Aug. 27, 2021

August 27, 2021

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JOHN 13:34

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Eucharistic Congress set for Sept. 17-18 3 INDEX

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‘A welcoming place to be with the Lord’ St. Aloysius Parish celebrates a decade of Perpetual Adoration

Deacons reaffirm ordination promises Bishop Jugis to deacons: You exemplify love of God and neighbor

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Diáconos reafirmaron sus promesas de ordenación

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Smoky Mountain Pregnancy Care Center brings ‘Harmoni’ to women in western N.C. 7

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Movimiento Emaús reinicia actividades 13

Our faith 2

catholicnewsherald.com | August 27, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

St. Gregory the Great Feast day: Sept. 3

Pope Francis

Hypocrisy in the Church is ‘detestable’

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ypocrites are afraid of the truth, fearful of who they really are and incapable of truly loving, Pope Francis said during his weekly general audience.

What hypocrites do “is like putting makeup on your soul, like putting makeup on your behavior” and hiding the truth, the pope said Aug. 25 to those gathered in the Paul VI audience hall at the Vatican.

All this pretending, he said, “suffocates the courage to openly say what is true and thus the obligation to say the truth at all times, everywhere and in spite of anything can easily be evaded,” he said.

The pope continued his series of talks on St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians and focused on the dangers of the law by looking at the apostle Peter’s “inconsistency” at Antioch.

Gentile Christians were free from the Jewish law, but there was pressure from people from Jerusalem that caused Sts. Peter and Barnabas to draw back from what the Gospel said.

That is why, in his letter, St. Paul condemns St. Peter “to his face because he clearly was wrong” by trying to appease critics who still observed Mosaic law and to justify his hypocritical behavior.

“Peter had been eating with the Christians of pagan origin without any difficulty; however, when some circumcised Christians from Jerusalem arrived in the city, he then no longer did so, because he did not want to incur their criticism,” Pope Francis said.

“Watch out. The mistake was paying more attention to the criticism, to make a good impression than the reality of the relationships,” the pope said.

This was serious in St. Paul’s eyes, because other disciples imitated St. Peter, and, even though he did not mean to, “Peter was, in fact, creating an unjust division within the community” by not being transparent or clear about what he was doing, Pope Francis said.

In his letter, St. Paul “wanted to remind the Christians of that community that they were absolutely not to listen to those who were preaching that it was necessary to be circumcised, and therefore be ‘under the law’ with all of its prescriptions,” Pope Francis said.

These “fundamentalist preachers,” he said, “created confusion and deprived that community of any peace.”

In his reproach to St. Peter, St. Paul uses the term “hypocrisy,” which “the apostle wanted to combat forcefully and convincingly,” the pope said.

Hypocrisy can be seen as a “fear of the truth. It is better to pretend rather than be yourself,” he said.

Wherever people are living “under the banner of formalism, the virus of hypocrisy easily spreads,” he said, mimicking the kind of strained, forced smile one might see – a smile “that doesn’t come from the heart,” but comes from a person “who tries to get along with everyone,” but, in the end, gets along with no one.

“Hypocrites are people who pretend, flatter and deceive because they live with a mask over their faces and do not have the courage to face the truth,” he said. “For this reason, they are not capable of truly loving” because they are limited by their ego and cannot “show their hearts transparently.”

Hypocrisy can be hidden at a workplace “where someone appears to be friends with their colleagues while, at the same time, they stab them behind the back due to competition,” he said.

It is not unusual to find hypocrites in the world of politics, when someone lives one way in public and another way in private, he added.

“Hypocrisy in the Church is particularly detestable.

Unfortunately, hypocrisy does exist in the Church and there are many hypocritical Christians and ministers,” he said.

Jesus, too, condemned hypocrisy, Pope Francis said, asking people to read Chapter 23 of the Gospel according to St. Matthew to see how often Jesus condemned such behavior.

“Let’s not be afraid to be truthful, to speak the truth, to hear the truth, to conform ourselves to the truth, so that we can love. A hypocrite does not know how to love,” he said.

“To act other than truthfully means jeopardizing the unity of the Church, that unity for which the Lord Himself prayed,” the pope said.

St. Gregory the Great, a central figure of the medieval western Church and one of the most admired popes in history, is commemorated in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Catholic liturgy on Sept. 3.

Born near the middle of the 6th century into a noble Roman family, Gregory received a classical education in liberal arts and the law. He also had strong religious formation from his devout family, particularly from his mother Silvia, also a canonized saint. By around the age of 30, Gregory had advanced to high political office in Rome, during what was nevertheless a period of marked decline for the city.

Some time after becoming the prefect of the former imperial capital, Gregory chose to leave the civil administration to become a monk during the rise of the Benedictine order.

In reality, however, the new monk’s great career in public life was yet to come.

After three years of strict monastic life, he was called personally by the pope to assume the office of a deacon in Rome. From Rome, he was dispatched to Constantinople to seek aid from the emperor for Rome’s civic troubles and to aid in resolving the Eastern Church’s theological controversies. He returned to Rome in 586 after six years of service as the papal representative to the eastern Church and empire.

Rome faced a series of disasters caused by flooding in 589, followed by the death of Pope Pelagius II the next year. Gregory, then serving as abbot in a monastery, reluctantly accepted his election to replace him as the Bishop of Rome.

Despite this initial reluctance, however, Pope Gregory began working tirelessly to reform and solidify the Roman liturgy, the disciplines of the Church, the military and economic security of Rome, and the Church’s spreading influence in western Europe.

As pope, Gregory brought his political experience at Rome and Constantinople to bear in the task of preventing the Catholic Church from becoming subservient to any of the various groups struggling for control of the former imperial capital. As the former abbot of a monastery, he strongly supported the Benedictine movement as a bedrock of the western Church. He sent missionaries to England and is given much of the credit for the nation’s conversion.

He is known above all for his magnificent contributions to the Liturgy of the Mass and Office. He is one of the four great Doctors of the Latin Church.

In undertaking these works, Pope Gregory saw himself as the “servant of the servants of God.” He was the first of the Bishops of Rome to popularize the now-traditional papal title, which referred to Christ’s command that those in the highest position of leadership should be “the last of all and the servant of all.”

Even as he undertook to consolidate papal power and shore up the West during the crumbling of the Roman empire, St. Gregory the Great maintained a humble sense of his mission as a servant and pastor of souls from the time of his election until his death on March 12, 604. He is the patron of teachers.

— Catholic News Agency

Daily Scripture readings AUG. 29-SEPT. 4

Sunday: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8, James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27, Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23; Monday: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Luke 4:1630; Tuesday: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11, Luke 4:31-37; Wednesday: Colossians 1:1-8, Luke 4:38-44; Thursday: Colossians 1:9-14, Luke 5:1-11; Friday (St. Gregory the Great): Colossians 1:15-20, Luke 5:33-39; Saturday: Colossians 1:2123, Luke 6:1-5

SEPT. 5-11

Sunday: Isaiah 35:4-7a, James 2:1-5, Mark 7:31-37; Monday: Colossians 1:24-2:3, Luke 6:6-11; Tuesday: Colossians 2:6-15, Luke 6:12-19; Wednesday (The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary): Micah 5:1-4a, Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23; Thursday (St. Peter Claver): Colossians 3:12-17, Luke 6:27-38; Friday: 1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14, Luke 6:39-42; Saturday: 1 Timothy 1:1517, Luke 6:43-49;

SEPT. 12-18

Sunday: Isaiah 50:4c-9a, James 2:14-18, Mark 8:27-35; Monday (St. John Chrysostom): 1 Timothy 2:1-8, Luke 7:1-10; Tuesday (The Exaltation of the Holy Cross): Numbers 21:4b-9, Philippians 2:6-11, John 3:13-17; Wednesday (Our Lady of Sorrows): 1 Timothy 3:1416, John 19:25-27; Thursday (Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian): 1 Timothy 4:12-16, Luke 7:36-50; Friday (St. Robert Bellarmine): 1 Timothy 6:2c-12, Luke 8:1-3; Saturday: 1 Timothy 6:13-16, Luke 8:4-15

Our parishes

August 27, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

PHOTOS BY BARBARA CASE SPEERS | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Parishioners of St. Aloysius Church celebrated the 10-year anniversary of Perpetual Adoration at the parish on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Aug. 15. The day-long celebration included Masses, recitation of the rosary, Holy Hour and Benediction – all in English and in Spanish – along with a festive meal prepared jointly by the Knights of Columbus and the Hispanic community.

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Eucharistic Congress set for Sept. 17-18 SUEANN HOWELL SENIOR REPORTER

Father Ferris says.

St. Aloysius’ day-long celebration included Masses, recitation of the rosary, Holy Hour and Benediction – all in English and in Spanish – along with a festive meal prepared jointly by the Knights of Columbus and the Hispanic community. Unity in the love of Christ was the unspoken theme of the day.

Fifty-eight of the original adorers are still involved, notes Barbara Hancock, who oversees the ministry. Evening and early morning time slots – among the most difficult to fill – have been a special focus for Hispanic parishioners, she notes.

Hancock expresses thanks to God “for all the favors He has bestowed upon us, and also to thank our adorers both past and present and, hopefully, elicit new adorers.”

She has always “felt a sense of peace and unconditional love whenever I was in private devotion with the Holy Eucharist,” calling it a “perfect time to reflect on life and all that God has given us.”

In her role as coordinator of the ministry, which she considers a calling from God, Hancock oversees all aspects of the chapel, both spiritual and physical. The ministry has continued despite the challenges of the pandemic.

“We were very fortunate to have been able to keep the Adoration Chapel open during the pandemic due to the devotion of our adorers, especially our senior citizens and our Hispanic community,” Hancock says.

“This time with Jesus is a time of self-healing, a time of friendship with the Lord, a time of self-reflection when all personal problems and cares are put into proper perspective, a time to feel the love of Jesus and know that He is always there interceding on our behalf.”

John and Lorraine Lamonica have been praying at the Adoration Chapel for 10 years, every Saturday at 1 a.m. “We selected the 1 a.m. hour to have peace and quiet, get closer to God,” John Lamonica says. “During this time we pray, read, meditate and, yes, sometimes nap,” and during that time, “all of the week’s trials and concerns are lifted off.”

His wife Lorraine says, “I had to ask John why did he want to do 1 a.m. in the morning – we’ll get no sleep! He said it’s a tiny sacrifice to spend time with the Lord.”

Gia Maxson spends the 10 a.m. hour every other Friday at the chapel, as she has for a decade. “I wanted the silence,” she says.

“Adoration gives me peace.” She thought the chapel could use ADORATION, SEE PAGE 21

CONGRESS, SEE PAGE 21

‘A welcoming place to be with the Lord’ HICKORY — Parishioners at St. Aloysius Church gathered Aug. 15 to celebrate a joyful milestone: 10 years of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration.

The Mass and anniversary celebration coincided with the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when the parish’s Perpetual Adoration Chapel first opened in 2011. Father Bob Ferris, former pastor, returned to offer the Mass, remembering the joy but also the work it took to open the Perpetual Adoration Chapel 10 years earlier.

The effort took about three years, Father Ferris recalled, starting with educating parishioners about the importance of Eucharistic Adoration, along with the usual logistical planning: finding a location for the chapel, lining up adorers to man the round-the-clock schedule, and organizing a core committee of volunteers to oversee the project to completion, among other tasks.

Yet their hard work was inspired by the knowledge that Adoration – spending time with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist – would bring spiritual graces to the entire parish community.

“My motivation to institute Perpetual Adoration was based on my personal experiences in Adoration, both before I was a priest and during my first year as a priest serving at St. Gabriel in Charlotte, where Perpetual Adoration had already been established for years,” Father Ferris remembers. “I found great comfort and peace being present before Jesus in the monstrance. It was there that clarity of thought and deep peace occurred for me and a deepening of my love for Jesus.”

He notes the importance of Eucharistic Adoration was defined

by Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical “Sacramentum Caritas” (“Sacrament of Love”): “In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us; Eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the Eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church’s supreme act of adoration. ... The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself. Indeed, only in adoration can a profound and genuine reception mature. And it is precisely this personal encounter with the Lord that then strengthens the social mission contained in the Eucharist, which seeks to break down not only the walls that separate the Lord and ourselves, but also and especially the walls that separate us from one another (191-193).”

“This last point is particularly important in today’s society,”

JOHN 13:34

CHARLOTTE — The 2021 Eucharistic Congress, which brings clergy, religious and laity together for a diocesan-wide celebration, is set for Sept. 17-18 at the Charlotte Convention Center, with pandemic health measures in place.

“As I Have Loved You,” from the Gospel of John 13:34, is the theme for the 17th annual Congress.

Bishop Peter Jugis, in announcing the theme earlier this year, noted the integral connection between the love of Christ and the Eucharist: “The Holy Eucharist is the sacrament of Christ’s great love for us, a love which He showed us by His sacrifice on the cross for our salvation. Christ is really present in the Holy Eucharist, and through the Eucharist He strengthens our charity.”

Attendees aged 5 and older will be required to wear a face covering inside the Charlotte Convention Center, unless exempted as prescribed by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County mandate in effect at least through Sept. 20. Hand sanitizing stations will also be located throughout the convention center.

Anyone who is vulnerable or cares for anyone at risk of serious complications from COVID-19 should consider forgoing the in-person event and instead watch videos of the talks and the closing Mass with Bishop Peter Jugis that will be posted afterward on the diocese’s YouTube channel. (Subscribe to the channel or follow the Catholic News Herald on Facebook to learn when the videos will be available for viewing.)

The Eucharistic Congress kicks off at 6:45 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17, with a welcome, prayer and introductions by Bishop Jugis. Byzantine Rite Vespers (Evening Prayer) will follow at 7 p.m.

Dr. William Thierfelder, president of Belmont Abbey College, will give a talk entitled “My Imitation of Christ” beginning at 8 p.m.

A college program for young adults will be offered from 7 to 10 p.m. at St. Patrick Cathedral, located at 1621 Dilworth Road East.

Nocturnal Adoration at the cathedral will follow the college program from 10:30 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. on Saturday.

The Eucharistic Procession, one of the highlights of the Congress, begins at 9 a.m.

Saturday, starting at St. Peter Church, located at 507 S. Tryon Street in Charlotte.

ST. ALOYSIUS PARISH CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF PERPETUAL ADORATION

BARBARA CASE SPEERS CORRESPONDENT

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‘This time with Jesus is ... a time to feel the love of Jesus and know that He is always there interceding on our behalf.’ — Barbara Hancock, St. Aloysius Church’s Perpetual Adoration Chapel ministry coordinator

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UPcoming events 4

catholicnewsherald.com | August 27, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following upcoming events: AUG. 29 – 9:30 A.M. Mass Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the Parish Christ the King Church, High Point AUG. 31 – 6 P.M. Sacrament of Confirmation Immaculate Heart of Mary Mission, Hayesville

SEPT. 2 – 6 P.M. Sacrament of Confirmation St. Margaret Mary Church, Swannanoa

SEPT. 7 – 6 P.M. Sacrament of Confirmation St. Frances of Rome Mission, Sparta

SEPT. 4 – 9 A.M. Mass Missionaries of Charity Convent, Charlotte

SEPT. 9 – NOON Foundation Board Meeting Diocesan Pastoral Center, Charlotte

SEPT. 10 – 6 P.M. Sacrament of Confirmation Our Lady of Mercy Church, Winston-Salem

Diocesan calendar of events August 27, 2021

CONFERENCES

Volume 30 • NUMBER 24

EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS: Friday-Saturday, Sept. 17-18, Charlotte Convention Center, 501 South College St., Charlotte. This spiritually unifying event brings together thousands of Catholics from across the diocese and the Southeast for spiritual talks, music, prayer and fellowship – all centered around the Eucharist. Everyone is welcome! Go to www.goeucharist.com for details.

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.

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RESPECT LIFE CONFERENCE: Saturday, Oct. 2, St. Margaret Mary Church, 102 Andrews Place, Swannanoa.

This conference is open to all parish Respect Life coordinators and all who are involved in pro-life work in the Diocese of Charlotte. For details and registration, email Jessica Grabowski at jrgrabowski@ charlottediocese.org or go online to www.ccdoc.org/ respectlife.

ESPAÑOL UNA VIGILIA DE ADORACIÓN POR LA PAZ Y LA JUSTICIA EN NICARAGUA: Los jueves a las 6 p.m., nos reunimos en la Catedral San Patricio para, que en estos últimos meses está pasando por momentos turbulentos y ataques físicos contra la Iglesia Católica, sus templos, y sus Obispos. Todos son bienvenidos a unirse a la Adoración, rezar el Santo Rosario y la corona de adoración y reparación, y terminando con la oración de exorcismo de San Miguel Arcángel. La vigilia de oración es en español. Las próximas fechas serán Sept. 9, 16, 23 y 30.

VIGILIA DE LOS DOS CORAZONES: Primer viernes y sábado del mes, en la Catedral San Patricio, 1621 Dilworth Road East, Charlotte. Únase cada primer viernes del mes a una vigilia nocturna para honrar los Corazones de Jesús y María, orar por nuestras familias, ofrecer penitencia por nuestros pecados y pedir por la conversión de nuestra nación. Para inscribirse a una hora de Adoración, visite www.ProLifeCharlotte.org/ dos-corazones.

PRAYER SERVICES & GROUPS VIGIL OF THE TWO HEARTS: First Fridays and First Saturdays, St. Patrick Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Road East, Charlotte. The next vigil will be Sept. 3-4, with Father Joshua Voitus as Mass celebrant. Join each First Friday through First Saturday of the month in an overnight vigil to honor the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and to offer penance and pray for the conversion of our nation. To sign up for Eucharistic Adoration times, go to www.

ProLifeCharlotte.org/two-hearts.

33-DAY CONSECRATION TO ST. JOSEPH: Consider making a consecration to St. Joseph using “Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father” by Father Donald Calloway, MIC. Starting the 33-day series of prayers on Thursday, Sept. 30, would conclude on Monday, Nov. 1, All Saints Day. Learn more at www. yearofstjoseph.org.

Join the St. Joseph College seminarians for Solemn Vespers CHARLOTTE — All are welcome to pray Solemn Vespers (Evening Prayer) with the St. Joseph College seminarians on certain Sundays at 5 p.m. at St. Ann Church, located at 3635 Park Road in Charlotte. Upcoming Solemn Vespers services are scheduled for Sept. 12 and 26, Oct. 10 and 31, Nov. 7 and 21, and Dec. 5. Vespers is one of the prayers that comprise the Liturgy of the Hours, called the heartbeat of the Church. Cherished worldwide for millennia by monks and nuns, but also by priests and the laity, this Divine Office has seven “hours” that make up the day. By praying this liturgy, you will join a worldwide community and the saints in heaven praising God through these beautiful psalms and hymns. For more information, go online to www.stjcs.org/solemn-vespers or email Fredrik Akerblom at fakerblom@gmail.com.

SAFE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING “Protecting God’s Children” (“Protegiendo a los Niños de Dios”) workshops educate parish volunteers to recognize and prevent child sexual abuse. For details, contact your parish office. To register for training, go to www.virtus. org. Upcoming workshops are:

ARDEN: 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 28, St. Barnabas Church, 109 Crescent Hill Dr. BOONVILLE: 12-3 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 28, Divine Redeemer Church, 209 Lon Ave. (In Spanish only) CHARLOTTE: 7-10 p.m. Monday, Sept. 20, St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Road (Meet in the Fellowship Hall) CLEMMONS: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 4, Holy Family Church, 4820 Kinnamon Road (In Spanish only) GREENSBORO: 9 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Sept. 11, St. Paul the Apostle Church, 2715 Horse Pen Creek Road (video conference session) HICKORY: 2-5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27, St. Aloysius Church, 921 Second St. N.E. (In Spanish only)

HIGH POINT: 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 4145 Johnson St. (Meet in St. Edwards A) JEFFERSON: 9 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 28, St. Francis of Assisi Church, 326 East Main St. SWANNANOA: 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, St. Margaret Mary Church, 102 Andrews Pl. (Meet in the overflow seating area in the Ed Building) SUPPORT GROUPS RACHEL’S VINEYARD: Are you or a loved one seeking healing from the effects of a past abortion? Rachel’s Vineyard weekend retreats are offered by Catholic Charities for men and women in the diocese. For details: Jackie Childers at 980241-0251 or Jackie.childers1@gmail.com, or Jessica Grabowski at 910-585-2460 or jrgrabowski@charlottediocese.org.

IS YOUR PARISH OR SCHOOL hosting a free event open to the public? Deadline for all submissions is 10 days prior to desired publication date. Submit in writing to catholicnews@charlottediocese.org.

August 27, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

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With mask mandates and rise of COVID-19, face coverings return to some parishes and schools PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE AND KIMBERLY BENDER CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

CHARLOTTE — Parishes and schools are responding with changes in health protocols as public health officials report increasing spread of COVID-19.

As of Aug. 25, 14,212 North Carolinians have died from COVID-19. State metrics for 98 out of 100 counties show high or substantial levels of virus transmission, and 3,503 people are hospitalized – a number that has quadrupled since July 21. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that people wear a mask in all indoor public spaces, regardless of their vaccination status, in communities with high or substantial transmission levels.

In response to these worsening conditions, communities including Buncombe, Haywood, Mecklenburg and Guilford counties have instituted indoor face covering mandates under various circumstances – from public spaces, to schools, to businesses and government offices. The flurry of local health measures with no unified statewide directive has created confusion and questions among the faithful, prompting Monsignor Patrick Winslow, the Diocese of Charlotte’s vicar general and chancellor, to issue guidance to pastors Aug. 20.

Calling for prayers for “unity and charity within our diocesan family,” Monsignor Winslow advised pastors to “remain attentive to any local face covering rules and other health measures put in place by your local officials and health departments.”

He acknowledged that “state executive orders have recognized that constitutionally protected activity, such as religious services, are exempt from such mandates.”

However, he also noted, “Manage and adjust your particular safety precautions based on your prudential judgment and pastoral needs, and continue offering accompaniment and care to those who are vulnerable or fearful.”

“Above all,” he added, “we must continue encouraging the faithful to remain close to Jesus who sustains us especially during difficult times such as this.”

PARISHES

Some parishes have reinstated mask requirements at indoor worship services and other gatherings, while others are encouraging face coverings or leaving it

to parishioners to decide what’s best for them. Most continue to offer livestreamed Masses for those who are ill, vulnerable or homebound. Other measures include frequent sanitation and increased ventilation. Diocesewide, the options of receiving Communion from the chalice and shaking hands at the Sign of Peace remain omitted.

St. Paul the Apostle Church in Greensboro is among those requiring face coverings indoors due to local public health rules and concern for its elderly and vulnerable parishioners. Father Joseph Mack, pastor, acknowledged some parishioners have objected to wearing face coverings at church, but, he notes in a message on the parish website, “As St. Paul’s has a large number of elderly parishioners and those with other health issues I find it necessary for the time being to ask your forbearance and wear a mask within parish facilities – and hopefully for a very short time.”

Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in High Point has also reinstated face coverings at Mass and set up sociallydistanced seating areas for vulnerable and unvaccinated parishioners.

“In a spirit of care and concern for our neighbors and in light of the Guilford County mask mandate, we are asking everyone to wear a mask to prevent the spread of the Delta variant, which has been shown to infect even vaccinated people,” the parish notes on its website.

Other churches have left the decision about whether to wear masks to their parishioners, in some cases recommending them and typically monitoring the incidence of COVID-19 cases to determine if changes are necessary.

St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte is among parishes recommending face coverings for Mass-goers and requiring them for Eucharistic ministers during the distribution of Communion.

Father Richard Sutter, pastor, told parishioners in an email that he hoped the health measures would give people peace of mind about attending Mass safely in person at St. Gabriel Church, the second-largest parish in the diocese.

“I am called, as pastor and shepherd of this large community, to help as many people as possible encounter Jesus. He is the Bread of Life, in whom we place our hope and trust. Especially in these times of difficulty and concern, we need spiritual food – to receive Jesus at Mass,” he wrote.

He said he hoped the measures would be temporary, and

asked people “to exercise Christian charity and respect with those whose choices in responding to the pandemic differ from your own.”

“We must be vigilant in not allowing these choices to be an instrument of division in our parish,” he said.

SCHOOLS

Before the school year began, diocesan school leaders issued guidance that face coverings would be optional, determining that parents are in a better position to decide what’s most appropriate for their children. But since then, as the Delta variant brings more unknowns and has infected some younger populations, local public health guidance and mandates have prompted or required most schools to require masks for all students, faculty, staff and visitors while indoors.

Face coverings are required indoors under most circumstances at Our Lady of Mercy and St. Leo schools in Winston-Salem, Immaculate Heart of Mary School in High Point, Our Lady of Grace and St. Pius X schools in Greensboro, Asheville Catholic School, Immaculata School in Hendersonville, and Bishop McGuinness High School in Kernersville.

Face coverings are optional at Sacred Heart School in Salisbury and St. Michael School in Gastonia.

The nine Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools adopted a universal face covering requirement Aug. 25 after city and county leaders expanded a joint public health rule requiring face coverings indoors. The revised mandate now applies to everyone aged 5 and older in all indoor public spaces, businesses and schools – including private and parochial schools.

In an Aug. 23 letter to MACS parents, superintendent Dr. Gregory Monroe wrote that staff and students may request an exemption in line with the public health rule, and he emphasized, “We continue to believe parents are in the best position to understand their children’s needs.”

“Our schools remain committed to safely providing inperson instruction and as normal a learning environment as possible, as we have done since the beginning of the pandemic,” Monroe wrote. “I appreciate your continued understanding and support as we encourage and promote the holistic, healthy development of the whole child in communion with you, our parents and families.”

‘As ordained ministers of the Church, you deacons give an important witness of Christian service to the faithful of your parishes.’ — Bishop Peter Jugis

Bishop Jugis: Deacons exemplify love of God and neighbor through their ministry PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE EDITOR

CHARLOTTE — Dozens of permanent deacons from across western North Carolina gathered in Charlotte for a special Mass Aug. 14 to reaffirm their love of the Lord and their commitment to the Church.

The Diocese of Charlotte’s annual Mass in which deacons renew their ordination promises was offered at St. Patrick Cathedral and livestreamed on the diocese’s YouTube channel.

The reaffirmation of promises “is short – it lasts only a minute or so,” Bishop Peter Jugis noted, “but it is the sincere interior devotion of the heart which will carry it forward day by day, so that it does not last but a moment, but is refreshed, renewed and affirmed every day.”

The deacons’ ministry is inspired by the love of God and love of neighbor, the bishop said, reflecting in his homily on the readings of the day from 1 Jn 3:14-18 and the Gospel of John 15:12-16.

The readings for the Aug. 14 memorial of

St. Maximilian Kolbe illustrate the saint’s “selfless love for God and his selfless love of neighbor,” Bishop Jugis told the deacons, and “serve as an inspiration for you, who are ordained for the ministry of service.”

St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest, was martyred at Auschwitz in 1941 after volunteering to die in place of a stranger who had been selected by the Nazis to starve to death.

“Love of God and love of neighbor (are) the extraordinary witness of St. Maximilian’s life and also the witness of your life in ministry,” Bishop Jugis said.

“As ordained ministers of the Church, you deacons give an important witness of Christian service to the faithful of your parishes, and that witness you give inspires your parishioners in their service to the Lord in whatever paths the Lord has called them to follow,” he said.

“I can truly say that all the deacons I know, in fact, do inspire the imitation of God’s holy people by the example of their lives.”

PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Permanent deacons from across the Diocese of Charlotte gathered for a special Mass Aug. 14 at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte to reaffirm their ordination promises.

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catholicnewsherald.com | August 27, 2021 OUR PARISHES

AT OUR LADY OF THE MOUNTAINS IN HIGHLANDS

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY OUR LADY OF THE MOUNTAINS CHURCH

Columbarium blessed HIGHLANDS — Bishop Peter Jugis traveled to Our Lady of the Mountains Church Aug. 6 to offer Mass and bless a columbarium with 21 niches. The ceremony involved the transfer of an already existing small columbarium from one location on the church property to another location on the property, without the addition of any new niches. Father Jason Barone, parish administrator, assisted at the ceremony.

Journey of Hope riders makes special visit to Holy Angels SHAWN FLYNN SPECIAL TO THE CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

BELMONT — A group of adventurous and dedicated cyclists made a stop at Holy Angels during their 59-day-long, 3,663-mile journey across the United States to bring awareness and support for people with intellectual developmental disabilities.

The Journey of Hope is an annual cross-country ride created by The Ability Experience, the exclusive philanthropy of Pi Kappa Phi. Riders stopped recently on day 51 of their 59-day journey for the team.

They started in Santa Barbara, Calif., and concluded in Washington, D.C. “It’s crazy because the further we go into it, the less tired we get. The first few weeks were definitely the roughest, but now that we’ve made it further into the trip we’re able to cope with what we’re dealing with,” said Dalton James, a Journey of Hope rider from Shelby who attends North Carolina State.

The riders took a couple of laps around the Holy Angels campus with residents safely cheering them on from a distance. In years past, riders would eat lunch with the residents and get to know them on a personal level. This year because of the pandemic, the riders were not able to interact directly with the residents.

“Holy Angels is just a magical place for us.

The opportunity to bring college students to a residential campus and to see the work Holy Angels does each and every day is inspiring, magical and an opportunity to connect the men of Pi Kappa Phi to these service opportunities is special,” said The Ability Experience CEO Basil Lyberg. “Every time a man steps on this campus they leave with a fuller heart.”

The Ability Experience, headquartered in Charlotte, has raised more than $15 million to benefit people with disabilities and organizations dedicated to their service. The relationship between this nonprofit and Holy Angels goes back decades.

“We consider members of the Ability

Experience our close friends,” said Holy Angels President/CEO Regina Moody. “Ever since our first experience with them in 1989, this organization has continued to support Holy Angels through their time, talent and treasure. The Journey of Hope isn’t just about a long bike ride during one summer for these men. It’s about building strong leaders and creating relationships that last decades.”

Moody also serves on the board of directors for the Ability Experience.

The Ability Experience (then known as PUSH America) first came to Holy Angels in 1989 when members of the fraternity from across the southeast spent a weekend building a play area. The organization returned a few years later for another weekend and helped build Camp Hope, a recreation destination on Lake Wylie for Holy Angels’ residents. Members of the fraternity have made multiple other visits to help refurbish and expand the original projects.

Four riders with connections to North Carolina participated in this year’s Journey of Hope: Dalton James of Lawndale, Alex Simpson of Huntersville and Liam Wyman, who all attend N.C. State; and Nico Krachenfels of Chapel Hill, who attends UNC-Chapel Hill.

“When you ride through and you’re just doing two laps it seems like such a small thing, but you feel like a celebrity. To see them all waiving and smiling. I have chills thinking about it right now,” said Simpson.

“They’re just so happy to see us and they’re greeting us with wide open arms. They just want to see us. It feels incredible, honestly.”

Holy Angels was founded in 1955 by the Sisters of Mercy. The private, nonprofit corporation in Belmont provides residential services and innovative programs for children and adults with intellectual developmental disabilities with delicate medical conditions.

To learn more about Holy Angels, join Holy Angels caring team or volunteer, call 704-8254161 or visit Holy Angels’ website at www. holyangelsnc.org.

August 27, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

Then I heard the Voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?

Who will go for us?”

“Here I am;” I said, “Send me!”

-Isaiah 6:8 PHOTO PROVIDED BY CAROL TUCKER

The Smoky Mountain Pregnancy Care Center board members and staff attended the SMPCC open house July 7 where Deacon David Ramsey (far right) of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Franklin blessed the new Harmoni mobile ultrasound unit.

Smoky Mountain Pregnancy Care Center brings ‘Harmoni’ to women in western N.C. SUEANN HOWELL SENIOR REPORTER

FRANKLIN — For nearly 20 years, the Smoky Mountain Pregnancy Care Center has provided free resources to pregnant women facing challenges to help them choose life for their unborn children.

Recently, with a $9,000 grant from Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville, SMPCC has added “Harmoni,” a new mobile ultrasound unit, to bolster their outreach efforts to abortion-minded women – particularly those headed to Planned Parenthood in Asheville.

Elizabeth Harris, a parishioner of St. Margaret Mary Church in Swannanoa, leads the Sidewalk Advocates for Life of Asheville. She says she and the other SAFL volunteers are partnering with the SMPCC to offer a peaceful presence out on the sidewalk near Planned Parenthood and to serve as the gateway from the abortion facility to the Harmoni mobile ultrasound unit.

“It’s such a blessing (to have the mobile unit) because some of the other pregnancy care centers are not open on Saturdays,” Harris explains. “The goal is for Harmoni to be on the frontlines of the abortion facility to offer that initial screening and ultrasound and then to refer clients to their nearest pregnancy care center for longerterm support.”

SAFL volunteers hold help-oriented signs for women to see as they approach the abortion facility. The signs show arrows pointing to the mobile unit.

“We strategically place people for high visibility and also have advocates positioned in the driveway to give out literature and gift bags to men and women driving in and out,” Harris says.

Immaculate Conception parishioner Jack Bride is a volunteer with SAFL who saw a great need for a mobile ultrasound

unit outside Planned Parenthood. Bride approached his pastor, Father Christian Cook, and appealed to him and the parish finance council for the funds necessary to help provide the SMPCC mobile ultrasound unit.

The $9,000 parish grant will cover most of the operating costs for the Harmoni mobile unit for one year.

“This is going to give women in Asheville a resource they’ve never had,” Bride says.

He spends hours each week outside Planned Parenthood handing out information and praying for the women and men who drive past him into the facility parking lot.

“It’s not something that I am necessarily good at,” he says humbly. “I’m white haired, 75 years old. I know some women would prefer to talk with me than with other women, (but) generally they want to speak to other women.”

Bride plans to continue to raise awareness and funds for the mobile unit not just within the Catholic community, but in the Asheville area at large.

“I told (the SMPCC) board of directors, ‘You’ve done your part, now in terms of operating costs, we in Asheville should be addressing the plague of abortion in our area with our financial support.’”

Carol Tucker, a registered nurse with SMPCC, is a parishioner of St. Joseph Church in Bryson City. She specializes in obstetrics and works two days a week for the pregnancy care center. She helps staff the Harmoni mobile unit and understands how crucial it can be in saving the life of a child whose mother is in a crisis pregnancy situation.

“I can see the reality, the grievous looks on their faces (when women come out of the abortion facility),” she says. “The only person who has to live with this is the woman who has the abortion. … There’s CARE, SEE PAGE 21

With Gratitude to Almighty God, the Diocese of Charlotte joyfully announces Ordination to the Holy Order of Deacon, to be conferred through the Invocation of the Holy Spirit and the Imposition of hands by His Excellency, Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis, Bishop of Charlotte on Saturday, the twenty-fifth of September, Two Thousand and Twenty-One at ten o’clock in the morning at St. Mark Catholic Church, Huntersville, NC

To Be Ordained: Joseph Christopher Becker Eduardo Montes Bernal Carl Frederick Brown Charles David Hindbaugh Todd Michael Labonte John Philip Langlois Thomas Patrick Martin William Sylvester Melton, Jr. Francisco Luna Piña Herbert Antonio Quintanilla Joseph Bernard Smith Margarito Franco Torres All guests are requested to be seated in the church by nine thirty in the morning.

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catholicnewsherald.com | August 27, 2021 OUR PARISHES

SEMINARIAN SPOTLIGHT: Joseph Yellico CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte is blessed with 45 men enrolled at three seminaries to study for the priesthood this fall – 24 men at St. Joseph College Seminary in Mount Holly, 15 at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati, and five at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, with one taking a pastoral year.

Joseph Yellico, a parishioner of St. Mark Church in Huntersville, is among those studying Yellico in Rome. The Catholic News Herald recently asked Yellico to talk about his discernment process as a seminarian, to help people of the diocese get to know him: CNH: When did you first hear the call to a vocation to the priesthood?

Yellico: My call to the vocation of the priesthood began around the age of 11. My family and I lived on Long Island at the time and often volunteered at parishes or with religious orders like the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. The idea of being a priest was very vague at this age; I enjoyed the concept of helping others through this vocation, but this wasn’t the first thing on my list. First and foremost, I wanted to be a doctor and be of service through study of medical science, particularly the field of neurology. Being a healer for others, while growing in knowledge and wonder of a field I still am passionate about, was attractive to me. It was only towards the end of my undergraduate that the priesthood resurfaced. I was working at a care facility for the mentally/physically disabled. One individual I worked with could not speak coherently but loved to listen to music.

While on patient transport, I turned the radio on to her favorite channel and the song “Better Boat” by Kenny Chesney was on. The song talked about trust in God’s

plan and letting oneself be guided by Him. This spoke directly to the inner conflict I had between the call to medicine and the call to the priesthood. As if this wasn’t enough, the girl in the back seat looked at me through the rear-view mirror with a smile and said, “It’s going to be OK, Joe. Don’t worry!” This moment among many distinct moments directed me onto this current path to becoming not a healer of the body but, God willing, a healer of souls.

CNH: Who did you first talk to about your vocation?

Yellico: I mentioned the idea of the priesthood to my parents and close friends first. Once I became more comfortable with the idea of entering into the seminary, I called my spiritual director/pastor and asked him for some further advice.

CNH: What type of feedback or advice did you get from them?

Yellico: My family and friends have been nothing but supportive of me. In many and varied ways, they all essentially told me that whatever God willed was the right path. This path would be clear whether or not one had peace in it. So far this advice has been correct!

CNH: How did you go about discerning where you felt called to explore your possible vocation?

Yellico: Originally, I did not consider diocesan but religious priesthood. I discerned with the Benedictines while I studied at Belmont Abbey College.

However, I realized over time that the ideal position for me was something that involved some form of healing, particularly something which related to my love of medicine. As a doctor treats his patients daily, so a parish priest administers to his parish family. I met with my spiritual director and was advised to visit the seminary, spend time in Adoration and go to Mass more often.

CNH: How and when did you reach out to the Vocations Office at the diocese?

Business Manager

Yellico: Once I made the decision to enter the seminary, I met with my pastor, who then notified the diocese’s vocations director.

CNH: When did you enter seminary for the Diocese of Charlotte?

Yellico: I entered the seminary for the Diocese of Charlotte in August 2019.

CNH: What seminary have you been assigned to?

Yellico: My first two years of seminary were in-state at St. Joseph College Seminary. For major theology, I have been assigned to the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

CNH: Tell us about the types of things you have been doing since you discerned you have a vocation to the priesthood and throughout your time in the seminary.

Yellico: With time in formation and the discipline of daily life in the seminary, I have been primarily spending my time in prayer. Apart from the Liturgy of the Hours, the practice of Lectio Divina and the rosary have become staples in my prayer life. With regards to spiritual books, I have been very interested in Carmelite works such as St. Teresa of Avila’s “Way of Perfection.” These books have been instructing me in the degrees of spiritual life, how to pray more effectively and, above all, how to deepen my relationship with Christ though work and sacrifice.

CNH: What advice do you have for a man discerning a call to the priesthood?

Yellico: Pray, hope and do not worry. Live in the present moment. Oftentimes the idea of a vocation pushes our sights way into the future. While looking ahead is certainly a good thing, don’t dwell on it because it doesn’t yet exist. Be faithful in your current calling – whether as a student, employee or whatever else. Let God handle the details of your vocation. He will make it clear to you when it is time to make a change. Spend time in prayer, especially through a weekly or even daily Holy Hour. If being God’s priest is something

you think you are called to, then spend more time with the One who is calling you! Another thing is, don’t give way to social pressure. Without a doubt, you will get opinions about what you should be doing. Realize that these thoughts, even though they are well-intentioned, are just opinions. Your vocation is your own – at the end of the day, it is you who must make the decision and it should be principally informed by God, who calls you to it. The easiest way to sum this all up is in the words of Our Lady at Cana: “Do whatever He tells you.”

CNH: Looking back on your discernment period so far, what do you think has helped you the most to discern God’s will for your vocation?

Yellico: My family has a huge devotion to Our Lady of Fatima, which is expressed through daily rosaries. This devotion is something I have implemented in my discernment as well. Apart from daily Mass and Adoration, the rosary has been the biggest help. Recourse to Our Lady is absolutely essential for discernment regardless of the calling. With this calling in particular, a seminarian/priest is called to be like St. John at the foot of the Cross.

Who better to seek for guidance than the Mother of God there beside you – the same woman God gave us to call Mother?

I cannot stress this enough: a man seeking his vocation will not find it without first running to his Heavenly Mother.

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter

Your DSA contributions at work Seminarian education is funded in part by the annual Diocesan Support Appeal. Learn more about the DSA and how to donate online at www.charlottediocese.org/dsa.

Associate Director of Development

Holy Cross Catholic Church, Kernersville, NC Holy Cross Catholic Church in Kernersville, NC, is seeking a full-time manager of business and finance. As a person of faith committed to the gospel values and responsible stewardship of resources, the Business Manager is an administrator in support of the pastor's goals and objectives for the parish and helps the parish fulfill its mission and purpose. Administrative responsibilities include the areas of finance, facilities, purchasing, cemetery sales, and human resource management.

An undergraduate degree in business/finance or related field is required; at least two years’ experience in non-profit financial administration and CPA, preferred. Position start date: November 2021. More detailed information at CatholicJobs.com, job ID# 11015146556.

The Diocesan Office of Development has an opening for a full-time associate director of development. The candidate must have a Bachelor degree in marketing, communications, or a related field, a minimum of 5 years’ experience in fundraising/stewardship and marketing.

A knowledge of Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge database is preferred. Must have excellent written, interpersonal and public speaking skills.

Responsibilities include coordinating all aspects of the Diocesan Support Appeal, promoting all special collections including the priests’ retirement and benefits collection, and coordinating parish stewardship efforts. Also oversees the diocesan database and office webpages.

Please submit resume by September 6, 2021 to Jim Kelley, Office of Development, jkkelley@rcdoc.org. or mail to 1123 South Church Street, Charlotte, NC 28203-4003.

DIOCESE OF CHARLOTTE

August 27, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

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Serving homeless people gave Monroe parishioner hope them with an accepting and receptive attitude toward what they’re trying to communicate.

I saw how powerful that was in so many cases where I would watch my fellow missionaries, who are amazing people, listen to these very sad stories – and I just saw these people open up. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before. The people you think would be the most hostile and unfriendly toward you just want someone to listen and learn about them. Everyone needs that so much.

One of the biggest takeaways from this program was the importance of listening well.

NICOLE PATTERSON SPECIAL TO THE CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

EMMITSBURG, Md. — Our Lady of Lourdes parishioner Olivia Prevost took part in a three-week volunteer program this summer to minister to people experiencing homelessness in Michigan City, Ind. The experience came through Christ in the City, a national volunteer project designed to grow college students into Catholic missionaries through four pillars of formation: spiritual, intellectual, human and apostolic.

Prevost is a philosophy major at Mount St. Mary’s University who is also minoring in theology, music and English. She expects to graduate in 2022.

How did you hear about Christ in the City?

Two Mount alumni did it before me.

What initially attracted you to the program?

The program’s focus on service to the poor. I was in Ireland my sophomore year, Fall 2019, with the Mount’s study abroad program; we lived in Dublin. I was really struck with my first encounters with the problems of homelessness and the struggles people faced in Ireland.

Ever since I lived there that semester, I’d been looking for an opportunity to help people who suffer from those things.

Christ in the City appealed to me because it’s their apostolate to serve the poor, specifically in urban areas.

When I went in, I didn’t really know too much about the philosophy of the program. One of the things that’s so great about the program is their emphasis on forming the missionaries. Where a lot of service programs will have you build houses and evangelize, talk to people, spread the gospel, this program was interested in growing the missionary spiritually to serve others from that good place.

What surprised you about these three weeks?

It was a very structured lifestyle; there was a lot of community prayer involved. We had Mass and Adoration every day. We had personal prayer time built into our community life. I got so much more spiritual food than I thought I was going to get. I thought I was going to serve other people, and I found myself being served more than anything else.

Describe how you spent your days.

We would wake up every morning at 6:30 a.m. and have prayer together. We’d eat breakfast together and clean the house together. From 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., we’d do the street ministry.

The life of the missionaries in this program is structured around four formation pillars: human, spiritual, apostolic and intellectual. Everything we did was focused on those four points. For the intellectual pillar, we had classes on Catholic Social Teaching. We read some of St. John Paul II’s encyclicals. We were doing things that were engaging us intellectually with the mission we were doing. For the spiritual pillar, we had Mass, Adoration and we did a silent retreat at the end of the program to process everything and pray about it. The human pillar was forming the missionaries as a group, so you intentionally strengthen your relationship with the others in the program. The apostolic pillar was service to the poor.

How did you minister to these individuals?

The primary thing we were trained to do was to sit and talk with people. We were connected to a local social service. We went to homeless shelters. We had packets of information for people who were interested in getting a job or looking for housing. We did have water and socks to attend to material needs.

What we wanted to do first was to spend time and get to know these people. What we were trying to do was minister to that poverty of loneliness, that poverty of never being treated like a human being – being treated either like you don’t exist or you’re a problem to solve. We tried to find that space of accepting people and wanting to be with them as friends first and then as people who could help them second.

When we would go out on the street, we would do it with that intention. We split into teams and would walk the same route every day because we’d be trying to meet the same people every day, build up a relationship with them, and show them through our presence and our friendliness that they’re worth having a better quality of life.

What did you learn about those suffering from homelessness?

People who suffer from homelessness have financial problems, right? They don’t have money – that’s why they’re on the streets. Often there are underlying reasons why people struggle financially: mental illness, family history, personal human brokenness and other struggles are the root and foundation of their homelessness. Christ in the City is a program that recognizes, primarily, that while these people are suffering from material poverty, their biggest poverty is loneliness.

When you’re on the street, you’ve burned every relationship bridge that you have. If you or I were approaching the point where we couldn’t pay for housing, someone would let us crash on their couch for a bit until we could get on our feet. These people have no one in the world who cares about them enough to give them a couch to stay on.

You mentioned the poverty of loneliness. How did you minister to that need?

One of the most powerful things for me to witness as I grew to know these individuals more was that I really could tell how much the poverty of loneliness affects a person. I met so many different people. Everyone’s story was different. One thing I noticed again and again is how grateful and how much it meant to these people that we listened.

For example, there was one man I got close to over the three weeks I was there. He was at the food pantry where we helped serve. He would come and start talking the moment he arrived and would not stop talking until the moment we ran out of the room. His personality was so overwhelming that people wouldn’t even listen to him anymore; they would just block him out and move to the other side of the room. I would sit and listen to him for three hours talk about big, exciting things he would do when he was younger. He had amazing stories to tell.

At the end of three weeks, he told us he was going to miss us when we were gone because we were the only people who valued him enough as a human being to listen to what he had to say.

That’s an extreme example but illustrates the impact it has on someone when you sit down and listen. You don’t listen to do something else. You don’t listen to solve their problem. You don’t listen to get something from them. You just listen to what they have to say.

How did active listening and receiving without judgment make a positive impact?

Before this program, I had a hard time distinguishing between a moral judgment and a critical judgment. I believe in absolute truth – that certain things are right and certain things are wrong. But I was able to see, in this program, how you can listen to someone and ask them questions and disagree with the choices they’ve made.

You can understand that in your mind but still listen to

Where did you see hope?

Hope was a huge theme for me in my spiritual life during those three weeks. I had lost a lot of hope before I started this program – in the sense of believing things could be different at the Mount, at home and in the world in general. For a period of time, I had lost trust that God could really make change happen for the better. When I went to Christ in the City, the experience I had there showed me that healing and good change, change for the better, is possible. God is capable of it in my own life, in my own person.

I was able to see the change in the people suffering from homelessness. I was able to see the change in their lives in such a short period of time, and I could see the change in my own life as I was formed, grown, and shown a better way.

This experience restored my trust in God’s ability to work through me to do His will and bring healing to those in need.

As I was being formed as a missionary, I was shown how to have an attitude of receptivity without judgment and engage in community life and prayer.

It turns out everyone suffers from some kind of poverty – even those lucky enough not to suffer from material poverty. Loneliness is everywhere, in every part of society.

I’m excited to come back to the Mount and do the best I can to continue the lifestyle and the skills of listening and receiving that I developed over those three weeks and apply them and bring them to the Mount for the good of my friends and family that I love.

Jesus spent a lot of time with the poor. Do you think serving these individuals is an act of social justice?

There’s a phrase about God’s preferential love for the poor. The idea is that people who suffer from material poverty have a special place in Jesus’ heart. You can read that in the gospels and in the Bible. I think we have a duty to care for those in our families, communities and in our country who suffer from material poverty. We have a duty to address these needs because our Lord showed that example. He had a desire to be present and in solidarity with those who suffered material poverty.

When I started the program, I didn’t think of myself as educating or fulfilling a moral imperative as much as I thought that Jesus was with the poor and I want to be with Jesus – therefore I should help the poor. That’s where my heart was in terms of motivation.

What have you learned from this experience about the power of trust combined with the power of truth to change the community and the world?

I met a man who really struck me. He wasn’t someone I met with my street team; he was someone another street team met. He invited all the other street teams to come together. This man had been homeless for a long time, and he was well known in the local area. He had a job but didn’t have reliable transportation, so he struggled. He invited us into his community. He wanted to serve us. He brought 11 of us missionaries to this park. All his belongings were there; this was a place he had been camping for a while. He shared his food with us. He had some meat he got from a pantry, and he had bread and toppings.

Even though he was the one we were supposed to be helping, he hosted a party for us at this park. It was such an amazing experience. His generosity was striking.

He wanted to share what he had with 11 affluent, not materially poor, young people aged 18-27.

It was a beautiful experience for me. Again, I expected to serve this person, and he ended up serving us. He had a need to be generous and give something back. Because we were humble enough to accept his gift and have this barbecue with him, we met his need and found joy in the face of so much suffering.

NICOLE PATTERSON is a writer/editor in marketing and communications at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md.

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catholicnewsherald.com | August 27, 2021 OUR PARISHES

Girl Scout focuses her Gold Award on female saints BOONE — When Ann Mellon, a parishioner at St. Elizabeth Church in Boone, sought an issue to explore when earning her Girl Scout Gold Award, she noticed something was missing from her religious education.

“I found a lack of education on the female saints,” Ann said. So now she is creating a virtual workshop for young girls to help them learn about female Mellon saints. She expects the workshop will “help these girls increase their confidence in their daily lives, as they have explored

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief Deacon assigned to Sylva parish SYLVA — Deacon Daniel Pyles has received faculties and been assigned by Bishop Peter Jugis to serve St. Mary, Mother of God Church in Sylva, effective Aug. 11.

He was ordained June 9, 2014, for the Diocese of Nashville by the late Bishop David Choby.

He was first assigned to serve as a chaplain to Vanderbilt University and the Veterans Affairs Hospital, both in Nashville.

After completing five units of Clinical Pastoral Pyles Education, he then earned a master’s degree in theology from St. Joseph’s College of Maine. In 2017, he was assigned to St. Matthew Church in Franklin, Tenn., where he served as pastoral associate.

A Georgia native, he was born into a military family and lived around the Southeast United States. He attended the University of Georgia, where he earned a teaching degree as well served in campus law enforcement for several years. Deacon Pyles met his wife, Beth Woodard, in Nashville, where she was on the faculty of Belmont University. A native of Charleston, S.C., and graduate of Bishop England High School, she attended Clemson University and the Medical University of South Carolina, and earned a doctorate from the University of Alabama. They have been married since 2002.

Over the past few years, Deacon Pyles and his wife entertained thoughts of retiring to the North Carolina mountains. After the pandemic

female saints going through similar struggles.”

Workshops occur on various Sundays between 2 and 3:30 p.m. and are designed for girls between the ages of 10 and 14. She introduced the participants to St. Agnes on Aug. 8 and to St. Monica on Aug. 22. On Aug. 29, she will introduce them to St. Catherine of Siena and on Sept. 12 to St. Lucy. Each workshop is free, and each participant will receive a patch.

The Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouts.

To receive it, a girl explores an issue that is close to her and helps to develop lasting change in her community and beyond. Ann hopes at least 40 girls will attend her workshops and is looking to find at least two adults who

began, thoughts turned into reality as they bought a home in Cullowhee. Deacon Pyles now works for Jackson County government in Emergency Management 9-1-1, and Mrs. Pyles has accepted an appointment to the faculty at Western Carolina University.

Now in his seventh year of diaconate ministry, Deacon Pyles is looking forward to serving St. Mary, Mother of God Parish.

— Deacon John Martino

Deacon assigned to Arden parish ARDEN — Deacon Charles Moss has received faculties and been assigned by Bishop Peter Jugis to serve St. Barnabas Church in Arden, effective Aug. 11.

This is a return home for Deacon Moss, who was ordained for the Diocese of Charlotte by the late Bishop John Donoghue on June 18, 1988, at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte. He served at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte and Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville, before Moss moving to Colorado in 2002 to serve in several parishes in the Colorado Springs and Pueblo Dioceses.

Most recently he served in the Diocese of St. Augustine, Fla. An Ohio native, he retired in 2019 from active practice as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist after 45 years.

Last month he and his wife Rose moved back to North Carolina, where they have settled in Arden and look forward to serving St. Barnabas Parish.

— Deacon John Martino

Deacon assigned in Huntersville HUNTERSVILLE — Deacon Ramon Tapia has received faculties and been assigned by Bishop Peter Jugis to serve St. Mark Church in

“Get your ducks in a row!”

Estate Planning | Probate WAITING COULD DEVASTATE YOUR FAMILY St. Matthew’s Parishioner

704.843.1446 | www.ncestateplanninginfo.com

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will lead workshops in their local communities. Each workshop is limited to 20 girls in order to encourage participation from all the girls.

“I am super excited to meet girls from all across the country who would like to join me on this experience,” Ann said.

To register for the workshops, go to https://forms.gle/ Soc6XHRn4urVqoRx6.

For more information, email ambermellon@gmail.com.

— Amber Mellon, correspondent

Huntersville, effective July 12.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Deacon Tapia was ordained for the Diocese of Albany, N.Y., on Oct. 11, 1997, by Bishop Emeritus Howard James Hubbard.

He and his wife Olga moved to the United States in 1981 so he could further pursue graduate studies in engineering. After graduation he became involved in prison ministry and helped organize a Spanish Mass at Sacred Heart/St. Columba Parish in Schenectady, N.Y. Seeing Tapia his level of involvement, his pastor, Father Thomas Connery, and Olga encouraged him to apply to the diaconate formation program.

Upon ordination in 1997, he was assigned to Sacred Heart/St. Columba Parish to serve primarily the local Hispanic community. He taught catechetical classes, coordinated a parish prayer group, and administered the sacraments including baptisms, weddings and funerals. When the parish closed in 2008, he was assigned to St. Anthony Parish in Schenectady, and later in 2015 to serve the Hispanic Apostolate, where he and Olga assisted in establishing the San Andres School of Evangelization.

In 2018 he returned to St. Anthony Parish, where he served until he and his wife moved to North Carolina earlier this year.

Deacon Tapia will serve the Hispanic Ministry and other duties at St. Mark Parish.

— Deacon John Martino

Knights contribute to Jefferson parish building fund JEFFERSON — Knights of Columbus Council 16839 recently held a raffle to raise funds for the St. Francis of Assisi Parish building fund.

The council donated $2,250 to the effort.

Pictured presenting the check to Father Cory Catron, pastor, is Financial Secretary Rick

LaBonte. John Esser was the winner of the $500 raffle prize.

— Patrick Hession, correspondent

Mass, Holy Hour of Reparation offered at St. Mark Church HUNTERSVILLE — More than 75 parishioners attended St. Mark Church’s annual Mass and Holy Hour of Reparation Aug. 4. St. Mark’s pastor, Father John Putnam, offered Mass and led the Holy Hour of Reparation, which were both offered in penance for the sins of abortion, euthanasia, contraception and same-sex unions. The event was organized by the parish’s Respect Life Committee.

— Mike FitzGerald, correspondent

Vigil of the Two Hearts held CHARLOTTE — On Aug. 6, more than 70 people attended the Vigil of the Two Hearts devotion at St. Patrick Cathedral. Recently ordained Father Juan Miguel Sanchez, parochial vicar at St. Matthew Parish in Charlotte, was the celebrant and offered his first Mass at the cathedral which commemorated the Feast of the Transfiguration. After Mass, Deacon John Kopfle from St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Charlotte led a Holy Hour of Reparation.

The Vigil of the Two Hearts is offered each first Friday evening overnight through first Saturday morning at the cathedral to honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary devotions, while praying for the end of abortion, for families, and for the country’s conversion back to God. For more information, contact info@prolifecharlotte.org or go online to www.prolifecharlotte.org/two-hearts.

— Mike FitzGerald, correspondent

August 27, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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2 02 1 K E Y N OT E S P E A K E R

A L I S O N C E N TO FA N T E Director of External Relations for Live Action Alison is a pro-life activist and Director of External Relations for Live Action, the nation’s largest pro-life media group focused on shifting public opinion through education. As a powerful voice for the preborn, Alison's compelling work is gaining national media attention and has been featured on ABC, EWTN, Fox News, NPR and many broadcast networks.

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I know that I will be able to finish school and also be a good mother, but I wouldn’t be able to do it without MiraVia. - Kathleen, Current Resident

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Padre Julio Domínguez

“Como ministros ordenados de la Iglesia, ustedes, diáconos, dan un importante testimonio del servicio cristiano a los fieles de sus parroquias”. — Obispo Peter Jugis

Virus mortal

C

uánta ansiedad existe en estos días. Desde que comenzó todo este desastre de la pandemia, el mundo ha tomado una ruta de mucho temor, estrés y locura.

Todos estamos al pendiente de lo qué va a pasar o está pasando. Hemos puesto toda nuestra atención a este virus que ha llegado quién sabe de dónde, y que está mutando día con día, produciendo estragos en nuestra sociedad y en nuestras vidas. ¡Tenemos tanto miedo a que nos mate el cuerpo!

Encontramos por doquier noticias, comentarios, redes sociales, medidas de seguridad, grandes corporaciones en búsqueda de un antídoto, sistemas políticos, etc. Todo está centrado en qué vamos a hacer para salvar nuestro cuerpo.

Me pregunto si nos hemos puesto a pensar en una vacuna para salvar nuestra alma. Jesús nos dice: no teman a los que pueden matar el cuerpo, pero al alma no pueden matar. Teman más bien a aquel que puede matar al cuerpo y al alma en el infierno (Mt. 10,28). ¿Qué acaso no nos damos cuenta que hay peores virus en nuestras vidas? ¿Cuántas almas están siendo arrasadas por el virus de la pornografia? ¿Cuántas no están convenciéndose que abortar es un derecho? ¿Cuántas películas y novelas están produciendo el convencimiento social de que el placer es el centro de la vida del hombre?

La exhalación del mal se ha puesto por encima del bien, y eres grande, según ellos, cuando puedes realizarlo. El ser ateo se ha convertido en una moda entre los jóvenes.

El matrimonio según la ley de Dios es una manera de quitarte la libertad, pues según ellos es mejor el individualismo.

La persona humana vale ya mucho menos que la de un animal. Antes te solían decir ‘llevas una vida de perro’ y era un insulto, ahora con todos los privilegios del perro hasta gusto te da que te lo digan.

El virus mortal avanza, la bondad del hombre está en sala de emergencia, los valores morales están asfixiados y no hay quien piense en una vacuna urgente. El alma está sofocada y no puede ya decir absolutamente nada.

Aún con todo este temor del virus que mata el cuerpo y buscando un remedio a este, deberíamos sentarnos y reflexionar seriamente si estamos preparados en cualquier momento para ser llamados al juicio eterno.

El enemigo ha puesto el mayor virus mortal en el mundo y es algo que no podremos parar ya, al menos que muchos nos unamos, pues el enemigo ha logrado deformar y apagar la “Conciencia Humana” y el “Santo temor a Dios” para dar bandera abierta a la plena corrupcion y destrucción de la dignidad humana.

De este virus nadie habla, nadie se preocupa. Creemos que jamás estaremos delante de esto, siendo así que todos estamos tan cerca de ello.

Que el Espíritu Santo siga infundiendo en nuestra alma la voz de Dios (conciencia) que nos invita a regresar a Él, y que nos llama a amarnos los unos a los otros como Él nos ha amado.

Toma unos quince minutos de tu tiempo y piensa en tu alma, porque al final es la única que sobrevivirá, pues ha sido creada inmortal por Dios y ella podrá rescatar al cuerpo para una vida bienaventurada, orientándolo hacia Él.

Piénsalo, medítalo y únete en oración para que mucha gente pueda hacer frente al gran virus que ha entrado en nuestras familias y sociedades.

EL PADRE JULIO DOMÍNGUEZ es director del Ministerio Hispano de la Diócesis de Charlotte.

PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Los diáconos permanentes de la Diócesis de Charlotte se reunieron el 14 de agosto en una Misa especial celebrada en la Catedral San Patricio para reafirmar sus promesas de ordenación.

Obispo Jugis: Los diáconos ejemplifican el amor de Dios y del prójimo a través de su ministerio Diáconos reafirmaron sus promesas de orednación durante Misa especial PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE EDITORA

CHARLOTTE — Docenas de diáconos permanentes del oeste de Carolina del Norte se reunieron en Charlotte el 14 de agosto, para asistir a una Misa especial donde reafirmaron su amor al Señor y compromiso con la Iglesia.

La Misa anual de la Diócesis de Charlotte en la que los diáconos renuevan sus promesas de ordenación fue ofrecida en la Catedral San Patricio y emitida “en vivo” por el canal YouTube de la diócesis.

La reafirmación de las promesas “es breve, solo dura un minuto”, anotó el Obispo Peter Jugis, “Pero es la sincera devoción interior del corazón la que le llevará adelante día a día, para que dure más que un momento y se refresque, renueve y afirme cada día”.

El ministerio de los diáconos está inspirado en el amor de Dios y el amor al prójimo, dijo el obispo, reflexionando en su homilía sobre las lecturas del día: 1 Jn 3:14-18 y el Evangelio de Juan 15:12-16.

Las lecturas del 14 de agosto, en memoria de San Maximiliano Kolbe, ilustran el “amor desinteresado por Dios y su amor desinteresado por el prójimo”, dijo el Obispo Jugis a los diáconos, y “sirven de inspiración

para ustedes, que están ordenados para el ministerio del servicio”.

San Maximiliano Kolbe, sacerdote polaco, fue martirizado en Auschwitz en 1941, después de ofrecerse como voluntario para morir en lugar de un extraño que había sido seleccionado por los nazis para morir de hambre.

“El amor a Dios y el amor al prójimo (son) el testimonio extraordinario de la vida de San Maximiliano y también el testimonio de su vida en el ministerio”, dijo el Obispo Jugis.

“Como ministros ordenados de la Iglesia, ustedes, diáconos, dan un testimonio importante del servicio cristiano a los fieles de sus parroquias, y ese testimonio que ofrecen inspira a sus feligreses en su servicio al Señor en cualquier camino que el Señor les haya llamado a seguir”, señaló. “Realmente puedo decir que todos los diáconos que conozco, de hecho, inspiran la imitación del pueblo santo de Dios con el ejemplo de sus vidas”.

Más online En www.youtube.com/dioceseofcharlotte: Vea la Misa especial en la que los diáconos de la Diócesis de Charlotte reafirmaron sus promesas de ordenación.

CHARLOTTE — El activo movimiento apostólico Emaús, extendido por los vicariatos que comprende la Diócesis de Charlotte, espera reanudar en las próximas semanas sus retiros, a los que llaman ‘Encuentros’, aunque aún con la incertidumbre provocada por la aparición de nuevos casos de Coronavirus en los condados del oeste de Carolina del Norte, que han ocasionado se ordene el restablecimiento del uso de mascarillas en espacios públicos cerrados.

La Familia Emaús, un movimiento de arraigo diocesano extendido en el área de Hickory, realiza un retiro para damas que ya han participado en un primer encuentro y ahora son servidoras, el que se lleva a cabo este fin de semana del 28 al 30 de agosto.

“No vamos a realizar ningún encuentro este año”, aclaró el Padre Julio Domínguez, director espiritual del grupo, debido a que tras la pandemia aún se siente el alejamiento de los miembros.“Por ello quisimos mejor hacer un retiro en el que los servidores se encuentren y reaviven sus experiencias, para así, ya con un mejor ánimo tras el receso, volver a nuestras actividades regulares”, anotó.

Son 200 mujeres las participantes en este retiro que conducen la Sra. Rosa Jiménez, parroquiana de San Marcos, y el P. Julio Domínguez, director del ministerio hispano de la Diócesis de Charlotte.

SAN GABRIEL

Domingo Monrobert, director del movimiento apostólico Emaús en la Iglesia San Gabriel en Charlotte, dijo que realizarán un encuentro para varones con 24 participantes el 3, 4 y 5 de septiembre en un centro de retiros en York, Carolina del Sur. Después de haber paralizado por completo sus actividades en 2020, debido a las restricciones sanitarias dictadas por la pandemia de COVID-19, han reanudado sus reuniones semanales de manera presencial los jueves por la noche, “gracias a la autorización de nuestro párroco”.

Debido a la presencia de casos de Covid en el condado, han establecido estrictas medidas para evitar el contagio, tales como el uso de mascarillas y el mantenimiento de la distancia social entre los participantes, los que deben necesariamente ser miembros registrados de la parroquia.

Para Monrobert, participar en un encuentro Emaús, “nos trae un acercamiento a la Iglesia, a conocer personalmente a Jesús y a renovar nuestra llama espiritual para poder luego educarnos en la fe”.

“Es la gran oportunidad de encontrarnos con el Señor, al igual que el pasaje bíblico en el que dos discípulos se encuentran con Jesús en el camino a Emaús, y de reconocerlo al caminar con Él”.

“Como ha hecho conmigo, este encuentro marcará un cambio en nuestras vidas”, dijo.

SAN JOHN NEUMANN

El movimiento apostólico de esta parroquia ubicada al este de Charlotte llevará a cabo un encuentro para varones del 10 al 12 de septiembre.

“En la actualidad ya tenemos casi todo listo para el encuentro que realizaremos en el Centro de Conferencias y campamento Bethelwoods, en el condado York en Carolina del Sur”, dijo José Juan Martínez, coordinador, asegurando que el cupo casi ha sido cubierto en su totalidad.

Martínez asistió en 2017 al primer encuentro realizado en la parroquia con la asistencia de servidores de la Iglesia San Gabriel.

“Desde ese momento, el movimiento Emaús ha sido una gran bendición. En mi caso personal, me reencontró con la Iglesia y ayudó muchísimo en mi proceso de conversión. A nivel parroquial, es una fuente permanente de servidores y voluntarios para los ministerios y actividades que se programan”, señaló.

Si desea contactar con miembros de este ministerio, visite la Iglesia San John Neumann, 8451 Idlewild Rd, Charlotte, NC 28227, al término de la Misa dominical celebrada en español a las 12:30 del mediodía.

HE AMADO

COMO YO

N 13:34 UA

CÉSAR HURTADO REPORTERO

OS

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–J

Movimiento Emaús reinicia actividades

L

August 27, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

2021 Congreso Eucarístico Diócesis de Charlotte

17 y 18 de septiembre

FOTO CORTESÍA MOISÉS SIFONTES

Próximamente se volverán a vivir momentos como los que refleja la gráfica, cuando los participantes y servidores del Movimiento Apostólico Emaús realizan la siembra de un rosal después de vivir un encuentro o retiro. La rosa es, debido a razones que se explican a los miembros de ese ministerio, un símbolo vivo que refleja el espíritu y misión del movimiento Emaús.

NUESTRA SEÑORA DE GUADALUPE

“Tras la pandemia, las cosas se han enfriado un poquito”, relata Moisés Sifontes, uno de los coordinadores del próximo encuentro Emaús para varones que llevará a cabo la parroquia del 29 al 31 de octubre.

Sifontes asistió al Décimo Encuentro Emaús organizado por la parroquia San Gabriel en 2016. Posteriormente, con la ayuda de otros hermanos, como Héctor Guerra, Samuel Llanas, Luis Viveros, y los sacerdotes Vicente Finnerty y Gregorio Gay, en 2018 llevaron adelante la organización del primer encuentro en su parroquia.

“Emaús ha servido para proveer servidores a otros ministerios y se puede decir que hoy es el soporte principal de la parroquia.

Somos la nueva fuerza de trabajo en voluntariado, servidores e integrantes de otros ministerios en la parroquia”, dijo Sifontes.

Además, comentó que gracias a la participación de las damas y varones de la parroquia, muchas parejas decidieron regularizar su vida de pareja y casarse por la Iglesia. “Es una bendición para todos”, añadió.

La pandemia y las restricciones de reunión decretadas por las autoridades de gobierno y sanitarias suspendieron las reuniones presenciales semanales. La pandemia no los paralizó, pues decidieron continuar con sus reuniones de manera virtual, pero ahora, que han retomado sus sesiones presenciales, han quedado muy pocos miembros activos.

El movimiento parroquial se encuentra actualmente en proceso de preparación del próximo encuentro que se realizará en el Centro de Conferencias Católico en Hickory.

“Esperamos tener 70 caminantes (participantes) y el mismo número de miembros servidores, por lo que, si todo va bien, ocuparemos las 140 camas disponibles con las que cuenta el centro”, dijo Sifontes, quien espera que este nuevo retiro motive a la gente, y se reactive nuevamente el ánimo.

Las aplicaciones para participar ya están disponibles. El costo es de 150 dólares por persona que cubre los gastos de alojamiento y alimentación en el Centro Católico. Existe ayuda disponible para los casos en los que los participantes demuestren gran interés y necesidad, pero no puedan cubrir la totalidad del costo.

“Queremos que todos tengan la oportunidad de tener un encuentro personal con Jesús”, dijo Sifontes.

Para mayor información, envíe un mensaje de texto o whatsapp a Moisés Sifontes al 704-352-9997.

Southern Homes of the Carolinas David Fuller REALTOR / Broker

“Working For You is What I Do” davidfuller.broker@gmail.com 704-530-2632

Congreso Eucarístico programado para el 17 y 18 de septiembre SUEANN HOWELL REPORTERA SENIOR

CHARLOTTE — El Congreso Eucarístico de 2021, que reunirá a clérigos, religiosos y laicos para una celebración diocesana, está programado para el 17 y 18 de septiembre en el Centro de Convenciones de Charlotte, con medidas de salud en vigor por la pandemia.

“Como yo los he amado”, del Evangelio de San Juan 13:34, es el tema del XVII Congreso anual.

El Obispo Peter Jugis, al anunciar el tema a principios de este año, señaló la conexión integral entre el amor de Cristo y la Eucaristía: “La Sagrada Eucaristía es el sacramento del gran amor de Cristo por nosotros, un amor que Él nos mostró con Su sacrificio en la cruz por nuestra salvación. Cristo está realmente presente en la Sagrada Eucaristía y, a través de la Eucaristía, fortalece nuestra caridad”.

Los asistentes, de 5 años de edad o más, deberán usar una cubierta facial dentro del Centro de Convenciones de Charlotte, a menos que estén exentos, según lo prescrito por el mandato del condado Charlotte-Mecklenburg vigente hasta el 20 de septiembre.

También habrá estaciones de desinfección de manos en todo el centro de convenciones. Cualquier persona que sea vulnerable o esté al cuidado de alguna persona en riesgo de serias complicaciones por COVID-19, debe considerar no asistir al evento y, en su lugar, ver los videos de las charlas y la Misa de clausura con el Obispo Peter Jugis que se publicarán posteriormente CONGRESO, PASA A LA PÁGINA 21

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catholicnewsherald.com | August 27, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

NSG prepara Kermés Familiar en septiembre

El Padre Santiago de Jesús Romero García, segundo de la derecha en la fila frontal, junto a las damas que participaron del Retiro del Cursillo de Cristiandad realizado del 5 al 8 de agosto. En el centro, última fila, aparece el Diácono Sigfrido Della Valle, director espiritual del Cursillo en Español.

CÉSAR HURTADO REPORTERO

CHARLOTTE — A poco menos de un mes de realizar su Gran Kermés Familiar, la parroquia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe invitó a todos sus feligreses y amigos a colaborar con su tradicional festejo que tendrá lugar el domingo 26 de septiembre, de ocho de la mañana a cinco de la tarde, en sus terrenos ubicados en 6212 Tuckaseegee Road en Charlotte.

“Va a ser todo un día de sana diversión.

Nuestros hermanos de la parroquia ya saben que tendremos comida tradicional de diversos lugares de latinoamérica, refrescos, juegos, entretenimiento para niños y adultos, música, payasos, y mucho más”, dijo Esteban Sánchez, organizador de eventos de la parroquia.

Para fomentar la cooperación y el aporte generoso de la comunidad, la parroquia ha colocado un letrero en la entrada al templo en donde se invita a los fieles a donar artículos e ingredientes necesarios para la preparación y venta de platillos que se servirán en esa fecha.

La lista es grande y abarca desde carne de res sin cocinar o preparada, maseca, arroz, frijoles, sal, vinagre, aceite, queso, cebolla, chiles, mayonesa, sodas, agua y servilletas, hasta bolsas para basura, tenedores, cucharas, platos y vasos descartables.

Si bien algunos artículos pueden ser de mayor costo, hay otros que son bastante asequibles. Así, cada una de las familias que asisten regularmente a la parroquia puede aportar en la medida de sus posibilidades y contribuir al éxito que se espera en esta gran celebración.

Los fondos que se recaudan en este festejo regularmente ayudan a los administradores de la parroquia a completar los fondos solicitados por la diócesis como aporte anual a la Colecta de Apoyo Diocesano (DSA) de este año.

Como se recuerda, la última gran kermés familiar fue realizada en el año 2019. Durante el año pasado debió ser suspendida debido a las restricciones de reunión y mantenimiento de distanciamiento social decretadas por las autoridades de gobierno y sanitarias locales, estatales y federales.

A causa de una reducción en la asistencia a Misa, debido al temor de contagio por parte de los feligreses, así como por el aforo limitado que se debió cumplir a inicios de este año, los ingresos provenientes de la colecta dominical y donativos de los fieles han visto afectada la economía de la parroquia.

De otra parte, la Iglesia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe ha seguido manteniendo sin descanso la mayoría de sus programas de asistencia social, como la Casa Marillac que provee despensas familiares a las familias que atraviesan momentos de necesidad, así como servicios médicos, nutricionales, salud mental, donación de muebles y otros en beneficio de toda la comunidad.

También se recuerda que, pese a cumplir estrictamente los protocolos de bioseguridad para prevenir la transmisión de COVID-19, fieles y trabajadores de la parroquia fueron sensiblemente afectados por la enfermedad que inclusive causó el fallecimiento de alguno de sus fieles.

“Creemos que, manteniendo todavía la prevención necesaria, ya podemos comenzar a festejar como hermanos que estamos todos juntos, en comunión”, dijo Sánchez.

Más online Visite la página de facebook de la parroquia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe para mantenerse al tanto de su horario de Misas, servicios, entrega de comida, despensas y actividades.

FOTO CORTESÍA ANTONIO GARCÍA

Sacerdote salvadoreño visitó la diócesis Asistió a comunidades de Asheville y Gastonia ASHEVILLE — Durante 20 días, el Padre Santiago de Jesús Romero García visitó la Diócesis de Charlotte caminando con el Ministerio Hispano en dos vicarías, Asheville y Gastonia.

El Padre Santiago es originario de El Salvador y respondió al llamado a la vida religiosa y sacerdotal a través de la Orden de los Frailes Menores, OFM, en la provincia de Centroamérica.

“Me inspiró mucho el testimonio de los frailes misioneros de Irlanda que trabajan en mi parroquia. Su estilo de vida fraterna, entrega y generosidad al acompañar a los más sencillos y frágiles en los pueblos y ranchos, y llevarles la persona de Jesús de Nazaret con gozo”.

El Padre Santiago decidió inclinarse por la vida sacerdotal en 1996, llevando a cabo su aspirantado y noviciado en

los países de El Salvador y Nicaragua.

Sus estudios de filosofía los realizó en Guatemala, culminando teología en la Universidad Centroamericana de El Salvador.

Fue ordenado Diácono transicional el 27 de mayo de 2008, y posteriormente tomó la orden sacerdotal en la fiesta de la Asunción de María, el 15 de agosto de 2009.

El Padre Santiago fue invitado para apoyar dos retiros del Cursillo de Cristiandad. “Aprovechando su visita, lo pusimos a trabajar un poquito”, dijo Antonio García, coordinador del ministerio hispano del Vicariato de Asheville.

Durante su corta estadía en nuestra diócesis, asistió como director Espiritual en los Cursillos de Cristiandad que tomaron lugar en Pickens, Carolina del

Sur, acompañó un taller del grupo de Adoración Nocturna de la parroquia Inmaculada Concepción en Forest City, ayudó en confesiones, Misas y en la dirección espiritual de la comunidad hispana de la vicaría de Asheville.

El padre Santiago festejó con gozo su decimosegundo aniversario de vida sacerdotal el domingo 15 de agosto, celebrando la Eucaristía con las comunidades de San Eugenio en Asheville y Santa Margarita María en Swannanoa.

Agradecido con los párrocos que le abrieron las puertas de sus comunidades parroquiales, el Padre Santiago, después de culminar esta breve visita, retornó con alegría a su natal El Salvador el pasado lunes 23 de agosto.

— Catholic News Herald

Día de Campo JEFFERSON — El domingo 15 de Agosto, los parroquianos de la iglesia San Francisco de Asís organizaron un día de campo con la presencia de un grupo musical juvenil y mucha diversión para todos. La presencia del párroco, Padre Cory Catron, en la fiesta de la Asunción de María, fue un buen ejemplo de la unidad en la diversidad que se vive realmente en esa parroquia.

FOTO CORTESÍA FACEBOOK MINISTERIO HISPANO WINSTON-SALEM

Preparación Matrimonial ARDEN — El sábado 14 de agosto, un equipo de preparación matrimonial de la vicaría de Asheville llevó a cabo su tercer encuentro prematrimonial con once parejas en la parroquia San Bernabé. En la imagen aparece el equipo de servidores de las parroquias Santa Juana de Arco, San Bernabé, San Eugenio y la Basílica San Lorenzo en Asheville.

FOTO CORTESÍA ANTONIO GARCÍA

August 27, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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San Agustín y Santa Mónica Este gran santo es considerado como uno de los Padres de la Iglesia y forma parte también de la lista de los 36 doctores de la Iglesia. Es patrón de “los que buscan a Dios”. Fue un brillante orador, filósofo y teólogo, autor de célebres textos de teología y filosofía, entre los que se encuentran las “Confesiones” y “La ciudad de Dios”. Sirvió a la Iglesia como sacerdote y obispo.

San Agustín de Hipona nació el 13 de noviembre de 354 en Tagaste, actual Argelia. Su madre fue Mónica, una mujer cristiana de probada virtud que llegaría a ser santa por su abnegación y perseverancia.

Durante su juventud, Agustín se entregó a una vida libertina e inmoral. Abrazó diversos tipos de doctrinas y creencias, hasta que conoció a San Ambrosio, obispo de Milán, cuyo testimonio lo dejó impresionado.

Un día, cuando Agustín estaba en un jardín, escuchó la voz de un niño que le decía : “Toma y lee, toma y lee”.

El santo abrió al azar una Biblia y se encontró con el capítulo 13 de la carta de San Pablo a los Romanos que decía: “Nada de comilonas ni borracheras; nada de lujurias y desenfrenos...revestíos más bien del Señor Jesucristo y no os preocupéis de la carne para satisfacer sus concupiscencias” (Rom 13,13-14). Aquel texto afianzó su proceso de conversión y desde ese momento resolvió permanecer casto y entregar su vida a Cristo.

A los 33 años, Agustín fue bautizado. Ese mismo año, la muerte de su madre marcó a Agustín para siempre.

Ordenado sacerdote, y cinco años después obispo, gobernó la diócesis de Hipona por 34 años combatiendo las herejías de su tiempo y predicando el Evangelio.

En agosto de 430 se enfermó y el día 28 de ese mes falleció. Su cuerpo fue enterrado inicialmente en Hipona, pero luego fue trasladado a Pavia, Italia. Canonizado por aclamación popular, ya que la costumbre de la canonización papal aún no había surgido, fue proclamado doctor por el Papa Bonifacio VII en 1298.

UNA MADRE CON CARÁCTER Santa Mónica nació en Tagaste, a unas 60 millas de la ciudad de Cartago en el año 332. Sus padres encomendaron la formación de sus hijas a una mujer muy religiosa y

estricta en disciplina.

Ella no las dejaba tomar bebidas entre horas pues les decía: “Ahora cada vez que tengan sed van a tomar bebidas para calmarla. Y después que sean mayores y tengan las llaves de la pieza donde está el vino, tomarán licor y esto les hará mucho daño”. Mónica, ya mayor, empezó a ir a escondidas al depósito y cada vez que tenía sed tomaba un vaso de vino.

Un día regañó fuertemente a un obrero y éste le gritó ¡Borracha! Ella se propuso no volver a tomar jamás bebidas alcohólicas.

Pocos meses después fue bautizada y su conversión fue admirable.

Deseaba dedicarse a la vida de oración y de soledad, pero sus padres dispusieron que tenía que casarse con un hombre llamado Patricio. Este era un buen trabajador, pero de ‘San Agustín en oración’, óleo en lienzo de José de Ribera (Jativa, Valencia, España 1510- Nápoles, Italia, 1566).

Imagen cortesía del Museo del Prado, Madrid. genio terrible, además de mujeriego, jugador, pagano y la hizo sufrir mucho. pobre Mónica.

Tuvieron tres hijos: dos varones y una mujer. Los dos En el año 387 ocurrió la conversión de Agustín. Una menores fueron su alegría y consuelo, pero el mayor noche, conversando juntos bajo las estrellas dijo a su hijo: Agustín, la hizo sufrir por décadas. “¿Y a mí que más me amarra a la tierra? Ya he obtenido Patricio criticaba el mucho rezar de su esposa. Mónica de Dios mi gran deseo, el verte cristiano”. Poco después rezaba y ofrecía sacrificios por su esposo y al fin alcanzó le invadió una fiebre, que en pocos días se agravó y le la gracia que Patricio se hiciera bautizar, al igual que su ocasionó la muerte a los 56 años de edad. suegra, mujer colérica que había amargado la vida a la — Condensado de ACIPRENSA

Lecturas Diarias 29 AGOSTO-4 SEPTIEMBRE

Domingo: Deuteronomio 4:1-2, 6-8, Santiago 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27, Marcos 7:18, 14-15, 21-23; Lunes: 1 Tesalonicences 4:13-18, Lucas 4:16-30; Martes: 1 Tesalonicenses 5:16, 9-11, Lucas 4:31-37; Miércoles: Colosenses 1:1-8, Lucas 4:38-44, Jueves: Colosenses 1:9-14, Lucas 5:111; Viernes (San Gregorio Magno): Colosenses 1:15-20, Lucas 5:33-39; Sábado: Colosenses 1:21-23, Lucas 6:1-5

5-11 SEPTIEMBRE

Domingo: Isaías 35:47a, Santiago 2:1-5, Marcos 7:31-37; Lunes: Colosenses 1:24-2:3, Lucas 6:6-11; Martes: Colosenses 2:6-15, Lucas 6:12-19; Miércoles (Natividad de la Virgen María): Miqueas 5:1-4, Mateo 1:18-23; Jueves (San Pedro Claver): Colosenses 3:12-17, Lucas 6:27-38; Viernes: 1 Timoteo 1:1-2, 1214, Lucas 6:39-42; Sábado: 1 Timoteo 1:15-17, Lucas 6:43-49

12-18 SEPTIEMBRE

Domingo: Isaías 50:5-9, Santiago 2:14-18, Marcos 8:27-35; Lunes (San Juan Crisóstomo): 1 Timoteo 2:1-8, Lucas 7:1-10; Martes (Exaltación de la Cruz): Números 21:4-9, Filipenses 2:6-11, Juan 3:13-17; Miércoles (Ntra. Sra. de los Dolores): 1 Timoteo 3:14-16, Juan 19:25-27; Jueves (Santos Cornelio y Cipriano): 1 Timoteo 4:12-16, Lucas 7:36-50; Viernes: 1 Timoteo 6:2-12, Lucas 8:1-3; Sábado: 1 Timoteo 6:13-16, Lucas 8:4-15

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Como yo los he amado.

– Juan 13:34

XVII Congreso Eucarístico Septiembre 17 y 18, 2021 – Centro de Convenciones de Charlotte Procesión Eucarística - Vísperas - Hora Santa - Confesión - Música Sagrada - Santa Misa

Padre Garcia

Mejia

Venegas

PONENTES DEL SÁBADO Padre Edwin Alberto Romo Garcia: “Eucaristía: Servicio, Entrega y Amor” Gustavo Adolfo Mejia: “Jóvenes, El Reto de Presentar el Amor de Cristo” L O S HE A YO M J UA N 1 3 : 3 4

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Lupita Venegas: “Amor, Según el Querer de Cristo” CO

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Mix

August 27, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

For the latest movie reviews: catholicnewsherald.com

In theaters

director Liesl Tommy show that their subject came by her feminist forcefulness honestly as she struggles first under the domination of her father (Forest Whitaker), a celebrated Baptist minister, and then under the spell of her charming but physically abusive first husband (Marlon Wayans) who was also her manager. And they highlight her dedicated work for the civil rights movement. But it’s the constant and salutary role her Christian faith played in her life, especially as she battled alcoholism, that will most engross those who share her Bible-based beliefs. Hudson’s all-in performance helps to mask the fact that the film is overlong and unevenly paced. Mature themes, about a half-dozen milder oaths, occasional crude and crass language.

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

‘Reminiscence’

‘Respect’ Engaging profile of singer, songwriter, musician and activist Aretha Franklin (Jennifer Hudson), the “Queen of Soul,” traces her life from a childhood marked by sexual abuse and the untimely death of her mother (Audra McDonald) through the frustrations of her early career and on to the triumphant success of her version of the titular song and her subsequent global celebrity. Screenwriter Tracey Scott Wilson and

Pretentious neo-noir, set in a flooded, dystopian Miami where people use advanced technology to retreat into the past. An expert guide in the process (Hugh Jackman) falls for an alluring client (Rebecca Ferguson) but their affair is abruptly broken off by her sudden disappearance, after which he becomes obsessed with locating her, despite the warnings of his business partner and best friend. Dialogue burdened with philosophical reflections on time and memory make it unlikely that viewers will feel especially invested in the protagonist’s quest while the speed with which the main relationship becomes sexual is among the factors that make writer-director Lisa Joy’s thriller fit for grown-ups only. Much stylized violence, about a half-dozen instances each of profanity and milder swearing, numerous crude and crass terms.

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

Other Movies n ‘The Protege’: CNS: O (morally offensive); MPAA: R n ‘Free Guy’: CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: PG-13 n ‘CODA’: CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: PG-13

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On TV n Saturday, Aug. 28, 8 p.m.

(EWTN) “Pius XII: Under the Roman Sky.” Featuring James Cromwell as the title role, a portrayal of the heroic efforts of Pope Pius XII to save the Jews of Rome from the Nazis during World War II. n Sunday, Aug. 29, 6 a.m.

(EWTN) “Angelus with Pope Francis.” Pope Francis leads the world in the recitation of the Angelus, live from Rome. n Sunday, Aug. 29, 10 p.m.

(EWTN) “Forgiveness: The Secret of Peace.” In the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, survivor and Rwandan priest Father Ubald Rugirangoga encourages his people to find a path of reconciliation and forgiveness. n Monday, Aug. 30, 11:30 a.m. (EWTN) “They Might be Saints: Montse Grases.”

Miracle Hunter.” Michael O’Neil examines the saintly life of Montse Grases. This cheerful 17-year-old who faced cancer with extraordinary faith and joy could be the first woman of Opus Dei to be declared a saint.

n Thursday, Sept. 2, 1:40 p.m.

(EWTN) “Bethany: Supporting Spiritual Fatherhood.” Christ the Bridegroom Monastery offers spiritual rest and retreat to priests in need of renewal. This documentary interviews the sisters who run the monastery, and the priests growing in their spiritual fatherhood. n Friday, Sept. 3, 11:30 a.m.

(EWTN) “St. Catherine of Siena.” An insightful overview of the life of St. Catherine of Siena, and her importance in creating a more unified Church. n Saturday, Sept. 4, 8 p.m.

(EWTN) “Mother Teresa.” The first of a two-part drama of the little woman who called herself “a pencil in God’s hands,” Part 1. n Monday, Sept. 6, 1:30 p.m.

(EWTN) “Bread of Life.” A look inside the belief and practice surrounding the Holy Eucharist through engaging interviews with Catholic priests.

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U.S. Catholics urged to give to efforts helping Haitians recover from quake WASHINGTON, D.C. — The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has asked bishops across the country to take up a voluntary collection to help Haiti recover from a recent pair of natural disasters. Saying that Haitians are likely to experience continuing hardships from an Aug. 14 earthquake and a tropical storm that swept through the ravaged southwestern part of the country days later, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles made the request in a letter to bishops.

The magnitude 7.2 earthquake devastated communities in southwestern Haiti. Nearly 2,200 people died, more than 12,000 were injured, and tens of thousands of people were left homeless.

The quake collapsed the bishop’s residence in Les Cayes, killing one priest, leaving one missing and injuring Cardinal Chibly Langlois.

Father Emile Beldor died of his injuries after the Aug. 14 quake.

Father Jean-Antoine Coulanges is reported missing. Cardinal Langlois sustained arm and leg injuries; Church sources said his life was not in danger.

Voice of America also reported that 18 people, assembled for a baptism, were killed in Immaculate Conception Parish Church of Les Anglais.

At the Vatican Aug. 15, Pope Francis expressed his condolences and closeness to the Haitian people.

“While I lift up my prayer to the Lord for the victims, I extend my word of encouragement to the survivors, hoping that the interest of the international community to help might move toward them,” the pope said during his Angelus address.

Leading pilgrims in praying a “Hail Mary” for Haiti, the pope prayed that the “solidarity of all alleviate the consequences of the tragedy.”

Money from the voluntary collection will be funneled to the Bishops Emergency Disaster Fund and will be used to support the pastoral and reconstruction needs of the Haitian Catholic Church as well as efforts of Catholic Relief Services and possibly Catholic Charities USA. The USCCB said in a news release Aug. 20 that if the money collected cannot be distributed in Haiti, funding will be used for other emergency relief where it is needed most as determined by the bishops’ Committee on National Collections.

— Catholic News Service

Help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti Donate to the relief effort securely online through Catholic Relief Services: www.crs.org.

CNS | U.S. MARINE LANCE CPL. NICHOLAS GUEVARA, HANDOUT VIA REUTERS

A U.S. Marine comforts an infant while they wait for the mother during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 21.

Bishops say U.S. government must urgently act to relocate fleeing Afghans CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Saying that a humanitarian crisis is developing in Afghanistan, the chairmen of two U.S. bishops’ committees called on the U.S. government to “act with utmost urgency” to resettle thousands of Afghan citizens entering the country under special immigrant visas.

The U.S. government has said it would resettle up to 30,000 people who have applied for Special Immigrant Visas, or SIVs. The flow of refugees has been fueled by the rapid takeover of the Afghan government by the Taliban, an extremist Islamic movement that ruled Afghanistan until ousted by a U.S.-led coalition nearly 20 years ago, as the U.S. began withdrawing its military forces leading up to an Aug. 31 departure deadline.

“The government’s goal to relocate as many as 30,000 SIV applicants to the United States remains a monumental task that hangs in the balance,” said Auxiliary Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville of Washington, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration, and Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, Ill., chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace.

“We know that time is of the essence to help our brothers and sisters in need, and we call on our government to act with the utmost urgency, considering all available avenues to preserve life,” the bishops said.

Describing videos and photos of the desperation of Afghan citizens as the Taliban swept into power Aug. 15 as “difficult to view,” the chairmen expressed concern for all people requiring evacuation, “as well as Afghan women and girls, who risk losing opportunities gained over the last two decades and now face potential mistreatment.”

The statement also said that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities and other agencies have been assisting the U.S. government in working with SIV applicants at Fort Lee, south of Richmond, Va. “We will continue to work as long as necessary until those who are in harm’s way are brought to safety,” the bishops said.

Meanwhile, Pax Christi International expressed concern for

Afghanistan and the Taliban’s sudden rise to power, noting the insurgents’ history of atrocities that has continued in recent weeks as it expanded its control of the country.

Citing its commitment to nonviolence, the Brussels-based Catholic peace organization said in a statement Aug. 17 that “we are heartbroken by what decades of war and violence have wrought.”

Pax Christi called on the Taliban “to act in accordance with your own dignity as human beings” and to honor its promises “not to take a path of retaliation to create a secure environment.”

“We implore you to reject abusive power, to respect the equal rights of your Afghani sisters and brothers and to recognize in particular the great capacity of women to contribute to the wellbeing of society,” the statement said.

The organization also invited the world community, including the U.S. working through the United Nations, to ensure human rights protections and provide for the safe evacuation of vulnerable Afghans; provide visa or immigration accommodations globally, including Europe and the U.S.; and provide aid to neighboring countries of Afghanistan that are likely to host refugees.

Pax Christi also urged world leaders to increase and negotiate reliable access to humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan and ensure participation of Afghan civil society groups in deciding how humanitarian aid is used and the resettling refugees.

Just before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, Pope Francis also expressed his hope for the peace and safety of the country’s citizens.

“I join in the unanimous concern for the situation in Afghanistan. I ask all of you to pray with me to the God of peace, so that the clamor of weapons might cease and solutions can be found at the table of dialogue,” the pope said Aug. 15 during his Angelus address. Only through dialogue, he added, “can the battered population of that country – men, women, elderly and children – return to their own homes, and live in peace and security, in total mutual respect.”

August 27, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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In Brief Court ruling on Texas abortion law called ‘long-awaited victory’ HOUSTON — A spokeswoman with Texas Right to Life said a federal appeals court ruling upholding the Texas Dismemberment Abortion Ban is a “long-awaited victory” Texans are celebrating. “Anyone can see the cruelty of dismemberment abortions, ripping a child’s body apart while her heart is still beating,” said Kimberlyn Schwartz, the organization’s Director of Media and Communication. “We’re grateful the judges recognized this horror.” The Aug. 18 ruling from the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, based in New Orleans, upheld the state’s 2017 law, reversing previous court rulings that blocked it. It also reversed an earlier ruling by a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit upholding a block on it. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed the panel’s ruling and the full court agreed to hear the case. A majority of the 14 judges who heard the case ruled in favor of Texas; three judges on the 5th Circuit recused themselves. The case is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court. The law was first passed and signed into law in 2017 but has never gone into effect because of court challenges.

Archbishop: SNAP increase helps meet ‘essential human needs’ WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recalculation of the Supplemental

Nutrition Assistance Program and a major increase in the benefit for those in need “will be a meaningful improvement in the lives of millions of people who rely on SNAP for basic nutrition,” Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City said Aug. 21. He issued the statement as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

“The U.S. bishops have repeatedly called for strengthening and improving SNAP so that it provides an adequate level of support that doesn’t leave families hungry at the end of the month,” Archbishop Coakley said. His statement came in reaction to the USDA’s Aug. 16 release of a reevaluation of its Thrifty Food Plan, used to calculate benefit amounts provided to needy families through SNAP. The report prompted the Biden administration to permanently raise this benefit by over 25 percent, the largest single increase in the program’s history, according to news reports. The increase takes effect in October and will be available to all 42 million SNAP beneficiaries. A 15 percent boost in SNAP benefits for increased needs during the pandemic expires Sept. 30.

Bishop: Church has ‘sacred duty’ to speak truth about gender ARLINGTON, Va. — The topic of transgenderism is discussed routinely in the news, on television shows and in schools. This prevailing ideology – that a person can change his or her gender – is impacting Catholic families, too, said Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington.

After consulting with experts in theology, bioethics, clinical counseling, civil and canonical law, as well as with priests, Bishop Burbidge issued “A Catechesis on the Human Person and Gender Ideology” Aug. 12. He also released policies to be followed in Catholic schools and faith formation and youth ministry programs.

The Catholic Church has “a sacred duty and obligation – out of our love for our young people and God’s family – to speak the truth,” said Bishop Burbidge. “Not only to speak the truth but to explain why we believe what we do and to give Catholics the language they need to explain this to others.” The catechetical resource begins by explaining the Catholic understanding of the nature of human beings. “To be a human person means to be a unity of body and soul from the moment of conception,” the document said. As a result, our God-given bodies are “neither foreign nor a burden, but an integral part of the person.”

The full text of the document can be found at bit. ly/gendercatechesis.

Law firm urges court to ‘protect’ ministry from governor’s order EL PASO, Texas — A Catholic Charities official in southern Texas who oversees outreach to hundreds of migrant families entering the United States daily has asked a federal court to allow the agency to continue its mission of serving vulnerable people. Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in the Brownsville Diocese, said in a declaration to the court that the agency is responding to Church teaching of upholding the dignity of the human person in serving the migrants, largely mothers and children. The declaration by Sister Pimentel, a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, was included with an amicus, or friend of the court, brief filed by Becket, a religious liberty law firm, on behalf of the agency. Sister Pimentel oversees the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, which provides basic essential services to migrants who have been processed and released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. The Aug. 12 filing came a day before a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas was to hear arguments in a

case filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott seeking to block enforcement of his executive order that prohibits the transportation of migrants by anyone other than local or federal authorities. Judge Kathleen Cardone temporarily blocked Abbott’s order Aug. 3. The move halted enforcement at least until the Aug. 13 court hearing.

Faith leaders raise concerns over online censorship of religious speech SAN FRANCISCO — YouTube’s blocking of a theologian’s talk on the Christian view of sex as a “content violation” raises serious concerns that “religious speech is being censored online,” San Francisco’s archbishop and Focus on the Family’s president said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed they co-wrote. “Today’s sexual politics function as a new kind of fundamentalism, one that presents a deep problem to a diverse and democratic society. ... Social media enables the new fundamentalism, enforced by the mysterious rules of big tech’s quasi-monopoly,” wrote Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone and !Jim Daly. In their Aug. 12 op-ed, they explained that twice on Aug. 7 a live broadcast by the Rev. Carl Trueman, a scholar, best-selling author and Presbyterian minister, “was booted off the air.” He was giving a series of talks at the Sacramento Gospel Conference that were livestreamed on the YouTube channel of the conference’s host, Immanuel Baptist Church in Sacramento, California. “Viewers were informed that the first interruption was due to a copyright violation, possibly the result of Christian music that the conference organizers played during a break,” the archbishop and Daly wrote. “But in the second, more mysterious instance, Mr. Trueman’s presentation went dark because of a ‘content violation.’”

— Catholic News Service

Job Posting Senior Accountant The Diocese of Charlotte is seeking a full time Senior Accountant. This position will supervise a staff of at least one employee. Areas of responsibilities include monthly close, financial statement preparation, general ledger maintenance and reconciliations, journal entries, accounts payable, cash receipts, payroll, budgeting, fund accounting and year-end audit work.

Requirements include: • Bachelors Degree or equivalent in Accounting, Finance or related field.

• At least four years experience in accounting preferably with a not-for-profit organization.

• Excellent computer skills - specifically with Excel.

• Experience with Blackbaud software - a plus.

• Supervisory experience preferred.

Please send resume and salary history/requirements by September 17, 2021 to: Mason Beaumont, Controller, Diocese of Charlotte, 1123 South Church Street, Charlotte, NC 28203-4003, or email to mtbeaumont@rcdoc.org.

The Diocese of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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In Brief Pope sends aid to those hit by disasters in Haiti, Bangladesh, Vietnam VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will be sending nearly a quarter of a million dollars to help people in Haiti, who are struggling in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake during a global pandemic. The Vatican’s Dicastery for Integral Human Development said in a communique released Aug. 24 that the pope had decided to send “an initial contribution” of $235,000 (200,000 euros) to assist the earthquake victims during this “emergency phase,” following the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Haiti Aug. 14. At least 2,200 people died, more than 12,000 others were injured and nearly 53,000 houses destroyed, according to local authorities. The donation is meant to be “an immediate expression” of Pope Francis’ “feeling of spiritual closeness and paternal encouragement” for the people there. The money will be distributed – in collaboration with the Vatican’s nunciature in Haiti – to those dioceses most affected by the disaster, the dicastery said. It will add to the aid being sent throughout the Catholic Church thanks

to efforts led by bishops’ conferences and numerous charitable organizations.

Pope encourages people to rediscover importance of Sunday liturgy VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis encouraged new courses of action for parishes to help people understand the importance of Sunday Mass and parish ministries, a top Vatican official wrote in a message. The message was sent on behalf of the pope Aug. 23 to the 71st National Liturgical Week, by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state. The meeting, held Aug. 23-26 in the Italian city of Cremona, brought together pastoral workers, religious and priests to discuss ways to encourage the faithful to attend the Sunday liturgy and participate in other liturgical celebrations, rites and the sacraments. In the written message, the cardinal said the pandemic and its restrictions, which had prevented the faithful from gathering like before, underlined the importance of the liturgy in Christian life. But, what happened during the pandemic and the difficulty in resuming liturgical activities, he wrote, “confirmed what was already observed at Sunday assemblies on the Italian peninsula, an alarming indication of the advanced stage of an epochal change.” It had been noticed, even long before the pandemic, there has been a shift in how people perceive “time” and “space,” which has had repercussions on the meaning of Sunday for most people and how most people experience community and the family, he said.

Job Posting

Payroll Administrator The Diocese of Charlotte is seeking a full time Payroll Administrator. Areas of responsibility include oversight and review of payroll for all diocesan entities and select parishes and schools, training payroll staff across the diocese, assisting in the processing of payroll for Mecklenburg Area Catholic schools, the largest single employer of the Diocese of Charlotte, maintaining confidential payroll records, providing payroll reports to management, and other duties as required.

Requirements include: • Degree in Accounting, Finance or related field.

• At least four years’ experience in payroll processing.

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Two nuns killed in South Sudan after vehicle ambushed along highway; peace talks threatened

South Sudan, saying Pope Francis was “deeply saddened to learn of the brutal attack.”

NAIROBI, Kenya — Two Catholic nuns were shot and killed along a highway in South Sudan Aug. 16 as they were returning home to Juba. Seven other sisters survived the attack.

Sisters Mary Daniel Abut and Regina Roba were members of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart in the Archdiocese of Juba. They were returning to Juba after attending the centenary celebrations at a parish in the eastern Diocese of Torit. Father Samuel Abe of the Juba Archdiocese announced a four-day mourning period Aug. 17. The sisters were buried Aug. 20 at the St. Theresa Cathedral in Juba. The nuns’ murders are threatening to scuttle ongoing peace talks led by the Sant’Egidio Community in Rome. South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit said his government could reconsider its position on the initiative; he blamed the ambush on armed factions that have not signed the 2018 revitalized peace agreement. “The responsibility for death lies squarely on the hold-out groups,” and the government “condemns this act of terror in the strongest terms possible” Kiir said in a statement conveying his condolences to Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla of Juba. He warned the government’s pursuit of inclusive peace should never be taken for weakness and exploited to kill innocent citizens.

At the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, sent a telegram to the chargés d’affaires at the Vatican Embassy to

Bangladesh’s tiny Catholic community uses its resources to fight COVID-19 DHAKA, Bangladesh — As the COVID-19 situation worsens in Bangladesh, the country’s tiny Catholic community has been playing a vital role in battling the outbreak, despite limited resources. Church-run St. John Vianney Hospital, which started operating in November 2019, has served thousands of coronavirus patients since the virus hit the country in March 2020. Some 700 patients have been hospitalized there. Father Kamal Corraya, hospital director, told ucanews.com that the hospital’s 20 beds have been reserved for COVID-19 patients. “We have a central oxygen facility for 20 patients but have yet to arrange an ICU for the patients, as it is expensive. We realize the ICU is very urgent for us,” Father Corraya told ucanews.com. As the COVID-19 situation keep worsening, with many patients failing to get treatment, the hospital decided to treat as many as possible with minimum costs, the priest said. “When we get any critical patients, we refer them to other hospitals where they can get an ICU facility. In maximum cases, we succeed in arranging ICU beds through our connections in various hospitals. Our biggest obstacle is that our health workers are being affected, so we have to hire new staff and spend a lot of money to treat them,” the priest added.

— Catholic News Service

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August 27, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

CONGRESO VIENE DE LA PÁGINA 13

en el canal YouTube de la diócesis.

(Suscríbase al canal o siga a Catholic News Herald en Facebook para saber cuándo estarán disponibles los videos).

El Congreso Eucarístico dará inicio a las 6:45 de la tarde del viernes 17 con bienvenida, oración y la presentación por el Obispo Jugis. Las vísperas del rito bizantino (oración vespertina) seguirán a las 7 p.m. El Dr. William Thierfelder, presidente de Belmont Abbey College, ofrecerá una charla titulada “Mi imitación de Cristo” a partir de las 8 p.m.

Un programa universitario para jóvenes adultos se ofrecerá de 7 a 10 p.m. en la Catedral San Patricio, 1621 Dilworth Road East.

La Adoración Nocturna en la catedral seguirá al programa universitario a partir de las 10:30 p.m. del viernes hasta las 7 de la mañana del sábado.

La Procesión Eucarística, uno de las actividades más destacadas del Congreso, será a las 9 a.m. del sábado, partiendo de la Iglesia San Pedro, 507 South Tryon Street.

Los asistentes al Congreso deben alinearse a lo largo de Wells Fargo Plaza, en la esquina de South Tryon y Third Street para ver la procesión y unirse a ella detrás de la pancarta de su parroquia. Los niños que celebraron su Primera Comunión entre 2020 y 2021 están invitados a encabezar la procesión con sus atuendos de Primera Comunión. Ellos deben reunirse en la intersección de South Tryon y Martin Luther King Blvd antes de las 8:30 de la mañana. Se requiere que un padre o tutor acompañe a su hijo durante la procesión, que atravesará las calles del Uptown de Charlotte hasta el Centro de Convenciones.

Una Hora Santa con el Padre Tri Truong, pastor de la Iglesia Vietnamita San José en Charlotte, seguirá la procesión a las 10:15 a.m., y la Bendición del Santísimo Sacramento se llevará a cabo a las 10:45 a.m.

Las actividades del sábado también incluyen Adoración Eucarística;

CARE FROM PAGE 7

this sense of inconsolable grief.”

Tucker administers free pregnancy tests to the women who come on board.

If they are in need of an ultrasound, she performs a special screening and if that checks out, performs the ultrasound.

“Catholics and the public need to know that our prayers are being answered,” she says.

Tucker hopes SMPCC will be able to find more locations to park the Harmoni unit throughout western North Carolina so women can come on board for free pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and to receive information on resources available to them to help carry their babies to term and provide support for the families who need it.

Harris and SAFL Asheville would also like to see more businesses say yes to hosting the mobile unit.

“This is a free community resource.

How can you say no to that?” she says.

“We’re really excited (about the mobile unit). It’s really motivating the Sidewalk

confesiones; programas en inglés, español y vietnamita; y un concierto de música sacra por los seminaristas del Seminario Universitario San José. Este año no habrá programa para jóvenes debido a la pandemia.

Los oradores destacados del programa en inglés incluyen al escritor, Padre Donald Calloway, de los Marianos de la Inmaculada Concepción. El Padre Calloway hablará sobre la “Consagración a San José en el Año de San José” a las 12:30 p.m. La Dra. Gianna Emmanuela Molla, hija de la pediatra italiana St. Gianna Molla, disertará a las 2:30 p.m. sobre “El Evangelio de la vida y Santa Gianna Molla”.

Los oradores destacados del programa en español incluyen al Padre Edwin Alberto Romo García, quien hablará a las 12:30 p.m. sobre la “Eucaristía: servicio, entrega y amor”. Le seguirá Gustavo Adolfo Mejía, quien hablará sobre “La juventud, el desafío de presentar el amor de Cristo” a las 13:30 horas. Una charla de Lupita Venegas sobre “El amor según la voluntad de Cristo” a las 2:30 p.m. completará el programa en español.

El programa en vietnamita se llevará a cabo de 12:30 a 3:30 p.m. en el salón Richardson Ballroom.

La Misa de clausura comenzará a las 4:15 p.m., ofrecida por el Obispo Jugis y sacerdotes de la diócesis.

Actualizaciones online En www.goeucharist.com: Encontrará mayor información sobre el Congreso Eucarístico 2021, en inglés y español.

CONGRESS FROM PAGE 3

Congress participants should line up along Wells Fargo Plaza at the corner of South Tryon and Third streets to watch the procession and join in behind their parish’s banner. First Holy Communicants from both 2020 and 2021 are invited to lead the procession in their First Holy Communion attire. All First Holy Communicants should assemble at the intersection of South Tryon Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard by 8:30 a.m. A parent or guardian is required to accompany their child along the procession route, which will weave through the streets of uptown Charlotte into the convention center.

A Holy Hour featuring homilist Father Tri Truong, pastor of St. Joseph Vietnamese Church in Charlotte, will follow the procession at 10:15 a.m., and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament will be held at 10:45 a.m.

Saturday’s activities also include Eucharistic Adoration; the sacrament of confession; English, Spanish and Vietnamese programs; and a sacred music concert performed by the St. Joseph College seminarians. There are no youth tracks this year due to the pandemic.

Featured speakers in the English track in Hall A include author Father Donald Calloway, of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception. He will speak on “Consecration to St. Joseph in the Year of St. Joseph” at 12:30 p.m. Dr. Gianna Emmanuela Molla,

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daughter of Italian pediatrician St. Gianna Molla, will speak at 2:30 p.m. on “The Gospel of Life and St. Gianna Molla.”

Featured speakers in the Spanish track in Hall C include Father Edwin Alberto Romo Garcia, who will speak at 12:30 p.m. on “Eucharist: Service, Surrender and Love.”

He will be followed by Gustavo Adolfo Mejia, who will speak on “Youth, The Challenge of Presenting the Love of Christ” at 1:30 p.m. A talk by Lupita Venegas on “Love, According to the Will of Christ” at 2:30 p.m. will round out the day’s Spanish track.

The Vietnamese track will be held from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Richardson Ballroom.

The closing Mass of the Eucharistic Congress will begin at 4:15 p.m., offered by Bishop Jugis and priests of the diocese.

Get updates online At www.goeucharist.com: Find more information about the 2021 Eucharistic Congress, in English and Spanish.

Your DSA contributions at work The annual Eucharistic Congress is funded in part by the annual Diocesan Support Appeal.

Learn more about the DSA and how to donate online at www.charlottediocese.org/dsa.

Sus contribuciones al DSA en marcha El Congreso Eucarístico anual está financiado en parte por la Campaña de Apoyo Diocesano anual. Obtenga más información sobre la DSA y cómo donar en línea en www.charlottediocese.org/dsa.

Advocates for Life. It is inspiring my team in Asheville.

“It’s difficult to go out there every week. The unit is beautiful, and we are excited at what God is going to do.”

Need help?

Smoky Mountain Pregnancy Care Center serves women in western North Carolina.

SMPCC is open Monday-Thursday at two locations: 226 E. Palmer Street, Franklin (phone 828-349-3200) and 117 Monteith Gap Road, Cullowhee (828-293-3600 or text 720-767-2262). For more information about SMPCC’s free and confidential services and the Harmoni mobile unit, go online to www. smokymountainpregnancycarecenter.org. To donate, go online to https://smokypartners. com/give.

Learn more Sidewalk Advocates for Life in western North Carolina is online at www. sidewalkadvocates.org/location/asheville-nc.

Questions? Contact Elizabeth Harris at 828214-7789 or email SAFL.AshevilleNC@gmail. com. SAFL Asheville will offer basic training on Oct. 16 during Respect Life month.

ADORATION FROM PAGE 3

more stained glass, though, so she got the green light to hold a garage sale in Holy Family Hall that has raised over a thousand dollars to put toward new windows.

Hancock points out several other physical improvements have been made to the chapel thanks to the support of parishioners and adorers, including reupholstering of the chairs and kneelers, new carpets and installation of a sanctuary lamp.

Current pastor Father Larry LoMonaco calls the Adoration Chapel “a good neighbor.”

“It is wonderful to look out my window and see people praying continuously day and night. I cannot calculate the good that comes from all these prayers. I am grateful for all the dedicated adorers who persevere even during inclement weather – rain, snow, ice and sleet – to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament,” Father LoMonaco says, noting that even non-Catholics stop by to find “the Adoration Chapel a welcoming place to be with the Lord.”

He also expresses thanks to everyone who helped organize the Aug. 15 celebration. “It

took many hands working together to make our 10th anniversary celebration a huge success. I appreciate the willingness and dedication of all the volunteers who made this special occasion a celebration we will always remember.”

ViewPoints 22

catholicnewsherald.com | August 27, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Jesuit Father John Michalowski

Mark Galli

Turn to Christ for strength Former Presbyterian surprised by Mary in your weakness I

“

When I am weak, then I am strong.”

Writing to the Corinthians, St. Paul says, “I would rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses in order that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

(2 Cor 12:9-10). Who boasts of their weaknesses? In what way has Paul’s weaknesses made him strong?

In his Letter to the Philippians, St. Paul reminds us of all the reasons he had for boasting before he met Christ. “Circumcised on the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage, in observance of the law a Pharisee, in zeal I persecuted the church, in righteousness based on the Law I was blameless.” (3:5-6). Paul comes from the Chosen People of Israel with the best parentage and the best training and with the most ambition for God. Depending on where you come from, he is the person from Myers Park who went to Davidson or Chapel Hill and works for a prestigious firm, or he is from Greenwich, Conn., and went to Yale, or from Evanston, Ill., and went to Northwestern or the University of Chicago, or from Weston, Mass., and went to Harvard.

Humanly, in his culture, Paul has every reason to boast.

But Paul goes on to say, “Whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider as loss because of Christ. … For His sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them as so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him.” (Phil 3:7-8).

Why give up all that he had to brag about? All those things had made him proud and arrogant. He depended on himself, not on God, and so he wound up trying to foil the plans of God by persecuting the Christian community.

Better to depend on Christ and in humility to seek what God wants and discern with the help of the Holy Spirit. Whatever the “thorn in the flesh” was (2 Cor 12:7), whether it was physical or moral, we do not know. Whatever it was, it kept Paul from getting proud, from acting on his own without seeking the will of God. We should remember that Jesus Christ’s suffering and crucifixion looked like failure to the world, but it became the means of salvation. The cross is now the symbol of victory. God’s foolishness and seeming weakness was truly redeeming strength. This is why the Diocese of Austin, Texas, asks its deacon candidates to spend a weekend on the streets, homeless and penniless with only a sleeping bag. There they meet Christ often in the distressing disguise of the homeless. But they also meet some among the homeless whose faith challenges them.

This is why Pope Francis calls all of us – but especially the clergy – to go out to those on the margins where they can learn from Christ in the poor and the suffering. Beyond this, it has been true since the time of the Roman persecutions that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of faith.” This has been repeated time and again in history, as we see in the Korean martyrs, the Ugandan martyrs, the Vietnamese martyrs and others. What seems sown in weakness often yields a great harvest.

How often do people who have it all lack peace and happiness? You can only distract yourself for so long before sickness or death or an economic crisis or a pandemic or other tragedy that you cannot control finally stops you in your arrogant tracks. Like Saul on the road to Damascus, before he became Paul, will we turn to Christ and let Him into the depths of our lives? Will we live for love, not for self ? Personally, I find that when I do something stupid and fall on my face, Jesus is there to lift me and wipe the mud off of my face. What can I say but that you and I are loved beyond our weaknesses and folly?

Let us pray: Lord, none of us wants to be weak. We love your cross because we aren’t on it, but you are, as a sign of your love and a call to trust in your victory. Help us to recognize how much we need you and how much you love us. Help us not to run away from our weakness or suffering but help us to turn to you that you might be strong in our weakness. Together with you all things are possible, especially forgiveness and love. Like Paul, may we one day gain Christ and be found with Him for all eternity. Amen.

‘Will we live for love, not for self?’

JESUIT FATHER JOHN MICHALOWSKI is the parochial vicar of St. Peter Church in Charlotte.

cannot remember exactly why I knelt before a statue of the Virgin Mary for the first time. It was about a year ago. I suspect my priest told me to pray a few Hail Marys after confession. I’d seen parishioners pray on the kneeler before her at the front of the sanctuary. As a new Catholic, I’d been testing out various “features” of my new faith home. Why not say my prayers there?

Usually, the first time I experiment with a new spiritual practice, my analytical mind takes over and ponders what I’m doing and whether it “makes sense.” This is a perfectly good way to undermine any spiritual benefit that might accrue to me (but, alas, most of the time, that’s the way it works for me at first).

For example, when I took the rosary for a spin a couple of times, my mind was fixated on following precisely the order of the prayers, while I mentally wondered how this ancient practice could shape a soul. In other words, I did anything but enter into the praying of the rosary as such. I assume I’ll eventually learn to appreciate the practice.

But when I knelt before the statue of Mary at my home parish that afternoon, I was startled. I moved my eyes from her delicate toes (that suggested the feet beneath her gown that crushed the serpent), to her gently outstretched arms, to her fixed gaze. Her focus was distant and yet caring, as if she were looking upon the millions who beseeched her.

Her lips betrayed just a hint of a smile and her fondness for those millions. I knew instantly that included me, this sorry excuse for a man kneeling before her.

My ever-vigilant mind tried to kick in to dismiss what was happening: This is an idealized Mary; the artist crafted the statue in a traditional way to emphasize her youthful beauty and innocence, and to suggest her virtue. Normally when I observe art with the artist’s intention in view, it’s my mind that converses with the art. As much as my mind whirled with such thoughts before Mary, they were drowned out by the murmuring of my heart. I knew at that moment that Mary loved me and was praying for me.

The statue was acting like an icon, a “window into heaven.” For a moment, I knew a reality that both transcends this world and pervades its every nook and cranny. I did not expect or even hope that something like this would happen. But it did. And, as I said, it startled me.

And pleased me.

This is one of many things that have surprised and pleased me as I’ve begun my journey into the country called “Catholic.”

Though I was baptized as a baby and took First Communion as a boy, the bulk of my religious life – over 50 years – has been spent traversing the evangelical world. After attending a Protestant seminary, I served as a Presbyterian pastor for ten years, and for the last two decades, I was managing editor and then editor-in-chief of the leading evangelical magazine in the nation, Christianity Today.

This blog post begins an occasional series of my first impressions of this strange (to many of my Protestant sensibilities, anyway) and wonderful country. I want to note them before they become such a part of my routine that I

hardly recognize their wonder.

My new affection for Mary is as good a place to start as any, especially in May [when this was first posted online]. The tradition of dedicating May to Mary dates from the Middle Ages. The reasons are not hard to fathom.

As St. John Henry Newman put it in his Meditations and Devotions: “The first reason is because it is the time when the earth bursts forth into its fresh foliage and its green grass after the stern frost and snow of winter and the raw atmosphere and the wild wind and rain of the early spring. It is because the blossoms are upon the trees and the flowers are in the gardens. It is because the days have got long, and the sun rises early and sets late. For such gladness and joyousness of external Nature is a fit attendant on our devotion to her who is the Mystical Rose and the House of Gold.”

But I especially like what Pope Paul VI said in his encyclical “Mense Maio”: “We are delighted and consoled by this pious custom associated with the month of May, which pays honor to the Blessed Virgin and brings such rich benefits to the Christian people. Since Mary is rightly to be regarded as the way by which we are led to Christ, the person who encounters Mary cannot help but encounter Christ likewise.”

Most Protestants fail to grasp that Mary’s role is to lead us to “the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

The compassion of Mary is nothing less than the compassion of Jesus on the cross infused into her soul. And the grace we experience in and through Mary is nothing but the grace of God. So fearful are Protestants of trafficking in idolatry – worshiping the creation rather than the Creator – that they are hesitant to give any person, even Mary, her due. It may be the case that some Catholics have wandered into the spiritual swamp of idolatry, but understandable errors of a very few should not take away from the extraordinary nature and role of Mary.

In talking about my conversion to Catholicism with some women friends, I’ve heard more than once, “I could become Catholic except for its view of women.” I know some balk at the fact that women cannot become priests – perhaps a subject for another day. Otherwise, I suspect that Catholic men, lay and clerical, have been no more sexist than Protestants or unbelievers over the centuries. But my friends fail to recognize that it is one woman in particular through whom God became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. And that this woman, by God’s grace, is “full of grace” and the means by which we grasp the mercy of Jesus. It may be true that certain of the Church’s men can disparage women, but that doesn’t seem to be God’s problem, who uses women, and one woman extraordinarily, to do the most important task he’s given his Church: to make Christ’s mercy real to those troubled by sin and afflicted with suffering as they traverse the hard roads of this present life.

MARK GALLI is a writer in Glen Ellyn, Ill. He was formerly editorin-chief of Christianity Today. His many books include “When Did We Start Forgetting God? The Root of the Evangelical Crisis and Hope for the Future” and a biography of St. Francis of Assisi.

August 27, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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Letters to the Editor

Hope for unity in wake of ‘Traditionis Custodes’ Pope Francis’ recent instruction “Traditionis Custodes” will, I hope, promote unity within the Diocese of Charlotte and the rest of the Church. There may be some pushback from those who have been using the Tridentine Liturgy as a political statement regarding the reforms of Vatican II, as well as disappointment on the part of those who enjoy the nostalgia of the Latin Mass.

It would be a welcome practice if parishes that have been celebrating the Tridentine rite on a regular basis would schedule some educational sessions for their parish community that would explain the changes brought on by Vatican II. In the meantime, it is important to recall that the reforms ordered by the Council of Trent were not fully implemented for a century. We are better equipped today than they were to make needed changes, putting aside the temptation to politicize this welcome movement forward for our Church.

DAVID GALUSHA lives in Waxhaw.

Pope’s instruction widens the divide I myself prefer the Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular to which we are accustomed, but it is perplexing to me why Pope Francis chose this moment to ostracize those who prefer the Traditional Latin Mass, in effect telling Latin Mass advocates that they are not welcome. To disenfranchise those who prefer the Latin Mass makes little or no sense, especially when the pope refuses to publicly admonish prominent “Catholics” who openly defy the Church teaching on marriage, abortion and other issues. To me, this action does not unify the Church, it widens the divide.

WILLIAM J. BARKER lives in Charlotte.

Pray for God’s love to overcome sorrow over liturgical changes I greatly appreciated Jesuit Father John Michalowski’s perspective and insight in his Aug. 13 commentary “Forgive our angry, divisive hearts.” I was especially encouraged by his prayer to be an instrument of peace who is open to the “many and varied” ways that God’s grace is at work. His account of attending Mass in both English and Latin is beautiful, and it is an example of the many and varied ways that God speaks to His people and that we can worship Him. Amid the confusion and hurt that “Traditionis Custodes” has brought to the hearts of many of the faithful, I particularly found it beautiful to read a priest’s prayer to Our Blessed Lord to “forgive me for the times that I harden my heart to others because I think that I know better.”

Father Michalowski recounts in his commentary that during his youth he saw an elderly woman put her fingers in her ears at the sound of English at Mass. Unfortunately, many Catholics, both laity and clergy, are now putting their fingers in their ears – whether literally or figuratively – when they hear Latin. I pray, along with him, that those who resent the Latin Mass can agree on its underlying good and can respect its place in our tradition and our present times.

I also pray, with Father Michalowski, that God’s love will overcome any sorrowful feelings over changes in our liturgies, especially those that reclaim whatever is just, pure, lovely, gracious and excellent.

STEVEN RICHARDSON lives in Rock Hill, S.C.

Vatican II Mass is work of the Holy Spirit When I was a young woman, my mother noticed my devotion to our Blessed Mother and lovingly passed her personal novena booklet on to me. This little 1950s-era prayer booklet of the Miraculous Medal Novena included Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Latin. It became, and remains, my “go-to” devotional. I have witnessed with awe and gratitude countless answered prayers.

Through my experience and observations, I associate Latin with the most reverent of prayers and higher education. I admire and respect the devotion, piety and prayerfulness of my friends who attend the Latin Mass. However, I believe Pope Francis is right in calling Catholics to embrace the Mass as reformed by the Second Vatican Council. Why? Because the paradigm set forth by the Holy Spirit, not just at the Second Vatican Council but at Pentecost itself, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles, allowed them to preach the Good News of Jesus to all.

For nine days the disciples remained in the Upper Room, fearful yet waiting for the Paraclete as Jesus had promised. It is noteworthy to mention that at that very time, thousands of Jewish pilgrims were gathered from countries far away, speaking many languages. The apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, courageously went forth into the streets of Jerusalem. They were amazed they were able to speak whatever language necessary to communicate the Good News that Jesus was the Messiah. Over 3,000 people were converted that day!

Jesus commanded, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” The most effective way of doing this is the manner used by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost: actively engaging people of every culture in their native tongue.

MELANIE S. ROTONDI lives in York, S.C.

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catholicnewsherald.com | August 27, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

As I have loved you.

— John 13:34

17th Eucharistic Congress September 17 – 18, 2021 – Charlotte Convention Center Eucharistic Procession – Vespers – Holy Hour – Confession – Sacred Music – Holy Mass

Dr. Thierfelder

Fr. Calloway

Fr. Truong

Dr. Molla

FRIDAY EVENING SPEAKER Dr. William Thierfelder, president of Belmont Abbey College: “My Imitation of Christ”

SATURDAY SPEAKERS Fr. Donald Calloway: “Consecration to St. Joseph in the Year of St. Joseph” Fr. Tri Truong – Holy Hour Homilist L O S HE A YO M J UA N 1 3 : 3 4

O

For Information or to volunteer please visit: www.GoEucharist.com

O

AD

M

Dr. Gianna Emanuela Molla: “The Gospel of Life and St. Gianna Molla” CO

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