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Pentecost May 31
May 2020
Official Newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester, MN | dowr.org
Mother of the Church
Bishop Quinn Livestreams Consecration Imploring Mary's Care During Pandemic WINONA - As the world continues to face the crisis brought about by the global coronavirus pandemic, the bishops of the United States and Canada have joined to collectively implore the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary by renewing a consecration of the two nations to her maternal care under her title Mary, Mother of the Church. The act of consecration took place Friday, May 1, 2020, and followed a similar action of the bishops’ conference of Latin America and the Caribbean. "The consecration is a reminder of the Blessed Mother’s willingness to accept God’s plan, enabling her to become the vessel through which he might heal and restore humanity," said Diocese of Winona-Rochester Communications Director Matt Willkom. Bishop John M. Quinn of the Diocese of WinonaRochester said, “The renewal of this consecration acknowledges our relationship as spiritual children of Mary, who always points to her son Jesus as the answer to every human question. This consecration is particularly meaningful for our local Church, as the Diocese of Winona-Rochester has always recognized the special patronage of Mary, whose symbolism is present on our diocesan coat of arms. I pray that Mary, Mother of the Church, with her loving child, might bestow a blessing of hope and comfort to all those struggling with the effects of COVID-19.” Bishop Quinn participated in the May 1 consecration with a private liturgy at 2:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Winona. The consecration was livestreamed on the diocesan YouTube channel and Facebook page to allow the faithful to join from afar. The
Local Catholics Open COVID-19 Prayer Line By SUSAN WINDLEY-DAOUST
video included 25 minutes of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. A worship aid in English and Spanish was made available at dowr.org. In his homily, Bishop Quinn recalled an experience he'd had as a young priest, during which he'd witnessed a mother holding her dying child for the last time. He later said of the Blessed Virgin, "Like that mother in the hospital room, she looks lovingly upon us, caresses us, holds us in her arms, especially through this time of the COVID-19 virus. We're not alone. We're not orphans. Mary is our mother, and she always intercedes for us. And she will today, as we consecrate our Catholic life and our Catholic parishes to her. We ask that she remember she is our mother. And, most of all, we remember that she is our mother and she intercedes for us with her son."
WINONA - People across Southern Minnesota are suffering in multiple ways that would have been hard to imagine a month ago. In response to the physical, mental, economic and spiritual suffering brought by the COVID-19 crisis, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester has created a prayer support initiative called Southern Minnesota COVID-19 Prayer Response. Catholics across southern Minnesota deeply involved in pastoral prayer ministry are engaging and supporting this prayer initiative by making themselves available to listen and pray with people via phone. People of any or no religious faith who want prayer are welcome to go to the website (www.SouthernMnPrayerSupport. com) and make a request for a “prayer call.” A prayer partner will contact you at your requested time of day within 24 hours, and pray with you and for you. Most phone prayer sessions last around 10 minutes, and all that is required is a desire for prayer. Requests can be largely anonymous, by first name only. If you prefer, you are welcome to contact any Catholic parish as well with prayer requests. Let us help each other by bearing each other’s burdens and bringing them to our loving God. Susan Windley-Daoust is the director of missionary discipleship for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.
INSIDE this issue
...Living With Hope
Offertory Gifts Are Needed... page 5
page 10
Sacraments in Extreme Situations page 12
The Courier Insider
2
Minnesota Catholic Conference Signs onto Three Letters Requesting Action from Governor Submitted by MINNESOTA CATHOLIC CONFERENCE
ST. PAUL, April 23, 2020 - State legislators continue to meet in St. Paul with some inside the Capitol and other connecting remotely from around the capitol city to social distance as they address COVID-19 challenges and pass "must-do" legislation. Among other things, they allowed for electronic marriage licensing filings; passed COVID-19 testing coverage for the uninsured (including undocumented persons); created greater flexibility in farmer-lender mediation practices; and mandated better practices to ensure the accessibility and affordability of insulin for diabetes patients. Minnesota Catholic Conference joined with other advocacy partners this week to encourage Governor Tim Walz to: 1. Prevent private debt collectors from garnishing federal paycheck protection act funds distributed to citizens (except in the case of child support)
2. Take measures to protect prisoners and workers in Minnesota's prisons and jails (as Pope Francis has done) from COVID-19 infection
3. Distribute an equitable share of the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund ($43 million) allotted to him by the federal government in the CARES Act to nonpublic school students, which is around $45 per student.
During the declared peacetime emergency, the governor has expanded powers to circumvent rules that normally apply to a whole host of issues and to implement an
emergency plan. The stay-at-home order Gov. Walz has issued, which currently lasts until May 4 (though could be extended) [note: since this article was submitted, the order has been extended to May 18], is part of his emergency powers. His powers are outlined in chapter 12 of the Minnesota statutes. Hence our request for him to take direct action. More information about state protocols for addressing a state public health emergency can be found in this resource put out by the legislature. Gov. Walz has extended the peacetime emergency until May 13. House Republicans have called on him to end the emergency order. The legislature can end the governor's emergency powers if both houses agree that the need for the order has ceased. The full text of the letter requesting the prevention from garnishment of federal paycheck protection act funds can be viewed online at:
mncatholic.org/coalition-asks-governorwalz-to-make-an-executive-order-prohibiting-the-garnishment-of-the-federal-stimuluspayments-provided-under-the-cares-act/ The full text of the letter requesting measures to protect prisoners and prison workers can be viewed online at: mncatholic.org/coalition-asks-governorwalz--to-use-emergency-executive-authorityto-protect-those-in-prison-during-covid-19/
The full text of the letter requesting equitable distribution of the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund to nonpublic school students can be viewed online at: mncatholic.org/non-public-school-advocatesask-governor-walz-for-governors-emergencyeducation-relief-funds-to-support-nonpublic-school-needs/
The Courier is the official publication of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester 55 West Sanborn, P.O. Box 588, Winona, MN 55987 Vol 111 - 5
Most Reverend John M. Quinn, Publisher Matt Willkom, Editor Nick Reller, Associate Editor Telephone: 507-858-1257 Fax:507-454-8106 E-mail: nreller@dowr.org Publishing Schedule: Monthly - Deadline for advertising & articles is the 10th of the month prior. (ISSN 0744-5490) May 2020 w The Courier w dowr.org
Articles of Interest
The Difficult Grace of the Present Moment____4 ...Living with Hope__________________________5 Tools for Building a Domestic Church______6 Learning Continues..._______________________7 St. Joseph, Pray for Us!__________________8 Prayer During Quarantine_________________9 Offertory Gifts Are Needed_______________10 ...Guardian & Conservator Program?_________11 Sacraments in Extreme Situations_________12 COVID-19 and Equality of Care____________13 Diocesan Headlines_______________________14
The Holy Father's Intention for
May 2020
For Deacons We pray that deacons, faithful in their service to the Word and the poor, may be an invigorating symbol for the entire Church. Officials The Most Rev. John M. Quinn, Bishop of the Diocese of WinonaRochester, announces the following appointments: Vicar General Rev. William Thompson: currently Pastor of Pax Christi Parish in Rochester and Ss. Peter and Paul Parish in Mazeppa, and Moderator of the Curia of the Diocese of WinonaRochester; in addition to his current assignments, appointed Vicar General of the Diocese of WinonaRochester, effective March 20, 2020. Parish Administrator Deacon John Hust: appointed Parish Administrator of St. Felix Parish in Wabasha and St. Agnes Parish in Kellogg, effective April 9, 2020.
Corrections The article "Walking Toward the New Evangelization," which appeared on page 4 of our April 2020 issue, was written by Fr. Miguel Proaños, the parochial vicar at St. Mary Church in Worthington. It was not written by Susan Windley-Daoust, the director of missionary discipleship for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.
Where to Find the Courier Note: During the suspension of public Masses as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus, the Courier will only be published online (option 2). •
Hard copies of the Courier are available in the churches of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester at the first weekend Masses of each month.
•
An online version may be viewed at www.dowr.org /offices/ courier/index.html
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To be added to the home delivery list, readers should send their names and addresses to:
Residence Rev. Gregory Parrott: assigned to live in residence at the rectory of St. Mary Parish in Winona, effective March 27, 2020.
Child Abuse Policy Information
The Diocese of Winona-Rochester will provide a prompt, appropriate and compassionate response to reporters of sexual abuse of a child by any diocesan agent (employees, volunteers, vendors, religious or clergy). Anyone wishing to make a report of an allegation of sexual abuse should call the Victim Assistance Coordinator at 507454-2270, Extension 255. A caller will be asked to provide his or her name and telephone number. Individuals are also encouraged to take their reports directly to civil authorities. The Diocese of Winona-Rochester is committed to protecting children, young people and other vulnerable people in our schools, parishes and ministries. The diocesan policy is available on the diocesan web site at www.dow. org under the Safe Environment Program. If you have any questions about the Diocese of Winona-Rochester’s implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, please contact Mary Hamann at 507-858-1244, or mhamann@dowr.org.
Diocese of Winona-Rochester The Courier 55 W Sanborn St. Winona, MN 55987 or nreller@dowr.org
God Is in Control ear Friends in Christ, Easter Hope
Jesus Christ is Risen; alleluia, alleluia! I greet you with the joy and certainty that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has triumphed over sin and death through His Passion, Death, and glorious Resurrection. Our world is yearning for hope as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect our lives in profound ways. We are all wondering when we will be able to resume our normal lives of work, school, social gatherings, and worship. Here in Minnesota, the bishops of the state are meeting weekly to assess the current recommendations of the government and public health officials, and the particular circumstances in each of our dioceses. In the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, we have seen a large outbreak of COVID-19 cases in Worthington, and other places across southern Minnesota have also been impacted by large numbers of people contracting the virus. At this time, we do not know exactly when we will be able to resume public Masses. What we do know is that
Continued Faith
Rejoice in Hope Bishop John M. Quinn Bishop's Calendar
As we journey on in these unusual days in our world and Church, where gatherings of people are limited in size and we yearn for the day when we are able to once again join together for the celebration of the Eucharist, I am grateful for your continued faithfulness. Many are taking advantage of the abundance of spiritual resources offered online, through parishes, on the television and radio, and printed resources. I know many of our priests have been recording their private Masses from their parishes, and all the Holy Week Liturgies which I celebrated at the Cathedral were live-streamed online, and were viewed by over 85,500 people, including over 25,200 for the Good Friday Passion of Our Lord and 18,800 and 13,800 for the Holy Thursday and Easter
You can access the Liturgies at the Diocese of Winona-Rochester Weekly Mass webpage, www.dowr.org /about/weekly-mass.html, where the links for viewing the live-stream will be posted for Facebook and YouTube. May 4, Monday 3 p.m. - Sacred Heart Major Seminary Board of Trustees Meeting - Zoom Conference May 5, Tuesday 11 a.m. - Holy Hour & Deans Meeting -Zoom Conference 3 p.m. - Clergy Personnel Committee Meeting Conference Call May 7, Thursday 1 p.m. - Holy Hour & Bishop's Cabinet Meeting 4 p.m. - Weekly Zoom Conference with Minnesota Bishops
Vigil Liturgies, respectively. In addition, I recorded the Stations of the Cross, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and Scripture reflections, all of which can be found by going to our diocesan website, dowr.org, navigating to the COVID-19 page advertised at the top, and clicking on “spiritual resources.” Although these are obviously not the same as worshipping together in person, they are a way to stay connected to the Lord and each other during this time of social distancing. Our prayer may look different right now, but our Triune God continues to pour out His grace upon us, and the Church continues with her mission of salvation of souls and proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. Additionally, every Sunday at 11:00 a.m. I will celebrate a livestreamed Mass at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, until I can resume my regular schedule of visiting parishes on weekends. Seminarians
One aspect of our Church that continues while adapting to our new circumstances, is the formation of our seminarians. In March, when colleges were sending students home to continue classes online, Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary also made the decision to switch to long-distance formation while seminarians returned to their respective dioceses. Here in the Diocese of WinonaRochester, all our seminarians are now living in rectories, where they are able to continue their lives of prayer and formation while completing this semester’s academic classes online. Our Vocations Director, Fr. Jason Kern, is in frequent communication with our seminarians as they adjust to this new reality of formation. I ask that you keep our seminarians in your prayers, as they continue with formation, spiritual direction, and academics in these less-than-ideal circumstances. Jesus Christ is faithful and continues to call men to serve Him at the altar in all times and places, and He will continue to pour out His grace on those who say “yes” to His call. Blessed are all of you!
A Time of Grace There are many challenges in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lives have been turned upside down by businesses temporarily closing, workers being furloughed, children from preschool through college learning from home, loved ones facing illness, and normal activities cancelled. Furthermore, there is the issue of loneliness for those experiencing long days at home alone, while others are struggling with families being together 24/7. However, despite the struggles we are facing, and our impatience to get back to normal, there are also hidden and unexpected blessings to be found in these days as well. Our Church teaches that the family unit of a man and woman united in marriage, along with their children, comprises the “domestic church,” the first place where children come to know the love of our Triune God, and are taught to love God and others. Unfortunately, our Western culture has become so busy and distracted, that families rarely spend time with each other. Now, with many parents out of work, children engaging in distance learning, and all people advised to stay home except for essential business, many families are having the opportunity to spend time with each other and strengthen the bonds between husband and wife, parents and children, and between siblings. Being at home creates space where family members can more easily engage in activities they normally do not have time for, such as taking walks around the neighborhood, playing board games, cooking together, and rediscovering the joy of reading and leisurely conversation. Furthermore, with the suspension of public worship at church, parents have been forced to be more deliberate in fostering family prayer. This may take the form of watching and praying along with live-streamed Sunday morning Mass, praying the rosary after dinner, reading and discussing the daily Mass readings, praying before meals, praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for the dying, reading about the lives of the saints before bedtime, visiting a church to pray in the presence
May 8, Friday 11 a.m. - Baccalaureate Mass - Live-streamed from Pax Christi Church, Rochester 3:30 p.m. - COVID-19 Diocesan Task Force Meeting
May 17, Sunday 11 a.m. - Mass - Sixth Sunday of Easter - Livestreamed from the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Winona
May 10, Sunday 11 a.m. - Mass - Fifth Sunday of Easter - Livestreamed from the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Winona
May 18, Monday 12 p.m. - Higher Education Working Group Conference Call
May 12, Tuesday 11 a.m. - Presbyteral Council Meeting Conference Call May 13, Wednesday 5:10 p.m. - Real Presence Catholic Radio Guest May 14, Thursday 4 p.m. - Weekly Zoom Conference with Minnesota Bishops May 15, Friday 10 a.m. - COVID-19 Diocesan Task Force Meeting
May 20, Wednesday 10:31 a.m. - Real Presence Catholic Radio Guest 11 a.m. - Holy Hour and DOW-R Finance Council Meeting May 21, Thursday 1 p.m. - Holy Hour and Bishop’s Cabinet Meeting 4 p.m. - Weekly Zoom Conference with Minnesota Bishops May 22, Friday 10 a.m. - COVID-19 Diocesan Task Force Meeting 6 p.m. - Cotter Catholic High School Commencement Program, Winona
of the Blessed Sacrament, or scheduling a time for the entire family to go to Confession. Parents are the first teachers of their children, including in matters of faith, and so now that there is no faith formation classes or Sunday Mass, mothers and fathers have the opportunity to embrace their role of being the primary teachers of their children in the faith. Thank You to Our Priests
3 From the Bishop
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the process for resuming normal worship will come in phases, with parishes following set protocols to ensure proper social distancing and sanitization requirements. Because of this and other factors, not every parish may be ready to resume Masses on the same date, depending on their individual circumstances. However, we will be working with pastors to help them figure out how they can gradually bring people back to church for Mass, while doing our best to keep everyone healthy. Thank you for your patience and, most of all, for your prayers. We must never underestimate the power of our prayers and the truth that God is in control even in the midst of the chaos. The Resurrection is a beautiful reminder of this. After the Crucifixion, Jesus’ disciples could not understand how the Messiah could die a cruel death and lie buried in the grave. But it was only after the Resurrection, and especially after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, that the disciples understood how the tragedy of the Crucifixion resulted in our redemption and salvation. Christ is always victorious, and the truth is that our Triune God brings good out of evil and suffering in the most mysterious and unimaginable ways.
Lastly, I want to express my gratitude to our priests, for the many ways they have continued to minister to people during this unprecedented time. Although parish life has changed, and priests have been unable to celebrate Masses publicly for their parishioners, many have found creative ways to offer the Sacraments of Penance and Anointing of the Sick, and taped or live-streamed Masses. I know pastors have also kept in touch with parishioners through a variety of methods including social media and phone calls, opened their churches for prayer, counseled and prayed with those who are struggling, and conducted funerals and burials amidst the many restrictions on social gatherings. Despite the challenges resulting from this pandemic, I am edified at how our priests have followed the Lord’s example of being a good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Please remember to thank our priests for their ministry during these difficult times, and hold them up in prayer as they continue to bring God’s grace to their flock in these less-than-ideal-circumstances. Sincerely in Christ,
Most Rev. John M. Quinn Bishop of Winona-Rochester
May 24, Sunday 11 a.m. - Mass - The Ascension of the Lord - Live-streamed from the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Winona June 1, Monday 12 p.m. - Higher Education Working Group Conference Call June 2, Tuesday 11 a.m. - Holy Hour and Priest Pension Plan Board Meeting June 3, Wednesday 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. - Minnesota Catholic Conference Meeting - St. Paul June 4, Thursday 1 p.m. - Holy Hour and Bishop’s Cabinet Meeting May 2020 w The Courier w dowr.org
Missionary Discipleship
4
The Difficult Grace
of the Present Moment
� few days into the COVID-19 stay-athome order, I ran into an old friend in
front of a grocery store. Waiting for it to open, I asked how he was doing. He spoke slowly: I don’t know. I got my diabetes, you know — high risk, so I’m staying home all the time. The free community meals aren’t going this week, and I guess I can manage a bit for food, but…I don’t know. I miss everyone. All this being alone, waiting to get sick. It’s horrible. I think I’d rather die than live like this.
I invited him to our house, but we’re not 100% safe. I invited him to call us whenever he wanted. But in the end, struggling myself, I didn’t know what to say. This dancing, invisible, deadly illness has caught me flatfooted. How do we live like this? How do we live in a period when most people do not have access to the lifeblood of grace, the sacraments instituted by Christ himself? When we have a current reality so terribly difficult, and we cannot receive the Eucharist without endangering the wider public, what can we do? Then I remembered another old friend: Fr. Jean Pierre De Caussade (1675–1751). De Caussade’s only spiritual work, usually titled Abandonment to Divine Providence, holds a key insight for us in this strange time. And that is that God’s will is to be found in this very moment: this present particularity holds not only God’s presence, but also God’s will, for our lives. We have to be careful, because de Caussade does not argue that this pandemic was sent to us as the direct will of God. As we know, illness and death were not created by God, but entered the world through the fissure created by original sin. He allows that foretold consequence of the original sin to stand, and that is the tragedy and grief of this fallen existence. But this same existence has also been redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The finality of death has been conquered by the cross, its wood shaping for us a new door to life with the Father. This pandemic, and all the physical, economic, mental, and spiritual suffering that surrounds us in it, is part of what God grieves yet allows in the present moment. This is painful, potent teaching. But de Caussade brings in the good news: the present moment of pandemic life is where we encounter the full grace of God. In fact, it is the only place where we encounter the full grace of God. The present moment is the only time we can yield our will to God’s will. Why is this so important? God is beyond all time and space, and certainly not bound to the present moment. Yet in a certain way, we are. We are creatures, loved into infinity. But we experience God in the now, the present, because we are bodied creatures that
May 2020 w The Courier w dowr.org
live in time. Even in that glimpse into eternity that is the Mass — we stand, sit, kneel, anchored in one time and place by God’s gracious will. We can only actively yield to God’s grace where we are. We need to remember our opportunity to conform our will to God’s will in the present moment, because when the present is difficult, it is far too easy to indulge in escape. Fr. Stephen Rossetti (When the Lion Roars: A Primer for the Unsuspecting Mystic) notes that psychologically, most of us live in the past — taking pleasure in it, ruminating on it, licking its wounds like a cat — or we flip to living in the future, dreaming of an easier life, an accomplishment, embellished hopes. Both moves can be motivated by escapism and control. While it is fine to understand the past and hope for the future, we must spend most of our time living where we are, in the present. And if we do not attend to what God has allowed to be present in our lives — we miss the grace of God that comes with discerning his presence in darkness, and yielding to his will in hard places. Escaping the present is very tempting. I’ve spent too many hours wishing it was a month ago, and dreaming about a familiar future. But escaping the present can spiritually kill us. How do we embrace the sacrament of this present moment, without the sacraments? De Caussade gives us hints, as does the story of salvation itself. We have to embrace the reality of the new daily. That may be frightening, but God is there to help us stand before it. If living in a reality that underlines we each can die this week — or inadvertently do something this week that results in another’s death — doesn’t lead us to turn to the Lord, I don’t know what will. Let’s stop pretending that putting everything online will make everything business as usual. For most of us, the current reality crushes the assumed security of our lives. However, the present moment for most of us is not facing death through COVID-19. It is worry about being laid off, and no one hiring. It is anxiety about caring for children, and often teaching them, while you are somehow working full-time. It is not being able to visit family. It is postponing your wedding. It is living in close quarters in high stress. It is live-streaming a friend’s funeral. It is not being able to
Susan Windley-Daoust
Director of Missionary Discipleship swindley@dowr.org
leave a threatening situation. It’s about not going to college next year and working for your family instead. It’s about not being able to go anywhere, and porn is waiting for you two clicks away. It is about overwhelming loneliness in a world where no one calls, and words on a screen are cheap. God, help us all. But here is the good news, according to de Caussade: The Lord of Life is right here, in that, and offers you himself. He is greater than all these horrid realities. Our salvation story lies in responding to Christ in this global and personal crisis. If you allow yourself to be present to these realities — addressing what you can, and standing firmly before what you cannot — you yield to the will of God in the present moment, and the only One who can bring good out of this evil. The greatest teacher, as always, is Jesus Christ. Hours before his death, at the last supper, Jesus looks at the twelve and says “You will all become deserters,” (Mark 14:27, NRSV) or as some translations have it, “run away.” Peter retorts that of course he would not desert him. And we know how that ends. This spring, we are directly in front of an arrest from our known reality, and a kind of crucifixion. Let’s take the Lord and his servant, Fr. Jean Pierre, as spiritual guides and not spiritually run away from it. This is what I would tell my friend who doesn’t know how to live like this: The Lord is pouring out the grace we need if we accept God has a plan for us right here, staying still and giving ourselves to the Lord in this present moment. The resurrection tells us that suffering is not the last word. If we surrender to the invisible grace of the present moment, and open our hands and souls to receive, it may just become the Easter season of our lives.
The 'Great Silence of Holy Saturday,' and
Todd Graff
Director of Lay Formation & RCIA tgraff@dowr.org
The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life. -Pope Benedict, Spe Salvi, #3
�reetings of Joy, and Blessings in these Easter days! We are now in the Easter season, these great and
joy-filled days when we celebrate anew the triumph of our Crucified and Risen Lord over sin, despair, and death. And, yet, it is a very different Easter season this year with many of us working and studying at home, not venturing out to be with co-workers, friends, or extended family members, and not enjoying the social activities that bring our communities together. And, many of our sisters and brothers are living in isolation in their homes and apartments, in nursing homes and health care facilities, and in prisons. Some of our health care workers are isolating themselves from their families to keep them safe. For so many, these are very painful and difficult times. At the Easter Vigil he celebrated in a nearly empty St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis invited us to ponder again the hope of the Resurrection even amidst the harsh circumstances so many are facing in our world. As he began his homily, he compared our time to the experience of Holy Saturday, the often "neglected" day of the Easter Triduum as we “eagerly await the passage from Friday’s cross to Easter Sunday’s Alleluia.” And, he reflects on the experience of the women in the scriptures who had accompanied Jesus during his ministry and during his Passion and Death: They, like us, had before their eyes the drama of suffering, of an unexpected tragedy that happened all too suddenly. They had seen death and it weighed on their hearts. Pain was mixed with fear: would they suffer the same fate as the Master? Then too there was fear about the future and all that would need to be rebuilt. A painful memory, a hope cut short. For them, as for us, it was the darkest hour.
We, like these faithful and fearful women, are experiencing “the great silence of Holy Saturday”. The Women at the Tomb
As he continues his reflection on the women, Pope Francis then notes that they did not allow the darkness of the moment and the fears they were experiencing to "paralyze" them. They did not “close in on themselves, or flee from reality.” They chose, rather, to trust and to keep on loving, and, “in the darkness of their hearts, they lit a flame of mercy.”
They continued about their task of preparing the spices to anoint Jesus’ body, not knowing that the dawn of the day to come, “the first day of the week,” would be the day that would change their lives and change history forever. Those among us offering “small gestures of care, affection, and prayer” in our own dark days are doing what these women did – “by prayer and love … sowing seeds of hope!” At dawn, the women set out on their task. And there, at Jesus’ tomb, they found not their dead Master, but encountered their Risen Lord. He greets them simply, “Do not be afraid” (Matthew 28:10). Pope Francis affirms this same message for us: “Do not be afraid, do not yield to fear. This is the message of hope. It is addressed to us, today. These are the words that God repeats to us this very night.” On this Easter morning, out of the “gloom of sorrow and regret” arises “a new and living hope” which we are given both as “a gift from heaven, which we could not have earned on our own” and as “a fundamental right that can never be taken away from us.” Our hope in the Risen Jesus is not “mere optimism … or an empty word of encouragement,” but “the conviction that God is able to make everything work unto good because even from the grave he brings life.” “Courage!”
Because of the experience of the women at the tomb in encountering the Risen Jesus, hope has been ‘planted’ in our hearts. And, because of this hope within us, we can take courage. In our neediness, in our weakness, in our frailty, Jesus speaks to us again, “Do not be afraid.” And, God reaches down to us “with a helping hand,” and says, “Courage!” Courage, like hope, is given to us as a “gift” to be received (not earned), if we but “roll away, however slightly,” the stone that blocks our hearts and open ourselves in prayer and trust. We can join in our Holy Father’s prayer:
Jesus, come to me amid my fears and tell me too: "Courage!” With you, Lord, we will be tested but not shaken. And, whatever sadness may dwell in us, we will be strengthened in hope, since with you the cross leads to the resurrection because you are with us in the darkness of our nights; you are certainly amid our uncertainties, the word that speaks in our silence, and nothing can ever rob us of the love you have for us.
Sent Forth from Galilee
Lay Formation & RCIA
Living with Hope
5
Pope Francis reflects, in the final part of his homily, on the Risen Lord’s going to Galilee to meet his disciples. At the empty tomb, the angel instructs the women to tell Jesus’ disciples, “‘He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him’” (Matthew 28:7). Pope Francis notes that our Lord “goes before us … that he walks ahead of us in life and in death.” And, it is most significant that he goes ahead to Galilee – “to the place which for him and his disciples evoked the idea of daily life, family, and work.” It is there, in our everyday lives, that Jesus invites us to bring the hope and the courage of the Resurrection to one another – as family members, as students and workers, as citizens and neighbors. But Galilee is also significant in another way. It is, as Pope Francis notes, “the farthest region” from where the disciples were, in Jerusalem. It was geographically distant, but also “the farthest place from the sacredness of the Holy City … an area where people of different religions lived.” It was here, in the “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Matthew 4:15), that Jesus went to meet his disciples and to send them forth to continue his mission. Our Holy Father understands this to mean that the “message of hope” offered by Jesus’ Resurrection “should not be confined to our sacred places but should be brought to everyone.” We who are the followers of the Risen Jesus, “who have touched ‘the Word of life’” (1 John 1:1), are called – especially in the darkness and uncertainty of these days – to “offer consolation,” to “bear the burdens of others,” and to “offer encouragement.” In short, Pope Francis calls us to be “messengers of life in a time of death!” Deo Gratias!
[L]et us not give in to resignation; let us not place a stone before hope. We can and must hope because God is faithful. He did not abandon us; he visited us and entered into our situation of pain, anguish, and death. His light dispelled the darkness of the tomb: today he wants the light to penetrate even to the darkest corners of our lives. Dear sister, dear brother, even if in your heart you have buried hope, do not give up: God is greater. Darkness and death do not have the last word. Be strong, for with God nothing is lost. -Pope Francis, Easter Vigil Homily, 2020
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Tools for Building a
Life, Marriage & Family
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Peter Martin
Domestic Church From usccb.org
�ccording to the Second Vatican
Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: “The family is, so to speak, the domestic church” (Lumen Gentium #11). This means that it is in the context of the family that we first learn who God is and to prayerfully seek His will for us. In the following bullet points you will find some suggestions on how to build your “domestic church” through a life of prayer that can help all the members of your family.
• Begin praying as a family and reading from Scripture daily, certainly before meals, but also first thing in the morning or before bed. Find a time that works for your family. Use the liturgy of the Church as a model for prayer, and try to include heartfelt unstructured prayer as well.
• Pray a Family Rosary (each member leads a decade, and everyone shares intentions). • Have a crucifix in a prominent place in the home, and in every bedroom.
• Make the Sacraments a regular celebration – take the whole family to Confession and Mass!
• Begin family traditions based on the seasons celebrated in the liturgical calendar. • Make your vacation a holy pilgrimage by visiting the shrines and saints of our land and the world.
• Make worshiping God a priority. Never miss Mass, even while traveling – go to: www.MassTimes.org to find a church near you! • Teach stewardship and charity to your children, through word and example.
• Demonstrate love for your spouse, your children, your neighbors, and the world. Remind their children that they are loved by God and have been given gifts to serve others. • Talk freely about the presence of God in the joys and sorrows of your life. • Welcome into your home and support priests, brothers, sisters, deacons, and lay ministers in the Church. • Participate in the lay ministries and activities of your parish community.
• Allow your children to witness you in private prayer. Encourage your children to pray daily on their own, to listen for God’s call and, if heard, to respond.
• For more ideas on how to build your home as a Domestic Church, go to: www.domestic-church.com or visit The Family Fully Alive, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus.
Director of Faith Formation and Life, Marriage & Family pmartin@dowr.org
Litany to Mary, Mother of Life The Response is: Mary, pray for us. Mary, Mother of all Life, help us to respect human life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. R.
Mary, Mother of Compassion, You showed us how valuable a single life can be; Help us to guard and protect the lives of all people entrusted to our care. R. Mary, Mother of the Child Jesus, with St. Joseph you formed the Holy Family. Guard and protect all families in this earthly life; R.
Mary, Mother Most Holy, You sanctified the vocation of motherhood; Pour out your heavenly aid on all mothers and help them to be holy. R. Mary, Mother of Sorrows, Simeon’s prophecy foretold that a sword of suffering would pierce your heart; Bring comfort and hope to all mothers who suffer over their children. R.
Mary, Full of Grace, You had a choice in responding to God’s call; Help us always to say “Yes” to the will of God in our lives, And strive always to do whatever he tells us. R. Mary, Comforter of the Afflicted, Pour forth your heavenly grace on all who are in need of God’s healing, Especially those involved in abortion; Help them to experience the love and mercy of Christ, your Son. R. Mary, Intercessor and Advocate, We lift up the poor, the displaced, the marginalized and vulnerable members of society; Help them to never abandon hope, but to place their trust in the God who gave them life. R.
Mary, Mother of the Word Incarnate, you bore in your womb him whom the heavens cannot contain; Help us to bear witness to Christ by the example of our lives And show the world the extravagant love of God. R. All:
Remember, o most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, we fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, our Mother. To you we come, before you we stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions, but in your mercy hear and answer them. Amen. by KATHY JONES, excerpted from USCCB 2009-2010 Respect Life Program Liturgy
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Learning Continues Marsha Stenzel
Superintendent of Catholic Schools mstenzel@dowr.org
Submitted by JEN SLATER
�t. Mary’s Catholic School, Madelia, start-
ed off the new year in January with Catholic Schools Week. The students and staff were eager to celebrate their families; their community; the entire staff; our priest, Fr. Hall; and themselves. The students invited their families to come to school and show their appreciation for their love and support. The students made personal cards for the community and volunteers to show them how much they mean to them. The new year looked promising. Without real warning, the world was going to change in a big way. St Mary’s, like all schools nationwide, was about to make an unprecedented shift in teaching. On Tuesday, March 17, we had a blessing with Father Hall for our whole student body, and the students lowered the flag at St Mary’s for the last time. With the future uncertain, the students knew they would be well taken care of. It is uncertain when the schools will open again. Administrators and staff, however, were preparing for this day for a few weeks. St. Mary’s was going to switch to
e-learning in response to the spread of the coronavirus. Students didn’t miss a beat and began taking classes online on Wednesday, March 18. At first, there was excitement in the air. The students were thinking this was
Catholic Schools
At St. Mary School, Madelia
7
going to be a vacation. After the first few days of e-learning, the students were begging to come back. The teachers found new and creative ways to stay connected and engage their students in learning. The teachers collaborated to make the transition as smooth as possible. We wanted to ensure the students still had moments in their day that were familiar and comfortable. Our teachers are using many different resources to help students adjust to learning from home. No complaining - just solutions with clever plans and ingenious ideas. The community of Madelia decided to host a social distancing parade. St. Mary’s was asked to participate. The teachers each drove their own vehicle and accompanied other members from the community to drive around and wave to their students. It was a huge success. Jen Slater is the principal of St. Mary School in Madelia. May 2020 w The Courier w dowr.org
Youth & Young Adults
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St. Joseph, Pray for Us! �appy Easter season to all of
you! He is risen, Alleluia! What joy we have as Our Lord is with us in His resurrected body. We all know that this Easter will be one to remember, but I hope and pray that the reason is not the COVID19 pandemic but that the Lord has revealed to you amazing things in your spiritual life. One thing that Jesus has been talking to me about is His earthly father, St. Joseph. I had friends of
mine do a 33-day consecration to St. Joseph during Lent and they have raved about it. My lovely wife, as a birthday present for me, got me the new book Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father by Donald H. Calloway, MIC. After reading the introduction, my wife and I started the consecration on April 11 (Holy Saturday) and will be ending on the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima (May 13). So far, this book has been very inspiring to me. Below are a few quotes that have stuck out to me. • Knowing by experience St. Joseph’s astonishing influence with God, I would wish to persuade everyone to honor him with particular devotion. I have always seen those who honored him in a special manner make progress in virtue, for this heavenly protector favors in a striking manner the spiritual advancement of souls who commend themselves to him. - St. Teresa of Avila • Our heavenly Father has had only one saint to represent him on earth. Hence he bestowed everything he could on that favored saint, and equipped him with all that he needed to be his worthy representative. - St. Peter Julian Eymard
• Joseph carried Jesus Christ first to Egypt, then to Judea, and so traced for us the path of the apostles who preached his name to the Jews and to the Gentiles. -St. Hilary of Poitiers
For the youth and young adults in our diocese, St. Joseph is a saint we need to know and understand in times like these. St. Joseph’s life turned upside down when he realized that Mary had conceived by the Holy Spirit. God encouraged Joseph to not be afraid, to trust what He was doing and listen for directions on what to do next. St. Joseph, pray for us! May 2020 w The Courier w dowr.org
Aaron Lofy
Director of Youth & Young Adults, alofy@dowr.org
Catholic Mavs Continue to Engage Students through Digital Platforms By MARY ROMINGER, KEYC-TV/Gray Media Group
MANKATO (KEYC) April 1, 2020 — Under the conditions of Stay at Home orders in different states, U.S. catholic dioceses have suspended public masses. It’s the Catholic Mavs’ reach of over 600 students per week that makes continuous engagement throughout the coronavirus pandemic so important. “Community is a really big part of what we do. We are very active, we serve the campus population,” said Joe Bakken, director of development and campus ministry at Minnesota State University, Mankato. It begins with drive-thru confessions with Father Vogel for MSU students. “I wanted to give them that opportunity, especially during this time of Lent. Usually, Lent is kind of a penitential period anyways and, as we look forward to Easter and the resurrection, to be in some ways clean and ready to celebrate,” Father Andrew Vogel explained, chaplain of St. Thomas More Catholic Newman Center. Catholic Mavs has also utilized digital mediums, like YouTube and other social media platforms, to engage with students for Q&A’s with Father Vogel, Sunday masses, daily videos of encouragement and more. “Really, what we are trying to do with all of these different things is to try to keep people connected, but give them hope too. Because, I know, a lot of people are scared during this time, it’s an unknown. Life as we know it is very different and nobody expected to live through times like this,” Bakken added. All in efforts to carry on as much tradition as possible, during a nontraditional time. To stay up to date with the newest content and engagements from Catholic Mavs, visit the organization’s website: catholicmavs.org The above story was aired April 1 on KEYC (Mankato). To view the video, visit: keyc.com/2020/04/02/catholic-mavscontinues-engage-with-students-throughdigital-platforms/
Prayer During Quarantine Rev. Jason Kern Director of Vocations jkern@dowr.org
Survey: 2020 Priest Ordination Class Is Smaller, More Diverse CNA STAFF (CNA) - A survey of the 2020 priestly ordination class was published by the U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference (USCCB) on Thursday, a slightly smaller class than in 2019. Sponsored by the bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, the survey is conducted annually of U.S. seminarians who are about to be ordained to the priesthood. The USCCB collaborates with the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) to produce the survey. Ordination class sizes have varied over time, according to previous CARA reports. In 2006, there were 359 potential ordinands identified by the survey (though not all responded), a number that rose to 475 in 2007 before dipping to 401 for the class of 2008—many of whom would have entered seminary in 2002, the year that clergy sex abuse scandals in the U.S. were widely reported. In subsequent years that number rebounded, with an average class size of 474 from 2009-14. The ordination class size peaked in 2015 at 595, dipping slightly to 548 in 2016 before jumping again to 590 in 2017. However, the number of potential ordinands has dipped in the past three years; from 2018-2020, CARA
imposed structures on our daily lives, but it comes from my ability to freely love and be loved by God. That God is love is an ontological truth that gives me stability no matter where I am or how long I am quarantined. Prayer during this quarantine has helped me to realize that I have never been in control or had enough to get by. I have always been dependent on the Lord for everything. I must continue the search to discover anew that my worth and place in the world is in relationship to Love. Lord, move each of us deeply to pray with the interior readiness to face our limitations and our desperate need for God. Give us the courage to never despair or even fear, because nothing can take away the peace, joy, and authentic freedom that comes from living in Your loving protection. The Lord loves you and is your source of stability in these times. Pray like it.
said it sent surveys to 430, 481, and 448 priestly ordinands, respectively. For its reports, CARA calculates the ordination class sizes by contacting all theologates, houses of formation, dioceses, archdioceses, eparchies, and institutes of men religious in the United States. Of the 2020 ordination class, the vast majority (82%) will enter the diocesan priesthood, with others entering religious life or a society of apostolic life. Ordination classes have been trending slightly younger: in the last decade the average age of priestly ordinands fell from 37 years old in 2010 to 34 years old in 2020. Demographically, a slightly smaller share of the classes have identified as Caucasian in recent years, while the percentage of ordination classes identifying as Hispanic or Latino has grown from 10% in 2005 to 15% from 2012-2014, and is currently at 16% for 2020. The percentage of potential ordinands identifying as African, African-American or black has stayed relatively the same over time with a slight increase in the last two classes that have peaked in consecutive years at 6%. The percentage of ordinands who are foreign-born has varied from anywhere between 24 and 33% since 2005. One-in four (25%) of the 2020 class is foreignborn, with the most common countries of birth being Mexico, the Philippines, Nigeria, and Columbia. For education, between 35% and 44% of the 2020 class attended a Catholic school at some point in their lives. Slight majorities received an undergraduate or graduate degree (54%) and had a full-time job (55%)
before entering seminary. Those who have been homeschooled at some point in their lives make up only a small part of each class, but their share has grown in recent years. In 2005, those homeschooled at some point made up only 3% of the ordination class, and that percentage never climbed above 5% until 2015 when it reached 7%. For the 2019 and 2020 classes, however, 11% and 10% of potential ordinands had been homeschooled at some point, respectively. A large majority of potential ordinands have reported frequent Eucharistic Adoration and previous experience as an altar server before entering seminary. For 2020, more than seven-in-ten, 72%, prayed regularly at Eucharistic Adoration before they entered seminary, and 73% were altar servers at some point. In 2010, the first year the question featured on the survey, 65% of oradinands said they were regular adorers before entering seminary; that percentage jumped to 70% in 2014, and the last five years have featured an average of 74% for each class. And the vast majority reported a Catholic upbringing that dates to their infancy, as 90% were baptized Catholic as infants and 85% reported that both their parents were Catholic when they were children. Nearly nine-in-ten also said that someone encouraged them to consider the priesthood, while a slight majority (52%) said they were dissuaded from the priesthood by someone.
Vocations
�
ver the last few weeks, I have had more video and phone conversations than I ever thought I would, and while in no way do these interactions replace in-person meetings, I have been impressed with how productive they can be. Despite the inevitable internet lag or computer problem that arises, overall there are many good things that can still happen during a time of social distancing. When speaking with seminarians as well as other Catholics, I ask about their prayer life during this quarantine. Inevitably, many admit that it has been difficult to pray during this time for various reasons, whether it's not having access to a church or the Sacraments or just feeling out of sorts or even anxious over everything that’s transpiring. We are so accustomed to having productivity built into our lives and focus so much of our time around the given structures that are provided for us in our daily lives. For many of us, some of those structures have been diminished, and it can feel as though we are left without a purpose or a vision for our life. I was speaking with an older man who has been living alone for many years in a much more populous area out-of-state, where the virus is more severe. In stunning honesty, he said, “You want to hear something funny? For the first time in my life, I am afraid of dying alone.” It was a stark comment. It wasn’t funny. It allowed me to realize how in touch with his mortality he had become in the recent weeks. While it was an obvious cry for help, it gave me pause to think. What is it about this time that puts the end of our life in perspective? Is
9
it just the real risk of dying? Perhaps, but there seems to be more. Humanity seems to be taking a collective gasp of introspective air and breathing deeply about what it means to be truly human. Is life really about doing whatever I want and structuring my life in a way to give it my own meaning? Suddenly, when I realize that control is taken from me, where do I find meaning? Do I escape into diversions like internet, tv, or something else? Do I numb the emptiness I feel? There is obviously a need for hobbies and diversions at times. We need to know how to take the edge off and relax. Keeping our sense of humor is important. However, if we never reflect, never take time to make the journey inward, we realize that we are not truly praying. We need to get to a place where we experience our poverty and that sense of aloneness and there discover that we are loved infinitely by a merciful God. If we can accept our littleness and weakness in the vast universe that seems so unstable at times, we can discover our stability does not come from
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Catholic Foundation
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Offertory Gifts Are Needed
to Continue Parish Ministries Despite the Pandemic � asses may be canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the work of the
Church goes on. The churches across southern Minnesota are still performing vital ministry work - though a bit differently with public health restrictions in place. Baptisms and funerals, Masses online and outdoor confessions, prayer support and community outreach - these efforts and more continue so as to meet people’s spiritual needs and provide educational resources through the web. Offertory collections at Sunday Masses have been the largest source of income for parishes to fund their ministry efforts. With very limited or no Sunday Masses during the coronavirus pandemic, collections could dwindle and put at risk that work unless people respond. So that their parish can continue its ministry work and cover its operating costs, parishioners are encouraged to consider mailing in their Sunday offertory gifts or giving online, if possible. Our parishes depend upon your weekly financial gifts to continue their ministries in this critical time of crisis when we are not able to go to Mass. We are still called to give our time and our financial resources. We have a spiritual need to give in gratitude for all the blessings we receive. Now may be a good time to transition from the traditional envelopes to online giving. A number of people have told me that they are giving online for the first
time, and others are making an extra effort to mail in their offertory gifts every week. About one third of the diocese’s churches offer online giving. The intent of online giving is to move away from weekly envelopes and toward a regular system of giving that can provide income to the parish, even when the parishioner isn’t at church on a given Sunday. It also eases the workload of parish staff and volunteer counters after the weekend Masses. There’s no question that our top priority is to help meet the needs of people in this crisis. The generosity and support of people across our diocese will also help the Church weather the challenges posed by this unprecedented public health threat. In an effort to help, the Catholic Foundation of Southern Minnesota has created a link on our website: https://catholicfsmn.org/parish-donations where parishioners can make an online gift to the parish(es) of their choice. Donations will be mailed to the parishes on a monthly basis. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me: mherman @catholicfsmn.org / 507-858-1276.
Monica Herman
Executive Director Catholic Foundation of Southern Minnesota mherman@catholicfsmn.org
Prayer to Mary During the Coronavirus Pandemic By POPE FRANCIS
Congratulations! Since our kick-off, the following parish has met its goal for the 2020 Catholic Ministries Appeal:
St. Joseph Waldorf
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It's a Match!
Thank you to all donors who came forward to support the Challenge Matching Grant offered to the Diocese of Winona-Rochester by the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation for educational excellence and growing enrollment in our Catholic schools! The Office of Catholic Schools was required to raise $50,000 in order for the Schulze Foundation to match that $50,000 for a total of $100,000. I am so pleased to announce that we made our goal. The $50,000 we raised will be matched, totaling $100,000!
O Mary, you always shine on our path as a sign of salvation and of hope. We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick, who at the cross took part in Jesus’ pain, keeping your faith firm. You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need, and we are sure you will provide so that, as in Cana of Galilee, we may return to joy and to feasting after this time of trial. Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform to the will of the Father and to do as we are told by Jesus, who has taken upon himself our sufferings and carried our sorrows to lead us, through the cross, to the joy of the Resurrection. Amen.
What Is the
Guardian and Conservator Program?
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activities. It is as much about the way professionals and clients think about care and their relationships as the actual services available Many of our clients do not have family or other supports and, in many cases, have been marginalized by society. We act as advocates for our clients and are often thought of as surrogate family members. In the last fiscal year, we employed six staff members who have backgrounds in social work, human services, accounting and administration support. We are contracted to serve clients through Winona, Fillmore, Goodhue, Olmsted, Ramsey, and Steele Counties. Some of our clients are private pay. We are serving most of our clients in the Winona and surrounding area, but depending on their needs and the availability of appropriate placement, we have also served clients living in Harmony, Duluth, Moorhead, Franklin, the Twin Cities, Red Wing, Hastings, Rochester, St. Peter, Austin, Albert Lea, Owatonna, Faribault, LeRoy, Pipestone, Wabasha, Northfield, La Crescent, Caledonia, Houston, Chatfield, Lake City, Little Falls, and Kellogg. We strive to see our clients a minimum of once a month with the exception of those living in the far reaching areas of the state whom we see twice a year and as needed. Clients served ranged in age from 18 on up. We are continuing to provide the needed service to our clients during the COVID-19 shut down through phone calls, Face Time and Zoom. We are taking all the precautions as we provide personal care needed by our clients. We are available to our clients when they need us by a 24-hour on-call system. We continue to strive to be the first choice among referring agencies and sources for guardianships and conservatorships and in the last year we have found that our referral source network has expanded greatly. For more information, visit our website at www.ccsomn.org.
Catholic Charities
finances; assisting in locating and obtaining entitled services (such as medical assistance, social Pam Boyd security and/or veterans benefits) and employDirector ment; and overall coordination of services to Guardian Conservator Program ensure that the highest quality of care possible is Catholic Charities of Southern MN offered to each client. We strive to promote independence and pursue the least restrictive setting for our clients. We provide a person-centered approach to working he Catholic Charities Guardian & Conservator with each client. Person-centered care is a way Program provides much needed assistance to of thinking and doing things that sees the people clients who have been deemed incapacitated by a using health and social services as equal partners judge of the district court. A guardian is someone in planning, developing and monitoring care to who has been given legal court authority to make make sure it meets their needs. This means putsome or all personal decisions for an individual ting people and their families at the center of who is unable to make his or her decisions and seeing them as experts, own decisions because of an injury, Person-centered working alongside professionals illness or disability. A conservator is to get the best outcome. Personsomeone who has been given legal care is a way of centered care is not just about giving and court authority to make deci- thinking and doing people whatever they want or prosions regarding a person’s property things that sees viding information. It is about considand financial affairs. ering people’s desires, values, family The clients we serve may be the people using situations, social circumstances and developmentally disabled, seriously health and social lifestyles; seeing the person as an and persistently mentally ill, chemiindividual, and working together to cal and/or drug dependent, physi- services as equal develop appropriate solutions. Being cally frail/impaired, cognitively partners in compassionate, thinking about things impaired, or experiencing complex from the person’s point of view and medical diagnoses. Our clients live planning, being respectful are all important. in a variety of settings including developing and This might be shown through sharresidential group homes, corporate ing decisions with clients and helping monitoring care to foster care, skilled nursing care cenpeople manage their health, but perters, assisted living facilities and make sure it meets son-centered care is not just about independent living settings. their needs. Specific examples of services provided to clients through the Guardian & Conservator Program include attending medical appointments; giving legal consent for treatments, medications and procedures; finding better suited placement or living arrangements for clients when needed; shopping with and for clients; coordinating the sale of real estate or other valuable items on behalf of clients (with court approval); managing
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Sacraments in Extreme Situations
Ask a Canon Lawyer
12 �
ormally, questions pertaining to celebrating sacraments in extreme circumstances are not much of a hot topic for canon lawyers, at least in the United States. But as we all know, life during the COVID-19 pandemic may be the very definition of extreme or extraordinary circumstances. For the sake of fostering the proper reverence and appreciation for the sacraments, the Church generally requires that sacraments be celebrated in particular ways. However, since the bare-bones requirements for a sacrament to be valid (that is, for a sacrament to “work” in a fundamental way) are often relatively minimal, sometimes in exceptional circumstances some of the rules for celebrating a sacrament can be relaxed. Let’s look at some examples of this: Reconciliation
Questions about whether sacramental confessions may be heard from a distance via the use of technology have been asked since the invention of the telegraph. Yet the consistent teaching of the Church has been that the sacrament of reconciliation requires what we call the “moral presence” of the priest-confessor and penitent together. That is, the priest and penitent must be able to see and hear each other while being, broadly speaking, in the same place. Still, even the requirement of moral presence allows for a great deal of flexibility. Canon 964 §1 tells us that: “the proper place to hear sacramental confessions is a church or oratory,” with §3 of the same canon stating that: “confessions are not to be heard outside a confessional without a just cause.” But the flip side of canon 964 §3 is that in situations where there is a “just cause,” or reasonable motive, confessions can be heard outside of a confessional.
Nobody would doubt that preventing the spread of COVID-19 is a “just cause,” which is why in our present circumstances the sacrament of reconciliation may validly and licitly take place in a number of creative ways. In some places in the United States, priests have arranged for “drive through” confessions celebrated outdoors, with penitents remaining safely in their cars at an appropriate distance from the priest. Perhaps less colorfully, it is also possible to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation in an indoor space which is larger and better-ventilated than the average confessional, such as the main worship space of a Church building or a spacious sacristy, where the penitent and confessor can remain at least the CDC recommended six feet apart—i.e., far enough away to prevent contagion, but still within reasonable speaking distance.
Jenna Cooper
Tribunal Coordinator & Judge jcooper@dowr.org
Under normal circumstances a priest would use his own hand to anoint, but for “a grave reason” canon 1000 §2 allows for the priest to use an instrument— such as a cotton swab, which could be properly and reverently disposed of later—to carry out the actual anointing. Weddings
Anointing of the Sick
While weddings are typically community affairs with large numbers of family and friends in The sacrament of anointing of the sick Do y attendance, a large crowd is not necesou h must likewise be carried out by the a qu sary for a Catholic wedding, even in a cano estion ve priest in person. Although anointnormal times. In order to marry ing involves physical contact, and woul n law th about “according to canonical form,” or at yo therefore is never entirely riskansw d like to u what we colloquial call “marrys free, canon law does allow for ing within the Church,” the only Ema ered her ee e? il some modifications to the ritpeople who must be present jcoo ual which can reduce the risk per@ are: the priest or deacon, two d with of contagion in exceptional cirwitnesses, and the bride and "Cou owr.org rier cumstances like ours. groom (canon 1108). So on a ques tion" Normally, a member of the fundamental level, it is possible i s u bject n the faithful is anointed three times, to have a Catholic wedding while line. on the forehead and on both still observing the public health hands. However, canon 1000 tells guidelines of restricting gatherings us that “in a case of necesto under ten people. And of course, sity” it is sufficient to have nothing in canon law prevents the couple “a single anointing on the from having a big party celebrating their forehead or even on some other marriage at a later date, after the danger from the part of the body.” So, theoretically, coronavirus has passed! in the case of a patient suffering from a highly contagious respiraBaptism tory illness, if it was deemed truly necessary a priest could anoint Baptisms, like weddings, can easily be carried out the patient only once and on (for within a very small group of less than ten people. example) his or her foot, and the But it’s also good to remember that in the case of an sacrament would still be effective. emergency, anyone—including laypeople, and even non-Christians—can baptize validly and licitly. All that is necessary to confer the sacrament of baptism is the correct intention on the part of the baptizer (namely, the intention to baptize the person into the Catholic Church); using the correct matter of water; and using the correct formula of baptizing in “the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (canon 861 §2). An Important Point
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The coronavirus has impacted local communities in different ways, with some towns, cities, states, and regions of the country being much harder hit than others. So although the above-mentioned ways of administering the sacraments are possible when looking at things from a general perspective, the local circumstances “on the ground” in any given parish may affect the particulars of what is actually safe and logistically feasible. If you have questions about the possibility of receiving a sacrament during these challenging times, the best thing to do is talk directly to the pastor of your parish. But it’s important to keep in mind that our priests and bishops are doing the best they can as they navigate difficult pastoral decisions in response to a crisis situation that none of us would have imagined even just a few months ago. So in these times it’s especially crucial for all of us to strive to practice the Christian virtues of charity and patience, while continuing to support each other through prayer.
COVID-19 and Equality of Care �he unprecedented scale of the COVID-19 pan-
demic and ensuing efforts to provide critical hospital care have raised serious questions about rationing (limiting access) based on disability or age. Although, like everything else, healthcare is subject to the problem of scarcity, principles exist for determining the appropriate allocation of medical resources, especially during a pandemic. COVID-19 offers an opportunity to reflect on those principles and to consider how they apply in concrete circumstances to avoid discrimination. Those considerations underscore the importance of Catholic hospitals and Catholics, more generally, to witness to the broader community the best care practices that value human dignity and uphold the common good. The Problem of Rationing
According to the Center for Public Integrity, 25 states have scarce resource policies and protocols for hospitals. These policies could potentially harm people because they may limit access to lifesaving medical equipment such as ventilators. States are using a patchwork of rationing protocols in hospitals: first come first serve (first to the hospital gets treated); a lottery (random selection sidesteps triage); categorical exclusions (age, disability, pre-existing conditions place you at the back of the line); resource intensity (less care if your care drains resources); and fair-innings (if
Avoiding Discrimination and Bias
The problem of healthcare rationing reveals biases based on a medicalized view of disability and older age which can place less value on such lives compared with younger or able-bodied persons. Catholic bioethicist Charles Camosy has recently warned, “If rationing arrives, we must stand up unambiguously for the marginalized and vulnerable, the elderly and disabled, lest what Pope Francis has decried as the modern throwaway culture deems them expendable.” Resource scarcity shouldn't be a driver that overtly devalues certain persons and the dignity of their lives. Healthcare decisions must be made primarily on clinical factors such as the patient’s condition and his or her ability to respond to certain forms of treatment. Disability and age should not be used as categorical exclusions when deciding the allocation of scare resources like ventilators. Furthermore, if we ask caregivers to balance an individual patient’s “quality of life” possibilities
against the medical needs of everyone else, there’s greater risk of bias and discrimination. To avoid this, the federal government should issue national triage protocols based on sound principles to make certain that care is allocated in a fair and equitable manner that doesn’t discriminate. To prevent unjust discrimination, organizations such as the Catholic Health Association and National Catholic Bioethics Center have outlined sound principles for providers to address these challenges during a pandemic. And the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Healthcare Services from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops ensure Catholic hospitals follow appropriate principles and ethical norms.
13 Faith in the Public Arena
Lynn Varco
Minnesota Alliance for Ethical Healthcare
you’re “late in the baseball game,” your resources are allocated to someone younger). Depending on the level of scarcity and patient need, each protocol can lead to discrimination. A recent Hastings Center essay noted that Minnesota’s “resource intensity” model permits prioritization based on expected or documented length of need, either in the initial decision to allocate a scarce medical resource or in a later decision to re-allocate the resource. Some might argue that this is appropriate because it does not imply an overt prejudice against people who are disabled. But, according to the author, this protocol can slide into less obvious forms of discrimination when categorical exclusions creep back in and inform an unspoken rationing policy.
Cautionary Tale
Ultimately, COVID-19 hospital care is a cautionary tale for other issues. We should support a consistent ethic of life where care is based on the dignity of the human person and not their perceived "value" to others. Rationing often works against this idea in the same way as physician assisted suicide (PAS), which has been justified on similar discriminatory grounds, that is, that life can be ended when it’s thought to no longer have meaning or purpose. Just like with PAS, however, the current pandemic is a powerful reminder that we ought to more fully support better forms of care, such as palliative and hospice care. There is an urgency to create holistic care models that support the medical needs of all people.
Join the Minnesota Alliance for Ethical Healthcare The Minnesota Alliance for Ethical Healthcare is a diverse coalition of doctors, nurses, advocates for persons with disabilities, medical ethicists, faithbased organizations and others committed to ensuring real care throughout life’s journey. We believe that Minnesota should always prioritize care rather than hasten death. To join the alliance as an individual or organization, join the mailing list for regular email updates, or send a message to your legislators opposing assisted suicide, visit: www.ethicalcaremn.org/take-action.
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May 2020
The Televised Mass Is Offered Every Sunday Sioux Falls - KTTW Channel 7 at 7 a.m. Sioux City - KPTH Channel 44 at 8:30 a.m. Mankato - KEYC Channel 12 at 7:30 a.m. Digital Channel 12.2 or Charter Channel 19 NEYC at 9:30 a.m. Digital Channel 7 (DirecTV) or Channel 11 (DISH) KMNF at 9 a.m. Rochester/Austin/Mason City KIMT Channel 3 at 7:30 a.m. MyTV 3.2 at 9 a.m. NEW Twin Cities - WFTC Digital Channel 29 or Channel 9.2 at 11:30 a.m. Southeastern MN - HBC Channel 20 at 3 p.m. (repeated Wed. at 3:30 p.m.) Winona/La Crosse/Eau Claire - WLAX/WEUX Channel 25/48 at 7:30 a.m. and on our website, dowr.org (click "Weekly Mass")
'Shall We Gather...' By JEANETTE FORTIER
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t was an Advent moment in Lent. Those women with no oil for their lamps followed me into Walmart and stayed close by my side. I knew I needed to get a few things so I would have some nourishment during the stay-at-home period as directed by the governor, but what should I buy? Those women with their torches kept laughing, and I could hear them talking amongst themselves. “She doesn’t have a clue! And they talk about us not being prepared well enough to welcome the bridegroom when he comes. She doesn’t have a chance.” I bought a few items and left those women at the exit doors. They were still laughing as I drove away. These weeks of staying indoors have brought many insights, those of which pertaining to Lent involve: the writings from my Lenten devotional books, watching Mass on TV, reflecting on years of preparing for Holy Week liturgies and the gift of gathering together for Mass and our other rich Catholic rituals and rites. I have longed to once again gather with the choir and parishioners for the 8 a.m. Mass. Other insights include what an awful cook I am, how limited my knowledge of the workings of a computer are, how much greater the mess is when you’re trying to clean and organize, and how
A Lot for the Masses
On Sunday, May 3, Father Tim Biren, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in St. Charles, made use of the church parking lot and a 1/2-watt FM transmitter to allow parishioners to engage with the Mass from the safety of their vehicles during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Obituary
Sister Monique Schwirtz, 81, a Franciscan Sister of the Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes, Rochester, died at Assisi Heights, May 7, 2020. Ellen Elise Schwirtz was born May 24, 1938, in Grand Rapids to John Robert Schwirtz and Victoria Radosevich. She entered the Sisters of St. Francis in 1958, received the name of Sister Monique, and made perpetual vows in 1964. In 1962 she completed studies for a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and, in 1972, a master’s degree in elementary education administration. Further studies included gerontology and spiritual direction. Sister Monique taught elementary students at St. Priscilla School, Chicago, IL; Sacred Heart School, Norfolk, NE; and St. Theodore School, Albert Lea. She also served as principal at St. Theodore School, Albert Lea; Portsmouth Catholic Schools, Portsmouth, OH (19711977); and Sacred Heart School, Waseca (1977-1984). Following a sabbatical year and a year of study, she served as family resource coordinator at Minnesota Valley Action Council in Mankato. In 1992, Sister Monique returned to Assisi Heights where she served as the director of daily life and service until she
was elected to congregational leadership in 2000. In 2007, she moved to Janesville, where she served on the retreat center team and as a spiritual director. For several years, Sister Monique was a volunteer at the Federal Correctional Institution in Waseca. Sister Monique is survived by her Franciscan Sisters, with whom she shared life for 62 years; her brother John (Meredith) Schwirtz of Santa Rosa, CA; and her sister, Dora Ann Severson, of Bayport. She was preceded in death by her parents and one brother, George Schwirtz. A Memorial Liturgy will be held at a later date. Memorials are suggested to the Sisters of St. Francis, Office of Mission Advancement, Assisi Heights, 1001 14th St. NW, Rochester, MN 55901.
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much I miss the people I sing with. I can’t wait for the day we can gather together for the laughter and fun of those sing-alongs. To my sisters in the Council of Catholic Women, I hope you are finding ways to nourish yourself in the branches of our organization: spirituality (many wonderful prayers on the nccw.org website), service (make masks, sending a note of support or making a phone call to check on a neighbor) and leadership (help those in need in your parish and community). As I write this article, there are two events coming up that will gather CCW women for days of fellowship and learning. Our Province Conference is scheduled for June 19 & 20, 2020, and our National Convention is in August. At this moment, I do not know if they will be held as scheduled or canceled. We will have to wait and see. Shall we gather? Indeed we shall! When that date will be only the Lord knows, and the Holy Spirit will inspire the Governor to let us all know. What a gathering it will be! I won’t bring a torch and oil, but I will bring the best I have to offer of my time and talents. I can’t wait to see your smiling faces. Alleluia! Christ has risen. May these days be filled with hope. Jeanette Fortier is the president of the WinonaRochester Diocesan Council of Catholic Women.
Published on May 11, 2020