March 30, 2018

March 30, 2018

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‘Anointing and mission’

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Priests renew commitment to Christ and His Church, bless sacramental oils at annual Chrism Mass 5

A 38 años del sacrificio de Monseñor Romero

‘Hosanna!’

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day

Catholics usher in Holy Week with Palm Sunday processions

‘Les suplico, les ruego, les ordeno en nombre de Dios: cese la represión’

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6-7, 14

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Jefferson parish dedicates cemetery

Irish blessings

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Our faith 2

catholicnewsherald.com | March 30, 2018 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Pope Francis

Christians may be sinners, but they can’t be corrupt, mafioso

T

hough they may go to church and say they are people of faith, the corrupt and “mafioso” have absolutely nothing Christian about them, Pope Francis said.

“They call themselves Christian, but they carry death in their souls and bring death to others,” the pope said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square March 28.

While the pope dedicated his audience talk to explaining the Triduum liturgies that commemorate the Last Supper and Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection, he diverted often from his prepared text and had particularly strong words against those who think they are honorable and justified without ever recognizing their own sins.

“If Christians truly let themselves be cleansed by Christ, if they truly let Him strip the old from them in order to walk in new life – while remaining sinners, because we are sinners – they can no longer be corrupt, can no longer live with death in their soul or be the cause of death,” he said.

“And here I have to say something sad and painful,” he said, looking up from his written remarks. “There are fake Christians, those who say ‘Jesus is risen.

I have been justified by Jesus. I have new life, but I live a corrupt life.’ These fake Christians will have a terrible end.”

The new life that Jesus gives people leaves no place for “death in the soul” or for being the cause of someone’s death, which brings to mind “these so-called mafiosi Christians,” the pope said.

With baptism, people are risen with Jesus, and “we are dead to the things and logic of the world; we are reborn as new creatures,” which also demands a real and concrete response in life every day.

“The love that Jesus gave to us” now must be given to one’s neighbor, especially the least and those most in need, he said. “The world becomes the place of our new life” renewed in Christ.

“Standing with our head held high, we can share the humiliation of those who still today, like Jesus, are suffering, naked, in need, lonely, in death, in order to become, thanks to Him and with Him, instruments of redemption and hope, signs of life and resurrection,” he said.

He encouraged people to take part in a tradition that is followed in his native Argentina and other countries: “When the bells start ringing on Easter day, mothers and grandmothers take their children and wash their eyes with water as a sign” of seeing things anew, things Jesus would see.

“This Easter, let ourselves, our souls be washed, wash the eyes of our soul so as to see things that are beautiful and in order to do things that are beautiful,” the pope said. “This is wonderful. This is exactly the resurrection of Jesus after His death, which was the price for saving all of us.”

“Murder of St. Stanislaus,” by Jan Matejko (1892)

St. Stanislaus the Martyr Feast day: April 11 On April 11, the Catholic Church honors the memory of the 11thcentury bishop and martyr St. Stanislaus of Krakow, who died for the faith at the hands of King Boleslaus II. Canonized in 1253, St. Stanislaus is a beloved patron of Poland and one of the earliest native Polish bishops. In his own country he is commemorated on May 8. (The exact date of his death is uncertain. According to different sources, it was either April 11 or May 8, 1079.)

St. John Paul II – who was Kraków’s archbishop in the “See of St. Stanislaus” before becoming pope – paid tribute to him often during his pontificate. In a 2003 letter to the Polish Church, he recalled how St. Stanislaus “proclaimed faith in God to our ancestors and started in them...the saving power of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

“He taught the moral order in the family based on sacramental marriage. He taught the moral order within the State, reminding even the king that in his actions he should keep in mind the unchanging Law of God.” Through St. Stanislaus, God taught the Polish pope’s homeland to respect “the Law of God and the just rights of every person.”

Born near Kraków in July of 1030, Stanislaus Szczepanowski was the son of Belislaus and Bogna. His parents, members of the nobility, showed great zeal and charity in their practice of the Catholic faith. Their son studied for a time in his own country, and went on to learn theology and canon law in Paris. The death of his

parents left him with a large inheritance, which he gave away to the poor.

After his ordination to the priesthood, Stanislaus served the Church in Kraków in different pastoral and administrative posts.

Following the death of the diocese’s leader, Bishop Lambert Zula, Stanislaus was chosen as his successor in 1071. He did not want the position, but obeyed Pope Alexander II’s direct order to accept it.

Having done so, he proved to be a bold preacher of the Gospel.

This boldness brought him into conflict with Poland’s ruler, King Boleslaus II, who was becoming notorious for his violent and depraved lifestyle. After a series of disputes over his scandalous behavior and other matters, Stanislaus found no success in his efforts to reform the king.

He excommunicated the sovereign – who responded with furious anger, sending henchmen to kill the bishop while he was offering Mass in the Chapel of St. Michael, located in a suburb of Kraków.

But the soldiers all came out, saying they had been frightened by a light from heaven. Boleslaus then took matters into his own hands, ambushing Stanislaus and striking him down with a sword at the altar.

St. Stanislaus was soon acclaimed as a martyr, while Boleslaus II was deposed and fled to Hungary. In later years the fallen monarch is said to have lived in a monastery, repenting of the murder.

— Catholic News Agency

Your daily Scripture readings APRIL 1-7

Sunday (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 20:1118; 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

APRIL 8-14

Sunday (Divine Mercy Sunday): Acts 4:32-35, 1 John 5:1-6, John 20:19-31; Monday (The Annunciation of the Lord): Isaiah 7:10-14, 8:10, Hebrews 10:4-10, Luke 1:26-38; Tuesday: Acts 4:32-37, John 3:7-15; Wednesday (St. Stanislaus): Acts 5:17-26, John 3:16-21; Thursday: Acts 5:27-33, John 3:31-36; Friday (St. Martin I): Acts 5:34-42, John 6:1-15; Saturday: Acts 6:1-7, John 6:16-21

APRIL 15-21

Sunday: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19, 1 John 2:1-5, Luke 24:35-48; Monday: Acts 6:8-15, John 6:22-29; Tuesday: Acts 7:51-8:1, John 6:3035; Wednesday: Acts 8:1-8, John 6:35-40; Thursday: Acts 8:26-40, John 6:44-51; Friday: Acts 9:1-20, John 6:52-59; Saturday (St. Anselm): Acts 9:31-42, John 6:60-69

March 30, 2018 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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D

uring Lent, we are asked to devote ourselves to seeking the Lord in prayer and reading Scripture, to service by giving alms, and to sacrifice self-control through fasting.

Throughout Lent the Catholic News Herald is publishing – in print, online and on social media – a series of daily and weekly reflections produced by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in English and Spanish, designed to help you reflect on the purposes of Lent and embrace your baptismal commitment to love and serve God.

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Read daily and Sunday Lenten reflections and find links to prayers, videos, lectio divina for the Sundays of Lent, and many other resources for your family’s Lenten observances On Facebook at Catholic News Herald and Catholic News Herald-Español: Short daily reflections to help you pray and reflect during the Lenten season

Good Friday READ

Read the Passion narrative: John 18:1-19:42

REFLECT

The summit of the liturgical year is the Easter Triduum – from the evening of Holy Thursday to the evening of Easter Sunday. Though chronologically three days, they are liturgically one day unfolding for us the unity of Christ’s Paschal Mystery. The single celebration of the Triduum marks the end of the Lenten season, and leads to the Mass of the

Resurrection of the Lord at the Easter Vigil. The liturgical services that take place during the Triduum are: Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion, and Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord.

PRAY “Praise the Lord who bore the spear and who received the nails in His hands, in His feet. He entered into hell and took its spoils.”

— St. Ephrem of Syria, “Hymns on the Nativity,” 13.30

“The Resurrection” (“La Resurrección de Cristo”) (c.

1597-1600) by El Greco, on display in the Prado Museum in Madrid

Easter Sunday READ

Read the following Scripture two or three times: Mark 16:1-7

“Christ on the Cross with the Two Maries and St. John,” (c. 1588) by El Greco, on display in the National Gallery of Athens

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint Him. Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb.

They were saying to one another, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”

When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back; it was very large.

On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed.

He said to them, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; He is not here. Behold the place where they laid Him. But go and tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him, as He told you.’”

REFLECT

Where do I seek Jesus? What do I expect to find? How does Jesus fulfill or confound my expectations? What does the promise of the Resurrection mean to me? How do I know that Jesus is faithful to His promises? What is the message that Jesus calls me to share with others?

PRAY Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His mercy endures forever.

Let Israel say: His mercy endures forever.

Let the house of Aaron say, His mercy endures forever.

Let those who fear the Lord say, His mercy endures forever.

— Psalm 118:1-4

UPcoming events 4

catholicnewsherald.com | March 30, 2018 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following upcoming events: APRIL 3 – 2 P.M. Episcopal Ordination of The Most Reverend Joel M. Konzen, S.M. Auxiliary Bishop of Atlanta The Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, Ga.

APRIL 7 Bishop’s Youth Pilgrimage Belmont Abbey College, Belmont

APRIL 11 – 6 P.M. Sacrament of Confirmation St. Joseph Church, Kannapolis

APRIL 9 – 5:30 P.M. Sacrament of Confirmation Holy Angels Church, Mt. Airy

Diocesan calendar of events March 30, 2018

ENTERTAINMENT

NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING

Volume 27 • NUMBER 13

ARTS AT THE ABBEY, PRESENTS ‘FLUTES4’: 8 p.m.

Monday, April 9, Belmont Abbey Basilica, 100 Belmont Mt. Holly Road, Belmont. Music for Flute Quartet, an eclectic program of flute quartet music ranging from baroque to contemporary. Works to be included are by Casterede, Tcherepnin, Vivaldi, and Peris among others. For details, call 704-461-6012 or email at Abbeyarts@bac.edu or www.bac.edu.

NFP INTRODUCTION AND FULL COURSE: 1:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 21, St. Aloysius Church, 921 2nd St. NE, Hickory. 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.

LECTURES & WORKSHOPS

PRO-LIFE ROSARY: 10 a.m. Saturday, April 7, at 901 North Main St. & Sunset Dr., High Point. Please come and help us pray for the end of abortion. For details, contact Jim Hoyng 336-882-9593 or Paul Klosterman 336-848-6835.

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 HISPANIC COMMUNICATIONS REPORTER: Cesar Hurtado, 704-370-3375, rchurtado@charlottediocese.org GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Tim Faragher 704-370-3331, tpfaragher@charlottediocese.org COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT/CIRCULATION: Erika Robinson, 704-370-3333, catholicnews@ charlottediocese.org

THE CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD is published by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte 26 times a year.

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

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

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

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

‘HUMAN DIGNITY AT THE END OF LIFE’ HEALTH CARE ETHICS CONFERENCE: 8:45 a.m.-6:15 p.m. Saturday, April 14, at Belmont Abbey College, 100 Belmont-Mt. Holly Road, Belmont. The St. John Paul II Foundation, in collaboration with the Diocese of Charlotte and Belmont Abbey College, presents the first Converging Roads health care ethics conference. The conference theme will focus on human dignity at the end of life, and continuing education credits for healthcare professionals will be offered. For details, go to www.convergingroads.com.

FAMILY HONOR LEADING & LOVING PROGRAM: 7-9:15 p.m. Friday, April 27, and Saturday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. April 28, Our Lady of Grace Church, 2203 West Market St., Greensboro. Program intended for parents of young children, newborn through early teen. Leading & Loving will help you become more confident and competent in how to raise virtuous children and how to respond to your young child’s questions about the truth and meaning of God’s gift of sexuality. This program presents the beautiful truths of human sexuality, family life and virtue cultivation through the lens of St. John Paul the II’s Theology of the Body. Childcare will be provided on site. To register, visit www.familyhonor.org. For details, contact David Foppe at dlfoppe7@gmail.com or call 336-510-4218.

LENTEN SERVICES TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS EASTER TRIDUUM: 7 p.m.

Mass, Holy Thursday, March 29; 12 p.m. Stations of the Cross, 3 p.m. Liturgy, Good Friday, March 30; 8:30 p.m.

Easter Vigil/Mass, Holy Saturday, March 31; 12:30 p.m.

High Mass, Easter Sunday, April 1. All Triduum liturgies will be held at Charlotte Catholic High School, 7702 Pineville-Matthews Road, Charlotte. Hosted by St. Ann. HOLY SATURDAY BLESSING OF EASTER FOOD BASKETS: Noon, Saturday, March 31, in Aquinas Hall at St. Thomas Aquinas Church , 1400 Suther Road, Charlotte.

Deacon James Witulski will be blessing Easter food. This Eastern and Central European tradition is also called “The Blessing of the Easter Baskets,” (or “Swieconka” in the Polish language) and will last about 30 minutes.

This tradition is becoming increasingly popular among all Catholics. The Blessings will be in both English and Polish. Children can bring their own baskets with their own treats, including chocolate and Easter candy. For details, contact Deacon James Witulski at 704-960-3704.

PRAYER SERVICES & GROUPS

DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY: 3 p.m. Sunday, April 8, St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. Receive a blessing with the first-class relic of St. Faustina Kowalska. Following the celebration, join us in the New Life Center Banquet Room for refreshments and information on Divine Mercy Cenacles. For details, contact the parish at 704-543-7677.

MASS FOR RELICS OF ST. PADRE PIO: 5 p.m. Mass, Saturday, April 14; 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m., and 11:30 a.m., Masses, Sunday, April 15, at St. Pius X Church, 2210 North Elm St., Greensboro. An opportunity for personal veneration of the saint’s relics will follow each Mass at the Chapel. For details, contact Lindsay Kohl at 336-2724681 ext. 108.

CHRISTIANITY AND THE CHALLENGES OF THE PRESENT: 7:30- 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, at Grace Auditorium, Belmont Abbey College, 100 Belmont-Mt Holly Road, Belmont. We live in a moment of crisis.

Challenges abound in our schools, in our families, in our political and social life, in our culture, and in our economy. What does it mean to be a Christian today?

What is our contribution to society? Join Abbot Placid Solari, Fr. José Medina, Patrick Ford, and Dr. Alessandro Rovati as they discuss the latest book of the leader of Communion and Liberation, Fr. Julián Carron. For details, email AlessandroRovati@bac.edu.

THE FEAST OF DIVINE MERCY: 3:15 p.m.-4:15, Sunday, April 18, Our Lady of Mercy Church, 1730 Link Road, Winston-Salem. All are invited to pray the Novena of Divine Mercy. For details, call the parish at 336-722-7001.

MEN’S EVENING OF REFLECTION: 6 - 9:00 p.m. Friday, April 20, at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, 2715 Horse Pen Creek Road, Greensboro. Evening includes Mass, reflection by visiting Legionary of Christ priest and complimentary dinner. To register, visit www. rcmenapril20.eventbrite.com or contact John Endredy at jendredy@gmail.com. Hosted by Triad Men’s Regnum Christi Team.

WOMEN’S MORNING OF REFLECTION: 8:30 a.m-noon p.m. Saturday, April 21, at St. Paul the Apostle Church, 2715 Horse Pen Creek Road, Greensboro. Morning includes Mass, rosary, opportunity for confession, reflection by visiting Legionary of Christ priest, craft and complimentary breakfast. To register, email Sue Perez at regnumchristitriad@gmail.com

CCWG EVENING REFLECTION: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, Charlotte Catholic High School Chapel, 7702 PinevilleMatthews Road, Charlotte. Mass begins at 6:30 p.m. followed by reflection by our guest speaker Father Jason Barone. This event is free to all women. RSVP at www. charlottecatholicwomensgroup.org ST. PEREGRINE HEALING PRAYER SERVICE: 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 26, at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. St. Peregrine is the patron saint of cancer and grave diseases. The healing prayer service will be offered for all those suffering with cancer or other diseases. For details, call the church office at 704-543-7677. .

SUPPORT GROUPS & RETREATS CHRONIC PAIN SUPPORT GROUP: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Third Tuesday of each month, beginning Tuesday, March 20, at St. Barnabas Church, 109 Crescent Hill Road, Arden. To make an appointment, please call the Council on Aging of Buncombe County at 828-277-8288. Sponsored by Arthritis Services in conjunction with Catholic Charities Elder Ministry. For details, call Sandra Breakfield at 704-370-3220.

RACHEL’S VINEYARD RETREATS: Rachel’s Vineyard can help men and women who have experienced abortion begin their healing journey. It creates a healing environment of prayer and forgiveness. The retreat works to reconnect people to themselves, their friends and family after having an abortion. For details, email Jackie Childers at jackie.childers1@gmail.com.

BENEFITS SCREENING AND MEDICARE ENROLLMENT: 1-5 p.m. Tuesday, April 3, at St. Eugene Catholic Church, 72 Culvern St., Asheville and 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Thursday, April 5, at Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte, 50 Orange St., Asheville. Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte hosting Benefits Screening and Enrollment through the Council on Aging of Buncombe County. Please call the Council on Aging of Buncombe County at 828-2778288 to make an appointment for a FREE screening and enrollment services for all Medicare beneficiaries. For details, call Catholic Charities at 704-370-3220. Rachel’s vineyard retreats: Rachel’s Vineyard can help men and women who have experienced abortion begin their healing journey. It creates a healing environment of prayer and forgiveness. The retreat works to reconnect people to themselves, their friends and family after having an abortion. For details, email Jackie Childers at jackie.childers1@gmail.com.

Correction The March 16 article “Scouts gather for annual Catholic Camporee” contained several errors. Troop 958 is affiliated with St. Leo Church in Winston-Salem.

The names of Owen Hopgood, Aidan Abbinante, Will Kennedy and Alex Pezold were also misspelled. We regret the errors.

Our parishes

March 30, 2018 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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Bishop Peter Jugis served as the main celebrant at the annual Chrism Mass March 27 at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. Nearly 100 priests concelebrated the Mass, voicing their recommitment to the Church and assisting in blessing the sacred oils to be used in the celebration of the sacraments for the coming year. After Mass, deacons bottled the oils to be distributed to the 92 parishes and missions in the diocese.

PHOTOS BY SUEANN HOWELL | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

‘Anointing and mission’ Bishop Jugis encourages priests, blesses oils at Chrism Mass SUEANN HOWELL SENIOR REPORTER

CHARLOTTE — Nearly 100 priests gathered with Bishop Peter Jugis for the annual Chrism Mass March 27 at St. Patrick Cathedral, renewing their priestly promises to the Church and assisting in the blessing of sacramental oils.

The holy oils blessed during the Chrism Mass are used in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and anointing of the sick, as well as for ordination of priests and consecration of churches.

Looking out over the sea of vestments during the Mass, Bishop Jugis addressed the clergy in his homily by recalling the fundamentals of their priestly ministry: “anointing and mission.”

“The Chrism Mass gives us a unique opportunity to take a look at our calling as priests,” he said. “We have been anointed by God’s grace and the Holy Spirit at our ordination. There is a mission, therefore, that is imposed upon us because of our anointing. The mission is none other than Christ’s mission itself. We look to Christ for our meaning and purpose.”

Bishop Jugis then paraphrased from the day’s Gospel reading from Luke 4:16-21: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me, to proclaim the Good News by healing the broken-hearted, proclaiming liberty to captives, release to prisoners and by comforting all who mourn.”

“Those words stand as a guiding light for our ministry,” he told the priests. “His words help to bring everything into focus for us, because His mission is our priestly

mission. This merits our attention, especially at the Chrism Mass.”

“What is our mission? We look to Jesus Christ and His mission,” he reiterated.

“The blessing of the oils and the consecration of the chrism will also look to this mission that we are anointed to perform, to heal the wounds of human hearts. And how many human hearts are wounded? In fact, we can say every human heart on the face of the earth,” he said.

They have the ability “to proclaim liberation in the face of so many afflictions and so many evils that hold people prisoner, to console and to comfort all those who are in need of the Lord’s strength,” he said, “because Jesus gave us the means to accomplish this, through the Lord’s sacraments, through the Word of God, the Gospel which we proclaim and live, and by shepherding them with Christ’s love.”

“Our mission is given to us because of Christ and our anointing in Him,” he continued. “The image of Christ and the Redeemer shines forth in His ordained priests.”

Bishop Jugis expounded about the joy that comes from serving the people of God. “What a joy it is to serve your parishioners, young and old and bring them Christ’s love,” he said. “What a joy it is to serve the sick. What a joy to serve those near death and bring them the comfort of Christ. What a joy to serve the poor and needy. What a joy to be a servant of the Eucharist and a servant of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and bring to your parishioners the Bread of Life. What a joy it is to serve your parishioners and shepherd them to eternal life.

What a joy to be a servant of Christ and a servant of the

blessed Triune God.” He then told the priests that he was inspired by the depth of the love the priests have for their parishioners which he witnesses first-hand when he visits their parishes for sacramental celebrations and anniversaries.

“It is always evident to me that the Lord has placed His faithful servants in charge of His household,” he told them.

“This Chrism Mass and the entire Easter Triduum are graced times to come close to the Lord and to be with Him. He calls you to come near Him. After all, it was during these days that the Lord instituted the priesthood that we have received as a gift in the Upper Room on Holy Thursday.

“As He was preparing to lay down His life, He brought the priesthood into existence. Out of His self-giving comes life for the Church for all times.

“So it is to that source – the Upper Room with Christ at the Last Supper – that we must go always to confirm our priestly identity, to confirm our priestly vocation and our mission as priests, to draw our priestly life from Christ the High Priest Himself as He is laying down His life in love for our salvation,” Bishop Jugis said.

Concelebrating the Chrism Mass were Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey; Monsignor Mauricio West, vicar general and chancellor of the diocese; Father John Putnam, judicial vicar of the diocese; Father Roger Arnsparger, education vicar of the diocese; and approximately 95 additional diocesan and religious ANOINTING, SEE PAGE 19

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 30, 2018 OUR PARISHES

‘Hosanna!’ Celebrating Palm Sunday More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See more photos and video from Holy Week and Easter services across the Diocese of Charlotte

PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARKUS KUNCORO

CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte Latin Mass Community and St. Ann Parish hosted a Solemn High Mass offered by Father Matthew Kauth, St. Joseph College Seminary rector. Deacon was Father Jason Barone, Charlotte Catholic High School chaplain, and Seminarian Britt Taylor served as subdeacon. Immediately before the Mass at St. Ann Church, Father Kauth blessed the palms in the ancient ritual and then led a procession inside the church as the schola sang a hymn to Christ the King.

CHARLOTTE — Parishioners prayed before the start of Palm Sunday Mass and outdoor procession at St. Ann Church.

PHOTOS BY SERGIO LOPEZ | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

BOONVILLE — Parishioners at Divine Redeemer Church, led by Father Jose Enrique Gonzalez-Gaytan, pastor, took part in a Palm Sunday procession outside the church March 25.

SUEANN HOWELL | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Bishop Jugis: Turn towards Jesus and away from sin PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE EDITOR

CHARLOTTE — Holy Week is a time for people to grow closer to Jesus Christ – following Him during His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, through to His Passion and death on a cross, Bishop Peter Jugis preached as Holy Week began with Palm Sunday.

The entire story of Jesus’ sacrifice is summarized and relived during the Palm Sunday liturgy, Bishop Jugis noted in his homily at St. Patrick Cathedral March 25.

The start of the Palm Sunday liturgy, when people process into the church carrying palm fronds, re-enacts how people joyfully greeted Christ upon His entrance into Jerusalem.

“The people know who Jesus is and they are proclaiming Him the savior, they are proclaiming Him the Messiah,” Bishop Jugis said, but “Jesus knows what’s about to happen to Him.” “Jesus knows what He has to do as the Messiah, as the savior,” because His sacrifice was prophesied in Scripture, the bishop explained. Jesus knew the ancient Biblical prophecies and He knew the psalms, because He is the Word of God made flesh.

The words of the psalmist chanted in the liturgy’s

Responsorial Psalm (from Psalm 22) – “they have pierced my hands and my feet; I can count all my bones.” – foretell Jesus’ Passion and death, Bishop Jugis noted. “What else would that refer to but a crucifixion?”

He continued, “The devil is always trying to disfigure the beautiful things that God does.”

“The hands of Jesus that healed the sick and blessed the crowds and multiplied the bread and fish for the people – those beautiful hands – the devil sees to it that those hands become disfigured by being pierced with nails,” he said.

“Those feet of Jesus that walked all over Israel to bring the Good News of salvation and the kingdom of God to the whole countryside, the devil sees to it that those feet are pierced through.”

But what the prophet Isaiah writes in the liturgy’s first reading (from Isaiah 50:4-7), Jesus fulfills: “…I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.” “‘He was pierced through for our offenses,’ … and He ‘was crushed for our sins; upon Him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by His stripes we were healed,’” Bishop Jugis then quoted from Isaiah 53, which would be read at the liturgy on Good Friday.

He prayed, “Let us use this Holy Week to develop a deep

PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter Jugis processes in at the start of Palm Sunday Mass March 25 at St. Patrick Cathedral. love for Jesus and grow in our friendship with Jesus. Yet, at the same time, let us have a deep hatred for sin because sins disfigure us, as they once disfigured Jesus in His Passion and crucifixion.”

March 30, 2018 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

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PHOTO PROVIDED BY AMY BURGER

HUNTERSVILLE — Parishioners at St. Mark Church including Cassidy Bischoff ushered in Holy Week with the vigil Mass for Palm Sunday March 24.

MARION — Father Carl Kaltreider, pastor, celebrated the vigil Mass for the solemnity of Palm Sunday at Our Lady of the Angels Mission March 24. The altar was appropriately decorated with palms for the occasion, while the crucifix was draped in a purple cloth. Because rain prevented a traditional outdoor Palm Sunday procession, palms were blessed and distributed at the entrance of the church.

GIULIANA POLINARI RILEY | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

ASHEBORO — Hundreds of Hispanics participated in a palms procession and celebration of Palm Sunday Mass at St. Joseph Church, offered by Father Philip Kollithanath, pastor.

CESAR HURTADO | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

MORGANTON — Members of St. Charles Borromeo Church take part in a Palm Sunday procession March 25. Father Ken Whittington, pastor, blessed with holy water the palms and the people before the procession, then led them in prayer before Mass.

LORENZO PEDRO | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

‘Got feet? Let me wash ’em’ Queen of the Apostles Church’s Lenten study encourages discipleship SUEANN HOWELL SENIOR REPORTER

BELMONT — Parishioners of Queen of the Apostles Church took a closer look at discipleship and humility this Lent, taking part in a multimedia Lenten study entitled “Foot Washing: A Model of Christian Living.”

During the four-week study crafted by their pastor, Father Frank Cancro, participants considered the humble act of foot washing as they contemplated how they could better serve Christ and each other. They also considered what actions they could take to ensure lasting conversion in their own hearts and the hearts of others.

The study was part of the parish’s ongoing small community faith groups, which enable parishioners to interact more closely with one another and encourage each other’s faith beyond weekly Mass attendance and general parish activities.

This particular Lenten study focused on the commitment of washing another’s feet – following the example of Christ with His disciples at the Last Supper – and the personal outreach to others that foot-washing signifies. To boost interest in the program, button pins advertising the effort were even handed out to parishioners that read “Got feet? Let me wash ’em.”

“Our Small Community Faith Study Group programs are published twice a year, one in Advent and one in Lent,” explains Debbie Seeger, the parish’s faith formation director. “These studies provide an opportunity to build community among our parish members and to educate the participants in the

faith. It is also designed to challenge those involved to take their faith into the reality of everyday life.”

The DVD studies are produced in-house with video assistance from parishioner John Oshman.

The growing Belmont parish has seen these study groups becoming more and more popular as new members are called to serve in this ministry of helping others grow their faith.

Parishioners who are homebound and anyone else who is interested can also take part in the studies by going to the parish’s website to view the materials and find the Scripture, questions and prayer for each week’s study.

Father Cancro notes, “This small group process is a significant part of our overall commitment to not only forming Catholic adults in the faith, but also challenging them to put on the mantle of discipleship.”

One of the study group facilitators, Roger Duncan, says the effort “brings others together in such a holy and sacred time of the year” and “help us to grow stronger and closer together as family.”

“We are to grow in wisdom of understanding our faith and who we are as children of God,” Duncan says. “It is a time to come together as community to open our hearts to receive what this time of the season truly means. As we share our thoughts on the readings and Father’s commentary, we begin to understand perhaps what each of us believes and how we can live out a deeper understanding of God’s call for all of us.”

During the seasons of Lent and Advent, the parish’s usual Bible studies go on hiatus so that parishioners can focus instead on the small faith group studies.

According to facilitator Mary Kane, “The small faith group study of ‘Footwashing’ provided the most robust and lively discussion of any of our previous studies. Father Frank presented the simple tradition of the washing of the feet and used it as a powerful message that enabled us to deepen our understanding of what it means to be a Catholic in today’s world.”

She notes, “We are called to be servants and wash between the toes of others. We will never look at feet the same way.”

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 30, 2018 OUR PARISHES

Called to serve

Paul Bruck

Ralph D’Agostino Jr.

St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

St. Leo the Great Church, WinstonSalem

Timothy Mueller

Matthew Newsome

St. Michael Church, Gastonia

Francis Skinner

St. Mary, Mother of God Church, Sylva

Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, High Point

Paul B. Sparrow

St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Charlotte

David Faunce

Immaculate Conception Church, Forest City

Quang Nguyen

St. Joseph Vietnamese Church, Charlotte

Peter Tonon

St. Ann Church, Charlotte

Steffen Fohn

Holy Family Church, Clemmons

David Ramsey

St. Mary, Mother of God Church, Sylva

Donald Waugh

St. Bernadette Church, Linville

15 men poised to become permanent deacons for the diocese April 14

Frank Moyer

St. Barnabas Church, Arden

Martin Sheehan Jr.

Our Lady of the Highways Church, Thomasville

Jack Yarbrough

Our Lady of Grace Church, Greensboro

CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter J. Jugis will ordain 15 men to the permanent diaconate at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 14. The ordination Mass will be celebrated at St. Mark Church in Huntersville, located at 14740 Stumptown Road, and all are welcome to attend.

Permanent diaconate candidates in the Diocese of Charlotte go through two years of lay ministry training, then a year of aspirancy for prayerful discernment to the call to ordination. That is followed by four rigorous years of formation. For married candidates, wives also participate in the formation process.

The 15 permanent diaconate candidates were installed as acolytes by Bishop Jugis at Mass on Aug. 10, 2017, at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte, one of the final public steps in their formation process.

When the current permanent diaconate class is ordained on April 14, the diocese will have 135 permanent deacons serving throughout western North Carolina.

Once ordained as permanent deacons, the men will be able to assist at the altar during Mass, proclaim the Gospel at Mass, give homilies, administer the sacrament of baptism and officiate at weddings.

Permanent deacons serve in parishes and in specialized pastoral areas such as Hispanic

Ministry, RCIA, the airport chaplaincy and prison ministry.

“They have really kept me on my toes in the knowledge and practice of my faith,” says Deacon Scott Gilfillan, diocesan director of diaconal formation.

“It has also been very rewarding for me to watch what God is doing with each.

Even though each entered the program with a strong faith, wonderful family and established career, throughout the formation process they have deepened their faith, become even better fathers and husbands, expanded their heart for service and increased their love for the Church,” Deacon Gilfillan said.

For more information about the permanent diaconate in the Diocese of Charlotte, go to www.charlottediocese.org or call Deacon John Martino, director of the permanent diaconate, at 704-370-3344.

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter

Coming online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Look for full coverage of the April 14 diaconate ordination Mass, including photos and video highlights

Ignited by Truth Catholic Conference get APRIL 28, 2018 ignited!

NC STATE REYNOLDS COLISEUM, RALEIGH

Dr. Scott Hahn

Dn. Harold Burke-Sivers

Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J.

Youth Programs, Young Adult Social, Concert for All, Spanish Program

Advance Tickets

$15 Adult $10 Student

Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC

Mark Hart

Vigil Mass celebrated by Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama

I g n i t e d B y Tr u t h . o r g

March 30, 2018 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

Bishop Peter Jugis traveled to St. Francis of Assisi Church in Jefferson March 23 to dedicate a new cemetery. The only Catholic cemetery in Ashe County features 150 plots adjacent to the new church and its prayer garden. (Above) The focal point of the cemetery is a San Damiano crucifix set upon a stone pedestal.

Diocesan Youth Conference ‘Imago Dei’ coming April 27-29 CHARLOTTE — The Diocesan Office of Youth Ministry invites all high school youth to the 41st Annual Diocesan Youth Conference “Imago Dei” (“The Image of God”) to be held April 27-29 at the Ridgecrest Conference Center in Black Mountain.

The annual Diocesan Youth Conference, offered in collaboration with the Eparchy of St. Josaphat, is a weekend-long event for high-school youth. The event brings together high school youth from around the diocese for a theme-centered weekend of workshops led by youth and adults alike. It also features keynote speakers, entertainment, Mass, Eucharistic Adoration and the opportunity for the sacrament of confession – all designed to enable participants to grow in their Catholic faith.

The workshops will address a variety of issues: moral decisionmaking, Theology of the Body, virtues education, prayer, maintaining one’s faith in college – and other pertinent topics for today’s young people.

Past retreatants have expressed great enthusiasm for this conference as they enjoy being around people their age who are also Catholic, and it gives them an opportunity to deepen their faith.

The cost of the conference is $125, which includes meals and a specially designed T-shirt.

For more information about the Diocesan Youth Conference, contact Paul Kotlowski at 828-228-1692 or email pjkotlowski@charlottediocese.org, or go to the Youth Ministry’s webpage at www.charlottediocese.org/ev/youth/ events/diocesan-youth-conference.

Participating groups are invited to organize part of the fun for the Carnival of Games on Saturday night. Use this form to sign up your group: https://goo. gl/forms/tW3A4qFgrGE5fSaD3.

The deadline to register for the Diocesan Youth Conference is Sunday, April 8.

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter.

The Office of Youth Ministry contributed.

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PHOTOS BY PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Jefferson parish dedicates cemetery PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE EDITOR

JEFFERSON — The cemetery at St. Francis of Assisi Church might be brand new, but it already has three occupants and two more burials are expected soon.

“Everybody’s dying to get in,” quipped one parishioner before the dedication of the cemetery March 23.

Presiding at the dedication service was Bishop Peter Jugis, who led the group of parishioners in prayer and used holy water to bless the cemetery grounds that overlook the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The bishop commended the Jefferson parish for setting aside part of its 15-acre property for use as a cemetery, demonstrating its importance in the life of the parish.

He pointed out that the San Damiano crucifix in the center of the cemetery is a symbol of Christ’s victory over death and a sign of hope in eternal life for our loved ones. Death, he said, “is not the final word” for those who follow Christ.

The dedication service was the culmination of 18 months of effort to plan and build the cemetery, and it is the first major construction project since the church itself was built in 2014.

The quarter-acre cemetery has space for 100 full body plots and 50 cremains plots. It sits just downhill from the church – facing east – so that people can come from Mass and visit and pray for loved ones buried there, the pastor Father James Stuhrenberg said.

It is the only Catholic cemetery in Ashe County and the second such project for Father Stuhrenberg, who also led the effort to build a cemetery at St. Frances of Rome Mission in adjacent Alleghany County in 2015.

“One of the corporal works of mercy is burying the dead,” he noted. “It is part of our mission of the Catholic Church and therefore our parish. It demonstrates our belief in the resurrection when we give care and honor to the bodies of our loved ones.”

The cemetery is purposefully located next to the parish’s prayer garden, he added, “so people can meditate and pray in the garden before and after visiting their loved ones in the cemetery.”

“The cemetery represents an enduring symbol both of our parish membership and a reminder of those we’ve shared time with on the journey of life,” added David Thomas, chairman of the

parish’s building committee.

The $20,000 project was paid for by donations and many hours of volunteer labor, especially to clear the rocky ground. Parishioners gathered on Sundays after Mass to clear stones by hand, using them to line the drainage ditches that were necessary on the steeply-sloped property.

Gary Prange, cemetery committee chairman, thanked the cemetery committee members who designed the layout and developed the cemetery use policies; land surveyor Thomas Herman Co. PLLC, that surveyed the property, supervised the grading and marked the graves; and Bill Hart Construction, which graded and put in the gravel road.

“It’s great how the community has come together,” Prange said.

Prange said there’s more work to be done in the cemetery – additional landscaping, an improved entrance and walkway to connect to the prayer garden, and perhaps some more statues. It will take time and more donations, he said, but “it’s going to be beautiful.”

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 30, 2018 OUR PARISHES

SAYING ‘THANK YOU’ TO GOD

Couple makes stock gift to create endowment fund for Immaculata School SUEANN HOWELL SENIOR REPORTER

HENDERSONVILLE — Immaculata School has received a great gift from a local couple that hopes to continue the blessing of Catholic education for generations to come.

Gayden and Janell Gauthier, parishioners of Immaculate Conception Church since 2012, have created the Gauthier Family Endowment Fund with a stock gift of more than $100,000 to benefit the school.

The Gauthiers, originally from Louisiana, have been married 45 years and have two adult sons and two granddaughters. The couple shares that they were raised in the faith and are graduates of Catholic elementary education, so they want to help pass on the faith to future Catholic school students.

“Gayden and I both came from families where devotion to our faith was strongly demonstrated to us by both our grandparents as well as our parents,” Janell Gauthier said.

“That struck me from a very young age. It is an important part of who I am and it gives me strength in times of distress.”

She expressed that her Catholic school education helped her go forward in her life with a good faith and moral foundation.

“As a result of the benefits we reaped, we would like to see that opportunity continue going forward in the future (at Immaculata School). We think that the school is a very important resource. We want to help the school go forward for current and future generations,” she said.

Gayden Gauthier hopes the endowment will foster faith in the younger generation, as he thinks some young people have lost interest in the faith.

“Our experience with millennials has been that some of them have not kept up going to church,” he said. “We would like to encourage youth to go to church. We want to foster that continuation of going to church in young people today. I see that the faith is dissipating (with some of them) – that they go to church when it’s convenient.”

“By creating the endowment,” Janell Gauthier added, “we think it is a way to say ‘thank you’ to God for all the blessings He has given us in our lives.”

In addition to the endowment gift, the Gauthiers each plan to leave $150,000 from their estates to Immaculate Conception Parish.

The Gauthier Family Endowment Fund will be administered through the Diocese of Charlotte Foundation. Established in 1994, the foundation has grown to encompass more than 255 endowments and more than

$48 million in total assets.

An endowment is a permanent fund, the principal of which is never touched, but the income from which can be used according to the wishes of the donor organization or individual. Endowments provide a way to generate income and help sustain the long-term strength and viability of the recipient parish or ministry.

Immaculata School now has nine endowments which have been made through the foundation, totaling $1,440,894. To date, $587,690 has already been distributed through those endowments.

“We are so grateful for the Gauthiers’ generosity. While most people set up endowments to be distributed through their estate after their death, the Gauthiers are setting up an endowment now and also leaving additional gifts to the Church in their estates to benefit others,” said Jim Kelley, diocesan director of development.

“More and more people across the diocese are remembering the Church in their estate plans – gifts from thousands of dollars to millions – and we are thankful for their generosity,” Kelley said.

For details about endowments or estate gifts, contact Ray Correia, diocesan director of planned giving, at 704-3703364 or recorreia@charlottediocese.org.

Hiking to make wishes come true Father Roux to trek 28 miles for charity Catholic Charities extends our deepest gratitude to the benevolent Charity, Hope, Faith and Mercy level sponsors listed below as well as other individuals, companies, and Catholic churches who generously supported the 15th Annual Partners in Hope fundraiser in the Piedmont Triad Region.

Blanco Tackabery Attorneys Holy Family Catholic Church St. Leo the Great Catholic Church St. Pius X Catholic Church Pattie McAleer

Sacred Heart Catholic Church

David and Kathy Murray

Mark and Linda Craven

Jose Ramon and Silvia Rodriguez

Excalibur Direct Marketing

Dr. David and Karen O’Brien

Jerry and Janet Enos

Jack and Chris Ritchie

Todd and Gabby Greenwood

Maynard and Harris Attorneys

KPMG LLP

Bill and Kim Means

Jeanne and Tim McCulloch

Tom and Kathy Rucker

Dan and Bonnie Murphy

The Tierney Family

Chris and Heather Parker

Vienna Village Assisted Living

Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Raborn

Anonymous

Hortensia and Victor Velazquez

Dr. and Mrs. Michael Chang

Ben and Alice Yorks

CHARLOTTE — Looking to help make wishes come true for children with lifethreatening illnesses and their families, Father Christopher Roux, rector of St. Patrick Cathedral, will hike 28.3 miles for the annual Make-A-Wish Spring Trailblaze Challenge the weekend of May 18-20.

The Trailblaze Challenge is an endurance hike where participants tackle the terrain of the Foothills Trail – in one day. This is a hike, not a race, and it caters to all levels of hiking ability, from novices to advanced outdoor enthusiasts.

This is the sixth time in four years that Father Roux and small groups of Roux cathedral parishioners, which he calls “Pat’s Peeps,” have participated to raise funds to help grant the wishes of children who have life-threatening medical conditions.

First-time hikers have a minimum goal of raising at least $2,500. In subsequent years, hikers strive to raise at least $2,400.

This year Father Roux will be joined by parishioner Jason Murphy, so they have a combined minimum goal of $4,800.

Since on average each wish can cost approximately $6,000, Father Roux is really striving to raise enough to fund one wish

Let’s keep talking.

and two if possible, so his goal is between $6,000 and $12,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“It is a wonderful thing,” Father Roux said. “When we have our Make-A-Wish weekend, previous Wish families come down and tell their stories. In the midst of all of the difficulty they have – with their kids with doctor’s visits, treatments and day-to-day life responsibilities – this gives them a period of time when they have some good memories.”

“The family doesn’t have to worry about anything,” he said. “Make-A-Wish does everything they can to make this a pleasant experience where the family can just enjoy being a family with their child.

“As time goes on, if the child continues to be sick or, sadly, passes away, they have that memory to hold onto – a memory that was happy.”

Wishes range from a visit to Walt Disney World, to swimming with dolphins, from being a soldier at Fort Bragg for a day, to being a Carolina Panther for a day.

Make-A-Wish Central and Western North Carolina hopes to grant more than 360 wishes for children in need this year.

For more information about aiding in the effort, go to www.kintera.org/faf/home/ default.asp?ievent=1167406 and select Spring 2018 Hikes. Once on the webpage, select hiker name “Christopher Roux.”

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter

OUR PARISHESI

March 30, 2018 | catholicnewsherald.com

St. Matthew classes teach relationship skills to support families CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Church is helping build stronger families through programs that promote healthy relationships. For nearly 10 years, the parish has offered marriage and parenting classes to help members turn natural conflict into opportunities for greater connection and intimacy.

“The Power of Calm for Parents” is held each spring, and “The Power of Calm for Marriage” is held in the fall. Participants meet for six two-hour sessions that involve watching a DVD, group discussion and workbook exercises that help them explore their unique family dynamics.

The programs are based on the books “ScreamFree Marriage” and “ScreamFree Parenting” and material by Hal Runkel, a marriage and family therapist, author and international speaker. A major focus is learning how to manage emotional reactivity so that one can respond instead of react during conflict. Parents learn how to empower their children by giving them choice, while also allowing them to learn through natural consequences. Couples discover a “Calm Down. Grow Up. Get Closer.” approach to the natural conflict of marriage that draws them closer.

“St. Matthew sees the family as an essential element of a healthy faith community. When families are stressed, hurting and struggling, we as a church need to provide help,” said Michael Burck, the parish’s adult faith formation director. “We know parents feel resourced, supported and empowered by these programs, and we intend to continue supporting families in practical and meaningful ways in the future.”

Kara Griffin, mother of two, attended the parenting class with her husband Chris last year. “We had a great experience.

The group process helped us to not feel so alone, to look introspectively at our behaviors and to explore techniques to try out when struggling. As parents, we don’t always have effective tools to fall back on.

And it’s a wonderful way to discuss, share and adopt new methods of parenting and ‘managing self’.”

Catherine Sforza, who leads the St. Matthew Mom’s Group, agreed. “Having children is such a blessing, so I’m always looking for ways to improve my parenting skills to help me be the best mom I can be. Learning new tools enabled us to establish a peaceful home and allowed my relationship with my kids to grow in a positive direction, especially in how we communicate with each other and how we act as a family.”

An important component of both programs is the group environment that supports and affirms its members, said Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Associate Jenny Cox, who has facilitated the programs for five years. “Family relationships can be challenging. Providing an accepting and supportive space where we can come together to share our struggles and help each other grow is so powerful! We always end our sessions with the Serenity Prayer to remind us that we are works in progress and God is always with us.”

St. Matthew Church will offer the next Power of Calm for Parents from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, April 11May 16. To register, go online to www. stmatthewcatholic.org/SMU — Jenny Cox, correspondent and facilitator of the “Power of Calm” programs at St. Matthew Church.

For more information, email Cox at Jenny@ compassionatelife.net.

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Father Eckert speaks at Women’s Lenten retreat CLEMMONS — Father John Eckert, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury, offered “Called to Sainthood: Holiness a Day at a Time,” a Lenten retreat for women at Holy Family in Clemmons. Approximately 100 women from across the diocese and other locations attended the day-long retreat Feb. 24.

Hosted by the Bishop Greco Columbiettes 9499, the retreat also included Mass, lunch, reflection time on the beautiful grounds of Holy Family Church, Eucharistic Adoration and the opportunity for the sacrament of confession.

During his talk about sainthood, Father Eckert said the Church’s standards are indeed very high and can be particularly challenging when it comes to unpopular teachings. “That’s why that high standard is coupled with unfathomable mercy,” he explained.

He also advised the group to avoid getting “bogged down” by recurrent struggles in the quest for holiness.

He encouraged everyone to examine the reasons for such roadblocks while avoiding being overly harsh or scrupulous.

“Think about where you were five years ago, 10 years ago. Sometimes, if you take that macro view, you’ll see that you’ve changed quite a lot. God works little by little. We get bogged down, and we may get tired, but God never gets tired of pouring out His mercy. Why? Because He looks at us and loves us,” he said.

“If we can hold onto that and spend time every day looking at our life through that lens of love and not be afraid of what’s there, being willing to confront it with the

ANNIE FERGUSON | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

A number of Father John Eckert’s Sacred Heart parishioners traveled to Clemmons to hear more from their pastor on the universal call to holiness. Pictured (from left) are Pat Kobylus, Judy Hinkley, Father Eckert, Tere Freiberger and Renee Washington. help of Our Lord, the help of the saints and the grace of the wonderful sacrament of confession, we’ll be fine. Ultimately,

it’s all about us becoming saints, and that means eternal happiness with God.” — Annie Ferguson, correspondent

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 30, 2018 OUR PARISHES

MIKE FITZGERALD | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

St. Patrick shows us the way: Share the Gospel with zeal

Mass at Old St. Joseph Church marks annual celebration of St. Patrick’s Day MIKE FITZGERALD | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Celebrating the feast of St. Joseph MOUNT HOLLY — Parishioners of Queen of the Apostles Church and visitors traveled to Old St. Joseph Church in Mount Holly to celebrate the feast of St. Joseph March 19. Queen of the Apostles’ pastor, Father Frank Cancro, offered the annual Mass in the historic church, assisted by Deacon John Panzica. In his homily, Father Cancro noted St. Joseph’s faithfulness and his trust in following God. He encouraged attendees to model St. Joseph and to embrace God’s plan with trust. St. Joseph Church is the oldest standing Catholic church in North Carolina and is maintained by Queen of the Apostles Parish in Belmont.

MOUNT HOLLY — Continuing its annual tradition, members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians gathered at Old St. Joseph Church for the annual St. Patrick Mass on March 16, the vigil of the feast of St. Patrick.

Father Joshua Voitus, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Charlotte, offered the Mass and preached on the example that St. Patrick provides the faithful in spreading the Gospel with zeal in today’s world, which is often hostile to Christ and His teachings.

He then exhorted the attendees to be heroic like St. Patrick, spreading the Gospel to those around them while seeking recourse to St. Patrick as a powerful intercessor.

The annual blessing of the gravesite of Father T.J. Cronin, the church’s first pastor, who died in 1842 shortly before the church building was completed, preceded the Mass.

St. Joseph Church, built in 1843, was founded by Irish gold miners along the Catawba River and is the oldest standing Catholic church in North Carolina. The AOH, which sponsored the Mass, is a Catholic-Irish fraternal organization whose goals are to promote friendship, unity and Christian charity; foster and perpetuate Irish history, culture and traditions and to protect and defend all life. For details visit: www.aohmeck2.org.

Wash Away Your Sins on Divine Mercy Sunday April 8, 2018 St. Matthew Catholic Church 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy Charlotte NC 28277

Conditions for Plenary Indulgence Attend Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday Venerate Divine Mercy Image Receive the Eucharist Go to Reconciliation (within 20 days before or after)

3 pm Hour of Great Mercy in Church

“In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of me, in virtue of My Passion” (Diary 1320) Prayers, Homily, Exposition, Singing Chaplet, Blessing with 1st Class Relic of St. Faustina Divine Mercy Cenacle Hospitality Follows in Banquet Room

March 30, 2018 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

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In Brief

St. Basil the Great Mission elevated to parish MIKE FITZGERALD | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

AOH hosts St. Patrick’s Day dinner at St. Mark Church HUNTERSVILLE — A sold-out crowd of more than 220 people attended the annual St. Patrick’s Celebration Dinner and Show at St. Mark Church March 10, hosted by the St. Brendan the Navigator Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians of Huntersville. The event featured music by Banna, a popular Celtic band, dancers from the Connick School of Traditional Irish Dance in Huntersville, and a meal of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes by local caterer Waiters Choice. The evening capped off with the singing of Irish ballads by St. Mark parishioner Heather Martin.

The event is organized each year by the AOH to support its charitable activities, including the Dick Seymour Education Award for Irish Catholic students entering college, named after the division’s recently deceased former president. Applicants for the award must write an essay on a theme, which this year was “Dare to Dream: What does it take to be a Catholic in today’s world.” This year’s award was presented to Coleman Ziegler, a homeschool student from St. Mark Parish.

The AOH is a Catholic-Irish fraternal organization whose goals are to promote friendship, unity and Christian charity; foster and perpetuate Irish history, culture and traditions and to protect and defend all life. For details go to www.aohmeck2.org.

PHOTOS VIA FACEBOOK

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day CHARLOTTE — St. Ann School took third place in the “Best Float” category during the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in uptown Charlotte March 17.

St. Patrick Cathedral celebrates patron saint CHARLOTTE — Parishioners and clergy at St. Patrick Cathedral enjoyed Irish bagpipe music and traditional Irish dancing, courtesy of students from the Connick School of Traditional Irish Dance in Huntersville, during the parish’s patronal feast day celebration March 17.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY JANE D. PUESCHEL

Mission hosts St. Joseph Table MARION — Three parishes came together for a “St. Joseph’s Table” March 17. Our Lady of the Angels Mission hosted the event, with many volunteers from St. Bernadette Mission in Linville, St. Lucien Church in Spruce Pine and (pictured with Father Carl Kaltreider, Marion’s pastor) Sister Gertrude Gillette and Sister Scholastica Auguste of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Peace in Rutherfordton.

More than 600 spaghetti dinners were sold, and proceeds went to St. Lucien’s Ava Maria Food Pantry and other charities.

Items on the St. Joseph’s Table were given to the poor in the community.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY KEVIN BRASWELL AND ALFONSO ALVAREZ-NAVARRETE

CHARLOTTE — St. Basil the Great Eastern Catholic Mission has been raised to the status of parish by Bishop Bohdan Danylo of the Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma. Bishop Danylo made the announcement during his pastoral visit and celebration of the Divine Liturgy (Mass) on March 18.

The community was established in 2006, and persevered without a resident priest for a decade, noted pastor Father Joseph Matlak.

“The elevation of the community to parish status recognizes their perseverance in faith and enduring love for the Church. The parish is focused on evangelization and mission, and seeks to make disciples of all people by the proclamation of the Gospel. The community hopes to raise funds for a traditional Eastern-Byzantine church to adorn the city of Charlotte and to welcome everyone to an encounter with the Risen Lord.”

St. Basil the Great Eastern Catholic Parish meets at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, located at 1400 Suther Road in Charlotte. It is an Eastern (Byzantine) church in full communion with the pope.

The parish has also recently planted two new missions: one in the greater Greenville, S.C., area and the other in the greater Columbia, S.C., area. Dormition (Assumption) of the Mother of God Eastern Catholic Mission in Greenville meets at St. Rafka Maronite Catholic Church in Greer, S.C., and Holy Cross Eastern Catholic Mission in Columbia meets at Transfiguration Roman Catholic Church in Blythewood, S.C. To learn more about St. Basil the Great Parish, go to www.stbasil.weebly.com.

To learn more about the new missions, go to www.colabyzcatholic.weebly.com (Columbia) and www.dormition.weebly.com (Greenville).

Priest assignment announced CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter Jugis announces the appointment of Father David R. McCanless as parochial vicar at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte.

All invited to Holy Saturday blessing of Easter food baskets CHARLOTTE — At noon on Holy Saturday, March 31, at St. Thomas Aquinas Church’s Aquinas Hall, Deacon James Witulski will bless families’ Easter food. This Eastern and Central European tradition is also called “The Blessing of the Easter Baskets” (or “Swieconka” in Polish) and will take about 30 minutes. This tradition is becoming increasingly popular among all Catholics. The IN BRIEF, SEE PAGE 20

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 30, 2018 14

‘Les suplico, les ruego, les ordeno en nombre de Dios: cese la represión’

Las Siete Palabras El Sermón de las Siete Palabras es una tradición ampliamente extendida en los países de Latinoamérica.

En esta ocasión, por primera vez, la página de Facebook de Catholic News Herald en español transmitirá “en vivo”, las reflexiones sobre las palabras del Señor en la Cruz, realizadas por sacerdotes, hermanas, diáconos y laicos de la Diócesis de Charlotte.

“En realidad no son otra cosa que siete expresiones de nuestro Señor Jesucristo al estar crucificado, cuando está ya en agonía”, dijo el Padre Fidel Melo, director del Ministerio Hispano de la Diócesis y conductor de este programa.

Sin embargo advirtió que ellas, en su sencillez, son un “testamento espiritual de salvación y redención para nosotros”.

“Deseamos que la meditación de estas siete palabras sean para nosotros un motivo de unión más íntima a la Pasión del Señor”, subrayó el P. Melo, invitando a todos a seguir y compartir el programa en familia.

Más en línea En la página de Facebook de Catholic News Herald en español: Las Siete Palabras, Viernes 30 de marzo, 12 del mediodía

Multitud celebró Domingo de Ramos en Iglesia San José ASHEBORO — (Izquierda) El coro parroquial de la Iglesia San José de Asheboro acompañó la celebración de la Misa y la procesión en los exteriores del templo.

(Derecha) El padre Philip Kollithanath y su grupo de servidores del altar. El pequeño templo lució a su máxima capacidad durante la Misa de Domingo de Ramos.

FOTOS POR CÉSAR HURTADO | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

A 38 años del sacrificio de Monseñor Romero CÉSAR HURTADO REPORTERO HISPANO

CHARLOTTE — Con una Misa en recuerdo a su martirio, se honró la vida, obra y sacrificio del beato, Monseñor Óscar Romero, asesinado el 24 de marzo de 1980, tras haber denunciado en sus homilías las violaciones de los derechos humanos y expresado su solidaridad con las víctimas de la violencia política durante la guerra civil que sacudió su país, El Salvador, entre los años 70 y 90.

El servicio litúrgico tuvo lugar el sábado 24 en horas de la tarde en la Iglesia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, y fue celebrado por el padre Gregorio Gay, Vicario Parroquial.

La Misa, usualmente en inglés y con una gran presencia juvenil, se realizó en inglés y español, sin dejar de lado la esencia de la celebración central de Domingo de Ramos.

Durante su homilía, el padre Gregorio aseguró haber seguido cercanamente el desarrollo de la vida de Monseñor Romero, tras interesarse sobre la defensa de los más pobres y afectados por la lucha política en El Salvador. “Tristemente, me enteré de la muerte de Monseñor solo dos meses antes de mi ordenación”, señaló.

Luego, gracias a una proyección audiovisual que recogió las palabras del Papa Francisco, todos pudieron enterarse de lo ocurrido a Monseñor Romero. En el vídeo, el Santo Padre reconoció que tras el sacrificio del mártir muchos lo insultaron, injuriaron, justificaron su muerte e “incluso el mismo clero”, le dió la espalda.

Ana Miriam Carpio, directora ejecutiva de UNISAL, una organización sin fines de lucro por la defensa de los inmigrantes, fue invitada por el sacerdote a dirigirse a los presentes al término de la Misa.

Carpio señaló que su vida fue tocada en numerosas oportunidades por “San Romero, al que llamo Santo porque sabemos que lo será muy pronto”. “En mi vida”, dijo, “Dios me ha bendecido muchas veces gracias a la interseción de Monseñor, al que le he pido siempre fuerzas para continuar en la lucha por la defensa de los derechos de los inmigrantes”.

Más adelante comparó a los desprotegidos de la guerra civil salvadoreña, que se estima causó alrededor de 75 mil muertos, con

CESAR HURTADO | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Ana Miriam Carpio de UNISAL, junto al padre Gregorio Gay, al término de la Misa.

Carpio pidió unidad a la comunidad para, al igual que Monseñor Romero, luchar contra la injusticia. las víctimas de la persecusión a inmigrantes que se “ha desatado bajo el gobierno de los Estados Unidos”.

“Día a día vemos más y más familias separadas, más y más niños ROMERO, SEE PAGE 15

March 30, 2018 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

Con talento y alegría

ROMERO FROM PAGE 14

‘En nombre de Dios, pues, y en nombre de este sufrido pueblo, cuyos lamentos suben hasta el cielo cada día más tumultuosos, les suplico, les ruego, les ordeno en nombre de Dios: Cese la represión.’

Monseñor Oscar Romero última homilia, Marzo 23, 1980

que son deportados aquí en la Corte de Inmigración de Charlotte. Por eso, al igual que ayer, como dijo Monseñor, lo que necesitamos es unidad para detener esto”. Óscar Carranza, otro de los asistentes, declaró haber compartido con Monseñor Romero muchos momentos “que llevo en mi corazón” e invitó también a los presentes a comprometerse en la lucha por el servicio a los más vulnerables.

‘PENSAR CON LA IGLESIA’

Como afirma el P. Jesuita Thomas Rosica, uno de los temas principales que impregna el pensamiento de San Ignacio de Loyola es su exhortación a “pensar con la Iglesia”. Asegura que para el arzobispo Óscar Romero pensar con la Iglesia “fue más allá del asentimiento intelectual a la enseñanza autorizada”, lo que significa “abrazar su misión, la misión salvífica de Jesucristo, de proclamar el Reino de Dios a los pobres”.

Rosica añade que “antes de ser arzobispo, Óscar era un sacerdote tímido y tradicional, reacio a la política y muy cómodo dentro de las paredes de su iglesia”, lo que eventualmente le valió para ser nombrado Arzobispo.

Un mes después de su ordenación, Rutilio Grande, uno de los amigos más cercanos de Romero, un jesuita que dirigía una parroquia rural, fue asesinado por agentes estatales.

Romero mostró su enojo, canceló la misa dominical y desde la catedral culpó al gobierno por la muerte de Grande, exigiendo justicia. Meses después, rechazó la invitación a la toma de posesión del nuevo presidente, el general Carlos Romero y se negó a reunirse con funcionarios hasta que investigaran y procesaran el crimen contra el P. Grande.

El 23 de marzo de 1980, a los 62 años, Romero hizo desde la catedral un enérgico llamamiento al ejército salvadoreño, en su homilía titulada La Iglesia, un servicio de liberación personal, comunitaria, trascendente, El lunes 24, alrededor de las 6:30 de la tarde, un disparo hecho por un francotirador impactó en su corazón cuando ofrecía la Consagración oficiando Misa en la capilla del hospital Divina Providencia en la colonia Miramonte de San Salvador.

15

Baile y música se muestran en Ministerio de Cultura CÉSAR HURTADO REPORTERO HISPANO

GASTONIA — Fue la necesidad de contar con personas que representen danzas de sus países la que despertó el interés de formar un grupo de baile en la Iglesia San Miguel de Gastonia.

“Cuando celebrábamos la Fiesta de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe y otras actividades nos veíamos en apuros para encontrar números musicales y teníamos que invitarlos de otras partes”, nos relató el Padre José Antonio Juya, creador de la iniciativa.

Convencido que “dos cosas gustan mucho y unen a la comunidad hispana: la música y la comida”, el Padre Juya, que como sacerdote ya tenía la experiencia de haber trabajado como educador en su natal Colombia, se apresuró a poner en marcha el proyecto y, con la ayuda de señoras de la comunidad, amplió su visión inicial y creó el Ministerio de la Cultura.

Como él mismo indica, “los inicios fueron un poco difíciles”, pues el talento no se presentaba. Pero, después de un comienzo lento y “gracias a la ayuda de señoras de Costa Rica, Colombia y México”, el plan echó alas y se desarrolló rápidamente.

“Como parte de la cultura nos identifica mucho el baile, la danza, el folklore, como el habla del pueblo”, dijo María Inés Romero, una de las miembros fundadoras del Ministerio, quien opina que “de esta manera se atrae a la comunidad”.

El siguiente paso fue la búsqueda de maestras de baile. “Nos dimos cuenta entonces que mucha gente quería bailar, pero había muy poca dispuesta a enseñar, por lo que con la ayuda de videos de acceso público nos preparamos para dar el entrenamiento”, añadió Romero.

El resultado fue maravilloso. “Con un poquito de aquí y otro de allá resultamos con ocho o nueve bailes y la gente se ‘encendió’, compartió mucho, se acercaban a nosotros y nos decían que querían que sus hijos bailaran. Los chicos, al inicio un poco tímidos, resultaron al final muy contentos”, declaró a esta publicación.

Con cuatro profesoras, Romero confiesa que el crecimiento ha

FOTO CORTESÍA MARÍA INÉS ROMERO

El Ministerio de la Cultura cuenta con integrantes desde los dos a tres años hasta los ochenta. No hay límite de edad y las clases de danza son gratuitas. sido espectacular. Agrupados por edades, son cerca de ochenta personas las que participan en las danzas. “Tenemos niños y niñas desde los dos y tres añitos hasta integrantes quizás de más de ochenta. Y cada vez que hay una presentación más y más personas se añaden al grupo”.

Dacia Beaver, una de las maestras y colaboradoras del Ministerio, opina que probablemente este Ministerio sea un punto de partida a otras actividades culturales que fomenten un mayor compromiso de la comunidad. “Es un punto a tratar y creo que con la ayuda de todos podemos lograr mucho más”, añadió.

El hecho es que ahora el Ministerio de la Cultura se ha convertido en una muestra del talento no solo en sus terrenos sino también fuera de ellos. Parroquias como San Gabriel, Santa Ana y Divino Salvador los han invitado para que muestren su talento y alegría.

“Es parte de ser cristiano. Ser alegre, moverse y dar gracias a Dios por el talento que te ha regalado”, subrayó Romero.

Vicariato de Charlotte prepara ‘Pastoral de la Salud’ CESAR HURTADO REPORTERO HISPANO

CHARLOTTE — En una reunión informativa, el coordinador del Ministerio Hispano del Vicariato de Charlotte, Eduardo Bernal, anunció la creación de la ‘Pastoral de la Salud’, que se encargará de extender los servicios de salud a las personas más necesitadas de la comunidad.

“Según tenemos entendido, las personas que asisten a Misa los domingos son solo el 10 por ciento de los católicos que viven en el territorio de la parroquia”, dijo Bernal, expresando su preocupación por el otro “noventa por ciento que se se encuentra sin atención”.

“Por ello es que nos interesa convertirnos en promotores de salud, recibiendo primero la formación, para luego acompañar a la comunidad desatendida”, añadió.

Rita Domínguez, coordinadora del Ministerio Latino de Salud, parte integrante del Ministerio de Salud de las Comunidades de Fe de Atrium Health, antes Carolina HealthCare System, explicó que esta iniciativa se dedica a la capacitación de voluntarios como promotores de salud y enfermeras para que todos, incluyendo las comunidades que regularmente no cuentan con servicios de salud, puedan acceder a ellos.

Gracias a un acuerdo logrado con el Ministerio Hispano del Vicariato de Charlotte, un grupo de voluntarios recibirán capacitación para convertirse en

promotores de salud de sus comunidades.

Según Domínguez, son alrededor de 150 congregaciones en 10 condados de Carolina del Norte que forman parte del beneficioso programa que promueve una vida saludable.

MÁS VOLUNTARIOS

Bernal dijo que se encuentran en la búsqueda de “más personas de la comunidad de fe para que los servicios se extiendan, como una Misión, en todo el Vicariato”.

En una primera reunión se presentaron varios interesados y esperan, en los próximos días, añadir a la lista más hombres y mujeres con deseos de servir en sus parroquias y territorios vecinos.

“Qué mejor manera de llevar la Buena Nueva que siguiendo la Misión del Papa Francisco de ser discípulos misioneros”, puntualizó el coordinador.

La primera jornada de capacitación para ‘Promotores de Salud’ se llevará a cabo el viernes 27 y sábado 28 de abril en Concord.

Para inscribirse necesita ser mayor de edad, llenar la solicitud, comprometer su asistencia en las fechas indicadas y a realizar, al menos, dos talleres con temas de salud para su comunidad durante el primer año de voluntariado.

El taller, dictado en español, tiene un costo de $ 50 dólares, que incluye materiales y alimentación, aunque Domínguez y Bernal precisaron que es posible la obtención de becas.

Los promotores de salud, explicó Rita

Domínguez, podrán transmitir los conocimientos aprendidos, compartir información de recursos de salud comunitarios al alcance de todos, programar charlas de diferentes temas como salud mental, nutrición y otros con la ayuda de CÉSAR HURTADO | especialistas CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD en diferentes Eduardo Bernal, materias. coordinador del “Es importante Ministerio Hispano del resaltar que sí Vicariato de Charlotte, existen recursos presentó la iniciativa que los promotores que llevará atención de de salud pueden salud a sectores menos referir para el favorecidos. tratamiento de personas, hasta para aquellas sin estatus migratorio regular”, señaló Bernal.

Una segunda jornada de capacitación en español, ‘Tomando control de su salud’, sobre enfermedades crónicas como la diabetes, ha sido programada para los días 21, 22, 28 y 29 de mayo.

Para mayores informes, por favor comuníquese con Eduardo Bernal, coordinador del Ministerio Hispano del Vicariato de Charlotte, al 704-770-8342.

Our schools 16

catholicnewsherald.com | March 30, 2018 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Students pray for end to gun violence KIMBERLY BENDER ONLINE REPORTER

CHARLOTTE — Instead of protesting gun violence by walking out during National Student Walkout Day March 14, students at several Catholic schools in the Diocese of Charlotte turned to prayer.

Across the country, students joined in a 17-minute walkout – one minute for each of the 17 people killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. – in honor of the one-month anniversary of the mass shooting.

Instead of protesting, students at Catholic schools in the diocese and across the nation prayed, either individually or in groups.

At Charlotte Catholic High School, student council members led the school in prayer over the loudspeakers before several classes, said Principal Kurt Telford.

Shortly after the Feb. 14 deadly shootings in Florida, students at Charlotte Catholic High School had met with administrators to discuss how to best handle this “protest,” Telford said. “I told them I didn’t want the students to walk out. We talked about praying a rosary or a special Mass. Students decided to pray prayers they picked out before each period.”

Students highlighted and memorialized victims of the recent shooting in addition to the prayers, Telford said.

“We’re at a Catholic school. We pray. That’s what we do,” Telford said. “We have the ability. That’s part of our Catholic culture to pray.”

Two students did walk out of class, and Telford said

he told students that there would be a penalty if they did leave. He said he didn’t tell students in advance what that penalty would be. That punishment – community service – ended up being similar to the penalty that students incur if they leave class without permission.

“I’m very proud of our students,” Telford said. “I started the day by saying a family prayer. We are family at Charlotte Catholic. I believe at the Catholic schools, we have more options than a public school may have. Our school is centered around prayer.”

About a dozen students at Christ the King High School in Huntersville left classes to pray, said Principal Carl Semmler.

“It was voluntary. Some students just sat quietly, a couple walked around the back courtyard – which is protected – and some prayed the rosary together,” Semmler said. “Ultimately, the only stipulation was they couldn’t go out the front of the building, for safety reasons.”

“It was a nice little event,” he said. “It wasn’t the majority of the students, by any stretch, who chose to participate. It was pretty positive, and they were well behaved.”

Students returned to class after about 15 minutes, he said.

It wasn’t just high schools in the diocese that turned to prayer last week. Students at St. Mark School in Huntersville also prayed.

The third high school in the diocese, Bishop McGuinness High School in Kernersville, could not be reached for comment.

Praying instead of protesting was the trend across the nation in Catholic schools.

In the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, more than 100 middle school students, teachers and parents gathered on their school’s front steps in St. Paul for 17 minutes of silence and prayer. They lit 17 blue candles in memory of those who died in the Florida school shooting and held signs in honor of each deceased person.

In Missouri, Catholic school students held a prayer service that included an encouragement for students to write a commitment to action and place it in a basket in the chapel. The suggestions included reaching out to someone at the school who may be experiencing difficulties or is picked on, expressing love and care to a family member, and more. At another school in St. Louis, the students marched in the street wearing orange armbands or orange shirts, carrying posters with messages such as “#StopTheViolence,” “Enough is enough” and “Blessed are the children.”

In the Archdiocese of Denver, where schools offered special Masses, prayed the rosary or held prayer services March 14, Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila urged archdiocesan Catholic schools to use the time of prayer for the conversion of hearts and for the souls of those who died.

Elias Moo, Denver’s archdiocesan superintendent of Catholic schools, echoed the bishop’s words, saying: “We believe the first and most important response can and should be to unite in prayer.”

— Catholic News Service contributed.

St. Matthew students prove ‘donors come in all sizes’ this Lent SUEANN HOWELL SENIOR REPORTER

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE MEN’S SHELTER OF CHARLOTTE FACEBOOK PAGE

St. Matthew School students Sarah and RJ Witterstaetter were presented with a certificate of achievement from the Men’s Shelter of Charlotte on March 5 for collecting more than 441 items to help the homeless men who receive services at the shelter on North Tryon Street in Charlotte.

CHARLOTTE — They may only be in elementary school, but Sarah and RJ Witterstaetter are already making a difference in their community. Inspired with a desire to help the homeless this Lent, the two made a plan to collect donations for the Men’s Shelter of Charlotte near uptown.

Sarah is in the fourth grade and her brother RJ is in the second grade at St. Matthew School in south Charlotte.

They began their collection of items on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 14. The siblings set an initial goal of 214 items to commemorate the month and day the drive started. They shared word of their outreach efforts with their family, friends and local school and parish community via a post by their mother, Cindy Witterstaetter, on a social media website.

“We thought their goal was aggressive but figured anything collected would help those in need,” Witterstaetter said. “Several people have given to us, strangers have showed up with items, and we went to many homes to collect items.”

Word spread and by March 1, the end of their collection timeframe, the children had collected 441 items for the men’s shelter.

Included in this total were also items they purchased with money from their own piggy banks.

Sarah and RJ brought their donations to the men’s shelter on March 5. There they were met by Tom Ellis, St. Matthew Church’s liaison to the Men’s Shelter of Charlotte.

They also met with the shelter’s director for philanthropy, Randall Hitt, and Ann Marie Elmayan, the volunteer engagement manager.

“Randall presented them with a certificate of achievement for their efforts,” Witterstaetter said. “We took a tour of the shelter to learn more about the services they offer and to see the reality of how the shelter works.

“This was a very eye-opening closure to their campaign and gave them a realization of how truly blessed their lives are every day and how meaningful these products are to the men who are served by the shelter.”

Witterstaetter and her husband Rich are proud of their children’s efforts.

“We pray every single day as a family for guidance on the best ways to help those in need in our community and this is a focal point of their Catholic education at St. Matthew School and in our parish,” she said.

“We are so proud and blessed that Sarah and RJ heard a calling in their hearts to help those in need and that they wanted to put a plan into action to make it happen. We couldn’t be more thankful for our children.”

Sarah and RJ simply wanted, as Witterstaetter shared, “to help those in need.

They are sad that many people are homeless in our community and they wanted to help them. They were ecstatic with how well their campaign went and were so humbled to take the items themselves to the shelter.”

The Men’s Shelter of Charlotte posted some photos of Sarah and RJ on its Facebook page the day they dropped off the donations.

The post on March 5 read, “Meet RJ and Sarah, 8 and 10 respectively, and members of St. Matthew Catholic Church! They decided to do some good. And good they did, in fact, GREAT they did. They collected 441 items for our men! Incredible and so generous. Happy Monday for us! Friends show them some love. #BestDonorsEver #DonorsComeInAllSizes.”

March 30, 2018 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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New chaplain settles in at Bishop McGuinness High School SUEANN HOWELL SENIOR REPORTER

KERNERSVILLE — Father Christian Cook has been assigned as part-time chaplain at Bishop McGuinness High School effective Feb. 10. Ordained last year by Bishop Peter Jugis, Father Cook is also the parochial vicar of Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro and serves as eighth-grade religion teacher at Our Lady of Grace School.

Not long after coming to Our Lady of Grace Parish, Father Cook met Bishop McGuinness High School’s principal Tracy Shaw. The high school had a need for priests to celebrate Mass after a religious order priest from Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in High Point, who had been assisting regularly at the school, was reassigned by his order.

“I volunteered to take a few of those Masses,” Father Cook explained. “When I spent some time at the high school (prior to being named chaplain), it was clear that students, faculty, staff, parents and benefactors of Bishop McGuinness wanted more of a priestly presence at the Catholic high school.”

As the high school is centrally located in the eastern region of the diocese, priests from many parishes help out at the school but few of those pastors have a parochial vicar to assist them, Father Cook noted. He knew he was in the position to volunteer to assist the high school, so he discussed it with Bishop Peter Jugis.

After prayerful consideration, Father Cook was given the green light to serve in a part-time capacity as chaplain at Bishop McGuinness High School.

“Working with my pastor, Father Paul Buchanan, and Principal Tracy Shaw, we were able to work out a plan that would allow me to fulfill my duties at Our Lady of Grace Church, Our Lady of Grace School and Bishop McGuinness High School,” Father Cook said.

“We are so grateful and blessed that he is

Learning to serve GREENSBORO — Our Lady of Grace School’s kindergarten and first-grade classes participated in a March 16 retreat at Our Lady of Grace Church’s Parish Life Center.

The eighth-grade students joined them as they learned about Jesus according to the Gospel of John: “On the last evening of His life, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet” (John 13:1-16). Pictured is kindergartner Davide Graziani having his feet washed by eighth-grader Joseph Sloyan. Across the grade levels, Our Lady of Grace students often join for faith-based activities so that the younger students have positive role models in the older students.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY JOAN SLOYAN

willing to share his time and his faith with our community. He has been a welcome addition to our school,” Shaw said.

Father Cook hopes to help the high school students grow in faith during what are formative years.

“As one begins to grow into young adulthood in high school and college, the world gets busier and noisier, and the practice of the faith becomes more challenging,” he said. “I remember similar challenges to my faith from those years in my life, and I think I bring that perspective to this ministry. I know that some walk away from the practice of the faith because of a lack of emphasis on practicing their faith during the young adult years.”

He believes it is crucial for students to have the presence of a spiritual father at Bishop McGuinness High School during these critical years.

“The students are growing into adulthood, and experience many pressures – school work and discerning the next steps in their lives, be that continuing their education at the university level, or perhaps a religious vocation or military service.

“Because they are attending a Catholic high school, the chaplain fills a crucial role in leading the students to do God’s will in their lives. The chaplain does this by offering the sacraments – primarily Mass and confession – and by working with teachers and administration to provide a fully Catholic culture. We must proclaim the fullness of truth found in the teachings of the Catholic Church, and we must do so with unwavering courage, because our salvation – and the salvation of our students – depends on it.”

As Father Cook just assumed the role of part-time chaplain recently, he hopes to get to know the students, staff and teachers better over the remaining weeks of the academic year.

“I am honored to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for students, staff and teachers, and to be available for confession

PHOTO PROVIDED BY BISHOP MCGUINNESS HIGH SCHOOL’S FACEBOOK PAGE

Father Christian Cook distributes ashes Feb. 14 at Bishop McGuinness High School in Kernersville just days after being assigned to the school as its part-time chaplain.

and general spiritual counseling. I am encouraged by a sense of a good Catholic culture at the school and a genuine desire, on the part of many of the students I have met, to live the fullness of our faith.”

Father Cook acknowledges that given the culture we live in and the pressures students face, it is “very challenging for

a chaplain to be prepared to address the breadth of issues with which the students wrestle. But over time as I get to know the students better and spend more time on campus – not only during the school day, but at extracurricular events – I will become more a part of the community, and more of a spiritual father to it.”

Spend time with Our Lord The Diocese of Charlotte is blessed to have Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament offered in five locations. All of the faithful, of any age, are invited to participate!

Stop by anytime or sign up for a regular Holy Hour: BELMONT

Belmont Abbey College’s St. Joseph Perpetual Adoration Chapel 100 Belmont-Mt. Holly Road Margaret Fox (704) 648-8947 www.belmontabbeycollege.edu/about/ community

CHARLOTTE

HIGH POINT

Pennybyrn at Maryfield Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel 1315 Greensboro Road Edna Corrigan (336) 324-4366 www.maryfieldeucharistic.org

HUNTERSVILLE

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 30, 2018 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief

Students collect cereal to help others PHOTO PROVIDED BY DR. ROBERT RIDGELL AND ANNE RUNKLE

Charlotte Catholic choirs sing a new song NEW YORK — Charlotte Catholic High School’s Honors Choirs recently completed their 2018 Performance Tour of New York City. More than 70 students offered sacred music March 2-5 during Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and performed with hundreds of other students in the National Youth Choir at Carnegie Hall. Led by Dr. Robert Ridgell, the high school choirs sing monthly all-school Masses at Charlotte Catholic and have recently begun a new initiative of singing throughout the Diocese of Charlotte.

“For our students at Charlotte Catholic, music is a ministry. Most especially, during this season of Lent, music is often that spiritual lens through which we can connect with God. We give glory to God through our voices and we hope to help others in prayer,” Ridgell said. This semester, students sang at Holy Trinity Middle School and will also perform at St. Gabriel and St. Matthew churches in Charlotte. “We look forward to visiting other parishes in the future as we bridge the rich tradition of choral music,” Ridgell said.

Ridgell has worked with students around the country – most recently for the Archdiocese of Houston, where he conducted more than 200 Catholic school students at a special Mass in February. In April, he will conduct the National Catholic Honors Choir in New York City.

WINSTON-SALEM — Students at Our Lady of Mercy School recently collected boxes of cereal that they donated to Crisis Control Ministry’s Wee Care! Cereal Drive. The school collected 72 boxes. Wee Care! Is a program to educate preschool and elementary school aged children about the importance of good nutrition and helping others in their community. March is National Nutrition Month.

— Melodi Evans

St. Leo band students earn honors WINSTON-SALEM — The American

Independent Music Association announces that the following St. Leo School students have been inducted into the 2018 AIMA All-State Honor Band: Aidan Vu (trumpet), Brandon Ruff (saxophone), Dylan Whalen (trumpet), Jessa Pacholke (saxophone), Jon Paul Stone (drum), Olivia Stone (clarinet) and Trevor Boland (trumpet).

Criteria for acceptance included preparation for the Solo/Ensemble Festival, as well as progress shown each week in band class. St. Leo School had the highest number of Honor Band inductees of more than 60 schools across the country.

Honor Band students from Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee and North Carolina are now invited to participate in the educational Honor Band Tour in Washington, D.C., and Virginia Beach May 6-8. They will tour the Kennedy Center, play concerts at local schools, and enjoy several opportunities for advanced musical studies.

This news follows more recognition for the school’s band program, which earned the only perfect score and captured first place in the Winston-Salem Solo/Ensemble Festival at Wake Forest University held recently in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the American Independent Music Association. Fifteen St. Leo students participated and were adjudicated by professional band directors.

Jessa Pacholke earned the highest award with her saxophone solo among the five schools participating in the festival. She and Olivia Stone and Dylan Whalen ranked in the top 10 of all performers.

The following students earned “superior ranking”: Aidan Vu - III Trumpet Solo, Trevor Boland - II Trumpet Solo, Kristian Halvorsen - II Clarinet Solo, Jessa Pacholke - II Saxophone Solo, Matthew Pinder - II Keyboard Solo, Brandon Ruff - II Saxophone Solo, Jon Paul IN BRIEF, SEE PAGE 19

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March 30, 2018 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

IN BRIEF FROM PAGE 18

Stone - II Drum Solo, Olivia Stone - II Clarinet Solo, Dylan Whalen - II Trumpet Solo, Michael Agarwala - I Clarinet Solo, Kelly Goliber - I Trumpet Solo, and Grant Moya - I Trumpet Solo.

The band’s flute/clarinet trio and trumpet trio also earned superior rankings.

The following students earned “excellent ranking”: Frantz Pierre - II Saxophone Solo, Thomas Pinder - II Saxophone Solo, and Isabella Durazo - II Flute Solo.

— Melissa Kinsley

are among the top half of 1 percent of all student members of the NSDA across the country.

Ruff (left) and Nenichka (right) are pictured with Head Coach Mary Morales.

To be considered for the award, students must have completed five semesters of high school, earned the degree of Superior Distinction in the NSDA Honor Society, achieved rigorous criteria for grade-point average and/or test score requirements, and demonstrated outstanding character and leadership.

“This national award recognizes individuals who have performed with excellence in Forensics and Academics,” Morales said.

“Charles and Connor achieved this distinction also while fulfilling their responsibility as co-presidents of the team and being involved in the school’s soccer team as well. They are great models of striving for excellence in every undertaking.”

The National Speech and Debate Association was established in 1925 to provide recognition and support for students participating in speech and debate activities. Its mission is to connect, support and inspire individuals and schools devoted to giving middle school, high school, and college students access to speech and debate.

— Carolyn Kramer Tillman

Sacred Heart students win at state science fair

CCHS speech and debate team members named All-Americans CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School seniors and Speech and Debate Team members Charles Nenichka and Connor Ruff have been named Academic All-Americans by the National Speech and Debate Association. The award recognizes academic rigor, competitive speech and debate success, and personal excellence.

Of the 141,000-plus student members of the NSDA, fewer than 500 earn the Academic AllAmerican award each year. Nenichka and Ruff

ANOINTING FROM PAGE 5

order priests who gathered around the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

All the priests also stood during the blessing of the sacred chrism with their hands outstretched, joining with Bishop Jugis in prayer as he performed the blessing rite.

Father Wilbur Thomas, pastor of St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville, was also in attendance. He just celebrated his 45th anniversary of ordination the day before the Chrism Mass. He will retire this summer.

“In renewing our vows, it became even more important for me after 45 years of doing it. It’s just a refresher to renew those vows, to say yes, to continue to say yes,” Father Thomas said. “I feel that I am who I am, a priest of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am very happy to be in this ministry.”

He added, “It’s always good to be with other priests. It’s always good to be among them.”

Father Carmen Malacari, pastor of Holy Spirit Church in Denver, also attended the Mass. He celebrates his 25th jubilee this October.

What stood out to him during the Chrism Mass was “the renewal of our priesthood – what this is all about, what we are called to do in our ministry,” Father Malacari said, and “the bishop asking the people of God to

SALISBURY — Sacred Heart School announces that it had two winning students at the recent regional-level North Carolina Science and Engineering Fair: sixth-grader Jacob Shores and fourth-grader Evan Miller.

The regional fair at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte Feb. 16-17 hosted more than 350 projects from 10 North Carolina counties.

The regional fair followed Sacred Heart’s school-wide fair in January. Students chosen for the elementary division were third-grader Aidan Melton, fourth-grader Evan Miller and fifth-grader Mary Kathryn Aycock. At regionals, Miller was awarded the CMS STEM Award for excellence in elementary STEM research and work performed. His project was entitled “SMILE: Which Whitening Toothpaste Works Best?” His results found that Sensodyne toothpaste worked best.

Students chosen for the middle school

pray for us in our ministry.”

“As Bishop said in his homily, the blessing of the oils is always a reminder of the joy and privilege of priestly ministry – instructing catechumens, being with the sick, and bringing people into the Church,” noted Father David McCanless, who was recently assigned as a parochial vicar at the cathedral. “As priests, we are collaborators with the bishop in his ministry, and the Chrism Mass is one of the principal expressions of this. It’s a reminder that although there are many priests and parishes in the diocese, we are all unified in professing the same faith.”

In the closing remarks of his homily, Bishop Jugis reminded the priests that in this Mass, “We renew our promises to be faithful to all that Christ has bestowed upon us, our priestly anointing, our priestly identity, our priestly vocation and our priestly mission – deeply rooted in the anointing and the mission of Christ Himself.”

After Mass, deacons divided the blessed oils into smaller oil stocks that will be distributed to all 92 parishes and missions across the diocese for use in sacramental celebrations throughout the upcoming year.

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See video highlights and Bishop Jugis’ complete homily from the Chrism Mass

division were sixth-grader Jacob Shores and seventh-graders Bree Whittingon, Drew Hansen, Lillian Rattz and Bryce Mason.

At regionals, Shores was presented with numerous awards for his entry entitled “Operation Conservation: Using Variable Rate Irrigation to Conserve Water in Production Agriculture.”

Shores won the Broadcom Masters Award, presented to the overall top 10 percent of projects at the junior level. This award nominates him as a semi-finalist for a chance to present his project to the Society of Science in Washington, D.C., in October.

There, he will compete against as many as 2,500 semi-finalists from 37 states, Puerto Rico and the Department of Defense overseas.

In addition, Shores won the Naval Science Award presented by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. This award was established to encourage the interest of middle and high school students in science and engineering, reward their scientific achievements, and encourage them to pursue careers in science and engineering.

Also, Shores placed second overall for Junior Engineering, which qualified him to compete at the state level at the 2018 North Carolina Science and Engineering Fair at N.C. State University.

When asked why he chose this project, Shores replied that he “had always liked building contraptions. I liked this project because it involved engineering and agriculture. Plus, I only needed a few

19

simple materials: water, a glass measuring cup, styrofoam cups, clear plastic cups, straws, scissors, a ruler and a lab notebook. I found out that it was possible to control the flow of water using different diameter straws. It was fun.

The judges told me that my project was ‘simplistic, but very useful.’”

“We are so proud to say that our students participate in our state’s science fair and are ecstatic to learn that we had two big winners,” said Hillary Shores, middle school science teacher.

“Over the past few years, Sacred Heart has adopted the New Generation science standards, purchased new science curriculums, formed a fabulous relationship with The Leopold Society, and added new science enrichment and STREAM lessons into our daily lessons.”

“Sacred Heart is committed to science, technology and our STREAM Curriculums,” said Principal Tyler Kulp, “but this year our teachers are emphasizing engineering and problem-solving. (STREAM is STEM with added integration with Religion, Agriculture and Arts.) Our students’ minds are exploding with these lessons.

Their young minds are brilliant when put in the right learning environment full of experimentation and exploration.”

— Robin Fisher

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 30, 2018 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

IN BRIEF

IN BRIEF

FROM PAGE 19

FROM PAGE 13

blessings will be in both English and Polish.

Traditional 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, every person of any nationality is invited to use their imagination and include their own national foods. Children can even bring their own baskets with their own treats, including chocolate and Easter candy.

St. Thomas Aquinas Church is located at 1400 Suther Road in Charlotte. Aquinas Hall is across the courtyard from the church. For inquiries, contact Deacon Witulski at 704-9603704.

Six CCHS students participate in band clinic CHARLOTTE — Six Charlotte Catholic High School band students won acceptance into the University of South Carolina Honor Band.

The annual clinic, held recently at the Koger Performing Arts Center in Columbia, S.C., hosted more than 400 high school musicians from around the Southeast.

Upon arrival, students auditioned against each other for placement in one of four bands.

A renowned collegiate music educator directed each band. While rehearsing over the weekend, students enjoyed performances by the University of South Carolina Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble and Jazz Band, as well as the adult community band, the Palmetto Concert Band.

Four of the six students won positions in the top performing ensemble. Pictured are (from left): Ian Russell, Patrick Macalintal, Emma Joseph, Abbey Roper, Ben Ranzinger and Evan Woody.

Ministry Capacity Building Retreat March 10, jointly sponsored by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte and Catholic Relief Services. Latino and Anglo parishioners from seven parishes in the Asheville, Hickory and Smoky Mountain Vicariates celebrated in song, prayer and mealtime fellowship, and heard presentations on such topics as: Global Solidarity Engagement in the Parish, Human Trafficking-Domestic and Global Perspectives, and Sharing the Journey with Migrants.

Keynote presenters were Deacon Robert Vigil, director of pastoral outreach for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and a CRS Global Fellow, and Mercy Sister Rose Marie Tresp, director of justice for the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas South Central Community.

Pictured: Retreatants and presenters joined together to promote the two-year long “Share the Journey – Love Your Neighbor!” campaign of Caritas Internationals in support of migrants and refugees that was launched by Pope Francis last fall. Learn more about this campaign at www.sharejourney.org and find resources available in English and Spanish.

— Joseph T. Purello

College to host discussion on challenges to Christianity

Solidarity explored at Asheville retreat ASHEVILLE — St. Eugene Church hosted a bilingual Global Solidarity and Parish Social

— Timothy W. Cook

BELMONT — We live in a moment of crisis.

Challenges abound in our schools, in our families, in our political and social life, in our culture and in our economy. What does it mean to be a Christian today? What is our contribution to society? Join Abbot Placid Solari, Father José Medina, Patrick Ford, and Dr. Alessandro Rovati as they discuss the latest book of the leader of Communion and Liberation, Father Julián Carron. Their discussion, entitled “Christianity and the Challenges of the Present,” will be held 7:30-8:45 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, at Grace

Auditorium on the campus of Belmont Abbey College. For details, email AlessandroRovati@ bac.edu.

Lecture about the Book of Kells held at Belmont Abbey College BELMONT — With the support of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Belmont Abbey College hosted a lecture March 20 by Professor Jaroslav Folda of the University of North Carolina, a world-renowned authority on medieval art history, about “The Book of Kells: a Masterpiece of Irish Art.” More than 50 people attended the lecture about the famed Book of Kells, which was written and illustrated in an Irish monastery about 1,200 years ago.

Folda provided his audience with a tour of the magnificent images and designs created by the monastic scribes and artists who fashioned one of the greatest works of medieval art. A group of students from Belmont Abbey College will be traveling to Ireland in May as part of the St. Gregory the Great program in Christianity and Culture, and will have the opportunity to see the Book of Kells firsthand.

Belmont Abbey College will host another talk on Catholic culture in Ireland on Thursday, April 12, again with support from the Ancient Order of Hibernians. The lecture – entitled “An Irish Catholic Odyssey” by Vincentian Father James Murphy, director of Irish Studies at Boston College – will focus on Irish history from the Counter-Reformation to the 20th century. The lecture will start at 7:30 p.m. in the Mezzanine of the Student Commons.

All are welcome to attend. For details, email patrickwadden@bac.edu.

— Dr. Patrick Wadden and Dan Callaghan WE WELCOME your parish’s news! Please email items to Editor Patricia Guilfoyle at plguilfoyle@charlottediocese. org.

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March 30, 2018 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

For the latest movie reviews: catholicnewsherald.com

On TV

In theaters

‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’ Bible-based drama in which St. Paul (James Faulkner), imprisoned in Rome and facing martyrdom in the wake of that city’s Great Fire of AD 64, which the Emperor Nero notoriously blamed on the followers of Jesus, is visited by his longtime collaborator and friend St. Luke (Jim Caviezel) to whom he recounts the circumstances of his conversion and some of the other events chronicled in the Book of Acts.

This new text is meant to give encouragement to the capital’s persecuted Christians, led by husband and wife Aquila and Priscilla. Valuable chiefly as a catechetical resource, it makes acceptable and worthwhile fare for teens.

Scenes of brutality and torture with some gore.

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

‘Midnight Sun’ This remake of the 2006 Japanese film “Song to the Sun” is a sweet, heartfelt movie, that presents a refreshing view (for Hollywood, that is) of young people who are not behaving badly. A teenager (Bella Thorne) suffers from an incurable disease due to which any exposure to sunlight could prove fatal.

Housebound during the day, she is cared for by her overprotective father (Rob Riggle) and best friend (Quinn Shephard). Venturing out one evening, she meets her long-time crush (Patrick Schwarzenegger), whom she has secretly watched from her bedroom window for years.

They fall for each other, but he is unaware of her condition. Mature teens will benefit from this old-fashioned romance. Scenes of underage drinking.

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

‘I Can Only Imagine’ Dennis Quaid brings his formidable talent to bear in this faith-driven drama, playing an abusive father whose conversion to evangelical Christianity inspired his son (John Michael Finley) to write the eponymous 2001 song, an unprecedented chart-topper that became popular even with nonbelievers. Also traces his on-again, off-again romance with a friend from childhood and his struggle to achieve musical success under the guidance of his group’s dedicated manager. Mature themes, including marital discord and the physical abuse of a child.

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

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PHOTO PROVIDED

Listen to the new online radio station streaming from within the Diocese of Charlotte at www.chirhoradio.org. There are broadcasts in English and Spanish. The website also features programming information.

New online station brings Catholic radio to diocese KIMBERLY BENDER ONLINE REPORTER

FOREST CITY — There’s a new online Catholic radio station based in the Diocese of Charlotte and broadcasting in two languages.

The station www.chirhoradio.org streams local and national Catholic radio in English and Spanish, said Jim Brooks, parishioner of Immaculate Conception Church in Forest City and the station’s community programmer. The station launched in December, and it went live in Spanish earlier this month.

Born from the identified need for Catholic radio in the diocese, the station strives to educate, evangelize and provide entertainment, Brooks said.

The online radio station is a separate initiative from the Catholic Carolina Radio Network, which is in the process of developing a string of broadcast radio stations along the Interstate 85 corridor through the diocese.

After evaluating the costs involved with owning and broadcasting an over-the-air radio station, Brooks said he turned instead to streaming.

The online station is an affiliate of Light House Catholic Media and Ave Maria Radio.

On Sundays, the station airs the “Swinging, Singing Deacon” with Deacon Andy Cilone

of Immaculate Conception Church.

Sunday is the station’s most popular day, with up to 500 listeners an hour, Brook said.

Currently, 80 percent of the audience is outside the diocese.

“Our goal is to celebrate and promote the faith. Our editorial guidelines is real simple: ‘Would Bishop (Fulton) Sheen play this?’ If it doesn’t fall under that category, it doesn’t get aired. It’s worked very, very well so far,” Brooks said.

Brooks said he would like to add full Latin Masses and homeschooling programs.

“We’re trying to find our footing on what programming works and what doesn’t,” he said. “It’s still trial and error. Audience feedback helps to decide what to run and when.”

The station is run by volunteers and funded by online subscriptions and advertising.

Brooks said he hopes as the station grows, it will be able to add additional language stations such as Korean and Vietnamese.

Listen online At www.chirhoradio.org: Stream the station or download the app to stream it on your mobile device. You can also “subscribe” by donating $7 to help cover the station’s costs. For details, contact Jim Brooks at jimbrooks.ccrn@gmail.com.

n Saturday, March 31, 2 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 Saturday, March 31, 6 p.m. (EWTN) “A Scriptural Journey of the Via Dolorosa.” Join pilgrims from around the world in walking the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, with meditations on the scriptures and the Passion of Christ at each of the Stations of the Cross. n Saturday, March 31, 5 p.m. (EWTN) “A Grave Injustice.” A special documentary on how the carbon dating protocols used to test the Shroud of Turin were compromised during the process. n Saturday, March 31, 2:30 p.m.

(EWTN) “Easter Vigil Mass From Rome.” Pope Francis celebrates the Easter Vigil Mass, live from Rome. n Sunday, April 1, 7 p.m. (EWTN) “Solemn Mass of Easter from Rome.”

Pope Francis celebrates the Solemn Mass of Easter, live from Rome. n Sunday, April 1, 10 a.m. (EWTN) “Triumphant Hour.” A portrayal of the triumphant “hour” of Jesus’ Resurrection, using many well-known actors from the mid 1900s. n Friday, April, 6, 5:30 p.m. (EWTN) “The God of Mercy: Mercy Wanted Today.” Fr. Bala Udumala shares the revelation of God’s Divine Mercy to mankind in our times through the messages given to St. Faustina Kowalska. n Friday, April 6, 8 p.m. (EWTN) “The Life and Times of Sister Faustina.”

Born in Poland in 1905 as Helena Kowalska, she is now known as St. Maria Faustina Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament, “The Apostle of Divine Mercy.” Father Seraphim Michalenko explains in detail this reenactment of her life and the Divine Mercy Novena. n Saturday, April 7, 8 p.m. (EWTN) “Original Image of Divine Mercy.” A look at the history of the Original Image of Divine Mercy, from the events that led to its creation under St. Faustina’s guidance to its current place in the cathedral in Vilnius, Lithuania. n Sunday, April 8, 7 p.m. (EWTN) “The Face of Mercy.” A documentary on the origins of the Divine Mercy devotion and the personal impact it has had on the lives of several Catholics. n Monday, April 9, 9:30 a.m. (EWTN) “The Feast of the Annunciation.”

Dominican Father Lawrence Lew, vocations promoter of the English Dominicans, delves into the meaning of the Feast of the Annunciation both for our individual interior life as well as contemporary society. n Monday, April 9, 4 p.m. (EWTN) “Miracle of Champion.” Discover the history behind the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, Wisconsin, and the miraculous favors pilgrims have experienced there. n Wednesday, April 11, 4 p.m. (EWTN) “Father Joe Walijewski.” The life and mission of Fr. Joseph Walijewski, a priest from Wisconsin who tirelessly served the poor in South America, and his recent cause for Beatification and Canonization.

Our nation 22

catholicnewsherald.com | March 30, 2018 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Knights give more than $1 million to Iraqi, Syrian Christians for Easter CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — As part of its ongoing support of persecuted Christians in the Middle East, the Knights of Columbus committed more than $1 million to Iraqi and Syrian Christians for Easter.

Announced during Holy Week, the support includes $800,000 in new financial assistance and $250,000 as part of its ongoing commitment to rebuilding an Iraqi Christian town. The funds will help with food, clothing, shelter and education for Christians targeted by Islamic State militants.

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“As we recall the Passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, it is particularly timely for us to remember and support our brothers and sisters in Christ who have, in places like Iraq and Syria, endured so much persecution for their faith,” said Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson in a March 27 statement.

“Having faced suffering and even death at the hands of ISIS, we hope that our assistance will help these communities to rise up again and rebuild for the future,” he added.

A news release said that with the $800,000 in new funds, the Knights of Columbus has committed almost $19 million to date in aid to Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq and Syria since 2014.

That total includes $2 million committed to the rebuilding of the predominantly Christian town of Karamles in Iraq’s Ninevah Plain.

Karamles had been overrun by ISIS, which destroyed homes and desecrated churches before the town was liberated last year.

“Our people know that without the direct support from the Knights of Columbus to Christians in the region, and without its assistance in making our case to the United States government, Christianity might already have been driven out of Iraq completely,” said Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil, Iraq.

Of the $800,000 from the Knights, about $500,000 will help support the food program run by the Catholic Archdiocese of Irbil.

An additional $300,000 will be sent to the Syriac Catholic Patriarchate to support its aid programs for the nearly 3,000 families from Iraq and Syria who have lost everything and are in need of assistance with food, clothing, shelter, and access to education and medical care.

Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan said he has relied on the Knights’ “compassion and understanding of our plight in the Middle East, particularly in Syria and Iraq.”

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Somali refugees are escorted by a United Airlines representative as they arrive at the airport Feb. 13 in Boise, Idaho. The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ migration committee sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of State urging dialogue on the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

U.S. Catholic leaders concerned by low number of resettled refugees CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Catholic leaders wrote to the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Homeland Security March 26 expressing concern for the low number of refugees to be resettled this year in the United States.

President Donald Trump has cut the number of refugees to be admitted into the U.S., from 110,000 in fiscal year 2017 – a bar set by former President Barack Obama – to 45,000 in fiscal year 2018, but even that number will not likely be met, according to resettlement agencies.

In his letter, released March 27, Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, Texas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, said: “We are deeply concerned about both the historically low target that the administration has set for refugee admissions for fiscal year 2018, as well as by the extraordinarily low number of refugees that the United States is on pace to resettle during the current fiscal year.”

He said the current level of refugee arrivals “leaves thousands of vulnerable people in harm’s way and searching for protection. Most often they are atrisk women and children who are too vulnerable to remain in the region and/ or in situations too dangerous for them to wait in the host country until the conflict at home has ended.”

Another letter, signed by more than 1,600 Catholic organizations, priests, women religious and lay Catholics, similarly urged

the government to take action, urging the Trump administration “to listen to our communities when we stand in solidarity to welcome refugees in this moment of global need.”

Both letters urge dialogue on the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, pointing out that halfway through the 2018 fiscal year, the U.S. federal government had welcomed approximately 9,600 refugees, less than 25 percent of the refugees allowed for this year.

Bishop Vasquez wrote that welcoming refugees is “integral to our life of faith” and said that in this spirit, the U.S. bishops would like the Trump administration “to renew a bipartisan commitment to resettlement for refugees, including religious minorities.”

He also urged that at least 45,000 refugees be admitted this year and 75,000 next year asking that the Homeland Security Department “work to process refugees in a more robust, efficient and transparent manner.”

The decreased number of refugee resettlement cases in the United States has already impacted the work religious groups, including the USCCB, provides.

A Religion News Service article in midFebruary said USCCB officials expected to close 15 resettlement sites this year and more than more than 300 Catholic Charities employees, who work in this area, could see a temporary or permanent layoff or job reassignment due to decreased number of refugees coming into the country.

March 30, 2018 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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In Brief Bishops disappointed with Congress’ inaction on Conscience Protection Act WASHINGTON, D.C. — The chairmen of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life and religious freedom committees said it was “deeply disappointing” that Congress omitted the Conscience Protection Act from the congressional funding bill for fiscal year 2018. “We call on Congress not to give up until this critical legislation is enacted,” said a March 22 joint statement from Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on ProLife Activities, and Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., chair of the Committee for Religious Liberty. The bishops said the legislation is “an extraordinarily modest bill that proposes almost no change to existing conscience protection laws on abortion laws that receive wide public and bipartisan support.” They also said it aims to “provide victims of discrimination with the ability to defend their rights in court to help ensure that no one is forced to participate in abortion.”

The statement added that those “inside and outside of Congress who worked to defeat” this legislation “have placed themselves squarely into the category of extremists who insist that all Americans must be forced to participate in the violent act of abortion.”

U.S. Papal Foundation announces period of re-evaluation VATICAN CITY — After disagreement over funding a $25-million-grant request from the Vatican was leaked to the press, the leadership of the U.S.-based Papal Foundation has called for a period of reflection and “a re-evaluation of its mission, its approach to grant giving and its relationship with the Holy See.” And while the foundation still has scheduled its annual pilgrimage to Rome April 11-14, the trip will not include the members’ customary audience with the pope, according to a press release issued by the foundation March 22. The Vatican, it said, agreed to “postponing a papal audience until the work of the foundation is complete and its members and stewards have agreed upon the foundation’s mission, governance structure and relationship to the Holy See.” The statement was released after a meeting of the executive committee of the foundation’s board of trustees, which includes both active and retired cardinals living in the United States. The full board of trustees, which includes the nine cardinals, seven bishops and eight laypeople, is expected to meet in Rome during the pilgrimage. The Papal Foundation was established in 1988, and since 1990 has given more than $120 million in grants and scholarships.

Waiving limitations on civil abuse suits called ‘unfair, catastrophic’ ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers are considering waiving the statutes of limitations on civil lawsuits claiming sexual abuse of young people against nonprofits and businesses, but not government agencies or public schools.

Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta said the bill called the Hidden Predator Act, or H.B. 605, is unfair to the Catholic Church and would be catastrophic to the Church’s mission. Many of the cases of alleged abuse could go as far back as the 1940s. “I write to inform you of an extraordinarily unfair bill currently pending in our state legislature,” he said in a March 9 statement. “If passed, H.B. 605 could drastically damage our ability to carry out the mission of

our Catholic Church in the state of Georgia.”

Sponsored by Republican Rep. Jason Spencer was approved Feb. 28 by the Georgia General Assembly’s House of Representatives and sent to the state Senate for consideration.

Philadelphia ends foster care placements with Catholic agency

Middle School Youth Leader / Confirmation Coordinator St. Luke Church in Mint Hill is currently seeking a part-time middle school youth leader/confirmation coordinator. This position requires night and weekend hours and while a bachelor's degree is preferred, we will consider applicants based on qualifications, experience and enthusiasm.

PHILADELPHIA — The city of Philadelphia has announced that its Department of Human Services has “ceased new foster care child intakes” with Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia because Catholic teaching does not allow the agency to place foster children with same-sex couples. “Given its affiliation with the archdiocese, CSS cannot provide services in any manner or setting that would violate its institutional integrity, core values and Catholic beliefs,” said Kenneth A. Gavin, the archdiocese’s chief communications officer. The March 15 decision followed reports in The Inquirer and Daily News media outlets that the agencies “will not work with the LGBTQ community and same-sex couples.” But Catholic Social Services’ policy that it cannot place children with same-sex couples because of Church teaching is a fact that “is well-established and long-known one in our relationship with DHS,” Gavin said in a March 19 statement.

To view a more complete job description please visit www.stlukechurch.net and click on the link on the homepage under "job opening" or contact LoriKissinger@stlukechurch.net

Miss. governor signs 15-week abortion ban; judge blocks it JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed into law March 19 the most restrictive state abortion bill in the nation because it bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The owner of the state’s only abortion clinic, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, filed suit immediately after Bryant signed the bill, claiming it is unconstitutional. At a morning hearing March 20, a federal judge blocked the law with a temporary restraining order, in effect for 10 days. The state and the clinic must now provide “expedited briefings” to the court while it considers issuing a preliminary injunction.

“We Catholic bishops of Mississippi wish to reaffirm the sacredness of human life from conception until natural death,” said Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz of Jackson and Bishop Louis F. Kihneman III of Biloxi. “With Pope St. John Paul II, we recognize abortion as ‘a most serious wound inflicted on society and its culture by the very people who ought to be society’s promoters and defenders.’” The bishops issued their joint statement after the Mississippi House passed the measure 75-34 in February. The state Senate passed H.B. 1510 March 6 in a 35-14 vote.

— Catholic News Service

Anxiety / Depression Acid Reflux / Sleep Hormones / Fatigue Cholesterol / Acne

Youth Minister

Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, a Parish of 2,000 families, located in High Point, NC is seeking a full-time Youth Minister for grades 6-12. We are an Edge/Life Teen Parish.

A successful candidate will have enthusiasm and energy to build discipleship in our Youth through service, worship and social activities.

Duties would include assisting the Director of Religious Education as well as helping to prepare Parish School liturgies. The candidate should have a degree in Pastoral Theology, Religious Education or a related field. Previous experience in Youth Ministry would be helpful. The candidate must be a practicing Catholic in good standing.

Salary and benefits are commensurate with education and experience.

Resumes and references should be sent to: Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church Attention: Youth Minister Search Committee 4145 Johnson St. High Point, NC 27265 Email: whaarsgaard@ihmchurch.org

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catholicnewsherald.com | March 30, 2018 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Young adults ask Church to listen, involve them CINDY WOODEN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY — Young people want to know they are valued members of the Catholic Church and that their questions and struggles are taken seriously enough that someone will spend time with them discussing issues rather than simply repeating “prefabricated” responses, said delegates to a meeting in Rome.

“We need a Church that is welcoming and merciful, which appreciates its roots and patrimony and which loves everyone, even those who are not following the perceived standards,” said the final document of a pre-synod gathering organized by the Vatican March 19-25.

The document reflects the input of 305 young adults attending the meeting in Rome and some 15,000 young people who participated through Facebook groups online.

It was presented to Pope Francis at the end of Palm Sunday Mass and was to be used in drafting the working document for the Synod of Bishops on young people, faith and vocational discernment in October, said Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary general of the synod.

With a frantic pace of life, thousands of life choices and proponents of different ideas battling for their attention, young people said what they want most from the Church is “attractive, coherent and authentic models,” who will accompany them in their search for meaning and fulfillment.

But, they warned, “we need rational and critical explanations to complex issues – simplistic answers do not suffice.”

Most of the young people meeting in Rome are very active in the Church and were named delegates to the meeting by their national bishops’ conference or by the Catholic movements to which they belong. But the young adults in Rome and those in the Facebook groups recognized that like in society at large, they have different opinions on a variety of issues, including “contraception, abortion, homosexuality, cohabitation, marriage and how the priesthood is perceived in different realities in the Church.”

Some, the document said, “may want the Church to change her teaching” or, at least, they would like “access to a better explanation and to more formation on these questions.”

However, they said, even “young Catholics whose convictions are in conflict with official teaching still desire to be part of the Church.”

Of course, the document said, one cannot ignore the fact that “many young Catholics accept these teachings and find in them a source of joy. They desire the Church to not only hold fast to them amid unpopularity but to also proclaim them with greater depth of teaching.”

For many young people today, the document said, the Church’s treatment of women is an obstacle to their deciding to remain part of the Catholic community.

“The Church can play a vital role in ensuring that these young people are not marginalized but feel accepted,” it said. “This can happen when we seek to promote the dignity of women, both in the Church and in wider society.”

In their specific discussion of “vocation,” the young adults insisted that the approach must be a holistic one of God’s

call to each individual to follow Him, rather than being read as a discussion of a call to priesthood or religious life.

The young adults said in the document that it does little good when Church leaders dance around topics or show they are embarrassed by them. “We, the young Church, ask that our leaders speak in practical terms about controversial subjects such as homosexuality and gender issues, about which young people are already freely discussing without taboo.”

But the key questions for the young adults was what do young Catholics need from their elders in the Church and why are so many young people in so many countries leaving the Church in droves?

“Young people who are disconnected from or who leave the Church do so after experiencing indifference, judgment and rejection,” the delegates wrote. “One could attend, participate in and leave Mass without experiencing a sense of community or family as the Body of Christ. Christians profess a living God, but some attend Masses or belong to communities which seem dead.”

In the document, the young adults asked the Church to be more credible, more honest, more transparent and to continue to admit its failures and express sorrow for the way it has dealt with clerical sexual abuse and misuse of wealth.

The humility of the Church, it said, “will undoubtedly raise its credibility among the world’s young people. If the Church acts in this way, then it will differentiate itself from other institutions and authorities which young people, for the most part, already mistrust.”

‘Cry out,’ pope tells young people at Palm Sunday Mass CINDY WOODEN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY — Celebrating Palm Sunday Mass with thousands of young people, Pope Francis urged them to continue singing and shouting “hosanna” in the world, proclaiming the lordship of Jesus and following His example of outreach to the poor and suffering.

The crowd that shouted “hosanna” as Jesus entered Jerusalem included all those for whom Jesus was a source of joy, those He healed and forgave, and those He welcomed after they had been excluded from society, the pope said in his homily March 25.

But others were irritated by Jesus and tried to silence His followers, the pope said. In the same way, people today will try to silence young people who continue to follow Jesus, because “a joyful young person is hard to manipulate.”

“There are many ways to silence young people and make them invisible,” the pope said. There are “many ways to anesthetize them, to make them keep quiet, ask nothing, question nothing. There are many ways to sedate them, to keep them from getting involved, to make their dreams flat and dreary, petty and plaintive.”

Pope Francis asked the young people “not to keep quiet. Even if others keep quiet, if we older people and leaders keep quiet, if the whole world keeps quiet and loses its joy, I ask you: Will you cry out?”

Gabriella Zuniga, 16, and her sister Valentina Zuniga, 15, were among the thousands in St. Peter’s Square. The sisters, students at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., had participated March 24 in the Rome “March for Our Lives,” calling for gun control.

The Palm Sunday Mass marked the local celebration of World Youth Day and included the more than 300 young adults

CNS | PAUL HARING

Youths carry palm fronds in procession at the start of Palm Sunday Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican March 25. who, at the Vatican’s invitation, had spent a week discussing the hopes, desires and challenges facing the world’s young people and ways the Church should respond.

At the end of the Mass, they formally presented their final document to the pope; it will be used, along with input from the world’s bishops’ conferences, in drafting the working document for the Synod of Bishops in October, which will focus on young people, faith and vocational discernment.

Holding five-foot tall palm branches,

the young adults led the procession to the obelisk in the center of St. Peter’s Square.

They were joined by others carrying olive branches and by bishops and cardinals holding “palmurelli,” which are intricately woven palm fronds.

In his homily, Pope Francis said that the Palm Sunday Mass, which begins with the singing of “hosanna” and then moves to the reading of Jesus’ Passion, combines “stories of joy and suffering, mistakes and successes, which are part of our daily lives as disciples. “

The acclamation of the crowd praising Jesus as He enters Jerusalem gives way to the shouts of “crucify Him” as Jesus’ suffering and death draw near, the pope noted. “It somehow expresses the contradictory feelings that we too, the men and women of today, experience: the capacity for great love, but also for great hatred; the capacity for courageous self-sacrifice, but also the ability to ‘wash our hands.’”

The Gospel also demonstrates how the joy Jesus awakened in some is “a source of anger and irritation for others,” Pope Francis said, and the same is true today.

Joy is seen in all those “who had followed Jesus because they felt his compassion for their pain and misery,” the pope said.

“How could they not praise the one who had restored their dignity and hope? Theirs is the joy of so many forgiven sinners who are able to trust and hope once again.”

But others in Jerusalem, “those who consider themselves righteous and ‘faithful’ to the law and its ritual precepts” and “those who have forgotten the many chances they themselves had been given” find such joy intolerable, the pope said.

“How hard it is for the comfortable and the self-righteous to understand the joy and the celebration of God’s mercy,” he said. “How hard it is for those who trust only in themselves, and look down on others, to share in this joy.”

The shouts of “crucify him” did not begin spontaneously, the pope said, but were incited by those who slandered and gave false witness against Jesus, “’spinning’ facts and painting them such that they disfigure the face of Jesus and turn Him into a ‘criminal.’”

Theirs, he said, was “the voice of those who twist reality and invent stories for their own benefit, without concern for the good name of others” and “the cry of those who have no problem in seeking ways to gain power and to silence dissonant voices.”

March 30, 2018 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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In Brief Papal preacher: Purity is seen in how one treats oneself, others VATICAN CITY — If Catholic morality in the past seemed so obsessed with preventing sexual sin that it ignored sins of injustice, today “we have gone to the opposite extreme,” seemingly concerned only with how people treat others, not with how they treat their bodies, the papal preacher said. “In the past, morality emphasized the sins of the flesh so unilaterally that it led to real neuroses at times, to the detriment of concern for the duties toward our neighbor and to the detriment of the virtue of purity itself,” Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa told Pope Francis and members of the Roman Curia. On the Fridays of Lent and Advent, Father Cantalamessa leads reflections for the pope and his aides in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel of the Apostolic Palace. For the final Lenten meditation of 2018, he spoke March 23 about the virtue of purity. “Every day, people tend to contrast sins against purity with sins against a neighbor and to consider just the sin against a neighbor a real sin,” he said. But the two go together, he insisted.

“Purity and love of neighbor represent dominion over self and the gift of self to others. How can I give myself if I do not possess myself but am a slave to my passions?”

U.S., world urged to help Jordan aid refugees, end Syrian civil war SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan — The United States has a responsibility to help Jordan as it struggles to support hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and must actively seek to end Syria’s long civil war, American human rights advocate Kerry Kennedy told a conference on forced migration. “Stop the violence that creates the refugee crisis,” Kennedy said March 24 to an audience that included Nobel laureates, global leaders and children concerned about child trafficking, trauma and abuse stemming from the violence. “We have not done what we should to stop that violence and we can do that more all over the world.” The March 24-27 summit called for an action plan to protect children on the move, especially as forced migrations worldwide are expected to increase over time.

Vatican releases statistics of Pope Francis’ pontificate VATICAN CITY — In five years as leader of the Church, Pope Francis has made 22 international trips, traveling 154,906 miles – the equivalent of six times around the world. He also has declared 880 new saints, including the martyrdom of an estimated 800 Italian laymen killed by Ottoman soldiers in the 15th century. The numbers released by the Vatican detailed the many papal events, documents and travels over the past five years. The numbers covered March 19, 2013 – the solemnity of St. Joseph, the day officially inaugurating his pontificate – to March 19, 2018.

— Catholic News Service

Save The Date

For the 15th Annual Vineyard of Hope

April 26, 2018 Crowne Plaza Charlotte Executive Park 5700 Westpark Drive, Charlotte, NC 28217 Pre-event Reception 5:30 p.m.

Blessing of the Meal 6:45 p.m.

For more information, please email vineyardofhope2018@charlottediocese.org

His Excellency The Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis Bishop of Charlotte requests the honor of your presence at the Liturgy of Ordination to the Permanent Diaconate Paul Christopher Bruck Ralph Benedict D'Agostino, Jr. David Matthew Rutter Faunce Steffen Michael Fohn Frank Lester Moyer Timothy James Mueller Matthew Allen Newsome Quang Thanh Nguyen David Madison Ramsey III Martin Michael Sheehan, Jr. Francis Eugene Skinner Paul Bernard Sparrow Peter Blaise Tonon Donald Joseph Waugh, Jr. Jack Anthony Yarbrough Saturday, the fourteenth of April Two thousand and eighteen at ten o’clock in the morning Saint Mark Catholic Church 14740 Stumptown Road Huntersville NC 28078

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ViewPoints 26

catholicnewsherald.com | March 30, 2018 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Bishop Robert Barron

I

n first century Judaism, there were many views concerning what happened to people after they died. Following a very venerable tradition, some said that death was the end, that the dead simply returned to the dust of the earth from which they came. Others maintained that the righteous dead would rise at the close of the age. Still others thought that the souls of the just went to live with God after the demise of their bodies. There were even some who believed in a kind of reincarnation.

What is particularly fascinating about the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection is that none of these familiar frameworks of understanding is invoked. The first witnesses maintain that the same Jesus who had been brutally and unmistakably put to death and buried was, through the power of God, alive again. He was not vaguely “with God,” nor had His soul escaped from His body; nor had He risen in a purely symbolic or metaphorical sense. He, Jeshoua from Nazareth, the friend whom they knew, was alive again. What was expected for all the righteous dead at the end of time had happened, in time, to this one particular man, to this Jesus. It was the very novelty of the event that gave such energy and verve to the first Christian proclamation. On practically every page of the New Testament, we find a grab-youby-the-lapels quality, for the early Christians were not trading in bland spiritual abstractions or moral bromides. They were trying to tell the whole world that something so new and astounding had happened that nothing would ever again be the same.

Over the past couple of centuries, many thinkers, both inside and outside of the Christian churches, endeavored to reduce the Resurrection message to the level of myth or symbol. Easter, they argued, was one more iteration of the “springtime saga” that can be found, in one form or another, in most cultures, namely, that life triumphs over death in the “resurrection” of nature after the bleak months of winter. Or it was a symbolic way of saying that the cause of Jesus lives on in His followers. But as C.S. Lewis keenly observed, those who think the resurrection story is a myth haven’t read many myths. Mythic literature deals in a historical archetypes, and thus it tends to speak of things that happened “once upon a time” or “in a galaxy far, far away.” But the Gospels don’t use that sort of language. In describing the Resurrection, they mention particular places like Judea and Jerusalem, and they specify that the event took place when Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of the region, and they name distinct individuals – Peter, John, Thomas, etc.

– who encountered Jesus after He rose from the dead. Moreover, no one dies defending mythic claims. The myths of Greece, Rome and Egypt are powerful and illuminating indeed, but there are no martyrs to Zeus or Dionysus or Osiris.

But practically all of the first heralds of the Resurrection went to their deaths defending the truth of their message.

Yet assuming the Resurrection is true, what does it mean? It means, first, that the customary manner in which we understand the relationship between order and violence – from the Epic of Gilgamesh to “Game of Thrones” – has to be rethought. On the standard Realpolitik reading of things, order comes about through the violent imposition of strength.

And if that order is lost or compromised, it

What Easter means must be restored through answering violence.

In Jesus’ time, the great principle of order was the Empire of Rome, which maintained its hold through the exertions of its massive army and through the imposition of harsh punishment on those who opposed its purposes. The most terrible and fearsome of these punishments was, of course, the cross, a particularly brutal mode of torture that was purposely carried out in public so as to have the greatest deterrent effect. It was precisely on one of these Roman crosses that Jesus of Nazareth was put to death, having been betrayed and abandoned by His friends and condemned by a corrupt tribunal of collaborators.

When the risen Jesus presented Himself alive to His disciples, we are told, they were afraid. Their fear might not have been simply a function of their seeing something uncanny; it might have been grounded in the assumption that He was back for vengeance. However, after showing His wounds, the risen Jesus said to His friends: “Shalom,” Peace. The teacher who had urged His followers to turn the other cheek and to meet violence with forgiveness exemplified His own teaching in the most vivid way possible.

And what He showed, thereby, was that the divine manner of establishing order has nothing to do with violence, retribution or eye-for-aneye retaliation. Instead, it has to do with a love which swallows up hate, with a forgiveness which triumphs over aggression. It is this great Resurrection principle which, explicitly or implicitly, undergirded the liberating work of Martin Luther King Jr. in America, of Mahatma Gandhi in India, of Bishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa, and of John Paul II in Poland. Those great practitioners of non-violent resistance were able to stand athwart the received wisdom only because they had some sense that in opting for the way of love they were going with the deepest grain of reality, operating in concert with the purposes of God. Secondly, the Resurrection means that God has not given up on His creation. According to the well-known account in Genesis, God made the whole array of finite things – sun, moon, planets, stars, animals, plants, things that creep and crawl on the earth – and found it all good, even very good. There is not a hint of dualism or Manichaeism in the Biblical vision, no setting of the spiritual over and against the material. All that God has made reflects some aspect of His goodness, and all created things together constitute a beautiful and tightlywoven tapestry. As the Old Testament lays out the story, human sin made a wreck of God’s creation, turning the garden into a desert. But the faithful God kept sending rescue operation after rescue operation: Noah’s ark, the prophets, the Law and the Temple, the people of Israel itself. Finally, He sent His only Son, the perfect incarnation of His love. In raising that Son from the dead, God definitively saved and ratified His creation, very much including the material dimension of it (which is why it matters that Jesus was raised bodily from death). Over and again, we have said no to what God has made, but God stubbornly says yes. Inspired by this divine yes, we always have a reason to hope.

BISHOP ROBERT BARRON is the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He is also the host of “Catholicism,” an award-winning documentary about the Catholic faith.

Jon Gauthier

T

Remember St. John Paul II on Divine Mercy Sunday

hirteen years ago this week, on Saturday, April 2, 2005, St. John Paul II passed away in his apartment above St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.

To say he was a humble servant is true, but to say that he shared in the history of Poland, Europe and the world through his holy orders and papacy is to understate his role in enabling freedom for men of goodwill.

Born in southern Poland in 1920, St. John Paul II witnessed his mother pass away when he was 9 years old. Raised by his father and brother, he lived a devotion to “His Mother,” the Virgin Mary. In fact, “Totus Tuus” became his life’s motto. In consecrating himself totally to the mother of Jesus, he even acknowledged that while a man fired the gun that attempted to take his life in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981, it was the Virgin Mary that guided the bullet that missed his heart by just millimeters.

During World War II, a young Karol Wojtyla witnessed his Jewish friends get captured and taken away by the Nazi’s Gestapo. He also learned of the Katyn massacre, where 22,000 Polish military personnel were ruthlessly murdered by their Soviet occupiers.

He became a priest while attending seminary in the underground of Poland. When he became a priest, then bishop of Krakow, and then cardinal of Krakow, he witnessed the lies of the government that said that there was no God. In fact, in Krakow, the government built a city called “Nowa Huta” which meant, “the new steel mill,” to represent “the first communist city without God.” When he led a peaceful protest to keep a wooden cross placed on the site, the Polish government swore to tear it down. Wives, mothers, sons and husbands did not allow the Polish government to tear down this wooden cross. Later, in 1969, Cardinal Wojtyla placed the cornerstone for a church to be built there. The events of this time would lead to the “new evangelization.”

Later, during the strikes of Poland in the late 1970s and early 1980s, “solidarity” became the name of the freedom movement for Poles and people seeking freedom across the Soviet-controlled Eastern Bloc.

We recall St. John Paul II also because of his profound impact on North Carolina, as well as the U.S., during his several visits to the United States.

He visited cities such as Columbia, S.C.; Washington, D.C.; New York, and later, a World Youth Day in Denver, Colo. He spoke to Americans as our pope, but also as our papa, father to us all. He also gave us Bishop William G. Curlin, and then, Bishop Peter J. Jugis.

My personal recollection of St. John Paul II is through his weekly column in the Catholic News Herald, “The Pope Speaks.” As he aged, he spoke freely to the world in his weekly Wednesday audiences. He gave us nuggets of wisdom, such as “History is not a meaningless series of events but is man’s path to God.” He spoke of pain and suffering, his own, but also that of the world that he witnessed as a young man, as well as a young priest, bishop, cardinal and then pope.

My wife Mary Anne and I and our family had the privilege of witnessing St. John Paul II celebrate his last week of Easter services in April 2004.

On April 2, 2005, we were in the North Carolina mountains when we were forced to evacuate the Blue Ridge Parkway because of blizzard conditions – at the same time when he passed away in Vatican City. That Saturday was the ninth day of the Novena to Divine Mercy. It was also a day when his personal secretary delivered Communion to St. John Paul II on the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday.

There is too much in the life of St. John Paul II to attribute the miracles around him to coincidence. And yet, as he lived his life in trust, depending on the infinite mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we are asked to trust in Jesus as well. And as we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday on the Sunday following Easter, let us also pray as Jesus taught us through St. Faustina to pray the Novena to Divine Mercy. And as we pray, let us also share in the memory of St. John Paul II’s passing on the ninth day of the Divine Mercy Novena.

JON GAUTHIER is a parishioner of St. Matthew Church in Charlotte and the author of “Embracing Goodness.”

Pray the novena At www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/novena.htm: Pray the Divine Mercy Novena starting on Good Friday, March 30

March 30, 2018 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

Fred Gallagher

Hello in there I

probably spend way too much time in my day-to-day life thinking about suffering. I’m of the “melancholic” temperament, after all.

My better excuse, however, is that I’m Irish and we sometimes cultivate and keep close at hand what has been referred to as “the delicious misery of the Gael.” But it is Lent, I tell myself, and this is the time of year we pray the Stations of the Cross, give alms and fast, doing without just a little so as to have at least a faint taste of the sufferings that so many others endure. These 40 days we may even meditate on the hard, uncomfortable facts of hatred and injustice, poverty and hunger that exist around us. During Lent, we do consider the faces of suffering.

I’ve noticed that in weekday Masses attendees are probably more than 50 percent seniors. Some are there way before the liturgy begins, as if anxious to take refuge in the sanctuary that the church offers. Others arrive to their usual places, for there is nothing quite like a familiar pew in a familiar church. They are mostly older couples, and often one is in better physical shape than the other.

So as one struggles with physical mobility, the other walks slowly astride and practices patience. Then a day comes when one arrives without their spouse, and I begin to wonder if the absent one is ill or if the remaining one is now widowed.

I begin to connect the inevitable suffering of these devout older folks with their station in life: a time of transition and readjustment, of loneliness and sometimes befuddlement. But I notice, too, their strength and enduring faith, their determination to live, and even their joy as they visit with each other or with children and grandchildren. Perhaps they serve at the Friday Lenten fish fries or stay after Mass to recite the rosary or the Stations of the Cross. They smile with old friends in the narthex after Mass, charity written on their life-worn faces – their charity mitigating their pain and their loneliness by reaching out to others, doing for others, taking each moment as it is and as a prelude to a greater life with the Father, ultimately reunified with those they loved for so many years.

One of my favorite singer-songwriters is John Prine. He wrote a particularly poignant song, the chorus of which goes: “You know that old trees just grow stronger/old rivers grow wilder everyday/but old people grow lonesome/waiting for someone to say/hello in there, hello.”

The verses of this song strike at my heart. It’s like we make it through our time on earth holding on to some sort of elusive integrity, only to suffer later indignities as friends and family pass on, as faculties weaken and dim and young people condescend, blind to the experience and wisdom of this, the wincing time of life.

I’m now old enough to taste that time, to anticipate its more potent presence in my life. But the chorus of the song isn’t quite accurate.

Indeed, few old-timers grow wilder everyday, but, like the trees, many really do grow stronger – in their faith, their perseverance and their willingness to live on despite life’s difficulties.

Perhaps it’s the cumulative effect of receiving Christ in the Eucharist thousands of times over one’s life, the countless confessions, novenas and nightly prayers, all those difficulties over the years offered up for the poor souls. Perhaps because of all this, there is a often a quiet, foundational joy that walks hand in hand with whatever sadness and suffering is borne. Maybe it’s a love that comes from living the faith, from sacrifices that attach to the suffering we see on the crucifix above the altar.

In Lent we embrace more intensely the suffering of Christ, as we see it in His people. So many beautiful elderly ones seem to understand this as a matter of course. They suffer loss greatly and often, but they also take it in stride. If we dare to say hello, to speak to them from our hearts, we will certainly be touched in return and perhaps even hear a minute or two’s tale of lifelong love and abiding faith.

As I contemplate the coming of those years in my own life, I suppose what I would hope for in that time is that whatever wounds of age (emotional, physical, spiritual) I will have incurred, someone around me – maybe someone considering a small Lenten sacrifice, someone whose kindness might show in a sudden laugh or hug or prayer – will reach out to me and soothe the edges of that age-old melancholy.

And so I remember the last verse of John Prine’s song: “So if you’re walking down the street sometime/and spot some hollow ancient eyes/please don’t pass ‘em by and stare/as if you didn’t care, say hello in there, hello.”

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

27

Father Francis Arockiasamy

Because of Christ, a new life is available to all

O

n Easter Sunday we celebrate the solemn feast of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I wish you all a happy Easter. The season of Lent is given to us to reflect on the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ through spiritual activities. During the season of Lent we have fasted, done penance, made pilgrimage to other churches, and prayed the Stations of the Cross to encounter Jesus’ passion and death. We do charitable things and spend more time in prayer.

Holy Week has also been very important to our worship. We celebrated Jesus Christ as the King on Palm Sunday. On Holy Thursday, we celebrated the institution of the Holy Eucharist and the priesthood. On Good Friday, we witnessed Jesus’ passion and death.

Finally, we celebrate the feast of Easter, which is both solemn and joyful, bringing us to Christ’s Resurrection and His having conquered death for us all. Easter gives the promise of God to us: life in Christ is stronger than death. In Him,

love overcomes hatred and good triumphs over evil. The miracle of Easter is the foundation of our Christian faith. The resurrection of Jesus Christ completes the mystery of redemption and salvation. Knowing this, we can understand and take comfort in Jesus Christ’s message, “Peace be with you.”

Easter invites us to rejoice with a deep, unrestrained joy on Our Lord’s victory over death.

Because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, a new life, the life in the spirit, is available to all. Christ’s sacrifice exemplifies self-giving; His resurrection proves self-sacrifice for His sake is rewarded.

Easter both invites and commands that we imitate Jesus and open ourselves in mind, heart and body to the needs of others. May you know the peace, hope, love and strength in new life that Our Lord offers.

FATHER FRANCIS X. AROCKIASAMY is administrator of Our Lady of the Mountains Church in Highlands.

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