The Catholic Spirit - August 28, 2025

PAGETWO NEWS

CONVENT BLESSING Archbishop Bernard Hebda, left, celebrates Mass Aug. 9 along with a convent blessing in St. Paul. Also attending the Mass were Franciscan Brothers of Peace Paschal Listi, second from left, and Didacus Gottsacker, right, and Sister Leonie Marie of the Sisters of St. Francis Xavier, second from left. Sister Leonie is from Myanmar (formerly Burma), which is where her order was founded. She and the Franciscan Brothers of Peace in St. Paul minister to the Karen community in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Concelebrating the Mass with Archbishop Hebda was another member of the Franciscan Brothers of Peace, Father Seraphim Wirth.

STATE FAIR PRAYER From left, Jon Lenz, his children Maggie, Eddie and Dianna Lenz, all of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata, Eloise and Lyla Allen of St. Gabriel the Archangel in Hopkins, and Caroline Dierberger of St. Michael in St. Michael, pray during Mass Aug. 24 at the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul. All were attending the State Fair Mass for the first time. The celebrant was Father Robert Fitzpatrick, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and former pastor of Corpus Christi in Roseville. Father Fitzpatrick, known as “Father Fitz,” has been celebrating Masses at the State Fair since 2014, when he was pastor of Corpus Christi. The parish has had its priests celebrate Masses at the State Fair for 46 years. The Mass drew about 450 people, Father Fitzpatrick said. The second and final State Fair Mass is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 31. The State Fair Masses take place at the Family Fair Stage at Baldwin Park on Cosgrove Street, which is across the street from the 4-H Building and near a large Ferris wheel on the east side of the fairgrounds. Father Fitzpatrick noted that the State Fair Mass qualifies as a stop on the Archdiocesan Passport Adventure.

Practicing CATHOLIC

Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Aug. 22 “Practicing Catholic” radio show included Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who shared how to discern God’s invitation for vocation. The program also included Kate Soucheray, a columnist for The Catholic Spirit, sharing practical advice on creating balanced rhythms, weekly planning and creating space for commitments and rest. Listen to interviews after they have aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/ practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.

The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 30 — No. 16

notes

The executive director of The Catholic Cemeteries, Carol Bishop, is remembered by her staff for leading with grace, compassion and vision. In a notice posted Aug. 22 at catholic-cemeteries.org, staff mourned Bishop’s recent death and honored her as a friend and colleague. The Mendota Heights-based organization oversees five Catholic cemeteries in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Bishop joined Catholic Cemeteries in 2023. She was known for creating and leading historic walking tours at St. Mary’s Cemetery in south Minneapolis, and for her dedication to ensuring the cemeteries remained places of peace, beauty and remembrance, the notice said.

The Minnesota State Fair runs through Labor Day in St. Paul, and the Minnesota Catholic Conference is encouraging fairgoers to stop by the Education Building. The State Senate booth is in that building, with its annual opinion poll. This year’s poll includes a question important to Catholic schools, MCC officials said in their recent Catholic Advocacy Network newsletter. Question No. 8 asks whether the state should continue to fund pupil aid for Catholic and other nonpublic schools that includes assistance for textbooks, counseling, health services and transportation. In the last legislative session, Gov. Tim Walz and some lawmakers considered dropping such aid.

An organization supported by the Minnesota Catholic Conference Opportunity for All Kids, or OAK is teaming up with the Center of the American Experiment to sponsor a 7k for Kids Fun Run Sept. 20 at Bryant Lake Regional Park, near American Experiment’s headquarters. The event will promote education savings accounts that if passed by the Minnesota Legislature would help families who want to send their children to Catholic or other nonpublic schools. Until Sept. 10, registration is $20 for participants 13 and older and $10 for kids 12 and younger. All 5k and 7k participants will receive a race T-shirt and refreshments before and after the run. There will also be “zero-mile” festivities with music, inflatables and refreshments, and a raffle to win a $7,000 scholarship for any K-12 private school student.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda is asking parishes to join in a nationwide special appeal for humanitarian relief and pastoral support in Gaza. Many parishes will take up the collection on or near the weekend of Aug. 30-31, the archbishop said. “As great suffering continues for many Christians and for other victims of the turmoil in the Holy Land, I have asked parishes to join in a nationwide special appeal for humanitarian and pastoral support in Gaza,” the archbishop said in a video at tinyurl.com/mufpj7kc on the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ YouTube channel. “Funds from this special appeal will support the efforts of Catholic Relief Services and the Catholic Near East Welfare Association.” In a related effort, the archbishop sought Mary’s intercession Aug. 22 as he joined Pope Leo XIV and the world’s Catholics in asking the Lord to grant peace and justice in the world, particularly in Ukraine and in the Holy Land. The prayers came on the day the Church celebrated the feast of the Queenship of Mary. “As we celebrate the Queenship of Mary, our Blessed Mother and constant intercessor in heaven, Pope Leo has called upon us all to set aside today, Aug. 22, as a special day of prayer and fasting for peace and justice, especially in Ukraine, the Holy Land, and other regions afflicted by war,” the archbishop said. “Please join me in praying to Jesus, the prince of peace, for our many sisters and brothers in Christ who are suffering, as well as for the intercession of Mary, Queen of Peace.”

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is participating in the Fifth World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly with resources provided to parishes for the Sept. 7 celebration. To coincide with the national celebration of Grandparents Day, the U.S. bishops approved a transfer to September from the Holy Father’s announced July 27 date. The theme this year is “Blessed are those who have not lost hope” (cf Sir 14:2). The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life at the Vatican has provided materials that include a prayer and suggestions to mark the day, such as a Eucharistic liturgy dedicated to the elderly and visiting the elderly in the community.

in REMEMBRANCE

Deacon Warne remembered for his service to others

The Catholic Spirit

Deacon Maynard Warne, ordained in 1979 in the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, and incardinated into the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1989, died Aug. 17 at the age of 99. He served at St. Michael in St. Michael for 25 years before he retired in 2014.

The Navy veteran was known for his service to others, especially in the produce and farming industries, his obituary stated on the website of Peterson Chapel Funeral Services, which has offices in St. Michael and Buffalo. He was a volunteer for the Dassel fire department and co-founded Dassel’s civic booster Labor Day celebration, Red Rooster Days. Deacon Warne was part of Nebraska Right to Life and Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life. He was preceded in death by his parents and seven siblings and his wife, Elda, who died in 2006. He is survived by his eight children, 20 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren.

Deacon Warne’s wake will be held 4-7 p.m. Aug. 29 at St. Michael. His funeral Mass will be 10:30 a.m. Aug. 30, also at St. Michael.

ON THE COVER Karen Martodam of St. Joseph the Worker in Plymouth talks with a resident of Catholic Charities’ Higher Ground facility in Minneapolis Aug. 19 about a sewing repair. For nearly a decade, she has volunteered her sewing skills at the center. Aug. 19 was her last day. Her brother-in-law is former Catholic Charities Twin Cities President Paul Martodam.

REBECCA OMASTIAK, News Editor

COURTESY NICOLE BETTINI

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

DEACON MAYNARD WARNE

FROMTHEVICARGENERAL

ONLY JESUS | FATHER MICHAEL TIX

Changing seasons

As the summer months wind down, I find myself giving thanks for the opportunities to gather and the memories made.

I especially smile as I think about the success of the Vermillion Orange Bombers little league team. This past school year, the Catholic school where I serve as parochial administrator had a first-grade class of 19 students, including 16 boys. During the school year, the boys became great friends, with most of them choosing to play little league baseball together on the same team. This summer, I attended more than a few games. It’s been fun to watch the Vermillion Orange Bombers develop over the summer months in their baseball skills and the teamwork that led them to win their league championship in July. It was a fun summer of building relationships, supporting the kids while also getting to better know their parents and extended families in a relaxed setting of conversation during games. Just as the first graders of the Vermillion Orange Bombers now turn their sights to the adventures of second grade, summer memories are transitioning to the possibilities of a new school year and all who work together to share their gifts for the good of our kids. These are busy days as school bus dispatchers finalize routes and school bus drivers learn them for the first day of school. Similarly, school maintenance personnel are finishing their summer cleaning and making sure the correct number of chairs are in each classroom. School lunch people are preparing menus and ordering food for the weeks ahead. Teachers and administrators are preparing themselves and their classrooms to come to life on the first day of school. While a team of people are preparing schools, we can’t forget how parents are busy preparing their children for the school year, whether that means buying school supplies or getting kids

back to a school routine after summer times of staying up late and sleeping later the next morning.

Summer is turning to fall. We see it with a new school year upon us, and we are reminded of the changing seasons as our days slowly become shorter. A change of seasons can cause us to look back at our memories, but we can’t lose sight of the opportunity to create new memories in the season ahead, and especially for those who are preparing to return to school. With the beginning of a new school year, hope springs eternal with opportunities for students to learn and grow to their fullest potential as leaders of tomorrow. In our Catholic school, this is done in a unique faith-filled environment grounded in the teachings of Jesus, where students not only learn at Mass and in their religion classes, but through opportunities to put faith into action in relationships with the many people around them and in service to their neighbors.

All of us have our favorite teachers. I think of Mrs. Virginia Carey from second grade who prepared us for our first reconciliation and first Communion and the kindness she

shared, or Sister Leora, a School Sister of Notre Dame who taught us to spell and use cursive handwriting, which she was adamant be legible. I think of Mr. Jake Moore, a middle school social studies teacher, and the impact he had with his welcoming personality and positive attitude. These are some of the teachers who shared their gifts in my life, and I’m sure you can name your own. Teachers make a difference in the lives of their students — as do so many other people who interact with them. Many people in our lives leave a mark and help form the memories we treasure.

In this time of changing seasons, we might ask ourselves how we shape others by sharing the gift of God’s love in our lives. We have the potential to make a positive difference in the lives of others. God asks each of us to open ourselves in faith and trust to the power of the Holy Spirit, which sends us out as instruments of God’s love and peace to one another and our world. With a new school year upon us, as summer turns to fall, may we be renewed by sharing the light of God’s love in ways that create memories to last a lifetime.

A medida que los meses de verano llegan a su fin, me encuentro agradeciendo las oportunidades de reunirme y los recuerdos creados.

Sonrío especialmente al pensar en el éxito del equipo de béisbol infantil Vermillion Orange Bombers. El año escolar pasado, la escuela católica donde sirvo como administrador parroquial tuvo una clase de primer grado de 19 estudiantes, incluyendo 16 niños. Durante el año escolar, los niños se hicieron grandes amigos, y la mayoría decidió jugar béisbol infantil juntos en el mismo equipo. Este verano, asistí a varios partidos. Ha sido divertido ver a los Vermillion Orange Bombers desarrollar sus habilidades de béisbol y el trabajo en equipo que los llevó a ganar el campeonato de la liga en julio. Fue un verano divertido en el que forjamos relaciones, apoyamos a los niños y, al mismo tiempo, conocimos mejor a sus padres y familiares en un ambiente relajado de conversación durante los partidos. Justo cuando los alumnos de primer grado de los Vermillion Orange Bombers ahora se centran en las aventuras de segundo grado, los recuerdos del verano se transforman en las posibilidades de un nuevo año escolar y en todos los que trabajan juntos para compartir sus dones por el bien de nuestros niños. Estos son días ajetreados, ya que los despachadores de autobuses escolares ultiman las rutas y los conductores las aprenden para el primer día de clases. De igual manera, el personal de mantenimiento

escolar está terminando su limpieza de verano y asegurándose de que haya el número correcto de sillas en cada aula. El personal de almuerzos escolares prepara los menús y pide comida para las próximas semanas. Los maestros y administradores se preparan a sí mismos y a sus aulas para que cobren vida el primer día de clases. Mientras un equipo prepara las escuelas, no podemos olvidar cómo los padres están ocupados preparando a sus hijos para el año escolar, ya sea comprando útiles escolares o haciendo que los niños vuelvan a la rutina escolar después del verano de trasnochar y dormir hasta más tarde a la mañana siguiente. El verano da paso al otoño. Lo vemos con la llegada del nuevo año escolar, y recordamos el cambio de estaciones a medida que nuestros días se acortan lentamente. Un cambio de estación puede hacernos recordar nuestros recuerdos, pero no podemos perder de vista la oportunidad de crear nuevos en la temporada que se aproxima, especialmente para quienes se preparan para el regreso a clases. Con el comienzo de un nuevo año escolar, la esperanza se hace eterna con oportunidades para que los estudiantes aprendan y desarrollen su máximo potencial como líderes del mañana. En nuestra escuela católica, esto se logra en un entorno único y lleno de fe, basado en las enseñanzas de Jesús, donde los estudiantes no solo aprenden en la misa y en sus clases de religión, sino también a través de oportunidades para poner su fe en práctica en sus relaciones con las personas que los rodean y en el servicio al prójimo.

Todos tenemos nuestros maestros favoritos. Pienso en la Sra. Virginia Carey de segundo grado, quien nos preparó para nuestra primera reconciliación y primera comunión, y en la bondad que compartía, o en la Hermana Leora, una hermana escuela de Notre Dame, quien nos enseñó a deletrear y a usar la letra cursiva, la cual se empeñó en que fuera legible. Pienso en el Sr. Jake Moore, un profesor de estudios sociales de secundaria, y en el impacto que tuvo con su personalidad acogedora y su actitud positiva. Estos son algunos de los maestros que compartieron sus dones en mi vida, y estoy seguro de que puedes mencionar los tuyos. Los maestros marcan la diferencia en la vida de sus alumnos, al igual que muchas otras personas que interactúan con ellos. Muchas personas en nuestras vidas dejan huella y ayudan a formar los recuerdos que atesoramos.

Cambio de estaciones OFFICIALS

Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis:

Effective August 8, 2025

Reverend Randall Skeate, assigned as chaplain to DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis. This is in addition to his current assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Stephen-Holy Rosary in Minneapolis.

Effective September 1, 2025

En estos tiempos de cambio, podríamos preguntarnos cómo moldeamos a los demás al compartir el don del amor de Dios en nuestras vidas. Tenemos el potencial de marcar una diferencia positiva en la vida de los demás. Dios nos pide a cada uno que nos abramos con fe y confianza al poder del Espíritu Santo, que nos envía como instrumentos del amor y la paz de Dios, para con otros y para con nuestro mundo. Con el nuevo año escolar a la vuelta de la esquina, y el verano dando paso al otoño, que nos renovemos compartiendo la luz del amor de Dios de maneras que creen recuerdos para toda la vida.

Reverend Douglas Ebert, assigned as parochial administrator of the Church of Saint Cyril and Methodius in Minneapolis. Father Ebert is a retired priest of the archdiocese.

Effective October 15, 2025

Reverend Nicholas Vance, assigned as parochial administrator of the Church of Our Lady of Grace in Edina while the pastor, Reverend Kevin Finnegan, is on sabbatical. Father Vance is currently assigned as parochial vicar of the same parish.

Generosity Is a Journey of Faith

When you give with intention and faith, your generosity becomes part of something greater. It reflects your Catholic values and builds a legacy rooted in love and lasting impact. The Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota offers flexible ways to give and invest, aligned with your beliefs. This helps you support the causes you care about and live with purpose.

By sharing Christ’s light with compassion and hope, together we carry on his mission to care for others and build a better world. Begin your journey today.

Raised from the beds

Wendy Cotter of St. Edward in Bloomington holds up a carrot she pulled up from one of the new raised beds in the parish vegetable garden Aug. 13 at a weekly event called Wine and Weeding. Cotter helps lead volunteers who come on Wednesdays from April through October to plant, weed and harvest vegetables that they give to a local food shelf. As of the Aug. 13 gathering, they had collected 116 pounds of vegetables, which included beans, tomatoes, beets, carrots, zucchini, okra and tomatillos. Prior to this year, the garden, which the parish has been managing for about 17 years, was all at ground level, making it difficult for older parishioners to help with planting, weeding and harvesting. So, avid gardeners in the parish decided to build new beds. Parishioner Randy Jenniges, a retired engineer, built and helped install 32 boxed beds, 15 of them elevated. “It’s a true community,” said Molly Mitch, a parish trustee who helps lead the effort. “Church means community. That’s the definition of church.”

Sacred Heart Church Fall Festival/ Kermesse del Sagrado Corazon

Sacred Heart Church Fall Festival 840 6th Street E, St. Paul, MN 55106 Sunday, September 7, 2025 10 : 00am-3: 00pm Kids and Adult Games • Raffles Mexican and American Food Live Entertainment • Garage Sale

Sunday, September 10, 2017 10 de Septiembre, 2017

& Arcade Streets 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Garage Sale September 6 & 7, 9am-1pm

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT SLICE of

Video series to ‘encourage and fortify’ families in honoring the Sabbath

By Rebecca Omastiak

The Catholic Spirit

To help Catholics in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis elevate Sundays as a day for prayer and rest, the archdiocese is releasing a monthly video series starting in September.

The effort stems from implementing Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s 2022 pastoral letter “You Will Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent from the Upper Room.” The initiative focuses on a proposition of the Archdiocesan Synod 2022 process: “Form and inspire parents to understand and fulfill their responsibility as the first teachers of their children in the ways of faith.”

In a video introducing the initiative, Archbishop Hebda said, “I invite every Catholic in our archdiocese into a practice ever ancient, ever new: reclaiming the peace, rest and leisure of Sundays with the Lord, who is the giver of all good gifts, and with our families.” The video series “will share ideas for building lasting habits to anchor our weeks in a joyful, prayerful and restful observance of Sunday,” the archbishop said.

The effort, which also includes a “Guide to Reclaiming Sundays for the Lord” published online, grew out of recommendations made to the archbishop by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Parents as Primary Educators — a group of clergy, religious, educators, parents and grandparents. After its introduction in 2023, the commission worked to determine practical resources to offer parents as part of the pastoral letter implementation. The commission presented its recommendations to the archbishop in May 2024.

The goal of the “Reclaiming Sundays” effort is to “root families in the understanding that Sunday is an essential in the life of a family of faith,” said Alison Dahlman, associate director of educational quality and excellence for the archdiocese’s Office for the Mission of Catholic Education (OMCE), who was an OMCE liaison for the commission.

The “Guide to Reclaiming Sundays for the Lord” offers suggestions for keeping the Sabbath holy. It introduces a theme for each month from September through August, including prayer, rest and recreation, beauty, music, invitation, no/low-tech Sundays, elevated conversation, breaking bread, community, screen-free Sundays, creation and service.

“The themes that have been identified are ways to deepen parents’ understanding of, well, what does it mean to live the Sabbath?

COURTESY OFFICE FOR THE MISSION OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Pete Burds, chief mission officer for NET Ministries and a member of St. Joseph, both in West St. Paul, talks about prayer for a video series as part of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ “Reclaiming Sundays” initiative.

What does it mean to have a day of worship and leisure? What does that really look like?” Dahlman said.

Pam Patnode, former director of Catholic school leadership at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, offers perspective in the October video on the theme of rest, recreation and prayer. She said guidelines for keeping Sundays holy can be found in the commandments.

“When we look closely at the third commandment, we can see two mandates: We are called to worship, and we are called to rest. Honoring both worship and rest is necessary for our growth as Christian disciples and for our growth as human persons,” Patnode, a parishioner of Holy Name of Jesus in Medina, said in an email. “We live in a culture that many have referred to as one of ‘toxic productivity.’ This constant busyness is unhealthy for individuals and for relationships.”

“It is very counter-cultural today to intentionally make time for prayer and worship, rest, and true recreation/leisure,” she said. “Yet, when we do so, we are able to grow our relationships with Christ and others, while also growing into our own full potential.”

Honoring the Sabbath as a time for Catholics to grow their relationships with Christ and others is also emphasized in the video set for release in April, on the theme of breaking bread and prayer.

“The Eucharist … gathered Christians from the beginning on Sundays, and there are powerful testimonies about the early community celebration of the Eucharist. But the breaking of the bread also refers to the profound moment of sharing a space at the table, like Jesus did with his friends,

to share not only a meal, but life,” Marta Pereira said in an email. Pereira is a campus minister at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul and a member of the Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission; she is offering her perspective in the April video.

“In this sense, the meaning of the meal, breaking the bread together, holds an essential place on Sundays for our families,” said Pereira, who frequently attends Mass at Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul. “A meal with those who(m) we love is a profound moment of encounter, but also a profound moment of experiencing Christ in our midst.”

Families can respond to these encounters by bringing them into the world, said Megan Plum, executive director of Guiding Star Wakota in West St. Paul, who offers her perspective in the August video on the theme of service and prayer.

“Prayer roots us in God’s love, and service is our response to that love, making both essential for keeping the Sabbath holy,” Plum, a parishioner of Nativity of Our Lord, said in an email. “When families pray and serve together, they grow closer to God and to one another, living out their faith in a way that brings lasting joy and unity.”

Dahlman said the guide and video series are primarily geared toward families with school-age children, though Catholics from all walks of life are invited to participate. The video series is in English and Spanish. The videos — each no more than roughly five minutes and filmed primarily at Bethany Center for Prayer and Renewal in Scandia — will be released on the first of each month, accompanied by discussion questions that could also be “a really easy-

to-use resource in a small group,” Dahlman said. Segments of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show will also include interviews with those featured in the video series.

Dahlman said the hope is the “Reclaiming Sundays” effort “will encourage and fortify parents in bringing their children to Mass and living Sunday in that way, and then secondarily, maybe sparking their imagination(s) in ways that they can make Sunday like a holy day — lowercase ‘h’ — within the context of their home,” Dahlman said.

“I hope people are encouraged that their mission as a parent to form their child in the faith is achievable,” she said.

Patnode said she hopes those who follow the guide and view the videos “will be encouraged in their efforts to reclaim Sundays.”

“It is an ongoing challenge, and the different seasons of life bring about unique difficulties,” she said. “However, the value in modeling for our children the importance of prayer, worship, relationship, rest, and leisure is inestimable. It is hard work, but the benefits are eternal.”

Pereira said she hopes those who participate will further “ponder the profound meaning of Sunday, not only as a Church but as family and to rediscover the importance of being together.”

Plum agreed. “I hope families rediscover Sunday as a day set apart for prayer, rest, and love, rather than just another busy day. Even small, intentional habits, like praying together or serving as a family, can transform Sundays into a source of peace, renewal, and deeper connection with God.”

Learn more about the guide and the video series online at archspm.org/ sundays

HALLOW PARTNERSHIP

As part of its “Reclaiming Sundays” effort which includes a video series, a “Guide to Reclaiming Sundays for the Lord,” and other resources published online for families and small groups the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has announced that the prayer app Hallow is providing curated content for the initiative.

The collection includes prayers, meditations and sessions for each monthly theme outlined in the guide.

Learn more by visiting try.hallow.com/reclaimingsundays.

Father Valencia, pastor of Maplewood parish, dies in Philippines

By Joe Ruff

Catholic Spirit

The pastor of St. Jerome in Maplewood — Father Victor Valencia — died unexpectedly while in the Philippines on a medical mission, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said in an Aug. 23 note to parishioners posted on the parish’s website. “It is with great sorrow that I share the news of the passing of your pastor,” the archbishop wrote, in part. “We ask your prayers for Fr. Victor’s soul and for his family and for all who will miss him dearly.

We will share the details when we learn of them, and will plan a Mass for his eternal (repose) in the weeks ahead. Eternal Rest grant unto him O Lord, and let the Perpetual Light shine upon him.”

The parish

secretary at St. Jerome, Joanne Lamb, said Father Valencia was beloved by many. “He

was very friendly,” Lamb said. “Everybody loved him. He couldn’t say no to a baptism, a funeral, a house call.”

Father Valencia, 65, grew up on the island of Negros in the Philippines. He was ordained in 1993 for the Diocese of San Carlos in the Philippines. He came to Minnesota in the early 2000s to serve in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, The Catholic Spirit reported in 2017. He went back to his homeland on a medical mission in 2016 and in subsequent years. Groups he worked with included the nonprofit Negrenses del Oriental del Minnesota

and Minnesota-based Foundation for Philippine Medical Missions.

Father Valencia was incardinated into the archdiocese in 2020. He was appointed pastor of St. Jerome in 2019, which was a transfer from his assignment beginning in 2014 as pastor of Most Holy Redeemer in Montgomery and St. Patrick in Shieldsville.

His first assignment in the archdiocese was at United Hospital in St. Paul, where he served as a chaplain from 2002 to 2003. He was pastor of St. Ignatius in Annandale from 2003 to 2014.

FATHER VICTOR VALENCIA

The

New faces for evangelization

By Josh McGovern

The Catholic Spirit

Luke Klavins, 25, from Holy Name of Jesus in Medina, was one of many youth ministers and faith formators in St. Joseph Hall at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center (ACC) in St. Paul Aug. 18-19 for Youth Discipleship and Faith Formation (YDFF) training. In the social hour that followed an all-day training on the second day, Klavins enjoyed a beverage and his community of ministers, formators and friends.

It was here that he shared something personal. Klavins knows the pain of having an absentee father. For years, he was crushed by this. By the end of his first year in ministry, he said he felt like a mess. He realized he wasn’t fully healed from his family wounds, and when reflecting on what God had done that year in his ministry, he realized that God let him carry wounds so that he could meet others where they are.

“I did middle school OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) this year, so I had four kids coming into the Church. All four of them were young boys. All four of them had absent fathers,” Klavins said. “I myself grew up with an absent father. As I’ve grown older and began integrating myself as an adult male, I found this emptiness and a lot of woundedness. That father wound is so there. But because I (bore) that this last year, and I still believe Christ was good, I was able

to tell these kids that didn’t have fathers that I bear the same wound … and I think Christ is so good, and that was a beautiful witness.”

Klavins said he carries his suffering and sorrow for God’s glory, and now he’s in a place where he feels honored to do that.

Faith formation and young adult ministry are difficult jobs, as most people at the orientation recognized. The two days themselves were meant to give new ministers and formators — people who have been doing this for three years or less — a moment of rest and community, to be filled with prayer and relationships before going back into the field to evangelize.

“It’s a high turnover rate,” said Naomi Hasegawa, Latino youth discipleship coordinator for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “The average time that a youth minister stays (as) a youth minister is pretty low because it’s a grind. There (are) many things you need to balance, like your personal life and your work life, but then it’s also ministry. So, you’re emotionally and spiritually involved with your youth and with the parents. It could take a toll on you personally, too.”

Mental health became a focal point for

For 33 years, the archdiocese

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit

A native of the Philippines, Father Orlando Tatel’s first visit to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was on a mission appeal for his newly formed diocese. He later found that his mission was here, and for 33 years he served in archdiocesan parishes.

Father Tatel died Aug. 15 at age 88 in the Philippines following an illness. He was remembered by those who ministered with him for his dedication, humility and flexibility in adapting to a new culture and climate.

this year’s orientation. Pat Millea, a speaker and former youth minister at Our Lady of Grace in Edina, St. Michael in Prior Lake and St. Joseph in West St. Paul, gave a presentation on mental health and how to address it on Aug. 19. He and his wife, Kenna, co-founded the Martin Center for Integration, an organization that provides counseling and training presentations on mental health and spiritual needs.

Pat Millea said everything the Martin Center does — clinical practice, consulting, podcasts — is directed toward helping people be fully alive.

However, Millea warned against the “messiah complex,” in which someone may desire to be a savior to others. To counter this, Millea told youth formators and ministers to be the ones who lower people through the roof of the house rather than trying to be the one who heals. It’s important, Millea said, to have humility when working with someone with a mental health issue.

The training and future summits, Hasegawa said, allow ministers and formators to reconnect with people who understand them. Throughout the orientation, presentations and knowledge were given by veteran ministers and formators. During training on Aug. 19, a panel of eight ministers and formators answered questions, including Joe Schiltz, youth minister at St. Therese in Deephaven.

“Hopefully I can give some insights or some ideas that’ll help other people,” Schiltz said after the panel discussion. “I myself just benefit from being surrounded by colleagues, by knowing I’m not alone, by hearing other

NEW FACES CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

was the mission field for Father Tatel of the Philippines

“One of the things I remember of Father Orlando is that this is a man whose roots and connections were in the Philippines and he chose to come and serve a rural community in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis,” said Father Kevin Clinton, who served as pastor of St. Wenceslaus in New Prague during Father Tatel’s tenure as pastor from 2002 to 2015 at the nearby parishes of St. Patrick in Jordan and St. Catherine in Spring Lake. (St. Catherine is now an oratory parish of St. Patrick).

“That cultural transition from the Philippines to the United States is very

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difficult,” added Father Clinton, now retired and serving as a weekend assistant at St. Thomas Becket in Eagan.

Father Tatel heard a call to the priesthood at age 7, after visiting a priest with his aunt and becoming an altar server in the Philippine island region of Catanduanes, according to a newsletter article produced by St. Peter in North St. Paul, where he served in the early 2000s.

According to the article, Father Tatel was ordained a priest in 1965 and was sent by his bishop to parishes in the United States and Canada to seek financial assistance for his impoverished Diocese of Virac, which was established in 1974. His bishop later asked him to remain in Minnesota to serve in the archdiocese, where he served

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as an associate pastor of St. Helena in Minneapolis from 1982 to 1991, and from 1990 to 1992 as a chaplain at the nearby VA Medical Center.

Assignments as a parochial vicar followed from 1991 to 2001, first at St. Margaret Mary in Golden Valley and then Blessed Sacrament and St. Columba, both in St. Paul.

After Father Tatel was incardinated into the archdiocese in 2001, he served nearly two years as parochial vicar of St. Peter in North St. Paul before beginning his final archdiocesan assignment in Jordan and Spring Lake.

Father Tatel retired in 2015 and returned to the Philippines. Pat Schroeder, a member of St. Catherine in Spring Lake, recalled visiting Father Tatel and meeting his family in his hometown while she was on a business trip to the Philippines.

She noted his humility as pastor: “He didn’t want people to think that he was just bringing his personality to the table,” she said. “He was following the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (guidelines for celebration of the Mass) and it wasn’t about him.”

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While serving in archdiocesan parishes, Father Tatel connected regularly with fellow Filipinos by presiding at monthly Masses for the community at Blessed Sacrament. The Masses, followed by dinner, are now held the last Sunday of each month at Guardian Angels in Oakdale.

Father Tatel’s funeral Mass was Aug. 20 at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, also known as Virac Cathedral, in Virac, the capital of the province of Catanduanes. In a post on Facebook, officials at the cathedral wrote, in part: “May Father Orlando’s exemplary life of faith, love, and service inspire us to live with greater purpose and devotion. May you rest in peace, Rev. Fr. Orlando G. Tatel.”

FATHER ORLANDO TATEL

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT | JOSH MCGOVERN

At left, Ellie Shaw, coordinator of middle school youth ministry at St. John the Baptist in New Brighton, prays during a praise and worship session at a Youth Discipleship and Faith Formation orientation Aug. 18-19 in St. Joseph Hall at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center (ACC) in St. Paul.

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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

ideas or hearing that other people are also struggling. The community aspect is so important to keeping youth ministers strong and not burned out. If my presence here can add a little drop in that bucket, then I’m happy to do it.”

To Hasegawa and others, youth ministry and faith formation is more than a job. It’s a calling, and it has to be, Hasegawa said.

“It’s like when you have a conversion and you want to do something about it. A lot of people go on mission trips, and there are a lot of people who feed the homeless, and I think there (are) some people that are called to youth ministry,” Hasegawa said. “You see these youth having conversions and meeting the Lord and growing in their relationship with the Lord, and that’s really fruitful and beautiful, too,” she said. “It’s the perfect balance of cross and resurrection. You have hardships, but then you also have the glories.”

During Mass in the ACC chapel, Bishop Michael Izen commissioned the formators and ministers to go out into the local Church and continue to evangelize.

“Today, we ask God to bless our brothers and sisters who have declared their willingness to serve the Church,” Bishop Izen said. “Lord God, in your loving kindness, you sent your son to be our shepherd and guide. Continue to send workers into your vineyard to sustain and direct your people. Bless these chosen sons and daughters. Let your spirit uphold them always as they take up the responsibilities among the youth of their parish.”

Young Cathedral parishioner honored with NCCW Golden Rose award

By Josh McGovern

The

Catholic Spirit

Micaela Verdeja, 17, one of seven girls from Minnesota who won the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women (ACCW) Golden Rose award for their deaneries, said she is devoted to St. Thérèse of Lisieux and her “little way,” a spiritual path along which the saint encourages: “Do little things with great love.”

A member of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Verdeja said she humbly serves others not for the attention, but “because it’s the right thing to do.” When she submitted her documents to the National Council of Catholic Women’s (NCCW) Golden Rose award — a competition in its third year that includes girls from around the country — Verdeja didn’t know if she even wanted the award. She was encouraged by her mother, Amelia.

“Micki is shy,” Amelia Verdeja said. “It’s the first thing anyone says when they meet her. I always tell her, ‘Don’t hide your light under a bushel.’ God is working, and it’s God’s timing for her to be in the spotlight to shine the light of Christ.”

By chance, Micaela Verdeja missed the deadline for submitting her materials for the national competition. She sent the required letter of recommendation after the cutoff date. As time passed, she didn’t

think the award could come her way. Then the call came one Wednesday informing her that she’d won.

Micaela Verdeja, who was honored with the ACCW Golden Rose award for her devout faith, said the process has been a gift from God and is bigger than her. She accepted the national award Aug. 22 in Orlando, Florida, at the annual NCCW Convention.

After Micaela Verdeja accepted the two prizes, Amelia Verdeja encouraged her daughter to remain humble and to “keep her eye on the prize,” which is heaven. Amelia and her daughter hope to live out their lives in ways that glorify God. Micaela Verdeja said she cannot separate faith from herself.

“Faith helps me conduct myself through the day,” she said. “Maybe my behavior will represent the Church well.”

Being a young girl and a practicing Catholic in a public high school in the Twin Cities has been difficult for Micaela Verdeja, but she holds onto her faith by leaning on Church traditions such as veiling during Mass and helping those less fortunate. Helping the most vulnerable people in the world is a passion for the incoming senior. She is also a volunteer mentor for her school’s LINK Program, which assigns mentors to incoming freshmen.

“I came to Eagan from a small private Catholic school, and I didn’t know if I’d make friends. … I hope to make their days easier than mine. And I love watching them grow,” Micaela Verdeja said. “Praising God in good times is easy. In high school, there are so many stresses. But I know God has my life in his hands. I will go where he wills. It’s hard to surrender, but if I do, he takes away my worry.”

At the Cathedral, Micaela Verdeja noticed a need for a youth group for people after confirmation but before the general age of young adulthood. She wrote an email to Father Joseph Johnson, rector and pastor of the Cathedral, but hesitated and didn’t know if she wanted to send it. Despite being nervous, Micaela Verdeja hit send and let her voice be heard.

“I can’t say no to the Holy Spirit,” she said.

Father Johnson said he’d been thinking about this underrepresented group, too, and there were many interested parents. While the youth group is still taking shape, Micaela Verdeja was able to get it moving. Micaela Verdeja is in training to become the youngest sacristan in the archdiocese, after asking staff at the Cathedral if they needed help. She had already helped run the livestream for Masses. Now, she said, she pops in on Sundays to see if anyone needs help, but she is working to serve her first Mass by herself as a sacristan.

Memorial gathering planned for Father Johnson

By Josh McGovern

The Catholic Spirit

A gathering to remember Father Lawrence “Larry” Johnson will be held at 10 a.m. Sept. 6 at his gravesite at Calvary Cemetery in Anoka, said Father Johnson’s brother, Howard Johnson.

Father Johnson, 76, was killed on Aug. 1, 2024, in St. Paul. Archbishop Bernard Hebda presided at Father Johnson’s funeral Mass last year, but plans for cremation have been difficult because police investigating Father Johnson’s death have not released his body, his brother said.

“He’ll be cremated, and he’ll be in the same site as our parents,” Johnson said. “That was his wish.”

Johnson said his brother was a good cook and a traveler. He said his brother loved cruises.

“That was his thing, to go on a cruise,” Johnson said. “He (Father Johnson) told me once, ‘I should be a chaplain on a ship.’”

Johnson said his brother wouldn’t tell anyone on the cruise what he did for a living until the last night, when he would wear his priestly collar. This way, Johnson said, Father Johnson hoped he wouldn’t “cramp anyone’s style.”

Johnson said anyone who wants to attend will be welcome at the Sept. 6 gathering. In the past year, he’s received letters from people who knew his brother, and their kind words have been a great comfort. He said he and his family have forgiven Nathan Wondra for the incident.

A judge ruled that Wondra, 33, caused Father Johnson’s death but is not guilty by reason of mental illness or cognitive impairment, according to a court

document filed Aug. 6. The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office is petitioning for a civil commitment, the court document stated.

“That’s what we were hoping for, because that way he wouldn’t just sit in jail,” Johnson said. “He can get some help at a mental institution. … We didn’t want the person just to sit there and

not get any help.”

Father Johnson was ordained in 1975 and served at a number of parishes in the archdiocese: Guardian Angels in Chaska (2000-2007), St. Martin and St. Walburga both in Rogers (1997-2000), St. John the Evangelist in Hopkins (1994-1996), St. Joseph in Red Wing (19921994), Presentation of Mary

in Maplewood (1988-1992), St. Gregory the Great in North Branch and Sacred Heart in Rush City (1985-1988), Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Minneapolis (19841985), St. Scholastica in Heidelberg (19811984), St. Wenceslaus in New Prague (1980-1984), Ascension in Minneapolis (1977-1980) and Nativity of the Blessed Virgin in Bloomington (1975-1977).

Rebecca Omastiak of The Catholic Spirit contributed to this report.

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Local pilgrimages to focus on Catholics’ call to care for creation

By Mary Hoff For The Catholic Spirit

Catholics often think of pilgrimages as long-distance journeys to shrines or other noteworthy sacred spaces. But across the United States — including in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis — hundreds of Catholics will make pilgrimages next month to special places that are not far away at all: The natural world in their own neighborhoods.

Known as Pilgrimages of Hope for Creation, these prayerful walks are taking place in recognition of a convergence of three major events in the Church: the designation of 2025 as a Jubilee Year for the Church; the 10th anniversary of “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home,” Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical on the environment; and the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ Canticle of the Creatures.

The Catholic Church has a longstanding tradition of encouraging pilgrimages during Jubilee years, combining physical movement with spiritual growth. Building on this Jubilee’s theme of Pilgrims of Hope, Pilgrimages of Hope for Creation invite participants to ponder their relationship with the created world as they experience it in real time.

“Most pilgrimages in the past have been from one holy space to another, one church to another, or one Stations of the Cross, or a grotto, or something,” said School Sister of Notre Dame Kathleen Storms, who is leading efforts to coordinate pilgrimages for the Laudato Si’ Movement Minnesota Chapter. “And we said, you know, what’s the most holy of what we have? And it is Earth.”

The Minnesota pilgrimages are part of a nationwide initiative involving nearly two dozen organizations, including the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Health Association of the United States, Catholic Climate Covenant and the Laudato Si’ Movement. In the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Laudato Si’ Movement Minnesota Chapter is taking the lead on coordinating and supporting pilgrimage planners throughout Minnesota. The chapter was created in 2023 as an expansion of the Care for Creation Team that started in the archdiocese in 2019 with support from the Center for Mission, which supports the missionary outreach of the archdiocese. The chapter gathers Catholics from around the state to advocate for and practice care for creation.

“We see (pilgrimages) as one of the rituals that are part of our tradition that we need to be integrating into our care of creation and our celebrating the Jubilee Year of Hope,” said Ann Mongovin, a member of the chapter’s Vision Circle. “We’re excited to be part of the animating force.”

From rosary walks to river hikes

Most of the pilgrimages will take place during the Season of Creation, the period from Sept. 1 to Oct. 4 each year in which Catholics and other Christians celebrate God’s creation and acknowledge in a special way the responsibility to care for it and for each other.

Given Minnesota’s biggest claim to fame, it’s not surprising that many of the pilgrimages will theme around water. St. Timothy in Blaine, for instance, is planning a pilgrimage walk Sept. 27 at Coon Rapids Dam. The event will include traditional Catholic practices such as praying

School Sister of Notre Dame Kathleen Storms, who is leading efforts to coordinate pilgrimages for the Laudato Si’ Movement Minnesota Chapter, works from her West St. Paul home Aug. 25 as she helps prepare for upcoming pilgrimages.

a litany and a rosary. In addition, planners hope to have a naturalist talk about the importance of the Mississippi River — which Washington, D.C.-based American Rivers recently designated as the most endangered river in the U.S. due to management changes — and explore opportunities to help protect the river.

Pilgrimage organizer Cindy Novak, senior pastoral associate for life and learning at St. Timothy, said the event aligns well with what parishioners have discerned by studying Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical.

“Everyone has been impressed with this idea of ecological conversion,” she said. “Our care for creation has to be grounded in our understanding of our connection with God, that all creation reveals God to us. We need to listen to creation.”

Anne Attea, program minister for the Center for Spirituality and Social Justice at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, is coordinating an interfaith pilgrimage walk Sept. 19 from Our Lady of Victory Chapel on campus to the nearby Mississippi River. There, participants will reflect on humans’ relationship with water and Catholics’ call to be stewards of the Earth. Afterward, pilgrims will return to the chapel, where they will explore ways to respond to that call.

“The idea is to bring folks together and raise awareness of our interrelatedness, especially in this year of hope — especially in this year focusing on creation,” Attea said.

In Prior Lake, St. Michael and the Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center have invited a member of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community to speak to pilgrims as they gather at Spring Lake Park for prayer and song before traveling to the retreat center for a children’s program and social time.

“Pope Francis called the Church to be pilgrims of hope for creation, so this is a response to that,” said Secular Franciscans’ Our Lady of Consolation Fraternity minister Mary Higgins, who is organizing the event. “It just seems like this is the moment to do something like this.”

Deep roots, abundant branches

The roots of the Catholic call to steward creation stretches back through the centuries. In the 1200s, St. Francis of Assisi focused attention on the natural world with his

MORE INFORMATION

Laudato Si’ Minnesota Chapter has abundant resources to help hold a pilgrimage. Contact Sister Kathleen Storms at kstorms@ssndcp.org or 651-238-8122.

To learn more about integrating the Catholic faith with care for creation, go to chapter.laudatosimovement.org/northamerica-minnesota or email minnesota@lsmchapter.org.

justice as an “urgent need,” noting that in “a world where the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters are the first to suffer the devastating effects of climate change, deforestation and pollution, care for creation becomes an expression of our faith and humanity.”

Pilgrimage leaders underscore the spiritual dimensions of creation care.

canticle, which praises God by shining light on various elements of creation.

Focus within the Catholic Church on caring for creation and each other has grown in recent years. In the 1970s, Blessed Pope Paul VI called out environmental degradation as part of “a wide-ranging social problem which concerns the entire human family.” In 2001, St. John Paul II noted that by exploiting the Earth, “humanity has disappointed God’s expectations” and expressed support for an “ecological conversion” to reestablish human harmony with nature. Pope Benedict XVI also encouraged greater care for the environment.

And Pope Francis, in both “Laudato Si’” and his 2023 apostolic exhortation “Laudate Deum,” described in detail how humans have harmed the Earth and called on Catholics to renew their commitment to caring for creation and for each other.

Today, Pope Leo XIV continues the call. In a June message, he referred to environmental

“It’s not just a political issue,” Novak said. “Conserve water, clean up pollution — that’s part of caring for creation, but it’s really deeper. It’s like hurting an aspect of God to not care for creation.”

To honor and care

Organizers hope the pilgrimages will help Catholics better appreciate the gift of creation and be inspired to do what they can to take care of it.

“We’re doing this to honor, but we’re also doing it to say we honor — but we also take care of — our common home,” Sister Kathleen said. “we’re hoping that people will have a greater sense of what the Church teaches about our connection to our common home. … that it’s ours to bring peace and interconnectedness and relationship with all of what is.”

Hoff is a member of the planning committee for a care of creation pilgrimage being hosted by St. Mary of the Lake in White Bear Lake and St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi.

PILGRIMAGES OF HOPE FOR CREATION

Lumen Christi, St. Paul

Sept. 6, after parish block party and 4:30 p.m. Mass

Start: Urban Academy, 1668 Montreal Ave.

Contact: Margaret George, margaretgeorge11@gmail.com

St. Frances Cabrini / St. Albert the Great, Minneapolis

Sept. 13, 10 a.m.-noon

Start: St. Frances Cabrini, 1500 Franklin Ave. SE, Minneapolis

Contact: Suzanne Reedy, smreedy91@gmail.com

St. Catherine University / Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet

Sept. 19, 3-5 p.m.

Start: St. Catherine University, 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul

Contact: Anne Attea, amattea428@stkate.edu or Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet Sharon Howell, smhowell502@stkate.edu

St. Mary of the Lake / St. Jude of the Lake, White Bear Lake

Sept. 14, 1-3 p.m.

Start: Tamarack Nature Center, White Bear Township, 5287 Otter Lake Road

Contact: Kathryn Lien, klien@stmarys-wbl.org

St. Michael, Prior Lake / Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center

Sept. 21, 2-4 p.m.

Start: Spring Lake Regional Park, Prior Lake, 15851 Skuya Drive NW

Contact: Mary Higgins, mjgh5174@gmail.com

St. Timothy, Blaine

Sept. 27, 9 a.m. (program starts at 10 a.m.)

Start: Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park, 9750 Egret Blvd. NW

Contact: Cindy Novak, cnovak@churchofsttimothy.com

St. Joseph, Red Wing

Date: Oct. 5, 1–4 p.m.

Start: Colvill Park, Red Wing, 507 Nymphara Lane

Contact: Ann Wildenborg, parish@stjosephredwing.org

Lumen Christi / Gichitwaa Kateri

Details to come

Pax Christi, Eden Prairie

Details to come

Editor’s note: Pilgrimage site details are as of press time.

JOSH MCGOVERN | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

HEADLINES

Ahead of canonization, a new statue of Blessed Carlo Acutis is unveiled in Assisi. A new bronze statue of Blessed Carlo Acutis has been unveiled in Assisi, sending a powerful message that the Catholic Church is young, vibrant and deeply relevant today. The 11-foot sculpture, created by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz, now stands outside the Shrine of the Renunciation at the Church of St. Mary Major, where the 15-year-old “millennial saint” is buried. Titled “St. Carlo at the Cross,” it depicts Blessed Acutis kneeling beside Christ crucified, holding a laptop that displays a chalice and paten a nod to the teen’s love of technology and his online catalog of Eucharistic miracles. Schmalz said the work links Christ’s cross, Blessed Acutis and modern tech. These “three essential elements,” he said, “celebrate the story of this modern saint.” Jeans, sweatshirt and backpack replace saintly robes, while a sling on his bag recalls David and Goliath symbolizing how Blessed Acutis used technology to challenge a culture that often trivializes faith. Carlo Acutis will be canonized Sept. 7 by Pope Leo XIV.

Land transfer including Indigenous sacred site is blocked again; President Trump plans an appeal. A federal appeals court temporarily blocked Aug. 18 a federal land transfer to a copper mining giant that would lead to the destruction of a site considered sacred by Indigenous peoples. President Donald Trump said Aug. 19 his administration would continue to pursue that land transfer. In an Aug. 18 temporary restraining order, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the transfer of a piece of land containing Oak Flat in Tonto National Forest to Resolution Copper, a foreign-owned mining company, while the lawsuit proceeds. In May, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from a coalition of Western Apache people, along with other Native American and non-Indigenous supporters, that sought to protect their sacred site at Oak Flat, known by the Apache as Chi’chil Bildagoteel. Several of the group’s supporters from a range of religious organizations, including the U.S. Catholic bishops and the Knights of Columbus, argued the case had implications for the scope of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The new ruling came in a suit from groups challenging the land exchange on environmental grounds, including the San Carlos Apache people and other Native American nations.

As numbers decline and communities age, women religious are urged to discern their “emerging future.” Several hundred Catholic sisters gathered in Atlanta Aug. 12-15 for the annual assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. The meeting drew elected leaders of congregations representing about two-thirds of all women religious in the country. With the theme Hope Unbroken: Journeying in God’s Promise, the sisters reflected on how to navigate the challenges facing religious life today. Sister Kathy Brazda, LCWR’s outgoing president, acknowledged the steep decline in their numbers from nearly 80,000 sisters in 2000 to around 35,000 today, according to Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. Many congregations are aging, merging and stepping back from long-standing ministries. But Sister Kathy encouraged attendees to embrace this moment as a call from God. “Like it or not, we have been chosen ... to be the people for these times,” she told the group. Among the speakers was Jesuit Father James Martin, a bestselling author and Vatican consultor, who acknowledged the mix of emotions faced by sisters of “joy and hope and griefs and anxieties” as they look to the future. He encouraged them to trust like Lazarus, listening for the one “who was calling him.”

Pope’s brother, friends in the Chicago area will mark the pontiff’s 70th birthday. Pope Leo XIV turns 70 Sept. 14, and while the milestone will be marked quietly by loved ones in his native Chicago area, past celebrations were anything but

low-key. Augustinian Father John Lydon, retired president of Catholic University of Trujillo, Peru, recalls weeklong birthday festivities during the future pope’s missionary years in Peru. “Everybody wanted to celebrate him,” Father Lydon said, describing how then-Father Robert Prevost made time for each community he served. Back home, Pope Leo’s childhood birthday celebrations were far more subdued, at least according to his brother John Prevost of New Lenox, a southwest Chicago suburb. Prevost, 71, said from what he remembered, “it was just regular, I assume, what everyone else did. You get a cake, you open a present, and then you went to bed.” He said the cake was certain to have been angel food cake, but “it didn’t (even) have to be his birthday. That was his favorite: angel food cake. To this day, even.” This year, John and close family friends plan to honor the pope quietly over a meal at Aurelio’s Pizza in Homewood, a spot the pope visited before his election. John said his brother turning 70 is “a big milestone” among many this past year.

Nicaraguan governor seizes Catholic school amid claims it is site of past crimes. Nicaragua’s

ruling Sandinista regime has seized a prominent Catholic school, claiming without proof that it had operated a “torture” center during past protests and renaming the education facility for a slain partisan. The Colegio San José de Jinotepe, a project of the Congregation of the Josephine Sisters, was “transferred to the state” on Aug. 12, according to Co-President Rosario Murillo. The school was renamed “Héroe Bismarck Martínez,” who supporters of the Sandinista regime claim was tortured and murdered in Jinotepe during the protests of 2018, when Nicaraguans took to the streets and demanded the ouster of then-President Daniel Ortega now co-president with his wife, Murillo. The seizure of the Colegio San José de Jinotepe continued the Sandinista regime’s crackdown on the Catholic Church.

Federal resettlement funding has ended, but U.S. Catholic Charities agencies continue to serve. Since 1980, over 3 million refugees have been welcomed to the U.S. through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, or USRAP. But that changed on Jan. 20, when President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Realigning the

United States Refugee Admissions Program.” The order effectively paused all refugee admissions and suspended federal funding impacting Catholic Charities agencies nationwide. The fallout has been significant, leading to staff layoffs. But “we’re still surviving,” said Katie Dillon, communications manager at Commonwealth Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. The agency received 350 refugees to resettle after the funding cut, and staff had to figure out how to assist them. Through donors, board members, different community groups, faith groups, “we were able to keep those 350 people housed,” and get them resources, she said. Matt Smith, chief development officer of Catholic Charities of Fort Wayne and South Bend, Indiana, said the agency is exploring funding options. There is still some state funding available for refugees already living in Indiana. The shock of the funding being suspended “is going to last for quite some time,” said Paul Propson, CEO of Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan, but his agency forges ahead. CNS

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Ignatian Volunteer Corps links service with spiritual growth

By Maura Keller For The Catholic Spirit

The Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC) is an organization comprised of senior volunteers committed to bringing Christ’s love into their own lives and the people they serve.

At the heart of IVC is a reflection process that is analytical and spiritual — guiding volunteers in the ongoing search for the presence of the living God while serving the needs of others, several people involved in the corps in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis said.

“IVC invites mature individuals to serve people who are poor, work toward a more just society and deepen their Christian faith through the Ignatian tradition,” said Steve Hawkins, director of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps Twin Cities. “At its heart, this charism is about finding Christ in all people and all circumstances — and responding with compassion, justice and love.”

Headquartered in Baltimore, IVC was founded in September 1995 by two Jesuit priests, Father Jim Conroy and Father Charlie Costello. Their vision was simple: Create a program for retired and semi-retired adults, ages 50 and over, with two central components: direct service to the poor and intentional reflection on that service and ministry to others.

From an initial group of two Jesuit directors and 11 lay volunteers, IVC has grown into a national network of 20 regional chapters, with nearly 600 volunteers, also known as IVC Service Corp Members (SCM), serving at more than 300 nonprofit partner agencies. The Twin Cities chapter of IVC was established in 2002.

From September through June, Ignatian volunteers dedicate one or two days each week to support nonprofits that serve marginalized communities, contributing in diverse ways — offering health care, teaching, social work, job training and direct service to those in need.

“Many also provide coaching to nonprofit leaders, as well as expertise in finance, human resources, administration and fundraising,” Hawkins said. “In every role, SCMs help increase the capacity and impact of the organizations they serve.” Each service site partner pays an annual “partnership fee” for each Ignatian volunteer to support and sustain the presence of IVC in their region.

IVC sustains its members through a process of reflection rooted in the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. This involves having spiritual conversations with others, praying, reading, maintaining a journal, participating in group reflection and attending various short retreats each year.

Each month, volunteers gather as a community to share their experiences, pray and reflect. Retreats or days of reflection offer additional opportunities for community reflection, prayer and support. Volunteers seek God’s presence in every encounter and bring their experiences back to the community, Hawkins said.

“While rooted in Catholic tradition, Ignatian spirituality is ecumenical — welcoming people of all Christian denominations and even other faith traditions,” Hawkins said. “Its focus on finding God in all aspects of life, along with its emphasis on personal discernment and spiritual growth, resonates with individuals from many backgrounds.”

IVC and ministry

While IVC is managed by the national staff office in Baltimore, regional directors and coordinators oversee local IVC programs throughout the country. In the Twin Cities, Hawkins and his team recruit and train volunteers, work with partner agencies and organize individuals trained in Ignatian spirituality to reflect with volunteers on their service experience. They also manage day-to-day aspects such as promoting IVC, fundraising and coordinating events.

Members of IVC in the Twin Cities and volunteers across the nation are recruited and supported by IVC’s regional staff members. Volunteers typically serve two to three days a week for 10 months. Many volunteers renew their IVC commitment year after year.

Twin Cities IVC volunteers serve at partner organizations, and IVC works to match each volunteer’s talents and strengths with the needs of an organization. While volunteers’ former job experiences come into play, many volunteers also expand their horizons by embracing new opportunities that may lead to new skills. IVC volunteers are usually given two or three potential volunteer sites where they will interview. The volunteer and the partner service site discern if it is the best match for both.

After joining IVC, volunteers are assigned an IVC spiritual reflector among laypersons, vowed religious and priests who have experience in Ignatian spirituality. Each spiritual reflector meets monthly with individual Ignatian volunteers to talk about the service work and spiritual journeys that grow out of that work.

Casa Guadalupana

Casa Guadalupana in St. Paul offers a safe and supportive home for individuals and families who have fled their homelands due to war or persecution and are seeking asylum in the United States. The mission is to affirm each person’s dignity and help them find safety and stability. IVC volunteers serve as mentors, assisting asylum seekers with applications, helping them learn about American culture and guiding them through daily challenges such as health care and transportation.

“Just as importantly, they listen, encourage, and walk alongside these families as they pursue their hopes and dreams,” Hawkins said.

Paul Godlewski said he first became aware of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps 30 years ago, while he was on his first retreat at the Demontreville Jesuit Retreat House in Lake Elmo. Some of his fellow retreatants were active members of IVC.

“As I approached retirement, the IVC became an attractive organization for me to consider for post-retirement volunteer work,” Godlewski said. “Also, my parish of St. Thomas More in St. Paul is the only Jesuit parish in Minnesota and the Jesuit priests always mentioned IVC as a potential worthwhile organization to consider in retirement, especially for someone like me who has always been active in volunteer activities throughout my adult life.”

Godlewski also participated in “The Next Chapter” program at The University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, a six-month, guided journey using principles of Ignatian spirituality to assist participants in discerning what God might be calling them to in their

retirement. IVC was presented as one of many options for participants of the program to consider for their post-retirement active engagement goals.

A retired personal injury trial lawyer of 50 years who retired in December 2023, Godlewski said he was active throughout his career on committees for the Minnesota Association for Justice. He served on parish councils, taught religion classes and was active in the Knights of Columbus.

At his parish, Godlewski is a Eucharistic minister, lector and usher. He volunteers on Fridays at Casa Guadalupana and participates in other IVC activities.

“Helping others and working with likeminded volunteers and organizations is a very enriching and humbling experience,” Godlewski said. “Volunteering without the expectation of any compensation is a spiritual blessing and grace that brings peace of mind in what I hope is what God expects of me.”

For Godlewski, 78, one of the most impactful components of his IVC volunteer role is Casa residents’ appreciation — and their special gifts to him.

“How they work hard to become successful and productive citizens of our country is

so impressive to me that I realize they are giving to me so much more than I could ever give to them,” Godlewski said. “There is a gratification that in some small way I am responding to what God expects of me — and the grace of peace of mind and tranquility of heart and spirit that I am using my gifts and talents to the greater glory of God: AMDG!” (Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam, which translates to “For the Greater Glory of God.” It is a motto widely associated with the Jesuits and the broader Ignatian tradition in the Church.)

For Godlewski, his experience as an attorney helped make his placement at Casa Guadalupana the ideal fit.

“Steve Hawkins is very diligent in matching skill sets for IVC volunteers,” Godlewski said. “In my case, it was a match made in heaven. I was able to immediately become deeply involved in the residential community of Casa Guadalupana,” Godlewski said.

“The director, Dave Haley, and his board and trustees are now considering a careful expansion of their vision and mission for other asylum residential communities like Casa. I plan to remain involved with the ongoing expansion of the mission. There is no model for what they have done from their

Volunteer Paul Godlewski of Ignatian Volunteer Corps helps a resident at Casa Guadalupana in St. Paul Aug. 22.

hearts and beliefs, no mega-corporation or other incentives. Dave and his board and trustees are the real deal — they walk the walk and can talk the talk with no ulterior motives, just love for the immigrants and asylum seekers.”

Joseph Hammell also first learned about IVC several years before he retired, through information pamphlets that were available at Demontreville.

“I have been attending retreats at Demontreville for several years — a retreat at Demontreville is a great way to develop a more grounded life and a closer, intimate relationship with our loving God,” Hammell said. “IVC seemed like an excellent way to have a meaningful, purposeful life in retirement, drawing closer to God with prayer, community and service.”

Hammell, 64, began volunteering at Casa Guadalupana soon after joining IVC in January 2022. Before retiring, he was an attorney in private practice.

Generally, he volunteers at Casa two days a week for six hours a day, although occasionally he serves longer hours or additional days when there is a particular need.

“The work we volunteers do at Casa is diverse and interesting, essentially helping our residents with whatever needs they may have to the extent we are able, and if we cannot help, then lining them up with other needed resources,” Hammell said.

Hammel said a partial list of things he has done include helping residents find a lawyer and gathering information, documents and statements needed for their immigration cases. He also has helped prepare resumes, job applications and cover letters; prepare and file tax returns; open bank accounts; practice driving for the driver’s test to obtain a license; buy a car and obtain auto insurance; drive residents to school, medical appointments, job applications and various other appointments; and choose a cell phone plan.

“Of course, another important role we play is simply to be present at the house, available to talk with residents about any issues or questions they may have,” said Hammell, who belongs to the Basilica of St. Mary and St. Olaf, both in downtown Minneapolis.

“For me, the most enjoyable and impactful part of serving at Casa has been the privilege and blessing to become friends with and

part of the families at Casa,” Hammell said. “I have attended multiple weddings, baby showers, birthdays and other celebrations of life. We have done joyous things together, like holiday celebrations and fun excursions, such as a day at the lake. It is (having) the personal connections with both residents and other volunteers.”

As retired attorneys, Godlewski and Hammell also help the IVC Twin Cities team with issues that may emerge. Haley said he turns to Hammel and Godlewski for help in his role as board chair, and to help Casa’s current director, School Sister of Notre Dame Stephanie Spandl, as they wrestle with challenges that might arise with any family at Casa.

“They also provide a caring and involved presence that means the world to individuals and families seeking asylum,” Haley said. “Joe and Paul have expanded the number of items we can support each family with. They provide flexibility and more hours to spend in accompanying everyone as they continue building their new lives in Minnesota. They come with a caring approach that reassures people who have entered a new world. This work is a labor of hope and supporting some

THE IGNATIAN TRADITION

Ignatian spirituality is best summed up in one phrase “Finding God in all things,” not just in explicitly religious situations or activities.

• Sees life and the universe as a gift, calling forth wonder and gratitude.

• Gives ample scope to imagination and emotion as well as intellect.

• Cultivates critical awareness of personal and social evil, but points to God’s love as more powerful than any evil.

• Stresses freedom, need for discernment and responsible action.

• Empowers people to become leaders in service, “men and women for others,” building a more just and humane world.

amazing individuals who have a lot of skills and resilience even after their lives have been violently disrupted.”

Looking ahead, Hammell said he is excited about his role in IVC and volunteering at Casa, particularly in helping Casa residents as they seek asylum in the United States. He also looks forward to seeing residents develop the foundation they need to leave Casa and live independent and successful lives in the United States. Finally, he’s eager to meet and work with new residents who come to Casa. “I look forward to Casa’s ability to expand the number of people it can serve and the range of services it can provide through the generous contributions of time and treasure by the many existing and future friends and supporters of Casa,” Hammell said. “I also look forward to growing in my ability to see God in my brothers and sisters and better appreciate the blessing it is to be able to serve and work with them. Jesus teaches that we are all God’s children, one family, and that we should be united in love. Being privileged to serve at Casa has given deeper meaning to this vital message and an excellent opportunity to practice and improve on my efforts to live out this essential truth.”

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Joe Hammell, a retired attorney and volunteer with Ignatian Volunteer Corps, spends time with a family at Casa Guadalupana.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Dave Haley, right, board chair of Casa Guadalupana, talks with Andre, a resident.

FAITH+CULTURE

‘You

just have to tell them your story’

By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit

At 65, Ed Koerner is entering a new season: newly retired, freshly energized and just back from a twoweek trip to Italy gifted by his son. “I feel like I’m just beginning,” said the lifelong Catholic, who attends St. Edward, a half-mile from his Bloomington home. He spent nearly 25 years as executive director of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis one of many ways he’s lived out his deep conviction that “it’s our privilege to serve the poor, not our right.”

Q What drew you to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul?

A It was familiar. My dad was a member growing up in Chicago. I have vivid memories of packing up the wagon and taking food and other items downtown to donate. When I saw SVDP on my parish’s list of ministries, it was easy to check the box. Once I got involved, it just fit. I’m a giver.

Q What is it about St. Vincent that still speaks to you?

A What he taught is still relevant 500 years later. He said it’s our privilege to serve the poor, and he meant it. The poor don’t want your cast-off stuff — they want your love. That’s not always an easy gift to give, but once you do and begin to see the transformation in people, it’s life-changing. He also said the poor don’t lack for resources. There are plenty of resources. What they lack is organization — gathering them and delivering them in the most loving way.

Q How did your Catholic faith shape your work?

A It’s everything. We’re actually a prayer group. Every SVDP meeting starts with prayer and Gospel reflection. That’s how we take our marching orders. Over time, I became more aware of what the Gospel is really saying, especially about serving the poor, because of the formation I received in the Society.

Q You led the Society through some major upheaval. What stands out to you about the pandemic years?

A In 2020, right before COVID shutdowns began, I was working with the Minneapolis Police Department on a food giveaway. We brought two-and-a-half truckloads of food to their special operations center. Officers in training, community engagement officers — we were all packing food together. I remember one officer asking a man, “Can I get you some beef or chicken with your bag of dried goods?” That’s how it should be: human to human. No badge, just people. It was beautiful.

Then everything shut down. But by the grace of God, we had already built infrastructure. At the height of COVID and the George Floyd aftermath, we were feeding 7,000 to 10,000 people a week. I never imagined that was possible. We just put it in God’s hands and trusted he would provide.

Q Have you always had that kind of trust?

A No. In 2015, I started inviting 30 other nonprofits over to feed them and was losing sleep wondering where the food would come from. A friend in Green Bay told me, “Jesus will never send you more people to feed than food he will provide.” Once I looked at it that way, everything changed.

Q What’s the biggest misconception about poverty?

A That poor people are lazy. If you’ve ever been poor, you know surviving is hard work. People are often working two or three jobs just to keep their head at water level. Another one I hear is: “What’s wrong with that person?” There’s nothing wrong with them. They’re just like you and me. Made in the image of God. Everyone has a talent. Even if it’s baking great chocolate chip cookies, that’s a talent.

Q How do you get people to see that?

A Storytelling. Stories are simple and relatable.

I didn’t understand divine providence until I started seeing it in action.

One story I love to tell: Down in Faribault, we turned an old school into a service center. One night, the volunteer director was locking up when a young couple pulled in. The woman was visibly pregnant. They needed food. Of course, we helped. As he was loading the car, the man asked, “You don’t happen to have any fans, do you? It’s unbearably hot in our apartment.” At that exact moment, a pickup pulled into the lot with three air conditioners in the back. The man not only donated them, he followed the couple home and installed one. That wasn’t a coincidence. That was God. We see that kind of thing all the time.

Q It must be great to witness that generosity again and again.

A It has restored my faith in humanity. I know those helpers are out there, you just have to tell them your story. You just need to find them.

Q What are you proudest of?

A Growing the Society in the archdiocese. Starting new groups — Rochester, Brainerd, Elk River, Crystal. The more people we get involved, the more people we can help. I loved mentoring new leaders and finding ways to support people behind the scenes. I’m excited about my successor, Wayne Bugg, (who) we promoted from within. He already has 25 years with St. Vincent’s, and I’m sure he’ll be a better leader than (me).

Q How do you see the Holy Spirit at work now that you’re retired?

A It feels different. I’m starting to like it. It’s way more relaxing. It almost feels like a vacation. It doesn’t really feel like the future yet. I know I’m not going to be able to sit still. I was always up between 4:30 and 5 a.m. — my day would start a couple hours before I left home, sitting at my computer, figuring out what I had to do. Now I still wake up early, but I don’t jump out of bed. I lay there and doze back off for a few minutes. I’m out of bed by 6:30 or 6:45, which is fine.

Q What makes you feel like you’re just beginning?

A Thirty years ago, if you’d asked me if I’d make it to 65, I’d have said no way. I had substance abuse issues. But I got sober. I got my wife back — we divorced, then remarried after five years apart. It was life-changing. I feel so grateful for that second chance. Now I’m excited. I’m going to be working on the mayoral campaign of one of my son’s high school friends. I’ll knock on doors, do whatever he needs.

Q Has it helped seeing your wife navigate retirement?

A Yes. Since she retired three years ago, she’s found new purpose. She started substitute teaching in Bloomington and loved it — especially with kids who have special needs. Then she joined the Red Cross and even got deployed to Kentucky before Easter to help during a flood. Watching her rediscover what she loves helped me see that retirement isn’t the end of anything. It’s just a new chapter.

in the Ignatian tradition.

A I’m trying to listen. I once received advice to “listen to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit.” That’s what I’m trying to do now. He knows my makeup better than anyone. I just have to stay open.

Q Do you feel 65?

A Some days I feel older, like after a long day of yardwork. But then other days I don’t. Just yesterday, I had a meeting and then spent three hours in the pool with my 4-year-old granddaughter. I’ve swum more this year than the past 20 years combined. Every minute in the pool with my grandkids is time I cherish.

Q Now that you’re retired, you get to ease into your morning.

Q What have you learned about aging?

A I want to approach it with open eyes and an open mind. I want to stay connected and pay attention to what the Holy Spirit is telling me about the next phase of my life.

Q What do you know for sure?

A It’s a lot easier to be kind and love than to be nasty and mean. It doesn’t take much effort — just a little thought before you act. One of the simple truths I brought to the Society was to treat people how you want to be treated. That sounds easy, but it’s not always. You’ve got to slow down and really see the person in front of you. Everyone deserves dignity and respect

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Sister Annella Zervas: Minnesota’s first saint?

Editor’s note: Local Catholics share connections to Benedictine whose cause for canonization opens in October.

By Maria Wiering For The Catholic Spirit

In November 2015, Jayne Miller was driving in Anoka County when she started to have a heart attack. She pulled over into a parking lot and called 911, as her friend sat in shock in the passenger seat. As she started to slip into unconsciousness, she cried out to Sister Annella Zervas — a long-dead Benedictine sister she was on her way to central Minnesota to celebrate.

“We were crying out, praying, ‘Sister Annella, please help!’ … My last words were, I think, ‘Oh Sister Annella, please help me,” recalled Miller, a parishioner of Epiphany in Coon Rapids at the time. “And I passed away there, and they brought me back, in the back of an ambulance.”

She said her heart stopped and she couldn’t be revived, and for 15 minutes of the ambulance ride she was without vital signs. When Miller opened her eyes, she shocked the paramedic, who had expected to call her DOA when they arrived at the hospital, she recounted. Medical tests showed nothing wrong with her, baffling the doctor.

“I know I had a miracle,” Miller said. And she attributes it to the intercession of Sister Annella.

Miller, 65, is far from alone in crediting Sister Annella with a healing. Within a few years of her death from a debilitating skin disease in 1926, hundreds of people reported healings after praying for the religious sister’s intercession. Stories of her sanctity spread internationally, parents named daughters in her honor, and two small books were written about her suffering and holy death.

In November 2024, Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston presented Sister Annella’s story to his fellow bishops and gained their vote of support in pursuing an inquiry into a cause for Sister Annella’s beatification, calling her “an apostle of suffering for our day.”

After months of gathering information about Sister Annella — including Miller’s testimony — and the approval of the Holy See’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Bishop Cozzens plans to celebrate a Mass Oct. 9 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Crookston to officially open Sister Annella’s cause.

Should her cause progress to canonization, Sister Annella may be Minnesota’s first saint.

Sister Annella was born Anna Cordelia Zervas in Moorhead on April 7, 1900, the second of six children. Her father was a German immigrant who worked briefly as a butcher in Minneapolis before establishing a meat shop in Moorhead. There he met and married a French-Canadian woman who had considered religious life. Both were devout Catholics whose family life revolved around the local parish.

Anna was a happy girl who demonstrated spiritual maturity at an early age and made sacrifices to attend daily Mass as a young teenager. At age 15, she expressed interest in joining the Benedictine Sisters at St. Joseph, who taught at her school. That year, she entered the community’s novitiate, and in 1918 she was given the habit and religious name Sister Mary Annella.

According to an early biographer, upon learning her name, her mother remarked that there was no St. Annella. “Then I will have to be the first one,” her daughter replied.

Sister Annella was a happy sister “known for her seriousness, musical talent, sense of humor, conscientiousness, popularity, artistic

abilities, humble and childlike disposition, politeness and kindness,” according to a biography on the website of the Sister Annella Guild (sisterannella.org), which works to advance her cause for sainthood.

Sister Annella made perpetual vows in 1922 and was assigned to teach music in Bismarck, North Dakota. The following year, she began to experience several physical afflictions, including stomach pain and an excruciating skin condition that reportedly disgusted her nurses. She ultimately moved home to be cared for by her family, who sought her treatment in Minneapolis and at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, but her illness eluded long-term relief.

“Despite her severe physical suffering, which included violent chills, high temperatures, and painful attacks of itching, scratching, and weeping, her mental faculties always remained intact. The pus-like discharge from the skin disease had a sharp, biting, and decayed odor. Her frail body exfoliated between a pint and a quart a day of skin. At one point, she existed on almost no food,” according to the Guild.

Despite this, Sister Annella remained cheerful, selfless and docile to God, and understood her suffering to be redemptive. When her suffering grew intense, she would pray, “Yes, Lord, send me more pain, but give me strength to bear it!”

At one point, her desperate parents wrote to Brother (now saint) Andre Bessette, a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross in Montreal known for holiness and miraculous cures attributed to his intercession. According to the Guild, Brother Andre’s response was mysterious and profound: “She is to suffer for the whole Church.” Her biographers suggest Sister Annella may have also experienced spiritual attacks in addition to her physical pain.

Sister Annella died Aug. 14, 1926, at her childhood home, surrounded by family. Her funeral was at St. Mary in Moorhead, and her remains were transported to St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph and interred in its cemetery.

Devotion to her as a holy intercessor was immediate. In 1929, St. Paul Daily News reported of Sister Annella that “there have been hundreds of cures effected, thousands seek relief at her grave, and thousands write for information about her life.”

As years passed, however, personal accounts devolved into lore — especially at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, adjacent to the monastery’s cemetery, where stories of Sister Annella’s grave remaining free of snow in winter were circulating as early as the 1940s. But the compelling story of Sister Annella’s heroic suffering receded to a footnote in history.

Teresa McCarthy, 62, remembers hearing the legend of a nun’s snowless grave 50 years ago from her older sister, a St. Benedict student, but it was not until she took a job at Epiphany in Coon Rapids over a decade ago that she encountered Sister Annella through copies of a 1929 biography, “An Apostle of Suffering in our Day” by Father Joseph Kreuter, a Benedictine priest.

In 2018, McCarthy visited Sister Annella’s grave for the first time to pray for a friend whose husband was sick. (It was winter, and there was snow on Sister Annella’s grave.)

The experience fostered an affection for Sister Annella, and she endeavored to learn more about her.

And that led her to Patrick Norton.

A painter who lives in Avon, in northern Minnesota, Norton is hugely — and some would argue single-handedly — responsible for reviving the contemporary interest in Sister Annella that led to a cause for her

COURTESY BERNADETTE GOCKOWSKI

A portrait of Sister Annella Zervas.

ANOTHER MINNESOTA SAINT?

Sister Annella Zervas is not the only Minnesotan being examined for possible beatification and canonization. The Diocese of Duluth is discerning the opening of a cause for Msgr. Joseph Buh (1833-1922), a Slovenian missionary to northeast Minnesota.

Beginning in 1864, he established 57 parishes and later served as the diocese’s vicar general. Meanwhile, he focused special attention on Native Americans and the Iron Range’s Slovenian immigrants, for whom he established the first Slovenian newspaper in the U.S.

“His extraordinary ministry was characterized by a profound commitment to the spiritual and physical well-being of those he served,” states a biography on the Duluth Diocese’s website.

On June 9, Bishop Daniel Felton of Duluth celebrated a Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary for the “translation” of Msgr. Buh’s remains which were exhumed in summer 2024 to the cathedral’s St. Joseph side altar.

There are currently 11 canonized American saints.

canonization. He has lived his whole life with a powerful story linking him to a saint — Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity rescued him as an infant in Mumbai, India, where he may have encountered the saint herself — but he also experienced what he believes to be an encounter with Sister Annella.

In 2010, the devout Catholic was painting lampposts near a grotto in the monastery cemetery when a religious sister in a full, oldfashioned habit approached him, seemingly out of nowhere. She seemed aware of his strong Marian devotion, and they chatted as he continued to paint. Then she said goodbye. He looked over his shoulder but did not see her on any of the paths that led from the area. He thought the incident was odd, but he didn’t give it more thought at the time.

However, not long after, he was at Eucharistic adoration when he ran into a local writer who had unearthed research about Sister Annella and interest in her sainthood cause from decades prior. That reporter shared a photo of Sister Annella, and Norton recognized her large, striking blue eyes. He began learning everything he could about her and passionately took on the mission of sharing her story. He reprinted Father

Kreuter’s booklet, posted on YouTube, met with bishops, and when in Rome in 2016 for Mother Teresa’s canonization, passed a packet of information to a Vatican official who promised to get it to Pope Francis.

He also organized monthly gatherings at Sister Annella’s grave. That’s where Jayne Miller and her friend were headed when she suffered — and recovered from — her heart attack.

Those gatherings have been a source of inspiration to many, including Father Dan Tracy, associate pastor of St. Patrick in Hudson, Wisconsin. From 2015 to 2017, prior to entering seminary, he served as a missionary for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, or FOCUS, at St. John’s University in Collegeville. The men’s university has a close relationship to the nearby women’s College of St. Benedict.

In 2016, Father Tracy committed to praying at Sister Annella’s grave each Sunday for the campuses’ students. He recalls that time as consistently peaceful and spiritually fruitful and he knew students who were moved by Sister Annella’s witness.

“Sister Annella’s suffering is a testament to the power of suffering,” he said. “We need to see saints who suffered. We obviously need to look at our Lord on the cross. But, in many ways, the more witnesses to suffering that are there … the more opportunities we have to embrace the cross.”

While Sister Annella played an important role in his life while in FOCUS, Father Tracy is now zeroed in on advancing the cause of Blessed Solanus Casey, a Capuchin Franciscan who received his first Communion at St. Patrick in Hudson, he said.

Father Tracy was responsible, however, for having introduced Sister Annella to Helen Healy, who developed a devotion to the young sister. When one of her daughters was suffering long-term effects of a sports concussion, Healy brought her to Sister Annella’s grave. At first, her daughter’s suffering increased — as Sister Annella’s had — but then it subsided, and she regained full health.

“I see her (Sister Annella) as a beautiful soul, and how she suffered with so much grace,” said Healy, a parishioner of Holy Name of Jesus in Medina and member of the Sister Annella Guild. “And I think, how do I handle things with grace in my own life, even adversity?”

Healy, 59, also shared her growing love for Sister Annella with her brother, Bishop Cozzens, then an auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis. His 2021 appointment to Crookston — the diocese where Sister Annella was born — made it possible for him to initiate an inquiry into her life.

“Her story touches the heart of our Catholic faith, teaching us that even the greatest suffering, when united with Christ, becomes a powerful means of redemption and intimacy with God, enriching our understanding of what it means to be fully human,” he told his fellow bishops in November while introducing her cause.

Sister Annella’s grace amid intense physical and spiritual pain may be a much-needed example for today’s suffering-averse culture, Healy said, which is why she sees Sister Annella’s story paralleling that of Michelle Duppong, a young woman from North Dakota

FOCUSONFAITH

How low can you go?

Limbo is a game based on traditions that began on the island of Trinidad. The goal of the game is to pass under a horizontal bar (known as the limbo bar) as it is lowered. Contestants must bend backward and allow no part of their body to touch the bar while only their feet can touch the floor or ground. Sometimes, people will chant “how low can you go!” as the bar is lowered bit by bit. Fun fact, the world record for the lowest limbo bar height is 6 inches, set by Dennis Walston in 1991. Ha! He must have been really flexible and really skinny! How low can you go?

Jesus did not introduce this party game as he was dining in the house of a Pharisee. However, in Luke 14:7-14, he tells a parable centered on humility and lowliness. When you are at a wedding banquet do not sit at the place of honor, you may be asked to give up your place to someone more important. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest spot. Then, the host will come to you and invite you to move up to a higher position. “For everyone who

The world is fighting and clawing for the seat of honor. Christ calls us to be humble and little and lowly.

exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” How low can you go?

covered in blood and sweat and spit. The Resurrection and the Life was put to death. And yet, St. Paul writes, because of this, “God has highly exalted him” (Phil 2:9). Jesus rose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the Father.

Jesus is the king of kings and lord of lords.

Sunday, Aug. 31

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29

Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a Lk 14:1, 7-14

Monday, Sept. 1 1 Thes 4:13-18 Lk 4:16-30

Tuesday, Sept. 2 1 Thes 5:1-6, 9-11 Lk 4:31-37

Wednesday, Sept. 3

St. Gregory the Great, pope and doctor of the Church Col 1:1-8 Lk 4:38-44

Saints: Persevering in the struggle

August features some of my favorite saints on the liturgical calendar:

St. Bartholomew (Aug. 24); St. Jeanne Jugan (Aug. 30); St. John Vianney (Aug. 4); St. Pius X (Aug. 21); St. John the Baptist (Aug. 29); and of course, the Assumption of our mama Mary (Aug. 15). It’s a veritable cornucopia of sanctity. I love August!

Hagiography, that literary genre dedicated to the lives of the saints, is full of the great and astounding stories of the saints through the ages, men and women who responded generously to the perennial invitation of Jesus: “Come, follow me.” Their lives, or at least part of their lives, and certainly the end of their lives, were marked by what we call heroic virtue, that generosity of soul that compels the saint to give whatever the Lord asks, no matter what it may be. They have followed the Lamb, even unto death. And they now sing at his wedding feast forever.

Statues and pictures of saints adorn many of our churches, reminders to us of the great cloud of witnesses that worship with us every time we gather for the Mass. The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks of the Mass as a participation in the worship of heaven. How fitting and helpful then to be surrounded by physical reminders of what we only know through faith. They are here! They are with us! And they look with love upon us as we struggle toward heaven.

But I think sometimes the glorified images of the saints, both within our churches and in popular piety, can give us the wrong idea of just

KNOW the SAINTS

Now, this is not just something Jesus says, it is something he lives to the fullest. Jesus empties himself and takes on our flesh. This is incredible! On that first Christmas morning, the power of God was so small, he couldn’t even support his own head. The wisdom of God could only babble and cry for his mother. And he does not stop there. Jesus humbles himself even further and 33 years later becomes obedient unto death, even death on a cross. On Calvary, the beauty of God was marred beyond all appearance — who these folks were. You see, they had the exact same struggles we did, and yet persevered. A beautiful statue of Mary, made of magnificent wood or marble, can lead us to believe that she who knew no sin also knew no struggle. This is of course quite wrong, as the Scriptures make clear. A stained-glass window of the Apostles, depicting St. Bartholomew standing stoically next to a triumphant Jesus, can cause us to forget the incredulity of the man in the Gospel of John, who was initially so skeptical of Christ’s claims. John the Baptist, too, was not without questions or doubts. Once again this is not speculation but clearly indicated in the inspired text.

One reason the Church provides us with saints to remember is so that we might be encouraged in our own pilgrimage home. And this encouragement is not found only in their intercessory power, but in the knowledge that these men and women also grappled with loss, humiliation, temptation and the darkness of understanding that marks all followers of the true and living God since at least Abraham himself. With one very important exception, they were also sinners who knew of their need for God’s mercy and love. I once heard a pithy and powerful phrase that has stuck with me ever since: “Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.” Yes! While some of the saints had very well-publicized struggles, like St. Augustine or St. Ignatius of Loyola or St. Mary Magdalene (assuming that she is indeed the woman from whom seven demons were cast out), many I am sure dealt with other issues much less known. Depression, compulsions, failures to love, lashing out — popes, virgins, martyrs and all holy men and women had these same struggles.

As Christians, we need to put on the mind of Christ and turn away from the claims of the world. The world likes to hold up those with “more.” The team that scores the most points wins the championship. Influencers try to be the ones with the most followers. Those with the most money are declared most successful. The world is fighting and clawing for the seat of honor. Christ calls us to be humble and little and lowly. The “game” we play in this life, the limbo. And the prize is having God himself lift us up.

Father Floeder is pastor of St. Dominic in Northfield.

And we know that to be true because they were human beings affected by the Fall. Like us. Sanctity is not a work of human hands. It is a work of the Divine Potter (I am not speaking here of Harry, but of Isaiah’s evocative image recorded in his 64th chapter) who fashions and molds us into the image of his Son. What separates the saint? If you will pardon the expression, they have surrendered to the process and the fire that is necessary to make wet, sloppy clay into a vessel capable of holding life-giving water. The fire of forgiveness; the fire of service; the fire of self-mastery; the fire of apologizing and beginning again; the fire of daily prayer and drawing near to the Divine Flame in the sacraments.

A very wise confessor told me once that discouragement in the spiritual life never comes from God. We must acknowledge our weakness and our neediness, to be sure, and we do so at every single holy Mass. But it doesn’t end there. We are people of hope because it is God who makes saints, not our own broken hearts and miserly dreams. And the saints remind us of this. So yes, let us remember the great works of the men and women of God. Let us rejoice in the perennial value of their witness. But let us also remember their struggles. Their saying no; their indiscretions; their violence; their stubbornness. Let us take comfort in that. For every saint has a past. And every sinner has a future.

Trust the process.

Father Erickson is parochial vicar of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul and interim chairman of the Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission.

Thursday, Sept. 4 Col 1:9-14 Lk 5:1-11

Friday, Sept. 5 Col 1:15-20 Lk 5:33-39

Saturday, Sept. 6 Col 1:21-23 Lk 6:1-5

Sunday, Sept. 7

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Wis 9:13-18b Phlm 9-10, 12-17 Lk 14:25-33

Monday, Sept. 8 Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mic 5:1-4a or Rom 8:28-30 Mt 1:1-16, 18-23

Tuesday, Sept. 9

St. Peter Claver, priest Col 2:6-15 Lk 6:12-19

Wednesday, Sept. 10 Col 3:1-11 Lk 6:20-26

Thursday, Sept. 11 Col 3:12-17 Lk 6:27-38

Friday, Sept. 12 1 Tim 1:1-2, 12-14 Lk 6:39-42

Saturday, Sept. 13 St. John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor of the Church 1 Tim 1:15-17 Lk 6:43-49

Sunday, Sept. 14

Exaltation of the Holy Cross Num 21:4b-9 Phil 2:6-11 Jn 3:13-17

ST. GREGORY THE GREAT (c. 540-604) This patrician prefect of Rome is counted among the doctors and Fathers of the Church. After his father’s death, he gave family estates to the Church, founding seven monasteries, including the one he joined in his family home in Rome. Following ordination, he served as papal nuncio in Constantinople from 579 to 586, then was an abbot in Rome until 590, when he became the first monk elected pope. Gregory I reformed the clergy, sent missionaries to England, promoted monasticism and chant, wrote prolifically, and assumed civic duties in Rome in the face of natural disasters and the warring Lombards. He is a patron saint of choirboys, musicians, singers and England. CNS

COMMUNION AND MISSION | FATHER JOHN PAUL ERICKSON

COMMENTARY

ABIDE IN HIM | ANGELA JENDRO

The need for Christian formation

When St. Augustine penned “The City of God,” he contrasted pagan culture, marked by the values and practices of fallen human nature, with Christian culture, marked by the love of God and grace. It has been observed that we live once again in a pagan culture not unlike that of the apostolic age or the age of the Church Fathers. Marked by hedonism and unfettered concupiscence (our tendency toward sin after the Fall), our cultural values have eroded from those illuminated by the Gospel to those governed by fallen impulses and limited human reason. We are social, moral and spiritual creatures, which means our choices inevitably build one culture or the other; we cannot remain unaffected or unaffecting. As a result, it’s crucial we think about how we are being influenced and how we might positively influence others. Ultimately, St. Augustine asserted, our choices boil down to a rivalry between two primary loves: oneself over God or God over oneself. Paradoxically, as St. John Paul II would often emphasize, self-fulfillment can only be achieved through self-gift. By taking that risk, we not only discover deeper meaning for our own lives, but we also build a culture where others can find meaning and experience authentic love as well.

Building a culture of loving self-gift to God and

FAITH AT HOME | LAURA KELLY

FANUCCI

neighbor, counter to the culture of self-interest, requires intentional formation. People’s worldviews, habits, mindsets, approaches, attitudes and character take shape over time through what they see, hear, read, watch and are taught. Made for God but formed within a culture that calls evil good and good evil, many people experience conflicted hearts as they yearn for love but are led astray toward so many dead ends, heartbreaks and dissatisfaction. It’s all the more imperative that Christ — the way, the truth, and the life — is offered to people today as early and as much as possible.

The older I get the more I am amazed at how effectively simple participation in the life of the Church imparts this vital formation. Bishops, priests, parents, catechists and Catholic school teachers provide essential intellectual and spiritual formation by which we learn the wisdom communicated through divine revelation as well as its practical application in everyday life. The lives of the saints and the examples of faithful Christians in religious communities and our families offer inspiring role models and evidence of the fruits of the Spirit. Sacramental life, especially regular reception of the Eucharist and reconciliation provides the consistent union with Christ needed to follow him as his disciples. Finally, the liturgical calendar sets a brilliant framework for us to meditate together on the life of Christ through common scriptural readings in the lectionary, feast days to celebrate key

What a beautiful family

Whenever I take my kids anywhere in public, I get comments.

“All boys?! Didn’t you ever try for a girl?”

“Five?! You must be crazy!”

“Are they all yours?”

We are far from the only family whose mere presence attracts attention. The same phenomenon happens to friends whose children use wheelchairs or walkers, families whose kids come from different racial backgrounds, and parents with wide age gaps between children.

Strangers’ curiosity leads to prying questions, even insulting insinuations: “Which ones are yours? Don’t you know how this happens? What’s wrong with that one? Couldn’t you have more?”

Suddenly you find yourself defending your most personal or painful experiences in public. After a while, even your polite replies can wear thin. I’ll never forget the sweltering day at the Minnesota State Fair when my spouse was so sick of strangers stopping us to comment on our brood of boys that when one man yelled at us, “What happened to the girls?” my normally patient husband hollered back, “They’re in heaven!” (We still laugh that our twins must have smiled from above to watch their dad defend their existence.)

PIVOTAL PECS

Any version of a family you see in public is often only the tip of the iceberg. You can’t see the babies who didn’t survive, the adoptions that unraveled, or the estranged adult children for whom their parents pray every night. Families deserve to be seen and supported not for whether they measure up to anyone else’s expectations, but because they are formed by humans created in the image of God, striving to love each other through their struggles. A married couple makes a family, two people blessed to share life together. A single person is part of their family of origin and their chosen family of friends. Widowed, divorced and remarried people often remain part of multiple families. What a gift we could give to each other, if we stopped the curious question (or the catchy quip) that leaps to our lips — and instead offered a simple encouragement with a smile: “What a beautiful family!”

When Jesus welcomed a child into his arms — embracing the very distraction that his disciples tried to prevent — he reminded us that whoever welcomes a child welcomes him and the One who sent him (Mk 9:37). Part of our calling as Catholics is to support the sacredness of life, no matter the context or circumstances. Rather than jumping to assumptions or asking curious questions about the makeup of anyone’s family, why not follow Jesus’ lead and simply welcome each other with open arms?

moments in Christ’s life and teachings about him, and opportunities to celebrate the saints who exemplify what we strive for in every walk of life and set of circumstances. We can each do something to contribute to Christian formation. First, by participating in the life of the Church more fully ourselves and being better role models. Second, by stretching ourselves a little more by giving our time, talent and treasure to Church ministries.

With each season of life, it’s helpful to re-evaluate and pray about what we can do. The older we get, the more formation we have received through Christian experience, and the more we have to offer. I always encourage teens to volunteer for vacation Bible school or to help with any ministry for younger kids because the little ones look up to them. As adults we can step up to volunteer more at the parish or be more intentional about caring for the spiritual needs of our family or co-workers. We don’t have to be experts to provide a word of encouragement or wisdom from experience, especially to the young who are searching for solid ground upon which to build their future.

In our famished culture people eat scraps or find substitutes for love. Let’s choose love of God above all else, so that we and others might be nourished by the Spirit’s fruits and the seeds of faith may begin to grow.

Jendro teaches theology at Providence Academy in Plymouth and is a member of St. Thomas the Apostle in Corcoran. She’s also a speaker and writer; her website is taketimeforhim.com

“What a beautiful family” has become my default response whenever I meet someone new. I can tell you that it works wonders. Stressed parents will smile over the heads of rowdy children. Doting dads of one will thank you for seeing their family as full and worthy. Mothers who have lost babies to miscarriage can feel all their children included for once. Married couples are grateful for the affirmation of the family they have made together.

The Body of Christ is a beautiful, diverse family. We are single and married, divorced and widowed. We have built families through adoption and fostering, marriage and birth. We have known deep loss and great joy from our families of origin, and we have widened our circles of welcome to build chosen families, watching in awe as God creates anew.

Jesus himself defied traditional definitions of family when he taught his followers that “whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (Mk 3:35). May we always remember that in the kingdom of God, kinship is defined by faithful love.

Fanucci, a member of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove, is an author, speaker and founder of Mothering Spirit, an online gathering place on parenting and spirituality at motheringspirit.com

“When I was invited to join a small group, I had been a member of Presentation for about seven months. I knew only a handful of people. With my small group, I was introduced to a new group of friends, and I felt I belonged. Walking into church on Sunday morning is a lot more fun when people smile, call me by my name and seem happy to see me, as I am happy to see them. My small group has helped me grow spiritually. Sharing what God has done for me and what I have done for God has made me much more aware of God’s gifts, and more intentional about striving to emulate Jesus more consistently. Answering both questions has helped me become more cognizant and appreciative of God’s love and has expanded my thinking about what my relationship with Jesus is and what it could be. Praying for the needs within the group and for the needs of those they love has become a special part of our time together. I have experienced the power of prayer many times, so I see the opportunity to participate in group prayer to ask for God’s intercession as a privilege. It is often the most poignant part of the meeting for me.”

Kathy Mertz, 74, Presentation of Mary, Maplewood.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda is encouraging the faithful to experience the small-group model Parish Evangelization Cells System (PECS) in their parishes. Designed to strengthen parish life through small groups and encourage parishioners to share their faith and hope in Jesus Christ with each other and then the broader community, it is having an impact. At last count, there are nearly 1,800 groups and more than 16,000 participants in 138 parishes across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. See the opportunities to join a small group at archspm.groupvitals.com/groupFinder

Jesus’ kingdom announcement

In the past few columns, we’ve looked at figures around the time of Jesus who were expecting “the kingdom”: the Maccabees, other zealots and revolutionaries, and even Mary and Zechariah. These figures, I’ve suggested, pointed, in different ways, to a new sociopolitical order that would fulfill Israel’s vocation to be “the light of the world.”

This background helps us appreciate why it’s a big deal when Jesus shows up in the Galilean countryside and proclaims, “The kingdom of God is at hand” (Mk 1:15). If you want to get people’s attention, there’s hardly a better way to do it. As it was for the Maccabees, it was a rallying call to any who were sick of the present regime and zealous for Israel’s God and the Torah. Like the other revolutionary figures, it suggested that here was something to give your life to, and maybe even something to give your life for. Like Mary and Zechariah, it claimed that Israel’s long history, as Daniel had promised, was finally coming to fulfillment — and that it had something to do with this guy from Nazareth. This is closely connected with Jesus’ next words as well: “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15). But what could these words have to do with a new social order? Or politics? They sound entirely religious to us, like the language of private or interior devotion.

This is exactly where the charged cultural context we have laid out is so helpful. To begin with, the word gospel, euaggelion in Greek, is also commonly rendered “good news.” This translation in fact gets us much closer to what is going

WATCHMEN | DEACON GORDON BIRD

on with the term. For a euaggelion was not just any piece of good news — like you had a good harvest or won the lottery. It was a technical term that referred explicitly to regime change. It had the ring that inauguration has for us. It was used when one emperor or king died, and the next succeeded the throne, or when a decisive battle was won and the tide had turned. When Octavian defeated Marc Antony or when Herod the

Therefore, when Jesus said, ‘the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel,’ this was not a summons to a private religious experience. Rather, he sounded the voice of an imperial herald announcing the fact that a regime change was taking place. God’s kingdom, Jesus said, is here. His question was (and is), ‘Will you get on board?’

Great finally passed the rule of Judea to his sons, heralds were sent around with the “good news.” (It was always good, after all, to whoever now ruled).

On the one hand, the good news communicated a fact: Whether you wanted it or not, whether it was good news to you personally or not, you had a new sovereign.

This raised the obvious question: Would you personally get on board with this? Would you support the new regime, or would you resist it, or even start a revolution of your own? This

Grace of a happy death — and new life

Many rosary devotees may ponder the grace of a happy death — one of my favorite reflections is the fourth glorious mystery — the Assumption of Mary. Just a couple of weeks ago we celebrated that Church dogma as a holy day of obligation. And just a week after that came the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Come Sept. 8 we celebrate the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother — her birthday! Although the Bible tells us very little about her birth, it must have been supernaturally special if the angel Gabriel addressed her as “full of grace” (Lk 1:28) via the Annunciation — the first joyful mystery. And we can gather a lot about who Mary is from what sacred Scripture reveals to us about the life of Christ. Simply pray and meditate via a scriptural rosary — Mary is everywhere in it leading us to Jesus.

Catholic Watchmen enjoy all this lovely celebratory fuss about Mary for several reasons. One, St. Joseph has

been the patron saint of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis men’s movement since its beginning about 10 years ago. If we are to “strive to be a spiritual father like St. Joseph,” being true to our third daily discipline, our concern for the Blessed Mother is paramount. St. Joseph’s life was centered on taking care of the Holy Family and we are to model him and take care of our families and others in need until the end of our days. St. Joseph’s role was significant as provider, protector, teacher and leader of the trio. We know little of the hidden years, but according to Church tradition, St. Joseph likely died before Jesus’ public ministry, and we ask his prayers for a peaceful death. The prayers of St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother — she whose assumption into heaven gave witness to the grace of a happy death — are especially powerful for the departed soul.

As a funeral planner for my assigned parish as a deacon, I ask for St. Joseph’s intercession as the patron of departed souls, many times with families as we prepare for the Mass of Christian Burial for the loved one who died.

is what the words repent and believe were meant to convey. To understand these terms there’s a helpful passage from the Jewish historian Josephus, whom we’ve mentioned before. He tells us of a time when he was a young military commander at the beginning of the Jewish war against Rome. At one point he approached another Jewish rebel from a rival faction and tried to persuade him to join his own (more moderate) side. In his conversation with the rebel, Josephus used the two Greek terms from the Gospel of Mark that we translate to repent and believe (metanoieo and pistos, if you want to impress your friends at parties).

Josephus’ military context helps us see the broader sense of these terms, and that the proper translation for his text is something like “change your course” and “be loyal to me,” or even “give up the revolution” and “be faithful to the new (Roman) order.” This shows the social and political resonance those terms carried in Jesus’ time, and what Jesus was getting at: Repent meant change your allegiance and “believe in” meant “be loyal to.”

Therefore, when Jesus said, “the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel,” this was not a summons to a private religious experience. Rather, he sounded the voice of an imperial herald announcing the fact that a regime change was taking place. God’s kingdom, Jesus said, is here. His question was (and is), “Will you get on board?”

Miller is the director of the Center for Catholic Social Thought at Assumption in St. Paul. He is the author of “We Are Only Saved Together: Living the Revolutionary Vision of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement,” published by Ave Maria Press.

This might be a gloomy thought for many, but preparing for the end of life here on Earth has its challenges, its rewards and hence planning is needed. Prayers and preparation are essential for the healing and comfort of the family as they work through the loss of their loved one. It is a work of mercy to properly bury the dead, which is a reason we plan (and sometimes pre-plan) for the time when a loved one goes to meet the Lord.

In this day of relativism, we argue about a lot of things, but here is a salient truth: “Someday we will die.” We should want Mary and Joseph in our lives because they were closest to Jesus and can lead us to new life in him — now and in the grace of a blessed and happy death.

Deacon Bird ministers to St. Joseph in Rosemount and All Saints in Lakeville and assists with the archdiocesan Catholic Watchmen movement. See heroicmen.com for tools supported by the archdiocese to enrich parish apostolates for ministry to men. For Watchmen start-up materials or any other questions regarding ministry to men, contact him at gordonbird@rocketmail.com

John E. Trojack, Attorney at Law

CATHOLIC

CATHOLIC OR NOTHING | COLIN MILLER

Cousins’ Chronicles and the search for sound friendships

Today’s age of increasing isolation is a particular threat to raising children of character — children of God. More than ever, young people need deep, enduring friendships with likeminded others who will stand by them for the long haul. What they do not need are more here-today-gone-tomorrow “friends” of the kind they increasingly turn to on those glowing screens in their back pockets.

Parents are primarily responsible for assisting their children in this search for Christian friendship. Grandparents share this hope, but what role can they play, given that they’re one step removed from parenting’s front lines?

I’ve discovered one small but potentially powerful and positive step a grandparent can take to encourage quality, life-long friendships from a natural source: cousins. My wife, Katherine Kersten, and I have four children who are raising our grandchildren — 17 of them — in the Catholic faith. They are striving to instill a virtuous character in each. I asked myself: Why shouldn’t those cousins become option number one for life-long, faith-filled friendship? But there’s a major hurdle to overcome in seeking to create friendship glue among cousins: Some of them live hundreds of miles away from one another.

My cousins’ project began four years ago when I read an article about St. Nicholas, a monthly children’s magazine published from 1873 to 1940. At

its peak, its circulation reached 100,000. Its popular back pages section featured stories, poems and drawings submitted by its young readers. Many famous authors, as children, first published pieces in St. Nicholas, including William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and a 12-year-old E.B. White, who later authored “Charlotte’s Web.”

Inspired, I decided to launch my own version of the St. Nicholas magazine — but for a more limited audience. I wanted to collect and publish — in real “get-it-in-the-mail-and-hold-it-inyour-hand” fashion — stories about my grandchildren’s adventures, milestones and growth in faith and character. I knew it would be important to add fun, whimsical sections — puzzles, fanciful tales and jokes.

But what about the technical aspects? I walk in darkness when it comes to computer skills, but my son-in-law informed me about Canva software, which provides even a computer Neanderthal with the tools he needs to manipulate text, images and graphics. Canva comes in a free version that is adequate, but for $120 per year you can get more bells and whistles. When printed, the magazine has a professional, glossy look that appears to be straight from a magazine rack at the local bookstore. I named it Cousins’ Chronicles and print 40 copies on a quarterly basis. Each cousin gets his or her own copy, and parents tell me about delighted cries when the magazines hit the mailbox.

Each Cousins’ Chronicles issue has about 50 pages. It includes a column called “Grandma’s Book Corner,” which my wife writes. There she highlights classic

children’s books that young people rarely read today. In recent issues, she wrote about magical bedtime poetry like Edward Lear’s “The Owl and the Pussy Cat.”

Another feature is a page or two by each cousin about his or her recent adventures or accomplishments. (Parents of course write entries for the youngest, such as a description of a recent baptism.) Examples include one child’s building of a treehouse in the woods, another’s religious artwork, and a third’s description of why she admires Clara Barton, who founded the American Red Cross.

In the most recent Cousins Chronicles issue, my oldest grandson, age 14, wrote a short essay about ideal companions on his journey through life. They included characters from “Lord of the Rings” paired with saints: Legolas and St. Paul, Aragorn and St. Joan of Arc, Gandalf and

Pope Leo points to the City of God

Text of an Aug. 23 speech that follows comes from an address by Pope Leo XIV to an association of Catholic lawmakers from around the world gathered in Rome to consider how best to engage “the new world order.”

It calls all of us to recognize that the City of God and City of Man are fundamentally two spiritual realities ordered toward different loves: One is built around the love and worship of God, and the other is ordered differently to fulfill selfish desires. The two cities compete for the material order of creation, and when the City of Man prevails, structures of sin are created to enact the whims of the corrupt and powerful. By contrast, Christians are called to build the civilization of love. In particular, the speech highlights that the vocation of Catholic legislators (and, by extension, all of us called to be faithful citizens) is to perform a politics of hope. A politics of hope fosters “integral human development,” which includes the person’s material development but also his or her spiritual development. The tools to build the City of God in public life are the perennial truths of natural law illumined by the Gospel, summarized in the body of teachings known as Catholic social doctrine.

Jason Adkins, executive director, Minnesota Catholic Conference

You have gathered for your sixteenth annual meeting which has a thoughtprovoking theme this year: “The New World Order: Major Power Politics, Corporate Dominions and the Future of Human Flourishing.” In these words, I sense both a concern and a longing. We are all concerned about the direction our world is taking, and yet, we long for authentic human flourishing. We long for a world where every person can live in peace, freedom and fulfilment according to God’s plan.

To find our footing in the present circumstances — especially you as Catholic legislators and political leaders — I suggest that we might look to the past, to that towering figure of St. Augustine of Hippo. As a leading voice of the Church in the late Roman era, he witnessed immense upheavals and social disintegration. In response, he penned “The City of God,” a work that offers a vision of hope, a vision of meaning that can still speak to us today.

This Church Father taught that within human history, two “cities” are intertwined: the City of Man and the City of God. These signify spiritual realities — two orientations of the human heart and, therefore, of human civilization. The City of Man, built on pride and love of oneself,

St. Padre Pio, Sam Gamgee and Blessed Carlo Acutis.

Other special sections have featured the cousins’ descriptions of their favorite books and heroes, among them Charles Martel, Harriet Tubman, St. John Paul II and St. Isaac Jogues. Every issue highlights photos of cousins’ exploits, as well as “Back Pages Fun.” This final section is filled with jokes, puzzles and silly, Photoshopped images of cousins engaged in fantastical adventures.

What is the point of all this? For starters, Cousins’ Chronicles acquaints our grandchildren with what their cousins are doing, learning and enjoying — the interests they are developing and the challenges they are facing. This is particularly important given the distance between them. A second goal is to help bind them together in a common, joyful quest for a Christ-like life of selfless love. We seek to remind them that cousins may turn out to be among the best friends they’ll ever have — supporting one another as they grow older and face more complex challenges.

Finally, there’s the thrill and a certain adult-like importance a child experiences at seeing a magazine arrive in the mailbox with his or her own name and address on the envelope. I hope that someday dogeared issues of Cousins Chronicles will be among my grandchildren’s most treasured possessions, among the gems they sometimes reach for in the back closet for decades to come.

Johnson, a member of Holy Family in St. Louis Park, is a retired attorney and a freelance reporter for The Catholic Spirit.

is marked by the pursuit of power, prestige and pleasure; the City of God, built on love of God unto selflessness, is characterized by justice, charity and humility. In these terms, Augustine encouraged Christians to infuse the earthly society with the values of God’s Kingdom, thereby directing history toward its ultimate fulfilment in God, while also allowing for authentic human flourishing in this life. …

(W)e must clarify the meaning of human flourishing. Today, a flourishing life is often confused with a materially wealthy life or a life of unrestricted individual autonomy and pleasure. The so-called ideal future presented to us is often one of technological convenience and consumer satisfaction. Yet we know that this is not enough. We see this in affluent societies where many people struggle with loneliness, with despair and a sense of meaninglessness.

Authentic human flourishing stems from what the Church calls integral human development, or the full development of a person in all dimensions: physical, social, cultural, moral and spiritual. This vision for the human person is rooted in natural law, the moral order that God has written on the human heart, whose deeper truths are

illuminated by the Gospel of Christ. In this regard, authentic human flourishing is seen when individuals live virtuously, when they live in healthy communities, enjoying not only what they have, what they possess, but also who they are as children of God. It ensures the freedom to seek truth, to worship God and to raise families in peace. It also includes a harmony with creation and a sense of solidarity across social classes and nations. Indeed, the Lord came that we “may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10).

The future of human flourishing depends on which “love” we choose to organize our society around — a selfish love, the love of self, or the love of God and neighbor. We, of course, already know the answer. In your vocation as Catholic lawmakers and public servants, you are called to be bridge-builders between the City of God and the City of Man. I would like to urge you this morning to continue to work for a world where power is tamed by conscience, and law is at the service of human dignity. I also encourage you to reject the dangerous and self-defeating mind-set that says nothing will ever change.

Inside the Capitol is a legislative update from Minnesota Catholic Conference staff.

INSIDE THE CAPITOL | MCC

WHY I AM CATHOLIC

BY SAMANTHA

As I reflect on the threads of my life, I am struck by a pattern that provides the most succinct answer to why I am (still) Catholic: friendship.

I grew up in a household where my siblings and I received our sacraments and attended Mass on Sundays. I went to public school and a secular university with a small Newman Center community. I worked in professional theater, an industry that can be particularly contrary to a faith-filled life. In short, none of the early environments I found myself in naturally lent themselves to a vibrant, active faith life. And yet, in each phase of life there have been friends — Catholic and not — leading me back toward the Church. God sent me exactly who I needed to draw me to him.

Examples include:

• The friends from community theater who unexpectedly came to my parish and gave me the confidence to start going to youth group events and retreats in high school.

• The friend I met the first week of college who walked with me to the Newman Center when I didn’t have the courage to go alone.

• The agnostic friend who challenged me on the Church and her traditions, driving me toward soul-searching, researching and

praying to make the faith my own.

• The Newman Center friend who, as I spiraled in the aftermath of being challenged, asked, “Do you still believe that Jesus is present in the Eucharist? Because that’s why I’m still here.”

• The man who eventually became my husband, who received me with all my questions and stood up for truth while also giving me space to grapple with whatever I needed to.

• The friends I met through Missed the Boat Theatre when I moved to Minnesota, who showed me for the first time that it was possible to integrate my faith life with my work in the theater. In particular, those who introduced me to the writings of St. John Paul II, Jacques Maritain and John Crosby, and taught me what it means to have a vibrant intellectual curiosity about the faith.

• The friend I met through the Catholic Studies master’s degree program at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul who became my co-writer of an original play about the saintly Martin family of Lisieux, with whom I have spent many hours talking about the human, emotional side of vocation and loss, helping me to remember God’s goodness even when I was in the midst of wrestling with him myself.

God gave me a heart for the pursuit of deep friendship, and as a result, he has always taught me more about himself through encounters with the individuals he puts in my life. Whether it lasts a season or a lifetime, each friendship is another twitch upon the thread that pulls me into closer union with Jesus and his Church.

Vargo, 31, studied entertainment and arts management at Drexel University and worked in professional theater, both in Philadelphia, until she relocated to the Twin Cities in 2019. Today, she and her husband live in St. Paul, where they are parishioners at St. Mark. Vargo is the executive director of Missed the Boat Theatre in St. Paul. Her original play, “The Martin Sisters” can be seen this fall in the theater’s New Works Festival. When not putting on a show or spending time with her friends, Vargo can be found swimming in the nearest body of water, planning an adventure or training for a marathon.

“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.”

“SAM” VARGO

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

CALENDAR

PARISH EVENTS

Spirit Fest Sept. 6: 4:30-9 p.m., 515 Albert St. S, St. Paul. 4:30 p.m. Mass followed by Egg Roll Queen, El Burrito Mercado, and Brick Oven Bus food trucks. Dessert from Cold Front. Music, kids’ games and prizes. Beer and wine wristbands for $15. holy-spirit.org/spirit-fest

WORSHIP+RETREATS

Healing Mass Sept. 4: 6:30 p.m. at Mary, Mother of the Church, 3333 Cliff Road E., Burnsville. After Mass, there will be time for each person to be prayed over individually for physical, spiritual and emotional healing. 5:30 p.m. reconciliation, 6 p.m. rosary. Prayer teams will also be available. Presider is Father Jim Perkl. mmotc.org

September Women’s Mid-Week Retreat Sept. 9-11: Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 Saint Francis Lane, Prior Lake. Enter into prayer, reflection and learning. Four conference talks; guided prayer; spiritual direction; Holy Hour; free time for personal reflection, confession and rest. All meals are cooked on site. franciscanretreats.net

Women’s Silent Midweek Retreat: “Pilgrims of Hope” Sept. 12-13: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12-1 p.m. Sept. 13 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. Join us for three conference talks, Holy Hour and spiritual direction, confession and healing service. Mass on Saturday and Sunday, meals, private sleeping room with bathroom, abundant time for personal prayer and reflection. kingshouse.com

SISTER ANNELLA ZERVAS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

who similarly fixed her eyes on Jesus and cared for others amid horrible suffering from cancer. She died at age 31 in 2015. In 2022, Bishop David Kagan of Bismarck, North Dakota, opened a cause for Duppong’s beatification. In Crookston, objects that belonged to Sister Annella will be exhibited ahead of the Oct. 9 Mass. Some were handed down in the Zervas family to the care of Joan Zervas, Sister Annella’s niece and a Twin Cities resident. She died in 2016, but not before meeting Norton through mutual friends, Kathy and David Rennie, parishioners of Holy Family in

CONFERENCES+WORKSHOPS

Men’s Evening with Father Kyle Etzel: “Bringing Christ into a Secular Age” Sept. 5: 5:15-8:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. Being a Christian man, husband and father isn’t easy. Father Kyle Etzel, parochial vicar, will reflect upon the challenges facing men today in an increasingly secular world. Take this opportunity to enjoy good fellowship with other men. cathedralsaintpaul.org/mens-association

Women’s Morning of Hope with Saint Monica: “Nothing is Far From God” Sept. 6: 9 a.m.-noon at 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. All women (ages 16-plus) are invited to join Father Ryan Glaser for a morning of reflection and fellowship. Light breakfast and reflections. cathedralsaintpaul.org/womensassociation

SPEAKERS+SEMINARS

CCF’s Connect with a Cause Webinar featuring CSCOE Sept. 10: noon-12:30 p.m., Zoom webinar. Join the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota for a webinar highlighting the Catholic Schools Center of Excellence’s work to enhance excellence and increase enrollment in preschool through eighth grade Catholic schools in Minnesota. ccf-mn.org/event/cscoe

Lumen Vero Sept. 11: 6-8 p.m. at 365 Concord Exchange N., South St. Paul. Bold Catholic men are needed now more than ever. Monthly Lumen Vero meetings feature prominent Catholic leaders who share testimonies and convictions, followed by

St. Louis Park. Zervas entrusted those items to Norton, now 63, who gave them to the Crookston Diocese to help spread devotion. They include letters, photos, watches and rosaries, and the candle that burned at her bedside when she died.

Kathie Rennie, 80, has her own devotion to Sister Annella that is rooted in her childhood in St. Joseph, where she took piano lessons from Sister DePazzi Zervas — Sister Annella’s biological sister and fellow Benedictine. (A third Zervas sister, Sister Ignatia, also joined the Benedictines and is buried in St. Paul’s Monastery Cemetery in Maplewood.)

Like others, Rennie has joined Norton for prayer events at Sister Annella’s grave. Two

audience Q&A. No cost. lumenvero.com

OTHER EVENTS

Crosier Alumni Potluck Picnic Aug. 31: 2-5 p.m. at Ellison Park, 811 E. River St., Monticello. If you attended any of the Crosier schools, join us! Bring along family, friends or other alumni. Sloppy Joes provided, bring your beverage and a side dish to share. Yard games and kayaks. For more information, contact Pete Sherrard at 763-245-8095.

ONGOING GROUPS

Widowers Coffee Group Fourth Fridays: 9:30-11 a.m. at Our Lady of Grace, 5071 Eden Ave., Edina. Widowers of Grace is a newly formed Catholic group for men who have lost their wives. Join us as we learn together how to navigate life without our loved one. Contact olgwidowers@gmail.com for more information. olgparish.org

Calix Society First and third Sundays:

9-10:30 a.m., hosted by the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. In Assembly Hall, Lower Level. Potluck breakfast. Calix is a group of men, women, family and friends supporting the spiritual needs of recovering Catholics with alcohol or other addictions. Questions? Call Jim at 612-383-8232 or Steve at 612-327-4370.

Catholic in Recovery Sundays: 7-8 p.m. at St. Mark, 2001 Dayton Ave., St. Paul. Catholic sacramental recovery and fellowship for those seeking freedom from addictions, compulsions, and unhealthy attachments. We overlap Scripture

more are scheduled in 2025, on Sept. 21 and Oct. 19. The Guild’s website also lists dates for 2026.

“I’m trying to promote her here, let people know about her,” she said. “People are amazed when they read her story.”

In Coon Rapids, McCarthy’s devotion to Sister Annella continues to deepen. She asked a former Epiphany colleague, artist Bernadette Gockowski, to paint Sister Annella’s portrait as part of a series she did on modern saints. Although a beautification cause had yet to be open, Gockowski painted her and was indeed struck by her life and its relatability, despite her extraordinary circumstances.

“If you read quickly, her story is ‘young,

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perfect girl becomes perfect nun, suffers a lot and dies young.’ End of story,” said Gockowski, who now lives in Somerset, Wisconsin, but maintains strong Twin Cities ties. “But I’ve read more in-depth commentary that says she tended towards extreme emotional sensitivity, homesickness, anxiety and more.”

Now living in Florida, Miller hopes that Sister Annella will one day be beatified and canonized, but she is convinced of her sainthood now. “It would give hope to a lot of people, especially in Minnesota,” she said.

Sister Annella’s witness also reminds her that to encounter a saint, “you don’t have to live in Rome or Italy,” she added. “You can be in St. Joseph, Minnesota.”

Oakdale, MN 55128 (651) 631-0616 www.virgielaw.com.

Resurrection Cemetery:

Resurrection Cemetery: Mausoleum building: B1CC, QOP, Tier G, Crypt #109 for 2; Value: $30,165; Price: $28,500; Text: 612-5164003 or 952-906-9037.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

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FOR CHURCH, SCHOOL, or STUDENT: Baldwin Spinet. Nice size: 57”W x 22”D x 36”H. Tuned. Bench music book storage. Anne 651-785-3900

HARDWOOD

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THELASTWORD

Sewing volunteer’s

By Rebecca Omastiak The Catholic Spirit

With its new buttonhole and interior button, Henry Davis can better fasten his coat come colder days.

After trying on his coat, Davis, 57, and a resident of Catholic Charities Twin Cities’ Higher Ground in Minneapolis, paused and regarded the woman behind her sewing machine atop a small table just inside the residence’s entrance.

“May God bless and keep you,” he said. “We need more like you.”

Since January 2016, Karen Martodam, 70, has wheeled a wagon containing her sewing supplies into the Higher Ground campus and The Mary F. Frey Opportunity Center, also in Minneapolis, to repair clothing items for those who need them.

“I started out (on) a weekly basis,” said Martodam, a member of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 — the same year her husband, Dennis, retired — she turned to volunteering roughly twice a month.

Aug. 19 marked her last day participating in her regular volunteer schedule.

“It’s a little surreal that this is my last little trip with my wagon,” she said.

Martodam’s earliest experiences with sewing trace back to her days growing up as one of 14 children on a farm in southwest Minnesota, south of Worthington and close to the Iowa border.

Though growing up with 13 siblings — 11 brothers and two sisters — was “chaotic many times,” Martodam fondly recalled the garden produce the family enjoyed and the animals they cared for on the farm.

Martodam also learned to sew.

“My mother sewed for us,” she said. “On the farm, you know, the blue jeans were terribly, terribly worn as you can imagine. And my mom would do patches.” It was among the first sewing lessons Martodam’s mother taught her: “how to use the sewing machine to fix things.”

As a teenager, her sewing skills grew in home economics classes as she began making her own clothing.

As Martodam got older, she said working and obtaining her undergraduate degree in accounting kept her too busy to sew consistently. She and Dennis married just before she obtained her degree and soon, they welcomed their two daughters. She continued her work as a tax manager.

“I just kept working and raising children, and I didn’t really do much sewing during my working career,” Martodam said. “And I did not have a job where I thought I could take a lot of time off for volunteering.”

She still found ways during her working years to assist those in need; with her professional background in finance, she volunteered with St. Paul-based Prepare and Prosper, which she described as a “tax prep program for the low income” population.

When she retired in 2015 as a tax manager for 3M, headquartered in Maplewood, she said, “I decided I needed to pay back. I feel that I’m very blessed and I wanted to somehow pay back, and I wanted to use skills that I had that other people did not necessarily have.”

Her attention turned to Catholic Charities; her brother-in-law, Paul Martodam, was formerly president and

approach to helping: ‘if you can do it, you should’

CEO of the agency. She reached out to Brett Zimowicz, who joined Catholic Charities in 2001 and has been a volunteer specialist with the organization since 2007.

Zimowicz said Martodam began by helping with “meal service and customer service kinds of things.”

“After I got familiar with it (those volunteer roles), I worked with the social workers (who) were here on staff,” Martodam said.

She witnessed firsthand people experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness. The Catholic Charities Higher Ground Minneapolis campus provides 251 emergency shelter beds and 253 permanent supportive housing units across three residential buildings. There, hot meals, showers, lockers, housing case management and medical care from Hennepin County Health Care for the Homeless are also available. The Mary F. Frey Opportunity Center, meanwhile, offers services to help improve health, income, housing stability and well-being for those in need.

“I decided I really wanted to reach out with my sewing skills to help,” she said. “And I started bringing my sewing machine, and here we are.”

“She was able to look at what’s going around her and take her passions and her skills to be able to fill a special need,” Zimowicz said. “The staff really enjoy her, the residents and guests that we have at our locations really enjoy her, and to know that she’s coming in on a volunteer basis is really meaningful for people, to know that she’s coming to do work for free because she cares so much.”

Erin Manuel has been a housing support coordinator with Catholic Charities for the past two years; from her spot at the Higher Ground front desk, Manuel often saw and heard the exchanges Martodam and the residents shared.

“They love when Karen comes because

it’s a familiar face and they know that she’s here to help them,” Manuel said of the residents’ reactions to Martodam’s visits.

Sean McKee-Page, 29, and a resident of Higher Ground, said Martodam offering to mend items for residents is “something that’s unexpected, that is definitely a plus to the whole living-here situation.”

“I have given her clothes, and she’s made them 100% brand new,” McKee-Page said, adding that he’s dropped off items for Martodam to repair a few times. “She does an amazing job.”

Davis agreed: “She does a lot of this little stuff for me, you know — and for the community, not just for me. ... I just feel like it’s personal because she does it with love.”

There is an element of trust as residents hand over their items for Martodam to mend because for some of the residents, “they only have the one pair of pants,” Manuel said. “And they’re not very comfortable with people touching their stuff, necessarily, because it could be their only worldly possession.”

“I like the fact that she’s very upfront with them, and if she can do it then she will do it,” Manuel said about witnessing how Martodam talks through repairs with residents.

Martodam’s wagon contains her sewing machine, a bin of over 30 colors of thread, patches and other bits of fabric, bias tape, buttons, an iron and ironing pad, a cutting mat, and a pincushion with pins and needles, among other items.

She supplies all the materials herself, sometimes sourcing from a fabric store she visits in Brooklyn Center, “or I’ll buy things on sale or use coupons or whatever. I just, you know, I’m a thrifter.”

Martodam said it’s often about “function over form” when she repairs items.

“I have replaced probably about 100 zippers,” she said. “When I first started back in 2016, I would guess that almost every week somebody brought an article of

clothing that needed a new zipper.”

“I’ve shortened polo shirts for people who are not very tall, and I’ve hemmed pants,” she said.

Martodam recalled regular visits from one man who “would wear stretchy gloves that little kids would wear and there would always be a little hole somewhere.

“For about a year before he passed, I think every time I was here, he brought me a pair of gloves that he wanted the hole stitched up. And he was just such a nice person, very polite, respectful.”

In another instance, when a resident brought Martodam a quilt she determined “was not really fixable,” she said, “I did what I could, and then I just felt compelled to go out and buy some fabric and make him a new quilt.”

Martodam carries with her the appreciation she’s received and the growth in patience and understanding she’s gained. From her perspective, offering her sewing services to those in need goes beyond simple mending — it fits within the pursuit of Christian life.

“My attitude is that you should do what you can for people who are less fortunate,” she said. “It’s not that I have this calling to do it, it’s just what you should do; if you can do it, you should.”

What’s next for Martodam? Right after wrapping up repairs at Higher Ground, she planned to donate platelets. Looking a little further ahead, she said she is eager to “spend more time up north at the lake,” visit with family at get-togethers, and attend Vikings games with her family.

She also hopes another person will feel inspired to lend their sewing services by volunteering at Catholic Charities, “even if it’s not every week or every two weeks.”

Until then, Martodam’s absence from Catholic Charities will be felt.

“She is gonna be missed,” Manuel said. “She definitely is gonna be missed.”

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Karen Martodam of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove works on a shirt Aug. 19 for Henry Davis, a resident of Catholic Charities Twin Cities’ Higher Ground in Minneapolis, during her final day as a volunteer sewing for residents at the facility.