Jan. 6, 2023

January 6, 2023 catholicnewsherald.com charlottediocese.org

Diocese asks Vatican to declare ‘Mary, Mother of God’ as patroness

Diócesis pide al Vaticano que declare a ‘María, Madre de Dios’ como patrona

At a glance

things you need to know this week

GET YOUR WATER, CHALK & CALENDARS HANDY

Make sure to get some water and chalk blessed on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, on Sunday, Jan. 8 – the day the Church in the U.S. recognizes the Adoration of the Magi. Then use them to bless and mark the doors of your home, bringing God’s blessing for the new year. Because the dates of Easter and the moveable feasts are announced on Epiphany, there is also a tradition of blessing calendars on this day. Here’s a quick guide for an Epiphany home blessing: www.bitly.com/chalkblessing

TRY A CATHOLIC PLANNER

Speaking of calendars, in this new year – why not mix your faith with an organizational tool in the form of an inspirational calendar to keep your busy life on track? Catholic planners come in a variety of styles –some with verses of Scripture, or images of beloved saints to spur you on to sanctity. Check out options online - just type “Catholic Calendars” into the search bar of your browser.

TAKE

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THE ‘BIBLE IN A YEAR’ CHALLENGE

There’s no time like the present to delve deeper into Scripture with a Bible app or podcast to help you read the Bible in a year. Father Mike Schmitz’s popular “The Bible in a Year” podcast from Ascension Press is free. Go to www. ascensionpress.com/pages/biy-registration to learn more.

PRAY AND WALK FOR LIFE

January provides three opportunities to publicly witness for life: in Charlotte, Friday, Jan. 13; in Raleigh, Saturday, Jan. 14; and in Washington, D.C., Friday, Jan. 20. Whether you can make it to a March for Life event or not, consider praying this novena from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this month: www.usccb.org/ resources/9-days-life-novena.

Diocesan calendar of events

ESPAÑOL

VIÑEDO DE RAQUEL : ¿Es usted o un ser querido que busca la curación de los efectos de un aborto anterior? Los retiros de fin de semana son ofrecidos por Caridades Católicas para hombres y mujeres en todas las regiones de la Diócesis de Charlotte. Para obtener información sobre los próximos retiros, incluidos retiros en las diócesis vecinas, comuníquese con Karina Hernández: 336-267-1937 o karinahernandez@live. com.

VIGILIA DE ADORACIÓN 6 p.m. los jueves, en la Catedral San Patricio, 1621 Dilworth Road East, Charlotte. Nos reunimos para una Vigilia de Adoración por la Paz y la Justicia en Nicaragua, que en estos últimos meses están 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, la hora santa de reparación, y terminando con la oración de exorcismo de San Miguel Arcángel.

PRAYER SERVICES

MARCH FOR LIFE: 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 13. Mass for the Unborn at St. Vincent de Paul Church, 6828 Old Reid Road, Charlotte. Gather at 11 a.m. in the parking lot across the street from the Charlotte Diocese, 1123 South Church St. March will begin at noon at Trade and Tryon streets, where Father Aaron Huber, parochial vicar of St. Mark Parish, will preach. For details, go to www. marchforlifecharlotte.com.

PRO-LIFE ROSARY: After the 9 a.m. Mass every third Sunday at the Mother Teresa Pro-Life Memorial, St. Vincent de Paul Church, 6828 Old Reid Road, Charlotte.

HOLY APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST LUKE MISSION (UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH) : Divine Liturgy (Mass) is offered Sundays at 3 p.m. at St. Barnabas Church, 109 Crescent Hill Road, Arden. For details, email ucmcanton@gmail.com.

SAFE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING

PROTECTING CHILDREN: Protecting God’s Children (Protegiendo a los Niños de Dios)

Take up Pope Francis’ challenge to live in solidarity with the poor in both prayer and action. There are plenty of resources in both English and Spanish on the USCCB’s website. Find reflections and calendars at www.usccb. org/resources/poverty-awareness-monthmaterials. Other helpful information can be found online

workshops educate parish volunteers to recognize and prevent child sexual abuse. For details, contact your parish office. To register for online training, go to www. virtus.org. Upcoming workshops: GREENSBORO: 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, and 9 a.m. Feb. 18, St. Paul the Apostle Church, 2715 Horse Pen Creek Road

SUPPORT GROUPS

RETROUVAILLE WEEKEND FOR MARRIED COUPLES Jan. 13-15, for married couples who are looking to reconnect and develop communication and healing. To register, visit www. helpourmarriage.com.

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, contact Jessica Grabowski at 910-5852460 or jrgrabowski@rcdoc.org, or Lorena Haynes at 828-585-0483.

Upcoming events for Bishop Peter J. Jugis:

JAN. 12, 2023 – 7 P.M.

Closing Mass of the Diocese of Charlotte’s 50th Anniversary St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

JAN. 13, 2023 – 11:45 A.M.

Prayer before the Charlotte March for Life Pastoral Center, Charlotte

JAN. 17, 2023 – 11 A.M.

Presbyteral Council Meeting Pastoral Center, Charlotte

JANUARY IS POVERTY AWARENESS MONTH

at www.nationaltoday.com/ poverty-awareness-month

— SueAnn Howell. Deacon Matthew Newsome contributed.

What is the lesson of Christ’s Baptism?

FATHER STEVE GRUNOW Word of Fire

On the second Sunday of January, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and it is with this awe-filled liturgy that the three great revelations or “theophanies” of the Christmas season are brought to stunning fulfillment.

The first of these revelations was the birth of the Christ child, which was celebrated on Christmas Day. This “theophany” presented to us the first occasion when it was made known to human sight that God had accepted for Himself a human nature and allowed Himself to be born in this world as a man. God comes to Israel and the world in much the same manner as we all have. God is born in Christ to particular parents, into a particular family, and at a particular place and time. God is who Christ is – as an infant, as a child and as a grown man: Christ is God!

The second of these revelations was commemorated in the United States on the solemnity of Christ’s Epiphany. In this liturgy, the theophany of Christ as Messiah (that is, as the true King of Israel) was revealed. With this revelation came also signs that foreshadowed Christ’s mission – a mission by which He would transform both Israel and the world. The Church professes and believes that Christ is the fulfillment of the expectations of Israel that God would send to His people a Messiah; but more than this, we believe that it is the God of Israel Himself who comes into this world as the Messiah!

The third of these revelations is presented in the liturgy in which the Church accepts and discerns the event of Christ’s Baptism.

Though this event hearkens to and foreshadows the Church’s Sacrament of Baptism, we shouldn’t confuse the two. Christ does not receive the Sacrament of Baptism, and what John imparts is not what the Church is doing when people are baptized.

The baptism of John was a ritual act of purification which was much like the mikvah that a faithful Israelite accepted before entering the precincts of the Temple. John presented his mikvah or baptism as an act by which one would be prepared to receive

Daily Scripture readings

JAN. 8-14

Sunday (The Epiphany of the Lord): Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6, Matthew 2:1-12; Monday (The Baptism of the Lord): Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7, Matthew 3:13-17; Tuesday: Hebrews 2:5-12, Mark 1:21-28; Wednesday: Hebrews 2:14-18, Mark 1:29-39; Thursday: Hebrews 3:7-14, Mark 1:40-45; Friday (St. Hilary): Hebrews 4:1-5, 11, Mark 2:1-12; Saturday: Hebrews 4:12-16, Mark 2:13-17

Messiah and enter with Him into the Messianic

It is mysterious as to why Christ would Himself accept this kind of baptism. Perhaps it is to show the depth of His identification with Israel and that, as their Messiah, He would not expect or ask anything of His chosen people that He would not at first undergo Himself. Or maybe it is to foreshadow His immersion into sin and death in the terrifying event of the cross. As He descends into the depths of the Jordan River and then emerges, so will it be in His Paschal Mystery.

The Fathers of the Church presented the insight that as Christ immersed Himself in the waters of John’s baptism, He sanctified all the waters of the world for use in the Church’s Sacrament of Baptism.

These are all interesting and helpful insights, but none in itself is the revelation or the theophany that this feast’s liturgy presents.

The great revelation of the Lord’s Baptism is discerned, not in the reason that He accepts Baptism, but that in that moment something about God’s identity was revealed that was not fully known or even believed to be possible. The Baptism of Christ is the occasion when the Trinity is revealed – the Son makes Himself known, the Father speaks, and the Holy Spirit descends. It is this mystery, the mystery of the Trinity, that brings the revelations or the theophanies of the holy season of Christmas to their fulfillment.

The lesson?

Remember, Christians, you do not believe that God is merely an idea in your mind or a projection of your best self. God is not for you some unknown and unknowable force in the universe or a feeling that you contain in your heart. The one, true God has revealed Himself in Christ as the Trinity – the mysterious communion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a communion of Divine Love “in which we live and move and have our being.” It is this Divine Love that brought all into existence, and because of Christ, it is to this Divine Love that we will all one day return.

Faith is a journey that must be walked with others

VATICAN CITY — Christians should not seek the Lord by themselves without being part of a faith community and without spiritual accompaniment, Pope Francis said. However, the pope cautioned against forms of accompaniment that “can give rise to unrealistic expectations, misunderstandings, forms of dependence that leave the person in an infantile state.” The person who accompanies others in their spiritual life “does not substitute the Lord, but walks alongside him or her, encouraging them to interpret what is stirring in their heart,” the pope said Jan. 4 at his weekly general audience.

Spiritual accompaniment is “important first and foremost for self-knowledge, which as we have seen is an indispensable condition for discernment,” Pope Francis said.

“God’s grace in us always works on our nature,” the pope said, which is why “it is important to make ourselves known, without fear of sharing the most fragile aspects: where we find ourselves to be more sensitive, weak or afraid of being judged” with a person “who accompanies us on life’s journey.”

“Fragility is, in reality, our true richness,” he said, and it must be respected and welcomed. “Indeed God, to make us like Him, wished to share our fragility to the utmost” as can be seen with His birth in poverty in a manger and His death on a cross. People who do not think they are fragile are “trouble,” the pope said, “They are harsh, dictatorial.”

Instead, when a person humbly recognizes his or her vulnerability and weaknesses, he or she tends to be more understanding toward others.

“Recounting what we have lived or are searching for in front of another person helps bring us clarity, bringing to light the many thoughts that dwell within us, and which often unsettle us,” he said.

“False and poisonous thoughts,” such as “I have done everything wrong, I am worthless, no one understands me, I will never succeed, I am destined for failure,” he said, can be “unmasked,” understood and overcome better with the help of another person.

JAN. 15-21

Sunday: Isaiah 49:3, 5-6, 1 Corinthians 1:1-3, John 1:29-34; Monday: Hebrews 5:1-10, Mark 2:18-22; Tuesday (St. Anthony): Hebrews 6:10-20, Mark 2:23-28; Wednesday: Hebrews 7:1-3, 15-17, Mark 3:1-6; Thursday: Hebrews 7:25-8:6, Mark 3:7-12; Friday (St. Fabian, St. Sebastian): Hebrews 8:6-13, Mark 3:13-19; Saturday (St. Agnes): Hebrews 9:2-3, 11-14, Mark 3:20-21

JAN. 22-28

Sunday: Isaiah 8:23-9:3, 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17, Matthew 4:12-23; Monday (Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children): Hebrews 9:15, 24-28, Mark 3:2230, James 3:13-18, John 14:23-29; Tuesday (St. Francis de Sales): Hebrews 10:1-10, Mark 3:31-35; Wednesday (The Conversion of Paul): Acts 22:3-16, Mark 16:15-18; Thursday (Sts. Timothy and Titus): 2 Timothy 1:1-8, Mark 4:21-25; Friday (St. Angela Merici): Hebrews 10:32-39, Mark 4:26-34; Saturday (St. Thomas Aquinas): Hebrews 11:1-2, Luke 1:69-75, Mark 4:35-41

“One does not go by oneself to the Lord,” he said. “This will not do. We have to really understand this. Discernment is a gift from God, which must always be asked for, without ever presuming to be expert and self-sufficient.”

“The voice of the Lord always can be recognized,” he said, because “it is a voice that pacifies, encourages and reassures in difficulties.” The Lord tells His people, “Do not be afraid,” because if they trust in His word, they will live life well and be able to help others, he said.

God’s Word “is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.”

Pope Francis

the

FATHER STEVE GRUNOW is the CEO of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.

“The Baptism of Christ” by Giovanni Bellini. On display in Santa Corona, Vicenza, Italy.

Our diocese

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today’s Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, has special importance for us in the Diocese of Charlotte. We have formally petitioned the Holy See to name the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, as the Patroness of our diocese.

From our earliest beginnings, faithful Catholics in western North Carolina have demonstrated an abiding devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. When Irish gold miners built the first Catholic Church in Mount Holly in 1842, they chose to honor Mary by name. The Benedictine monks who established Belmont Abbey chose Mary, Help of Christians, as their patroness and named the church they built with their own hands in her honor. With the creation of the Diocese of Charlotte in 1972, Bishop Michael Begley, our first bishop, publicly entrusted the new diocese to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Now, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of our diocese, I have directed the Chancellor’s Office to undertake the formal process to confirm the Blessed Virgin Mary as our heavenly patroness.

The formal process to name a patron began with a diocese-wide survey conducted over a 6-week period last summer and publicized through social media, parish bulletins, the Catholic News Herald and at the Eucharistic Congress. We received more than 1,400 responses from parishioners at 81 of our parishes and missions. I am pleased to announce that the Blessed Virgin Mary was the choice of an overwhelming plurality of the respondents, receiving almost twice as many votes as any other option. Of those who selected the Virgin Mary, they indicated the title “Mary, Mother of God” as the most fitting for our patroness.

Every time we pray the Hail Mary, we call on Mary by her title, Mother of God, to pray for us. In the Eucharistic Prayer at every Mass, the Blessed Virgin Mary is invoked by her title, Mother of God. We in the Diocese of Charlotte delight in the special privilege to proclaim many times over in our daily prayer our special loving bond with her as our Mother and the Patroness of our diocese.

May the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church, keep us always close to her divine Son, Jesus our Savior.

With my prayers and best wishes on this Holy Solemnity, I am

Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus,

Diocese asks Vatican to declare ‘Mary, Mother of God’ as patroness

CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte has petitioned the Vatican to officially designate “Mary, Mother of God” as its patroness, Bishop Peter Jugis has announced in a special letter to the faithful.

The bishop’s letter was read out at all Masses across the diocese on Jan. 1 – the feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title as “Mother of God.”

“Today’s Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, has special importance for us in the Diocese of Charlotte,” Bishop Jugis declared, releasing the results of a diocese-wide survey held as part of the diocese’s 50th anniversary.

The survey, conducted over six weeks last summer, garnered more than 1,400 responses from people at 81 of the diocese’s 92 parishes and missions.

“I am pleased to announce that the Blessed Virgin Mary was the choice of an overwhelming plurality of the respondents, receiving almost twice as many votes as any other option,” Bishop Jugis announced. “Of those who selected the Virgin Mary, they indicated the title ‘Mary, Mother of God’ as the most fitting for our patroness.”

The diocese’s petition is being submitted to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments for formal approval.

The Vatican is expected to approve the petition, diocesan officials said, but they do not know how long that process might take.

Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is deeply rooted in the Catholic history of western North Carolina. Yet during historical research in preparing for the 50th anniversary, officials discovered that the diocese did not have an official patron – even though bishops over the years have invoked Mary as patroness under various titles.

“When Irish gold miners built the first Catholic church in

Mount Holly in 1842, they chose to honor Mary by name,” Bishop Jugis said. “The Benedictine monks who established Belmont Abbey chose Mary, Help of Christians, as their patroness and named the church they built with their own hands in her honor. With the creation of the Diocese of Charlotte in 1972, Bishop Michael Begley, our first bishop, publicly entrusted the new diocese to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

By the time Bishop Jugis was appointed to lead the diocese in 2003, “Mary, Mother of God” was already commonly referred to as the diocese’s principal patroness in liturgies and prayers.

“We in the Diocese of Charlotte delight in the special privilege to proclaim many times over in our daily prayer our special loving bond with her as our Mother and the Patroness of our diocese,” the bishop noted in his Jan. 1 letter.

The name of Mary as “Mother of God” is invoked by Catholics when praying the Hail Mary and the Litany of Loreto, and by the priest in the Eucharistic Prayer at every Mass. Mary is also referred to as “Mother of God” in the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, “Lumen Gentium” (“Light of the People”).

The phrase “Mother of God” goes back to the third or fourth century, but the Greek term “Theotokos” (“The God-bearer”) was officially consecrated as Catholic doctrine at the Council of Ephesus in 431, thus becoming the first Marian dogma. At the end of the Council of Ephesus, crowds of people marched through the streets shouting: “Praised be the Theotokos!”

The dogma is based on the doctrine of the Incarnation, as expressed by St. Paul: “God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Gal 4:4).

— Catholic News Herald

Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis Bishop of Charlotte January 1, 2023

SUEANN HOWELL | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

This pilgrim statue of Mary, Mother of God has visited all of the diocese’s parishes and schools during the diocese’s 50th anniversary year.

Retrouvaille community forms in Charlotte diocese

Married couples in western North Carolina have the chance to rediscover each other on three weekend retreats in 2023

ANNIE FERGUSON arferguson@charlottediocese.org

CHARLOTTE — Tampa Bay couple Bill and Lyn Folsom were headed for divorce until Lyn presented a possible solution for reconciliation.

“It was a ‘double-dog dare’ from my wife to me to make a Retrouvaille weekend if I was serious about saving our marriage, which was in pretty bad shape at that time,” Bill recalled.

Bill took the dare. He had nothing to lose. At the time, the couple had two children, and Lyn had already filed for divorce.

That was 35 years ago. Now married for 55 years, the Folsoms are enjoying their lives together.

“We were prepared to march 180 degrees in different directions, divorce and just go on with our lives, but we got back together,” he said.

“It was a struggle, but we did it, and our two youngest children wouldn’t have been born if we hadn’t. If we hadn’t gotten back together, half our grandchildren wouldn’t be here. Our two youngest kids are very thankful for Retrouvaille!”

RETROUVAILLE IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

Couples in troubled marriages in western North Carolina have the same opportunity for healing Jan. 13-15 at the Catholic Conference Center in Hickory.

They will listen to engaging talks from other married couples, including the Folsoms, who have navigated the path of reconnecting a disconnected marriage.

The presenting couples openly share how they have experienced healing and forgiveness in their own marriages. Then, attending couples follow guided exercises to practically apply the lessons learned.

The Folsoms have helped thousands of couples reconcile ever since their Retrouvaille weekend in 1987.

“We were interested in giving back, so we went on a Formation Weekend, and they asked us to write some presentations for the post sessions, which is the six-week follow-up part of the program,” Lyn Folsom said. “Eventually, in those early days, we wrote all 12 talks, which are about an hour to two hours long.”

A few years ago, the couple moved to Waxhaw, N.C., at a time when it was difficult to make new friends due to the pandemic, but they did meet George and Dolores King, who were involved in Retrouvaille, too.

At the time, couples in western North Carolina had to make a trip to the Raleigh area to attend one of the weekends. Now, as of July 1, 2022, Bishop Peter Jugis has granted permission to form and run a community in the Diocese of Charlotte. The community’s first weekend was held in October 2022. Three weekends are scheduled for 2023. After the January weekend, two others will be held April 14-16 and October 20-22.

INSPIRED BY HOLY SPIRIT, LED BY ST. JOSEPH French for “rediscovery,” Retrouvaille originated in Quebec, Canada, in 1977 and soon spread to the United States and throughout the world.

The nonprofit, all-volunteer ministry

has a powerful patron in St. Joseph, whose intercession has helped the success of the ministry. Though Catholic in origin, people of all faiths or no faith at all are welcome.

Dolores King says that the focus of the program is to facilitate conversation between the spouses and that allows for healing.

There’s no pressure spiritually as the goal isn’t conversion to the faith – it’s to help marriages. However, conversions do happen, the Folsoms and Kings attest.

Couples don’t share their struggles with the group. The program is all about learning to apply the communication tools together, King said. After the weekend, there are six follow-up sessions to help couples apply the new tools they learned through a deeper look at various aspects of married life.

The Kings, who have seven daughters, made their own Retrouvaille weekend in 2004.

“I knew of maybe one happily married couple. I thought marriages were difficult, and that was just par for the course, but I didn’t know how to work through the struggles,” Dolores King recalled. “It wasn’t until making our weekend that we made a breakthrough. Being involved in the ministry helped us apply the tools that we learned on the weekend, so it kept us accountable.”

The relatability of the presenting couples is an effective way of reaching couples who may not feel they can be helped.

“No one ever really arrives, because we are constantly growing, learning and loving. As we apply the skills and tools we learn, we grow closer and discover peace, joy and what we did not have before ... hope. We also learn that love is a decision, as is forgiveness, trust and communication.

“Acceptance too is a big part of loving and working together,” King said. “It’s not something that just happens. Love is a decision, not what you read in the fairy tales or romance novels. Love is staying up with your child who has a fever and you’re so exhausted, but you’re at that baby’s side, or your husband loses his job, and you believe in your husband.”

TO REGISTER for a Retrouvaille weekend, visit www.helpourmarriage.org or call 704-7022112 for additional information. The $350 fee covers food, lodging and materials. Financial assistance is available.

Bishop Jugis brings yearlong 50th anniversary celebration to a close Jan. 12

CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter Jugis will celebrate the closing Mass of the Diocese of Charlotte’s 50th anniversary at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, at St. Patrick Cathedral.

Because of ongoing renovations at the cathedral, the Holy Hour from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and the closing Mass will be celebrated in the parish’s Family Life Center adjacent to the cathedral. It has a very limited seating capacity, so people are encouraged to arrive early.

During the diocese’s 50th anniversary year, a Marian Pilgrimage of the image of Mary, Mother of God, has traveled across western North Carolina to parishes, Catholic schools, convents and St. Joseph

College Seminary, offering the faithful an opportunity to pray the 50th anniversary prayer and ask Our Blessed Mother for her intercession.

Over the past year, parishioners and clergy have also marked the 50th anniversary by performing 50 of Acts of Charity, and then some, benefiting community partners who assist the poor, those experiencing homelessness, women and children, and neighbors experiencing food insecurity – just to name a few.

St. Patrick Cathedral is located at 1621 Dilworth Road East in Charlotte. The Family Life Center is located behind the rectory.

— SueAnn Howell

March and witness for life: Local, state and national marches 2023

SUEANN HOWELL sahowell@charlottediocese.org

CHARLOTTE — For the first time in 50 years, pro-life advocates in the United States will march in January to celebrate the end of legalized abortion at the federal level and rally for a culture of life in all 50 states.

Earlier this year the Supreme Court, in its Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health decision, held that there is no constitutional right to an abortion. Each individual state is now responsible for creating its own laws regarding abortion.

Parishioners across western North Carolina are encouraged to witness to life and participate in a local, state and national March for Life in the coming weeks.

MARCH FOR LIFE CHARLOTTE

The 17th annual March for Life Charlotte will be held Friday, Jan. 13, to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion (which was overturned with the Dobbs decision last summer).

Part prayer vigil, part public march, the event is meant to be a time of prayer to call attention to the more than 64 million lives lost to abortion since 1973 and to the need to end the tragedy of abortion.

It will begin with a 9 a.m. Mass for the Unborn offered at St. Vincent de Paul Church, located at 6828 Old Reid Road in Charlotte.

The march will take place at noon. Marchers are asked to gather between 11 a.m. and noon outside the Diocese of Charlotte Pastoral Center, located at 1123 S. Church St. At noon the march will kick off from the Pastoral Center toward Independence Square at the corner of Trade and Tryon streets.

Father Aaron Huber, parochial vicar of St. Mark Church in Huntersville, will preach during a brief program in Independence Square. Abby Johnson, former Planned Parenthood clinic director who operates the pro-life ministry And Then There Were None, and author of the book Unplanned, will join the march and will introduce two women from her ministry from the Charlotte area who will speak about leaving the abortion industry.

Then the rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy will be prayed to conclude the march.

See the full schedule, parking and other details at www. marchforlifecharlotte.org.

For inquiries, contact Tina Witt with March for Life Charlotte at marchforlifecharlotte@fidei.email or at 704301-2531.

MASS AND MARCH FOR LIFE RALEIGH

The Diocese of Raleigh will host its annual Mass and March for Life Raleigh Saturday, Jan. 14. Mass begins at

11 a.m. at Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, located at 715 Nazareth St., Raleigh.

The rally begins at 12:30 p.m. at Hallifax Mall, followed by the march at 2:30 p.m. in downtown Raleigh. For details, go to www.ncrtl.org/events.

D.C. MARCH FOR LIFE

Thousands of pro-life advocates from all over the country are expected to travel to Washington, D.C., for the national March for Life on Friday, Jan. 20. Organizers say it’s the largest annual human rights demonstration in the world.

The theme for the 2023 March for Life is “Next steps: marching into a post-Roe America.”

A rally will be held at noon on the National Mall, then at 1 p.m. participants will march up Constitution Avenue to the U.S. Capitol to pray.

Parishes from around the diocese are making plans to send busloads of parishioners to participate in various March for Life events Jan. 19-21.

Raleigh Bishop Luis R. Zarama will offer the annual Mass for Life for North Carolina pilgrims to the march, starting at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 20, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Monsignor Patrick J. Winslow, vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, will serve as homilist. Priests from both the Charlotte and Raleigh dioceses will concelebrate.

BUS TRIPS

The diocese’s Office of Family Life is sponsoring two bus trips: one to Raleigh on

CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte has announced the dates for eight special collections for 2023. These annual collections fund vital ministries and help support our priests and religious who give generously of their lives in service to the Church.

The 2023 special collections and their dates are as follows:

n Jan. 14-15: Combined Mission Collection. This annual collection funds five separate initiatives: the Collection for the Church in Latin America, the Collection to Aid the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, the Catholic Home Missions Appeal, the United States Mission Appeal (Black and Indian Missions), and the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa.

n April 8-9 (Easter Sunday): Seminarian

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March for Life Charlotte will begin at noon Friday, Jan. 13, in the parking lot of the Diocese of Charlotte Pastoral Center, 1123 S. Church St., and proceed past St. Peter Church on Tryon Street to Independence Square, at the corner of Trade and Tryon streets.

More information

Details about these marches and the bus trips can be found in the Office of Family Life ad on page 7 of this week’s edition of the Catholic News Herald and at

www.catholicnewsherald.com. Questions? Contact Jessica Grabowski, director of the diocese’s Respect Life program, at jrgrabowski@rcdoc.org or 704-370-3229.

Special collection dates for 2023 announced

Education Collection. The Seminarian Education Program, in which 49 men are currently enrolled, is primarily funded through the annual Diocesan Support Appeal, the Friend to Seminarians Program, and this second collection.

n May 20-21: International/National Combined Collection. Donations received from this collection benefit five organizations: Catholic Relief Services, Collection for the Holy Land, Collection for the Works of the Holy Father (Peter’s Pence), The Catholic University of America, and the Catholic Communications Campaign.

n Sept. 23-24: Priests’ Retirement and Benefits. This collection taken up the weekend after the Eucharistic Congress goes to support the Diocese of Charlotte’s 87 diocesan priests actively serving the faithful of western North Carolina and 44

religious order priests from nine religious orders for whom retirement contributions will be made.

n Oct. 21-22: World Mission Sunday (Propagation of the Faith). This collection supports the work of the Church in its missions around the world.

n Nov. 4-5: Fall Seminarian Education Collection

n Nov. 18-19: Catholic Campaign for Human Development. This collection funds the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, established by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to help break the cycle of poverty by funding organizations that help people help themselves. With its mission of improving education, housing situations and local economic development, the CCHD continues to make a positive impact in communities nationwide. Twenty-five

percent of the funds from this collection are put to use in the Charlotte diocese.

n Dec. 9-10: Religious Retirement. This appeal, coordinated by the National Religious Retirement Office, offers support for senior Catholic sisters, brothers and religious order priests whose communities lack sufficient retirement funding.

Nationally, some 25,000 women and men religious past the age of 70 benefit.

— SueAnn Howell

More online

At www.charlottediocese.org/development : Learn more about these special collections as well as other ways to financially support the various ministries of the Church in western North Carolina, including the Diocesan Support Appeal and the Foundation of the Diocese of Charlotte.

Huber

Mercy Sister Mary Monica Perez passes away at 87

CHARLOTTE — Sister Mary Monica Perez, a Sister of Mercy for 70 years, died on Dec. 27, 2022. She was 87. The Sisters of Mercy and her family received her body on Dec. 29, 2022, and the funeral Mass was celebrated Dec. 30, 2022, at Sacred Heart Chapel on the Sisters of Mercy campus. Interment followed at nearby Belmont Abbey Cemetery.

Sister Monica was born in Agana (now called Hagåtña), Guam, the first of six children of Ismael Cruz Perez and Ana Pangelinan. She attended elementary school at Our Lady of Guam Academy in Agana and later graduated from Sacred Heart College in Belmont with a degree in elementary education.

Sister Monica had no contact with any religious community of women until three Sisters of Mercy came to establish schools in Guam in 1946. The Sisters of Mercy were the first permanent community of Catholic religious women in Guam and the first to accept local vocations. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1952 and took as her motto “Thy Will Be Done.” This described

her personal commitment and all that happened in her life.

After her final vows she was assigned to study and live in Belmont, where she spent her religious life.

Sister Monica taught in elementary schools as well as taught religious education programs at parishes in Asheville, Wilmington, Belmont and Concord. She served in the library of Sacred Heart College and also as director of computer services at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Charlotte.

In recognition of her 70th jubilee anniversary as a Sister of Mercy, the Guam legislature presented Sister Monica with a special commendation for her lifetime commitment to prayer, education and service.

Sister Monica was an avid basketball and football fan, a talented cook, baker and seamstress. She always greeted everyone with a welcoming smile.

She is survived by the Sisters of Mercy; her siblings, Jose Perez and Agnes Carr; and several nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be sent to the Sisters of Mercy, 101 Mercy Dr., Belmont, N.C. 28012.

McLean Funeral Directors of Belmont was in charge of the arrangements.

— Catholic News Herald

Retired BMHS dean of students passes away

March for Life 2023

Roe v. Wade is gone, but our work is not yet done. Be a witness for unborn babies and their mothers at local, state or national March for Life this January. See below for details on diocesan bus trips to the Raleigh March for Life and the National March in Washington, D.C.

MARCH FOR LIFE CHARLOTTE

Friday, January 13

9 a.m. Mass, St. Vincent de Paul Church 6828 Old Reid Road, Charlotte, N.C. 28210

11 a.m. Gather & Rally, Pastoral Center 1123 S. Church Street, Charlotte NC 28203

12 noon March for Life (From Pastoral Center to Independence Square, corner of Trade & Tryon Streets) Details at www.marchforlifecharlotte.org.

NORTH CAROLINA RIGHT TO LIFE MARCH (Raleigh)

PHILADELPHIA

— Sister Anne Thomas Taylor, SSJ – who served for more than two decades at Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School in Kernersville – passed away Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. She was 71.

The funeral Mass was celebrated Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, at Saint Joseph Villa in Flourtown, Pa.

The daughter of the late Thomas and Margaret (nee Knebel) Taylor, she was the sister of the late Margaret Taylor Graham and Joan Taylor Fisher. She was also the sister-inlaw of the late John Graham and Clifford Fisher.

Professed with the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Philadelphia, Sister Anne began serving at Bishop McGuinness High School in 1996, first as the music teacher and then as the dean of students for 20 years. She worked to establish theater arts as its own department and was actively involved in productions while serving at the high school.

She is survived by nieces, nephews and members of her congregation, the Sisters of St. Joseph.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to Saint Joseph Villa, 110 W. Wissahickon Ave., Flourtown, Pa. 19031.

Condolences may be shared online at www.kollerfuneralhome.com.

Koller Funeral Home Inc. of Philadelphia was in charge of the arrangements.

— Catholic News Herald

Former St. John Neumann deacon dies at 76

BEEVILLE, Texas — Deacon Joseph C. Denzler, who formerly served at St. John Neumann Parish in Charlotte, passed away Dec. 7, 2022, in Texas, with his wife Erlinda (Linda) at his side.

He was born on June 13, 1946, and ordained to the diaconate on May 23, 2009, for the Diocese of Brooklyn, N.Y.

In the Brooklyn diocese, he served at Lady of Lourdes Parish in Queens Village, and in the Diocese of Charlotte, he served at St. John Neumann Parish for nine years (2013-2022)

before his retirement and move to Texas. At the Charlotte parish, in addition to serving at Mass, he brought Communion to the homebound and was chaplain for the Knights of Columbus and 50 Plus Club.

A memorial Mass will be celebrated at St. John Neumann Church at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023. Family will receive friends in the narthex beginning at 10 a.m. A reception will be held immediately after the Mass. St. John Neumann Church is located at 8451 Idlewild Road, Charlotte, N.C. 28227.

Condolences may be mailed to: Mrs. Erlinda Denzler, 100 East Louise Dr., Unit #205, Beeville, Texas 78102.

— Catholic News Herald

Saturday, January 14

11 a.m. Mass, Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral 715 Nazareth Street, Raleigh, N.C. 27606

12:30 Gather & Rally, Halifax Mall 2:30 p.m. March for Life Details at www.ncrtl.org/events.

*Office of Family Life Charter Bus Trip – Raleigh Departure/Return: Pastoral Center 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte (Jan. 14 - 7:00 a.m. departure/8:00 p.m. return same day)

Meals on your own. Cost: $20/person Register here: www.charlottediocese.org/ ofl-bus-trip-to-raleighregistration-form/

NATIONAL MARCH FOR LIFE (Washington, D.C.)

Friday, January 20

11:30 a.m. N.C. Mass for Life, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception 400 Michigan Ave. NE, Washington, D.C. 20017

1 p.m. March for Life, National Mall Details at www.marchforlife.org.

*Office of Family Life Charter Bus Pilgrimage –Washington, D.C., January 19-21

Lodging: Hilton Garden Inn, Bethesda, Md. 7301 Waverly St, Bethesda, MD 20814

Cost: $200/person (2 ppl./room); $300/person (1 ppl./room); $50/person (college student)

Use QR code to register. Includes visit to John Paul II shrine.

Questions? Contact Jessica Grabowski, diocesan respect life program director, at 704-370-3229 or email respectlife@rcdoc.org.

Office of Family Life

Diocese of C harlotte

Perez

Denzler

Taylor

Marian Pilgrimage

A specially commissioned statue of Mary, Mother of God is visiting more than 100 locations across the Diocese of Charlotte during the anniversary year. Upcoming visits include:

ST. JOSEPH COLLEGE SEMINARY

Saturday-Thursday, Jan. 7-12 22 Arctus Ave., Mount Holly, N.C. 28120

ST. PATRICK CATHEDRAL

Thursday, Jan. 12 1621 Dilworth Road East, Charlotte, N.C. 28203

The pilgrim statue of Mary, Mother of God will be present for the closing celebration of the Diocese of Charlotte’s 50th anniversary year. The celebration will include a Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., followed by Mass at 7 p.m., offered by Bishop Peter Jugis.

The celebration will be held in St. Patrick’s temporary Chapel of Two Hearts (inside the Family Life Center adjacent to the cathedral), as the cathedral is undergoing renovations. Parking and seating are extremely limited, so people are encouraged to arrive early.

For more information, go to the Diocese of Charlotte’s 50th anniversary website, www.faithmorepreciousthangold.com

ACTS OF CHARITY CONTINUE AROUND THE DIOCESE

Charlotte Catholic High School grants families’ Christmas wishes

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School granted more than 100 wishes for children and families in need during the holiday season – a record number in the school’s long tradition, amplified this year as part of the Diocese of Charlotte’s 50th anniversary.

Every homeroom adopted a family from among clients served by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte through its food bank and other direct assistance programs. Over two weeks, the homerooms raised more than $13,000 in cash and gifts on wish lists from recipient families.

Students donated from their allowance, earnings and parent gifts. They joined teachers in shopping to fulfill wishes large and small – from Baby Alive dolls and Superhero fatheads, to Ugg boots and Jordan sneakers, to jewelry and a drone with wide-angle lens and 18-minute flight capability.

“(I) REALLY need a laptop for college,” one young woman wished.

Others wished for a drum set, art set, karaoke set.

Tech “toys” included Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Fitbits and tablets.

A toddler wished for stuffed animals.

A teenage girl asked for a hair dryer.

A young mother wished for baby books, puzzles and a Baby Einstein Me Reader.

And clothes for Christmas were highly sought after.

“We invited our students into the ministry of service – and they responded in a big way,” said Dr. Lincoln Sigwald, a Charlotte Catholic teacher who, along with the student council, helped coordinate the project for the high school. “It is a blessing to have the opportunity and be in a position to help others, and for our students to be part of the ministry of the Church.”

Charlotte Catholic’s project is among the diocese’s “50 Acts of Charity” initiative underway as part of its yearlong anniversary celebration that ends Jan. 12, 2023. Schools, parishes and ministries across western North Carolina have participated, collecting food, diapers, blood, toiletries, cleaning and school supplies.

Volunteers have also jumped in, repairing a playground, women’s shelter, retreat center, prayer garden and other church and community facilities. And in partnership with Roof Above, Charlotte’s homeless services agency, more than 100 diocesan employees spent two days repainting the living quarters of an apartment complex for men in treatment for substance abuse.

Charlotte Catholic students and staff delivered gifts to their “wish families” unwrapped – so parents could do the

honors and acknowledge Santa, his elves, or others. The families are already connected to the diocese through Catholic Charities’ veterans, refugee, homeless and Transition Out of Poverty programs.

Some families wished for pint-sized undershirts, underwear, sweaters, “cozy pajamas,” socks, shoes (size 1), and a winter coat for dad.

Others were more specific, such as the 23-year-old mom who hoped for “clothes (size small), pants (size 9), sweatpants (size medium), shoes (size 8), backpack, purse, socks, blouses (size small), set of pots and blender.”

“Our families were overwhelmed by the generosity of Charlotte Catholic, as they are every year,” said Sylvia Sekle, direct assistance coordinator at Catholic Charities. “Right down to the last little detail, these students put their hearts into this special outreach.”

“What better way to celebrate the anniversary of this diocese,” she said, “than with the gift of giving for these young people, and the granting of wishes for families who too often may go to bed cold and hungry and hurting. We are called to help other people because of our love for Jesus, who tells us: ‘Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for Me.’”

— Catholic News Herald

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ACTS OF CHARITY CONTINUE AROUND THE DIOCESE

St. Pius X Parish community donates 50,000 pounds of food to local food pantry

GREENSBORO — 50,000 pounds. That’s how much food parishioners of St. Pius X Parish collected in an extraordinary effort to assist Greensboro Urban Ministry, as part of the Diocese of Charlotte’s 50th anniversary and “50 Acts of Charity” initiative.

Monsignor Anthony Marcaccio, pastor, said the initiative demonstrated the Greensboro parish community’s mission to know, love and serve the Lord.

“The Apostle James said, ‘Faith without works is dead.’ Therefore, our goal in the celebration of the diocesan jubilee anniversary was to show that our faith is very much alive,” he said. “And we wanted to share that gift, ‘more precious than gold,’ through our stewardship of service.”

“Some were skeptical we could reach such a large goal,” he continued. “To put it in perspective, it is equal to 25 tons or the equivalent of the weight of five pickup trucks. Not food filling their beds, but the weight of the trucks themselves. And we have exceeded that amount.”

Parishioners collected the 25 tons of food – canned goods, nonperishable items, beans, rice and more – over the course of 10 months. Donations went to Greensboro Urban Ministry, which operates a food pantry for local families in need four days a week.

Greensboro Urban Ministry has provided food for people at risk of hunger in Guilford County for more than 30 years. St. Pius X Parish has been a supporter of the local non-profit agency for decades, but this year parishioners were determined to do more. And when they learned that Greensboro Urban Ministry was changing the approach of its food assistance program and that local demand for food aid was rising, it was a providential opportunity to step up their involvement.

“We are so grateful for our partnership with St. Pius X over the years and their efforts to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the diocese through their campaign to collect 50,000 pounds of food,” said Mary Gorman O’Neill, director of Greensboro Urban Ministry’s Client Choice Pantry. “This challenge coincided perfectly with the opening of our Client Choice Pantry and the acute shortage of food that we experienced last summer.”

O’Neill said the food pantry is an ecumenical effort in which Guilford College United Methodist Church members helped Greensboro Urban Ministry create the space and St. Pius X parishioners stock the shelves.

“Our Client Choice Pantry provides dignity for people because it is a shopping experience – a hand-up rather than a handout of a box of food,” O’Neill explained. “It also eliminates food waste in so much that clients choose only what they need and can use.

“Not only does St. Pius X supply us with the staples we need, but their volunteers give hours of impactful service behind the scenes and with our clients. Making the pantry a transformative experience for our clients and volunteers alike, as they embrace what we believe to be a work of mercy and justice.”

Monsignor Marcaccio noted, “Our long history of helping local and global food initiatives, and our tradition of stewardship and

outreach, gave me the confidence that we would not be outdone in kindness. It was truly a community effort – from our seniors to our school community, from our Cub Scouts to our Knights of Columbus. It was edifying watching our parishioners as they entered the church, carrying their contributions to this effort. They were providing ‘bread’ for the community as they were coming to Mass and preparing to receive Jesus, the Bread of Life.”

Prayer for the 50th anniversary

The 50th anniversary year will bear great spiritual fruit if we ask God for the graces we hope to receive. Please offer the 50th anniversary prayer daily for many graces to be poured on our diocese during this jubilee anniversary:

Heavenly Father, accept our humble prayer of praise and gratitude as we joyfully celebrate 50 years as the Diocese of Charlotte. Throughout our history the faithful of western North Carolina, under the watchful care of esteemed bishops and abbots, have been nurtured by Your providential hand. Confident that You invite Your children to implore Your constant blessings, we pray that You continue to pour forth Your heavenly grace upon us. With filial affection and devotion, we further ask that You look kindly upon the prayers we seek through the intercession of our venerable patroness, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, who with motherly attention tends to the needs and concerns of the Church. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.

Prayers & Devotions

‘St. Anthony said, “Let our words teach and our actions preach.” We took this as an evangelical challenge of compassion, asking our community to raise 50,000 pounds of food for the poor during this, the diocese’s 50th anniversary year.’

– Monsignor Anthony Marcaccio

“We enlisted the help of some of our skilled shoppers and coupon clippers to maximize the impact of the monetary gifts that were given to the effort. They developed wonderful relationships with local retailers who were supportive of our effort,” he added.

“Through the generosity of our parishioners, we were able to honor every request for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, to meet specific, immediate needs of our own community members, and to provide, in large part, the requested resources for the Client Choice Food Pantry at Greensboro Urban Ministry – a model that we endorse as a parish,” he said.

Therese Chase, the parish’s pastoral associate of parish and community life, added, “We have a parish that when there’s a need, our parishioners come through – there’s such generosity and such kindness.”

— Georgianna Penn

The 50th anniversary theme, “Faith More Precious Than Gold” (1 Peter 1:7), encourages use of the Church’s tried-and-true prayers, devotions and sacramentals, which for centuries have brought people closer to God. Let us confidently ask for the graces we hope to receive from God as we celebrate the founding of the Diocese of Charlotte. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

January prayer intention

For children and youth. May Christ who came among us as a child strengthen the hearts and minds of our children, that they may faithfully receive the word of God by their ears and eyes, and profess their faith by their mouths.

Saint of the Month

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Feast day: Jan. 4

At www.catholicnewsherald.com : Read more about St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, a woman of firsts

Marcaccio

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Honor holy season of Christmas by imitating God’s love, says Bishop Jugis

SUEANN HOWELL sahowell@charlottediocese.org

CHARLOTTE — Processing beneath a framework of exterior scaffolding and in through the main doors of St. Patrick Cathedral on a cold winter’s night, Bishop Peter Jugis carried the statue of the Holy Infant into Midnight Mass Dec. 25.

He gave the honor of placing the Baby Jesus in His crèche to Deacon Peter Rusciolelli, one of the cathedral’s seminarians who will be ordained to the priesthood this summer. They knelt in silent prayer adoring the Holy Infant for several moments, marking the advent of Christmas.

During his homily, Bishop Jugis explained that the Birth of the Savior is the proclamation of God’s love for us. “So amazing is His love for us that He decides to come Himself, personally, to be with us as man. This is the amazing message of Christmas, the message of God becoming man for us, so much does He love us.”

“How can we honor Christmas? How can we honor this holy day, and this holy season? Should we not do what we can to imitate God’s love that we are celebrating today?” he asked.

“St. John tells us: ‘God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life’ (John 3:16). God so loved the world, and not only ‘loved’ in the past tense, but ‘loves’ in the present tense. And, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, and not only ‘gave’ in the past tense, but ‘gives’ in the present,” Bishop Jugis noted.

“He gives his Son to you again at Christmas,” Bishop Jugis said. “He gives his Son to you in the Eucharistic Mystery. Let us imitate this love in our daily lives.”

Bishop Jugis also noted that St. John says: ‘Beloved, if God has loved us so, we also must love one another’ (1 John 4:11). “Love is charity toward our neighbor; kindness; respect for others, who are also, like ourselves, created in the image and likeness of God. Love is serving others out of love for Christ,” he explained.

“At Christmas we are in the presence of a great mystery. God, as St. Paul says, is invisible (Col 1:15), and as St. John says, ‘No one has ever seen God’ (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12), but at Christmas we celebrate that God decides to make Himself visible by becoming man.”

Bishop Jugis recalled that in Old Testament times, God sent great prophets, and also angels, to do His work while Himself remaining hidden, but now the time had come for Him to come Himself, personally.

“He decided to be visible to us, not as an apparition that lasts only a little while and then vanishes, but visible as

real, physical, tangible flesh and blood like us,” he said.

“For nine months God remained hidden in the Blessed Virgin’s womb, but at Christmas God is born, and He comes forth from the Virgin’s womb. This is the Mystery of the Incarnation. This is our Christian faith which we joyfully profess. ‘By the Holy Spirit, [He] was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man,’” Bishop Jugis said.

He enjoined the faithful, saying, “Let us honor this great feast of Christmas, this great feast of God’s love for us, by imitating His love in our daily lives.”

Bishop Peter Jugis celebrates midnight Mass Dec. 25 at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. At the beginning of the Mass, a statue of the infant Jesus was placed in a crèche. Bishop Jugis incensed the scene before kneeling to pray.

An IRA rollover gift to your parish, the diocese, Catholic school, agency, or the Foundation provides meaningful support without impacting your checkbook, and can maximize your giving potential.

For more information, go to www.charlottediocese.givingplan.net or call Gina Rhodes at 704/370-3364.

Foundation of the Diocese of Charlotte

PHOTO PROVIDED BY JAMES SARKIS

Scenes of the Season Parishes across

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Children at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte await the coming of the newborn Jesus.

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The spirit of Christmas fills St. Pius X Church in Greensboro.

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Children practice a reenactment of the Nativity at St. Peter Church in Charlotte.

across diocese celebrate the birth of Our Lord

In Winston-Salem, Our Lady of Mercy School’s fourth- and fifth-graders bring beautiful music to the pageant, playing the recorder and bells. Some of the students sang solos, duets, trios and quartets.

Children at St. Matthew Parish in Charlotte await the birth of Our Lord.

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Immaculate Heart of Mary School in High Point holds its annual Christmas musical program.

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The youth choir at Queen of the Apostles Church in Belmont performs its annual Children’s Mass.

PHOTO BY ERIKA ROBINSON

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Sacred songs rise at Canongate Schola’s “O Antiphons: Lessons and Carols” concert in Arden.

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A Nativity scene graces St. James the Greater Church in Concord.

PHOTO PROVIDED

Algo nuevo está naciendo

Aquel día, pensé en una versículo de las Escrituras. Caminaba por la senda Lake Shore en el parque estatal Lake Norman. Pasé al lado del remanente de un árbol en las etapas finales de ser reclamado por la naturaleza. En medio de este árbol que parecía muerto había un indicio de nueva vida verde. Contra todo pronóstico, aparecía un nuevo brote.

Recordé la profecía de Isaías: “En aquel día, un retoño brotará del tronco de Isaí, y de sus raíces florecerá un capullo. Es uno de mis pasajes de Adviento favoritos. Los cristianos ven su cumplimiento en el nacimiento de Jesús.

En el contexto histórico, Isaí (el árbol cortado y casi muerto) fue el padre del rey David (el retoño), el rey más grande en la historia del pueblo judío. Durante su reinado, David unió a las diversas tribus de Israel trayendo paz y prosperidad a la tierra. Sin embargo, después de la muerte de David, el pueblo no tardó muchas generaciones en volver a la corrupción y la guerra. El resultado fueron siglos de exilio, cautiverio y ocupación. El pueblo judío anhelaba la restauración de este otrora gran reino. Anhelaban un nuevo rey David. El retoño sería quien continuaría este legado.

Los primeros cristianos recordaron esta profecía y reconocieron a Jesús como el “retoño”, el nuevo Rey que restauraría la paz y la prosperidad a los cautivos.

A medida que envejezco, cada vez más “miro hacia atrás’, como lo hicieron los primeros cristianos. Desafortunadamente, veo muchos ‘árboles cortados y casi muertos’ en mi vida, restos de días pasados. Estos incluyen mi carrera anterior como ‘capitán de la industria’ (el término de mi hijo para mi trabajo de Gerente General de una gran compañía siderúrgica), mi identidad como padre de niños pequeños, mi misión de proveer para una familia en crecimiento, mi estatus en el comunidad y mis actividades con varias organizaciones sin fines de lucro. Alguna vez fueron árboles florecientes, pero al igual que el viejo árbol cortado y casi muerto que encontré, ahora están sucumbiendo lentamente al paso del tiempo.

Pero, aquel día, miré el muñón de nuevo. En lugar de lamentar los días pasados, vi esperanza. En sus palabras, Isaías le decía a la gente: “¡Deja de mirar el muñón! Está muerto. Céntrate en el ‘retoño’. Enfócate en lo que Dios está haciendo aquí y ahora. Concéntrate en cómo Dios está cumpliendo las promesas para el futuro”.

De los muñones en nuestras vidas brota nueva vida. Si estamos súperenfocados en el pasado, nos perdemos el milagro que ocurre en el presente. Dejamos de lado la invitación al crecimiento, las formas que Dios ha planeado para nosotros para traernos belleza y vida al presente a partir de la muerte del pasado.

Mi antigua carrera se ha ido, pero tengo una nueva carrera como director del Centro de Conferencias Católico, un increíble cambio de la trayectoria de mi vida. Mi vocación anterior se ha ido, pero estoy encontrando una nueva como líder de retiros y director espiritual. Tengo una nueva identidad como abuelo. Dios es sorprendentemente bueno.

También me doy cuenta que, aunque los muñones están muertos, todavía contienen una gran cantidad de experiencia: nutrientes que puedo compartir con los nuevos brotes que se esfuerzan por prosperar.

A medida que comienza la tristeza navideña y los días se vuelven más oscuros, es fácil mirar los muñones de nuestra vida y suspirar. El Adviento, sin embargo, es una temporada de esperanza. ¿Qué hay más esperanzador que una nueva vida brotando de algo que ha muerto?

Dedica unos instantes a buscar esos ‘brotes’ que están tratando de surgir de los muñones de tu vida. Dios te invita a abrir los ojos. “Estoy haciendo algo nuevo. Está pasando. ¿No lo sientes? (Isaías 43:19).

Diócesis pide al Vaticano que declare a ‘María, Madre de Dios’ como patrona

CHARLOTTE — La Diócesis de Charlotte ha solicitado al Vaticano que designe oficialmente a “María, Madre de Dios” como su patrona, anunció el Obispo Peter Jugis en una carta especial dirigida a los fieles.

La carta del obispo fue leída en todas las Misas celebradas en la diócesis el 1 de enero, día de la fiesta de la Santísima Virgen María bajo su título de “Madre de Dios”.

“La solemnidad de hoy de María, la Santa Madre de Dios, tiene una importancia especial para nosotros en la Diócesis de Charlotte”, declaró el Obispo Jugis, dando a conocer los resultados de una encuesta realizada en toda la diócesis como parte de su 50 aniversario.

El sondeo, realizado durante seis semanas el verano pasado, obtuvo más de 1,400 respuestas en 81 de las 92 parroquias y misiones de la diócesis.

“Me complace anunciar que la Santísima Virgen María fue la elección de una abrumadora pluralidad de los encuestados, recibiendo casi el doble de votos que cualquier otra opción”, anunció el Obispo Jugis. “Los que eligieron a la Virgen María, indicaron el título de ‘María, Madre de Dios’ como el más apropiado para nuestra patrona”.

La petición de la diócesis se está enviando al Dicasterio del Vaticano para el Culto Divino y la Disciplina de los Sacramentos para su aprobación formal.

Se espera que el Vaticano apruebe la petición, expresaron funcionarios diocesanos, pero no saben exactamente cuánto tiempo podría tomar ese proceso.

La devoción a la Santísima Virgen María está profundamente arraigada en la historia católica del oeste de Carolina del Norte. Durante la investigación histórica de preparación por el 50 aniversario, funcionarios descubrieron que la diócesis no tenía un patrono oficial, pese a que los obispos a lo largo de los años han invocado a María como patrona bajo varios títulos.

“Cuando los mineros de oro irlandeses construyeron la primera Iglesia Católica en Mount Holly en 1842, eligieron honrar a María por su nombre”, dijo el Obispo Jugis. “Los monjes benedictinos que establecieron la Abadía de Belmont eligieron a María, Auxiliadora de los Cristianos, como su patrona y nombraron la iglesia que construyeron con sus propias manos en su honor. Con la creación de la Diócesis de Charlotte en 1972, el Obispo Michael Begley, nuestro primer obispo, confió públicamente la nueva diócesis a la protección de la Santísima Virgen María”.

Cuando el Obispo Jugis fue nombrado para dirigir la diócesis en 2003, “María, Madre de Dios” ya era referida comúnmente como la principal patrona de la diócesis en liturgias y oraciones.

“Nosotros en la Diócesis de Charlotte nos deleitamos en el privilegio especial de proclamar muchas veces en nuestra oración diaria nuestro vínculo amoroso especial con ella como nuestra Madre y Patrona de nuestra diócesis”, señaló el obispo en su carta del 1 de enero.

Los católicos invocan el nombre de María como ‘Madre de Dios’ cuando rezan el Ave María y la Letanía de Loreto, y por el sacerdote en la Oración Eucarística en cada Misa. María también es referida como ‘Madre de Dios’ en la Constitución dogmática sobre la Iglesia del Concilio Vaticano II, “Lumen Gentium” (“Luz del Pueblo”).

La frase ‘Madre de Dios’ se remonta al siglo III o IV, pero el término griego “Theotokos” (“Portadora de Dios”) fue consagrado oficialmente como doctrina católica en el Concilio de Éfeso en 431, convirtiéndose en el primer dogma mariano. Al término de ese concilio, multitudes de personas marcharon por las calles gritando: “¡Alabada sea la Theotokos!”.

El dogma se basa en la doctrina de la Encarnación, expresada por San Pablo: “Dios envió a Su Hijo, nacido de mujer, nacido bajo la ley” (Gálatas 4:4).

catholicnewsherald.com | January 6, 2023

Queridos Hermanos en Cristo, Que la paz y bendición de Dios, nuestro Padre, y del Señor Jesucristo esté siempre con ustedes.

La solemnidad de hoy de María, Santa Madre de Dios, tiene una importancia especial para nosotros en la Diócesis de Charlotte. Hemos solicitado formalmente a la Santa Sede que nombre a la Santísima Virgen María, Madre de Dios, Patrona de nuestra diócesis.

Desde nuestros primeros comienzos, los fieles Católicos del oeste de Carolina del Norte han demostrado una devoción permanente a la Santísima Virgen María. Cuando los mineros de oro irlandeses construyeron la primera Iglesia Católica en Mount Holly en 1842, eligieron honrar a María con su nombre. Los monjes Benedictinos que fundaron la Abadía de Belmont eligieron a María, Auxiliadora de los Cristianos, como patrona y dieron su nombre a la iglesia que construyeron con sus propias manos en su honor. Con la creación de la Diócesis de Charlotte en 1972, el Reverendísimo Michael Begley, nuestro primer Obispo, encomendó públicamente la nueva diócesis a la protección de la Santísima Virgen María. Ahora, cuando celebramos el 50 aniversario de nuestra diócesis, he ordenado a la Cancillería que emprenda el proceso formal para confirmar a la Santísima Virgen María como nuestra patrona celestial.

El proceso formal para nombrar a una patrona comenzó con una encuesta realizada en toda la diócesis durante un período de 6 semanas el verano pasado y publicitada a través de las redes sociales, los boletines parroquiales, el Catholic News Herald y en el Congreso Eucarístico. Recibimos más de 1.400 respuestas de feligreses de 81 de nuestras parroquias y misiones. Me complace anunciar que la Santísima Virgen María fue la elección de una gran mayoría de los encuestados, recibiendo casi el doble de votos que cualquier otra opción. Entre los que eligieron a la Virgen María, indicaron el título “María, Madre de Dios” como el más adecuado para nuestra patrona. Cada vez que rezamos el Ave María, invocamos a María por su título, Madre de Dios, para que ruegue por nosotros. En la Plegaria Eucarística de cada Misa, se invoca a la Santísima Virgen María por su título, Madre de Dios. Nosotros, en la Diócesis de Charlotte, nos deleitamos en el privilegio especial de proclamar muchas veces en nuestra oración diaria nuestro vínculo especial de amor con ella como nuestra Madre y Patrona de nuestra diócesis.

Que las oraciones de la Santísima Virgen María, Madre de Dios y Madre de la Iglesia, nos mantengan siempre cerca de su divino Hijo, Jesús, nuestro Salvador.

Con mis oraciones y mejores deseos en esta Santa Solemnidad, soy

Atentamente en Cristo Jesús,

Reverendisimo Peter J. Jugis Obispo de Charlotte 1 de enero 2023

EL DIÁCONO SCOTT GILFILLAN es director del Centro de Conferencias Católico en Hickory, N.C.

Diácono Scott Gilfillan

El obispo Peter Jugis celebró la Misa de medianoche el 25 de diciembre en la Catedral San Patricio en Charlotte. Al comienzo de la misa, se colocó una estatua del niño Jesús en un pesebre. El obispo Jugis incienso la escena antes de arrodillarse para orar.

FOTO CORTESÍA JAMES SARKIS

Honremos la temporada santa de la Navidad imitando el amor de Dios, dijo el Obispo Jugis

SUEANN HOWELL sahowell@charlottediocese.org

CHARLOTTE — Realizando una procesión bajo un marco de andamios exteriores y atravesando las puertas principales de la Catedral de San Patricio en una fría noche de invierno, el Obispo Peter Jugis llevó la imagen del Niño Jesús a la Misa de Gallo el 25 de diciembre.

Le dio el honor de colocar al Niño Jesús en su pesebre al Diácono Peter Rusciolelli, uno de los seminaristas de la catedral que será ordenado sacerdote este verano. Marcando el Advenimiento de la Navidad, se arrodillaron en oración silenciosa adorando al Santo Niño por unos momentos, Durante su homilía, el Obispo Jugis explicó que el Nacimiento del Salvador es la proclamación del amor de Dios por nosotros. “Tan asombroso es Su amor por nosotros que decide venir Él mismo, personalmente, para estar con nosotros como hombre. Este es el maravilloso mensaje de Navidad, el mensaje de Dios haciéndose hombre por nosotros para mostrarnos su inmenso amor”.

“¿Cómo podemos honrar la Navidad? ¿Cómo podemos honrar este día santo y temporada santa? ¿No deberíamos hacer lo que podamos para imitar el amor de Dios que estamos celebrando hoy?” preguntó.

“San Juan nos dice: ‘Tanto amó Dios al mundo que ha dado a su Hijo unigénito, para que todo el que crea en Él no se pierda, sino que tenga vida eterna’ (Juan 3:16). Dios amó tanto al mundo, y no sólo “amó’ en tiempo pasado, sino que ‘ama’ en tiempo presente. Y Dios amó tanto al mundo que dio a su único Hijo, y no solo ‘dio’ en tiempo pasado, sino ‘da’ en presente”, resaltó el Obispo Jugis.

“Él les da a su Hijo nuevamente en Navidad”, dijo el Obispo Jugis. “Él les da a su Hijo en el Misterio Eucarístico. Imitemos este amor en nuestra vida diaria”.

El Obispo Jugis también señaló que San Juan dice: “Amados, si Dios así nos amó, también nosotros debemos amarnos unos a otros” (1 Juan 4:11). “El amor es caridad hacia nuestro prójimo; amabilidad; el respeto por los demás, que también son, como nosotros, creados a imagen y semejanza de Dios. El amor es servir a los demás por amor a Cristo”, explicó.

“En Navidad estamos en presencia de un gran misterio. Dios, como dice San Pablo, es invisible (Colosenses 1:15), y como dice San Juan, ‘A Dios nadie lo ha visto jamás’ (Juan 1:18; 1 Juan 4:12), pero en Navidad celebramos que Dios decide hacerse visible haciéndose hombre”.

El Obispo Jugis recordó que en los tiempos del Antiguo Testamento, Dios envió grandes profetas, y también ángeles, para hacer Su obra mientras Él permanecía oculto, pero ahora había llegado el momento de que Él mismo viniera, personalmente. “Él decidió ser visible para nosotros, no como una aparición que dura solo un poco de tiempo y luego se desvanece, sino visible como carne y sangre real, física y tangible como nosotros”, dijo.

“Durante nueve meses Dios permaneció escondido en el seno de la Santísima Virgen, pero en Navidad Dios nace y sale del seno de la Virgen. Este es el Misterio de la Encarnación. Esta es nuestra fe cristiana que profesamos con alegría. Por el Espíritu Santo, se encarnó de la Virgen María y se hizo hombre”, dijo el Obispo Jugis.

Exhortó a los fieles diciendo: “Honremos esta gran fiesta de Navidad, esta gran fiesta del amor de Dios por nosotros, imitando Su amor en nuestra vida diaria”.

Obispo Jugis celebrará Misa de Clausura del 50 Aniversario

CHARLOTTE — El Obispo Peter Jugis celebrará la Misa de Clausura del 50 Aniversario de la Diócesis de Charlotte el jueves 12 de enero a las 7 de la noche en el Centro de Vida Familiar de la Catedral San Patricio.

Debido a renovaciones en la catedral, la Hora Santa, de 5:30 a 6:30 p.m., y la Misa de Clausura se celebrarán en el Centro de Vida Familiar de la parroquia que tiene una capacidad muy limitada. A lo largo de 2022, año del 50

Aniversario, una peregrinación mariana de la imagen de María, Madre de Dios, ha viajado por el oeste de Carolina del Norte visitando parroquias, escuelas católicas, conventos y el Seminario Universitario San José, ofreciendo a los fieles la oportunidad de rezar la oración del 50 Aniversario y pedir a Nuestra Santísima Madre su intercesión.

Durante el año en curso, los feligreses y el clero conmemoraron el 50 Aniversario realizando docenas de Actos de

Caridad en beneficio de organizaciones comunitarias aliadas que ayudan a los pobres, personas sin hogar, mujeres y niños, y a quienes sufren inseguridad alimentaria, solo por nombrar algunos de los programas de asistencia.

La Catedral San Patricio está ubicada en 1621 Dilworth Road East en Charlotte. El Centro de Vida Familiar está ubicado detrás de la rectoría.

— SueAnn Howell

Fechas de colectas especiales en 2023

CHARLOTTE — La Diócesis de Charlotte anunció las fechas de las ocho colectas especiales que se llevarán a cabo en 2023. Estas colectas anuales proveen de fondos a ministerios importantes y sirven de apoyo a nuestros sacerdotes y religiosos que aportan generosamente sus vidas al servicio de la Iglesia.

Las colectas especiales y sus fechas en 2023 son las siguientes:

n Enero 14-15: Colecta de Misiones Combinadas. Esta colecta anual financia cinco diferentes iniciativas: la Colecta para la Iglesia en América Latina, la Colecta para Ayudar a la Iglesia en Europa Central y Oriental, la Campaña para las Misiones Católicas Nacionales, la Campaña para las Misiones de Estados Unidos (Misiones Negras e Indígenas) y la Campaña del Fondo de Solidaridad para la Iglesia en África.

n Abril 8-9 (Domingo de Resurrección): Colecta para la Educación de los Seminaristas. El programa de Educación de Seminaristas, donde 49 hombres están actualmente enrolados. Esta se financia principalmente a través de la Campaña Anual de Apoyo Diocesano, el Programa Amigos de los Seminaristas y esta segunda colecta.

n Mayo 20-21: Colecta Combinada Internacional/Nacional. Las donaciones recibidas en esta colecta benefician cinco organizaciones: Servicios Católicos de Alivio, Colecta por Tierra Santa, Colecta por los Trabajos del Santo Padre (Las monedas de Pedro), la Universidad Católica de América, y la Campaña Católica de Comunicaciones.

n Septiembre 23-24: Retiro y beneficios de sacerdotes. Esta colecta, que toma lugar el fin de semana después del Congreso Eucarístico, apoya a los 87 sacedotes diocesanos que sirven activamente a los fieles del oeste de Carolina del Norte, y a los 44 sacerdotes de nueve órdenes religiosas, para quienes se realizarán aportes de jubilación.

n Octubre 21-22: Domingo Mundial de las Misiones (Propagación de la Fe). Esta colecta apoya el trabajo de la Iglesia y sus misiones alrededor del mundo.

n Noviembre 4-5: Colecta de Otoño para la Educación de los Seminaristas.

n Noviembre 18-19: Campaña Católica para el Desarrollo Humano. Esta colecta provee fondos a la iniciativa establecida por la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Estados Unidos que busca romper el ciclo de pobreza apoyando a organizaciones que ayudan a que las personas se superen. Con su misión de mejorar la educación, las situaciones de vivienda y el desarrollo económico local, esta campaña continúa teniendo un impacto positivo en las comunidades de todo el país. El veinticinco por ciento de los fondos de esta colecta se utilizan en la Diócesis de Charlotte.

n Diciembre 9-10: Retiro Religioso. Este llamado, coordinado por la Oficina Nacional de Retiro Religioso, ofrece apoyo a hermanas, hermanos y sacerdotes mayores de órdenes religiosas católicas cuyas comunidades carecen de fondos suficientes para su retiro. A nivel nacional, se benefician unos 25.000 religiosos y religiosas mayores de 70 años.

— SueAnn Howell

Más online

En www.charlottediocese.org/development : Infórmese sobre estas colectas especiales y otras formas de apoyo financiero a los diversos ministerios de la Iglesia del oeste de Carolina del Norte, incluida la Campaña de Apoyo Diocesano y la Fundación de la Diócesis de Charlotte.

Marchas por la Vida en enero

Marcha local, estatal y nacional en 2023

SUEANN HOWELL sahowell@charlottediocese.org

CHARLOTTE — Por primera vez en 50 años, los defensores de la vida en Estados Unidos marcharán en enero para celebrar y marcar el fin del aborto legalizado a nivel federal, y manifestarse por una cultura de la vida en los 50 estados de la Unión Americana.

A principios de este año, la Corte Suprema, en su decisión Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health, sostuvo que no existe el derecho constitucional al aborto. Cada estado individualmente es ahora responsable de crear sus propias leyes con respecto al aborto.

Se invita a los feligreses de todo el oeste de Carolina del Norte a dar testimonio de la vida y participar en una Marcha por la Vida local, estatal y/o nacional en las próximas semanas.

MARCHA POR LA VIDA CHARLOTTE

La XVII Marcha Anual por la Vida de Charlotte se llevará a cabo el viernes 13 de enero para conmemorar el aniversario de la decisión de la Corte Suprema de 1973 en Roe vs. Wade que legalizó el aborto (que fue anulada con la decisión de Dobbs el verano pasado). Vigilia de oración y marcha pública, el evento pretende ser un momento de oración para llamar la atención sobre las más de 64 millones de vidas perdidas por el aborto desde 1973 y la necesidad de poner fin a la tragedia del aborto.

Iniciará a las 9 de la mañana con una Misa por los No nacidos que se ofrecerá en la Iglesia San Vincente de Paúl, 6828 Old Reid Road en Charlotte.

La marcha will tendrá lugar al mediodía. Se pide a los participantes que se reúnan entre las 11 a.m. y el mediodía en las inmediaciones del Centro Pastoral de la Diócesis de Charlotte, 1123 S. Church St.

A mediodía, la marcha iniciará su recorrido desde el Centro Pastoral hacia Independence Square, en la esquina de las calles Trade y Tryon.

El Padre Aaron Huber, vicario parroquial de la Iglesia San Marcos en Huntersville, dirigirá un mensaje durante un breve programa en Independence Square. Abby Johnson, exdirectora de la clínica de Planned Parenthood que opera el ministerio pro-vida y And Then There Were None y autora del libro Unplanned se unirá a la marcha y presentará a dos mujeres de su ministerio del área de Charlotte que hablarán sobre abandonar la industria del aborto. Luego, concluyendo la marcha, se rezará el Santo Rosario y la Coronilla de la Divina Misericordia.

Vea el programa completo y otros detalles en www. marchforlifecharlotte.org.

Para preguntas, contacte a Tina Witt, representante de March for Life Charlotte, en marchforlifecharlotte@fidei. email o en 704-301-2531.

MISA Y MARCHA POR LA VIDA RALEIGH

La Diócesis de Raleigh celebrará su Misa anual y

Marcha por la Vida en Raleigh el sábado 14 de enero. La Misa comienza a las 11 a. m. en la Catedral Santo Nombre de Jesús, ubicada en 715 Nazareth St., Raleigh. La concentración comienza a las 12:30 horas en Hallifax Mall seguido de la marcha a las 2:30 p.m. en el centro de Raleigh. Para obtener más información, visite www.ncrtl. org/events.

MARCHA POR LA VIDA WASHINGTON D.C.

Se espera que miles de defensores pro-vida de todo el país viajen a Washington, D.C., para asistir a la Marcha Nacional por la Vida el viernes 20 de enero. Los organizadores aseguran que es la manifestación anual de derechos humanos más grande del mundo.

El lema de la Marcha por la Vida 2023 es “Próximo paso: marchar hacia una América post Roe”.

Se llevará a cabo un mitin al mediodía en el National Mall, luego a la 1 p.m. los participantes marcharán por Constitution Avenue hasta el Capitolio de los Estados Unidos para orar.

Las parroquias de la diócesis están planeando enviar autobuses con feligreses a los eventos de la Marcha por la Vida del 19 al

INDEPENDENCESQUARE

W.TRADEST.

W.4THST. W.3RDST. W.1STST. W.STONEWALL

ST.PETERCHURCH TRYON ST.

JOHNBELKFWY. W.MOREHEAD W.CARSON

DIOCESANPASTORALCENTER

Zarama, ofrecerá la Misa anual por la Vida para los peregrinos de Carolina del Norte que asistan a la marcha, iniciando a las 11:30 de la mañana del viernes 20 en la Basílica del Santuario Nacional de la Inmaculada Concepción. Monseñor Patrick J. Winslow, vicario general y canciller de la Diócesis de Charlotte, será el homilista en la Misa concelebrada por sacerdotes de la diócesis de Charlotte y Raleigh.

VIAJES EN AUTOBÚS

La Oficina de Vida Familiar está patrocinando dos

Please pray for the following priests who died during the month of January:

Rev. Anselm Biggs, OSB – 2001

Rev. Maurus Buchheit, OSB – 1975

Rev. Francis T. Connolly – 2008

Rev. Vincent Erb – 2005

Rev. Msgr. Eugene H. Livelsberger – 1987

Rev. Paul Milde, OSB – 1979

Rev. Msgr. Lawrence Newman – 1981

Rev. Arthur J. Racette – 1975

Rev. Tom Stott – 2005

Rev. Edward J. Vilkauskas, C.S.Sp. – 2021

Rev. Conrad C. Hoover – 2022

LYNX STATION CARSON BLVD.

La Marcha por la Vida de Charlotte comenzará al mediodía del viernes 13 de enero en el estacionamiento del Centro Pastoral de la Diócesis de Charlotte, 1123 S. Church St., y pasará por St. Peter Church en Tryon Street hasta Independence Square, en la esquina de las calles Trade y Tryon.

viajes en autobús, uno a Raleigh el sábado 14 de enero, y el segundo a Washington, D.C., del 19 al 21.

Más información

En www.catholicnewsherald.com encontrará detalles de las marchas y los viajes en autobús. Si tiene preguntas, por favor contacte a Jessica Grabowski, directora del programa diocesano de Respeto a la Vida, en jrgrabowski@rcdoc.org o 704-370-3229.

V Encuentro destacó reunión organizada por SEPI

Participaron 24 diócesis, entre ellas Charlotte

CÉSAR HURTADO rchurtado@charlottediocese.org

CHARLOTTE — La oficina nacional del V Encuentro destacó en su boletín de diciembre la realización del XVIII Encuentro Regional del Sureste que organizó la Oficina Regional del Sureste (SEPI, por sus siglas en inglés).

La cita, que abordó el tema “Fortaleciendo los puentes que nos unen”, tuvo lugar del 12 al 15 de octubre en la ciudad de St. Augustine, FL, con la participación de 24 de las 30 diócesis del sureste.

Este encuentro, que se realiza cada dos años, se llevó a cabo en inglés y español, con la participación de los directores diocesanos de diferentes ministerios y Monseñor Thomas John Rodi (Mobile), Monseñor Louis Kihneman (Biloxi), Monseñor Erik Pohlmeier (San Agustín), Monseñor Joseph Kopacz (Jackson) y Monseñor Thomas Wenski (Miami).

El Padre Julio Domínguez, vicario episcopal del ministerio hispano de la Diócesis de Charlotte, y la hermana Joan Pearson, asistente, acudieron a las sesiones en inglés; mientras que el Padre José Juya y Sergio López, coordinadores de los vicariatos de Gastonia y WinstonSalem respectivamente, participaron de las sesiones en español junto con dos miembros de la comunidad de Gastonia invitados por el Padre Juya.

“Cuando entendemos el verdadero concepto de ‘parroquia’ nos damos cuenta que nuestra responsabilidad pastoral se extiende a todas las personas que viven en esa área geográfica, sean del origen que sean. Tenemos que buscar los medios para llegar a ellos”, dijo el Arzobispo Rodi, dejando en claro que la atención a los hispanos no es solo de los líderes de pastoral hispana, sino de toda la estructura parroquial y diocesana.

Un momento significativo fue la celebración de la Eucaristía en el lugar donde se realizó la primera Misa en

se abordó la importancia de la atención a los católicos hispanos y su participación en la Iglesia en Estados Unidos.

Norteamérica en 1565. En San Agustín, en el Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de la Leche en la Misión Nombre de Dios, donde se dio el primer encuentro de culturas diversas, se reunieron personas de diferentes culturas e idiomas para trabajar en la evangelización del pueblo hispano.

V ENCUENTRO EN ACCIÓN

Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, Coordinador Nacional del V Encuentro y Director Adjunto de Asuntos Hispanos de la Conferencia de Obispos de Estados Unidos, informó que el Subcomité para Asuntos Hispanos se encuentra en la última etapa de la edición del Plan Nacional para la Pastoral Hispana, proyectando que se presentará ante la Conferencia de Obispos en la reunión de primavera de 2023.

También hizo saber que la Serie Ministerial del V Encuentro ha publicado 25 sesiones de Áreas Ministeriales en inglés y español, que ya se encuentran disponibles on demand. Esta herramienta puede ayudar a formar líderes en las conclusiones del V Encuentro para 28 Áreas Ministeriales.

Más online

En www.ms.vencuentro.org : Para información sobre la serie ministerial del V Encuentro

Lecturas Diarias

ENERO 8-14

Domingo (Solemnidad de la Epifanía del Señor): Isaías 60:1-6, Efesios 3:2-3a, 5-6, Mateo 2:1-12; Lunes (Fiesta del Bautismo del Señor): Isaías 42:1-4, 6-7, Mateo 3:1317; Martes: Hebreos 2:5-12, Marcos 1:21-28; Miércoles: Hebreos 2:14-18, Marcos 1:2939; Jueves: Hebreos 3:7-14, Marcos 1:40-45; Viernes: Hebreos 4:1-5, 11, Marcos 2:112; Sábado: Hebreos 4:12-16, Marcos 2:13-17

ENERO 15-21

Domingo: Isaías 49:3, 5-6, 1 Corintios 1:1-3, Juan 1:29-

34; Lunes: Hebreos 5:1-10, Marcos 2:18-22; Martes (San Antonio Abad): Hebreos 6:10-20, Marcos 2:23-28; Miércoles: Hebreos 7:1-3, 15-17, Marcos 3:1-6; Jueves: Hebreos 7:23–8:6, Marcos 3:7-12; Viernes: Hebreos 8:613, Marcos 3:13-19; Sábado (Santa Inés, virgen y mártir): Hebreos 9:2-3, 11-14, Marcos 3:20-21

ENERO 22-28

Domingo: Isaías 8:23b-9:3, 1 Corintios 1:10-13, 17, Mateo 4:12-23; Lunes (Día de oración por la protección legal de la criatura en el

vientre materno): Hebreos 9:15, 24-28, Marcos 3:22-30; Martes (Memoria de San Francisco de Sales, obispo y doctor de la Iglesia): Hebreos 10:1-10, Marcos 3:3135; Miércoles (Fiesta de la Conversión de San Pablo): Hechos 22:3-16, Marcos 16:15-18; Jueves (Memoria de Santos Timoteo y Tito, obispos): 2 Timoteo 1:1-8, Marcos 4:21-25; Viernes: Hebreos 10:32-39, Marcos 4:26-34; Sábado (Memoria de Santo Tomas de Aquino, presbítero y doctor de la Iglesia): Hebreos 11:1-2, 8-19, Marcos 4:35-41

El Bautismo del Señor

El lunes 9 de enero celebraremos el bautismo de Jesús en el río Jordán por San Juan Bautista. En esta ocasión, Jesús entró en Su ministerio y consiguió a Sus primeros discípulos, San Juan proclamó a Cristo el Cordero de Dios, cuyo camino había preparado, y se manifestó la naturaleza de la Trinidad.

Con el Bautismo del Señor concluye el tiempo de Navidad y la Iglesia nos invita a mirar la humildad de Jesús que se convierte en una epifanía, una manifestación de la Santísima Trinidad. Así lo corrobora el relato del Evangelio de San Marcos 1:9-11, cuando narra que, “Sucedió que en aquellos días Jesús vino de Nazaret de Galilea, y fue bautizado por Juan en el Jordán. Inmediatamente, al salir del agua, vio que los cielos se abrían, y que el Espíritu descendía sobre Él como una paloma; y vino una voz de los cielos, que decía: ‘Tú eres Mi Hijo amado, en Ti me he complacido’”.

JUAN BAUTIZA A JESÚS

En Marcos 1:7-9, Juan humildemente reconoce sus limitaciones pues “predicaba, diciendo: ‘Tras mí viene Uno que es más poderoso que yo, a quien no soy digno de inclinarme y desatar la correa de Sus sandalias. Yo los bauticé a ustedes con agua, pero Él los bautizará con el Espíritu Santo’”.

Jesús, Dios y hombre sin mancha, es bautizado por Juan. ¿Por qué es esto, si en Él no hay pecado? La pregunta roza el misterio: Jesús con su Bautismo le está abriendo la puerta de la salvación a todo el género humano. Nuestra naturaleza dañada por el pecado original queda restituida.

En el siglo V, San Máximo de Turín señalaba, haciendo referencia al agua del Bautismo del Señor, lo siguiente: “Cuando se lava el Salvador, se purifica

toda el agua necesaria para nuestro bautismo y queda limpia la fuente, para que pueda luego administrarse a los pueblos que habían de venir a la gracia de aquel baño”.

Cristo es la fuente de toda pureza y si Él no nos lava, el pecado mantendrá su dominio sobre nosotros. Las aguas del Bautismo tienen un profundo significado: vida nueva y libertad.

San Gregorio Nacianceno enseñaba: “Juan está bautizando, y Cristo se acerca; tal vez para santificar al mismo por quien va a ser bautizado; y sin duda para sepultar en las aguas a todo el viejo Adán, santificando el Jordán antes de nosotros y por nuestra causa; y así, el Señor, que era espíritu y carne, nos consagra mediante el Espíritu y el agua”.

¿QUÉ DICE EL CATECISMO?

El Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica, en el párrafo 536, señala que el bautismo de Jesús es por su parte la aceptación e inauguración de su misión como Siervo doliente. Se deja contar entre los pecadores; es ya “el Cordero de Dios, que quita el pecado del mundo”. Anticipa ya el “bautismo” de su muerte sangrienta. viene ya a “cumplir toda justicia”, es decir, se somete enteramente a la voluntad de su Padre: por amor acepta el bautismo de muerte para la remisión de nuestros pecados. A esta aceptación responde la voz del Padre que pone toda su complacencia en su Hijo. El Espíritu que Jesús posee en plenitud desde su concepción viene a “posarse” sobre él. De él manará este Espíritu para toda la humanidad. En su bautismo, “se abrieron los cielos” que el pecado de Adán había cerrado; y las aguas fueron santificadas por el descenso de Jesús y del Espíritu como preludio de la nueva creación”.

- Condensado de ACI Prensa

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 to Sue Sigler, Controller, Diocese of Charlotte, 1123 South Church Street, Charlotte, NC 28203-4003 or email to sasigler@rcdoc.org.

The Diocese of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

SERGIO LÓPEZ | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

El Padre Julio Domínguez, Vicario Episcopal del Ministerio Hispano de la Diócesis de Charlotte, asiste a una de las sesiones del Encuentro Regional del Sureste que organizó la Oficina Regional del Sureste (SEPI), donde

Pope

Emeritus

Benedict XVI 1927-2022 Farewell and requiescat in pace

Important events in the life of Pope Benedict XVI

April 16, 1927

Joseph Ratzinger is born in Marktl am Inn, Germany.

1945

With World War II ending, the 18-year-old conscripted soldier deserts from the German army and is held briefly as a U.S. prisoner of war.

June 29, 1951

He is ordained a priest along with his brother, Georg, and continues his theological studies.

1958-1977

He teaches theology at five German universities.

1962-1965

Father Ratzinger serves as an expert at the Second Vatican Council.

May 28, 1977

He is ordained a bishop, becoming the archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany.

June 27, 1977

Blessed Paul VI inducts him into the College of Cardinals.

1981-2005

He serves as prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

April 19, 2005

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, 78, is elected pope and takes the name Benedict XVI.

Dec. 22, 2005

In a meeting with top aides at the Vatican, Pope Benedict insists the teaching of the Second Vatican Council must be read in continuity with the Church’s tradition.

Sept. 12, 2006

In a speech about faith and reason at the University of Regensburg, Germany, Pope Benedict cites a historical criticism of violence in Islam, setting off consternation and protests.

April 16, 2007

The first of what would be a three-volume work, “Jesus of Nazareth,” by Pope Benedict goes on sale and is an immediate commercial success.

July 7, 2007

Pope Benedict issues an apostolic letter, “Summorum Pontificum,” permitting wider use of the pre-Vatican II Mass.

April 15-20, 2008

Pope Benedict visits Washington, New York and the United Nations, and meets with victims of clerical sex abuse for first time.

Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger of Munich and Freising, the future Pope Benedict XVI, is pictured Nov. 15, 1977. Pope Emeritus Benedict died Dec. 31, 2022, at the age of 95 in his residence at the Vatican.

CNS | KNA

Love, mercy and the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI

VATICAN CITY — Retired Pope Benedict XVI may have been the first pope in almost 600 years to resign – in 2013, after eight years as pontiff – yet he leaves an impressive record as a teacher and defender of the basics of the Catholic faith, spanning decades of priestly ministry, teaching and writing, and ecumenical outreach.

He died Dec. 31 at the age of 95, nearly 10 years after leaving the papacy to retire to a life of prayer and study.

Pope Francis celebrated his predecessor’s funeral Jan. 5, in St. Peter’s Square. Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said the funeral rites would be simple in keeping with the wishes of the late pope.

At the funeral Mass, the only official delegations present were from Germany and Italy, the Vatican said. After the funeral Mass, the coffin was taken to St. Peter’s Basilica and then to the Vatican grotto for burial.

A LASTING LEGACY

In less than a week since his death, much has already been written detailing both Pope Benedict’s accomplishments and failures throughout his long life of service to the Church. In the end, though, all the coverage boils down to

one question: Who was the real Pope Benedict XVI? While it will be the task of subsequent centuries to measure the full scope of the late pope’s legacy, we might make a fruitful start by considering it through the lens of his bestselling “Jesus of Nazareth” series.

It is no secret that Benedict was a first-rate scholar, and the depth of the series lays this bare. Not only was Joseph Ratzinger one of the most intellectually gifted men to occupy Peter’s chair, but he was also one of the most important theologians in the Church’s recent history, and he made good use of his pen to teach, too. The gifted, skilled and clear writer authored more than 60 published books.

Benedict bequeathed to the Church many rich texts as part of his papal magisterium, which largely focused on the basics, although his theological acumen could zero in on the most intricate of theological questions. Think of his encyclicals on the theological virtues.

This was also true of the “Jesus of Nazareth” series. This scholarly and pastoral project, to which he committed finishing as pope though as a private theologian, focused entirely on the person and mission of Jesus Christ.

In 2003 – two years before his election

as pope – then-Cardinal Ratzinger started work on what developed into the threevolume series. A lifetime of scholarship and research, meditation and prayer, dialogue and inquiry is summed up in its pages, and the breadth and depth of Benedict’s faith and spiritual intellect is on full display therein. Readers catch a glimpse into his scholarly mind, to be sure, but also get a sense of Benedict’s pastoral priorities and interior depth as a disciple.

Effective in employing his scholarship as a pastor, Benedict masterfully connects the dots of a sweeping array of authors and sources, offering an entirely unique and comprehensive reading of the Bible and understanding of the Church’s faith in Christ. The end product is a summary of Christian understanding of the Savior, filtered through the heart and mind of a man who breathed love of the Lord to his very end.

It is said that the books absorbed whatever free time he had for many years, and not without the misgivings of some in the curia, who criticized the studious pope for the attention he gave to this extra writing during his pontificate. It seemed to them a distraction from the duties of governance, but Benedict saw the project as an urgent obligation and concern.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI 1927-2022 Farewell and requiescat in pace

BRINGING THE LOVE AND MERCY OF JESUS TO THE WORLD

While Christian theology has trended in recent years toward deconstruction, especially as regards the historical Jesus, Benedict sought to build and reconstruct. The motivation of his mission was simple: to make Jesus Christ known and loved, and to invite others to a renewed and deepened relationship with Him.

For Benedict, it was clear: The very life of the world depends upon knowing the Lord as Truth – not as an idea but as a Person. This meant for Benedict that Jesus was not a mere historical figure meant to be analyzed, but a living person ready to be encountered. Nor was Jesus just some political or social revolutionary, but the Son of God made man. All else flowed from this.

Like St. Paul, Benedict was handing on what he himself had received – what he himself had found through prayer, study and his own personal relationship with Christ Jesus. As he wrote in the first volume, the “Jesus of Nazareth’’ books contained his “personal search ‘for the face of the Lord.’” The living Jesus becomes reality to the reader, page by page, through the pen of a man truly alive in Christ. It was Christ who lived in him; it was from Christ that he received his very self, which he offered back in love. It was Christ who ordered, guided and led him. It was Benedict’s own life with Jesus, shared in these books. And so it is clear that the trilogy is more than mere scholarly pursuit. It is the revelation of an intimate and lifelong encounter with a friend, imbued with the fruits of untold hours of contemplation. The man who often showed little concern for himself introduces readers to his Lord and Savior, his discovery of the pearl of great price. According to his biographer, Peter Seewald, Benedict observed that working on the books was “like constantly drawing water from the depths of the sources.”

“LORD,

I LOVE YOU!”

The “Jesus of Nazareth” series gives the most realistic and lasting glimpse into who Benedict XVI really was, beyond all the narratives: the brilliant mind who pursued Christ all his life, who came to know him as a friend and who served him as a pastor driven to help others love him more. These works will be at the crux of any attempt to understand the interconnection of Benedict’s scholarly mind, his pastoral solicitude and his spiritual depth – because these, above all else, belonged to Christ and defined his mission, informed his pastoring and shaped his character.

If one’s last words before slipping from this earth might be any indication of who he or she really is, then it is no wonder that Benedict’s have been reported to be “Lord, I love you!” What better thing to say? What better to have lived? What better to have left behind as a written legacy?

— Michael R. Heinlein, OSV News

Important events in the life of Pope Benedict XVI

Jan. 2009

With Pope Benedict’s approval, the Vatican issues a letter lifting the excommunication of four traditionalist bishops belonging to the Society of St. Pius X to clear the way for reconciliation talks with the group.

Nov. 4, 2009

With the apostolic constitution “Anglicanorum coetibus,” Pope Benedict establishes personal ordinariates for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic Church.

July 15, 2010

With the approval of Pope Benedict, the Vatican releases streamlined procedures for handling accusations of clerical sexual abuse and removing from the priesthood those found guilty.

May 1, 2011

Pope Benedict beatifies his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

Feb. 28, 2013

Pope Benedict, 85, becomes the first pope in almost 600 years to resign, citing declining strength because of age.

2013-2022

He lives a “monastic” life of prayer and study, receiving visitors in a renovated monastery near the Vatican Gardens. With prompting from Pope Francis, he appears in public for a number of significant Church events at the Vatican.

Dec. 31, 2022

Retired Pope Benedict XVI dies at 9:34 a.m.

Bishop Jugis offers special requiem Mass in Charlotte for former pope

CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter Jugis planned to offer a requiem Mass, or Mass for the Dead, for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Thursday, Jan. 5 – the same day Pope Francis celebrated the deceased former pope’s funeral Mass in Rome. Bishop Jugis also asked Catholics across western North Carolina to pray for the repose of the soul of the late pope.

“As we mourn the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, we pray for the happy repose of his soul, and we invite all people of good will to join us in commending him to the Lord,” the bishop said in a statement following Pope Benedict’s death. “As a good and faithful servant of the Lord, he faithfully carried out his office as successor of the Prince of the Apostles to strengthen his brothers and sisters in the faith, and lead the Church in faithfully following Jesus Christ.”

Bishop Jugis, who met Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 during the U.S. bishops’ “ad limina” visitation to Rome, recalled the pope as being humble and kind.

“The Holy Father was very engaging and very interested in all we had to say,” the bishop told the Catholic News Herald at the time, upon returning from Rome. “It was a very relaxed meeting,” he said, more like a conversation than a formal meeting.

“May Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI rest in peace and receive the reward promised to the Lord’s faithful servants,” the bishop prayed. More online

At www.catholicnewsherald.com : Read more about Bishop Jugis’ 2012 “ad limina” visit with then Pope Benedict XVI in Rome

SUEANN HOWELL | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Bishop Peter Jugis approaches the altar to offer Mass Jan. 1, 2023 at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. A portrait of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, draped in black, was placed in the sanctuary in remembrance of his death one day earlier.

CNS | PAUL HARING

Pope Benedict XVI kneels in front of the crucifix during the Good Friday service in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican April 22, 2011.

Our world

On New Year’s, pope calls for taking the risk of changing the

CAROL GLATZ Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — The best way to usher in a truly “new” year is to stop waiting for things to get better on their own, and instead recognize what is essential and reach out now to help others, Pope Francis said.

“Today, at the beginning of the year, rather than standing around thinking and hoping that things will change, we should instead ask ourselves, ‘This year, where do I want to go? Who is it that I can help?’” he said.

“So many people, in the Church and in society, are waiting for the good that you and you alone can do; they are waiting for your help,” he said at Mass Jan. 1, the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and World Peace Day.

While Pope Francis presided over the liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica and gave the homily, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, was the main celebrant at the altar.

In his homily the pope reflected on how Catholics begin a new year by contemplating the motherhood of Mary, who “blesses us and brings us the tender love of God made flesh.”

“Mary gives us hope,” he said, and “at the beginning of this year, we need hope, just as the earth needs rain.”

Pope Francis asked people pray to Mary to accompany the late Pope Benedict XVI on his journey “from this world to God.”

And, before leading the recitation of the Angelus prayer after the Mass, the pope asked that people “all join together, with one heart and one soul, in thanking God for the gift of this faithful servant of the Gospel and of the Church,” who died Dec. 31.

During the Mass, the prayers of the faithful included a petition that the Lord “welcome him kindly into the kingdom of light and peace.”

In his homily, the pope also asked people to pray to Mary “for her sons and daughters who are suffering and no longer have the strength to pray, and for our many brothers and sisters throughout the world who are victims of war, passing these holidays in darkness and cold, in poverty and fear, immersed in violence and indifference!”

God wants to bring His peace into people’s homes, hearts and world, he said. Yet to receive that peace the faithful must go “with haste” to encounter the Lord, just as the shepherds of Bethlehem did.

“If we are to welcome God and His peace, we cannot stand around complacently, waiting for things to get better,” the pope said. “We need to get up, recognize the moments of grace, set out and take a risk.”

“Today, amid the lethargy that dulls our

senses, the indifference that paralyzes our hearts and the temptation to waste time glued to a keyboard in front of a computer screen, the shepherds are summoning us to set out and get involved in our world, to dirty our hands and to do some good,” he said.

With the beginning of a new year, the pope said, people need to take time out from their busy lives to grow closer to God, “to hear his word, to say a prayer, to adore and praise Him.”

Devoting time to what really matters

world

MEDIA

also includes dedicating time to others, he added, for example, by listening to others, especially the elderly, and talking “with our children, to ask them about how they really are, and not simply about their studies or their health.”

In his Angelus address after the Mass, the pope said Mary reminds the faithful that “if we truly want the new year to be good, if we want to reconstruct hope, we need to abandon the language, those actions and those choices inspired by egoism.”

FRONT ROYAL, VIRGINIA

Pope Francis accepts offertory gifts from children dressed as the Three Kings as he celebrates Mass on the feast of Mary, Mother of God, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Jan. 1, 2023.

CNS | VATICAN

Love comes first, pope says in letter on teaching of St. Francis de Sales

CINDY WOODEN Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — The most important question a Christian can ask when making any decision in life is “where the greatest love is to be found,” Pope Francis wrote in a letter marking the 400th anniversary of St. Francis de Sales, a doctor of the Church.

Thinking about the legacy of St. Francis, who was born in France in 1567 and died in 1622, Pope Francis said he was convinced that the French saint’s “flexibility and his farsighted vision have much to say to us,” especially in recognizing the real-life struggles of ordinary people and judging faith by love.

The pope’s letter was titled “Totum Amoris Est” (“Everything Pertains to Love”) and was released by the Vatican Dec. 28, the 400th anniversary of the death of St. Francis de Sales, who was bishop of Geneva, Switzerland, co-founder of the Visitation Sisters and a prolific writer, including of tracts he would slip under the doors of people’s homes.

In a letter that quoted heavily from St. Francis’ books “Treatise on the Love of God” and “Introduction to the Devout Life” but also from his own exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis said the saint has much to teach the Church today.

“We are challenged to be a Church that is outward-looking and free of all worldliness, even as we live in this world, share people’s lives and journey with them in attentive listening and acceptance,” the pope wrote.

“That is what Francis de Sales did when he discerned the events of his times with the help of God’s grace.”

“Today he bids us set aside undue concern for ourselves, for our structures and for what society thinks about us, and consider instead the real spiritual needs and expectations of our people,” the pope said.

Returning in 1602 to Paris, where he previously studied, St. Francis de Sales saw a world changing around him, the pope

said, and he knew that he must respond theologically and pastorally.

“This was certainly not the first time that he had encountered individual fervent Christians, but now things were different,” the pope said. “Paris was no longer the city devastated by the wars of religion that he had known in the years of his education, or by the bitter conflicts that he had seen in the Chablais,” a region on the border of France and Switzerland.

described them. “There were men and women of culture, professors of the Sorbonne, civil authorities, princes and princesses, servants and maids, men and women religious. A whole world athirst for God in a variety of ways.”

The saintly bishop developed a new approach to spiritual direction, the pope said. “It was a method that renounced all harshness and respected completely the dignity and gifts of a devout soul, whatever its frailties.”

As the Second Vatican Council would teach 350 years later, the pope wrote, St. Francis de Sales knew that every person was called to holiness and that the call was specific to each person and his or her talents, shortcomings and state in life.

And, he said, the saint knew that the call was a grace, poured out with love.

—

“He encountered something unexpected: a flood ‘of saints, true saints, in great numbers and in all places,’” as St. Francis

“At the same time, this grace never makes us passive. It leads us to realize that God’s love radically precedes us, and that His first gift consists precisely in our acceptance of that love,” the pope wrote. “Each person therefore is responsible for cooperating with his or her own

fulfillment, with spreading his or her wings with confident trust before the gust of God’s wind.”

“More important than any kind of useless rigidity or self-absorption,” Pope Francis wrote, St. Francis de Sales encouraged the faithful “to keep asking at every moment, in every decision, in every situation in life, where the greatest love is to be found.”

St. John Paul II, he noted, referred to St. Francis de Sales as the “Doctor of Divine Love,” not primarily because he wrote about divine love, but because “he was an outstanding witness to that love.”

“His writings were no theory concocted behind a desk, far from the concerns of ordinary people,” Pope Francis said.

“His teachings were the fruit of a great sensitivity to experience.”

Read online

At www.catholicnewsherald.com : Read the full text of Pope Francis’ apostolic letter ‘Totum Amoris Est’

Construction Project Manager

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte is currently accepting resumes for the position of “Construction Project Manager” to work within the Office of Diocesan Properties. The Construction Project Manager is responsible for providing professional Owner representation and guidance on Diocesan construction projects.

The Construction Project Manager will work closely with Pastors and Principals, assisting in all aspects of the planning and execution of Church and School construction projects.

REQUIREMENTS INCLUDE:

• Bachelor’s degree or greater in associated field preferred.

• 5+ years minimum related experience.

PAYROLL ASSISTANT

The Diocese of Charlotte is seeking a part-time Payroll Assistant. As part of the payroll team, under the direct supervision of the Diocese Payroll Supervisor, the Payroll Assistant aids in the processing and reviewing of the bi-weekly and monthly payrolls. Areas of responsibilities include entering changes in the payroll system, preparing reports, maintaining files and assisting employees.

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Associate or Bachelor degree in Finance, Business or related field

• A one year minimum of working with payroll processes

• At least one year of experience and knowledge with payroll software, Paylocity experience is a plus

Please send resume and salary history/requirements to: Sue Sigler, Controller - Diocese of Charlotte, 1123 South Church Street, Charlotte, NC 28203-4003 or by email to: sasigler@rcdoc.org

The Diocese of Charlotte is an equal opportunity employer.

• Strong inter-personal communication skills – both written and verbal.

• Strong critical thinking and problem solving skills.

• Ability to work both independently and with a team.

• Strong knowledge of the principles and practices of proper project management.

• Advanced level of proficiency in Microsoft Office products including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Microsoft Project, and Adobe Acrobat Pro.

• Strong knowledge of project delivery methods such as Negotiated GMP, Lump-Sum Competitive Bidding, and Design-Build methods.

• Strong knowledge of church and school building construction preferred.

• Ability to read and interpret Architectural / Engineering drawings and submittals.

• Working knowledge of electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems.

• Working knowledge of building codes, construction materials, and means and methods.

• Working knowledge of accounting principles, and the reporting of financial data.

To apply, please email a cover letter, resume and salary history to PropDirector@RCDOC.org. **

The Diocese of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer

‘Keep asking at every moment, in every decision, in every situation in life, where the greatest love is to be found.’

Pope Francis

ViewPoints

The proper sorrows of the soul: Grieving in the holidays

As we speak, two of my family members lie on their deathbeds, awaiting their release into the loving arms of God. It is hard on the whole family to walk through these kinds of circumstances, especially during the holiday season, as the holidays are commonly difficult anyway, our past grief over the loss of a loved one returning to us in sometimes subtle, sometimes powerful ways. I don’t know of any other religion, however, that has so much emotional commerce with those who have gone before us as Catholicism. The mighty waves of Sacred Tradition and rituals of healing help us grieve in the same way that for hundreds of years, the great composers of the world have written beautiful Requiem Masses. Yes, there is (or can be) something beautiful about one’s passing and the attendant grief felt by loved ones.

ourselves is reaching out into the world. It is a good and “proper” healing combination.

A wonderful suggestion comes from the Celtic Tradition: finding a “Thin Place,” a place in nature that seems to bring earth and heaven together in its sheer beauty – a place of peace and healing, a place of awe.

The astute spiritual writer Rabbi Abraham Heschel said, “Never once in my life did I ask God for success, wisdom, power or fame. I asked for wonder, and He gave it to me.”

My great-grandmother, after her husband’s funeral, went to their barn to pitch hay, silently and alone. It was her thin place. The still waters of a nearby lake, a mountain vista, the early morning seashore, a local park wherein one gets a sense of peace, sunrise or sunset, and many other special times and places can all be a linking of heaven and earth in our hearts and minds. I am partial to dusk, when day begins to turn to night and there is a sweet stillness in the air.

And of course, for us, before, during or after Mass, in the numinous quiet of the sanctuary, as well as a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament, can be thin times and thin places that move our souls.

Slow down; stay with Christmas. It’s allowed

Silent night...holy night...

The Nativity of Christ is frequently presented to us as a silent thing, and even I’ve referred to it as such. In some long-ago piece, I describe it being “as if God had put His hand over the wails and sobs of a suffering world and said, ‘Sshh, it will be all right...’”

But of course, Christ’s coming was no silent affair. Between the bells of the shepherds and the angelic songs of the heralds, between the braying animals and the crackle of the veil being rent, all around, how could it be? The night was certainly holy, but it likely wasn’t silent.

Silence, of which we sing so wistfully at midnight Mass, is at an all-time premium at Christmas. It is so difficult to find a quiet night, let alone sit within one and become immersed in it, that the possibility of a seasonal soothing of the heart seems the stuff of illusion and myth.

Christmas has become the equivalent of an overdone themepark vacation. By its end, one is knock-kneed with exhaustion and desperately in need of a genuine opportunity to rest.

— Gabriel Marcel

I’m a big fan of Dr. Alan Wolfeldt, who founded the Center for Loss, an organization dedicated to reaching out to those grieving through education, meditation, prayer and practical, comforting advice for the grieving. Dr. Wolfeldt, who puts forth the notion of Companioning Grief, has just written a beautiful little booklet, “Cherishing: The Art of Fully Living While Still Honoring Those Who’ve Died.” I found myself recently going through the booklet and translating each suggestion into more “Catholic” terms. Dr. Wolfeldt speaks right away about the importance of healing rituals. He mentions visiting the graveside of a loved one, perhaps reading a special passage of literary or spiritual merit, placing flowers on the grave, or saying a prayer there. I agree wholeheartedly but, for the Catholic, we can also go to our parish office and have a Mass or Masses said for the repose of the soul of our loved ones. Catholics have attended the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the greatest ritual ever performed, since the time of the Last Supper.

Another of Dr. Wolfeldt’s suggestions is engaging in volunteer activity that might bring to mind the generosity of your deceased loved one. He or she may have had a special attachment to a particular charity. Donations in someone’s name and volunteer activity remind us all of how meaningful life lived with others in mind can be. Our diocese, especially at the end of this anniversary year, has so many avenues of giving such as Catholic Charities, The Knights of Columbus, St. Vincent de Paul societies (among many others) in most parishes. This notion of the giving of oneself seems to have been built into the Catholic worldview. I can still see the donation containers for the Maryknoll Missions in my Catholic grade school. Our rituals, especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, embrace the inner life, while the charitable giving of

Another suggestion is to write down some of the stories of your deceased loved one. That’s right up my alley, as are other forms of bringing forth memories that may elicit gratitude for the life of your loved one and for God’s graces granted, as you walk your particular path of grief. Some are not comfortable with a journal, but for others, journaling can open up a new way of engaging with our spiritual connections, our sacred memories of time with the deceased.

Dr. Wolfeldt mentioned the efficacy of candle-lighting ceremonies customized to the needs of the family, perhaps with the sharing of prayerful and poignant memories. I have taken to lighting a candle (or two, or three!) after each Mass I attend for those who need prayer, those in my family, especially my wife and children, those coming into our world and those leaving it. I am praying either in front of a statue of Mary in her blue robe and serene countenance or St. Joseph with his carpenter’s square and his lily. And there have been many candles lit for the repose of the soul of a beloved family member or friend.

With many more helpful suggestions crammed into this small booklet and others, Dr. Wolfeldt echoes Thomas à Kempis’ statement about grief tending to what he called “the proper sorrows of the soul.” It is the encouragement to express one’s grief, the sorrow of one’s soul, and our faith has given us mountains of devotional materials to seek out, as well as music, poetry, Scripture, and visual art infused into our worship and prayer life.

And of course, we have the communion of saints, the notion that we are in community in very special ways with those who have passed before us. It is a way of knowing they have passed only from this life and live in the next.

And so, for many years now, yes, I talk to the dead. Though right now I am full of anticipatory grief, I know that my faith will offer me myriad ways to live with the loss to come. This is what we should keep in mind: There is so much we have seen in those we love that is just too beautiful to die.

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

If you have turned off the television and tempted your child away from his games with a good book, you can hear other things: the chatter and call of cardinals who have found the birdseed; the crack of a log in the fire; hot coffee being poured into a cup; the ticking of your last nondigital clock; the rhythmic breathing of a tired child (or parent) who has dozed while reading; the soft thud of a book sliding to the floor.

You can hear life, forced into a slow-down; life less deliberate; life lived as it was for centuries, before the busy inventiveness of the last six or seven decades; life acquiescent to uncontrollable nature, and hunkered down.

We have allowed silence to become a gift forgotten, one we only consent to unwrap when all of our alternative bows and strings have been unraveled, and our diversions have been utterly played out. Our inability to be silent puts our minds and our souls at a disadvantage, because it robs us of the ability to wonder, and if we are not wondering at the impossible perfection of the world in its creation – if we are not wondering at spinning atoms and Incarnations, especially at this season –then we are lost to humility, and to experiencing gratitude.

And without gratitude, we cannot develop a reasoned capacity for joy.

For 2023, resolve to be here now and to serve yourself, but do it in this way: by cultivating silence and overcoming time within one of the classic disciplines of daily prayer – where the pulse of the Psalms calms the breath, pockets of silence center the spirit, and the liturgical calendar frees us from the shackles of time.

For many Christians, this means the Liturgy of the Hours – a gift that, unwrapped and utilized, trains us in the procurement of silence and lures a time-out-of-joint into lustrous submission.

And it reminds us of the real time in which we live, or should be living.

Though the secular holiday is past for another year, Christmas is far from over. Rather, in the breviary, its prayers are continued, renewed each morning and again at Vespers: “In the beginning, before time began, the Word was God; today He is born, the Savior of the world.”

The mystery, the wonder, the gladness: It has not ended. Each day in the Octave of Christmas, the words are cast again upon the air, resonating out into the world and reclaiming time from its insistent march away, always away, from what is before us.

ELIZABETH SCALIA is a Benedictine Oblate and author of the award-winning “Strange Gods: Unmasking the Idols in Everyday Life” (Ave Maria Press) and “Little Sins Mean a Lot” (OSV). She blogs as “The Anchoress” at www.theanchoress.com.

Fred Gallagher

‘You know you have loved someone when you have glimpsed in them that which is too beautiful to die.’

Elizabeth Scalia

Rev. Msgr. Patrick J. Winslow

Recalling Pope Benedict’s legacy, witnessing his election in 2005

On April 19, 2005, I landed in Rome with Father Timothy Reid, my parents, and two busloads of pilgrims who were mostly from the Diocese of Charlotte. Arrangements for our pilgrimage to Rome had been made a year earlier, so we could never have imagined our arrival would come in the wake of Pope John Paul II’s funeral and the first full day of the conclave to elect his successor.

Even though one never gets a reasonable night’s sleep on a transatlantic flight, our tour began the moment we retrieved our luggage. Thankfully, exhaustion gave way to excitement and the effects of Italian coffee. We went right away to visit one of Rome’s major basilicas and enjoy some Italian food, before heading to our hotel to check in. The hotel was located only a mile or two from the Vatican – an ideal location for the historymaking event we were about to witness.

Father Reid and I knew the group of cardinals meeting for their conclave in the Sistine Chapel could elect a new pope at any time, so we wanted to be ready. We told our tour guides that no matter where we were when white smoke began rising from the Chapel – the public sign that a pope has been elected – we wanted to drop everything, load our pilgrims on buses, and head over to St. Peter’s Square in hopes of getting a glimpse of our new pope.

Moments later, some children from our group in the hotel lobby pointed to the television and announced, “There’s white smoke!” We had to look carefully at the images flashing across the TV, as it sometimes can be difficult to tell whether the smoke is black (no pope elected yet) or white (a new pope has been elected). Father Reid and I thought the smoke looked white, so we ran to collect the members of our group. Our guides marshalled everyone onto buses while Father Reid, my parents and I hailed a taxi for St. Peter’s Square to find a prime viewing spot for our group.

Hopping in the cab, we exclaimed in broken Italian, “We need to get to St. Peter’s Square immediately. We have a pope!” Our driver turned the radio dial from a soccer game to the news, then floored it.

What we saw next was extraordinary – almost terrifying. People poured out of Rome’s narrow streets, filling the expansive square in front of St. Peter’s Basilica like dozens of tributaries flooding a mountain reservoir. Our group made its way through the sea of people to the fountain along the southern arm of Bernini’s colonnade that extends from the basilica and surrounds St. Peter’s Square. From that vantage point, we could see the Loggia, the balcony from which the papal coat of arms of Pope John Paul II hung and where our new pope would soon emerge.

The official arrival of the cardinal deacon onto the balcony was met with uproarious energy from the rapidly assembled crowd,

which at this point filled the main street of the Via della Conciliazione toward the River Tiber. Rome’s cacophony of church bells, which began ringing as the white smoke appeared and continued tolling for

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45 minutes, went silent. From the balcony, the cardinal deacon declared: “Habemus papam” (“We have a pope”), then the name Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would now be called “Pope Benedict XVI.” The crowd erupted in cheers.

That first glimpse of Pope Benedict was almost overwhelming, seeing him in white and red, walk out on that balcony, waving with both hands, and knowing he would now lead our worldwide Church, whatever might come. He offered his first blessing “Urbi et Orbi” – for the city and the world.

After we heard the news of the pope’s passing, fellow pilgrim and parishioner Debbie Kovacich of Sparta recalled in a note to me: “It was a singularly wonderful moment for us standing shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of people when the Holy Father stepped out onto the balcony… Later, when discussing other candidates for the papacy, I said something like, ‘Some people just wanted a rock star.’ You said, ‘They got one.’”

Joseph Ratzinger was perhaps the most well-known of all the cardinals in the Church at the time. He served closely alongside Pope John Paul II as the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a position which he used to explain the faith clearly and eloquently –most notably in compiling the Catechism of the Catholic Church we use today. He was also a prolific writer and theologian. who participated in the pivotal work of the Second Vatican Council, and through his leadership he formed many aspects of the Church.

Standing at that moment in St. Peter’s Square – as a priest, a student of theology and as a pilgrim soul – I was grateful for the shepherd who had been given to us. Steadfast, gentle and thoughtful, our new Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, would go on to demonstrate his love for God in everything he said and did.

MONSIGNOR PATRICK WINSLOW is vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte.

Pope Francis

From online story: “Bring hope to others, justice for the poor, pope says at Christmas Mass”

In 2022, 372,933 visitors to www.catholicnewsherald.com have viewed a total of 471,802 pages. The top 10 local news headlines last year were:

n Pilgrim image of Mary to visit 100-plus sites across diocese this year .................................7,401

n 2022 priest assignments announced 7,014

n Kelly Henson: Closer to heaven by Christmas 5,854 n St. Bernadette Church hosts patron saint’s relics during national tour ............................... 5,521 n Tradición mexicana resalta Fiesta de la Presentación del Señor 3,883 n Catholic Charities volunteer, refugee killed in northeast Charlotte crash 3,913 n Charlotte diocese to join pope in consecrating Ukraine, Russia to Mary ............................. 2,831

n Newly ordained Fathers Aaron Huber and Darren Balkey embark on priestly ministry 1,672 n Deacons renew ordination promises at annual Mass .....................................................................910

n Private Catholic school joins diocesan schools system 841

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‘In Jesus, every child is present. And we ourselves are invited to view life, politics and history through the eyes of children.’