The Catholic Spirit - November 7, 2013

Archbishop’s Column 3 • Immigration reform 10 • Colleges & Careers 19-20 November 7, 2013 Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

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SHE SHOOTS, SHE SCORES Catholic author’s new book, ‘The Catechism of Hockey,’ draws parallels between faith, sport

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit Alyssa Bormes has never played hockey. But, she said that going to the penalty box changed her life.

She wasn’t wearing skates when she went to what is known in the sport as the “sin bin,” but the result was the same — a clean slate.

She talks about the penalty box and other nuances of the game that is passionately loved by thousands of Minnesotans in her recently released book, “The Catechism of Hockey.”

She believes there are important parallels between the popular winter pastime and the Catholic faith, and she’s hoping to use it to draw hockey enthusiasts closer to God and the Church.

Bormes’ faith journey began on the grassy plains of Aberdeen, S.D. She grew up in a Catholic home as the youngest of eight children, with her father lacing up a pair of skates on her feet like he had done for all of her older siblings.

She enjoyed the time with her dad and embraced the faith he and her mom passed down. It culminated with being confirmed in eighth grade by Bishop Paul Dudley, a long-time friend and seminary classmate of her father (Bishop Dudley died in 2006).

Unfortunately, her spiritual life got derailed — for 17 years, in fact. Hence, the need for time in the “box.” She actually has adapted that hockey term to mean the sacrament of reconciliation. In fact, that is one of the major points in her book.

She writes about how hockey’s penalty box resembles confession, in that the person who goes in the box guilty comes out clean. That’s exactly what happened to her after staying away from the Church, Bishop Dudley and the sacrament of reconciliation for almost two decades, stretching all the way into her 30s.

“He’s my spiritual father,” said Bormes, 48 and a member of Holy Family in St. Louis Park, of Bishop Dudley. “But, I fell away from the Church when I got

Alyssa Bormes draws connections between the Catholic faith and hockey in her recently-released book, “The Catechism of Hockey.” Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit to college. I sort of avoided him. I would just never go out to seek Bishop Dudley because I knew that he would tell me to change my life, and I wasn’t willing to. But then, there was a day when I was so lost. I actually talk about it in the book because we talk about confession in the book.

“I was so lost that I knew that I had to . . . go to a priest and go to confession, even though I hadn’t been in 17 years. I didn’t know how to do it anymore. I wasn’t exactly sure why I was going, except

that I was so lost I just couldn’t survive anymore. So, I went to confession with Bishop Dudley, and in one sentence, he brought me home.”

Bormes is hoping that readers of her book will similarly be drawn to the sacrament. She also hopes it will be an encouragement to parents, especially dads.

A positive sign was a recent talk she gave at St. Paul’s OutPlease turn to AUTHOR on page 6

ALSO inside

Foundation aims higher for tuition aid to students

Pipe organs’ inaugural concert draws crowd

‘O God, be merciful to me, a sinner’

“Night of Light” celebration of Catholic education highlights growing need for aid.

— page 7

The Cathedral of St. Paul was filled to capacity for the hour-long free concert Oct. 24.

— page 21

Father Tim Norris used his homily Oct. 27 to address the issue of clergy sexual abuse.

— page 24

Page Two

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in PICTURES

“’May I?’ . . . ‘Thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry.’”

— Pope Francis, identifying three phrases that he said are essential for a peaceful family life, during an Oct. 26 Year of Faith celebration

NEWS notes • The Catholic Spirit

ALL SAINTS DAY: Students at All Saints Catholic School in Lakeville celebrated All Saints Day Nov. 1. Following a school Mass, students in grades K-8 knelt as an adoration procession passed by each of the classrooms. Led by Father Jonathan Kelly, assistant priest at All Saints, the second-grade students who will receive their first Communion this school year participated in the procession followed by teachers and Principal Karen Meskill. Photo courtesy of All Saints Catholic School

Christmas poster contest

RAKE-A-THON: Students from Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School in Mound raked the yards of local residents and senior citizens in the communities surrounding Lake Minnetonka Oct. 25. This year’s Rake-A-Thon, an annual school fundraiser, raised $25,000. Students got pledges from friends, family, and neighbors, to rake yards for those who need assistance doing this fall task. Photo courtesy of Erin Wombacher

WHAT’S NEW on social media During a Year of Faith celebration of family life Oct. 26, Pope Francis identified three phrases that he said are essential for a peaceful family life .

They are, “ ’May I?’ . . . ‘Thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry.’ ” A Catholic Spirit Facebook post this week asks, “What phrase would you say is essential for peace in your family?”

Follow the latest news about the local and universal Church by following The Catholic Spirit on Twitter @CatholicSpirit.

Watch a video about the 2013 Rediscover: Catholic Celebration at www.

YouTube.com/thecatholicspirit.

Watch how a little boy walked up on stage with Pope Francis and ended up stealing the show. Visit CatholicHotdish.com.

The Catholic Spirit is published bi-weekly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 18 — No. 24 MOST REVEREND JOHN C. NIENSTEDT, Publisher SARAH MEALEY, Associate publisher JOE TOWALSKI, Editor

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

The Catholic Spirit invites young artists in the archdiocese to participate in a poster contest with the theme: “I unwrap the real gift of Christmas when . . .”

The completed sentence must appear on the front of an 8-and-a-halfby-11-inch poster. Artists may use any media. Strong colors with a lot of contrast reproduce better than soft pastels in the newspaper.

Entries will be judged on originality and artistic ability, interpretation of the theme and newspaper reproduction quality.

A first-place prize of $50 will be awarded for one poster in each category: grades three and under, grades four through six, grades seven through nine, and grades 10 through 12.

Entries must be postmarked or dropped off at The Catholic Spirit offices by Wednesday, Dec. 11. Please include name, address, phone number, grade level and parish (include city). Mail to: The Catholic Spirit Christmas Contest, 244 Dayton Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102.

Winning entries will be published in The Catholic Spirit’s Christmas edition, Dec. 19.

Open house for Risen Christ immersion program Risen Christ School in Minneapolis will host an open house from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20 to showcase a new language immersion program.

The school has been selected to be part of the Two-Way Immersion Network for Catholic Schools, an innovative school model that delivers the classroom curriculum in two languages: English and a wellrepresented minority language. Classes will mix native English speaking students with classmates who speak Spanish, allowing both groups of students to become bilingual.

Risen Christ is located at 1120 E. 37th St. For information, visit www. risenchristschool.org.

New vicar appointed for Region 2 Father Robert Hart, pastor of St. Patrick parish in Inver Grove Heights, has been appointed vicar for Region 2 (South). He will replace Father Charles Lachowitzer, who has been appointed vicar general of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Regional vicars are appointed to help foster communication between parishes, clergy and the archbishop.

The other regional vicars are: • Father Michael Skluzacek, pastor of St. John the Baptist, New Brighton, for Region 1 (Northeast); • Father Stephen Ulrick, pastor of Holy Name of Jesus, Wayzata, for Region 3 (Northwest).

• Father Kevin Kenney, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul, will serve as vicar for Latino ministry.

Materials credited to CNS copyrighted by Catholic News Service.

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Last Sunday evening, a large number of faithful gathered in our beautiful Cathedral to pray the seven penitential psalms — prayers that have been used by the Church throughout the ages in moments of great need and sorrow. We prayed for those who have been hurt by the actions of the few who have so grievously betrayed their vows before God. We prayed that God’s abundant mercy and love would fill the hearts of those in most need. We prayed together for forgiveness and healing.

The ceremony was very moving as well as consoling. I hope we can repeat such services in other churches throughout the archdiocese.

But our prayer must be followed with action. In my column two weeks ago, I announced that I had ordered a review of clergy files by an outside firm. This is one of several important steps we are taking to meet four primary goals.

Our first goal, and of greatest importance, is keeping our focus on creating and maintaining safe environments. In short, the protection of minors must be our top priority, and it must be what animates our every action and decision.

Our second goal is to care for those who have been harmed by members of the Church. Our third goal is to facilitate the beginning of a healing process for our local Church in order to restore trust with the Catholic faithful, who are counting on the clergy and leadership of the Church to make virtuous decisions for the good of the Body of Christ.

And, our fourth goal is to restore trust with our clergy, who are dedicated men and are deserving of our confidence and respect.

How will we accomplish these important goals? In addition to our unceasing and heartfelt prayers, we must focus on taking virtuous action.

Over the last month, we have committed to and have already begun to fulfill several new, concrete actions, including: 1. The unprecedented authority given to the new vicar for ministerial standards to address issues associated with clergy misconduct; 2. The formation and empowerment of the independent lay task force by the vicar in early October; 3. The review of clergy files by an outside firm; THAT THEY and 4. The prudent and ongoing disclosure of inforMAY ALL BE ONE mation as we ascertain all of the facts from a review of clergy files.

Archbishop You have my commitment that we will do John C. Nienstedt what we have promised. Our actions will deliver the promise of our words.

Over the last two weeks, since the publication of my column, I have received questions about the various actions we are taking and how they relate to one another. I’d like to address most of those questions here. There is also an article on this topic in this edition of The Catholic Spirit (see “Archdiocesan efforts seek to ensure comprehensive approach on issue of clergy sexual misconduct,” page 4).

I begin with the Safe Environment and Ministerial Standards Task Force. One of the things that this independent lay group will no doubt want to examine is the work that was done over the last year by a group of dedicated staff who, starting in the fall of 2012, looked at how the Archdiocese addresses clergy misconduct. This group did excellent work over a period of nearly a full year that culminated in the publication of their outcomes on our website (www. archspm.org) in mid-September of this year.

There are many fruits from their labor, including important changes to the boards that review and assess clergy misconduct on an ongoing basis. One of the most important outcomes of that group’s work over the last year was refocusing the Clergy Review Board, the longstanding group of clergy and lay leaders who assess all manner of clergy misconduct allegations, to concentrate only on issues potentially related to abuse of minors defined as violations of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” We hold complete fulfillment of the charter as our top priority, and so the refocus of this group on this mission alone provides even greater resourcing and attention on this most sacred of trusts.

Because of this change, the working group also recommended the creation of a new board called the Ministerial Standards Board. The mission of that group

Statement regarding Nov. 5 Star Tribune article Dear Friends in Christ, Today [Nov. 5], the Minneapolis StarTribune published an article regarding the Minnesota Religious Council (MRC). As you may know, the MRC is a coalition of Minnesota churches from several denominations, led by a Lutheran pastor, that has worked together for common causes since the early 1990s.

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From the Archbishop

Protecting young people, restoring trust inspire our commitment to concrete actions

is to address “all else,” that is, any allegation of clergy misconduct that does not involve potential violations of the charter.

By bifurcating the work into these two review boards, the working group sought to improve to a significant degree the process for review of cases and ensure that each receives the level of time, attention and investigation warranted. In short, more resources and a more-focused review and investigation were directed to these activities. All of this happened long before the media attention started about a month ago.

So why do we need an independent task force if all of this good work was done just in the last year? There are three reasons: first, and most critically, because nothing is more important than protecting minors; and second, because we want a justly objective and independent body to bring specific and relevant expertise, experience and a fresh perspective to what we have done; and third, to demonstrate that we are truly doing everything we reasonably can to restore trust with the Catholic faithful. Having outside expertise and objective sets of eyes on all these elements will ensure we are employing best practices in this area.

The role of the task force, then, is to review any and all issues related to clergy sexual misconduct and to make specific recommendations for actions to be taken and for policies and procedures to be implemented. The task force will be given all of the resources and access to documents as are needed to do its important work.

The nature of the task force is to have a limited time scope and duration of existence; that is, when it finishes its work and delivers its final report of findings and recommendations, its work will be completed. The same is true for the review of clergy files by an outside firm, an action I ordered to ensure that we have not overlooked any inappropriate behavior from the past. While the file review began in earnest three weeks ago by outside counsel, we are currently interviewing firms to complete this work and I am confident that the staff members assessing the various candidates will soon select the best and most professional firm available.

With a great sense of urgency, I am looking forward to receiving and ensuring the implementation of the findings and recommendations that will re“The protection of sult from both efforts over the coming months.

While the work of the Task Force and the file reminors must be our top view is task-focused and each will have its own completion date, the missions of the Clergy Review priority, and it must be Board and Ministerial Standards Board are ongoing.

One of their most critical roles will be to implement what animates our the good work of the Task Force and whatever we learn from a thorough clergy file review. every action and Ultimately, the outcome of all of these efforts — both those that are near-term and those with ongodecision.” ing responsibilities — is to meet the four major Archbishop John Nienstedt goals I mentioned earlier. Nothing is more important than protecting the young and restoring trust within our communities.

We have been given this sacred trust, this mission as disciples of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus has given us the two great commandments to keep and live out with love and sincerity. And so I have made these firm commitments, and I am taking concrete and specific actions to fulfill those commitments with love and sincerity.

My objective is to keep you apprised of the progress of these actions. You can count on my column addressing these topics in the months ahead. You can also look forward to ongoing coverage in the pages of The Catholic Spirit to provide more information and perspective on these most important priorities for our local Church.

And while I continue to be deeply saddened at the pall that the events of the past month have cast over our Catholic parishes and organizations, I am determined to do everything in my power to restore your trust, so that we may indeed come out of this experience as a better, stronger and more focused Church.

With unwavering commitment to our goals, with the concrete actions we are taking to fulfill them and with your prayers and God’s grace, I believe we will do just that.

May the love and peace of Jesus Christ be with you and your families.

God bless you all.

The MRC, along with dozens of organizations that provide programming and care for minors, had serious concerns about the appropriateness of lifting the statute of limitations for organizations that serve children in Minnesota. For this reason, the MRC, and many others, lobbied to protect the rights of youth-serving organizations to defend themselves and to support measures that would genuinely protect young people.

While the Archdiocese funded much of the

costs of the MRC, there were many churches that supported the cause as members and leaders.

More importantly, all of the churches that are part of the MRC have a deep, heartfelt commitment to creating and maintaining safe environments and protecting minors. This is within the core of all of our faiths. The MRC lobbying regarding the statute of limitations in no way alters or minimizes this important commitment of our faiths.

In Christ, Bishop Lee Piché

OFFICIAL His Excellency, the Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt, has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Effective October 28, 2013 • Reverend Robert Hart appointed Vicar for Region 2 (South). This is in addition to Rev. Hart’s appointment as pastor of the Church of Saint Patrick in Inver Grove Heights.

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Archdiocesan efforts seek to ensure comprehensive approach to issue of clergy sexual misconduct The Catholic Spirit While news coverage of the archdiocese in recent weeks has focused on sexual misconduct allegations against certain priests and how their cases were handled by archdiocesan officials, the work of a group that recently issued comprehensive improvements to the way clergy sexual misconduct is handled in the archdiocese has gone mostly unreported.

The working group — comprised of lay and clergy members — met for nearly a year beginning in fall 2012 to update the archdiocese’s previous policies and procedures on ministry-related sexual misconduct. The revision, titled “Strengthening Trust,” was published in midSeptember and is available online at

www.archspm.org/departments/ opcy.

“The primary intent and purpose of the work was to look at the policies and procedures of the last several years in the area of safe environment — to look at what we’ve been doing, to look at best practices throughout the country and to analyze what we’re doing with an eye toward improving our procedures and practices,” said Father Daniel Griffith, the archdiocese’s new safe environment delegate who was a member of the group.

On Aug. 15, Father Griffith succeeded the outgoing delegate, Father Kevin McDonough, who held the position since 2008.

Updated policy The new document — an update

of a previous version issued in 2007 — explains safe environment requirements related to criminal background checks, codes of conduct and safe environment training, and it outlines the services offered to victims of clergy sexual misconduct.

The document also reflects recent changes in Church law, said Susan Mulheron, the archdiocese’s chancellor for canonical affairs. And, it more clearly defines roles for groups that review clergy misconduct and firmly establishes that acquiring, possessing or disseminating child pornography constitutes sexual abuse of a minor.

It also addresses how the archdiocese responds to allegations, and to parishes that experience clergy sexual misconduct.

One fruit of the working group’s efforts has been “a strong improvement in communication” among archdiocesan staff members at the chancery, Father Griffith said, “knowing that we have to communicate among each other to make sure things are not missed.”

Those chancery staff members include the chancellor and associate chancellor for civil affairs, chancellor for canonical affairs, auxiliary bishop, vicar general, vicar for clergy, clergy services director and delegate for safe environment, he said.

Improved communication has also been the focus of another archdiocesan group that was formed about two years ago by former vicar general Father Peter Laird. Members Please turn to SAFE on page 16

Vicar says task force will have access to what it needs The Catholic Spirit The archdiocese’s vicar for ministerial standards rejects assertions made in some media reports that the newly formed Safe Environment and Ministerial Standards Task Force isn’t truly independent and won’t have access to all the information it needs to carry out its work.

The task force, which is comprised of three laymen and four laywomen from a variety of professional fields, was formed last month to conduct a full review of the archdiocese’s policies and practices related to clergy sexual misconduct.

“Anything that falls within the ambit of policies or procedures or activities undertaken to enforce those policies, that documentation is theirs to review,” said Dominican Father Reginald Whitt, the vicar for ministerial standards. “The very Father decree I issued establishing [the task WHITT force] indicates that all documents pertaining to issues of clergy sexual misconduct are to be provided to them.”

In a previous interview when the task force was announced, Father Whitt said that “whatever they recommend to me as reasonable for them to perform their task, it’s my business to see that they get it.”

While task force members may direct requests for files to Father Whitt, they also may request them directly from the chancellors of civil and canonical affairs. The only limitation on the task force is that its

requests be relevant to issues of clergy sexual misconduct, Father Whitt said.

Documentation such as seminary transcripts or correspondence between a priest and the archbishop that has nothing to do with sexual misconduct are among the kinds of records that would not be relevant to the task force’s charge, he said. If questions would arise about the relevancy of a particular record, Father Whitt said he and the task force chair would sit down and make the proper determination.

He said that the task force has received all the information it has requested to date.

Media reports questioning the task force’s access to information arose following an Oct. 21 letter Father Whitt sent to priests and deacons in the archdiocese explaining his role and the work of the task force, including its ability to access clergy files. In the letter, he said that “access to these files will be within my control, and limited only to what is necessary for the Task Force to be able to make an informed decision with respect to the policy review.”

He said that, in hindsight, the word “control” was “an injudicious term” to use.

Father Whitt is not a member of the task force, does not attend its meetings and does not receive minutes of its meetings.

“To suggest that the people in the task force lack the integrity to pursue their charge diligently is frankly unfair,” he said. “The proof of the pudding is in the tasting. Let’s let them do their work and produce their report. But to criticize them before they’ve

Seventh member of task force is announced A seventh member of the Safe Environment and Ministerial Standards Task Force was announced Oct. 24.

Vicki Oster, a general pediatrician at Southdale Pediatric Associates, Ltd., joins the six other members who were announced at a press conference Oct. 9. The all-lay member task force is charged with reviewing the archdiocese’s policies and practices related to clergy sexual misconduct.

For more than 25 years, Vicki Oster has been a member OSTER of Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis, where she has taught safe environment lessons for the past seven years to sixth- through ninth-graders in faith formation classes. done anything, or to criticize me before I’ve done anything, to suggest the whole enterprise is dishonest from the get-go, is not only false but unfair.”

Hearing Tests Set for Senior Citizens If you have been abused or victimized by someone representing the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, we want to hear from you.

We are here to offer you help and healing. We will also help you make a formal complaint of abuse to this Archdiocese or assist you in contacting another archdiocese/diocese/eparchy.

Please call me, Greta Sawyer on my confidential phone line, 651.291.4497, or email me at sawyerg@archspm.org.

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.

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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

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TheCatholicSpirit.com November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

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Prayers for forgiveness and peace

At right, Archbishop John Nienstedt and Deacon Russ Shupe pause for prayer at the beginning of the service.

Dianne Towalski / The Catholic Spirit

People from throughout the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis attended a penitential prayer service Nov. 3 at the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Archbishop John Nienstedt presided and asked those gathered to pray for strength and healing for those hurt by the Church.

“May the hurt, the wounded and those whose faith has been tested through human weakness receive strength, consolation and a renewed trust in Jesus Christ, the One who can make all things new,” he said.

“I came to support the Church and I really felt unified tonight,” said Teresa Choals, 15, of the Cathedral parish. “We were all praying together and, even though not all of us made some of the mistakes, we are definitely one Church and we all rise and fall together.”

The one-hour service included recitation of the seven penitential psalms; prayers for peace, healing and reconciliation; and moments of silence.

We respond

God Calls

Above, Joe Gleason, a member of St. Mark in St. Paul, prays during the prayer service Nov. 3 at the Cathedral of St. Paul.

“What we need, especially in these times, are credible witnesses who can, through their life and words, make the Gospel visible and awaken the attraction to Jesus Christ.”

— Pope Francis

Graduate Studies Information Night Tuesday, November 12, 5:15 p.m.

RSVP to gradtheology@stthomas.edu or call (651) 962-5050 www.saintpaulseminary.org

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November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

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Author finds inspiration from the late Bishop Dudley Continued from page 1 reach Men on a Mission, a breakfast event with a featured speaker. She said she sold more than 20 copies of the book after her talk in September.

“The whole book is directed to all parents, but then, in the end, to dads,” she said. “Dads are almost always the sports head of the family, and they need to be the spiritual heads of the family.”

The ultimate prize Of course, no book about hockey would be complete without mention of the game’s ultimate prize — the Stanley Cup. She writes about the sport’s holy grail in a simple, five-page chapter that connects the athletes who compete for it and those who respond to God’s call to the priesthood.

She begins by sharing an anecdote at one of her many talks on the catechism of hockey, which began years before she started writing the book. She asked audience members to name hockey’s ultimate trophy. Eventually, everyone came up with the same answer: the Stanley Cup. Her next point made the room go silent: “Yes, the Stanley Cup is the ultimate reward in hockey and it is not available to your daughters.

Only your sons can dream of the Stanley Cup.” She went on to note that the Cup is beyond reach of most men as well — those with physical and mental disabilities, those who are too tall or too short and those who just don’t have the talent to play the game at its highest level.

Yet, most people don’t give this simple point a moment’s thought.

Why? Because if their team wins it, they somehow feel a part of it, to the point of saying “we” won the Cup when the team they cheer for captures the trophy.

That’s how it is in the Church, Bormes notes. Like NHL players, priests are an elite group of men who work to bring something meaningful to their congregation.

In fact, what they are offering to those in the pews is much more than the Cup. They try to help worshipers receive what she calls the “Eternal Crown of Glory.”

This is one of many connections between faith and hockey that she describes in the book. Other topics include the coach, the goalie, the Zamboni, Wayne Gretzky (legendary former player for the Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers) and Herb Brooks, who gained acclaim for coaching the 1980 U.S. Olympic team that won a gold medal and defeated the highly favored Soviet Union along the way.

WAYS IN WHICH WE CAN HELP YOU! November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

Brooks died in 2003, but his widow Patti got her hands on the book and gave it a thumbs up. This quote from her appears on the back cover: “This book is enjoyable and should be an inspiration to those involved in the game of hockey.

Herbie would have been humbled by bringing hockey into the realm of spirituality.”

The book also received good reviews from other notable figures, including a hockey-playing bishop, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., Brian Bonin, former University of Minnesota hockey player who was named college hockey’s top player in 1996, and Archbishop John Nienstedt, who cheers for the Detroit Red Wings but has been known to attend Minnesota Wild games.

Drawing inspiration Ironically, Bormes wrote the book during a period of time when she was battling chronic shoulder pain.

She ended up having four shoulder surgeries over several years, and wrote the book in between surgeries.

Sometimes, the pain was excruciating, and she often had trouble even lifting one of her hands to the keyboard. But, advice from Bishop Dudley kept her going.

“On his deathbed, I had the great privilege to visit him a few times. I just remember the day he told me about suffering,” she said. “He told me about the intention he had as he suffered and was dying. He said that you should always have some intention in your back pocket for even the little sufferings.

“The intention [from the shoulder pain] was really for the priesthood because of how much I loved Bishop Dudley and how the priesthood had brought me home. I’ll be eternally grateful for the gift of the priesthood.”

She also is grateful to her boss, Dale Ahlquist, who encouraged her to start writing the book back in 2007, when she told him she woke up one night and had the inspiration for “The Catechism of Hockey.”

Ahlquist, president of the American Chesterton Society, wrote the forward and published the book. Of course, it contains a quote by G.K. Chesterton.

“As a sort of a gift, Chesterton gave us one last quote, probably three weeks before we took this to the printer,” Bormes said. “It’s the quote in the foreword, and it’s all about sports having all these rules even though people don’t want their faith to have rules. But, they submit to all these rules in sports.”

Another quote that made the book’s 203 pages came from a hock-

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Excerpts from ‘The Catechism of Hockey’

By Alyssa Bormes . . . There are major and minor penalties in hockey and the skater goes to the box. Major and minor and the skater goes to the box.

I’ll pause right here to see if this reminds you of anything. Major, minor, and the box. Mortal, venial, and the box. Another name for the box in hockey is the ‘sin bin’. Ah! Hockey is so very Catholic. . . . In hockey, there are five skaters and one goalie per team that can be on the ice at a time. When a given team has all five skaters and the goalie on the ice at once, they are considered to be playing at full strength. Time in the box removes a skater from the ice, and no skater from the bench is sent in to replace the missing skater.

This is considered skating shorthanded. . . . At the Minnesota Gopher games, after a penalty is over, the announcer says, “The Gophers are at full strength.”

The crowd responds, “They always were!”

I once told this to my friend Father Paul Murray. He gasped and whispered, “Yes. Say it again.”

“The Gophers are at full strength.”

“They always were.”

“Yes, that’s it, that’s confession.”

After penitents have done their time in the box, they are at full strength. God’s forgiveness is complete. The offense is gone; in a sense, it is as if it never happened. There may still be temporal consequences, however, that need to be remedied. Spiritually, the sin may be gone, but the consequences of the sin may remain. . . . “The Gophers are at full strength.”

“They always were.”

Imagine if, for even one day, we as the Church played at full strength! If each of Her members were in a state of grace, the world would be transformed.

There is no shame in the box. You are not at your worst when you are in the box. You are at your worst when you are sinning.

One might even say that you are at your best when you are in the box. You come humbly before Christ. You tell the Divine Referee your transgressions and you are met with Mercy Himself.

If you have time to do in the box, do your time in the box. Don’t make the team play shorthanded because you are afraid of the box.

The box is just a part of hockey, and it is just a part of the Church.

Go do your time in the box.

“The Church is at full strength.”

“She always was!”

ey mom Bormes talked to about the book. It speaks to the challenge of trying to pull people away from the rink and into the pews.

When comparing Mass to hockey, the woman said to her, “But, Alyssa, the difference between hockey and the Mass is hockey is fun.”

Bormes offered a simple, nonconfrontational reply: “Yeah, but not if you don’t know what’s going on. If you’re at a hockey game and you don’t know what’s going on, it’s just a hard bench in a cold place.

Commentary/idea/opinion?

Call 651-291-4455 or e-mail: towlaskij@archspm.org

. . . If you don’t know anything about hockey, it’s completely meaningless. And, you’re just waiting for it to be over.”

Thus, the challenge was issued to this hockey mom — learn about her faith, and the Mass will come to life.

And, she’ll end up with something far greater than a hockey win to cheer about.

To order a copy of the book, visit hockeyfaith.com.

Build your business with Catholic Spirit display and web advertising Call 651-291-4444 for information

7 The Catholic Spirit Isaiah Goodman knows firsthand about the financial barriers that can prevent promising students from attending the school of their choice.

“I grew up in a family that didn’t have as much as those around me,” said Goodman, even though his father once played football for the Green Bay Packers.

“Most people would assume [professional athletes] should be pretty well off,” he said. “Typically, people in major sports made a lot of money. It wasn’t like that for our family.

My dad played in the early ‘70s, got hurt and didn’t have a ton of money later.”

The family moved to Richfield, and Goodman said he didn’t think much about going to college, owning a home someday or “any of those big goals that were possible” — at least not until he began attending the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, an opportunity made possible because of the tuition assistance he received from the school.

“I know without a doubt I wouldn’t have been able to go there if we didn’t get that help,” said Goodman, who participated in sports, student government and the National Honor Society at Holy Angels.

From there, he attended Wash-

Isaiah Goodman speaks during the Aim Higher Foundation’s “Night of Light” celebration Nov. 1 at the Hilton in downtown Minneapolis. Dianne Towalski/The Catholic Spirit ington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., where he graduated with honors. Today, Goodman works as a financial analyst with Northwestern Mutual in Minneapolis, where he helps other families plan for a better future.

Goodman shared his success story with some 450 people who attended the Aim Higher Foundation’s “Night of Light” celebration of Catholic education Nov. 1 at the Hilton in downtown Minneapolis.

The foundation was formed in

late 2011 following the archdiocese’s initiation of a strategic plan committed to reinvesting in the future of Catholic schools.

In 2012-2013, the Aim Higher Foundation’s first school year of providing financial support, 730 students in kindergarten through eighth grade received $483,000 in financial aid, said Karen Rauenhorst, president of the foundation.

The recipients were from 71 of the archdiocese’s 80 K-8 Catholic schools, and nearly half of the scholarships were awarded to students of color.

The aid also “helped attract 238 new families to our schools,” she said.

In the 2013-2014 school year, students at 76 K-8 schools are receiving $750,000 in tuition assistance. Ninety-five percent of the students who received assistance last year are getting it again this year, Rauenhorst said.

As the foundation’s resources grow, it also will provide support to Catholic high schools in the archdiocese, she said.

The GHR Foundation, based in Minnetonka, provided a challenge grant to match pledged and received gifts from the “Night of Light” up to $150,000, Goodman announced as the evening concluded.

The event’s table captains and inkind donations paid all of the expenses for the evening, which included musical performances by the Holy Family Academy middle school choir and students from Convent of the Visitation School and St. Thomas Academy. Every donation made at the event, therefore, will directly support student scholarships.

“The need continues to grow,” said Jennifer Cassidy, principal of Annunciation School in Minneapolis who addressed attendees and whose school has received Aim Higher Foundation grants the last two years. “The identified financial aid need now for our students is over $40 million. We know our schools cannot do that on their own, so we’re so grateful to the Aim Higher Foundation for stepping up to help.”

“It’s a critical time for them to help [in] that success and sustainability of our schools,” she said.

“We need your help, and our students need your help. We want more Isaiahs out there in the world.”

For more information about the Aim Higher Foundation and how you can partner with the foundation, visit aimhigherfoundation.org, or call (612) 819-6711.

Local

Foundation aims higher for tuition aid to students in need

Support Catholic Schools on

Give to the Max Day November 14, 2013

Go to aimhigher.org for a direct link to donate online to your favorite Catholic school!

One day can make a difference!

All Saints, Lakeville Annunciation School, Minneapolis Bethlehem Academy, Faribault Community of Saints School, West Saint Paul Convent of the Visitation, Mendota Heights Cretin-Derham Hall, St. Paul Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Minneapolis DeLaSalle High School, Minneapolis Guardian Angels, Chaska Highland Catholic School, Saint Paul Hill-Murray School, Maplewood Holy Family Academy, Saint Louis Park Holy Family Catholic High School,Victoria Holy Name of Jesus School, Wayzata Holy Spirit School, Saint Paul Immaculate Conception School, Columbia Heights Mary, Queen of Peace Catholic School, Rogers Maternity of Mary/St Andrew School, Saint Paul Nativity of Mary, Bloomington Our Lady of Grace School, Edina Our Lady of the Lake School, Mound Our Lady of Peace, Minneapolis Our Lady of the Prairie School, Belle Plaine Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary School, Maplewood Providence Academy, Plymouth Sacred Heart School, Robbinsdale

Saint Agnes, St. Paul St. Croix Catholic, Stillwater St Helena School, Minneapolis St. Hubert School, Chanhassen St Jerome School, Maplewood St John the Baptist School, Excelsior St John the Baptist School, New Brighton St John the Baptist School, Savage St John the Evangelist School, Little Canada St Joseph School, Waconia St Joseph School, West Saint Paul St Jude of the Lake School, Mahtomedi St Mark School, St. Paul St. Odilia, Shoreview St. Pascal Baylon, St. Paul St Peter School, Forest Lake St. Peter Claver, St. Paul St Rose of Lima School, Roseville St Therese School, Deephaven St. Thomas More, St. Paul Way of the Shepherd Catholic Montessori, Blaine

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

Local • What Works

8

Program is ‘Christmas miracle’ for those in need

By Jennifer Janikula For The Catholic Spirit Now that the clocks have fallen back and the calendar has flipped to November, we are officially entering the “holiday season.” TV commercials, Internet ads and newspaper inserts call us to excess — more food, more gifts, more gadgets.

We are persuaded to “want” more.

But many people are searching for alternative holiday traditions — ways to shift the focus and share the spirit of giving with those who are truly in need.

Organizations like Sponsor A Family help people extend their reach beyond family and friends to serve strangers. Each year, the organization recruits sponsors who purchase gifts for families that are struggling with basic needs. The family wish lists commonly include items like boots, winter coats, snow pants and blankets.

Mary Shimshock, a member of Holy Name of Jesus in Wayzata, has been a Sponsor A Family volunteer for more than 20 years and currently serves on the organization’s leadership team. She credits the continued success of the organization to the generosity of the community.

People are eager to make a difference in the lives of others, she said.

“This program brings out the best in people,” Shimshock said. “It’s a great example of what is working in our communities. From our business partners who donate warehouse space and trucks, to sponsors from churches, businesses or individual families. Each year the program is its own Christmas miracle.”

Helping many The Sponsor A Family program had its beginnings more than 35 years ago as a program of Catholic Charities. It is now an independent program and has partnered with the Sisters of St. Joseph Carondelet Ministries and Risen Christ School in Minneapolis.

It relies on partner organizations to identify families in need. The program serves a wide variety of people, including refugees, immigrants, trafficked and tortured women, and families from inner-city Catholic schools.

Many of this year’s families will come to Sponsor A family via the Learning in Style program directed

by Sister Agnes Foley of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. It serves nearly 400 adult immigrants each year from 20 to 30 different countries and emphasizes literacy and citizenship skills.

When the leadership team at Sponsor a Family

What Works Share your thoughts The Catholic Spirit is looking for story ideas for its “What Works” series.

We want to hear from parishes and schools about an idea, plan, project or program that is currently showing successful results.

Submitters should explain the purpose of the initiative and outline the steps that led to success.

Our goal is to give parishes and schools an opportunity to share ideas for doing ministry more effectively and/or more efficiently.

• E-mail your story idea to: WhatWorks@archspm. org • Or mail your idea to: “What Works,” c/o The Catholic Spirit, 244 Dayton Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102.

Please include your name, parish and daytime telephone number.

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

Four ways to help local families in need Sponsor A Family has been serving families in need for more than 35 years. The success of its holiday giving program relies on generous contributions of time, talent and treasure from hundreds of individuals, families and corporations. Here are four ways to support this volunteer-run organization: • Sponsor a family Sign up: Visit www.sponsorafamilymn.org and click on “Sign Up to Sponsor a Family.” Select the number of people that you would like to sponsor.

Receive wish list: When the sponsor/client matching process is complete, sponsors receive a “wish list” with 2-3 items per client.

Shop: The suggested cash outlay is $65 plus a $10 food gift card per individual.

Drop off gifts: Sponsors deliver gifts to the Sponsor A Family warehouse in St. Paul on Wednesday, Dec. 11 or Thursday, Dec. 12.

• Work at the warehouse Anyone 13 or older is welcome to volunteer at the Sponsor A Family warehouse during the month of December. Individuals, families and corporate teams work together to receive donations from sponsors, prepare donations for families and distribute donations.

• Donate emergency gifts Some families and corporations prefer to supply specific products to the families. In the past, groups have sponsored mitten drives or blanket drives. Other groups have supplied sheet sets or wooden toys.

These items are often used as emergency gifts for families in need that did not submit a wish list.

• Make a monetary donation Tax deductible donations can be made to Sponsor A Family/Risen Christ School and sent to: Sponsor A Family MN, P.O. box 582793, Minneapolis, MN 55458. asked Sister Agnes how many of her students’ families were struggling with basic needs she said, “I can’t think of any that don’t have needs. They are at the bottom of the chain for everything — employment opportunities, housing, education.

They are adapting to a new country.”

Sponsor A Family will serve 175 Learning in Style students and their families, which amounts to 750 people.

Bob Spinner, a member of the Sponsor A Family leadership team and parishioner at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, enjoys the stories he hears from both sides of the program. The sponsors — families, churches and companies — use the experience to build a tradition of giving back, and those who receive the gifts are so appreciative.

The gift pick-up days are very rewarding, Spinner said.

“It’s great for the whole family,” he said. “The kids are so excited to choose a wooden toy or new mittens donated by companies, and the families write thank you notes to their sponsors in many different languages.”

Sponsor A Family hopes to help 2,500 people this holiday season. To learn how you can help, visit www.sponsorafamilymn.org, e-mail sponsorafamilymn@gmail.com, or call (612) 8496770.

9

By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit An Eagan teenager created the art that illustrates her high school’s 2013-2014 theme.

Emily Dinsmore, 17, a senior at the Convent of the Visitation High School in Mendota Heights, has long been interested in art, though she didn’t take a formal drawing class until last year. “My art is a way to express myself and put emotions onto a page in a way that words have always failed me,” Dinsmore said.

She was thrilled when her art teacher invited her to create a banner illustrating the virtue being spotlighted in the 2013-2014 school year: joyful optimism. The happy, hopeful mode was embodied by the French saint Francis de Sales and his friend, St. Jane de Chantal, who together founded the Visitation order of nuns four centuries ago.

Dinsmore’s charge was to make it relevant today.

It took her a while to land on a concrete expression of joyful optimism, but inspiration struck one weeknight after a study session at her friend’s house. It was dusk, and the two girls walked to the park and sat on the swings, letting

Local • Next Gen

Teenager’s artistic expression finds spiritual meaning

Convent of the Visitation senior Emily Dinsmore created the banner to illustrate the school’s theme for the current schoolyear, “Joyful optimism.” the fresh air wash over them as they chatted.

“In that time on the swings, I forgot about the stresses of testing and homework and just enjoyed the moment with one of my best friends,” Dinsmore said. “For me, joyful optimism is being able to enjoy every moment, especially the little things, knowing that worry does not make the future better. God will always be there providing for the present and future.”

Then she set to painting, using acrylics borrowed from school and working in her grandparents’ basement. She played music from Spotify as she filled the huge

canvas, alternating from pop tunes to Gaelic folk music to praise-andworship songs and occasionally breaking out in dance.

The image that emerged alluded to her evening at the park: the silhouette of two girls swinging, cast against a blazing orange sunset. After five days, the banner was complete.

It now hangs above a central staircase at Visitation, urging all the students, faculty and staff to embrace the virtue of joyful optimism as they go about their days. It was a creative triumph for Dinsmore, who has also enjoyed the artistry of being on Visitation’s theater crew. She praised Elliott

Hays, the technical director.

“Besides teaching me how to use a drill, weave a basket, paint things to look like cement, stucco a fake house, use and fix a band saw and go crazy with paint and feather dusters, Elliott has taught me to trust myself, to trust that, no matter how many mistakes I make or how frustrated I get, I will come out on top. He showed me that EMILY something small, like DINSMORE an idea, can be turned into a production that’s larger than life.”

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Communications Specialist Location: Holy Family Catholic High School; Victoria, MN Produce key communication initiatives and materials in the areas of school athletics & activities, advancement, admissions, and community relations. The position strives to increase and strengthen the communications and marketing of the school by assisting in implementing a comprehensive communications and marketing plan for the school’s internal and external constituents. Qualifications include but are not limited to: bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, graphic design or related field; minimum of 1-2 years of graphic design experience; proficiency with InDesign, Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop programs, and Microsoft Suite; have knowledge of and support Catholic School mission and philosophy.

Part-Time Music Coordinator/Musician Location: Immaculate Conception Catholic Church; Lonsdale, MN Music Coordinator/Pianist or Organist (approximately 5 flexible hours per week, Sept. – July) to assist the Pastor by helping with the selection of music, playing and coordination of all instrumental and vocal music at weekend Masses, Holy Days and other parish liturgies as agreed upon. Qualifications: ability to play the organ or piano proficiently; familiarity of Catholic liturgy and liturgical music; good communication and organizational skills; preferably a practicing Catholic, but not required. Background check, Virtus training for protection of children and vulnerable adults, Code of Conduct required for employment.

For more information on these and other job openings, or to apply online, please visit www.archspm.org/careers.

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

www.TheCatholicSpirit.com • archspm.org

Local

10

Before the start of the pilgrimage, Mary Funtes prays with the group outside St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove. Dianne Towalski / The Catholic Spirit

The tightly knit group of walkers made their way down Hemlock Lane in Maple Grove on the way to St. Joseph in New Hope, 6.5 miles away. Dianne Towalski / The Catholic Spirit

Pilgrimage helps raise awareness of immigration reform

By Dianne Towalski The Catholic Spirit More than 50 pilgrims walked from St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove to St. Joseph in New Hope Nov. 3 as part of a Pilgrimage for Citizenship.

The six-day ecumenical event, which concludes Nov. 8, seeks to raise awareness of the need for comprehensive federal immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship.

Providing a path to citizenship is one of the key principles of immigration reform important to the U.S. bishops. Others include keeping families together and address-

ing the root causes of poverty.

The event is sponsored by ISAIAH, a non-profit coalition of more than 100 congregations from various faith traditions in Minnesota, and Catholic Charities’ Office for Social Justice.

“This initiative gives us a voice so that representatives and politicians can know our story and know that something needs to be done,” said Rosaura, an immigrant from Mexico who spoke through an interpreter.

She and her husband Heriberto came to Minnesota with documents seven years ago looking for a better life, after losing their jobs, their

home and their savings.

Their immigration status keeps them separated from the children and grandchildren they left behind.

If they leave the U.S., they won’t be allowed to return.

“When you tell your story, you change how people think about you,” said Mary Funtes, a member of Guardian Angels in Chaska. “It’s not only your face, it’s your name, what you want, how you feel. The stories change everything.”

Funtes’ mother is dying of cancer in Mexico, but she is not able to return to take care of her because she also is helping her daughter attend college by taking care of her two

children. Going to Mexico to see her mother would mean she couldn’t return to the U.S., and her daughter couldn’t continue with school.

“This is not just my story; a lot of people are in the same situation,” Funtes said.

The walk continues, ending at a different church each evening through Nov. 8. More people will share their stories at each stop.

Funtes is confident that the event will capture the attention of local lawmakers.

“When we work together and we work hard, things happen,” she said.

The entrance/placement testing is January 18, 2014 from 8:15 - 11:45 a.m. at your first choice school.

Attend an open house at a Catholic high school . . . and find out how you can AIM HIGHER in your education and in life! www.aimhigher.org November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

Faribault

Minneapolis

St. Paul

BETHLEHEM ACADEMY (507) 334-3948 www.bacards.org Please call to schedule a visit.

Fridley

CRISTO REY JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL (612) 545-9700 www.cristoreytc.org Every first and third Tuesday, September through April at 7 p.m.

TOTINO-GRACE HIGH SCHOOL (763) 571-9116 www.totinograce.org January 8 at 6:30 p.m.

CRETIN-DERHAM HALL HIGH SCHOOL (651) 690-2443 www.c-dh.org November 7 at 6:30 p.m.

January 9 at 6:30 p.m.

DELASALLE HIGH SCHOOL (612) 676-7600 www.delasalle.com January 9 at 7 p.m.

Maplewood

Plymouth

HILL-MURRAY SCHOOL (651) 777-1376 www.hill-murray.org January 6 at 6 p.m.

PROVIDENCE ACADEMY 763-258-2500 www.providenceacademy.org November 7 at 6:30 p.m.

January 7 at 6:30 p.m.

Mendota Heights

Richfield

SAINT THOMAS ACADEMY (651) 454-4570 www.cadets.com January 12 at 1 p.m.

CONVENT OF THE VISITATION SCHOOL (651) 683-1700 www.vischool.org January 7 at 7 p.m.

ACADEMY OF HOLY ANGELS (612) 798-2600 www.academyofholyangels.org January 16 at 6 p.m.

April 24 at 6 p.m.

St. Louis Park BENILDE-ST. MARGARET’S SCHOOL (952) 915-4345 www.bsmschool.org November 12 at 6 p.m.

January 6 at 6 p.m.

Check website for daytime open houses

SAINT AGNES SCHOOL (651) 925-8700 www.saintagnesschool.org November 14 at 6:30 p.m.

January 15 at 6:30 p.m.

March 2 at 1 p.m.

Victoria HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL (952) 443-4659 www.hfchs.org November 7 at 6:30 p.m.

January 23 at 6:30 p.m.

11

Catholic News Service A Catholic wedding is not simply a beautiful ceremony; through the sacrament of marriage a couple receives from God the grace they will need to fulfill their mission in the world, Pope Francis said.

Addressing an estimated 100,000 people who came to St. Peter’s Square Oct. 26 for a Year of Faith celebration of family life, Pope Francis said Catholic spouses are not naive; they know difficult moments will come.

But vowing to love one another in sickness and health, joy and sorrow all the days of their lives, Catholic couples put their lives in the hands of God and rely on him for strength.

“They do not run away; they do not hide; they do not shirk the mission of forming a family and bringing children into the world,” the pope said.

For hours before the pope arrived, singers and storytellers took the stage in St. Peter’s Square, recounting the greatness of love and family life and the importance of forgiveness.

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Bishops around the world are being asked to take a realistic look at the situation of families under their care and at how effective pastoral and educational programs have been at promoting Church teaching on sexuality, marriage and family life.

The preparatory document for the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family, which will be held in October 2014, ends with 38 questions about how church teaching is promoted, how well it is accepted and ways in which modern people and societies challenge the Catholic view of marriage and family.

Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the synod, asked bishops to distribute the document and questionnaire “as widely as possible” to deaneries and parishes, summarize the responses and send them to the Vatican by the end of January.

Sharing stories The evening’s formal program began with a little girl identified only as Federica showing the pope a drawing she made of her mother teaching her to cook cutlets. She said it is her favorite food and “I could eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack time.”

Federica said her mom also taught her to make the sign of the cross, and Pope Francis asked all the children, if they knew how, to join him in beginning their encounter “in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

Dozens of people — from children to grandparents — were invited to speak to the pope and the crowd, sharing the story of their family lives.

Wassim and Karol Maqdissi, a couple from Syria, talked about fleeing their home and finding refuge in Jordan. The people gathered in the square offered special prayers for peace in Syria and offered money to help Caritas care for the victims of the war.

In his talk at the gathering, Pope Francis said he knows many families are struggling financially and emotionally, others are threatened by war or split apart by migration, and many young people would like to marry but they don’t see how they can without a home and a good job.

“The Lord knows our struggles and the burdens we have in our lives,” he said. “But he also knows our great desire to find joy and rest.”

Through the sacrament of mar-

Bishops asked to assess marriage, family life to prepare for synod

U.S. & World

Young and old join pope to celebrate joy of family life

Two gatherings set

Pope Francis touches the head of a child as he addresses pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 26. He addressed an estimated 100,000 people taking part in a Year of Faith celebration of family life. CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters riage, a couple receives the grace they need, he said: “The sacraments are not decorations in life; the sacrament of marriage is not just a pretty ceremony. Christians celebrate the sacrament of marriage because they know they need it.”

Pope Francis urged Catholic couples to go against the cultural trend of seeing everything, including relationships, as fleeting. Marriage is a life-long journey, he said, “a long journey, not little pieces.”

Family life is filled with beautiful moments like shared meals, walks in the park and visits to the grandparents, Pope Francis said. “But if love is missing, joy is missing; nothing is fun.”

For families, as for all Christians, he said, Jesus is the source of endless love. Couples, he said, must pray together “because they need to for the long journey they are making together.”

Pope Francis also told the crowd that three phrases are essential for a peaceful family life: “’May I?’ to make sure you aren’t being intru-

sive, ‘Thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry.’”

Free gift On the day before the family celebration, Pope Francis met with members of the Pontifical Council for the Family.

As he has done on several occasions, Pope Francis spoke about the special place in the family reserved for children and for the elderly, family members who are “the most vulnerable and often the most forgotten.”

Departing from his prepared text, he told members of the council, “When I hear the confession of a young married man or woman, and they refer to their son or daughter, I ask, ‘How many children do you have?’ and they tell me. Maybe they’re expecting another question after that, but I always ask, ‘And tell me, do you play with your children? Do you waste time with your children?’”

“The free gift of a parent’s time is so important,” he said.

The extraordinary synod on “pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelization” was convoked by Pope Francis for Oct. 5-19 and will bring together presidents of bishops’ conferences, the heads of Eastern Catholic churches and the heads of Vatican offices to describe the current situation and “to collect the bishops’ experiences and proposals in proclaiming and living the Gospel of the family in a credible manner,” the document said.

A second gathering, a world Synod of Bishops on the family, will be held in 2015 “to seek working guidelines in the pastoral care of the person and the family,” it said.

Some people may believe changes in Church teaching are in store given Pope Francis’ emphasis on mercy, forgiveness and not judging others, and his specific comments on helping divorced and civilly remarried couples who cannot receive Communion.

However, the document said, “the teaching of the faith on marriage is to be presented in an articulate and efficacious manner so that it might reach hearts and transform them in accordance with God’s will.”

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

U.S. & World

12 Cardinal to Congress: Disclose abortion coverage in health care law

in the SPOTLIGHT

Remembering the dead

Catholic News Service

A picture of a deceased Maya Indian woman is seen on a Day of the Dead altar on a street in the village of Pomuch on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula Oct. 31. On Nov. 1, All Saints’ Day, Mexicans often decorate altars to honor relatives who have died; on Nov. 2, on All Souls’ Day, families visit relatives’ grave sites. CNS photo/Victor Ruiz, Reuters

WASHINGTON

Elections, marriage and confirmation texts on bishops’ agenda Elections for a new president and vice president, a discussion and vote on a Spanish-language book of prayers at Mass, and a proposal to develop a statement on pornography are among the items awaiting the U.S. bishops when they gather in Baltimore for their annual fall assembly.

At their Nov. 11-14 meeting at the Baltimore Waterfront Marriott Hotel, the bishops also will hear a status report on their strategic/pastoral plan and vote on the final translations from the International Committee on English in the Liturgy on liturgical practices regarding marriage and confirmation.

As is customary, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States, will address the assembly.

The bishops will elect the next president and vice president to lead the USCCB for the next three years from a slate of 10 candidates. Their term begins at the close of the meeting.

AUSTIN, Texas

Appeals court OKs admitting privileges for abortion doctors A panel of judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Oct. 31 that a provision in a Texas law requiring abortion doctors to have admitting priv-

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

ileges at a nearby hospital can take effect.

The panel made the ruling three days after Judge Lee Yeakel of the U.S. District Court in Austin said the provision was unconstitutional.

The judges on the 5th Circuit said the provision can be carried out while a lawsuit challenging the abortion law’s restrictions moves forward.

The U.S. Supreme Court, they said, has held that having “the incidental effect of making it more difficult or more expensive to procure an abortion cannot be enough to invalidate” a law that serves a valid purpose, “one not designed to strike at the right itself.”

Yeakel upheld a second provision of the law that requires doctors to use a particular drug protocol in nonsurgical, medication-induced abortions.

VATICAN CITY

Pope Francis set to create first batch of cardinals in February Pope Francis will create his first cardinals during a consistory Feb. 22, the feast of the Chair of St. Peter.

The pope also is expected to use the occasion “to have a meeting with the cardinals for consultations” immediately before the ceremony, as retired Pope Benedict XVI did in the run-up to his consistories, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman. No specific dates were given for that meeting.

The names of the new cardinals usually are announced a little more than a month before the consistory itself.

Father Lombardi told reporters Oct. 31 that also in mid-February, the pope

Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley urged members of Congress to support the Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, a measure that would require health plans to disclose if they subsidize abortion coverage.

The cardinal, chair of the Committee on ProLife Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the legislation, sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Rep. Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., would address one part of the abortionrelated problem in the Affordable Care Act. In his Nov. 1 letter, the cardinal pointed out Cardinal Sean that under the federal health care law — unless O’MALLEY state law requires otherwise — each insurer may choose whether to include coverage of elective abortions in health plans it offers on a state health exchange.

He noted that if the insurer does cover such abortions, the overall health plan may still receive federal tax subsidies, which he said violates the policies governing all other federal health programs.

The cardinal added that the health care law also has “unique secrecy provisions” protecting the insurer from having to answer if the plan covers abortions — except when it lists all services at the time the consumer is already enrolling in the plan. The insurer also does not have to reveal how much of the person’s premium goes into a separate abortion fund.

will have members of the governing council of the Synod of Bishops meet in preparation for the extraordinary session on the family in October 2014 and to have his Council of Cardinals, the group of eight advisers, hold what will be their third gathering.

VATICAN CITY

Saints: Not superheroes, but they never strayed from God, pope says Saints aren’t superheroes, they are regular people who just never left God’s side after encountering him and his love, Pope Francis said on the feast of All Saints.

“Being a saint is not a privilege of the few, like someone getting a large inheritance. All of us have inherited through baptism the ability to become saints,” he said Nov. 1.

Before reciting the Angelus with people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the pope talked about God’s call to holiness.

“The saints are friends of God,” he said. But they “are not superheroes, nor were they born perfect. They are like us, each one of us.”

What makes them stand out, he said, is once they encountered Jesus, they always followed him.

“The path that leads to holiness has a name and has a face, it’s the face of Jesus Christ; he teaches us to become saints.”

Jesus shows the way in the Gospels, especially with the beatitudes, Pope Francis said.

Saints were people who followed God “with their whole heart — unconditionally and without hypocrisy; they spent their lives serving others; they put up

with suffering and adversity without hatred; they responded to evil with goodness and spread joy and peace,” he said.

Saints always tried to reconcile people and help bring peace to the world, the pope said, and that is what makes holiness beautiful.”

VATICAN CITY

Women religious ask pope for day of prayer against trafficking After Pope Francis entrusted two Vatican academies to study the problem of human trafficking, a group of women religious asked the pope to raise greater awareness in the Church about the issue by establishing a worldwide day of prayer and fasting.

“The pope was very interested in our suggestion and asked us what date we would like the day to be,” Consolata Sister Eugenia Bonetti told Catholic News Service.

“We told him Feb. 8 — the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita,” a Sudanese slave who found freedom in Italy and became a nun in the late 19th century.

Worldwide, at least 21 million people are victims of forced labor, including sexual exploitation, and traffickers bring in an estimated $32 billion annually because of their illicit activities, the U.S. State Department’s 2012 Trafficking in Persons report said. An estimated 100,000 to 300,000 minors are victims of sex trafficking at any given time, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

— Catholic News Service

13

By Cecelia MacDonald For The Catholic Spirit In some Christian countries birthdays don’t count. Your personhood is celebrated instead on your “name day,” the official feast day of your patron saint. The older I get, the more I would like to see us adopt that practice in the United States.

I never knew the grandmother I was named for, and I never gave much thought to my patron saint, Cecilia, until I had a granddaughter named after me, and this shared patronage took on a much more significant meaning.

When Celia was 2, we began a tradition of celebrating our “name day” together by having a one-onone outing and making sure it included music, because our saint is the patroness of music.

Hitting the right notes Our first few outings involved shopping for a new music-box. As she became older, we began attending theater productions. One year, after a hectic dash to make it to curtain time, we watched a whimsical musical production of “Cinderella,” and she fell asleep in my lap. I was in grandma heaven as her peaceful breaths calmed my racing heart.

On another feast day outing, we found our music at the History Theater, in a play titled “The Christmas Schooner,” and the songs were delightful. The play was about German immigrants who settled in this area, and Celia’s interest piqued when I told her that she descended from German immigrants on both her mom’s and her dad’s side.

No matter what we plan, it seems we always get a bonus surprise, which we accept as a gift to us from our patroness.

When the day fell on a Sunday, we began with Mass at St. Cecilia’s Church in St. Paul, and the bonus was that Bishop Lee Piché, whom we both love, was the celebrant.

He told us that his mother is named Cecilia, too.

When Celia was 6, we went to the Landmark Center and took in an exhibit of musical instruments,

Celia Schneeman, left, is pictured with her grandmother Cecilia MacDonald. Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit but were disappointed because it was a dry and lifeless hands-off display under plexiglass — and we were in search of the sound and spirit of music.

Well, saints be praised, as we were leaving the building, we passed through a pack of teenage tourists — a choir group from somewhere upstate. Intrigued by the acoustics of the magnificent building, they broke into song, surrounding us with impromptu harmony. Celia was delighted to be standing at the center of our personal concert.

“We didn’t find music, but the music found us!” she said.

One year, she brought her trumpet along and gave me a concert in the parking ramp of the Mall of America. The simplicity was profound, but occasionally I get carried away planning more ambitious outings: We could fly to Phoenix to visit the exciting new hands-on Musical Instrument Museum, and then there’s the ultimate: a trip to Rome to pay homage at St. Cecilia’s tomb in the catacombs.

Because our feast falls on Nov. 22, sometimes weather is a factor.

One year, the devil tried to put a damper on our holy day.

That morning, when I stepped outside to get my Sunday paper,

How do you celebrate?

Do you celebrate your “name day” in a special way? If so, tell us how, and we might publish your response in a future issue of The Catholic Spirit and online at TheCatholicSpirit.com.

Email your response to catholicspirit@ archspm.org. Or mail it to The Catholic Spirit, 244 Dayton Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102.

Please include your name, parish and a daytime telephone number. there was a glaze of ice covering the steps and handrail, and I didn’t realize it until I was sprawled across the four steps, with my left leg twisted up under me. Nothing broken, but I was covered with scrapes and bumps and my shoe ended up a good eight feet away, next to the newspaper.

I gave up retrieving either of them. The street was so slippery that a strange car had skidded sideways into my driveway and was abandoned there. I knew that I wouldn’t make it to Mass that morning, but I asked St. Cecilia to melt the ice for us by the afternoon.

When I crawled inside to safety,

the phone was ringing. As I limped toward it, lightning bolts shot through my left leg. “Hello,” I managed.

“Hi, Grandma,” Celia said. “My mom said I should call you and tell you to be very careful when you drive over to pick me up today because it’s very, very slippery out.

I’ve been skating in the driveway without skates — you know, just in my boots. It’s really cool.”

My knee and ankle were swelling, and it would have been a perfect day to stay in my robe drinking cocoa in front of the fire.

But by 2 o’clock my driveway was open and traffic was moving in our street, so I picked up my namesake for a memorable day.

When I told her that I felt bad about missing Mass, she said, “That’s okay. I went twice. Mom made me go with her yesterday, and this morning I was in the car with Dad and my brothers and they started heading for church and they didn’t have time to drop me off at home first.”

Celia is the seventh of nine children, and sometimes the family schedule takes priority over the individual’s preferences.

We went to the play at the History Theater and then to Macy’s to select another snow globe for her collection. I wanted to take her to the River Room restaurant, but it was closed. Celia sensed my disappointment and said, “That’s okay, Grandma. I think we should go to Ceci’s Pizza instead. We don’t need to go to a fancy place. The name is the important thing.”

So we “skated” to the car and topped off our feast day with the buffet at Ceci’s Pizza, and while we were sitting across from each other at the cold formica table, she gave me a heartwarming gift.

“When I’m a grandma,” she said, “I want to be a grandma like you.”

It made me feel sort of — canonized. And I’d swear that Celia had sprouted a halo. That’s what having your own feast day will do for you.

Focus on Faith

‘Name day’ as important as ‘birth day’ for this grandma

MacDonald is a member of Assumption in St. Paul.

Vatican, American Bible Society offer ‘lectio divina’ manual Catholic News Service The Vatican publishing house, the American Bible Society and the vicar general of the Diocese of Mar del Plata, Argentina, have teamed up to develop a step-by-step manual in the Catholic art of praying and meditating with the Bible.

“Part of the aim of the project is to get Catholics to read the Bible and the other is to get them to rediscover ‘lectio divina,’” the traditional Catholic method of reading, meditating on, and praying with the Bible, said Mario Paredes, who runs Catholic programs for the American Bible Society.

The manual, in Spanish and English, will be available for purchase through the American Bible Society’s website, www.bibles.com.

Presenting the manual, “Pray With the Bible, Meditate With the Word,” at the Vatican Oct. 30, Father Gabriel Mestre, the author and Mar del Plata vicar general, said Pope Francis’ morning Mass homilies “are the result of ‘lectio divina.’”

He said the homilies offer a glimpse into the pope’s process of reading the text, meditating on it, praying with it and reflecting on what it is calling him and other Christians to do.

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

Focus on Faith • Scripture Readings

14 SUNDAY SCRIPTURES Deacon Melvin Kuhn

For heaven’s sake: Keep your eye on the target When someone dies, we typically find ourselves at a loss for words. Death is a mystery. What is it like? One minute I am here in this world, and in an instant it is all gone. My soul has departed from my body. Where am I? Am I home, delighted, surrounded by angels and saints? Am I at least in purgatory and on my way to the table of the Lord? Or am I in something like a dark room — terrified and alone?

Today’s readings speak of the resurrection of the body that will occur at the end of time. Every single human being ever conceived

will receive an imperishable body.

For those who choose to follow the way of the Lord in this life — the way of lowliness, of humility, of the cross — their body will be glorified. They will live forever as sons of the Father in a kingdom beyond our wildest imagination.

Those who choose to follow the way of the world — the fleeting promises of worldly gain and glory — will also be restored to their body but, as per their choice, will be eternally in hell.

Staying focused Do we give any thought to our

final end? It is easy to get caught up in the affairs of this life and think — consciously or otherwise — that this is all there is, or at least it is the No. 1 priority.

We might ask ourselves: How many times in the past month have I thought about heaven and if I am on the path toward it? The purpose of this life is to reach eternal life. Is this my first goal?

Imagine a man who is fixed on a target and running headlong toward it. Suppose he has an enemy who wants to keep him from reaching his target. How will he stop him? Trip him? No, he will just get back up and keep going.

Place some obstacle in his way?

No, he will find a way around it.

As long as his mind is fixed on that target, he will get there. Ah, there it is: as long as his mind is on that target.

No, the enemy says, I will not impede his running or even leave him without a purpose. I will blind him to his current target and give him a new one. That new highest purpose is simply among the matters of this world: financial

affairs, careers, social contacts, etc.

These things are not evil; in fact many are necessary. But when they become my primary concern, I have taken a terribly wrong path.

When God becomes secondary, he ceases to have any real importance at all.

It’s easy to be caught in this way of thinking because we’re surrounded by it: in business, media, entertainment and even education. But we must turn around; we will not, indeed cannot, hit a target that we never see.

To keep our eye on the target, we will need, for one thing, a habit of daily prayer. If you don’t pray on a daily basis, start with an Our Father in the morning and a Hail Mary at night. I also will have to purify my motives by regularly asking myself: What is my highest aspiration?

Deacon Kuhn is in formation for the priesthood at St. Paul Seminary for the Diocese of Sioux Falls, S.D. His home parish is St. Benedict in Yankton, S.D., and his teaching parish is St. John the Baptist, Savage.

Readings Sunday, Nov. 10 32th Sunday in Ordinary Time • 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14 • 2 Thessalonians 2:16 – 3:5 • Luke 20:27-38

Reflection How many times in the past month have I thought about the path to heaven? Is my mind fixed on the target?

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, Nov. 10 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14 2 Thessalonians 2:16 – 3:5 Luke 20:27-38 Monday, Nov. 11 St. Martin of Tours, bishop Wisdom 1:1-7 Luke 17:1-6 Tuesday, Nov. 12 St. Josaphat, bishop, martyr Wisdom 2:23 — 3:9 Luke 17:7-10

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

Wednesday, Nov. 13 St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, virgin Wisdom 6:1-11 Luke 17:11-19 Thursday, Nov. 14 Wisdom 7:22b — 8:1 Luke 17:20-25 Friday, Nov. 15 St. Albert the Great, bishop, doctor Wisdom 13:1-9 Luke 17:26-37 Saturday, Nov. 16 St. Margaret of Scotland, St. Gertrude, virgin

Wisdom 18:14-16, 19:6-9 Luke 18:1-8 Sunday, Nov. 17 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Malachi 3:19-20a 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 Luke 21:5-19 Monday, Nov. 18 Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul, apostles; St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, virgin 1 Maccabees 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63 Luke 18:35-43

Tuesday, Nov. 19 2 Maccabees 6:18-31 Luke 19:1-10 Wednesday, Nov. 20 2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31 Luke 19:11-28 Thursday, Nov. 21 Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary 1 Maccabees 2:15-29 Luke 19:41-44 Friday, Nov. 22 St. Cecilia, virgin, martyr

1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 52-59 Luke 19:45-48 Saturday, Nov. 23 St. Clement I, pope, martyr; St. Columban, abbot; Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, priest, martyr 1 Maccabees 6:1-13 Luke 20:27-40 Sunday, Nov. 24 Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe 2 Samuel 5:1-3 Colossians 1:12-20 Luke 23:35-43

15

Father Michael Schmitz

Penance isn’t to punish, but to heal and strengthen Q. I kind of get the idea of going to confession. Jesus forgives all our sins. But then why do we have to do penance afterward? It seems like we still have to “pay” for forgiveness.

Am I missing something?

A. That question is really insightful. I imagine that many of us have gone to confession and wondered where “for your penance, I would like you to . . . ” fits into the concept that God’s love and forgiveness are free.

On the other hand, while confession might scare some people, others believe it is too easy.

As a priest who hears confessions every day, some people will come into the confessional and confess sins for which they are genuinely sorry, and if I don’t give them a “big enough” penance, they get upset with me.

I understand this. I really do. I know what it is to go to confession and receive a penance that does not seem to be as significant as my sin. I am sometimes tempted to ask the priest if he heard everything!

But then I remember what the penance is for. It is absolutely not the “price” for my sin. The price of forgiveness for my sin is not praying a decade of the rosary or a few Our Fathers. My pride sometimes likes to think so (“I’m paying for this sin with my difficult penance!”), but that is not even remotely true.

The price of my sin is the life,

death and resurrection of God himself. In Jesus Christ, God has paid my debt. Nothing less than that would suffice, and no one less than him could accomplish this.

Because of this, we know that the penance we do after confession is not connected to the price of forgiveness. But then why do we do it?

Dealing with consequences One place to start is the concept of “discipline” in the Bible. There are a number of places in the Scriptures where God has given his forgiveness to a person who cried out for mercy, but there were still consequences that followed from the sin; there are “after-effects” to our choices. These after-effects require that we engage in some sort of discipline.

There are a few things that we need to keep in mind when it comes to God’s discipline. The Letter to the Hebrews states that “whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges” (Hebrews 12:6).

One of the key elements of this passage is that, when it comes to God, discipline is relational. It is not arbitrary, nor is it based off of God’s lack of concern for his children. Rather, discipline that comes from God flows out of a profound relationship with God as our Father.

Reflect on this for a moment: Scripture goes on to describe the nature of this relationship and the discipline that flows from it. The

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It is true of the prison system.

Some people imagine that prison works best as punishment (“You committed a crime and now you must be made to pay”). Others believe that prisons are there to deter potential criminals or to protect society or for rehabilitation.

Penance after confession is not a punishment. It is not a deterrent.

And it is typically not about isolating the individual from the group.

The best penances are those that are oriented toward healing and strengthening. They are meant to help the penitent become more whole. A penance is meant to provide a chance for the penitent to allow God’s grace to settle more deeply into the wound that the sin has caused, and bring about more thorough healing.

In this sense, the priest stands in both as surgeon and physical therapist.

As surgeon, he cuts out the cancerous sin so that it can no longer do damage. As physical therapist, he prescribes certain “exercises” to do in order to

Focus on Faith • Seeking Answers

SEEKING ANSWERS

author asks, “what father is there who does not discipline his son?”

The answer is essentially: a father who doesn’t care. God’s discipline is intended to reveal his love, not detract from it. I think that many of us might be tempted to prefer comfortable distance compared with demanding intimacy. Furthermore, this discipline is oriented toward growth. It is oriented toward the child being able to grow in strength and maturity.

A father does not discipline his son so that the son can prove his own love or so that the son can earn his father’s love. The discipline is not about “earning” (the father already loves the son), nor is it an arbitrary punishment.

So what is really good discipline for? Think about really good coaches. They will rarely treat all of their athletes the same. More often than not, the truly great coach will know exactly where the athlete needs the most help.

Now, there are many reasons why a coach might use one “discipline” for a particular athlete.

“A penance is meant to provide a chance for the penitent to allow God’s grace to settle more deeply into the wound that the sin has caused, and bring about more thorough healing.”

Father Michael Schmitz

Some coaches might use training or discipline in order to deter bad behavior (“If you show up late, you’ll be running three laps!”), or to punish bad behavior (“You dropped the ball, run three laps!), or to protect the other athletes (“Stop fighting, go clear your head and run three laps!”), or strengthen a weakness in a particular athlete (“You need to increase your endurance, go run three laps!”).

These are four traditional reasons for discipline in many areas of life.

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facilitate healing. With this in mind, the next time you go to confession, freely embrace your penance with gratitude, knowing that it is given by a Father who loves you and desires that you can walk in ever-growing strength.

Father Schmitz is director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth and chaplain of the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Reach him at fathermikeschmitz@gmail.com.

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C H A N H A S S E N D T. C O M November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

16

Lawyer notes important parts in religious liberty debate

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit Catholics and Christians who hold traditional, biblical views are under intense pressure to conform to the “orthodoxy” of the culture, said one of the featured speakers at the Minnesota Religious Freedom Forum at the St. Paul RiverCentre Oct. 24.

Joe Infranco, who serves as senior legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, has been on the front line of the cultural battle, helping to represent dozens of clients who are standing Joe up to the culture in order INFRANCO to defend their religious liberties.

He has been part of the team defending Hobby Lobby, a chain of stores that is fighting the federal Health and Human Services mandate requiring non-religious businesses and organizations to provide health insurance covering contraception and abortifacients.

“By God’s grace, we’ve won about

80 percent of the cases that we’re involved in,” he said. “The thing that we need most as attorneys is people of conscience like the heroes of Hobby Lobby who are willing to stand, who are willing to articulate graciously, gently and kindly the truth of God that these are important ways that I live my life, these are the values by which I direct my life. And, when that happens, that gives us the cases to present in the culture. It really is a battle for the hearts and minds of the culture.”

The front lines One of the major fronts in the battle, he said, is marriage. He is representing a variety of cases involving people who are being forced to support same-sex marriage and homosexual relationships.

For example, there was a graduate student in Michigan enrolled in a counseling program. She specifically asked that, during her final practicum, she not be assigned someone in the type of sexual relationship that she is morally opposed to (either homosexual or

outside of man-woman marriage), and who was looking for affirmation of that relationship.

In essence, she asked for an exemption, called a “values conflict,” which, Infranco said, is routinely granted.

But, she was denied the exemption and asked to work with a person in a same-sex relationship looking for affirmation. She declined, which set in motion severe consequences.

“That’s [viewed by program administrators as] discrimination based on sexual orientation,” Infranco said. “So, she was offered two alternatives: ‘We’ll give you counseling and we’ll give you remedial training to help you identify and overcome these bigoted, homophobic attitudes, or we’ll kick you out of the university. So, you can pick which one you want.’ She said, ‘I’m not going to counseling to change my traditional moral beliefs.’ And so, she was thrown out of the program. Happily, we got a win in the federal appeals court.”

Infranco said there is a high level of sensitivity in the culture to anything that threatens what he calls sexual autonomy, the right of peo-

Safe environment efforts take comprehensive approach Continued from page 4 meet every other week to discuss “matters related to priestly health — maybe somebody who’s struggling in a particular way — and/or issues of misconduct,” Father Griffith said.

“A major benefit of the priest working group is that there is a team approach to addressing issues that are affecting priests,” Mulheron said. “This allows for a variety of perspectives to be shared, as well as to help ensure accountability in how specific situations are handled.”

Comprehensive approach “Strengthening Trust” also defines different roles exercised by two boards in the archdiocese: the Clergy Review Board and the Ministerial Standards Board, both of which are comprised of lay and clergy members.

Another outcome of the working group’s efforts was to change the scope of the Clergy Review Board so it could focus only on cases where sexual abuse of a minor by a cleric is alleged, Father Griffith said.

According to “Strengthening Trust,” the Clergy Review Board’s work is done after such allegations are reported to civil authorities, and the board “offers advice and recommendations, as appropriate, to the archbishop.”

The working group also recommended the creation of the Ministerial Standards Board. Its role is to evaluate ministry-related misconduct that does not involve the sexual abuse of minors. This would include sexual misconduct by clergy with adults and misconduct related

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

to gambling, drug and alcohol addictions and other inappropriate behavior. This board also serves as a consultative body to the archbishop.

“Another positive outgrowth of this work is that we have a number of lay people either in the chancery or on these boards who are bringing their own expertise and their own good judgment,” Father Griffith said. “It really helps us to not be insular in our thinking. Having a number of outside folks checking our work can be a helpful thing.”

The work of both of these boards in ongoing.

Separate from these two groups is the Safe Environment and Ministerial Standards Task Force, which was created last month to conduct a full review of the archdiocese’s policies and practices and “any and all issues” related to clergy sexual misconduct.

The task force is charged with examining how allegations of clergy sexual misconduct in the archdiocese have been handled in the past and what must be done to address any gaps in the process.

The archdiocese’s new vicar for ministerial standards, Dominican Father Reginald Whitt, will receive the report of the task force — an independent all-lay group — and ensure it is in compliance with both civil and Church law. He will publish its findings and recommendations as well as implement the recommendations, which Archbishop John Nienstedt has pledged to accept.

Separate from the task force’s work, an outside firm is reviewing

all files of clergy members in the archdiocese “as another important piece of the comprehensive approach to ensure safe environments in the archdiocese,” Father Griffith said.

Both the task force and file review have missions limited in scope and duration. They will remain in existence only until their work is completed.

Restoring trust While there has been some confusion in media reports about the roles and missions of each of these boards and investigative efforts, the archdiocese’s intent is to approach the issue of clergy sexual misconduct in as comprehensive a manner as possible, Father Griffith said.

“There are a number of important decisions that will need to be made in terms of restoring trust in this archdiocese,” he said.

“One of the most important aspects of restoring trust is that we’re following through on the commitments made to make sure we do everything we can to provide safe environments for our children and for the people of God,” Father Griffith said.

“It’s also important for archdiocesan leadership to acknowledge the specific mistakes that have been made in the past as a step toward restoring trust,” he said.

“At this difficult time, it’s essential to have a comprehensive review of what we’ve done in the past with an eye toward improving what we do in the future,” he said. “Each of those pieces of the puzzle has a specific task and together are an important part of a comprehensive response.”

ple to behave sexually however they want, and further, to be affirmed for doing so.

This is one of the most dangerous and challenging areas for religious liberty, he said. And, ironically, this attack on religious beliefs is justified by the cultural value of “tolerance.”

“Tolerance now means you must agree with my new rules of orthodoxy or you will be silenced and removed from debate,” he said.

But, Infranco said that the Church, Catholic and Christian, must not conform to the culture. Instead, people of faith must stand up and state their arguments continually, no matter the hostility that they encounter from the opposition.

“Don’t be discouraged,” Infranco said to his audience. “Things do change, trends come and go in the culture. I believe that the truth of God is eternal, and it also happens to make sense. And, when we articulate those things graciously but we stand up courageously, then I think our voice will be heard in the culture.”

The Minnesota Catholic Conference was one of four sponsoring partners of the forum.

Two priests take voluntary leaves of absence The Catholic Spirit Two priests of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are taking voluntary leaves of absence as a result of “prior misconduct which occurred many years ago,” the archdiocese announced Nov. 3.

The archdiocese reported that the two situations are unrelated but happened to occur at the same time.

The misconduct did not involve the clerical sexual abuse of minors or any parish members where the priests served.

Father David Barrett, who has been serving as an assistant priest at St. Wenceslaus in New Prague since 2009, and Father Paul Moudry, who has served as pastor at St. Margaret Mary in Golden Valley since 2001, will not perform any public ministry during the leave and will cooperate with the archdiocese’s Ministerial Standards Board, which will make recommendations as a result of a review of the priests’ actions.

Father Barrett has been under supervision by pastoral leadership and others at the archdiocese and has undergone counseling during his current and prior assignments, the statement said.

17 Deacon Paul Shovelain

Chaplains, brother inspire call to serve in military Deacon Paul Shovelain of St. Michael parish in St. Michael is in formation for the priesthood at the St. Paul Seminary for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He is a cosponsored seminarian for the Archdiocese for the Military Services. A second collection will be taken in parishes on the weekend of Nov. 9 and 10 for the military services archdiocese as the nation prepares to mark Veterans Day Nov. 11.

In the fall of 2006, I started seminary studies for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. My roommate that year was from the Diocese of Wichita, Kan. Eventually, he shared stories with me about Father Emil Kapaun, a priest from his diocese who joined the Army in 1944.

Father Kapaun served in Korea, as did three of my great uncles.

Father Kapaun, however, did not make it back alive.

My roommate shared many heroic stories about the priest and gave me a book about him. A Medal of Honor recipient, Father Kapaun served God and man bravely and without hesitation.

I found his commitment to his faith inspiring. He sought to bring Christ to everyone through his warm smile and love. Even after be-

ing taken prisoner, he worked to keep up the morale of fellow soldiers by making daily rounds in the camp and tending to the sick and wounded.

Father Kapaun died in that camp, but his story lives on as an example of a Catholic priest who like Christ laid down his life for others. His inspiration has helped me deal with personal struggles. When I fast, for example, I think of the small amounts of food he survived on.

When I feel scoffed for what I believe, I think of the great charity he showed when he was persecuted for the faith. Eventually his witness inspired me to consider serving as a military chaplain.

Bringing Christ’s love Now in the fall of 2013, I have begun my eighth and final seminary year. I look back and see God’s providence in my life. In my own vocational call, I have experienced a deep desire to serve others.

Before seminary, I felt that call particularly from the Catholic Church. During seminary, I have felt within that call a call to serve as a Catholic chaplain in our nation’s military. In reading about Father Kapaun and Father Vincent Capodanno, another Catholic military

on the WEB Readers on TheCatholicSpirit.com commented on Dave Hrbacek’s story, “Abort my child? No way, says bishopelect’s mom,” an interview with the parents of Bishop-elect Andrew Cozzens.

“Congratulations to the entire family. So glad I can count you among the NET family . . . the first NET bishop!”

— Jean Ollerich “Praise God for Mr. and Mrs. Cozzens’ witness for life! May God pour out his blessings upon Bishop-elect Cozzens and his family and flock!

— Bridget Readers also commented on Father Robert Barron’s commentary about the movie “Gravity” titled “‘Gravity’ offers weighty example of selfless love” “Loved this movie. I also thought of baptism when Kowalski almost drowns, but rises up to new life. It was so refreshing to see a movie that didn’t glorify ending one’s life, but celebrated the power of faith and love to restore life.”

— Karin426

Deacon Paul Shovelain, right, stands last August with his brothers, Dominic, left, and Brian, who is a pilot in the Air Force. Photo courtesy of Deacon Paul Shovelain chaplain who sacrificed his life for those he served, I have been moved by their witness.

In 2009, I attended the funeral of Father Timothy Vakoc, a priest from the archdiocese who served in the Army Chaplain Corps.

Jesus Christ desires to have a relationship with all of the men and women of our armed forces.

Through those three chaplains, he was able to reach many men and women in uniform.

Still today, our service men and women endure extreme difficulties and have difficult questions; yet, with the help of a priest, they can come to see that God is with them through it all. I hope to be serving with them someday and bring them the love of Jesus Christ.

Another inspiration for me to consider military chaplaincy is my older brother, Brian. He is a pilot in

the Air Force and has served with the Air Force for seven years.

Personally, I would love to be able to celebrate Mass for him on a military base someday. He has served two deployments in the last two years. Brian was serving in Afghanistan when I was ordained a deacon. I still say that the only thing that could have made my ordination day better was if my older brother would have been able to be there for it. However, I understood that he had a duty and service to our country.

This Catholic Life • Commentary

GUEST COLUMN

Please pray for him and all of our military as we approach Veteran’s Day. They have made tremendous sacrifices and deserve our prayers and support.

Thank you, Brian, and all those who serve in our military, for protecting our nation! God bless you!

other VIEWS

Too much of anything can be bad, including screen time The following is an excerpt from a commentary for Catholic News Service written by Mark Pattison.

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a new policy statement Oct. 28 on the dangers of too much screen time for children. It replaces its prior statement, formulated in 2001, when tablets didn’t even exist, and smartphones weren’t nearly as smart as they are now.

Media by itself is not the leading cause of any health problem in the United States, according to the pediatricians’ group, but it can contribute to numerous health risks. Those include obesity, lack of sleep, school problems, aggression and other behavior issues.

“A healthy approach to children’s media use should both minimize potential health risks and foster appropriate and positive media use — in other words, it should promote a healthy ‘media diet’,” said a statement by Dr. Marjorie Hogan, co-author of the new policy.

“For nearly three decades, the AAP has expressed concerns about the amount of time that children and teenagers spend with media, and about some of the content they are viewing,” said the other co-author, Dr. Victor Strasburger. “The digital age has only made these issues more pressing.”

The pediatricians’ organization has three tasks for parents.

First, they can model effective “media diets” to help their children learn to be selective and healthy in what they consume. Parents can take an active role in children’s media education by viewing programs with them and discussing values.

Second, parents can make a media-use plan, including mealtime and bedtime curfews for media devices. Screens should be kept out of kids’ bedrooms.

Parents also can limit entertainment screen time to less than one or two hours per day; for children under age 2, they should discourage exposure to screen media.

There’s plenty of independent justification for the new policy. Common Sense Media, in a report issued this fall, “Zero to Eight: Children’s Media Use in America 2013,” did its best to remain neutral on its findings, but the numbers will raise eyebrows, and maybe some hackles.

Common Sense Media did a similar report two years ago, and plans to issue updates every other year. Based in San Francisco, the nonprofit organization advocates on child and family issues, and regularly studies media and technology’s effects on young users.

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

This Catholic Life • Commentary

18 TWENTY SOMETHING Christina Capecchi

Door-to-door seminarian finding new roads Going door to door to tell strangers about Catholicism and his plan to become a priest had to be the most daunting assignment Neil Bakker had ever received.

The 34-year-old from Austin, Minn., had never done anything like it — never gone door to door to sell coupon books or magazine subscriptions, let alone the Catholic Church. Before he entered seminary, the self-described introvert had worked in IT. Yet there he was, a broad-shouldered 6’6” with a youthful face and a neatly trimmed goatee, staring down a long block, sweating in the summer heat and feeling totally unprepared. It was Neil’s first week participating in “Evangelization in Action,” a new program of The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in

St. Paul that enlists seminarians to study evangelization in the morning and practice it by evening. Neil and two other seminarians were asked to pound the pavement around a small parish in an old suburb, and they started on an adjacent street to the east.

The men took turns leading the conversation, a role that fell to Neil when they approached a red twostory house on the corner. A brunette Baby Boomer appeared, staying behind the screen door as she sized up the seminarians. She had been a member of the parish but was no longer Catholic, she said.

It almost sounded like a caseclosed comment, but there was something in her voice that lacked finality. Neil stumbled through the script he’d been running in his

FAITH IN THE PUBLIC ARENA Jason Adkins

Immigration and the Next America The story of America is the story of immigration. That is the message of Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez’s important and timely book entitled, “Immigration and the Next America” (Our Sunday Visitor). In it, Archbishop Gomez argues that the immigration debate is about much more than immigration.

At the heart of the immigration debate, Archbishop Gomez states, is an opportunity for national renewal. In rediscovering the full history of our nation, and re-committing ourselves to its founding ideals, we will better understand what it means to be an American — that it is not defined by insular, racial, ethnic definitions or Anglo-Protestant culture.

Anyone can become an American.

Such a renewal will allow our nation to better understand the aspirations of aspiring citizens and pass the “human rights test” of immigration reform.

Archbishop Gomez claims that America’s history is not only English, but was deeply shaped by other cultures, particularly Hispanic.

The origins of America, he says, are really to be found in three zealous

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

religious missions to the New World: the Anglo-Protestant, based on the Reformation; but also the French and Spanish missions rooted in the Catholic renewal of the Counter-Reformation.

Mexico, for example, was the headquarters of the Spanish evangelization of North and South America and brought people from both continents together. Active Spanish missions were present in San Antonio, Texas, before George Washington was born.

Similarly, the first “thanksgiving” was not celebrated by the Pilgrims in Massachusetts in 1621. It was celebrated by Spanish missionary priests in St. Augustine, Fla., in 1565.

Just as religious zeal shaped America’s origins, our nation was peopled in many cases by immigrants seeking to practice their religion free from fear. These men and women used their labor and literally built this country. In fact, one of the Founders’ objections to the rule of King George III was that the colonial authorities were too restrictive in their immigration policies.

Understanding these often forgotten parts of the American story

mind until she interjected, signaling to the kitchen where she’d been making dinner.

“I’m forcing this,” he thought.

He decided to ditch the script, look her in the eyes and ask why she’d left the church.

The question hung in the air a moment — honest, earnest. Decades ago the parish priest had made a comment she found offensive. It compelled her to leave the church.

“No one ever called,” she told Neil. “I just disappeared, and they didn’t care.”

She kept talking, Neil kept listening, and then she opened the screen door and stepped outside. Standing on the front stoop with Neil on the walkway below her, the two were eye level.

Learing a lesson “I found the best thing I could do,” Neil told me, “was apologize and say, ‘I’m sorry that the priest said what he said. I’ll learn his lesson for him.’”

Those simple words unlocked her. To know her wounds were recognized and would go toward a future good was powerful. A wrong, at last, had been righted.

The conversation continued for clarifies that America was always shaped by interactions with other nations and cultures, particularly those of Central and South America. By contrast, the lack of a proper historical framework impedes the immigration debate and has often led Americans into a distorted and narrow sense of our own identity.

The American creed Archbishop Gomez agrees with G.K. Chesterton that “America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed.”

According to Archbishop Gomez, American democracy and national identity are built on the pillars of four essentially religious assumptions: the sovereignty of God, who is the Lord of nations, peoples, and history; that all men and women have a divine beginning and transcendent destiny created by God and for God’s purposes; to fulfill these purposes God endows us with rights and freedoms; and finally, that government exists to secure justice by protecting the “unalienable” rights of the person.

Part of the American story, unfortunately, is the constant struggle to live these ideals, even among the founding generation. As Archbishop Gomez states, “The common thread of prejudice in American history is the desire to define who is an American along narrow racial, ethnic, and religious grounds.”

Archbishop Gomez contends that defining American identity in narrow ways usually arises in a climate of fear in times of great change. He contends that much of the opposition to immigration re-

half an hour. She’d been attending a Methodist church, but when they got to discussing the Catholic sacraments, Neil sensed a yearning in her, a wistfulness. “God loves you,” he told her, “and he’s always inviting you back into his church.”

The woman didn’t reclaim Catholicism on the spot, but Neil imagines that she feels less hurt when she looks out her back window at the steeple and bell that once drew her in. He prays for her often. The rest he leaves to God. One in three Americans raised Catholic leaves the Church. Neil wants to invite them back and help with the healing. He is challenged

by Pope Francis’ call to action issued in his recent interview with Jesuit publications. “Instead of being just a church that welcomes and receives by keeping the doors open, let us try also to be a church that finds new roads, that is able to step outside itself and go to those who do not attend Mass, to those who have quit or are indifferent,” Pope Francis said. “The ones who quit sometimes do it for reasons that, if properly understood and assessed, can lead to a return. But that takes audacity and courage.”

Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights.

Voice your views The feast day of St. Frances Cabrini is Nov. 13. On this day of honor for Mother Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is asking Catholics and supporters of immigrants to call their U.S. representatives at 1-855-589-5698 and leave this simple message: “Support a path to citizenship and oppose the SAFE Act.” For more information about immigration reform and background on the SAFE Act, visit www.mncc.org. form comes from a recognition that America is changing, and not for the better — a sentiment he shares.

Yet, Archbishop Gomez also acknowledges that such fear-based attitudes are not consistent with who we are as Americans or our founding ideals. He says that we will only truly be able to fix the problems of our immigration system when we recommit ourselves to the American creed of the sovereignty of God and the dignity of all human persons endowed with unalienable rights.

A renewal of historical purpose and ideals along the lines Archbishop Gomez suggests will not only help us meet the test of immigration reform, but will also re-frame our approach to other policy challenges. If such a renewal takes place, the “next America” may be a better America.

Adkins is executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

19

By Tyler Orsburn Catholic News Service Mary Ford had no idea what she had gotten herself into. But after seeing a newborn goat struggle to stay alive near its mother, she knew she couldn’t philosophize about life or city versus country ZIP codes any longer.

Having just returned home from a daylong trip into town with her family, the former Wichita Magdalen Catholic School teacher offered to stay outside and do the nighttime chores for her husband on their acre-and-a-half farm with its cats, chickens and newly acquired goats. Her husband, Kevin, would take their two young girls inside and put them to bed.

“Goats are supposed to nurse within the first 30 minutes of their life or they may not make it,” Mary explained about how she walked out into that endless uncovered night at their “hobby farm” to find that the fragile animal could still not stand. Fearful of how long the kid had gone without nursing, she ran inside and grabbed Kevin. He put the baby goat in a warm stall and helped it nurse.

As the couple walked back to their farmhouse and out of the cold, “I could see the concern in Kevin’s face,” she recalled in an interview with Catholic News Service.

And for the rest of the night she got in and out of bed to go help the farm animal nurse and stay alive.

“That was kind of the turning point for me,” Mary said about her transformation from schoolteacher to dirt-under-the-fingernail farm wife. “This was not just work — this was participating in something beautiful, something God had intended for us to do. It just felt right from that point on. I stopped fighting it.”

Southern Kansas isn’t for everyone. It’s flat. It’s windy. And it’s quite lonesome. There may be more wind turbines than people. Driving

Mary Ford sits on her front porch as her husband, Kevin, and their children play together at sunset. CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn to the dirt-road town of St. Leo where Mary and Kevin’s community-supported Fiat Farms sits is a piece of cake. Just hold the steering wheel straight and try not to fall asleep.

What brought the young couple back to the area of historic dust bowls was Kevin’s great desire to be on the land. He said in the end it was a memory of digging potatoes with his grandfather that stirred him to create a new Catholic land movement — a crusade where families return to the land to build community, strengthen faith, and grow and sell chemical-free food.

But it wasn’t until the former track-and-field star sat in his planning period for classes at Kapaun Mount Carmel High School in Wichita that the Benedictine College graduate felt the need to write about the movement.

Before he knew it, the recently hired theology teacher had more than 300 blog posts on farming, rural life, family and Catholic social teachings. Something in his heart and mind told him he wouldn’t be a schoolteacher long.

Maintaining the faith “To change the world I need to make sure my children are going to maintain the faith,” Kevin said, as he described his decision to leave his teaching job. “If I fail with my own children, it doesn’t matter how many students I teach about the faith. I didn’t succeed. I did not fulfill the thing that I’m going to be judged upon. Which is, did you pass on that faith? Did you run that race or did you run it in vain?”

Now into their sixth year of their farm journey, Kevin and Mary have expanded their fiat with additional animals, greenhouses, acreage and a little boy in the womb. Because of all the new farming demands, Kevin has little time to write. But the slender 6-foot-something farmer said he’s humbled that God has used the things he has written to affect so many lives.

His first blog follower was Sacred Heart parishioner Craig Steger of Cashton, Wis. Steger wrote in an email to CNS that he met Kevin on a different Catholic homesteading forum, and found that many of the

things Kevin discussed translated into what was going on in his own mind and heart about a farming vocation.

Now, the 35-year-old lawyer lives with his wife and five children in a small log cabin without running water. For food they butcher cattle, raise chickens, and grow fruits and vegetables.

“One of the things I discovered in my own discernment of this calling to life with the land is that the calling is not unique to me, but is happening in many other people, particularly people in my generation,” Steger wrote from his iPhone.

“Kevin has become, whether by accident or design, a type of leader for those of us finding ourselves on this vocational journey,” he continued. “He’s someone doing what many of us long to do, but for various reasons can’t or won’t do. Kevin has shown us that this movement, this communal calling is real, and most important, is viable.”

And it was this communal viability that lured Casey and Amanda Truelove some 600 miles north from Austin, Texas. Tired of the city, they both knew they wanted a more simple life. Now, after living about four months in St. Leo, they were about to purchase an abandoned home near their field of dreams and become true homesteaders. “(Kevin and Mary) enabled us to start without any knowledge (of farming),” Amanda said, recounting their move and explaining the co-ownership alliance of Fiat Farms.

“We don’t invite people to come here,” Mary said. People’s interest has grown from what they’ve see about their life and farm on the Internet.

“It’s more of a passive thing of — this is what we’re doing; we love this life; if you like it come and see; but we’re not going to make you come and move here,” she said. “(Our farm is) open for anyone to come and see so that they can go out and do it in other places, too.”

Colleges & Careers

Return to the land deepens couple’s faith, builds community

Pope Francis and the Jewish People lecture by

Rabbi Mordechai Levin

Rabbi Mordechai Levin, who met fellow Argentinean Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio before he became Pope, will review the cardinal’s relationship with Jews in the context of the history of Jewish-Catholic relations in Argentina and what it may tell us about the future of Jewish-Catholic relations around the world.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013, 7:30 PM O’Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium, University of St. Thomas sponsored by

Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning in collaboration with Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas Commission on Ecumenism and Interreligious Affairs for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Free and open to the public

www.stthomas.edu/jpc ~ (651) 962-5780

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

Colleges & Careers

20

‘We need you,’ cardinal tells Catholic studies program The Catholic Spirit interviewed Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, when he visited the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul Oct. 26 to help the Catholic studies program celebrate it’s 20th anniversary. The following is an edited version of the interview.

Q. How important of a role do Catholic studies programs like this play in the new evangelization and in a Church that’s facing many challenges in today’s culture?

A. An incredibly important role.

Just earlier this week I was at First Things’ Erasmus Lecture with Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. He quoted Benedict XVI on the whole notion of a creative minority.

He was a little pessimistic. He said, “Look, we’ve probably lost out to aggressive secularism in Europe.” And he said we have a battle raging in the United States. The only way that the Church can regain the compelling, driving nature of the passion that Jesus Christ has given us is by becoming a creative minority. He said we’re a creative minority Cardinal who win people over by our Timothy conviction to truth, by our DOLAN sense of joy and by our love and faith.

I think that’s a pretty good mission statement for Catholic studies pro-

grams. That’s what they do on campus. That’s what they do in the intellectual climate of the United States.

They are an extraordinarily prophetic voice saying — in some settings where the beauty and truth of Catholic life may have lost some of its luster — we will work hard to regain it.

Is that not what the new evangelization is all about, to try to recover the whole pizazz of the faith?

And Catholic studies does it amazingly. Part of what the new evangelization is all about is helping people of deep faith realize they’re not by themselves, that we are not alone. Catholic studies programs do that. When you go to campuses where they flourish — and, of course, we’re at the granddaddy of them all here at the University of St. Thomas — what you have are amazingly committed young people who are tempted to believe that they might be the only ones who read the Bible, love their Catholic faith, want to learn more about it, pray, go to Sunday Mass.

They get to a Catholic studies program and they learn that not only are they not by themselves right now — that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of people who share their enthusiasm for the faith — but they learn they’re part of a family that goes back 2,000 years.

And, they begin to delve into the intellectual tradition. They begin to recover in a way what we’ve long called the Catholic culture. And a Catholic culture is a good thing. In

“The Catholic studies program at the University of St. Thomas was the first one. And, they started something big.”

Cardinal Timothy Dolan

other words, it’s to surround yourself with the learning, with the habits and with the people who will bolster you in your faith. Catholic studies programs do that magnificently.

Q. What is the key message you want to convey here today?

A. I want to say “thank you.”

The Catholic studies program at the University of St. Thomas was the first one. And, they started something big.

My second message is, “We need you now more than ever.” This is not some seasonal thing that happened to have perhaps been at the service of the Church in the couple of years after “Ex Corde Ecclesiae” [an apostolic constitution issued in 1990 by Blessed John Paul II] when we were trying to renew Catholic identity on campuses. This was not

some utilitarian device for a couple of decades until we got our house in order. No, this is an incredibly important program now more than ever. And, we need it now more than ever.”

Q. You radiate joy — specifically joy about the faith. How do you keep such a positive attitude?

A. You’re kind to think I’m always that way. It’s just who I am. I grew up in a loving, happy, laughing family. So that sure helps.

But, secondly, joy is a gift from God. So, every morning I ask for it.

St. Thomas Aquinas is the patron saint of this university. What did he say? Where does a sense of humor come from? Where does joy come from? It comes from the virtue of hope.

If we believe in a God who keeps his promises, if we believe as St. Paul said that “everything works together for those who believe,” what are you going to crab about? You might have some down times, but you’re going to have some up decades because you believe that He’s in charge.

So, really, why would you let anything ultimately get to you? Does that not give you the ability to smile? And, does that not give you the ability to say, “You know, I believe in a savior, and I’m not the savior, and it doesn’t all depend on me, so heck, I might as well have a good time.” Beer and pasta helps, too.

2014 Official Minnesota Catholic Directory Serving . . .

Crookston • Duluth • New Ulm • St. Cloud Saint Paul and Minneapolis • Winona

If you would like to order the 2014 Official Minnesota Catholic Directory go online at

mncatholic directory.com Published by the Office of Communications of The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

21

Faith & Culture

Cathedral pulls out all the stops for pipe organs’ inaugural concert Photos by Dianne Towalski

The Cathedral of St. Paul was filled to capacity with people standing in every available space for the inaugural concert of the Cathedral’s newly restored 1927 E.M. Skinner and 1963 Æolian-Skinner organs Oct. 24. Above, internationally acclaimed organist Olivier Latry of the Cathedral of NotreDame in Paris plays both historic pipe organs from the console that normally sits in the sanctuary behind the main altar. An identical console is located in the choir gallery. Both organs can be played from either console.

Far left, the newly installed casework for the Æolian-Skinner Organ was designed based on a blueprint from the original design of the Cathedral.

Left, the organ console from the sanctuary was moved in front of the altar for the one-hour concert.

Seminar focuses on the many ‘Faces of Adoption’

By Sharon Wilson For The Catholic Spirit A childless couple longs for a baby. A young teenage girl finds herself pregnant and chooses to place her child for adoption. The girl meets the couple, hands over the child, and instantly a family is created.

Though this can be one face of adoption, the many faces of adoption go much deeper.

Our faith calls us to care for orphans.

Exodus 22:21 says, “You shall not wrong any widow or orphan.”

But what does that mean for families today?

Cathy and Nate Clyde discussed adoption when they were engaged. “All couples should talk about adoption during their courtship,” Cathy said.

For them, adopting children wasn’t only an option if they couldn’t have children. “No one should ever be someone’s second choice,” she said.

Their adoption story started shortly after their first child was born. Their daughter, Teresa, had a short life and died nine months after her birth.

It was at that time a friend of a friend came to them with a story and a bundle of joy named Mary, a child arranged through an open adoption.

Since then, the Clydes have expanded their family to include two more birth children and two more adopted children.

They thought that their family was complete at five, but God had other plans.

Cathy is pregnant, due in December, and they are preparing to adopt a halfsibling of one of their adopted children.

“This is what it means to be open to life,” Cathy said.

This celebration of life is what prompted Cathy to connect with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to start the annual Mass in Celebration of Adoption more than eight years ago. (See box for more information.)

Another face of adoption is the story of Tina and Dave Draves. They were facing an empty nest and a cushy retirement in the short future.

Their adoption story starts with their pesky daughter Lauren. “She {Lauren} just kept reminding us that we had so much.

We always tried to teach compassion and

Want to go?

Faces of Adoption Seminar When: 7 to 9 p.m., Nov. 18 Where: St. John Neumann, Eagan Speakers: From God’s Children Adoption Agency: Anita Ruthenbeck and Kristin Goodreau, family case managers and adoptive parents. And from Minnesota’s Adoption Resource Network, Chris Tiedeman and Mary Mason

giving to others and here we were with a chance to live it out.”

The Draves looked to a foreign adoption of an older child. Four years ago they adopted Eli, then 8 years old, from Ethiopia. In hopes of encouraging more families to consider adoption, Tina spearheaded the Adoption Ministry at her parish, St. John Neumann in Eagan.

The ministry helps guide people through the adoption process and supports families after adopting a child. The ministry sponsored an Adoption 101 sem-

Archdiocesan Mass in Celebration of Adoption When: All Masses are Nov. 23 Where: 4 p.m. Divine Mercy, Faribault and St. Peter Claver, St. Paul.

5 p.m. St. John Neumann, Eagan.

Information about adoption will be available at a reception following Mass.

inar last year. This year’s presentation is called “Faces of Adoption.”

The focus of the seminar is on older children waiting to be adopted. Domestically, we have children in foster care looking at aging out of the system and being left on their own at 18, and older orphans from other countries are often the hardest to place.

Wilson is the Respect Life coordinator of the archdiocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Life.

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

22

Calendar

Retreats

Twin Cities Ignatian Associates Advent Retreat at Lumen Christi, St. Paul — November 23: 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2055 Bohland Ave. Jesuit Father Michael Harter will facilitate. The $30 advance registration fee includes continental breakfast and lunch. To register, send a $30 check, with your name and indication of preferred meat or veggie lunch, to: R & J Wolff, 1549 Fairmount Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105.

A Day of Honor and Recognition for Birthmothers at Our Lady of Grace, Edina — November 9: 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 5071 Eden Ave. This retreat is an opportunity for healing and understanding in the relinquishment/adoption experience and is open to women of all faiths. Cost is $15, scholarships are available. To register, visit http://www.archspm.org.

Project Rachel morning of reflection at the University of St. Thomas Catholic Studies building, St. Paul — November 16: 8:30 a.m. to noon at 2055 Summit Ave. For men and women who may have confessed their abortion, have attended a retreat or worked through a healing program but are looking for an opportunity for deeper healing, spiritual growth and an opportunity to ask questions and share in a safe environment. Registration encouraged by calling (651) 291-4506.

Prayer/ liturgy Charismatic Mass at St. Albert the Great, Minneapolis — November 10: 1 p.m. at 3200 E. 29th St. Father Don Piché will be the celebrant. Healing prayer and refreshments will follow the Mass. For information, visit NewLifeCrm.org.

Meetings St. Paul Deanery of Catholic Women meeting at Holy Family Maronite Church, Mendota Heights — November 21: 8:15 a.m. at 1960 Lexington Ave. S. A presentation and tour of the church will be given by the pastor, Reverend Rodrigue Constatin followed

by Mass and lunch. Cost is $12. For reservations call (651) 261-2534.

Women’s Autumn Mini Retreat at Immaculate Conception, Lonsdale — November 16: Beginning with 6:45 to 7:45 a.m. eucharistic adoration/confession and 8:00 a.m. Mass followed by a light breakfast and retreat in the Civic Center, ending at 12:15 p.m.

BRING YOUR BIBLE. Presenter: Father Thomas McCabe. Free will offering. Please contact the Parish Office (507) 744-2829 or icparish@ lonstel.com to sign up for the retreat before November 14.

Minneapolis Council of Catholic Women deanery day at Holy Cross, Minneapolis — November 25: Registration at 9 a.m. with speaker at 9:30 a.m. at 1621 UniversityAve. N.E. Mary Johnson will speak on forgiveness.

Rosary before Mass at noon, followed by lunch.

Cost is $13. Register by November 20. Call (763) 536-0553.

lived. All are welcome, free will offering.

Don’t miss: More events online Additional parish and school events in the archdiocese can be found in the Calendar section of TheCatholicSpirit.com.

Vocations

Singles 50+ Second Sunday Supper at St. Joan of Arc, Minneapolis — November 10: 5 p.m. social hour, 6 p.m. traditional Thanksgiving dinner, 7 p.m. speaker Peter Vodenka. Located at 4537 Third Ave. S. Cost is $10. For information, call (952) 884-5165 or visit http://www. secondsundaymn.us.

‘Come and See’ Priesthood Discernment Day at The St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul — November 24: Begins with 10 a.m. Mass and concludes with night prayer at 9 p.m. at 2260 Summit Ave. The day will include Mass, prayer, a seminary tour, talks, Holy Hour, recreation and meals with seminarians. Cost is $10. Register by Nov. 18 by emailing: stpaulpriest@10000vocations. org or calling (651) 962-6890.

Speakers

Workshops

Sister Helen Prejean to speak at Annunciation, Minneapolis — November 8: 7 to 8:30 p.m. at 509 W. 54th St. She will present “Dead Man Walking – The Journey Continues.” Refreshments and a book signing will follow her talk. The event is free and open to the public, free will offering.

‘Parenting Teens: Building Strong Futures’ at Nativity of Our Lord, St. Paul —November 9: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1900 Wellesley Ave. Light breakfast and lunch will be provided. Participation fee (includes registration fee, lunch, breakfast, materials) is $90/family. Register at http:// fortifyingfamiliesoffaith.com/Events.html.

Singles

Author and radio host Jon Leonetti presents his ‘Surge of the Heart’ series: Chosen, Redeemed and Delivered at St. John the Baptist, Savage — November 12 to 14: 6:45 to 8 p.m. each evening at 4625 W. 125th St. Presentations provide practical ways Catholics can deepen their understanding of their faith and how it can be

All in God’s Plan Part 2: Daughters and Sons for Life at St. Peter, Forest Lake — November 9: 9 a.m. to noon at 1250 South Shore Drive. For teens 13 to 16 and their parents. Includes presentations on dating, parenting teens, values and more. Register by Nov. 4 by calling (651) 982-2238.

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23

Jesus’ love can overcome, heal wounds of sin Continued from page 24 let me suggest for a moment that I think the scandal goes even higher up than the pope.

Well, who is higher up than the pope? Let me suggest that the scandal started with Jesus. It sounds blasphemous. But hear me out.

Who after all was responsible for appointing the first pope and bishops in the Church? Was it not Jesus when he chose the Twelve Apostles?

Why did he choose men like Peter, who tried to turn down the job by saying, “Leave me Lord, I am a sinful man,” or like doubting Thomas, or Matthew the greedy tax collector — men he knew would all deny and abandon him like cowards in his hour of need?

True, all men are weak and sinful.

Jesus had to choose somebody, but were these really the best men he could find?

Most scandalous of all, why did he choose Judas Iscariot, who he knew full well would betray him and, unlike the others, would despair and take his own life, and not turn back in faith? At least the pope and bishops are mere human beings, who may not know if a priest they are about to ordain will turn out to be a pedophile or not. But we believe that Jesus is the all-powerful, all-knowing God, and yet he knew Judas would betray him.

Why did He do nothing to stop it?

After all, we believe that God gave special grace to the Blessed Virgin Mary to preserve her from all stain of sin, so that she could be the mother of his son. If Jesus is truly the head of his Church, then why doesn’t he give special grace to his priests to keep them from sin?

Or, at the very least, why doesn’t he prevent the pedophiles from becoming priests in the first place?

How can God let innocent children suffer such abuse? Doesn’t he care?

Is he punishing us? Doesn’t he love us? Does he even exist?

The question has been asked so many times before. Why does God let bad things happen to good people? Why doesn’t God put an end to war, crime, poverty, and injustice? Why does God allow rapists, and murderers and pedophiles to run rampant in our streets? Why does God allow the weeds to grow with the wheat? Why, oh why, oh why must these evils exist in our world?

The scandal of clergy sexual abuse of minors is the very face of evil glaring at us, mocking our faith and hope in a loving, caring God, challenging us to deny that such a God exists, and daring us to leave the Church behind as just a bunch of deluded, hypocritical fools.

Of course, abandoning faith in God and the Church won’t really change the sorry lot of humanity.

One will still have to resign oneself to living in a risky world, full of pedophiles and predators and evil

lurking around every corner with little hope that things might get any better. Is there any alternative to just simple resignation, or even worse, giving up on it all in despair?

At this point I want to cry out like Job, “I have spoken but did not understand; things too marvelous for me, which I did not know. Therefore I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes.”

And all that I am left with is the disturbing image of Jesus suffering and dying on the cross, with his mother Mary crying in anguish beneath him.

What terrible suffering Mary must have felt at that moment knowing that Jesus had been betrayed and abandoned by his closest friends — the same sort of suffering I imagine a parent must feel when their child has been abused by a priest. “How could you do such a thing to my son?”

Why did Jesus allow his innocent mother Mary to experience such pain? She had done no wrong. She did not need to be punished for anything. And, yet, he allowed it.

Seeing his mother suffer must only have added so much more to his own pain and humiliation, and yet he accepted it.

Our faith teaches us that he accepted it as the price that needed to be paid for our salvation from sin — the mystery of Christ crucified, “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” The absurdity that we dare to believe is that the cross, that suffering, and that all the evils that exist in our world, including the devastating scandal and pain of clergy sexual abuse, can be instruments of redemption, if we, by faith in the grace of God, do not let the power of such evils to overcome our ability to love.

That is what Jesus showed us by pardoning his persecutors from the cross. “Father, forgive them, they know not what they are doing.”

That is what he showed us when he gathered Peter and the other disciples together again after his resurrection, that he still wanted to be their friend, despite how they had hurt him with their denials and abandonment.

That is the grace that he must have given to his mother Mary for her, too, to be able to forgive and gather together again as friends with the disciples in the upper room when they all received the Holy Spirit.

In this moment, Jesus is inviting us to not lose faith and hope in the power of his love to overcome and heal the wounds of sin. Jesus says to each one of us, “I have forgiven you for all of the pain and sorrow you have caused me by your sins. So do not let your hearts be hardened by the pain and suffering that others’ sins have caused to you, even the terrible betrayal of clergy sexual abuse. I know its hurts; I know it is hard, but do not let the pain overcome your ability to love and to for-

give. Forgive even if those who have hurt you do not acknowledge their sins or change their ways. Forgive 70 times seven times. Trust in the power of my grace and love, to help you carry your heavy burden, to heal your broken heart, and to live once again in love, compassion and peace.”

Working to do better As a member of the clergy I do acknowledge that many of my brothers in the clergy have sinned against you, that many in our Church leadership have sinned against you, that I have sinned against you.

While I may not be personally responsible for all the acts of sexual abuse, and negligent in preventing those abuses that have occurred, I cannot, of course, ask for your forgiveness of these sins without expressing true contrition and a resolve to make amends.

I hope you know by now how truly sorry I am for the pain that so many children and families have had to endure because of the evil of clergy sexual abuse.

I know that many people are rightly angry and frustrated with our Church leadership for not doing more to acknowledge our failures and to correct them. While I cannot speak directly for them, I believe that Archbishop Nienstedt and the others in our Church leadership responsible for supervising our clergy are indeed sorrowful as well, and regret very much the pain that has been caused to people because of the abuse.

I think that they are imperfect human persons, like myself, who, given a very tough job and responsibility, have tried to do what they thought was best at the time, but nevertheless have made mistakes and questionable judgments, as the archbishop admits in his column [Oct. 24] in The Catholic Spirit.

Out of love and justice for those who have been victimized by clergy sexual abuse, I know there is so much more that we need to do to make amends for our past failures, and to change our ways and correct our faults, so that we can do better at protecting our children and the vulnerable from further abuse in the future.

To this end, Archbishop Nienstedt in his column has spelled out some initial steps that the archdiocese will implement, including a special independent task force to investigate all matters related to sexual misconduct by clergy and to recommend further changes and improvements for preventing abuse in the future.

The archbishop has also ordered a review of all clergy personnel files by an outside firm to evaluate whether anyone who is currently serving in active ministry might be a risk to public safety.

For my part, as your pastor, I promise to do all that I can here at the Church of St. Paul or in other

spheres where I might have influence, to make sure that our policies and procedures for the protection of the vulnerable and young are being implemented and followed and improved as needed.

If you or someone you know has been victimized by clergy or others and you are in need of help, don’t be afraid to seek it. There is help available from trained civil authorities in government child protection, social services and law enforcement agencies.

With the exception of what I hear in the confessional, I, as a member of the clergy, as well as teachers, and other counselors, are required

by Minnesota law to report any suspected abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult to these same civil authorities. However, if there is any way I can be assistance to anyone struggling with these problems, I offer to do what I can to help. Our archdiocese also offers victim advocacy and assistance services.

It is an unrealistic and impos-

“It is an unrealistic and impossible expectation that we will ever be able to completely eliminate all risk of clergy sexual misconduct and abuse from our Church, no matter how hard we try.

But that is no reason for not trying and doing all that we can to do better. Ultimately, however, as weak, imperfect, sinful human people, we must rely on God´s grace and mercy to sustain us and help us in all of our efforts to heal, to reconcile and to protect each other from harm.”

Father Timothy Norris

sible expectation that we will ever be able to completely eliminate all risk of clergy sexual misconduct and abuse from our Church, no matter how hard we try. But that is no reason for not trying and doing all that we can to do better.

Ultimately, however, as weak, imperfect, sinful human people, we must rely on God´s grace and mercy to sustain us and help us in all of our efforts to heal, to reconcile and to protect each other from harm.

O God, be merciful to us sinners.

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

The Last Word

24

‘O God, be merciful to me, a sinner’ The following is a homily that Father Timothy Norris, pastor of St. Paul in Ham Lake, delivered at Sunday Mass, Oct. 27. It is reprinted with permission.

“O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” In my homily today I would like to talk to you about the very difficult and painful subject of the clergy sexual abuse scandal which is once again very much in the news here locally as a result of the recent investigative reports conducted by Minnesota Public Radio news into some recent cases of actual and alleged sexual misconduct by some priests of our archdiocese, and allegations of how archdiocesan officials may have mishandled their response to these events.

I hope that what I say here does not add to the pain or alienation that anyone here may be feeling; rather, my aim is to search for hope and healing, as difficult as that may seem given the present circumstances.

First and foremost, I want to apologize to all victims of sexual misconduct by priests or other members of the “St. Matthew clergy, and to their families was a publican, and loved ones.

I know the a tax collector. shame and anIn the Gospel guish I feel as a member of the reading today, Church and of the clergy that Jesus uses the you have been subjected to simple prayer such a horrific betrayal of trust, of another and I can only imagine the publican, ‘O depths of your suffering. I want God, have to apologize also for the many mercy on me, a failures of our Church leadersinner,’ to point ship and others who have left out an awful you feeling doubly victimized truth: That no by their failure matter how to prevent the abuse or to acself-righteous knowledge their mistakes and to and holy we seek to make amends. think we might I hope and pray that you be, we are all can find healing. And, if there just sinners.” is any way that I can be of assisFather Timothy Norris tance in that healing, I would be glad to help you to the extent that I am able.

We are all sinners Secondly, I must acknowledge and confess that I, too, am a sinner, and that I am very sorry for all of the ways that I have failed in

November 7, 2013 • The Catholic Spirit

“The Calling of Saint Matthew,” completed in 1600 by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio thought, word and deed to reflect the purity and love of our Lord Jesus Christ in my priestly ministry and life. I ask forgiveness from God and from all of you. “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

Pope Francis was asked in a recent interview that received much publicity, “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” And, his response was, “I am a sinner . . . . I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.”

He then goes on to explain using the image of a famous painting known as the calling of St. Matthew

by Caravaggio (above): “That finger of Jesus pointing at Matthew. That’s me. I feel like him. Like Matthew. It is the gesture of Matthew that strikes me: he holds on to his money as if to say, ‘No, not me! No, this money is mine.’ Here, this is me, a sinner on whom the Lord has turned his gaze. And this is what I said when they asked me if I would accept my election as pontiff. I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I accept in a spirit of penance.”

St. Matthew was a publican, a tax collector. In the Gospel reading today, Jesus uses the simple prayer of another publican, “O God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” to point out an awful truth: That no matter how self-righteous and holy we think we might be, we are all just sinners.

Archbishop Nienstedt in his column this week in The Catholic Spirit acknowledges that, in regard to the efforts to prevent and address clergy misconduct during this past decade, “serious mistakes have been made. . . . There is reason to question whether or not the policies and procedures were uniformly followed. There is also a question as to

Listen online Listen to Father Timothy Norris’ homily online at www. churchofsaintpaul.com.

Click on “Welcome,” then “Homilies” and then the link for the Oct. 27 homily. the prudence of the judgments that have been made.”

Now, we who look at those failures from the outside may be tempted to scoff and judge like the Pharisee: “Thank God I am not like those jerks — more interested in their own reputations and protecting the image of the Church and pedophile priests than they are in protecting children.”

But, in all honesty, have we ever tried to put ourselves in their place?

Hindsight is always 20/20. But are we really so certain that we might not make the same mistakes or misjudgments, whether out of ignorance, fear and cowardice, pride or ambition?

We might think, “Thank God I am not like those pedophile priests.” But how many of us struggle with lustful inclinations, viewing adult pornography, masturbation, pre-marital sex, infidelity, etc.? Do those things make us a danger to be around children?

We think, ‘But I would never harm a child.’ Yet, how many of us have ever come close, losing our temper with the kids perhaps? Our society is rightly intolerant of child sexual abuse, but why do so many in our society champion the right for a child’s life to be extinguished before it has even been born?

I mention these things not to make excuses for or downplay the gravity of the offenses of pedophile

clergy, or Church leaders who fail to protect the young and vulnerable. Those offenses are rightly to be condemned, and they need to be corrected.

Rather, the thing that I want to point out is that there, but for the grace of God, go I. Sin is a universal human condition. Nobody can say, “Thank God I am not like the rest of humanity,’’ because we are all sinners.

I am a sinner. Archbishop Nienstedt is a sinner. Pope Francis is a sinner. We are all sinners. And, we come to the Church as sinners in search of mercy and redemption.

The scandal of clergy sexual abuse is the problem of how the Church is at the same time holy and yet sinful in its members. It is a problem that has existed ever since the Church began.

Difficult questions Now, I have spent much time in prayer and reflection this week agonizing over this problem, at times almost to the point of despair. The contradiction between the holiness of the priest who is called to serve and love the Church in the image of Christ the Good Shepherd, and the priest who betrays that trust by abusing a child is so great that it boggles the mind.

How is this possible?

Why can this happen?

Why doesn’t anybody stop it?

It has been announced that next year Pope John Paul II will be canonized a saint. Some critics claim that Pope John Paul II should not be canonized because they think he did not do enough to address the problem of clergy sexual abuse. But Please turn to JESUS on page 23

family joy 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 and discuss with others.

Coming up Nov. 21: How can the Church help me and my family navigate today’s online world?

Jesus, Mary, Joseph are model for every Christian family

T HEART OF THE MATTER Father Michael VAN SLOUN

he family is the basic unit of the Church, and parents are the spiritual leaders. The family home is where the Christian faith is lived on a day-to-day basis, and it is the duty of the universal Church and the local parish to help families better know and practice their faith. A family that loves Jesus above all else is a joyful family!

My mother and father did their best to pattern our family on the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary and Joseph. My parents are Arthur and Lanie. Our parish was Incarnation in south Minneapolis.

When Mom and Dad went shopping for their first home, proximity to the church was a top priority. They found a home a block from Incarnation. When Mary and Joseph returned to Israel from Egypt, they moved to Nazareth to be connected to a strong Jewish community and be close to a synagogue. One of the first steps to family joy is to get strongly connected to a parish community as quickly as possible.

My parents dreamed of having a family, and they had five children, the first within a

The Catholic Spirit • November 7, 2013

year, and their children are their pride and joy. Mary and Joseph had their son Jesus at the beginning of their marriage, and at his birth the multitude of the heavenly host sang with tremendous joy (Luke 2:13-14). The sincere love of a righteous husband like Joseph and a woman full of grace like Mary is generous and fruitful, and it welcomes children with great joy.

Joined to the body of Christ My parents rushed to have each of us baptized. Every baptism was within three weeks. They took their cues from Mary and Joseph, who presented Jesus in the Temple shortly after he was born (Luke 2:22). When it comes to the dedication and consecration of our children to God, the ideal is to do so as quickly as possible. It is a great joy for a newborn child and the entire family to be fully incorporated into the body of Christ.

My mom and dad were serious about Please turn to JOYFUL on back page of section

Rediscover-faith.org

steps to family joy is to get strongly connected to a parish community as quickly as possible.”

Father Michael Van Sloun

Family: The heart of a culture Anyone interested in becoming the best version of himself or herself has an uphill battle in today’s culture. It is true that this quest to become all we are capable of being would be difficult even in a culture that helped people in this quest. The internal obstacles — laziness, procrastination, addiction, etc. — make it difficult enough as we strive to fulfill our destiny. A culture that opposes our quest adds a whole different set of challenges.

The greatest problem is not that the culture is what it is, but rather, that we do not see it for what it is. That the culture opposes our efforts to become our best selves is a problem, but the greater problem is that we do not recognize or actively acknowledge that the culture opposes our essential purpose.

The consequence of these opposing purposes is that CELEBRATING whether you are aware of it or not, if you are trying to achieve CATHOLICISM any of the following, you are in the middle of a cultural war: • build a better family.

Matthew • raise amazing children.

KELLY • have a great marriage.

• become the best version of yourself.

Our present culture does not lend itself to building better families; it promotes the destruction of families.

Similarly, our culture does not lend itself to raising amazing children. When was the last time you saw a really well-adjusted, selfless, thoughtful child or teenager at the center of a popular television show. What place does our modern culture have for the compassion and virtue of a young person like Anne Frank?

If one of your goals was to have a really dynamic and wonderful marriage, and if you could choose between a variety of cultures, you certainly wouldn’t pick our modern culture. This culture’s ability to promote and sustain healthy marriages is now beyond a joke. In fact, what if anything does our culture do to promote dynamic and faithful marriages?

And, finally, the big picture: In what ways does our culture help you become the best version of yourself? Very few.

With every passing day, our culture caters more and more to the lowest common denominator. In doing so, the great center of society continues to be dragged to lower levels. The least possible version of ourselves is where the culture is leading us. If you are the “If you are the slightest bit interested in building a better family, slightest bit interested raising amazing children, having a great marriage, and becoming the best version of yourself, it is in building a better time to recognize and daily affirm that the culture family, raising amazing is not your friend. In fact, you find yourself in the midst of a very serious cultural war.

children, having a great marriage and becoming the best version of yourself, it is time to recognize

Are you ready for battle?

Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston College and author of more than 25 books, explained it this way: “If you can’t see that our entire civilization is in crisis, then you are a wounded victim of the war. We are now engaged in the most serious war that the world has ever known. To win any war, the three most necessary things to know are: (1) that you are at war, (2) the culture is not who your enemy is, (3) what weapons or your friend.” strategies can defeat that enemy. You cannot win a war if: (1) you simply sew peace on a battlefield, Matthew Kelly (2) if you fight civil wars against your allies, or (3) if you use the wrong weapons.”

I would add that it is critically important to know what you are fighting for, what you are defending, why it is important to win, and what is at stake if you lose; and, that it is also vital that you know who your allies are. Knowledge of these is what gives courage and resolve to our hearts in times of testing.

Not only does the present culture present an opposing purpose — but it is a real force, a force to be reckoned with. If we are serious about building better families, it would serve us well to recognize at the outset that a little tweaking here and there is probably not going to get the job done.

It is also important to realize that no amount of techniques sprinkled in here and there are enough in and of themselves to win this cultural war and build better families. What is needed is a strategy, a life-giving strategy that can be applied over and over again to the moments of our everyday lives.

Kelly is an international best-selling author, speaker and founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute.

The Catholic Spirit • November 7, 2013

Family’s love stretches

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit During the 1990s, Rebecca and Elliott Brubaker were sailing along in their life as Protestants.

But, a bump in the road came after the birth of their fourth child, JonElliott, in 1994.

They started getting negative comments from their friends about having so many children. The most any of their friends had were three, with the only reason for that being they had either two boys or two girls and wanted to try for one of the opposite gender.

Not so with the Brubakers, who already had a boy and two girls. Living in Omaha, Neb., at the time while Elliott served in the Air Force, they also had to consider the problems Rebecca had with previous pregnancies.

“I had very difficult pregnancies,” said Rebecca, 47. “[With] JonElliott, I went into labor when I was 20 weeks pregnant. I spent three months in bed. I spent 30 days in the hospital prior to his birth. So, all of our Protestant friends and our pastor thought it was time [to stop having children.]”

Eventually, Rebecca succumbed to the pressure and went in to have a tubal ligation not long after JonElliott was born. What she didn’t know was that the procedure also would tie her conscience up in knots.

That event actually triggered a return to the Catholic faith of her upbringing and it is a big reason why she and Elliott had three more children after she came back to the Church and Elliott became Catholic as well.

Today, they have seven children, all of whom joyfully embrace the Catholic faith.

Here’s the twist — the final three children to join their family all came from Asian countries — Sam, 10, from China in 2004, Olivia, 11, from Vietnam in 2007, and Elijah, 13, from Thailand in 2011.

Feeling the call Not long after the procedure to render her unable to bear children, Rebecca started to squirm inside, despite the approval from her friends.

“Within three months, I was convicted that I had really made a mistake,” Rebecca said. “I had done it out of fear, I had not done it out of trust. And, it was not God’s will.”

The conviction came because she had moved back toward the Catholic Church.

After the family moved to Minnesota in 1995, a friend recommended a book by Catholic convert and author Scott Hahn titled “Rome Sweet Home.”

After reading the book, she felt called back to the Catholic Church. In 1997, for the first time in many years, she went to Mass at Mary, Mother of the Church in Burnsville.

Not long after that, Father Peter Richards became an associate priest at the parish, and he talked with both Elliott and Rebecca about the faith. Elliott had lots of questions, and Father Richards answered them and later facilitated Elliott’s journey into the Church in 2002. The Brubakers are members of Mary, Mother.

“For me, it came to a point, in John 6

The Brubaker family expanded over the last nine y family are son-in-law Michael Earhart, left, Jayne

particularly,” said Elliott, 56, referring to th Gospel passage in which Jesus calls himsel the Bread of Life. Thus, Elliott embraced th Church’s teaching on the Eucharist, along with all of its other teachings. Along the w he developed a devotion to Mary. He now prays either the rosary or the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day and also leads these prayers with his family.

An important step in their journey to th Church was getting Rebecca’s tubal ligation reversed. She did so in 1997 and hoped she would have more children.

Unfortunately, one pregnancy resulted in miscarriage. They later learned that scarrin possibly caused by the first procedure, wou make it impossible to have any more biological children.

So, they started considering adoption.

They contacted Catholic Charities and beg the process. They were told about a boy wi Down syndrome, and they expressed inter in adopting him. But, in the end, the boy was adopted by his biological grandparent Meanwhile, they had also started explor other options, including orphans from overseas. They knew of a family that had adopted a girl from China. They started working with an adoption agency that handled these types of adoptions.

“Then, we got a list from the agency tha we were using of what is called ‘waiting children,’” Rebecca said. “These are kids th are considered harder to adopt. They’re either over the age of 3 or they have some kind of medical need. And, Sam was on th list. He was a little boy, and so it totally shocked us because we totally thought we were going to adopt a little girl from China “But, we just saw this little boy. Sam is blind in one eye. . . . The Lord just convict our hearts about him. We could not get him out of our mind. Six months later, he was home. It was unbelievable.”

Sam’s arrival from China in 2004 was th start of a seven-year period in which the Brubakers adopted a total of three children from overseas.

Sam turned out to be a handful. He was developmentally delayed because of an

Living in the domestic Church

s across the globe

years to include Elijah, front left, Olivia and Sam, all of whom were born in Asian countries. Other members of the e Earhart, Elliott, Rebecca, Emily, JonElliott and Michael. Photo courtesy of Elliott and Rebecca Brubaker

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existing condition combined with lack of proper care at the orphanage. He was significantly undersized when he arrived at age 13 months, and needed lots of help to do things like sit up and drink from a bottle, not to mention start learning English.

Still, Rebecca continued surfing lists of waiting children, though not necessarily with the thought of adopting any of them.

“I would pray over all these kids” on the waiting children list, Rebecca said.

One little girl caught her eye — Olivia.

Rebecca couldn’t get her out of her mind.

She even dreamed about her. She went to Elliott and suggested they at least get more information about her.

They learned she was from Vietnam, and that stopped them cold in their tracks.

Rebecca was intimidated about going to that country, but at the same time, still wanted to advocate for the girl. Ultimately, she pushed through her fears and went to Vietnam, where they adopted Olivia in 2007.

She was on an agency list of about 25 waiting children at the time. Elijah also was on that list. Turns out almost all of the other kids got adopted, so Rebecca and Elliott wanted to try to help Elijah find a family, too. He joined the family in 2011.

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Growing in faith

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It’s an interesting time period for the Brubaker family. The four older children are gone from the nest and in college, while the younger three are all still at home. In fact, Rebecca and Elliott joke that they now are the racial minority in the home.

They are joyful to see the choices their older four kids are making. Three of the four — Michael, Emily and JonElliott — all are attending Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan. And, Michael is a missionary there for St. Paul’s Outreach. Their oldest daughter, Jayne, 22, is married with a new baby and attends Creighton University, where she is studying nursing.

“All three kids [at Benedictine] go to Mass at least several times a week and confession at least once a week,” Rebecca said. “We’ve

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been growing in our faith over the years, and our kids have convicted us more and more.

The more all of us have fallen deeper and deeper in love with the sacraments, the more God has blessed us.”

The faith has grown and developed in all of the family members through many conversations at the dinner table. And, wrestling with the deep questions about God and the Church made it seem natural to look outside their own home to extend their love and resources to children thousands of miles away, many of whom are abandoned and neglected.

Now, one of them — Olivia — is considering a religious vocation. Over the summer, the family had a nun from Vietnam visit their home for an afternoon. She even jumped on the trampoline with the kids in the back yard. In just a few hours, the nun, who joined a convent when she was 11, had another 11-year-old thinking of doing the same thing someday.

“I really want to be a nun, but I’m going to let God choose,” Olivia said.

Now, the family is seeing their faith pass on to the third generation, with the birth of their first grandchild. They are proud of the way Jayne navigated the issue of dating and courtship before she married a high school classmate, Michael Earhart.

“They did it right,” Rebecca said. “They didn’t sneak around, they didn’t live together, they’re open to life, they are practicing natural family planning. When they looked ahead, they said, ‘Hey, you know what? There’s not really a reason why we couldn’t have a baby right now.’ They said, ‘OK, Lord, if that’s what you want to bless us with, we’re open.’ And, we have a grandson, Oliver, [born] five weeks ago [in September].

“When she got pregnant, her one girlfriend said, ‘You just skipped over all the best years of your life.’ And she said, ‘No, I didn’t. This is life.’ So, they’re open to marriage, they’re open to family life, and that’s because they have embraced the Church and all of its teaching. We’re very grateful.”

Parenthood, it turns out, is much easier before you’re actually a parent. That’s when you can assemble lofty ideals and judgmental thoughts and lay them out like hand-picked seashells. Here’s our stance on pacifiers and television, breastfeeding and bedtime. Here’s what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends. And did you know I’ve been reading daily to the baby in utero?

All that comes to a halt when the contractions kick in and you’re scrambling to pack your hospital bag, doubling over in pain. The fact that labor seldom goes according to your neatly written birth plan is the first and the biggest lesson of parenthood, an early indication that control is no REFERENCE longer yours and never again will be. (“I hate to say POINTS it,” a labor nurse told me after our baby had arrived, leaning in and lowering her voice, “but whatever you emphasize most in the birth plan is the thing Christina that never happens.”)

CAPECCHI How humbling it is to discover that an 8-pound creature who sleeps much of the day can consume and exhaust two adults, that a diaper change can be a production, involving starts and stops and surprises along the way, a Twister game of four wrists circling one bottom.

I have come to understand how seemingly simple things like the timing of nursing and napping can, in fact, be complicated.

When it comes to parties and events, I now feel like applauding any parent who shows up with Talk to one of your parents or kids who all have clothes on, no grandparents about the matter what time they arrive or importance of faith in raising a what they forgot. family. What traditions do you, or And this, parents of toddlers will you, continue to observe? tell me, eyeing the baby in my arms, is the easy part, before they get into everything. My husband and I haven’t had to pull out the baby gates and outlet covers yet. I can only imagine the difficult decisions awaiting us an in a time when Facebook and cellphone use often precedes puberty.

I’m beginning to suspect that the thorniest issues won’t come with a clear-cut yes or no, that we’ll be grappling with lots of grays and trying to live with trade-offs. When our daughter is a teen, we’ll be negotiating tools and technologies that haven’t been invented yet.

That means two things: one, there’s no way we can prepare for all of parenthood’s challenges; and two, our family is going to need the grounding of the Catholic Church — the wisdom of the ages, the saints and seasons and sacraments, the psalms, the ashes, the holy water.

In the face of untold struggles, we will rely on this ancient Church.

We’re setting up camp here. It will be our framework, our reference point, our source of grace and strength, our history and our hope.

Already I see how the Catholic Church dignifies our work as parents, conferring our messy homes with a beautiful name and status: a domestic Church. We are fed by the Eucharist and then return home; within these four walls, we continue the feast. And in our ordinary way, we go about the holy work of loving one another.

When we are tired, the Church gives us the words and shows us the way. “Waste time” with your kids, give it away freely, get lost in their world, Pope Francis recently told parents gathered in Rome for the Pontifical Council for the Family’s plenary assembly. Seek the sacraments, pray together and embrace “the true joy which we experience in the family. . . something which we all feel in our hearts and which makes us experience the beauty of togetherness, of mutual support along life’s journeys.”

This is the Church that guided my great-grandparents when they were young parents, and it will do the same for me. This is my home.

Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights.

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Joyful families make daily prayer together a priority Continued from first page of section teaching their young children the basics. They taught us our ABCs, colors, and how to count. But at the same time — as we learned our very first words — they taught us the Sign of the Cross. Next, they taught us our meal prayers, the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary. Family prayer was a mainstay of every day.

Surely Mary and Joseph taught Jesus the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5), the Psalms and other Jewish prayers, and they prayed them together every day.

The family that prays together stays together.

For my parents, Sunday Mass attendance for our entire family was presumed. It was foolish to question or resist. If one of us was to say, “But the neighbors don’t go,� we heard sternly, “We are gladly different�

(Joshua 24:15b).

My parents were guided by the Holy Family, which was in the custom of going to the synagogue every Sabbath day (Luke 4:16). When a family worships together each week, and when they are nourished by the Word of God and the body and blood of Christ, it increases their joy.

My parents had plenty of house rules. Homework had to be done before watching TV. There was zero tolerance for swearing. Always tell the truth, they said.

Say “please� and “thank you.� Dress respectfully and modestly. No bad TV or movies. My parents insisted that we obey, and there were consequences if we didn’t.

“Every family’s situation is different.

The application of the Gospel varies by circumstance. One thing is certain for a Christian family: if a mother, father and their children pattern themselves on Jesus, Mary and Joseph, they will experience family joy.�

Father Michael Van Sloun Mary and Joseph also had house rules because the Gospel says, “He [Jesus] . . . was obedient to them�

(Luke 2:51). Mary and Joseph followed the teachings of the Jewish faith in their home, and they insisted that their son Jesus do likewise. Misbehavior and defiance lead to trouble and sadness, while obedience and cooperation are cause for joy.

Doing our fair share My dad was an optical worker, and he always had at least one part-time job. My mother was a homemaker, and after her children were grown she worked at a school food service.

They invested their God-given talents (see Matthew

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25:14-30) and they expected us to do the same. We all had chores. As we got older, we were expected to get part-time jobs, and we did: a paper route, a car wash, the grocery store, and an aide at a nursing home.

Joseph was a carpenter (Matthew 13:55) and his son Jesus worked with him (Mark 6:3). Mary is frequently portrayed sewing in religious art. Members of holy families do their jobs. Parents do their children a disservice when they give them a free ticket. Low expectations, laziness, and idleness lead to spoiled brats. A family in which everyone is responsible and carries their fair share of the burden is a joyful family.

Mom and Dad took us on family trips to northern Minnesota every summer; the Holy Family made a trip to Jerusalem every year (Luke 2:41). They took us to Chaska and Brandon to see our grandparents; the Holy Family traveled with their relatives (Luke 2:44).

They sent us to Catholic schools; Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple where he sat with the teachers, listened to them, and asked them questions (Luke 2:46).

Every family’s situation is different. The application of the Gospel varies by circumstance. One thing is certain for a Christian family: if a mother, father and their children pattern themselves on Jesus, Mary and Joseph, they will experience family joy.

Father Van Sloun is pastor of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata.

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The Catholic Spirit • November 7, 2013

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