Voice of the Southwest, Summer 2018

The Official Publication of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup | dioceseofgallup.org | Vol.58 No.2

VOICE SOUTHWEST of the

In Celebration of

The Family

Humanae Vitae Turns 50

ALSO: Meet Your Newest Priest, Ordained this Summer 2800 Mile Walk for Life New Superintendent of Schools

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COVER STORY

NEWS

FEATURES

18 Meet Your Newest

24 2800m Pro-Life Walk

Catholic Family Life 50 years ago this summer, Pope Paul VI released a prophetic document: Humanae Vitae, or On Human Life. Rather than cater to the whims of secular views on human nature, it re-committed the Church to upholding the sacredness of marriage and family.

Diocesan Priest

Fr. Mitchell Brown had wanted to be a priest since the 4th grade

15 Long-Serving Diocese 15 Newest Priestly Receptionist Retires

Ella Roanhorse has been a friendly face at our front office for over 30 years

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CALENDAR 28 Events/Classifieds Events and notices for the summer

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John and Laura Moore are a father daughter team crossing the country from coast to coast

16 Local News OLoG Sisters Elect New Superior; AZ Catholic Conference Updates

Assignments

22 Obituaries and Anniversaries

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Voice

of the

Southwest

Publisher

The Most Rev. Bishop James S. Wall

Editor

Suzanne Hammons

Advertising/Office Manager TBD

Where to find us

The Voice of the Southwest can be found in any parish, mission, or Catholic school in the Diocese of Gallup. To receive a subscription to your home, contact us at media@dioceseofgallup.org or 503 W. Historic Highway 66, Gallup NM 87301

Contributors

SCHOOLS 26 Meet your new

Superintendent

Fr. Isaac Ogba is a priest originally from the Diocese of Abakaliki, Nigeria

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New Bus for St. Anthony School

COLUMNS 30 Making Sense Out of Bioethics

31 Saint of the Week

Bishop James S. Wall Dr. Jean Lee

Email comments to:

designoffice@dioceseofgallup.org

Write to:

Voice of the Southwest PO Box 1338, Gallup NM 87305-1338

Cover Photo

Families light candles at the Easter Vigil Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Gallup, NM.

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FROM THE BISHOP:

The Prophetic Wisdom of Blessed Pope Paul VI I

n the Gospel of Saint Matthew, after Saint Peter proclaims Jesus as the Christ, Our Lord tells Saint Peter: “I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:18-19).

These words were given not only to Saint Peter but also to all his successors.

When we hear the various voices that compel us to different things, we know that, where Saint Peter is, there is Christ.

Saint Peter has the care of the Church.

The truths of our faith revealed in the scriptural passage are: • Jesus is Lord • He establishes His Church on the profession of Saint Peter • He promises that His Church will prevail • He gives Saint Peter a unique authority, one he does not give to the other Apostles We see this beautifully lived out in the Church though the Successors of Saint Peter as the Church has been preserved from falling into error in the area of faith and morals. The Church relies on the assistance of the Holy Spirit to guide Her as She leads the faithful on their earthly pilgrimage, which provides hope of receiving the eternal reward of Heaven. The faithful are able to rely on the Church in good times and in bad, during smooth sailing and on rough waters.

The Church in turbulent times

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n July 25, 1968, the soon to be Pope Saint Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae (“Human Life”), an

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encyclical on human life and its transmission. Fifty years after the release of this beautiful document, we can see how God inspired the Holy Father in everything he wrote. We need to go back and ponder Humanae Vitae. Blessed Pope Paul VI gave an exhortation to bishops about marriage to which it is even more necessary for all bishops to listen today: We invite all of you, we implore you, to give a lead to your priests who assist you in the sacred ministry, and to the faithful of your dioceses, and to devote yourselves with all zeal and without delay to safeguarding the holiness of marriage, in order to guide married life to its full human and Christian perfection. Consider this mission as one of your most urgent responsibilities at the present time (Humanae Vitae [HV] 30).

God has given us a blueprint for a happy married life. We have spent more than fifty years ignoring it, and we can see the results in a broken society. We can be silent no longer. The Church must speak out, boldly and without fear, as Blessed Pope Paul VI taught: “The Church cannot ignore these questions, for they concern matters intimately connected with the life and happiness of human beings” (HV 1).

Let’s look at the context of Humanae Vitae. Giovanni Cardinal Montini was 65 years old when he was elected Pope Paul VI in 1963, in the middle of the Second Vatican Council. He served faithfully as pontiff for fifteen years, perhaps some of the most difficult in the history of the world and the Church.

It was the era of the so-called Sexual Revolution and cultural upheaval. It was the era of rock and roll, the moon landing, the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King. In a reflection on Humanae Vitae

when he was the major apostolic penitentiary, James Cardinal Stafford, then a priest of Baltimore, described how, in the 1950s and ’60s, out-of-wedlock pregnancies skyrocketed, and he first encountered hard-drug users and, increasingly, broken families.

His ordinary, Lawrence Cardinal Shehan, Archbishop of Baltimore, was a part of the papal commission that had advised to allow the use of contraceptives. Other Protestant communities had allowed contraceptives since the Lambeth Conference in 1930, and when Humanae Vitae was promulgated, oral contraceptives had been on the market for about eight years.

What was happening in the Church?

The Second Vatican Council had ended three years earlier, and there was upheaval and confusion about what the council actually intended. Between 1962 and 1970, there were five new missals issued by the Church (Remember how much upheaval and confusion a single new edition in 2002 and a single new translation in 2011 caused? Imagine a new book every two years!).

In short, there was a ball of confusion in the Church and outside it. Morality, liturgy, and the Faith itself seemed to be up for grabs. This is what the pope was trying to clarify and heal.

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Warnings and remedy

t is time, then, to regroup and listen to Pope Paul VI. It is time to restore what has been forgotten in our understanding of marriage. It is time to reread and take to heart the warnings heard in the prophetic voice of Humanae Vitae.

Pope Blessed Paul VI warned that if the Church were to go down the “rabbit hole” of artificial contraception, there would be serious consequences. He cited four perceived problems:

• A general lowering of moral standards throughout society, seen through the rampant spread of relativism.

• A rise in infidelity, as evidenced in the increase of a divorce rate rapidly approaching 50%.

• A lessening of respect for women by men, men objectifying women simply to feed their need for selfish pleasure.

• the coercive use of reproduction technologies by governments, which Pope Francis calls the “new colonization”.

Sadly, the prophetic words of Pope Blessed Paul VI have come true. We remember the eternal truth “you reap what you sow”. A society where the contraceptive mentality is the norm is a society not built on love, and one that will ultimately implode in on itself, for it is a selfish society.

Hope

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emember, it’s not all doom and gloom: there is hope. Pope Paul VI didn’t merely show us the evils of forgetting God and his plan for humanity; he provided a remedy. What remedies did he prescribe for our culture of death?

The first thing he reminds us to do is to look to the source of marriage: the grace of the cross of Jesus Christ: [L]et Christian husbands and wives be mindful of their vocation to the Christian life, a vocation which, deriving from their baptism, has been confirmed anew and made more explicit by the sacrament of matrimony. For by this sacrament they are strengthened and, one might almost say, consecrated to the faithful fulfillment of their duties (HV 25).

God has called each couple to marriage. It flows from their baptism.

There is a modern temptation to romanticize the wrong parts of a wedding and marriage. It is not the candles and the lighting and the flowers and the dress that are important; what is glorious is fidelity, and fruitfulness, and the fact that this man is unique and irreplaceable to

this woman, and this woman is unique and irreplaceable to this man. It is the fact that they share together a privilege that God does not give even to the angels: to be the means through which new persons, destined for heavenly glory, are created. It is the fact that, for Christian marriage, God has decided that the love of husband for wife and wife for husband is the means through which he bestows his own love, his grace, and his salvation. They take on new duties in the heart of the Church: they are called to help each other to heaven, to raise up new members for the Church, to raise up new thrones in heaven.

Marriage is not simply about trudging through life: it is about eternal, heavenly glory. God himself has called couples together: “What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matt. 19:6). Jesus Christ has married couples from the cross, uniting them with the graces won by the piercing of his Sacred Heart. It is the path Jesus chose for the greatest of all saints, his own blessed Mother.

Since the heart of Jesus is the source of Christian marriage, and the cross of Christ is where he won the grace for human couples to enter into holy matrimony, we must go back to the cross and to the heart of Christ in order to restore and heal marriages. Blessed Pope Paul VI told his priests, “Teach married couples the necessary way of prayer and prepare them to approach more often with great faith the sacraments of the Eucharist and of penance. Let them never lose heart because of their weakness” (HV 29).

The fruits of self-discipline

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e must once again learn the value of generosity and selfdiscipline, to learn that I am not “number one.” That title belongs to God. I’m not even number two. By putting the good of others before my own urges and desires, I learn to love. By learning control of myself, I give myself the freedom to love. In Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI described eight values of training our hearts in self-discipline, especially in the sphere of marital intimacy.

• It gives love a more human

A Prophetic

VOICE

Pope Paul VI spoke as a prophet to a lost world.

Fr. John Hardon defines a prophet as “one who spoke, acted, or wrote under the extraordinary influence of God to make known the divine counsels and will. . . . His role, then, was to both proclaim and to make the proclamation credible” (Modern Catholic Dictionary, s.v.

“Prophet,” 1999). We think of a prophet as someone who reveals the future, who tells us what will happen as he speaks on God’s behalf.

With Humanae Vitae, Bl. Pope Paul VI fulfilled both senses of prophecy. He recognized that the world was going to oppose him and the Church. “Here is too much clamorous outcry against the voice of the Church, and this is intensified by modern means of communication,” he wrote. “But it comes as no surprise to the Church that she, no less than her divine Founder, is destined to be a ‘sign of contradiction’” (HV 18).

He also revealed the future, as he warned about the evils that would result with the acceptance of contraception. He named four, which we see rampant in our society: • It would open the way to marital infidelity.

• It would lower moral standards in the general population.

• It would cause men to forget the reverence due to women.

• It would be readily abused when power of procreation was given to public authorities (HV 17).

Do we have to think very hard to recognize how right he was?

Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

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character, since it isn’t animalistic or consuming the other.

• It develops the personalities of husband and wife, especially spiritually.

• It brings tranquility and peace.

• It fosters thoughtfulness and loving consideration.

• It repels inordinate self-love.

• It rouses a consciousness of the couple’s responsibilities to each other and to God. • Control for the sake of love gives a couple a deeper influence on their children.

• It gives children a right sense of values, helping them achieve proper use of mental and physical powers (HV 21).

Part of learning generosity and communication comes from learning about the rhythms of the body—that is, to learn about the real-life person you’ve promised yourself to forever.

If therefore there are well-grounded reasons for spacing births, arising from the physical or psychological condition of husband or wife, or from external circumstances, the Church teaches that married people may then take advantage of the natural cycles immanent in the reproductive system and engage in marital intercourse only during those times that are infertile, thus controlling birth in a way which does not in the least offend the moral principles which we have just explained. . . . But it is equally true that it is exclusively in the former case that husband and wife are ready to abstain from intercourse during the fertile period when for reasonable motives the birth of another child is not desirable. And when the infertile period recurs, they use their married intimacy to express their mutual love and safeguard their fidelity toward one another. In doing this they certainly give proof of a true and authentic love (HV 16).

Three to get married

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ut this means more than just faithfulness, generosity, and communication between the couple. God has also entered into their marriage. It is not simply between a man and a woman that the sacrament occurs but between a

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man, a woman, and the Creator himself.

This means there must be faithfulness, generosity, and communication with God. It means allowing God to direct us; it means following the beauty of God’s grand design.

Hence to use this divine gift while depriving it, even if only partially, of its meaning and purpose, is equally repugnant to the nature of man and of woman, and is consequently in opposition to the plan of God and his holy will. But to experience the gift of married love while respecting the laws of conception is to acknowledge that one is not the master of the sources of life but rather the minister of the design established by the Creator.

“Human life is sacred—all men must recognize that fact,” our predecessor Pope John XXIII recalled. “From its very inception it reveals the creating hand of God” (HV 13).

To live true generosity, to live true love, we need God, we need his grace. It may seem odd, but so many of us are uncomfortable asking for God’s grace. We almost think we are more free or better people if we can “do it on our own.” We get a little embarrassed to involve God when we are struggling. But, you know, no one finds it embarrassing that we rely on food or air. No one says, “You won’t believe this, but I had to eat today” or “I had to breathe this last five minutes.”

At the heart of this reluctance to ask for God’s or others’ help is the sin of pride.

One that says it is all about me and I can do it on my own. Remember Saint Paul’s words “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13), which fosters a greater reliance upon God and others. It is an act of humility, the virtue that counteracts the vice of pride.

Do we need God in our lives? Of course we do! Why do we think we need God any less? To leave God out of our marriage, to thrust him from the bedroom (or the kitchen, or the garage) will only end in disaster and misery. Proper use of the rights of marriage and the true regulation of birth “- demands from individual men and women, from families and from human society, a resolute purpose and great endurance. Indeed, it cannot be

observed unless God comes to their help with the grace by which the goodwill of men is sustained and strengthened. But to those who consider this matter diligently it will indeed be evident that this endurance enhances man’s dignity and confers benefits on human society” (HV 20).

Responsible parenthood

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umanae Vitae teaches we must learn responsible parenthood (HV 10). But the pope’s use of the term is vastly different from the culture of death’s definition. There are four parts to this responsible parenthood: • Knowing the body and respecting it • Having control of our emotions and drives • Evaluating real-life conditions and deciding to generously have more children • Or, “for serious reasons and with due respect to moral precepts, decid[ing] not to have additional children for either a certain or an indefinite period of time” (HV 10).

The pope continues with the key to it all: “Responsible parenthood, as we use the term here, has one further essential aspect of paramount importance.

It concerns the objective moral order which was established by God, and of which a right conscience is the true interpreter. In a word, the exercise of responsible parenthood requires that husband and wife, keeping a right order of priorities, recognize their own duties toward God, themselves, their families and human society” (HV 10).

In the garden of Eden, when man rebelled against God, nature and our own flesh rebelled against us. God is the Source of all good—to separate life and human love from him is to cut out the heart of marriage. It will bleed. To heal, we need to reorganize our lives according to God’s plan—God’s good plan, which is the only plan that can make us truly happy.

Pope Paul VI tells us: “Marriage, then, is far from being the effect of chance or the result of the blind evolution of natural forces. It is in reality the wise and provident institution of God the Creator, whose purpose was to effect in man His loving design. As a consequence, husband and wife, through that mutual gift of themselves, which is specific and exclusive to them alone, develop that union of two persons in which they perfect one another, cooperating with God in the generation and rearing of new lives” (HV 8).

He continues by explaining what married love means: “Whoever really loves his partner loves not only for what he receives, but loves that partner for the partner’s

own sake, content to be able to enrich the other with the gift of himself” (HV 9).

Your spouse is your neighbor

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n all of this, Pope Blessed Paul VI anticipates Pope Saint John Paul II and his Theology of the Body. If you place them side by side, you see the same themes, the same focus, the same truths being explained, which find their origins in scriptures, especially in the first chapters of the Book of Genesis.

It is easy to look at abstract questions, but it’s hard to look at real people, especially when that person is oneself. This was the struggle of the scholar of the law who asked Jesus the question that led to the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37): “Who is my neighbor?” Who does this truth really apply to?

If you are married, this applies first

and foremost to your spouse. Restore your own marriage. Renew in your heart the vows of your wedding day—perhaps even this evening, whisper them into the ear of your beloved. All of us, even the unmarried (especially the priests and bishops) must recommit ourselves daily to the truth—the happy truth—about authentic married love. And this ultimately means a recommitment to God. Our world needs authentic witnesses to the truth—the Truth personified in Jesus Christ.

The Most Reverend James S. Wall is the fourth Bishop of Gallup, New Mexico. This article is adapted from his keynote address at Catholic Answers’ national conference, “Restoring Marriage Today.”

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OBISPO JAMES S. WALL:

Humanae Vitae Mas Pertinente que nunca:

Releyendo la Encíclica profética del

Papa Pablo VI

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ecientemente, una compañía de comida australiana transmitió una publicidad donde se les preguntó a padres y niños: “Con quién te gustaría cenar más en la vida? Los adultos nombraron celebridades, estrellas de cine y gente famosa que admiraban. Los niños, casi sin excepción, nombraron sus padres. Querían comer con ellos, pasar tiempo con ellos.

El valor de la familia y del matrimonio lo sentimos en nuestros corazones; todos desean familia e intimidad. Aún la gente que no cree en el matrimonio desea “derechos del matrimonio”. Nuestra cultura moderna occidental desea familias llenas de amor y estables, pero no sabe como conseguirlo. Todos los expertos nos dicen que debemos seguir los dictados nuestro corazón, que pongamos atención a como sentimos, y pensemos mas en nosotros mismos y así podremos ser felices. ¿Pero será verdad? Vivimos en un mundo que promueve la anticoncepción para disfrutar noches de sexo sin preocupación; que nos dice que la “experimentación” y promiscuidad es algo sano; que parejas unidas en santo matrimonio puedan separarse sin consecuencias. La voz de la Iglesia es vista como algo anticuada e irreal – hasta quizá cruel e inhumano. ¿Cuál voz deberíamos seguir? ¡Se nos ha regalado un guía seguro a la felicidad – a la felicidad eterna! En el Evangelio de San Mateo, Jesús le dice a San Pedro, “Y yo te digo: Tú eres Pedro, y sobre esta piedra edificaré mi iglesia, y el poder de la Muerte no prevalecerá contra ella. Yo te dará las llaves del Reino de los Cielos. Todo lo que ates en la tierra, quedará atado en el cielo, y todo lo que desates en la tierra, quedará desatado en el cielo.”(Mt. 16:18-19) Estas palabras se las dijo no sólo a Pedro sino a todos sus sucesores. Cuando

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escuchamos las voces diferentes que nos obligan a cosas diferentes, sabemos que, donde esta Pedro, esta Cristo. Pedro esta a cargo de la Iglesia.

La Iglesia en tiempos turbulentos

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l día 25 de julio de 1968, el Beato Pablo VI promulgó Humanae Vitae (Sobre la Vida Humana), una encíclica sobre la vida humana y su transmisión. Casi cincuenta años después de la publicación de este documento hermoso, podemos ver como Dios inspiró el Santo Padre en todo lo que escribió.

Necesitamos volver a leer y reflexionar sobre Humanae Vitae. El Beato Papa Pablo VI dio una exhortación a obispos acerca del matrimonio la cual es aún más necesario para todos los obispos que la escuchan hoy: A todos dirigimos una apremiante invitación. Trabajad al frente de los sacerdotes, vuestros colaboradores, y de vuestros fieles con ardor y sin descanso por la salvaguardia y la santidad del matrimonio para que sea vivido en toda su plenitud humana y cristiana.

Considerad esta misión como una de vuestras responsabilidades más urgentes en el tiempo actual.

(Humanae Vitae [HV] 30) Dios nos ha dado un diseño para una vida matrimonial feliz. Hemos pasado más de 50 anos ignorándolo y vemos los resultados en una sociedad dañada.

No podemos permanecer en silencio. La Iglesia debe hablar con fuerza y sin temor, como el Papa Pablo VI ensenó: “La Iglesia no podía ignorar por tratarse de una materia relacionada tan de cerca con la vida y la felicidad de los hombres.”

(HV 1).

Examinamos el contexto de Huma-

nae Vitae. Giovanni Cardinal Montini tenía 65 anos cuando fue elegido Papa Pablo VI en 1963, en medio del Concilio Vaticano Secundo. Sirvió con fidelidad como Papa por 15 años, tal vez los más difíciles en la historia del mundo y de la Iglesia.

Fue la era de la llamada Revolución Sexual y tumulto cultural. Fue la era de Rock and Roll, de llegar a la luna, de la guerra de Vietnam, de Martin Luther King. En una reflexión sobre Humanae Vitae, cuando el fue el Penitenciario Apostólico Mayor, James Cardinal Stafford, entonces un sacerdote de Baltimore, describió como, en los 50 y 60, los nacimientos fuera de matrimonio aumentaron muchísimo, y fue cuando él encontró por primera vez abusadores de drogas duras y, más y más, familias rotas.

Su Ordinario, Lawrence Cardinal Shehan, Arzobispo de Baltimore, formo parte de la comisión que aconsejó el uso de anticonceptivos. Otras Iglesias Cristianas habían permitido la anticoncepción desde la Conferencia de Lambeth en 1930, y cuando Humanae Vitae fue promulgada los anticonceptivos orales habían estado en el mercado por unos 8 anos. ¿Qué pasaba en la Iglesia? El Concilio Vaticano II había terminado tres años antes, y había turbulencia y confusión sobre lo que verdaderamente el Concilio había querido hacer. Entre 1962 y 1970 había cinco nuevos misales publicados por la Iglesia. (¿Se acuerdan cuánta turbulencia y confusión una edición sola en 2002 y una traducción nueva en 2011 han causado? ¡Imagínense un libro nuevo cada sois anos!)

En fin, había un mundo de confusión adentro de la Iglesia y fuera de ella. La moralidad, la liturgia y aun la fe misma parecían estar abiertas a interpretación libre. Todo esto el Papa buscaba clarificar

y sanar.

Amonestaciones y remedio

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s hora, entonces, de reagrupar y escuchar al Papa Pablo VI. Es hora de restaurar lo que ha sido olvidado en nuestra comprensión del matrimonio. Es hora de releer y tomar a pecho las amonestaciones escuchadas en la voz profética de Humanae Vitae.

Recuerden que no está todo perdido: hay esperanza. El Papa Pablo VI no solo nos mostró la maldad que es olvidarnos de Dios y de su plan por la humanidad; nos dio también un remedio. ¿Qué remedios nos dio para nuestra cultura de la muerte?

Primero, nos recuerda mirar hacia la fuente del matrimonio: la gracia y la cruz de Jesucristo: Los esposos cristianos, pues, dóciles a su voz, deben recordar que su vocación cristiana, iniciada en el bautismo, se ha especificado y fortalecido ulteriormente con el sacramento del matri-

monio. Por lo mismo los cónyuges son corroborados y como consagrados para cumplir fielmente los propios deberes.

(HV 25) Dios ha llamado a las parejas al matrimonio. Eso viene de su bautismo.

Hay una tentación moderna de romantizar las partes equivocadas de un casamiento y del matrimonio. No son las velas y la iluminación ni el vestido lo que son importantes; lo que es glorioso es la fidelidad y el hecho que este hombre es único e irremplazable para esta mujer y esta mujer es única e irremplazable para este hombre. Es el hecho de que compartan un privilegio que Dios no da ni a los ángeles: a ser el medio por el cual nuevas personas, destinadas a la gloria del cielo, son creadas. Es el hecho de que, para el matrimonio cristiano, Dios ha decidido que el amor del esposo por la esposa y la esposa por el esposo es el medio por la cual comparta su propio amor, su gracia, su salvación. Toman sobre si nuevas responsabilidades en el corazón de la Iglesia: son llamadas a ayudarse

mutuamente a llegar al cielo, a engendrar nuevos miembros de la Iglesia, a alzar nuevos tronos en el cielo.

El matrimonio no es vivido simplemente aquí en la tierra: se trata de gloria eterna y celestial. Dios mismo reúne a las parejas: “Que el hombre no separe lo que Dios ha unido” (Mt. 19:6). Jesucristo ha unido en matrimonio desde la cruz, uniéndolos con las gracias ganadas en el Sagrado Corazón. Es el sendero que Jesús eligió para la santa mas grande, su propia Virgen Madre.

Dado que el corazón de Jesús es la fuente del matrimonio cristiano, y la cruz de Cristo es donde el se ganó la gracia para que las parejas humanas entraran. en santo matrimonio, debemos volver a la cruz y al corazón de Cristo para poder restaurar y sanar matrimonios. El Papa Pablo dijo a sus sacerdotes, “Enseñad a los esposos el camino necesario de la oración, preparadlos a que acudan con frecuencia y con fe a los sacramentos de la Eucaristía y de la Penitencia, sin que se dejen nunca desalentar por su debilidad.” (HV 29) Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

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Los frutos de auto disciplina

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ebemos una vez más aprender el valor de generosidad y autodisciplina, de aprender que no soy el “número uno”. Aquel título pertenece a Dios. No soy ni el número dos. Poniendo el bien de los otros ante de mis urgencias y deseos, aprendo amar. Aprendiendo el control de mi mismo, me doy la libertad de amar. En Humanae Vitae, el Papa Pablo VI describió ocho valores para entrenar a nuestros corazones en el auto-disciplina, especialmente en la esfera de intimidad matrimonial.

• Da al amor un carácter mas humano, dado que no es animal ni consumidor del otro.

• Desarrolla la personalidad de esposo y esposa, en especial, espiritualmente.

• Trae tranquilidad y paz.

• Engendra altruismo y bondad.

• Aleja el amor propio desordenado.

• Aumenta la conciencia de las responsabilidades de la pareja el uno hacia el otro y hacia Dios.

• El autocontrol por amor da a la pareja mayor influencia sobre sus hijos.

• Da a los niños un justo sentido de valores, ayudándolos a alcanzar el uso apropiado de sus potencias mentales y físicas.

(HV 21) Recientemente el actor Terry Crews hizo pública la noticia que él y su esposa tomaron un “ayuno sexual” de noventa días como parte de su tratamiento de recuperación después de que su adicción al porno casi destruyó su matrimonio de 25 años. Descubrió que aprendiendo auto control lo habilitó a amar su esposa mejor e hizo mas fuerte su matrimonio.

Una parte de aprender generosidad y comunicación viene de aprender los ritmos del cuerpo – es decir, conocer a la persona real a la cual te prometiste tú mismo para siempre.

Por consiguiente, si para espaciar los nacimientos existen serios motivos, derivados de las condiciones físicas o psicológicas de los cónyuges, o de circunstancias exteriores, la Iglesia enseña que entonces es lícito tener en cuenta los ritmos naturales inmanen-

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tes a las funciones generadoras para usar del matrimonio sólo en los periodos infecundos y así regular la natalidad sin ofender los principios morales que acabamos de recordar… pero es igualmente verdad que solamente en el primer caso renuncian conscientemente al uso del matrimonio en los periodos fecundos cuando por justos motivos la procreación no es deseable, y hacen uso después en los periodos agenésicos [infecundos] para manifestarse el afecto y para salvaguardar la mutua fidelidad. Obrando así ellos dan prueba de amor verdadero e integralmente honesto. (HV 16) Tres son necesarios en el matrimonio

odo esto significa mas que simplemente fidelidad, generosidad y comunicación entre la pareja. Dios también entró en su matrimonio. El sacramento toma lugar no simplemente entre un hombre y una mujer sino entre un hombre, una mujer y el Creador mismo.

Esto significa que debe haber fidelidad, generosidad y comunicación con Dios.

Significa dejar que Dios nos diriga; significa seguir la belleza del gran diseño de Dios.

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Usar este don divino destruyendo su significado y su finalidad, aun sólo parcialmente, es contradecir la naturaleza del hombre y de la mujer y sus más íntimas relaciones, y por lo mismo es contradecir también el plan de Dios y su voluntad. Usufructuar, en cambio, el don del amor conyugal respetando las leyes del proceso generador significa reconocerse no árbitros de las fuentes de la vida humana, sino más bien administradores del plan establecido por el Creador… “La vida humana es sagrada —recordaba Juan XXIII—; desde su comienzo, compromete directamente la acción creadora de Dios” (HV 13) Para vivir verdadera generosidad y vivir verdadero amor, necesitamos a Dios, necesitamos su gracia. Es curioso, pero muchos de nosotros nos sentimos incomodos de pedirle su gracia. Pensamos casi que somos mas libres o mejores personas si podemos “hacerlo solos”.

Podemos estar un poco embarazados a involucrar Dios cuando estamos en difi-

cultad. Sin embargo, nadie lo encuentra embarazoso cuando necesitamos aire o comida. Nadie dice, “no lo vas a creer, pero hoy tenia que comer” o “tenia que respirar estos últimos cinco minutos”.

Por supuesto que los necesitamos. ¿Por que pensamos que necesitamos a Dios menos? Dejar a Dios afuera del matrimonio, echarlo de nuestro dormitorio (o la cocina, o el garaje) solo terminara en desastre y miseria. El uso apropiado de los derechos de matrimonio y de la regulación del nacimiento “exige un serio empeño y muchos esfuerzos de orden familiar, individual y social. Más aún, no sería posible actuarla sin la ayuda de Dios, que sostiene y fortalece la buena voluntad de los hombres. Pero a todo aquel que reflexione seriamente, no puede menos de aparecer que tales esfuerzos ennoblecen al hombre y benefician la comunidad humana.” (HV 20)

Parentesco responsable

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umanae Vitae nos ensena que debemos aprender parentesco responsable (HV 10). Sin embargo, la definición de la palabra del Papa es extremadamente diferente de la definición de la cultura de la muerte. Hay cuatro partes para ser padres responsables: • Conocer el cuerpo y respetarlo • Controlar nuestras emociones y nuestros impulsos • Evaluar las condiciones reales de la vida y decidir generosamente tener mas hijos.

• O, “por motivos serios y con respeto a los preceptos morales, decidir no tener mas hijos por un periodo de tiempo o por tiempo indefinido” (HV 10).

El Papa continua con la clave de todo: La paternidad responsable comporta sobre todo una vinculación más profunda con el orden moral objetivo, establecido por Dios, cuyo fiel intérprete es la recta conciencia. El ejercicio responsable de la paternidad exige, por tanto, que los cónyuges reconozcan plenamente sus propios deberes para con Dios, para consigo mismo, para con la familia y la sociedad, en una justa jerarquía de valores. (HV 10)

En el jardín de Edén, cuando el hombre rebelo contra Dios, la naturaleza y nuestra propia carne se rebelaron contra nosotros. Dios es la Fuente de todo Bien – a separar la vida y amor humano de El es remover el corazón del matrimonio.

Va a sangrar. Para sanar, necesitamos reorganizar nuestras vidas según el plan de Dios – el plan bueno de Dios, el único plan que nos puede hacer realmente felices.

El Papa Pablo VI nos dice: El matrimonio no es, por tanto, efecto de la casualidad o producto de la evolución de fuerzas naturales inconscientes; es una sabia institución del Creador para realizar en la humanidad su designio de amor. Los esposos, mediante su recíproca donación personal, propia y exclusiva de ellos, tienden a la comunión de sus seres en orden a un mutuo perfeccionamiento personal, para colaborar con Dios en la generación y en la educación de

nuevas vidas. (HV 8) Continúa explicando lo que el amor matrimonial significa: “Quien verdaderamente ama a su esposo(a), ama no por lo que recibe, sino ama aquella persona por su propio bien, contento por poder enriquecer al otro con el don de si mismo.” (HV 9) Tu esposo,(a) es tu prójimo

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n todo esto, el Papa Pablo VI se anticipa al Papa Juan Pablo II y la Teología del Cuerpo. Si los pones uno al lado del otro, vas a ver los mismos temas, el mismo enfoque, las mismas verdades siendo pronunciadas.

Es fácil mirar cuestiones abstractas, pero es difícil mirar a personas reales, especialmente cuando aquella persona eres tú mismo. Esto fue la dificultad del estudioso de la ley quien le hizo a Jesús la pregunta que conducía a la parábola del

Buen Samaritano (Lk 10:25-37): ¿quien es mi prójimo? ¿Realmente, a quien debemos aplicar esta verdad?

Si estas casado, esto se aplica en primer lugar a tu esposo(a). Restaura tu propio matrimonio. Renueva en tu corazón los votos de tu casamiento – tal vez aun esta tarde, susúrralos en la oreja de tu amada.

Todos nosotros, aun los que no estamos casados (particularmente los sacerdotes y obispos) debemos comprometernos diariamente a la verdad – la verdad gozosa – del amor autentico del matrimonio.

Esto finalmente significa un compromiso renovado a Dios. Nuestro mundo necesita testigos de la verdad – la Verdad personificada en Jesucristo.

Este articulo esta adaptada y traducida del discurso del Obispo Wall a la conferencia nacional de Catholic Answers en Marzo: “Restaurando el Matrimonio Hoy”.

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Called to “Radical SelfGiving”

To bring you several personal perspectives from families who live out the teachings of the Church, especially as outlined in Humanae Vitae, we’re printing stories from two families on the following pages.

Jeremy and Brittani Boucher met in middle school and married soon after college graduation. They moved to Gallup, NM in 2007. Jeremy works for the Southwest Indian Foundation and Brittani runs a fitness consulting business on the side, on top of homeschooling the family’s children.

VoSW: When you were married did you think about having a big Catholic family?

Brittani Boucher (BB): Oh yeah.

Jeremy Boucher (JB): I’m the oldest of 8. We were inspired by seeing large families.

BB: I was totally inspired, like “this is possible! You can totally do this!”

VoSW: Some may express a negative reaction to large families. How would you answer that?

JB: We hear that all the time.

BB: I tell people, in some ways it’s easier with more. They play together.

There’s always something going on – a sports event, a birthday party, there’s really no boredom.

JB: I think a lot of people are thinking about the chaos. Because I hear it all the time, like “oh my gosh, I have my hands full with just two.” We’ve tried to just make our focus the raising of children.

Everyone pitches in - they all have their responsibilities. It’s a lot of work, but you kind of spread that out, and the kids are amazingly helpful, and they learn that they’re not the only person in the world.

And you both have hobbies.

BB: Yeah, you just have to make the effort.

Something we have to make a con-

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Jeremy and Brittani Boucher with their children: Isaiah, 12; Emma, 12; Marcus, 11; John Thomas, 9; Joseph, 7; Cecelia, 6; Mara, 3; Anna, 1, and a new baby on the way. certed effort about is making our relationship #1. So when you have all this going on, it’s easy to forget JB: This is the whole engine driving the whole thing.

BB: And if we’re not good, then nothing is gonna be good. So we have to really make that effort, like date night and not going to bed at 8:00 when you want to.

VoSW: What would you say to people who think the Church’s teaching is stuck in the 50s?

BB: Birth control...is an easy “quick fix” for a “problem”. But the whole being open to life – there’s the unitive and the openness to life and they are tied together.

JB: I get it – I understand how you get stuck in that mindset. But you have to take a few steps back – what are your priorities in life? What are your assumptions about what life is all about? We’ve been blessed with a formation that enabled us to take a step back and say “life is not about having the right stuff”.

Catholicism calls you to a radical selfgiving. I try to gently challenge people and say “this is what we’ve been called to” and this lifestyle fulfills that essential Christian mission of being radically generous with our lives.

Really, parenthood is what God has called married people to.

BB: You just gotta trust. It’s pretty much day to day, a far as planning for college, or retirement.

VoSW: Since we are in a Diocese that is so poor, what would you say to people who are worried about how they’ll provide?

JB: It doesn’t always work out how we want it to, but it always works out. I think there are cases where it would be imprudent. But that’s what I really love about Humanae Vitae – instead of laying the responsibility on the Church, with a top-down command of “you must have children” - it really shifted the focus to say that married couples have a responsibility to have a spiritual life so that they can actually have a relationship with God and say “looking at our life right now, it’s not God’s will that we prevent pregnancy” or “looking at our life right now, yeah, the Lord understands and it’s part of His will for us to prevent it for a time.”

You have to have that spiritual life and recognize that God is in control of the whole thing.

But it’s always worked out. We’ve been continually blessed. We do fine and don’t have many fancy things, but we have what we need, and the kids are comfortable and healthy and happy – more than we could have asked for.

Any final advice?

BB: Have a prayer life.

JB: Get on the same page when it comes to virtue. You as parents have to be working on living more virtuously, and if you do that, it’s naturally going to flow into your children. VoSW

Open to

a “Broader Definition of Family” Jeanette Suter served as the Superintended for Catholic Schools for five years. She and her husband, John, moved from California to serve in a mission Diocese. From the beginning of their marriage, they have lived with a diagnosis of infertility, a struggle which afflicts around 10% of couples in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

For another perspective on living out the Church’s teaching on married life, the Voice of the Southwest interviewed them about their experience living with infertility.

VoSW: Can you give us an overview of your situation?

Jeanette Suter: I had been married previously, and in my previous marriage we had tried to get pregnant, and things didn’t work. And so going into it – John and I dated for a year and a half. When we decided to get married we did have this conversation with our pastor at the time, because we didn’t know going forward if we’d be able to have children, because of some of the problems that I had had in the past.

We had talked about it – we knew the twofold purpose of marriage. So we knew going into this, well we may not be able to have children but the whole point of having a valid, Catholic marriage is that you’re open to it.

We had been married about 6, 8 months and we still weren’t getting pregnant, and we weren’t doing anything not to, of course. So we went to the gynecologist and she said “well nothing with you has changed...I think it’s time we look at John’s side of things.”

So we went to a urologist...he was actually able to diagnose John’s condition just by looking at him. Because of different physical characteristics, he said “I would bet you have Klinefelter’s. And it’s a genetic disorder.” And sure enough, he had it. Which means he’s basically been

Jeanette and John Suter. sterile since birth, So at that point, the idea of having our own children was completely gone.

For me, because I’d had those struggles before, I think it was easier for me to get the news than it was for John.

John Suter: Yeah, because I always associated marriage with children. If I didn’t become a priest, I would be a married person, and of course I’d have kids.

And then not having kids – not having a way to biologically have kids, I think I was in the blues for a good year or so.

Jeanette: Once we got the news from the urologist, they said “we’re going to send you to a genetic counselor.” And we thought – mistakenly, I guess – that what the genetic counselor was going to do was tell us how to live with the Klinefelter’s, because there’s a lot of secondary issues that someone with that has.

But no, we get there, and they’re talking about in vitro fertilization, sperm donors, all of this other stuff. For one thing, that wasn’t what we were expecting when we went for this appointment. The other thing that was interesting – the genetic counselor couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t do those things. It was almost like they’d never dealt with a Catholic person before.

John: It was really strange – I asked, “so the strongest [embryo] would live, and you would just kill the rest?”

Jeanette: They had no answer for that.

John: Like taking life is so academic.

Jeanette: It was almost like nobody

had ever had that conversation before with them. I guess, in some ways, many couples in our situation are very desperate to have children, and so they maybe don’t think the whole thing through, or all the different possibilities.

Fr. Tad – you’ve printed his stuff before – I actually heard him speak one time and that was enlightening to me. I know people who have done in vitro, and assisted reproduction, and at the time they did it, they never talked about any of these issues and never considered any of these issues. I have a sister who did that, and afterwards when we were explaining to my parents why we weren’t going to do that, it was even an eye-opener to my parents, who didn’t know what the Church teaches on reproductive technology. My dad was a cradle Catholic out of the 40s and 50s and didn’t now what was in the Church documents that we’re encouraged to know.

But on the other side of it, we did talk about adoption for a while, but we decided against that, because we’re older. We were 40 when we got married.

The other thing was, I work so much.

For me, not having my own children, I threw myself into my own work which is with children. I’ve worked for 26 years in Catholic education, and it’s all about the kids. If people say “you don’t have any children” I say “well right now I have 1,350 students.” And I do take what we do with our kids very seriously.

On the flip side of that, John is a teacher, we’ve both been catechists in Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

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our various parishes, confirmation sponsors, godparents...I feel God knew what he was doing with us.

[Jeanette’s father recently passed away after a long battle with cancer] It freed me to be completely, 100% present with my dad. So it’s living that family vocation out in a completely different way.

John: For me, the hard thing is that my dad was an only child, and I’ve got a half-brother, but I really felt the pressure that everything was on me, that I was gonna be the one that has kids...There’s times where I wonder what it would be like to be a dad. And there’s other times I reflect on it, and it seems like, well, this is genetic, God must’ve known what He was doing.

Jeanette: And it’s expanded my idea of family. I look at people that I work with, friends, everybody, as members of

family.

VoSW: What would your advice be to others who struggle with this?

Jeanette: My advice would be to get the right information. Don’t just trust the doctors and those in the secular world to talk about it – you really need to talk to your priest or to Catholic couples that you know, to really get the full picture of family and what we’re called to in our baptism. Because yes, you were called to the vocation of marriage, but that does not necessarily mean that it’s meant to be the family that you envisioned.

And adoption is a beautiful thing – that’s a blessing on so many levels, because there are so many children that need good, stable homes. Don’t close the door on that either, and a lot of people

do because in some families and in some places it’s a stigma not to have biological children. Don’t let that stop you, if that’s what you want, because that is a blessing both to you as a couple and to the children you bring in to your family. Pray about it, think about it, ask God where His plan is for you. Don’t let others tell you what your path is – let God tell you what your path is.

John: I think the hardest thing is the patience, waiting for an answer from God. We’re used to everything coming to us...practically instantaneously, but God seems to work on a different timetable.

Pray, listen, be patient. Look for signs in your life of what God wants you to do.

And keep in contact with your spouse.

Jeanette: And be open to a broader definition of family. VoSW

All are invited to attend a special conference:

1968 -2018

HUMANAE VITAE TURNS FIFTY A day to celebrate and reflect upon one of the most significant Encyclicals of the last century.

Presenters:

Bishop James S. Wall: The prophetic Encyclical Humanae Vitae of Blessed Pope Paul VI, fifty years later Fr. Peter Short: St. John Paul II’s contribution to understanding Humanae Vitae in the Theology of the Body Sacred Heart Retreat Center, Gallup NM Sunday July 15, 10 a.m.

Day concludes with the celebration of the Eucharist presided over by Bishop Wall at 4 p.m.

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Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

Lunch will be served. $10 per person $15 per couple Call 505-722-6722 to register or for more info

Diocesan Receptionist, Ella Roanhorse, Retires After 32 Years of Service For anyone who has ever visited our Diocesan offices, receptionist Ella Roanhorse has become like a longtime family member, have served 4 Bishops over 3 decades. Now, as Ella retires, Bishop Wall discusses her family, faith, and how Catholicism has impacted her life.

Voice of the Southwest: What’s one of the best memories you have about working at the Diocese?

Ella: Oh gosh, everything. Just getting more into my faith, you know?

The meaning – just understanding more.

VoSW: What are you going to miss most?

Ella: All of you. Everyone here. Everything, you know?

VoSW: How did your faith develop throughout your life? Did you go to Catholic school?

to boarding school.

My dad used to tell us the stories about Dinetah when we were small.

He said “that’s our tradition. That’s our belief.” And going back to Dinetah, those stories – how we came through four worlds – it’s just like evolution.

Ella: No, I did my CCD. We lived at Fort Wingate – my parents were working there, at the school. My dad was a teacher there, and he also taught the vocational part – silversmithing. It was great. We went to CCD with the kids from the boarding school.

I wanted to learn how to do jewelry and my dad said “no”. He said “you won’t be able to rely on that. Concentrate on college. School, education.”

That was his goal.

VoSW: How many kids and grandkids do you have?

VoSW: Were your parents Catholic?

VoSW: Did your faith and time here help you get through it?

Ella: Oh yes. They became Catholic when they were small, when they went

Ella: It really helped me, just being with family, like co-workers and the

New Priest Assignments

the area. Father Sauter will take up residence at Saint Raphael Parish in San Rafael, NM. Father Jerry Thompson, a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who recently retired to the Diocese of Gallup, is assigned as Administrator to Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in HeberOvergaard, AZ.

Dear Brother and Sisters in Christ, I write to you to announce appointments to begin on July 1, 2018.

Father John Sauter is assigned as Parochial Vicar to the parishes in the Grants, NM area under the leadership of Father Alberto Avella, Pastor of the parishes in

Ella: 3 grandchildren, 2 living children. I had four. Jerry – he died in a car accident at 21. Michael at 21 from leukemia. He got it when he was ten.

There were five [kids with Leukemia] in the area. I don’t know why – we talked about it. Could there be a study done on this? What was it? Was it the water?

priests and the bishops. They were all great with me.

I think if I didn’t have [my Faith] I probably...would’ve just stayed in bed.

It was very strong.

VoSW: What are your thoughts, as you retire?

Ella: You know, this has been the greatest place to work. Just working here, after Michael died from his leukemia, I could’ve went back to working for the Navajo tribe or to teaching, making more money. But you know, I liked it here. And I stayed working here.

VoSW: What do you hope for the person who follows you?

Ella: To be able to reach out more openly to the people. I always believe that a good work in harmony is a better atmosphere for everyone.

I pray the transition goes smoothly. I pray for the priests involved in these assignments and their parishioners. Thank you to those agreeing to the new assignments.

Sincerely yours in Christ, The Most Rev. James S. Wall Bishop of Gallup Voice Voice of of the the Southwest Southwest || dioceseofgallup.org dioceseofgallup.org

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NATIONAL AND LOCAL NEWS

Arizona Bishops’ Statement on Religious Liberty Decision by Supreme Court The Bishops of the Arizona Catholic Conference stand in solidarity with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops(USCCB) regarding today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling on religious liberty.

Our country was founded by people who had tremendous respect and compassion for those seeking to live a life free of religious persecution from their government. Accordingly, we have long understood the importance of religious liberty in our society and that these rights are not something confined to places of worship.

The Catholic Church supports the human dignity of people of all faiths, and even those of no faith, while firmly opposing any forms of unjust discrimination. We consider ourselves blessed to live in a country that values such freedoms and respect for all people.

Thankfully, the reality remains that America has the ability to serve every person while making room for valid conscientious objec-

tion for the purposes of religious freedom.

Accordingly, we join USCCB in applauding today’s ruling in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case as a positive step forward in recognizing these inalienable rights: USCCB Chairmen Applaud Supreme Court’s Respect for Religious Liberty in Masterpiece Cakeshop Decision WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The case involves a Christian baker named Jack Phillips who declined in 2012 to create a custom wedding cake for a same-sex ceremony. State officials sought to compel Phillips to create such cakes under Colorado’s public accommodations law. The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of Phillips under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville,

Chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., of Philadelphia, Chairman of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, and Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, Chairman of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), issued the following joint statement: “Today’s decision confirms that people of faith should not suffer discrimination on account of their deeply held religious beliefs, but instead should be respected by government officials. This extends to creative professionals, such as Jack Phillips, who seek to serve the Lord in every aspect of their daily lives. In a pluralistic society like ours, true tolerance allows people with different viewpoints to be free to live out their beliefs, even if those beliefs are unpopular with the government.”

Declaración de los Obispos de la Conferencia Católica de Arizona sobre la Libertad Religiosa Decisión del Tribunal Supremo Los Obispos de la Conferencia Católica de Arizona se solidarizan con la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos (USCCB) con respecto a la decisión del Tribunal Supremo de los Estados Unidos sobre la libertad religiosa.

Nuestro país fue fundado por personas que tenían un gran respeto y compasión por aquellos que buscaban vivir una vida libre de persecución religiosa por parte de su gobierno. En consecuencia, hemos entendido por mucho tiempo la importancia de la libertad religiosa en nuestra sociedad y que estos derechos no se limitan a los lugares de culto.

La Iglesia Católica apoya la dignidad humana de las personas de todas las creencias, e incluso las que no tienen fe, al tiempo que se oponen firmemente a cualquier forma de discriminación injusta. Nos consideramos bendecidos de vivir en un país que valora esas libertades y el respeto por todas las personas.

Afortunadamente, la realidad es que Estados Unidos tiene la capacidad de servir a todas las personas al tiempo que hace lugar a objeciones de conciencia válidas a los fines

de la libertad religiosa.

En consecuencia, nos unimos a la USCCB para aplaudir el fallo de hoy en el caso de Masterpiece Cakeshop como un avance positivo en el reconocimiento de estos derechos inalienables.

Presidentes de la USCCB aplauden el respeto de la Corte Suprema por la libertad religiosa en la decisión de la obra maestra de la repostería 4 de junio de 2018 WASHINGTON — Hoy, la Corte Suprema de EE. UU. Decidió el caso de Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. El caso involucra a un panadero cristiano llamado Jack Phillips que declinó en 2012 para crear un pastel de boda personalizado para una ceremonia del mismo sexo. Funcionarios estatales intentaron obligar a Phillips a crear tales pasteles bajo la ley de acomodaciones públicas de Colorado. La Corte Suprema dictaminó 7-2 a favor de Phillips en virtud de la Cláusula de Ejercicio Libre de la Primera Enmienda de la Constitución de los EE. UU.

El Arzobispo Joseph E. Kurtz de Louisville, Presidente del Comité para la Libertad Religiosa, Arzobispo Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., De Filadelfia, Presidente del Comité de Laicos, Matrimonio, Vida Familiar y Juventud, y el Obispo James D. Conley de Lincoln, Presidente del Subcomité para la Promoción y la Defensa del Matrimonio de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos (USCCB) , emitió la siguiente declaración conjunta: “La decisión de hoy confirma que las personas de fe no deben sufrir discriminación por sus creencias religiosas profundamente arraigadas, sino que deben ser respetadas por los funcionarios del gobierno.

Esto se extiende a profesionales creativos, como Jack Phillips, que buscan servir al Señor en todos los aspectos de su vida cotidiana. En una sociedad pluralista como la nuestra, la tolerancia verdadera permite a las personas con diferentes puntos de vista ser libres de vivir sus creencias, incluso si esas creencias son impopulares para el gobierno “.

If you have not done so already, please sign up for free e-mail updates at www.azcatholicconference.org so that we can continue to grow the influence of the Catholic Church on important public policy matters.

16 Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

Arizona Catholic Conference 2018 Legislative Wrap-Up

By Ron Johnson Arizona Catholic Conference Session Overview On May 4th, the Arizona Legislature adjourned sine die after spending 116 days in session. In total, more than 1,300 pieces of legislation were introduced with just over 300 of them set to become law.

Of particular note is the fact that some very significant bills supported by the Arizona Catholic Conference (ACC) were passed into law, while all of the most problematic bills again failed.

Pro-Life and Conscience Successes Arizona was recently named the most pro-life state in the nation and it continues to move forward in this regard. Many people, however, do not realize the increasingly numerous attempts that are made each year to undo these laws.

Specifically, multiple measures were again introduced to repeal virtually every pro-life and rights of conscience law already on the books. These many bills proposed to eliminate parental consent and informed consent for abortions; as well as remove protections for religious employers who do not want to be forced to pay for abortions and contraceptives; and curtail freedoms for pharmacies and health care providers not wanting to participate in the taking of innocent human life.

Additionally, it should be noted that several bills were also once again introduced to legalize assisted suicide in Arizona.

Fortunately, legislative leadership contin-

ued to help make sure that none of these bills received a hearing and that they all failed to pass.

While all of the bad bills failed, a significant pro-life victory was also won with the passage of SB 1394 which was sponsored by Senator Nancy Barto and signed into law by Governor Doug Ducey. SB 1394 will enhance Arizona’s existing abortion reporting law by allowing for the collection of more accurate data in order to develop improved services provided to women and their babies.

School Choice Legislation Education was a dominant issue at the Arizona Legislature this year and the ACC continues to recognize the importance of this issue for all children regardless of where their parents choose to educate them.

Numerous efforts were made this session, however, that would have negatively impacted the ability of parents to send their children to the schools that best fits their needs. In particular, several bills proposed to either eliminate tuition tax credits or hinder the ability of these programs to operate.

Without these programs, many lowincome students would be unable to attend the schools they are currently attending and several of our Catholic schools would have to close. Thankfully, however, none of these harmful measures succeeded.

On a positive note, two helpful bills were signed into law that would ensure that private schools have an opportunity to bid on vacant public school property (HB 2460) and that private schools are treated equally with public schools with regard to zoning restric-

tions (HB 2461).

Vulnerable Populations Protected This session did not see much focus on immigration related bills, with the exception of a helpful proposal (HB 2155) to provide consumer protection for undocumented immigrants who are victimized by so-called “notarios.” In Mexico, the term “notario” is often used to refer to an attorney, but in the United States, they can be nothing more than a notary public.

A frequent problem with “notario” fraud in Arizona is that unqualified individuals defraud immigrants of thousands of dollars and cause great harm to any legal claims they may have. The passage of HB 2155 hopefully will curb this fraud by adding civil penalties for those engaging in this behavior.

With respect to vulnerable populations, legislation was again introduced (SB 1019) to eventually repeal the charitable and foster care tax credit programs that tremendously benefit Catholic Charities, pregnancy resource centers, soup kitchens, and others.

Fortunately, through the efforts of the ACC, all of these measures were defeated.

Conclusion The Arizona Catholic Conference is grateful to all of the elected officials and groups we worked with this past legislative session to make Arizona a better place to live. We are also grateful for your assistance in responding to Action Alerts, and your prayers.

Sisters of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph Elect New Superior General

by Sr. Rene Backe Bishop’s Delegate for Religious The Sisters of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph engaged in a five-day retreat April 5-9, led by Sister Anthony Mary Diago, RSM, of the Diocese of Phoenix. The retreat was followed by a Chapter of Elections and then a Chapter of Affairs. Newly elected as General Superior of the community is Sister Rosa Maria Zuniga Juarez, HNSG. Maria Calderon, HNSG was elected First Councilor and Vicar General. Sister Maria Cristina Sosa Rivera, HNSG was elected Second Councilor

and Secretary General. Mother Magda Leticia Garcia Rodriquez was elected Third Councilor and Treasurer General. As foundress of the community, Mother Magda will retain the title Mother. Bishop James S. Wall presided at the Chapter of Elections and Sister Anthony Mary presided at the Chapter of Affairs.

Sisters of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph at the recent ordination: Mother Magda Garcia, Sister Eucharia Muobike, Sister Liliana Garcia, Sister Celia Nava and Mother Rosa Zuniga.

A Priest Forever By the Most Reverend James S. Wall Bishop of Gallup On Saturday, June 9, we came together in the cathedral Church in order to enter into the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

We also offered thanksgiving to Our God for having called Mitchell Brown, who is your relative and friend, to the Order of Priests.

Christ Himself instituted the priesthood and the Eucharist on the night of the Last Supper in order that the mission of the Church would carry on, under the protection and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and so the faithful might be fed with the Eucharistic Bread of Life.

A priest is called Father for a particular wants the ultimate good for his children, him, and a priest should never expect reason. He is a spiritual father to those which is eternal life in Heaven with a less than what our Lord experienced. entrusted to his care. He makes a loving God. Saint John Vianney knew this well. If promise of celibacy so he may give When Saint John Vianney first there were not much love for God, and himself completely over to Christ and the arrived in Ars, the very first thing he he was charged to put it into the hearts mission of the Church- not simply 9-5 did was go to the dilapidated, run down of the people of Ars, you might imagine or 40 hours a week, but 24/7, pouring parish church and prepare for Mass. he ruffled a few feathers. There was a out his life like a libation, in imitation of The bell was rung, and a few people particular group of women who did not Christ the Eternal High Priest, with the attended. Some faithful soon arrived like the young priest. Each day when ultimate good in mind for the faithful- and some who where simply curious they would see him, they would ask him eternal life in heaven. about the new priest attended the Mass. to pray for a special intention. Being Just like a biological father, the priest To those present, he acted in persona the good priest and man of prayer, he - the spiritual father - wants this “good” Christi capitis- “in the person of Christ agreed to take their intention to prayer. for all his children, the flock entrusted to the Head”. Feeding them with the word This went on for much of his time in Ars. his care. of God, breaking open the scriptures After his death it was revealed the special Saint John Vianney, the patron saint of for them, leading them in prayer and intention was that “he would leave Ars”. priests, understood this very well. As we feeding them with the Body, Blood, Soul You see, he was a faithful man of are aware, he almost wasn’t advanced to and Divinity of Christ. prayer, so he brought his intentions the order of priest, as he struggled and the intentions of the people with one particular subject- “Be a living example of a disciple before the altar God, entrusting Latin. This is unlike Deacon them to the care of God, praying Mitchell who excelled at Latin. of Christ, one who patterns His life they would be answered if it were One might even say he “enjoys” after that of Our Lord. Do this so the will of God. This is the life Latin, as he spent one summer in of a priest, to offer sacrifice, to that by your example of virtuous be a man of prayer, and to love Ireland at “Latin Camp”.

What Saint John Marie living , your people will be inspired his children with the love of a Vianney excelled at was holiness. father, a spiritual father who only to live a life of holiness.”

Everyone is called to holiness, but desires the good for his childrenespecially the priest, as he serves the ultimate good- eternal life in as mediator between God and man, When he arrived they were “like heaven. encouraging and drawing them into a sheep without a shepherd”, they had To the priests of the Diocese of deep and intimate relationship with Jesus been starving for the Bread of Life- just Gallup, especially our newly ordained: Christ and His Church. Most especially like any good priest, his first concern was When you are called Father, let it be a he does this by living a virtuous life, and not for himself, rather for the people the reminder that it is a privilege, one you pursuing holiness himself. Who is alone Lord had placed in his life to shepherd. did not initiate, but one to which you holy but God, so our holiness is found Saint John Vianney was known to were called. through a daily pursuit of God, in whom have a great love and gift for hearing Saint John Vianney is a perfect role we are made holy. confessions- listening to the failures and model of one who gave himself selflessly Saint John Vianney lived in 18th sins of the people, and like a good father, to the life of spiritual father- imitate his Century France where the Church and acting in the person of Christ in order to example in your daily life- 24/7. Pour the practice of the faith was under attack absolve the faithful so that they might live out your life for the faithful, lead them in and devalued by society. He was assigned a life worthy of their baptismal calling- holiness and feed them with the Bread of as priest to the little community of Ars. as disciples of Christ. The saintly priest Life. He did this in imitation of Jesus, the When he was assigned to the parish, his would hear confessions and absolve the Eternal High Priest. We are reminded bishop said to him “There is not much faithful for up to 18 hours. He could of the words of Saint Paul who said “be love of God in Ars, it will be your duty to have only been able to do this if he had an imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 foster it in the hearts of the people who understood that he had been called by Cor 11:1). are entrusted to your care”.

Christ, set apart, and sacramentally given Be a living example of a disciple of There is a famous story about his the gift to act in the person of Christ Christ, one who patterns His life after journey to Ars. As it was becoming and dispense the merciful grace of God. that of Our Lord. Do this so that by your late, he found himself to be lost. He Saint John Vianney knew this at the example of virtuous living , your people came upon a young boy and asked him very core of his being. A priest is to be will be inspired to live a life of holiness. for directions to Ars. The young boy selfless- giving of his time to his peopleMay our priests live a life worthy of pointed out the small village to where he and pouring out his life in imitation of the Kingdom so that their people may was assigned. The saintly priest thanked Jesus Christ the Eternal High priest, as a do the same. the young boy and said libation for his people.

“You have shown me the way to Ars, Our Lord never had 100% of the The Most Reverend James S. now I will show you the way to heaven”. people on his side, which was made Wall is the fourth Bishop of Gallup, A father, in this case a spiritual father, evident with those who disagreed with New Mexico.

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Meet Your Newest Priest, Fr. Mitchell Brown Born and raised in Grants, NM, Mitchell Brown has desired to be a priest since the 4th grade, when he was a young altar server. On Saturday, June 09, that dream became a reality when Bishop James Wall ordained him as the newest priest for the Diocese of Gallup.

A few days before his ordination, Fr. Mitchell spoke with the Voice of the Southwest about his family, background, and emotions as his ordination day drew near.

VoSW: What are you most looking forward to about being a priest?

Fr. Mitchell: There are obviously the two answers of Mass and Confessions.

But the thing that personally I look forward to - and I don’t even know how often I’ll get to do this – is preaching retreats. Because I love preaching, and at the Diaconate that was one of the special graces I asked for – to be able to preach well. Fulton Sheen is one of my big heroes and patrons, and I’ve always been very Dominican at heart. You know, the “Order of Preachers”. So as a priest, I look forward to giving parish missions.

VoSW: What is it like to serve in the Diocese where you grew up?

Fr. Mitchell: Well, knowing that I’m

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one of four priests in the Diocese, from the Diocese, I’m excited about it on that level. When I was flying in from Rome the other day, just seeing the landscape and realizing there’s a natural beauty to this place. And then the historical beauty that there is with the Faith having been here for over 400 years, I look forward to being able to delve into that in a new way as a priest. I’ve grown up with it and you kind of take it for granted, but I look forward to immersing myself in it and learning more about it, but also being able to serve the people that I’ve gotten to know and love over the last 26 years.

VoSW: What specifically do you like about the people here, in your home Diocese?

Fr. Mitchell: I’ve noticed, especially having been privileged to study in Rome, that the faith here is very simple but very deep. And so the people are very willing to give themselves to it. And I think there’s a lot of potential, as a pastor, eventually. But also just being able to

know that there’s some common ground to work with. I know in some Dioceses – I’ve talked to some of my friends at school – and they’re having to worry about a lot of problems that we don’t.

Even though we have money problems or a priest shortage, they’re having to deal with things in schools, or maybe even in their own presbyterate. Whereas here, it seems like the mission is going well, even if slowly, and we can do a lot with the faith that’s already here and has been here for so long.

VoSW: What were you feeling on the day of your diaconate ordination?

Fr. Mitchell: So usually at the [Pontifical North American College] guys are ordained deacons in Rome. And so they come back in September for their fourth year, they’re ordained and then they have pretty much their diaconate in seminary. Because I was ordained early, I got a couple months at the seminary and then some time over the summer, and I realized how much it changed prayer.

Obviously, there’s that promise to prayer that we make for the Divine Office, and I felt that definitely deepened and changed because I knew it was having an effect. Even if I was tired or sleepy or didn’t want to be praying - that praying does have an effect on the Church. And that kind of changed the way I saw my role as Deacon. Looking forward to the priesthood, my role is to pray for so many people that don’t or won’t – or can’t, in some cases.

But also, as soon as you’re ordained a deacon, you’re incardinated – you’re attached – to your Diocese in a new way that you haven’t been before. So going back to Rome, it was kind of hard because I realized I’m part of this Diocese now in a way that I wasn’t before. So it’s hard to go, knowing that this is my home in a different way now. Also knowing this is the home stretch, this is exciting!

When I went back in September I was like “Okay, I’ve done the Deacon thing, I’m ready for priesthood!” (laughs) VoSW: What would you say to other families about how they can foster vocations?

Fr. Mitchell: I think two of the biggest things are praying as a family – one, so that young children can learn about that, but also from an early age be open to God and knowing how to listen for Him and talk to Him. And then just being encouraging. I know so many of my friends in seminary, or just in general – the call was there and they heard it, but they didn’t know what to do. Either because their family didn’t appreciate it or support it, or they were just unsure how to go about living their vocation or following it. And so I think prayer and encouragement are two of the biggest things a family can do.

VoSW: And what’s the reaction been like from your family?

Fr. Mitchell: Oh, every year I’ve just seen increasing joy and excitement.

Seeing in my family, too, just knowing I’ve wanted to do this since fourth grade.

Knowing that they’ve seen me grow up and that this has been a constant – the stories they will tell about seeing my discernment as it went on - it’s been amazing to see both how they’ve grown

and the joy that keeps deepening as time goes on, both for them and for myself.

Fr. Mitchell blesses his mother for the first time as a priest

VoSW: What do you like to do in your spare time?

Fr. Mitchell: I like Bluegrass music.

A lot of my good friends are from Nashville, so that helps.

I haven’t been able to do this as much, but I was in Tae Kwon Do before seminary, so that’s something I enjoy for my exercise.

But also just singing in general, I’ve been in choir pretty much every year of seminary.

Whether it be family music or sacred music or country music – whatever it is, I just enjoy singing.

Helps pass the time when I’m driving in this big Diocese, even when I’m just working around the house I like to sing a lot.

VoSW: What are some of your favorite books?

Fr. Mitchell: Well, last year for the first time I read the Chronicles of Narnia, which was very good. I didn’t really learn to appreciate literature until my first summer in Rome. I had read for school and I enjoyed that, but that was the first time I learned to read both for enjoyment and for the spiritual benefits. I also read last year The Lord of the World which was good. Just seeing how the “End Times” are [portrayed] in different takes by different authors.

I always love reading St. Thomas Aquinas. He’s the best.

VoSW: Who are some of your other favorite saints?

Fr. Mitchell: St. Catherine [of Siena], also a Dominican. Just her fire – the fire and zeal with which she preached the

Faith and lived the Faith and converted people, brought people to Christ, and didn’t take any back talk from anybody.

But over the past few years, this Triumvirate of Saints has been helpful – St. Elijah, St. John the Baptist, and St. Athanasius. Athanasius has been my Confirmation patron, but realizing in all three of these, they give a good example, coming back to a desert Diocese where there’s a lot of work to be done. But I always think of that voice “crying in the desert”. In the Bible, the desert is both the place of demons but also where Our Lord went to redeem everything. And these saints were able to find the Lord in the desert and do great works for Him and with Him in the dryness and in the lack of faith sometimes. They were able to bring the Lord there, and find Him there, too.

VoSW: Anything else you would like to add?

Fr. Mitchell: Yeah, pray for me, please! I do look forward to serving the Diocese. I’ve been wanting to do this since 4th grade, so I’m ready to start doing what I’ve wanted to do for so long.

VoSW Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

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OBITUARIES

Sr. Marie Amada Garcia 1920-2018

Sister Barbara Hubbard 1931-2018

Sr. Margaret Karam 1925-2018

Sister Marie Amada Garcia, formerly known as Marie Concepta Apodaca Garcia, died on April 10, 2018, at the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, Michigan. She was 98 years of age and in the 78th year of her religious profession in the Adrian Dominican Congregation.

Sister Marie Amada was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Eduardo Apodaca and Ramoncita Luna Apodaca.

After the death of her father, Sister Marie Amada’s mother married Charles Garcia and Sister was adopted by him.

Sister graduated from St. Vincent Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin from Siena Heights College (University) in Adrian, Michigan, and a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Detroit in Detroit, Michigan.

Sister spent 45 years ministering in education in Chicago and Joliet, Illinois; Winslow, Arizona; Tucumcari and Albuquerque, New Mexico; Des Moines, Iowa; Detroit, Michigan; Oakland and Santa Cruz, California; and Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sister was an Immigration Counselor from 1985 to 2001 in Catholic Community Services of Nevada, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sister became a resident of the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, Michigan, in 2009.

Sister Marie Amada was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, William; and her sister, Lena. She is survived by a sister, Rita Lawrence of Carrollton, Texas, and loving nephews and a niece.

Sister Barbara Hubbard, formerly known as Sister Alice Josepha Hubbard, died on May 18, 2018, at the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, Michigan. She was 87 years of age and in the 67th year of her religious profession in the Adrian Dominican Congregation.

Sister Barbara was born in Royal Oak, Michigan to Joseph and Margaret (Graffy) Hubbard. She graduated from St. Mary’s High School in Royal Oak, Michigan; received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Siena Heights College (University) in Adrian, Michigan; and a Masters of Arts degree in English from University of Detroit (Detroit-Mercy) in Detroit, Michigan.

Sister ministered in elementary, secondary and adult education for 26 years in St. Joseph and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; St. Charles, Illinois; Winslow, Arizona; Belmont, California; and Dedza, Malawi, East Africa, where she taught at Mtendere Secondary School for 4 years. This includes five years at Mt. St. Mary Academy, an institution of the Adrian Dominican Sisters in St. Charles, Illinois.

She spent 26½ years in retreat and pastoral ministry in Troy, Michigan; Los Altos, California, and Edisto Island, South Carolina; and 1½ years as a member of the formation team at St. Mary Leadership Center in Kabwe, Zambia, Central Africa. Sister became a resident of the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, Michigan in 2006.

Sister was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by a sister, Elizabeth Giffels, of Rochester Hills, Michigan.

Sister Margaret Karam, formerly known as Sister Raymond Joseph Karam, died on March 9, 2018, at the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, Michigan. She was 93 years of age and in the 69th year of her religious profession in the Adrian Dominican Congregation.

Sister was born in Nogales, Arizona, to Joseph and Ramona (Carreno) Karam.

She graduated from Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, California and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work from University of California in Berkeley, California.

Sister was also certified for “Working with Alcoholics” by Arizona University in Tucson, Arizona, and by St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, and certified for Bereavement/Parent Care by the Archdiocese of New York.

Sister Margaret spent 23 years ministering in elementary and secondary education in Detroit, Michigan; Oakland and Oceanside, California; Henderson, Nevada; and Bisbee and Phoenix, Arizona. She was social worker for 4 years at the Navajo Alcohol-Drug Center in Winslow, Arizona; and was coordinator of Family Planning for 2 years for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California.

She served in ministry with Focalare for 21 years in Hyde Park, New York. Sister became a resident of the Dominican Life Center in Adrian in 2017.

Sister is survived by a sister, Virginia Frankum of Del Mar, California, and loving nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; an aunt, Sister Mary Marcelline Karam, also an Adrian Dominican Sister; a sister, Eleanor; and brothers, Ray and Joe.

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ANNIVERSARIES Sister Rosalinda Soria, OP, celebrates jubilee SINSINAWA, Wis.—Sister Rosalinda Soria, OP, will celebrate her 50th jubilee in July 2018. A Mass will be held in Queen of the Rosary Chapel at Sinsinawa Mound on Sunday, July 15, for her and 13 other Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters celebrating 50 years.

Sr. Millie Speed 1924-2018 While Sister Kate Holohan sat beside her bed, softly singing “How Great Thou Art,” Sister Millie Speed quietly left this earthly life for eternal life. She was almost ninety-four years of age and had been a Franciscan Sister since 1939.

Millie was the third of five children, but always stated that her family had never been together. Two of her brothers died before she was born, and her father died two months after the birth of her youngest brother. The Speed children attended St. Clement School in the St. Bernard area of Cincinnati. Over the course of the history of the Oldenburg Franciscans, ninety-eight Sisters called St. Clement Parish their home parish and Millie was one of them. After graduating from elementary school, Millie attended Immaculate Conception Academy (Oldenburg Academy) and decided to enter the Franciscan community as S. Charles Helen, while in her sophomore year.

Always an eager learner, Millie earned degrees in education and English, qualifying her to teach and work in school administration for many years.

She enjoyed all her teaching assignments, but the ones that gave her the most life were the seven years at St. Francis Seraph in Cincinnati and the fourteen years at Fenwick High School in Middletown, Ohio. At St. Francis Seraph, she was known in the neighborhood as the “Church Lady of Vine Street.” After a full day of teaching, she would walk the streets of Over-the-Rhine, seeking people with all kinds of needs and matching those people with agencies and organizations that she had carefully

researched. At Fenwick High School, she became aware of the hunger for spiritual depth in the life of the students. She convinced the faculty and staff to plunge wholeheartedly into the Kairos Retreat Program. The spiritual transformation of the whole student body lasted well beyond Millie’s years of service there.

Millie’s own transformation is credited to what she learned from the Navajo people in her nine years of service in Tohatchi/Coyote Canyon in New Mexico. Her life-long interest in mission life and work blossomed in 1982 when she took over the Little Portion Club, writing the newsletter for the Club and accepting numerous engagements to speak on behalf of the foreign and home missions. The chance to live among the Navajo people fulfilled her ever-present belief that all people are equally God’s children and need to celebrate life with each other.

Our sympathy is extended to Millie’s nieces and nephews, the staff in St. Clare Hall who tended to her so gently and to her many former students and friends. All of us who knew her would describe her as determined, generous, inquisitive and appreciative of all beauty surrounding her. With that in mind, we offer this closing prayer from a Navajo Blessing Ceremony: With beauty before me I walk With beauty behind me I walk With beauty above me I walk With beauty around me I walk It has become beauty again It has become beauty again It has become beauty again It has become beauty again.

Sister Rosalinda’s home parish is Little Flower, Billings, in the Great FallsBillings Diocese. She is the daughter of the late Gilbert and Guadalupe (Alvarado) Soria. Sister Rosalinda’s ministry has been dedicated to nursing and social work.

In the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Sister Rosalinda ministered as a nurse at St. Dominic Villa, Dubuque, for the majority of the time from 1968 to 1990.

In the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, Sister Rosalinda served as a nurse in Billings at Valley Nursing Home, another nursing home, and with a home nursing company, all 1985-1986.

In the Archdiocese of Newark, Sister Rosalinda ministered as a nurse and counselor at St. Francis Home, Hoboken, 1990-1991.

In the Archdiocese of New York, Sister Rosalinda served as counselor and administrator at Good CounselParaclete, Staten Island, 1991-1993.

In the Diocese of Brownsville, Sister Rosalinda ministered as a nurse, counselor and administrator at Holy Family Service, Weslaco, 1993-1998.

In the Diocese of Gallup, Sister Rosalinda ministered as a counselor at Casa San Jose Catholic Charities, Grants, 1998-2012.

Sister Rosalinda is living in community at the motherhouse, Sinsinawa.

If you would like to honor Sister Rosalinda on her jubilee, go to the Sinsinawa Dominicans’ website at www. sinsinawa.org/jubilee.

Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

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Father, Daughter Undertake 2800 Mile Walk For Life Across United States

John Moore carries a handmade cross on Highway 50 in Nevada. Photo credit: Laura Moore.

John Moore’s cross is inset with 61 beads in the shape of tiny feet, in reference to (nearly) 61 million children lost to abortion in the United States. Moore is carrying the cross - one of two, custom-made - on a cross-country walk from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. “It’s from the site of the March for Life West Coast in San Francisco to the National Mall in Washington DC,” said Moore in late March, only a few days prior to the start of his journey. “I’ll end on January 18th of 2019 - that’s the March for Life there in Washington DC.” Moore is a retired teacher and coach who now runs a family business in Gallup, NM, renting space to RVs and campers. He bought a camper of his own for this trip, which has also become a family affair. His daughter, Laura, is accompanying him the whole way. While John walks, Laura scouts ahead, making periodic stops to give her dad food and water, and then picks him up at the end of each day.

“The trail will go through California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming - it’s about eight or nine states, I believe, that I’ll be going through,” said John. “One long part - I’ll be walking along the Mormon Emigrant Trail for quite awhile. That’s good because it’s easier on your legs than hav-

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ing to walk the road the whole time.”

He said the plan is to start each day’s walking early in the morning for the summer season, and walk later in the day as the year gets colder.

Currently, the Moores are working their way through Nevada.

“My dad after today will have walked 450 miles from San Francisco,” Laura said, adding that John currently averages about 12 miles per day. “Usually if we’re close to the town we’re staying in, we settle in to a hotel and then [I] pick him up at the end of his walk, but today he’s going down a dirt road that doesn’t show up very clearly on maps, so every 20 minutes I’m driving up.”

Despite a rough start, she said the majority of people they’ve encountered have been supportive.

“In San Francisco there were a lot of people who got in my dad’s face and were screaming at him pretty vulgarly.

And then the further away we get from San Francisco the more support he gets.

Not that he didn’t expect the bad stuff.

He just kept his mouth shut and kept walking.”

The Moores have found that even people who don’t share their beliefs have been helpful.

“It actually surprises me how many

non-religious people are intrigued by what he does. We’ve had a couple people stop to talk to us and they’re not religious at all. They don’t know anything about the March for Life,” said Laura. “People will stop and give my dad water, some people will walk with him for as long as they can, some people will give him money. A lot of people tell him how cool they think it is.”

John plans to donate any money he receives as a result of the walk to the Knights of Columbus. As a 4th-degree (high-ranking) member of the organization, he wants the funds to go towards the purchase of a new sonogram machine for a pro-life pregnancy center.

But fundamentally, the journey - the drive to walk, day after day - is John’s passion, developed after he first moved to New Mexico. He made his first pilgrimage to Chimayo, NM, a walk undertaken by thousands each year.

“I went out there and at the age of 55 I started walking,” he said. “I promised I would do it for 25 years, if the Lord would give me the health to do it for 25 years at least.” As of 2018, he has made the pilgrimage to Chimayo for 13 years in a row.

One day, a customer at John’s RV park told him about an annual 60-mile

pilgrimage done every year in Kansas in honor of Fr. Emil Kapaun, a Kansas priest and military chaplain who died as a prisoner of war in Korea. After making that pilgrimage, John spent several years mulling over a new, huge idea - a coastto-coast pro-life walk.

“My taxpayer dollars pay for abortions,” he said. (Editor’s note: NM is one of 17 states that can fund abortions under Medicaid). “What I’d like to do - if that money’s gonna go to them, we need to be able to match it, we need to be able to counteract it.”

So he returned to his passion once again.

“I’m good at two things: I can walk all day and I can work all day,” he said. “Well, if I can walk, I’m gonna make it worth it, so I can go from the West Coast to the East Coast, the two sites of the March for Life.”

And now that his idea has become a reality, John alternates each day of the journey carrying one of two wooden crosses.

The first displays an image of a chaplain’s cross and barbed wire in tribute to Fr. Kapaun, to whom John has a special devotion. Each is 47 inches long by 28 inches wide – the same size as the cross carried out of the Korean POW camp by Fr. Kapaun’s fellow officers. “Plus it’s a good size to carry,” John noted. “When

you carry, it’s a perfect fit.”

The second cross was crafted in part

by Roberto Gonzales, a New Mexico Santero.

“This is turquoise and coral, [Our] Lady of Guadalupe - she’s the patroness of the unborn.”

Before starting, John met with Bishop James Wall and several local pastors and asked for a blessing.

“Bishop blessed the cross and blessed me,” he said. “But I always give them the choice of which [cross] they want to hold - every one of them wants to hold this one.” He pointed to the cross with Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Rosary.

“I have the Sacred Heart on top cause that’s [the Diocese’s] patron, and I always want Christ to be on the cross.”

He knows there will be good days and bad days on the road.

“People say ‘oh you get to go on an adventure!’ I know what it’s gonna be it’s gonna be a daily grind. The daily discipline of just having to do it,” he said.

“I love walking, but - if anyone ever ran track or cross country or football - there’s days when you just love being out there, and days where you just don’t want to do it, but you still do it.”

While John is adapting to daily walks with a cross, Laura has a lot of time to work on spiritual development. Her parish priest suggested that she develop a

habit of praying a daily rosary and Divine Mercy chaplet combined with reading the Bible, starting with the letters of St. Paul.

“I think that God’s been preparing me to learn how to be alone, and I feel like that’s what this road trip is - gonna help me ultimately be alone with myself and be friends with myself and get closer to God in that aspect,” Laura said. “I feel like I’m really blessed with this opportunity to spend all day focusing on it instead of having to make time for it.”

And although she’s spent time with her dad while working at the family business, she also hopes this pilgrimage will bring them closer together.

“That’s one of the things I’ve been praying for, is to get to know my Dad a little better,” she said. “I mean, we’re already really close, but I’m just really grateful for this time with him.”

With nearly seven months and thousands of miles to go, John just keeps shouldering his cross, placing one foot in front of another.

“Hopefully God will take care of me,” he said. “I’ll put my trust in God and he’ll take care of me.”

If you’d like to follow the Moores’ journey across the United States, they regularly post updates at: crossbearerslog.blogspot.com VoSW

Austin, Nevada. Photo credit: Laura Moore.

Laura carries the cross one day while her dad takes a break. “I got to be a poor man’s Simon”, she joked on Facebook.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

Meet Your New Superintendent of Catholic Schools Fr. Isaac Ogba has been hired as the new Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Gallup, taking over the position from Mrs. Jeanette Tobia Suter.

Fr. Ogba is a priest originally from the Diocese of Abakaliki, Nigeria. He completed a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from Steubenville University in May of 2018, and will formally take over his new position before the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year.

“This is a call to serve and I am called and ordained to serve,” Fr. Ogba stated. “Thus, my position as Superintendent for Catholic Schools offers me a great opportunity to bring my service and God’s love to bear on the continuous growth of our student’s academic and spiritual lives. I look

forward to a harmonious working relationship with all stakeholders for a safe, secure, and disciplined learning

St. Anthony School Purchases New School Bus

News Release - Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church has finally obtained the 28-passenger bus we were fundraising for when we held the Comedy Trio last October.

This bus will provide transportation for students, Pre-K through 8th, from the Snowflake/Taylor area to St. Anthony Catholic School for the 2018-19 school year. Bishop Wall honored us by blessing the bus on 4/29/2018.

Our Lady of the Snows Church and St. Anthony’s would especially like to thank the Raskob Foundation for providing us with the matching grant to make this bus possible!

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environment that projects the church, parents, businesses and community members as active collaborators in our children’s education”.

“I am so grateful to Father Ogba for his willingness to serve in our Diocese.

His background and education make him a welcome addition to our staff as well as a leader dedicated to living out the Gospel message,” said Bishop James S. Wall.

The Diocese of Gallup also wishes to extend gratitude to Mrs. Suter for her five years of excellent service to our Catholic Schools. Her dedication and hard work has resulted in a strong and fruitful academic environment for students and their families, and we look forward to continuing this standard of excellence with Fr. Ogba as our new Superintendent.

Dartmouth Student from Window Rock Selected as Udall Scholar

School Job Openings Sacred Heart School, Farmington Sacred Heart School in Farmington NM is looking to fill both Part Time and Full Time positions for the 2018-2019 academic year. Our vision of Sacred Heart Catholic School is a community of eager and enthusiastic learners whose love of God encompasses all aspects of their lives, a highly qualified and loving staff, and families dedicated to academic achievement. We are currently looking for qualified teachers to help us fulfill this mission.

Current open positions:

Dartmouth College senior Cheron Laughing, a Window Rock resident and St. Michael Indian School graduate, has been awarded a scholarship from the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation Laughing, a geography major who is also minoring in Arabic, will receive up to $7,000 for her senior year of college, and will be invited to attend a conference of Udall Scholars and alumni this summer in Tucson, Ariz.

The Udall Foundation selects scholars based on their demonstrated commitment to careers in the environment, Native health care or Tribal policy, as well as their leadership potential, record of public service, and academic achievement. She is one of 50 students from 42 colleges and universities nationwide to be named a Udall Scholar this year.

Laughing, who describes herself as “a proud citizen of the Navajo Nation who grew up on the reservation in northern Arizona,” is majoring in geography with a minor in Arabic and plans to apply to law school after Dartmouth.

She was drawn to the Udall scholarship because, she says, “This was an exceptional opportunity to expand my engagement with Native issues.”

As a research assistant in the geography department, she’s worked with faculty to research tribal involvement in removing dams that interfere with

tribal fishing and cultural practices.

“This research exists at the intersection between geography/environmental studies and tribal public policy issues, which makes it a meaningful and formative opportunity for my personal and academic development,” she says.

Internships at the Navajo Nation Washington Office, funded through the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, and the Navajo Nation Supreme Court have helped her better understand how Native environmental and cultural issues are affected by law and policy. “Both internships have allowed me to directly engage issues, such as legal jurisdiction and natural resource rights, in the context of my tribal homelands. Further, these have been opportunities to interact and learn from tribal leaders.”

Last summer, she traveled to the University of Western Australia to attend the Matariki Indigenous Student Mobility Programme as a Dartmouth delegate. The program brought together indigenous students from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. “It revealed shared experiences and aspirations for cultural healing and sovereignty,” Laughing says. “The program gifted me a network of support from international peers and mentors and re-affirmed my interest in protecting Indigenous right to culture and a healthy environment.”

• Pre-K Teacher, Full Time/Part Time - 10 months • Kindergarten Teacher, Full Time - 10 months • Middle School Language Arts Teacher, Full Time/Part Time - 10 months • Music Teacher, Full Time- 10 months.

Please call 505-325-7152 for more info.

Sacred Heart School, Gallup Current open positions: • Full-time 4th Grade Teacher • Full-time Middle School Math/ Science Teacher Please call 505-863-6652 for more info.

St. Anthony School, Zuni Current open positions: • Full-time 2nd and 4th Grade Teachers. Multi-subject. Need at least a B.A. and willing to pursue a New Mexico Teaching Credential. Previous Teaching Experience would be helpful.

Contact: Sr. Marsha Moon (Principal) at marshamoon.la@gmail.com or Fr. Pat McGuire (Pastor) at pastor@stanthonyzuni.org or call 505-782-2014

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS/CLASSIFIEDS

July

July (continued) Chichiltah Summer Bible

09 - Camp Place: St. Patrick Mission 13 549 Cousins Rd

Vanderwagen, NM Contact: 505-782-2014 Klagetoh and Ganado

09 - Summer Bible Camp Contact: 928-652-3236 for 13 more information.

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St. Kateri Tekakwitha Feastday Mass Annual Feastday Mass in honor of St. Kateri Tekakwitha.

Reception to follow in the Family Center. Presented by the Office of Native American Ministry.

Place: Sacred Heart Cathedral

415 E. Green

Gallup, NM 87301 Time: 11:00 AM Contact: Fr. Dale Jamison, OFM. 505-863-4406.

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August 05

Snowflake Parish Golden Jubilee Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Our Lady of the Snows Parish!

Place: Our Lady of the Snows

1655 S Main St,

Snowflake, AZ 85937 Contact: 928-536-4559

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San Lorenzo Parish Fiesta Begins after 11:00 am Mass.

With festivities including raffle, an auction and excellent food.

Near El Morro National monument – a great place for Sunday Mass; good food and company followed by visit to the monument and a gentle hike.

Place: San Lorenzo Church

3928 Ice Cave Road

Near Ramah, NM Contact: 505-783-4301

frdjamison@dioceseofgallup.org

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“Humanae Vitae Turns 50”: Special Diocesan Conference with Bishop Wall A day to celebrate and reflect upon one of the most significant Encyclicals of the last century. It ends with the celebration of the Eucharist presided over by Bishop Wall at 4 p.m. All are invited. Lunch will be served. $10 per person $15.- per couple.

Place: Sacred Heart Retreat Center

167 NM-602

Gallup, NM 87301 Time: 10:00 AM - 5:30 PM Contact: Sr. Sofia Lee, call 505-722-6755 or email shrc@dioceseofgallup.org

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National Tekakwitha Conference Theme: Blessing of the Coast Salish People through St. Kateri’s Eyes.

Info: tekconf.org/conferences

September 14 17

Annual Diaconate Retreat A weekend for deacons of the Diocese of Gallup, with guest Archbishop John Wester of the Santa Fe Archdiocese as retreat director.

Place: Sacred Heart Retreat Center

167 NM-602

Gallup, NM 87301 Contact: Sr. Sofia Lee, call 505-722-6755 or email shrc@dioceseofgallup.org

A podcast hosted by Bishop Wall, with topics on everything from movies and pop culture to Saints and Scripture. Catch new episodes on Tuesdays on iTunes or voiceofthesouthwest.org/ podcast

Advertise With Us! 15

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Holy Day of Obligation

Want to see your event here or online?

Send notices about upcoming events to media@dioceseofgallup.org or call 505-863-4406

Virtus Classes

Cursillo

July 10 VIRTUS Training Place: St. Francis in Lumberton, NM Time: 9AM - 12PM Contact: 575-759-3252

July 19-22 #330 English - Women’s Cursillo Application fee of $60.00 must be returned - 2 weeks advance of Cursillo Place: St. Mary’s Parish Hall

Farmington, NM Rectora: Mary Krakow Contact: gallupcursillo.com

July 12 VIRTUS Training Place: St. Francis in Lumberton, NM Time: 9AM - 12PM Contact: 575-759-3252 July 17 VIRTUS Training Place: St. Francis in Lumberton, NM Time: 9AM - 12PM Contact: 575-759-3252 July 19 VIRTUS Training Place: St. Francis in Lumberton, NM Time: 9AM - 12PM Contact: 575-759-3252 July 19 VIRTUS Training Place: Gallup Chancery

503 W. Highway 66 Time: 9:30AM - 12PM Contact: 505-863-4406 July 24 VIRTUS Training Place: St. Francis in Lumberton, NM Time: 9AM - 12PM Contact: 575-759-3252 July 26 VIRTUS Training Place: St. Francis in Lumberton, NM Time: 9AM - 12PM Contact: 575-759-3252 August 16 VIRTUS Training Place: Gallup Chancery

503 W. Highway 66 Time: 9:30AM - 12PM Contact: 505-863-4406 September 20 VIRTUS Training Place: Gallup Chancery

503 W. Highway 66 Time: 9:30AM - 12PM Contact: 505-863-4406

August 16-19 National Cursillo Place: Seattle, Washington Contact: www.natl-cursillo.org August 23-26 #13 Spanish - Women’s Cursillo Application fee of $60.00 must be returned - 2 weeks advance of Cursillo Place: St. Mary’s Parish Hall

Farmington, NM Rectora: Concha Baca Contact: gallupcursillo.com September 13-16 #331 English - Men’s Cursillo Application fee of $60.00 must be returned - 2 weeks advance of Cursillo Place: Winslow, AZ Rector: Art Velez Contact: gallupcursillo.com October 18-21 #14 Spanish - Men’s Cursillo Application fee of $60.00 must be returned - 2 weeks advance of Cursillo Place: Grants, NM Rector: Alberto Delgado Contact: gallupcursillo.com

Job Openings Front End Office Receptionist Place: Gallup Chancery

503 W. Highway 66 Time: 9:30AM - 12PM Contact: 505-863-4406 The Chancery offices have an opening for a front end office receptionist.

Applicants should be familiar with Microsoft Word, and enjoy communicating face-to-face and over the phone with the public and Diocesan employees. Ability to speak Spanish and/or Navajo is a plus, but not a requirement. Application can be found at: dioceseofgallup.org/job-openings

Promise to Protect If you or someone you know has been abused by a priest, deacon or other employee or minister of the Catholic Church, please report this to: Elizabeth Terrill Victim Assistance Coordinator 505-906-7357 victimsassistance@dioceseofgallup.org

We will help.

Your confidentiality will be protected.

Diócesis de Gallup Promesa de Proteccíon Si usted o alguien que usted conoce ha sido víctima de abuso por parte de un sacerdote, diácono u otro empleado o ministro de la Iglesia Católica, favor de reportar el incidente a: Elizabeth Terrill Coordinador de Asistencia para Víctimas 505-906-7357 victimsassistance@dioceseofgallup.org

Nosotros le ayudaremos.

Su confidencialidad será protegida.

Do Háida’bił bee hodozįįł daíigi beeádee haho’dzíí’ Catholic Church dóó éé’ neishoodii yił ndaałnishi’ igíí dóó Baa ndaałah’ igíísh doo há’ atééh’ igoo da, nínįi’ yiyiiłaah’ Dóó’ oóshlí ła’ ísh ákóbí’ diiłyąą go nił beehoozin, Akohootįįngo nił beehoozin’go baahwíí’ diłníi’ Elizabeth Terrill Victim Assistance Coordinator 505-906-7357 victimsassistance@dioceseofgallup.org Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

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MAKING SENSE OUT OF BIOETHICS

By Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk

Cowboys, Infertility and Deeper Moral Questions Most people still remember the story of Nadya Suleman, births. dubbed “Octomom,” a single woman who used in vitro ferYet another nefarious incident involved Doctors Ricardo tilization to become pregnant with eight babies simultane- Asch, Jose Bulmaceda and Sergio Stone, three fertility specialists ously. Suleman had asked her fertility specialist, Dr. Michael and faculty members at the University of California at Irvine Kamrava, to implant at least a dozen embryos into her uterus, who ran a campus fertility clinic during the 1990s. They were leading to the birth of the famous octuplets in 2009. Dr. Ka- accused of fertilizing eggs they had harvested from women and mrava’s medical license was later revoked by the California implanting the resulting embryos into unrelated women, as Medical Board. In commenting on the well as selling some of the embryos case, Judith Alvarado, Deputy Attorney to scientists and researchers. Dozens General in California, concluded that of women and couples filed lawsuits Dr. Kamrava had acted “like a cowboy” against the doctors and the univerin ignoring fertility industry guidelines. sity.

When it comes to the “wild west” of One of the reasons these acts of infertility - a field of medicine with little deception by fertility specialists are so oversight and unbridled profit margins offensive to us is that we realize how there are a lot of cowboys out there. the procreation of our own children Recently there was the case of Kelli is meant to involve a strict exclusivity Rowlette who, after having her own between husband and wife. WhenDNA analyzed in 2017 through a geneever we violate that exclusivity by alogy website, shockingly discovered that hiring outsiders to produce our offher biological father was actually a ferspring in clinics, or engage strangtility specialist who had once treated her ers to provide their sex cells for these mother. Without her mother’s knowlprocedures, unthinkable outcomes edge or consent, the specialist had used become possible. his own sperm to impregnate her, while The plethora of these cases also falsely claiming he was using a mixture reminds us how many of the cavaof sperm from her husband (who had Sketching of a child in the womb by lier approaches to human procrelow sperm count) and a donor who was Leonardo da Vinci ation being promoted by the fertility supposed to have been an anonymous industry are unethical at their core. university student with features similar We are witnessing an unprecedented to her husband. burgeoning of laboratory techniques for manufacturing huAnother infamous case involved Bertold Wiesner who, back man life, many of which are deeply antagonistic to human in the 1940s, established a fertility clinic in London to help dignity and contrary to the parental obligations assumed by women struggling to conceive. His clinic supposedly relied on spouses when they marry. a small number of highly intelligent men to serve as sperm doThe natural exclusivity intended in parenthood is meant to nors for artificial insemination, with more than 1500 babies afford protection, security about our origins, and the safety of being born. More than seventy years later, based on DNA test- the home hearth. In the headlong rush to achieve a pregnancy ing of people who had been conceived at the clinic, it turned at any price, many couples, regrettably, are allowing hawkish out that as many as 600 of the babies born may have relied on businessmen to manipulate their sex cells, create their children sperm from Mr. Wiesner himself. in glassware, store them in frozen orphanages, and even discard There was also the troubling story of Dr. Cecil Jacobson them like medical waste. of Fairfax County, Virginia. He was accused of a “purposeful The tragic fallout of these decisions should reignite our pattern of deceit” during the 1980’s when he fathered up to 75 natural moral sensibilities, and point us back in the direction children using his own sperm for artificial insemination with of the Creator’s plan for human procreation. Our children are his female patients. He was eventually sentenced to five years in truly safeguarded in the dignity of their origins when they are prison and had his medical license revoked. brought into the world exclusively within the marital embrace Another notorious episode relied on DNA testing and of husband and wife. Turning to the lawlessness of modern day other evidence gathered by police in Brazil. They discovered fertility “cowboys,” meanwhile, is a quick study for violation that many of the 8,000 babies born after IVF treatments at and heartache. the clinic of Dr. Roger Abdelmassih in Sao Paulo were not genetically related to the couples who were raising them. AuRev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D. earned his doctorate in neurothorities believe that Abdelmassih misled many of his clients science from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard. He is a during the 1990s and early 2000s and impregnated them with priest of the diocese of Fall River, MA, and serves as the Director embryos formed from other people’s eggs and sperm, in a bid of Education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philato improve his clinic’s statistics for successful implantations and delphia.

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SAINTS FOR TODAY

by Dr. Jean Lee

Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary In the seventeenth century, St. John Eudes promoted devotion to the hearts of Jesus and Mary. He even composed an Office and Mass in honor of the Heart of Mary. It became a feast of the universal church only in the twentieth century and is celebrated on the day after the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The devotion to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary came into its own and gained international prominence through the Fatima apparitions in 1917 and their subsequent approval by the Holy See. In 1942 Pope Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and established the feast day.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary (also known as The Sacred Heart of Mary) is a devotional name used to refer to the interior life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her maternal love for her son Jesus, and her compassionate love for all persons. In devotion to the Heart of Mary, study and imitation hold as important a place as love. Love is more the result than the object of the devotion, the object being rather to love God and Jesus better by uniting one’s self to Mary for this purpose and by imitating her virtues.

Both in Scripture and in reflections on Mary’s heart, it is obvious that the usage is symbolic. The physical heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a sign and symbol of her compassion and sinlessness and reasoning of the devotion by the faithful.

The physical heart stands for the inner reaches of the human personality. It includes or connotes the mind, the soul, the will, the spirit, the core of one’s being. It is the place where a person thinks, remembers, feels, desires, makes decisions.

The scriptural basis and history of the devotion to the Heart of Mary is connected on many points with that to the Heart of Jesus. The attention of Christians was early attracted by the love and virtues of the Heart of Mary. The gospels recount the prophecy delivered to her at Jesus’ presentation at the temple: that her heart would be pierced with a sword (Lk 2:34-35). This image (the pierced heart) is the most popular representation of the Immaculate Heart. Also, roses or another type of flower may be wrapped around the heart. The Gospel of John further invites attention to Mary’s heart with its depiction of Mary at the foot of the cross at Jesus’ crucifixion (Jn 19:25-27). St. Augustine said of this that Mary was not merely passive at the foot of the cross; “she cooperated through charity in the work of our redemption.”

Another scriptural passage that helps to illustrate the devotion was the report of St. Luke that Mary kept all the sayings and doings of Jesus in her heart, that there she might ponder over them (Lk 2:19). St. Ambrose, in his commentary on The Gospel of Luke, holds Mary up as the ideal of virginity, and St. Ephrem poetically sings of the coming of the Magi and the welcome accorded them by the humble mother. Furthermore St. Luke writes that Elizabeth proclaims Mary blessed because she has believed the words of the angel who announced that she would become pregnant with Jesus, although she was still a virgin (Lk 1:41-42).

And in answering the woman who proclaimed his mother blessed, Jesus responded: “Blessed rather are they that hear the word of God and keep it.” The Early Church Fathers understood this as an invitation to seek in Mary that which had so endeared her to God and caused her to be selected as the Mother of Jesus. St. Leo said that through faith and love she conceived her son spiritually, even before receiving him into her womb, and St. Augustine tells us that she was more blessed in having borne Christ in her heart than in having conceived him in the flesh.

Jean M. Lee, M.A., D.Min., is a licensed behavioral health and substance abuse counselor. A Catholic revert after 32 years away from the Church, she is devout in the Catholic faith, loves the saints, and lives a deeper spiritual/religious and more joyful life since returning to the Church.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Foley, Leonard, O.F.M., and Pat McCloskey, O.F.M. “Saint of the DayUpdated and Expanded.” Cincinnati: Franciscan Media, 2013.

Hardon, John A., S.J. “Pocket Catholic Dictionary.” New York: Image Books, 1985.

“Immaculate Heart of Mary.” Wikipedia. Web 06 June 2018. https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaculate_Heart_of_Mary

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