VOL. 68, NO. 15
WWW.CROOKSTON.ORG
SEPTEMBER 24, 2014
All invited to Marriage Celebration Mass Annual diocesan Mass to close Year of Marriage Congress By Katrina Genereux Staff Writer, OND
“One of the most beautiful gifts God has given is marriage and so we hold it up in thanks to God,” said Bishop Michael J. Hoeppner. “We delight in holding it up so that all can see its beauty. We live in a time when people want to reshape and redefine marriage, so we hold it up for what it truly is.” On Oct. 5, at 2 p.m. the Diocese of Crookston will honor marriages throughout the diocese during the 19th Annual Marriage Celebration Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. “What a wonderful history we have of Marriage Day Celebration, and everyone who has ever joined in the celebration has seen the beauty and known the delight that marriage is,” Bishop Hoeppner said. This year’s Marriage Celebra-
tion Day will be different than the previous 18. The Mass celebrating marriage will also serve as the closing Mass for the Marriage Congress that is taking place Oct. 3-5. Instead of honoring one couple from the diocese, all marriages are being honored. According to Amanda Zurface, Coordinator of Justice, Marriage, and Family Life for the Diocese of Crookston, “There will still be the annual Marriage Celebration Mass, but it will be combined with the closing Mass of the Marriage Congress. … It will be an occasion to honor all marriages and families; to celebrate and hold up God’s plan.” “The Marriage Congress will pull our Year of Marriage together as people all over our diocese join in prayer for marriage,” said Bishop Hoeppner. Another difference this year, is the invitation to attend the Marriage Celebration Mass is extended
to everyone in the diocese, including those not attending the Marriage Congress. “It is to be an occasion for the whole diocese to come together and receive Jesus in the Eucharist, to celebrate God’s incredible love for us, and together, to give due respect and honor to God’s vision for married life and love,” said Zurface. “I encourage married couples, widows, widowers and single people, all to make the day a pilgrimage,” she added. For more information on making a Year of Marriage pilgrimage, see the Year of Marriage Pilgrim’s Guide at www.crookston.org/yom/ “Bishop Hoeppner will be celebrating the Mass, with diocesan priests concelebrating and diocesan deacons serving. Saturday’s Marriage Congress keynote, Father Thomas J. Loya, Byzantine Rite Catholic Priest and the writer MARRIAGE DAY: Continued on page 3
Couples from across the diocese listen to Bishop Hoeppner during his Marriage Celebration Day homily at St. Michael’s in Mahnomen in October 2013. (Photo credit: OND archives)
Education guided by the Holy Spirit Diocese of Crookston Catholic Schools begin another year By Janelle C. Gergen Associate Editor, OND
The month of September brings cooler weather, fall festivals in our local parishes, the harvest season for area farmers and the return to school for students and educators. Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Crookston have indeed begun another year of forming young disciples in the faith. Tina Stanger, Superintendent of Diocesan Catholic Schools, says the new school year brings excitement and is led by the Holy Spirit. She states, “There is something about the school atmosphere as a new year begins: the optimistic energy of the teachers, the nervousness of the younger children and even the smell of new crayons. We approach the year with a new-
INSIDE
VOL. 68, NO. 15:
Mike Marek, who has begun his 37th year teaching science at Sacred Heart School, is pictured with students from his Environmental Science class. They are in the school garden that Sacred Heart maintains for the East Grand Forks food shelf. The class is working on plant identification and will harvest the garden soon. (Photo Credit: Ms. Jen MacLeod)
ness of spirit, and we are grateful to have the Holy Spirit guide our actions throughout the year. We are so glad that parents place their children in our care; showing us that they really desire their children to be taught not just to meet the standards, but above, to be the best person possible overall.” More and more parents are choosing Diocese of Crookston Catholic schools to partner with them to form their sons and daughters in the faith. St. Philip’s School, Bemidji, has 16 additional students enrolled this fall, Holy Rosary Catholic School, Detroit Lakes, has seen an increase of 23 students and Sacred Heart School, East Grand Forks, has also shown significant growth with 27 new students. Sacred Heart attributes its 11.5
percent enrollment increase to a growing relationship with the parishes in neighboring Grand Forks, N.D. Their mission is to develop a city-wide Catholic education system that will benefit all the parishes and schools involved. Although three Grand Forks parishes (St. Mary’s, St. Michael’s and Holy Family) have elementary schools and are members of the Diocese of Fargo, Sacred Heart is the only option for middle school and high school Catholic education in the Greater Grand Forks area. Sacred Heart President, Carl Adolphson states, “We are one body in Christ. We are reaching across Diocesan lines and working together to be able to share the gospel and provide quality and affordable CathoSCHOOLS: Continued on page 4
Pg. 3 - Upcoming Year of Marriage Events Pg. 8 - Fall Dinners Pg. 4 - More Back to School Photos Pg. 9 - Stewardship Newsletter Pg. 5 - 2014 High School Youth Rally Preview Pg. 14 - Catechetical Sunday Confession Series
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September 24, 2014
A
COMMENTARY
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
Voice from the Valley BY BISHOP MICHAEL J. HOEPPNER
PEACE AND UNITY Thank you to all who contributed to the second collection taken up this past weekend to help our brothers and sisters in northern Iraq and in Syria, brothers and sisters suffering under the brutality of misguided human beings who carry out acts of violence and brutality under the guise of religion. Whenever I hear of people suffering in our world, I immediately remember that ordination as a bishop means admittance into the college of bishops, a college that, along with accord with its head, the Holy Father, has been charged by Christ Jesus to look after the well-being of all the people of the world and bring to all people the truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Such collections do indeed give all of us a very concrete way of touching the communion that is ours as God’s universal family, the Church. They give us the opportunity to really touch other human beings who are truly our brothers and sisters in Christ, to share their burden and ease their pain. “Just as the universal Church is present and manifested in the particular Churches, so too each particular Church contributes its own distinctive gifts to the other Churches and to the Church as a whole …” (cf. Lumen Gentium, 13) when we reach out to help and support our brothers and sisters who suffer in other parts of our world. Violence begets more violence and as our country and others take steps to stop the brutality, please
continue to pray for safety, peace and unity for all who are caught up in this terrible moment. How will the violence ever end? Jesus has taught us the answer. It will end when people learn to love one another and this happens through the witness and work of loving people. One example of this is Paul Jacob Bhatti of Pakistan. The Bhatti family is a Christian family. Paul Jacob’s brother, Shahbaz, was a Pakistani politician who worked for dialogue and peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims. He was assassinated on March 2, 2011. Now, Paul Jacob has taken his brother’s place. He has dedicated himself to politics, first becoming Pakistan’s Minister for National Harmony and Minority Affairs, and then taking on the role of President of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance. He speaks of people getting along with one another. “We must focus more on dialoguing between religions, tirelessly, especially with the Islamic world … We always say that hatred is defeated with love and not with more hate.” So, despite the threats to his own life, Paul Jacob has decided not to leave Pakistan but to continue the work there. Paul Jacob and his 89-yearold mother recently made the trip to Rome to visit with Pope Francis. Mrs. Bhatti asked our Holy Father: please “continue to pray for persecuted Christians, especially in Iraq, and visit Pakistan with the spirit of the father who is beside his children.” So, let us continue to pray for successful dialogue and peaceful coexistence. Let us pray
for those who witness to love and engage themselves in the work of peace and unity. And let us, with the spirit of a father who is beside his children, remember in our prayers and the offerings we give all God’s children, our brothers and sisters, who are persecuted and suffer because of hate and violence. SIGN OF PEACE Speaking of peace, the Latinrite bishops of the world recently received a letter from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. This Circular Letter is about the Sign of peace at Mass. After the Synod of Bishops in Rome on the Eucharist, held in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI asked the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments to take a look at the Sign of peace, specifically to look at the appropriateness of maintaining it in its present form and at the place where it is found in the Mass. There was some discussion in that Synod that the Sign of peace might be better located elsewhere in the Mass, for example at the end of the prayer of the faithful or before the offering of the gifts. The Circular Letter informed us that the Congregation, after consultation with episcopal conferences throughout the world, has concluded its task and, with the approval of Pope Francis, has determined that it is appropriate to keep the Sign of peace in its traditional place and to continue its use in its present form. In conveying this decision, the Congregation offered a reminder that I found good. The Congregation reminded us that
BISHOP’S CALENDAR September 27 5:30 p.m. Mass, St. Philip’s, Bemidji September 28 8:30 a.m. Mass, St. Theodore’s, Laporte September 28 10:30 a.m. Mass, Our Lady of the Pines, Nevis September 30 9:00 a.m. Interview, Real Presence Radio (LIVE) October 3 - 5 Year of Marriage Congress, Crookston October 7 7:45 a.m. Mass, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Crookston October 9 12:00 p.m. Diocesan Finance Council Meeting
when the Sign of peace is used, it should be done with dignity and awareness that it is not a liturgical form of “good morning” but a witness to the Christian belief that true peace is of Christ. “Christ’s peace is the fruit of the redemption that he brought into the world by his death and resurrection – the gift that the risen Lord continues to give even today to his church as she gathers for the celebration of the Eucharist in order to bear witness to this in everyday life.” All the actions preparing us for Holy Communion form a unity and, “The Sign of peace, therefore, is placed between the Lord’s Prayer … and the breaking of the bread, in the course of which the Lamb of God is implored to give us his peace.” With the gesture of the Sign of peace, “whose function is to manifest peace, communion and charity, the Church implores peace and unity for herself and for the whole human family, and the faithful express to each other their ecclesial communion and mutual charity” before receiving, in Holy Communion, Christ the Lord. These days, as we remember in a special way the suffering of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world and pray for peace, may our
exchange of the Sign of peace be intentional and sincere, a fruitful prayer imploring Christ to shed his peace and unity on ourselves and the whole human family. YEAR OF MARRIAGE October has great opportunities to celebrate Marriage and Family. I again want to invite you to attend our Year of Marriage Congress on Oct. 3-5 in Crookston. Come for all of it or come for part of it, but come. I am so looking forward to joining with faithful from all corners of the diocese to reflect on God’s great gift of married love and to pray together and to be enriched with God’s blessings. The annual Marriage Celebration Mass will be in conjunction with the closing Mass of the Congress on Oct. 5, at 2 p.m. at the Cathedral. I also invite you to my last deanery talk on Families: the Domestic Church to be held at 7 p.m. on Oct. 21, at St. Philip’s in Bemidji. Here too, I hope to see a good-sized group to share some thoughts as we celebrate God’s goodness. Our Year of Marriage will officially close with a Mass on Saturday, November 22, 2014. I hope the Cathedral in Crookston is filled to capacity for this wonderful celebration.
(USPS 414-940) Our Northland Diocese is a semi-monthly newspaper committed to publishing Good News for the purpose of strengthening and furthering the Reign of God in the Diocese of Crookston.
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The Most Reverend Michael J. Hoeppner Bishop of the Diocese of Crookston Rev. Robert Schreiner Office of the New Evangelization, Director Mrs. Janelle C. Gergen jgergen@crookston.org Mrs. Katrina Genereux kgenereux@crookston.org
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Periodical postage paid in Crookston, MN and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send address changes to: Our Northland Diocese, PO Box 610, Crookston, MN 56716-0610 Phone: 218-281-4533 Publishing dates and submission deadlines for news and advertisements can be found online: http://www.crookston.org/ond/
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
DIOCESAN
MARRIAGE DAY: Continued from page 1 of the Year of Marriage Holy Family icon, will of the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law also con-celebrate,” said Zurface. states: “An indulgence is a remission before Special music is planned for the Marriage God of the temporal punishment for sin, the Celebration Mass. According to Bonnie Lee, guilt of which is already forgiven.” A plenary Director of the Office of Worship and Litindulgence remits all temporal punishment. urgy, “Danielle Rose will be part of the muAccording to the Apostolic Constitution on sic ministry. That Indulgences, “To acquire day she will sing her a plenary indulgence, it is song ‘Holy Family,’ necessary to perform the which is the Diocese work to which the indulof Crookston Year of gence is attached and to Marriage song.” Danifulfill three conditions: elle Rose is a music sacramental confession, missionary who is givEucharistic Commuing a keynote address nion, and prayer for the as well as a free concert intentions of the suon Oct. 4 as part of preme pontiff. It is furthe Marriage Congress. ther required that all atA brass quartet from tachment to sin, even to the Grand Forks area venial sin, be absent. If will also join Rose and this disposition is in any - Bishop Michael J. Hoeppner way less than complete, a diocesen-wide choir for the music ministry or if the prescribed three at Mass. If any musiconditions are not fulcians wish to take part filled, the indulgence will in the music ministry, be only partial.” they may contact Lee at 218-281-4355, ext. The Diocese of Crookston has been cele426. brating a Year of Marriage, as called for in Goal Bishop Hoeppner will impart an Apostolic Five of the Pastoral Letter: Meeting Christ, LivBlessing at the end of Mass on Marriage Celeing Christ. The letter states: “From the riches bration Day. A bishop may impart this blessing of our Catholic faith, we will articulate and three times a year on solemn occasions, and it communicate the vision of married life and carries with it a plenary indulgence. Canon 992 family given us by God, renewed and elevated by Jesus, and entrusted to the Church. As a culminating event, we will hold a diocesanwide ‘Marriage Congress’ to pray together and celebrate God’s plan for marriage and the family.” The Year of Marriage and Marriage Congress come at a time when marriage is facing great challenges in our society – attempts to amend the constitution, legislatures redefining it, and the failure of marriages. Taking into account all of these things, as well as the goals of the Second Diocesan Synod of the See of Crookston, Bishop Hoeppner said, “In view of the challenge we have to bring the Gospel message to these situations in the world and in view of our diocesan synod, we are very excited to celebrate a year of marriage.” Zurface encourages all to come to the Marriage Celebration Mass, saying, “… it will be an opportunity to reflect on and give thanks for the fruits of the whole year, including the weekend’s Marriage Congress.”
“One of the most beautiful gifts God has given is marriage and so we hold it up in thanks to God.”
Pope Francis on marriage: “God calls each of us to be holy, to live his life, but he has a particular path for each one of us. Some are called to holiness through family life in the sacrament of Marriage. Today, there are those who say that marriage is out of fashion. … They say that it is not worth making a life-long commitment, making a definitive decision, ‘for ever’, because we do not know what tomorrow will bring. I ask you … to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes you are incapable of responsibility that believes you are incapable of true love. I have confidence in you and I pray for you.” Sunday, July 28, 2013
September 24, 2014
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YEAR OF MARRIAGE: Upcoming Events October 3-5 2014 Year of Marriage Congress – “As Christ Loves: The Divine Beauty of Married Life & Love,” featuring Keynote Speakers: Danielle Rose, Fr. Thomas Loya & the Tabor Life Institute, David Rinaldi and Bishop Michael J. Hoeppner. Please register at: http://www.crookston.org/congress/. October 4 – 7:00 p.m. “Love & Life Concert” with Music Missionary: Danielle Rose at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Crookston. Free and open to the public. October 5 – 2:00 p.m. Closing Mass of the Congress and the 19th Annual Diocesan Marriage Celebration Day at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. October 21 – 7:00 p.m. The Final Deanery Gathering with Bishop Michael Hoeppner, “FAMILIES: The Domestic Church”, St. Philip’s Catholic Church, Bemidji. October 24-26 Men’s (Widowers) Diego House Retreat: “Til Death Do Us Part” with Father Chuck Huck. November 22 – 5:00 p.m. Closing Mass of the Diocese of Crookston’s 2014 “Year of Marriage” with Bishop Michael Hoeppner at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Crookston. Sponsored by the Office of the New Evangelization 218- 281-4533 ▪ www.crookston.org/YOM
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF CROOKSTON’S - 19TH ANNUAL -
Marriage Celebration Mass HIS EXCELLENCY BISHOP MICHAEL J. HOEPPNER requests the presence of the faithful to gather together to honor all marriages and families within this 2014 “Year of Marriage” at the 19th Annual
Marriage Celebration Mass. Please join us on
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5TH AT 2:00 P.M. Location: The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception 702 Summit Avenue Crookston, Minnesota No RSVP is required for this year’s celebration. This Mass will also serve as the Closing Mass for the Year of Marriage Congress which is being held October 3-5, in Crookston, MN. To learn more and register for the Congress, please call 218-281-4533, ext. 432 or visit www.crookston.org/Congress.
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September 24, 2014
DIOCESAN
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
SCHOOLS: Continued from page 1 lic education for all.” With this vision and shared mission, families belonging to Grand Forks parishes are encouraged by their pastors to send their children to their parish school for kindergarten through fifth grade and then on to Sacred Heart School in East Grand Forks for sixth grade through high school graduation. Adolphson cites the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a reason that parents choose Catholic education for their children. CCC 2223 states, “Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children.” Catholic schools are a valuable resource to assist parents in raising their sons and daughters in the faith and living out their baptismal promises to form and nurture their children’s faith journey. Stanger says parents choose Catholic education in the Diocese of Crookston because of the well-rounded formation their sons and daughters receive and also because of committed faculty and staff. “Our students are learning the faith every day and given opportunities to live it out. They are community-minded and seem to really enjoy opportunities to give back. I think all the administrators and teachers take great pride in our youth and alumni. When you see someone acting with kindness and generosity long after
you’ve had them in your care, you know that we did our work with the help of the Holy Spirit. It’s no accident that many leaders in our communities and parishes credit Catholic schools in their education.” Adolphson mentioned that Sacred Heart is a superior option for faith formation because daily prayer is an important piece of the curriculum. He asks, “How can you truly educate a child without being able to nurture their spiritual life and guide them toward developing a personal relationship with Christ? Without intertwining faith and academics the child graduates with a void because true contentment and happiness comes through our faith.” The Diocese of Crookston has eight Catholic Schools as missions of parishes in Bemidji, Crookston, Detroit Lakes, East Grand Forks, Mahnomen, Moorhead, Red Lake and Thief River Falls. Tina Stanger encourages all parents to not let finances or a busy schedule stop them from joining the Catholic school family in the diocese. She says, “Take time to visit your area’s Catholic school. Schools of the Diocese of Crookston welcome all students regardless of religion, race, gender or economic background. Visit our website: www.crookston.org/catholic_schools/ to learn more!”
ST. BERNARD’S SCHOOL, THIEF RIVER FALLS: Pictured is Mrs. Laura Brickson’s fourth grade class during their “blast off” event. (Submitted Photo)
Left: Msgr. Mike Foltz, pastor and superintendant, is pictured preaching at Sacred Heart School’s first Mass of the school year on Friday, September 5. (Photo credit: Ms. Jen MacLeod)
ST. MICHAEL’S SCHOOL, MAHNOMEN: Students and staff gather for morning prayer, which consists of Gospel reading and time for intentions. (Submitted Photo)
ST. PHILIP’S SCHOOL, BEMIDJI: The St. Philip’s School eighth grade class is pictured with Fr. Don Braukmann on their religion class retreat. (Submitted Photo)
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
DIOCESAN
September 24, 2014
5
Diocesan High School Youth Rally theme: Designed for Greatness “Nothing surpasses the greatness or dignity of a human person” By Elizabeth Rzepka Coordinator of Catechesis & Youth Ministry Office of the New Evangelization “For a variety of reasons there is a renewed interest throughout the world in marriage, in family life, and in the value of all human life … I do not hesitate to proclaim before you and before the world that all human life—from the moment of conception and through all subsequent stages—is sacred, because human life is created in the image and likeness of God. Nothing surpasses the greatness or dignity of a human person,” stated St. John Paul II in Washington on Oct. 7, 1979. 35 years after the saint proclaimed these words to the American people, the young people of the Diocese of Crookston will gather to reflect on this reality: nothing surpasses the greatness or dignity of a human person! During this Diocesan Year of Marriage, this year’s High School Youth Rally will be an occasion for young people all over the diocese to look at the heart of the Gospel, the beauty of our Catholic faith and God’s unique plan for each and every one of them. God planned for their very existence from the foundation of the world. His plan is not boring or motivated by outdated rules and restrictions. Each and every person has infinite worth and is uniquely designed for greatness! Designed for Greatness is the theme for this year’s youth rally. It calls on the youth to recognize their dignity in Christ as his son or daughter designed for a purpose and for an unfathomable adventure.
2014 HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH RALLY LINEUP EMCEES: Gabriel & Katelyn Mooney KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Lamar Edwards & Catie Payne of The Culture Project International MUSIC MINISTRY: Sonar We will explore themes that relate to our deepest identity as men and women, sons and daughters, created by God and for God. All high-school-age youth, in grades 9 through 12 from the Diocese of Crookston are invited to the rally – a day that will ignite their passion for the faith, deepen their joy, and equip them to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ in today’s world. Bishop Michael J. Hoeppner will be present to celebrate Holy Mass in the morning. We welcome Keynote Speakers Lamar Edwards and Catie Payne of Philadelphia. They are members of The Culture Project International. The Culture Project International is an initiative of young people who have set out to restore culture through the experience of virtue. They proclaim the dignity of the human person and the richness of living sexual integrity and inviting our culture to become fully alive. As part of The Culture Project International, Payne and Edwards have felt called to embark on a journey in the footsteps of St. John Paul II to be lights in the darkness
by proclaiming the messages of human dignity and sexual integrity to other young people. Our emcees are a local couple and newlyweds, Gabriel and Katelyn Mooney. They will share their passion for Christ as lived out in their vocation as husband and wife. This rally will serve as a fantastic conclusion for our Year of Marriage, inspiring young people to grab hold of their faith in a powerful way, understand their identity as sons and daughters of God and give their lives for the Gospel! A highlight of the day will be a time of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament that will include prayer, worship, music by Sonar, the Sacrament of Reconciliation and silence to be with Jesus in the Eucharist. In the evening, there will be ample opportunity for fun with a basketball tournament, dance, inflatable games and coffee house. The rally will take place at Greenbush Middle River School on Oct. 16, 2014. Registration and pre-rally activities begin at 9 a.m. See your youth minister or priest to sign up for the rally by Oct. 9!
THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF ABORTION 2014 Fall Worldwide Campaign: September 24 – November 2 THE DIOCESE OF CROOKSTON’S OFFICE OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION WILL LEAD A ROSARY FOR THE UNBORN:
Saturday, November 1 @ 12:00 p.m.
Outside Planned Parenthood: 2504 Hannah Ave. NW, Bemidji, MN
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September 24, 2014
COMMENTARY
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
Building Babylon’s good without bending to its Gods The finest book of the late Richard John Neuhaus is American Babylon, published posthumously in 2009. The book guides the reader through the challenges of living as an “exile”—both in the world and in a nation sometimes inhospitable, or even outright hostile, to a society grounded in the Gospel. Neuhaus’s insights are even more indispensable today as we consider how we can continue to serve others and work for the good of our nation without bending to its “gods”—the idols, powers, and principalities that are held up as the keys to health, happiness, and prosperity. STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND Throughout history, Christians have often felt like outsiders even within their own nations. In appearance, they may seem indistinguishable from those around them, but their mode of being is different, often times coming into conflict with the mainstream culture. To illustrate this tension, Neuhaus points us to the second-century “Letter to Diognetus,” an early example of Christian apologetics: As the Letter to Diognetus notes, though Christians love all men, “all men persecute them. ... To speak in general terms, we may say that the Christian is to the world what the
soul is to the body. ... The body hates the soul and wars against it, not because of any injury the soul has done it, but because of the restriction the soul places on its pleasures. Similarly, the world hates the Christians, not because they have done it any wrong, but because they are opposed to its enjoyments.” Many Catholic Americans cannot help but feel a sense of alienation from their neighbors and from a culture that increasingly ridicules religion in general—and Catholicism in particular—and is now beginning to impose social and legal penalties on the practice of the Faith. Further, our society promotes the crudest forms of “enjoyments” for our consumption, and it often has little regard for the dignity of the human person, justice, or the common good. Though many overstate just how bad things are here (comparatively, it is not that bad — yet), and may similarly neglect the genuinely good things going on in America today, it sometimes can truly seem as though we are living in a modern-day Babylon.
LIVING IN SIN ... WELL
Comparing today’s America to other times and places, such as ancient Rome or 19th-century Britain, is an easy tool that talking heads lean
FAITH
IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE
By Jason Adkins
Executive Director Minnesota Catholic Conference on for prognostication. But often, people fail to see the full lessons of those historical examples. We may invoke the image of Babylon, but forget some key parts of the story. Fr. Neuhaus reminds us of the acts and deeds of the Jews living in exile in Babylon, as well as the instructions God gave them while they were there, and exhorts us to take counsel today from this witness of Scripture. Though forced into service by King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel and his Jewish friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, served Babylon with honor and distinction. As Neuhaus notes, these fellows put up with a lot, even having their names changed in less than flattering ways. But they had their limits. They would not defile themselves with unclean food or bend the knee to false gods. They were punished and tested by being thrown into a “burning fiery furnace,” but God honored their
righteousness. They had worked for the good of the city—even one that was deeply corrupt and which had enslaved the best and brightest of their people—without bending to its “gods.” God had likewise spoken to the people in Babylonian exile through the pen of the prophet Jeremiah and instructed them similarly. He told them: “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their fruits. Take wives and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters. Increase there; do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you; pray for it to the LORD, for upon its welfare your own depends.” (Jer. 29:5-7) What is striking about this passage is what God is asking his people to do—lay foundations—even in exile in a foreign land and even as they hoped and desired to return to Israel. The examples of gardens and marriage are not chosen by accident. Lay down roots; be fruitful and multiply. God is telling his people that though Babylon is not their home, and that they are different from those around them, they must work for the good of the city in which he has planted them. In doing so, they will find their
own good as well. God’s exhortation to the exiled Jews of Babylon and its import for our own day is clear. Isolating ourselves and trying to keep “Babylon” out is neither practicable nor desirable for Christians. Nor can we, as laypersons, ignore the good of others and of society as a whole and hide out in a sectarian bubble while everything crumbles. God calls most of us into prudent engagement with the broader culture, even a hostile one where it seems we can only improve things at the margins. The challenge is to continue working for the city’s good without bending to its gods. As social and legal mandates to violate our faith and the moral law continue to increase, the pressure will grow to simply “sprinkle a little incense” and avoid the “burning fiery furnaces” of our day: media ridicule, professional penalties, and social scorn. Little compromises here and there that ultimately lead people to losing their identity as a disciple will be a constant temptation. Through prayer and discernment each Christian must be vigilant in keeping the Faith so that he or she can continue to be salt and light to the world, and to live well, even when living surrounded by sin.
Pope Francis: “Who am I to judge?” Shortly after his election, Pope Francis said those five words which many thought gave them cover for their opinions and actions which are contrary to the teachings of Christ and the Catholic Church. Funny how those who usually reject most of what a Pope says suddenly hang on every word uttered when it fits a particular agenda. So, are we to judge or not? The Gospel we heard at Mass on Sept. 7 (the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time) came from Matthew, chapter 18. Jesus said, “If your brother or sister sins against you go and tell them their fault between you and them alone. If they listen to you, you have won them over. If they do not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they refuse to listen to them, tell the church. If they refuse to listen even to the church, then treat them as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.” This is just one of several pas-
LIFE FIRST
By Father Don Braukmann Parochial Vicar - St. Philip’s Parish, Bemidji and St. Charles Parish, Pennington
sages where Jesus makes it clear we are to judge. It is a command. We are to challenge one another and remind each other of our dignity as human beings. We are called to greatness; we are called to more than we have become. We settle too quickly for mediocrity in our lives. We are to judge. If we are not, then how do we answer these questions: When the Church, inspired by Jesus himself, teaches us that something is evil and a poison to humanity, are we to say, “Who are we to judge?” Are we to say to ISIS and the terrorists of the world, “Sure,
you slaughter whole villages at a time and lop off the heads of the innocent then parade their bodies through the streets but, who are we to judge?” Do we say to those who flew planes into the towers of New York City, “You must have had your reasons, who are we to judge?” I am a big fan, but we pay Joe Mauer of the Twins $142,000 a game and Adrian Peterson of the Vikings, $900,000 a game while we have people sleeping under bridges and children going hungry in our community, nation and world. Do we simply ignore such injustice and say,
“Who are we to judge?” A few years ago, in the name of “freedom of speech,” an artist placed a crucifix in a large jar of urine and called it “art.” Who are we to judge? If we watch out our living room window as a child is kidnapped or beaten do we simply say, “Who are we to judge?” Of course we are to judge. The fact I cannot drive 100 mph down Highway 2 from Bemidji to East Grand Forks means I am being judged. Every law we pass is someone’s judgment being cast upon another. So, was Pope Francis dishonest when he spoke those five words? No he wasn’t. He was speaking about judgment as Christ would speak of it. We can only judge as Christ intended when we can say from our hearts before Communion, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.” If we first take the log out of our own eye then we can, with compassion, help remove the splinters in the eyes of others. We
are called to nothing less if we claim to obey Christ’s command to “Love one another.” We are to be the ones who say to our brothers and sisters, “You are called to greatness! God has great plans for you, in your pain, in your joy, when it is easy and when it is not, in your loneliness, in your addiction, in your fear. You are called to greatness no matter your income, your religion, your ability, your IQ, your health or your age. And because you are called to greatness, stop doing that which makes you a slave to sin, envy, hatred, jealousy, lust and selfishness.” Pope Francis has shown us what true love, true judgment is and how our compassion for one another can change the world. He reminds us we are first of all sinners, every one of us. Second, every person has dignity and is called to greatness. And third, that we not only should but must walk with one another, all the way home, no matter the price, no matter the inconvenience and no matter the burden.
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COMMENTARY
September 24, 2014
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A beatitude marriage: Part II CREDO REJOICE AND BE GLAD, FOR YOUR REWARD IS GREAT IN HEAVEN…, (MATTHEW 5:12): A Beatitude Marriage.
In my previous column I began to review the four tasks God calls all married couples to fulfill. St. John Paul II, in his Apostolic Exhortation “On the Family” explained the four tasks that God desires every spousal union to accomplish so that marriage participates in God’s revelation and salvation of the world. The first task, “Forming a Community of Persons,” is meant to reflect the intimate union God desires to have with us in heaven. In this column I will review the other three tasks as described by the Holy Father. The second task we are called to achieve through our marriage and family is “Serving Life.” The most obvious way spouses do this is when their conjugal union is open to life so that spouses can, in the words of the Holy Father, “cooperate with the love of the creator and the savior” by bringing new life into the world. St. John Paul goes on to teach that “the fruitfulness of conju-
A NEW EVANGELIZATION WITNESS
By Dr. Mark Krejci, guest columnist
Sponsored by the Diocesan Office of the New Evangelization gal love is not restricted solely to the procreation of children” for the couple is to serve life by also enriching moral and spiritual life in each other, their offspring, and in the world. Thus, the loving gift of marital communion that spouses give to each other, this reciprocal and complete gift of the self that spouses share, allows them to enhance spiritual life in the world as well as create human life. By following this plan for serving life, the spousal couple will serve God’s creation. The third task that spouses are called to fulfill in God’s plan for the salvation of the world is “Participating in the Development of Society.” St. John Paul II identifies the family as the “first and vital cell of society” because the moral and spiritual life of families sets the tone for all of soci-
ety. It is within our family that we first learn to live as God wants us to live in the world – to be selfless rather than self-centered. The married couple is to reflect to each other and teach their children that spousal life should be lived as a reciprocal gift of self to each other. This prepares members of the family for lives in society where they understand that their responsibility is to love, serve and respect others. The fourth task is “Sharing in the Life and Mission of the Church.” Married couples are to create in each of their homes a “domestic church” so that family life is centered in prayer and the practice of the faith. Marriage is described as “a sacrament of mutual sanctification and an act of worship” that is to bring both spouses closer to God. As parents
bring each other to God, they are to be the first evangelizers of the Gospel to their children. Based on this solid foundation in the domestic church, families are to be part of their church community by fully participating in the worship and life of their parish and diocese. Finally, given that the Church’s mission is to evangelize the world to the Gospel, families are called to participate in society through loving service and witness. To achieve these four tasks, to follow God’s plan for your marriage, it comes down to love – specifically reflecting God’s love to each other and the world through your marital sacrament. By living the beatitudes, spouses will be guided by Jesus’ teaching on how to live a blessed life and thus be a blessed gift in marriage. Follow the beatitudes and you will accomplish what God expects from us as married couples. You will “rejoice and be glad” because you will have a blessed marriage on earth and “your reward will be great in heaven.” As I conclude my multi-column reflection on the beatitudes as a guide for Christian Marriage, I offer one final prayer to serve
as a summary to the series: Dear God, we thank You for each other and for Your blessings. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for marriage is the center of their lives. Blessed are those who mourn, for they seek forgiveness and forgive. Blessed are the meek, for they listen with humility. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they collaborate with each other. Blessed are the merciful, for they rejoice in the emotions in their marriage. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they open their hearts to each other. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they share a marriage filled with harmony. Blessed are those who are persecuted, for they stay true to their marital sacrament: They create a marital communion. Their marriage serves life in God’s creation. Their marriage creates a society based on God’s love. Their marriage advances the mission of the Church. Help us to live these beatitudes every day of our married life. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who taught us the beatitudes as he sat upon the mountain.
From dating through marriage, adoration continually strenthens couple’s relationship Submitted by Dennis and Lisa Ouderkirk St. Joseph’s Parish, Moorhead 1 Corinthians 13:13 states: “… but the greatest of these is love.” Ours is a love story, with each other and with Christ. Our journey began at St. Joe’s where we eyed each other for a couple of years, wondering what the story was behind this older than average single person that we saw at church every Sunday. Lisa finally took the first step and visited with Dennis after Mass one Sunday, and thus began a wonderful relationship that began in Christ’s presence and has been nurtured by His grace. We decided to begin dating, and our first date was coming to an end as Dennis had to leave to go to adoration, which had just started in the diocese, but Lisa asked if she could join him, and he agreed. We found that we shared a common thirst for getting to know Christ on a deeper, more intimate level. Early on we prayed silently in adoration, but as our prayer life grew, so did our relationship with
EXPOSITION PRAYER IN THE DIOCESE OF CROOKSTON
Ms. Bonnie Lee
Director of the Office of Worship each other, and we became more comfortable discussing our faith and all the different forms of prayer that we found meaningful. Lisa had experienced the beauty of the Liturgy of the Hours when she worked at the Seminary, and when she shared that with Dennis he was empowered by it and we began making that a part of our prayer ritual. Dennis has found Novenas to be very meaningful in his life, and he was very eager to share that with Lisa, which she embraced. We also incorporated personal prayer and intentions, the daily readings, and the rosary into our prayer ritual and found that the adoration hour was flying by. We found ourselves drawn to the adoration chapel not only at
11:30 on Friday nights, but almost every day of the week. We feel that God was with us every step of our journey from dating, to love and engagement, to our uniting in Marriage, and continues to grow stronger every day - thanks to the wonderful gift of adoration. The Year of Marriage has been a special year for us as it has allowed us to strengthen our Marriage through the Marriage prayers that have been offered by the Diocese that we pray together every day, the gift of the retreat we were able to enjoy under the direction of Fr. Bob Schreiner and the presenters - Dr. Mark & Julie Krejci, “Blessed Are the Married”, and will culminate as we partake in
the Year of Marriage Congress in October. What a beautiful witness to the Sacrament of Marriage! We thought that the culmination of the Year of Marriage would be a great time to share our marriage journey through the gift of adoration. “Eucharistic adoration is an extension of our communion with Christ in Holy Communion and helps bring about within us a deeper longing for our next reception of Holy Communion.” - Most Reverend Michael Hoeppner Bishop of Crookston Meeting Christ, Living Christ, (pg 4)
You are invited to submit your testimonial of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament to: blee@crookston.org or P.O. Box 610, Crookston, MN 56716.
Come adore this wondrous presence, Bow to Christ the source of grace. Here is kept the ancient promise of God’s earthly dwelling place. Sight is blind before God’s glory, Faith alone may see his face.
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AROUND THE DIOCESE
Fall Dinners in the Diocese of Crookston
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
Celebrating Confirmation
SUNDAY, SEPT. 28, 2014: ST. PHILIP’S, BEMIDJI Roast pork dinner & Fall Festival 10:30 A.M. - 1:30 P.M. SUNDAY, SEPT. 28, 2014: ST. MARY’S, FOSSTON Turkey dinner & Fall Bazaar 11:00 A.M. - 1:30 P.M. SUNDAY, SEPT. 28, 2014: ST. ANNE’S, GOODRIDGE Pan-fried walleye dinner 11:30 A.M. - 1:30 P.M.
SATURDAY, OCT. 4, 2014: ST. MARY’S, TWO INLETS Roast beef and pork dinner & Silent Auction AMERICAN LEGION, PARK RAPIDS
4:30 P.M. - 7:30 P.M.
SUNDAY, OCT. 5, 2014: ST. ANN’S, WAUBUN Meatball and ham dinner & Raffle WAUBUN COMMUNITY CENTER
11:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. SUNDAY, OCT. 5, 2014: ST. PATRICK’S, KELLIHER Chicken dinner (following Mass) 10:15 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. SUNDAY, OCT. 5, 2014: ST. FRANCIS DE SALES, MOORHEAD Roast beef dinner and Fall Festival 11:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. SUNDAY, OCT. 12, 2014: ST. BENEDICT’S, WHITE EARTH
Sacred Heart, Baudette (Submitted photo)
NET Commissioning
Chicken and meatball dinner & Bazaar OGEMA COMMUNITY CENTER 11:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.
SUNDAY, OCT. 12, 2014: ST. JOSEPH’S, FERTILE Turkey dinner & Bazaar
11:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M.
SUNDAY, OCT. 19, 2014: ST. ANDREW’S, HAWLEY Turkey dinner 11:00 A.M. - 1:30 P.M. SUNDAY, OCT. 19, 2014: ST. BERNARD’S, TRF Roast pork dinner & Fall Festival 11:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M. SUNDAY, OCT. 26, 2014: CATHEDRAL, CROOKSTON Fall Festival and dinner
MARIAN HALL, MOUNT ST. BENEDICT
11:00 A.M. - 3:00 P.M.
Three young adults from the Diocese of Crookston were commissioned in St. Paul for a year of ministry with the National Evangelization Team on Tuesday, Sept 9. Pictured (left to right): Joseph Hollcraft, Katie Arens and Cody Klamm. (Photo credit: OND Staff)
UND Choir visits St. Peter’s, Park Rapids
FROM THE PEW TO THE POLLS The Minnesota Catholic Conference will be speaking at:
ST. PHILIP’S CATHOLIC CHURCH (BEMIDJI) SEPTEMBER 30 AT 6:30 P.M. ST. JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC CHURCH (MOORHEAD) OCTOBER 2 AT 6:30 P.M. ST. ANDREW’S CATHOLIC CHURCH (BRAINERD) OCTOBER 9 AT 6:30 P.M. Challenge yourself to think about politics in a new way and receive new, Minnesota-specific tools to help you make tough, informed decisions about the elected officials you support. Event and materials are FREE. Good will donations accepted. Visit http://www.mncc.org/ and click on “Events,” or call 651-227-8777 for more information.
UND Concert Choir at St. Peter’s. (Story and photo submitted by: Amy Yerkes)
The weekend of Sept. 5, St. Peter’s Parish in Park Rapids was blessed with an unexpected, yet extraordinary musical experience; wherein the University of North Dakota’s 48-member choir held their annual retreat. As a thank you for the use of St. Peter’s facilities, they sang three pieces and participated in worship on Sunday. The vocal abilities and talents of UND’s visiting choir were truly a gift of immeasurable delight to the parishioners of St. Peter’s – who are hopeful the choir will return in the near future for upcoming retreats.
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
STEWARDSHIP
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OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
STEWARDSHIP
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STEWARDSHIP
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
COMMENTARY
A tale of two churches
The Cardinal’s Column: Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. Reprinted with permission from: Catholic New World, Newspaper for the Archdiocese of Chicago SEPT. 7 - Once upon a time there was a church founded on God’s entering into human history in order to give humanity a path to eternal life and happiness with him. The Savior that God sent, his only-begotten Son, did not write a book but founded a community, a church, upon the witness and ministry of twelve apostles. He sent this church the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love between Father and Son, the Spirit of the truth that God had revealed about himself and humanity by breaking into the history of human sinfulness. This church, a hierarchical communion, continued through history, living among different peoples and cultures, filled with sinners, but always guided in the essentials of her life and teaching by the Holy Spirit. She called herself “Catholic” because her purpose was to preach a universal faith and a universal morality, encompassing all peoples and cultures. This claim often invited conflict with the ruling classes of many countries. About 1,800 years into her often stormy history, this church found herself as a very small group in a new country in Eastern North America that promised to respect all religions because the State would not be confessional; it would not try to play the role of a religion. This church knew that it was far from socially acceptable in this new country. One of the reasons the country was established was to protest the king of England’s permitting the public celebration of the Catholic Mass on the soil of the British Empire in the newly conquered Catholic territories of Canada. He had betrayed his coronation oath to combat Catholicism, defined as “America’s greatest enemy,” and protect Protestantism, bringing the pure religion of the colonists into danger and giving them the moral right to revolt and reject his rule. Nonetheless, many Catholics in the American colonies thought
their life might be better in the new country than under a regime whose ruling class had penalized and persecuted them since the mid-16th century. They made this new country their own and served her loyally. The social history was often contentious, but the State basically kept its promise to protect all religions and not become a rival to them, a fake church. Until recent years. There was always a quasi-religious element in the public creed of the country. It lived off the myth of human progress, which had little place for dependence on divine providence. It tended to exploit the religiosity of the ordinary people by using religious language to co-opt them into the purposes of the ruling class. Forms of anti-Catholicism were part of its social DNA. It had encouraged its citizens to think of themselves as the creators of world history and the managers of nature, so that no source of truth outside of themselves needed to be consulted to check their collective purposes and desires. But it had never explicitly taken upon itself the mantle of a religion and officially told its citizens what they must personally think or what “values” they must personalize in order to deserve to be part of the country. Until recent years. In recent years, society has brought social and legislative approval to all types of sexual relationships that used to be considered “sinful.” Since the biblical vision of what it means to be human tells us that not every friendship or love can be expressed in sexual relations, the church’s teaching on these issues is now evidence of intolerance for what the civil law upholds and even imposes. What was once a request to live and let live has now become a demand for approval. The “ruling class,” those who shape public opinion in politics, in education, in communications, in entertainment, is using the civil law to impose its own form of morality on everyone. We are told that, even in marriage itself, there is no difference between men and women, although nature and our very bodies clearly evidence that men and women are not interchange-
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able at will in forming a family. Nevertheless, those who do not conform to the official religion, we are warned, place their citizenship in danger. When the recent case about religious objection to one provision of the Health Care Act was decided against the State religion, the Huffington Post (June 30, 2014) raised “concerns about the compatibility between being a Catholic and being a good citizen.” This is not the voice of the nativists who first fought against Catholic immigration in the 1830s. Nor is it the voice of those who burned convents and churches in Boston and Philadelphia a decade later. Neither is it the voice of the Know-Nothing Party of the 1840s and 1850s, nor of the Ku Klux Klan, which burned crosses before Catholic churches in the Midwest after the civil war. It is a voice more sophisticated than that of the American Protective Association, whose members promised never to vote for a Catholic for public office. This is, rather, the self-righteous voice of some members of the American establishment today who regard themselves as “progressive” and “enlightened.” The inevitable result is a crisis of belief for many Catholics. Throughout history, when Catholics and other believers in revealed religion have been forced to choose between being taught by God or instructed by politicians, professors, editors of major newspapers and entertainers, many have opted to go along with the powers that be. This reduces a great tension in their lives, although it also brings with it the worship of a false god. It takes no moral courage to conform to government and social pressure. It takes a deep faith to “swim against the tide,” as Pope Francis recently encouraged young people to do at last summer’s World Youth Day. Swimming against the tide means limiting one’s access to positions of prestige and power in society. It means that those who choose to live by the Catholic faith will not be welcomed as political candidates to national office, will not sit on editorial boards of major newspapers, will
not be at home on most university faculties, will not have successful careers as actors and entertainers. Nor will their children, who will also be suspect. Since all public institutions, no matter who owns or operates them, will be agents of the government and conform their activities to the demands of the official religion, the practice of medicine and law will become more difficult for faithful Catholics. It already means in some States that those who run businesses must conform their activities to the official religion or be fined, as Christians and Jews are fined for their religion in countries governed by Sharia law. A reader of the tale of two churches, an outside observer, might note that American civil law has done much to weaken and destroy what is the basic unit of every human society, the family. With the weakening of the internal restraints that healthy family life teaches, the State will need to impose more and more external restraints on everyone’s activities. An outside observer might also note that the official religion’s imposing whatever its proponents currently desire on all citizens and even on the world at large inevitably generates resentment. An outside observer might point out that class plays a large role in determining the tenets of the official State religion. “Same-sex marriage,” as a case in point, is not an issue for the poor or those on the margins of society. How does the tale end? We don’t know. The actual situation is, of course, far more complex than a story plot, and there are many actors and characters, even among the ruling class, who do not want their beloved country to transform itself into a fake church. It would be wrong to lose hope, since there are so many good and faithful people. Catholics do know, with the certainty of faith, that, when Christ returns in glory to judge the living and the dead, the church, in some recognizable shape or form that is both Catholic and Apostolic, will be there to meet him. There is no such divine guarantee for any country, culture or society of this or any age.
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COMMENTARY
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
Confession of venial sins can be a means of ongoing conversion of life
By Rev. Jorge Presmanes, OP, DMin - Barry University, Miami Shores, Florida Children are often asked about what they want to be when they grow up. The answers that flow from their fertile imaginations cover a whole gamut of professions that range from superhero to astronaut, from fireman to president of the United States. As the child grows older and high school graduation approaches, they often devote much energy to asking themselves that question. Yet, while many of them spend considerable time thinking about what they want to be, they spend much less time pondering a question of even greater worth: “What kind of person do I want to be?” Identifying the kind of person we want to become and how we order our lives in order to achieve this goal is the gateway to growth in the moral life. In the same way that a student chooses to become a lawyer and then takes the concrete steps required to become one, the moral life requires intentional acts that help us become a person of good and trustworthy character. But unlike the process of becoming a lawyer, which is complete upon graduating from law school and passing the bar exam, the process of becoming the kind of person we want to be is a lifelong endeavor. There is no graduation date for becoming a good and faithful friend, nor is there a final exam for becoming a just, honest, and loving person. In this brief reflection on the moral life, we explore the importance of confessing venial sins as a means of ongoing conversion. Sin is the failure in genuine love for God and neighbor (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], 2nd ed. [Washington, DC: Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV)–United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), 2000], no. 1849). In the Catholic tradition, we categorize sin as being either venial (minor) or mortal (death-dealing). A mortal sin is a grave failure of love that is committed freely and deliberately. A venial sin is one that is less serious in nature, or a morally bad act that is grave in matter but committed without full knowledge or consent (CCC, no. 1862). The goal of confessing any sin, venial or mortal, is to shed light on that which impedes our faithful discipleship of Christ, to accept responsibility for such action, to be reconciled with God and each other, and to receive the grace to be able to continue to grow in the process of conversion. While the Christian is not obliged to confess venial sins, shedding light on them in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is invaluable in assisting the believ-
er to grow in the moral life. In the moral life, it is the conscience that serves as the voice of God, which is ever calling the human person to right relationship with him and with creation. It is conscience that directs us to virtuous action and calls the believer to move from irresponsible (sinful) to responsible (virtuous) behavior. Conversion is the term that refers to this movement. Human experience tells us that there are two conversions, an initial conversion and a continuous conversion. If the initial conversion is the decision to move from irresponsible to responsible behavior, the continuous conversion is the ongoing process of confronting and changing the irresponsible habits that were formed prior to the initial conversion (see Donald Gelpi, SJ, Grace as Transmuted Experience and Social Process, and Other Essays in North American Theology [New York: University Press of America, 1988]). For example, a student who is a habitual procrastinator may find herself feeling overly stressed because she is behind on her assignments. Because of the pain caused by the irresponsible behavior that is procrastination, she makes the decision to procrastinate no more and resolves from that moment on to change. But no matter how earnest her intention to change, chances are that sooner or later she will begin backsliding and again fall behind on her assignments. This is more than likely to happen, not because she was insincere in her commitment to conversion, but because of the “bad” habits that she had developed long before her decision to change. Thus, the continuous conversion is the ongoing process of being attentive to the bad habits that impede our growth in the moral life. For the Catholic, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or the “sacrament of conversion,” is vital for a fruitful continuous conversion, “because it makes sacramentally present Jesus’ call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father from whom one has strayed by sin” (CCC, no. 1423). In public discussion about ethics, the focus is often placed on the big issues that peak our culture’s imagination, such as capital punishment, euthanasia, cloning, stem cell research, and the like. While these matters are of grave ethical importance, they are not the primary concern in how people of faith live their everyday lives. Moral development is rooted in the small and ordinary decisions that shape human life, but that does not mean that the process is simple. Experience
teaches us that life is complicated and at times problematic, as we attempt to negotiate work, relationships, and commitments within the limits of time and the contexts in which we find ourselves. In order to manage this often complex reality, we develop certain practices or patterns of behavior. And, for better or worse, these practices form habits, and habits define the kind of person we are becoming (James Keenan, SJ, Virtues for Ordinary Christians [Franklin, Wisconsin: Sheed & Ward, 1996], 4). St. Thomas Aquinas (c. 12251274) offers three particular insights that have proved invaluable for growth in the moral life. His first insight was that every intentional human act made by a person in freedom is a moral act. His insight is akin to the physical law of motion in basic physics: to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the moral life, there is a reaction to every intentional human act that is made by a person in freedom. The reaction to the moral action will affect us and those around us for the good or for the bad. For example, the decision to throw an empty can in the recycle bin (right) as opposed to the garbage (wrong) is a moral act, as is the decision to show up on time for an appointment (right) as to not waste the time of the person you are meeting (wrong). St. Thomas’s insight affirms what was noted above, that while contemporary culture’s primary focus on ethics is concerned with the extraordinary, for the average Christian who is trying to live a morally upright life, the primary concern is the very ordinary day-in and day-out decisions that we make and the impact these decisions have on us and others. His second insight was that what we do is what we become. For example, a basketball player becomes a great basketball player by playing basketball over and over again, just as a person becomes habitually generous by acting generously in repetitive fashion. St. Thomas is building on Aristotle’s observation that “human beings are creatures of habit.” We know from experience that our actions when continually repeated develop into habits. The “bad” habits that impede our forward movement to become the kind of person we want to become are called vices, while the “good” habits that help us advance in the moral life are virtues. The habitual practice of the virtues (prudence, justice, temperance, fortitude, faith, hope, and charity) is the means by which we achieve forward movement in our progression toward God. This concept of immanent
activity is crucial in order to understand the importance of confessing venial sins as a means of ongoing conversion, because venial sins, when repeated, may very well become mortal ones. For example, the repetitive practice of telling venial (little) lies may develop into a pattern of lying about things that are of grave matter. In the same way, the repeated practice of cheating on exams, if not attended to in the ongoing process of conversion, will likely lead the person to become a cheater who may not think twice about cheating on a tax return or even a spouse. St. Thomas’s third insight was that ordinary life provides the individual with the opportunity for moral development. Something as ordinary as our morning commute to work or a drive to the mall provides us with an opportunity for growth in the moral life. Driving may provide the opportunity to grow in patience by practicing patience with other drivers, or the opportunity to become prudent by making sound and safe decisions in our driving. Thus, according to St. Thomas, if we want to grow rightly in the ethical life, then we must be aware that every act is a moral act and is one more stepping stone on the path to who we are becoming.
As a result, every waking moment provides the Christian with the opportunity to either advance or regress on the road to moral growth. In colloquial speech, when we want to tell someone not to worry about unimportant things, we often repeat the axiom, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” But as we have noted above, in the moral life of the Christian, it is most often the “small stuff ” that is of utmost importance. These ordinary decisions help us to either progress or regress in the moral life. When the regress is fruit of venial sin, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a rich font of grace that propels the believer forward in the continuous conversion of life. Copyright© 2014, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to duplicate this work without adaptation for non-commercial use. Excerpts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, copyright ©2000, Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV)–United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
NATIONAL
September 24, 2014
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Philadelphia meeting, synods will be part of global debate on families By Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in September 2015 will serve as a forum for debating issues on the agenda for the world Synod of Bishops at the Vatican the following month, said the two archbishops responsible for planning the Philadelphia event. At a Sept. 16 briefing, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, described the world meeting as one of several related events to follow the October 2014 extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family, which will prepare an agenda for the worldwide synod one year later. Such events, including a January 2015 meeting in Rome with family and prolife groups, will enable a debate on the synod’s agenda “at the international, global level,” Archbishop Paglia said. “It is important that this text not remain an abstract text reserved to some specialists.” “In this way, the debate at the ordinary synod will be enriched,” the archbishop said. Pope Francis has said both synods will consider, among other topics, the eligibility of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion, whose predicament he has said exemplifies a general need for mercy in the church today. “We’re bringing up all the issues that would have appeared in the preparation documents for the synod as part
of our reflection,” said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia, regarding plans for the world meeting. “I can’t imagine that any of the presenters won’t pay close attention to what’s happening” in Rome. Archbishop Chaput said as many as 15,000 people are expected to take part in the meeting, whose program will be
“It’s a celebration of family life, the Catholic church’s commitment to support families.” - Archbishop Chaput
kept flexible to allow for topics that emerge from the bishops’ discussions at the Vatican this October. “But we haven’t approached this as a part of the synod,” Archbishop Chaput said. “It’s a celebration of family life, the Catholic church’s commitment to support families.” Pope Francis is widely expected to attend the Philadelphia event, although Archbishop Chaput noted that an official announcement in that regard might not come until well into 2015. If the
pope does attend, he said, a “papal Mass could easily draw more than a million people.” Among the other family-related events planned for the coming year, Pope Francis will meet Sept. 28 will thousands of grandparents and other elderly people, including a married couple who have fled Islamic State terrorism in northern Iraq. The pope will give the elderly a largeprint edition of the Gospel of Matthew and bless the group, which will also include about 100 priests. Archbishop Chaput announced the publication of the preparatory teaching document, “Love is Our Mission,” for the world meeting, and unveiled the official image for the event: a portrait of the Holy Family by a Philadelphia artist. The icon will hang in the city’s cathedral during the 2015 event. Pope Francis blessed the icon Sept. 17 when the archbishop presented it to him at the end of the weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square. The extraordinary synod will meet at the Vatican Oct. 5-19, bringing together the presidents of national bishops’ conferences, the heads of Eastern Catholic churches, Vatican officials and papally appointed delegates, including laypeople. The world Synod of Bishops, which will include more bishops -- many elected by their peers -- will meet at the Vatican Oct. 4-25, 2015, to continue the discussion on pastoral approaches to the challenges facing families.
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia is pictured in front of the official image for the Sept. 22-27, 2015, World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia during a press conference regarding the event at the Vatican Sept. 16. The image is a portrait of the Holy Family by Philadelphia artist Neilson Carlin. (CNS photo/Massimiliano Migliorato)
Ministries to divorced, remarried strive to echo pope’s call for mercy By Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Divorce is never easy. From the realization that love has failed to feelings of shame and a tendency to assess blame, divorce poses an untidy conundrum for families even when a couple settles on an amicable legal separation. In the eyes of the church, a divorced couple remains married until a decree of nullity is issued, if a couple chooses to go that route. There’s even more of a challenge for faithful divorced Catholics, who often misunderstand church teaching on marriage. Divorced people may separate themselves from the church, believing they have been automatically excommunicated or banned from church activities even though they have not remarried. People who are civilly divorced and do not marry someone else are not prohibited from receiving Communion under canon law. However, church practice prohibits people in irregular marriages -- those civilly remarried without receiving an annulment -- from receiving Communion, serving as lector or extraordinary minister
of holy Communion, teaching in a Catholic institution and holding certain parish or diocesan offices. There is no prohibition on being involved in most other church ministries. About 20 percent of U.S. Catholics have experienced divorce, according to the General Social Survey at the University of Chicago. The Center for Applied Research on the Apostolate at Georgetown University places the number of divorced Catholics at about 11 million. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, through its National Pastoral Initiative on Marriage, has worked to explain church teaching on divorce in the hope of correcting misunderstandings and keeping people connected with the church. Bethany J. Meola, assistant director in the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, described the work of the church with divorced, separated and remarried Catholics as accompaniment, a term often cited by Pope Francis. “It’s that sense of making sure that they don’t consider themselves separated from the church,
that they realize they are baptized Catholics, they are members of the church, they are called to participate with the church, attend Mass, pray, be present with the church,” Meola explained. “(It’s) helping people in all of these situations to carry their cross and know that they don’t carry it alone,” she said. Cardinal Walter Kasper, former president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, addressed several concerns surrounding divorced and remarried Catholics in the Sept. 15 issue of America magazine. Acknowledging that the indissolubility of marriage is specified in canon law, Cardinal Kasper cited Pope Francis’ repeated calls for a more merciful church in making a carefully constructed argument that mercy must be at the heart of the church’s outreach efforts, including those to divorced and remarried Catholics. He wrote that the Gospel “is against a legalistic understanding of canon law.” He posed the question: If a Catholic who is divorced and civilly remarried without the first marriage being annulled, “but then re-
pents of his failure to fulfill what he promised before God, his partner and the church in the first marriage, and carries out as well as possible his new duties and does what he can for the Christian education of his children and has a serious desire for the sacraments, which he needs for strength in his difficult situation, can we after a time of new orientation and stabilization deny absolution and forgiveness?” Such questions are being weighed by church leaders in advance of the upcoming extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family Oct 5-19. There’s no better place to heal from the trauma of divorce than in the church, believes Gregory Mills, executive director of Catholic Divorce Ministry, the Ministry of the North American Conference of Separated and Divorced Catholics. “People have walked back into the church, willing to admit they made a grievous mistake and want to get right with themselves, their local community and with God,” he told Catholic News Service. “The ultimate salve for the wound is God and his healing mercy.” Dioceses across the country have ministries to divorced, sepa-
rated and remarried couples in place. But unlike marriage ministries, programs for this significant part of the church family are not a requirement; among existing programs their offerings varies. During a time of divorce, couples are dealing with the realization that love has failed and mercy, understanding and acceptance is vital, said Carol Petro, marriage and family specialist in the Cleveland Diocese. “This is where mercy comes in. Mercy comes in, but also the virtue of hope because (couples) come with despair, they come with shame, they come with blame, they come with hearts that have been broken and disconnected from the church and there are a lot of myths that are out there,” Petro said. “We need to learn how to evangelize the divorced because we’re seeing a lot of them not having a basic knowledge of the Catholic faith. We also need to understand where they are with the shamefulness and the fact they are now single in the pews,” explained Petro, who was divorced in 1997 and remarried in the church after her first marriage was annulled.
16 September 24, 2014
INTERNATIONAL
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
Pope: People have yet to learn that war is madness, indifference a sin By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When will people ever learn that war is madness and conflicts are only resolved by forgiveness, Pope Francis asked. The pope said it is believed that more than 8 million soldiers and 7 million civilians died during World War I -- a four-year-long conflict that began 100 years ago. The number of so many lost lives “lets us see how much war is insanity,” Pope Francis said after praying the Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square Sept. 14, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. “When will we learn this lesson?” he asked, telling people to look at the crucified Christ “to understand that hatred and evil are defeated with forgiveness and good, and to understand that responding with war only augments evil and death.” The pope’s remarks came the day after a morning visit to Italy’s largest war memorial -- Redipuglia, a town in northeast Italy near the border with Slovenia. Giovanni Bergoglio, the pope’s Italian grandfather who later immigrated to Argentina, fought nearby during the Italian campaign against the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The memorial made of enor-
mous stone steps leading to three bronze crosses pays homage to more than 100,000 Italian soldiers. while a nearby military cemetery is the final resting place for some 15,000 Austro-Hungarian soldiers -- all of whom lost their lives in nearby battlefields. The pope laid a floral wreath at the cemetery, celebrated Mass at the memorial, and prayed for all victims of all wars. The gorgeous landscape used to be a place where men and women worked hard to raise their families, children played and the elderly daydreamed, he said in his homily. Instead of safeguarding God’s creation, especially his “most beautiful of all, the human being,” people have set about destroying it through war, he said. “Greed, intolerance, a lust for power, these are the reasons that incite decisions to go to war,” he said. Also, “behind the scenes, there are special interests, geopolitical plots, lust for money,” he said, as well as the powerful arms industry. But the most shocking aspect of so much bloodshed is the continued legacy of indifference, the pope said. Being indifferent began with Cain murdering his brother Abel and then rebuking God for asking where his now dead brother was, replying, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Above the tombs of so many dead, Pope Francis said, “hovers the sneering motto of war” -- Cain’s complaint of “What do I care?” “All these people, here in eternal rest, they had plans, had dreams, but their lives were broken. Why? Because humanity said, ‘What do I care?’” Today the world is still up in arms with a kind of “World War III (waged) ‘in bits and pieces’ with criminal acts, massacres and destruction,” he said. “To be honest, the newspaper front page should have the headline: ‘What do I care?’” “Those who plot terror, organizations fueling conflict, as well as arms manufacturers, all have ‘What do I care’ engraved in their hearts,” he said. And like Cain, their hearts have become so corrupt, “they’ve lost the ability to cry,” much less do what Jesus asks -- to help the sick, the wounded and the hungry, the pope said. The pope asked people to pray that their heart be transformed from one that has stopped caring to one that can weep “for all those who have fallen in useless massacres, for all the victims of the insanity of war of every era. Tears. Brothers and sisters, humanity needs to cry, this is the moment to cry.”
Pope Francis looks at a tombstones as he walks through the Austro-Hungarian cemetery for soldiers of World War I in Fogliano di Redipuglia, Italy, Sept. 13. The pope prayed for the fallen of all wars and also celebrated an outdoor Mass in front of the nearb y Redipuglia war memorial, which honors the 100,000 Italian soldiers who died during World War I. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Pope Francis asks people to carry Gospel on the go He speaks about the importance of each person’s call to be a missionary By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Tuck the Gospel in your pocket and put on your walking shoes to share Christ’s love, peace and joy with the world, Pope Francis said. It is the Holy Spirit who inspires Christians to “overcome every obstacle, to conquer the temptation of being closed up in oneself -among a chosen few” and to prevent people from believing they are “the only one destined for God’s blessing,” he said at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square Sept 17. The pope continued a series of talks on the nature of the Catholic Church, focusing on what it means to say the church is catholic and apostolic. The word catholic means the
church is universal, he said. The church is found everywhere “and teaches the whole truth that mankind must learn regarding the heavens and the earth,” he said. One sign of the church’s universality is that it speaks every language of the world. The Gospel was translated into the world’s different languages, the pope said, so people could read it and encounter the living Word. “It’s always a good idea to carry with us a small book of the Gospels to have in your pocket or bag, and, during the day, to read a verse. It’s good for you,” he said. The reason the church is universal, in fact, is because it is missionary, he said. The Holy Spirit enabled the apostles and the whole church to “go out” and proclaim to the ends of the earth the good news of sal-
vation and God’s love, he said. Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, a group of Christians could end up believing, “We are the chosen ones, just us,” he said. But such a group “eventually dies; first their spirit dies, and then they will die as a body because they have no life, they are not able to generate life in others, in other peoples, they are not apostolic,” the pope said. “If the apostles had stayed put, there in the Cenacle,” where they shared the Last Supper with Jesus and where Jesus appeared to them after his resurrection, “without going forth to preach the Gospel, then the church would only be a church for that people, in that city, in that room. But they all headed out for the world,” he said. The church was born “heading out, meaning it is missionary,” he
said. The church is apostolic because it is founded on the apostles and remains in continuity with them, he said. The pope asked people to give thanks to the Lord for inspiring so many “heroic” missionaries, who “left everything behind in order to proclaim Jesus Christ” to the world. The church has had many missionaries and “still needs many more,” he said, urging young people to follow God’s call and be courageous in bringing the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Being part of a church that is catholic and apostolic means the faithful must “take to heart the salvation of all of humanity, to not be indifferent to or removed from the fate of our brothers and sisters, but rather to be open and in solidarity with them.”
Pope Francis waves as he leaves his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Sept. 17. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
It also means people should always feel “sent off ” on a mission that is “in communion with the successors of the Apostles and to proclaim -- with their heart full of joy -- Christ and his love for all of humanity.”
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
INTERNATIONAL
September 24, 2014
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U.S. Bishops plan to be stronger advocates for Israeli-Palestinian peace following pilgrimage By Catholic News Service
JERUSALEM (CNS) -- American bishops were returning to their dioceses after a nine-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land with a stronger resolve to advocate for peace and to urge the U.S. government to take a leadership role in ushering Israelis and Palestinians toward peace, a member of the delegation said. “Framed by Pope Francis’ encouragement of encounters in Christ with the poor and suffering, (we have encountered) in the Holy Land Palestinians and Israelis who live sometimes with fear, sometimes with hate,” Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico, told Catholic News Service Sept. 18. “In Gaza, we have witnessed the destruction, death and loss of family. We feel an urgent need to bring attention to this,” he said. Representing the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the clerics met with Israeli and Palestinian religious and political leaders, spent time meeting local residents and prayed at holy sites during the pilgrimage that began Sept. 11. Bishop Cantu was among five bishops who also visited Gaza a month after the recent 50-day Gaza war ended. Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger, of Salina, Kansas, who had served as a chaplain in Oklahoma City after the 1995 bombing of a federal building there, said he had never expected to see such destruction and suffering again. He described what he saw in Gaza as “painful to see.” Electrical service remained sporadic and school was suspended while children healed from the
Retired Bishop Michael D. Pfeifer of San Angelo, Texas, plays basketball with children after concelebrating Mass at St. Justin’s Church in the West Bank village of Nablus Sept. 14. Bishop Pfeifer is one of 18 bishops on a nine-day prayer pilgrimage for peace in the Holy Land.(CNS photo/Jen Hardy, CRS
trauma. “All this makes us realize that there is no price too high to pay for peace,” Bishop Weisenburger told CNS. “(We need) the international community to coalesce to help both parties to come together for the sake of justice for both sides who have known suffering. Both sides have the right to have stability and peace.” Just a few short years ago, the bishop noted, he had thought there would never be peace in Northern Ireland, but now peace has come. “Hope makes it possible to envision a new future,” he said.
Bishop Bernard J. Harrington of Winona, Minnesota, said he was struck by the difficult situation in East Jerusalem in terms of building restrictions and lack of freedom of movement for residents. “We met some wonderful Israelis who are truly interested in peace and also some who talk about peace but say there are too many restrictions, namely the issue of security,” he said of some Israeli leaders. At the same time, explained retired Oklahoma City Archbishop Eusebius J. Beltran, both Israeli and Palestinian leadership has failed their people, with Palestin-
ians lacking “sincere leadership” while Israeli leaders have become increasingly more aggressive. Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, New York, noted the intensity of the experience, and admitted that he was returning home with a greater sense of the situation’s complexity because of its parallel narratives. “I am going to have a lot more learning and thinking and praying to do,” he said. “People on both sides need to open their ears to the other side, especially the ears of their hearts.” While calling for the removal of
the Israeli separation barrier, which he said serves only as a sign of exclusion, retired Bishop Michael D. Pfeifer of San Angelo, Texas, said the warm relations shared by Christian and Muslim students in Catholic schools was inspiring. He suggested their cooperation could serve as a model for further grassroots encounters between Israelis and Palestinians. “I think promoting (encounters) like this could promote change on the grass-roots level while we do work on the higher levels within the USCCB,” he said. “I think youth can bring about change.”
Causes of Canadian nun and Indian ‘apostle of Sri Lanka’ advanced By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis advanced the sainthood causes of four men and women, including Marie-Elisabeth Turgeon, the Canadian founder of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. The pope also accelerated the sainthood process of Blessed Joseph Vaz, an Indian missionary credited with reviving almost single-handedly the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka during severe persecution by Dutch colonial authorities in the 17th century. During a meeting Sept. 17 with
Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, the pope signed a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Sister Maria Cristina Brando. The 19th-century Italian religious left her wealthy family to devote her life to eucharistic spirituality and to found the Congregation of the Sisters, Expiatory Victims of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Pope Francis also recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Turgeon, who was born in Beaumont, Quebec, in 1840, and died in Rimouski, Quebec, in 1881. In another decree, the pope recognized a miracle attributed to the
intercession of Italian Archbishop Pio Alberto del Corona, a Dominican and founder of the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of the Holy Spirit. He was born in 1837 and died in Florence in 1912. The miracles attributed to the intercessions of Turgeon and Archbishop del Corona clear the way for their beatifications. Pope Francis moved the sainthood process forward without formally recognizing a miracle needed for the canonization of Blessed Vaz, a 17th-century Oratorian missionary from Goa, India, known as the “apostle of Sri Lanka.” The dates for the canonizations of Blesseds Vaz and Brando were
to be announced during a yet-unscheduled ordinary consistory. St. John Paul II beatified Blessed Vaz during his first trip to Sri Lanka in January 1995. Pope Francis was scheduled to visit Sri Lanka, together with India, 20 years later, this January. Blessed Vaz, born in India in 1651, entered Sri Lanka in 1687 disguised as a poor laborer in order to minister to the underground church. At the time, the Dutch had taken control of Sri Lanka’s coastal areas from the Portuguese. Fearing the island’s Catholics might remain loyal to the Portuguese, the Dutch made Catholicism illegal, banished
Catholic priests and confiscated Catholic churches and schools. Aided by lay leaders, Blessed Vaz often went barefoot, with a rosary round his neck, ministering to and organizing Catholics throughout the island where the church had had no priests for over three decades. He was the lone Catholic pastor of Sri Lanka until other priests joined him in 1697 at his request. Surviving two years in prison for being a suspected Portuguese spy, Blessed Vaz was then given permission to work as a missionary in the Sinhalese kingdom of Kandy until his death in 1711.
18 September 24, 2014
COMMENTARY
WORD to LIFE September 28
TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Ezekiel 18:25-28; Psalm 25:4-5, 8-10, 14; Gospel: Matthew 21:28-32
Philippians 2:1-11
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
FOR FAITH-SHARING GROUPS
October 5
TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:9, 12-16, 19-20; Philippians 4:6-9; Gospel: Matthew 21:33-43 By Catholic News Service
By Catholic News Service I learned a great life lesson in a defensive driving class a number of years ago. The instructor had us each introduce ourselves and say what brought us to the class -- why we got a ticket. At the end of the introductions she commented that many said it was not fair that they were ticketed. She went on to say that whenever her children complained that life was not fair she would have them read their birth certificate -- every word of it. Then she would ask them: “Does the word ‘fair’ appear anywhere on that piece of paper?” Of course it does not. Fairness aside, the fact is we would prefer mercy. Yes, my classmates and I really wished the police officer had had mercy on us, but instead we were facing the consequences of our actions. This same scenario plays out in our relationship with God. We can see it clearly in this week’s readings. In the passage from Ezekiel, the people complain that God is not fair. God replies by saying, basically, that it is not his fault that we suffer when we sin; try not sinning and see how things turn out. A perfect follow-up to this comes in the psalmist’s response, “Remember your mercies, O Lord.” I don’t know about you, but when I sin I usually say to God, “OK, I just messed up, but remember how merciful you are?” St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is a beautiful expression of the personification of the mercy of God: God emptying himself and taking the form of a human so that we all might be saved in the name of Jesus. Mercy is a hard thing for many of us to accept. We like to “do it on our own” and
“pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.” But when it comes to eternal life and forgiveness of sins, there are no bootstraps strong enough to pull us up. Instead, all we need to do is get to our knees and confess that Jesus Christ is our Lord. Then everything that, in fairness, we have coming to us is washed away in a flood of mercy.
Questions: How have you experienced the mercy of God? Have you ever felt that life was not fair? How did you face that?
“REMEMBER YOUR MERCIES, O LORD.” -- PSALM 25:6
On my back patio I have several pots of herbs that I use for cooking. While I’m pretty good at keeping them alive in spring and fall, the intense heat waves of summer and cold snaps of winter tend to wipe them out, forcing me to plant them anew each spring. One of my favorite herbs is cilantro, so last spring I prepared a shallow clay pot with good soil, a generous sprinkling of seed and plant food, and I waited ... and waited ... for the outcome. Imagine my surprise when I discovered a miniscule cilantro seedling inundated by last year’s moss roses. Although I had to start over and reseed, I now have two crops: a blooming moss rose and a thriving cilantro plant. This week’s first reading and the Gospel begin in similar fashion: a vintner with the dream of a thriving, productive vineyard and a caretaker of the vine who seemingly does everything right but for whom things go terribly wrong. In the first case, “the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,” who repeatedly disappoint the One who planted them. The expected yield of justice is supplanted by a bitter crop of violence and bloodshed. In the second case, the outcome is even worse. Not only do the tenants withhold the expected vintage, but they also assault the owner’s servants and murder his son for their own gain. One gets the sense that the prophet Isaiah’s warning is still falling on deaf ears, and Jesus’ version of the parable unmistakably carries the pointed message that “enough is enough.” Time for an alternate plan of mercy -- the restoration of the Lord’s vineyard. We who are grafted onto the vineyard
of Israel are the Lord’s servants, and we have been given that same vineyard to tend with the expectation of fruitfulness. We have been “chosen from the world,” a privilege that also carries a high probability of discouragement. Yet St. Paul tells us to “have no anxiety at all” but to persevere by Christ’s example. God’s plan for his people Israel may be deferred but not thwarted entirely. He mercifully restores life to his vineyard, where both the ancient stock and the new growth will thrive and bear fruit together.
Questions: Have you had an experience of doing everything right but getting an unexpectedly bad result? How can you persevere in peace and good works despite suffering and discouragement?
“HE LOOKED FOR JUDGMENT, BUT SEE, BLOODSHED! FOR JUSTICE, BUT HARK, THE OUTCRY!” -- ISAIAH 5:7B
THE OND IS NOW ONLINE!! - ARCHIVED EDITIONS -
Vol. 68, No. 14 (September 10, 2014) can be viewed here: www.crookston.org/ond/
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE
COMMENTARY
PRAYER CALENDAR OCT 1 - ST. THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS: VIRGIN, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH Fr. James Bernauer (retired) OCT 2 - THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS Fr. Don Braukmann OCT 3 - WEEKDAY Fr. Luis Buitron OCT 4 - ST. FRANCIS OF ASISI: RELIGIOUS Fr. Tim Bushy OCT 5 27TH SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME Fr. John Cox, OMI OCT 6 - ST. BRUNO: PRIEST; BL. MARIE ROSE DUROCHER: VIRGIN Fr. Bill DeCrans OCT 7 - OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY Fr. Joe DeCrans
OCT 8 - WEEKDAY
Fr. Antony Fernando OCT 9 - SAINT DENIS: BISHOP, MARTYR, AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS; ST. JOHN LEONARDI: PRIEST Msgr. Mike Foltz OCT 10 - WEEKDAY Fr. Tom Friedl OCT 11 - BLESSED VIRGIN MARY Fr. Augie Gothman OCT 12 28TH SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME Msgr. Roger Grundhaus (retired) OCT 13 - WEEKDAY Fr. Adam Hamness OCT 14 ST. CALLISTUS I: POPE, MARTYR Fr. Chuck Huck OCT 15 - ST. TERESA OF JESUS: VIRGIN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH Fr. Xavier Ilango
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OCTOBER 2014
OCT 16 SAINT HEDWIG: RELIGIOUS; SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE: VIRGIN Fr. Joe Kieselbach (retired) OCT 17 - ST. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH: BISHOP, MARTYR Fr. John Kleinwachter OCT 18 - ST. LUKE: EVANGELIST Msgr. Donald Krebs (retired) OCT 19 29TH SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME Fr. Frank Kulhawik (retired) OCT 20 - ST. PAUL OF THE CROSS: PRIEST Fr. Rick Lambert OCT 21 - WEEKDAY Fr. Gary LaMoine OCT 22 - ST. JOHN PAUL II: POPE Fr. Bob LaPlante
OCT 23 - ST. JOHN OF CAPISTRANO: PRIEST Msgr. Tim McGee
OCT 31 - WEEKDAY Fr. Mario Prada (retired)
OCT 24 - ST. ANTHONY MARY CLARET: BISHOP Msgr. William Mehrkens (retired) OCT 25 - BLESSED VIRGIN MARY Father Vincent Miller OCT 26 30TH SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME Fr. George Noel OCT 27 - WEEKDAY Msgr. Jerry Noesen (retired) OCT 28 - STS. SIMON AND JUDE: APOSTLES Fr. Ray Palcisko (retired) OCT 29 - WEEKDAY Msgr. Mike Patnode OCT 30 - WEEKDAY Fr. Raul Perez-Cobo
PLEASE
pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life
VOCATION PRAYER OF POPE JOHN PAUL II: Lord Jesus, as you once called the first disciples to make them fishers of men, let
your sweet invitation continue to resound: Come follow me! Give young men and women the grace of responding quickly to your voice. Support our bishops, priests, and consecrated people in their apostolic labor. Grant perseverance to our seminarians and to all those who are carrying out the ideal of a life totally consecrated to your service. Awaken in our community a missionary eagerness. Lord, send workers to your harvest and do not allow humanity to be lost for the lack of pastors, missionaries, and people dedicated to the cause of the Gospel. Mary, Mother of the Church, the model of every vocation, help us to say “yes” to the Lord who calls us to cooperate in the divine plan of salvation. Amen.
DAILY SCRIPTURE
OCTOBER 2014
OCT 1 - Jb 9:1-12, 14-16; Ps 88:10-15; Lk 9:57-62 OCT 2 - Jb 19:21-27; Ps 27:7-9c, 13-14; Mt 18:1-5, 10 OCT 3 - Jb 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5; Ps 139:1-3, 7-10, 1314b; Lk 10:13-16 OCT 4 - Jb 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17; Ps 119:66, 71, 75, 91, 125, 130; Lk 10:17-24 OCT 5 - Is 5:1-7; Ps 80:9, 12-16, 19-20; Phil 4:6-9; Mt 21:33-43 OCT 6 - Gal 1:6-12; Ps 111:1b-2, 7-9, 10c; Lk 10:25-37 OCT 7 - Gal 1:13-24; Ps 139:1b-3, 13-15; Lk 10:38-42 OCT 8 - Gal 2:1-2, 7-14; Ps 117:1bc,2; Lk 11:1-4 OCT 9 - Gal 3:1-5; (Ps) Lk 1:69-75; Lk 11:5-13 OCT 10 - Gal 3:7-14; Ps 111:1b-6; Lk 11:15-26 OCT 11 - Gal 3:22-29; Ps 105:2-7; Lk 11:27-28 OCT 12 - Is 25:6-10a; Ps 23:1-6; Phil 4:12-14, 19-20; Mt 22:1-14 or 22:1-10 OCT 13 - Gal: 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1; Ps 113:1b-5a, 6-7; Lk 11:29-32 OCT 14 - Gal 5:1-6; Ps 119:41, 43-45, 47-48; Lk 11:3741 OCT 15 - Gal 5:18-25; Ps 1:1-4, 6; Lk 11:42-46
OCT 16 - Eph 1:1-10; Ps 98:1-6; Lk 11:47-54 OCT 17 - Eph 1:11-14; Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 12-13; Lk 12:1-7 OCT 18 - 2 Tm 4:10-17b; Ps 145:10-13, 17-18; Lk 10:1-9 OCT 19 - Is 45:1, 4-6; Ps 96:1, 3-5, 7-10; 1 Thes 1:1-5b; Mt 22:15-21 OCT 20 - Eph 2:1-10; Ps 100:1b-5; Lk 12:13-21 OCT 21 - Eph 2:12-22; Ps 85:9-14; Lk 12:35-38 OCT 22 - Eph 3:2-12; (Ps) Is 12:2-3, 4c-6; Lk 12:39-48 OCT 23 - Eph 3:14-21; Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 11-12, 18-19; Lk 12:49-53 OCT 24 - Eph 4:1-6; Ps 24:1-4b, 5-6; Lk 12:54-59 OCT 25 - Eph 4:7-16; Ps 122:1-5; Lk 13:1-9 OCT 26 - Ex 22:20-26; Ps 18:2-4, 47, 51; 1 Thes 1:5c10; Mt 22:34-40 OCT 27 - Eph 4:32-5:8; Ps 1:1-4, 6; Lk 13:10-17 OCT 28 - Eph 2:19-22; Ps 19:2-5; Lk 6:12-16 OCT 29 - Eph 6:1-9; Ps 145:10-14; Lk 13:22-30 OCT 30 - Eph 6:10-20; Ps 144:1b, 2, 9-10; Lk 13:31-35 OCT 31 - Phil 1:1-11; Ps 111:1-6; Lk 14:1-6
20 September 24, 2014
DIOCESAN
OUR NORTHLAND DIOCESE