May 8, 2015

May 8, 2015

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

MACS enrollment opens for upcoming school year, 17

‘From Agnostic to Deacon’ One couple’s journey of faith documented in new book,

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INDEX

Contact us.......................... 4 Español............................14-15 Events calendar................. 4 Our Faith............................. 2 Our Parishes................. 3-13 Schools......................... 16-19 Scripture readings............ 2 TV & Movies...................... 20 U.S. news..................... 22-23 Viewpoints.................. 26-27 World news................. 24-25

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‘Are you excited?!’

St. Matthew students squeal with delight as Egg Drop projects go ‘splat’

DYC 2015

Every single Sunday we go to church, we’re called into action’ Catholic Men’s Conference challenges men to personal conversion,

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‘Estamos agradecidos con Dios’ 15

Hundreds of youth get closer to the truths of the Catholic faith,

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Our faith 2

catholicnewsherald.com | May 8, 2015 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

St. Cristóbal Magallanes Jara, also known as Christopher Magallanes, is a martyr and saint who was killed without trial on the way to say Mass during the Cristero War after the trumped up charge of inciting rebellion.

Pope Francis

Marriage is brave promise to love like Jesus, not showy ceremony

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Christian marriage isn’t just a big ceremony held in a church with nice flowers and everyone wearing fancy clothes and taking lots of pictures, Pope Francis said.

Marriage is an act of faith between a man and woman who are both fragile and limited, but courageous enough to follow Christ and seek to love each other as He loves them, the pope said May 6 during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

“Men and women, courageous enough to carry this treasure in the ‘earthen vessels’ of our humanity, are an essential resource for the Church and for the whole world,” he said. “May God bless them a thousand times for this!”

The pope continued a series of talks about the family by focusing on the beauty of Christian marriage as a sacrament that builds up the Church and the world.

A Christian marriage “is not simply a ceremony that you have in church with flowers, the dress, photos.

Christian marriage is a sacrament that takes place in the church and is also something the Church does, ushering in a new domestic community,” he said.

Christians “are called to love each other like Christ loves them,” and to be at the service of each other, he said. But the love between husband and wife is given greater, even “unthinkable,” dignity when St. Paul says the love between a husband and wife reflects the love between Christ and His Church, he said.

Just as Christ loves His Church, every husband, too, must love his wife and give himself completely for her, he said.

Looking up from his text, the pope asked all of the married men in the crowd if they fully grasped what was being asked of them. Such responsibility and a commitment to offer so much love and dignity to a woman “is no joke, you know; it’s serious,” he said.

While the analogy between husbandwife and Christ-Church may be imperfect, he said, its spiritual significance is “revolutionary, and simple at the same time, and within the means of every man and woman who trust in God’s grace.”

The selfless, reciprocal, fruitful and indissoluble union between a man and a woman is part of God’s original plan and “the sacrament of marriage is a great act of faith and of love,” he said.

He said the Church is intimately bound up in every Christian marriage and it is edified with each union’s “successes” and suffers with every failure. “Are we willing to seriously take on this responsibility?

That is, that every marriage takes the path of the love Christ has for the Church? This is something huge.”

St. Christopher Magallanes and Companions Feast day: May 21 “Long live Christ the King and the Virgin of Guadalupe!”

This was the slogan of the “Cristero” uprising in the 1920s against the antiCatholic government of Mexico which had instituted and enforced laws against the Church in an absurd attempt to eradicate the Catholic faith in Mexico, even going so far as to ban all foreign clergy and the celebration of Mass in some regions.

St. Christopher Magallanes, along with 21 other priests and three lay companions, were martyred between 1915 and 1937, by shooting or hanging, throughout eight Mexican states, for their membership in the Cristero movement. Magallanes erected a seminary in Totatiche and he and his companions secretly preached and ministered to the faithful.

The last words heard spoken by Magallanes were from his cell, when

Watch and learn “For Greater Glory” chronicles the Cristeros War (1926-1929), a war by the people of Mexico against the atheistic Mexican government. The 2012 movie is available on Netflix and Amazon.

he shouted, “I am innocent and I die innocent. I forgive with all my heart those responsible for my death, and I ask God that the shedding of my blood serve the peace of our divided Mexico.”

Pope St. John Paul II beatified the Cristero martyrs in 1992 and canonized them on May 21, 2000.

— Catholic News Agency

Father George David Byers

Priests’ vesting prayers for Mass

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hile it is no longer the practice for all priests to offer prayers while vesting for Mass, many do offer these “vesting prayers.” The prayers are a good occasion for them to be enriched with a profound humility and willing availability to act in the very Person of Christ at the Holy Sacrifice.

In this series, we look at each vesting prayer and its corresponding vestment, as an intimate insight into the spiritual lives of priests at their most vulnerable moment every day, helping all the rest of us also to understand just who we are before God and neighbor.

PRAYER 2 – ‘Ad amictum’ (Prayer used for the amice) “Impone Domine, capiti meo galeam salutis, ad expugnandos diabolicos incursus.” (“Place upon my head, O Lord, the helmet of salvation, for conquering diabolical assaults.”)

The amice is a piece of cloth placed over the head like a helmet, then put around one’s neck and shoulders.

The word comes from the Latin “amictus,” which refers to a covering in the sense of military headgear.

The idea is not that we have the power to beat down whatever diabolical assaults there may be during the ultimate religious battle during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, what with all of hell broken out on Calvary, and all of heaven watching as the Soldier, Christ Jesus, lays down His life for VESTING, SEE page 21

Your daily Scripture readings MAY 10-16

Sunday: Acts 10:25-26, 34, 35, 44-48, 1 John 4:7-10, John 15:9-17; Monday: Acts 16:11-15, John 15:26-16:4; Tuesday (Sts. Nereus and Achilleus, St. Pancras): Acts 16:22-34, John 16:5-11; Wednesday (Our Lady of Fatima): Acts 17:15, 22-18:1, John 16:12-15; Thursday (The Ascension of the Lord): Acts 1:1-11, Ephesians 1:17-23, Mark 16:15-20; Friday (St. Isidore): Acts 18:9-18, John 16-20-23; Saturday: Acts 18:23-28, John 16:23-28

MAY 17-23

Sunday: Acts 1:15-17, 20-26, 1 John 4:11-16, John 17-11-19; Monday (St. John I): Acts 19:1-8, John 16:29-33; Tuesday: Acts 20:17-27, John 17:1-11; Wednesday (St. Bernardine of Siena): Acts 20:28-38, John 17:11-19; Thursday (St. Christopher Magallanes and Companions): Acts 22:30; 23:6-11, John 17:20-26; Friday (St. Rita of Cascia): Acts 25:13-21, John 21:15-19; Saturday: Acts 28:16-20, 30-31, John 21:20-25.

MAY 24-30

Sunday (Pentecost Sunday): Acts 2:1-11, 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13, John 20:19-23; Monday (St. Bede the Venerable, St. Gregory VII, St. Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi): Sirach 17:20-24, Mark 10:17-27; Tuesday (St. Philip Neri): Sirach 35:1-12, Mark 10:28-31; Wednesday (St. Augustine of Canterbury): Sirach 36:1, 4-5, 10-17, Mark 10:32-45; Thursday: Sirach 42:15-25, Mark 10:46-52; Friday: Sirach 44:1, 9-13, Mark 11:11-26; Saturday: Sirach 51:12-20, Mark 11:27-33

Our parishes

May 8, 2015 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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‘I wish I had a cute and sexy way to share the Gospel, (but) I don’t. All I know is we got to do it.’

Darrell Miller

Catholic convert who oversees youth development for Major League Baseball

(Above) Men listen attentively during one of the talks at the 2015 Catholic Men’s Conference held at St. Matthew Church April 25.

(Right) Speaker Mike Manhardt, founder of One Strong F.A.M.I.L.Y. (Forget About Me I Love You), a Catholic movement which promotes family values, points to his bracelet with the F.A.M.I.L.Y. acronym on it, and called it a “spiritual weapon” to remind himself to live for his family and others first.

Photos by Rico De Silva | Catholic News Herald

‘Every single Sunday we go to church, we’re called into action’ Catholic Men’s Conference challenges men to personal conversion Rico De Silva Hispanic communications reporter

CHARLOTTE — Close to 400 men attended the fifth annual Catholic Men’s Conference, “Being Catholic Men, Being Catholic Leaders,” at St. Matthew Church April 25. The conference was an urgent call to the men of the Diocese of Charlotte to live their Catholic faith, and lead their families and others to God by the example of their lives.

The conference featured three dynamic Catholic speakers. Also, Bishop Peter J. Jugis celebrated Mass for the men. The day-long conference offered Eucharistic Adoration, a reflection on the Eucharist by Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin, and testimonies from guests and local Catholic men.

Tom Peterson, president and founder of Catholics Come Home, opened the conference. Peterson shared how after years of “going through the motions” every Sunday at Mass, he had a conversion experience while praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament during a retreat. He heard God say to him, “‘Downsize and simplify.’

“Those two easy words made all sense to me. I knew I had so much stuff. I was making so much money and had so many distractions in my life that I had no time for God.” Peterson gave up a lucrative career in advertising to pursue a faith-based

evangelization effort and started the Catholics Come Home initiative.

During his talk, Peterson warned the participants of the current crisis of faith of pandemic proportions in the Church worldwide. “Of the 1.2 billion baptized Catholics in the world, 800 million never set foot in church,” he said.

Peterson then urged the men to invite their relatives and friends who have left the faith to come back to Mass. Peterson said that more than 90 percent of returning Catholics he has spoken to said they came back to the Church “because ‘you invited me.’”

“Every single Sunday we go to church, we’re called into action. We’re called to make a commitment. Every single time you set foot in a church, God’s calling you to act,” speaker Darrell Miller echoed. Miller is a former Major League Baseball player and a convert to Catholicism. Miller now oversees youth development for Major League Baseball. With a fiery preaching style tempered with a healthy dose of humor, Miller reminded those present of the importance of not wasting any time in choosing to follow God. “You’re either hot or cold,” Miller said.

“Get out of the Church if you don’t want to live for God… But if you’re in the Church, we need you to be hot. We need you to put the flak jacket on, the helmet. We need you to get your gun. We need you to go to war.

We need you to fight!”

During his homily, Bishop Jugis said,

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See video highlights and more photos from the Catholic Men’s Conference in Charlotte

“Being a Catholic leader entails great humility. It means to be willing to take instructions from others, especially from Christ – because He is the one, after all, who bestows leadership.”

Michael Manhardt, the founder of One Strong F.A.M.I.L.Y. (Forget About Me I Love You), a Catholic movement which promotes family values, was the final speaker of the day. Manhardt used an engaging and interactive speaking style to remind those present of how our fallen human nature can cause us to act in selfcentered ways.

“You can’t get away from yourselves.

So, because we live in this world of contradiction, what we need to do is identify the areas in our lives,” where we are selfish, he said. “We are selfish creatures.. We have to identify the areas in our lives where our selfishness is destroying relationships – our relationships with God, with those we’ve CONFERENCE, SEE page 21

Charlotte husband, father shares powerful testimony RICO DE SILVA HISPANIC COMMUNICATIONS REPORTER

CHARLOTTE — Tom Hilgen heard the voice of God clearly tell him to be strong in his faith. And that grace-filled moment gave Hilgen the courage to step up to the proverbial plate – with two strikes against him.

Just a few months after living out a Cursillo weekend in the spring of 2007, Hilgen’s wife Cindy was diagnosed with breast cancer. Two weeks later, his daughter Allie Faith was diagnosed with leukemia.

“It was a one-two punch, a kick to the groin,” Hilgen recounted in his testimony to hundreds of men gathered at the Charlotte Catholic Men’s Conference April 25. “It was a time to step up, to be the best possible father, best possible care-giver and best role model for family and friends as well.”

He quoted 2 Timothy 1:7 as the foundation to rising up to the challenge: “’For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power, love and self-control.’”

Hilgen recalled a pivotal moment early on in his wife and daughter’s cancer treatments. While he was driving back to the hospital early one morning, he described, “I’m crying, I’m getting sad. I got all these emotions that came out of me.

And the voice – clear as day – came into my head. I just wanted to slam the brakes, it was so amazing. ‘Tom, you have to keep the faith. That is why I called you to name TESTIMONY, SEE page 21

UPcoming events 4

catholicnewsherald.com | May 8, 2015 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following events: May 9 – 5:30 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation St. Margaret Mary Church, Swannanoa

May 14 – 7 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation St. Michael the Archangel Church, Gastonia

May 18 – 7 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation Holy Spirit Church, Denver

May 11 – 9:30 a.m.

Mass for Charlotte Catholic Women’s Group St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

May 15 – 10 a.m.

Diocesan Finance Council Meeting Pastoral Center, Charlotte

May 20 – 10 a.m.

Diocesan Foundation Board Meeting Catholic Conference Center, Hickory

May 12 – 11 a.m.

Presbyteral Council Meeting Pastoral Center, Charlotte

May 16 – 11 a.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation St. Pius X Church, Greensboro

May 21 – 7 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, High Point

Diocesan calendar of events May 8, 2015 Volume 23 • Number 16

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

STAFF EDITOR: Patricia L. Guilfoyle 704-370-3334, plguilfoyle@charlottediocese.org ADVERTISING MANAGER: Kevin Eagan 704-370-3332, keeagan@charlottediocese.org

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Carolina Catholic Chorale PERFORMS ‘ORCHESTRAL’ MASS: “Missa Octo Vocum” by Hans Leo Hassler will be featured at the Solemn High Latin Mass for the Ascension, 7 p.m. Thursday, May 14, at St. Ann Church, 3635 Park Road, Charlotte. For details, go to www.carolinascatholicchorale.weebly.com.

Mother’s day Community Breakfast: 8-11 a.m.

Saturday, May 16, Queen of the Apostles Church, 503 North Main St., Belmont. Everyone welcome.

Springtime Arts and Crafts Market: 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Saturday, May 16, in the Parish Life and Education Center at Immaculate Heart of Mary School, 4145 Johnson St., High Point. More than 40 local artisans, food, drinks and raffles available. Organized by the 4th Degree Knights of Columbus, the event helps support Operation Holiday Program, directed by the Military Order of the Purple Heart. For details, email Fred Catalano at fcatalano@triad.rr.com.

Other Poor Clares Discernment Day: 8 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 16, at the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration’s St. Joseph Monastery in Charlotte, for high school and college-aged young women interested in learning more about life as Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration. Day includes Adoration, confession, Mass, breakfast, talks with the Sisters and Q&A. RSVP to vocations@stjosephmonastery.com.

Forum on ‘Childhood immigration’: 2-3 p.m.

Sunday, May 17, in NLC Room 239/240/241 at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. Legal professionals and advocates will give a presentation on current immigration law and proposed reforms. For details, email Bruce Mlakar at BruceMlakar@ gmail.com.

Catholic Homeschool conference: May 22-23 at Belmont Abbey College. Organized by the Immaculate Heart of Mary Carolina Homeschool Conference. For details, call 540-636-1946 or go to www.ihmconference. org.

SENIOR REPORTER: SueAnn Howell 704-370-3354, sahowell@charlottediocese.org

Fund raisers

Online reporter: Kimberly Bender 704-808-7341, kdbender@charlottediocese.org

Community Shredding Event Fundraiser: 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 16, in the parking lot of St. Luke Church, 13700 Lawyers Road, Mint Hill. Have your personal and confidential documents shredded and recycled. Event partner PROSHRED Security will destroy your documents in a mobile shredding truck while you watch. Paper items only. All shredded paper will be recycled. This event benefits environmental stewardship and St. Luke’s Agape Ministry. For details, call 704-370-3225 or 704-545-1224.

Religious lIBERTy March and Prayer Vigil: 11:30 a.m. Friday, June 26, in downtown Charlotte. March will start at the Diocesan Pastoral Center and proceed to the federal courthouse. Organized by March for Life Charlotte to coincide with the U.S. bishops’ Fortnight for Freedom campaign. Email religiousliberty@windstream. net for details.

LECTURES & REFLECTIONS

UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC BISHOP TO VISIT: Bishop Bohdan Danylo, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma, Ohio, will visit St. Basil Ukrainian Catholic Mission Sunday, May 10, and celebrate Divine Liturgy (Mass) at 2 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1400 Suther Road, Charlotte. Catholics of any rite are welcome to attend the Byzantine liturgy, which will be celebrated in English. For details about St. Basil Mission and the Ukrainian Catholic Church (which is in full communion with the pope), go to www.stbasil.weebly. com.

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

The Catholic News Herald is published by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte 26 times a year.

NEWS: The Catholic News Herald welcomes your news and photos. Please e-mail information, attaching photos in JPG format with a recommended resolution of 150 dpi or higher, to catholicnews@charlottediocese.org. All submitted items become the property of the Catholic News Herald and are subject to reuse, in whole or in part, in print, electronic formats and archives.

ADVERTISING: Reach 165,000 Catholics across western North Carolina! For advertising rates and information, contact Advertising Manager Kevin Eagan at 704-370-3332 or keeagan@charlottediocese.org. The Catholic News Herald reserves the right to reject or cancel advertising for any reason, and does not recommend or guarantee any product, service or benefit claimed by our advertisers.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: $15 per year for all registered parishioners of the Diocese of Charlotte and $23 per year for all others.

POSTMASTER: Periodicals class postage (USPC 007-393) paid at Charlotte, N.C. Send address corrections to the Catholic News Herald, 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte, N.C. 28203.

‘Tongues of Fire’ Spiritual Day of Reflection: 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 16, at Our Lady of Consolation Parish Life Center, 1235 Badger Ct., Charlotte. Brings together performing artists to praise and worship God, transform hearts and minds through Scripture, song and dance. Adults and children 10 and older are welcome. Light refreshments provided. Registration by May 9 is required due to limited seating. For details and to register, visit www.ourladyofconsolation.org/day-ofreflection, or call Chanele Jackson at 704 599-5859.

‘Life in the spirit seminar’: 10 a.m.-noon all Saturdays until May 23 at St. Mark School Library, 14750 Stumptown Road, Huntersville. Seminar is designed as an aid for introducing newcomers to the baptism of the Holy Spirit and to foster one’s growth in Catholic charismatic spirituality. Register at www.st.marknc.org.

NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING NFP Introduction and Full Course: 1-5 p.m.

Saturday, May 30, at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. Topics include: effectiveness of modern NFP, health risks of popular contraceptives and what the Church teaches about responsible parenting. Sponsored by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte. RSVP to Batrice Adcock, MSN, RN, at 704-3703230.

PRAYER SERVICES & GROUPS

Divine Mercy Healthcare Apostolate: All physicians, nurses and nurses’ aides are invited to join the Divine Mercy healthcare Apostolate. The objective is to offer the Divine Mercy spirituality to near death or seriously ill patients, whether homebound, in hospitals, or in convalescent facilities, and their families.

If you feel the call to be a Divine Mercy Healthcare Apostolate, please join us for an informational meeting on Wednesday, May 27, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in NLC Room 234/235 at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. For details, email Dr. Thomas F. Coyle at tcoylemd@gmail.com.

St. Peregrine Healing Prayer Service: 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 28, at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy. St. Peregrine is the patron saint of cancer and grave diseases. This powerful healing prayer service is offered for all those suffering with cancer

or other diseases. For details, call the parish office at 704-543-7677.

Exposition and Benediction, sung Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and readings from the Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska: 7-8 p.m. every First Friday at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1400 Suther Road, Charlotte. For details, call Paul Deer at 704-577-3496 or Deacon James Witulski at 704-960-3704.

Rosary for the unborn: 7 p.m. every Monday at St. Thérèse Church, 217 Brawley School Road, Mooresville Divine Mercy Cenacle: 10 a.m. every first and third Wednesday of the month and 7 p.m. every second and fourth Tuesday of the month, at St. Mark Church, 14740 Stumptown Road, Charlotte. For details, call Donna Fodale at 704-237-4820.

Healing mass and anointing of the sick: 2 p.m. every third Sunday of the month at St. Margaret of Scotland Church, 37 Murphy Dr., Maggie Valley. Individual prayers over people after Mass by Charismatic Prayer Group. For details, call Don or Janet Zander at 828-400-9291.

SAFE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING “Protecting God’s Children” workshops are intended to educate parish volunteers to recognize and prevent sexual abuse. Upcoming workshops are listed below.

For details, contact your parish office. To register and confirm workshop times, go to www.virtus.org.

CHARLOTTE: 9:30 a.m. Thursday, May 28, at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte.

SUPPORT GROUPS Called to be a mom: 10 a.m.-noon, Thursday, May 14, at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. Supports the vocation of motherhood by strengthening faith through Scripture readings. For details, call Mary Ellen Wolfe at 704-999-7452.

Ministry of Mothers Sharing: 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 12, at Queen of the Apostles Church, 503 North Main St., Belmont. Group is intended for fellowship and study for spiritual growth. Moms with children of all ages are invited.

For details, email Marianne at marianne@gcube.com.

Young Adults Theology on tap: 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, at Uncle Buck’s All American Pub and Grub at 127 South Main St., in downtown Salisbury. Father Jason Barone will speak about demonology, exorcisms and the deliverance ministry. All young adults are welcome. For details, call Michael Becker at 704-633-0591, ext. 114.

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.

May 8, 2015 | catholicnewsherald.com

International-National Combined Collection set for May 16-17 CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte will take up a second collection at all parishes during Masses over the weekend of May 16-17. Donations received from the annual International-National Combined Collection benefit five organizations: the Catholic Relief Services Collection; the Collection for the Holy Land; the Collection for the Works of the Holy Father; the Catholic Communications Campaign; and the Catholic University of America.

Monsignor Mauricio West, vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, has issued an informative letter about the International-National Combined Collection that will be mailed to all registered Catholics in the diocese.

In his letter, Monsignor West states, “Jesus spent His life showing us the way to the Father. He fed the hungry. He healed the sick.

He helped those who were vulnerable and in need. He taught the crowds of followers.”

Parishioners are encouraged to donate funds to the second collection and thus participate in the efforts of those outreach ministries.

“Your prayers and generosity to this combined collection do make a marvelous difference in the lives of others both here in our own diocese and throughout the world,” Monsignor West notes.

Detailed information about each of the charities will be included with the letter from Monsignor West. Envelopes for the second collection on May 16-17 can be found in your parish envelope packet for May. — SueAnn Howell, senior reporter

OUR PARISHESI

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Ukrainian Catholic bishop coming to Charlotte CHARLOTTE — St. Basil Mission will welcome the youngest Catholic bishop in the United States, Ukrainian Catholic Bishop Bohdan Danylo, on May 10 at St. Thomas Aquinas Church. He will celebrate Divine Liturgy (Mass) at 2 p.m. at the church located at 1400 Suther Road in northeast Charlotte.

Bishop Bohdan Danylo was installed as the Bishop for the Eparchy (Diocese) of St. Josaphat at St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in Parma, Ohio, on Nov. 4, 2014, by Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

Bishop Danylo, 43, succeeded Bishop John Bura, who had served as apostolic administrator of the eparchy since 2009.

When Pope Francis appointed him Aug. 7, Bishop Danylo became the youngest Catholic bishop in the United States, and he is just one year younger than Patriarch Shevchuk.

The Divine Liturgy will be celebrated in English and all are welcome to attend. The Mass fulfills the Sunday obligation for Catholics of any rite.

“For all Ukrainian Catholics, when the bishop visits, it’s one of great joy,” said Father Mark Shuey, pastor of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Church in Raleigh and St. Basil Ukrainian Mission in Charlotte. “We look at him as an apostle, so it’s like the Apostle Paul or the Apostle Andrew coming, because of apostolic succession. We look at it as a great opportunity to realize our unity, our Catholicity and to express the apostolic tradition.”

Father Deacon Matthew Hanes, who is assigned to St. Basil Mission, looks forward to the visit. “We look forward to showing the bishop how much Our Lord has blessed St. Basil’s so far and we hope to show him the tremendous potential of our mission,” he said.

“We also want to highlight the incredible support we enjoy from the faithful of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte – so many of the clergy and laity of the Diocese of Charlotte have offered assistance to us in different ways. I hope that His Grace will note the enthusiasm not only of our own members but also that of the Latin Catholics who with great charity have embraced us.

God has planted St. Basil Mission in a wonderful place where we have the opportunity for continued growth; not only in regard to members and vocations, but also in our ability to

More online At www.stbasil.weebly.com: Learn more about St. Basil Mission and the Ukrainian Catholic Church (which is in full communion with the pope)

Danylo

witness to the captivating beauty of Our Lord Jesus Christ particularly through His saving mysteries celebrated in the sacred liturgies of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church,” he said.

“Bishop Bohdan has said that the Ukrainian Catholic Church is experiencing a new spring because it is growing in new locations, and that building community is a priority for him because of this growth,” said Father Deacon Kevin Bezner of St. Basil’s. “Our mission in Charlotte is part of this new spring.

We are blessed with a thriving community here because of the missionary spirit of Father Mark Shuey, the commitment to this spirit of Father Deacon Matthew Hanes, and the great support that we have received from Bishop Jugis and the priests of the Diocese of Charlotte.

“This is a diocese where the Church truly breathes with two lungs. We are greatly honored that Bishop Bohdan is visiting us at this time and that we will have the opportunity to introduce him to the community we are building here in Charlotte as part of the new spring in the Ukrainian Catholic Church.”

The roots of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church extend back to St. Andrew the Apostle, who reportedly preached near the Black Sea and near Kiev.

During his visit to North Carolina, Bishop Danylo will also visit St. Volodymyr Olha Church in Garner and St. Nicholas Mission in Raleigh as well. He will also interview potential clergy candidates to hopefully add to the number of local clergy in the future.

“I know he’s very excited to visit the missions down here,” added Father Shuey.

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter

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catholicnewsherald.com | May 8, 2015 OUR PARISHES

DYC 2015 Hundreds of youth get closer to the truths of the Catholic faith BLACK MOUNTAIN — The 38th annual Diocesan Youth Conference, “Objective Truth, Inscribed by God,” drew more than 200 high school students from 24 parishes across the Diocese of Charlotte April 24-26 to Ridgecrest Conference Center in Black Mountain.

The weekend featured two dozen workshops led by youth and adults alike, keynote speakers, entertainment, daily Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, the sacrament of confession, fellowship and time for fun to grow in the Catholic faith.

Workshops addressed a variety of issues important for Catholic teens today – including moral decisionmaking, Theology of the Body, virtues education, prayer, maintaining one’s faith after going off to college, and everything in between. “‘Objective Truth, Inscribed by God’ tells us that we live in a world that is beyond the realm of personal opinion, that as creatures we don’t get to decide what is true or false, good or bad,” noted Paul Kotlowski,

diocesan director of youth ministry. “It teaches us that God has already determined these things and that our job is to discern and agree with His plan. This theme is a courageous proclamation against the many voices of today’s culture which say moral values are subjective and personal.

“Our theme implies that creation is not a cosmic accident but that creation is brilliantly ordered by God’s design and that it has purpose according to God’s plan, a plan which is for our happiness and fulfillment. Moreover, this theme reminds us that the Author of the entire Universe, the Creator of everything that exists, dwells in our hearts and desires the most intimate personal relationship we could ever ask for or imagine,” Kotlowski also noted. “What’s more is that this phenomenon is not a gift from God to people of faith but to all of humanity, regardless of faith.”

Keynote speakers were Greg Stearns, natural law philosopher and parishioner of Immaculate Conception Church in Forest City, and Father Thomas Morrow of Catholic Faith Alive. Other speakers included Kelly and Larry Henson, Alessendro Rovati and Rachelle Ramierz, Michele Houmis, Bryon Phillips, Mike Lugo, Adam Trufant, Caitlyn Askew, Michael Becker and Matthew Tortorich.

Local clergy who addressed the students included Father Herbert Burke from Immaculate Conception Church in Forest City, Father Noah Carter from Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury, Father Jason Barone from Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro, and Father Matthew Kauth from Charlotte Catholic High School.

Several students received awards for their various efforts to build up the faith in western North Carolina: n Kelly Thomas of Holy Family Church Clemmons received the Bishop Michael J. Begley Award. n Stephanie Lugo of Immaculate Conception Church in Forest City, Benjamin Gareis of Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury, Erin Michaels of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte, and Lilianna Romie of Our Lady of Grace Church received the St. Timothy Award. n Adrianne Lux received the Bishop William G. Curlin Pastoral Care Award.

Also, the Pope St. John Paul II Award will be given at a later date to Father Christopher Gober, pastor of St. Bernadette Church in Linville.

Planning is already under way for next year’s conference, scheduled for April 29-May 1, 2016.

— Catholic News Herald

May 8, 2015 | catholicnewsherald.com

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Franciscan sister who served in Hayesville passes away ASTON, Pa. — Sister Carol Ann Zurlo, OSF (formerly Sister Emma Francis) died on April 25, 2015, at Assisi House in Aston, Pa. She was 78. The professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia had formerly served at Good Shepherd Home Health Agency in Hayesville.

The Mass of Christian Burial was Zurlo offered on April 29, 2015, at Assisi House in Aston. Burial followed at Our Lady of Angels Cemetery in Aston.

She was born in Trenton, N.J., and graduated from Upper Freehold Township High School. Prior to her entrance into the Sisters of St. Francis in 1959, she studied nursing and became a registered nurse at St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing in Trenton. She had been a professed member with the Sisters of St. Francis for 54 years, making her first vows in 1961. Her cousin, Sister Patricia Millen, is also a member of the congregation.

She earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Neumann University in Aston, Pa., and a Master of Science in nursing from The Catholic University of America. She also later became a pediatric nurse practitioner and ministered in health care in various capacities, including six years at Good Shepherd Home Health Agency in Hayesville.

She ministered in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for 22 years. She worked at St. Agnes Medical Center and later served as director of St. Mary’s Children’s Health Center in Langhorne. In 2008 she moved to Assisi House in Aston where she served in prayer ministry until her death.

Sister Carol Ann’s 21 years in the Diocese of Trenton included working at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, ministering at Morris Hall in Lawrenceville, and serving as school nurse at All Saints School in Burlington. She also served on the provincial council for the former St. Anthony Province which was based in Trenton.

Sister Carol Ann also ministered at St. Joseph Hospital in Lancaster, Pa., for six years. Her final ministry prior to her retirement and moving into prayer ministry was to serve as administrator of St. Francis Convent in Ringwood, N.J. In addition to Sister Patricia Millen, Sister Carol Ann is survived by her sister, Precious Groom; two brothers, John and Don Zurlo; nephews; and by her Franciscan family.

Donations in her name can be made to the Sisters of St. Francis Foundation, 609 S. Convent Road, Aston, PA 19014.

— Catholic News Herald

sueann howell | catholic news herald; (BElow) Photo by Patrick Schneider

Father Kieran Neilson (center) is escorted into St. Patrick Cathedral by Father David Miller before the Chrism Mass in 2013. Father Kieran’s family helped found the cathedral in 1939 and he attended school there before joining the Benedictines of Belmont Abbey in 1954.

Decades of serving the people of God

Priests’ anniversaries highlight diversity of experiences, faithful ministry Benedictine marks 55 years as priest SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

CHARLOTTE — Benedictine Father Kieran Neilson, 83, is everything you’d expect a priest of Irish Catholic descent to be – he’s joyful and engaging with a twinkle in his eye and an infectious grin.

A native Charlottean whose family helped found St. Patrick Cathedral in Dilworth, Father Kieran’s life gives witness to a genuine love of the Catholic faith which developed over the decades just as the Diocese of Raleigh and then the Diocese of Charlotte began to grow.

This unique perspective gives Father Kieran an outlook that few clergy in the diocese have today. He remembers when the announcements at the end of Mass were the particulars Other priests celebrating special about families welcoming a anniversaries of ordination new baby and parish meetings this month include: Monsignor consisted of the few Catholic Joseph Showfety and Father families who lived in Charlotte.

Thomas Clements, both retired, He was educated at the 60 years; Monsignor Richard O’Donoghue School (now Bellow, retired, 45 years; Father St. Patrick School) adjacent Joseph Mulligan, Charlotte to the cathedral. He entered hospital chaplaincy, 40 years; the Benedictine monastery Father John Allen, at the of Belmont Abbey just 20 Pontifical College Josephinum miles west of Charlotte in in Ohio, 25 years; and Father 1954. After one year of the James Ebright, in residence novitiate he made his first at St. Michael the Archangel profession and then studied Church, Gastonia, 10 years. for three more years before his final profession of vows.

Other May jubilarians

NEILSON, SEE page 21

Oblate of St. Francis de Sales pastor celebrates 25 years of priestly ministry SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

KERNERSVILLE — Oblate of St. Francis de Sales Father Paul Dechant, pastor of Holy Cross Church in Kernersville, is celebrating his silver anniversary as a priest this month.

Father Paul, as he likes to be called, is a native of Victorville, Calif., in the southern Mojave Desert just north of San Bernardino. Growing up, his family attended St. Joan of Arc Parish and then Our Lady of the Desert Parish in Apple Valley, Calif. He attended seminary at The Catholic University of America, where he earned a Master of Divinity.

Father Paul was drawn to the spirituality of Sts. Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal and thus pursued a vocation as an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales. He was ordained at St. Paul the Apostle Church in New York City by Bishop Roberto Gonzalez, the auxiliary bishop of Boston at the time.

Over the past 25 years, Father Paul served in campus ministry at UCLA and also served parishes in Portland, Ore.; Memphis, Tenn.; New York City; Vienna, Va.; Reston, Va.; Ft. Myers, Fla.; and Greensboro before coming to Kernersville.

Dechant What does he enjoy most about serving as a priest? “The privilege of being with people at the most significant moments in their life journey,” he says.

And as for his experiences in serving as a priest around the country? Father Paul loves “seeing how people live their Catholic faith when in the majority and when in the minority.”

The most important lesson he has learned over the past 25 years of priesthood is that “there is never a need to rush or be in a hurry.

God is never in a hurry.”

He also has some advice for men discerning a vocation to the priesthood: “Discernment takes time. Give yourself the time to DECHANT, SEE page 21

catholicnewsherald.com | May 8, 2015 OUR PARISHES

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St. Mark’s Rosary Makers Ministry to distribute rosaries for 2015 Marian Congress Annual event to be held in Huntersville Susan Palmes-Dennis Special to the Catholic News Herald

HUNTERSVILLE — Members of the St. Mark Church Rosary Makers Ministry are excited to participate in the 2015 Marian Congress as they committed to making hundreds of blue crystal rosaries to those attending the upcoming event.

The 2015 Marian Congress will be held Saturday, June 13, at St. Mark Church, located at 14740 Stumptown Road in Huntersville. All are welcome to attend.

During the ministry’s recent monthly meeting, the group coordinator Susan Claire-Wild encouraged everyone to reserve seats for the event.

The ministry’s mission is to make rosaries for the sick, hospice and the poor.

They make more than a thousand rosaries every year for St. Mark’s faith formation, baptism, first Holy Communicants and RCIA candidates. The ministry has made 20,873 rosaries since 2008, distributed all over the world.

“We have a family here, the Lightles, at St. Mark Rosary Makers. We love to support mothers-to-be. It is our joy to give baby showers to our members that have been with us for a couple of years. We are all about pro-life,” Claire-Wild said.

Claire-Wild said the Lightles “make beautiful pro-life rosaries” and the ministry enjoys coming together monthly to “see friends and families, finding out where the rosaries are shipped to every month and upcoming projects.”

“We are here to help each other and support each other. We are blessed to have such wonderful, caring people in our

rosary makers ministry,” she said.

Claire-Wild said it’s not about the numbers but rather the love and all the prayers that go into each rosary. “We pray for the recipient’s soul as we tie each barrel knot. That’s what really matters,” she said.

Claire-Wild recounted that the Rosary Makers ministry began in 2008. “We started with only four members at a round table, (and) more people join us each month,” she said.

“Children wanted to learn how to make rosaries. We now have over 40 active members making rosaries at home and we have meetings once a month – our church family we call it,” she said.

She said there are Divine Mercy rosaries for visitors, rosaries for Our Lady of Guadalupe devotees, and rosaries given to newcomers.

This year’s North Carolina Marian Rosary Congress carries the theme “The family that Rico De Silva | Catholic News Herald prays together stays together.”

Last year’s Marian Congress drew hundreds of people for Mass, Adoration and prayer Feb. 22, 2014, in Kannapolis. This year’s Bishop Peter Jugis will be the congress is being held at St. Mark Church in Huntersville. main celebrant at Mass. Guest priests, presenters and speakers tickets are still available). Children under Orleans. include Father Pedro Nunez, an EWTN 17 and students are free but they must Father Caro is from Monterrey, speaker from New Orleans, and Father register with their parents. Everyone is Mexico, and his ministry helps to deeply Ernesto Maria Caro, a priest from Mexico. encouraged to register before May 15 for a understand what it means to pray the Hail Father Nunez is a Cuban native, author, discount. Go to www.JesusThroughMary.

Mary. pastor and director of radio and TV org for registration and details.

Tickets cost $10 (or $15 after deadline, if programs in the Archdiocese of New

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Mariological Society to present “Mary and Holy Families Living Today” May 19-22 HICKORY — The Mariological Society of America will host its 66th annual conference, “Mary and Holy Families Living Today,” Tuesday, May 19, through Friday, May 22. Everyone is welcome to attend the conference, which will be held at the Catholic Cnference Center in Hickory.

The MSA is a Catholic theological association dedicated to studying and making known the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the mystery of Christ and the Church.

The four-day conference will feature a guided tour of Mary Help of Christians Abbey Basilica in Belmont, as well as daily lectures and time for prayer.

“This year’s theme was chosen because of the World Meeting of Families to be held this Sept. 22-27 in Philadelphia and the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to be held in Rome in October,” said Dr. Robert Fastiggi, president of the Mariological Society of America. He also serves at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Mich.

Fastiggi will give a talk entitled “Mary as Model of Faithful Love for Families, Spouses and Consecrated Persons” on May 21.

4:41:33 PM

Other speakers at the conference include: Keynote speaker Marist Father Johann G. Roten of the Marian Library/ International Marian Research Institute in Dayton, Ohio; Professor Joseph Arias of the Christendom Graduate School of Theology in Alexandria, Va.; Richard Bulzachelli, STD, of Aquinas College in Nashville, Tenn.; Deacon Edward Looney, STB, of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wis.; Danielle M. Peters of the Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame; M. Jean Frisk, STL, of The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute; Kevin M. Clarke of the John Paul the Great University in San Diego, Calif.; Dr. Cecelia Dorger of Fort Thomas, Ky.; and Marist Father Thomas A. Thompson of The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute.

There is a registration fee to attend the conference, as well as a cost for those who wish to stay overnight and eat at the Catholic Conference Center.

For more information about the event, contact the MSA Secretariat at 937-229-4294 or by email at cmushenheim1@udayton. edu.

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter

May 8, 2015 | catholicnewsherald.com

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Join us for a Spiritual Day of Reflection Our Lady of Consolation Parish - Saturday May 16, 9:30 am Tongues of Fire, engaging the Holy Spirit through scripture, song and dance brings together performing artists to praise and worship God. Free program suitable for adults + children 10 & older. Light refreshments will be served 9:30am - 10am. Registration by May 12 required due to limited seating!

For details and to register visit http://www.ourladyofconsolation.org/day-of-reflection, or email olcladiesguild@gmail.com or call Chanele Jackson at 704 599-5859.

Our Lady of Consolation Parish Life Center 1235 Badger Court Charlotte

Photo provided by Nicholas Miller

Pictured are St. Joseph Indigent Clinic co-founders Miguel Caraballo and Dr. Douglas Miller, as well as one of Miller’s sons, Father David Miller of St. Dorothy Church in Lincolnton, and St. Joseph Church’s pastor Father James Collins.

St. Joseph Indigent Clinic fundraiser a success Kara Thorpe Correspondent

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NEWTON — The St. Joseph Indigent Clinic of Newton had a semi-formal dinner fundraising event April 17, raising over $5,000 to purchase medical supplies.

The clinic, co-founded by Dr. Douglas Miller and Miguel Caraballo and run completely by volunteers, provides medical care to the poor and uninsured.

Parishioners of St. Joseph Church have been supporting and hosting the clinic in their parish hall for almost 20 years.

The April 17 fundraiser at Warehouse 18 Venues LLC in Hickory was organized and catered by Matthew Miller, the son of Dr. Miller. The event included a four-course dinner catered by Bistro 127 and live music

by Nathan Hefner and Jackie Finley. The fundraiser exceeded its goal by 25 percent.

Dr. Miller and Caraballo continue to volunteer at the clinic every Saturday morning, where they provide medical care to the poor at a cost of $5 per patient.

At the fundraiser, Dr. Miller thanked everyone for their support, particularly the other clinic volunteers, and shared some of his experiences at the clinic. Dr. Miller

lives with his wife Karen in Hickory and they have 12 children and 24 grandchildren.

Recently, he received the Volunteerism and Community Service award from the American College of Physicians for his work with the St. Joseph Indigent Clinic.

Father David Miller, also a son of Dr. Miller and the pastor of St. Dorothy Church in Lincolnton, also spoke about the importance of supporting the clinic.

In addition, Father James Collins continues to support and promote the clinic as he has for the past 16 years as pastor of St. Joseph Church.

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catholicnewsherald.com | May 8, 2015 OUR PARISHES

Receiving Holy Communion Photo provided by Patty Freeman

BREVARD — Fifteen children and youth recently received their first Holy Communion at Sacred Heart Church in Brevard. Representatives of the group brought up the gifts. After Mass there was a reception for the recipients, their families and friends.

Photos by Dorice Narins | Catholic News Herald

Confirmed in the Spirit GREENSBORO — Fifty teenagers at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Greensboro received the sacrament of confirmation April 20 from Bishop Peter Jugis, who talked during his homily about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit is today helping persecuted Christians in the Middle East and North Africa hold true to the faith even in the face of violent persecution and martyrdom.

May 8, 2015 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

Photos provided by Alice Reynolds and Celia Gentile

Praying for the sick and dying Mike FitzGerald | Catholic News Herald

Celebrating the Feast of St. Peter Martyr CHARLOTTE — Father Timothy Reid, pastor of St. Ann Church in Charlotte, blesses special palms April 29 for the Extraordinary Form calendar’s Feast of St. Peter Martyr. St. Peter Martyr (also known as St. Peter of Verona) was a Dominican who Pope Gregory IX appointed in 1251 as general inquisitor in Italy to combat the Manichean heresy in Italy.

Once while preaching on a hot sunny day, he prayed for a cloud to come and shade the crowd from the sun – making him known to have influence over the weather. After his martyrdom in 1252, a tradition developed of blessing palms which families then place in their homes to protect them against natural disasters and bad weather. Father Reid noted a local connection to St. Peter is the Biltmore Estate’s study room in Asheville that features a painting of the saint. After the blessing, Father Reid distributed the palms to the faithful, followed by Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

CLEMMONS — On Divine Mercy Sunday, parishioners of Holy Family Church in Clemmons viewed a special apostolic blessing which parishioner Ann Rudge had received from the late Pope St. John Paul II. The blessing is for praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet during Eucharistic Adoration, on behalf of the sick and dying. The parish has taken part in Eucharistic Adoration each Thursday and on Divine Mercy Sunday for about 10 years, spearheaded and organized by Carole Scagnelli with original encouragement from the Eucharistic Apostles of Divine Mercy. Bob Smith, a member of the parish’s Knights of Columbus council, made the wooden frame. Father Michael Buttner, pastor, displays the apostolic blessing on Divine Mercy Sunday.

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catholicnewsherald.com | May 8, 2015 OUR PARISHES

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

Shredding event set for May 16

In Brief All invited to upcoming ‘orchestral’ Mass High Cholesterol

CHARLOTTE — The Carolina Catholic Chorale will conclude its current season May 14 with an “orchestral” Mass, the “Missa Octo Vocum” by the Renaissance master Hans Leo Hassler, sung as sacred music for a Mass in the Extraordinary Form together with the Gregorian chants for the day.

All are invited to experience the rare opportunity to hear this work in its original liturgical setting at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 14, at St. Ann Church, 3635 Park Road, Charlotte.

The Chorale will be accompanied by the CPCC Early Music Ensemble. The event is free, but donations to defray expenses will be welcome.

Ukrainian Catholic bishop to visit CHARLOTTE — Bishop Bohdan Danylo, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma, Ohio, will visit St. Basil Ukrainian Catholic Mission Sunday, May 10, and celebrate Divine Liturgy (Mass) at 2 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1400 Suther Road, Charlotte. Catholics of any rite are welcome to attend the Byzantine liturgy, which will be celebrated in English.

For more about St. Basil Mission and the Ukrainian Catholic Church (which is in full communion with the pope), go to www.stbasil. weebly.com.

MINT HILL — Everyone is invited to bring documents that need to be shredded to a Community Shredding Event Fundraiser from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 16, in the parking lot of St. Luke Church, located at 13700 Lawyers Road. Event partner PROSHRED Security will destroy the documents in a mobile shredding truck as you watch. Paper items only, though paper clips and staples are OK. All shredded paper will be recycled. This event benefits environmental stewardship and the parish’s Agape Ministry. A $5 to $10 donation per file size box of paper is requested, to be given at the event by cash or check. Call 704-370-3225 or 704-545-1224 with questions.

Salisbury Theology on Tap planned SALISBURY — A new Theology on Tap group forming in the Salisbury area will meet May 12 at Uncle Buck’s All American Pub and Grub in downtown Salisbury, starting at 6:30 p.m. Father Jason Barone of Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro will speak about demonology and exorcisms.

For details, call Michael Becker at 704-6330591, ext. 114, or go to the group’s Facebook page at “theologyontapsalisburync.”

Divine Mercy Healthcare Apostolate forming CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Church invites all physicians, nurses and nurses’ aides to join the Divine Mercy Healthcare Apostolate. The objective is to offer the Divine Mercy spirituality to near death or seriously ill patients, whether homebound, in hospitals, or in convalescent IN BRIEF, SEE page 13

His Excellency The Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis Bishop of Charlotte requests the honor of your presence at the Liturgy of Ordination to the Diaconate Mr. Aaron Cory Catron Saturday, the thirtieth day of May Two thousand and fifteen at ten o’clock in the morning

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facilities, and their families. An informational meeting will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 27, in New Life Center Room 234/235. For details, email Thomas F. Coyle M.D. at tcoylemd@gmail.com.

— Julia Turner

OUR PARISHESI

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Divine Office five times a day and following the Rule of St. Benedict. They serve the Church in part-time pastoral work through retreats, lectures, RCIA and teaching.

With the addition of a new candidate, they are searching for other living accommodations in the Diocese of Charlotte that would reduce their expenses but still allow for four bedrooms and a chapel. Contact Sister Gertrude Gillette at 704-827-2490 or email ggillette@ctkhs.org if you can help.

— Catholic News Herald

Have You Had A Financial Check Up Lately?

Benedictines accept candidate DAVIDSON — The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Peace have accepted Rachel Hoffman, a parishioner of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte, as a candidate for membership.

The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Peace is a private association of the faithful which includes Sister Gertude Gillette and Sister Scholastica Auguste. They live a monastic life, singing the

Albemarle parishioner earns Eagle Scout rank ALBEMARLE — Thomas Yarbrough, the son of Lourdes and Ronnie Yarbrough, received his Eagle Scout rank April 26 at a reception at Our Lady of the Annunciation Church in Albemarle.

His Eagle Scout project involved demolishing and rebuilding the porch of the parish’s rectory.

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Women in Dialogue with God This four part program, which begins this fall, is designed for women who seek

Forgiveness and Healing Following Abortion Catholic Charities can help men and women who have experienced abortion begin their healing journey. Rachel’s Vineyard Weekend Retreat creates a healing environment of prayer and forgiveness. The retreat works to reconnect individuals to themselves, their friends, and family and to realize God’s ever present love.

South Carolina Retreat June 12 – 14, 2015 / Charleston, SC For more information please contact: Christy: 803-554-6088 / grace4healing@gmail.com Kathy: 803-546-6010 / kcs6010@gmail.com North Carolina Retreat September 18 – 20, 2015 / Asheville, NC For more information please contact: Deacon Tom Rasmussen: 828-495-7234 / deacontom@centurylink.net Shelley Glanton: 828-230-4940 / sglan1234@aol.com Jackie Childers: 980 241-0251 / jackie.childers.1@gmail.com

a deeper relationship with God and desire spiritual growth and personal formation. The program focuses on a personal journey done with others so that a sense of community is developed.

The Oratory Center for Spirituality is excited to offer this opportunity being facilitated by Sr. Susan Schorsten, HM and Sr. Gay Rowzie, HM. To learn more about this program you are invited to an information session on Saturday, June 6, 2015 from 10am – Noon in the Newman Hall Parlor

For more information please contact the Oratory Center for Spirituality at 803-327-2097 or by email at: oratorycenter@gmail.com.

Women on Whose Shoulders We Stand This four part program will offer an opportunity to look at the significant contributions of women, named and unnamed, in the Scriptures. The first two sessions will focus on women in the Old Testament and the other two sessions on those in the New Testament.

The Oratory Center for Spirituality is excited to offer this opportunity being facilitated by Sr. Susan Schorsten, HM and Sr. Gay Rowzie, HM. To learn more about this program you are invited to an information session on Saturday, June 6, 2015 from 1:30pm – 3:30pm in the Newman Hall Parlor

For more information please contact the Oratory Center for Spirituality at 803-327-2097 or by email at: oratorycenter@gmail.com.

Ken Altman

facebook.com/ catholic news HERALD ESPAÑOL

catholicnewsherald.com | May 8, 2015 14

Congreso Mariano 2015 a celebrarse en San Marcos HUNTERSVILLE — El Congreso Mariano 2015 se celebrará en la Parroquia de San Marcos en la 14740 Stumptown Rd. de Huntersville, el Sábado, 13 de Junio. Todos están invitados.

El Congreso contará con conferencias en inglés y español, y el tema del Congreso Mariano 2015 es, “La Familia que Reza Unida Permanece Unida.”

El Obispo de Charlotte, Peter Jugis, será el celebrante principal de la Misa. Los presentadores serán el Padre Pedro Núñez, de la Arquidiócesis de New Orleans, y quien también tiene un programa en la cadena de televisión católica en español, EWTN. Y también el Padre Ernesto Maria Caro de Monterey, México.

El Padre Pedro F. Núñez es uno de los más conocidos predicadores católicos en el mundo de habla hispana. Nacido en la Habana, Cuba, emigró a los Estados Unidos en el año 1962. Fue ordenado en el año 1977.

Desde el año 1979 dirige el ministerio “Mensaje” de la oficina de comunicaciones de la Arquidiócesis de Nueva Orleáns.

El Padre Caro hablara acerca de la importancia de entender el verdadero significado de rezar el Ave María.

Costo de los boletos es $10 hasta el 15 de Mayo, y $15 después del 15 de Mayo. Niños menores de 17 años, y estudiantes entran gratis, pero tienen que registrarse con sus padres. Se recomienda a todos que se registren antes del 15 de Mayo para que reciban el descuento.

Para mayor información o para registrarse en línea vaya www.

JesusThroughMary.org.

— Susan Palmes-Dennis, traducido por Rico De Silva

Parroquia de San Mateo en Charlotte celebra dos foros acerca de inmigración en Mayo CHARLOTTE — La Parroquia de San Mateo en el sur de Charlotte tendrá dos foros acerca de inmigración el Domingo, 3 de Mayo, y el Domingo, 17 de Mayo. Ambas sesiones serán de 2 a 3 pm en el salón 239/240 del New Life Center de esa parroquia. Todos están invitados.

El panel del 3 de Mayo fue acerca un poco de historia y leyes de inmigración actuales, y también trató acerca de ciertas propuestas a la ley migratoria.

Los expositores serán la abogada de inmigración, Tanya Powers, del área de Charlotte. La abogada Lisa Johnson, del programa Safe Child Immigration Project y representantes de la Coalición Latino Americana de Charlotte.

El evento está patrocinado por el Ministerio de Paz y Justicia Social de la Iglesia de San Mateo.

Para mayor información acerca del evento, comuníquese por e-mail con Bruce Mlakar al BruceMlakar@gmail.com.

— Rico De Silva, Hispanic Communications Reporter

FOTO POR ROMY MACHICAO | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Asamblea reúne a familias en torno a Jesús y María El pasado Sábado, 2 de mayo, alrededor de 50 familias se reunieron en la Escuela Holy Trinity Middle School en Charlotte para participar de la Primera Asamblea Familiar organizada por el Ministerio Hispano de la Diócesis de Charlotte, y la Comunidad Pueblo de Dios, un grupo de profesionales al servicio de Cristo y su Iglesia. Esta asamblea, que se realizará una vez por mes, tiene el objetivo de integrar a las familias latinas y ofrecerles un programa religioso, informativo y musical. En

esta primera ocasión, se rezó el rosario de las familias, se contó con la participación de músicos destacados dirigidos por Jorge Morel y su Banda. También, la Doctora Anayanet Jaquez, que viajó desde la Republica Dominicana, habló acerca del matrimonio y el amor verdadero centrado en Dios y sus enseñanzas. El evento finalizó con un periodo de Adoración al Santísimo Sacramento.

May 8, 2015 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

15

Monica Rivas

Religiosidad popular a la Virgen Dolorosa del Ecuador

L

a devoción a la Virgen Dolorosa del Colegio, está arraigada en el Corazón de los fieles ecuatorianos, que consideran a la Madre del Cielo su protectora y guía. La devoción se originó cuando ocurrió el Milagro de la Virgen Dolorosa en el Colegio San Gabriel en Quito, Ecuador el 20 de abril de 1906.

En los años previos era presidente del Ecuador Gabriel García Moreno, ferviente defensor de la iglesia católica y quien encargo la educación en el país a órdenes religiosas, especialmente Jesuitas.

Luego vino la época del liberalismo que confisco bienes eclesiásticos, abolió el catolicismo como religión oficial e instauro la educación laica y fueron cerrados varios establecimientos educativos católicos.

En medio de esta turbulencia la Virgen Santísima manifestó Su Presencia. Fue así que la noche del 20 de abril ocurrió el portento. Era la hora de la cena y en el comedor se encontraban 35 alumnos; en la pared estaba la imagen de la Virgen de los Dolores y muy cerca se sentaban los alumnos Hermann y Chávez.

El alumno Hermann miro el cuadro y de repente se quedó pasmado viendo que la Virgen movía los parpados; al principio creía que era una ilusión óptica, pero el alumno Chávez le dijo: Ve a la Virgen, está moviendo los ojos. Informaron al padre Director, quien al principio no les hizo caso, pero ante su insistencia levanto la mirada y fue entonces testigo del milagro. Otro sacerdote le dijo: “Mire Padre, esto es un verdadero prodigio” Los otros niños empezaron a decir: “Ahora los abre, ahora los cierra”, “y ahora los abre, y ahora los cierra”, mientras la Virgen seguía moviendo los parpados. La Madre Santísima miraba a los niños con sus dulces ojos maternales. Y esto continúo por más de quince minutos.

Luego de los correspondientes estudios la iglesia declaro que el hecho había sido comprobado como materialmente cierto, que por las circunstancias en que sucedió no podía explicarse por causas naturales; y que por los antecedentes y consecuencias no podía atribuirse a influjo diabólico. Consecuentemente puede creérselo con fe puramente humana, y puede prestarse a la imagen el culto permitido por la Iglesia y acudir a Ella con especial confianza. El Papa Juan Pablo II nombró a la Virgen como la Protectora de la Educación católica en el Ecuador.

Desde entonces los estudiantes del Colegio San Gabriel, y otros colegios jesuitas, profesan un profundo amor y devoción a Maria Dolorosa. Cuando ingresan al colegio son consagrados a la Virgen, a quien cariñosamente llaman “Lolita” y consideran que Ella los cuida y protege a cada paso.

Cada 20 de abril se organizan actos en homenaje de la Virgen, entre ellos una procesión durante la cual los alumnos cargan sobre sus hombros la imagen en andas de Madera, y la conducen hasta la Iglesia de la Dolorosa donde se realiza una Misa solemne a la que acuden los fieles devotos para rendirle tribute. En las calles del centro de Quito, también se realiza una procesión en la cual los fieles llevan antorchas y cantan durante todo el recorrido, y a su paso la población le arroja flores; y que culmina con la Celebración Eucarística en la Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús. En otras ciudades, tales como Cuenca y Riobamba también se acostumbra celebrar procesiones y Misas solemnes en honor a la Virgen.

Monica Rivas pertenece a los consagrados a Jesus por Maria de la Iglesia de San Marcos en Huntersville. Rivas es ecuatoriana y formo parte del comité que organizó la fiesta de la Virgen Dolorosa del colegio, patrona en el Ecuador, el pasado Abril en San Marcos.

Fotos por Romy Machicao | Catholic News Herald

Cada martes, tres voluntarias de la Iglesia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe comparten su fe con personas privadas de su libertad, en el Ministerio de Fe en la Carcel del Condado de Mecklenburg. Los Latinos reciben la Palabra de Dios, meditan sus enseñanzas y tratan de seguir los mandamientos.

‘Estamos agradecidos con Dios’ Latinos reciben la Palabra de Dios en Carcel del Condado Mecklenburg Romy Machicao Corresponsal

CHARLOTTE — Estar agradecidos con Dios es la constante entre el grupo de latinos que asiste cada semana por dos horas y media al ministerio de fe en la Carcel del Condado de Mecklenburg.

Estas personas privadas de la libertad de salir de este centro, tienen sin embargo, la oportunidad de asistir voluntariamente a las reuniones donde se lee la Biblia y se profundiza sobre los mensajes de Jesús.

“Las reuniones son para todos los latinos, no solamente para los católicos”, afirma al Catholic News Herald, Gloria Polanco, quien junto a María Encarnación y Teresa Maldonado acuden cada martes a visitar a los latinos y cada domingo a las latinas y llevarles mensajes del amor y la misericordia del Señor, ministerio creado hace cinco años por el Padre Arturo Kolinsky de la Iglesia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.

Entre los católicos, las voluntarias también los preparan para obtener los sacramentos. “Quiero hacer mi primera comunión para luego seguir con la confirmación y al salir poder casarme por la iglesia con mi esposa para respetarla y amarla por toda la vida”, compartió con nuestra publicación, Juan.

La alegría de saberse hijos de Dios

Para “el primo” asistir a este grupo es recordar su infancia cuando su padre lo llevaba a la iglesia y así volver a restablecer la relación que tenia con Dios. “Me siento en paz porque creo en Dios y lo siento en mi corazón”, quien lleva ya dos años recluido. “Sé que no es fácil lo que vendrá, pero tengo la fuerza para seguir un camino recto junto a Jesús.

Todos cometemos errores, pero ahora buscamos hacer las cosas correctas”.

Los latinos que tienen a sus familias en otros países, esperan con ansias sus cartas y llamadas, mientras que

los que las tienen en Charlotte esperan sus visitas y esperan que no estén pasando malos momentos por los errores que ellos cometieron.

“Mi familia es mi gran motivación de ser mejores personas”, dijo Rodrigo.

“Sentimos que estamos en un lugar seguro. Estamos agradecidos con Dios porque nos está enseñando por medio de estas personas. De no estar aquí muchos estaríamos todavía por el mal camino”, compartió Marlon.

“Estar aquí me ha hecho ver lo erróneo de mi vida.

Estoy agradecido de estar aquí porque tengo paz y estoy en proceso de cambio”, nos dijo Samuel. “Dios es ahora quien guía nuestras vidas y nosotros le tenemos fe”, fueron las palabras de Daniel, quien al salir quiere llevar la palabra de Dios entre su familia y amigos. Joshua dice que tomará mejores decisiones de ahora en adelante.

Los frutos

María Encarnación dice que es una bendición poder servir a estas personas, de las que también aprende mucho.

“Estoy muy orgullosa de ellos. Los llamo mis hijitos y los siento muy cercanos a mí. Siempre les repito que Dios es misericordioso y que perdona todo, siempre y cuando estemos realmente arrepentidos y tengamos una intención de enmienda”, acotó Polanco.

Gloria Polanco compartió con el Catholic News Herald una gran alegría, el mensaje telefónico de José, quien fue enviado a México luego de cumplir con su sentencia en Estados Unidos. El llama madres a las voluntarias, les agradece y les dice que no las defraudará. Actualmente está en un retiro espiritual y pronto se preparará en su parroquia para convertirse en diácono.

El fruto de estas clases ha sido también el buen comportamiento en el centro de los que asisten a este ministerio de acuerdo a lo que dijo el Oficial Márquez.

“Nosotros sembramos la semilla y depende de ellos seguir haciendo crecer la planta de la fe y el amor por Dios y por sus mandamientos”, dijo Encarnación.

“Esperamos que pronto podamos contar con un sacerdote que pueda ir a visitarlos, hablar con ellos, confesarlos y también realizar los sacramentos”, agregó Polanco.

Our schools 16

catholicnewsherald.com | May 8, 2015 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief

St. Gabriel students learn about religious vocations CHARLOTTE — In recognition of World Day of Prayer for Vocations, fifth-graders at St. Gabriel School in Charlotte met April 20 with Father Patrick Hoare, pastor of St. John Neumann Church in Charlotte, and Sister Scholastica Auguste (with the Benedictines of Mary Queen of Peace). They discussed the meaning of a “vocation” (God’s personal call to love and serve Him), heard how the two speakers were each called to religious life, and had an opportunity to ask questions.

St. Michael’s new robotics team wins top trophy GASTONIA — In its very first year, the “Mechanical Knights,” St. Michael School’s robotics team, was thrilled to be awarded the top trophy at a recent robotics competition held at the school April 18. The team went up against six other local private schools in a three-part competition which included a research project presentation, a teamwork challenge, and three timed robot runs. The three-part program and competition was designed to engage kids in STEM skills (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).

Their excellent performance also led the Mechanical Knights to be invited to compete in a regional tournament being held May 30 at Lenoir-Rhyne University. Third-grade teacher Myles Davidowitz and parents Dr. and Mrs. Randall and Maria Adolph are the team leaders.

Belmont Abbey College was the team sponsor this year.

— Pat Burr

‘Are you excited?!’

St. Matthew students squeal with delight as Egg Drop projects go ‘splat’ SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

CHARLOTTE — Ingenuity and engineering came together to teach some fun lessons to students at St. Matthew School April 23. More than 98 special “Egg Drop” projects designed to protect a raw chicken egg from shattering were hoisted up onto the school’s gymnasium roof for the third annual Egg Drop.

Squeals of delight and laughter were the hallmark of this year’s event, as students from kindergarten through fifth grade and their teachers all tried their hand at creating projects that would withstand the 40-foot drop to the ground below.

Some of their “Egg Drop” projects used creative materials such as bubble-wrap, plastic foam swim “noodles,” egg crates, baby diapers, parachutes and marshmallows. One project even used a child-sized Carolina Panthers football helmet. Most were brightly colored with pictures featuring students’ artwork. A couple of peanut butter containers still filled with peanut butter to insulate the eggs made a mess, much to the children’s delight.

As the students gathered around the Egg Drop zone, some started chanting, “Drop those eggs!”

Principal Kevin O’Herron called out to the students, “Are you excited?!” just before he More online began to toss the projects At www.catholicnewsherald. from the gym roof. He com: See video highlights and was greeted with cheers more photos from the annual and applause from the Egg Drop at St. Matthew School students, their teachers

and some parents who had helped their children in making the crackproof projects.

“It’s a fun day for the kids,” O’Herron said beforehand. “It gets those engineering skills going and the physics lessons we are EGG DROP, SEE page 21

May 8, 2015 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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MACS enrollment opens for upcoming school year

MACS students excel at Special Olympics events CHARLOTTE — St. Ann and St. Patrick schools proudly represented Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools at the Mecklenburg County Special Olympics Springs Games, a track and field event held April 22 at Charlotte Country Day School. This competition provided the athletes an opportunity to compete in running, jumping and throwing events. The athletes experienced teamwork,

good sportsmanship, and personal achievement through this event.

St. Ann School had an exciting send-off for its athletes when the student body participated in a rousing school pep rally complete with the school band. St. Patrick’s students showed support for their athletes with a clap-out parade.

The adrenaline ran high when all of the athletes paraded into the stadium with confidence and determination.

Athletes were awarded gold, silver and bronze medals in their various events.

There were many smiles to count among all the participating schools.

We are so very proud of our athletes and thankful for all who made this possible from the parents, Special Olympics organizers, administrators, and teachers.

— Lisa Banks, St. Ann Catholic School’s Modified Academic Program

CHARLOTTE — Enrollment for the 2015’16 academic year has opened for the nine schools in the Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools system.

The nine schools are: St. Ann School (PK, TK-5), St. Gabriel School (K-5), St. Matthew School (TK-5), St. Patrick School (K-5), Our Lady of the Assumption School (PK-8), St. Mark School (K-8), Holy Trinity Middle School (6-8), Charlotte Catholic High School and Christ the King High School.

Standardized test scores for MACS students in both elementary and middle school significantly exceed the median national and local average in every category.

Over 72 percent of fifth-grade students and over 80 percent of eighth-grade students scored over the median in standardized tests. High school students at both Charlotte Catholic and Christ the King scored significantly higher than state and national averages in all categories in SAT testing.

This year Christ the King will graduate its first senior class with a projected 100 percent graduation rate, approximately $2 million in scholarships for a class of less than 50 students. Charlotte Catholic High School has always graduated 100 percent of its students and has consistently sent 99 percent of its graduates to higher education.

Last year the seniors at Charlotte Catholic earned $19.2 million in scholarships.

MACS also offers special needs programs: n Providing Appropriate Academic Catholic Education (PACE): A program designed for grade 2-5 students who have been diagnosed with a specific learning disability such as dyslexia or dysgraphia, and housed at Our Lady of the Assumption School. PACE’s goal is to return students to the general classroom once they have mastered the necessary skills to achieve at grade level. n Modified Academic Program (MAP): A program for grade 2-12 students whose learning needs can best be met in a modified academic environment, offered at St. Ann, Holy Trinity and Charlotte Catholic High schools. Students receive specialized instruction in reading, math and writing while on a case-by case basis learning with their peers in social studies, science and religion classes. St. Ann and Holy Trinity students also receive speech and occupational therapy services. n The Matthew-Morgan program: For K-3 students with Down Syndrome, housed at St. Patrick School. Students are included in the general classroom with support from a teacher assistant. n Learning Support: Provides additional professional support to students in the general classroom who are struggling academically because of learning challenges. Found in every school.

Tuition discounts are provided to participating Catholic parishioners, with tuition costs for the 2015-’16 year set at: $5,973 for elementary school, $6,618 for middle school, and $9,633 for high school. (Tuition for non-Catholic or non-participating Catholics is higher.) A discount for families with two or more students in the school system is available.

Financial assistance is available to qualifying families based on need. Families considering MACS but are concerned about their finances are strongly encouraged to apply for financial assistance.

For enrollment information email Shannon Fortin, Director of Admissions, at sfortin@charlottediocese.org.

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catholicnewsherald.com | May 8, 2015 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief

the Books team from Our Lady of Grace School in Greensboro will be headed for the state tournament in May. The team won the regional competition last month in Chapel Hill. Team members include Gabriella Angiolino, Ashley Appel, David Appel, Brianna Aye, Madison Aye, Cate Gwinnett, Adam Lucek, Emma Myers, Gavin Myers, Corbin Rusch, Kathryn Silknitter, Anna Claire Tysinger and Coach Lisa Saintsing.

(Not pictured is Coach Angie Messick.)

— Lori Eanes

We are a Home Care Service Agency Companionship – Meal Preparation – Laundry/Ironing – Transportaion – Water Plants and Assist with personal services.

Contact: Peggy Lindsay

CTK Latin students excel

Agency Director/Owner 704-770-1394 St. Gabriel Parish Member

HUNTERSVILLE — Eight Christ the King High School students won awards at the school’s first year of participation in the National Latin Exams in March. Three of the students won gold medals and two of them won silver medals, besides the certificates of honor.

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OLG wins regional Battle of the Books GREENSBORO — The Middle School Battle of

Discover Natural Family Planning

National Junior Beta Club welcomes new members GASTONIA — Thirteen students (sixth- and eighth-graders) were inducted into the National Junior Beta Club April 22 at St. Michael School in Gastonia. Students are selected for the club if they are on the honor roll and are good citizens at the school and in the community. Students must complete 10 hours of service projects per school quarter.

The National Junior Beta Club promotes character, develops leadership skills, encourages service involvement and recognizes achievement. It also provides technological advantages to students in grades six through eight. The club is overseen by Greg Davidowitz, middle school teacher representative.

Pictured are: (from left, front row) Curtis Miller, Elizabeth Levine, Mallory Gardner, Annie Russell, Emma Hughlett, Rachel Lowry, Chloe Hildenbrand and Audrey Hubbard; and (back row) Olivia Bragg, Marianne Anglin, Jessa Jackson, Phillip Tolbert and Maeve Hahn.

— Pat Burr IN BRIEF, SEE page 19

St. Michael Catholic School invites you to visit and see for yourself everything that we have to offer your child.

Modern Natural Family Planning (NFP) provides a practical and empowering alternative used to achieve or avoid pregnancy. It upholds the dignity of the person within the context of marriage and family and promotes openness to life by respecting the love-giving and life-giving natures of marriage.

What will you learn by taking a free, one-day class?

• Effectiveness of modern NFP methods.

• Health, relational, and spiritual benefits.

• Health risks of popular contraceptives.

• Church teachings on responsible parenting.

• How to use Natural Family Planning.

May 30th—St. Matthew Catholic Church, Charlotte July 18th—St. Matthew Catholic Church, Charlotte August 8th—Holy Family Catholic Church, Clemmons For more information visit our website or contact Batrice Adcock, MSN at 704.370.3230 or bnadcock@charlottediocese.org.

Now Enrolling PK – 8th Grade!

Financial Assistance Available St. Michael Catholic School is a co-educational Catholic school for children in Pre-K through 8th grade that offers one class per grade level and a close knit family atmosphere.

Please call 704-865-4382 or visit for more information 704 St. Michael’s Lane, Gastonia, NC 28052 www.stmichaelsgastonia.org

May 8, 2015 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

Charlotte Catholic student earns two scholarships CHARLOTTE — The American Associations of Teachers of German has announced that Charlotte Catholic High School senior Haley Russell has earned an all-expenses paid trip to Germany this summer valued at $3,800.

Russell was selected as a national winner after scoring in the 90th percentile on the Level 3, 2015 National German Exam for High School Students. Nearly 21,000 students participated in the program. After qualifying Russell with a high score on the National German Exam, she submitted responses to several short essay questions in German and English before being interviewed by a committee comprised of high school teachers and college professors of German. She was selected to receive a scholarship from the AATG Endowed Scholarship Fund, a fund supported through generous donations from teachers of German across the U.S. to support study in Germany.

The study trip “gives students the chance to experience Germany firsthand by living with a German family and attending school,” according to Keith Cothrun, executive director of the AATG. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Russell is a student of Linda Horvath, a German teacher at Charlotte Catholic High School, and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Russell of Charlotte.

She is also the recipient of the Goodnight Scholarship, a comprehensive student development program designed to develop

scholars into leaders within the STEM and education fields. The value of the scholarship is $17,500 and is renewable for up to four years.

She is a graduating senior and will attend North Carolina State University next year, majoring in math.

— Sally McArdle

4 Charlotte Catholic students named to AATG Presidential Gold Honor Roll CHARLOTTE — The American Associations of Teachers of German (AATG) has announced that four Charlotte Catholic High School students – Maddie Kern, Linh Mai, Haley Russell and Brendan McDonough – received high honors for outstanding performance on the 2015 National German Exam.

They received the Gold Honor Roll (Goldurnunde) Award and special recognition after scoring in the 90th percentile or higher on the 2015 National German Exam for High School Students sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of German.

Nearly 21,000 students participated in the exam this year. Now in its 55th year, the National German Exam provides individual diagnostic feedback, rewards students through an extensive prize program and provides a means of comparing students in all regions.

“The excellent performance of these students in this national competition brings honor to their school, their district and their German program,” according to Mohamed Esa, professor of German at McDanial College and AATG president. “The AATG salutes the tremendous work of these students and their teachers.”

Founded in 1926, the AATG represents German teachers at all levels of instruction.

The AATG is dedicated to the advancement and improvement of the teaching of language, literature and culture of the German-speaking

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countries.

They are students of Charlotte Catholic German teacher Linda Horvath.

— Sally McArdle

Meteorologist visits OLG classes GREENSBORO — Senior meteorologist Van Denton recently visited Our Lady of Grace School in Greensboro. The WGHP Fox 8 anchor shared weather facts and fun information with first-, second- and third-grade classes. Principal Amy Pagano said she was delighted with his presentation and how he answered the many questions posed from the curious minds of OLG students.

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

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Happy Mother’s Day We pray for young mothers, who give life and count toes and tend to our every need; May they be blessed with patience and tenderness to care for their families and themselves with great joy.

We pray for our own mothers who have nurtured and cared for us; May they continue to guide us in strong and gentle ways.

We remember mothers who are separated from their children because of war, poverty, or conflict; May they feel the loving embrace of our God who wipes every tear away.

We pray for women who are not mothers but still love and shape us with motherly care and compassion.

We remember mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers who are no longer with us but who live forever in our memory and nourish us with their love.

Amen. ccdoc.org/respectlife

Mix 20

catholicnewsherald.com | May 8, 2015 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief

‘From Agnostic to Deacon: A Story of Hope and Conversion’

One couple’s journey of faith documented in new book SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

‘Little Boy’ Under the guidance of his kindly parish priest (Tom Wilkinson), an undersized lad (Jakob Salvati) living with his mother (Emily Watson) and older brother (David Henrie) in 1940s coastal California tries to prove his faith in God by carrying out a series of good works. His goal is to win the release of his beloved father (Michael Rapaport), a GI taken prisoner by the Japanese. But, along with the more familiar tasks of feeding the hungry and visiting the sick, the clergyman also requires the boy cleanse his mind of hatred by befriending a JapaneseAmerican widower (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) who has been ostracized by the local community.

Religious values and a gentle sensibility suitable for a wide audience. Scenes of combat with minimal gore, a couple of crass terms.

CNS: A-II (adults and adolescents); MPAA: PG-13

‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ Occasional flashes of wit relieve the endless succession of explosive special effects in this so-so sequel. When a supposedly peaceable tech project uber-engineer Tony Stark, aka Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), has been working on goes awry, the other members of the Avengers team, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), must battle to save humanity from the artificial-intelligence villain their colleague has inadvertently created. This evil self-replicating robot is aided by superpowerwielding twins who nurse a long-standing grudge against the film’s ensemble of good guys. The proceedings are further dinged, and rendered inappropriate for youngsters, by a number of less-than-heroic exclamations and a couple of ill-considered jokes. Pervasive but bloodless violence, some crude language.

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

CHARLOTTE — Deacon Kevin Williams and his wife Theresa weren’t always on the same page when it comes to practicing their faith.

They are both cradle Catholics, but Theresa grew up in South Dakota and stayed close to the faith while Kevin grew up in Charlotte and drifted away from his faith in his teenage years.

They met while they were in the military serving as musicians, and married in June of 1978.

To look at this couple now, you would never guess that they were “unequally yoked” during the early years of their marriage when Theresa was attending Mass alone and praying for Kevin to come back to the Church.

“I prayed for him for about 12 years to go to church with me. Boy, did my prayers get answered!” Theresa says with a laugh.

“A couple of people have told us they have people in their lives that have gone astray (from their faith) and I’ve told them, ‘Keep praying!’”

After coming back to the Church, Kevin kept receiving promptings to become a permanent deacon. He was ordained in 2006 and currently serves in ministry at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Charlotte, as well as with the airport chaplaincy. He and Theresa have been active in Cursillo, in their parish choir and in faith formation at the diverse parish.

Theresa’s book “From Agnostic to Deacon: A Story of Hope and Conversion” is a response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to share their story with others. It was published in January.

“Just before I fell asleep (one night) I was given the title of the book by the Holy Spirit. I was like, ‘Wow! OK, let me write this down!’” she recalls.

“It took me a while (to write the book) between various job situations. I would say

eight years, but the last couple of years were the most productive,” she noted.

In “From Agnostic to Deacon,” she outlines their lives and their faith journey together, filled with all of its twists and turns.

She is candid about her mother-in-law’s

n Saturday, May 9, 8 p.m.

(EWTN) “Mary of Nazareth: Part 2” Film presentation on the Virgin Mary from her childhood through the Resurrection of Jesus, capturing the essence of her profound faith and trust in God. n Tuesday, May 12, 4:30 p.m.

(EWTN) “Our Lady of Fatima: International Rosary and Candlelight Procession.” Groups throughout the world participate in an international rosary recitation as well as a candlelight procession with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. n Wednesday, May 13, 12 P.m.

(EWTN) “Holy Mass in Honor of Our Lady of Fatima.” Mass, the blessing of the sick and the traditional “Adeus” – white handkerchiefs waving farewell to Our Lady. From the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Portugal. n Wednesday, May 13, 2:30 p.m.

(EWTN) “Fatima.” Pope St. John Paul II travels to Fatima to thank Our Lady for sparing his life from the assassin’s bullet.

mental illness, the couple’s struggle with infertility and how they see God uses all things for good along the way.

In addition to this recent book, Theresa has also written articles for the permanent deacons’ newsletter and other articles, and she regularly blogs as well.

Recently, the permanent deacon community asked her and Kevin to take over “The Servant” newsletter to rejuvenate it for the permanent diaconate.

She had never done anything like that before, but “slowly and surely I’m improving,” she says.

“It has been quite amazing to look back through our journey together and reflect on the power of prayer and God working in our lives,” Kevin adds.

“This experience has helped us appreciate how God has been preparing us for things we never would have expected. God has placed people in our lives at just the right time, with just the right gifts. Their presence has been a gift from God.”

Additional reviews: n “Child 44”: CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: R n “Ex Machina”: CNS: O (morally offensive); MPAA: R n “Marie’s Story”: CNS: A-II (adults and adolescents); MPAA: Not rated n “Monkey Kingdom”: CNS: A-I (general patronage); MPAA: G n “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2”: CNS: A-I (general patronage); MPAA: PG n “The Age of Adaline”: CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: PG-13 n “True Story”: CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: R n “Unfriended”: CNS: O (morally offensive); MPAA: R

On TV

More online At www.fromagnostictodeacon.com: Read Theresa Williams’ blog about faith and daily life At www.amazon.com: Theresa Williams’ new book “From Agnostic to Deacon: A Story of Hope and Conversion” is available in paperback for purchase. (ISBN-10: 0692337660)

n Wednesday, May 13, 4:30 p.m.

(EWTN) “The Three Shepherds of Fatima.” Several experts on the Fatima phenomenon collaborate to create an in-depth look at the spiritual lives and psychological profiles of the three shepherd children who witnessed an apparition of the Virgin Mary. n Saturday, May 16, 8 p.m.

(EWTN) “St. Rita, Part 1” The life of Rita of Cascia, the saint of the impossible and advocate of desperate cases, reveals the great faith of a woman who endured many hardships and difficulties on her journey to God. n Saturday May 16, 9:45 p.m. (EWTN) “Shawn’s Eyes.”

Documentary on Shawn Riney, a man born with Down Syndrome, and how his life touches the hearts of families who know him. n Monday, May 18, 2 p.m. (EWTN) “In the Footsteps of John Paul the Great.” A walking pilgrimage with Joanna Bogle and Clare Anderson through the villages and cities in Poland where Karol Wojtyla was born, studied, hid from the Nazis and lived as archbishop of Krakow. n Wednesday, May 20, 2 p.m.

(EWTN) “Saxum: Remembering Bishop Alvaro Del Portillo.” The life of Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, the closest associate and successor of Opus Dei founder St. Josemaria Escriva and known for his fidelity to the Church and to his own vocation. n Wednesday, May 20, 4:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Michael the Visitor.” Narrated by Stockard Channing, this charming fable is an adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic tale about a lost young man with an amazing secret.

May 8, 2015 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

VESTING: FROM PAGE 2

us. Instead, the concept for this prayer is that we cannot ourselves beat down any diabolical assaults, so we humbly ask the Lord that He Himself cover us with the grace of salvation, which, of itself, conquers the assaults of the Evil One. We are reminded of St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 6:12-17: “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.

Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all (the) flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” Just as a helmet protects the head, a spiritual helmet fends off untoward assaults of a spiritual nature. Such spiritual assaults can be mind games the devil puts before us, about which St. Paul instructs and reprimands us: “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the … evil spirits in the heavens.”

As it is, the temptation is for us to dumb down the spiritual battle to that of flesh and blood, laying ourselves wide open to diabolical assaults, having us be filled with rancor and discord, political correctness and horrific clericalism of every kind and, to justify ourselves, disobedience to the faith, ignoring the Living Truth who is Christ Jesus. It can and does happen that priests offer Holy Mass

EGG DROP: FROM PAGE 16

trying to teach. I hope the eggs all go unbroken at the end of the day.”

Organizing the Egg Drop again this year was Michelle Kuhn, the Learning Enriched Activities Program (LEAP) teacher at St. Matthew School.

“I made some guideline changes this time,” Kuhn said. “This time they couldn’t use plastic parachutes and they couldn’t use helium balloons – just so they would think differently.”

Two St. Matthew students and their parents were pleasantly surprised that their eggs survived the 40-foot fall.

First-grader Lily was anxious to see if her second “Egg Drop” project protected her egg this year. Her pink parachute project last year helped her egg survive the fall and thankfully her

TESTIMONY: FROM PAGE 3

her Allie Faith.’ That’s the name of my daughter, ‘Allie Faith.’”

He continued, “Instantaneously, I dried up and I just had that power, that spirit of confidence and self-control. And that was quite a turning point.”

When his wife Cindy began her hospital treatment, Hilgen had a providential first meeting there with Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin. They were on the elevator together, he to see his wife, Bishop Curlin to see other patients.

Hilgen didn’t recognize Bishop Curlin, casually asking him where he served as a priest. The two immediately hit it off, and a lasting friendship was born. Bishop Curlin especially became close to then 6-year-old Allie Faith, Hilgen said.

“Bishop Curlin administered the (sacrament

with such a deficient attitude. We need prayer.

When St. Paul speaks of taking on “the helmet of salvation,” he immediately adds taking up “the sword of the Spirit,” which is the Word of God. The priest, who offers the Word of God to our Heavenly Father during Mass, leads others into reverence before these sacred mysteries by the Word of God he preaches. In times past, a cleric would receive the amice from his bishop, who would call the amice “a castigatio vocis” – “a castigation of the voice” – for if one’s mind is preoccupied with all that is heavenly, one’s speech will edify the mystical body of Christ.

Sin entered the world through the deception of Satan, who tried to get flesh and blood to battle with flesh and blood, with rancor and discord. This prayer is a mockery of Satan’s assault against Adam and against all of mankind throughout time. This prayer points to the promised Redeemer of Genesis 3:15. Having taken the initiative to crush the head of Satan and to be crushed while He does that – what is happening at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we priests prepare to offer with this prayer – Our Lord provides us with the helmet of salvation so as to repel the deceit of the Evil One. When Our Lord Himself was especially assaulted by Satan during those 40 days in the desert, the temptation was about things of flesh and blood (the bread), about egoism (gaining the whole world) and rancor and discord (mocking God). Jesus’ response to each temptation was about His bond of union in all charity with the Father: God will not be mocked. Love conquers all mind games. The helmet of salvation means to have one’s mind focused on loving God and loving one’s neighbor with the same act of love, love which is the Living Truth.

Father George David Byers is administrator of Holy Redeemer Church in Andrews.

project this year did too.

Second-grader Ashley and her dad were thrilled their huge bright yellow “chick” project survived the fall, albeit with a little peanut butter on its face after it hit the ground.

“It was awesome,” he said. He had been second guessing their choice of materials and was thrilled that all of their hard work paid off.

Four students from Charlotte Catholic High School volunteered to serve as judges and janitors to help determine if the eggs had survived the fall. They also helped to clear each project after it crashed onto the target drop-zone – a tarp spread out on the ground to keep the mess to a minimum. Their job was particularly challenging when the peanut butter projects and those containing marshmallows smashed to the ground.

At the end of the day, Kuhn and her Charlotte Catholic judges determined that 67 percent of the “Egg Drop” projects survived the fall.

NEILSON: FROM PAGE 7

After another year of study he was ordained a priest in 1960 by Bishop Vincent S. Waters, who had also studied at Belmont Abbey.

He was ordained with three diocesan priests that year: Monsignor William Pharr (now deceased), Monsignor Lewis Morton (now deceased) and Father Frank Maloney (now retired). The four were ordained May 26 at the old Our Lady of Assumption Church in Charlotte.

“I remember the members of my family being there, and the dear Sisters who taught me as I grew up (in the O’Donoghue School in Charlotte),” he says. “Sister Mary Patrick and Sister Kathleen McNamara – they were very special to me. My mother died when I was in seventh grade and Sister Mary Patrick was my teacher. She was always a gem to me and prayed for me. And in eternal life I’m sure she has still prayed for me.”

He recalls that having the opportunity to bring people who were close to him to his ordination was very special. “It was an experience. You are so overcome by emotion in many respects that there are certain things you can’t remember (in detail).”

Over the past 60 years as a Benedictine monk, Father Kieran has had many experiences and positions that range from being the Guestmaster, Novicemaster and Subprior at Belmont Abbey; mail man in the Belmont Abbey College Post Office; and disciplinarian at Benedictine College Preparatory School in Richmond, Va. during the time he was assigned to St. Benedict’s Priory. He remembers that, for seven years when he served as the disciplinarian at the high school, it was “a thankless job.”

“You are always punishing someone for something,” he explains. “You had to discipline them or you would be in trouble.

If you didn’t make them pay the price for their actions, then you’d be guilty of it. I had to weigh the facts.”

“Oh, the stories I could tell!” he adds with a laugh. “There were

CONFERENCE: FROM PAGE 3

of) anointing of the sick for Allie Faith.

Afterwards, he visited us many times at the hospital – every time to Allie Faith’s absolute joy. He visited both Cindy and Allie Faith during their visits to and treatments at the hospital,” Hilgen remembered.

“To this day, Allie Faith and Bishop Curlin have remained close friends.”

Hilgen announced towards the end of his talk that both his wife and daughter have remained cancer-free since 2009. At the conclusion of his talk, wife Cindy and daughter Allie Faith joined him on the altar and were met with a standing ovation as they hugged Bishop Curlin sitting close by.

Hilgen encouraged the men at the conference to always keep the faith.

“When challenged, be the best father, husband, son, friend, co-worker and neighbor that you can possibly be. Others will follow your example. And that will lead other men and women to God.”

offended with our sins.”

Although attendance for this year’s conference was almost 50 percent lower than last year’s, the general consensus among the men present was that the event packed a real punch and was a wake-up call for men in the Church to be more engaged at home and be the spiritual leaders of their families.

“The conference was very good, especially the speech made by Darrell (Miller) – very hearttouching, very moving, and really reaches out to all men especially to preach the Gospel and not be afraid of it,” said Deacon Mark Mejias. Deacon Mejias serves at Holy Family Church in WinstonSalem and decided to drive down to Charlotte for the conference

21

wonderful times and I’ve seen those young men grow up to be doctors and lawyers and many things. They have achieved great heights. It gives you a thrill to see all they’ve accomplished.”

He hopes to attend the 50th anniversary of the Class of 1965.

Father Kieran also worked in pastoral ministry at St. Benedict Parish in Richmond and St. Michael the Archangel Church in Gastonia.

“I loved parish work. I got to minister to the people of all ages, I got to help prepare them for the sacraments.”

Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari (now Father Kieran’s superior) was in the second grade when Father Kieran served at St. Benedict Parish. He remembers the abbot making his first Holy Communion.

He also served as a chaplain at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Richmond for five years. “It had about five miles of hall space (at the VA hospital). So I did my share of walking,” he jokes.

Now in his “golden years,” multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood, has slowed Father Kieran down a bit. He cannot stand for long periods of time, so he has had to settle for concelebrating Mass with his fellow monks at the Abbey.

All in all, he says, he has loved his 55 years of priestly ministry. “I can’t say I didn’t enjoy any aspect of my priesthood. There are certain things that I did enjoy more. I enjoyed the elderly people. I used to visit them.

And of course, I loved the little children. I still do.”

Father Kieran advises young men discerning the priesthood to pray, and don’t worry. “I tell him to ask God to give him the grace to know what He wants him to do. Don’t be afraid.”

DECHANT: FROM PAGE 7

understand God’s plan for you.”

Holy Cross Parish will celebrate Father Paul’s 25th anniversary with Mass at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, at the church located at 616 South Cherry St. A reception will follow, and everyone is invited to attend.

“because I’m hungry to hear the Word of Christ.”

“We should all be hungry to hear Him,” he added.

Billy Hughes, master of ceremonies and a member of the conference’s organizing team, shared his impressions after the conference. “The core team spent much time and energy ensuring that the day was worth the price of admission. We wanted to make sure that the speakers were well received, that the food was plentiful…The men’s choir was amazing to listen to, and the Mass with Bishop Jugis was nothing short of special. Having Bishop Emeritus Curlin lead our Holy Hour is something that will make lasting memories for all who were there.”

“The only thing we missed was that more men could not attend.

This was a conference that would have been spectacular with 1,500 men.”

Our nation 22

catholicnewsherald.com | May 8, 2015 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

High court considers place of same-sex ‘marriage’ in states that bar it Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Questions raised by Supreme Court justices as they considered April 28 whether they should rule that same-sex “marriage” should be made legal nationwide covered a gamut of rights concerns – religious, equal protection, states’ ability to enact their own laws.

In two and a half hours of oral arguments, the line of questions and the answers by attorneys representing both sides made clear that all concerned recognize the potential for the court’s ruling to be history-making.

Even the justices who sounded inclined to allow states to continue to ban samesex “marriage” and refuse to recognize such unions from other states seemed to recognize that it is no longer a question of “if” but “when” and “who decides” that same-sex “marriages” are allowed.

“The issue is not whether there should be same-sex “marriage,” but who should decide,” said Justice Antonin Scalia in an exchange with Mary Bonauto, attorney for James Obergefell and other petitioners seeking the right to have same-sex “marriage” allowed or recognized in their states.

“And you’re asking us to decide it for this society when no other society until 2001 ever had it,” Scalia added.

Chief Justice John Roberts observed that the country has moved quickly from firm opposition to such marriages – and a nationwide prohibition on them – to the current status of broad acceptance and a majority of states allowing same-sex “marriage.” Numerous legal observers have drawn a connection between the cases and the speed with which the nation had to accept the legality of abortion when the court ruled in 1973 that it is constitutionally protected. They suggest that a constitutional finding in favor of same-sex “marriage” would similarly preempt voters’ rights to decide such a complex moral issue.

“If you prevail,” he told Bonauto, the nationwide legal debate about the issue will be over, but the people who are still making up their minds how they feel about same-sex “marriage” will be deprived of

the chance to weigh in about how their states act.

“People feel very differently about something if they have a chance to vote on it than if it’s imposed on them by the courts,” Roberts said.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who often is a swing vote in cases that divide along liberal/conservative lines, and Justice Samuel Alito also raised several questions about the speed with which same-sex “marriage” has become accepted and whether the court should be wading in to find a constitutional right at this time.

Kennedy said the 10-year period over which U.S. states have begun to allow samesex “marriage” is a short amount of time on which to base a ruling to change that.

“This definition has been with us for millennia,” he said. “And it’s very difficult for the court to say, oh, well, we know better.”

Alito observed that, “until the end of the 20th century, there never was a nation or culture that recognized marriage between two people of the same sex. Now, can we infer from that that those nations and those cultures all thought that there was some rational, practical purpose for defining marriage in that way, or is it your argument that they were all operating independently, based solely on irrational stereotypes and prejudice?”

Bonauto said in response that “times can blind.” For example, discrimination on the basis of sex was assumed to be constitutionally protected, she said, and it took more than 100 years for the court to find otherwise.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg pointed out that the cases seeking reversal of rulings that upheld state bans on same-sex “marriage” wouldn’t be up for the court’s consideration “if marriage was what it was a millennium ago.” She gave the example of another change in how marriage is understood, citing times when a woman’s role in a marriage was subservient to the man’s decisions.

Bonauto expanded on that, saying that for centuries the U.S. and Europe had a system “where a woman’s legal identity was absorbed into that of her husband and men and women had different prescribed legal roles. And again, because of equality

and changing social circumstances all of those gender differences in the rights and responsibilities of the married pair have been eliminated. And that, of course, is a system in which committed same-sex couples fit quite well.”

Scalia also raised questions about whether clergy would be required to participate in same-sex “marriages” that violate their religious beliefs. “You could have ministers who conduct real marriages that are civilly enforceable at the National Cathedral (run by the Episcopal Church) but not at St. Matthew’s (Catholic) downtown because that minister refuses to marry two men and therefore cannot be given the state power to make a real state marriage. I don’t see any answer to that. I really don’t.”

No ministers in states with same-sex “marriage” have been forced to preside at marriages they don’t wish to perform, Bonauto said. But Scalia persisted, saying that if such marriages are constitutionally protected, they will have to do so.

Justices Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer stepped into the issue.

“There are many rabbis that will not conduct marriages between Jews and non-Jews, notwithstanding that we have a constitutional prohibition against religious discrimination,” she said. “And those rabbis get all the powers and privileges of the state.”

Breyer quoted the First Amendment: “It’s called Congress shall make no law respecting the freedom of religion.”

The attorney representing the states that want to keep their bans on same-sex “marriage,” Michigan’s special assistant attorney general John J. Bursch, argued that if the court finds a constitutional right to such marriages, it would lead to fewer marriages between heterosexual couples and therefore fewer children being raised in two-parent households.

“There’s harm if you change the definition because, in people’s minds, if marriage and creating children don’t have anything to do with each other, then what do you expect? You expect more children outside of marriage.” That’s why, he said, the state must follow through with its obligation to protect children by keeping marriage defined in the way that lends itself to parents raising their own biological children.

“We’re talking about something that’s going to change the meaning of the institution over generations,” Bursch said.

“You have things like no-fault divorce where we tweaked what marriage means and it had consequences over the long term that some people didn’t expect.”

In the second question the court took up, whether states that don’t permit same-sex “marriages” are obligated to recognize such unions performed in other states, attorney Douglas Hallward-Driemeier repeatedly referred to his clients’ marriages being dissolved by the states where they live.

“These petitioners have built their lives around their marriages, including bringing children into their families, just as opposite-sex couples have done,” HallwardDriemeier said. “But the non-recognition laws undermine the stability of these families.”

He and attorney Joseph F. Whalen, associate solicitor general of Tennessee, who was defending several states’ rights to not recognize same-sex “marriages,” both agreed that if the court rules in the first question that there is a constitutional right to such unions, their cases become moot.

That portion of the argument batted around questions of when a state may decide a marriage recognized in one state can be ignored in another.

Whalen said before the question of same-sex “marriages” came up the last time Tennessee had refused to recognize another state’s marriage was in 1970, in a case involving a marriage of a stepfather and stepdaughter.

The court was weighing four cases from Tennessee, Michigan, Kentucky and Ohio.

All four cases under review are all from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in November that laws prohibiting same-sex “marriage” are constitutional. That 2-1 ruling came in the case of a lesbian couple in Michigan who sought to jointly adopt the special needs children they are raising together. The state will not allow adoption by couples who are not married and it prohibits samesex “marriage.”

The opinion said that although it is inevitable that same-sex “marriage” will be allowed nationwide, it is better to make that change through a political process, rather than a court ruling. The 6th Circuit was the first federal appeals court to find in favor of such bans. Four other federal appellate courts have found same-sex “marriage” prohibitions to be unconstitutional.

The court bundled the appeals under the title of the Ohio case, Obergefell v. Hodges.

That case arose after the October 2013 death of John Arthur of Cincinnati. He and his longtime partner, Obergefell, had married earlier that year in Maryland. When the local Ohio registrar agreed to list Obergefell as the surviving spouse on Arthur’s death certificate – which is key to a range of survivor’s benefits – the state attorney general challenged the status because Ohio law bars same-sex “marriages.”

The other cases under consideration include: Tanco v. Haslam, the Tennessee case, and Bourke v. Beshear, the Kentucky case, which similarly challenge those states’ refusal to recognize samesex “marriages” performed in other jurisdictions, and DeBoer v. Snyder, the Michigan adoption case.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was among Catholic organizations that filed “amicus,” or friend-of-the-court, briefs urging the justices to maintain the definition of marriage as applying just to one man and one woman.

The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is only a union of one man and one woman. The Church teaches that homosexual attraction itself is not sinful, but homosexual actions are. Any sexual activity outside of marriage is considered sinful.

As of late April, North Carolina and 36 other states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex “marriages,” most due to federal and state court rulings.

The court’s ruling is expected before it adjourns for the term in late June.

May 8, 2015 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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In Brief Supreme Court takes close look at lethal injection drug WASHINGTON, D.C. — Exactly one year after a botched execution in Oklahoma, the Supreme Court took a close look at the effectiveness of a specific drug used in the state’s lethal injections to determine whether it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The April 29 oral arguments were at times bogged down by medical details and at other times were argumentative about the drug in question and the death penalty in general. The case, Glossip v. Gross, was presented by lawyers for three Oklahoma death-row inmates claiming the drug midazolam, the first drug administered in the state’s three-part lethal injection process, does not effectively put inmates into a coma-like state that prevents them from feeling pain.

It was the first time the justices re-examined lethal injections since 2008, when they ruled in Baze v. Rees that a three-drug protocol used in Kentucky executions did not violate the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In that protocol, the first drug causes unconsciousness, the second brings about paralysis and the third stops the heart.

The difference now is that in recent years a shortage of drugs – due in part to a Europeanled boycott – has caused states to try a variety of drug combinations, not the specific ones the court considered and upheld in 2008. When Oklahoma prison authorities could no longer obtain a drug previously used, they began using midazolam, which was a factor in three

problematic executions last year.

Catholic groups await pope’s encyclical on ecology WASHINGTON, D.C. — Few papal encyclicals have been as eagerly awaited as Pope Francis’ upcoming statement on the environment. While no date other than early summer for its release has been announced, anticipation is building among Catholics as well as non-Catholics and advocates for the environment. Based on the pope’s past statements, they expect the document will call people to protect human life and dignity through greater appreciation and preservation of God’s creation.

What Pope Francis is expected to say has its roots in God’s creation of the world, Dan Misleh, executive director of the Catholic Climate Covenant, said. “Pope Francis is first a priest and a pastor,” Misleh explained. “He is a Catholic Christian who is reflecting on and articulating the best of our tradition. Let us remind ourselves that our creation care tradition goes back to Genesis, not Earth Day. Let us remind ourselves that this ancient teaching is the teaching that was familiar, too, and articulated in new ways

by Jesus Christ, reinforced by the witness of St. Francis, expounded upon by St. Thomas Aquinas as well as by St. John Paul and especially Pope Benedict, the ‘green pope.’ Let us remember that what Pope Francis is offering here and will offer in the encyclical is not new teaching, but a new application of that old teaching.”

community dialogue to solve the systemic issues that led to the unrest. Gray, 25, died April 19, one week after being arrested on a weapons charge and sustaining a severe spinal cord injury in West Baltimore while in police custody.

After his funeral April 27, peaceful protests turned into unrest later in the day, leading to damage of buildings and cars, and looting and fires seen nonstop on national TV news networks. The next morning, as Archbishop Lori, Auxiliary Bishop Denis J. Madden and other archdiocesan leaders toured the West Baltimore neighborhoods affected, adults and children with brooms and trash bags were as numerous as the rioters the night before.

Detroit to host international Courage conference in August DETROIT — The Archdiocese of Detroit will host an international conference this summer dedicated to exploring some of the complex challenges the Catholic Church faces in ministering to those with same-sex attraction. The Aug. 10-12 conference at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth is titled “‘Love One Another as I Have Loved You’ – Welcoming and Accompanying Our Brothers and Sisters

With Same-Sex Attraction.” It will be sponsored

by Courage International, an apostolate that supports those with same-sex attraction in living and better understanding the Church’s teachings on chastity, as well as Our Sunday Visitor and the Archdiocese of Detroit. Open to those who minister in a pastoral setting to men and women with same-sex attraction, the conference is expected to draw 350 to 500 bishops, clergy, parish and school personnel from dioceses across the country, said David Grobbel, director of the Detroit archdiocesan Office for Marriage and Family Ministry.

Pope Francis appoints 3 bishops WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pope Francis has recently made the following appointments: n Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City will succeed retiring Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe, N.M. n Father Edward C. Malesic, judicial vicar of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Penn., will succeed retiring Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt of Greensburg, Penn. n Father Brendan Cahill, a priest of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, will succeed retiring Bishop David E. Fellhauer of Victoria, Texas.

— Catholic News Service

Catholics join efforts to heal, clean up in Baltimore BALTIMORE — As the city cleaned up after a night of riots, looting and fires following the funeral of Freddie Gray, Archbishop William E. Lori said the Church’s place is to pray, be a voice for peace, and participate in a wider

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catholicnewsherald.com | May 8, 2015 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Pope prays for quake victims, sends donation, urges solidarity VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis offered his prayers to all of those affected by a deadly earthquake in Nepal, encouraged rescue and emergency workers in their efforts and sent an initial donation of $100,000.

More than 7,300 people were known to have been killed and thousands more are injured or missing after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake hit a mountainous region near Kathmandu April 25.

The devastation included not just buildings collapsing from the tremors, but also people and villages being buried by landslides and avalanches triggered by the quake and aftershocks. The number of casualties was expected to be much higher as rescue teams tried to make their way into more remote areas.

“I pray for the victims, those wounded and for all those who suffer because of this calamity,” Pope Francis said after reciting the “Regina Coeli” prayer with visitors gathered in St. Peter’s Square April 26. Before leading people in praying the Hail Mary together, he expressed his hope that those affected by the disaster would “have the support of fraternal solidarity.”

The Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which promotes and coordinates charitable giving, announced April 28 that Pope Francis had sent “a first contribution of $100,000” to assist the victims.

The money, it said, “which will be sent to the local church, will be used to support the assistance efforts underway on behalf of the displaced” and others impacted by the quake.

The papal donation is meant to be “a first and immediate concrete expression” of the pope’s personal concern for all the quake’s victims, Cor Unum said, adding that bishops’ conference and Catholic charities from around the world already have taken an active role in helping survivors.

— Catholic News Service

Elizabeth Tromans, an emergency response coordinator for Catholic Relief Services, helps earthquake victims register for the distribution of relief items in the village of Gorkha, Nepal, May 3.

CNS | Jake Lyell, CRS

Week after quake, trucks of aid begin reaching remote areas of Nepal Anto Akkara Catholic News Service

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Truckloads of relief material organized

by Church charities began moving across Nepal a week after the Himalayan nation was rocked by a magnitude-7.8 earthquake April 25.

“I am glad that much-needed aid is finally beginning to reach remote areas,” Greg Auberry, Catholic Relief Services’ regional director for East and South How you can help Asia, said May 4.

Auberry had just returned to At www.catholicnewsherald.

Kathmandu from Gorkha – just com: Get more informaiton 85 miles from the capital but on how to donate to help five hours of rough mountain earthquake victims drive – where CRS and Caritas Nepal staff had distributed relief material like tarps, dry rations, hygiene items and water purification tablets.

“Given the mountainous terrain, getting relief supplies to even the most convenient locations for people to collect them is not easy. It took CRS several hours with small tractors – one getting stuck – to get the tarpaulins and household supplies to the village of Bukrang near Gorkha,” said Auberry, who oversaw relief distribution in the region May 3.

“People walked miles to come,” he added.

Nine days after the quake, the Nepal government revised the death toll to more than 7,200 killed and 14,300 injured, while thousands have gone missing.

Father Pius Perumana, Caritas Nepal director, said that besides CRS contingent, officials of a dozen national Caritas affiliates like CAFOD, Cordaid and Caritas of nearly a dozen countries had reached Nepal to augment the church relief work.

“While relief material is being material sent to different remote areas, our assessment teams also have gone to the worst-hit areas.

We are meeting on a daily basis to coordinate the relief work,” Father Perumana said.

“Relief materials are being already procured from wherever we can,” said Albert Grasse Hokamp, coordinator of Caritas Germany for East Asia.

Hokamp, who has spent several years in Nepal with international charities, said food and other relief supplies have been ordered from

India, tents from Pakistan and Dubai, and medicines from Europe.

“We are working as a team and need to coordinate and plan our relief work,” he added.

While top Church workers plan out the strategies, church centers and parishes in Kathmandu are a beehive of volunteers and buzzing with activity. Even Hindu volunteers have joined Catholic youth and others to prepare parcels of tea, sugar and lentils for distribution in the villages.

“My friend in Caritas (Nepal) invited me. I am happy to be here instead of idling the time at home with our college shut because of the earthquake,” Usha Thapa, a Hindu undergraduate student, told CNS May 1 while filling lentil packets for distribution at Assumption Catholic Church in Lalitpur.

Neeru Shreshta, another young Hindu woman, said she came to the church prompted by Thapa and enjoys the work.

“I have been coming here for two days and left last night at 9 p.m.,” Thapa said proudly.

Three dozen Western tourists also were preparing relief packets at a frantic pace as if they were working in a factory.

“We came here as tourists. But we can’t do much in the present situation. When we were invited to come here, we joined gladly,” said Tave Teloye of the Canadian province on Ontario. He and his children, Alan and Juliet, formed a packing unit at the Assumption Church hall.

Doren Graham, a university student from New Zealand, was in his hotel room in Kathmandu when the quake hit, a day after he arrived in Kathmandu.

“I came for trekking. Though it is not possible now, I will extend my stay to be a relief after witnessing the devastation and the suffering,” Graham said.

Meanwhile, Catholic communities in Nepal were mobilizing all of their resources.

“We have eight mobile health clinic vans scattered in Nepal. We have directed all of them to the disaster areas,” Jesuit Father Boniface Tigga, Jesuit provincial of Nepal, said May 4. He said they also had sent out truckloads of supplies.

Good Shepherd Sister Taskila Nicholas said “the situation in the villages is very bad.”

“People have to walk for five and six hours to reach the roads to get food or any help. I am worried about the old and the injured in the mountains. What can they do?” said Sister Nicholas while traveling to Kathmandu to collect relief material for distribution.

“On Sunday, some of our sisters and others walked seven hours to reach relief material to the people in some of the villages,” she said.

May 8, 2015 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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In Brief Pope: Catholics must be active in politics, no matter how ‘dirty’ VATICAN CITY — Catholics must get involved in politics even if it may be “dirty,” frustrating and fraught with failure, Pope Francis said.

Given today’s “throwaway” culture and so many problems unfolding in the world, “Do I as a Catholic watch from my balcony? No, you can’t watch from the balcony. Get right in there!” he said. The pope made his comments April 30 during an informal discussion with members of Italy’s Christian Life Community and the Student Missionary League – groups inspired

by Ignatian spirituality. As a Jesuit priest, Pope Francis served as a national assistant to the Christian Life Community in Argentina in the late 1970s.

Pope: Divided Christians honor martyrs by fidelity, unity VATICAN CITY — Divided Christians honor the sacrifice of their martyrs when they try to live according to the Gospel and work together to share the Gospel, Pope Francis said. The witness of modern martyrs, “victims of persecution and violence simply because of the faith they profess,” is a bond among Christians that is stronger than anything still dividing them, the pope said April 30 during a meeting with members of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission. The recent experience of Christians in the Middle East

is not the only example of the “ecumenism of martyrdom,” he said. “I think also of the martyrs of Uganda, half Catholics and half Anglicans,” who were killed in the 1880s. Pope Francis told commission members that he was certain that “the blood of these martyrs will nourish a new era of ecumenical commitment” and “a fervent desire to fulfill the last will and testament of the Lord: that all may be one.”

As the dialogue commission, commonly known as ARCIC, continued its discussions about Church processes for facing moral and ethical questions, Pope Francis said the witness of Christians who died for their faith “demands that we live in harmony with the Gospel and that we strive with determination to fulfill the Lord’s will for His Church.”

children are always “the biggest victims,” he said.

Pope: ‘Scandal’ of inequality, fear of marriage must be addressed VATICAN CITY — Two millennia after the “Gospel of the family” defeated an abusive social practice that humiliated women, the “radical equality” of spouses in Christian marriage must now bear “new fruit” in society, including “the right to equal pay for equal work,” said Pope Francis. This “disparity” between men and women in the workplace is “a pure scandal,” Pope Francis said April 29 during his weekly general audience.

Continuing a series of audience talks about marriage, the pope began by saying Jesus demonstrated His great fondness and solicitude for marriage and family when He changed water into wine at the wedding at Cana. The love between man and woman in marriage is “God’s masterpiece,” the pope saids. Though Jesus’ message to married couples is always the same, “many things have changed” since then, he said. Today there are fewer marriages, more marriage breakups, and fewer children, the pope noted. Family and marital bonds are broken with “always greater frequency and speed,” and

Vatican unveils logo, prayer, details of Holy Year of Mercy VATICAN CITY — The Holy Year of Mercy will be an opportunity to encourage Christians to meet people’s “real needs” with concrete assistance, to experience a “true pilgrimage” on foot, and to send “missionaries of mercy” throughout the world to forgive even the most serious of sins, said Archbishop Rino Fisichella.

The yearlong extraordinary jubilee also will include several individual jubilee days, such as for the Roman Curia, catechists, teenagers and prisoners, said the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, the office organizing events for the Holy Year of Mercy.

During a news conference at the Vatican May 5, Archbishop Fisichella unveiled the official prayer, logo, calendar of events and other details of the special Holy Year, which will be

celebrated from Dec. 8, 2015, until Nov. 20, 2016.

The motto, “Merciful Like the Father,” he said, “serves as an invitation to follow the merciful example of the Father who asks us not to judge or condemn but to forgive and to give love and forgiveness without measure.”

Pope Francis announced in March his intention to proclaim a holy year as a way for the Church to “make more evident its mission to be a witness of mercy.”

One way the pope wants to show “the Church’s maternal solicitude” is to send out “missionaries of mercy” – that is, specially selected priests who have been granted “the authority to pardon even those sins reserved to the Holy See,” the pope wrote in “Misericordiae Vultus,” (“The Face of Mercy”), the document officially proclaiming the Holy Year.

More than a dozen individual jubilee celebrations will be scheduled in 2016, such as a jubilee for consecrated men and women Feb. 2 to close the Year of Consecrated Life; a jubilee for the Roman Curia Feb. 22; a jubilee for those devoted to the spirituality of Divine Mercy on Divine Mercy Sunday April 3; and separate jubilees for teenagers; for deacons; priests; the sick and disabled; and catechists.

The Vatican is asking bishops and priests around the world to conduct “similar symbolic gestures of communion with Pope Francis” and his vision of reaching out to those on the margins.

The Holy Year logo features Jesus the Good Shepherd taking “upon His shoulders the lost soul, demonstrating that it is the love of Christ that brings to completion the mystery of His Incarnation culminating in redemption,” the archbishop said.

The Jubilee of Mercy has an official website in seven languages at www.im.va; a Twitter handle @Jubilee_va; a Facebook page; and accounts on Instagram, Flickr and Google+.

— Catholic News Service

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catholicnewsherald.com | May 8, 2015 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Fred Gallagher

Perpetual Adoration: The blessings of an hour

O

ver 20 years ago a determined Catholic matron and native Charlottean wished to share her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament by starting a Perpetual Adoration Society in Charlotte and establishing the first Perpetual Adoration chapel in our diocese. All she needed was a chapel where the Blessed Sacrament could be perpetually exposed and at least one person for every hour of every day of the week (at least 168 people). No small feat!

For years Kathleen Potter had already been organizing Catholics who wanted to make a pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal. For her, one of the great messages of Our Lady’s apparitions there was the importance of becoming closer to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. She recruited a small group of dedicated, prayerful people who worked tirelessly to help find additional volunteers who could spend an hour with Our Lord.

“I couldn’t have done it without those blessed people,” says Mrs. Potter, who at 87 still goes regularly to the chapel. She is grateful for all those who continue to help make Perpetual Adoration possible.

One mother told me recently that even with Jesus right there, or perhaps because Jesus is right there, in her hours in the chapel the Blessed Mother fills her heart: her joy in the St. Gabriel Church, raising of her son, her agony in watching Him Charlotte die, and her great love for each one of us. A St. Aloysius Church, lawyer friend has a routine of prayer he follows Hickory to the letter, and invariably it lifts him above Pennybyrn at Maryfield the stresses of modern life which beset us all.

Chapel, High Point The couple who have the hour just before mine St. Mark Church, are now in their senior years. They have been Huntersville a team a long time. Like many, they have faced tragedy with God’s love guiding them and they’ve certainly triumphed in a life of faith. It’s a little harder to get up from their seats and their kneelers these days, but they’re there – every week – keeping that blessed company for a late night hour. The woman who follows my hour is always there early, always with a smile, as if she can’t wait to kneel there, bringing her life right to His altar.

Often someone from a late shift job will scoot in shortly after midnight to be at the feet of Our Lord for maybe even 10 minutes before heading home. Occasionally someone is there with a very specific intent, an urgent need tugging at them fiercely, and they come for answers or the peace that Christ in the Blessed Sacrament can bring.

As our hearts cry out in joy or heartache, doubt or hope, all is quiet, for in that room with the gold monstrance containing the consecrated Host, the reverence and decorum so lacking in modern life are alive and well. And restless hearts like mine are stilled.

When I started volunteering, none of my children were in school and I prayed much for the conversion of my wife. Now they are all in college and my wife has been a faithful Catholic for 15 years. I don’t know if watching me go off a little before midnight to pray in a tiny chapel played any part in her conversion story or not, but I like to think it did. Today she treasures her time in Adoration. Over the years I have taken a journal with me and I can now go back and see the top of a page that says “Before the Blessed Sacrament,” and read on to where I thanked God for the birth of one of my children or for the conversion of my wife. I can see my own struggles before Him, offering them to Him from my seat in that little chapel. I can read a poem extracted from my meditation under the monstrance and the Host. I can see where I brought the news of a death in the family to lay at His feet, recording my responses to His abiding comfort.

The hushed majesty of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is a unique manifestation of His love. Mrs. Potter says, “I have learned that God will always give us what we need … but we have to work for it.” For over 20 years now, more than 17,000 hours, He has waited for us to spend time with Him. And each and every hour, someone comes because Kathleen Potter wanted everyone to know how blessed a holy hour can be. And for over 20 years, in a chapel at St. Gabriel Church, every hour of every day is just that.

Perpetual Adoration locations

Fred Gallagher is a restless Catholic who is also an author, book editor and former addictions counselor. He and his wife Kim are members of St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte.

Same-sex marriage: It’s not in the Constitution – yet Robert D. Potter Jr

T

he U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether the 14th Amendment requires states to recognize and perform same-sex “marriages.”

The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868 in the wake of the Civil War to protect the life, liberty and property of the newly freed slaves. It states, in part: “No State shall ... deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Should the Supreme Court apply the 14th Amendment to same-sex “marriage”? One should ask instead, “Why should it?”

Up until recently, the idea of homosexual “marriage” was inconceivable. Our own laws have always recognized homosexual “marriage” as a physical impossibility. For example, in 1852 Bishop’s “Commentaries on the Law of Marriage and Divorce, and Evidence in Matrimonial Suits,” observed: “Marriage between two persons of one sex could have no validity, as none of the ends of matrimony could be accomplished thereby. It has always, therefore, been deemed requisite to the entire validity of every marriage, not only that the parties should be of different sex, but that they should be essentially complete in their sexual organization and capabilities.” In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court summarily dismissed a challenge to the ruling of the Minnesota Supreme Court upholding Minnesota’s ban on same-sex “marriage.” Under our legal system, lower courts are obligated to follow cases decided by the Supreme Court unless the Supreme Court changes them. The Supreme Court case upholding Minnesota’s same-sex “marriage” ban is still binding precedent and has simply been ignored by the Courts of Appeals that have struck down prohibitions on recognition of same-sex “marriages.”

Obviously, the Constitution makes no reference to same-sex “marriage.” Same-sex individuals are physically incapable of forming the “oneflesh” union that has always been considered the essence of marriage. So is it unequal treatment for the law to deny those physically incapable of marriage to marry? The simple answer is no. The law has always recognized that neither “equality” nor “liberty” requires that the government must ignore physical reality when applying the law. For example, the government is not required to give a pilot’s license to a blind man.

We read in the popular press that we cannot “impose” our understanding of marriage on others. This assertion presupposes that we can never claim our understanding of fundamental moral questions is true or that advocating for laws consistent with our moral beliefs unfairly forces our faith on others. But if, as we believe, Jesus Christ was God and His teachings are true, why would we want to ignore the truth? Reason is consistent with faith. Therefore, we can and should defend those beliefs we know to be true in rational terms which a person of any faith can understand, and seek to persuade others to enact laws consistent with those beliefs to promote the common good.

As Catholics and Americans we cannot remain silent. We must do what we can to share our understanding of the nature of human beings, and the true meaning of marriage to avoid the irreparable harm to our society that redefining marriage would cause.

Robert D. Potter Jr. is one of the attorneys representing the N.C. Legislature in connection with defending the North Carolina constitutional amendment protecting marriage. This is the last of three commentaries on the issue of attempts to redefine marriage.

The Supreme Court heard arguments last week on a series of related cases from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

May 8, 2015 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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Parish spotlight

Deacon James H. Toner

What we know that ain’t so:

“What you think is the right road may lead to death” (Prv 14:12)

True to self What we think is the right road

P

olonius in “Hamlet” offers this counsel: “This above all: to thine own self be true.”

This line from Shakespeare still strikes a chord today – we are urged to do whatever we think is right or profitable or convenient for us. Novelists and “philosophers” such as Ayn Rand have made their livings contending pretty much the same thing, and libertarianism exalts the notion that we should worry primarily about ourselves. Doing the “Christian thing”? Well, that’s easy, too: Just imagine, “WWJD?”

‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Never rely on what you think you know.’

But it’s the wrong road

First, Polonius was an ethical boor, and Shakespeare did not intend wisdom to be found in this failed, foolish Proverbs 3:5 GNB character. The sense which too many people derive from “to thine own self be true” is on a par with holding that the Bible tells “Jacob’s Ladder: us that “there Ten Steps to is no God.” It Truth,” by Peter does, but that Kreeft. San Francisco: quotation omits Ignatius, 2013 the introductory clause “fools say to themselves” (Psalm 14:1, 53:1). Second, Ayn Rand’s rejection of huge political bureaucracy may be refreshing, but her ideology can lead to indifference to the poor, exaltation of great wealth, and denial of human dignity.

One of my professors in graduate school, Eric Voegelin, taught that the greatest distinction of our day is not between various political and moral schools of thought but simply between those who believe in a transcendent Source of Right and those who do not. Because we Catholics believe in God, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, we want our thoughts, words and deeds to be in harmony with the Divine. It is to God, first and foremost, that we should be true.

I know about this from painful experience, personally and professionally.

When I was in college, a friend asked me to help him cheat during an examination.

Afraid to face our friends’ wrath by not helping him, I provided some answers to him. He cheated by accepting the help.

I cheated no less by providing it. Many years later, having learned my moral

Suggested reading

lesson, I served as “Chair of Character Development” at the U.S. Air Force Academy, and one of my responsibilities was to support the Cadet Honor Code forbidding lying, stealing and cheating. It is not easy, I knew full well, to convince a 20-year-old that he or she should not violate the honor code by helping a friend.

I tried to teach the right idea, however, by suggesting that principle comes before purpose, which, in turn, comes before people. If “people” or “my friends” come first, then I may do all kinds of things to help them, regardless of circumstances, laws or consequences. If I put people ahead of purpose, then I may find myself more worried about, say, individual careers than the integrity of the enterprise sponsoring those careers. There are times we must put fidelity to principle ahead of loyalty to friends, or concern for self. The movie “I Confess,” starring Montgomery Clift, was once used to make that point to seminarians; its lesson about putting the sacraments ahead of self-interest is as valid today as when Hitchcock made it.

“WWJD” is a well-known shortcut to Christian action – and a spiritually deficient one. The difficulty with it is that it crowns us as the arbiters of what is right and what is wrong, permitting us to imagine that Jesus would have done exactly as we have chosen to do. Pope Francis told us in January that “It is not possible to love Christ without the Church, to listen to Christ but not the Church, to belong to Christ but outside the Church.” He continued: “Without the Church, our relationship with Christ would be at the mercy of our imagination, our interpretations, our moods.” Because, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “the Church is one with Christ” (795), we must listen to the Church even or – to put it better – especially when we are taught those enduring principles and precepts against which our frequently selfish nature inclines us.

We are constantly barraged by the message that we should think for ourselves, and many times those urging such “independent thought” are, in fact, hopeful only that we will think exactly as they do. As Catholics, however, we are called to think with Christ: to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him. We are called to think with the Church (“sentire cum ecclesia”), for the Church has the Mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16, CCC 1719 and 1998).

When the secular world counsels us, as did the fraudulent philosopher Polonius, to be true to ourselves, we must have the wit and wisdom to respond that, by the grace of God, our purpose and our joy lie in our responsibility to “take every thought captive and make it obey Christ” (2 Cor 10:5). That is the point of the dismissal at Mass, when the deacon says: “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.”

Deacon James H. Toner serves at Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro.

Photos provided by Connie Ries

Check out St. Philip the Apostle Church STATESVILLE — May 3 was the feast day of the Apostles Philip and James, making it the patronal feast for St. Philip the Apostle Church in Statesville. St. Philip came from the same town as Peter and Andrew, Bethsaida in Galilee. Like the other apostles, Philip took a long time coming to realize who Jesus was. On one occasion Philip told Nathanael we have found the “one about whom Moses wrote,” Jesus of Nazareth, but Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him “Come and see.” (Jn 1:44-46) The parish’s roots date to 1898 when a chapel was built at the corner of East Sharpe and South Tradd streets in Statesville. The Key Chapel was built by Anna Thornton Key in honor of her husband Philip Barton Key, who died in 1896. He was a distant relative of Francis Scott Key, who penned the “The Star Spangled Banner.” The chapel was consecrated by Benedictine Abbot Leo M. Haid on Jan. 20, 1901, with James Cardinal Gibbons in attendance. Now a historical landmark, it served as the home to the small Catholic community in Statesville until 1956.

The Keys are buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Statesville, near an obelisk topped by a cross. Pictured at the gravesite are Father Thomas Kessler, pastor, and parishioners Jean Danckert, Norma Gassett, Pris Kimel, Marie Newschwander, Carl Ralston and Ellen Upton.

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‘The Church is the community of Christians who adore the Father, follow the way of the Son and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is not a political party.’

Pope Francis

From online story: “Catholics must be active in politics, no matter how ‘dirty,’ pope says” Through press time on May 6, 2,267 visitors to www.catholicnewsherald.com have viewed a total of 3,734 pages. The top 10 headlines so far in May are: n Catholics must be active in politics, no matter how ‘dirty,’ pope says.......................................519 n Men’s Conference challenges men to personal conversion, leading by example....................128 n Vesting Prayers: Prayer 1 – “Cum lavat manus” (Washing of hands)...........................................118 n Mathis named semi-finalist in national scholarship.......................................................................... 47 n View the current print edition of the Catholic News Herald...........................................................44 n Robert D. Potter Jr.: Same-sex ‘marriage’: Why should we care?.................................................42 n Pope defends Blessed Serra, prays for missionary zeal in Americas.......................................... 39 n Deacon James H. Toner: What we know that ain’t so: Stop judging.............................................37 n St. Matthew’s second Pins-for-Priests Bowl-a-Thon raises money for seminarians............... 28 n St. Matthew students squeal with delight as their Egg Drop projects go ‘splat’........................17

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