A MAGAZINE OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DETROIT
WE HOPE FOR BETTER THINGS. IT SHALL RISE FROM THE ASHES.
HOPE. RENEWAL. REBIRTH. APRIL/MAY 2019
Old St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church | Downtown Detroit-Greektown
646 Monroe, Detroit 48226 313-961-8711 oldstmarysdetroit.com rectory@oldstmarysdetroit.com
Daily Mass (Mon thru Sat) 12:15 pm Saturday vigil Mass 5:30 pm Sunday Masses 8:30 am, 10:00 am Latin, 12:00 noon First Friday Tridentine Mass 7:00 pm
Free secure parking in our church lot
Confessions 30 minutes prior to all Masses Please visit oldstmarysdetroit.com for our Holy Week and Easter Schedule
APRIL/MAY 2019 VOLUME 1: ISSUE 1 P U BL ISHE R
The Most Rev. Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit E X E C UT IV E E DITO RS
Father Stephen Pullis Edmundo Reyes E D I TO R IN C HIE F
Christine Warner A RT DIRE C TO R
Paul Duda
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
M A R KE T ING DIRE C TO R
Patrick Hodgdon A D VE RT ISING MANAG E R
Michelle St. Pierre I L LUST RATO R
Diego Diaz CO N T RIBUT ING E DITO R
Mike Stechschulte P HOTO G RAP HE RS
Paul Duda Carlos Herbas Tim Hinkle Dan Rogers Naomi Vrazo
5 A MESSAGE FROM THE ARCHBISHOP
FE ATU R E S
P R AY E R
6 LIVING WITNESS A military widow’s journey of faith
34 CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD St. Catherine of Siena
14 REAL TALK The personal meaning of new beginnings
CO N T RIBUT ING W RIT E RS
Danielle Center Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ Clara Fox Maggie Glemkowski Tim Glemkowski Dr. Daniel Keating Dr. Mark Latkovic Krizia Liquido Father Brian Meldrum Dan Meloy Jeannine M. Pitas
18 GOSPEL STUDY ‘A people of hope’ 22 INSIDE SCRIPTURE The Lord is our hope
C U LTU R E 24 POETRY Let us hope in our true hope
Patrick O’Brien P R E SIDE NT AND C E O
Elizabeth Martin Soslburg V I C E P RE SIDE NT AND E DITO R IAL DIRECTOR
Rachel Matero GR AP HIC DE SIG NE R
Innerworkings P R I N T ING E M A IL US: utgmagazine@aod.org V I S I T US O NL INE : unleashthegospel.org F O L LO W US O N FAC E BO O K, INSTAGRAM AND T W IT T E R: @utgdetroit Unleash the Gospel Copyright © 2019 by the Archdiocese of Detroit is a membership publication published bimonthly (Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov) by the Archdiocese of Detroit, 12 State St., Detroit, MI 48226-1823. Business and Editorial Offices: 12 State St., Detroit, MI 48226-1823, Accounting and Circulation Offices: Archdiocese of Detroit, 12 State St., Detroit, MI 48226-1823. Periodicals postage is pending at Detroit, Michigan, and additional mailing offices.
Rosary 26 SACRED PL ACES Finding God on a Panamanian street 30 OUR HISTORY Father Gabriel Richard, the “second founder of Detroit”
36 PRAYER 101 Lord, teach us to pray 38 PRAYING WITH THE CHURCH FATHERS An ancient homily on Holy Saturday
D I S C I P LE S 42 FAMILY CHALLENGE 7 days to begin and begin again 44 PERSONAL REFLECTION The good habits of missionary disciples 46 PURSUING HOLINESS Q&A Tim and Maggie Glemkowski
D E TR OI T 48 UNLEASHED QUESTIONNAIRE Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ 50 #ASKUTG What gives you hope? 42 PHOTO ESSAY Ste. Anne de Detroit
DEAR JOYFUL MISSIONARY DISCIPLE! IT
“GOD IS LEADING
I S WI TH GRE AT CONF I D E NC E I N GOD ’ S G O O DN E SS, A N D IN T H A N K SG IV IN G F OR HI S S ON J E S U S C HRI S T AND F OR A L L O F YO U, T H AT I IN T R O DUC E T H IS I NAU GU RAL I S S U E OF UNLEASH THE GOSPEL MAGA Z IN E . T H IS ISSUE ’ S T H E ME : “ HOP E . RE NE WAL . RE B I RTH.,” B E AU T IF UL LY SUMMA R IZ E S T H E C UR R E N T STAT E OF OU R J OU RNE Y I N THE ARC HD I OC ESE O F DE T R O IT.
HOPE: The catechism teaches us that hope is the theological virtue by which we desire heaven and eternal life as our happiness. It calls us to trust in Christ and his promises. This virtue keeps us from discouragement, sustains us during difficult times and helps us to persevere through trials, hardships US IN and setbacks.
THIS GREAT MISSION,
RENEWAL: Jesus Christ makes all things new! He NEW S OF THE GOSPEL is at work in Southeast Michigan. We have asked TO OUR FAMILIES AND God to send his Holy COMMUNITIES.” Spirit and “renew the face of the earth.” I see this renewal, these early fruits, in many of our parishes and faith communities. Our mission to unleash the Gospel has begun, and God is blessing our efforts. One of these blessings is having Detroit’s humble priest, son and
TO BRING THE GOOD
NAOMI VRAZO, PHOTOGRAPHER
great evangelist Blessed Solanus Casey as an advocate for our missionary activity. I have entrusted all of our evangelization efforts to the intercession of Father Solanus, our patroness Ste. Anne, and Our Lady, Star of the New Evangelization. REBIRTH: This theme is close to my heart and, I believe, also to the people of Detroit. It’s part of our history and our city’s motto, written by Father Gabriel Richard after the great Detroit fire in 1805: Speramus Meliora, Resurget Cineribus, which translates, “We hope for better things, it will rise from the ashes.” I have a plaque with this motto on my desk to remind me of hope, renewal and rebirth. Brothers and sisters, we, too, as a city and the Church in Southeast Michigan, hope for better things — not just economic prosperity, but true renewal that comes from an encounter with Jesus, the source of all joy and happiness.
THE MOST REV. ALLEN H. VIGNERON Archbishop of Detroit DetroitArchbishop @DetArchbishop @DetroitArchbishop
I trust that the content of this new magazine, with its inspiring stories of women and men living with apostolic boldness, resources to grow as missionary disciples and practical advice and encouragement to witness to the world will nourish your lives as we journey together to Unleash the Gospel. God is leading us in this great mission to bring the good news of the Gospel to our families and communities. Our hope is in him. We must “put out into the deep,” as Jesus said to St. Peter in the Gospel of Luke. My prayer is that together we will humbly, confidently and joyfully follow his command. In the fashion of Blessed Solanus, I thank God ahead of time for what he is doing to renew our Archdiocese. I thank God ahead of time for what he is doing to renew each of you.
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‘I AM NOT AFRAID; I WAS BORN FOR THIS’ A MILITARY WIDO W’S
journey of faith A BL ACK DRESS — ON LOAN FROM A FELLO W A R MY W I FE — W OULD HAVE TO D O F O R T H E FUNERAL. THE MA JORIT Y OF CLOTHES DON’T FIT AT 3 8 WEEK S OF PREGNANC Y. T H E BA BY W OULD BE INDUCED TO ALLO W THE MOTHER TO T R AVEL BY PL ANE TO THE FUNE R A L AT WE ST POINT. AND THE BABY W OULD BE THERE, TOO. CLARA FOX, WRITER PAUL DUDA, PHOTOGRAPHER
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L I V I N G WI TNE S S
Jennifer Buckley, owner and operator of Grace & Grit Design Co. in Plymouth, Mich.
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Jennifer Harting lost her husband on April 29, 2005. Army Capt. Ralph “Jay” Harting III was serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated during a traffic inspection outside of Baghdad. His last day as the Echo Troop commander was supposed to be May 6. He was supposed to be home for the birth of his son, his third child. He was 28. A widow with a newborn is an inconsolable sight. “His old Army buddies, grown men, were crying and falling on me,” Jennifer says about the funeral service. “I had to hold them up and tell them that it was going to be OK and share God’s grace. That was just my first real participation in his amazing grace.” The women at the funeral, many of them military wives, were also crying. But their grief was mixed with the haunting possibility that this tragedy could happen to them. “They were crying because the mere picture of me was a reminder of all that they could lose. They were crying for me, but also crying at the prospect that their cross was still there.” Today, Jennifer can reference the power of grace through redemptive suffering. But it would be many years after her husband’s death before she would rediscover her Catholic faith and begin to understand the role of grace throughout her tragedy, for herself and others.
S UR RENDER The stay-over at the hospital after giving birth was one of the toughest nights. Everyone had gone home. A constant churning in her stomach that wouldn’t ease now seemed even more noticeable. It was Sunday; Jay had died on Friday. Jennifer’s mother and Jay’s parents had been with her all day, giving their support and sharing in the grief. A long line of family, friends and acquaintances had come in to offer their congratulations for the new baby and their condolences for the loss. “The term ‘bittersweet’ couldn’t have
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applied more,” Jennifer says. “I was still in shock and disbelief.” At the time, Jennifer’s concept of God was abstract. The name of Jesus was alien to her; it brought back negative memories of her biological father, who was absent her entire life, but who would also routinely send birthday cards with Bible-thumping messages. Given the circumstances, she found herself questioning the power of prayer itself. “I had prayed very fervently for Jay’s safety every night, and those prayers weren’t answered,” she says. Still, Jennifer had no choice but to trust that God would provide for her still-young family, including children Adeline, two, Ralph IV, one, and newborn Warren. “Though I felt very alone in the world,
in the spiritual world, I felt Jay’s presence,” Jennifer says. “I felt God there. I never felt this sense of anger and bitterness that was going to turn me into a horrible monster. God’s grace was really pouring out in abundant ways.” The experience could be summed up in a single word: surrender. However, at the time, Jennifer admits she didn’t see such surrender as part of a personal relationship with Jesus. “I just thought, ‘OK, God, if this is your will, we’ll embrace this,’” Jennifer says. Part of embracing it meant not fighting back — a difficult battle in itself. “If you fight it, that’s when the bitterness comes in and you aren’t able to help other people,” Jennifer says. “I didn’t want my children to have this dark cloud hanging over their life.”
“I JUST HAD THIS WAVE OF NOSTALGIA TAKE OVER ME, AND HERE I HAD BEEN THROUGH SUCH DARKNESS IN MY LIFE. THESE PRAYERS AND HER INNOCENCE REMINDED ME OF THE INNOCENCE AND THE BEAUTY THAT CAME WITH MY
N O S TA LGIC F OR A C H ILDLIKE FAITH Her first step as a single mom was to move her family to Michigan to be closer to Jay’s family. She wanted to rebuild her life around people who would act as role models for her children. “I didn’t have a father in my life or extended family. I just wanted my kids to be instilled with good values,” she explains. “I was determined to make lemonade out of lemons.” A few months after the funeral, Jennifer was running the Army Ten-Miler, a race to benefit soldiers, in Washington, D.C., with her sister-in-law, Sarah Harting. She completed the 10-mile run to make her husband proud, but also because exercise was a form of therapy during the grieving process. Next, she
tried triathlons, then, realizing a new passion for the sport, she became an athlete, training hard, downing energy packets and crossing one finish line after another. While she wasn’t quite ready to hand the baton to God, the Holy Spirit was quietly at work. At a widows support group, Jennifer met Sherry Mayer, an expectant mother and widow whose story hit a little too close to home. Jennifer initially prayed she and Mayer would be in different breakout sessions — but looking back, she’s glad that petition wasn’t granted. “We became fast friends in our grief,” Jennifer says. “We grieved together and began rebuilding our lives.” Mayer, a Catholic, lived her faith openly, which caught Jennifer’s attention. At the time, Jennifer was attending
childhood.”
a Presbyterian church. She had been baptized Catholic, but never practiced beyond receiving her first Communion and participating in Mass with her mother on Christmas and Easter. Jay had always wanted his kids to attend a Christian school, so when their eldest daughter, Adeline, was ready to begin kindergarten, Jennifer chose Our Lady of Sorrows School in Farmington. It wasn’t until Adeline came home one day talking about the Hail Mary and the Our Father that a shower of grace flooded Jennifer’s heart. “I just had this wave of nostalgia take over me, and here I had been through such darkness in my life,” Jennifer says. “These prayers and her innocence reminded me of the innocence and the beauty that came with my childhood.”
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“Growing up, it was just me and my mom and my grandma and grandpa,” Jennifer continues. “Even though we were holiday Catholics, those few times that I would go had a great impact on my memory. Some people have a memory of their mom’s apple pie; my memories were of these prayers.” Remembering Mayer’s Catholicism, Jennifer turned to her new friend for advice on rediscovering the faith of her childhood. Mayer was eager to be her RCIA sponsor, and toward the end of 2007, Jennifer was confirmed at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in downtown Detroit.
UN LEASHI NG THE GOSPEL The grieving process took a different turn once Jennifer returned to the Catholic faith. “I began learning about redemptive suffering — all these ways of embracing
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the cross and leaning in on the cross, all these different ways of looking at grief,” Jennifer says. “It was very educational and eye-opening.” Her prayer life also became stronger, although she says she still has to remind herself that prayer “is not just about wants and desires.” Her mother, Barbara Nazworth, also noticed a change in her daughter. “Before, when I would look at Jenny, you could see a shadow of grief,” Nazworth says. “You could see that and you knew that she was in pain. That slowly started going away. You started to see the darkness become light and [she began] reaching out to other people.” Four years after her husband’s death, Jennifer was emotionally ready to begin thinking about another relationship. On Oct. 9, 2010, she married Brian Buckley, a former seminarian whom she had met at her parish.
“The kids really took a liking to him right away, and the rest is history,” Jennifer says. Over the next six years, the family welcomed five more children, bringing the total to eight: Adeline, 16, Ralph, 15, Warren, 13, Elizabeth, seven, Ava, five, Natalie, four, Brian Jr., three, and Charlotte, two. After a brief time living in Virginia, where Brian served with the U.S. Marine Corps, the family returned to Michigan, where Jennifer rekindled a love for interior design. Soon, she started a blog and opened an online home goods store with faith-inspired merchandise, appropriately named Grace and Grit Design Co. On Dec. 5, 2018, Jennifer launched a brick and mortar store by the same name, nestled next to a tea shop in a trendy district of downtown Plymouth. She credits Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron’s pastoral letter, Unleash the Gospel, with the inspiration to reach out in faith to others.
“THE ARCHBISHOP SPOKE ABOUT HOW WE NEED TO REAWAKEN OUR COMMUNITY BY OUR LIFE, BY OUR TESTIMONY, BY OUR WITNESS. I’M NOT SAYING IT’S EASY, BUT THERE’S NOT A LIMIT TO WHAT GOD’S GIFTS CAN DO,
if you are open.”
“The archbishop spoke about how we need to reawaken our community by our life, by our testimony, by our witnesses,” says Jennifer, who attends Mass each Sunday with her family at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Plymouth. “Women are saying: I have too many dreams, goals and aspirations that I want to achieve — children will limit me from achieving those dreams. And yet, here I am taking care of eight kids. I’m not saying it’s easy, but there’s not a limit to what God’s gifts can do, if you are open.” Among the store’s artwork can be found inspiring messages of the saints, including a quote from St. Joan of Arc: “I am not afraid. I was born for this.” Another, from St. Catherine of Siena, proclaims, “Nothing great was ever achieved without much enduring.” Such testimonies hold personal meaning for Jennifer, but they also resonate with her customers, many of whom pop into the shop because of its noticeably creative flair — and leave with religious art tucked under their arm.
VISI T W W W.G RAC E AND GR ITD ESIGNCO . CO M TO SEE JEN NI F E R’S B LO G , O R V I SIT HER BO UTIQ UE, GR ACE & G RI T D E S I G N CO ., AT 44 5 S. HARV EY ST. SUITE 1 9 , P LY M O U T H , M I 4 8 1 7 0 .
A WI T NE SS TO C H R I ST ’ S ME R C Y Jennifer’s customers aren’t the only ones who have benefitted from her witness. Her mother also returned to the Catholic faith, thanks to her daughter’s gentle nudge to make a good confession. Decades earlier, Nazworth had confessed being an unwed mother — an experience that didn’t go well. “(The priest) made me feel bad and dirty,” Nazworth says. “I walked away from the Catholic Church, but in my heart, I was always wanting to go back.” At Jennifer’s encouragement, she was willing to try again. “I was scared after what happened. It took four or five months for me to go into the confessional, but I finally went in, and I was shaking like a leaf,” Nazworth says. This time, though, the experience was positive. She calls the priest who heard her confession “the greatest priest on the face of the earth.” He told her not to let one bad experience keep her from her faith, and she agreed. “I should have gone back and found another priest to confess to, but I never did,” Nazworth says. Nazworth is grateful for her daughter’s gentle guidance, which was all it took “to restore that which was in my heart,” she says.
“I grieved over having turned my back on the Church for all those years,” Nazworth says. “I say to my grandchildren, ‘Please don’t do what I did because you’ll regret all those years you lost.’” Jennifer’s conversion and witness also brought her lifelong friend, Andie Urquizu, back to the faith. Urquizu was one of the first people Jennifer called after Jay’s death. It was through witnessing the suffering and redemption of her good friend that Urquizu saw the true power of Christ, just like Jennifer’s mother did. “I was able to tell my own mother [a practicing Catholic] before she died that I was a fully practicing and engaged Catholic — and that Jenny was, too,” Nazworth says. “It’s hard to watch your daughter suffer,” she continues. “In her pain, she wanted to make some beauty. So, she persevered. There was a watch that Jay had bought her once, and he had the word ‘perseverance’ inscribed in it because that was the quality he loved about her.” One person’s hope in Christ can have a ripple effect, Nazworth says. And her daughter is proof that God’s love is contagious. “And that’s what Jenny is doing,” Nazworth says. “Maybe Jenny’s enthusiasm and the beauty of her store can set another heart on fire.”
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RE A L TA LK “New beginnings, to me, is walking out of the confessional after not going for 15 years like I did. It’s kneeling there in the confessional, confessing all of your sins and hearing Jesus, through the priest, say, ‘I absolve you from your sins.’ New beginnings means learning about what is really happening at Mass. Seeing a beautiful liturgy with words, signs and gestures of heaven. It reminds us that here is not our home; we are made for another place. We get a taste of that place in the Eucharist — literally — when we come up to the Communion rail and receive Jesus Christ in his body, blood, soul and divinity. “New beginnings is what I’m excited to see the Archdiocese of Detroit bring to the people. We want and need the truth, goodness and beauty that only Christ and his Church can offer. We want and need the truth of the Gospel, not just the parts that make us comfortable. We want and need the Church to be holy and good, transformed by the grace Christ has given us in the sacraments. We want and need beautiful liturgies that eternally point us to heaven and inspire us to be saints. This will offer us all an opportunity for a new beginning.”
-NICK SWITZER, 26, HUSBAND AND FATHER OF A BABY ON THE WAY, PARISHIONER AT OUR LADY OF THE SCAPULAR PARISH IN WYANDOTTE
THE PERSONAL MEANING OF “To me, ‘new beginnings’ is about taking a look at myself and asking, ‘What exactly is this mission I’m following? Is it Christ’s or the world’s?’ I like that phrase, ‘new beginnings,’ because it keeps it fresh in my mind that I am on a mission and every day is a new beginning to me. Every day, I have to focus anew on Christ. It’s also a good reminder that if I stumble, I can get right back on track. A Church that unleashes the Gospel needs the whole community. “When I see that relationship happening (between the Church and the community), my heart leaps, and I can see that we as a Church are finally getting it. We are all in this together. When we come together and have fellowship, talking to one another, sharing our histories, our lessons and listening to one another, it is a wonderful experience. It is educational, spiritual, such a mix. I hope the Church continues coming out to the neighborhoods, because that is where the Church is. Unleash the Gospel is about going out, evangelizing, looking at the needs of the community and bringing people together. We have to go forward to let the whole community know that Christ is alive.”
-JOYCE SHELTON, 59, WIFE AND MOTHER OF FOUR, COORDINATOR OF RCIA AT ST. AUGUSTINE AND ST. MONICA PARISH IN DETROIT
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“The concept of new beginnings has been essential in my faith journey. I was raised a cradle Catholic but reached a point in my life where I found myself going through the motions. On the surface, I looked like a devout Catholic, but inside I was far from it. My interior faith life was virtually nonexistent. I knew it, and I didn’t care. For several years I lived this way, allowing myself to grow further and further from Christ. It was easier to ignore the problem than change my life and address the issue. “After years away from the sacrament, a friend convinced me to go to confession. For the first time in years, I was forced to look at the broken life I had created. Not only did I have to reflect on my life, but I had to talk about my decisions that led me to this point. That time at confession was the turning point in my faith journey — my ‘new beginning.’ Since then, I have attempted to make confession a regular habit. Whenever I fall, I feel blessed to have the opportunity for the ‘new beginning’ available to us through confession.”
-FRANCESCA MONTANA, 28, LEADERSHIP TEAM MEMBER FOR YOUNG CATHOLIC PROFESSIONALS’ DETROIT CHAPTER
“I feel compelled to share the Gospel as a response to his love. As I walk into the IT office each morning, I make the sign of the cross, ask for his protection and ask for his heart for people that day. It can be as simple as listening and encouraging a co-worker in the sacrificial love of parenting. Or, praying for their ill family member, or work visa renewal. It is inviting co-workers to a lunchtime discussion group where we have read Unleash the Gospel and where we challenge each other to be intentional disciples. “And it totally makes my day and opens the door when someone asks about my license plate: ‘KERYGMA.’ No longer is my job just about making a living. It is about joyfully walking with the Spirit in mission. How can I unleash his love every day?”
-MARK SIENKOWSKI, 58, PARISHIONER AT ST. LAWRENCE PARISH IN UTICA
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“As a recovering addict from a home where domestic violence and criminal activity were my norm, God broke into the midst of my despair with his hope and mercy. I make an effort to encourage others with hope in God by sharing my testimony (in parishes, on The Journey Home program, on Shalom World TV, in the workplace, etc.) and sharing my biblical reflections in other public forums. “Daily suffering is still a huge part of my life, but because of hope, I never doubt the Father’s love. The grace of how God delivered me reminds me to never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit. Receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, most profoundly at the Latin Mass, sustains me in my faith. The presence of reverence and silence overflows into everything I do. Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi (‘As we worship, so we believe, so we live’). This inspires and empowers me to be a living sacrifice, bringing his presence to others. (Unleash the Gospel, Marker 3.4)”
-LISA CAMPBELL, 47, WIFE AND MOTHER OF THREE, PARISHIONER AT OUR LADY OF GOOD COUNSEL IN PLYMOUTH AND ST. JOSEPH ORATORY IN DETROIT
“March 2004 marked a dark time in my life. After 13 months of fighting cancer, and just two weeks before my 19th birthday, my father passed away. For the next year and a half, it felt like I couldn’t breathe; like a black pall was laid on me. Then a friend reached out and began to walk with me through my grief. Eventually, we ended up at a prayer meeting. During that meeting, it felt like the black pall lifted and a rush of fresh air filled my lungs. I started to live again. “The following few years marked a long, but grace-filled grieving process. I learned how to pray, to trust in God and to share my story. Looking back, with the eyes of faith, I can see that Christ was with me in those dark days. Then he called me out of the grave and gave me new life.”
-FATHER ATHANASIUS FORNWALT, FHS, 33, A PRIEST OF THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
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GOSPE L STUDY
‘A PEO PLE O F
HOP E’
R I SING FROM THE ASHE S, LI T ERA LLY, IN D ETROIT 18
A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T
IN THE YEARS BET WEEN ITS INCORPORATION AS A TO WN AND IT S INCORPORATION AS A CIT Y, A DEVASTATING FIRE RIPPED THROUGH DETROIT IN 1805, DESTROYING ALMOST EVERY ONE OF ITS STRUCTURES. IT WAS DEMORALIZING F OR THE SEVERAL HUNDRED RESIDENTS WHO CALLED THIS TO WN HOME.
TIM HINKLE, PHOTOGRAPHER
While some looked to relocate into Canada or into other areas of the young United States, Father Gabriel Richard worked with other leaders in Detroit to restore the city. He coined the phrase that became the motto of city of Detroit: Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus. Translated, it means, “We hope for better things; it shall rise from the ashes.” The helpless feeling Father Richard had as he watched his city burn is not unlike what we can feel now seeing the challenges all around us. We see political tensions increase and Christian norms being set aside. We see unprecedented challenges facing families and the struggles of large numbers of young people to follow Jesus. And then we see the challenges within our Church, not least of which is the terrible sin of sexual abuse.
In spite of it all, I cannot help but think of Father Richard’s motto for a time such as this: “We hope for better things; it shall rise from the ashes.” This motto has a double meaning. He was hoping for the restoration of the city of Detroit. But there is a deeper and more abiding hope that calls us. Hope is one of the three theological virtues — along with faith and love — that are infused into our souls when we are baptized. (Cf. CCC, 1266) Whether this happened as an infant or later in life, a baptized individual is marked with hope. Having hope means that “we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness.” (CCC 1817) Therefore, hope is directed to the fulfillment of the greatest desire of the human heart: to spend eternity with the One who is infinite love. This virtue is infused in us at baptism, but it must be cultivated and stirred up. We are reminded of St. Paul’s admonition to not let the gifts we have been given die out: “Stir into flame the gift of God you have received through the imposition of my hands.” (2 Tm 1:6) What has been given to St. Timothy is a free gift. But the gift has been entrusted to him not to be tucked away and buried. Rather, it is to be strengthened. Like our muscles, hope that is not exercised will grow weaker and weaker until it becomes almost invisible. Our Heavenly Father freely gives us the gift, but he wants us to cooperate with this gift. He desires that we “share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Rom 8:21) It is important that we do not confuse hope with mere optimism. While optimism can be a great help in dealing with the difficulties and disappointments of life, hope is categorically different from it.
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Optimism is part of one’s disposition. It helps us find what is positive in a given set of circumstances. Hope, on the other hand, is rooted in our relationship with God. It calls to mind what he has done (in the past) and thus enables us to be confident in what he will do (in the future). In this way, it is closely related to faith. I know that God will keep his promises because I know what he has
already given me: “He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?” (Rom 8:32) Men and women of hope keep their eyes on the prize. Like a heavyweight boxer who knows that every jumping jack has a purpose or the research scientist who knows that her work is part of a larger effort to cure Alzheimer’s
disease, every part of our lives should be oriented to our final goal. To do this, we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Guidepost 2 of Unleash the Gospel reminds us of this necessity. It is easy to get distracted and go off course. But keeping in mind our final goal — and that Jesus calls us to bring others along with us — keeps us on course. As a band of missionary disciples, we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus if we want to share him. We cannot share what we do not have. Jesus Christ is “at work to renew his Church in the Archdiocese of Detroit.” (Unleash the Gospel, Introduction) We are in the midst of a great renewal. Jesus is doing something new in our Church; he is working to restore our hope. This is exciting … and can be a little bit scary. The work of renewal, however, is not something for only a few of us. We each have a role to play. Here are some practical tips to grow in hope, to live hope and to be missionaries of hope!
FATHER STEPHEN PULLIS, STL, is the director of evangelization, catechesis and schools for the Archdiocese of Detroit and serves as a weekend associate at St. John Vianney Parish in Shelby Township and as an adjunct spiritual director at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. He also co-hosts Open Door Policy, a podcast series featuring conversations with missionary disciples throughout Southeast Michigan. Tune in at opendoorpolicy.aod.org.
GROW IN HOPE
LIVE IN HOPE
BE A MISSIONARY OF HOPE
The best way to grow in hope is to stir up your desire for the fulfillment of God’s promises. We can do this by praying daily against discouragement and despair. A short traditional Catholic prayer called the Act of Hope can be prayed daily. It goes like this: “O my God, relying on your infinite mercy and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of your grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer. Amen.” We can also grow in hope by reading about the saints, especially the martyrs. Seeing how they were able to persevere in the midst of challenges — almost always greater than ours — stirs in us our desire for the great promises of heaven!
The best way to live the virtue of hope is to think often of heaven. Memorize a scripture verse, and go back to it often throughout the day to draw your mind back to God. For me, there is a quote from the Liturgy of the Hours that I love: “What better can we do than take refuge in the Lord! His love will never fail. Alleluia.” Make a small act of sacrifice each day. This should be a reminder that the joy of heaven is infinitely greater than the joys of this world.
We are called to be missionary disciples, but how do we share hope? St. Peter tells us, “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence.” (1 Pt 3:15-16a) Jesus is the only one who will never disappoint us. Think of a circumstance in your life when you knew Jesus was present. Share that with someone in your life. Another way to share hope with others is to volunteer to serve the dying. Catholic hospice centers are always looking for people to spend time with those who are close to death. This ministry is a great testament to our hope in eternal life.
NAOMI VRAZO, PHOTOGRAPHER
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IN S ID E SCRIPTUR E
THE LORD IS
OUR HOPE What does the Scripture say about hope, rebirth and renewal? Where can we find hope when we are burdened with despair or crushed by failure around us? At the end of the Book of Revelation, we find these striking words spoken by the risen Jesus: “Behold, I make all things new!” (Rv 2:15) We have a God who brings life out of death and hope out of despair. The God who made all things in the beginning is the same one who “makes all things new.” This is the source of our hope. But you might say: “We don’t see this now. Things don’t look very renewed! Where are we to find hope? Does anything we do really make a difference?” This is just what the author of Ecclesiastes concluded: “Behold, all is vanity and a striving afterwind.” (Eccl 1:14) In response to this, the Scripture points us to God, the source of our hope. He makes all things new. From the ashes he rebuilds.
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A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T
NAOMI VRAZO, PHOTOGRAPHER
The Book of Lamentations gives a powerful testimony to the way that hope functions in the midst of despair and loss. The setting is the city of Jerusalem in the sixth century B.C. The besieging Babylonian armies have just crushed the holy city, then burned it to the ground. The author of Lamentations sits in the midst of the ruins, filled to the brim with despair, racked with grief and pain, and says, “Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow which was brought upon me?” (Lam 1:12) All happiness has fled away, and hope has disappeared. “My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, ‘Gone is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the Lord.’” (Lam 3:17-18) This is a profound portrait of complete despair. How can one find hope for rebirth in such a situation? But somehow, the light of hope broke through. The city was still in ruins, but hope woke up and returned: “But this
DR. DANIEL KEATING
HOPE IS BASED ON THE LORD GOD — HIS CHARACTER AND HIS PROMISES. EVEN IN THE MIDST OF THE W ORST FAILURES, HOPE STRENGTHENS THE HEART BECAUSE IT IS CONNECTED WITH THE PO WER AND THE PROMISES OF GOD. I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lam 3:21-23)
What has changed? Surrounded by the rubble of the city, the one who mourned recalled the promise of the Lord’s steadfast love. He knows that God will not abandon him or his people. He hopes in the Lord, because he knows that God is faithful.
is an author and professor of theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, where he teaches Scripture, theology, the Church Fathers, evangelization and ecumenism. He lives in Lansing, Mich., and is a member of the Servants of the Word, a lay brotherhood committed to evangelization and Christian unity. His most recent book is The Adventure of Discipleship, by Emmaus Road publishing.
Hope in the Bible is not based on human calculation. It does not come from “insider knowledge” that things are about to change and go our way. Hope is not based on a general positive attitude that is determined to see things through rose-colored glasses. Hope is based on the Lord God — his character and his promises. Even in the midst of the worst failures, hope strengthens the heart because it is connected with the power and the promises of God. In the Letter to the Hebrews, the author presents a marvelous image of hope as the “anchor” for our soul. Consider how anchors work: The anchor is let down from the boat and planted firmly in the earth beneath the water. When the tides come in and the winds blow, the anchor holds the boat secure because it is rooted firmly. Hope acts in the same way for us. God has promised us eternal life with Christ. This promise is something that we can “seize” and take hold of in difficult times, like an anchor in a roiling sea. “We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered.” (Heb 6:19-20) Earthly anchors go down into the earth; hope is a heavenly anchor that runs from earth into heaven, where Christ is. When we take hold of the promises of Christ, they function as an anchor for our lives, connected to the risen Christ himself. He holds us firm. We don’t yet see God’s full reign in the world. As Paul says in the Letter to the Romans: “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Rom 8:24-25)
But hope is much more than just a lifeline that we cling to in a stormy sea, hanging on for dear life. Hope brings encouragement and consolation to our hearts; it strengthens our resolve to press on and to expect great things from the Lord even in the present time of crisis. Isaiah says this best. Speaking to a community of the faithful burdened by despair and lacking in hope, the prophet calls them to be strengthened by God in hope: “He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Is 40:29-31)
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POETRY
LET US HOPE IN OUR TRUE HOPE Hope springs eternal in the human breast So wrote Alexander Pope with great zest But in these words are we stranger or guest? Do we see in the pitying World a test? We know which way to live our life is best But lose sight of our End in our own nest We are our own worst enemy — a pest With hearts and minds that are in sin oppressed Where can wounded Hope find its wounds are dressed? Here in the World of the “man with no chest” Our Hope may want to abandon the quest Satisfied with Hope as a nat’rul vest It meets its match in man lost and obsessed But do not let Hope lose Christ who is Blessed In Him, Hope fulfilled, now finds its true rest BY D R. MA RK S . L ATKOV I C
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A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T
At first you were a wreath of roses I gathered, each bead a key to an enclosed garden, a child’s hideout built among lilacs. Annunciation, Crucifixion, Ascension, you held all of life and death in a garland of endless joy, an exquisite wedding band that bound this world to the next. Then, you unraveled into a meagre string of beads, costume jewelry to be left on a shelf, cheap unpolished silver,
RO SA RY
worn-out keys. But after some time I returned to you, though your beads had long been scattered, and I held the thin string in my two crumpled hands. I barely realized I was still holding you as I dug my fingers into my pockets, muttered your incantations to stoplights and shop windows. Again and again
BY J EANNINE M. PITAS
your cross pierced me,
“Rosary” was originally published in Presence: A Journal of Catholic Poetry 2018.
and you started to stitch under my skin. Now, I no longer resent these knots, this rope that sustains this net that enfolds.
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SACRE D PL ACES
F I NDI NG GO D ON A ST REET
DA N MELOY, W R ITER NAOMI V RA ZO, P HOTOGR APH ER
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A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T
FOR M ANY, GOD I S M OS T P RE SE N T IN SIDE A C HU RC H B U I L D I NG — E VE R P R E SE N T IN THE E U C HARI S T, I N THE TA B E R N AC L E . THE Y AL S O S E E GOD I N T H E P E O P LE O F THE C HU RC H, THE C L E RGY, T H E L A IT Y, THE CONS E C RATE D R E LIG IO US.
For others, God is manifest in creation. The trees, the sun, the snow. When you are amongst the creation of the Lord of the Universe, God is all around you. In truth, there isn’t a place you can go where you won’t find God. But every day, each one of us has the opportunity to discover God anew. You don’t know where you will discover God. That’s why you look. But when you see him, you know it, and you want to tell the world about it. When Tom Turoczi and his fellow travelers from the Detroit area were in Panama City for World Youth Day 2019, they discovered God’s presence — or God’s presence discovered them — through a chance encounter on a busy Panamanian street. “We were walking to dinner the last night, and a gentleman saw a special shirt we had with the Archdiocese of Detroit and the Gospel, Luke 1:38 on it,” Turoczi said. “He stopped us and asked what this is. And Patrick from our group said it right out, saying this is what the Gospel is and why it’s so important. The man just stood there amazed, he had the biggest smile on his face, full of joy and he told us to enjoy our time in Panama.” The travelers didn’t know this man from Panama. He didn’t know the visitors. That chance encounter on the street, that authentic greeting and proclamation of the Gospel, wasn’t too different from when the Gospel was first proclaimed. It was authentic. And it sparked joy. That God is love, that Jesus died for our sins, and because of that, all of humanity is saved. For the pilgrims at World Youth Day, the universal truth that God wants to save all of humanity was present. Pilgrims
from different countries shared the same faith, prayed the same prayers and had the same devotions. The God who grants mercy to a teenager from Warsaw is the same God who unconditionally loves a young adult from Wyandotte. But walking the streets of Panama, it was more than a theory. It was incarnational. Pilgrims could see their fellow Christians sharing in the body and blood of Christ. They felt a sense of fellowship, dancing the night away on the Panamanian shores. And they felt this throughout the entire week, the sense of being there, of being a witness to the encounter. Of seeing people speak different languages and celebrate different devotions, with their own story, their own witness, their own testimony, but all for the same God. “You see all the people, just people everywhere, seeing all the flags around, and you know the Church is worldwide, it’s universal, that you’re not alone,” said Colette Tibai, another pilgrim from the Archdiocese of Detroit. “You see everyone, just filled with the spirit. And then out of nowhere, the pope goes by, and everyone starts freaking out. It’s a super surreal feeling. You’re just standing there, thinking, ‘Wait, did that just happen? Did the pope just past right before me?’ And I’m left standing there, happy and grinning, the successor of St. Peter, the vicar of Christ on earth, is just standing there right before me.” Presence is the most powerful part of the World Youth Day experience. Being there, seeing it for yourself. Sharing your stories and standing among thousands of other young Catholics for an experience that is both personal and universal. When Spencer Geyman from the Archdiocese of Detroit signed up to go on the trip, he was told he was about to experience something he never felt before. After walking from church to church, station to station, being embraced in the sheer euphoria that accompanies the global festival, he was immersed in the environment of World Youth Day and the community of the Catholic Church. “The sheer number of people who are here, who are proud of their faith, no one can prepare you for that,” Geyman said. “The height of the trip is being able to share your faith with so many people, people who are so on fire for their faith. You don’t realize how physically or mentally exhausted you are, because everyone is just so happy to be there, so happy to share the faith.” World Youth Day is more than the talks, the Masses, the festivities. It is the Incarnation. Seeing the Church in the streets. Christ in the streets. It’s an opportunity for today’s young Catholics to be in fellowship with others on a global scale, and to come back to be a witness for Christ. To boldly claim how God still dwells among us, and how we are all called to share our witness in our own unique way. Sparking the joy in the next encounter, the next meeting with God. And to go out and proclaim his word — wherever we may roam.
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WELCOME TO A WORLD OF EDUCATION Choosing a school is one of the most important decisions you will make for your child. With so many options, how do you find the one that suits him or her best? Your values will point you in the right direction. If you place high regard on academics within a Christian/Catholic environment, but also desire opportunities to perform, create, compete and lead, Notre Dame may be exactly what you’re looking for. Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy Pre-kindergarten through grade 12 Pontiac, Mich. 248-373-1061 ndpma.org Notre Dame’s new 26,000 sq.-ft. science, art and technology wing opened in the fall of 2018.
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W ORLD YOU TH DAY 2 0 1 9 A weeklong celebration of the Catholic faith, World Youth Day brings young Catholics together from around the world. Each day is full of prayer, sacraments, music, friendship, catechesis and culture. Many youth and young adults from the Archdiocese of Detroit journeyed to Panamá for the 2019 World Youth Day held from Jan. 22 to Jan. 29. The global event was initiated by Saint John Paul II during his papacy in 1984, the first held in Rome, Italy in 1986 — a testament to his love for young people. Throughout the years, World Youth Day has taken place in Italy, Argentina, France, Poland, Philippines, United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, Spain, Brazil and Panamá. The next one in 2022 will take place in Portugal.
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l e i r b a G r e h t Fa ichard R OUR HISTORY
THE
‘second founder of Detroit’
THE SILENT HERO WHOSE STRONG PRESENCE RENEWED OUR CITY. 30
A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T
THE CATHOLIC STUDENT CENTER AT MY UNIVERSITY WAS CALLED THE “FATHER GABRIEL RICHARD CENTER.” I ONCE ASKED THE CAMPUS MINISTER ABOUT OUR NAMESAKE. THE ONLY THING SHE TOLD ME WAS, “HE’S REALLY HARD TO RESEARCH.”
I don’t think she realized it, but she told me my very first Father Gabriel Richard fact that day, and thus began a decade-long adventure of friendship between me and this elusive historical figure. He is hard to research, almost shockingly so. For the man called the “second founder of Detroit,” Father Richard remains a remarkably silent hero, rarely mentioned in the retelling of Detroit’s history. Images and memorials remain, but only for those interested in the challenge of thumbing through old library sections, tracking down outof-print books and always keeping one eye open and one ear perked for new tidbits of knowledge. Luckily, I am interested in the challenge, and one of my best friends is a research librarian. With her help and a persistent sense of curiosity, I’ve grown to appreciate Father Richard as one of my strongest heroes, my most inspiring mentors. Father Richard was not born in Detroit; he was born in France around 1764. As he discerned, studied and was ordained to the priesthood, the emotions and actions surrounding the French Revolution were ramping up as well.
Shortly after his ordination as a Sulpician priest, the violence against religious Catholics worsened in France. Father Richard’s seminary became a massacre site of the French Revolution. The Sulpicians began quietly sending priests to the newly minted United States of America, hoping that the violence would eventually calm and the men would be able to return to France. After arriving in the United States, Father Richard served in a few locations before being sent to the city of Detroit in 1798. At this point in history, Detroit was a small village: wooden, crowded and prone to fire. Historical accounts share that the largely French-speaking population was not well-educated, and there were about 80 active families in the local parish, Ste. Anne. When Father Richard arrived, he dedicated himself to the advancement of the city, including improvements to the church construction and the establishment of new schools for the region. After a few years, Father Richard planned on returning home to a peaceful France, but his plans were stalled on a fateful day in 1805. On June 10, 1805, there were 300 buildings in the city of Detroit. By the
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DANIELLE CENTER is the program director at Ste. Anne Parish in Detroit, where she helps grow and engage the parish community through various events and programs such as weddings and parish tours. She attended the University of Michigan-Dearborn, worked for several years at the Archdiocese of Detroit and co-hosts the Open Door Policy podcast with Father Stephen Pullis.
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IF YOU’VE DONE THESE THINGS, FATHER GABRIEL RICHARD HAS PERSONALLY AFFECTED YOUR LIFE:
1
I THINK. WE’RE A STRONG PEOPLE … AND WE WILL RISE AGAIN, AS FATHER RICHARD ALWAYS BELIEVED WE WOULD.
IF YOU’VE WATCHED A UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN FOOTBALL GAME. afternoon of June 11, there were two, thanks to an accidental pipe ember, a city primarily constructed out of wood and a fire that destroyed everything in its path — schools, church, homes and shops. In response, Father Richard established perpetual eucharistic adoration in the city, himself taking the 1 a.m. hour. It was after this fire that Father Richard wrote what would later become the motto of the city of Detroit: “Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus,” Latin for “We hope for better things; it shall rise from the ashes.” The rebuilding of the city would take years, and Father Richard threw himself into the effort. He never again wrote about returning to France; instead, he served in the United States for the rest of his life, rebuilding Detroit for the people he loved. Forever an educator, Father Richard poured himself into the development of an educational program in Michigan — traditional schools with reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as trade schools with fishing, spinning, weaving and other practical skills. Father Richard was a big proponent for the rights of overlooked students of his era, so he founded educational programs for girls, Native Americans and deaf students. Father Richard also brought the first printing press to the city and printed both the first newspaper of Detroit and schoolbooks for the students of the region. Amid dreams for new growth and new building, a cholera outbreak in 1832 redirected Father Richard’s efforts
toward caring for the sick. The summer was spent organizing a nursing corps, anointing the ill and burying the dead. By the autumn, Father Richard contracted the disease himself. In September, he asked for a confessor and died thereafter. Father Richard would be the final victim of the cholera outbreak of 1832. More people attended his funeral than even lived in the city of Detroit, so great was his impact on the entire region. His final resting place is at Ste. Anne Parish in Detroit, still serving local residents as the second-oldest continually operating parish in the United States. I work at Ste. Anne now, giving tours of the church and telling his story. Often, I’m asked whether his cause is open for canonization. “Not yet,” I say. “Not yet.” One of the requirements for opening the cause for canonization is that people — ordinary people like you and me — have an interest in the person, telling his story and sharing his inspiration. Did you feel a spark while reading this? I hope you continue to learn about this man and become touched by his deep hope and trust. Sometimes, when my tours have left and I’ve shut off all the lights, I walk over to his tomb and, clutching the bronze memorial bust by the face, I whisper, “Let me open your cause.” Maybe one day. Detroit needs more saints, I think. We’re a strong people … and we will rise again, as Father Richard always believed we would.
Father Gabriel Richard co-founded the University of Michigan in 1817 with the Rev. John Montieth, the local Presbyterian minister.
2
IF YOU’VE DRIVEN ON MICHIGAN AVENUE. Father Richard served as a delegate to Congress, representing the territory. One of his greatest accomplishments was securing funding for the construction of a road that would connect Detroit to Chicago. This road, Michigan Avenue, is still a part of our city infrastructure today.
3
IF YOU’VE VISITED DETROIT. After the Great Fire of 1805, settlers were unsure whether the city would be rebuilt. Father Richard is often called the “second founder of Detroit” because of his dedication to the rebuilding of the city.
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CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD
ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA
Learning about mindful prayer from a mystic 34
A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T
CHRISTINE WARNER, WRITER
DURING ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA’S MYSTICAL VISIONS, GOD SHARED VERY DEEP, AND VERY CLEAR, INSIGHTS ON PRAYER, RECORDED IN HER BOOK, THE DIALOGUE . HE SPOKE TO HER ABOUT BAL ANCING PRAYING OUT LOUD AND IN SILENCE. IT’S EASY TO PRAY WITH W ORDS, RECITING A PRAYER OR READING
A
MEDITATION.
IT’S
NOT SO EASY TO PRAY WITH OUR MINDS — KEEPING OUR THOUGHTS TOTALLY ON GOD. BUT WE NEED THIS MINDFULNESS TO MAKE THE MOST OF OUR TIME IN PRAYER.
God shared with St. Catherine, “But do not think that the soul receives such ardor and nourishment from prayer, if she pray only vocally, as do many souls whose prayers are rather words than love. Such as these give heed to nothing except to completing Psalms and saying many paternosters.” There is more we can do to show God we love him than reciting a prayer. It takes more than words. He continues, “The soul is not required to do [vocal recitation], for, in doing only this, she bears but little fruit, which pleases Me but little.” At this point in St. Catherine’s vision, the message is obvious: We shouldn’t just pray with words. Yet, that doesn’t mean we should stop doing it. God said, “She should nevertheless continue in
vocal prayer, while she is yet imperfect, so as not to fall into idleness. But she should not say her vocal prayers without joining them to mental prayer.” So keep up your Our Fathers, Hail Marys, memorares, novenas or other favorite prayers. Now, what does it actually mean to pray with your mind? God explained to St. Catherine that it means to “elevate her mind in my love” while saying a prayer. He told her that this will help her “recognize my goodness in herself and continue her exercises with true humility.” As we pray aloud, we should direct our thoughts toward God, reflecting on his endless mercy and love. Mindful prayer keeps our thoughts from wandering and helps us consider the meaning of the words we say, the petitions we offer and the adoration we give. Of course, it was a probably a lot easier for St. Catherine to focus her thoughts on God with a vision of him right in front of her! We likely won’t have the same mystical experience to launch us into mental prayer, but practicing it will help us get there. As God shared, “Mental prayer is reached by exercise and perseverance.” He goes on to tell St. Catherine that if we feel his presence during prayer, we “should abandon vocal prayer” to focus on him with our minds — not our voices. After we receive him this way, we can “resume the vocal prayers” but should not worry or feel guilty for pausing them, or if we can’t finish them. Mindful prayer is a more intimate conversation with God, so we should not ignore a call to it. God also enlightens St. Catherine with the insight that any act of charity counts as a prayer: “Whatever he may contribute, by words or deeds, towards the salvation of his neighbor, is virtually a prayer, although it does not replace a prayer.” Any kind word or deed is lifted to God as a prayer. So take up a greater sense of mindfulness and a renewed spirit of charity. Both will inspire your prayer and life to grow in love, faith and discipleship.
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St. Catherine of Siena WAS A MYSTIC FROM THE AGE OF SIX. THROUGH HUNDREDS OF VISIONS, GOD SHARED MESSAGES ABOUT PRAYER, PROVIDENCE, OBEDIENCE AND DISCRETION. A CHURCH DOCTOR AND PATRON SAINT OF ITALY, ST. CATHERINE LIVED IN SERVICE OF THE POOR AND ILL. SHE JOINED THE LAY DOMINICAN ORDER TO CONTINUE THIS MINISTRY OUTSIDE OF A CONVENT. VERY ENGAGED IN LOCAL POLITICS, ST. CATHERINE TOOK ACTION TO KEEP PEACE WITHIN THE CHURCH AND ITALY. SHE DIDN’T BACK DOWN FROM URGING HOLINESS AND FIGHTING CORRUPTION — ADVISING POPES, POLITICIANS AND CLERGY. SHE DIED AT THE AGE OF 33 (1347-80), LEAVING BEHIND A LEGACY OF CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER AND FIERY WISDOM.
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PR AYER 101
WHILE YOU STRUGGLE AND SEEK GOD IN PRAYER, HE IS ALREADY ON THE LOOKOUT FOR YOU.
FOR CHRISTIANS, PRAYER IS AT THE HEART OF DIVINE LITURGY AND DAILY LIFE. IF PRAYER IS THE LIFELINE OF COMMUNICATION WITH GOD, WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE STRUGGLE WITH IT? WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO START PRAYING AND TO KEEP IT GOING? IF GOD IS ALWAYS LISTENING AND RESPONDING, WHY IS IT SO HARD FOR US TO FIND THE WORDS TO SAY AND THE WAYS TO LISTEN? FORTUNATELY, JESUS HAD AN ANSWER WHEN HIS OWN APOSTLES ASKED FOR HELP IN PRAYING: HE TAUGHT THEM THE OUR FATHER. CHRIST REMINDED THEM THAT THEY WERE NEVER ALONE IN PRAYER BECAUSE GOD LOVES THEM AS A FATHER. HE HAS THE SAME ANSWER FOR YOU, TOO. PRAYER IS A QUEST. IT IS A JOURNEY YOU EMBARK UPON TO ENCOUNTER JESUS, TO GROW DAILY IN FRIENDSHIP WITH HIM AND TO GIVE WITNESS TO HIM BEFORE OTHERS. WHILE YOU STRUGGLE AND SEEK GOD IN PRAYER, HE IS ALREADY ON THE LOOKOUT FOR YOU. ONE FOUNDATION OF PRAYER, PERHAPS, IS TO PUT YOURSELF IN A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN BE FOUND. HERE ARE A FEW BASICS TO TRY AS YOU JOURNEY CLOSER TO GOD.
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NAOMI VRAZO, PHOTOGRAPHER
FIND THE SPACE CHOOSE A LOCATION Find a physical space: a room in your house, your parish church, a eucharistic adoration chapel or your car during your morning commute. Carve out some space in your noisy surroundings that will help you speak to God and to listen to him.
DEDICATE YOUR DAY Start your day with the sign of the cross, even resting in bed before your feet hit the floor. Remind yourself that because of the cross and the Resurrection, you belong to God: Father, Son and Spirit. Each night, pray for the faithful departed, especially for your family and friends.
EXPRESS YOUR GRATITUDE Every morning, praise God for the gift of the day. As evening falls, thank God for the blessings of the day. As the light of day fades, pray for the light of the Holy Spirit to review your day. Pray with gratitude for the times when you felt God’s presence and did God’s will; pray for forgiveness for the times that you did not.
PRAY THE PSALMS The Psalms serve as God’s prayer book; he gave you the perfect words to talk to him. As divine words, the Psalms also speak to every real human experience: love and loss, joy and sadness, expectation and regret, victory and defeat. Jesus speaks to you in the Psalms, but he also speaks through you when you use them to pray to the Father. There are 150 of them, so you could pray one each day and easily get through the whole Book of Psalms twice in a year. (You can even afford to miss a few days. And be prepared when you get to Psalm 119!)
FIND THE SPIRIT
FIND THE SAINTS The saints were ordinary people in whom God’s grace was extraordinarily active. Many of them wrote and spoke honestly about the struggles and successes of their prayer. Many of them knew fellow saints to share their experiences. Now, the saints are in the perfect place in heaven to intercede for you and to help you improve your prayer. You literally have friends in high places!
FOSTER A DEVOTION FIND THE SCRIPTURES READ THE GOSPELS Read and pray with the Gospel for Mass on Sundays or feast days. Even better, read it with your family and friends! Reflect on what you heard in prayer, what the priest said during the homily and what others in your family and friends experienced. Ask God throughout the week to open your heart to the particular word that he wants to speak to you and to the response he is asking from you.
Angel of God My guardian dear To whom God’s love Commits me here Ever this day Be at my side To light and guard To rule and guide. Amen.
Develop a devotion to Our Lady or a saint who is your patron either in name, by occupation or vocation in life or by interest. Learn the prayers associated with the saint, and seek his or her help and intercession.
Before Pentecost, the disciples prayed in expectation for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Before our archdiocesan synod, the entire archdiocese did the same. Archbishop Vigneron reminds us in Unleash the Gospel, “Prayer is the way we access the unlimited divine power of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate.” (Guidepost 10)
Never forget to call upon the Holy Spirit and beg him for a rich and deep prayer life. In fact, don’t wait. Pray for it right now! Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful. Enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.
PRAY A NOVENA Pray a novena (nine days of prayer) leading up to the feast of your patron or favorite saint. Take time each day to learn from their example in relying on the Lord and growing in spiritual discipline and gratitude. Don’t forget your guardian angel. This rhyming, easy-to-memorize prayer is an effective and powerful weapon against temptation and darkness, for children and adults alike.
FATHER BRIAN MELDRUM was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 2015 and served as the associate pastor at Our Lady of the Lakes Parish in Waterford. Before attending Sacred Heart Major Seminary, he was a music minister and theater director and member of St. Thecla Parish in Clinton Township. He is currently studying sacred Scripture at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
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P RAYING WITH T HE C HUR CH FATHER S
ON HOLY An ancient homily SATURDAY
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ON HOLY SATURDAY — THE DAY CHRIST LIES IN THE TOMB — THE CHURCH PLACES THIS REMARKABLE ANCIENT HOMILY BEFORE THE FAITHFUL IN THE DIVINE OFFICE. SOME SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT THE HOMILY WAS COMPOSED BY MELITO, BISHOP OF SARDIS, WHO DIED CIRCA 180, BECAUSE IT IS SIMILAR TO MELITO’S RENOWNED “HOMILY ON THE PASSOVER.” BUT WE DON’T KNOW WHO THE AUTHOR IS. The Apostles’ Creed professes that Christ “descended into hell” after dying on the cross. This homily tells the story of Christ’s triumphal descent through a dramatic rendering of Christ’s appearance in the place of the dead, where he encounters Adam and Eve, and all the faithful who are waiting for deliverance. The homily is full of paradoxes: The Son of God has died in the flesh and now “sleeps” in the tomb. But the One who is “asleep” enters the realm of the dead in order to “wake” the dead from sleep and lead them up to the dwelling place of God. Holy Saturday is not just the day that we wait quietly and mournfully with Christ in the tomb. We also recognize that on this day Christ also descended to the place of the dead and rescued all faithful souls, bringing them into the full glory of his Father’s kingdom.
CO M M EN TA RY BY D R. DA N K EAT I NG
THE LORD’S DESCENT INTO THE UNDERWORLD Something strange is happening — there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear. He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death (Lk 1:79), he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him, Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: ‘My Lord be with you all.’ Christ answered him: ‘And with your spirit.’ He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’ (Eph 5:14) ‘I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. ‘For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth.’ (Phil 2:6-7) ‘For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden and I was crucified in a garden. See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I “RISE, LET US LEAVE THIS endured to remove the burden of sin that PL ACE. THE ENEMY LED weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once YOU OUT OF THE EARTHLY wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree. PARADISE. I WILL NOT I slept on the cross and a sword pierced RESTORE YOU TO THAT my side for you who slept in paradise and PARADISE, BUT I WILL brought forth Eve from your side. My side ENTHRONE YOU IN HEAVEN.” has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you. Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.’
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immerse yourself in the Gospel Holy Thursday and the washing of the feet. A late night 7 Churches Pilgrimage to Altars of Repose. Live Stations of the Cross through the neighborhood. Easter Vigil once the sun has set. Easter Sunday in your Sunday best.
Experience power of Holy Week like you never have before. All are welcome at Ste. Anne Parish de Detroit. STE. ANNE PARISH DE DETROIT Historic. Catholic. Detroit. 1000 Ste. Anne Street, Detroit, MI 48216 313-496-1701 For detailed information Ste-anne.org
FAMILY CHALLENGE
7 DAYS TO BEGIN AND BEGIN AGAIN Neither my husband nor I grew up Catholic. What I mean by that is we may have gone to Mass with our families every Sunday (or every Christmas and Easter), but outside of church, our day-to-day lives did not include God,
TUESDAY • HOPE
the Gospel or other religious traditions. Thankfully, with age came wisdom.
Hope is both desiring something and expecting to receive it. Live out this virtue by making a “Hope Jar.” Each person writes a special intention or name they want to pray for on small slips of paper. Fold and place them in the jar. Each morning, choose one slip of paper. Whatever is written will be your family’s personal intention for the prayers, works and sufferings of that day.
Before we married, we had fully embraced Catholicism by our own volition. So when we became parents, we were both determined to incorporate our faith into our family’s daily life. It wasn’t easy. So, from the beginning, we practiced small rituals each day: praying before and after meals, praying to our guardian angels before bed, making brief but frequent visits to the tabernacle. Little by little, these rituals simply became natural parts of our everyday life. I used to worry our children might find these traditions boring or treat them as a chore. But, as usual, the Holy Spirit surprised me.
TIP: Decorate your jar with the word “hope.” Keep a small pad of colorful sticky notes and a pen beside it so everyone can easily add prayer intentions to the jar.
If you hope to renew your family’s faith, try this seven-day challenge based on the seven heavenly virtues. If it doesn’t work out the first (or fifth) time, don’t worry. Pray like St. Josemaría Escrivá: “O Lord, here I am beginning, beginning, always just beginning! I will try, however, to push forward each day with all my heart.” God will bless your efforts!
MONDAY • FAITH Any conversion of heart begins first and foremost with prayer. Choose a prayer that your family will commit to saying at the same time every day. Appoint a particular saint or theme depending on your family’s needs. Our family likes to say the St. Joseph prayer for purity. O Guardian of Virgins and holy Father St. Joseph, into whose faithful keeping were entrusted Christ Jesus, Innocence itself, and Mary, Virgin of virgins, I pray and beseech thee by these dear pledges, Jesus and Mary, that, being preserved from all uncleanness, I may with spotless mind, pure heart and chaste body ever serve Jesus and Mary most chastely all the days of my life. Amen. TIP: Print out and frame your family prayer. Hang it somewhere prominent in your home. Keep the prayer saved on your phone so you can say it together even when you’re out and about.
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WEDNESDAY • CHARITY True charity is loving God above all things spiritual and material. Instead of giving like the rich man who lets the poor man eat the scraps from his table, practice “giving the shirt off your back.” Each person chooses to donate a personal item they would be glad to give to a friend. TIP: Place these items in a donation box in a visible spot in your home. When it gets full, take it to your nearest church, donation center or drop-off location. You can also go online to Pickup Please or Salvation Army to schedule a free pickup from your home.
THURSDAY • FORTITUDE Fortitude is enduring fear, pain or adversity with courage and strength. Together, read Psalm 27, verse 1: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid? Each person shares one fear they want to overcome, and the whole family brainstorms small ways they can conquer it. For instance, if someone is shy, suggest they introduce themselves to someone new, greet a stranger or speak up in school or at work.
SATURDAY • TEMPERANCE Temperance is the practice of moderation and self-restraint. Is there something your family likes to indulge in (e.g., dessert after dinner, movie night or dining out)? List all the delights you’re thankful to enjoy together as a family. Then choose one or a few of them to give up for a period of time. TIP: Make it visual by placing a grain of rice or bean in a bowl each time you or a family member engages in temperance. Each grain represents a dollar amount your family can use toward a new image, icon, crucifix or other religious article for your home. After all, the more you practice self-control, the more space you’ll have for God and others.
TIP: Print or draw a sketch of a candle for each family member. Write down their goal (e.g., be brave) on the first candle and “light” it by coloring in the flame. Each time someone practices fortitude, “light” another candle. Once all the candles are “lit,” celebrate Christ as light for your family with a “re-birthday” cake or other special treat.
SUNDAY • PRUDENCE Prudence is often referred to as the “mother of all virtues” because it’s what enables us to manage all other virtues. It is viewing situations through the eyes of Jesus and responding as he would. On day seven, look back and reflect on how prudence enabled you to live faith, hope, charity, fortitude, justice and temperance over the week. Ask yourself: What is one virtue you would like to renew beyond this challenge? TIP: Have each person write their virtue on a white flash card. Tape or string them together to create a banner. Hang your family’s “chain of virtues” on or above the door you use most often so you’ll remember them whenever you enter or leave your home.
FRIDAY • JUSTICE Justice is ensuring every person is cared for as a child of God. Choose an organization your family will sponsor through prayer, volunteering, fundraising, etc. Reduce poverty in the United States through Catholic Charities. Advocate for the dignity of all human life through Live Action. Or respond to emergencies by helping the poorest and most vulnerable people overseas through Catholic Relief Services. TIP: Visit the organization’s “Stories” or “Media” page and read about the real ways they have changed the lives of individuals and families. Create a small collage of people and places you’ll be serving through your family’s contributions.
NAOMI VRAZO, PHOTOGRAPHER • KRIZIA LIQUIDO, PHOTOGRAPHER
Living virtuously isn’t just for clergy or religious. It enables us to be our most authentic selves. When we practice the virtues, we become more aware of the people around us and how we can serve them. This allows us to see true beauty, joy and holiness in the world around us, and we become more like Christ.
KRIZIA LIQUIDO is a freelance writer and editor in love with language arts. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in English and earned a master’s degree in English while she taught with Teach for America. She is the founding health and lifestyle editor of Verily Magazine. Krizia lives in Southern California with her husband, where she works and homeschools their two sweet girls — with a cup of tea and her rosary always close at hand.
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PERSONAL REFLECTION
his Unleash the Gospel pastoral letter, Archbishop Allen Vigneron outlines six good habits that shape our witness to Christ in our communities. Examining the presence or lack of these habits in our lives can help us intentionally become better witnesses — and to grow in our personal relationship with God. Wherever you are in your spiritual journey, take heart. The archbishop writes, “Our acknowledgement of our own spiritual poverty is precisely what can lead us to rely wholly on God. Then it becomes clear that success belongs to him alone and not to any human ingenuity. If we have become spiritually dry, we need not fear. Dry wood is perfect for being set on fire!” It’s never too late, and you’re never too far from him, to rekindle the light of your faith. So take these questions to prayer, as you enter into conversation with God and reflect on your role in sharing the Gospel. Pray to hear how he is calling you to live these habits in your own life and way.
IN
THE GOOD HABITS OF MISSIONARY DISCIPLES
CHRI S TINE WA RNER , W R ITER NAOMI VR AZO, P HOTOGR APH ER
DOCILITY TO THE SPIRIT
A SPIRIT OF INNOVATION
CONFIDENCE IN GOD
The Holy Spirit inspires all Christ’s disciples, fortifying them with the insight, strength and graces needed to witness. Do you let God lead you in everything you do, following his promptings with a humble and obedient heart?
We are called to share the Gospel with the people in our lives. As missionaries, we must present the Gospel in an attractive and effective way, taking inspiration from St. Paul and the early disciples. How can you share the life-changing message of the Gospel with the tools and means around you and learn from the ideas and creativity of others?
Divine confidence should ground us and encourage us. We can trust in God’s plan for the renewal of our families, neighborhoods and faith communities. Is God calling you to approach certain areas of your life with greater confidence and cooperation with his grace?
“For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more ... To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.” (1 Cor 9-19, 22-23)
“It is needful to remain little before God and to remain little is to recognize one’s nothingness, expect all things from the good God just as a little child expects all things from its father.” (St. Thérèse of Lisieux)
“[The Holy Spirit] is the divine force that changes the world. The [coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost] reminded us of this: The Spirit is ‘in toil, comfort sweet; solace in the midst of woe.’ And so we beseech him: ‘Heal our wounds, our strength renew; on our dryness pour your dew; wash the stains of guilt away.’ The Spirit enters into situations and transforms them. He changes hearts and he changes situations.” (Pope Francis, Homily on the Solemnity of Pentecost, 2018)
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AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
A SPIRIT OF COOPERATION
APOSTOLIC BOLDNESS
Thankful hearts are happy hearts. Gratitude puts us in a right posture before God. When you feel down, do you counter your discouragement with thanks, staying open to God so he can continue to work in you and through you?
Sharing the Gospel in our communities requires unity and teamwork. Have you let your pride get in the way of collaborating with others in this mission? Have you been reluctant to give or receive help?
Following Jesus and going where he leads us requires courage. This is not a human trait but the fruit of our relationship with Christ. When you face adversity, do you actively and diligently turn to God for strength and wisdom?
“Get used to lifting your heart to God, in acts of thanksgiving, many times a day. Because he gives you this and that. Because you have been despised. Because you haven’t what you need or because you have. Because he made his mother so beautiful, his mother who is also your mother ... Thank him for everything, because everything is good.” (St. Josemaría Escrivá)
“With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph 4:2-3)
“Courageously follow the path of personal holiness and diligently nourish yourselves with the word of God and the Eucharist. The holier you are, the more you can contribute to building up the Church and society.” (St. John Paul II)
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PURSUING HOLINESS Q&A
TIM AND MAGGIE GLEMKOWSKI Growing in faith and discipleship as a family TIM AND MAGGIE GLEMKOWSKI have two children, ages three and one. Maggie is a nurse who has a heart for mission work and Tim founded L’Alto Catholic Institute (laltocatholic.com), a national apostolate that works with parishes to help them form disciples. They love to travel and take hikes in the mountains as a family.
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WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO EVANGELIZE WITHOUT COMING ACROSS AS A JERK? M AG G I E : Always lead with a relationship. Get to know the other person, ask questions and listen. Even in tough conversations, by validating the other and being compassionate to their experience, you can disagree with lifestyle or moral beliefs without coming across as a jerk. Each person’s story is so unique, and taking time to understand what they are ready for in terms of hearing the Gospel is important — maybe a dialogue in which you help the other understand specific teachings of the Church is what is needed in a given situation, and perhaps in another what is called for is simply to be kind and consistent. Invest in the person. As a nurse, I have had the opportunity to encounter people in all walks of life. With co-workers, I’ve been able to build relationships that allow for deeper conversations around my decision to follow Church teaching (for example, not living with Tim before we got married was a topic I got a lot of questions about). Often with patients, though, if the topic turns to questions about religion, I’ve found it enough to let the person know I’m sorry for any hurt they have received related to the topic, and to share that I believe the Lord loves them and wants good things for them.
HOW DO YOU CONSISTENTLY BRING YOUR FAMILY TOGETHER AROUND PRAYER AND THE SACRAMENTS? TI M : Maggie and I recently had some in-depth conversations on this very topic! We both grew up in traditional Catholic homes, with a primary emphasis on the traditional Catholic devotional life for family prayer. While we both very much value each of those aspects of faith, we also felt called to teach our kids how to talk to Jesus from the heart. M AG G I E : A couple of months ago, we started to pray as a family for 10 minutes each evening, asking Christ to come into our hearts, and just putting before him our intentions and thanksgivings for the day, in a way that isn’t overly structured or thought-out. We just share our hearts out loud with our Father. TI M : Adding this kind of prayer into our family routine has allowed for the faith to be a natural part of our life; even though our daughter is only three, we’ve seen a difference in the attention she pays at Mass, the questions she asks about God, etc.
HO W CAN I HELP MY KIDS GRO W IN THE FAITH WITHOUT BEING TOO F ORCEFUL? TI M : Live a well-integrated life! Lead by example. Do they see you taking intentional time for prayer each day, being generous in conversations about others and trying to live a healthy lifestyle?
DAN ROGERS, PHOTOGRAPHER
Expose them to things that will give them a love for life — adventure, music, natural beauty, good friends. Teach them that the Christian life is one that is full and vibrant, that pursuit of God and virtue will deepen their joy. Each person will ultimately make their own decisions to follow or not to follow Christ, but modeling the joy that comes from being a disciple is one of the best ways you can guide your kids to continue to choose him. One practical way we have tried to do this is speaking openly about our own prayer lives and experience of faith, to talk about the ways that Christ has actually impacted our lives. I love telling stories, and testimonies are a powerful way that people learn about the fact that Jesus is alive and active, so it seems to make sense to also share those testimonies with our kids!
WHAT KEEPS YOU CATHOLIC THESE DAYS? TI M: At the end of the day, I am Catholic because I believe it is true. I believe that this is the Church that Jesus Christ founded and that there are very good intellectual and scriptural reasons to believe so. The sacraments are beautiful and privileged occasions to encounter God and his love. For me, though my heart is broken, I have never been tempted to doubt that this is God’s Church. If anything, it just makes me even more convicted about the need for renewal! As my mom always said, “Spit out the poison! Bring things to the Light!”
HO W DO YOU AVOID COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHER CATHOLIC COUPLES AND FAMILIES? MAG G I E: The comparison game is easy to fall into. Being around other families or couples who inspire you and make you want to grow is a great thing! The trick is to not become jealous or critical of yourselves or the other couple. Having a spirit of gratitude for the unique gifts God has given you is key in this, and allows you the self-confidence to recognize areas of needed growth. TI M: A recent moment helped with this. At the prompting of a friend, I took the Clifton StrengthsFinder test for the first time. Going over my results really affirmed that idea of each person having strengths and gifts specific to them. Instead of letting the differences that exist between persons lead to a competitive feeling of something lacking in one party, focusing on that idea of unique strengths lets those differences become a positive thing. We’ve actually found that the StrengthsFinder test has been beneficial to our marriage as well, as there are a number of ways that Maggie and I differ quite a bit! It’s helped us to appreciate our differences in a more tangible way.
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UNLEA SHE D Q UESTIONNA IR E
BROTHER GUY CONSOLMAGNO, SJ
WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? The Penderwicks at Last, by Jeanne Birdsall. All of life is living out the dreams you had when you were 12 years old.
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? Heights.
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE? Writers who don’t know the difference between “which” and “that.” It irks me especially because I had to have a co-author explain it to me, when I had thought I was a better writer than she was!
WHO DO YOU ADMIRE? Pope Francis. Not just for all his obvious qualities, but for his enormous patience with the rest of us.
IF YOU HAD UNLIMITED RESOURCES, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Build a 40-meter telescope in Chile and set up a school there to teach kids who never thought they could learn astronomy.
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WHAT IS THE BIGGEST RISK YOU’VE TAKEN? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FEAST DAY? Easter. We all crave resurrection, and I am a sucker for jelly beans.
I joined the Peace Corps and went off to Africa for two years. It was everything I am not and the best thing I ever did.
WHAT IS YOUR BEST QUALITY?
WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST MEMORY?
Being able to make myself invisible in social situations, until I can slip away and go home and read a book.
St. Patrick’s Day, 1956; that’s the day we bought our summer cottage on Lake Huron, and life began for me ...
WHAT VIRTUE DO YOU MOST ADMIRE IN OTHERS?
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOBBY OR PASTIME?
BROTHER GUY CONSOLMAGNO, SJ
Tolerance of other people.
Editing something that I have written.
WHAT WORDS DO YOU USE TOO MUCH?
WHAT DO YOU VALUE THE MOST IN YOUR FRIENDS?
Award-winning astronomer Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ is a son of the Archdiocese of Detroit. He attended Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Catholic School, in Beverly Hills, from first grade through eighth grade. He then graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School in 1970 and went on to profess vows as a Jesuit brother in 1991. Brother Guy now serves as the director of the Vatican Observatory and president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in planetary science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and then attended the University of Arizona for his Ph.D. After his time as postdoctoral fellow and lecturer at MIT, he joined the U.S. Peace Corps and taught physics and astronomy in Kenya. Brother Guy’s astronomy research focuses on asteroids and meteorites, and he has co-authored several books about astronomy and the connection between religion and science.
“I.”
WHAT GIVES YOU THE MOST HAPPINESS? A nap in the afternoon.
WHAT’S THE FIRST THING YOU DO WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? Say the rosary. No, I am not being pious; this gives me the excuse for another 10 minutes in bed before I have to get up!
WHAT TALENT OR SKILL DO YOU WISH YOU HAD? Playing music. My brother is a musician. To me, what he does is magic.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? My book, Turn Left at Orion. I made a lifelong friend of my co-author, Dan Davis, and I helped out 100,000 other amateur astronomers who were as lost in the nighttime sky as I was.
WHAT IS YOUR VISION OF HEAVEN? An autumn day by a lake.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB? I was a summer intern at the Lapeer County Press, starting the summer after I graduated from University of Detroit Jesuit High School. It taught me how to be able to sit patiently in front of a keyboard for hours; and it taught me that I have no talent at all for journalism.
Tolerance. And a sense of humor. And if they can cook ...
WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR? I love them all. Even the bad ones. Every book represents the year of the author’s life.
WHO IS YOUR FICTIONAL HERO? Hermione Granger.
WHICH SAINT DO YOU TURN TO FOR INTERCESSION THE MOST? Albert the Great. He was the first scientist.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE A “MISSIONARY DISCIPLE”? To be a missionary means to be sent. It doesn’t have to be a foreign country, but a foreign situation, perhaps dealing with a difficult person or an unpleasant task.
WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT? Stupid stuff. I remember my father (who lived to 100) describing how he’d lie awake at 3 a.m. fretting over something he’d done in college. Then he’d suddenly realize, everyone else involved in that episode had been dead for 10 years!
HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED WHEN YOU DIE? He made them laugh.
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE MOTTO OR MANTRA? What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
WHAT IS YOUR MOST CHERISHED POSSESSION? My little spotter-scope telescope, a Celestron C-90. I’ve taken it with me to Kenya and the Peace Corps, into the Jesuit novitiate, even to New Zealand en route to Antarctica.
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH? Learning something new.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS? Any landing you can walk away from ...
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#ASKUTG
I have hope when I hear young people articulate their Catholic beliefs, and I am filled with joy when I see them put their faith into action. It strengthens my faith that God is still guiding us along the right path. - GINO DEAGOSTINO, ST. HUGO OF THE HILLS PARISH, BLOOMFIELD HILLS
We have a wonderful program of adult education that is revitalizing our parish. With a greater knowledge of our faith, we will be able to pass on our love of God to others. When that love of God is spread, it can’t help but make this a better world. - VALERIE STOWE, GUARDIAN ANGELS PARISH, CLAWSON My hope is rooted in family. Seeing my own parents living out their faith with strength reminds me of the beauty of the vocation of marriage as I prepare for my own, and inspires me to grow in my relationship with the Lord. - JOHN CHASE, ST. JOAN OF ARC PARISH, ST CLAIR SHORES
THE OPPORTUNITY FOR NEW BEGINNINGS IS SOMETHING THAT I AM HOPEFUL FOR. I AM A 27-YEAR-OLD CATECHUMEN AND I WILL BE BAPTIZED THIS EASTER!” - KAYLA ADAMS, GUARDIAN ANGELS PARISH, CLAWSON
My hope in 2019 is in God! That he will continue to hear the prayers of the faithful in Detroit. Through our works and prayers, with his help, we can continue to spread his word in our area, state, country and our world! - WILLIAM PRUZINSKY, ST. MICHAEL PARISH, STERLING HEIGHTS
WHAT GIVES YOU THE FACES OF EVERY BABY OR CHILD I SEE AT MASS, THE PUREST LOOK INTO THE DIVINITY WE ARE INVITED TO SHARE.
To hear of so many conversions and reversions to the Catholic Church, to see many fervent and faithful Catholics desiring to street evangelize, to see the sincerity, joy and steadfast devotion with which so many priests are building up our faith, and shining forth the light and truth of the Gospel! - CINDY MEINER, ST. JOSEPH THE WORKER PARISH, LAKE ORION
- JAMES CARLIN, SHRINE OF THE LITTLE FLOWER PARISH, ROYAL OAK
God has this! All of it. Me, my life, my family, my work, my concerns. He didn’t carry me this far to drop me and leave me. So I have nothing to worry about. - MARGARET CARROLL, ST. PAUL ON THE LAKE PARISH, GROSSE POINTE FARMS
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SEEING YOUNG PEOPLE ON THE ALTAR MINISTERING AS LECTORS, SERVERS, CANTORS AND MUSICIANS. IT TRULY TOUCHES ME DEEP IN MY HEART ... GIVES ME BOTH JOY AND HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. - GEORGIANNA HUGHES, SACRED HEART PARISH, DEARBORN
I SEE MORE AND MORE YOUNG PEOPLE COMING BACK TO THE CHURCH. AND I HAVE ALSO NOTICED A GROWING NUMBER OF OUR YOUTH IDENTIFY AS THE PRO-LIFE GENERATION, GIVING ME HOPE THAT THOSE WHO WILL BE OUR NEXT LEADERS WILL FIGHT FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE MOST VULNERABLE. - LEE ANN TOLINSKI, ST. JOSEPH PARISH, SOUTH LYON
Hope is everywhere! I see it in the eyes of the catechumens that I teach on Sunday morning. I touch it as I lay hands on and pray for those who need healing from the Lord. I hear it in the voice of my pastor as he leads Bible study. I sense it in the hearts of those in prison to whom I minister. Most of all, I taste it in the Eucharist as I receive Jesus fully alive and present. Look around. Hope is everywhere I look here in the AOD. - JOHN KOWALSKI, HOLY FAMILY PARISH, MEMPHIS
GOOD, HOLY PRIESTS ARE WHAT GIVES ME HOPE. I AM BLESSED TO KNOW SO MANY PRIESTS WHO HAVE A SPECIAL REVERENCE FOR THE MASS AND THE SACRAMENTS. IT TRULY IS A NEW SPRINGTIME IN THE CHURCH. BECAUSE OF THESE PRIESTS, I SEE A NEW REVERENCE AMONG THE LAITY, INCLUDING POTENTIAL FUTURE VOCATIONS IN YOUNG MEN WHO MAY IN TIME SERVE GOD AS HIS PRIESTS. - LAURA BRESTOVANSKY, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION PARISH, LAPEER
MY HOPE IS TO LET OTHER PEOPLE, CATHOLICS AND NON-CATHOLICS ALIKE, SEE THE LOVE OF OUR LORD SHINE IN ME. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT IN GOD’S TIME AND NOT MY TIME. AS A CONVERT, HAVING FAMILY MEMBERS ATTEND MASS OR LISTEN TO HIS COMFORTING WORDS AND FEEL HIS TOUCH IS POSSIBLE. ONLY A COUPLE WEEKS AGO, MY MOTHER ATTENDED MASS WITH ME FOR THE FIRST TIME. - JULIA SIDEBOTTOM, OUR LADY OF THE LAKES PARISH, WATERFORD
I RENEW MY HOPE EACH WEEK BY BEING PART OF A DYNAMIC PARISH WITH SOUL-FEEDING HOMILIES, UPLIFTING MUSIC, AND SEEING YOUNG PEOPLE (AGES THREE THROUGH COLLEGE AGE) GET INVOLVED IN THE CHURCH IN SOME WAY (PRESCHOOL PROGRAMS, SERVING AT MASS, LECTORING, BEING A EUCHARISTIC MINISTER, YOUTH PROGRAMS, PUPPET MINISTRY, ETC.).
As a father of eight children and raising them Catholic in today’s culture, I have hope knowing God’s daily guidance and love will result in more fulfillment than I can ever dream. - STEVE FUST, ST. FRANCES CABRINI PARISH, ALLEN PARK
- PAM WRIGHT, OUR LADY OF SORROWS PARISH, FARMINGTON
The young couple that my husband and I are mentoring through the Witness to Love program at Shrine gives me hope. Their commitment to preparing for marriage, their love for each other, and their devotion to the Church gives me hope that other young couples will grow in the Church as they are.
When I see my fellow parishioners at Christ the Redeemer Parish working hard on behalf of the homeless, the hungry, the poor, and the Oakland County prison population, I rejoice in the presence of Christ in our midst. Truly the Gospel has quickened the hearts of my brothers and sisters in Christ and I can see that hope is alive and well in 2019.
- DEBORAH QUEEN, SHRINE OF THE LITTLE FLOWER PARISH, ROYAL OAK
- MARY ANN RYAN, CHRIST THE REDEEMER PARISH, LAKE ORION
The basic goodness of most people gives me hope. Everyday I encounter people who are kind, considerate, helpful, and loving. They receive no recognition nor need to. It is just the way they live their lives. They far out number those who make headlines for their counter productive lives. They are the hope of our time. - MADGE LAWSON, ST. IRENAEUS PARISH, ROCHESTER HILLS
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PHOTO E SSAY
Ste. Anne de DETROIT
Parish
STEP INSIDE AND I NHAL E D E E P LY — CAN YOU S M E LL T H E H ISTO RY ? LIN G E R IN G W H IF FS O F IN C E N SE H IDE IN T H E CO R N E RS OF T H E N AV E . F L I C K E R I N G CA N D L E S , L I T BY S C O R E S O F P R AY E R F U L FA I T H F U L , CA R RY T H E R E M I N D E R O F P R AY E R S W H I S P E R E D .
HE AVY DOORS, C RE AK Y F LOORS , S TATU E S S I L E NT A N D ST R O N G , T H IS IS T H E C H UR C H T H AT R E MIN DS YO U O F T H E C H UR C H YOU R G R A N D M OT H E R AT T E N D E D . A N D , R I G H T LY S O , S T. A N N E I S R E M E M B E R E D A S T H E G R A N D M OT H E R O F J E S U S H I M S E L F. S T E . ANNE THE CHURCH HAS HE R O WN HI S TORY, THE M OTHE R C H UR C H O F DE T R O IT, A N D T H E SE CO N D- O L DE ST PA R ISH ( CO N T IN UOU SLY OPE RATING) IN THE E NTI RE U NI TE D S TATE S . E S TAB L ISH E D W AY B AC K IN 1 7 0 1 , T H E PA R ISH ISN ’ T SLO W IN G DO W N A N Y T IME SOON.
PAUL DUDA, PHOTOGRAPHER CARLOS HERBAS, PHOTOGRAPHER NAOMI VRAZO, PHOTOGRAPHER
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Every last corner of the church is built to point us to God’s deeper reality.
Intergenerational community happens here. Ste. Anne’s beloved annual novena draws young and old every summer. Nine days of prayer, each celebrated with diverse flair from different nationalities, honoring Ste. Anne as patroness of Detroit.
The wonder of the beauty, history and faith welcomes more than 15,000 joyful visitors per year to Ste. Anne who participate in special events, tours and weddings.
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Faith is a process, an odyssey, that requires commitment, dedication and behind the scenes elbow grease. We call it “practice,” because it takes time, effort and love.
Ste. Anne’s pastor Monsignor Charles Kosanke celebrates the 8 a.m. Sunday Mass with parishioners.
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We don’t exist in a vacuum, we exist in a community. It is through community that we are encouraged, taught and nurtured.
Faith moves us. It comforts us, consoles us, heals us. That’s why Ste. Anne is important … because we’re here to build the faith.
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Ste. Anne also is patroness of couples struggling with infertility, wives, women looking to find good husbands and, of course, grandmothers. And so, we come. We pray, we plead, we ask … and then we hope. “Hope,” we are told, “does not disappoint.” Indeed, stories abound of answered prayer with Ste. Anne’s intercession.
In 2018, Ste. Anne Parish submitted an application to Rome to become a minor basilica. This distinction would highlight the importance of this parish — her people, history, devotions — not only to the local neighborhood, but to all of Michigan and to the entire world.
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The devotion of lighting candles dates back to the earliest days of Christianity. The practice continues at Ste. Anne where the faithful ask Ste. Anne’s intercession for their intentions.
Ste. Anne’s community is vibrant and diverse, full of beautiful hearts seeking to serve the Church and follow God’s will.
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Priests who are leaders. Priests who are true shepherds of souls. Priests who proclaim, teach, and defend the Faith effectively.
Support The Fishermen’s Fund Priests who pursue a life of virtue.
The mission of Sacred Heart Major
Priests who have a heart for the wounded.
Seminary’s Fishermen’s Fund is simple
Priests who help Christ to be known and loved.
no calling from God—is hindered due
yet vital: To ensure that no vocation— to financial need.
Donate now at fishermensfund.org follow us on
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Andri struggles with health issues no 22 year old should have to face. Her mother granted her wish and gave her peace of mind by pre-planning to ensure she would be buried next to her father who passed in 2015.
12 State Street Detroit, Michigan 48226-1823