Catholic East Texas: September 2015 (Vol. 28, No. 7)

THE MAGAZINE OF THE DIOCESE OF TYLER

WHERE DID THE BIBLE COME FROM? w ST. THERESE PARISH IN CENTER

RELICS OF ST MARIA GORETTI IN TYLER w CATHOLIC NOVELIST GRAHAM GREENE

CONVERSION OF FATHER GUILLERMO GABRIEL-MAISONET w POPE PAUL VI Visi贸n Hispana en las p谩ginas 30-38

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2015

On our cover

The Church Gathered by the Living Water, stained glass in St. Patrick Church, Lufkin.

St. Patrick Church in Lufkin has two large stained glass windows produced by Lynchburg Stained Glass in Lynchburg, Va. On the rear wall is The Church Gathered by the Living Water, installed in early 2015. In the center panel, Jesus the Lamb of God (1) stands beside the life-giving water flowing down the mountainside. The mountain, which reaches into all three panels, reflects sacred imagery found in Scripture.

“In Scripture, the mountain is the holy place,” said Father Francis O’Dowd, pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Church in Daingerfield.

He was pastor of St. Patrick when the windows were purchased. He designed the windows and said he was heavily influenced by two songs: “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High”, by Rick Founds, and “Sacred Story,” by Father Liam Lawton.

“Moses received the Ten Commandments from God on the mountain. When Christ taught, he went up the mountain.”

The mountain also refers to Croagh Patrick, a mountain in Ireland associated with St. Patrick, the patron of the Lufkin church and the apostle to Father O’Dowd’s native Ireland. St. Patrick (2) stands below the Lamb and holds a shamrock, symbol of the Trinity. Above the Lamb and to his left is Moses (3) and above and to the right is John the Baptist (4). Surmounting all is the Holy Spirit as a dove carrying an olive branch (5). Doves are seen in flight throughout the

window, depicting the movement of the Holy Spirit in the world.

In the left panel are St. Kateri Tekakwitha (6), the Native American saint; Venerable Fray Antonio Margil (7), the Spanish Franciscan who established the first Catholic church in Nacogdoches in 1716; Our Lady of La Salette (8), who appeared to French shepherds Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud in France in 1846 (La Salette priests served East Texas, including Lufkin, for almost a century); and St. Pio of Pietrelcina (9), whose hands bear the Stigmata.

In the right panel are Blessed Teresa of Calcutta holding an infant (10), St. Peter holding the keys (11); and Our Lady of Guadalupe (12), with St. Juan Diego kneeling before her (13).

Throughout the window appear faceless, ghostlike images who represent “the rest of us, who are called to be saints today,” said Father O’Dowd. “This is the window of the Great Commission, which we are all called to by our baptism.”

The windows are meant to do more than merely decorate. “In our Catholic tradition, windows are meant to be catechetical,” said Father Gavin Vaverek, pastor of St. Patrick. “They are meant to direct our eyes, minds and hearts to the things of God. “This isn’t abstract symbolism,” he said. “This is the story of our faith.” q -Susan De Matteo 1

ONLINE

Between issues of the CET Magazine, you can always get the latest news and information from the Diocese of Tyler online. Here are some of the online updates and features available right now at dioceseoftyler.org>>> 271

VIDEOS: WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY DO

37

Sun Valley Detroit Reno Blossom

Toco

82 Honey Grove

82

Paris

Roxton 19

271

Clarksville

259 82

Annona

37

Deport

Avery

De Kalb

Bogata

Hooks New Boston82

Meeting Our New Priests Pecan Gap

271

Cooper Tira

24

259

Talco

30

37

67

30

Sulphur Springs

Cumby

Lone Oak 69

Emory

Lone Star

Edgewood

Fruitvale

Tool

Tyler

19

294 79

164

259

Marquez

Grapeland

7

Center

59

7

7

Wells

21

103

Kennard

96

Huntington

Burke Diboll

287

Lovelady

75

Chireno

21

59

Broaddus

Fuller Springs

69

87

San Augustine

103

Lufkin

Hudson

94 19 21

21 59

7

Crockett

Huxley

Appleby

Centerville Leona

Joaquin

84 Tenaha

Garrison

Cushing

21 Nacogdoches

Latexo

75

147

Zavalla

Bronson Hemphill 96

Pineland 87

Groveton

Normangee

94

Madisonville 190

Gary 59 City

59 Mount Enterprise 84 Timpson

84

69

7 7

79

Carthage

315

79

Reklaw

Alto

287

Buffalo 45

Jewett

149 79

69

294

Oakwood

79

59

Beckville

Henderson

Rusk

84

Elkhart

Tatum

43

64

Waskom

20

43

Easton 149

New Summerfield Gallatin

79

84 75

259

Troup

Jacksonville

155

Palestine

Fairfield Teague

Rolling Meadows Lakeport

New Chapel Hill 64 135 Overton New London

175

287

75

84

Uncertain

Scottsville

Marshall

80

Hallsville

Liberty City

135

Poynor Berryville69 Frankston

Streetman

14

Wortham Kirvin

20

Arp Whitehouse

Coffee City Bullard

Trinidad

175

49 Jefferson

59

Nesbitt

259

Warren City Clarksville City White Oak Longview

80

271

Kilgore

155 Moore Station

Athens

Star Harbor Malakoff

31

155

Winona

154

West Mountain East Mountain Union Grove

Big Sandy

Gladewater

Chandler Brownsboro Murchison 31

19

175

Caney City

59

49

154

Hawkins

Lindale

64 Edom

Payne Springs Enchanted Oaks

77

Gilmer

271 300

155

80

69

Van

20

Ore City

155

154

Mineola

Grand Saline

Canton

Mabank

Texarkana

Wake Village

155

Avinger

155

37

Quitman

Alba182 69

Wills Point

243

Seven Points Gun Barrel City Eustace

Nash

Domino

59

Linden

Hughes Springs

Winnsboro

Yantis

19

80

Rocky Mound Pittsburg

154

19

Point

West Tawakoni East Tawakoni

8

Daingerfield

59

Douglassville Queen City 77 Bloomburg Atlanta

77

Marietta

259

49

271

Leary

8

Omaha

Mount Pleasant

Monticello

37

Como

Naples

67

Mount Vernon Winfield Millers Cove

67

Maud

67

19

287

69

63

Trinity

45 75

19

90

THE LATEST FROM TWITTER

Father George Elliott

Get to know our newly ordained and other new priests of the Diocese of Tyler with the “Meeting Our New Priests” video serioes. These men talk about their background, their journey to the prieshood, and the most meaningful aspects of their ministry. We talk with Fathers George Elliott, Joshua Neu, Nelson Muñoz, and Kevin Young. cetmag.org/ NEWS: PROTECTING THE VULNERABLE

Ethics & Integrity 4.0

Learn more about the revised policy for Ethics and Integrity for Church Personnel in the Diocese of Tyler, an updated set of guidelines for the conduct of church personnel, and a new version of the recertification training promulgated by Bishop Strickland. This updating of policy reaffirms “the commitment of the Diocese of Tyler to consistently act in a way that protects children, minors and adults who have any dealings with the Church or any Catholic agencies operating in our diocese,” Bishop Strickland said in his decree promulgating the Guidelines for the Conduct of Church Personnel. cetmag.org/recert2015 OBITUARY: A GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT

Msgr. Rydelek Passes Away Msgr. Theodore Rydelek, 73, passed away on Aug. 3. Rydelek was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Tyler on Sept. 16, 1989, with Father Jack Knaresborough. The two were the first priests ordained for the diocese in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and only the second and third priests ordained for the diocese. Since 1993, Msgr. Rydelek has served at St. Kateri Tekakwitha in Buffalo, Texas. cetmag.org/rydelek 2

@dioceseoftyler

Fr. Jason Stone (@entroibo)... Preached about confession today. We wash our hands so we won’t contaminate wholesome food we eat. Same drill for eating the Bread of Life. iCatholicRadio (@icatholicradio)... St. John Vianney, #pray for us, and pray especially for our Priests!

Evan (@evanswindle21)... Can’t wait for @wyd_en with @EsTxCatholicUth, beyond blessed to be part of this group!!

Thomas Merton (@thomasmerton)... Our Christian destiny is, in fact, a great one: but we cannot achieve greatness unless we lose all interest in being great.

Bishop Strickland (@bishopoftyler)... Planned parenthood controversy.....a devastatingly sad page in the volumes of atrocities the unborn have endured in our neo-pagan culture.

Fr. Kevin Cusick (@MCITLFrAphorism)... In prayer and sympathy with divorced parents who heroically pursue the very best relationship with their children time and distance offer.

PHOTOS: CETMAG.ORG/DCYC2015

THE MAGAZINE OF THE DIOCESE OF TYLER

September 2015 Catholic East Texas (USPS 001726) is a publication of the Catholic Diocese of Tyler, 1015 ESE Loop 323, Tyler, Texas 75701-9663. Telephone: 903534-1077. Fax: 903-534-1370. E-mail: news@ catholiceasttexas.com. ©2015 Diocese of Tyler.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: CET Subscriptions, 1015 ESE Loop 323, Tyler, TX 75701-9663 Published five times per year. Periodical postage paid at Tyler, Texas, and additional mailing office.

Subscription is $20 per year. News, calendar and advertising deadlines: Aug. 10, Oct. 10, Dec. 10, Feb 10, April 10.

The publisher and editor reserve the right to reject, omit or edit any article or letter submitted for publication. The Diocese of Tyler and/or the Catholic East Texas cannot be held liable or in any way responsible for the content of any advertisement printed herein. All claims, offers, guarantees, statements, etc., made by advertisers are solely the responsibility of the advertiser.

Deceptive or misleading advertising is never knowingly accepted. Complaints regarding advertising should be made directly to the advertiser or the Better Business Bureau.

Publisher Most Rev. Joseph E. Strickland Bishop of Tyler Editor-in-Chief Peyton Low peyton@catholiceasttexas.com Managing Editor Ben Fisher ben@catholiceasttexas.com Assistant Editor Susan De Matteo sue@catholiceasttexas.com Spanish Editor Sr. Angélica Orozco EFMS sistera@dioceseoftyler.org

www.dioceseoftyler.org

This Issue

01 05 06 10 14 15 16 18 22 26 30 32 33 34 36 38 39 40 42 46 48

On the Cover

The Church Gathered by the Living Water, Lufkin

Bishop Strickland Diocesan News and Calendar Susan De Matteo

Where did the Bible come from?

Father Joshua Neu

The Words in Red Father Gavin Vaverek

How to Pray

Sister Mary Jeremiah OP

Saint Maria Goretti

Dr. Allison Low and Father Morgan White

Ready to Serve

New priests of the diocese

Milestones - A conversion story Father Guillermo Gabriel-Maisonet

Center, Texas

Catholic culture at St. Therese parish

Convocación Mariana Guadalupana 09 al 10 Octubre

El Poder del Santo Rosario Srta. Veronica Lemus

Comunicación en el Matrimonio Sra. Teresa Vazquez

El Trabajo

Rev. Jose Roberto Gomez

Una Familia con Fe - Los Borjas Nota del Editor

Hna. Angelica Orozoco EFMS

A new principal for St. Joseph Susan De Matteo

Catholic author Graham Greene Father Matthew Stehling

Paul VI was Right Bruce W. Green

Urbi et Orbi

Peyton Low, Executive Editor

Learning the Sacred Liturgy Father Nolan Lowry

3

Photos on these pages are from the celebration of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Paris, Texas.

Bishop Strickland

Fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Tyler

I am excited as we launch this new format for the Catholic East Texas. I believe it will provide great new possibilities for the diocese. The Catholic East Texas has been an award winning publication since its inception in 1987 as part of the vision of our first bishop the Most Reverend Charles E. Herzig. I believe you will agree that this new format captures the wonderful spirit of the Diocese of Tyler which has always held the people of God at the very center.

As I spoke to Peyton Low, Diocesan Director of the Office of Communications and Ben Fisher, Managing Editor for the Catholic East Texas several months ago we agreed that we wanted the CET to highlight our greatest gift, people of faith. The stories of cradle Catholics and converts to the faith resonate with wonderful experiences of a simple faith lived out in profound ways. The emphasis I spoke to Peyton and Ben about was that I envisioned the CET always serving a catechetical purpose. This focus probably seems to be self-evident at first but I believe it is an important one for the Catholics of East Texas.

Through the years some of my favorite stories in the CET were the profiles of faith often found on the last page. I suppose this “last word” that has been part of the newspaper edition of the CET for many years was a significant part of my inspiration for our approach to this new format. Our assistant editor, Susan De Matteo has profiled many diverse people of faith in these articles for many years. The focus on individual jour-

neys of faith harkens back to the stories of saints that all of us have grown up with. It is my hope that this focus for the CET will help us all reflect more deeply on the call to sanctity we share.

Another focus of the CET as a magazine is that it lends itself to great photography. We are blessed with some talented photographers whether on the staff or as contributors from the diocese and they do a marvelous job of utilizing the tools available to photography today. I’ve enjoyed watching this first edition develop and the photography is truly outstanding. Since the diocese began almost thirty years ago we have all become accustomed to pictures as an important element of whatever story we may be reading. This is due in large part to the video format of computers, tablets and smart phones and the beautiful photographs in the CET fit seamlessly into our modern frame of reference. I can imagine many of these photographs framed and proudly displayed in homes across the diocese. There is probably no higher compliment.

I believe the photographs and the stories they accompany work together to emphasize the idea that the CET is all about people of faith just like us. People’s stories shared in words and pictures help to illuminate our individual faith journeys and remind us that we truly are on this journey together.

The piney woods of East Texas are a picturesque setting where the ancient Catholic faith is lived out every day by people

who are seeking to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope that this focus of the CET will help us all to see more clearly that our ever ancient ever new faith is real and present right here where we live. All too often in modern society the richness and depth that faith brings to our lives is ignored. The CET can be a tool that reminds us that whether it’s the story of a newly ordained priest or a married couple celebrating fifty years of marriage, our beautiful ancient faith is being lived out by real people who live just down the road. q

5

Diocesan News

and Calendar of Events

By Susan De Matteo

Sue@CatholicEastTexas.com

Diocese The Diocese of Tyler will conclude its formation series on the liturgy Sept.

12, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the chancery in Tyler, to help the faithful Joyfully Celebrate the Liturgy. The session will focus on environment and gestures and will feature instruction from The Catechism of the Catholic Church, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, and the documents Sacrosanctum Concilium, Redemptionis Sacramentum and Sacramentum Caritatis.

The workshop is open to all and is of particular interest to choirs, liturgical musicians, parish liturgical commissions, catechists, deacons and priests.

Cost is $10 for early registration and $15 at the door, and lunch is included. For more information or to register, contact Deacon John Ragland, 936-558-8708 or jragland@ catholicweb.com.

Encuentro Para Catequistas Hispanos / Spanish Catechetical Conference Saturday, Sept. 12 to Sunday, Sept. 13 The Spanish-language version of the 2015 Diocesan Catechetical Conference will be held at the Magnuson Hotel in Tyler. To register or for more information, visit dioceseoftyler.org.

Presentation of the Herzig Award Sunday, Sept. 13 Bishop Alvaro Corrada will preside at Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at 10 a.m. to present the nominees and winner of the 2015 Bishop Charles E. Herzig Humanitarian Award.

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Priest Convocation Wednesday, Oct. 7 to Friday, Oct. 9 The priests of the Diocese of Tyler will meet for their annual convocation at the Magnuson Hotel in Tyler.

Send us your bulletins!

If your parish is not already sending weekly bulletins to Catholic East Texas, please do so. Bulletins are where we get information about parish events for the news, and ideas for features and profiles. We prefer electronic submissions, either PDF or Word documents. These can be emailed to sue@catholiceasttexas.com. We will also accept bulletins by mail. Send to: Susan De Matteo, Catholic East Texas, 1015 ESE Loop 323, Tyler, TX, 75701. Information on upcoming parish events and photos of recent events may also be submitted this way. Photos should be emailed as JPEGs, with all persons in the photo identified and information about the event provided. We look forward to hearing from you!

Diocesan Marian Conference Friday, Oct. 9 to Saturday, Oct. 10 The Diocesan Marian Conference will be held at the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel at St. Peter Claver Church, 1402 Border Ave in Tyler.

Msgr. Eduardo Chávez will be the main speaker. For information, contact Deacon Rubén Natera, rnatera@aol. com, Father Raymundo García, 936404-8182, or the Misioneras Guadalupanas de Santa Ana, 903-931-1836.

The English portion of the conference will be held on Friday evening and the Spanish portion on Saturday. For more information, visit: cetmag.org/ marian15.

A marriage preparation weekend will be Oct. 9-11 at Wellspring Retreat Center in Whitehouse. For more information, contact the diocesan Marriage and Family Life Office at 903-534-1077, ext. 165 or 166, or mbesze@dioceseoftyler.org. Registration forms are available online at www. dioceseoftyler.org under the Marriage and Family Life section.

East Texas Sanctity of Life Banquet Monday, Oct. 12 Join us for the inaugural East Texas Sanctity of Life Banquet at the Holi-

day Inn-South Broadway in Tyler.

Bishop Strickland will be the featured speaker for this Columbus Day event as we celebrate life! More information and tickets are available at easttexaslifebanquet.com.

Permanent Deacon Convocation Sunday, Oct. 25 The permanent deacons of the Diocese of Tyler will meet for their annual convocation at St. Joseph Parish in Marshall.

National Catholic Youth Conference Thursday, Nov. 19 to Saturday, Nov. 21 The Diocese of Tyler Office of Youth Evangelization will be leading a group to this event in Indianapolis, Indiana, to join 15,000 Catholic youth from across the nation.

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland and Catholic Charities of East Texas invite all to hear Texarkana native and Archbishop Emeritus of Santa Fe, NM, Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan at Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler, Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. The evening, featuring dinner and a silent auction, will benefit Catholic Charities of East Texas.

The major relics of St. Maria Goretti will travel to Tyler and be

More news is available at www.dioceseoftyler.org/news

Let the little children come – Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Diboll recent completed a new playground addition. Father Ariel Cortes, pastor, said the addition was “for the glory of God and the blessing of His people, especially the children.” Photo courtesy of Father Ariel Cortes

available for veneration Nov. 2 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. This will be the first time St. Maria Goretti’s body has traveled to the United States, and Tyler and Houston are the only Texas locations for veneration.

To speak with a priest about a possible vocation, call Father Justin Braun at the chancery, 903-534-1077, ext. 171, or email fatherjbraun@gmail. com. To speak with a nun, contact Sister Angelica Orozco, EFMS, at the chancery, 903-534-1077, ext. 145, or email sistera@dioceseoftyler.org.

The Beginning Experience is a peer group ministry for widowed, separated or divorced individuals that seeks to help them move from the darkness of grief into the light of a new beginning of hope for the future. Rooted in the Catholic tradition, this ministry is open to men and women of all faiths.

The next weekend retreat will be held July 17-19 at the Catholic Confer-

ence and Formation Center in Dallas.

To register, call or text the voicemail number at 682-233-3946, or email beginningexperiencedfw@gmail.com.

Information is available at the website, www.beginningexperiencedfw.org.

Catholic counseling services are now available in the Diocese of Tyler. Simone Key, MA, LPC-I, is on staff at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to provide faith-based family, marriage, individual and group counseling. Initial phone consultations are free, and services are provided on a sliding fee scale. For information, call 214-640-0651.

The diocese is launching a second round of training for spiritual direction. Father Ron Boudreax, SJ, director of Montserrat Retreat House in Dallas, is directing the program.

Training sessions will be held the sec-

ond weekend of each month for two years at St. Mary Church in Longview.

Cost is minimal. For information, contact swells@stmarylgv.org or see the website at www.tylersd.org.

Atlanta

St. Catherine of Siena Church. St. Catherine will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a bilingual liturgy Sept. 20. Bishop Joseph E. Strickland, who grew up in the parish, will celebrate first Eucharist and Confirmation at 10 a.m., and bless the new hospitality space. Bishop Strickland also will bless the Memorial Prayer Garden. A catered meal will be served at 12:15 p.m. in the Family Life Center of First Baptist Church, just across the street from the rectory. St. Catherine will celebrate its golden jubilee throughout the year with the theme Belonging, Building, Blessing, Becoming the Body of Christ.

7

Diocesan News

By Susan De Matteo

Crockett

Frankston

St. Francis of the Tejas Church. St. Francis Day Festival will be Sept. 16, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., on the church grounds. The day will include entertainment, food, games, pet blessing, a Kiddie Korner, cash bingo, silent auction and water fun.

St. Charles Borromeo Church.

St. Charles sponsors the first Families Anonymous chapter in the Diocese of Tyler. Families Anonymous is primarily for those who have known a feeling of desperation concerning the destructive behavior of someone very near to them, whether caused by drugs, alcohol, or related behavioral problems. When you come into this room you are no longer alone, but among friends. St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Frankston will host a meeting the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m.

Flint

St. Mary Magdalene Church. A Women’s ACTS Retreat will be held Oct. 1-4 at St. Mary Magdalene Church. The retreat begins the evening of Oct. 1 and concludes Oct. 4 with Mass at 11:30 a.m. All women are invited for an opportunity for spiritual renewal and forming a deeper relationship with God. The ACTS retreat was formed from the Cursillo Movement and has a focus on Adoration, Community, Theology and Service. For information, call Mica Perez at 903-3720064 or Michelle Overmeyer at 903360-6848, or email smmacts2015@ gmail.com.

Longview

Longview ACTS Retreat. The next Men’s ACTS Retreat is Oct. 8-11 at Lakeview Retreat Center in Lone Star.

The closing Mass will be at St. Matthew Church. The ACTS retreat was formed from the Cursillo Movement and has a focus on Adoration, Community, Theology and Service. For information or to register, contact Jerry Stock, 903-2389636.

and Calendar of Events Sue@CatholicEastTexas.com

St. Mary Church. Sunday morning faith formation program will start back up Sept. 13, and volunteers are needed as catechists, helpers, office help, clean up or nursery. For information, contact Deacon Blue at 903-7575855, ext. 305.

Longview Community Ministries is always in need of toiletries – razors, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes, deodorant. Travel-sized items are perfect. Also, despite the heat, it’s time to start thinking about Coats for Kids, which will start in November. Please consider donating gently worn coats, scarves, hats, gloves and blue jeans to those in need. Bring items to the church office or to the LCM offices at 506 N. 2nd St. right off Marshall Ave.

The 25th annual Wünderfall will be held Saturday, Sept. 19th, 6:30 p.m.-midnight at Maude Cobb Convention and Visitor’s Center. The annual fundraiser for St. Mary’s Catholic School features a German meal and drinks in the tradition of Octoberfest, a silent auction and dancing

Student missionaries – Missionaries from St. John Paul the Great Catholic Campus Ministry at the University of Texas at Tyler recently traveled to the Philippines to provide building and medical services to people in need there. Among the missionaries were Taber Carlson, campus minister at UTT, and Meghan Mueller, one of the ministry’s FOCUS missionaries. FOCUS – or Fellowship of Christian University Students – is a national outreach of students ministering to students on college campuses across the country.

The organization has provided campus missionaries for UTT and Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches. Photo courtesy of Taber Carlson

8

More news is available at www.dioceseoftyler.org/news

with live music by The Pictures from Austin. Tickets are $75 per person. A raffle drawing will be held with several prizes. Call 903-753-1657 or visit www. wunderfall.org for event information and tickets.

St. Matthew Church. The parish raffle will be Oct. 17. Tickets are $10 each, and prizes include a 2006 Honda pickup truck, iPad, and gift cards. Proceeds benefit the parish building fund.

Nacogdoches

St. Mary Chapel, Stephen F. Austin State University. The SFA campus ministry is hosting a Spirit Brunch

Oct. 31, 9:30 a.m.-11 a.m. The brunch will feature a champagne brunch, jazz band, raffle and cupcake auction. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.sfacatholic.net/ or at the event.

Tyler

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Roses and Rosaries, the major parish fundraiser, is Sept. 27, 6:30 p.m., at Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler. Father Anthony McLaughlin, JCL, diocesan vicar general, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Marshall and former cathedral rector, will be the featured speaker. The evening includes dinner and a silent auction. Tickets are $150 each.

Silent auction items will be posted on the cathedral website, www.thecathedral.info, and online bids will be accepted. For information, contact Eileen Kosnik, ekosnik@mac.com, or call 903330-1946.

The Maria Goretti Network, a peer ministry group for survivors of abuse and their families, meets the third Saturday of every month at the cathedral office meeting room (not the Cathedral Center) at 7 p.m. For meeting information call 903-592-1617, ext 19, or email phammett@thecathedral.info.

St. John Paul the Great Catholic Campus Ministry. The University of Texas at Tyler Catholic campus ministry will host its annual fundraising event Sept. 15, 6-8 p.m. at the Ornelas Activity Center in Tyler, with keynote speaker Abby Johnson. Johnson worked for Planned Parenthood for eight years before leaving the organization and becoming a Pro-Life activist, author and speaker. Bishop Joseph E. Strickland also will be present. For information, contact Dan Onderko, 903-830-8917, or email danccmtyler@gmail.com. o

Throw a celebration that takes the cake.

Tyler • 4917 S Broadway Ave. • (903) 504-5366 Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul, Tyler.

9

where did the

BIBLE

come from?

By Father Joshua Neu

Catholics in the Bible Belt often feel as if somehow the Bible belongs to nonCatholic Christians. Although we read the scriptures at Mass, everyone else seems to be more comfortable with the Bible than Catholics. In reality, the Bible is a very Catholic book. It comes from within the Church, was discovered and protected by the Catholic Church, and every Christian today who proclaims that it is the Word of God affirms this teaching of the Catholic Church.

The Bible comes from the Catholic Church.

A

sk any East Texan if they own a Bible, and the overwhelming majority will answer “yes.” Ask them if the Bible is true, and again nearly every single one will say “yes.” Ask them who authored it, and almost every man, woman, and child will say “God.” We can see that in all things Biblical our neighbors have a great faith. Now ask, “How was this book assembled, and by what process did it come to be in your hands?” You won’t get many answers at all.

Living in the “Buckle of the Bible Belt,” Catholics often have a vague feeling of inferiority about the Bible. Perhaps it seems like a non-Catholic book, quoted so frequently and so extensively by nonCatholics in our part of the world that it can seem like “their” book, not “our” book.

The Bible is, in fact, a very, very Catholic thing. It was written within the Catholic Church, and its assembly was entrusted to the Church. Every time a Christian person, anywhere, uses the Bible and testifies that it is in fact the word of God, they are placing their faith in Catholicism, whether they realize it or not.

Not a book, a library The Bible is not really a book, but a library. Usually it is bound together in one volume so you can keep it with you and use it oftenCatholics should do this-but in fact it is more of a library, a compilation of 73 separate books. Composed over the course of a thousand years or more, these books come in several types: narrative history, poetry, prophecy, and even letters from one person to another. The library is of course divided into the Old and New Testaments, the Old being the holy books received from Judaism and the New being the holy books specific to Christianity.

As Christians, we believe these books to be inspired by God. “Inspiration” comes from the same root as “respiration” and concerning Scripture means “God-breathed.” When we state that a book of the Bible is inspired, we mean that God is ultimately the author. A human person held the pen and used his own language and style of writing to compose the book, but he wrote what God intended him to write without error. This is the claim Catholics make about the Bible, and why we hold the books of the Bible in such high regard – they are, in fact, the written Word of God. When a Christian, therefore, calls the Bible “the Word of God,” that person is effectively saying “This library I am holding contains inspired books and only inspired books, and I am certain of it.” The

list of books that make up the Bible is called the canon of Scripture.

“Canon” is a term from Greek meaning a “measuring stick,” and it is applied to the Bible since the canonical list of books precisely “measures out” exactly the inspired books and only the inspired books.

So how does a Christian know that the Bible contains inspired books and only inspired books? Who says so?

Before the New Testament Most Catholics have noticed a difference between themselves and non-Catholics: Catholics tend to depend on the Church for answers; non-Catholics tend to depend only on the Bible. This was actually one of the founding principles of the first Protestant groups, 500 years ago – Sola Scriptura, which means “The Bible Alone.” Instead, a quick look at history tells the real story.

The Church was born on Pentecost, around the year 33 A.D. The first book of the New Testament (most likely St. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians) wasn’t written until 50 A.D. or so. The apostles and their scribes wrote the remainder of the New Testament during the rest of the first century. The Gospel of John was one of the last books, written in 90-100 A.D. This is a period of 60 or 70 years during which the Church was growing, evangelizing, and answering important, difficult questions before the books which would become the New Testament all existed. The Church operated properly because the apostles and their successors, the first bishops, governed her.

Obviously, the Church was not operating by the Bible alone during the era of the apostles, because the books which would eventually be collected into the New Testament were still being written, and the Bible, as a result, did not exist.

the time of writing During this time the apostles and their scribes wrote the inspired books that would eventually form the New Testament. Besides the four gospels, Acts, and Revelation, the rest of the New Testament is actually the apostles’ mail. When, for instance, St. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, he sent one copy of the letter to them. That’s how all of the books that eventually became the New Testament started, as a single letter sent to one recipient (like those to Timothy and Titus) or to a single church (like Philippians or Colossians), or, alternatively, 11

a testimony sent to a few specific churches (like the Gospel of John).

As the Church spread throughout the world, into Asia and Europe and Africa, each of these inspired books initially existed in only one or a few places. St. Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, advises them to trade copies of his letters with other churches, and this is exactly what happened. Over the next century or so, the various churches in different towns and cities would copy and trade the books written by the apostles and their scribes. Slowly the books of the New Testament started making their way around the Church.

excluding false books While the apostles and their scribes penned the inspired books of the New Testament and established the Church, false teachers promoting heretical ideas were pulling some people away from the Church. Many of the letters that would be included in the New Testament were written to warn people about false teachings. These false teachers and their students had books, too, creating a new problem the Church had deal with. Often, to give false books the appearance of authority, their authors would sign them with the name of an apostle. Because of this, as the books of the New Testament were discovered and shared among the different dioceses of the ancient world, judgments had to be made about their authenticity, determining whether the book was written by a true teacher, such as an apostle or his scribe, or by someone else.

Early bishops made judgments about the authenticity of texts.

One story is very instructive. At the end of the second century, St. Serapion, the Bishop of Antioch in Syria, had to intervene in a local church in the town of Rhossus. The church there was reading a “Gospel of Peter” during their Sunday worship. St. Serapion was at first intrigued to know about this new unknown gospel, knowing that not all Christians had copies of all the inspired books yet. Upon examining this “Gospel of Peter,” however, he determined that it taught un-Christian ideas. He wrote a letter to the church at Rhossus condemning this false gospel and forbidding its proclamation during the liturgy. This is just one example of a process that happened many times in the early Church.

Σεραπίωνος St. Serapion of Antioch Saint Serapion was bishop of Antioch in Syria from 191-211 A.D. He was considered one of the foremost theologians of his era. He taught against the heresies of Montanism, Gnosticism, and Docetism. His feast day is October 30.

Just as a bishop today acts as the head teacher of a diocese, the bishops of the second century acted as the principal teachers by determining which books were permitted to be used for the readings 12

in the liturgy. There was still no organized Christian Bible, and the canon of the New Testament was incomplete in most regions. The Church, however, was growing, evangelizing, and doing the work of Christ, operating under the authority of the bishops in union with the bishop of Rome.

Protecting the scriptures Whereas in the 100s A.D., the bishops excluded false books to protect the people of God from false teachings, in the next century Christians had to protect the books of Scripture during persecution.

In various times and places in the Roman Empire, it was illegal to be Christian. Of course, Christians would not participate in rituals of pagan worship that were accepted and required parts of Roman life, and this caused non-Christians to becomes suspicious of them. They were considered disloyal, and the Roman authorities often arrested and tortured Christians.

When Christians were being persecuted, Roman authorities often demanded that they hand over any copies of sacred Scripture they possessed. Copies of books in the ancient world were made by hand, and were very valuable. Destroying the copy of the Scriptures belonging to a local parish was a devastating blow to worship. It was considered a grave sin to hand over copies of holy Scriptures to the Romans, and wily priests, bishops, and lectors sometimes substituted non-scriptural books, hoping the Romans wouldn’t know the difference, in an effort to preserve copies of inspired writings.

Κλήμης St. Clement of rome Pope Clement I was the bishop of Rome from 92-99 A.D. He taught the authority of the bishops and priests to lead the Church. He was martyred under the Roman Emperor Trajan. His feast day is November 23.

This meant it was important to know exactly which books could and could not be handed over. The bishops of the Church separated the inspired books from merely “good” books which had long been used in the Church. One example is the Letter of St. Clement to the Corinthians, which can be thought of as the first Papal encyclical. It had long been used and read in the Church, but it is not the work of an apostle or a scribe working for one. It was not included by the Church in the canon of Scripture. Losing such a letter during the persecution would have been considered tragic, but such a loss would not be as destructive to a church as the loss of the Biblical letters of St. John, for example.

These persecutions lasted until 311 A.D., reaching a terrible peak under the Emperor Diocletian. He called for a universal burning of Christian Scriptures in 303 A.D., and thousands of Christians died, many while protecting books of Scripture.

Into the open In the early 300s, Constantine became the first Christian ruler of the Roman Empire, and everything changed. Christianity became legal, and the Church came out into the open. For the first time, the bishops could meet in open council and do the business of the Church. A few books of the New Testament remained under discussion among the bishops.

Ἀθανάσιος St. athanasius Saint Athanasius was bishop of Alexandria in Egypt from 328-373 A.D. He taught against the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ. He spend 17 years in exile for resisting this popular heresy. His feast day is May 2.

A festal letter, written by St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria in Egypt, listed all 27 books of the New Testament in 367 A.D. This is the oldest complete canon of the New Testament which we know of. Then, in 382 A.D., Pope Damasus I promulgated the list of New Testament books and commissioned the great translator St. Jerome to produce the Vulgate, a new, complete translation of the Bible in the Latin language, for the Church. In 393 and 397 A.D., bishops met in regional councils and listed the same canon of Scripture. At that point, the Church had essentially settled disputes concerning the contents of the Bible. Over 1,000 years later, Martin Luther challenged these decisions, and the Catholic Church reaffirmed the same canon at the Council of Trent.

First, SEcond, Third This quick trip through the history of the canon of the New Testament shows us a few things. First, we can see that there is no principle of Sola Scriptura in the early Church. The Church lived and worked, grew and flourished for centuries before a collected Bible existed. She was led by the apostles, and then by the bishops they ordained to succeed them. The individual churches in the ancient world used the scriptures they each had while each worked to obtain a complete collection of the Scriptures, but there was never any sense that the Church was unable to function properly without the Bible.

Second, we can understand why it was natural and inevitable that the process of collecting the books of the New Testament would take a long time and require a lot of discussion. Many of the books were sent as letters to one specific person or place, and in the early Church, learning about the existence of these books, copying them, and distributing them across the entire ancient world was a pains-

takingly slow process. Add the complications and dangers caused

by Roman persecution, and it is easy to see why the assembly of the canon was not complete until centuries after the books were written.

Third, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church was entrusted by God with the job of rightly choosing the correct books. As the story of St. Serapion shows us, it was possible for individual people and parishes to be mistaken. Just like today, people can be led astray by something false, and the shepherds of the Church must lead the sheep back. The bishops first had to exclude false books, which taught heresies, and then differentiate between the divinely inspired books of Scripture and merely useful texts.

today Now we know what we mean when we say, “The Bible is the inspired word of God.” We mean that we have confidence that the Bible contains the right books, only the inspired books, because the Catholic Church collected them. Catholic bishops judged their contents to be correct and inspired, using the theology they learned from the apostles and the Tradition of the Church, dividing the inspired from the rest. The canon is officially and finally what it is, because the Catholic Church says so.

This ought to give any Catholic confidence. We live in a place where nearly every single person has great faith in the Holy Bible, for which we are thankful. Catholics, however, uniquely understand what this faith rests on. It rests on the authority of the Church.q

Catholic Ascension Garden

How will your final arrangements be decided?

Rose Lawn’s Ascension Garden is a place for all Catholics to have hope and reflection. This area serves as a visual reminder of the Paschal Mystery, the dying and rising of Christ in which we all share. It is the place that reminds us to hold a joyful hope for Christ’s return to glory, with all those who have gone before us, marked with a sign of faith. Putting plans into place now becomes a testimony to both our faith and our love of family. It is a loving and considerate thing to do for those we leave behind. Come out and visit our compassionate people and find how simple this decision can be. With each sale Rose Lawn will make a donation in your name to the Church of your choice or the Catholic Diocese of Tyler.

Rose Lawn Cemetery is located on Blue Mountain Blvd., One block East off Old Jacksonville Hwy, just South of Swann’s Furniture.

2003 Blue Mountain Blvd.

Tyler, TX 75703 Ph.903-939-9922 13

The Words in Red Father Gavin Vaverek JCL

While he was speaking to the crowds, Jesus’ mother and brothers came to speak with him. Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.” Jesus asked in reply: “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And pointing toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12:46-50).

This is one of those often argued passages of the Bible where the central question is overlooked: “What point was Jesus really making?” We might be tempted to interpret the Holy Scriptures from our own perspective, or to ask of the ancient biblical text our contemporary questions.

And, yes, the question about the brothers of Jesus is an interesting one, but first, let’s look at the real point of the passage.

When interpreting a Gospel passage, it can be helpful to look at the same incident recounted by another Evangelist. Mark recounts the passage in Matthew almost identically (Mark 3: 31-35). Luke’s account is very similar in chapter 21 when Jesus says “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”

For Jesus, a more important evidence of family relationship than genealogy is the “doing” of the will of the heavenly Father. Jesus understands the will of God as something to be done, which is clear from his instruction to his disciples to pray to our Father in Heaven, “Thy will be done.”

Doing the will of God was essential to Jesus. We see this when the crowd said to Jesus, “Our father is Abraham.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works of Abraham” ( John 8:39). The early Christians were known for the way they lived their lives.

People said of them, “See how they love one another.” True, they believed in Jesus, but they demonstrated it by their way of living.

Christians had to “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding [themselves]” ( James 1:22).

Is being a doer of the Word really important to Jesus? Jesus, like all teachers, makes his more important points in multiple ways. The Evangelists often weave in pieces of the experience of Jesus to emphasize what

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The brothers and sisters of Jesus

they understand to be the major points of Jesus. In regard to this precise point, earlier in his Gospel, Luke recounts the scene, “While [ Jesus] was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.’” As much as he loved his mother—his first disciple— he replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” (Luke 11:27-28).

Indeed, Mary is the first disciple, pondering the Word in her heart, putting it into practice in her life, and pointing others toward Jesus. Why then did Jesus respond as recorded in Matthew 12:46-50 and the other gospels, when visited by his mother and his brothers who were wanting to talk with him? There is no question about who his mother is. When Jesus asked, “Who is my mother?” it could not be because he does not know, but to emphasize that she is really the one who “hears the word and acts on it.”

What about the “brothers?” Who are they? How did the early Christians understand this passage? While certainly not the significant points of this passage, these are somewhat interesting questions, so let’s take a quick look.

First, we have to remember that the Bible was not written in English, and the primary purpose of the passage was not to describe Jesus’ family. Jesus spoke Aramaic, and in Aramaic there is not a distinction between close kinfolk and a sibling. When we read “brothers,” it is a translation from the original Greek text of ἀδελφός (adelphos). In Greek, it is commonly used to refer to a brother by birth, but not always.

If you do some study, you will find it is also used in the Old Testament. In Genesis, for example, Lot is described as adelphos of Abraham (Gn 14: 14,16). Yet, we know Lot is a nephew, certainly not a blood brother of Abraham. So there is no question that in biblical use, adelphos is sometimes used to describe other close family relationships.

In the third century before the birth of Jesus, the ancient Hebrew manuscripts of Genesis were translated into Greek, rendering the Hebrew word ‫ ָאח‬or ‘ach, as adelphos. Hebrew, like Aramaic, does not have a specific word to distinguish close kin

from a sibling. If the precise relationship was to be known, it had to come from other references in the Hebrew text or from the common knowledge of the people.

Do we have any evidence of how early Christians understood the passage?

Christians commonly knew that Mary had only one child, Jesus. We know that in 380 A.D., the question came up about the possibility of Jesus having siblings (full or half ). At that time, St. Jerome was living in the Holy Land, working on developing a solid translation of the scriptures in Latin. He was studying old manuscripts as well as immersing himself in both the language and culture of the Holy Land to ensure that his Latin translation of the Bible would be as authentic as possible. In 380, a man named Helvidius proposed that after the virgin birth of Jesus, Mary gave birth to other children with her husband, Joseph. St. Jerome rejected this idea, saying that this was a novel new idea and that the church community believed that Mary had stayed a virgin for the rest of her life.

Jerome understood both the biblical texts and the lived tradition of the Church as supporting Mary’s perpetual virginity. Jesus had cousins, but not siblings.

Interestingly, about the same time as Jerome and Helvidius were debating whether Mary was ever-virgin, another idea was proposed: possibly Joseph was an elderly widower when he married Mary and that Jesus had half-siblings that were Joseph’s children. This too seems to have been speculation and not something embraced by the first Christians.

So, we see that in the fourth century, Jerome, a cardinal of the Church and a definitive linguistic and cultural expert on the Scriptures, held that Jesus had cousins rather than siblings, and he understood this as being the ancient, accepted faith from those who personally knew Jesus. So, if asked about the “brothers and sisters of Jesus,” you can safely say, and hopefully you will say: “For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” q Father Gavin Vaverek, JCL is the pastor of St. Patrick parish in Lufkin, Texas, and Promoter of Justice for the Diocese of Tyler.

How to Pray Sr. Mary Jeremiah, OP

Yes, there is a God - a personal God. That is what being a Catholic is all about - getting to know and love this God who loved us into existence.

One of the best ways to know God is through prayer. The best definition is from the 4th century Syrian St. John Damascene: “Prayer is the lifting of our mind and heart to God.” Prayer is communicating with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit.

We can begin with short periods of time, perhaps 5-10 minutes in the morning or evening, or on our lunch break.

To begin prayer, the saints recommend “placing ourselves in the presence of God.” Of course, we are always in the presence of God. It really means trying to be quiet and calm and to allow ourselves, our “mind and heart,” to become aware of God’s presence.

A good and easy way to pray is by using the Scripture passage for the Mass each day. You can ask to borrow a missalette in your Church. There are also some good ones to subscribe to: The Word Among Us, Magnificat, Living with Christ, etc. The advantage of these is that they print out the text, and they are compact so you can carry an issue in your purse or pocket.

We will begin to pray the scriptures using a simple method: Read, Think, Pray, Act.

Praying the Scriptures: Read, Think, Pray, Act

feedback on how you are doing or to offer suggestions. Perhaps you can find a “prayer partner.” You can both share in person, over the phone or by letter.

Before we end, it might be helpful to have an example of this way to pray. But, remember, your prayer will be your own personal experience.

READ, THINK, PRAY, ACT

First, simply read a sentence or two until a word, phrase, character or idea in the story strikes you.

Stop and think about it. What does it mean in the story? What does it mean to me today? Why did it appeal to me? Sit quietly and see if God wants to tell me something through this Word.

Offer a little prayer of thanksgiving for what I get out of it. Then, move to the next sentence, if I have time, and read, think, and pray again.

The act part comes as I go about my day. I can write the phrase down and come back to it later while I’m in line at the grocery store, waiting on the phone, stopped in traffic.

It is also helpful if you can have someone to share your prayer journey with—a spouse, friend, someone from Church, or even a private journal. This way you have an objective person to get

Window in Sacred Heart Church, Texarkana

READ – I am reading Matthew 5 where Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray. “Jesus said, ‘When you pray say, ‘Our Father.’” Our Father …

THINK – “Our Father.” I stop on these two words. What else is there really left to say? My life is all about coming to

know and love “Our Father.” “Our Father.”

That means he is not just my father, but I share Him with all believers in God. So that means, all people are my brothers and sisters, because God created everyone. I shouldn’t exclude anyone from my concern, even if I disagree with them or dislike them.

PRAY – Help me Lord, to be open and welcoming to other people. I know it’s your will because you bring us together at work, Church, school, football game, etc.

Help me to see and experience that we are all related in some way. “Our Father.”

I may READ the sentence again and then THINK about the word, “Father.”

THINK – God, you reveal yourself as “Father” in the Bible. But so many people today don’t know their father. What if mine was absent or mean to me, so that I don’t like the word, “Father.” But Jesus is telling me you are a “Father.” I probably have some ideas of what a good father should beprotective, helpful, fun, leader, disciplines when I disobey, takes care of all his children.

PRAY – Lord, please be a “Father” to me. Show me that you love me and will provide for my needs. Help me to trust you and turn to you in need and daily thank you for my life and all the things you provide.

ACT – Throughout this day, I will repeat to myself over and over “Our Father”… “Our Father”… Every time I get in the car or pick up the phone, I’ll offer a silent prayer, “Our Father.” Or every time I take a bite at meals or see a commercial on TV, I’ll think, “Our Father.”

So, you see, praying is very simple, using our head and our heart to talk to God, no matter what else we are doing. The Bible is the best source for prayer because it is the “Word of God.” It is the way God has spoken to humanity for centuries about how to live a holy life.

I hope this simple method will help you to get started praying! q Sister Mary Jeremiah is a cloistered nun at the Monastery of the Infant Jesus in Lufkin, Texas. The nuns pray constantly for the diocese and the world. If you are interested to learn about a religious vocation or if you have a prayer request for the sisters, please contact them via their website:

Lufkintxnuns.com

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SAINT MARIA GO The major relics of this popular saint are coming to the Cathedral of

By Dr. Allison Low

I

t is July 5, 1902, when eleven year old Maria Goretti, a child with heroic virtue, faces her ultimate trial. The Gorettis had become poor and, in desperation, sold their own farm years earlier.

They had moved to Ferriere, a farming village in Italy 40 miles southeast of Rome, to begin working for others. Maria’s father, Luigi, had also negotiated a deal to share a house with a local family, the Serenellis, to decrease the financial burden. Deepening their struggles, Luigi had died of malaria leaving Maria’s mother Assunta and the six children to support themselves. The Gorettis had a deep love for God and, despite their difficult situation, did not despair. Assunta, and four of the children worked feverishly in the fields daily. Being the oldest, it was Maria’s duty to stay at home to cook, clean, sew and watch her youngest sibling Teresa. As the oldest girl in the family, Maria matured quickly because of her situation, growing in grace and holiness, and was known for her modesty and cheerful obedience.

On the afternoon of July 5th, while the family was working in the fields and Maria and her youngest sibling were in the house, the 20 year old son of the Serenelli family, Alessandro, came into the house.

Alessandro had been fond of Maria for a few years. His own mother had died while in a psychiatric hospital when he was an infant, and when he was seven, he had been sent away to work as a cabin boy to help support the family. But he came to know Maria when, at age eighteen, he returned home to help his alcoholic father working as a laborer. Not long after returning home, he started to harass Maria. His harassment progressed to making sexual advances, and after the second attempt he became very angry because Maria continued to refuse him.

On this day, Alessandro, knowing that everyone working in the fields and away from the house would not return from the fields for many hours, went into the house and tried to seduce Maria. Alessandro threatened Maria, holding an awl in her face and telling her that he would kill her if she would not do as he asked. He intended to rape

“I must forgive you.”

If Maria can forgive you,

her, but Maria resisted and protested. She yelled repeatedly, “No, it is a sin! God does not want it!” warning Alessandro that it was a mortal sin and he could go to hell. She was screaming. Alessandro tried to choke her but she continued to resist. He then stabbed her eleven times. Maria tried to escape, reaching for the door and Alessandro 16

stabbed her three more times. Alessandro then fled. Maria lay on the floor, bleeding profusely.

Teresa, who had also been in the house sleeping, started crying because the noise of the incident had awakened her. She continued to cry for a time until those outside heard the cries and came to check on her. They found Maria lying on the floor and rushed her to the nearest hospital. Surgery without anesthesia was performed, but there was nothing that could be done. The injuries were too extensive. Maria was conscious at times and was able to tell the events of what happened to her mother and the chief of police. Twenty hours later, on July 6, after enduring much pain and suffering, Maria died while clutching a cross to her chest and looking at a picture of the Virgin Mary.

Before dying, Maria did express forgiveness for Alessandro and stated that she hoped he would one day be with her in heaven.

Alessandro was arrested and imprisoned for 30 years, avoiding the death penalty because under Italian law at the time he was considered a minor, being under the age of 21. Initially he remained unrepentant and did not communicate with anyone in the world. He had a priest visit him, and he turned on the cleric in a rage, howling and lunging at him. He did not eat much and was always nervous.

After six years in prison, at the brink of despair, Alessandro later reported that Maria appeared to him. She smiled at him and she was surrounded by lilies, the flower symbolic of purity. At that moment he knew she had forgiven him. From that moment, his heart was filled with peace, and he lived a constructive life, being released 27 years later, three years early for good behavior. A few years after his release, Alessandro visited Maria’s mother. He begged for her forgiveness and her mother replied that if Maria had forgiven him on her deathbed then she could not do less. The two attended Mass together the next day where Alessandro stood before the congregation acknowledging his sins and asking for pardon from God and the entire community.

Alessandro prayed regularly to Maria and referred to her as “my little saint.” Alessandro eventually became a lay brother in the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin living at a monastery until he died in 1970 at age 87.

Maria Goretti was beatified at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on April 27, 1947, by Pope Pius XII. Maria’s mother, Assunta, was present at the beatification ceremony. Assunta reports that while there, Pope Pius XII walked up to her to give her a blessing. When they met, each had eyes filled with tears. Three years later on June 24, 1950 in the piazza outside of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, with an audience of 500,000 people, Pius XII canonized Maria Goretti as a Saint and referred to her as “the St. Agnes of the 20th century”. Pius XII

ORETTI

the Immaculate Conception in Tyler. encouraged all of the youth present to imitate Maria in her reliance on God and His grace to remain chaste and virtuous. Her mother Assunta was again present along with her four living siblings. She was the first mother ever to attend the canonization of her child. There are reports that also in the crowd that day was Alessandro, though this cannot be verified as other reports say otherwise. However, based on writings from Alessandro later in his life one can see that whether or not he was present at her canonization physically, Alessandro was present spiritually.

In 1961, nine years before he would die, Alessandro wrote these words in his will, “Looking back at my past, I can see that in my early youth, I chose a bad path that led me to ruin. . . When I was 20 years-old, I committed a crime of passion. Now, that memory represents something horrible for me. Maria Goretti, now a Saint, my good Angel, sent to me through Providence to guide and save me. I still have impressed on my heart her words of rebuke and of pardon.

She prayed for me, she interceded for her murderer. . . Little Maria was really my light, my protectress . . . Now I am serenely waiting to witness the vision of God, to hug my loved ones again, and to

be next to my Guardian Angel and her dear mother Assunta. . . I hope that this letter that I wrote can teach others the happy lesson of avoiding evil and of always following the right path, like little children.

I feel that religion with its precepts is not something that we can live without, but rather it is the real comfort, the real strength in life and the only safe way in every circumstance, even the most painful ones.”

Alessandro’s conversion was the first fruit of the life and prayers of Maria Goretti, though not the last. Maria has been an inspiration and model of purity, obedience and faithfulness to God since. She is also the influence behind the Maria Goretti Network which is an outreach group for abuse victims and their friends and families.

Maria’s body is kept in the crypt of the Basilica of Nostra Signora delle Grazie e Santa Maria Goretti in Nettuno, Italy, south of Rome.

It is sometimes reported that she is an Incorruptible (her body never decayed) but this is not the case. Her body is kept inside of a statue which lies beneath the altar, and the statue is sometimes mistakenly believed to be her body. Her feast day is July 6. She is the patron Saint of chastity, rape victims, girls, youth, poverty, purity and forgiveness.

The Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul, here in Tyler, Tx, is one of the many churches blessed to have her relics in the altar.q

Pilgrimage of Mercy

November 2, 2015

“If Maria can forgive you, I must forgive you”, so said Mama Goretti as she replied to the plea of Alessandro, the murderer of her child. He came straight to see her the day he was released from prison, to beg her forgiveness and to say he was sorry.

In the life of this extraordinary modern saint, Christian heroism is demonstrated in diverse ways which challenge the self-centered to the core.

St. Maria, the virginal martyr, is only concerned for the souls of others. She begs Alessandro not to violate her, not only to preserve her purity and virginity, but that he would be saved from the mortal sins he was contemplating.

She did not want him to go to hell for sins of lust and violence. She loved his immortal soul far too much.

St. Maria, her mother and her family were schooled in the virtues so heroically demonstrated by their family prayer of the Rosary and the frequent reception of the holy sacraments of Penance and the Blessed Eucharist. Poor, deluded Alessandro had fed himself on selfishness and lust through the exposure to pornography encountered in his military days.

Mercy, purity, forgiveness, fidelity in prayer, restoration and virtue - what beauty is interwoven in this epic of Christian hope.

And here is this saint in our Cathedral. Here she is to pray for us, to guide us, to remind us that all is possible in the grace of Christ. Come to her and ask her to restore your relationships. Come to her and ask her to heal your inner lacerated wounds of sin. Come to her if you carry the cross of misunderstanding. Come to her if it is hard to forgive.

Come to her if you have lost purity and want to be clean again. Come to her if you need a gentle friend. Come to her if you want to be a true Christian: prayerful, forgiving, active in charity.

The major relics of St. Maria Goretti will be available for veneration at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler on Nov. 2, 2015.

Tyler and Houston are the only locations chosen in Texas for the public veneration. This is the first time that St. Maria’s body will travel to the United States. It is only the second time that she has left Italy.

The relics will be displayed for the faithful from 9 a.m. on Nov. 2 until 1 a.m. Bishop Strickland will celebrate Solemn Mass in honor of St. Maria at 7 p.m.

For us, the people of the Diocese of Tyler, this is a great opportunity. Please, come to the Cathedral. Make a pilgrimage to the relics of St. Maria and bring your burdens to her, and she will pray for you. “The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful” ( James 6:15). Holy Maria, we love you, pray for us.

-Father Morgan White

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READY TO SERVE NEW PRIESTS FOR THE DIOCESE OF TYLER NEW PRIESTS JOIN THE DIOCESE OF TYLER

Father Nelson Munoz was an attorney in Columbia, working in customs and international business, when he was called to the priesthood. “I had a really profound experience at Pentecost in 2006. I was in Rome, in St. Peter’s square, with about 300,000 other Catholics. I was overwhelmed with the sense of the universality of the Church, and that I was being called to bring God’s grace to everyone.” He said, “I wanted a missionary assignment. I thought that meant someplace in the third world.” After spending time in the Diocese of Tyler, Father Nelson realized, “mission territory is anyplace where there are people who don’t know or understand God and the Church. I can be a missionary right here in East Texas.” He was ordained in June of this year and is currently assigned as parochial vicar of the Cathedral in Tyler.

Father Kevin Young grew up in New Jersey. “I lived two blocks from one Catholic Church, and my family walked past that parish to go to Mass at ours. It was a very Catholic culture.” He was ordained in 2013 for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter and joined the Diocese of Tyler in 2015. “What I first noticed about the diocese was its body of priests, how they support each other. The Bishop and priests here are kind and supportive, and I was looking for that fraternity.” Father Young has been assigned as parochial vicar of Our Lady of Victory in Paris. “To me, East Texas Catholics are very strong in their faith, very supportive of their clergy, and I’ve been amazed at their commitment to the parish. They really give all their talents. In my experience here at Our Lady of Victory, the people give their all. Whatever the Church needs, they give it.”

Father George Elliott went to high school in Paris, Texas, and attended the U.S. Air Force Academy before becoming a seminarian. “I was uncertain about a vocation to the priesthood. Then I went to the Academy and they taught me about duty and that a life of sacrifice is the highest calling. Well, I believed them. It made so much sense to me that I became a priest instead.”

Father Elliott was ordained by Bishop Strickland in June of this year and has served briefly at Our Lady of Guadalupe parish in Diboll and St. Michael parish in Mount Pleasant. Currently, he is back in Rome, where he did his seminary training, to finish a License in Patristics. “Patristics is the study of the Fathers of the early Church: the bishops, priests,and teachers who wrote in the first centuries after the apostles. These writings are vitally important to understanding our Catholic Tradition.” He also helps to produce a podcast teaching the Catholic faith. “We are trying to produce the best short podcasts, with the best speakers from around Rome, to bring more of the treasures of the Faith home to the Diocese of Tyler. We have podcasts on all kinds of topics about Catholicism and have many more planned for the future.” To take a listen, go to www.CatholicBytesPodcast.com 19

Father Charles Vreeland, a native Texan, was ordained in 2013 and joined the Diocese of Tyler this year. He is assigned as parochial vicar of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler and chaplain of Bishop Gorman High School. He also teaches theology to the Senior class. “Working at a Catholic school is a great opportunity. I attended a Catholic school when I was young, and it had a profound influence on my life. I want to help every student have that kind of experience.” Father Vreeland says he is glad to be back in Texas. “I went to seminary in Nebraska, and I’ve served in Pennsylvania, Washington state, and Kansas. Texas is most certainly my favorite. I just like being around Texans.” Like the other new priests of the diocese, he is excited about the missionary opportunities here. “Being a priest means being a priest for everyone. That means offering God’s grace to every Catholic, and it means helping people to discover the Catholic Faith.”

Father Joshua Neu, another native Texan, was ordaned by Bishop Strickland in June, 2015. He was formed at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia and the North American College in Rome. He is currently studying at the Biblicum in Rome, obtaining a License in Sacred Scripture. “I love studying the Bible. Living in the Bible belt, our missionary work often requires a deep knowledge of the Word of God, both solidifying the faith of Catholics and engaging with other Christian denominations. I look forward to strengthening Catholics in their faith through Scripture and spreading our faith by Biblically-informed evangelization.” Father Neu has served at Our Lady of Victory in Paris. “Had you asked me 10 years ago what I would be doing today, I wouldn’t have guessed I would be a priest, but I am so thankful to be one.

Many people speak of the sacrifices of the priesthood, but a priest receives far more than he gives up. Consecrating the Eucharist and absolving sins are worth any sacrifice.”

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MILESTONES Father Guillermo Gabriel-Maisonet’s journey from evangelical teen to Roman Catholic priest.

GROWING UP IN CHURCH

I grew up Methodist in Arecibo, in the North of Puerto Rico. The Methodist faith is important to my family, and I have several cousins who are Methodist ministers. I even have relatives very high up in the hierarchy of the Methodist church in Latin America.

I was a relatively good kid. I went to a private Christian school, and my friends were good kids who were active in their churches.

I remember at this time, in the early 1980s, the Protestant churches in Puerto Rico were becoming much more charismatic. Like a lot of my friends, I had a charismatic experience, for me it was at age 13. That was really the first milestone in my life of faith, when my relationship with God became personal.

Shortly after, I told my family I wasn’t going to the Methodist Church any more, and announced that I was going to a non-denominational church with my friends. It was charismatic, my friends were there, and looking back it had another quality I was seeking.

My father was never very active in the church. This was typical of my experience in Puerto Rico, that men were not active in the Methodist Church. The non-denominational church was different: the fathers were there with their families, and were active. I see now that I wanted to be in an environment where men were also present, and living their faith publicly.

By the time I was 16, I was absolutely sure that I wanted to be a pastor, but I knew I didn’t want to be pastor of my particular church or any church like it. The energy and vitality that had been attractive to me a few years before now looked chaotic. Even at 16, I was beginning to appreciate the structure and order I had known in the Methodist Church.

I could tell that the non-denominational church I was part of was on shaky ground, and I knew that I wanted stability in my own life. As a lay person, it was all right, but as I discerned a vocation to work in the church, I knew it needed to have structure. That was another milestone, recognizing the need for authority in the Church.

STRUCTURE AND ORDER I returned to the Methodist Church to

find this stability, and soon became a candidate to become a Methodist pastor. It wasn’t a totally formal process, like becoming a Catholic seminarian, but it was important.

The parish council formally announced my candidacy to the church, and I was given positions of responsibility.

I was tremendously active in the Church during these years. I was going after school to Bible studies, and seeking out more advanced Bible classes in college youth groups.

I was going on all the retreats I could find – anything. Everything was progressing along this path until high school ended.

I graduated high school at 17, com-

pletely sure that I would become a Methodist pastor, and went to college in San Juan to study history. Like a lot of freshmen, I had a crisis of faith during my first year. I never became an atheist or anything of the sort, but I had a dark time when my relationship with God was at low ebb. I stopped going to church. It was a bad time.

I recovered, thanks be to God, because of the efforts of one of my professors. He and I started talking and I asked him for guidance and he agreed, on one condition. He said that he would be glad to work with me and help me, provided I started going to his Church, the Reformed Episcopal Church.

THE LORD BE WITH YOU

“When I read that line in the Catechism, I wept. Not for joy, but for loss. My entire religious edifice had crumbled. I knew I was no longer Protestant, but I didn’t want to be Catholic.”

The Reformed Episcopal Church is an offshoot of Anglicanism which is about 150 years old. This church is much more liturgical than what I was used to. It is very Protestant in its theology, leaning to Calvinistic beliefs about people being pre-destined to heaven or hell, but as someone who was seeking order and wanting to make sense of religion, it really spoke to me. I can remember the first time I heard “the Lord be with you,” “and also with you,” “lift up your hearts.” That was another milestone, and a big one. When I discovered liturgy, intentional worship that was dignified, it was a profound experience. Although it was at a shabby little church in a rented building, the glory of liturgy was apparent to me. It was a transcendent and transformative experience.

Once I entered into liturgical worship on a weekly basis, I questioned all my previous religious experience. I always found my previous experiences so individualistic, with everyone doing their own unique personal thing, that I had no understanding of what it meant to be part of the people of God. I came to understand that the liturgy has real, solid value, and it began to feel like a privilege to take part in it. I can see now that this church, despite its humble surroundings, despite its terribly flawed theology and its rebellion against Rome, retained enough Catholicism to point the way.

I knew what I wanted and it was liturgy.

I was confirmed in the Reformed Episcopal Church, and shortly afterwards the 23

Reformed Episcopal bishop talked to me about seminary. I agreed and became a seminarian, on my way to becoming a Reformed Episcopalian minister. I entered Cranmer Theological House, which was an Anglican seminary in Louisiana. The seminary was built by Markham Allen Dickson, who ran Morris and Dickson pharmaceutical distribution in Shreveport.

The seminarians studied theology and worked in the company warehouse to help defray tuition. I would study all morning and work at the company in the afternoon and evening, and finished with no tuition debt. Mr. Dickson owned a business jet, and so he would fly lecturers in from around the world for intensive lecture series.

We had speakers from Oxford in England, Australia, France, Germany, from Africa and all over. It was an intense four year course of study.

I graduated on a Friday and was ordained an Episcopal deacon on Saturday. My minister from Puerto Rico came to my ordination, and delivered the news that he was leaving the ministry to get his doctorate and that he needed me to take over the church for a time. For two years, I was a deacon in charge of this church. It was a tremendous responsibility and it wore me out. Eventually, when no minister could be found to be a permanent pastor, the church was closed. I had to find a new home.

THE PERFECT STORM

I had not found what I was looking for in the Reformed Episcopal Church. I began to attend a mainline Episcopal church, which had more impressive liturgy, and I began to watch EWTN Catholic television.

I mainly just wanted to watch something good and wholesome, as I had no intention of becoming Roman Catholic, but I found The Journey Home program which interviews Protestant ministers who became Catholic.

I really couldn’t understand why they would do that, but I watched avidly, and gradually it started to work on me.

During this time, although I was tired and burnt out from being in charge of the church with no minister, I began to desire to worship God more than just once per week.

In the Reformed Episcopal Chruch, worship was for Sunday only. I started wanting liturgy every day, and I searched for any opportunity for worship every day near me. My only option was the Catholic Church.

This was really the perfect storm. I was 24

rules of the Catholic Church. I also began to go to Mass on Sundays.

I DON’T WANT TO

burnt out, feeling low, listening to joyous conversion stories of people who had become Catholic, and I started to attend daily Mass.

I still went to the Episcopal Church on Sundays, and I was careful to arrive for daily mass after it started. I left early as well, so that no one could speak to me and ask who I was. I suppose I still retained some antiCatholicism I had learned as a youth, and I was still a true believing Anglican. I thought of Anglicanism (and all of its offshoots, like the Reformed Episcopal Church) as the highest expression of Christianity, and Catholicism as the lowest.

I BELIEVE Without expecting it, without spending time reading about it, suddenly one day I believed in the Real Presence. I don’t know exactly how it happened, but I was at a daily mass at the Catholic Church and suddenly I believed that Jesus was really present in the Holy Eucharist. This was another tremendous milestone in my life. I can only say that the graces obtained through attending Mass worked on me. It was a wholesale reversal of my opinions, and God opened my eyes to Himself. It was pure infused grace.

The first thing I did was to stop receiving communion at Mass. Before I believed, it was just bread and wine and it didn’t matter that I wasn’t Catholic. Once I believed, and I realized, I knew in my heart and soul that it was Jesus, I knew I had to follow the

I was so conflicted. I didn’t want to become Catholic. I remember clearly, at different points in my life, even while I was an Episcopal deacon, realizing that Protestantism didn’t really make sense. I knew that, obviously, having a bunch of divided churches that all taught radically different, contradictory things in the name of the one Christ was silly.

This really became clear to me when I considered evangelization. From time to time when I was a deacon in the Reformed Episcopal Church, people would ask me about evangelizing, or a pastor would suggest it.

This really bothered me. There were virtually no atheists in Puerto Rico.

If we convinced someone to come to our church, we were just stealing them from another Christian church.

This seemed fruitless to me.

What started to dawn on me, while I was going to Mass and watching EWTN, was the problem of authority. I began to see that the reason all of the Protestant churches in Puerto Rico and the world taught contradictory things was because none of them had the authority to speak the truth about the Christian religion.

This led me to doubt my ordination, too. By what authority did my bishop ordain me to the diaconate? Who ordained him? By what authority? I lost confidence that I had ever had the authority to be a minister. This did not, however, directly translate to a desire to become Catholic. Even after coming to believe in the Real Presence and the need for authority, I resisted.

Shortly after that fateful day, I had a birthday, and my sister asked what I wanted for a present. I requested a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I was amazed that the Church had answers for all of my questions. All of the issues that had bothered me in Protestantism became clear when reading the Catholic teaching. I had long been troubled by the tolerance of divorce and remarriage in Protestantism, when Jesus clearly taught against it. Reading the Catechism, I saw that the Catholic Church held fast to the teaching of Christ.

Every day, I was reading the Catechism for about ten minutes, until one night I stayed up all night engrossed in the teachings of the Church. At about two in the morning, I came to the teaching about Peter,

saw Christ naming him as pope and promising to be with him and his successors, and I knew how the issue of authority was meant to work in Christianity. I was overwhelmed, and I began to cry. I wasn’t crying for joy, but for loss. My entire religious edifice crumbled before my eyes. At that moment I was not Protestant any more, but I knew I didn’t want to become Catholic. This was a milestone, but not a happy one.

THE MARY PROBLEM I had real problems with the Mother of the God. I had lived as a Protestant for so long that I thought as one. I couldn’t understand Catholic devotion to the Blessed Mother. I couldn’t understand her perpetual virginity and her immaculate conception. I was rebelling against these doctrines.

Watching EWTN, I actually called in to The Journey Home and asked for help. They put me in contact with a priest in Puerto Rico who was a convert, and he talked to me. He was wise, and he brought me around again and again to the issue of authority. I had to admit that since I believed in the authority of the Catholic Church, I could put my faith in it, even if I was still unsure about some particular teachings.

This got me closer, but I was still a mess.

I remember praying the rosary, but then asking God’s forgiveness for it, in case it was idolatrous. In fact, as I started to pray Catholic devotions, I would always omit the Hail Mary. Eventually, I realized that I was called to conform myself to Christ. I was called, in all things, to have the same feelings and sentiments that He does. I was being called to love Mary exactly as much as Jesus Christ loves her. That did it for me, and I was able to build a relationship, a devotion to the Mother of God.

CONVERSION I stopped being “the guy who leaves Mass early” and stayed after to meet and talk with the priest. I formally requested the sacraments of initiation into the Catholic Church. At Easter Vigil in 2002 I received the sacraments and became a member of the Church. Another milestone was completed.

I was Catholic, and now that I understood how the priesthood really works, I thought of myself as a lay person. I was working in academia and was not thinking about the priesthood. I did, however, have a feeling that I needed a spiritual director to help me grow in the faith.

I was watching the Mass on local Catholic TV one day, and I was inspired by how

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reverently the priest celebrated the Mass. I thought, “I want that person for my spiritual director.” I called the TV station and got his name, and he agreed to be my director. He directed my spiritual reading and helped me in many ways, and after a few years of direction we began to discuss the priesthood.

He said he thought I might be called to be a priest, and he invited me to come to an ordination of Fr. Jorge Dinguis, who is a priest of the Diocese of Tyler. The ordaining bishop was Alvaro Corrada, Bishop of Tyler.

After the ordination, in the sacristy of the church, my director had a long talk with Bishop Corrada about me. Bishop Corrada met me, interviewed me, and invited me to visit the Diocese of Tyler. I did, and four months later I was a seminarian. The rest is history. On May 28, 2011, I was ordained a priest, the last milestone.

Today I am pastor of St. Anthony parish in Longview. It seems unbelievable to me that a kid in Puerto Rico, growing up in such a confused religious environment, would eventually find his way home to the Catholic Church and be chosen by God for the priesthood. I have learned that if we place our faith in God and work hard to understand His will for us, He will lead us to the next milestone. q

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Please excuse our mess!

We’re building Catholic culture in

CENTER Father Jose Luis Vidarte, Deacon John Ragland and the people of St. Therese of Lisieux pose amid the dust of their renovation. Join them and Bishop Strickland on October 4 to celebrate its completion!

First in our series - The Holy Places. Exploring the parishes of the Diocese of Tyler.

“I was here in 1951 when the parish was started,” says Lucille Mena Jones.

“My family came to Center from just about 50 miles away in Louisiana, but it was a different world. People didn’t know what to make of Catholics, and I suppose to them we were very strange. I was the only Catholic in my class at school.

All they knew is we ate fish on Fridays, prayed to statues and had big families!”

Looking back over 64 years in Center, she says, “Things have changed a lot. Catholics are part of the community now. People understand us as fellow Christians.”

Fellow St. Therese parishoner Tim Wulf says,“The other churches know

The last one. The Shelby County courthouse, built in 1885, is the last Irish Castle courthouse left in the United States. It features a trap door to allow a judge to escape from behind the bench if necessary. Center got its name during the controversy concerning the location of the county seat. “Center” empahsizes its location at the center of Shelby County. to call us when they need to use a raffle barrel because the Catholics have the best one.” He explains the depth of the change in the community: “Whereas once it would have been sort of unthinkable for

With a smile! Rancho Grande Mexican restaurant in Center serves up traditional and Tex-Mex favorites. It’s one of several restaurants operated by parishoners of St. Therese.

a Catholic to be a communty leader, by the 1980s Catholics were even serving as presidents of the chamber of commerce.”

“There have been a lot of misconceptions about the Faith that we’ve had to work hard to overcome,” Lucille Jones explains. “I think the Second Vatican Council did a lot to make Catholicism less mysterious. In East Texas, that made a difference.”

Father Jose Luis Vidarte, pastor of St. Therese says, “We Catholics in Center are proud of our faith. We’re so much more visible now as a faith community.

We have a lot of events that draw people to us, like our play on the feast of our patroness St. Therese, and our Good Friday passion play. I’m especially glad that we have large processions on important feast days.” The procession for Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 attracts people from the entire area. “Our Guadalupe procession is 700 or 800 people and goes from the parish to the square downtown.

Not only do we have Catholics from Center and from other towns, but we also have people from non-Catholic churches who march.”

He explains that this is an important witness that offers people a chance at 27

conversion and reversion: “For Hispanic people who may have drifted away from Catholicism, Our Lady of Guadalupe is a powerful reminder of the Faith. We get people coming back to the Chuch every year.”

Tim Wulf concurs, “A big procession that goes to the center of Center, that’s a powerful witness. People notice, and they’ll come to ask us, ‘what was that?’ and it’s an opportunity to explain.”

Father Vidarte says that this missionary, evangelical tradittion runs deep at St. Therese. “It wasn’t easy to start a church here. When Father Meyer arranged moving the first church building here from Fern Lake in 1951, he was the only priest serving this mission. He was a busy pastor at Marshall who only got to spend a short time here on Sundays. Everything else was the responsibility of the laity. Running the mission was a do-ityourself project that the people here undertook. That spirit is still strong.”

Father Meyer had first celebrated Mass in private homes in Shelby County in the 1940s. He wanted the people in Center to have their own church building, so he begged the bishop to let him have an old unused wooden church in Fern Lake. When it was moved at Christmas 1951, it was disassembled board-byboard, and the parishoners of Center revarnished every plank by hand before reassembling it as Divine Infant Parish Church.

Where it all began. First built as Sacred Heart Church in Nacogdoches in 1848, it was moved to Fern Lake in 1937 as St. Ann Church.

In 1951 it was disassembled board by board and moved to Center as the Church of the Divine Infant, since it was relocated at Christmas.

Today it resides again at Sacred Heart in Nacogdoches, fully restored.

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Almost there! Tim and Fred Wulf, Father Jose Vidarte, Lucille Mena Jones, and the Franuel & Fortunata Araujo family pose in the church under construction. If you’d like to help complete the project, donations can be sent to St Therese Catholic Church, 717 FM 2974, Center, Tx 75935.

Father Meyer bought the lot himself and gave it to the parish.

64 years later, St. Therese has almost 300 families registered in the parish. “In reality,” says Father, “there are probably 500 Catholic families we serve here.”

Father Vidarte stresses the importance of knowledge of the faith. “We have an intense program of catechesis here at St. Therese of Lisieux. We have catechesis for children, of course, with over 220 students, but we also have adult catechesis on a weekly basis. Deacon John Ragland works tirelessly to help our people understand their faith. Our parish owes a lot to Deacon John and his wife Melba, and their ministry. They come to offer their knowledge to the people multiple times per week. When people receive catechesis and learn about the Church, they fall in love with the Church.”

The parish in Center is growing and achieving in many areas. Three acolytes were instituted in August, and the Knights of Columbus is growing quickly. A seminarian for the diocese, Roselio Fuentes, was working in youth ministry at St. Therese when he was accepted into seminary. The parish is proud to have a priestly vocation, says Father Vidarte. “Roselio wasn’t born here, but he is a real son of the parish. He was part of our community for years, and even as a young man, he was a very focused Catholic. The entire parish is following his seminary career and offering him help. No matter where he is assigned, he will always be ours.” He adds, “Once you have one vocation, people start to think of it as a possibility. The language of vocation is introduced into a parish, and people start talking in a new way.”

Right now, sawdust is flying as the church is being remodeled inside. Seating capacity is being expanded, the floor and ceiling are being replaced, a covered porch area is being added, and numerous other improvements are appearing. After Sun-

day masses in a temporary chapel, the community gathers to see the latest results of the work. Materials are looked over, ideas are shared, and the pride in the project is evident.

Parish unity is a special concern of Father Vidarte. “With two languages and two cultures in a parish, unity takes extra work, but I’m proud of all our community has accomplished in this area.

I believe that unity has to begin before Mass, and this is exactly what I see in Center. My parishoners are friends away from the parish, in the community, and this builds strong unity inside the parish.” Tim Wulf adds, “My family came from Poland, and in the end, the faith is always stronger than national differences. As more and more Catholics move into the area, Center is going to be a Catholic town, plain and simple.”

Touring Center, you see a quiet town of tall trees and shady streets. Civic pride is evident everywhere. The city has adopted an ambitious plan

Award winning! The owners and staff of Pineywoods Steak and Seafood show off their prize-winning ribeye.

Serious business. Competitive seed spitting at the 26th annual What-A-Melon festival in July.

to renovate the downtown square, which is already a lively place. Parishoners of St. Therese run many businesses in the city, a few of which are featured here.

As Bishop Strickland is fond of saying, we have holy places here in the diocese, and we can make pilgrimages to them. St. Therese in Center is one of our East Texas pilgrimage sites. Bishop Strickland will join the people of the parish on Sunday, October 4, at 11:00 am, for the rededication of the church. Visitors are very welcome to help celebrate this achievement.

The rededication is happening on the same weekend as the annual East Texas Poultry Festival in Center, on October 1-3. Featuring parades, a carnival, arts and crafts, food, a livestock show, dancing and more, it might make for a fun pilgrimage indeed.

In many ways, the story of St. Therese

of Lisieux in Center is the story of the Diocese of Tyler. From humble beginnings, through extraordinary effort and cooperation, great things have been achieved. People from a variety of backgrounds came together to build a church, and they ended up changing their part of the world. In quiet and simple ways, every day, and occasionally with powerful displays of the faith nobody can ignore, Catholics here are building a culture.

“It’s not an organized effort to evangelize our town,” says Tim Wulf. “Everyone just does their part.

The people who know me personally, they understand Catholicism pretty well because I’ve been living it in their midst, and that’s happening in the lives of every Catholic here. As long as Catholics are proud of their faith, live it well, and serve their community, people will come to respect Catholicism.”q Catholic owned! Pineywoods Beverage in Center is ready to supply your needs for any festivities.

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V I S I Ó N H I S PA N A

D

esde el año 1531 las palabras de la Guadalupana, ¿no estoy yo aquí que soy tu madre? resuenan en el corazón de cada hombre y mujer, pues con estas palabras la Madre de Dios quiere mostrar su amparo y consuelo a los que en ella confíen. A través de los siglos, el pueblo hispano ha visto en la “morenita” el refugio anhelado donde puede ir a descansar el corazón y descargar las penas.

La Guadalupana, es para todos nosotros, hispanos inmigrantes en E.U., un aliento, un impulso de fe y una esperanza en la larga lucha por lograr un futuro mejor para nuestras familias. Encontramos, cada vez que pensamos en estas palabras de la Madre de Dios, un destello de luz porque, desafortunadamente en este tiempo presente, la sociedad pone ante nuestros ojos un futuro

habló a San Juan Diego y como a él nos pide ir al Obispo y pedirle que se apiade de nosotros y que nos permita hacer en nuestro corazón y en nuestros hogares un altar en donde podamos pedirle, a la “morenita”, su intercesión y suplicarle que alcance para nosotros de su Hijo Jesús, la gracia de ser buenos cristianos y nos de la seguridad de que somos dignos hijos e hijas de Dios y nos acepte con todo lo que nuestra cultura implica.

Al paso de los años, y por gracia y favor de Dios, los Obispos de esta Diócesis de Tyler han visto a bien, que todos los que queremos a la “morenita” le rindamos honor de una manera especial y la invoquemos con fervor. Por esto, cada año, desde el 2004, se nos convoca como iglesia, a vivir una experiencia especial, uniéndonos como comunidad local - bajo un solo pastor, a

Convocación Mar o9 al 1o octubre

HORA: Viernes 9, de 6:00 p.m. a 8:30 p.m. (Ingles Solamente) Sábado 10, de 9:00 a.m. a 5:00 p.m. (Español Solamente)

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oscuro, nos siembra en el corazón inseguridades y miedos, procura incapacitarnos para salir adelante por nosotros mismos y nos inhabilita a vivir seguros de nuestros talentos y habilidades. La sociedad no anima a los hispanos, moradores de esta tierra, a vivir tranquilamente ni a buscar responsablemente el sueño americano con la esperanza de encontrarlo. Por esto, el inmigrante se refugia en el corazón materno, amoroso y vivo de la Reina del Tepeyac. En este corazón de madre, encontramos tranquilidad, seguridad y aceptación. Ella misma dijo: “Quiero un templo en el cual pueda mostrar todo mi amor, amparo y consuelo a los que me invoquen y en mi confíen”.

Es sabido que, a través de los años, la Virgen de Guadalupe, la misma Madre de Dios, nos habla al corazón así como le

prepararnos, formarnos, y celebrar a la Bienaventurada Virgen María como solo nosotros sabemos hacerlo.

Nuestra cultura hispana es rica en tradiciones, celebra con gran gozo y colorido las fiestas Marianas. La alegría, la música, las danzas y el entusiasmo, sin duda caracterizan nuestra raza y dan impulso a nuestra fe. Igual que cada año cada comunidad parroquial, enviará a sus delegados para que se formen y así puedan preparar la celebración de la Madre de Dios, en diciembre, en las comunidades parroquiales de esta iglesia local.

La religiosidad popular es, sin duda, una forma muy eficaz para evangelizar. Es una herramienta que sirve para proporcionar y facilitar el encuentro de Dios con el hombre. Por esta razón, los Encuentros o

Convocaciones Marianas Guadalupanas, ofrecidas en esta Diócesis, han enriquecido la fe y la devoción de todos los que hemos participado de alguna forma en ellas. No cabe duda, que la “morenita” sale ganando.

Nuestro amor a ella se manifiesta de muchas formas y a pesar de las dificultades que cada uno de nosotros encontramos a nuestro paso, la devoción, a tan excelsa estrella, se fortalece y se anima a través de eventos como estos.

Este año, el 2015, el equipo encargado de organizar la Convocación Guadalupana ha visto a bien, invitar a Monseñor Eduardo Chávez, de México, a venir a nuestra Diócesis y hacer algunas presentaciones sobre la Virgen de Guadalupe. Monseñor Chávez fue asignado, por el Cardenal Norberto Rivera, de México, como cabeza y encargado del comité que investigaría la causa

de una forma tan colorida y especial a la Santa Virgen María, Madre del Verdadero Dios por quien se vive.

Esta Conferencia Mariana Guadalupana, será pues, un evento especial. Esperamos que esta sirva para incitar en el corazón de todos los guadalupanos, e esta región del este de Texas, un deseo más profundo y vivo de vivir de acuerdo al corazón de Cristo. Recordando siempre que María, la Madre de Dios, espera de nosotros una respuesta afirmativa al llamado a la santidad. Y, ¿qué es la santidad? Única y exclusivamente el buscar hacer lo que “Jesús nos diga”. Este es el mandato de la Virgen.

Hacer lo que Jesús nos diga. Ella, la estrella de la Evangelización nos guiará siempre hacia el corazón de su Hijo Jesús. Ella nos mostrará, día a día, el camino seguro para llegar al cielo, Ella nos animará a vivir una

riana Guadalupana TYler, Texas

Lugar: Santuario de Nuestra Señora del Carmen / Iglesia St. Peter Claver de canonización de San Juan Diego. Este siervo fiel de la Guadalupana trae consigo un largo camino de estudios, de servicio y de conocimiento sobre el acontecimiento de Las Apariciones de la Virgen de Guadalupe. Su presencia hará, que la Convocación Mariana Guadalupana, de este año, sea una llena de gracia y bendiciones espirituales para los que sepamos aprovechar esta oportunidad y participemos en ella. Como en buen siervo de la Virgen, en el corazón de Monseñor Chávez late una veneración muy especial a la “morenita” y un amor que se trasluce a través de sus palabras. Siendo Monseñor Chávez un historiador del catolicismo en México, también compartirá con los asistentes sus experiencias de fe y pondrá de manifiesto las razones que tiene el pueblo Mexicano para honrar y venerar

vida de acuerdo al evangelio y a la vez transmitirlo a los demás, no tanto con palabras, sino llevando una vida ejemplar y participando activamente en la vida sacramental de la Iglesia. De nada nos sirve, celebrarla a lo grande cada año… si en nuestra vida diaria no hay signos de que vivimos de acuerdo al amor que decimos tenerle. La verdadera devoción a la “morenita” no es de un día al año sino de día a día y de toda la vida.

Esperamos pues, que la Convocación Mariana Guadalupana de este año, sea una experiencia única y nos anime a todos a vivir auténticamente nuestra fe en Cristo y en su Iglesia y nos anime a ser fieles discípulos del Señor guardando siempre en nuestro corazón las estas palabras de su Madre que también es nuestra: “¿No estoy yo aquí que soy tu Madre?”. q

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V I S I Ó N H I S PA N A 32

El Poder del Santo Rosario

en mi Familia

Por: SRTA. VERONICA LEMUS A través de este medio quiero contarles mi experiencia personal con relación a la oración del Santo Rosario. Mi nombre es Veronica Lemus soy Guatemalteca, de una familia de 7 miembros: mis padres, Alberto y Blanca, cuatro hermanos: Rosemary, Lolys, Rafael, y Edith.

Comenzaré por decirles que, gracias al poder de la oración, el Santo Rosario para ser más específica, mi familia se mantuvo unida cuando mis padres emigraron a Estados Unidos.

En 1984 mis padres enfrentaron una situación económica difícil, mi padre enfermó por lo cual el ingreso económico aminoró para la familia. Esto causó una serie de problemas que agraviaron la situación familiar por lo que, mis padres, decidieron que era necesario que uno de ellos emigrara a este país.

Recuerdo que la noche que nos despedimos de mamá, nos asignaron, una parte del Rosario a cada uno, para que lo rezáramos, y así poder estar unidos a pesar de la distancia.

A los hijos nos tocaron los misterios, uno a cada uno y a mis padres las letanías.

Un año después papá también emigró. Estuvimos 6 meses solos, en Guatemala, hasta que mi abuelita materna vino a vivir con nosotros.

Gracias al rezo del Rosario Dios nos protegió. Estuvimos casi 4 años sin mamá y 2 1/2 años sin padres. Mamá sufría mucho la separación así que decidió regresar a Guatemala. Días después de su llegada mamá se dio cuenta de la triste realidad de nuestro país, Guatemala, ¡y se desesperó! Se decidió mover a toda la familia a los Estados Unidos y reunirnos con mi papá. Mis papás les dieron la opción a las 2 mayores de viajar o quedarse, una de ellas optó por quedarse.

Todo este tiempo seguíamos rezando el Rosario. Mis padres siempre fomentaron y cultivaron nuestra fe. Recuerdo que los más pequeños íbamos a la doctrina, y las mayores al grupo de jóvenes, y cada domingo a misa.

En 1988 cuando la familia emigró a los Estados Unidos, mi madre vendió todo lo que pudo para recaudar fondos para el viaje. Mi Padre, quien vivía en Winona, estaba preparando todo para nuestra llega-

da. Él contaba con el apoyo y oraciones del grupo de oración de la catedral de Tyler.

El viaje fue en autobús. Nos tomó 7 días para llegar a la frontera y en el transcurso nos pasó de todo. Al llegar a la primera frontera de Guatemala con México, era de noche por lo que decidimos irnos al pueblo más cercano y ahí descansar.

Confiando, en la grandeza de Dios, al siguiente día decidimos continuar. Estuvimos transbordando de un autobús a otro y en uno de esos transbordes el autobús no salía hasta el siguiente día y tuvimos que hospedarnos. En la posada donde nos quedamos confunden a mamá con otra persona y, gracias a esto, nos atendieron muy bien. Ahí pudimos quedarnos en una habitación, grande, todos.

Antes de comprar los boletos para irnos el siguiente estado fuimos a comer a una taquería donde las mesas tenían como manteles el mapa de México. Mis hermanos, Lolys y Rafael, estudiaron el mapa y decidieron cambiar la ruta a seguir, en vez de cruzar por el centro de México viajamos por toda la orilla. Al llegar a Tamaulipas nos interceptaron unos policías corruptos quienes le pidieron dinero a mamá para poder dejarnos continuar con nuestro viaje. Nos asustamos mucho. Pero seguíamos rezando el rosario.

Por fin llegamos a la frontera de Reynosa, nos hospedamos en un hotel y esperamos a que papá mandara a las personas que nos ayudarían a llegar a los Estados Unidos.

El rezar el Rosario durante nuestro viaje hasta estar juntos de nuevo nos salvó de muchas adversidades.

Otro acontecimiento que otorgo al rezo del Rosario es que en 1993 mi hermana, la mayor, nos visita para la boda de Rafael y en 1997 decide quedarse aquí y logra nuestra familia nuevamente estar completa.

Desde mi punto de vista, todo de lo que hoy gozamos es gracias al poder del rezo del Rosario que vivió y se sostuvo en el ambiente de mi familia desde nuestra separación en 1984.

En mi experiencia se hacen realidad las palabras del Papa Juan Pablo II en su Carta Apostólica sobre El Rosario De La Virgen Maria no. 41: La Familia que reza unida, permanece unida. “En el rezo del Santo Rosario, Jesús está en el centro, se comparten con El alegrías y dolores, se ponen en sus manos las necesidades y proyectos, se obtienen de él la esperanza y la fuerza para el camino”. o

La Eficacia de la Comunicación en el Matrimonio

Por: Sra. Teresa Vazquez Por experiencia sé que la comunicación en el matrimonio no es fácil, requiere de mucho esfuerzo personal, sacrificios, y de buena disposición de ambas partes. Desde mi experiencia puedo decir que si la pareja dialoga, para comprender y no para criticar, puede ayudar a resolver cualquier situación difícil, que se pueda presentar y al mismo tiempo, ayuda a reconocer lo que puede y debe mejorarse en dichas situaciones.

Algunos de ustedes preguntarán; ¿Qué es la Comunicación? En su libro, En las Buenas y para Siempre, el Padre Robert A. Ruhnke, dice: “La Comunicación en el Matrimonio no es hablar solamente, sino saber compartir, escuchar, aceptar y arriesgarse a crecer más”. Creo que estas palabras no son únicamente verbos, sino que retan a tomar acción.

En una pequeña encuesta realizada con matrimonios de pocos y muchos años, de casados, se hizo esta pregunta: “¿Qué tú crees que es lo más importante para que un matrimonio tenga éxito, perdure y permanezca para siempre? Menciona tres solamente”. Algunas de las respuestas fueron: El amor, el respeto, la comunicación, la confianza, la sinceridad, la ayuda mutua, la paciencia, la tolerancia…

En esta encuesta, se pidió que las personas mencionaran tres cosas, y de esas tres cosas consideraban la comunicación como la más importante. Una vez más se comprueba que la comunicación, en el matrimonio, es un factor importante para que este se mantenga firme hasta el final.

A través de los años uno se da cuenta de

que uno de los problemas más grandes en el matrimonio es precisamente la falta de Comunicación. Se ve como un problema porque la buena Comunicación es un arte. ¿Por qué es tan difícil el dialogo entre las parejas? Preguntan algunas personas. “Somos diferentes y pensamos de manera distinta, esto hace que a pesar de que hablemos el mismo idioma, no nos entendemos del todo bien.” (Cf. Y Después de la Boda… ¿Qué?, María Gómez de Saracho, Capítulo 21) Firmemente creo que si somos conscientes de la constante presencia de Dios, vamos a poder reconocer que con Dios podemos hablar de TODO, de nuestros miedos, de lo que sentimos, pensamos, deseamos, en cualquier momento y circunstancia, buena o mala. Así debe de ser también la relación y la comunicación entre los esposos. La comunicación que tenemos con Dios debe reflejar la comunicación que tenemos con nuestra pareja.

Si no se busca tener un tiempo especial y especifico con Dios, tampoco se buscará tenerlo con el cónyuge. El trabajo, las ocupaciones, los hijos, las diversiones, los pasatiempos, la TV, el celular, y el miedo, entre otros, son un gran obstáculo en el dialogo matrimonial. Si buscamos tiempo para otras cosas, menos importantes, busquémoslo también para la comunicación.

Quiero compartir con ustedes cuatro habilidades claves para lograr una mejor comunicación con la pareja. Estas cuatro habilidades las menciona en su libro, En las Buenas para y Siempre, el Padre Robert A. Ruhnke.

• Habilidad # 1- COMPARTIR:

Aprender a Compartir mis más íntimos pensamientos, sentimientos, temores, esperanzas y sueños, a pesar de mis miedos de poner en evidencia mi vulnerabilidad.

• Habilidad # 2- ESCUCHAR: Aprender a Escuchar este tipo de confidencias con la meta de “Comprender” en lugar de “Juzgar” o de “resolver el problema.”

• Habilidad # 3- ACEPTAR: Aprender a dialogar acerca de cosas que nos hemos arriesgado a compartir mutuamente de una manera que honra (respeta, admira, estima) cada vez más la realidad (verdad) de las personas que estamos llegando a ser.

• Habilidad # 4- ARRIESGARSE A CRECER MÁS: Una relación de amor es un proceso de toda la vida, y crecerá, si nosotros estamos dispuestos a arriesgarnos a compartir la áreas de nuestras vidas que constituyen más reto.

Con Cristo, con la práctica, paciencia y perseverancia, puede hacer que el amor y la comunicación en una pareja crezcan y den los frutos de santidad. “El que permanece en mí y Yo en el ese da mucho fruto.” ( Jn. 15:5) Es muy importante que en esta era tecnológica y de tantas prisas, se haga, como pareja, un “ALTO”, para reflexionar, pensar y meditar; hacer un examen de conciencia matrimonial, a través de preguntas, que cuestionen acerca de cómo vamos el nuestra relación y comunicación conyugal.

“Para Reflexionar Juntos: • ¿En que estamos fallando?

• ¿En qué podemos mejorar?

• ¿Qué cuentas le estamos dando a Dios del Tesoro que un día nos regalo, el Sacramento del Matrimonio?

• ¿Es feliz mi pareja a mi lado?

• ¿Qué ejemplo de vida conyugal le estamos dando a nuestros hijos?”

(Pero Castañera/Fuente: Catholic.net) Construyamos pues, el matrimonio y la comunicación en la roca firme que es Cristo, (Mt. 7:24) Reflejando el amor de Dios a los demás cumpliendo así el propósito del Sacramento del Matrimonio. “En esto reconocerán todos que son mis discípulos, en que se aman unos a otros.” ( Jn. 13:35) o 33

V I S I Ó N H I S PA N A

El Trabajo Responsable

Dignifica y Construye Por: REV. JOSE ROBERTO GOMEZ

¿Quién inventó el trabajo? ¿Es necesario trabajar? Por qué hay que trabajar? Son algunas de las interrogantes que el ser humano se hace constantemente. En el siguiente artículo trataremos de contestar estas y otras interrogantes.

El trabajo es un don que viene de Dios y que además dignifica al ser humano. Trabajar es consecuencia del pecado original pero con repercusiones beneficiosas para la persona siempre y cuando sea 34

realizado según el plan de Dios. La vida sin trabajo conlleva muchas consecuencias nefastas, pues es uno de los grandes males que empobrece al ser humano a tal punto de desarmonizarlo consigo mismo, con los demás e incluso con Dios. Dentro del plan divino está que todo individuo ponga un granito de arena para el perfeccionamiento del medio ambiente en el que vive, esto será posible si su trabajo siempre se encuentra en relación con la doctrina que

el Padre Celestial ha transmitido por medio de los profetas y por último por medio de su propio HIjo Cristo Jesus.

El trabajo es algo muy importante, pues con ello se sostiene la vida de cualquier persona durante su paso por el planeta tierra. No cabe duda que por medio del trabajo logramos las condiciones necesarias para vivir, obteniendo en primer lugar el alimento para subsistir. La pereza es uno de los grandes males que mancha

nuestra existencia ya que nos quita el dinamismo propio que debemos mantener y además es una de las causas de las malas condiciones de vida. Todo lo que no produce se va destruyendo lentamente. Por ejemplo la tierra sin cultivar se va llenando de maleza y de otros árboles no deseados.

Pero la tierra que se cultiva produce lo necesario para la existencia humana.

San Pablo en 1 Tes 2,9 dice claramente: “Recuerden hermanos nuestros trabajos y fatigas. Mientras les predicábamos el Evangelio de Dios, trabajábamos noche y día para no ser carga para ninguno”. San Pablo escribe a la comunidad de Tesalónica estas palabras para hacerles comprender que si no son superficiales en el trabajo serán estimados por todos y no pasarán necesidades.

Jesús nos dejó un ejemplo claro de la importancia del trabajo. Antes de su vida pública estuvo con sus padres en el humilde hogar de Nazareth. Muchas cosas aprendió de ellos; de San Jose, su padre, aprendió el oficio de carpintero, por eso

la gente lo llamará mas tarde el “Hijo del Carpintero”. Colaboró con su esfuerzo a que no faltara lo necesario en su familia.

Con que orgullo sin duda su Padre Jose veía a su hijo Jesus hacer verdaderas obras de arte con la madera, desde cosas muy sencillas, como labrar la madera, hasta elaborar muebles muy finos. Sin lugar a dudas Él siempre estuvo agradecido con su padre por haberle enseñando el valor y la dignidad del trabajo honrado. Es importante que los padres preparen a sus hijos para que a su debido tiempo ellos puedan integrar a su vida el trabajo digno y responsable.

Una de las cosas que debemos analizar con frecuencia es la calidad del trabajo que estamos realizando.

De esta forma nos daremos cuenta si realmente estamos actuando

adecuadamente, con responsabilidad y respeto a nuestras acciones laborales. La satisfacción no hay que buscarla única y exclusivamente en los beneficios materiales, porque esa felicidad es momentánea y pasajera. La mayor alegría surge cuando el resultado de nuestras acciones viene de la responsabilidad, el respeto y el beneficio hacia los demás.

La madurez en una persona se va alcanzando paulatinamente. Cada vez, en nuestra sociedad, va en aumento el número de personas con mucho conocimiento intelectual, éxito económico, deseos de triunfo, etc, pero con mucha inmadurez interior. Estamos llamados a ser perfectos como nuestro Padre Celestial lo es. El trabajo bien ejecutado nos ayuda a lograr esta madurez tanto humana como cristiana a la que todo ser humano debe aspirar.

El trabajo es uno de los medios con el cual estamos contribuyendo al desarrollo de la sociedad. De allí la importancia de saber escoger adecuadamente lo que hacemos, pues todo se nos está permitido pero no todo nos conviene. Hemos sido creados por Dios con el don de la libertad, que es uno de los grandes regalos que hemos recibido, pero no debemos usar nuestra libertad para hacer lo que denigra, destruye y desintegra a los pueblos y al ser humano porque esto ya no es fruto de la libertad sino del libertinaje. Todo lo que hagamos tendrá repercusiones sociales de una o de otra forma. Por eso es importante pensar siempre en qué medida lo que estamos haciendo contribuirá al bien social y no a la deshumanización tanto de la cultura como del propio ser humano. o 35

V I S I Ó N H I S PA N A

Familia Fe Una

LOS BORJA

Por: HNA. ANGELICA OROZCO, EFMS

La familia Borja tiene como su tierra natal los estados de Michoacán y Guerrero, México. Solamente Samantha, la más chica de la familia, nació en Tyler.

Constantino queriendo darles un mejor futuro, a sus hijos, decidió inmigrar a E.U. para poder proveerles mejores oportunidades.

Desde su llegada a esta área del Este de Texas, la familia Borja pertenecía, y pertenece aún, a la parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en Tyler. Cuando los más grandes tenían la edad de poder celebrar sus sacramentos de comunión y confirmación, Constantino y su esposa decidieron inscribirlos en la catequesis.

Comenzaron los niños sus sesiones catequéticas pero Constantino era uno de esos

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padres de familia, que solo traía a los niños al catecismo y luego se iba para regresar a recogerlos más tarde. No se quedaba a las clases de formación en la fe, para adultos, que las Hermanas Marianitas ofrecían.

Para El, eso no era importante y además no tenía tiempo que perder.

Un día, una de las religiosas que trabajaban en esta parroquia, invita a Constantino a ser catequista. Por su puesto, él se asusta pero acepta la invitación.

Comienza pronto su capacitación y desde ese tiempo, hasta la fecha, el Señor Borja participa en el ministerio de la Catequesis enfocándose en el Proceso de Iniciación Cristiana y se esmera en continuar su formación personal para que su servicio sea mejor. Constantino se ha convertido en un verdadero pilar para la parroquia a la que pertenece por su fe y su servicio vol-

con

untario. Por supuesto, para todos sus hijos esto es un verdadero orgullo.

“Al principio, dice María, cuando mi papá comenzó a envolverse en el ministerio parroquial, nos enfadábamos porque se pasaba más tiempo en la parroquia que con nosotros, en nuestro hogar, pero como que uno se acostumbra y ahora vemos eso como una bendición. Ahora, cada uno de nosotros, también tiene un ministerio y ofrece un servicio específico a la comunidad”. ”Yo soy lectora, Alejandro también es lector y canta en el coro cuando puede, José está en el grupo juvenil, y a veces participa del viacrucis, Fátima es la secretaria de la parroquia, por el momento, y participó en ocasiones como servidora del altar, y Samantha es servidora del altar ya por algunos años”.

Por su parte, la Señora Borja, está es-

condidita y calladita, haciendo su ministerio de evangelización en las casas. Utiliza su trabajo para evangelizar y además ofrece todo su apoyo, a su esposo e hijos cuando necesitan que los ayude en cualquier actividad parroquial.

Los Borja se consideran una familia afortunada porque no solo tienen fe sino que la viven. Son una familia que no tiene secretos del uno para con el otro, una familia que a pesar de las dificultades que la vida pueda ofrecer, se mantiene unida y busca la paz del hogar. Esto lo logran porque se respetan, dialogan, se perdonan y se tienen confianza mutua y total.

vadero. Para mí, el ser un hombre de fe, significa que creo firmemente en que Dios tiene un plan para mí, que Él me va indicando, a lo largo de mi vida, su voluntad.

También esta fe me ayuda a tomar buenas decisiones y a entender muchas cosas”.

Con respecto al tema de la fe, para María, la mayor de las hijas de los esposos Borja, todo le es más fácil, todos los problemas se resuelven de una manera más tranquila. “El ser una joven de fe, dijo, me hace sentir bien y me ayuda a dar a Dios lo mejor de mí misma”.

Para cada uno de los miembros de la familia Borja, la fe forma una parte crucial

“Esto lo conseguimos, dice Alejandro, el mayor de todos los hermanos, porque somos seres humanos que se alimentan de una misma fe. Con esta fe todo es más lle-

en sus vidas e influye de una manera especial en sus planes para el futuro. “Para el futuro, dijo Constantino, quiero que mis hijos sigan mis pasos, que san hombres y

mujeres de bien, que sean serviciales de palabra y de obra. Esto para mí sería la mayor satisfacción”.

Por su parte, la Señora Borja aseguró que se siente muy orgullosa de cada uno de sus hijos, que no podría pedirle más a la vida. “Mi consejo, para todos los padres de familia, dijo la Señora Borja, es que lleven a sus hijos a la Iglesia, que les ayuden a buscar a Dios y les permitan hacer un ministerio parroquial. Eso da mucha satisfacción” concluyó.q Nota del Editor: La familia Borja no es una familia diferente a las demás, no es una familia exenta de problemas económicos, familiares o sociales, no es una familia que vive en la abundancia o que se jacte de ser de la realeza. La familia Borja es una familia normal, así como la entiende Dios. Lo que hace a esta familia “única” es la fe con la que cada uno de sus miembros ve la vida y se relaciona con Dios. Lo que se quieren y se respetan y la manera en que se relacionan el uno con el otro es un verdadero ejemplo para muchos de nosotros. Podemos con certeza afirmar que, en esta familia, cada miembro intenta responder personalmente a su llamado a la Santidad y busca estar en paz consigo mismo y con Dios.

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V I S I Ó N H I S PA N A 38

Nota del Editor

HNA. Angelica Orozco, EFMS

Mirar al pasado con gratitud, vivir el presente con pasión y abrazar el futuro con esperanza son los tres objetivos, que el Papa Francisco propuso para celebrar el año de la vida consagrada.

Es verdad que estando algunos de los hombres y mujeres en la vida consagrada sirviendo en esta diócesis de misión, pudiera parecer que estos objetivos son irrealistas. La razón podría ser porque los Institutos religiosos presentes en esta área, son mínimos. Por lo tanto, es comprensible que los objetivos del Papa nos parezcan irrealizables.

Pero ¿Será así? ¿Tendrán acaso sentido estos objetivos? Profundizando al respecto, pienso que estos objetivos son reales y realizables, pues no dependen en modo alguno del número de consagrados presentes en la Diócesis. Sí, es cierto que somos pocos, pero aun siendo pocos nos corresponde “despertar al mundo” en el área de servicio en la que realizamos nuestro apostolado.

Con el primer objetivo, Su Santidad nos exhorta a “recorrer la propia historia”, a la luz de la vida del fundador o fundadora de nuestro respectivo Instituto, y dar gracias por los éxitos al igual que por los fracasos, a aprender a ser agradecidos y vivir confiados en un futuro mejor. Si reflexiona-

mos sobre nuestra realidad, todos tenemos un pasado en cual Dios ha obrado, desarrollaremos nuevas estrategias y métodos para continuar sirviendo misericordiosa y eficazmente a los más necesitados.

La Diócesis de Tyler nos ofrece, a los Consagrados, un reto real y tenemos ante nosotros un sin número de formas de servicio. En esta región la Iglesia Católica se expande y las necesidades aumentan, presentándonos un sin número de oportunidades para que salgamos al encuentro de nuestros hermanos y hermanas más necesitados.

Al hacer esto, hacemos efectivo el segundo objetivo de este año: vivir el presente con pasión… y esto implica dejar el confort, el egoísmo y el aburguesamiento, implica dar todo lo que tenemos, brindar una mano amiga, una sonrisa, un detalle de cariño, etc. Nos exige también hacernos presentes en aquellos ambientes en los cuales nadie quiere ocuparse. Esta Diócesis nos proporciona oportunidades diversas y específicas para hacer realidad este objetivo.

Por último, el Papa nos anima a abrazar el futuro con esperanza, nos reta a ver más allá de nuestra propia percepción, a ser dinámicos y cautivar a las nuevas generaciones con nuestra alegría, invitándolos a seguir al Maestro, no con palabras o in-

venciones sin sentido, sino a través de la propia existencia. Tyler y sus alrededores es una zona en la cual fácilmente podemos encender en los corazones de los jóvenes la inquietud por una vida de servicio a los demás. En esta Diócesis la Iglesia vive la esperanza. Aquí la Iglesia no está sentada, sino que camina y ve hacia el futuro practicando y viviendo una fe en Dios que anima y fortalece.

Hombres y mujeres en la vida consagrada, seamos conscientes que Dios nos ha plantado en esta Diócesis de Tyler con un propósito específico, aprovechemos este año, cada una de las oportunidades que de acuerdo al carisma particular de nuestros Institutos. De esta manera haremos realidad los tres objetivos del Papa para este año, y además, se realizará en nuestras vidas esta afirmación: “Donde hay religiosos hay alegría”. Que nuestra alegría sea, pues, una luz en el camino de todos los que se acercan a nosotros en busca de Dios.

Leamos y reflexionemos profundamente la Carta Apostólica a todos los Consagrados del Papa Francisco, y hagamos cada uno de nosotros de este Año, un Año de Gracia que fructifique en Santidad para gloria de Dios y bien de nuestra Santa Madre Iglesia. q

A new principal for St. Joseph Alexis Rivas walks the school hallways with Christ

By Susan De Matteo

Alexis Rivas, 36, is in his first year as principal of St. Joseph Catholic School in Marshall. The pre-K-4 program has an outstanding academic reputation, but Rivas said it is the school’s Catholic nature that makes it truly special. “Christ is in the students and faculty, he’s in the prayers we pray and the lessons we teach, he’s in everything we do,” he said.

While employed as a bilingual recruiter at Texas A&M University in Commerce, he helped students navigate the often bewildering world of higher education.

As an educator, he taught Spanish and English as a Second Language to high school students. Now, the 36-year-old native of De Kalb is bringing his belief in education to St. Joseph Catholic School in Marshall, where he is in his first year as principal. “I’m very excited to be a part of this school,” he said. “St. Joseph has a long and very important history in Marshall, and I want to continue that and build on it.”

The pre-K-4 boasts an enrollment of more than 70 students and a faculty of 18 teachers and two aides. With its focus on faith, academics and community service, Rivas said the school epitomizes what Catholic education is all about. “Of course, there’s the element of faith,” he said. “We’re here to help students develop their relationship with Christ. We like to say that Jesus and St. Jo-

seph are walking through our hallways.”

The curriculum at St. Joseph’s mixes readin’, writin’ and ’rithmatic with daily prayer, weekly Mass and seasonal liturgical celebrations. “Catholic education produces well-rounded students,” Rivas said. “There are so many elements they draw from, from faith to a focus on academic excellence to involvement in the community.” His own faith has been strengthened by his involvement with the school.

He was born Catholic and raised in St. Mary of the Cenacle Church in New Boston. “I’ve always known that Jesus was with me,” he said. “But here at St. Joseph, I can feel his nearness. He’s in the students and faculty, he’s in the prayers we pray and the lessons we teach, he’s in everything we do.

And that’s what we try to pass on to the kids – Jesus is here with us. He wants us to be closer to him.”

Part of getting closer to Christ is serving others. The school teaches that through

community service. “A sense of service is important,” he said. “It’s a form of learning in itself, and it’s something that textbooks can’t teach. When our fourth-graders help to feed the homeless (in the St. Joseph Parish soup kitchen), it expands their worldview and gives them an experience they wouldn’t otherwise have. We teach our children that involvement in the community is important and that it starts with them.”

His belief the power of education stems from his parents, Cruz and Elizabeth Rivas, who still live in DeKalb. Cruz is retired from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and Elizabeth teaches in the Mount Pleasant school district. Alexis is the middle of their three sons. “My parents are big believers in education,” he said. “They always encouraged us to do our best academically. And there was always the expectation that we would go to college, because they knew that would lead to a better life.”

Rivas attended Texas A&M University in Commerce and received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. After graduating in 2001, he went to work for the university as a bilingual recruiter. “I worked with students under the Noriega Bill, which allowed undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition,” he said. “That was very fulfilling work for me, because I got to see so many students take advantage of this opportunity to improve their lives through education.”

He also worked at the university in the student services division, helping students who were the first in their families to attend college navigate the difficult worlds of financial aid and enrollment requirements, and worked briefly for the Social Security Administration. When the grant for that job ended, he went back to school himself and received his teaching certification. He taught Spanish and ESL for six years in Clarksville, then Spanish for a year at Liberty-Eylau. He was there when he heard about the principal’s position at St. Joseph. He applied and was hired.

“I am excited to be here, and grateful for this opportunity,” he said. “At St. Joseph, I can share my belief in education and my faith, and pass both on to our students. That’s the blessing of Catholic education.”q 39

What makes a book a “Catholic Novel”

and why should Catholics read them?

By Father Matthew Stehling STB

Most Catholics can name some Catholic movies, like The Mission or I Confess. How many can name a Catholic novel? In my experience, not enough. Catholic fictional literature has a long and rich tradition. To put it another way, there are a lot of good Catholic novels out there and you should read them. They can make you a better Catholic.

When we talk about a “Catholic novel,” we aren’t simply talking about a novel written by someone who happens to be Catholic.

We also aren’t talking about a theology textbook which happens to have some characters and plot. What we mean is a work of fiction which is guided by and espouses a Catholic worldview. This may take a very explicit form where the Church, a priest, or the faith is very prominent in the story, or it may be more subtle. Some Catholic novelists can express the beauty and truth of the Catholic faith without ever mentioning the Church or a sacrament explicitly. Catholic novels don’t have to be full of priests, although sometimes they are.

What a Catholic novel must do is make the drama of salvation present to the reader. Salvation is meant to work in real human lives, and a talented novelist can show us the actions of grace in fictional ones, too. For this reason, one common trait that many Catholic novels share is that someone important dies in the end. The drama of salvation is not complete in a human life until death, and so many Catholic novelists show us the final act. This allows us to see how all of the events in the story contribute to the final state of a soul.

I recommend to you Catholic author Graham Greene, born in 1904. He was a convert to the Catholic faith. He was baptized at the age of 22 and led a tumultuous life. He suffered from bipolar disorder, attempted suicide as a youth, and had adulterous affairs. He was also hailed as the greatest British novelist of his generation and narrowly missed a Nobel Prize for literature. He obviously struggled and often failed to follow the teachings of the Church, but he left us a legacy of writing from a very Catholic viewpoint. Greene was prolific, writing 24 novels as well as stories, articles, and essays. Many of his books have been made into movies. Greene wrote four Catholic novels: Brighton Rock (1938), The Power and the Glory (1940), The Heart of the Matter (1948), and The End of the Affair (1951). All four are important works an adult Catholic should consider reading.

Spoilers ahead!

The Power and the Glory (1940) The Power and the Glory is the second of Greene’s Catholic novels and takes place in Mexico during the late 1930’s, during political unrest and Marxist persecution of the Catholic Church. Many Churches were closed or destroyed, and many priests and laymen were exiled or killed for practicing the faith. The story centers around an unnamed “whiskey priest” who is moving secretly from village to village administering the sacraments and saying Mass for the faithful. The priest is pursued by a young Marxist police lieutenant who is very anti-clerical. While trying to board a boat to safety, the priest hears of a young Indian woman who is dying several miles away. He decides to abandon his escape so that he may annoint the woman.

Cut off from escape, he travels inland with the police in pursuit. As he travels we discover many of his past failings and the depth of his alcoholism. He also dreads pain and is constantly afraid, and we also discover that in a moment of weakness the priest broke his vows and 40

fathered a child. Despite his failings and self-doubt he continues to travel from village to village offering Mass and celebrating the Sacraments, not to be a martyr but because does not know what else to do.

In his journeying he comes to the village where his mistress and child live, and stays with them offering Mass for the villagers.

The police catch up with him but he escapes with the help of his illicit family. Hoping to turn the villagers against the priest, the police begin taking hostages from the surrounding villages and shooting them when the priest does not come out of hiding.

The priest does not surrender but flees. He is finally captured when he comes to administer last rites to a dying man and the police are waiting there for him. He is tried for treason and sentenced to be shot. The final scenes play out as the priest waits for the firing squad.

Greene offers the reader a deep understanding of the human nature of the priesthood.

Certainly, the priest in The Power and the Glory is deeply flawed. He is cowardly at many points in his journey, he has fathered a child and he drinks uncontrollably, but he still feels a deep desire to offer the sacraments to those whom he encounters. He doubts very strongly his own salvation, taking an unmerciful view of his own sins, even saying, “My children, you must never think the holy martyrs are like me. . . I am a whiskey priest.” Consistently, though, he puts his own life in danger to convey God’s grace to the people. Greene’s whiskey priest is a martyr, but not a glorious one.

The saintliness of the priest comes through in his humanity. It comes through in his love of the real people - the poor, the dying, and the innocent. This is in stark contrast to the Marxist lieutenant who will kill any individual person to achieve his higher political goals.

The Power and the Glory, for its stark portrayal of the flawed alcoholic priest, was controversial when it was published, but has become a much loved and recommended Catholic novel. I recommend it to adult readers.

The End of the Affair (1951) In 1951 Greene published The End of the Affair, a semi-autobiographical novel set in wartime England. The story follows Maurice Bendrix, a novelist, and the affair that takes place between him and Sarah Miles. Sarah is the wife of a low level government employee, Henry Miles. After the secret lovers narrowly escape death from a bomb blast, Sarah breaks off their adulterous affair. Bendrix remains obsessed with Sarah and refuses to leave her alone. He inserts himself into her life and becomes friends with Henry.

Henry confides in Bendrix that he thinks Sarah is having an affair. Bendrix presumes this means she has taken a new lover, and that she left him for this man. Bendrix hires a private investigator,

ostensibly to help Henry, but really to satisfy his own jealous curiosity.

The investigator steals Sarah’s diary and Bendrix reads that Sarah had prayed to God to save his life during the bomb blast and had promised to end their adultery if Bendrix lived, which she did.

Bendrix interprets this to mean that she still loves him and he can win her back, and he attempts to re-kindle the romance. He pursues her and she avoids him, finally running out into a cold rain to separate herself from him.

Freezing, miserable and sick with pneumonia which will shortly kill her, she seeks refuge in a Catholic Church. Bendrix catches her there, and sits with her.

What follows is one of the most poignant scenes in Catholic literature. Bendrix thinks that he has won the girl, and that Sarah will soon be with him. The reader begins to see that the “other man” in her life is really God, and because she is deathly ill, it is God she will soon be with. Sarah was forced to choose between Bendrix, her earthly love, and God, her divine love. By resisting the earthly love affair, she was choosing God. Eight days later Sarah dies of her pneumonia.

In their shared grief, Bendrix and Henry become closer. A priest Sarah had been meeting with informs them that she wanted a Catholic funeral, but Bendrix, angry that Sarah chose God over him, pushes for a non-religious service. After the funeral, Bendrix meets Sarah’s mother. She reveals that Sarah had been secretly baptized a

Catholic at the age of two and so had in fact been Catholic all her life. At the end of the novel, Bendrix has admitted the existence of God, but feels only jealousy and hatred, and tells Henry he just wants God to leave him alone.

The End of the Affair is such a great example of a Catholic novel because of the implicit search for God that underlies all of the sin. The marriage between Sarah and Henry is not idyllic, and a great many sins are portrayed in the telling of the story, but in the middle of the sin is a sinner looking for God. The End of the Affair could be called Augustinian in nature. Greene gives his own accounting of what St. Augustine wrote about in his Confessions, the search to understand and encounter the love of God, the deepest of all loves.

Sarah begins a spiritual journey and conversion, finally seeing the relationship and the great love she had for Bendrix as a preparation for the even deeper love that she begins experiencing for God. In the end, however, a choice must be made. One can embrace God’s love, or reject it. We see both in The End of the Affair. I recommend it for adult readers.

For Greene, the Faith is not merely a nice fairy tale. It is real and requires a commitment. His novels are about flawed characters who ultimately realize that the greatest thing in life is to become a saint, to strive for salvation. Their lives, like most real human lives, are messy. What makes these great Catholic novels are the moments of grace that enter the lives of the characters. When we read these stories, we find ourselves hoping each character will see what is right in front of them, and make the right choice. What better preparation can there be for seeing what is right in front of us? Our lives are stories, too, albeit true ones. We are sinners, caught up in our own affairs, with our own weaknesses, addictions, and fears. God is offering each one of us redemption, and just like a character in a novel, a great cloud of witnesses is silently rooting for us, praying for us, that we make the right choice. Read a Catholic novel. q

Paul VI

was

RIGHT

47 years ago, blessed Pope Paul VI Made some bold predictions in his famous encyclical, Humane Vitae.

Constitutional attorney bruce green counts the ways the pope’s warnings have come true, and explains how it all affects the united states.

Blessed Pope Paul VI, famous for his encyclical Humanae Vitae, which reaffirmed the Church’s ban on artificial contraception, would not have been surprised at the recent United States Supreme Court ruling (Obergefell v. Hodges) that there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. He warned the world in 1968, in fact, of the grave dangers of placing power into the hands of public authorities who care little for the moral law to make decisions that can only be rightly decided by respecting human nature and the moral law.

America did not heed the warning and now by the barest of majorities, the Supreme Court has given legal protection to what is manifestly contrary to nature. Members of the Court’s minority expressed their dissent from the decision with unprecedented candor.

Justice Scalia said the majority opinion is “lacking even a thin veneer of law.” Chief Justice Roberts called the decision “an act of will, not legal judgment” with “no basis in the Constitution or this court’s 42

precedent.” And Justice Alito noted, “[t]oday’s decision shows that decades of attempts to restrain this Court’s abuse of its authority have failed.”

But, was this disturbing result really that hard to predict? And, was Chief Justice Roberts correct that the Obergefell decision has no basis in the Supreme Court’s precedent? Sadly, the answer to both of these questions is, “no.” When I was a young constitutional attorney in the early 1990s, it first occurred to me that same-sex marriage might be legally inevitable. I had just completed a reading of the Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut, the 1965 decision that legalized contraceptives for married couples. I knew the Court claimed to discover in Griswold, for the first time, a right of privacy, not in the words of the Constitution, but in the outer edges of the shadows of rights actually mentioned in the constitution. But, what really hit home was the fact that, in a profound break with American law and history, the Court recognized, for the first time, the constitutional right not to procreate in marriage. Previous court decisions acknowledged, often without explicitly stating, the natural law reality that marriage is necessarily ordered toward the birth of children. Prior to Griswold, it was unheard of that a person would have a legal “right” to enter into a marriage intending to prevent the birth of children.

It suddenly seemed likely to me that this mystical constitutional “right of privacy” united to the idea that a marriage was not

he warned the world in 1968 of the grave dangers ofplacing power into the hands of public authorities who care little for the moral law. naturally ordered toward procreation would one day result in the legalization of same-sex marriage. When I read Eisenstadt v. Baird, decided by the Supreme Court six years after Griswold, it seemed certain. In Eisenstadt, the Court again appealed to the “right of privacy” it discovered in Griswold and held that “[i]f the right of privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted government intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child.” A year later, the Supreme Court used the same privacy reasoning to discover the right to abortion in Roe v. Wade. And, in 2003, the Court summoned the “right of privacy” again to discover a right to sodomy in Lawrence v. Texas. In less than half a century, the Supreme Court embraced and legalized an understanding of marriage, advanced for some time in popular culture—that marriage is about self-fulfillment—protected from any government intrusion.

This was a consequence of the popular belief that sex itself is about self-fulfillment. Once such popular beliefs became common in the culture and enshrined in law, there were no logical limitations on where that might lead.

The legalization of same-sex marriage was, in fact, predictable, if not inevitable, by the time Paul VI penned his magisterial affirmation of the Church’s teaching against contraception in the 1968 encyclical, Humanae Vitae. The Pope didn’t practice American constitutional law and, quite likely, he never read Griswold v. Connecticut. But, Pope Paul VI well knew that human sexuality, by its very nature, is ordered to marriage, the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of children. In Humanae Vitae, he affirmed the Christian understanding, in no uncertain terms, that for the good of spouses and the procreation of children, artificial meth-

ods of birth control should not be used. In fact, as he made clear, the use of contraception would undermine marriage and be harmful to the couples on a personal and spiritual level. He prophetically warned that contraception would lead to a general lowering of moral standards throughout society, a rise in infidelity, a lessening of respect for women by men, and the coercive use of reproductive technologies by governments.

Paul VI’s warnings were prophetic and heroic in the face of a rapidly secularizing society, but they were not new. Prior to Humanae Vitae, Pope Pius XI in his 1930 encyclical Casti Connubii (On Chris-

Once such popular beliefs became common in the culture and enshrined in law, there were no logical limitations on where that might lead. tian Marriage) also read the signs of the times and addressed the sanctity of marriage and the family, particularly noting the danger of contraception. Citing St. Augustine, Pius XI identified the first and primary blessing of marriage as the procreation of children. He stated that those who deliberately frustrate the begetting of children in marriage “sin against nature and commit a deed which is shameful and intrinsically vicious.” He demonstrated the Church’s ancient and uninterrupted teaching by quoting St. Augustine: “Intercourse even with one’s legitimate wife is unlawful and wicked where the conception of the offspring is prevented.” These are strong words, but Pius XI and Paul VI, acting as caring pastors, sought to convey to the faithful that any frustration of the life-generating potential in the conjugal act is destructive of marriage. In fact, to intentionally obstruct the ability to have children in marriage results in the loss of marriage itself. The Church has warned us of this since its founding.

The Church has also been clear that the contraceptive mentality harms individuals. Saint John Paul II, in his writings on love and sexuality, shared the concern of Blessed Paul VI—that contraception would lessen respect for women by men. Interestingly, Paul VI is reported to have been reading John Paul II’s first major work on human sexuality, Love and Responsibility, as he wrote Humanae Vitae.

Saint John Paul II emphasized that the inherent dignity of the human person means that he or she is never to be treated as an object.

In short, people must never use one another for self-fulfillment, or any other purpose. It undermines human dignity by converting a person to a mere object for our own gratification.

St. Augustine, Pius XI, Blessed Paul VI and Saint John Paul II were trying to help us understand that what makes sexuality and marriage special and unique is not, in the words of Fr. Cormac Burke, “the sharing of a sensation, but the sharing of a power”—the extraordinary ability for exclusive and mutual self-donation in every way, the proof of which is the sharing of the unique power to create new life. The Church has never taught that a married couple must attempt to have as many children as possible, or that it is wrong to limit family size for appropriate reasons. Rather, the Church teaches that in this unique relationship of marriage, a couple must truly be open to procreation, to having children. And, the Church has made it clear that being “open” to procreation does not mean wanting a child now. It means that the couples may not cease being open to children except for grave reasons and they may never frustrate the natural outcome of the conjugal act through the use of contraceptives. In

short, married couples should never intentionally close out the possibility of having a child.

None of this changes what happened recently in the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision. But, that case, and those leading to it, form the disturbing history that has proven Paul VI right.

The teaching against contraception, which until 1930 was universal among Christian groups, was always that it is harmful to individuals, couples and families. The contraceptive mentality, and its corresponding obsession with individual autonomy and self-fulfillment, undermined human sexuality, marriage and the family, and will soon threaten religious liberty.

It is not new that, discarding God’s plan and the natural order of things, two people might engage in immorality. It is new that, discarding reason, nature, and the rule of law, a majority of members of the highest court in the land, in a series of decisions establishing a constitutional “privacy right” to sex entirely disconnected from procreation and marriage, has led us to the legalization of marriage between persons of the same-sex. This second fact is far more shocking and harmful than the first because, while the first shows a lack of morality; the second fact shows a lack of knowledge of morality.

Pope Leo XIII’s concern, expressed in 1880, has become reality: “[b] ut, now, there is a spreading wish to supplant natural and divine law by human law; and hence has begun a gradual extinction of that most excellent ideal of marriage which nature herself had impressed on the soul of man, and sealed, as it were, with her own seal; nay, more, even in Christian marriages this power, productive of so great good, has been weakened by the sinfulness of man.”

What can be done? First, we must face the facts of contemporary American culture. It is not possible to overstate the broad and damaging ramifications of decades of what Paul VI warned against:

43

“placing power into the hands of public authorities who care little for the moral law.” The broader culture has been lost to a secular ideology. But we can still strengthen and preserve a Christian culture in our families, our communities and our Church. Second, we must consciously seek the truth. It is of the utmost importance that we should be well instructed concerning the nature and meaning of authentic human sexuality and marriage, not superficially but often and fully, so that the truth will strike our intellects and pierce our hearts.

Third, we must not retreat from the broader culture, but we must learn and implement new means of evangelizing a post-Christian world. And, finally, it is fitting to remind ourselves of Blessed Paul VI’s words of admonishment and encouragement shortly after the publication of Humanae Vitae: “Do not therefore let yourselves be led astray by the temptations, difficulties, and trials that arise along the way. Do not be afraid, when necessary, to go against the tide of thought and opinion of a world ruled by paganized standards of behavior. St. Paul warns us: ‘Do not conform yourselves to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your spirit.’” q -Bruce W. Green, ThM, JD, is a former constitutional lawyer, law school dean and law professor. He moved to Texas in 2008, along with his wife and adult children and grandchildren, and now practices law in East Texas. He is also the president of Austin Hall (www.austinhall.net), a religious and educational 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that exists to facilitate scholarly research in theology, law and philosophy, and to provide resources and education to lay Christians from the perspective of a comprehensively Catholic worldview. He may be contacted at bwglegal@ suddenlink.net.

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Coming in the November-December 2015 issue of the Catholic East Texas Magazine…

The Year of Mercy

Pope Francis has declared a Jubilee Year of Mercy for the Universal Church which will run from December 8, 2015 to November 20, 2016. Centering on the theme Merciful like the Father, the Pope has asked that we use this time to “gaze even more attentively on mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father’s action in our lives.”

The November-December issue of the CET Magazine will examine the many different ways in which mercy is at the very foundation of the Church’s life, and how we can join in this important and historic event for the Church.

In Rome and At Home: How the Year of Mercy Will be Celebrated in the Diocese of Tyler Pope Francis has specifically asked the dioceses of the world to play a special part in the Year of Mercy. We’ll look at some of the opportunities for the faithful of East Texas to actively participate in this time of grace and spiritual renewal.

Confession: The Father’s Embrace of the Repentant God’s mercy manifests itself in a dramatic way in the Sacrament of Reconciliation where we recognize that His mercy is always greater than our sins. We’ll examine the scriptural basis, history, and practice of this sacrament.

Medicine of Mercy: The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick Through sacramental anointing by a priest, special graces are conferred on those who are gravely ill. We’ll discuss the teaching and practice of the Church regarding this sacrament which brings the Lord’s love and mercy to those who are suffering.

Everyday Mercy: The Corporal and Spiritual Works The Corporal Works of Mercy are those kind acts by which we help our neighbors with their material and physical needs. The Spiritual Works of Mercy are acts of compassion by which we help our neighbors with their emotional and spiritual needs. This article will examine how we can perform these actions to extend God’s compassion and mercy to those in need.

Mercy Is the Heart of the Law While some may consider the Catholic Church to have “too many rules,” the supreme law of the Church is the salvation of souls. This article will look at how mercy is the necessary hermeneutic to interpret the Church’s laws and precepts.

Watch for the next issue in your mailbox in early November!

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Urbi et Orbi

News from Rome and the Universal Church with Executive Editor Peyton Low

Schedule of Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S. Sept. 22 – Washington, D.C.: Arrival at Joint Base Andrews Sept. 23 – Washington, D.C.: White House Welcoming Ceremony and meeting with President Obama; Midday Prayer with U.S. Bishops, Canonization of Blessed Junipero Serra at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Sept. 24 – Washington, D.C./New York City: Address to Joint Session of Congress, Visit to various D.C. locations, Evening Prayer at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, NYC. Sept. 25 – New York City: Address to UN General Assembly, 9/11 Memorial visit and Prayer Service, Visit to Harlem, Mass at Madison Square Garden.

Sept. 26 – Philadelphia: Mass at Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter & Paul, Visit to Independence Mall, Visit and Prayer Vigil with World Meeting of Families.

Sept. 27 – Meeting with U.S. Bishops at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Visit to Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, Papal Mass for World Meeting of Families, Departure for Rome.

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Pope Francis’ Visit to the U.S. From September 22-27, Pope Francis will make his first Apostolic Journey to the United States. He becomes the fourth pope to visit the U.S. and visit marks the 10th time a Pontiff has been on American soil. Previous visits include Pope Benedict XVI (2008), Pope John Paul II (1999, 1995, 1993, 1987, 1984, 1981 and 1979) and Pope Paul VI (1965).

The trip will offer American Catholics a chance to hear from Pope Francis directly, without the media filter than often selectively quotes the Pope or ignores the true meaning of his message altogether. Live coverage of almost all papal events will be available on EWTN. Canonization of Junipero Serra History will be made when Pope Francis canonizes Blessed Junipero Serra during the Papal Mass on Sept. 23 in Washington, D.C. This will mark the first time that a Pope has canonized a saint on U.S. soil. Serra, a Spanish Franciscan priest born in 1713, served as a missionary priest in Puerto Rico and Mexico before moving into what is today southern California and founding nine missions, beginning with San Diego. His work has been criticized by some Native American groups for being destructive of their culture, but Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles defended Serra’s ministry, “The historical record confirms what Pope Francis believes: that Blessed Junipero Serra was a man of heroic virtue and holiness who had only one burning ambition – to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the peoples of the New World.”

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1988.

World Meeting of Families Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S. is scheduled around the World Meeting of Families, which takes place Sept. 22-27 in Philadelphia. Pope John Paul II, hailed as the Pope of the Family, created the World Meeting of Families in 1994 in Rome to explore the critical role the family plays in society and to give families opportunities to talk about the challenges and blessings that all families have. Since its inception, the event has grown into the world’s larg-

est family gathering, bringing together families from all over the world in faith and celebration. The meeting is held every three years, with the last occurring in 2012 in Milan, Italy.

As pope, Francis has reserved some of his most frank statements for the topic of marriage and family, including his comments during a January 2015 visit to the Philippines: “Sexuality, marriage and the family realities are increasingly under attack from powerful forces which threaten to disfigure God’s plan for creation and betray the very values which have inspired and shaped all that is best in your culture,” Francis said. “God calls upon us to recognize the dangers threatening our own families and to protect them from harm. We must be attentive to the new ideological colonization.”

Synod on the Family Almost as soon as he returns to Rome from the U.S., Pope Francis will convene the Ordinary Synod of Bishops to discuss “the crisis” facing families around the world. The Extraordinary Synod met in October of 2014 to set the agenda for this October’s meeting which is the larger and more important of the two gatherings of cardinals, bishops and lay people organized to consider the challenges of the family, discern the family’s vocation, and reflect on the family’s mission.

Pope Francis has called for prayer in advance of the October Synod. “The Church will celebrate the Ordinary Synod devoted to the family, deepen her spiritual discernment and consider concrete solutions to the many difficult and significant challenges facing families in our time,” the Pope said on July 6 in Ecuador.

There was no little confusion or controversy at last year’s Extraordinary Synod when much of the good preparatory work done at the meeting was overshadowed in the media as a small group of mostly German prelates, led by Cardinal Walter Kaspar, suggested that Communion might be given in certain cases to those who have divorced and subsequently civilly remarried without having obtained a decree of nullity of their first marriage. This led to an unusual public back-and-forth between two groups of Cardinals: those

defending the Church’s rich teachings on marriage based on Christ’s words in Scripture, and those who favor updating Church teaching and practice for modern times.

The bishop delegation from the United States includes Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz (Louisville, USCCB Presi-

The Texas Catholic Conference will co-host a policy conference entitled Journey to Mercy: Rethinking the Death Penalty in Texas on Oct. 23 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the State Capitol in Austin.

The conference precedes a Capitol march and rally sponsored by the Catholic Mobilizing Network on Saturday, October 24

THE ROME EXPERIENCE: Diocese of Tyler seminarians Hector Arvizu (left) and Roselio Fuentes (right) are pictured with Cardinal Raymond Burke, Cardinal Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, during a recent trip to Rome. Along with a group of other seminarians from across the U.S., Arvizu and Fuentes spent almost six weeks this summer praying and learning at some of the holy and historically significant sites of Christianity, including the Shrine of St. John Vianney in Ars, France, the major basilicas of Rome, the Catacombs, and many more. dent), Cardinal Daniel DiNardo (Galveston-Houston, USCCB Vice President), Archbishop Jose Gomez (Los Angeles), and Archbishop Charles Chaput (Philadelphia). Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone (San Francisco) and Archbishop Blase Cupich (Chicago) have been named as alternates.

After the October Synod, which will last from Oct. 4-25, it could be expected for Pope Francis to issue a substantive document, called a post-synodal apostolic exhortation, which takes up the themes of the Synod and deepens them further.

The most recent Synod of Bishops on the theme of the family took place in 1980.

Pope St. John Paul II’s 1981 apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio, on the role of the Christian family in the modern world, was written at the request of that Synod’s Fathers.

Texas Catholic Conference to Discuss Death Penalty

from St. Austin’s Catholic Church to the Texas Capitol.

While the death penalty is supported by more than 70% of Texans (Texas Tribune, May 2012), the position of the Catholic Church is that the death penalty should be used by the state only in the most extreme circumstances when, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, it is “the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against an unjust aggressor” (CCC 2267).

On this topic, Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, chair of the U.S. Bishop’s Committee on Domestic Justice, recently wrote, “Our faith tradition offers a unique perspective on crime and punishment, one grounded in mercy and healing, not punishment for its own sake. No matter how heinous the crime, if society can protect itself without ending a human life, it should do so. Today, we have this capability.”q 47

Learning the Sacred Liturgy Understanding the Mass with Father Nolan Lowry

Have you ever noticed what happens at the altar after everyone receives Holy Communion? From the viewpoint of people in the pews, it might be described as Father (or Deacon) “doing the dishes.” Sometimes this can take a long time, especially when the Blood of Christ has been distributed using several vessels. You might be wondering why this process is so slow, and why the ministers have to be so careful. The answers to these questions are related to our Catholic belief in the Eucharist: that at Mass, the bread and the wine really and truly become the living Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

Last month, we continued to hear in the gospel readings on Sundays from John 6:22-59 called the “Bread of Life Dis-

(CCC 1374). This means that at every Mass, when the priest says the words of consecration, “This is my Body. . . This is my Blood,” the bread and the wine really become the living presence of Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is not a symbol; it is not simply a ‘spiritual’ presence of Christ; nor is it merely ‘remembering’ what Jesus did for us. Rather, the bread and the wine after the consecration actually are the substance of the same Lord who walked this earth 2,000 years ago: Who taught and healed, Who was crucified, died, and raised on the third day, and Who is now seated at the right-hand of the Father. The Eucharist literally is Jesus Christ-His Real Presence-and that is why the ministers at the altar have to be so careful in how they handle

has been consumed (GIRM 120). When visible particles of the Eucharist adhere to the fingers of the minister, a server or deacon may pour water over the fingers into the chalice (GIRM 237). Water is always used to purify the chalice so that particles of the Eucharist and remnants of the precious Blood are consumed by the minister. Before consuming the water that has enveloped the remaining Eucharist, the minister says silently, “What has passed our lips as food, O Lord, may we possess in purity of heart, that what has been given to us in time may be our healing for eternity” (Roman Missal, 137). After the minister drinks this water mixed with the Eucharist, he uses a purificator to wipe and dry the chalice. This must

The Eucharist literally is Jesus Christ-His Real Presence-and that is why the ministers at the altar have to be so careful in how they handle His Body and Blood. course.” In this part of John’s Gospel, Jesus is explaining how the manna that God gave at the request of Moses is but a preview of the bread with which He wants to feed His disciples. Our Lord then defines, not what, but Who this bread is: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” ( Jn 6:51). This was a pretty shocking statement from Jesus of Nazareth, so just in case His hearers interpreted Him only symbolically, He spoke to them in even clearer terms: “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” ( Jn 6:55-56). Many of Jesus’ disciples were scandalized at this teaching and ceased following Him ( Jn 6:66). However, for the apostles who remained with Jesus, this “Bread of Life” discourse would be fulfilled at the Institution of the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday (Mt 26:26-27; Lk 22:19).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist ‘the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained’” 48

His Body and Blood.

“The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ” (CCC 1377). After distributing Holy Communion, the priest or deacon reposes the vessel (ciborium) in the tabernacle containing the consecrated hosts that are left over. The Eucharist is kept in reserve in the tabernacle so that the faithful can adore Christ outside of Mass and also so that Communion may be brought to the sick and homebound. The ministers at the altar consume any of the precious Blood remaining.

It is never poured down the sacristy sink, because this would contradict our belief that it contains Jesus’ Real Presence (Redemptionis Sacramentum, 107).

Ordinarily, priests or deacons carry out the purification of the sacred vessels, although an instituted acolyte may also assist in these delicate tasks. Using a purificator or his fingers, the minister carefully pushes particles of the Eucharist from the paten into the chalice from which the precious Blood

be done gently and patiently for two reasons: first, because the objective is to assure that all of Christ’s presence has been consumed and cleaned reverently; and second, so that the finish of the vessels, which is often gold or another precious metal, is not scratched or damaged.

During the lengthy process of purifying the vessels, it can be a distraction to focus too much on what is happening at the altar.

Closing your eyes, saying prayers of thanksgiving for Jesus’ Real Presence within you, and praying for the graces you need in your state in life or for those whom you love are ways to pass the time spiritually. The brief time after receiving Holy Communion is the most personal time you will have with Jesus, so spend it with Him wisely and prayerfully.

The goal of receiving Jesus in the Eucharist is that He may change us into Himself, so that we might bring His presence to the world, and that we might recognize Him in our brothers and sisters. In your prayer after Communion, ask the Lord Jesus to make you the vessel of His love and mercy that He is calling you to be.q Father Nolan Lowry, STL is pastor of St. Edward Catholic Church in Athens, and is a member of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission.

“Let us say

YES

to life.”

“All of us must care for life, cherish life, with tenderness, warmth…to give life is to open our heart, and to care for life is to give oneself in tenderness and warmth for others, to have concern in my heart for others. Caring for life from the beginning to the end. What a simple thing, what a beautiful thing. So, go forth and don’t be discouraged. Care for life. It’s worth it.”

- Pope Francis

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