Jan. 31, 2014

January 31, 2014

catholicnewsherald.com charlottediocese.org S E RV I N G C H R I ST A N D C O N N EC T I N G C AT H O L I C S I N W E ST E R N N O R T H C A R O L I N A

2014 Marian Congress in Kannapolis Rwandan genocide survivor, international Catholic praise musician among those to be featured,

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INDEX Contact us.......................... 4 Events calendar................. 4 Our Faith............................. 2 Our Parishes................. 3-11 Scripture readings............ 2 TV & Movies.......................12 U.S. news..................... 22-23 Viewpoints.................. 26-27 World news................. 24-25

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‘No sacrifice too great’ Thousands brave cold temps in Washington, D.C., for the national March for Life,

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Two amazing athletes Bishop McGuinness cancer survivor hits 50-foot shot, makes national news,

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Top-ranked swimmer credits faith, Catholic school for her success,

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‘Bring Lent to Life’ for your families, parishes, schools As the Rice Bowl collection nears, read how local CRS mini-grants help the poor,

‘Wonderful gift of love’ 14-15

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24 stained-glass windows installed in Monroe’s Our Lady of Lourdes Church,

Our faith 2

catholicnewsherald.com | January 31, 2014 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Presentation of the Lord Feast day: Feb. 2 Pope Francis

Make sure your children are confirmed Many Catholic parents go to great lengths to ensure their children are baptized, and they must make similar efforts to see that their children are confirmed, Pope Francis said.

Without confirmation, he said, young people will remain “halfway” on the path of Christian maturity and membership in the Church.

Confirmation “unites us more solidly to Christ. It completes our bond with the Church,” Pope Francis said Jan. 29 at his weekly general audience.

The sacrament “gives us the special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith, to confess the name of Christ and to never be ashamed of His cross,” the pope said.

Confirmation solidifies and increases the grace given at baptism, “which is why it’s important to make sure our children and young people receive this sacrament. We all make sure that our children are baptized, which is good, but perhaps we’re not quite so diligent in making sure they are confirmed.”

“If you have a child or young person at home who hasn’t been confirmed and is the right age to receive the sacrament, do everything possible to make sure it happens,” he said.

Especially for those who were baptized as infants, the pope said, confirmation is a time to affirm one’s personal decision to follow Christ and to be a member of His Church.

Pope Francis told the crowd, estimated by the Vatican at about 25,000 people, that the Holy Spirit, “so important for the Christian life,” is given to believers in a special way through confirmation.

The Bible and Catholic tradition speak of seven specific gifts of the Holy Spirit, the pope said, but he promised not to give the crowd a pop quiz by asking people to list them.

Instead, he gave the answers: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.

Through the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis said, “Christ Himself is present in us and takes form in our lives. Through us, He is the one – listen carefully – He is the one who prays, forgives, spreads hope and consolation, serves our brothers and sisters, draws close to the needy and the least, creates unity and sows peace.”

On Feb. 2 the Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which occurs 40 days after the birth of Jesus and is also known as Candlemas, since the blessing and procession of candles is included in the day’s liturgy.

The feast was first observed in the Eastern Church as “The Encounter.” In the sixth century, it began to be observed in the West: in Rome with a more penitential character and in Gaul (France) with solemn blessings and processions of candles, symbolizing Christ as the light of the nations – hence the name “Candlemas.” The Presentation of the Lord concludes the celebration of the Nativity and with the offerings of the Virgin Mother and the prophecy of Simeon, so the feast points toward Easter.

In the Canticle of Simeon (also known as “Nunc Dimittis,” for the first two words of the prayer in Latin), Simeon prays, “Now dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, in peace, according to Thy word: For mine own eyes hath seen Thy salvation, Which Thou hast prepared in the sight of all the peoples, A light to reveal Thee to the nations and the glory of Thy people Israel.”

The day’s first reading gives an important insight to understand profoundly the mystery of the Lord’s Presentation in the Temple by Mary and Joseph, in accordance with the canons of Mosaic Law. The text, taken from the Prophet Malachi, says, “I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; and suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord who you seek” (Mal 3:1). From all the Gospels, we know that it is the Precursor, St. John the Baptist, who was born six months before Jesus, that God sent to prepare His way. Putting these evangelical facts together, we can comprehend the words of the Prophet Malachi. The Lord God promised He would send a Precursor to prepare His way. Since there are only six months between the birth of St John the Baptist and Jesus, it is clear that the prophecy meant that suddenly after the Precursor, the Lord Did you Himself will come. So, soon after the Baptist’s know that bees birth, God entered His temple. Jesus’ are connected presentation signifies God’s entrance into His to Candlemas? temple – another epiphany. God made man Read Chris entered His temple, presenting Himself to Lauer’s those who were really searching for Him. commentary on Today’s Gospel introduces different people page 27. and events that in themselves provide numerous themes for reflection. First of all, Mary and Joseph respect the Mosaic Law by offering the sacrifice prescribed for the poor: a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

Simeon and Anna were two venerable, elderly people dedicated to prayer and fasting, so their strong religious spirit rendered them able to recognize the Messiah. In this sense we can see in the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple an extension of the “Pro Orantibus Day” (“For those who pray”) celebrated on the feast of the Presentation of Mary (Nov. 21).

In the figure of the venerable Simeon, Jesus’ presentation in the temple also reminds us that prayer and contemplation are not just a waste of time or an obstacle to charity. On the contrary, time could not be better spent than in prayer as true Christian charity is a consequence of a solid interior life. Only those who pray and offer penance, like Simeon and Anna, are open to the breath of the Spirit. They know how to recognize the Lord in the circumstances in which He manifests Himself because they possess an ample interior vision, and they have learned how to love with the heart

Also

SueAnn Howell | Catholic News Herald

The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is depicted in the stained-glass windows at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. of the One whose very name is Charity.

At the end of the Gospel, Simeon’s prophecy of Mary’s sufferings is emphasized. Blessed Pope John Paul II taught that, “Simeon’s words seem like a second Annunciation to Mary, for they tell her of the actual historical situation in which the Son is to accomplish His mission, namely, in misunderstanding and sorrow.” (“Redemptoris Mater,” 16) The archangel’s announcement at Christmas was a fount of incredible joy because it pertained to Jesus’ messianic royalty and the supernatural character of His virginal conception. The announcement of the elderly in the temple, instead, spoke of the Lord’s work of redemption that He would complete, associating Himself through suffering to His Mother. Therefore, there is a strong Marian dimension to this feast, so in the liturgical calendar of the Extraordinary Form it is called the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This refers to the other aspect of the presentation that consists of the ritual purification of Jewish women after they had given birth. In Mary’s case this purification was not necessary, but it indicates the renewal of her total offering of herself to God for the accomplishment of His Divine Plan.

— www.catholicculture.org, excerpted from Congregation for the Clergy, and “Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year”

Your daily Scripture readings FEB. 2-8

Sunday (Presentation of the Lord): Malachi 3:1-4, Hebrews 2:14-18, Luke 2:22-40; Monday: 2 Samuel 15:13-14, 30: 16:5-13, Mark 5:1-20; Tuesday: 2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 3019:3, Mark 5:21-43; Wednesday (St. Agatha): 2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17, Mark 6:1-6; Thursday (St. Paul Miki and Companions): 1 Kings 2:1-4, 10-12, Mark 6:7-13; Friday: Sirach 47:2-11, Mark 6:14-29; Saturday: 1 Kings 3:4-13, Mark 6:30-34

FEB. 9-15

Sunday: Isaiah 58:7-10, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Matthew 5:13-16; Monday (St. Scholastica): 1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13, Mark 6:53-56; Tuesday (Our Lady of Lourdes): 1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30, Mark 7:1-13; Wednesday: 1 Kings 10:1-10, Mark 7:14-23; Thursday: 1 Kings 11:4-13, Mark 7:24-30; Friday (Sts. Cyril and Methodius): 1 Kings 11:29-32, 12:19, Mark 7:31-37; Saturday: 1 Kings 12:26-32, 13:33-34, Mark 8:1-10

FEB. 16-22

Sunday: Sirach 15:15-20, 1 Corinthians 2:6-10, Matthew 5:17-37; Monday (The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order): James 1:1-11, Mark 8:11-13; Tuesday: James 1:12-18, Mark 8:1421; Wednesday: James 1:19-27, Mark 8:22-26; Thursday: James 2:1-9, Mark 8:27-33; Friday (St. Peter Damian): James 2:14-24, 26, Mark 8:34-9:1; Saturday (The Chair of St. Peter): 1 Peter 5:1-4, Matthew 16:13-19

Our parishes

January 31, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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HHS contraception mandate still concerns diocese Catholic Charities not exempt from the controversial law Patricia L. Guilfoyle Editor

CHARLOTTE — Diocese of Charlotte officials remain worried about the possible impacts of the federal health insurance law requiring free contraception services.

The “contraception mandate,” part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, requires nearly all employers to provide free preventative health care coverage specifically for women. That coverage includes services such as mammograms, prenatal care and cervical cancer screenings, but it also mandates free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs – which are contrary to Catholic teaching.

While the diocese is not under immediate threat to provide

‘Through the rosary, Our Lady gave us such a weapon to deal with this life’ Genocide survivor shares message of hope, forgiveness SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

CHARLOTTE — Immaculèe Ilibagiza is living a life she never dreamed of as a young girl in Rwanda during the 1980s and early ’90s. One of four children in a devout Catholic family, she spent her days studying in school, practicing her faith and spending time with family. Although ethnic tensions ran high in her country, she never imagined the horror that would come upon her, her family and her fellow Tutsis at the hands of Hutu rebels known as the Interahamwe.

Ilibagiza was a college student at the National University of Rwanda on April 6, 1994, when the Rwandan genocide began. Within 100 days, approximately Ilibagiza 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu sympathizers were slaughtered – including her parents, her brothers Damascene and Vianney and most of her family. Only she and her brother Aimable survived because he was studying in Senegal at the time, while Ilibagiza found refuge in a 3-by-4-foot bathroom in a Protestant pastor’s home.

ROSARY, SEE page 11

contraception coverage in violation of Catholic teaching, one significant ministry of the diocese is not protected from the mandate: Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte.

The government has repeatedly revised a “religious employer” exemption for churches, dioceses and their related agencies, but the contraception mandate still applies to most religious colleges, hospitals and nursing homes.

For the Charlotte diocese, that means the 92 parishes and missions, 19 schools, and all diocesan ministry offices are excluded from the contraception mandate – except Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte.

“The ramifications are profound,” noted Dr. Gerard Carter, executive director of Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte.

“We have been placed by the Obama administration in the position of either violating our faith – which we cannot do – or face stiff fines and potentially the loss of health care for our employees. This is not just a threat to our religious liberties, but it is also a threat to the stability and health of Catholic Charities agencies across the nation.”

Catholic Charities meets only two of the three criteria

to qualify for the religious employer exemption. It is a non-profit, public charity that is closely affiliated with the Church, but it is separately incorporated and more than half of its revenue comes from public contributions, fees for various services, and government and private grants.

Catholic Charities’ non-Church income totaled more than $4.2 million in 2013 – 72 percent of its total revenues, according to a diocesan Finance Office analysis.

That sticking point has diocesan officials consulting with their insurance broker Catholic Mutual Group, other dioceses and Catholic Charities agencies, and health insurance experts about what the Affordable Care Act will mean for the 832 employees and 551 dependants who currently rely on the diocese’s insurance coverage through United Healthcare. Of those, 38 employees work for Catholic Charities, and they have approximately 31 dependants who are also enrolled on the diocese’s insurance plan.

HHS, SEE page 11

2014 Marian Congress set for Feb. 22 KANNAPOLIS — Twenty years after escaping the Rwandan genocide, renowned Catholic author and inspirational speaker Immaculee Ilibagiza will share her story of God’s love and the power of prayer at the 2014 Marian Rosary Congress and Retreat.

The congress will be held on Saturday, Feb. 22. The day’s events include two morning sessions with Ilibagiza, special musical guest the Jorge Morel Band, afternoon guest speaker presentations, a Eucharistic procession, Adoration, and Mass with Bishop Peter J. Jugis.

Over the past two decades, Ilibagiza has traveled the world sharing her story of healing and forgiveness and her love for the Blessed Virgin Mary and the power of the rosary. She has written seven books and has appeared on EWTN and many of the major news networks. Her first book about surviving the Rwandan genocide, “Left to Tell,” quickly climbed the New York Times’ bestseller list in 2006.

The English Track will start at 9 a.m. at St. Joseph Church in

Kannapolis. A special meet-and-greet session with Ilibagiza will be held starting at 8 a.m. After lunch, there will be additional guest speakers. St. Joseph Church in Kannapolis is located at 108 St. Joseph St. in Kannapolis.

The Spanish Track will start at 8 a.m. at the Kannapolis Performing Arts Center, 415 E. 1st St. The two program tracks will come together at the Kannapolis Performing Arts Center starting at 2:45 p.m. with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, a Eucharistic Procession, and Mass with Bishop Jugis.

General admission to attend the Marian Congress and Retreat costs $10. For more information about the schedule and to register, go to www.immaculee.com. Call Aida Gamalo at 917-816-0530 or email alg@bestweb.net for offline ticket sales and information.

The information flyer for the congress can also be viewed at www. jesusthroughmary.org.

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter

International Catholic praise musician to play at Marian Congress Rico De Silva Hispanic Communications Reporter

HUNTERSVILLE — Jorge Morel had everything a professional musician could ask for: fame, fortune and recognition from his peers in the Latin music industry.

But Morel also had multiple addictions, including an expensive gambling habit that prompted him to seek more than the world had to offer. And that’s when Morel found God in New York City on a hot summer afternoon in 2001.

Jorge Morel will be one of the Catholic musicians that will perform at the 2014 Marian Rosary Congress and Retreat, which will be held on Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Kannapolis Performing Arts Center, 415 E. 1st St. Originally from Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, the former “Bachata” musician was one of the members of the musical duo “Junior y Jorge.” The duo moved to New York from their native Dominican Republic in 1996 and enjoyed quick success, landing a recording contract with Sony Disco International the same year. Bachata is an Afro-Latino music genre which originated in the Dominican Republic early in the 20th century. It became widely popular in the rural parts of the Dominican Republic.

Catholic praise musician Jorge Morel, who attends St. Mark Church in Huntersville when not on tour, will play during the Spanish track at the 2014 Marian Rosary Congress and Retreat in Kannapolis Feb. 22.

PHOTO FROM EXALTAR MAGAZINE

Bachata is characterized with tales of heartbreak, like a Latin version of “blues” music. The music became popular in Latin music circles in the 1990s, and Morel and his counterpart were one of the pioneers in bringing it to the forefront.

“We were the first ones to introduce Bachata music in HTV network (Hearst Television Inc.),” Morel said. “With hits like ‘Piensa en mi’ (‘Think about me’) and ‘Amigo Mio’ (‘My friend’), Junior and I climbed all the way to number 11 on Billboard’s (Magazine) record sales. We

also played in some of the greatest music stages in the world, including Madison Square Garden. From 1996 to 2001, God blessed us with incredible success.”

But, with great success, also came great temptations.

“I became addicted to casino gambling and all the other vices the world offers – sex, drugs, etc. I started to waste my career and doing stuff an international recording CONGRESS, SEE page 11

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catholicnewsherald.com | January 31, 2014 OUR PARISHES

Diocesan calendar of events ASHEVILLE — Marriage Encounter Weekend: Feb. 7-9. For details, contact 704-315-2144 or visit www. ncmarriagediscovery.org.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following event over the coming weeks: Feb. 8 – noon Mass for World Day for Consecrated Life St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte Feb. 21 – 10 a.m.

Diocesan Finance Council Meeting Pastoral Center, Charlotte Feb. 22 – 5 p.m.

Holy Mass at Marian Rosary Congress St. Joseph Church, Kannapolis Feb. 24-25 Priests’ Continuing Education Colloquium Hickory March 1 4th Annual Charlotte Catholic Men’s Conference St. Mark Church Huntersville

— Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat: Feb. 21-13. Retreat for women and men who want to begin their healing journey after an abortion. For details, call Shelley at 828-670-8192.

BELMONT BELMONT ABBEY BASILICA, 503 North Main St. — Poinsett Piano Trio in concert: 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6. The program will include Fauré’s “Trio, Op. 120” and Brahms’ “Trio in B major, Op. 8.” Founded in 2008, the trio consists of pianist David Gross, violinist Deirdre Hutton, and cellist Christopher Hutton. Free admission. Donations gladly accepted. For details, call Karen Jacob at 704-461-6813.

QUEEN OF THE APOSTLES church, 503 North Main St. — Young at Hearts covered dish supper: 5 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 8. All parishioners aged 50 and older invited to attend. For details, call Cathy Boyd at 704-825-4669.

— Community Breakfast: 8-11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, in the MAK Family Life Center. Everyone welcome.

ST. ANN CHURCH, 3635 Park Road — Pro-life Prayer Vigil: Saturday, Feb. 22. Mass at 9 a.m., followed by a Holy Hour and prayer vigil outside the Family Reproductive Health abortion mill. Sponsored

by Helpers of God’s Precious Infants. For details, call Mary Richardson at 704-813-0519.

ST. JOHN NEUMANN, 8451 Idlewild Road — Curso en español, “Católico, Conoce y Practica Tu Fe”: 7 p.m. lunes 3 de Febrero, con el Padre Gabriel Carvajal-Salazar. st. Matthew church, 8015 BALLANTYNE COMMONS PKWY. — SPRED information session: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5. This ministry provides sacramental access and friendship to persons with intellectual challenges or developmental delays. Session is for parents, caregivers and those seeking a ministry where they can share their love of God with some very special people. For details, call Jan Clemens at 704-246-7102.

— Called to be Mom support Group: 10 a.m.-noon, Thursday, Feb. 6. Support group supports the vocation of motherhood by strengthening faith through various Scriptures readings. All mothers welcome.

— Protecting God’s Children Workshop: 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 13, in the Banquet Room. All volunteers must attend a workshop. This program is intended to educate volunteers to recognize and prevent sexual abuse. To register, visit www.virtus.org.

Volume 23 • Number 8

1123 S. Church St. Charlotte, N.C. 28203-4003 catholicnews@charlottediocese.org

704-370-3333 PUBLISHER: The Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis, Bishop of Charlotte

EDITOR: Patricia L. Guilfoyle 704-370-3334, plguilfoyle@charlottediocese.org ADVERTISING MANAGER: Kevin Eagan 704-370-3332, keeagan@charlottediocese.org SENIOR REPORTER: SueAnn Howell 704-370-3354, sahowell@charlottediocese.org Online reporter: Kimberly Bender 704-808-7341, kdbender@charlottediocese.org GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Tim Faragher 704-370-3331, tpfaragher@charlottediocese.org COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT/CIRCULATION: Erika Robinson, 704-370-3333, catholicnews@ charlottediocese.org Hispanic communications reporter: Rico De Silva, 704-370-3375, rdesilva@charlottediocese.org

— “Divine Mercy Holy Hour”: Exposition and readings from the Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska: 7-8 p.m. every first Friday. For questions, call Paul Deer at 704-948-0628.

St. Patrick Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Road — 12 Hours Eucharistic Adoration: 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7, until 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, for the sanctification and protection of marriage and family.

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL Church, 6828 Old Reid Road — All women of the diocese are welcome to join the Charlotte Catholic Women’s Group for a morning reflection at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 3, with Father Peter Shaw. Mass will be offered at 9 a.m. with coffee and fellowship to follow. For details, call Anita Di Pietro 704-543-0314.

CLEMMONS HOLY FAMILY CHURCH, 4820 KINNAMON ROAD. — Charismatic Prayer Group: 7:15 p.m. Mondays. All are welcome.

CONCORD

CHARLOTTE

January 31, 2014

ST. Thomas aquinas church, 1400 suther road — Open Columbiettes Meeting: 7 p.m. Monday, March 10. Any Catholic women aged 17 or older is invited to attend and find out more about who the Columbiettes are, what they do and how to get involved in the many outreach and social events of the Columbiettes. For details, email Gen Rollin at gen526@aol.com.

St. James the Greater Church, 139 Manor Avenue, S.W. New Beginnings Preschool Open House: Saturday, Feb. 1, 4:30-6:30 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 2, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. for 2014-’15 registrations. The preschool has several programs to choose from for ages 1-5, as well as a transitional kindergarten program. For details call Suzanne Carney, preschool director, at 704-262-3498.

GREENSBORO St. Mary Church, 812 Duke St. — Igbo Mass: 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16. This Mass will be said in the native Nigerian language of Igbo.

Everyone welcome. For details, call 336-392-6840.

HAYESVILLE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY Mission, 1433 HWY. 64 WEST — Medjugorje Prayer Group: Meets at 7 p.m. every Tuesday in the upper kitchen

HIGH POINT IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY CHURCH, 4145 JOHNSON St. — Pro-Life Rosary: 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 1 at 901 North Main St. and Sunset Drive, to pray for the end of abortion. For details, contact Jim Hoyng at 336-8829593 or Paul Klosterman at 336-848-6835.

— Protecting God’s Children Workshop: 9 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Feb. 8, in Meeting Room 1. This workshop is

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necessary for all volunteers, teachers and coaches who work with children. To register, visit www.virtus. org.

— 19th Annual NCCJ Interfaith Tour: Sunday, Feb. 23. The goal of the tour is to help individuals understand, respect and appreciate different religions. For details, contact Charles Jones at 336-272-0359, ext.

11.

HUNTERSVILLE St. Mark Church, 14740 Stumptown Road — Women of the diocese are welcome to join the Charlotte Catholic Women’s Group for an evening reflection at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, hosted by Dr. Allen Hunt and Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers. Light refreshments served. For details, call Anita Di Pietro 704-543-0314.

KING GOOD SHEPHERD Mission, 105 Good Shepherd Dr. — “Welcome Home Sunday”: 11 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 16. All Catholics with no home parish and those interested in the Catholic faith are encouraged to attend. Lunch reception following Holy Mass. For details, call the mission at 336-923-7570.

NEWTON ST. Joseph CHURCH, 720 West 13th St. — Natural Family Planning Introduction and Full Course: 1-5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1. Topics includes: Effectiveness of modern NFP, health risks of popular contraceptives, and what the Church teaches about responsible parenting. RSVP to Batrice Adcock, MSN, RN, at 704-370-3230.

MINT HILL ST. LUKE CHURCH, 13700 LAWYERS Road — Anointing of the Sick: 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, sponsored by the HOPE Committee. For details, call Mary Adams at 704-545-1224.

LENOIR St. Francis of Assisi Church, 328 B Woodsway Lane — The Rosary, led by Father Gabriel Meehan, is prayed every Monday evening at 7 p.m., in Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel. All are welcome.

WINSTON-SALEM — Catholic Charities’ “Partners in Hope Dinner”: Feb. 27, at the Benton Convention Center. This year’s award recipient will be Bishop William G. Curlin. Father Brian Cook will be the speaker. For details, call Donna Kronner at 336-655-2876.

Is your PARISH OR SCHOOL hosting a free event open to the public? Deadline for all submissions is 10 days prior to desired publication date. Submit in writing to catholicnews@charlottediocese.org.

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January 31, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

Migration is a matter of the heart, says Kennedy lecturer SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

‘Migration is in our genes.

It’s been happening since the beginning of time.’

— Father Daniel Groody, CSC

CHARLOTTE — Holy Cross Father Daniel Groody has traveled the world studying human migration and the social, spiritual and economic issues surrounding the plight of immigrants and human trafficking victims.

Father Groody gave the 14th annual Kennedy Lecture at St. Peter Church in Charlotte on “Migration, Human Trafficking and Theology” to more than 200 people Jan. 25, followed by a panel discussion with Western N.C. District Attorney Ann Tompkins and Lily Pad Haven founder Carla Twidell.

Father Groody’s lecture covered migration from a theological perspective, encompassing the theological, spiritual and pastoral levels of responding to people on the move.

“Migration is in our genes. It’s been happening since the beginning of time. It’s intrinsic to who we are. It’s in our spiritual genes as well,” Father Groody said. He cited Scripture, specifically Genesis 12, and pointed out that as migration narrative of Abraham and his descendants.

“Migration is an incredibly complex issue,” he said.

“Migration is an incredibly simple issue.”

He said Americans are fixated on legal terms which

label people as “illegals” or “aliens” – words that do not consider the whole person, their circumstances, and every Christian’s duty to value their dignity.

There are generally four types of migrants, he explained: the economic migrant looking for a better life, the forced migrant or refugee fleeing their country for fear of persecution, the internally displaced person forcibly uprooted within the borders of their own country, and human trafficking victims.

Sex trafficking is a $32 billion business worldwide, and 27 million people are affected by human trafficking, he noted. There are 212 million migrants worldwide, he said – one out of every 35 people is a migrant.

An estimated 500,000 migrants come to the United States each year, and the same number move to Europe each year. Approximately 10 million undocumented migrants are believed to be in the U.S., he also noted.

Father Groody has traveled the world speaking with migrants, law enforcement agents and social service agencies investigating the causes of migration and the treatment of people who are searching for a better life.

“This is the age of migration. This is the issue of our time,” he emphasized. And as Catholics, we MIGRATION, SEE page 17

Queen of Apostles Church in Belmont used its Rice Bowl grant to support the Backpack Weekend Food Program. Pictured are Cindy Buckley, Linda Gibbons and Hannah Russo.

Photo provided

by Julie Russo

‘Bring Lent to Life’ for your families, parishes, schools The upcoming 2014 Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl Program begins on Ash Wednesday, March 5.

Parishes and schools which participated in last year’s CRS Rice Bowl should have received the same number of materials again for this year’s CRS Rice Bowl with no need to place an order. Parishes and schools that wish to participate for the first time, or participating parishes and schools which need additional materials or are still waiting on an expected shipment, should call toll-free 1-800-222-0025.

Any questions? Call 704-370-3225 or email jtpurello@ charlottediocese.org.

At www.crsricebowl.org: Get ideas for how to implement CRS Rice Bowl in your home, parish or school.

Local CRS mini-grants feed the hungry, help the poor Joseph Purello Special to the Catholic News Herald

CHARLOTTE — People across the Diocese of Charlotte donated $55,341 in the 2013 Lenten Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl collection, for CRS’s global fight against disease, hunger and poverty, as well as another $18,447 for grants to Catholic entities of the diocese through the CRS Mini-Grant Program.

Sixteen $1,000 CRS Rice Bowl Mini-Grants awarded last fall enabled local parishes to fund food pantries, thrift stores, emergency outreach, food assistance projects for children, community gardens and more.

Queen of Apostles Church in Belmont has used its Rice Bowl Mini-Grant for its Backpack Weekend Food Program. Julie Russo, the parish program coordinator, said this program enables children from families struggling economically to eat better over the weekend.

RICE BOWL, SEE page 17

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Catholic Voice NC to eye hunger, poverty issues at legislative level David Hains Director of Communication

CHARLOTTE — Catholic Voice North Carolina, the public policy watchdog organization for North Carolina’s two bishops, has added a new area of focus, tracking legislative issues related to hunger and poverty.

The decision to add the issue was made during the annual board meeting of Catholic Voice North Carolina on Dec. 12. The organization’s website, CatholicVoiceNC.org, has been updated to include information about hunger and poverty as well as a statement from Pope Francis.

Bishop Peter Jugis of Charlotte and Bishop Michael Burbidge of Raleigh said they think the additional area of interest is needed in light of the sharp increase in the number of people seeking assistance that Catholic Charities offices in both dioceses have seen.

In the Diocese of Charlotte, Catholic Charities assisted more than 19,000 people last year, distributing 388,024 pounds of food and non-food items in its three food pantries in Asheville, Charlotte and Winston-Salem. In the Diocese of Raleigh, Catholic Charities served more than 63,000 people in 2013, handing out 2.8 million pounds of food in its five pantries.

Catholic teaching places an emphasis on helping the poor and most vulnerable in society, by the government as well as all levels in a community. Pope Francis has called for a renewed focus on helping the poor.

“Addressing hunger and poverty aligns Catholic Voice with recent statements from the Holy Father that emphasize the Church’s service to the poor,” noted Bishop Jugis.

Catholic Voice North Carolina tracks legislation under consideration at the both the state and federal levels, helping Catholics across the state stay informed about their government and encouraging their voices to be heard by legislators. More than 5,000 people receive emails regularly from Catholic Voice North Carolina, and in 2013 Catholic Voice North Carolina sent out 25 alerts and messages to its participants on issues that included abortion, the death penalty, conscience protection and immigration reform. The alerts prompted people to send more than 11,000 emails to legislators.

Catholic Voice North Carolina also tracks issues related to stem-cell research, end-of-life and family life.

Membership in Catholic Voice North Carolina is open to all Catholics in the state and is free. Visit the website www.

CatholicVoiceNC.org to learn more about the issues and to sign up.

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catholicnewsherald.com | January 31, 2014 OUR PARISHES

Ecumenical service in Arden celebrates shared mission in Christ Suzanne Konopka Correspondent

ARDEN — “Has Christ been divided?”

This startling question based on 1 Corinthians 1:1-17 was the theme of the 2014 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, celebrated Jan. 18-25.

The Week of Prayer began in 1908, propelled by the efforts of the Graymoor Franciscan Friars, given impetus

by Vatican II as part of the modern ecumenical movement, and now promoted by the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Each year, a different country develops the theme. This year, the churches of Canada took the lead in posing and then answering the theme question with a faithfilled “no!”

On a local level, the Ecumenism Commission of St. Barnabas Church in Arden embraced the Week of Prayer by sponsoring its second-annual Celebration of Christian Unity Jan. 17.

Father Adrian Porras, St. Barnabas’ pastor, and the Rev. Dr. Stephen Ray, pastor of Fletcher United Methodist Church, led the joint celebration to celebrate Jesus, the One who binds us all together.

The event began with the hymn “Be Thou My Vision,” and included Scripture readings, a homily by Father Porras, intercessory

prayers, the Our Father, the Sign of Peace, a prayer of commitment to unity as faithful disciples, a final blessing and recessional hymn to our “Beautiful Savior.”

In his homily, Father Porras described his personal ecumenical background, first as a child in Texas in a Catholic environment, then as a North Carolinian surrounded by Protestants. He was impressed with their acceptance of him and began to study his own faith more.

At Brevard College, he found a friend and spiritual director in the Wesleyan campus minister, even as he discerned his vocation as a Catholic priest.

He has continued to reach out to other Christians, and said, “The Week of Prayer is a worldwide movement among all Christians as we try to remove our barriers.”

He noted that “all Christians face trials and persecutions from the rise of pervasive and aggressive atheism, which wishes to reduce faith to superstition and Jesus to mere myth.

This should unite us even more.”

“Yes, we have our differences,” he noted, “but we should celebrate what we share.”

Putting that into practice, Father Porras and Deacon Mike Stout have been meeting regularly for several years with Ray and also the Rev. Victor Mansfield, pastor of Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher to talk and share their common concerns.

Prior to the prayer service, Ray also

Pictured are Father Adrian Porras, pastor of St. Barnabas Church in Arden, and the Rev. Dr. Stephen Ray of Fletcher United Methodist Church.

Suzanne Konopka | Catholic News Herald

offered his ecumenical history: “I grew up as an Episcopalian, attended a Catholic college, became a United Methodist, and attended a Presbyterian seminary. I’ve always felt strongly that churches can cooperate and live together, since we all serve Jesus Christ.”

He concluded, “Being in an event like this is like homecoming: everyone together, at least for one hour, coming from different traditions but worshipping together. I think it’s a foretaste of the Kingdom to come.”

Members of the United Methodist Church agreed. Nancy Wojtowicz concluded, “The commonality of Christ as our Savior is such a joy!”

“Has Christ been divided?” The members of His Body can answer with a prayer of the Week of Christian Unity: “Help us by your grace to continue praying the prayer of Your Son that we may be one, that we may draw ever closer together and recognize our unity is that of Yours, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Photo by Marty Schneider and Al Tinson

Praying for Christian unity MATTHEWS — A service to celebrate the fourth annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was held at Morning Star Lutheran Church in Matthews Jan. 23. St. John Neumann Church’s pastor, Father Pat Hoare, participated in the service along with Deacon Jim Gorman and Deacon Joe Denzler. They led a strong turnout of parishioners from the Charlotte parish that included Chris Schneider and Shea Barja, who helped coordinate the ecumenical service. More than 225 people representing six churches took part in the event including Morning Star Lutheran, Morning Star Presbyterian,

Jonesville AME Zion, Joy Church of Matthews and Christian Faith Assembly. Pictured are: (back row) the Rev. Steve Mitchell of Morning Star Presbyterian, the Rev. John Mouritsen of Morning Star Lutheran, Father Hoare and Deacon Denzler, the Rev. Ed Crotty of Morning Star Lutheran, and the Rev. Leon Threatt of Christian Faith Assembly; (middle row) Barja and Deacon Gorman; (front row) the Rev. McLean Faw of Joy Church, who delivered the message of unity, Mark Kuntz of Christian Faith Assembly, Barbara Walker of Joy Church, Schneider, and Wendy Roberts of Morning Star Lutheran.

January 31, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com

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Federal judge strikes down N.C. abortion ultrasound law RALEIGH — Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Raleigh said he is “deeply saddened” by a ruling issued Jan. 17 by a federal judge overturning a key portion of the Woman’s Right to Know Act that was passed by the N.C. General Assembly in 2011.

U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles said the portion of the law that requires an abortion provider to perform an ultrasound and to show the images and describe them to the pregnant woman is a violation of the abortionist’s First Amendment rights. Ultrasounds are already performed on abortion-minded women to determine the baby’s gestational age, which is then used to calculate the cost of the abortion procedure, but the pregnant woman does not have to view the ultrasound images or listen to her unborn baby’s heartbeat before proceeding with the abortion.

Eagles had blocked the law from taking effect in 2011 after the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation, Planned Parenthood Health Systems, Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the Middle District of North Carolina challenging the new law.

The provision blocked by Eagles required that an ultrasound image of the unborn child be displayed at least

four hours prior to the abortion so that the mother might view it and that she be given the opportunity to hear the unborn child’s heartbeat.

The status of an appeal of the judge’s ruling is not clear.

Governor Pat McCrory said he opposes an appeal as too costly. Other legislative leaders including Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and Rep. Ruth Samuelson of Charlotte are pressing for an immediate appeal. The appeal decision rests with state Attorney General Roy Cooper.

The portions of the Women’s Right to Know Act that remain in effect provide abortion-minded women with scientific information 24 hours prior to an abortion being performed about the risks, alternatives and information on the development of the unborn child.

The law mandates: explaining the medical risks of an abortion; explaining the medical risks of carrying the child to term; revealing whether the abortionist has medical malpractice insurance; telling the location of the nearest hospital; and informing the woman if the abortionist does not have admitting privileges to a local hospital.

The law also requires that women considering an abortion be given information about support for them and their unborn children during the pregnancy and after birth, including state and federal assistance programs available for women and children; the fact that the father

is liable to assist in the support of the child, even if he has offered to pay for the abortion; and a signed document indicating that the woman has been given all of this information.

In his statement, Bishop Burbidge said the ruling “does a great disservice to the women of our state, as it denies those who are pregnant from receiving full access to all available medical information.”

The full statement by Bishop Michael Burbidge is as follows: “I am deeply saddened by the decision today in Greensboro by U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles to strike down a North Carolina law that requires those performing abortions to provide a woman with an ultrasound before she decides to have an abortion. This ruling does a great disservice to the women of our state, as it denies those who are pregnant from receiving full access to all available medical information. Women are entitled to and deserve our respect, compassion and support. And so to deny a woman from receiving the truth, especially with regard to a decision which will impact her life and the life of her unborn child, is to deny her the freedom of information that all people expect from their health care providers.”

— Diocese of Raleigh and the Catholic News Herald

Our Lady of Czestochowa icon returns to diocese, visits Kannapolis KANNAPOLIS — The Pilgrim Image of Our Lady of Czestochowa, also known as the “Black Madonna,” returned to the Diocese of Charlotte Jan. 27 for Mass and an all-night prayer vigil at St. Joseph Church in Kannapolis before continuing its pilgrimage southward to the Diocese of Charleston, S.C. The icon, a magnificent replica of the original housed in the Monastery of Jasna Góra in Poland, aims to encourage prayer for Our Lady’s help in the defense of the most vulnerable and to ask her intercession for the protection of the family and the sanctity of all human life.

Father Peter West of Human Life International accompanied the icon.

Human Life International, whose U.S. office is based in Front Royal, Va., is sponsoring this “Ocean to Ocean Campaign in Defense of Life” in North America.

At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See video and more photos of the Black Madonna’s visit to Greensboro and Charlotte last month, when the icon was taken into spiritual battle at prayer vigils outside two abortion mills.

RICO DE SILVA | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Praying for God’s precious infants CHARLOTTE — Father Matthew Kauth, chaplain at Charlotte Catholic High School, led a prayer vigil Jan. 18 with volunteers from the local chapter of Helpers of God’s Precious Infants outside of Family Reproductive Health, one of Charlotte’s three abortion mills. Before the vigil, Father Kauth offered a Mass for the unborn at the high school’s chapel. Those in attendance then either went to pray outside the abortion mill or stayed for a Holy Hour in solidarity with those giving public witness to life. The next prayer vigil by Helpers of God’s Precious Infants will be held Saturday, Feb. 22, starting with Mass at 9 a.m. at St. Ann Church in Charlotte. Participants can remain at the church for a Holy Hour or join the prayer vigil outside Family Reproductive Health. For details, go to www.charlottehelpers.org or email charlottehelpers@gmail.com.

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catholicnewsherald.com | January 31, 2014 OUR PARISHES

Sacred music expert visits WCU CULLOWHEE — Students at Western Carolina University’s Catholic Campus Ministry in Cullowhee had a surprise guest visitor Jan. 15 at their first Wednesday night fellowship dinner of the spring semester: Jeffrey Tucker, one of the foremost experts in sacred music.

Tucker is publications director for the Church Music Association of America, which publishes the journal “Sacred Music.” He is also editor for the New Liturgical Movement and founder of the Chant Café blog. He is the author of the book “Sing Like a Catholic” and countless articles on sacred music and the liturgy. Through the CMAA, Tucker teaches at sacred music colloquiums each year, as well as many other smaller sacred music workshops across the country.

You might not think that a bow-tie wearing gentleman in an impeccably tailored suit speaking about Gregorian chant would be of much interest to college students. You’d be wrong.

Students found Tucker’s entertaining, personal stories about how sacred music has transformed his life to be a breath of fresh air.

“You think of a Gregorian chant — Matthew Newsome expert as someone who might be a bit stuffy and dry,” Matthew Newsome, WCU’s campus minister, noted. “Jeffrey Tucker is open and engaging, and a very entertaining speaker. Most of all, he is clearly passionate about sacred music in the liturgy and that really comes through. I think that’s what touched the students the most.”

Rebecca Romo, a sophomore on the campus ministry peer leadership team, said, “This was probably one of my favorite Wednesday night programs. He was awesome.”

Tucker related how he grew up in a Baptist household

‘I doubt (Jeffrey Tucker) was expecting to find students just hanging out and singing sacred polyphony.’

with no exposure to Catholicism until he was in college. His first introduction to the Catholic Church was when he stumbled upon an octogenarian priest chanting the Mass in Latin. Even though he had no idea what it was about, he was enraptured by the beauty and simplicity of the chant. He went back with a tape recorder and would listen to his recording of that elderly priest chanting the Mass over and over again in his dorm room.

Tucker spoke about the history of chant and how it grew as a part of the liturgy. He also spoke about its demise, which was underway well before the Second Vatican Council, and the Council’s attempts to restore it.

“The Second Vatican Council calls Gregorian chant ‘a treasure of inestimable value,’” Tucker noted, quoting from the Vatican Photo provided by Matthew Newsome II constitution “Sacrosanctum Sacred music expert Jeffrey Tucker recently visited with Western Carolina University’s Catholic Campus Concillium” (“Constitution on Ministry students. the Sacred Liturgy”). “That’s an amazing assertion.”

They did a wonderful job.”

Rather than dwelling on the near-disappearance of Tucker left the students with words of encouragement. chant following Vatican II, Tucker focused on the positive, He told them to keep striving toward the ideal the Church speaking about the resurgence of sacred music taking asks for in the liturgy, and encouraged them to support place in the Church today. one another.

“The text for the chants is the text of the liturgy itself,” “If you can start gathering in the evenings and chanting Tucker explained. “You are singing the prayers of the Compline together as a group, that would be marvelous,” Mass.” As an example for the students, Tucker chanted he said. the Communion chant for the Second Sunday of Ordinary “Catholicism is hard,” he admitted, “but it becomes part Time from the Roman Gradual. of who you are. And after you do it for a while, you just “It was breathtaking,” said Ann Marie Romaine, another can’t imagine doing anything else.”

WCU sophomore who is preparing to be received into the Tucker, who is also a noted economist and founder of Church this year.

Liberty.me, was on the WCU campus to give a talk as part Many of the students in attendance are members of of the WCU Free Enterprise speaker series taking place the campus ministry choir. They treated their guest to this semester. Economics professor Dr. Stephen Miller, an impromptu rendition of the polyphonic “Jesu Rex who also serves as the faculty advisor for the Catholic Admirabilis” by Palestrina. “I’m extremely proud of my Campus Ministry student organization, arranged for his students,” Newsome said. “I doubt he was expecting to find visit. students just hanging out and singing sacred polyphony.

Be Not Afraid ministry receives national exposure thanks to Knights Tracy Winsor Special to the Catholic News Herald

CHARLOTTE — Be Not Afraid, a Catholic ministry founded in the Diocese of Charlotte, was featured in the January issue of Columbia, a national publication of the Knights of Columbus. BNA supports parents carrying their babies to term following a poor prenatal diagnosis.

“We have had an extremely busy year,” said Judy Townsend, BNA program assistant, “and supported over 30 families around the country.”

Three families served by BNA are featured in the Columbia story, which also provides information regarding a BNA-modeled ministry being developed in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia with the approval of Archbishop Charles Chaput called Lily’s Gift. The ministry is named after the stillborn daughter of the first family served by BNA and the developing ministry there.

“We feel like we are on the right track thanks to BNA,” said Sister Kathleen Schipani, director of the Philadelphia archdiocese’s Office for Persons with Disabilities and the Deaf Apostolate.

The Philadelphia archdiocese has used BNA peer ministry training and the BNA pastoral care manual in its ministry development. In the past three years, similar ministries using BNA training and materials are developing, or have been developed, in nearly 10 dioceses and archdioceses around the country.

In conjunction with the article, BNA is providing a Knights of Columbus resource section on its website at www.benotafraid.net. It can be found at the resources tab there and offers various Church documents, links to

Catholic disability and ethics organizations, and a list of Catholic ministries around the country offering support to parents carrying their babies to term.

“Our website also offers information concerning our new online trainings which provide more flexible ways for potential peers, volunteers and other interested persons to learn more about prenatal diagnosis and the specific support BNA provides to families carrying to term,” Townsend said. “You can take a training or complete a workshop in the comfort of your own home.”

Upcoming BNA online workshops include BNA peer ministry trainings and a three-part clergy training that includes information on perinatal grief, as well as workshops on Trisomy 13 and Trisomy 18 research and post-abortive support.

BNA received a donation of $50,000 in 2012 from the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus that was used to support service mentoring around the country as well as website redesign and development. The organization has one annual fundraiser held in October, but relies heavily on donations to continue its important work in the Charlotte diocese.

“The most important work we do is befriend parents at the time of a prenatal diagnosis and provide the practical guidance and support that help them navigate the journey from diagnosis to birth,” said BNA Program Director Sandy Buck. “And blessed are we to be given the opportunity to welcome and hold these precious babies – to encourage families when there is a live birth or to comfort them when life ends too quickly.”

Parents noted the value of BNA support in a survey conducted earlier this year. All of the parents surveyed

More online At www.benotafraid.net: Get more information about the Be Not Afraid ministry and how it helps parents who are facing a poor prenatal diagnosis to choose life for their unborn babies

agreed that BNA positively impacted their personal well-being in the experience of carrying to term, and that BNA provided support they otherwise would not have had anywhere else. Often parents served by BNA later train to become BNA peer ministers.

“I cannot stress how important and valuable this ministry is,” said Lauren Bishop, whose son was prenatally diagnosed with anencephaly in January 2013.

Bishop and her husband were supported by BNA. “The amazing love and support we received from BNA was monumental,” Bishop said. “Our peer carried us through the final stages of preparation and planning, was present for Ethan’s birth, and remains a dear friend.”

Bishop recently completed her BNA peer ministry training and looks forward to working with BNA in supporting other parents like her this year.

“Just a few months after Ethan’s death, I knew I wanted to be part of the BNA ministry,” she said. “Saying goodbye to my son was the hardest thing I have ever done. I feel completely certain that supporting other families who are going through this same experience is what I am called to do.”

January 31, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com

Photo by Mike FitzGerald

Members of the three Ancient Order of the Hibernians chapters in the Charlotte area recently presented a donation to Belmont Abbey College’s Irish Studies program. Pictured are Joseph Dougherty of St. Mark Church Huntersville, Bernadette Brady of St. Thérèse Church Mooresville, John (Seán) O’Daly of St. Michael Church in Gastonia, Dr. Patrick Wadden (Irish Studies professor at Belmont Abbey College), Dan Callaghan of St. Thérèse Church Mooresville, Martin Quinn of St. Luke Church in Mint Hill, Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey Monastery, Janice Donoghue of St. Mark Church in Huntersville, Ray Fitzgerald of St. Mark Church in Huntersville, and Eugene Shields of St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte.

Ancient Order of Hibernians funds study of Irish culture Mary B. Richardson Correspondent

BELMONT — Students of the Irish studies department at Belmont Abbey College will be off to study Ireland firsthand this spring, thanks to a donation by the Ancient Order of Hibernians. On Jan. 13, the AOH presented Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari, chancellor of Belmont Abbey College, and Dr. Patrick Wadden, Irish studies professor at Belmont Abbey, with a check for $2,100.

“This gift helped make a big dent in the budget for the trip!” said Wadden as he accepted the gift.

Wadden has been a guest speaker to the AOH’s councils in the Charlotte area since meeting Joseph Dougherty, vice president of the AOH’s N.C. State Board and member of St. Mark Parish in Huntersville, last March.

“The AOH and the Ladies AOH have a keen interest in Irish history,” Wadden explained. “And when I brought up the subject of the trip to Ireland, they were keen to support this opportunity for our students to study Ireland’s history in

Ireland. Their generous donations will help keep the cost of the trip within students’ reach, for which they are very grateful.”

“We really encourage Irish studies,” explained member Bernadette Brady, member of St. Thérèse Parish in Mooresville. “For example, the ladies have donated books on Irish history to school libraries.”

In March, 12 students will travel to Ireland for the week-long trip where they will spend time in Dublin, Galway and Wicklow and visit a variety of historic and cultural sites, including Trinity College, the early medieval monastery at Glendalough, Croke Park, Newgrange, Trim Castle and the National Museum of Ireland, Wadden said.

“We wanted to be able to support anything that he needs for his Irish studies program,” Dougherty said.

Funds are raised for the AOH scholarship programs – which also include essay contests for middle and high school students – through fundraisers such as an annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration at St. Mark Parish.

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catholicnewsherald.com | January 31, 2014 OUR PARISHES

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In Brief

The award winners are pictured above with Holy Angels President and CEO Regina Moody.

Holy Angels was founded in 1956 by the Sisters of Mercy, beginning a much-needed specialized service for children from Gaston, Lincoln, Cleveland and Mecklenburg counties as well as children from throughout North Carolina. The private, nonprofit corporation located in Belmont provides residential services and innovative programs for children and adults with intellectual developmental disabilities with delicate medical conditions.

1859 by Blessed Pope Pius IX, the college has formed more than 5,000 priests near the heart of the Church for service in dioceses around the United States, Canada and Australia.

The Diocese of Charlotte has five seminarians currently enrolled at the Pontifical North American College.

— Pontifical North American College

Want to know more about the Catholic faith?

Seminarian Ascik receives ministry of lector ROME — Seminarian Peter Ascik was among 59 seminarians studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome who were recently granted the ministry of lector, one step along their journey towards the priesthood.

Ascik’s home parish is St. Barnabas Church in Arden.

Coadjutor Archbishop of Newark Bernard A. Hebda conferred the ministry of lector on the seminarians during a Mass he celebrated at the college’s Chapel of the Immaculate Conception Jan. 12.

The seminarians, currently in their first year of formation for the priesthood, have three additional years of theological studies and spiritual formation before being ordained to the priesthood in their home dioceses.

As part of the rite, Archbishop Hebda placed the Lectionary, from which the readings used in the celebration of Mass are taken, in the hands of each candidate and said, “Take this book of holy Scripture and be faithful in handing on the Word of God, so that it may grow strong in the hearts of his people.”

The Pontifical North American College serves as the American seminary in Rome. Founded in

CHARLOTTE — Are you interested in enriching your faith life? Eight parishes in the Charlotte area have teamed up with local pastors and educators and nationally known authors and speakers to offer 10 adult religious education enrichment programs during the G.I.F.T. Program winter semester.

Most programs are offered in the evenings over the course of several weeks. Topics such as: “Pope Francis: The Jesuit Pope” facilitated

by Jesuit Father Pat Earl, pastor of St. Peter Church in Charlotte, and Mark Bartholet; “Principles and People: American Catholic Social Thought, Then and Now” facilitated

by Father Frank Cancro, pastor of Queen of Apostles Church in Belmont, and Benedictine Father Christopher Kirchgessner; and a course in Spanish, “Católico: Conoce y Practica Tu Fe,” facilitated by Father Gabriel Carvajal-Salazar, parochial vicar at St. Aloysius Church in Hickory, are just a few of the choices.

A special one-day seminar, “Walk Toward Eternity … Daring to Walk the Walk,” with renowned author and speaker Jeff Cavins, will be held Saturday, Feb. 8.

Registration is now open. Most courses start the first week of February. Cost for most courses is $30 and registration is required. The Spanish course is free to participants and is offered as an outreach to the Latino community.

For more information about any of the winter G.I.F.T. courses, faculty biographies and sponsoring parish locations, go to www. stmatthewcatholic.org. You can also call Michael Burck at 704-541-8362, ext. 4, or email Burck at mburck@stmatthewcatholic.org.

— SueAnn Howell

Scout Sunday set for Feb. 2 CHARLOTTE — Boy Scout Sunday will be celebrated in Catholic churches across the Diocese of Charlotte on Feb. 2. The day marks the founding of the Scouts in the United States.

Scouts go to their churches in uniform and help with the services. Learn more about the Charlotte Diocese Catholic Committee on Scouting online at www.cdccos.info.

Holy Angels gives out annual awards GASTONIA — Holy Angels honored and thanked its employees during its annual Employee Appreciation and Awards event Jan. 10 at the Gastonia Conference Center.

The Dr. C. Ellis Fisher Caring Hands, Caring Heart Award, recognizing distinction, excellence commitment, generosity and vision, was given to James Parks, who for 19 years has served as a member of the Holy Angels Board of Directors.

The President’s Award for Excellence was presented to Doug Young of Gastonia for his unconditional love of the residents and seeing the possibilities in each resident. A staff member for 17 years, Young serves as a Direct Support Professional in the ICF (Intermediate Care Facilities) group home – Moody Place.

Angela Phinx from Iron Station received the Beth Withers “Make A Difference” Award.

Holy Angels established the award in 2006 in memory of Elizabeth Withers, RN, who had worked at Holy Angels for more than 16 years as a second-shift nursing supervisor. Phinx, a health care technician in the Morrow Center, received the award in recognition of her kindness, thoughtfulness and compassionate heart for the residents and staff.

The Maria T. Morrow Spirit Award, established in 2005, named in honor of Holy Angels’ first resident; was presented to Deborah Adams of Gastonia, manager of Cherubs Cafe, who exhibits a spirit of love, perseverance and cando attitude.

Five Achievement of Excellence Awards were also presented: Relief Direct Support Professional, Christy Shaw of Bessemer City; Supported Employment, Mary Ellen Linahan, a Holy Angels resident; Related Service Professional, Val Suarez of Belmont; Program Professional, Shatoya Roston of Charlotte; Direct Service Professional, Jessica Hudson of Bessemer City.

N.C. bishops issue abortion funding alert RALEIGH — Bishop Peter Jugis of Charlotte and Bishop Michael Burbidge of Raleigh issued an alert this week on legislation that would prohibit the use of taxpayer funds for abortion.

The alert was issued through Catholic Voice North Carolina, the public policy organization of the state’s two Catholic bishops.

H.R. 7, also called the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act,” would reiterate a long-standing ban on federal funding for abortion services.

Since 1976 the principle of no federal taxpayer funding for abortion services has been embodied in the Hyde Amendment. However, an analysis by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops shows that loopholes in a patchwork of laws and policies as well as the Affordable Care Act requires a consistent statement in opposition to the funding.

The bishop’s alert was sent to more than 5,000 participants in Catholic Voice NC. By the next day, more than 800 had responded with an email to the state’s 12 elected representatives to Congress.

The House of Representatives on Jan. 28 passed the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act” by a vote of 227-188. Next it goes to the Senate for consideration.

In a Jan. 28 letter to the House, Boston Cardinal Seán O’Malley, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, called the bill “one small step toward a society that promotes life and not death for unborn children and their mothers.”

Catholic Voice tracks issues related to life, poverty and hunger, immigration, families and end-of-life issues. Participation is free and is open to all North Carolina residents. Visit www.

CatholicVoiceNC.org to learn more.

We welcome your parish’s news! Please email news items and photos to Editor Patricia L. Guilfoyle at plguilfoyle@ charlottediocese.org.

Celebrating the sacrament of marriage HENDERSONVILLE — Seventeen couples from the Hispanic community of the Asheville Vicariate celebrated the sacrament of matrimony together during Holy Mass at Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville Dec. 28.

The Mass was concelebrated by four priests: Father Juan Jesus Melgarejo, a priest from Mexico who is currently studying in Rome; Father Francisco Menjivar, a priest from Guatemala; and Capuchin Franciscan Father Namdev Dagam and Capuchin Franciscan Father Robert Williams, both parochial vicars at Immaculate Conception Parish.

It was a beautiful opportunity for couples who had previously been civilly married or simply living together to raise their relationship to the dignity of a sacrament.

Photo provided by Capuchin Franciscan Father Martin Schratz

January 31, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com

HHS: FROM PAGE 3

For now, their discussions are all speculative because the diocese’s insurance plan is “grandfathered.” Since the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010, the diocese has avoided triggering the full law by not making any significant changes to its plan. But as insurance costs rise and employees’ needs change, the diocese cannot keep its plan frozen in place for much longer.

“We can probably get by another year if we have to,” said Terri Wilhelm, diocesan human resources director.

In the meantime, the diocese has willingly put into place other requirements of the new law, Wilhelm said. In 2010, the diocese began allowing dependents who were students or recent college graduates to stay on the plan, and in 2011 it began allowing all dependents up to age 26 on the plan.

The diocese already has preventative care benefits in place, such as mammograms, pap smears and colonoscopies, paid at 100 percent, she said. And for many years the plan hasn’t had preexisting condition exclusions or annual or lifetime dollar limits on benefits – all part of the Affordable Care Act’s reforms.

The diocese has never offered insurance coverage for any drugs or devices meant for contraceptive use, in line with Catholic teaching. All employees are notified each

May, before the diocese’s insurance plan year begins on July 1, of the fact that the diocesan plan does not offer contraceptives in its prescription drug benefit.

Unless the contraception mandate is overturned by the courts, or the Obama administration or Congress make changes to the law, diocesan officials say their options are limited: n The diocese could refuse to comply with the mandate. Then it would face IRS fines of $100 per employee per day. With approximately 1,200 eligible employees, that could mean fines totaling more than $43 million per year. n The diocese could drop its health insurance coverage completely, pushing employees onto the new health insurance exchanges where free contraception services are also offered. Then it would face fines of $2,000 per year for each eligible employee – a potential total fine of $2.4 million per year.

Following objections from religious groups and businesses earlier this year, the Obama administration granted a oneyear delay on enforcing the contraception mandate until Jan. 1, 2014, which means fines could be levied starting in 2015.

Unless the religious employer exemption is expanded to include Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte, the diocese may be required to assist United Healthcare, the diocese’s insurance plan administrator, in offering free contraception coverage to those employees.

Those employees would be able to obtain contraception coverage through what

ROSARY: FROM PAGE 3

For the next 91 days she was wedged in the tiny hideout with seven other women, praying they would not be discovered and killed. She lost 50 pounds during those three months but gained an unshakable faith in God and a deep love of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the rosary.

She sought asylum in the U.S. after the genocide and has recently become an American citizen. Now a mother of three, she has traveled the world over the past 20 years, sharing her story of hope and forgiveness in the wake of the Rwandan genocide.

In 2012 Ilibagiza met Pope Benedict XVI. “It was so good! I went to speak in Rome and I was supposed to leave. Someone from the Vatican called me and asked me to stay longer. I said, ‘Are you kidding me? To meet the pope, I would stay a lifetime!’

“I stayed for two days and I met Cardinal Schönborn.

He told me, ‘Immaculèe, we spoke about you with the pope.’ I was like, ‘About me?!’

She loves the Blessed Mother and talks about her wherever she travels.

“I love Our Lady! She is my mother. She gives me so many blessings disguised in many ways. That (meeting the Holy Father) was arranged by her. I felt that she just wanted to make me happy... That the things I had been writing about like hope and faith, she was letting me meet Peter of that time.

“It was such a gift from God. When I touched him I just felt like this is someone who is sitting where Peter was sitting on earth.”

She recalls how her brother received the news that she would meet Pope Benedict XVI. “He asked if I was going to meet him in a group or something, and I said, ‘No, I think I get to meet him individually.’

“After I sent my brother the picture (of the meeting), he said, ‘I cannot tell you my joy. After all we have gone through, I feel that God still sees, that our parents are watching over us and are trying to console us in many ways.’

“It was a huge healing for us.”

During the tragedy of the Rwandan genocide, Ilibagiza says she could never have imagined all that God and the Blessed Mother would do in her life.

“I couldn’t have imagined it, not at all. I was sickened, close to death. It was never in any way

the Obama administration is calling an “accommodation.” United Healthcare would be required to provide the contraceptives for free, without passing the cost back to the diocese. The diocese would have to inform every employee about the free contraceptives, manage information back and forth with United Healthcare, and ensure that United Healthcare meets the Affordable Care Act mandate to provide free contraceptives to any employee who wants them.

Diocesan officials reiterate their commitment to providing affordable health insurance to its employees and dependants, while staying true to Catholic teaching.

“We feel it’s important,” Wilhelm said.

In anticipation of the time when the diocese might safely make changes to its insurance coverage without triggering the contraception mandate, Wilhelm said the diocese is working with United Healthcare to draft new coverage options and lower rates. Instead of the single plan employees now have available, there could be a tiered structure of choices, from a basic plan with low rates to a more comprehensive, higher cost plan.

“It would give people options they’ve been asking for. We are hopeful that it’s something we’ll be able to do,” Wilhelm said.

“We had hoped by this point in time that things would be resolved,” she added.

“It’s disappointing to me that nearly four years after the law passed, there’s so much unknown about it. We’re hopeful that it will be resolved before much longer, and that we’ll be able to move forward.”

Dozens of Catholic dioceses, organizations,

humanly possible imagining even that I could write.”

She prayed seven rosaries and 40 Divine Mercy Chaplets every day in that cramped bathroom. She also taught herself English with only the Bible and a dictionary as her guides.

“Because I prayed so much, you felt the power of God – and you know His power can take anybody to where He wants. Anything is possible with the Presence of God.” What does the fact that hundreds of people searching the home she was hiding in never found her or the women hidden away?

“It’s a miracle. When you live a miracle you realize (you need to) love everybody, respect everybody. We are all a breath of God, a child of God – each one of us, no matter how poor looking we are. We are all a breath of God. “Everywhere I go I am reminded God loves the poor.

God loves the one who is about to be killed. In His ways He will show them ‘I am God and I am almighty.’

“This is what I wish to tell people, even in the experience of meeting the pope, He is more than capable. Be happy and find out what He wills for your life.”

Ilibagiza said she was told in a dream that when she came out of her hiding place, she would find her entire family had been killed, but God said if she continued to trust Him He would be there for her and He would do what her parents could never do for her.

“In my dream I said, ‘Praise God! Praise You for what You have done. As long as You are with me what else do I need.’ When I woke up I said, ‘What? I said yes to that?’ When I came out of the bathroom (after 91 days) it was exactly as He said.”

Ilibagiza has written seven books over the past 20 years since she fled Rwanda. She has shared her story with U.S. presidents, world leaders and the news media. She spoke during the 2009 Eucharistic Congress in Charlotte.

Her latest project is a major motion picture based on her survival story which has a tentative release date of 2015.

At the 2014 Marian Rosary Congress she plans to share her message of hope and forgiveness.

“I will share about forgiveness. I will speak about hope, especially through the prayer of the rosary,” Ilibagiza says. “I love the rosary! I wish everybody could say it because even when you don’t feel that God is listening, you say the rosary you just do your part and God will provide. He will deliver.”

She says that “through the rosary Our Lady gave us such a weapon to deal with this life.”

OUR PARISHESI

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More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Keep up with the latest news about the federal health care law’s controversial contraception mandate

schools, hospitals charitable agencies, universities and businesses across the U.S. have filed lawsuits challenging the contraception mandate, calling it an unconstitutional infringement of their First Amendment rights.

The Charlotte diocese is not part of any current lawsuits, but nearby Belmont Abbey College has a lawsuit pending in federal court.

The Benedictine-run college is in a similar situation as Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte and faces penalties by the end of this year if it does not accept the contraception mandate.

Because it doesn’t qualify for the current religious exemption, the college must either agree to start providing contraception coverage or direct Blue Cross Blue Shield to do it for them.

If the college refuses to comply with the mandate, it would face IRS fines of $100 per employee per day. It has approximately 200 full-time employees, so its estimated fines could total more than $7 million per year.

Alternatively, the college could drop its health insurance coverage completely, but then it would face fines of $2,000 per year for each employee.

CONGRESS: FROM PAGE 3

artist wasn’t supposed to do,” Morel confessed.

Fed up with the lures of worldly pleasures, Morel and his counterpart Junior Arias attended a charismatic prayer service at St. Anthony Parish in the Bronx in 2001. At St. Anthony’s, Morel and Arias heard God’s call from the mouth of a Nicaraguan itinerary Catholic preacher.

Morel recalls, “He gave his testimony as a former musician also looking for fame and fortune. He was preaching about (the Book of) Job. It was a transcendental experience for us because we could see the similarities in our lives as ‘Junior y Jorge.’ Junior and I decided that day to leave everything that we had worked and fought for to pursue God’s will in our lives.”

At the advice of their bishop in the Dominican Republic, Morel and Arias finished their contract with a local production company in New York to promote their new album “Camino sin Regreso” (“Road of no Return”), which hit the airwaves that summer. Then once their promotional obligations were finished, the musicians decided to dedicate their lives and music to praising God. “The interesting thing about it was that Christ didn’t ask us to leave anything to follow Him. Instead, He became the substitute for the world and the flesh. It was like He said, ‘You tried seeking fame and fortune – now try Me and you’ll see the wonders I can do in your life,’” Morel said.

Morel is currently in the U.S. on a work visa, and he travels all over the country and the world now playing Catholic praise music in concerts and large charismatic conferences.

His music apostolate is based in the Huntersville area, and he attends St. Mark Church in Huntersville when he is not on tour.

“I became a Catholic in 1989, but up to that point, I had not lived a life of conversion,” Morel said. “I was happy to come back to God in the Church that Christ founded.”

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Watch Jorge Morel perform his favorite praise song “Nadie es más Grande que mi Dios” (“Nobody is Mightier than my God”) during a live concert in Guatemala.

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catholicnewsherald.com | January 31, 2014 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief

‘Gimme Shelter’ Vanessa Hudgens stars in this fact-based drama as a neglected teen who flees the innercity custody of her drug-addicted, emotionally unstable mother (Rosario Dawson) and takes up residence with her estranged, wealthy father (Brendan Fraser). But the initially cold reception she receives from her ultra-respectable suburban stepmom (Stephanie Szostak) only gets chillier when it emerges that the runaway is pregnant. Though pressured to have an abortion, she insists on keeping her child, a resolution that’s reinforced when she comes under the influence of a kindly priest (James Earl Jones) and the redoubtable founder (Ann Dowd) of a home for expectant adolescents.

A strong pro-life message undergirds writerdirector Ron Krauss’ intermittently touching film, which is further bolstered by a passionate performance from Hudgens. Possibly acceptable for older teens. Mature themes, outof-wedlock pregnancy and substance abuse.

CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: PG-13

‘The Nut Job’ The multilayered plot of this animated feature in which all is not what it initially seems, might confuse younger children. But the film’s continuous action and theme of the importance of living in community make it not only splendidly entertaining but morally appealing as well. And director Peter Lepeniotis, who co-scripted with Lorne Cameron, keeps the seemingly inevitable potty jokes reasonably restrained. A selfish squirrel (voice of Will Arnett) learns the value of cooperation after being exiled from his parkland habitat by its raccoon leader (voice of Liam Neeson). He hopes his conversion from loner to collaborator will help him win the affection and respect of the she-squirrel of his dreams (voice of Katherine Heigl). Some intense action scenes and mild scatological humor.

CNS: A-I (general patronage); MPAA: PG

Additional reviews: n ‘August: Osage County’: CNS: 0 (morally offensive); MPAA: R n ‘Her’: CNS: A-L (limited adult audience); MPAA: R n ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’: CNS: 0 (morally offensive); MPAA: R n ‘Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit’: CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: PG-13 n ‘Ride Along’: CNS: L (limited adult audience); MPAA: PG-13 n ‘The Legend of Hercules’: CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: PG-13

Martin D’Amore is pictured in the background behind his new book, “Joy and Suffering.”

Photo by Tammy Cantrell, Encaptured & Co.

In new spiritual autobiography, St. Michael parishioner with ALS explores ‘paradox’ of suffering Christopher Lux Correspondent

GASTONIA — Martin “Marty” D’Amore began noticing a sharp decline in his physical health five years ago. D’Amore and his wife are both doctors and, together with the help of other doctors, they began to explore his symptoms. But, he recalls, he was “stunned by it all, I could not put it together.” He was weak, had frequent muscle spasms and was short of breath.

On April 26, 2010, after months of medical tests, D’Amore’s neurologist gave him the diagnosis: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, robs its victims of their physical abilities, initially causing weakness and ultimately progressing to the inability to even breathe.

It is a cruel disease with no cure, but D’Amore is determined to persevere. He recalls how he felt when he learned the diagnosis: “My last hope for a treatable disease was now transformed into hope for eternity in heaven. This new vision brought renewed purpose for me as husband, father, friend and Christian.”

Dr. Grattan Brown, an assistant professor of theology at Belmont Abbey College, remembers the first time he saw D’Amore. Brown was giving a presentation on bioethics at St. Michael Church in Gastonia, where he and D’Amore are both members.

“Marty hobbled in on a cane,” Brown recalls. “A few months later, he attended another presentation on bioethics. This time he entered the room in a motorized wheelchair.”

ALS was already taking its relentless toll.

“For me,” Brown says, “it was rather unnerving to be ablebodied, in good health, and speaking about ethical issues so

Get a copy “Joy and Suffering: My Life with ALS” by Dr. Martin D’Amore is available for sale on Amazon.com, in electronic or paperback format.

Also Dr. Grattan Brown will give a talk on “‘Lord, he whom you love is ill’: Christian wisdom and the Care of the Sick” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5, at Belmont Abbey College. What does Christianity teach about the problem of suffering that helps people live with serious illness today? This lecture draws from two sources to speak about the problem of suffering and medical ethics: Scripture and D’Amore’s new spiritual autobiography. The program is free and open to the public.

closely related to the suffering of the sick, while Marty, someone clearly suffering from a debilitating disease, was there listening intensely.”

Brown and D’Amore quickly became friends who shared what Brown says are their “common interests and goals: we were both striving to be good husbands and fathers.” Soon Brown asked D’Amore to read a bioethics article he was working on. “Marty’s SUFFERING, SEE page 13

January 31, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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‘Made for something greater’ St. Vincent de Paul teaches God’s truth in ‘Theology of the Body’ faith formation classes SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

CHARLOTTE — Last fall, parishioners with children in middle school who are enrolled in the faith formation program at St. Vincent de Paul Church began participating in a new program focused on the virtue of chastity. This program is based on Blessed Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” (TOB) and is designed to help the participants understand how God’s gift of our sexuality fits within the broader context of our full humanity – as beings created in God’s image.

The parish is using “The Theology of the Body for Teens: Middle School Edition,” which was developed by Ascension Press and goes beyond traditional chastity programs by connecting the topics of God and sex from the Biblical perspective and discussing them in terms relatable to middle school students.

Parents are an integral part of the faith formation of their children, so they participate in sessions geared for them while their children are receiving instruction. Boys and girls receive separate instruction to make discussions easier with their catechists and with each other.

Classes are also offered in Spanish for the parents. There are 210 youths participating at this time.

SUFFERING: FROM PAGE 12

a doctor and has experience with a grave illness, so I wanted his perspective on my work.”

In turn, D’Amore asked Brown to help him with a very special writing project.

“A year and a half ago,” Brown remembers, “he said he wanted to write a book about his experiences and he wanted somebody to help him.”

Brown told D’Amore he would not be much help with editing, but “I had the theological background, so I could help him work through his experiences as related to his faith.” Over the course of a year, D’Amore emailed Brown with “reflections that came two or three paragraphs a day.” Brown’s role in the project was asking “questions that prompted him to think more deeply about the meaning of the joys and sufferings he was experiencing.”

From D’Amore’s emails to Brown over the course of about a year, Christian Tappe, who is editor of Saint Benedict Press/TAN Books in Charlotte, helped in crafting what has become D’Amore’s unique spiritual autobiography. The book, “Joy and Suffering: My Life with ALS,” was published this month.

The book was presented during a

Aida Tamayo, who has served as coordinator of faith formation for the parish for nearly eight years, believes it is important to teach youths about Theology of the Body.

“Through John Paul II’s teaching, children come to understand that they are made in God’s image and can give glory to God through both their soul and body,” Tamayo explains. “It helps teens understand the true meaning of giving oneself to another in the covenant of marriage, and the importance of remaining chaste and pure for their future spouse.”

With the help of Batrice Adcock, diocesan director of Natural Family Planning, who also used “The Theology of the Body for Teens” at her parish, Tamayo launched a seven-lesson program as part of their faith formation curriculum. Each lesson involves a class for the parents that covers the same material being shared with their children. The parents and students are expected to discuss the material that’s been covered and collaborate on the assignments for the classes, which take place once a month.

A team of catechists solely dedicated to Theology of the Body classes instruct the children, while adults are taught by Deacon John Kopfle on Sundays and Father Peter Shaw on Tuesdays.

Melissa Becker serves as a catechist.

She has two children who attend Catholic school and admits she didn’t know much about Theology of the Body until last year when she attended the March for Life in D.C. with youth from the parish and started reading more books about Right to Life issues.

“I am always praying for purity (for our children),” Becker says. “Pope John Paul II knew the battle we would be waging.

Theology of the Body is an answer to our prayers for purity. … It gives them a basis for why we believe in chastity. It teaches

special “Catholic authors night” Jan. 17 at St. Michael Church. D’Amore was there with his family, but his voice is now too weak to talk, so Brown told D’Amore’s story and read excerpts.

About 100 people as well as St. Michael’s pastor, Father Matthew Buettner, and Abbot Placid Solari from Belmont Abbey were also there to support D’Amore’s new book.

D’Amore guides the reader through his struggles and spiritual growth as he battles ALS. He says he wrote the “spiritual autobiography so that my loved ones can one day see the good in my illness – the good in all our suffering – and be better for it.”

In the book’s foreword, Brown writes, “Spiritual conversion is the stuff of great literature and epic poetry, but we are not usually given the privilege of a guided tour of this process unfolding in the lives of our neighbors and friends ... Marty describes the experience of suffering with ALS, depicting not only the intricacies of the disease but also the hard-won meaning of the suffering it has brought him and his family.”

D’Amore’s autobiography describes – with hope, poignancy, humor and perceptiveness – how joy can be found in the midst of incredible suffering, Brown says. “Suffering is kind of a paradox. On the one hand, it’s to be avoided, but on the other hand, we accept it and try to find meaning in it.”

Learn more At www.thetheologyofthebody.com: Read more about Blessed Pope John Paul II’s teaching on Theology of the Body

the ‘why.’ It’s not just words or ‘no, no, no.’”

She believes it is a great message for children, and even better for parents.

“Theology of the Body goes against the culture. The culture tries to separate the body from the soul. That’s not the truth of it! The body is an expression of the soul. It takes a family to resist the culture, really teaching parents and families to make them stronger.”

Father Mark Lawlor, pastor, sees the Theology of the Body faith formation program as a positive step.

“The youth today are receiving a very different message in the media and the greater culture,” Father Lawlor says.

“In the current age, some students in

middle school have already been exposed to various ideas opposed to the virtue of purity. Our program begins with God’s plan for humanity, which was created in the image and likeness of God, and the universal call to holiness.”

In just the past few months, Tamayo says, “the feedback has been very positive.

“The children seem to look forward to this class and some parents have let us know that they are grateful to be able to learn more in-depth about Theology of the Body and how to talk to their children about the subject of chastity. There is an erroneous understanding of the meaning of chastity, and many immediately associated it with sex education. It has been an eye-opener to many, since the focus of the first three lessons has been our humanity as created in God’s image, and we haven’t discussed sexuality as of yet.”

Juan Pablo is a sixth-grade student in faith formation who says he is learning “about our souls and how sins affect them in a negative way. But thanks to Jesus, we have the sacraments that help us get grace and get to heaven one day. I think the TOB program is great and they should keep doing it in our faith formation classes.”

Tamayo hopes to build on the program going forward.

“It is our long-term goal to keep adding pure-of-heart (and) chastity teaching in every grade level, beginning with kindergarten. Having purity of heart means that we look at others with a love that wishes the good of the other person.

Learning purity of heart from an early age will lead the youth to naturally choose to be chaste in their teenage and adult years.”

And for now?

“I thought that this program would help our children come to understand that we were made for something greater than what the world is telling them,” Tamayo says.

On TV n Friday, Jan. 31, 6:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Love’s Bravest Choice.” The inspirational story of St. Maria Goretti, whose life was an example of purity and chastity. She died at age 11 from knife wounds inflicted by a young man who desired to rob her of her virginity. She forgave him before her death. n Saturday, Feb. 1, 5 p.m. (EWTN) “Bloodmoney: The Business of Abortion.” Dr. Alveda King exposes the truth behind the abortion industry from the pro-life perspective and hosts an examination of the history of abortion in America.

n Thursday, Feb. 6, 2 p.m. (EWTN) “Armenia’s Christians.” A look at the Church in Armenia, which was brought there by the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew. Since then, Christianity in Armenia has endured great suffering but has preserved the identity and cultural heritage of the people. n Thursday, Feb. 6, 6:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Burma – Threshold of Hope.” A presentation of conditions of life in Burma, along with a brief examination of the Catholic Church in this developing country.

n Saturday, Feb. 1, 8 p.m. (EWTN) “Son of Maryam.” A poignant story about the friendship between a Muslim adolescent and an elderly Catholic priest living in Iran. This film highlights the common ground between Muslims and Catholics.

n Friday, Feb. 7, 6:30 p.m. (EWTN) “A Tiny Piece of Heaven.” Explore the lives and faith of a community of believers in the small coastal town of Magadan, Siberia, which at one time was a slave labor camp.

n Monday, Feb. 3, 6:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Providence Will Provide.” A look into the life of Mother Mary Lange, who despite cultural hostility established the first religious community of black women in the history of the Catholic Church.

n Saturday, Feb. 8, 8 p.m. (EWTN) “St. Bernadette of Lourdes.” The story of St. Bernadette of Lourdes, and how she changed the lives of many with her visions of Mary, is told by a cast of more than 160 Catholic children.

n Tuesday, Feb. 4, 6:30 p.m. (EWTN) “A Time to Rebuild.” Father Mitch Pacwa explores the history and restoration of the Nowy Cacz Jesuit School in Poland and how it sustained the Polish people in times of persecution and oppression.

n Thursday, Feb. 13, 2 p.m. (EWTN) “Isabel the Catholic.” The life of Queen Isabel of Spain, whose zeal for the Catholic Church and complete dependence on God transformed the corrupt kingdom she inherited into the most powerful nation of 15th- and 16th-century Europe.

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iiiJanuary 31, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com

St. Dymphna

FROM TH

St. Bernadette

St. Louise de Marillac

St. Faustina

St. Monica

‘A wonderful gift

24 stained-glass windows installed in Our Lady of L SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

The details on each hand-painted window are exquisite.

St. Peter

MONROE — Parishioners at Our Lady of Lourdes Church will celebrate their patronal feast day Feb. 11 with perhaps a little more fervor than before, thanks in part to the recent installation of stained-glass windows depicting the images of 24 saints.

“The saints that we have are really a great representation of the Communion of Saints,” said Father Benjamin Roberts, pastor. “The saints surround us and encourage us. I wanted to make sure that there was essentially a saint for everybody.”

Since the windows were put in, Father Roberts said, he has recognized a change in the way his parishioners gather for worship.

“More and more we come to recognize it as sacred space, so that the building itself teaches. The way that the saints are arranged teaches us something. That’s been the wonderful gift of love that the parish gave in putting these windows here.”

Donors who came to church Oct. 30 gasped with joy and cried when they saw the windows of the saints they had helped to fund.

The windows had been quietly installed in one day, just in time for the Feast of All Saints Day on Nov. 1. Donors walked right up to the images of the saints they had selected – looking straight into the eyes, touching the glass and admiring the details of the handcrafted windows created by Statesville Stained Glass Co. over the course of three months.

Joyce Lalley, whose late husband Tom was an active member of the parish and also served on the diocesan finance council for many years, was one of the donors who came to see the windows. She donated the St. Padre Pio window in memory of Tom and in honor of their great love for the Franciscan saint.

“When I first became Catholic someone gave me a book and I read that and ever since then my husband and I were very devoted to him,” Lalley said. “Even my car has a plate on it that says, ‘Pray,

St. Francis of Assisi

St. Francis Xavier

St. Jude

hope and don’t worry.’”

“I don’t know how you can’t look at his face and just smile. I am so pleased!” she exclaimed, visibly moved and joyful at the sight of the beautifully painted stained glass.

Gloria Epps and her husband Medford have been parishioners since 2006. They donated the St. Josephine Bakhita window.

“I picked the sister. She was such a young saint. It shows God’s blessing, that she shared her life, and to be able to share that with others … She was young and humble and innocent.”

Donna and John White, who have been parishioners at Our Lady of Lourdes Church since 1979, came to see the St. Anne window.

“We picked her in memory of my Aunt Anne’s son who recently passed away. It’s in memory of my cousin,” Donna White said.

Another special donor relationship is that of Charlotte Bishop Peter Jugis, who donated the St. Peter window. Bishop Jugis was pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes Church when he received the news that he would become the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte.

“He was the first person I contacted,” Father Benjamin said. “I wanted him to have first pick.”

Each of the windows was reserved for a donation of $3,000 and were quickly spoken for. They weigh about 50 pounds each and were painstakingly created and installed by a team of 11 people.

Father Benjamin Roberts celebrated Mass after the windows were installed the evening of Oct. 30, addressing the surprise installation during his homily.

“So I did a little redecorating today,” he joked. Then he explained how and why the windows were arranged in each location around the church.

“At the back (of the church) are the Apostles, then the bishops, then the priests, then the deacons – St. Stephen and St. Francis.

Then the two laymen, St. Juan Diego and St. Edward the Confessor.

Then we have closer to the altar, because generally women are closer to God, we have St. Mary Magdalene and St. Monica and St.

St. Paul

HE COVER

St. Mary Magdalene

January 31, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.comiii

St. Juan Diego

St. Stephen

St. Ambrose

St. Padre Pio

of love’

Lourdes Church

o

e

Catherine of Siena – laywomen, not women religious.

“Then we have the women religious: St. Faustina, St. Louise de Marillac, St. Josephine Bakhita and St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Then we have the virgin martyrs and St. Bernadette. She gets her own space because she was the girl at Lourdes and this is the Parish of Our Lady of Lourdes. The virgin martyrs are closest to the altar.”

Father Roberts stated that in the “Te Deum,” one of the Church’s great hymns of praise, this is the way the saints are arrayed – the Apostles, prophets, martyrs, priests and the Levites.

“They are all arrayed this way. I was asked why aren’t the Apostles and the priests and the bishops closest to the altar. Because it’s the task of the Apostle, of the bishop and the priest to push everyone else into the Kingdom. That’s why they are organized the way that they are. Twelve men, 12 women, different vocations, all called to holiness.”

The date of the installation of the windows was also the 14th anniversary of Father Roberts’ conversion, the date he entered the Catholic Church.

“Fourteen years ago right now, I was pretty nervous. I had just finished my first confession and was getting ready for the Mass where I would be received into the Church, be confirmed and receive my first Holy Communion.”

He shared that he always celebrates a Mass for Unity of Christians on this anniversary.

“I always pray on this particular day for the unity of the Church, for the unity of the people of God, for all the baptized, that they would all be one.”

Parishioners at Our Lady of Lourdes Church now have a visual reminder of the unity of the Church, especially in the Communion of Saints, now that they are surrounded by 24 specially selected windows donated in memory of their loved ones and in honor of their personal relationships with the saints.

The parish hopes to have a formal dedication of the stained glass windows sometime early this year.

St. Catherine of Siena

St. Josephine Bakhita

In just one day, Statesville Stained Glass installers placed all 24 windows into their new settings.

Photos by SueAnn Howell | Catholic News Herald

St. Therese

St. Lucy

St. Cecilia

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catholicnewsherald.com | January 31, 2014 16

P. Gabriel Carvajal-Salazar Foto de la portada del sencillo ‘Vivir por Fe’ de Jorge Morel

El Bautismo Católico

E

stimados lectores de la Columna de Fuego: Soy el Padre Gabriel CarvajalSalazar, sacerdote de la Diócesis de Charlotte. Aprovecho esta oportunidad para contestar preguntas muy frecuentes de los no-católicos a los católicos acerca del sacramento del Bautismo católico.

Efectos del Bautismo 1) Perdona los pecados, incluyendo el pecado original ¿Por qué los católicos bautizan a los niños, si no tienen pecado y todavía no han llegado al uso de razón para poder creer? La Biblia dice: “El que crea y se bautice, se salvará” (Mc 16, 16).

Para poder interpretar correctamente la Biblia, hay que ver todo lo que dice acerca de un determinado tema. Entonces, ¿Qué dice la Biblia acerca del bautismo?

Los niños también son pecadores, al tener el pecado que cometieron Adán y Eva, que se llama el pecado original (Sab 12, 10). Con el bautismo se cancela este pecado original.

“Tú ves que malo soy de nacimiento, pecador desde el seno de mi madre,” (Sal 51, 7). “Un solo hombre pecó, y todos los hombres fueron constituidos pecadores,” (Rm 5, 19).

Es importante notar que la Biblia no dice que se pueden bautizar solamente los adultos. Habla en forma general: Niños, adultos y familias enteras.

“El que no renace del agua y del espíritu, no puede entrar en el Reino de Dios,” (Jn 3,5). “Ten fe en el Señor Jesús y te salvarás tú y tu familia,” (Hech 16, 31).

Según la costumbre de aquel tiempo, la familia abarcaba los papás, los hijos, los servidores y los esclavos (Gn 17, 23-27). Con la fe del padre de familia, se asegura el bautismo para todos. Pues bien, familias enteras recibieron el bautismo (Hech 10, 47-48; 1 Cor 1, 16).

“Lidia recibió el bautismo junto con toda su familia,” (Hech 16, 15). “El carcelero, sin más demora, les lavó las heridas y se bautizó con toda su familia a aquella hora de la noche,” (Hech 16, 33).

2) El Bautismos nos da el Espíritu Santo El bautismo no sirve solamente para quitar el pecado. También nos da el Espíritu Santo. Si sirviera solamente para quitar el pecado, Jesús no hubiera recibido el Bautismo, puesto que no tenía pecado. Por lo tanto, el Bautismo sirve para los niños porque les confiere el don del Espíritu Santo.

“Pues yo no hago más que bautizar con agua, pero él los bautizará en el Espíritu Santo,” (Mc 1, 8). “Luego al salir del agua, Jesús tuvo esta visión: los cielos se rasgaban, y el Espíritu Santo bajaba sobre él como paloma,” (Mc 1, 10).

3) El Bautismo nos incorpora a la Iglesia Además, el bautismo sirve también como puerta para entrar en la Iglesia.

De otra manera, ¿Por qué San Pedro ordenó que se bautizara Cornelio con su familia, si ya habían recibido el Espíritu Santo y por lo mismo también sus pecados habían quedado perdonados? Mediante el bautismo, entraron a formar parte de la Iglesia.

“Entonces Pedro tomó la palabra y dijo: ¿Quién podría negar el agua del bautismo a quienes han recibido el Espíritu Santo? Y mandó bautizarlos en el nombre de Jesucristo,” (Hech 10, 47-48).

Manera de bautizar ¿Por qué en la Iglesia Católica no se bautizan en el río, puesto que Jesús se bautizó en el río?

Estamos obligados a cumplir todo lo que Jesús ordenó, no todo lo que Jesús hizo. De otra manera tendríamos que vestir como Él, comer, morir en la cruz, etc. Pues bien, sobre el Bautismo, Jesús no dijo nada acerca de la manera cómo realizarlo. Lo que encontramos en la Biblia, son formas prácticas de realizar el Bautismo, es decir costumbres, no leyes obligatorias para todos y para siempre.

Por ejemplo, ¿Cómo se bautizaron las tres mil personas que se convirtieron el día de Pentecostés? (Hech 2, 41), Cornelio (Hech 10, 47-48) el carcelero de Filipos con su familia (Hech 16, 33), si no tenían ningún río a su disposición? Cuando la Biblia habla del bautismo por inmersión, está presentando una costumbre y no una ley. Lo que importa es recibir el Bautismo. Según los tiempos y lugares, se establecen maneras prácticas para realizar el rito del sacramento.

(Tomado del libro La Respuesta está en las Escrituras, P. Flaviano Amatulli Valente, pp. 55-57, Apóstoles de la Palabra, México, 2011).

El Padre Gabriel Carvajal-Salazar es el Vicario Parroquial de la Parroquia de St. Aloysius en Hickory.

Foto de soundcloud.com/ juventudcatolica/me-haces-volarjorge-morel

Famoso músico católico y ex-cantaautor de Bachata a participar en el Congreso Mariano del Rosario Rico De Silva Hispanic Communications Reporter

HUNTERSVILLE — Jorge Morel alcanzó toda la fama y éxito que un músico Latino pueda aspirar a conseguir en Nueva York.

El ex-cantante y compositor de Bachata consiguió, como parte del dúo “Junior y Jorge,” un contrato con la compañía de grabación Sony Disco International, y con éxitos musicales como “Piensa en Mí,” y “Amigo Mío,” Junior y Jorge también se ganaron el reconocimiento del ambiente musical Latino en esa ciudad.

“Nuestra carrera musical en el mundo de la Bachata duró desde 1996 hasta el 2001,” dijo Morel. “Junior y yo fuimos los primeros en presentar la Bachata en la televisora HTV, y también ganamos Premios Estrellas en Nueva York.” “Nosotros tocamos en unos de los escenarios más grandes del mundo. Incluso fuimos invitados por ‘La Mega’ a tocar en el Madison Square Garden,” dijo Morel.

Pero con todo el éxito y fortuna que Morel obtuvo, también, como ocurre frecuentemente en el mundo de la farándula, vinieron muchas tentaciones y el músico originario de la Republica Dominicana, sucumbió a las falsas promesas del mundo. “Me convertí en un jugador de casino perdido, alcohol, mujeres y vicio… Incluso, llegue a tirar mi carrera por el piso porque estaba haciendo cosas que un artista internacional no debe hacer,” dijo Morel.

Descontento con su vida, y buscando sin saber en ese entonces a Cristo, Morel y su compañero de grupo, Junior Arias, fueron a un grupo de oración carismático en la Iglesia de St. Anthony en el Bronx, N.Y. “Ahí escuchamos a un predicador de Nicaragua dar su testimonio de que él, siendo músico también, había buscado la fama y el dinero pero eso no lo llenaba tampoco.” “En St. Anthony, Junior y yo recibimos el llamado de Dios, y tomamos la decisión de dejar todo por lo que habíamos luchado y perseguido, para entonces perseguir la voluntad de Dios en nuestras vidas,” dijo el músico.

“Lo que el predicador dijo no fue algo impactante sino transcendental. Nosotros entendimos que Dios no tenía que decirnos

Más online @ www.catholicnewsherald.com: Para ver a Morel en concierto en Guatemala cantando su composición favorita, “Nadie es más Grande que mi Dios.”

muchas cosas para entender, y tomamos ese llamado seriamente.”

Los dos músicos fueron entonces a la Republica Dominicana a pedir el consejo de su obispo, ya que ellos tenían un contrato con una compañía de espectáculos para promover su disco más reciente en ese entonces, “Camino sin Regreso,” El obispo les aconsejó que acabaran su contrato para que no se dijera que, en las palabras del obispo, “los cristianos son unos mentirosos.”

Al concluir su contrato con la compañía promotora poco después, Morel comenzó su carrera como músico cristiano-católico, y desde entonces se ha destacado como un gran músico de alabanza a Dios.

“Lo interesante de este llamado fue que Cristo no nos pidió que dejáramos nada, sino que Él se convirtió en el sustituto de la fama y el dinero,” dijo Morel. “Es como si Jesús nos hubiera dicho que, ‘ya trataron el mundo y la fama. Ahora traten conmigo para que vean las maravillas que yo puedo hacer en sus vidas.’”

Actualmente, Morel viaja por todos los Estados Unidos y Latino América dando conciertos de alabanza. Desde Junio del 2013, Morel trabaja desde su oficina en Huntersville, y cuando el músico no está viajando por un concierto, él y su familia asisten a la Parroquia de St. Mark en Huntersville.

Jorge Morel y su Banda será el músico que amenizará las conferencias en español del próximo Congreso Mariano del Rosario 2014 que tendrá lugar en el Kannapolis Performing Arts Center de la 415 E. 1st St. en Kannapolis, el sábado, 22 de Febrero.

“Yo entré a la Iglesia en el ’89, pero no había vivido una vida de conversión hasta ese momento. Entonces, estoy muy contento de haber regresado a Dios como católico en la Iglesia que Cristo fundó.”

January 31, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

MIGRATION:

in coming to this world and while in it.

God, in Jesus, so loved the world that He migrated to earth to live among us.”

And even the Holy Family fled FROM PAGE 5 persecution, he pointed out, just as so many people are forced to do today.

“Jesus was illegal from the beginning. should all take an interest in seeing that Could it be that God was opening us up to people’s dignity is upheld and that money the call to follow Him, migrate with Him and economic forces do not hurt people or and live in solidarity with Him and one cause others to mistreat migrants. another?”

He reminded those gathered for the “When Jesus came He proclaimed the Kingdom of God. In welcoming all He rejected rejection. …The Mission of the Church is to enter into the mission of Jesus.”

In his concluding remarks, Father Groody suggested ways of making new policies to address the migration issues of today.

“We need to have development of new programs and policies. We need to sueann howell | catholic news herald have hospitality in assisting (From left) Ann Tompkins, western N.C. District Attorney, is joined migrants, and we have to have

by Lily Pad Haven founder Carla Twidell and Holy Cross Father Daniel solidarity, remembering we Groody for a panel discussion following the 2014 Kennedy Lecture at St. Peter Church in Charlotte Jan. 25. All three are working diligently are all in it together.”

Father Pat Earl, pastor in their respective fields to help victims of human trafficking both of St. Peter Church, said he locally, and in Father Groody’s case, worldwide. related personally to Father Groody’s remarks. lecture that “God grants rights to these “He began by saying the issue is people (immigrants), and it’s the state’s complex, and yet so simple. Every duty and right to uphold them. A lot of day I encounter the truth of that – the migrants are moving because there is a complexity of different aspects of the rule of law here.” same problem and the simplicity that We will never understand migration, he these are people in need. What binds us said, until “we make the journey from the together is the human heart and our love. head, to the heart, to our gut and back.”

Looking at this complex situation with “For Christians, we must live what love and with care, this will be our Exodus Christ values. We must be disciples of of the grip of this human need.”

Christ, who was Himself a migrant both

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RICE BOWL: FROM PAGE 5

“When children eat properly over the weekend, they are more rested, have food in their tummies and are more prepared to learn in school,” Russo said.

Every week parish volunteers pack the weekend bags and deliver them to North Belmont Elementary and Belmont Middle School. According to Russo, the chief dietician at Caromont Regional Hospital designed the menus for the backpacks based on the caloric needs appropriate for the age of the children. Russo added, “100 percent of the grant paid for food for these children.

There are no administration costs.”

At St. Mary Mother of God Church in Sylva, its $1,000 CRS Mini-Grant came at the right time to buy food for the parish food pantry which remains open from November through April. Vicki Dorsey, parish volunteer with the Parish Family Life Program, reported that last year more than 1,200 people came to St. Mary’s Food Pantry.

“I have found that all those people who come through our food pantry are in need and never take more than their family needs,” Dorsey said. “They are wonderful families of faith who are so appreciative of our pantry.”

Another parish which received a grant was Our Lady of the Annunciation Church in Albemarle, which earmarked its $1,000 grant for the parish’s Food for Families Program coordinated by the local Knights of Columbus Council. An example of the good deeds funded by the grant was the council’s Christmas Food Basket. Program coordinator Donald Barker said “with

Vicki Dorsey | Catholic News Herald

St. Mary Mother of God Church in Sylva used a Rice Bowl grant to restock its food pantry. Pictured are Fatima Fuentes, Rosalba Ornelas, Alicia Yanez, Angie Martinez, John Long, Patricia Marquez and Manolo Hernandez. the Rice Bowl funds, enough food was purchased to deliver food baskets to 40 needy families.”

The next round of applications for CRS Mini-Grants grants will be in this fall. Grant applications, due by Oct. 15, 2014, will be available at www.ccdoc.org/ cchdcrs in August. Catholic entities can choose to apply for funds for projects they sponsor directly or apply for funds to assist a non-profit in their community with which they partner by providing funds and/or volunteers (such as parishioners or students). A diocesan CRS advisory committee, led by Deacon Edward Konarski from St. Charles Borromeo Church in Morganton, chairs the committee that guides the grant selection process.

Joseph Purello is the director of Catholic Charities’ Office of Social Concerns and Advocacy, and the CRS diocesan director. The annual CRS Rice Bowl collection and the CRS Mini-Grant Program are coordinated by Catholic Charities’ Office of Social Concerns and Advocacy.

Our schools 18

catholicnewsherald.com | January 31, 2014 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Bishop McGuinness cancer survivor hits 50-foot shot, makes national news Ed Hardin Greensboro News & Record

KERNERSVILLE — The shot hung in the air and time seemed to stand still.

Spencer Wilson wasn’t looking at the scoreboard clock. Time is relative for the 17-year-old point guard on the Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School basketball team.

“I took two steps,” Wilson says. “I didn’t dribble. I just heaved it. It happened so fast, I sort of just watched it. I just let it go. “ He watched the ball arc 50 feet toward the rafters and glide through the net. The only sound was the buzzer going off, then the eruption of cheering, then his team carrying Wilson off the court. The game against rival Mount Airy was over, 84-82.

And yet it wasn’t.

In many ways, that ball is still hanging in the air.

Wilson is a two-time cancer survivor, a remarkable young man with his entire life ahead of him. There was a time when that wasn’t certain, when he had a clock ticking in his head, a constant reminder of his prognosis.

Six months.

A powerful experience

Wilson was 13 when he first noticed the lump on his left knee in 2009. He didn’t think much of it at the time. He was just a kid from High Point who played baseball and basketball and went to church on Sundays and to school on weekdays.

Doctors did a biopsy of the lump on Wilson’s knee. It was a tumor, and it was malignant.

He didn’t know the meaning of the word when he first heard it: rhabdomyosarcoma.

“Rhabdomyosarcoma is a cancer of the bone and muscles,” says Bill Wilson, Spencer’s father. “That started six months of chemo treatments and all the effects.”

Nausea. Mouth sores. Hair loss.

Weakness.

“I grew up fast. I learned to value every moment of life that I have,” Wilson says.

He still carries a thought with him that he took from the darkest hours.

“Dedicate yourself to the day,” he said last week, sitting in the bleachers not far from where he let the shot go. “Because tomorrow’s never promised.”

The family’s faith

Wilson’s parents, Bill and Jodi, have instilled in him the importance of a relationship with God. Their family attends Community Bible Church in High Point.

“Faith,” Bill Wilson says. “That’s what got us through it all. Our family has a strong faith, and that was paramount in his ability to fight through this. With our children, my wife Jodi and I try to glorify God in everything we do. The power of prayer is important, and it really came into play with Spencer’s illness.”

He adds, “We’re so thankful for the community that wrapped its arms around him and our family and for Wake Forest

Photo by Rob Brown of the Greensboro News & Record

Bishop McGuinness basketball player Spencer Wilson has received national attention following his 50-foot buzzer-beating shot to win a recent game against Mount Airy. He’s shown here during a shoot-around practice session at the school in Kernersville, on Jan. 20.

A shot for the ages More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Watch the video of Spencer Wilson’s miraculous game-winning shot

University and Baptist Hospital. Between medicine and a lot of prayer, that’s a pretty good combination.”

“My relationship with God has grown tremendously since I was diagnosed with cancer in 2009,” Wilson adds. “I look to Him in the good and bad because all my blessings come from Him.” The cancer went away. Wilson went back to the basketball court.

For six months, he grew stronger. His game came back. He was always a good basketball player, but after the cancer, he was even better. Wilson was invited to prestigious basketball camps where his name spread and college coaches began to notice the kid with the savvy court presence and the deadly shot from outside.

His grades soared. He grew to 5 feet 11.

He made AAU teams and played travel ball, eventually transferring from Wesleyan Christian Academy to Bishop McGuinness, where he would make National Honor Society. He became active in the Beta Club and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, volunteering at church and in the community, all the while holding a 4.3 grade-point average and doing what he loved most.

“Playing basketball,” he says.

Then the cancer came back. With a vengeance.

“The second time it was worse,” his dad says. “It had come back, and it had moved into his lymphatic system and was growing. We knew it wasn’t good.”

The doctors gave Spencer six months, maybe a year, to live. They gave him a 7 percent chance to survive it.

That was two years ago. The treatments worked. The medicine and the prayer pulled him through somehow, cancer-free.

Wilson stopped worrying about time and clocks. Time became relative.

And then last week, time became the story.

Wilson’s coach had an idea.

Taking the page from a coaching blog, Thompson decided to make the game a “dedication game” and told each of the players to dedicate the rivalry match-up to someone significant in their lives.

“Every player dedicated the game to someone else, a friend, someone struggling with an injury, parents, grandparents,” Thompson said. “Wilson dedicated the game to a kid who was fighting cancer, a young man from Davie County named Josh Rominger. They had traveled the same road together.”

Rominger died last year after the two struck up a friendship. Wilson wrote a letter to Rominger’s mom telling her why he was dedicating the game to him.

“Today is his birthday,” Wilson said last Tuesday. “It would’ve been his 19th birthday. I think about him every day.”

Wilson was thinking about his friend last Friday when he wrote the name on a basketball and passed it to a teammate, who then wrote another name on the ball,

and then another and then another. The ball stayed on the bench. The players touched it during timeouts, including one late in the game with Bishop McGuinness trailing by three.

That’s when it happened.

Wilson had already hit a long 3-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime, yet all looked hopeless when Mount Airy went ahead late in the extra period. But with 2.2 seconds to play, Mount Airy, leading by one, missed a free throw.

The ball bounced off the rim to center Will Gardner, who threw an outlet pass to Wilson, who took two steps and let it fly.

Thompson says God placed Wilson in that moment for a reason.

“You never expect a shot like that to go in, a 50-footer,” Thompson says. “But when it went in I wasn’t surprised.

“Faith. That’s what this has been all about. I don’t think the Lord cares who wins basketball games, but I know that He cares about us, His

people.”

Video of Wilson’s shot has had more than 20,000 views on YouTube. He was featured on the “CBS Evening News” last Thursday and “CBS Sunday Morning” on Sunday, putting him into the national spotlight to share his faith.

“I never expected attention like this. I think God used the game and the whole story as a platform for me to share my story and for the team to tell about the dedication game and our faith,” Wilson says. “The first thing that came to my mind is, I have to give this to the Lord because He blessed me with so many things. It’s a rare opportunity.”

“I’ve been through some things that a lot of kids haven’t,” he adds. “I take it as a blessing that God’s given me wisdom from the things I’ve been through. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I learned so much.”

In that unforgettable game Wilson was back in his element, playing for so many people, playing for his school and his teammates, his family and friends, for Josh Rominger and for so many kids who will never get a chance for a shot of a lifetime.

The ball did come down, softly kissing the backboard and then slipping through the net without a sound. The clock read 0:00.

A shot for the ages as time expired. It was somehow fitting.

“I think God definitely had His hand on the game,” Wilson says. “The motivation Josh gave me allowed me to play a lot harder. In any game, there’s a play where you just go through the motions, and there’s a play you don’t hustle back. But in that game we all gave it our all, and that’s what made a difference.”

— Kimberly Bender, online reporter, contributed.

January 31, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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Top-ranked swimmer credits faith, Catholic school for her success in the pool Jane Donoghue of Christ the King High School is ranked second in the nation in the 200-yard breastroke with the 32nd-fastest of all time for 14-yearold girls, and she is also the state’s top-ranked swimmer of her age in the 100-yard and 200yard breaststroke, as well as the 50-yard freestyle.

David Exum Correspondent

HUNTERSVILLE — Christ the King High School freshman and nationally-ranked swimming standout Jane Donahue is well on her way to becoming a possible future member of the women’s Olympic national team.

Under the tutelage of her high school coach and father, Tom Donahue, Jane, 14, and the 14 other members of the Crusader swim team (10 girls and five boys) rise each morning and hit the pool for practice for an hour starting at 5:45 a.m. A bus then transports the team to school. After school, as she has been doing for years, Jane practices for her club team, the NOMAD Aqua Devils, from 3:20 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

“We spend a lot of time together and it’s been something that is good for a (fatherand-daughter) relationship,” says Donahue, in his inaugural season as the school’s swimming coach. This is also the school’s first competition season.

Both Jane and her father credit a tremendous amount of her swimming success not only to her Catholic upbringing but to her education in the Charlotte diocese’s Catholic schools. Before enrolling at Christ the King High School, Jane attended St. Mark School in Huntersville.

Her family are also parishioners at St. Mark Church.

Jane also credits her strong faith in Christ and her Catholic upbringing for helping her endure injuries while swimming competitively.

“I had a broken foot that wouldn’t seem to heal, and my faith helped me get through that injury. I know that God has a plan for me, and I need to be patient as He reveals what that is. Sometimes, though, I wish He would follow my schedule, because I didn’t like the feeling like I was falling behind!”

Jane says she also relies on her faith each and every time she practices or competes in a meet.

“My Catholic education has taught me that by having a close relationship with Jesus, anything is possible. As an athlete, my Catholic education and beliefs stay with me. We pray as a family before each meet, and I always find time to pray. I ask Jesus to be with me and help me perform to the best of my abilities.”

While she’s been swimming competitively since she was 9, Jane’s best event is the breaststroke and she’s already got the resume to prove it.

Photo provided by Karen Donahue

In a meet last December, Jane set the state record for women 14 and younger in the 200-yard breaststroke – a record that has stood since 1994. In the 2012 USA Swimming Sectional Championships, Jane won the 100-yard breaststroke. The Sectional Championships are based on the best swimmers from 11 states in the South.

The following year, Jane finished second in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke in the N.C. State Championships.

Jane is also ranked number one in the state in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke and the 50-yard freestyle. She is also ranked second in the nation in the 200-yard breaststroke.

“She really has excelled in the breaststroke,” says her father. “She just has a very good feel in the water for that stroke.”

Instead of sending Jane to Charlotte Catholic High where her older sister Erin attends, Donahue thought enrolling his youngest daughter in a smaller school like Christ the King High would be more beneficial, especially since NOMAD is also located in Huntersville.

Although Donahue was one of the main cogs in the wheel in getting a swimming team formed at Christ the King, he says he never expected the school to ask him to coach the team.

“A smaller school was just a better fit for Jane, and it’s really worked out on many levels,” he says.

Jane particularly loves that her high school has a swimming team because she can spend more time with her friends, together doing what they all love: swimming.

“I really enjoy the fact that I have so many friends on the team. By going through this season together, I like that I have gotten closer with my close friends, and have built relationships with everyone else.”

College recruiters are already taking an interest in the top-ranked swimmer, even though college is still a few years away.

Jane says she’s eyeing college, of course, but the Olympics are also looming on her horizon.

“While that is still a long way off, I would love to represent my country,” she says.

Her idol is six-time Olympic medalist Rebecca Soni, whom she has met.

“I plan to keep working hard, listening to my (NOMAD coach Mark Dell) – and even my dad on occasion! – and see where the future takes me.”

Jane is also impressed with her father as being a first-year coach. Growing up in Cincinnati, Donahue says he didn’t swim competitively in high school because his school didn’t offer it, but he has always loved the sport and enjoys passing it on to his daughter.

“He has created a team environment which brings us all closer,” Jane says.

“We have a lot of fun, even though there is hard work involved. I think it’s really good considering we have about 100 kids in the school.”

In a span of just a few short months, Donahue says he has seen his swimmers gel into a great team.

“Our motto is: ‘Let the crusade begin,’” says Donahue, a reference to the school’s mascot, the Crusaders. “There’s that bond, especially getting up that early in the morning. I was really worried, and at first the kids didn’t know about the morning practice. I thought for sure that once they found out about the practice time, we’d drop down to a team of five! All 15 have stuck with the program and taken this team upon themselves, and my job is just to lead the parade.”

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catholicnewsherald.com | January 31, 2014 OUR PARISHES

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief Opportunity Scholarships application process opens Feb. 1 CHARLOTTE — Low-income families seeking assistance to send their children to a Catholic school can apply starting Feb. 1 for vouchers as an additional means to defer tuition costs, thanks to the passage of the Opportunity Scholarship Act by the state’s General Assembly in 2013.

Once a family meets the income guidelines and other requirements, a random lottery system may be used on a first-come, firstserved basis to award the 2,500 scholarships by the State Education Assistance Authority (SEAA). Scholarship amounts will be up to $4,200 and must not exceed the actual costs of tuition and fees.

Applications will be made available Feb. 1 at www.ncseaa.edu, and the SEAA will begin notifying recipients by March 1. The SEAA will award approximately 2,400 scholarships the first year.

According to the SEAA, income requirements include that a child must live in a household with an income level that is not in the excess for the student to qualify for the federal free or reduced-price lunch program. Prospective scholarship recipients must also have attended public school in the spring semester of 2014. Grades 1 through 12 are eligible for the Opportunity Scholarships for the 2014-’15 school year. Kindergarten will be included thereafter.

“A lot of these families don’t think they can

afford a Catholic education, but the truth of the matter is, we have a tuition assistance program which will provide a lot of those funds now. But a lot of (families) don’t apply because they don’t think they can afford it,” noted Michael J. Ford, director of marketing for Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools.

Get more information about the Opportunity Scholarship program and apply online starting Feb. 1 at www.ncseaa.edu. You can also call 1-855-330-3955 (toll-free).

students for the 2014-2015 school year at all schools and for all grades. The early admission round ends Friday, Jan. 31. Call the MACS Admissions Office at 704-370-3273 to request an application packet or go to the MACS website at www.schools.charlottediocese. net/macs/admissions/applications for the application documents. For school locations and additional information, go online to www. schools.charlottediocese.net/our-schools.

Students receive awards from Salisbury Lions Club

Experiencing the Latin Mass

SALISBURY — Students from Sacred Heart School took all three awards in the Salisbury Lions Club Peace Poster contest. Rachel Harrison (pictured at center) was awarded first place, Emilee Hibshman (pictured at right) won second place, and Jimmy Sentilles (pictured at left) won third place. Besides being recognized during the Salisbury Lions Club’s Annual Lion of the Year Banquet at the Country Club of Salisbury, each student received a $50, $30 or $15 gift card.

— Robin Fisher

Early admissions deadline for MACS CHARLOTTE — Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools is accepting applications for new

CHARLOTTE — The junior class at Charlotte Catholic High School recently had a special instructional session about the Latin Mass, otherwise known as the Mass in the Extraordinary Form, led by the school’s chaplain Father Matthew Kauth. The course concluded with a Solemn High Mass at St. Ann Church in Charlotte.

Road races planned in Winston-Salem WINSTON-SALEM — St. Leo School is gearing up for its 19th Annual 5K and 10K Road Races and Fun Run, scheduled for Saturday, March 15.

USATF-certified 5K and 10K courses will offer an enjoyable, fast, yet challenging run through scenic Buena Vista, while the Fun Run will provide a family-friendly shorter route. Prizes will be given in adult and kids categories. A pre-race pasta dinner and a 2-mile fun run will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 14. Early registration discounts are available, so participants are encouraged to go to www. active.com to learn more and register soon.

16 MACS band students named to 2014 Honor Band CHARLOTTE — Sixteen members from the Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools were recently selected after a rigorous audition process to participate in the 2014 South Central District Bandmasters Association All-District Honor Band Clinic, announced Ryan W. Tinker, director of bands at Charlotte Catholic High School; Tracy Shoff, director of bands at Holy Trinity Middle School; and Brian Joyce, director of bands at St. Mark Middle School. The clinic was held at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory Jan. 24-25.

Students representing Charlotte Catholic High School are: Kevin Acken (trumpet), Faith Kressner (alto sax), Will Larsen (clarinet) and Hayley Russell (French horn).

Students representing Holy Trinity Middle School are: Matthew Sie (alto sax), William Branch (trumpet), Gregory Moritz (trumpet), Abbey Roper (flute), Ian Russell (clarinet), Hannah Webster (clarinet), Maya Roselli (bass clarinet), Grace Mathis (French horn), Ben Ranzinger (trombone), John Roselli (trombone) and Ryan Faucette (timpani).

Representing St. Mark Middle School is Katie Clark (clarinet).

In addition, three MACS snare drummers earned an alternate status with the all-district bands: Bryan Borders of Charlotte Catholic High School, and Sophie Roper and Jonathan Pray of Holy Trinity Middle School.

The students rehearsed and performed a concert with guest clinician/conductors Larry Wells, Christopher White, Connie Weeks and Ralph Caldwell Jan. 25.

— Donna Birkel

Immaculata students learn HENDERSONVILLE — Immaculata School first-graders were recently caught on camera learning about living and non-living things during a science lesson.

— Tina Opkych We welcome your school’s news! Please email news and photos to Editor Patricia L. Guilfoyle at plguilfoyle@ charlottediocese.org.

January 31, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

Classified Looking for a Second Career? Travel Sales Rep. Needed Select International Tours, Send resume to: sales@select-intl.com Eremitic monastic relocating to Charlotte at the end of March seeks to rent small apartment or private room. Eric Fallick 703-549-2117 platonicascetic@gmail.com

Beta Club members named SALISBURY — Twelve students were inducted into the Junior Beta Club at Sacred Heart School on Jan. 17.

New Junior Beta Club members are: (pictured from left, front to back) Caroline Cardelle, Caroline Clark, Olivia Dagenhart, Ali Gerig, Katy Klein, Patrick Rattz, Kayla Young, Anna Hester, M.J. Hibshman, Josh Klein, Alyssa Lopez and Kayla Romano.

Since the first Beta Club was formed in Landrum, S.C., in 1934, the National Beta Club has become the nation’s largest independent, non-profit, educational youth organization. The Beta Club recognizes and promotes high academic achievement, rewards and nurtures worthy character, fosters leadership skills and encourages service to others. The National Beta Club has worked with more than 6.5 million young people in grades 5-9 (Junior Beta Club) and grades 9-12 (Senior Beta Club). There are now more than 450,000 active members and more than 8,750 clubs nationally and internationally.

— Robin Fisher

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Our nation 22

catholicnewsherald.com | January 31, 2014 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

More online Many pilgrims from the Diocese of Charlotte braved the cold in Washington, while others back here at home prayed in solidarity for the March for Life participants.

At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Check out these local stories online:

Young people hold signs outside the U.S. Supreme Court building during the March for Life in Washington Jan. 22. Thousands took part in the annual event, which this year marked the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legaliz ed abortion across the nation.

BISHOPS OFFER MASS North Carolina pilgrims gathered for Mass with Charlotte Bishop Peter Jugis and Raleigh Bishop Michael Burbidge at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception before the national March for Life began. In his homily, Bishop Burbidge said, “The glory of God is seen in the unborn and each and every human being.” Listen to his homily or read the full text.

CNS | Leslie Kossoff

‘No sacrifice too great’ for pro-life cause, says March for Life head PILGRIMS MARCH FOR TRUTH Pilgrims from parishes including St. Barnabas in Arden, St. Michael in Gastonia, St. Pius X in Greensboro, St. Aloysius in Hickory and St. John the Baptist in Tryon, as well as local clergy and religious such as the Missionaries of the Poor in Monroe, joined Bishop Jugis in the March for Life from the Capitol to the Supreme Court. See more photos of the marchers in action.

STUDENTS LEAD THE WAY Belmont Abbey College sent more than 100 students to the March for Life. Dr. William Thierfelder, president, said, “The march is one way of showing we believe there is something wrong that needs to change.” Read more about the presence of college students at the march.

STUDENTS PRAY THE ROSARY College students from across the diocese prayed the rosary in solidarity with those marching in D.C., to witness to the sanctity of human life on their campuses. See more photos.

OTHERS SHOW THEIR SOLIDARITY In prayerful unity with the March for Life pilgrims, St. Mary Mother of God Church in Sylva and Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Monroe held prayer vigils and offered Masses Jan. 22. Read the pro-life prayers offered in Sylva, and the full homily

by Monroe’s pastor Father Benjamin Roberts.

Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Single-digit temperatures couldn’t chill the ardor of hundreds of thousands of participants – including thousands of young people – who demonstrated their determination to continue speaking out against abortion at the annual March for Life and rally Jan. 22 in Washington.

At the rally, speakers highlighted the tenacious determination of the crowd – dressed in coats, scarves, hats and gloves – huddled together on the snow-covered National Mall. They likened the crowd’s bravery to the firm resolve they have shown in their efforts to change abortion laws and promote a culture of life in the U.S. The rally began at noon, prior to the crowd’s march to the U.S. Supreme Court to protest the court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.

Jeanne Monahan, March for Life president, thanked the crowd for “braving the extreme elements today.”

“No sacrifice is too great for this cause,” she added.

Monahan stressed a new aspect of this year’s march: tweeting about it. Marchers cheered as Monahan read a tweet from Pope Francis: “I join the March for Life in Washington with my prayers. May God help us respect all life, especially the most vulnerable.” She urged the crowd to retweet his message.

The March for Life has a new staff, logo and website and also aims to have a vital social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so supporters can stay in touch long after the march ended.

The theme of this year’s march was “Adoption: A Noble Decision.”

“When a woman makes a choice to be a birth mother, she embraces motherhood in its most heroic sense,” said Monahan, who also offered support for women who have not chosen life in the past. “For any woman who has had an abortion, you have to know there is hope and healing.”

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia said the marchers’ endurance not only gives “voice to the cause of protecting life” but also shows that they are the “strongest weapon” of the pro-life movement. He said he was confident prolifers would win the culture war, because the right to life “is a moral truth written at the hands of our Creator.”

Last year, the House passed the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, and Cantor cited it as an example of changing public opinion on abortion. He exhorted the rally-goers to continue the battle.

“In the last three years alone, a record 200 pro-life laws have

been enacted in the states,” noted Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J. “By the grace of God – and because of you, your prayers and hard work – we are winning.”

The winter storm prevented Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia from coming to Washington to celebrate the Jan. 22 closing Mass of the annual National Prayer Vigil for Life, but the homily he wrote made its way to thousands of hearing ears. In it, he wrote of the virtue of hope and the confidence that abortion can be overcome.

“The very existence of people who refuse to accept evil and who seek to act virtuously burns the conscience of those who don’t,” Archbishop Chaput wrote. “People who march and lobby and speak out to defend the unborn child will be – and are – reviled by leaders and media and abortion activists that turn the right to kill an unborn child into a shrine to personal choice.

“Evil cannot bear the counter-witness of truth. It will not coexist peacefully with goodness, because evil insists on being seen as right, and worshipped as being right.”

Archbishop Chaput’s homily was read by Monsignor Walter Rossi, rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, site of the Mass.

“Seventy years ago, abortion was a crime against humanity.

Four decades ago, abortion supporters talked about the ‘tragedy’ of abortion and the need to make it safe and rare. Not anymore.

Now abortion is not just a right, but a right that claims positive dignity, the license to demonize its opponents and the precedence to interfere with constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech, assembly and religion. We no longer tolerate abortion. We venerate it as a totem.

“Optimism and pessimism are equally dangerous for Christians because both God and the devil are full of surprises. But the virtue of hope is another matter. The Church tells us we must live in hope, and hope is a very different creature from optimism. ... Hope is the conviction that the sovereignty, the beauty and the glory of God remain despite all of our weaknesses and all of our failures. Hope is the grace to trust that God is who He claims to be, and that in serving Him, we do something fertile and precious for the renewal of the world.”

He added, “Over the past 41 years, the pro-life movement has been written off as dying too many times to count. Yet here we are, again and again, disappointing our critics and refusing to die.

And why is that? It’s because the word of God and the works of God do not pass away. No court decision, no law and no political lobby can ever change the truth about when human life begins and the sanctity that God attaches to each and every human life.”

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In Brief Court continues injunction protecting Little Sisters from HHS mandate WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court Jan. 24 issued a three-sentence order affirming -- for the time being -- an injunction blocking enforcement against the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Christian Brothers benefits organization of a mandate to provide contraceptive coverage in employee health insurance. The order released late in the afternoon affirmed Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s Dec. 31 order in the case. It temporarily blocks the federal government from requiring the Denver-based sisters and their co-plaintiffs at Christian Brothers Services from having to meet that requirement of the Affordable Care Act. The attorney for the Little Sisters and the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomed the order. Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., speaking in his capacity as president of the USCCB, said in a statement released Jan. 25 that the bishops “welcome the court’s protection of ministries like the Little Sisters, whose vital work is at the heart of what it means to be Catholic.” The Supreme Court’s order said: “If the employer applicants inform the secretary of Health and Human Services in writing that they are nonprofit organizations that hold themselves out as religious and have religious objections to providing coverage for contraceptive services, the respondents are enjoined from enforcing against the applicants the challenged provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and related regulations pending final disposition of the appeal by the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.”

Brain-dead pregnant woman in Texas removed from life support FORT WORTH, Texas — Following a Jan. 24 court order, a Fort Worth hospital two days later removed a 33-year-old brain-dead pregnant woman from life support. Marlise Munoz, who was 14 weeks pregnant when she collapsed at home in November and was deprived of oxygen for up to an hour, was being kept on life-sustaining machines at John Peter Smith Hospital against the wishes of her husband and parents. Hospital officials said they could not remove her respirator because of a Texas law that prohibits doctors from withdrawing “lifesustaining treatment” from pregnant women.

On Jan. 14, Munoz’s husband, Erick, sued the hospital. The motion filed in Tarrant County District Court states he “vehemently” opposed keeping his wife on life support, and would like to bury her. The court agreed with him and issued its order to the hospital to remove her from the machines that were keeping her alive.

Erick Munoz, who is a paramedic -- as was his wife -- said Marlise would not have wanted to be on life support in such circumstances. A CBS News report said the husband’s attorneys announced she had been disconnected from life support about 11:30 a.m. Jan. 26. In a statement they said: “May Marlise Munoz finally rest in peace, and her family find the strength to complete what has been an unbearably long and arduous journey.”

Vatican confirms Obama will visit pope in March VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama at the Vatican March 27, the White House announced and the Vatican confirmed. The spring meeting

would be Obama’s second visit to the Vatican as president, but his first with Pope Francis, who was elected March 13, 2013. The White House said the Vatican visit would be part of a presidential trip to the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. “The president looks forward to discussing with Pope Francis their shared commitment to fighting poverty and growing inequality,” said the Jan. 21 White House statement. During the same trip, Obama will participate in a summit in the Netherlands on nuclear security, visit the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission in Brussels, and hold talks in Rome with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Enrico Letta. After U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met his Vatican counterpart, Cardinal-designate Pietro Parolin, at the Vatican Jan. 14, he told reporters, “I know that the Holy Father is anticipating the visit of President Obama here, and the president is looking forward to coming here to meet with him.”

Proclaiming Gospel at ‘heart’ of Catholic education, says archbishop WASHINGTON, D.C. — National Catholic Schools Week will be observed in U.S. dioceses Jan. 26-Feb. 1 with the theme: “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.” “Our schools have educated millions of young people over the years by providing them a superior academic background, always pointing the way to eternal life,” said Archbishop George J. Lucas of Omaha, Neb., chairman of education committee of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “The success of Catholic schools in handing on the faith, generation after generation, is a bright light in the history of the church in the United States,” he added. About 2.1 million students are currently educated in more than 6,600 Catholic schools across the country. Of these students, an estimated 99 percent graduate from high school and 85 percent attend college. “The heart of the apostolate of Catholic education is the mission to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Catholic schools provide a rich environment of faith and learning where students experience how much God loves them in Christ,” Archbishop Lucas said.

At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See photos from this week’s celebrations of Catholic Schools Week in the Diocese of Charlotte

Chicago releases files relating to 30 priests accused of abusing minors CHICAGO — The Archdiocese of Chicago Jan. 15 released more than 6,000 pages of documents related to cases involving 30 priests accused of sexual abuse. In the majority of the cases, the abuse occurred before 1988 and all were referred to civil authorities. The documents were given to Jeffrey Anderson, an attorney for abuse victims. Anderson is expected to make the files public the week of Jan. 26. Fourteen of the 30 priests have died and all but two have been laicized. The documents reveal the story of the priests, the abuse, information the archdiocese had and what action they took. The archdiocese released the documents as part of a mediation agreement signed in 2006. In the eight years since, lawyers for the victims, priests and the archdiocese culled through the documents to remove anything that would violate the privacy of victims. Nothing was removed relating the identity of the priests or there supervisors, said John O’Malley, director of legal services for the archdiocese, during a news conference at the Archbishop Quigley Center. “The information is upsetting. The information is painful. It’s difficult to read, even without the benefit of hindsight,”

O’Malley said. “We believe however that this step is an important step in the process of transparency.”

Bill would require feds to respect state laws on traditional marriage WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House should pass a bipartisan bill that would require the federal government to respect state marriage laws defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, a U.S. archbishop said Jan. 10. Titled the State Marriage Defense Act, the bill “is a necessary piece of legislation that will prevent the federal government from unjustly disregarding, in certain instances, state marriage laws concerning the definition of marriage,” said San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone. The archbishop, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, made the comments in a letter to U.S. Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, who introduced the bill Jan. 9. Archbishop Cordileone said various federal agencies now use a “place of celebration” rule to determine whether persons are validly married for purposes of federal law. “The Supreme Court’s decision last year in U.S. v. Windsor, however, requires the federal government to defer to state marriage law, not disregard it,” he said.

Regarding Windsor, the high court ruled June 26 in a 5-4 opinion that the federal Defense of Marriage Act, defining marriage as between one man and one woman, was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause.

Hilton Foundation gives $2.5M to religious retirement office WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, named after the founding magnate of the Hilton hotel chain, has awarded a grant of $2.5 million to the National Religious Retirement Office. The money, to be distributed over three years, will help the office in its efforts to help religious communities in the United States address serious retirementfunding shortfalls. The National Religious Retirement Office is the coordinating body that oversees the annual Retirement Fund for Religious collection, the largest such national collection in the U.S. Catholic Church since its inception in 1988. It is jointly sponsored by the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Grant funds will be used to assess the impact of existing programs for critically underfunded religious communities to improve future services and identify best practices.

Funding also will underwrite the development of educational opportunities and resources that promote effective property management and utilization. The grant to the religious retirement office will help religious communities reduce their retirement-fund deficits, thus promoting ongoing viability for congregations in the United States and ensuring that today’s members can continue the good works begun by those who preceded them.

Caring for women, the unborn seen as issues in clinic buffer zone case WORCESTER, Mass. — Massachusetts pro-life advocates who went to the U.S. Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in an abortion buffer zone case said caring for women and being the voice of the unborn are among the issues at stake. The case, McCullen v. Coakley, was brought by several people who volunteer as “sidewalk counselors” outside Planned Parenthood clinics in Boston, Springfield and Worcester. Under a 2007 state law, there are yellow semicircular lines painted 35 feet from the entrances to the

23

clinics, delineating how far away the sidewalk counselors and abortion protesters must stay.

The law prohibits conversations about abortion within the zone by anyone except employees of the abortion clinics. The oral arguments were Jan. 15, and a ruling in the case is expected before the court adjourns for the summer in late June. After the arguments, Roderick P. Murphy told The Catholic Free Press, Worcester’s diocesan newspaper, that being able to get into the high court and hear the arguments firsthand “was very impressive -- the whole thing. Being in the audience. Just getting into the place.”

Murphy is director of Problem Pregnancy, a center in Worcester which offers alternatives to abortion and is located across from the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts abortion clinic.

Archbishop: Staffer’s departure over marriage follows Church teaching SEATTLE — Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain said a local Catholic school’s requirement that the vice principal quit after it learned of his same-sex marriage was not discriminatory but held to church teaching and the school’s Catholic mission. According to a statement from Eastside Catholic High School in the Seattle suburb of Sammamish, Vice Principal Mark Zmuda resigned in midDecember during a meeting with school officials “for violating his signed agreement to abide by Catholic Church teachings.” In the weeks since his departure, Eastside Catholic students have staged a sit-in protest and launched a petition not only in support of Zmuda, asking for his reinstatement, but in an effort “to change the Catholic Church’s opposition (to) gay marriage.”

As of Jan. 17, the petition had more than 33,000 signatures of people around the country.

Archbishop Sartain said in his Jan. 15 statement that he had received a copy of the petition that morning. “Leaders of Catholic schools are charged with the responsibility of both imparting and modeling” the Catholic Church’s teaching, he said, adding that the decision by the board and administrators of Eastside, an independent Catholic school, asking Zmuda to resign “was made after a great deal of prayer and consultation.”

Bishops named WASHINGTON, D.C. — Bishop Ronald W. Gainer of Lexington, Ky., has been named to head the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pa., and Monsignor Myron J. Cotta, the vicar general of the Diocese of Fresno, Calif., has been named auxiliary bishop of Sacramento, Calif. Pope Francis made the appointments Jan. 24.

Also, Pope Francis has appointed Monsignor Stephen J. Berg, a priest of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, to head the Diocese of Pueblo, Colo.

— Catholic News Service

Our world 24

catholicnewsherald.com | January 31, 2014 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Make more room for women without crowding out family, pope says Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Women should play a greater role in society and the Church without sacrificing their essential attention and contribution to their families, Pope Francis said.

Women’s distinctive skill sets and sensibilities make them invaluable not only for building “peace and harmony” in families, but for all of humanity, too, he said.

The pope made his remarks during an audience at the Vatican Jan. 25 with women taking part in a national congress hosted by the Italian Women’s Center (Centro Italiano Femminile), a Catholic women’s association promoting greater democracy, solidarity, human rights and human dignity.

In his speech, Pope Francis said, “I strongly wish that (opportunities and responsibilities) may open themselves up further to the presence and participation of women, both in the Church as well as in society and the professional sphere,” including a greater role in decisionmaking, he said.

However, the pope also said that he hoped such new opportunities and responsibility would not mean forgetting “the irreplaceable role of women in the family.”

The “finesse, particular sensitivity and tenderness” women possess “represent a genuine strength not only for the life of families, for creating an atmosphere of peace and harmony,” but for the whole of humanity, too, he said.

“Without their approach, without these gifts of women, the human vocation cannot be fulfilled,” he said.

But just as “a greater contribution of feminine genius” is important in the professional world and public sphere, the same gifts “remain essential for the family, which for us Christians is not simply the private realm, but is the domestic church whose health and prosperity is a condition for the health and prosperity of the Church and society itself,” he said.

The critical question for each woman, the pope said, is to discern the right balance of work, community and family.

“How is it possible to expand an effective presence in so many areas in the public sphere, in the world of work and in the places where the most important decisions are made and at the same time maintain a special presence in and preferred attention for the family?” he asked.

A “diligent and persistent” prayer life, reflection on the word of God and taking part in the sacraments are key to that process of discernment, the pope said, so that women can always be responding in new ways to the Lord’s call.

Women have an irreplaceable role within the family, he said, particularly in handing down to future generations “solid moral principles” and the Christian faith.

CNS | Paul Haring

Pope Francis walks with representatives of other Christian denominations at the conclusion of vespers at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Jan. 25. With Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist and other Christian representatives present and reading some of the prayers, Pope Francis presided over the service.

Unity will come as divided Christians pray, work together, pope says Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

ROME — While Christian unity will be a gift from God, it won’t drop miraculously from the sky but will be given to the followers of Christ step by step as they walk together and work together, Pope Francis said.

“To journey together is already to be making unity,” the pope said Jan. 25 during an ecumenical prayer service marking the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

With Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist and other Christian representatives present and reading some of the prayers, Pope Francis presided over the service at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

The service began with Pope Francis, Orthodox Metropolitan Gennadios of Italy and Anglican Archbishop David Moxon, the archbishop of Canterbury’s representative in Rome, bowing in prayer before the tomb of St. Paul on the feast of his conversion.

“We have prayed at the tomb of Paul and said to one another, ‘Let’s pray that he will help us on this path, this path of unity and love,’” the pope said later in his homily.

“Unity will not come about as a miracle at the very end,” he said. “Rather, unity comes about in journeying.”

“If we do not walk together, if we do not pray for one another, if we do not collaborate in the many ways that we can in this world for the people of God, then unity will not come about.”

Dialogue and collaboration are essential, he said, but unity will not be the result of human effort, “but rather of the Holy Spirit, who sees our good will.”

Pope Francis, celebrating his first Christian unity week as pope, said that “two great popes, Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II,” felt the urgency of Jesus’ prayer that His disciples be one. They dedicated so much of their energy and teaching to ecumenism that the search for Christian unity has become “an essential dimension” of papal ministry, he said.

“We can say also that the journey of ecumenism has allowed us to come to a deeper understanding of the ministry of the successor of Peter, and we must be confident that it will continue to do so in the future,” he said.

In his apostolic exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), Pope Francis wrote, “It is my duty, as the bishop of Rome, to be open to suggestions which can help make the exercise of my ministry more faithful to the meaning which Jesus Christ wished to give it and to the present needs of evangelization.”

He noted how Blessed Pope John Paul II, in his 1995 encyclical on ecumenism, “Ut Unum Sint” (“That All May be One”), “asked for help in finding ‘a way of exercising the primacy which, while in no way renouncing what is essential to its mission, is nonetheless open to a new situation.’” Pope Francis said, “We have made little progress in this regard.”

Pope Francis told the thousands of people who filled the Basilica of St. Paul for the evening prayer service that it is unacceptable to consider “divisions in the Church as something natural, inevitable,” because “divisions wound Christ’s body (and) they impair the witness which we are called to give to Him before the The new medallion of Pope Francis is seen next to one world.” of Pope Benedict XVI on the upper wall of the Basilica “We have all of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Jan. 25. been damaged by these divisions,” the pope said, and all share an obligation “to persevere with humility and trust” in the search for unity.

As Pope Francis was leaving the basilica, his liturgical master of ceremonies, Monsignor Guido Marini, pointed out to him the basilica’s newest mosaic: a portrait of Pope Francis added in December to the series of mosaic portraits of all the popes since St. Peter.

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In Brief Pope prays for peace in Ukraine; bishops offer to mediate VATICAN CITY — As protests against the Ukrainian president spread to cities across the country, Pope Francis offered his prayers for the nation’s people, “particularly for those who lost their lives in the last few days and for their families.” At least three protesters died Jan. 22 in Kiev, Ukraine’s capital and the site of anti-government protests since late November. Speaking after reciting the Angelus Jan. 26 with visitors in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said, “I hope there would develop a constructive dialogue between the institutions and civil society and, avoiding any recourse to violent actions, a spirit of peace and search for the common good would prevail in the hearts of all.” According to news reports, the main demonstration in Kiev’s Independence Square – calling for closer ties to Europe, an end to government corruption and greater respect for human rights – has remained nonviolent.

But small groups of other protesters have been throwing rocks and firebombs at police and have occupied several government buildings in Kiev and other cities. Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych, major archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, and the leaders of other churches and religious groups met embattled President Viktor Yanukovich Jan. 24 and offered to mediate in the name of peace.

As peace talks start, pope calls for urgent end to Syrian violence VATICAN CITY — As world leaders gathered in the hopes of finding a peaceful solution to Syria’s three-year-long brutal conflict, Pope Francis asked that they spare no effort in bringing an end to the violence. The pope also urged the people of Syria to rebuild their nation and see in the other “not an enemy, a rival, but a brother or sister to welcome and embrace.”

The pope made the appeal at the end of his general audience in St. Peter’s Square Jan. 22, the day a major peace summit, dubbed “Geneva II” began in Switzerland. The U.N.sponsored talks – scheduled to run at least until Jan. 24 – were to bring world leaders together to help forge a solution to the crisis and bring representatives of the Syrian government and major opposition figures together for direct talks for the first time. A two-person Vatican delegation, led by Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican observer to U.N. agencies in Geneva, was also invited to attend the peace summit.

Eastern Africa bishops appeal for peace in South Sudan JUBA, South Sudan — The Catholic bishops of eastern Africa called upon warring factions in South Sudan to soften their positions “in the interest of saving lives” to achieve peace and to open safe corridors to allow humanitarian aid to flow to hundreds of thousands of people displaced since fighting erupted Dec. 15. The Association of Member Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa said in a statement delivered to the bishops of South Sudan meeting in Juba Jan. 24 that all hostilities must end. The association also urged the parties negotiating in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to welcome wider array of South Sudanese representatives so that all underlying issues that led to the conflict to erupt to be aired. The South Sudanese government and rebels signed a cease-fire agreement Jan. 23. It took effect Jan. 24.

Hostilities have left as many as 10,000 people dead, and the Internal Displacement Monitoring

Center reported 468,000 people were displaced as of Jan. 16.

Bishops in Holy Land call for help for ‘shocking scandal’ in Gaza JERUSALEM — Bishops from North America, Europe and Africa called on international leaders to act immediately so people living in the Gaza Strip can have access to basic necessities. “Gaza is a man-made disaster, a shocking scandal, an injustice that cries out to the human community for a resolution.

We call upon political leaders to improve the humanitarian situation of the people in Gaza, assuring access to the basic necessities for a dignified human life, the possibilities for economic development and freedom of movement,” they said in their Jan. 16 statement. The bishops spent the two days of their Jan. 11-16 trip visiting Christian schools and social and health institutions in Gaza as well as meeting with the local parishioners. Their visit, known as the Holy Land Coordination, is an annual event that began in 1988 at the request of the Vatican. The tiny Christian community of Gaza is made up of about 2,500 Christians out of a total Gazan population of more than 1.5 million people.

Report: 384 priests removed in 2 years by Pope Benedict VATICAN CITY — Testifying before the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, a Vatican representative acknowledged the horror of clerical sexual abuse and insisted the Vatican was serious about protecting children.

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican observer to U.N. agencies in Geneva, said the Church recognizes abuse of children as both a crime and sin, and the Vatican has been promoting policies that, “when properly applied, will help eliminate the occurrence of child sexual abuse by clergy and other Church personnel.”

The archbishop spoke in Geneva Jan. 16 during the committee’s annual session to review reports from states that signed the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Holy See signed the treaty in 1990.

Within the Church, accusations of clerical sexual abuse are investigated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and those found guilty may be dismissed from the priesthood. According to statistics published in the “Attivita della Santa Sede” (“Activity of the Holy See”), a collection of annual reports from Vatican offices, 135 priests accused of abuse requested dismissal from the priesthood in 2011 and another 125 were dismissed by Pope Benedict XVI. In 2012, the book said, 67 accused priests voluntarily left the priesthood and 57 were dismissed by Pope Benedict.

Archbishop Tomasi told the committee that, in December, Pope Francis approved the establishment of an international commission to promote child protection and prevent abuse.

He said Vatican City State recently updated its laws to define and set out penalties for specific crimes against minors, including the sale of children, child prostitution, the military recruitment of children, sexual violence against children and producing or possessing child pornography.

JPII relic reported stolen VATICAN CITY — Thieves reportedly stole a relic of Blessed John Paul II from a country chapel 85 miles east of Rome. Italian media reported Jan. 27 that the relic, a piece of fabric soaked in Blessed John Paul’s blood, had disappeared over the preceding weekend from the church of San Pietro della Ienca. One of the volunteers who takes care of the church discovered that intruders sawed through bars over the one of the windows and made off with the relic as well as a crucifix.

— Catholic News Service

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catholicnewsherald.com | January 31, 2014 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Alexis Neitzey

Young adults: Build a firm ‘faith building’ now to help you later

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I suggested. That always makes me think twice ver wonder what a Campus Ministry leader does about my decisions. God is ultimately forgiving and on Christmas break? Mine was perhaps a little knows our every action, but everyone knows the different experience than the average college disappointed look of their mother! student.

After setting a firm foundation in faith, one has to After finals week, my plan was to hibernate for start building. “Make friends who share your values the first couple days to recuperate, but that didn’t and your faith. They make you a better person, you exactly happen. Back at home, my parents teach a always have topics to talk about, and you help bring confirmation class on Sunday nights. While they each other closer to God and deepen your faith,” I were planning their next lesson, I jokingly offered told them. to teach their class, and after some consideration, it The next level includes participating in the was decided that I could be their guest speaker for the night.

They were continuing a lesson on the sacraments. They asked me to lead an “ice-breaker” game, then talk about the importance of the sacraments and keeping the Catholic faith in college. The class started with a brief overview of what they covered the previous week, including the definition of a sacrament, and details about each of the seven sacraments.

For my creative game, I led the class through an activity that required them to write a song about a sacrament to the tune of a popular Christmas carol.

It was an amusing success, but what I enjoyed the most was sharing my deep love for the Catholic faith with teens I understood.

Evangelizing is so beneficial and advantageous when you can genuinely connect with who you are talking to. There was so much crucial information and advice I Photo provided by Sister Eileen Spanier, GNSH wanted to give these young minds UNC-Charlotte’s Catholic Campus Ministry Leadership Team is pictured (from left): in a short amount of time, without Alexis Neitzey, Theresa Clementi, Luke Friedman, Meghan O’Donnell and Derek Peloquin. scaring them with my crazy enthusiasm. sacraments and going to Mass. This needs to be a After introducing myself, I told the teens how priority, and there are no exceptions. Mass is an grateful I was for finding Catholic Campus Ministry hour each week. Compare that to the time spent on at UNC-Charlotte. I spoke of the experiences, the Netflix or social media each day, and there’s really people, and the importance it brought to my life. I no excuse for not giving God His time each day and was so blessed to have been given a strong Catholic each week. faith in my family when I was young, and then to Through Campus Ministry, I have been open to have it be nourished through my family values, high numerous volunteer service opportunities and school ministry group, and numerous retreats and retreats with young adult Catholics like me. My service opportunities. I encouraged the group to find “faith building” gets taller and taller every day. a Catholic Campus Ministry at their campuses and With all of this growing, we need to remember get involved in any way they could, just as I had. that our Best Friend wants to talk to us, too. This I explained the prominent importance of the makes up the next level: prayer. For how connected knowledge and foundation they were receiving by teenagers are to their phones texting their friends, coming to confirmation class. We have to stand for we should be talking to God just as often. Whether something and know what we believe in, or we will fall for anything. On our own with new freedoms and it is walking between classes, a homework or study break, or taking a shower, just talk to God. He always responsibilities in college, many alluring traps open wants to talk, so answer His call and listen to what and try to drag us down, and we can easily lose our He’s telling you. firm grasp on our faith.

I am blessed and grateful for the great experience Without a solid foundation to their “faith I had during my Christmas break, and I always building,” college students have no ground to stand look forward to sharing my love for Jesus with my on to deal with all the social and academic stresses brothers and sisters in Christ! that they are dealt. I told the students to make sure their foundation is built on rock, not sand.

Alexis Neitzey is a leader for Catholic Campus Ministry at the When unsure of their actions or under pressure of University of North Carolina at Charlotte. temptation, just act like their mother is watching,

David Hains

Lessons from the March for Life

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houghts and observations as we look back on the 41st anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and the recent Marches for Life in Charlotte and Washington, D.C. n Pro-lifers are more resilient than Carolina Panthers fans. I have seen many Panthers games where inclement weather has had a heavy impact on attendance. A little bit of rain, cold or heat and Panthers fans stay home.

This year the weather for the annual March for Life in Charlotte was lousy. Jan. 10 was wet, chilly and dreary. Everyone who wanted to avoid a cold had a good reason to stay home, yet about 200 people turned out for this year’s march from the Diocese of Charlotte Pastoral Center to the federal courthouse in uptown Charlotte. That was about the same number as for last year’s march, when the weather was tolerable for January and there was more attention being paid to the Roe v. Wade anniversary at the 40-year mark. n Surprisingly there was a lack of mainstream news coverage of the national March for Life in Washington, D.C. – said no one!

Both the Charlotte Observer and the New York Times took little note of the March for Life. As a former reporter, I simply do not understand how tens of thousands of people, gathered in subzero wind chill and snow for a protest on the National Mall, is not newsworthy. I trust these news organizations far less than I did even a week ago. n I’d also like to make a point or two about the term “abortion rights.” The pro-abortion side created this term and the mainstream media have adopted as its own. When you look at the rights that are guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution, you find the inspirational freedoms of speech, press, assembly and religion. Do we really want to say that the “right” to kill an unborn child is as noble as the right to worship, assemble or express ourselves? Access to abortion cannot be construed as a right, because it applies only to pregnant women who want to get them and physicians willing to operate. A true right applies to everyone – no matter their gender, race or profession. Access to abortion isn’t a right so much as it is a license to kill. n Did you know that the unborn can own property? A 1999 Campbell University Law Review article by Paul Stam, who is now a member of the North Carolina General Assembly, reviews the history of the rights of the unborn as it pertains to wills. It is a surprising tradition of that law that unborn children can inherit property. Property rights of the unborn, originally a part of English common law, became a matter of law in North Carolina in the 1800s. In the case of Deal v. Sexton in 1868, the court ruled that the property of a deceased man who died without a will rightfully belonged to the man’s unborn child.

That 1868 court ruling is still in effect, and in what has to be the most savage twist of judicial logic in history, the unborn can have a court-appointed guardian who is empowered to protect the child’s property rights but cannot intervene to protect that child from death by abortion. n Father Carl T. Del Giudice, pastor of Our Lady of Consolation in Charlotte, made a thought-provoking point in his right to life homily. He sees a lack of training in philosophy over the past 50 years as the key to a society that appears to be slipping on the important questions. Priests are steeped in philosophical training, and I have almost none, but his point had a deep ring of truth to it. We live in a disposable society that is continually redefining “rights.” The unborn and traditional marriage are on the wrong side of these rights and they are under serious attack. At the same time, we are driven by media messages that emphasize enslavement to personal desires and wealth. Wonder where that will take us? My guess is some place that is a lot warmer than the March for Life procession route.

David Hains is the communication director for the Diocese of Charlotte.

January 31, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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Chris Lauer

Candles at Mass symbolize sacrifice, Christ’s light F

eb. 2 is a special date in our household. Not only is it my wife’s birthday, but in the Traditional Liturgical Calendar it is also the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as Candlemas – an ancient feast which dates back to the early Church fathers.

Candlemas, the 40th day after Christmas, and is the day the Church celebrates when the Blessed Virgin Mary, in obedience with Mosaic law, presented the Christ Child to Simeon the Just, in the temple (Numbers 18:15), and submitted herself for the ritual purification. The use of light recalls Simeon’s words to Our Lady when he took Jesus into his arms: “Now dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, in peace, according to Thy word: For mine own eyes hath seen Thy salvation, Which Thou hast prepared in the sight of all the peoples, A light to reveal Thee to the nations and the glory of Thy people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32) On this feast day, devoted Catholic families would customarily bring all their candles – for use in their home throughout the year – to the Church to be blessed by the priest. In many places, the priest might also lead the congregation in a solemn procession to symbolize the Light of Christ entering the temple.

Even before the invention of electric light bulbs, the Catholic Congregation for Sacred Rites, envisioning the exclusive use of candles, decreed it is not permitted for a priest to offer Mass in the dark. They also decreed that it is not allowed for Mass to begin before the altar candles, in particular, are lighted, nor are they to be extinguished until the end of Mass. If the altar candles are to burn out before the Consecration of the Eucharist and cannot be relit, the Mass should be discontinued at that point. Going further, the Church prescribes that the candles used at Mass and at other liturgical functions should be made mostly of pure beeswax.

Many have questioned why the Church dedicates so much attention to seemingly unimportant externals such as beeswax candles. As with all questions on Church liturgical matters, I turned to Servant of God, Dom Prosper Guéranger, one of the leading Benedictine monastics and liturgists of the 19th century. In his famous work “L’Année Liturgique” (“The Liturgical Year”), Dom Guéranger explains the symbolism of candles: “The mystery of today’s ceremony (Candlemas) has frequently been explained by liturgists, dating from the 7th century. According to Ivo of Chartres, the wax, which is formed from the juice of flowers by the bee, always considered as the emblem of virginity, signifies the virginal flesh of the Divine Infant, who diminished not, either by His conception or His birth, the spotless purity of His Blessed Mother. The same holy bishop would have us see, in the flame of our Candle, a symbol of Jesus who came to enlighten our darkness. St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, speaking on the same mystery, bids us consider three things in the blessed Candle: the wax, the wick, and the flame. The wax, he says, which is the production of the virginal bee, is the Flesh of our Lord; the wick, which is within, is His Soul; the flame, which burns on top, is His divinity.”

This is quite fascinating – the symbolic connection of the bees as emblems of virginity and the wax symbolizing the flesh of our Lord.

Catholic author and columnist Catherine Croisette expands on this theme in her article “The Bee, A Symbol of the Church”:

‘The wax ... is the Flesh of our Lord; the wick, which is within, is His Soul; the flame, which burns on top, is His divinity.’

— St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury

As quoted from Dom Prosper Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year” “St. John Chrysostom … wrote: ‘The bee is more honored than other animals, not because it labors, but because it labors for others” (12th Homily).’ So, I realized that the bees, like the clergy and religious men and women in the Church, work unceasingly for the common good of the hive and obey without question their superiors, and above all their queen. The symbolism of bees also signifies the way

the Church generates her spiritual fruits because bees are virginal, they don’t have any sexual contact. As the Church gives grace through the purity of her divine Sacraments, so the bees give us honey and wax by the labor of their pure bodies. This is why their wax, considered the fruit of a virgin labor, is worthy to burn in the candles on the altar at the offering of the Holy Sacrifice.”

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a talk given

by Father John Berg, superior general of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, at St. Joseph Church in Richmond, Va. At this talk, Father Berg made a similar connection of sacrifice to the celebration of Mass. He explained that the reason why altar candles should be made of at least 51 percent beeswax is because of the added sacrifice, both the sacrifice from the added financial cost to humans as well as the sacrificial labor of the bees who literally work themselves to death to create this purest form of wax.

Likewise, Father Berg explained that it is more proper for the flowers on the altar to be cut flowers as opposed to potted flowers. Cut flowers are mortally sacrificed, cut during the peak of their beauty as an offering to God. In a similar way, the music at Mass should be performed live as opposed to recorded music. The sacrificial labor of the organist, choir and schola – through countless hours of practice and rehearsal – is seen as another offering.

In addition, the bread and wine, the altar linens, the vestments, the altar servers – everything on and around the altar – should have some form of sacrifice associated with them.

This presence of sacrifice, he noted, is one of the basic characteristics identifying nearly every known religion throughout the ages. Buddhism, Hinduism, paganism, Judaism – all have some form of sacrificial offering with the exception of most Protestant theologies, which have removed every form of sacrifice from their rituals.

The rich traditions of the Church never cease to amaze.

Several years ago while on pilgrimage to Rome with my family, we took a guided tour of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Unfortunately, the volunteer Vatican tour guide assigned to our group may not have been aware of the theological symbolism of bees in the Church.

When our tour group reached the famous Altar of the Confession with Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s masterpiece baldacchino, we saw how the four columns were covered with leafy branches and little sculpted bees laboring about.

When someone in the group asked about these bees, the tour guide thought that Bernini must have sculpted them to honor himself because his name begins with the letter “B.” At the time I seriously doubted that this master artist would have indulged so prominently in such a trivial vanity.

Now that I know more about the special significance that the Church has for bees, I see why these little creatures were so beautifully incorporated into the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica – the altar directly above the martyred remains of the apostle upon whom Jesus built His Church, and the spiritual and physical center of Christianity.

I pray that by exploring the rich traditions of the Church, we may all have our faith enlightened.

Chris Lauer is a parishioner at St. Ann Church in Charlotte. The Lauer family is one of the charter families of the Charlotte Latin Mass Community, which encourages the celebration of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form in the Charlotte area. To receive email updates about the Latin Mass in Charlotte, email charlottelatinmasscommunity@gmail.com.

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