catholic schools week columns

A Gentle Place to Learn page 27

8 EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL

JENNIFER SCHACK

In Our Hearts: We come to know the Lord in the Eucharist

10 LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR

EILEEN CONNELLY, OSU

154 years in the archdiocese

16 A GIFT OF PEACE

PATRICIA MCGEEVER

Replica cross recovered from Nagasaki gifted to Wilmington College

37 YOUR WORK IN POST-ROE OHIO

KATIE SCIBA

What you can do to help the pro-life movement today

40 BLESSED CARLO RELICS

MATT HESS

Visit a model of the Eucharistic revival

42 WHAT ARE YOUR DREAMS FOR YOUR CHILDREN?

DOMINICK ALBANO

Eucharistic revival in the archdiocese

18 KNIGHTS MARCH TO VICTORY

REBEKAH DAVIDSON

Alter High School Band

Wins Grand National Class A Championship

20 BUILDING GENUINE CONNECTION

ANNE JONES

McNicholas Students Work, Pray and Love During Glenmary Service-Learning Retreat in Appalachia

22 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

TRANSFORMING HEARTS & SOULS

ALLEGRA THATCHER

27 A GENTLE PLACE TO LEARN

KARY ELLEN BERGER

30 HOMECOMING

JOHN STEGEMAN

Alumni return to work for Catholic alma maters

32 ACADEMICS + FAITH

KARY ELLEN BERGER

Catholic school leads to career as OB/GYN

ON THE COVER

PHOTO BY: MARGARET SWENSEN

Students learn in the Atrium at Good Shepherd Catholic Montessori School.

CATHOLIC TELEGRAPH

7 QUESTION OF FAITH FATHER DAVID ENDRES Is sacrifice required for worship?

12 A CLOSER LOOK

DR. KENNETH CRAYCRAFT

Time, contingency and the illustion of control

14 CATHOLIC AT HOME KATIE SCIBA

Loving our homes

24 SHINE ON DOMINICK ALBANO

Becoming who God made you to be

34 SEIZE THE MOMENT NICHOLAS HARDESTY

A new charisma for the New Year

44 KIDS’ CORNER St. Thomas Aquinas

46 THEOLOGY OF THE BODY

DR. ANDREW SODERGREN The wounds of sin

50 THE FINAL WORD VERONICA MURPHY

Finding my vocation in Catholic schools

POPE FRANCIS’ PRAYER INTENTION FOR JANUARY

For Educators

We pray that educators may be credible witnesses, teaching fraternity rather than competition and helping the youngest and most vulnerable above all.

Seek the Lord

DENNI S M. SCHNURR

Throughout January, we celebrate the liturgical memorials of many saints who dedicated themselves to learning and to education. Religious sisters, such as St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Angela Merici, formed communities of women committed to the education of youth and families. Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen are celebrated as Doctors of the Church, and their theological studies and writings still help us to better understand the mystery of who God is and who He created us to be. At the end of the month, we will praise God for the life and work of St. Thomas Aquinas who, as both a scholar and professor, is honored for his invaluable contributions to not only the study of theology, but also for his promotion of the coherence between faith and reason.

Each of these women and men understood that the created world reveals God’s goodness to us. As we learn about the world, we uncover the order in which God established it from the first moments of creation. And God established that order with our best interests in mind. God created all things for our benefit, both to foster our flourishing in this life and to lead us to be with Him forever in the next. This combination of appreciating the physical world around us while learning deeper, transcendent truths about God and the spiritual realm is a hallmark of Catholic education.

For centuries Catholic schools and universities have sought to ground human knowledge in the foundation of divine truths. We cannot fully appreciate the beauty of the world around us if we don’t keep in mind that God has both placed us in it and entrusted us with caring for it. In wondering at the created order, we can learn the magnitude of God’s love for us and the richness of our nature as human beings created in His image and likeness. In this sense, Catholic education acknowledges and fosters the development of every aspect of the person: physical, spiritual, emotional and relational.

Such integral development of the whole human being is the work carried out tirelessly by the thousands of teachers, faculty and staff members of the 112 Catholic grade schools and high schools in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. All told, more than 40,000 students are formed in these fine schools each year. That work could not be accomplished without the additional support of thousands of parish and school volunteers who serve as coaches, aides or assistants with after school care and other programs. To all of you, I express my sincere gratitude. The commitment you show to our young people opens to them opportunities for a full and successful life in this world and, more importantly, for eternity.

Finally, I acknowledge the parents of our students. You have shown you believe in the value of a Catholic education and make many sacrifices to send your children to Catholic schools. The work to educate your children begins in the home, and the foundations you lay there are built upon by the faculty and staff members to whom you entrust your children each day.

Together we all contribute to the education of our young people, so that they can discover the richness of God’s creation and the plan He has for them within it. God has a definite purpose for each of our lives; let us thank Him for the gift of an education by which each student can discern that purpose and acquire the skills necessary to fulfill it. In doing so, we discover the fullness of life which Christ came to bestow upon us (cf. Jn. 10:10).

Busca al Senor

ARZOBISPO DENNIS M. SCHNURR

A lo largo del mes de enero, celebramos la memoria litúrgica de muchos santos que se dedicaron al aprendizaje y a la educación. Hermanas religiosas, como Santa Elizabeth Ann Seton y Santa Ángela Merici, formaron comunidades de mujeres comprometidas con la educación de los jóvenes y las familias. Los santos, Basilio Magno y Gregorio Nacianceno, son celebrados como Doctores de la Iglesia, y sus estudios teológicos y escritos aún nos ayudan a comprender mejor el misterio de quién Dios es y a quién nos ha creado para ser. Al final del mes, alabaremos a Dios por la vida y la obra de Santo Tomás de Aquino, quien, como erudito y profesor, es honrado por sus inestimables contribuciones no sólo al estudio de la teología, sino también por su promoción de la coherencia entre la fe y la razón.

Cada una de estas mujeres y hombres comprendió que el mundo creado nos revela la bondad de Dios. Al conocer el mundo, descubrimos el orden que Dios estableció desde los primeros momentos de la creación. Dios estableció ese orden con nuestros mejores intereses en mente. Dios creó toda cosa para nuestro beneficio, tanto para fomentar nuestro florecimiento en esta vida como para llevarnos a estar con Él para siempre en la próxima. Este doble aspecto, de apreciar el mundo físico que nos rodea, mientras percibimos verdades aún más profundas y trascendentes sobre Dios, y el mundo espiritual, es un sello distintivo de la educación católica.

Por varios siglos, las escuelas y las universidades católicas han tratado de fundamentar el conocimiento humano a base de las verdades divinas. No podemos apreciar plenamente la belleza del mundo que nos rodea si no tenemos en cuenta que Dios nos ha colocado en él y nos ha confiado su cuidado. Al asombrarnos con el orden creado, podemos aprender de la magnitud del amor de Dios por nosotros y la riqueza de nuestra naturaleza como seres humanos creados a su imagen y semejanza. En este sentido, la educación católica reconoce y fomenta el desarrollo de todos los aspectos de la persona: físico, espiritual, emocional y relacional.

Este desarrollo integral de todo el ser humano es el trabajo que realizan incansablemente los miles de profesores, facultades y los miembros del personal de las 112 escuelas primarias y secundarias católicas de la arquidiócesis de Cincinnati. En total, más de 40,000 alumnos se forman cada año en estas magníficas escuelas. Ese trabajo no podría llevarse a cabo sin el apoyo adicional de miles de voluntarios en las parroquias y en las escuelas que sirven como entrenadores y asistentes con el cuidado de niños después de la escuela y otros programas. A todos ustedes, les expreso mi sincero agradecimiento. El compromiso que muestran con nuestros jóvenes les brinda oportunidades para que tengan una vida plena y exitosa en este mundo y, lo que más importa, para toda la eternidad.

Por último, expreso mi reconocimiento a los padres de nuestros alumnos. Ustedes han demostrado que creen en el valor de una educación católica y hacen muchos sacrificios para enviar a sus hijos a las escuelas católicas. La labor de educar a sus hijos comienza en el hogar. Los maestros y los miembros del personal, a los que ustedes confían sus hijos, cada día construyen sobre los cimientos que ustedes ya han puesto.

Todos juntos contribuimos a la educación de nuestros jóvenes, para que puedan descubrir la riqueza de la creación de Dios y el plan que Él tiene para ellos dentro de ella.

Dios tiene un propósito definido para cada una de nuestras vidas; agradezcámosle el regalo de una educación mediante la cual cada estudiante pueda discernir ese propósito y adquirir las habilidades necesarias para cumplirlo. Al hacerlo, descubrimos la plenitud de vida que Cristo vino a otorgarnos (cf. Jn. 10:10).

Is Sacrifice Required for Worship?

I have heard that sacrifice is required for worship. Consequently, the Mass is worship, while other forms of prayer are not. Is this correct?

The word “sacrifice” is derived from the Latin for “making sacred.” According to the Church’s understanding, acts of worship have a sacrificial component, though the form that sacrifice takes varies according to the kind of worship.

Ancient Roots

The connection between sacrifice and worship has ancient roots. When the people of Israel worshiped God, they offered a sacrifice, usually an animal that was ritually offered. In doing so, they took something common (an animal) and dedicated it to God (what they called korban, meaning “to bring forward or offer”). The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in the latter part of the first century ended animal sacrifice in Judaism, prompting sacrifice to take on other forms.

JESUS’ SACRIFICE

Within Christian belief, the ultimate sacrifice is the death of Jesus; therefore, the Temple sacrifices, which prefigured Jesus, are continued in His sacrifice. As the Letter to the Hebrews explains, in reference to Jesus: “Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins” (5:1). Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is therefore meant to be remembered and commemorated as the sacrifice that offers salvation to the world.

The Mass

Recognizing the Mass as a participation in the sacrifice on the cross, the Church Fathers, who taught in the first centuries of Christianity, clearly connected the Mass to sacrifice. This idea endured, remaining largely uncontested until the Protestant Reformers questioned whether the Mass was necessary. Was His sacrifice on the Cross not enough? The Church responded that His sacrifice, made once and for all, is represented in an unbloody manner in the Mass, by which the Church follows the Lord’s command to “do this in memory of me” (Lk. 22:19).

As the Church developed its liturgy, the concept of anamnesis by which Jesus is not just remembered but made present and real—was vital. This is how we engage in the sacrificial nature of worship, not simply continuing our forbears’ practices but participating in a representation of God’s saving deeds so that they may be living and effective today.

The Liturgy Of The Hours

Sacrificial worship may take other forms. When members of the Church pray the psalms as part of the Liturgy of the Hours, it is a continual “sacrifice of praise” (Heb. 13:15) by which the Christian offers the day back to God. It is sacrificial in terms of the time devoted to prayer and the discipline of ordering the day so as to pray at fixed times: in the morning, during the day, in the evening, and at the day’s conclusion. This prayer of the Church sanctifies the day and is linked to the sacrifice of the Mass, for which it prepares the believer and from which it flows.

One Sacrifice

When the Church prays, whether the Mass or Liturgy of the Hours, it makes an offering in imitation of Christ. As St. Paul reminds us, “Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship” (Rom. 12:1). All worship, therefore, has a sacrificial element, whether overt or not. Though sacrifice can be expressed in different ways, worship is participation in the sacrifice of Christ.

FATHER DAVID ENDRES is professor of Church history and historical theology at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology.

Eucharistic Fact!

The primary Scripture passages that support the Church’s teaching on the Real Presence come from both the Gospels and the epistles. Jesus tells his disciples that he is “the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. . . . unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you (Jn. 6:51,53).