The Catholic Spirit
Bishop Emeritus Richard Pates, a native of the Twin Cities who served as an auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis from 2001 to 2008, has been appointed apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa, as Archbishop Michael Jackels resigns because of health reasons.
Bishop Pates — who was appointed bishop of Des Moines, Iowa, in 2008 — retired in September 2019 and returned to Minnesota. However, in December of that year he was appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, as Bishop Daniel Conlon took a medical leave of absence and then retired in May 2020. Bishop Pates served in that role until October 2020.
In April 2021, Bishop Pates was appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Crookston, until Bishop Andrew Cozzens’ installation in that diocese in December of that year.
Pope Francis accepting Archbishop Jackels’ resignation and appointing Bishop Pates to Dubuque were publicized in Washington April 4 by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. An archdiocesan statement said Bishop Pates, 80, will serve as apostolic administrator until a successor to Archbishop Jackels is named.
In a letter posted on the archdiocesan website, Archbishop Jackels told the faithful, “For health reasons, I asked our Holy Father Francis — may God preserve him — to accept my resignation as Archbishop of Dubuque. Jesus called me to this ministry, and I wouldn’t take my hands
from this plow unless Jesus, through his Vicar on earth, called me away. And so it is, effective 4 April 2023.”
The archbishop gave no details about his health in the letter. At 68, he is seven years younger than the age at which canon law requires bishops to turn in their resignation to the pope. He turns 69 April 13. In early May 2019, the archbishop suffered a heart attack and was admitted to a Dubuque hospital, where surgeons placed two stents into his coronary arteries. Some six weeks later, his cardiologist OK’d his return to ministry.
BISHOP EMERITUS RICHARD PATES
“I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, praying with you, sharing meals together, joining you as a partner in ministry. Your responses on our Synod Survey confirmed our ministry: sharing with the Church and the poor; learning/teaching the Gospel; devotion to and worship of the Eucharist,” Archbishop Jackels wrote. “These are ministries that you rightly appreciate, are presently committed to, and want to see enhanced. Keep up the good work. You’re great. God bless you. I’ll miss you,” he added. “Let us pray for each other, and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.”
The Archdiocese of Dubuque is comprised of 17,403 square miles and has a total population of 1,017,175, of which 185,260 are Catholic.
On the March 31 “Practicing Catholic” radio show, host Patrick Conley interviews Julie Craven, who volunteers as ombudsperson for victim-survivors of clerical sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and is associate director of the Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. Also featured are Mike Rios-Keating, social justice education manager at Catholic Charities Twin Cities, who describes a new way to help people in need this Easter season; and Gary Bowman as he starts up a St. Louis Park-based ministry called Hospitality Houses for Divine Mercy, to help those experiencing homelessness who have mental health challenges. Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingcatholicShow com or anchor fm/Practicingcatholic-Show with links to streaming platforms.
A story in the March 9 edition about the food center at Incarnation in Minneapolis stated a volunteer picks up food at United Natural Foods in Prescott, Wisconsin. An employee of St. Vincent de Paul-Twin Cities, driving a refrigerated truck, makes that weekly trip.
The northern lights blaze behind St. Nicholas church in Carver early March 24 in a photo taken by Shawn Riesgraf, 32, a parishioner and member of the parish finance council. Riesgraf sent the photo to his mother, Pam, also a parishioner, who shared it with The Catholic Spirit. A solar storm supercharged auroras across the United States March 23 and March 24, particularly in the north. News reports indicated people as far south as New Mexico and Arizona saw the display.
The 90th Archdiocesan Conference of Catholic Women convention takes place April 28 at St. Peter in Mendota. An estimated 150 or more women are expected to attend, said Christine Allie, office manager of the Office of Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women. During the convention, Doreen Hogan of St. Mary in Le Center will be installed to a two-year term as the new president. Four winners of this year’s Laywoman Volunteer Awards also will be recognized (see page 6). ACCW members Chloe Breczinski, a parishioner of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Minnetonka, and Lucy Johnson, a member of St. Francis de Sales in St. Paul, will speak at the convention, as will keynote speaker Father Tim Tran, parochial vicar of St. Stephen in Anoka and the archdiocese’s “point person” for the National Eucharistic Revival.
Two Catholic high schools faced each other in the State Boys Basketball Tournament finals March 25. In a repeat of last year’s Class AAA finals, Totino-Grace High School in Fridley won its second consecutive championship by defeating DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis 50-46. Totino-Grace finished the season with a record of 24-8, while DeLaSalle ended with a record of 26-6. In Class AA, Holy Family High School in Victoria advanced to the semifinals before falling to Minnehaha Academy 72-76. For over 25 years, Elaine Grendahl, a parishioner of St. Michael in Prior Lake, has been sharing information from parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis that have special plans for celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday. Examples include time for confession, eucharistic adoration and Benediction speakers, devotions, plenary indulgence prayers and the Divine Mercy chaplet. To see a list of parishes in the archdiocese with plans for Divine Mercy Sunday, the weekend of April 15-16 this year, visit thecatholicSPirit com/divinemercy or use the QR code printed here.
The Catholic Spirit’s next issue will appear in three weeks on April 27, with special coverage of Bishop-elect Michael Izen and his episcopal ordination.
It’s not often that I recognize that I’m envious, but every year I find myself envying our seminarians when they speak to me about spending the whole night in prayer in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Whenever I ask about highlights from their J-term month in the Holy Land, at least one of them will bring up this experience. Although I have had the blessed opportunity to visit that church and to pray at the empty tomb on a few occasions, it had never occurred to me to ask if I could be locked in overnight. Until I came to the archdiocese, I never knew that was even a possibility.
How wonderful it would be to spend the night in silence at the spot where all of history changed! Not long after the Second Vatican Council, one of the priests at my home parish had invited the local Lutheran pastor to offer a Lenten evening of reflection, and he chose to speak on the centrality of the Resurrection. For the next 50 years, my father would often quote Pastor Naumann: “If Jesus didn’t really rise, if the tomb wasn’t really empty, our faith is in vain.”
Each time we recite the creed, we affirm our belief that Jesus truly “rose again on the third day.” That should be enough to take our breath away, and yet our Sunday routine seems to expect us to continue our recitation, all too often at breakneck speed. Jesus is truly risen. He’s not just an extraordinary teacher, he’s not just an exceptional role model, he’s the beloved Son of God who for our sake shattered the bonds of sin and death.
The good news is that Jesus’ victory isn’t for him alone, but for all of us. The patristic reading for the Office of Readings on Holy Saturday imagines the encounter between Jesus and Adam, “asleep in the tomb” for all those generations: “Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. ... Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person.”
Imagine: Our destiny, like Adam’s, is to rise with Christ.
Back on the First Sunday of Lent (which now seems like ages ago), Bishop Williams and I had the privilege of celebrating the “Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion.” It’s a beautiful opportunity to meet the hundreds of women and men who will become Catholic in our
archdiocese this Easter. I love listening to their stories and learning of their desire to be united with Christ and the Church that he founded and entrusted to the Apostles. There’s nothing that they want more than to be “one undivided person” with Jesus and, like Adam, to one day rise with him.
Listen for their “I do” as they are asked at the Easter Vigil: “Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered death and was buried, rose again from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father?” The whole Church is enriched by their enthusiasm and example as we, too, are called to renew our baptismal vows at Easter and to reaffirm, in particular, our belief in the Resurrection.
All of Christian life, it could be argued,
is our response to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Acknowledging what Jesus has done for us, and with gratitude for his invitation to one day share in his resurrection, we freely respond to his call to serve, whatever form that might take.
I saw that manifested beautifully just a few weeks back, as four women in our archdiocese were consecrated as virgins living in the world. We will see that for sure, moreover, when Bishop-elect Izen publicly offers his “yes” at his episcopal ordination and begins his service as an auxiliary bishop in this archdiocese. We will also witness that response as so many couples embrace Christian marriage at spring weddings, as our consecrated sisters and brothers make their religious professions, and as our local Church celebrates ordinations to the diaconate and the priesthood, all in response to what Christ has done for us.
Throughout the archdiocese, nearly 2,000 of our brothers and sisters have responded to the call to be part of Synod Evangelization Teams at the parish level. Enlivened by the good news of Christ’s resurrection, they have just completed this year’s School of Discipleship and have embarked on a 40-day challenge focused on the virtues of forgiveness, humility, patience, selflessness, kindness, attentiveness and contrition. We are counting on the Lord to pour out his grace upon them as they strive to become “activated” disciples, equipped to serve as Spirit-filled leaders and foot soldiers in the renewal of our archdiocese.
Please join me in remembering them in your prayers this Easter, and know that you and your families will be in my prayers as well. Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen!
No es frecuente que reconozca que tengo envidia, pero cada año me encuentro envidiando a nuestros seminaristas cuando me hablan de pasar toda la noche en oración en la Iglesia del Santo Sepulcro en Jerusalén. Cada vez que pregunto sobre los aspectos más destacados de su mes J-term en Tierra Santa, al menos uno de ellos menciona esta experiencia. Aunque he tenido la bendita oportunidad de visitar esa Iglesia y de orar ante la tumba vacía en algunas ocasiones, nunca se me había ocurrido preguntar si podía pasar la noche encerrada. Hasta que llegué a la arquidiócesis, nunca supe que esa era siquiera una posibilidad.
¡Qué maravilloso sería pasar la noche en silencio en el lugar donde cambió toda la historia! No mucho después del Concilio Vaticano II, uno de los sacerdotes de mi parroquia natal invitó al pastor luterano local a ofrecer una noche de reflexión de Cuaresma y eligió hablar sobre la centralidad de la Resurrección. Durante los siguientes 50 años, mi padre solía citar al pastor Naumann: “Si Jesús realmente no resucitó, si la tumba no estuvo realmente vacía, nuestra fe es en vano”.
Cada vez que recitamos el Credo,
afirmamos nuestra creencia de que Jesús realmente “resucitó al tercer día”. Eso debería ser suficiente para dejarnos sin aliento... y, sin embargo, nuestra rutina dominical parece esperar que continuemos con nuestra recitación, con demasiada frecuencia a una velocidad vertiginosa. Jesús ha resucitado verdaderamente. No es solo un maestro extraordinario, no es solo un modelo a seguir excepcional, es el Hijo amado de Dios que por nosotros rompió los lazos del pecado y la muerte.
La buena noticia es que la victoria de Jesús no es solo para él, sino para todos nosotros. La lectura patrística del Oficio de Lectura del Sábado Santo imagina el encuentro entre Jesús y Adán, “dormido en el sepulcro” para todas aquellas generaciones: “Despierta, que duermes, no te he hecho para que seas cautivo en el inframundo. ... Levántense, vámonos de aquí; porque tú en mí y yo en ti, juntos somos una sola persona”. Imagínate: nuestro destino, como el de Adán, es resucitar con Cristo.
En el primer domingo de Cuaresma (que ahora parece que fue hace mucho tiempo), el obispo Williams y yo tuvimos el privilegio de celebrar el “Rito de elección y llamado a la conversión continua”. Es una hermosa oportunidad para conocer a los cientos de mujeres y hombres que se convertirán en católicos en nuestra arquidiócesis esta Pascua. Me encanta
escuchar sus historias y conocer su deseo de estar unidos a Cristo ya la Iglesia que él fundó sobre los Apóstoles. No hay nada que deseen más que ser “una persona indivisa” con Jesús y, como Adán, resucitar un día con él.
Escuche su “Sí, acepto” cuando se les pregunta en la Vigilia Pascual: “¿Creen en Jesucristo, su único Hijo, nuestro Señor, que nació de la Virgen María, sufrió la muerte y fue sepultado, resucitó de entre los muertos y está sentado a la diestra del Padre? Toda la Iglesia se enriquece con su entusiasmo y ejemplo, ya que también nosotros estamos llamados a renovar nuestros votos bautismales en Pascua y reafirmar, en particular, nuestra fe en la Resurrección.
Se podría argumentar que toda la vida cristiana es nuestra respuesta a la muerte y resurrección de Jesús. Reconociendo lo que Jesús ha hecho por nosotros, y con gratitud por su invitación a compartir un día su resurrección, respondemos libremente a su llamado a servir, cualquiera que sea la forma que adopte.
Vi que eso se manifestó maravillosamente hace solo unas semanas, cuando cuatro mujeres en nuestra arquidiócesis fueron consagradas como vírgenes que viven en el mundo. Lo veremos con certeza, además, cuando el obispo electo Izen ofrezca públicamente su “sí” a su ordenación episcopal y comience
su servicio como obispo auxiliar en esta archidiócesis. Seremos testigos de que, además, mientras tantas parejas abrazan el matrimonio cristiano en las bodas de primavera, mientras nuestros hermanos y hermanas consagrados hacen sus profesiones religiosas, y mientras nuestra Iglesia local celebra las ordenaciones al diaconado y al sacerdocio, todo en respuesta a lo que Cristo ha hecho por nosotros.
Además, en toda la arquidiócesis, cerca de 2000 de nuestros hermanos y hermanas han respondido al llamado de ser parte de los Equipos de Evangelización del Sínodo a nivel parroquial. Animados por las buenas nuevas de la resurrección de Cristo, acaban de terminar la Escuela de Discipulado de este año y se han embarcado en un desafío de 40 días centrado en las virtudes del perdón, la humildad, la paciencia, el desinterés, la bondad, la atención y la contrición. Contamos con el Señor para derramar su gracia sobre ellos mientras se esfuerzan por convertirse en discípulos “activados”, equipados para servir como líderes llenos del Espíritu y soldados de a pie en la renovación de nuestra arquidiócesis.
Únase a mí para recordarlos en sus oraciones esta Pascua y sepa que usted y sus familias también estarán en mis oraciones. ¡Cristo ha resucitado! ¡Él ha resucitado verdaderamente!
¡Cristo ha resucitado!iSTOCK PHOTO | AUNG MYO HTWE
Jesus is truly risen. He’s not just an extraordinary teacher, he’s not just an exceptional role model, he’s the beloved Son of God who for our sake shattered the bonds of sin and death.
Veronica Tupy, a kindergarten student at Holy Cross Catholic School in Webster, gives a card to Father George Welzbacher, who is living at the Leo C. Byrne Residence for retired priests in St. Paul, during a gathering March 28. The card was from her parents, Rachel and Jake, who had Father Welzbacher as one of the celebrants for their wedding in 2009. Tupy’s teacher, Shari Eischens, organized the Byrne Residence event. About 10 retired priests spent two hours with the teacher and 19 Holy Cross kindergarten students. In 2020, Eischens came up with the idea of having her students write letters to retired priests. It was a hit, with priests at the Byrne Residence writing back. This year, she scheduled an in-person visit. Each priest was presented a hand-addressed brown envelope containing a drawing and note from a student. “This is why our kids need to be in Catholic school, to know the importance of the priests that are currently serving and the ones that served in the past — bringing us all together,” Eischens said. “If you want to talk about vocation shortage, this is how we get kids back into the vocations: coming here.”
Quiet time alone with the Lord on a canonically required retreat and a trip to Chicago with Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams were important moments of Bishop-elect Michael Izen’s preparation for his April 11 ordination at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
The bishop-elect held his March 20-25 retreat in a familiar place: a lake cabin near Dassel owned by one of his sisters, Mary Izen Book, and her husband, Bill, of St. Timothy in Blaine. Bishop Donald DeGrood of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota — a former priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis who was consecrated and installed as a bishop in 2020 — directed the bishopelect’s retreat by Zoom and phone.
“I was blessed to spend the week in silence, at my sister’s cabin, where I was able to spend four to six hours praying each day,” the bishop-elect said in an email. “It was really a special week and I give thanks to God for giving me just what I needed.”
As he continued in Stillwater to shepherd the Churches of St. Michael and St. Mary as pastor, at St. Croix Catholic School as canonical administrator, and in Bayport as parochial administrator of St. Charles, Bishop-elect Izen was appointed in February to the office of vicar general for the archdiocese.
He found time to be with family and friends, including celebrating his 56th birthday Jan. 12 and sharing dinner and conversation with former 3M workmates Feb. 25. Both events were in St. Paul.
He flew to Chicago Jan. 27 with Bishop Williams. The two went to the House of Hansen, where Bishop-elect Izen was measured for his choir cassock, house cassock, an alb, two miters and other vestment needs. Of Bishop Williams the bishop-elect said, “his wisdom and friendship were really the highlight
of the trip.”
Bishop-elect Izen took time March 16 to suit up in the various vestments for his official portrait taken at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul.
All the while, he continued to think about fashioning his coat of arms, about the crosier given him by an anonymous group of parishioners, and about his episcopal motto.
The latter he has chosen: “God with us.”
“It comes from Matthew 1:20-23, where the angel visits Joseph and tells him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife,” the bishop-elect said. The Scripture says Mary is to bear a son, Jesus, who will be called Emmanuel, which means, “God is with us,” Bishopelect Izen said.
“Advent and Christmas have always been my favorite time of year,” he said. “This reading falls right at the end of Advent, which is also when I received the call from the apostolic nuncio, informing me about this appointment (Dec. 18),” the bishop-elect said.
“Perhaps even more significant is the strong connection to the Eucharist, which is the center of my life, and I imagine, any priest’s life. God is with us, most concretely, in the Eucharist.”
As ordination approaches, Bishopelect Izen said, he will return to his journal as he recalls the graces from his episcopal retreat. “Sometimes we have to remind ourselves how good God has been to us,” he said. “Especially at those times when we feel stressed from too much to get done, etc.”
During Lent, Bishop-elect Izen said, he prayed the Litany of Trust every day and cycled through the Surrender Novena. “Surrendering and trusting are qualities that I need to grow in for this call,” he said. “I wouldn’t be able to do any of this prep work, let alone become a bishop, if it wasn’t for God doing it all through me.”
The
Catholic SpiritBishop-elect Michael Izen’s episcopal ordination is approaching, and Joe Conlon has been preparing. He will help broadcast the ceremony on cable television and livestream from the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
A parishioner of St. John Neumann in Eagan, Conlon, 52, has been a member of the Knights of Columbus for “close to 30 years.” He became involved with Town Square Television — a community television studio primarily serving the northern part of Dakota County — as a volunteer roughly 35 years ago and has been working full time with the nonprofit organization for the past 25 years. He’s now engineering manager, which, he joked, means “I take care of everything that plugs in.”
In 2005, the station helped broadcast a priestly ordination at the Cathedral, when the ordination class consisted of 15 soon-to-be priests, including Bishopelect Izen. “The capacity of the Cathedral is only so much,” Conlon said, which is why the studio offered to step in to help with coverage of priestly and episcopal ordinations and has been doing so ever since. The studio has broadcast four episcopal ordinations in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis; Bishop-elect Izen’s ordination will be the fifth.
Town Square Television studio volunteers help cover religious, parish and other local events, such as city hall meetings, local high school sporting events and graduations. The studio has a mobile production truck that volunteers take to community events. Community members also can check out equipment from the studio for their needs.
To prepare for Bishop-elect Izen’s ordination, Conlon said he’s issued a call for volunteers. “I’m always surprised and blessed that we’re able to get people who step up right away and say, ‘I’m ready to help.’” Conlon has written to Knights of Columbus councils
in the archdiocese and so far, he said, 20 councils have provided financial support to help defray broadcasting and equipment costs. He arranges to secure the mobile production truck for ordination day and starts working with staff at the Cathedral to set up Town Square’s equipment.
“We’ll have about eight cameras (and eight sets of corresponding equipment) with a team of about 10 volunteers, some running cameras in the Cathedral, some working in the production truck itself doing the live switching and graphics and audio and controlling some robotic cameras,” Conlon said. Because of past events, much of the Cathedral is prewired, which helps with day-of setup, he said. Setup on ordination day will consist primarily of erecting platforms for the standalone cameras and making sure all video and audio connections are working.
Ready to help feed the crew lunch on ordination day will be Conlon’s mother, Billie Conlon, who is 85 and a member of St. Patrick in Inver Grove Heights. “She says she can’t run a camera, but she can at least feed us,” Joe Conlon said.
A partnership with Relevant Radio allows for voiceovers from Paul Sadek and Patrick Conley out of the Golden Valley studio during the episcopal ordination. “They send their audio feed back to the Cathedral and we bring that into our production,” Conlon said.
A South St. Paul native, Conlon studied electronics in high school. He went on to attend St. John Vianney College Seminary for three years, studying telecommunications at the University of St. Thomas, both in St. Paul.
His interest in Catholic television grew, especially volunteering with the Catholic Television Broadcasting Service within the Archdiocese of Castries on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. “It was kind of one of those things that happened by mistake. I was in my early 20s and looking for some way to serve.” He stepped in to help when a French priest running the studio departed on a three-month sabbatical. Conlon spent a four-month stint with the studio, then returned to Minnesota. Conlon later learned the French priest had been reassigned, so he returned to St. Lucia a year
and a half after his first visit. Though Conlon said he expected his second visit to be a short one, “it ended up being about nine months.” It was how he met his wife; they married in 2000 in St. Lucia and moved to Minnesota to start their family.
Conlon’s favorite aspect of his work with Inver Grove Heights-based Town Square Television is broadcasting as a service. “I like doing live production, TV production, but I also enjoy having it as a service to our local archdiocese,” Conlon said.
Bishop-elect Izen’s episcopal ordination is set for 1 p.m. April 11. Complete ordination information can be found on the archdiocese’s website at archspm.org/ newbishop. Those in the Twin Cities metro area who want to watch the ordination can tune in to Metro Cable Network Channel 6. It will be livestreamed on the Cathedral’s Facebook page at facebook com/ cathedralsaintpaul It will also be broadcast live on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
By Barb Umberger
The Catholic Spirit
Teena Badzinski has served as vice president and president of her parish’s Council of Catholic Women during her nearly 50 years of membership. For more than 25 years, Badzinski served on her parish’s youth advisory committee, frequently as chair, promoting and supporting meaningful opportunities for worship, formation, service and personal growth and encouraging young people to become leaders in their parish and school, said her nominator. Badzinski also mentored youth volunteers during Vacation Bible School and helped plan and lead confirmation retreats for many years. She attends daily Mass and serves as a greeter, lector, extraordinary minister of holy Communion and “lay presider for Word and Communion services.” She and a team of parishioners lead the Stations of the Cross during Lent. She and her husband participate in the parish Soup Line program, delivering and serving lunches every few months in the Minneapolis area. They delivered Meals on Wheels for several years and volunteered with the parish’s refugee resettlement program. Badzinski is in the Befriender ministry, which pairs a parishioner with someone facing challenges who needs a compassionate listener.
Badzinski has been recognized for outstanding service to the Christian Women’s Club of St. Louis Park where, as chair, she helped plan monthly meetings and invited speakers to share their experience of Christ in their lives. She helped with a parish holiday outreach to families in need for more than 12 years. Badzinski often volunteered with Feed My Starving Children and at the annual CCW blood drive, and volunteers on the parish’s Art and Environment Committee. She served as a Girl Scout and Boy Scout leader while raising her three children.
Elaine Monitor has volunteered at her parish since the early 1970s when its only group for women was the Altar and Rosary Society. The society sponsored luncheons and bake sales, and made quilts, using the money raised to fund more events. When Monitor learned about Councils of Catholic Women being formed in 1981, she proposed that the Altar and Rosary Society become a CCW. She formed a task force and later was voted the parish’s first CCW president, a position that she held for seven years, then treasurer for 15 years. In 1988, Monitor became president of the Northeast Deanery and accepted multiple positions within the deanery and ACCW, including ACCW liturgy vice chair, secretary, second vice president and ACCW president from 1994 to 1996, and ACCW Church communications chair, historian (twice), conservation/safety vice chair, treasurer and promotional items vice chair. Monitor coordinated projects for the confirmation candidates and the summer Bible school program. She has served as a leader and worker for funeral luncheons since she joined the parish in 1967. She was involved in many outreach programs, including Bridging — Appalachian Christmas Program and starting Frugal Meal for Ash Wednesday — freewill offerings for Catholic Charities. Her nominator said Monitor brought awareness to ProLife Across America, Bandages for Haiti, Susquehanna Rural Free Clinic, Water for Life, ACCW Legislative Day, Red Cross blood drives, Catholic Relief Services and buying “hard goods” for a local food shelf. She organized a Madonna Luncheon, with proceeds the past 15 years directed to Madonna Mission Plan, and she helped coordinate a parish cookbook with proceeds directed to local charities.
Marge Sehnert, has served as president of her parish CCW and as president, past president, parliamentarian, secretary and newsletter editor for the Minneapolis deanery. She has served on several committees for ACCW and is a member of the National Council of Catholic Women and the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations. Following leadership training for her parish CCW (“On the Road”), Sehnert’s nominator credits her with increasing membership from 18 to more than 50. A Third Order Carmelite, where she served as chapter president and formation director, Sehnert also has belonged to the Legion of Mary (former president of the Presidium and the Curia), Catholic Daughters of America (former secretary, recognized for 35 years of service), Knights of Columbus Auxiliary, and Serra International. Sehnert has led several Bible studies in her home and sponsored three candidates who joined the Catholic Church, with one also joining the Carmelites. She taught CCD classes, gave several talks about the rosary and has made more than 1,000 rosaries (used for missions and for CCD students) and taught others how to make them. Sehnert organized and led a Junior Legion of Mary and pilgrimages to shrines and other religious sites in the United States and Canada, including EWTN, Notre Dame Basilica, shrines of Our Lady of Sorrows and Sainte-Annede-Beaupre, St. Joseph’s Oratory, Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and more. Her volunteer work has included after-school tutor, Volunteers of America, Wilder Foundation, Theatre in the Round, Open Window Theatre, Fringe Festival and Contact, a call-in help line where she was recognized for 1,000 hours of service.
During the approximately 30 years
Tracy Velishek has served as parish secretary, she saw a need for a CCW and helped start one at her parish. She promotes it, and deanery functions, using means such as the parish bulletin and word of mouth, said her nominator. Velishek has served as a secretary and president for her Southwest Deanery, and later served as an ACCW vice chair for liturgy. For days when a priest is unable to serve the outstate parish, Velishek has arranged training for laypeople in a program offered through the archdiocese so that parishioners could fulfill their Sunday Mass obligation and receive Communion. She has also trained lectors and extraordinary ministers of holy Communion, and coordinated fundraisers to send local youth to NET Ministries Masses in West St. Paul and Steubenville North retreats in Rochester. Following a fire at St. Patrick, she served on the building committee and helped plan the dedication Mass. Velishek has served as faith formation director “to bring our youth to God,” said her nominator, directed Christmas Eve Nativity plays for 10 years, and Passion plays with adults on Palm Sunday. She also started a food-packing program at the parish and raises funds to buy food by coordinating soup sales and suppers. Velishek leads Stations of the Cross during Lent and, for the parish’s 150th anniversary, helped plan the Mass and reception. A member of the fall festival committee for 20 years, Velishek also helps with the local Memorial Day parade and food stand.
At a March 25 liturgy for the Solemnity of the Annunciation of Our Lord that celebrated the Blessed Virgin’s fiat to become the mother of God, four archdiocesan women gave their yes to serve Christ their bridegroom and his Church as consecrated virgins.
The consecration is personal, but it is for the Church, said Pam Schleicher, 54, of St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony, who was consecrated along with Rosalynn Graf, 85, of Transfiguration in Oakdale; Lynn Kemmetmueller, 53, of St. Michael in Pine Island; and Jan Terhaar, 75, of St. John Neumann in Eagan.
“It is for our local Church and the broader Church, so I think the four of us doing it together kind of sets a different tone than on your own,” said Schleicher, who, with the other women, wore white and carried candles reminiscent of the Scripture parable of the bridesmaids carrying lamps and oil.
For the first time in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, four women in the same ceremony were consecrated as virgins living in the world. The women were consecrated by Archbishop Bernard Hebda at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis before 415 family members, friends, other consecrated virgins and women preparing for consecration.
The newly consecrated virgins joined 10 others in the archdiocese, which the archbishop called a “great blessing for our Church at this challenging time.”
In his homily, Archbishop Hebda recalled Our Lady’s fiat, noting the four women’s gift of self and being the image of God’s love for all people.
“The Holy Spirit through baptism has already made each of you a temple of God’s mercy and a child of the Father,” he told the women. “Today he is anointing you with new grace and consecrated you to God by a new title. He gives each of you the dignity of being a bride of Christ and binds you to the Son of God in a covenant that will last forever.”
Consecrated virgins offer the gift of their physical virginity to Christ as a sign of dedicating their entire being, according to the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins, a Miami-based voluntary association of consecrated virgins living in the world. In their mystical spousal relationship with Christ, they serve the Church in the world.
Consecrated virginity dates to the early Church but fell into disuse for centuries before the Church restored it in 1970.
During the consecration rite, the women resolved to persevere for life in virginity and service of God and his Church, and to accept solemn consecration as Christ’s brides. They did not profess vows as those in religious life do. The archbishop consecrated them as sacred persons and an “eschatological image of the heavenly bride and of the life to come,” according to the Vatican’s 2018 instruction on the Order of Virgins.
Symbolizing the women’s “new permanent status in the Church,” the archbishop presented them with a veil, a ring, and, exhorting them to “pray without ceasing,” a book of the Liturgy of the Hours.
The archdiocese’s 14 consecrated virgins may be the most of any U.S. diocese, said St. Joseph of Carondelet Sister Carolyn Puccio, archdiocesan delegate for consecrated life who oversees formation of consecrated virgins. Two women in the archdiocese are preparing for consecration this summer and another two are in formation, she said. From the women in preparation to those consecrated, ages range from late 20s to 80s, she said.
Worldwide there are an estimated 4,000 consecrated virgins, including 254 in the United States, according to the USACV.
The archdiocese’s three-year formation program includes meeting with the archbishop, study of Vatican and other documents, and other spiritual support, Sister Carolyn said.
Terhaar, a retired nurse, said her life’s focus will be on prayer, especially for the mission of the Church and archdiocese. Citing words of the Our Father, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” she said, “I want to battle on my knees for the kingdom to come.”
Schleicher said she also feels called to intercede in prayer for the Church’s needs. Schleicher, who works for an apparel company, said consecrated virginity suits her better than religious life because of where she is in life and because she can “live this vocation in the world and to try to be an example to people in a way that a sister in a habit might not be able to do.”
Graf said she joined two religious communities before discerning her call to consecrated virginity, and God gave her peace about it. “He didn’t say it in so many words but it’s in the calmness and peace that I would have after I would pray about it,” said Graf, who had a career in government. She also plans to focus on prayer.
Prayer in eucharistic adoration has played an important role in Kemmetmueller’s discernment of her vocation, said the home care and hospice nurse. “He speaks loudly to the heart at adoration and gives special graces to those discerning his will for their lives,” she said.
The women will live out their vocation individually,
but they will be living witnesses to the call everyone has to belong to Christ, Sister Carolyn said.
The world needs the leaven these women bring to the dough of society, said Father Thomas Margevicius, director of the Office of Worship who helped with the liturgy. “To come across four women (being consecrated), it certainly challenges the presumptions of a world that’s spinning far out of the orbit of Christendom,” he said.
Because the vocation of consecrated virgins is lived in the world, it resonates with people, said Jessica Oftelie, 43, of Holy Trinity in South St. Paul, who attended the consecration and is preparing to become a consecrated virgin. “One of the beautiful things about (the vocation) is that it does speak to people, not just women, but to men and women of all ages of our calling to Christ, and I think it speaks to all of us in a way.”
Terhaar said she believes being consecrated as a virgin living in the world is her most important vocation and the pinnacle of what God wants her to do.
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
Pope Francis left Rome’s Gemelli hospital April 1.
The 86-year-old pope, who had been hospitalized since March 29 and received intravenous antibiotics to treat bronchitis, stopped his car and got out to greet well-wishers and reporters waiting outside the hospital. He embraced a sobbing mother, whose daughter had died the night before. He reached out to the father, too, and holding their hands, he prayed with them. The pope then traced a cross on the forehead of each of them and gave them both a kiss on the cheek.
Reporters present said he also signed the cast of a boy who said he broke his arm playing soccer.
Before returning to the Vatican, Pope Francis stopped to pray at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a stop he makes before and after every trip abroad and a stop he also made in July 2021 after undergoing colon surgery at the Gemelli.
“Pausing before the icon of Mary, ‘Salus Populi Romani,’ he prayerfully entrusted to her the children he met yesterday in the hospital’s pediatric oncology and children’s neurosurgery wards, all the sick and those suffering from illness and the loss of their loved ones,” the Vatican press office said.
A reporter for CNN asked the pope if he was frightened March 29 when he experienced difficulty breathing, which was the explanation the Vatican gave for why he went to the hospital.
The pope shook his head and said the question reminded him of something “an old man, older than me, told me in a similar situation: ‘Father, I have not seen death, but I’ve seen it coming and it’s ugly.’”
The CNN correspondent also noted that the pope did not spend his whole time in the hospital resting, but visited children in the cancer ward and even baptized an infant who was at the hospital for tests.
“But that’s the most beautiful thing, you know,” the pope said. “I’m a priest. The most beautiful thing is being a priest.”
The Catholic Church formally “repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of Indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political ‘doctrine of discovery,’” the Vatican said.
Issued March 30 by the dicasteries for Culture and Education and for Promoting Integral Human Development, the statement said papal texts that seemed to support the idea that Christian colonizers could claim the land of non-Christian Indigenous people “have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith.”
“At the same time, the Church acknowledges that these papal bulls did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples,” the statement said.
Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said the document responds to the repeated requests of Indigenous people in Canada and the United States to disavow the so-called doctrine, but it does not claim the discussion has ended or should end.
“It acknowledges that dealing with such a painful heritage is an ongoing process,” he told reporters. “It acknowledges still more importantly that the real issue is not the history but contemporary reality.”
And, the cardinal said, it is a call “to discover, identify, analyze and try to overcome what we can only call the enduring effects of colonialism today.”
Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, welcomed the Vatican statement, saying it is “yet another step in expressing concern and pastoral solicitude for Native and Indigenous peoples who have experienced tremendous suffering because of the legacy of a colonizing mentality.”
As the U.S. and Canadian bishops jointly look at ways to continue discussions of the issue and its impact, the archbishop prayed that God would “bless with healing all those who continue to suffer the legacy of colonialism and may we all offer true aid and support. By God’s grace, may we never return to the way of colonization, but rather walk together in the way of peace.”
The Vatican statement said that the content of several papal bulls “were manipulated for political purposes by competing colonial powers in order to justify immoral acts against Indigenous peoples that were carried out, at times, without opposition from ecclesiastical authorities.”
The “doctrine of discovery” has become shorthand to refer to a collection of papal texts, beginning in the 14th century, that appeared to bless the efforts of explorers to colonize and claim the lands of any
people who were not Christian, placing both the land and the people under the sovereignty of European Christian rulers.
Cardinal Czerny noted, however, that the phrase “doctrine of discovery” was coined by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1823.
“The unfortunate thing here is that a very strongly Church-related word is used by the U.S. Supreme Court to name an idea that was part of a historical process” but was never Church teaching, he said. The papal bulls usually cited as supporting the idea were not “magisterial or doctrinal documents,” but were attempts by the popes who wrote them to avoid war between Spain and Portugal as they made competing claims to land in the Americas.
In a series of meetings at the Vatican in March and April 2022, representatives of Canada’s First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities asked Pope Francis specifically for a formal repudiation of the “doctrine of discovery.”
And, at a Mass in Quebec in late July when the pope visited the communities in Canada, Indigenous women unfurled a banner that said, “Rescind the Doctrine.”
The loss of the land, language, culture and spirituality of the Indigenous peoples of Canada and the foundation of the residential school system all can be traced to the doctrine, Indigenous leaders told reporters after their meetings with the pope.
uScandinavian bishops reaffirm Church teaching on sexuality, assure those struggling with gender of Church’s love. The Scandinavian Bishops’ Conference issued a pastoral letter on human sexuality March 26 to Catholics in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland, in which they reaffirmed Church teaching while condemning discrimination. Many people, they said, seem “perplexed by traditional Christian teaching on sexuality,” but they urged going beyond “snippets here and there” and becoming acquainted “with Christ’s call and promise, to know him better through the Scriptures and in prayer, through the liturgy and study of the Church’s full teaching.” The Catholic Church condemns “unjust discrimination of any kind,” they said, but “we declare dissent” when “the movement puts forward a view of human nature that abstracts from the embodied integrity of personhood, as if physical gender were accidental.”
uFlorida Senate advances six-week abortion ban with increased pregnancy center funds backed by Gov. DeSantis. The Florida Senate April 3 approved a bill to ban abortions after six weeks, a proposal supported by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is widely expected to launch his bid for the Republican presidential nomination soon. Senate Bill 300, the Heartbeat Protection Act, would prohibit most abortions in the state, with exceptions for women who are victims of rape or who face a mortality risk associated with the pregnancy. The bill would also make exceptions for cases of a diagnosis of a fatal fetal anomaly until the third trimester. SB 300 also allocates some funds to crisis pregnancy centers, and restricts the use of abortion drugs via telemedicine, requiring in-person visits rather than the distribution of those drugs by mail. DeSantis, a Catholic, indicated in March he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
uCatholics turn to prayer, action in wake of deadly tornadoes’ destruction across U.S. Amid the loss of life and property, Catholics told OSV News they see a glimpse of God’s mysterious mercies. At Our Lady of the Greenwood in Greenwood, Indiana, a parish staff member told OSV News a tornado in nearby Whiteland had destroyed several parishioners’ homes. The parish is “coming up with a plan” that will combine fundraisers and donated labor to assist the families, she said. Tornadoes struck in 11 states March 31-April 2, killing at least 33 people, injuring dozens and devastating thousands of homes and businesses.
uHoly Land patriarchs in Easter message place ‘ultimate hope only in God’ amid increasing attacks on Christian sites. Just as early Christians were sustained by the words of St. Peter describing Jesus’ resurrection as offering a “new birth into a living hope,” so too should the Christians of the Holy Land today be encouraged and empowered by this knowledge as they face tumultuous times, said the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in their March 31 Easter message. Their statement noted that over the past year churches, funeral processions and other Christian places of public gathering have become targets of attacks, and some holy sites and cemeteries have been desecrated. “We place our ultimate hope only in God,” they said.
uPope calls for Indigenous quotas in world’s legislatures. Parliaments and legislatures should have quotas to include Indigenous people and members of displaced ethnic groups in political processes, Pope Francis said. “Representative bodies are inconceivable when only the dominant power occupies spaces,” he said, suggesting the need to establish a quota system that “reintegrates” historically marginalized groups. The pope’s comments were contained in a message to the participants at a conference hosted by the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences March 30-31, titled Colonization, Decolonization and Neocolonialism from the Perspective of Justice and the Common Good.
uCatholic leaders express sorrow, outrage over dozens of migrants killed in fire. A fire in a Mexican immigration detention center claimed the lives of at least 38 migrants, who appeared to be abandoned by guards as flames engulfed their locked cells, according to a leaked video from the facility near the U.S. border in Ciudad Juárez. The tragedy provoked sorrow and outrage from Catholic leaders and laity working on migration matters in the United States, Mexico and across Central America, along with calls for a rethinking of immigration policy that criminalizes migrants streaming through Mexico toward the U.S. border.
God calls everyone into deeper relationship with him — sometimes in dramatic ways. How can people be alert to that call and respond positively? How might the Catholic faithful help one another in a journey of love and growth? In this special section of four stories and a guest commentary, The Catholic Spirit explores God’s call to conversion. This article features Paul Ruff, the writer’s brother.
By Joe Ruff
The Catholic Spirit
Splintered inside, alienated from God and each other by original sin, men and women are always being called back into deeper relationship with the Lord — at times dramatically — and knowing what that call sounds like can help people navigate the journey, said Paul Ruff, assistant director of human formation at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul.
“Conversion literally means a ‘turning back.’ It is a turning back to God, the source of our creation and of love, rather than hiding in our self-sufficiency and shame, covered by a fig leaf,” said Ruff, who also is director of counseling services at the seminary. “It means allowing ourselves tremulously to be found again and surrender to just radically being loved and participating in love. And, knowing that is going to mess things up. To convert is also letting go of the defensive ways that we have tried to control that relationship.”
Such defenses can include perfectionism, self-
GUEST COMMENTARY | FATHER ROLF TOLLEFSON
sufficiency, a desire to earn and deserve God’s love rather than simply receive and respond to it, Ruff said. God offers the free invitation to be embraced by his love continuously and gradually, and then, at times, dramatically, Ruff said. This is beautifully described by St. Augustine of Hippo in his autobiographical “Confessions,” written in the fourth century. Ruff has written a chapter for a book on St. Augustine’s “Confessions,” with contributors from around the country organized by Christopher Thompson, the seminary’s academic dean and professor of moral theology. Titled “Augustine’s Confessions and Contemporary Concerns,” the book was published last spring by the seminary’s St. Paul Seminary Press.
St. Augustine lived a hedonistic lifestyle in his youth, until his conversion to Catholicism and subsequent ordination as a priest and bishop. He is a doctor of the Church. In his writing, Ruff places St. Augustine’s spiritual conversion into dialogue with findings in the field of phenomenological psychology, which notes intense, rapid, out-of-control feelings that are a result of forces outside of the self, leading to a dramatic and even abrupt change in growth both psychologically and spiritually. In Book 8 of the “Confessions,” St. Augustine says of his own conversion: “All I knew was that I was going mad but for the sake of my sanity, and dying that I might live” (8.8.19). The experience can be one of simultaneously falling apart and coming together. It can — and in the very same experience — bring intense emotional upheaval and deep peace. Whether it is described spiritually or psychologically, the gift of such transformation brings a clear “before and after” sense of self — the landscape of the heart and mind have
When we see the word “conversion” we might think of the character of Rodrigo Mendoza atoning for his sins by doing penance — hauling a heavy load of his armor and weapons up the side of a mountain in the 1986 film, “The Mission.” I make up for my sins (the more difficult penance I do, the better), God is impressed and then he decides to forgive me. The only problem is that Jesus Christ and his love for sinners is not part of this equation. It is the opposite of how the true and living God rolls.
God is a lot more like the bishop in “Les Misérables.” Jean Valjean is the main character who is introduced when the movie “Les Misérables” opens. Valjean stole bread to feed his starving family, so he was sentenced to nine years in prison. After his release, no one will hire him because he has a criminal record. He is told that he will be “on parole forever.” He is homeless and hungry. He’s angry. No one treats him with respect. He’s filled with discouragement.
Then, one person reaches out to him. His name is Monseigneur Bienvenue (in English, “Msgr. Welcome”). He provides Valjean with “wine, bread and a bed.” But in the middle of the night, Valjean steals the bishop’s silver. The police arrest him, hit him on the head, and bring him back to the bishop.
The bishop refuses to press charges. He explains to the police that he actually gave all his silver to Valjean — and he throws in two extra silver candlesticks to boot. He blesses Valjean and then sets him free.
An unforgettable impression is made in the heart of Valjean that day, an impression that lasts a lifetime, a reception of divine mercy that utterly converts him. Because someone is merciful with him, Valjean repents of his sins. He is set free. Everything is different now that he has received mercy.
Divine mercy works throughout Valjean’s life. It multiplies inside the heart of each person he meets. With the silver, Valjean buys a factory that employs the poor; he saves a prostitute from dying in despair; he adopts her little girl, Cosette. Valjean saves the life of a peasant caught under a cart — who later shelters them when police officer Javert is hunting him down yet again. Right back atcha!
In a later scene, Valjean forgives Javert and sets him free when Valjean could easily exact revenge on him and kill him. Later, Valjean risks his life by finding Cosette’s love, Marius, then saves Marius’ life by bringing him through a stinky sewer to safety — so that Cosette can marry the man she loves.
This is what happens when God’s love drives conversion and not man working to convert himself. Such is the God of Jesus Christ. This is the Gospel.
Three podcasts produced by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and The Catholic Spirit bring listeners directly into the conversion experiences recounted on these pages. A separate podcast introduces the topic through a conversation with Paul Ruff, associate director of human formation and director of counseling services at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, and Father Rolf Tollefson, pastor of St. Hubert in Chanhassen. The podcasts are made possible by a grant from 1891 Financial Life. Find the podcast package at TheCaTholiCSpiriT Com/podCaSTS
“been reconfigured, and almost universally for the better,” Ruff writes.
PLEASE TURN TO CONVERSION INTRODUCTION ON PAGE 12
Meisha Johnson, 43, was drawn to her knees more than a decade ago by a voice she couldn’t name but knew she had to obey. It happened one afternoon while vacuuming in Blaine, as her living room was engulfed in a mysterious and palpable light. An inaudible voice or prompting told her to get on her knees and pray. As she obeyed, glancing outside the window, Johnson saw two large and vibrant suns side by side, suspended in the sky.
“I knew right away I was being pushed to my knees,” Johnson said about her confusing and somewhat frightening first step toward conversion.
“I stopped vacuuming and went down to the ground,” Johnson said. “It was as if God was speaking to me, like, directly to my heart or my conscience. I knew exactly what I had to do. There was no option. I became very heavy, and I knew I had to get (down) on the ground.”
At the time, Johnson knew very little about God or faith. But that dramatic event drew her to seek understanding, at first on her own and later through other people she would encounter along the way, and finally through deep and continuous academic study. Over the next decade, she moved from having no religion at all to the Roman Catholic Church, joining the Church in 2019.
Now director of pastoral care and adult faith formation at St. Joseph of the Lakes in Lino Lakes, Johnson recounts how the Lord reached out to her seemingly out of nowhere. She grew up in Circle Pines near Blaine with her parents, Paul and Dian Johnson, self-described “hippies” without any religion themselves. She knew next to nothing about prayer, God, or what it meant to desire him.
Dramatic conversions often come at a point in people’s lives where they cannot go on as they have been, which opens them to God’s presence and assistance, said Paul Ruff, assistant director of human formation and director of counseling services at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul.
Johnson’s experience occurred when she was undergoing a difficult divorce. Having studied journalism with a focus on broadcasting at the University of Minnesota, she was working part time as a TV host and independent contractor on various television projects. She was on “thin ice” financially, particularly as a single mother. Still, she believed at that time that she was strong enough to take care of everything on her own, not knowing she needed God, Johnson said.
“I was spiritually blinded at that time in my life. I was not in control, but I thought I was. In hindsight, I was just going through the motions of life, doing what I had to do. But God, in his infinite wisdom, knows how to reach us right where we are. And for me, that would be doing something mundane like vacuuming, not paying much attention, not thinking about anything beyond having to pick up my two daughters from school.”
Suddenly, “my entire living room was engulfed in a bright light. The first thing I thought was it had to be a UFO or something, because when you have no spiritual context, all you know is that it’s not the sun peeking out from behind clouds. It’s something that invoked immediate anxiousness and a kind of wonder.”
The light and the inner voice prompting her to drop to her knees and pray were “so thick and so heavy, so palpable,” Johnson said.
“I had never prayed before, and I had never seen anyone pray on their knees … so for me, the first thing I thought was I must be going insane.”
At that moment, she heard what appeared to be a song about Jesus playing on her radio. Johnson said her radio may have been on, she isn’t sure, but she knew that she had not turned it to a Christian station.
“It was something that I marked in the background,” she said. “But in that context, when there’s so much going on so fast, you’re not slowing things down and picking every detail apart. It wasn’t until years later, as I started to grow in wisdom, that I’d begin to replay the events of that day and say to myself, ‘Oh my, that was God.’”
Regaining her strength and composure, she rose from her knees and grabbed her cellphone, took a picture of the two suns and shared it via text message with her best friend. “I said to her, ‘Run to
your window. Tell me if you see this (the two suns in the sky).’ And her response to me was, ‘No, that is not out my window. But it’s definitely in your picture.’ I started fumbling around looking for my keys, trying to compose myself. I had to pick up my kids from school but just had this ‘thing’ happen to me and was feeling panicky. I started to wonder seriously if I was having a heart attack or if I was dying or something.”
Connecting with her best friend later that afternoon, after a series of odd events, her friend warned her that she (Johnson) was “under spiritual attack.” And oh, was she right, Johnson said.
“I have realized over time, looking back upon my journey in all of this, that what was at first scary has now become wholly beautiful … because all of it was a way for God to reach me, and my family subsequently, through a vision, through a series of remarkable events,” she said. “It did more than get my attention. It set my heart on fire for the truth.”
After the episode in her living room, and now leaving her home to pick up her children from school, Johnson continued to be mesmerized by the two vibrant suns suspended in the sky. She turned on the car radio, but no station was talking about it, she said. “There was no one getting out of their cars
Maria Sinchi tells her conversion story with tears.
“Before that, I never cried,” she said, wiping her eyes dry, visibly grateful for her ability to shed tears on a sunny day in St. Paul. “I was very hard. I was angry all the time. I finally was able to cry. It felt relieving, peaceful, cleansing, necessary.”
The years leading up to her powerful 2017 experience of Christ’s love were difficult. Having a child in 2006 at age 15 and struggling for years with her parents and other issues, Sinchi was lost.
She sought solace in partying and relationships that failed. But certain people, including her uncle and family with whom she shared praying the rosary, sparked a revival of her spirit starting in 2016. She couldn’t be more grateful, said Sinchi, 31, who was born in Virginia as her family emigrated from Ecuador and later moved to Minnesota.
“My uncle had cancer. He held a rosary every Thursday night,” followed by coffee, dinner and conversation, Sinchi said. Through his five-year battle with prostate cancer, Alfonso Bunay never showed weakness and never complained, despite intense chemotherapy and multiple surgeries, right up to his
death four years ago at age 50, she said.
The opposite of complaining, Sinchi said, her uncle would proclaim, “I’m healthy. I’m with the Lord, and I’m good.”
Sinchi experienced the love of Bunay and his wife, Carmen, both of St. Stephen in Minneapolis, as she walked with them into a closer relationship with Christ. She was joined by other young adults from St. Stephen who gathered for the rosary with her uncle’s family.
“He (Alfonso) would go deeper in the Word, share his thoughts and ask others, ‘What do you think?’” Sinchi said. “It was beautiful. I got more comfortable to share.”
“I wanted that marriage, a holy marriage,” that she saw in her uncle and aunt, Sinchi said. As her uncle approached death, “the whole community at St. Stephen visited him every day,” she said. “He was so loved, so strong in faith. He’s a saint.”
Sinchi was encouraged by the pastor, then-Father Joseph Williams, now auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, to attend Alpha, an Illinois-based program that encourages small-group conversations about life, faith and the basics of Christian belief. Key topics included Jesus’ life and teachings, prayer and exploring how God guides people.
“When we started going to that, it was beautiful,
too, being with people with similar problems,” Sinchi said of the 30 to 40 young adults who participated after Mass on Sundays. “We all have our traumas.”
She also received personal invitations to Mass. A leader in Alpha called each week, encouraging her by asking, “Hey, Maria, are you coming?”
to see the friend had photograph, “This is side; with Johnson said. She drove driving very trouble. But sign, I saw could. When stop), she saw in the around in The woman pulled in and walked “The first everything mood.’ I began lady what in a hurry
But when side window, about her,” Johnson could began to speak language and nothing Years after wonders if “I do not I certainly knew she horrible and As Johnson woman began tried to open was locked. woman ran Weaving between was following anything road,” Johnson Not shaking police, described them, “something She supplied vehicle, and lose the woman
Soon, Sinchi with the rosary, into adoration parish-led celebration movement, trip included Steubenville One day people in “the Holy to describe. my heart.
“I just broke Someone said, ‘Jesus he loves you.’
“It was felt it. I felt hours as people People just me.”
“Since then, Sinchi said. his love again. since then. has meant hear music
phenomena in the sky.” But since her had confirmed seeing the suns in her photograph, Johnson knew they were indeed there. when I had an encounter with the other what I now describe as pure evil,” said.
drove past what appeared to be a woman very slowly. “It was as if she was having car But when I passed her coming up to a stop saw her speed up behind me as fast as she When I made a complete stop (at a four-way slammed on her brakes behind me, and I the rearview mirror her body kind of fly the car.”
woman got out of her vehicle, long, dark hair front of her face and fists tightly clenched, walked toward Johnson’s car. first thing I thought was, ‘OK, after everything I’ve just been through, I am in no began to roll down my window to ask the her problem was. I was stressed out and to pick up my daughters from school.” when the woman reached Johnson’s driver’s window, “there was something so horrible her,” she said. “I was instantly scared.” Before could roll the window back up, the woman speak in an angry growl. “I knew it was a but not one that I had ever heard before, nothing I could ever repeat,” Johnson said. after studying sacred theology, Johnson if it might have been an ancient language. know for sure,” she said. “But at the time, certainly had never heard anything like that. I just was speaking another language in a and scary tone.”
Johnson rolled up the window to get away, the began punching and kicking at the car and open the back passenger-side door, which locked. Johnson began driving forward, and the ran back to her vehicle to pursue her. between cars and cutting off traffic, “she following at nearly impossible angles, doing she could to stay right by me on the Johnson said. “It was hostile and scary.” shaking the woman, Johnson called the described what had happened and warned “something is not right with the woman.” supplied their location, described the other and let the police know she was trying to woman and get to her daughters’ school on
The cellphone photo with the two suns in the sky taken during Meisha Johnson’s initial conversion experience “has long since been gone,” Johnson said. She and the friend she shared it with didn’t save it or have it printed.
“At the time, we didn’t think to save it. We have gone through many cellphones since then. But in some way, I believe that was part of God’s plan, too. Sometimes, I think he gives us something unique and special in a specific moment in time, for that time alone, and for whatever reason it was never intended to be saved, but rather remembered.”
time. Driving quickly through side streets and making sharp turns, Johnson lost the woman and made it safely and on time to pick up her children.
So, why did this attack happen right after Johnson’s vision of the two suns?
Johnson said she believes evil wanted to disrupt God’s plan of intervening in her life that day.
“Looking back, I see how I had just had this incredible moment with my Creator. Something completely supernatural had just happened, which was to become the start of my conversion, and I think that upset evil (forces),” Johnson said. “They wanted to disrupt what was happening.”
“Maybe the evil showing itself at that moment on the road was an attempt to hurt me, or maybe it was to take my mind off the divine vision in the sky,” Johnson said. “Maybe it was another act of God, where he wanted to show me that evil does exist. It could be any or all of those things. But that woman-thing definitely became a distraction from keeping my eyes fixed on the (two) suns. I would give anything to go back to that moment and just savor it … to not take my eyes off that vision.”
Johnson was left trying to sort it all out. After an initial period of confusion, Johnson read the Bible cover to cover. “As with any book, I thought you read it chronologically,” Johnson said. “I went to the first page of Genesis, and slowly made it all the way through to the last page of Revelation. It was then
PLEASE TURN TO MEISHA JOHNSON ON PAGE 12
By Joe Ruff
The Catholic Spirit
Jerry Wind, 71, vividly remembers driving home from a house party his first year in college after he declared — to himself, aloud — “I don’t want to live this way anymore. This is not freedom.”
He grew up in a strong Catholic family, members of St. Bernard in St. Paul. But he had gone off course in his last year and a half in high school — drinking, partying, regularly using marijuana and other drugs, gambling, pouring his money into his car and trying to impress others. He didn’t like himself.
At the same time, he had begun to break away from those activities. Not having attended Mass for about three years, he had gone back to the liturgy, and he prayed more. He received some grace from God in those moments of prayer, but it was a “bargain counter” relationship, Wind said, in which he promised to go to church and stop certain behaviors, but he expected something from the Lord in return.
At the house party, some friends shared an article they were writing on freedom. Something in him snapped. He realized he hadn’t been living in freedom, but under the tyranny of others’ opinions, trying to enjoy things he had stopped enjoying. He wanted more out of life.
“I was angry at the world and angry at myself, maybe working too hard at being accepted by my crowd. I went home,” Wind said. “On my way home in the car, God’s power just poured out on me. I experienced the power of God like I never knew it existed, the love of Christ. And I consider that night in January 1970, I was 18 years old, that was my baptism in the Holy Spirit.”
Asked what it was like, there in the car, Wind said it was a flood of God’s love. Did he stop the car?
“No, not anything like that,” Wind said. “Leaving the party was my decision. I was going to live for Christ. And I experienced a flood of the Holy Spirit. I was in relationship with God. Before that, I knew about God. I knew about Jesus. After that, I knew Jesus. And when I say a flood of God’s love, well, I had tears. But I also had anger. He just met me right where I was at.”
Not everything fell into place at once. But it was a start, Wind said.
Sinchi was helping to lead Alpha, and that, rosary, Mass, confession and first forays adoration of the Eucharist, led her to a 2017 pilgrimage to the 50th anniversary celebration of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement, which traces its roots to Pittsburgh. The included a stop at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio. day at Steubenville, with a group of about 30 a small chapel in prayer and adoration, Spirit really hit me,” Sinchi said. “It’s hard describe. Struggling with my parents, hatred in My family was just a disaster. I was a mess. broke down (crying) for the first time. (from the crowd) had come up to me and ‘Jesus told me — he wants you to know — that you.’
so simple, but intentional,” Sinchi said. “I felt this fire. I felt his love. I was there for people prayed over me. I didn’t ask for it. just saw me suffering, and they prayed over then, I know what Jesus’ love is like,” said. “And I never, ever want to be away from again. Granted, I’ve fallen so many times then. But his grace has remained. Adoration meant so much to me. And worship. When I music about Christ, it’s all real. It’s all beautiful.
I know that’s what it will be like in heaven. Every time I fall, I go back to that occasion, when he picked me up out of my sin, and wanted to love me. And hold me.”
Her life changed in big ways from that day forward, Sinchi said. She has forgiven and is working to reconcile with her parents. She and her daughter, MaryJose, now 16 and a sophomore at Chesterton Academy in Hopkins, have grown close.
“Our relationship has changed dramatically in six years,” Sinchi said of her daughter. “Learning about Christ, I am sharing it with her. She is the most amazing person. The Lord gave her to me for a reason. Having her is an amazing gift.”
Now attending St. Mark in St. Paul, Sinchi said she has gravitated away from helping lead groups like Alpha to forge a quieter home life, the “domestic Church,” something to which she feels called. “I love confession every Sunday,” Sinchi said. “The grace that God gives me and my family. It’s not something you take lightly.”
Sinchi also wants to share with others the love that Christ has shown her.
“If I have that, and can expand that love for Jesus, knowing what I was, and the potential that I have, I want to share that,” she said. “I want to share that with everybody. I am so grateful.”
“After that night, I couldn’t stop reading the Bible and I returned to Mass every week, returned to the sacraments and said my rosary on the way out to school in my car,” he said. “It was over a year later that I went to my first (charismatic) prayer meeting and heard the term, ‘baptism in the Holy Spirit.’”
Knowing he had to continue making positive choices, he paid a visit to his teachers in community college.
“I was getting two Fs and had high-level freshman classes,” Wind said. “I went in to each teacher and said, ‘I gave my life to God. And I’m not going to flunk your classes.’ Those two Fs became Cs, and the two Ds became Bs. Later, I graduated magna cum laude at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.”
With degrees in education and English, Wind taught for several years. In 1980, he founded a house painting business he still runs, Painting by Jerry Wind. He and his wife, Susan, were members of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul until they moved in recent years. Now, they are members of St. Peter in Mendota. They have four children and nine grandchildren. He expects to retire soon and is making plans for his business to continue after he leaves. Business and health challenges have swept into his life as they do for many others, Wind said. His faith has kept him going. Wind said his life began taking shape at college as he lived out his conversion. At one point, he turned to the Lord, saying, “I need to meet some Christian friends.” That same day, he met a “little guy with long hair.”
“I had kind of long hair, too,” Wind said. “He had all these buttons on, ‘Join the Jesus Revolution’ and all this stuff, and his name was Gary. And I started talking to him and telling him we had a very similar past. We’re talking about how much we love the Lord and how we met him. I had to go to class, so I went to class. I came back, and he was talking to another
MEISHA JOHNSON CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
I knew who my Savior was. I knew who had reached out to me that day in my living room and I slowly began to understand why. I started to love the salvation story. But being that I was still a newborn Christian, I was far from having all the answers.”
Inspired by the Bible, Johnson understood that prayer and continued learning about God and the Christian faith had to become part of her everyday life.
“When prayer became a part of my daily routine, all those conversion seeds began to blossom, and I couldn’t get enough. With that blossoming came discernment, and with discernment came a different worldview, which I now know as a sacramental worldview. But at the time, I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening to me. The only thing I knew for certain was something in my soul was changed. For the first time, my life was being led entirely by God.”
Johnson said the Lord seemed to be telling her during those early years of conversion, “‘I am going to show you your next steps. I won’t lay it all out perfectly for you. You’ll have to have faith. I’m going to call you somewhere and you’re going to have to trust me.’”
That led to a 21-day Daniel Fast in 2014, giving up choice food and drink, while devoting extra time to a specific prayer request. Johnson’s worries at that time included the financial strain of working as an independent contractor and as a single mother of two.
Forty-eight hours after that fast concluded, Johnson received a telephone call from a Phoenix news agent she didn’t know, and who didn’t know her, telling her that a Philadelphia television news outlet (CBS-KYW) had asked about her. “Meisha,” Johnson said the agent told her, “never in my career as a news agent have I seen this. A top-five news station in Philadelphia just called me inquiring about you for a job opportunity.”
Months of prayer and negotiation followed, and Johnson was offered an on-air reporting job in 2015. Through prayer and support from her family, she moved to Philadelphia. “This was my first real test of stepping out into the unknown and trusting God, even though I had no idea what he was doing,” Johnson said. The move across state lines, while clouded with many challenges, proved to be the biggest opportunity for her to grow in relationship with God, she said. It was a move that would ultimately equip and embolden her to change careers entirely.
After three years on the East Coast, rather than renew her TV news contract, Johnson felt compelled to return to the Midwest and study the Bible. Not understanding the differences among Christian denominations, she enrolled at Bethel University in St. Paul, an evangelical Christian school. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in Christian ministries and biblical studies. It was there that God revealed to her that she was Catholic, at heart and in principle.
“While I was at Bethel, the journalist in me kept asking questions like, well, what happened (in history) before that? Well, what happened before that? And while asking those questions, I was led to Catholicism. It was there I found myself; I found that I was Catholic through and through.”
Another stint in college followed. Wanting to study the fullness of Church history, Johnson enrolled in a Catholic sacred theology program online at St. Joseph’s College in Maine. She graduated with a master’s degree in sacred theology in February 2022. Currently, Johnson is pursuing a doctorate in Catholic ministry through Washington, D.C.-based Catholic University of America.
“I want to spend my life now sharing what God does in our lives, how he loves us, and what happens when we love him in return,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s sharing has impacted her family and friends, including her parents; Dian joined the Catholic Church in 2021 and Paul was recently baptized.
“We have a huge responsibility to reach out to the people around us who don’t know God or about his salvific mission,” Johnson said. “There are so
JERRY WIND CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
guy. His name was Hal. And so, Hal and I became friends. His sister told us about some Catholic Charismatic Renewal prayer meetings, and she said, ‘Well, the people there are crazy, but so are you, so you should go.’ And there were people raising their hands and praying in tongues, and there was teaching about following Jesus and a lot of people who had met the Lord personally. At that time, the Charismatic Renewal was very young and people looked at it with much skepticism. Of course, now there’s hundreds of millions of Catholics as well as other denominations involved in Catholic Charismatic Renewal all over the world, and it has papal recognition.”
Wind is a member of People of Praise, a Christian charismatic community with about 20 branches across the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Hawaii. Involved since March 1971 in Catholic charismatic prayer meetings and conferences in the archdiocese, Wind was a member of Servants of the Lord Community when, in 1985, he joined People of Praise.
Finding the Lord in his own life prompted him to seek others who know Jesus, and to bring Jesus to people who don’t know him at all, Wind said. He has read a lot about the faith, he said. But on one level, that hasn’t led him to love God more. His baptism in the Holy Spirit does that as he continues to follow God each day.
“The Holy Spirit, sometimes … I don’t think he defies reason. I don’t think he’s the opposite of reason. But the things he does seem awful unreasonable to reasonable people. Some reasonable people, they’re afraid of it,” he said. But his experience with the Holy Spirit has led others to know the Spirit, Wind said.
“My mom and dad started to go to prayer meetings in 1971,” he said. “They saw the change in my life. And my sisters, they all came, and they all met the Lord. And all my family and all my kids, we’ve all met the Lord. Jesus works in all our lives.”
This is not something that can be pursued or achieved, but only allowed, Ruff said, and “often those who have had such an experience find it difficult to talk about.” There is no pride in such an experience, he said. Those who have chronicled such changes often describe it as simultaneously confusing, humbling, convicting, reassuring and inviting of response, he said. They are often hesitant to talk about it.
“They always describe it as an out-of-control experience. Always,” Ruff said. “They never describe it as an achievement. They always describe it as a gift. And the other marker I think is hugely important, one of the elements of truth — they’re never proud of it. They are just deeply grateful for it.”
Such conversion stories can serve everyone as an illustration of how God works, Ruff said, even when conversion occurs through more incremental steps into spiritual growth. At some point in everyone’s life, and often at numerous points throughout life, something must change, some self-willed control must be given up, to allow the Holy Spirit to do his work, he said.
“The more dramatic stories of sudden conversion perhaps serve as an example to all of us in our more daily, small surrenders of our egos,” Ruff said. Even a dramatic conversion story such as St. Augustine’s is not completed in the experience. It needs to take root and flower in the embeddedness of community, an extension into service, and a practice of faith that is a continuous, daily surrender, he said.
“Conversion is never self-serving or ego aggrandizing — this would be a counterfeit to its nature,” Ruff said. It also leads the one who has experienced such conversion into community, into greater union and love and service of others, he said.
In his chapter on St. Augustine, Ruff quotes Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the late Pope Benedict XVI): “Conversion does not lead into a private relationship with Jesus, which in reality would be another form of mere monologue. It is the delivery into the pattern of doctrine … or entrance into the ‘we’ of the Church.”
Those who have gone through such dramatic experiences need to be assisted in integrating them, Ruff said. They need to be embedded in community, he said.
“Can our Church welcome such stories?” he asked. “Can it help them take root and find expression in community? Can it offer support and guidance?
“Such stories help me examine my own practices and disciplines as a Catholic,” he said. “Augustine offers me an example, a challenge, but even more an invitation into a more radical surrender into the communion of love.”
Jan Koelsch finally had the time to explore her spirituality, which led the retired grandma on a journey that culminates this Holy Saturday when she becomes Catholic. Then she’ll celebrate Easter and, two days later, her 66th birthday. “It’s a big week!” said Koelsch, a member of St. Peter in Mendota and a longtime 3M executive assistant.
Q Administrative work requires humility. You work hard behind the scenes to make others look good.
A I enjoyed it. There’s a lot in the background that people don’t understand. Or even just preparing my boss to present at the board meeting, making sure he’s got the right pen and a tie on and no mistakes in his PowerPoint presentations.
He had a whole team under him, and I would get all the questions and comments and complaints from his underlings. Every once in a while, I’d say: “Maybe you should move that person to a different group” or “Maybe you shouldn’t be so hard on that person.” He would take my suggestions to heart.
Q You retired two years ago after 36 years at 3M. What was the impetus?
A I had both knees replaced in 2020, and when it was time to come back, I just thought, “I can’t do this.” I didn’t like working from home (during the COVID-19 pandemic). It was time. I’d had a good run.
I’m happy as a lark right now! In the summertime, I walk. Last year, I walked 2,800 miles. Every time I leave the garage, I start my little run-meter. In the summer my goal is eight to 10 miles a day. I love it! I don’t listen to anything. I just listen to nature. I walk along the river to see the eagles fly and watch the boats.
Q Is walking a spiritual practice?
A Yes. You feel thankful for what we have — for nature, for clean air and clean water. Even on really icky, snowy days, it’s beautiful. That’s what God is giving us.
And for me, growing up as a farmer’s daughter, I know that any bit of precipitation, you thank the Lord for! We had a drought three years in a row, and we had no money, and one day in July the heavens opened up and it poured rain, and my dad stood out in the rain and cried. That was 50 years ago, and I still remember it like it was yesterday. I can see him standing in the rain with the striped bib overalls and his green Pioneer seed corn baseball cap.
Q How has your rural upbringing stayed with you?
A I’m not big into TV or screen time. I read a lot, but I like a real book. I go to the library and just smell the pages. I’m kind of odd.
People say, “Get a Kindle!” But I don’t want more screen time. I like to hold the book — “I’m halfway through, I can see my little bookmark.” This whole scrolling thing!
Q Tell me about your faith background.
A My mom grew up Catholic. She was the only one of eight kids and all of my thousands of cousins that left the Catholic Church. She became a Lutheran
when she married my dad, who was Lutheran. I grew up Lutheran, but I would go to Mass with my grandma and my aunt ever since I was a little kid. It never left me.
Q Wow!
A It’s been in the back of my mind for many years. I never took enough time to think deeply enough about changing my church.
Being Lutheran just didn’t fulfill me. You’d go to church and there was really no liturgy. You go to a Catholic church, you know what you’re getting. I love the liturgy.
Q Does becoming Catholic feel like a homecoming of sorts?
A Yeah, it does. I’m relieved. I just love it. I can’t wait to go to Mass every Sunday.
Q Was there a turning point?
A I just had a feeling. I drive past St. Peter every day. My son’s name is Peter and when he was little, we’d drive by and he’d say, “Mom, why can’t we go to my church?”
Q What was your first step?
A I’ve been looking into it for quite a while. I’ve listened to some Masses online. One day last spring, I just felt like: I need to go.
I made the switch, and it just felt right. I’ve been welcomed so well. I’ve worked one-on-one with Father Steven (Hoffman), and he gave me all these DVDs of Bishop Robert Barron. Now I’m listening to Father Mike Schmitz’s “Catechism in a Year” podcast. It timed out perfectly for Lent. One of my favorite books is “Catholicism for Dummies.” I have it next to my bed. If I think of something, I just look it up. It tells you in very simple terms.
Q How does it feel to be a student again, to have this new beginning?
A I feel a sense of possibility and also a sense of loss, that I missed out for the last 65 years. I wish I would’ve done this earlier. I think it would’ve been so fun if I was a little girl with a white dress making my first Communion.
I was in the office at 6 in the morning until 6 at night and then online until 10 at night. I didn’t have time for anything. Now I have all this time. I’m a sponge. I started reading again and finding different ways to broaden me.
At first, I felt guilty that I wasn’t doing something. But I got over that. I decided I’m just going to focus on me and having fun and enjoying my family. It’s a weight lifted off my shoulders.
Q I bet you feel it!
A My health has improved. I’d go to the doctor (before retirement) and my blood pressure would be through the roof. She’d say, “Stress is killing you!”
Q What’s next for you?
A I’d like to start traveling. I want to go to the Holy Land in the worst way!
Q What do you know for sure?
A I know that I’m a child of God. I know that I’m loved by him — and everyone. I know that my sins will be forgiven. I know I do the best I can. I make mistakes, but I try hard.
Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota’s 30th anniversary event this year “is as much a celebration of our larger Catholic community, without whom CCF wouldn’t be here,” CCF President Anne Cullen Miller said. The April 27 Come to the Table event starts with a 6 p.m. reception followed by a 7 p.m. dinner and program at the Hilton Minneapolis in downtown Minneapolis.
Bishop Robert Barron — bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester and termed “the Bishop of Catholic Social Media” by the Wall Street Journal — is the keynote speaker. Featured guest is Father Mike Schmitz, director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth and chaplain of the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Cullen Miller will also speak at the event. Kelly Wahlquist — director of The St. Paul Seminary’s Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute in St. Paul and founder of WINE, Women in the New Evangelization — will emcee the event.
“We’re blessed in Minnesota to have such talented, faithful individuals ministering to the world from our own backyard,” Cullen Miller said. “Kelly Wahlquist, Father Mike Schmitz, Bishop Barron and Archbishop Hebda all steward their gifts beautifully. We’re grateful to them for taking the time to join CCF to celebrate our Catholic community.”
Founded in 1992, the foundation now stewards more than 1,200 charitable funds totaling over $530 million and grants roughly $18 million annually. As a community foundation, CCF supports financially the spiritual, educational and social needs of the Catholic community. Since it was founded, CCF has granted more than $225 million to parishes, Catholic
schools and other charities.
And the “faith-filled gifts” CCF stewards “make a meaningful impact on our Catholic community every day,” Cullen Miller said. “CCF has relationships with so many donors, parishes, Catholic schools, and other organizations serving our Catholic community. From our vantage point, we have the privilege of seeing the many ways our community works to grow and sustain the Church,” she said.
The Archdiocese of Hartford is investigating a possible eucharistic miracle at one of its parishes, where Communion hosts seemingly multiplied during a March 5 Sunday Mass.
ANNE CULLEN MILLER
The charitable giving options CCF facilitates are as diverse as the donors making the contributions, Cullen Miller said. Some establish a fund in their names, others give in anonymity; some want to set up endowment options that will give perpetually, others want to give a single, immediate gift. Regardless of the plan, all contributions go toward efforts to better the community and its members.
During a recent “Practicing Catholic” interview about CCF’s 30th anniversary, Archbishop Hebda said stewardship is an important priority for Catholics “because it’s the way in which we’re able to really participate in the life of the Church, that we have that sense of gratitude for the gifts that God has given to us.” He said he has been inspired by CCF through “the professional characteristics of the organization” and especially through the generosity of those involved “who really are committed to making sure that our Catholic organizations, that our Catholic community, really is able to respond to the needs of ministry that are presented at any particular time.”
CCF anticipates more than 1,200 attendees for the April 27 event. Tickets have sold out; those interested in attending can sign up for the waiting list online: ccf-mn org/30th
Father Joseph Crowley, pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Thomaston, Connecticut, said in a YouTube livestream of his March 12 homily that an unnamed extraordinary minister of holy Communion at the previous week’s liturgy had begun to run out of Communion hosts — only to find that “all of a sudden there (were) more hosts in the ciborium.” The parish is comprised of three church locations — St. Thomas, Immaculate Conception and St. Casimir — and the alleged multiplication of Communion hosts took place at St. Thomas.
The minister continued to distribute the hosts to some “100, 150 people in the congregation,” after which “there was the same amount, if not more hosts” in the ciborium, said Father Crowley, who had celebrated the March 5 liturgy. “What happened is Our Lord multiplied himself. … I have no doubt. I know what I gave the person. I know what (was) returned (to the tabernacle). It was just very obvious and plain to me as to what happened.”
Father Crowley said in his March 12 homily he wanted to tell parishioners “from the horse’s mouth as to exactly what happened,” and “stick to the facts” to avoid confusion.
David Elliott, associate director of communications for the archdiocese, told OSV News that the archdiocesan judicial vicar, Father George Mukuka, “has been looking into the possibility of a eucharistic miracle” at the parish. The judicial vicar will prepare a report for Hartford Archbishop Leonard Blair, “who will make a determination from there” regarding the event’s supernatural nature, Elliott said.
These two questions ground N.T. Wright’s powerful book “Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church.” He goes on to write that most people, including many Christians, don’t know what the ultimate Christian hope really is.
“As long as we see Christian hope in terms of ‘going to heaven,’ of a salvation that is essentially away from this world, the two questions are bound to appear as unrelated … But if Christian hope is for God’s new creation, for ‘new heavens and new earth,’ and if that hope has already come to life in Jesus of Nazareth, then there is every reason to join the two questions together” (pp. vii, 5). The Scriptures appointed for Easter Day provide a classic formulation of the basis of Christian hope. Peter’s preaching in the house of the centurion Cornelius (Acts 10:34-43) recounted in the first reading powerfully illustrates one of the ways in which the early Church professed its faith and hope in the resurrection, the so-called “kerygma.” Taken from the Greek verb for “to cry or proclaim as a herald,” kerygma has come to mean the irreducible essence
FAITH
There are many beautiful and meaningful symbols for the sacrament of marriage.
A single wedding ring. One ring symbolizes the fidelity of the marriage bond. The ring is round without beginning or end to represent the never-ending nature of marriage. The hollow center signifies that marriage is a channel of love from one spouse to the other. The ring presses tightly upon the finger, showing that each spouse is tightly bound to the other with a firm, intimate and chaste love reserved solely for one’s spouse. Two interlocking wedding rings. Interlocking rings are inseparable, they cannot be pulled apart, and therefore represent the permanence and indissolubility of the marriage covenant. Jesus said, “What God has joined together, no human being must separate” (Mk 10:9).
Three flowers. The flowers may be roses,
of Christian belief: that the Age of Fulfillment (i.e., the Kingdom/Reign of God) has dawned in the life, ministry, deeds, death and resurrection of Jesus, that we are living in the period of the unfolding of this Age, and that we are to be witnesses-in-action to this Age until Christ brings an end to history (understood not only as concluding time but revealing time’s purpose).
The Gospel appointed for Easter Day (Jn 20:1-9) illustrates another way in which the New Testament presents Jesus’ resurrection, a so-called “empty tomb” narrative. In such a story, people visit Jesus’ tomb expecting to find his decomposing corpse, but do not find any bodily remains. Notice that such a story does not compel belief in the resurrection (e.g., people may have identified the wrong site; Jesus’ followers might have moved his body in order to honor it; Jesus may have been drugged, giving the appearance of having died, but revived and left the tomb under his own power; etc.) but provides a “pre-condition” for belief in the resurrection of Jesus. The Gospel recounts three witnesses — Mary of Magdala first and then Simon Peter and the Beloved Disciple, John, upon her urging — finding no bodily presence of Jesus in the tomb, but only burial cloths.
The third way in which the New Testament narrates Jesus’ resurrection is by means of “appearance stories” in which witnesses encounter Jesus alive after his crucifixion. It is significant that all three of the witnesses to the empty tomb in John’s Gospel also have direct encounters with the risen Lord in which they report being with the same Jesus they had known in bodily form throughout his ministry, but
carnations, or another type of flower, and are usually red or white. They symbolize that there are three parties to a marriage: two that are visible, the wife and the husband, and the unseen and all-important third party, almighty God. A three-ply rope. This symbol is based upon the Scripture verse, “A threeply cord is not easily broken” (Eccl 4:12a). The rope has three strands, which are understood to symbolize God, the wife, and the husband. The strands are tightly woven together and signify that a couple tightly connected to each other and to God is far stronger than a solitary individual.
The marriage cross. A cross or Chi-Rho is prominently displayed in the center, with the lower part of the vertical beam between the overlapping portion of two interlocking wedding rings. The rings symbolize the wife and husband, and the cross or Chi-Rho represents Jesus. The cross is higher, which symbolizes his authority. The beam between the rings acknowledges that Jesus is the center of every Christian marriage. The grace that he offers holds couples together. Water jars. There were six stone water jars at the Cana wedding feast (Jn 2:6), and the miracle of so much water being changed into so much wine represents the abundant outpouring of grace by Jesus on the couple on their wedding day and every day for as long as they shall live.
with that bodily form transformed “into glory” (e.g., one still bearing the wounds of the crucifixion but alive and able to eat earthly food; one whose body could pass through walls; etc.). Each of the suggested second readings (Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8) derive their authority from the “appearance story” recounted by Paul (Acts 9, 22; 1 Cor 15; 2 Cor 12; Gal 1) and exhort those believing in Christ to live in the “between times” through worship and mission.
Rather than thinking of Easter as a purely past event (the vindication of a dead martyr), or a purely present event (the joy of being undeservedly and radically forgiven), we might want to consider how the resurrection of Jesus presents God’s intention for our future, revealed in the present, so that we might revise our understanding of the past.
As Gerhard Lohfink writes in “Is This All There Is? On Resurrection and Eternal Life”: “(P)recisely because the Easter event in Jesus ... was experienced not as rapture nor as the reception of a martyr into heaven nor as exaltation but as resurrection from the dead, it is clear that the resurrection of all the dead, the return home and transformation of the world, God’s new creation that is the goal of all history — all that has ‘already’ begun in Jesus’ resurrection.” (p. 123)
Though retired as an artist in residence at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Father Joncas continues to celebrate the sacraments in various worshiping communities in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, teaches in person or online, and continues to write articles and music.
Two clasped hands. The hands of the bride and groom firmly grasping each other signify the strength of their union as a couple and their commitment to walking the journey of married life together. Two hands covered with a stole. The stole is a symbol of a priest or a deacon. When placed over the joined hands of the bride and groom, it recognizes that their marriage is a sacrament. Two doves. The doves represent bliss, the delight that the wife and husband have in each other as well as the joy that they experience together.
The unity candle. There are three white candles on a stand or table: a large pillar candle in the middle with two smaller taper candles on either side. The smaller candles represent the bride and groom as individuals, and the large candle, which is lit after their exchange of vows, symbolizes the two united as one. A heart. A heart represents love. Love is the greatest of the virtues (1 Cor 13:13) and the distinguishing characteristic of a Christian (Jn 13:35). St. Paul wrote, “Husbands, love your wives” (Eph 5:25a). A wife and a husband love each other with all their hearts.
Father Van Sloun is the director of clergy personnel for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. This column is part of a series on the sacrament of marriage.
“What are we waiting for? And what are we going to do about it in the meantime?”
Living a Christian life is not an easy task. Deciding to provide a witness for the image of a Christian requires that we intimately know the One we represent. To help us understand what is asked of us, let us turn to “Caritas in Veritate,” the encyclical letter by the late Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Benedict states “Each person finds his good by adherence to God’s plan for him, in order to realize it fully: in this plan, he finds his truth, and through adherence to this truth, he becomes free.” The Gospel of Luke’s account of Jesus’ time in the Garden of Gethsemane states Jesus, in his terror, sweat blood, and yet he embraced the plan God had for him and he fulfilled it through the grace given to him in his most urgent hour.
God did not abandon Jesus, but stayed with him completely, so that Jesus was able to proclaim in his dying words from the cross the opening line of Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” The psalm ends with the
They say that nothing makes you more grateful for what you have at home than going on the road. And that was certainly my experience during a recent twoweek trip to Germany to report on the state of the Catholic Church there.
There are many beautiful things about Catholicism in Germany. From the Cathedral of Aachen originally commissioned by Charlamagne, to the miracle-working Marian shrine of Altötting, Catholic roots run deep in Deutschland. During my travels, I also encountered many present-day Catholic signs of life, such as New Evangelization efforts in the Bavarian diocese of Passau and edgy, innovative lay apostolates working the gritty streets of Berlin.
But by and large, the German Church is in a crisis that makes our Catholic challenges here in the United States look mild. And many of its problems are, I would argue, at a structural or cultural level: a theological establishment that is indifferent, if not hostile, to the pope and the authoritative teaching of the Church. A mandatory “church tax” that has enriched the Catholic apparatus but has made it more concerned with maintaining itself than preaching the Gospel. And a bloated ecclesial bureaucracy that stifles creativity and has even turned against the shepherds whose ministry it should be aiding.
As a result, the Catholic Church in Germany is characterized by a kind of infidelity and stuntedness that leaves ordinary, Mass-going Catholics on the ground not sure what to do or where to turn. Some are even considering disaffiliating from the legallyrecognized Catholic entity in Germany and no longer paying the “church tax” — a move that could technically bar them from the sacraments — simply because they feel like they can’t support the direction things are heading.
Seeing all of this up close and personally made me
proclamation: “The generations to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.”
Pope Benedict continues as he writes: “All people feel the interior impulse to love authentically: love and truth never abandon them completely, because these are the vocations planted by God in the heart and mind of every human person.”
Jesus’ self-giving on the cross is our invitation as well, as his agents in this fallen world, to follow the way of love. Pope Benedict writes that, “Love is God’s greatest gift to humanity, it is his promise and our hope.”
When we face our deepest fears, we can turn to God and receive his solace and comfort, finding hope and strength in his grace. It is then that we will experience the gift of his love for us.
How do we understand this? When we attend Mass, we are participating in the eucharistic meal, which is a communion of Christians sharing in the body and blood of Christ to fortify us for our journey in gratitude. We collectively express our appreciation for Jesus’ self-giving, free choice to embrace the cross and show us how to follow the will of God in love.
Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist emeritus and a member of St. Ambrose in Woodbury.
BRIDGING FAITH | DEACON MICKEY FRIESEN
We live in a thirsty world. There are few things more basic, more ordinary, or more natural than our need for water. We can’t live without it. And yet, we share other thirsts in life, like the need for safety, love and meaning. It’s hard to live without these essentials as well. In a sense, our common thirsts bind us together. When we don’t have them or sense they are running out, we humans can get anxious, suspicious, possessive and downright testy about what we lack. Our thirsts can separate us and isolate us.
Water is also a sign of faith. During Lent we hear familiar stories of people dealing with their thirsts. One place that came to symbolize this thirsty state of affairs is called Massah and Meribah. It is said, “The Israelites quarreled there and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord in our midst or not?’” (Ex. 17:7). What they didn’t know or couldn’t see was that water was beneath them. They needed to be led deeper to find the water that God was offering them.
more grateful than ever to be an American Catholic.
To be sure, as American Catholics, we face our own unique set of challenges. Our polarized and hyperpartisan politics tend to bleed into the Church, unnecessarily bifurcating the Gospel into rival camps pitted against each other: pro-life vs. social justice, God’s mercy vs. God’s truth — pick your own false binary. American tendencies toward individualism, autonomy and material comfort can also pose obstacles to the kind of community and selflessness called for by the Gospel.
But in light of what I saw in Germany, there is so much good in American Catholicism that we might be prone to take for granted: our creative and dynamic lay movements and apostolates; our widespread efforts to deepen catechesis and love and understanding of the faith; and our clergy, who by and large are committed to helping us grow in holiness and fidelity to the Lord.
These are qualities that set the American Catholic experience apart. In fact, many of the positive fruits of American Catholicism are playing an important role in Germany. Minnesota’s own, Father Mike Schmitz and Bishop Robert Barron, are hugely important catechetical resources for German Catholics desperate to know what the Church actually teaches. German priests who come to the U.S. to study or on temporary assignment return to their homeland invigorated for mission. And FOCUS missionaries like the ones who serve at campuses such as Winona State University and the University of Minnesota Duluth are evangelizing through relationships on college campuses in Passau and Cologne.
As American Catholics, we have much to be grateful for. But, therefore, we also have a great responsibility. Many around the world look to the Church in the U.S. as a source of creative fidelity. Let’s ensure that we continue to be a blessing for them, by in turn renewing our fidelity to Christ and his Church.
Searching for water is a daily necessity for many people in the world, including in our sister Diocese of Kitui, Kenya. Kitui is a very thirsty place. Severe droughts are a fact of life and climate changes have only made things drier. Usually, women and girls fulfill this task by walking for miles carrying water jugs to dry riverbeds. Sometimes the search for water interrupts girls’ ability to go to school or delays growing food. And yet, what looks exhausted on the surface does not mean water isn’t there. They know how to go deeper. They have learned how to dig into dry riverbeds to find water that still flows beneath them. The daily search for water binds them together. When I have met people in Kitui, they greet me with the words, “God is good all the time. And all the time God is good.” Their physical thirsts are not as deep as their faith in the goodness and providence of God. In Kitui, they say water is life, but it is more than that. Water is education. Water is work and food. Water connects people by searching and sharing together. And sharing a drink of water is a sign of God’s presence.
Jesus asked for a drink from the Samaritan woman at the well. He wanted to share the water she was thirsty for. At first, this request seemed inappropriate in a world where Jews and Samaritans didn’t mix. Old wounds and memories of great divides kept them apart. Jesus acknowledged the thirst of this reality but offered a deeper water — a living water. He offered water that satisfied a deeper thirst we all share. This is the kind of water that can heal the wounds of sin and division. He spoke about a fountain of life in the Spirit that can bubble up inside anyone drinking this water.
As we enter Easter, we are invited to make or renew our baptismal promises — to be immersed in the life of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are plunged into the water of life that makes us brothers and sisters. It is deeper than our thirst and our hurt. It transcends the many borders that separate us. We are called to go deeper, to live deeper and drink deeper water than this world can satisfy. Jesus sends disciples forth with the call: “Put out into the deep water” (Luke 5:4).
Today, we continue to build bridges of faith with the Diocese of Kitui through the gift and resource of water. We share water projects to help those who are thirsty. We also share the water of faith that makes us one. Water connects us, inspires our faith and calls us to go deeper. May we drink deeply of the living water of Christ. He satisfies our deepest thirsts and hungry hearts. And may that water heal our thirsty world.
Deacon Friesen is director of the Center for Mission, which supports missionary outreach of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He can be reached at friesenm@archspm org
Liedl, a Twin Cities resident, is a senior editor of the National Catholic Register and a graduate student in theology at The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.
In light of what I saw in Germany, there is so much good in American Catholicism that we might be prone to take for granted.TWENTY SOMETHING | CHRISTINA CAPECCHI
Two parts reverence, one part mischief. That’s how I’d sum up my grandma, whose name — Elinor Marcella Capecchi — captures her mix of poise and playfulness. She raised five kids with a kind of 1950s ease: neck bows and neatly coiffed hair, family dinners and at-home haircuts, listening to Bud & Travis on the record player and zipping around town in a Ford LTD station wagon.
and cut straight to dessert.
Grandma deferred to Grandpa but quietly wielded influence, calling to mind the line in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”: “the man is the head (of the house) but the woman is the neck, and she can turn the head any way she wants.”
Grandpa preferred to drink 2-percent milk, but skim milk seemed healthier and cost less in the ‘60s, so Grandma poured skim milk into 2-percent cartons. The head doesn’t always realize when the neck subtly turns.
Her love of beauty led her to become an artist in her own right — the kind of quiet, resourceful one who makes a house a home, who makes memories and makes gifts: embroidering personalized shirts for her children, sketching their portraits, crafting whimsical Christmas cards, painting porcelain dolls for each granddaughter in the color of their birthstones.
Those twinkling eyes never missed flashes of beauty. She’d relish a sunset or a pair of earrings or a beautifully wrapped gift, setting it on display for days before opening it, and occasionally re-wrapping it afterwards.
bishops, dynamic Church leaders, and 1,000+ Catholics from a day of inspiration and advocacy at our State Capitol.
Grandma died this week — two days shy of her 90th birthday — and we are left to distill her remarkable life, turning memories in our minds, scanning snapshots: It’s 1972 and she’s standing at Glacier National Park, a gold scarf tied around her dark hair. It’s 1992 and she’s playing Solitaire on the porch, greeting all who come and go. It’s 2022 and she’s in the party room of the condo, cooing over her newest great-grandbaby.
In her final days, I gave her an early Easter gift wrapped in watercolor florals. She was near death and speaking very little, but she admired it as only Grandma could.
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There was always a twinkle in her eye — a spark of recognition, a sense of fun. She wanted kids to be kids. Her own inner child was alive and well; up until her final weeks, she’d request a corner piece of cake covered in frosting.
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We could count on Grandma to be our cheerleader. She saw our special gifts and believed in them.
She never sought the spotlight but preferred her supporting role — keeping books for her husband’s business, keeping house, keeping it all together. She never sang the melody but always found a harmony, enhancing the other singers.
BERNARD HEBDAShe took certain fundamentals seriously — education, her Catholic faith and the sacraments of reconciliation and marriage — but wasn’t afraid to
take her own approach on all the less-crucial stuff. Reverence and mischief.
BISHOP ANDREW COZZENSArchdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis
Her OB-GYN was strict about weight gain, so she’d schedule her appointments for first thing in the morning and then indulge in a hot fudge sundae on the way home. In her 70s and 80s, when she’d meet girlfriends for lunch, they’d ditch the main course
Her Easter came early this year, skipping the second half of Lent and cutting straight to dessert, her heavenly home.
The rest of us honor her memory when we slow down and soak up the beauty in our midst, sensing — if not fully grasping — that it points us to God.
Grandma lived out the words from St. John Paul II’s letter to artists, who wrote that “all men and women are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life: in a sense, they are to make of it a work of art, a masterpiece.”
She painted for nine decades with such vibrance and joy. Masterpiece, indeed.
Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights.
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state budget and decides what to do with a $17 billion surplus, Minnesota’s bishops are urging lawmakers to place families first in their considerations.
On March 23, six Minnesota bishops gathered at the State Capitol — a yearly tradition of advocacy. While Minnesota Catholic Conference staff are deployed to be their voice on legislative issues, the bishops make it a priority to advocate in person on key issues and get to know legislators. Those gathered were Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Bishops Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Daniel Felton of Duluth, Chad Zielinski of New Ulm, Patrick Neary of St. Cloud and Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester.
This year, the bishops met with Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leadership, including Sen. Bobby Joe Champion — president of the Senate — and Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson. They also met with Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee Rep. Liz Olson, House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth and
House Minority Whip Rep. Jim Nash.
The bishops also met with Catholic lawmakers from their individual dioceses, which had not been done in past years. In the spirit of faithful citizenship, it was a rewarding experience for the bishops to get to know or strengthen their relationships with many of the Catholics serving at the Capitol.
In total, the bishops had nearly 40 meetings and conversations throughout the day. They brought to each of those meetings a positive vision of the family.
The bishops highlighted the need to support Minnesota families struggling with the costs of inflation and the need to combat addictions, gender ideology and the influence of social media.
The bishops advocated for a robust, ongoing Child Tax Credit, a top priority for the MCC and one that appears to have bipartisan support among lawmakers and Walz. The bishops said tax credit features should
include an income threshold that reaches into the middle class, and no cap on the number of children covered in a family.
One step toward combating the often-negative impact of social media, as the bishops advocated throughout the day, would be to prohibit the use of social media algorithms on children under 18 (HF1503/SF2101). The bishops shared their pastoral experiences of helping families navigate the psychological strain social media is having on young people. They also pointed out that it is often through social media that seeds of gender theory are planted, fertilized and start to grow. By embracing gender ideology, today’s culture aims to blur the line between man and woman by ignoring the union between body and soul, and between our Creator and his creation. This ideology leads to the view of humans as plastic that can be molded and reimagined at ease. Inundating youth with such gender ideology implants confusion, on which some act and mutilate their bodies, causing irreversible damage. The bishops asked Walz and legislative leaders to re-think their push to make Minnesota a sanctuary state for “gender-affirming care” and to slow down the legislation that is being fasttracked through the Legislature.
The bishops also expressed their opposition to, and concerns about, the push to legalize recreational marijuana and sports gambling because of the clear negative impacts these vices will have on those who are vulnerable to addiction, as well as on children and families.
During their meetings, the bishops gave their support for an Earned Sick and Safe Time proposal, which would provide workers the ability to earn one hour of time off for every 30 hours worked. This is vital to family life because illness in one’s life or family is inevitable. Caring for newborns, children, the sick and the elderly (and being cared for ourselves) is an integral part of family life that must be respected and promoted.
eal ch . Catholics are called to
was born and raised in a Catholic family, and I had a wonderful experience being taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph at St. Anne’s School in Le Sueur. The decision to send my children to St. Anne’s School was an easy one. My Catholic faith, and passing it on, were always important to me.
Within the past few years, I have been challenged and even embarrassed that I was not able to give satisfactory answers when asked about different aspects of the Catholic faith. I realized that my Baltimore Catechism education so many years ago had become foggy over time. And, looking back over the busyness of life and raising my four children, I have to admit I was making little effort to grow.
I needed to educate myself, not only on the questions I had been asked but also on other matters our Protestant brothers and sisters don’t understand, such as the Virgin Mary, the infallibility of the pope, confession, the Church’s position on divorce, and why priests are not allowed to marry.
I began to ask questions and get more involved in the various studies offered in our parish. Author Scott Hahn was recommended as a good source for Catholic study. I was intrigued by his story of conversion to Catholicism because he had been a staunch anti-Catholic Protestant pastor. As he explained his many surprising discoveries about the Catholic Church, and gave biblical references to support them, I was learning not only how to defend my faith but also to appreciate the richness that I had taken for granted for so long. These amazing stories motivated me to go deeper.
I have found a whole new joy in attending Mass. Over time, God has opened my heart to a richer prayer life. Rather than just
COURTESY KATHY RIEBEreciting prayers, I try to “pray” the words or phrases. When I look at the cross and pray, “Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us,” it is very different from just reciting those words. I want to truly worship the One who made the redeeming sacrifice on the cross before going forward to receive him in the holy Eucharist. Turning my focus to the cross has been life changing.
Confession is no longer something I fear. Although I knew its benefits from memorizing the Catechism as a child, I now value the precious gift of walking out of the confessional with something I didn’t have when I went in — sanctifying grace. Quiet time spent in eucharistic adoration is another gift I have grown to love. To sit in the presence of Jesus renews my spirit.
The Catholic faith I had underappreciated for so many years is the same faith I now profess with conviction. I wish every cradle Catholic would be invited to go through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults to study more about their faith as an adult learner. The rewards of intentional study have been many.
Since we are called to be holy as God is holy, I pray God will give me the grace to stay the course and to never lose my desire to learn more and serve him better.
Riebe, 73, has four adult children, works for a greeting card company and is a member of St. Anne in Le Sueur, where she has received six of the seven sacraments.
“Why I am Catholic” is an ongoing series in The Catholic Spirit. Want to share why you are Catholic? Submit your story in 300-500 words to CatholiCSpirit@arChSpm org with subject line “Why I am Catholic.”
Bishop-elect Michael Izen Episcopal Ordination — April 11: 1 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. A reception will follow. The ordination will also be carried live on Metro Cable Channel 6 (on cable and online), livestreamed on the Cathedral’s Facebook page and broadcast live on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. Vespers: April 10, 7 p.m. at St. Michael, 611 3rd St. S., Stillwater. A reception will follow. Find additional details at archspm org/newbishop
Faith Understood — April 16-17: 6:30–8 p.m. at St. Ambrose, 4125 Woodbury Drive, Woodbury. Paul and Beth Zucarelli will share their testimony of what they believe was a miraculous healing of Paul, a successful businessman, after he had nine cardiac arrests.
saintambroseatholic org
Rummage Sale — April 20-23 at St. Mark, 1983 Dayton Ave., St. Paul. Clothes, household items, collectibles, books and more. Preview Sale, $5 admission: 5–7 p.m. April 20; 9 a.m.–4 p.m. April 21-22; 9 a.m.–noon April 23. onestrongfamily org
Belgian Waffle Breakfast — April 23: 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. at St. Michael, 22120 Denmark Ave., Farmington. All-you-can-eat Belgian waffles, sausage, whipped cream, syrups and beverages. Tickets: $8 in advance; $9 at door. Free for kids 5 and under. Call Theresa at 651-460-6060 for more information.
Sponsored by the Knights of Columbus Ladies Auxiliary. stmichael-farmington org
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Unfortunately, many working people are forced to make impossible financial choices between caring for themselves or a loved one and missing a paycheck or even getting fired. This program is one more way to put families first in Minnesota.
Also, in line with keeping families together, lawmakers provided positive feedback to the bishops for their strong support over the years of legislation for immigrant driver’s licenses. With access to a driver’s license, not only can our
Drexel Fest — April 29: 5:30–9:30 p.m. at St. Katharine Drexel, 7101 143rd Ave. NW, Suite G, Ramsey. Two food trucks, bingo, cake walk, wine raffle, silent auction, kids’ games and more. All proceeds benefit the parish’s youth mission trips. stkdcc org
24-Hour Silent Retreat for Men & Women — April 25-26 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. Theme: Shepherd Me, O God. Includes Mass, personal prayer time, conferences, private room and four meals. Additional information: kingshouse com Ignatian Men’s Silent Retreat — Thursday-Sunday most weeks at Demontreville Jesuit Retreat House, 8243 Demontreville Trail N., Lake Elmo. Freewill donation. demontrevilleretreat com
Catholic Scout Leader Summit — April 22: Noon–4:30 p.m. at St. John Neumann, 4030 Pilot Knob Road, Eagan. The Archdiocesan Committee on Catholic Scouting (ACCS) is hosting an afternoon of learning for all Catholic Scout leaders (Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Girl Scouts, American Heritage Girls). This free event will begin with lunch and end with Mass (optional). Child care provided. scoutingevent com/250-66928
The Eucharist as a Common Good — April 17: 7 p.m. at The University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul. O’Shaughnessy Educational Center (OEC) Auditorium. Featured speaker: John Froula, Associate Professor of Dogmatic Theology at The St. Paul Seminary. saintpaulseminary org/event/the-eucharist-as-a-common-good
immigrant brothers and sisters now access vehicle insurance, but also, and most important, it helps ensure families will not be separated through deportation due to driving without a license.
During their meetings, the bishops modeled faithful citizenship. Even in areas of disagreement, the bishops stood for the truth that the Church teaches, while recognizing that these are difficult issues on which there are an array of considerations. They displayed the principled, not partisan, advocacy that the Church can provide, which allows for collaborative work on both sides of the aisle.
Turning Hardships into Hope — April 22: 12:30 p.m. at St. Patrick (Social Hall), 24425 Old Hwy. 13 Blvd., Jordan. Ashlee Tupy Rickert will share how God transformed her life through formidable challenges. Tickets: $30 includes Italian pasta bake, Olive Garden salad and dessert. Wine or soda also available. Call Diane at 952-447-6404 to reserve tickets. Hosted by St. Catherine. stpandc mn org
Catholic Softball Group — May 4 through July 13: 6–10 p.m. at Pioneer Park, 2950 Centerville Road, Little Canada. Register now to play summer softball, make new friends, and grow in faith every Thursday night with CSG. Details: $75 per player; individual registration only (teams will be divided evenly based on skill level). catholicsoftball com
Life Legal MN Annual Benefit Dinner — April 15: 6–8:30 p.m. at the Bloomington Event Center, 1114 American Blvd. W., Bloomington. Keynote speaker: Robin Sertell. Our mission is to give a trained and committed defense of innocent and helpless human beings of any age, particularly babies in the womb, and to support their advocates in the nation’s courts. lifelegalmn org
Pro-Life Across America Banquet — April 20: 5:45–9 p.m. at Banquets of Minnesota, 6310 Hwy. 65 NE, Fridley. Join us in-person or online for our Culture of Love Banquet featuring keynote speaker, Melissa Ohden. Join our celebration and learn about the power of
You can also live out the call to faithful citizenship by acting on these important issues that will impact families across Minnesota. Visit mncatholic org/ actionalerts to send a message, video or phone call to lawmakers urging their support for policies that put families first.
Pro-Life Across America’s life-saving media mission proven to change hearts and save babies’ lives.
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Encounter: Shroud of Turin — April 20-23 at St. Patrick, 19921 Nightingale St. NW, Oak Grove. Self-guided exhibit of replica of the Shroud of Turin. Please visit website for times. The exhibit will have a place to pray and venerate the Shroud replica and a lifesize crucified corpus showing the wounds of Christ. This event is open to everyone. No RSVP required. st-patricks org
Spring Fiesta — April 22: 6–10 p.m. at Holy Family Academy, 5925 W. Lake St., St. Louis Park. Fundraiser: $50 per person. This is a 21+ event. Mexican food, “Family Feud” team tournament, silent auction and more. Business casual attire. hfcmn org
St. Joseph’s Business Guild Quarterly Meeting — April 25: 5:30–8:45 p.m. at Holy Family, 5900 W. Lake St., St. Louis Park. Keynote speaker: Matt Birk, a guild member. Dinner included. sjbusinessguild com/events/guild-quarterly-meeting-speakerguild-member-matt-birk
ACCW Convention — April 28: 8 a.m. at St. Peter, 1405 Sibley Memorial Hwy, Mendota. The Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women hosts its 90th annual convention: Walking Together — Sharing our Gifts. Annual meeting, featured speakers, Mass with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Laywoman Volunteer awards, a marketplace (for those special, one-of-a-kind gifts), silent auction, delicious meals and camaraderie. Registration and additional information can be found at accwarchspm org
For more ways to advocate for policies that put families first, check out the Families First Project at familiesfirstproject com, where you can find draft legislation to propose to your legislators, as well as information and resources for a variety of policy proposals.
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Anne-Marie Klobe and a friend were hosting a Lenten retreat two years ago in Klobe’s home during Holy Week. Everyone was invited to choose from a list of characters in the Lord’s passion and write about them. For Klobe, 44, a longtime parishioner of Holy Family in St. Louis Park, the exercise sparked the inspiration to write a children’s book.
For the retreat, she focused on Peter the Apostle, but began to wonder why she had never seen someone write about Simon of Cyrene, the man who helped Jesus carry his cross to Golgotha.
She considered the life of Simon, sought and received an imprimatur from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis finding that her work was free of error regarding faith and morals and self-published her children’s book in 2021, “I Am Simon: The Untold Story of Simon of Cyrene.”
The Bible doesn’t give many details of Simon’s life beyond the fact that he helped Jesus as he carried his cross to Calvary. But Klobe incorporated some of her own ideas into the story. She pulled from Mark 15:21, which says that Simon was father to Alexander and Rufus. Scripture makes no mention of Simon’s wife. While praying one day in adoration of the Eucharist, Klobe felt prompted to have Simon’s wife be part of her story and to portray Simon as a widower.
“I named her Miriam, and I wanted her to appear to Simon through a memory,” Klobe said. “I wanted him to recall his wife telling him about the time she heard Jesus telling the story of the Good Samaritan. We are all called to recognize Jesus in each person that we
meet. Simon didn’t recognize Jesus, but his memory of his wife talking about the Good Samaritan is what inspired him to act in a certain way.”
Klobe wrote her stories during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During this time, many people became more critical and didn’t trust people,” she said. “It was harder to see God in everyone because there was that fear of ‘what if they have COVID?’”
Klobe will hold book signings April 8 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Seedlings Gifts and Books, 521 W. 78th St., Chanhassen; and 2-5 p.m. at Leaflet Missal, 976 W. Minnehaha Ave., St. Paul.
his walk with Jesus, even as he helps Christ carry the cross.
great-grandchildren, and two more on the way. Berg said he was amazed that Klobe was able to write a book that is equally fitting for adults and children. One of his favorite aspects of the book is its relatability.
“We are all Simons,” Berg said. “Simon was a man who didn’t want to do what he was asked to do but felt compelled to do it at the Lord’s urging. As a result, his name has been on the lips of Catholics for 2,000 plus years. Just for his little deed. We too, do little deeds, and though we may not be recognized publicly, we are recognized by Christ. We all have to help the Lord out in some way.”
Anne Dobie, 40, a fellow parishioner of Klobe and mother of four children ages 4 to 9, said she appreciates how the book “lifts the Passion in new and profound ways for children and adults. ‘I Am Simon’ is fitting for any child who attends Stations of the Cross. This book very powerfully shows the importance of helping others and, as a mom, paints the pictures for my children of the effect that can be had when we choose to help, instead of walking away or ignoring others.”
As COVID restrictions were placed on hospital visitors, Klobe’s father was isolated in the hospital for two weeks. He later died at home. Writing to help bring people together, to help readers see Jesus in each person they meet, Klobe dedicated “I Am Simon” to her father and to all those who died in 2020 and 2021. Her favorite line in “I Am Simon” takes place while Simon is contemplating
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“I began to think of my own troubles in life,” Simon states in the book. “My eyes filled with tears as I thought of the future of Jerusalem (here Klobe draws a parallel with her fears for the future of America during COVID). I worried about my friends who were sick, those who were lonely … And as the cross almost fell upon my back, I began to be convinced that no matter the reputation, accusation, or circumstance of a person, nobody should ever have to carry his cross alone.”
The message rang loud and clear for Jeff Berg, 80, a financial consultant and member of All Saints in Minneapolis. He has given “I Am Simon” to each one of his four children, to read to their children. Berg has 17 grandchildren, four
Not only does Klobe paint beautiful word pictures, but the watercolors in her book are striking. She features Argentinian illustrator Mauro Lirussi. Writing is one of Klobe’s missions. She also is a kitchen designer; a wholeness mentor to single, Catholic women over 35; a jewelry designer; and a traveler who has been to all Seven Wonders of the World. Each of these roles, Klobe said, is fueled by a passion for finding the good, the true and the beautiful. Her life’s motto is a phrase attributed to St. Irenaeus: “The glory of God is man fully alive.”
“Everyone is called to discover their own passion and to evangelize the world through that. And in order to serve, we need to have a full cup,” Klobe said. “We have to rest. Make a list of things that you absolutely love doing and do one or two of those a day and that’s going to change your perspective on life. Even if it’s going to get a pedicure, lighting a candle, or getting up 15 minutes earlier to read your favorite book. Make space for yourself. Nobody can serve from an empty cup.”
