May 27, 2016

May 27, 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

Hendersonville Catholics, Lutherans sign covenant of Christian unity 3

Charlotte’s bishop joins in criticism of transgender bathroom rules 3

INDEX

Contact us.......................... 4 Español.................................16 Events calendar................. 4 Our Parishes................. 3-15 Schools......................... 18-21 Scripture readings............ 2 TV & Movies...................... 22 U.S. news...........................24 Viewpoints.................. 26-27 World news...................... 25 Year of Mercy..................... 2

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Filled with the Spirit Children across the Diocese of Charlotte receive sacraments of first Holy Communion, confirmation

12-15

Graduates say goodbye to Belmont Abbey College, their ‘home away from home’ 18

Catholic Charities helps young parents ‘Stay the Course’ in college 6

Year of Mercy

catholicnewsherald.com | May 27, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

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Right to a good reputation

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nder Church law, no one is permitted to harm illegitimately the good reputation which a person possesses, nor to injure the right of any person to protect his or her own privacy. This obligation arises from natural law. Calumny, denunciation, insults, slander and the spreading of rumors are contrary to this right.

The right to one’s privacy is protected without unlawful invasion. This could become a critical issue in the matter of candidates for the priesthood or religious life and in the use of psychological testing (Canons 241-642).

The basic right appears in Church law under six other canons: 483, 1352, 1361, 1390, 1455 and 1598.

The right to a good reputation is at risk as the Church confronts the issue of sexual misconduct by clergy and other Church personnel.

Authorities are often accused of proceeding too slowly when accusations of sexual abuse, particularly of a minor, arise.

Church authorities must move expeditiously, yet with caution to protect both the accuser and the accused.

Pope Francis

Prayer is no magic wand; it strengthens faith in tough times

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rayer is not a magic wand that fulfills your desires, but it is what helps you keep the faith when you don’t understand God’s will, Pope Francis said. Prayer is meant to be “our daily bread, our powerful weapon and the staff for our journey,” he said May 25 during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

In his catechesis, the pope talked about the Gospel parable of the persistent widow, who incessantly appealed to a corrupt judge for justice.

Judges at the time were supposed to be filled with the fear of God as they impartially and faithfully upheld the laws of Moses, the pope said. But the judge in this parable was dishonest and only cared about himself. He had no interest in protecting the rights of the weakest and easily exploited members of society, which included widows, orphans and foreigners, he said.

“Faced with the judge’s indifference, the widow resorted to her only weapon – to keep incessantly pestering him, presenting him with her appeal for justice,” he said. The judge finally gives in, “not because he is moved by mercy or because his conscience forces him to,” but because of her perseverance. He realizes he will never rid himself of her until he delivers a just decision, and so he does.

He said Jesus uses this parable to show that if a widow with no clout or influence could sway an uncaring judge merely through her patient and persistent pleas, then imagine how powerful that same force of prayer is when directed toward a loving, merciful and benevolent God. Jesus is showing how important and necessary it is to pray tirelessly, all the time and not just every now and then, “when I feel like it,” the pope said. “We all experience moments of exhaustion and discouragement, above all when our prayers don’t seem to work.”

Contrary to the stubborn judge, he said, God speedily secures “the rights of His chosen ones who call out to Him day and night,” according to the Gospel of St. Luke (18:1-8). But that doesn’t mean God will respond when “and in the ways that we want. Prayer is not a magic wand,” he said.

When Jesus prayed that His Father spare Him from “the bitter cup of His passion,” He also put Himself fully in God’s hands, asking that the Father’s will – not His own – be done. Jesus shows how prayer is about strengthening one’s relationship with the Father – transforming one’s own wishes and conforming them to God’s will, he said.

Prayer “helps us keep our faith in God and to trust Him even when we do not understand His will.”

St. Matthew Church hosts monthly Divine Mercy Holy Hour CHARLOTTE — In keeping with the parish’s devotion to the Divine Mercy, St. Matthew Church has inaugurated a monthly Holy Hour starting at 7:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month in the Daily Mass Chapel on the main church campus, located at 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy. Each month a specific intention will be lifted up during the Holy Hour, besides the personal intentions participants will offer silently.

In a beautiful development this Jubilee Year of Mercy, the parish recently acquired a first-class relic of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, a 20th-century Polish nun and mystic, that is housed in a Divine Mercy reliquary within the Daily Mass Chapel next to an image of the Divine Mercy. The gold reliquary is in the shape of Jesus, the Divine Mercy, and is available for veneration daily.

Everyone is welcome to attend and pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, venerate the firstclass relic of St. Faustina, recite Divine Mercy prayers, and read Scripture and excerpts from St. Faustina’s diary. Each month’s Holy Hour will be for the following intentions: June 2, the priesthood; July 7, young people; Aug. 4, workers and volunteers of mercy; Sept. 1, catechists; Oct. 6, Marian Jubilee dedicated to Mary; Nov. 3, prisoners; and Dec. 1, healing of the family.

For details, contact Deacon Gary Schreiber (pictured above with Ray Sullivan) at garyschrieber@yahoo.com or call the parish office at 704-543-7677.

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter

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: Protection of Rights

Your daily Scripture readings MAY 29- JUNE 4

Sunday (The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ): Genesis 14:18-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Luke 9:11-17; Monday: 2 Peter 1:2-7, Mark 12:1-12; Tuesday (The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary): Zephaniah 3:14-18, Isaiah 12:2-6, Luke 1:39-56; Wednesday (St. Justin): 2 Timothy 1:1-3, 6-12, Mark 12:18-27; Thursday (Sts. Marcellinus and Peter): 2 Timothy 2:8-15, Mark 12:28-34; Friday (The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus): Ezekiel 34:11-16, Romans 5:5-11, Luke 15:3-7; Saturday (The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary): 2 Timothy 4:1-8, Luke 2:41-51

JUNE 5-11

Sunday: 1 Kings 17:17-24, Galatians 1:11-19, Luke 7:11-17; Monday (St. Norbert): 1 Kings 17:1-6, Matthew 5:1-12; Tuesday: 1 Kings 17:7-16, Matthew 5:13-16; Wednesday: 1 Kings 18:2039, Matthew 5:17-19; Thursday (St. Ephrem): 1 Kings 18:41-46, Matthew 5:20-26; Friday: 1 Kings 19:9, 11-16, Matthew 5:27-32; Saturday (St. Barnabas): Acts 11:21-26, 13:1-3, Matthew 5:33-37

JUNE 12-18

Sunday: 2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13, Galatians 2:16, 19-21, Luke 7:36-8:3; Monday (St. Anthony of Padua): 1 Kings 21:1-16, Matthew 5:38-42; Tuesday: 1 Kings 21:17-29, Matthew 5:43-48; Wednesday: 2 Kings 2:1, 6-14, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18; Thursday: Sirach 48:1-14, Matthew 6:7-15; Friday: 2 Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20, Matthew 6:1923; Saturday: 2 Chronicles 24:17-25, Matthew 6:24-34

Our parishes

May 27, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

Charlotte’s bishop joins in USCCB criticism of transgender bathroom rules

Capuchin Franciscan Father Martin Schratz and the Rev. Greg Williams of Grace Lutheran Church signed a covenant of shared understanding May 12 at Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville.

Catholic News Herald and Catholic News Service

CHARLOTTE — The Obama administration’s May 13 directive on transgender access to bathrooms “that treats ‘a student’s gender identity as the student’s sex’ is deeply disturbing,” said Bishop Peter J. Jugis May 18.

Bishop Jugis reiterated a May 16 joint statement from chairmen of two U.S. Catholic bishops’ committees, who said, “The guidance fails to address a number of important concerns and contradicts a basic understanding of human formation so well expressed by Pope Francis: that ‘the young need to be helped to accept their own body as it was created’ (“Amoris Laetitia,” 285).”

The statement was issued by U.S. Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, N.Y., who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, and Archbishop George J. Lucas of Omaha, Neb., who chairs the USCCB’s Committee on Catholic Education.

“The Catholic Church consistently affirms the inherent dignity of each and every human person and advocates for the well-being of all people, particularly the most vulnerable.

Especially at a young age and in schools, it is important that our children understand the depth of God’s love for them and their intrinsic worth and beauty. Children should always be and feel safe and secure and know they are loved,” the bishops said.

“Children, youth and parents in these difficult situations deserve compassion, sensitivity and respect. All of these can be expressed without infringing on legitimate concerns about privacy and security on the part of the other young students and parents,” they said. “The federal regulatory guidance issued on May 13 does not even attempt to achieve this balance.”

“It unfortunately does not respect the ongoing political discussion at the state and local levels and in Congress, or the broader cultural discussion, about how best to address these sensitive issues. Rather, the guidance short-circuits those discussions entirely,” they said.

The Obama administration’s guidance applies to all public schools, colleges and universities that receive federal funding under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs and activities, like sports.

The Diocese of Charlotte’s 19 Catholic schools do not receive any Title IX funding, said diocesan superintendent of schools Dr. Janice Ritter, and presumably are not directly impacted by the Obama administration’s May 13 guidance.

But Charlotte has been “ground zero” for the controversy since March 2015, when the Charlotte City Council first attempted to enshrine rights of “gender expression” and “gender identity” in the city’s existing anti-discrimination ordinance.

That first effort failed, but last March the council approved revisions to the anti-discrimination ordinance that would allow people who do not identify with their biological sex to access the public bathroom and shower facilities of their choice. For example, men who identify as women could use a women’s bathroom or public shower.

Many local religious leaders, including Bishop Peter Jugis, called the move 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 at the time.

Public backlash over Charlotte’s new ordinance prompted North Carolina legislators and Gov. Pat McCrory to intervene with a special one-day legislative session March 23, overruling the city and passing what became known as “House Bill 2.”

Among other things, the legislation requires people to use the public restroom or shower facility corresponding to their biological sex.

Controversial from the start, House Bill 2 drew criticism from the Obama administration within days of its passage and in early May ignited competing lawsuits between North Carolina and the federal Department of Justice.

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Photo provided by Margaret Cavagnaro

Hendersonville Catholics, Lutherans sign covenant of Christian unity Dr. Colin Thomas Special to the Catholic News Herald

HENDERSONVILLE — Catholics and Lutherans of Hendersonville recently took a step toward greater Christian unity – signing a new covenant bonding two local churches, Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church and Grace Lutheran Church.

The local covenant, signed May 12 at Immaculate Conception Church by Capuchin Franciscan Father Martin Schratz, pastor, and Pastor Greg Williams of Grace Lutheran, follows the statewide covenant between the Catholic Dioceses of Charlotte and Raleigh and the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. The statewide covenant was established in 1991 and reaffirmed in 2007 by Bishop Peter Jugis, Raleigh Bishop Michael Burbidge, and Bishop Leonard H. Bolick of the Lutheran Synod of North Carolina.

The covenant is based on Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21 “that all may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you: I pray that they may be one in us, so that the world may know that you have sent me.”

Said Father Schratz, “We have spent too much Capuchin Franciscan time looking at what Father Martin Schratz divides us. Now is the time to give example to the world, and even to our local community, that we share much more in common. What a great Christian witness we can be.”

“While we remain two distinct families of faith for the foreseeable future, I am excited about this

‘Now is the time to give example to the world, and even to our local community, that we share much more in common.’

covenant. Martin Luther never intended to begin a new church body, only to correct some practices at that time for which he could find no support in Scripture.

This covenant identifies some concrete ways to put our unity in Christ into practice locally. I look forward to the strengthened witness of our working together intentionally,” said Williams.

The local covenant lays out seven objectives that emphasize praying together for Christian unity; education of their respective church groups about faith beliefs they hold in common; celebration of joint observances such as at Thanksgiving and Christian Unity services; shared Scripture study; and working together to oppose injustices and alleviate suffering in the local community.

Catholics and Lutherans have been separated for almost 500 years. However, during the past 50 years, great strides have been taken to bring about reconciliation. In 1999, the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church signed the “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification” in Augsburg, Germany, proclaiming that “we are saved

by God’s grace alone, in faith in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part, and we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works.”

In 2013, the LWF and the Vatican produced a 93-page report, “From Conflict to Communion,” which stresses the concepts of repentance, thanksgiving and common commitment to unity with the main focus being on Jesus Christ. It stated that the struggles and issues of the 16th century are over and that Catholics and Lutherans should go forward in a spirit of unity, “not to tell a different history, but to tell history differently.

We must emphasize the beautiful faith and traditions that we share and not focus on those issues that separate us. We must let ourselves be transformed by the Holy Spirit and commit ourselves to seek visible unity and to jointly discover the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our time. We must also witness together God’s mercy in proclamation and service to the world.”

Dr. Colin Thomas, a lay leader from Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville, was among those who coordinated the signing of the Catholic-Lutheran covenant between the parish and Grace Lutheran Church.

UPcoming events 4

catholicnewsherald.com | May 27, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following upcoming events: MAY 27 – 6 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation St. John Baptist de la Salle Church, North Wilkesboro

MAY 31 – 7 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Lexington

June 6 – 7 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation St. John the Baptist Church, Tryon

MAY 29 – 10 a.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation St. Francis of Assisi Church, Lenoir

June 1 – 5 p.m.

Baccalaureate Mass, Charlotte Catholic High School St. Matthew Church, Charlotte

June 8 – 6 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation St. Joseph Church, Newton

MAY 30 – 11 a.m.

Mass for the Military St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

June 4 – 10 a.m.

Diaconate Ordination Mass St. Mark Church, Huntersville

June 10 – 4 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation St. William Church, Murphy

Diocesan calendar of events May 27, 2016

LEctures & Workshops

Volume 25 • Number 17

Life in the Spirit Seminar: 7-8:30 p.m. Mondays, May 16-June 27, during and after the Charismatic Mass at St. Margaret Mary Church, 102 Andrews Place, Swannanoa.

Everyone welcome. For details, call 828-686-8833.

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

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

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

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.

Discussion 0n ‘Being Church with St. Paul’: 7-8:15 p.m. Wednesdays, June 1, 8, 15 and 22, in Biss Hall at St. Peter Church, 507 S. Tryon Church, Charlotte. Presented

by Jesuit Father John Michalowski, parochial vicar. Saul encountered Christ Jesus on the road to Damascus and his life was changed. Within 10 years he became Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, and established Church communities throughout the eastern Mediterranean. He had to deal with a secular, pagan world and with divisions in the Christian community. Through it all, he had a sense of gratitude and saw God’s grace calling all Christians to build up the Body of Christ. What can we learn from St. Paul as we deal with our world, as we seek reconciliation and as we try to “grow up into the full stature of Christ”? To register for one or all sessions, go to www. stpeterscatholic.org.

ST. SHARBEL‘S SACRED RELICS: Saturday and Sunday, June 4-5, at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte and St. Matthew South Campus, 4116 Waxhaw-Marvin Road, Waxhaw. An evening liturgy is scheduled to welcome the relics at the south campus at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, June 4. At 7 p.m. June 4, in the main campus Daily Mass Chapel there will be a service of healing prayers and vigil. At 10:45 a.m. Sunday, June 5, Mass will be celebrated at the main campus. Also, at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, June 5, the Maronite Mission of Charlotte will celebrate a Maronite Mass with procession in the presence of the relics, followed by a luncheon at the St. Matthew South Campus. For details, call Father Elie Mikhael at 704-543-7677.

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

Saturday, June 25, at St. Barnabas Church, 109 Crescent Hill Dr., Arden. 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 Special Mass for Corpus Christi: 2 p.m. Sunday, May 29, at Maryfield Chapel, 1315 Greensboro Road, High Point

“Protecting God’s Children” workshops are intended to educate parish volunteers to recognize and prevent sexual abuse. Upcoming workshops are listed here:

Mass for U.S. military personnel: 11 a.m. Monday, May 30, at St. Patrick Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Road East, Charlotte. The Mass and rosary will be offered for all military personnel who have died and for those who are now serving. Photos of those who have died or who are now serving in the military will be displayed in the cathedral. All military personnel are invited and encouraged to come in uniform.

ASHEVILLE: 9 a.m. Saturday, June 4, St. Lawrence Basilica, 97 Haywood St.

Pro-Life Rosary: 9 a.m. Saturday, June 4, at 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 336-8486835.

Religious Liberty March and Prayer Vigil: 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 21. Gather for the march at the parking lot across the street from the Diocese of Charlotte Pastoral Center, 1123 S. Church St. Charlotte, NC 28203. The march will include preaching at Trade and Tryon streets, followed by the Litany for Religious Liberty. Then the rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy will be prayed in front of the federal courthouse at 401 W. Trade St. For details, email religiousliberty@windstream. net or call Tina at 704-301-2531.

CHARLOTTE Maronite Mission: Masses are offered weekly at 12:30 p.m. Sundays, at St. Matthew South Campus, 4116 Waxhaw-Marvin Road, Waxhaw. The mission’s pastor is Father Elie Mikhael, who can be reached at 704-543-7677, ext. 1043. The Maronite Mission of Charlotte is an Eastern rite Catholic Church in full communion with the pope.

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 church 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 church office at 336-883-0244.

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.

SAFE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING

BELMONT: 9 a.m. Saturday, June 4, Queen of the Apostles Church, 503 North Main St. GREENSBORO: 9 a.m. Saturday, June 4, St. Paul the Apostle Church, 2715 Horse Pen Creek Road.

HUNTERSVILLE: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 7, St. Mark Church, 14740 Stumptown Road For details, contact your parish office. To register and confirm workshop times, go to www.virtus.org.

SUPPORT GROUPS Alzheimer’s Caregiver and Family Support Group: Meets the first Monday of the month, 6:30-8 p.m., in 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.

YEAR OF MERCY Jubilee of Mercy Holy Hour: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 2, in the Daily Mass Chapel at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. The mini Jubilee of Mercy Holy Hour is offered on the first Thursday of the month. Deacon Gary Schreiber will lead the celebration which includes Scripture, entries from St. Faustina’s diary, and a recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, as well as veneration of St. Faustina’s first-class relic. The celebration is sponsored by the Cenacles of Divine Mercy.

Year of Mercy website: Keep up to date on all Jubilee Year of Mercy events, download catechetical resources on the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, watch videos on the theme of mercy, and much more, at the Diocese of Charlotte’s Year of Mercy website: www. yearofmercy.rcdoc.org.

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.

Corrections Anne Knapke’s name was misspelled in the May 13 story “Principals named for BMHS, St. Pius X.” Also, credit should have been given to Casey Corser for the photo accompanying the May 13 story “Brick pathway honors Charlotte Catholic’s 61-year history.” Also, the location

of Father Michael Gaitley’s recent retreat on Divine Mercy should have been reported as being held at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain.

We regret the errors.

May 27, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

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‘Bishop Begley told us as seminarians and priests not to get in the way of the Holy Spirit’

Father Del Giudice reflects on 35 years of priestly ministry

SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

CHARLOTTE — Growing up, Father Carl Del Giudice enjoyed a happy family life in both his native New Jersey and southern California.

A cradle Catholic whose mother was a convert to Catholicism, Father Carl (as he prefers to be called) received a Catholic school education which introduced him to both Franciscans and Carmelites during his years at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Gardena, Calif., and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Tenafly, N.J., where he was taught by the Sisters of Charity of Convent Station.

“My brother and I were raised in the faith without what I identify as cultural baggage,” Father Carl explains. “In that home our parents raised two sons, one of whom is married for 36 years and me a priest for 35 years.”

Father Carl, pastor of Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte, says he had the first inkling of a vocation when he was 10 years old, but then again, at that age he also wanted to be a Hollywood movie actor and fireman.

“It was not until I was attending university at Appalachian State University that the priesthood raised its adult head on occasion,” he recalls. “Upon graduation, I took a teaching position at Niagara University. During my tenure I went through a period of personal discernment in my professional development and future.”

At that point, he felt a strong call to the priesthood. He sought out the vocations office of the Diocese of Charlotte.

After attending seminary, he was ordained a priest of the diocese on May 30, 1981, by Bishop Michael J. Begley at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte.

Father Carl’s first assignment was that summer as the assistant administrator of Our Lady of the Hills Camp in Hendersonville.

“At the conclusion of the camping season, I was assigned as parochial vicar to St. Eugene Church in Asheville. Since then I have had assignments in Greensboro, WinstonSalem, Albemarle, Franklin, Highlands, Sylva, Cullowhee and Brevard.”

He served more than 30 years in the far western mountain parishes, 20 of those years in Brevard.

“The heart and beauty of the Church is born and lived

in the family, but celebrated in the life of the parish,” he says. “Celebrating the rhythms of life from sacraments of initiation, marriage, healing and funerals are what make us unique. Catholicism is a very earthy religion.”

He says that over the past 35 years of priestly ministry he has learned quite a lot.

“As much as I enjoy being involved with people and their lives, I do not behold fools well,” he says.

And, he says, “Bishop Begley told us as seminarians and priests not to get in the way of the Holy Spirit.”

“Another lesson is that as a pastor (I learned) to always surround myself with people who are smarter than me. They are to be the best catechists, bookkeeper, director of File, Rico De Silva | Catholic News Herald music, ministerial leaders, Father Carl Del Giudice congratulates members of Our Lady of Consolation Church’s Ladies Rosary Society for etc. I never surround myself their service in 2014. The Rosary Society, just one of the parish’s many outreach ministries, makes rosaries and with people I feel that I can organizes an annual parish dinner with proceeds going to help Our Lady of Consolation’s needy. Father Carl says control.” that over his 35 years of priesthood, he has learned that “the heart and beauty of the Church is born and lived Father Carl explains in the family, but celebrated in the life of the parish.” that his interests are truly catholic – that is, universal. dishes from Scandinavia that I am now trying to master.”

“Sunday Mass is African-American Gospel music. But I His advice for men discerning a call to ministry? enjoy time with a Mozart chamber piece, Italian opera and “To any man considering or entertaining a vocation to even a John Philip Sousa march.” the priesthood, the Holy Eucharist must be at the core As an American of Italian heritage he also enjoys food. of spiritual life, along with a developing prayer life. I “Italian restaurants were practically nonexistent 48 years say ‘developing,’ since a life of prayer is never static but ago. To make up for the dearth of this ‘soul food,’ I taught growing and evolving. A man can find strength, solace and myself to cook Italian like back home. My fried chicken inspiration in prayer.” could be chicken Marsala or chicken piccata. I also enjoy

Kelly speaks about ‘Living with Passion and Purpose’ Rico De Silva Hispanic Communications Reporter

CHARLOTTE — More than 2,000 people packed St. Matthew Church in south Charlotte May 20 to hear “Dynamic Catholic” speaker Matthew Kelly during an evening of several conferences on “Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose.”

The author of several best-selling books, including “Rediscovering Catholicism” and “The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic,” captured his audience’s attention right from the start, injecting Kelly his remarks with lots of humor yet sharing some dire statistics concerning the state of the Church in the United States.

Kelly pointed out a major concern widely noticed in the Church today: the average Catholic is not actively participating at Sunday Mass.

“If you visit any Catholic church in America on Sunday morning, what would you discover? There’s a spectrum of engagement. You got some people in the pews 100 percent engaged; other people 80 percent, 60 percent, 30 percent … So a fundamental challenge in this moment in history is an engagement issue,” Kelly said.

“How do we drive engagement? How do we drive engagement in ourselves? How do we drive engagement in our family and friends? How do we drive engagement in our parish? How do we drive engagement in our community?” he asked the audience.

The answer to those questions, he continued, can be found by examining the experiences of people who live with passion and purpose – and not just religious people.

According to Kelly, people who live with passion and purpose are highly engaged in every aspect of their lives.

“Living with passion and purpose is a by-product of other things,” he noted, and two traits set apart these men and women.

“They are hungry for ‘best practices’” and “they are committed to continuous learning,” he said.

“Interestingly, these first two qualities have nothing to do with our faith.

Wherever you find excellence on this planet, you find these two qualities. When these two things are absent, we tend to be taken over by mediocrity.”

Kelly continued, “Disturbingly, these two qualities are alarmingly absent from the life of our Church in this moment in history. As Catholics, we tend not to be hungry for best practices. We don’t want to do it the best way. We want to do it our way!

We think we are Frank Sinatra.”

But, he said, we have plenty of examples to follow, in the communion of saints.

They are the “kings” and “queens” of

best practices when it comes to Catholic spirituality.

“If we were really hungry for best practices, we would know all about them,” he said.

Kelly encouraged the audience to take a pen and paper with them to Sunday Mass, then take notes from the homily being delivered by the priest or deacon.

He acknowledged that it’s not part of Catholic culture to take notes at Mass, he said. But, he added, that means “what we are really saying is, ‘You know, I’m not even going to bring a pen and paper because Father has nothing good to say.’

You know what? We’re saying that’s even worse than that: We’re saying, ‘God’s not going to speak to me at church.’ Because if we believe that God was going to speak to us at church, we would bring pen and paper.”

People who live life with passion and purpose also possess clarity and ease of decision-making, he said. “They know who they are. They know what they are here for.

They know what matters most, and they know what matters least.”

“God wants you to become a phenomenal decision-maker. He wants your ‘yes’ to be a strong, powerful, passionate, enthusiastic ‘yes!’ And He wants your ‘no’ to be a firm, resolute ‘no,’” he said.

How do we possess this kind of clarity?

Solitude, silence and prayer, he said.

Personal silence and solitude are

essential to listening to God’s voice in our lives. “To thrive, you need silence,” he said.

God speaks to us in many ways, Kelly continued. First, He meets our most basic needs. Second, He gives us talents and abilities to serve Him and others in this world. Our talents enable us all to make a difference in other people’s lives, if we don’t discount our ability to do so, he said.

Our individual, unique talents also give us the chance to excel in certain areas, such as music or sports.

“Our culture obsesses about these unique abilities. But when you put these two things side by side: Become the best football player in the world, side by side with making a difference in somebody else’s life, the football thing becomes trivial.

Why? Because it is. Because we are made for meaning, and we can’t live without it,” Kelly said.

“When you put things in context, you discover their true value,” Kelly said. “Who is the best in the world in creating context?

The Catholic Church. (It’s) been creating context for 2,000 years.”

“We come here to church on Sundays to get some context,” he continued. “We come here to church on Sundays to realign our lives in the context of the Gospel. The Gospel is the ultimate context because it shows us the true value of everything.

“I’m telling you, there’s genius in Catholicism. You scratch below the surface, and there’s genius in Catholicism.”

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catholicnewsherald.com | May 27, 2016 OUR PARISHES

Okima, the first graduate of the Stay the Course program offered by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte, in partnership with Forsyth Technical Community College in WinstonSalem, is pictured with her son at her graduation last spring.

Photo provided by catholic charities diocese of charlotte

Catholic Charities helps young parents ‘Stay the Course’ in college SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

WINSTON SALEM — It’s graduation season, and many young adults are donning caps and gowns at commencements across the diocese, with plans to head to college in the fall.

But for graduates who face unplanned pregnancies, financial hardships and other challenges in their young lives, a college diploma seems unattainable. And statistics show they’re right: Nationally, more than 60 percent of community college students drop out before graduation because of challenges they face outside the classroom.

Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte has set out to change that reality for young adults in the Triad.

Partnering with Forsyth Technical Community College’s Mazie Woodruff Center, Catholic Charities has set up a program to help young adults continue their education past high school – especially in situations where a student has economic challenges, is pregnant or a first-time parent in need.

Called “Stay the Course,” this joint effort has already seen some success stories, in less than a year and with limited funding. Last year, thanks to resources from Catholic Charities’ Teen Parenting program, 12 students came through Stay the Course with help from Catholic Charities staff.

Stay the Course is the brainchild of researchers from the School of Economics at the University of Notre Dame, in collaboration with Catholic Charities Fort Worth, Texas. This free, confidential program provides a team of

professionals who work with students to keep them on the path to graduation.

Stay the Course staff (called “navigators”) particularly focus on helping students deal with severe roadblocks in life: homelessness, loss of income, or family emergencies.

These navigators help students get familiar with the college system, then help them manage through situations that could prompt them to drop out.

“I wasn’t going to school because I was pregnant.

I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to even keep my child,” explains Okima, the first Stay the Course program participant and graduate who is parenting her now 1-yearold son.

“I don’t know what I would have done without the help that I received. Catholic Charities offered so many different things. I am so glad this agency is here for people like me,” she said.

Now, with a grant of $120,000 per year for three years from the United Way of Forsyth County – and with a three-year plan – Stay the Course has the potential to serve dozens more college students.

Catholic Charities plans to hire one or two staff members to help identify students who could benefit from the program at Forsyth Tech.

“This program came to be because when we brought it to our advisory board, one of our advisory board members was able to arrange the meeting with Forsyth Technical Community College and bring the initial proposal to the college. It was very helpful,” says Diane Bullard, Catholic Charities’ regional office director. That board member is a parishioner at St. Leo the Great Church in Winston-Salem.

“Our hope is to expand the program so that we can include any college that people are going to, and be able to connect them to a caseworker,” Bullard says.

Becky DuBois, assistant office director with Catholic Charities of the Triad, says program participants are “juggling parenthood at a young age, working part-time and have family issues that are a challenge for them.”

“Most of the students we helped in the first year of the program are the first to graduate from college in their families,” Bullard adds.

“Some of our students face a non-traditional homelessness. They are living on someone’s couch. It’s very challenging for them not only to parent, but to stay in school. If they’re worrying about a place to live and then their studies, that’s challenging.”

Reliable transportation and child care can also be factors for these at-risk students.

“These non-academic issues, which would normally put off the education, are addressed by the navigator – who serves as a cheerleader and helps to remove these barriers and find success for them in school. They find they can face these challenges and get over these hurdles, and they will be better off because they have that college diploma,” Bullard says.

Okima, who graduated from Forsyth Tech’s two-year program, is now majoring in early childhood development and hopes to be a teacher. That had never occurred to her before she participated in Stay the Course. ”I never thought I was going to do it (go to college),” she says. “It made me feel good when somebody was on my side the whole time, so I have to be there for my son.”

Details Stay the Course is a voluntary program offered

by Catholic Charities, in partnership with Forsyth Technical Community College, to help students who are facing economic or challenging life situations stay in school and persevere toward earning a degree while gaining life or parenting skills. The goal of the program is to provide non-academic support to help students or young parents work toward a college degree, and provide skill-building

support to promote a bright future and healthy parenting.

Who is eligible? Forsyth Tech students who are under the age of 27, enrolled for at least one non-distance learning class, who may be pregnant or parenting for the first time, and those who would benefit from non-academic support to persevere in school are eligible.

Do students pay for services? All services are free and confidential. Stay the Course is a voluntary program designed to offer support to young parents working towards a college degree.

More information is online at www.ccdoc.org/ services/stay-the-course.

May 27, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief Mass for military to be offered May 30 CHARLOTTE — A Mass for all military personnel who have died and for those who are now serving will be offered by Bishop Peter Jugis at 11 a.m. Monday, May 30, at St. Patrick Cathedral.

Photos of those who have died or who are now serving in the military will be displayed in the cathedral. All military personnel are invited and encouraged to come in uniform.

St. Patrick Cathedral is located at 1621 Dilworth Road East in Charlotte.

St. Sharbel relics coming to Charlotte CHARLOTTE — The relics of St. Sharbel Makhlouf, the holy Catholic monk of Lebanon, will come to Charlotte June 4-5, in honor Sharbel of the 50th anniversary of his beatification.

From last October until this coming July, St. Sharbel’s relics are touring Maronite Catholic parishes across the United States, and the relics’ appearance in Charlotte is being sponsored by the Maronite Mission of Charlotte.

The relics will be available for veneration at both the main and south campuses of St. Matthew

Church in Charlotte.

An evening liturgy is scheduled to welcome the relics at the south campus in Waxhaw at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, June 4. At 7 p.m. in the main campus’ Daily Mass Chapel, there will be a service of healing prayers and vigil. At 10:45 a.m. Sunday, June 5, a Roman rite Mass will be celebrated at the main campus, followed by a second Mass in the Maronite rite at 12:30 p.m. that will include a procession in the presence of the relics.

Joseph Makhlouf was born in Lebanon in 1828. At 23, he become a monk and joined the Corps of the Lebanese Maronite Order, following in the footsteps of his two uncles.

He chose the name of Sharbel. After 16 years, he had a burning desire to become a hermit.

Granted the honor by his abbot, St. Sharbel left the community and lived for 23 years as a hermit in silence, prayer and manual labor in the fields. His love for the Eucharist was always with him. He died on Christmas Eve in 1898.

After his death, a light began to shine from his tomb and miracles began to occur. His body was exhumed and found to be incorrupt and intact, still bleeding and sweating. Many miracles have followed his death to this day. He was declared a saint on Sept. 10, 1977.

Seminarian summer assignments announced CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte announces the following 2016 summer assignments for its seminarians: n Peter Ascik (home parish St. Barnabas Church in Arden) will serve at St. Eugene Church in Asheville. n Matthew Bean (home parish St. Michael the Archangel Church in Gastonia) will serve at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte.

IN BRIEF, SEE page 10

OUR PARISHESI

7

Photo provided by Carolyn A. Dinovo, Pontifical College Josephinum

Torres, Catron, Mlakar, graduate from PCJ COLUMBUS, Ohio — Diocese of Charlotte seminarians Jonathan Torres, Deacon Cory Catron and Jacob Mlakar graduated May 14 from the Pontifical College Josephinum.

Deacon Catron received his Master of Divinity, Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology (STB) and Master of Arts.

The Master of Divinity degree signifies fulfillment of the requirements for priestly ordination. Deacon Catron also completed the additional academic requirements of a Master of Arts in dogmatic theology, moral theology, biblical studies or evangelization. The Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology is a pontifical degree conferred by the Josephinum in affiliation with the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, and besides Deacon Catron it was awarded to six other graduating deacons.

Mlakar and Torres each earned a Bachelor of Philosophy from the seminary, indicating successful completion of the PreTheology Program.

Commencement exercises for the 49 members of the graduating class at the only pontifical seminary outside of Italy were preceded by a baccalaureate Mass in St. Turibius Chapel, celebrated by Monsignor Christopher J. Schreck, rector and president.

“Everything we ne of our faith was r

—Joe and Helen Drozd, Pen nnybyrn resid dents

This beautiful community captures thee heart and soul of the Catholic faith.

“We looked at a number of communities,” says Heleen Drozd, “and caame to see Pennybyyrn because it was Catholic. As soon as we arrived we realiized it was where we wanted to be.””

The Sisters of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God founded what would later become Pennybyrn at Maryfield. Today, three chapels grace our community; our main chapel with Daily Mass, Adoration Chapel with 24 hour adoration and our Meditation Chapel for private reflection.

“W ffeell thi “We this iis holy hol h l ground,” gro nd d ” says sa s H Helen Helen. l “We were also looking for a continuum of care,” notedd Joe, “because my mother had been living with us, and she needed a higher level of care.” Pennybbyrn allowed the three of them to move to the community together. “Joe’s mom had probably the best three years of her life here,” says Helen.

Pennybyrn’s location is ideal for the couple. They apprreciate the amenities, and love the ambiance and beauty of the 71-acre campus, with its well-kept groounds and winding paths. “I attend swimming classes, and Joe uses the fitness center,” says Helen. “T There are concerts and activities all the time, andd at ddi dinnertime i we hhave our choice h i off venues, with i h a friendly f i dl wait i staff ff andd an expansive i menu.””

“We chose to move to Pennybyrn because it simply felt unlike any other community we visited,” says Helen.

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catholicnewsherald.com | May 27, 2016 OUR PARISHES

St. Matthew opens new warehouse

Lorenzo Pedro | Catholic News Herald

Morganton festival features world cuisine, local art

WAXHAW — Missionaries of the Poor founder Father Richard Ho Lung was in Charlotte May 16 to help open a new warehouse in Waxhaw that be used by different missions who serve the poor, including the MOP, thanks to the assistance and generosity of St. Matthew Church parishioners.

Monsignor John McSweeney, pastor, and Deacon Daren Bitter were also present for the special ceremony. “We are grateful for the love and support we have received from St. Matthews,” said Father Ho Lung, who flew in from his home in Jamaica for the dedication.

MORGANTON — Hundreds of parishioners and folks from the wider community came out to St. Charles Borromeo Church May 21 for Morganton’s largest food festival. Cuisine from more than 18 countries was featured. People also enjoyed great music and dancing, children’s games and face painting, silent auction and a huge parish raffle.

Proceeds benefit the Morganton parish’s various charitable and community outreach efforts. The festival capped off a week of programs that began May 16 at the parish – a new aspect of the annual celebration this year, conceived of by Father Ken Whittington, pastor. On Monday, artist and sculptor Peter Strafaci presented his “Can you drink the cup?” series in which he presented and discussed 100 different chalices he crafted. On Tuesday, Mercy Sister Rose Marie Tresp spoke about “The Intersection of Charity, Justice and Mercy.” In partnership with the Burke Arts Council, the parish hosted an art exhibition and reception showcasing local artists, including Frances Hairfield, Ita Kibride, Marcia Hill, Angel Vite, Phil Jablonski, Matthew Good, Paul Johnson, and Lauren and Jim Moore. On Thursday night, Father Enrique Gonzalez, pastor of Divine Redeemer Church in Boonville, gave a talk to the Hispanic community on “La Familia/The Family.”

Photos provided by John Kenny

CCDOC.ORG

Help to end hunger Catholic Charities has food pantries in Asheville, Charlotte and Winston-Salem. Each pantry provides walk-in assistance on a first-come, first-served basis during scheduled hours. At the pantries, clients can help choose their food items – because providing food and assistance with dignity is what we believe in.

Drop off a food donation today and make a difference in a neighbor’s life.

Asheville: 828-255-0146 Charlotte: 704-370-3232 Winston-Salem: 336-727-0705

Think green.

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You’ll be able to read your newspaper earlier, and you’ll help save some trees.

It’s totally free, too – so making the jump is easy.

Contact Erika at catholicnews@charlottediocese.org or 704-370-3333 to sign up today!

May 27, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

St. Matthew “yoU”niversity

Summer Forum 2016 – June Courses For details, contact Michael Burck at 704-543-7677 ext: 1020 or mburck@stmatthewcatholic.org

To register for courses online and to pay by credit card please visit: www.stmatthewcatholic.org/summerforum A. We Believe Father Glenn Comandini, S.T.D. June 6, 13, 20, 27 from 7 to 8:30pm NLC 239/240/241 $30

We will explore the Profession of Faith which sits in the heart of the Sunday liturgy.

How many times have we stood to profess our faith without really thinking about what we are saying? After much controversy and heresies, two great ecumenical councils, Nicaea in 325 AD and Constantinople I in 381 AD, defined the Profession of Faith we believe as Catholics. We will cover topics such as the Tri-Personal God who is One, Christology, Redemption, Mary, the church and Judgement.

Father Glenn Comandini, S.T.D was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Metuchen, NJ in 1986. He has master’s degrees in theology and divinity, and completed his doctorate in systematic theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

B. A Retreat Day for the Year of Mercy Sr. Mary Hugh Maudlin, RSM, MA

Saturday, June 25 from 10am to 4pm Sisters of Mercy in Belmont $20 (includes lunch) Pope Francis has challenged the whole world to set aside time this year to contemplate a God whose Mercy is forever. The retreat includes reflections and discussions on Pope Francis’ The Face of Mercy and his call to us to be mercy to others.

Sr. Mary Hugh Maudlin has a master’s degree in theology and is one of the most highly regarded and loved teachers of St. Matthew “yoU”niversity programs. When she talks, everyone listens. Come and enjoy the beauty and quiet of this oasis of mercy, the residence of the Sisters of Mercy in Belmont.

Photos provided by Octavius Carter

Boy Scouts take a hike through history CHARLOTTE — Members of Boy Scout Troop 172, of Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte, recently participated in the Heritage Hike of the Special Initiatives District of the Mecklenburg County Council of the Boy Scouts of America – a 10-plus mile journey through uptown Charlotte and surrounding areas.

Using a map and compass coordinates, the participants of 70 or more set out to discover several historical landmarks, events and individuals instrumental in the development of the city.

The hike began at the Mecklenburg County Boy Scouts of America headquarters and ended at the Big M Stables, beside the Druid Hills Neighborhood Park. The event concluded with a cookout at Nevins Community Park and showcased members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Department and the Charlotte Fire Department.

The Scouts who participated from Troop 172, which is led by Scoutmaster Octavius Carter, were Jalen Carter, James Johnson, Devin Mayfield, Jemarion Mayfield and Brandon Monroe. Assistant Scoutmaster Duane Duncan is also pictured.

C. Luke: Words of Mercy and Justice Father Frank Cancro Tuesdays, June, 21, 28, & July 5 from 7 to 9pm NLC Banquet Room $30 Explore the Gospel of Luke which, through its presentations of characters, parables and teaching, helps the early church, as well as the church of today, understand that the Good News is proclaimed to the underdog and the power of God is manifest in the unexpected. Luke offers rich themes of transformation, restoration and a call beyond worldly fairness to an understanding of heavenly justice. Studying the Gospel in four sections, we will explore themes and discuss the biblical teachings that affect our lives as believers.

Father Frank Cancro completed studies in theology and preaching at St. Mary Seminary in Baltimore and is a canon lawyer. He served as vice rector of the Theological College of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He currently serves as pastor of Queen of Apostles Catholic Church in Belmont.

To view all seven Summer Forum course offerings go to: www.stmatthewcatholic.org/summerforum Summer Forum 2016 Registration

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Fill out the registration form, one per participant. Detach and enclose the per-person, per-course fee. Make checks payable to St. Matthew Catholic Church. Mail in or drop off an envelope marked Summer Forum to St. Matthew Catholic Church, PO Box 49349, Charlotte, NC 28277. The fees are non-refundable after the class begins. Please print clearly.

Name _______________________ Parish____________________________ Address _______________________________________________________ City __________________ State _____ Zip ______________ Phone _______________________ Email ____________________________ Course Selection A. ____ $30

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catholicnewsherald.com | May 27, 2016 OUR PARISHES

IN BRIEF

Priest appointed

FROM PAGE 7

n Brian Becker (home parish St. Matthew Church in Charlotte) will serve at St. Mark Church in Huntersville. n Christopher Bond (home parish St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte) will serve at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte. n Michael Carlson (home parish St. Ann Church in Charlotte) will continue language studies in Rome, where he is enrolled at the Pontifical North American College. n Christian Cook (home parish St. Eugene Church in Asheville) will serve at St. John Neumann Church in Charlotte. n Alfonso Gamez Jr. (home parish Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville) will serve at St. Joseph Vietnamese Church in Charlotte. n Jacob Mlakar (home parish St. Matthew Church in Charlotte), who just received his Bachelor of Philosophy degree at the Pontifical College Josephinum, will go to Rome for studies in July. n Miguel Sanchez (home parish St. Francis of Assisi Church in Lenoir) will serve at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Monroe. n Britt Taylor (home parish St. Matthew Church in Charlotte) will serve at St. Elizabeth Church in Boone. n Jonathan Torres (home parish St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte), who also just earned his Bachelor of Philosophy at the Josephinum, will serve at St. Ann Church in Charlotte.

— Catholic News Herald

CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter J. Jugis announces the appointment of Father Richard F. Sutter as in residence at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte effective May 1.

An Atlanta native Sutter ordained initially in the Congregation of the Legion of Christ, Father Sutter comes to Charlotte from the Diocese of Savannah, Ga., but he is not unfamiliar with the Charlotte diocese.

He graduated with honors from Belmont Abbey College in 1991. While there he served as student body president and captain of the cross country team. He was also an Army ROTC cadet at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and member of the Army National Guard in Morganton.

After college he served six years in the U.S. Army. Following an honorable discharge as captain, he worked two years as a corporate IT project manager in New York before entering the Legionary of Christ Summer Candidacy Program in 1999.

He completed his theology studies in Rome and was ordained a transitional deacon by Bishop Jugis at Our Lady Help of Christians Basilica at Belmont Abbey on May 11, 2009.

He was ordained to the priesthood on Dec. 12, 2009, at the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside-theWalls in Rome.

He served in Louisiana from 2009 to 2011, in the Archdiocese of Atlanta from 2011 to 2014,

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and in the Diocese of Savannah, Ga., from 2014 to 2016. Earlier this year he spent several months of discernment at Belmont Abbey, during which time he said he sensed a call to serve in the Charlotte diocese.

He has been in residence at the cathedral since May 1 and will serve a temporary summer support assignment from May 28 until midAugust at St. Joseph Church in Bryson City.

— Catholic News Herald

Religious liberty march planned for June 21 CHARLOTTE — A Religious Liberty March and Prayer Vigil will be held Tuesday, June 21, in Charlotte. The march will begin at 11:30 a.m. outside the Diocese of Charlotte Pastoral Center, located at 1123 S. Church St. It will include preaching at Trade and Tryon streets, followed by recitation of the Litany for Religious Liberty. Then the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy will be prayed in front of the Federal Courthouse at 401 W. Trade St. Everyone is invited to come and be a witness in uptown Charlotte to defend religious liberty.

Visit www.marchforlifecharlotte.org/relib. html for details. For other inquiries, e-mail religiousliberty@windstream.net or call Tina at 704-301-2531.

All welcome to ‘How to be one Church’ CHARLOTTE — St. Peter Church is presenting a four-week program entitled “How to be one Church: Being Church with St. Paul,” with Jesuit Father John Michalowski, parochial vicar, on Wednesdays in June. All are welcome to attend any or all of the programs, which will be held from 7 to 8:15 p.m. in Biss Hall.

Saul encountered Christ Jesus on the road to Damascus and his life was changed. Within 10 years he became Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, and established Church communities throughout the eastern Mediterranean. He had to deal with a secular, pagan world and with divisions in the Christian community. Through it all he had a sense of gratitude and saw God’s grace calling all Christians to build up the Body of Christ. What can we learn from St. Paul as we deal with our world, as we seek reconciliation and as we try to “grow up into the full stature of Christ”?

The programs are as follows: June 1, “I give thanks for you…” from Col. 1:3-14 and Phil. 1:3-11; June 8, “The struggle to be Church” from 1 Cor. 1:10-25, 3:3-23; June 15, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” from Romans; and June 22, “To be the Body of Christ” from 1 Cor. 11-13.

For details, go to www.stpeterscatholic.org.

Three Charlotteans earn Girl Scout Gold Award CHARLOTTE — Taylor Buck, Caroline Gorman and Katherine Smith, all juniors at Charlotte Catholic High School, have earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, Girl Scouting’s highest award.

To earn the award, each girl had to identify an issue and then research, plan and lead a sustainable and global project involving community partners with at least 80 hours of time spent on the project.

Buck is a member of Troop 1057 sponsored

by St. Matthew Church. Her project, “Creating a Toolkit and Implementing Toolkit Suggestions to Improve Participation in Teen Youth Groups,” addresses the lack of teen participation in youth groups as a growing trend. She and her team completed research among churches to find out what is effective among churches attempting to increase youth involvement. The research included contacting churches nationwide as well from around the world. Using this information, she made changes to her local parish’s youth efforts and created a website to summarize the research for the benefit of other youth ministers.

Gorman is a member of Troop 7501 sponsored

by St. Matthew Church. Her project, “Artistic Career Fair,” raises awareness about careers in artistic fields that students might want to pursue. She organized an event for area high school students with professionals representing many different artistic career options which included architect, art therapy, interior design, media producer, photojournalist, fashion designer, graphic designer, marketing and more. She also created a project planning guide on how to run the fair which is posted on her website www.artisticcareerfair.weebly.com so other organizations could plan events.

Smith is a member of Troop 3112 sponsored

by St. Gabriel Church. Her project, “Raised Bed/Vertical Garden Project and Food Desert Education,” focuses on healthy eating and nutrition education. The Brookstone School lost their garden when they relocated to an urban area, so she combined different vertical gardening models and led her team to build a garden that worked with their new, uptown space. A committee will maintain it and donate extra produce to disadvantaged families. She also shared her gardening and nutritional tips flier with areas identified as local food deserts (areas without fresh food choices nearby).

— Nannette Gorman

Boone youth deliver blankets BOONE — Seven representatives of the youth group from St. Elizabeth Church recently went to the Ronald MacDonald House to deliver 46 blankets the youth group had made for residents, and to tour the facility.

— Amber Mellon, correspondent

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St. John Neumann Catholic Church 8451 Idlewild Road | Charlotte, NC 28227 Friday, June 12, 5:00 PM-11:00 PM Saturday, June 13, 4:00 PM-11:00 PM

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• Carnival rides for kids and adults!

• Midway games such as Gold Fish, Frog Bog and Hi Striker!

• Carnival and ethnic food such as hot dogs, fries, funnel cakes, Indian, Eritrean, Latin American and much more!

• Hamburger eating contests by American Burger Company

• Special appearance by Maney, Roy and LauRen from Kiss 95.1 FM on Friday evening!

• Continuous live music on the main stage with returning bands Waiting Hill, Bought by Blood, and Relentless Flood!

• Spectacular fireworks show on Saturday evening at 10:40 PM!

Admission to SonFest is free, but tickets for food, beverages, rides and games will be available for purchase.

Wristbands for unlimited rides on Friday night only are $20 each (not valid on the Bungee Trampoline).

Visit: 4sjnc.org/sonfest_2016 for more information!

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catholicnewsherald.com | May 27, 2016 FROM THE COVER

Confirmed in the Spirit

Cindy Giarrusso | Catholic News Herald Photo provided by Joan Guthrie

CHARLOTTE — Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin administered the sacrament of confirmation to young people at St. Peter Church April 23, during a Mass that included concelebrants Jesuit Father James Shea, pastor, and Jesuit Father John Michalowski, parochial vicar.

Also pictured is Deacon Jim Bozik.

LINVILLE — Tiffany Brocco, Kayla Rubin and Paul Miller received the sacrament of confirmation May 7 at St. Bernadette Mission, during Mass celebrated by Monsignor Mauricio West, vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, and Father Christopher Gober, pastor.

Giuliana Polinari Riley | Catholic News Herald Photo provided by Connie Ries

STATESVILLE — On May 13 Bishop Peter J. Jugis confirmed 26 young adults at St. Philip the Apostle Church. The confirmandi included: Lilith Mae Brown, Jesus Coronado Gomez, Virgilio Jr. Chavez, Francisco Coronado, Grant Cotton, Anddy Cruz, Jasmine Dessert, Rosangel Estrada, Nicole Feijoo, Jacob Freese, Brandon Grimaldi, Daniel Gonzalez, Ian Goodman, Priscilla Chavez, Beni Juarez, Leonard Lopez, Kailey Lund, Joseph McCollum, Abraham Medina, Linda Moreno, Margaret Pendergrass, Ivette Ramirez, Rosa Robles-Cruz, Maximiliano Velasco, Kevin Vallejo and Khanh Vu.

DENVER — Bishop Peter Jugis confirmed a large group of young people at Holy Spirit Church during Mass April 21.

Doreen Sugierski | Catholic News Herald

FOREST CITY — The sacrament of confirmation was administered to 38 young adults at Immaculate Conception Church in Forest City May 17 during Mass celebrated

by Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey and Father Herbert Burke, pastor. Pictured are Emily Ryback, sponsored by her brother Nathan, receiving the sacrament of confirmation from Abbot Placid; and Caroline King also being confirmed by Abbot Placid.

May 27, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com FROM THE COVERI

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Receiving their first Holy Communion

Photo provided by Connie Ries

STATESVILLE — On May 1, 30 children received their first Holy Communion at St. Philip the Apostle Church, during Masses in English and in Spanish celebrated by Father Thomas J. Kessler, pastor. After the two Masses, the children from each group crowned a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Photos of both groups of first Communicants are online at www. catholicnewsherald.com.

Photo provided by Amy Burger

HUNTERSVILLE — More than 280 children received their first Holy Communion during Masses in May at St. Mark Church in Huntersville.

BREVARD — Children at Sacred Heart Church celebrated their first Holy Communion during Mass April 10.

Four members of the group read the Prayers of the Faithful at Mass.

The rest of the class brought up the gifts.

Dorice Narins | Catholic News Herald

DENVER — Children at Holy Spirit Church celebrated their first Holy Communion April 30, during Mass with Father Carmen Malacari, pastor.

Doreen Sugierski | Catholic News Herald

THOMASVILLE — Eighteen people at Our Lady of the Highways Church received the sacrament of confirmation from Bishop Peter Jugis during Mass April 16.

Photos by Joe Thornton | Catholic News Herald

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iiiMay 27, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com

FROM TH

Receiving their first Holy Communion

Giuliana Polinari Riley | Catholic News Herald

FOREST CITY — Twenty-five children from the Spanish community received their first Holy Communion May 22 at Immaculate Conception Church, during Mass celebrated by Father Jose Juya and Father Herbert Burke, pastor. Mothers presented a lit candle to their first Communion candidate daughters prior to the renewal of their baptismal vows.

Photos by Bill Washington | Catholic News Herald

SALISBURY — More than 80 children received their first Holy Communion in May during Masses in English and in Spanish at Sacred Heart Church, celebrated by Father John Eckert and Father Lucas Rossi.

Giuliana Polinari Riley | Catholic News Herald Amber Mellon | Catholic News Herald

BOONE — Children at St. Elizabeth Church celebrated their first Holy Communion April 16.

FOREST CITY — Children at Immaculate Conception Church received their first Holy Communion May 15 during a Mass celebrated by Father Herbert Burke, pastor, and visiting priest Father James.

HE COVER

May 27, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.comiii

Receiving their first Holy Communion

MURPHY — Celebrating first Holy Communion May 1 at St. William Church were Taylor Ivestor, Jerry Bui, Victoria Higdon and Jonattan Escobar. They are pictured with their faith formation teachers Maria Seiglie and Katie Lott.

Jeanine Russell | Catholic News Herald

LENOIR — Noah Archer was among 20 children at St. Francis of Assisi Church who received their first Holy Communion May 22, during two Masses celebrated by Father Julio Dominguez, pastor. Also receiving their first Holy Communion were: Alex Hurtado Aguilar, Titiana Aguilar, Angel A. Bata, Fernando Bata, Alexa Michelle Ortiz Coronel, Velkan Ortiz Coronel, David Adrian Flores, Sandra Gameros, Javier Estrada Hernandez, Carolina Maldonado Herrera, Gabriela Ibarra, Juan Palma Ramirez, Liliana Rangel, Diana Luz Robles-Guerrero, Dalia Rodriguez, Alexi Oxellana Romero, Antony Teniente, Jocelyn A. Torres Flores and Madilyn Walker.

Craig Allen | Catholic News Herald

Photos provided by Joanne Shea and Joan Guthrie

CHARLOTTE — Children at St. Peter Church celebrated their first Holy Communion during two Masses April 16, celebrated by Jesuit Father James Shea, pastor, and Jesuit Father John Michalowski, parochial vicar.

SYLVA — Five children at St. Mary, Mother of God Church celebrated their first Holy Communion in May. Pictured along with Father Joshua Voitus, pastor, are (from left) Corinne Moorman, Salomon Salinas, Custer Prenger, Cristian Salinas and Aurora Tepepa.

Della Sue Bryson | Catholic News Herald

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facebook.com/ catholic news HERALD ESPAÑOL

catholicnewsherald.com | May 27, 2016 16

Mariella Buscaglia

El Año de la Misericordia

C

uando al inicio de este año litúrgico fue nominado este como “El Año de la Misericordia,” recuerdo perfectamente los comentarios y los proyectos que se proponían para recibir el perdón y la misericordia de Dios, que durante este año estaría al alcance de cada católico en cada rincón del mundo.

Nosotros, los de nuestra área, nos sentimos muy agradecidos y entusiasmados con la gran noticia. Se iniciaron entonces, los planes en cada lugar y en cada ministerio para peregrinar e ir a buscar y recibir desesperadamente la misericordia, y más aún, la Indulgencia Plenaria que nos será otorgada para utilizarla en nuestro viaje de este mundo.

Por mi parte, como todos, hice muchos planes para sentir la misericordia ingresando por la Puerta designada para ello, cumpliendo con los requisitos como los sugirió el Papa Francisco --- confesión, Comunión, actos de misericordia y de amor. Hable con mucha gente, puse fechas para ir en grupo, hice muchas llamadas, y para sorpresa mía, católicos, creyentes y practicantes, igual que yo, siempre me propusieron esperar para después y yo no sé por qué no iba sola. A lo mejor, tenía miedo. O, a lo mejor, creía que algo me podría pasar, no lo sé, pero no iba sola.

Gracias a Dios, el Domingo de la Divina Misericordia, al salir de la Misa, comenzaron los saludos y las pequeñas charlitas, antes de partir. En ese momento, salta nuevamente la idea de ir hacia la Catedral de St. Patrick en Charlotte, y cruzar la Puerta de la Misericordia. Finalmente. Seis personas, incluyéndome a mí, partimos hacia la Catedral. Fuimos en dos autos con un gran entusiasmo, y apenas llegamos, rápidamente cruzamos la Puerta. Pero, nada, éramos los mismos, y no sentimos ninguna diferencia. Parecía que no habíamos recibido nada!

El sacerdote estaba revisando algunas cosas dentro de la iglesia, lo interrumpí y le pregunte por la Puerta de la Misericordia. Entonces, él me dio las pautas necesarias para cruzar la Puerta de la Misericordia.

Salí, me preparé y abrí la puerta, pasé debajo del arco y sentí, recibí, encontré lo que había ido a encontrar. Decidí volver a cruzar la Puerta.

Quería estar segura y no pasar por loca al contarle a los demás. Compartí con las otras cinco personas del grupo, y repetí las indicaciones del Padre.

Ellos lo hicieron, y todos sentimos, recibimos y nos quedamos allí más de tres horas; totalmente seducidos por ¡El amor, el perdón y la misericordia de Dios Todopoderoso!

Es muy importante compartir lo siguiente: Después de ese primer día, he vuelto muchas veces sola, y acompañada también. Siempre regreso de la Catedral cargada de lo que el Señor me da. Él es muy misericordioso, y especialmente amoroso, no pido milagros ni nada, solo recibo; recibo mucho.

La pena es que, aunque he ido varias veces a diferentes horas, siempre encuentro lo mismo: Al Señor solo allí; esperándonos. No entiendo. ¿Qué es lo que pasa? ¿Por qué no vamos, y hacemos el peregrinaje para recibir la misericordia de Dios en este Año de Jubileo? Aún hay tiempo de hacer peregrinaciones en grupos, por ministerios, por grupos de amigos, por familias para recibir el maravilloso amor de Dios.

No debemos dejar pasar esta oportunidad. No sabemos si viviremos para que tengamos una gran oportunidad como la tenemos hoy aquí en nuestra diócesis, cerca de nuestra casa. No necesitamos hacer una peregrinación larga, lejana y costosa. Lo tenemos todo acá, cerca por el amor que Él nos da.

Hermanos y hermanas, los invito para que lleguen y espero un comentario de ustedes para iniciar esta campaña de activar a nuestra colonia Hispana a que nos atrevamos a recibirlo a Él que allí nos está esperando.

“Por su dolorosa Pasión, ten misericordia de nosotros y del mundo entero.”

Que Dios les bendiga.

Mariella Buscaglia es miembro de la Parroquia de San Marcos en Huntersville. Buscaglia es una de las coordinadoras del grupo de los Consagrados a Jesús por María de la Iglesia de San Marcos.

Juan Zambrano | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

(Arriba) Dos de los candidatos del RICA que fueron confirmados en la Parroquia de San Marcos en Huntersville el pasado Domingo de Pentecostés.

(Izquierda) Cuatro parejas que fueron preparadas en el RICA por Caridad Masson en San Marcos, reciben su Primera Comunión durante sus bodas matrimoniales.

Foto proporcionada por Mariella Buscaglia

Siete Hispanos completan el RICA y se confirman el Domingo de Pentecostés Rico De Silva Hispanic Communications Reporter

HUNTERSVILLE — El pasado Domingo, 15 de Mayo, durante la Misa del Domingo de Pentecostés, siete miembros Hispanos de la Iglesia de San Marcos en Huntersville, fueron confirmados por el Vicario Parroquial de San Marcos, el Padre Paul McNulty.

Los siete candidatos fueron entrenados en el Rito de Iniciación Cristiana para Adultos (RICA) en español por Caridad Masson. Masson está encargada de la instrucción de candidatos adultos en esa parroquia. “Yo he conducido este programa RICA en español en la parroquia de St. Mark’s durante diez años,” dijo ella.

Masson agregó que en los últimos 10 años ella ha instruido y preparado aproximadamente a más de 100 adultos a hacerse católicos.

Algo especial este año fue que, siete de las ocho personas que Masson instruyó en el RICA

durante el corriente, recibieron su Primera Comunión al mismo tiempo que recibieron el sacramento del matrimonio en Febrero pasado.

Los siete nuevos miembros de la Iglesia son: Jose Fuentes, Carolina Celi, Victor Ramirez, Enrique Daza, Leonor Daza, Carlos Argueta, Maitee Marroqui.

A pesar de que la instrucción RICA para Hispanos es completamente en español, Masson dijo que ella y su equipo de instrucción trabajan en conjunto con la instrucción RICA en inglés de San Marcos.

Masson agregó que su compromiso con su parroquia y con la comunidad Hispana de Huntersville de instruir en ese ministerio ha sido motivo de una gran alegría para ella.

“Es un gran placer, una gran satisfacción, ver la conversión de todas esas personas. Como se convierten a Nuestro Señor y con qué alegría reciben en su alma cuando tienen ese encuentro y el cambio que reciben en su vida.”

May 27, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

Where are you going?

QUO VADIS DAYS 2016

June 13-17, 2016 * Belmont Abbey College Rising high school freshmen through college A camp for Catholic men to learn more about the priesthood, deepen their faith, and help discern God’s call in their lives.

www.charlottevocations.org

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Our schools 18

catholicnewsherald.com | May 27, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief

BMHS seniors celebrate with cupcakes Belmont Abbey College held 138th commencement exercises for its 336 graduating seniors May 14. Graduate Elise Lemiuex is pictured with two of her professors, Dr. Nathalie Coté, chair of the psychology department, and Dr. Ann Calhoun-Sauls, associate professor of psychology.

KERNERSVILLE — Seniors at Bishop McGuinness High School enjoyed a “Cupcake Day” April 29 to celebrate their upcoming graduation. Seniors celebrated their plans by placing a magnet on the location of their future college on a map of the U.S. while enjoying fellowship and cupcakes. Pictured are Carson Gann, who will attend Virginia Tech, and Michael Kennedy, who will attend St. John’s University.

Photos by Rachel McKimmon and provided by Belmont Abbey College

— Kimberly Knox

Graduates say goodbye to Belmont Abbey College, their ‘home away from home’ Rachel McKimmon Correspondent

STEM Night at St. Gabriel School CHARLOTTE — St. Gabriel School hosted a STEM night for students and parents April 13. Two of the school’s science teachers, Linda Gimeli and Lynn Ruff, organized the event with the help of many other teachers. Several centers with activities involving science, technology, engineering and math were set up for the students to explore. The students dug for fossils, learned how to code, created fireworks, built bridges and buildings, and tested buoyancy.

— Michele Snoke

BMHS Model UN team earns national awards, attend political lunch KERNERSVILLE — The Model United Nations team at Bishop McGuinness High School has received the Leading Chapter Award in the Carolina West District.

This honor based on student participation is the highest recognition the National Speech and Debate Association can bestow. Out of more than 3,000 schools nationwide, Bishop McGuinness was one of only 110 to receive the leading Chapter Award.

The Bishop McGuinness Model United Nations moderator, David Seidel, was also awarded the National Speech and Debate Association Second Diamond Coach Award. This award distinguishes a professional career that combines excellence and longevity in speech and debate. Seidel will be recognized at the National Speech and Debate IN BRIEF, SEE page 20

BELMONT — Belmont Abbey College held 138th commencement exercises for its 336 graduating students May 14.

Graduation began with an invocation from Benedictine Father Elias Correa-Torres from Belmont Abbey, followed by welcome remarks from Dr. William Thierfelder, president.

“I’d like to begin today by being thankful,” Thierfelder said.

“For all the parents, family, friends, spouses and children who all supported them and you, loved you and sacrificed for you – let’s thank them for everything they’ve done to get you to this day.”

He also thanked the faculty, staff and monks of Belmont Abbey for their dedication to the students and Belmont Abbey College throughout the years.

Thierfelder compared Belmont Abbey College with Cardinal John Henry Newman’s description of a college, referring to Newman’s characteristics of what defines home and how a college is like a home in and of itself.

“I hope that you’ll come back often to your Abbey home to renew the friendship and reward here and maybe most importantly to encourage those who are soon to follow in your footsteps”, he said.

Thierfelder’s point was echoed by commencement speaker Dr. Ed Antosek, a 1968 alumnus of the college himself. Now president of the Belmont Abbey College Alumni Association and a retired Navy captain, Antosek spoke on the message of thanks and home in his message to the graduates.

He congratulated the graduating class in their personal achievements over the past four years and he congratulated the families of the students for their support. He spoke of Belmont Abbey as a home, saying, “Remember your roots. Stay involved with Abbey gold.”

Several students and alumni who earned awards of high achievement were recognized during the commencement ceremony.

Anja Roy received the Abbey Student of the Year Award from the Belmont Abbey faculty and staff. Roy graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English and will be traveling to Tanzania, representing Belmont Abbey College with the Abbey volunteers after graduation.

Theresa Varacalli was recognized as valedictorian of the 2016 Graduating Class. Varacalli received the Father Ostric Excellence of History Award for achievements in her studies, in which she earned a Bachelor of Arts in history.

Retired Bishop Victor Galeone and Michael Snyder were recognized as honorary degree recipients for their work in building up the Church.

Bishop Galeone, the bishop emeritus of St. Augustine, Fla., was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters.

Snyder, a 1962 alumnus of Belmont Abbey College, received a honorary Doctor of Law for his continued work to support the college throughout the years.

Graduates expressed their fondness for Belmont Abbey and anticipation for life after commencement.

William Rees, who graduated with an accounting degree, said his Belmont Abbey experience is unforgettable.

“I met the most important people and friends in my life here,” Rees said, adding that he will always remember Belmont Abbey as the place where he met his closest friends.

Rees will also serve in Tanzania with the Abbey volunteers after graduation. “I hope to show the glory and good of God through volunteering and friendship,” he said.

Elise Lemieux, who represented Belmont Abbey within the Honors Institute and the Belmont Abbey women’s soccer team, said Belmont Abbey College has been like “a home away from home.”

“I felt at home within the school and the Honors Institute,” Lemieux said. She said she sees graduation as both exciting and strange as she faces the challenge to make a new home post-graduation. She is leaving with bachelor’s degrees in psychology and criminal justice, and she looks forward in attending graduate school in criminal psychology.

May 27, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

MACS education grant winners announced CHARLOTTE — The MACS Education Foundation is proud to announce the recipients of the 2016-’17 Grants for Educational Excellence: Jaimee Adams, Religion: Totally Advent and Totally Lent Crystal Androsky, STEM and Literacy: Blooming STEM in the Library Kim Antolini, Bill Fountain and Maureen Milligan, Math: ALEKS Katie Buckley and Ashley Avery, Math: Building Marvelous Mathematicians Mary Kay Connery, Technology: CTK NAO Robot Program Lauren Darrell, Literacy: Daily 5 Startup Kit Ellen Deem, Math and Social Studies: Learning With Legos Part 2 Jessica DeMartine, Language Arts: Raz-Kids Jessica DeMartine, Religion: Bringing Good News!

Kelli Dumser and Patty Martin, P.E. and STEM: STEM in the Gym Pat Franz, Mary Strauss and Tricia Wendover, Religion: Social Justice – Laying the Foundation in Elementary School Linda Gimeli, STEM: Engineering is Elementary: Fifth Grade Terry Goebel, Linda Barich, Jeni Marinello and Kathy Thomann, STEM: Engineering is Elementary: First Grade Jill Harouny and Denise Shallal, Reading: Whooo Makes a Difference? Wilson Does!

Kathy Healy, Computer: Code Monkey Jennifer Heekin, Literacy: Battle of the Books Kelly Henderson, Patti Dickson, Patty Croghan and LouAnn Brady, Language Arts: Word Play – Reading, Writing, and Vocabulary Tara Kane, Rebecca Dunn and Julie Schluter, Social Studies and Science: Connecting the World Around Us Anna Kiefriter and David Shoff, Music: SmartMusic Interactive Technology Darlene Konopasek, Math: Project M2 – Mentoring Young Mathematicians Stanley Michalski, Timothy Cook, Brian Joyce and Tracy Shoff, Music: Artist-inResidence Music Program Bobby Mitton, STEM and Religion: STEM in Our Faith Tradition Amanda Mooney and Lisa Banks, Literacy: Literacy Across the Curriculum Tracey Noonan, STEM: Engineering is Elementary: Third Grade Elizabeth Patterson, Multiple: Grand Buddies Christine Pringle, Literacy: Literature Learning Library Expanded Kaylin Ranagan, Technology: Lights, Camera, Green Screen!

Aimee Reap, Literacy: Do You Hear What I Hear? Modeling Oral Reading Fluency Amy Schatz, STEM: Engineering is Elementary: Fourth Grade Marion Scherger, Michelle Boyle, Lindsey Conrad and Kristin Prickitt, STEM: Engineering is Elementary: Second Grade Julie Thornley, Religion and Fine Arts: Fine Arts and Faith Formation Nikki Warren, Literacy: Book Clubs: Developing Real Readers Nikki Warren, Economics: Classroom Economy Carole Watson, Language Arts: Merit Software – Complete English Web Suite Jessica Walton, Theresa Anderson and Patty Paradis, Literacy: Today’s Readers, Tomorrow’s Leaders Elizabeth Wise, Michelle Engstrom and Ashley Samuelson, Literacy: Battle of the Books Additional funds will be awarded through principal grants, as well as a system-wide STEM initiative, which will directly impact each child within the MACS community.

For more about supporting the Educational Excellence Annual Campaign, go to www. macseducationfoundation.org.

— Catholic News Herald

SILENT IGNATIAN RETREATS

Spiritual Exercises Preached by the Priests of Miles Christi

Men (16 & over)

June 24 -26, 2016 Hickory, NC

For info and to register:

northcarolina@spiritualexercises.net or (248) 596-9677 For more dates and locations visit www.spiritualexercises.net or www.mileschristi.org

His Excellency The Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis Bishop of Charlotte requests the honor of your presence at the Liturgy of Ordination to the Holy Priesthood Reverend Mr. Aaron Cory Catron Reverend Mr. David Ross McCanless Saturday, the eighteenth day of June Two thousand and sixteen at ten o’clock in the morning

Estate Planning, Elder Law and Probate PLANNING TODAY FOR YOUR FAMILY’S TOMORROW St. Matthew’s Parishioner

704.843.1446 | www.ncestateplanninginfo.com

15720 Brixham Hill Ave, Suite 300

|

Charlotte/Ballantyne

Saint Mark Catholic Church 14740 Stumptown Road Huntersville, North Carolina Reception immediately following Parish Hall

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catholicnewsherald.com | May 27, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

IN BRIEF FROM PAGE 18

Tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 16.

A group of Bishop McGuinness students from the Model United Nations team were also recently invited to attend a luncheon at the Grandover Resort sponsored by the Institute of World Politics. The bipartisan event featured a discussion on national security and international affairs by Ambassador James Woolsey, former CIA director, and Dr. John Lenczowski, former director of European and Soviet Affairs and member of the National Security Council.

— Kimberly Knox and Jeff Stoller

Charlotte Catholic students participate in Kairos LAKE WYLIE, S.C. — Thirty-two Charlotte Catholic High School students participated in a Kairos retreat weekend April 15-17 at Camp Thunderbird on the shores of Lake Wylie, S.C. The group was made up of 28 juniors and four seniors. Twenty additional seniors served as team members and mentors, for a total of 52 students participating.

The word Kairos means “In God’s Time.” The Kairos retreat is an experience of Christian community, with a series of talks given by peers and adults. Prayer and the sacraments are an essential part, with discussion and exercises that allow participants to grow closer to God and live out their faith in their community.

Kairos lasts three days, with a “fourth day” when retreatants are called to be disciples and share their faith.

“Students have the opportunity to build their

Akhere places in top debate competition

story in a supportive community,” said Mary Jayne Dawson of Charlotte Catholic’s Campus Ministry.

The school has been holding Kairos retreats since 2003.

— Nanine Hartzenbusch Fox

Michael School recently learned about graphic design and engineering from visiting “teachers” from Highland Technology School in Gastonia. The visiting tech students, including Christian Carlan and Caleb Tucker, focused on lessons involving science, technology, engineering and math.

CHARLOTTE — Two members of the Charlotte Catholic High School Debate and Speech Team recently qualified to compete in the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions (NIETOC) in Denver, Colorado. Uwa Akhere was honored as a semifinalist in Dramatic Interpretation event, ranking ninth place out of 184 competitors from 156 schools across 44 states.

— Mary A. Morales

— Pat Burr

BMHS students publish devotionals KERNERSVILLE — Bishop McGuinness High School students in theology teacher Ryan Gabriel’s 11th-grade class on the sacraments recently completed a non-traditional exam that ultimately led to several students’ work being published in “The Upper Room,” an ecumenical devotional magazine. Students expressed what they learned in the course by planning and writing a teen devotional for the magazine, which is distributed in 33 languages in 100 countries. Its goal is to encourage Christians from a variety of backgrounds to pray together with one common purpose for each day of the year. The Upper Room’s editor Andrew Breeden personally contacted the school to praise the excellent work submitted by each student and commend the faculty for the great work being done with the students.

Students whose work was selected for publication were Amanda Brechko, Azuka Chukwudebe, Lillian Hiser, Ceci Kammire, Marie Lawson, Josefina Labra-Escuerda, Devon O’Brien, Alex Pinder, Cassidy Shaw, Logan Smith, Candyce Sturgeon, Kelly Vo, Spencer Webster and Edward Yan. — Jeff Stoller

Highland Tech students teach at St. Michael School GASTONIA — Middle school students at St.

CTK coach honored by former hometown HUNTERSVILLE — March 28 was declared “James W. Alverson Jr. Day” by Virginia Beach, Va., city leaders to honor departing resident Alverson, who is moving to North Carolina to coach football at Christ the King High School this fall.

The city’s declaration noted just some of Alverson’s accomplishments in international diplomacy, local and statewide politics, and city ambassadorship.

“We had a hard time figuring out which of his accomplishments to put down – we really could have said a hundred or more great things that Jay has done for this city,” Mayor William Sessoms said. The mayor then highlighted the effective leadership that Alverson demonstrated during a diplomatic standoff with North Korea and his humanitarian efforts during the tsunami in Japan and earthquake in Haiti.

The mayor also thanked Alverson for his work as legislative district chairman and for running several campaigns.

City Council Chairwoman Shannon Kane said, “We hate to see him go, but we know that he is following his passion to teach and coach football…We had hoped to see him in a Virginia Beach classroom next year, but we know that his new school in Huntersville will value his leadership the way we do.”

Dudley earns photo honor CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School junior Jack Dudley recently earned an honorable mention in the “2016 Congressional Art Competition: An Artistic Discovery.” His photograph will be on display in the local Congressional District offices for one year. He is pictured with Congresswoman Alma Adams, who represents the N.C. 12th Congressional District.

Fellow students Bella Garner, Allyson Pace and McGovern Greeley received certificates of participation. Certificates were presented during a reception at the New Gallery of Modern Art in downtown Charlotte.

— Joann S. Keane

— Spencer Kane and Lisa Daidone IN BRIEF, SEE page 21

Photos provided by Pat Burr

Principal of the Day GASTONIA — St. Michael Catholic School kindergartner Jackson Cherry was the winner for “Principal of the Day” at the school’s fundraising auction held April 16. Jackson took his new position very seriously as he helped with morning and afternoon announcements, visited classrooms, helped with classroom transitions for middle school, and many more principal duties.

May 27, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

IN BRIEF FROM PAGE 20

Buck to attend media conference CHARLOTTE — Taylor Buck, a junior at Charlotte Catholic High School, has been selected to attend the 2016 Washington Journalism and Media Conference at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., as a national youth correspondent. Buck is the rising coeditor of the school’s newspaper, the Catholic Chronicle. She was chosen based on academic accomplishments, extracurricular activities, the ability to represent her state and high school, and a demonstrated interest and excellence in journalism and media studies (based on submissions of journalism works). She will join

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a select group of students from all over the country for an intensive study of journalism and media.

Attendees serve as national youth correspondents, participating in hands-on learning through decision-making simulations that challenge them to solve problems and explore the creative, practical and ethical tensions inherent in journalism and media.

The experiential portion of the program is complemented by speakers who are wellknown leaders in the media community as well as prominent journalists, CEOs of major media outlets, researchers and recent college graduates. Speakers include representatives from the Washington Post, New York Times, C-SPAN, Huffington Post, National Geographic and the Associated Press, as well as experts in all aspects of journalism, media and communications.

— Suzanne Buck

Photo provided by Nanine Hartzenbusch Fox

Charlotte Catholic has 30 athletic signees CHARLOTTE —Thirty Charlotte Catholic High School student-athletes from the Class of 2016 were signed with colleges this year. This is one of the largest number of signees in the high school’s history.

Baseball signees were: Nick Bruno, University of North Carolina-Wilmington; Dirk Masters, Towson University; McCann Mellett, Wingate University; Lucas Plein, Wingate University ; Paul Slota, Case Western; and Chris Yarborough, Brevard College. Basketball signees were: Josh Brodowicz, Queens University; Jack Larkin, Roanoke College; and Sam Smith, Guilford College. Cheerleading signee was Tate Altman, North Carolina State University. Dance signee was Mary Grace Gilkey, Auburn University. Football signees were: Jaret Anderson, William and Mary; Andrew Brouse, Washington and Lee University; Jack Fonda, Campbell University; Xander Gagnon, Duke University; Connor Miller, Wake Forest University; and John Walton, Centre College. Golf signees were: Ryan Fitzgerald, Greensboro College; Will Straub, Marshall University; and Quinn Tardiff, James Madison University. Lacrosse signees were: Jack Bruno, Queens University; Jacob Collins, SUNYCortland; Jackson Harris, Mercer University; Michael Obrien, Mercer University; Zach Strassner, University of Delaware; and Ryan Young, Sewanee University. Softball signee was Carrie Eberle, Virginia Tech University. Soccer signees were: Patrick Hogan, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and Marnie Bonn, Appalachian State University. Swimming signees were: Mariel Green, Boston College, and Emma Stump, Wheaton College. Track and field signee was Bridget Hambrook, Lees McRae College. Volleyball signees were Emma Mitchell, University of Alabama-Birmingham, and Mollie Ray, Washington and Lee University.

Photos provided by Laura Henry and Lisa Daidone

CTK golfer signs to play in Ohio HUNTERSVILLE — Christ the King High School senior Connor Holleran of Davidson recently committed to play four years of golf at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He is the son of Dan and Shannon Holleran. “What I like most about golf it that I can’t ever reach perfection,” said Holleran, who has been playing since he was 3. “I have to always keep working at it.” He is pictured with his parents, sister Riley, CTK’s golf coach Tyler Cochran and former golf coach Rick Taylor, Emily McMillian, and Father Paul McNulty.

Photo provided by Georgette McMahon and Lisa Daidone

St. Mark lacrosse team wins championship John Bunyea | Catholic News Herald

BMHS girls’ soccer team excels KERNERSVILLE — Bishop McGuinness High School’s girls’ soccer team recently came in first place in their region. They won eight games in their conference, scoring 68 goals overall and shutting out their opponents with 0 goals. Pictured are team members from their recent Seniors Night celebration.

HUNTERSVILLE — On April 28, the St. Mark lacrosse team ended a great season on an even greater note with a win in the Mecklenburg Cabarrus Lacrosse Conference Championship. Only five Mecklenburg area middle school boys’ lacrosse teams qualified for the conference. Each school played every other school twice, with one home game and one away game. Led by Coach Mike Habel, St. Mark finished 8-0, winning the championship game with a 6-point lead for a final score of 7-13. Despite their enormous successes, the team showed good sportsmanship throughout the experience, ending their final game with a prayer. The team was also coached by assistant coaches Drew Lindsey and Scott Westmoreland.

Mix 22

catholicnewsherald.com | May 27, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

On TV n Friday, May 27, 6:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Pope John XXIII: The Saint.” A documentary on the incredible contributions of John XXIII to the Church and to the world, featuring historic footage from the Vatican Archives and interviews with many on his legacy including his grand-nephew, Marco Roncalli. n Saturday, May 28, 8 p.m. (EWTN) “St. Rita.”

The life of Rita of Cascia, the saint of the impossible and advocate of desperate cases, reveals the great faith of a woman who endured many hardships and difficulties on her journey to God. Part 2.

n Saturday, May 28, 9:48 p.m. (EWTN) “Made for Life.” A look at the gift of children and the need for a child to have both a mother and father present in their lives. Produced by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. n Sunday, May 29, 8 a.m. (EWTN) “Solemnity of Corpus Christi Mass and Procession with the MFVA Friars.” The Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word preside over the Solemn Mass and Procession of Corpus Christi, live from Our Lady of the Angels Chapel in Irondale, AL. n Sunday, May 29, 2:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Holy Mass and Jubilee of Deacons.” n Monday, May 30, 10 a.m. (EWTN) “The Grunt Padre in Vietnam.” The life of Father Vincent Capodanno, who committed his life and ultimately gave it up for the service of U.S. Marines fighting in Vietnam. n Monday, May 30, 12 p.m. (EWTN) “Archdiocese for the Military Services Memorial Mass.”

Archbishop Timothy Broglio celebrates the Military Services Memorial Mass in Washington, D.C. n Monday, May 30, 5 p.m. (EWTN) “Father Bradley Remembered: A Journey of Faith.” A look at Fr. Paul Francis Bradley’s calling as a military chaplain, who served in three wars, and won numerous medals for his years of service. n Thursday, June 2, 5 a.m. (EWTN) “St. Joan of Arc: Maid for God.” A docudrama on the life of the young peasant girl who extraordinarily was called to preserve the French throne, and whose actions on the battlefield led to the coronation of Charles VII at Reims. n Saturday, June 4, 11 p.m. (EWTN) “St. Margaret Mary and the Sacred Heart.” The story of St. Margaret Mary and the mission Christ gave her to spread devotion to His Sacred Heart; includes a tour of her convent in Paray-le-Monial, France.

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In theaters

the cast are offset, in writer-director Rodrigo Garcia’s drama, by a sluggishly paced plot that fails to evoke as much interest in viewers as it does in his possibly divine, but possibly merely human, protagonist. Respectful ambivalence about the person of Jesus not only undercuts the film’s appeal for believers but creates some aesthetic confusion as well. Religious themes requiring mature discernment, momentary scatological humor.

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

‘A Hologram for the King’

‘Last Days in the Desert’ Toward the end of his 40 days of fasting and prayer in the desert, Jesus (Ewan McGregor) -- here called by his Hebrew name, Yeshua -- spends time with a family of wilderness dwellers, becoming emotionally invested in the conflict between the father (Ciaran Hinds) and his teen son (Tye Sheridan) over the lad’s future as well as the fate of the terminally ill mother (Ayelet Zurer). Watching the situation with mocking spite, and doing his best to sow doubt in the Savior’s mind, is the Devil (also McGregor) who manifests himself as his adversary’s double. Striking cinematography and a high level of artistic commitment from

The simple joys of a stable career and a second chance at love are celebrated in this adaptation of Dave Eggers’ 2012 novel, which stars Tom Hanks as a U.S. businessman trying to persuade the King of Saudi Arabia to invest in a holographic teleconferencing system.

Since this personal component of the plot follows a divorce, it will strike Catholic viewers as less straightforward than the executive’s regrets over his professional transgressions, such as his role in the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs to China. Adult themes, fleeting rough and profane language.

CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: R

‘Other movies’ n ‘Keanu’: CNS: O (morally offensive); MPAA: R n ‘Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising’: CNS: O (morally offensive); MPAA: R n ‘Money Monster’: CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: A-III

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May 27, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

“Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity.

Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” — St. John Paul II

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Our nation 24

catholicnewsherald.com | May 27, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

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In Brief Supreme Court: Race played role in death penalty case jury selection WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a May 23 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court said Georgia prosecutors violated the Constitution in a death penalty case nearly two decades ago by excluding prospective black jurors from the trial. The 7-1 decision sent the case of Timothy Foster, an African-American facing the death penalty for killing an elderly white woman in 1986 when he was 18, back to Georgia for a new trial.

The Supreme Court had been asked to consider if Georgia prosecutors violated rules against racial selection of juries by striking four prospective African-American jurors in the 1986 case. The defendant was tried by an all-white jury and his conviction led to a death sentence a year later, which also was a year after the Supreme

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Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to strike jurors because of their race.

“ foster a false sense of security� that could “lead to complacency.

Supreme Court sends HHS mandate Two appointed to USCCB’s Review case back to lower courts Board; chairman reappointed WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court May 16 sent the Zubik v. Burwell case, which challenges the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive requirement for employers, back to the lower courts. The justices’ unanimous decision was based on the information that both sides submitted a week after oral arguments were heard in the case about how and if contraceptive insurance coverage could be obtained by employees through their insurance companies without directly involving religious employers who object to this coverage.

The court made clear that it is not expressing an opinion on the merits of the cases that are challenging aspects of the federal government’s health legislation and it also was not ruling on the issue of a potential violation of religious freedom.

Because of the “gravity of the dispute and the substantial clarification and refinement in the positions of the parties,� the court stated that religious employers and the government should be “afforded an opportunity to arrive at an approach going forward that accommodates petitioners’ religious exercise while at the same time ensuring that women covered by petitioners’ health plans receive full and equal health coverage, including contraceptive coverage.�

USCCB abuse audit warns of complacency WASHINGTON, D.C. — The annual report on the implementation of the U.S. bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People� warns against complacency in dioceses, and the firm contracted to conduct audits of dioceses and parishes said there was “plenty of room for improvement� in implementing two of the charter’s articles.

In remarks prefacing the report, Francesco C. Cesareo, chairman of the National Review Board, the all-lay group that tracks for the bishops how dioceses address clergy sexual abuse, said this year’s audit results “continue to demonstrate the progress that has been made in ensuring safe environments for children in the Church. The bishops need to be acknowledged for keeping the protection of children and young people in the forefront of their leadership by continually enhancing their efforts to comply with the charter,� Cesareo said. However, he also warned that the U.S. Church’s progress can

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Catholic school educator and a retired U.S. Navy officer have been named to serve on the U.S. bishops’ National Review Board, the all-lay group that monitors dioceses’ performance in dealing with sexually abusive priests and creating a safe environment for children throughout the Church. Ernest Stark and retired Rear Adm. Garry E. Hall, CEO and president of the Association of the U.S. Navy, will serve four-year terms beginning in June.

Francesco C. Cesareo, president of Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., was reappointed chairman of the board for a fouryear term, beginning in June. Stark is chairman of the review boards for several religious communities, including the Augustinians, Benedictines, Carmelites and Passionists and serves on the review board of De La Salle Christian Brothers.

House OKs bill allowing more ways to protect religious freedom worldwide WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House May 16 unanimously passed the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act, giving the Obama administration and the U.S. State Department new resources to combat what the bill’s bipartisan supporters say is “a worldwide escalation� of Christian persecution and antiSemitism.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., was the author of the bill named for former U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, a Republican who represented Virginia’s 10th Congressional District from 1981 to 2015.

The newly approved measure requires that international religious freedom policies be integrated into national security, immigration, rule of law and other relevant U.S. foreign policy priorities; creates a “designated persons list� of individuals sanctioned for participating or directing religious freedom abuses; and expands diplomatic training on international religious freedom for all State Department diplomats.

S.C. Legislature passes bill to ban abortions at 20 weeks COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Legislature passed a bill that makes abortion illegal at 20 weeks of pregnancy or later. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act passed the state House of Representatives

79-29 May 17. The Senate passed the bill in March 36-9. The bill was sent to Gov. Nikki Haley, who said in March that she would sign it.

The legislation was promoted by South Carolina Citizens for Life and is based on scientific evidence that reveals an unborn child can feel pain early in its development.

Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone of Charleston said the vote was a positive step in protecting the humanity of an unborn child, but added there is still much to accomplish.

Ala. governor signs bill to ban dismemberment abortions MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley May 12 signed into law a bill to protect unborn children from dismemberment abortions. It takes effect in August.

The same day the Louisiana Legislature passed a measure to extend the state’s waiting period before a woman can get an abortion from 24 hours to 72 hours.

In Alabama, state law “has long held an unborn child can be endangered and feel pain and suffer,� said Bentley, who is a medical doctor. “This particular bill puts an end to something that should not be an elective procedure.�

He signed a second bill that prohibits abortion clinics from operating within 2,000 feet of elementary and middle schools. It could close two of the state’s abortion clinics, one in Huntsville and one in Tuscaloosa. According to the Montgomery Advertiser, the two clinics accounted for 72 percent of all the state’s abortion procedures in 2014.

Dioceses, other groups file suit over N.Y. abortion mandates ALBANY, N.Y. — The Albany and Ogdensburg dioceses, Catholic Charities agencies and other groups have filed a lawsuit against a branch of the New York state government and several health insurance companies challenging the constitutionality of making religious and other employers cover abortions for their workers. Two mandates from the New York State Department of Financial Services have been placed on insurers – without any legislative or regulatory enactment – that have the effect of forcing religious and other employers to pay for abortions in employee health plans. In a complaint filed May 4 at the New York State Supreme Court in Albany County, the plaintiffs charge that the requirements represent “an invidious governmental coercion of religious institutions, employers and individuals, and, if unchecked, will result in further dangerous incursions on religious freedom and liberty of conscience.� — Catholic News Service

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Our world

May 27, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

25

Pope tells women religious Vatican will study women deacons Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis told the heads of women’s religious orders from around the world that he would set up a commission to study the New Testament deaconesses and he also insisted more should be done to involve lay and consecrated women in Church decisionmaking at every level.

Asked if he would establish “an official commission to study the question” of the possibility of women serving as deacons today, Pope Francis responded: “I accept.

It would be useful for the Church to clarify this question. I agree.”

The pope spent more than an hour May 12 responding to questions posed by members of the International Union of Superiors

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In Brief Pope: Vatican review needed to set up diocesan religious order VATICAN CITY — Diocesan bishops must consult with the Vatican before establishing a diocesan religious order, Pope Francis ruled. The consultation “is to be understood as necessary for the validity of the erection of a diocesan institute of consecrated life,” said the rescript or ruling approved by Pope Francis April 4 and published by the Vatican May 20. The English translation of the Code of Canon Law states: “Diocesan bishops, each in his own territory, can erect institutes of consecrated life by formal decree, provided that the Apostolic See has been consulted.” The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life said in a statement that the consultation is necessary because “every new institute of consecrated life, even if it comes

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.

General, the leadership group for superiors of women’s orders, during a gathering of 900 superiors general representing almost 500,000 sisters around the world.

Asked about deaconesses in the New Testament and the possibility of the modern Church admitting women to the permanent diaconate, Pope Francis had said his understanding was that the women described as deaconesses in the Bible were not ordained like permanent deacons are.

Mainly, he said, it appeared that they assisted with the baptism by immersion of other women and with the anointing of women.

However, he said, “I will ask the (Congregation for the) Doctrine of the Faith to tell me if there are studies on this.”

News reports of the pope’s remarks prompted the Vatican spokesman to clarify May 13 that Pope Francis “did not say he

intends to introduce a diaconal ordination for women,” and he did not speak about the ordination of women priests.

Pope Francis also promised to have the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments send the UISG a full explanation of why women cannot give a homily at Mass.

While women can preach at a Liturgy of the Word when there is not a celebration of the Eucharist, he said, at Mass the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist are parts of a whole and only one who is ordained can preside and preach.

The main part of the question was about the lack of influence women religious are given in Church decision-making processes. Pope Francis said the obligation to listen to women in the parish, diocese and at the Vatican “is not a matter of feminism, but of right.”

All the baptized – women and men, lay

or consecrated – have been given gifts by the Holy Spirit for the good of the entire Church, he insisted. The entire Church suffers when some voices are excluded from the conversation, he said.

“Our desire is that the Church talk with us – like is happening now – and not about us,” one of the sisters told him.

“I never imagined there was such a disconnect, truly. Thank you for telling me so courageously and for doing so with that smile,” the pope said.

However, Pope Francis warned the sisters about the danger of clericalism, which he described as “a sinful attitude,” but one which is “like the tango, it takes two.” There are priests who see themselves as lords of the Church, he said, but there also are women and laymen “who ask to be clericalized.”

into the light and develops within a particular Church, is a gift given to the entire Church.”

In French interview, pope talks about religious freedom VATICAN CITY — Governments work best when they are secular, not confessional, but they must give ample space for people to express their religious beliefs, including by respecting the right of conscientious objection, Pope Francis told the French Catholic newspaper La Croix.

While legislatures must “discuss, argue, explain (and) reason” about legal solutions to complex issues, “once a law has been adopted, the state must also respect consciences,” the pope said in the interview published May 16. “The right to conscientious objection must be recognized within each legal structure because it is a human right – including for a government official, who is a human person.” Governments, he said, “must be secular. Confessional states end badly.” But a secular democracy respects the religious freedom of its citizens, including their right to publicly express their faith, he said. “People must be free to profess their faith at the heart of their own culture, not merely at its margins.”

— Catholic News Service

His Excellency The Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis Bishop of Charlotte requests the honor of your presence at the Liturgy of Ordination to the Diaconate Mr. Matthew Patrick Bean Mr. Brian Joseph Becker Mr. Christopher Allen Bond Mr. William Christian Cook Saturday, the fourth day of June Two thousand and sixteen at ten o’clock in the morning Saint Mark Catholic Church 14740 Stumptown Road Huntersville, North Carolina Reception following Parish Hall

ViewPoints 26

catholicnewsherald.com | May 27, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Father Noah Carter

I

Love, mercy, justice: Communion for the divorced and remarried

n every age, the Church deals with issues and pastoral situations so murky that a solution to a member’s situation may seem impossible. In the modern age, very few Catholics understand the importance of the Church’s precepts. These precepts bind each member of the Church to certain obligations in order to direct the lives of the faithful to the Church’s good. Since these obligations are given to the faithful by the Church, the Church may dispense the faithful of these precepts for a legitimate reason. The Church cannot, however, dispense the faithful from God’s law. A pastor may dispense one or more of his parishioners from Sunday Mass, but he cannot dispense them from keeping the Sabbath day holy. Another precept requires the faithful to marry according to the laws of the Church. The bishop can dispense a Catholic so he or she may marry an unbaptized person. He cannot, however, dispense a man so that he can marry a man, for the definition of marriage is laid down by God, not the Church.

What happens, then, when someone returns to the Church after a long time and has lived a period of his or her life without a regard for these precepts, especially the precept concerning marriage laws?

Let us imagine that a man returns to the Church and his wife enters the RCIA process. We will imagine their names as James and Kelly. James and Kelly have two sons, one 4 years old and the other 6 years old. Throughout the RCIA process, the pastor discovers that James was married in the Church to his high school sweetheart, Rachel, but they divorced legally four years later. James and Kelly, married by the state when James was not practicing his faith, are so intent on being faithful Catholics that James diligently follows the pastor’s direction in requesting a declaration of nullity for his first marriage. For whatever reason, the Church cannot find sufficient grounds to declare the previous marriage null and void. In the eyes of the Church, James is still married to Rachel; moreover, this means that James and Kelly are not sacramentally married. James and Kelly are devastated, but do not want to give up on conversion. What will they do?

Justice demands that they can no longer share a common life together: they must separate.

Enter St. John Paul II’s 1981 apostolic exhortation “Familiaris Consortio.” In paragraph 84, John Paul II speaks directly to this situation: “However, the Church reaffirms her practice, which is based upon Sacred Scripture, of not admitting to Eucharistic Communion divorced persons who have remarried. They are unable to be admitted thereto from the fact that their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist. Besides this, there is another special pastoral reason: if these people were admitted to the Eucharist, the faithful would be led into error and confusion regarding the Church’s teaching about the indissolubility of marriage. Reconciliation in the sacrament of penance which would open the way to the Eucharist, can only be granted to those who, repenting of having broken the sign of the Covenant and of fidelity to Christ, are sincerely ready to undertake a way of life that is no longer in contradiction to the indissolubility of marriage.

This means, in practice, that when, for serious reasons, such as for example the children’s upbringing, a man and a woman cannot satisfy the obligation to separate, they ‘take on themselves the duty to live in complete continence, that is, by abstinence from the acts proper to married couples.’”

St. John Paul II balances here the demands of justice along with the path of mercy. In view of the fact that James and Kelly are not married sacramentally, justice obligates them to separate. They cannot live as if they were married.

However, justice also demands that the children are raised by a father and a mother known to them. And so, in view of the good of the children, mercy can dispense the obligation to separate. St. John Paul II reemphasizes the Church’s practice: in justice, couples who are not married must live separate. Mercy does not condone the parents’ actions or

give them freedom to share in the marital act, but it does recognize the good of the children. Mercy is employed in order to relax some obligation due to justice, not permit the perpetuation of sin.

Is this situation to be practiced with all divorced and remarried couples? No, of course not. The Church continues to reaffirm that justice demands separation.

What is morally necessary, then, for a pastor to help arrange this situation? First, there must be children involved. Secondly, the couple must be formed to understand the grave importance of remaining continent, and this must be undertaken freely for the love of Christ, the dignity of marriage, and the salvation of the children. They must understand that this path of mercy for the sake of the children is not a free pass for them to engage in the marital act. They must live in separate rooms, observe the norms of chastity, and do nothing that would intentionally arouse the other, the end of which is the marital act. Thirdly, they must be committed to an intense daily prayer and a frequent reception of the sacraments to sustain them in this sacrifice.

Along with this, they must allow the Church to accompany them through the direction of their parish priest. They must be honest and transparent about their struggles and temptations. Lastly, their situation must remain as much as possible a secret to prevent scandal. In James’ and Kelly’s case, the only people who know about their situation is them, the parish priest, the annulment contact at the parish, and possibly the RCIA director. Their sacrificial love is hidden from the eyes of the parish. They live a secret sort of penance.

Situations like those I have outlined were only hypothetical to me until the Family Synods began in 2014. In seminary, we read “Familiaris Consortio” and spoke at length about different situations and how to handle them. When certain heterodox prelates, however, began speaking publicly about readmitting to Communion divorced people who have remarried, these hypothetical cases quickly presented themselves as a concrete reality. Different couples revealed their situations to me, stating that they had lived apart chastely but in the same house for 3, 10, even 20-plus years in order to provide for their children. While sadness can creep into their relationships when they think of what they have sacrificed, the grace of that sacrifice in their children almost immediately eliminates that sorrow. While the pleasure of the marital act is good, they recognize that a voluntary sacrifice of that good is redemptive. One couple’s child spoke to me in my office and said that she had known for a little over a year about the sacrifice her parents make every day for her. She smiled and said, “Because of their purity, they understand modesty and chastity in such a clear way that they can teach me well. I don’t need to look it up in my Catechism. They are a living catechism.”

Why did these couples come forward to their parish priest?

They wanted to give me encouragement to preach what some might consider a hard truth. They asked me to stand up for the dignity and indissolubility of marriage and to let others know that it can be done according to the moral law.

Every time someone said, “Don’t punish the divorced and remarried anymore; let them all come back to Communion,” they felt that someone was devaluing the sacrifices they daily make in faith and hope. Because of the private nature of their sacrifice, they were unable to speak up for themselves, so they were asking the Church to stand up for them and preach true mercy, not a false mercy that accepts and condones sin, or tells people that the teachings of Our Lord are too difficult.

Mercy requires deep sacrifice and a complete love of Christ, but, as these couples have proven, all things are possible with God. Father Noah Carter is the parochial vicar at Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro. This commentary was originally published by One Peter Five, online at www.onepeterfive.com.

Barbara Case Speers

I

The look of love

may be carbon dating myself, but some of you seniors may also remember the song “The Look of Love,” written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. This 1967 hit tune was sung by English pop singer Dusty Springfield. One day while I was thinking about the first line of this song, “The look of love is in your eyes,” I was prompted to jot down some thoughts about Jesus. What’s the common link between this song and our faith?

Recall the parable of the rich man in Mark 10:17-31: “As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.”’

“He replied and said to him, ‘Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, ‘You are lacking in one thing.

Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, ‘How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ “The disciples were amazed at His words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ “They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.’ Peter began to say to him, ‘We have given up everything and followed you.’

“Jesus said, ‘Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.’”

These verses traditionally reflect on the obsession of possessions which can lead to materialism. Our society has the need to feed greed. Everyone wants the biggest and the best.

The rich young man knew what to do, but his riches got in the way. In other words, he couldn’t hand over the goods to the poor and follow Jesus.

But just as importantly in these verses, Jesus describes what love is and what love does. The text states that Jesus looked on the young man, and He loved him. This was a deep love, a love that required action. After His look of love, Jesus told the young man what he lacked. Jesus could have given the man a pat on the back and sent him on his way with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Instead, Jesus told him exactly what he needed to do, with no sugar coating of the truth.

To love someone isn’t always easy. When a family member, relative, friend, neighbor or acquaintance questions how they can have the hope of eternal life, we must tell them what they lack. As it says in Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel.

It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: for Jew first, and then Greek.”

Barbara Case Speers is a writer who lives in Hickory.

May 27, 2016 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

27

Letter to the editor

Imitating the virtues of the Blessed Mother Deacon James H. Toner

What we know that ain’t so:

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

Governor, guardian, guide What we think is the right road

H

ow shall I live? Whose advice shall I heed?

Who are my heroes? There are many competing voices out there, and they all want me (or my time and money). But the coolest guides are the most publicized ones, for they have the “right” causes, the latest clothes and the flashiest homes. It’s hard to argue with personal “beauty,” financial success and the glitziest awards for TV shows and the movies.

‘Teach me your ways, O Lord; make them known to me. Teach me to live according to your truth, for you are my God, who saves me. I always trust in you.’

But it’s the wrong road

We rarely hear it said, even from pulpits, that among the tasks of genuine education is that of helping students (and all of us) to find genuine heroes to emulate. “Imitate me,” St. Paul told us, “just as I imitate Christ” (1 Cor 11:1).

A long time ago I had a summer job in a cemetery.

With a couple of others, I mowed Ps 25:4-5 GNB the lawn and dug the graves. (We could not use a backhoe.) One of the workers was an older man, Mr. Beckwith, who had worked “The Death of in the cemetery Humanity and the for decades. He Case for Life” knew where all

by Richard Weikart the bodies were (Washington, D.C.: buried – literally.

Regnery, 2016) Mr. Beckwith, however, was an alcoholic, and he used to drink his lunch. So that the boss would not see him imbibing, he often wandered through the cemetery at lunch time and, occasionally, I would accompany him, asking questions about the town’s history. Mr. Beckwith enjoyed reminiscing, and he had many stories to tell. As we walked through the cemetery, he would occasionally point to graves and mutter one of two phrases: “good guy” or “bum.” Now here was the marker of someone who had died three or four or even five decades before, and Mr. Beckwith was summarizing his life in one or two simple words.

I drew a number of lessons from Mr. Beckwith. Among them was the importance of not being a bum, a “good-for-nothing person.”

Worship false gods; imitate the wrong example; choose perfidious heroes – and we become

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good for nothing; that is, we are “good” only to the extent that we are nihilists, believing in nothing.

So much modern moral chaos flows from our blindness about whom to choose as our guide, our guardian, our governor. Before the question of who is worthy of our greatest trust, modern education often stands mute. Having nowhere else to turn for a roster of heroes, we look to Hollywood to supply us with the latest in fads, fashions, fancies – and “moral instruction.” That “moral instruction” is invariably a license to do whatever we choose as long, of course, as it does not complement the “antiquated, authoritarian, bigoted, judgmental, homophobic, transphobic, fascist, imperialist, racist, misogynist” traditional Christian faith. The prophet Isaiah explained: The glitterati “call evil good and call good evil.

(They) turn darkness into light and light into darkness. (They) make what is bitter sweet, and what is sweet (they) make bitter” (5:20).

There are more than 50 New Testament verses about following Christ the Lord. Get that wrong, and we get everything else that matters wrong. Appoint anyone else as our governor, guide and guardian, and we submit ourselves to false teachers, phony gods and fraudulent “values.” St. Paul, for example, tells us, in First Corinthians, to maintain the traditions he handed on, and he emphasizes the critical importance of knowing that the “head of every man is Christ” (11:3 RSV).

In the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch offer this insight about St. Paul’s charge to us about that sacred Tradition, explaining that it “refers to the Gospel as it was delivered to the early Church in person or in writing by the inspired apostles.

The divine origin of Christian tradition gives it an authority not shared by merely human tradition, which is often unreliable and can be in conflict with revealed truth.”

This “conflict with revealed truth” is sharpest precisely in the matter of whom we choose to be our guides, our teachers. As Cardinal Robert Sarah has written: “Nowadays there is a massive indifference among many people with regard to the Gospel and the moral behavior it demands; is this not a way of sacrificing little by little to the idols of selfishness, luxury, consumption, and pleasure, which are sought without limits and at any price? This form of pleasure could kill the soul without attacking the body. The spirit of evil that opposed our martyrs is still at work.”

There are around us today legions of false teachers. “Many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled” (2 Peter 2:3), and “because wickedness is multiplied, most men’s love will grow cold” (Mt. 24:11 RSV). Following the examples of the wrong teachers leads to our being “good for nothing” and in exulting only in what is evil (see Romans 1:25).

Finding and following the Master Teacher is what makes life worth living, for “how happy are those who respect (God’s) decrees, and seek Him with their whole heart, and, doing no evil, walk in His ways!” (Psalm 119:2 JB) Deacon James H. Toner serves at Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro.

In my work as a Catholic mother, nurse and birth and postpartum doula, I have spent a great deal of time reflecting on Mary, our Blessed Mother. Not only is she a supreme model of motherhood, but she also longs to be our spiritual mother. She always stays near us, offering maternal help and guidance throughout pregnancy, birth and the daily trials of mothering. All we have to do is turn to her and ask for her intercession. As Our Lady of Guadalupe told St. Juan Diego, “All those who sincerely ask my help in their work and in their sorrows will know my Mother’s Heart in this place. Here I will see their tears; I will console them and they will be at peace.”

Not only are mothers in need of Mary’s nurturing care, they can also be strengthened by following her example. When the 10 Marian virtues ­– purity, prudence, humility, faith, devotion, obedience, poverty, patience, mercy and sorrow –­are applied to motherhood, women can find greater meaning, peace and healing in their daily lives. Mary can grant women the graces they need through her Son Jesus to help them be better mothers and blossom into the beautiful women they are made to be.

No matter what the circumstances, every pregnancy is a pure and sacred gift. Motherhood is in itself a calling of purity because it is blessed by God. The obedience to that calling is mirrored in Mary’s Fiat, “Let it be done.” When a woman devotes herself to the process of pregnancy, birth and the sanctity of her motherly vocation, she devotes herself to God. In return, God gives Himself and the Blessed Mother to nurture and care for her.

When we respond to God with our own fiat, we can’t know the outcome. The experience of labor and childbirth is a calling into a great unknown. In these instances, where we often have little control, we are called to surrender to a greater hand.

God’s plan most often unfolds in the realm of mystery and uncertainty, and He uses every experience to shape our souls and draw us closer to Himself.

St. Teresa of Avila wrote, “Patience obtains all things.” When faced with unexpected circumstances that can arise in labor and delivery, patience is one of the best preparations for becoming a new parent. Cultivating the seeds of patience and willingness to accept the “unplanned” during pregnancy and labor is practice for the patience required as a new mother.

Fear and anxiety are normal, and faith is the light that guides us to be the gentle and strong protectors of the lives that have been entrusted to us. However, mothers, as blessed treasures, are also in need of grace and care. A mother’s humility of spirit, her willingness to ask for and receive care, is like a flower which, when it receives the gifts of sunshine, rain and nourishment from the soil, is in turn able to give beauty and nectar to the world.

Pope Benedict XVI spoke of “women as bearers of love, teachers of mercy and artisans of peace.” A mother’s mercy, love and compassion should extend to her expectations of herself, her body and her family.

As the saying goes, “The crack is what lets the light in,” so also the recognition that we, our family, and our children are imperfect allows space for God’s mercy to be experienced in our families.

Mary’s maternal love can carry us through life’s heartaches with tenderness, healing and restoration.

Having been through unimaginable depths of pain, sorrow and heartbreak, Mary always remained strong and humble, submitting to the Father’s will. We can’t carry the huge load of life’s demands, disappointment and suffering alone.

Mary beckons all her children, with their worry, imperfection and woundedness, to come to her so she can intercede on our behalf and bestow graces on us through her Son Jesus.

Elizabeth Harris is a registered nurse and certified doula serving mothers in and around Asheville. Mary Ellen Lough, a mother of five, writer, poet and community activist in Asheville, contributed.

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