St. Anthony Messenger December 2019

Sharing the spirit of St. Francis with the world V O L . 1 2 7 / N O . 7 • DECEMBER 2019

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

At Home on Earth page 17

CHRISTMAS IN THE HOLY LAND

2019: A YEAR IN REVIEW HOLY AND HUMAN HOW FAITH EVOLVES

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Great Works on/by St. John Henry Newman ◆ Prayers, Verses, and Devotions John Henry Newman

◆ Parochial and Plain Sermons John Henry Newman

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beautifully printed, Bible paper volume of Newman’s most profound devotional writings, Introduced

by Louis Bouyer. His meditations on the Litany of Loreto and the Stations of the Cross are recognized as classics of Catholic spirituality. His meditations on Christian doctrine show that the source of true piety is sound teaching. His verses on various occasions are profoundly inspiring as are the spiritual hymns and canticles which distill the wisdom of the incomparable Newman.

All eight volumes of Newman’s famous sermons are brought together in this beautifully printed and bound edition on Bible paper with a hardcover and red ribbon. Newman’s sermons are as powerful, fresh and challenging today as when he first gave them.

191 sermons in all.

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◆ Newman: His Life and Spirituality — Louis Bouyer

Newman, a famous convert to the Catholicism, was a priest, a brilliant author of literary and spiritual works, and renowned preacher. He had a great impact on the spiritual journey of Fr. Bouyer, a famous theologian. In this major work on a towering spiritual figure, he shows how Newman is the great apostle for modern times. NHLSP . . . Sewn Softcover, $21.95

◆ The Heart of Newman — Edited by Erich Przywara, S.J.

This outstanding anthology organizes Newman’s thought systematically and completely. It divides the writings and sermons into 21 categories by such themes as God, Miracles, Faith, Scripture, the Church, Body of Christ, Eternal Life, etc., drawn from 25 works by or about Newman. HN2P . . . Sewn Softcover, $17.95

◆ John Henry Newman: His Inner Life— Fr. Zeno, O.F.M. Cap.

Given full access to all of Newman’s letters, diaries, and sermons, this is a culmination of Father Zeno’s life work, in which he reveals the interior struggles Newman faced his whole life. A landmark work considered one of the best spiritual biographies ever of Newman. NHILP. . . Sewn Softcover, $19.95

◆ Loss and Gain — John Henry Newman This novel about a young Oxford student’s intellectual and spiritual challenges was the first work Newman wrote after entering the Church. He wrote the autobiographical novel to illustrate his own reasons for leaving the Church of England and becoming a Catholic.

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◆ Shadows and Images — Meriol Trevor

This novel is the story of a Protestant young woman’s journey to Catholicism in 19th century England during widespread prejudice against Catholics. Leaving her sheltered country life, she becomes fascinated with the ideas and people of Oxford, including a brilliant young clergyman, John Henry Newman.

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◆ Lead Kindly Light FILM

This engaging film tells the inspiring story of Newman’s life, visiting all the places in England where he lived and worked. From London to Oxford, and Littlemore to Birmingham, each reveals an important stage of Newman’s life, and his enduring message for Christians today.

LKLIM . . . 70 min, $14.95

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(800) 651-1531

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VOL. 127 NO. 7

2019 DECEMBER

COVER: CNS PHOTO/DEBBIE HILL; ABOVE: PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CUSTODY OF THE HOLY LAND/NADIM ASFOUR

26 Christmas in the Holy Land

COVER STORY

By Father Greg Friedman, OFM

Visiting the birthplace of Jesus makes an indelible mark on pilgrims, who describe the experience as profound, peaceful, and joyful.

20 Incarnation: One Breath at a Time

By Shannon Evans

What is incarnational theology, and how can we practice it in our busy lives? We can start by following the example of St. Francis.

COVER: Holiding a candle, a Franciscan priest prays in the Grotto of the Nativity, the location of the manger where Jesus was born.

38 2019: A Year in Review

By Christopher Heffron

The year has had its graces and its challenges.

We should look back before we move forward.

34 The Evolution of Faith

By Mary Ann Steutermann

How do you see God? The answer to this question will change throughout your life.

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BETHANY HAMILTON: UNSTOPPABLE: PHOTO BY AARON LIEBER

Ave Maria Mutual Funds – St. Anthony – Higher Ground 1905

2 • December 2019 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

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VOL. 127 NO. 7

“Lord God, who are our hope, you are our faith.

You are our charity.”

2019 DECEMBER

—St. Francis of Assisi

10 SPIRIT OF ST. FRANCIS 10 Ask a Franciscan For All? For Many?

17 POINTS OF VIEW 5 Your Voice

Letters from Readers

12 Franciscan World

16 Faith Unpacked

12 St. Anthony Stories

17 At Home on Earth

13 Followers of St. Francis

19 Editorial

Santa Maria Maggiore

The Wisdom of St. Clare

Passport to Assisi

Time for a New Story

Brother Paul O’Keeffe, OFM

The Gift of Perfect Joy

46 Faith & Family

BETHANY HAMILTON: UNSTOPPABLE: PHOTO BY AARON LIEBER

A New Take on ‘Silent Night’

45 CULTURE

42 Media Reviews

E-learning | Embracing the Power of Pause Music | Your Christmas Playlist

14 44 Film Reviews

Just Mercy Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable Joker

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 4 Dear Reader 6 Church in the News 14 Notes from a Friar

47 Pete & Repeat 47 Lighten Up! 48 Reflection

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dear reader

ST. ANTHONY

MESSENGER

Good News in Bad Times

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cautiously volunteered to write this month’s article “2019: A Year in Review.” I use the word cautiously with intention because it hasn’t been a banner year. I knew that a deeper dive into 2019 would leave me winded and hopeless. And in many ways, it did. We’ve faced catastrophic fires, hurricanes, impeachment proceedings, sex-abuse scandals, and dire predictions from scientists about our planet’s shelf life.

But it’s narrow-minded of me to neatly categorize an entire year as a loss when it also produced joyous news throughout. In 2019, we saw a decrease in global terrorism, scientists making remarkable strides in detecting and treating Alzheimer’s and diabetes, and a NASA report showing that we are 10 percent greener than in decades past. And those are worth celebrating.

At St. Anthony Messenger, we play a role in the media you consume. While several articles in 2019 tackled weighty, penetrative topics, we also featured stories designed specifically to lift your spirits. In looking back on the year, I understand now that hiding from the news is never the answer, but being consumed by it isn’t either.

Balance is key—and I hope we’ve provided that.

Our staff—in fact all of us at Franciscan Media—understand the power of words and the importance of hope. St. Francis cleared that path for us. We walk it still.

PUBLISHER

Daniel Kroger, OFM PRESIDENT

Kelly McCracken EXECUTIVE EDITORS

Christopher Heffron Susan Hines-Brigger

FRANCISCAN EDITOR

Pat McCloskey, OFM ART DIRECTOR

Mary Catherine Kozusko MANAGING EDITOR

Daniel Imwalle

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Sandy Howison

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Christopher Heffron, Executive Editor

Sharon Lape

DIRECTOR OF SALES, MARKETING, AND DEVELOPMENT

Ray Taylor

PRINTING

Kingery Printing Co. Effingham, IL

GREG FRIEDMAN, OFM

Incarnation: One Breath at a Time

Christmas in the Holy Land

The Evolution of Faith

PAGE 20

PAGE 26

PAGE 34

writer

Shannon Evans is a writer whose interests lie at the intersection of the spiritual and material. A married mother of five through birth and adoption, this Iowa resident begrudgingly endures winter in exchange for a community she loves.

Shannon is the author of Embracing Weakness: The Unlikely Secret to Changing the World.

writer

Greg Friedman, OFM, is a friar with the Custody of the Holy Land, where he leads pilgrimages. For many years he worked across multiple platforms at Franciscan Media, including magazine writing and editing, video production, and as the longtime host of American Catholic Radio.

MARY ANN STEUTERMANN writer

Mary Ann Steutermann has a bachelor’s degree in English and two master’s degrees in education. Currently, she serves as the campus minister at an all-girls Catholic high school. Additionally, she teaches writing virtually to students in China and does freelance writing on the side.

Mary Ann lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband and son.

To subscribe, write to the above address or call 866-543-6870. Yearly subscription price: $39.00 in the United States; $69.00 in Canada and other countries. Single copy price: $4.99. For change of address, four weeks’ notice is necessary. See FranciscanMedia.org/subscriptionservices for information on your digital edition.

Writer’s guidelines can be found at FranciscanMedia.org/ writers-guide. The publishers are not responsible for manuscripts or photos lost or damaged in transit. Names in fiction do not refer to living or dead persons.

Member of the Catholic Press Association Published with ecclesiastical approval Copyright ©2019. All rights reserved.

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SHANNON EVANS

ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER (ISSN #0036276X) (U.S.P.S. PUBLICATION #007956 CANADA PUBLICATION #PM40036350) Volume 127, Number 7, 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.

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POINTSOFVIEW | YOUR VOICE One World, One Church I want to pass along a brief message of appreciation for Father Pat McCloskey’s October article, titled “Becoming a World Church.”

His article informs without overdoing the historical background and inspires with well-chosen quotes from two popes and a Franciscan scholar. Father Pat has provided us with enough background to devise our own communal and individual courses of action.

May all become one, and may we all do our part in arriving there. Peace and all good!

administrations. The kennels were erected before the Trump administration.

If 200 refugees would enter by force every Franciscan friary every week for the duration of even two years, would they provide comfortable housing for the duration? And if funds were depleted and less comfort provided, would the media place the blame on the current minister general?

I am a legal immigrant who entered the United States after a two-year delay of my application to enter this country.

Gloria Hutchinson Bangor, Maine

.S.P.S. TION lished of St. nnati, postffices. thony 0189. bram

call n the Single notice ption-

PHOTO CREDIT HERE

a.org/ manun fic-

Josef Herz Cromwell, Connecticut

Life Comes First

The Real Reason for the Alamo

This letter is in response to the “Pro-life or Pro-choice?” question in Father Pat McCloskey’s “Ask a Franciscan” column in the October issue. Every year, I hear my parish priests quote the “Faithful Citizenship” document, which Father Pat references in his answer, and it grieves me.

We Catholics should think about a number of factors when electing a president, but the first and foremost issue to consider should be abortion. Jesus himself warned that those who do anything to hurt a child would have been better left unborn. If we do not consider the gift of life as the most important issue of all, we run the risk of electing those who are promising to promote abortion throughout the entire birth process.

When you don’t ask Catholics to make the right to life the primary consideration in choosing elected officials, you give the impression that all issues are just as important as protecting God’s babies. Life comes first.

In the September issue, David Dault, PhD, wrote about his trip to the US-Mexico border in Texas in his “Faith Unpacked” column, titled “An Ongoing Injustice.” Dault’s words about Texas in his column were very insulting to me and hopefully to all native-born Texans.

He says Davy Crockett and his compatriots fought to the death so that Texans could continue to own slaves and that they used a church altar as their shield. This is not true.

Texans fought and died at the Alamo and at San Jacinto to be free and to establish the Republic of Texas.

Also, in the June issue of St. Anthony Messenger, Susan Hines-Brigger wrote an editorial titled “No More Excuses, Please,” about the 6,000-word essay by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on the clergy sexual abuse scandal. Susan Hines-Brigger chewed out the retired pope over several points in his essay.

I found this to be arrogant on her part. Pope Benedict has a profound intellect, and he should be treated with more respect.

Mary A. Lombardo Albuquerque, New Mexico

Don’t Politicize Immigration Issue I am an admirer and follower of the teaching of St. Francis. The editorial in the October issue of St. Anthony Messenger (“Blessed Are the Peacemakers,” by Christopher Heffron) is very disturbing, not because the deplorable conditions on the southern border are not dehumanizing, but rather that politicizing this situation is not in the spirit of St. Francis.

It is a tragedy that is in large measure perpetuated by a criminal enterprise of drug lords that has been in operation since the last two

Harold Wiese Quitman, Texas

Stronger than Ever I really enjoyed Susan Hines-Brigger’s “Faith & Family” column in the October issue (“Blessings in Our Brokenness”). My husband and I went through a hard time some years ago, but with guidance from our parish priest and marriage counseling, we’ve learned to accept each other’s imperfections. Our relationship is so much stronger now.

Janet Billington Dallas, Texas

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church IN THE NEWS

people | events | trends

By Susan Hines-Brigger

Pope Francis speaks with Britain’s Prince Charles at the Vatican October 13, the day of the canonization of Cardinal John Henry Newman and four others.

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of hope and truth, of the search for God, of devotion to being part of the people of God.” St. Newman’s role in founding the Oxford Movement in the Church of England, a push to rediscover the early Christian writers and to recover the Catholic roots of Anglicanism, “had a fundamental, lasting, beneficial, and important influence on Anglicanism,” the archbishop said.

Britain’s Prince Charles also attended the canonization.

The day before, he wrote an article about Newman for the Vatican newspaper. In it, he wrote, “St. Newman’s example is needed more than ever for the manner in which, at his best, he could advocate without accusation, could disagree without disrespect, and, perhaps most of all, could see differences as places of encounter rather than exclusion.”

At the Mass following the canonization ceremony, Pope Francis said saints are people who recognized their need for God’s help, who took risks to discover God’s will and to help others, and who nurtured a habit of thanksgiving.

In his homily, the pope said: “The culmination of the journey of faith is to live a life of continual thanksgiving. Let us ask ourselves: Do we, as people of faith, live each day as a burden, or as an act of praise?”

Melissa Villalobos from Chicago, along with her husband and seven children, brought up the offertory gifts at the Mass. Villalobos’ healing, which saved her life and the life of her unborn child, was accepted as the miracle needed for St. Newman’s canonization.

Also canonized with Cardinal Newman were Brazilian St. Maria Rita Lopes Pontes, popularly known as Sister Dulce; Indian St. Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan, founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family; St. Marguerite Bays, a Swiss laywoman and mystic; and St. Josephine Vannini, the Italian cofounder of the Daughters of St. Camillus.

ens of thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on October 13 to celebrate the canonization of Cardinal John Henry Newman, as well as four others, reported Catholic News Service (CNS).

Cardinal Newman was a theologian, poet, and Church leader who lived from 1801 to 1890. He joined the Catholic Church in 1845 and was named a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. An official delegation of Anglican bishops and priests attended the Mass. Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England, recorded a message for the occasion.

“His legacy is far broader than one Church or two Churches,” the archbishop said. “It is a global legacy, a legacy

THEME FOR 2020 MARCH FOR LIFE ANNOUNCED

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iting the upcoming centennial of the 19th Amendment, which recognized women’s right to vote, organizers of the 2020 March for Life in Washington, DC, announced on October 15 that the theme for the upcoming march would be “Life Empowered: Pro-Life Is Pro-Woman,” reported CNS. The 47th annual march will be held on January 24, with many local marches taking place across the country throughout the month of January.

In an op-ed published in the Washington Examiner, Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education Fund, and Brandi Swindell, founder and CEO of Stanton Healthcare, noted that “throughout the year, the March for Life will highlight the pro-life views of the suffragists and the way in which the pro-life movement is the true heir of these earliest feminists.”

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CNS PHOTOS: LEFT: ANDREW BIRA; LOWER RIGHT: ST. AUGUSTINE CATHOLIC

A man holds a banner showing Cardinal John Henry Newman prior to the October 13 canonization Mass for Newman and four others.

CNS PHOTOS: TOP LEFT: PAUL HARING; TOP RIGHT: VATICAN MEDIA VIA REUTERS

CARDINAL JOHN HENRY NEWMAN NAMED A SAINT

MARIAN SHRINE ELEVATED TO NATIONAL SHRINE

O OVER 5,000 SOLAR PANELS INSTALLED IN ARCHDIOCESE OF WASHINGTON, DC

CNS PHOTOS: LEFT: ANDREW BIRA; LOWER RIGHT: ST. AUGUSTINE CATHOLIC

CNS PHOTOS: TOP LEFT: PAUL HARING; TOP RIGHT: VATICAN MEDIA VIA REUTERS

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ollowing a year and a half of planning, on October 17, Archbishop Wilton Gregory blessed 5,072 solar panels being installed on five acres of land owned by Catholic Charities surrounding the Missionaries of Charity’s Gift of Peace home in Washington, DC. The panels are expected to be completed and operational by early 2020 and will be the largest such solar project built thus far in Washington, DC, reported the Catholic Standard, the newspaper for the archdiocese.

Msgr. John Enzler, the president and CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, said that when he first approached the sisters for permission to have the project constructed next to their home, both the convent’s superior and the order’s superior in the United States said yes, as did their provincial council in Kolkata via a typewritten letter—all within one day.

A fact sheet produced by the partner agencies said the panels will generate 2.7 million kilowatt-hours of energy per year, equivalent to powering about 350 homes. The proceeds will offset nearly all of the energy costs of Catholic Charities’ 12 properties in Washington and also fund maintenance costs for the Gift of Peace building.

Kevin Virostek, vice chairman of Catholic Charities’ board of directors, said the solar array will help the agency save about $250,000 in annual energy costs, so in addition to helping care for the environment, it “enhances our ability to serve those most in need.

“The impact I hope it has is that other Catholic agencies and institutions will see that energy efficiency and renewable energy work is the right thing to do by God’s creation and helps their bottom line, so that then supports their core mission,” he said.

The project’s partners include Catholic Charities, which is leasing the land, IGS Solar, which is financing the project, and Solar Energy Services, the general contractor constructing the array. Catholic Energies—a program of the Catholic Climate Covenant based in Washington, DC—is the project’s developer.

n October 11, St. Augustine Bishop Felipe J. Estévez surprised more than 200 people attending a feast day Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche by announcing that the shrine has been elevated to a national shrine by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In his homily, Bishop Estévez spoke about how Mary exemplifies what it means to have a relationship with God, saying, “Mary recognizes the living God who closes the door to the mighty of this world and raises up the little ones, the poor in spirit, who are blessed by God.” A press release from the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that, in 2012, the Vatican approved a feast day for Our Lady of La Leche to be inserted into the diocesan calendar on October 11. A canonical coronation of the statue will occur on October 11, 2020, as part of the 150th anniversary of the diocese.

The shrine’s website notes that “pilgrims come from all parts of the world to pray for her powerful intercession.

They pray for fertility, for the health of their children, for safe delivery of those expecting.”

The term shrine signifies a church or other sacred place to which the faithful make pilgrimages for a particularly pious reason with the approval of the local ordinary, according to the US bishops.

There are only two other national shrines in Florida: the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity (Ermita de la Caridad) in the Archdiocese of Miami; and the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe in the Diocese of Orlando.

The historic chapel of the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche is seen at Mission Nombre de Dios in St. Augustine, Florida.

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church IN THE NEWS

ON FEAST OF ST. FRANCIS, POPE AND AMAZONIANS PLANT TREE AT VATICAN

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Pope Francis and Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, relator general of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon, watch as members of an indigenous community plant a tree during a celebration marking the feast of St. Francis in the Vatican Gardens.

o mark the feast of St. Francis of Assisi on October 4, Pope Francis joined Amazonian church workers and indigenous people to plant a tree in the Vatican Gardens, reported CNS. The ceremony, which was organized by the Order of Friars Minor, the Global Catholic Climate Movement, and the Pan-Amazonian Church Network, marked the end of the “season of creation,” an annual period of prayer and action for the environment that is observed by various Christian Churches between September 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and October 4.

During the ceremony, the pope also consecrated the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon to St. Francis.

About 20 delegates from Amazonian countries opened the ceremony, singing and dancing around a mandala of Amazonian symbols. One of the symbols was a banner with a photograph of Notre Dame de Namur Sister Dorothy Stang, a missionary from Dayton, Ohio, who was murdered in Brazil in 2005 because of her defense of the land rights of small-scale farmers.

Members of various church groups brought offerings of soil from symbolic places, including the Amazon, which has a rich cultural heritage and is also a land where martyrs have died; India, a country vulnerable to climate change; countries where people are trafficked or forced to migrate; places where young people participate in climate change demonstrations; and the Shrine of the Renunciation in Assisi.

Ednamar de Oliveira Viana, an indigenous woman, and Jose Cristo de Oliveira, a farmer, both from Brazil, joined Pope Francis and Cardinal Claudio Hummes of Brazil in spreading the soil around a small holm oak tree from Assisi and then sprinkling it with water.

Viana said: “Pope Francis is sensitive to our people. When he refers to the earth as a common home, he speaks a great deal about our life.”

n yet another way to help people pray the rosary, on October 15, the pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network launched the “Click to Pray eRosary,” which is both a free app for Apple and Android and an actual high-tech rosary bracelet that connects to a smartphone using Bluetooth, according to Vatican News.

Making the sign of the cross with the rosary bracelet automatically opens the app on the phone, while clicking one of the prayer beads allows the person praying to advance through the prayer texts, music, and images on the screen.

According to the product’s website (ClicktoPrayeRosary.org), the bracelet consists of 10 consecutive black agate and hematite rosary beads, and a smart cross that stores all the technological data connected to the app. When activated, the user has the possibility to choose to pray either the standard rosary, a contemplative rosary, or different kinds of thematic rosaries that will be updated every

year. Once the prayer begins, the smart rosary shows the user’s progression throughout the different mysteries and keeps track of each rosary completed.

Father João Chagas, head of the youth office at the Dicastery for Laity, the Family, and Life, said the app is “a concrete sign of the pope’s desire to enter the lives of young people and help them pray.”

The rosary is a project of the pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, a pontifical work with the mission of mobilizing Catholics through prayer and action in the face of the challenges confronting humanity and the mission of the Church. They have produced all the special contents of this smart rosary.

GadgeTek Inc. (GTI), a tech company dedicated to innovative lifestyle gadgets with operations spanning five continents around the globe, was responsible for the technological design of the wearable device.

8 • December 2019 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

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GRAPH COURTESY OF PEW RESEARCH CENTER

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CNS PHOTOS: TOP LEFT: YARA NARDI; LOWER CENTER: COURTESY POPE’S WORLDWIDE PRAYER NETWORK

VATICAN LAUNCHES E-ROSARY

STUDY SHOWS NUMBER OF CATHOLICS CONTINUES TO DECLINE

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ccording to a new Pew Research study, nearly two-thirds of American adults (65 percent) describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 points over the past decade. The study, based on telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, also showed that the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular,” now stands at 26 percent, up from 17 percent in 2009.

Both Catholicism and Protestantism are experiencing losses of population share, with one in five adults (20 percent) identifying as Catholic, down from 23 percent in 2009. The study showed that 43 percent of US adults identify with Protestantism, down from 51 percent in 2009.

The study also showed that Catholics no longer constitute a majority of the US Hispanic population (see graphic).

In the meantime, all subsets of the religiously unaffiliated population—a group known as religious “nones”—have seen a significant increase in their numbers. Self-described atheists now account for 4 percent of US adults, up modestly but significantly from 2 percent in 2009; agnostics make up 5 percent of US adults, up from 3 percent a decade ago; and 17 percent of Americans now describe their religion as “nothing in particular,” up from 12 percent in 2009. ust three days before beginning its new term, the Supreme Court announced on October 4 that it WANT MORE? Visit our newspage: will weigh in during this term on a FranciscanMedia.org/catholic-news Louisiana law requiring doctors at abortion clinics to obtain admitting STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION St. Anthony Messenger (ISSN0036-276X), 28 W. privileges from a nearby hospital, Liberty Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498 is published monthly (12 issues annually) for $39.00. Frequency: Monthly. reported CNS. Number of issues published annually: 12. Annual Subscription Rate: $39.00. It is owned by Franciscan Media, 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498. Daniel Kroger, OFM, Publisher; Christopher Heffron and Susan In 2016, the court struck down a Hines-Brigger, Executive Editors; 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498. There are no other owners, similar case from Texas that required bondholders, or mortgagees. The purpose, function and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for abortion clinic doctors to have admitfederal income tax purposes have not changed during the preceding 12 months, ending September 2019. ting privileges at local hospitals and 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation Average No. Copies Actual No. Copies Each Issue During of Single Issue state abortion clinics to comply with Preceding 12 Months Published Nearest standards of ambulatory surgical cento Filing Date ters.

15. a. Total Number of Copies (Net press run) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,352 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,081 Catherine Glenn Foster, president b. Paid Circulation (By Mail and Outside the Mail) 1. Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49,583 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,977 of Americans United for Life, said in a 2. Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 statement that the court’s decision in 3. Paid Distribution Outside the Mails including Sales Through the Texas case held the law’s require Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and ments unconstitutional “but did not Other Paid Distribution Outside USPS® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446 4. Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail Through rule on the overall validity of such pro the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail®) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,108 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,956 visions.” She said that since Louisiana’s c. Total Paid Distribution (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3), and (4)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,112 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,379 admitting privileges law would leave d. 1. Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies abortion centers open in both popula included on PS Form 3541 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,828 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,845 4. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail tion centers in the state, “it does not

(Carriers or other means) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 create an ‘undue burden’ on abortion e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4)) . . . 2,386 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,345 access in Louisiana.” f. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,498 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,724 Earlier this year, the Supreme Court g. Copies not Distributed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,854 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,357 temporarily put the state law restrict h. Total (Sum of 15f and g) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,352. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,081 i. Percent Paid (15c divided by 15f times 100) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 ing Louisiana abortion providers on hold. Justice Samuel Alito said the I certify that all information on this form is true and complete. _______________________________________________ justices needed more time to review the Daniel Kroger, Chief Executive Officer/Publisher | 9/30/19 documentation on arguments for and against the law.

SUPREME COURT TO TAKE UP LOUISIANA ABORTION CASE

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CNS PHOTOS: TOP LEFT: YARA NARDI; LOWER CENTER: COURTESY POPE’S WORLDWIDE PRAYER NETWORK

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SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS | ASK A FRANCISCAN For All? For Many?

By Pat McCloskey, OFM

We have been told for years that Jesus died to save all people. In the Mass, we are told that he came to save “many.” Which is correct?

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All questions sent by mail need to include a self-addressed stamped envelope.

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WE HAVE A DIGITAL archive of 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!

Why the Push for a Latin Mass?

There seems to be a push to return to the Latin Mass and all its implications. Our parish has become very divided when this was imposed on us with refusal of Communion in the hand, reintroduction of Communion rails, and traditional hymns replaced by Latin ones. Our bishop seems to favor these changes. People are leaving our parish.

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re there no Masses in English or some language other than Latin in your parish? If so, that is clearly grounds for a complaint to your bishop. The Mass is not the priest’s Mass or the bishop’s Mass, but rather the Church’s Mass.

Some people have painted themselves into a corner on the issue of Masses in Latin—my way or the highway!

There is a Latin text for the latest revision of the Roman Missal. It sounds as though the Mass being celebrated is the one authorized by the Council of Trent.

Sample of Latin missal I think the decisions in the 1980s by St. John Paul II and later by Pope Benedict XVI to extend the use of the Tridentine Mass were well-intentioned but very ill-advised. Under no circumstances can those decisions be considered infallible.

The Church is the living, breathing body of Christ. It has the right to adapt its liturgy as it considers best. Often those who reject Mass in any language other than Latin are appealing to a “Golden Age” of faith that, in fact, never existed.

I hope you can find good Masses in English close to you.

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TOMMASO79/FOTOSEARCH

Father Pat welcomes your questions!

TOP LEFT: MC KOZUSKO/SAM; FOTOSEARCH IMAGES: TOP RIGHT: ZATLETIC; LOWER RIGHT: GINA SANDERS

Pat McCloskey, OFM

esus died to save all people. Anyone who says otherwise is guilty of material heresy—and I don’t say that lightly! Genuine heresy requires explicitly denying something the Catholic Church has formally defined as necessary for the faith. In Colossians 3:11, St. Paul wrote, “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all” (see also 1 Tm 2:6; Rom 3:28; 8:32; 14:10; Col 1:20; and 1 Cor 15:28). Some translations render “all and in all” as “everything in all of you.”

I suspect the problem that some people have with saying “all” is that they think this wording affirms that all people are, in fact, guaranteed that they will be saved. Salvation is a gift that can be refused. Saying “all” does not deny that. Whoever thinks that here “many” means less than “all” should be ready to explain whom the saving death of Jesus excludes.

It is true that the official English translation of the Roman Missal’s third edition uses the expression many at the consecration of the Mass. Before that Missal was promulgated, Cardinal Francis Arinze, then prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, stated that this changed wording did not deny that Jesus died to save all people.

The incarnation of Jesus, which we celebrate in a special way this month, was for the benefit of the entire human family, a point that Matthew emphasizes by including the story of the Magi in his Gospel’s infancy narrative.

Crying about the Afterlife Sometimes at night I cry about my own death and the afterlife. At 17, I don’t want to make wrong choices (especially about chastity). Why am I so worried about death and the afterlife?

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We wish you

hanks for writing. I hope you find this reply helpful.

As someone who taught high school students for 16 years full-time and three more years part-time, I appreciate that you find death scary. At age 71, I’m probably closer to death than you are.

Death is the passage into the life with God that we have always been intended to share. I hope that you have known some older people who have faced death calmly. If you haven’t had that experience, you might consider volunteering at a nursing home near you. One run by Catholic sisters might be ideal.

Developing one’s conscience and sticking to it are not easy. In a sense, you can ask about any action: Is this who I am before God? Would I have to lie to myself to find this action OK? Every sin begins with a lie to oneself because every temptation to sin suggests that the proposed action or inaction is a shortcut to something good, that God’s ways are too difficult, take too long, etc.

God created each of us in order to share divine life with us—and that includes the freedom to tell ourselves the truth consistently. Nothing good can be built upon a lie of whatever kind. I encourage you to seek help from a mental health professional.

May the Lord help you to experience the peace, joy, and freedom that are your birthright.

Christmas blessings and thank you for your support!

Quick Questions and Answers Yes, they can. Purgatory is a place of purification. At the moment of death, not everyone is ready to be in God’s loving presence forever. Why not? They may still hold, for example, racist ideas. Such people would immediately be in conflict with the saints because these newcomers would probably have countless areas to “improve” on what God is providing—for example, the seating arrangements!

How are the feast days of saints determined? I see different days linked with the same saint, including on your Internet feature Saint of the Day.

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TOP LEFT: MC KOZUSKO/SAM; FOTOSEARCH IMAGES: TOP RIGHT: ZATLETIC; LOWER RIGHT: GINA SANDERS

Because Protestants don’t believe in purgatory, can they go to purgatory?

Often a saint’s feast day is the day that person died. St. John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, but his feast is on October 22. The Catholic Church has a worldwide liturgical calendar, but a country or a diocese may have permission to publish its own. For example, St. Clare is celebrated on August 11 on the worldwide calendar but on August 12 in the Diocese of Assisi because August 11 has been celebrated there for centuries as the feast of St. Rufino, one of its bishops and a martyr.

Our online Saint of the Day feature (SaintoftheDay.org)is based on the Roman (worldwide) calendar, but there are some variations because that calendar does not have a saint for each day and has several dates on which two or more unrelated saints are celebrated. The diocesan Ordo (approved liturgical list) is the final authority.

Your contributions to our Jamaican mission helped Gifford “Bam Bam” Whyte graduate from high school and begin college.

Visit StAnthony.org/GKTS to learn more or to make a Christmas offering. With your help, we are making a difference in Jamaica!

StAnthony.org/GKTS

The Franciscan Friars, Province of St. John the Baptist 1615 Vine St., Ste 1 • Cincinnati, OH 45202-6492

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SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS ”You are the holy Lord God who does wonderful things.”

—St. Francis of Assisi

FRANCISCAN WORLD

Santa Maria Maggiore

By Pat McCloskey, OFM

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BORN NEAR Poznan, Poland, in 1694, Melchior Chylinski became an officer in the cavalry. After joining the Conventual Friars and taking the name Rafal, he spent over 11 and a half years in Lagiewniki.

His sermons were powerfully reinforced by the living sermon of his life, especially his works of mercy.

During his 1991 beatification homily in Warsaw, St. John Paul II said, “May Blessed Rafal remind us that every one of us, even though we are sinners, has been called to love and holiness.”

—Pat McCloskey, OFM

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WANT MORE? Learn about your saints and blesseds by going to: SaintoftheDay.org

ST. ANTHONY STORIES

Passport to Assisi

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ess than two weeks before going on a pilgrimage to walk in the footsteps of Sts. Francis and Clare in Rome and Assisi, I couldn’t find my passport. I knew for sure that I had seen it a couple months earlier. I didn’t tell anyone because I figured I would have found it by then. But after looking in all the typical spots where I would have put it, I still couldn’t find it. I said a few prayers to St. Anthony over the previous weeks but it still didn’t turn up. Now I was panicking.

My plan to find it went something like this: First, I’d say another quick prayer to St. Anthony—no time for rhymes! Second, I’d call Mom to see if she could come over to help me look. As a last resort, I’d take a vacation day to search my place from top to bottom. Step one: check. Step two: While I was on the phone with my mom, asking for her to help me look for it, lo and behold, there was my passport. As I was shuffling through paperwork that I had looked through a hundred times before, I found it inside an envelope with my flight information. Thank you, St. Anthony. Italy, here I come!

—Mary Catherine Kozusko, Wilder, Kentucky

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PHOTO COURTESY OF BROTHER PAUL O’KEEFFE, OFM

This military officer became a friar famous for his confessional ministry and service to poor people.

LEFT: ALL SAINTS IN BRZEZINY, POLAND; TOP RIGHT: WIKIMEDIA/SAILKO; LOWER RIGHT: WEBKING/FOTOSEARCH

BLESSED RAFAL CHYLINSKI

his is Assisi’s old cathedral, replaced by San Rufino before Francis was born. In his day, however, Assisi’s bishop lived next to Santa Maria Maggiore.

In the fall of 1205, Pietro Bernardone brought Francis into the bishop’s court for taking cloth without permission from Pietro’s business, selling the cloth in Foligno, and donating the money to repair the San Damiano wayside chapel. Francis renounced his inheritance and returned to his father even his clothes.

Francis reportedly helped restore this cathedral in 1216 and certainly stayed at the bishop’s residence shortly before dying at Santa Maria degli Angeli. While staying with the bishop, Francis composed verses for the “Canticle of the Creatures” to help heal the rift between the bishop and mayor of Assisi.

Connected to this cathedral is the “Room of Reconciliation,” recalling Francis’ final acceptance of a Gospel life without civil and family protecction.

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FOLLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS

ST. ANTHONY

Mission Work Paves the Way to Franciscan Vocation

“Every time I go back to Assisi, I’m struck by how free St. Francis was in his love for God.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF BROTHER PAUL O’KEEFFE, OFM

LEFT: ALL SAINTS IN BRZEZINY, POLAND; TOP RIGHT: WIKIMEDIA/SAILKO; LOWER RIGHT: WEBKING/FOTOSEARCH

States. He returned to the classroom to receive a master’s degree in theology from Washington Theological Union and another master’s in clinical social work from Howard University.

Today, Brother Paul is the clinical director of the counseling center at St. Anthony’s Shrine in Boston. “All are welcome here. The poor, mentally ill, and those struggling with transgender issues come to our door. We help a lot of Catholics because many of them want a therapist who understands how important their Catholic faith is to them,” says Brother Paul.

As part of the Franciscan Missionary Union, he also works as the moderator of missions and evangelization for Holy Name Province, leading mission trips and pilgrimages to Africa, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia, and within the United States.

“We have been promoting missions through mission trips and pilgrimages for college students, parish groups, and individuals,” Brother Paul explains. “It is mostly a ministry of presence. We provide opportunities to serve and get to know people and the social issues in their own countries.” The friar points out that their most sought-after trip is the one to Cuba: “That trip is special.

It illustrates how difficult it is to be a Catholic in a Communist country. The people are wonderful, and they enjoy sharing their culture.”

Brother Paul also leads pilgrimages. Among the places he goes are Padua and Assisi. “Every time I go back to Assisi, I’m struck by how free St. Francis was in his love for God,” Brother Paul says. “He also had a great humility—that still escapes me. But in all that I do, that’s what I strive for.”

—Janice Lane Palko

FRANK JASPER, OFM

“

What I love about St. Francis is his profound joy. Whether he was sick, suffering abuse, or in harm’s way, he praised God,” says Brother Paul O’Keeffe, OFM. Brother Paul, 50, who grew up in Burlington, Massachusetts, has had a wide-ranging faith journey.

“After college, I investigated joining the Peace Corps, but it just didn’t seem to be a right fit for me. Our parish priest told me about lay missions, and that appealed to me. They were like the Peace Corps with a faith dimension.”

In 1996, Brother Paul was trained and sent to Kenya. There he met Father Joe Nagle, the director of Franciscan Mission Service, who impressed Brother Paul with the Franciscan values of working with and service to the poor. After his time in Kenya, Brother Paul missed working in Africa and joined another lay ministry, the Society of African Missions, and was sent to Ghana, where he worked with physically disabled individuals and refugees from Sierra Leone and Liberia.

“I loved life in Ghana. The people are very communal. When I thought about joining a religious order to continue working in Africa, that sense of community came back to me, and I remembered the Franciscans and how communal they were,” he says.

He took two years to discern his vocation and decided on becoming a Franciscan, entering the Order of Friars Minor in 2004 and professing final vows in 2010. “In addition to their sense of community, the friars didn’t make a distinction between priest or brother. I felt I was called to mission work, whereas a priest’s first calling is to his priesthood,” says Brother Paul.

He still feels called to mission work, but now that work is set in the United

Brother Paul O’Keeffe, OFM

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

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NOTES FROM A FRIAR

By Jack Wintz, OFM

St. Francis, Christmas, & Creatures REENACTING BETHLEHEM

This is why the feast of Christmas meant so much to Francis and why he wanted the whole of creation to be part of the celebration. St. Francis himself initiated the popular tradition of the Christmas crèche. The custom goes back to 1223, when Francis invited the townspeople of Greccio, Italy, to gather at a cave outside the village to reenact the first Christmas.

St. Francis asked the people to bring along an ox and an ass and sheep and real straw in a real manger.

Francis wanted to have animals around the crib because he had a deep sense that these creatures belonged there because they, too, were deeply affected by the birth of Christ and his saving love. By right, all creatures should participate in the celebration of Christmas.

INCLUDING CREATURES IN THE FESTIVITIES

St. Francis’ biographers give us additional evidence that he strongly believed that all creatures should share in the Christmas blessing. These writers inform us that St. Francis wanted the emperor to ask all citizens to scatter grain along the roads on Christmas Day so that the birds and other animals would have plenty to eat. The beasts in the stables, too, should be given richer fare on the feast of Christmas, and even the walls should be rubbed with food.

If St. Francis were alive today, I believe he would encourage us to include more and more creatures in our celebration of Christmas. If we have pets, he might suggest that we give Brother Dog or Sister Cat a special treat on Christmas Day—or at least that we toss a few more sunflower seeds on the bird feeder!

Jack Wintz, OFM, is a retired editor whose work with St. Anthony Messenger spanned 40 years. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.

PHOTO CREDIT HERE

rtists often depict St. Francis surrounded by animals, birds, and flowers as if they all make up one happy family. This is not just a hyped-up picture of the saint created by sentimental nature lovers. It captures something very true and profound about him. Francis’ earliest biographers, who wrote during his lifetime, tell of his preaching to birds and his encounters with a variety of creatures, as well as his addressing them as “Sister Lark,” “Sister Cricket,” “Brother Rabbit,” and so forth.

It is, moreover, an accepted historical fact that St. Francis is the author of the “Canticle of Brother Sun,” sometimes known as the “Canticle of the Creatures.” What this song and his many interactions with animals tell us about St. Francis is that he did not perceive himself as isolated from other creatures.

He simply assumed that all creatures—not only humans—form one family of creation. Even when we pray, it’s good to invite the other creatures to praise God with us, just as Francis did in his canticle: “All praise be yours, my Lord, through all that you have made—first of all, through my lord Brother Sun . . . through Sister Moon and Stars . . . through Brother Wind . . . and Sister Water . . . and Brother Fire . . . and Sister Earth, our mother.”

This familial sense of oneness with all creatures is closely linked with St. Francis’ love for the feast of Christmas and his understanding of the Incarnation.

In Francis’ mind and heart, if God really entered the family of creation, this event should really revolutionize our thinking about the world. Not only did the Incarnation bestow a great value on humans, but it also blessed and enriched other creatures as well. The whole fabric of creation took on an elevated dignity and meaning.

ST. FRANCIS: MC KOZUSKO/SAM; BRANCHES: MARILYNA/ISTOCK; FOTOSEARCH IMAGES: NU1983; ATTAPHONG; UTAH778

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PHOTO CREDIT HERE

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POINTSOFVIEW | FAITH UNPACKED The Wisdom of St. Clare

By David Dault, PhD

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Want a certain topic covered? Send us your request.

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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.

TIME FOR REST

I am fearful about many things, but especially transitions and change. I get locked into routines and habits, and these become a comfort to me. I hold on to behaviors, often for too long, and sometimes long after they have ceased to be useful or healthy.

The Lord instituted the Sabbath for exactly this reason. It is a break in our daily habit of trying to matter and be the center of everything. The transition from work to Sabbath each week is meant to remind us that our efforts, though important, are not the primary force of the universe.

St. Clare could have faced death with frustration, demanding more time to attend to unfinished projects. Instead, she allowed her soul to feel the deep promise at the heart of Sabbath: Be secure in knowing that what you have done is enough, and God will carry the rest.

May we leave the old year with this same security and peace.

Next, she writes, “The One who created you and made you holy has always loved you tenderly as a mother her dear child.”

In our liturgies and theologies, we are used to being reminded of the masculine aspects of God. But here, Clare is taking assurance in those more maternal aspects of our Creator.

St. Clare knew that she, too, was created in the image of God, and that emboldened her to proclaim the feminine strength of the Lord along with the more usual masculine ones.

Tender love protects and promotes.

Beloved children are given shelter, but they are also given freedom to explore and play.

May we enter the new year with this same assurance that we are surrounded always by a powerful and tender love.

THE GREATEST GIFT

Clare’s final words were, “And you, Lord, are blessed because you have created me.”

I have to be constantly reminded of the plain fact that Clare knew so well. Everything we have, from the breath in our lungs to the world that surrounds us, is a pure gift. Our words did not create it, and our efforts did not bring it into being. It is all from God. We are not called to triumph, and we are not called to “win” at life (whatever that might mean). We are called to live in the reality of this great gift and to acknowledge it.

I hear in Clare’s words such a profound gratitude for having been given the gift of life and the opportunity to make of that life something that would point glory back to her Creator.

As we leave this year and enter the new, let us do so following Clare’s example, as grateful and beloved children of God.

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LEFT: FEVERPITCHED/FOTOSEARCH; RIGHT: COURTESY OF KYLE KRAMER

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.

TOP LEFT: PHOTO COURTESY OF CHICAGO SUNDAY EVENING CLUB/KHIEM TRAN; TOP RIGHT: ALTERPHOTO/FOTOSEARCH

David Dault, PhD

ver the past few weeks, I have been thinking a lot about St. Clare of Assisi. In particular, I have been thinking about her last words, attributed to her on her deathbed by Regis Armstrong in his book Clare of Assisi— The Lady: Early Documents.

As she prepared to leave this world, we are told that she said, “Go securely and in peace, my blessed soul. The One who created you and made you holy has always loved you tenderly as a mother her dear child. And you, Lord, are blessed because you have created me.”

Clare died on August 11, 1253, on the bare floor of San Damiano in the convent she founded, next to the church in which St. Francis had his miraculous vision of Our Lord calling him to his ministry of repair and renewal.

As we come to the conclusion of this year and prepare ourselves for the next, there is great wisdom in Clare’s words.

First, “Go securely and in peace, my blessed soul.”

POINTSOFVIEW | AT HOME ON EARTH Time for a New Story

ver the years of writing this column, I’ve circled around a central question: How do we belong fully and rightly within God’s creation? In other words, how do we become truly at home on earth?

As I’ve wrestled with this question, I’ve become ever more aware of how challenging it really is to connect deeply with our places and to be at home in them. In one way or another, almost everyone in this country has some good reason to feel not quite at home—people who are homeless, displaced native peoples, descendants of African slaves, descendants of the European colonizers who took over the North American continent by force, immigrants and refugees who had to flee their homeland, urban dwellers isolated from nature, rural people surrounded by industrialized agriculture, just to name a few examples.

HELPFUL Doing Our Part

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TOP LEFT: PHOTO COURTESY OF CHICAGO SUNDAY EVENING CLUB/KHIEM TRAN; TOP RIGHT: ALTERPHOTO/FOTOSEARCH

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Indigenous peoples have lived sustainably in their places for the long term. Pope Francis has invited us to learn from their wisdom about how to belong in the world.

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Most groups who protect the earth’s resources aren’t paid much, if anything, for their efforts. Consider making a year-end gift to an environmental nonprofit of your choice.

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As you do your Christmas shopping, remember that if everyone lived like many Americans tend to, we’d need five earths’ worth of resources. How can you simplify giftgiving this year?

By Kyle Kramer Even our Christian story, as we currently tell it, has its own ambiguity in regard to being at home on earth. Jesus was born a refugee on the run. He eventually became a traveling preacher with “nowhere to lay his head,” who called his disciples to leave behind everything and everyone in order to follow him. Paul and the early apostles roved throughout the Mediterranean world making converts, but not homes.

Despite these challenges, I do have a stubborn faith that God made all of us human creatures to belong and be at home in this beautiful world. I’m beginning to suspect, though, that living out this vocation may likely go as deep as changing our entire economy, political system, cultural and religious values, and way of life. Pope Francis seems to say so in his encyclical “Laudato Si’,” and the Passionist Thomas Berry certainly made that case.

I think tectonic changes like that will only happen, though, if we start telling ourselves a different story about our place in the world: that, despite so much current evidence to the contrary, we are indeed made for belonging, right down to the interconnected subatomic particles that form us and link us to every other thing. Whatever the ambiguities of our Christian heritage, isn’t this the deep, abiding meaning of what we celebrate at Christmas— Incarnation, Emmanuel, “God with us”— and what we celebrate with each other, our world, and all our fellow creatures? In quiet moments of prayer, in times of connection to loved ones and strangers, don’t our hearts whisper this intuition?

A few simple practices can help us as we open our hearts to a new story of belonging.

A daily habit of gratitude reminds us that we are blessed to be part of this great web of belonging. And practicing kindness, humility, and hospitality—in ways great and small, to fellow human beings and other creatures— will help us to walk more gently upon our planet. Beyond that, perhaps there is no need for a master plan. If we are attentive, the Holy Spirit will show each one of us what we can do to bring about a world of sacred belonging, where all of us—human and nonhuman alike—are at home on earth.

Kyle Kramer

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.

EarthandSpiritCenter.org

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POINTSOFVIEW | EDITORIAL

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The Gift of Perfect Joy

“Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved.”

—Pope Francis, “Joy of the Gospel” (“Evangelii Gaudium”)

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appiness and joy. Those are two words that get tossed around quite a bit at this time of year and certainly with good reason. The birth of Christ is definitely something to celebrate.

For most people, these two words are pretty similar in meaning. And while in some ways they are, in other ways they’re really not. You see, happiness is more of a fleeting emotion. It depends on outside forces to determine whether or not we are happy. For example, we’re happy when we get the gift we wanted or when our team wins the big game. But on the flip side, when things don’t go our way, our happiness disappears.

Joy, however, is something much deeper and more sustainable. Joy is an emotion that reminds us that after all of the wrapping paper has been thrown away and the decorations packed up for next year, we are still left with the enduring joy of Christ’s birth. Joy is what carries us through the rest of the year, providing a stable platform amid the ebbs and flows of happy times. It comes from inside of us, whereas happiness depends on what’s going on around us.

It is, according to the Letter to the Galatians (5:22–23), one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

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WHAT IS PERFECT JOY?

One person who truly understood the concept of joy was St. Francis. Once, in a conversation with Brother Leo, Francis explained what he called “perfect joy.” As the story goes, as the two walked in the winter cold, Francis repeatedly told Leo examples of what perfect joy is not. For example, he said, “If the friars were to make the lame to walk, if they should make straight the crooked, chase away demons, give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, and, what is even a far greater work, if they should raise the dead after four days, write that this would not be perfect joy.”

Eventually, Brother Leo asked Francis to explain what he

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meant by perfect joy.

Francis responded by describing the possibility where they would arrive at their destination after walking in the rain and cold and, upon presenting themselves as fellow brethren, were accused of lying and turned away. That, Francis said, would be perfect joy.

He went on to add, “And if we knock again, and the porter comes out in anger to drive us away with oaths and blows, as if we were vile impostors, saying, ‘Begone, miserable robbers, for here you shall neither eat nor sleep!’ If we accept all this with patience, with joy, and with charity, O Brother Leo, write that this indeed is perfect joy.”

A WIDER LENS

That concept of perfect joy probably seems confusing and counterintuitive to most of us. How could we find joy in such an unpleasant situation? We can because joy comes from inside us. Joy reminds us that even when we are devoid of happiness, God is still with us and will always be there.

That is joy.

Pope Francis expanded on that concept in a 2018 homily: “Joy does not mean living from laugh to laugh. No, it’s not that. Joy is not entertainment. No, it’s not that. It is something else. Christian joy is peace, peace that is deeply rooted, peace in the heart, the peace that only God can give. This is Christian joy. It is not easy to foster this joy.” In that context, suddenly the phrase joy to the world at Christmas takes on a much greater meaning. It reminds us that at Jesus’ birth we are given the gift of God with us at all times.

This month, as we celebrate Christmas and all of its festivities, let us recall that while the happiness of the season will fade, the joy of it will not. Let us allow that joy—the joy of Christ’s birth and his love—to sustain us throughout the year to come.

—Susan Hines-Brigger

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What is incarnational theology, and how can we practice it in our busy lives? We can start by following the example of St. Francis.

Incarnation I

One Breath at a Time

action that gives me life is the one I’m least likely to be aware of as I do the living.

Outside, the sun is setting. Inside, air is whistling through my nostrils. In the near silence, I begin to feel my receptivity to the Holy Spirit awaken with every fold of my waist and pull of my calves. Despite good intentions, I haven’t managed to meaningfully direct my thoughts toward God all day, but somehow here in the slowing of my body, my busy mind follows suit.

Somehow, just a moment of embodiment realigns my heart again. I am not an automaton; I am a living vessel of divine love. Ah, yes, I’d forgotten.

By Shannon Evans

VICTOR TANGDEE/ISTOCK

put my kids to bed and sneak downstairs, hoping that the creak of the steps won’t elicit demands for a cup of water or a request for one more story. If the coast is clear, I sidestep wayward basketballs and torn superhero capes to enter the sanctuary I seek: a small, curtained-off space of the playroom with pillows on the floor, plants in the window, and an unassuming Marian altar to one side.

Here in my little haven, I bend my weary body to the ground, almost immediately noticing my soul recharge in the simple act. I stretch and rest and revel in the truth that movement is prayer, that my limbs have begun to reach out for divine communion before my brain has left the worries of the day behind. For the first time since rolling out of bed, I listen to the sound of my own breath. Funny how the very

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HOLY FUN

This foundational (and actualized) belief in the Incarnation that undergirds Catholicism also makes us notably passion22 • December 2019 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

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UNCLE DAENG/ISTOCK

When I came into the Catholic Church at age 30, I relished the novelty of an expression of Christianity much more sensual than the one I had known for three decades.

The smell of chrism oil in my nostrils, the wet of holy water on my forehead, the slight ache of my knees as I knelt and stood—a liturgy I had once written off as “rote” came alive to me as I drew near enough to accept the very physical invitation it extends, delightfully surprised by how often my heart followed my body.

Incarnation, after all, is at the core of Catholicism: As do other Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ fully embodied both humanity and divinity. But taking it one rather generous step further, we Catholics profess to eat and drink him. For someone coming from a vastly different perspective on eucharistic theology, this concept seems preposterous—the belief in it nothing more than an infantile superstition. But the contemplative heart sees more.

For a God of incarnation, what could possibly be more fitting than to offer yourself, fully and physically present, into the gut of human bodies? It is the crowning glory of a revelation that recognizes the divinity within created matter. In our stubborn belief that we are ingesting the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, Catholics are prophesying that the material world is good—that if Christ taught us anything, it is that opposing the material to the spiritual is not only unnecessary, it is nonrealistic.

And so we eat his flesh and drink his blood, and we walk around under shop awnings and swing from playground sets with God in our bellies. Some of us fully believe that what we have done is sacred while others take it for granted. But in the end, how much does it really matter what we think? None of us is anywhere close to truly understanding the profundity of the act. All is grace.

ate people. Our particular religious culture revels in earthly pleasures and physical delights—we gleefully point out to anyone who will listen that Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine to keep the wedding party going. Growing up as a preacher’s kid in the Bible Belt, I didn’t know many Catholic families, but the few I did know always seemed to be having a suspicious amount of fun. I remember feeling aghast—but more than a little fascinated—to learn that the parents of one of my junior high pals regularly went out with their friends for a night of light drinking and boisterous conversation.

I couldn’t imagine my own parents—or any Protestant I knew for that matter—doing the same.

In his book Why Be Catholic?, Father Richard Rohr happily notes that Catholics “love parties, sex, and babies,” and one look at most majority-Catholic cultures in the world confirms this to be true—Latin America, Italy, and New Orleans, to name a few. Wisdom and temperance are called for, of course, but the fact that we are a sensual people is a profound and joyous reflection of the divine delight in all that is earthy and material.

And yet the longer I have spent burrowing into the womb of the Catholic Church, the more I’ve noticed a discrepancy here. Despite clinging to a robust incarnational theology, we Catholics—not unlike our Protestant counterparts—still struggle to meaningfully integrate our everyday physicality with our faith—as though the two were separate parts of ourselves rather than mutually intertwined.

We take in the gift of sensory-laden sacraments and sacramentals, yet we despise our bodies for aging or thickening. We relish the physical matter of relics and architecture, yet we fail to preserve the original cathedrals of land, forest, and water.

Our struggle to actively believe that incarnation extends beyond the physical body of Jesus is evident when we are unable to recognize the divine outside the parameters of that which we have specifically labeled “spiritual.” If we were really transformed by what we claim to believe, each of us would be the world’s most vehement environmental defenders, the loudest comprehensive life activists, and the most faithful allies of other religions. We would, in short, be little walking

VICTOR TANGDEE/ISTOCK

INCARNATION: BOTH HUMAN AND DIVINE

The life of God beats in and through my flesh and bones, imbuing my everyday existence with dignity [and] holiness.

catechisms. But alas, a kind of dis-integration has robbed us of such purity.

It is this inconsistency between the truth we profess and the truth we actually live that reveals our faulty belief about God. I can declare all day long that God is “in all things,” and yet I live as though God is in nothing but the Eucharist.

And nowhere is this severed unity more evident than in my relationships with my own body and with the earth.

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VICTOR TANGDEE/ISTOCK

SEEING GOD IN ALL THINGS

I recently had emergency surgery for a detached retina, a condition that is not unusual later in life but decidedly uncommon in healthy women in their mid-30s like me.

After the ophthalmologist told me the reason for my recent headaches and blurred vision, I called my husband at work to report that surgery was being scheduled. Frustrated and emotional, I kept exclaiming words about “my stupid body!” into his ear.

After the surgery, as I lay on my right side in bed for a full week of recovery, knowing my vision would never again be the same, I fought off the temptation to bemoan the perceived failure of my body to function as it should. But all the while I lay there, a baby girl kicked and flipped within my womb, an ever-present and undeniable reminder that my body was, in fact, not a failure, but a living miracle.

How unquestioned it is to call one good and the other bad. A child being knit together inside my uterus? The greatest gift from God. A retina that detached from my eyeball?

A terrible misfortune and result of “the fall.” As my recovery

lent the time for feeble attempts at unwrapping this discrepancy, the questions turned over and over inside my head.

I began to notice how stark my divisions between blessing and curse have always been, how comfortably I have stayed within the bounds of delineation.

But my baby and my retina are both a part of me, both requiring attention and nurture, both asking me to pause with honor and understanding toward them. If incarnation is true and physical matter is sacred, holy, and God’s dwelling place, why am I so quick to turn my body into a thing to villainize or be disappointed in?

THE FRANCIS CONNECTION

Such questions are my guide as I fumble my way through seeking to identify and own my personal spirituality, a journey that seems to have led me with an almost gravitational pull toward the way of St. Francis. It is here that my yearning for the integration of the physical and the spiritual is acknowledged and affirmed—here in the heart of this humble saint who had eyes to see the interconnectedness of all things.

Unfortunately, Francis the radical reformer has over time been watered down into a cliché of Francis the simple animal lover. For most of my life, all I knew of this saint was that he preached the Gospel to the birds—and, judging from the vague familiarity held by my now-fellow Catholics, I don’t think this was simply because of my Protestant youthfulness. By and large, Francis has been flanked by bunnies and squirrels and relegated to the category of “harmless hippie” StAnthonyMessenger.org | December 2019 • 23

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instance, he acknowledges that even through tumultuous weather, “You cherish all that You have made.” As I read these striking words, I can’t help but wonder how I might be transformed by believing and extending this principle to all areas of my physical experience. How might I move through this life differently, more meaningfully, were I to believe that a great cherishing was happening through a flash flood, or the pollination of bees, or my unruly retina?

GOD’S TAPESTRY

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BAKS/ISTOCK

I know I’m not the only one being led this way. As I look around me, scanning the widespread prophetic work that I see the Holy Spirit doing, what I observe is a massive awakening of unity. Not unity in the sense of intersectional hand-holding and kumbaya-singing (although that wouldn’t hurt anything), but a collective desire among a growing number of Christians to integrate all things into a renewed view of a God who is big enough to encompass them.

We are ready to encounter a God of the anytime and anywhere, ready to unearth the divine in overturned logs and in the sweat from our pores. We are ready to erase the lines that have been drawn between faith and works, mercy and justice, politics and religion,

PHOTO CREDIT VICTOR TANGDEE/ISTOCK HERE

in our collective Christian understanding. A religious image less threatening to the status quo would be hard to find.

But I’ve recently discovered that the unique revelation St. Francis carried is not elementary at all; actually, it is an advanced theology more relevant and hungered for than ever in our present day of gross compartmentalization and earth destruction. In a groundbreaking way, Francis recognized and named the divinity present in the elements of nature. What’s more, his emphasis on selfemptying removed the self from the center of the spiritual narrative he allowed to guide him.

Francis’ teaching that the sacred is everywhere implies not only that God is in and of all things, but also that all things are connected to each other. Therefore, matter is holy.

Not in a trite way to be easily shrugged off, but in a sobering, serious, fall-on-your-knees kind of way that can and should upend our stale religious lens. Colossians 1:17 teaches us that in Christ “all things hold together,” and it is clear from his deeply integrated life that Francis believed that truth to his very core.

In his “Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon,” Francis honors the divine life in earthen elements. When he praises the Lord “through Brothers Wind and Air,” for

spiritual and material, temporal and eternal, sacred and profane. The world is longing for hope that such an undertaking is possible, and a substantial theology of Incarnation is the only answer.

But theology can feel intimidating, and making major spiritual shifts can be confusing. I know myself well enough to admit that the task of aggressively tackling a significant philosophical change could freeze me in one place for years, unsure of how to proceed under such pressure-filled intentions. Instead, perhaps it is enough to start by walking out my back door, slinking my toes through the dirt, and moving worms off the sidewalk as a certain 13th-century saint was said to do. After all, my backyard is a sanctuary, my dirty toes are good news, and that worm on the ground might be as Christ to me. Perhaps as I remove myself from the center of my own story and step back into the interconnected tapestry where I belong, I will gain a truer understanding of the Christ who indeed holds all things together.

St. Francis believed that it was impossible to separate Creator from Creation, and the longer I live, the more convinced I become that this is true not only of feral wolves and night stars, but also of me. The life of God beats in and through my flesh and bones, imbuing my everyday experience with dignity, holiness, and an invitation to greater awareness of the Spirit in my life—an invitation extended and received one breath at a time.

So that his work may continue...

Please remember Franciscan Media in your estate plans.

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Shannon Evans is an author and speaker who has written for this and other Catholic publications. Her article “An Unlikely Patron Saint” appeared in our October 2019 issue. To learn more about her work, visit ShannonKEvans.com.

(513) 241-5615 ext. 104

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Christmas in the

Holy Land

By Father Greg Friedman, OFM

Pilgrims take part in a daily procession in the Grotto of the Nativity, a ritual that happens not only on Christmas but every day of the year.

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Visiting the birthplace of Jesus makes an indelible mark on pilgrims, who describe the experience as profound, peaceful, and joyful.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CUSTODY OF THE HOLY LAND/NADIM ASFOUR

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pilgrim travels to a holy place and recalls its sacred story. Perhaps no place in the world combines place and story better than Bethlehem in the Holy Land. For Christians and non-Christians alike over the centuries, the place where Jesus was born captures the imagination. Its charm is thanks in no small part to St. Francis of Assisi, who created a “new Bethlehem” near the Italian hilltop town of Greccio in the 13th century.

Countless Nativity scenes now bring the “little town of Bethlehem” into the homes of believers.

“Growing up, my ideas of Christmas were a combination of the snowy Santa Claus scenes interspersed with some manger scenes,” says Lisa Sarah Larrabee, who was part of a Franciscan Holy Land pilgrimage last Christmas. “Being in Bethlehem felt more focused on the actual birth of Jesus than some of my holiday observances at home, which focus more on winter, gifts, and St. Nicholas’ legacy.”

For pilgrims, for the Franciscan friars who help to care for Bethlehem’s shrines, and for the Palestinian Christians who live there, the city is a mixture of beauty, discovery, mission, and challenge.

Franciscan Father Sandro Tomaševic, who welcomes pilgrims throughout the year, says that celebrating the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is “a big grace and honor.”

He adds, “For me as a Franciscan and as a priest, it truly means to live again the great event of the Incarnation, the birth of Christ.”

Like so many places in the Holy Land, Bethlehem confronts the pilgrim with layers of complexity. Firsttime visitors are surprised to find it’s only about a 30-minute bus ride from the center of Jerusalem. But the trip is complicated by the 120-mile separation barrier that divides the occupied West Bank from Israel. All traffic must pass through an Israeli military checkpoint.

Beyond the wall, Bethlehem itself is under the limited control of the Palestinian Authority, whose police patrol the city. Foreign visitors enter and return with reasonable ease.

For Palestinian citizens, permits are necessary to enter Israel for work or study; some can only leave under very restrictive conditions, while others may encounter long delays in accessing their workplace or classroom. This political reality recalls for the visitor at Christmas the journey of Mary and Joseph—themselves outsiders to Bethlehem in Luke’s Nativity story—lacking a place to stay and subject to Roman authority.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE CUSTODY OF THE HOLY LAND/NADIM ASFOUR (7); CHRISTMAS TREE: NAXASO/FOTOSEARCH

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE CUSTODY OF THE HOLY LAND/NADIM ASFOUR (7); CHRISTMAS TREE: NAXASO/FOTOSEARCH

‘A CONTINUAL FEAST’

Christmas Eve in Bethlehem sets in motion a round of civil and liturgical events celebrated according to ancient traditions, governed by the agreement among Christian communities in the Holy Land known as the status quo.

Franciscan Father Benjamin Owusu guides pilgrims to Bethlehem. He points out that, to the people in Bethlehem, Christmas is “a continual feast, beginning from the first of December when preparations are taking place and then moves through the 24th and beyond . . . and it goes through early January, because the various communities have different dates for celebrating Christmas.”

Bethlehem is home to both Catholic (Latin) Christians and Orthodox Christians, as well as other Arab-speaking citizens, including Muslims. The season begins with “Latin” Christmas Eve on December 24 and concludes in midJanuary with the Christmas and Epiphany celebrations of Greek and Armenian Orthodox Christians.

In the ancient Church of the Nativity, three Christian communities—Greek Orthodox; Latin (Roman) Catholics, represented by the Franciscans; and Armenian Orthodox— celebrate the birth of Christ at fixed times and in various places.

For Latin-rite Catholics, the schedule of the status quo determines Christmas celebrations by either the Latin patriarch (the archbishop for Latin-rite Catholics in Israel, Jordan, and Cyprus) or the Franciscan custos of the Holy Land (the minister provincial of the Friars Minor living throughout the Middle East). These liturgies take place in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity and the Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria, the parish church for Palestinian Catholics.

Latin-rite Catholics mark the start of the Christmas feast on the afternoon of Christmas Eve with the arrival of the Latin patriarch. The city’s mayor and other civic officials meet him at the Tomb of Rachel, located at an entrance in the separation wall. They escort the patriarch to Manger Square, where he is greeted by the Holy Land Franciscans and other clergy and residents of the city, as well as over 30 groups of Christian scouts, with marching bands. The friars lead him into the Church of the Nativity through the church’s small door—visitors literally bow at the waist to pass through, a reminder that the church was threatened in ancient times by plundering forces on horseback.

The procession passes into St. Catherine’s Church, which adjoins the Church of the Nativity. “We enter singing the ‘Te Deum,’” Father Ben says, “thanking God for a safe arrival.

And then, shortly after a break, we begin the first vespers of Christmas.” Following this evening prayer, all process into OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP LEFT: Friars lead a procession into the Basilica of the Nativity on Christmas Eve. TOP RIGHT: A Christmas tree and Nativity scene are prominently displayed in Manger Square each year. MIDDLE: Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, temporary administrator of the Latin Patriarchate, greets people of many faiths as he enters Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. BOTTOM: Friars join in prayer as they process into St. Catherine’s Church.

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Franciscan priests and pilgrims enter the cave-like Grotto of the Nativity as part of a procession on Christmas Eve.

A statue of the infant Jesus is placed into the manger in the Grotto of the Nativity after midnight Mass, a reminder of the humility of Christ’s birth.

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‘FOR CHRIST WAS BORN OF MARY . . .’

Later that evening, midnight Mass is celebrated by the Latin patriarch in St. Catherine’s Church. In 2018, over 1,400 people attended. Franciscan Father Tomasz Dubiel, head of the Christian Information Center in Jerusalem, notes, “Most of the participants come from the United States, Italy, and France. Every year, we allocate a certain percentage of [free] tickets per country of origin.”

Since space is limited, those who cannot fit inside follow the Mass on video screens in nearby halls and in Manger Square—where a large Christmas tree is set up near a stage and choral groups from different parts of the world entertain through Christmas Eve and the next day.

The presider at the midnight Mass on Christmas 2018 was Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, serving as temporary apostolic administrator for the Latin Patriarchate. In his homily, he reminded all those present—civil and religious leaders as well as the faithful—of the meaning of Christmas in that sacred place: “The birth of Christ in Bethlehem is . . . God’s step toward our land and our cities, and the invitation to go to Bethlehem, already addressed to the shepherds and the Magi, is repeated to us today, and from there to go to the extreme limits of the earth,” the archbishop said.

He added a challenge: “On this night, celebrating the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, we proclaim, together with the angels, love for this land, for its cities; we want to respond to the vocation received to be here as architects of peace, prophets of hope, convinced and convincing witnesses of sharing and dialogue.”

At the end of the Mass, a procession winds from St. Catherine’s into the Church of the Nativity, where the patriarch places a statue of the infant Jesus into the manger in the Grotto of the Nativity.

Although the Grotto is now richly adorned with marble, tapestries, and hanging lamps, a pilgrim can still appreciate

”That intimate Mass [in a cave at the Shepherds’ Field] was just glorious. We all were moved to tears.”

—Sue Forster, a pilgrim to the Holy Land

the humility of Jesus’ birth. Franciscan pilgrim Elizabeth Awuor Omondi reflected on “God’s decision of when and where Jesus was to be born, inside a humble and simple setting, a cave used as an animal shed with livestock on a cold night in Bethlehem.” She took away from her pilgrimage “a clarion call to all to live a life imitating Jesus’ humility!”

When midnight Mass ends, according to Father Ben, the status quo permits the Franciscans to begin “a chain of celebrations in the Grotto till daybreak. . . . Each friar goes individually or with a group, and they continue every half hour.”

At the Milk Grotto, a Franciscan shrine that recalls Mary’s nursing of the infant Jesus, pilgrim Sue Forster had a special moment on Christmas Day. “I was so moved by seeing the statue of Our Blessed Mother nursing Jesus, and then the eucharistic chapel there, with the [contemplative] sisters adoring, was so wonderful,” she recalls. “We got lost in deep meditation there, my daughter and I, journaling our reflections on Mary’s model of motherhood.”

‘SHEPHERDS IN THE FIELDS NEARBY’

The Shepherds’ Field, a Franciscan shrine that commemorates the appearance of the angel host to shepherds, is about a 20-minute drive from Manger Square. The friars welcome Christmas pilgrims who cannot be accommodated elsewhere. Father Ben spent one Christmas Eve on duty there from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m., welcoming pilgrims and directing them to various altars throughout the shrine, where Mass was celebrated. It made for a long night—“Sleep is not in the vocabulary!” he laughs.

The Franciscan pilgrim group last December celebrated their Christmas Eve Mass at Shepherds’ Field. Lisa Larrabee sets the scene: “We were huddled in a small, simple cave with an altar and a manger scene. I got shivers to think that, 2,000 years ago, the shepherds may have roamed these very caves before bearing witness to Jesus’ first moments.”

Sue Forster agrees: “I remember thinking that was the most intimate and profound Christmas Eve Mass ever because there weren’t the throngs of people and the ‘production’ of the Christmas Eve Mass that our big parish at home does. So that intimate Mass was just glorious. We all were moved to tears.”

For Julie Elena Aliaga-Milos, that night “is engraved in my heart. The Mass was beautiful, and when we walked out, I felt that the environment had changed somehow: The moon was out, the air was lighter and crisper, and it felt so peaceful, although there were several groups gathered outside. I couldn’t help thinking how much more peaceful it must have been the night our Savior was born.”

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF SUE FORSTER (3); LOWER RIGHT: EFESENKO/ISTOCK

the Church of the Nativity and down a series of steps into the grotto (cave) where Jesus was born.

All day, people gather just outside the church in Manger Square. Franciscan pilgrim Sue Forster recalls her excitement: “Walking in the footsteps of Our Lord over the Christmas pilgrimage, praying for our families back home, and placing their intentions at the different holy sites touched so many souls. It made the whole season reverent and joyful, away from the commercial rush and tension of being overly committed. Meeting other pilgrims from around the world made you realize how universal our Catholic Church is and [that] we are all one body.”

By long-standing tradition, the Franciscans invite civic authorities to a Christmas Eve dinner. Among the guests is the president of the Palestinian Authority, which governs portions of the West Bank surrounding Bethlehem, as well as the mayor of Bethlehem, ambassadors from different countries, and other officials.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SUE FORSTER (3); LOWER RIGHT: EFESENKO/ISTOCK

ABOVE LEFT: A statue in the Milk Grotto, a short walk from Manger Square, depicts Mary nursing the infant Jesus. ABOVE RIGHT: A Greek altar in the Church of the Nativity represents the diverse Christian traditions that celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem. BELOW LEFT: Worshippers gather for an intimate Mass in a small cave at Shepherds’ Field. BELOW RIGHT: The Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria, pictured here with a view through the Franciscan courtyard, is the parish church for Palestinian Catholics in Bethlehem.

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Throughout Christmas, Manger Square is a gathering point for visitors. The many souvenir shops, Father Ben says, “stay open as long as you have people around. I think they do a 24-hour business because they cannot miss what is the greatest business day they have in the year!”

Lisa Larrabee remembers that “we were able to stroll through Manger Square and pick up some gifts or just sit on benches outside the church and absorb the scene and the occasion. It was fun to see others from all over the world taking pictures and savoring their time. I always felt safe there in terms of it being peaceful and orderly, and I felt welcomed.”

Jeries Kitlo emphasizes that hospitality is part of the Palestinian identity. “Bethlehem wouldn’t be Bethlehem if we were to close up on ourselves and just not allow other Christians or other people to come,” he says. “So we welcome people, and it doesn’t matter if they are Christian or Muslim.

In Palestine, we just treat them like our own.”

Sina Pierret witnessed this spirit of welcome. “In

Bethlehem, the people are friendly,” she says. “They’re kind.

You can certainly see the challenges and the hardships that they endure because of the circumstances. And yet they are carving out a living. And they’re very dependent upon the pilgrims who come to visit and to share and to purchase their artwork, plus tips and so forth.” In the midst of the beauty of Christmas, she was aware of the challenges in the daily lives of the Palestinian citizens.

“You see their struggle. You see their poverty—poverty materially or perhaps in resources—but they certainly are rich spiritually.”

Amany Abu Awad, who lives in the neighboring village of Beit Jala, is a Palestinian Christian woman in her mid20s. For her, the Christmas story is also a reminder of what remains unfulfilled for her people.

“Palestine is the Holy Land, and Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus Christ, the king of peace. Yet for 70 years, Palestinians haven’t lived a single day of peace,” she says. “On a daily basis, we experience humiliation, dehumanization,

The first vespers of Christmas are celebrated in the Church of St. Catherine. Afterward, all participants process to the Church of the Nativity and down the steps to the grotto where Jesus was born.

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LOWER LEFT: PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CUSTODY OF THE HOLY LAND/NADIM ASFOUR; FAR RIGHT: HILDAWEGES/ISTOCK

A SPIRIT OF WELCOME DESPITE HARDSHIPS

and violation of human rights.”

Young Palestinians face unemployment or underemployment, forcing them to emigrate seeking better opportunities and a decent life. She dreams of a day “when the occupation ends [and] Palestinians who have emigrated, especially young people, will return to Palestine.”

Amany hopes that pilgrims who visit Bethlehem will become “the voice of the voiceless and break the silence about the Palestinian reality. For this reason, it is really important that they come to Palestine and witness the daily struggles of Palestinians under occupation and the injustices we face.”

part of Christmas as well, but this put the events around Jesus’ birth into a sharper focus, which I think I will always hold on to.”

Father Greg Friedman, OFM, is a Franciscan priest working for the mission of the Holy Land friars. He is editor of the Holy Land Review. Also contributing to this article were Daniel Koski and Giovanni Malaspina. For information on a Holy Land pilgrimage, contact Holy Land Franciscan Pilgrimages Office, 1400 Quincy St. NE, Washington, DC 20017 | Phone: 443-832-0350 | E-mail: info@ HolyLandPilgrimages.org

LOWER LEFT: PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CUSTODY OF THE HOLY LAND/NADIM ASFOUR; FAR RIGHT: HILDAWEGES/ISTOCK

A JOURNEY EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD CONSIDER

Christmas pilgrims sometimes put off the trip due to safety concerns. Jeries Kitlo wants those thinking of a pilgrimage to Bethlehem and the rest of the Holy Land not to base their reluctance on “images and videos on media [where] people claim that it’s dangerous.” He cautions them not to allow exaggerated fears to “keep you from visiting such a holy place in our faith.”

Another pilgrim, Caterina Anna Gliosca, agrees. “Most of those close to me—family and friends—worried,” she says.

“I told them I felt safe, secure, protected, at peace, calm.” She urges all to visit: “It makes the Bible come to life. I feel I have a better knowledge of where I am from.”

Visiting the Grotto of the Nativity on Christmas Day, Julie Aliaga-Milos experienced one of the blessings of pilgrimage—the spirit of community within the pilgrim group. “We waited in line for a long time,” she recalls. “I have arthritis in my knees, and it was very hard standing up for so long. As we approached the stairs to go down to the birth site, I wasn’t sure if I could manage the few steps on my own. As if on cue, two fellow pilgrims grabbed me by each arm, so I was able to go down. Bless their hearts!

“As I touched the blessed site, something deep overtook me, and I felt so humbled by it and unworthy to be there.

I could not help it and broke down in tears as I came out of there. Another lady in the group, seeing me in this way, consoled me with sweet words until I was able to control my tears.”

Lisa Larrabee sums up her Christmas in Bethlehem: “It put Christmas in a clearer perspective and focused me on the story of Jesus more so than the story of St. Nicholas.

For example, just experiencing a warm, dry Christmas in a region marked by deserts and warm-climate foliage and plants was a stark reminder of how the original Christmas may have occurred, separate from the wintry images I had grown up with.

“I also got to get a deeper understanding of the Holy Family’s rugged journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. There was a simplicity and purity to this Christmas, as it was focused on the religious aspects and I wasn’t as distracted by the other trappings of Christmas such as cooking, gettogethers, parties, and gift exchanges. Those are all a nice

SWADDLING CLOTHES NEEDED EACH YEAR IN THE weeks before Christmas, the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington, DC, collects “onesies” for infants born in Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem.

These simple, one-piece outfits enable new mothers to bring their babies home clothed in a warm, personal garment. To contribute, contact: Father Jim Gardiner, SA Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America 1400 Quincy St. NE Washington, DC 20017 StAnthonyMessenger.org | December 2019 • 33

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The Evolution of Faith

LEONIDTIT/FOTOSEARCH

How do you see God? The answer to this question will change throughout your life.

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A

h, to be a kid again! No mortgage to be paid, no grouchy boss at work, no brownies to make for the parent-teacher organization (PTO) bake sale. What’s not to love about loads of playtime, ice cream, and presents at Christmas? Youth is a gift that ends before we know to miss it, filled with a magic we don’t appreciate until after it’s gone.

For me, one of the best parts about being a kid was the certainty of my faith. I knew exactly who God was and enjoyed talking with him daily. As a child, my image of God was something of a superparent-spirit-being that made decisions about ev-

erything in my life from whether my loved one would die or if I would get an A-plus on my history test. And I believed that God did this for everyone.

But then I got older, and things started to change.

I asked God to keep me from needing major spinal surgery, but it happened anyway. Twice, in fact. I asked God to spare a loved one from death, but she died anyway—in great pain. I asked God to help me make sense of these things and many more, but instead of understanding, I grew more frustrated and confused.

I could rationalize why God might not give me

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By Mary Ann Steutermann

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the A-plus I asked for. Perhaps it was to teach me humility or the value of hard work. But I simply could not understand why God would allow the untimely death of someone I loved so much.

That just seemed cruel. Even if God wanted to use that tragedy to teach me patience or compassion, I still thought it was a dirty trick. Couldn’t an all-powerful God come up with a better strategy for helping me grow?

“I have let go of the clouds and embraced the sky.”

A MATURING IMAGE OF GOD

AN EVOLVING PRAYER LIFE

This evolution of my image of God has led to a similar transformation in my prayer life. In short, prayer became anything—anything at all—that connects me to this sacred, loving, life-giving force of connection. As philosopher Søren Kierkegaard said, “Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.”

Now when I pray in gratitude or praise, it is not because I need to placate a petulant God who needs a lot of strok-

ing. It’s because by holding in prayer what I am grateful for and what is worthy of praise, I grow in my ability to see the sacred nature of all things. Now when I pray in adoration, it’s not because an insecure God needs to be reminded of his power. It’s because by holding all that I am powerless over in prayer, I keep my ego in check, which opens me to a greater appreciation of an awesome, ever-unfolding creation. And now when I pray in petition or intercession, it’s not because God needs lots of cajoling before he’ll agree to act. It’s because by holding in prayer my needs and longings, as well as those of others, I begin to embrace my own vulnerability, which creates a path toward God’s own strength, courage, and compassion.

As a child, all my prayer experiences looked pretty much the same: folded hands, a sign of the cross, a book of rote prayers—some memorized and some reserved for “special situations.” Prayer took place in two locales: my church and my bedroom. But, as an adult, each new prayer experience now looks very different from the last. Taking a photo of wildflowers growing along the highway has become prayer.

Laughing and talking with an old friend has become prayer.

Helping with the clothing drive at my son’s school has become prayer.

Reflecting upon where the food in a good meal came from and who prepared it for me has become prayer.

Hugging someone who simply looks like he needs a good hug has become prayer. A long, gut-wrenching cry while grieving a loss has become prayer. Sure, folded hands and rote prayers are part of my prayer at times too, but prayer now is not limited to these things alone.

EMBRACING FAITH

I think of the change in my image of God as the difference between clouds and sky. As a kid, I enjoyed a naïve certainty in the clouds. I knew that if I prayed faithfully and did all the right things, then God would make sure that life proceeded according to my preferences. My clouds would be big

KUZMAPHOTO/FOTOSEARCH

Unfortunately, I was not alone in my adolescent angst involving faith. A full 52 percent of people raised Catholic leave the Church today, and about half of those do so before the age of 18. Clearly, the “age of reason” for many people is a time when their faith can crumble.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Over the years, I’ve come to believe that our essential problem is trying to bring the uncomplicated faith of our childhood with us into the complex realm of adult life. That simply doesn’t work. As St. Paul said, “When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things” (1 Cor 13:11). Our challenge is to “put aside childish things” while keeping what is good and true about our faith. There is no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater; we just need to avoid pouring our “new wine” into old “wineskins.”

Over the years, God as super-parent-spirit-being gave way to a different sort of God. This God was less of an allpowerful doctor/therapist/teacher/travel agent and more of the sacred unity in all of life. Instead of being a divine father, God became unconditional love itself. Instead of being the great orchestra conductor who preordained my fate, God became the holy power of choice and intention. Instead of being the almighty arbiter who judged the moral correctness of my thoughts and actions, God became the grace of goodness, compassion, and mercy. Instead of being the miracle worker who healed—or didn’t—at his discretion, God became the life-giving force of forgiveness, renewal, and rebirth.

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and fluffy and whiter than white. But storms come, and clouds turn an ugly gray in color or disappear altogether.

Over time, I have learned that no matter how hard I pray, I can never count on the clouds.

But I don’t need to. I have something better to believe in. I can be unquestionably certain about the sky.

Whether it’s warm and sunny or terrifyingly cold and dark, the sky is always present, always holding the clouds, always being both the space in which they dance and the connection between them as they do. Ironically, by putting “aside childish things” in this way, I haven’t had to give up on certainty in my faith, which I valued so much as a kid. I’m just certain about different things now. New wine needs new wineskins.

Don’t get me wrong. If I could go back to the days of catching fireflies on long summer nights and playing tag in the backyard, I’d do it in a second.

Mortgage payments, grouchy bosses, and PTO brownies are no fun at all.

But the gift of an evolving faith and life of prayer has been a blessing in my not-always-very-fun adult life. Now, watching children catch fireflies, having a heart-to-heart talk with the grouchy boss, and even making brownies with my son for the PTO bake sale are all potential prayer experiences.

As an adult, I have put aside the childish certainty I had in a small, cranky, self-centered God and the prayer I thought he wanted from me in favor of a more profound faith in a bigger, deeper, more all-encompassing divine reality and an approach to prayer that is just as big and deep. I have grown up, and it’s no longer a bad thing not to be a kid anymore. I have let go of the clouds and embraced the sky.

Mary Ann Steutermann is the director of campus ministry at Assumption High School, a Catholic all-girls school in Louisville, Kentucky. She’s also a freelance writer whose articles have been published in this magazine and on the popular Catholic website BustedHalo.com. Mary Ann lives in Louisville with her husband and son.

Retirement Fund for Religious Please give to those who have given a lifetime.

Roughly 94 percent of donations aid senior religious.

retiredreligious.org

Please give at your local parish.

To donate by mail: National Religious Retirement Office/STAM 3211 4th Street NE Washington DC 20017-1194 Make check payable to Retirement Fund for Religious.

Above (from left): Sisters de Lourdes Okoniewski and Florence Kruczek, OSF. Photo: Jim Judkis ©2019 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights reserved.

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EAR

IN R

WORLD EVENTS

CHURCH EVENTS

The We year h sho a uld s had i loo k b ts grac ack e bef s and

By C ore i hr is we ts chal toph l mo er H ve f enges effr . orw on ard .

January 22–27: World Youth Day in Panama City draws hundreds of thousands of Catholics.

EVI

PHOTO CREDIT HERE

EW

March 5: A New York court rules that Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s remains should be transferred from New York to the Peoria Diocese.

February 3: Pope Francis travels to Abu Dhabi, becoming the first pope to journey to the Arabian Peninsula.

February 13: The Congress of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith dismisses Cardinal Theodore McCarrick from the clerical state.

January 3: More than 100 women are sworn in to the United States Congress.

March 15: More than 50 people are killed in terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker

February 27–28: The North Korea-United States summit takes place in Hanoi, Vietnam.

May 12 and 19: Game of Thrones (HBO), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), and Veep (HBO) end their historic runs on television.

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CNS PHOTOS: OPPOSITE PAGE: LEFT TO RIGHT: BOB ROLLER; PAUL HARING; BENOIT MOSER/COURTESY BSPP; JOSHUA ROBERTS, REUTERS; THIS PAGE: COURTESY NASA

AY

CNS PHOTOS: OPPOSITE PAGE: LEFT TO RIGHT: BOB ROLLER; PAUL HARING; BENOIT MOSER/COURTESY BSPP; JOSHUA ROBERTS, REUTERS; THIS PAGE: COURTESY NASA

PHOTO CREDIT HERE

I

n his Four Quartets, T.S. Eliot wrote that “last year’s words successfully planted thousands of saplings in open fields; belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await public schools instituting “meatless Mondays” to combat another voice.” If he were alive today, what verses would climate change; and global e-commerce giant Etsy becoming Eliot use to describe 2019? As any year the first to offset carbon emissions from in recorded history, there were moments its shipping practices. of grace and moments of turmoil. And it Sadly, these were only sugar highs. started off badly.

The 24-hour news cycle is an unrelentOn January 1, the year’s first mass ing machine—and much of it censhooting occurred at the University tered on President Donald Trump and Village Shopping Center in Tallahassee, his administration. In April, Special Florida, where five were injured. Gun Prosecutor Robert Mueller released a violence, in fact, plagued the nation for 448-page report on Russian interference the rest of the year. According to the in the 2016 election. Claims of obstrucnonprofit research group Gun Violence tion and rumors of impeachment soon Archive, as of September 1, mass shootfollowed. A month later, the governings were outpacing the number of days ment’s 25 percent tariff hike on $200 in the year. billion worth of Chinese imports took But January wasn’t finished. A scant effect, worsening tensions between the 24 days later, a dam at the Córrego do two nations.

Feijão iron ore mine in Brazil ruptured, The year also saw historical and creating a mudflow that killed 248 pop-culture anniversaries. Fifty years people. Hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, have passed since American astronauts and floods made their presence known In 2019, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” as well.

Aldrin walked on the moon, Woodstock Neil Armstrong’s historic walk on the moon. He’s There were, however, shards of light entertained 350,000 music lovers, Sesame pictured here in 1969. for us to savor this year. Social media Street debuted on PBS, The Godfather giant Facebook was ordered to pay a record $5 billion penengrossed readers, and moviegoers fell in love with Butch alty to the Federal Trade Commission this year over allegaCassidy and the Sundance Kid. tions of privacy offenses. And users reacted accordingly: A CHURCH IN CRISIS Social media actions such as posts, comments, and likes on The Catholic Church has had a mercurial year as well. We the site dropped by 20 percent. started 2019 mourning the previous December’s shooting The first quarter of 2019 also produced good news in inside Our Lady of the Conception Cathedral in Brazil, in environmental and conservation initiatives: eco-drones that

s

May 7: Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arche, dies from thyroid cancer.

rom

19: ones ig Bang , and end runs .

April 15: Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris catches fire, destroying the roof and main spire, bringing down 750 tons of stone and lead.

Jean Vanier

June 18: Amid growing tensions with Iran, the United States sends 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East.

Emilia Clarke was one of the breakout stars of HBO’s Game of Thrones, which ended its run in 2019.

art_Heffron 1219.indd 39

June 11–14: The ongoing sex-abuse crisis is the focus of the US bishops’ annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.

June 15: The archbishop of Paris celebrates Mass in Notre Dame Cathedral for the first time since the fires.

July 1: Blessed John Henry Newman’s canonization date is confirmed for October 13, 2019.

July 7: The US women’s national soccer team defeats Netherlands 2–0 to clinch their fourth World Cup championship.

Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle of the US women’s soccer team celebrate after winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Lyon, France.

John Henry Newman

July 26–August 11: Lima, Peru, hosts the 2019 Pan American Games.

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MANX IN THE WORLD/ISTOCK

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

which four people were killed. But we Survivors deserve better. We, the Church, also celebrated Catholic Relief Services’ demand it.

75 years of lifesaving work, as well as the continuing sainthood causes of Catholic ‘LET US BEGIN AGAIN’ luminaries Augustus Tolton and Thea The true breakout star of 2019 has to be Bowman.

Sweden’s Greta Thunberg, the 16-yearBut it was the sex-abuse crisis that old climate activist who, in September, truly dominated Catholic news this year. scolded the United Nations for their The grand jury investigation of clergy lethargy in combating global warmsexual abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses ing. Her words, often rising to a howl, started in 2016 and was released in 2018, addressed our collective apathy. But her but its tendrils reached far into this year. viral message inspired something adults The report documented the abuse of often struggle with—action. After her more than 1,000 minors by 301 priests fiery oration at the United Nations, stuand religious over a 70-year period. dent strikes took place throughout the Last February, during a four-day world. This year alone, over one million summit at the Vatican, which included Pope Francis leaves in procession after a consistory students have protested in her honor.

190 Catholic leaders, Pope Francis called for the creation of 13 new cardinals.

That should inspire even the most jaded. abusive priests “ravenous wolves” and It was, from every angle possible, demanded greater diligence among a difficult year. As we look toward the Church leaders to protect minors and weed out offenders. horizon of 2020, what wisdom can we carry with us? Perhaps Two months later, in April, the Pontifical Commission for we can start with the words of St. Francis of Assisi: “Let us the Protection of Minors met in Rome for three days, where begin again, brothers, for up until now, we have done little or members discussed procedures to protect minors. nothing.”

That topic was also at the forefront of the US bishops’ meeting the following June in Baltimore, in which a mesChristopher Heffron is Franciscan Media’s editorial director and the coexecusage was conveyed from Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the tive editor of St. Anthony Messenger. Susan Hines-Brigger contributed to the Vatican’s nuncio to the United States. While assuring bishops reporting of this article. that actionable measures would be taken, he could promise TIME LINE PHOTO CREDITS: CHURCH EVENTS: JANUARY 22–27 AND FEBRUARY 3: CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING; no expediency with those measures. “In an ecclesial context,” MARCH 5: CNS PHOTO/JENNIFER WILLEMS, THE CATHOLIC POST; APRIL 15: CNS PHOTO/BENOIT MOSER, COURTESY BSPP; MAY 7: CNS PHOTO/NANCY WIECHEC; JULY 1: CNS PHOTO/COURTESY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND WALES; JULY 16: CNS PHOTO/JORGE SILVA, REUTERS; AUGUST 4: CNS PHOTO/COURTESY THE FOOD he said, “faster responses do not always produce the best NETWORK; AUGUST 20: CNS PHOTO/JULIAN SMITH, AAP IMAGE VIA REUTERS; AUGUST 22: CNS PHOTO/SERGIO MORAES, REUTERS; SEPTEMBER 17: CNS PHOTO/RANDY SAGER, ABC PHOTO ARCHIVES; OCTOBER 5: CNS PHOTO/ results.”

VATICAN MEDIA. WORLD EVENTS: JANUARY 3: CNS PHOTO/KEVIN LAMARQUE, REUTERS; FEBRUARY 27–28: CNS PHOTO/LEAH MILLIS, REUTERS; MARCH 15: CNS PHOTO/JORGE SILVA, REUTERS; MAY 12 AND 19: CNS PHOTO/ But the overwhelming response to the Church’s often COURTESY OF HBO; JUNE 18: CNS PHOTO/JEFF SHERMAN, US NAVY HANDOUT VIA REUTERS; JULY 7: CNS PHOTO/ BERNADETT SZABO, REUTERS; JULY 26–AUGUST 11: WIKIPEDIA.ORG/58367648; AUGUST 3 AND 4: CNS PHOTO/ CALLAGHAN O’HARE, REUTERS; AUGUST 5: CREATIVE COMMONS/ENOCH PRATT LIBRARY/JOHN MATHEW SMITH; glacial progress in protecting our most vulnerable is this: SEPTEMBER 1–3: NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION; OCTOBER 2: PUBLIC DOMAIN/ EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; OCTOBER 11: WIKIMEDIA/ARON SIMENEH.

August 22: The Latin American Bishops’ Council issues a statement calling for “prompt attention” to the Amazon fires.

July 16: Vatican City discontinues single-use plastics.

Cardinal George Pell (far left)

August 4: A dubious honor: Father Adam Young of Cranston, Rhode Island, competes on Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America.

August 3 and 4: Mass shootings occur at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart and the Oregon Historic District in Dayton, Ohio.

Father Adam Young

August 20: The conviction of Australia’s Cardinal George Pell for sexual abuse is upheld.

September 1–3: Hurricane Dorian wreaks havoc on northwestern Bahamas. Sixty people die with hundreds more still missing.

August 5: Prizewinning novelist Toni Morrison dies from complications of pneumonia.

Toni Morrison

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Satellite view of Hurricane Dorian

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Sep Lege jour lifelo Coki dies

AS A NEW DECADE BEGINS, LET US PRAY . . .

LIKE THAT OF CHRIST, our mission on earth is

The Peace Prayer of St. Francis

to bring to others God’s peace—God’s state

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

of “perfect well-being” and completeness.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love,

Shalom is the Hebrew word for this rich

Where there is injury, pardon,

concept of “peace.” Often used as a greet-

Where there is doubt, faith,

ing of peace, shalom is a wish that those

Where there is despair, hope,

so greeted will find healing and fullness of

Where there is darkness, light,

life. St. Francis saw this as his mission too.

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love;

merican a rompt n fires.

MANX IN THE WORLD/ISTOCK

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

In his Rule of 1223, he advised his follow-

ers that in going about the world, “they do not quarrel or fight with words, or judge others; rather let them be meek, peace-

ful and unassuming, gentle and humble,

speaking courteously to everyone, as is becoming. . . . In whatever house they enter,

let them say: Peace to this house” (cf. Luke 10:5). Good advice for all of us!

–Jack Wintz, OFM

September 17: Legendary journalist and lifelong Catholic Cokie Roberts dies of cancer.

December 13 and 20: The Two Popes and A Hidden Life, films about prominent Catholic figures, open to critical acclaim.

Cokie Roberts

September 24: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces a formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.

October 5: Pope Francis appoints 13 new cardinals who reflect the pontiff’s views on inclusion and interreligious dialogue.

John Bolton meets with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

October 2: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson drafts his “final offer” for a Brexit deal.

art_Heffron 1219.indd 41

December 26: An annular solar eclipse is visible from Southeast Asia.

October 11: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

Abiy Ahmed Ali

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CULTURE

E-LEARNING

By Susan Hines-Brigger

Embracing the Power of Pause

L

ike a lot of people, given the popularity of the industry, I am a sucker for all things self-improvement. Add in a bit of journaling and self-reflection, and I’m sold. So I was elated when I came across Terry Hershey’s online course “How to Harness the Power of Pause.”

I first encountered Hershey a number of years ago when he was a speaker at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress in Anaheim, California. I was instantly attracted to his message of simplicity and embracing the present moment, as well as his humor.

According to his bio, Hershey is an “author, humorist, inspirational speaker, dad, ordained minister, golf addict, and is smitten

by French wine. He lives on Vashon Island in the Puget Sound, where he divides his time between designing sanctuary gardens and sharing his practice of mindfulness and savoring this life.”

After returning home, I immediately signed up for his weekly Sabbath Moments e-newsletter at TerryHershey.com. The newsletter provides readers with a weekly reflection on a wide range of topics.

It was through those e-mails that I became aware of Hershey’s e-courses, of which he has four. When I looked them over, I was quickly drawn to the one about the power of pause. It seemed like just what this harried mother of four needed.

The e-course, which costs $39 unless you are a sustaining member of Hershey’s Sabbath Moments, consists of 12 e-mails—three per week. Each session includes stories and reflections plus suggestions for discussion, journaling, and practice during the day or week.

In the first lesson, Hershey notes that the course is about a paradigm shift—a different way of seeing. Each lesson speaks to a different element of this shift.

Each reflection and practice session has five or six suggestions for putting that lesson into practice in your life. Hershey says:

“You may try them all, or choose one or two that most resonate with where you are on your journey. This isn’t a race or a contest, but rather the permission to be gentle with ourselves and to let our souls catch up with our bodies.”

Some suggestions are Terry Hershey introspective, leading one to reflect and journal on the day’s themes.

Others are more active, such as this one from the first day: “Find a bench to sit on. (I think it’s a sacred necessity to have a bench or chair just for sitting, preferably outside.)

“Practice going to that spot at least once a day just to stop, to quit, to let your soul catch up. Or maybe your preference is strolling, or ambling—that works too. What does it mean for our soul to ‘catch up’? This is not an easy concept because we live in a world where the paradigm is to ‘use our time’ wisely—emphasis on ‘use.’ We need to find the permission to have a new or different measurement for soul catching up time. That’s a good question: What is happening during ‘soul catching up time’?”

Hershey is a master storyteller and provides readers with lots of nuggets of wisdom to carry with them throughout the day.

One of the things I appreciated most about the course, though, was that, even though the e-mails came weekly after I signed up, I could delve into the content at any time. There was no time frame in which I needed to complete the course. I can also go back and revisit any of the lessons at a later time, which is the perfect option for those of us trying to learn to embrace the power of pause.

In the interest of full disclosure: Hershey recently published a book with Franciscan Media, the parent company of this magazine.

ICONS

music

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books

TV

podcast

film

video

e-learning

10/30/19 2:19 PM

MUSIC

By Daniel Imwalle

Editor’s Pick: Your Christmas Music Playlist

B

y the time you read this column, you might already be burned out on Christmas music, and we’re just now actually getting into the season! And that’s a shame because Christmas music can get us as much into the spirit as the colorful lights and decorations, Advent wreaths and calendars, and, of course, cookies. If you’re looking to give your ears a rest from the Christmas standards played on the radio but are still hungry for sounds of the season, here’s a list to help you along.

GEORGE WINSTON: DECEMBER

For a quiet, pensive start to your Advent, take a listen to master pianist George Winston’s 1982 album December. Part Christmas music, part ode to the stark beauty of winter, December brings a nice balance to the more festive tunes of the season with a healthy dose of introspection. Winston opts for restraint and simplicity in his delivery, allowing the beauty of the melodies to blossom in their own space. His “Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel” is a stellar example of Winston’s inimitable style.

LOW: CHRISTMAS

Lo-fi rockers from Duluth, Minnesota, originally released this mini album in 1999 as a gift to fans attending their concerts. Now available on CD, vinyl, and streaming, Christmas features five originals and three covers, including a spectacular and haunting take on “Little Drummer Boy.” Cavernous drums and a droning organ are the backdrop for the vocal duet of Low’s husband and wife songwriters, Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker. Another highlight on this short but memorable album is the opener, “Just Like Christmas,” which is about as upbeat as you’ll ever hear this typically low-key group.

JOHNNY CASH: THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

Although he had a reputation for being an outlaw and was known as the Man in Black, Johnny Cash’s devout faith was always deeply connected to his music.

The Christmas Spirit (1963) shows a softer and more playful side to the country legend. In his version of “Silent Night,” Cash sings in a hushed tone, almost as if he is there with the baby Jesus in the manger, singing the newborn a lullaby.

VARIOUS ARTISTS: A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU FROM PHIL SPECTOR

Rounding out this list is legendary (and now infamous) producer Phil Spector’s 1963 Christmas album, which features multiple numbers from Darlene Love, the Ronettes, and the Crystals. Just how good is this set of holiday tunes? Brian Wilson, the songwriting genius behind the Beach Boys, called it his favorite album of all time, placing the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at number two. It’s also included in Robert Dimery’s book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. From beginning to end, the album simply brims with an unabashed and sincere Christmas joy, propelled by rock ’n’ roll energy and Spector’s Wall of Sound production.

Looking for Catholic books?

St. Mary’s Bookstore & Church Supply

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StAnthonyMessenger.org | December 2019 • 43

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CULTURE

FILMS

By Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP

Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP

about

FILMS

KINDNESS A Christmas Carol (any version) Millions (2004) Queen of Katwe (2016) Batkid Begins (2015) Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

I

n 1988, Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), an African American, was convicted of murdering an 18-year-old white woman. After a trial that lasted only a day and a half, he was sentenced to death. McMillian had already spent a year on death row because Sheriff Tate (Michael Harding) was convinced he was guilty even though there was no physical evidence and he had a solid alibi. His conviction was based on false testimony coerced from a career criminal, Ralph Myers (Tim Blake Nelson).

Soon after the trial, a recent Harvard Law School graduate, Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan), moves to Alabama. There he meets with McMillian in prison. He tells the inmate that, thanks to a grant, he is starting the Equal Justice Initiative to provide free legal services to prisoners with questionable convictions.

McMillian, however, scoffs at the young lawyer. Others had promised help, too, and never returned. Aided by Eva Ansley (Brie Larson), Stevenson finds office space. Ironically, most property owners in Monroeville, Alabama, refuse to rent to an organization that helps incarcerated black people.

Stevenson, despite intimidation by the local police, visits McMillian’s family and meets with the community. Stevenson puts the story together and realizes it was fabricated. He visits Myers in prison and gets him to recant, only to have the judge squash the

appeal. But Stevenson refuses to give up and, eventually, McMillian begins to have hope that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals will exonerate him.

In 1992, when it seems all is lost, Stevenson tells his story on CBS’ 60 Minutes. This has a profound effect on the newly elected district attorney, Tommy Champan (Rafe Spall), and he eventually has to confront the startling lack of evidence and false testimony.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton cowrote the riveting and moving script with Andrew Lanham. Foxx is totally believable as a man barely holding in the suppressed anger of an innocent person on death row. We get to know some of the other men on death row and see how one guard chooses kindness over cruelty to prisoners.

Larson’s role is underdeveloped, but Nelson is excellent as a man who was thrown away by the system as a child. Jordan plays the brilliant and empathetic young attorney with verve and commitment. As a fan of legal dramas, I found the courtroom scenes in the film to be powerful.

Not yet rated, PG-13 • Institutional racism, cruelty, peril.

44 • December 2019 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

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BETHANY HAMILTON: UNSTOPPABLE: PHOTO BY AARON LIEBER; JOKER: CNS PHOTO/WARNER BROS.

Sister Rose’s FAVORITE

JUST MERCY

LEFT: COURTESY SISTER ROSE PACATTE, FSP/MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS; JUST MERCY: PHOTOS COURTESY OF PARTICIPANT/JAKE GILES NETTER (2)

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.

BETHANY HAMILTON: UNSTOPPABLE

JOKER

BETHANY HAMILTON: UNSTOPPABLE: PHOTO BY AARON LIEBER; JOKER: CNS PHOTO/WARNER BROS.

LEFT: COURTESY SISTER ROSE PACATTE, FSP/MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS; JUST MERCY: PHOTOS COURTESY OF PARTICIPANT/JAKE GILES NETTER (2)

A

udiences may recall the 2011 biographical film Soul Surfer, which dramatized the story of 13-year-old Bethany Hamilton, a young girl who survived an attack from a shark that bit off her left arm while she was surfing in Hawaii.

This new documentary is a further examination of Bethany’s inspiring life. It is filled with home and professional footage of the young and gifted surfer. She fearlessly “steps into liquid,” surfing from a very young age and entering competitions, coming in first place for her age group at Australia’s Rell Sunn Menehune competition as an 8-yearold.

We meet Bethany’s family and close childhood friends with whom she would compete throughout her career.

Hailing from a family of devout Christians, she was homeschooled from sixth grade on. From that fateful day in 2003, when the shark took her arm at the shoulder, Bethany was determined to surf again, and her family was there to support her. One month later, she was back in the water. She doesn’t say much in the film; her passion for surfing speaks for itself. Aaron Lieber cowrote, produced, and directed the documentary very well. He captures the synchronicity of Bethany’s powerful yet graceful athleticism with visual rhythm and style.

Watching Unstoppable is a meditation on determination, faith, hope, and love. It is available for online streaming at Amazon and iTunes.

I

n the urban decay of Gotham, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) struggles to be a successful clown. When a group of teens beat him and steal his advertising board, he has to pay for damages. A coworker feels sorry for him and gives him a stolen gun so he can protect himself.

Though a grown man, he lives at home with his invalid mother, Penny (Frances Conroy), and cares for her. He watches the comedian Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) on TV and then decides to become a comedian and get on Murray’s show. Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen), the young Bruce Wayne’s father, runs for mayor, promising to control crime, but scoffs at the poor.

Arthur appears to be mentally ill and has great difficulty interacting with others, especially those who mock him. As we learn from his backstory, he has deep emotional pain that, coupled with mental illness, makes him especially vulnerable. He reacts to cruelty with extreme and shocking violence. The violence in this film is not gratuitous, given the context of the story; it is the expression of his internal pain and inability to cope.

While not pleasant viewing, it has something to say about bullying and how vulnerable people have easy access to guns.

Joker begs for understanding and kindness, of which there is hardly any in the film. Phoenix should finally win an Oscar for his performance. He is heartbreaking.

Rated L, R • Graphic violence, bullying, verbal and physical cruelty.

Not yet rated • Some sports 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

?

WANT MORE? Visit our website: StAnthonyMessenger.org

Source: USCCB.org/movies

StAnthonyMessenger.org | December 2019 • 45

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POINTSOFVIEW | FAITH & FAMILY A New Take on ‘Silent Night’

By Susan Hines-Brigger

T

Susan welcomes your comments and suggestions!

E-MAIL: CatholicFamily@ FranciscanMedia.org MAIL: Faith & Family 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202

?

For more resources, Visit: info.FranciscanMedia. org/faith-and-family

THE PROGRESSIVE SOUNDS OF LIFE

As the kids got older, the noisy moments of life continued; the situations just changed.

Suddenly, wet diapers morphed into kids standing next to the bed saying, “Mom, I wet the bed.” Cries of hunger were replaced by the screams of nightmares. And we won’t even get into the very unpeaceful sounds of late-night stomach bugs. At the time, I’m certain you would have heard me beg for some peace, quiet, and a good night’s sleep.

Fast-forward to today, and you will find Mark and me still immersed in the noises of our family life, but we are now in a season of all new and different noises from the usual ones. We now lie awake listening for the reassuring sounds of the car pulling into the

driveway or the keys unlocking the front door.

Those sounds bring comfort.

Other sounds, though, such as the sound of a ringing cell phone past 9:00, immediately trigger a state of panic.

EMBRACING THE NOISE

Just like with life, the noises—and their meanings—continue to change. There are still not many silent nights in our household. And I’m really OK with that because I know that one day there will be, and I’ll miss the noise.

We experienced it a bit last year when our oldest daughter, Maddie, briefly moved out, and the house got quieter. Fortunately, she moved back—along with her high-energy goldendoodle—and the noise returned to a comforting level.

But now, we are finalizing college plans for our son, Alex, and facing a drop in decibels once more. He wants to go away for school, and with each college visit I am becoming keenly aware that that will mean no more episodes of late-night whooping and hollering over video games coming from his room.

So, while the song lyrics may equate a silent night with a holy night, I respectfully disagree with this holiday classic. That’s because I, personally, find the holiest of nights to be those that are also the noisiest.

46 • December 2019 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

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TOP RIGHT: AOOSTHUIZEN/FOTOSEARCH; PETE & REPEAT: TOM GREENE

Susan has worked at St. Anthony Messenger for 25 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.

From that day forward, nights became anything but silent.

TOP LEFT: MC KOZUSKO/SAM; TOP RIGHT: BRADCALKINS/FOTOSEARCH

Susan Hines-Brigger

he other night, I was lying in bed, just about ready to drift off to sleep, when suddenly I was startled awake by my son, Alex, yelling at his friends through his gaming headset. It wasn’t an angry yell, more one of excitement, but it still was jarring nonetheless.

It also, however, startled and woke up our dog, Sadie, who then began barking and woke up the chinchilla, who loudly jumped around his cage and woke up our daughter Riley, who yelled at her brother for starting the whole chain reaction. I wish I could say it was out of the ordinary but, if I did, I’d be lying. No, this was just another night in the Brigger household.

Perhaps experiences like that are why I often find myself rolling my eyes a bit whenever I hear the Christmas song “Silent Night” during this time of year. You see, silent nights have been very few and far between in our house for the past 21 years—ever since we brought our oldest daughter, Maddie, home from the hospital.

From that day forward, nights became anything but silent. My husband, Mark, and I were constantly bombarded with cries of hunger, wet diapers, lost binkies, and an ever-growing list of other noisy situations. I quickly found myself becoming hyperaware of every little noise I would hear on the baby monitor.

Yes, those silent nights of sleeping “in heavenly peace” were definitely gone.

B

LIGHTENUp! CARTOONS for CHRISTMAS

By Bob Vojtko

“Tell me: Do you and God ever get together and compare notes?”

brainteasers | games | challenges

WINNING CAPTION!

RICHARD L. HILL OF NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, wrote the winning caption for the image below from our August 2019 issue. Keep an eye out for the next Wordsmith contest and send in your idea. You could be the next winner!

“Why didn’t they just have a drone deliver their gifts instead?”

“Delusion of Grandeur”

TRIVIA QUESTIONS 1: What is the theme for the 2020 March for Life?

2: Which church is the home parish for Palestinian Catholics in Bethlehem?

3: Where was World Youth Day held this year?

“The gold was nice, but you’d think the Son of God would get cooler gifts than some perfume.”

“The Grinch had nothing to do with why Joseph and Mary could find no room at the inn.”

TOP RIGHT: AOOSTHUIZEN/FOTOSEARCH; PETE & REPEAT: TOM GREENE

HINT: All answers can be found in the pages of this issue.

ANSWERS AND CAPTIONS: E-mail your answers and captions to: MagazineEditors@FranciscanMedia.org, or mail to: St. Anthony Messenger, 28 W. Liberty St., Cincinnati, OH 45202

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 FUN FOR BOOK

ALL AGES!

Go online to order: Shop.FranciscanMedia.org For ONLY $3.99 Use Code: SAMPETE ANSWERS to PETE & REPEAT: 1) Sis is no longer wearing a headband. 2) Another ornament is on the tree. 3) There is a waistband on Sis’ skirt. 4) One of the ornaments is in the shape of a triangle. 5) Pete’s shirt now has a pocket. 6) The opening in the top branch is gone. 7) There is no longer a gap in the tree behind Pete. 8) Sis is holding an ornament.

TOP LEFT: MC KOZUSKO/SAM; TOP RIGHT: BRADCALKINS/FOTOSEARCH

PETE&REPEAT

4: What is the title of Johnny Cash’s first Christmas album?

StAnthonyMessenger.org | December 2019 • 47

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“It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us.

Bring love into your home, for this is where our love for each other must start.”

—Mother Teresa

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48 • December 2019 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

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