Sharing the spirit of St. Francis with the world V O L . 1 2 6 / N O . 1 1 • APRIL 2019
IN THIS ISSUE:
News from around the Catholic World PAGES 6–9
BREAKTHROUGH
A FILM ABOUT FAITH AND MIRACLES CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SEVEN WAYS TO CELEBRATE EASTER MULTICULTURAL STATIONS OF THE CROSS
U NPLANNED
Now a Major Motion Picture !
The Dramatic Story of a Planned Parenthood Leader’s Journey Across the Life Line
A
new, movie tie-in edition of the best-selling book that made national news and shocked the pro-abortion establishment when Abby Johnson, manager of a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic and rising star in the industry, suddenly announced she had a conversion on the life issue and was leaving the culture of death. Now a major motion picture in theaters Spring 2019, this updated edition of the powerful story includes a new Preface and Epilogue covering the latest events in Abby’s journey, in the news, and in changing legislation . . . and revealing the impact Abby’s story has had in the most surprising places. UNPP . . . Quality Softcover, $16.95
"This remarkable book is destined to reshape the culture of death into a culture of love, life and hope. It's a life-changer!"
—Judie Brown, President, American Life League Inc.
"Beautifully written, intimate and honest. A wonderful portrait of the power of truth and grace working in the human heart." — Most Reverend Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia
"The moving true story of the shocking truth of abortion and how God's love transformed Abby's life." — Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, Author, Arise from Darkness
Powerful film on Abby’s story
CHANGING SIDES
Acclaimed documentary tells the dramatic story of the conversion of a Planned Parenthood director to a leading Pro-life Activist. OSM . . . 60 mins, $11.95
✶ Online Special ! Get a FREE copy of the film Changing Sides when you order the book Unplanned online at Ignatius.com. Offer expires Easter, April 21. Use product code UNPX. THE WALLS ARE TALKING : Former Abortion Clinic Workers Tell Their Stories — Abby Johnson
This book narrates the harrowing, life-changing experiences of former abortion clinic workers who left the industry after experiencing a change of heart, including those of the author, who was a director of a large Planned Parenthood clinic. WTP . . . Sewn Softcover, $15.95
“Those of us who have worked in the abortion industry all live with a constant burden. We can't let our burden slide off of our shoulders; it is what keeps us on fire. It reminds us of why we fight so hard.” —Abby Johnson
www.ignatius.com P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, CO 80522
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VOL. 126 NO. 11
2019 APRIL
32 Breakthrough: A Story of Faith and Miracles
COVER STORY
By Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP
This new movie tells the true story of a teen’s near drowning and miraculous recovery.
22 Radical Hospitality TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION/ALLEN FRASER (2)
By Shannon Evans
This wife and mother wanted to model her life on Dorothy Day’s. But she quickly learned that hospitality begins in the heart, not the home.
26 Many Cultures, One Way of the Cross Story and photography by Frank Jasper, OFM
In a parish in southern California, people from different backgrounds come together on Good Friday to walk the Stations of the Cross.
ABOVE: Chrissy Metz plays Joyce Smith in Breakthrough, a film about the power of prayer, deep-rooted beliefs, and the unbreakable bonds of family.
38 Seven Ways to Celebrate Easter By Patricia M. Robertson
Easter lasts more than one day. Follow these creative ideas to keep the spirit of the season vibrant in your heart and home.
44 A Prudent Approach to Climate Change By Mark P. Shea
This often-misunderstood virtue demands that we take seriously Pope Francis’ teachings in “Laudato Si’,” his landmark encyclical on the environment. This author explains why.
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THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE SAINTS
Saint Day
of the
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VOL. 126 NO. 11
“Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us.”—St. Francis of Assisi
10 SPIRIT OF ST. FRANCIS 10 Ask a Franciscan
Growing in One’s Faith
12 Franciscan World & St. Anthony Stories Sacred Heart Province Husband, Granddaughter Both Receive Anthony’s Help
2019 APRIL
20 POINTS OF VIEW 5
Your Voice
Letters from Readers
19 Editorial
Lessons of Peace from Francis and Francis
20 At Home on Earth Spoiler Alert
13 Followers of St. Francis
54 Faith & Family
Father Brian Terry, SA
What Sparks Joy in You?
14 Faith Unpacked Lessons of Faith
48 MEDIA MATTERS
55
48 Reel Time
51 Audio File
50 Channel Surfing
52 Bookshelf
Unplanned
The Providers
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Beirut | Gallipoli
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 4 Dear Reader
18 Poetry
15 Notes from a Friar
55 In the Kitchen
6 Church in the News
Black and Pro-Life in America 16 Saint Who?
51 Pete & Repeat 56 Reflection
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dear reader
ST. ANTHONY
MESSENGER
Thank You, Kyle Kramer
W
henever Kyle Kramer’s column, “At Home on Earth,” lands in my inbox for proofreading, I am of two minds. I know that he will use the space, as he does so beautifully every month, to celebrate the parallels between our Catholic faith and the need to care for the planet on which we practice it. Yet there is also a tinge of guilt because I know that my carbon footprint is roughly the size of Wisconsin. But it isn’t Kyle making me feel that way. It’s my own Irish Catholic guilt rearing its ugly head. Mr. Kramer doesn’t lecture. He doesn’t write with a judgmental hand. “At Home on Earth” is a favorite of ours because it questions our actions and our policies, but it also speaks to our potential as stewards of the planet. Earth Day is the 22nd of this month—a day for us to celebrate our shared home. Head to page 20 of this issue, in which Kyle writes about Easter and how our “cultural, political, and economic realities must die so that we might have a new and more peaceable way of living on this planet.” We’re grateful to have him in our pages. And we hope his words inspire you this Easter and beyond.
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writer & photographer Many Cultures, One Way of the Cross PAGE 26
Frank J. Jasper, a Franciscan from Cincinnati, Ohio, spent most of his ministry as a clinical psychologist and administrator in the Midwest. Father Frank’s hobby of photography has been developing since he was young and he has contributed his photos regularly to St. Anthony Messenger.
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In the Kitchen
Seven Ways to Celebrate Easter
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Rita is a syndicated journalist, an Appalachian herbal scholar, accredited family herbalist, author, cooking teacher, motivational speaker, and the founding editor of AboutEating.com. Her words and recipes on food, family, health and wellness, and gardening have appeared in a variety of national publications.
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Patricia is a wife, mother, writer, and speaker. “I am a woman, loved by God, called to grow in my relationship with God and help others with their relationships through writing, teaching, pastoral counseling, and right relationships,” is her personal mission statement. You can learn more about her at PatriciaMRobertson.com.
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ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER (ISSN #0036276X) (U.S.P.S. PUBLICATION #007956 CANADA PUBLICATION #PM40036350) Volume 126, Number 11, is published monthly for $39.00 a year by the Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist Province, 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-6498. Phone 513-241-5615. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, Ohio, and additional entry offices. US POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: St. Anthony Messenger, PO Box 189, Congers, NY 10920-0189. CANADA RETURN ADDRESS: c/o AIM, 7289 Torbram Rd., Mississauga, ON, Canada L4T 1G8.
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We have subscribed to St. Anthony Messenger for many years and will continue to look forward to receiving your excellent magazine in the future. However, the sidebar (titled “Moving beyond the Rhetoric”) in the January article “The Death Penalty and the Myth of Closure,” by Richard B. Patterson, PhD, was a real disappointment to us. Exactly what is meant by the following statement? “The political rhetoric of our day has embraced the term pro-life. However, that same rhetoric typically limits the definition of life to life at conception.” Are you implying that pro-lifers limit their concern for life to life at conception? What an absurd and untrue statement! As a former Wisconsin state representative, fighting for that cause is often difficult and lonely. It is hard enough when the pro-choice side attacks, but it is even harder when a Catholic magazine questions the motives of being pro-life. Being pro-life is an all-encompassing movement. It includes, among others, concern for the environment, the treatment of the poor, the treatment of prisoners, the dangers of assault weapons, opposing the death penalty, and supporting the precious gift of life in its final days (that may require the use of drugs and other measures to comfort a dying person). However, everything begins with being pro-life. And that always takes into consideration a threat to life of the new mother. If we are not 100 percent pro-life, what does it say for us as Catholics, Americans, and all human beings? Dave and Kathy Hutchison | New London, Wisconsin
Finding a Home in the Church I’m writing in regard to Father Pat McCloskey’s “Ask a Franciscan” column from the February issue. Thank you for your response to the young man struggling with his sexuality and wanting to stay in the Church (“Staying in God’s Grace”). I will turn 60 this year and recently returned to the Church after 40 years. I was one of those people T.S. Eliot described as those who cannot pray but will not go away. I chose a Catholic college and always identified as Catholic even though
I sang in the choir of the local Episcopal church. One day, I saw ads for Catholics to come home and contacted the advertiser. I started watching EWTN and listening to our local Catholic radio station. Could I indeed go home? Finally, I found a priest and made my confession. I was home! Now I sing in the choir of my local parish, St. Paul’s in Eugene, Oregon. It’s still new for me, and I’m a little lost. But as Robert Frost said, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” Peace and all good things to you! Francis Schiraldi | Springfield, Oregon
Abortion Not a Conservative vs. Liberal Issue Thank you for including the news story titled “CDC: Abortion Rate Continues to Decline in the United States” in Susan Hines-Brigger’s “Church in the News” column from the February issue. I found it to be very encouraging to read that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that abortions are declining in the United States and for a variety of reasons, as stated by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann. I hope and pray that this continues, but apparently Planned Parenthood did not get the memo. Their abortion rates have increased significantly over the past two years (according to their annual reports), and last year their profits increased by 150 percent. This in spite of their urgent need for taxpayer funds to support their business. Their new president, Dr. Leana Wen, has stated that their main goal (which former president Cecile Richards apparently was afraid to articulate, in case she would alienate mainstream Americans) is to make abortions more accessible, far-reaching, and available through all nine months. Tragically, our country is very divided, both politically and in our Catholic Church. But how did abortion become a liberal vs. conservative issue? This is a human rights issue, a matter of human justice, and we should all be speaking out against those of the far left who are eager to press their agendas, both nationally and in our states. Laurie Mecum | Stoughton, Wisconsin
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church IN THE NEWS
people | events | trends By Susan Hines-Br ig ger
POPE CALLS FOR ‘ALL-OUT BATTLE’ AGAINST SEX ABUSE
n February 24, Pope Francis closed a global four-day summit on child protection in the Catholic Church, saying it is time for an “all-out battle” against the abuse of minors, reported Catholic News Service (CNS). Throughout the summit, participants had the opportunity to hear from a wide range of people on the themes of responsibility, accountability, and transparency. On the second day, a survivor of clergy sex abuse addressed the gathering, telling participants: “I wanted to tell you about when I was a child, but there is no point. Because when I was 11 years old, a priest from my parish destroyed my life. Since then, I, who loved coloring books and doing somersaults on the grass, have not existed.” The abuse, she says, went on for five years, and “no one noticed.” The woman concluded by saying: “Today, I am here— and together with me are all the abused boys and girls, all the women and men—trying to be reborn from their wounds. But here, too, above all, are those who tried and did not make it. It is from here, with them in our hearts, that, together, we must begin anew.” At a press conference later that day, a reporter noted that, to the dismay of survivors gathered in Rome, “zero tolerance” was not mentioned on a list of 21 points Pope Francis distributed February 21 for reflection—points that had been compiled from ideas bishops had provided beforehand. Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, who is a papal adviser on the Council of Cardinals and president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, said, “I know there is a lot of resistance to using that terminology,” perhaps because it sounds too “‘secular,’ I don’t know.”
But he said zero tolerance reflects a principle that was “so clearly articulated” by St. John Paul II in 2002, when he said that there is no place in the priesthood or religious life for those who would harm the young. That principle, Cardinal O’Malley said, “has to be a line in the sand.” The following day, Nigerian Sister Veronica Openibo, leader of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, addressed summit participants and told them that the hypocrisy of Catholic leaders who claimed to be guardians of morality yet remained silent about clerical sexual abuse has left the Church’s credibility in shambles. “Yes, we proclaim the Ten Commandments and ‘parade ourselves’ as being the custodians of moral standards, values, and good behavior in society. Hypocrites at times? Yes! Why did we keep silent for so long?” asked Sister Veronica, a member of the executive board of the women’s International Union of Superiors General. She was one of 10 women religious participating in the summit. At one point, she turned to Pope Francis and addressed him directly. “I admire you, Brother Francis, for taking time as a true Jesuit to discern and be humble enough to change your mind, to apologize and take action—an example for all of us,” she said. On the final day of the summit, Pope Francis told participants, “Here again I would state clearly: If in the Church there should emerge even a single case of abuse— which already in itself represents an atrocity—that case will be faced with the utmost seriousness.” In fact, he said, the Church should recognize that people’s anger over the mishandling of abuse is nothing other than a reflection of
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FROM LEFT: COURTESY BROTHERS OF THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS; CNS PHOTOS: COURTESY OF ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO ARCHIVES AND RECORDS CENTER; COURTESY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND WALES; CREATIVE COMMONS/NETHERLANDS
O
CNS PHOTOS/VATICAN MEDIA (2)
Around 190 cardinals, bishops, and religious superiors from around the world gathered at the Vatican for four days in February to discuss the clergy sex-abuse crisis. Inset: Pope Francis presided over each day of the summit.
“the wrath of God, betrayed and insulted by these deceitful, consecrated persons. The Church must combat this evil, both inside and outside its walls,” he said, and protect children “from ravenous wolves.” Afterward, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, moderator of the meeting, announced three initiatives that will be implemented. They are: 1. The imminent publication of a motu proprio (a directive issued by the pope), providing rules and regulations to safeguard minors and vulnerable adults within Vatican City State. 2. The distribution of a vade mecum (or rulebook) to bishops around the world, explaining their juridical and pastoral duties and responsibilities with regard to protecting children.
3. The creation of an operative task force, comprising competent experts, to assist those bishops’ conferences that may lack the necessary resources or expertise to confront the issue of safeguarding minors and deal with abuse. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the US bishops’ conference, issued a statement following the meeting, addressing the next steps in confronting the crisis in the United States. Any future action, he said, needs “the active involvement and collaboration of the laity. The Church needs their prayers, expertise, and ideas. As we have learned from diocesan review boards, a comprehensive range of skills is required to assess allegations and to ensure that local policies and procedures are regularly reviewed so that our healing response continues to be effective.”
THREE SAINTHOOD CAUSES ADVANCE
LASALLIAN BROTHERS CELEBRATE YEAR OF VOCATIONS
FROM LEFT: COURTESY BROTHERS OF THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS; CNS PHOTOS: COURTESY OF ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO ARCHIVES AND RECORDS CENTER; COURTESY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND WALES; CREATIVE COMMONS/NETHERLANDS
CNS PHOTOS/VATICAN MEDIA (2)
I
n honor of the 300th anniversary of the death of St. John Baptist de La Salle, Pope Francis has declared a jubilee year of Lasallian Vocations. In announcing the year, themed “One Heart. One Commitment,” Brother Robert Schieler, FSC, superior general of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, wrote: “A jubilee year offers the opportunity to express our faith through concrete actions in favor of those most in need. I invite all of you to celebrate the jubilee through practical acts of kindness and service to young people yearning for mercy and compassion.” The order will be focusing on three goals: “to celebrate and give thanks for our common heritage and our vitality through our association for the transformative human and Christian education of the young, especially the poor; to renew our commitment to respond to the reality and needs of today through promoting our mission, charism, and founding story; and to share our hope for the future within the unity and diversity of Lasallian vocations by witnessing the movement of the Spirit in our lives and ministry.” St. John Baptist de La Salle founded the Brothers of the Christian Schools with the goal of providing a human and Christian education to the young, especially the poor. He is the patron saint of teachers. In the United States and Canada, the De La Salle Christian Brothers (Lasallian.info) and their partners serve more than 99,400 young people in six colleges and universities, 66 elementary, middle, and secondary schools, 11 educational centers, and eight youth and family services programs. The mission touches more than one million young people in 1,000 ministries in 77 countries.
Father Augustus Tolton
Cardinal John Henry Newman Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty
T
he canonization processes of Father Augustus Tolton, Cardinal John Henry Newman, and Hungarian Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty were recently advanced, bringing them all one step closer to sainthood, reported CNS. On February 5, a nine-member Vatican theological commission unanimously voted that the cause of Father Augustus Tolton be moved forward to the cardinals and archbishops in the Congregation for Saints’ Causes for a final vote to send a decree of the priest’s “heroic virtues” to Pope Francis for his approval. Father Tolton was the first acknowledged African American to be ordained a Catholic priest in the United States. He was born into slavery and was ordained in 1886 in Rome because no US seminary would admit him. The following week, the Vatican announced that the pope signed a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of the English cardinal Blessed John Henry Newman. Last November, Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth, England, reported that the proposed miracle involved a young law graduate from the Archdiocese of Chicago who faced lifethreatening complications during her pregnancy but suddenly recovered when she prayed to Cardinal Newman for help. The pope also formally recognized that Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty, jailed and exiled by the Communists, had lived the Christian virtues in a heroic way. StAnthonyMessenger.org | April 2019 • 7
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I
n February, the Congress of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith imposed the penalty of “dismissal from the clerical state” for former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The Congress issued a decree finding McCarrick “guilty of the following delicts while a cleric: solicitation in the sacrament of Confession, and sins against the Sixth Commandment with minors and with adults, with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power.” James Grein, who says he was abused by the former cardinal, issued a statement, saying, “Today I am happy that the pope believed me.” Grein, who provided Vatican officials with accounts that McCarrick sexually abused him as an 11-year-old
Theodore McCarrick
POPE, LCWR ADDRESS ABUSE OF SISTERS
C
alling it “a reality that has been largely hidden from the public,” the largest organization of US religious sisters issued a statement in February concerning the abuse of sisters and praising Pope Francis for shining light on the issue, reported CNS. The statement came in response to a question the pope was asked on his return flight from his visit to the United Arab Emirates. A reporter asked about an article that had appeared in L’Osservatore Romano’s women’s magazine about the sexual abuse of consecrated women in the Church by the clergy. The pope responded: “It is true, within the Church there have also been clerics who have done this. . . . And I believe it may still be happening because it doesn’t cease just by becoming aware of it. “We have been working on this for some time. We have suspended a few clerics, dismissed them for this.
And also we had to dissolve some female religious congregations that were highly linked to this—a form of corruption. I cannot say: ‘In my house there is no such thing. . . .’ Should something more be done? Yes. Do we have the will to do it? Yes, we do.” In its statement, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) acknowledged that, “as sisters, we did not always provide environments that encouraged our members to come forward and report their experiences to proper authorities. We regret that when we did know of instances of abuse, we did not speak out more forcefully for an end to the culture of secrecy and cover-ups within the Catholic Church that have discouraged victims from coming forward.” The organization said it hoped the pope’s acknowledgment “is a motivating force for all of us in the Catholic Church to rectify the issue of sexual abuse by clergy thoroughly and swiftly.”
CARDINAL PELL CONVICTED
T
his past February, Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, was convicted by an Australian court on five charges related to the sexual abuse of two 13-year-old boys when he was Archbishop of Melbourne in the ’90s. Cardinal Pell maintains his innocence, and his attorney has said the cardinal will appeal the ruling, reported CNS. The conviction was handed down in December 2018, but the judge issued an order prohibiting the publication of information concerning the trial. The order was lifted on February 26 after prosecutors announced that they would not proceed with a second trial into further child sex allegations against Cardinal Pell. Alessandro Gisotti, interim director of the Vatican press office, told reporters that, during the appeal process, Pope Francis has confirmed “precautionary measures” prohibiting Cardinal Pell from publicly exercising his ministry as a priest and from having contact with minors. Before the appeal, Cardinal Pell is expected to be sentenced to serve jail time for the five counts: one count of “sexual penetration,” in this case oral sex, and four counts of indecent acts with or in the presence of a minor under 16 years of age. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The judge may order him jailed, pending the appeal.
Cardinal George Pell
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FORMER CARDINAL MCCARRICK LAICIZED
child, including during Confession, said he was “hopeful now I can pass through my anger for the last time. I hope that Cardinal McCarrick will no longer be able to use the power of Jesus’ Church to manipulate families and sexually abuse children.” At the time of the announcement, Cardinal McCarrick was believed to be living in St. Fidelis Friary in rural Victoria, Kansas, a small religious community of Capuchin Franciscans. He had been ordered to go there by the Vatican last September to live “a life of prayer and penance” until the accusations against him could be examined.
CNS PHOTOS: TOP: PAUL HARING; BOTTOM: JAMES ROSS, EPA
church IN THE NEWS
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POPE, IMAM SIGN INTERRELIGIOUS DOCUMENT
ight hundred years after the encounter between St. Francis and Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil, Pope Francis traveled to Abu Dhabi, where he and Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, signed “A Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” reported CNS. The two spent a year writing back and forth to finalize the document they signed February 4 on promoting “human fraternity” and Christian-Muslim understanding. The document says, “We . . . call upon ourselves, upon the leaders of the world as well as the architects of international policy and world economy to work strenuously to spread the culture of tolerance and of living together in peace, to intervene at the earliest opportunity to stop the shedding of innocent blood and bring an end to wars, conflicts, environmental decay, and the moral and cultural decline that the world is presently experiencing.” The two leaders asked that the document “become the object of research and reflection in all schools, universities, and institutes of formation.” A few days after his return to the Vatican, the pope told visitors: “I often thought of St. Francis during this visit. He helped me to keep in my heart the Gospel, the love of Jesus Christ, while I lived the various moments of the visit.”
Pope Francis and Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, grand imam of Egypt’s al-Azhar mosque, shake hands before signing a document they cowrote on CatholicMuslim understanding.
POPE, HEAD OF MICROSOFT DISCUSS ETHICS IN TECHNOLOGY
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ope Francis met on February 13 for 30 minutes with Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, about the centrality of the human person and the need for ethics in artificial intelligence. Smith told the pope that “a human voice like that of the Church,” with its values and authority, was needed in the world of technology. “We appreciate your voice. We really feel this is a critical moment in time.” WANT MORE? Visit our newspage:
FranciscanMedia.org/catholic-news
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THE LASALLIAN MISSION EMBODIES THE VISION AND INNOVATIVE SPIRIT OF SAINT JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE, PATRON SAINT OF ALL TEACHERS AND FOUNDER OF THE BROTHERS OF THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS (DE LA SALLE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS), A UNIQUE GROUP OF LAY RELIGIOUS MEN DEDICATED EXCLUSIVELY TO EDUCATION. Saint La Salle founded the mission to provide a human and Christian education to the young, especially the poor. Today, 300 years after azón. U cœur. Un n cor Un en co 9 Un his mission Saint La Salle’s entry into eternal life, remains 2strong g 01 9 with Brothers and Lasallian Partners serving more than one million young people in 1,000 ministries in 80 countries. Lasallian education centers on Catholic values and personal relationships, emphasizing academic excellence, faith formation, inclusion, respect for the individual, service and social justice. iso. Una vid om a. pr m
CNS PHOTOS: TOP: PAUL HARING; BOTTOM: JAMES ROSS, EPA
HIS MISSION LIVES ON
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SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS | ASK A FRANCISCAN Growing in One’s Faith
By Pat McCloskey, OFM
How can I encourage my young children to go back to church?
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ONLINE: StAnthonyMessenger.org E-MAIL: Ask@FranciscanMedia.org MAIL: Ask a Franciscan 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202
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Why Have Church Buildings? The Letter to the Hebrews states that God no longer dwells in temples made of stone (9:11, 24). Yet we Catholics have a Church that has magnificent buildings including tabernacles where we believe Jesus dwells. How can I respond to a Protestant acquaintance who questions me on this? The Bible points out that now we are the temple of God (2 Cor 6:16) and that Jesus Christ dwells in us.
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WE HAVE A DIGITAL archive of “Ask” Q & As, going back to March 2013. Just click: • the Ask link and then • the Archive link. Material is grouped thematically under headings such as forgiveness, Jesus, moral issues, prayer, saints, redemption, sacraments, Scripture—and many more!
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imilar statements occur in the Jewish Scriptures as well. After he finished constructing a beautiful temple in Jerusalem, Solomon acknowledged that God cannot be confined to any building made by humans (1 Kgs 8:27b). If, however, your understanding of those statements is correct, why did Jesus worship in the Temple in Jerusalem with Mary and Joseph (Lk 2:41–51)? Why did Simeon and Anna spend so much time there as we read in Luke
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Father Pat welcomes your questions!
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Pat McCloskey, OFM
ave you been willing to share your reasons for going to church—beyond “It’s the law”? Although many people are afraid of being suckered in on the subject of religion, they can be terribly gullible about what they read online—much to the delight of scammers. A person’s prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain needed for weighing options and consequences, is not fully formed for most people much before the age of 30. Many young people mistakenly suspect that older people are too lazy to realize that they don’t need to go to church. “Obligation” doesn’t convince them. When someone explains why he or she goes, that may receive a better response—eventually. Unfortunately, many people think of faith in God as though it is like their baby shoes: nice, but no one can expect to wear them forever. A 5-yearold’s faith is fine for a 5-year-old, but unless it grows, it will not support an adult facing more seri- Individual prayer, service, and regularly sharing in ous challenges than that 5-year-old faces. Sunday Mass can help a person grow in his or her faith Joining in the celebration of the Mass will not be when new challenges to it arise. enough for a person’s faith to grow, but it’s a start.
2:22–38? Why did Jesus worship there as an adult? God will always be “other” or beyond human control. This side of heaven, religious people need somewhere to worship, to hear the Scriptures proclaimed to God’s people, to pray for one another, and to pray to God. If we were angels (pure spirits), we wouldn’t need physical spaces for worship, but we aren’t and thus we do. We decorate churches as best we can, knowing that this needs to represent— not substitute for—lives that are morally good and progressively open wider to God’s grace.
Quick Questions and Answers
Did the Catholic Church ever teach that all Protestants go to hell? It was a very prevalent view in the 1940s and 1950s.
No, it never taught this officially. In fact, in 1953, Father Leonard Feeney, SJ, was formally excommunicated from the Catholic Church for teaching this and refusing to retract it. He was reconciled with the Catholic Church in 1972, but that teaching was never approved.
I am an 84-year-old man who can no longer drive. My daughter-in-law usually takes me to Mass, but sometimes she is out of town. When that happens, I make sure to attend Sunday Mass on the Internet. Does this satisfy my obligation to attend Mass on Sundays?
God understands your situation. “No one is obliged to do the impossible” is a trustworthy moral principle. Watching Mass on the Internet or TV is good if a person absolutely cannot attend in person, but it is an imperfect form of communion with God and the people who are at that Mass. Perhaps someone else who regularly attends the same Mass you do would be willing to give you a ride on those occasions.
to
St. Anthony with the Friars Join the Franciscan friars on April 16, 2019, for the start of a nine-week Solemn Novena to St. Anthony. Visit the “Prayers” link on StAnthony.org. A video option for listening to the novena is included!
Is it a sin to go to a store, go out to dinner, or attend any type of entertainment event on a Sunday? If so, is it a mortal or venial sin?
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Solemn Novena
It is not a sin—but neither should Sunday be treated as an ordinary day to catch up on things not done during the previous six days. The Lord rested on the sabbath, and so should we. Rabbi Abraham Heschel wrote: “Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the sabbath we specially take care of the seed of eternity planted in the soul. . . . Six days a week we seek to dominate the world; on the seventh we try to dominate the self ” (I Asked for Wonder). For almost 2,000 years, Christians have observed the Third Commandment on Sunday. International airline and nautical schedules—and some calendars—count Sunday as the seventh day of the week.
The Franciscan Friars, Province of St. John the Baptist 1615 Vine St., Ste 1 Cincinnati, OH 45202-6492
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SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS “Let us give alms since this washes our souls from the stain of our sins.”
—Francis of Assisi
FRANCISCAN WORLD
Sacred Heart Province
By Pat McCloskey, OFM
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ZITA WAS BORN in Lucca, northwest of Firenze (Florence), in 1218. From the age of 12 until she died at the age of 60, she worked as a servant in the household of the Fatinelli family. A member of the Secular Franciscan Order, she worked hard, sometimes causing other servants to be jealous. She refused to return evil for evil (Rom 12:17). Canonized in 1696, she is considered the patroness of domestic workers. Her feast is April 27.
ST. ANTHONY STORIES
Husband, Granddaughter Both Receive Anthony’s Help
I
prayed to St. Anthony to find my husband’s hearing aid, which he thought he had lost in the bathroom. I was also praying that St. Anthony would help my granddaughter find the help she needs in school.
—Pat McCloskey, OFM
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WANT MORE? Learn about your saints and blesseds by going to: SaintoftheDay.org
Well, the next day, we found my husband’s hearing aid in the garage. No one had stepped on it, and it was fine. An hour later, my son called and said my granddaughter was doing better in school. So I hope St. Anthony will keep on finding the help for my granddaughter. I am thankful for all he has done for me. —Jacqueline Kriete, Maryland Heights, Missouri
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PHOTO COURTESY OF FATHER BRIAN TERRY, SA
Zita, a domestic servant, was famous for aiding poor people and sick individuals.
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ST. ZITA
ine friars from Holy Cross Province in Saxony arrived in the United States in 1858 to work in heavily German parishes in southern Illinois. The group increased, becoming a province in 1879, the first in this country and now its second largest. Because of the anti-Catholic culture war led by Prussian Otto von Bismarck, close to 100 solemnly professed friars, friars in initial formation, and candidates for the order came to the United States in 1875. Sacred Heart Province currently numbers 164 solemnly professed friars. The friars currently staff parishes in Alaska (5), Illinois (6), Louisiana (3), Texas (3), Wisconsin (4), and one each in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio. Other friars serve at Catholic Theological Union (Chicago), Quincy University (Quincy, Illinois), Padua Franciscan High School (Parma, Ohio), and other schools. Province members serve in 13 chaplaincies and nine specialized ministries, as well as in Brazil, Turkey, Vietnam, and Cuba. In the past they helped reestablish the friars in California (now St. Barbara Province) and worked in China, the Philippines, and the Democratic Friars of Sacred Heart Province have served in China, Brazil, Republic of Congo. They have established a the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Holy Land. vice province in Santarém, Brazil.
s
FOLLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS
ST. ANTHONY
Living in Unity, Service to Others
“Where a lot of people see divisions, the friars see the possibility of hope for unity.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF FATHER BRIAN TERRY, SA
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he story of how Francis came to see Christ in the eyes of the leper resonates with Father Brian Terry, SA, minister general of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement. “The lepers today are the people on the streets suffering from addictions,” says Father Brian, who lives in Manhattan but frequently makes the 90-mile trip north to St. Christopher’s Inn at Graymoor, the order’s motherhouse in Garrison, New York. At St. Christopher’s, those struggling with addictions live alongside the friars. The residents attend outpatient therapy during the day. “We don’t run a therapy center,” says Father Brian. “Together, we live in a recovery community.” As a result, St. Christopher’s boasts one of the highest success rates in the United States for those suffering from opiate addiction. The ministry exemplifies the mission of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement. Father Paul Wattson and Mother Lurana founded the order in 1898 “based on the Franciscan Rule, at the service of unity and reconciliation,” says Father Brian. The friars live in chastity, poverty, and obedience, “but our primary gift is living as one,” says Father Brian. “Where a lot of people see divisions, the friars see the possibility of hope for unity.” He adds that the friars strive to be “immersed in the mercy of God and, living our own lives that way, we’re able to accompany people who are truly suffering.” When Brian was in college, the friars sent him to St. John’s University over the summers to study youth ministry. Drawn to the idea of helping others (but still “driving a Porsche,” he laughingly recalls), he majored in psychology and theater. Then his 11-year-old brother became seriously ill. “They sent him home to die,” recalls Father Brian,
Father Brian Terry, SA
who attended college close to home to help care for him. His brother would survive, and for Father Brian, the experience would become a “crucible moment. “You start to figure out that ‘stuff ’ is fun. But the stuff comes and goes. At the end of time you’re not going to be asked, ‘What stuff did you have?’ but ‘Who did you spend your time with and was that time well spent?’” says Father Brian. He began to explore religious communities. Throughout his search, however, “I kept saying, ‘They’re not like the Friars of the Atonement.’” He entered the community in Washington, DC, in 1988. The friars sent him to Rome for his studies at the Gregorian University, followed by pastoral work in Toronto. Ordained in 1997, he returned to Rome for further studies. In 2005, he became novice director. After 17 years in Rome and Assisi, Father Brian returned to the United States in 2014 to become minister general of the order, which has 67 friars serving in Italy, England, Japan, and the United States. He lives in a small community in Greenwich Village that often fills up in the summer with men discerning vocations. While he misses Rome, Father Brian says he enjoys being at the service of his brother friars. Last summer, he facilitated a conference in the Umbrian Valley town of Foligno, Italy, that brought together Franciscan provincials representing different orders. “I was able to facilitate a conversation about what it would be like to be one Franciscan family again,” he recalls. “In ministry, I often get to see miracles happen and see great possibilities.” —Patricia Mish
FRANK JASPER, OFM
T
BREAD s
The National Shrine of St. Anthony is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Consecrated in 1889, it includes a first-class relic of St. Anthony and serves as a center for daily prayer and contemplation. The Franciscan friars minister from the shrine. To help them in their work among the poor, you may send a monetary offering called St. Anthony Bread. Make checks or money orders payable to “Franciscans” and mail to the address below. Every Tuesday, a Mass is offered for benefactors and petitioners at the shrine. To seek St. Anthony’s intercession, mail your petition to the address below. Petitions are taken to the shrine each week. viSit our webSite to:
StAnthony.org
s
mAil poStAl communicAtionS to:
St. Anthony Bread 1615 Vine St. Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498
s
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SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS | FAITH UNPACKED Lessons of Faith
By David Dault, PhD
Want a certain topic covered? Send us your request. E-MAIL:
FaithUnpacked@ FranciscanMedia.org MAIL:
Faith Unpacked 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202 PODCAST:
The Francis Effect podcast can be streamed live at FrancisFXPod.com.
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PHOTO CREDIT HERE
David hosts the weekly radio show Things Not Seen: Conversations about Culture and Faith. He also cohosts the Francis Effect podcast with Father Dan Horan, OFM. He lives with his family on the South Side of Chicago.
FOTOSEARCH: NOTEBOOK: NU1983; CRUCIFIX: PEUS
David Dault, PhD
ast year, around this time, my daughover the situation involving students from ter, Maggie, was preparing for her first Kentucky’s Covington Catholic High School Communion. This year, as I am writing this, at the 2019 March for Life. Though there my son, Beckett, is preparing for his. were many ways of interpreting the viral Neither my wife nor I was raised Catholic. videos that swirled around them, it was clear She grew up Presbyterian, and I was raised that the public was scrutinizing not only the as an atheist. This means that she and I intentions and behavior of the youths, but have been on an adventure with our chilalso those of Covington Catholic itself, as an dren through their formative years. We have institution. watched them learn about saints, prayer, and What concerns me is that, when the the stories of the Bible. spotlight has been shone upon these schools, We are learning about our shared faith serious questions have been raised. Questions together, and our children are leading the way. about their culture, their values, and the kind The Church rightly reminds us that the of Catholics they are helping to produce. first and primary As our children catechists in the lives grow and mature in of children are their the faith, my wife and parents. My wife and I talk about this, and I have a slight advanwe worry. There is so tage, though some much of the Church might consider it a and its culture that handicap, in that we we ourselves do not both have advanced know. We worry degrees in theology. that as Maggie and We do our best each Beckett get older, day to provide examthey also might find “Be a helper, ples, to answer questions, and to themselves in situations that not a hurter. help to guide Maggie and Beckett demand integrity, steadfast witBe a builder, on a proper path. ness, and moral courage. How will not a breaker. But I will be honest with you. they react? Will their school teach And above all, them what they will need in that Because neither of us was raised be kind.” in the faith, we also depend a lot moment? Will we? upon the education our chilSo we do what we can. dren receive in our parish school. Sometimes, it means sitting We greatly appreciate that the school takes down with our children and having conversaseriously the need for moral education and tions about what we are hearing on the news. Christian witness. We have seen this reflected We talk about the behavior of adults, and at every level of the curriculum, and it has even other children, and we explain to Maggie been a great help to us as parents. and Beckett that we expect that they will So I am mindful of how blessed we are, stand up for the “least of these” among us, as especially when I see reports in the media Matthew 25 says. about other Catholic schools. These are But mostly, it boils down to a simple schools that, in one way or another, have phrase, which we say to our children every failed to offer this guidance to young people. day as we drop them off at school. Our hope No matter where each of us stood in regard is that, if the kids hear it enough times, it will to the disputes over the confirmation of work its way down deep into their souls. We Brett Kavanaugh, it was clear that the accusasay: “Be a helper, not a hurter. Be a builder, tions brought against him and his classmates not a breaker. And above all, be kind.” reflected poorly on the culture of his Jesuit We still have so much to learn about our high school. faith. For now, that is the best catechism we’ve More recently, there was the controversy got.
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NOTES FROM A FRIAR by Jim Van Vurst, OFM
MARY AT THE CROSS A
UNIVERSAL TRUTHS
pose of describing the actual historical scene. Rather, it is to give the early Church a powerful instruction in the relationship of Mary not only to the disciple standing near her, but also to the whole Church. Jesus showed us that Mary was, indeed, mother to all of God’s children. In looking at this scene of Jesus’ crucifixion and noting the distinctions between Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s description—and that of John’s—we see an important point in reflecting on Scripture. Sometimes people want to put great emphasis on those things that they see and understand as historical. It is essential to understand that God reveals his truth in various ways. The writer of the Gospel of John already knew of the other Gospels as they described Mary and the others watching the death of Jesus, showing their dedication and faithfulness to him even in death. The best conclusion to draw is that everything in the Gospels (and all of Scripture) is significant since it is the revealed word of God. Whether it is a fact of history or a manner of teaching that might not be historical, both contain the truth of God’s teaching for us. The devotion of Mary and the women witnessing Jesus’ death—and the gift of Mary as mother to us—are truths we cannot be without. Jim Van Vurst, OFM, is a retired friar at St. Clement Friary in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a longtime contributor to St. Anthony Messenger and FranciscanMedia.org.
PHOTO CREDIT HERE
John’s description has Mary, Mary Magdalene, and “the disciple whom Jesus loved” close enough so that they could hear his words. John’s account is not for the pur-
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ll four Gospels make note that Mary was present at the crucifixion and death of Jesus on Good Friday. Matthew, Mark, and Luke note that Mary and other women—in particular, Mary Magdalene—“watched from a distance.” Only Luke writes that “some of Jesus’ disciples” were with Mary. Notably, the Twelve were not there, but hiding, fearing for their lives. John, however, says very clearly that Mary—with Mary Magdalene and the disciple whom Jesus loved— witnessed Jesus’ death “from the foot of the cross,” not from a distance. At the same time, the distinction made between John and the other three evangelists may provide us with significant teaching moments. On the one hand, Matthew, Mark, and Luke may be understood as historical descriptions since family and relatives, especially women, would not have been permitted up close to the actual place of execution. Executions were “men’s work.” Those executed were stripped of all clothing and died naked. Artists have added loincloths for the sake of Jesus’ dignity. And executioners would not have wanted hysterical family members getting in the way. But the point is that, even at a distance, Mary and others saw Jesus crucified and die.
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saint who?
St. Lydwine of Schiedam
by Brian O’Neel
Perfected through Suffering March 18, 1380–April 14, 1433 Canonized: March 14, 1890 | Memorial: April 14
s did the Nazis, our society increasingly equates perOver the course of four years, she eventually accepted sonhood with the ability to “do.” If someone cannot her situation. She learned that God’s will for her was in the perform basic human functions, they are counted not “fully present, and this realization not only eased her pain but even human.” However, as our Catholic leaders remind us, no brought her a small measure of joy. She then undertook a matter the extent of a person’s disabilities, he or she remains spiritual mission to join all her sufferings to the cross for the completely human and possesses inalienable rights endowed salvation of sinners and the release of souls from purgatory. by the Creator. A great example of this principle is St. Lydwine (proPATIENCE THROUGH THE PAIN nounced “Lid-oo-ee-nah”). Her name derives from the Lydwine fasted all the time, but this was more out of necessity than by choice. At first she could hold down some apples Flemish word lyden, “to suffer,” and never was anyone so aptly named. and toast, but eventually even Delivered on Palm Sunday in that was too much. The only 1380, she was the only girl in a thing she could drink was water brood of nine children born to from the river Maas, and in impoverished parents. As a child, time she acquired the ability to Lydwine developed a strong distinguish if it was taken when prayer life and a sense of piety the tide was out or in. The only stoked by devotion to Mary, as food she could consume without learned from her parents. vomiting was the Eucharist, and One thing for which she some hagiographies say she comprayed was the ability to totally municated only twice a year. belong to Our Lord. She thought As one might imagine, this meant becoming a religious. someone who survived only God had other plans. At age 14, on the Eucharist caused quite a on the feast of the Purification, sensation. Many people thought February 2, 1395, during a very her situation was another one cold winter, she and some other of those all too common “holy girls were skating on the river hoaxes” of the time. The town burghers launched an investigaMaas. While horsing around, she fell and broke her rib, an injury St. Lydwine is the patron saint of the chronically ill and ice-skaters. tion. Soldiers were charged with observing Lydwine, and they that never healed. Eventually the validated that she hardly ate and didn’t sleep “for all the pain became so intense that she couldn’t get out of bed. above-written seven years . . . except very little, and scarcely By 1408, Lydwine was completely paralyzed but for her neck and left hand. Soon painful bedsores covered her entire for the space of two nights, all reckoned together.” Besides confirming the aforementioned afflictions, they body, and these became gangrenous. Her hearing came and also observed grey, water-filled worms the length of half a went. Blood poured from wounds on her head, her intesfinger that ate at her flesh. Lydwine wasn’t the only one who tines came out, and her skin fell off. Due to a disease known suffered in the small home, made even more cramped by as St. Anthony’s Fire, eventually only a single nerve kept those who came to see her. Perhaps the person who suffered her right arm attached to her body. Plus, she constantly had the most after Lydwine was her father, a night watchman alternating bouts of extreme fever and terrible chills. who needed quiet during the day in order to sleep. And her Lydwine hated this condition of hers, and she grew angry mother had trouble being patient with her at first, but after with God. It was hard to suffer the never-ending pain, her seeing the amazing things God did through her daughter, grotesque appearance, and need for assistance required to that began to change. perform every single task. She wanted to feel well and be Gradually, like a mature oak growing from an acorn, able. She wanted a normal life again. Her pastor, Father Jan Lydwine developed patience by her resignation to God’s Pot, taught her to meditate on the Lord’s passion.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
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eel will. This helped her to grow in love, not only for God but for his beautiful reflections in the souls he brought to her door. She learned to be cheerful rather than complaining and grumpy. She developed an amazing facility for prayer and even had visions. Most important is that she learned to trust God, understanding that, despite all appearances, he was in control, had a plan, and was a Father who would keep his promises. And she was happy. After she surrendered herself to this mysterious love, Jesus gave her another gift, the stigmata. Somehow it was discovered that God gave the blood flowing from these wounds healing power. Soon a constant stream of the sick came to see Lydwine. Her intercession obtained miraculous healings for some. To others she gave special comfort and the courage to endure. In 1425, Duke Philip of Burgundy invaded Holland. On October 10, his soldiers came to Schiedam and asked the parish priest if they could see the saint. Not suspecting anything, he agreed. Once inside Lydwine’s room, the soldiers began to mock her and say disgusting things, the least of which was that her condition resulted from the priest’s impregnating her. Then the soldiers drew back the dark covering surrounding her bed. This was designed to keep out light, for her one good eye could not stand brightness. They lit a candle and held it to her face, which caused excruciating agony. Next, they stripped off Lydwine’s covers to have a look at her naked body. At this point, her niece Petronilla had had enough, and she attacked them. The ruffians threw her against an altar in the room, which caused a permanent leg injury. They then called Lydwine a prostitute and began groping and violating her, which opened wounds in her dropsy-afflicted skin. The virgin saint began bleeding copious amounts of blood that filled a bowl. Soon thereafter each of these soldiers died sudden and unpleasant deaths. Not long before her own passing, Lydwine said that if she had the chance to be healthy again, she would not take it. Through her guardian angel, God gave her the branch of a rosebush and said that when she saw it in full bloom, it would mean the end of her suffering. She saw these mature roses in a subsequent vision and died on Easter Sunday 1433 at age 53.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
WHY ST. LYDWINE DESERVES OUR ATTENTION AND DEVOTION
St. Lydwine proves St. John Paul II’s point that “human beings, irrespective of the conditions in which they live and of the capacities they are capable of expressing, possess unique and extraordinary worth from the very beginning of their existence to the moment of natural death.” Dear God, the next time our leaders propose allowing euthanasia or assisted suicide, help us to understand through
the prayers and the example of your servant Lydwine that we won’t create a more humane, “fully human” society by killing other humans. Furthermore, help us make such an understanding a criterion for those we choose as our leaders. Through her intercession, help us to bear our own sufferings patiently and to offer them for your glory. This article was excerpted from Saint Who? 39 Holy Unknowns, by Brian O’Neel (Servant Books). Brian O’Neel is a frequent guest on EWTN and Relevant Radio. A writer and editor, Brian lives in rural Wisconsin with his wife and six children—all Green Bay Packers fans. He is the author of 39 New Saints You Should Know (Servant Books).
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POETRY
Footprints on the Soul I stare through the sliding-door window at the majesty of a deer romping in my backyard. He feels my eyes and stares back; I am in recession against the ordinariness of time. I am reminded: There is a God.
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—B.G. Kelley
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POINTSOFVIEW | EDITORIAL
Lessons of Peace from Francis and Francis Let our actions toward those on the periphery reflect a spirit of goodwill.
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hen Pope Francis visited the United Arab Emirates the Lord kept his words brief when he was on earth.” Let our (UAE) last February to sign a declaration of peace actions toward those on the periphery reflect that spirit of with Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, the grand imam of al-Azhar, the goodwill. meeting was called “historic,” “landmark,” and “a clarion call Peace and good. Building peace should be our mandate. for robust dialogue.” And it was—no pontiff in Church hisIn Chapter 3 of his Rule, St. Francis, perhaps influenced by tory had ever visited the Arabian Peninsula. But such a bold his encounter with the sultan, advised his brothers that when measure of goodwill toward our Muslim brothers and sisters engaging with the world, “they should not be quarrelsome isn’t revolutionary: The pope merely followed an 800-yearor take part in disputes with words . . . or criticize others; but old path cleared by his namesake, Francis of Assisi. they should be gentle, peaceful and unassuming, courteous The faith life of St. Francis was never still. Though he and humble, speaking respectfully to everyone. Whatever was comfortable with solitude and prayer, he house they enter, they should first say, ‘Peace to was a doer. Whether he was repairing churches, this house.’” building the foundation of his order, or preachSeek to understand. In the peace prayer Dialogue ing Christ’s message of love and justice, his attributed to St. Francis, we read, “O Divine is key. faith was an ever-evolving organism. And it was Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be on fire, compelling him to journey to Egypt in understood as to understand.” Read between the Evangelize 1219 during the Fifth Crusade to convert Sultan lines and you see a call to listen before speaking; with Al-Kamil to Christianity—or die trying. He to build bridges, not walls; to choose undercompassion. succeeded in neither converting the sultan nor standing over ignorance. achieving martyrdom, but his mission trip was Love thy neighbor. This was a hallmark in hardly a failure. The ripple effects from that Francis’ life and his life’s work, and it is articuSeek to meeting are still felt today. lated in his 9th Admonition: “Our Lord says understand. in the Gospel, ‘Love your enemies’ (Mt 5:44). A man really loves his enemy when he is not ST. FRANCIS, TEACHER Love thy offended by the injury done to himself, but for Pope Francis, in more ways than can be neighbor. love of God feels burning sorrow for the sin his explained here, takes his name seriously. His enemy has brought on his own soul.” goodwill mission to Abu Dhabi is another example of how the saint continues to influence the pontiff. “St. Francis reminds us that Christians set MANY FAITHS, ONE FAMILY out armed only with their humble faith and concrete love. Pope Francis’ visit to the UAE echoed his namesake’s mission If we live in the world according to the ways of God, we will centuries earlier. Dialogue with the Muslim world has always become channels of his presence #UAE #ApostolicJourney,” been a priority of his pontificate. He’s visited Sheik Ahmad the pope tweeted on February 5. Clearly, St. Francis was part el-Tayeb on several occasions and has spoken pointedly of the Catholic delegation who went there. about our Christian duty to build inroads of peace in the The brave efforts of St. Francis continue to encourage Muslim world. In turn, Pope Francis celebrated a Mass on peaceful dialogue. Here are five lessons we can glean from his the Arabian Peninsula that drew a crowd of 135,000—with historical visit 800 years ago. 4,000 Muslims among them. In his homily, the pope spoke Dialogue is key. In this era of instant gratification of our shared “human fraternity.” We worship differently, through smartphones and social media, it’s easy to tweet culture divides us, but we are one human family. aspersions and walk away. It is dialogue with those who When Pope Francis returned to Rome, his tweet reflected oppose us that takes real courage. St. Francis once said, real hope. “This visit to the United Arab Emirates belongs to “Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor the ‘surprises’ of God. So let us praise him and his proviignorance.” As Catholic Christians, we should heed those dence, and pray that the seeds sown may bring forth fruits of words when approaching conflict. peace.” Evangelize with compassion. In the Rule of St. Francis, Eight hundred years ago, St. Francis brought that very he writes: “I also admonish and exhort the brothers that in message to Sultan Al-Kamil, a stranger, symbolically planting their preaching their words be studied and chaste, useful and an olive tree of peace in the soil of a foreign land. It grows edifying to the people, telling them about vices and virtues, there still. punishment and glory; and they ought to be brief, because —Christopher Heffron StAnthonyMessenger.org | April 2019 • 19
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POINTSOFVIEW | AT HOME ON EARTH By Kyle Kramer
Spoiler Alert
Kyle Kramer
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WANT MORE? Visit our website: StAnthonyMessenger.org
y family and I do some occasional binge-watching on our pizza-andmovie nights. Unlike when I was a kid and had to wait week after painful week for a season to unfold, the price we pay for this indulgence is that, inevitably, before we’re finished, we’ll hear how the season ends. When we watched the Hallmark period drama When Calls the Heart, we suffered through the entire fifth season knowing—warning, spoiler alert!—that one of the beloved main characters, the Canadian Mountie Jack Thornton, would die. We were predictably heartbroken when we finally got to that fateful episode. Our Christian narrative also has a huge spoiler. Because we’ve heard the story for two millennia and because Jesus himself gives us clues along the way in the Gospels, we know how it ends: Jesus dies and is raised on the third day. The risk of knowing the plotline ahead of time is that we’re tempted to think that we know and understand more than we really do. My family and I knew Mountie Jack would die, but we cannot know how life in that fictional, early 20th-century Canadian frontier town will unfold without him. Likewise, even with 2,000 years of hindsight, I think we still don’t fully understand or accept the paschal mystery and what it means for our lives and for the whole human story. It’s no wonder that the death and resurrection of Jesus were such a “stumbling block
to Jews” and “foolishness to gentiles” (1 Cor 1:23). They are for us too. Easter reveals a profound but deeply disturbing truth: God constantly invites us into a new and mysterious life, and yet walking toward that life constantly requires that we allow other things to die. How might we imagine and trust in the resurrected life to which Jesus invites us— even as it also remains a mystery we can’t fully fathom? And how can we allow some things to die in order for us to enter into that new life? MODERN EXAMPLES
These aren’t abstract spiritual questions. Many of our current cultural, political, and economic realities must die so that we might have a new and more peaceable way of living on this planet. How can we allow it? How can we let go of our fear and distrust of people who are different (though in the end, not so very different) from us? How can we men let die our millennia-long disrespect and mistreatment of women? How can we profitloving Americans let go of the obvious fiction that monetary wealth and consumption are the best measures of a successful life—and change the financial systems that allow and promote such an obscene degree of inequality? How can we envision a beautiful and thriving world—neither as a pristine paradise unspoiled by human presence, nor as a place
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LEFT: COURTESY OF KYLE KRAMER; RIGHT: NRUBOC/FOTOSEARCH
Kyle is the executive director of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center, which offers interfaith educational programming in meditation, ecology, and social compassion. He serves as a Catholic climate ambassador for the US Conference of Catholic Bishopssponsored Catholic Climate Covenant and is the author of A Time to Plant: Life Lessons in Work, Prayer, and Dirt (Ave Maria Press, 2010). He speaks across the country on issues of ecology and spirituality. He and his family spent 15 years as organic farmers and homesteaders in Spencer County, Indiana.
utterly tamed by human influence and technology? I imagine it to be a world in which human presence and economic activity somehow fit peaceably with the needs of other-than-human creatures and the entire biosphere. I dream of a world where we spend less time monetizing everything and more time tending the things that money can never buy: good relationships, robust health, loving craftsmanship and artistry, a greater appreciation of nature not as scenery but as kin. One way both to imagine a new world and to let die what must in order to clear the path for it is simply to stop listening so closely to the voices that insist that what we have is already “the best of all possible worlds,” that the only world we need worry about is beyond the grave, or that real change of the status quo is simply a pipe dream. We can unplug by cultivating silence, attentiveness, beauty, quality time with God and other people, encounters with the natural world, and self-awareness.
HELPFUL
TIPS
Stop and Notice
1
Consider trying the monastic practice of memento mori: a daily contemplation of your own death. It may sound morbid, but it’s actually a good way to keep a sense of perspective and to avoid getting too attached to trivial things.
2
Consider fasting from the news—especially television and news videos. Take the time you’ve saved to read hopeful magazines like Yes!, which is full of uplifting stories about community empowerment and social change.
3
Read the Gospel accounts of how Jesus’ disciples react when he predicts his own passion. Make it a spiritual discipline to notice what sorts of “deaths” you resist—having to be right, not wanting to change, etc.
In the fast-paced world we live in, it’s important to take some time for spiritually enriching activities.
MRDOOMITS/FOTOSEARCH
LEFT: COURTESY OF KYLE KRAMER; RIGHT: NRUBOC/FOTOSEARCH
TRUST IN GOD
Though we may get inklings of the world that lies beyond the demise of our current reality, I doubt we’ll ever be able to imagine such a world in its fullness. So, beyond all our imaginings, one of our primary human callings is to trust God enough to walk toward all that we cannot see (which is, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us, the meaning of faith)— especially when the path we can see will require so much to die on the way to a more beautiful world. What clearly won’t work is thinking that we can bring this new world about simply with more knowledge or more willpower; both are inadequate. In fact, I don’t think we can conjure up all the necessary solutions on our own, anyway. They will be—and are being— revealed, often in small, surprising, mustard-seed sorts of ways. We must simply open our eyes and minds and hearts to behold the new things God is doing, and then walk together toward this resurrection banquet where all are invited. StAnthonyMessenger.org | April 2019 • 21
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RADICAL HOSPITALITY This wife and mother wanted to model her life on Dorothy Day’s. But she quickly learned that hospitality begins in the heart, not the home.
wanted to be Dorothy Day long before I’d ever heard of her. As a teenager, I was volunteering in an assisted-living home while my peers were hanging out in shopping malls; as a college student I was doing internships in African orphanages and mentoring at-risk kids in my community. For as long as I can remember, my heartbeat has sounded like impact, impact, impact—whether from pure altruism or my own pride, I have often debated. But whatever the motivation, I’ve long bristled at the idea of wasting my time on earth. Around the time I married my husband at a green 23 years old, he introduced me to Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement— both of which I heartily approved, as though the world were anxiously awaiting my assessment. But I didn’t give her much further thought until we began researching Catholic social teaching before our Confirmation into the Church years later. As most who have done so can tell you, you can’t dig far into the social doctrine of the Catholic Church without clinking your
spade against this stalwart woman. Our involvement with a local Catholic Worker only solidified my admiration, and Day’s lens of solidarity and hospitality began to deeply form my emerging worldview. A REALITY CHECK
When Kate Hennessy’s book Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty came out last year, I snatched up the chance to explore the more intimate world of Day’s, certain that her granddaughter could provide me with the keys to unlocking the predicament of how to live the radical life I felt called to, even as a mother of young children. Alas, I found no magic formulas or mystical insights: Dorothy Day, it seems, struggled to balance her dual vocations of mother and justice advocate as much as anyone. Sometimes she got the balance right; often she got it wrong. The book evoked a bit of controversy among Day devotees, some disappointed by their heroine’s maternal shortcomings and others dismayed by the perceived agenda of the non-
Catholic author. I thought it was more or less both a tender and fair portrait. People are complex, and saints are no exception. But the real intrigue of the story was Tamar, Day’s only daughter from her common-law marriage to Forster Batterham. Tamar and her husband, David Hennessy, had nine children and struggled to make ends meet. For reasons that remained a bit mystifying, Day discouraged Tamar from making her home at the Catholic Worker, despite Tamar’s apparent desire to do so. At the time of my reading of The World Will Be Saved by Beauty, my husband and I were preparing to move our family of five (with one on the way, I was surprised to find out) to start a house of hospitality with a friend. Although reading about the ideals of Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, and the Catholic Worker Movement at that particular time in my life was inspiring, the effect on Day and Tamar’s family life was sobering—not least of all because I so fiercely wanted to protect the well-being of my own children.
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DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES, MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
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SIMPLY/FOTOSEARCH
By Shannon Evans
DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES, MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
SIMPLY/FOTOSEARCH
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Surrounded by five of her grandchildren, Dorothy Day—pictured here in a circa 1958 photo—was a complicated but holy person who contended with real-life struggles. StAnthonyMessenger.org | April 2019 • 23
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DOROTHY DAY LOOKED to St. Thérèse of Lisieux for guidance in her day-to-day life with the Catholic Worker. She even invoked Thérèse as a kind of patron saint of their work: “We should look to St. [Thérèse], the Little Flower, to walk her little way, her way of love.” Dorothy also believed that the answer to violence and the destruction of modern war lay with little Thérèse, whose tuberculosis-wracked body had been resting in its grave for half a century when Dorothy wrote, “On the frail battleground of her flesh was fought the wars of today.” The little way is the way of peace, Dorothy believed. “Paperwork, cleaning the house, dealing with the innumerable visitors who come all through the day, Dorothy Day, pictured here in 1938, found a answering the phone, keeping patience and acting intelligently, which is to find spiritual guide in St. Thérèse of Lisieux. some meaning in all that happens—these things, too, are the works of peace, and often seem like a very little way.” We can see the importance of finding meaning in everything that happens, of seeing the presence of God in all people and things, but how could Dorothy describe these tasks as “works of peace”? How could such a huge problem as the violence in the world find itself laid at the door of a house of hospitality? What did she mean when she said, “In these days of fear and trembling of what man has wrought on earth in destructiveness and hate, Thérèse is the saint we need”? For Dorothy Day, the small acts of mercy the Catholic Worker practiced opened the road to peace, for the way of peace is a little way. “Year upon year of serving meals, making beds, cleaning, and conversing with destitute, outcast people,” Catholic Worker historian James Allaire wrote, “provided Dorothy with ‘schooling’ in the Little Way. Added to this daily routine were her writing and publishing the Catholic Worker newspaper, speaking around the country, praying, fasting, protesting, and enduring jail on behalf of peace and justice. “The Little Way is the way of Gospel nonviolence because it invites us to love one another as Jesus loved us (Jn 13:34), an unrestricted love that brings mercy and compassion to all people. Jesus’ nonviolent love extended even to giving his life in redemptive suffering on the cross.” From the book Holy Simplicity: The Little Way of Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, & Thérèse of Lisieux by Joel Schorn (Franciscan Media)
Visit Shop.FranciscanMedia.org for 20% off. Use code: SAMHolySimplicity
A few months in, it became clear that our family wasn’t well suited for the Catholic Worker life. For the second time that summer, we packed up our children and all our belongings. We went home. The grief I felt was tremendous; a grieving not just of one failed house of hospitality, but of everything I had thought my life would be. The past decade had been one disillusionment after another, and with this final nail in the coffin I mourned the woman I once thought I was. I couldn’t stop thinking about Tamar. Her life, I feel certain, did not turn out the way she had once imagined as a child swept up in the love and kinship of the Worker. The Hennessy family struggled through poverty, unfruitful farming, hyperfertility, loss of faith, and a strained marriage; and while the Catholic Worker network provided Tamar with lifelong friends and support, most of her days were spent alone in her home. “You have a house of hospitality,” Day would remind her adult daughter, pointing to Tamar’s nine children as well as the neighborhood kids and other visitors she routinely welcomed into her surely cramped home. While author Kate Hennessy’s documentation of her granny’s encouragement comes across as a brusque write-off of Tamar’s desire to reintegrate into the Worker, I can’t help but read the words differently. When we moved back home after the debacle of a house of hospitality attempt, there was no doubt in my mind that it was the right thing to do. Yet it felt like a death to me—a necessary one, sure, but a death all the same. Weeks after returning, I wept to my spiritual director about the pain of such dying. She looked at me, bemused, and gently asked, “Why do you call it a death?” Maybe she hadn’t understood the part about crucifying my dreams for the sake of my family. Maybe she hadn’t been listening as I’d detailed the image of what my former 20-something self had imagined her life to be; maybe she wasn’t clear on how far from that ideal I was destined to live. It was the death of a dream. Wasn’t it?
DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES, MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
The Little Way of Dorothy Day
WHEN A DREAM DIES
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DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES, MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
RISING FROM THE ASHES
I left that appointment and drove straight to a spiritual retreat, where one of our assigned exercises was to read the story of Lazarus and pray over what God wanted to tell us through it. Angry at the Holy Spirit for having the gall to make such an assignment, I huffed my way through John 11 until I heard the still, small voice like a punch in the gut: “What looks like death is not the end. What looks like death is a chance for truer life.” As I write these words, it has now been nine months since our hopes burned down and we began rebuilding from the ashes—nine months, the gestation of human life. We moved back to a different house in the same city—this one serendipitously placed in a small collision of socioeconomic structures. Here at the literal corner between daffodil window boxes and subsidized housing, we sit as bridge builders and peacemakers. We didn’t choose this house; this house chose us. It bade me walk across its creaky floors with a cup of coffee to contemplate hospitality. Day had a house of hospitality; we all know that. And we rightly revere her for it. But Tamar had one too, even if her mother was the only soul to recognize it. Tamar welcomed children as Jesus himself once did—her own, yes, but also those of other women, their lanky limbs running through her kitchen on hot summer days. She welcomed the lonely when she herself was so dreadfully lonesome. Tamar didn’t feed hundreds, but she fed a few. Her doubting heart may not have believed she was offering the bread of life, but the few ate and were nourished. Where is Christ if not in that? I admit I still idolize Dorothy Day; part of me still wishes I were more like her. I doubt that will ever change. But as the days roll by, I find myself thinking more about Tamar. I think about the sacrifices she made for her husband and children, how dutifully and silently she tried to do the right thing. I think about how she wrestled with God and doubt, how she suffered interpersonally without the temperament to express her needs. I admire her strength and I pity her frailty, just as I do my own. Children of all ages, races, and wealth are jumping on the trampoline in the backyard. I can hear their squeals of delight as I type. I’ll talk with mothers later on in the heat of the day—we’ll talk about the garden, we’ll talk about racial injustice, we’ll eat cantaloupe, and we’ll live this fruitful, painful, mundane life together, side by side. I don’t think this kind of house of hospitality—Tamar’s kind—will ever look or feel important. But I do think it will matter. And I think Dorothy Day would say it does too. Shannon Evans writes for BlessedIsShe.net, an online community of Catholic women, and is writing a book on the gift of weakness for Our Sunday Visitor. Shannon, her husband, who is a campus minister, and their four little boys make their home in Iowa.
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MANY CULTURES, One Way of the Cross
In a parish in southern California, people from different backgrounds come together on Good Friday to walk the Stations of the Cross.
Story and photography by Frank Jasper, OFM
F
ollowing Franciscan tradition, Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside, California, promotes the Way of the Cross during Lent. On Good Friday, parishioners culminate the season with a multicultural Way of the Cross that dramatizes the story of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. Father Vincent Mesi, OFM, and a dedicated team of volunteers assign one station to each of the various groups in the parish and mission— youths, seniors, Franciscan brothers, and many more. The youth group stirs up the crowd with the trial before Pontius Pilate in front of the old mission, and the Samoan community ends with the burial in the tomb. Each group selects songs, rituals, and prayers that reflect their cultural heritage (Anglo, Hispanic, Vietnamese, Samoan, young, old); and then they pass the cross to the next organization that dramatizes the next event as they process around the mission complex. Young people dressed in period garb add to the color and interest of the ceremony. The Stations not only follow the events of Good Friday, but also demonstrate the rich cultural heritage alive in our Catholic Church. Frank Jasper, OFM, is the former vicar of St. John the Baptist Province. He is an avid photographer and traveler. StAnthonyMessenger.org | April 2019 • 27
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(OPPOSITE PAGE) Members of the diverse communities that make up the San Luis Rey Parish are united by faith as they come together to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass. (RIGHT) The parishioners pass along the tradition of palm weaving to the next generation. These beautiful palm creations are blessed and waved on Palm Sunday. Palm weaving is an ancient art form developed in places such as southeast Asia and the Amazon. (BOTTOM LEFT) Servers from different ethnic backgrounds reflect the diversity of this California parish, which includes members of the Anglo, Hispanic, Filipino, and Italian communities, among others. (BOTTOM RIGHT) Members of the Hispanic community theatre group portray Jesus and his disciples as they reenact his triumphant ride into Jerusalem.
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The Way of the Cross event at San Luis Rey Parish is truly multicultural, with volunteers stepping out of their usual roles as lectors, eucharistic ministers, students at the Franciscan School of Theology, or choirs, as well as participation from members of various cultural groups, such as the Samoan community. Together, they walk the Via Crucis—the Way of the Cross—a powerful reminder of Christ’s suffering and sacrifice for humankind. The Stations of the Cross event ends with Jesus laid to rest in a tomb reconstructed at the parish’s Serra Center, inside the church. 30 • April 2019 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
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THE PADUA PROGRAM
ENROLL NOW! OPENS September 23, 2019
Second Cohort | University of St. Francis, Joliet, IL
Designed for leaders and mission officers of Franciscan institutions and organizations, The Padua Program is a professional development program for your unique mission integration ministries!
• LEARN HOW TO APPLY FRANCISCAN VALUES TO TODAY’S WORKPLACE CHALLENGES
• ACQUIRE SKILLS TO APPLY FRANCISCAN ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES IN DECISION-MAKING • LOCATE THE BEST RESOURCES TO INTERPRET THE FRANCISCAN TRADITION
For information and/or registration: Margaret Carney, OSF Operations Director for Padua Program mcarney@sbu.edu 716-485-6083
This program is a partnership of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities and the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University. StAnthonyMessenger.org | April 2019 • 31
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FOTOSEARCH IMAGES COMPOSITE: PANCAKETOM; YEKOPHOTOSTUDIO
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION/ALLEN FRASER
Breakthrough A Story of Faith and Miracles This new movie tells the true story of a teen’s near drowning and miraculous recovery. By Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP
FOTOSEARCH IMAGES COMPOSITE: PANCAKETOM; YEKOPHOTOSTUDIO
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION/ALLEN FRASER
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or 16 days in January 2015, a teenage boy lay in the pediatric ICU in St. Louis, Missouri. He struggled to survive a catastrophic accident and, along the way, experienced a series of miracles. John Smith, 14, and two friends had decided to skate around on the thin ice of Lake Sainte Louise in St. Charles, Missouri, just northwest of St. Louis. The day was warm because of an early thaw, and the boys wore shorts and tank tops. Although warned by the manager of the lake’s clubhouse to get off the ice, they didn’t, and the worst happened. They suddenly fell through the thin ice. It was 11:33 a.m. One of the trio, Josh Sander, swam to shore. But John struggled as he tried to help the other skater, Josh Rieger, onto the ice. He yelled to Rieger’s sister, Jamie, on the shore, “Call 911! I don’t want to die!” Then he disappeared beneath the surface. Local police and first responders were on the scene within minutes. The Wentzville fire truck arrived, and, using poles, firefighter Tommy Shine
and another rescuer prodded the rocky bottom for the softness of a human body. Divers were already in the murky water looking for John. At 11:51 a.m., almost 20 minutes after John had fallen into the water, Shine found him. He was not breathing. Although dirty lake water spewed out of his mouth and nose, he had no pulse and no heartbeat. The EMTs rushed the teen to St. Joseph’s Hospital West (now called SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital Lake St. Louis), just six minutes away. Trauma doctor Kent Sutterer was sure that, after 43 minutes without breathing, John would not survive. As John’s mother, Joyce, sat anxiously in the waiting room, a tiny nun in her 60s, dressed in a gray and white habit, sat down and took her hand. Ten minutes later, Joyce was allowed in the trauma room where John lay surrounded by medical personnel. All she could see of her son were his colorless feet as a doctor continued doing CPR. Joyce sat on a chair and the nun stood behind her
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and placed her hands on the worried mother’s shoulders. Dr. Sutterer squatted near Joyce and introduced himself. Then he told her she could go and talk to her son. A doctor was still trying to pump air into John’s lungs. Tubes and wires snaked everywhere. Joyce grasped her son’s cold feet and quietly prayed. But later she learned that it came out as a roar that everyone, even down the hallway, could hear: “I believe in a God who can do miracles! Holy Spirit, I need you right now to come and breathe life back into my son!” At that moment, John’s heart monitor began to beep.
him immediately and brought him home to Missouri. There, John flourished; even though he stood only 5-foot-3, he was the captain of his school’s basketball team. Two years after her son’s miraculous recovery, Joyce Smith’s book was released, cowritten with Ginger Kolbaba: The Impossible: The Miraculous Story of a Mother’s Faith and Her Child’s Resurrection. It describes her journey from worried mom to a mother bear who rarely left her son’s side during his ordeal. At one point, when medical personnel in his room were saying that John was not likely to make it, Joyce demanded loudly: “We will only speak life in this room!”
FAMILY TIES
‘A LOVE LETTER’
When Joyce was only 17 years old she became pregnant and chose adoption for her son. She later married the father and had two more sons before the marriage ended in divorce. Sometime later she met Brian, who also had a son, and they married. Brian was a videographer who often traveled with their church group on mission trips to Central America. There, Brian became aware of many babies who needed adoptive parents. Even though he and Joyce were in their late 40s, they decided to adopt a baby from Guatemala. John was a tiny 5-month-old baby who weighed only 10 pounds and had a turned-in foot. But they fell in love with
This month, just in time for Easter, producer DeVon Franklin is releasing Breakthrough. This young producer already has an impressive Hollywood résumé with a penchant for true stories about God’s unexpected action in our lives, including the 2014 film Heaven Is for Real and 2016’s Miracles from Heaven. Franklin’s latest film details the story of John Smith’s accident and, as his doctors attest, his medically and scientifically inexplicable recovery from catastrophic injuries. The story also includes Joyce’s heroic journey of faith and the support of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Cardinal Glennon
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION/ALLEN FRASER (2)
In a tense scene from Breakthrough, Chrissy Metz (as Joyce Smith) watches over her critically injured son John, played by Marcel Ruiz. The movie, produced by DeVon Franklin, will appear in theaters this month.
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“I believe this story has the ability to bring people together as a community around things that matter, especially love, care, and prayer. I think this film can do this.” —DeVon Franklin, producer of Breakthrough
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION/ALLEN FRASER (2)
The Smith family, played by (from left) Chrissy Metz, Marcel Ruiz, and Josh Lucas, relied on the power of prayer after their son suffered catastrophic injuries. Doctors feared he world not survive, but the family’s faith never wavered.
Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, where John was airlifted right after his heart started beating. The nonstop prayer and presence of the Smith family; their senior pastor, Jason Noble; their church; the school; and the extended faith community of greater St. Louis are also portrayed. Franklin, 40, is a joyful force of nature bursting with enthusiasm. He discovered the therapeutic value of films after the death of his father when he was only 18. He says: “Entertainment was pretty much my therapy. My mom didn’t have money to send us to a therapist or anything to help me and my two brothers through this devastating loss. It was the combination of church and entertainment that really helped me process the grief of losing my father.” The future film producer realized that if entertainment could have this influence for healing and good on him, “maybe I could use it to impact the world in a positive way. It was my intention then and it is now.” He sees Breakthrough as a “love letter to human dignity. You just want to hug Joyce and have her hug you! The doctors in the story wanted to preserve both John and Joyce’s dignity by letting her in the trauma room to say a final goodbye to John, but that was not in Joyce’s script. She was not going to say goodbye to John; she was going to say hello to her son because he was coming back! Sometimes, like
Joyce, we have to tune out other people’s narratives rather than internalize their perspectives. We have to go for what we believe God is telling us. Joyce did that.” He continues: “We live in a time where things are so divisive politically, racially, and spiritually. What I love about this story is that John, who is from Guatemala, was raised in a predominantly white environment. Yet Joyce and Brian, their family, church, school, and community didn’t treat John like he was a kid from another country, or of a different ethnicity. . . . They said, from first responders on, ‘He’s our kid. We are going to pray for him. We’re going to intercede for him. We’re going to sacrifice for him because we believe God can bring him back.’ “I believe this story has the ability to bring people together as a community around things that matter, especially love, care, and prayer. I think this film can do this.” THE CAST
Chrissy Metz, who plays Joyce Smith, has taken television audiences by the heart in the hit NBC series This Is Us. In that series, she plays Kate, a woman who struggles with her family, her relationships, her career, and her weight. She says: “Kate feels like a second fiddle; she’s not as successful as her brothers. She feels like she never fit in. Much like John in the StAnthonyMessenger.org | April 2019 • 35
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Chrissy Metz (Joyce Smith) hugs Marcel Ruiz (John Smith). Metz says Breakthrough is a blend of faith, hope, and love.
In a scene from the movie, Josh Lucas (Brian Smith), Chrissy Metz (Joyce Smith), and Marcel Ruiz (John Smith) pray before a meal.
film, she is trying to figure out her place in life.” Metz explains her role as a mom in Breakthrough: “Moms want what is best for their children, but kids might not understand or agree with what is best for them. In the film, John is an adolescent with a bit of an attitude, and hasn’t yet come into his own, a phase we all go through.” The film is about love, she says. “I think love is one of the most—if not the most—powerful emotions you can have. Love is something that is reciprocal; the more you love, the more you receive. The most miraculous thing is when love is blended with hope and your faith. When you get off balance, you can return to the love that you have for your faith or the love that God has for you and know that it is limitless.” Josh Lucas, who plays John’s dad, Brian, knew of the national news story about John’s incredible recovery before he read the book and the script. “It is a profoundly miraculous and inspiring story,” he says. “Each time I read the story I get goosebumps, even though parts of it are painful and challenging. I had to think about doing this movie because I have a 5-year-old son and we are very close. I don’t like leaving him at all. But as I was driving him to school, I told him the story. When I got to the part of how everyone—all John’s family and friends from church and school—came together outside the hospital to hold hands, pray, and sing hymns for John, my son really liked that part of the story. “I realized I wanted my son to be there when we filmed this because it was the part of the story that moved us the most. There’s also something in this mother’s will that really touches me, Joyce’s incredible faith and conviction to keep believing.” John himself is played by Marcel Ruiz, who says that for him it’s important to be thankful for every moment in life
and our everyday privileges. “It’s an inspiring story. We see that John is adopted, but you don’t realize it because they are just a real family; family does not have to be a blood family. I think it’s exciting that the entire community came out for him and prayed for him even if they didn’t know him. That’s pretty cool.”
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TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION PHOTO CREDIT HERE
Breakthrough explores the interaction of mystery and grace. Elizabeth Gabler, president of Fox 2000 Pictures (a division of 21st Century Fox), explains: “Life often throws you a big challenge when you least expect it. This is why I think people are looking for stories today that show them characters who have experienced that kind of challenge, people who have reached beyond even their own limits of knowledge and faith to find power and an inner strength that leads them to believe in a higher power, to know that they will be protected, and that there is a bigger universe out there. “I hope that this story will open channels of communication between different family members and give them a sense of humility about the blessings they have received. I hope it will encourage them to look for the good in people because there is always good in people.” Metz agrees. “I hope that families and parents and the younger audience will leave with the idea that having a belief in something greater than yourself can change your life. It changed my life; that’s the reason why I’m . . . telling the story of Joyce Smith and John. “I believe we are here for service, and that the more you give, the more you receive—whether it is adopting a child from another country or something else. We’re all in this together. It’s a beautiful, cyclical thing.”
PHOTO CREDIT TWENTIETH CENTURY HERE FOX FILM CORPORATION/ALLEN FRASER (2)
A LIFE-CHANGING MOVIE
EXPERIENCE and CELEBRATE
John Smith, flanked by his parents Brian and Joyce, made a miraculous recovery after he was pulled from an icy lake in January 2015. HEROES AND MIRACLES
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION PHOTO CREDIT HERE
TWENTIETH CENTURY PHOTO CREDIT HERE FOX FILM CORPORATION/ALLEN FRASER (2)
“Patient’s dead. Mother prayed. Patient came back to life,” is how Dr. Kent Sutterer (played by Sam Trammell) described what happened at a gathering of thanksgiving held at the church following John’s release from the hospital. Dr. Jeremy Garrett (played by Dennis Haysbert), the drowning and hypothermia expert who treated John at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, agrees that John’s recovery cannot be explained, and that he as a doctor has been criticized for calling it a miracle. Joyce says in her book that “John had been in the water for close to 30 minutes, under the water for more than 20 minutes, had received CPR for about 43 minutes, and had been dead for more than an hour. My son was dead and then . . . he wasn’t dead!” John himself believes that God saved him for a special purpose. He says he plans to “study for the ministry as well as to major in mathematics.” Another hero was the nun who held Joyce’s hand in the emergency room. Sister Donna Olson, a Sister of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon, Missouri, has worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital in pastoral care since 1999 and remembers that day well. “I sat beside her and held her hand. I told her, ‘God is with us, God hears us, and he’s not going anywhere.’ “When they took Joyce into the trauma room, I stood behind her and placed my hands on her shoulders. She prayed very loudly, and I was stunned when her son’s heart began to beat.” A nursing school professor told his students the story of John’s miraculous recovery, saying, “There’s science and there’s God. This is God.” Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP, is the founding director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Los Angeles and the award-winning film critic of St. Anthony Messenger’s “Reel Time” column. She recently received her doctorate of ministry with a concentration in film and pastoral communication.
Film Information Breakthrough (BreakthroughMovie.com) is scheduled for release this month. It is directed by Roxanne Dawson, and the script is by Grant Nieporte. The film also stars Topher Grace and Rebecca Staab.
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1-800-CATHOLIC www.Regina-Tours.com Visit website for upcoming tours. StAnthonyMessenger.org | April 2019 • 37
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Seven Ways to C Easter lasts more than one day. Follow these creative ideas to keep the spirit of the season
vibrant in your heart and home.
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o Celebrate Easter W
hy is it so hard for some people to maintain a spirit of celebration? I ask this knowing that I am one such person. I find the struggles of everyday life and the penitence of the Lenten season easier than seven weeks of Easter celebration. As a lay minister, I have spent hours focused on programs and activities for Lent, then collapsed the day after Easter. One day of celebration was all I could handle. Who can keep up a party atmosphere that long? Who can keep up the Easter spirit for seven weeks? And yet that is what the Church asks of us each year. We spend six weeks of Lent getting ready for the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. Then we are to spend seven weeks celebrating this important season. Many, like me, fail miserably. That is why I gave myself the challenge to focus on how to keep the Easter spirit all seven weeks until Pentecost. It was hard not to fall back into Lenten struggles or shift ahead into Ordinary Time. I struggled to come up with ideas but eventually thought of seven ways to keep focused on Easter, one for each week of the season.
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By Patricia M. Robertson
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It’s never too early or too late to open the windows of our soul and allow the wind of God’s spirit to blow through.
WEEK TWO: READ THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
The Acts of the Apostles is full of adventure and fearless heroes of the faith! During the Easter season, readings from the Old Testament are replaced by the Acts of the Apostles as we focus on the early Church. The early years of Christianity were a roller-coaster ride. First, there were those post-resurrection appearances of Jesus, as he slipped in and out, going through closed doors, walking with apostles on the road to Emmaus, and showing up while they were fishing. Then there was Pentecost with the coming of the Spirit in wind and tongues of fire. After Pentecost, the apostles had adventures of their own. They were fearless in proclaiming the faith, which consequently led to them spending time in jail. Read through the Acts of the Apostles. Feel free to skip over the speeches, including Peter’s, to get to the fun stuff. One man fell three stories from a window after falling asleep while Paul was speaking (Acts 20:9); Paul healed him and went on talking until dawn. There were miraculous healings, multiple Baptisms, times in jail and jailbreaks (Acts 5:17–26; 12:6–11), the story of Stephen, the first martyr (Acts 7), and the story of Paul’s conversion (Acts 9) and ensuing adventures spreading the Gospel. You need look no further for fun stories to share with your children. It’s better than the X-Men and gives them real-life heroes to emulate!
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FOTOSEARCH IMAGES: TOP: FRANNYANNE; BOTTOM: GEKASKR
Eggs are symbols of new life. As a child, I loved the tradition of coloring Easter eggs. However, with four siblings, if Mom hard-boiled two dozen eggs, that only gave us each four or five eggs to decorate. I would take time trying to create the most amazing designs and colors, only to have my masterpieces cracked and gone in a day or two as Mom made egg salad and came up with other ways to use the eggs. Then Mom heard about blowing out the inside of the egg, leaving the shell to be decorated. Throughout Lent, whenever she made cookies or cake or anything requiring eggs, she would enlist our aid to blow out the whites and yellows inside. Using a needle, she poked a hole in the top and bottom, trying to break the yolk to make it come out easier. We would blow until our cheeks hurt and all that was left was an empty shell. By Holy Saturday we had several dozen eggs to decorate. Mom sent us outside to get a small tree branch with lots of twigs; then we threaded the eggs and hung them on the branches, creating an Easter-egg tree. As our collection of Easter eggs grew, Mom would use the extras to fill a glass basket and place it on the table as a centerpiece, thus filling our house with new life. At the end of Easter, the eggs were carefully packed away until the next year. I didn’t continue this tradition with my children, and I continue to be lax in my decorations. Easter comes and goes before I know it each year, despite my good intentions. However, if this one fails, there are other ways to celebrate the Easter season.
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WEEK ONE: DECORATE FOR THE SEASON
WEEK THREE: SPRING CLEANING
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FOTOSEARCH IMAGES: NUMERALS: SSILVER; TOP: SKYLIGHT; BOTTOM: SCHORSCH
When I was growing up, the Easter Bunny hid candy in our basement. This meant we kids had to clean the basement because the bunny wouldn’t leave candy in a dirty basement. Thus, my mom got her basement cleaned and a jump on her spring cleaning. I was not as successful as my mom at getting my kids to clean the house each year. I’m not a fan of cleaning, but I do enjoy that first cleaning that comes with warm weather. I throw open the windows and breathe in God’s good air, cleansing my mind, reinvigorating my spirit, redecorating my soul. It’s never too early or too late to open the windows of our soul and allow the wind of God’s spirit to blow through. It’s never too early or too late to allow God to clean or redecorate our conscience. So, celebrate the season by allowing God to blow through the dark and cluttered spaces of your spirit.
WEEK FOUR: REMEMBER MOM
It didn’t really hit me that I was a mother until that Mother’s Day after my twin daughters were born. I was now a mom with a capital M. My son didn’t bring the total disruption that two additional babies brought into my life. That was my apprenticeship. One baby had been too easy, so I needed the three to bring the reality home. Having three in diapers at the same time was the real deal. As a child, I remember homemade cards and trying to come up with new ways to surprise my mom on Mother’s Day. As a mother, I received them with delight, but also as
my right. I had earned them! As a grandmother, I watch my daughters adjust to the world with a baby in tow, entering their own apprenticeship. You don’t have to be a mother to appreciate the mothers in your life. Spend time remembering those alive and deceased, our biological mothers as well as adoptive mothers, spiritual mothers, aunts, or teachers. Even if the memories are sad if your mother is no longer alive, there is a reason to pause, celebrate, and reflect on how God is mother to us as well as father. StAnthonyMessenger.org | April 2019 • 41
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WEEK FIVE: PLANT A GARDEN
Getting your hands dirty in God’s good earth is beneficial for your spirit! I attempted a garden when my children were young. I had visions of them assisting me in this endeavor, providing our table with fresh vegetables. However, they never took to the idea, leaving me alone in the hot sun, pulling weeds while they retreated to the shade and played. And then, when the vegetables were ready for harvest, I had more than we could eat so I had to seek out neighbors willing to take the excess off my hands. I finally decided it was not worth the effort. I gave up my garden and waited for neighbors to share their bounty with me! May 15 is the feast day of St. Isidore, patron saint of farmers. We can learn a lot from farmers; they know their need for God. They plant seeds, pull weeds, then depend on the vagaries of the weather to grow their crops. They are aware of the importance of work: A garden doesn’t grow in a day but is the result of hard work, inch by inch, day by day. They do their work then wait for God to do the rest, a lesson for all of us. Besides the benefit of producing food and flowers, there are physical and psychological benefits associated with gardening. Being out in nature and digging in dirt are healing to the mind, body, and spirit. You don’t have to have a large garden to benefit from gardening. A small herb garden will suffice, or plant some flowers. I always look for the hardiest flowers and shrubs for my yard and home, ones that thrive despite neglect, for I’m not the best gardener. In addition, you can start a spiritual garden during any season. Tend and nurture with prayer, kind words, and good deeds. Pull out the weeds of jealousy, greed, envy, pride, vanity, gluttony, and unchecked anger. Ask God to water your garden with the blessings God so freely bestows.
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FOTOSEARCH IMAGES: EMILIAU
Before Jesus went to his death, he prayed at the Last Supper “that they may be one, as we are one” (Jn 17:11b). He prayed for his Church, for all of us who would come after him in faith—a great prayer for unity. When Jesus appeared to the apostles after the resurrection, his first words were, “Peace be with you.” The early Church at first experienced a time of peace and unity: “The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common” (Acts 4:32). This was a unity we can only dream about in our country so divided by partisan politics. The unity of that early community was short-lived, as we read shortly after this passage about Ananias, who sold a piece of property and gave only part of the proceeds to the apostles. Perhaps this is only a unity to be dreamed about, not realistic in light of our human tendencies. But if so, it is worth praying and yearning for. Perhaps the peace we are searching for is as elusive as that unity that Jesus prayed for, which is all the more reason to spend time in prayer for both. So, as we await the celebration of Pentecost, it is fitting that we, too, pray for unity and peace.
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WEEK SIX: PRAY FOR UNITY AND PEACE
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WEEK SEVEN: LOOK UP
There’s a story I read about a grandfather giving his troubled grandson a kite. The grandson asked him years later why he had given him the kite. “I wanted you to have a reason to look up,” the grandfather responded. Amid all of his troubles—amid all of our troubles—it can help to look up to the sky and remember there is more to this world than what we are experiencing. I never was good at flying kites as a kid. As an adult I tried to help my children in this venture but failed miserably. But you don’t have to fly a kite to enjoy being outside on a windy day. You don’t have to know how to sail a boat to enjoy riding in one under someone else’s competent hands. You could float a small sailboat on a pond, just sit and enjoy the breeze against your face, or listen to the wind as spring thunderstorms break out, disturbing the quiet and electrifying the air. When Jesus ascended into heaven, the apostles were left looking up into the sky. It’s hard to feel down when looking up. Jesus didn’t leave them alone. He left them with each other and the promise of God’s spirit. With seven weeks to Pentecost, these are seven ways to maintain the spirit of Easter. And so we are left gazing at the sky, gazing upon God’s creation as we await the outpouring of God’s spirit at Pentecost. Patricia M. Robertson is a writer and spiritual director who lives in Jackson, Michigan. She is the author of Daily Meditations for Busy Moms (ACTA Publications), seven novels, and numerous articles.
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t a CNN live town hall on climate change in August 2017, Al Gore remarked, “I’m a Protestant, but I’ll tell you, because of Pope Francis, I really could become a Catholic.” Gore’s comment came in response to a question from Father John Rausch—a Glenmary Home Missioner from Kentucky—who had asked about the connection between consumerism and the environmental degradation and poverty in Appalachia. The former vice president suggested audience members read Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical “Laudato Si’.” He went on to say: “Now I was taught in my church that the purpose of life is to glorify God and if we are heaping contempt on God’s creation, then we’re not living up to the duty that God is calling us to. And so this—the way we live our lives is definitely connected to this. It’s not a political issue; it is a moral and spiritual issue.” In short, Gore’s “doorway” into his attraction to the Church’s witness was Pope Francis’ reiteration (and expansion in “Laudato Si’”) of the Church’s teaching on our connection to—and duty to protect—God’s creation. Because it was Gore and because it involved climate change, the pushback in some sectors was immediate. In the sarcastic words of one of my blog readers, “His attraction to the Catholic dogma of climate change is touching.” CLIMATE CHANGE: DOGMA OR DEBATABLE?
Gore’s statements and my reader’s reaction illustrate the argument about climate change that is taking place in our culture and spilling over into the Church. For some, Pope Francis’ urging that the faithful take climate change seriously and act accordingly is a great sign of hope that the Church is taking leadership in a global crisis that threatens the world. For others, taking climate change seriously represents “capitulating to political correctness” and even a diversion from “the real work of the Church, which is saving souls, not saving the earth.”
How should Catholics respond? To begin with, it is important to address something implicit in the criticism my reader offered: the notion that, because Church teaching regarding climate change is not a matter of Catholic dogma, it is therefore something we can feel free to dismiss. The notion that our relationship with the teaching authority of the Church is divided between “dogmas we must believe” and “everything else, which we can blow off if we feel like it” is an incredibly common—and incredibly impoverished—view of our intellectual, moral, and spiritual formation as Catholics. Again and again, one hears the notion that X is a “prudential judgment,” and therefore you can feel free to disagree with, and even actively oppose, the magisterium regarding X. Since the bulk of the Church’s moral, social, and political guidance is, in fact, prudential and not dogmatic, this means that Catholics can (it is supposed) largely live our lives as though the Church’s guidance does not exist or is, at best, a timid uncle hesitantly offering occasional advice. Under this rule of thumb, the bulk of the Church’s moral teaching becomes a kind of antique shop where we shop for ideas that accessorize our political, social, and cultural preferences. Our real core outlook comes not from the Gospel, therefore, but from favorite TV personalities, pundits, movie stars, musicians, writers, and thinkers. And whenever the Church says things we dislike—be it about unjust war, torture, gun violence, a living wage, the death penalty, birth control, transgenderism, climate change, or anything else— we can simply ignore it or dedicate large reserves of our time and energy to fighting the Church. To rationalize all this, we appeal to prudential judgment, which we redefine as “those aspects of Church teaching we decide whether or not to obey.” But that’s not what prudential judgment means. Rather, it means judging how best—not whether—to obey the Church’s guidance.
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A PRUDENT APPROACH TO CLIMATE CHANGE
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This often-misunderstood virtue demands that we take seriously Pope Francis’ teachings in “Laudato Si’,” his landmark encyclical on the environment. This author explains why.
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By Mark P. Shea
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Learn how to live responsibly. Try to educate yourself.
The best way to get our bearings with this idea is to back up and ask what prudence is. Prudence has acquired something of a bad name these days. It is easily associated with words like “prune” or “prude.” People think it is a synonym for timidity. But for St. Thomas Aquinas, prudence means something more like common sense, proportion, or good judgment. The prudent person can realistically assess what is going on and do what needs to be done. So, for instance, a general who sees a weakness in the lines of an overwhelmingly superior enemy force and audaciously attacks is prudent, while the timid servant hiding his talent out of fear of failure is imprudent. Prudence is the basis of all the other cardinal virtues: justice, temperance, fortitude—as well as the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. Without it, you might as well try to build a house with no foundation on a pile of sand. Prudence requires three things: memory, teachableness, and agility. The philosopher George Santayana summed up the necessity of memory by noting that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Memory is the capacity to look at our experience and see it for what it was, not for what we wish it had been. It is to look squarely, not only at the good times, but also at our errors and sins, and to, as the kids say, “Get a clue.” Teachableness is the humility to recognize that some people are smarter than we are and have a wider experience of the world, and that this can benefit us if we will listen to them (hence Jesus’ counsel to become like little children). Teachableness delights in having others from whom we can learn. For example, I think it stands to reason that thousands of doctors who spent years studying vaccines and epidemiology know more about medicine than I do after googling for a couple of hours. I will listen to what they say about vaccinating my kids. Agility is the capacity to act wisely and decisively in a given situation. If we learn from experience and receive teaching from those who know more, but cannot act in response, we are crippled. Agility characterizes those who
can quickly size up a situation and formulate a nimble, intelligent response. A husband is ready for a night at the theater with his pregnant wife, but she appears to have gone into labor: Time to scrap the theater plans and head for the hospital, no matter how expensive the tickets were. Agility is at the heart of the Catholic conciliar tradition, wherein the Church periodically makes course adjustments in order to read the signs of the times and adapt its strategies for addressing the culture. In addition to the qualities of memory, teachableness, and agility, the Catholic belief in prudence is based on a sort of cautious optimism. The Church believes, at bottom, that God is with us, not against us. Why? The Catholic faith takes seriously the truth that this good world is the creation of a good God who wills our good. Therefore, a Catholic view of prudence always leaves room for providence—the idea that God works for the good of those who trust him. At the heart of prudence is a hope that is a million miles away from the contemporary emphasis on individualism that teaches us to trust no one. Prudence takes seriously the hope that God aims to make things turn out all right, that we can be intelligent participants in his work, and that human authorities and expertise really can have things to teach us. In short, while there is a commonsense command to be “wise as serpents” in Christian prudence, there is also a healthy dose of trust in the fundamental goodness of God’s purposes that urges us to be “innocent as doves.” WHY SHOULD WE LISTEN TO THE POPE ON CLIMATE CHANGE?
This brings us back to the Church’s attitude toward climate change. What does the pope know about climate change that we should bother with his nonexpert opinion? Well, although he is certainly not a climate scientist, neither are you or I. However, he is, in fact, surrounded by advisers who actually are climate-science experts. That’s how encyclicals like “Laudato Si’” get written. The pope doesn’t just crack open the laptop one day like a blogger and start talking about how the environment makes him feel. He calls in the heavy hitters and experts.
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THE VIRTUE OF PRUDENCE
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In other words, he is teachable. If he wants to write about economics, he gets input from the best economists. If he wants to write about climate change, he talks to climate scientists—97 percent of whom agree that climate change is real and is already having a damaging impact, not merely on a rare species of orchid but on millions of people, especially the poorest and most defenseless. Now some will object that none of this is infallible. True. In reply, I note that most of us, being told by our completely fallible doctor that we have diabetes, might, at most, get a second opinion. However, most of us don’t get 97 second opinions and then conclude that we should bet the farm on the three guys in the storefront shop sponsored by a giant sugar corporation who tell you that diabetes does not exist. Why? Because we have memory and remember that a 97 percent consensus among experts is likely to be right. This brings us to the third point of prudence: agility. The pope is calling us to act. Acting doesn’t mean, “Do whatever you feel like, including living in denial and fighting the Church in defiance of common sense,” but, “Listen to the Church’s guidance and do what you can to best implement its call to responsibility. Learn how to live responsibly. Try to educate yourself. Make the connection between treating creation with respect and treating your neighbor—especially your poor neighbor—with respect.” Most of this is not even hard. It just requires moving beyond our comfort zones. And none of it is unorthodox, a threat to the teachings of the Catholic faith, or somehow a capitulation to some kind of conspiracy. It’s just prudent, which Catholics have always been called to be.
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Mark P. Shea is a popular writer and speaker. He is coauthor of the best seller A Guide to the Passion: 100 Questions about the Passion of the Christ. He is also a regular guest on Catholic radio and writes for the blog Catholic and Enjoying It! at Patheos.com. StAnthonyMessenger.org | April 2019 • 47
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media MATTERS
reel time | channel surfing | audio file | bookshelf
By Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP
Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP
about
FILMS
GIVING LIFE Gimme Shelter (2013) Juno (2007) Bella (2006) October Baby (2011) The Drop Box (2015)
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A
bby (Ashley Bratcher) is a junior at Texas A&M University in 2001 when she attends a volunteer fair. She signs up to help women in crisis at Planned Parenthood in Bryan, Texas, because she knows what women go through. When Abby was a freshman, she was seeing Mark (Alexander Kane) and became pregnant. He suggested she get an abortion, though she was conflicted because she was raised a Christian. Nevertheless, she went through with it. About a year later, she marries Mark, but it’s a mistake. When she discovers she is pregnant during divorce proceedings, she has another abortion. She tells herself that getting rid of the pregnancy is better for everyone, which is how she validates her volunteer work at Planned Parenthood. She wants to keep abortions safe and rare. Meanwhile, on Saturdays, when all the abortions for the week are scheduled, Abby and two members of the Coalition for Life, Shawn (Jared Lotz) and Marilisa (Emma Elle Roberts), strike up a friendship. Marilisa and Abby bond over fashion, while Shawn’s calm demeanor and kindness appeal to her. After six years of volunteering, Cheryl (Robia Scott), the director of the Planned Parenthood facility, gets a promotion and hires Abby to be the new director. Abby mar-
ries Doug (Brooks Ryan), and she becomes pregnant. Abby does so well as the director that she receives the Employee of the Year Award. She attends an in-service day where Cheryl, now at the main office in Houston, tells employees that they must raise their abortion quotas and, thus, increase profits. Abby questions Cheryl about profits when Planned Parenthood is a nonprofit organization. Abby is reprimanded by management for asking probing questions about Planned Parenthood in front of employees. In 2009, Abby is asked to assist in an ultrasound-guided abortion due to a staff shortage. In all her years at Planned Parenthood, she has avoided seeing a single abortion procedure, even if she was in the room. On that day, she watches the ultrasound procedure and sees a 13-week-old fetus struggle for life as it dies and is suctioned out. After presiding over 22,000 abortions and seeing one up close, it changes her life forever. The first several minutes of Unplanned are very difficult to watch because we see, through a graphic CGI flashback, what Abby sees. Her journey through denial, to uncovering lies, to the realization of what really happens in an abortion, is presented with emotional power that builds throughout the
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ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL:TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION; ISN’T IT ROMANTIC?: CNS PHOTO/WARNER BROS.
Sister Rose’s FAVORITE
UNPLANNED
LEFT: COURTESY SISTER ROSE PACATTE, FSP/MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS; UNPLANNED: PURE FLIX/MICHAEL KUBEISY
Sister Rose is a Daughter of St. Paul and the founding director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies. She has been the award-winning film columnist for St. Anthony Messenger since 2003 and is the author of several books on Scripture and film, as well as media literacy education.
narrative. When Planned Parenthood seeks to obtain a gag order for Abby when she quits, she hires a contingency lawyer (Kaiser Johnson), whose spot-on performance saves the film from despair and lifts it through unexpected laughter. Bratcher’s performance is quite good, but Scott’s Cheryl comes off as a stereotypical “bad guy.” This deeply moving film is based on Abby’s best-selling book Unplanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Planned Parenthood Leader’s Eye-Opening Journey across the Life Line. Not yet rated, R • Graphic images of blood, abortion violence.
ISN’T IT ROMANTIC?
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ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL
ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL:TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION; ISN’T IT ROMANTIC?: CNS PHOTO/WARNER BROS.
LEFT: COURTESY SISTER ROSE PACATTE, FSP/MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS; UNPLANNED: PURE FLIX/MICHAEL KUBEISY
I
n the year 2563, Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) hunts through junkyards for discarded cyborg pieces to restore them or create new ones from the pieces. There has been a terrible war; an uneasy peace prevails between humans and cyborgs, good and bad. Ido finds a cyborg torso of a young female and is surprised that her human brain still functions. He surgically and mechanically mends her and names her Alita (Rosa Salazar), after his little girl who died. Alita has no memory of her identity or her past. Ido gives her a curfew because there is danger after dark in an already dark world. A mysterious “city” named Zalem hovers above that holds some kind of power over the earth and its creatures.
Alita: Battle Angel is a 3-D sciencefiction drama based on Yukito Kishiro’s series of graphic novels published in the 1990s. It’s very difficult to say what the film is actually about. I wish the characters had been more developed—they are difficult to relate to or care about. James Cameron (Avatar) coproduced and cowrote the script, and Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids) directs. A-3, PG-13 • Video game violence, peril.
Catholic News Service Media Review Office gives these ratings. A-1 General patronage
A-2 Adults and adolescents
A-3 Adults
L Limited adult audience
O Morally offensive
atalie (Rebel Wilson) is an architect who works in New York City. She lacks self-confidence and mocks the clichés of romantic comedies (romcoms). Whitney (Betty Gilpin) is her assistant and best friend, who watches rom-coms on her computer all day at the office. Josh (Adam Devine) is sweet on Natalie. While he looks at her longingly, Natalie assumes he’s looking out the window at an ad of a sexy model. Blake (Liam Hemsworth) is a client who thinks she is the coffee girl. When Natalie is mugged in the subway, she wakes up in a PG-13 rom-com of her own with all these characters in new roles. Her salty language is bleeped out (except in one instance), which elicits some of the best laughs in this otherwise predictable parody. Still, there is a solid message for audiences in this otherwise mediocre film: Natalie comes to realize that in order to love another person, she must first love herself. A-3, PG-13 • Some suggestive sexual material, language.
Source: USCCB.org/movies
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media MATTERS
reel time | channel surfing | audio file | bookshelf
By Christopher Heffron UP CLOSE
Jesus: His Life History Channel, premiering March 25, 8 p.m.
N
ew Mexico is a place of startling contrasts. The wide expanse of sky is framed by jagged, forested mountaintops. Days are warm, but evenings are crisp for desert night hikers. It is second only to Arizona in days of sunshine per year, and because of its elevation, residents are treated to four distinct seasons. But New Mexico, like every other state in the Union, has an underbelly—principally, addiction and a lack of physicians to care for its rural citizens. Independent Lens’ moving documentary The Providers focuses on three medical professionals who are working to change that. The opioid crisis looms like a shadow over countless communities in the country, and rural New Mexico is not beyond its reach. In 2017, the state had the 17th highest total drug overdose death rate in the nation. Poverty and lack of medical access compound the problem: In 2016, the film reports, 70,000 deaths in rural America could have been prevented with adequate access to medical care—that’s 10 times the number of Americans killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars combined. But Matt Probst, Leslie Hayes, and Chris Ruge, medical professionals who practice at El Centro, a group of clinics that serves northern New Mexico—around 22,000 square miles—seek to make a dent in those numbers. Their work is as exhausting as it is commendable. Probst, a married father of three boys, is a physician’s assistant whose love for his community and his work treat the psychic wounds from a troubled past. Hayes, nationally recognized for her work in fighting the opioid crisis, is a brilliant physician with a loving heart. And Ruge is a road-weary nurse practitioner who brings a gentle, no-nonsense disposition to his home visits. Filmmakers Laura Green and Anna Moot-Levin effortlessly juggle the providers’ personal and professional lives because, too often, they are threaded together. Probst, the film’s steely moral center, sums up the world around him: “There is so much beauty here. And there is so much pain.”
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BEIRUT: 4AD; JOHNNY CASH: COLUMBIA; PETE & REPEAT: TOM GREENE
April 8, 10 p.m., Independent Lens on PBS
t’s the greatest story ever told for a reason: No matter how many times it’s rendered, the life of Jesus is simply a compelling narrative. Even in the hands of directors with cinematic bloodlust (read: Mel Gibson), time spent with Christ on the big or small screen is not time wasted. What viewers will get with History Channel’s rousing, eightpart miniseries Jesus: His Life is much more than a recycled story. The life of Jesus is seen through the lens of those who knew him best. In episode one, for example, we meet Mary and Joseph, who raised him. We encounter John, who baptized him, Magdalene, who supported him, and Pilate, who condemned him. Gently guiding channel surfers through the eight chapters are biblical scholars, historians, faith leaders, and theologians from various backgrounds who provide context for us to savor. The cast of actors rise to the challenges of the source material, especially Ramin Karimloo, who hits the right notes as Joseph, a man oscillating between doubt and redemption. Jesus: His Life is impactful viewing for the Easter season.
THE PROVIDERS: ADRIA MALCOLM, INSET: ANNA MOOT-LEVIN; JESUS: HIS LIFE: A+E NETWORKS/NUTOPIA
The Providers
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reel time | channel surfing | audio file | bookshelf
By Daniel Imwalle
Retro-spective
Editor’s Pick
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F
JOHNNY CASH | HYMNS BY JOHNNY CASH
or some artists, the spirit of a particular place seems to come alive in their creations, whether it’s music, visual art, poetry, or other forms of expression. Recorded in the seaside southern Italian town of the same name, Beirut’s fifth album, Gallipoli, carries on the band’s tradition of seeking out far-flung locales to inspire and inform the music. It’s as if this Mediterranean fishing town had some kind of magnetism that drew the band there to make this record. As we pass from Lent to the Easter season this month—and from death to new life—this album is a fine source of inspiration for meditation and pure listening enjoyment. The opening song, “When I Die,” sets the tone for the rest of the album. And despite the darkness suggested by the title, lead singer/songwriter Zach Condon’s lyrics are more an affirmation of life: “When I die/I want to travel light/Or rinse my hands/So I catch the satellite/Don’t cry/I promise that I’ll get it right/I’ve been practicing my whole life.” Indeed, our time on earth is a kind of practice for the main event: entering the kingdom of God. The title track follows “When I Die,” and it’s nothing short of a musical triumph. The intro lures the listener in with a hypnotic organ, followed by a trumpet part that heralds Condon’s bittersweet vocal. Recalling the impetus behind the song, Condon says: “We stumbled into a medieval-fortressed island town of Gallipoli one night, and followed a brass band procession fronted by priests carrying a statue of the town’s saint through the winding, narrow streets. The next day, I wrote the song I ended up calling ‘Gallipoli’ entirely in one sitting, pausing only to eat.” The urgency of his songwriting comes through powerfully and captivates. Gallipoli touches on some challenging themes, but at its core, the album is a celebration of life’s deep potential for joy and meaningful relationships. Other highlights on the album include the dreamlike instrumental “On Mainau Island” and the jazz-inflected “Light in the Atoll.”
BEIRUT: 4AD; JOHNNY CASH: COLUMBIA; PETE & REPEAT: TOM GREENE
PETE&REPEAT
These scenes may seem alike to you, But there are changes in the two. So look and see if you can name Eight ways in which they’re not the same. (Answers below)
GET THE Great fun for BOOK puzzlers of all ages!
Go online to order: Shop.FranciscanMedia.org For ONLY $3.99 Use Code: SAMPETE ANSWERS to PETE & REPEAT: 1) Pete’s shirt has white trim now. 2) A clock is on the wall. 3) The curtains are longer. 4) The oven has a warmer drawer at the bottom. 5) One of the hot cross buns is gone. 6) There are knobs on the stove. 7) There is more icing on one of the buns. 8) The window is open.
THE PROVIDERS: ADRIA MALCOLM, INSET: ANNA MOOT-LEVIN; JESUS: HIS LIFE: A+E NETWORKS/NUTOPIA
n 1958, Johnny Cash left Sun Records for the big label Columbia Records, and, the following year, released Hymns by Johnny Cash. For an up-and-coming artist who had only a few hits under his belt, his dedication to make a countrygospel album was, looking back, a pretty bold one. The album kicks off with the Cashpenned “It Was Jesus,” which tells the story of Jesus’ feeding of the multitude from the Gospels. Country twang and rockabilly rhythm collide with calland-response gospel vocals for something altogether different and rousing. Later on, Cash belts out the traditional “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” one of the highlights of this collection. The young country singer—27 at the time of the album’s release—would likely have heard this spiritual as he worked the cotton fields when he was a child. The Man in Black would go on to record other albums that highlighted his Christian faith, but this late-’50s collection of traditional and original hymns shows how, early on, Cash’s beliefs were inseparable from his music.
BEIRUT | GALLIPOLI
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media MATTERS
reel time | channel surfing | audio file | bookshelf
By Julie Traubert
God Loves You and Your Baby
“Once in a while a woman would stop and listen to his soft, comforting voice: ‘May I talk to you about alternatives to the clinic?’”
BLACK AND PRO-LIFE IN AMERICA BY ROBERT W. ARTIGO Ignatius Press
W
ith the skill of an investigative journalist and the talent of a screenwriter, Robert Artigo tells the true story of Walter B. Hoye II and his appeal to women entering a for-profit abortion facility in Oakland, California, to choose life for their babies. Hoye, a black minister, stood on the sidewalk
holding a sign: “God loves you and your baby. We can help.” Hoye’s successes led the Oakland City Council to enact a “bubble law” to keep him and other pro-lifers at least eight feet from women coming to the facility. Other sidewalk counselors argued that the ordinance put a limit on free speech. The city council passed the bill in December 2007, and Walter Hoye became the prime target. Abortion providers use volunteers to escort clients into the building when anti-abortion protestors are present. The escorts could approach a patient, but Hoye was told he could not. Further, his plea (“Can I talk to you about alternatives to abortion?”) was deemed harassment and intimidation under the new ordinance, and there-
fore unlawful. Hoye was arrested and brought to trial. Much of Artigo’s book focuses on Hoye’s trial, incarceration, and eventual exoneration. His life is an odyssey marked by his pro-life conviction and his fight to protect freedom of speech. His story reveals the prejudices against pro-lifers, the profits abortion facilities earn by selling baby parts, the African American genocide by abortion, the culture inside the prison system, and the inconsistencies of lawmakers, judges, and enforcers. This was a good read, likely to become a great movie. Reviewed by Father Norman Langenbrunner, of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, who writes, preaches at parish missions, and teaches catechetical courses and conferences.
Secrets and Discovery at the Vatican
“It is fitting that the apostle was buried first in the simple earth and then preserved in a simple wall—no gold cross, no great bronze sarcophagus.”
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ith compelling detail, John O’Neill tells the story of the Catholic Church’s secret excavation and search for St. Peter’s tomb beneath the Vatican and all that was happening above the surface: the Vatican’s sneaky rescue of hundreds of thousands of Italian Jews during World War II. Highlighting the unlikely, historically unrecognized Catholics who not only changed the course of history through their war efforts but also empowered the finding of St. Peter’s bones, O’Neill reveals uncanny parallels. In focusing on the greatest archaeological discovery in Church history, O’Neill leaves readers with a portrait of the Church that is both inspiring and, at times, maddening. Inspiration is
drawn from the Catholics whose faiths were marked by great humility, deep conviction, and contagious generosity. However, the maddening aspect is seen in the destruction that one ego within the male-dominated bureaucracy of the Vatican can cause, which in this case plays itself out in the marginalization of Italian archaeologist Margherita Guarducci by a man who, frankly, envied the brilliance of a woman. Guarducci ultimately decoded the inscriptions, leading to the discovery of St. Peter’s tomb, and her efforts and findings were backed by several popes. O’Neill’s incredible description of the story’s characters naturally ushers in introspection, making readers question what is unfolding beneath the
THE FISHERMAN’S TOMB BY JOHN O’NEILL Our Sunday Visitor
surface of their own lives and consider what it means to leave a legacy and be a true Christian. Reviewed by Stephen Copeland, author of Where the Colors Blend (Morgan James Publishing).
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GOD, IMPROV, AND THE ART OF LIVING
CLUELESS IN GALILEE
DEATH BY MINIVAN
BY MAC BARRON
BY HEATHER ANDERSON RENSHAW
Our Sunday Visitor
BY MARYANN MCKIBBEN DANA Wm. B. Eerdmans
Our Sunday Visitor
“The disciples were a bit like “You surrendered to not knowing teenage boys: They were somewhat was waiting for you around times overly concerned with food.” the bend. You improvised.” ere is a refreshing take on the mprovisation: The word brings up Gospels: It’s funny! Author Mac images of comedians onstage being Barron presents many passages in clever. However, author, pastor, and Scripture, mainly from the Books of improvisational student MaryAnn Matthew and John, and points out how McKibben Dana puts a spin on the truly human and clueless the disciples concept. She says that we improvise could sometimes be. What does that every day, especially when life throws do for our perspective? It helps us see surprises our way. these Evangelists as more accessible; we Dana introduces seven principles of can see our own weaknesses in them improv, including “say and” and “live and gain clarity in how Jesus loves us more deeply,” showing how her own in spite of our faults. Barron’s converstudy of improv gave her new insight sational and laugh-out-loud reflections into living in God’s world and helped are perfect for readers who can “handle her grow spiritually. Using Scripture jokes about Jesus being cranky when he and personal experiences, she offers a gets hungry.” well-written, approachable, and creative reflection that will provide you with tools as you improvise through your own daily challenges.
I
H
TEENS’
Book Recommendations
from SOCIAL MEDIA The Silence We Keep: A Nun’s View of the Catholic Priest Scandal, by Karol Jackowski Why We’re Catholic: Our Reasons for Faith, Hope, and Love, by Trent Horn Not of This World: A Catholic Guide to Minimalism, by Sterling Jaquith Surprised by Life, by Patrick Madrid Go Bravely: Becoming the Woman You Were Created to Be, by Emily Wilson Hussem
SPOT S
“You are enough, . . . and you can most assuredly handle this crazy, grace-filled journey called motherhood.”
F
or every mother who has carted kids to and fro, struggled to make the carpool work for everyone’s schedule, and lost a bit of hearing due to the yelling in the back seat—this book is for you. Mother of five and author Heather Anderson Renshaw celebrates all the challenges and joys of motherhood and shows how it is a path to holiness. She emphasizes that a mother’s sacrifices, while difficult at times, are a reflection of God’s love. There is even a GPS in the book—a God Positioning System—filled with reflective wisdom from Scripture to guide mothers on their journeys.
BLACK BOTTLE MAN BY CRAIG RUSSELL
et in the mid-1900s and following the protagonist’s life in 2007, this work of fiction presents teens with a predicament that befalls a family due to a deal with the devil. While they face the ordeal of having to move every 12 days or face severe consequences, the characters learn the power of love.
Books featured in this section can be ordered from:
St. Mary’s Bookstore & Church Supply
1909 West End Avenue • Nashville, TN 37203 • 800-233-3604
web: www.stmarysbookstore.com e-mail: stmarysbookstore@gmail.com
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POINTSOFVIEW | FAITH & FAMILY By Susan Hines-Brigger
Susan welcomes your comments and suggestions! E-MAIL: CatholicFamily@ FranciscanMedia.org MAIL: Faith & Family 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202
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am mildly obsessed with all things organizational—planners, office supplies, boxes, baskets, bins. If it can make my life more efficient or cleaner, I’m all in. The disconnect, however, comes in the execution and use of those products. Back in January, I promised myself that I was going to straighten up and organize our house. Well, I didn’t, and now it’s April—and I’m rationalizing that spring cleaning is the real time to get organized. I mean, the whole season is about a fresh start . . . right? So it seemed providential when recently, as I was scrolling through Netflix looking for something to entertain me while I undertook the thankless and painful job of matching socks, I came across the series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. I had heard about Kondo and her master organizational skills before and had even picked up her book The LifeChanging Magic of Tidying Up at the library not long ago. Unfortunately, I never got to read it because it got lost under a stack of school papers and Girl Scout cookie order forms and, by the time I uncovered it, it was due back. Intrigued by yet another organizational opportunity, I started watching the first episode. I then may or may not have proceeded to binge-watch the entire first season. IDENTIFY YOUR BLESSINGS
As I watched, I found that what really drew me into the show wasn’t necessarily how Kondo folded the clothes or arranged the closets. What attracted me were the less concrete aspects of her organizational process. At the beginning of each project, Kondo takes a moment to greet and thank each home or space in which she will be working. She
encourages her clients to join her and reflect on the many blessings the house provides them. What a concept! I thought. Another practice Kondo introduces is that of determining which of your possessions “spark joy” in you. She encourages people to take the items in their hands and see what reaction it elicits within them. If it brings you joy, keep it. If not, thank it for what it has given you and let it go. (This is the point where my husband, Mark, entered the room and rolled his eyes at the concept of thanking things such as books and clothes. I quickly told him that if he wasn’t in there to help match socks, he should probably leave. Not surprisingly, he did.) When the final episode of the series ended, I found myself looking around and thinking about my own home. I could certainly stand to do some organizing myself, but I also started thinking even broader than the four walls surrounding me. I thought about what in my life sparks joy in me. I reflected on whether or not I’m thankful enough for the many blessings I have. ULTIMATE JOY
As Catholics, we should be well versed in being able to find joy in our lives—and not only in our homes and possessions. In fact, the word joy appears almost 300 times in the Bible. Our faith also gives us much for which to be thankful—especially this time of year. The fact that this all happened during the season of Lent—a time of reflection and preparation—was not lost on me. This month, as we celebrate Easter, we remember that Christ was willing to die for us in the ultimate act of love. What could spark more joy than that?
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Susan has worked at St. Anthony Messenger for 24 years and is an executive editor. She and her husband, Mark, are the proud parents of four kids—Maddie, Alex, Riley, and Kacey. Aside from her family, her loves are Disney, traveling, and sports.
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FOTOSEARCH IMAGES: TOP LEFT: FOTEK; TOP RIGHT: RUSLANCHIK; MIDDLE RIGHT: IFONG; LOWER RIGHT: MBLACH
What Sparks Joy in You?
Susan Hines-Brigger
in the kitchen
30-Minute Pasta Dinners
with Rita Heikenfeld
Lent Friendly
Lemon Pasta with Salmon Prep time: 15 minutes | Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: ½ lb.
pasta, preferably whole wheat
2 tsp.
garlic, minced or to taste (2 nice cloves)
4 tbls. olive oil, divided in half 4 4-oz. salmon fillets 2–3 tbls. capers
Vegetarian Pasta Fagioli
Vegetarian Pasta Fagioli
Prep time: 15 minutes | Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients: 1 lb.
pasta, preferably whole wheat
½ cup
olive oil
1 tbls.
minced garlic (3 nice cloves)
/8 tsp.
red pepper flakes, or to taste
1
1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
FOTOSEARCH IMAGES: TOP LEFT: FOTEK; TOP RIGHT: RUSLANCHIK; MIDDLE RIGHT: IFONG; LOWER RIGHT: MBLACH
TOP LEFT: MC KOZUSKO/SAM; TOP RIGHT: PALEKA/FOTOSEARCH
2–3 tsp. dried oregano 3 cans beans of your choice, drained CHEF SUGGESTIONS: cannellini, kidney, or chickpeas 1 8–10-oz. bag fresh greens CHEF SUGGESTIONS: spinach or chard (if using chard, chop coarsely) Shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions: Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, heat oil, add garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for a minute over low heat. Add everything but greens and cheese. Bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook about 20 minutes, smashing some of the beans with a potato masher for a creamier sauce. Add fresh greens. Stir until just wilted. Pour sauce over pasta. Sprinkle with cheese.
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1 8–10-oz. bag fresh greens CHEF SUGGESTIONS: spinach or chard (if using chard, chop coarsely) 1
Wheat was an important crop in Bible days. John 12:24 mentions how a grain of wheat “dies” when planted but comes to life again. Our Lord makes an analogy about “dying” to the world and choosing life in God.
lemon, zested
Juice from zested lemon Salt and freshly ground pepper Handful of chopped fresh basil leaves Lemon wedges for garnish Shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions: Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and transfer to bowl. Add garlic, 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine.
Chickpeas were grown in the hanging gardens of ancient Babylon. They were a staple of the biblical diet, along with lentils and other legumes.
Season salmon with salt and pepper. Pour remaining olive oil into skillet and bring to medium high heat. Add fish to pan and cook until done, several minutes on each side. Remove salmon from pan. Add basil, capers, lemon zest, and lemon juice to pasta mixture and toss to combine. Divide greens among plates. Spoon pasta on greens, then place salmon on top. Greens will wilt slightly. Serve with a wedge of lemon and Parmesan cheese.
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WANT MORE?
FIND THIS AND OTHER RECIPES AT: FranciscanMedia.org/source/recipes
Garlic seems to have been almost as popular during biblical days as it is now. Both wild and cultivated varieties were eaten as a vegetable by the slaves for their strength-giving power and were also used to give foods flavor.
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reflection
“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people, and hallelujah is our song.”
STEVEBYLAND/FOTOSEARCH
—St. John Paul II
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TWO MUST READ BOOKS! We’ve curated two MUST READ books for Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost. Be inspired and share these amazing books with your family, prayer group, and parish. A special discount is given to St. Anthony Messenger readers, 25% off when you use discount code SAMApril25.
Meeting God in the Upper Room, Monsignor Vaghi explores three significant events in the life of the early Church that can be traced back to the Upper Room in Jerusalem in order to guide us to a deeper appreciation and understanding of living the Christian life in prayer, worship and service.
An ideal Lenten companion, especially during Holy Week, The Last Words of Jesus will also serve as a useful meditation throughout the year on the deep love Jesus bore for us in taking on the human condition.
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28 W. Liberty Street Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498
Empty Tomb, Jerusalem
Mission Dolores Basilica, San Francisco
San Damiano Retreat Center, Danville, CA
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre - Jerusalem
St. Juniper Serra Statue, San Franciscsco
Pilgrimage to Northern California Missions Many visit the California missions; few do so from the stance of a pilgrim with faith, prayer and Franciscan spirituality. Led by well-trained Franciscans and historical guides, you will journey through the northern missions as the mystery and meaning of each place is explored. Journey with us along this mission trail in the United States as together, with companion pilgrims, we explore the unfolding of a unique faith and cultural drama that still continue to touch our lives.
Church of St. John the Baptist
Pilgrimages to the Holy Land A Franciscan Pilgrimage to the Holy Land is one journey that addresses a new dimension to Christian faith. Through an integration of prayer, reflection and relaxation, you will feel a spiritual awakening touch your hearts. As you follow in the footsteps of Christ, you will see the stories of the Bible come to life. Picture yourself in Bethlehem as you pray inside a cave and wonder at the mystery of Christ’s birth.
Northern California
Expenses
HL Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
$2300
Single Room Supplement
$300
Pilgrimage + Airfare from New York
2019: $4200 2020: $4300
2019: $4550 2020: $4650
2019: $4900 2020: $5100
Dates
August 10-17, 2020
Pilgrimage +Airfare from Chicago
2019: $4300 2020: $4400
2019: $4650 2020: $4799
2019: $5000 2020: $5200
Land Only
2019: $3100 2020: $3200
2019: $3400 2020: $3600
2019: $3900 2020: $4100
Single Room Supplement
2019: $350 2020: $350
2019: $350 2020: $350
2019: $400 2020: $400
Dates of Pilgrimages
2019: June 11-19 2020: June 2-10 (Nine Days)
2019: Sept. 19-30 2020: Sept. 17-28 (Twelve Days)
2019: March 7-18 2020: March 7-18 (Twelve Days)
Franciscan Pilgrimage Programs also offers pilgrimages to Rome and Assisi for individuals, veterans, college and high school students, parishes, and health care groups. Schedule your pilgrimage today by visiting us on our website or by calling 414-427-0570.
Classic
Expanded
HL+ Jordan
For More Information Visit Our Website at FranciscanPilgrimages.com cover 0419.indd 4
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