Feb. 17, 2017

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

F e b r u ar y 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

Diocese of Charlotte Foundation surpasses $40M in assets

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INDEX

Contact us.......................... 4 Español.................................13 Events calendar................. 4 Our Faith............................. 2 Our Parishes................. 3-12 Schools......................... 14-15 Scripture readings............ 2 TV & Movies.......................16 U.S. news...................... 18-19 Viewpoints.................. 22-23 World news.................. 20-21

‘This was God’s plan for me’

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Consecrated religious honored for their ‘radical gift of self’ Loads of fun for Catholic Schools Week! 14

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This Lent, open the path to a culture of encounter Homeboy Industries founder asks, ‘Save the world, or savor it?’ 6

CRS Rice Bowl campaign kicks off with start of Lent March 1 5

Our Faith 2

catholicnewsherald.com | February 17, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Pope Francis

Even in dark times, never lose hope in God’s love

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hristians must never lose hope and should remind themselves that God loves them even at their worst, Pope Francis said.

God’s love provides “security” both in difficult moments and even when “I have done something terrible and evil,” the pope said Feb. 15 during his weekly general audience.

“No one can take this security from us. We must repeat it like a prayer: God loves me. I am sure that God loves me!” he said.

Continuing a series of talks on Christian hope, the pope reflected on a passage from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans in which the apostle says Christians “should boast in hope of the glory of God.” “Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope,” St. Paul writes.

The pope said boasting is “surprising” since from a young age, people are taught that boasting reflects “a certain pride” and reveals “a lack of respect for others, especially toward those less fortunate than us.”

“How is it possible to do this without offending, without excluding anyone?” the pope asked.

He explained that Christians are called first to “boast of the abundance of grace we have received in Jesus Christ” by “learning to read everything with the light of the Holy Spirit.”

“If we pay attention, acting — in our history, in our lives — we are not alone, but above all with God. It is he who is the absolute protagonist, who creates everything as a gift of love, who weaves the storyline of his plan of salvation and who fulfills it in us through his son,” the pope said.

God’s love, he said, nourishes Christian hope that “doesn’t separate us from others, nor does it lead us to discredit or marginalize others.”

“Our greatest boast is having, as a father, a God who does not make preferences, who excludes no one, but rather opens his home to all human beings, beginning from the last ones to the far away so that as his children, we learn to console and support one another,” Pope Francis said.

St. Polycarp: Bishop defied emperor upon martyrdom, ‘Bring forth what you will’ Feast day: Feb. 23 Benjamin Mann Catholic News Agency

On Feb. 23, the Church remembers the life and martyrdom of St. Polycarp, a disciple of the apostle and evangelist St. John. Polycarp is celebrated on the same date by Eastern Orthodox Christians, who also honor him as a saint.

Polycarp is known to later generations primarily through the account of his martyrdom, rather than by a formal biography.

However, it can be determined from that account that he was born around the year 69 A.D. From the testimony he gave to his persecutors – stating he had served Christ for 86 years – it is clear that he was either raised as a Christian or became one in his youth.

Growing up among the Greek-speaking Christians of the Roman Empire, Polycarp received the teachings and recollections of people who had seen and known Jesus during His earthly life.

This important connection – between Jesus’ first disciples and apostles and their respective students – served to protect the Catholic Church against the influence of heresy during its earliest days, particularly against early attempts to deny Jesus’ bodily incarnation and full humanity.

Polycarp’s most eloquent testimony to his faith in Jesus came not through his words, but through his martyrdom, described in another early Christian work.

The Church of Smyrna, in present-day

Turkey, compiled its recollections of their bishop’s death at the hands of public authorities in a letter to another local church.

“We have written to you, brethren, as to what relates to the martyrs, and especially to the blessed Polycarp” – who, in the words of the Catholics of Smyrna, “put an end to the persecution – having, as it were, set a seal upon it by his martyrdom.”

Around the year 155, Polycarp became aware that government authorities were on the lookout for him, seeking to stamp out the Catholic Church’s claim of obeying a higher authority than the emperor.

He retreated to a country house and occupied himself with constant prayer, before receiving a vision of his death that prompted him to inform his friends: “I must be burned alive.” He changed locations but was betrayed by a young man who knew his whereabouts and confessed under torture.

He was captured on a Saturday evening by two public officials who urged him to submit to the state demands. “What harm is there,” one asked, “in saying, ‘Caesar is Lord,’ and in sacrificing to him, with the other ceremonies observed on such occasions, so as to make sure of safety?”

“I shall not do as you advise me,” Polycarp answered. Outraged by his response, the officials had him violently thrown from their chariot and taken to an arena for execution. Entering the stadium, St. Polycarp, SEE page 17

Seven founders of the Order of Servites Feast day: Feb. 17 These seven men were born in Florence, Italy and led lives as hermits on Monte Senario. They had a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

On Friday, April 13, 1240, the hermits received a vision of Our Lady. She held in her hand a black habit, and a nearby angel bore a scroll reading “Servants of Mary.”

Mary told them: “You will found a new order, and you will be my witnesses throughout the world. This is your name: Servants of Mary. This is your rule: that of Saint Augustine. And here is your distinctive sign: the black scapular, in memory of my sufferings.

They accepted the wisdom of Our Lady, wrote a Rule based on Saint Augustine and the Dominican Constitutions, adopted the black habit of an Augustinian monk, and lived as mendicant (beggar) friars. The men founded the Order of Servites which in 1304 received the approval of the Holy See. They are venerated on Feb. 17 because it is said to be the day on which St. Alexis Falconieri, one of the seven, died in 1310.

All seven were beatified Dec. 1, 1717, by Pope Clement XI and canonized in 1887 by Pope Leo XIII. — Catholic News Agency

More online At www.servite.org: Learn more about the Order of the Servites

Your daily Scripture readings FEB. 19-25

Sunday: Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18, 1 Corinthians 3:16-23, Matthew 5:38-48; Monday: Sirach 1:110, Mark 9:14-29; Tuesday (St. Peter Damian): Sirach 2:1-11, Mark9:30-37; Wednesday (The Chair of St. Peter): 1 Peter 5:1-4, Matthew 16:13-19; Thursday (St. Polycarp): Sirach 5:1-8, Mark 9:41-50; Friday: Sirach 6:5-17, Mark 10:112; Saturday: Sirach 17:1-15, Mark 10:13-16

FEB. 26-MARCH 4

Sunday; Isaiah 49:14-15, 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, Matthew 6:24-34; Monday: Sirach 17:20-24, Mark 10:17-27; Tuesday: Sirach 35:1-12, Mark 10:28-31; Wednesday (Ash Wednesday): Joel 2:12-18, 2 Corinthians 5:20- 6:2, Matthew 6:16, 16-18; Thursday: Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Luke 9:22-25; Friday (St. Katharine Drexel): Isaiah 58:1-9, Matthew 9:14-15; Saturday (St. Casimir): Isaiah 58:9-14, Luke 5:27-32

MARCH 5-11

Sunday (First Sunday of Lent): Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7, Romans 5:12-19, Matthew 4:1-11; Monday: Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18, Matthew 25:3146; Tuesday (Sts. Perpetua and Felicity): Isaiah 55:10-11, Matthew 6:7-15; Wednesday (St. John of God): Jonah 3:1-10, Luke 11:2932; Thursday (St. Frances of Rome): Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25, Matthew 7:7-12; Friday: Ezekiel 18:21-28, Matthew 5:20-26; Saturday: Deuteronomy 26:16-19, Matthew 5:43-48

Our parishes

February 17, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

‘You have given yourselves totally to God who is your light and your salvation’

Consecrated religious honored for their ‘radical gift of self’ SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

CHARLOTTE — Habits, veils, rosaries and pins denoting religious communities were prevalent among the more than 50 women and men religious from around the Diocese of Charlotte who attended the Mass for the World Day for Consecrated Life with Bishop Peter Jugis Feb. 4 at St. Patrick Cathedral.

The annual Mass is an opportunity for Bishop Jugis to thank the religious jubilarians and members of their communities for their dedication and service to the Church.

During his homily, Bishop Jugis said, “I look forward to this day each year to honor the vocation of consecrated life and also I look forward to this day, personally, to thank God for the witness that you give to the Diocese of Charlotte of the beauty and the holiness of religious life.”

He noted that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the World Day for Consecrated Life. St. John Paul II celebrated the first World Day for Consecrated Life on Feb. 2, 1997.

“The one question I have always had from the beginning is: why did he choose the feast of the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple as the special day to honor the consecrated life? There must have been some kind of special connection in his mind. There has to be something evident to bring together that feast day and the consecrated life. It has to have something to do with what is at the core of the consecrated life.”

That core, he continued, is the grace that consecrated religious have received to make a total commitment to God,

Consecrated religious from communities across western N.C. attended the annual Mass celebrated by Bishop Peter Jugis for the World Day for Consecrated Life Feb. 4 at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte.

SueAnn Howell | Catholic News Herald

leaving everything behind to give their lives to God. “Consecrated religious leave everything behind in order to give themselves completely to God,” he said.

“It’s a radical gift of self, as you already know, that is made by your consecration - radical, or to the root, or to the core.”

“So we might say that all of you are radicals,” he joked, drawing laughter from the congregation.

Bishop Jugis took great care to share his reflection on the details of the official image published by the U.S. Catholic gift of self, SEE page 17

‘This was God’s plan for me... All of a sudden, I just felt this calling.’

Mercy Sister Therese Galligan More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See more photos from the Mass for the World Day for Consecrated Life

Consecrated religious jubilarians honored Feb. 4 CHARLOTTE — At the conclusion of the Mass for the World Day for Consecrated Life celebrated by Bishop Peter Jugis at St. Patrick Cathedral Feb. 4, 12 women religious were honored for their decades of service to the Church.

Religious sisters celebrating special jubilee anniversaries in 2017 include: Mercy Sister Alma Pangelinan (70 years); Mercy Sister Therese Galligan (60 years); St. Joseph Sister John Christopher (55 years); Mercy Sisters Carolyn Coll, Sister Jane Davis, Sister Rose Marie Tresp and Sister Donna Marie Vaillancourt (50 years); St. Joseph Sister Geri Rogers (50 years); Missionaries of Charity Sister M. Martinella (25 years); and Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul Sister Pushpa Jose, Sister Christie and Sister Agnes Maria (25 years).

Bishop Jugis called each jubilarian present at Mass to join him at the steps of the sanctuary so he could acknowledge them and thank each of

Foundation surpasses $40M in assets SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte Foundation recently reached the milestone of $40 million in assets.

The foundation, established in 1994, provides a means for people and organizations to provide long-term financial stability for the diocese and its more than 181 churches, schools, agencies and organizations.

Over the past 24 years, the foundation has grown to encompass 246 endowments that total $40,773,550 in assets as of Dec. 31, 2016.

An endowment is a permanent fund, the principal of which is never touched, but the income from which can be used in accordance with the wishes of the donor organization or individual. Endowments provide a way to generate income and help sustain the longterm strength and viability of the diocese and its parishes, schools, agencies and ministries.

“Surpassing $40 million in assets means the diocese and its many parishes, schools and ministries will receive more income that will be used to change lives and ultimately bring people closer to Jesus,” said Jim Kelley, diocesan director of development.

Those who make a planned gift to the diocese or any of its parishes, schools, ministries or agencies become members of the Catholic Heritage Society. The society is the diocese’s way of honoring the Christian generosity of Catholic friends who are providing for the future of the Church in western North Carolina.

The Catholic Heritage Society is comprised of more than 900 people in the diocese, many of whom are leaving gifts to the foundation in their wills.

The foundation sends reports out to all these endowment holders every quarter stating where their endowment stands and how much is available to distribute. As a rule, the foundation makes available 5 percent of a rolling three-year average value of its total assets. Since 1994, the foundation has distributed more than $7 million to the diocese and its parishes, schools and ministries.

One recent endowment bequeathed to St. Barnabas Church was received through the generosity of Dennis and Mary Kushler, who quietly left the parish a $3.6 million endowment after their deaths. It is the single largest estate gift in the history of the Catholic Church in North Carolina.

The Kushlers’ endowment will provide the parish with an estimated $175,000 annual income initially, and it will grow over time.

It is a general purpose endowment, so the money can be used to help in whatever way the parish decides.

“We are finding more and more people in the diocese are remembering the Church in their estates. Many of them are establishing endowments in the foundation, where their gifts can have a lasting impact. Gifts made once in an endowment continue to give forever.”

Learn more sueann howell | catholic news herald

them personally.

At the conclusion of Mass, he joined the jubilarians and members of their communities from across western North

Carolina in the Family Life Center at St. Patrick Cathedral for a luncheon in their honor.

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter

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For more information about establishing an endowment to benefit the Church in western North Carolina, contact Ray-Eric Correia, diocesan director of planned giving, at 704-370-3364 or email recorreia@ charlottediocese.org.

UPcoming events 4

catholicnewsherald.com | February 17, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following upcoming events: Feb. 19 – 11:30 a.m.

Holy Mass and Blessing of Simmons Parish Center St. Pius X Church, Greensboro Feb. 24 – 10 a.m.

Diocesan Finance Council Meeting Pastoral Center, Charlotte

Feb. 28 – 6 p.m.

Seminarian Education Campaign Dinner Graylyn International Conference Center, Winston-Salem March 2 – 10 a.m.

Foundation Board Meeting Catholic Conference Center, Hickory

March 4 Catholic Men’s Conference St. Mark Church, Huntersville March 5 – 5 p.m.

Rite of Election Holy Cross Church, Kernersville

Diocesan calendar of events February 17, 2017

ENTERTAINMENT

Volume 26 • Number 10

Gaudium Musicae Concert Series: 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, at St. Ann Church, 3635 Park Road, Charlotte.

Concert will feature Gate City Camerata, UNCGreensboro’s elite faculty student ensemble, presenting traditional and contemporary chamber works. For details, go to www.stanncharlotte.org.

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

Catholic Charities partnerS in Hope Dinner: March 9 at the Benton Convention Center, Winston-Salem.

Dominican Sister Donna Markham, PhD, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, will be the guest speaker.

For details, call 336-714-3227 or go to www.ccdoc.org/ partnersinhope.

STAFF

NATURAL Family Planning

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

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

Saturday, April 8, at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. Topics include: effectiveness of modern NFP, health risks of popular contraceptives and what the Church teaches about responsible parenting. Sponsored by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte. RSVP to Batrice Adcock, MSN, RN, at 704-3703230.

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 Hispanic communications reporter: Rico De Silva, 704-370-3375, rdesilva@charlottediocese.org GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Tim Faragher 704-370-3331, tpfaragher@charlottediocese.org COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT/CIRCULATION: Erika Robinson, 704-370-3333, catholicnews@ charlottediocese.org

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

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

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

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

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

PRAYER SERVICES & Groups Anointing Mass: 10 a.m. Feb. 18, at St. Luke Church, 13700 Lawyers Road, Charlotte. Anointing is typically presented to those who need healing from physical or mental illness. A social afterwards in the Family Life Center. Sponsored by the HOPE Committee. For details, call Mary Adams at 704-545-1224.

St. Peregrine healing Prayer: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. This powerful healing prayer service is offered on the fourth Thursday of the month for all those suffering with cancer or other diseases. For details, call the parish office at 704-543-7677.

Pro-Life Rosary: 11 a.m. Saturday, March 4, at 801 North Elm St. and Sunset Dr., High Point. Come and help us pray for the end of abortion, and feel free to invite anyone who would be morally supportive of this important cause. Parking is available on site in the bank parking lot. For details, call Jim Hoyng at 336-882-9593 or Paul Klosterman at 336-848-6835.

CHARLOTTE Maronite Mission: Masses are offered every Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at St. Matthew Church’s Waxhaw Campus, 4116 Waxhaw-Marvin Road, Waxhaw. 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 parish office at 828-926-0106.

Evening Novenas: Every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Christ the King Church, 1505 East Kivett Dr., High

Point. All are invited to pray the Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Join them in praying for the needs of your families and for our hurting world. For details, call the parish office at 336-883-0244.

Men’s Prayer Group: 7:30-8 a.m. Thursdays at St. Patrick Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Road East, Charlotte.

Join Father Christopher Roux, rector and pastor, and other area Catholic men for Sunday Gospel meditations, the rosary and fellowship. For details, call the parish office at 704-334-2283.

SAFE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING “Protecting God’s Children” workshops are intended to educate parish volunteers to recognize and prevent sexual abuse. For details, contact your parish office. To register and confirm workshop times, go to www.virtus. org. Upcoming workshops are: HUNTERSVILLE: 10 a.m. Saturday, March 4, at St. Mark Church, 14740 Stumptown Road MINT HILL: 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at St. Luke Church, 13700 Lawyers Road SALISBURY: 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, at Sacred Heart School, 385 Lumen Christi Lane RETREATS & Lectures Coffee Talk ‘Forgiven’: 10:20 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, in the Simmons Parish Center at St. Pius X Church, 2210 North Elm St., Greensboro. This is the last in a three-part series on topics: Where are you? An Encounter with Mercy, and Embraced in Mercy-The Rite Explained. For details, call the parish office at 336-272-4681.

CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC WOMEN’S GROUP EVENING Reflection: 7:15 p.m. Friday, March 3, at St. Mark Church, 14740 Stumptown Road, Huntersville. All women in the Diocese of Charlotte are invited to this free event. Guest speaker Father Robert Rogers and Father Bill Casey. To RSVP, visit www. charlottecatholicwomensgroup.org.

‘The Implication of being a black catholic in America’: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at St. Mary Church, 812 Duke St., Greensboro. Discussion will be led

by Father Marcel Amadi of Greensboro and WinstonSalem Campus Ministries. For details, call the parish office at 336-272-8650.

‘OUR MOST VULNERABLE CHILDREN’ RESPECTING LIFE FORUM: 3-5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, in the Parish Hall at St. Eugene Church, 72 Culvern St., Asheville. Speakers from the Buncombe County Division of Social Services, the 28th Judicial District Guardian ad Litem, and the Children’s Hope Alliance will present information on foster care and adoption and address the many opportunities all community members have to support children in foster care. No pre-registration required. For details, call Tom Kotz at 828-231-7396.

7th annual Catholic Men’s Conference: Saturday, March 4, at St. Mark Church, 14740 Stumptown Road, Huntersville. Guest speakers include: Robert Rogers,

Father Bill Casey, frequent EWTN guest, and Steve Beuerlein, former Carolina Panthers quarterback. For details, go to www.catholicmenofthecarolinas.org.

‘Come, Live In The Light’ Parish Lenten Mission: 6:30 p.m. March 12-16, at Holy Cross Church, 6161 South Cherry St., Kernersville. Redemptorist Father Peter Schavitz, a Chicago native, will be the guest preacher.

Father Schavitz travels the country preaching missions and is nearing 300 preached missions. The topics for each night are: The Bible and Salvation-God’s plan of salvation and our response; The Crucifix-Who is Jesus to us?; Ashes-Sin, reconciliation and healing; Bread-Jesus as nourishment for the journey of faith; The Altar-Our mission to share in the work of Jesus and the Church. A social following each presentation. Child care provided for children younger than 6. Everyone welcome for all or any evening of the mission. For details, call 336-9965109.

SUPPORT GROUPS MOTHERING WITH GRACE: Second Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. in the Assembly Room at St. Vincent de Paul Church, 6828 Old Reid Road, Charlotte. For details, go to www. motheringwithgrace.org.

Shining Stars Adult day respite: Meets on Mondays and Wednesdays at St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Road, Charlotte. Shining Stars is a nonprofit adult day respite program for members of the community with early to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. For details, call Suzanne Bach at 704-335-0253.

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 YOUNG ADULTS ASHEVILLE THEOLOGY ON TAP: For Catholics in their 20s and 30s in the Asheville region. For details, check them out on Facebook, Twitter or MeetUp. CHARLOTTE AREA: Groups for Catholics in their 20s and 30s, single or married, are active on MeetUp at www. meetup.com/charlottecatholicyoungadultministry, and at: St. Gabriel Church: on Facebook at “St. Gabriel Young Adult Ministry” St. John Neumann Church: call Meg VanGoethem, 815-545-2587

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.

February 17, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

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This Lent, open the path to a culture of encounter The season of Lent is marked by many traditions among Catholics in the United States. Symbolized by its ubiquitous card board box, CRS Rice Bowl has been a tradition for generations of Catholics.

Dita Abdo, a mother of seven, has been able to purchase additional livestock and send her children to school thanks to CRS.

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eginning in 1975 as a response to a growing famine in Africa, CRS Rice Bowl today shines a light on the Catholic community’s commitment to poor and vulnerable families – our brothers and sisters. Their lives are improving in meaningful, measurable ways through the humanitarian programs and services provided by Catholic Relief Services and the Church around the world.

This year, CRS Rice Bowl provides a path for Catholics in the United States to build, what Pope Francis calls “a culture of encounter.” By following the daily Lenten calendar, sharing the weekly stories of hope, and making the meatless meals, participants will follow a personal journey that leads to us seeing ourselves in the faces of our neighbors, cultivating a spirit of global solidarity and encountering God’s love anew.

Pope Francis told Catholic leaders that the “ability to see yourselves in the faces of others, this daily proximity to their share of troubles and their little acts of heroism: this is what enables you to practice the commandment of love, not on the basis of ideas or concepts, but rather on the basis of genuine interpersonal encounter.”

“We do not love concepts or ideas,” the pope said. “We love people.”

Petterik Wiggers for Catholic Relief Services

“CRS Rice Bowl is about people and the hope we have for each other. It’s about our ability to encounter our neighbors no matter where they live, to love them as God loves us,” said Joan Rosenhauer, executive vice president of U.S. Operations for CRS. “At a time when there is so much conflict in the world, this Lenten program gives people of all ages a way to respond to human suffering with compassion and action. To learn the names and stories of our brothers and sisters, to include them in our prayers, to contribute our Lenten sacrifices so they can live better, healthier lives; this is the way we deepen our faith, building a culture of encounter and holding up the dignity of each and every one of us.”

For more than 40 years, CRS Rice Bowl has provided an inspired collection of resources for families, parishes and Catholic schools to incorporate into their Lenten season. With CRS Rice Bowl, each week of Lent is a new

PRAY

FAST

GIVE

Resources available online

LEARN Go to www.crsricebowl.org or download the free app from the iTunes or Google Play stores.

STORIES OF HOPE

Catholic Relief Services has a lot of resources for you and your family this Lenten season. Besides the traditional CRS Rice Bowl cardboard bowl kit you can download online, there is a free mobile app, daily Lenten reflections, “Stories of Hope” from people who have been aided by CRS, a video series exploring the meaning of Lent, and meatless recipes from the countries featured each Lent. All materials are available in English and Spanish.

For each of the six weeks of Lent, download a recipe and read a story from a different country, focusing on a family or individual – lives that are being changed for the better by a CRS program.

Each story illustrates a principle of Catholic Social Teaching and makes the connection between the gift of service and our faith – the “what” with the “why” of charity.

Go to www.crsricebowl.org/storiesof-hope/week-1.

FAMILY LENTEN KITS Fasting from meat on Fridays during Lent helps us “acquire a mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2043). Fasting is meant to free us. It helps us feel our physical hunger, and in turn, our spiritual hunger for the infinite love found only in God. When you’ve cleaned your plate, put the money you saved by not buying meat – an average of $3 per person per meal – into your CRS Rice Bowl to feed our brothers and sisters in need around the world. It takes just $1 per day ($40) to provide a family with food for one month.

Go to www.crsricebowl.org/families for prayer resources and activities to use during dinner, in the car on the way to school or whenever you have just a few moments to gather together, pause and pray. Download a family kit to make your own CRS Rice Bowl, print Lenten-themed placemats, activity sheets and coloring pages, a Lenten calendar, prayer cards and more.

opportunity to meet a family from a different country overseas, hear their personal stories, learn about their culture and experience a meatless meal they serve at home. Each Lenten story illustrates a principal of Catholic social teaching – an essential element of Catholic faith that says every human being is created in the image of God and redeemed by Jesus Christ, and therefore is invaluable and worthy of respect as a member of the human family.

“We want to meet people where they are in their dayto-day lives, in schools, in parishes and on the go. CRS Rice Bowl is an easy to use tool that helps people deepen their Lenten journey by participating in our Lenten traditions – prayer, fasting and alms giving – in a time and way that suits them best. For some families this means following the Lenten calendar at home, for others it means downloading the App, or making the Lenten recipes, or watching the Lenten stories of hope on their tablets – any way people choose is a good way to make this Lent a season to encounter ourselves, our neighbors and our God and serve the poor around the world,” said Beth Martin, program director for U.S. Operations.

CRS Rice Bowl is global in its reach, bringing tangible goods and services to people in need around the world.

Twenty-five percent of all contributions stay in local dioceses to support hunger and poverty prevention programs such as community gardens, food pantries, soup kitchens, support groups and job centers. The remaining 75 percent goes to support CRS’ humanitarian and development programs overseas, providing life-saving assistance and hope to impoverished and vulnerable communities.

DAILY REFLECTIONS CRS Rice Bowl will offer daily reflections for each day of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. Go to www.crsricebowl.org/dailyreflections.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS DIGITAL RETREAT One-minute video reflections immerse you in Jesus’ walk to Calvary.

VIDEO SERIES: ‘HOW TO PRACTICE LENT’ So, what is Lent? A series of videos featuring Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, Jesuit Father James Martin, Christopher West, Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, CRS staffer Thomas Awaipo, Kerry Weber of America Magazine, CRS President/CEO Dr. Carolyn Woo and others seek to answer this question from different angles. Go to www.crsricebowl.org/about/how-topractice-lent to watch the entire series.

FREE MOBILE APP Bring Lent into your life anytime, anywhere with CRS’ free Rice Bowl app for both Android and Apple devices. It features videos, recipes, reflections and a collection of “Stories of Hope” from people around the world helped by CRS. Join the conversation on social media, receive daily Lenten reflections on your device, set and track progress towards a personal Lenten goal, and use a variety of simple, meatless recipes to prepare and share on Fridays throughout Lent.

How to give

If your parish or school participates in the CRS Rice Bowl campaign, giving guidelines are provided. You can also give directly to CRS Rice Bowl securely online at www.crsricebowl.org; by phone at 1-877-435-7277; or mail to CRS Rice Bowl, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD 21297-0303.

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catholicnewsherald.com | February 17, 2017 OUR PARISHES

Homeboy Industries founder asks, ‘Save the world, or savor it?’

Patricia L. Guilfoyle Editor

CHARLOTTE — Parishioners and friends filled St. Peter Church one recent Saturday morning to hear from someone who has wholeheartedly answered the Church’s call to go to the margins of society to stand with the weak, the despised and those considered disposable.

Jesuit Father Greg Boyle has ministered in one of the most gang-infested areas in Los Angeles for three decades, founding Homeboy Industries to give thousands of young gang members job skills, a sense of self-worth and selfsufficiency, and a way out of the dehumanizing violence surrounding them. The author of “Tattoos on the Heart,” Father Boyle was the guest lecturer for the parish’s 2017 Kennedy Lecture Jan. 28.

“We stand at the margins and we brace ourselves, because people will accuse us of wasting our time,” he began, but the prophet Jeremiah reminds us that “the voice of joy and the voice of gladness” will be heard again in the land of waste.

“We stand at the margins because with God and Jesus, and the whole Church, we want to make those voices heard.”

First, he told the audience, we have to understand who God is, and what our relationship to Him is, before we can answer the call to love and serve our neighbor – “erasing those margins” between us.

“We’re endlessly creating God in our own image,” he said. “We’re human beings, we can’t help ourselves. This happens if we don’t graduate from our third-grade sense of who God is, and move into what St. Ignatius calls the ‘God who is always greater, the spacious expanse of God,’ the God who loves us without measure and without regret, the God who is too busy loving us to have any time left for anything else, the God that Jesus knew in His own mystical union with this tender, intimate close God.” But, he said, “We have this notion that somehow we have to measure up and we are eternally disappointing Him. Somehow we have to get beyond that. Otherwise, we’re going to be unable to stand at the margins in the way that God hopes we will.”

As a loving parent, God “wants to be united to us, and who in fact doesn’t want anything from us. He only wants for us.”

Fortified by this loving, parent-child, covenant relationship with God, Father Boyle said, we are able to reach out in truth to others – not as service-provider and service-providee, but as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

“We don’t go to the margins to rescue anybody or save anybody, or to even make a difference,” he explained. “You go there because our whole life depends on it. This is how God has set this up.” When God tells us “so I have loved you,” He doesn’t ask us to love Him back – He asks us to love one another, especially with a preference toward the poor – widows, orphans and the stranger, he said.

God singles out these particular people among the poor “because He thinks they’re trustworthy to lead the rest

of us to the kinship of God,” he said. “That’s my experience.”

Father Boyle recalled how an interviewer once asked him how it felt to have saved thousands of lives, and he replied: “Honest to God, I’m not trying to be coy or cute, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. I know that I show up every day and my life is absolutely altered.”

He continued, his voice cracking with emotion, “The homies rescue me every day from my cowardice and from my judgment. They rescue me and they return me to myself, and I’m deeply, profoundly grateful to them for the ways that they have saved me. That’s the truth.”

The truth is, he said, the poor are always treated with shame and disgrace. Part of serving to the poor involves reaching out to “dismantle that shame and disgrace,” he said, and relieve their burden.

Father Boyle peppered his talk with humorous, often poignant stories about the “homeboys” and “homegirls” he has shepherded out of gang life using the ultimate weapons the Church has in its arsenal: unconditional love and mercy.

He said he likes to bring one of the Homeboy Industries homies with him when he gives talks, so they can share their stories, he said. At one particular talk with a group of social service providers, his homie Jose accompanied him.

“Jose gets up – he’s about 25 at the time, gang member, tattooed, felon, in prison, parolee – but Patricia L. Guilfoyle | Catholic News Herald he had worked his way through our 18-month Jesuit Father Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries, addresses a full program and landed for a time as a very valued crowd at St. Peter Church Jan. 28 for the annual Kennedy Lecture. member of our substance abuse team, a man solid in his own recovery, and now he’s helping younger homies with their addiction issues. Been to blood. Kids at school would make fun of me: “Hey, fool, it’s prison and everything, but he also had a long stretch as 100 degrees. Why are you wearing three T-shirts?”’ a homeless man, and an even longer stretch as a heroin “Then he stopped speaking, so overwhelmed with addict. emotion, and he seemed to be staring at a piece of his story “He gets up in front of these 600 social workers and he that only he could see. When he could regain his speech, he says, ‘I guess you could say my mom and me didn’t get said through his tears, ‘I wore three T-shirts well into my along so good. I think I was 6 when my mom looked at me adult years because I was ashamed of my wounds. I didn’t and said, “Why don’t you just kill yourself ? You’re such a want anyone to see ’em. But now I welcome my wounds, I burden to me.”’ Well, 600 social workers audibly gasped. run my fingers over my scars. My wounds are my friends.

And then he says, ‘It sounds way worser in Spanish.’ And After all, how can I help heal the wounded if I don’t we got whiplash going from gasp to laugh. welcome my own wounds?’

“He said, ‘I think I was 9 when my mom drove me down “Awe came upon everyone,” Father Boyle recounted. to the deepest part of Baja, California, and she walked “The measure of our compassion lies in not of our service me up to an orphanage. She knocked on the door, the guy of those on the margins, but only in our willingness to see came to the door and she said, “I found this kid.” And she ourselves in kinship with them. For we are all crying for left me there for 90 days, until my grandmother could get help, and if we don’t welcome our own wounds we will be out of her where she had dumped me. My grandmother tempted to despise the wounded.” came and rescued me. My mom beat me every single day of my elementary school years – things you could imagine and a lot of things you couldn’t. Every day my back was More online bloodied and scarred. In fact, I had to wear three T-shirts to school every day – the first T-shirt because the blood At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See video highlights from Father would seep through, the second T-shirt because you could Greg Boyle’s talk at St. Peter Church still see it, finally the third T-shirt you couldn’t see any

Former seminarian sued over sexual assault claim CHARLOTTE — A former seminarian has been accused of sexual abuse and assault while serving in youth ministry at Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury.

John Brian Kaup has been named in a civil lawsuit filed by an unnamed female parishioner and her parents, who allege that he raped the 17-year-old the night of Dec. 25, 2013, on church grounds.

Salisbury police investigated the matter in 2016 with no criminal charges filed.

The civil lawsuit, filed Feb. 2 in Kaup Mecklenburg County Superior Court, also alleges that Kaup, about 27 at the time, continued to have sex with the teenager until mid2014, not long before she left for college.

After Kaup left the seminarian program in May 2014, Father John Putnam, who had been pastor at Sacred Heart Church, and not knowing of the allegations, hired him to work as the youth minister at St. Mark Church in Huntersville, where Father Putnam had been transferred as pastor. Kaup worked there until the summer of 2016.

The Diocese of Charlotte and Bishop Peter Jugis are co-defendants in the civil lawsuit, which claims that they were negligent in their oversight of Kaup.

According to the lawsuit, the unnamed plaintiff and her parents are seeking a total of at least $150,000 in actual and punitive damages from Kaup, the diocese and the bishop.

Kaup is no longer employed by the diocese or in ministry in the diocese, according to diocesan spokesman David Hains. Beyond that, Hains said, “we cannot discuss ongoing litigation.”

— Catholic News Herald

Catholic Men’s Conference set for March 4 HUNTERSVILLE — The seventh Annual Catholic Men’s Conference will take place Saturday, March 4, at St. Mark Church in Huntersville.

The theme of this year’s event is “Men with a Mission,” and will feature talks by Robert Rogers from “Mighty is the Lord Ministry”; Father Bill Casey from the Fathers of Mercy; and former Carolina Panthers quarterback Steve Beuerlein. Bishop Peter J. Jugis will also celebrate Mass for participants.

All men of the diocese are invited to attend the day-long conference, which will be held from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Advance registration fee is $40, and includes a continental breakfast and lunch. Discounts apply for early registration, seniors, students and Knights of Columbus.

St. Mark Church is located at 14749 Stumptown Road in Huntersville.

For details and registration information, go to www. catholicmenofthecarolinas.org.

— Rico De Silva, Hispanic Communications Reporter

February 17, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

7

‘It is always the mission of Our Lady to introduce us to her son, Jesus’

Te Deum Foundation prepares for centennial anniversary pilgrimage to Fatima In 2012, Father Christopher Roux (bottom right) and Te Deum pilgrims visited the Convento de Cristo in Tomar, Portugal, the original fortress of the Knights Templer who were later renamed by King Dense as the Order of Christ.

SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

CHARLOTTE — Carrying on a tradition dating back to 1985 in the Diocese of Charlotte, the Te Deum Foundation is taking pilgrims to Fatima, Portugal, this July – and this year’s pilgrimage is expected to be particularly special.

That’s because this year marks the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three shepherd children in Fatima. In honor of the centennial, the Te Deum Foundation will take two busloads of pilgrims to Fatima July 19-Aug. 1.

Embarking on the 7,746-mile roundtrip journey across the Atlantic Ocean will be a group of clergy, seminarians and laity to visit the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima.

Billie Mobley, president of the Te Deum Foundation, whose mission is to provide for the spiritual and material needs of seminarians, expects 17 seminarians from the Charlotte diocese and other dioceses will participate in the pilgrimage. There are a few spots remaining on the trip for anyone who would like to go, Mobley said.

The annual pilgrimage to Fatima began in 1985 under the guidance of former Benedictine Abbot Edmund McCaffrey of Belmont Abbey working with Kathleen Potter, a parishioner of St. Patrick Cathedral. Mobley recalls the late abbot’s deep devotion to Our Lady of Fatima, and his travels around the country introducing people to the message of Fatima and encouraging people to pray for religious vocations.

Charlotte’s former Bishop John Donoghue went on one of the pilgrimages with Abbot McCaffrey, and at some point later also took pilgrims to Fatima, Mobley noted.

The tradition was carried forward in 2007 by the Te Deum Foundation – comprised of priests and laity who had been spiritual children of Abbot McCaffrey and who made the pilgrimage with him in years past. They took on an additional goal: besides spreading the message of Fatima, they wanted to introduce seminarians to Fatima as part of their spiritual formation.

“We knew the value for the priests who went (some as seminarians) and we looked at our mission statement and thought that this is a fulfilment of that. We wanted to focus on taking seminarians and laity and continue the summer pilgrimage in honor of Abbot McCaffrey,” Mobley explained.

Everything that has transpired over the past 11 years, she said, has “had intervention from heaven.” From the earliest days when she didn’t know any Portuguese, and divine providence unexpectedly put her in touch with a Portuguese man in the diocese who is from a village near Fatima, Mobley said she has felt the hand of God and the assistance of Our Lady in this effort to shepherd pilgrims to Fatima.

Father Christopher Roux, rector and pastor of St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte, is one of the priests who made the pilgrimage 15 years ago with Abbot McCaffrey and has regularly helped lead the yearly pilgrimages with Father John Putnam, pastor of St. Mark Church in Huntersville, as co-spiritual director.

photo provided by billie mobley

“My first pilgrimage was in July of 2002 and except for the pilgrimage of 2008, I have been every year since,” Father Roux said. “Every year the experience is different.

“The first time I exited the bus in Fatima, I had a sense of coming home. My first experience was more like getting to know an old friend. Everywhere I went, it seemed like I was simply being reminded of things that were already in my heart.”

“Every year after the experience is a little different,” he continued. “Sometimes it is a simple visit to a beautiful place, and sometimes the grace awaiting me is surprising and calls me even deeper into my priestly service.”

Over the many years he has been associated with the pilgrimage, he has witnessed many people grow in their knowledge, appreciation and – most importantly – in love with Our Blessed Mother, he said.

“Of course, it is always the mission of Our Lady to introduce us to her son, Jesus, and encourage us to ‘do whatever He tells you.’ This is very much evident in the message and mission of Fatima. We are called to become concerned with our fellow man and the conversion of sinners and salvation of souls,” he said.

“The message of Fatima so often is spoken of as a message of peace. It is not simply the absence of conflict, but the peace which comes from rejecting sin and embracing virtue. This peace will remain even when the world around us becomes more and more violent.”

Deacon Brian Becker of St. Matthew Church in Charlotte went on the Te Deum pilgrimage in 2012 with fellow seminarians Deacon Chris Bond, Deacon Peter Ascik and Colton Brown.

“Prior to going on the pilgrimage, I had experienced a great deal of growth in my faith during my first year in seminary,” Deacon Becker recalled. “I had grown a great deal in learning about the Church’s teachings on the role and person of Mary, but I had little personal experience of her.

“My favorite part of the pilgrimage was the chance to simply spend a lot of time in Fatima. You can really tell when a place has been changed by the life of a saint or the appearance of Our Lady. These places take on the holiness of these people, and they draw pilgrims into that holiness, into a personal experience of it,” he said.

“Spending time in this place that Our Lady visited so frequently, I was able to come into contact with her and get to know her better. I understood better her role in our life of faith, pointing always to loving her Son. I learned also of the special care that she has for priests, who are configured to the image of her Son. Her intercession, her Immaculate Heart, has been powerful for me and for so many of my brothers in the seminary, to mold us into men after the Sacred Heart of her Son,” he added.

Last July, Jim and Karen Verney of Charlotte experienced Fatima for the first time. The couple had traveled to Europe a number of times, but Fatima was different for them. They were among a group of 28 pilgrims that included five seminarians from Charlotte, diocesan priests and other seminarians.

“We thought that it being the 100th anniversary of the angels appearing to Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco, it would be fun, educational and spiritual. The trip turned out to be all three and more as we traveled for almost two weeks together,” Jim Verney said.

The camaraderie among the pilgrim group was outstanding, Verney added. “We had time to sit and talk, dine, pray and worship together. We made 26 new friends from the experience.”

He said the last time he had been in the company of so many religious was when he was a senior at Detroit Catholic Central High School, where 25 Basilian (religious order) priests and seminarians taught more than 1,000 boys in four grades.

“So it was great to travel with so many holy men. The seminarians were extremely impressive because of their focus, their love of Christ, their spirituality and their maturity,” Verney said.

He and Karen also enjoyed the universality of the Church they witnessed in Fatima, as one day they wandered in to a Mass being said in Portuguese. “We didn’t understand the language but we did understand the Mass, and we felt right at home.”

A humorous and unexpected challenge presented itself on the pilgrimage when they had to figure out how to do their laundry in a local laundromat, where instructions were all in Portuguese.

“I will always remember Father Dominguez, four seminarians, Karen and I carrying our laundry a few blocks to the

new laundromat,” he recalled. “It took us a few funny moments to figure out the Portuguese way to handle the washers and dryers, but together we figured it out and proudly walked back to Domus Pacis Hotel with a week’s worth of clean clothes.”

Verney said their time spent on pilgrimage in Fatima has impacted him and his wife forever, and they hope to return someday. In the meantime, they have another goal: “Our bigger mission is to assist the young seminarians as we can to achieve priesthood.”

One of those seminarians who has made the Te Deum pilgrimage to Fatima is transitional Deacon Bradley Nursey of the Diocese of Gaylord, Mich. He grew up in a home where his father always had a devotion to Our Lady of Fatima.

“So I grew up under the influence of Our Lady of Fatima in the house. It was never dominating, but was always there…I believe that it is important to make our lives completely Marian. This is very pleasing to God and a sure path to heaven.

As part of this effort I wanted to visit Fatima,” Deacon Nursey explained.

The trip had an incredible impact on his vocation, he said. “It really helped to bolster it and give it a sharper Marian focus. I had already been contemplating under which of Our Lady’s titles I would like to consecrate my priesthood to her. My trip to Fatima made this choice evident.

“Also, I developed a real attraction to the children of Fatima – especially Francisco.

I have been enamored with his desire to suffer simply to give consolation to Our Lord. We are very concerned about receiving God’s mercy, which is indeed a great thing, for we are all lost without God’s mercy. But through our own sufferings and tears, many of us forget the tears of Our Lord. Little Francisco did not.

I want to be with Francisco.”

It appears Our Lord, perhaps with a request from Our Lady, will fulfill Deacon Nursey’s desire to be ordained to the priesthood on the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Fatima on May 13. Gaylord Bishop Steven J. Raica has given consent to the May ordination at St. Mary’s Cathedral rather than the usual June date.

“Due to the gift of the swiftest and surest way to God being through Mary, the influence of Our Lady of Fatima growing up, and the fact that I would be ordained in the year of the 100th anniversary, made being ordained on the very day a great desire for me,” Deacon Nursey said.

He acknowledges this is a rare moment.

“To have this opportunity is not just once in a lifetime. It is simply once. Period. And it looks like Our Lady is granting it!”

Travel to Fatima with Te Deum For more information about the July pilgrimage to Fatima, reserve your spot on the trip, or make a donation to help sponsor a seminarian’s pilgrimage, go to www. tedeumfoundation.org/fatima. Questions? Email Billie Mobley at tedeumfoundation@gmail.com or call 336-765-1815. Deadline to register is March 30.

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catholicnewsherald.com | February 17, 2017 OUR PARISHES

catholic news herald file photo

St. Joseph and Mary Church in Mount Holly is one of the oldest Catholic churches in N.C. The Ancient Order of Hibernians coordinate an annual St. Patrick’s Day Mass there every March 17.

sueann howell | catholic news herald

‘Ecce Agnus Dei’ MONROE — Our Lady of Lourdes Church celebrated its patronal feast Feb. 11-12 at all Masses. A new mural of the Lamb of God, created by local artist Lisa Autry, was installed just in time for the celebration. St. Joseph College Seminary rector, Father Matthew Kauth (center), celebrated the 10 a.m. Mass Feb. 12 in which several college seminarians assisted. Father Benjamin Roberts (left), pastor, served as homilist. Father Roberts recalled three special anniversaries in his homily: the 159th anniversary of Our Lady of Lourdes’ appearance to the young Bernadette Soubirous; the 75th anniversary of the parish in May; and the 14th anniversary of Bishop Peter Jugis’ selection to become the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte when he was pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church. More photos and Father Roberts’ full homily are online at www.catholicnewsherald.com.

The Life and Legacy of Thomas More

Bequest given ‘in the true spirit of stewardship’ helps historic St. Joseph Church SueAnn Howell Senior Reporter

MOUNT HOLLY — Preserving history was important to the late Carlton Heil, a Queen of Apostles Church member of Irish descent. In his later years he helped take care of St. Joseph and Mary Church, one of North Carolina’s oldest Catholic churches built by Irish settlers back in 1843.

Adjacent to the historic wooden church is the grave of Father T.J. Cronin, the founding pastor, who died shortly before the church was completed. St. Joseph and Mary Church is one of the two oldest standing Catholic churches in North Carolina.

When Heil passed away last fall, he left a bequest of $2,000 to help care for the beloved old church where Father Cronin lived and died.

“Given in the true spirit of stewardship, the gift will go to help maintain Father Cronin’s original dream for the Irish community,” said Ray-Eric Correira, director of planned giving for the Diocese of Charlotte.

The historic church is currently maintained by the diocese with help from local residents and groups such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians, who gather for Mass at the church every year on St. Patrick’s Day and other important feast days connected to Irish heritage.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians is an

Irish Catholic fraternal organization which is open to practicing Catholics of Irish decent. Their goals are to foster the history, culture and traditions of the Irish people, support the Church and its clergy, and defend life.

Joe Dougherty, president of the N.C. state board of the AOH, knew Heil and saw first-hand his devotion to the upkeep of the old church.

“I knew Carl and worked with him for six years or so,” Dougherty said. “For the past six years, the two divisions of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Ladies AOH had a Mass celebrated at St. Joseph’s on March 17, in honor of St. Patrick and the Irish immigrants that built the church.”

As Heil was the caretaker of St. Joseph’s, he was the person the order worked with to organize the annual Mass, Dougherty said.

“Carl would come to the church each time to open the church and help in any way he could. He cared so much about St. Joseph’s and its upkeep. He would stay until the last person left, but did not make anyone rush. He would answer any questions about the church that was asked of him, and he knew everything.”

“More and more people are making gifts to the Church in their estates – some making gifts in the thousands, others in the millions. We are grateful for gifts of any amount to help support the Church,” said Jim Kelley, diocesan development director.

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February 17, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com

Celebrating Scout Sunday

OUR PARISHESI

Fatima Celebrates 100th Anniversary 1917-2017 Pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal July 19 - August 1, 2017

CHARLOTTE — Cub Scouts of Pack 9 and Boy Scouts of Troop 9 are pictured after Mass Feb. 5 at St. Patrick Cathedral before celebrating Scout Sunday during their Blue and Gold Dinner in the Family Life Center. They also participated in the nationwide Scouting for Food Drive Feb. 4, taking multiple carloads of food donated from parishioners and Dilworth neighborhood residents to benefit Loaves and Fishes in Charlotte.

Photos by John Cosmas | Catholic News Herald

Join Fr. John Putman & Fr. Christopher Roux on a special pilgrimage celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Appearance of Our Lady of Fatima to the Three Shepherd Children.

For more information contact The Te Deum Foundation, Inc. 336-765-1815 or visit our web site: www.tedeumfoundation.org Reservation Deadline: March 30, 2017 Cost $2990.00 from Newark, for double occupancy, including meals,accommodations, and side trips.

Roundtrip travel between Newark and cities serviced by United available for addition charge.

John Bunyea | Catholic News Herald

KERNERSVILLE — Scout Sunday celebrations Feb. 5 at Holy Cross Church included Cub and Boy Scouts: Marshall Davis, Joey Guevara, Donnie Guevara and Paul Liotard.

More inside Page 18 New gender policy won’t affect Catholic Scouting units, says committee.

Our pilgrimages support seminarians and foster vocations.

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catholicnewsherald.com | February 17, 2017 OUR PARISHES

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Celebrating the feast of St. Blaise

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Parishioners across the Diocese of Charlotte, including Albemarle, Forest City, Huntersville and Murphy, commemorated the feast of St. Blaise Feb. 3 by having their throats blessed. Pictured are Father Peter Fitzgibbons, pastor of Our Lady of the Annunciation Church; Father Alex Ayala, pastor of St. William Church; and Father John Putnam, pastor of St. Mark Church.

Also pictured is one of the unusual candles that Father Herbert Burke, pastor, and Deacon Andy Cilone used to bless members of Immaculate Conception Church. Deacon Cilone acquired them during a pilgrimage to St. Blaise Church in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

St. Blaise, a bishop who lived in the fourth century in Sebaste (historical Armenia, now near present-day Sivas, Turkey), was renowned as a healer. In one famous instance, he healed a boy who was choking on a fishbone. According to one telling of the story, in 316 Bishop Blaise was arrested by the Roman governor for being a Christian. On his way to jail, a distraught woman set her only son, who

was chocking to death on a fish bone, at Blaise’s feet. Blaise cured the child, and though the governor was amazed, he could not get Blaise to renounce his faith.

Therefore, he beat Blaise with a stick and tore at his flesh with iron combs before beheading him. His remains are entombed at St. Blaise Basilica in Maratea, Italy.

St. Blaise has been invoked on behalf of the sick, especially those afflicted with illnesses of the throat, since at least the eighth century. The Blessing of the Throats is a sacramental, usually done on or near the saint’s feast day of Feb. 3. In the rite, a priest or deacon holds two blessed candles joined in the shape of a cross over a person’s head or touching their throat, and then says the following prayer: “Through the intercession of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness.”

— Catholic News Herald photos by craig Allen, Amy Burger, Done Espina and Giuliana Polinari Riley

February 17, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com

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In Brief

OUR PARISHESI

week pre-Lent season, which prepares the faithful for Lent which begins March 1.

For more information about the Charlotte Latin Mass Community, email Chris Lauer at info@charlottelatinmass.org or visit www. charlottelatinmass.org.

— Mike FitzGerald, correspondent

Music Director Praying for Christian unity CHARLOTTE — St. John Neumann Church joined with other Christian churches along the Idlewild corridor to celebrate the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Jan. 18-25). This was the seventh year the East Charlotte and Matthews area faith communities have worked together to rejoice in our common faith in Jesus Christ and to pray for the ultimate reunification of all Christians in the one true Church.

Participating clergy were (pictured from left): Father Pat Hoare, pastor of St. John Neumann Church; Deacon Joe Denzler and Deacon Jim Gorman of St. John Neumann Church; Pastor Steve Mitchell of Morningstar Presbyterian Church; Rev. In-Yong Lee of Cokesbury United Methodist Church; and Pastor John Mouritsen of Morningstar Lutheran Church.

Celebrating the feast of St. Agatha CHARLOTTE — St. Ann Church celebrated the feast of St. Agatha Feb. 5 with a High Latin Mass followed by a special ancient blessing of bread, called Agatha bread, in honor of her martyrdom.

Father Jason Barone, priest-in-residence at St. Ann Church, blessed the bread for parishioners using the ancient Latin blessing, and the Charlotte Latin Mass Community organized a special feast of different varieties of Agatha bread prepared by parish families. In the Extraordinary Form calendar, Sunday also marked the close of the extended ChristmasEpiphany season and to celebrate the Cantate Domino Latin Choir along with the St. Ann’s Men’s schola led the attendees in a wassailing song (a Christmas carol) as attendees feasted on Agatha bread, apple cider and hot cocoa.

The closing of Epiphanytide also marks the beginning of Septuagesima season, the three

Kernersville parish honors parish couple KERNERSVILLE — Holy Cross Church recently honored parishioners Terry and Bob Yuzuik (pictured with Oblates of St. Francis de Sales Father Paul Dechant, pastor) as 2016 Humanitarians of the Year.

— John Bunyea, correspondent

St. Luke Catholic Church in Mint Hill is seeking qualified applicants for a full-time Music Director. Our Parish offers a vibrant, engaging music program. We currently have seven choirs including children, teen and adult. We are looking for an enthusiastic, energetic and talented organist/pianist who is familiar with the Catholic Mass and music used in Liturgy and can provide choral direction, harmonizing and vocal instruction. This position requires a Bachelor’s Degree in Music.

Experience is preferred (and will be given consideration in salary and benefits), but we will also consider applicants with a strong desire and willingness to bring joy and praise through music to our Worship services.

Please submit your resume to jobs@stlukechurch.net for consideration.

Former IC parishioner named superior of her religious community FOREST CITY — Missionaries of Charity Sister Mary Catherine of Siena, a parishioner of Immaculate Conception Church before entering the religious order founded by St. Teresa of Calcutta, has been named house superior of her community’s new monastery in Oulu, Finland.

The Missionaries of Charity Contemplative monastery was consecrated Dec. 12, 2016, by Bishop Teemu Jyrki Juhani Sippo of Helsinki.

The Missionaries of Charity are the first Catholic nuns in the north of Finland.

Pictured are: (back row) Father Thomas Donbosco, pastor of Holy Family of Nazareth, Oulu; Missionaries of Charity Sister Mary Angelina; Bishop Sippo; Sister Mary Catherine of Siena; Missionaries of Charity Sister Mary Fabijana, Regional Superior Missionaries of Charity Active; Deacon Gonzales; and (front row) Missionaries of Charity Sister Mary Cristoffer; Missionaries of Charity Sister IN BRIEF, SEE page 12

11

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catholicnewsherald.com | February 17, 2017 OUR PARISHES

IN BRIEF FROM PAGE 11

Mary Therese; Missionaries of Charity Sister Marie Noel; Missionaries of Charity Sister Mary Victorija, Regional Superior European Missionaries of Charity Contemplative; and Missionaries of Charity Sister Mary Joseph.

— Giuliana Polinari Riley, correspondent

SPX Knights council earns prestigious award GREENSBORO — St. Pius X Knights of Columbus Council 11101 was recently awarded the Star Council Award, which commends a council that achieves specific goals in furtherance of the ideals of the Knights: Charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism. This work is achieved through Knights’ commitment to programs and by communicating their activities to both brother Knights and the parish they serve. Pictured are (from left): Ed Calouri, Colin Jorsch, State Deputy, John Joyce, Grand Knight Greg Rachal and Walter Kulla.

— John Russell

St. Luke Knights food drive nets 10,000 pounds of donations

Statesville church supports local hunger program STATESVILLE — St. Philip the Apostle Church member Kailey Lund recently presented clothing she collected at South Iredell High School and, along with her parents and pastor, Bret and Anita Lund and Father Thomas J. Kessler, she also presented a check for $2,500 from St. Philip the Apostle Church to Yokefellow Ministry of Greater Statesville. Kristine Wiles and Darryl McMillan graciously accepted the check, which will be used to feed the hungry.

Kailey and her dad also volunteer at the parish’s food closet.

MINT HILL — St. Luke Church Council 12832 recently wrapped up its annual “Feeding Families” collection drive of food items for the needy over the holidays, and the most recent collection was larger than ever thanks in part to council treasurer Bill Machold, who asked parishioners to get involved as a family project.

Eight families with 22 family members, along with 10 Knights, collected food for four weeks after Mass. Just before Christmas, these St. Luke parishioners helped the Knights deliver 10,000 pounds of food to needy families and groups, including Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY Norma Harless

St. Therese Church holds program on “Racism: Where do we go from here?”

MOORESVILLE — St. Therese Church hosted a Friday Night Live event titled: “Racism: Where do we go from here?” on Feb. 10. Close to 200 people also attended the dinner and fellowship. The speakers (pictured above) were: Rev. Vincent Huntley from Davidson; Dr. Nina Roosevelt-Gibson, granddaughter of the late President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the late First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt; Dr. Shannon Sullivan, Philosophy Chair at UNC Charlotte; and Master of Ceremony, “Dr. Bizness,” from WGIV in Charlotte,

— Phil Angelo

Statesville Knights aid local organizations

— Connie Ries STATESVILLE — Philip Klvana of the Knights of Columbus and local chairman of L.A.M.B. Foundation of North Carolina recently made donations to multiple organizations. Funds were raised at the foundation’s annual Tootsie Roll Drive. Klvana presented $800 to Richard Griggs of the Iredell County Special Olympics, $447 to Cathy Lindenberger of West Iredell Middle School’s Special Education Department, and $800 to Assistant Principal Harry Elfird and Tyana Bailey-Hancock of Statesville High School Special Education Department.

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

Angel Tree program a success KERNERSVILLE — Holy Cross Church revamped their Angel Tree gift-giving program this past Christmas season and parishioners jumped in enthusiastically – providing an avalanche of Christmas gifts and fulfilling “wish lists” for 75 children and 39 families.

Columbiettes Auxiliary 8509 managed the program in conjunction with Crisis Control Ministries of Kernersville and Room at the Inn of Greensboro. The Angel Tree program is expected to grow even larger in 2017.

— Marianne Griffin and Diane Frankenfield

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El Padre Julio Dominguez nombrado nuevo coordinador del Vicariato de Smoky Mountain Rico De Silva Hispanic Communications Reporter

SMOKY MOUNTAIN — El Padre Julio Cesar Dominguez, antiguo Párroco de la Iglesia de San Francisco en Lenoir, es el nuevo coordinador del Vicariato Hispano de Smoky Mountain. El Padre Julio comenzó su función como coordinador en Agosto del 2016.

El Padre Julio está muy contento de que el Obispo de Charlotte, Peter Jugis, decidiera asignarlo a su nuevo cargo.

“Por supuesto, como sacerdotes siempre vemos la voluntad de Dios reflejada en el mandato de nuestro Obispo,” dijo el SERGIO LOPEZ | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD sacerdote.

El Padre Julio Domínguez bendice a participantes Hispanos El Padre Julio se considera del Congreso Eucaristico 2016. El Padre es el Coordinador del un misionero de la comunidad Ministerio Hispano del Vicariato de Smoky Mountain.

Latina en la diócesis. “Ya desde que estaba en la parroquia de enviarían, pues sabía que en cualquier Saint Aloysius, en Hickory en el 2008, venía sintiendo el deseo de dedicarme más lugar habría la misma necesidad. Sin embargo, Dios en su sabiduría supo por completo a la comunidad Hispana, ponerme en el lugar correcto en donde pues la necesidad espiritual que veía en el estoy viendo una gran necesidad de las orden espiritual y formativo era grande,” almas de buscar la confesión, la dirección agregó él. espiritual y la formación de las verdades “En los retiros, en donde muchas de la fe.” personas vienen de diferentes parroquias El Padre Julio expresó agradecimiento me podía dar cuenta de que mi misión no hacia Dios y la comunidad Hispana en estaba solo destinada a una parroquia, general, y tiene la esperanza de que su sino a ser misionero en varias parroquias, ministerio actual dará fruto en la Viña del proveyendo los recursos espirituales Señor. “Me siento contento con mi nuevo y formativos para los líderes y fieles ministerio, y aunque sé que actualmente católicos del área que me fuera asignada.” en varias parroquias de nuestra diócesis El sacerdote ha sido testigo de la gran podría estar sirviendo como párroco, sin necesidad de su ministerio sacerdotal en embargo sé que la misión que Dios me el corto tiempo desde que inició su labor está dando dará muchísimos frutos en como coordinador de Smoky Mountain. cuestión de algunos años.”

“A mí no me importaba a que vicaría me

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Diácono Darío García

La Misión del Santo Rosario Con la presencia del Señor y la compañía intercesora de la Santísima Virgen María, hemos continuado el trabajo de la Misión del Santo Rosario con todas las familias consagradas que ya superan a más de 300 familias. Ahora, aunque puede que no todos los hogares participen con el mismo entusiasmo que el Señor y la Virgen desean, pienso que la mayoría de estos si lo hacen. Tenemos un equipo de trabajo de 27 familias en la Parroquia de San José en Newton, y un pequeño equipo de coordinadores de 10 personas que se encargan de evaluar, programar, hacer seguimiento y promover las nuevas consagraciones.

La Misión, después del III Encuentro realizado en el mes de Mayo de 2016, ha extendido su red de trabajo a otras parroquias: Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Marion, Santa Dorotea en Lincolnton, San Francisco de Asis en Lenoir y un acompañamiento a los hermanos de la parroquia de Santo Tomás de Aquino en Charlotte.

La Misión como su nombre lo indica no es un grupo de personas que solo se reúnen para rezar el rosario, es un movimiento de iglesia que busca fomentar la devoción Mariana con el rezo del Santo Rosario en familia, promover las consagraciones a los Sagrados Corazones de Jesús y el Inmaculado Corazón de María, animar el rezo del Rosario los domingos antes de la celebración Eucarística, y por las tardes

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Estamos en la disposición de atender y acompañar hermanos de otras parroquias que requieran de nuestra ayuda, y abrimos la invitación para que participen de la Misión y del IV Encuentro que vamos a tener el 27 de Mayo de este año en Newton, NC. La Misión también tiene entre sus actividades la formación cristiana y especialmente mariana de las familias que participan, lo mismo que la realización de retiros con los temas propuestos por la iglesia; el año pasado se realizó uno de mujeres con el tema del Año de la Misericordia.

Esperamos sus oraciones, que Dios los bendiga y la Virgen los acompañe y proteja de todo mal y peligro.

El Diácono Darío García es el Coordinador del Ministerio Hispano del Vicariato de Hickory.

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Our schools 14

catholicnewsherald.com | February 17, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Loads of fun for Catholic Schools Week!

Photo via Facebook

GASTONIA — Students in Maria Boylan’s fourth-grade class at St. Michael School were good citizens by cleaning up St. Michael’s playgrounds, yards and gardens during Catholic Schools Week.

Photo provided by Amy Burger and Jeannie Desena

HUNTERSVILLE — St. Mark School students sing during Mass at St. Mark Church Jan. 29 to kick off Catholic Schools Week. Students also served as lectors, altar servers and offertory gift presenters.

Photo provided by Michele Snoke

CHARLOTTE — St. Gabriel School held its annual Catholic Schools Week prayer card contest. Winners were fifthgraders Rory Howes and Noelle Rogers.

Photo provided by Katrina Capistrano

WINSTON-SALEM — During Catholic Schools Week Our Lady of Mercy students held a diaper and wipes drive for Birthright, a local pro-life organization.

Photo via Facebook

CHARLOTTE — Band students at Our Lady of the Assumption School prepare to play and cheer on students at the student vs. faculty basketball game held Feb. 3 for Catholic Schools Week.

Photo via Facebook

HUNTERSVILLE — Christ the King High Schoolers were treated to some donuts for Catholic Schools Week.

Photos provided by Kimberly Knox

TRIAD AREA — To kick off Catholic Schools Week, Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School students served as alumni readers to their former Catholic elementary.

schools. Pictured are Zach Loncar and Matt Bruns at St. Leo School in Winston-Salem and Ryan Moon and David Molen and Our Lady of Grace School in Greensboro.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

St. Matthew School celebrates Catholic Schools Week

Photo provided by Angie Noonan

CHARLOTTE — Students at St. Patrick School celebrate Catholic Schools Week by making sandwiches for the needy.

CHARLOTTE — Watch this short video highlighting St. Matthew School in south Charlotte celebration of Catholic Schools Week 2017. Catholic Schools Week was celebrated the week of Jan. 30 - Feb. 3. Students and staff embraced the event with much enthusiasm and a true Catholic spirit. Among several activities, first and fourth-graders made Valentine’s Day cards for area seniors. Also, third and second-graders (pictured) made cards for priests, deacons and seminarians to thank them for their ministry. “We celebrate being a part of the Catholic Schools. We celebrate all the great things that happen here, as well as we really want to promote the good news of Catholic schools to all those people that may be looking for a school to send their child to,” Principal Kevin O’Herron explained.

RICO DE SILVA | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

February 17, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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In Brief Diocesan School Board has openings for 2017-’18 year CHARLOTTE — The Diocesan School Board has vacancies beginning with the 2017-’18 school year. Knowing that this board is advisory/ consultative to the superintendent and the bishop on matters relating to all diocesan schools, the board members put aside individual school or parish needs to work in the framework of the entire diocese.

To be eligible to serve, a board member must be a practicing Catholic, be a participating member of a diocesan parish, be at least 25 years old, be able to work effectively with others in achieving consensus, be willing to make necessary and substantial time commitments to attend meetings and related board activities including active participation on board committees, and have a genuine interest in and commitment to the diocesan school system.

The term of office is three years. Board members may serve two full or partial consecutive terms.

For details and an application, email Theresa Ramirez in the Catholic Schools Office at tramirez@charlottediocese.org.

Applications and a pastor’s letter of verification/ recommendation are due by Feb. 17.

Interviews will be conducted with selected applicants. Appointments are made by the bishop.

Charlotte Catholic seniors named Morehead-Cain Scholarship semi-finalists CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School seniors Cole Davies, Jack Deering and Paul Gennett were recently named semi-finalists for the prestigious Morehead-Cain Scholarship at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

The Morehead-Cain Scholarship, created in 1945 and inspired by the Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University, is the first merit scholarship program established in the United States.

The scholarship is comprised of four years of full tuition, student fees, housing, meals, books, a laptop computer, and other needed supplies, plus Discovery Funds for educational opportunities, a four-year summer enrichment program, and interactions with and lifetime connections to previous Morehead-Cain winners.

— Carolyn Kramer Tillman

Charlotte Catholic seniors earn Morrison Scholarships CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School seniors Uwa Akhere and Christopher Shallal have been awarded the prestigious Morrison Scholarship at the University of North CarolinaChapel Hill.

The merit-based Morrison Scholarship awards the equivalent of tuition, fees, and room and board for study at the university.

These scholarships are awarded based on high school accomplishments, essays and teacher recommendations. According to the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid at UNC-Chapel Hill, fewer than 10 percent of incoming freshmen are offered merit-based scholarships.

— Carolyn Kramer Tillman

Keane and Bill McKinney said they were pleased to see students’ work recognized in such a wide range of categories, including painting; mixed media; architecture and industrial design; painting, drawing and illustrating; ceramics and glass; sculpture; photography; photographic printmaking; and digital art.

“With more than 1,800 entries this year, it’s an honor to receive recognition,” said Joann Keane, photography teacher.

The Mid-Carolina Region is comprised of Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Davie, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly, Surry, Union, Wilkes and Yadkin counties, and administered by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Arts Education Department. Public, private and parochial schools in these counties are eligible to enter the competition.

“We are extremely proud of these talented CCHS students,” said Principal Kurt Telford.

“We are so pleased that such a large number of our visual arts students were recognized for their work in a competition of this stature. We’re proud of our instructors as well.”

— Carolyn Kramer Tillman

Pageant winner visits Charlotte Catholic

Charlotte Catholic art, photo students win honors CHARLOTTE — Twenty-one visual arts students at Charlotte Catholic High School recently received awards at the 2017 MidCarolina Scholastic Art Awards competition, coming home with seven Gold Key awards, three Silver Key awards and 11 honorable mentions.

The Gold Key art, photography and photographic printmaking by Perris Bowling, Rachel Bruno, Bella Garner, Mallory Gruender, Maddie Kern, Kelley Rossitch and Emily Titman soon will be on display in Spirit Square in downtown Charlotte, and they will be recognized during the Gold Key Award ceremony at Spirit Square Center for the Arts. In addition, their work will advance to national competition in New York City.

Silver Key Award recipients Grace Brady, Kirsten Dugan and Andrew Thornton will have their photographic printmaking and digital artwork on display at the Mint Museum.

Honorable Mention awards for art, photography and printmaking were given to: Kayci Baisley, Ethan Burnett, Jack Dudley, Mallory Gruender, Clara Hahn, Chelsea Leland, Caitlin Murlless, Megan Murlless, Kaia Petras, Catherine Rohan and Luke Workley.

Visual arts instructors Frances Brown, Joann

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School graduate Melody Hager won the title of Miss Asheville Melody Hager Jan. 28. The pageant is a part of the Miss America Scholarship program. Along with the crown and sash, Hager won $1,100 in scholarship money. She is a junior psychology major at the University of North CarolinaAsheville. Hager visited her high school alma mater Feb. 3, when she sang the National Anthem at the varsity basketball games.

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Douglas n Jake Sheridan: fifth place, Varsity LincolnDouglas n Paul Gennett and Elizabeth Boswell: sixth place, Public Forum n Darlene Singui-Tanyi: first place, Dramatic Interpretation; third place, Program Oral Interpretation n Brenna McBride: fifth place, Dramatic Interpretation n Marianna Rodriguez: sixth place, Novice Reading — Carolyn Kramer Tillman

St. Michael announces geography bee winner GASTONIA — Fifth-grader Caz Wilkinson (pictured) won St. Michael School’s Caz Wilkinson school-wide National Geographic Bee for students in grades 4-8 Dec. 15. Fourth-grader Quinlan Hahn came in second place. The school was one of thousands of schools around the United States that participated in the 2017 National Geographic Bee program.

Wilkinson will move on to take a qualifying test. The top 100 scorers in North Carolina will then be eligible to compete in the state Bee on March 31. The state winners will go on to participate in the national championship Bee rounds May 15-17.

— Tammy Eason

— Liz Luke

Charlotte Catholic debate team wins fourth place in tourney CHARLOTTE — Twenty-three members of Charlotte Catholic High School’s Debate and Speech Team attended the Hillcrest High School tournament Jan. 14 in Simpsonville, S.C., where they competed against more than 300 students from 16 schools across the Carolinas and Georgia. They came away with fourth place in the Team Sweepstakes – missing a third-place finish by just a few points.

Receiving individual awards were: n Charles Nenichka and Connor Ruff: second place, Public Forum Debate n David Williams: second place, Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate n Louis Ciano: fifth place, Novice Lincoln-

Knights contest winners named GASTONIA — Eighth -grade students at St. Michael School recently participated in the annual Knights of Columbus Essay and Poster Contest. They were instructed to write an essay entitled “The Responsibility of a Catholic Citizen in a Free Society.” The title for the poster contest was “Substance Abuse Awareness.”

Members of the Knights of Columbus judged the students’ entries. The winner for the essay contest was Rachel Lowry, and the winner for the poster contest was Eian Catindig.

— Tammy Eason

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catholicnewsherald.com | February 17, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

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For the latest movie reviews: catholicnewsherald.com

On TV

In theaters This is a page from the National Catholic Welfare Conference news service title “Catholic World in Pictures” that is being digitized by the Catholic Research Resources Alliance. The NCWC service was the precursor of Catholic News Service.

CNS | Bob Roller

‘Lion’ The incredible true story of Saroo Brierley (Dev Patel) and his 20-year odyssey to locate his birth mother (Priyanka Bose) in India, is retold in this uplifting and emotional film. As a 5-year-old boy, Saroo (Sunny Pawar) falls asleep in a boxcar and is transported 1,500 kilometers from home. Unable to remember his family name and home village, he is put up for adoption, and winds up in Australia in the care of a loving couple (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham). Yet, as he grows into manhood with a promising career and a girlfriend (Rooney Mara), he is haunted by his lost childhood, and sets out on an epic quest to retrace his long-ago train journey and locate his relatives.

A celebration of family, the movie also sends a strong pro-life message by underscoring the joys and merits of adoption, and showing that a child can be loved and shared equally by two sets of parents. Unfortunately, the elements listed below preclude endorsement for younger viewers who might otherwise have profited from this touching narrative. Mature themes.

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

‘Moonlight’ Considered as an exploration of the AfricanAmerican experience in contemporary society, writer-director Barry Jenkins’ powerfully understated chronicle of three stages in the life of an inner-city Miami youth makes a compelling statement. Aspects of the main character’s personal story, however, raise complications for viewers of faith. As a bullied and withdrawn 10-year-old (Alex Hibbert), burdened with a crack-addicted mother, the lad comes under the surprisingly positive influence of a local drug dealer. As a teen (Ashton Sanders), he falls for a schoolmate (Jharrel Jerome) who is one of his only friends. Once grown (Trevante Rhodes), he lives an isolated and shady life until an unexpected reunion opens up emotional possibilities for him. While the relationship at the heart of the film is dealt with in a restrained and thoughtful way, with spiritual affinity far outweighing eroticism, the physical expression of the bond is presented as acceptable. And the temptation to let sympathy blur moral borders is all the more potent because the terribly downtrodden protagonist has the audience rooting for him all the way. Mature themes, several mild oaths, frequent rough and crude language.

CNS: O (morally offensive); MPAA: R

Digitization project preserving century of Catholic newspapers, newsfeeds Mark Pattison Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Only pack rats would save copies of old newspapers. Or so you would think.

But a consortium of librarians and archivists are preserving the Catholic news from the last century.

As newspapers age, their pages get more brittle and fragile. And outdated technologies such as microfilm and microfiche keep those newspapers from being readily accessible unless you live near a big downtown library or a university that still has the machines needed to read that data.

Many Catholic newspapers, unlike their secular daily brethren, were not kept, maintained and preserved with the same level of passion, save for some diocesan archives.

To correct this situation, the Catholic Research Resources Alliance has undertaken a project to digitize nearly a dozen of the United States’ top Catholic newspapers of regional and national importance – the print runs of which, for some of them, go back for more than a century.

“Creating a Catholic news archive and digital aggregation for Catholic newspapers is something that scholars are very interested in,” said Jennifer Younger, executive director of the alliance, known as CRRA. “We mark the beginning (of the project) in 2011, when we brought together a newspaper committee: ‘If we’re going to digitize something, what would be most useful?’ Newspapers rose right to the top. Which newspapers? We had to figure out which newspapers existed, which ones were being held (by libraries), which ones weren’t being held,” she said.

The committee came up with a list of more than 800 Catholic publications from the United States alone, and another 200-plus in Canada.

Eleven newspapers the digitization project has begun with represent some of the largest dioceses in the nation: Catholic New York of the Archdiocese of New York; the Catholic Standard and Times of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia; Catholic San Francisco; the Clarion Herald of the Archdiocese of New Orleans; the Florida Catholic of the Archdiocese of Miami; the St. Louis Review; the Pittsburgh Catholic; and the Catholic Transcript of the Archdiocese of Hartford, Conn.

A 12th newspaper recently added to the list is the Catholic Worker, which since its founding in the 1930s is still a penny a copy, as the front-page

banner says.

For a national perspective, the National Catholic Reporter and 65 years’ worth of newsfeeds starting in 1920 from what is now called Catholic News Service will be digitized.

CNS’ predecessor was NCWC, for National Catholic Welfare Council. In addition, an NCWC/ CNS feature called “Catholic World in Pictures” will be digitized too.

The digitized material will be made freely available through the CRRA-developed Catholic News Archive, www.thecatholicnewsarchive.org.

Digitization is the new normal, according to Tim Meagher, an associate professor of history at The Catholic University of America, Washington, and an archivist who runs the Center for American Catholic History.

“Everything is, as much as possible, going into digital format,” Meagher said. “In some ways, even if the paper exists in print, its use will be less if it is not digitized.”

Some of the largest U.S. dailies, including the New York Times, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune, have been digitized, he said. “It’s a tremendous asset,” Meagher added. “Suddenly you’re on the radar screen, easy to access, easy to get to.”

Of Catholic papers, he said, “We would love to be able to digitize every one. We may not be able to digitize all of them, we may not be able to digitize all years. But to begin is an important thing.”

“We have set very high standards. When we do our digitization, we never have to do it again,” said Patricia Lawton, CRRA’s director of digital initiatives. “We’re getting the best imaging we possibly can. Microfilm or print, you want a good image. That is the basis of everything that you’re going to do,” allowing the user to employ more robust search capabilities. “We based all our research on the Library of Congress (standards) and even upped the standards a bit,” Lawton noted.

Archivists also are working with those libraries and diocesan archives holding newspaper collections to preserve them, and to provide multiple backups for the digital information being created.

Online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Check out the complete digital archives of the Catholic News Herald, from its founding in 1991 to present

n Friday, Feb. 17, 6:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Out of the Shadows.” Father Allen White, traces the origins of Roman Christianity from its obscure, house-church beginnings to its ultimate triumph over the imperial power. n Saturday, Feb. 18, 8 p.m. (EWTN) “Bakhita.”

Dramatic life of Josephine Bakhita, Sudanese-born slave who became a nun in the Order of the Cannossian Sisters and was canonized by Saint John Paul II. Part 1. n Saturday, Feb. 25, 8 p.m. (EWTN) “Bakhita.”

Dramatic life of Josephine Bakhita, Sudanese-born slave who became a nun in the Order of the Cannossian Sisters and was canonized by Blessed John Paul II. Part 2. n Tuesday, Feb. 28, 6:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Brides of Christ: Sisters of Our Lady Immaculate.” An inspiring portrait of a new religious community in Canada, the Sisters of Our Lady Immaculate (S.O.L.I) as they go about their daily lives teaching and answering God’s call for them to be true Brides of Christ. n Wednesday, March 1, 6:30 p.m. (EWTN) “The Christians in the Holy Land.” Discover the land where Our Lord lived and walked and the difficult situation of the Christians living there today. n Thursday, March 2, 6:30 p.m. (EWTN)”The Jasper Wall: The Persecuted Church.”

Powerful documentary on the persecution of Christians in Pakistan, the late Shahbaz Bhatti, former Pakistani Minister of Minority Affairs and Jamshed Sardar, who was falsely accused of blasphemy and forced to flee the country. n Thursday, March 2, 10 p.m. (EWTN) “Saint Agnes of Bohemia.” n Friday, March 3, 6:30 p.m. (EWTN) “The Angels of the Arctic Circle.” An inside look at Carmelite nuns who have become an oasis of healing and wisdom for believers and nonbelievers alike in secular Norway.

February 17, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

ST. POLYCARP FROM PAGE 2

the bishop – along with some of his companions, who survived to tell of it – heard a heavenly voice saying: “Be strong, and show yourself a man, O Polycarp!”

Before the crowd, the Roman proconsul demanded again that he worship the emperor.

“Hear me declare with boldness, I am a Christian,” Polycarp responded. “And if you wish to learn what the doctrines of Christianity are, appoint me a day, and you shall hear them.

“You threaten me with fire,” he continued, “which burns for an hour, and after a little is extinguished. But you are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly.

“But,” he challenged the proconsul, “what are you waiting for? Bring forth what you will.”

Although the crowds clamored for Polycarp to be devoured by beasts, it was decided he should be burned alive, just as he had prophesied. He prayed aloud to God: “May I be accepted this day before You as an acceptable sacrifice -- just as You, the evertruthful God, have foreordained, revealed beforehand to me, and now have fulfilled.”

What happened next struck Polycarp’s companions with

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amazement. They recorded the sight in the letter that they circulated after Polycarp’s death.

“As the flame blazed forth in great fury,” they wrote, “we to whom it was given to witness it, beheld a great miracle.” The fire did not seem to touch the bishop’s body. Rather, as they described, “shaping itself into the form of an arch, it encompassed – as by a circle – the body of the martyr.

And he appeared within not like flesh which is burnt, but as bread that is baked, or as gold and silver glowing in a furnace.

“Moreover, we perceived such a sweet odor coming from the flames – as if frankincense or some such precious spices had been burning there.”

The executioners perceived that Polycarp’s death was not going as planned. Losing patience, they stabbed him to death. From the resulting wound, “there came forth a dove and a great quantity of blood, so that the fire was extinguished.”

The crowd, as the Christian witnesses recalled, was shocked.

“All the people marveled,” they wrote, “that there should be such a difference between the unbelievers and the elect.”

Polycarp, they proclaimed, had been among that elect – “having in our own times been an apostolic and prophetic teacher, and bishop of the Catholic Church which is in Smyrna.”

St. Polycarp has been venerated as a saint since his death in 155.

GIFT OF SELF FROM PAGE 3

Conference of Bishops for the commemoration of the World Day for Consecrated Life, depicting Jesus’ presentation in the temple and how the image illustrates key components of consecrated life, such as the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.

The image of Jesus leaving the arms of his mother and being handed to Simeon depicts the choice of leaving everything behind, he said.

“Total commitment to God seems to be illustrated so well…which signifies a person totally handed over to the work of God, to the work of salvation.”

One of the jubilarians honored at the Mass, Mercy Sister Therese Galligan, knows well what it means to give oneself fully to God. She is celebrating 60 years of religious life. She has worked diligently in the areas of education, health care and providing assistance to the poor in western North Carolina over the past 60 years, particularly in her work in the Charlotte area.

“It’s gone by so quickly!” she said. “I love the opportunity for the different kinds of ministries I have been able to be involved in. I felt called to each one. I feel very blessed. I feel very energized. I am very thankful.”

Sister Therese shared that her baptism was Aug. 16 and her vow date was Aug. 16. She entered the Sisters of Mercy at the age of 21.

“In today’s Mass, it was so apparent that this was God’s plan for me,” she explained. “I was not thinking about this when I was younger. I was not wanting to go the route of religious life.

I wanted to be married with children, like my mother.”

“All of a sudden, I just felt this calling,” she said. “God just turned me around and brought me here. I am very thankful.

I am very blessed…there are some wonderful women that I have lived with and ministered with. They have been great role models to me, too.”

She suggests that young women considering a vocation to “listen to the call, pray about it.”

Jubilarian Sister Pushpa Jose of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who works with the poor in High Point, is celebrating 25 years of religious life.

“I like to work with the poor and sick,” she said. “That is why I joined this congregation. We need to serve the needy and sick people.”

Sister Pushpa encourages young women who enjoy serving people in that way to consider a community like hers that is hands-on within the community. “if they enjoy that, then they should do it. I enjoy that.”

Missionaries of Charity Sister Mary Martinella, who has been in Charlotte for only

a month, happily celebrated her 25th anniversary with the other jubilarians at St. Patrick Cathedral Feb. 4.

“I am really happy to be a sister, to serve the Lord and His work,” she said. “I was telling the sisters (here) I feel like I am just starting – I don’t feel like it’s been 25 years! It is wonderful!

God has called us and we said yes to the Lord.”

Sister Mary also explained, “To love Jesus, to give your life to Jesus, there is no best man than Jesus Christ. He is the best man. The more you give, Jesus gives you more. He is the one working through us. We are just instrument in His hands.

“God called me. We sisters are unworthy creatures but God calls us to just serve Him.” Bishop Jugis acknowledged the significant contributions and sacrifices the jubilarians have made to the Church in his remarks at Mass and also at the luncheon that followed in the Family Life Center.

“It’s a radical way of living the Gospel, the most radical way of all the states of life within the Church,” he said of consecrated life. “The most radical way of living the Gospel here on earth. To be a light of the kingdom which is to come and is already present.”

“You have given yourselves totally to God who is your light and your salvation, so may He give you His grace every day to help you grow even closer to Him,” he said.

7th Annual Charlotte Catholic Men’s Conference

Saturday, March 4th, 2017 at Saint Mark’s Catholic Church “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth” Acts 1:8

Robert Rogers

Mighty in the Land Ministry Mightyintheland.com

Father Bill Casey

Speaker, EWTN Guest fathersofmercy.com

Get more information and registration at:

www.catholicmenofthecarolinas.org Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. – Proverbs 27:17

Steve Beuerlein

Former Panther Quarterback and CBS College Football Analyst

17

Bishop Peter Jugis Bishop Diocese of Charlotte

Our nation 18

catholicnewsherald.com | February 17, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

New gender policy won’t affect Catholic Scouting units, says committee Catholic News Service

IRVING, Texas — The Boy Scouts of America’s new policy to accept members based on their gender identity will have no impact on Scouting units sponsored by the Catholic Church, said the National Catholic Committee on Scouting.

The Boy Scouts announced Jan. 30 that effective immediately, the Texasbased organization will determine membership eligibility for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts on a youth’s gender identity as indicated on the membership application. Previously, the policy based eligibility on the gender indicated on a youth’s birth certificate.

The change in policy “has no impact on the operation and program delivery of Scouting program(s) in Catholicchartered units,” said a Feb. 4 statement issued by the Catholic Scouting committee.

“Scouting serves the Catholic Church through the charter concept, which is similar to a franchise,” it said. “The units chartered to a Catholic institution are owned by that organization. The BSA has stipulated that religious partners will continue to have the right to make decisions for their units based on their religious beliefs.”

The statement was signed by George S. Sparks, national chairman of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting, and Father Kevin M. Smith, a priest of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., who is the national chaplain of Catholic Scouting. The statement was approved by Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone of Charleston, S.C., who is the episcopal liaison between Catholic Scouting and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In announcing the membership change, Michael Surbaugh, chief Scout executive, said the organization has been “challenged by a very complex topic – the issue of gender identity.” “After weeks of significant conversations” at all levels of the Scouting organization, he said, officials decided a birth certificate is no longer sufficient for determining eligibility for participating in Cub Scouts or Boy Scouts.

In a separate statement emailed Feb. 7 to Catholic News Service, Effie Delimarkos, the Boy Scouts’ director of communications, reiterated that “we will accept and register youth in the Cub and Boy Scout programs based on the gender identity indicated on the application. Our organization’s local councils will help find units that can provide for the best interest of the child.”

Sparks and Father Smith said in their statement: “Scouting’s chartered organizations have the right to uphold their own moral standards within the units they charter. The teachings of the Catholic Church are upheld.”

About 70 percent of Boy Scout troops are run by faith-based groups.

Syrian refugee Baraa Haj Khalaf is greeted by her mother, Fattoum Haj Khalaf, after arriving Feb. 7 at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.

CNS photo/Kamil Krzaczynski | Reuters

Catholic Charities agencies eye layoffs over uncertainty on refugees Dennis Sadowski Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Local Catholic Charities agencies are scrambling to save staff jobs as they respond to President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily suspending the country’s refugee resettlement program.

Although the order remains on hold after a three-judge federal appeals court panel Feb. 8 denied a government request to overturn a temporary restraining order against Trump’s action, agencies across the country are shifting staffers into other programs should the courts reinstate the resettlement ban or the administration issues a new order.

Dominican Sister Donna Markham, CEO and president of Catholic Charities USA, said up to 700 workers are affected in some way by the order, with many of them losing their jobs.

Sister Markham and her national staff at Catholic Charities USA’s Alexandria, Virginia, headquarters are so concerned for the workers and the refugees they serve that the agency launched a campaign Feb. 2 to raise $8 million to save jobs in 80 dioceses nationwide.

“It’s a mess. It’s just a mess. If we’re talking about American jobs, this is laying off people in these public-private partnerships,” Sister Markham told Catholic News Service.

“We’d like to see if we can raise $8 million to make a dent in (the impact on) some of these jobs so we can retain some of these positions to continue the programming for those already here,” Sister Markham said.

Trump’s executive order, signed Jan. 27, suspended the entire refugee resettlement program for 120 days and banned entry of all citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries -- Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia -- for 90 days. Another clause in the order established religious criteria for refugees, proposing to give priority to religious minorities over others who may have equally compelling refugee claims.

It also capped the number of refugees entering the country during fiscal year 2017, which ends Sept. 30, at 50,000, down from the ceiling of 110,000 set by Barack Obama’s administration.

Nearly 30,000 refugees have been admitted since the start of the fiscal year Oct. 1, the Department of State reported.

The resettlement program in the Diocese of Portland, Maine, will be among those most severely affected.

The agency originally expected to resettle 685 refugees during the current fiscal year, but could see that number reduced by more than half, said Judy Katzel, chief communications and development officer for Catholic Charities Maine. The agency has 24 full-time and part-time case managers, aids and administrative employees. It is the only organization in Maine that resettles refugees.

“We are working very hard how to maintain our staff during this four-month waiting period,” Katzel said.

“If they cut it to 340 (refugees) or so, of which we’ve already resettled 218, we would be facing potentially having to lay off half (of the staff),” she said. “As much as our mission is to welcome the stranger and welcome the refugee population, we want to look very hard to keep our staff intact as best we can.”

At Catholic Charities Maine, like agencies across the country, workers are responsible for assisting refugees beyond their arrival day. They work with the new arrivals for months afterward, helping them with housing, budgeting, adjustment to American life, job training and placement, and learning English. In many cases, staffers were once refugees themselves.

Catholic Charities leaders said they are hoping to avoid layoffs through reassignments to other departments or by raising their own funds to allow staffers to continue in their roles. They expressed concern that staffing cuts will make it difficult to get back up to speed when the refugee pipeline reopens.

More so, diocesan officials said, staff members remain upbeat, focusing more on the plight of refugees fleeing war, violence and discrimination than being concerned about their own jobs.

“Our main concern is the refugees. That’s where our hearts are. That’s where our prayers are. We want to be able to continue the work when the 120 days are up,” said Heidi Smith, director of refugee services in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

Smith said layoffs are being considered, but that she and her staff are working to avoid them. She told CNS that her staffing level is lower than what is needed to resettle the 676 new arrivals they were expecting under the ceiling set before Trump’s inauguration.

“For the staff members on the front end of the arrival process, we’re looking at ways we can use them” including in advocacy for and education about the resettlement program at parishes, schools and businesses, she said.

February 17, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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In Brief Stalled action on proposed religious freedom order raises concerns WASHINGTON, D.C. — Talk of President Donald Trump possibly signing an executive order on religious freedom – which drew both criticism and praise – has been replaced with discussion about what happened to it and what a final version, if there is one, will look like.

A draft version of the executive order, called “Establishing a Government-Wide Initiative to Respect Religious Freedom,” had been widely criticized in late January by those who said it would legalize discrimination and was too far-reaching. It then failed to appear on the president’s desk while rumors circulated that a scaled-back version might appear eventually.

“We hope that President Trump and his administration will take action soon, especially to provide relief from the onerous HHS mandate,” said Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, referring to the mandate issued by the federal Department of Health and Human Services requiring most religious employers to provide coverage of artificial birth control for their employees even if they are morally opposed to it. “Now that some of the Cabinet posts are being confirmed, we hope that concrete and immediate action is taken to protect religious freedom,” he said in a Feb. 10 email to Catholic News Service.

Congress urged to pass conscience protections for health care providers WASHINGTON, D.C. — Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore have urged the House and Senate to past the Conscience Protection Act of 2017. They called it “essential legislation protecting the fundamental rights of health care providers ... to ensure that those providing much-needed health care and health coverage can continue to do so without being forced by government to help destroy innocent unborn children.” The two prelates made the plea in a joint letter dated Feb. 8 and released Feb. 10 by the USCCB. Cardinal Dolan is chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities and Archbishop Lori is chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. In the Senate, the Conscience Protection Act of 2017 is known as S. 301, and in the other chamber it is H.R. 644. The companion bills would provide legal protection to doctors, nurses, hospitals and all health care providers who choose not to provide abortions as part of their health care practice.

In the House, Republican Reps. Diane Black of Tennessee and Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska introduced the measure Jan. 24. Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma sponsored it in the Senate Feb. 3 and it now has at least 16 co-sponsors.

Migrants staying put in Mexico, abandoning efforts to reach U.S. SALTILLO, Mexico — Edelmiro Cardona hardly had any time to flee his native Honduras with his brother when gang members came calling. Cardona, who left behind a wife and 4-year-old daughter, explained how his brother had built a house and rented it, only to have gangsters, who were related to the tenant, move in and refuse to relinquish it. “We had to flee because they came by our house shooting,” said Cardona, who worked installing satellite TV service, but sold his motorcycle and tools to pay for his escape. The brothers made it as far north as Saltillo, some 190

miles from the Texas border. They decided to go no farther but to apply for asylum in Mexico. They are among a growing number of Central Americans deciding to stay in Mexico rather than try to reach the United States. “We’re asking for refuge because if we return to our country of origin, we run the risk of being killed,” Cardona said at a migrant shelter run by the Diocese of Saltillo, which is helping with his asylum claim. “It was a direct threat.”

Growth of U.S. Hispanic population a blessing for Church, says speaker WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hispanics in the Catholic Church are not a problem to be solved, but a blessing and an opportunity, said Hosffman Ospino in a Jan. 30 talk at The Catholic University of America in Washington.

The growing number of U.S. Hispanic parishioners puts a new face on the Church, forces it to renew itself, pushes it to redefine its commitment and presents dioceses with a challenge, he said. Ospino is a professor of theology and religious education at Boston College and director of graduate programs in Hispanic ministry there. He is well-known as a leading voice in Hispanic ministry and theology.

More than 20 million immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean are transforming the U.S. Catholic experience, according to Ospino. He calls this phenomenon a “tsunami.”

Hispanics are the fastest-growing community in the U.S. They make up the largest minority group in the country and, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, they will surpass the 132 million mark by 2050. By then, Hispanics will represent 30 percent of the nation’s total population.

With nation divided, Rev. King’s words still resonate HOUSTON — At a time when the nation is politically divided, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of seeking peace between races has particular resonance. “I believe Dr. King’s message of tolerance, human dignity and peace is just as meaningful and necessary today as it was in the 1950s and 1960s,” said Deacon Leonard Lockett, vicar for Catholics of African descent for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. “We find ourselves at this hour in a nation of unrest and the wonderment and beauty of Dr. King’s message is that it transcends time,” the deacon said. “Dr. King reminded us over and over during his ministry that we are all created in the image and likeness of God and therefore share in a sacred brotherhood and sisterhood.” Deacon Lockett said that as citizens of this nation — not just citizens of African descent, but all citizens regardless of one’s race, creed or political philosophy — must learn to live every day of the year as if it was Martin Luther King Day, which is observed every January.

— Catholic News Service

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Our world 20

catholicnewsherald.com | February 17, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Pope: Speechless before horror of Holocaust, pray it never happens again Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Anti-Semitism is absolutely contrary to Christianity, and the Church has a duty to denounce and repel such hatred, Pope Francis said.

There are no words, however, that could ever adequately address “the horrors of cruelty and sin” of the Holocaust, he added. There is only prayer “that God may have mercy and that such tragedies may never happen again.”

The pope made his comments Feb. 9 at the Vatican during an audience with a delegation of the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that fights anti-Semitism.

“Sadly, anti-Semitism, which I again denounce in all its forms as completely contrary to Christian principles and every vision worthy of the human person, is still widespread today,” the pope said.

He reaffirmed that the Catholic Church “feels particularly obliged to do all that is possible with our Jewish friends to repel anti-Semitic tendencies.”

More than ever, the fight against anti-Semitism needs effective tools of education and formation that teach respect for everyone and protection for the weakest.

“Caring for the sacred gift of all human life and safeguarding its dignity, from conception to death, is the best way of preventing every type of violence,” he said.

“Faced with too much violence spreading throughout the world, we are called to a greater nonviolence, which does not mean passivity, but active promotion of the good,” he said.

“Indeed, if it is necessary to pull out the weeds of evil, it is even more vital to sow the seeds of goodness.”

That requires cultivating justice, promoting harmony and sustaining integration “without growing weary.”

Pope Francis encouraged the delegates to continue their work, knowing that “the best remedies against the rise of hatred consist in making available the means necessary for a dignified life, in promoting culture and favoring religious freedom everywhere, as well as in protecting believers and religions from every form of violence and exploitation.”

CNS photo/Paulo Carrico | EPA

Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the three children who saw Our Lady of Fatima in 1917, is pictured in a 2000 photo. Bishop Virgilio Antunes of Coimbra, Portugal, formally closed the local phase of investigation into her life and holiness Feb. 13 in the Carmelite convent of St. Teresa in Coimbra, where she resided until her death in 2005 at the age of 97.

Diocesan phase of Fatima visionary’s sainthood cause completed Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — The Diocese of Coimbra concluded its phase of the sainthood cause of Carmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the three children who saw Our Lady of Fatima in 1917.

Bishop Virgilio Antunes of Coimbra formally closed the local phase of investigation into her life and holiness Feb. 13 in the Carmelite convent of St. Teresa in Coimbra, where she resided until her death in 2005 at the age of 97.

The ceremony included the sealing of 50 volumes — 15,000 pages — of evidence and witness testimonies detailing the life of Sister Lucia. The documents sealed at the ceremony were to be shipped to the Congregation for Saints’ Causes at the Vatican.

After a thorough review of the materials and a judgment that Sister Lucia heroically lived the Christian virtues, her cause still would require the recognition of two miracles -- one for beatification and another for canonization — attributed to her intercession.

The Marian apparitions at Fatima began on May 13, 1917, when 10-year-old Lucia, along with her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, reported seeing the Virgin Mary.

The apparitions continued once a month until Oct. 13, 1917, and later were declared worthy of belief by the Catholic Church.

Father Romano Gambalunga, postulator of the visionary’s cause, said that while “Lucia is already a saint in the eyes” of many people, “the prudent path of the Church is that she is proposed to all, not just those who believe.”

“Lucia became holy over the years, not because of the apparitions,” Father Gambalunga told Agencia Ecclesia, the news

agency of the Portuguese bishops’ conference.

While many hope her heroic virtues will be recognized by the Church soon, it is important “not to do things in a hurry,” he said Feb. 13.

The evidence and testimonies gathered for Sister Lucia’s cause, he said, provide “a great occasion for spiritual and theological deepening,” and the material will help “illuminate the history of the church over the last 100 years.”

Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Fatima May 12-13 and many people hope he will use the occasion to canonize Sister Lucia’s cousins, Francisco and Jacinta, who were beatified by St. John Paul II in 2000.

Bishop Antonio Marto of Leiria-Fatima told Radio Renascenca, the Portuguese bishops’ radio station, that while nothing is certain, he is “deeply hopeful” the canonization will take place this year, the centenary of the apparitions.

“We are waiting and continue to pray to the Lord. But I hope that, during the centenary, we will have the grace and joy to participate in the canonization,” he said.

Bishop Marto also admitted that “he is a convert,” who, as a priest, was initially skeptical of the Marian apparitions in Fatima.

“I was a skeptic. I didn’t care; I did not take an interest nor did I take a position. I understood it as something for children,” Bishop Marto said.

The skepticism changed into belief after attending a conference on the apparitions and reading Sister Lucia’s memoirs, he told the radio station. “I was deeply impressed, both by the authenticity of the testimony she gave and by the seriousness of the problems she dealt with. I read her memoirs three times to find the historical and ecclesial context” of the apparitions.

February 17, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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In Brief Health care is not a business, but a service to life, pope says VATICAN CITY — A nation’s health care system cannot be run simply as a business because human lives are at stake, Pope Francis said. “If there is a sector in which the ‘throwaway culture’ demonstrates its most painful consequences, it is the health care sector,” the pope told patients, medical professionals, pastors and volunteers attending a meeting sponsored by the Italian bishops’ national office for health care ministry.

Celebrating the World Day of the Sick and marking the 20th anniversary of the bishops’ office, the pope said Catholics obviously give thanks for the advances in medicine and technology that have enabled doctors to cure or provide better care for the sick. He also praised medical personnel who carry out their work as “ministers of life and participants in the affectionate love of God the creator. Each day their hands touch the suffering body of Christ, and this is a great honor and a great responsibility,” he said.

Pope praises abuse survivor for breaking silence VATICAN CITY — The sexual abuse of children by those who have vowed to serve Christ and the Church is a horrendous monstrosity that represents “a diabolical sacrifice” of innocent, defenseless lives, Pope Francis said. The Church, which must protect the weakest, has a duty “to act with extreme severity with priests who betray their mission and with the hierarchy — bishops and cardinals — who protect them,” the pope wrote in the preface to a new book written by a man raped as a child by a Capuchin priest. The book, “My Father, I Forgive You,” was written by Daniel Pittet, 57, in an effort to describe how he fell victim to a predator abuser when he was 8 years old growing up in Fribourg, Switzerland, and the challenges he faced when came forward two decades later with the accusations.

World needs women, not for what they do, but who they are VATICAN CITY — The exploitation of any person is a crime, but the exploitation of a woman “destroys harmony” in the world, Pope Francis said. Commenting on the Genesis story of God creating Eve, Pope Francis told people at his morning Mass Feb. 9 that the creation story emphasizes how the world needs the qualities women have. Men and women “are not the same, one is not superior to the other, no,” the pope said. “It’s just that men do not bring harmony. She is the one who brings that harmony that teaches us to caress, to love with tenderness and who makes the world something beautiful.” After the creation of Adam, the pope said, “God himself notices the solitude” of Adam, who “was alone with all these animals.”

God could have said, “’Hey, why don’t you take a dog, who will be faithful, to accompany you through life and two cats to pet.’ A faithful dog is good, cats are cute -- at least some think so, others no, for the mice no!” the pope said.

Vatican summit participants vow efforts to stop organ trafficking VATICAN CITY — A Vatican summit on organ trafficking called for greater efforts to prevent the exploitation of those vulnerable to corrupt health professionals and criminal networks making the sale

of human organs possible. “We, the undersigned participants of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences summit on organ trafficking, resolve to combat these crimes against humanity through comprehensive efforts that involve all stakeholders around the world,” said the final statement, released to the public Feb. 9. The summit, held at the Vatican Feb. 7-8, brought together government ministers, judges, law enforcement personnel, medical professionals, human rights activists and journalists — in all, representing more than 50 nations, especially those plagued by organ trafficking, where the sale of human organs is legal. One of the summit’s goals was to build an alliance comprised of prosecutors, legal experts, governments and healthcare professionals from all over the world to encourage each other to put pressure on their own nations to implement measures to stop organ trafficking and transplant tourism.

Pope names envoy to study pastoral care of faithful in Medjugorje VATICAN CITY — Without commenting on the authenticity of alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Pope Francis has appointed a Polish archbishop to study the pastoral needs of the townspeople and the thousands of pilgrims who flock to the town each year. The pope chose Archbishop Henryk Hoser of Warsaw-Praga as his special envoy to Medjugorje, the Vatican announced Feb. 11. “The mission has the aim of acquiring a deeper knowledge of the pastoral situation there and, above all, of the needs of the faithful who go there in pilgrimage, and on the basis of this, to suggest possible pastoral initiatives for the future,” the Vatican announcement said. Archbishop Hoser’s assignment has “an exclusively pastoral character,” the Vatican said, making it clear his task is separate from the work of a commission set up in 2010 by nowretired Pope Benedict XVI to investigate the claims of six young people who said Mary had appeared to them daily beginning in 1981. Some of the six say Mary still appears to them and gives them messages each day, while others say they see her only once a year now.

Be Christians of substance, not appearance, pope says at Angelus VATICAN CITY — Obeying the true spirit of the commandments and not just a literal interpretation of them is what makes Christians become authentic witnesses, Pope Francis said.

As seen through Mary’s example, following the commandments “is possible with the grace of the Holy Spirit which enables us to do everything with love and to fully carry out the will of God,” he said. “May the Virgin Mary, woman of docile listening and joyful obedience, help us to approach the Gospel not just having a Christian ‘facade,’ but being Christian in substance,” he said.

Vatican official explains provisions of ‘Amoris Laetitia’ VATICAN CITY — The provisions of “Amoris Laetitia” allow people in irregular marriage situations access to the sacraments only if they recognize their situation is sinful and desire to change it, according to the cardinal who heads the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. The fact that such a couple also believes changing the situation immediately by splitting up would cause more harm and forgoing sexual relations would threaten their current relationship does not rule out the possibility of receiving sacramental absolution and Communion, said Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the pontifical council that is charged with interpreting canon law. The intention to change, even if the couple cannot do so immediately, “is exactly the theological element that allows absolution and access to the Eucharist as long as — I repeat — there is the impossibility of immediately changing the situation of sin,” the cardinal wrote.

— Catholic News Service

Principal Saint Mary’s Catholic School in Greenville, South Carolina is searching for a principal to begin in Summer 2017. Saint Mary’s School, founded in 1900 as an apostolate of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, today serves about 270 students from K-3 through the 8th Grade.

Saint Mary’s Church & School

The successful candidate will be a practicing Catholic in full communion with the Church who holds at least a Master’s Degree in an appropriate discipline and has had experience both as a classroom teacher and as the principal of a Catholic school.

Please submit resume and cover letter before 3 March 2017 to Fr Jay Scott Newman at pastor@stmarysgvl.org.

For more information about Saint Mary’s, visit our website at www.stmarysgvl.org.

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The Letters of Saint Paul Thursday, March 16 or Saturday, March 18, 2017 9:30am – 4:00pm Sr. Mary Hugh Mauldin, RSM Paul is the first New Testament writer, and his letters account for 13 of the 27 books. He has been called “the most successful missionary”, “the best theologian”, “the greatest preacher”. This day will look at both the man and his letters. Prayer, noon Eucharist and lunch are included in the schedule.

The same program is offered both days.

Sr. Mary Hugh Mauldin, RSM has degrees in Math Education and graduate degrees in Theology and Liturgy. Her professional career included teaching positions at Limestone, Sacred Heart and Belmont Colleges. She is a frequent speaker and popular presenter in the Diocese of Charlotte.

$40 (lunch included)

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catholicnewsherald.com | February 17, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Fatima: The Past Prepares the Future Europe, 711 AD. The Muslim population is increasing. Islam is firmly rooted in North Africa, Tunisia and most of the Arabian Peninsula. As the religion’s sphere of influence widens, the leaders establish, by force, an Islamic State – a Caliphate. It stretches from Aleppo, Syria in the west, Turkey to the north and Iran in the east. It is ruled by the Righteous Caliph. Per the Quran and the Sunnah traditions, the duty of each follower is convert the world to Islam, eliminate those who will not, and establish Sharia as the universal law. To this end, the Caliphate sends military expeditions, known as futuhats, to conquer and expand their reign in Europe. When these Islamic forces invade a city, people who refuse to convert, and most especially Christians, are often murdered in violent, public executions. Churches are destroyed or turned into mosques. It’s not long before Europe, especially the Iberian Peninsula, is living in fear of Islamic attacks.

After several centuries of Islamic rule of the Iberian Peninsula, the Christian kingdoms of North Portugal and Spain defeated and conquered the Muslim forces. This period of revived Christianity is commonly called the Reconquista. A collection of small Christian villages in the Serra de Aire hills of the Kingdom of Portugal were won back from the Muslims during this time. The last Muslim Imam to leave had a beautiful daughter named Fatima. A Christian Knight of the Reconquista, Gonçalo Hermigues, fell in love with her, and for him she not only stayed behind when the Muslims left, but even embraced the Catholic Faith. In 1158, the young husband honored his new wife by changing the name of their town to Fatima.

Like many other Muslim girls, she was named in honor of Muhammed’s daughter.

Muhammed said of her, “She has the highest place in heaven after the Virgin Mary.” In the Quran, the Blessed Virgin Mary is mentioned no less than thirty times. No other woman’s name is recorded. Although not exclusive to the Five Doctrines of Islam, Muslims hold to the belief of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, the Annunciation, the Visitation, and, believing in the virgin birth, call her “Virgin, ever Virgin.”

In Fatima, the past prepares the future.

The European’s fears of the military futuhats mirror the fears of the present. The brutality of the past mirrors the inhumaneness of the present. The deadly collision of Christianity and Islam in the 8th century mirrors the smoldering discord of the present. Yet, amid the fear, brutality, deadly battles, and the evils of the past, God’s Divine Plan for the present began. A small town that may have gone unnoticed then, would, centuries later, become the seat of the Divine Plan for Peace in the world. A town named after Muhammad’s exulted daughter would become a city known for the exulted Mother of God. God’s plan, initiated long ago in a world at war, begins to unfold amid the First World War. In Fatima, the past prepares the future.

The First World War began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 1914 and ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919.

The same penetrating hatred and passionate vitriol present in 8th century Europe were present to an even greater degree during the Great War. While each of the five years was gruesome, the bloodiest year of the war, and in European history, was 1916.

During that year, German zeppelins, chemical weapons, and tanks were used for the first time. The Brusilov Offensive began the Russian Empire’s spread through Europe. Britain’s deadliest battle to date, the Battle of Somme, commences off the coast of France. Portugal and Romania join the allied forces and lost nearly all their troops within the month. In the Middle East, British and French forces took control of the Islamic Caliphate, known as the Ottoman Empire, and ferociously ended the Arab Revolt. British, Belgian, and Portuguese forces entered Eastern Africa to dismantle the German influence on the continent, destroying entire tribes and annihilating many villages in the process.

The dead, wounded, and those missingin-action in 1916, represent roughly 30% of all the war’s casualties. The estimated worldwide total is 11.2 million. Of that number, 2.5 million people died, 6.3 million people were wounded, and 2.3 million people were lost and never found. Death seemed more common than life.

Elsewhere in the world, Ireland’s Easter Uprising starts a prolonged war for independence from England. In Mexico, Poncho Villa commences the Mexican Revolution. In the United States, the eugenicist, Margaret Sanger, opens the first of many family planning and birth control clinics, the precursors of Planned Parenthood.

And in a small, quiet village named for Muhammed’s daughter, an angel visited three poor shepherd children: brother and sister, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, and their cousin, Lúcia Santos.

It was Spring. The three children had taken shelter under a rock during a brief period of rain. There they ate their lunch and prayed the rosary. They started playing a game when the trees around them began to shake violently. Peeking out from their small shelter, they saw “a light whiter than snow in the form of a young man, quite transparent, and as brilliant as crystal in the rays of the sun.” None of the children spoke. The young man, kneeling and placing his forehead on the ground said, “Do not be afraid. I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.” The children did so. He repeated this prayer three times.

“My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You.” The angel stood up and instructed the children, “Pray in this way. The hearts of Jesus and Mary are ready to listen to you.”

This supernatural encounter profoundly affected them. For several days, they simply contemplated what they had seen and prayed the Angel’s Prayer.

In the Summer, the children were playing at the well inside the garden behind the Santo’s home. Suddenly, the same angel appeared again. This time, claimed Lúcia, the angel began to chastise them. He said, “What are you doing? You must pray! Pray!

The hearts of Jesus and Mary have merciful designs for you. You must offer your prayers and sacrifices to God, the Most High.”

Bravely, little Lúcia responded, “But how are we to sacrifice?” To this, the angel said, “In every way you can offer sacrifice to God in reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for sinners.

In this way, you will bring peace to our country, for I am its guardian angel, the Angel of Portugal. Above all, bear and accept with patience the sufferings God will send

you.” Again, they experienced the sense of their encounter as if it were still happening through the next day. Lúcia would later write, “The angel’s words sank deeply into our souls like a gleaming torch, showing us Who God is, what is His love for us, and how he wants us to love Him too; the value of sacrifice and how it pleases Him; how He receives it for the conversion of sinners. That is why from that moment we began to offer Him whatever mortified us.”

It was later that year when the angel appeared to them a third time. They were grazing their flocks as they knelt and prayed the prayer the angel taught them.

While repeating this prayer, a strange light appeared over them. Looking up, they saw the angel with a chalice in his left hand and a Host, suspended in the air, dripping blood into the chalice. The angel knelt, leaving both suspended in the air, and told the children to say this prayer three times, “Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. And by the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners.” The angel once again held the chalice and now the Host as well. He gave the Host to Lúcia and the chalice to Francisco and Jacinta. All the while, the angel prayed, “Eat and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ terribly outraged by the ingratitude of men. Offer reparation for their sakes and console God.” Before departing, the he again knelt and prayed.

There would be no more visits from the angel.

In Fatima, the past prepares the future. The Angel of Portugal, the Angel of Peace, was sent by God into a world filled with violence, a world of horrific war, a world that was losing hope, during the bloodiest year of the Great War. Yet, the angel’s messages were not given to military generals, government officials, or even the Church’s leaders. They were meant for three children. His messages were not instructions on how to end the war, but they would forever change history.

The angel prepared the children for the next part of God’s plan. His first visit taught them how to pray and pray earnestly. His second visit impressed upon them the necessity of offering every suffering and to sacrifice all they had in reparation for the sins that offended God. His last visit was a simple, yet profound, example of receiving Christ’s Body and Blood for the conversion of sinners and to console God, Himself. Having learned the lessons, God, through the angel, prepared the children’s hearts and souls for their first visitation from the Blessed Virgin Mary. God’s Divine Plan for Peace was nearly ready to be revealed. Our Lady’s first apparition to the children will be just the beginning of a plan that continues unfolding even now. In Fatima, the past prepares the future.

Father James Ebright is a priest in residence at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Gastonia. He serves as the treasurer for the Te Deum Foundation board of directors and also as co-spiritual director on the foundation’s annual Fatima pilgrimage. In this series he will examine each of the Blessed Mother’s six visits to the children, the messages given to them and how Fatima’s past prepared the future to receive God’s Divine Plan for Peace.

Letters to the editor

Faith and goodness not necessarily connected Regarding the Feb. 3 commentary “Why Goodness Depends on God,” Bishop Barron seems to have overlooked some recent research comparing the religious and non-believers.

For example: “Religion does not make one moral,” published in the Sept. 11, 2014, edition of “Science”; “Secular family life is at least as moral and ethical as religious family life,” published in the Jan. 14, 2015, edition of the Los Angeles Times; and by that same author, Phil Zuckerman: “Democratic countries with the lowest levels of religious faith and participation today – such as Sweden, Denmark, Japan, Belgium and New Zealand – have among the lowest violent crime rates in the world and enjoy remarkably high levels of societal well-being, and when it comes to nearly all standard measures of societal health, including homicide rates, the least theistic states within the USA generally fare much better than the most theistic” (Los Angeles Times, Oct. 30, 2015).

Tom Rafferty lives in Charlotte.

Why didn’t people speak out earlier?

It is encouraging to read in the Catholic News Herald about the voices of dissent and outcries regarding recent presidential actions on the refugee program, the border wall, sanctuary cities and other anti-people actions.

Catholics strongly supported President Donald Trump on the single issue of abortion, but apparently didn’t listen to the other threats being made over a lengthy presidential campaign.

Now there are outcries; then there was silence. What is new now? Couldn’t we have seen it coming? It was all laid out plainly before us in Trump’s speeches time and again. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is now praising bishops for speaking out against Trump’s actions and “in defense of God’s people,” and calling all the Catholic faithful to join in. This is great, but much too late. Where was the speaking-out beforehand when these actions could have been prevented? Afraid of political involvement then, but not so much now. Let’s remember that the majority of voters rejected what they saw coming; it was only by a quirky system and our silence that the perpetrator of these actions won approval.

But wait, there’s more to come.

Kenneth Schammel lives in Cornelius.

February 17, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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Parish spotlight

Photo provided by Cathy Chiappetta

‘Souper Bowl of Caring’ CHARLOTTE — Students in the pre-confirmation class at St. Peter Church banged pots and collected donations during the parish’s annual “Souper Bowl of Caring” drive Feb. 5 to benefit Urban Ministry.

Barbara Case Speers

The power of love

F

ebruary is the month where we express our love to each other with cards, chocolate candy and other gifts.

We also hear lots of love songs. In 1985, Huey Lewis and the News’ song, “Power of Love,” was the soundtrack for the hit movie “Back to the Future.” Some of us will remember Perry Como’s recording of “Love Makes The World Go Round” in 1958.

My favorite pop song is from the Beatles in 1967: “All You Need Is Love.” That song says it all.

Looking into your heart, on a scale from 1 to 10, what’s your “power of love” when you rate your relationship with God? If your love for God lacks luster, it ultimately destroys your relationship with God and others. All loving relationships must continually grow.

Remember the two greatest commandments that Jesus gave us: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31) If we all embraced these commandments, our world would be at peace and our families, parish, and community would live in harmony. Our Lord went on to say in verse 33: “to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

If we don’t have love, can we know God? 1 John 4:8 tells us: “Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.

Can we have love if we hate our brothers or sisters?” The scripture goes on to say in verses 20-21: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

How do we know what love is? 1 John 3:16-18 tells us: “Jesus laid down His life for us. The way we came to know love was that He laid down His life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.”

Jesus did not teach what the people wanted to hear, He was a spiritual revolutionary. As we read in Luke 6:35-36: “But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Why should love rule our lives? 1 Peter 4:8 sums it up: “The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and sober for prayers. Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins.”

Turns out, John, Paul, George and Ringo were right when they sang “all you need is love.”

Barbara Case Speers is a writer who lives in Hickory.

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From online story: “Speechless before horror of Holocaust, pray it never happens again” Through press time on Feb. 15, 5,034 visitors to www.catholicnewsherald.com have viewed a total of 10,038 pages. The top 7 headlines in February were: n Former seminarian sued over sexual assault claim..................................................................... 1,282 n St. Mark deacon recovering after accident.......................................................................................493 n View the current print edition of the Catholic News Herald.........................................................398 n Pro-life display at St. Vincent de Paul vandalized again................................................................ 144 n Tragedy prompts family to turn to saints, start company to share devotion...........................138 n Refugee families to be resettled in Charlotte halted by Trump’s order...................................... 131 n St. Paul Miki and the 26 Martyrs of Japan, feast day Feb. 6..........................................................98

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catholicnewsherald.com | February 17, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD