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Diocese of Fall River, Mass.

F riday , August 8, 2014

Pro-Lifers monitor enforcement of state’s new buffer zone law

By Christine M. Williams Anchor Correspondent

ATTLEBORO — For one month Pro-Lifers stood vigil near abortion clinics without the threat of removal, jail time and costly fines. They prayed. They offered support to abortion-minded women and informed them of the assistance available if they want to continue their pregnancies.

On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in McCullen v. Coakley that the state’s 2007 buffer zone law was unconstitutional. All nine justices said the law, which had set up a 35-foot buffer around entrances to abortion clinics, violated the free speech rights of ProLife Americans.

At a rally in Boston on July 8, Attorney General Martha Coakley urged abortion supporters, “Let’s just not get angry; let’s get even.” She and other state legislators made enacting a new buffer zone law their top priority. They filed the bill on July 14, and before the scheduled end of the July 16 public hearing, the measure was reported out of two committees and passed through three Senate readings. The Senate passed the bill unanimously that day. The House voted 116 to 35 in favor on July 29. Gov. Deval Patrick signed the bill into law on July 30 — one day before the end of the current legislative session.

The new law allows a single police officer the discretion to require anyone “substantially impeding” access to the clinic to stand back 25 feet for a period of eight hours. Effectively, they have the power to issue temporary restraining orders without a court order. Local ProLifers say the new law is not materially different from the 2007 law. They believe the latest legislation violates their First Amendment rights.

Robert W. Joyce, president of the ProLife Legal Defense Fund, told The Anchor that the 2014 buffer zone law gives police officers “unfettered discretion to exercise powers previously reserved for judges.”

“Under the vague language of the new law, even a simple physical act protected by the Constitution, such as peacefully offering an informational Pro-Life pamphlet, can be deemed intimidating,” he said.

Joyce added that the fund will monitor enforcement of the new law.

As of press time, sidewalk counselors continued to pray within the 25-foot buffer, and no one had been asked to stand outside any zones in the state.

Dwight Duncan, a law professor at the UMass Dartmouth and an Anchor columnist, said that implementation of the law will be key.

“I can imagine the police being overly Turn to page 18

New Bedford pastor Father Marc Bergeron dies unexpectedly

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

NEW BEDFORD — The Fall River Diocese is mourning the loss of Father Marc H. Bergeron, 69, pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in New Bedford and former longtime pastor of St. Anne’s Parish in Fall River, who died unexpectedly at Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River on August 1.

Having faithfully served the diocese for 44 years as priest and pastor, Father Bergeron was also the Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs Officer for the diocese.

Rev. David Lima, Executive Minister of the Inter-Church Council of New Bedford, on which Father Bergeron also served, called the priest’s passing “a great loss” for the diocese and the entire SouthCoast community.

“He transcended relationships across all faiths,” Rev. Lima said. “He was a man of great wisdom and had historical insight that astonished me. He was able to talk about not only things on the local

level here in our community — where I’ve known him for so many years and I know he dearly loved — but he had a historical perspective in terms of the reTurn to page 18

Father Marc H. Bergeron

Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., in yellow, plays during a soccer match in New Jersey recently. This photo is a screen shot from an interview with Bishop da Cunha who will be installed as the Diocese of Fall River’s eighth bishop on September 24. For a story on this interview, see Dave Jolivet’s “My View From the Stands” on page 10.

Area faithful will be able to congratulate, wish Bishop Coleman well at open reception

By Dave Jolivet Anchor Editor

WESTPORT — August 26 will be a day of celebration, thanks and well wishes for Bishop George W. Coleman, the current diocesan Apostolic Administrator, who is marking the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, and the end of his 11 years of service as Bishop of Fall River, when he officially retires on September 24, the day Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., is installed as the diocese’s eighth bishop, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fall River.

The cathedral will also be the site of a celebration Mass for Bishop Coleman on August 26. Because of the large number of priests, deacons and parish representatives who will be attending, the Mass is by invitation only, as is the reception at White’s of Westport immediately following the 3 p.m. Liturgy.

The public, however, will have the opportunity to meet, greet, congratulate and wish Bishop Coleman well at another reception that evening at White’s.

The committee assembled to coordinate the celebration has announced that Turn to page 14

Women’s Guild in Fall River parish is a mother-daughter affair

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

FALL RIVER — Many parishes in the Fall River Diocese host a Women’s Guild, but at Holy Trinity Parish in Fall River, the guild has a unique distinction — among the roughly 50 members, there are four sets of motherdaughter members.

Jennifer Lussier has been a member of the guild for the past two years, and her mother, Judy Lussier, has been a member for the past seven — but Lussier said that it wasn’t just her mother who inspired her to join, but her grandmother.

“It’s really nice because it’s one part tradition — when you grow up Catholic, this is what you see,” said Lussier.

“I saw my grandmother go to church; volunteer at church; was very religious.

You have that sense of community. Seeing her do this, then my mom and now me, it’s kind of a natural progression.”

Diane Aguiar joined her mother Pauline Vezina more than 30 years ago at the Women’s Guild.

“My mother had been in the guild for quite a while, and they were doing the ceramics for the bazaar; we had a table, and they were looking for people to paint the ceramics and finish them up,” recalled Aguiar. “I decided to go and help out, and ended up staying as a member after that.”

Aguiar said she took a break from the guild while raising her family, but came back “to do something with my mother, to spend time with her. I had a good time when I first joined, and then I had three kids and took a lot of Turn to page 14

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News From the Vatican

August 8, 2014

Campaign against human trafficking must focus on victims, speakers say

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Estimates of the number of people around the world who are victims of human trafficking are rising, partly because globalization has made it easier to move people and partly because governments, churches and international organizations are better at recognizing the phenomenon, a U.S. government official said.

Luis CdeBaca, ambassador-at-large in the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, recently held a digital video conference with priests and religious, ambassadors accredited to the Holy See and journalists gathered at the office of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

The conference and discussion about the U.S. State Department’s 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report took place on the eve of the first U.N. World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

Pope Francis has called human trafficking “a crime against humanity.” Meeting trafficking survivors, religious Sisters caring for victims and dozens of senior police officials in April, he called human trafficking “an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the Body of Christ.”

Participants at the July conference, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, focused particularly on victims and survivors of trafficking, repeatedly quoting Pope Francis’ exhortations to touch and heal the wounded Body of Christ in the person of those exploited and enslaved by others.

Agreeing with John McCarthy, Australia’s ambassador to the Vatican, that Pope Francis has brought the issue of human trafficking back onto the public agenda, CdeBaca said one of Pope Francis’ key contributions has been “not just talking about, but living this notion of touching the Flesh of Christ.”

Trafficking ensnares people who are vulnerable economically or socially, he said, but the victims “are not weak.

They are often the strongest ones. They are often the ones who are willing to travel for a new and better life,” but are tricked by smugglers.

Ken Hackett, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See and

co-host of the conference, said, “Whether it’s child labor in Southeast Asia, organ trafficking in Central America, sex trafficking in the Middle East or Eastern Europe, child soldiers in Africa, or labor exploitation in the United States, trafficking touches virtually every part of our global community.”

Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and chairman of the interreligious Global Freedom Network, described human trafficking as “an accelerator of criminal wealth creation,” pointing to the International Labor Organization’s estimate that organized crime networks reap about $150 billion a year from trafficking in persons, about 80 percent of that from prostitution.

CdeBaca said that whether a country outlaws prostitution, makes it illegal to pay for sex or legalizes and regulates prostitution, every country has a problem with people being trafficked for sex.

In a similar way, he said, traffickers exploit immigration laws, convincing victims of poverty and violence that they are the ones who can get them to safety and a better life.

Comprehensive immigration reform in the United States would help, he said.

Helping people in the country illegally gain legal status would bring them “out of the shadows,” removing the fear of deportation that keeps many from denouncing their exploiters.

A well-organized system for matching up U.S. labor needs with people who want to go to the United States to work, bypassing the smugglers, also would help, he said.

Poverty is the driving force behind trafficking, participants said.

“People end up having to use themselves as collateral,” CdeBaca said. “If they had credit cards, if they had the ability to take a loan out on their parents’ house so they could buy a new roof for their parents, they would not have to basically use themselves as the loan.”

The U.S. State Department’s 2014 report on Traff icking in Persons is available at http:// www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/ tiprpt/2014/index.htm.

Pope Francis meets the four sisters and three brothers of Jesuit Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, missing and presumed kidnapped in northern Syria since July 29, 2013. The pope met the family at the Jesuit headquarters in Rome, where they all joined the Jesuit community for lunch. (CNS photo courtesy Infosj, Rome)

Sign of peace at Mass: Vatican says it stays put, but urges education

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The sign of peace at Mass has not always led to serenity among Liturgists or within the congregations gathered each Sunday in Catholic churches around the world.

After nine years of study and consultation, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments has told Latinrite bishops around the world that the sign of peace will stay where it is in the Mass.

However, the congregation said, “If it is foreseen that it will not take place properly,” it can be omitted. But when it is used, it must be done with dignity and awareness that it is not a Liturgical form of “good morning,” but a witness to the Christian belief that true peace is a gift of Christ’s death and Resurrection.

The text of the congregation’s “circular letter” on “the ritual expression of the gift of peace at Mass,” was approved

by Pope Francis and posted in Spanish on the website of the Spanish bishops’ conference. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, recently confirmed its authenticity.

CNS obtained a copy of the letter in English.

In 2005, members of the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist adopted a formal proposition questioning whether the sign of peace might be better placed elsewhere in the Mass, for example at the end of the prayer of the faithful

and before the offering of the gifts.

Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, current prefect of the congregation, and Archbishop Arthur Roche, the congregation’s current secretary, said Pope Benedict XVI had asked the congregation to study the matter and, after doing so, in 2008 it asked bishops’ conferences around the world whether to keep the sign of peace where it is or move it to another moment “with a view to improving the understanding and carrying out of this gesture.”

“After further reflection,” the letter said, “it was considered appropriate to retain the rite of peace in its traditional place in the Roman Liturgy and not to introduce structural changes in the Roman Missal.”

But that does not exclude the need for new or renewed efforts to explain the importance of the sign of peace so that the faithful understand it and participate in it correctly, the congregation’s letter said.

It asked bishops to study whether it might be time to find “more appropriate gestures” to replace a sign of peace using “familiar and profane gestures of greeting.”

And, it said, they should do everything possible to end “abuses” such as: — “The introduction of a ‘song for peace,’ which is nonexistent in the Roman rite.”

— “The movement of the faithful from their places to

exchange the sign of peace amongst themselves.”

— “The departure of the priest from the altar in order to give the sign of peace to some of the faithful.”

— People using the sign of peace at Christmas, Easter, Baptisms, Weddings, ordinations and funerals to offer holiday greetings, congratulations or condolences.

“Christ is our peace, the Divine peace, announced by the prophets and by the angels, and which He brought to the world by means of His Paschal Mystery,” the letter said. “This peace of the Risen Lord is invoked, preached and spread in the celebration (of Mass), even by means of a human gesture lifted up to the realm of the Sacred.”

In some Catholic Liturgical traditions, it said, the exchange of peace occurs before the offering in response to Jesus’ exhortation in Matthew 5:23-24: “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

But in the Latin rite, the letter said, the exchange of peace comes after the Consecration because it refers to “the ‘Paschal kiss’ of the Risen Christ present on the altar.” It comes just before the breaking of the bread during which “the Lamb of God is implored to give us His peace.”

August 8, 2014

The International Church

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Ukraine crisis shows the danger of manipulating truth, chaplain says

Sister Muna Totah, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition, works on Karim Nofal, 15, of Gaza, at St. Joseph Hospital in Jerusalem recently. The teen-ager is one of 23 Gaza patients being treated at the hospital, which specializes in head- and chest-trauma wounds. (CNS photo/Debbie Hill)

In Jerusalem hospital, staff and family help Gaza trauma patients

JERUSALEM (CNS) — Since the death of his wife in an Israeli missile attack on their house in the Gaza Strip in late July, George Ayyad, 75, has been keeping vigil over his son Jeries, 31.

Jeries Ayyad lay in the intensive care unit of St. Joseph Hospital. Second- and third-degree burns covered 90 percent of his body. Both legs were amputated, and he had serious brain trauma.

St. Joseph Hospital specializes in head- and chest-trauma wounds. Jeries Ayyad, who was transferred from Gaza with the help of Caritas Jerusalem in cooperation with Israeli military, was one of 23 Gaza residents being treated at the hospital, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition.

Most of the wounded were under age 15; five were in the intensive care unit. Two of the children, ages 11 and 15, were pronounced brain dead on arrival and were expected to die within a short time, said Jamil Koussa, hospital general director. Two other children had improved remarkably since their arrival, Koussa said July 30, adding that they began receiving Gaza wounded almost a week earlier.

Since Israel began airstrikes on Gaza July 8, more than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed.

Three civilians in Israeli and 56 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the violence.

Though the hospital also treated wounded during the first and second intifadas, the first days of receiving the wounded from Gaza were emotionally difficult, said Sister Gilbert Saliba, 79, hospital president.

Four of the nuns work as nurses alongside the rest of the medical staff. Sister Saliba said

all patients are treated equally because in each one, they see the Face of Jesus.

“There is a moment when we see all the suffering that we ask, ‘Where is God?’” said Sister Saliba. “But then we look at the cross and see Jesus Christ on that cross, and how He suffered a lot of pain and He is still living all this pain. And we know He wants to use our hearts, our eyes and our hands to be merciful to human beings.”

The Sisters support each other’s faith in the face of such tragedy, she said. She said she prays for the patients, so they can accept what has happened to them and so she can be close to the patients to help and support them.

Sister Muna Totah, who assists Sister Saliba, said the nuns’ presence helps the patients and their families face their challenges, regardless of their religion.

“They know we are here to keep them and care for them,” she said. “They call us angels and feel our love.”

Dr. Maher Deeb, St. Joseph medical director, said his staff can help with the traumas; the emotional impact will have to be dealt with at the end of the conflict.

George Ayyad, who still has a bruise under his right eye, said his wife and son had been in the kitchen preparing a meal when a “warning missile” from Israel was dropped on their roof. Water began to leak into the house, and George Ayyad went to inspect the roof. He said he never thought the noise on the roof was a missile because he never suspected their single-family house would be a target of Israeli airstrikes.

As he went up on the roof,

a missile hit the house, fell through the roof and killed his wife. Jeries Ayyad was critically wounded, with. George Ayyad also suffered chest wounds.

“When I climbed down from the roof I saw my wife and son under the rubble. It was just a one-floor house. There were not any armed people there,” said George Ayyad, a retiree who worked for the Greek Orthodox Church. After the attack he and his other son Anton, 28, found shelter at Holy Family Catholic Parish in Gaza, until Jeries could be transferred.

“We know God will never forget us and will take care of us,” said George Ayyad. “I am thankful (Anton) was safe and Jeries is on the way to recovery.”

He also expressed thanks for Koussa, who gave him a room at the hospital and made sure he was cared for.

“If I search around the world, I will not find a better man than him,” said George Ayyad.

Koussa said Jeries Ayyad had not shown much improvement since he was admitted. However, he said, the hospital has used its own funds to send patients who no longer need intensive care to a hotel or other Palestinian institution. He said the financial burden has become almost overwhelming, and he has begun an appeal to help with the costs.

Outside the hospital, young people gather and trail inside with chocolates, flowers and toys for the patients. A young man approaches George Ayyad and greets him, pressing an envelope of money into his hand.

People have been supporting the hospital with gifts, food, and donations since the Gaza patients began to arrive, said Koussa.

ROME (CNS) — Propaganda and fear were the sparks that ignited the conflict in eastern Ukraine, a conflict that has become a real war, said a Jesuit military chaplain.

“In Ukraine you can see how distortion of truth, how perversion of reality, can actually cause a real war where people are killed — innocent people are killed,” said Jesuit Father Andriy Zelinskyy.

He said the situation in Ukraine turned into a war because Russia’s media and government manipulated ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine into thinking that peaceful demonstrations for democracy and closer ties with Europe were just the tip of an iceberg of anti-Russian sentiment.

Father Zelinskyy, who said he was present when the protests in Kiev’s Maidan — or Independence — Square began in November 2013 and throughout the protest, said, “I was always surprised by the nonsense one could hear from the Russian media.”

In an interview conducted by the Ukrainian Catholic Church’s Zhyve.tv on behalf of Catholic News Service, the Jesuit said the Maidan protests in Kiev marked “a birth time for our nation,” a mostly peaceful revolution that saw citizens demanding a government that respects their dignity, freedom and rights as citizens.

At this point, he said in the late-July interview, “We do have a real war, a war which is caused artificially, a war which is caused by propaganda.”

People who were part of the Russian Empire for centuries, and are still influenced

by Russia although they have

been Ukrainian citizens since 1991, were living in fear and believed they needed to defend themselves, he said. And then, they were joined by and further incited by “mercenaries,” people paid to go to eastern Ukraine and fight against the Ukrainian army.

Father Zelinskyy, who has served as a military chaplain for the past eight years, said all the troops “realize that the things taking place in the eastern part of Ukraine, this whole crisis, the military crisis, is not only a Ukrainian issue, it is an international crisis.”

Too many people in the world, he said, think the crisis is a conflict between differing Ukrainian political parties or political views, when it is a war over Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity.

Even under Soviet rule, tensions existed between Ukrainians and Russians.

Asked how the Church can help prevent hatred and fear of Russians, he said, “There’s only one way to fight fear and hatred, and that is with love.

But love, in order to be love, must be a very responsible way of fighting for life, for truth, for human dignity.”

Referring to his troops, he said, “Our young guys are risking their lives there, not in order to fight for certain political projects; they are standing there to protect the most Sacred human values, such as human life, human dignity, human rights for freedom and a right to live, to develop and to create a future for their own country.”

The role of the churches, he said, is to promote healing and reconciliation, first of all by helping people recognize the truth.

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August 8, 2014 The Church in the U.S. Tennessee diocese sees surge in vocations to priesthood, religious life

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

(CNS) — The Diocese of Nashville this summer has witnessed an explosion of vocations, with a record number of men being ordained to the priesthood and the permanent diaconate and the continuing growth of the Nashville congregation of Dominican Sisters.

On July 26, nine men were ordained as priests for the diocese in the Cathedral of the Incarnation. It was the largest class of new priests to be ordained in a single Mass in the diocese’s 177-year history.

“It reflects the fact that the life of faith as we know it and live it in the Catholic Church is very much appreciated and very much desired by people,” Nashville Bishop David R. Choby said. “The commitment of the faith reflected in the lives of these nine men is a reflection of that same commitment we find in the community.”

He added, “With the kinds of challenges we face in the world, to have priests to help us face those challenges is particularly important.”

This year’s ordination is a high-water mark for the increase in vocations in recent years, a trend that is expected to continue.

Since being ordained and installed as Nashville’s bishop in February 2006, Bishop Choby has ordained 20 men as priests, with at least one ordination every year. Last year, two new priests were ordained and after the ordination of nine this year, as many as six are scheduled to be ordained in 2015.

In that three-year period, the number of newly-ordained priests will increase by half the current number of active diocesan priests, Bishop Choby said.

The diocese continues to receive men interested in the priesthood. Four new seminarians will begin studies in the fall, which will give the diocese, with about 79,800 registered Catholics, nearly 30 seminarians.

“Not too long ago it seemed, for whatever reason, vocations to the priesthood were drying up,” Bishop Choby told the Tennessee Register, Nashville’s diocesan newspaper. “Through God’s grace and the intervention of the Holy Spirit, there seems to be a renewed interest in

the priesthood, which speaks well for the future.”

The influx of new priests will allow some of the older priests in the diocese to retire, Bishop Choby said, and it also will allow him to assign more priests to serve in some of the institutions in the diocese, such as high schools and hospitals.

The diocese’s permanent diaconate also has seen an increase in numbers. In June, 29 men were ordained as permanent deacons, the largest class of deacons to be ordained in the diocese’s history. Now the diocese has about 65 active deacons.

In assembling the class, the diocese was looking for men that could help expand several particular ministries, including Spanish speakers to help minister to a growing Hispanic community and men interested in hospital and prison ministry, said Deacon Ron Deal, director of the permanent diaconate for the diocese.

Deacon Juan Garza of Clarksville, located about 45 miles northwest of Nashville next to the Fort Campbell Army post, is one of eight new deacons who speak Spanish.

The diocese has an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 Hispanics with only a handful of bilingual priests, Deacon Garza said. “I’m sure the priests are relieved to get the help from the new deacons,” he said. “We’re blessed to help the diocese grow. It’s growing and it’s going to continue to grow.”

It’s not only the number of clergy that is growing. The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation, whose members have called Nashville home since 1860, this year will have about 300 members, the highest number ever. Beginning in the mid1980s, the congregation has been steadily growing and has more than doubled its numbers in the three decades since.

Late July was a busy time for the Dominicans. On July 25, five Sisters made their final profession of vows; on July 27, 13 Sisters renewed their vows and 17 postulants received the Dominican habit and began their novitiate; and on July 28, 12 Sisters made their first profession of vows.

Twenty new postulants

will join the community August 15.

“As always, we thank God for His grace at work within these Sisters, for the gift of their religious vocations, and for His blessings on this community,” said Sister Marian Sartain, one of the Nashville Dominicans.

“It says a lot about young people that they want to give themselves,” Sister Marian said. “They respond to a life of joy and love for the Lord. A lot of communities are seeing that. It’s a beautiful thing to see right now.

There’s a real springtime in the Church.”

The Sisters are happy to be part of the surge in vocations to religious life the diocese is seeing, Sister Marian said.

“It’s a great time to be part of the diocese,” she said. “The witness of the priesthood and consecrated life and married vocation strengthen one another. It’s not about just numbers. It’s about faith and the desire to give and be faithful.”

The Nashville Dominicans, whose primary charism is teaching, serve in 23 dioceses around the world, including in the United States,

Bishop David R. Choby of Nashville, Tenn., recently celebrated the ordination Mass for nine men at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville. This was the largest single priestly ordination in the history of the state. (CNS photo/Rick Musacchio, Tennessee Register)

Canada, Australia, Italy and Scotland. And the Sisters are planning to open a house in the Netherlands later this year, Sister Marian said.

“We’re trying to be where the Lord calls us to be and see what He has in mind,” Sister Marian said.

Across the board, the new priests, deacons and religious Sisters are increasingly more culturally diverse — an asset for Church ministry in middle Tennessee, as the Nashville Diocese becomes more diverse.

In recent decades, the diocese has seen an influx of Catholics from around the world, including Central and South America, Vietnam, Korea, the Philippines, Egypt, other African countries and Haiti among others.

“Diversity is a strength, an expression of the richness of the life of the Church,” Bishop Choby said. “This kind of diversity concretely reflects the catholicity of the Church.”

Bishops urge conscience protection for child welfare agencies

Washington D.C. (CNA/EWTN News) — Three committee chairmen of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference are strongly supporting a new bill that protects the conscience rights of child welfare agencies.

“As you know, our first and most cherished freedom, religious liberty, is to be enjoyed by all Americans, including child welfare providers who serve the needs of our most vulnerable — children,” stated the letter from the bishops to the lawmakers who introduced the bill, Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.).

“Rightly, the Inclusion Act protects the religious liberties and moral convictions of all child welfare providers.”

The letter was authored by Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage; Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, who chairs the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty; and Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, chairman of

the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

The proposed bill, The Child Welfare Inclusion Act, would ensure that adoption and foster care agencies cannot be denied contracts or grants from states and the federal government simply because of their religious beliefs.

In Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, Illinois, and California, faith-based agencies have been denied federallyfunded contracts because they will only match children with a mother and a father.

According to the Daily Signal, some 2,000 children were displaced from their original adoption and foster care agencies when a combination of state laws forced Illinois religious organizations to end their contracts with the state rather than place children with same-sex couples.

The bishops maintained that parents should be able to choose from many different child welfare agencies, including those that honor Marriage as the union of man

and woman.

“Indeed, women and men who want to place their children for adoption ought to be able to choose from a diversity of adoption agencies, including those that share the parents’ religious beliefs and moral convictions,” they said.

Refusing contracts to those agencies hurts the children and couples, said Sen. Mike Enzi, who helped sponsor the bill in the Senate.

“Faith-based charities and organizations do an amazing job of administering adoption, foster care and a host of other services,” he said in a recent statement. “Limiting their work because someone might disagree with what they believe only ends up hurting the families they could be bringing together.”

“This bill is about fairness and inclusion,” said Rep. Mike Kelly who introduced it in the House. “It is about ensuring that everyone who wants to help provide foster or adoptive care to children is able to have a seat at the table.”

August 8, 2014

The Church in the U.S.

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Holy Land still safe for pilgrimages, says head of U.S. tour group

Women pray during Mass at St. Paul Chong Ha-Sang Church in the Flushing neighborhood of the New York borough of Queens recently. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, N.Y., blessed the parish’s new education center and rectory after the Liturgy. With 3,000 registered families, St. Paul Chong Ha-Sang is one of the largest Korean Catholic parishes in the U.S. (CNS photo/Marie Elena Giossi, The Tablet)

Working-class Marriage rate hurt by weak Church efforts Washington D.C. (CNA/EWTN News) — A “national retreat” from Marriage could worsen social divides between the married and unmarried and plummeting rates are partly due to religious groups failing to reach the working class, says one scholar.

“We have seen that Catholic and mainline Protestant churches have not been successful in reaching poor working class Americans and bringing them into the pews on a regular basis, particularly men,” W. Bradford Wilcox, director of the University of Virginia’s National Marriage Project recently told CNA. He said that religious communities, which have provided a significant source of community support for Marriage, bear some responsibility for trends like the decline in Marriage rates.

Wilcox suggested churches need to “be more intentional in figuring out what kind of messages and ministries will be more effective in drawing working class and poor Americans back into the fold.”

A study from the Urban Institute suggests that among women in the “Millennial” generation, those born from 1980 to 1990, less than 70 percent will marry by age 40 at the present Marriage rate. If the downward trend in Marriage rates continues, even fewer will marry. Even if Marriage rates rebound, fewer women will be married than those of previous generations.

By comparison, 91 percent of women were Married by age 40 in 1990, 87 percent in 2000 and 82 percent in 2010.

The Urban Institute also

found a divergence in Marriage rates by race and education. The study’s authors project “steeper decreases” in Marriage rates for Hispanic women and non-Hispanic black women, compared to non-Hispanic white women.

Fewer than half of non-Hispanic black women and men will have married by age 40, in one projected scenario.

Those without a four-year degree will face “much steeper decreases in Marriage.” Millennials who have graduated college are “either slightly less or no less likely to marry than the generation preceding them.”

Wilcox voiced concern that the decline in Marriage is concentrated among “less educated and more economically insecure Americans.”

“We’re going to see a growing social divide in America in part because of the retreat from Marriage.”

He said that young adults are “more likely to flourish emotionally and socially when they are married.”

“We know that kids are more likely to thrive educationally, economically and socially when they are raised in a married household,” he said. “And we know that the nation’s retreat from Marriage is a significant contributor to family inequality in America.”

Wilcox said that conservative and liberal explanations for the decline in Marriage have merit.

“Conservatives will argue that this trend is rooted either in poor public policies that have a tendency to undercut Marriage or in cultural shifts, for instance, expressive individualism or feminism,” he said.

“I think progressives tend to point the finger at economic changes that have made working class and poor men’s job prospects bleaker.”

Marriage is similarly unpopular across the Atlantic.

The numbers of weddings are at historic lows in France and have significantly decreased in Italy, Ireland, Poland and Portugal, as well as in other European countries, the U.K. newspaper The Guardian reports.

Antonio Golini, chairman of Italy’s National Institute for Statistics, told the Guardian that the fall is “very significant” and “beyond all expectation.”

He said the decline is due to cultural causes like the fact that many young people live together without marrying. He said there are also economic factors, such as wariness of a costly wedding celebration during a time of economic crisis.

About half of Europeans aged 18-30 still live with their parents, in part due to a lack of employment, high debt, and high property costs. Many no longer see the need for Marriage, favoring a life without commitment. In France many choose civil partnerships as an alternative to civil marriage.

Teresa Castro-Martin, a research professor in population studies at the Spanish National Research Council, said a lack of stable jobs and credit harms family formation.

The average age for a newlywed man is now 37.2 years, an increase of 10 years since the 1980s.

“Marriage has traditionally been a rite of passage to adulthood but it has lost its centrality,” she told the Guardian.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The head of a Michigan-based tour company that leads trips to the Holy Land said the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas so far has not had an impact on pilgrimages he and his associates lead.

“Everything is still functioning like in any other normal business day. The sector of tourism industry to the Holy Land is not affected,” said Steve Ray, a tour guide and CEO of Footprints of God in Ann Arbor.

Ray spoke to Catholic News Service in a telephone interview after recently returning from a trip to the Middle East where he was planning his organization’s upcoming pilgrimage tours.

He and his wife, Janet, have guided thousands of people through Israel and other Biblical lands in the Middle East and Europe over the past 20 years.

On July 8, Israel began airstrikes targeting the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas militants lobbing missiles into Israel; Israel began its ground campaign into Gaza July 17. By July 30, the Israeli death toll stood at 53 soldiers and three civilians; the Health Ministry in Gaza said more than 1,200 Palestinians had been killed and more than 5,700 wounded.

U.S. officials have been unsuccessful in pressing Israel to accept

an immediate and unconditional humanitarian cease-fire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recent televised speech that his country must be ready for “a prolonged campaign” against Hamas in Gaza.

John Hale, president of the Corporate Travel Service in Dearborn, Mich., said that the ongoing conflict is a serious humanitarian crisis and “a very difficult situation,” but said it should not prevent anyone from traveling to the Holy Land.

“Tourists are not the (ones being) targeted but everyone has to decide for himself as whether to travel or not” to the Middle East, he told CNS. Corporate Travel Service arranges the Footprints of God pilgrimages and tours, and similar trips for student groups, religious groups and others, according to its website. It also arranges performance tours for choirs and orchestra, theme cruises and vacations.

Ray reiterated that it is still safe to travel to the Holy Land, noting that an Israeli military operation in Gaza does not affect the entire country, and he encouraged people who have made plans to visit there to stick with them.

“It is an amazing opportunity to walk in the footprints of Jesus,” Ray said. “It changes lives.”

Be sure to visit the Diocese of Fall River website at fallriverdiocese.org The site includes links to parishes, diocesan offices and national sites.

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August 8, 2014

Anchor Editorial

From World War I to today

On July 27, Pope Francis said during his remarks after praying the Angelus, “Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, which had millions of victims and caused immense devastation. This conflict, which Pope Benedict XVI called a ‘senseless slaughter,’ resolved after four long years into a most fragile peace. Tomorrow will be a day of mourning in memory of this tragedy. While remembering this tragic event, I hope that the mistakes of the past are not repeated, that the lessons of history are acknowledged, and that the causes for peace may always prevail through patient and courageous dialogue.”

One can understand Pope Francis’ implied fear that the “mistakes of the past” might be repeated, as he looks upon the Ukraine-Russia conflict (and other pitched battles in former Soviet republics), the various armed conflicts in the Middle East pitting a variety of configurations of Jews, Christians, Sunni and Shiite Moslems against each other, the threats from China against its neighbors, and the confrontations between radical Islam and members of other religions in Africa, Asia and Oceania. The world in 2014 does not resemble 1914’s bipolar world (with the Triple Entente poised against the Central Powers), which means that we need not fear a “World War” pitting half of the planet’s countries against the other half. However, the intense human suffering going on around the globe (with persecution of Christians being part and parcel of so many of these conflicts) calls out for renewed efforts for justice and peace (as the victims’ blood cries out to us, as did the blood of Abel and the much more eloquent Blood of Christ).

Archbishop Mark Coleridge of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, Australia said in 2012, “The atrocities of World War I came to an exhausted end in 1918, and everyone sighed, ‘Never again.’ Yet a little more than 20 years later, World War II broke out as a humiliated Germany sought to reassert its dignity and reclaim what it felt to be its right. Over this second part of the twin apocalypse of the last century there loomed the shadow of demonic ideology — the totalitarian and quintessentially pagan ideology that came to be known as fascism. It proved no less murderous than the communism which had shown its true face in Stalin and which, while claiming to be a polar opposite of fascism, was alarmingly alike in its effect. When the guns and bombs eventually fell silent in 1945, it was clear that Europe and the world had endured a twin apocalypse after which nothing could ever be the same. One of the many troubling aspects of the apocalypse was that the prime mover in each part — World War I and World War II — was one of the unquestionably great Christian nations of Europe, Germany. The World Wars, therefore, represented the collapse of Christian civilization as it had been known, at least in Europe.”

The archbishop was pointing out how Christianity had not really taken root in the hearts of the people of Germany (and of many other countries) and he was criticizing the “supposed liberation brought by the project of modernity, since without the aid of modern science and technology the achievements of, say, Auschwitz and Hiroshima would have been impossible. Both were, it could be argued, technological triumphs but moral catastrophes.

Auschwitz and Hiroshima were the great emblems of the twin apocalypse, and the question was, ‘Where do we go from here?’ Is there hope, is there life beyond the ash-heaps? And if there is, where might we find it, where do we make a fresh start?”

His question is a good one for us American Catholics to ponder, as we remember that Hiroshima was blown up 69 years ago this past Wednesday, on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.

The Australian archbishop looked at the intellectual aftermath of the world wars in Europe. “They left Europe Spiritually eviscerated, with a widespread evaporation of meaning and a loss of confidence in institutions. This is an experience from which Europe has still to recover, and any real recovery is unlikely insofar as Europe takes refuge in a secularist ideology. The Wall may have fallen in 1989, but the great liberation and unification have not yet happened. The European crisis is rendered more grave because the World Wars also cast doubt upon the grand promises of the project of modernity and brought to birth a postmodernity fraught with deep uncertainties and ambiguities.”

What the archbishop said in 2012 can be seen to be bearing fruit in 2014, as members of the European Union dither while so much conflict goes on throughout the world. We at The Anchor would not want the Europeans to go to war, but the hypocrisy of their fainthearted complaints about Russia and other nations, while selling them more armaments, is not something we can applaud.

Coming back to Catholicism, Archbishop Coleridge pointed out that the aftermath of the world wars also demanded a change in the Church, that “business as usual” could not continue, “as if beyond this unwelcome and unpleasant disruption we could simply carry on as we had for centuries. But, what could the Church say? That was the question at the heart of Vatican II. “One thing it meant for the council was the rejection of a tendency to yield to a self-protective introversion. Like everyone else, the Church was battered and exhausted at the end of the Second World War; and it may have been understandable that the Church in such a moment would have closed ranks, retiring behind the battlements. The Church did not stand above the maelstrom but had to go to its heart — and that is what she did in Vatican II. This meant the demise — or at least the beginning of the demise — of a Eurocentric Church and the birth — or the beginning of the birth — of a World Church. The implications of this are incalculable. The demography of the Universal Church is confirming the judgment of the council, as day by day the center of gravity in the Catholic Church shifts from the countries of the West, especially Europe, to Africa, Asia and Latin America. We see traces of this world-wide shift in the changing face of our Catholic people and presbyterate in Australia. The color of both is changing, as we find more Asians and Africans among us; but this merely reflects the fact that the color of the Church’s face around the world is changing dramatically. ‘I am black and beautiful,’ says the bride in the ‘Song of Songs.’ The face of the Church, the Bride of Christ, while not yet black, is certainly darkening in color — and nothing can stop that process.

“The Spirit seems to be saying that the Churches of the West — and even the West itself — cannot now renew themselves from within. They need help from outside, help of a kind which perhaps we did not see coming and which we may not immediately welcome. But the Spirit is also saying surely that the whole Church has to become more missionary. This seems to me to be the heart of the teaching of Vatican II. At a time when we may be tempted to introversion, the Church must become more missionary.”

The archbishop’s words seem prescient, coming as they did before the election of Pope Francis in 2013 and the naming of Bishop Edgar da Cunha to the Diocese of Fall River this year. May we accept the Spirit’s invitation to collaborate with them to bring hope to a world at war, a world thirsting for peace.

Pope Francis’ Angelus address of August 3

Dear brothers and sisters, On this Sunday, the Gospel presents us with the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (Mt. 14, 13-21). Jesus fulfilled this along the Sea of Galilee, in an isolated area where He has retired to with His disciples after learning of the death of John the Baptist. But so many people followed Him and reached Him; and Jesus, seeing them, felt compassion for them and healed the sick until the evening. Now the disciples, concerned about the late hour, advised Him to dismiss the crowd

so that they could go into the villages and buy food to eat. But Jesus calmly replies: “Give them some food yourselves” (Mt. 14,16), and He had them bring five loaves and two fishes, He blessed them, and began to break them and give them to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. They all ate until they were satisfied and there was even [food] leftover.

In this event, we can grasp three messages. The first is compassion.

In front of the crowd that surrounds Him and — so to say — “do not leave Him in peace,” JeOFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER

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sus does not react with irritation.

He doesn’t say, “But these people bother Me!” No, No. He reacts with a feeling of compassion, because He knows that they do not seek Him out of curiosity, but out of need. But beware: compassion, that which Jesus feels, is not simply to feel pity. It is much more!

It means sympathy, that is, to empathize with the suffering of others to the point of taking it upon oneself! That is how Jesus is! He suffers together with us, He suffers with us, He suffers for us.

And the sign of this compassion are the numerous healings He performed. Jesus teaches us to place the needs of the poor before our own. Our needs, even if legitimate, will never be as urgent as of those of the poor who do not have the necessary [things] to live. We often speak of the poor, but when we speak of the poor, do we feel that man, that woman, those children, do not have enough to live on? They do not have food to eat, they do not have clothes, they do not have access to medicine, even the children who do not have the chance to go to school? And for this, our needs, even if legitimate, will never be as urgent as those of the poor, who lack the necessities to live on.

The second message is sharing. First compassion, that which Jesus felt, and sharing. It is helpful to compare the reaction of the disciples, in front of people who were tired and hungry, with that of Jesus. They are different. The disciples think that it is better to dismiss them, so that they can go get food. Jesus says instead: “Give them some food yourselves.” Two different reactions, that reflect two opposing logics: the disciples reason according to the world, through which everyone must think of themselves. They react as if to say: “Fend for yourselves!”

Jesus thinks instead according to the logic of God, which is that of sharing. How many times, we turn the other side so as not to see the brothers in need? And this, looking the other way, is a polite way of saying with white gloves on: “Fend for yourselves.” And this is not of Jesus. This is selfishness!

If He had dismissed the crowd, so many people would be left without eating. Instead, those few loaves and fishes, shared and blessed by God, were enough for everyone. Attention: this is not a magic trick, it is a “sign!” A sign that invites to have faith in God, the providential Father, Who does

not let us miss “our daily bread,” if we know how to share it as brothers! Compassion. Sharing.

Finally a third message: the miracle of the loaves foretells the Eucharist. It is seen in the gesture of Jesus Who “said the blessing” (v.19) before breaking the bread and distributing it to the people.

It is the same gesture that Jesus will do at the Last Supper, when He institutes a perpetual memorial of His redeeming Sacrifice. In the Eucharist, Jesus does not give a piece of bread, but the Bread of Eternal Life. He gives Himself, offering Himself to the Father out of love for us. But we should go to the Eucharist with those feelings of Jesus, that is, compassion and with that desire of Jesus: sharing.

Whoever goes to the Eucharist without having compassion for the needy and without sharing, is not well with Jesus.

Compassion, sharing, the Eucharist. This is the path that Jesus shows us in this Gospel. A path that leads us to face with fellowship the needs of this world, but that leads us beyond this world, because it comes from God and returns to Him. May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Divine Providence, accompany us on this journey.

August 8, 2014

A

s part of the New Evangelization, there is a lot of legitimate focus, energy, study and money being spent about how to get fallen away Catholics back to the practice of the faith.

But one of the questions that regularly arises whenever outreaches are planned is what the re-evangelized will be coming back to should they respond to a Divine and human invitation.

Will they be returning to a vibrant parish that will receive them with enthusiasm and energize them to continue to grow in faith?

Or will they come back to a parish of the “frozen chosen,” a cold or lukewarm group of half-hearted, barely alive, bored believers who seem to survive rather than celebrate Mass and to treat their faith more as a burden than a blessing?

Just like with the seven Churches Jesus addresses in the Book of Revelation, so today there are parishes that are faithfully thriving like Ephesus, Smyrna and Philadelphia, others that are mixed bags like Pergamum and Thyatira, many that are “lukewarm” like Laodicea, and some that are actually “dead” like Sardis.

What accounts for the difference between parishes that are dynamic and those that are dying? The answer may be somewhat obvious but parishes that are alive have a critical mass of parishioners who are excited and enthusiastic about

Anchor Columnist Coming alive in faith growing in the faith, where- percent overlap between the as those in decline are often two groups. That meant that leavened by parishioners for the most part, only seven who are stagnant, uninpercent of parishioners are volved, and minimalistic. giving 80 percent of the One of the best books time and treasure of a parish I’ve found to describe the and 93 percent are giving difference between the two less than 20. is Matthew Kelly’s recent While to most that would “The Four Signs of a Dyseem like bad news, Kelly namic Catholic.” I gave copies to all my parishioners last Advent as part Putting Into of Kelly’s Dynamic the Deep Catholic Parish Book Program.

Kelly is a 41-yearBy Father old, Australian-born Roger J. Landry business consultant who has been using his business school know-how to try to help the saw a silver lining. Imagine, Church discover the best he said, what would happen if practices to help people and we increased the percentage parishes grow in faith. of actively engaged parishioKelly and his team at ners in a parish from seven Dynamic Catholic sought to eight percent. That would to study the differences mean that volunteer hours between vibrant Catholics in a parish would increase who get involved in the life by 15 percent and in general of their parishes and those collections would grow by the who remain on the sidesame margin. If a parish were lines. They anticipated that, able to succeed in getting 14 like in many organizations, percent of parishioners to they’d find that 20 percent become truly engaged, the of parishioners would cause volunteer hours and the col80 percent of the effects; lection fueling so many parwhat’s called in business ish programs would double. that Pareto principle.

Dynamic Catholic beInstead they discovered gan to study what made the that not 20 but 6.4 percent seven percent of engaged of registered parishioners parishioners different from contributed 80 percent of the other 93 percent. Both the volunteer hours, that 6.8 groups came to Mass and percent of registered parish- both had gone to Catholic ioners donated 80 percent schools or Religious Eduof financial contributions, cation, but there were 264 and that there was an 84 concrete behaviors that

Vatican upholds bishop’s decision to relegate church building to secular use

FALL RIVER — The Fall River Diocese has received notification of the decision by the Vatican’s Apostolic Signatura on the appeal made against the Sept. 6, 2013 Decree by Bishop George W. Coleman relegating St. John the Baptist Church in New Bedford to profane but not sordid use. The Apostolic Signatura has upheld Bishop Coleman’s issuance of the Decree and rejected the appeal.

The Apostolic Signatura is the highest judicial authority within the Catholic Church.

“Relegation to profane use” is a term used in Church law when a Church building will no longer be used for Catholic Liturgical worship.

Five individuals who were

parishioners of St. John the Baptist Parish brought their initial appeal against the Decree to the Congregation for Clergy, the appropriate Dicastery (or department) of the Roman Curia for such appeals.

Earlier this year the Congregation for Clergy affirmed the bishop’s decision to issue the Decree. The petitioners then appealed the decision to the Apostolic Signatura to which this recent ruling is in response.

No decision has been made with regard to any secular use of the building going forward.

Church law prohibits such action while an appeal of the Decree of relegation to nonSacred use is in process.

Separate from this was an-

other appeal brought by the same individuals against the decision by Bishop Coleman to suppress St. John the Baptist Parish and unite it with Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in New Bedford. This appeal was made to three successive levels of judicial review, the Congregation for Clergy, the Apostolic Signatura and, ultimately, the Congresso of the Apostolic Signatura. The bishop’s decision was upheld at each level. As the Congresso decree of March 27, 2014 states, “This decree, which is not subject to any further challenge, has been communicated to the respective procuratoradvocates of the parties for all legal effect.”

differentiated them, behaviors that fell into four basic habits.

First, the seven percent have a daily commitment to prayer, whereas the 93 percent pray spontaneously and inconsistently.

Second, the seven percent are continuous learners, spending 90 minutes a week growing in faith through Catholic books, articles, CDs, DVDs, radio and television stations, Bible studies and other adult education opportunities, and retreats. The 93 percent on the other hand may have questions about the faith but don’t come up with a plan to grow.

Third, the seven percent are generous as a way of life, seen in their cutting out other activities to make the time to volunteer at the parish and prioritizing the parish in their budget. The 93 percent often have good intentions, but just never get around to making similar commitments.

Finally, the seven percent share their faith with others because they recognize it as a gift whereas the 93 percent often approach their faith as something private and keep it mostly to themselves.

7

Vibrant parishes are generally those with higher percentages of those with the good habits found in the seven percent.

The secret to creating more vibrant parishes, Kelly said, is to help people in the 93 percent grow in faith, a process that doesn’t happen overnight. He encourages incremental growth, like encouraging everyone to spend one more minute in prayer, to read one to five pages of a good Catholic book, and to do one good deed each day, to give one more percent to the parish, and to try to share one thing about the faith with someone else each week. Once people commit to growing in faith in these small steps, they often pick up steam and come fully alive. And once that starts happening, not only is their life richer, but their parishes become more vibrant.

I’d encourage those who want to see their parishes become more alive to pick up Kelly’s helpful and practical book, start applying the lessons to their own life and then encouraging family members and fellow parishioners to join them.

Anchor columnist Father Landry is pastor of St. Bernadette’s Parish in Fall River. fatherlandry@ catholicpreaching.com.

8

“W

here is God, anyway?”

I have often heard people ask me the question. With all that we are exposed to everyday, the world seems to be spinning out of control. We see wars, murders, and a global culture in which the powerful use and even deplete the resources of weaker countries in the name of capitalism. We are faced with the dissolution of Marriages and the breakdown of the family. We watch the Sacred being destroyed by scandal and observe an ethical way of life becoming more and more subjective. So I am not surprised at this question.

I have to ask myself the same question to be able to share my faith values and help find God’s plan in our modern day.

We often wonder where we can find God. But the truth is God is always looking for us. The readings for the 19th Sunday point to a mountain, a storm, and a gentle breeze as ways God reveals Himself. The Gospel of Matthew

August 8, 2014

Jesus said, ‘Come’ gives us quite a contrast You on the water.” Peter does between Jesus praying alone not know that there is no on a mountain, the traditional proof for faith in the presence place to find God, and the of God without our commitdisciples sailing across the ment and ability to risk for lake in a storm at night. “By the Lord. The plan of Jesus’ this time the boat was being presence is not to remove driven by the waves far from shore, for the wind was against Homily of the Week them” (v. 24). The exNineteenth Sunday pression of the wind in Ordinary Time and its force symbolize the insecurity and

By Father Thomas fear the disciples had.

McElroy, SS.CC. All of this shows us how difficult it is to have a peaceful meeting with the Lord. Turmoil the difficulties of life and the keeps us focused. darkness of situations, but it All of a sudden, during the is to offer us strength, courage night, the disciples see Jesus and to trust in Him to overwalking toward them on the come any obstacle to reach sea (v. 25). The disciples are Him. “Take heart, it is I; do caught totally off guard. They not be afraid” (v. 27). How were terrified, saying, “It is a deeply do we recognize Jesus ghost!” Like all of us when we as our Savior Who comes to become fearful, they cried out rescue us? How afraid am I in fear (v. 26). In his confuin the turmoil of the world sion, Peter has the audacity to around me? ask for proof — “Lord, if it is Jesus speaks to us through You, command me to come to St. Peter, when He says to

him, “You of little faith; why did you doubt?” (v. 31). Jesus is giving us a chance to open up to the full recognition of the Lord’s presence in our lives. Even for the disciples, faith is a process open to move us into intimate times with the Lord.

We should never try to pigeonhole how God will come into our lives.

The first reading refers to what God told Elijah, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord for the Lord is about to pass by.” However, God is neither in the great wind nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire. All of these elements are ways the Bible has told us of the power of God. God is in a tiny whispering sound (1Kgs 19:11-12). There is only one thing we must do to discover God near us. We must open ourselves to finding God everywhere and in everyone.

He comes to us in the people

and the events of the reality of our lives. In the second reading (Rom 9:1-5) Paul is very upset with his community. These were people who observed so many signs of God’s presence — such as being adopted by God, seeing the glory Jesus brought, knowing the covenants, the law, the worship, but they did not recognize Christ. All Salvation history was pointing to God’s passing in history. This is what we strive to do when we gather as a community to examine the events of our lives in the light of faith to discover the footprints of the Lord in order to follow Him more closely.

Never let the chaos of life make you sink into the waters of darkness. Jesus Christ has overcome darkness and brought us into His marvelous life. Take heart — it is the Lord!

Father McElroy, the former pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish in Fairhaven, retired from pastoral ministry last weekend.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. Aug. 9, Hb 1:12—2:4; Ps 9:8-13; Mt 17:14-20. Sun. Aug. 10, Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 1 Kgs 19:9a,11-13a; Ps 85:9-14; Rom 9:1-5; Mt 14:22-33. Mon. Aug. 11, Ez 1:2-5,24-28c; Ps 148:1-2,11-14; Mt 17:22-27. Tues. Aug. 12, Ez 2:8—3:4; Ps 119:14,24,72,103,111,131; Mt 18:1-5,10,12-14. Wed. Aug. 13, Ez 9:1-7;10:18-22; Ps 113:1-6; Mt 18:15-20. Thurs. Aug. 14, Ez 12:1-12; Ps 78:56-59,61-62; Mt 18:21—19:1. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Vigil, 1 Chr 15:3-4,15-16;16:1-2; Ps 132:6-7,9-10,13-14; 1 Cor 15:54b-57; Lk 11:27-28. Fri. Aug. 15, The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Rv 11:19a;12:1-6a,10ab; Ps 45:10-12,16; 1 Cor 15:20-27; Lk 1:39-56.

T

he post-Vatican II “Lectionary for Mass” has many fine features, one of which is the continuous reading of the Acts of the Apostles during weekday Masses in the Easter season. As the Church celebrates the Resurrection for 50 days, the Church also ponders the first evangelization: the primitive Christian community, in the power of the Spirit, brings the surrounding Mediterranean world the history-shattering news that Jesus of Nazareth, having been raised from the dead, has been constituted Lord and Savior for the forgiveness of sins.

These serial readings from Acts end with Paul established in Rome (probably in today’s Trastevere district), speaking with the Roman Jewish community about the fulfillment of their ancient, covenantal hopes in the Risen Christ.

There’s one omission from this early Christian history that I regret, however; the “Lectionary” omits the 27th chapter of Acts, which tells the dramatic story of Paul’s

Shipwreck and mission

ed life-giving Salvation to the shipwreck and his brief stay Gentiles. The inconvenience on Malta, where the Apostle and indignity of house arrest is miraculously saved from the grasp of a poisonous viper, and lead to intense evangelical acfrom which he eventually takes tivity: “And he lived there two whole years at his own expense, another ship to Rome. and welcomed all who came to Now here is something him, preaching the Kingdom to ponder: There have been innumerable books of Church history written over two millennia. But the only inspired book of Church history, the Acts of the Apostles, ends with the story

By George Weigel of a shipwreck — a seeming disaster that becomes, in Divine of God and teaching about the providence, the occasion to Lord Jesus Christ quite openly extend the Church’s mission. and unhindered” (Acts 28:30).

The imagery continues in Shipwreck and mission, it Acts 28. Paul is not living seems, are intertwined strands in optimum circumstances in the Church’s historical in Rome; he’s under a form DNA. of house arrest. Yet he turns This is not to suggest that his lodgings into a center of the Church should willfully evangelization, calling the seek shipwreck. Much of the Roman Jewish community to damage that has been done to consider Jesus anew and to reconsider the criticisms of the Catholicism in recent decades — by the abuse scandals, by new Christian “sect” they had the ongoing horror stories of heard, while explaining how God, in the Spirit, had extend- mid-20th-century Catholic

The Catholic Difference

life in Ireland, by forms of intellectual dissent that empty Catholicism of the patrimony of truth bequeathed to it by the Lord, by the counter-witness of Catholics in public life who fail to stand firm for the dignity of the human person at all stages of life and in all conditions of life — is a matter of self-imposed wounds, which Church authorities have an obligation to address. The wider cultural assault on the Church, however, is another matter.

Some may consider it “shipwreck” that the cultural Catholicism that transmitted and sustained the faith in these United States as recently as two generations ago is on life-support. What should we expect, however, when the ambient public culture becomes toxic, anti-Biblical, Christophobic (to use the sharp term most recently made prominent by an Orthodox Jewish legal scholar, Joseph Weiler)?

Perhaps the demise of cultural

Catholicism — Catholicism offered to the next generation without great effort, Catholicism-by-osmosis — is a kind of shipwreck. But why not take a lesson from the last chapters of Acts and see in that hard fact the providential invitation to become, once again, a Church in permanent mission? A Church in which every Catholic knows that he or she has been baptized into a missionary vocation? A Church in which Catholics know that the quality of their discipleship is measured by the power of their witness to Christ and their capacity to invite others into friendship with the Risen Lord?

To borrow again from genetics, shipwreck and mission are the double-helix of Church history. The challenge is to discern the possibilities for mission that God always encodes in what seems to us, at first blush, to be utter shipwreck.

George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

August 8, 2014

Monday 4 August 2014 — Port-O-Call: Our Lady of Fatima Church, New Bedford — feast of St. John Vianney, patron saint of parish priests ou know me, dear readers. I do my best to laugh at every opportunity.

Today, however, I’m grieving.

My good friend Father Marc Bergeron died unexpectedly on Friday past.

I first met Marc in the summer of 1964. I was entering a college seminary that fall.

Marc had just completed his first year in the seminary. We met at St. Vincent’s Camp in Westport. Back in the day, the Diocese of Fall River operated three summer camps. One was Cathedral Camp in Freetown.

This was for campers whose parents could afford to pay.

Another was Camp Nazareth in Westport. This was for campers with special needs.

The third was St. Vincent de Paul Camp. This was for families who were struggling financially.

Back in the day, all seminarians were required by the diocese to work eight weeks every summer at one of the camps. We were paid $50 for the entire season. Money went farther in those days, I guess.

Y

I

t was a beautiful afternoon early in the summer.

My friend Sister Claire and I were sitting on the porch at the nursing home. Sister Claire said, “Hold my hand.” When I did, she then said, “Now, you can’t run away and do the next thing on your list. Just sit for a few minutes.” I was tempted to silently prioritize projects for the remainder of that afternoon.

Suddenly, there was this gentle breeze which drew my attention to one tree across the parking lot.

As the breeze stirred the leaves, some leaves turned over revealing a silvery bottom. I pointed out the tree to my friend. She released my hand and replied, “Good! You understand. Isn’t this peaceful?” Sister Claire was correct in her analysis. That afternoon I had to turn down “doing” and turn up “being.” A better balance had to be restored between the two.

A good example illustrating the importance of balance between doing and being is the New Testament sisters Martha and Mary. Martha is doing everything while Mary sits with the Lord. Jesus’ response to Martha’s request that Mary be

Anchor Columnists The passing Marc and I were both assigned I saw on TV. I rushed over to Marc’s cot and pounded to St. Vincent de Paul Camp. vigorously on his chest. Marc Camp was a great experiawoke immediately. I had ence. Not only were you able saved his life. “What are to work with the children, you doing, Tim?” he asked. I but you got the opportunity explained that, having been to spend quality time with alerted by the distressful other seminarians and with sounds he was making, I had the frequent priest visitors. heroically resuscitated him.

These would be the men with whom we would spend the rest of our lives.

They were our diocesan The Ship’s Log brothers (DBs) and Reflections of a so they would remain Parish Priest forever.

By Father Tim Marc and I shared a Goldrick room (nicknamed the “Bowling Alley”) in the counsellor’s house. It was an elongated closet with a “Oh. I forgot to tell you, Tim. window. I quickly learned that I snore loudly.” So began a 50-year friendship. we had something in comMarc and I worked tomon. Marc and I were born gether at camp for the next and raised in the city of New seven summers. Although Bedford. We were one year we attended different colapart in age.

I remember that first night. lege seminaries, we were both assigned to the same theolTired from a long day’s work, ogy seminary — St. Mary’s in I slept like the proverbial log Baltimore, Md. until I was awakened by a Marc was ordained to the medical emergency. My new priesthood in 1970, a little roommate Marc was having earlier than anticipated. Seems some sort of a cardiac event. it was the last year before the I didn’t know what to do. retirement of Bishop James L. I knew absolutely nothing Connolly. The bishop (being about emergency treatment a former history professor) for a heart attack except what

wanted, as part of his legacy, to ordain more priests than any other Bishop of Fall River.

And so Bishop Connolly made the history books and Marc, among others, was ordained a priest.

Marc and I remained DBs although we were now separated by two years in our ordination dates. We would, on our days offduty, occasionally take the train to New York City and see as many half-priced Broadway plays as we could in two days. He walked so fast I could hardly keep up. He knew the city like the back of his hand. We stayed at St. Leo House, an inexpensive and conveniently located hostel.

Once we traveled together on vacation to the Island of Madeira. Actually, we didn’t technically travel together.

There was a blinding blizzard on the East Coast. Marc got as far as Connecticut. I made it to New York City and caught the last flight out. When I arrived at the Madeira hotel, the staff was amazed to see me — dressed like an Eskimo among the palm trees. Marc arrived two days later. At least I got

9

one good night’s sleep. After Marc arrived, I slept outside on the balcony. Did I mention he snores?

Marc used to say, “There’s nothing deader than a dead priest.” He meant that since we are celibate and have no family of our own, a handful of folks will remember us for a while and then the memory will fade and disappear. There are four priests buried in my parish cemetery and room for more. I have never seen anyone visiting their graves.

This is something we priests readily forego for the sake of the Kingdom.

Marc died of a heart attack on Friday at 9:10 a.m. in Fall River as I was saying Mass in Falmouth for his intention.

The phone call came in 15 minutes later. He requested that I preach at his Funeral Mass.

Dear readers, remember your priests in prayer, both the living and the deceased.

Priests, tell the stories of your deceased brothers at every opportunity. Sometime, a priest will be telling your story to his diocesan brothers.

Anchor columnist Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth.

Blowing in the gentle breeze reminded of her hospitality duafter the fire a still small voice.” ties is clearly a call to recognize In that quiet whisper, that gentle the importance of being in the breeze, Elijah recognized the presence of the Lord. Jesus says, voice (presence) of God (1Kgs “Mary has chosen the better part 19:12-16). of it and it will not be taken from Elijah had fervently prayed her” (Lk 10:42). Why does this along the way. He did not end with a call to being?

I believe Jesus recognized Wrestling with God that when we humans need to reset our balance Holding on for point, we would more His blessing likely need the call back to being. Martha also

By Dr. Helen J. Flavin illustrates how easy it is for us to transition to being. After Lazarus’ death, Martha goes out to meet Jesus understand his world. He had and says, “I believe that You are done what God asked of him. the Son of God” ( Jn 11:27).

Instead of thanks, he received That afternoon, as the breeze death threats! On Mount Horeb, produced that silvery to green in that gentle whisper of a breeze transition and ruffled the tallest was God’s answer to Elijah. God blades of grass, I was reminded answered Elijah’s prayer; not in of Elijah at Horeb (mountain of hiding Elijah from conflict or God). Elijah hid at the mouth of struggle, but in strengthening a cave awaiting God. “A strong him for the work Elijah was to wind rent the mountains, and do for God in this world. God broke in pieces the rocks before sent Elijah forth once more to the Lord; but the Lord was not the Israelites. in the wind: and after the wind What do Elijah and the an earthquake; but the Lord singers Peter, Paul and Mary was not in the earthquake. And have to say about the balance after the earthquake a fire; but between doing and being in our the Lord was not in the fire: and walk with Jesus? Have you ever

listened to the words of the song, “Blowin’ in the Wind” (lyrics at http://www.metrolyrics.com/ blowin-in-the-wind-lyricspeter-paul-mary.html)? The poignant verse, “How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind,” vividly reminds us of the grave injustices and human indifference present in our world. This is an individual and collective call to work for social justice issues. However, each of us must decide for ourselves what call we hear and what the refrain “the answer is blowing in the wind” mean.

To me, the phrase blowing in the wind has two levels. Gusts serve to stir up or reveal a crisis where we suddenly perceive an injustice and a way we can possibly work to alleviate it. In essence, we understand we received a personal call to make a difference. Next, we must wait for the gusts to blow by, just as Elijah did at that cave. This is because the gentle breeze that follows carries directly to our heart the

voice of God. We understand our personal call to action only after sincere prayer and preparation (being in God’s presence). It is only with the wisdom of understanding that we can move to effectively doing or accomplishing something as part of God’s plan for change. Elijah serves as an example for us in the balance of being and doing, but also in the fact that throughout our lifetime we will each receive multiple calls. Elijah possibly expected a great retirement, but instead was strengthened for the next round of God’s work. We too must be patient and vigilant to hear all of God’s whisper because this is the only way we will be sure with what we choose to do, we are following what God requests of us.

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the gentle breeze, can you hear it? What call do you hear? How will you respond?

Editor’s note: “Blowin’ in the Wind,” was written by Bob Dylan.

Anchor columnist Helen Flavin is a Catholic scientist, educator and writer born and raised in Fall River. She is a member of St. Bernadette’s Parish. biochemwz@ hotmail.com.

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I

t seems like forever ago when on July 3, Pope Francis accepted Bishop George W. Coleman’s retirement and named the Newark, N.J., Auxiliary Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S. D. V., as the eighth Bishop of Fall River.

On that day, Bishop da Cunha whisked into Fall River for a press conference and a

August 8, 2014

A wonderful glimpse of our new shepherd whirlwind tour of a few local diocesan offices and St. Mary’s Cathedral before boarding a train back to Jersey the same day.

What we saw and heard that crazy day was a holy man completely dedicated to the Lord, the Church, the poor, and all the people of God; and a man who was eager to accept the challenges that lay ahead with his

new assignment.

Then he was gone. Off to complete his duties in Newark.

But a recent video of an interview with our new bishop has surfaced on Youtube that is an absolute delight and inspiration.

The video is part of a series of interviews with clergy in the Newark Archdiocese called “Going to the Chapel,” present-

ed by Michael & Michelangelo the human condition — people Media, Inc. want to connect with God, with The host, a delightful Catho- something beyond this daily lic individual named Eddie life.”

Craviolo, meets and greets his Our new bishop went on to guests, converses with them in a say that is our mission as well, car, with the destination always to “really witness ... to live and a chapel, where the interview is practice our faith in a way that completed. is attractive to others.” He said Craviolo recently met our people should look at us and say, new bishop playing football “I want to be like that.” (the real football, soccer, not the The bishop also expressed Americanized misnomer), where the importance of making the the 10-minute interview begins. Church more attractive to youth.

The interview begins in “We have to make the Church earnest with Craviolo asking and our celebration more relBishop da Cunha what the role evant to young people. We can’t of a bishop is. “He is the primary be doing things the same way teacher of the faith in his diowe were 100, 200 years ago.” He cese,” the bishop responded. added we must help the young Bishop da Cunha acknowl“connect and encounter Jesus, edged there are problems in the Church today; with people not attending as much and criBy Dave Jolivet ses in families, but, he added, “When we are challenged and humbled and are facing dif- and practice their faith.” ficulties, that’s when our work is The interview moves quickly. going to be more fruitful.”

Too quickly. It is nice to again The interview flows smoothly. see and hear the man who will Craviolo, with his thick Jersey shepherd the Diocese of Fall accent, and the bishop with his River in the near future.

Brazilian one, gift the viewers I came away with a good feelwith a positive message of hope ing through that whirlwind infor the Church and its people. troduction last month. And that Throughout, Bishop da feeling continued as I enjoyed Cunha displays a gentle, peacethe interaction with Craviolo ful, joyous nature; a man who and Bishop da Cunha. loves people and loves serving I highly suggest taking 10 them according to God’s will. minutes to view the interview When Pope Francis becomes for yourselves. It will give you a the topic of conversation, Bishop preview of what will soon be a da Cunha quickly points out, common sight and sound in the “Pope Francis, what he is doing days to come. is putting the Church in a good The video can be seen and light. People want to connect heard at https://www.youtube.

— it’s part of the human nature, com/watch?v=3fZES7DofNo

My View From the Stands

Fall River Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., right, discusses the Church and the faith during a recent interview with Eddie Craviolo, part of the “Going to the Chapel,” series in the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J. Bishop da Cunha will be installed as the eighth Bishop of Fall River at St. Mary’s Cathedral on September 24. (Screenshot from the video)

August 8, 2014

11 To advertise in The Anchor, contact Wayne Powers at 508-675-7151 or Email waynepowers@anchornews.org

Installation of officers for Council 813 Knights of Columbus of Falmouth for the fraternal year 2014-2015 was recently conducted at St. Joseph’s Church in Woods Hole. Back row, from left: Anthony Spagone, recorder; Charles Manning, advocate; Chris Pereira, district deputy; Charles Roth, financial secretary; William Malchodi, treasurer; Tony Mancini, outside guard; and James Sawyer, trustee and delegate.

Front row: Paul O’Sullivan, state secretary; John Russo, trustee; Greg Pinto, grand Knight; Richard Castleberry, chancellor and delegate; and William Jezak, warden. Not pictured: Jeffrey Moriarty, inside guard; William Fleck, trustee; Father Timothy Goldrick, chaplain; Christopher Cowan, lecturer; and Edward Graham, delegate.

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August 8, 2014

An open Internet: It’s not just for computers anymore

Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias stars in a scene from the movie “The Fluffy Movie.” For a brief review of this movie, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Anthony Nunez, Open Road Films)

CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by Catholic News Service.

“The Fluffy Movie” (Open Road) Rotund Mexican-American comic Gabriel Iglesias, whose stories are as soft around the edges as the man himself, shares engaging accounts of weight loss and the difficulties of being a stepfather to a teen-age boy during a concert appearance in San Jose, Calif., filmed by director Manny Rodriguez. Iglesias aims to get appreciative nods with his laughs, whether discussing his shedding of a hundred pounds after he became diabetic, the vagaries of driving during a tour in India, or the effort to explain to his privileged stepson how 1980s video games sometimes required mechanical skill. Iglesias doesn’t trade in mordant jabs or lachrymose bitterness. He quietly tells the truth, and trusts that his audience — which is shown as encompassing all generations and ethnicities — will accept it. A few references to sexuality, fleeting crude language.

The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” (Disney) Crackerjack sci-fi adventure in which a human freebooter (Chris Pratt) vies with trio of alien competitors (Zoe Saldana and characters voiced by Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel) for possession of a mysteriously powerful silver orb.

Once they discover the object’s vast potential for destruction, however, the former adversaries — together with a hulking ex-con (Dave Bautista) they met up with during a stint in prison — unite around a higher purpose: keeping the artifact out of the hands of a maniacal villain (Lee Pace). While not suitable for young moviegoers, director and co-writer James Gunn’s rollicking adaptation of a series of Marvel comics, which showcases self-sacrificing, morally elevating love as well as dedicated camaraderie, offers their elders top-flight escapist entertainment. Much action and martial arts-style violence, brief shadowy rear nudity, occasional rough and crude language, an obscene gesture. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults.

The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, August 10, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father John M. Sullivan, pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Wareham

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Imagine being able to use your television like a computer, in pretty much the same way smartphones have computing capabilities.

Now imagine that you want to give generously during the annual Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.

Sure, the phone number is on the screen, but so is the website. And you can make a donation without even having to look away from the screen.

Except that you are limited to a $10 donation. You wonder why this is.

It’s happened with smartphones, and in a potentially brave new world of TV viewing, there’s no reason to believe that it wouldn’t happen with your TV. Mobile phone carriers have made a business decision to max out a user’s donation in response to text-message appeals at 10 bucks because it’s their belief a customer doesn’t want to see a charge any greater than that on their cellphone bill, according to Cheryl Leanza, director of the Office of Communication for the United Church of Christ. The office is that denomination’s media justice ministry.

The United Church of Christ and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops co-sponsored a July 29 program on what’s at stake for people of faith and their respective churches in the ongoing discussions about net neutrality and an open Internet.

One of the major tenets of net neutrality — short for “network neutrality” — is treating all Internet traffic the same, a principle many Catholic and other faith groups support because it means churches and religious groups have equal access to a mass medium to communicate their messages.

Just as TV has migrated to the Internet, as evidenced by Netflix and Hulu, the opposite could just as easily come to pass. The donations cap described by Leanza serves to illustrate how communications companies can position themselves as gatekeepers of data.

In a past era, there were a relative handful of gatekeepers — Hollywood movie studios, radio stations, TV networks and later cable channels — that decided what audiences would see. With the Internet, though, anyone can be their own programmer and create their own content.

Before 2005, the Federal Communications Commission regulated Internet service provid-

ers as “common carriers” because the only companies providing Internet connections were phone companies. But that turned out to be less and less true as time went on, and the FCC felt uncomfortable about regulating such corporations that weren’t phone companies in that way.

This has led the FCC to its current dilemma. What had been primarily a cable TV company, Comcast, is now offering phone service and has gobbled up content in the form of Universal Pictures, the NBC network and NBC’s assorted cable holdings.

How is such a corporation with so many varied components to be regulated?

On top of that, Netflix paid Comcast a bundle of money to allow its content to arrive at subscribers’ computers faster than the rest of the Internet. Meanwhile, Comcast’s prime competitor, Verizon, has been accused by Netflix of deliberately slowing down its traffic. This suggests the shenanigans of a dozen years ago when Internet service providers started blocking services like BitTorrent and Napster on suspicion of trafficking in copyrighted material. In this case, though, Netflix owns the rights to the content they stream.

Where does that leave people of faith? For one thing, according to Leanza, there’s a “bad incentive” for customers to pay more for faster Internet speeds if they think their current plan is too balky.

And for the churches themselves?

None of them has a bankroll like Netflix. Having been virtually shut out from TV, cable, radio and print, if the Internet puts up tollbooth slowdowns and roadblocks to their content, where else is left for them to go?

“Unfettered access to the Internet is as essential and necessary for Americans as is access to education, health care and other services that allow us to flourish and make positive contributions to American society,” said USCCB Secretary of Communications

Helen Osman in a recent email to Catholic News Service.

“Likewise, community-serving organizations — such as the Church — should not be treated as secondary ‘customers’ in this digital environment,” Osman added. “The content and connections we provide to people could be seen as more important than entertainment content — such as movies and television shows — even though we don’t have the resources to pay more to the Internet providers.”

Some complain that government wants to regulate the Internet. It’s not the content the government wants to regulate.

Instead, the government is weighing whether to regulate the companies who threaten to dominate the Internet with their monopolistic practices.

Just as government should not be censoring speech, neither should Internet companies. And for those who think that the Internet would lead to a digital wild, wild West of child pornography and other such material, keep in mind that anything illegal then is still illegal and will continue to be illegal, regardless of the delivery method.

The government has regulated those companies in the past.

Should it do so again? More than one million comments poured into the FCC in advance of hearings scheduled for later this year on the subject, with the vast majority saying yes.

Some suggest that the Internet be treated as a public utility — just as cable, electric and gas companies enjoy monopoly status in their respective jurisdictions in exchange for government say-so over rates and other terms of service.

Others have gone so far as to say that Internet access is a civil right — even a human right — maintaining that the poor cannot be further marginalized as a result of Internet service providers’ pricing policies, terms of service and other business practices.

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August 8, 2014

Natural Family Planning praised for respecting women, nature

Washington D.C. (CNA/EWTN News) — Catholic teaching on sexuality and fertility is being hailed as a moral alternative to hormonal birth control that embraces nature and respects the fullness of women’s lives and dignity.

Author Mary Rice Hasson, a fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Ethics and Public Policy Center, noted that many women, religious and secular, are seeing the “terrible side effects” of artificial contraception and searching for “a better way” to monitor fertility.

“There’s increasingly an openness to what’s good for women,” she recently told CNA, explaining that there has been a disconnect in society when “we buy organic milk to avoid hormones, but yet we’re putting these same hormones into our bodies” through hormonal contraception.

As hormonal birth control is called into question, Hasson said, the Church’s teaching on the dignity of women, fertility and sexuality offers an alternative.

“From the Church’s position, women are equal in dignity to men, but our maternity, our motherhood is a part of who we are,” she explained, adding that whether or not a woman has children, “there’s something about that capacity that is to be valued.”

Rather than artificial contraception, Hasson said, Natural Family Planning respects a woman’s capacity for motherhood while giving couples tools to expand or limit family size.

The mindset behind this approach recognizes that “this woman is a whole person who needs to take into account what is God’s will, what are the goals for our family, but you work with that: you don’t have to segment off this part of you.”

Natural Family Planning is

the name given to a range of methods that can be used by couples to identify fertile periods, and can be used as a tool to either achieve or postpone pregnancy. The various scientific methods measure a range of fertility signs, including a woman’s basal body temperature, changes in cervical fluid, and the detection of reproductive hormones with a monitor.

Unlike artificial contraception, Natural Family Planning does not disrupt any natural fertility cycles, nor does it require any hormonal or physical barriers between couples.

The U.S. bishops have released resources offering information about Natural Family Planning — known as NFP — which is considered morally acceptable under Catholic Church teaching.

“NFP is unique because it enables its users to work with the body rather than against it,” they explained. “Fertility is viewed as a gift and reality to live, not a problem to be solved.”

When used according to their guidelines, these methods “achieve effectiveness rates of 97-99 percent,” the bishops said.

In addition, these methods can be used by women “during breastfeeding, just before menopause, and in other special circumstances,” as well to identify and treat special circumstances such as irregular menstrual cycles, reproductive illnesses, and risk of miscarriage.

A brochure posted online by the U.S. bishops’ conference underscored that the Catholic view of fertility values “responsible parenthood,” while respecting fertility. Natural Family Planning methods encourage spouses to “weigh their responsibilities to God, each other, the children they already have, and the world in which they live,” and prayerfully discern fam-

ily size while untimely trusting God’s plan for their lives.

While the methods included under Natural Family Planning can be used to delay as well as achieve pregnancy, they are “different from and better than contraception,” the bishops’ resource explained.

Benefits of NFP include low cost, no harmful health or environmental side effects, and cooperation with fertility rather than suppressing it. In addition, the brochure highlighted that NFP is the responsibility of both spouses rather than just the wife or the husband, and how the mindset behind the practice works to “honor and safeguard the unitive and procreative meanings of married love.”

California writer Chrissy Wing recently wrote on Ethika Politika about what she sees as a disconnect between attitudes towards health and diet- particularly an emphasis on all natural and hormone-free productsand the promotion of artificial contraceptives.

She told CNA that while many people “scrutinize other products for possible toxins,” they often “seem to dismiss the much more blatant health risks” that accompany some artificial contraceptives, such as the formation of blood clots or contribution to early embryo death.

Wing suggested that Natural Family Planning “honors women’s and men’s ability to procreate and accepts the clear and natural link between sex and children,” while still helping families to plan their family expansion or limitation.

Hasson further critiqued society’s promotion of contraception, saying that the rejection of a couple’s procreative capacity says to women that “your fertility is a risk” and views that part of womanhood as “a problem.”

“It says that ‘something about

the way you’re made is not really a good thing,’” she said.

In contrast, fertility monitoring and abstinence when necessary, to limit or expand family size, treats fertility as “a factor in who you are, and it’s a factor in your relationship.”

These Natural Family Planning methods, Hasson said, encourage couples to work with — rather than against — their natural cycles, recognizing that

fertility shouldn’t be “controlled, circumscribed, limited or on the back shelf.”

While “we have a responsibility towards responsible parenthood,” she acknowledged, the Church’s acceptance of the entirety of woman, including her capability for motherhood, shows that “you don’t have to alienate this part of you — your motherhood — in order to do other things.”

Washington D.C. (CNA/EWTN News) — Abortion advocates’ recent shift away from the term “prochoice” could be due to improving medicine and technology showing the harsh reality and effects of the procedure.

“Health is a popular buzz word for abortionists, but is much weakened as medical science shows women’s health is harmed by abortion,” Dr. Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life, told CNA. A recent article in the New York Times detailed how abortion rights activists are beginning to change the pro-choice label to more vague terminology, saying that they do not want to limit the abortion spectrum to the term. The issue has been transferred to the general labels of “women’s health” and “economic security,” but advocates have still not found a suitable alternative name.

Yoest believes that abortion rights supporters are seeking another term as they are working to normalize abortion by creating the misconception that — since it is publicly funded — abortion is healthcare.

“The abortion industry is moving from choice to coercion, changing their strategy from mainstream abortion in

culture to integrating it into healthcare,” she said.

Planned Parenthood released a video in January 2013 promoting the change in terms, called “Not In Her Shoes.”

This production discussed how abortion advocates do not want to be limited to the pro-choice label because they hold that the issue encompasses more than just a choice.

However, Pro-Life activists see this shift as a victory, noting that after a 40-year battle, abortion advocates are needing to change their strategy. Advances in medical science and technology have also been viewed as dismantling abortion advocates’ cause.

“Thanks to the miracle of the ultrasound, generations are able to see what the abortionist’s ‘choice’ is — the death of an unborn child. And thanks to a growing body of medical research, we know that ‘choice’ hurts women as well,” Yoest said.

According to the Times, various polls have shown that many women — when asked if they are Pro-Life or pro-choice — will answer Pro-Life, even if they supported the 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling that legalized abortion in the U.S. “As exposure to the horror of abortion grows, more and more people identify as ProLife based on their concern for mother and child,” Yoest noted.

“Today, the abortion industry has moved from ‘choice’ to coercion, attempting to use the force of government to force compliance with an abortion agenda, or face dire consequences.”

Yoest added that Americans are increasingly aware of this phenomenon, and that it is making them rethink what the term “pro-choice” really means.

“Pregnancy is not a disease ‘cured’ by the death of a child,” she reflected. “Real health care respects life.”

Abortion’s grim reality may explain ‘pro-choice’ label drop

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August 8, 2014

Fall River parish Women’s Guild is a mother-daughter affair continued from page one

time working, so I just wasn’t able to participate as much as I wanted to for a while. I rejoined after my kids grew up.”

Even though Aguiar works full-time, said Vezina, she knows she can count on her daughter to do whatever task is needed for the guild; “Even though she works, she contributes; she’ll do something at work to help us out,” said Vezina. “I love it. My daughter will do whatever I ask. My daughter used to work in a bank as a teller, so she’s helped counting money. Another time it was speaking over the microphone to call numbers or just speak; I don’t even worry if she’s going to say no, because she’s right there.”

Due to the guild’s members having a hard time driving because of their age — “We are an older generation,” said Vezina — the two women use their vehicles to help people get to the meetings: “When my van is full, she’ll take her car and pick up the rest of them,” said Vezina. “She’s my right arm because I know she’ll do it. I appreciate it when my daughter comes.”

Aguiar said that being part of a ministry allows the women to grow closer. “[Mothers and daughters] have that connection, working together; always side-by-side,” she said.

“The women [of the guild] are so wonderful. They’re a lot older and you hear their stories from when they were younger; it just makes you laugh and see how things have changed,

but you’re still together in the Church. We have a good time.”

The guild is not what people think, said Lussier; “They don’t just sit there and pray the Rosary. We do a lot of fun things.”

For Louise A. Slean, her mother, Louise L. Slean, has always been active in the guild, and for the last three years Slean has been taking part in the many guild activities.

“It’s great. I really enjoy it.

Everyone is very helpful and all the ladies are very giving with their time. Every year we do two penny sales, and we raise lots of money. Our last penny sale in May we raised $3,000,” said Slean, adding her mother says all the time “she’s so lucky that she has me. We’re always together, do everything together, live together.”

Seeing the women participate, especially mothers inspiring their daughters to take an active role in the Catholic Church is “to see our faith and what we’re working towards going from generation to generation,” said Slean. “It’s just a great thing.”

Lucille Green became involved with the guild two years ago after she began to drive her mother, Yvette Dufault, to the meetings.

“I would take her and stay at the meeting,” said Green. “Every time I went, they would say I should join. They have bazaars twice a year, and I volunteered to help my mother and by doing that, they said [again] that I should join, so I joined.”

Though she was raised

At Holy Trinity Parish in Fall River, the Women’s Guild is keeping it all in the family with four pairs of mothers and daughters in its membership. Pictured in the top row, from left, are the daughters: Diane Aguiar, Louise A. Slean, Jennifer Lussier, and Lucille Green. Bottom: their mothers, Pauline Vezina, Louise L. Slean, Judy Lussier, and Yvette Dufault. (Photo courtesy of the Women’s Guild)

Catholic, Green has been an Evangelical Christian and a member of a congregation in Rehoboth for more than 30 years; yet coming to the guild meetings keeps her connected to a great group of women, and gives her the opportunity to give back to the Church community.

“It’s nice to get out, do different things, talking to the ladies,” said Green. “I have been in the ministry of service for a long time. I worked with handicap children, worked as a nurse’s aid in a nursing home; I worked with the elderly for more than 28 years. I’m used to being there to help out. Right now, with my mother being her age [90] and being sickly, I’ve had to do more to help her out. My husband is in a nursing home, so it’s been difficult this past seven months, but [the guild] is like an outlet. I enjoy being with my mother, who lives next door to me. I get to see and talk to her every day.”

The guild is something the mothers and daughters can have in common, along with the camaraderie of the people; “It’s a nice little group,” said Green. “Most of the ladies have been involved in the guild for years; it’s like a close-knit family and everyone cares for one another.”

The close-knit community of the guild was a common theme for all those interviewed, but none felt that closeness more than Lussier’s mother. “When my grandmother passed, my mother had an awful time with it,” said Lussier. “At the end of the day — though my grandmother was 90 years old — you’re never ready to lose a parent. She could have been 110 and it still would have been devastating. My mom was very sad but she got support; thank God she had those ladies. It was a very good support structure for her.”

Though the guild is made up of “an older generation,” said Lussier, “to join a Women’s Guild, you don’t have to be 70. Young people do have faith, and when you grow up in an active Catholic family, this is part of it. You don’t just go to church on Sunday, that’s not really how you live your faith.

I’m so lucky to have a grandmother and a mother who are so religious. I wish I could have a quarter of my mom’s faith.

When I see that, it makes me want to be a part of it.”

Pope Francis calls Spanish convent for the second time Vatican City (CNA) — Calling a Carmelite convent in Lucena, Spain, for the second time since December, Pope Francis contacted the nuns asking them to give his affection and blessing to all the people in their town.

According to COPE, a Spanish radio network that is partially owned by Spain’s Episcopal Conference, Pope Francis sent his “affection, health and blessing” to the city of Lucena during an August 2 phone call.

It was roughly 4:30 p.m. when the Sisters of the Convent of the Discalced Carmelites of Lucena heard their phone ring, and were surprised when they picked it up to hear the voice of Pope Francis on the other end of the line.

This call marks the second time the Roman Pontiff has dialed the community since his election as Bishop of Rome, the first being a Dec. 31, 2013, phone call to wish them a happy new year.

Having received only the answering machine in his first attempt to contact the community, the pontiff left them a voice mail, jesting, “What are the nuns doing that they can’t answer? I am Pope Francis, I wish to greet you in this end of the year. I will see if I can call you later. May God bless you!”

After overcoming their shock at receiving a call from the pontiff and missing it, the nuns, who were praying when the call came, consulted their bishop, Emilio Z. Marquez, and then attempted to call the pontiff back.

Having no answer, they waited and after a few hours had the joy of receiving another call from the Pope, which they were sure to answer.

The prioress of the convent, Sister Adriana, has known Pope Francis for 15 years, and has been sending him letters

containing the intentions of the city’s inhabitants, who gave them to the Sisters to send to the pope, COPE reports.

The pope, she explained, wanted to respond to these letters with this new call by sending a message of “affection, health and blessing” and insisted that they “be good.”

COPE reports that Sister Adriana spoke with Spanish news agency La Mañana, assuring that the Roman Pontiff knows that “in Lucena and in Spain we are praying for him.”

She also said that the pontiff found it very funny that in Spain he has been called “Pope Curro,” which is another name often attributed to those named “Francisco.” It would be the equivalent of calling someone named Elizabeth “Liz.” Pope Francis reminded the nuns of his December voice mail, which was published in papers and news outlets across Spain and Latin America with headlines lauding the closeness of the pope to his people, and spoke with them about the uproar it caused.

At the end of the call, the Bishop of Rome asked the community to speak with “the chaplain of Lucena, so that the rest of the priests from the city send this message” of affection and blessing “to everyone.”

Out of the five nuns in the cloistered community, three hail from the pontiff ’s native country of Argentina, including Sister Adriana.

The community is eagerly hoping for the visit of the pope to Spain for the 500th anniversary of the birth of St. Teresa of Avila, foundress of the Discalced Carmelites, in 2015.

Although the Vatican has said nothing so far, the country’s new king, Phillip VI, and the president of their Episcopal Bishops Conference, Msgr. Ricardo Blazquez, have sent invitations.

Public invited to Bishop Coleman reception continued from page one

the public reception at White’s will run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on August 26.

White’s is located at 66 State Road (Route 6) in Westport.

Light refreshments will be available to attendees.

Diocesan faithful who want to wish Bishop Coleman congratulations and express well wishes for his retirement are encouraged to attend.

In an email message to The

Anchor the diocesan Chancery noted that “due to the phone calls our office has received, we know that there are a number of people who would like the opportunity to stop by and wish Bishop Coleman well.”

Information about Bishop da Cunha’s September installation and subsequent activities will appear in future Anchor editions.

15

August 8, 2014

Catholic artist touches hearts one Facebook pic at a time Growing up, Pease said she enjoyed creating designs with characters from movies and TV shows. While attending college for graphic design in Sioux Falls, her art began reflecting her growing faith.

“I started falling more in love with Jesus and the Catholic Church, so for different projects I would do things for the Newman Center or youth ministry office in our diocese, and I really loved that. I wanted to use my talents in design for the Church in some way,” she said.

After college, Pease tried to get a job working for the Church in design, but it didn’t work out.

A job at a winery paid the bills, but when she got home in the evening she continued creating designs on her computer with her favorite saints. When they started taking off on Facebook, Pease looked into creating her own design business.

“People started asking, ‘Do you do print?’ or ‘Do you have your designs as posters that I can hang up?’ So it was through those questions that I started looking into — could I actually do this as a job?” she said.

Pease started the printing side of her business after finding a good sale on posters, which she then sold online. She now has her own design business, Cassie Pease designs, which includes free saint designs for Facebook and computer backgrounds as well as print designs such as posters, postcards and wallets for sale among other things.

St. John Paul II is Pease’s favorite saint, so there are several designs with different quotes from the late pontiff.

“He’s also pretty easy to find pictures of,” Pease said. It’s true — the saint was arguably one of the most photographed men in the history of the world.

Other favorites of Pease inOn eve of pope’s visit, Americans in clude St. Jose Maria Escriva and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassatti.

South Korea build Catholic faith MANILA, Philippines his brother started Unitas Ko- “He’s such a vibrant young guy, (CNS) — Maryknoll Sister Jean rea, a carryover from their col- he’s really inspiring for young Maloney first arrived in South lege days in Boston. Kwon, 25, people,” Pease said of Frassatti.

Pease said she likes to take Korea to work as a nurse after a Korean-American, said that requests from people who enjoy the Korean War ended more attending Mass in South Koher designs about which saints than 50 years ago. Sister Jean, 84, rea involved an adjustment on described herself in those days his part because he found the they’d like to see. Her inspiraas “a young Sister full of vitality” Korean Liturgy “more rigid” tion also comes from powerful who thought she was bringing than Mass in the U.S. Even so, quotes from the saints.

“Every once in a while you the Christian faith so she could he said, he was grateful for the just get those quotes that retell everyone about God. international Masses that memally hit home and you want to “I have been so enriched in bers of the group attended. remember them and keep going my faith by coming here and Kwon is an architect in Seoul back to them,” she said. living with the people,” she told for a company that designs Tied for the oldest of nine Catholic News Service. “It’s Catholic structures and he also children (she has a twin sister), been such a richness for me, that volunteers as international liPease said she thinks her homeI just feel I received more than aison for the Asian Youth Day, schooled background has a lot I’ve ever given.” Sister Jean’s August 13-17. “You’re completeto do with how artistic she and ministry symbolizes the strong ly surrounded by conflicting inher siblings are. bonds that have been built over formation all the time,” he said. “(My parents) were great the decades between Americans “And if you’re not somebody who teachers and great examples in and South Koreans. is proactive or is maybe not asAs South Koreans prepare sertive in searching out deeply in the faith growing up, (though) for Pope Francis’ August 14-18 your faith and reflecting on your neither one of my parents are visit, several Americans dis- own values as a Catholic, then it’s very artistic,” Pease said.

“But I think being homecussed how they live their faith very easy to get lost, I think, in schooled really played a part in in the country. Issac Kwon and the modern world.”

Sioux Falls, S.D. (CNA/EWTN News) — If you have seen an artistic Facebook cover photo with a saint and a powerful quote, there’s a good chance it came from Cassie Pease.

The 22-year-old South Dakota native’s designs have been floating around social media and phone backgrounds for more than a year now.

While Pease has always been interested in design, she did not realize her saint art would be so popular. The first composition she made was of St. John Paul II, and she shared it on Facebook for her friends to enjoy.

“I started putting these designs on Facebook just to kind of share with my friends so they could know what I was up to,” Pease said. “About a week later I checked it and it had over 300 shares — and I was just astonished.”

Catholic artist Cassie Pease with two of her designs. (Photo courtesy of Cassie Pease)

all my siblings’ lives,” she said.

“Everyone’s kind of got their own little (creative) niche.”

Pease’s twin sister, who is now a Sister with The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, loves to draw with pencils. The next sister down was really into music and taught herself piano, and is now a religious Sister with the Capuchin Sisters of Nazareth.

“It’s really cool because she can sing all the time with the Sisters, their voices are all so beautiful,” Pease said. “I’d go visit her and it’s like, ‘Yeah, you fit in here.’”

Another Pease sister creates her own designs and sells clothes and owl purses on Etsy.

“All the rest of my siblings are pretty artsy,” Pease said.

She noted that her designs create opportunities to share her faith with others. “A mom emailed me through the website

and she said her daughter didn’t really seem like she’s that interested in her faith, but she found my designs and she showed them to her mom and she was just really excited about them,” Pease said.

“And that was a gift, because it provided them an opportunity to talk about the saints and the Catholic Church.”

Pease said her design business will likely continue to grow organically as she learns more about design and receives more requests from people who love her art. She’s thinking about adding journals or diaries to her store soon, but the Facebook and computer background images will remain free for people to download and use.

“Because at the end of day I really just want to share that message of the saints and let Jesus Christ work through them to touch people’s lives.”

Youth Pages

16

August 8, 2014

Idaho campus ministers see colleges as ‘places of evangelization’

BOISE, Idaho (CNS) — They are, without a doubt, an odd couple.

One is a Jesuit with a history in campus ministry, taking over the reins at St. Paul Catholic Student Center in Boise. The other is a tattooed, earringand-bandanna-wearing, lifelong youth minister stepping in at St. John Catholic Student Center in Pocatello.

During a recent interview at a break from a campus ministry meeting, Jesuit Father Jack Bentz and Jean Pierre “Pete” Espil shared a common vision aimed at keeping young adults in college involved in their faith.

Father Bentz comes from the Jesuit community at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. He said the Jesuits assigned him to Boise because “we were asked.”

He was expecting to start a new assignment in Los Angeles when his superiors asked him if he would come to Boise. “I said, ‘Sure, Boise.’ I am from eastern Oregon so I am pretty used to this area.”

“Also, my interactions with the bishop and diocesan officials have been terrific. I feel really well supported,” he told the Idaho Catholic Register, Boise’s diocesan newspaper. Bishop Michael P. Driscoll heads the statewide diocese.

Father Bentz has a strong history in theater — performing and directing. Previously he also worked with a bilingual theater group and speaks Spanish. With his training, he enjoys speaking in front of people, and also works well with small groups. “Theater builds community (sometimes) involving disparate groups, on a common project. I think a lot of those skills are transferrable here,” he said.

Father Bentz, whose assignment is for a year, said he also wants St. Paul’s to be a center for learning about Ignatian spirituality and bringing in Jesuit scholars from around the country to speak in Boise. He’s also interested in seeing how St. Paul’s interacts with the university community and the surrounding neighborhood.

Espil, a convert to Catholicism, has a long history in Idaho. In 2003, while pursuing his undergraduate degree at Boise State, he began working in parish youth ministry full time.

He is married to Jaime Thietten, a national Christian mu-

sic recording star. In 2007, the couple moved to Tennessee for Thietten’s career; three years later they relocated to Utah to be with Espil’s father, who suffered a stroke. In Tennessee, Espil worked as a parish youth minister and in Utah, he was campus minister at Judge Memorial Catholic High School.

Two years later, Espil was hired at Our Lady of the Valley Parish in Caldwell. He spent his last semester at Judge commuting from Utah two weekends each month before finally returning to Idaho in June 2012.

Last fall, Espil and Thietten moved back to Twin Falls. Espil left ministry to work on his master’s degree in social work at the Boise State extension.

But he was unhappy, and he applied for the campus ministry job at St. John’s, where he’ll work with a long-time friend, Benedictine Father Hugh Feiss.

“I really believe this is what God wants of me right now,” Espil said. “My ministry model since day one has been (building) relationships. That’s the only language I know how to speak well.

It’s a universal language among teens and young adults.”

He hopes to make St. John’s “a home away from home, with an emphasis on hospitality and the corporal works of mercy, slightly adjusted for a student center.” That means having a sandwich available for a student who needs a bite to eat, or providing a place for a student to do laundry if that’s needed.

“They need to know they belong somewhere, and they are certainly welcome at St. John’s,” Espil added.

Both campus ministers readily accept the differences in their styles and backgrounds.

“It’s a big Church and the more that we can represent that, the more space students can find for themselves,” said Father Bentz. “Diversity is a sign of strength,” added Espil.

Both said students need to know they are welcome at the Catholic centers on campus.

The centers are “places of evangelization” that need Catholics’ support, Father Bentz said.

“This is where young people are encountering a whole new way of being, to be agents in their lives and make their own choices as adults,” he added. “It will be life-giving for them if these programs are robust and are able to do a lot of really solid outreach.”

Father Bryan Dolejsi, vocations director for the Archdiocese of Seattle, hears a boy’s Confession on the infield during the recent Mike Sweeney Catholic Baseball Camp in Kent, Wash. (CNS photo/Jean Parietti, Northwest Catholic magazine)

Former major league player shares baseball skills, deep faith at camp KENT, Wash. (CNS) — After Anthony Adams received a baseball-bead Rosary at Mike Sweeney Catholic Baseball Camp, he posted a photo of it on Instagram.

“Like it if you love God and you like my baseball Rosary,” the 12-year-old wrote.

“It was very bold of him,” said his mother, Silvia Adams of St. Anthony Parish in Renton. “I think Mike Sweeney has helped him to realize it’s good and it’s cool to love God, to just be outspoken about your faith.”

Using baseball to help boys and girls grow in faith and love of Jesus is the mission of the camp created by Sweeney, a longtime Kansas City Royals player who was a Seattle Mariner in 2009 and 2010.

“This is something that God put in my heart to lead,” Sweeney, an energetic father of five, told 152 campers and their parents at Russell Road Sports Complex in Kent. “I do this because I love you kids. I love the Lord, and it’s my way to give back.”

Sweeney said he isn’t paid for the camps: “Our inheritance is in Heaven and that’s what we want to show these kids.”

He has held his Catholic camps in San Diego and the Kansas City suburb of Shawnee, Kan., but this was the first time the camp came to the Seattle area. It drew kids ages eight to 16 from 48 cities around the Seattle Archdiocese, as well as British Columbia, Oregon and California. Twenty-five kids with parents deployed from Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Lakewood, Wash., attended the camp for free.

Each day of the camp began with Mass, followed by work on baseball skills led by 16 former major league players and coaches who donated their time. Faith was integrated into the day through guest speakers with inspirational stories, Sweeney’s enthusiastic

talks about the Scriptures, time for praying the Rosary and the opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

“It’s really cool,” said Max Rooney, 10, of Sammamish, who was named “saint of the day” for his positive attitude and effort on the first day of camp. “Max eats, lives, sleeps, breathes baseball,” said his dad, Brian Rooney, who teaches Confirmation class at their parish, St. Monica on Mercer Island. “He’s been on a cloud,” Brian told Northwest Catholic, the magazine of the Seattle Archdiocese.

On the second day of camp, the clouds opened up and drenched the campers with record July rainfall, but they kept a positive attitude. The next day, they were thrilled by a visit from Seattle Mariners pitching ace Felix Hernandez. Whatever the low or high of the day, the kids heard a consistent message: Make Jesus the center of your life and you’ll find true joy.

“You can love baseball and you can love Jesus at the same time.

You can play hard and still be a good person,” said Father Burke Masters, who shared his story of becoming Catholic and playing college baseball before answering the call to the priesthood. Now he is vocation director for the Diocese of Joliet, Ill. On the last day of camp, to the kids’ chants of “Father, Father,” and stomping feet on the metal bleachers, Father Masters showed them he can still swing the bat pretty well.

While the kids were the official camp participants, their families were encouraged to stay and attend Mass, watch the drills and listen to the speakers. Several parents said the camp had an impact on them as well as their sons.

“The men speaking have had some really great stories and experiences,” said Marty Reese of

Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Sedro-Woolley, whose 10-year-old son, William, was a camper. Reese found it inspiring to hear how faith kept these men steady as they worked through tough times. “It’s nice to get that recharge,” the Mount Vernon resident said.

The kids gave a thumbs-up to the baseball experience, and though they didn’t gush about the faith part of the camp, many went to Confession the first day and seemed engrossed by the way Sweeney turned baseball stories into faith lessons. “I really like that the archbishop came for Mass,” said Ezra Ho, 14, of Olympia, whose father is in the Army and attends Mass at JBLM’s Main Post Chapel.

Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle said Mass to start the camp’s second day, telling campers that the concept of every baseball player having a role that’s important to the team reflects St. Paul’s teaching about the Body of Christ. “Whatever God calls each of us to do is an important part of bringing the Church together and making the Church work,” the archbishop said.

The idea for bringing Sweeney’s camp to Seattle began with Forrest Fielder and Tom Ritter, two dads who took their sons to the San Diego camp last year.

Once Sweeney agreed to come to Seattle, the dads turned first to the archdiocese’s CYO office for assistance.

Pulling off the camp required the effort of at least 50 volunteers and the help of major sponsors, including the Seattle Mariners, which donated 450 game tickets and 200 baseballs, Fielder said.

On the last day of camp, Fielder said he was “ecstatic” about the experience they were all able to give the kids. “I see their faces and this is what I envisioned.”

August 8, 2014

I

was out on a Coast Guard Auxiliary mission one evening and was at the helm of our vessel. I’m not a captain, but all crew need to be able to run the vessel, so we are given the opportunity, by the captain, to take the wheel during various missions so that we can become more proficient at driving the vessel.

The weather wasn’t great that night and the fog was settling in over the bay.

If you have ever been in fog at sea, you know how disorienting it can be. Even with today’s electronics and radar, it is still scary out there as we find it difficult to give up our own senses to rely on the equipment and others. The crew took up their lookout stations and the captain stood beside me to help monitor the equipment. The flashing buoys, and ultimately the flashing strobe at Warwick Light, also gave comfort as they pointed the way and helped keep us in the proper channel as we headed back to dock. We were finally on the right course!

Sometimes, in our lives, we think we are on the right course, but we aren’t.

Sometimes when we are on what we think is the right course, we are often unwilling to listen to others or to see things in a different way. If this were not true, how do we explain why many people who are on a destructive path, cannot see it? People in their lives tell them to “change your course,” and yet they still keep on the course until they run aground?

I think a story I once heard may better make the point. The story is told of a captain of a battleship doing maneu-

Youth Pages Light the way vers. It was a dark, foggy night and off in the distance there is a light and his ship is moving towards this light, and it’s on a collision course. The captain tells the signalman to send a signal out, saying, “We are on a collision course.

Alter course 20 degrees.” And a signal comes back, which says, “You alter course 20 degrees.” The captain of the battleship gets a little

By Deacon incensed at Frank Lucca this and decides to pull rank and says, “I’m a captain. You alter course 20 degrees.” The response comes back, “I’m a seaman. You alter course 20 degrees.” The captain is now really furious and he says, “I’m in a battleship. You alter course 20 degrees.” The response comes back, “I’m in a lighthouse. You turn now!”

So if you’re on a battleship heading toward a lighthouse, disaster obviously lies ahead of you if you don’t begin to see things differently — and not only will you go down if you don’t see things in a new way, but you’ll take the whole ship down with you.

Fortunately for all of us there are many “lighthouses” in our lives. These “lighthouses” are placed at all of the dangerous areas of life to help us steer around them. However, if we are unable or unwilling to accept that the “lighthouse” is there to protect us from danger, we may very well, as the captain of

Be Not Afraid

the battleship did, ignore the warnings and sail a course that will ultimately lead to destruction and loss. God places those lighthouses out there to help us steer a safe course. But the lighthouse alone would not save the battleship.

Electronics and radar alone won’t save a boat. It took “someone” to do that.

Many times we ignore the warnings and run aground.

Sometimes we are able to get underway again and if we learned our lesson we can avoid other groundings in the future. If not, eventually we lose our way and ultimately sink.

We see this around us every day.

Some people make, what looks like, constant bad decisions over and over again! Drugs, greed and other vices may very well blind us to the dangers even though everyone knows that these are bad for you. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say, “Oh, yeah. I want to be a drug addict.” It’s only when we are on that path and don’t see the warning signs that we head on the wrong course and we’ve gone too far to steer out of the danger zone. We think we know what we are doing and we think we know the other light is another ship and we try to get them to change. It’s only when someone like the seaman states, “I’m in the lighthouse. You turn,” that perhaps we “wake up” and see where we are go-

17 ing and are able to steer clear.

That “someone” or seaman is you and me. We are the seaman manning the lighthouse that God has placed out there to light the way. The lighthouse, on its own, wasn’t able to get the captain to change directions. It took the seaman doing something that got the captain to turn in a new direction. We are the ones who are called to help others steer the way around the dangers.

We are called to be active Christians.

We need to do something. We do that for our children and hopefully we do that for those around us. Sometimes they get the message and make the course correction and sometime they don’t and run aground. Hopefully, when they do go aground, someone is there to pluck them out of that sinking ship and that, too, is us!

We all know we need to be there for one another. We need to help our fellow man discover the way. That Way is Jesus. Have we taken the challenge to be men and women for others to heart or do we just say, “Well, the lighthouses are out there, they can steer a course on their own without my help”? Easier, but not what is expected of us! Now, let’s get out there and help light the way!

Anchor columnist Frank Lucca is a permanent deacon in the Diocese of Fall River, a youth minister at St. Dominic’s Parish in Swansea, and a campus minister at UMass Dartmouth. He is married to his wife of 35 years, Kristine, and the father of two daughters and their husbands, and a five-month-old grandson. Comments, ideas or suggestions? Please email him at DeaconFrankLucca@comcast.net.

Nearly 200 incoming Bishop Feehan High School freshmen chose to participate in one of two week-long sessions, currently in progress, designed to ready students for the transition to the Attleboro school. Students who attend have opportunities to learn the ropes of their new campus, brush up on math, technology and writing skills, and learn essential “survival” skills like how to study and take notes, set goals, stay organized and stay motivated. Students socialize during group activities and learn about the history and traditions of Bishop Feehan. Students also take part in their first of many service projects at Feehan by collecting and putting together bags of school supplies to donate to the St. Vincent de Paul Store in Attleboro. “The Summer Academic Academy has been a great success each year. Whether the kids realize it or not, it gives them the confidence to start the year off on the right foot and helps to eliminate the first-day-of-school jitters,” commented Ann Perry, vice president of Academic Affairs. Pictured is Feehan’s Summer Academic Academy group from week one.

18

August 8, 2014

Pro-Lifers to monitor new buffer zone law continued from page one

New Bedford pastor Father Marc H. Bergeron dies unexpectedly continued from page one

eager to issue these withdraw ful.” He expressed dismay that lationships of the churches.”

Noting that Father Bergeron orders,” he said. “In effect, they state legislators made a law that have the power to infringe free- restricts free speech in the Com- was a kind and charitable man who always wanted to help othdom of speech.” monwealth their top priority.

“There doesn’t seem to be real “This current law will be ers, regardless of their religious evidence of any bad behavior go- challenged as well. Unfortu- affiliation, Rev. Lima recalled ing on in front of abortion clin- nately, there’s no recourse when his active involvement with the ics before or since the McCullen state governments deem it nec- Holocaust Memorial effort in case was handed down. What’s essary to ignore the rule of law,” New Bedford and also his quick the real need for this?” he asked. he said. “From our perspective, response to the tragedy of 9/11.

“We had an opportunity to Pro-Lifers have pointed out it clearly demonstrates that the take some of the (local) youth that there are at least 20 state laws legislature is fully capable and down to St. Paul’s Episcopal that could be used in the event emboldened to restrict speech Church in New York — it was that someone harassed women that they deem unacceptable.” where all the rescue workers or blocked access to a clinic.

“It’s essentially the same law,” and those who were searching They maintain that neither has he said. “They reduced the footthe rubble were being cared for, happened since the court struck age, but that doesn’t change the it was the rest stop,” Rev. Lima down the 2007 law. Sidewalk intent of what they’re trying to said. “Father Bergeron stepped counselors have pointed out that accomplish.” it would be counter-productive In a recent statement, the up to help pay for one of the for them to be aggressive when Catholic Action League char- buses and we brought all faiths they want to convince women to acterized the measure as “a pu- on those two buses and took a have a change of heart. nitive, unnecessary, misdirected, lot of people down there so they In an email to supporters, the and vindictive piece of legisla- could get the Spiritual value as Massachusetts Catholic Con- tion, intended to penalize vic- well as the understanding of ference, the public policy arm tims of constitutional rights what transpired on 9/11.”

Father James R. McLellan, of the four bishops in the state, violations for having the detera retired priest of the Fall Rivopposed the law. They asked mination to defend their First er Diocese who was ordained supporters to tell their legisla- Amendment freedoms before with Father Bergeron in 1970, tors that they agree with the the Supreme Court.” called his classmate a “dedicated Supreme Court’s decision to The league’s executive direcpriest.” eliminate the buffer zone and tor C. J. Doyle added, “Over“I’ll always remember him as that legislative steps to weaken looked in this controversy over having a wonderful, dry sense the ruling are wrong. alleged violence in front of “It is particularly troubling abortion clinics, is the very real of humor,” Father McLellan since it is being rushed through and lethal violence which these told The Anchor. “He was just both branches at the 11th hour facilities were built to perpetrate a wonderful human being and of the legislative session without on a daily basis and on an indus- a real Church man — he just the benefit of a full debate,” the trial scale. An estimated 9,000 loved the Church. He was the statement said. unborn children are killed each perfect man for the ecumenical Ron Larose, coordinator of year in the Planned Parenthood work that he did. He did a lot the 40 Days for Life campaign in clinic on Commonwealth Av- to try to promote unity among all faiths.”

Attleboro, called the law “shame- enue in Boston alone.”

Father Christopher Stanibula, parochial administrator of St. Anne’s Parish in Fall River, said it was a pleasure to know and work alongside Father Bergeron for more than 10 years.

“He enjoyed other people’s company and he was a guy who was always willing to listen and to laugh,” Father Stanibula said.

The Anchor spends nearly $2,000 Father Stanibula recalled how Father Bergeron was alin postage change fees each year!

The Post Office charges The Anchor 70 cents for notificaways a font of information for tion of a subscriber’s change of address. Please help us him. reduce these expenses by notifying us immediately when “He always was the first to you plan to move. share with you some exciting Please Print Your New Address Below news or would point out articles from the Vatican newspaper or NAME: local newspapers about some timely events or Liturgical matSTREET ADDRESS: ters,” he said. “He was a good person to provide comments on CITY, STATE, ZIP: things that were happening, and he was always willing to give his NEW PARISH: opinion or comment on things MOVING DATE: that were taking place.”

Dr. Vito Nicastro, Ph.D., of Please attach your Anchor address label so we can update the Office for Ecumenical and your record immediately.

Interreligious Affairs for the Archdiocese of Boston, called Clip and mail form to: The Anchor, Father Bergeron “a truly amazP.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA 02722 ing man.”

Money is flying out the window

“What a blessing he has been in my life and in the Church,” Nicastro said. “It is a huge loss for us, but a huge gain for him.”

“I know he had been battling some physical ailments, but it never seemed to deter him,” Rev. Lima added. “He always wanted to go where needed and to continue to serve right until he went home to be with the Lord.”

Father Bergeron was born in New Bedford on Jan. 10, 1945 to Romeo and Ella (Therrien) Bergeron.

Graduating from Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth in 1963, he attended St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, Md., where he obtained a bachelor of arts in philosophy in 1967 and a master of divinity in 1970.

Father Bergeron was ordained to the priesthood on Dec. 5, 1970 at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption

by Bishop James L. Connolly. It was Bishop Connolly’s last ordination.

Following his ordination, Father Bergeron was first assigned to St. Joseph’s Parish in New Bedford, where he served as parochial vicar from 1970 to 1975.

He was then transferred to St. Anthony of Padua Parish in New Bedford, where he served as parochial vicar from 1975 to 1983.

He returned to St. Joseph’s Parish in New Bedford in 1983, serving another stint as parochial vicar there until 1990, when he was named pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish.

Because the bulk of his ministry — 24 years — was spent in the north end of New Bedford, Father Bergeron would often quip: “I have an in-depth knowledge of one square-mile of New Bedford.”

In 1994 Father Bergeron was transferred from his native New Bedford to Fall River, where he was named pastor of St. Anne’s Parish. He would serve there for the next 18 years.

In 2012 he returned to New Bedford to become pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish.

Father Bergeron served as vice chairman and treasurer of the Presbyteral Council for the diocese and as a member of the National Board of Directors and the Executive Board of the National Federation of Priests’ Councils, representing the priests of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

He served on the board of

the Sacred Heart Home in New Bedford and of Market Ministries, which operated a shelter and soup kitchen in New Bedford. Father Bergeron was also the former chaplain of the New Bedford Catholic Guild for the Blind and the Fall River Catholic Guild for the Blind.

In 1997 he was appointed by then-Bishop Sean P. O’Malley, OFM, Cap., as director of the Ecumenical and Interfaith Office for the diocese.

Founder of the Engaged Encounter Weekends for married couples, Father Bergeron also served as team priest and team member for Cursillo, Marriage Encounter and Life in the Spirit Seminars, and as an advocate for the diocesan Tribunal Office.

Father Bergeron was a member of the Massachusetts Commission on Christian Unity and served on the board of directors for the Massachusetts Council of Churches. He was also Religious Assistant of the Dominican Laity for the Mother of Mercy Chapter based in Tiverton, R.I. In June, Father Bergeron was honored as the Franco-American Professional of the Year by La Ligue des Franco-Américains in New Bedford.

Having ministered in many traditional French-Canadian parishes over the years, Father Bergeron remained proud of his Franco-American heritage and his local roots.

“Several good friends joined me for the celebration,” Father Bergeron recently told The Anchor. “That made it all the more pleasant. It was a very happy experience to have received the award and to be informed of it by Dr. Alfred Saulniers, my Bishop Stang High School classmate. We were in the first graduating class at Bishop Stang in 1953.”

A wake for Father Bergeron was held at Our Lady of Fatima Church in New Bedford on August 4, and on August 5 at St. Anne’s Church in Fall River, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial. Father Bergeron was buried at Sacred Heart Cemetery in New Bedford.

Donations in Father Bergeron’s memory can be made to the Catholic Charities Appeal, 450 Highland Avenue, Fall River, Mass. 02720; Our Lady of Fatima Parish, 4256 Acushnet Avenue, New Bedford, Mass. 02745; or to St. Anne’s Parish, 818 Middle Street, Fall River, Mass. 02721.

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August 8, 2014

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese Acushnet — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Evening prayer and Benediction is held Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

ATTLEBORO — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the St. Joseph Adoration Chapel at Holy Ghost Church, 71 Linden Street, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

ATTLEBORO — The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette holds Eucharistic Adoration in the Shrine Church every Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. through November 17.

ATTLEBORO — There is a weekly Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30 pm at St. John the Evangelist Church on N. Main St. Brewster — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays beginning at noon until 7:45 a.m. First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and concluding with Mass at 8 a.m. buzzards Bay — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, every first Friday after the 8 a.m. Mass and ending the following day before the 8 a.m. Mass.

East Freetown — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. John Neumann Church every Monday (excluding legal holidays) 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady, Mother of All Nations Chapel. (The base of the bell tower).

EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the chapel at Holy Family Parish Center, 438 Middleboro Avenue, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. On First Fridays, Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, from 8:30 a.m. until 7:45 p.m.

FAIRHAVEN — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has Eucharistic Adoration every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Chapel of Reconciliation, with Benediction at noon. Also, there is a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with Eucharistic Adoration. Refreshments follow.

Fall River — Espirito Santo Parish, 311 Alden Street, Fall River. Eucharistic Adoration on Mondays following the 8 a.m. Mass until Rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

FALL RIVER — St. Bernadette’s Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has continuous Eucharistic Adoration from 8 a.m. on Thursday until 8 a.m. on Saturday.

FALL RIVER — St. Anthony of the Desert Church, 300 North Eastern Avenue, has Eucharistic Adoration Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

FALL RIVER — Holy Name Church, 709 Hanover Street, has Eucharistic Adoration Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady of Grace Chapel.

FALL RIVER — Good Shepherd Parish has Eucharistic Adoration every Friday following the 8 a.m. Mass and concluding with 3 p.m. Benediction in the Daily Mass Chapel. A bilingual holy hour takes place from 2 to 3 p.m.

Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory.

Falmouth — St. Patrick’s Church has Eucharistic Adoration each First Friday, following the 9 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 4:30 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

MANSFIELD — St. Mary’s Parish, 330 Pratt Street, has Eucharistic Adoration every First Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Benediction at 5:45 p.m.

MASHPEE — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m. Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass.

NEW BEDFORD — Eucharistic Adoration takes place 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 233 County Street, with night prayer and Benediction at 8:45 p.m., and Confessions offered during the evening.

Please use the side entrance.

NEW BEDFORD — There is a daily holy hour from 5:15-6:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue. It includes Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Liturgy of the Hours, recitation of the Rosary, and the opportunity for Confession.

NEW BEDFORD — St. Lawrence Martyr Parish, 565 County Street, holds Eucharistic Adoration in the side chapel from 7:30-11:45 a.m. ending with a simple Benediction NORTH DARTMOUTH — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, every Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m., ending with Benediction. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at this time.

NORTH DIGHTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Wednesday following 8:00 a.m. Mass and concludes with Benediction at 5 p.m. Eucharistic Adoration also takes place every First Friday at St. Nicholas of Myra Church, 499 Spring Street following the 8 a.m. Mass, ending with Benediction at 6 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 8 a.m.

OSTERVILLE — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish has perpetual Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

Taunton — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Tuesday at St. Anthony Church, 126 School Street, following the 8 a.m. Mass with prayers including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for vocations, concluding at 6 p.m. with Chaplet of St. Anthony and Benediction. Recitation of the Rosary for peace is prayed Monday through Saturday at 7:30 a.m. prior to the 8 a.m.

Mass.

Taunton — Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord, 31 First Street. Exposition begins following the 8 a.m. Mass. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed, and Adoration will continue throughout the day. Confessions are heard from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Rosary and Benediction begin at 6:30 p.m.

WAREHAM — Eucharistic Adoration at St. Patrick’s Church begins each Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. and ends on Friday night at midnight. Adoration is held in our Adoration Chapel in the lower Parish Hall. ~ PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION ~ East Sandwich — The Corpus Christi Parish Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, East Sandwich. Use the Chapel entrance on the side of the church.

NEW BEDFORD — Our Lady’s Chapel, 600 Pleasant Street, offers Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day. For information call 508-996-8274.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish has perpetual Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street (Rte. 28), holds perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. We are a regional chapel serving all of the surrounding parishes. All are invited to sign up to cover open hours. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

Father Fernand Cassista, M.S.

ATTLEBORO — Father Fernand Cassista, M.S. of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette died July 31 at Sturdy Memorial Hospital, Attleboro. He was born in Nashua, N.H. on Mar. 25, 1938, the son of the late Amedee Cassista and Marcelle (Charest) Cassista.

Father Cassista attended St. Francis Xavier School in Nashua and graduated in 1952 after which he entered the La Salette Minor Seminary in Enfield, N.H. He entered the La Salette Novitiate in Center Harbor, N.H. in 1958 and made his first profession as a Missionary of the La Salette in 1959.

He then completed his studies in Philosophy and Theology at La Salette Major Seminary in Attleboro.

He was ordained to the priesthood on Feb. 13, 1965 in Fall River and celebrated his first Solemn Mass on Feb. 14, 1965 at St. Francis Xavier Church in Nashua.

Father Cassista spent most of his years as a priest at La Salette Shrine in Attleboro. He was also a chaplain of a school for delinquent boys in Brewster from 1968 to 1970; director of the music department of Mark IV Presentations in Attleboro from 1970 to 1972; he was associate pastor at Our Lady of the Cape Church in Brewster from 1978 to 1982; pastor of St. Helena Parish in Enfield from 1989 to 1993 and then was a retreat leader and spiritual director at La Salette Center for Christian Living in Attleboro since 1993.

Father Fern, as he was called by friends and family, was a lover of the arts, especially plays, movies, classical and Church

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks Aug. 12 Rev. Victor O. Masse, M.S., Retired Pastor, St. Anthony, New Bedford, 1974 Aug. 13 Rev. Edward J. Sheridan, Pastor, St. Mary, Taunton, 1896 Rt. Rev. Leonard J. Daley, Pastor, St. Francis Xavier, Hyannis, 1964 Rev. Gabriel Swol, OFM, Conv., Former Associate Pastor, Holy Rosary, Taunton, 1991 Aug. 14 Rev. Raphael Marciniak, OFM, Conv., Pastor, Holy Cross, Fall River, 1947 Rev. Conrad Lamb, O.S.B., Missionary in Guatemala, 1969 Aug. 15 Rev. Charles W. Cullen, Founder, Holy Family, East Taunton, 1926

music. He greatly enjoyed reading, crafts and watching the Red Sox. Father Cassista is survived by a sister, Priscilla McKuskie of Nashua, aunts, uncles and cousins.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at the La Salette Shrine

Church on August 4. Burial will be held at a later date at La Salette Cemetery, Enfield, N.H. Arrangements provided

by Sperry & McHoul Funeral Home, 15 Grove Street, North Attleboro.

Contributions in Father Cassista’s memory may be made to the Food for the Poor, Inc., 550 SW 12th Avenue, Deerfield, Fla. 33442-3188 or the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette Retirement Fund, 915 Maple Avenue, Hartford, Conn., 06114-2330.

Around the Diocese The annual Good Shepherd Parish Feast will be held on today and tomorrow from 5 to 10 p.m. and on Sunday from 12 noon to 6 p.m. at 1598 South Main Street in Fall River. The feast will feature a multi-national food tent and live entertainment including Steel Dreams on Friday, Kings Row on Saturday, and Summer School on Sunday afternoon. Activities include homemade malassadas a Portuguese bazaar, Chinese auction, jewelry, a country kitchen, games and activities for children and teens, along with many crafters, artisans and vendors. On Sunday the Feast Mass will be at 10 a.m., followed by a procession through the surrounding neighborhood.

St. Anthony of Padua Parish in New Bedford is having a procession and consecration on August 14, the Vigil of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Holy Mass is at 5:15 p.m., preceded by Holy Hour at 4:15 p.m. After the Mass there will be a procession with the statue of Our Lady through the streets of New Bedford, and then consecration to Our Lady.

The Women’s Guild of St. John Neumann Parish, 257 Middleboro Road in East Freetown, will host its annual Summer Barn Sale on August 16 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This one-day barn sale will offer a large selection of items to choose from, and the prices can’t be beat. Admission is free and all are welcome.

A Healing Mass and Blessing with St. André’s Relic and Anointing with St. Joseph Oil will be held at St. Joseph Chapel at Holy Cross Family Ministries on September 14, the Solemnity of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, with Rosary at 1:30 p.m. and Mass at 2 p.m. St. André’s relic will be available for blessings and veneration. Don’t miss this special opportunity to bring your family and friends for a blessing. St. André was known as the “Miracle Man of Montréal” for healing thousands of the faithful at the St. Joseph Oratory in Montreal. More than two million people visit his shrine each year. For more information call Holy Cross Family Ministries at 508238-4095 or visit www.FamilyRosary.org/Events. The event will take place at the Father Peyton Center, 500 Washington Street in Easton.

St. Mary’s Parish, 106 Illinois Street in New Bedford, is hosting its annual Holiday Fair in November and is looking for crafters. The fair will be held November 8 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and November 9 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information contact Linda at 508-995-4166.

The Children’s Choir at Christ the King Parish in Mashpee needs more voices. The choir sings at the 8:30 a.m. Mass, 52 Sundays a year. There is no age limit and no auditions. It meets in St. Jude’s Chapel at 8 a.m. to go over the music program for the 8:30 Mass, sing the Mass, then have rehearsal in the chapel after Mass. It sings a simple hymn program and has lots of fun. Just show up before or after Mass and enjoy. Being a choir member you will be assigned a robe and choir book. Call Dick Tellier at 508-888-7012 if you have any questions.

20

August 8, 2014

Catholic Charities Appeal returns

National $86,099.12-Paul A. Duchaine Endowment Fund; $50,000-Maurice C. Duchaine Charity Fund.

Centerville Our Lady of Victory: $100-M&M Peter Atcheson.

East Taunton Holy Family: $150-M&M Armando Rodrigues; $100-M&M William DeSousa.

Fall River Holy Trinity: $500-Dan & Vera Araujo.

Hyannis St. Francis Xavier: $1,200-John and Dorothy DeYoung.

Mashpee Christ the King: $100-William P. Sullivan.

North Falmouth St. Elizabeth Seton: $1,000-In Memory of Emily Maher.

Raynham St. Ann: $500-M&M Timothy Holick, M&M Michael Praino; $250-M&M Andrew Maguire;

$200-Margaret Degrenier; $100M&M Marek Kuran.

South Yarmouth St. Pius Tenth: $100-John F. Arnold.

Swansea St. Louis de France: $100-M&M Edward Blake.

Wellfleet Our Lady of Lourdes: $200-Donald P. Armstrong.

Westport St. George: $100-M&M Carlos Carreiro.

Shipping in early September!