proportionate contributions on the weekend of Sept. 8-9 will help parishes pay the assessment.

Diocese of Charlotte retired priests Father Joseph J. Ayathupadam Father James Cahill Father Francis M. Cintula Father Thomas P. Clements Father Francis Connolly Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin Father William Evans Father Conrad Hoover Father Raymond Hourihan Msgr. Joseph Kerin Father Joseph Kelleher Father Conrad Kimbrough Msgr. Anthony Kovacic Father Andy Latsko Father Bernard Manley Father Richard McCue Father Gabriel Meehan Msgr. William N. Pharr Father Charles Reese Father Edward J. Sheridan Msgr. Joseph S.Showfety Father James Solari Father Edward Sullivan Father John Tuller Msgr. Thomas Walsh Father Joseph Waters

8 The Catholic News & Herald

quake in peru

“For the numerous dead, I invoke the peace of the Lord ... and I assure those living in extreme conditions that the church is with you with all its spiritual and material solidarity.”

— Pope Benedict XVI

CNS photo by Enrique Castro Mendivil, Reuters

Earthquake survivors wait in line for food in Pisco, Peru, Aug. 18. More than 500 people are known to have been killed and 1,500 injured in a magnitude 8 earthquake that struck about 125 miles south of Lima.

Pope says Vatican official to deliver check for Peru relief CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) — Offering prayers for the victims of the Aug. 15 earthquake in Peru and calling again for international assistance for survivors, Pope Benedict XVI announced that his secretary of state personally would deliver a papal donation to relief efforts.

“Our thoughts and prayers constantly have been turned to the people of Peru, struck by a devastating earthquake,” the pope told visitors gathered at his summer villa Aug. 19 for the midday recitation of the Angelus.

“For the numerous dead, I invoke the peace of the Lord; for the injured, a speedy recovery; and I assure those living in extreme conditions that the church is with you with all its spiritual and material solidarity,” the pope said.

He said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, who had a visit to Peru scheduled before the earthquake struck, would expand his late-August trip to show the pope’s concern for the victims. The Vatican said Aug. 20 that

the cardinal would deliver a papal check for $200,000 “for the urgent needs of the people” suffering the consequences of the disaster.

The Vatican did not provide the precise dates or itinerary of the cardinal’s trip.

August 24, 2007

August 24, 2007

quake in peru

The Catholic News & Herald 9

Catholic Church assists quake victims in Peru PERU, from page 1

government official does makes it much easier to get a response effort up and running,” he said.

Skrocki arrived in Peru the night after the earthquake and traveled Aug. 17 to Chincha, Pisco and Ica, the three cities nearest the epicenter.

The scene was chaotic immediately after the magnitude 8 earthquake, which killed more than 500 people, injured more than 1,000 and left at least 35,000 families homeless. Although more than 200 flights, carrying more than 600 tons of supplies, had arrived at the air force base in Pisco, distribution was slow.

“There was a lack of coordination,” said Luis Cordoba, emergency coordinator for CRS in Peru. “No one knew what assistance had arrived, what had been distributed and what else was needed.”

Two days after the quake, people were “waiting all day in line for one oneliter bottle of water,” Skrocki said. “The longer this goes on, the more desperate people become.”

Part of the problem with distribution was logistical: Electricity was cut off, water could not be pumped and roads and bridges were damaged.

But part of the problem, Skrocki said, seemed to be fed by political infighting over whether the central government or local and regional governments should oversee relief efforts.

“Unfortunately, it’s a similar story (in) many other countries,” said Skrocki, who has been involved in CRS disaster responses to Hurricane Stan in Guatemala in 2005, the eruption of the Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador in 2006, and flooding

“More aid is arriving through the church, and we are channeling it as rapidly as possible ....”

— Bishop Guido Brena Lopez of Ica earlier this year in Bolivia.

By Aug. 21, the situation had improved in Ica. Bishop Guido Brena Lopez of Ica told Catholic News Service by telephone that electricity had been restored and some shops and markets were open again.

In Pisco, however, where more than 80 percent of the houses were destroyed, there was still no electricity. The bishop said relief efforts were concentrated in the center of the city, making it difficult for people in remote areas to get assistance.

Bishop Brena noted that in Pisco and Ica people are still very nervous because there have been a lot of strong aftershocks.

“More aid is arriving through the church, and we are channeling it as rapidly as possible so that it reaches the outlying areas,” he said.

Meanwhile, people are organizing themselves.

“One characteristic in Peru is that relatives and neighbors help one another,” the bishop said.

Many people, especially those with small children, are trekking north to take refuge with relatives in Lima, while southbound buses have carried a steady stream of people from Lima carrying food, blankets and other supplies to family members in the affected cities.

CNS photo by Mariana Bazo, Reuters

Spanish rescue worker Pablo Martinez and his dog Max look for bodies in a destroyed church after an earthquake in Pisco, Peru, Aug. 19. Pope Benedict XVI announced that a top Vatican official would personally deliver a papal donation to relief efforts for victims of the major earthquake that struck southern Peru Aug. 15.

Assessing the damage On Aug. 18, government emergency agencies and international organizations such as CRS, the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Oxfam and others set up a command center at the air force base in Pisco to exchange information and coordinate efforts.

“If a lot of agencies are involved and we don’t organize well, it will only create more chaos,” Cordoba said.

Security was the first obstacle.

Shortly after the earthquake, looters struck, sometimes foraging for necessities and sometimes raiding the rubble of people’s homes for anything of value.

Although tents and shelters have been set up in all three towns, many people have camped out in front of the ruins of their houses to protect anything that might be left.

“I saw people sleeping on the street,” Skrocki said. “They took the couch out of their house, put up a couple of chairs and put a sheet over the top, and that’s where they’re living.”

That worried Dr. Manuel Pena, director of the Pan American Health Organization office in Lima. In an

interview with the Channel N cable TV station, Pena warned that if people stayed near their homes the lack of water and toilets could lead to the spread of disease.

On Aug. 20, the Health Ministry dispatched health brigades to the cities to set up portable toilets, assist with hygiene and provide vaccinations against illnesses such as hepatitis.

The full extent of the earthquake’s effects remained unclear. The CRS emergency team visited several rural communities where the facades of adobe houses showed only cracks, but back rooms had collapsed.

Cordoba worried that if inspectors make only a quick visual check of those communities, they will underestimate the damage.

CRS will work with Caritas Peru to provide essentials such as food, water, shelter and medicine. Meanwhile, the agencies will be planning for the longrange, painstaking task of helping people rebuild their homes and their lives.

Caritas Peru is the local affiliate of Caritas Internationalis, the international confederation of Catholic aid agencies.

CRS is part of the Caritas network.

August 24, 2007

10 The Catholic News & Herald

Culture Watch

WORD TO LIFE

A roundup of Scripture, readings, films and more

Sunday Scripture Readings: sept. 2, 2007

Sept. 2, Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Simulating life

Cycle C Readings: 1) Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 Psalms 68:4-7, 10-11 2) Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a 3) Gospel: Luke 14:1, 7-14

Extending God’s love will bring that love back to us by

SHARON K. PERKINS catholic news service

CNS photo courtesy of Linden Research

The virtual world of Second Life, which has been open to the public since 2003, has about 8.4 million residents. Each Second Life resident is referred to as an avatar — an embodiment of a person. Shown are young avatars attending a party in the online universe.

Jesuit magazine discusses dangers, opportunities in digital worlds

by CAROL GLATZ catholic news service

ROME — Digital worlds where viewers can interact with each other and create vast social networks carry several risks, but they also might be grounds for evangelization, said an influential Jesuit magazine.

One virtual world called Second Life is gaining such widespread popularity that it is not “possible to turn a blind eye to this phenomenon, or offhandedly pass judgment glorifying it or condemning it,” said La Civilta Cattolica (Catholic Civilization) in an August 4 article.

The Rome-based biweekly, reviewed by the Vatican Secretariat of State before publication, dedicated most of the 13page article to discussing Second Life.

That virtual world, which can be found online at secondlife.com, is entirely created and owned by its more than 8 million residents.

From shopping to chatting to studying university courses, residents also are making room for God and spirituality, said the article written by Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro.

Cathedrals, mosques, synagogues, temples — and even convents and cloisters “with spartan rooms for virtual rent” — are peppered across the usercreated world, giving residents a chance to pray alone or with others, it said.

“Virtual churches exist in which it’s possible to find a minister who is able to welcome and strike up a dialogue with whomever enters,” it said.

The popularity of virtual worlds may reflect people’s longing for “another life” and the human need for becoming better people, the article said.

With so many people looking online for meaning beyond the temporal world, the article said, “at heart, the digital world may also be in its own way considered to be mission territories.”

“The best way to understand (the Second Life phenomenon) is to enter into it, (and) live inside it to recognize its potential and dangers,” it said.

But living a second, virtual life also could carry some risks, it said.

Because one’s real identity is confidential, one’s virtual appearance can be completely open and honest, “but on the other hand one can also get caught up in a spontaneity that knows no limits or discretion,” it said.

It also said that in creating or being part of such a lifelike, imaginary world, one might become alienated from the real world and begin to identify oneself according to one’s self-created myth.

“There may be a kind of diffidence and resignation in opting for the simulated” instead of real life, it said.

Another problem is that events or experiences are erased easily without consequences, it said. Simulated realty allows the user to do almost anything at a “low level of risk,” it said.

“This has worrying emotional and affective consequences,” noted the article. In the virtual world everything is “under control and reversible,” making the real world look frightening.

A few years ago I was invited to be one of the vocal soloists at the wedding of the daughter of my second cousin.

Although I knew her mother fairly well, I had actually never met the bride, so at the reception hall I seated myself at a table with the other wedding guests.

I had just begun to join the long buffet line when my cousin sought me out and invited me to the head table. I proceeded with some surprise to my new seat, where there was not only a place card with my name on it, but attentive wait staff standing by to bring me the food I had prepared to wait in line for.

The unexpected honor that day reminded me of today’s parable in which Jesus imparts some commonsense advice on social etiquette, but also teaches more profoundly about those who are to be included at the table of the reign of God. True to form, he names those in his culture who would be least expected

to receive an invitation — the “poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.”

Clearly this is no abstract or imaginary banquet but one that should occur with regularity, as he instructs his host, “when you hold a lunch or a dinner.” God’s inclusiveness, praised by the psalmist as giving a “home to the forsaken,” is brought about by those in a position to do the inviting without expectation of return.

This approach is at the heart of the “new covenant” that Jesus “mediates,” according to the writer of Hebrews.

While mediation is usually thought of in terms of reconciling two parties in conflict, it also can describe a “medium” that transfers something from one place to another.

Ever the generous host, Jesus becomes the mediating means of extending God’s justice and merciful love beyond the children of Abraham to an entirely new group of people.

Likewise, by thinking and acting outside my limited comfort zone, I can be a means of bringing God’s embrace to one who might not normally expect to receive it.

And by practicing humility, I might even experience God’s love coming to me in new, unexpected and surprising ways.

Questions: When did you last move beyond your “comfort zone” to extend God’s love to another? When have you been surprised

by God’s unexpected graciousness to you?

WEEKLY SCRIPTURE Scripture for the week of Aug. 26-Sept. 1 Sunday (Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time), Isaiah 66:18-21, Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13, Luke 13:22-30; Monday (St. Monica), 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8-10, Matthew 23:13-22; Tuesday (St. Augustine), 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Matthew 23:23-26; Wednesday (Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist), 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13, Mark 6:17-29; Thursday, 1 Thessalonians 3:7-13, Matthew 24:42-51; Friday, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, Matthew 25:1-13; Saturday, 1 Thessalonians 4:9-11, Matthew 25:14-30.

Scripture for the week of Sept. 2-8 Sunday (Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time), Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29, Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24, Luke 14:1, 7-14; Monday (St. Gregory the Great), 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Luke 4:16-30; Tuesday, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11, Luke 4:31-37; Wednesday (Bl. Teresa of Calcutta), Colossians 1:1-8, Luke 4:38-44; Thursday, Colossians 1:9-14, Luke 5:1-11; Friday, Colossians 1:15-20, Luke 5:33-39; Saturday (Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary), Romans 8:28-30, Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23.

The Catholic News & Herald 11

August 24, 2007

That’s a wrap

CNS photo courtesy of the Christophers

Veteran baseball commentator Joe Garagiola talks with “Christopher Closeup” host Dennis Heaney in one of the program’s final productions. The syndicated half-hour TV show, which has been running for 55 years, will cease broadcasting at the end of summer.

Long-lasting ‘Christopher Closeup’ show to end its 55-year run

by MARK PATTISON catholic news service

NEW YORK — “Christopher Closeup,” the television show sponsored by the organization that says it’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness, will no longer be broadcast after the end of the summer.

“Christopher Closeup” enjoyed a 55-year run on TV — exceeded only by CBS’ evening newscast, NBC’s “Meet the Press” and “Today,” and the CBS soap opera “Guiding Light.”

“It was a very difficult decision,” said a statement by Christophers president and CEO Dennis Heaney, the show’s host, “but given the evolving media landscape, we think it’s the right opportunity to focus our resources on emerging technologies like podcasts and webcasts, as well as reinforcing our presence on broadcast and satellite radio.”

Heaney added, “We take pride in the fact that we had such an outstanding run in a fickle TV universe where 10 years is considered a long time.”

In its heyday in the 1970s, “Christopher Closeup,” a syndicated half-hour public affairs program, reached 200-300 TV stations, including the ABC affiliate in New York City and five-daysa-week airings in Washington.

Today, it’s available in 166 countries through the Armed Forces Network, but its U.S. presence is limited to about 70 individual broadcast and satellite TV stations and cable outlets, according to Christophers spokesman David DiCerto.

Over thousands of installments, the show played host to politicians, celebrities, sports figures, journalists, scientists, social activists and Nobel Peace Prize winners.

Each head of the Christophers has done double duty as the show’s host, from Maryknoll Father James Keller, the Christophers’ founder, to Fathers Richard Armstrong, Tom McSweeney and John Catoir, Msgr. Jim Lisante and now Heaney, the show’s first lay host.

Father Armstrong had a lay co-host, Jeanne Davis Glynn.

The name “Christopher Closeup” won’t be consigned to the dustbin. A radio version of the show, on the air since the 1970s, will continue to carry the name, and DiCerto told Catholic News Service the Christophers are looking at expanding it to the half-hour format the TV show used over six decades.

The radio show is carried by the Sirius satellite radio network as well as on some local stations.

DiCerto said discussions were taking place on whether to use the “Christopher Closeup” name for its podcast and webcast applications.

‘CLOSEUP’ GUESTS Among the guests on “Christopher Closeup” were Elie Wiesel, Arthur Ashe, Ed Bradley, Dorothy Day, Pete Seeger, Charles Osgood, Hugh Downs, Jim Henson, Ralph Nader, Tim Russert, Cesar Chavez, Bob and Dolores Hope, Mike Wallace, Alex Haley, Ken Burns, Bill Moyers, Fred Rogers and Sister Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph of Medaille.

12 The Catholic News & Herald

Vacation Bible school unites Christian children in Hendersonville by

August 24, 2007

vacation bible school

Summer fun and faith

KATHLEEN HEALY SCHMIEDER correspondent

HENDERSONVILLE — Five churches in Henderson County recently united to bring together 110 children for a vacation Bible school experience focusing on how they are chosen, taught, protected and provided for through their common savior, Jesus.

The program’s leaders were Sandy Donecho, religious education director at Immaculate Conception Church, Sue Filson of Grace Lutheran, Gail Colter of Providence Baptist, Dee Zeller of St. James Episcopal and Becky Stanley of Trinity Presbyterian, which served as the host church for “Fiesta,” the VBS program for children in kindergarten through fifth grades June 12-15.

“This is truly a week to build community with one another,” said Donecho. “We learn so much from our children and from each other.”

The program utilized the “Avalanche Ranch: A Wild Ride through God’s Word” curriculum to teach the children about the gifts they receive through the common faith of Christianity.

“We share our differences and respect our differences,” said Donecho.

“We come together for the love we have for Jesus in our lives.”

The children used the lessons to

Photo by Kathleen Healy Schmieder

Tables display the donated items collected by children, including those from Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville, during the vacation Bible school held June 12-15. give back to the community as well, raising money and collecting food through donations during the week.

Daily offerings were sent to Interfaith Assistance Ministry, a faith-based, nonprofit organization providing temporary relief to those in need.

“They did a great job and every day we collected more,” said Donecho.

More than 260 pounds of food and personal products were packed and transferred to Interfaith. Cash donations of $341.05 were also collected.

Closing ceremonies included games, food and play equipment.

Courtesy Photo

Students dance during the vacation Bible school held at St. Mark Church in Huntersville. More than 350 students and 200 youth and adult volunteers participated in the four-day program, themed “Take the Plunge with Jesus,” July 22-26. The students took part in Bible stories, crafts, games, music and skits, as well as writing letters and decorating more than 100 yo-yos for U.S. Marines stationed in Iraq. The yo-yos are popular with both military personnel and Iraqi children.

During the program, two U.S. Army soldiers who had served in Iraq spoke to the students July 26. They told those gathered that even the smallest gestures of kindness and words of encouragement and support, especially from children, make a difference in the lives of military personnel serving overseas.

Courtesy Photo

Children and young adults perform during the vacation Bible school at St. Luke Church in Mint Hill July 16-20. One hundred and five children took part in the program, this year themed “Avalanche Ranch: A Wild Ride through God’s Word.”

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August 24, 2007

around the diocese

Displaying the Gospel of John

Courtesy Photo by Pat White

The Catholic News & Herald 13

Making friends and treats

A display is pictured from the third annual Summer Bible Institute at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte Aug. 6-10. This year themed “Born from Above” and led by Susan Brady, parish adult education coordinator, the institute allowed participants to explore and take part in the Gospel of John.

“For five days, the participants walked around in and lounged about in St. John’s Gospel,” said Pat White, parish volunteer and communications coordinator. “From a prayerful point of view, they explored the uniqueness of John’s vision, especially as it is illustrated in the account of Jesus’ death. Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus, as well as his meeting with the Samaritan woman, was visited in depth.”

Many participants are already looking forward to next year’s Summer Bible Institute, said White.

Courtesy Photo

Students proudly display the cakes they learned how to decorate July 12 during summer camp at St. Michael Church in Gastonia. In addition to cake decorating, the school’s June 18-July 12 summer camp program offered basketball, art, reading, sewing, science and chess lessons. In the cake decorating class, students learned how to design cupcakes, make roses and picked up tips for baking from Brenda Barber, a middle school teacher at St. Michael School. The summer camp was open to both kindergartenthrough-eighth-grade Catholic and public school students in Gaston County.

August 24, 2007

14 The Catholic News & Herald

Perspectives

A collection of columns, editorials and viewpoints

Of homicides and hopelessness

Strength, solutions needed to combat crime, despair

My hometown, Philadelphia, is on track to pass, for the third consecutive year, the 400 mark when the homicide count is totaled up. Can anything be done to reduce the rate or eliminate this dreadful problem in what we still call the City of Brotherly Love?

“Gun your neighbor” is the prevailing attitude in many urban poverty-stricken areas. Youths are in disproportionate numbers on both the sending and receiving end of that message.

It embodies a value that shapes a culture of violence. Easy access to handguns facilitates the death-dealing delivery of that message. Access to handguns could be cut off if there were sufficient political will to take that step.

“Love your neighbor” would, of course, be the counter message, the offsetting value.

Preachers deliver that message, but those who need to hear it are not in the pews. Schools teach the golden rule and encourage an ethic of respect, but those unfamiliar with that ethic are typically not in school, or are positioning themselves attitudinally out of reach of teachers struggling to get that message across.

Preschool and very early childhood education that imparts values and learning skills could make a difference here.

The rules of the game are followed in organized sports, but the potential killers are not into those kinds of games. Instead of being on the fields or courts inside the recreation centers, they are on the streets and in and out of detention centers on their way to early graves.

Not to mention the role that drug use and drug trafficking plays in all of this.

I served for several years on the board of directors of what was originally called the Commission on National and Community Service (now the Corporation on National Service), a federal initiative begun in 1990 to encourage volunteer activity in this country.

Once, at the urging of another board member, Richard F. (Digger) Phelps, former basketball coach at the University of Notre Dame, the commission members went “across the street,” as Digger liked to put it, into a storefront church in a poor neighborhood in the District of Columbia.

Our aim was to see some of the problems that service initiatives there and around the country would, we hoped, be addressing.

Two women, members of a support group for mothers of youths killed in drug wars, described the conditions that brought their sons to early graves and themselves to unrelenting grief.

A street-smart young man explained his willingness to risk arrest by dealing

Looking Around JESUIT FATHER WILLIAM J. BYRON cns columnist

drugs “in order to get money, to get clothes, to get girls,” and to use firepower in the street in self-defense whenever he and his supply were attacked: “I’d rather be tried by twelve than carried by six.”

That was in 1992 when Malcolm X came back to life on movie screens and the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. were being widely quoted in discussions (including ours) on community service as a neighborhood rescue strategy.

The youth who had expressed a preference for a jury over pallbearers also remarked, “Any community that has to look to dead men for role models is in real trouble.”

We the living have to overcome our ignorance of the causes of this problem and our fear of getting involved in the search for and application of solutions.

We also have to find better ways of communicating to young men the peace message that was given to us by a dead man who came back to life.

Finding your purpose

Fulfilling earthly mission helps attain heaven Finding your purpose in life requires an understanding of the big picture.

Keep in mind that you live in a world surrounded by death and decay. In time, the sun will burn itself out along with the entire solar system.

In fact, the whole material universe will one day cease to exist; and of course that means you too will die.

Those who are in denial of death fail to see it as the gateway to heaven. Out of fear they look for ways to escape it. Some turn to drugs and alcohol, forcing the soul into a humiliating form of slavery.

How sad! These unfortunate people forget their nobility.

Your soul is immortal! One day it will be reunited with a glorified body in heaven! Then you will experience the bliss of living in perfect harmony with God, your neighbor and yourself.

You can begin that life right now, once you decide to follow the words of Jesus: “Seek his kingdom, and these other things will be given you besides” (Lk 12:31).

The challenge before you is one of getting your priorities straight. The soul yearns for life beyond the grave.

Human beings have always believed in an afterlife. Primitive men placed tools in the tombs of their dead to help them on their journey to the next world.

Anthropologists call this human instinct “a nostalgia for paradise.”

The body, on the other hand, is terrified at the thought of death. This internal conflict is ongoing.

Jesus wisely advised us that our primary mission on earth is to save our soul. You were born for eternal life, and you have a job to do here that nobody else can do. The exact nature of this calling may be hidden from your eyes, or perhaps you may be already living it.

Either way, fulfilling your mission here will help you to attain heaven.

When you try to live in harmony

The honoring power of endowments

Funds will benefit worthy cause, carry honoree’s name into future If you wanted to honor your parents or another person who has influenced your life, you would be hard pressed to find a more fitting way than to establish a named endowment fund.

A named endowment fund carries the honoree’s name far into the future as it benefits a worthy cause through ongoing gifts.

For example, you could create an endowment fund in honor of your mother. The fund could be established to benefit your parish, a Catholic school, the diocese, Catholic Social Services or another Catholic organization.

This fund, bearing her name, would produce spendable income to support the purpose of the endowment. It could be for special projects, for ministry training, for scholarships or even for general needs.

Every time the fund is mentioned,

the memory of your mother would be acknowledged and honored. The association of her name with the parish, Catholic school, diocese or other Catholic organization would act as a statement of her Catholic values.

Grandchildren and greatgrandchildren would identify with the endowment and perhaps contribute to the fund through their own charitable gifts, thus developing their values and philanthropic interests.

Endowment funds are easy to establish and they exist in perpetuity.

They can be launched now with current gifts or created later through a bequest in a will or other deferred gift.

Another possibility is to establish an endowment now and add to it later through a planned gift. The advantage of getting an endowment started now

Spirituality for Today FATHER JOHN CATOIR cns columnist

with your purpose on earth, peace of soul will become more attainable. You will find it easier to rise above your trials and tribulations, and spiritual joy will take root in your soul down deep beneath all the surface noise.

Your highest purpose is not only to save your soul, but also to live joyfully because of the knowledge of God’s love.

St. Catherine of Siena wrote, “All the way to heaven is heaven.”

Command yourself to live an upright life, and follow your gifts and talents.

Put the spirit of loving service into your work; it will give you a high degree of job satisfaction. Even if it pays less, the right job can be a comfort for your soul.

The body and soul are complimentary parts of your personality. Each one needs spiritual tending in order to live in harmony with the other. Love your body.

Do not abuse it, and do not let it abuse you.

Do not let it impose its excessive demands on your spirit. Your chances for happiness will increase significantly if you strive for inner harmony.

You will need all the grace you can get for this mission. As such, “ask and it will be given you” (Mt 7:7). Turn your life and your will over to the God of your understanding. He will do for you what you are not yet able to do for yourself.

May the Lord be your strength and your joy.

Guest Column JUDY SMITH guest columnist

is that you can enjoy the experience of seeing your loved one honored during your lifetime.

If you would like to learn more about establishing an endowment, I would be happy to talk with you and send you an annual report listing all of the Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte’s current endowment funds.

Judy Smith is the planned giving director for the Diocese of Charlotte.

Contact her at (704) 370-3320 or jmsmith@charlottediocese.org.

August 24, 2007

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Without community, there is no church If you’ve never been awakened early on a Saturday morning to the grating whine of a miniature John Deere tractor being driven through the neighbor’s backyard by a 3-year-old, well, lucky you.

On the other hand, I have to admit I miss that irritating little noise a bit now. Our wonderful neighbors moved to Oregon, and we won’t get to see their children grow past the toy-mechanizedtractor age. Truthfully, we may never see them again.

And whether you like it or not, in Anchorage, Alaska, it’s easy to get to know your neighbors in the summer.

In the summer, everyone has the windows open — no air conditioning needed here. Everyone is out doing yardwork, barbecuing or taking walks.

People snoop around at each other’s garage sales mainly as an excuse to catch up on the news after a hard winter.

My other next door neighbor is an Irish tenor who performs around town on St. Patrick’s Day. Sometimes, I can hear him practice, and once he told me I had a nice voice, too.

I realized, with a blush, that I must be singing a little too loud with the windows open.

We don’t have a lot of secrets in the summer. If a noisy argument erupts in someone’s house, I’m sure the neighbors

For the Journey EFFIE CALDAROLA cns columnist

strain to hear that.

Community isn’t what it used to be, though. Air conditioning where it’s necessary probably did more to end summertime neighborliness than anything.

Who, in the blistering summer, sits outside on their front stoops fanning themselves and chatting with the neighbors if they can sit in the cool indoors?

Death to the neighborhood also came in the form of automatic garage door openers — as we drive in, we practically hermetically seal ourselves against the outside world.

This dearth of community extends to parishes as well. Gone are my childhood days, when everybody in church knew not only me, but my parents and grandparents. And if I missed Mass one Sunday? That was known too.

Anonymity brings its freedoms, but at heart I think we all yearn for a spot where

Caring for all

Being just, generous to world’s poor builds global solidarity, lasting peace Pope Benedict XVI recently warned that wealth “does not ensure salvation, rather it could even seriously compromise it.” He said that Christ taught us to guard against greed and that we should become detached from earthy possessions.

Referring to the Chapter 25 of the Gospel of St. Matthew in another address, Pope Benedict said, “In a word, God at the final judgment will ask us if we have loved not in an abstract way, but with concrete acts.”

Calling on St. Basil the Great for added support, the pope said that St. Basil taught that “the Christian living in conformity with the Gospel recognizes that all people are brothers and sisters.”

But do we really see all people as our brothers and sisters? Do we genuinely strive to help as many of them as possible with concrete acts of love?

Most of us consider our loved ones as brothers and sisters. But when it comes to the poorest of the poor living in places like Darfur, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, India and Haiti, we often instead consider them as statistics.

Although we sometimes feel sorry for the 18,000 children who die each day from hunger and disease, we don’t really think of them as brothers and sisters.

After all, would we allow a brother or

sister to go hungry or sick without doing our best to help them?

And what about our enemies? Do we consider terrorists our brothers and sisters? Not likely. But then what do we do with Jesus’ command to love our enemies and to do good to those who persecute us? Tough question.

Maybe it’s the fact that most of the world’s poor are so far away. Maybe we are just too busy to give them much thought.

Maybe we are too stingy. Maybe we don’t believe in foreign aid. Maybe we hate terrorists and desire to do to them as they want to do to us.

Whatever maybes we are holding onto, we had better let them go. Our peace of soul, as well as peace on earth, depends largely on our willingness to embrace all people as brothers and sisters.

Even when they are doing evil, they are still our brothers and sisters. And our Father calls us to help them in every way possible.

Very soon Congress will consider legislation that will determine whether millions of the world’s poorest people live with misery or dignity.

Please be a caring brother or sister and quickly urge your two U.S. senators and congressperson to fully support the

we are known and recognized, where our presence brings a welcoming smile and our absence raises a question. Christianity is at heart a communal faith.

Parishes today can be big, impersonal affairs, so different from what Christ must have envisioned at the Last Supper, so different from the early days of the church when people gathered with friends in homes.

Today we have the challenge of being really intentional about forming community at church.

Extension Magazine just published Gallup study statistics that showed 77 percent of highly satisfied congregation members had shared a meal with people in their church over the past year.

What does that mean? It means if you want to be happy in your parish, you need to make the effort to form community. At my parish there’s little excuse. Our social committee provides an event a month, from Halloween and Christmas parties to spaghetti feeds and Oktoberfests.

At these events I nearly always make one new friend, another person who smiles in genuine recognition when it’s time for the sign of peace.

In the fall parishes generally begin sign-ups for classes, or hold stewardship drives to get us involved in committees.

This is the perfect time of year to take a small step toward community.

What do you have to lose? Sure, community’s never perfect — that noisy little tractor on a sleepy Saturday morning proves that.

Nevertheless, community is priceless.

Without it, we’re really not church.

Making a Difference TONY MAGLIANO cns columnist

following federal budget requests by Catholic Relief Services: 1) Increase funding to at least $140 million for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program and make required funding for it a permanent part of the farm bill.

2) In that same farm bill, place stricter limits on commodity subsidies given to large commercial farms and instead greatly increase financial assistance to small- and medium-size U.S. family farmers who really need the help.

3) Increase funding to at least $1.5 billion for Title II povertyreduction programs in the Agriculture Appropriations bill.

4) Increase funding to at least $1.8 billion for the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Funding below this amount will dangerously delay grant money to very poor countries that have worked hard to meet all U.S. requirements.

Being just and generous brothers and sisters to the world’s poor builds global solidarity and lasting peace.

Pope says to follow Christ, show charity, solidarity with suffering The Pope Speaks POPE BENEDICT XVI VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Charity and solidarity with the suffering are indispensable signs of truly following Christ, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Citing the teaching of St. Gregory Nazianzen on charity at his Aug. 22 weekly general audience, the pope again appealed for international assistance for the victims of the Aug. 15 earthquake in Peru.

The pope returned briefly to the Vatican from Castel Gandolfo for the weekly audience and continued a talk he began Aug. 8 about St. Gregory, the fourth-century doctor of the church.

“Gregory reminds us that as human persons, we must be in solidarity with each other,” said the pope.

St. Gregory also emphasized the importance and necessity of prayer, the pope said.

Pope Benedict said that in prayer “we allow our masks to drop” and present ourselves honestly to God as an offering to be purified and transformed.

Here is the Vatican text of Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks in English.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, In our catechesis on the teachers of the ancient church, we now continue our reflection on St. Gregory Nazianzen.

Gregory considered it his mission to employ his learning and literary talent in the service of the Gospel. Inclined to study and prayer, he nonetheless took part in the many controversies which followed the Council of Nicaea.

Gregory forcefully defended the church’s faith in one God in three equal and distinct persons. He upheld the full humanity of the incarnate Son, arguing that Christ took on our human nature in its integrity, including a rational soul, in order to bring us the fullness of redemption.

He likewise defended Mary’s dignity as the mother of God, her purity and her intercessory power.

Gregory often stresses our Christian responsibility to imitate God’s goodness and love through charity and solidarity with others, especially the sick and those in need. He also speaks eloquently of the importance of prayer, in which we see everything in the light of Christ, are immersed in God’s truth and inflamed by his love.

The life and teaching of St. Gregory are a celebration of the divine love which is revealed in Christ. Let us open our hearts to this love, which overcomes our weakness and gives lasting joy and happiness to our lives.

August 24, 2007

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