Diocese of Fall River, Mass.
F riday , July 10, 2015
Deacon Jack Schrader to be ordained by bishop July 11 By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff
FALL RIVER — In the days leading up to his priestly ordination, Deacon Jack Schrader seemed surprisingly calm and collected. Despite a whirlwind schedule that included finalizing plans for his first Mass celebration, several days at the Quo Vadis discernment retreat, and making last-minute arrangements to greet the many guests who were arriving for his ordination weekend, he seemed at peace with himself. “I was just reflecting on how long of a journey it’s been,” Deacon Schrader told The Anchor. “I was trying to count how many final exams I had to take and all the evaluations from the faculty, from my peers, and my self-evaluations. But in the end, what is about to happen is not the result of any personal achievement. It has required a lot work, but there’s nothing I can do to
make the ordination happen. It’s a total gift from God through the bishop that doesn’t depend upon what I’ve done.” “It’s easy to be tricked into thinking it’s the end achievement of many other achievements, but it’s really not that,” he added. “It’s God’s call and choice of someone and it’s kind of hard to believe it’s about to happen.” Deacon Schrader will be ordained a priest for the diocese tomorrow at 11 a.m. inside the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in Fall River by Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V. Although it won’t be Bishop da Cunha’s first ordination, it does mark the first time he’s ordaining someone
Dominican Sister starts new chapter after 26 years at Marian Manor By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff
TAUNTON — There is a bittersweet moment happening at Marian Manor in Taunton. Originally staffed by the Dominican Sisters of the Order of the Pre-
Sister Paulina Cardenas, O.P. is saying goodbye after spending 26 years at the Marian Manor in Taunton, part of the Diocesan Healthcare Facilities family, and is being assigned to Washington, D.C. to help staff a boarding house for female college students. (Photo by Becky Aubut)
sentation, the skilled nursing center is saying goodbye to one of the original Sisters who is leaving a legacy that is beyond compare. Sister Paulina Cardenas, O.P., grew up with 10 sisters and one brother in Abejorral, Antioquia, Colombia. The Catholic faith was an ingrained part of her youth, she said: “It was the family life — such good memories — my father and mother would get up, and my mother would have opening prayers to the guardian angel, just when we would wake up. We grew up in a very religious atmosphere. I come from a town, not a big city, and we had a beautiful Christmas. We would have a Novena, the kids from the neighborhood would come and do the Novena; we don’t believe in Santa, it’s Baby Jesus Who brings the gifts. My mother raised us to really believe it was Baby Jesus Who brought us the gifts.” Still speaking with a strong accent, Sister Cardenas shared how three of her sisters entered a religious order, but when it came time for Sister Cardenas to make a choice, she was torn until “a moment comes when God is more powerful” and she entered the Dominican Sisters of the Order of the Presentation in 1965. “It was very meaningful for me because we were 30 girls, and right away we knew one of us would come to the United Turn to page 18
as the Eighth Bishop of Fall River, which is a point of pride for Deacon Schrader. “I think there’s a good number that he’s done already, but this is the first for the Fall River Diocese,” Deacon Schrader said. “The great thing about an ordination is the one who is going to be ordained in some ways just has to show up,” he added. “What happens on that day is not the result of an examination, it’s not a test, it’s a matter of being present before God and the Church and saying ‘yes’ and receiving the Sacrament from the bishop.” For Deacon Schrader, the defining moment of the Liturgy for him will be
the laying on of hands. “You’re kneeling there in utter faith, believing that the Holy Spirit is being poured out upon you,” he said. “Although you can’t see it, you can’t feel it — you might have some emotions in the moment, but God in that moment will call me and will call the Church around to believe that He is doing something powerful to make me into His instrument.” When considering the detours and divergent paths Deacon Schrader has taken along the way to becoming a priest for the Fall River Diocese, it’s something that only could have been accomplished through the grace of God. The son of Steven Schrader, a career military man who served at the beckoning of Uncle Sam, Jack Schrader was born on a U.S. Air Force base in Misawa, Japan. Turn to page 15
Seekonk parishioner, PC grad heeds the call to join the Dominican order By Dave Jolivet Anchor Editor
REHOBOTH — As a young lad, Joseph Day used to tell his parents he wanted to become a priest. Day, a member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Seekonk and a recent valedictorian at his graduation from Providence College doesn’t remember that. But years later, as a freshman at PC he “began to sense something deep in my soul, a pull,” he told The Anchor. “It would come over me strongest during Mass sometimes. I tried to ignore it for a while. I was dating a great girl and planning on a future as a husband and father. I wanted to go to grad school, get a doctorate, and become a college professor. I didn’t want this other life.” “He used to say as a young child of about four that he wanted to be a priest, but I don’t recall hearing it from him after seven or eight,” his mother, Elizabeth Day told The Anchor. “I always felt like God was calling him, but would say to him and all my kids that I only wanted them to be whatever God made them to be.” Throughout his four years at PC, the draw of God’s call never went away. “For the next few years I wrestled with discernment,” he said. “Discernment is a hard process of wrestling with God and wrestling with yourself. There is no way
around that. There are no thunderbolts, no St. Paul on the road to Damascus moments. I think it is so hard because you are trying to decide between two very good things, the good of married vocation and the good of the priestly voTurn to page 14
Joseph Day, a parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Seekonk, poses with a statue of St. Dominic following his recent graduation from Providence College. Later this month, Day begins his first year as a novice with the Dominican order.