March 31, 2017

March 31, 2017

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Diocese continues to receive refugees as courts battle travel ban 3

Time for the Rite of Election 5 INDEX

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INSIDE: A Catholic guide to funeral planning

‘I would say now is the time for action’ Supreme Knight Carl Anderson speaks in Belmont, receives inaugural Benedict Award

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Our faith 2

catholicnewsherald.com | March 31, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Pope Francis

God promises the ‘impossible’

H

ope is not built on people’s predictions, assurances or line of reasoning, Pope Francis said.

Real Christian hope “is not based on our word, but on God’s Word” and promises of salvation and eternal life, the pope said during his general audience March 29.

Continuing a series of reflections on how the Apostle Paul describes the nature of Christian hope, the pope looked at how Abraham’s faith is held up as a model for everyone in the apostle’s Letter to the Romans (4:16-25).

Despite all logic — Abraham was old and his wife infertile — Abraham “believed, hoping against hope that he would become ‘the father of many nations,’” which shows how faith is so closely connected to hope, he said.

“Our hope is not based on human reasoning, predictions and assurances,” he said; real hope arises “where there is no more hope, where there is nothing left to hope for.”

True hope “is rooted in faith and, precisely for this reason, it is able to go beyond all hope” because it is built on faith in God and His promise, he said.

“This is the paradox and, at the same time, the strongest part,” he said, because from a human point of view, that promise seems “unsure and unforeseeable.”

Looking at the people gathered for the general audience, the pope asked them if they really believed in God’s love for them and His promise of eternal life.

“There is only one price” to be paid for this, he said. “Opening your heart.

Open your hearts and God’s power will carry you forward. He will do miraculous things and He will teach you what hope is.”

Just “open your heart to faith and He will do the rest,” he added.

Mary, too, believed in the unbelievable when the angel told her she would become the mother of God, the pope said in remarks to pilgrims from Arabic-speaking countries, particularly Iraq. Like Mary, they are called to embrace that which they do not understand God is doing, and to open their hearts and minds to Him, so that His will may be done, he said.

He later launched an appeal for more to be done to protect civilians in Iraq, reaffirming his prayers for civilians trapped in parts of Mosul and those displaced by war.

He encouraged them to continue their efforts and invited people to pray that “Iraq may find peace, unity and prosperity through reconciliation and harmony among its diverse ethnic and religious communities.”

A 1684 sculpture of St. Rupert

St. Rupert Feast day: March 27 On March 27 the Church remembers the monk and bishop St. Rupert, whose missionary labors built up the Church in two of its historic strongholds, Austria and Bavaria.

During his lifetime, the “Apostle of Bavaria and Austria” was an energetic founder of churches and monasteries, and a remarkably successful evangelist of the regions – which include the homeland of the Bavarian native Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Little is known about Rupert’s early life, which is thought to have begun around 660 in the territory of Gaul in modernday France. There is some indication that he came from the Merovingian royal line, though he embraced a life of prayer, fasting, asceticism and charity toward the poor.

This course of life led to his consecration as the Bishop of Worms in present-day Germany. Although Rupert was known as a wise and devout bishop, he eventually met with rejection from the largely pagan population, who beat him savagely and forced him to leave the city.

After this painful rejection, Rupert made a pilgrimage to Rome.

Two years after his expulsion from Worms, his prayers were answered by means of a message from Duke Theodo of Bavaria, who knew of his reputation as a holy man and a sound teacher of the faith.

Bavaria, in Rupert’s day, was neither fully pagan nor solidly Catholic. Although missionaries had evangelized the region in the past, the local religion tended to mix portions of the Christian faith – often misunderstood along heretical lines – with native pagan beliefs and practices.

The Bavarian duke sought Rupert’s help to restore, correct and spread the faith in his land. After sending messengers to report back to him on conditions in Bavaria, Rupert agreed. The bishop who had been brutally exiled from Worms was received with honor in the Bavarian city of Regensburg.

With the help of a group of priests he brought with him, Rupert undertook an extensive mission in Bavaria and parts of modern-day Austria. His missionary journeys resulted in many conversions, accompanied by numerous miracles including the healing of diseases.

In Salzburg, Rupert and his companions built a great church, which they placed under the patronage of St. Peter, and a monastery observing the Rule of St. Benedict. Rupert’s niece became the abbess of a Benedictine convent established nearby.

Rupert served as both the bishop of Salzburg and the abbot of the Benedictine monastery he established there. This traditional pairing of the two roles, also found in the Irish Church after its development of monasticism, was passed on by St. Rupert’s successors until the late 10th century.

St. Rupert died on March 27, Easter Sunday of the year 718, after preaching and celebrating Mass.

After the saint’s death, churches and monasteries began to be named after him – including Salzburg’s modern-day Cathedral of St. Rupert (also known as the “Salzburg Cathedral”), and the Church of St. Rupert which is believed to be the oldest surviving church structure in Vienna.

— Catholic News Agency

Your daily Scripture readings APRIL 2-8

Sunday: Ezekiel 37:12-14, Romans 8:8-11, John 11:1-45; Monday: Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 3362, John 8:1-11; Tuesday (St. Isidore): Numbers 21:4-9, John 8:21-30; Wednesday (St. Vincent Ferrer): Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95, Daniel 3:5256, John 8:31-42; Thursday: Genesis 17:3-9, John 8:51-59; Friday (St. John Baptist de la Salle): Jeremiah 20:10-13, John 10:31-42; Saturday: Ezekiel 37:21-28, Jeremiah 31:10-13, John 11:45-56

APRIL 9-15

Sunday (Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord): Matthew 21:1-11, Isaiah 50:4-7, Philippians 2:6-11, Matthew 26:14—27:66; Monday: Isaiah 42:1-7, John 12:1-11; Tuesday: Isaiah 49:1-6, John 13:21-33, 36-38; Wednesday: Isaiah 50:4-9, Matthew 26:14-25; Thursday: Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-15; Friday (Good Friday): Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9, John 18:1-19:42; Saturday (Easter Vigil): Genesis 1:1-2:2, Exodus 14:15-15:1, Exodus: 15:1-6, 17-18, Romans 6:3-11, Matthew 28:1-10

APRIL 16-22

Sunday (Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord): Acts 10:34, 37-43, Colossians 3:1-4, John 20:1-9; Monday: Acts 2:14, 22-33, Matthew 28:8-15; Tuesday: Acts 2:36-41, John 20:11-18; Wednesday: Acts 3:1-10, Luke 24:13-35; Thursday: Acts 3:11-26, Luke 24:35-48; Friday: Acts 4:1-12, John 21:1-14; Saturday: Acts 4:13-21, Mark 16:9-15

Our parishes

March 31, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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Diocese continues to receive refugees as courts battle travel ban KIMBERLY BENDER ONLINE REPORTER

CHARLOTTE — Refugee families continue to arrive in the Diocese of Charlotte while President Donald Trump and the courts battle over a travel ban temporarily suspending all refugee resettlement as well as immigration from several Muslim-majority countries.

Since the Trump administration’s initial travel ban was announced Jan. 27, Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte has resettled a total of 45 people, said Susan Jassan, interim director of its Refugee Resettlement Office.

The Charlotte office has received nine refugees from Somalia, six refugees from Ukraine, five refugees from Iraq, four refugees from Bhutan, three refugees from Syria, two refugees from Burma and one from Honduras.

During that same time in Asheville, the diocese has received four families, a total of 15 refugees, all from Ukraine, Jassan said.

Refugees who were approved for travel prior to March 16 were being allowed to travel to the United States in March, Jassan said. The Charlotte office welcomed three Burmese people and two Bhutanese refugees March 23.

In Asheville, one refugee from Russia arrived on March 22 and three refugees from Ukraine arrived March 23, she said.

The Trump administration’s initial travel ban was put on hold by the federal courts, following days of protests at cities and airports across the country, as well as criticism from U.S. bishops. After a federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s request to reinstate the travel ban, Trump issued a revised order to remove Iraq from the list of Muslim-majority countries encompassed by the ban. The revised travel ban, which was set to take effect March 16, bars citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Syria from

places it cannot safely occur.” entering the U.S. for 90 days and all refugees for 120 days.

“The best way to keep ... radical Islamic terrorists from But just hours before it was to take effect, federal attacking our country is to keep them from coming to our judges in Hawaii and Maryland blocked the Trump country in the first place,” Trump said. “This ruling makes administration’s revised order.

U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii

ruled that the government had not proved it was necessary Other nations: Countries covered by the revised travel ban: to protect the country from 21 Ukraine terrorists trying to infiltrate 5 Iraq 9 Somalia 2 Burma the country through legal 4 Bhutan immigration or through the 1 Honduras 3 Syria refugee resettlement program.

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland ruled the 0 Libya revised order was meant to be a ban on Muslims and therefore 0 Sudan violated the First Amendment.

During a campaign rally in Nashville last week, Trump 0 Iran vowed to fight the latest court ruling all the way to the U.S. Tim P. Faragher | Catholic News Herald Supreme Court.

“We’re going to fight this terrible ruling,” the president us look weak, which we no longer are.” told a crowd of cheering supporters in Nashville’s Despite the court rulings to block the travel ban, Municipal Auditorium. “The danger is clear. The law is Jassan said, Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte still clear. The need for my executive order is clear.” anticipates a reduced workload for the 20-plus employees On March 16 in Washington, D.C., White House in Charlotte and three employees in Asheville who work on press secretary Sean Spicer confirmed the Trump refugee resettlement. administration plans to appeal the two judges’ rulings.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops runs the largest During the Nashville rally, the president said his refugee resettlement program in the United States, and administration is “working night and day to keep our nation safe from terrorism. ... For this reason, I issued an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration from REFUGEE, SEE page 7

Refugees welcomed so far in 2017

‘I would say now is the time for action’ Supreme Knight Carl Anderson receives inaugural Benedict Award SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

BELMONT — Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, received the inaugural Benedict Leadership Award from the Benedict Leadership Institute at Belmont Abbey College March 24.

The Benedict Leadership Institute was founded in 2016 to develop and inspire Catholic leaders to transform society in light of their faith. The Benedict Leadership Award is a key activity of the institute.

It selected Anderson for his leadership in aiding and advocating for persecuted Christians in the Middle East. As the head of the Knights of Columbus, Anderson has repeatedly called for the protection of Christians facing genocide in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. Under his leadership, the Knights have raised more than $12 million for humanitarian relief of Christian refugees since 2014, including $2 million in new assistance for Syrian and Iraqi Christian refugees that Anderson announced earlier this month.

“It’s an honor to receive this inaugural

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Read an exclusive interview with Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, in which he talks about whether the U.S. should accept more Christian refugees At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Download the Knights’ Prayer for Persecuted Christians to pray in solidarity with them At www.kofc.org/un/en/charities/christianrelief: Learn more about how the Knights are helping Christians in the Middle East, and donate to the cause award,” Anderson said during his acceptance remarks.

“If anyone had asked me who should be the first recipient for the first award, I would have nominated Belmont Abbey College for the defense of our religious liberty that you undertook when you stood up against the HHS (contraception) mandate. We think about individuals being leaders, but institutions have to be, too. Institutions can only lead when they have a community of leaders dedicated and can understand the moral purpose

sueann howell | catholic news herald

BELMONT — The Benedict Leadership Institute conferred the inaugural Benedict Leadership Award upon Supreme Knight Carl Anderson of the Knights of Columbus for his concerted efforts to aid persecuted Christians in the Middle East. The bronze award and a $10,000 cash award were presented to Anderson on March 24 at Belmont Abbey College. Pictured from left: Dr. William Thierfelder, president of Belmont Abbey College; Supreme Knight Carl Anderson; Abbot Placid Solari, chancellor of Belmont Abbey College; and Conor Gallagher, executive director of the Benedict Leadership Institute. and the moral mission, and certainly this great college has such a community of leadership and a community of vision.”

One of the most pressing challenges facing the Church today, Anderson said, is the challenge of forming the next generation

of Catholic men and women able to live an integrated, coherent Catholic faith.

“It is especially appropriate that such an initiative (Benedict Leadership Institute) AWARD, SEE page 7

UPcoming events 4

catholicnewsherald.com | March 31, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following upcoming events: March 31 – 10 a.m.

Finance Council Meeting Pastoral Center, Charlotte

April 4 – 6 p.m.

Dedication of Our Lady of Guadalupe Hall St. James Church, Concord

April 14 – 3 P.m.

Good Friday Veneration of the Cross St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

April 1 Bishop’s Lenten Youth Pilgrimage Belmont Abbey College, Belmont

April 11 – 10 a.m.

Chrism Mass St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

April 15 – 8 P.M. Mass for the Easter Vigil St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

April 2 – 10 a.m.

Mass for Boy Scout Camporee Belk Scout Camp, Midland

April 13 – 7 P.m.

Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

April 19 – 6 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation St. Thérèse Church, Mooresville

Diocesan calendar of events March 31, 2017

ENTERTAINMENT

Volume 26 • Number 13

Spring Fling for SEniors: 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 16, at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. There will be group entertainment and crafts.

Lunch will be provided. Mass will be celebrated at 3 p.m. To register, call Sandra Breakfield at 704-370-3220.

Sponsored by Elder Ministry.

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

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

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

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

LENTEN & Easter Services A Lenten Meditation, ‘The Paschal Mystery and the Eucharist – The Passion Within’: 7 p.m.

Monday, April 3, in the St. Ignatius Day Chapel at St. Thérèse Church, 217 Brawley School Road, Mooresville.

For details, call the parish office at 704-664-3992.

Polish Lenten retreat: 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, April 4-Thursday, April 6, at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. Father Andrzej Jaczewski from the Diocese of Siedlce, Poland, will conduct the retreat. In addition to the retreat, Father Jaczewski will celebrate Mass in Polish on Palm Sunday, April 9, at 3 p.m. Confessions are available beforehand, starting at 2 p.m. A reception follows Mass in the New Life Center Banquet Room. For details, contact Barbara Banas at 704-847-2419 or barbmbanas@aol.

‘The Vigil Project’: 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 7, at St. John Neumann Church, 8451 Idlewild Road, Charlotte, and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 8, at St. Mark Church, 14740 Stumptown Road, Huntersville. The Vigil Project is a collection of Catholic musical artists, coming to town for an evening of songs of worship and adoration this Lenten season. Their music and videos will help lead you through a deeper and more prayerful journey during this holy season. For details, go to www.TheVigilProject.com or contact the parish offices.

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.

Ignatian Lenten Retreat, ‘Go Make disciples of all nations’: 9 a.m.-noon, Saturday, April 8, in Biss Hall at St. Peter Church, 507 S. Tryon St., Charlotte. Presented by our the parish’s Ignatian Spirituality Team with guided contemplative prayer, private meditation and sharing.

Stay afterwards to pray the Stations of the Cross in the church.

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.

LENTEN VESPERS: 6 p.m. Every Sunday during Lent through April 9 at St. Patrick Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Road East, Charlotte. Vespers will be followed by a reflection on the seven last words of Christ from the cross. For details, go to www.stpatricks.org.

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.

‘Divine Mercy Novena’: Begins on Good Friday, April 14, and ends on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 23, at Holy Infant Church, 1042 Freeway Dr., Reidsville. For details, call the parish office at 336-342-1448.

Easter Triduum in the Extraordinary Form (Latin): St. Ann Church will offer the following services at Charlotte Catholic High School chapel, 7702 PinevilleMatthews Road, Charlotte: Holy Thursday Mass, 7 p.m.

April 13; Good Friday Liturgy, 3 p.m. April 14; and Easter Vigil, 8 p.m. Saturday, April 15. This is the first diocesan Latin Easter Triduum in the diocese’s history and will offer beautiful Gregorian chant. The ancient Triduum will be offered by St. Ann’s priest-in-residence, Father

Jason Barone, to meet the spiritual needs of the growing Latin Mass faithful in the diocese. All are invited to attend one or all of the liturgies. For details, contact Chris Lauer at info@charlottelatinmass.org or visit www. charlottelatinmass.org.

Blessing of Easter Food Baskets: Noon Saturday, April 15, in Aquinas Hall at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1400 Suther Road, Charlotte. Deacon James Witulski will bless Easter food, part of an Eastern and Central European tradition also called “The Blessing of the Easter Baskets” (“Swieconka” in Polish). The blessings will be in English and Polish. Bring your Easter foods to the church in a basket: traditional foods such as sausage, eggs, bread and butter, or use your imagination and include your own cultural foods. Children can even bring their own baskets with their own treats. For details, call Deacon James Witulski at 704-960-3704.

UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC Mission HOLY WEEK SERVICES: Palm Sunday, April 9, 9 a.m. Matins (Morning Prayer) with blessing of the palms, 11 a.m. Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom; Holy Wednesday, April 12, 6:30 p.m.

Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts with the Sacrament of Anointing; Holy Thursday, April 13, 6:30 p.m. Vespers with Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great; Holy Friday, April 14, 10 a.m. Matins (Morning Prayer) with the 12 Passion Gospels; Holy Friday, April 14, 6 p.m. (main church) Vespers (Evening Prayer) with Shroud Procession and Burial at the Tomb; Holy Saturday, April 15, 10 a.m.

Paschal Vigil Liturgy: Vespers with Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great; Holy Saturday, April 15, 5 p.m. (Aquinas Hall) Resurrection Matins followed by 6 p.m. Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom for the Feast of the Resurrection. The Blessing of Baskets will occur after the Paschal Divine Liturgy and then everyone will share a potluck meal. Except where noted, all liturgies will be in the chapel at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, located at 1400 Suther Road in Charlotte. All liturgies in English except for the Divine Liturgy for Pascha, which will be celebrated in English, Ukrainian and Slavonic. For details, visit www.stbasil.weebly.com.

NATURAL Family Planning Respect Life and NFP networking event: 3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 1, at St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country Church, 232 Faculty St., Boone. Come learn how you can build a culture of life in your parish and community.

Topics include a new Respect Life Resource Manual, an upcoming Respect Life Conference and the Church teachings on sexuality as it relates to family planning.

For details, contact the parish office at 828-264-7087.

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 704-370-3230.

PRAYER SERVICES & Groups Pro-Life Rosary: 11 a.m. Saturday, April 1, 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.

Helpers of God’s Precious Infants Procession for Life: 9 a.m. Mass, Saturday, April 8, at St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Road, Charlotte. Please join as for we gather immediately after Mass. We will pray one decade of the rosary, continuing the rosary as the group processes by car to pray at “Family Reproductive Health” abortion facility at 3220 Latrobe Dr. with Father Gabriel Carvajal. Please park only on the right side of Denmark St. For details, visit www.charlottehelpers.com.

Charlotte Catholic Women’s Group Evening Reflection: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 26, at Charlotte Catholic High School chapel, 7702 Pineville-Matthews Road, Charlotte. Guest speaker will be Father Jason Barone. This event is free for members and non-members. To RSVP, visit www. charlottecatholicwomensgroup.org.

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.

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: BELMONT: 9 a.m. Saturday, April 1, at Queen of the Apostles Church, 503 North Main St. Charlotte: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 6, at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy.

Greensboro: 9 a.m. Saturday, May 6, at St. Benedict Church, 109 West Smith St. LEnoir: 9 a.m. Saturday, April 1, and 6 p.m. Monday April 3, at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 328-B Woodsway Lane N.W.

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.

March 31, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com

The Rite of Election

Photos provided by Capuchin Franciscan Father Martin Schratz

Hundreds of people across the Diocese of Charlotte are preparing to join the Catholic Church this Eastertime, through the diocese’s Rite of Christian Initiation (RCIA) program. They have been discerning, with the help of their sponsors and their parish’s RCIA team, that God is calling them to receive the sacraments of initiation (baptism, confirmation and first Holy Eucharist) at the Easter Vigil. Before they can be initiated, they must be officially called to the sacraments by the bishop or someone designated by him, during the Rite of Election. The Rite of Election marks the end of formal study of the teachings and practices of the Church, and the catechumens are now called the elect. Rites of Election are held at central locations across the diocese during Lent, this year at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte, St. Eugene Church in Asheville and Holy Cross Church in Kernersville. The remaining weeks of Lent are a time of intense prayer and preparation for their entrance into the Church at the Easter Vigil.

OUR PARISHESI

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Donate to seminary and priests’ continuing education Easter weekend, April 15-16 CHARLOTTE — A second collection taken up at all parishes in the Diocese of Charlotte on Easter weekend, April 1516, will help meet the needs of the diocese’s Seminary and Priests’ Continuing Education Programs.

The diocese has 24 men studying for the priesthood in two major seminaries and one minor seminary: the Pontifical North American College in Rome and the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, and St. Joseph College Seminary in Charlotte. It costs approximately $33,000 each year to fund a major seminary education.

The Seminarian Education Program is primarily funded through the Diocesan Support Appeal and also the second collection held on Easter Sunday.

Priests’ continuing education is a priority, as well. The diocese sponsors workshops and programs to help keep active priests informed of developments in theology and pastoral practices, enabling them to better serve the faithful.

“The education of our seminarians and the continuing education of our priests is an important priority in a growing, vibrant diocese such as ours,” Monsignor Mauricio West, vicar general and chancellor of the diocese, wrote in a letter to all parishioners about the upcoming collection. “It is through your generosity that we are able to meet the escalating cost of education today. Please be assured of our gratitude for your generous response to the Seminary and Priests’ Continuing Education Collection to be taken Easter weekend.”

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter

More online

At www.charlottediocese. org/view/seminarians: Meet the men studying for the priesthood in the Diocese of Charlotte

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 31, 2017 OUR PARISHES

Condo donation funds endowment for Immaculata School

Former St. Joan of Arc School principal passes away SAINT MARY-OF-THE-WOODS, Ind. — Sister Rose Marita Riordan died March 19, 2017, in Lourdes Hall, on the campus of the Sisters of Providence in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind. She was 95.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated March 24, 2017, by Father Daniel R. Hopcus. Burial was in the cemetery of the Sisters of Riordan Providence in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.

Margaret Mary Riordan was born in Chicago on May 2, 1921, to Patrick V. and Kathryn Ryan Riordan.

She entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence on Jan. 5, 1939, and professed final vows on Aug. 15, 1947, taking the name Sister Rose Marita.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Saint Mary-of-theWoods College and a master’s degree in education from Indiana State University.

In her 78 years as a Sister of Providence, she ministered in education for 49 years in schools in Indiana, California, Washington, D.C., New Hampshire and North Carolina. She served as principal for 15 of those years, including principal at the former St. Joan of Arc School in Asheville from 1977-1980. She also served at Our Lady of Consolation School in Charlotte from 1980 to 1982.

In the early 1970s, she took a leave from teaching to serve for five years in administration at the Motherhouse Health Care. In 1991 she moved to the motherhouse and volunteered at the Woods Day Care/Pre-School for 15 years, where she present each day at 6:30 a.m.

Deemed by her sisters as “the energizer bunny,” she was active until just a few weeks before her death, giving service in a variety of areas, including receptionist at Providence Spirituality and Conference Center.

In the last month of her life, she was still baking bread which was sold at Linden Leaf Gifts. All her service was rendered with a calm demeanor, a generous heart, and real concern for the needs of others.

She was preceded in death by two sisters, Rosaleen Gibbons and Bernadette Vicha, and two brothers, John and James Riordan.

She is survived by a brother, Bill Riordan of LaGrange Park, Ill.; and two sisters, Eileen Quinn of Walpole, Mass., and Alice Jenkinson of Cary, Ill. Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of Providence, 1 Sisters of Providence, Saint Mary-ofthe-Woods, IN 47876.

DeBaun Funeral Homes and Crematory in Terre Haute, Ind., was in charge of the arrangements.

— Catholic News Herald

SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

Photos by SueAnn Howell | Catholic News Herald

A joyful St. Patrick’s Day CHARLOTTE — (Above) Students from the Lynn O’Grady Quinlan Connick Academy of Irish Dance perform March 17 in the Family Life Center at St. Patrick Cathedral on the patronal feast day. (Above right) Bishop Peter Jugis accepts the gifts at Mass March 17 at St. Patrick Cathedral. (Right) Irish bagpiper Mark Adamson plays the majestic “Highland Cathedral” at the conclusion of Mass March 17.

Celebrating the diocese’s Irish roots MOUNT HOLLY — On March 17, Catholics of Irish descent in the Diocese of Charlotte gathered to celebrate their Irish roots with a special Mass at Old St. Joseph Church in Mount Holly, one of North Carolina’s oldest Catholic churches. Sponsored by the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians in the Charlotte area, the annual Mass paid tribute to the historic church’s first pastor, Father T.J. Cronin, who was Irish born and is buried in the adjacent church cemetery. Father Paul McNulty, chaplain of the St. Brendan division of the Hibernians, offered the Mass. St. Joseph Church was built in 1843 for and by Irish immigrants, who had come to mine for gold along the Catawba River. It is the oldest Catholic church still standing in the state and is an official state and U.S. historical site. Today St. Joseph Church is used for special occasions such at the feasts of St. Patrick and St. Joseph in March, and tours are available upon request through Queen of the Apostles Church in Belmont.

Photos by Tara Heilingoetter | Catholic News Herald

At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See more photos from the Mass at Old St. Joseph Church

HENDERSONVILLE — Retired Immaculate Conception Church parishioners Michael and Mary Ann Quinn wanted to help keep Catholic education alive in western North Carolina. Both had attended Catholic schools growing up, so when they heard their parish school needed some financial assistance, they wanted to make a difference.

The couple had a condominium in California which they had purchased decades ago and used as a rental property when they relocated from California to North Carolina to be closer to family back on the East Coast. They recently decided they no longer needed the condominium, so they looked into ways to be able to donate it to help set up an endowment to further Catholic education.

The Quinns donated the property to the Diocese of Charlotte, which in turn sold the property and used the proceeds to establish the Quinn Family Endowment Fund to benefit Immaculata School in Hendersonville.

The fund, set up in August 2016, has a principal of $403,000, which means the school will be able to use approximately $20,000 annually to help fund scholarships and provide other financial help to the school.

“We were happy we were able to do this,” Mary Ann Quinn said.

“Hopefully, it will benefit all of the children who want a Catholic education.”

Michael Quinn volunteered for years with faith formation at Immaculate Conception Church, so it meant a lot to him to be able to give in a meaningful way to help foster Catholic education.

“Both of us went through Catholic grammar school, high school and college,” Mary Ann Quinn said.

“We just felt that when we heard the school was having some financial challenges here, we remembered that, and knowing there aren’t that many Catholic schools in western North Carolina, we wanted to help.

“This section of the state seems to be growing and so we didn’t want that to go by the wayside, not having a Catholic school around here,” she explained.

“Many people set up an endowment through a bequest in their will,” said Jim Kelley, diocesan development director. “However, for those who own more than one residence, whether it be in North Carolina or another state, making a gift of one of those residences – just like the Quinns have done – is a wonderful way to support a parish, school, ministry or the diocese.

For details about establishing an endowment or providing an estate gift, contact Ray-Eric Correia, diocesan director of planned giving, at 704-3703364 or recorreia@charlottediocese. org.

March 31, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com

REFUGEE FROM PAGE 3

there are 11 staff members in the diocese who receive funding for their positions from the USCCB. “We are thinking creatively about how to utilize their skills in other areas, looking at the Employment Program and the Youth Program, specifically,” Jassan said.

“We are also hoping to use this time of halted arrivals to evaluate some of our internal processes to improve and streamline some of our methods of serving clients,” she said.

Since the initial travel ban was announced in January, Jassan said her office has received many calls from community members who would like to volunteer to help refugees in the CharlotteMecklenburg area.

— Catholic News Service contributed.

AWARD FROM PAGE 3

should begin here at Belmont Abbey College, an institution steeped in the ethos of St. Benedict, whose maxim ‘ora et labora’ (‘prayer and work’) has inspired countless generations of Catholics to find ways that the spiritual reality of their faith may truly inform their life and their work,” he said.

During his keynote address, Anderson highlighted the plight of Christians in the Middle East.

“Christianity was born in the Middle East. We often forget that today,” he said. “For the first 1,000 years the Middle East was the center of Christendom… For the past 100 years Christians have been squeezed out of the Middle East.

“From 1910 to 2010, the New York Times reports, the Christian population of the region went from 14 percent to 4 percent. That was before ISIS.” The Christians who survived earlier forms of genocide did so in large part because of direct aid from the American government and the American people, he said. “A century ago our government understood that these people needed to be saved. It was a public/private partnership. Government officials including President Woodrow Wilson urged Americans to assist those who were facing extinction.”

How different things have become a century later, he continued.

As the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS, swept across northern Iraq in 2014, there was no significant movement by the U.S. government to save Christians and other religious communities from being killed or displaced by the extremists – which has forced people to convert to Islam or die, endure rape and sexual slavery, and their homes and businesses burned. Priests and religious have been kidnapped or killed, and churches and monasteries have been looted or destroyed.

Today, most Christians have fled Iraq, and the number of Christians across the Middle East continues to dwindle to an alarming level.

Christians in the region have now reached the tipping point, Anderson said, on the edge of extinction because they will not renounce Christ.

“Where has been the effective leadership in the West to rescue them?” he asked.

A priest friend of his in Erbil, Iraq, who was kidnapped and tortured by Islamic terrorists, has said that “Genocide is the polite word for what is happening to Christians in Iraq today.”

“As the Psalmist says, ‘There is a season for all things,’” he continued. “Perhaps the season for polite words has passed.

Perhaps the time for cordial dialogue and polite petitions and government studies has passed. Perhaps now is the season for passionate leadership in defense of Christians in the region.”

“I would say now is the time for action. Their plight calls out to us for action and a new spirit of Christian solidarity. Their witness should inspire us to take up the challenge,” he said.

He echoed his March 14 national statement – made on the oneyear anniversary of the U.S. labeling ISIS atrocities as genocide – about the need to pray for and assist persecuted Christians.

Prior to his keynote address, Anderson accepted the Benedict Leadership Award from Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari, Belmont Abbey chancellor; Dr. William Thierfelder, president of Belmont Abbey College; and Conor Gallagher, executive director of the Benedict Leadership Institute.

The institute plans to confer the Benedict Leadership Award annually, recognizing Catholic men and women whose achievements reflect the leadership of St. Benedict. The bronze bust is a partial replica of an original statue of a young St. Benedict that graces the main hallway inside Belmont Abbey Monastery. It was crafted by Kelly Somey of Reno, Nevada.

Benedict Leadership Award recipients are also given a $10,000 award.

Anderson said he is donating the money to the Knights of Columbus’ efforts to aid Yazidi and Christian women who are receiving care in an Erbil medical clinic after escaping slavery under ISIS. — Benedict Leadership Institute contributed.

OUR PARISHESI

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In Brief Thinking of attending the National Black Catholic Congress?

CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte’s African American Affairs Ministry is organizing transportation to the National Black Catholic Congress XII, coming up July 6-9 in Orlando, Fla. Departures are being planned from St. Mary’s Church in Greensboro, St. Benedict the Moor Church in Winston-Salem, Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte, and Eastridge Mall in Gastonia.

All are welcome to attend the National Black Catholic Congress, which this year will feature a keynote address and Mass with Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Reservations must be made and deposits received before Friday, April 7. For details, go to www. ourladyofconsolation.org/news/ national-black-catholic-congress.

For more about the National Black Catholic Congress, go to www. nbccongress.org.

— Catholic News Herald

Photo provided by Amy G. Burger

A special Lenten mission at St. Mark Church HUNTERSVILLE — Parishioners of St. Mark Church experienced a spirit-filled parish Lenten mission March 13-15. Led by volunteer coordinator Jean Whelan, more than 1,000 people came each night to hear the message of Divine Mercy given by Father Christopher Alar (pictured) and Father Michael Gaitley from the Marians of the Immaculate Conception. Additionally, several hundred people came to Mass each morning when Father Alar gave an extended homily on Monday and Tuesday, and Father Gaitley on Wednesday. Father Gaitley is director of evangelization for the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception and director of formation for the Marian Missionaries of Divine Mercy; and Father Alar is director of the Association of Marian Helpers.

This was the first time they led a joint Lenten mission. There was a large selection of books and DVDs for purchase, but the parish mission completely sold out of Father Gaitley’s book “33 Days to Merciful Love,” a do-it-yourself retreat preparation for Consecration to Divine Mercy. Only in its second year, the consecration began March 21 and ends on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 23. All proceeds from books sales were given to the Marian Missionaries of Divine Mercy. of Siedlce, Poland, will conduct the retreat. In addition to the retreat, Father Jaczewski will celebrate Mass in Polish on Palm Sunday, April 9, at 3 p.m. Confessions will be heard beforehand, starting at 2 p.m. A reception will follow the Mass in the New Life Center Banquet Room.

For more information, contact Barbara Banas at 704-847-2419 or barbmbanas@aol.com.

Preparing for a pro-life prayer vigil HUNTERSVILLE — Father Paul McNulty, parochial vicar at St. Mark Church, anointed St. Mark Respect Life Ministry members with holy oil in preparation for their all-day prayer vigil at Charlotte’s busiest abortion facility in Charlotte on March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation. The Respect Life Ministry organized the St. Mark Pro-Life Day for the 40 Days for Life campaign and invited other parish ministries to join them by spending one hour in front of A Preferred Women’s Health Center on Latrobe Drive to pray for an end of abortion. The priests at St. Mark Church have begun anointing parishioners to provide extra spiritual protection in the face of the grave evil that occurs in and around abortion facilities.

— Mike FitzGerald, correspondent

Polish Lenten retreat, Palm Sunday Mass planned CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Church will host a Polish Lenten retreat on Tuesday, April 4, through Thursday, April 6, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Daily Mass Chapel. Father Andrzej Jaczewski from the Diocese

among all Catholics.

The 30-minute blessing – which will be done in both English and Polish

by Deacon James Witulski – will take place starting at noon in Aquinas Hall, located across the courtyard from the church at 1400 Suther Road in Charlotte.

Traditionally, Easter foods such as sausage, eggs, bread and butter in the shape of a lamb are brought to the church, neatly arranged in a basket.

However, people are invited to use their imaginations and include their own national foods. Children can even bring their own baskets with their own treats, including chocolate and Easter candy.

Contact Deacon Witulski with any questions at 704-960-3704.

— Catholic News Herald

Praying the rosary for marriage WAYNESVILLE — Parishioners of St. John the Evangelist Church gathered near the courthouse downtown March 18 to pray the rosary in defense of traditional marriage.

A similar rosary rally for marriage took place in Forest City, organized by members of Immaculate Conception Church.

— Catholic News Herald

All invited to Holy Saturday blessing of Easter baskets CHARLOTTE — Everyone is welcome to bring their Easter baskets to St. Thomas Aquinas Church on Holy Saturday, April 15, for a special blessing.

Also known as “The Blessing of the Easter Baskets” (or “Swieconka” in Polish), the blessing of Easter foods is an Eastern and Central European tradition that is growing in popularity

CDA hosts Lenten supper ASHEVILLE — Members of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas’ Court 412, associated with St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville, recently hosted a Lenten soup supper in Laurentine Hall.

Pictured are Veronica Sartor, district deputy; Marge Sposato, treasurer; Aviva Bruyer, recording secretary; Joan Tolley; Sharon Stosich, financial secretary; Mickie Booth, vice regent; and Cecelia Meredith.

— Diane Wright We welcome your parish’s news!

Please email news items to Editor Patricia L. Guilfoyle at catholicnews@ charlottediocese.org.

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 31, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Charlotte Catholic hosts STEM Career Fair More than 30 professionals volunteer to talk to students Carolyn Tillman Special to the Catholic News Herald

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School held its annual STEM Career Fair for students March 3 in the school media center. More than 30 professionals from science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields donated their time and talents so that Charlotte Catholic students could gain valuable insight into possible STEM careers.

“This was a great opportunity for our students to engage in real world conversations with real professionals,” said Ivana O’Kelly, chemistry teacher at Charlotte Catholic and organizer of the career fair. “Also, connecting our students with our community in Charlotte is a part of our vision and our beliefs at Charlotte Catholic. We are always pleased when opportunities can be provided for the local community to be a part of CCHS.” The 30 professionals came from an array of companies and included some very highlevel positions. Participants included the director of nuclear engineering at Duke Energy, Influence Health’s vice president

of strategic services, a meteorologist from WBTV, Presbyterian Pathology Group’s medical director, an automation engineer from Wells Fargo, and McGuire Nuclear Station’s core reactor designer.

Students made the most of the opportunity to interact with the numerous professionals, speaking with as many as possible and asking various questions. To focus their conversations and maximize their time, students compiled a list of questions in advance.

The students enjoyed learning about careers they hadn’t considered or weren’t aware of, besides careers they are contemplating.

“It was great talking with the software companies,” said senior Caitlyn Hogg.

“It made me really excited to hear about the changes that are taking place in the industry and all the new possibilities for careers.”

The professionals were impressed with the students as well.

“They asked very intelligent, even phenomenal questions,” said Dana Courtney, CRNA, with Carolina Anesthesia Associates, PA. Courtney and her colleague, Jessica Dziak, CRNA, used mannequins to show students how to intubate a patient and how to secure an airway with an endotracheal tube.

“Most were very interested in all the equipment we were able to bring in,”

Photo provided by Carolyn Tillman

Representatives from Sealed Air Corp. explain their technology to Charlotte Catholic High School students John Brandt, Thomas Lagaly, Paul Davis, Benjamin Iwaoka and Angel Morerra.

Courtney added. “A few were taken aback by our mannequins at first, but once they saw the EKG equipment and monitors, then they really got into it.”

“What a wonderful opportunity for our students to see the practical application of math and science,” said Principal Kurt Telford. “It’s always great when we can connect the academic world with the working world for our students.”

Carolyn Tillman is assistant director of Charlotte Catholic High School’s Advancement Office.

March 31, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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In Brief St. Mark student to compete in state Bee HUNTERSVILLE — St. Mark student Matthew Fishburne has been notified by the National Geographic Society that he is one of the semifinalists eligible to compete in the 2017 North Carolina National Geographic State Bee, being held at Central Piedmont Community College March 31.

This is the second level of the National Geographic Bee competition, now in its 29th year. Bees were held in schools with fourth- through eighth-grade students throughout the state to Fishburne determine each school champion. The National Geographic Society has invited up to 100 of the top-scoring students across the U.S. to compete in the State Bees. Each state champion will receive $100, the “National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World” and a trip to Washington, D.C., to represent their state in the National Geographic Bee Championship on May 14-17.

The national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the Society, and an all-expenses-paid expedition to the Galapagos Islands, among other prizes.

— Denise Reis

Charlotte Catholic High School announces National Merit Scholarship Finalists CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School announces that seniors Madison Marie Huber and Cade Allan MacQuarrie have been named National Merit Scholarship finalists.

Huber is president of the Spanish Honor Society and vice president of the Girls Who Code Club at CCHS. She is a member of the National Honor Society and served as a graduation marshal during her sophomore and junior years. She volunteers at St. Mark School and for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, tutors students in grades 6-11, has worked as a mayoral campaign volunteer, and has played the piano for 13 years. She is the daughter of Steve and Sue Huber of Huntersville.

MacQuarrie is a member of the National Honor Society and the Spanish Honor Society.

He has served as Honor Council president and as a graduation marshal during his sophomore and junior years. He volunteers at the Angels and Sparrows soup kitchen, as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at St. Mark Church in Huntersville, and at the Davidson Police Department. He has played club, junior varsity and varsity lacrosse as well as junior varsity football. He is the son of John and Margo MacQuarrie of Huntersville.

Nearly 1.6 million high school juniors from more than 22,000 high schools nationwide entered this year’s competition by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test last fall. Approximately 16,000 students qualified as semifinalists, representing less than 1 percent of all U.S. high school seniors. From this group of outstanding students, 15,000 finalists have been named, and more than half of all finalists will receive either a Merit Scholarship or a Special Scholarship from a corporate sponsor. The winners will be announced between April and July. They will join more than 300,000 other distinguished students who have earned the National Merit Scholar title.

The National Merit Scholarship program was founded in 1955 to distinguish and honor academically talented American high school students and to encourage them to develop their talents and skills to the fullest. The competition is very rigorous, and scholarship winners are chosen based on their skills, abilities, extracurricular accomplishments and potential for future success.

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 31, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

March 31, 2017

S U P P L E M E N T to T H E C A T H O L I C N E W S H E R A L D

Catholic funeral planning

A Holy Death

INSIDE: Planning a Catholic funeral, Cremation vs. burial?

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Local Catholic cemeteries and columbaria, Why do we pray for the dead?

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Saying a final goodbye with dignity,

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 31, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD special edition

Catholic funeral rites Editor’s note: St. Mark Church in Huntersville has produced this guide to funeral planning that is applicable for Catholics. While each pastor sets his own guidelines within the Church’s “Order of Christian Funerals,” we offer this guide as a reference for your family to consider and discuss:

‘At the death of a Christian, whose life of Introduction the death of a loved one, please contact faith was begun theUpon funeral home so that they may assist you in making the necessary funeral arrangements. in the waters We encourage parishioners to do pre-planning to make a difficult time easier for your family.

Funeral home services are very willing to help of baptism and you in this process.

Normally, the funeral home will contact the strengthened at parish to secure the date and time of the funeral.

At St. Mark we will do everything we can to accommodate family needs, but please know that the Eucharistic as a busy parish the church may be in use for other events during the time period first chosen.

Once the date and time have been decided, the table, the Church family will be contacted by one of the parish priests or deacons to plan the Mass of Christian intercedes burial and other funeral rites. This involves choosing readings, hymnody and discussing how family and friends might be involved in on behalf of the funeral liturgy. While there is always an element of the funeral rites that are personalized the deceased to reflect the life of the deceased, it should always be remembered that Christians celebrate the funeral rites to offer worship, praise, and because of its thanksgiving to God for the gift of a life which now been returned to God, the author of confident belief has life and the hope of the just. The Mass, the memorial of Christ’s death and resurrection, is the principal celebration of the Christian funeral that death is (“Order of Christian Funerals,” no. 5).

Catholic funeral rites consist of three principal or movements: the vigil or wake, the Mass not the end, nor parts of Christian Burial, and the burial rites. Each of does it break the these is discussed briefly here: bonds forged in The Vigil for the Deceased life.’ (sometimes called the Order of Christian Funerals, no. 4 More online At www.usccb.org/ prayer-and-worship/ bereavement-andfunerals/index.cfm: Get more information on Catholic funeral guidelines, prayers, suggested readings at funeral Masses, and more

At www. catholicsensibility. wordpress.com/ funeral-rites: Read the entire Order of Christian Funerals as well as explanations of each section

Wake) The Vigil for the Deceased is the principal rite celebrated by the Christian community in the time after death and before the funeral liturgy.

“At the vigil the Christian community keeps watch with the family in prayer to the God of mercy and finds strength in Christ’s presence,” “Order of Christian Funerals,” no. 56.)

The Vigil can be celebrated at the funeral home, the home of the deceased or at the parish church. During the course of the Vigil service, there will be a brief proclamation of the Word of God, intercessory prayer, and blessing. If someone in the family would like to offer a personal remembrance of the deceased (eulogy) this may be done at the conclusion of the Vigil service.

The Funeral Liturgy/ Mass of Christian Burial The funeral liturgy is the central celebration of the Christian community for the deceased. At the funeral liturgy the community gathers with the family and friends of the deceased to give praise and thanks to God for Christ’s victory over sin and death, to commend the deceased to God’s tender mercy and compassion, and to seek strength in the proclamation of the Paschal Mystery. Through the Holy Spirit the community is joined together in faith as one Body in Christ to reaffirm in sign and symbol, word and gesture

that each believer through baptism shares in Christ’s death and resurrection and can look for the day when all the elect will be raised up and united in the kingdom of light and peace (“Order of Christian Funerals,” no. 129).

The funeral Mass includes the reception of the body, the celebration of the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and final commendation and farewell.

Reception of the Body

The rite of reception takes place at the beginning of the funeral liturgy or Mass.

It begins with the greeting of the family, the sprinkling of the coffin with holy water as a reminder of baptism, and the placing of the pall which symbolizes the baptismal garment. If the family so chooses, they may drape the pall over the coffin of the deceased.

The entrance procession follows with the ministers leading the coffin and family members into the church.

During the procession an entrance hymn will be sung.

The family remains standing with the remainder of the congregation in the pews until the conclusion of the opening prayer. It is our practice at St. Mark to place a crucifix and Bible on the coffin at the conclusion of the entrance procession.

These symbols of Christian life are carried in the entrance procession and can be placed on the coffin by family members of the family chooses to do so. Otherwise, they will be placed by one of the ministers.

Liturgy of the Word

After the opening prayer, the Liturgy of the Word begins. The readings include an Old Testament reading (during the Easter season the first reading is taken from the Acts of the Apostles or the Book of Revelation), a Responsorial Psalm (sung), a New Testament reading and a Gospel reading.

The Order of Christian Funerals provides a complete listing of the Scripture readings that can be used in the funeral rites, and the family is encouraged to assist in making the selections of readings for the funeral. In addition, members of the family or friends of the deceased are invited to assist by serving as readers. During the funeral Mass, those who read, since they are exercising a ministry of the Church, are to be practicing members of the Catholic Church.

Liturgy of the Eucharist

At the funeral Mass, the community having

been nourished by the Word of God, turns for spiritual nourishment to the Eucharistic sacrifice in which the community with the priest offers to the Father the sacrifice of the New Covenant. The Liturgy of the Eucharist takes place in the usual manner. Members of the family or friends of the deceased should bring the gifts to the altar.

Final Commendation and Farewell

The final commendation is a final farewell by the members of the community, an act of respect

This crucifix is the focus of a Catholic cemetery dedicated at St. Frances of Rome Mission in Sparta in 2016.

File | Catholic News Herald

for one of their members, whom they entrust to the tender and merciful embrace of God. During the rite, the body is again sprinkled with holy water and incensed. The sprinkling is a reminder that through baptism the person was marked for eternal life and incensation signifies respect for the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Procession to the Place of Committal

At the conclusion of the funeral liturgy, the procession is formed and the body is accompanied to the place of committal. This final procession of the funeral rite mirrors the journey of human life as a pilgrimage to God’s kingdom of peace and light, the new and eternal Jerusalem.

Rite of Committal The rite of committal, the conclusion of the funeral rites, is the final act of the community of faith in caring for the body of its deceased member. In committing the body to its resting place, the community expresses its hope that, with all who have gone before marked with the sign of faith, the deceased awaits the glory of the resurrection. It normally takes place beside the grave or mausoleum where the remains of the deceased are to be placed.

— “Funeral Planning Guide for the Mass of Christian Burial,” St. Mark Church in Huntersville

March 31, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news herald special editionI

The right to a funeral liturgy

The funeral Mass, also known as a Mass of Christian Burial, is as much about the living as the deceased. The “Order of Christian Funerals” states: “The celebration of the Christian funeral brings hope and consolation to the living. While proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and witnessing to Christian hope in the resurrection, the funeral rites also recall to all who take part in them God’s mercy and judgment and meet the human need to turn always to God in times of crisis” (no. 7). At left, Bishop Peter Jugis celebrates the funeral Mass of Monsignor Joseph Kerin, second chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, on April 22, 2014, at St. Mark Church in Huntersville.

Church law stipulates that funeral services are a right, not a privilege, of all members of the Church, both the faithful and the catechumens (Canons 1176; 1183, §1). The Order of Christian Funerals also provides for the celebration of funeral rites for children whose parents intended them to be baptized (Canon 1183, §2).

“Christians celebrate the funeral rites to offer worship, praise, and thanksgiving to God for the gift of a life which has now been returned to God, the author of life and the hope of the just. The Mass, the memorial of Christ’s death and resurrection, is the principal celebration of the Christian funeral.” (“Order of Christian Funerals,” no.

5) “At the funeral liturgy the community gathers with the family and friends of the deceased …

– to give praise and thanks to God for Christ’s victory over sin and death, – to commend the deceased to God’s tender mercy and compassion, – and to seek strength in the proclamation of the paschal mystery.

Through the Holy Spirit the community is joined together in faith as one Body in Christ to reaffirm in sign and symbol, word and gesture that each believer through baptism shares in Christ’s death and resurrection and can look to the day when all the elect will be raised up and united in the kingdom of light and peace.” (“Order of Christian Funerals,” no. 129)

sueann howell Catholic News Herald

Below left, St. Matthew Church is one of 26 parishes in the diocese with a columbarium.

Other parishes have traditional cemeteries, or a combination of both options.

Non-practicing Catholics may receive Catholic funerals It is an unfortunate reality that many baptized Catholics no longer practice their faith and may consider themselves to have been away from the Church for too long to be ever welcomed again by the Church.

Such individuals or their families may feel uncomfortable in a church and ultimately decide against having a Catholic funeral.

By our baptism, however, we have been made equal in dignity before the Lord, and the Church, our Mother, bears the suffering of all those who became her sons and daughters through baptism. Thus, the Church offers funeral rites (including a funeral Mass) even for non-practicing Catholics and, under certain circumstances, for non-Catholic Christians.

Although the deceased may not have participated fully in the life of the Church on earth, the Church longs for her separated children to share in Christ’s blessings. She desires to pray for them and with their loved ones so that their sins may be forgiven and they may dwell forever in the presence of God in heaven.

— “Catholic Funeral Planning Guide,” Diocese of Portland, Maine; Canon 1183, §3

What about miscarried or stillborn babies?

Depending on the possibility of your collecting the remains, the baby should be named, baptized and buried. If you are in a hospital, the remains of the baby will be sent to the pathologist. You should request that you receive the remains. Most hospitals have little caskets which they offer you. If the baby is more developed we may need to obtain a larger casket from a funeral director. You should have a Mass of Christian Burial and bury the baby appropriately and in a marked grave.

— “Catholic Funeral Guide,” St. Michael the Archangel Church in Gastonia

In general in the U.S., burial options include: in-ground burial with monument graves, flush marker graves, lawn crypts or family estate lots; above-ground burial in mausoleums; and cremation with interment in mausoleum niches, columbaria, or in-ground in cremation graves or lawn crypts.

Photo courtesy of St. Matthew Church’s Bereavement Guide

‘The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burying the bodies of the deceased be observed; nevertheless, the Church does not prohibit cremation unless it was chosen for reasons contrary to Christian doctrine.’

Canon 1176, §3

Cemeteries vs. columbaria in the Diocese of Charlotte?

Church law (Canon 1240) stipulates, “Where possible, the Church is to have its own cemeteries or at least areas in civil cemeteries that are designated for the deceased members of the faithful and properly blessed.”

Because of limited space at many parishes across the diocese, a cemetery on parish grounds is not always practicable. Identifiably Catholic sections in public cemeteries have become an alternative option, as well as columbaria on parish grounds. But columbaria for cremated remains cannot be the only option provided.

Diocesan policy states: “If a parish wishes to make a columbarium available to the faithful, it will also make available at the same location as the columbarium, spaces for burial of the bodies of the deceased. The number of spaces available for placing cremated remains in a columbarium shall not be more than the number of spaces available for burial of bodies of the deceased. The expectation is that more spaces will be available for burial of the bodies of the deceased than spaces in a columbarium for the placing of cremated remains, since burial of the body is the norm of Christian burial.”

At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Read the Diocese of Charlotte’s full policy on cemeteries and columbaria

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Catholic cemeteries are important in the life of the Church.

Cemeteries St. James the Greater Church, Concord St. Frances of Rome Mission, Sparta St. Helen Mission, Spencer Mountain (parishioners only) St. Francis of Assisi Church, Jefferson (future)

Cemeteries with columbaria Immaculate Conception Mission, Canton Holy Family Church, Clemmons (parishioners only) Holy Cross Church, Kernersville Sacred Heart Church, Salisbury St. John the Evangelist Church, Waynesville

Columbaria only St. Elizabeth Church, Boone Sacred Heart Church, Brevard (full) St. Joan of Arc Church, Candler (full) St. Gabriel Church, Charlotte (full) St. Matthew Church, Charlotte St. Peter Church, Charlotte St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Charlotte St. Vincent de Paul Church, Charlotte (full) Immaculate Heart of Mary Mission, Hayesville St. Aloysius Church, Hickory Christ the King Church, High Point Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, High Point (full) Our Lady of the Mountains Mission, Highlands St. Paul the Apostle Church, Greensboro St. Pius X Church, Greensboro (full, with waiting list) St. Margaret of Scotland Church, Maggie Valley (full) St. Luke Church, Mint Hill (full) St. William Church, Murphy St. Margaret Mary Church, Swannanoa St. Leo the Great Church, Winston-Salem (full)

Public cemeteries with Catholic sections Stanly Gardens, Albemarle Sharon Memorial Park, Charlotte Westlawn Cemetery, Clemmons Northlake Memorial Gardens, Huntersville Forest Lawn East Cemetery, Matthews

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 31, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD special edition

CREMATION: Q&A on the proper handling of ashes Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In 1963, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued an instruction permitting cremation as long as it was not done as a sign of denial of the basic Christian belief in the resurrection of the dead.

The permission was incorporated into the Code of Canon Law in 1983 and the Code of Canons of the Eastern More online Churches At www.catholicnewsherald.com: in 1990.

Read the full text of the Vatican’s However, instruction, in English or Spanish Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the congregation, told reporters last fall that Church law had not specified exactly what should be done with “cremains,” and several bishops’ conferences asked the congregation to provide guidance.

That request led to “Ad resurgendum cum Christo” (“To Rise With Christ”), an instruction “regarding the burial of the deceased and the conservation of the ashes in the case of cremation,” issued Oct. 25, 2016. The document was approved by Pope Francis after consultation with other Vatican offices and with bishops’ conferences and the Eastern Churches’ synods of bishops.

Release of the new document has prompted many Catholics to ask whether it changes any regulations about cremation. Catholic News Service provided some of those questions to the staff of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Divine Worship to have them answered:

Order of Christian Funerals’ Appendix on Cremation, no. 413

Q: The new document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith spells out regulations regarding cremation. Does it change anything in how the Church in this country has regulated this issue?

A: No, the new document from the CDF doesn’t change anything for us in this country.

For example, we already have permission to have a funeral Mass in the presence of cremated remains. What the instruction does do, however, is reiterate the Church’s preference for the burial of the body in normal circumstances, and, when cremation is necessary, its insistence that the remains be properly interred.

Q: If the document says that traditional burial is preferred, does that mean cremation is wrong?

A: If the Church saw cremation as “wrong,” it wouldn’t permit it. Sometimes cremation can truly be necessary. However, the ancient custom and the preference of the Church is to bury the body, whenever possible.

Q: What should I do if I’ve already scattered the ashes?

A: We can’t change the past, of course, and if you truly didn’t realize at that time that it shouldn’t be done, then you shouldn’t burden yourself with guilt. Remember that what happens to a person’s body after death has no bearing on what happens when that person’s soul meets the Lord on judgment day. However, you might wish to offer extra prayers for the person’s happy repose.

Q: If I plan to donate my body to science, after which it will be cremated, is that OK? What if the laboratory disposes of these ashes?

A: This would seem to be a valid reason for cremation. However, it would be important to make sure that arrangements are made for a funeral Mass, and that a trusted relative or friend is able to receive the remains and see to their proper burial.

Q: How do I convince my dad to let me bury my mother’s ashes, which he now has at home?

A: Only you would know the best way to approach a situation like that, and it would depend a lot on his reasons for keeping the remains and on his own personal faith. Perhaps making him aware of the Church’s preference would be enough to convince him? Or the assurance that his own earthly remains will one day be buried alongside those of his wife? Also, the Vatican’s instruction

‘Although cremation is now permitted by the Church, it does not enjoy the same value as burial of the body. The Church clearly prefers and urges that the body of the deceased be present for the funeral rites, since the presence of the human body better expresses the values which the Church affirms in those rites.

Catholic burial, funeral practices explained MONROE — Father Benjamin Roberts pauses between questions during a recent videotaping at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Monroe, where he serves as pastor. Father Roberts was being interviewed by the Catholic News Herald about questions Catholics often raise when planning a funeral.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

At the Diocese of Charlotte’s YouTube channel: Watch a video explanation of Catholic funeral and burial customs

If cremation is desired for legitimate reasons, the Church prefers that the funeral liturgy occur before cremation.

Cremated remains are always to be buried or interred. itself articulates some compelling reasons: “The reservation of the ashes of the departed in a sacred place ensures that they are not excluded from the prayers and remembrance of the Christian community. It prevents the faithful departed from being forgotten, or their remains

from being shown a lack of respect…” (5).

Q: Many people die and are never buried properly.

Perhaps they die at sea or in an explosion or whatever. Why is the Vatican worried about something like this when there are so many other problems in the world?

A: This instruction isn’t concerned with those kinds of situations. Burial at sea is necessary at times, as is cremation. The main purpose for this instruction is to help foster a healthy respect for the human body, even after death, especially in light of the move in recent years away from traditional burial in favor of more expedient and economical means. Where contemporary culture today may well question what difference it makes, the Church is reminding us to recall that the human body is an integral part of the human person deserving of respect even after death. The earliest Christians buried the bodies of their dead, and this set them apart from many of their contemporaries. We bury our dead out of reverence for God our Creator, and as a sign that we look forward to the resurrection on the last day.

‘The cremated remains of a body should be treated with the same respect given to the human body from which they come.

This includes the use of a worthy vessel to contain the ashes, the manner in which they are carried, and the care and attention to appropriate placement and transport, and the final disposition.

The cremated remains should be buried in a grave or entombed in a mausoleum or columbarium. The practice of scattering cremated remains on the sea, from the air, or on the ground, or keeping cremated remains at the home of a relative or friend of the deceased are not the reverent disposition that the Church requires.’

Order of Christian Funerals’ Appendix on Cremation, no. 417

March 31, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news herald special editionI

Organist Alfred Allongo plays the keyboard during a funeral Mass at St. William the Abbot Church in Seaford, N.Y. Those involved in planning funeral liturgies know that a lot more goes into this ministry than simply coordinating readings and songs.

CNS | Gregory A. Shemitz

Music and hospitality are key to funeral liturgies Mike Nelson Catholic News Service

OXNARD, Calif. — Those involved in planning funeral liturgies know that a lot more goes into this ministry than simply coordinating readings and songs. There often needs to be special attention paid to family members who are not only grief stricken but who might have fallen away from the Church or be at odds with other family members.

A music director at a Los Angeles archdiocesan parish said she worked with a daughter, estranged from her sisters, in planning her mother’s funeral. The daughter was worried that there might be hard feelings, “a scene” or something unpleasant that would mar the liturgy or aggravate the family discord.

Over the course of several meetings, in person and on the phone, the music director spent several hours with the daughter, helping her choose appropriate music and readings, but also simply listening to her story, addressing her worries and fears, and sharing her own experience of losing her parents.

On the day of the Mass, the daughters and other family members were all present.

Few sang – not all were active churchgoers – but there was reverence and respect for the liturgy and each other. And there were no “scenes.” Until the very end.

As the music director, who also was the cantor, sang “On Eagles’ Wings,” she noticed that as the daughters began to depart the church, they stopped and hugged one another, tightly and tearfully. It was all the cantor could do to maintain her composure and continue as this healing and reconciliation took place.

The belief that God is truly present in the midst of pain and sorrow is key to understanding what makes a truly meaningful funeral liturgy. Indeed, celebrating the funeral rites of the Church – the vigil service, the funeral Mass and burial – can make a world of difference to those mourning the passing of a loved one.

“Christians celebrate the funeral rites to offer worship, praise, and thanksgiving to God for the gift of a life which has now been returned to God, the author of life and the hope of the just,” states the “Order of Christian Funerals.”

So in a funeral Mass, we celebrate God’s gift of life and the deceased’s reunification with God. Parish ministers who are charged with planning and executing

‘Music is integral to the funeral rites. ... It has the power to console and uplift the mourners and to strengthen the unity of the assembly in faith and love.

The texts of the songs chosen for a particular celebration should express the Paschal Mystery of the Lord’s suffering, death, and triumph over death and should be related to the readings from Scripture.’

Order of Christian Funerals, no. 30 the rites can help family and friends understand this through their knowledge and pastoral compassion and sensitivity.

Being “pastorally sensitive” does not mean that “anything goes” with regard to rituals, prayers and songs. A knowledgeable and compassionate priest, music minister or liturgy director will assist the family members or friends who plan the liturgy in making selections from a wide array of choices.

If there are songs of a nonsacred nature that were beloved by the deceased or somehow special, a reception after the liturgy is the appropriate place for them, as it is for extended eulogies.

A pastorally sensitive minister also takes time to know the family after the liturgy, whether or not he or she knew the deceased personally. That requires a spirit of hospitality on the part of the ministers, since it is often the case that some or most of those attending the liturgy will be family, friends and acquaintances who might be non-Catholics or inactive Catholics.

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iiiMarch 31, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com

Funeral pre-planning guide

Also online At www.ncbfs.org: Learn more about preneed funeral trusts, funeral insurance, cremation vs. burial costs, and how to calculate funeral costs

Use this worksheet to plan your funeral service or as a guide to discuss your wishes with your family

What is pre-planning?

Pre-planning is making your cemetery and funeral arrangements before your death. This allows your wishes to be known, thus eliminating an incredible burden on your loved ones during the very stressful and painful hours after your death. Pre-planning is a concrete sign of your love for surviving family members.

What are the benefits of pre-planning?

CATHOLIC NEWS HE

Preparing and planning now can assure the type of funeral service appropriate for your loved one. Often times pre-planning and even pre-funding your funeral

arrangements can not only provide peace-of-mind to you, but also to those who suffer emotionally at the time of their loss.

Full name: _____________________________________________________________________________ Social Security Number: ___________________________________ Date of birth: ________________________________________________________ Place of birth: ______________________________________________________________ Father’s name: _________________________________________________________________________ Mother’s maiden name: ____________________________________

The most obvious benefit is that you will relieve your loved ones of the burden of making your cemetery and funeral arrangements at a time of tremendous grief. Your advance planning will give your family the guidance they need to feel comfortable that they are carrying out the decisions you made.

Pre-planning may prevent disagreement among survivors at an emotionally charged time and can assure that emotional over-spending does not occur. By pre-planning and pre-funding cemetery and funeral arrangements, you might be creating exempt assets should you ever have to go on public assistance.

The costs of cemetery property have been escalating at the rate of 100 percent every 10 years. By purchasing in advance, you are locking in today’s pricing.

Education: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

At what age should I consider pre-planning cemetery and funeral arrangements?

Veteran of which war? _________________________________________________

Place of Enlistment: _______________________ Date of Enlistment: __________

Service Number: _____________________ VA Claim Number: ______________

Place of Discharge: ________________________________

Branch of Service: ____________________ Rank: __________________________

Date of Discharge/Retirement: __________________________________________

Adults of any age who make their own decisions should have a plan. Like your will, it can be revised throughout your life as needs change. In general, the earlier you preplan the more options you have.

Your cemetery and funeral options will probably never cost less than they do today. Statistics show that 43 percent of all deaths are unexpected; we are not guaranteed any tomorrows.

In our culture, few families are comfortable discussing death and loss.

This is just one of those things that does not get easier as time goes by. Now is the best time for you to get your plan in order.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Why should I choose to be buried in a Catholic cemetery?

First and foremost, Catholic cemeteries are a vital part of our Church’s heritage of caring for and burying the bodies of the dead in blessed ground — one of the corporal works of mercy.

— www.catholic-cemeteries.org

Can I donate my body to a university?

Yes. But you must be sure that the body will be buried properly when the experimentations are completed. In this case a Mass should be offered for the deceased.

Marital Status: ____ Married

____ Never Married

____ Widowed

Married to: ______________________________________________

____ Divorced

Date: ______________________________

Place: ______________________________________

Children: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Places lived: ___________________________________________________________

Employment: __________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Civil, fraternal and other involvement: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ If a veteran, complete this information or attach copy of discharge:

County in which my discharge is on file with Clerk/Registrar of Deeds: ______ People to be notified immediately: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Obituary announcement to be sent to: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Important documents Collect the following important papers and documents, and tell your family where they are kept: * Safe deposit box * Mortgage(s) and deeds * Military discharge * Cemetery deed * Birth certificate * Will * Living will or advance directive * Bank account information * Attorney * Durable Power of Attorney * Stocks/bonds * Insurance policies

* Health Care Power of Attorney * Computer/website passwords

Funeral Pre-planning details I have a pre-need funeral trust established with: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ I have a funeral insurance policy with: __ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I have looked at caskets/urns/burial vaults and would prefer: ___________________________________________________ _______________________________________ I have considered a marker or monument and would prefer: ___________________________________________________ ________________________________________ Memorials may be made to: ___________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

Cemetery information Cemetery preferred: _________________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________

Phone: __________________________________________ I ____ own ____ prefer Type of burial rights: ____ Ground burial

____ Columbarium

____ Mausoleum

____ Lawn crypt

If owned, name of burial right holder is/are: _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Legal description of burial rights: ____ Lot # ____ Section ____ Row ____ Block

Grave number: _______________________________________

Cremation I would prefer to be cremated.

____ Yes

If cremation, what type of disposition? ____ Burial

____ No ____ Niche

Cremation vault: ____ Yes

____ No

Donation of organs or body? Describe: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ERALD special edition

March 31, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.comiii

Funeral rites planning form Funeral home: _____________________________________________ Address: ___________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________ Phone: _____________________________________________________________________

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More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Download a general obituary form that can be used with any funeral home or a funeral pre-planning guide At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See a list of local parishes’ funeral planning guides

Place of service: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Church name) (Address)

____ Funeral Mass

Casket:

____ Open during Wake

Type of casket: ____ Wood

____ Memorial Mass

____ Cemetery/Chapel

____ Graveside

____ Closed during Wake

____ Metal

Cremation – Type of urn: ____ Wood

____ Church Service

____ Cremation coffin

____ Bronze

____ Other: _________________________

____ Marble ____ Other: _________________________

Clergy (if preferred): ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Musical selections (in keeping with the liturgy; please consult priest or music minister): _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Liturgy of the Word desired readings (please consult priest or parish office): Old Testament: ________________________________________ Responsorial Psalm: ___________________________________ New Testament: _______________________________________ Gospel: _______________________________________________ Will family place a pall on casket? ____ Yes ____ No Use incense? ____ Yes ____ No

Lector 1: _________________________________________ Lector 2: ________________________________________ Prayers of the Faithful: ____________________________ Offertory Gifts: ___________________________________

____ Cross or Bible placed on casket?

Wake/Committal Service Wake/Rosary Service: ____ Yes Viewing: ____ Public

____ No

____ Private

Location: _______________________________________ Officiant: __________________________________

____ None

Participating organizations at Wake or Committal Service (military, fraternal, lodge, etc.): _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Flag (Committal Service only): ____ Draped

____ Folded

Clothing preference: ____ From current wardrobe

____ New

Presented to: _______________________________________________________________ ____ Other: _________________________

Description/color: ______________________________________________________________________________

Personal accessories:

____ Wedding band ____ Eyeglasses ____ Other

____ Stays on ____ Stays on ____ Stays on

____ or Returned to: ___________________________________________ ____ or Returned to: ___________________________________________ ____ or Returned to: ___________________________________________

Pallbearers: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (Name) (Relationship) (Phone #) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (Name) (Relationship) (Phone #) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (Name) (Relationship) (Phone #) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (Name) (Relationship) (Phone #) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (Name) (Relationship) (Phone #) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (Name) (Relationship) (Phone #) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (Name) (Relationship) (Phone #)

Special instructions (include floral preferences, notes, awards, life achievements, pictures, obituary requests, items to be placed with the remains, etc.) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ NOTE: Share a copy of this funeral Mass plan with your family, your funeral home (if you have a pre-plan), and your parish office.

‘As you consider the funeral, try to remember that planning a funeral is not a burden, but a privilege. Think of the funeral as a gift to the person who died as well as his friends and family.

It is a chance for all to think about and express the value of the life that was lived. It is also a chance to say goodbye.’ “Preparing for Funeral Liturgies,” St. Matthew Church in Charlotte

What is the ordinary manner of preparing for death and burial? n Save and/or purchase insurance to properly provide for a casket, funeral services and burial. n Remember that the Church desires the full body to be present for the Mass of Christian Burial and for the body to be buried in a cemetery. n Leave instructions that someone will call the priest when death seems close. n Ensure that someone will call the priest for the last rites (confession, anointing and Communion) before death. n Ensure that someone will call the priest when death occurs. n The Prayers for the Dead are to be prayed. (See page 8 for more info.) n The body is prepared for burial by family or the funeral directors. n Arrange for someone to meet with the funeral director to begin preparing for the funeral rites.

How should I prepare for a good death? n Live a Catholic sacramental life. n Develop a Catholic understanding of life and death. n Pray to St. Joseph, patron of happy deaths. (See page 8 for more info.) n Develop an understanding of the Catholic funeral rites. n Prepare with a good confession, the anointing of the sick, and Communion as “Viaticum.” Make sure someone calls the priest. If you are going to have surgery which requires general anesthetic, ask the priest to hear your confession and administer the sacrament of the sick before you go to the hospital. n If you are going to be in the hospital or any nursing care facility, be sure to list the parish priest, deacon and others from the parish whom you wish to visit; otherwise, they will not be able. n Make advanced plans with your parish priest for the funeral rites; read the policies of your parish for funerals. n Save for the expenses of a proper Catholic funeral; most people have insurance policies for this. n Talk with family members and your attorney. Be sure your legal documents give a Catholic understanding of caring for the sick and dying. Be sure your Will provides for food and water to be given until you cannot assimilate it as a part of ordinary care when appropriate. Appropriate ordinary means of life support should also be given where there is hope of cure. Think of appointing a Health Care Power of Attorney with your instructions to be followed. n Make provisions for your funeral in your will; remember that your requests must be in agreement with your parish priest and the Church. n Contact a funeral home to make prearrangements. n Purchase a burial site.

— “Catholic Funeral Guide,” St. Michael the Archangel Church in Gastonia

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 31, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD special edition

Prayers for the dead The Mass is the highest form of prayer in the Church, and the most effective prayer that could be said on behalf of those who have gone before us. In Masses for the dead, and especially funeral Masses, “the Church offers the Eucharistic sacrifice of Christ’s Pasch for the dead so that, since all the members of Christ’s Body are in communion with one another, what implores spiritual help for some, may bring comforting hope to others.” (“General Instruction of the Roman Missal,” 379)

Rico De Silva

St. Joseph, patron saint of departing souls

S

PRAYING with the dying As death approaches, the Church stays close to the one who is dying, to give comfort and support. The family should ask that Communion be brought to the dying (this is called “Viaticum, Latin for “food for the journey”).

Members of the local church may wish to join the family in a vigil of prayer. After the person’s death, the family is encouraged to continue praying, and to participate in the preparation of the vigil (wake) and funeral liturgies.

The following prayer may be recited with a dying person, alternating with times of silence. The Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be are also appropriate. The dying person may also be signed on the forehead with the cross, as was done at baptism.

Holy Mary, pray for me.

St. Joseph, pray for me.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, assist me in my last agony.

Immediately after death The following prayer may be recited immediately after death and may be repeated in the hours that follow: V. Eternal rest grant unto him (her), O Lord.

R. And let perpetual light shine upon him (her).

V. May he (she) rest in peace.

R. Amen.

V. May his (her) soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

R. Amen.

At the graveside O God, by whose mercy the faithful departed find rest, send your holy Angel to watch over this grave.

Through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

At www.usccb.org/ prayer-and-worship/ bereavement-andfunerals/prayers-fordeath-and-dying.cfm: See more prayers and Scripture readings for the dying and for the dead At www. catholicnewsagency.com/ resources/prayers: Find more prayers, including a prayer to St. Joseph for a holy death

CNS | Gregory A. Shemitz

Memorial candles are seen next to a statue of St. Paul in a mausoleum alcove at Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury, N.Y.

Why do we pray for the dead?

Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Praying for the dead might not make sense to nonbelievers but for Catholics it is part and parcel of the faith tradition, rooted in Old Testament readings and supported by the Catechism and the Church’s funeral liturgy.

“Our faith teaches us to pray for the dead,” said Bishop Edward K. Braxton of Belleville, Ill., in a 2015 All Saints’ Day reflection, stressing that although people hope that those who die are with God and the angels and saints, it is not necessarily a guarantee.

“Scripture teaches that all of the dead shall be raised. However, only the just are destined for the kingdom of God,” the bishop wrote.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the clearest Bible reference about prayers for the dead is from the Second Book of Maccabees. When soldiers were preparing the bodies of their slain comrades for burial they discovered they were wearing amulets taken from a pagan temple which violated the law of Deuteronomy so they prayed that God would forgive the sin these men had committed.

The New Testament echoes this notion in the second letter of Timothy when Paul prays for someone who died named Onesiphorus, saying: “May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church also has something to say about prayers for the dead, stating: “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven” (1030).

The Roman catacombs where early Christians were buried also were places of prayer.

Today, prayers for the dead begin at the moment of death, often when family members are gathered around the bedside of the person who has died.

Prayers for death and grieving are among the “Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers,” published in 2007 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, that includes prayers immediately after death, prayers for mourners, prayers at the graveside and a more general prayer for the dead.

Of course these prayers continue in the funeral liturgy, which is the “central liturgical celebration of the Christian community for the deceased,” according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ overview of Catholic funeral rites, online at www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/ bereavement-and-funerals/overview-of-catholic-

Pray regularly for the faithful departed, especially on Nov. 2 (All Souls Day). funeral-rites.cfm.

The funeral liturgy, the website points out, is “an act of worship, and not merely an expression of grief.”

It is a time when the Church gathers with the family and friends of the deceased “to give praise and thanks to God for Christ’s victory over sin and death, to commend the deceased to God’s tender mercy and compassion, and to seek strength in the proclamation of the Paschal Mystery,” it adds.

The prayers in the funeral liturgy express hope that God will free the person who has died from any burden of sin and prepare a place for him or her in heaven.

“The funeral rite is The acronym “RIP” or a prayer for the dead, R.I.P. is an abbreviation designated by the Church of the Latin phrase as the liturgy of Christian “requiescat in pace” burial,” wrote Bishop or the English “Rest in Braxton in his reflection. peace.”

He noted that many parishes “regularly disregard” the emphasis of this liturgy by printing funeral programs which say: “the Mass of the Resurrection: A Celebration of Life,’ even though the person has obviously not yet been raised from the dead.”

According to the Catechism, most Catholics who don’t merit hell still need purification before entering heaven and pass through a state when they die that the Church describes as purgatory.

In a question-and-answer page on www.

BustedHalo.com, a Paulist-run website, Paulist Father Joe Scott said praying for the dead has “further origins in our belief in the communion of saints.”

The priest, an associate pastor at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Community in Los Angeles, added that living members of this communion can “assist each other in faith by prayers and other forms of spiritual support.”

“Christians who have died continue to be members of the communion of saints,” he wrote.

“We believe that we can assist them by our prayers, and they can assist us by theirs.”

Did you know?

t. Joseph has always been a special saint for me, and many saints throughout history have had a strong devotion to the foster father of Our Savior.

St. Teresa of Avila, the great Carmelite nun and Doctor of the Church, was a faithful devotee of the saint, and went out of her way to spread devotion to him among her peers.

St. Joseph is the patron saint of, among other things, husbands and families, and Pope Pius XI named him the Guardian and Protector of the Universal Church. What many Catholics might not be aware is that this humble carpenter from Nazareth is also the patron saint of departing souls – that is, a peaceful death.

The obvious question that comes to mind is: “Why is St. Joseph the patron saint of a peaceful death?” Although the death of St. Joseph is not recorded in the Gospels, we know that he was not present during the Crucifixion of Jesus, and according to Church tradition, Joseph most likely died before the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.

So St. Joseph died in the company of Jesus and Mary. What a glorious way to pass away to the other side!

The Joseph connection then is that when we die, we could surely benefit by praying to have Jesus, Mary and Joseph at our bedside to help usher us to eternity. I was reminded of this wonderful devotion a couple years ago when I covered the dedication of the Chapel of the Holy Family, located at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte. Inside the chapel, there are seven beautiful stained glass windows depicting different periods of the life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. One of them, depicting the death of Joseph, caught my attention right away. St. Joseph is lying on his deathbed with his eyes closed. Jesus is at his bedside, His arms showing Joseph the way to two angels standing at the foot of the bed. To Joseph’s other side, Our Lady sits praying for her departing husband. It is quite a beautiful window to behold, and I recommend a must-see for all Catholics in the Charlotte area. (Editor’s note: We chose a detail from this window for the cover image of this special supplement.)

I encourage all Catholics, young or seasoned, to have recourse to the great St. Joseph at the hour when we draw our last breath. Moreover, ask him to intercede for a family member or a friend, who might be close to the end of his or her life. I leave you with this beautiful St. Joseph prayer for a peaceful death that I found online: “To thee I have recourse, St. Joseph, patron of the dying; and to thee, at whose blessed death watchfully assisted Jesus and Mary, by both these dearest pledges I earnestly recommend the soul of this servant (handmaid) in the sufferings of his (her) last agony, that he (she) may by your protection be delivered from the snares of the devil and from eternal death, and may merit to attain everlasting joy.

Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Rico De Silva is the Hispanic communications reporter for the Catholic News Herald.

March 31, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news herald special editionI

Offering Masses for the dead The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic Sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God” (1032).

It is normal to have a Mass offered as soon as possible for the deceased. Most people leave provision for this in their wills. When possible the “month’s mind,” a Mass on the one-month anniversary and then on other anniversaries, is a good practice. If Masses are not available on those days in your parish, your parish priest may be able to send them to be offered in the missions.

Arranging a Mass for a deceased loved one is easy. Simply contact a Catholic church in the community where you would like to have the Mass celebrated, or at your own parish if you would like to attend the Mass.

A stipend of usually $5-$20 per Mass is offered for the priest who will offer the Mass. Every parish has a Mass offering book, usually kept at the parish secretary’s desk, so that when you call or stop by the parish it is easy to ask for a Mass intention.

Sometimes you may be able to pick a specific day to have the Mass celebrated in memory of the deceased, but at times you may have to accept whatever date is available.

You will receive a Mass card from the parish with the time, date and church name where the Mass will be offered.

You can give the Mass card to the family of the deceased so they know when the Mass will be offered in their loved one’s honor.

Don’t forget to mark down the details on your own calendar so that you can attend the Mass or remember to offer your prayers on that day.

Why is it important to have a grave?

Our cemeteries are places of great sign value as were the catacombs of old.

The grave and the marker are visible signs that a person did live and that it mattered that he or she lived. Years from now someone will walk by our graves and remember us and that it was important that we lived and died. Cemeteries are places of catechesis about death and they are places of prayer in the context of the communion of saints and our waiting for the final coming of the Lord.

We visit the grave often to pray for the deceased and we decorate the graves regularly, especially on Nov. 2, All Souls Day. — “Catholic Funeral Guide,” St. Michael the Archangel Church in Gastonia

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With death anniversaries many find comfort in rituals Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A tricky thing about grief is that it is not a one-shot deal. Although it is often strongest when it’s first experienced, it can sneak up at any time. It especially reappears on the anniversary of the death of a loved one.

Some have labeled these days as “deathversaries” and even though they are days that can bring up painful memories, they should not be ignored nor do they need to be completely depressing.

The Internet, which is not always a place of solace, actually has plenty of advice for coping with anniversaries of a loved one’s death. Websites including www.modernloss.com or www. whatsyourgrief.com offer the following suggestions: n Take flowers to the grave site or other place where you remember your loved one. n Look at old photos and home videos or put digital photos into photo album. n Volunteer with a charity or cause your deceased friend or relative liked or make a donation to the charity in his or her name. n Reach out to someone else who also is grieving this loss. n Host a dinner party and invite those who knew this person best CNS | Karen Callaway, Catholic New World and cook foods they liked or gather A woman prays after placing flowers and statues of saints on her son’s grave at Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery in Hillside, Ill. at the person’s favorite restaurant. n Do something your loved one eternal life began. would have enjoyed.

For many people, the idea of n Write about your loved one; write them a letter or plant a tree in being festive on the anniversary of their name. someone’s death is hard to imagine n Take the day off work. and might never happen, but for n Ask friends or family members for support. those grieving a loss there are signs that healing has begun and that The Mayo Clinic, based in Rochester, Minn., notes on its website, comfort or renewed strength is www.mayoclinic.org, that reawakened grief can occur years after a present. loss, particularly when people are confronted with reminders of their Father Eamon Tobin, pastor of loved one’s death.

Ascension Catholic Community in The site advises people to be prepared, especially for anniversary Melbourne, Fla., who wrote a parish reactions and to plan a distraction for the day or reminisce about column about coping with loss, says the relationship. It reiterates some of the suggestions previously signs of healing after grief include: mentioned and also urges people to allow themselves to “feel a range of emotions. It’s OK to be sad and feel a sense of loss, but also allow n Being able to talk about your yourself to experience joy and happiness. As you celebrate special loved one in a more comfortable times, you might find yourself both laughing and crying.”

“There’s no time limit for grief, and anniversary reactions can leave manner. n Realizing that while “life is not you reeling. Still, the intensity of grief tends to lessen with time,” it the same, it can be good again.” adds. n Grief becomes less engrossing.

Many cultures celebrate the death anniversary of loved ones by n New inner resources are developed or strengthened. gathering together as families and sharing special foods.

Catholics often mark the anniversary of a loved one’s death by “Grief work, though very painful,” he writes, “is good and holy.” attending Mass or having a Mass offered for the deceased.

The priest also wrote that “grief is the way God intended for us to Catholics also celebrate feast days which are the anniversaries of deal with loss.” saints’ deaths. The anniversaries of deaths of loved ones will likely He said the “world’s way is denial. It tells us to ‘move on’ even not be celebrated in the same manner as they are for major saints: before we have started to grieve. Grief work (and it is work) is the with festivals and parades through streets, but recollections on this only thing that will heal our loss or at least help us to live with it.” day share the same idea: recalling when one’s life on earth ended and

Many parishes have bereavement ministries or grief support groups.

Check your parish’s website or bulletin, or call the parish office for details.

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 31, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD special edition

Technology slowly takes a virtual seat in funeral planning Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an age where people order groceries, plan vacations, find love or news updates online, it should be no surprise that some aspects of funeral planning are also slowly making use of – although not quite embracing – technology.

It’s happening in small steps, in other words, not at warp speed.

Funeral homes are primarily still places where people actually sit down with a funeral director and plan the wake, funeral service and burial for their loved one. They also choose necessary purchases, pay the often costly bill and fill out plenty of forms including one to obtain a death certificate.

In recent years, more funeral homes have set up websites offering details of the services they provide but prices are not usually listed. These sites often provide checklists of things bereaved families should consider and resources for dealing with grief.

FuneralOne, a technology and consultation firm for funeral homes based in Detroit, urges modern funeral homes to tap into social media not only to be competitive in today’s market but to provide a service for families to connect or to find support in their grief.

A 2012 blog on the company’s website lamented that one in five funeral homes were still not online, and less than half of funeral homes were using social media.

But a 2015 online search found a number of funeral homes are at least testing the waters of new technology.

With apps like iFuneral, people can identify personal decisions about how they want their own funeral.

For example, many funeral home websites advertise that they provide memorial videos with music and photos of the deceased that can be shown at the funeral homes. Many homes also offer, for a fee, to livestream the funeral or vigil service for out-of-town guests unable to attend in person.

Some parishes have their own media ministry and already livestream Sunday Masses or other events, so family members should check with what their parish provides before lining up this service with a funeral home.

Another technological newcomer to funeral and burial planning is apps such as iFuneral where people can identify personal decisions about how they want their own funeral, thus leaving out the guesswork for grieving family members.

Today there are online memorials and places to light virtual candles for the deceased. Families are also using crowdfunding websites seeking charity donations or help with burial costs.

But will technology’s entrance into the very personal and often grief-ridden work of funerals have a negative effect? It’s still too early to tell, Carla Sofka, a professor of social work at Siena College in Albany, N.Y., told The Atlantic magazine in 2014.

One thing Sofka, who has been studying the combination of technology and grief since the mid-1990s, does know is that people who watch funerals online still need that personal connection and should reach out to others and share stories about the deceased, not just view the service in isolation.

And as with any use of modern technology that makes an event more accessible or easier to plan, the basics of what is happening and why can’t be forgotten with the speed of the Wi-Fi connection.

Funerals, after all, have a very distinct purpose.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on its website section on bereavement and funerals, at www.usccb.org, emphasizes the significance of how the Church mourns and buries its dead.

“Through private prayer and public funeral rites, we strengthen our faith and hope, comfort those who mourn, and bury the bodily remains of the deceased with care befitting what was the temple of the Holy Spirit.”

CNS

This is a screen grab from the website www.funeralOne, a technology and consultation firm for funeral homes based in Detroit, that urges modern funeral homes to tap into social media not only to be competitive in today’s market but to provide a service for families to connect or to find support in their grief.

March 31, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news herald special editionI

Saying a final goodbye with dignity Burial Assistance Program meets critical need in burying loved ones

I

SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

t was a tragic day, a very tragic day. I lost someone who I cared dearly for, who I loved with all my heart.”

living.”

Recalls Joe, “I didn’t know where to turn. I didn’t know what to do. I went to Grier’s Funeral Home, and he told me about Catholic Charities.

“The young lady at Catholic Charities was outstanding. She was nice, kind, considerate – like people should be. She didn’t treat me like I was a nobody. She treated me like I was a man.”

That is how Joe, a Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte client, describes the day his wife Lisa unexpectedly died.

Minutes before she was struck and killed by a car, Lisa expressed her love for Joe, and then she headed off to her job in Charlotte. The shock of Lisa’s 2014 death was followed by the nearly overwhelming details of what came next: burial.

For many families, the cost of burying a loved one is a substantial financial challenge. The average cost of a funeral in the United States ranged from $7,000 to $10,000 – a major obstacle for many people who are struggling just to make ends meet.

The crisis compounds the burden they already face in grieving for their loved one.

Our Catholic faith teaches us that it is an important corporal work of mercy to bury the dead.

Catholic Charities’ Burial Assistance Program is a tangible way in which Catholics in Mecklenburg County are helping families of modest means to bury Photo provided by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte their dead. The program began in 1994, Joe looks at photos of his late wife Lisa, who died unexpectedly in 2014. With help from Catholic Charities when Mecklenburg County stopped paying Diocese of Charlotte’s Burial Assistance Program, he was able to give his wife a dignified burial. to bury the poor. Catholic Charities teamed Catholic Charities provides the social service support and up with concerned citizens, social workers, funeral home directors eligibility verification for the program at no cost. and the city’s cemetery director to found a burial plan for needy Applicants are asked to contribute to the program as much of Mecklenburg County residents. the cost of the burial as possible. Financial assistance is provided An agreement was made among Catholic Charities, the through charitable contributions from individuals, churches and participating funeral homes and the City Cemetery Department other civic organizations when families are unable to cover the to provide funeral and burial or cremation services to indigent cost. families.

Catholic Charities’ goal is to respond quickly to the needs of The Burial Assistance program helps families who have no the families or individuals seeking burial assistance. They strive insurance, are unable to negotiate financial arrangements with a to help them within a matter of days, guiding them through the funeral home, or, like Joe, do not have the means to pay the costs application process, involving trained volunteers who have a heart to bury their loved one. The deceased must have been a resident of for this ministry.

Mecklenburg County to be eligible.

“Our volunteers assist them with this part of the service so we Last year alone, Catholic Charities helped to bury 101 people: 17 don’t have people waiting,” Davis explains. “It’s wonderful to have children, 46 adults and 38 senior citizens. the support of the community in that way.”

Sharon Davis, regional office director of Catholic Charities, Volunteers guide the families through the entire process, says the need keeps growing as families continue to struggle working closely with Catholic Charities staff and social workers. financially.

Adds Davis, “It’s an exciting thing for us because it takes a “So many of the stories of the families are of people who just very special person to help provide this service. It’s a wonderful don’t have the means to say goodbye,” Davis says. “What families opportunity for our volunteers to be there for the families at this tell us frequently is that they are facing poverty, they barely have time in their lives. They are happy to be of service.” the means to live. They don’t have money to use when someone Right now the program serves mostly residents of Mecklenburg has died. Their focus is on how they will live, how they will get County, but Catholic Charities would like to see the program their next meal, the roof over their head…” expand elsewhere in the diocese. Davis and Catholic Charities Davis says families just can’t meet the expenses to bury their representatives recently met with two Catholic parishes and loved one. funeral providers in Gaston County who are interested in starting “Those families go through many emotions – worthlessness, a similar program there. helplessness, hopelessness – but when they learn through Catholic “It’s a growing program,” Davis says. “The service is becoming Charities that they will be able to have that final goodbye and more known in the community, and we are very happy to have an closure in that final step in life, it brings so much joy and peace to expansion of services to other areas.” them,” Davis explains.

Joe still gets emotional when he talks about his love for Lisa and “They feel they have now been able to honor the life of that the help he received. He says Catholic Charities helped him grieve family member or friend by being able to have a burial or a better and reassured him that Lisa would be laid to rest with cremation with dignity. There is no shame that comes. They are dignity. able now to say goodbye to the very important person in their life.”

“They gave me the feeling of hope that everything was going to

By Catholic Charities providing this important service to be OK, and it was.” families in need, she adds, “It means we are honoring our responsibility to the person who has passed away, but also to the

Be an agent of mercy Catholic Charities needs your help to assist families with limited resources in making arrangements and final plans for a family member. For more information about how you can donate to the Burial Assistance Program, call 704-370-3232 or email Sharon Davis at swdavis@charlottediocese.org.

There are more ways you can help Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte and share your gifts with the Church. See page 12.

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 31, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD special edition

Opportunities for giving Everything we have, everything we are, and everything we will become is a gift from Almighty God. As stewards of those gifts, we are called to return a portion of our time, talent and treasure in gratitude for God’s great bounty. The Diocese of Charlotte – with its parishes, offices, agencies, schools and outreach ministries – has many ways for you to give back in gratitude for what God has blessed you with:

Donate online Secure donations can be made online via credit card or direct debit at www. charlottediocese.org/donations for: Campus Ministry Diocesan Support Appeal (DSA) Eucharistic Congress Forward in Faith, Hope & Love (FFHL) MACS Education Foundation Seminarian Education Triad Area Catholic Schools Education Foundation

Donate by mail Donations in any amount may be made via mail directly to the Diocese of Charlotte, or to any of the ministries mentioned at left. Checks should be made payable to the particular program (as mentioned at left), except for Campus Ministry and Seminarian Education, both of which should be made payable to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. Please designate in the memo section of your check where your gift should be directed. Please send donations to: Diocese of Charlotte Attn: Finance Office 1123 South Church St. Charlotte, NC 28203-4003

Securities (stocks, bonds, mutual funds) Gifts of stock may be made via electronic transfer or by physical certificate. The

Diocese of Charlotte maintains a brokerage account with Wells Fargo Advisors for the purpose of processing electronic transfers to the diocese for the benefit of the diocese or any of its parishes, schools or agencies.

Refer to the Stock Donations section at www. charlottediocese.org/donations for detailed guidance on initiating a transfer of stock.

Planned giving and endowments Many people choose to contribute to the future of the Church in western North Carolina through planned gifts, including real estate, retirement account plans, life insurance policies, charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, and gifts made through a will or living trust.

The Foundation of the Diocese of Charlotte aims to provide long-term financial stability for the diocese and its parishes, schools, ministries and agencies. Through endowments and other planned gifts, it provides a means to generate income to help sustain the long-term strength and viability of Catholic institutions in western North Carolina.

Making a gift in your will To leave a bequest to the Church in your will, use the following language: n For a parish, Catholic school or Catholic agency, the listing should be: “Peter J. Jugis, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, or his Successors in Office for the (name and city of parish, school or agency).” n For the diocese, the listing should be: “Peter J. Jugis, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, or his Successors in Office.” n For the Diocese of Charlotte Foundation, the listing should be: “Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte to be added to or establish the (name) endowment fund.”

For details about any of these planned giving opportunities, contact Ray-Eric Correia at recorreia@charlottediocese.org or 704-370-3364; or Judy Smith at jmsmith@ charlottediocese.org or 704-370-3320.

Help a neighbor in need Make a donation today that will transform lives by strengthening families, building communities, and reducing poverty in your local neighborhoods. It’s easy to help a neighbor in need:

For details, go online to www.ccdoc.org/ donate/donate-cars-vehicles, or call (toll-free) 855-930-GIVE or 855-930-4483 to speak with Catholic Charities’ partner, Charitable Auto Resources.

Donate online

Food donations

Donate securely online at www.ccdoc.org/ donate using your credit or debit card or EFT/ ACH.

Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte’s food pantries in Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Asheville rely heavily on donated food and nonfood items for weekly distribution to clients.

Items regularly requested by clients are: canned fruit, juice, tea and coffee, rice, spaghetti sauce, spaghetti noodles, and tuna. Non-food items, such as toiletries, diapers, laundry detergent and paper products are also needed.

For food pantry locations and drop-off times, go online to www.ccdoc.org/donate/donategrocery-items.

Donate by mail Donations in any amount may be mailed directly to: Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte Attn: Central Processing Office 1123 South Church St. Charlotte, NC 28203-4003 Checks should be made payable to Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte. (Please include your address, daytime phone number and parish.)

You can also donate using your Donor Advised Fund.

You can also double the impact of your donation with your employer’s matching gift and mail your matching gift form to the address listed above.

Vehicle donations Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte also has opportunities for you to donate your car, truck, RV, boat, motorcycle or other vehicle.

Furniture and household item donations (Charlotte area only) Refugees often arrive in this country with few material possessions. Their initial needs are many. Catholic Charities depends on donations of gently used furniture and household items to prepare a comfortable, welcoming home for newly arriving refugee families in the Charlotte area. Donated items must be clean and in good repair.

Call 704-370-3283 or email tsgreyshock@ charlottediocese.org with any questions or to arrange a pick-up.

March 31, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 31, 2017 12

Iglesia de San Gabriel ofrece panel de inmigración a la comunidad Hispana Rico De Silva Hispanic Communications Reporter

CHARLOTTE — Actualmente se está sintiendo mucha ansiedad en las comunidades Latinas de todos los Estados Unidos con el mandato del actual Presidente Donald Trump de deportar a inmigrantes indocumentados y con record criminal a sus países de origen.

La Diocesis de Charlotte no ha sido excepción a este clima de temor a deportación en las comunidades Hispanas de la diócesis. La Catholic Charities de la Diocesis de Charlotte, la cual ofrece ayuda a inmigrantes y refugiados con procesos de inmigración y naturalización a los Estados

Unidos, recientemente ofreció un panel de información de inmigracion en la Iglesia de San Gabriel en Charlotte el pasado 2 de Marzo.

Cerca de unas 150 personas, la mayoría miembros de la comunidad Hispana de San Gabriel, escucharon información acerca de los derechos migratorios concernientes a que hacer y no hacer en caso de una potencial deportación por el Departamento de Inmigracion de esta país, mejor conocido como “ICE.” Los tres expositores fueron Tanya Powers, abogada de inmigración que ejerce en el área de Charlotte; el oficial de la Policia de Charlotte, Daniel Hernandez y Anggie Fernandez de Catholic Charities,

que facilitó el evento.

Ernesto Rodriguez, miembro de la Iglesia de San Gabriel desde hace 10 años, dijo que la sesión fue muy informativa.

“Informativo si fue, porque uno aprendió muchas cosas que uno no sabe de las leyes (de inmigración),” dijo Rodriguez. De acuerdo a Rodriguez, el oficial Hernandez de la CMPD, dijo que la Policia de Charlotte no esta trabajando en conjunto con el ICE. Y aconsejó a los participantes en el panel a que manejarán con cuidado y obedecieran todas las leyes de transito cuidadosamente.

“Si inmigración viene y toca tu puerta, no es obligatorio que tu le abras. Para poder entrar a tu casa, ellos tienen que enseñarte una orden. Y esa orden pueden pasártela por debajo de la puerta para que tu la leas,” nos dijo la abogada Powers esa noche, agregó Rodriguez.

Miguel Angel Cerda, miembro de la

Rico De Silva

N

unca me han gustado las despedidas, y cuando tengo que despedirme, nunca me gusta decir “adiós,” sino “hasta luego.”

Prefiero decir hasta luego porque así siempre está presente en mi mente que Dios me dará la oportunidad de ver a esa persona o personas otra vez. Con tristeza en mi corazón, tengo que decir hasta luego a la Diócesis de Charlotte, y a todos los lectores del Catholic News Herald en Español. Mi esposa y yo hemos decidido en los últimos meses mudarnos al estado de la Florida para estar más cercanos a mi familia y a la familia de mi esposa.

Parece mentira, pero el 17 de Marzo, cumplí exactamente tres años y medio de estar trabajando como el reportero bilingüe de nuestro periódico diocesano.

Mi labor desde un principio, no hubiera podido ser posible, sin el apoyo y ayuda de muchas personas de la comunidad Hispana de nuestra diócesis. Sin embargo, voy a intentar nombrar algunas de ellas a continuación. Primero que todo, el Padre Fidel Melo, Vicario Diocesano del Ministerio Hispano, me brindó un apoyo increíble desde el primer día que empecé mi labor. Todos los Coordinadores de Vicariatos Hispanos, han sido todos como una familia para mí.

A nivel parroquial, mi amiga Mariella Buscaglia de la Iglesia de San Marcos en Huntersville, ha sido una corresponsal estrella y siempre me mantuvo informado de los eventos de más envergadura del ministerio Hispano, no solo de San Marcos, sino del resto del área de Charlotte y sus alrededores. Alejandro Altamirano, con la Pastoral Juvenil, y la Antorcha Guadalupana.

Mi amigo Henry Choque en la Iglesia de St.

Iglesia de San Gabriel, también asistió a la presentación con su esposa para informarse también de las opciones disponibles a los inmigrantes aquí en Charlotte.

“Me parecio muy buena porque había una disposición muy buena de todos los presentadores,” dijo Cerda.

“La abogada Powers nos dejo una tarjetita de cuales son nuestros derechos como personas, y si en dado momento, nosotros no queremos hablar con la policía le entregamos la tarjetita,” agregó él.

La abogada Powers dijo, “Me gustó mucho que tan bien organizada fue la presentación.

Me gustó que un representante de la Policía de Charlotte estuvo presente para hablar directamente acerca del esfuerzo de las leyes locales. Se les debe un millón de gracias al Padre Frank y al personal de San Gabriel por auspiciar este evento tan necesario.”

¡Hasta Luego Charlotte!

John Neumann, estupendo coordinador Hispano en esa parroquia, pero muchísimo más que eso, una fenomenal persona. Mi amigo Rigo Trejo en la Iglesia de Nuestra Sra. de Guadalupe en Charlotte, siempre estuvo a la disposición de compartir cualquier evento importante ahí con nuestro periódico. En la Iglesia de Nuestra Sra. de Lourdes, el Padre Benjamin Roberts ha sido un verdadero padre espiritual, y ha compartido grandes experiencias en esa linda parroquia conmigo y nuestros lectores. El Padre Felipe Scarcella en la Iglesia de la Asunción al este de Charlotte, es Latino de corazón, y siempre me abrió las puertas también a esa gran comunidad con tantas nacionalidades representadas en esa parroquia.

Por último, también quiero agradecer a todos los amigos de esta Columna de Fuego que a través de los años contribuyeron a ella. El Padre Joshua Voitus, el Padre Mark Lawlor, el Padre Gabriel Carvajal-Salazar, el Diácono Dario Garcia, el Padre Julio Domínguez, Eduardo Bernal, Cesar Hurtado, y Luis Wolf, todos ustedes contribuyeron al éxito de esta publicación.

Quiero concluir expresando mi agradecimiento a toda nuestra comunidad Hispana aquí en la diócesis. La verdad es que ha sido un honor y un privilegio que Dios me haya dado la oportunidad de servir a esta hermosa comunidad. Les pido que por favor oren por mí y mi familia, y yo les prometo hacer lo mismo por ustedes. Desde el fondo de mi corazón les digo, Hasta Luego…

Que Dios los bendiga.

Rico De Silva es el Especialista de Noticias Hispanas del Catholic News Herald. De Silva es miembro de la Iglesia de San Gabriel en Charlotte.

Mix

March 31, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

For the latest movie reviews: catholicnewsherald.com

In theaters

bad taste prevails. Much crude humor, rough language.

CNS: A-L (limited adult audience); MPAA: PG-13

‘Slamma Jamma’ This well-intentioned sports drama based very loosely on the life of slam-dunk champion Kenny Dobbs, occasionally comes to tepid life on basketball courts. But a weak script, together with production values indicative of a low budget, keep it hobbled as a story of redemption and Christian faith.

Chris Staples (a former Harlem Globetrotter in real life) plays a onetime college star who has to rebuild his life after serving a six-year prison term for armed robbery, during which he embraces evangelical Christianity. A single scene of gun violence, some trash-talking.

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

‘A United Kingdom’ ‘Saban’s Power Rangers’ A popular Saturday morning children’s show of the 1990s makes an appearance on the big screen. But this adaptation, replaces a relatively benign concept with an ill-mannered teen drama. Five ordinary high school students discover ancient artifacts that bestow extraordinary powers, transforming them into the eponymous superheroes. They are trained by an ancient deity to lead the fight of good over evil, and vanquish a resurrected queen (Elizabeth Banks) hell-bent on world domination. Had the film taken a more wholesome tack it would have been mindless, escapist fun for all ages. Instead, an excess of

Everyone’s an archetype in this historical drama about an African prince (David Oyelowo) from the British protectorate of Bechuanaland (the future Botswana) who faced down mid20th-century racial prejudice to marry a white office worker (Rosamund Pike) he met in postWorld War II London. Brief racial slurs.

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

Other Movies: n ‘Beauty and the Beast’: CNS: L (limited adult audience); MPAA: PG n ‘Chips’: CNS: 0 (morally offensive); MPAA: R n ‘Life’: CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: R n ‘Logan’: CNS: O (morally offensive); MPAA: R

On TV n Saturday, April 1, 4 p.m. (EWTN) “Saint Mariana of Jesus.” Priests and religious offer their insights on the life of St. Mariana of Jesus, an Ecuadorean mystic blessed with many spiritual gifts and graces. n Saturday, April 1, 8 p.m. (EWTN) “Edith Stein: The Seventh Chamber.” An artistic portrayal of the heroic life of Jewish philosopher and Catholic convert, Edith Stein, martyred under Nazi Germany regime in 1942. n Thursday, April 6, 5:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Who Was the Real Margaret Sanger?” A documentary on the life, work and beliefs of Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. n Saturday, April 8, 8 p.m. (EWTN) “Pope John Paul I: The Smile of God.” Pope John Paul I’s peasant origins, his years as a student and parish priest, and his sunny personality are some of the features in this movie. He succeeded Paul VI in 1978, serving as pontiff for only 33 days before his death. n Sunday, April 9, 6:30 a.m.(EWTN) “For God so Loved the World: Into the Garden.”

Frances Hogan shows how John’s Gospel next plunges us into the darkness of evil as the Lord moved to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Here begins His Passion and crucifixion, leading to His victory over sin and death. n Sunday, April 9, 10:30 a.m. (EWTN)

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“Hill Number One.” The Korean War, and the battles that ensue, are correlated to Christ’s crucifixion on Golgotha. n Sunday, April 9, 8 p.m. (EWTN) “Solemn Mass of Palm Sunday from Rome with Pope Francis.” Pope Francis celebrates the Solemn Mass of Palm Sunday, followed by the Angelus live from Vatican City. n Tuesday, April 11, 6:30 p.m. (EWTN) “The Word Was Made Flesh: The Last Supper.”

Follow the Gospel narrative of the Last Supper celebrated by Our Lord with Father Andrew Apostoli. Understand the nature of Christ’s discipleship, His Eucharistic Presence and the promise of sending His Spirit. Part one. n Wednesday, April 12, 5 p.m. (EWTN) “The Church of the Holy Sepulchre.” A look inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected. n Wednesday, April 12, 6:30 p.m. (EWTN) “The Word Was Made Flesh: The Last Supper.”

Father Apostoli recounts Jesus’ further directives to His disciples on how to remain connected with Him even after He has gone.

They are to live in His love, keeping His commandments and loving one another as He has loved them. Part 2. n Thursday, April 13, 12 p.m. (EWTN) “Solemn Mass of the Lord’s Supper from Rome.” Pope Francis celebrates the Solemn Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 31, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Four-year ‘encuentro’ process begins in the U.S. Rhina Guidos Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In Spanish, the word “encuentro” means encounter and in the modern Church in the U.S., it refers to a series of meetings that will take place over the next four years aimed at getting to know Latinos and producing more involvement in the Church of its second largest and fastest growing community.

“The intent is for Latinos to have an encounter with the entire Church and for the Church to have an encounter with Latinos, understanding who they are, how they think, how they live At www.vencuentro.org: Get more information about the upcoming “V Encuentro” their faith, so we can work together and move together and build a Church together,” said Mar Munoz-Visoso, executive director of the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

A recent report by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University commissioned by the U.S. bishops shows that more than half of millennial-generation Catholics born in 1982 or later are Hispanic or Latino. Those numbers alone call for the Church to have a plan of how it will bring Latinos in the U.S. into the Church’s leadership roles, its vocations and their role in society, Munoz-Visoso said.

“You cannot plan the future of the Church without having an important conversation about this population,” she said. “This effort is very important.”

The numbers of Latinos in the Church are growing, but “there is a gap between the numbers of Latinos in the pews, and the numbers of Latinos in leadership, and the numbers of vocations, or (Latino students) in Catholic schools,” Munoz-Visoso said.

The first part of encuentro, as the process is called, started in early 2017 and it’s the fifth such process of its kind. Encuentros in the U.S. Church took place in 1972, 1977, 1985 and 2000, but the Fifth National Encuentro, also known as “V Encuentro,” is expected to be the biggest one of its kind in terms of attendance.

Participants first meet in small Christian communities at the local level to discern, dialogue, reflect about faith and the baptismal call, Munoz-Visoso said. Later in the year, parishes will hold parish encuentros of their own, which will later lead to diocesan, regional and finally a nationwide encuentro, set for Sept. 20-23, 2018, in Grapevine, Texas, in the Diocese of Fort Worth. The final part is a “post-national encuentro” that

will include publishing a national working document about ways to implement what was learned during the process.

Encuentro organizers hope the process will yield an increase in vocations of Latinos to the priesthood, religious life, permanent diaconate, an increase in the percentage of Latino students enrolling at Catholic schools, and create a group of Latino leaders for the Church, as well as an increase Latinos’ sense of belonging and stewardship in the U.S. Church.

At the fall 2016 meeting of U.S. bishops in Baltimore, Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley expressed concern that the younger generations of Latinos “is a demographic that is slipping away from the Church and I think we have a window of opportunity and the window of opportunity is closing.”

Many Latinos are “joining the ranks of ‘nones,’” said Cardinal O’Malley, referring to the growing number of Americans who are choosing to be unaffiliated with any organized religion.

“We have very few, relatively, Hispanics in our Catholic schools.

They’re underrepresented in our religious education programs, and I’m hoping that the outreach that is going to be done as part of the preparation for this ‘encuentro’ will make a difference,” he said.

Munoz-Visoso said Latinos are being courted by all kinds of groups, not just other religious denominations.

“And we are at this juncture in history where we have this dilemma, where the majority of the Catholic Church in the country is becoming Latino, but at the same time, more Latinos than ever are leaving the Church,” she said. “So, we have to address this situation because we have to really engage them, re-enamor them, their faith and make sure they’re committed to their faith.”

For those wanting to become involved, they can contact their local parish to see if the parish is involved in the process. More than 5,000 parishes have signed up to participate, said Munoz-Visoso.

Parish-level encuentros take place this May and June. Diocesan encuentros will take place in the fall in more than 150 dioceses with a total of 200,000 participants. The regional encuentros are slated for March-June 2018, with 10,000 delegates expected to attend. The regions conform to the U.S. bishops’ 14 episcopal regions.

Then comes the Fifth National Encuentro in Texas, which will have as its theme “Missionary Disciples: Witnesses of God’s Love.” This is then followed by the post-encuentro working document.

Alejandro Aquilera-Ttitus, assistant director of Hispanic affairs in the diversity secretariat, is national coordinator of the Fifth National Encuentro.

In talk with top diplomat, bishop stresses Church concern for common good Rhina Guidos Catholic News Service

“The two areas we especially touched on were the Middle East and how to rebuild in Iraq and Syria. And the second topic that he wanted to hear our perspective on is the immigration issue, particularly how to reach out to Central America and Mexico,” said Bishop Cantu.

He said he emphasized to Tillerson the importance of having countries where religious minorities have a say in the government and of investing in rebuilding countries. The proposed Trump administration budget has been criticized for its plans to slash funding for the State Department up to 28 percent, or

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace met with the country’s top diplomat, Rex Tillerson, March 23, for a policy-packed 35-minute conversation about immigration, the Middle East, Africa and the role of the Catholic Church’s efforts toward building “the common good.”

“After some small talk about Texas,” the two spoke about the Middle East, about Iraq and Syria, reaching out to Central America and Mexico, and the situation in Africa, said Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico, explaining his initial meeting in Washington with Tillerson, the U.S. secretary of state, who, like Bishop Cantu, hails from Texas.

Bishop Cantu said the meeting was about letting Tillerson know “that our only motive is to help build the common good, that we don’t have ulterior motives,” and explaining the bishops’ peace and justice CNS | Bob Roller committee’s work in Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, N.M., gestures during a March 23 meeting with U.S. the Middle East, Africa, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the State Department in Washington, D.C. Latin America and the Far East. $10.9 billion. The cuts would greatly affect the Bishop Cantu, as the chairman of the department’s Food for Peace Program, which Committee on International Justice and Peace, has spoken for a two-state solution in the Israel- reduces hunger and malnutrition in poor countries, while proposing a $54 billion, or 10 Palestine conflict, against the construction of percent, increase in military spending.

Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories, Bishop Cantu said he left information with for reducing the United States’ nuclear arsenal, Tillerson about the Church’s concerns with the and raised concerns about an executive order proposed budget. that targets refugees from some countries with “We’re concerned about the very steep predominantly Muslim populations, which are increase in the military budget, the cutting at odds with stances taken early by the Donald back on foreign aid, we’re very concerned Trump administration. about that. I did want to emphasize how “I have concerns,” he said in an interview important development is in regions that need with Catholic News Service, but said the meeting with Tillerson was about establishing a to be stabilized,” he said, “that those are wise investments of time and funds.” relationship that can help the Church advocate The meeting also included a discussion about for policy issues to help the common good.

Christians in the Middle East, Bishop Cantu “We bring a unique perspective,” said Bishop said, “and that Christians don’t want to live Cantu. “One of our principles in Catholic social in a ghetto. … They believe it’s important that teaching is the common good and that goes they live in an integrated society that is safe beyond our own Church needs.” and secure,” to have a voice in local, regional Bishop Cantu said he talked about the as well federal government. He said he also Church’s efforts in Congo and South Sudan emphasized “the fact that the (Catholic) Church and the need for stability in such places. U.N. in the Middle East can act as a voice between agencies said in February that famine and war the Sunnis and the Shia” and the importance in the area are threatening up to 5.5 million of the Church remaining in places such as Iraq lives in the region. and Syria.

Because of the Church’s humanitarian “Any wise government official wants to agencies, its solidarity visits, and longlisten to the voice of people who have a stake in term contact with local governments and different areas and to listen to the wisdom of populations around the world, the Church experience,” Bishop Cantu said. “We have our lends a credible voice, Bishop Cantu said. brothers and sisters there, the Church, who do “He expressed that he was eager to have open live there. The fact is that … we bring a trusted lines of communication with us and to listen to voice. our perspective on things,” Bishop Cantu said.

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In Brief U.S. Catholics asked ‘to accompany’ migrants, refugees seeking better life WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. bishops in a pastoral reflection released March 22 called all Catholics to do what each of them can “to accompany migrants and refugees who seek a better life in the United States.” Titled “Living as a People of God in Unsettled Times,” the reflection was issued “in solidarity with those who have been forced to flee their homes due to violence, conflict or fear in their native lands,” said a news release from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “To live as a people of God is to live in the hope of the Resurrection,” said the reflection, which was approved by the USCCB Administrative Committee on the first day of a two-day meeting in Washington. The 37-member committee is made up of the executive officers of the USCCB, elected committee chairmen and elected regional representatives. It acts on behalf of the nation’s bishops between their spring and fall general meetings. “To live in Christ is to draw upon the limitless love of Jesus to fortify us against the temptation of fear,” it continued. “Pray that our engagement in the debate over immigration and refugee issues may bring peace and comfort to those most affected by current and proposed national policy changes.”

Chaput: Enforcement of immigration laws ‘must be humane, proportional’ PHILADELPHIA — Karol Diaz, a fifth-grader at Assumption B.V.M. School in West Grove, was among the youngest of those attending the Liturgy of the Word for justice for immigrants and refugees led by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput March 19 at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. In very few words, Karol got to the heart of the matter. “I’m here for my parents. They are immigrants and they don’t have papers,” he said. This too was addressed by Philadelphia’s archbishop in his homily when he spoke of the fear and anxiety in the immigrant community. “Parents are afraid of being separated from one another and their children,” Archbishop Chaput said. “Children are afraid that when they come home from school their parents will be gone.” The purpose of the liturgy, the archbishop said, was to gather as a Church to pray and reflect on the immigration issue that is a source of great division and polarization in the United States today. “Since we are Christians we have a serious obligation, a vocation, to be concerned about justice, charity and mercy,” he said.

Catholic bishops join call to Trump to support humanitarian assistance WASHINGTON, D.C. — Five Catholic prelates were among 106 faith leaders who shared their support for U.S. spending on international humanitarian aid in a letter to congressional leaders. Dated March 16, the letter cited the importance of maintaining support for the humanitarian and development programs through the Department of State “that enable countless people to pull themselves out of poverty and live life with dignity.” The letter was sent hours after the White House released a simplified version of its fiscal year 2018 budget that proposed deep cuts in federal spending on discretionary programs in the departments of State, Health and Human Services, and

Housing and Urban Development as well as in the Environmental Protection Agency. Called the “skinny budget,” the president’s proposal includes a $54 billion increase in discretionary spending for the military with corresponding cuts in discretionary spending on nonmilitary programs. The budget proposes a 28 percent cut in the programs addressed in the religious leaders’ letter. Smaller increases were included for homeland security – particularly $2.6 billion for building the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico and implementing border security technology – and $1.4 billion for school choice alternatives.

17 Republicans seek House commitment to environmental stewardship WASHINGTON, D.C. — Seventeen Republicans in the House of Representatives are calling on their colleagues to express a commitment to “conservative environmental stewardship.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York introduced a resolution in the chamber March 15 with 16 co-sponsors. At least four are Catholic. A spokesman for the Catholic Climate Covenant expressed support for the measure, saying it could widen the discussion of environmental concerns and climate change in particular.

“We’re very encouraged about this as the first step toward bipartisan dialogue,” said Jose Aguto, associate director of the organization, which had worked with House Republicans on the measure. “It is heeding Pope Francis’ appeal to dialogue on climate change.” The pope discussed care for creation and the importance of elected leaders working together for the common good on the many issues facing the country during his address to Congress Sept.

24, 2015. The speech came three months after the release of “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home,” the pope’s encyclical on the environment and human interaction with the earth and its inhabitants.

Advocates seek more on anniversary of ISIS genocide declaration WASHINGTON, D.C. — Despite then-Secretary of State John Kerry’s declaration one year ago that Islamic State’s actions in Iraq and Syria amounted to genocide – and unanimous votes in the House and Senate asking Kerry to declare genocide against minority Christian, Yezidi and Shiite Muslim groups in the region – advocates at a first anniversary ceremony said they want more from the U.S. government than what’s been done to date. While the genocide declaration is in itself rare, “there was more politics to the issue of genocide which I ever thought there could be,” said Catholic University of America law professor Robert Destro at a March 16 event at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center sponsored by In Defense of Christians, an advocacy group for Middle East Christians.

“Our work is not done,” said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., who co-sponsored the House version of the genocide bill with Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb. “We can’t take our foot off the pedal. We have to step on it.”

— Catholic News Service

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 31, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Pope recognizes miracle attributed to Fatima visionaries Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has approved the recognition of a miracle attributed to the intercession of two of the shepherd children who saw Our Lady of Fatima in 1917, thus paving the way for their canonization.

Pope Francis signed the decree for the causes of Blesseds Francisco and Jacinta Marto during a meeting March 23 with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, the Vatican said.

The recognition of the miracle makes it likely that the canonization ceremony for the two children will be scheduled soon. The cardinals and bishops who are members of the congregation must vote to recommend their canonization and then the pope would convene the cardinals resident in Rome for a consistory to

approve the sainthood.

Many people are hoping Pope Francis will preside over the canonization ceremony during his visit to Fatima May 12-13.

The pilgrimage will mark the 100th anniversary of the Marian apparitions, which began May 13, 1917, when 9-yearold Francisco and 7-year-old Jacinta, along with their cousin Lucia dos Santos, reported seeing the Virgin Mary. The apparitions continued once a month until Oct. 13, 1917, and later were declared worthy of belief by the Church.

A year after the apparitions, both of the Marto children became ill during an influenza epidemic that plagued Europe.

Francisco died April 4, 1919, at the age of 10, while Jacinta succumbed to her illness Feb. 20, 1920, at the age of 9.

Francisco and Jacinta’s cause for canonization was stalled for decades due to a debate on whether non-martyred

children have the capacity to understand heroic virtues at a young age. However, in 1979, St. John Paul II allowed their cause to proceed; he declared them venerable in 1989 and beatified them in 2000.

Their cousin Lucia entered the Institute of the Sisters of St. Dorothy and, later, obtained permission to enter the Carmelite convent of St. Teresa in Coimbra, where she resided until her death in 2005 at 97.

Following her death, Pope Benedict XVI waived the five-year waiting period before her sainthood cause could open. Bishop Virgilio Antunes of Coimbra formally closed the local phase of investigation into her life and holiness Feb. 13, 2017, and forwarded the information to the Vatican.

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Learn more about Fatima and follow the news throughout this year’s 100th anniversary celebration of the apparitions of Mary to the children of Fatima

CNS file photo

Jacinta and Francisco Marto are pictured with their cousin Lucia dos Santos (right) in a file photo taken around the time of the 1917 apparitions of Mary at Fatima, Portugal. Pope Francis has approved the recognition of a miracle attributed to the intercession of two of the shepherd children, thus paving the way for their canonization.

CNS | Menahem Kahana, Reuters

Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, papal nuncio to Israel and Cyprus and apostolic delegate in Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories, talks during a ceremony marking the end of restoration work on the site of Jesus’ tomb at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher March 22.

Church leaders: Restoration on Jesus’ tomb signals new cooperation Judith Sudilovsky Catholic News Service

JERUSALEM — Less than a year after restoration work began, the Edicule – the traditional site of Jesus’ burial and resurrection – was inaugurated in an ecumenical ceremony led by representatives of the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Armenian churches, including Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

The 200-year-old structure was rehabilitated for the first time after Israeli authorities deemed it unsafe and leaders from the three churches that share custody of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher came to an agreement for the work to proceed.

Some did not believe the churches could overcome their centuries-old disagreements, but the project was a sign that “with God, nothing is impossible,” Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, said at the March 22 ceremony.

“This apparent mission impossible became possible

because we allowed God to enlighten our thoughts and our eyes and our relations. Things do not change by themselves. If we are here for this celebration, it is because the different churches and leaders were able to hear the voice of God and understand and realize and accept that it was time to build new relations between us of trust and respect,” he said.

Franciscan Father Francesco Patton, custos of the Holy Land, said it was “providential coincidence” that this year, as the Edicule is restored, all the Christian denominations celebrate Easter on the same date. It was also fitting, he said, that it was around the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that the churches regained a closer relationship.

Armenian Patriarch Nourhan Manougian took the opportunity to mention the three other denominations with a presence in the church – the Assyrian Orthodox, the Ethiopian Orthodox and the Coptic Orthodox. He asked that the Anglican and Russian Orthodox churches be allowed to offer their holy liturgy at the Edicule once a year, after Easter.

“We must pray earnestly to Jesus Christ to give us the

wisdom to be able to absorb literally between ourselves His greatest commandment of love,” said the patriarch.

“We have no difference in regard to this commandment and, unless we accept His commandment and express it in our lives and deeds, how can we consider ourselves Jesus’ disciples?”

Several hundred local faithful, pilgrims and international dignitaries filled the main area of the basilica where the Edicule is located, taking pictures and videos of the pink-stoned structure. The metal girders that British Mandate authorities added in 1947 to keep it standing have been removed.

“It is a very exciting day which hasn’t happened in hundreds of years. It is a very big step, we are all united in celebration,” said Marlen Mauge, 53, a Catholic from Jerusalem. “We would like to have more than one united celebration. It is a good message to the world.”

Antonia Moropoulou, a professor at the National Technical University of Athens, directed the work at the site.

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In Brief Church experience more than just a cut-and-run flash mob, pope says VATICAN CITY — Young men and women can live a true experience of the Church by joining together and reconnecting with the past, Pope Francis told Catholic young people. “The genuine experience of the Church is not like a flash mob, where people agree to meet, do their thing and then go their separate ways,” the pope said in his message for World Youth Day 2017. The message, released March 21 at the Vatican, centered on a verse of the Magnificat: “The Mighty One has done great things for me.”

Pope Francis has chosen several verses that reflect on Mary’s faith from the first chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke as the themes for World Youth Day 2017-2019. This year and next, World Youth Day will be celebrated on a local level – on Palm Sunday at the Vatican – and in 2019 it will be an international gathering in Panama. The pope reminded young people that another event, the Synod of Bishops in 2018, will also help them to reflect on how they “live the experience of faith in the midst of the challenges of our time.”

Remember shattered walls of past divisions, pope tells EU leaders VATICAN CITY — Europe must recover the

memories and lessons of past tragedies in order to confront the challenges Europeans face today that seek to divide rather than unite humanity, Pope Francis said. While the founding fathers of what is now the European Union worked toward a “united and open Europe,” free of the “walls and divisions” erected after World War II, the tragedy of poverty and violence affecting millions of innocent people lingers on, the pope told European leaders gathered at the Vatican March 24. “Where generations longed to see the fall of those signs of forced hostility, these days we debate how to keep out the ‘dangers’ of our time, beginning with the long file of women, men and children fleeing war and poverty, seeking only a future for themselves and their loved ones,” he said.

Pope Francis welcomed the 27 European heads of state to the Vatican to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome, which gave birth to European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. Signed March 25, 1957, the treaties sought to unite Europe following the devastation wrought by World War II. The agreements laid the groundwork for what eventually became the European Union.

Child protection commission seeks new ways to be informed by victims VATICAN CITY — Following the resignation of a prominent member and abuse survivor, a pontifical commission charged with addressing issues related to clergy sex abuse vowed to continue to seek input from victims and survivors. The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors said the resignation of Marie Collins was a “central topic” of its March 24-26 plenary assembly, and it “expressed strong support for her continuing work” to promote healing for abuse victims and ensuring best practices for prevention. “Commission

members have unanimously agreed to find new ways to ensure its work is shaped and informed with and by victims/survivors. Several ideas that have been successfully implemented elsewhere are being carefully considered for recommendation to the Holy Father,” the commission said in a March 26 statement published by the Vatican.

Among the main concerns addressed by the commission was outreach out to victims, an issue first raised by Collins shortly after she resigned from her position. In an editorial published online March 1 by National Catholic Reporter, Collins said an unnamed dicastery not only refused to respond to letters from victims, it also refused to cooperate on the commission’s safeguarding guidelines.

London cardinal calls for prayers for victims of Westminster attack LONDON — Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster, whose cathedral is just a short walk from the scene of the London terrorist attack, called for prayers for the dead and wounded. “Yesterday’s attacks in Westminster have shocked us all,” he said in a March 23 statement. “The kind of violence we have seen all too often in other places has again brought horror and killing to this city.”

The five fatalities included Aysha Frade, a 43-year-old Catholic mother mowed down by a car driven by the assailant as he sped over Westminster Bridge toward the British Parliament. Frade was on her way to pick up her children from school when she was killed. After crashing the vehicle into railings, the Britishborn Muslim ran into New Palace Yard, near Parliament, where he fatally stabbed a police officer before he was killed by police. About 40 people were injured in the attack.

“Pray for Aysha Frade, killed by the car on Westminster Bridge,” Cardinal Nichols said,

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adding that her two children attended St. Mary of the Angels Primary School, a Catholic school in West London.

Panel: After rescue, trafficking victims need help addressing trauma UNITED NATIONS — It’s not enough to rescue victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation – they must be given supportive care to address their trauma, and tools to live economically independent lives free from abuse. That was the view of speakers at a March 22 U.N. panel that was co-sponsored by the Vatican’s permanent observer mission to the United Nations. Representatives of religious, nonprofit and government agencies addressed “Economically Empowering Trafficking Survivors to Stay Permanently Off the Streets.”

Trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world today, speakers said.

Estimates vary of the number of people ensnared by human slavery, but most agree more than 20 million people worldwide are exploited as modern slaves. “This evil phenomenon of trafficking in persons is complex and has many ramifications,” said Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.N. “One of the most hopeful developments in recent years,” he continued, “has been the advent of an increasing number of individuals, organizations, governments and advocates at the international, national and local levels to fight against this atrocious scourge and crime against humanity and help those who have been victimized by it leave slavery and be rehabilitated patiently and compassionately toward true freedom.”

— Catholic News Service

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 31, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Sister Mary Raphael

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Fred Gallagher

Catapulted into Lent

t is time. The ashes have come out, parish missions have begun. It is time for the “glory of these 40 days” and “hearts renewed by living faith.” It is a time for prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Are we ready to give Our Lord what He is asking from us and to receive what He wants to show us?

Perhaps it is not so uncommon to face Lent with a cringe or a deep breath of uncertainty. Who wants to be reminded of one’s sins, to give up an attachment, to embrace a tighter discipline of prayer that calls one out of a comfortable bed earlier in the morning? Who eagerly runs to the dryness and barrenness of the desert?

And if in brutal honesty we answer these questions in the negative, what will change our minds so that we will bow our heads and humble our hearts under this penitential season?

‘Lent is a beautiful opportunity to generously respond to Him, to love in return the God who loves us to the point of death and resurrection.’

Sometimes Our Lord is incredibly merciful in that He puts us in a place or situation before we have time to “give Him permission” or catch our breath, or understand how we arrived there. This month I found myself in such a position.

A few weeks ago my family experienced trauma when my sister escaped from an abduction and began a long road to healing.

A few days later another sister was in a car accident, and shortly thereafter, I found myself in a stressful situation that left me wondering how best to practically provide for my religious community. In the midst of all of this, I was on pilgrimage to Fatima, a holy site where the message calls for prayer and penance. A week before Ash Wednesday, I felt that my Lent had already begun.

If Lent means more prayer – I never prayed so hard in my life. If Lent means almsgiving, there were ample opportunities to reach out to those in need – either materially, spiritually or emotionally. If Lent means fasting and penance, I was revisiting the paths of three little shepherd seers who so generously embraced a life of sacrifice for the conversion of poor sinners.

My Lent had begun, but it began with a question: “Why?” I wondered why such evil is permitted

that victims live through nightmares. Why do we face so much uncertainty; and when stability in our lives flounders, why do we find ourselves drowning in a sense of helplessness?

Why is it that suffering is necessary to work out our salvation and to soften our hearts towards the working of grace?

My last night in Fatima, a stranger approached me and asked, “Sister, we were told as children and adolescents that our God is a God of love. Why do we have punishment and have to do penance?”

She was genuine in her questions and her “why” joined my own litany. It was not a flailing or doubting, but rather the raw realization that we live in a vale of tears and we have to do something about that – namely, prayer and penance.

While my stranger friend did not understand the fullness of our God of love, she brought up a foundational point. Yes, God loves us. He is Love and out of love created the world and sustains it in being. Yet, through original sin, Adam and Eve severed that relationship of love with their Creator, handed on a sinful inheritance to us, and now we continue to wound that relationship through our own sins. What is the remedy?

The first part of Lent we hone in on the reality of this severed relationship – that we have sinned, that we desperately yearn for the love and security we have lost, and that we need a Savior. The last couple weeks of Lent the Scripture readings turn toward the answer that our God of Love did in fact love us so much as to give us the remedy: His own Son’s sacrifice on the cross.

We are loved, loved even to the point of a flesh-and-blood sacrifice. When darkness enters into our lives and the effects of sin pierce our hearts, our good God is reminding us that we still live in the vale of tears, but that He has stooped down to save us. Through our suffering, prayer and penance, He allows us to participate in healing the relationship between God and man, so that one day we will enter into eternal life and joy with Him. St. Gregory the Great wrote, “For though outwardly these scourges create the darkness of anguish, inwardly knowledge enkindles the light in the mind…Peace with God is restored to us when those things which were rightly created for us, but are not ordinarily desired, are turned into scourges and become evil for us. It is through sin that we become opposed to God; therefore, it is fitting that we should return to His peace by way of scourges. In this manner, when everything created for good is turned into a source of pain for us, the mind of the chastened man may be humbly renewed and restored to peace with his Creator.”

Lent is a beautiful opportunity to generously respond to Him, to love in return the God who loves us to the point of death and resurrection.

Sister Mary Raphael is a member of the Daughters of the Virgin Mother, a community dedicated to serving the spiritual and practical needs of the sacred priesthood and of seminarians in the Diocese of Charlotte.

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The Stations and the senses

n every Catholic church I’ve ever entered, there have been pieces of art hanging on the walls of the nave: the Stations of the Cross.

This traditional artwork, popular since the Middle Ages, is in reliefs of plaster, marble or even metal. Others are painted in oils or other media; some have even been rendered as mosaics.

All depict the various “stations” along Christ’s way to Calvary – a pilgrimage in art, a blending of the sentient artistic imagination with the core of all we believe, that is, the redeeming power of

‘The practice of saying prayers before each of the 14 stations is one of the most moving of all Catholic devotional practices.’ the passion of our Savior, His death and His resurrection.

The practice of saying prayers before each of the 14 stations is one of the most moving of all Catholic devotional practices. It reiterates to us that ours is a faith of the senses. As children we came to know our God in the voices of our parents and teachers as they recalled the devotional practices of their own childhoods, and in voices crying out collectively and in private in the ancient prayers of our Church, as well as the spontaneous, immediate prayers of our own praises and petitions. We’ve also come to know our God in the visual artwork of so many masters, from Michelangelo, Botticelli, Da Vinci, to El Greco, Goya, Hoffman, and Murillo, among so many others, as well from anonymous pieces of stained glass in our churches to those heart wrenching stations that flank our pews.

As we walk to each station, we can hear the crowds mock Our Lord as He is condemned to death. We imagine the weight of His cross and we fall with Him. We hear His mother weeping in the crowd. Do we dare put ourselves in the place of Simon of Cyrene, who was made to carry the cross? We cannot help but remember a falling from grace in our lives and we find ourselves, too, in the crowd with the mournful women, their hearts breaking for their own children. It is loud and hot and

unbearably sad. He falls again right in front of us, as we look on helplessly.

He is stripped and we can feel the humiliation. We cringe as the nails go in. And yes, we watch the crucified One we love die above us. We weep. We hold His lifeless Body in our arms. We lay Him in His tomb.

The physicality of our religion is sometimes astounding. We move in ritual; we feel the water of baptism as we enter the Church; we see the morning light pierce the stained glass, the blue of Mary’s robe, the crimson of Christ’s garment fallen to the ground; we become aware of the aroma of incense as it envelopes us and rises like our prayers; we kneel and bow and stand and sing; we taste the transubstantiated Body and Blood of Jesus and we are filled by the sentient re-presentation of the greatest sacrifice the world has known.

In the Lenten season we move around the Church, stopping over and over (“statio” means stopping place) along the Via Dolorosa – lending in some imaginatively participatory, transfixing manner, our own body and spirit to the monumental act of love before us.

Some of the devotion is only in our tradition. But that doesn’t stop us for an instant. How many times did Jesus fall? His falling is but a powerful refrain in the ballad of His love. We do not know from the gospels that Jesus met His mother along the way, but that doesn’t stop us from feeling the clouded eyes of mother and Son lock, hers in abject misery, His in all-too-human degradation yet Divine and sacrificial Love. Do we know Veronica outside of these stations? That didn’t stop my wife, as she came into the Catholic Church, from taking a name she identified with like none other, Veronica, meaning “true image.” If my wife had been in that crowd, that is exactly what she would have done: she would have run to Him and wiped His weary countenance.

Every Friday during Lent in our churches someone – from priests, deacons, altar servers and many of the congregation – stops by 14 times (sometimes 15, when the Resurrection is added) to say their prayers, most likely the beloved words they know so well of St. Alphonsus Liguori as they start: “We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.” (genuflect) “Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world.” (Rise) And a meditation ending in utter surrender to Jesus, the Man of Sorrows before us, with the words: “With all my heart I repent of ever having offended You. Grant that I may love You always; and then do with me as You will.”

Fred Gallagher is an author and editor-in-chief with Gastonia-based Good Will Publishers Inc.

March 31, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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What we know that ain’t so:

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

Purgatory

Deacon James H. Toner

‘Give graciously to all the living, and withhold not kindness from the dead.’

Sirach 7:33

Suggested reading “Catholicism and Fundamentalism,”

by Karl Keating (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1988)

What we think is the right road

F

rom the internet: “When we die, we will not be routed to a waiting room to await entrance to heaven. Either Christ’s death paid the full price of our sins or it didn’t. We will either go to hell or heaven. There is no in between.

The Catholic Church is promoting a lie with its position on purgatory.” We should finally and fully discard the idea of purgatory, because it’s not true.

But it’s the wrong road Purgatory is true. For those destined to heaven but still needing purification, purgatory is the last step of loving but painful spiritual development before we see God face to face (1 Cor 13:12).

Non-Catholics maintain that purgatory is unnecessary, for Christ’s merits are fully satisfactory for our sins. That we are forgiven, however, does not mean that we are immune to the lure of future sin (Mt 7:21) or that there is no need for reparation after the forgiveness of sin.

The redemption that Our Lord has won for us does not, in justice, eliminate our need to repair the damage we have done – to clean up after ourselves, to speak. After King David’s sin, for instance, he was forgiven (2 Sam 12:14), but he had to make amends through suffering the loss of his child. There is an important distinction, then, between forgiveness and reparation.

St. John tells us that nothing unclean will enter heaven (Rev 21:27). If we cannot in this life repair the damage we have done through unrepented venial sins (see 1 John 5:17) or if we have an “unpaid debt” for mortal sins forgiven but imperfectly repented of, then purgatory offers us the prospect of making reparation (see 1 Cor 3:15; Catechism of the Catholic Church 1030).

Purgatory, though, is not a second chance at salvation or a concentration camp. It is a munificent divine gift, for, as Our Lord told us, only the pure of heart will see God (Mt 5:8), and few of us, even those destined for heaven, die in perfect purity. From the earliest days of the Church, there was a sustaining belief in

purgatory and in prayer for the dead (see, for example, Acts 9:36-43 and 2 Tm 1:16-18). The teaching about purgatory and prayer for the dead was defined by Councils in Lyon (1274), Florence (1439) and Trent (1563), but the doctrine was also present in embryonic form in the earliest days of the Church. For example, St. Monica, in the fourth century, asked her son to remember her soul in his Masses. Such an appeal would make no sense unless there were something other than heaven or hell (see also CCC 1031).

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI explained that purgatory is not some otherworldly concentration camp, but is, rather, “the inwardly necessary process of transformation in which a person becomes capable of Christ, capable of God, and thus capable of unity with the whole communion of saints.”

The great Dominican Father R.M. GarrigouLagrange (1877-1964) wrote that the teaching of purgatory “fortifies our sense of justice. It manifests the disorder, often unperceived, of venial faults.” A strong sense of purgatory, he wrote, carries with it a healthful purgation of sin here on earth.

As St. Augustine taught: “God created us without us; but He did not will to save us without us” (CCC 1847). For some, one of the most confusing points of Scripture is in Colossians: St. Paul rejoices in his suffering, for “I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His Body, that is, the Church” (1:24). Christ’s merits lack nothing; but our sacred goal is to unite ourselves to Christ and to the Church in and through our prayers and sufferings (see 1 Peter 4:13). Here we see the wisdom of the traditional Church teaching that we should not “waste our suffering,” but offer it up – and join it to Our Lord’s perfect sacrifice. Jesus does not need it, but we do.

In short, we are in “this” together. The grammar is wrong, but it’s not “me and Jesus”; it’s “we and Jesus.” And that “we” includes the souls in purgatory, who pray for us as we ought to pray for them. Those in purgatory rejoice heartily, for theirs will be the Kingdom of God; but they suffer terribly, too, for theirs is an acute awareness of

the unspeakable evil of sin in general, and of their actual sin in particular, as they continue our common journey of trying, through the grace of God, to become holy (Lv 19:2, 11:45; 1 Pt 1:15). “Purgatory,” said Pope Emeritus Benedict, “follows by an inner necessity from the idea of penance, the idea of the constant readiness for reform which marks the forgiven sinner.”

Catholic and Orthodox Bibles make this point in 2 Maccabees 12:45, where a Jewish military officer commands sacrifice for men killed in battle: “He made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.” Christ’s Bride is composed of the Church Triumphant (those in heaven), the Church Suffering (those destined for heaven once they are cleansed of their sin), and the Church Militant (those of us still working out our salvation “with fear and trembling,” as St. Paul put it in Philippians 2:12; and “Lumen Gentium,” 49).

The beautiful teaching of purgatory ought to remind us that we should always pray for the souls in purgatory. Moreover, solid catechesis about purgatory should help to cure the prideful presumption that such prayer is not necessary because everyone, after all, goes straight to heaven after death and the particular judgment (CCC 1022). A reflection of this is found in omnipresent white vestments at requiem Masses.

If, and to the extent that, such celebratory vestments discourage prayer for the dead, one seems justified in suggesting that violet – and better, black – vestments ought to be chosen, reminding us that those who have died yet live in Christ (Luke 20:38), but may need prayer if in purgatory.

Never let the moment pass: During the Roman Canon of the Mass, the priest says, “Remember also, Lord, your servants N. and N., who have gone before us with the sign of faith and rest in the sleep of peace.” The priest then joins his hands and prays briefly for those who have died.

So should we, knowing that they pray, too – for us. Deo gratias!

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

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