March 4, 2016

March 4, 2016

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

Kolbe relic coming to WinstonSalem 2

Charlotte churches, schools waiting to see impact of ‘bathroom bill’

BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL

7 INDEX

Contact us.......................... 4 Español.................................16 Events calendar................. 4 Our Parishes................. 3-11 Schools......................... 18-19 Scripture readings............ 2 TV & Movies.......................17 U.S. news..................... 22-23 Viewpoints.................. 26-27 World news................. 24-25 Year of Mercy.................. 2-3

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Vital ministry to the imprisoned highlights corporal work of mercy

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Through Campus Ministry, WCU student discovers new life of faith 18

CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC MEN’S CONFERENCE Men take opportunity to find strength in God’s mercy 5

YEAR OF MERCY ‘Can I talk to you for a few minutes after we land? Or sooner if the turbulence is bad?’

Confessions heard in unusual places

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Year of Mercy 2

catholicnewsherald.com | March 4, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Kolbe relic coming to Winston-Salem Pope Francis

Church doesn’t need ‘dirty money’ Speaking out against exploitation and unfair wages for workers, Pope Francis told benefactors to forget about donating money to the Church if their earnings came from mistreating others.

“Please, take your check back and burn it,” he said to applause.

“The people of God – that is, the Church – don’t need dirty money. They need hearts that are open to God’s mercy,” the pope said March 2 during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

God wants people to turn away from evil and do what is just, not cover up their sins with gestures of sacrifice, he said.

Just as God derives no pleasure from “the blood of bulls and lambs” slaughtered in His name, He is especially averse to offerings from hands dirty with the blood of another human being.

“I think of some Church benefactors who come with an offering,” he said, and sometimes that offering is “fruit of the blood of many people, who are exploited, mistreated, enslaved by poorly paid work.”

The pope said he would tell these donors to go away because God wants sinners “with purified hands” who have changed course, avoid evil and work for what is good and just, like aiding the oppressed and defending the weak.

“I am thinking of many, many refugees who are landing in Europe and don’t know where to go,” he said.

At his general audience, the pope continued a series of talks dedicated to the Year of Mercy by focusing on how God is able to unconditionally love, beseech and correct His sinning children.

Just like the father of a family, God cares for His people by teaching them, guiding them to freely choose the good and help others, and correcting them when they make a mistake.

The prophet Isaiah presents God as an “affectionate, but also an alert and strict father,” the pope said.

God points out the infidelity and corruption of his people, and shows His bitterness and disappointment to help them recognize their sin and “bring them back to the path of justice,” he said.

“Even though He is hurt, God lets love do the talking and he appeals to the conscience of these degenerate children so they mend their ways and let themselves be loved again,” the pope said.

One role parents have is to help their children use their freedom responsibly, but it is human sin which causes people to see freedom as a “pretense for autonomy, for pride,” and pride leads to conflict and “the illusion of self-sufficiency.”

People belong to God as His children, and as such, should live in loving, trusting obedience, recognizing that “everything is a gift that comes from the Father’s love,” he said.

WINSTON-SALEM — A relic of St. Maximilian Kolbe will be available for veneration at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Winston-Salem March 15-17. Part of the parish’s celebration of the Year of Mercy, the relic will be displayed in the church from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

Father Kolbe was a Polish Conventual Franciscan priest who dedicated his life to encouraging devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. During World War II, he was arrested by the Nazis and imprisoned at the Auschwitz concentration camp. After a prisoner escaped, the Nazi guards pulled 10 prisoners to execute in retaliation.

One of the 10 prisoners pleaded for mercy with the guards, saying that he had a family. Father Kolbe stepped forward and took the man’s place. After weeks spent in solitary confinement during which the guards tried to starve the priest to death, Father Kolbe was Kolbe finally poisoned with carbolic acid.

St. Maximilian Kolbe is the patron saint of addicts, and Our Lady of Mercy Church will host an ecumenical prayer service at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, for all those suffering from the disease of substance abuse and addiction of any kind. Conventual Franciscan Father Carl Zdancewicz, pastor, and the Rev. Paul Mullen will lead the prayer service. A witness in recovery will also give testimony to working on being healthy and sober.

For details, call the parish office at 336-722-7001.

— Catholic News Herald

SueAnn Howell | Catholic News Herald

Doors of Mercy CHARLOTTE — The front doors of St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte were recently decorated in honor of the Year of Mercy. Father Frank O’Rourke, pastor, asked parish staff member Chelsea Addler to create the word-art design for the doors. She worked with Signs Now to print and install them.

The text featuring the corporal and spiritual works of mercy are reminders that God’s mercy is universal and that there are many ways we can show God’s mercy to our brothers and sisters.

Spiritual assistance Christ’s faithful, according to Church law, have the right and obligation to be assisted by their pastors – especially by the word of God and the sacraments (Canons 386-387).

This right includes preaching and catechetical formation (Canons 756-780); by ensuring that theology is taught in Catholic colleges (Canon 811); by ensuring proper preparation for the sacraments (Canon 843); by care of the sick (Canon 911); and by hearing confessions (Canon 986).

This canon flows from Vatican II’s teaching that Christ is present in the Word of God as well as in the sacraments: “To accomplish so great a work, Christ is always present in His Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations.

He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, not only in the person of His minister, ‘the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered Himself on the cross,’ but especially under the Eucharistic species. By His power He is present in the sacraments, so that when a man baptizes it is really Christ Himself who baptizes. He is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church. He is present, lastly, when the Church prays and sings, for He promised: ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them’ (Matt 18:20).” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, “Sacrosanctum Concilium,” 7) Given both the responsibility of pastors to provide for the spiritual needs of the faithful as well as the current shortage of clergy, pastors may utilize a number of options. Parishes may be entrusted to a deacon or a layperson or group of persons under the supervision of a priest (Canon 517). Deacons or a lay person may be designated to administer Holy Communion to the sick and dying; be designated to preach; to lead services for the deceased; or to exercise a catechetical role (Canon 776).

Lay people may be delegated to act as official witnesses at marriages (Canon 112), and married couples may be relied upon to prepare others for the sacrament of marriage (Canon 1063).

This right may be breached if this might unduly delay the reception of the sacraments, or to force recipients to receive them in forms not determined by law. Pastoral practices which make compulsory those that are not binding in Church law (such as requiring people to receive Holy Communion in the hand as opposed to receiving on the tongue) or prevent an exercise of a right which is in conformity with Church law (such as delaying baptism longer than the time prescribed in Canon 867) constitute an abuse of the right to spiritual assistance.

Editor’s note: This series about the rights and obligations of the Christian faithful, as set forth in canon (Church) law, has been written especially for the Catholic News Herald by Mercy Sister Jeanne-Margaret McNally. Sister Jeanne-Margaret is a distinguished authority on canon law, author of the reference guide “Canon Law for the Laity,” and frequent lecturer at universities and dioceses. A graduate of The Catholic University of America with multiple degrees including a doctorate in psychology and a licentiate of canon law (JCL), she is a psychologist for the Tribunal of the Diocese of Charlotte and a judge in the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Miami.

COMING NEXT: Personal Spirituality

Your daily Scripture readings MARCH 6-12

Sunday: Joshua 5:9-12, 2 Corinthians 5:1721, Luke 15:1-3, 11-32; Monday (Sts. Perpetua and Felicity): Isaiah 65:17-21, John 4:43-54; Tuesday (St. John of God): Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12, John 5:1-16; Wednesday (St. Frances of Rome): Isaiah 49:8-15, John 5:17-30; Thursday: Exodus 32:7-14, John 5:31-47; Friday: Wisdom 2:1, 12-22, John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30; Saturday: Jeremiah 11:18-20, John 7:40-53

MARCH 13-19

Sunday: Isaiah 43:16-21, Philippians 3:8-14, John 8:1-11; Monday: Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62, John 8:12-20; Tuesday: Numbers 21:4-9, John 8:21-30; Wednesday: Daniel 3:1420, 91-92, 95, Daniel 3:52-56, John 8:31-42; Thursday (St. Patrick): Genesis 17:3-9, John 8:51-59; Friday (St. Cyril of Jerusalem): Jeremiah 20:10-13, John 10:31-42; Saturday (St. Joseph): 2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16, Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22, Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24

MARCH 20-27

Sunday: Luke 19:28-40, Isaiah 50:4-7, Philippians 2:6-11, Luke 22:14-23:56; Monday: Isaiah 42:1-7, John 12:1-11; Tuesday: Isaiah 49:16, John 13:21-33, 36-38; Wednesday: Isaiah 50:4-9, Matthew 26:14-25; Thursday (Holy Thursday): Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-15; Friday (Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion): Isaiah 52:13, 53:12, Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9, John 18:1-19:42; Saturday (Easter Vigil): Exodus 14:15-15:1, Exodus 15:1-6, 17-18, Romans 6:3-11, Luke 24:1-12

March 4, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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MERCIFUL LIKE THE FATHER Jubilee Year of Mercy

December 8, 2015 - November 20, 2016

confession: The Sacrament of Mercy

‘Can I talk to you for a few minutes after we land?

Or sooner if the turbulence is bad?’

About confession Are all of our sins – past, present, and future – forgiven once and for all when we become Christians? Not according to the Bible or the early Church Fathers.

Scripture nowhere states that our future sins are forgiven; instead, it teaches us to pray, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt 6:12).

The means by which God forgives sins after baptism is confession: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Minor or venial sins can be confessed directly to God, but for grave or mortal sins, which crush the spiritual life out of the soul, God has instituted a different means for obtaining forgiveness: the sacrament known popularly as confession, penance or reconciliation.

This sacrament is rooted in the mission God gave to Christ in His capacity as the Son of Man on earth to go and forgive sins. Thus, the crowds who witnessed this new power “glorified God, who had given such authority to men” (Matt 9:8; note the plural “men”).

After His resurrection, Jesus passed on His mission to forgive sins to His ministers, telling them, “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you ...

Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:21-23).

Since it is not possible to confess all of our many daily faults, we know that sacramental reconciliation is required only for grave or mortal sins – but it is required, or Christ would not have commanded it.

Over time, the forms in which the sacrament has been administered have changed. In the early Church, publicly known sins (such as apostasy) were often confessed openly in church, though private confession to a priest was always an option for privately committed sins. Still, confession was not just something done in silence to God alone, but something done “in church,” as the Didache (A.D. 70) indicates.

Penances also tended to be performed before rather than after absolution, and they were much more strict than those of today (10 years’ penance for abortion, for example, was common in the early Church).

But the basics of the sacrament have always been there. Of special significance is their recognition that confession and absolution must be received by a sinner before receiving Holy Communion, for “(w)hoever ... eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord” (1 Cor 11:27).

— Catholic Answers, “Confession”

More online At www.catholic.com: Get answers to more of your questions about the sacrament of confession

Sometimes confessions are heard in unusual places SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

CHARLOTTE — Most of the time priests hear confessions in the confessional, a sacred space set aside in every Catholic church where a penitent can expect complete privacy. But Church law allows for confessions elsewhere when the priest thinks there is “a just cause.”

Priests recount administering the sacrament in many unusual places, particularly when traveling. Airports and airplanes, ships, cars are all locations where travelers, when they encounter a Catholic priest, seek the sacrament of God’s mercy. Here are some insights from some of our diocesan priests who have occasionally been asked to hear confessions outside of the confessional: “The most unusual place that I have been asked to hear confession was at the airport when I was waiting for my flight,” shares Father Tri Truong, pastor of St. Joseph Church in Charlotte. “Another place was when I traveled with my family on a cruise in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.”

While he was on a flight, Father Benjamin Roberts, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Monroe, was approached by another traveler. “I was on a plane going on vacation and someone three seats over said, ‘Are you a Catholic priest?’ I nodded yes. ‘Can I talk to you for a few minutes after we land … or sooner if the turbulence is bad?’ I offered confession near the gate in the airport terminal!”

Father George David Byers

T

Father Roberts had another request while traveling in Mexico: “Last June I was standing in line waiting to go to confession at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City and someone came up to me and asked where they had confessions available in English. I looked around the basilica at the confessionals and didn’t see any signs that noted other languages.

“I said, ‘I don’t see any line for English, but I’m a priest and I speak English.’ So I got out of line and found a nearby place to hear their confession. Then I got back in line to receive the mercy that I am privileged to minister.”

Father Wilbur Thomas, rector and pastor of St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville, recently encountered a penitent while refueling his car.

“The most unusual place I’ve celebrated the sacrament of penance was at a gas station,” Father Thomas explains. “While I was filling my tank, a person recognized me and approached with the request for the sacrament. I suggested that we both complete our gas needs and then I heard the person’s confession at the gas pump. It was the first and only time I’ve celebrated the sacrament in that unusual circumstance in 40-some years of priestly ministry!”

Father Patrick Winslow, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte, listed a few unusual places he has been asked to administer the sacrament of confession: “on a cruise ship, while driving and while sitting on a ski lift.”

Talk about mercy in motion!

A Missionary of Mercy hears confessions in the strangest of places

his Missionary of Mercy confesses to you that I haven’t always followed to the letter the canon law of the Church, namely Canon 964, which states that “the proper place for hearing sacramental confessions is a church or oratory” and that “except for a just reason, confessions are not to be heard elsewhere than in a confessional.” I have been very broad in my interpretation of a “just reason.”

Scaling particularly deadly mountain walls with friends, or other similarly intense moments, has never been an occasion for me to hear a confession. However, as any priest, I do recall terrible traffic accidents when absolutions were provided. We’ve all heard confessions in hospitals and rehabilitation centers, as well as in nursing homes and assisted living centers. But those are to be taken for granted.

Some venues for confessions might be considered strange by those who just can’t imagine themselves confessing in such circumstances, but others are less inhibited. I’ve frequently heard confessions in the midst of rushing crowds in airport concourses or train stations, outside supermarkets or on street corners. Cars and trucks and parking lots are most favored, but so are walking confessions, which make their way along city sidewalks or country roads.

A house, a barn, a dog kennel, a chicken coop ... any place will do.

Mercy is available everywhere.

The fact of someone wanting to go to confession is a “just cause” for not using a confessional, even when a confessional is right at hand. Sometimes the sacristy is better for any number of reasons.

In some places, women’s confessions were traditionally heard in “the box,” while men’s confessions were heard in the sacristy.

Having said this, though, there are limits. Proximity is necessary for the sacrament. No video conferencing. No phones. No radio talk shows. No email or texting or Facebook or Twitter. Not even

Snapchat. No sacrilege.

Permit me, though, to bring you to a place to offer your confession so strange that you may not have considered it – not realizing that you have been confessing in this most unheard of place since your very first confession. You’ll need your imagination for this, but only because it’s so real that it’s hard to wrap one’s mind around.

Imagine that when you go into the confessional, to your shock you see that there is someone already kneeling down just starting to confess. It’s Jesus! You kneel beside Him sheepishly, and see your own priest on the other side of the screen. Jesus then starts to confess all your sins as if they were His own. He’s brief and to the point, includes aggravating circumstances and numbers of times for any serious sins. He just enumerates the sins without ambiguity, without excuse. He then concludes: “I accuse myself of all these sins, Father, and I beg absolution and penance.” Your priest then gives you your penance and absolves you, and you go away filled with wonder at the great love of Jesus who, in order to provide the grace of that absolution, stood in our place, taking on the death we deserve because of our sin.

When we confess, we do so alongside Jesus, who steps in for us.

But because He does that on a spiritual level, we must be loyal to Him by ignoring any fear, any humiliation we might feel. Instead of looking to ourselves, we look to see His goodness and kindness.

That’s a strange place to confess from, alongside Jesus, is it not?

And yet, it is all very familiar, for no matter how strange the place is in which we might confess, we are always right next to Jesus, who loves us so very much.

Father George David Byers is administrator of Holy Redeemer Church in Andrews and one of two “Missionaries of Mercy” commissioned by Pope Francis in the Diocese of Charlotte.

UPcoming events 4

catholicnewsherald.com | March 4, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following upcoming events: March 4 – 10 a.m.

Holy Mass Christ the King High School, Huntersville

March 13 – 10 a.m.

Mass for Boy Scout Catholic Camporee Camp Grimes, Nebo

March 22 – 10 a.m.

Chrism Mass St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

March 5 – 11 a.m.

Mass with Deacon Candidates Catholic Conference Center, Hickory

March 15 – 6:30 p.m.

Seminarian Education Campaign Dinner Graylyn Conference Center, Winston-Salem

March 31 – 7 p.m.

Legion of Mary Acies Ceremony St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

March 8 – 11 a.m.

Presbyteral Council Meeting Pastoral Center, Charlotte

March 19 Bishop’s Annual Lenten Youth Pilgrimage Belmont Abbey College

Diocesan calendar of events March 4, 2016 Volume 25 • Number 11

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

BLOOD DRIVEs BLOOD DRIVE: 8 a.m.-1 p.m. in the parish Center Family Room at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte.

CCWG Morning Reflection: 9 a.m. Monday, March 14, at St. Vincent de Paul, 6828 Old Reid Road, Charlotte.

Father Noah Carter will give the reflection. Reflections and refreshments following Mass. For details, contact Anne Tinsdale at atinsdale@netzero.net or 540-497-1781.

Bi-Annual Red Cross Blood Drive: 8 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 5, in Aquinas Hall at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1400 Suther Road, Charlotte. For details, contact Don Seifert at 704-208-4105 or by email at ds647822@gmail.com. You can also schedule online at redcrossblood.org.

Non-denominational prayer service with St. maximilian kolbe relic: 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, at Our Lady of Mercy Church, 1730 Link Road, WinstonSalem. Healing prayer service for anyone suffering from addictions and families affected by this disease. For details, call the parish office at 336-722-7001.

Lectures & Workshops

STAFF EDITOR: Patricia L. Guilfoyle 704-370-3334, plguilfoyle@charlottediocese.org

‘Ask A lawyer Day’: 8-10 a.m. Thursday, March 17, at the Diocese of Charlotte Pastoral Center, 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte. Free, individual, 15-minute consultations with an attorney. For details, call Donald Meanor at 704-370-3224.

Sponsored by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte.

ADVERTISING MANAGER: Kevin Eagan 704-370-3332, keeagan@charlottediocese.org SENIOR REPORTER: SueAnn Howell 704-370-3354, sahowell@charlottediocese.org

Lenten Services

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

Charlotte Catholic Women’s Lenten Retreat: 8 a.m.-noon, Saturday, March 12, at St. Michael the Archangel Church, 708 St. Michael’s Lane, Gastonia.

Father Matthew Buettner will direct the retreat, which will include Morning Prayer, Mass, continental breakfast, Lenten reflection, Holy Hour, confession and Benediction.

All women are invited. For details, contact Anne Tinsdale at atinsdale@netzero.net or 540-497-1781.

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.

Lenten Mission, ‘The Treasures of Our Catholic Faith: 6:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, March 14-16, at St. John Neumann Church, 8451 Idlewild Road, Charlotte.

Guest homilist is Father Bob Lombardo, CFR, director of the Mission of Our Lady of Angels in Chicago. An opportunity for individual confession will be available on Tuesday, March 15, following the mission. All are welcome. For details, go to www.4sjnc.org. holy hour for vocations During lent: 6-7 p.m.

Thursdays at St. Michael the Archangel Church, 708 St. Michael’s Lane, Gastonia. Pray March 3 for consecrated and religious, March 10 for seminarians, and March 17 for priests.

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

Saturday, Feb. 20, 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 704-370-3230.

PRAYER SERVICES & Groups Pro-Life Rosary: 11 a.m. Saturday, March 5, 901 North Main St. and Sunset Drive, High Point. Outdoors, rain or shine. Parking available nearby. For details, call Jim Hoyng at 336-882-9593 or Paul Klosterman at 336-848-6835.

St. Peregrine Healing Prayer Service: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 17, at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. 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, contact the parish office at 704-543-7677.

Blessing of Easter Food Baskets: Noon Saturday, March 26, at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1400 Suther Road, Charlotte. Deacon James Witulski will bless Easter food, part of an Eastern and Central European tradition also called “The Blessing of the Easter Baskets,” (“Swieconka” in Polish). The blessings will be in English and Polish. Bring your Easter foods to the church in a basket: traditional foods such as sausage, eggs, bread and butter, or use your imagination and include your own cultural foods. Children can even bring their own baskets with their own treats. For details, call Deacon James Witulski at 704-960-3704.

Hour of Great Mercy on Divine Mercy Sunday: 3 p.m. Sunday, April 3, at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. For the first time at St. Matthew, venerate the relic of St. Faustina Kowalska. A complimentary Divine Mercy hospitality will follow in the New Life Center Banquet Room.

Healing Mass and Anointing of the Sick: 2 p.m. every third Sunday of the month, St. Margaret of Scotland Church, 37 Murphy Dr., Maggie Valley. Individual prayers over people after Mass by Charismatic Prayer Group members. For details, call the parish office at 828-926-0106.

Evening Novenas: Every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Christ the King Church, 1505 East Kivett Dr., High Point. All are invited to pray the Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Join them in praying for the needs of your families and for our hurting world. For details, call the parish office at 336-883-0244.

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: 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Road; 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy.

CANDLER: 9:30 a.m. Saturday, March 19, St. Joan of Arc Church, 768 Asbury Road Huntersville: 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 11, St. Mark Church, 14740 Stumptown Road

SUPPORT GROUPS Alzheimer’s Caregiver and Family Support Group: Meets the first Monday of the month, 6:30-8 p.m., in the Family Center Room 203 at St. Mark Church, 14740 Stumptown Road, Huntersville. Organized with the Alzheimer’s Association, the monthly meetings are for the caregivers and family members of people with Alzheimer’s.

For details, email Janet Urban at jgraceart@yahoo.com.

POST-ABORTION HEALING: Rachel’s Vineyard is a weekend retreat for women and men to begin their healing journey after abortion. For details, go to www. rachelsvineyard.org or contact Jennifer Ganser, diocesan Respect Life coordinator, at 336-209-2161 or jmganser@ charlottediocese.org.

YOUNG ADULTS ASHEVILLE THEOLOGY ON TAP: For Catholics in their 20s and 30s in the Asheville region. For details, check them out on Facebook, Twitter or MeetUp. CHARLOTTE AREA YOUNG ADULTS: Groups for Catholics in their 20s and 30s, single or married, are active in Charlotte at: St. Gabriel Church: on Facebook at “St. Gabriel Young Adult Ministry” St. John Neumann Church: contact Meg VanGoethem, 815-545-2587 St. Mark Church in Huntersville: look them up on MeetUp St. Matthew Church: on Facebook at “Young Adult Life: A St. Matthew Ministry” St. Patrick Cathedral: on Facebook at “St. Patrick Cathedral Frassati Fellowship-Young Adult Ministry” St. Peter Church: look them up on MeetUp St. Thomas Aquinas Church: Online at “Aquinas’ Finest,” www.stacharlotte.com/finest Our Lady of Consolation Church: contact Denise Duliepre, 917-575-0871 Holy Spirit Church in Denver: contact Nicole Lehman, 704-607-5207

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.

Our parishes

March 4, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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CATHOLIC MEN’S CONFERENCE

RICO DE SILVA | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

(Above) Close to 600 men attended the sixth annual Catholic Men’s Conference at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte. The men were challenged by the speakers to seek strength in God’s mercy and offer His mercy to others. (Top right) Father Chris Alar, from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, shared and stressed the importance of the Divine Mercy message. (Right) Speaker and evangelist Joe McClane, the self-proclaimed “Catholic Hack,” told participants, “Heaven is the one mission the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings has given to you.”

Men take opportunity to find strength in God’s mercy Rico De Silva Hispanic Communications Reporter

CHARLOTTE — Close to 600 men from across the Diocese of Charlotte attended the sixth annual Catholic Men’s Conference, “Step up, Find your Strength,” at St. Matthew Church in south Charlotte Feb. 27. The conference was a challenge to the men to seek strength in God’s mercy and offer mercy to others.

The day-long conference was an opportunity for men, ranging from young adults to seniors, to get away from their daily routine and reflect on the direction of their spiritual life. Speakers included Brian Pusateri of Broken Door Ministries; speaker, author and evangelist Joe McClane; and Father Chris Alar, MIC, director of the Association of Marian Helpers.

Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey celebrated Mass at the conclusion of the morning session.

Father Matthew Kauth, Charlotte Catholic High School chaplain, led the men in Eucharistic Adoration in lieu of Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin, who was not able to attend this year’s conference.

Father Alar, from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, was the first speaker of the day. Under the title of “Father Joseph, MIC,” he serves at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Mass.

Father Alar spoke about the importance of the message of the Divine Mercy that Jesus revealed to St. Maria Faustina through a series of private revelations in the late 1930s. “What the importance is of this Year of Mercy that Pope Francis has declared, it’s that we need to understand, we need to follow and we need to lead our families in this critical year,” Father Alar told the men.

He noted a sense of urgency in the Church today to spread a devotion to the Divine Mercy. “A devotion to Divine Mercy is a devotion to Christ Incarnate. It’s God’s Mercy Incarnate. Devotion to the Divine Mercy is a

devotion to God; not a devotion to another saint, so it’s not optional,” he explained.

He continued, “Jesus told St. Faustina: ‘Mankind’s last hope for salvation is Divine Mercy.’ Jesus told her that ‘this would be mankind’s last chance and that if you don’t turn to trust in My Mercy, there will not be peace.’”

The priest then praised Pope Francis’ commitment to spread the message of Divine Mercy. “He’s off the charts when it comes to focusing on God’s mercy. He said in a

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See video highlights from the Charlotte Catholic Men’s Conference homily that he states and believes fully that we have been in the time of Mercy for the past 30 years. And he said, ‘While God’s mercy is infinite, the time of Mercy is not,’” he noted.

He then drew a distinction between the Divine Mercy devotion and the message of Divine Mercy. He explained that the message of Divine Mercy goes back to the fall of Adam and Eve. “It’s as easy to remember as A-B-C. “A, ‘ask for God’s mercy.’ How do we ask for God’s mercy? The confessional! In the confessional you are given complete forgiveness of sins. When the priest says you are absolved, you are guaranteed forgiveness.”

“B stands for ‘be merciful to each other.’ We can’t get to heaven if we are not merciful to each other,” Father Alar continued. Citing the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus speaks about the Last Judgment, Father Alar warned participants to reach out to the poorest of the poor in society and quoted Jesus’ words to the ‘goats’: “‘What you didn’t do for the least of my brethren, you did not do for me. Away with you into the fire!’”

“C, ‘completely trust in God,’ or you will not enter into heaven. We have to do the will of God. If we don’t trust

God, we are not going to do His will,” he said.

Father Alar concluded that the reason Adam and Eve fell was that they did not ask God for forgiveness, were not merciful to each other and did not trust in God. “The biggest problem with Adam and Eve was not that they sinned, but what happened afterwards. They did not know their ABCs,” he said.

Throughout the day, participants had the opportunity to avail themselves of God’s mercy and go to confession offered by several priests, notably located under some of the Stations of the Cross inside the church.

Brian Pusateri, of 4th Day Letters and Broken Door Ministries, followed with a talk entitled “Blessed, Broken and Scared.” “My hope this morning is that my message will inspire you to be more honest with yourselves, more honest with others and that you all be able to be better evangelizers for Christ,” he began.

Pusateri constantly engaged participants, asking them questions and instructing them to write very personal information about themselves on a small piece of purple paper he gave each person. He also peppered his presentation with storytelling to illustrate his points.

Pusateri asked a challenging question from the start: “I’m going to ask you the most difficult question of the day: I would like you to write on your purple paper what that recurring sin is in your life – that sin that you find going in the confessional and saying, ‘I did it again.’”

He then asked the men, “What is the greatest blessing in your life? Some of you may say it is children, life itself. But I’m going to submit to you that the greatest blessing in life is mercy, forgiveness, salvation and eternal life. Because without those, the other ones don’t matter.”

Speaking about human brokenness, Pusateri told the story about a meeting with his pastor after he had asked the priest why some people cannot commit to their spiritual lives.

MERCY, SEE page 28

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 4, 2016 OUR PARISHES

Holy Thursday foot-washing ritual revised by pope CHARLOTTE — Following a request by Pope Francis, the Vatican has issued a decree specifying that the Holy Thursday foot-washing ritual can include “all members of the people of God,” including women and children.

Bishop Peter Jugis sent the revised guidelines to all the priests of the Diocese of Charlotte earlier this week, noting in his communication, “While still remaining optional, the rite of washing of feet is no longer reserved exclusively for men. The decree states: ‘Pastors may select a small group of the faithful to represent the variety and the unity of each part of the people of God. Such small groups can be made up of men and women, and it is appropriate that they consist of people young and old, healthy and sick, clerics, consecrated men and women and laity.’”

Holy Thursday will be celebrated on March 24 this year. The liturgy, known more formally as the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, recalls Jesus’ institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, His institution of the priesthood, His washing the feet of His disciples in an act of humble service, His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, and His betrayal and arrest. After the liturgy, no Mass is celebrated again in the Church until the Easter Vigil, when the Church commemorates the Resurrection of the Lord.

The foot-washing ritual symbolizes two realities in the Church, experts note. First, it models the specific image of Jesus washing the feet of His 12 Apostles. Second, it more generally models a priest’s care for the people he serves.

In a letter dated December 2014 and addressed to Cardinal Robert Sarah, the head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, the pope said the rubric of the Roman Missal, which mentions only men as participants in the foot-washing rite, should be changed so that priests can choose from all members of the Church.

The pope said the change would help express the full meaning of Jesus’ gesture at the Last Supper, His “giving himself ‘to the end’ for the salvation of the world” and His endless charity. However, the pope insisted those chosen be given “an adequate explanation of the meaning of the rite itself.”

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said that although traditionally 12 men were selected to represent the 12 Apostles, the meaning of the rite signifies Jesus’ unconditional love.

With the pope’s decree, he said, the pope wished “this dimension of the gesture of Christ’s love for all” be the focus rather than just a portrayal of the biblical scene during the Last Supper.

Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, explained the history of the footwashing rite in an article published in the Vatican newspaper Jan. 21.

He said the rite has endured various changes and modifications throughout the Church’s history. For example, the “mandatum” from 1600 said the custom was for bishops to wash, dry and kiss “the feet of ‘thirteen’ poor people after having dressed them, fed them and given them a charitable donation.”

Changes made by Pope Pius XII in 1955 were reformed again in 1970, further simplifying the rite and omitting the requirement that the number participating be 12. The significance of the current modifications, the archbishop added, “does not now relate so much to the exterior imitation of what Jesus did, but rather the meaning of what He accomplished, which has a universal importance.”

“It is for pastors to choose a small group of persons who are representative of the entire people of God – lay, ordained ministers, married, single, religious, healthy, sick, children, young people and the elderly – and not just one category or condition,” Archbishop Roche wrote.

“The washing of feet is not obligatory” during the Holy Thursday Mass, he also noted. “It is for pastors to evaluate its desirability, according to the pastoral considerations and circumstances which exist, in such a way that it does not become something automatic or artificial, deprived of meaning and reduced to a staged event. Nor must it become so important as to grab all the attention during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, celebrated on ‘the most sacred day on which our Lord Jesus Christ was handed over for our sake.’”

In 1987, the then-Committee on the Liturgy of the U.S. bishops’ conference explained, “The element of humble service has accentuated the celebration of the foot washing rite in the United States over the last decade or more. In this regard, it has become customary in many places to invite both men and women to be participants in this rite in recognition of the service that should be given by all the faithful to the Church and to the world. Thus, in the United States, a variation in the rite developed in which not only charity is signified but also humble service.”

— Catholic News Herald and Catholic News Service

More online

At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Learn more about Holy Thursday and the other celebrations that comprise Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter.

Sister Francis Louise Sheridan, first non-clergy director of Catholic Charities, dies the state.

PHILADELPHIA – Sister Francis Louise Sheridan Sister Francis Louise came to Charlotte from of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, M.S.B.T., the first the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pa., in 1975, along non-clergy director of the Diocese of Charlotte’s with Sisters Gail Lambert and Sister Barbara Catholic Charities agency, passed away Sunday, Feb. DeMoranville, to introduce a Team Ministry model 14, 2016, aged 85. of social services under the leadership of the A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Feb. agency’s then director Father Thomas Clements.

18, 2016, at Blessed Trinity Motherhouse Chapel in She later took over the top position, serving as Philadelphia, followed by burial in Holy Sepulchre the first non-clergy director of Catholic Charities.

Cemetery.

She was known for her skill in launching “pilot” Born Agnes Theresa Sheridan on June 20, 1930, programs to address in Brooklyn, N.Y., she unmet needs and then was the youngest of developing funding four children of Mary to sustain them and William Sheridan. successfully long-term.

She was baptized at Sister Francis St. Agnes Church in Louise also served as Brooklyn on July 15, chairperson of the 1930. diocesan Catholic Sister Francis Campaign for Human Louise, as she was Development. known, entered the An article in the Missionary Servants Catholic News & of the Most Blessed Herald once noted of Trinity on Sept. 24, Sister Francis Louise: 1949, made her first “Typically, she sees profession of vows on a need and fills it, March 25, 1951, and her finding competent final profession of vows people to manage the on March 25, 1954. She project. She delegates, was familiar with the she is not controlling community from early but in control. She on because her older guides. She doesn’t sister Mary had also dictate.” entered the order. Even When more than before she formally a dozen counties entered religious life, in western North Sister Francis Louise Carolina experienced described that she severe flooding in “never felt happier” 1977, she directed the than when she was diocese’s disaster with the sisters, “not response efforts, even on my birthday raising money, or when I get a new Photo provided by Diocese of Charlotte Archives recruiting volunteers dress.”

Sister Francis Louise Sheridan is pictured in this 1986 archive photo. and working with Sister Francis Louise other area churches in graduated from Seton what was a broad ecumenical relief effort.

Hall University in 1966 with a degree in sociology In 1977 Sister Francis Louise was named and received a master’s degree in social work from the founding director of the diocese’s Refugee The Catholic University of America in 1969. She was Resettlement Program, established in coordination continually updating in her field of social work as with the U.S. bishops to resettle refugees fleeing well as spirituality, and she was a deeply prayerful Southeast Asia at the end of the Vietnam War. person. Once when asked what she could not live In 1980 under her leadership, according to without, she answered, “Prayer and quiet.” She once historical accounts, the diocese was resettling an noted it was the Catholic Charismatic Movement average of one refugee per day in the Charlotte area. that was the “thread that helped her make the Over the eight years Sister Francis Louise served as connection between her activities and the spiritual director, the Refugee Resettlement Office resettled dimension.” In 1971 she wrote, “(I am) drawn more than 2,000 refugees. Most were Vietnamese, towards a desire for a more intense union with God Laotian, Hmong and Cambodian refugees from and one another that will not just individualize Southeast Asia, but there were also some from us more but would bring corporate holiness and Poland, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Cuba, Haiti, strength.”

Hungary and the former Czechoslovakia.

Her missionary service began in 1951. From 1951 The refugee resettlement program in Charlotte to 1969 she ministered at Catholic Social Services under her direction became known as one of the in the Diocese of Trenton, N.J., first in the city most successful in the United States. of Trenton, then in Fords, N.J., and returned to In recognition for her work, the mayor of Trenton in 1960. In 1969, she was missioned to Charlotte proclaimed June 20, 1983, as Sister Catholic Social Services in Harrisburg, Pa. Francis Louise Sheridan Day. She received many In the Charlotte diocese, Sister Francis Louise awards and honors for her work in resettlement, was the founding director of the Charlotte diocese’s from the governor of North Carolina, the National Refugee Resettlement Office and the first non-clergy Council of Christians and Jews in Charlotte, the director of Catholic Social Services (now called Refugee Resettlement Office of Region IV of the Catholic Charities).

U.S. Government and the National Office of the The Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Catholic Campaign for Human Development. She Trinity came to Charlotte in 1950 at the invitation also received a humanitarian award from the of North Carolina Bishop Vincent Waters to staff Migrant and Refugee Services of the U.S. Catholic a new branch office for what was then called the Conference of Bishops.

Bureau of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Sister Francis Louise also helped Cambodian Raleigh. refugees, many of whom were Buddhist, to establish A community of professionally trained social a temple for their worship in Charlotte. The temple workers, the Trinitarian sisters served as was named in her honor by Buddhist monk Maha caseworkers and supervisors for the fledgling Ghosananda, a renowned Cambodian Buddhist Charlotte branch office, particularly caring for unwed mothers, refugees and the elderly. The sisters leader and peace activist, upon his visit to Charlotte. provided pregnancy support, maternity care, foster care and adoption services to families throughout SHERIDAN, SEE page 28

March 4, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

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Charlotte churches, schools waiting to see impact of ‘bathroom bill’ Patricia L. Guilfoyle Editor

CHARLOTTE — It remains unclear how the Charlotte City Council’s move to enshrine rights of “gender expression” and “gender identity” in its anti-discrimination ordinance might affect the 13 Catholic churches and five Catholic schools located within the city.

Diocesan officials said the ordinance’s possible impacts on Charlotte churches and schools are unknown, and for now they are taking a wait-and-see approach.

On Feb. 22, City Council members voted 7-4 to expand the Charlotte’s anti-discrimination ordinance to include “marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression” alongside existing protections for race, gender, age and disability beginning April 1.

The decades-old law governs access and services for all public property, nearly all businesses including restaurants and retail stores, taxi services, and city business contracts. It contains no exemption for churches or religious facilities. Violators could be reported to the city council and could face legal action from the city attorney.

The city council’s move follows a failed vote last March on the same measure, when opponents successfully rallied against it.

The city council’s decision came at the end of a contentious council meeting and a rally organized again by hundreds of opponents outside the Government Center in Charlotte.

Religious leaders, business people and many city residents said they were alarmed at the ordinance which now allows, among other things, people to choose a public restroom or locker room corresponding to their sexual orientation, “gender identity” or “gender expression.” For example, men who identify as women can use a women’s bathroom or public shower.

The city’s anti-discrimination ordinance previously exempted public bathrooms, showers “and similar facilities which are in their nature distinctly private.”

Many local religious leaders, including Bishop Peter Jugis, called the proposal a threat to public safety and decorum.

“God made men and women biologically different. As a society we must respect that difference, and continue to maintain separate public bathrooms for men and women for the sake of modesty and safety,” Bishop Jugis said in a statement Feb. 22.

N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory, a former mayor of Charlotte, also expressed opposition to the ordinance, saying changes to restroom access could “create major public safety issues.”

Before the city council vote, McCrory warned in an email to council members that there could be “immediate state legislative intervention” to block the ordinance.

Some conservative state lawmakers led by House Speaker Tim Moore said Feb. 23 that they were “exploring legislative intervention to correct this radical course.”

But it is uncertain when and how state legislators could override the city ordinance.

The Legislature does not convene until April 25, and the city ordinance takes effect April 1.

Besides intervention by the Legislature, courts might eventually declare the ordinance void on the grounds that it exceeds the authority granted the city in its

charter or that it violates the state’s building code and law against indecent exposure, said local attorney Robert Potter Jr. Legislators could also put the issue on the ballot for a referendum, as Houston did last fall when its city council passed a similar ordinance to protect “gender identity.”

Residents there voted overwhelmingly in November to repeal the measure, 61 percent to 39 percent.

Meanwhile, the city ordinance conceivably could impact public and athletic events held at Catholic schools, public events and meetings held at parish halls, and at the Eucharistic Congress held each September at the city-owned Charlotte Convention Center. But for now, diocesan leaders are waiting and watching how the political battle might unfold.

“Since there are indications that the state legislature may change or eliminate the ordinance, we are waiting to see what happens,” said diocesan spokesman David Hains.

Catholic churches and schools located within the city limits are: Our Lady of the Assumption Church and School, St. John Neumann Church, Our Lady of Consolation Church, St. Ann Church and School, St. Gabriel Church and School, St. Patrick Cathedral and School, St. Peter Church, St. Vincent de Paul Church, St. Thomas Aquinas Church, St. Matthew Church and School, St. Joseph Vietnamese Church, St. John Lee Korean Church and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.

Whether the anti-discrimination ordinance applies to churches and church activities hinges on how the ordinance’s use of the term “public accommodation” is interpreted, noted Potter. Federal laws on public accommodations contain a specific exemption for religious institutions, he said, but the Charlotte ordinance does not.

The city code currently defines “public accommodation” as “a business, accommodation, refreshment, entertainment, recreation, or transportation facility of any kind, whether licensed or not, whose goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages or accommodations are extended, offered, sold or otherwise made available to the public.”

The ordinance may more likely apply “the farther you get from actual worship” – to non-church related activities, Potter said.

“Even if the ordinance does not apply to churches themselves,” he said, “it may apply to schools and activities like fairs, bingo, athletic events or other activities where the public is invited. If a church rents its activity center to the public, then the ordinance may apply there.”

He added, “Certainly, if the diocese rents the Charlotte Convention Center for the Eucharistic Congress, then it should be aware that the city will apply this new policy to all of its own facilities.”

Hains said the convention center staff told him they were meeting to evaluate the ordinance and as yet do not have any guidance for the diocese or its plans for the Eucharistic Congress this September.

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Read the full text of the City of Charlotte’s amended antidiscrimination ordinance

File | Catholic News Herald

Annual St. Patrick’s Day Mass to be celebrated at historic St. Joseph Church MOUNT HOLLY — On March 17, Catholics of Irish descent in the Diocese of Charlotte will gather to celebrate their Irish roots with a special Mass at Old St. Joseph Church in Mount Holly. All are welcome to attend the 10 a.m. Mass at North Carolina’s oldest Catholic church.

Sponsored by the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians in the Charlotte area, the annual Mass pays tribute to the historic church’s first pastor, Father T.J. Cronin, who was Irish born and is buried in the adjacent church cemetery.

St. Joseph Church was built in 1843 for and by Irish immigrants, who had come to mine for gold along the Catawba River. It is the oldest Catholic church still standing in the state and is an official state and U.S. historical site.

Today St. Joseph Church is used for special occasions such at the feasts of St. Patrick and St. Joseph in March, and tours are available upon request through Queen of the Apostles Church in Belmont.

Father Paul McNulty, chaplain of the St. Brendan division of the Hibernians, will concelebrate the Mass on Thursday, March 17. The church is located at N.C. 273 and Sandy Ford Road.

For more information about the St. Patrick’s Day Mass, contact Joe Dougherty at 704-942-6345 or at dockirish@yahoo.com.

20th annual Charlotte St. Patrick’s Day Parade set for March 19 CHARLOTTE — The 2016 Charlotte St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Charlotte Goes Green Festival will take place on Saturday, March 19, in uptown Charlotte.

Thousands of spectators will watch a combination of flags, floats, marching bands, step groups, beauty queens, police and fire departments, pipe bands and associations showing their Irish heritage as they march down South Tryon Street.

The parade will step off at 11 a.m. at North Tryon Street and 9th Street in uptown Charlotte.

The Grand Marshal for the 2016 Charlotte St. Patrick’s Day Parade is Anne Anderson, Ireland’s ambassador to the U.S. The parade will be followed by the Charlotte Goes Green Festival. The festival is located on South Tryon Street between 3rd Street and Stonewall Street. The festival hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m and features Irish music, Irish dancers, bagpipers, Irish/ Celtic and other vendors, children’s amusements in the Celtic Kids Zone and plenty of food and beverages. There is no admission fee to attend.

For more parade information, contact dyerhart@hotmail.com or 803-802-1678.

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 4, 2016 OUR PARISHES

CRS Rice Bowl funds parish, school projects

Youths prepare a simple meal of lentils and rice for a CRS Rice Bowl Youth Rally at St. Barnabas Church.

Joseph Purello Special to the Catholic News Herald

CHARLOTTE — Eight parishes and one school in the Diocese of Charlotte are the beneficiaries of local funds raised through Catholic Relief Services’ 2015 Rice Bowl campaign.

Catholic Relief Services primarily assists the poor and vulnerable overseas, but CRS programs such as Rice Bowl also provide educational and prayer resources for parishes and schools in the U.S. to deepen their commitment to global solidarity and provide funds for local hunger and poverty alleviation projects. For every $3 of CRS Rice Bowl funds that go for the work of CRS overseas, $1 remains in the U.S. for addressing poverty and hunger.

Sixty-six parishes and schools in the diocese participated in the 2015 Rice Bowl campaign, raising more than $51,000 for the global work of CRS work globally and more than $17,000 for local mini-grants.

Local Rice Bowl funds are distributed to qualified applicants through Catholic Charities’ CRS Rice Bowl “mini-grants” of up to $1,000.

Deacon Edward Konarski of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Morganton chairs the diocesan CRS advisory committee, which guides the annual grant selection process and provides guidance on the CRS Rice Bowl program. Grant applicants must be diocesan entities.

The CRS Rice Bowl theme “For Lent, For Life – What You Give Up For Lent Changes Lives” applies as much to the good works the parishes and schools in the diocese accomplish with CRS Rice Bowl Mini-Grants as it does to the work of CRS overseas.

Grant recipients were from Albemarle, Belmont, Charlotte, Concord, Gastonia, Hendersonville, Mocksville and Murphy, and sought support for such charitable initiatives as food pantries, holiday outreach, weekend food assistance for children from low-income households, helping new mothers struggling to make ends meat, medical care, and an afterschool nutritional program.

St. Francis of Assisi Church in Mocksville used its mini-grant to support its Christmas Outreach Program for families in need of assistance as well as for the homebound elderly members of the parish. David Taylor, the parish’s business manager, said the grant helped the parish supplement its holiday care packages for families with perishable food items, as well as buy a number of items on the tagged ornaments on the parish’s Christmas donation tree. “Those items had been identified by families in need, and with the Rice Bowl funds we were able to purchase the right size pair of shoes, or the articles of clothing specified on the tag,” Taylor said.

Mary Garden Showers, a ministry of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte, used its grant to host baby showers to help pregnant women in need by providing them with car seats, blankets, furniture, formula, diapers and other necessities. The mothers are always present at Pope Francis From his Sept. 24, 2015, address to Congress the showers as the guest of honor. Mary Garden Showers ministry leaders Serena Boykin, codirector, and Kaitlyn Mason, founder and co-director, said in gratitude: “We are very grateful and humbled to receive support from Catholic Relief Services. These showers are making a huge difference for the families we serve. We strive to be there for those in crisis pregnancies in their time of need, and to show them that when God says, “Trust Me,” He really means it.”

‘How much progress has been made in this area in so many parts of the world! How much has been done in these first years of the third millennium to raise people out of extreme poverty! I know that you share my conviction that much more still needs to be done, and that in times of crisis and economic hardship a spirit of global solidarity must not be lost. At the same time I would encourage you to keep in mind all those people around us who are trapped in a cycle of poverty. They too need to be given hope.’

Note The Spring 2016 round of CRS Rice Bowl Mini-Grants is now open. To download grant guidelines and a PDF application, go to www.cssnc.org/cchdcrs. The postmark deadline for mailing completed applications is Monday, May 2.

Joseph Purello is the director of Catholic Charities’ Office of Social Concerns and Advocacy, and the CRS diocesan director.

Photo provided by Nick Haskell

Youth encouraged to get involved in alleviating poverty Beth Searles Correspondent

more than 100 countries, CRS focuses on effective and collaborative solutions to suffering around the world. It is founded on a large, well-defined body of Church teachings, including ground-breaking papal documents on issues like social and economic justice, and Christ’s Gospel mandates to be compassionate, especially to “the least.”

Beyond meeting immediate needs, CRS seeks to create self-sufficiency, Deacon Calzavara explained. “CRS is also exceptional in that 92 percent of what they

ARDEN — St. Barnabas Church in Arden hosted about 125 youths primarily from St. Barnabas and Hendersonville’s Immaculate Conception Church Sunday evening, Feb. 21, for a “Youth Rally for Global Solidarity,” spearheaded by Catholic Relief Services and the Western region Catholic Charities office.

The rice bowl dinner emphasized the evening’s theme to live simply in solidarity with others around the world. Catholic Charities’ Nick Haskell and the parishes’ youth ministers, Simeon Willis and Emily Sevier, encouraged participants to settle on the floor to eat their humble meal of lentils and rice – a Laotian recipe – to more closely model the lives of the poor.

For some it was an eyeopening meal – stripped of the usual comforts, meat or side dishes. They drank water, and thought about all the people around the world who do not have access to clean drinking water.

Following Scripture readings, Haskell briefly led an exchange as participants shared their family’s countries of origin, and he pointed out Beth Searles | Catholic News Herald the diversity within our own Youths from St. Barnabas and Immaculate Conception churches eat a borders. We are one human Rice Bowl meal in solidarity with the poor. family, he said, and “that’s why we are using rice bowls and take in goes directly to services, an enviable fasting and contributing what we’re saving rate among nonprofits. And CRS doesn’t to CRS.” require any litmus test of faith for the needy.

The keynote speaker, Deacon John When Jesus encounters the lepers in the Calzavara of Nashville, Tenn., spoke Gospels, He doesn’t require they listen to about the international mission of CRS. A Him first, or recite from the Torah,” Deacon musician and family man, he is a Global Calzavara added. “He sees the need and Fellow for Catholic Relief Services. His responds.” travels for CRS have taken him recently to Jesus’ example was even more powerful Zimbabwe, where microloans are one of the than His preaching, Deacon Calzavara tools changing lives. suggested, and urged his audience to read Deacon Calzavara reflected with the youth the Gospels and to value worship but to also on Matthew 25: “Think about it. Whatsoever take seriously Christ’s request to “follow we do to the least of our brothers is what me.” we are doing to Christ. It’s strong language.

He concluded with a request to the youth: Why? Because we are all made in His “Go to CRS.org and investigate. There’s image.” millions of opportunities to get involved.

CRS was created by the U.S. bishops See if there’s one thing for you. I guarantee during World War II to aid refugees, you’ll be glad you did.” explained Deacon Calzavara. Now in

March 4, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com

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In Brief Attention, young people: DYC coming up next month

Celebrating Black History Month (Above) STONEVILLE — Parishioners at St. Mary Church in Greensboro gathered at St. Francis Springs Prayer Center Feb. 28 to celebrate Black History Month. The special program featured talks on African-American history, art and dramatic presentations, music, and a presentation about Father Augustus Tolton, the first African-American priest.

(Right) GREENSBORO — St. Mary parishioners also celebrated Black History Month with a Mass Feb. 28, offered by Father Marcel Amadi, a native Nigerian and Catholic campus minister at Wake Forest University. Also pictured are Vincentian Father John P. Timlin, pastor; Vincentian Father Tri Minh Duong, parochial vicar; and Deacon Emmanuel Ukattah.

and Dance Feb. 12 at the Holy Spirit Church Parish Activity Center. A delicious dinner prepared by parish volunteers, was served to more than 300 attendees. Entertainment was provided by the locally acclaimed 14 piece Salisbury Swing band. Net proceeds will benefit local charities including Special Education, Special Olympics, East Lincoln Pregnancy Care Center, Mira Via, local families in need and many other worthy causes.

— Doreen Sugierski, correspondent

St. Mark celebrates married couples

DENVER — The Knights of Columbus Council 10389 sponsored its annual Valentine Dinner

HUNTERSVILLE — St. Mark Church hosted a special Valentine’s Day event Feb. 13 for more than 200 people featuring Dr. Mary Healy, author of “Men and Women are from Eden,” and a vow renewal ceremony. Healy spoke about the beauty of God’s design of man and woman – in His image – and the significance of a lifelong marriage as a part of that divine design. The talk was based on St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body.” After the talk, Father John Putnam, pastor, officiated a marriage vow renewal ceremony for all of the married couples present (pictured). The event was organized by the parish’s adult education department.

— Amy G. Burger

ccdoc.org

to the 13th Annual

SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2016

ASK A

LAWYER Have legal issues or legal questions?

Come to an informational Ask-A-Lawyer Day at Catholic Charities and receive a 15 minute, one-on-one consultation with a dedicated attorney.

Join Catholic Charities for dinner and dancing.

March 5, 2016.

9

CHARLOTE — Youth from parishes across the Diocese of Charlotte are invited to attend the 39th annual Diocesan Youth Conference, to be held April 29-May 1 at the Ridgecrest Conference Center in Black Mountain. This year’s theme is “Ocean of Mercy.” Musical guests will be Lee Roessler and Adam Trufant.

For details, see your parish’s youth ministry coordinator or go online to www.education. charlottediocese.org/youth-ministry/youthservices/conference-dyc.

Denver Knights host Valentine’s Day dinner to benefit local charities

Photos by Steve Coleman | Catholic News Herald

OUR PARISHESI

Thursday, March 17 8 a.m. to 10 a.m 1123 South Church Street Charlotte, NC 28203

The session is FREE for interested persons.

For more information contact: Donald Meanor, dbmeanor@charlottediocese.org 704.370.3224

CCDOC.ORG

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 4, 2016 OUR PARISHES

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief

BLD Charlotte group holds seminar

Mike FitzGerald | Catholic News Herald

Latin First Friday devotion begins CHARLOTTE — More than 50 Catholics traveled to St. Ann Church Feb. 5 to attend the first regularly scheduled First Friday Latin Mass at the parish. The Mass was offered by St. Ann’s pastor Father Timothy Reid, who noted the importance of the devotion of making nine consecutive first Friday Masses in reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This marks the first regularly scheduled First Friday Latin Mass in the Charlotte area. The devotion to the Sacred Heart became common after Our Lord appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century and promised special graces for those receiving the Eucharist for nine consecutive First Fridays as well as offering communion in reparation against the offenses to His Sacred Heart. St. Ann now offers First Friday Masses in Latin at 7 a.m., as well as in English at 8:30 a.m.

A grace-filled “Life in the Spirit” seminar with the powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit was held at the Conference Center in Browns Summit Feb. 27-28, conducted by BLD Charlotte Catholic Covenant Community. The pastoral team was led by Monsignor Paul Schetelick of the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., retreat spiritual director.

The “Bukas Loob sa Diyos Covenant Community” (a Catholic charismatic community) is a private association of the faithful in the Church. The BLD Covenant Community started in 1985 in Manila, Philippines, now the center of its international organization.

— Bert and Lith Golamco

Clemmons group goes on retreat

a retreat to St. Francis Springs Retreat Center in Stoneville. The retreat’s theme was “God’s Mercy,” to emphasize Pope Francis’ Year of Mercy, and it was led by Capuchin Franciscan Father Stephen Hoyt, parochial vicar of Holy Family Church. Pictured (top row, from left) are Christina Ferrell, Nancy Muster, Lois Gerhardt, Priscilla McKay and Ellen Tommasi; (bottom row, from left) Lisa Nowak, Sarah Light, Maggie Herbstritt, Leisel Comer, Nancy Creel, Jan Kelly Janet Smith and Father Hoyt.

— Ellen Tommasi

Mooresville Knights earn top national award MOORESVILLE — Knights of Columbus Council 7406 of Mooresville has earned the distinction of Star Council, one of the organization’s top awards, for the 2014-’15 fraternal year while under the leadership of then Grand Knight Tracy V. Neumann. The award recognizes overall excellence in the areas of membership recruitment and retention, promotion of the fraternal insurance program, and sponsorship of service-oriented activities.

CLEMMONS — The St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Guild of Holy Family Church recently went on

IN BRIEF, SEE page 11

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IN BRIEF FROM PAGE 10

The award was presented to the membership

by State Deputy Colin Jorsch Jr. at a ceremony held in January.

In announcing the local winner of the Star Council Award, Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said, “Please accept my sincere congratulations upon obtaining this prestigious award. Your dedication to the order is seen in the high standard of excellence you have achieved. At the same time, I encourage you to carry forward this enthusiasm to meet the challenges that will face the Knights of Columbus in the years ahead. May this award be a reminder and an inspiration to the members of your council to continue to promote the ideals of Columbianism for the good of the Church, your community and the order.”

“Receiving the Star Council Award is quite an honor for us. Our members work very hard to support our Church and the community. We are extremely proud of this accomplishment,” said current Grand Knight Bob Frohman.

The Knights of Columbus is the world’s largest Catholic lay organization. With more than 1.8 million members in over 15,000 councils around the world, the Knights of Columbus annually donate more than $170 million and 70 million hours of service in charitable causes.

— Lisa Cash

Winston-Salem Foundation gives grant to aid Knights’ LAMB Foundation KERNERSVILLE — The Knights of Columbus Kernersville Council has received a $5,000 grant from the Winston-Salem Foundation to direct to the LAMB Foundation of North Carolina Inc. The money will be used to aid Forsyth County organizations working with people with developmental disabilities.

“Our Knights of Columbus councils in Forsyth County have raised over $135,000 over the last

four years, and the Winston-Salem Foundation will give us additional resources to support local organizations and schools with residents and students with developmental disabilities in the county over the next year,” said Dave Thomas, local Knights of Columbus media coordinator.

The Winston-Salem Foundation is a community foundation that supports charitable programs in the greater Forsyth County area.

The grant is made available from the Eugene and Iola Daniels Memorial Trust Fund for the Mentally Handicapped.

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GREENSBORO — Jan. 30 was a cold, gray day but that didn’t deter St. Pius X Knights, who quickly warmed up to the task of raising funds on behalf of L.A.M.B. (Least Among My Brethren). By the end of the day, they had raised almost $1000 to assist people with intellectual disabilities in the Greensboro community.

Pictured are (from left) Deacon Bob Morris, Neil Rochette, Glenn Spivey, Pierson Grane, Hank Williamson, Pete Guilmette and Jim Scott.

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— John Russell We welcome your parish’s news! Please email news items to Editor Patricia L. Guilfoyle at catholicnews@ charlottediocese.org.

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For job description please contact Dan Ward at 704-720-0600 x27 or danw@saintjamescatholic.org.

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 4, 2016 FROM THE COVER

BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL The long way home Editor’s note: Jason Dean Brown, inmate #29368-058, is serving a 103-month sentence after pleading guilty to leading a sweepstakes scheme that defrauded hundreds of elderly Americans. When he wrote this, he was still at the Mecklenburg County Jail before Christmas awaiting his move to a federal prison.

Jason Brown Special to the Catholic News Herald

My journey to the Catholic faith has been a long one.

It’s taken me 42 years, an international crime spree, a bestselling novel and a wildly popular video game, among other things, to get me here. After all that, I am truly amazed at the tools the Holy Spirit implements to bring souls to salvation. Let me tell you my story:

I grew up in a tiny town just northwest of Houston, Texas. Bellville literally has one stop light. Although it’s a small place, my hometown has an eclectic mix of people with many faiths represented in the population.

Just as there are many faiths in my hometown, so too are there in my family. My grandmother was a Southern Baptist who married my Catholic grandfather. My mother was raised Catholic but strayed, becoming Pentecostal. My stepfather, the only dad I’ve ever known, is a Jehovah’s Witness.

I bring up my family’s religious choices simply to say that the small amount of instruction in faith I received during childhood was pretty confusing. Because of my confusion, I rebelled. Many teenagers rebel against the Heavenly Father. I think I took it to an extreme, however.

I set out to find any belief system that wasn’t Christian that I could adopt. I studied Islam, Buddhism, Daoism and lots of paganism. None of it ever felt real to me. There just wasn’t anything there that ever touched me. The same was true all the times I visited Protestant churches.

Even during my rebellion, I was being called to the Holy Catholic Church. I wasn’t open to the Holy Spirit then, so I didn’t recognize what was going on at that time.

Now I look back and see that God had not given up on me despite the fact that I was trying to give up on Him. At my grandfather’s funeral, I saw the Catholics make the sign of the cross and thought it was a beautiful gesture.

JOURNEY, SEE page 20

March 4, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com

FROM THE COVERI

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Vital ministry to the imprisoned highlights corporal work of mercy SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

P

ope Francis has made it a priority in his pontificate to reach out to our incarcerated brothers and sisters, sharing God’s message of hope and mercy. For years, clergy and laity in the Diocese of Charlotte have answered this same call to visit the imprisoned in local jails and state and federal prisons across western North Carolina.

‘AN AMAZING GIFT’

Deacon James Witulski, who serves at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte, has been the liaison for the Catholic Jail Ministry in Mecklenburg County since 2014, working with a team of 20 volunteers ministering to men and women in the county’s two jails. He initially hesitated on the assignment, he recalls, doubting whether jail ministry was right for him. After several months of prayer, he sought advice from Father Patrick Winslow, his pastor, who once served as chaplain to a maximumsecurity prison in New York before coming to the diocese.

“Father Winslow was very supportive and has consistently provided me with spiritual, canonical and practical advice,” Deacon Witulski explains. “After this meeting and with the diocese’s persistence, I finally agreed. My ‘fiat’ turned into an amazing gift for my diaconal and spiritual life.”

Deacon Witulski regularly visits the jails wearing his Roman collar – a recognizable sign of his status as a deacon – and gives “a shout-out asking if anyone, of any faith, would like to pray or share their stories, concerns or fears. Inmates come forward individually or in a group.”

“While it is obvious that I am Catholic, inmates of all faiths approach me,” he says. “I ask them to tell me how

of experiencing the fruit that God has brought forth in this ministry, I am humbled and filled with awe.”

This visible presence of God is what many of the deacons involved in jail or prison ministry appreciate the most about their work.

‘I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT’

Deacon Matthew Reilly, of Holy Spirit Church in Denver, describes receiving an unexpected phone call to visit an imprisoned young man in January. Deacon Ron Steinkamp, diocesan director of the permanent diaconate, received a request from a distraught mother in California whose 22-year-old son was in the Statesville jail, and he asked Deacon Reilly to go visit him.

“When I was in formation to become a deacon, just before I became a deacon, we were asked to donate our services (to the jail ministry). I was one of the guys who hid in the back of the room thinking, ‘No, not me,’” he recalls. So, he continued, “I didn’t know what to expect. (Deacon) Ron gave me some background ... and we agreed I would just go there and talk to the people. I put my collar on, grabbed my Bible and some rosaries and other books, and headed up.”

When he got there, Deacon Reilly recounts, “There was a long row of booths, and a little 14-by-16 solid glass window I could look through and a phone up on the wall which is how we used to communicate. I thought, ‘My God, what have I gotten myself into?’”

The young man came in and they talked for a while.

Deacon Reilly learned that he had been baptized Catholic but had no other religious upbringing. However, he wanted to learn more about the faith.

“We prayed together and I just prayed over him. He thanked me for it, and I left. The following Monday I went back and met with him again. He told me his case was going to be heard that day.”

When Deacon Reilly returned a few days later, he heard that the man had been found innocent of all charges and had gone home to California. His mother called Deacon Steinkamp to thank him for helping her son.

Deacon Reilly feels good about the experience.

“The more we got talking with each other, the more we got comfortable in talking about ourselves. He just had a nice outlook on life. It was nice to hear a young man talk like that.”

‘I am where I need to be’

I can help. They ask for spiritual guidance, request that we pray together, and share their stories, their fears, their hopes and dreams. I am not there to proselytize. Yet they know that it is Catholic clergy who cares about them.

“I am there to teach hope. I am there to explain that no sin is greater than the mercy of God. I do not give legal advice. I am there to see the ‘Face of Christ’ in each individual, thus giving them the human dignity that each person deserves.”

Deacon Witulski adds, “I did not request this position, but it is an amazing ministry that has made me truly understand the call to ‘see the Face of Christ in every person.’ As I reflect upon the struggles, frustrations and unbelievable joy

Deacon John Martino of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Morganton, who ministers to teenage prisoners at Foothills Correctional Facility in Burke County, echoes Deacon Witulski’s and Deacon Reilly’s initial doubts about whether he could make a difference in prison ministry, and he also emphasizes the joy that it now brings him.

During his first visit to the prison, having spent just a few hours there with a group of teenage boys at a Sunday service, “I remember saying to myself, ‘I am where I need to be.’

“In those teenaged boys, I saw – and see today – a need for encouragement and spiritual guidance and a ministry where I and others can make a difference,” he says. “And now each time I am with them, I think about their taking the step to come to the Sunday service. For that step is a step forward for each of them and a new beginning. In that step forward, I see a mind and heart beginning to turn toward God. It is a new beginning and opportunity for each one of them to become the young person God wants them to be.”

Among his other duties, Deacon Martino now teaches guitar lessons to the boys.

“I am truly blessed to be part of a team willing to share a message in an interactive setting, and willing to share their own faith journey for those in need of encouragement and spiritual guidance,” he says.

MINISTRY, SEE page 21

photo courtesy of Our Lady of Grace School

Children in grades pre-K through eighth grade at Our Lady of Grace School in Greensboro created placemats for prisoners attending a Kairos retreat this winter as part of their Catholic Schools Week outreach in January.

Our Lady of Grace students draw images of mercy for prisoners SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

GREENSBORO — Even the youngest child can perform corporal works of mercy, as students at Our Lady of Grace School can attest.

Every student, from the youngest prekindergartner to the oldest eighth-grader, recently made placemats for inmates at Central Prison in Raleigh who were participating in a retreat organized in part by St. Paul the Apostle parishioners. The students’ inspirational works of art – decorated placemats with supporting messages such as “God loves you” – were part of Our Lady of Grace’s Catholic Schools Week activities in January, and featured in the prison’s Kairos retreat.

Kairos prison retreats span three days, featuring 14 talks and five meditations. The twice-yearly retreats deal not only with the inmates’ relationship with God but also their relationship within the Christian community. More than 40 inmates took part in the latest retreat.

“It is an ecumenical adaptation of Catholic Cursillo and similar Protestant programs that consider Cursillo as their root – for example, Methodist Walk to Emmaus, Episcopal Cursillo, Presbyterian Pilgrimage,” said Deacon Larry Lisk of St. Paul the Apostle Church, who serves as a Kairos Inside Prison Ministry volunteer at the prison.

“They are lay movement programs. Kairos’ goal is to build up the Church behind prison walls. Thus, it directs its program to inmates who are serving long sentences, limiting the program to maximum- and medium-security units.”

“To support the content of the talk, team members seek the support of their respective parishes through activities such as baking homemade cookies and decorating placemats by youth formation classes,” Deacon Lisk said.

Parishioners at St. Paul, Greensboro Catholic Campus Ministry, Greensboro Ultreya and others have continually supported the Kairos retreats by baking thousands of cookies, he said, but this past retreat was the first time Our Lady of Grace students lent a helping hand to the effort.

“Our Lady of Grace School was planning activities for Catholic School Week and we looked at the many service projects our students are involved in throughout the year. We sought to work on a corporal work of mercy, and praying for the imprisoned came up,” said Normalinda Hammond of Our Lady of Grace School.

Many of the school’s families attend St. Paul the Apostle Church, Hammond noted, and when they learned that the Kairos retreat was scheduled at the same time as Catholic Schools Week, they thought it would be a great way for the children to get involved.

OLG, SEE page 21

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 4, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD LEFT PAGE

My Day in a Nicaraguan

PAID ADVERTISEMENT

Garbage Dump An Eyewitness Report by Rachael Joyner The following is a field report from Rachael Joyner, a writer for Cross Catholic Outreach.

During a trip to Nicaragua she experienced the harsh realities facing hundreds of families struggling to survive the horrifying conditions of a city garbage dump.

I didn’t know which was worse: the smell of burning tires and decomposing trash or seeing a 3-year-old, with no shoes and a dirty face, digging through that trash. My stomach sank as I held back tears. I had only been in Chinandega’s garbage dump for a few hours and I was desperate to leave.

I had seen developing-world poverty before in Haiti and east Africa, but it paled in comparison to what I saw in this 20-acre garbage dump in northern Nicaragua. Maybe it was the hopeless look in their eyes, or the immediacy of their poverty that sent me reeling. It’s hard to get much lower than living in a garbage dump. Left without jobs, houses, or help, these families turned to the dump for survival.

Today, they live in dilapidated shacks made from scraps of cardboard, wood, and tin collected from the dump, which offer little protection during the rainy season. Their days are spent scavenging the dump for plastic bottles, aluminum cans, bits of steel and glass, and pieces of paper to sell to recycling companies so they can feed their families.

Some of the children attend school, but most work alongside their parents in the dump.

The area next to the dump where these families live is called El Limonal, but people in Chinandega have another name for it: the Triangle of Death. It gained this nickname

because the triangular piece of land where they live is surrounded by the dump, an overflowing cemetery, and a contaminated river where the city’s sewage is dumped.

The nickname is not an exaggeration.

The first thing that hit me as I walked through the dump was the overwhelming smell and the smoke, a kind of thick haze that engulfs everything. It stung my eyes and, with each breath, burnt my throat.

It reminded me of Dante’s description of the Inferno in his book, “The Divine Comedy.” There were people everywhere digging through mounds of garbage and little children rifling through bag after bag of trash. I watched one little boy, who couldn’t have been older than 4, pull a rotting banana peel from a bag and chew on it. He had probably not eaten yet that day because his family was too poor to buy food, and now he was turning to garbage to ward off his hunger.

It was hardest seeing the children in the dump. Most of them had no shoes. Their clothes were tattered, and a thick layer of dirt covered their bodies. When I first got to the dump, a crowd of people were gathered around a young boy, who was maybe 8 or 10. He had a hole in his foot the size of an orange. Though he was shaking from the pain, he didn’t make a sound. Like many in the dump, he didn’t have shoes and made the mistake of stepping in a pile of trash that was still burning underneath. The heat burnt the skin right off of his foot, leaving the large, oozing sore we were all staring at. Finally, his father carried him home to “put some cream” on his foot. (They were too poor to go to the clinic.) I spent the

Rachael Joyner (photo at left) waits with children beside a dump truck full of trash.

When it empties its load, the scavengers will go to work, searching for food and useful items.

rest of the trip wondering if that boy would lose his foot or spend the next six months dealing with an infection that could have been prevented with something as simple as a pair of shoes.

Health hazards such as these abound in the dump, and children are especially susceptible.

As the families pick through the garbage, they inhale toxic fumes from routine waste burning, which cause respiratory problems such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, and pneumonia. Parasites from the garbage cause intestinal problems and bleeding. Bugs burrow into their skin, causing rashes and sores. Though most of these are treatable ailments, the majority of families are too poor to go to a clinic or buy medicine, so they suffer for years and some die.

That’s when I realized the desperation of these families’ situations. As one woman put it, “I work in the dump because I have no other options. I live in a house made of cardboard because it is all I have.” These people have nothing. I hardly lasted four hours in the dump, and these families have been living here for years.

The desperation of the families and the graphic images of the dump are what led John Bland, founder and executive director of Amigos for Christ, to quit his job in the U.S. and devote his life to helping them.

“I had never seen such hopelessness until I came here,” said Bland, a devout Catholic whose Nicaragua-based organization has been ministering to the poor for more than a decade. “These people desperately needed help. And I thought, ‘Why not me?’”

Since its founding, Amigos has helped hundreds of poor Nicaraguans in a variety of ways. In addition to sturdy new houses, Amigos has provided clean water, health care, education for their children, vocational training and micro-credit loans to begin small businesses — all the things these families need to rebuild their own lives. Bland also mobilized the local Catholic church, which now works closely with Amigos to tend to the spiritual needs of the people.

As Bland led me through the dump that day, he explained that none of this lifechanging work would be possible without the financial support of organizations such as Cross Catholic Outreach and its generous Catholic donors in the U.S. “We could not do this work without Cross Catholic Outreach. We need help with the resources to accomplish the work, and that’s one of Cross Catholic Outreach’s strengths. Working together is tremendous... because something very positive that glorifies our awesome God comes out of it.”

As we discussed Amigos’ ongoing poverty relief efforts, Bland was overjoyed that Cross Catholic Outreach’s donors were willing to support him in his life-changing work. I felt a lift from the conversation too.

It made that terrible day bearable.

To make a tax-deductible contribution to Cross Catholic Outreach and its work with Catholic ministries overseas, use either the enclosed postage-paid brochure or send donations to: Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC01213, PO Box 97168, Washington DC 20090-7168.

March 4, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI RIGHT PAGE

PAID ADVERTISEMENT

Rescuing the Poor in Uncertain Times American Catholics are embracing God’s economy as they help the poor in Latin America

Sandra Maria goes to work each day even though she knows it is slowly killing her.

Maria, a mother of five and a grandmother, spends each day scavenging in a city garbage dump in northern Nicaragua for recyclables, which she later sells for money to buy food. The work is hard — toxic fumes rising up from the mounds of putrid garbage sting her eyes and burn her throat as hordes of mosquitoes buzz around her body — but not having food for her family is harder.

“The smoke is killing us and we bathe in dirty water,” says Maria, who lives in the shanty town inside the garbage dump with her family. “We would do anything to get away from the dump, but right now it is the only way for us to make money to survive.”

Maria’s family is one of hundreds who scrape out a living each day in Chinandega’s 20-acre garbage dump. In many Latin American countries, the poor flock to city garbage dumps because it is often the only steady work they can find and they can at least earn enough to guarantee their children a meal. Still, the pay is meager — the equivalent of between $2 and $10 U.S. dollars a week.

The dire situation in Chinandega is just one example of the intense poverty plaguing Latin America. A 2011 World Bank study found over 13 percent of Latin America’s population living on less than $2.50 a day, while 26 percent lacked access to basic sanitation. The fact that families are turning to garbage dumps for survival, shows the severity of the need.

“Garbage dumps and dirty streets are terrible playgrounds for children to be growing up in,” says Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach, whose ministry supports several aid programs across Latin America for families struggling to survive intense poverty. “If we don’t do something to break the vicious cycle of poverty these children are trapped in, they are doomed to become adults still living in the same deadly environment.”

Despite the dismal statistics and fear over the future of an uncertain economy, dozens of local outreach ministries run by strong Catholic missionaries are tapping into God’s economy to help the poor in Latin America. And, already, they’ve seen great returns as lives are being restored.

One such life is that of Maria Elena.

The mother of four used to work in the horrific 42-acre garbage dump in Managua, Nicaragua. She barely made enough money to feed her children, let alone send them to school. They often came to work with her in the dump, which she hated because it made them sick.

Maria Elena is now part of a jewelrymaking program run by a local Catholic

ministry where she earns enough money making necklaces and bracelets from recycled material to help support her family — even send her children to school.

“This program has been a great help,” she says. “I don’t know what we would have done without it.”

The simple program that changed Maria Elena’s life is one of several projects in Latin America supported by Cross Catholic Outreach. Thanks to contributions provided by its U.S. donors, Cross Catholic Outreach is able to partner with Catholic ministries in the field who are running great programs but don’t have the funds to sustain them.

Support from American Catholics keeps these important projects up and running.

“We’re amazed by the unwavering compassion and generosity of these donors.

Even at a time when people are hurting here in the U.S. because of the economy, they are still giving to help the poor around the world,” says Cavnar. “They show great faith, and we are seeing the positive returns of that faith in the lives of the poor.”

Those positive returns are especially visible in the fight against world hunger. For example, monthly financial support from Cross Catholic Outreach allows Las Mercedes Nutrition Center in Honduras to feed more than a hundred poor, malnourished children who they find abandoned in garbage dumps and in the streets. Cross Catholic Outreach also feeds thousands of poor children through the support of school feeding programs

and food shipments to countries such as Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

“It is amazing what God can do when you trust him,” said John Bland, executive director of Amigos for Christ, a Nicaraguan ministry serving the rural poor and people living in Chinandega’s city garbage dump.

With help from Cross Catholic Outreach, his ministry built homes for families living in the dump — families who have spent much of their lives wondering if they’d be able to collect enough plastic bottles to buy food.

“The poor have unbelievable faith, as do these Catholic ministries serving in the field, helping them each day,” Cavnar says. “We count it a privilege to help them and, in doing so, live out our faith.”

To make a tax-deductible contribution to Cross Catholic Outreach and its work with Catholic ministries overseas, either use the enclosed postage-paid brochure or send donations to: Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC01213, PO Box 97168, Washington DC 20090-7168.

Sandra Maria (above) is one of many dump scavengers in a poor community aided by Cross Catholic Outreach. She fears for the children who work on the smoky, dangerous site and prays they’ll have a better future.

How to Help: Your help is needed for Cross Catholic Outreach to bring Christ’s mercy to the poorest of the poor. To make a donation, use the enclosed postage-paid brochure or mail a gift to: Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC01213, PO Box 97168, Washington DC 20090-7168.

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Ministerio de Padres y Madres Orantes a celebrar reflexión de Cuaresma en la Parroquia de Santo Tomás Aquino Rico De Silva Hispanic Communications Reporter

CHARLOTTE — El Ministerio de Padres y Madres Orantes de la Iglesia de Santo Tomás Aquino en Charlotte ofrecerá una reflexión de Cuaresma la tarde del Sábado, 5 de Marzo, en esa parroquia.

El evento que comenzará a las 2 p.m., contará con la presencia del Padre Fidel Melo, Vicario Diocesano del Ministerio Hispano de Charlotte. El Padre Melo ofrecerá una reflexión acerca de la espiritualidad de la Cuaresma.

La predicadora carismática, María Molina, quien es miembro de la Iglesia de Santo Tomás Aquino, también se dirigirá a los presentes.

El canta-autor de música católica y predicador de la Republica Dominicana, Jorge Morel, amenizará el evento con su banda y también dará una predica para los que asistan. El evento culminará con una Hora Santa de Adoración al Santísimo Sacramento, que comenzará a las 7 p.m.

Todos los hermanos y hermanas hispanos del área de Charlotte y sus alrededores están invitados a asistir y apoyar este gran evento Cuaresmal.

La Iglesia de Santo Tomás Aquino está localizada en la 1400 Suther Road, Charlotte, 28213. Para mayor información llamar a Gloria al 704-8075237 o a María al 704-726-9045.

Let’s keep talking.

Let’s keep talking.

Father Mark Lawlor

San José, un hombre pacífico Catholic Charities extends our deepest gratitude to the benevolent Charity, Hope, Faith and Mercy level sponsors listed below as well as other individuals, companies and Catholic churches who generously supported the 13th Annual Partners in Hope fundraiser in the Piedmont Triad Region.

Anonymous

David and Karen O’Brien

Blanco Tackabery & Matamoros, P.A.

Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church

Dr. and Mrs. Michael Chang

Jack and Chris Ritchie

Excalibur Direct Marketing

Silvia and Jose Ramon Rodriguez

Greensboro News and Record

Tom and Kathy Rucker

HanesBrands Inc.

Sacred Heart Parish

Holy Family Catholic Church

Saint Leo the Great Catholic Church

Immaculate Heart of Mary Church

Saint Pius the Tenth Catholic Church

KPMG LLP

Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Tierney

Jeanne and Tim McCulloch

Hortensia and Victor Velazquez

Kim and Bill Means

Vienna Village Assisted Living

Dan and Bonnie Murphy

Winston-Salem Journal

David and Kathy Murray

E

l sábado 19 de marzo, la Iglesia celebrará la solemnidad de San José, Esposo de la Virgen María. San José era descendiente del Rey David. En este gran día, la Iglesia honrará al que fue declarado por San Juan Pablo II como “El Guardián del Redentor.”

San José estuvo presente en el nacimiento de nuestro Salvador, Jesús, el Hijo Divino de Dios e Hijo de María en la pequeña ciudad de Belén. San José dio la bienvenida a los pastores al pesebre quienes habían sido informados por los ángeles del nacimiento del Señor. Él y María también dieron la bienvenida a los Reyes Magos, los sabios de Oriente que siguieron la estrella y presentaron sus regalos de oro, incienso y mirra que simbolizan la Realeza, la Divinidad y la Muerte en sacrificio por nuestra redención del Niño Jesús.

Recordamos a San José como un hombre de trabajo, un hombre de virtud y un hombre de coraje. Las Escrituras se refieren a él como un “hombre justo,” que sin duda es un gran honor [Ver Mateo 1:19]. Consideremos su liderazgo durante la huida a Egipto y el regreso de la Sagrada Familia a Israel. San José creyó en el mensaje del ángel, y el Señor aprendió acerca de su padre humano a través de su fiel testimonio. San José es el santo patrono de los trabajadores y carpinteros, de numerosas naciones, parroquias y santuarios. También es el Patrono y Protector de la Iglesia Universal.

Los fieles invocan a San José cuando buscan trabajo, salarios justos y para la conciliación entre directivos y trabajadores. Él nos enseña con su ejemplo pacífico y humilde. Otro aspecto de San José es que él es el santo patrón de una muerte tranquila.

Como San José no estuvo presente en la Crucifixión con María, se cree que había sido llamado de esta vida antes de la Pasión del Señor. Hay tradiciones piadosas acerca de la muerte de San José en presencia de la Santísima Madre y Nuestro Señor Jesucristo. ¡Esto es sin duda una muerte tranquila!

En la capilla de la Sagrada Familia de la Parroquia de San Vicente de Paul, hemos dedicado uno de los vitrales a la muerte de San José. Es un icono que inspira mucha paz para reflexionar al celebrar funerales y Misas conmemorativas en la capilla. Nuestra esperanza es seguir a San José a la paz eterna del Cielo. Dejemos que este humilde ejemplo de este gran santo que Dios Padre escogió para ser el padrastro de su Único Hijo nos inspire a medida que confiamos en su silenciosa, pero poderosísima intercesión.

San José, amigo de las almas y Patrono y Protector de la Iglesia Universal, ruega por nosotros.

El Padre Mark Lawlor es el Párroco de la Iglesia de San Vicente de Paul en Charlotte. El Padre Lawlor ofrece Misa en español en esa parroquia todos los Domingos a las 2 p.m.

Mix

March 4, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

For the latest movie reviews: catholicnewsherald.com

In theaters

On TV

Designed to have broad appeal, this biblical epic uses its protagonist’s cynicism to clear a path for nonbelievers into the story of the Resurrection. Fine acting, lavish settings and the sense of humor frequently evident in writer-director Kevin Reynolds’ script all combine for an unusually effective big-screen treatment of the origins of Christianity. Despite grim scenes of armed conflict and crucifixion, the faith-bolstering benefits of the film will likely sway the parents of mature teens in its favor. Some harsh but mostly bloodless violence, a few disturbing images.

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

n Saturday, March 5, 9 p.m. (EWTN) “Saint Peter.” The story of the life of St. Peter, chosen by Jesus Christ to lead His Church as the first pope.

Featuring acclaimed actor Omar Sharif. Part 1.

‘Eddie the Eagle’

‘Risen’ A Roman tribune (Joseph Fiennes) who witnessed the execution of Jesus (Cliff Curtis) is ordered by Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth) to investigate the disappearance of the crucified man’s body, and recover the missing corpse.

But the hunt, in which he’s aided by an ambitious, though untested junior officer (Tom Felton), turns out to have life-altering consequences for the hard-bitten soldier.

Generally uplifting fact-based drama in which a workingclass English lad (Taron Egerton) aspires to become an Olympic athlete. The barriers standing in his way include a childhood disability, a near-total lack of natural talent, the dyed-in-the-wool snobbery of the British sports establishment and the firm opposition of his practicalminded father (Keith Allen). Yet, with the encouragement of his nurturing mom (Jo Hartley), and the initially reluctant mentoring of a washed-up competitor (Hugh Jackman) who frittered away his own chance for glory, the awkward but determined protagonist trains as a ski jumper. Director Dexter Fletcher’s inspiring tale of triumph over the odds, which also sees Jackman’s character working to redeem himself, ought to be perfect for teens.

Comic references to sexuality, at least one use of profanity and a couple of crass terms.

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

Other movies n ‘Triple 9’: CNS: L (limited adult audience); MPAA: R n ‘Deadpool’: CNS: O (morally offensive); MPAA: R n ‘How to Be Single’: CNS: O (morally offensive); MPAA: R

“CAPTIVATING, INSPIRING AND DEEPLY MOVING.” Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston

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n Wednesday, March 9, 3:20 p.m.

(EWTN) “A Lenten Pilgrimage: St. Paul Outside the Walls.” Dr. Timothy O’Donnell gives a rather graphic description of the death of St. Paul at the hands of the Romans. He also describes the significance of what ‘Outside the Wall’ was to Rome and is today. n Friday, March 11, 3:20 p.m. (EWTN) “A Lenten Pilgrimage: St. Eusebius.”

A visit to the Church of St. Eusebius with Dr. Timothy O’Donnell. He was a Roman priest who refused to embrace the Aryan heresy, which denied Christ’s divinity. n Saturday, March 12, 8 p.m.

(EWTN) “Saint Peter.” The story of the life of St. Peter, chosen by Jesus Christ to lead His Church as the first pope. Featuring acclaimed actor Omar Sharif. Part 2. n Tuesday, March 15, 5:30 p.m.

(EWTN) “Lives of the Saints: St. Patrick of Ireland.” Special feature on St. Patrick, one of Ireland’s most famous and beloved saints.

n Wednesday, March 16, 5:30 p.m.

(EWTN) “Trial at Tara.” The story of St. Patrick of Ireland on trial as he explains to the Druids the tenets of the Catholic faith. n Thursday, March 17, 9 a.m.

(EWTN) “The Kind of Life God Expects.” A look at 1 John 4: 7-12, about the perfect love of God. n Thursday, March 17, 3:30 p.m.

(EWTN) “Patrick: Brave Shepherd of the Emerald Isle.” Kidnapped and enslaved by pagans as a child, Patrick makes a daring escape home only to return and lead his captors and the Irish people to Christianity. n Friday, March 18, 2:20 p.m.

(EWTN) “A Lenten Pilgrimage: Twelve Apostles.” Dr. Timothy O’Donnell explores the great stational churches of Rome on a Lenten pilgrimage. n Friday, March 18, 5:30 p.m.

(EWTN) “Shrine of the Holy Family: Provence, France.” A documentary on the Shrine of the Holy Family in Cotignac, Provence. Where the shrine is built, the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph appeared to a French couple in the 17th century.

YOU’RE INVITED!

“EXTRAORDINARY.” Hugh Hewitt, Radio Talk Show Host

Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy

Official Pilgrimage of the Diocese of Charlotte —

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Our schools 18

catholicnewsherald.com | March 4, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Josef Cruz’s newfound Catholic faith helped him meet his fiancée, Rebekka Mayen. Cruz was backstage preparing to perform at a concert when he prayed and made the sign of the cross, which prompted Mayen to ask him about it. They are engaged to be married March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph, at St. Mary, Mother of God Church in Sylva.

Photo provided by Josef Cruz

Through Campus Ministry, WCU student discovers a new life of faith Tim Reid Correspondent

ASHEVILLE — Four years ago, Western Carolina University freshman Josef Cruz walked by the “Catholic table” at a university event intended to acquaint students with various organizations they could join on campus.

Getting involved in religion – any religion – was the farthest thing from Cruz’s mind at that moment. Church had never been a part of life for Cruz, who was born in Florida to Cuban parents and was living in Charlotte with his mother.

“My parents never taught me anything about God,” he said. “I believed in God, but it stopped there.”

Cruz somehow felt drawn to stop and chat with the three female students at the table, who proceeded to tell him about Catholic life at WCU. Learning that he was a musician, they invited Cruz to play the keyboard at Mass in the Catholic Student Center.

“As soon as I started attending church, I knew there was something special about the Mass,” Cruz said. “When I saw the joy the Catholic Church brought students at that Mass, that’s when the spark started.”

Cruz started meeting weekly with Matthew Newsome, Catholic campus minister at WCU, who answered Cruz’s questions and helped nurture his growing faith.

“He was a cross between a blank slate and a sponge,” Newsome recalled. “He didn’t have any real formation in the faith,

Tim Reid | Catholic News Herald

Josef Cruz is pictured teaching at Asheville Catholic School. but you could tell he was hungry for it. He was fascinated by everything he learned.

He just soaked it up.”

Cruz transitioned into the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), was

baptized and confirmed and received Holy Communion. During that process he felt compelled to call his mother and tell her he was becoming a Catholic.

“At first she was hesitant. She said ‘It’s going to be hard for you. It calls for a higher standard of moral conduct.’ But she supported it,” Cruz said.

Cruz enthusiastically embraced his Catholic faith, becoming very active in WCU’s campus ministry program. He conducted the student choir for Mass and lived in the Catholic Student Center for two years. He spent his summers working for the diocese in its Totus Tuus Catholic youth program dedicated to sharing the Gospel and promoting the Catholic faith through evangelization, catechesis, Christian witness and Eucharistic worship.

“Today my Catholic faith is the most important thing in my life. It determines everything in my life,” Cruz said.

Cruz’s faith has already brought big changes in his life. It even helped him meet his fiancée, Rebekka Mayen. Cruz was backstage preparing to perform at a concert when he prayed and made the sign of the cross, which prompted Mayen to ask him about it.

“I invited her to sing in my church choir.

I told her my story,” he said. “She was ready for the Catholic Church. She asked questions, and she eventually decided to become Catholic.”

They are engaged to be married March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph, at St. Mary, Mother of God Church in Sylva.

Cruz graduated in December with a

bachelor’s degree in education and has his first job teaching Spanish to students in grades 4-8 at Asheville Catholic School.

Cruz still enjoys music as “a way God expresses the beauty He created” and Spanish culture such as salsa dancing, but he is focusing on his role as an educator.

“I love teaching, and it is awesome to be at a Catholic school,” Cruz said. “I can say God, and it’s beautiful that I can apply that to my job.”

Asheville Catholic School’s Principal Michael Miller said Cruz has been a “great fit” for the school and is an enthusiastic teacher who is already well liked by students.

“During Catholic Schools Week Josef shared his testimony about his conversion experience with students and faculty, and a lot of hearts were touched,” Miller said.

Newsome said that Cruz’s story is unusual, but many students maintain an active faith life while in college despite the stereotypical view that college pushes students away from their faith.

“Students still do hunger for that relationship with God,” Newsome said.

“College is a great time for them to grow in their faith. We see this as a time for them to make the transition from the faith they got from their parents, to grow and make it their own.”

Cruz doesn’t want to think about what his life might have been like if he hadn’t stopped by the “Catholic table” his freshman year at WCU. “That table changed everything for me,” he said.

March 4, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

19

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In Brief

Spelling bee winners St. Michael students win state awards GASTONIA — St. Michael School’s Junior Beta Club attended the State Convention in Greensboro Feb. 1-2. Eleven St. Michael students participated in several academic competitions as well as arts and crafts. There were 62 public and private schools present, a total of approximately 4,000 students. St Michael students took home the first-place award for black and white photography, won by Cecelia Tolbert, eighth grade, and the third-place award for spelling won by Phillip Tolbert, seventh grade.

— Pat Burr

Charlotte Catholic announces 5 National Merit Scholarship Finalists

CCHS students host blood drive

CHARLOTTE — Five Charlotte Catholic High School seniors have been selected as finalists in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Competition based on last year’s PSAT scores: AnneMarie Bryson, Caroline Anderson, Pennington Conrad, Jacob Winters and Colin Schilly. (They are pictured above with Principal Kurt Telford.)

They are among about 16,000 of this year’s National Merit Scholarship semifinalists nationwide. The year 2015-’16 marks the 61st year of the prestigious National Merit program, which honors academically talented high school seniors. More than 7,000 winners of the National Merit Scholarship will be selected in March through July from a group of 15,000 finalists. They will join more than 315,000 other distinguished students who have earned the National Merit Scholar title.

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School’s Latin Club hosted a blood drive to benefit the American Red Cross Feb. 25. More than 100 students registered for the drive, and more than 90 pints of blood were donated.

— Nanine Hartzenbusch Fox

SALISBURY — Sacred Heart School recently held its annual Spelling Bee. Winners in each grade were: Mary Kathryn Aycock and Carlos Coello, third grade; Mary Grace Cardelle and Ellie Cardelle, fourth grade; Hannah Carr and Cooper Fleeman, fifth grade; Colin Donaldson and Sophia Malloy, sixth grade; Max Crawford and Marina Mueller, seventh grade; and John Harrison and Gabby Gajus, eighth grade. Three winners will advance to the district competition: Hannah Carr, Mary Kathryn Aycock and Cooper Fleeman.

— Robin Fisher

IHM student wins regional DAR essay contest HIGH POINT — Alexander Chinnisami of Immaculate Heart of Mary School has been awarded first place in the Daughters of the Revolution essay contest for the High Point region.

His essay discussed how a colonial-era family would be affected by the Stamp Act. This essay is now in the state competition. The DAR announced the winner and awarded a prize at their February meeting at the High Point County Club.

— Carrie Vest

— Suzanne Cona

Photos provided by Amy Pagano

Photo provided by Katie Smith

Helping animals in need WINSTON-SALEM — Middle school students at Our Lady of Mercy School collected needed supplies for AARF as their service project during Catholic Schools Week. Three students, Sarah and Peter Cotell and Claire Namen, helped deliver the cat and dog food and litter to the AARF House and had a chance to meet some of the house cats and kittens.

Praying for priests GREENSBORO — A student at Our Lady of Grace School prays for seminarian Cory Catron on a kneeler provided by Mary’s Sons, a lay apostolate which aims to support and encourage vocations to the priesthood in the Diocese of Charlotte. All of the students of the school took time during the day to kneel and pray for the dedicated young men studying for the priesthood. The kneelers provided by Mary’s Sons are traveling around to many parishes and schools across western North Carolina and in June they will be given to the diocese’s newly ordained priests.

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 4, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

JOURNEY FROM PAGE 12

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A few times I passed by Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church when people were entering or leaving the building, and I can remember thinking how dignified, how joyful, and how bright they looked. I don’t know how else to say it other than bright. The Catholics I saw seemed to glow, to shine with an inner light I’ve just never seen anywhere else.

Those things made me curious about the Catholic Church, and I asked my mom why she’d left Catholicism. Had she had an awakening? Was there something wrong with Catholicism? Why had she turned from the faith she’d been raised with?

Her answers were more confusing than enlightening. She actually missed the Church and sometimes longed to return to it. I came away from that talk with another reason to wonder about Catholics. After all, someone who had left the faith wanted to return to it – it just seemed like there had to be something in this that was really worth having.

Fast forward 15 years or so to when I was in my late 20s. I was charged with possession of a controlled substance and I did not want to go to prison. Instead, I fled the country and lived in Costa Rica for about 12 years, where I was surrounded by Catholicism.

In the center of every Costa Rican town there is a park, and in front of the park is a Catholic church. Passing all these churches, I was once again seeing people entering or exiting Mass who appeared special to me, but I still did not act on my curiosity.

Sometime during my stay in Costa Rica I read the novel “The Pillars of the Earth”

by Ken Follett. The novel’s setting is a succession war in 12th century England.

However, the real story being told isn’t the war, it’s the transition from Romanesque to Gothic architecture. The centerpiece of the novel is the fictional Kingsbridge Cathedral, which burns down. It takes decades for the cathedral to be rebuilt, with several master builders directing the project through both triumph and tragedy.

In addition to being an excellent read, “The Pillars of the Earth” sparked for me an interest in church architecture. I looked up definitions for words like clerestory, nave, transepts and cloisters. Google image search returned pictures of those things to go with the definitions. Then I went and saw them for myself. I saw the sun peeking through the line of flying buttresses that brace the

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O Holy St. Jude!

Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, near kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor for all who invoke your, special patronage in time of need; to you I have recourse from the depth of my heart, and humbly beg you, to whom God has given such great power, come to my assistance.

In return I promise to make your name known and cause you to be invoked.

St. Jude pray for us who invoke your aid.

(Say 3 Our Fathers, 3 Hail Mary’s, 3 Glory Be) Publication must be promised.

roof of the cathedral in Heredia. In San Rafael, I watched light sparkle down from the clerestory windows to touch the heads of the faithful at their prayers. I looked with my own eyes at the graceful Gothic arches of the ceiling vaults of several churches. Each of these experiences moved me, and the more I saw the more I wondered if I could be a Catholic myself. Then I got into an argument.

My hobby at the time was the video game “World of Warcraft.” Players are divided up onto various servers, and players can chat with and otherwise interact with fellow gamers sharing the same server. One afternoon, I was logged onto the game but not really doing much. I was just hanging out in one of my faction’s cities and reading things being said in trade chat. Then I saw that some people were discussing “reproductive rights” and I went on a rampage.

Abortion is a hot-button issue for me, and I insist on speaking up for unborn children who cannot speak for themselves. So when I saw that topic, I began arguing with the pro-abortionists. I won’t try to reproduce the conversation here, but it was me alone arguing against many, and I made my opinions very clear. After a few minutes of trading insults, as I was leaving the conversation and the area, I said, “I’m out of here. Thank God I don’t have to listen to a bunch of baby killers anymore.” One of them replied, “How cute, he believes in God. I’ll bet he’s even Catholic. LOL.” I took some time to think about that comment. It was intended as an insult, but I found it complimentary. I’d been considering Catholicism, and someone who did not know me seemed to think I had what it takes to be Catholic. Sometime later, after further soul searching, I prayed and asked Jesus to help me get my life together, and to open up a way for me to join the Catholic Church, if that was in fact His will for me.

Well, it turns out that becoming Catholic was the Lord’s plan for me, and He put me exactly where I needed to be before that to happen – in jail.

I supported myself in Costa Rica through crime, and I was arrested and returned to the U.S. to face fraud charges. I pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 103 months.

A few months ago I met Deacon James Witulski, who leads the Catholic Jail Ministry for Mecklenburg County. When he visited the cell block where I was housed, I recognized Deacon Witulski as Catholic by his Roman collar. I remembered my prayer asking for the opportunity to become Catholic, so I approached this stranger and asked for help.

Deacon Witulski and I sat and talked that April afternoon, and I related to him my story and how I decided I wanted to be Catholic. I’ll never forget Deacon Witulski’s response after hearing my account. He said, “It sounds like the Holy Spirit was moving in your life to lead you to become Catholic.” Those words rang true to me when I heard them.

Following that first meeting, Deacon Witulski and I met regularly. I was also provided with a teacher, Mark Myers, who instructed me in the faith. Mark was also my sponsor on Oct. 1, 2015, when I entered the Church.

After numerous delays due to jail policy, a priest was approved to enter the jail to baptize and confirm me, and hear my confession.

I had much angst over confessing my sins. I’d led a life that I really didn’t want to talk about, especially not with a priest.

I did an examination of conscience, and when I looked back over my life, I believed I was facing a penance of epic proportions.

When the time came, I gave more of a purging rather than a confession. I dumped my sins out so fast I stumbled over my own words. Everything that was on my conscience was blurted out, and then I waited to hear what sort of penance I would do.

As I imagined having to perform Herculean labors and trembled in fear, the priest said to me, “For penance, I want you to say one Our Father and one Hail Mary before bed tonight.” My first thought was, maybe I should start over on my confession because I’m not sure the priest had been listening. That is my penance?

I discussed my surprise over my penance with Deacon Witulski the next time we met.

As Deacon Witulski shared with me, the true penance for my sins was paid by Jesus on the cross, and my surprisingly small penance was an example of God’s mercy – that I was welcomed back into a state of grace because I’d asked, not because of what penance I performed. No penance I can ever carry out will compare to what Jesus did for me on Calvary.

Becoming Catholic felt like coming home to me. No other religion or faith has given me peace and hope the way that the Catholic faith has. I really love being Catholic. I make the sign of the cross with pride. I pray the rosary and the Divine Mercy chaplet at least once a day. I showed my confirmation certificate to other inmates and related to them my sense of accomplishment. And, most important of all, I try to bring others to Catholicism.

God worked hard to bring me to salvation, and that is something I want to share with as many people as possible.

I will be moving on soon to the Federal Bureau of Prisons to serve the rest of a sentence of 103 months. I will continue to walk with God through all that time and for the rest of my life afterwards. I thank all of you for accepting me as a fellow Catholic.

Please keep me in your prayers, as I pray for all of you.

Postscript In late December, Brown was transferred to Elkton Federal Correctional Institution in Ohio.

He wrote to Deacon Witulski: “Today, I went to the prison chapel and met Father Bernie. He is a Catholic priest, and he says Mass three times per week. Also, there is another priest who visits every other week to hear confessions.

I introduced myself and asked for a Catholic Bible, a rosary, and pamphlets for rosary prayers and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, along with any other available Catholic literature.

Deacon James, we prayed that God would see to it that I would serve my incarceration in a safe place where I would have access to all I might need to practice and grow in my faith, and God definitely heard and answered these prayers. The Ohio thing came as a bit of a shock, but I am trusting in the Lord that He has something for me to do here.”

March 4, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

MINISTRY FROM PAGE 13

‘THIS MINISTRY GIVES THE INMATES HOPE’

Parish volunteers are an integral part of the jail and prison ministry across the diocese.

Jim DeSart, a parishioner at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, has been involved in jail ministry for two years. “I believe it is important to do this because Jesus told us to visit prisoners. Our faith must be backed up by deeds. I have found that the inmates respond well to a kind word, respect and sincere interest in their lives, as so many of them feel cast aside by society. It is important for them to know that no matter what they’ve done, God’s mercy toward them is infinite.”

Volunteer Charlie Simoneaux, also from St. Thomas Aquinas Church, adds, “Many of the men that we have contact with have a strong faith and have had plenty of time to reflect on the Bible. These men are our brothers, and we are called to be there for them and to love them. I feel that this ministry gives the inmates hope, and it helps them to elevate God on their list of priorities.

“Many of the times when we leave we feel that we have been ministered to by the inmates.”

Simoneaux has never felt threatened during his jail visits, he notes. “The one thing that I hate is that contact is not allowed and we can’t extend the inmates a handshake. I feel bad when some of the men want to shake my hand after our session but I can’t.”

Says Deacon Martino, he and the volunteers share in fellowship individually “to pray with them, to talk with them, and to encourage their own spiritual journeys. A final part of this ministry that is important is that the service materials are given them to meditate on and to use as part of their own prayer lives.”

“Many souls have been touched spiritually,” notes Deacon Witulski. “We have taught hope and mercy and dignity.”

PRAYER AND EDUCATION

Deacons and the volunteers in the jail and prison ministries do more than visit the imprisoned and pray with them or bring them Communion. They counsel prisoners on matters of faith, teach Bible Study classes and pass out spiritual reading materials, and accompany qualified prisoners to Mass. They also serve as liaisons to priests in their areas

‘Catholic prison ministry teams are doing the Lord’s work of evangelization, bringing Christ to our brothers and sisters. Individuals are helped to grow in faith and holiness, and the culture of the prison environment as a whole is also improved because of the Lord’s presence.’

Bishop Peter J. Jugis so the sacraments can be administered to prisoners in need.

Deacon Scott Gilfillan has ministered for the past 15 years to hundreds of prisoners incarcerated in two state prisons. He knew from the moment he was ordained in 2001 that his work would include prison ministry.

“On my letter of appointment, Bishop (William) Curlin assigned me to my home parish, St. Joseph Church in Newton. That was no surprise,” Deacon Gilfillan recalls.

“The appointment continued, ‘and prison ministry.’ That was (a surprise)! I had no experience with prisons, and no idea how to get a ministry started.”

In one of the coincidences that can only come from God, within a week of his ordination he got a call from the chaplain at Catawba Correctional Institution, who said there was a Catholic inmate asking for someone to bring him Communion.

“That call gave me the entry point I needed to get the required training to both go into the prison, and then later, to take this young man out to church as a community leave sponsor. He was released about a year after we first met. My final ministerial aid was to help him return as a student at Appalachian State – a difficult path for a person who has been convicted of a felony – by writing him a letter of recommendation and talking to the admissions office.”

Deacon Gilfillan now brings Communion each week to Catholics at the Catawba prison, accompanies approved inmates to church, and participates in an ecumenical Scripture study program there.

And as director of the deacon formation

program, Deacon Gilfillan now encourages deacon candidates to get involved in prison or jail ministry during their formation.

“Because of my initial plunge into the deep end of prison ministry moments after my ordination, I now ask each man in diaconal formation to make a couple of supervised visits into a jail or a prison during their first year of formation. This gives them some experience, plus helps them determine if God might be calling them to this type of ministry in the future.”

‘Focus on the true meaning of life’

Deacon Witulski says he respects and admires every person who is involved in the justice system, “from our police officers, to our jail detention officers, to our attorneys and everyone else. However, I realize that despite our best intentions, our system is a legal system and not a justice system.

“Each and every day, I pray for the inmates and their families, for the jail chaplains, for the officers at the jails – appreciating their service and their difficult job – and I pray for the victims of crime, as I am not naïve.”

And, he emphasizes, “I share with the inmates that if an inmate is a believer, then he or she is freer than those on the outside who are bound by the lies of Satan. I tell them that they have more of an opportunity to become holy. We all will eventually lose everything, but an inmate has, for a while, already lost everything – thus giving them the opportunity to focus on the true meaning of their life, their relationship with Jesus Christ.”

‘Whatsoever you do’ The prison and jail ministries of the Diocese of Charlotte are made possible thanks to the generosity of people who give to the Diocesan Support Appeal. The annual DSA helps provide the annual funding necessary to carry out the mission of the Diocese of Charlotte – namely to fulfill our call to “grow ever more perfectly into a community of praise, worship and witness, and to become a leaven of service and sign of peace through love in the Piedmont and Western North Carolina.” Donate securely online at https://charlottediocese.thankyou4caring.org/DSADonations.

Join us for a one day Unbound Conference led by Neal and Janet Lozano who provide a sound and practical way for Christians to experience greater freedom and deliverance through the “five keys” that help all access the power of the Gospel.

March 12, 2016 Immaculate Conception Church - Hendersonville, NC $35 Early Registration / $40 At The Door / $15 Student Rate For more information visit: www.immaculateconceptionchurch.com (Upcoming Events) or Heart of the Father Ministries: http://www.heartofthefather.com/upcoming-events/

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OLG FROM PAGE 13

Decorated placemats, Deacon Lisk told them, are one item already approved by prison officials for prisoners to use during mealtimes at the retreat.

“The teachers and CSW planning committee agreed that this would be a wonderful activity for the students, and it was,” Hammond said. “The students were intrigued by who would be receiving their decorated placemat. It opened up discussions regarding God’s love and mercy and how we are called to do the same ... even to a criminal.”

In the past, students had crafted placemats for patients at Moses Cone and Wesley Long hospitals, but doing the same for inmates was a first for them, she said.

“They did a wonderful job of creating inspiring designs and messages. One, for instance, had the ‘Hail Mary’ prayer on it along with artwork – such a simple act, but one that means a lot to recipients. It’s also one that children are capable of doing without the assistance of adults.”

Hammond said her youngest daughter, who is in pre-K at the school, told her after decorating her placemat that she “did something nice for people in jail and it could give them hope.”

Our nation 22

catholicnewsherald.com | March 4, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Report: Priests abused hundreds of kids in Altoona-Johnstown diocese Catholic News Service

ALTOONA, Pa. — Hundreds of children were sexually abused over at least 40 years by priests and other religious leaders in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, a statewide grand jury found.

At least 50 priests or religious leaders were involved in the abuse and diocesan leaders systematically concealed the abuse to protect the church’s image, according to a grand jury report released March 1 by Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane.

The report identifies priests and other leaders by name and details incidents going back to the 1970s. Kane said that much of the evidence revealed in the report came from secret archives maintained by the diocese that was only available to the bishops who led the diocese over the decades.

Victims also testified to the grand jury, which was approached by Kane in April 2014 after local law enforcement officials and district attorneys of several counties approached her office with information about the abuse.

Kane said during a news briefing at the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona that the investigation was continuing. She said that the actions of law enforcement also are part of the investigation.

“We have had evidence of law enforcement perhaps looking the other way, law enforcement working with the diocese to let the priests move on, retire or go to a psychiatric facility in lieu of charges,” she said.

Kane did not rule out charges being filed against diocesan officials for their role in not reporting abuse and repeated several times that the investigation is unfinished.

The report said the diocese cooperated in the investigation.

Tony DeGol, diocesan secretary for communications, said in a statement that the diocese had received the report and was reviewing it. The diocese pledged to continue cooperating with authorities in their investigation “as part of our commitment to the safety of all children,” the statement said.

“This is a painful and difficult time in our diocesan church,” Bishop Mark L. Bartchak of Altoona-Johnstown said in the statement. “I deeply regret any harm that has come to children, and I urge the faithful to join me in praying for all victims of abuse.”

The diocese continues to follow its youth protection

policy, which calls for mandatory reporting of all abuse allegations to law enforcement authorities and requires criminal background checks and education for clergy, employees and volunteers who work with children, the statement said.

Kane echoed the grand jury report in crediting Bishop Bartchak, who was appointed to the diocese in 2011, for reporting abuse allegations to authorities and removing accused priests from ministry.

Kane’s office began investigating abuse claims in 2012 and after two years asked the grand jury to hear evidence that had been gathered. By then the grand jury could not indict any of the suspected abusers because the state’s statute of limitations had expired.

In Pennsylvania, injury victims have two years to file a civil suit while the time frame for filing criminal charges varies, depending on the age of the victim. An assistant to Kane said at the press briefing that the names of priests were included in the report in incidents in which the statute of limitations had expired.

Amy B. Hill, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, said in an emailed statement that the state’s statute of limitations on sexual abuse cases has been raised over the years from age 20 to age 50 for criminal prosecutions and age 20 to age 30 for civil actions.

The Catholic conference has maintained that the statute of limitations not be changed, a stance that is in line with the Task Force for Child Protection, which was established by the General Assembly in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse revelations at Penn State University, Hill said.

The task force, however, recommended an overhaul of state child protection statutes that resulted in more than 20 laws being passed, she said.

As part of its proceedings, the grand jury recommended abolishing the statute of limitations for sexual offenses against minors and urging the Pennsylvania General Assembly to suspend the civil statute of limitations on sexual abuse claims.

The report said the grand jury reviewed more than 200 exhibits and heard testimony from an unspecified number of witnesses.

The report provides details of abuse – sometimes in graphic language – by 34 priests against hundreds of victims, some of whom Kane said were as young as 8 years old. It said other complaints had been made against

a teacher who was studying to become a deacon, a choirmaster, a coach and members of religious orders.

The investigation uncovered how two bishops since the 1960s had taken steps to prevent scandal from overtaking the diocese by moving priests to new assignments after allegations were made against them and how diocesan officials used their influence with law enforcement and elected officials to prevent criminal charges from being filed against clergy, according to the report.

Grand jurors outlined actions by Bishop James J. Hogan, who led the diocese form 1966 until 1986 when he retired -- he died in 2005 -- and his successor, Bishop Joseph V. Adamec, who retired in 2011, for failing to report abuse allegations to police. Kane said both bishops covered up the abuse to protect the church’s image.

A raid on diocesan offices in August in Hollidaysburg, near Altoona, led to the discovery of what Kane called a “secret archive.” Officials with Kane’s office uncovered dozens of handwritten notes by Bishop Hogan, letters and documents sent to Bishop Adamec, statements from abuse victims, correspondence with offending priests and internal correspondence on clergy abuse matters, the report said.

The grand jury report said the investigation by Kane began after a referral by Kelly Callihan, district attorney in Cambria County, one of eight counties in the diocese, who was investigating child sexual abuse incidents from the 1990s at Bishop McCourt Catholic High School in Johnstown. The investigation also involved the diocese and the Johnstown Police Department, according to the report.

As the investigation gained momentum, officials from the diocese and victims testified to the grand jury.

The report questioned the effectiveness of the diocese’s Allegation Review Board, which as established under the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” adopted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002.

It said that Bishop Adamec appointed its members and that its recommendations went through the bishops’ office for review.

Kane urged sexual abuse victims to turn to law enforcement first to report incidents of abuse rather than the diocese.

Kane’s office also established a hotline for people to report abuse allegations. Victims and witnesses can call (888) 538-8541 to offer information they may have about suspected abuse.

The deeper his faith, the better public servant Scalia was, says son Mark Zimmermann Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Just as many pilgrims are passing through the Holy Door at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in this Year of Mercy, the casket bearing the body of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia entered through the door Feb. 20.

Father Paul Scalia, the justice’s son and the main celebrant and homilist at his father’s funeral Mass, said the fact that Scalia’s casket was carried through that door of mercy was a great blessing. In his homily, he emphasized that his father was a man of faith, dedicated to his family and service to his country, a man who relied on God’s mercy and was sustained through the sacraments.

“We give thanks that Jesus brought him to new life in baptism, nourished him with the Eucharist and healed

him in the confessional,” Father Scalia said in his homily. “God blessed Dad with a deep Catholic faith, the conviction that Christ’s presence and power continue in the world today through His Body, the Church.”

Speaking of his father’s devotion to his Catholic faith, Father Scalia said, “He loved the clarity and coherence of the Church’s teachings. He treasured the Church’s ceremonies, especially the beauty of her ancient worship. He trusted the power of her sacraments as the means of salvation, as Christ working within him for his salvation.”

Father Scalia, a priest of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, is episcopal vicar for clergy for the diocese, where the late justice lived with his family.

The elder Scalia died Feb. 13 of natural causes while in Texas for a hunting trip. He was 79. He is survived by his wife, Maureen, and by the couple’s nine children and 36 grandchildren.

CNS | Tyler Orsburn

Family members follow the casket of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to a hearse waiting outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington after his Feb. 20 funeral Mass.

March 4, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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In Brief President of Mount St. Mary’s University resigns amid criticism EMMITSBURG, Md. — Simon Newman, president of Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, resigned from his post Feb. 29 and the university’s board of trustees named the dean of the business school to be acting president. Newman faced mounting criticism over language he used to describe struggling freshmen and for the way he handled the fallout. The changes were announced by the university in a news release. Karl Einolf, dean of the Richard J.Bolte, Sr., School of Business since 2012, will be acting president.

Bishop urges all to ‘redouble’ prayers, efforts to help people in Flint LANSING, Mich. — Especially during the Lenten season, everyone should “redouble both their prayers and their generosity” for the people of Flint still struggling with unsafe drinking water through the city’s water crisis, said Lansing Bishop Earl A. Boyea. “It is gratifying to see that Catholic communities in Michigan and beyond have come forward to assist the remarkable efforts of Catholic Charities,” he said in a statement. Catholic Charities of Shiawassee and Genesee Counties, based in the heart of Flint, “is on the front lines of the relief and recovery efforts” in partnership with many other community members, the Lansing Diocese noted in a news release with the bishop’s statement.

“During this holy season of Lent, please take time to ask the Lord, in a particular way, to guide those seeking to help and to protect the children and the vulnerable,” the bishop said.

Court favors diocese in same-sex discrimination claim INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — A Missouri circuit court judge granted the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph’s motion for summary judgment in a suit filed by a woman who was fired from her parish job after her same-sex “marriage” was publicized. Jackson County Circuit Judge Kenneth R. Garrett III, though, on Feb. 16 denied the diocese’s claim for summary judgment in two other claims in the civil suit. In the case, Colleen Simon said she had been hired in 2013 as director of social ministry at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Kansas City. During her job interview, she told the interview committee and the pastor that she was a lesbian who

had entered into a same-sex “marriage” in Iowa, where such marriages had already been legalized. Simon said she had the support of all those involved in the hiring process. When a new pastor came to the parish in 2014, he expressed surprise when she told him of her same-sex “marriage.” She continued in the job until a Kansas City Star article that April mentioned Simon’s “marriage.” At that point, the chancery called the new pastor, following up with a letter, demanding termination of her employment.

St. Louis archbishop pushes for switch to Girl Scout alternatives ST. LOUIS — The Archdiocese of St. Louis has formed a new Catholic Committee for Girls Formation that is being charged with ministry to all girls in the archdiocese. Archbishop Robert J. Carlson announced the new committee in a Feb. 18 letter to priests, scouting leaders and the faithful of the archdiocese. The letter reiterated the ongoing concerns with the values and policies of Girl Scouts USA, which he said are “becoming increasingly incompatible with our Catholic values.” “While continuing to serve our Catholic girls involved in various scouting programs, this committee will also reflect our ongoing commitment to educating and forming all young women,” he wrote.

Open your heart during this Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy!

Court rules against EWTN, other Catholic entities on mandate ATLANTA — The head of the Eternal Word Television Network said Feb. 18 that a federal appeals court ruling handed down earlier that day “in effect” orders the Catholic global network “to violate its religious beliefs and comply” with the federal contraceptive mandate or “pay massive fines to the IRS. We are extremely disappointed that the court has refused to protect our religious freedom,” Michael P. Warsaw, EWTN chairman and CEO, said in a statement. In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta upheld the Health and Human Services mandate that is part of the federal health care law. In one decision, the panel ruled on two cases. One was filed by EWTN, based in Irondale, Ala.,, and the other was filed by Catholic entities in Georgia – the Atlanta Archdiocese, Catholic Education of North Georgia Inc. and the Savannah Diocese. The majority opinion rejected the Catholic organizations’ argument that complying with a requirement it opposes on moral grounds violates its freedom of religion. The decision also dismissed the groups’ position that they would be unduly burdened by the Obama administration’s “work-around” whereby they could notify HHS in writing of their religious objections and a third-party administrator would be told by the government to provide the objectionable coverage free to employees. However, the ruling also said the HHS mandate should not be enforced until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the issue.

— Catholic News Service

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23

Our world 24

catholicnewsherald.com | March 4, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Pope calls for jubilee moratorium on death penalty

Vatican releases pope’s Lenten schedule Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service

Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis called for a moratorium on executions during the Year of Mercy and said the fifth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” applies not only to the innocent but to the guilty as well.

“Even a criminal has the inviolable right to life, a gift of God,” he said Feb. 21 after reciting the Angelus with visitors gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

Marking the start of an international conference “For a world without the death penalty,” sponsored by the Community of Sant’Egidio, the pope expressed hope that it will strengthen efforts to abolish the death penalty. Increasing opposition worldwide to the death penalty as “an instrument of legitimate social defense” is “a sign of hope,” he said.

“This issue has to be considered within the perspective of a penal justice, which is more and more in compliance with human dignity and God’s plan for humanity and society,” the pope said.

The pope appealed to world leaders to reach an international consensus on the abolition of the death penalty. He also proposed Catholic government leaders “make a courageous and exemplary gesture by seeking a moratorium on executions during this Holy Year of Mercy.”

“All Christians and people of goodwill are called today to work not only for the abolition of the death penalty, but also to improve the conditions of life in prison, in the respect of human dignity of people deprived of freedom,” he said.

In his remarks before reciting the Angelus prayer, the pope recalled his Feb. 12-17 visit to Mexico, calling it an “experience of transfiguration.”

“The Lord has shown us the light of His glory through the body of the Church, of His holy people that lives in this land – a body so often wounded, a people so often oppressed, despised, violated in its dignity. The various encounters we experienced in Mexico were truly full of light: the light of a faith that transfigures faces and enlightens our path,” he said.

The main goal of his trip, he added, was his visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe to pray before the miraculous image of Mary. “I contemplated and I allowed myself to be gazed upon by she who carries imprinted in her eyes the gaze of all of her children, gathering up the sorrows caused by violence, kidnapping, assassinations, the violence against so many poor people, against so many women,” he said.

Pope Francis also gave thanks to God for his meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, calling it “a prophetic light of the Resurrection which the world today needs more than ever.”

“May the holy mother of God continue to guide us on the path of unity,” he said.

CNS | L’Osservatore Romano

Pope Francis visits the San Carlo Community, a Catholic-run drug rehabilitation center on the outskirts of Rome near Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Feb. 26. The pope encouraged the 55 patients to trust God’s mercy to keep them strong.

For ‘Mercy Friday’ initiative, pope visits young addicts at rehab center Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — In the second of his “Mercy Friday” gestures, Pope Francis spent two hours with a group of young adults at a Catholic-run residential drug rehabilitation center.

To the complete surprise of the 55 residents, Pope Francis showed up in his compact Ford Escort at the San Carlo Community Feb. 26 with just a driver.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, organizer of the Vatican’s Year of Mercy events, arrived separately at the community outside of Rome near Castel Gandolfo.

“We were speechless when we saw the car with the pope enter our community where every day our young people fight their battle to return to life,” said Roberto Mineo, president of the Italian Solidarity Center, which runs the facility. “The pope, like a caring father, spent a long time which each person, listening to their stories and embracing them one by one.

Some of the young people showed him photos of their families, their children, and the pope had a word of hope and a blessing for each of them.”

Using tiny photos of past and present community members, the residents had made a mosaic of Our Lady of Lujan, patroness of Argentina, and asked Pope Francis to sign it, which he did “with affection and friendship.”

Sitting in a large circle, Pope Francis

asked the residents about their activities and learned that one of their therapeutic projects is learning how to cook. “What is the best thing you make?” the pope asked.

Their response was not reported by the few people present, but at break time, they shared with Pope Francis some of their cheese pizza, made from scratch.

In a press release, Archbishop Fisichella said Pope Francis chose the drug rehab center as a follow-up to his visit to Mexico where he repeatedly denounced drug traffickers and urged Catholic pastors and parishioners to be close to all those who have fallen prey to drug addiction.

In one of his earliest Year of Mercy events, in December, Pope Francis opened a “door of charity” at the main soup kitchen of the Rome diocesan Caritas. One Friday a month for the rest of the jubilee year, Pope Francis was to demonstrate personally the works of mercy. In January, he visited a home for the aged and a nearby facility caring for people in persistent vegetative states.

Also related to the Year of Mercy, an Italian group of physicians and nurses – Solidarity Medicine – opened a mobile health clinic for the poor and homeless under the colonnade at St. Peter’s Square Feb. 29. Working with the papal almoner’s office, which installed showers there and coordinates the weekly visit of barbers, the doctors and nurses will offer checkups and referrals for tests.

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican released Pope Francis’ liturgical schedule for March and April, including Holy Week and Easter.

The pope’s schedule includes a penitential celebration and a consistory for several causes of canonization.

The calendar released by the Vatican Feb. 29 included: March 4: Penitential liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica.

March 6-11: Lenten retreat with officials from the Roman Curia in Ariccia, a town outside Rome.

March 15: Consistory for several causes of canonization March 20: Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square.

March 24: Holy Thursday, morning chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.

March 25: Good Friday afternoon liturgy of the Lord’s Passion in St. Peter’s Basilica. Nighttime Way of the Cross in Rome’s Colosseum.

March 26: Easter vigil at 8:30 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica.

March 27: Easter morning Mass in St. Peter’s Square, followed by the papal blessing “urbi et orbi” (“to the city and the world”).

April 2: Jubilee Prayer Vigil in St. Peter’s Square for those devoted to the spirituality of Divine Mercy.

April 3: Divine Mercy Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square.

Pope’s Via Crucis meditations will look at crosses of today By reflecting on the Passion of Christ, the author of the Way of the Cross meditations for Pope Francis’ Good Friday service said he will focus on the suffering unfolding in the world today and how “the martyrs of the 21st century are undoubtedly the apostles of today.” Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti of Perugia-Citta della Pieve told Vatican Radio that his reflections on the traditional 14 stations will blend in “references to the present day, which unfortunately is not lacking in crosses” people are forced to bear. “Therefore, I sought to interpret the sorrow through the lens of God’s great love for humanity because otherwise sorrow doesn’t make sense,” he said Feb. 26.

“What strikes us the most is that Jesus took on the cross because He wanted to – He could have avoided it,” but He wanted to take on the sorrows of humanity, the cardinal said. He said the theme of the family will be highlighted, especially for the fourth station when Jesus meets His mother. “Alongside the tragedy of Mary,” he said, will be reflected “the tragedy in our families, the situation of our families and young people,” the problem of employment and a lack of meaning in life.

March 4, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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In Brief Ecumenism of martyrs is a call for greater unity, pope says VATICAN CITY — The bloodshed of Christians in the Middle East and Africa have allowed oncedivided Christians to grow closer to one another, Pope Francis said. “Just as in the early Church the shedding of the blood of martyrs became the seed of new Christians, so today the blood of the many martyrs of all the churches has become the seed of Christian unity,” the pope said Feb. 29 during an audience with Patriarch Mathias of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

Patriarch Mathias expressed his gratitude to the pope for his solidarity following the murder of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians by Islamic State militants in Libya last year. “Your Holiness’ message and ultimate recognition of the massacres as (a martyrdom) was of great significance for our church,” he said.

The Ethiopian patriarch said that before the challenges of extremism and environmental degradation, the joint prayers and solidarity of both churches was essential “for the sake of human dignity and the creation of a peaceful world.”

Chinese authorities continue campaign, remove cross from Catholic church BEIJING — Chinese authorities are continuing their campaign of removing crosses in Zhejiang province, and one of the latest was taken from a Catholic church.

Government officials removed the cross of Zhuangyuan Church in Yongqiang parish just before dawn Feb. 25, two weeks after Zhejiang’s religious affairs director called for “religious stability” ahead of the Sept. 4-5 Group of 20 summit in the provincial capital, Hangzhou.

Ucanews.com reported that the previous

evening, the Catholic community in Yongqiang parish called an emergency meeting amid warnings that the cross was about to be removed. They were unable to stop state officials despite resisting a similar attempt to remove the cross last year.

“The person in charge of the church did not inform the parish priest about the removal this time, possibly because government officials threatened him to keep quiet,” a church worker told ucanews.com on condition of anonymity.

“When the priest realized the situation from others, he called a meeting immediately.”

Philippine nuns, priests say role in revolution affected their faith MANILA, Philippines — Religious and clergy in the Philippines say their experiences in the People Power Revolution 30 years ago have had a lasting impact on their faith and vocations.

Sister Porferia “Pingping” Ocariza, a member of the Daughters of St. Paul, said what she did Feb. 23, 1986, was worth it. “Because for me at that time when we were facing the tanks, I believed heavily that God was there,” she told Catholic News Service. “God was there as if the seed (of democracy) was being planted.” A three-week protest that saw millions of Filipinos converge on a main thoroughfare just outside the country’s military headquarters toppled Ferdinand Marcos, who had been in power for more than 15 years. Marcos had ordered his military to disperse angry crowds that claimed he stole a snap election from Corazon Aquino.

Standing in pairs, Sister Ocariza and 16 other nuns led the rosary as soldiers escorted rolling military tanks with their turrets trained on the sisters. The nun said staring down those tanks has been the scariest experience of her life. “I said, ‘Lord forgive me for all my sins and even the offenses of our Filipino people.’ If really the tanks would crush us, at least the two of us ... kill us sisters, not the people because we (did not) want bloodshed. I love my country.” But the tanks stopped. And the soldiers joined the protesters reciting the rosary.

Head of Ukrainian Catholic Church consoled by pope’s words

Church said he was consoled by Pope Francis’ words of understanding and tenderness after he expressed the disappointment of Ukrainians with a joint declaration signed by the pope and the Russian Orthodox patriarch. The pope’s remarks were “truly the opening of the doors of mercy,” said Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow signed a joint declaration in Cuba Feb. 12 and, in an interview the next day, the archbishop said it contains unclear statements on the war in Eastern Ukraine and on the identity of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. He also said his people were deeply disappointed in the declaration’s wording.

Responding Feb. 17 to a reporter’s questions about the archbishop’s critique, Pope Francis said everyone has a right to his or her own opinions about the declaration and the archbishop’s criticisms must be read in light of the experience of Ukrainian Catholics. But Pope Francis also spoke about how his friendship with Archbishop Shevchuk began when they were both ministering in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and how the archbishop had given him an icon of Our Lady of Tenderness, which is one of the few things he asked to have brought to the Vatican after his election in 2013.

Pope to Roman Curia: Don’t neglect, mistreat those who come to you VATICAN CITY — Let no one feel ignored or mistreated when they encounter a member of the Roman Curia or staff working at the Vatican, Pope Francis said. May everyone experience “the considerate care of the Good Shepherd” himself, who is the foundation and inspiration for all people who serve the church, the pope said during a Mass marking the Jubilee of the Roman Curia and Vatican offices

For consideration, please send resume and cover letter to Kerry Ann Tornesello, Associate Director of Development at katornesello@charlottediocese.org by March 18, 2016.

The Diocese of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Syro-Malankara Catholics celebrate first eparchy founded outside India ELMONT, N.Y. — Decades after a change in immigration laws started a wave of Indian migration to the United States, Syro-Malankara Catholics celebrated the establishment of their first eparchy, or diocese, outside of India. St. Mary, Queen of Peace Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy was inaugurated Jan. 23. It covers Canada and the U.S., and its headquarters are on Long Island at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Elmont.

The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church based in the southwest Indian state of Kerala. It traces its origins to evangelization by St. Thomas the Apostle in the first century. The church has more than 435,000 members, including 11,500 in North America.

It is one of two Eastern churches that, along with the Latin Church, comprise the Catholic Church in India. The other is the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.

— Catholic News Service

July 13-26, 2016 Pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal & Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Part-time Administrative Assistant, Office of Development The administrative assistant for the diocesan capital campaign will use strong oral and written communication skills on a daily basis as the main contact for all campaign related queries via telephone, email and US mail. High-school diploma plus 5 years related experience, proficiency in Microsoft Office software, necessary. Knowledge of Raiser’s Edge or fundraising database software preferred. Ability to speak, read and write in English and Spanish, a must. Job location is the Pastoral Center at 1123 S. Church St, Charlotte.

and institutions. The jubilee was celebrated Feb. 22, the feast of the Chair of Peter, which commemorates the authority Jesus gave to St. Peter and his successors – the popes. In his homily, the pope asked the cardinals, bishops, religious and laypeople gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica to keep their minds and hearts “fixed on Jesus Christ, the beginning and the end of every action of the church. He is the foundation and no one can establish something different.

He is the rock upon which we must build.” By passing through the Holy Door of mercy and praying before the tomb of St. Peter, those assembled were asked to repeat the profession of faith and reflect on their call to conform their lives to God.

Angel of Fatima 100th Anniversary

ROME — The head of the Ukrainian Catholic

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Join Fr. John Putnam and Fr. Christopher Roux for a special Year of Mercy pilgrimage beginning the centennial celebration of the appearance of Our Lady of Fatima to the Three Shepherd Children of Fatima Total Cost from Newark- $2,900.00 (Price includes air-fare, meals accommodations and side trips. Additional taxes may apply).

Image used with permision

Make your Reservation today!

Reservation Deadline: April 4, 2016 For more information contact:

The Te Deum Foundation, Inc. 336-765-1815 or Carol Stefanec (evenings) 804-346-3049

www.tedeumfoundation.org Our pilgrimages support seminarians and foster vocations.

ViewPoints 26

catholicnewsherald.com | March 4, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Most-read stories on the web

‘If you aren’t able to forgive, how will God be able to forgive you?’

Barbara Case Speers

Skip that pity party

Pope Francis

From online story: “A heart that can’t forgive stays shut to God’s mercy, pardon, pope says” Through press time on March 2, 15,778 visitors to www.catholicnewsherald.com have viewed a total of 28,224 pages. The top 10 headlines in February and March so far are: n Father Joe Mulligan to minister to Panthers at the Super Bowl................................................4,231 n Carolina Panthers linebacker Kuechly talks about his Catholic faith..................................... 2,300 n How to make a pilgrimage for the Year of Mercy............................................................................. 553 n Christ the King High School adds football to athletics program..................................................404 n View the current print edition of the Catholic News Herald.......................................................... 285 n EWTN says foundress Mother Angelica remains in ‘delicate’ condition.....................................274 n Mercy Moments video reflections from Father Winslow.................................................................273 n Charlotte area parishioners practice loving their neighbors.........................................................267 n Father Vollkommer, formerly of St. Michael Church and Belmont Abbey, passes away........ 187 n Charlotte churches, schools waiting to see impact of ‘bathroom bill’...........................................171

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Protecting God’s Children We proclaim Christ to the world around us by our efforts to provide a safe environment for all people, especially the young and the vulnerable.

In 2002, the bishops of the United States issued the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The charter addresses the Church’s commitment to respond effectively, appropriately and compassionately to cases of abuse of minors by priests, deacons or other church personnel.

DIOCESAN REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORTING MINISTRY-RELATED SEXUAL ABUSE OF A MINOR 1. Any individual having actual knowledge of or reasonable cause to suspect an incident of ministry-related sexual abuse is to immediately report the incident to the Chancery.

2. The Chancery will then report the incident to the proper civil authorities. The individual reporting the incident to the Chancery will be notified of the particulars regarding the Chancery’s filing of the incident with civil authorities.

3. This reporting requirement is not intended to supersede the right of an individual to make a report to civil authorities, but is to ensure proper, complete and timely reporting.

Should an individual choose to make a report to civil authorities, a report is still to be made to the Chancery.

The charter can be found on the diocesan website, Charlottediocese.org, click on the tab, “Safe Environment.”

B

e honest with yourself: how many times have you attended a pity party, table for one? Have you whined and dined on what God wasn’t doing in your life? Your prayers weren’t answered and everything that could go wrong has gone wrong? Perhaps you suffer from grief over the death of a loved one. Perhaps your employer downsized, leaving you financially hopeless. Perhaps you are in agonizing pain, cringing with every breath. These are just a few of life’s many obstacles, the crosses we must bear.

We have three choices. First, we can walk away from our faith, refusing to go one more step, blaming God for all the evil that plagues us. Second, we can embrace our faith by continuing to be steadfast in prayer, asking for God’s guidance, pardon, and if it be His Will, to take away our cross. Third, we can go through the motions of going to Mass but our faith is lukewarm and nearly lifeless.

The saints can give us inspiration for overcoming the ugliness of life. Knowing how they struggled with similar calamities, how they ran the race and won, gives us hope to persevere in our faith. As St. Paul writes in 2 Tim 4:7-8: “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.

From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for His appearance.”

The Bible also has much wisdom for us, if we look for it. The verses that really help me with my struggles are found in 2 Cor 11:23-28, where St. Paul jots down his hardships. “Are they ministers of Christ?

(I am talking like an insane person.) I am still more, with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, far worse beatings, and numerous brushes with death. Five times at the hands of the Jews I received forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a day on the deep; on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own race, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent

fastings, through cold and exposure. And apart from these things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches.”

Paul, once a persecutor of the Church, aiding and abetting the stoning of the first martyr, St. Stephen (Acts 7:54-60) turned protector of our faith.

My problems are miniscule compared to what St. Paul endured, and he kept on going like the Energizer Bunny. We all need our batteries recharged from time to time.

Let the Holy Spirit into your heart and you’ll be dancing to a new tune.

St. Peter, our first pope, preached Jesus crucified on the Day of Pentecost, the Book of Acts tells us, and 3,000 souls were added to the Church on that day. If St. Peter didn’t persevere and protect our faith, would Christ’s Church be standing? Peter could have walked away, but he did not deny God’s will for him. 1 Peter 1:39, “Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in Heaven for you who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith, to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time. In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Although you have not seen Him you love Him; even though you do not see Him now yet believe in Him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of (your) faith, the salvation of your souls.”

The next time my faith starts to weaken, battered by the waves of despair, I’ll also ponder on what Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

My problems are miniscule compared to what St. Paul endured, and he kept on going like the Energizer Bunny. We all need our batteries recharged from time to time.

Barbara Case Speers is a writer who lives in Hickory.

March 4, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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Father Deacon Kevin Bezner

Pray for those who hate us and love us

E

very night, as part of compline in the Byzantine rite, we pray for those who hate us and those who love us.

I find that it’s easy to pray for those who love me, although because the list is so short it’s extremely humbling. Extending the list by praying for friends, family members, and those who have been kind to me at least gives me more than a few for whom to pray.

Praying for those who hate me, however, is another matter.

You may think that no one actually hates you, but if you examine your life carefully you will find, as I have, that there are plenty of persons out there with reason to feel animosity and hostility toward you, who may detest you, or who at the very least dislike you, perhaps intensely.

I divide the camp of those who hate me into two. One consists of those who have reason to hate me because I truly have caused them harm in some way. The other consists of those who hate me wrongly and who, as a result, actually have harmed me in some way.

As with those who love me, it’s relatively easy – although often painful – to pray for those who have reason to hate me. This list of persons is very long. The length is disheartening, and the reasons for the hatred of these persons painful.

Without even giving much thought to it, I could list at least 50 persons I believe I’ve harmed in my life, with most on this list from my 20s to 40s, and this would merely be a start. Angry outbursts, arguments, selfishness on my part, unkind words are the least of my sins against these persons.

I pray for God’s forgiveness and pray that they have forgiven my sin or offense, even if they do not specifically remember me or it.

Praying for those who hate me wrongly, however, is far more difficult and truly a struggle. When I was an English professor, my very existence caused some to be hostile toward me. This was especially true of students.

I began teaching in the 1980s and taught my last class about five years ago. Something changed in the 1990s. During that decade I began to encounter a greater number of students who believed that they deserved an “A” just because they came to class and turned in work, regardless of the quality of their work and whether or not they had actually done the work. If you challenged them, some became angry, some hostile, and others vindictive. Over the years this became more prevalent.

Students weren’t the only problem. Some professors were so eager to be liked by students that they did all the could to denigrate and disparage colleagues.

Some days I have to pray intensely to quell the anger I feel toward these students and professors. I do this by recalling my own sins against others, seeking to remove the plank in my eye rather than complaining of the splinter in theirs. I remind myself that while I might be wrongly hated by some, plenty of others in the world have cause to hate me.

The Lord instructs: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Mt 5:44). The apostles clearly had enemies who sought to persecute them, and this may be true for some of us as Christians. Each of us, however, does have someone who dislikes us, or hates us. They are, in that sense, our enemies.

Silouan the Athonite, the great Russian-born monk and Orthodox saint, wrote: “The soul cannot know peace unless she prays for her enemies. The soul that has learned of God’s grace to pray, feels love and compassion for every living thing, and in particular for mankind, for whom the Lord suffered on the Cross, and His soul was heavy for every one of us.”

I believe that this extends to those who hate or dislike us. And so, with the help of God’s grace, we must pray for them. Better, though, if our prayer leads to our loving them. As St. Silouan wrote: “If you pray for your enemies, peace will come to you, but when you can love your enemies – know that a great measure of the grace of God dwells in you, though I do not say perfect grace as yet, but sufficient for salvation.”

Father Deacon Kevin Bezner serves at St. Basil the Great Ukrainian Catholic Mission in Charlotte. This commentary was originally published on the blog www. thechristianreview.com.

Letter to the editor

Contraception: A rejection of God’s gift of love and communion “Creating the human race in His own image..., God inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the capacity and responsibility, of love and communion” (Catechism of the Catholic Church). What is the meaning behind these beautiful words of the Catechism?

Every day we are confronted with questions on this subject, and we seek answers. While we have the teachings of the Church on such matters, we are confronted every day by worldly ideas that oppose the truths of our faith. A current example of this moral collision is that of Planned Parenthood with the Church. Planned Parenthood offers its own answers on matters of life and love – particularly on the issue of contraception.

However, what are the moral teachings of worldly institutions such as Planned Parenthood when compared to those of the Church? We must first and foremost look to the Church for guidance on matters of morality, especially today when views on life and love are often so distorted. Because of this confusion, many people do not appreciate the meaning behind the vocation of “love and communion.”

True love and communion are generous, not selfish.

All of us should be aware that the “capacity and responsibility” which the Church speaks of is the capacity to bear children and raise them to be saints.

With joy a married couple accepts the “capacity and responsibility” which God inscribes because they know He will make all “light and sweet” through His grace.

Planned Parenthood encourages and aids people in thwarting the conception and birth of babies, contrary to this true love and communion. Not only is this expressly contrary to the teachings of the Church, it is contrary to the law of charity.

What makes married people shrink from this part of their vocation by using contraception? Since the vocation of “love and communion” is a vocation of generous love and great charity, anyone using contraceptive methods is sinning against the virtues of marriage. Thus, the marital union becomes purely

selfish, and the couple rejects the natural gift of children which God offers them. This is grievous, indeed, since to refuse any gift from God is an act of ingratitude.

This mindset also demonstrates a lack of true respect for the dignity of each human being. Life is a gift no matter what the circumstances in which it is given. Was not Our Lord born into the deepest poverty and continually prey to the contempt of men? Yet that did not prevent the Father from giving His only beloved Son to humanity at that time and in those circumstances. As the Father used the sufferings of Christ to open Heaven’s gates, so also He wills to use all of man’s sufferings to open the soul’s gates to spiritual life and ever greater sanctity. Thus, it shows true respect and mercy to be open to life because one gives a newly created soul the chance to reach heaven, perhaps even becoming one of the greatest saints. Moreover, by showing respect for the human person, we actually show respect for God. Planned Parenthood does not show this respect for the human person or for God. Planned Parenthood’s moral “doctrine” on contraception is irrevocably incorrect and utterly irreconcilable with the Church. Therefore, let us all reject the worldly views on contraception and instead fix our gaze on Christ Crucified and His Bride, the Church, the Fount of Life. Here is a perfect example of love, one worthy of imitation. Through meditation on the love demonstrated by the supreme couple, Christ and His Church, we can learn the true meaning of marriage and its virtues.

Thus, in the midst of this Lent we will find a Laetare Sunday (4th Sunday of Lent) of joyful discovery that will point us to the true life and love of Easter.

Furthermore, by the brilliance of that Easter light, we will perceive with what perfect wisdom and beauty “God inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the capacity and responsibility, of love and communion.”

Jyllian Carter is a member of St. Ann Church in Charlotte.

Letters policy The Catholic News Herald welcomes letters from readers. We ask that letters be originals of 250 words or fewer, pertain to recent newspaper content or Catholic issues, and be written from a perspective of Christian charity.

To be considered for publication, each letter must include the name, address and daytime phone number of the writer for purpose of verification. Letters may be condensed due to space limitations and edited for clarity, style and factual accuracy.

The Catholic News Herald does not publish poetry, form

letters or petitions. Items submitted to The Catholic News Herald become the property of the newspaper and are subject to reuse, in whole or in part, in print, electronic formats and archives.

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 4, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

SHERIDAN FROM PAGE 6

Known as “Cambodia’s Ghandi,” Maha invited Sister Francis Louise to visit a refugee camp in Thailand with him; she later called it one of the most memorable trips of her life.

In 1993, Sister Francis Louise was sent to Mobile, Ala., to serve as director of Catholic Social Services for the Archdiocese of Mobile and later as a social worker at the Allen Memorial Nursing Home, until 2015 when

she returned to the Trinitarian Sisters’ motherhouse in Philadelphia.

Over the course of her ministry, she served on various committees in her community and was in regional and local leadership as well as a consultant to the Holy Name of Jesus Trust.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity at 3501 Solly Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19136.

F. Fluehr and Sons Inc. was in charge of the arrangements.

— Catholic News Herald

‘She laid a very firm foundation on the eventual evolvement of Catholic Charities as we know it today’ SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

CHARLOTTE – Those who worked alongside Sister Francis Louise Sheridan remember her as “remarkable” and “a source of inspiration.”

Elizabeth Thurbee was the first layperson hired by the Trinitarian sisters in 1980 to head Catholic Charities’ adoption program.

She eventually rose to head the entire agency, retiring in 2010.

“She was a remarkable person,” Thurbee said of Sister Francis Louise. “She had a quirky sense of humor. She was one of those people who could see possibilities where other people couldn’t.

“She always had a strong calling to ameliorate disasters. It was very important to her to make sure that services that were provided by Catholic Social Services (as Catholic Charities was then called) were available across the state.

“She was one of the most interesting

people I have ever met. She was really almost indescribable. She encouraged people to use their own initiative. She was in many respects behind the scenes as an encourager.”

Monsignor John J. McSweeney, pastor of St. Matthew Church in Charlotte, served as chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte for seven years and worked with Sister Francis Louise.

“I worked with her many years,” Monsignor McSweeney said. “She was a source of inspiration to many people throughout the diocese in her dedication to the poor as well as her administrative skills. Under her leadership Catholic Charities was divided up in the Diocese of Charlotte. “ He noted that Sister Francis Louise’s tremendous leadership in the diocese’s resettlement of refugees, beginning with the Vietnamese in the late 1970s.

“She laid a very firm foundation on the eventual evolvement of Catholic Charities as we know it today. It was my privilege to work with her.”

MERCY FROM PAGE 5

After several days of reflecting on the question, his pastor replied, “Brian, what you need to understand is that every single human being is chained to some area of sinfulness in their lives.

Some of us are lucky enough to know what that sin is. Others of us don’t even recognize the sin in our own lives.” And then his pastor told him: “Brian, you too are chained to some area of sin in your life, and until you confront your own sin, you will never be as effective an evangelizer as you can be.”

Pusateri defined brokenness as “anything in our lives that clouds our relationship with God.” “Now, I break brokenness into two forms: broken by sin and wounded by the world,” he explained.

“Wounded by the world” is when somebody else’s sin affects our lives negatively, he explained. Pusateri used an example from his own life: when he was 12 he was molested by his pastor in the sacristy after serving his first Mass. “That’s a game-changer, guys. It messes up your life,” he said. Pusateri said he did not tell anyone of the abuse, and he was propelled into an adult life of lust and unchaste behavior until he shared his brokenness with his church peers.

Pusateri ended his talk by speaking of Jesus and the institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, drawing a parallel with the bread being blessed, broken and shared. “At the Last Supper Jesus took the bread and He blessed it, broke it and shared it,” Pusateri said.

“We are called to be blessed, broken and shared. We are called to be Eucharist to a starving world.”

Joe McClane, from Evangelium Live and Guadalupe Radio, a Catholic radio initiative based in Houston, was the final speaker of the day. The self-proclaimed “Catholic Hack” who wishes “to be the donkey Jesus rides” peppered his presentation with a healthy dose of humor.

McClane started with a simple question: “Are you happy?” After painting a picture of what the world defines as happiness, he quoted some sobering statistics: “We are happy guys. And yet 64 percent of the men in this room yell and scream at their wives and children. Sixty-four percent of us, myself included. Two-thirds of the men in this room are using porn on a very regular basis. Over 30 percent of the men in this room steal; 18 percent of the men in this room use drugs. Tell me again about happiness.”

He continued: “Where are you going?

Do you have a plan for your life?

“I have but one mission and it’s not to educate my children. It’s to get them to heaven. Is that your one mission in life – to get your children to heaven?

Everything else is a far second place.

If they are not in heaven, I could care less how many advanced degrees they have, what kind of car they drive, or the company they keep.

“Heaven is the one mission the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings has given to you; for your wife, for your children; for your siblings; for your parents; for your coworkers; for your employees; for your neighbors; for the guy walking down the street whom you don’t even know. The Lord sent you,” he said.