The Courier - November 2022

The

COURIER

Christ the King November 20

November 2022

Official Newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester, MN | dowr.org

Supporting Adoption

By SARAH VETTER

�doption is a wonderful way to provide a stable and loving

home for a child, but the process for adoptive parents can be long and unpredictable. Each prospective adoptive family starts with a home study process. They complete background checks, secure financial and health reports, obtain personal references, and participate in hours of assessments and education on adoption before being approved.

Once they secure an approved home study, they may meet with multiple expectant parents before being chosen to adopt a child. On average, couples wait two years or more to adopt an infant.

An estimated 40% of adults have a close friend or family member who was adopted. But how do you support prospective adoptive parents throughout the process?

Be a reference. Every adoptive family must have an approved home study before they adopt. If your friends are starting the adoption process, you could offer to be a personal or professional reference for their home study.

References help the adoption agency understand a family’s dynamics, strengths, and areas for growth.

Help with marketing. Many adoption connections are made by word-of-mouth and social media. Couples who are adopting may be doing outreach by hanging posters, mailing information to referral sources, or posting on social media. Telling others about friends who are adopting, sharing their social media posts, and offering to introduce a parent wanting to adopt can help someone adopt sooner. Be willing to bring up adoption as an option. Expectant parents should know their options and what adoption could mean for their child.

Throw a party. Baby showers are a long tradition to celebrate a new child and help the new parents get needed baby items. Welcome home parties can be a great way to celebrate a new child of any age! Many adoptive parents prefer to wait until they are matched with an expectant parent or have already brought baby home before a shower is thrown so they know specifically what they will need. Be sure to ask your friends about the timing they prefer.

Provide tangible support. Many adoptive families get little notice before a baby is born. They may need someone to watch their dog or pick up baby essentials while they go to meet their new child. Running errands or dropping off meals can help the new parents focus on bonding, attachment, and getting much-needed sleep!

Use positive adoption language. Through the language you use, you can impact how others view adoption.

While you may be used to hearing about birthmothers “giving up a baby”, be assured that birth parents are not giving up or giving away their child. They are making an intentional plan to place their child in a loving home. It is more accurate - and positive - to refer to birthparents making an adoption plan or placing a child for adoption. Similarly, some have referred to birthparents as a child’s “real parents.” Both the adoptive and biological parents are real and have an important and unique role in the child’s life.

Learn more. Adoption can be a long process and a lifelong journey. By learning more about adoption through books or podcasts, you can better understand and support the adoption community. Catholic Charities offers a Modern Adoption training for pregnancy centers, birth center staff, or anyone wanting to support members of the adoption triad. Call our office at 507-287-2047 for more information on adoption, our services, or to schedule a training for your group.

Meet the families ready to adopt through Catholic Charities on pg. 8.

USCCB Welcomes Document for Synod's Continental Stage from usccb.org WASHINGTON (Oct. 27, 2022) – Earlier today, the Holy See’s General Secretariat of the Synod issued the Document for the Continental Stage (DCS) of the 20212024 Synod: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.

The DCS is a working document that will be used for the next step, the Continental Stage, of the Synod process and is a result of the Holy See hearing from 112 episcopal conferences, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), as well as Eastern Catholic Churches, religious congregations, ecclesial associations and movements, the Vatican dicasteries, and individual contributions. In the first stage of the Synod, listening sessions were held at the local level across the world. Bishops in each

Continental Stage, cont'd on pg. 16

INSIDE this issue

'We Are Saved in Community' page 5

Liturgies of November

Meet the Families page 6

pages 8-9

The Courier Insider

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Pope: Saints Were Revolutionaries Who Lived the Beatitudes

Articles of Interest

Invite a Family to Christ in His Church_____4 'We Are Saved in Community'____________5 The Church in the Liturgies of November__6 Producing Vocations_______________________7 The Solemnity of Christ the King ____________7 Meet the Families_______________________8-9 Catholic Schools Updates______________10-11 Middle School Youth Festival 2022__________12 Catholic Foundation Annual Meeting_______13

Pope Francis leads the recitation of the Angelus from a window of the Apostolic Palace at teh Vatican Nov. 1, 2022, the feast of All Saints. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The saints were not "starched," picture-perfect conformists, Pope Francis said; they were "countercultural and revolutionary."

The multitude of men and women honored on the feast of All Saints lived according to the Eight Beatitudes, which made them decidedly out of place in the world, Pope Francis said Nov. 1 before reciting the Angelus prayer.

With thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square, including runners who had participated in the 10k All Saints' Day race, Pope Francis also encouraged people not only to visit

Officials The Most Rev. Robert Barron, Bishop of the Diocese of WinonaRochester, announces the following: Tribunal Judge Ms. Jenna Cooper: reappointJudge in the Tribunal of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester for a three-year term, effective October 6, 2022.

the burial sites of their loved ones the following day, the feast of All Souls, but to go to Mass and pray for them as well.

Talking about saints and the day's Gospel reading of the beatitudes, Pope Francis focused particularly on "Blessed are the peacemakers."

Everyone says they want peace, he said, but often what they mean is they want "to be left in peace, to have no problems, just tranquility."

But, if one reads the beatitudes in the Gospel, he said, they will see that Jesus does not say, "Blessed are those who are at peace," but blessed are "those who make peace, the constructors, the peacemakers."

Pastor Rev. Prince Raja: currently Parochial Administrator of St. Felix Parish in Wabasha, St. Agnes Parish in Kellogg, and St. Mary Parish in Minneiska; appointed to the Office of Pastor of the aforementioned parishes, effective October 10, 2022.

Faculties Rev. Dharmendra Pasala: a priest of the Diocese of Cuddapah, India; granted faculties in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, effective October 5, 2022.

The Courier is the official publication of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester 55 West Sanborn, P.O. Box 588, Winona, MN 55987 Vol 113 - 11

Most Reverend Robert E. Barron, Publisher 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)

November 2022 w The Courier w dowr.org

Saints, cont'd on pg. 16

Presbyteral Council Rev. Jonathan Fasnacht: elected Worthington Deanery representative for the Presbyteral Council, effective January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2025.

Rev. The Hoang: elected At-Large representative for the Presbyteral Council, effective January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2025.

Pension Plan for Priests Rev. Gregory Parrott: elected age 25-50 representative for the

Headlines____________________________14-16

The Holy Father's Intention for

November 2022 Children Who Suffer We pray for children who are suffering, especially those who are homeless, orphans, and victims of war; may they be guaranteed access to education and the opportunity to experience family affection.

Pension Plan for Priests Board of Trustees, effective September 29, 2022 - June 30, 2025.

Where to Find The Courier

Catholic Charities

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Mr. Rick Reed: appointed to the Catholic Charities Board of Directors for a three-year term, effective October 3, 2022.

Mr. Gustav Wiggert: appointed to the Catholic Charities Board of Directors for a three-year term, effective October 3, 2022.

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 507-454-2270, 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.

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 free of charge, readers should send their names and addresses to: Diocese of Winona-Rochester The Courier 55 W Sanborn St. Winona, MN 55987 or nreller@dowr.org

Mother Alfred and the Need for Women Religious

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many others homeless and destitute. A local doctor, William Worrall Mayo, undertook the task of caring for the victims of the disaster. Overwhelmed by the number of injured, he called upon Mother Alfred’s sisters to help him.

Though they were teachers rather than nurses and had no formal training in medicine, they accepted the mission. In the wake of the debacle, Mother calmly informed Dr. Mayo that she had a vision that a hospital should be built in Rochester, not simply to serve that local community but rather the whole world.

Astonished by this utterly unrealistic proposal, Dr. Mayo told Mother that she would need to raise $40,000 (an astronomical figure for that time and place) in order to build such a facility. She in turn told the doctor that if she managed to raise the funds and build the hospital, she expected him and his two physician sons to staff the place. Within a short span of time, she procured the money, and the St. Mary’s Hospital was established.

As I’m sure you’ve already surmised, this was the seed from which the mighty Mayo Clinic would grow, a hospital system that indeed, as Mother Alfred envisioned long ago, serves the entire

world. This intrepid nun continued her work as builder, organizer, and administrator, not only of the hospital that she had founded, but of a number of other institutions in southern Minnesota until her death in 1899 at the age of seventy-one.

Just a few weeks ago, I wrote about the pressing need in our diocese for priests, and I urged everyone to become part of a mission to increase vocations to the priesthood. With Mother Alfred in mind, might I take the occasion now to call for more vocations to women’s religious life?

Somehow the last three generations of women have tended to see religious life as unworthy of their consideration. The number of nuns has plummeted since the Council, and most Catholics, when asked about this, would probably say that being a religious sister is just not a viable prospect in our feminist age. Nonsense!

Mother Alfred left her home as a very young woman, crossed the ocean to a foreign land, became a religious, followed her instincts and sense of mission, even when this brought her into conflict with powerful superiors, including a number of bishops, inspired Dr. Mayo

to establish the most impressive medical center on the planet, and presided over the development of an order of sisters who went on to build and staff numerous institutions of healing and teaching. She was a woman of extraordinary intelligence, drive, passion, courage, and inventiveness. If someone had suggested to her that she was living a life unworthy of her gifts or beneath her dignity, I imagine she would have a few choice words in response. You’re looking for a feminist hero? You can keep Gloria Steinem; I’ll take Mother Alfred any day of the week.

So if you know a young woman who would make a good religious, who is marked by smarts, energy, creativity, and get-upand-go, share with her the story of Mother Alfred Moes. And tell her that she might aspire to that same kind of heroism.

November 5, Saturday Mass 11:00 a.m., lunch & visit with DOW-R Deacons and Wives at St. Augustine Church in Austin

*November 8, Tuesday Record Christmas TV Mass 5:00 p.m. at Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Winona - All are welcome - wear your Christmas best!

November 12-17, Saturday-Thursday USCCB General Assembly in Baltimore, MD

November 20, Sunday Confirmation Mass 2:00 p.m. at St. Bernard Church in Stewartville, with St. Bridget Parish, Simpson

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Bishop's Calendar

*indicates all are welcome to attend *November 2, Wednesday All Souls' Day Mass 12:10 p.m. at Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Winona *November 3, Thursday Deceased Clergy Mass 12:10 p.m. at Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Rochester

*November 6, Sunday Mass 11:15 a.m. at St. Thomas More Newman Center Parish in Mankato November 8, Tuesday IHM Finance Council Meeting 1 p.m. in Winona

November 9, Wednesday Mass 11:00 a.m. for DOW-R Priest Retreat at the Alverna Center in Winona

November 18, Friday Holy Hour and Priest Pension Plan Board Meeting 11:00 a.m. in Winona

From the Bishop

Moes in Luxembourg in 1828. As a young girl, she became fascinated by the possibility of doing missionary work among the native peoples of North America.

Accordingly, she journeyed with her sister to the New World in 1851. First, she joined the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Milwaukee but then transferred to the Non Nisi Te Domine Holy Cross Sisters in La Porte, Indiana, a group associated with Fr. Sorin CSC, the founder of the Bishop Robert Barron University of Notre Dame.

After clashing with her superiors—a rather typical happenstance y new hero is Mother for this very feisty and Alfred Moes. I realize that confident lady—she made she is not a household her way to Joliet, Ill., where name, even among she became superior of Catholics, but she should a new congregation of be. She came on my radar Franciscan sisters, taking screen only after I became the name “Mother Alfred.” the bishop of the Winona- When Bishop Foley of Rochester diocese, where Chicago tried to interfere Mother Alfred did most of with the finances and her work and where she building projects of her lies buried. Hers is a story community, she set out of remarkable courage, for greener pastures in faith, perseverance and Minnesota, where the sheer moxie. Trust me, great Archbishop Ireland once you take in the details took her in and allowed of her adventures, you will her to establish a school in be put in mind of a number Rochester.

It was in that tiny town of other gritty Catholic in southern Minnesota that Mothers: Cabrini, Teresa, Drexel, and Angelica, to God commenced to work powerfully through her. In name a few.

Mother Alfred was 1883, a terrible tornado born Maria Catherine tore through Rochester, killing many and leaving

-Most Rev. Robert E. Barron, Bishop of WinonaRochester

November 30, Wednesday Curia Day of Reflection - all day event in Winona

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Missionary Discipleship

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Invite a Family to Christ in His Church This Year �n last month’s Courier, Bishop Barron

challenged everyone in the diocese to invite another family to church this year. Obviously, if everyone did that, and everyone accepted and came, we’d double in size! That is an incredible vision.

But people are often concerned about how to do this without feeling awkward. I created a short video to help people answer this call and invite (see https://www.dowr.org/offices/missionary-discipleship/resources.html ).

Perhaps this article can help as well.

How Do You Invite Someone to Mass?

This isn’t hard, but there are ways to do it that will feel more natural and promise more success. And you won’t feel too awkward!

1. First, consider your entire list of connections. Of

course there are family and friends, but if you take 15 minutes you can jot down every connection you have by using the acronym FRANKI. Create columns for Friends, Relatives, Acquaintances, Neighbors, Kids’ friends’ parents, and Internet connections: then get a pencil and write as many as you can down.

You’re probably more connected than you think!

Now pray with that list by simply asking the Lord, "Who do you want me to invite first?"

Inviting Non-Practicing Catholics • •

3. You’ve now chosen a person(s) and noted that he

or she is a non-practicing Catholic or a “none” with little Christian background. How do you invite them?

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The other route is in the more formal invitation.

Invite a person or family to come to Mass with you and then share the afternoon together–Mass and brunch at your home, or a football game, or taking kids to the rink to skate. If he or she is ambivalent about Mass, he or she may say yes because of the lure of sharing more time with you and your family. Sharing festivities together around the holidays is an ideal time to invite back non-practicing Catholics back to Mass as well.

Inviting the “Nones” •

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2. You’re now thinking about a particular person

or family. That person/couple/family is probably in one of two categories: either someone who used to attend Mass and doesn’t now, for reasons you don’t necessarily know, or someone who was never a practicing Christian, perhaps a “none.” If this someone used to attend your own parish, it is entirely likely they are waiting for someone to invite them back.

People can drift out unintentionally, and knowing they are missed is a real pull back. Or perhaps they have reasons – but you can still invite them to reconsider and return. If the person(s) is a “none” and has little background in Christianity, inviting him/her to Mass may be a little deep-end. You may need to consider inviting to what some call a “shallow entry” event. More on this below.

(You can also invite a person who is happily practicing his or her own religion or Christianity in another denomination. You will likely get a no, but it doesn’t hurt to ask, and maybe people will agree to come because they are just curious – that’s okay!

If you invite these folks to Mass, share that this is an invitation to experience and to prayer, and that the Eucharist is for people who are fully initiated Catholics and in a state of grace. But the more we pray together when we can, the better off we are.)

One route is the informal invitation. This can be spontaneous, and as simple as having a conversation about what is going on this weekend, and then inviting him to Mass with you.

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Again, the ease of one on one conversation is a possibility. If this person has no background in Christianity, consider inviting your friend or relative first to a deeper end conversation, complete with caffeine, or a beer, or a cigar. Couch it as a “getting to know you better” conversation about the big ideas. And listen. Share your Christian perspective on life, but mostly listen and enjoy the conversation.

Another option: consider inviting the person to something more “shallow entry” that isn’t Mass but exposes them to your faith: as mentioned above, a parish festival, or something like Alpha (which promotes deep conversations about Christian themes with a great meal), or even Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Many Catholics consider adoration to be an insider activity, but it doesn’t have to be. Invite a friend having a hard time to come with you for where you go for sacred peace and quiet for 15 to 30 minutes. Then go out for coffee.

. What many people are concerned about is not the invitation, but how to handle the person’s response! Some will say yes, and that’s great. Just follow through and make it as easy as possible for the person to come - pick him up, or arrange a meeting on his schedule. But if someone doesn’t say yes, here are some ways to handle the response: •

No! - Smile and say, “Okay then! But it’s an open invitation.” OR “Sorry–did I say something wrong?” You want to know what is behind the no. They may say…

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I was hurt by the Church. - “On behalf of every good person I know in the Church, I am really sorry that happened to you.”

I don’t believe that stuff anymore. - “Oh, okay.

But - what stuff don’t you believe?” And if they bring up something you don’t know how to respond to, find the answer, or say, "I don’t know how to respond to that, but I can share why I believe."

I’ve had a bad experience of Church/ Christians. - Start with sympathy and listen more than anything. Maybe share that your

Susan Windley-Daoust

Director of Missionary Discipleship swindley@dowr.org

Free to Be Holy

Diocesan Charismatic Renewal Conference Inspiring talks, prayer, music, lunch, with Matt Lozano, Heart of the Father Ministries.

Nov 12, 2022 - 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

St. Francis of Assisi Church, Rochester

Please register by Nov 6 at: https://www.dowr.org/event-details/3705

Questions? Contact Susan: swindley@dowr.org

Eucharistic Adoration and healing prayer open to all Nov. 12, 7 p.m. @ St. Francis

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experience isn’t theirs, but do it with compassion. Maybe your experience is actually shared, but you believe and go to Church anyway.

I don’t know… - Let them finish that statement.

They are processing your invitation. Ask them to finish the statement if they don’t.

I wouldn’t know what to do. - “That’s not a problem. It’s basically being quiet and respectful, and I can help with standing up, kneeling stuff.”

I can’t go back. - There is probably real pain behind this, and maybe confusion. Don’t leave it hanging; ask why he/she thinks this. Maybe it is a matter of confession, or the person has irregular marriage questions. Listen, encourage, offer compassion. But you may need to recommend or connect this person with someone who can help, such as a parish priest. Ask if you can make that connection for him or her.

Gameify the Challenge!

As mentioned above, Bishop Barron is challenging everyone to bring one family to the Church. In education circles, lots of people talk about gameifying a harder task. Maybe you can do the same by connecting with a good friend in your parish and say, “Hey, Bishop Barron is challenging every one of us to bring someone to Church this year. I’ll do it if you do it. Are you game? Want to see who does it first?” A parish could even make a “game” of this with parishioners who’s going to win? The KCs? The CCWs? The youth group? Etc. Of course, this isn’t a game. There are real people all over southern Minnesota who would benefit eternally as well as right now from a relationship with Jesus Christ in his Church! But that doesn’t mean the art of invitation can’t be fun and joyful. After all, “joy is a net of love by which we catch souls” (St. Teresa of Calcutta).

'We Are Saved in Community'

Our fall diocesan Emmaus lay formation group - discerning together their charisms through the Called & Gifted process - met together for a formation session on a Saturday morning in mid-October.

I arrived early to the our parish site to get things set up, and was scurrying about to have the breakfast ready and coffee made, tables and chairs in place, materials out, etc. And I was feeling very rushed with many tasks to complete before participants began to arrive.

After two failed attempts to get the coffee urn I’d brought along to make coffee (rather than just the hot water coming out of the spigot), I was getting a little desperate. And, then, I went looking for the box with the materials for the session. It was nowhere to be found as I’d left it on a table in the mailroom at our Pastoral Center offices.

Now, true desperation set in! I felt so very discouraged and didn’t know what to do. Just then, the outside door opened, and Tom walked in. I related to him my tale of woe, and he offered some quick reassurance and then headed back out to the parking lot to check in with his fellow participants from Resurrection Parish in Rochester.

When he returned a few minutes later, he was joined by his wife, Angie, and by Pat and Cheryl. They approached me, asked how I was doing, listened and offered some consolation, and then inquired how they could help. And, then, they each got busy with the various tasks needed to get ready for the session. Angie and Cheryl worked on setting up for the breakfast. Pat took over the coffee making. Tom put out some snacks. And, in the midst of this activity, Angie stopped me and took a moment to pray with me, asking that the Spirit would guide me and bring me a sense of peace.

Now, you might wonder how this relates to my experience at the Emmaus session. Well, I was feeling quite overwhelmed and rather desperate.

I wasn’t able to “fix” things on my own. And then, along came the “community” in the form of Tom, Angie, Cheryl, and Pat. They literally “saved” our session by their support and service.

To be sure, this is distinct from how we are “saved” by Jesus Christ through His Church. But, I believe strongly that God’s grace builds on our nature (which God has also created). So, I could reflect on my deep gratitude for the efforts of my friends to help get me through, and see them as a reflection of the deeper way that I come to know God’s saving grace through the gift of His Community, His “Body” on earth – the Church. I am not saved from my sin on my own; Christ comes to me “within the fellowship of the saved” who are my sisters and brothers in faith.

This brought me back to something I’d been working on earlier that week. A colleague had asked me about a good resource on the Trinity for an RCIA participant she was working with. I directed to her the section of the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults on the Trinity, and I also found an excellent article online, posted at denvercatholic.org, with the title, “Love revealed: Understanding the central mystery of the Trinity.”

Todd Graff

Director of Lay Formation & RCIA tgraff@dowr.org

Brothers and sisters: I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace: one Body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

�reetings of Peace!

By faith and through baptism God calls us into the community of the Church, and it is here, within the fellowship of the saved, that we find our salvation.

It is true that God calls us each by name, that God reaches into our personal histories and, through faith, summons us to salvation in the Church.

However, God does not save us independently and separately from others…. Jesus is not my savior, he is our savior, and we are not saved alone, we are saved in community. (pp. 16-17)

Its author, Elizabeth Klein, describes beautifully our understanding of God as Trinity:

Although God is one, God is not solitary. God is a communion of persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – only one God, having only one divine nature, but existing in three persons who can be named, not because they are three separate somethings, but because they are three distinct someones. This revelation about God is no small matter. It means that God in himself is relational. It means that, as St. John puts it, ‘God is love’ (1 Jn 4:8).

5 Lay Formation & RCIA

-1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 27-31

I was now freed up to step back and figure out how to make things work without the materials I had prepared. I set up my laptop and then found the pastor to help me access the parish’s guest wi-fi account so that I could pull up the session materials digitally. I met with the presenter, and he was great about adjusting to the situation.

In the end, the session went very well, and people had a great experience learning, sharing, and praying together - thanks to some wonderful and supportive colleagues, and to the grace of the Holy Spirit!

I took most of the drive home from Owatonna to reflect on what I’d learned from the experience. And, I’d like to share some of my thoughts…

My strongest impression from the experience took me back to something from a book we’d read for a lay formation class several years ago, Five Great Catholic Ideas, by Edward Wm. Clark. The first of these great ideas was this: “We are saved in community.” As Fr. Clark states it:

So, our own identity as Christians, as deeply rooted in our being part of a “community,” reflects the very nature of our God who is “not solitary” but rather “a communion of persons.” Relationship is central to who God is, and central to who we are as God’s creation.

Knowing and understanding this has profound implications for our lives. We must honor God by honoring the relationships of our lives – with our family members, friends, neighbors, parishioners, fellow citizens, and even our “enemies.” And, to do this we must reflect in our lives the very nature of God who is Pure Love. As Klein writes, “The Trinity is the central mystery of Christian life because love - or charity - is both the goal and the means of the entire Christian life.”

In this too-often weary, divided, war-torn, environmentally scarred, broken world we live in, we must offer the hope of community, of relationship and reconciliation, of care for one another (and especially for “the least” of our sisters and brothers [Mt. 25:31-46]). As Christians, we cannot in good faith turn away from one another, and we cannot each save ourselves on our own.

November is a beautiful month for us to reflect on all of this as we honor and celebrate the Communion of Saints. Dorothy Day, the co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, was born and died in the month of November. Her words can offer an eloquent conclusion: “We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.” Deo Gratias!

At death, millions of fellow Christians will welcome us into heaven and stand with us before God, proclaiming, "This one, too, is a Christian." As long as we remain faithful to the Church, the community of salvation, we can be certain of our salvation in Christ. The ultimate testimony that we are saved not alone, but in community, is that even in death we do not stand alone. We have fellowship in the communion of saints.

-Edward Wm. Clark, Five Great Catholic Ideas, p. 38, The Crossroad Publishing Company

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Divine Worship

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The Church in the

Liturgies of November When the Lord comes in glory, and all his angels with him, death will be no more and all things will be subject to him. But at the present time some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others have died and are being purified, while still others are in glory, contemplating "in full light, God himself triune and one, exactly as he is."

�he above paragraph from #954 of

the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes the “three states of the Church.” Liturgically, we celebrate each of these states of the Church in the month of November.

Our liturgical celebrations for this month always begin with the celebration of All Saints on the first day of November. On this day we remember and call upon all the holy ones who have “washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

(Rev. 7:14). Here we celebrate the great Church in heaven, or the “Church Triumphant.”

The Catechism reminds us that in our lives of faith, we not only look upon the examples of the saints for encouragement, but we also call upon them in prayer for their assistance on our earthly journey. The Catechism, repeating Lumen Gentium from the Second Vatican Council, reminds us that, “the saints do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus....So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped.” (CCC 956).

Since the very beginning, the Church has called upon the saints for timely help and has held them in high esteem. Even the oldest surviving prayers of the Mass call upon the saints for intercession. Feast-day celebrations of saints quickly accumulated through the centuries, as well as a listing of certain special saints in the Canon (Eucharistic Prayer) of the Mass.

Our celebration commemorating all of the saints,

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which we know as All Saints Day, was celebrated locally in many dioceses throughout the centuries, and came to be a formal celebration in the entire Church by the year 1000.

In paragraph 958, the Catechism quotes #50 of Lumen Gentium and sacred scripture, and tells us that the Church “from the very earliest days of the Christian religion, has honored with great respect the memory of the dead; and 'because it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins' she offers her suffrages for them." While this happens at every Mass, our next day, All Souls Day, the 2nd of November, is a special day set aside to remember this state of the Church, often called the “Church Suffering,” the souls in purgatory.

The earliest of the Church’s prayers and antiphons for the funeral Mass, some of which are still used in the liturgy, contain classical images that ask God to free these souls from their sins and bring them to the glory of Heaven. They call upon God to rescue the deceased from the “gloomy darkness” and bring them into the “holy light, once promised to Abraham and to his descendants” (Offertory chant of the Funeral Mass).

On All Souls Day, we celebrate liturgies to remember all of the faithful departed and call upon God to give them eternal rest. To increase the prayers offered for the dead, each priest may say three Masses on this day.

Very Rev. Patrick Arens Director of Divine Worship parens@dowr.org

With a celebration for the Church in heaven, and another for the Church in purgatory, we have one state of the Church yet to be celebrated in November, that of the Church on earth, the “Church militant.”

This is the Church whom the Catechism describes as the “pilgrims on earth,” the ones “who are of Christ and who have his Spirit [that] form one Church and in Christ cleave together” (CCC 954). This is the Church that is most visible to us, the one that we pray with week after week, and the one that has over a billion members in the world today.

The next major feast in November is the feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran in Rome on November 9th. This is a significant feast for the entire Church as it celebrates the dedication of the official church of the pope which houses his chair (cathedra) and is the place from which he presides over the Universal Church. This church was dedicated in the year 324 by Pope Sylvester.

Fittingly, this feast is a powerful reminder of the Church on earth as it celebrates the dedication of the Cathedral of the pope, who is the sign of unity for all Catholics throughout the world. At one time, all baptisms in Rome were celebrated in its famous baptistry and countless numbers of Christians began their faith journey there.

The month of November is a special month for remembering the Church and all its members. The liturgical celebrations of All Saints Day, All Souls Day, and the Dedication of St. John Lateran remind us of the unity of the Church in heaven, the Church on earth and the Church in purgatory. Together, we worship God and “form one family in Christ” (CCC 959) looking forward to the day when all gaze upon the Lamb for eternity in heaven.

Producing Vocations Director of Vocations jkern@dowr.org

�nce, when attending a large youth event, I had

someone propose the following question to me, I believe rhetorically: "Do you mean to tell me that of the hundreds of Catholic kids in front of us, none of them have a vocation to the priesthood or religious life?" My response was containing my bewilderment at what their question was driving at. Why does it seem so difficult for young people to discern their call from God to the priesthood and religious life?

The answer to this question is obviously multivalent and requires responses on numerous levels for the answer, and yet, it is somewhat of a simple

commitment to prayer, and they need someone to accompany them on this path who is themselves living a life of friendship with God. Vocations come from the example of those who are living it out themselves and who are willing to teach others how to grow. Being a good example is a first step. Teaching others from your example is an important second step. This is the culture shift that needs to happen in our parishes and Catholic institutions in order for young people to consistently hear the voice of Jesus inviting them to give everything and follow Him. Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

Vocations Life, Marriage & Family

Rev. Jason Kern

response as well: many are still being called but are not hearing the voice of Jesus to follow Him. Often, young people who have felt called in the past have distracted themselves with other voices and technology that diverts from the quiet interior resonance of God inviting. Social pressures, lack of support from family or the culture around them, and other enticing life options filter out the possibility of hearing Jesus beckoning in the depths of their spirit. This begs the question, how does it happen that anyone hears the call from God in today’s world?

The good news is that many are still responding!

We have 20 seminarians for the Diocese of WinonaRochester! We had at least three women and one man enter religious life this past fall after finding the clarity of their vocations in our diocese! None of this happened by chance.

How does it happen for young people to answer God’s call? They need to be formed as disciples!

What we mean by this is essential. We have to mean someone who follows Jesus in a committed life of friendship. They need to be on a path of deepening

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-Mark 10:21

The Solemnity of Christ the King and the Importance of Religious Liberty �n the last Sunday of each liturgical year, the

Church celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, or Christ the King. Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1925 with his encyclical Quas primas (“In the first”) to respond to growing secularism and atheism. He recognized that attempting to “thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law” out of public life would result in continuing discord among people and nations. This solemnity reminds us that while governments come and go, Christ reigns as King forever.

During the early twentieth century, in Mexico, Russia, and some parts of Europe, militantly secularistic regimes threatened not just the Catholic Church and its faithful but civilization itself. Pope Pius XI’s encyclical gave Catholics hope and - while governments around them crumbled - the assurance that Christ the King shall reign forever. Jesus Christ “is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind” (Quas primas, 7).

The Lectionary readings this year emphasize the preeminince of Christ, through whom and for whom all things were created. He is head of the Church, the firstborn from the dead, the one who kindles in us the flame of hope in God’s mercy.

The goal of life in the Church—the sacramental, moral, and spiritual life—is communion with the Triune God, which we realize by being drawn ever more deeply into the life of Christ.

The eternal life we receive in the midst of the Church comes ultimately from Christ, and the Church connects us to Christ, “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” In following him and allowing ourselves to be transformed by grace, we find authentic freedom.

Today, religious freedom for many people means that we can believe whatever we want in private, but when we enter the public square or the marketplace, we may not speak of anything that relates to our faith. However,

Peter Martin

Director of Life, Marriage & Family and Communications pmartin@dowr.org

the Church acknowledges the reign of Christ, not only privately, but publicly. This solemnity encourages us the celebrate and live out our faith in public. “Thus by sermons preached at meetings and in churches, by public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed and by solemn processions, men unite in paying homage to Christ, whom God has given them for their King” (Quas primas, 26).

For Christians, when our faith is repeatedly marginalized in public life, we can fall into the habit of compartmentalizing our lives. We love Jesus in our private lives, but we shrink from acknowledging the kingship of Christ in social life. When we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, we declare to the world and remind ourselves that Jesus is the Lord of the Church and of the entire universe.

November 11-19, the nine days preceding the Solemnity, the USCCB encourages Catholics to participate in a Novena to Christ the King. Daily intentions and a concluding Prayer to Christ the King can be found https://www.usccb.org/committees/religious-liberty/christ-king-2022-novena. Let us take this time to offer prayers to our sovereign king for the freedom of the Church. Connect with the USCCB Committee for Religious Liberty. Text FREEDOM to 84576 and sign up for First Freedom News, the USCCB Committee for Religious Liberty’s monthly newsletter.

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8

Meet the Families

Catholic Charities

Ready to Adopt Through Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota The following statements from prospective adoptive families, along with other introductory materials, are available online at: ccsomn.org/adoption-program-page/ families-ready-to-adopt/ Karl and Grace

We are Karl and Grace. We have been happily married for 12 years.

Grace works as a secretary at a school and Karl works as a mechanic at a John Deere Dealership. In our free time we enjoy camping, fishing, and hiking.

We want to adopt a child so that we can expand our family and that we can love, care for, and make wonderful memories with them. A child living in our home would have many hours of one-on-one time with us as parents. We would raise our child to love, respect one another, be honest, trust worthy, work hard and to be responsible. We would teach them the life skills that they need to be successful in life.

We look forward to making memories with a child and sharing the life experiences we have when we travel. Whether it is going on our annual trip up north to the MN Boundary Waters to fish or hiking the MN State Parks. There is so many things to do and see at each park and many things to explore. We would want to take our child with us on our traveling adventures and cannot wait to make memories together as a family.

tional therapy business. Both Ben and Sam have flexible and supportive jobs that allow for a great work life + family balance. We live on our little slice of heaven on a lake in southern Minnesota.

We are so lucky to have grandma, grandpa, and uncle nearby and we love to visit our aunt and cousins in Ohio. We stay connected to Luella’s birth mom and meet up annually. Our family enjoys: weekend adventures, being outdoors, lake + cabin life, socializing with friends and family, checking out local parks, baking and traveling all over the world (picture is of our family in Hawaii).

We love finding and creating new family traditions together and can’t wait to add another child to the mix.

Sarah Vetter

Director of Pregnancy, Parenting & Adoption Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota

enjoy (volleyball, basketball, softball, baseball, wrestling, dance, band – just to name a few).

Halley, Mady & Layne can’t wait to have another sibling to join in the fun and help care for as well. Please continue to keep the birth mothers and families, the adoptive families, those who help facilitate the journey of adoption, and especially the precious children in your thoughts and prayers, and we will continue to be hopeful that our family will grow through the blessing of adoption. Your support is appreciated!

Brandon and Rachel

Ben and Sam

Andrew and Bridget Greetings! We are the Olsen Family – Andrew (37), Bridget (36), Halley (11), Mady (9) & Layne (7). We started our family through adoption and are excited to be approved and on the waiting list one last time as we definitely have more love to share and a strong network of family and friends to support us. We like to stay busy together as a family, from camping in the summer to watching our kids participate in the many activities they

We both grew up in small towns and are proud of the values small town life instilled in us. We are kind, hardworking, and trustworthy. We always put family first, and our faith is an important part of our lives. We both work in the medical field and enjoy helping and nurturing others.

We chose to adopt because we both love kids, and we wanted to experience everything that comes with parenting. We always wanted to raise a family of our own, and we felt adoption was the best way for us to grow our family.

A day in the life of a child in our home is full of fun, love, learning, and hugs. We are a very active family. We go for walks, bike rides, or scooter rides to nearby parks after work/daycare. We love to be silly and play. We often dance in the kitchen or play “chase” around the house or at the park. We always read at least one story before going to bed.

On the weekends we usually go on an adventurehiking at a state park, visiting family members, or going to a children’s museum, zoo, or trampoline park. We are always looking for new, fun, and exciting things to do.

Karl and Grace

Ben and Sam Hi! We are the Olsen family—Ben, Sam & Luella (not pictured, Ruby—our dog!). We are looking to add a +1 to our family of 3. We adopted our daughter; Luella in June 2018 and she is ready to be a big sister. Everyone that meets Luella leaves with a smile on their face. She is the perfect blend of kind, compassionate, silly, and smart. Ben works as a Senior Project Manager for a Health and Safety Company. Sam owns her own pediatric occupa-

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Andrew and Bridget

Brandon and Rachel

Mark and Kelly

Mark and Kelly

Steve and Teresa We are Steve and Teresa and are excited to become first time parents! We hope to adopt and love multiple children to our future family.

Steve works as a regional truck driver delivering flour and has served our country for twenty years as a Master Sergeant in the Air National Guard. Teresa has dedicated herself to healing others at the bedside as a registered nurse for eleven

Steve and Teresa

9

ting r o pp al u S u r n fo An u ' s o ! e Y n ti i k r g i n a pa Tha lic Ch m d a C o , an e h h e t t l Mon Ca y Bott com t e f e i s L or ioce ir supp ct d e Bab p the Res the .

Catholic Charities

We would like to tell you a little about our story. We are Mark and Kelly and we have not been able to have a biological child. We are on a wonderful journey looking to grow our family through an open adoption. Mark is an elementary teacher with a passion for Robotics, mathematics and Science. Kelly is a small animal veterinarian caring for many animals for the past 15 years. We have two dogs who we love spending time with.

We enjoy family traditions and get-togethers, laughing and spending time with each other. Some of our passions include anything Disney, Star Wars and Marvel, fishing and hiking, antiquing, playing games and enjoying a good movie. We are looking forward to sharing our lives with a child watching them grow and learn, going on adventurous travels across the U.S. seeing zoos and aquariums, visiting museums or national and state parks.

We can’t wait to cherish the love we can offer by expanding our family. Our story is always evolving, and we would love for you to visit our facebook page and share with others so that one day we can become adoptive parents and make all new memories.

s was cross to show r babie e, r i a e e r ang b e h t h s o b r c t r o n fo Oc hione y Oct with llectio life e r l is g e t r t o t v n i a c p pac er e choos y bo pecial h b m t i a e tly ur a b at a s tog omen irec s in o led l d e i w f v l r l e i ga fo wi ou bab er y line, or nation h w t e e n ld Wh ted on ch do with Chi a a s e r n h, do the and elp to hurc of mo r c e t h le h rent, t a s b o i e g M v i l tan tion of . In s’ the se. e s i e t i r or id ds e Cha d prov ing a p er nee dioc and c w i n y h l e t a u n o F ho rs by p ts or Cat tance , the worke d e e c e n s n i e cial ir baby Ass ies in n paym assista o s y h il r he l fam es, ca nancia eet wit n for t ces the , i i r t a f g utili ion to rents m te a pl e resou nselin t a n u i a h add ctant p m cre ted to t cy co ucatio d e n e c e ry exp help th conne pregna nting Eve . s t e who et them items, nd par o paren g a tt years. She cure and . Baby nning cos ence! o thos , n r a d rently uses her l o t e e t f p a ne le n dif and r parish time and talent ptio availab akes a d o e t d u d a ona n at yo e coul volunteering in the lso ruly m d a o e h .W ar aig nt community and loves all w camp ogram ou! atio n o t o d pr being a stay-at-home e u the ut y o th k yo inated mation witho t n wife. n a n an tio Th coord th for ome ona gifts c d i Being married for w a d o f h y a , il w or man ten years has taught us ake e Fund and Ch N ool o m h s c o c s t M n ch er to appreciate the joy in like ssista s Moth inona, rg/ t rea o d l n A the little things in life.

W .o ou tie d u w d Chil hari x 379, csomn gn” o C y Spending time together c n c If pai ra holi PO Bo www. e t m a h a t has been the cornerstone C C t , Mo nt to und nline a Bottle e F of our relationship—we s e y e o b Bab tanc given “ s hope to share our love of i e s at r As reading, cooking, and playing 7 o d indic n.

8 9 55 tio an cribbage with our future child. ate tes sec n o d We desire for our child to see no the n i the beauty in life, to learn about God and raise them in the Catholic faith, and for them to find happiness.

In addition, not only will our future children have a stay-at-home mother to always be there for them, but a father who is caring and committed to his family.

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Crucifixion School, La Crescent Marsha Stenzel

Catholic Schools

10

Welcome Back to

Submitted by LORI DATTA

�

rucifixion School is back in session and no masks are required! Our school looks great thanks to Mr. Beach and all the helpers over the summer. It is great to see old friends, meet new staff and students, and get back into the classroom routine. New shoes, school dress code, summer tans, and smiles were the norm for our first week back.

We started off the school year with a prayer service in the church parking lot. The students and teachers formed a large circle while parents,

Marathon Held at St. Mary's School, Madelia Submitted by JEN SLATER

�t. Mary’s, Madelia, held our Non-Public School

Marathon on Wednesday, October 5. Our goal this year was $6000. We spend our marathon day doing a

Superintendent of Catholic Schools mstenzel@dowr.org

who sort of formed a circle around the students, watched. “Lead Me Lord” was played on the school’s new electric piano by Mrs. Norris, the music teacher.

Everyone joined in for the chorus. The sixth-grade class was invited into the center of the circle. The other classes raised their hands and prayed over the sixth-graders since this is their last year at Crucifixion. We ended the prayer service with the song “Go Make a Difference.” Before we headed into school, each class had a bottle of bubbles. Each child had a chance to blow bubbles to help send their prayers off to God.

We welcome to our Crucifixion School family Ms. Maria Breuer. She will be teaching Physical Education this year. She fits right in with the Crucifixion family.

Each year, the sixth-graders do a service project that benefits the school, the church, or the community. It cannot benefit the sixth-graders in any way. By this we mean, the sixth-graders cannot raise money to go the Wisconsin Dells. In the past, the projects have included a food drive, baffles for the gym, a new grand piano for the church, drinking fountains that can fill water bottles on all three levels of the school, furniture for the public library, a new stove, a new refrigerator, and portable basketball hoops.

The sixth-graders are researching ideas for this year’s project. Some ideas are a shed for playground equipment (the teachers tried to get a she shed, but that was a no go), updating the bathrooms, new lockers, and benches for the playground area. Whatever they decide to do, we are sure they will succeed.

Lori Datta teaches sixth grade at Crucifixion School in La Crescent.

color run with students, staff, and families. We enjoy our time together and the messy fun we get to have.

Our rewards for meeting our goals as a school will be to slime the teachers, and have a teacher dance off. Each class has a chance to win rewards and each student can earn extra prizes too for bringing in their money and any amount over their family goal of $125. This money gets to stay right at school.

It’s a great chance to celebrate being who we are, a Catholic School! If you wish to donate, please email jen@stmarysmadeliamn.com.

Jen Slater is the principal of St. Mary School in Madelia.

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New Altar Servers at St. Casimir's School, Wells � ith the completion of an altar server training session with Fr. Gregory Havel, six students at St.

Casimir’s School in Wells have completed the first stage to become Mass servers at St. Casimir Church.

Beginning next week, the students will serve alongside a more experienced fifth or sixth grade server at the two weekday Masses that the SCS students attend. Once they have served for a few Masses, they will be scheduled for the weekend Masses through the rectory. Providing Mass servers for our tri-parish is just one more way that the blessings of SCS extend beyond the school walls. Congratulations to these new servers—their willingness to serve their parish and school is greatly appreciated!

Teresa Chirpich is an administrative assistant at St. Casimir School in Wells.

Submitted by TERESA CHIRPICH

�ith October celebrated as the Month of the

Holy Rosary, St. Casimir’s School students in Wells learned about the mysteries of the Rosary and are collectively praying a decade each school day. “How is this done?” you ask. With a mystery decade consisting of one Our Father, ten Hail Mary prayers and one Glory Be, the Our Father is prayed during lunch when the student body is treated to a reenactment of that day’s mystery—such as the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth or the Baptism of Jesus. The ten Hail Mary “beads” (paper plates with an image of Mary) are provided to the preschool through sixth grade classes. With their teacher’s assistance, the students pray their allotted number of beads each day as a class or by taking turns with individual students leading the prayer. The day’s decade is then closed out by the

L to R: Abigail Chirpich, Saydie Yokiel, Calvin Jewison, Fr. Gregory Havel, Juliana Dulas, Clara Bushlack and Lennox Feist

St. Mary's School, Owatonna, Kicks Off A Great Year Submitted by JONATHAN SCHEELER

�e are excited for the 2022-2023 school year! St.

Mary’s School of Owatonna started off the school year with a root beer float social. Students from preschool through eighth grade and their families were able to mingle on the playground and play yard games. Teachers and staff attended the event which

11 Catholic Schools

Submitted by TERESA CHIRPICH

Learning the Rosary at St. Casimir's School, Wells

fifth and sixth grade students with the Glory Be prayer at the end of the day.

While the benefit of prayer is first and foremost, the students are also learning about the history of the Rosary as it portrays the major events in the life and resurrection of Jesus, practicing their public speaking skills and learning how to organize a theatrical production. We pray that this month of the Rosary will lead us all closer to Mary our Mother, as she points the way to her son Jesus.

Teresa Chirpich is an administrative assistant at St. Casimir School in Wells.

was a great way for students to meet their new teachers! Our advisory board hosted the social and served the root beer floats. This was an awesome event for our students and a fun way to meet new families as well as kick off the 2022 school year.

Within days of kickstarting our school year, we ran full steam ahead into the Marathon. This year was the 15th anniversary of our Marathon and we had a blast! Students helped to raise over $32,000 for St. Mary’s School. All grade levels participated and did something for our community. Students picked up trash, they made cards for the care centers, some made cards for animal shelters, and others repainted sewers. We thank all of our students, teachers, and families for their community service and for raising money to support St. Mary’s School!

Jonathan Scheeler is the marketing and enrollment manager for St. Mary School in Owatonna.

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Middle School Youth Festival 2022

Youth Ministry & Faith Formation

Dana Petricka

Director of Youth Ministry and Faith Formation dpetricka@dowr.org

By MARCIE COWAN

�or more than three decades, the faith for-

mation and youth ministry coordinators from the Worthington Deanery have been planning and hosting a festival bringing middle schoolers together to share faith experiences with peers on a level beyond their own parishes.

On sunny and breezy October 2, after a hiatus because of the COVID pandemic, middle schoolers from our parishes traveled to rural Edgerton to the Full Family Farm. Dan and Ann Full have beef cattle, chickens, cats, Tank the dog, room to pray at the pond, space to do service projects in the grove, and group challenges that help build community by working together. Their ministry helps you get away from the day to day and center yourself for an encounter with the Lord.

Attendants split into three groups so that everyone had an opportunity to participate in the stations. One group, led by Ann, participated in various challenges incorporating the Catholic faith. Simultaneously, the second group participated in a service project for the DOW-R seminarians, and the third group prayed the rosary by the pond. All groups rotated to experience the three activities.

Msgr. Gerald Kosse, the pastor of St. Catherine’s in Luverne and St. Leo’s in Pipestone, was the celebrant for Mass in the grove. It was a very special Mass in a beautiful spot.

The day ended with a prayer service, a huge bonfire, a supper of hot dogs and s’mores, and a blessing by Msgr. Kosse to send us on our way.

Please pray for the middle schoolers who attended this beautiful festival, that the movements of the Holy Spirit in their hearts stirred by this experience may take root in their lives.

Marcie Cowan is the director of faith formation for St. Ann in Slayton, St. Mary in Lake Wilson, and St. Columba in Iona.

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13 Catholic Foundation

Pleas e year' join us fo s Ann ual M r this as we eeting g a t he perso n, wi r again in th a optio vi n Meet . The A rtual ing i s aim n n u a l share e w and o ith indiv d to idual rgani s benef zatio n i forec ts of inves s the ast fo r 202 ting with Than 2-202 the C ks, SM a 3. nd Moni c Execu a Herma n Catho tive Direct , or of lic Fo South th u ern M ndation o e f i n nesot mher a man@ catho licfsm n.org

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In the Diocese

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The Month of Souls in Purgatory

By ELEANORE JONES

�ovember is noted as the Souls in

Purgatory Month. The souls in purgatory are suffering a great deal, and they cannot pray for themselves. They are our brothers and sisters, and, as members of the body of Christ, we must pray and offer sacrifices for those who have gone before us, asking that they may rest in the light of God’s presence.

At this time of the year, we are preserving foods for consumption at a later date. We should also be thinking

Lay Carmelites Celebrate Professions

about ways to preserve our souls. The devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was requested by Our Lady. We should be making the Five First Saturdays devotion (Once done, keep making them!), going to confession monthly, receiving the Holy Eucharist and praying the rosary.

Also, wear the Brown Scapular given to us by Our Lady. She asked Sister Lucia of Fatima to make known to the world to wear this Scapular. Have a priest enroll you in it. Mary has promised that anyone who dies wearing the Brown Scapular and leads a chaste life in his/her vocation will not go to hell.

Mary will also take you into heaven on the Saturday after you die. Knowing that she promised this, we should grasp on to this beautiful devotion.

Thank you to all who attended the National Convention in Minneapolis. We have grown so much in our faith, and the wisdom we received is unending.

I wish all of you a very Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!

Eleanore Jones is the president of the WinonaRochester Diocesan Council of Catholic Women.

By MARIE GOIHL

�he St. Joseph Lay Carmelites in Rochester cel-

ebrated the Temporary Professions of Marilyn Baker, Dorothy Loftus-Nall and Niniek Pronato, along with the Final Profession of Marie Theresa Goihl, T.O.Carm., on September 10, 2022.

The Sacrifice of the Holy Mass was officiated

by Fr. Shawn Heremza and assisted by Deacon Randy Horlocker at the Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

Marie Theresa Goihl is a Third Order Lay Carmelite.

Minnesota Catholic Conference

Inside the Capitol

Whom Should I Vote For?

By MINNESOTA CATHOLIC CONFERENCE

�e are often asked—by both laity and priests—

why the Minnesota Catholic Conference does not produce voter guides or candidate scoresheets that identify candidates and votes they took on specific bills or lay out their positions on issues.

Understandably so, the frequency of this query tends to grow in the weeks leading up to a big election.

MCC does not produce voter guides for some important practical reasons. For one, legislators rarely take clear-cut votes on specific or solitary issues; legislation is often rolled into omnibus bills that include many pieces of legislation and is usually adopted along party-line votes by a whole legislative caucus. Secondly, candidates generally do not respond to questionnaires from outside groups about their positions, particularly ones that do not provide endorsements or campaign contributions. Furthermore, if we were to try and cobble together their positions via public sources, they are often intentionally ambiguous about positions on

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controversial issues, and even the construction of such voter guides would entail editorial choices that could lead to accusations of bias.

Ultimately, we believe relying on voter guides and scoresheets undercuts the process by which citizens must educate themselves about the issues, and form relationships with candidates so that they can influence their work throughout their time in office.

We cannot be content to vote once every couple of years and then wash our hands of the results. Our system requires active participation by its citizens, or important decisions will be left to those who show up. It is why the Church calls the laity to be “faithful citizens.”

The work of faithful citizenship must begin with forming one’s conscience in the Church’s social teaching — the toolbox of principles used to shape social and political life. It is not a set of prescriptions or ready-made answers. Instead, it is a mental model for well-formed Catholics to guide their actions.

This year, Minnesota’s bishops have offered a statement about how to prioritize the principles of Catholic social teaching in light of the signs of the

times, particularly during an election-year debate in which abortion dominates the headlines. Take time to familiarize yourself with the statement, which sheds light on the need for right relationships to create true justice and the preeminence of prenatal justice in our voting considerations.

You may receive the statement in your bulletin at Mass, or you can find it on our election resources page at mncatholic.org/electionresources.

Once we form our conscience, then we inform ourselves of the candidates’ positions and apply our formation to their positions. Making an informed vote requires that we get to know our candidates.

Although MCC does not distribute a candidate scorecard, we do provide you with, among other resources, a questionnaire that you can download to ask questions of your candidates.

Most candidates’ websites provide direct contact information for the candidate. Candidates are surprisingly accessible. We recently published a series of video interviews we conducted with candidates for state legislature so that Catholics have examples of the types of conversations they can have with candidates.

Reaching out directly to candidates will allow you to learn where they stand on issues of life, dignity, and the common good. That is the recipe for informed voting, but also the building blocks for relationships that can help transform our state for the better.

The Minnesota Catholic Conference is the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Minnesota.

Obituaries

Sister Marcella Klein (Sister Benilde), 98, a Franciscan Sister of the Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes, Rochester, died at Assisi Heights, Monday, October 17, 2022.

Sister Marcella was born Marcella Lena Klein, August 18, 1924, in Watertown, SD, to Nicholas and Martha (Lewno) Klein.

She entered the Sisters of St. Francis in 1955, received the name of Sister Mary Benilde, and made perpetual vows in 1961. She received a Bachelor of Science in

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Sister Catherine (Kate) Zimmerman, 91, a Franciscan Sister of the Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes, Rochester, died at Assisi Heights, Thursday October 20, 2022.

Sister Catherine was born Agnes Catherine Zimmerman, January 3, 1931, in Waseca to Henry and Anna (Powell) Zimmerman.

She entered the Sisters of St. Francis in 1949, received the name of Sister Mary Bruce, and made perpetual vows in 1955. She received a bachelor’s degree in 1957 from the College of St. Teresa, Winona; a Masters of Arts degree in social science from The University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN, in 1963; and a Master’s in Social Work degree from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in 1974.

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Sister Catherine was an elementary and secondary school teacher and principal for 20 years. Following her studies, she served as a congregational mental health counselor (19741979) and as a psychotherapist at the Range Mental Health Center, Virginia, MN, as well as Zumbro Valley Mental Health Center, Rochester (1984-1996).

In 1996, Sister Catherine moved to Lake Nancy, Minong, WI, where she enjoyed the North Woods while she cared for the property and served as a psychotherapist and parish volunteer. In 2013, she retired and moved to Rochester.

Survivors of Sister Catherine include her Franciscan Sisters, with whom she shared life for 73 years; one sister, Mary Jean Mackey of Hudson, WI; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; three brothers, John, James, and Joseph Zimmerman; and three sisters, Ruth Zimmerman, Roseanne Volz (George), and Marianne Ernst (George).

A private Resurrection Liturgy was held at Assisi Heights on October 27, 2022, followed by burial at Calvary Cemetery.

Suggested memorials are to the Sisters of St. Francis, Office of Mission Advancement, Assisi Heights, 1001 14th St. NW, Rochester, MN 55901.

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In the Diocese

Father Roger Schiltz, 80, a senior priest of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, died Sept. 28.

Roger John Schiltz was born September 25, 1942, in Caledonia, to Leo & Antoninette (Bouquei) Schiltz. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1968 and served at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Winona; St. Francis of Assisi, Rochester; Sacred Heart, Owatonna; Immaculate Conception, Wilson; & the Winona Newman Center. He went on to serve as an Air Force chaplain from 1976 to 1996. After retiring from military service, he lived in Las Vegas, NV.

education from the College of St. Teresa, Winona, in 1969 and a Masters in Education in guidance and counseling from South Dakota State University, Brookings, in 1971.

Sister Marcella served as a teacher of elementary education for 30 years between St. Francis School, Rochester; Ss Peter and Paul School, Glencoe; and Queen of Angels School, Austin. She also taught at St. Juliana School, Chicago, IL; Immaculate Conception School, Watertown, SD; and Willow Lake Public School, Willow Lake, SD. Following her years of teaching, Sister Marcella was the program director for the Boys and Girls Club Kinship Program in Watertown, SD, from 1988 to 1994. She retired in 1994, and moved to Assisi Heights in 2006.

Survivors of Sister Marcella include her Franciscan Sisters, with whom she shared life for 67 years. She was preceded in death by her parents; and brothers, George and William Klein; and a sister, Helen Klein.

A private Resurrection Liturgy was held at Assisi Heights October 20, 2022, followed by burial at Calvary Cemetery.

Suggested memorials are to the Sisters of St. Francis, Office of Mission Advancement, Assisi Heights, 1001 14th St. NW, Rochester, MN 55901.

Sister M. Noel Ewald, SSND, 98, professed in 1946, died October 21, 2022, at Our Lady of Good Counsel, Mankato.

Sister Noel was born in Adams and attended Sacred Heart Elementary School. She graduated from Adams Public School in 1942 and entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1943. Following profession of first vows in 1946, she worked as a home service sister until 1955. At that time the SSND Mankato Province faced a shortage of teachers, receiving more requests than could be filled. Some home service sisters, including Sister Noel, were recruited to become teachers. For the next 25 plus years she taught primary and intermediate grades in Catholic Schools. In the Diocese of Winona-Rochester she taught at St. Casimir and St. Stanislaus, Winona; St. Felix, Wabasha; and Crucifixion, La Crescent.

Following some years of community service at Good Counsel, Sister Noel moved to St. Paul where she was part of the Sisters Care Program, which assisted elderly people who wished to remain in their homes.

Sister Noel’s Funeral Liturgy was held October 28, 2022, with Father Gene Stenzel as presider.

She is survived by nieces and nephews; and her sisters in community, the School Sisters of Notre Dame; and was preceded in death by her parents, August and Helena (Krapp) Ewald; her sisters, Sister Mary Damian, SSND (Loretta), Sister M. Cecile, OSF (Esther), Sister M. Cosmas, CSJ (Bernadine), Pauline Morgan and Eleanor Coffer; and her brothers, Wilton, Victor, Marcus, George and Augustine.

November 2022 w The Courier w dowr.org

November 2022

Commission Starts Planning Global Report on Child Protection Efforts

By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Oct. 28, 2022 - With a renewed membership, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors met at the Vatican in late October and laid the groundwork for devising an annual report on child protection efforts by the Catholic Church globally.

Oblate Father Andrew Small, commission secretary, told reporters Oct. 28 that members also looked at the commission's new relationship to the disciplinary section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and continued their efforts to promote greater transparency and fuller reporting to victims about the outcome of their cases.

"In our engagement with victim survivors, the acknowledgement of the wrong that was done to them is primary, being listened to, being believed," Father Small said. "There's nothing that takes the place of being believed and heard."

But, he said, "seeing the wrongdoer continue to flourish at times or to appear without sanction is also very painful," so victims are understandably confused or upset when they are not informed about actions taken by the church against an accused offender.

Because the commission is not involved in individual investigations and disciplinary procedures, Father Small said he could not comment on the case of Bishop Michel Santier of Créteil, France. When the Vatican announced in 2021 that the bishop

Saints,

cont'd from pg. 2 "Indeed, peace must be built, and like any construction it requires effort, collaboration, patience," he said. And it requires acts of justice and mercy.

While many people today try to convince everyone that only power and force can guarantee peace,

Continental Stage, cont'd from pg. 1

country along with lay persons then reflected on these listening sessions and then shared what was heard with the Holy See in a national synthesis. The USCCB National Synthesis can be found here. Now, in this next stage of the Synod, the DCS serves as a tool for discussion and reflection between episcopal conferences based on a continental grouping.

Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine, who has been shepherding the synodal process in the United States, welcomed the DCS saying, “The Document for the Continental Stage is a profound reflection that brings together the hopes and concerns expressed by the geographically diverse communities within the universal Church in the first stage of the Synod.

As we continue to the next stage, this document will be fundamental in our ongoing discernment.”

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The Courier

was retiring, the bishop had said it was for health reasons. No one contradicted him publicly until midOctober when the Diocese of Créteil confirmed he had been credibly accused of sexual misconduct and disciplined by the Vatican.

The Vatican still needs to find a way to be more open while respecting local laws that protect the reputation of someone who is not guilty of a civil crime but may have violated church law, Father Small said.

If the church cannot figure that out, he said, not only will it be bad for the institutional church, "but it will be continually painful for the victims, who are the source and summit of the commission's focus."

When Pope Francis reorganized the Roman Curia, he linked the commission to the disciplinary section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Father Small, writing in L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, said the move ensures the commission "would maintain its independence as an advisory body to the pope, with access to the bodies that exercise leadership within the church and with the mandate to oversee the adequacy of the church's policies and procedures in the area of abuse prevention and safeguarding."

So, Father Small wrote, the commission "will continue to be led by a president delegate, appointed by the pope and reporting directly to the pontiff. And decisions regarding the personnel, the members of the commission, as well as the proposals it produces, will remain independent of the dicastery. Pope Francis has been very clear that the independent voices of the members of the commission and those it serves should not be compromised."

U.S. Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley of Boston has been president of the commission since its establishment in 2014.

During the commission's meeting Oct. 27-29, it also announced the launch of a fund to help finance the establishment of "suitable centers where indi-

viduals who have experienced abuse, and their family members, can find acceptance and an attentive hearing, and be accompanied in a process of healing and justice, as indicated in the motu proprio 'Vos Estis Lux Mundi.'"

Father Small told reporters that he believed 70 to 80 of the 114 bishops' conferences in the world do not have stable, publicly accessible reporting mechanisms called for in Vos Estis, mainly because they do not have the resources. But with major funding from the Italian bishops' conference and contributions from others, those listening and reporting posts will be established.

As for the annual report on the church's child protection efforts worldwide, a report the pope asked the commission in April to develop, Father Small said commission members outlined a design for the report.

The first section, he said, would summarize reports bishops give to the commission while making their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican regarding their guidelines and implementation of Vos Estis.

For the second section, commission members will divide into teams to look at the church in specific geographical areas, focusing on giving a broader overview of child protection efforts in Africa, in Asia and Oceania, in Europe and in the Americas.

A third section will look at how dicasteries of the Roman Curia are including safeguarding in their activities; for example, how the Dicastery for Clergy promotes safeguarding awareness in seminaries, he said.

The final section will look at broader church efforts to protect children in the world by, for example, rescuing child soldiers, protecting migrant and refugee children, ensuring their safety in orphanages and foster care homes.

While Father Small said the commission should have something to give the pope in 2023, he does not expect to collect enough "actionable data" to begin doing a full annual report until 2024.

For the Continental Stage of the Synod, the USCCB will be joining with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in holding 10 virtual Continental Assemblies, including several in Spanish and French, in late 2022 and early 2023. Representatives from each diocese in the U.S. and Canada will be attending one of these assemblies to reflect on and discuss the Document for the Continental Stage. These discussions will then be brought together in the North American Continental Synthesis and submitted to the Holy See by March 31, 2023.

“The North American Continental Stage will create opportunities to engage the diversity of the People of God in the Church in North America in continued listening and meditation on the content and the reflection questions proposed by the Document for the Continental Stage,” said Richard Coll, executive director of the USCCB’s Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development, who was appointed in June 2021 to coordinate the effort of the U.S. bishops for the Synod. “The virtual format will allow for greater accessibility, and thus a wider and more diverse participation by the People of God and will

also provide more opportunities for the bishops in the United States and Canada to engage in the listening sessions.”

Begun in October 2021, the “Synod on Synodality” was recently extended by Pope Francis through October 2024, to allow for more time for reflection and discernment from both the local and universal Church. The Universal Phase of the Synod will be held in two parts, the first in October 2023 and the second a year later in October 2024.

“The Holy Father has given the Church a great gift in extending the Synod through October 2024,” said Bishop Flores. “As we move forward, I encourage the People of God to utilize this Synodal time as an invitation to continue to cultivate the insights and fruits of their local Synodal consultations, and to work toward building an ecclesial culture of meditation on the Gospel, attentive listening, and prayerful pastoral decision-making.”

The Document for the Continental Stage as well as additional information and resources about the North American Continental Stage are available at usccb.org/synod.

the teaching of Jesus and the example of the saints show "peace is not achieved by conquering or defeating someone, it is never violent, it is never armed."

To begin to sow peace, Pope Francis asked people to look at themselves and ask, "In the places where we live, study and work, do we bring tension, words that hurt, gossip that poisons, controversy that divides? Or do we open the path to peace: Do we forgive those who have offended us, care for those who are at the margins, redress some injustice by

helping those who have less? This is building peace."

At the end of his midday talk, the pope asked for prayers for his trip Nov. 3-6 to Bahrain so that his meetings with local Christians and with Muslim leaders would promote, "in the name of God, the cause of fraternity and peace, which our times so desperately and urgently need."

And "please," he said, "don't forget martyred Ukraine; let us pray for peace, we pray that in Ukraine there would be peace."