12.19.08

Diocese of Fall River

The Anchor

F riday , December 19, 2008

Stonehill’s Festival of Light and Hope heralds Christmas

By Deacon James N. Dunbar

EASTON — Because Stonehill College’s motto is Lux et Spes (Light and Hope), it was most fitting that the institution ushered in Advent and the Christmas season on December 2 with a campus celebration called the Festival of Light and Hope.

The principal event was an evening service in which Lessons were read and traditional carols sung in the Chapel of Mary with the College Choir and its Brass Ensemble performing.

The choir was under the direction of Campus Minister Denise

Morency Gannon of New Bedford.

The evening’s particular theme was “Peace Child” and the packed audience comprised of students and visitors was reminded of the Advent message to create a more just and compassionate world by working together as Christ asks.

Following the reflections and music in the Chapel, attendees proceeded to the main quadrangle on the campus where Congregation of Holy Cross Father Thomas Looney, vice president for mission — which includes campus ministry — gave a blessing and the Chapel Choir sang.

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LOOKING A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS — Festive scenes like this one at a room in Catholic Memorial Home in Fall River can be found in each of the five diocesan nursing homes at this time of year.

Staff members, residents, family members and volunteers make sure the season is bright and joyful.

(Photo by Dave Jolivet)

Nursing home staffers help keep Christmas warm, bright, and joyful

By Dave Jolivet, Editor

FALL RIVER — It’s never easy being lonely, but it seems for many the pangs of loneliness are more acute during the Advent and Christmas seasons.

With that in mind, scores of employees and volunteers at the SINGING JOYFULLY TO THE LORD — Stonehill College students performed at the recent Festival of Light and Hope, that also included Scriptural readings, as they heralded Advent and the Christmas season.

Christmas Masses to be broadcast

FALL RIVER — Bishop George W. Coleman will be the principal celebrant and homilist of a Christmas Mass to be aired on ABC Channel 6 (WLNE-TV) on Christmas Eve at 11:35 p.m. and then again on Christmas morning at 9. The hour-long Mass will be a delayed broadcast of the Christmas Vigil Mass celebrated at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fall River.

The Portuguese Channel will air Christmas Mass in Portuguese at 4 p.m. Christmas afternoon. That broadcast will be an airing of the Christmas Midnight Mass celebrated at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in New Bedford. Father John J. Oliveira, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, will celebrate the liturgy. The Portuguese Channel is carried on most cable television systems in the area.

Diocese of Fall River’s five extended care facilities make sure everyone is exposed to the joy and warmth of this special season.

The Diocesan Health Facilities family includes Catholic Memorial Home in Fall River,

Madonna Manor in North Attleboro, Marian Manor in Taunton, Our Lady’s Haven in Fairhaven, and Sacred Heart Home in New Bedford. Among the hundreds of residents of these fine homes are many who have little or no Turn to page 18

Pointe, of Rhode Island, visit the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette often. Like so many visitors, they have an apprecia-

tion for the beautiful lights, all 400,000 of them.

But it isn’t the lights that draw them to La Salette. They come because it is a truly holy place and when they are there, they feel closer to God. Lately, the sisters have had good reason to visit. Not long ago, their brother Charles passed away, and this past June, Halliley lost her husband. So they come to light candles. Together, they pray.

They walk the grounds. They have one another.

And they share a faith in God. “We have a lot of faith,” said Therese, during a visit this past Sunday. “If someone passes away or is sick, we light a candle. We love to come here. Sometimes I come when I am sad. I sit in my car and pray.”

Their visits to La Salette are Turn to page four

La Salette at Christmas ­— more than just lights

By Michael Pare Anchor Staff

ATTLEBORO — Therese Halliley and her sister, Pauline

PRAYERFUL PLACE — A visit to La Salette Shrine in Attleboro for the Festival of Lights also gives pilgrims other opportunities, such as utilizing votive candles surrounding an image of Our Lady of La Salette. (Photo by Michael Pare)

News From the Vatican

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December 19, 2008

Pope names Spaniard to succeed Cardinal Arinze as worship prefect B y Cindy Wooden C atholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments and has named Spanish Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera of Toledo to succeed him.

Announcing the changes December 9, the Vatican said Cardinal Arinze was retiring after six years as head of the congregation and a total of 23 years at the Vatican; he celebrated his 76th birthday November 1 and the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood November 23.

Cardinal Canizares, 63, is a specialist in catechesis and has served as a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 1995 when the office was headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict. He also is a member of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which oversees the pastoral care of Catholics attached to the use of the Tridentine-rite Mass.

Born in Utiel, Spain, Oct. 15, 1945, Cardinal Canizares was ordained in 1970 after studying at the seminary in Valencia and earning a doctorate in theology with an emphasis on catechesis from the Pontifical University of Salamanca.

He taught at the university for many years and founded the Spanish Catechists Association.

Appointed bishop of Avila in March 1992, he drafted documents for the Spanish bishops’ conference on subjects ranging from ecclesiology and the sacraments to sexual and medical ethics. He was named archbishop of Granada in December 1996 and was transferred to Toledo six years later. From 2005 until earlier this year, he served as vice president of the

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Spanish bishops’ conference.

Pope Benedict named him a cardinal in 2006.

Cardinal Arinze was the last active Vatican official to have participated in the Second Vatican Council as a bishop; Pope Benedict attended, but as a theological expert.

In a 2002 interview with Catholic News Service marking the 40th anniversary of the council’s opening, Cardinal Arinze said he attended the last session of the council as the coadjutor archbishop of Onitsha, Nigeria, and celebrated his 33rd birthday during the 1965 fall session.

“I was just a young priest made bishop two weeks before the last session of Vatican II,” he told CNS. “One bishop asked me if I was a seminarian,” he said.

Cardinal Arinze, who had been president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue for 17 years, took over the reins at the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments in 2002, just a few months after Pope John Paul II promulgated the third Latin edition of the Roman Missal, the text of prayers used at Mass. It fell to Cardinal Arinze to oversee the ongoing efforts of national bishops’ conferences to translate the Latin texts into their local languages.

Presenting a 2004 document addressing abuses found in the liturgy, Cardinal Arinze told reporters, “No one should be surprised that over the course of time the holy Church, our mother, has developed words, actions and, therefore, directives regarding this supreme act of worship. The eucharistic norms were elaborated to express and safeguard the eucharistic mystery and, even more, to demonstrate that it is the Church which celebrates this august sacrifice and sacrament.”

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 52, No. 48

Member: Catholic Press Association, Catholic News Service

Published weekly except for two weeks in the summer and the week after Christmas by the Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River, 887 Highland Avenue, Fall River, MA 02720, Telephone 508-675-7151 — FAX 508-675-7048, email: theanchor@anchornews.org.

Subscription price by mail, postpaid $14.00 per year.

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PUBLISHER - Most Reverend George W. Coleman EXECUTIVE EDITOR Father Roger J. Landry fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org EDITOR David B. Jolivet davejolivet@anchornews.org NEWS EDITOR Deacon James N. Dunbar jimdunbar@anchornews.org OFFICE MANAGER Mary Chase marychase@anchornews.org ADVERTISING Wayne Powers waynepowers@anchornews.org REPORTER Michael Pare michaelpare@anchornews.org REPORTER Kenneth J. Souza k ensouza@anchornews.org Send Letters to the Editor to: fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org POSTMASTERS send address changes to The Anchor, P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA 02722.

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IT’S IN THE BAG — Pilgrims play bagpipes and chanters during Pope Benedict XVI’s weekly general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican recently. (CNS photo/Tony Gentile, Reuters)

Theologians’ task is to reflect on truth taught by Church, pope says

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — While theologians can make valuable contributions to society’s reflections on justice, peace and ecology, their main task is to reflect on the truth of Christian revelation and not simply its practical applications, Pope Benedict XVI said.

“The essential and inescapable characteristic of theology is to ask questions concerning the truth of faith and not simply to ask questions about its practical and social effectiveness,” the pope said during a recent meeting with the International Theological Commission.

The 30 members of the commission, appointed by the pope, were concluding their five-year terms on the board that investigates theological questions in coordination with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

During their December 1-5 meeting, the theologians concluded work on a document titled “In Search of a Universal Ethics: A New Look at Natural Law,” and continued work on a document on “The Meaning and Method of Theology.”

Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer, secretary of the doctrinal congregation and secretarygeneral of the theological commission, told the pope that the natural law document would be reviewed by the doctrinal congregation prior to publication and that work on the document on the role of theology would continue.

Pope Benedict told commis-

sion members the meaning and role of theology was an especially important topic in today’s world.

“In a planetary society like the one being formed today, theologians often are challenged by public opinion to promote dialogue among religions and cultures (and) to contribute to the development of an ethics that has peace, justice and the defense of the natural environment as its basic coordinates,” the pope said.

“Obviously,” the pope said, “these are legitimate concerns that certainly must be given careful consideration. Yet one cannot deny that the identity of theology is not found on this level of problems and needs.”

Theology must focus on the truth revealed in Jesus Christ and taught by the Church, Pope Benedict said.

“The basic virtue of the theo-

logian is to seek obedience in faith, which makes him a collaborator in the truth” and ensures that the theologian is not talking about himself, but about God, the pope said.

“Obedience to the truth does not mean renouncing research and the effort of reflection,” he said, but rather it means allowing questions to stimulate deeper faith.

Pope Benedict also spoke briefly about the new document on natural law, the sense of moral right and wrong which the Church teaches is present naturally in each human being.

If each person and each society recognized the tenets of natural law, he said, it would guarantee that everyone’s freedom and dignity would be recognized and it would protect them from “ideological manipulation and exploitation” by those who happen to have more power.

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December 19, 2008

Cardinal Dulles dies at 90; Jesuit theologian made a cardinal in ’01

By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON — Cardinal Avery Dulles, a Jesuit theologian who was made a cardinal in 2001, died December 12 at the Jesuit infirmary in New York, MurrayWeigel Hall. A cause of death was not released but he had been in poor health. He was 90 years old.

Cardinal Dulles had been the oldest living U.S. cardinal. His death was announced by the New York-based Jesuit provincial’s office.

An evening wake took place December 16 and 17 at Fordham University Church, followed by the celebration of Mass each evening.

A funeral Mass for the cardinal was celebrated December 18 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, followed by burial at the Jesuit Cemetery in Auriesville, N.Y. His death “brings home to God a great theologian and a totally dedicated servant of the Church,” said Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, president of the U.S. bishops.

“I am deeply saddened at the loss of a personal friend, but I rejoice in the hope that now he sees clearly what he explored so well in his studies on revelation, on grace and on the nature of the Church and the papal office,” he said in a statement.

Cardinal Dulles gave what was described as a farewell address in April, delivering the Laurence J. McGinley lecture at Jesuit-run Fordham University. In the presentation Cardinal Dulles reconfirmed his faith, his orthodoxy, his spirituality and his commitment to the Society of Jesus.

He also offered a final word against the materialism, relativism, subjectivism, hedonism, scientism and superficial anti-intellectualism he said is found in modern society.

Later that month he had a private meeting with Pope Benedict XVI during the pontiff’s visit to New York.

The session was called a significant meeting of “two of the leading Catholic theologians who interpreted Vatican II for a generation,”

by Father James Massa, executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.

Pope John Paul II, who began the practice of naming as cardinals priest-theologians who were already past age 80 and therefore ineligible to vote in a conclave, included Cardinal Dulles in the group of cardinals created in 2001.

Cardinal Dulles, the son of former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and nephew of onetime CIA director Allen Walsh Dulles, both of whom served in the Eisenhower administration, became known in his own right for his groundbreak-

ing 1974 work “Models of the Church” — one of 22 books published under his name — in which he defined the Church as institution, mystical communion, sacrament, herald, servant and community of disciples, and critiqued each.

Born Aug. 24, 1918, Cardinal Dulles was the grandson of a Presbyterian minister. He joined the Catholic Church as a young man after he went through a period of unbelief.

“In becoming a Catholic, I felt from the beginning that I was joining the communion of the saints,” he said at a 2004 lecture in New York on author C.S. Lewis. “I found great joy at the sense of belonging to a body of believers that stretched across the face of the globe.”

He entered the Catholic Church in 1941 while a student at Harvard Law School. He served in the Navy in World War II, then entered the Jesuits after his discharge in 1946.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1956.

Cardinal Dulles had been the Laurence J. McGinley professor of religion and society at Fordham since 1988. He also had taught in Washington at the former Woodstock College, now folded into Georgetown University, in 196074, and The Catholic University of America, 1974-88. He had also been a visiting professor at Catholic, Protestant and secular colleges and universities.

Past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America and the American Theological Society, Cardinal Dulles served on the International Theological Commission and as a member of the U.S. Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue. He also served as a consultant to the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine.

His awards include the Croix de Guerre, the Cardinal Spellman Award for distinguished achievement in theology, the Boston College Presidential Bicentennial Award, the Christus Magister Medal from the University of Portland, the Religious Education Forum Award from the National Catholic Educational Association, America magazine’s Campion Award, the F.

Sadlier Dinger Award for contributions to catechetical ministry, the Cardinal Gibbons Award from Catholic University, the John Carroll Society Medal, the Jerome Award from the Roman Catholic Library Association of America, Fordham’s Founders Award, and more than 30 honorary doctorates.

Cardinal Dulles had two other relatives who served as secretary of state: great-grandfather John W. Foster and great-uncle Robert Lan-

tolic heritage,” the Church remains “sinful in her members and in constant need of being purified,” he said, adding many Catholics are ignorant of Church teachings, and a few even reject the teachings.

At the first National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington in 2004, Cardinal Dulles said that although for Americans “there is nothing more sacred to our lives than the idea of liberty” the “negative pull” of freedom from responsibilities is drawing the nation into immorality.

In another 2004 talk Cardinal Dulles called for “a rebirth of apologetics,” the defense of Christian faith by reason, because “the time is ripe, the need is urgent.”

But he called for an apologetics centered on “the living testimony of believers” rather than the tradi-

tional arguments from philosophy and historical science, one focused not on the traditional question of “how we get to God” but “how God comes to us.”

At the annual Red Mass for the legal profession in Washington in 2003, the cardinal said in his homily that while they cannot legislate virtue, they should have “a sense of the importance of moral convictions and moral training for the health of our society.” He stressed that “law and spirit belong together” and are “as inseparable as body and soul.”

At an 80th birthday Mass in his honor in 1998, then-Father Dulles told the assembly, “My own adult life has constantly revolved about faith. ... Even in my days as an undergraduate student, my interest was absorbed in the search for faith.”

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Cardinal Avery Dulles, a Jesuit theologian who was made a cardinal in 2001, was remembered by friends and admirers for his brilliant mind as well as for his “simplicity and sense of wonder.”

Pope Benedict XVI offered his condolences to the Jesuit community and Cardinal Dulles’ friends and family. He remarked on the cardinal’s “deep learning, serene judgment and unfailing love of the Lord and his Church which marked his entire priestly ministry and his long years of teaching and theological research.”

The pope said he prays that “his convincing personal testimony to the harmony of faith and reason

will continue to bear fruit for the conversion of minds and hearts and the progress of the Gospel for many years to come.”

Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired Washington archbishop, and a fellow member of the 2001 class of cardinals, described the Jesuit scholastic he first met 60 years ago as even then being “an imposing personality with his twang, his razor-sharp intellect and, perhaps more than anything else, his obviously profound dedication to his faith.”

“He was one of the truly great American theologians, constantly renewing and deepening his commitment to the truth,” said Cardinal McCarrick.

Cardinal Dulles recalled for brilliance, simplicity, kindness

Cardinal Avery Dulles

sing.

Also in 2005, he said the 1551 teaching of the Council of Trent on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist “remains today as normative as ever.” The council described the presence with three adverbs — “truly, really and substantially” — that are “the keys that open the door to Catholic teaching and exclude contrary views,” he said.

In a New York lecture on the start of the 2004-05 Year of the Eucharist, Cardinal Dulles said Catholics must be aware “the Church is in dire need of renewal.” Although “holy in her head and in her apos-

T he National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Attleboro wishes all a Mer r y Christmas and Happy Blessed New Year as we celebrate “Christ Our Hope.” We invite you to visit the La Salette Festival of Lights until Januar y 4, 2009.

Please visit our Website at http://www.lasalette-shrine.or g.

Open site map and then Christmas link.

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The Anchor

December 19, 2008

La Salette Shrine — more than just lights continued from page one

also a chance for the sisters, who come from a family of 10 siblings, to grow even closer. Six of their siblings have passed away.

La Salette is a place where they can reflect on that.

“We come here and cry,” said Pauline.

Her sister nods in agreement.

“Yes, this place has a lot of our tears,” said Therese.

Shedding tears at La Salette is a fitting testimony to the Virgin Mary, for tears are at the heart of the La Salette story.

In September of 1846, the Virgin Mary appeared to two children near a village named La Salette in the French Alps. In tears, she called for her people to return to their God. She reassured the children, stood to speak with them and closed her discourse with the request that her message be made known “to all my people.”

Taking her call to heart, the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette spread throughout the world. They came to the United States in 1892 and purchased the former Attleboro Springs Sanitarium for use as a seminary in 1942. It was destroyed by fire in 1999.

In 1953 the Shrine opened on the spacious grounds. La Salette now includes a retreat center, a welcome center, gift shop and year-round programs and services. And of course, a stunning and beautiful display of lights during the Christmas season.

Throughout this, its 54th season, some 10,000 pilgrims will visit La Salette to view the lights that shine so brightly from 5 to 9 nightly. They will come, young and old. Families will make a traditional visit, as will so many Religious Education classes from

throughout the area. Cups of hot chocolate will be warmly embraced. Father Pat’s Christmas Concert series will beckon thousands to the Shrine Church.

Father Pat is in fact Father Andre “Pat” Patenaude, director of the Shrine. A gifted musician, he has released a new CD, entitled “Tears of Love.” It is a tribute to the Blessed Mother. Last Sunday afternoon (December 14), Father Pat opened his afternoon concert with a reminder to his audience.

“Advent invites us to slow down …,” he said.

Thomas Lawlor, of Providence, would certainly agree with Father Pat’s sentiment. Lawlor visits La Salette on a regular basis.

“It’s a holy place,” he said.

“That’s what makes it so nice. It’s a place to come and reflect. And these days, with people rushing from place to place … it’s nice to visit.”

Ginny McCabe, of Medford, Mass., teaches Religious Education at St. Raphael’s Parish there.

This past Sunday, she joined a group of fifth-graders visiting La Salette for the first time. The past two years, she said, she was unable to visit with the children from the parish. But she read what her children wrote after their visit each year and she was touched.

They saw and experienced things, she said, that could not be taught in class. And so McCabe said she was determined to join this group fifth-graders.

“We try to provide the kids with a spiritual dimension, especially at Christmas,” she said.

“It’s pretty hard to do it in our society today.”

And so La Salette provides a truly holy place — not a bad place to give it a try.

HOLY GROUND — A nun walks the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem’s Old City in this file photo. Via Dolorosa, which means “Way of Suffering,” is a street believed to be the path that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion. (CNS photo/Yannis Behrakis, Reuters)

Holy sites need legal protection, say speakers at Rome conference

ROME (CNS) — Every Friday afternoon in Jerusalem’s Old City, thousands of Muslims walk to Al Aqsa Mosque to pray, thousands of Jews walk to the Western Wall to pray and thousands of Christians carry a cross in procession along the Via Dolorosa, recalling the Way of the Cross.

Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli lawyer, said the Friday afternoon scene “is not touchy-feely, it’s not fuzzy warm and when the people glance at each other, more often than not it is a glance of disdain or contempt, but the [darn] thing works.”

Seidemann, who describes himself as a Zionist committed to ensuring Jerusalem remains a city where Jews, Christians and Muslims coexist, spoke in Rome December 10 at an international conference on different legal and religious approaches to the

status of holy places and religious institutions.

The conference was co-sponsored by the interdisciplinary program in law and religion at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law in Washington.

Marshall J. Breger, a professor at the law school, told Catholic News Service, “We believe the political issues — as difficult as they are in places like Palestine and Israel — cannot be resolved without recognizing the religious issues involved.”

“Conferences like this let us uncover the facts concerning the law, theology and culture of the different stakeholders in a conflict,” he said.

Tariq Ramadan, a professor of Islamic studies at Oxford University and president of the European Muslim Network, said that while religious leaders should educate their followers in the obligation to respect the holy sites of all religions, if those sites are not protected by law, “in situations of conflict, there will be a mess.”

“Idealism offers no protection from the dark side” of human behavior, he said, so laws are needed to protect and govern access to places people consider sacred.

Seidemann said that while Jerusalem may not be a model of interfaith friendship and cooperation, its identity is essentially tied to being a city where different religious groups exist side by side.

But, he said, the city’s history has shown violence is almost guaranteed when there is a “real or perceived threat or violation of sacred space.”

The government must guarantee the security of and access to holy sites and not allow fundamentalist Jewish, Muslim or

Christian activists the opportunity to ignite more violence, he said.

While the majority of Israelis and Palestinians now agree that they want peace and have converged around a solution based on Israel withdrawing from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, “the volcanic core of the conflict” — the Old City of Jerusalem and its holy sites — remains volatile, Seidemann said.

So far, he said, peace proposals have shown themselves “inadequate for dealing with the religious ecosystem of Jerusalem.”

In addition, Seidemann said, the flight of Christian residents from Jerusalem threatens the already fragile coexistence of believers from the three faiths and “is the cultural, the religious impoverishment of Jerusalem.”

“This is dangerous,” he said.

“The Christian community of Jerusalem is the canary in the coal mine; when that community is ill, everybody is ill.”

Franciscan Father David Jaeger, who has been involved in Vatican-Israeli negotiations, said that except for the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the tomb of Mary in Jerusalem and the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, all of the Catholic churches and shrines in the Holy Land are the private property of the Catholic Church.

The three major sites are governed by an internationally recognized agreement, which is guaranteed by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Father Jaeger said. “In the future, when Jerusalem has an internationally guaranteed special statute (something for which the Vatican hopes) that responsibility may pass to an international organization designated for the purpose.”

December 19, 2008

The Church in the U.S.

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PARK AVE. CEMENT BLOCK

30 BUDLONG ROAD, CRANSTON, R.I. (401) 942-4800

Wishes everyone a very

Blessed

Christmas and a very Happy New Year

SEEKING MERCY — A woman prays for the future of the American auto industry during a special service at the Greater Grace Temple in Detroit. Detroit-area religious leaders convened

by Cardinal Adam J. Maida emerged from a recent meeting to call on Washington lawmakers to provide federal assistance to stabilize the American automobile industry. (CNS photo/Carlos Barria, Reuters)

Detroit religious leaders urge action to save auto industry

B y R obert Delaney C atholic News Service

DETROIT — Detroit-area religious leaders convened

by Detroit Cardinal Adam J. Maida emerged from a early December meeting to call on Washington lawmakers to provide federal assistance to stabilize the American automobile industry.

“There is great concern for the countless individuals and families who are under great stress because of the uncertainty of our economy,” Cardinal Maida said at a media briefing following the meeting.

“They need to hear words of hope and encouragement. This is a time to stand in solidarity with all who are suffering the loss of jobs or homes, and all those who are anxious about what will happen in the future to the automobile industry in metro Detroit,” he said.

Cardinal Maida said business and labor leaders had expressed fear of what could happen if there is no government action. “The alternative is not only unwise; it is unthinkable.

If nothing is done, one can only imagine what would happen to all of us who call this corner of Michigan home,” he added.

The 11 religious leaders represented local Catholics, Anglicans, Protestants, Jews and Muslims. Cardinal Maida said they also had discussed various ways each faith community has been responding to requests for assistance to people in need — a situation

exacerbated by the economic crisis — and how they can work together on programs and projects.

“We committed ourselves to keep our lines of communication open between and among our faith communities. When and where we can collaborate, we will,” the cardinal said.

Besides bringing together the representatives of the various faith communities, Cardinal Maida also released to the press the text of a pastoral letter on the economy, “Christ Our Hope,” to be distributed in all 290 parishes and missions of the archdiocese. It was printed in the December 5 issue of The Michigan Catholic, the archdiocesan newspaper.

In it, the cardinal offered hope and encouragement to those suffering hardships, and urged all local Catholics to show charity and solidarity to others in this time of difficulty.

The religious leaders’ meeting took place as the auto companies’ top executives returned to Washington to plead their case before a U.S. Senate panel.

In his pastoral letter, Cardi-

nal Maida offered “some pastoral insights and suggestions about how we might prepare to celebrate Christmas this year when economic conditions are so grim.”

He noted the loss of jobs, homes, pensions and personal investments and the fact that the automobile industry, “our primary employer,” is suffering “major challenges.”

But the cardinal said the people of Michigan, like those around the world, have “tenacity, perseverance and determination,” and are “ready to do whatever it takes to survive, even to thrive.”

“As believers, we have all the more reason to see these challenging times as an opportunity to be resourceful,” Cardinal Maida said.

He reminded everyone the economy is about people, not just money, and that all of them “have a responsibility to one another and that God desires “we live as his family supporting one another.”

But even when people do not have “the economic means” to give to others, Cardinal Maida said, “every one of us has the ability to pray and find a way to be of service.”

Please note that The Anchor will publish on Wednesday, December 24 this year instead of Friday, December 26. There will be no Anchor on Friday, January 2.

We will publish again on January 9.

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The Anchor

Blagojevich, conscience and the redemption of politics

In 2005 we dedicated an editorial to Illinois Gov. Milorad “Rod” Blagojevich after he signed an executive order compelling Illinois pharmacists — against their conscience, religious beliefs or both — to fill prescriptions for abortion-inducing “morning after” pills. He thought nothing about forcing them to act against their values. In fact he bragged in an interview the following year, “Rather than try to get the legislature to pass something — because we attempted to and they didn’t do it — on my own, through executive order action, I forced these guys to fill prescriptions for birth control for women who come in with prescriptions from their doctors.”

Now the whole country knows that Gov. Blagojevich routinely thought nothing of strong-arming others to do things that are unethical. The 78-page criminal complaint filed by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald on December 9 accuses Blagojevich of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and of soliciting bribes. It details, through wiretaps, testimony and documentary evidence, how the governor has engaged in what Fitzgerald called “the most staggering crime spree in office I have ever seen,” one that has involved not merely the attempt to auction President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat but several other “pay for play” schemes in which his wife or his political campaign fund have profited.

This comes from a man who campaigned in 2002 as a squeaky-clean ethics reformer after Gov. George Ryan was sent to federal jail for corruption and who in his first term fought for a strict new ethics law that he claimed would have prevented his predecessor’s misconduct.

Now we know that was all a diversion. Blagojevich has been the subject of at least a dozen federal investigations, involving the awarding of state contracts or jobs to those businesses or individuals, respectively, who contributed generously to his campaign fund, employed his wife, repaired his home, or even gave gifts for his daughter’s baptism. The Chicago Tribune reported in April about the governor’s $25,000 club, in which 75 percent of businesses, unions and individuals who gave a donation of $25,000 or more to his political campaign fund received benefits from the State of Illinois, including state contracts and appointments to state boards.

In hindsight, we should all realize that someone who does not value the conscience of others probably does not respect, hear and follow the voice of conscience in his own actions. Likewise, we should note that someone who brags about forcing health care providers to dispense drugs they know by their training may kill children in the womb probably wouldn’t blink in trying to bully others to do almost anything he wanted.

The first general lesson we learn from the Blagojevich scandals is that character matters — and matters much more than some want to admit. People who lack personal integrity cannot help but bring their personal corruption to office. They reap what they sow and so do we, when we elect and re-elect them. We ultimately get the leaders we deserve, those who represent the values we prioritize.

The second lesson we need to grasp is that this is not an isolated occurrence in our political system. Of course, in details and in degree, what Blagojevich did is exceptional. But we must be candid and self-critical enough to recognize that to a great extent our political system has become a corrupt system exalting self-interest and political quid-pro-quo over the common good. The worse evil in Blagojevich’s offering a Senate seat to the highest bidder was not that he would personally and illegally profit from his office; it was that he was considering appointing, at a time when our country needs true leadership to deal with various international and domestic crises, someone who may have been totally unfit to provide that leadership and service to the country. That evil, however, has become so common that we almost cease to notice it any more.

One case in point happened earlier this month when it was revealed that President-elect Obama was not planning to nominate to cabinet positions some Democratic presidential candidates who had endorsed him. Many in the media and the political class expressed surprise at the supposed “slight,” as if candidates are somehow entitled, quid pro quo, to a position in a new administration by the mere fact of endorsing the winner, regardless of whether they would be good for the country.

Another example is the plague of Congressional pork, which is based on a system of mostly legal quid pro quos in which personal or local interests trump the common good.

That leads to the third lesson: most of us tolerate this system — unethical even if not technically illegal — as long as pork-barrel representatives continue to bring home the bacon for us. At both Beacon Hill and Capitol Hill, not to mention in cities, towns and counties, even those who are charged with serious ethical violations are rarely defeated for re-election; some corrupt public officials resign out of shame, others as part of a plea bargain, but they’re rarely tossed out for lack of integrity by the electorate unless they are ineffective in addition to corrupt. Much of our political system has become “pay-to-play,” with “payment” being deemed not service to the nation, state, city or town as a whole, but benefits to the constituents at the expense of the good of others. And as long as we get compensated in this way, we generally overlook the questions of integrity and values.

What needs to be done to fix a system that has been corrupted by increasing sums of money and power at both the level of the elected and the electors?

The first thing is a renewed commitment to the common good over personal or community aggrandizement. The selfishness that now permeates every level of our politics needs to be supplanted by the civic virtues that made the greatest generation great. This is, of course, easier said than done, but it is possible — and the national and international crises our country faces are opportunities to learn from the great eras of our history and rediscover a genuine patriotism that makes us capable of sacrificing personal interests and supposed entitlements for the sake of a higher good.

Secondly, there needs to be among elected officials a renewed sense that they are chosen not to be served but to serve. At the present moment, when some public officials talk about being “public servants,” those words have about as much credibility as when baseball players represented by agent Scott Boras begin to talk about “love of the game.” Especially at higher offices, it is rare when the candidates seems to be palpably motivated by desire to sacrifice themselves for their country rather than to further their personal ambitions in a celebrity-driven culture. As long as we have a professional class of politicians, who have little to lose and much to gain in running for office, and whose lengthy tenures in power make it more likely that they’ll be corrupted according to the learned dictum of Lord Acton, this problem will likely perdure.

Lastly, at every level, we must attune ourselves anew to the voice of conscience, which is not our opinion about the way things ought to be, but God’s voice whispering to us the way he created them to be. As God is marginalized from the public sphere by secularists who think God is a greater threat to the national good than the absence of God, a culture of corruption will only expand. There’s a Polish aphorism that the amount of policemen you need on the streets is inversely proportional to the number of people who police themselves. We could paraphrase this wisdom for our present context by saying that the less officials are attuned to the voice of God the more there will be a need for stricter and more explicit ethical codes and, as we have seen in Illinois, wiretaps and special prosecutions.

None of us is capable of changing the whole system on our own, but each of us is able to lift the whole system up as genuinely Christian leaven, in the example of Christ who dedicated his life to serving others in the truth.

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December 19, 2008

Passing on the faith

ast week we encountered the heroism of bered most of the details.

He told the amazing story related in diary enthe 35,000 Japanese martyrs who gave the supreme testimony to Christ between 1597-1639. try of Father Bernard Petitjean, a French priest in It may have seemed a strange column to appear the Society of Foreign Missions, who came to in the heart of Advent rather than, for instance, in Nagasaki to serve the foreign businessmen. AfLent, even though 188 were beatified less than a ter celebrating a private Mass on March 17, 1865 month ago in Nagasaki. But the Japanese martyrs about a month after consecrating the church, Father Petitjean went to the church door where he teach us at least two great Advent lessons.

The first is the deep longing for the coming was met by a group of Japanese on the steps. I’ll of Christ at the end of time or at the end of one’s let Archbishop Dolan take it from here: “In a remote corner in the northeastern part of life, whichever comes first. This is the principal focus of the season of Advent up until December the country, Jesuit missionaries were flabbergast17, after which the Church begins to emphasize ed to discover a tiny village where the hundred or the historical coming of Christ in Bethlehem. The so inhabitants gathered every Sunday to pray the Japanese martyrs had so deep a hunger for union Apostles’ Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory with Christ that they were willing to undergo Be, Acts of Faith, Hope, Charity and Contrition, cruel martyrdom, knowing that after enormous and recite the Ten Commandments and eight Besufferings they would pass into Christ’s arms and atitudes.

“Shocked, they asked the people where this experience an even greater and eternal joy. They lived according to St. Paul’s words, “I consider custom came from, only to be told by the Japathe sufferings of the present time not worth com- nese villages that, sometime in the distant past, paring to the glory that is to be revealed to us” men whom they called ‘fathers’ had taught those words to the people, and, anticipating their mar(Rom 8:18).

The secondAdvent lesson comes from the care tyrdom, instructed the people to memorize those they took to pass on the faith. The time of prepa- formulas and gather every Sunday to recite them ration for Christmas, perhaps more than any other together.

“The ‘fathers’ had also assured them that, occasion during the year, is a privileged opporone day, other tunity for parents ‘fathers’ would and grandparents return to teach to transmit their them more about faith in Jesus to Jesus and his children. The Japway. Ecstatic, the anese Christians, new missionaries catechized by the blurted out, ‘We great St. Francis

By Father are those fathers,’ Xavier, learned Roger J. Landry only to be met from him the art by a stony, suspiof handing on efcious silence. The fectively and fully the precious treasure of the faith. In addition to village leader came forward. ‘It has been passed learning the Sign of the Cross, prayers, and Com- down, too, that, when men come back claiming mandments, Japanese children, as we detailed to be those “fathers,” we must ask them four queslast week, learned as well the lessons of how to tions to be sure they are from the true Church.’

“A bit nervous, the newly arrived priests reremain faithful under persecution and even what prayers to say if they were selected to die for the sponded, ‘Go ahead. Ask us the questions.’ The faith. Example is always the greatest teacher and village leader came forward: ‘When you enter the young Japanese witnessed 10 percent of the your churches, what do you do?’ The Jesuits reCatholics of the country heroically and faithfully plied by demonstrating a genuflection, which was die out of witness to the truth, and they could not met by excited gasps from the crowd. “‘Second, does your Lord have a Mother?’ help but be influenced by it.

The greatest testimony to the ability of the ‘Yes,’ assured the priests, ‘and her name is Mary,’ Japanese Catholics’ ability to transmit the faith, whereupon more electricity spread through the however, was seen only two centuries later. Af- people. “‘Where does the earthly leader of your ter a 42-year bloodbath, the persecutions ceased in 1639. Basically all the leaders — priests, re- Church live?’ continued the village elder. ‘In ligious and catechists — had been massacred. Rome,’ answered the missionaries, as the crown Most of the rest of the adults had apostasized, neared unrestrained joy. “‘Finally,’ anxiously inquired the chieftain, ‘do abjuring the faith lest they suffer the martyrs’ fate.

The government had no fear of the thousands of your “fathers” have wives?’ And, as the priests Christian orphans they had made as well as the smiled and responded, ‘No,’ the villagers broke perhaps few Christian adults they had missed. into a tumult, hoisted the missionaries on their They believed the Christian faith would die with- shoulders and led them into the little church for out teachers to pass it on, not to mention without they had not seen a priest for two-and-a-half cenchurches, bishops, priests, and sacraments. Chris- turies.”

So great was the trust in God and in his Church tianity had been wiped out, they thought, just as by those who were being killed in the 1600s that they had intended.

For two centuries, from 1639-1854, Japan was they prepared the people for the time when Cathoclosed to all foreign influence. The few missionar- lic priests would return to Japan, and their simple ies who succeeded in smuggling themselves into instructions were passed down by the kakure the country were quickly arrested and executed. Kiristan, the clandestine Christians, for a dozen In 1854, for economic reasons, Japan once again generations. They had the foresight to know that opened its borders to allow foreign businessmen Protestant missionaries might be the first to arrive, to enter. The more Christian traders arrived in and so they taught their children the four marks of Japanese port cities, the greater they pressured the Church to distinguish between Catholics and the Japanese government to allow them to have Protestants: belief in the real presence of Christ in tiny churches to minister to their needs. The gov- the Eucharist, the importance of Mary, the papacy ernment acquiesced, but the churches would be and the priesthood.

Word quickly spread among the hidden Chrisonly for foreigners; they reminded the Japanese that Christianity was still illegal and punishable tians of Japan that their long advent for Christ to return to their country in the Eucharist was over. by death.

In 1865, something happened that I think is Within a month, on Good Friday, 15,000 Chrisone of the most moving scenes in the history of tians emerged from the villages and presented the Church. It is so gripping that I remember as themselves before the priests in Nagasaki. Many if it were yesterday where I was when I heard it of them would die for the faith again before Chrisand what were the emotions that ran through me. tianity was decriminalized in the 1880s.

The joyous Christians said to the missionI was a seminarian at the North American College in Rome listening to one of Msgr. Timothy aries, “The heart of all of us here is no different Dolan’s eloquent monthly rector’s conferences. than yours.” They were of one heart because they Now the Archbishop of Milwaukee, Msgr. Dolan shared the love of Christ — a love that had never combined his training as a Church historian with died over the course of 230 years.

As we gather around mangers, Christmas trees best talents of Irish storytelling. Even if his rector’s conferences were not published in a great and tables in upcoming days, let’s all try to pass book, “Priests for the Third Millennium,” from on that love in such a way that it will be strong which I’ll quote, I think I would have remem- enough to last not just 12 generations but forever.

Putting Into the Deep

December 19, 2008

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In communion with Christ

ost of the Holy Father’s Before his conversion event, Pauline catecheses until Paul had seen himself as deeply now have been centered on the fulfilled: a fervent Jew, he was events in the life of Jesus (Incar- blameless before God in observnation, resurrection) or of Paul himself (conversion, travels). But he has Living the recently taken a theological turn, starting with an Pauline Year examination of one of the most important core

By Father Andrew concepts of St. Paul, one that was at the center of Johnson, OCSO the controversies of the Protestant Reformation: Justification. How is man just ing the Law of Moses and far before God? Paul’s answer to ahead of his contemporaries in that question was bound up with his knowledge of it. But meeting his own personal experience. the Lord on the Damascus road

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changed everything. What he had seen as his greatest religious achievements he now — amazingly — began to call “loss” in light of his knowledge of Jesus. “The treasure hidden in the field,” says Benedict, “and the precious pearl in whose possession he invests everything, were no longer the works of the law, but Jesus Christ, his Lord.”

Because of this knowledge of a risen, living Lord, Paul began to realize that not even death was to be feared; indeed, it was gain if it meant life with Christ Jesus. Know-

A gradual estrangement

he faith of Orthodox however, it will help to consider Christians agrees in the the gradual estrangement of the vast majority of points with that Christian East and Christian West, of Catholics. In fact, Orthodox which culminated in open and and Catholics have so much in formal schism in 1054. This backcommon that it can be tempting ground can point the way through to think of Orthodoxy as a kind the differences that divide us. of Catholicism without the pope.

Although the fundamental Belief in God as Trinity, in the Incause of the schism was theologicarnation of God the Son, redemp- cal, it was conditioned by cultural tion by the sacrifice of his life, the and political influences that had Church founded by him with her distanced East and West long sacraments, the resurrection of the before the dawn of the second body, and everlasting life — these millennium. From the end of the are the foundations of the apostolic third century, the Roman Empire tradition from which Orthodoxy, was divided into an eastern and Catholicism, and all authentic Christianity is derived. The Orthodox accept all the books of The Fullness the Bible that Catholics of the Truth accept; their worship is centered on the same

By Father seven sacraments; they Thomas M. Kocik use the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed and understand every word of it (but for one clause) just as western part, each under its own Catholics do; they believe, as Cath- emperor. As was noted, the Eastern olics believe, in a visible Church Roman Empire is what historians with authority to teach and to make call the Byzantine Empire, or laws; like Catholics, they venerate Byzantium. It extended as far north and pray to the Mother of God and as the Slavic lands and created the saints; and their bishops, like its own Greco-Roman world that those of the Catholic Church, are distinguished itself from the Latin ordained in apostolic succession to Europe of the West. be the ongoing presence and voice Alongside “Old Rome” on the of the Apostles.

Tiber was the new imperial capital “Between the Catholic Church in the East, Constantinople, the and the Orthodox Church,” writes “New Rome” on the Bosphorus.

Father Richard John Neuhaus in Constantinople, with its patrithis month’s issue of “First Things,” arch and imperial court, was, in “there are powerful continuities of the view of many, the center of apostolic ministry, doctrine, and Christendom. For the Byzantine devotion that bind us together in emperors were regarded as temour division.” Because of these poral representatives of the eternal “powerful continuities,” Catholic rule of Christ the heavenly King, catechesis has traditionally distinand they sometimes did more for guished between Orthodox and the Church than bishops to mediate Protestant Christianity by declaring religious conflicts and provide for the former to be only in schism the flourishing of the Christian from Rome while describing the community; the bishops, for their latter as heretically separated. part, had the responsibility (and What, then, divides Catholipower) of judging the orthodoxy of cism and Orthodoxy? There are the emperor. two chief controversies, which are Barbarian invasions in the more closely related than would fifth century destroyed what little seem: first, the primacy of the pope remained of the political unity of (that is, his authority, as successor Greek East and Latin West. The of St. Peter, over all the churches), rise of Islam a few centuries later and second, the relation of the furthered the severance: the MediHoly Spirit to the Father and Son. terranean now passed largely into Before taking up these questions, Arab control, and contacts between

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The Anchor

the Latins and Byzantines became far more difficult. Cut off from Byzantium, the West proceeded to set up its own empire. On Christmas Day in the year 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne, the Frankish king, as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The East regarded the papal coronation as an act of schism within the Empire.

Problems of language made matters worse. In the first few centuries of the Christian era, educated people throughout the Empire could speak and write Latin and Greek. By the sixth century, however, few Western Europeans knew Greek, and rare was the Byzantine who spoke Latin. East and West no longer drew upon the same sources nor read the same literature. Each side remained enclosed in its own world of ideas and did little to meet each other half way. Consequently, theology as a discipline developed along different paths in East and West.

Examples abound. Latin thought was influenced by the concepts of Roman law, while the Greeks understood theology primarily in the light of the sacred liturgy; when thinking about the Trinity, Latins started with God’s unity, Greeks with God’s tri-personality; Latins spoke more of redemption, Greeks of deification; Latin piety focused on Christ the Victim, Greek piety on Christ the Victor. Both approaches are complementary and have their place in the fullness of Christian tradition; but now there was a danger that each side would follow its own approach in isolation, forgetting the value in the other’s perspective.

Papal primacy and the “procession” of the Holy Spirit are two points where the two sides no longer complemented each other but entered into conflict. Despite the various factors that increasingly divided East and West, visible unity in the one Catholic Church might still have been preserved, had there not been these two further points of contention. To them we turn next.

Father Kocik is a parochial vicar at Espirito Santo Parish in Fall River.

ing Jesus Christ was more than earthly life, since he promised eternal life. Rather, he didn’t just promise it; he was eternal life itself.

Paul, who liked to think of the life of faith in athletic terms, considered that all the hardships of his life were just part of a race towards eternal life with Christ.

The only reason he slowed down in his running was to help others in the same race, those whom God had entrusted to him, so that they, too, could finish the race of faith. Moreover, since the new criterion of Christ had replaced the old one of the Law, Paul refused even to judge his own efforts, “but limited himself to running to conquer the one who had conquered him.” As Pope Benedict says, “It is precisely because of his personal experience of the relationship with Jesus that Paul places at the center of his Gospel an irreducible opposition between two alternative paths to justice: one based on the works of the law, the other founded on the grace of faith in Christ.” The Church and the Synagogue had been set on divergent paths and there was no turning back. Paul states his case clearly in Galatians: “We ourselves, who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet who know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified.”

But what law is he talking about? If it is the moral law, then those who follow Jesus are free from any demands of morality and can give themselves to what-

ever temptation or desire comes their way. This was exactly what was being said in Corinth, but Paul made it clear he totally disagreed: a Christian was called even more radically to the virtuous life than before his conversion. No, the law he had been freed from by Christ was, in fact, the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. Long before Paul was born, the “Law of Moses” had become the primary Jewish defense against the pagan culture of the time. This universal Greco-Roman culture threatened to absorb Judaism and destroy its identity, and so the Law and the religious culture which protected it were seen as necessary. Christianity, the New Way, questioned this in a radical way, as Jesus himself had done, and thus the “pre-conversion” Paul felt Christianity had to be stamped out. But with his experience on the road to Damascus, “he understood that with Christ’s resurrection the situation had changed. With Christ, the God of Israel, the only true God, became the God of all peoples.” The Torah no longer had any force not because it was bad (it was very good, in fact), but because its promised fulfillment had come in Christ.

Paul had come to know that “in the double love of God and neighbor the whole law is fulfilled. Thus the whole law is observed in communion with Christ, in faith that creates charity. We are justified when we enter into communion with Christ, who is love.” Not a bad thought to carry us through Advent.

Father Johnson is diocesan director of the Pauline Year and parochial vicar at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Hyannis.

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ome assembly required.” Those dreaded words are in fine print that we see on the box of the toy we have bought for our child for Christmas. You take out the myriad of pieces and start trying to figure out where everything goes. Now, of course, at the bottom of the box there are directions, but, who really needs those? You can figure this out for yourself. Or so you think.

Well, your attempt lasts for a while until you end up with a partially assembled toy with all these extra pieces scattered around you. Finally, you do what you should have done in the first place: you read the directions. While these directions might be a bit confusing at first, if you read them carefully, everything that you need to know in order to assemble that toy is there. And

The Anchor

December 19, 2008

What are you asking of me, Lord?

eventually, if you follow those us, right now, to live as his directions, you are able to asdisciples. semble the toy.

For Mary, it was the angel Sometimes we approach Gabriel explaining to her that life the same way. Life is she would have a special role made up of many different in salvation history; that she pieces: our families, our jobs, was to be God’s instrument to our health, our responsibilities, our goals and desires, and we someHomily of the Week times think we can put Fourth Sunday it together on our own. of Advent But more times than not, we fall short. It’s

By Msgr. too bad life doesn’t Stephen J. Avila come with directions.

Well, actually it does. And on this final Sunbring his Son into the world. day before Christmas, we are Her reaction at first is one of shown through the example confusion — “How can this of Mary how we indeed are be?” And yet, she did not offered directions to assist us allow her initial confusion in assembling our lives. That and fear to prevent her from direction comes from God, saying “Fiat” — “May it be who has a plan for each one done to me according to your of us, if we but listen and disWord.” It was her “yes” to cern how the Lord is calling God’s plan for her: a “yes”

that came from a deep faith in God and an openness to God’s guidance throughout her life.

Like those toys that require assembly, our lives too can be very complicated as we try to piece together the mystery of our life.

Each day we face life’s uncertainties and challenges: whether that be our physical health, or deciding what is best for our children, or the pressures we might be facing during this economic downturn. And, try as we might, we struggle to pull all the pieces together.

But look deep into the box — the directions are there.

They might take some studying and reviewing, but they are indeed there to help us, if we but read them and be open to following them.

The mystery of the Incarnation we are about to celebrate in just a few days is a reminder that God has come to be a light for our path, to guide us, to give us directions, to save us. He has sent us his Spirit to enlighten our minds and hearts, to be with us always. If we, like Mary, open our hearts to Christ’s presence and grace, we can discover how God wants us to assemble our lives, one piece at a time.

And so, in faith, bring your unassembled life to God in prayer. “What are you asking of me, Lord? How are you calling me to live my life right now?” Listen carefully.

The Lord will be there to guide you. All he asks is that you read and follow the directions.

Msgr. Avila is pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Mansfield.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat, Dec. 20, Is 7:10-14; Ps 24:1-6; Lk 1:26-38. Sun. Dec. 21, Fourth Sunday in Advent, 2Sam 7:1-5,8b-12,14a,16; Ps 89:2-5,27,29; Rom 16:25-27; Lk 1:26-38. Mon. Dec. 22, 1Sm 1:24-28; (Ps) 1Sm 2:1,4-7,8a-d; Lk 1:46-56. Tue. Dec. 23, Mal 3:1-4,23-24; Ps 25:4bc-5ab,8-10,14; Lk 1:57-66. Wed. Dec. 24, Vigil of Christmas, Is 62:1-5; Ps 89:4-5,16-17,27,29; Acts 13:16-17,22-25; Mt 1:1-25 or 1:18-25. Thu. Dec. 25, The Nativity of the Lord, (Midnight) Is 9:1-6; Ps 96:1-3,11-13; Ti 2:11-14; Lk 2:1-14; (Dawn) Is 62:11-12; Ps 97:1,6,11-12; Ti 3:4-7; Lk 2:15-20; (Day) Is 52:7-10; Ps 98: 1-6; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18 or 1:1-5,9-14. Fri. Dec.26, Acts 6:8-10;7:54-59; Ps 31:3-4,6-8,17-21; Mt 10:17-22.

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efore tackling “Dignitas Personae” (The Dignity of a Person), the recent instruction from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on contemporary bioethical questions, I’d suggest re-reading the first chapter of Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.” Huxley was no great shakes as a stylist, but his depiction of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre is a strikingly prescient, blood-chilling glance into a future in which manufacture and manipulation have replaced begetting and nurture at

Defending human dignity

the beginnings of human life. It’s by technique and longing by remarkable enough that Huxley social planning. We’re on the imagined all this a generation slope, all right, and the question before the unraveling of the DNA is whether the brakes can be double-helix launched the geapplied soon enough. is a couranetic revolution; what’s even more striking is that Huxley’s dystopia is, in fact, upon us.

Be scared. Be very scared. For the question is no longer whether we

By George Weigel are on a slippery slope, careening downward toward a world of machinetooled and stunted humanity — a geous effort to alert us to the world in which love is displaced present danger, to remind us of the dignity that is inherent in every human life from the moment of conception until the moment of natural death, and to suggest how that dignity is threatened by the false use of our new genetic knowledge, even in good causes.

Thanks to the prejudices of the mass media and the communications incapacities of the Church, Catholic teaching on sexual love and human reproduction is often taken to be a string of prohibitions, in which aloof and nay-saying celibate clergy presume to instruct lay men and women on their moral responsibilities. The truth of that matter, however, is that every “no” in the Church’s understanding of the moral life is premised on a “yes.” In the first millennium of Christian moral theology, morality was primarily understood as

The Catholic Difference

a means to happiness, and the Beatitudes were the magna carta of the Christian moral life; Christians didn’t do certain things, not because they were arbitrarily forbidden, but because they didn’t make for our happiness and flourishing.

The Church has begun to recover that positive, beatitude-centered understanding of the moral life, thanks to the work of great moral theologians like the recently deceased Father Servais Pinckaers, O.P., and the magisterium of Pope John Paul II. Because of this work, the Church of the 21st century can appeal to all men and women of good will on the basis of questions that are truly universal in scope: “What makes for human happiness?” “What makes for genuine human flourishing?”

Explicitly or implicitly, alone or with others, everyone asks those questions. Beginning there, we can have a real conversation about what is good and what is evil, what is noble and what is base, what is life-affirming and what is life-denying.

In his great encyclical on Christian mission, “Redemptoris Missio,” John Paul II wrote that “The Church proposes; she imposes nothing.” In a cultural climate like our own — in which the question “Will it work?”

usually trumps the question “Is it right?” — the Catholic proposals contained in Dignitas Personae are inevitably countercultural. It is countercultural to affirm medical technologies and procedures that assist infertile couples in conceiving through natural means, while proposing that IVF (in-vitro fertilization) poses grave moral problems. It is countercultural to embrace and celebrate the possibilities for healing contained in the new genetics, while proposing that embryo-destructive stem-cell research is a grave moral evil.

It is countercultural to bring the tools of moral reason to bear on heart-rending issues which most of our fellow-citizens believe can be resolved emotively and technologically, on the basis of compassion wedded to technique.

So, yes, Dignitas Personae is countercultural. But it is countercultural precisely in order to lift up, defend, and promote the dignity of the human person, which is at risk when human life becomes commodified.

Knowledge must be complemented by wisdom — moral wisdom — if humanity is to avoid Huxley’s dystopia. Reminding us of that, Dignitas Personae does a great, necessary, and compassionate service.

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

For the Bible tells me so

Friday 19 December 2008 — We began the evening with a somewhere in Rhode Island — carol sing. Baptists are famous late Advent for hymn singing. I belted out Baptist church had the Christmas tunes with everyinvited me to give a presentation on the tradition of the Nativity Reflections of a scene. I loaded my truck with some unusual NaParish Priest tivities and took care to

By Father Tim pack a Bible. How dumb Goldrick was that? Did I think a Baptist church wouldn’t have a Bible?

A welcoming committee body else. Tech support quickly greeted me at the door. They cut off my live microphone. helped me lug things out and set Baptists know good singing them up. Tech support was there when they hear it — and when with a lapel microphone. The they don’t. mic volume, I was told, would Soon, I was called to the be controlled from the choir loft. podium. Since I was speaking to

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The Anchor

December 19, 2008

The Ship’s Log

a Baptist audience, I based my presentation on the biblical Nativity accounts. Baptists know their Bible. Behind me was the community’s traditional Nativity scene. We were going to look at its biblical accuracy. I announced we would begin our study with the Nativity account in the Gospel of St. John.

They already knew there wasn’t one. “OK,” I tried again, “then turn to the Nativity account in the Gospel of Mark.” They didn’t fall for that either. Only the Gospels of Matthew and Luke mention the Nativity of the Lord.

We first searched the Gospel

Embracing the baby

and clung even tighter to my have spent the last 21 worrying. months becoming Jesse’s Well, I’m here today to mom, and what a journey it tell you that I set aside the has been. Prior to receiving wrong item. What my devout God’s invitation to welcome friend remembered that I had a sixth child into our family, forgotten (perhaps because he I was happily engrossed in wasn’t experiencing morning many good things and receivsickness?) is that it’s not ideas ing such an invitation was the about people, but relationships farthest thing from my mind.

Because of this, I spent most of my pregnancy, his first nine months of life, in panic mode, wringing my hands, vacillating between apprehension, sadness,

By Heidi Bratton and even anger about the changes that would need to be made in order with them that transform us. to welcome this new little While it may be possible to life. I wish I had been more be in love with or not in love inherently open to life when with the idea of parenthood, I received God’s invitation, actually becoming a mom but I knew that a new baby or dad is about being in love would demand a personal with, and responding in love response from me, as it had to, the specific needs of a prefive times before, and worry cious individual. Having now consumed me. I just couldn’t fathom how to mother six kids become Jesse’s mom, I can only barely remember what I spread over 18 years and yet was so worried about before still maintain the relationships he was born, and that which and activities I already had, I can recall, I will gladly deal and desired to have, within with for his sake, as I have my family and with outside already done for each of his friends, too. siblings.

A good priest friend Here is where I must turn listened to my anxieties and the tables and play the role quietly advised me to pack up of my priest friend for you. all my worries and put them Christmas is near, and with it aside until after the new baby God is sending you an invitawas born. He said that, in his tion to welcome a baby into experience with other moms your life. His name is Jesus. expecting late-in-life blessJohn 3:16 says that “God so ings, once the baby was born loved the world that he sent all anxiety quickly changed his only Son that whoever to absolute joy. Now, as much should believe in him would as I respected this man of not die but have eternal life.”

God, it was clear to me he had God’s plan for our salvation never walked in my morningbegins with an invitation to sick moccasins, and therefore enter into a relationship, not didn’t really have a clue, so with a rule book of how to be, I quietly shelved his advice

Home Grown Faith

and how not to be a Catholic Christian. So what is it that is holding you back from accepting God’s invitation to know him personally?

Before I met Jesse face-toface, I fretted about the whole idea of having to get up every single time the baby cried to be fed, and having to follow his inconvenient schedule of needs. If you haven’t yet had a face-to-face encounter with Jesus, perhaps you’re fretting about the whole idea of going to church every single Sunday and having to following all those inconvenient rules. Before welcoming Jesse, just the idea of being the older mom among the group got me upset, because, hey, I had always been the younger mom. Perhaps just the idea of becoming the “Church Guy (or Gal)” among your friends has got you upset, because, hey, you’ve always been the Party Guy (or Gal). Frankly, I don’t know what’s holding you back from embracing Jesus personally. I have not walked in your moccasins.

But this much I now know: it is not ideas about Christianity, but a relationship with Jesus that will transform you.

The invitation has been sent. Your response is required. Wouldn’t this Christmas be a good time to shelve all your ideas and worries and embrace the living Son of God, the Baby Jesus? Trust me, abundant joy will follow.

Heidi is an author, photographer, and full-time mother.

She and her husband raise their six children in Falmouth. homegrownfaith@gmail.com.

of Matthew. “… She (Mary) gave birth to a son and he (Joseph) named him Jesus.”

That’s it for chapter one — not many helpful hints for setting up a Nativity scene. But in chapter two, Matthew tells us that sometime after Jesus was born, Magi from the East, who had seen his star at its rising, arrived in Jerusalem. What are “Magi?”

The word is the plural of “Magus.” What’s a Magus? He’s a princely adviser to the King of Persia, a religious scholar who wisely observes everything — including the movement of stars and planets. Some ancients believed that when a great person was born, a star appeared in the heavens. When he or she died, the star disappeared. The Magi saw a new star and headed west.

Matthew tells us the Magi found “the child” in “the house.”

The word “child” used does not mean infant. It means toddler. Could Jesus have been a two-year-old by the time the Magi located him? What took the Magi so long? It was a long journey. They probably started out from the city we now call Baghdad.

A house is, well, a house and not a stable. The Holy Family’s house was in Nazareth. Did the star stop over their Nazareth house and not over Bethlehem’s stable? When in doubt, leave it out.

Matthew doesn’t say there were three Magi. He says the Magi brought three gifts. Since “Magi” is plural, there must have been at least two. Put the third Magi back in the box and you’ll be more biblical. Better still; put them all back in the box. The Bible doesn’t state unequivocally the Magi went to Bethlehem. It never specifies how the Magi traveled either.

Scratch the camels.

Let’s turn to Luke. There, in chapter two, are the shepherds camping in the fields. There are only two seasons in the Mediterranean. The shepherds would be in the fields during the dry summer season, not during the rainy winter season. Get rid of

the snow. It doesn’t say whether or not the shepherds brought their flocks with them into Bethlehem. Lose the sheep and be on the safe side.

According to Luke, the angels appeared in the field. Placing them in Bethlehem village would be unbiblical.

No other animals besides sheep are mentioned. Ditch the ox and donkey. There is a mention of an inn, but not of an innkeeper. Ban the innkeeper from all children’s pageants.

Luke does mention a manger or feeding trough but he doesn’t describe the structure in which the trough was located. Some Christian art shows it as a cave.

Get rid of the wooden stable.

Luke doesn’t mention any flora.

Pack up the palm trees. Hay isn’t mentioned either. Pitch the hay.

Our biblically correct scene is looking anemic. We only have Mary, the infant and a few shepherds. The Magi are still following the star. The angels and the sheep are in the field.

Did I happen to mention that St. Joseph isn’t clearly referenced as being physically present at the Lord’s exact moment of birth? In early Christian art, Joseph is sometimes placed either in the backyard or absent entirely. Delete St. Joseph? Give me a break.

Our Nativity scenes, as our faith, are based on Scripture and tradition. One is incomplete without the other. My Baptist friends were amazed at this reality, but the proof was right there before their very eyes in their own sanctuary Nativity. Seeing is believing.

Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Nicholas of Myra Parish in North Dighton.

Dep osit NO due W! Dep os JAN it dead UAR line Y9 !

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The Anchor

By Michael Pare Anchor Staff

NORTH DARTMOUTH — For some, God does indeed work in mysterious ways. For

God called her to guide his children

others, like Barbara Bandarra, his approach is rather simple.

God leads us all where we need to be. Some of us see what he is trying to do right away,

December 19, 2008

while for others, such recogni“The kids still have their In seeing the children demtion takes time. For Bandarra, innocence … but you can talk onstrate their faith, Bandarra a parishioner at St. Julie Bil- to them like adults,” said Ban- has more clearly seen her own. liart Parish on Slocum Road for darra “And they aren’t forced to “I didn’t really see it until the past 26 years, it took some attend. They want to be there.” these last few years,” she said. time.

The St. Julie’s youth group is “It happened quietly, but God “He was calling me a long an active one. Bandarra makes has his way. This was my directime ago,” said Bandarra. “But sure of it. Activities have in- tion.”

I turned a deaf ear.” cluded community service and By this, Bandarra means Reflecting now, Bandarra re- parish service efforts, like mak- working directly with young alizes that God had been calling ing holiday cards for the elder- people. It’s funny, but she’s her for years, in the form of a ly or creating a Living Nativity. been doing it all along. Bryan pastor asking for volunteers for The children visit parishioners has kidded her about it, remindSt. Julie’s CCD program. ing her that God has led Year after year, Bandarra her this way for some gave the idea thought, but time. But maybe when ultimately, she would put things are so close to it off. you, they can be harder Maybe next year, she to see. Consider that for would say, maybe next 14 years, Bandarra has year. worked in Marion, at Sip“God was very patient pican Elementary School, with me,” said Bandarra. assisting students with Well, his patience paid special needs. It is also a off. labor of love.

Ultimately, a call went And a few years ago, out for volunteers to help she stepped forward to out with the parish youth teach in the CCD progroup. Bandarra and her gram, as well. It’s been husband Bryan decided another way to answer to give it a try. That was God’s call.

14 years ago. At the time, At St. Julie’s, Banthe Bandarra had four darra’s efforts have not young children and getgone unnoticed by Father ting more involved at Gregory Mathias, pastor. church made sense. Ever He said that the work she since, Bandarra has seen is doing to engage the her involvement with ANCHOR PERSON OF THE WEEK — Bar- parish youth is critically children in the parish as a bara Bandarra. important. labor of love.

“Barbara has, for a She and Bryan continue to at St. Luke’s Hospital. There long time, been focused on promote the St. Julie’s youth are hay rides and movie nights. keeping the junior high school ministry, even though their own The group also organizes an aged kids involved in parchildren now range in age from annual pancake breakfast for ish life,” said Father Mathias.

18 to 24. the parish, which has become a “With her husband, she has She loves working with the popular event. worked with the various priests sixth- through eighth-graders “It’s wonderful to see them of this parish to engage the kids who comprise the youth group. involved in the parish,” said with social, spiritual, and serBandarra.

“It’s vice activities through a group refreshing … You called ‘Kids in Christ.’ Barbacan see their faith ra is one of those people, who on a regular basis. from the moment you first meet And everything her, you are struck by the depth we teach them, of her sincerity, generosity, and they are a sponge faith.” for it. They’re an Father Mathias points out awesome group of that Bandarra has remained children.” committed to the parish youth Bandarra said long after her own children she has been were young teens. “She and her touched to see that family have been a great blessoften, more chil- ing to our parish,” said Father dren show up for Mathias. the hospital visits So it may have taken a and other parish while, but it is all starting to service activities make sense. God’s call, that than the hay rides is. Bandarra is quick to point or movie nights. out that really, she is the one It’s clear, she said, who gets more than she gives. that the kids get it. Volunteers tend to think that They want to help way. others.

Still, she prefers to deflect “We tell them attention. that they need to “The real story is the carry these things Church,” she says. I have been on … and they blessed to be there. So many grasp that,” she people work behind the scenes. said.

Continued on page 11

The Anchor

December 19, 2008 Continued from page 10

They are my role models.”

She mentions Jane Ayer, a former CCD director at St. Julie’s, as “her inspiration.”

“She was able to get people

involved,” said Bandarra.

And there are so many others, too many to name.

“God has put people in my path who have helped me so much,” she said. “I look around

11

on Sunday … that’s my family there.”

To nominate a Person of the Week, send an email message to FatherRogerLandry@AnchorNews.org.

Please visit us at: www.CarmelTerrace.org or 508 788 8000 933 Central St. Framingham, MA 01701 On the campus of St. Patrick's Manor

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The Anchor

December 19, 2008

They can’t take away our faith

E

very year it seems to get worse — the secular attack on the holy day of Christmas.

The onslaughts become more and more ludicrous.

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, mankind ups the ante.

This year the December cover of “Playboy” magazine is adorned with a scantily clad young woman adorned with just a veil, referencing the Blessed Mother.

A North Carolina parent was up in arms about her child having to sing “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,” at a school concert, citing the words “Santa” and “Christmas” had religious over-

My View From the Stands

By Dave Jolivet tones.

Nativity scenes on public properties are taboo. Christmas trees are now “holiday” trees; and Christmas caroling in public schools cannot include references to Jesus.

Go to most retail stores and say to the cashier, “Merry Christmas,” and they’ll respond with either a “you too,” or “happy holidays.”

My guess is that they’re told by the powers that be not to mention Christmas to the paying customers.

Christians all across the land are very upset with the yearly de-Jesusing of Christmas — and rightly so.

Dec. 31 - Jan. 1, 2009 Jan. 11, 2009 Jan. 13, 2009 Jan. 15, 22, 29, 2009 Jan. 23 - 25, 2009 Feb. 8, 2009 Feb. 10, 2009 Feb. 13 - 15, 2009

But there is nothing this secular world can do to take away the sacredness of Christmas — unless we let them.

It’s fine to complain, but why not just embrace Christmas in our hearts and souls anyway and not worry about what others think.

In the song “Pride (In the Name of Love),” U2 sings of the late, great Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., “They took your life, but they could not take your pride.”

It’s up to us to keep Christmas alive — in our families, our workplaces, our social lives, and in our hearts. No one can take that away from us. No one.

Rev. King once said, “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”

It’s up to us to keep Christmas prayerful — to keep Christmas breathing.

Abraham Lincoln, another great American, said, “Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right, part with him when he goes wrong.”

American society has gone wrong with the secularization of Christmas. So what? There are plenty of us who can still stand together and keep Christ in Christmas. Why waste time lamenting the sad state of affairs? Pass the true meaning of Christmas to our children and live the true spirit of Christmas every day of our lives.

If we do, it will never die. Never.

Lincoln also said, “The will of God prevails.”

Compared with the persecutions many of our Catholic brothers and sisters faced and still face, the secularization of Christmas is trivial. Their faith in God has never wavered, some despite lifethreatening situations.

Let us approach this blessed season with the same attitude.

They can take away our Nativity scenes, trees, and songs, but they cannot take away our faith.

~ New Year’s Eve Retreat ~ Afternoon of Recollection ~ Prayer Shawl Ministry ~ Women in Midlife ~ Women’s Retreat ~ Afternoon of Recollection ~ Prayer Shawl Ministry ~ Men’s Retreat

FAIRY TALE — Scene from the animated movie “Delgo.” For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Freestyle)

CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“Delgo” (Freestyle) Well-meaning but only average animated children’s parable, set in a mythical land, about a part-human, part-reptile teen-ager (voice of Freddie Prinze Jr.) who falls for the winged, pixielike princess (voice of Jennifer Love Hewitt) of a rival nation and enlists the help of his bumbling best friend (voice of Chris Kattan) and a fearless general (Val Kilmer) to thwart the warmongering schemes of the princess’ exiled aunt (voice of Anne Bancroft). This Romeo-and-Juliet tale, co-written and directed by Marc F. Adler and Jason F. Maurer, exalts peace, racial and ethnic harmony and the power of mercy to break a cycle of hatred, values which compensate for special effects well behind the vanguard and a sometimes unimpressive script.

The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

“Doubt” (Miramax) Engrossing drama set in 1964 at a Bronx parochial grammar school where the nun (Meryl Streep) who serves as principal

suspects a popular priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of impropriety with a 12-year-old black student, and together with a young teacher (Amy Adams), sets out to confront him. Writer-director John Patrick Shanley has successfully adapted his Pulitzer Prize-winning stage hit, deftly recreating the Catholic milieu of the era, with outstanding performances, including that of Viola Davis as the distraught mother of the putative victim.

Though sexual abuse is part of the story, it is the balance of doubt and certainty in society at large that forms the principal thematic subtext. Discreetly handled sexual abuse theme. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting 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.

“The Reader” (Weinstein) Necessarily bleak but wellplayed and directed (by Stephen Daldry) adaptation of Bernhard Schlink’s controversial best-seller set in postwar Germany about the morally complex relationship between a lawyer (Ralph Fiennes) and the older woman (superb Kate Winslet) with whom he had

an affair when he was a teen-ager (18-year-old David Kross), and to whom he would read the great works of literature. Though that early liaison is morally unacceptable, it serves as a metaphor for Germany’s collective guilt and its impact on later generations, gingerly suggesting the possibility of emotional reconciliation. Underage sexual relationship including several encounters, nudity, divorce, suicide, disturbing Holocaust material. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted.

Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Movies Online

Can’t remember how a recent film was classified by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops? Want to know whether to let the kids go see it? You can look up film reviews on the Catholic News Service Website.

Visit catholicnews.com and click on “Movies,” under the “News Item” menu.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, December 21 at 11:00 a.m.

Scheduled celebrant is Father Dariusz Kalinowski, a parochial vicar at St. Patrick’s Parish in Wareham

ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME — The Perry Family children, from left, four-year-old Victoria, 10-year-old Anthony, eight-year-old Daniel, and six-year-old Rachel, enjoy playing with a “Little People” Nativity set made by Fisher-Price in anticipation of Jesus’ birthday. The Perry children have been homeschooled by their parents, Debbie and Mark, so the family can continue to attend daily Mass.

(Photo by Kenneth J. Souza)

Preparing children for Christmas and for Christian life, at home

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

FALL RIVER — For three families in the Fall River Diocese, the decision of whether to home-school their children or send them to a public or parochial school ultimately came down to a matter of faith.

Mark and Debbie Perry of New Bedford explained how they looked into several area schools and even had two possible options before they agreed to home-school their four children — 10-year-old Anthony, eight-year-old Daniel, six-yearold Rachel, and four-year-old Victoria.

“One was very expensive,” Mark Perry said, “while the other one was a drive. I also sat through some meetings for the New Bedford school system and what I heard from the parents was their biggest concern and frustration was that their kids were going to school in an environment of fear.”

Another key motivating factor for the Perry Family was their commitment to attend Mass on a daily basis as a family. “When we got married, one of the conditions was we were going to be daily communicants,” Mark Perry said, “and we started that with the children. When we looked at even Catholic schools, until the kids receive first Communion they normally wouldn’t go to Mass during the day and, even when they did, it was only once a week or once a month. So we were looking at going from our kids having Mass every single day to just once a week.”

Likewise, Pamela and John Martin of Fairhaven had always

13

The Anchor

December 19, 2008

felt homeschooling was the best option for their five children.

A former public school teacher with 11 years of experience, Pam has since taken on the role of full-time teacher to nineyear-old John, eight-year-old George, seven-year-old Margaret, and five-year-old Veronica, while also being a full-time mom to preschooler, three-yearold Andrew. Like the Perrys, she begins everyday with Mass, and then follows an established faith-based curriculum under the Seton Home Study School.

“I always felt the more Catholic experience was provided by teaching kids at home,” Martin said. “We’re really trying to focus on the faith. Nowadays, because there aren’t as many nuns or brothers teaching, I don’t know if that comes through as much.

Having worked within a public school system, Martin stressed her choice wasn’t meant to disparage what a public or private school can offer, she and her husband simply made a personal decision as to what they felt was right for them. “In growing more in our faith my husband and I felt we wanted a real Catholic experience for the kids and we thought this would be the best choice to help them grow in their own faith,” she said.

While homeschooling today is a lot more commonplace, 30 years ago it was all but unheard of within Catholic circles. At least that’s how Oliver and Susan Muldoon of Falmouth perceived it to be when they began teaching their two eldest sons at home in the fall of 1978. And

with two younger preschool daughters and another baby due in January of the following year, they needed to find the right fit for their growing, faith-based family.

“When we first began, we lived in an area of South Carolina that lacked a good Catholic school,” Susan Muldoon said.

“And because of Oliver’s work as a meteorologist with the Air Force, we were always moving.

Our primary reason for homeschooling was to give our children a truly Catholic education.

But continuity of curriculum was another reason.”

While the specific methods and styles of instruction may differ from family to family, the common denominator in all three remains an emphasis on faith and maintaining God as a central component in everything that is taught. To that end, Mass, prayer and meditation are given equal parity alongside reading, writing and arithmetic.

“It’s all governed by God,” Mark Perry said.

“God is the superintendent, Mark is the principal, and I guess I’m the teacher,” Debbie Perry added.

Mass and prayer are such an integral part of their children’s education that the couple even perceived a noticeable change in their demeanor when they recently attended a six-week summer program where they were unable to participate in a daily liturgy.

“We noticed changes in them,” Debbie Perry said. “The moment we brought them back to Mass the next week, they were back to normal. It was shocking

to a point where we almost took them out of the program.”

“We begin our day with Mass so we can focus directly on God,” Pamela Martin said, echoing the Perrys’ sentiments. “Then we come home and do our Pledge of Allegiance, our morning prayer, and we start with our subjects and run through our day.”

The Martin’s curriculum is based on the popular Seton Home Study School, a very structured Catholic homeschooling program. It provides an important balance between a faith-based education and the necessary skills needed to compete with children who are learning in more traditional school settings. “Our town requires us to be very structured in what we give them in order to apply to get permission to home-school,” she said. “I have to submit a curriculum every year of what they’re learning along with a list of books used and it has to be approved by the school superintendent.”

The Muldoon Family didn’t have the benefit of something like the Seton Home Study School when they embarked on their homeschooling journey three decades ago. They soon found they had to piecemeal a plan from a variety of other sources including those that were secular, Protestant and Mennonite based. In fact, Susan Muldoon ended up becoming something of a pioneer when she worked with Anne Carroll at Seton School on one of the first Catholic homeschooling programs.

“At the time we knew no other local home-school family and there was no network of support,” Muldoon said. “A few years later, I contacted Anne Carroll at Seton School and asked if she would like to start a Catholic home-school program. She was very interested and we began with high school.

Anne worked on the curriculum and I took care of registrations and correspondence. We were stunned with the flood of inquiries that resulted from our first publicity. This was the first Catholic home-school program in the United States. Now there are several excellent ones and families aren’t limited to just one approach.”

To that end, Debbie and Mark Perry employ a less-structured approach where each child can follow his own schedule and work at her own pace, although they still have to meet minimum daily requirements to which they are held accountable at the end of the day. “They have certain curriculums that they have to follow — social studies, sciences and math are obviously well-

covered — but those are brought together with an independent study each month, where they pick a theme and delve into it at deeper levels,” Debbie Perry said. “But there are some things they have to do, whether it’s Saturday, Sunday or a holiday.

It’s a plan of life for them.”

Mark Perry points out a framed list aptly titled “Perry’s Rules of Life” that is prominently displayed in their home. The four simple yet poignant tenets are these: — be good; — do your best; — say your prayers; and — go to Mass.

For these families, it seems that school is not just a routine part of their lives, but rather it has become an essential way of life. Learning is not limited to an 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. time frame, rather it continues all day, everyday. Perhaps that’s why most of the kids don’t find it strange that everyone else attends school outside the confines of home, and why they’ve never questioned their parents about it.

“They really haven’t questioned why they’re homeschooled,” Pamela Martin said.

“Basically, we just told them it’s because we want their education to be religion-based and we really feel that we want to be their primary teachers. They pretty much accept that — maybe because they’re still young.”

With the arrival of Advent, all three families have also found it easy to integrate preparations to celebrate Christmas into their curriculum. For the Perry Family, it’s more about “pre-preparation” than anything else. While they don’t ignore the more secular traditions of Santa Claus and gift giving, they try to keep the focus on the real meaning of the holy day.

“As much as you’ll hear Victoria and the rest of them talk about Christmas and waiting for gifts from Santa, they all understand that it’s really about Jesus’ birth,” Mark Perry said. “If faith is brought into their lives on a daily basis, they already understand the meaning of Advent and Christmas.”

Noting that the family already observed St. Nicholas’ feast day on December 6 with secret shared gifts, Debbie Perry said other traditions include lighting the candles on an Advent wreath every night before dinner; using a “Hay for Jesus” play set where the children can add pieces of yellow felt to a small manger every time they do something nice for someone else, thereby building a more comfortable bed for baby Jesus; and creating their own birthday cards for JeTurn to page 15

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Wake up call on sex ed Your article “Push for radical sex ed in schools re-emerges” (11/21/2008) should be a wakeup call for all those who should be concerned about what is being taught to youngsters in our public schools. The article says that there is a move to reintroduce in the 2009 legislative session a bill requiring that the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework, which is now optional, be used by every school district K-12. According to Lynda Thayer, a former high school teacher and currently a Pro-Life speaker for the Archdiocese of Boston, “It will mandate that public schools teach kids that abortion, premarital sex, birth control and homosexual behavior are OK.” There is more disturbing news.

MassEquality, a gay marriage advocacy group, put out a report after the recent elections titled, “Triumphs in Massachusetts, Connecticut.” The group say that their anti-gay opponents’ election efforts failed and, “Instead we increased our pro-equality votes in the State House from 151 out of 200 (in June 2007) to 158.” They conclude with the boast: “We are just short of having 80 percent of the legislature stand with us for marriage equality.”

Of course things could change, but I believe we can surmise from

The Anchor

December 19, 2008

Our readers respond

the above evidence that the overwhelming majority of the legislature (whether Catholic or not) may be inclined to support the mandatory radical sex education in schools which we read about in The Anchor. Parents, of course, have the right and obligation to look after their children’s upbringing, including defending their innocence. We now need to be especially alert, pay attention to The Anchor’s warning and be vigilant in exercising our rights as citizen to prevent something very nasty from entering our children’s classrooms.

Charles O. Coudert Sherborn Prediction of a more faith-filled ‘remnant’ With respect to E. Burke’s letter of December 5, condemning the writings of George Weigel, I would like to applaud and support the opinions of Mr. Weigel which, together with the editorials of The Anchor, represent virtually the only expression of Catholic doctrinal opinion available. As other letter writers to The Anchor have observed, instruction or opinion was rarely available from the pulpits of Catholic churches, including in this diocese, relative to the Catholic Church’s positions.

As for Burke’s personal opinion on “immoral war, “it represents a weak expression of the moral

equivalency argument that has been refuted on the editorial pages of The Anchor. Having taken little effort to educate Catholics prior to the recent election, why should the bishops expect that the presidentelect, having won the “Catholic vote,” would, in any way, change the positions he has up to now held and promised his supporters he will continue to uphold simply because he receives an after-the-fact letter from a Catholic bishop? The Roman Catholic Church in America contains a clerical and lay membership characterized by doctrinal diversity to an alarmingly growing degree and has failed, as exemplified by the results of our recent election, to transmit a coherent religious and moral identity to its members. When and if it does, as Pope Benedict XVI has predicted, less may be more: there will be a smaller but more believing community.

Richard Tobin Orleans More information needed Certainly abortions are wrong, as is the killing of innocents wherever. I don’t recall any Anchor article mentioning why abortions are done. Maybe the society in the United States is to blame? Where do morals enter the picture?

Ed Dulak Berkley

Freedom of Choice Act sounding an alert Recently having been given a gift subscription to The Anchor by a friend, I want to applaud you for a truly Roman Catholic editorial response (November 26) to the recent national election. The election of the first non-caucasian to the presidency of the U.S. might be considered a watershed by some, but as news surely does not overshadow the promises which Barack Obama during the campaign made to the abortion industry. The Anchor editorial quoted our next president as stating that signing the Freedom Of Choice Act (FOCA) into law was “The first thing I’d do as president.” This bill, which Barack Obama has co-authored in the U.S. Senate, would wipe clean the many strides we have made in the Right To Life movement for almost 36 years. Not only would FOCA restore the horrific partial-birth abortion procedure now outlawed, but it would eliminate parental rights relative to minors and establish federal funding of abortion with our tax dollars, nullifying the Hyde Amendment.

Additionally, it would once again eliminate the need to give medical aid to an infant born alive after an unsuccessful abortion. As a state senator, Obama four times voted to deny this medical care, once speaking out on the floor forcefully

against it. He has glibly stated that determining when an unborn child should receive legal protection was “above his pay grade.” FOCA is so sweeping, it will eliminate over 500 federal and state laws and restrictions.

After having visited the Middle East this Pauline year to walk in the footsteps of St. Paul, I think that Father Landry’s “Putting Into the Deep” in the same edition brought a thought to the fore. Those powerful prayers surely heard by Saul of Tarsus as St. Stephen was being stoned to death would seem to have relevance in our present environment. A recent alert about a right whale possible entering the Cape Cod Canal deterred any harm from being inflicted on the mammal. Is there not a major alert needed in the U.S. through our churches about the danger of FOCA to protect innocent members of our human species?

As we approach the glorious celebration of the birth of our Messiah and also prepare for the January 20 inauguration of a new chief executive, we should institute a prayer to conclude every Mass, asking God to aid us in preventing FOCA from ever becoming law — and ultimately to regain the protection of law for every child in the womb.

R. T. Neary Medford

Centennial of Father Peyton’s birth includes worldwide rosary novena

By Deacon James N. Dunbar

opened June 1, 2001, bestowing on him NORTH EASTON — As the 100th the title “Servant of God.” His cause is anniversary of the birth of Congre- being continued by the Archdiocese of gation of Holy Cross Father Patrick Baltimore.

Peyton — the “Rosary Priest” — on Holy Cross Family Ministries is January 9 nears with celebrations comprised of Family Rosary, which Faworldwide, individuals can celebrate ther Peyton founded in 1942 in Albany, the occasion and pray for his beatifica- N.Y., with locations in 17 countries; tion in a novena in the privacy of their Family Theater Productions, which Fahomes. ther Peyton foundHoly Cross t is urging families to kick ed in 1947 in HolFamily MinisCalif., and off the celebration by pray- lywood, tries in Easton, the Father Peyton which is fur- ing the family rosary in their Family Institute thering Father homes during a special novena in Easton, and in Peyton’s work January 1 to 9, 2009.

Lima, Peru. and vision under At the Center in the sponsorship Easton, where Faof the Congregation, is conducting a ther Peyton is buried, and which houses yearlong celebration of the anniversa- Holy Cross Family Ministries’ Internary with the theme “Honor his memory. tional Headquarters, an hour of prayer Continue his mission.” will be held in its chapel on the 9th of It is urging families to kick off the every month during 2009. celebration by praying the family roAn outdoor rosary prayer rally will sary in their homes during a special be held June 6, 2009 in the Stonehill novena January 1 to 9, 2009.

College stadium adjacent to the CenFamilies and individuals can sign up ter. to pray this novena and also to list their Worldwide, Masses, holy hours, intentions and pray for other intentions gala celebrations, a telethon, and on the Holy Cross Family Ministries’ essay, poetry and art contests are Website: www.hcfm.org. planned.

Father Peyton was born Jan. 9, 1909 Several Catholic TV outlets will be in Caracastle, County Mayo, Ireland scheduling biographical programs on to a family that prayed the family ro- Father Peyton and selected programs sary in their home. He died June 3, that the Catholic media pioneer pro1992, and his cause for sainthood was duced.

I

December 19, 2008 FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT DECEMBER 21, 2008

Preparing children for life, at home continued from page 13

sus that they will bring to Mass on Christmas.

Like the Perry family, the Martins also commemorate the feast of St. Nicholas with a party where the kids color pictures of the patron who would later morph into Jolly Ol’ St. Nick.

But they don’t accept the more secular version of Santa Claus.

“They know Santa Claus is part of our culture, but we don’t do the Santa routine,” Pamela Martin said. “To me Christmas is so commercial and there’s so much emphasis on getting stuff, it’s getting away from Jesus and it’s a shame.”

Martin said she also uses an Advent calendar to make the kids aware of the days leading up to Christ’s birth and the children always participate in the Christmas Giving Tree at St. Anthony of Padua Parish each year as a way of stressing the giving aspect of the holiday. “We don’t want them to think Christmas is all about getting stuff,” she said.

Another family tradition she borrowed from her mother-inlaw is the baking of a birthday cake for Jesus, which is then served on Christmas as the children sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus. “I thought it was a wonderful way to remind the kids what Christmas is all about,” Martin said.

“So many today are unhappy with the way the weeks before Christmas have become so frantic and noisy and empty,” Susan Muldoon agreed, noting that the commercial shopping season has almost made Advent invisible.

“But there are so many powerful symbols of Advent that can be used to teach the true meaning of the Christmas season.

Christ comes at a time when the flowers and plants are dormant or dead, when the birds are not singing as in spring, and when the darkness is increasing. To

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The Anchor

live in this time of longing for Christ, we too are more silent.”

Muldoon said unlike many people who start listening to Christmas music even before the Thanksgiving turkey is out of the oven, her family opts for “special times of quiet” and they don’t listen to any Christmas carols until Christmas Eve. They also wait until that special night to decorate and light their Christmas tree. “As the darkness increases, the lighting of the Advent candles on our table is a sign of hope,” she said.

While some may have had doubts about homeschooling their children in the beginning, all three couples have found it to be an enriching and beneficial experience for their families.

“I think it’s a wonderful way to instill your values and your faith in your children and it creates a wonderful bond with your children,” Pamela Martin said.

“With any question or any situation that comes up, you’re right there to help them and to answer them. It’s a great experience being able to teach them their faith and their subjects.”

“When I look back on all the years of homeschooling, it’s with happiness,” Susan Muldoon agreed. “And it’s also with amazement that God gave us the grace to stay the course. Our children, now adults, while very different from each other, are still close and remain real brothers and sisters to each other.”

“I think the biggest challenge to homeschooling is probably time management,” Mark Perry said. “But don’t be concerned that you’re not going to know what to do. There are plenty of resources out there.”

“Obviously, it’s a prayer choice,” agreed Debbie Perry.

“You need to discern it for yourself. If you’re called to do it, I think you’ll know it’s meant for you.”

Reigniting the passion to evangelilze

’T

sentiments are brewed in the is the season of anbroth of frustration, but we give nouncements; the into the temptation of despair Scripture readings during Adat our peril. Pastors and their vent are filled with them. God’s designated catechetical leaders messengers were all over the have an obligation to reach out place, from the Archangel Gato the fallen away. Canon law briel to Zechariah. The season is very clear on the role of the of Advent is all about preparing pastor, “He is to make every for that which was announced: effort, even with the collaboraThe Incarnation. The Incarnation of the Christian faithful, so tion is the central mystery of that the message of the Gospel Christianity, but it comes with comes also to those who have consequences. We must never forget that the Incarnation is not ceased the practice of their religion or do not profess the a one-time event that lasted about 33 years some 2,000 years ago in Palestine, but is a “rightnow” reality.

The descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost guaranteed that the

By Claire McManus mission of Jesus would have flesh for many generations. It is no accident that we also hear from the true faith” (Canon 528). In this era of limited resources and prophet Isaiah during Advent. cultural challenges, pastors and “The spirit of the Lord is upon catechetical leaders could use me … he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly.” These some new methods for sowing the seeds of the Gospel in such words of the great prophet were resistant soil. later quoted by Jesus when he Previous generations were announced his mission. The faced with the same challenges, Great Commission was charged and the Holy Spirit brought with an even greater mission: forth the methods and messenheal the broken hearted, progers to bring the Good News to claim liberty to the captives, the fallen away.

Mother Cathrelease to the prisoners, comfort erine McAuley, foundress of those who mourn, and plant the Sisters of Mercy, took on oaks of justice in our society. the daunting task of evangelizLike the promises from our ing the people of an Irish nation recent presidential campaign, emerging from the oppresthe mission is only a collection of idealistic platitudes if it is not sive religious restrictions of the Penal Laws. She brought delivered.

Our challenge is to make the Incarnation a here and now event. We give the mission of Christ some flesh. Many of our parishes truly understand their responsibility to the poor and sick and act as the hands and feet of Christ. There are so many fine examples in our diocese of people giving generously of their time and treasure when it comes to the corporal works of mercy. It is the spiritual works of mercy that need more of our attention. In many parishes there is a very needy population that is ignored, or worse, resented by their parish leaders. I am referring to the people who no longer practice their faith.

On more than one occasion I have heard pastors and catechetical leaders say that they are tired of going after the people who just drop off their kids for Religious Education and never darken the door of the church. I have even heard some speculate that we should focus our attention on the practicing faithful, the “remnant” that will carry the faith into the next generation. Clearly such

The Great Commission

together women of faith who took a fourth vow to serve the poor, sick, and ignorant. Notice that the word she used was ignorant, not uneducated. The distinction was quite intentional, for Mother Catherine knew that there are many well-educated and successful people who have never been given the Good News of Jesus.

If the wretched poor are Jesus in his most distressing disguise, then perhaps those well-educated Catholics that have fallen away from the Church are Jesus in his most clever disguise.

We need to re-ignite our passion to evangelize the people who are dropping off their kids and walking away. The method may be as simple as an act of hospitality. Father Ed Correia of St. Michael’s, Fall River stands outside his church and greets the parents who are dropping their kids and running away. He tells them how much he misses them at Mass. There are many other pastors who have made it their mission to welcome the parents. I invite you to share your methods of evangelizing the fallen away with one another. Use the Website’s blog to share your ideas: www. fallriverfaithformation.org. We need to work together so that Christ’s mission is incarnated in our diocese.

Claire McManus is the director of the Diocesan Office of Faith Formation.

Lic. # 1389

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Youth Pages

December 19, 2008

Pope John Paul II students’ art on display at Cape Cod Museum of Art HYANNIS — Artwork submitted by three Pope John Paul II High School students is included in a Cape-wide student art exhibition in the Weny Education Center at Dennis’ Cape Cod Museum of Art. The artwork will be on display at the museum through January 4.

The three students are: Sophomore Greta Lynn Bieg of Mashpee — Submission: “Two Trees” — an acrylic on canvas;

Sophomore Naiemeh Hadawar of Barnstable — Submission: “Birch Trees” — an acrylic on canvas; and Freshman Joseph D. Stickney of Sandwich — Submission: “Studio Lamp” — pencil on paper.

A reception attended by the three students and others was held at the museum on December 11.

Students from schools across Cape Cod and the Islands were invited to participate.

IT’S OK TO STRUGGLE — In preparation for Christmas, Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro, held it’s traditional Day of Reconciliation for the student body. This year, director of the Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults for the Archdiocese of Boston, Father Matt Williams, spoke on the power of God’s love, particularly during times of questioning and struggle that many youth wrestle with on a daily basis. Fifteen priests from neighboring communities were on hand to hear confessions. Father Williams poses with students after his presentation.

THINKING OF DAD — Sophia, Camron, and Andrew, kindergarten students of St. Joseph School in Fairhaven, create Season Greetings for Sophie’s dad who is serving in the military and will be away at Christmas time.

SEEING THE FOREST THROUGH THE TREES —This painting called “Birch Trees,” by Naiemeh Hadawar of Barnstable, a sophomore at Pope John Paul II High School in Hyannis, is one of three paintings by JPII students currently on display at the Cape Cod Museum of Art.

GYM-DANDYS — Eight-year-old Merissa Silva Robertson recently had her gymnastic birthday party.

She invited girls from her second-grade class at St. John the Evangelist School in Attleboro and asked them to bring with them one unwrapped toy to be donated to the Santa’s Workshop at Bishop Feehan High School. Nineteen gifts were collected at her party and were distributed to needy families on December 11 at the workshop. Robertson is shown front row, center, with her classmates at school.

The Anchor is always pleased to run news and photos about our diocesan youth. If schools or parish Religious Education programs have newsworthy stories and photos they would like to share with our readers, send them to: schools@ anchornews.org

Youth Pages

December 19, 2008

Formed by living waters

E

arlier this month I had the privilege to attend the National Conference on Catholic Youth Ministry in Cleveland, Ohio with several colleagues from the Diocese of Fall River. Each time I attend this conference, I am amazed by the thousands of men and women who are dedicated to handing on the faith to our teens and young adults. These men and women, many of whom take time off from their “real jobs” to attend, are constantly looking for different methodologies and approaches to help hand on the Catholic faith.

But what is our “real job”?

As baptized Catholics, we are called to evangelize — yes Virginia, Catholics do evangelize! — others into a closer

Be Not Afraid

By Crystal Medeiros relationship with Jesus Christ.

As I attend these conferences, I am continuously amazed at the commitment, dedication and the faith of these adults who only want young people to grow in their faith. They range in ages from 20-something to 60-something. But as the years pass, the number of young adults between the ages of 20 and 32 who long to continue the evangelical mission of the Church appears to decline.

Sure, this is reflective of what is happening in our very parishes — young adults are not present. But we need to ask ourselves why. Why are our young adults not attending Mass? Why do they not feel connected to their faith? Why do they not feel welcome in our parishes?

There are no easy answers to these questions. There are no quick fixes. But as we gather in our parishes each week to celebrate the Eucharist as the source and summit of the Catholic faith, we cannot help but ask how we can reconnect our young people to the Church. We review and implement various programs like LifeTeen, or Theology on Tap, or countless others.

Yet do we sit with them? Do we, as adults, take the time to

inquire as to why they have left or what would bring them back to Mass every Sunday?

Some of us do, others wish they could but simply do not have the time, while still others are simply doing their best to maintain the participants they already have.

So as we celebrate the end of the Advent season with the celebration of Christmas, our churches will be full. Families who do not normally attend Mass, for whatever reason, will adorn our pews. Young adults, from college students and graduates to men and women in their early 30s will attend our churches in droves next Wednesday and Thursday. As I listened to one of the many speakers at the National Conference, Christmas provides us with the best opportunity to evangelize to our young adults. It is a gift given to us each year but that is too often hidden behind the other gifts of most churches with standing-room-only for the holiday. This year, let’s take the time to welcome these young people into our churches, into our communities of faith. They may be home with their families, now is the time we can make them feel home in their Church. Take the time to ask what you can do to help them feel welcome. Take the time to simply talk to them and ask them what they are searching for. Let’s take this gift, unwrap it, and see where it takes us.

If through our baptism we were formed by the living waters of Jesus Christ, then let the waters flow through us and reach out to our communities this Christmas. Jesus reached out to the shepherds and the wise men. Shouldn’t we attempt to do the same?

Help make this Christmas a merry and a welcoming one.

Crystal is the assistant director for Youth & Young Adult Ministry for the diocese and youth ministry coordinator for St. Lawrence Martyr Parish in New Bedford.

You can contact her at cmedeiros@dfrcec.com.

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Stonehill’s Festival of Light and Hope heralds Christmas continued from page one

“Christmas is a wonderful moment to express our love and care for others through the giving of gifts,” Father Looney said.

“It is a tradition that goes back to a saintly Catholic bishop named Nicholas, who, following the teachings of Jesus, cared for the poor and provided gifts anonymously to families in need during the Christmas season. This holy man, St. Nicholas, became known as Old Saint Nick, or Santa Claus.”

He added, “Just as we give and receive gifts during this Christmas season, the most important gift we receive is the light of God’s love that is present to us in all or our sisters and brothers. We, in turn, are called to be light for others, bringing the hope of love incarnate to our world.”

In his closing prayer Father Looney spoke to the many students in the audience when he asked God to “send the light of wisdom upon our students as they write their final papers and prepare for the final exams.”

Fall semester classes at Stonehill ended December 9, and students were preparing for a week’s worth of examinations.

Allie Simone, a senior from New York, majoring in history, sang in the choir at the service.

“I think it’s really important for students and the rest of the Stonehill Community to be able to participate in Lessons and Carols because amid all the rushing around, we need to take time out to remember what is truly important about this season,” she said. “We need to gather as a community and celebrate as one in this Advent season and prepare for the coming of Christ’s birth. Santa Claus is not the real reason for the season.”

She added that the service helped her to “take a step back and remember why we celebrate Christmas, and it is not about the giving and receiving of gifts.”

There is another reason, Simone noted.

“With all the finals and papers that I have around this time, this event helps me to calm down and to celebrate my faith with other Chapel Choir members.”

Tim Gannon, a senior majoring in religious studies said, “During this season, our lives become befuddled with concerns over time and money, especially in this economic crisis. Stonehill’s Festival of Light and Hope remind each and every one of us of what the Advent season is all about — the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the light which shines through our troubled days and the hope that inspires us for the future.”

But even with the academic pressures, the outreach initiatives taken by those involved in campus ministry doesn’t falter.

Students have set up a Giving Tree, by which they respond to gift request tags they remove from the tree. Their response with gifts suggested by the needy go to Taunton State Hospital and to the One Fam-

ily Scholar Program at Father Bill’s and MainSpring House.

Students are also involved with the Blanket Drive, conducting a timely campaign to provide blankets to local shelters where many marginal people and families seek warmth in the winter months.

It was reported that the collection taken at the Festival of Light and Hope will be sent to Elizabeth Ruginis, a young Stonehill alumna, who graduated in 2008 and who is currently teaching children in the Congo. The proceeds will assist her in the purchase of books for the village library.

As the pace of college life quick-

ens, leaving little time for students to appreciate the real meaning of the season, Father Looney has organized a program of daily Gospel reflections that offer hope and inspire prayer.

Written by alumni, students, faculty, staff and trustees, the reflections provide resources for prayer and urge quiet time in solitude during Advent as people open their hearts to the blessings of Christmas, reported Martin McGovern, director of communications at Stonehill College. The program will run until January 11.

Those wanting to read the reflections can do so by visiting the Website www.stonehill.edu.

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The Anchor

Nursing home staffers, others share the joy of the season continued from page one

family to help brighten their day-to-day existence. But no way does that mean there aren’t others to fill the void.

“All of the staff members at the homes know which resi-

ald, the DHF main office takes a special collection for one home per year on a rotating basis to buy gifts for residents most in need. “Each year, our social workers at one of the homes use

IN A THEATER NEAR YOU — Each of the meeting areas in Catholic Memorial Home is adorned with a bright Christmas tree and residents are treated to classic Christmas movies on the largescreen TVs.

dents receive visitors and those who don’t,” Msgr. Edmund J. Fitzgerald, DHF director told The Anchor in a recent interview. “These wonderful people make a concentrated effort to show extra kindness to those individuals.”

Msgr. Fitzgerald, who has been with DHF for 20 years, indicated that there are no shortages of people who want to spread good cheer to the residents, not just at Christmas time, but at all special times throughout the year.

“We always have groups coming in to carol at this time of year,” he said. “But at other holiday times, we have events like cookouts, to make the residents always feel a part of what’s going on outside the homes.”

According to Msgr. Fitzger-

the collected funds to purchase gifts, and they know very well which residents are in need and what they need,” he said.

A visit to Catholic Memorial Home last week revealed the warm glow of lights and ornaments on each of the three spacious floors.

“The residents, families and staff all take great pride in decorating the meeting rooms and living quarters,” said Mary Jean Storino, CMH activities director. “Our residents just think it’s great and they share in hot chocolate, cookies and Cheetos, as the project continues.

“It was amazing when all the decorating was done and we switched on the lights, all you could hear were the collective ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaaahs.’”

Holy Union Sister Mary El-

DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW — Brownies from North Elementary School in Somerset caroled through the halls at Catholic Memorial Home recently. Many groups come to each of the diocese’s five nursing facilities to spread Christmas cheer.

len Donahue, a member of the home’s Pastoral Care team mentioned that this time of year can be difficult for some residents because they may have just lost someone close, or a family member died at this time of year in the past.

“They relive some painful memories, but they also find it so beneficial to talk about their loved ones with others. Not to suppress the blue feelings can be very therapeutic,” said Sister Donahue.

Deacon Peter Cote, also a member of the Pastoral Care team, told The Anchor, “The residents here have a great faith, even those who don’t have many or any family members. They all have their stories, and they’re grateful for the care and support they receive here.”

Storino said that many schools, organizations and clubs call the home to visit during the Christmas season to sing carols or bring gifts and cheer to the residents. An interesting note is that many of them are secular organizations.

During The Anchor’s visit to CMH, a Brownie troop from North Elementary School in Somerset arrived and walked the halls caroling for the residents. “Aren’t they wonderful?,” marveled one resident as she watched the young Scouts pass by.

“Many of the folks who come here to help want to come back the following year,” Storino said.

In addition to visits from caring outsiders, the residents are treated with sing-a-longs, field trips, recipe sharing, and watching classic Christmas movies on large-screen, wall-mounted TVs. While the Christmas films may be a favorite, soap operas provide stiff competition.

Storino, Sister Donahue and Deacon Cote all agreed that special care is given to the residents who are lonely and blue, particularly at this time of year.

“One interesting observation is that the residents look out for each other,” Sister Donahue told The Anchor. “They know who needs company and cheering, and they take it upon themselves to help.”

That, combined with a caring, loving CMH staff, provides a season of joy and cheer to all the residents. “We keep the spirit of Christmas alive here,” added Storino.

Patients in the Alzheimer’s Unit also partake in the joy of the season. “Sometimes they are not aware of what’s going on around them, but all of a sudden

December 19, 2008 there’s an awakening and it’s beautiful to see the joy they’re feeling,” said Sister Donahue.

But sharing Christmas joy and cheer is a two-way street.

“The CMH staff and some residents also collect gifts for the residents at St. Vincent’s Home just across the street, and the Catholic Social Services Gift of Giving program,” said Storino. “And sometimes the St. Vincent’s children come here to help out.”

Storino was also quick to point out that everyone at CMH, from medical staff to activity staff to groundskeeping and maintenance make it festive for residents and their families.

Ninety-three year old resident, Leo DiCorpo told The Anchor, “I love it here. The staff is so very caring and make this home for us. All of the residents feel the same way.

“This place is loaded with great people and the food is good too,” said DiCorpo, whose room is adorned with family photos, Red Sox memorabilia

each has its own Christmas party with the staff and the residents,” said Benevides. “Every resident in the home receives a gift, a small token for them to cherish throughout the year. No resident goes without a gift.”

Benevides also indicated many of the OLH staff buy gifts from their own pockets for residents most in need.

Other events at the Fairhaven home include Christmas concerts from schools and organizations and a Christmas dinner.

“The residents are very appreciative for the efforts,” Benevides said. “They particularly like the chance to try some foods they normally wouldn’t during the year because of diet restrictions,” he added.

New this year at OLH is a manger scene on the front lawn that Benevides said, “The residents really love.” And with the recent purchase of a new handicap-accessible van, some residents have the chance for a road trip to La Salette and other inspirational locations.

HOLIDAY CHEER — With pictures of family, Red Sox memorabilia and Christmas ornaments, CMH resident Leo DiCorpo’s room is filled with seasonal spirit. DiCorpo made the snowman and the tree ornaments shown on the shelf as part of a project by the home’s Men’s Club. (Photos by Dave Jolivet)

and Christmas decorations.

“The staff makes everyone feel special, not just at Christmas, but every day of the year.”

Each Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the large CMH chapel celebrates a Christmas Mass. “The chapel is very full on those days, and we even have neighbors from surrounding homes and apartments come for the Masses,” said Sister Donahue.

The residents who cannot make it to the chapel for the Mass, are able to watch from their rooms on closed-circuit TV. Manuel Benevides is administrator at Our Lady’s Haven in Fairhaven, and he told The Anchor his staff goes above and beyond at this time of year to make everyone feel the warmth of the season.

“At Our Lady’s Haven, we have four medical units, and

Msgr. Fitzgerald also pointed out that several parishes across the diocese donate their Giving Tree gifts to one or more of the Health Facilities sites.

He also said that the dedication and quality service provided by diocesan employees and volunteers isn’t just a Christmas phenomenon. “Our people are there for the residents every day of the year with the same love and care year round.”

Scenes like those at Catholic Memorial Home and Our Lady’s Haven play out in all of the Health Facilities locations — at Christmas, and always.

“People should know that our residents appreciate visits and activities not just at Christmas,” added Storino. “We welcome visitors of all kinds at any time of year. The residents are always most deserving and grateful.”

December 19, 2008

Around the Diocese Eucharistic Adoration: Eucharistic Adoration ACUSHNET — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Church, 125 Main Street, Mondays from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., ending with Evening Prayer and Benediction.

EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic adoration takes place First Fridays at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, following the 8:30 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 8 p.m.

NEW BEDFORD — Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place at St. Joseph-St. Therese Church, 51 Duncan Street, Mondays following the 8:30 a.m. Mass until 1:30 p.m. For more information call 508-995-2354.

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.

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.

TAUNTON — Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord Church, 31 First Street, immediately following the 8 a.m. Mass and continues throughout the day. Confessions are heard from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m., concluding with recitation of the rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

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.

WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street, holds perpetual eucharistic adoration. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

Miscellaneous: Miscellaneous CHATHAM — A Tridentine Mass is celebrated 11:30 a.m. every Sunday at Our Lady of Grace Chapel on Route 137.

FALL RIVER — A holy hour takes place at Holy Name Church, 709 Hanover Street, Tuesdays at 7 p.m., It consists of the rosary, Miraculous Medal Novena, a homily, Benediction, and the opportunity for confession. The Divine Mercy Chaplet is recited Wednesdays at 3 p.m.

HYANNIS — A Woman’s Concern will sponsor an eight- to 10-week women’s Bible Study, “Forgive and Set Free,” beginning January 15, time and place to be determined. The study is designed to help post abortive women receive God’s healing love. If you, or someone you know, is interested in attending, call AWC at 508-790-0584 or Martha at 617-538-8813.

All calls are confidential.

MASHPEE — A Christmas trip to La Salette Shrine will leave from Christ the King parking lot tomorrow at 1 p.m. Plans include attending a 3 p.m.

Christmas concert with Father Patenaude, attending Mass at the shrine followed by viewing of the lights and a bite to eat in the cafeteria, then returning to Mashpee at 6:30 p.m. Those interested in car pooling should call Betty Foley at 508-477-8477 or Sister Shirley at 508-477-7700, ext. 26.

NEW BEDFORD — Courage is a group for people dealing with samesex attractions while trying to live chastely. The group is faithful to the Catholic Church’s teachings on human sexuality. The meetings strive to provide participants with a sense of belonging. The next meeting will be held December 27 at 7 p.m. and will last about an hour. All are welcome.

Call Father Richard Wilson at 508-992-9408 for location and more information.

WEST HARWICH — A Holy Hour will be held December 22 at 1 p.m. at Holy Trinity Church, Route 28, sponsored by the Pro-Life Prayer Groups of Holy Trinity Church and Holy Redeemer Church. The rosary will be followed by Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

WESTPORT — Vespers are sung every Sunday in Advent at 4 p.m. in St. John the Baptist Church, 945 Main Road. All are welcome.

Pro-Life ATTLEBORO — Concerned faithful are needed to pray the rosary outside Four Women, Inc., an abortion clinic at 150 Emory Street, Thursdays from 3-4 p.m., or 4-5 p.m. and Saturdays from 7:30-8:30 a.m. For information call 508-238-5743.

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The Anchor

Sister Margaret Higgins, SUSC; teacher, guidance counselor

FALL RIVER — Holy Union Sister Margaret Higgins, also known as Sister Anne Thomas, a resident of the Holy Union Sisters Convent on Rock Street, died December 3 at the age of 86 after a brief illness. She was born in Fall River, the daughter of the late John and Mary (Duffy) Higgins.

Sister Margaret was a graduate of the former Sacred Hearts Academy, Fall River. She entered the Holy Union Sisters in Fall River in 1940 and pronounced her vows on August 26, 1942.

She studied at the Sacred Heart School of Education and received a bachelor’s degree from Stonehill College. She received master’s degree in English from The Catholic University, Washington, D.C. She did additional studies at Merrimack College,

New York; Rhode Island College and Bridgewater State College.

Sister Margaret taught in middle school, high school and college in Maryland, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She was superior at the Holy Union Preparatory School, Tiverton, R.I., formation director of the Holy Union Sisters and Sister Margaret served as ProHiggins, SUSC vincial Superior of the Fall River Province from 1965 to 1971. She was a member of the province personnel board and later was administrator of the Holy Union Sisters Retirement Community in Fall River. She was a teacher and guidance counselor at Coyle

and Cassidy High School in Taunton and vice principal at St. Clare’s High School in Roslindale. She was province secretary from 1991 to 1996. For 10 years she volunteered as a teacher and grant writer in the (Helping Adults Learn Today Program in Mattapan. Her most recent volunteer ministry was at St. Michael School in Fall River.

In addition to her Holy Union Sisters, she is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Edward and Ellen Higgins; several nieces, nephews, grand nieces and grand nephews. Her brothers, John and Thomas, and her sister, Anne E. Green, predeceased her.

Her Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at Sacred Heart Church in Fall River with burial at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Fall River.

FALL RIVER — Paul A. Dufour, 83, husband of Mrs. Denise Y. (Gagnon) Dufour, and brother of Father Clement E. Dufour, a retired priest of the Diocese of Fall River, died December 2.

Born in Fall River, he was the son of the late Gedeon and Albertine (Cote) Dufour.

A graduate of the former Msgr. Prevost High School in

Fall River, with his father he operated the Dufour & Son Market in the North End of Fall River. He was also employed by Ideal Laundry and St. Anne’s Hospital, also in Fall River.

He was a member of the Holy Name Society of the former St. Mathieu Parish, and was pastsecretary of L’Union Canadienne

St. Jean Baptiste de Bowenville.

Besides his wife of 54 years and his priest brother, he leaves another brother, Roger P. Dufour of Somerset; and nieces and nephews. He was also the brother of the late Yvette Proulx.

His funeral Mass was celebrated December 6 in St. Anne’s Church. Interment was in Notre Dame Cemetery.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Mrs. Sharon A. (Jerge) Stewart, 65, wife of Gary E. Stewart and sister of Father Lawrence A. Jerge, CSC, parochial vicar at Holy Cross Parish in South Easton, died December 5.

Besides her priest brother, she leaves a sister, Janie C. McIntosh; two daughters, Jenny A. Jurek and Amy R. D’Auria; a son, Daniel A. Stewart; six grandchildren; and nieces and nephews.

She was also the mother of the late Mary Jane Stewart.

Her Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated December 9 in St. Ambrose Church in Buffalo, N.Y.

Paul A. Dufour; brother of Father Clement E. Dufour

Mrs. Sharon Stewart; sister of Holy Cross Father Lawrence A. Jerge

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks

Dec. 22 Rev. Adriano Moniz, Retired Pastor, Our Lady of Angels, Fall River, 1964 Rev. Armand P. Paradis, S.J., Psychologist, San Francisco, Calif., 1991 Dec. 23 Rev. Owen J. Kiernan, Pastor, Immaculate Conception, Fall River, 1901 Rev. Charles P. Trainor, SS, St. Edward Seminary, Seattle, Wash., 1947 Rev. Msgr. John A. Silvia, Retired Pastor, St. John the Baptist, New Bedford, 1970 Rev. William E. Collard, Retired Pastor, St. Theresa, New Bedford, 1986 Dec. 24 Rev. James K. Beaven, Pastor, Sacred Heart, Taunton, 1886 Rev. Timothy J. Duff, Assistant, St. Joseph, Woods Hole, 1914 Dec. 27 Rev. Thomas J. Stapleton, Pastor, Corpus Christi, Sandwich, 1956 Rev. Msgr. Armand Levasseur, Retired Pastor, St. Anne, New Bedford, 1970 Rev. Manuel Andrade, Former Pastor Our Lady of Health, Fall River, 1995 Dec. 28 Rev. Charles R. Smith, Pastor, Immaculate Conception, Fall River, 1955 Rev. Edward J. Sharpe, Pastor, St. Patrick, Somerset; Rev. Clement Paquet, O.P., Assistant, St. Anne, Fall River, 1987

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The Anchor

Christmas Schedule

Confessions Wednesday, December 24: 11:00 a.m. - Noon Christmas Masses Vigils - Wednesday, December 24: 4:00 & 6:30 p.m.

With Musical Prelude at 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, Christmas Day: 7:00, 8:30, 10:30 a.m., and Noon New Year’s Day Masses Vigils - Wednesday, December 31: 5:30 p.m.

Thursday, New Year’s Day: 8:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 5:30 p.m.

Our Lady of the Assumption Church 76 Wianno Avenue - P.O. Box E — Osterville, Massachusetts 02655 http://www.assumptioncapecod.org

December 19, 2008