Students create paper chain of peace April 11, 2013
3
The Catholic Spirit
Celebrating 20 years
Newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
News with a Catholic heart
13-18 TheCatholicSpirit.com
Season of
Light
Helena Costanzo of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul enjoys Mass by candlelight during the Easter Vigil March 31. She was there with her siblings and parents, Dan and Christine. Turn to page 19 to learn more about the 50-day Easter season. Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit
Catholic, Lutheran bishops urge state lawmakers to protect poor The Catholic Spirit As state lawmakers work to craft a budget to address a struggling economy, revenue shortages and emerging needs, Minnesota’s Catholic and Lutheran bishops are urging them to ensure there is a “circle of protection” around programs serving the poor. “In our churches, we are committed to addressing not only the spiritual poverty that afflicts our communities, but also the many manifestations we see of material poverty,” the bishops said in an open letter this week to members of the Minnesota House and Senate as well as Gov. Mark Dayton. “Therefore, we ask both parties to work together toward a budget that alleviates poverty and works to build a hopeful future for all Minnesotans,” they said.
Ensuring dignity Minnesota’s Catholic bishops, including Archbishop John Nienstedt and Bishop Lee Piché, and the bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America signed the letter. Attached was a copy
“In our churches, we are committed to
addressing not only the spiritual poverty that afflicts our communities, but also the many manifestations we see of material poverty.
”
MINNESOTA CATHOLIC AND LUTHERAN (ELCA) BISHOPS
of a national “circle of protection” letter signed by faith leaders around the country and sent to federal lawmakers as they grapple with difficult budget decisions. “As leaders of the state’s two largest faith communities, comprising PLEASE TURN TO MINNESOTA ON PAGE 9
2
APRIL 11, 2013 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Ministry supports those with same-sex attraction
That They May All Be One Archbishop John C. Nienstedt
Faith in Action follows Church’s teachings on human sexuality
Courage, also known in Minnesota as “Faith in Action” (FIA), is a Catholic ministry, endorsed by the Holy See, serving those persons with same-sex attraction (SSA) who seek spiritual and moral support to live chaste lives in accordance with the Roman Catholic Church’s teachings on human sexuality. Before all else, FIA is a spiritual program, albeit one with very practical methods. In a confidential setting, greatly diverse people mentor and are mentored in the sometimes difficult path of faithfulness to Jesus Christ and his way of life. Through honesty, accountability, friendly encouragement, mutual prayerful support and commonly held goals, FIA provides a safe and healthy environment to grow in holiness, hope and virtue. FIA’s five goals are: 1) to live chaste lives as in accordance with the Roman Catholic Church’s teachings on homosexuality; 2) to dedicate one’s life to Christ through prayer, sacraments and service; 3) to foster a spirit of fellowship, sharing thoughts and experiences, so that no one will have to be alone in facing the unique problems associated with having same-sex attraction; 4) to encourage one another in forming and sustaining chaste friendships; and 5) to serve as good examples to others.
Archbishop’s schedule
The FIA program helps each person take the best step forward from his or her own individual and unique starting point. Attractions and desires may not be voluntary but one’s response to them ought to be made responsibly, based on moral soundness. Recently, one member of the Twin Cities Faith in Action group gave witness to his own experience with these powerful words:
■ Thursday, April 11: 8:30 a.m., St. Paul, Archbishop’s Residence: Planning for “lectio divina” at the University of St. Thomas. 3 p.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Archdiocesan Tribunal case review. 5:30 p.m., St. Paul, Archbishop’s Residence: Dinner with The St. Paul Seminary archdiocesan Theology III class. ■ Saturday, April 13: 10 a.m., Minneapolis, Basilica of St. Mary: Confirmation. 5 p.m., Eagan, Trinity School at River Ridge: Spring benefit dinner. ■ Sunday, April 14: 2 p.m., St. Paul, Cathedral of St. Paul: Confirmation. 8 p.m., St. Paul, University of St. Thomas: “Lectio divina.” ■ Monday, April 15: 6 a.m., St. Paul, St. John Vianney College Seminary: Holy Hour and Holy Eucharist, followed by breakfast. 10:30 a.m., St. Paul, The St. Paul Seminary: Meeting with administration. 11:35 a.m., St. Paul, The St. Paul Seminary: Holy Eucharist, followed by lunch with seminarians. 6 p.m., St. Paul, Archbishop’s Residence: BioMedical Ethics Commission meeting and dinner. ■ Tuesday, April 16: 8:30 a.m., St. Paul, Archbishop’s Residence: Scheduling meeting with staff. 1:30 p.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Archbishop’s Council meeting. 3 p.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Archdiocesan Finance Council meeting. ■ Wednesday, April 17: 10 a.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Audiotaping for the radio, “No Ordinary Conversation.”
PLEASE TURN TO FAITH ON PAGE 12
PLEASE TURN TO SCHEDULE ON PAGE 12
Making a difference
The Catholic Spirit
Faith, Community, Compassion
The Catholic Spirit’s mission is to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. It seeks to inform, educate, evangelize and foster a spirit of community within the Catholic Church by disseminating news in a professional manner and serving as a forum for discussion of contemporary issues.
Vol. 18 — No. 8 MOST REVEREND JOHN C. NIENSTEDT Publisher SARAH MEALEY Associate publisher JOE TOWALSKI Editor Materials credited to CNS copyrighted by Catholic News Service. All other materials copyrighted by Catholic Spirit Publishing Company.
Subscriptions: $29.95 per year Senior 1-year: $24.95 To subscribe: (651) 291-4444 Display Advertising: (651) 291-4444 Classified advertising: (651) 290-1631 Published bi-weekly by the Catholic Spirit Publishing Company, a non-profit Minnesota Corporation, 244 Dayton Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102 (651) 291-4444, FAX (651) 291-4460. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN, and additional post offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Catholic Spirit, 244 Dayton Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102. WWW.THECATHOLICSPIRIT.COM
E-MAIL: CATHOLICSPIRIT@ARCHSPM.ORG
USPS #093-580
"The services at our chapel are so personal. You're with your friends and the priests know us." – Mary B., tenant
Adult Day Program Independent and Assisted Living Enhanced Assisted Living/Memory Care Transitional Care Therapy Services Open House Skilled Nursing 1 to 3 p.m., Mass 6 Days a Week
Please call 651-793-2100 to schedule a tour. Cerenity Senior Care - Marian of Saint Paul 200 Earl St., St. Paul, MN 55106 www.CerenitySeniorCare.com
Sunday, April 21
Official His Excellency, the Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt, has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Effective March 20, 2013 Reverend Bernadine Ness, OSB, granted the faculties of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Effective June 15, 2013 Reverend Michael Johnson, assigned “ad nutum episcopi” to the Metropolitan Tribunal, and simultaneously released for three years of graduate study at Catholic University of America. Departures: Reverend Brian Gilles, CSsR, reassigned from the Redemptorist Community at Saint Alphonsus, effective March 7, 2013. Father Gilles has been assigned to Saint Clement Health Care Center in Liguori, Missouri.
ACCW convention features workshops and fellowship The Catholic Spirit The St. Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women will hold its annual convention, “Be the Voice of Catholic Women,” May 1 and 2 at Guardian Angels in Oakdale. The first day includes Mass with ACCW spiritual adviser, Father David Kohner. Musician Father Jan Michael Joncas, who serves as an artist-in-residence research fellow in Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, is the main speaker. Father Joncas also will concelebrate Mass. Officers will be elected during the afternoon business meeting. The evening program includes a wine and cheese social, banquet catered by Lake Elmo Inn, and live music. Caroline Brennan, a senior communications officer with Catholic Relief Services, will speak at the banquet. The convention continues Thursday with a variety of workshops featured in two sessions. Morning session speakers include Patrick Trueman, president and CEO of Morality in Media, based in Washington, D.C.; Father Tom McQuaid, a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, who will speak about advocacy on behalf of the poor through Catholic Relief Services; and Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference. Afternoon speakers include Father John Mitchell, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who will speak on ministering to families in crisis, and Father Gregory Mastey, a priest of the Diocese of St. Cloud, who will present “Growing Spiritually Where You are Planted.” Dave Hrbacek, writer and photographer for The Catholic Spirit, will talk about effective communication through a Catholic lens. Archbishop John Nienstedt will preside at Mass followed by a catered lunch and installation of officers. Both days provide time for adoration, visiting marketplace booths and fellowship. Register online at ACCWARCHSPM.ORG, or call the ACCW office at (651) 291-4545. Cost for the two-day convention including meals, is $65. One-day attendance is $30, and the Wednesday banquet-only is $20. All costs increase $10 after April 12.
“Help one another. This is what Jesus teaches us. This is what I do. And I do it with my heart." Pope Francis, Mass of the Lord’s Supper, 2013
Local News from around the archdiocese
APRIL 11, 2013
Popes Francis, Benedict inspire Catholic school students
Kindergarten students at All Saints School in Lakeville were inspired to perform acts of peace and love after studying the topic of peace in religion class. The students recorded their acts on paper strips, using red for love and white for peace, said Susie Smith, kindergarten teacher. The strips were then linked to make a paper chain as a visual reminder to treat others with love, respect and kindness. After just two weeks, they had 210 links on the chain and decided to ask the rest of the school to join in on the project, Smith said. The paper chain now hangs from the ceiling, reaching from the top floor to the bottom floor and includes 4,367 acts of peace and love. “The visual image of this chain is a wonderful symbol and reminder of how we should all treat others with kindness and be helpful to one another every day,” said Karen Meskill, All Saints principal. “The kindergartners were a great inspiration to us all to remember to reach out to others and do an act of kindness each day. We are blessed to be part of such a caring and loving community.” Other parents have said that their children are helping around the house, sharing more, not fighting, caring for pets and telling people how much they care about them, Smith said.
Students at Catholic schools in the archdiocese have been reacting to the papal transition in many ways. Some schools have been inspired by Pope Francis to complete works of mercy. Others are writing letters, including to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Read more below and on page 9:
Holy Family classes write thank you letters to Pope Emeritus Benedict Students at Holy Family Academy in St. Louis Park wrote letters to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI expressing gratitude for his leadership and wishing him well. Here are exerpts from some of them: “Dear Holy Father, I love you. Thank you for taking care of us. I am 7.” Maximilian Berg, First Grade “Dear Holy Father, Thank you for being our Pope. I loved you when you were pope.” Cecilia Dick, First Grade “Dear Holy Father, I am sorry you are resigning so soon. I hope you have a great time. Amen.” Sam Reinhardt, First Grade
PLEASE TURN TO STUDENTS ON PAGE 9
Jim Bovin / The Catholic Spirit
Kindergarten teacher Susie Smith walks her class through the hallway at All Saints School in Lakeville under a paper chain that hangs from the ceiling documenting the students’ acts of peace and love.
Hearing Tests Set for Senior Citizens Announcement — Free electronic hearing tests will be given all next week Monday thru Friday from 9 am to 4 pm. The tests have been arranged for anyone who suspects they are not hearing clearly. People who generally feel they can hear, but cannot understand words clearly are encouraged to come in for the test, which uses the latest electronic equipment. Everyone, especially those over age 55 should have an electronic hearing test once
3
Paper chain is visual reminder of acts of peace and love
The Catholic Spirit
“Dear Holy Father, Thank you for your dedication to the church. You have helped my family learn about love. You have been a great leader of the Catholic Church.” Bridget Healy, Second Grade
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
a year. Demonstrations of the latest devices to improve clarity of speech will be programmed using a computer to your particular needs — on the spot — after the tests. See (and HEAR) for yourself if newlydeveloped methods of correction will help you understand words better. Tests will be performed at one of 20 convenient Greater Twin Cities Avada Hearing Care locations.
Call 1-877-328-9161
www.avada.com ©2013 HHM, Inc. 304
Like what you’re reading? Call 651.291.4444 to subscribe
4
Local
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • APRIL 11, 2013
A place for peace
Catholic woman creates retreat center, prepares to celebrate 25th year By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit
What better place than the Holy Land to discern your next step in life? That’s what Shirley Wanchena of St. Louis Park decided back in 1977, shortly after her husband, Victor, had died after a six-year battle with heart disease. Newly widowed and with the youngest of her six children turning 18, she wondered what God had in store for her. At age 49, she figured there was plenty of time left to write a new chapter in her life. One of her children was a missionary in Zambia along with his wife, and Wanchena chose to pay them a visit. On the way, she wanted to take some time for a retreat in Jerusalem to engage in some serious discernment. Out of that 10-day journey to the desert was born a place that offers 1,000 people a year the same experience that she had. Her sense that God wanted to create a place where people could get away and spend time alone with him led to the creation of Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), a 240-acre wooded place of serenity just outside the northern border of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in Isanti County. Next month, Pacem will celebrate 25 years of existence. Its 16 one-person hermitages are open year round and offer silence and solitude to those who make them home for however many days they choose.
Discerning the future But, such a place was not on her radar screen when she boarded a plane headed for Israel shortly after Victor died. In fact, her intent was to decide between four other possibilities that lay before her. One option was a job offer to be a director of religious education, a position she had held while raising her children. Another was a position as a pastoral minister. Yet another was to go to Zambia and join her son and daughter-in-law as a missionary. Finally, she had met a man who also was widowed and indicated that he wanted their relationship to get serious, even permanent. She felt she could be happy with any one of the four possibilities, but agonized over which of them to choose. In Jerusalem, she saw a priest whom she had met earlier, Father Francis Martin, founder of The Word Among Us, a Catholic Scripture study guide with headquarters in Michigan. He asked her a simple question, but one that pierced her heart: “How are you feeling?” She quickly replied, “Fine.” But, he knew better. She had just lost her husband, and her nest was now empty. When he pressed her, she finally said that she had no idea. He then instructed her to go back and figure it out, then call him. That simple question planted the seed for something deeper than she had ever imagined. She decided to take an eightday Ignatian retreat at a center in Oshkosh, Wis., to sort things out. The retreat master, Father Bill Wren, met
Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit
Shirley Wanchena stands in front of one of the 16 hermitages at Pacem in Terris, which she opened on May 1, 1988.
How to encounter God in the silence By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit
Retreats at Pacem in Terris are designed for simplicity and a singular purpose — encountering God in the silence and solitude of the woods. The 240-acre center north of Anoka on Highway 47 contains 16 small hermitages featuring one room and a porch. They have no electricity or running water, and meals are dropped off daily, or people can come to the main house for dinner. There also are three rooms in the main house for those who have special needs, or need electricity and/or running water. According to founder Shirley Wanchena, who gives each person a brief orientation before his or her retreat, the experience involves five components: ■ Holy rest; ■ Praying the Scriptures; ■ Writing a letter to God; ■ Walking the wooded trails; and ■ Sitting in a rocking chair to ponder with her daily to hear what was happening in the silence. Turns out, nothing at all was happening. Finally, on the last day, exasperated and in tears, she confessed to Father Wren that she was no closer to knowing God’s will than when she had arrived. The only sense she got was during her final meeting with him before going home. She felt God tell her that the next words of the priest would be the key. “Father Bill was finishing, saying, ‘You know God will bless whatever you choose,’” said Shirley, now 85 and a convert to the Catholic Church who was baptized at age 19 and belongs to the Church of St. Paul in Ham Lake. “‘But, I think what he’s asking you, Shirley, is would you give him a blank check?’” “It took me seven months to sign that check,” she said. “Things kept surfacing that I didn’t want to do.” Finally, she gave the complete surrender God was asking for. Soon after that, he
the experience and talk to God. Other than the short meeting with Wanchena, no other spiritual direction is provided, so the person can focus exclusively on an encounter with God. “We recommend at least two nights so that you can have what we call a ‘desert day,’ where you wake up and go to bed in the hermitage,” Wanchena said. “And, there’s no place you have to go, nothing you have to do, and you can choose not to look at a clock. It’s freedom. And, the gift of the hermitage is the freedom to be able to enter into that environment and be more fully attentive to the presence of God.” There is no cost to make a retreat, but the suggested donation is $90 a day to cover expenses. The center is open year round, except three days around Christmas, the Easter Triduum and two weeks for maintenance in July. For more information about Pacem in Terris and/or to schedule a retreat, visit WWW.PACEMINTERRIS.ORG or call (763) 4446408. gave her a directive, contained in a thought that popped into her mind: “Create an environment where my people can come and be alone with me.” After accepting this message, she got right to work. With some background in real estate, she teamed up with her two sons, Jeff and Michael, and son-in-law Mark Croteau, who now works for the Cathedral of St. Paul, and started driving the outer reaches of the archdiocese looking for land. They went south, east and west of her home in St. Louis Park, but found nothing affordable. Wanting something about an hour away from Minneapolis, they finally decided to head north. Desiring a minimum of 40 acres, they found such a parcel on Highway 47 north of Anoka. They used money from a bonus Croteau had recently received, then took out a mortgage for the rest. Eventually, Wanchena sold her home and used it to help build the first three hermitages, plus
a house for her to live in. She added to the original 40 acres over the years, and plans to build there more hermitages. She vividly remembers the day she arrived to move in — and the clear confirmation of what this simple chunk of land had to offer. “The night I moved here was Oct. 16, 1987,” she said. “I had closed on our house and closed the door on our family home for the last time. I had my things in the car and took off up 47, tears rolling down my cheeks, tears of joy, happiness, excitement and sadness.” She turned into the long, gravel driveway of Pacem, and instantly felt something different. “It was a powerful sense, a presence,” she said. “It was like a wall of peace, and I drove into it and stopped the car. It was just a holy, holy presence. It was a peace beyond what I had ever known. . . . This is the gift of Pacem for all who can receive it.” It is a calming presence, but also energizing. This divine spirit has captivated at least one retired priest. Father Timothy Nolan, former pastor of St. Paul in Ham Lake who provided guidance to Wanchena when she started planning Pacem, now makes the retreat center his home. He moved there when he retired in 2005, but he is not slowing down. “I’m busier than ever, but I’m doing the stuff I love to do for the Lord,” said Father Nolan, 74, who offers his services on site, but also goes to parishes to give retreats and spiritual direction. “There is no end to the stories about the living God, who meets them out there in the hermitage. They’re just all excited about it. And, they usually want to tell somebody. “So, we get to hear a lot of their stories, which are usually so inspiring. As Shirley often says, these [stories] are our paychecks, when we hear what God is doing. It’s worth every little bit of effort it takes to do this.”
Getting revitalized At least half of the 15,000 people who have come for a retreat since Pacem opened on May 1, 1988 make return visits, Wanchena said. And, in some cases, the connection with Pacem becomes deeper. Barbara Koch first visited Pacem back in the early 1990s, when she was asked to drive a Visitation Sister there. Her two daughters had attended Convent of the Visitation School in Mendota Heights, so she had gotten to know the sisters. Once there, Wanchena invited Koch to spend half a day in a hermitage. That led to annual visits for the next 20 years, plus a friendship with Wanchena that led Koch to join the board of directors — and finance the building of a larger main house and the final six hermitages in 2000. “I went out to one of the retreat houses and God zapped me right off the bat [during the first visit],” said Koch, 82 and a member of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata. “It was just a wonderful occasion for me to sit. “This is a wonderful place to get your spiritual mind, heart and soul revitalized. That’s the way I saw Pacem — as a place that you could get away and stop your busyness in life and say, ‘OK, God, what do you have for me? What do you want me to do?’ And, learn how to pray with just you and God in that room together out in the woods.”
Local
APRIL 11, 2013 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
5
Pay it Forward projects bring joy, help to those in need By Dianne Towalski The Catholic Spirit
Sylvia Such was bursting with excitement as she pulled miniature candy bars from a large bowl in the basement of her Prior Lake home recently. The scene is every chocolate lover’s dream, but her haul of treats is not what put the wide grin on her face. Rather, it was the thought of those who would be receiving the goodies — Southern Valley Alliance for Battered Women, Loaves and Fishes at St. Mark’s in Shakopee, as well as several area priests. Such was assembling care packages for her Pay it Forward for Lent project. Hers was one of the three projects funded $100 by The Catholic Spirit’s Pay it Forward for Lent initiative. Such, a member of St. John the Baptist in Savage, enlisted the help of her family and friends and created 250 care packages to deliver to people that needed a little joy. Each package contained a postage-paid handmade greeting card so the recipient could send it to someone else and share the joy even further. “Some of [the friends’] parents talked about how it has inspired them to do a project in their family,” said Julie Such, Sylvia’s mom. Such has personally delivered almost all of the packages, but mailed a package to Father Glenn O’Connor in Plainfield, Ind., who married her parents and baptized her. She sent a package to Archbishop Nienstedt and received a note back from him. “Dear Sylvia,” he wrote, “My thanks for your Easter greetings. I pray that you, too, will have great peace and joy. With best wishes, Archbishop Nienstedt.” She even sent a package to Pope Francis and hopes to get a note from him, Julie Such said. Some of the remaining packages were taken to Safe Haven for Youth, a shelter in Shakopee, and the rest will be handed out at the Simpson Housing Services shelter in Minneapolis, Julie Such said.
Water project Another project funded by The Catholic Spirit’s Pay it Forward for Lent initiative was the building of a water tank for villagers in Kampala, Uganda, submitted by the St. Tim’s Overseas Project (S.T.O.P.), at St. Timothy in Blaine. “Our projects are progressing very well,” said Kate Shea,
Sylvia Such, left, works to assemble care packages for her Pay it Forward project with help from her sister Sophia, right, and Sophia’s friend, Kate Pakiz. Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit
a member of the group. “We’ve raised enough money to complete the water project for Project Uplift.” The group raised $11,331.25 for the project with a special collection, and it worked with Project Uplift, a project run by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. The money from Pay it Forward was used for hardware to install the tank. Sacred Heart Brother Paul Montero traveled from Baton Rouge, La., to speak at Masses March 16 and 17. “Brother Paul did a wonderful job explaining the history and need of this water project,” Shea said. “Thanks to The Catholic Spirit and the ‘Pay it Forward’ program for giving us a wonderful start.”
Making sandwiches Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Minnetonka partnered with the “363 Days” organization to make and package sandwiches for the hungry.
“We met our goal of 2,000 sandwiches,” said Amber Bowman, a sixth-grade teacher at the school. The Pay it Forward money was used to purchase sandwich-making supplies. Allen Law, head of the “363 Days Sandwich Project,” spoke at the school, explaining to the students how the money they raised and the sandwiches they made would directly impact the lives of people in need, Bowman said. After his talk, the students broke into groups to assemble and package the sandwiches. “Money that exceeded the cost of supplies was donated to Minneapolis Recreation Development [an organization that feeds and provides emergency assistance to as many of the homeless in Minneapolis every day as possible] to go toward bus tokens so that some of the homeless would have a warm and safe place to be at night if shelters were full,” Bowman said.
Capital campaign feasibility study includes online survey The Catholic Spirit Archbishop John Nienstedt is inviting parishioners throughout the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to complete an online survey as part of a feasibility study to determine support for a proposed archdiocesan capital campaign. The survey, which is available at STUDY.ARCHSPM.ORG, is in addition to a series of town hall meetings on the topic being held across the archdiocese (see schedule, at right, for a list of remaining meetings.) The feasibility study is being directed by the Steier Group, a Catholic development consulting firm seeking feedback from representatives from every parish in the archdiocese. “We are gathering input from priests and parishioners through personal interviews, mail surveys, town hall meetings and online surveys,” said Jim Steier, CEO of the Steier Group. “It is our intent to ensure that everyone within the archdiocese has the opportunity to share their thoughts. Having an online survey will
give parishioners another way to provide their opinions.”
Spanish language town hall meeting set for April 30
The Steier Group is scheduled to collect data through the end of May and present its final report and recommendations to the archdiocese in June.
As part of the feasibility study to determine support for an archdiocesan capital campaign, a Spanish language town hall meeting has been scheduled for 7 p.m. April 30 at Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul. The gathering will include an overview of capital campaigns, small group discussions to identify parish needs, and a question-and-answer session. “This year is the most positive in a decade or more for our Latino community, and so we are ready to grow, to reach out and to deepen our faith,” said Father Kevin McDonough, pastor of St. Peter Claver in St. Paul and Incarnation in Minneapolis. “All of that takes resources, and I think this is the right time for us to learn together how to deepen a sense of stewardship among Hispanic Catholics.” Bishop Lee Piché, auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis; Father Kevin Kenney, vicar for Latino ministry and pastor at Our Lady of Guadalupe; and Mike Halloran, archdiocesan director of development and stewardship, will be in attendance to lead the discussion. “It is important as part of the archdiocese that the Latino community gather to learn more about how we can support the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis,” Father Kenney said. “By attending the Spanish-speaking town hall meeting, we will be able to have a voice as part of the direction of the stewardship plan for the archdiocese. Because our input has been requested, I am hopeful that the Latino community will wel-
“The purpose of this formal and confidential study is to gather valuable feedback from our priests and lay leaders so that I can make an informed decision regarding how to proceed,” Archbishop Nienstedt said. “The opinions shared by parishioners are essential in planning for the future of our local Church.” The capital campaign would ensure ongoing support for key ministry efforts in parishes, schools and throughout the archdiocese. It proposes to raise $165 million to support six ministry areas: strengthening parishes, preparing the next generation of Catholic leaders, supporting Catholic Charities, preserving the Cathedral of St. Paul and Basilica of St. Mary, caring for the elderly and fostering Latino ministries and programs.
Upcoming town hall meetings ■ April 11, 7-8:30 p.m., Holy Name of Jesus, 155 County Rd. 24, Wayzata ■ April 24, 7-8:30 p.m., Our Lady of Grace, 5071 Eden Ave., Edina ■ April 30, 7-8:30 p.m., Our Lady of Guadalupe (town hall meeting in Spanish,) 401 Concord St., St. Paul ■ May 1, 7-8:30 p.m., St. John Neumann, 4030 Pilot Knob Rd., Eagan ■ May 8, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., St. Olaf, 215 S. 8th St., Minneapolis ■ May 9, 5:30-7 p.m., Hayden Center, 328 Kellogg Blvd. W., St. Paul Each town hall meeting will include a brief presentation, followed by questions and answers. Attendees will be asked to complete a survey at the end of the evening. Those who would like to attend should RSVP. Please call Colleen Thuente at (651) 291-4531, or RSVP via email to: THUENTEC@ARCHSPM.ORG.
come this opportunity.” Redescubre: — the archdiocesan Rediscover: initiative’s Spanish language counterpart — drew about 1,000 people to its speakers series in February and March. About 2,500 people attended a Latino Family Day celebration at the Cathedral of St. Paul last October. Currently, 23 parishes in the archdiocese have Masses in Spanish. — The Catholic Spirit
6
APRIL 11, 2013 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Stewardship Day to offer practical ideas, networking opportunities The Catholic Spirit
in their own parish/ diocese ■ Develop relationships with, and find resources from, conference sponsors. ■ Network with other area Catholics.
The Region VIII Stewardship Day is set for 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 20 at St. Peter in Mendota. The collaborative effort is hosted and sponsored by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the other nine dioceses in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. The conference is open to pastors, associates, deacons, parish and finance council members, stewardship committee members, school principals, directors of religious education, youth and campus ministers, diocesan and parish staff, and others who are interested in embracing stewardship as a way of life.
Variety of presenters
ZECH
Presenters include Archbishop John Nienstedt, Father Darrin J.G. Gurr, Charles Zech and Nathan Dungan. Father Gurr is a priest of the Archdiocese of Winnipeg, Manitoba, who has facilitated workshops, conferences, study days and retreats on stewardship throughout Canada and the United States. Zech is a professor of economics and director of The Center for the Study of
Attendees will: ■ Learn more about stewardship as a way of life. ■ Discover practices that will work well
Church Management at Villanova University. He is the author of several books on church management and stewardship, including “Best Practices in Parish Stewardship.” Dungan is the founder and presiDUNGAN dent of Share Save Spend. For more than 20 years, Dungan has been helping individuals and families align their values with their money decisions.
Register now Register online by April 15 at HTTPS://GIV
ING.ARCHSPM.ORG/STEWARDSHIPCONFERENCE.
Cost is $20 per person and includes a continental breakfast and lunch.
These real estate agents can help you find your 1255 Larpenteur Avenue W Roseville, Minnesota 55113 Phone: (651) 271-1855 Email: John@JohnPiche.com
John Piché Top Producer
Professional ★ Quality ★ Service
Warren Wessel: Values driven. Honest. Real estate agent.
David Vanneste REALTOR®
Office: 651.481.6711 thevannestegroup@ gmail.com www.vanneste.com
Your trusted Realtors for over 26 years
Kathy Kueppers REALTOR®, CRS Owner/Broker Cell: (651) 470-0675 Office: (651) 365-0230 kathykueppers@realtyexecutives.com 33 E. Wentworth Ave. West St. Paul, MN 55118
Named a 2009 Super Real Estate Agent by Mpls./St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business
Peggy Langeslay plangeslay@cbburnet.com 651-335-8515
I create the best results for you. This IS the BEST time to sell your home in the last five years. We have low interest rates for buyers too. Innovative marketing & cutting edge technology can make a difference in your results. Many of our listings sell based on our international exposure. We have National and International relocation networks to benefit you and your friends. I have been a Real Estate business leader for 35+ years with a team that covers both Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Phone: 612-419-7453 • Fax: 651-738-7060
wwessel@cbburnet.com www.warrenwessel.com
When buying or selling your home, phone… Phyllis Salmen 612-750-3478 www.PhonePhyllis.com
21 years serving the community I live in. Awarded Super Real Estate Agent by Mpls. St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Monthly 9 years in a row.
If you would like to advertise on this page, please call The Catholic Spirit's Advertising Department 651-291-4444.
MOOSE GIANNETTI
CEO, Moose Gower, Inc. REALTOR®, broker, GRI, ESA, e-PRO, Ecobroker®
CELL: FAX:
612-961-9653 651-646-4267
moose@cbburnet.com www.callmoose.com Shoreview Office 100 Village Center Dr. North Oaks, MN 55127 Owned and Operated by NRT, LLC
“If you have to Vamoose, call Moose”
“We need to be mindful that family unity strengthens [this country’s] social backbone.” Kevin Appleby, director of migration policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Nation/World APRIL 11, 2013
News from around the U.S. and the globe
Rallies call for immigration reform By Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service
Thousands of people in Miami, New Jersey, Boston, California, Illinois and other places gathered in early April to call for immigration reform legislation, to urge an end to deportation policies that separate families, and generally to open a nationwide push for immigrationfocused changes aimed at Congress and the White House. Those events — several of them held April 6 and 7 — were leading up to an April 10 rally on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. There, an expected tens of thousands of people were to call on Congress to move faster on comprehensive immigration reform legislation that is seen to have the best chance for passage since the 1980s. Another theme of speeches at the afternoon rally, and of the messages participants were bringing to Congress in lobbying meetings that day, was to be a push to change current deportation policies, which end up separating families across borders, said supporters of the events in teleconferences for reporters in early April. The so-called “gang of eight,” a bipartisan panel of senators working on an immigration reform bill intended to appeal to both parties had hoped to release their draft legislation as soon as they returned from a two-week break April 8. Advocates working with the senators and their staffs on the bill told reporters April 8 that the bill wasn’t quite ready but that perhaps it would be introduced by the end of the week. It’s estimated to be about 1,500 pages long.
Keeping families together is key In a teleconference the previous week in which faith and labor leaders focused on how families are affected by current policies, Kevin Appleby, director of migration policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that keeping families together is a crucial social element of the immigration system. “We need to be mindful that family unity strengthens the social backbone” of the country, he said.
Pope Francis has appointed Msgr. John Folda, a seminary rector in Nebraska, to be the bishop of Fargo, N.D. He succeeds Archbishop Samuel Aquila, who was named to head the Denver Archdiocese in May 2012. The pope also has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Jerome Hanus of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa, and named Bishop Michael Jackels of Wichita, Kan., as his successor. The changes were announced April 8 in Washington by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States. BISHOP DESIGNATE Bishop-designate Folda, 51, will be FOLDA ordained at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Fargo sometime in June, according to a news release from the Diocese of Lincoln, where the newly named bishop has been rector of St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward since 1999. The native of Omaha, Neb., was ordained for the Lincoln Diocese May 27, 1989. “Although I never expected to become a bishop or to leave this diocese, I feel great joy at the opportunity God has given me to serve him in a new way,” he said in a statement. “I am thrilled to go to Fargo. . . . I also am
7
Allowing over-counter sale of contraceptives to all ages ‘simply wrong’ Catholic News Service
CNS photo / Robert Galbraith, Reuters
Mohamed Farag, 12, is joined by adults to watch a video after receiving proof of U.S. citizenship during a ceremony in San Francisco last Jan. 30.
A proposal to require immigrants already in the United States to go home in order to legalize their status, for example, would be one more way the immigration system separates families, Appleby said. “If the goal here is to get people regularized, we shouldn’t put up barriers to making that happen,” he said. “If we give people a half loaf, this issue is going to fester into the future.” AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka on that teleconference noted that labor and business leaders had come to a consensus about how to expand the number of visas available annually. But, he added, “family reunification is a core tenet of our immigration policy in the labor movement.”
Neb. seminary rector named Fargo bishop Catholic News Service
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
quite aware of my own limitations, so I’m a little apprehensive about taking on the responsibilities of a bishop.” But he added that he trusted God to “lead me and give me the grace I need to carry out the office of bishop.” Lincoln Bishop James. D. Conley said that the Nebraska diocese rejoiced with the North Dakota diocese on the appointment of the new bishop. He said Bishop-designate Folda’s “keen intelligence, his personal humility and his dedication to Jesus Christ and his Church” has prepared him well “to teach, govern and sanctify the faithful of the Diocese of Fargo.”
Former bishop of St. Cloud Archbishop Hanus, who is a Benedictine and served as bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud from 1987 to 1994, has said he plans to return to life as a monk in Missouri after he leaves Dubuque. He will remain apostolic administrator until his successor’s installation, scheduled for May 30. The archbishop turns 73 May 26; he is retiring a couple of years earlier than the age — 75 — at which canon law requires bishops to turn in their resignation. Archbishop Jackels is 58 years old. He has headed the Wichita Diocese since 2005. A native of Rapid City, S.D., he is a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb. Before being named to the Kansas Diocese by Pope John Paul II, he was on the staff of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome for eight years.
An April 5 decision by a New York federal judge to lift age limits on purchases of over-the-counter emergency contraceptives should be “appealed and overturned,” according to an official of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops. “No public health consideration justifies the unregulated distribution of such drugs to children,” said Deirdre McQuade, spokeswoman for the Read related USCCB’s Secretariat for Pro Life editorial, Activities. “Many studies have shown page 11 that wider access to ‘emergency contraception’ among young people does not reduce pregnancy or abortion rates, but can contribute to higher rates of sexually transmitted disease,” she said in a statement.
Putting girls at risk The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman in Brooklyn, N.Y., said that within 30 days, the Food and Drug Administration must make emergency contraceptives available to women of all ages. Korman said the case wasn’t about the potential misuse by 11-year-olds of the contraceptive called the morning-after pill or “Plan B.” He said the number of girls that age likely to use the drugs was minuscule. Plan B, known generically as levonorgestrel, uses large doses of birth-control pills to prevent conception up to 72 hours after unprotected sex. In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration approved over-the-counter sales of Plan B to women 18 and older. Three years later, a court ruling made it available to women 17 and older without a prescription. Until Korman’s ruling, anyone younger still needed a prescription. According to McQuade, “Plan B does not prevent or treat any disease, but makes young adolescent girls more available to sexual predators.” She said the court’s action “undermines parents’ ability to protect their daughters from such exploitation and from the adverse effects of the drug itself.”
Undermining parental rights Sean Fieler, chairman of the Pro-Life Commission of the Archdiocese of New York, similarly disapproved the decision saying it takes away from parents “their legitimate rights to know what medical care and medications their children are receiving.” “As a society, we properly regulate the decisions that children can make on their own, and so a child can’t be given an aspirin without parental supervision, get an ear pierced, or, here in New York, even use a tanning bed! “But now,” he continued, “young girls can be given these strong dangerous abortion-inducing drugs without a parent’s approval, or even a doctor’s supervision. This is very sad and simply wrong.” Korman’s decision came in a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights over a decision by the Obama administration to set the age limit on overthe-counter sales of emergency contraceptives.
8
APRIL 11, 2013 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Second MN company gets court relief from HHS mandate By Susan Klemond
“I don’t think we as people of
For The Catholic Spirit
The owner of a St. Joseph, Minn., manufacturing company, who this winter filed the second Minnesota lawsuit challenging the HHS contraception mandate as a violation of religious liberty, was granted temporary relief in U.S. District Court last week from the federal requirement until a permanent decision is reached. As a result of receiving a preliminary injunction, Deacon Gregory Hall, president and CEO of American Manufacturing Co. (AMC) and a Catholic deacon in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, was able to renew his company’s group health insurance plan without having to provide and pay for coverage for contraceptives, abortifacients and sterilization required by the mandate, part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act enforced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
More cases pending nationwide Deacon Hall’s position as a member of the clergy has drawn more attention to the question of whether violating Church teaching by complying with the mandate presents a “substantial burden” on his faith, according to his attorneys. Not all for-profit companies have been so fortunate in obtaining relief. While plaintiffs representing 53 businesses and nonprofits nationwide await court decisions on whether they will be allowed to lawfully follow their consciences in leading their organizations, the changing health insurance climate is creating even more challenges for those seeking exemption from the mandate. “These are very important cases and not only for the subject matter at hand, the HHS mandate, but also for religious freedom generally,” said Erick Kaardal, of Minneapolis-based Mohrman & Kaardal, P.A., one of the firms representing Deacon Hall. “We’re very excited about it. It’s such an important issue that I think the courts are going to be very deliberate on it.”
faith and even people who don’t have any faith have really thought about having something foisted upon them, being forced to do something by rule of law that really violates deeply held beliefs.
”
DEACON GREGORY HALL
Unlike the first Minnesota case brought by local businessmen Stuart Lind and Tom Janas last fall in which Lind’s medical device company, Annex Medical, was granted a preliminary injunction on appeal, Deacon Hall received the injunction sooner from the lower court — a sign of progress, he said. The reasons Deacon Hall obtained relatively quick temporary relief include the U.S. government’s decision not to contest the motion and the injunctions the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit previously granted to Annex Medical and a Missouri firm, Kaardal said. On behalf of AMC, which provided mining equipment for the 2010 rescue of 33 Chilean miners trapped underground, Deacon Hall negotiated exclusion of the contraceptive coverage with his insurance company, Medica, because of a stipulation in the lawsuit that the government would not penalize either the company or the insurer while the injunction is in effect.
Likely headed to high court Despite also receiving temporary relief from the man-
Myser Initiative on Catholic Identity Series
Catholics in the Public Square: Prophecy, Civility and Truth M. Cathleen Kaveny, J.D., Ph.D. Scholar and Author
Seventh Annual Lecture and Award John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law and Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, Society of Christian Ethics Vice President and author, Dr. Kaveny will share her insights on religious liberty in a pluralistic society.
Thursday, April 18 | 7 p.m. The O’Shaughnessy, St. Paul campus Free and open to the public Tickets are required | 651-690-6700
stkate.edu
date, Annex Medical’s injunction didn’t include the same stipulation, and Lind hasn’t found a Minnesota group health plan that exempts the coverage. He said he is instead providing his employees non-ACA compliant private insurance that excludes contraceptives, sterilizations, abortifacients and abortions. It’s likely the Supreme Court will take up the issue of the mandate and its effect on religious liberty when the lawsuits begin to be adjudicated, Kaardal said. Injunctions have been granted in 17 of the for-profit cases. Businesses must now comply, but non-profits won’t have to until August 1. Deacon Hall’s position as a clergy member countered the court’s earlier argument that mandate compliance doesn’t create a “substantial burden” on his Catholic faith, said Thomas Mathews of the St. Cloud law firm Hughes Mathews, P.A., which also is representing Deacon Hall. “I don’t know how you could be more substantially burdened than an ordained minister,” he said. “He preaches, he teaches moral theology, he teaches catechetical principles, and then owning a company [providing contraceptive coverage] that would be a violation of those principles.” While Deacon Hall’s burden is the same as Lind’s and Janas’ it’s more explicit because of his vows, Kaardal said. Facing the prospect of not living what he teaches, Deacon Hall said he had to contest the mandate. Winning the case has implications for everyone, not just his own 42 employees, he said, adding that more must be done to protect religious liberty. “I don’t think we as people of faith and even people who don’t have any faith have really thought about having something foisted upon them, being forced to do something by rule of law that really violates deeply held beliefs,” he said. “This is a battle that I think we need to join to let people understand that, yes, we have to follow the law but the law also has to allow us to follow our conscience.”
APRIL 11, 2013
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Minnesota bishops urge lawmakers to remember needs of state’s poor CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 almost 2 million lay faithful, the Catholic and ELCA bishops have a responsibility to speak out on behalf of the common good of all Minnesotans,” said Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference. “With this letter, they hope to remind legislators that budget decisions are moral decisions. Ensuring the basic dignity of the poorest and most vulnerable Minnesotans should be our top priority when spending decisions are made,” he said. Both the House and Senate are considering approximately $150 million in cuts to the health and human services portion of the state budget, which includes services for some of the state’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens. Over the past two years, the health and human services budget has been cut by $1 billion. “The statement is especially important at a time when legislative leaders are actually proposing cuts to the human services budget,” Adkins said. “MCC thinks that it is an unfortunate error of judgment to cut human services so significantly while increasing spending on other initiatives. We hope that important anti-poverty programs remain fully funded, and that critical initiatives such as efforts to combat child sex trafficking receive proper funding, too,” he said.
Bipartisanship needed The Minnesota bishops said the principles outlined in the national letter are applicable in the state. They highlighted several key points from the letter, applying them to the local situation: ■ “We thank you for reducing the deficit while maintaining our government’s responsibility for programs that
“With this letter, [the bishops]
hope to remind legislators that budget decisions are moral decisions. Ensuring the basic dignity of the poorest and most vulnerable Minnesotans should be our top priority when spending decisions are made.
”
JASON ADKINS Minnesota Catholic Conference
serve people who are experiencing poverty and are vulnerable.” ■ “We understand Minnesota’s fiscal health requires further cost savings and that additional revenue be raised fairly.” ■ “It is time to frame the budget debate in terms of moral choices.” ■ “We plead for respectful bipartisan dialogue and thoughtful engagement concerning our significant, complex problems.” The bishops concluded their letter by telling lawmakers they would pray for them throughout the budget negotiations.
Students pray for Pope Benedict, wish him well CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 “Dear Holy Father, Thank you for guiding our church with grace and love. Also, I love you. Don’t forget that I will always pray for you.” Grace Counts, Second Grade “Dear Pope Benedict, I will miss you being our Pope. When it was time for you to retire we all watched you get in the helicopter and shut the door. My friend was crying and she squeezed my hand and my friend’s hand. My whole class is praying for you and the new Pope. I hope you have a good retirement.” Greta Jacobs, Third Grade “Dear Pope Benedict Emeritus, Thank you for serving as Pope for the last eight years. You have done a great job leading millions of Catholics around the world. God has great plans for you and the next Pope. My family and I will continue praying that the Holy Spirit guides you in your next adventure.” Landon Kerrison, Third Grade Dear Pope Emeritus, Thank you for your service. Thank you for your great guidance for the Catholic Church. It’s cold in Minnesota. Is it warm where you are? Was being Pope fun? I hope you have a great retirement. We go to Holy Family Academy; it’s a Catholic school. Did you like school? What are your favorite hobbies? Have you ever been to Minnesota? I will pray for you everyday and that’s a promise! Sam Schroeder, Fourth Grade Dear Pope Emeritus, I want to thank you for your service. I will pray for you and your health. I go to a Catholic school with awesome teachers and an awesome principal. Was it fun being the Pope? I would like to be a priest and become the Pope someday. I go to Holy Family Academy. Did you want to be a priest when you were little? Adam Riley, Fourth Grade
Dear Pope Emeritus, I want to thank you for serving Mass and praying the Rosary for our people. I also want to thank you for doing God’s Will. I learned about how the Cardinals vote for a new Pope. I hope you enjoy your retirement. I will still pray for you and the Cardinals. May God bless you Pope Emeritus! Jonathan Vu, Fourth Grade
9
Archbishop Nienstedt to host pilgrimage to La Crosse shrine The Catholic Spirit Catholics are invited in participate in a pilgrimage to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in La Crosse Wis., May 21. Archbishop John Nienstedt will be the spiritual guide on this second pilgrimage to mark the Year of Faith. Bishop Lee Piché led a similar pilgrimage to the shrine last fall. “May is the perfect month for a pilgrimage — first of all because it is Mary’s month and she has always been the icon of the pilgrim — her obedient yes to God going wherever he asked, whenever he asked it. She will accompany us too,” said Jean Stolpestad, director of the archdiocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Life, which is sponsoring the pilgrimage. “Secondly,” she added, “May is a month traditionally focused on life. It is already orientated toward prayer, a new creation and the promise of spring.” The pilgrimage includes a coach bus ride to and from the shrine, with coffee and rolls on the bus, spiritual leadership from Archbishop Nienstedt and a tour of the shrine church. The archbishop will give a reflection at the Memorial of the Unborn. Lunch will be catered by the Culina Mariana (Mary’s Kitchen) and a light box dinner will be available on the bus ride home. The day also will feature individual meditative time, Stations of the Cross and Mass. Motorcoach busses will depart from the Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Joseph in Rosemount and St. Raphael in Crystal at 7 a.m. and return at 7 p.m. Cost is $65 per person. Register online at HTTPS://GIVING.ARCHSPM.ORG/PILGRIMAGE.
Pope Francis is example for school’s works of mercy
Dear Holy Father, Thank you for guiding the Church and being our Father for these past eight years. Thank you for giving us the Year of Faith, keeping the tradition of World Youth Day, and instructing us in your many great books. I plan on reading one to help me grow in my faith. Thank you, Holy Father, for all you have contributed to the Catholic Church. My school has prayed a Novena for you and you are in my prayers. Kathleen Mealey, Fifth Grade Dear Holy Father, First of all, I would like to say, “I love you and I love all that you’ve done”. And, I don’t know if you remember this, but my uncle, Father Isaac, was an altar server for you. Also, thank you for giving us the Year of Faith, the Year of Priests, new Saints and new Doctors of the Church. I am so glad that you said, “Yes”, to be God’s “pencil”. I love you and will always miss you. Madison Miller, Fifth Grade Dear Holy Father, I have seen all of the good you have done for this world. You lovingly wrote books and always cared for us. As you were slowly saying your goodbyes to all of the people, I thought: always remember that God has chosen you to lead; you are very important! We thank you for keeping the Truths so close to us. You are a Father to us all! Sri Peck, Fifth Grade
Photo courtesy of St. Croix Catholic School
St. Croix Catholic School in Stillwater held an all-school collection of personal hygiene items April 8. Coordinated by the eighth-grade class, the collection will continue through the month of April.
Inspired by the words and example of the new pontiff, the students and faculty at St. Croix Catholic School in Stillwater are collecting needed items for the residents of the Little Sisters of the Poor Holy Family Residence nursing home in St. Paul. The eighth grade will be visiting the residents later this month, allowing them to be agents of God’s love and mercy to the residents and being recipients of that love from the residents.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” Helen Keller
10 T
HE
This Catholic Life CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Opinion, feedback and points to ponder
APRIL 11. 2013
A visible sign of God’s love Pope’s embrace of 8-year-old boy with cerebral palsy touches hearts around the world By Rick Snizek
Catholic News Service
By Easter Monday, it would be the shot seen around the world. But a day earlier, Christiana Gondreau could not have imagined that a chance encounter she and her 8-year-old son, Dominic, had with Pope Francis in the middle of St. Peter’s Square following his first Easter Mass would touch the hearts of so many around the globe. While making his way in the popemobile through a sea of faithful estimated at 250,000, the newly elected pontiff smiled and waved as he offered Easter greetings to those gathered. At one point in his second journey around the square, on the way to delivering his Easter message “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world), the white Mercedes transporting the pope stopped. He reached over to greet Dominic after a compassionate Vatican usher named Augustino had repositioned mother and son at a corner of the path so the pontiff could better see them. Pope Francis lifted Dominic, who has cerebral palsy, while embracing and kissing him. He also spoke to the boy before gently placing the child back into his mother’s arms. “The pope definitely was whispering to him, but there’s no way of knowing what he said. Is it a secret?” Gondreau said in a telephone interview from Rome with the Rhode Island Catholic, newspaper of the Providence Diocese.
A divine message She is certain, however, that the meeting was divinely inspired, and serves as a message that God shows favor to all his little ones. “I do believe that it was a kiss from heaven, to say this child is loved and I know him,” Gondreau said. As the pope moved on through the crowd, camera shutters continued to click on Dominic as those in attendance quickly realized they were witnessing a very moving moment. “Your son is here to show others how to love,” Gondreau said one woman shouted out to her from the crowd after the pope departed. Others asked her for her email, promising to send photos they had captured of the pope and her son. She would be asked for interviews by news organizations from around the world. “There was a part of me that didn’t want to leave that spot,” she said, savoring the special moment. After the papal address she then made
Gregorio Borgia, AP via CNS
This photo by AP photographer Gregorio Borgia of Pope Francis embracing 8-year-old Dominic Gondreau, who has cerebral palsy, captured the attention of people around the world. The moment took place after the new pontiff celebrated his first Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 31.
“I do believe that it was a kiss from heaven, to say this child is loved and I know him.” CHRISTIANA GONDREAU
her way back across St. Peter’s Square from the special seating area offered to one parent or family member accompanying someone with a disability to the Mass. It was there that she met up with her husband, Paul Gondreau, a theology professor at Providence College who is teaching a class in Rome this semester, and their four other children, including 5-year-old twin daughters Maria and Junia. Paul Gondreau had become mesmerized by the encounter between his son and the pope that he had just witnessed on one of the large television screens broadcasting a live feed of the event from Vatican TV. His elder son Lucas, 12, was the first to notice the loving attention his brother was receiving from the pope, and quickly pointed it out to his father. “I was just speechless. Lucas and I started crying,” Paul Gondreau said. “It seems the pope was captivated by Dominic.”
He likened the tender moment between pope and child to an encounter of a modern Francis with a modern Dominic, referring to an historic encounter tradition holds once occurred between St. Francis and St. Dominic. For Lucas, an altar server back home who since arriving in Rome has already experienced the honor of serving Mass at the subterranean tomb of St. Peter beneath the Vatican basilica, witnessing the pope stop to greet his younger brother was something he’ll never forget. “It was so touching to see my brother being picked up and held by the pope,” he said. “You could see on (Dominic’s) face how happy he was.” The professor, along with his family of seven, is living in Rome this semester as he teaches a course on the New Testament and the Eternal City. Together, they’ve been there for momentous events in the life of the church,
from the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI to the election and installation of Pope Francis. But the kindness shown to Dominic by Pope Francis will be the most enduring part of their experience together.
A tremendous blessing Paul Gondreau believes no one shares in God’s cross more intimately than the disabled, and that he extends his hand over the weak and the vulnerable so that they may serve as models of inspiration. “No one plans to have a special needs child,” he said. “They are a tremendous blessing.” He describes Dominic as “cognitively normal,” meaning he understands what is going on around him and can speak some words and some simple sentences, but that his limitations are purely physical. “God has touched our family all our lives, now, he has touched the whole world with Dominic,” he added. The Gondreaus’ eldest child, daughter Alena Maria, 16, has been using technology to keep family and friends back home up to date on all the exciting events unfolding around them in Vatican City. “I didn’t think that in being here all this would happen,” Alena Maria said.
This Catholic Life / Commentary
APRIL 11, 2013 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
11
Federal judge’s Plan B decision is a bad one all around
I
Editorial Joe Towalski
It’s bad public policy — bad for minors and bad for the parents who have a right to protect their children’s health
n the St. Paul school district, like many other school districts around the country, students need the permission of a parent or guardian to take medication during the school day. When it comes to getting ears pierced in Minnesota, a minor needs the consent of a parent, who must be present during the procedure. It’s easy to understand the logic behind both requirements: Parents should be involved in decisions that potentially affect the health and wellbeing of their children. All of which makes the recent decision of a federal judge in New York to lift age limits on purchases of overthe-counter “emergency contraceptives” even harder to comprehend. The judge, Edward Korman of Brooklyn, ruled April 5 that the federal Food and Drug Administration must make the so-called “morning-after pill,” or Plan B, available to all women regardless of age. So, now, a middle-schooler or high
“Parents should be involved in decisions
that potentially affect the health and wellbeing of their children.
”
JOE TOWALSKI
school teen who needs parental permission at take an aspirin at school to relieve a simple headache or get her ears pierced on her birthday can simply walk into a pharmacy and walk away with pills that contain powerful hormones to put into her body without her parents’ knowledge and without, in many cases, full appreciation of the drug’s risks and potential side effects. Those side effects can include excessive bleeding, nausea and dizziness that could warrant a trip to the emergency room.
Reasons to avoid Deirdre McQuade, the U.S. Con-
ference of Catholic Bishops’ pro-life spokesperson, has pointed out that Plan B uses a large dose of a powerful hormonal drug — levonorgestrel — that is available only by prescription when used in smaller doses for contraception. While researchers disagree about the potential of Plan B to act as an abortifacient, the manufacturer’s own website states that the drug could prevent an embryo from implanting in the womb, resulting in what is correctly understood as an early abortion. The USCCB cites other good reasons as well for not making “emer-
gency contraception” available overthe-counter to minors, including opening the door wider to sexual risktaking and pressures from sexual predators. There also is research, including a 2011 study in Great Britain, showing that wider access to “emergency contraception” among young people doesn’t reduce pregnancy or abortion rates and can actually lead to higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases. Our youth need better information and education about how to respect their bodies and how to navigate today’s challenges of living chastely until marriage. They don’t need false promises of a quick fix that doesn’t have their health or best interests in minds. The judge made the wrong decision. It’s bad public policy, it’s bad for minors and it’s bad for the parents who have a right to protect their children’s health. As the USCCB has noted, the decision should be appealed and reversed.
Funding the fight against child sex trafficking
R
Faith in the Public Arena Jessica Zittlow
The Safe Harbor/No Wrong Door must be fully funded so all sexually exploited youth in Minnesota have access to safe housing and services
ecently, the DFL leadership in the Minnesota House and Senate released their proposed budget targets. While the budget targets are said to allow for investments in Minnesota’s economic future, there are deep cuts proposed in the Minnesota Health and Human Services budget that could directly affect some of our state’s most vulnerable residents in a special way, particularly our sexually exploited youth. Currently, Minnesota has almost no safe shelter and protective services for sexually exploited youth. The Minnesota Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Youth Act, which passed in 2011, goes into effect this August. Without enough funds to implement the Safe Harbor recommendations, trafficked children in Minnesota will literally have nowhere to go. The House and Senate proposed budget increases for several government agencies, while recommending significant cuts for Health and Human Services, the budget which would include the implementation of the “Safe Harbor/No Wrong Door” legislation. We must recognize that budgeting tends to be a series of unavoidable choices about how to balance needs and resources, and allocate burdens and sacrifices. Finding a prudential balance of needs and resources is difficult. Yet, moral priority should be given to programs that protect the life and dignity of all human beings. And today, there are few other more shocking offenses against human dignity than the modern day slavery that is child sex trafficking.
Poorest and most defenseless Our recent popes have made repeated statements calling attention to the grave global problem of human trafficking. Pope John Paul II called such situations “an affront to fundamental values, which are
“Without
enough funds to implement the Safe Harbor recommendations, trafficked children in Minnesota will literally have nowhere to go.
”
JESSICA ZITTLOW
shared by all cultures and peoples, values rooted in the very nature of the human person,” and challenged all of us to admit that victims of these crimes are “often the poorest and most defenseless members of the human family, the ‘least’ of our brothers and sisters” (Vatican City, May 15, 2002). Most recently, Pope Francis closed his Easter Sunday address on peace by making reference to the destructive selfishness made manifest in human trafficking. Rather than a simple message deploring the many evils of armed conflict, he broadened his call for peace to include a rallying cry for “peace in the whole world, still divided by greed looking for easy gain, wounded by the selfishness which threatens human life and the family, selfishness that continues in human trafficking, the most extensive form of slavery in this 21st century.” As cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis was known as an ally of organizations working to combat labor and sex trafficking, and is said to have often visited the victims of trafficking.
Safe Harbor funding While the awareness of the global human trafficking epidemic has grown significantly over the past two years, many people are still not aware of how serious the problem has become domestically. Minnesota-based non-profit The Advocates for Human Rights reports that, according to one service provider, 8,000 to 12,000 people are estimated to be involved in prostitution/sex trafficking in Minnesota every day. The average age of a girl’s entry into prostitution/sex trafficking is 12 to 14 years old, and the average life expectancy of a person in prostitution is seven years. Sex trafficking involves individuals profiting from the sexual exploitation of others, and often includes brutal physical and sexual assaults, and heartbreaking physical and psychological injuries. These victims are subject to systematic manipulation and violent threats by their traffickers, which makes it difficult for these sexually exploited children to leave their sit-
uations voluntarily. Decriminalizing prostitution for these victims, without providing appropriate victim services and housing resources, is simply not enough. This is where the Safe Harbor/No Wrong Door implementation bill comes in. This implementation model must be funded so that all sexually exploited youth in Minnesota have access to safe housing and services like trauma treatment and health care when Safe Harbor goes into full effect. Services that address the basic needs of our most vulnerable children must be adequately funded. Contact your legislators today — to encourage their support of fully funding the Safe Harbor/No Wrong Door implementation bill (SF 384; HF 485) — through the Catholic Advocacy Center under the “Take Action” tab on the Minnesota Catholic Conference website (WWW.MNCC.ORG). Zittlow is communications director for the Minnesota Catholic Conference.
12
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • APRIL 11, 2013
Commentary
/ This Catholic Life
Changing jobs? The pope sets a worthy example
C
Faith and the Workplace Tom Bengtson
Pope Benedict’s exit and Pope Francis’ arrival hold lessons for our own workplaces
hanging jobs can be traumatic, which is unfortunate given the number of times most people in the workforce switch jobs during their career. We’ve probably all known colleagues who did it wrong — leaving without giving proper notice, burning bridges and souring professional relationships. I know one guy who begged his boss for unearned vacation time so he could take a trip to Europe. The boss granted it, and while the employee was in Germany he called the company collect to announce he was quitting.
Pope Francis sits with Vatican workers after celebrating Mass March 22 inside the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican residence where the new pontiff resides. The pope took a seat in the back row as people lingered for private prayer. “Humility is an important virtue for any leader — the bigger the organization, the more important it is,” writes Tom Bengtson.
Leaving gracefully Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI gave us a good example of how to gracefully exit a job. He gave more than two weeks’ notice, announcing Feb. 11 his intention to resign on Feb. 28. The news was shocking but those who followed the pope closely note Benedict had tipped his hand: In “Light of the World,” a 2010 booklength interview, he said a pope has the right, and in some cases the obligation, to resign. Sometimes a large organization’s leader, especially a man in his 80s, has trouble letting go even after he officially leaves. This is awkward for the successor; observers naturally look for conflicts between the current and former leaders. Pope Benedict dispelled any possibility that their could be conflicting messages coming out of the Vatican by saying he would submit to the new pope and that he would retreat to private life. With some 2,000 years of history, the Church has had time to perfect a good process for selecting a new
CNS photo / L'Osservatore Romano
leader. It’s clear who will make the selection, where the selection will take place, what the timing will be and how the public will be informed. Every business would do well to have a process articulated on paper so that in the event an executive search is required, board or staff members know what to do. An organization can sink if it has to go too long without clear leadership. (For small businesses, however, I suggest a press release instead of white smoke.)
Clear vision needed Equally impressive to Pope Benedict’s exit was the introduction of Pope Francis. Pundits note his humility, which surely is winning him fans around the world. Humility is an important
virtue for any leader — the bigger the organization, the more important it is. Nobody wants to follow a braggart. Given the rarity of true humility these days, it’s a characteristic that intrigues and attracts people. And in any leader, people want to see real leadership. They want to follow a person who has a clear vision about where he wants to go. Pope Francis brings renewed emphasis on the Church’s preference for the poor. While Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI gave us the doctrine and the intellectual ammunition to live our faith, it appears Pope Francis will focus on giving us the example. Beautifully, however, Pope Francis is building on a legacy established by 265 popes who came before him. He is not discarding and starting anew;
he is standing squarely on the foundation built by Church leaders over two millennia. He made that clear with his historic lunch meeting with Benedict XVI on March 23. Symbolically, the meeting solidified the transition. By meeting with the pope emeritus, Pope Francis acknowledged a connection to the past while setting a tone for the future. I have been in the workforce for 30 years and I have seen many people come and go from various companies and organizations. Few of the transitions went as smoothly as the recent transition in leadership of the Catholic Church. Contact Bengtson at BENGTSON.COM.
WWW.TOM
Faith in Action, Encourage groups meet in archdiocese CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 “Faith in Action saved my life. FIA, for me, is a lot more than simply not acting out sexually. It gave me a family, a social milieu in which I could explore my relationships with others and with God, and lessen the emotional and spiritual gravity homosexuality had in my life. I have a group of men who are willing to take my phone calls, give me advice, do untold acts of charity, and ultimately die with me if it comes to that. Not many straight men have friends with that level of solidarity. “Another thing is that Faith in Action helps teach me about how to achieve happiness — not through changing my external circumstances, but by building up those natural proclivities to virtue that God endowed me with when I was born. While chastity is naturally the virtue that we are most explicit about, I don’t think that it is the only one. As a gay man, it’s easy for me to say, ‘I would be happy if I had a boyfriend,’ or ‘I would be happy if I were straight,’ and it’s easy to create a sort of fantasy perception of other people’s lives. But the empirically and scientifically tested truth is that people are most happy when they exercise the virtues. FIA helps me with this tremendously, whether it is helping me with chastity through accountability and confession, or teaching me charity by giving an uplifting word to a brother, or prudence by teaching me when I should talk, and when I should stay silent.”
Support for family, friends Parents, relatives and friends of persons with samesex attraction also have a support group available,
“I am grateful to the men
and women of Faith in Action and Encourage for their powerful witness to God’s truth and love.
”
ARCHBISHOP JOHN NIENSTEDT
called “Encourage.” The purpose of Encourage is to give faithful witness to Catholic teaching on sexual morality, while helping its members find a deeper spiritual life. Members of Encourage often gain deeper understanding of the needs, problems and issues experienced by their friends and families with SSA and are able to assist one another to reach out with compassion and truth to their loved ones. I am grateful to the men and women of Faith in Action and Encourage for their powerful witness to God’s truth and love. Here in the archdiocese we have a weekly Faith in Action group and a monthly Encourage group. For more information about either of these groups, please call the archdiocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Life at (651) 291-4488. God bless you!
SCHEDULE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 11 a.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Meeting with the ACCW officers. 5:15 p.m., St. Paul, Cathedral of St. Paul: Mass for the Catholic Community Foundation’s 20th Anniversary with dinner to follow at the St. Paul Hotel. ■ Thursday, April 18: 11 a.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Meeting with regional superior of IHM, Mother of Christ. 7 p.m., Minneapolis, Basilica of St. Mary: Confirmation. ■ Saturday, April 20: 8:30 a.m., Mendota, Church of St. Peter: Mass for Region VIII-Regional ICSC. 5 p.m., Oak Grove, Church of St. Patrick: Sunday Liturgy. ■ Sunday, April 21: 10 a.m., Norwood Young America, Church of Ascension: Sunday Liturgy and brunch. ■ Monday, April 22: 12 p.m., St. Paul, Archbishop’s Residence: Auction item lunch for Church of St. Timothy in Maple Lake. ■ Tuesday, April 23: 8:30 a.m., St. Paul, Archbishop’s Residence: Scheduling meeting with staff. 1:30 p.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Archbishop’s Cabinet meeting. 4:30 p.m., St. Paul, Archbishop’s Residence: CSA volunteer appreciation Mass and reception. ■ Wednesday, April 24: 1:30 p.m., Mendota Heights, St. Thomas Academy: Archbishop’s annual review of cadets. 6 p.m., St. Paul, Archbishop’s Residence: BBQ with seminarians. ■ Thursday, April 25: 7 p.m., Faribault, Church of Divine Mercy: Confirmation.
APRIL 11, 2013
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Serving others for 20 years
Over the years 1993: The Catholic Community Foundation began operations under the leadership of chief executive Jim Mullin, board vice chair Mary Frey, and board president Tom Gainor. 1994: Grants totaling $173,785 were distributed for the first time from the Family of Faith Endowment and other endowments managed by the foundation. Grants supported Catholic education, MULLIN seminaries, elderly priests and Catholic Charities.
As the Catholic Community Foundation celebrates two decades of successful philanthropic work, the outgoing and incoming presidents reflect on the organization, its history and its future plans Since its launch 20 years ago, the Catholic Community Foundation has worked to fulfill its mission “to support financially the spiritual, educational and social needs of our Catholic community.” Based in St. Paul, it has grown to become the nation’s largest community foundation serving Catholic philanthropy. With a staff of 12 employees, CCF manages approximately $209 million in charitable assets and more than 1,000 funds on behalf of individuals, families, parishes, schools and institutions. The foundation will soon experience a leadership change. Marilou Eldred, president of CCF since 2005, is retiring April 30. On May 1, Eldred, a member of Assumption in St. Paul, will be succeeded by Anne Cullen Miller, a member of St. Joseph in West St. Paul and currently vice president of finance and investments at CCF. The Catholic Spirit recently interviewed both women about their work and the work of the foundation. The following are edited excerpts from the interview. Q: Marilou, during your eight years at CCF, what accomplishments related to the organization are you most proud of? Eldred: The first thing that came to mind immediately is hiring the staff that we have. I just couldn’t be prouder of the group of people who work here — their competence, their commitment to the mission, their engagement with donors and their willingness to go above and beyond in any way possible for the good of the foundation and our donors. Very close to that is recruiting the board members that we have. We’ve had a lot of turnover on our board in eight years because board members serve three years and they can be reappointed twice, for a total of nine years. In the eight years that I’ve been here, we’ve had almost a full turnover of the board. We’ve lost some very key people. But I think the people we’ve brought on have brought new perspectives and new ideas for how we can strengthen the foundation — ways that we can engage better with the archdiocese, with the local community, with our parishes, with our donors. Shortly after I came, we hired a new investment consultant [LCG Associates]. Since that time, we’ve made a lot of improvements in the way we do our investments. Very much related to that, we hired a new investment person who was Anne Miller. So the combination of LCG Associates and the work that Anne has led on the investment side, with a lot of help from the board, has really strengthened
13
1995: The foundation started providing donor advised funds. A donor advised fund allows donors to consolidate their giving and make a larger impact by investing their charitable assets with other likeminded donors. 1997: The foundation’s tuition assistance program began by distributing $4,800 to support six students at two archdiocesan schools. Since that time the program has provided $6.9 million in tuition support to 9,519 students attending 81 schools in the archdiocese. 2000: Charitable assets managed by the foundation exceeded $100 million. 2002: Annual grants distributed on behalf of foundation donors and partners exceeded $5 million. 2005: Marilou Eldred succeeded Jim Mullin as the second president of the Catholic Community Foundation. 2009: The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity partnered with the Catholic Community Foundation to manage its long-term investment fund. 2011: Grants from donor advised funds and other funds totaled a record $8.4 million. Ninety percent of these grants stay in Minnesota. Dianne Towalski / The Catholic Spirit
Catholic Community Foundation president Marilou Eldred, left, will retire April 30. Anne Cullen Miller will begin in that position May 1.
the way we look at our investments and the way we select investments. Our performance has been — except for the blip in the market that everyone experienced — really good. Lastly would be the overall growth of the foundation. When I came to CCF, our asset base was about $130 million. Now, as I’m walking out the door, we’re at $209 million. I feel good about that. It’s not been just me, it’s been a large number of people contributing to that. Q: Do some people have the impression that CCF is a charity itself rather than a facilitator of charitable giving? Miller: I think so. We have the ability to do some of our own grant-making but it’s very small in comparison to this enormous transfer of assets or investments people have from their own portfolios, through us and then out into the community. Eldred: We’re really a conduit to donors.
Source: 2012 Catholic Community Foundation annual report
We’re very much a trusted partner with donors, who invest their money with us and then we facilitate their giving. On the endowment side, we’re a trusted partner with institutions, where they invest their endowments with us, knowing those are permanent. So we have a wonderful partnership with the St. Paul Seminary, Catholic Charities, Catholic Cemeteries, Center for Mission, and then many, many parishes and schools. We invest funds for well over half the parishes in the archdiocese and about half the schools, mostly elementary schools.
invest their money, but they wouldn’t know for sure whether it was going to be invested or given away to organizations that align with Catholic values.
Q: What is the biggest benefit for a Catholic donor to participate in charitable giving through CCF?
Q: How do people in the pews see the benefits of this kind of giving? Miller: If you sit in the pews and you care about Catholic education, if you care about educating and providing support for priests, if you care about paying it
Eldred: Catholics know whatever we do at this foundation will align with their Catholic values. For our donors — individual and families — that is a huge benefit. They could go many other places and
We talk about our personal service. We’re kind of at everyone’s beck and call day and night, and we go out to parishes to do presentations on a frequent basis. And, we’re able to serve a variety of individuals and institutions through the various vehicles that we have — through planned giving, through endowments, through donor-advised funds and many others as well.
PLEASE TURN TO FOUNDATION ON PAGE 14
14
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
APRIL 11, 2013
Foundation helps donors meet needs in local Catholic community CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13
forward in terms of this Catholic community — of your parish that has served you and probably your family, for example, or of the Center for Mission that serves beyond our domestic borders — CCF can make that happen for you in many different ways regardless of the resources you think you have or don’t have. Some people think they just don’t have enough money to step up, and I think through some of our portfolio of options, we can show people in fact that they can give, and they can give in a meaningful way. Q: How does CCF work to ensure its Catholic identity and the Catholic identity of its work? Eldred: There’s socially responsible investing. It came out of the U.S. bishops’ letter on the topic, so we subscribe to that. But then we have a very specific process that we use to determine that our managers will not invest in funds that are antithetical to Church teaching. Miller: I think of the Catholic identity question in three ways: One is the screening that we do. We consider that our brand — that’s the real big differentiator in terms of what CCF can do. You’re not going to get that screened approach to investing at other places. We work really hard to do that well, not only in the execution but in the education. We’re all called to be accountable to that
in this community. Our staff as a team has Mass set for Cathedral Not every parish counan enormous respect cil, investment comfor, and dedication to, ■ What: CCF 20th anniversary mittee, or finance comour Catholic faith. You celebration Mass mittee necessarily see it in everything we ■ When: 5:15 p.m., April 17 understands the redo, every meeting we ■ Where: Cathedral of St. Paul quirements and how to have. ■ Celebrant: Archbishop John execute investing in Nienstedt; concelebrants are this way. We can help Q: In what ways Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn, in the execution, but does CCF work in colBishop Lee Piché, Bishop John we can also help in edlaboration with the loLeVoir of New Ulm, Bishop ucation. We did a big cal Church under Richard Pates of Des Moines and Father John Ubel, rector of the segment on this conArchbishop John Cathedral. cept at our investment Nienstedt? conference in February. Eldred: We say and We brought in a speaker because we really we mean very seriously that we work in want to arm this community to understand solidarity with the archbishop and the what that means, the difference you can archdiocese. Archbishop Nienstedt [who make, and the obligation you fulfill by step- is ex officio chair of the CCF board] is inping up and making sure you do it well. credibly supportive of our work. We think of ourselves as a strategic partner with the No. 2 is that we also do that through archdiocese. We’re working harder than our grant-making. We get requests for ever to learn what the needs are in the grants all the time. We have a process by archdiocese so that, when we have the which we investigate the organizations opportunity, we can facilitate a donor’s where grant recommendations have been giving toward one of those needs if the made, and both our staff and grants comdonor so chooses. mittee and ultimately our board have a In the last couple of years, I think we’re responsibility to ensure that every grant doing an even better job than we did earthat goes out of here is also in alignment lier at trying to collaborate appropriately with our values. with the archdiocese. We’re not an arm The third thing is our organizational cul- of the archdiocese. We do not work for its ture. It’s also a component of our Catholic development department. But we areidentity because that comes out in our cus- working together. tomer service in the boards we serve on externally and the other things we do out Q: What are some of the goals of the in the community. It is a part of our culture. new CCF strategic plan that was
CONGRATULATIONS! Marilou Eldred On your successful leadership of Catholic Community Foundation
WELCOME President-Elect Anne Miller from
Meier, Kennedy & Quinn Attorneys at Law Honored to represent The Catholic Community Foundation Since its formation in 1992 Leo H. Dehler • Thomas B. Wieser Charles M. Bichler • John C. Gunderson Jennifer R. Larimore • MaryCathleen G. Fenske
adopted last fall? Miller: There’s no fundamental change to CCF or its mission as a result of the plan. Our mission is to financially support the spiritual, educational and social needs of our Catholic community, and we will continue to do that. Our goals within the plan are about aligning human and economic resources and expanding our reach — with the ultimate measurement of success being our ability to facilitate more and more financial support to our local Catholic community. Q: So what new plans or initiatives are on the horizon? Miller: As Marilou said, we view ourselves as a conduit. Our donors have access to us and we have access to a repository of information about this community. So we really want to help leverage that. We also want to reach out to the next generation of donors as they embark on their own personal philanthropy. We really want to get that word out. Professional outreach is another area. We really want to work to get the CPAs, the lawyers, the investment advisers, etc., aware of this work that we do. There are many that have practices in which they’re approached by their clients saying: This is what I want to do — how do I do it? And we want them to say: Have you heard about the Catholic Community Foundation? CONTINUED ON PAGE 15
APRIL 11, 2013
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 Eldred: Regarding the next generation, about four years ago we started an initiative we called the Next Gen. We set up a committee of Next Gen people — people in their 40s and maybe into their early 50s, the next group of philanthropists to come of age, if you will, in the Catholic community and in society generally. They’ve been extremely helpful to us to think about how to approach this group of people. We also invite people to a few events every year, like a Next Gen breakfast or Next Gen lunch. We usually have a speaker — in fact, Anne is our featured speaker at an upcoming lunch in Minneapolis. We had the attorney for Mother Teresa speak a year or so ago. Archbishop
Flynn has spoken. I was educated in Want to learn more? We’ve had generations Catholic schools [St. of families — the senior Matthew, St. Paul; For more about the Catholic generation and then Brady High School; Community Foundation, visit its the next generation University of St. website: HTTP://CCF-MN.ORG. that has come along in Thomas] from first philanthropy — talk to grade through graduthis group of people about how they got ate school. I’ve been an enormous benefistarted in all of this. ciary of all that is good about growing up Catholic — from my education, to my Q: Anne, what attracted you to the kids’ education. president position? I’m enormously grateful for that. I view Miller: I really believe in the mission of this work as an opportunity to pay it forthis organization. As my role has evolved ward and help create those same opporhere, I have discovered I get an enormous tunities for other people. My life has been amount of energy from this work and the materially changed by my experience in people with whom I have the opportunity the Catholic community, and I hope I can to interact with in every facet of the or- lead this work and perpetuate that for ganization. other people. It does change lives, and we
15
will help do that. Q: Marilou: What are your plans following retirement? Eldred: I realized a couple of months ago that this year — 2013 — I will have worked 50 consecutive years, with the longest break ever of three weeks. I thought maybe I’ll just take a little time off. . . . The main personal project I want to do is get into an exercise program. Otherwise, honestly, I don’t really have a specific plan. I’m on the board of St. John’s University. I’m chair of the board of Visitation School, and I’m on the board of St. Paul Seminary. Those are all commitments of varying sorts. I truly believe, whatever I’m meant to do, will turn up and I’ll respond to it. So stay tuned.
Dearest Marilou, You have modeled leadership and perseverance in Catholic education, philanthropy and our beloved Church. We are blessed because of you. With sincere gratitude and continued prayers, we wish you well. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and Consociates, St. Paul Province
Thank you, Dr. Marilou Eldred, for your dedicated service as president of the Catholic Community Foundation. Best wishes on your retirement! And we offer a warm welcome to the foundation’s incoming president, Anne Cullen Miller. From Archbishop John C. Nienstedt and the faithful of The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
In Thanksgiving for
Dr. Marilou Eldred’s wise and faithful leadership from the
Board of Trustees, Faculty, Staff, Graduate Students and Seminarians
16
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
APRIL 11, 2013
Flexibility, value alignment among reasons donors choose CCF By Kristi Anderson
Schmidt appreciates that, with her endowment fund at CCF, her gifts can generate earnings that will continue her charitable giving in perpetuity. “I liked being able to designate which organizations can be the recipients of my funds, both now and after I die,” she said. “While many of the same organizations were named in my trust, now they will be able to receive money over a longer time.”
For The Catholic Spirit
Twenty years ago, the Catholic Community Foundation was founded to financially support the spiritual, educational and social needs of the Catholic community. Today, the commitment to serve its donors continues to thrive through well-managed and responsibly invested gifts distributed according to the donor’s values and wishes. Below, three donors share their reasons for choosing CCF as a trusted partner in reaching their philanthropic goals. Bernie Schmidt St. Richard, Richfield Bernie Schmidt took a planned approach to her charitable giving. She established a trust when she retired at age 55, then worked with CCF and her financial adviser to create a charitable fund at CCF in 2011. “I was a single teacher so I needed to be intentional with money early in my life and in my career,” she said. “I always had values of saving and of giving, and I started both when I began to earn money. As I got older and am now retired, I feel blessed and want to be a good steward of my time and money.” After Schmidt retired from the Minneapolis public school system, she began to think more about money as a legacy. She created a trust and a living will. In gathering information for that process, she contacted her church, St. Richard in Richfield, about giving options and they referred her to CCF. “After an informational meeting with CCF, I did some thinking and praying about the process; then I decided
Photo courtesy of CCF
Tom and Danalee Merrill
to meet with the CCF staff again,” said Schmidt. “I involved my financial planner in that second meeting. I have an open, trusting relationship with that person and wanted his knowledge and insight in the process. Being a single person, it was especially helpful and gave me direction and support in making the decisions.”
Tom Merrill Divine Mercy, Faribault Tom Merrill and his wife Danalee established a donoradvised fund with CCF with the proceeds from selling their bus company. “Our business had been such a gift from God,” said Tom Merrill. “The wonderful employees and the relationships we formed in the community made it an easy profession for us. So when we sold it, we wanted to be able to give back and serve others.” Merrill described the freedom he feels in giving away material gifts. “Everything is a blessing,” he said. “It just seemed a natural thing for us to invest in the foundation. The beautiful thing about it is you know the ministries are in line with Catholic teachings.” He said that working with CCF is a “wise thing to do” especially for entrepreneurs who have more than they need and want to give it away. “From a business perspective,” he said, “when you put resources into a fund, you have no tax liability and you are able to give away more money with the freedom to PLEASE TURN TO CCF ON PAGE 17
Join Us For Our
Congratulations, Marilou! We’ve enjoyed becoming ‘mission partners’ with you and The Catholic Community Foundation. May God bless you abundantly in your retirement.
Annual Parish Festival Friday, April 26 to 28, 2013 www.springfestonline.org 16400 Duluth Avenue SE, Prior Lake, MN (952) 447-2491
BAUNE DOSEN & CO LLP CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
President Andrea Lee, IHM
Over 30 years experience
and the St. Catherine University community warmly congratulate 2005 Alexandrine Medal recipient Dr. Marilou Eldred upon her retirement.
Specializing in serving the religious community
Audit & Reviews Agreed-upon Procedures Consulting & Bookkeeping Assistance
We remember with gratitude her years of service from 1979–1997 as faculty member, associate dean, dean and vice president.
Scott R. Mason, CPA Michael J. Bajunpaa, CPA Telephone: 952-473-2002 info@baunedosen.com www.baunedosen.com stkate.edu Go to
rediscoverapp.com
APRIL 11, 2013
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
CCF offers many opportunities for donors CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16 give to charities of your choice.” The Merrills are great supporters of their parish and school, as well as NET Ministries, St. Paul’s Outreach and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. “There is great joy in being able to give,” Merrill said, “and that is what we are called to do, to be like Christ. Establishing funds at CCF allows us to give without worry.” “So much of what we do is out of obligation,” he continued, “but using these funds to support Catholic ministries that we believe in means being able to give it away out of love.” Dave and Laura Hemler Holy Family, St. Louis Park Years ago, Dave and Laura Hemler established a fund with another organization but found that their values just weren’t aligning. That is when they decided to create a donor-advised fund with the Catholic Community Foundation. “With CCF, we are able to choose where our money goes and when we want it to go there,” said Laura. “It removes the worry, knowing that all the charities we are giving to align with our values.” “We’ve largely given on a year-by-year basis, supporting the St. Paul Seminary, Catholic schools, and other areas of support beyond our local parish,” Dave added. “Long term, we hope to instill that sense of being gifted by God and pass that on to our kids.” Dave serves on the advisory committee for CCF’s Next Generation initiative, an effort to engage Catholics in their 40s and 50s in the Catholic Community Foundation. “CCF provides opportunities for donors to get together and hear about the state of the economy, give their take on market trends and foster a sense of giving across generations of family to support a bigger cause,” said Dave. The Hemlers agree that in addition to
We congratulate
Dr. Marilou Eldred on her retirement, and thank the
Catholic Community Foundation for its support of BSM and the community.
the tax benefits, having a donor-advised fund at CCF smoothes out their giving. “Over the years, our circumstances have changed and the economy is always changing,” Laura said. “This system is consistent and offers us some flexibility. At this time in our lives, we are starting to think about college expenses. With the fund at CCF, we have our charitable money set aside that we can disburse at a later date when we might not have as much to add. This option smooths out giving over time and does not let yearly variations in expenses control our ability to give.” The Catholic Community Foundation currently manages charitable assets of approximately $210 million. Donors to the foundation are able to choose among a number of fund options to benefit their favorite charities. For more information, visit WWW.CCF-MN.ORG or call 651-3890300.
17
The Cretin-Derham Hall community thanks Marilou Eldred for her exceptional service to the Catholic Community Foundation.
Congratulations and best wishes to Anne Miller in her new role as president of the Catholic Community Foundation. Cretin-Derham Hall 550 S. Albert Street Saint Paul, MN 55116 www.c-dh.org
18
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
APRIL 11, 2013
Socially responsible investing follows bishops’ guidelines By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit
One of the newer trends in the world of finance is socially responsible investing, and the Catholic Community Foundation incorporates it into its investment programs. According to board member John Beuerlein, donors can be confident that none of their money goes to support companies whose products and/or services violate Church teaching. “It’s a cornerstone of who we are,” said Beuerlein, chairman and chief investment officer for Marquette Asset Management, Inc., and a member of St. Patrick in Edina with his wife Cindy. “We’re excited about it. We really started digging into this deeply about a year and a half ago.”
Strong commitment Beuerlein was part of CCF’s investment committee and told the nine other members that he wanted to form a socially responsible investing subcommittee. The idea was to use Catholic principles as a way of filtering out companies that acted contrary to Church teaching. “I was expecting maybe only three or four people wanted to be on the subcommittee,” he said. “[But] every one of our committee members raised their hands and said, ‘I want to be involved with that.’ We believe that this is important. We believe this is an identifying mark of the foundation and we want to be involved. We have strong commitment from our investment committee, and certainly our board supports it as well.”
The foundation takes its cue from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which released a document on the topic in 2003 entitled, “Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines.” It is available online at HTTP://WWW .USCCB.ORG/ABOUT/FINANCIAL-REPORTING/SOCIALLY-RESPONSIBLEINVESTMENT-GUIDELINES.CFM. The idea is to exclude from investment portfolios those companies that offer either products or services that violate Catholic teaching. The bishops name six key areas: 1. Protecting human life; 2. promoting human dignity; 3. reducing arms production; 4. pursuing economic justice; 5. protecting the environment; and 6. encouraging corporate responsibility. Beuerlein said the bishops are currently working on reviewing the list and may possibly update it. “We’re going to take our cues from the bishops’ guidelines,” he said. “We BEUERLEIN as an organization are not trying to make a social statement. All we’re trying to do is invest people’s money in accordance with principles and guidelines that have been suggested by the bishops that are critical to the Catholic way of thinking.”
Monitoring companies An important piece in doing so is working with Trinity Fiduciary Partners in Dallas. The company helps CCF identify companies that either are or could be in violation
There are many ways to give and leave a legacy. The Catholic Community Foundation accepts gifts of cash, appreciated securities, and other assets including real estate, stock, life insurance, retirement assets and more. “Our donors come to us with a philanthropic passion, something they really care about. Then we can help them make a gift that is meaningful right now in their life and that ultimately can last forever,” said Kelly Webster, vice president of development and donor engagement.
■ Addition to Existing Fund A gift in any amount of cash or non-cash assets. Easy to do; immediate tax deduction.
Gifts that make a difference now
Gifts that give back: Income producing gifts
■ Endowment Fund A permanent fund which will provide for a parish, school, Catholic agency or a combination of charities in perpetuity. Provides funding to a designated beneficiary(ies), forever; annual distributions made from earnings; principal is resricted; qualifies for membership in the Legacy Society.
■ Charitable Gift Annuity Receive income for life in exchange for a minimum gift. Fixed payments; portion of payments are usually tax deductible; rates can be higher than bank CDs; qualifies for membership in the Legacy Society.
■ Donor Advised Fund One simple, consolidated method of charitable giving to the causes close to your heart. Provides efficiency for your charitable giving; tax benefits; invested so gifts can grow.
Guide to Giving
■ Charitable Remainder Trust Receive income for life in exchange for a minimum gift. Fixed or variable payout rate; no capital gains tax on appreciated gift; charitable remainder can become a permanent family endowment; income tax deduction; qualifies for membership in the Legacy Society.
of Church teaching. That information then goes to CCF’s money managers. “They have an objective way of scoring all the companies.” Beuerlein said. “Are they really promoting some of these things that the bishops don’t want us to be involved with? Through their scoring system, they come back with a list of companies. Then, we as an investment committee look at those.” Some people may worry that removing companies from the list could mean lower investment return. But, Beuerlein said, the opposite is true. “You do get the push-back from people from time to time: ‘Doesn’t socially responsible investing automatically mean that my returns are going to be lower?’” he said. “That’s certainly a concern. Actually, the research shows just the opposite. . . . Our research has shown us that you do not give up performance. In fact, you can enhance your performance and still accomplish your goals of being true to your faith.” As the social and political landscape continues to change, CCF plans to keep monitoring both the issues and the list of companies. “We meet on this specific topic twice a year,” he said. “We re-address it twice a year in a very structured manner. We just look at all our investments. We re-determine our list of acceptable investments, we re-determine our list of ones that we don’t want to be involved with. Then, if there are any changes, we alert the various money managers who are investing the money.” ■ Charitable Lead Trust Provide an annual gift to your selected charity for a term of years. Perfect for individuals in high estate and tax brackets; charity benefits up front while remainder of gift is returned to donor or passed along to heirs; qualifies for membership in the Legacy Society.
Gifts that bear fruit later: Deferred gifts ■ Bequest A designation in your will in which you name a fund at the Catholic Community Foundation as a beneficiary. Retain use of all assets during lifetime; may designate a percentage or residue of estate after family members benefit first; ensures that your favorite causes continue to receive your support for generations to come; may offset tax obligations at death; qualifies for membership in the Legacy Society. ■ Insurance policies or retirement accounts A designation in which you name a fund at the Catholic Community Foundation as a beneficiary. Very easy to do; may designate specific dollar amount, percentage or residual of policy or plan after family members benefit first; income tax deduction for cash value of the policy when donated; qualifies for membership in the Legacy Society.
“Follow me.” John 21:19
The Lesson Plan Reflections on faith and spirituality
APRIL 11, 2013
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
19
Easter joy extends throughout 50-day season Greatest of Christian feasts can’t be adequately observed in a single day
The first reading for every Sunday and weekday Mass throughout the Easter season is taken from the Acts of the Apostles, a forceful statement that Jesus, raised and ascended to heaven, continues to be present and is powerfully active within the community of believers. The second reading on Easter Sundays is taken from the New Testament, in Year A from the First Letter of Peter, in Year B from the First Letter of John and in Year C from the Book of Revelation. All of the Gospel texts for the Easter Season are taken from John except for the Third Sunday of Years A and B, and the Ascension.
By Father Michael Van Sloun For The Catholic Spirit
The Easter season is the “Great Fifty Days” from Easter to Pentecost. It is a week of weeks — seven sevens, 49 days, plus a 50th. The first 40 days commemorate the time between Jesus’ resurrection and the ascension (see Acts 1:3), and the last 10 days commemorate the time from the ascension to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles on the first Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). The first week after Easter is called the Octave of Easter. It is the eight-day period from Easter Sunday to the Second Sunday of Easter. Each day is considered a solemnity, and all eight are celebrated together as a unity as if it were one great day. The resurrection is the single greatest Christian feast, and our entire faith hinges on this mystery as St. Paul so eloquently explained: “If Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching; empty, too, your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:14). But Jesus has been raised! This makes Easter our preeminent time of jubilant exultation — so tremendous that it cannot be adequately observed in a single day. The octave is a time of intense rejoicing, followed by six more weeks of continuing festivity.
Symbols of Easter The Easter, Paschal or Christ candle is moved to a prominent place in the church for the entire Easter season, usually somewhere in the sanctuary, as a sign of the risen Christ. The vestments are white, sometimes accented with gold trim, symbols of victory and joy. The Gloria or Glory to God and the Gospel Alleluia, which were suspended during Lent, are restored.
Time to rejoice
CNS photo courtesy of He Qi
The risen Christ walks with two of his disciples in “The Road to Emmaus,” a painting by contemporary Chinese Christian artist He Qi.
The Creed may be replaced with the renewal of baptismal promises. There may be a sprinkling rite to recall the sacrament of baptism. A double Alleluia is added to the dismissal for Easter Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter and Pentecost. Baptism and Eucharist are the featured
sacraments of the Easter season. Infant baptisms are encouraged within the Sunday Masses of the Easter season. It is also the preferred time to celebrate first holy Communion. Parishes that have movable or portable baptismal fonts may transfer the font to a more conspicuous location.
The Lenten fast is over, so rejoice with special meals or treats. The purple or violet of Lent is replaced by the white and gold of Easter, so wear brightly colored clothing to show your joyful spirit, and decorate with lilies and other flowers. The somber readings of Lent that dwell on penance and the Passion are over, so rejoice by reading the scriptural accounts of the resurrection and post-resurrection appearances of Jesus, as well as the founding of the early Christian community in the Acts of the Apostles. Those who were candidates for the Easter sacraments have been welcomed into the Church, so maintain contact with them and help them strengthen their bond with the parish community. Jesus demonstrated in his post-resurrection appearances at Emmaus (Luke 24:30) and along the Sea of Galilee (John 21:9,13) that he is present in the breaking of the bread, so in order to experience the risen Christ we should attend Mass each Sunday, and if possible, some weekdays, too, to receive our risen Lord in the Eucharist. Father Van Sloun is pastor of St. Stephen in Anoka.
Depending not on our own strength, but on God’s guidance
I
Sunday Scriptures Deacon Manuel Gomez
t is already one month since the new successor of Peter was elected by the cardinals under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead and govern the Church. Pope Francis in this short period of time has already shown us great faith and humility. His words and his actions are visible signs of his total dependence in God. He recognizes his limitations and places his confidence in God because he knows that God is the one who illuminates and guides the Church. Pope Francis’ first words still echo around the world: “Before the bishop blesses the people, I ask that you pray to the Lord so that he blesses me.” With the blessing of God, he has begun not only the work of leading and governing the Church, but also the work of fishing for souls. The fisherman’s ring that he possesses is a symbol of that mission. It is also a symbol of his profound connection to St. Peter, the first fisher of men (Matthew 4:19). In asking for our prayers and blessPLEASE TURN TO JESUS ON PAGE 20
Readings Sunday, April 14 Third Sunday of Easter ■ Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41 ■ Revelation 5:11-14 ■ John 21:1-19
Reflection In what ways can I answer the call to “fish for souls”?
Pope Francis, left, receives his ring from Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, during his inaugural Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 19. CNS photo / Paul Haring
20
The Lesson Plan
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • APRIL 11, 2013
Daily Scriptures Sunday, April 14 Third Sunday of Easter Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41 Revelation 5:11-14 John 21:1-19
John 10:27-30 Monday, April 22 Acts 11:1-18 John 10:1-10 Tuesday, April 23 St. George, martyr; St. Adalbert, bishop, martyr Acts 11:19-26 John 10:22-30
Monday, April 15 Acts 6:8-15 John 6:22-29 Tuesday, April 16 Acts 7:51-8:1a John 6:30-35
Wednesday, April 24 St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, priest, martyr Acts 12:24—13:5a John 12:44-50
Wednesday, April 17 Acts 8:1b-8 John 6:35-40
Thursday, April 25 Feast of St. Mark, evangelist 1 Peter 5:5b-14 Mark 16:15-20
Thursday, April 18 Acts 8:26-40 John 6:44-51
Friday, April 26 Acts 13:26-33 John 14:1-6
Friday, April 19 Acts 9:1-20 John 6:52-59
Saturday, April 27 Acts 13:44-52 John 14:7-14
Saturday, April 20 Acts 9:31-42 John 6:60-69
Sunday, April 28 Fifth Sunday of Easter Acts 14:21b-27 Revelation 21:1-5a John 13:31-33a, 34-35
Sunday, April 21 Fourth Sunday of Easter Acts 13:14, 43-52 Revelation 7:9, 14b-17
Jesus sends us forth to preach Gospel CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19
ing, Pope Francis shows that he recognizes that fishing for souls does not depend on his own strength, but in the Lord’s blessing. This obedience and dependence on God is something that Peter, the first pope, had to learn. The Gospel of John describes the initiative and leadership of Peter in relation to the other apostles: “Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing.” (John 21:3). The others disciples replied: “We also will come with you” (John 21:3), so they went to fish, but did not catch any fish. Peter’s initiative by itself was not enough to catch fish. It was only when the Lord told them where and how to catch the fish that they caught any fish. Once Peter recognizes that the Lord Jesus is there with him and is the one in charge, he is able to fish and make a great catch. It is in this moment that Peter receives the task of feeding and tending Jesus’ flock. Jesus gave Simon Peter, a
man who professes his love to Jesus and feels sorry for having denied him, not only care of his Church but also his strength and guidance. Pope Francis, a man who humbles himself and recognizes his dependence on God’s blessing, is taking up this same task 2,000 years later.
Leading us closer to God We are a part of this Church entrusted to Pope Francis’ care and guidance. He is striving to lead us closer to the Lord and his kingdom. But we, too, are sent forth by Jesus to preach the Gospel. We, too, are called to love and to serve in our own homes, families and workplaces. We, too, are to fish for souls. So, let us follow in the footsteps of our pastor and guide. Let us ask for God’s blessing and guidance in our daily life. Deacon Manuel Gomez is in formation for the priesthood at the St. Paul Seminary for the Diocese of Rockford. His teaching parish is Mary, Queen of Peace in Rogers.
Fatima, Spain & Lourdes Pilgrimage Sept. 3-13, 2013 Led by:
Bishop John M. LeVoir Diocese of New Ulm
$
3,295
Fr. Paul La Fontaine
Church of St. Charles Borromeo
(plus airfare and tips)
Visit www.dnu.org for detailed brochure or contact Magi Travel, 952-949-0065
“I liked this trip so much, I’m going back!”
“Autumn Leaves” Tour Visits Historical East 14 Days $1539* from
Depart September 27, 2013 Mass Included Some Days Your Chaplain, Father Daniel Gerres, Senior Priest at St. Elizabeth’s Church in Wilmington, DE; this will be Fr. Gerres second time as chaplain on this YMT New England Tour.
Niagara Falls
Arrive in the birthplace of our Nation, Philadelphia and enjoy a sightseeing tour. Then your scenic journey begins offering spectacular and colorful vistas through Amish Country to Gettysburg where you will see the most important battlefield of the Civil War. Travel north with a stop at the Corning Museum of Glass into Ontario and awe-inspiring Niagara Falls for two nights! Then head back to upstate New York where you will board a cruise through the 1000 Islands. Next, drive through the six-million-acre civilized wilderness of the Adirondack region, with a stop in Lake Placid and then into the forest area of New England: The White Mountains, including Franconia Notch State Park, New Hampshire, then view the incredible waterfalls at Flume Gorge and enjoy a trip on the Cannon Aerial Tramway. Next drive along the New England coast to Boston, with a city tour and visit Cape Cod, exploring Chatham and Provincetown with coastal scenery and village shops. View the gorgeous Mansions of Newport, Rhode Island en route to Bridgeport, Connecticut and tour New York City seeing all the major sights of the “Big Apple.”
*Price per person/double occupancy. Add $159 tax, service & gov’t fees. Airfare is extra. For details, itinerary, reservations & letter from YMT’s chaplain with his phone number call 7 days a week:
1-800-736-7300
“Racism springs from the lie that certain human beings are less than fully human.” Alveda King
Arts & Culture Quotes from this week’s newsmakers
APRIL 11, 2013
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
21
Jackie Robinson’s struggle to break color barrier well told in ‘42’ Reviewed by Joe Towalski
he must be strong enough to turn the other cheek when faced down by his enemies. In another scene, when Herb Pennock, the general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, threatens to boycott a game if Robinson plays, Rickey loudly takes him to task: “Someday you’re going to meet God. And when he inquires as why you didn’t take the field against Robinson in Philadelphia, and you answer that it’s because he was a Negro, it may not be a sufficient reply!”
The Catholic Spirit
Minnesota baseball fans who have visited Target Field are familiar with the lineup of retired numbers hanging near the left field foul pole — all belonging to Twins, except for one: No. 42. Major League Baseball retired the number for all of its teams in 1997 as a tribute to Jackie Robinson, the first man to break the color barrier in the big leagues when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. The long, suffering road that Robinson walked toward acceptance and eventual stardom is the subject of “42,” a new film opening April 12 and starring Chadwick Boseman as Robinson and Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, the president and general manager of the Dodgers who bucked the racial prejudice of his day by offering Robinson a contract. The movie, written and directed by Brian Helgeland (“L.A. Confidential,” “A Knight’s Tale”), chronicles Robinson’s early days as a standout player in the Negro leagues with the Kansas City Monarchs, where he catches the attention of Rickey, who becomes convinced that Robinson is the right man to change history. The Dodgers executive tells Robinson he’s looking for a talented ballplayer, one with guts — not guts to fight back against the racial slurs and taunts that inevitably would come his way, but one “who’s got the guts not to fight back,” knowing that retaliation would doom Robinson’s — and Rickey’s own — chances for success.
Talented cast Boseman, perhaps best known for his roles in television dramas, turns in a fine performance as the future Hall-of-Famer who endured the South’s Jim Crow laws, a petition against him signed by some Dodgers teammates, racial taunts by other
More than baseball
Above: Brooklyn Dodger Pee Wee Reese (played by Lucas Black), left, and Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) stand together in a scene from “42.”
Right: Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Photos courtesy of Grace Hill Media
players and managers, and even threats against his life. Through it all, Robinson draws on the encouragement of Rickey, wife Rachel (played by Nicole Beharie) and black sportswriter Wendell Smith (Andre Holland), who recommended Robinson to the Dodgers and traveled with him during his rookie season. Ford is in fine form as Rickey, who supports Robinson despite the pressures to re-
move him from the team. Rickey’s motivations for signing Robinson are complicated. Clearly, Rickey sees the opportunity to sign a talented ballplayer who can help lead the team to a World Series and make a good deal of money for the club in the process. But Rickey also is motivated by something deeper — a sense of justice and his Christian faith. In one scene Rickey, a Methodist, tells Robinson that, like Jesus,
The movie conveys obvious lessons about the injustices of racism, but it also offers another lesson for Catholics who struggle at times with a culture that promotes values at odds with the faith — that sticking to one’s own values and persisting in doing what is right, like Robinson and Rickey did, can eventually transform the surrounding culture for the better. “42” comes with the disclaimer that it is “based on a true story,” leaving one to assume the writers took some liberties with the facts and may have glossed over some of the warts and complexities of the real-life Robinson and Rickey. But it’s still a worthy retelling of a truly inspirational story. And, if you happen to be watching the Twins play the Anaheim Angels at Target Field April 15 — annually marked as Jackie Robinson Day — you’ll see that every player is wearing No. 42 in his honor. Baseball and our country owe a debt of gratitude to Jackie Robinson. The day and the movie are a fitting tribute. “42” is rated PG-13 — Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. The movie includes numerous racial slurs and other instances of rough language. There is also one scene with a non-graphic adulterous encounter.
Theology Day. Find out. protect her future Secure your Income Do both with a CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITY from CRS.
Contact CRS today: E crs.org/annuities c 1-888-277-7575, ext. 7324 m plannedgiving@crs.org
The official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States.
ARCHSPM.ORG
• THECATHOLICSPIRIT.COM
Responsibility, Leadership and Change: The Challenges of an Adult Church Thursday, April 25, Town & Country Club, Saint Paul 5:30 p.m.: check-in & light meal, 6-8:30 p.m.: presentation
In our personal and professional lives, we seek to live as responsible adults. As business and community leaders, we exercise leadership in significant ways. Yet we read in the Gospel that faith involves becoming like children-a theme developed in particular ways in the church. Must we cease being adults to be faithful? With some history, theology and leadership theory, we will explore the challenges of a church of adults. Dr. Cahoy has served as dean of Saint John’s School of Theology·Seminary since 1999. He completed his masters and doctoral work at Yale University, and served as chair of the Department of Theology at the College of Saint
FREE but registration is required: www.csbsju.edu/sot or 320-363-3570
22
Calendar
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • APRIL 11, 2013 St. Paul, St. Paul — April 23: 7 to 9 p.m. at 239 Selby Ave. First in a series of presentations and discussions for anyone considering becoming Catholic or who would like to learn more about Catholicism. For information, call (651) 357-1337.
Parish events
Minneapolis — April 14: Following the 6:30 p.m. Mass at 7:45 p.m. at 88 N. 17th St. This lecture, presented by Father Michael Driscoll, looks at the role of music and other sacred arts in forming our Christian beliefs.
Reduce, Reuse Rummage sale at St. John Vianney, South St. Paul — April 11 to 13: 47 p.m. Thursday ($2 entry fee); 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday ($2 bag day). Entrance at the corner of Bromley and 19th Avenue N.
“Rachel’s Vineyard: Healing the Pain of Abortion” a presentation at St. Hubert, Chanhassen — April 15: 7 to 8 p.m. at 8201 Main St. Question and answer time will follow. Childcare available. Pre-register by calling (952) 334-0780.
Spring treasure sale at Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Paul — April 11 to 14: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at 401 Concord St. Tacos will also be for sale.
Talk on depression in caregivers at St. Pius X, White Bear Lake — April 18: 7 to 9 p.m. at 3878 Highland Ave. Speakers are Gretchen Peterson, social worker and bereavement coordinator at Our Lady of Peace Hospice in St. Paul, and Susan Adams, Pastoral Care Director there.
Sant’Egidio Community Evening Prayer at St. Richard, Richfield — every Thursday: 7 p.m. at 7540 Penn Ave. S.
Spring art and architecture tour at St. Thomas More, St. Paul — April 20: 6 p.m. at 1079 Summit Ave. Jesuit Father Joseph Weiss will lead the tour, which will be accompanied by wine, appetizers and fellowship. Suggested donation is $10. Make a reservation by calling (651) 227-7669.
Healing Mass at St. Gabriel the Archangel, St. Joseph campus, Hopkins — April 16: Rosary at 7 p.m. followed by Mass. Father Jim Livingston will be the celebrant.
St. Mark’s Acoustic Café at St. Mark, St. Paul — April 12: 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at 2001 Dayton Ave. Includes coffee, tea, cocoa and baked goods along with music from five local musicians. Visit WWW.SAINTMARKMN.ORG for information. Euchre tournament at St. Patrick of Cedar Lake, Jordan — April 12: Registration at 6:30 p.m. Tournament begins at 7 p.m. at 24425 Old Hwy 13 Blvd. Food and beverages available. Cost is $20 per team. Author Meg Corrigan to speak at St. John the Baptist, Savage — April 14: 6:30 p.m. at 4625 W. 125th St. Corrigan is the author of “Then I am Strong — Moving from My Mother’s Child to God’s Child.” No cost to attend.
Spring salad luncheon at Holy Name, Minneapolis — April 20: 11:30 a.m. at 3637 11th Ave. S. Tickets at the door $9 per adult and $3.50 per child. For information, call (612) 724-5465.
“Turning Toward the Light” exhibit artist reception with Pat Duncan at Pax Christi, Eden Prairie — April 14: After the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Masses at 12100 Pioneer Trail. Exhibit celebrates life through art and explores the beauty of loss using pastel, oil, sculpture, mosaic and charcoal. Exhibit runs through April 28.
Spring art event at St. Lawrence-Newman, Minneapolis — April 20 to 21: 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday at 1203 Fifth St. S.E. Reception featuring refreshments and live music along with the opportunity to socialize with other who enjoy art, viewing of various works of art and an auction. Continues Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For information, visit WWW.UMNCATHOLIC.ORG/SPRING ARTEVENT.HTML.
“Music as Mystagogy: Catechizing through the Sacred Arts” at the Basilica of St. Mary,
Discovering Catholicism: Preparing for the Journey of RCIA at the Cathedral of
Prayer/ liturgies
Legion of Mary prayers in front of Planned Parenthood, St. Paul — Every Friday: 3 p.m. at the corner of Vandalia and Charles. For information, call (651) 439-9098.
Singles 50-plus Second Sunday Supper event at St. Joan of Arc, Minneapolis — April 14: 5 p.m. social hour, 6 p.m. picnic supper and 7 p.m. entertainment with The Gritpickers Old Time String Band at 4537 Third Ave. S. Cost is $10. Call (952) 884-5165 or visit WWW.SECOND-SUNDAY.ORG.
School events Open house at St. Agnes School, St. Paul — April 14: 1 to 3 p.m. at 530 Lafond Ave. For students entering grades K to 12. For information, visit WWW.TOP50SCHOOL.ORG. Open house at Benilde-St. Margaret, St. Louis Park — April 18: 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at 2501 Hwy. 100 S. For students entering grades 7 to 12. To pre-register, visit WWW. BSMSCHOOL.ORG/IMPORTANT-DATES. Pope John Paul II School spring gala at St. Maron, Minneapolis — April 19: 5 to 10 p.m. at 600 University Ave. N.E. Tickets are $75 for adults. For information and tickets, visit WWW.POPEJOHNPAUL2NE.ORG. St. Mary of the Lake Spring Fling: Technology Quest at St. Mary of the Lake parish life center, White Bear Lake — April 20: 5 to 11:30 p.m. at 4690 Bald Eagle Ave. Features silent and live auctions, live entertainment and food catered by Cossetta’s. Cost is $50 per person. Visit WWW.STMARYSWBL.ORG for information.
Encountters with the Risen Christ
Taste of Cretin-Derham Hall: A Silver Celebration of the Purple and Gold at Cretin-
4 p.m., Sunday, April 21, 2013 Presented by: The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity Chorale, David Jenkins, director, and Michelle Plombon, organist. St. Mary’s Chapel 2260 Summit Ave., St. Paul, MN Free and open to the public. Reception following. Information: www.saintpaulseminary.org or (651) 962-5050
SOD061113
Derham Hall School, St. Paul — April 20: Mass at 5 p.m. followed by the celebration at 550 S. Albert St. Admission includes all food items offered by 18 area restaurants. Beverages will be for sale. Cost is $25 in advance and $35 at the door. For information, visit WWW.C-DH.ORG.
Other events Archdiocesan Spring Formation Day at Guardian Angels, Oakdale — April 16: 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 8260 Fourth St. N. Topic is “Hospitality in our Parish Communities.”Father J. Michael Joncas and Mr. Lou Carbone will be our presenters for the day and will offer insight into hospitality from many different perspectives. Register online at HTTPS://GIVING.ARCHSPM.ORG/OPSSPRINGFORMA TION by April 12. Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Catechetical Institute open house at St. John the Baptist, New Brighton — April 17: 6 p.m. at 835 Second Ave. N.W. The Catechetical Institute is under the auspices of The Saint Paul Seminary and offers an ongoing formation program for adults who wish to deepen their knowledge of their Catholic faith and further their spiritual formation. For information, visit WWW.CISTUDENT.COM or call (651) 962-5028. St. Paul Deanery of Catholic Women meeting at Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Paul — April 18: 8:30 a.m. at 401 Concord St. Morning presenters include Doug Ohman on Catholic Churches of Minnesota and Dennis Gaetano on the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Mass and lunch follow. All women are invited. Cost is $12. Register by calling (651) 261-2534 or (651) 771-9976. Panel discussion “Before the Unexpected Happens — Planning Ahead for Senior Care” at Cerenity Senior Care-Marian of St. Paul, St. Paul — April 21: 1:30 p.m. at 200 Earl St. Come early and attend Mass in the Chapel of St. Mary. A light lunch follows Mass. For information, visit WWW.CERENITY SENIORCARE.ORG. Reiser Relief, Inc. “Keep the Wheel Turning” event at Totino-Grace High School, Fridley — April 24: 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at 1350 Gardena Ave. Enjoy appetizers, drinks and entertainment while learning about the organization’s ministries in Haiti. Free admission. For information, visit WWW.REISERRELIEF.ORG. “Creating a Culture of Love” 16th annual Prolife Across America banquet at St. John the Baptist, New Brighton — April 25: 6 p.m. at 835 Second Ave. N.W. Keynote speaker is John-Henry Westen, co-founder and editor-in-chief of LIFESITENEWS.COM, a life and family issues news service. Cost is $60 per person. RSVP by April 15. For information, visit HTTP://PROLIFEACROSSAMERICA.ORG/EVENTS/
23
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • APRIL 11, 2013
Day of Prayer for Vocations set for April 21 The Vatican has set the 50th World Day of Prayer for Vocations for April 21, the fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday. The theme for this year’s celebration is “Vocations as a sign The of hope founded in Catholic Spirit faith.” The theme underscores the hope that vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life bring to the entire Church. Visit the U.S. Bishops’ website at WWW.USCCB.ORG/VOCATIONS for resources including videos prayers and discernment resources for men and women, down-loadable lesson plans for educators, and retreat resources for parishes.
News Notes
Priests, seminarians to play basketball tourney The sixth annual basketball tournament between the priests and seminarians of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will be April 12 at DeLaSalle
High School in Minneapolis. The event begins at 5 p.m. with a barbecue in the school parking lot. At 6:30 p.m. St. John Vianney Seminary will play Saint Paul Seminary. The winner of that game will play against a team of priests of the archdiocese at 8:30 p.m. Between games, Catholic high school students will compete in a dunk contest. DeLaSalle High School is located at 1 DeLaSalle Drive. All games are free and open to the public.
Haiti priest to receive award from St. John’s Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville will present its Pax Christi Award to Father Richard Frechette April 19, during a private dinner. A Passionist priest, physician and missionary, Frechette has been serving impoverished children and orphans for more than three decades. As the highest honor awarded by Saint John’s Abbey and University, the Pax
Christi Award recognizes those who have devoted themselves to God by working in the tradition of Benedictine monasticism to serve others and to build a heritage of faith in the world. Frechette will give a public talk titled “My Life and Labor of Love in Haiti” at 2:30 p.m. April 19 in the Alumni Lounge (Quad 170) at SJU. The talk is free and open to the public.
Providence Academy students score for charity During this basketball season, Providence Academy seniors Jackson Canfield, Joe Heck, Taylor Finley and Nathalie Ratliff surpassed 1,000 career points. In recognition of that milestone, they were each awarded $1,000 to donate to the charity of their choice. Canfield chose to donate to the Cancer Wellness Center, Heck chose the American Cancer Society, Finley chose the International Rhett Syndrome Foundation and Ratliff chose to donate to the Tim Tebow Foundation.
Classified Ads
Protecting creation to be major theme at World Youth Day Catholic News Service
When hundreds of thousands of young Catholics gather with Pope Francis in Rio de Janeiro in the summer, reflections on safeguarding the environment will be part of the program. Like earlier editions of World Youth Day, the July celebration in Rio de Janeiro will include morning catechetical sessions and afternoon cultural events. “From the beginning of planning — under Pope Benedict XVI — we thought that a major theme in Brazil, known as ‘the lungs of the world,’ would have to be the environment,” said Marcello Bedeschi, president of the John Paul II Foundation for Youth, a Rome-based organization that assists with World Youth Day planning. “We did not know that there would be a new pope and that in his first three major addresses, he would speak about safeguarding creation, not in political or ideological terms, but as a Christian obligation,” Bedeschi said.
Reach nearly 85,000 homes with Minnesota’s largest paid bi-weekly newspaper E-mail: CLASSIFIEDADS@ARCHSPM.ORG • Phone: (651) 290-1631 • Fax: (651) 291-4457 Next issue: 4-25 • Deadline: 4 p.m. 4-19 Rates: $8 per line (35-40 characters per line) • Add a photo for $25 !
ACCESSIBILITY SOLUTIONS
!
STAIR LIFTS - ELEVATORS WHEELCHAIR LIFTS
FOR HOMES, CHURCHES & SCHOOLS 10105 Arrow Lift (763) 786-2780
!
ANTIQUES
!
TOP CASH PAID For Older Furniture — Rugs — Pictures — Bookcases — Pottery — Beer 4185 Items — Toys & Misc. (651) 227-2469.
!
ATTORNEYS
!
Edward F. Gross Wills, Trusts, Probate, Estate Planning, Real Estate. Office at 35E & Roselawn Ave., St. Paul (651) 631-0616. 11270
!
BOILER REPAIR
!
KENNY BOILER & MFG. CO.
!
CONSTRUCTION & REMODELING
www.ShowcaseRenovation.com
12910
!
! EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES !
Calvary Cemetery: 2 adjoining lots near front entrance (651) 457-5447.
PT flexible positions: accountant, clerical, housecleaning, handyman. Ideal for students or early retirees. Competitive salary. Contact: ANNE.BRANDRUD@GMAIL.COM. C12984
!
!
CEMETERY LOTS FOR SALE
COUNTERTOPS AND SINKS
!
Miele Concrete + Design: Specializing in decorative cast concrete, fiber-reinforced concrete, and concrete overlays. Projects include counter tops, furnishings, decorative sculptural items, vanities, and sinks: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/MIELE.CONCRETE. DESIGN (507) 301-MELO [6356].
!
DVD TRANSFER
Preserve Your Slides & Film Transfer them to DVD Today!
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
For quality transfers at great prices call Astound Video Duplication and Transfer 7811 at (651) 644-2412
!
!
Do you have: • a desire to change your life? • a strong character and are teachable? • a great work ethic? If so, call C12905 Jenifer at 763-923-3333
! CASKETS — HANDCRAFTED PINE ! Beautiful, personal, affordable alternative. Steve O’Rourke (612) 822-7320. WWW.DUSTTODUSTPINECASKETS.COM 12602
!
CEILING TEXTURE
!
Michaels Painting. Popcorn & Knock down Texture, Repairs. TEXTURECEILINGS.COM (763) 12327 757-3187.
!
CEMETERY LOTS FOR SALE
!
Calvary Cemetery: side-by-side crypts $9,500 or Best Offer / Current Value $10,300 (651) 900-1358. Resurrection Cemetery: Mausoleum companion crypt for sale. Great price. For more information call (651) 698-8067.
Human Life Alliance, located in Blaine, MN, is accepting applications for an Electronic Outreach Coordinator. Experience in social media, communications, PC systems and understanding of ages 13 to 29 demographic required. One-year position with possible renewal. Forward resume and cover letter to FEEDBACK@HUMANLIFE.ORG. C2371
!
651-224-7471 344 E. University Ave., St. Paul
5725
!
!
55+ CONDO FOR RENT
!
Richfield 1-bedroom $685 all util. except elec. Great amenities: June 1 (612) 3745833.
! EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES ! Sacred Heart Parish, Owatonna, and St. Theodore Parish, Albert Lea, seek a FT Liturgical Music Director to plan/coordinate music, choirs, and liturgical celebrations. This position will share time between the parishes. View full information at WWW.SACREDHEARTOWATONNA.ORG. Deadline is May 3, 2013. Saint John Vianney Parish, Fairmont, is seeking a Director of Liturgy, RCIA, and Adult Faith Formation for a parish of 850 families that is committed to good liturgy and RCIA and is working to develop a more comprehensive program of lifelong learning. Music background preferred but not required. Applicant should have a bachelor’s degree or higher in liturgy, theology, or related field. Contact: Father Peter Schuster, St. John Vianney Catholic Church, 901 South Prairie Avenue, Fairmont, MN 56031 or SJV-FRSCHUSTER@MIDCONET WORK.COM by May 15, 2013. Full position description available by contacting Father C11759 Peter Schuster (507) 235-2453.
!
FOR SALE
!
QN. Pillowtop Set In Plastic!! New $150 Must 12972 Sell!! Sheila (763) 360-3829.
!
GREAT CATHOLIC SPEAKERS
!
CD of the Month Club Lighthouse Catholic Media Scott Hahn, Jeff Cavins and more! $5/month includes shipping Subscribe online at WWW.LIGHTHOUSECATHOLICMEDIA.COM/CDCLUB Please Enter Code: 1195 11988
!
HARDWOOD FLOORS
!
Sweeney’s Hardwood Floors
Spruce up your house with new or refurbished hardwood floors: 20% off labor during the cold season. Sweeney (651) 48510435 8187.
!
HANDYMAN
!
WE DO 1,162 THINGS AROUND THE HOME! Catholic Owned Handyman Business: We will fix/repair remodel almost anything around the home. Serving entire Metro. Call today. Mention this ad and receive 10% off labor. Handyman Matters (651) 784-3777, 12068 (952) 946-0088.
!
HEALTH INSURANCE
!
Dental, Health, Medicare Parts A, B and D, and Long Term Care Insurance. WWW. GENWORTH.COM/JERRYBIESE (612) 38212095 4363.
!
HOME-BASED BUSINESS
!
Guaranteed money-making opportunity, part-time or full-time: (763) 569-4147.
!
GAME HUNTING
!
Hunt Trophy Whitetails in S.E. MN! Bow & Gun Hunts available. $1250 Call Pat: (952) 492-5540 or email: PGAFFNEY@PRESSENTER.COM. 12992
!
! !
GARAGE DOORS
!
LOOKING FOR A NEW GARAGE DOOR? WHY NOT GIVE GREAT GARAGE DOOR A CALL? IN BUSINESS SINCE 1985. A+ RATING AT BBB. VOTED #1 IN SERVICE (METRO-WIDE SAME- DAY SERVICE). CALL NOW FOR A FREE ON-SITE EST. GREATGARAGEDOOR. COM 763-767-3000. 12975
HOME/OFFICE CLEANING
!
Trustworthy, experienced cleaning for your home or office. Excellent references. Linda C12299 (651) 324-0246.
LAWN CARE
LIVE MUSIC GREAT BAND! Music for all ages. Festivals/any event. (952) 492-6948 WWW.THECASTAWAYSROCK.COM.
PAINTING
!
!
For painting & all related services. View our website: PAINTINGBYJERRYWIND.COM. Or call (651) 699-6140. 7521 Dennis Heigl Painting Interior/Exterior Reasonable, Fair Pricing. Free Estimates. (763) 543-0998 • Cell (612) 819-2438 12048 Merriam Park Painting. Professional Int./ Ext. Painting. WP Hanging. Moderate Prices, Free Estimates. Call Ed (651) 224-3660. 11269 Michaels Painting. Texture and Repair. MICHAELSPAINTINGLLC.COM. (763) 757-3187. 12327 All Seasons Paint & Repair. Int./Ext. Wood/ Stucco 25 yrs. Experience. Insured. Free Esti1189 mates. (651) 699-2832.
! PARTY & EVENTS ENTERTAINMENT ! Great Magical Entertaintment. All Events. MAGICIANTOMANDERSON.COM (763) 553-2079.
12964
!
PLUMBING
!
Justen Plumbing, Inc. (651) 605-5025 JUSTENPLUMBING@GMAIL.COM Call or email Mike for a free estimate. 12345
!
RIDE WANTED
!
Maple Grove to Holy Cross [Mpls] for Saturday Mass; share gas. Richard (763) 416-0366. C10551
!
VACATION/FAMILY GETAWAY
!
Knotty Pines Resort, Park Rapids, MN. 1, 2 & 3 bdrm cabins starting at $550/week. WWW.KNOTTYPINESRESORT.COM (800) 392-2410. 12598
!
Lawn service & Landscaping since 1996. Insured, licensed fertilizer/pesticide applicator, free estimates. 612-805-3863 YTKYOST@ GMAIL.COM. C10467
!
!
Pine Haven Resort, Longville, MN. 1, 2 & 3 bdrm cabins starting at $600/week. WWW. PINEHAVENRESORT.COM. (218) 682-2547. C12982
!
WANTED TO BUY
!
$$$ for OLD SEWING Machines, Patterns, Fabric, Hankies, Postcards, Ephemera, Old Photos, Jewelry, Silver + Gold, Lighters + C3919 Many Collectibles (612) 823-8616.
“No public health consideration justifies the unregulated distribution of such drugs to children.” Deirdre McQuade, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Pro Life Activities, responding to an April 5 decision by a New York federal judge to lift age limits on purchases of over-the-counter emergency contraceptives
24
Overheard Quotes from this week’s newsmakers
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
APRIL 11, 2013 “When you read this letter, you will have washed the feet of other kids like [us]. I am writing this letter because you give me hope. I know one day with people like you, us kids won’t be given sentences that will keep us in prison for the rest of our lives. I pray for you. Don’t forget us.”
Good Friday prayers for life
— From a letter to Pope Francis written by a detainee at a Los Angeles juvenile detention facility who was participating in a foot-washing rite the night before the traditional Holy Thursday ceremony so he could be in solidarity with the pope, who washed the feet of 12 imprisoned young people at a juvenile detention facility in Rome
“Women have had and still have a special role in opening doors to the Lord, in following him and communicating his face, because the eyes of faith always need the simple and profound look of love.”
Terese Shearer of St. Agnes in St. Paul carries her pro-life message as she walks and prays during during the annual Good Friday Prayer Vigil for Life March 29 next to Planned Parenthood in St. Paul. Archbishop John Nienstedt and Bishop Lee Piché were among those attending who spoke and offered prayers.
— Pope Francis, speaking to an estimated 50,000 people in St. Peter’s Square April 3
Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit
Stay well and eliminate the stress of transportation to appointments:
On-site physicians, nurse practitioners, specialists, and wellness appointments
Imagine this is your parent’s view surrounded by woods, nature, wildlife, and serenity. Your parent can Live Well through assisted living at Trails of Orono, just minutes from Wayzata and next to the Luce Line Trail. Our assisted living philosophy considers the well-being of the whole person through beautiful apartments, delicious meals, personal care, innovative health care, and wellness services, all amid our exceptional amenities. You’ll be assured that our professional care staff is on site 24 hours daily, plus enhanced care and memory care are on site if needs change. Stay well at Trails of Orono. Call us today for lunch and a tour. www.TrailsofOrono.com (952) 473-6655
875 Wayzata Boulevard West, Orono
Managed by Ebenezer Management Services, www.fairviewebenezer.org Another quality community by
A personal relationship with Jesus Learning more about our faith The Catholic Spirit’s 4-page Rediscover: pullout section in each issue of 2013 highlights a new Rediscover: theme for you to reflect on and discuss with others. Coming up April 25: How should I think about and read the Bible?
What can I do to draw closer to Jesus?
P
HEART OF THE MATTER Jeff CAVINS
eople often ask, “How can I get closer to Jesus?” The answer to that question is actually quite simple: Get closer to Jesus like the 12 disciples did. They understood the dynamic relationship between a rabbi and a disciple. Two thousand years ago a group of 12 ordinary men made a decision to follow the rabbi Jesus, accepting his invitation to become his disciples. In Jesus’ day, rabbis were itinerant teachers who traveled the countryside teaching the Word of God. While a rabbi’s influence could be widespread, much of his attention was given to his students who committed themselves to not only his teaching, but also to become like him. One did not simply declare himself a student of a particular rabbi; rather, the rabbi had to choose the disciple, thus setting him apart for ongoing formation. A young man would hope to be chosen as a disciple of a rabbi after he progressed through three levels of learning. Then, at age 14, if a rabbi thought he had the potential to be a good disciple, the rabbi would say to him, “Lech
The Catholic Spirit • April 11, 2013
Acharai” — “Come, follow me.” If the rabbi did not choose him, he would tell him to pursue the trade in which his father trained him. If he were chosen, the young man would leave everything and follow his rabbi with the hopes of becoming like him in both word and deed. Saying yes to the rabbi and following him meant to take upon himself “the yoke” of the rabbi, which represented his world view. Jesus invites all of us to take his yoke upon ourselves and follow him.
Learning his ways If we want to get closer to Jesus, we need to learn his world view, the way he sees life. And then we will have to make the decision to make his world view our world view and walk in it. This is the essence of being a disciple. When Jesus invited The Twelve to become his disciples, there were two things implied. First, they had not been chosen by the popular rabbis of the time and so were working in their trades, and second, Jesus knew that they could in fact Please turn to NUMBER on back page of section
Rediscover-faith.org
“If we want to get closer to Jesus, we need to learn his world view, the way he sees life. And then we will have to make the decision to make his world view our world view and walk in it.This is the essence of being a disciple.” Jeff Cavins
The Jesus question Every time I start thinking seriously about Jesus, I always come to the same conclusion: I don’t know him anywhere near as well as I should. Jesus is the one who changed everything. Lots of people talk about changing the world, but Jesus did. All of human history revolves around him. It is impossible to measure his impact on the world. And your life will never really make sense until you place Jesus at the CELEBRATING center of it. Jesus made the lame walk, taught CATHOLICISM the simple, set captives free, gave sight to the blind, fed the hungry, Matthew healed the sick, comforted the afflicted and afflicted the KELLY comfortable. The more I get to know Jesus, the more I get to know my true self. And what I discover is this: I am the lame that he makes to walk. I am the simple person that he patiently teaches. I am the captive that he wants to set free. I am the blind to whom he wants to give sight. I am the hungry that he “To really work wants to feed. I am the sick and he wants out who Jesus is, to heal me. I suggest you find I am the afflicted who he wants to comfort. yourself a quiet And, at other times, I am the comfortable that he wants church, sit in to afflict. front of the He is the healer of my soul, and my soul needs healing. tabernacle, and I think if you are honest talk to him about with yourself, you will discover that yours does, too. what is Jesus is the friend you have been yearning for your whole happening in life.
your life. Jesus really existed He is the friend The first thing to get really clear about is that Jesus you have been walked the earth. This is yearning for your indisputable. The culture tries sometimes to presents Jesus in whole life.” the same category as Santa
Claus and the Easter Bunny. This is ludicrous. You are smarter than that. We need to start thinking about Jesus on a deeper level than the popular culture. How do we know Jesus actually existed? The most comprehensive presentation of Jesus’ life is in the Gospel, and the Scriptures clearly establish Jesus as living at a particular time and place in history. They are not vague about when he lived or where he lived. They go to great length to establish his birth in the context of world history. But the best evidence to establish that Jesus walked the earth is not in Christian writings, but in secular writings and other religious traditions. Secular historians of his time wrote about Jesus, and Jewish writers establish that Jesus walked the earth at the same time and place that the Gospels set forth. It is also worth noting that the other major world religions all acknowledge Jesus. This is important because all these other religions are rivals to Christianity. The easiest way for these religions to disprove Christianity would be to demonstrate that Jesus
Matthew Kelly
Please turn to JESUS on back page of section
The Catholic Spirit • April 11, 2013
What is THE question for tod NET Ministries staffer knows . . . and he has the answer, too By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit
What are you going to do with Jesus? That question is put to about 65,000 teens a year on NET Ministries retreats across the country and in various parts of the world. Joe Roueché, NET’s outreach coordinator, has watched how the young people have answered that question for the last 19 years. In our modern culture, he says, lots of people say they believe in God. But something changes when Jesus is brought into the conversation. And, he has witnessed amazing things when youth are invited to encounter the person of Christ at NET retreats and events.
Tough mission “At Discipleship Week a couple summers ago, this one girl, Sarah, comes in,” he said. “And, Sarah is tough, she is hard. . . . Her parents were drug dealers and the grandmother got custody of this granddaughter.” That faith-filled grandmother is the one who sent Sarah to the week-long retreat, where the girl made it clear it was only because of her new legal guardian that she came. Roueché sensed there might be trouble with Sarah. All he had to do was take one look at her to know that her background and lifestyle was going to clash with the message she was about to hear at the retreat. In his own words “She was as Goth as I’ve ever seen Goth — black eyelids, fingernails, lipstick, all the piercings, oversized black, huge Tune to “The Rediscover Hour” on honking pant legs, and jet-black dyed hair, as black as I’ve ever Relevant Radio 1330 AM to hear Joe seen,” he said. Roueché talk about the work of NET It was an intimidating sight, he admits, and it stirred some fear Ministries and bringing youth closer to about how she might react when she was told about Jesus. After Christ. The show airs at 9 a.m. Friday, all, Roueché has learned, Jesus is controversial, especially in our April 12, and is rebroadcast Saturday modern culture. at 6 p.m., and Sunday at 9 a.m. But he also knew that the human heart longs for truth, longs for a personal relationship with God. This retreat was going to provide the opportunity for Sarah to meet Jesus. The question is: Would she accept?
Opening hearts Throughout the entire week, Roueché could not get Sarah out of his mind. As the young people walked through the paces of Mass, confession, prayer and eucharistic adoration, one nagging question kept poking at him: How’s it going for Sarah? On the last day of the retreat, the answer came. Near the end, Roueché, who was leading the retreat, laid the microphone down in front of all the kids gathered together and invited people to come up and share their experiences. Lines quickly formed and the kids started opening up their hearts and minds in front of the group. Roueché was enjoying the stories, but couldn’t help searching the crowd for the troubled teen he had met at the beginning who honestly confessed her hatred for God and the Church. “And then, out of nowhere, Sarah makes her way to the front,” he said. “Whoa! Part of me was afraid. I had no idea what Sarah was going to share because I had only talked to her a little bit at the front [end] of the retreat. It was tough. She was angry, and rightly so. What a childhood she had, as I came to discover. “She grabbed that microphone and those kids in that room stood up and applauded her, and applauded her and applauded her. I get a little emotional even thinking about it. And, they sat down, and I’m like, ‘What’s she going to say?’ I’m not sure what she’s going to say. She talked for about 10 minutes. She could have gone on for 10 hours. She said, ‘I want to let you know that I came here and I hated God, and I hated the Church. And, when I went to Mass — because my grandmother made me — I would go to Communion and bring the host back to the pew and throw it on the ground and stomp it and grind it into the dirt. I hated Jesus. “But when I got here, all of you welcomed me. No one has ever welcomed me. And, when I went to confession, I didn’t even know what confession was. And, that priest talked to me and he prayed with me, and I met Jesus in confession. “I love Jesus and I met Jesus, and I’ll never forget this retreat,” she continued. “Pray for me as I leave here because it won’t be easy.” And that, Roueché said, is the difference a personal relationship with Jesus can make. It can take away anger, it can take away hate, it can transform people’s lives and give them joy. Roueché himself experienced that kind of transformation. As the oldest of eight children in a strong Catholic home in Chattanooga, Tenn., he had every opportunity to experience Jesus throughout his upbringing. But he kept
Meeting Jesus: It’s pe
NET Ministries in West St. Paul specialize encounter Jesus and develop a persona young adults travel the country putting local teams in the Archdiocese of St. Pa Lifeline events. For information and a sc WWW.NETUSA.ORG. To help teens — and people of all age relationship with him, outreach coordina steps:
■ Ask Jesus to come into your heart, e where the invitation is extended, such a
“It’s that simple act of faith,” Roueché been trying to live on my own. I’ve been from you. I’m not doing a very good job you’re awesome. I just ask you to come understand what that means. Jesus, if yo Give me the grace to help me to know ■ Continue to seek him regularly.
“The Lord says, ‘Draw near to me and said. “Jesus wants us to continue to seek confession, through Scripture, through p relationship with him — every day makin
Christ at arm’s length. He went to Mass, b “It was more of an external, exterior, al now 53 and married with three children. remember sitting at Mass and looking at get going. It’s NFL Sunday.’ The ball game o’clock on Sunday. That was pretty much or 16 years old — just going through the heart, no passion, no understanding. You doing it.”
Harvard or heaven: Admission that matters
day’s teens?
ersonal
es in helping teenagers to al relationship with him. Teams of on retreats for youth. There also are aul and Minneapolis, plus monthly hedule of events, visit
es — encounter Jesus and form a ator Joe Roueché offers two simple
either privately or at an event as a monthly NET Lifeline gathering.
é said, “a simple prayer: ‘Jesus, I’ve n trying to get through life apart b. Jesus, I heard you’re great and into my heart today. Help me ou’re out there, come alive in me. you.’”
d I will draw near to you.’” Roueché k him through Mass, through prayer. And, that’s how we begin a ng that act of faith.” — Dave Hrbacek
but did not embrace it. lmost robotic faith,” said Roueché, “Man, how miserable that was. I my watch, like, ‘C’mon Father, let’s es would start coming on at 12 h my life growing up until about 15 motions like a Catholic robot. No u just do it because Dad says we’re
That all changed when a Franciscan sister came to his school, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in Chattanooga. He could see joy and happiness in her, and that got his attention. Eventually, she extended the invitation to come to a retreat for youth. Saying yes to that invitation changed his life. “All the people who gave this Catholic youth retreat, they had something,” he said. “Their faith was alive. I didn’t know you could have alive faith. They were awesome people. They were the kind of people I wanted to be. The guys were strong and confident; they had that spark and that leadership. They were fun, they were engaging, and they talked about this God like they knew him. I’m listening and they told us about this God who loves us, who created us, who has a plan for us and wanted us to know him so well that he sent his son Jesus.”
Answering the call At age 16, he stood up at the end of the retreat and gave his life to Jesus. Thus, he knows what today’s teens are going through. And, he knows how important the question is: What are you going to do with Jesus? “Today, as we’re in the Year of Faith,” he said, “there’s a call, there’s an awakening for us as Catholics to discover or rediscover Jesus, who founded our faith, who is the head of the Church and who wants to inhabit you and me and wants to fill us with his presence in a real way and breathe his spirit on us in a real way where we become new creatures and become little Christs, as the Church would say.” For those who have been baptized, the process has started. But there’s more. “That [relationship with Jesus] doesn’t become fully released,” he said, “until we make an act of faith to where we on our own come to that point where we realize in [our] hearts that: ‘Jesus I need you, Jesus I’m not sure what it means to surrender my heart to you. Jesus, I don’t know what this is going to cost me; I’m a little afraid. But Jesus, I know you are the way. And, I’ve heard how you have changed other people’s lives, and I want you to change my life.’” So, as Roueché and NET team members tell thousands of teens every year, if you want to have a personal relationship with Jesus, it’s simple. All you have to do is ask.
Rediscover-faith.org
The verdict is in. Colleges have rendered their final acceptance decisions while Tina Fey lights up the big screen as a Princeton admissions officer. The comedy in the movie is hard to recognize for high-school seniors left to grapple with their fates. No matter what they’re told about the process being outside their control, it feels utterly personal — an affirmation or an indictment of everything leading up to this point, a resounding statement on the question that’s nagged them their entire adolescence: whether or not they’re good enough. REFERENCE Increasingly the answer is no — POINTS especially those who aim for elite universities. A decade ago seniors were Christina content applying to three or four colleges; today they blast a dozen or CAPECCHI two with the common application. The result is steadily decreasing admission rates. Last year Harvard admitted 6 percent of applicants, Yale and Stanford let in 7 percent and Princeton stretched to 8. It almost sounds harsher when you consider the hard numbers: of the 34,302 high-school seniors who applied to Harvard last year, only 2,032 got in. What makes that small minority better than the remaining 32,270 is hard to say. An admissions representative at a prestigious university once told me about the decision to reject an applicant with a Reflection perfect ACT score because of a B- he What steps can you take to build a had earned in deeper relationship with Jesus Christ? calculus — as a sophomore. She and her colleagues interpreted that as a teen who hadn’t tried his hardest, given the dazzling standardized-test score he was capable of. I see it as a kid who had challenged himself by taking a tough class at an unusually early age. A bigger pool of applicants also means the game of forging a personal relationship becomes even more phony. Both sides engage in formulaic outreach, pretending they genuinely know and like each other. Admissions reps flatter incoming teens with personal tours and handwritten notes. Savvy students make each university feel like their top choice, spouting facts based on a cursory Google search, talking mission and dropping the founding year in fill-in-the-blank essays. (Yield rates matter, after all; each university wants to claim that a high percentage of the seniors they chose to admit chose them in return — hence the early-decision program, which requires an applicant to enroll if admitted.) It leads me to reflect on the entirely different process that actually builds a relationship. I think about the acts that mean the most and the people who know me best, Please turn to REAL on last page of section
Jesus asked: ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Continued from the second page never actually lived. But they are unable to do that. Jesus is not a figment of Christian imagination — he lived in a place and time, walking the earth just as you do today. But let’s go deeper. Who was Jesus?
Addressing the biggest question One day as Jesus was walking down the road with his disciples, he asked them two questions. The first question: “Who do people say that I am?” His disciples replied, “Some say you are John the Baptist returned from the dead, others say you are Elijah, or one of the other prophets.” The second question: “Who do you say that I am?” This is “the Jesus question,” and everyone has to answer the Jesus question for themselves. You cannot avoid the question. Not answering the question is an answer. Notice Jesus didn’t ask the disciples who they thought he was the first day he met them. By the time he asks, they have been at his side for almost three years. So, perhaps before you answer the question, you should take another look at Jesus — who he is, why he came, what he really taught, and what all of that means to you in the modern world. The culture wants to reduce Jesus to just a nice guy. If Jesus asked you: “Who do you say that I am?” and you replied, “Well, you seem like a nice guy, Jesus,” he would probably shake his head.
So, who is Jesus? There are many ways to answer the question: A Galilean. A Jew. A carpenter. An itinerant preacher. Miracle worker. Son of God. King of Kings. The Christ. Savior of the World. The Chosen One. The Messiah. C.S. Lewis, one of the great Christian writers of the 20th century — creator of the “Narnia” series — says we only really have three choices when it comes to Jesus: He is a either a liar, a lunatic or the Messiah he claims to be. Other major world religions acknowledge Jesus as a great teacher or a great prophet — which seems very accommodating and tolerant — but there are several problems with this position. First, Jesus never claimed to be a great teacher or a great prophet. He claimed to be the long-awaited Christ. If he isn’t the Christ, he is either a liar or a lunatic — but not a great teacher and prophet. These things are incongruent. Let’s be clear. If Jesus is not the Christ, he is the biggest liar to have ever lived. You cannot be the biggest liar in history and still be a great teacher and prophet. And more than being a liar, if Jesus is not the Christ, he perpetrated the biggest fraud in human history. There is the option that he was a lunatic, that he was mentally ill. Asylums are full of people with “the messiah complex,” but there is no historical record of anyone of any credibility claiming to be the Messiah before Jesus, and I suspect you cannot name someone who has claimed to be the savior of the world since. The messiah complex is a post-Jesus
Real relationships Continued from the third page
phenomenon. If Jesus was a lunatic, could the early Christians have kept that a secret? The scale of the conspiracy that would be required to conceal Jesus as a lunatic is improbable. And, if he was just a lunatic, they would have simply locked him up. There would have been no need to crucify him, as he would have been easily discredited. If they could have proved he was a lunatic, they would have had no reason to feel threatened by him, and no reason to kill him. But he was considered by both the secular and religious authorities of his time to be much more dangerous than a simple lunatic.
Finding the answer Who is Jesus? He is the Galilean carpenter who became an itinerant preacher, who turned water into wine, made the lame walk and the blind see, walked on water, multiplied a handful of loaves and fishes to feed thousands, got under the skin of secular and religious leaders of the day, was executed on a cross, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and three days later rose from the dead — Jesus is the Christ, the long awaited Messiah. But to really work out who Jesus is, I suggest you find yourself a quiet church, sit in front of the tabernacle, and talk to him about what is happening in your life. He is the friend you have been yearning for your whole life. Kelly is an international best-selling author, speaker and founder of The Dynamic Catholic Institute.
the ones who show up when it’s least convenient, on early mornings and late nights, bundled up on the coldest days, sweating it out on the hottest. They pop up in the emergencies and when the unexpected happens with just-because gifts or notes or calls. They never fail on the basics that speak volumes: showing up, sticking it out, remembering, returning. They haven’t forgotten last year’s conversation; they filed it away in their hearts, and it continues to inform them. These are the same measures that enable us grow closer to Christ. We demonstrate the relationship is a priority with our actions, not our words. We show up when it’s early, when we’re tired, when we’re busy. We listen. We always seek to learn more about our Savior, studying what he tells us today and recalling past encounters — prayer, worship, Scripture, sacraments. If you don’t know where to begin, I encourage you to borrow a page from Gary Chapman’s mega-bestselling book, “The Five Love Languages,” which was published 21 years ago and has sold more than 7 million copies. In it, the Southern Baptist pastor and counselor lays out the fundamental ways we express and accept love: words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time and physical touch. Think about how these avenues translate to your relationship with Jesus. You might just get inspired. And your return is guaranteed: Jesus is never out-loved. Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights.
Number of ways exist for you to draw closer to Jesus Continued from the first page become like him. If the Twelve would submit their minds, hearts and wills to Jesus, then they would not only be transformed but would transform the world. If we are going to go beyond being a spectator or even a believer, to become a disciple, it will require much time with Jesus, learning his ways. Realize that Jesus has extended the invitation to you to become his disciple. Your part is to respond in faithfulness and focus. There are a number of ways you can draw close to Jesus and learn. ■ Frequent the sacraments.
The sacraments are life-changing encounters with Christ that result in grace for living. ■ Read and pray the Scriptures using “lectio divina.” This can become a very fruitful daily conversation with Jesus. You can apply God’s word to where you are at in life and come to a better understanding of what God is trying to change in your life. ■ Establish regular times of prayer including scheduled holy hours at an adoration chapel. Many parishes have chapels just for the purpose of spending quiet time with God. ■ Grow in your relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary. She will always take you to her Son, especially in
the rosary. ■ Schedule reminders throughout the day that you are a disciple of Jesus and that you are to actively follow him. An ancient Jewish document called “Pirkei Avot” reminds those who are thirsty for God to find a rabbi and become covered in their dust (PA1:4). The picture is clear: Become covered in the dust of Jesus as a result of following him. Whose dust is covering you? Cavins is founder of the Great Adventure Bible Study Series and director of the Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Catechetical Institute.
Tune in Fridays at 9 a.m. Rebroadcast: 6 p.m. Saturdays • 9 a.m. Sundays
On Relevant Radio1330 AM The Catholic Spirit • April 11, 2013
Rediscover-faith.org
for iPhone/iPad/Android, Download the app now at
Rediscoverapp.com