July 7, 2023

At a glance

July 7, 2023

Volume 32 • NUMBER 20

1123 S. CHURCH ST. CHARLOTTE, N.C. 28203-4003 catholicnews@charlottediocese.org

704-370-3333

PUBLISHER

The Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis Bishop of Charlotte

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CATHOLIC ALL WEEK

Timely tips for blending faith & life

When it comes to American saints, women achieved many of the firsts – the first Native American saint, the first American-born saint, and the first U.S. citizen to become a saint. Kateri Tekakwitha, Elizabeth Ann Seton and Frances Xavier Cabrini also have important July events associated with their sainthood. Honor the legacy of these incredible women by celebrating with friends and family:

CELEBRATE THE ‘LILY OF THE MOHAWKS’

The daughter of a Mohawk chief and a Christian Algonquin woman, St. Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656.

In life she faced many trials. Smallpox claimed the lives of her parents. Tekakwitha survived, but the disease damaged her eyesight and scarred her face. Later, she converted to Catholicism and took the name Kateri, or Catherine. She died in 1680 and was canonized in 2012, becoming the first Native American saint. She is known for her purity, which earned her the name “Lily of the Mohawks,” and her example led to the conversion of many. Her feast day is July 14. Honor St. Kateri by putting on a play about her life, eating foods like cornbread that were enjoyed by the Mohawk people, or by making crosses from sticks as Kateri was known to do.

PIROUETTE IN HONOR OF ST. ELIZABETH ANN SETON

STAFF

EDITOR: Spencer K. M. Brown

704-808-4528, skmbrown@charlottediocese.org

ADVERTISING MANAGER: Kevin Eagan

704-370-3332, keeagan@charlottediocese.org

HISPANIC MEDIA MANAGER: César Hurtado

704-370-3375, rchurtado@charlottediocese.org

EDITORIAL TEAM: Kimberly Bender

704-370-3394, kdbender@charlottediocese.org

Annie Ferguson

704-370-3404, arferguson@charlottediocese.org

Troy C. Hull

704-370-3288, tchull@charlottediocese.org

GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Tim Faragher

704-370-3331, tpfaragher@charlottediocese.org

COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT/CIRCULATION: Erika Robinson

704-370-3333, catholicnews@charlottediocese.org

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Liz Chandler 704-370-3336, lchandler@charlottediocese.org

ASSISTANT COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Patricia L. Guilfoyle

704-370-3334, plguilfoyle@charlottediocese.org

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

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Canonized in 1975, Elizabeth Ann Seton is the first American-born saint. Born into a wealthy family in 1774, she was exposed to many of the social graces of her time. She founded the first Catholic girls’ school and later the first sisterhood in the United States on July 31, 1809. She took vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and service to the poor on July 19, 1813. Throughout her life, she loved to dance and kept the silk ballet slippers of her youth, now on display at her shrine in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Dance and support Catholic education in her honor.

MAKE MOTHER CABRINI’S ‘MIRACULOUS’ POUND CAKE

An Italian immigrant known for her indefatigable charity, strength and resourcefulness, Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini was canonized on July 7, 1946, becoming the first American saint. She opened orphanages, hospitals and schools on three continents and became a U.S. citizen in 1909. Celebrate her holiness and true American spirit by making Mother Cabrini’s Pound Cake (pictured right) from newclassicrecipe.com

For best results, bless yourself before placing

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, 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 Justiciaen 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

IGBO MASS : 11:30 a.m. Sunday, July 23, St. Mary’s Church, 812 Duke St. Park at Windsor Center. For details, call 336-707-3625.

ST. PEREGRINE HEALING PRAYER : 6-7 p.m. second Thursday of each month in the New Life Center Building adjacent to St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. St. Peregrine healing prayer service includes a blessing with a relic of St. Peregrine. St. Peregrine has been called the wonder worker for his intercession on behalf of those living with serious illness. He is the patron saint of all who are afflicted by cancer, leg ailments or any life-threatening disease. He is also the patron saint of at-risk youth. All are welcome.

PRO-LIFE ROSARY After the 9 a.m. Mass every third Sunday at 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) at 3 p.m. Sundays at St. Barnabas Church, 109 Crescent Hill Road, Arden. For details, email ucmcanton@gmail.com.

His Excellency, Bishop Peter J. Jugis, will participate in the following upcoming event:

JULY 18 – 4:30 P.M.

Catholic Charities Board of Directors

Mass and Meeting

Pastoral Center, Charlotte

the pan in an unheated oven.

Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini

Stages of sainthood

STEP 1: Die – Unfortunately, the first step to becoming a canonized saint of the Church is to die, yet you do have the benefit of being in heaven with Our Lord. Generally, a person must have been dead for five years before they can be considered for official canonization.

STEP 2: Servant of God – There are three things to look at if a person is to be considered for sainthood. The person must be thought of as having “heroic virtue,” they must be thought of as being in heaven, and they must be recognized by the Church for the sake of the faithful still here on Earth. This begins when people petition the bishop of the diocese where the person lived to begin an investigation into their life. If the final report of the person is favorable, they gain the status of “Servant of God.”

STEP 3: Venerable – The findings of the local bishop are sent to Rome to the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints. The investigation into the life of the person continues, with a positive outcome being the person is deemed a person of “heroic virtue.” As part of this process a person called a “devil’s advocate” raises questions and objections to the candidate’s sainthood to make sure all aspects of the person’s life are critically examined (that’s where the term originated). The congregation will also investigate the circumstances of the person’s death if they were killed – determining if the person was killed for his or her faith. The person is known as “Venerable” if they pass this stage. People may seek their intercession in prayer at this time, an important point in the process. To become canonized, miracles are required, and the miracles come from a petitioner praying to the person for help. Miracles must be documented and investigated.

STEP 4: Blessed – If a person claims a miracle happened due to intercession by the person in heaven – and it is investigated, confirmed and approved by the pope – then the would-be saint’s status is moved to “Blessed.” This process is called beatification, and a special ceremony is held.

STEP 5: Saint – The final step is a second miracle. Once that happens, the person may be named a saint and assigned a feast day on which they will be celebrated. A Mass at the Vatican usually follows that.

Note: The sitting pope has the option to shorten any part of this process –including waiving the requirement for one or both miracles. This occurs most often in the case of martyrs who died for their faith.

Daily Scripture readings

JULY 9-15

Our faith

St. Maria Goretti, the ‘wonder-worker’

Feast day: July 6

St. Maria Goretti is one of the youngest canonized saints in the Catholic Church. She died tragically on July 6, 1902, at the age of 11.

Maria was born into poverty. When she was just 6, her father moved the family from the eastern side of Italy to the western side, in hopes of escaping the grinding poverty gripping the area.

Just three years later, when Maria was 9, her father died after contracting malaria. It fell to her to raise her five siblings while her mother worked in the fields to produce the crops with which they could pay their rent and feed themselves.

This was a terrible time of trial and suffering for the whole family. For Maria, it was especially difficult. Aside from having the responsibility of caring for her family, she also had to cook and clean for her two next-door neighbors – Giovanni Serenelli and his son, Alessandro – who helped her mother with the farmwork.

It was during this time that Alessandro began to develop an impure liking for Maria. The 20-year-old would make rude and crude comments to her, things that were inappropriate and embarrassing, and that would cause her to run away. At a certain point he began to make direct impure advances toward her and threatened violence for noncompliance.

Finally, after many months of this harassment, Alessandro tried to force himself upon Maria, then stabbed her when he was thwarted.

Maria died the next day from an infection brought on by her lacerations. Her last words were: “I forgive Alessandro Serenelli … and I want him with me in heaven forever.”

Alessandro was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He remained unrepentant until one night eight years into his prison term, when, as he later described, Maria appeared to him and forgave him. She was dressed in white, gathering lilies in a garden. She smiled, turned toward Alessandro, and offered him the flowers. Each lily he took transformed into a white flame. Then Maria disappeared. That act of mercy and forgiveness – that act of love – filled Alessandro with contrition. Grace entered his heart, and from that point onward, he lived a beautiful and converted life of holiness, eventually becoming a Franciscan lay brother.

Before his death he wrote a beautiful open letter to the world,

Timeline of events in the life of St. Maria Goretti

n Oct. 16, 1890: Maria Goretti is born in Corinaldo, Italy, to Luigi Goretti and Assunta Carlini.

n Oct. 17, 1890: She is baptized in the Church of San Francesco in Corinaldo as Maria Teresa.

n Oct. 4, 1896: She receives the sacrament of confirmation by Bishop Giulio Boschi, the Bishop of Senigallia.

n Dec. 12, 1896: The Goretti family leaves Corinaldo and emigrates to Colle Gianturco, near Paliano, in the Latium region south of Rome in central Italy.

n February 1899: The family moves again, this time to Le Ferriere di Conca.

n May 6, 1900: Maria’s father dies of malaria.

n June 16, 1901: Maria receives her first Holy Communion in the Church of Conca (today known as Borgo Montello).

Sunday: Zechariah 9:9-10, Romans 8:9, 11-13, Matthew 11:25-30; Monday: Genesis 28:10-22a, Matthew 9:18-26; Tuesday (St. Benedict): Genesis 32:23-33, Matthew 9:32-38; Wednesday: Genesis 41:55-57, 42:5-7a, 17-24a, Matthew 10:17; Thursday (St. Henry): Genesis 44:18-21, 23b-29, 45:1-5, Matthew 10:7-15; Friday (St. Kateri Tekakwitha): Genesis 46:1-7, 28-30, Matthew 10:16-23; Saturday (St. Bonaventure): Genesis 49:29-32, 50:15-26a, Matthew 10:24-33

Worshipers venerate the relics of St. Maria Goretti at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte. The major relics, which are virtually all of the skeletal remains of the saint, were on a 2015 U.S. “pilgrimage of mercy” that included a stop in Charlotte.

saying, “I hope this letter that I wrote can teach others the happy lesson of avoiding evil and of always following the right path, like little children.”

St. Maria Goretti is known as the “wonder-worker,” as she is connected with countless miracles. Her feast day is celebrated July 6, and she is the patron saint of chastity, sexual abuse/assault and rape victims, young women, purity, and forgiveness.

— Spencer K.M. Brown More

online

At www.catholicnewsherald.com : Read Alessandro Serenelli’s emotional open letter to the world, written near the end of his life

At www.mariagoretti.com : Learn more about this storied child saint

n May 31, 1935: The information-gathering process for her canonization begins in the Diocese of Albano Laziale.

n March 25, 1945: Pope Pius XII recognizes the authenticity of the martyrdom of Maria Goretti.

n April 27, 1947: Maria is beatified.

n July 5, 1902: At 3:30 p.m. she is stabbed by Alessandro Serenelli after resisting his advances.

n July 6, 1902: Maria dies at the age of 11, after forgiving her attacker.

n July 8, 1902: She is buried in the cemetery of Nettuno.

JULY 16-22

Sunday: Isaiah 55:10-11, Romans 8:18-23, Matthew 13:123; Monday: Exodus 1:8-14, 22, Matthew 10:34-11:1; Tuesday (St. Camillus de Lellis): Exodus 2:1-15a, Matthew 11:20-24; Wednesday: Exodus 3:1-6, 9-12, Matthew 11:25-27; Thursday (St. Apollinaris): Exodus 3:13-20, Matthew 11:28-30; Friday (St. Lawrence of Brindisi): Exodus 11:10-12:14, Matthew 12:1-8; Saturday (St. Mary Magdalene): Song of Songs 3:1-4b, John 20:1-2, 11-18

n June 24, 1950: Maria is declared a saint by Pope Pius XII. Attendance at her canonization Mass in St. Peter’s Square exceeded a half million people – the largest of any canonization up to that time. The crowd was so large that for the first time in its history, St. Peter’s Basilica –which is the largest church in the world – could not be used for a canonization Mass because it was too small to hold the faithful who wanted to witness the event. So the canonization Mass was moved outside to St. Peter’s Square – making it the first open-air canonization in the Church’s history.

JULY 23-29

Sunday: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19, Romans 8:26-27, Matthew 13:2443; Monday (St. Sharbel Makhluf): Exodus 14:5-18, Exodus 15:1-6, Matthew 12:38-42; Tuesday (St. James): 2 Corinthians 4:7-15, Matthew 20:20-28; Wednesday (Sts. Joachim and Anne): Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15, Matthew 13:1-9; Thursday: Exodus 19:1-2, 9-11, 16-20b, Daniel 3:52-56, Matthew 13:10-17; Friday: Exodus 20:1-17, Matthew 13:18-23; Saturday (Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus): Exodus 24:3-8, John 11:19-27

(Left) The only known photograph of St. Maria Goretti, taken in 1902. (Right) Giuseppe Brovelli-Soffredini, “Maria Goretti,” 1929.

Our diocese

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

DSA pledges outpace goal at halfway mark

SPENCER K.M. BROWN skmbrown@charlottediocese.org

Train to be a sidewalk advocate and help women choose life

CHARLOTTE — Are you interested in a peaceful, prayerful method of reaching out to women and men entering the local abortion facility and helping them to choose life? If so, Sidewalk Advocates for Life might be for you. This new “sidewalk counseling” program uses a compassionate, woman-oriented method to save lives and help women in unplanned pregnancies by offering them life-affirming options. If you would like to learn this method and check out our program, please join this training. Register online at www. charlottediocese.org/sidewalk-advocates-forlife-counseling-training. The $20 fee will cover lunch and training materials. Learn more about Sidewalk Advocates for Life: www.sidewalkadvocates.org. Questions? Contact prolifesignup@gmail.com.

Living Waters announces autumn mountain retreat

MAGGIE VALLEY — Seek personal transformation by the effective instruments of divine encounter in “Sacramental Life,” an informative, prayerful retreat amid beautiful fall foliage at Living Waters Catholic Reflection Center in Maggie Valley, west of Asheville. The weekend retreat is led by Michael Coyle, who holds a theology degree from Franciscan University of Steubenville and has been enthusiastically teaching religious education for 40 years. Held Oct. 20-22, the retreat cost is $215 per individual or $285 per married couple, which includes two nights lodging and five meals, as well as the Saturday Vigil Mass. Register with a $25 paid deposit by Sept. 22 at www.catholicretreat.org.

N.C. Columbiettes unite to help mothers and children

CHARLOTTE — Each year, the North Carolina State Council Columbiettes sponsor the Mother’s Coin Jar program to collect spare change from its members across the state. This year, the total amount collected was $7,094.41. Catholic Charities of the Dioceses of Raleigh and Charlotte each received $3,547.21 to help mothers and children in need.

The Columbiettes held their 24th annual state convention May 5-6 at the Embassy Suites in Greensboro. Columbiettes and Knights of Columbus from North Carolina gathered together to conduct a business meeting and engage in fun and fellowship. Newly elected state officers are President Teresa Laraia from Father James E. Waters (Wilmington), past state President Maggie Herbstritt from Bishop Greco (Clemmons), Vice President Kathy Thomas from Bishop Greco (Clemmons), Secretary Patti Dmuchowski from Holy Cross (Kernersville), Financial Secretary Mary Couvillon from Our Lady of the Rosary (Shalotte), Treasurer Maggie Muelker from Holy Cross (Kernersville), Advocate Marg Young from Sons of Mother Seton (Fayetteville), and Sentinel Elaine DuPree from St. Raphael the Archangel (Raleigh).

— Catholic News Herald

CHARLOTTE — Contributions to the Diocese of Charlotte’s annual charitable effort, the Diocesan Support Appeal, have reached 81 percent of the $6.5 million goal halfway through the yearlong campaign.

Today’s rising costs for food, fuel and other essentials create a greater demand for assistance. Recognizing the need, donors are stepping up to contribute to the DSA –so far giving $5.2 million with six months remaining to reach, or surpass, the goal.

The theme of the 2023 Diocesan Support Appeal, “To Serve is to Love,” implores Catholics to help thousands of people in need across the Charlotte diocese. Inspired by Philippians 2:5-9, people are called to follow Christ’s example of humbly regarding others as more important than themselves and to serve one another with love and compassion.

Bishop Jugis reminds the faithful, “The annual Diocesan Support Appeal is motivated by Jesus’ command to love one another as He loves us. ‘To Serve is to Love’ calls us to help others through

charity, kindness, and humility. It calls us to be inspired by the teachings of our Catholic faith.”

The DSA campaign funds more than 50 ministries and programs that serve thousands of people across western North Carolina.

The DSA is a significant funding source for Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte for its counseling, food pantries, pregnancy support, refugee resettlement, elder ministry and other programs. Catholic Charities receives 30 percent of the total DSA funds raised in the campaign.

Another 30 percent of funding supports the programs and ministries of the Education Vicariate, such as faith formation, youth and young adult ministries, and Totus Tuus summer camps.

The DSA also supports the Education Vicariate’s Campus Ministry program, which continues to grow and evangelize

college students at campuses across the diocese. In a sign of that growth, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish recently expanded its campus center to serve more students at nearby University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

The DSA also provides funding for the diocese’s Family Life office and the annual Eucharistic Congress (7 percent); Hispanic Ministry and African American Affairs Ministry (13 percent); and the diocese’s Vocations programs (12 percent), which include seminarian education and the permanent deacons program.

Campaign administrative costs are projected to be 7 percent.

Parishioners in all 92 parishes and missions help fund the DSA. Through their contributions, they are able to join together to raise the funds to serve more people in need – having a combined impact that no one person or parish can achieve individually.

Give online to the DSA

At www.charlottediocese.org/dsa : Make a donation securely online to support this year’s DSA. Pledges must be paid by Dec. 31.

Diocese donates historic African American landmark for preservation

LEXINGTON — The Diocese of Charlotte is planning to donate 10 acres and the historic African American Dunbar School in Lexington to nonprofit Preservation North Carolina, to help ensure the landmark is thoughtfully renovated and preserved for generations.

The diocese acquired the site for $100,000 in 2009 with hopes of working with developers to convert the school into affordable housing for seniors. Developers, however, have been unable to secure federal tax credits necessary to make the project feasible.

Preservation North Carolina, which promotes and protects historic buildings and landscapes, will assume ownership of the site, with plans of tapping into its broad network of development partners and additional funding sources including federal preservation resources. The property transfer is expected to be completed in July.

“We’re grateful for the diocese’s generosity and continued commitment to preservation, and we’re thrilled to have a new opportunity for the renovation of the Dunbar School for the benefit of the community,” said Cathleen Turner, Preservation North Carolina’s Piedmont regional director. “We’re already talking with parties who have the interest and know-how to renovate historic buildings. We’ll be working as quickly as possible to create an achievable development plan that is sensitive and appropriate.”

Built in 1951, the Dunbar School is named for renowned African American poet and writer Paul Laurence Dunbar, and served Black students before North Carolina schools were integrated. Its solid structure reflects an “interesting moment in the struggle to integrate schools,” said Preservation North Carolina President Myrick Howard.

“The Dunbar School was built when North Carolina was investing more

heavily in African American schools with the hope of making them ‘equal,’” Howard said, “but Civil Rights cases were already raising questions about the future of the Jim Crow ‘separate but equal’ policy –which was ultimately struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954.”

Designed by the nationally renowned Lockwood Greene engineering company, Dunbar School underwent additions in 1957 and 1962, and finally in 1973 when an octagonal-shaped media center and cafeteria were added, creating a spacious, nearly enclosed outdoor courtyard. The school contains approximately 30 classrooms, a library, auditorium with capacity for more than 500 people, large cafeteria and gymnasium.

The site includes two tennis courts, a playground and a softball field, which have been operated as a park by the city of Lexington for the past decade – an arrangement that will continue.

“The historic Dunbar School property is such a unique asset with an incredible

amount of potential for the community. We look forward to seeing all the good Preservation North Carolina can achieve,” said Anthony Morlando, the diocese’s director of diocesan Properties and Real Estate. “We believe they have access to a broader array of resources that will be critical to development of the site, and we’re glad to play a small part of preserving the history and heritage of Dunbar School.”

Paul Laurence Dunbar was born in 1872, to two formerly enslaved people from Kentucky. He became one of the first influential Black poets in American literature and was internationally acclaimed for his dialect verse, and also penned numerous other poems, novels, essays and short stories. “Sympathy” was among his most famous poems, which included the enduring line: “I know why the caged bird sings,” an evocative image embraced as the title for another famous poet’s autobiography, Maya Angelou.

— Catholic News Herald

An excerpt from ‘Sympathy’

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore, –When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,

But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings –

I know why the caged bird sings!

— Paul Lawrence Dunbar,

1899

PHOTO COURTESY OF DUNBAR PRESERVATION SOCIETY

Preservation North Carolina will assume ownership of the former Dunbar School in Lexington.

Enjoy Catholic family fun at Carowinds

CHARLOTTE — All Diocese of Charlotte families are invited for a day of worship, fellowship and fun on Catholic Family Day at Carowinds on Sunday, July 23.

Start the day with Mass offered by Monsignor Patrick Winslow, vicar general and chancellor of the Charlotte diocese, in the Carowinds Theater at 9 a.m. before the park opens to the public. Afterward, there is an opportunity to meet the St. Joseph College seminarians before enjoying the rides and all that the park has to offer.

Take a break and refuel at an all-you-can-eat picnic lunch in the Grove Picnic Pavilion from noon to 1 p.m. and enjoy fellowship with other Catholic families from across the Diocese of Charlotte.

“Catholic Family Day at Carowinds is a fun-filled event for families throughout the Diocese of Charlotte – a day like the Eucharist Congress when we all come together to celebrate our familial unity won for us by Christ,” said Paul Kotlowski, director of youth ministry for the diocese.

Admission is discounted and includes free parking and the allyou-can-eat lunch. Tickets are $57 or $17 for season pass holders. To take advantage of this discount, click on the “Purchase Tickets” link found at www.charlottediocese.org/ev/youth/ events/catholic-family-day-2023

Please note that tickets are for purchase by Diocese of Charlotte parishioners only and not for public sale; resale, distribution or bartering of tickets purchased through this website is strictly prohibited.

Carowinds is located at 14523 Carowinds Blvd., Charlotte, N.C. 28273.

— Catholic News Herald

St. Matthew Church celebrates 21 years of driving out hunger

CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Parish will launch its 21st Monsignor McSweeney World Hunger Drive fundraising campaign July 15. The campaign will culminate with a meal-packing event from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, in the parish gym.

Many families in Haiti are living a nightmare due to food shortages, poor living conditions and lawlessness. The hunger drive campaign effort works to build a bridge of hope by supplying resources through support of the Missionaries of the Poor in Cap Haitian, and Hands for Haiti, which operates St. Marc School in Tremesse.

This year’s campaign goal is to raise

$340,000, which will help provide a minimum of 300,000 pounds of food and critical supplies to families in need. Donations will also fund sustainability projects and subsidize the education of children at St. Marc School.

Beyond the support for the people of Haiti, and true to the mission of the World Hunger Drive, the current efforts allow continued support of feeding children at a parish in Venezuela and feeding boys at a hostel in India.

The drive also continues to provide food and funds, through food banks, to assist people experiencing homelessness in North Carolina.

Since 2002, St. Matthew Parish has provided over 4,150,800 pounds of food and medical supplies to those in need. The meal-packing effort alone has provided about 3,300,000 packaged meals, shared primarily in Haiti and in the Charlotte area. Additionally, participants have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars for sustainability projects and education.

— Catholic News Herald

How you can help

At www.rebrand.ly/WorldHungerDrive Make a one-time donation in support of the Monsignor McSweeney World Hunger Drive.

St. Matthew ‘native son’ ordained a Jesuit priest

CHARLOTTE — Justin Grosnick, who hails from St. Matthew Parish, recently was ordained a priest for the Society of Jesus (otherwise known as the Jesuits).

Father John Allen, pastor of St. Matthew Parish, proudly announced the local vocation and asked parishioners to pray for the newly ordained Father Grosnick as well as to pray for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Father Grosnick and two others were ordained June 10 at the Fordham University Chapel in Bronx, N.Y., by Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, Conn.

Father Grosnick’s family includes his parents, Spencer and Judy, sister Elaine, nephew Dominic, and niece Samantha – who are all longtime members at the south Charlotte parish.

Father Grosnick was born in Hershey, Pa., and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied physics and astronomy, as well as international relations and history. After reading the Gospels during his senior year of college, he spent the subsequent year considering the priesthood while teaching at a Holy Trinity Middle school in Charlotte. For the next four years, he studied theology at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and worked in a number of apostolates, the most formative of which were St. Rita’s Senior Center and the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania.

He left the seminary before ordination and went on to pursue his earlier love of international relations, first studying at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies and then embarking on a short career at the U.S. State Department. Yet he felt called back to vowed religious life, so he returned to the spirituality to which he was first introduced while in seminary and embarked upon a version of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises in daily life – a core tenet of the Jesuits’ founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola. This ultimately led to his decision to enter the Society of Jesus.

As a novice, Father Grosnick worked at Calvary Hospital in the

Bronx and the L’Arche community in Syracuse, both of which informed his understanding of mission and ultimately consoled him in taking vows. He spent six months at Georgetown University, helping in the classroom and campus ministry. At Georgetown, he also discovered his love for interreligious dialogue, Hinduism in particular. Subsequently, he studied theology at Loyola Chicago, while also supporting the Hindu students there and helping at Arrupe College.

For part of his discernment, Father Grosnick lived in Tomsk, Russia, where he worked in support of the parish, taught high school, and helped with a L’Arche-inspired interreligious group for people with disabilities. He currently studies comparative religion and theology at the Graduate Theological Union.

Father Allen said the new priest will attend the University of California-Berkeley this fall to complete his studies toward a Ph.D., and will also continue to work in campus ministry at the University of San Francisco.

— Catholic News Herald More

At www.jesuitseast.org/press-release/meet-the-jesuits-preparing-forordination : Read more about Justin Grosnick’s path to the priesthood and his ordination.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY JAMES SARKIS

In celebration of the Diocese of Charlotte’s 50th anniversary, Bishop Peter Jugis, priests and seminarians took part in the fun at Catholic Family Day at Carowinds in 2022. This year’s event will be held Sunday, July 23.

From left: Jesuit Father Antonio Virgílio Oliveira e Costa; Bridgeport Bishop Frank J. Caggiano; the three newly ordained priests Jesuit Fathers Alcidio Tembe, Josué Salguero and Justin Grosnick; and Jesuit Father Joseph O’Keefe, provincial of the Jesuits’ USA East Province.

(Below) Newly ordained Father Grosnick gives his first priestly blessings.

PHOTOS PROVIDED

Grosnick

Padre Ramiro Tijerino

La mirada de Jesús

Vamos a reflexionar hoy sobre la mirada de Jesús. ¿Cómo nos mira Jesús? ¿Cómo miraba a su pueblo? ¿Cómo nos mira a nosotros que somos su pueblo, el nuevo pueblo de Dios, la Iglesia?

El texto del evangelio de Mt 9:36-10:8 nos lo dice claro. El texto en cuestión inicia así: “En aquel tiempo, al ver Jesús a las gentes”. Dice “al ver” a las multitudes que lo seguían se “compadeció”. La mirada de Jesús es una mirada de compasión.

¡Que linda esa mirada!, la mirada compasiva de Nuestro Señor. Esta misma mirada es la mirada de Dios a su pueblo Israel que se encontraba esclavo en Egipto y así se lo expresó a Moisés en el monte: “He visto la humillación de mi pueblo en Egipto... y por esta razón estoy bajando”, (Ex 3:7ss). Esto es la compasión. Se compadece de su pueblo y lo libera, lo rescata. Pero para ello, dice que bajó; Dios mismo bajó y vio a su pueblo.

Pero, ¿qué es la compasión? Bueno, la compasión no es sentir lástima. La lástima solo es un sentimiento de pesar por algo o alguien, que podría llevarnos a expresar alguna palabra solidaria: “me da pesar fulano”.

Esto no es la compasión. Jesús no siente un simple pesar por la multitud, sino compasión. Y la compasión es activa, en cambio la lástima es pasiva.

La gente, la multitud estaba cansada, y Él sintió compasión. Esa es su mirada, la mirada compasiva, la mirada que lleva a la acción, la mirada que me compromete a hacer algo por el otro.

Sería bueno en este punto preguntarnos: ¿Cómo nos ve el mundo? ¿Cómo ven, por ejemplo, los políticos a la multitud?

Cuando, por ejemplo, entramos a un Wallmart a comprar algo, vamos con un objetivo: comprar. Y compramos un producto porque nos es útil, nos sirve para algo. Y así es como muchos vemos a los demás, con ojos de utilidad. Veo al otro con el objetivo de esperar algo, sacarle provecho, utilizarlo. Lo veo como un objeto.

Jesús, en cambio, nos ve como personas, y nos ve con compasión. ¿Pero, como podemos hacer para sentir esa misma compasión? Lo primero es ponernos en los zapatos del otro, esto es lo que se llama “empatía”.

Puedo asegurarles que cuando nos ponemos en el lugar de otro, dejamos de criticarlo y surge la compasión. Lo segundo sería, orar. Orar pidiendo la gracia de ser compasivos.

En el texto anterior, Jesús vio a la multitud cansada, como ovejas sin pastor, por eso pidió a sus discípulos que rogaran para que el Padre enviara pastores. Y así, estos pastores, los sacerdotes especialmente, estamos llamados a compadecernos de los demás. Esta es nuestra gran misión, al igual que ustedes tienen que ser compasivos con los demás, con todos.

Pidamos pues a Nuestro Señor nos ayude a tener su mirada, la mirada compasiva. Amén.

EL PADRE RAMIRO TIJERINO es un sacerdote nicaragüense perseguido y asilado en Estados Unidos, reside en Charlotte.

Padre Blas Lemos: Sacerdote, maestro y músico

CÉSAR HURTADO rchurtado@charlottediocese.org

CHARLOTTE — Alegre, con una amplia sonrisa que lo hace parecer menor de los 47 años con los que cuenta, el Padre Blas Samir Lemos Lemos es el nuevo vicario de la parroquia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en Charlotte, la de mayor feligresía de origen hispano en la Diócesis de Charlotte.

Nacido el 26 de octubre de 1975 en Itaibe, Departamento del Cauca en Colombia, es el mayor y único varón de cuatro hermanos nacidos en una familia muy católica, que desde sus primeros años sembró las semillas de la fe en su alma.

Era tanta la cercanía, comenta, que los sacerdotes de la parroquia Sagrado Corazón de Jesús almorzaban inicialmente en casa de la abuela materna y luego en su casa. Así comenzó la familiaridad con los sacerdotes Vicentinos, los padres misioneros que estaban a cargo de la parroquia.

De niño, recuerda, solía representar el papel de apóstol durante la Semana Santa.

“En el pueblo pequeño lo más importante era la Eucaristía y el sacerdote tenía un papel muy valioso y notable en la comunidad”, nos dice.

Cuando ingresó al colegio debió salir del pueblo, alejarse un poco de la casa. Mientras estudiaba, le llamó la atención la música y junto con unos amigos formaron un grupo de folklore andino, donde tocaba el tambor y cantaba. Como reza el dicho popular, “de la raza le viene al galgo”. La música ya corría por sus venas. Su padre era músico y ejecutaba música colombiana, boleros y bambucos. “Pero no era bohemio, más bien abstemio. Nunca lo vi tomado, siempre en sus cabales”, aclara.

El arte musical, confiesa, le trajo cierta distracción y, atraído por este, tocaba y cantaba donde se le presentaba la ocasión. “Una vez nos fuimos por ahí, sin permiso del colegio, y casi nos echan”, nos relató sonriendo.

Al concluir el bachillerato, mientras participaba en el grupo ‘Juventudes Marianas Vicentinas’, visitaba pueblos pequeños o caseríos en una especie de misión. “Eso me llamó la atención, algo muy similar a la vida misionera de los padres Vicentinos, a quienes veía en su trabajo pastoral”, cuenta.

Pero también le interesaba el trabajo de los maestros de escuela, y hasta en algún momento se sintió atraído por la vida militar.

Finalmente decidió que quería ir al seminario y habló con un sacerdote Vicentino, al que le manifestó su interés por la Comunidad. Existió también la posibilidad de integrarse al clero diocesano pero, ante la vida de misión de los Vicentinos se inclinó por ellos.

Luego llegaría una tarea más complicada: comunicar la decisión a sus padres. Sin embargo, dice, hablar con ellos no fue difícil. “Al principio no lo tomaron con tanta ilusión, pero me dejaron muy libremente elegir”, comenta.

Así, ingresó al Seminario La Milagrosa de los padres Vicentinos en Medellín.

A poco de ingresar, en el segundo semestre, tuvo un momento en que dudó de su vocación. “No quería ni

siquiera estar en mi habitación”, dijo. Pero, poco a poco, “entrando como en el ritmo, el ambiente”, y con la ayuda de los compañeros y mucha oración, se fortaleció su decisión.

Es en el seminario cuando comenzó a aprender formalmente música, guitarra y otros instrumentos.

Los años pasaron pronto y, tras su traslado al Seminario Vicentino Villa Paúl en Funza, Cundinamarca, muy cerca a Bogotá, logró su ordenación como diácono.

Finalmente, el 22 de mayo de 2004, “al cumplirse los cien años de la presencia Vicentina en mi región, y como parte de esa celebración, tuve el honor de ser ordenado en mi pueblo por el Obispo Edgar Hernando Tirado Mazo, en ese entonces recién ordenado Obispo en Medellín”, cuenta.

Siempre sonriente, así podemos ver diariamente al Padre Blas Lemos, nuevo vicario parroquial de la Iglesia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. Nacido en Colombia, pertenece a la orden de los Vicentinos. Se encuentra en misión en Estados Unidos desde 2022.

Al Padre Blas le gusta la experiencia misma del sacerdocio, al que considera una bendición. Pero también, quizá por esa vocación de maestro, disfruta en el servicio de formación de sacerdotes, de formación de la fe en la feligresía, al igual que el acompañamiento a la gente, el sacramento de la reconciliación, “donde uno se da cuenta de los problemas de la humanidad que la gente sobrelleva cada día”.

Después de servir en Colombia hasta 2022 en la formación de sacerdotes, fue enviado en misión a Nueva York, y posteriormente asignado a nuestra parroquia en Charlotte, donde ha recibido el calor de nuestra gente, y podido ser testigo del respeto y aprecio por los sacerdotes.

Respecto a sus feligreses, dice que son “muy queridos, gente valiosa, de una fe inestimable, de un gran deseo de servir. Gente muy sencilla con un corazón muy grande. Todo eso me anima para dar lo mejor por el bien de la Iglesia y de las personas que asisten a esta parroquia”.

Notamos en el Padre Blas un deseo infinito de escuchar al pueblo de Dios. “Estamos viviendo en un mundo muy plural, por lo que hay que escuchar, escuchar, escuchar, escuchar y escuchar. Y escuchando, se podrán tener mejores herramientas para establecer un lineamiento en la pastoral que no nos distancie unos a otros”, dijo.

Por el momento, aparte de sus labores sacerdotales, trabaja intensamente en el aprendizaje del idioma inglés como vehículo para entrar en contacto con las personas, la cultura. “Y le pido a mi Dios que me de la gracia de pasar por aquí haciendo todo el bien posible”, finalizó.

CÉSAR HURTADO | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Vicario Episcopal del Ministerio Hispano dirigió mensaje sobre asignaciones

sacerdotales

CÉSAR HURTADO rchurtado@charlottediocese.org

CHARLOTTE — A través de un mensaje en español grabado en video, el Padre Julio Domínguez, vicario del ministerio hispano de la Diócesis de Charlotte, explicó el proceso de asignación de sacerdotes y la importancia del mismo para los parroquianos, sacerdotes y la comunidad diocesana en pleno.

El video fue emitido por las redes sociales en español del Catholic News Herald.

“Entiendo que para algunos de ustedes les está causando un poco de ansiedad, un poco de problemas e incluso ha generado algunas malas interpretaciones”, dijo el P. Domínguez, “pero esto es normal, sucede cada año en nuestra diócesis y en todas las diócesis del mundo. Es una tradición de la Iglesia el hecho de que los sacerdotes sean invitados a movilizarse de una comunidad hacia otra”, añadió.

El Padre Domínguez explicó que el obispo mueve a su cuerpo de sacerdotes para que le ayuden en el servicio a la diócesis, a toda la comunidad cristiana.

Señaló que existe un comité de personal, al que él mismo pertenece, que está encargado de estudiar y proponer las asignaciones sacerdotales de acuerdo a las necesidades, tales como continuación de estudios, jubilaciones del clero, partida a misiones, etc.

“El obispo reúne al comité, expone la situación de la diócesis y una vez que nosotros identificamos quién sale, quién se va a la universidad y otros puntos, empezamos a conversar sobre cómo podemos hacer esos cambios de tal manera que otros sacerdotes puedan a suplir las necesidades de las comunidades parroquiales”.

Posteriormente, dijo, entregan sus sugerencias al obispo y conversan con los sacerdotes para, sin forzar situaciones, realizar los cambios por el bien de la Iglesia y sus fieles.

Comentó que en su propio caso, cuando era párroco en la Iglesia San Francisco de Asís en Lenoir, el Obispo Jugis lo llamó a servir como vicario episcopal del ministerio hispano.

“Yo estaba muy contento como párroco y no quería moverme. Pensé que mi obispo me necesitaba, que mi obispo me estaba invitando. Tengo que considerarlo, me dije. Y en la obediencia que le debo a mi obispo, la que prometí el día de mi ordenación, le dije que sí, que claro que quería”.

Aclaró que, viendo por el bien de la Iglesia, y de haberlo creído conveniente, hubiera podido exponer sus razones por las que no consideraba positivo el cambio y dialogar con el obispo.

CAMBIOS POSITIVOS

El Padre Julio pidió a los feligreses que no se aferren al sacerdote que ya conocen y con quien vienen colaborando, porque luego, cuando llegan los tiempos de cambios, muchas veces se escucha la pregunta ‘¿por qué lo retiraron si era muy bueno?’.

“Como tú recibiste la sabiduría de ese sacerdote en especial, también otras comunidades podrán recibirla ahora. El nuevo sacerdote trae nuevas expectativas, nuevos programas, nuevas riquezas. Cada sacerdote tiene algo que brindar a su parroquia. Entonces, es muy bonito el cambio porque así se van enriqueciendo las comunidades con la vasta doctrina de la Iglesia”, anotó.

Respecto a los sacerdotes, dijo que el cambio también es positivo para ellos porque van creciendo en su sabiduría, en su experiencia pastoral. “Es un beneficio para todos, tanto para los fieles como para los sacerdotes”.

Finalmente pidió que ,“cuando llegue un sacerdote nuevo a tu parroquia, en vez de estar pensando en el que se fue, ponte a disposición del nuevo que viene, pregúntale sobre sus planes, acoge los cambios que traiga, porque se va a renovar la Iglesia, se va a renovar la parroquia de un modo diferente”.

Rogó que, “no empecemos a pasar rumores negativos, que eso no nos lleva absolutamente a nada más que a destruir lo que es el cuerpo místico de Cristo”, sino que comprometidos con nuestro Señor en la Sagrada Eucaristía, veamos a un ‘Alter Christus’, a alguien que viene a servirnos como Cristo mismo.

“Les pido de favor, ya que en estos días vienen los cambios (11 de julio), que nos preparemos para ayudar a nuestros sacerdotes a que nuestras parroquias sean lugares vibrantes donde se vive la vida cristiana”.

Más online

En www.facebook.com/CNHEspañol : Vea el video con el mensaje del Padre Julio Domínguez sobre las asignaciones sacerdotales.

verdadero progreso sucede cuando podemos

el conocimiento, el raciocinio y la fe”

Dijo el Padre Hugo Medellín en Misa de Graduación

CÉSAR HURTADO rchurtado@charlottediocese.org

CHARLOTTE — Decenas de niños y jóvenes, acompañados de sus familiares y amigos, asistieron a la Misa de Graduación que celebró la Parroquia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de esta ciudad. En la liturgia especial, se agradeció a Dios por el logro de un hito importante en la vida de los graduados, ya sea que hayan alcanzado a concluir el kindergarden, el quinto grado de escuela elemental, el décimo segundo grado de escuela secundaria, estudios universitarios, de maestría o incluso escuelas militares.

El celebrante, Padre Hugo Medellín, vicario parroquial, resaltó en su homilía la importancia de la educación y el papel que juega en la vida de los estudiantes. Refiriéndose a Jesús, a quien llamó “maestro por excelencia”, dijo que nuestra sociedad “funciona” gracias a la existencia de maestros que nos van enseñando y ayudando con el conocimiento.

La educación en Estados Unidos, señaló, tiende a ser muy técnica. “Se enseña cómo hacer las cosas, como por ejemplo a ser mecánico, biólogo, médico o arquitecto”, dando prioridad a la razón, pero, “¿qué hay de la fe?”, se preguntó, “y es por eso que hoy estamos aquí, viviéndola, dando respuesta a esta interrogante”.

“La fe crece con nuestra tradición católica, también con las artes del conocer y el saber”, dijo. “En las escuelas podemos preguntar y obtener respuestas sobre el funcionamiento del cuerpo humano. Pero cuando nos preguntamos ¿qué es la vida?, ¿cuál es su sentido?, necesitamos de otra sabiduría, necesitamos de la razón, pero guiada por la fe”.

Dirigiéndose a los graduados, los exhortó a que comiencen a hacerse otras preguntas “más difíciles”, que no se resuelven solamente con manuales y libros. Las preguntas sobre cuestiones filosóficas y teológicas son también muy importantes, resaltó.

“Y el verdadero progreso, la verdadera contribución para la sociedad sucede cuando podemos conjugar el conocimiento, el raciocinio y la fe”, puntualizó.

El Padre Medellín felicitó entonces el esfuerzo y constancia de los estudiantes, que se representan, dijo, “con la toga y el birrete que llevan puestos con merecimiento y orgullo”.

Luego invitó a los estudiantes a presentarse frente al altar, donde los bendijo con estas palabras: “Que el Señor los acompañe siempre, que siga iluminando

su corazón y su mente, que siga infundiendo en ustedes el deseo de saber cómo funciona este mundo, nuestra vida... Que les inspire a seguir buscando las verdades eternas, que ilumine su camino por la fe y les fortalezca en su andar”.

Tomando la calderilla con agua bendita, y sumergiendo el acetre para esparcirla sobre las cabezas de los niños y jóvenes, el Padre Medellín dijo sonriendo que “esta es la parte divertida”, y procedió a rociar agua bendita sobre ellos.

Tras un sonoro aplauso, y antes que la celebración de la Misa continuara, se tomaron algunas fotografías del gran grupo de graduados. Al término de la Misa, un número importante de ellos permaneció dentro del templo para la toma de fotos frente a la imagen de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe junto a sus padres y amigos.

Prepárese para la diversión familiar católica en Carowinds

CHARLOTTE — Todas las familias de la Diócesis de Charlotte están invitadas a un día de adoración, compañerismo y diversión en el Día de la Familia Católica en Carowinds el próximo domingo 23 de julio. Comience el día de la mejor manera con una Misa ofrecida por Monseñor Patrick Winslow, vicario general y canciller de la Diócesis de Charlotte, en el Teatro Carowinds a las 9 de la mañana, antes que el parque abra sus puertas al público en general.

Después tendrá la oportunidad de conocer a los seminaristas del Seminario Universitario San José antes de disfrutar de los paseos y todo lo que el parque tiene para ofrecer.

Tómese un descanso y recargue energías en un almuerzo ‘all you can eat’ en el Pabellón Grove Picnic, desde el mediodía hasta la una de la tarde, y disfrute de la comunión con otras familias católicas de toda la Diócesis de Charlotte.

“El Día de la Familia Católica en Carowinds no es solo un día lleno de diversión para las familias católicas del oeste de Carolina del Norte, sino también para la familia católica de la Diócesis de Charlotte, un día como el Congreso Eucarístico, cuando todos nos reunimos para celebrar nuestra unidad familiar ganada para nosotros por Cristo”, dijo Paul Kotlowski, director del ministerio juvenil de la diócesis.

La entrada tiene un descuento especial e incluye estacionamiento gratuito y el almuerzo libre. Los boletos tienen un valor de $57 o $17 para los titulares del pase de temporada.

Para aprovechar este descuento, haga clic en el enlace “Comprar boletos” que se encuentra en www. charlottediocese.org/ev/youth/events/catholicfamily-day-2023.

Los boletos son únicamente para la compra de los feligreses de la Diócesis de Charlotte y no para la venta al público en general. La reventa, distribución o trueque de entradas compradas a través de este sitio web está estrictamente prohibida. Carowinds está ubicado en 14523 Carowinds Blvd., Charlotte, N.C. 28273.

“El

conjugar

FOTO CORTESÍA PARROQUIA NUESTRA SENORA DE GUADALUPE Decenas de jóvenes graduados de diversos niveles educativos recibieron una bendición especial durante la Misa de Graduación que celebró la parroquia Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe en Charlotte.

Domínguez

En la imagen de archivo, aparece el Obispo Peter Jugis acompañado del Padre Julio Domínguez.

Lecturas Diarias

JULIO 9-15

Domingo: Zacarías 9:9-10, Romanos 8:9, 11-13, Mateo

11:25-30; Lunes: Génesis

28:10-22, Mateo 9:18-26;

Martes (San Benito Abad):

Génesis 32:22-32, Mateo

9:32-38; Miércoles: Génesis

41:55-57, 42:5-7, 17-24, Mateo

10:1-7; Jueves (San Enrique):

Génesis 44:18-21, 23-29, 45:1-5, Mateo 10:7-15; Viernes (Santa Kateri Tekakwitha):

Génesis 46:1-7, 28-30, Mateo

10:16-23; Sábado (San Buenaventura Obispo):

Génesis 49:29-32, 50:15-26, Mateo 10:24-33

JULIO 16-22

Domingo: Isaías 55:10-11, Romanos 8:18-23, Mateo 13:123; Lunes: Éxodo 1:8-14, 22, Mateo 10:34-11:1; Martes (San Camilo de Lelis): Éxodo 2:1-15, Mateo 11:20-24; Miércoles: Éxodo 3:1-6, 9-12, Mateo 11:2527; Jueves (San Apolinar):

Éxodo 3:13-20, Mateo 11:28-30;

Viernes (San Lorenzo de Brindisi): Éxodo 11:10–12, 14, Mateo 12:1-8; Sábado (Santa María Magdalena): Cantar 3:14, Juan 20:1-2, 11-18

JULIO 23-29

Domingo: Sabiduría 12:13, 16-19, Romanos 8:26-27, Mateo 13:24-43; Lunes (San Chárbel

Makhluf): Éxodo 14:5-18, Mateo

12:38-42; Martes (Santiago

Apóstol): 2 Corintios 4:7-15, Mateo 20:20-28; Miércoles (San Joaquín y Santa Ana):

Éxodo 16:1-5, 9-15, Mateo 13:1-9;

Jueves: Éxodo 19:1-2, 9-11, 16-20, Mateo 13:10-17; Viernes:

Éxodo 20:1-17, Mateo 13:18-23; Sábado (Santas Marta y María, San Lázaro): Éxodo

24:3-8, Juan 11:19-27

Santa Kateri Tekakwitha

Cada 14 de julio se celebra en Estados Unidos la fiesta de Santa Kateri Tekakwitha, la primera santa nativa norteamericana. Ella es considerada, junto a San Francisco de Asís, patrona de la naturaleza y de la ecología.

Kateri nació en 1656 en Ossernenon, hoy Auriesville, Nueva York, una villa habitada en ese entonces por la tribu Mohawk. Su madre fue una mujer cristiana, integrante de la tribu algonquina, mientras que su padre fue jefe tribal de los Mohawk.

Con tan sólo cuatro años, Kateri perdió a sus padres y hermano a causa de una epidemia de viruela. Ella también contrajo la enfermedad, pero logró sobrevivir, aunque quedó con el rostro desfigurado y la vista seriamente dañada. Serían sus tíos quienes la acogerían en su casa y se harían cargo de ella.

A los 11 años, Kateri tuvo la oportunidad de conocer la fe cristiana gracias a los jesuitas franceses que evangelizaron el territorio Mohawk. Sin embargo, es bien conocida la resistencia que había entre muchos pueblos nativos de Norteamérica para acoger el mensaje cristiano. Ese no fue el caso de Kateri, pero sí de su familia y tribu.

La joven pidió ser bautizada a los 20 años, haciendo frente a la oposición de sus familiares y al rechazo de su comunidad. Convertida en blanco de numerosos maltratos, Kateri decidió dejar su pueblo y emprender camino hacia Sault Sainte Marie, un pueblo cristiano cerca de Montreal, hoy Michigan, habitado por nativos conversos de Canadá. El trayecto recorrido para salvarse de la persecución fue de unas 200 millas a través de montañas, ríos y la inclemencia del tiempo.

PORTADORA DEL EVANGELIO

En Sault Sainte Marie, el día de Navidad, Santa Kateri hizo su Primera Comunión y prometió solemnemente a Dios permanecer virgen por el resto de sus días. Así, consagrada a Dios, se dedicó a la vida de oración y virtud.

Se convirtió en evangelizadora y ferviente defensora de sus hermanos indígenas. Acompañada por la guía espiritual de los miembros de la Compañía de Jesús, Kateri acrecentó día a día su amor por Cristo, especialmente presente en la Eucaristía.

Partió a la Casa del Padre el 17 de abril de 1680, durante la Semana Santa de aquel año. Tenía tan sólo 24 años. Sus últimas palabras fueron: “¡Jesús, te amo!”. Su muerte fue ocasión de numerosas conversiones entre los suyos, al punto de que se hizo de su tumba en Caughnawaga -lugar donde murió- destino para los peregrinos. En 1884, el Padre Clarence Walworth mandó erigir un monumento al lado de su sepultura.

La dulce Kateri dejó una huella imborrable en la memoria de las tribus que formaban la nación iroquesa (una confederación de seis tribus nativas) y hoy es motivo de orgullo para todo el pueblo católico norteamericano.

Ella es uno de los más hermosos frutos que el Evangelio ha producido en Norteamérica, un “puente” que une razas y tradiciones.

Con justa razón se le conoce como “El Lirio de los Mohawks”. Santa Kateri fue beatificada por San Juan Pablo II en 1980, y canonizada por el Papa Benedicto XVI en octubre de 2012. — Condensado de ACI Prensa

‘Where are you going?’

Young men explore vocations at Quo Vadis Days

SPENCER K.M. BROWN skmbrown@charlottediocese.org

BELMONT — Young men thought about the question “Where are you going?” during a week-long discernment camp at Belmont Abbey College.

The annual five-day Quo Vadis Days camp was held June 12-16. Local priests, seminarians and others gave talks about vocations to the priesthood, marriage and fatherhood.

“We were blessed to have a fantastic Quo Vadis Days camp this year,” said Father Brian Becker, promoter of vocations for the Diocese of Charlotte. “75 young men from across the diocese had a great experience of time with Our Lord at Holy Mass and in Eucharistic Adoration, of time with our priests in conferences and spiritual direction, and of time with each other in sharing meals and lots of sports together. So many campers spoke about the special experience they had and of how grateful they were for the chance to spend time with Our Lord in discerning their vocation.”

Priests across the diocese often credit the camp as being a major influence on their discernment, including newly ordained Father Christopher Brock.

“Being a priest was something I was attracted to ever since I was a boy,” Father Brock said. “However, it was in high school that I began to really take the possibility of a vocation seriously. The Quo Vadis Days retreat, which I attended for multiple summers, played a huge role in my discernment, and being an altar server played an important role as well.”

The central goal of the camp is to challenge young men to ask the fundamental question “Quo vadis?” (“Where are you going?”), while equipping them with the tools and opportunity to discern God’s will for their lives. The attendees also found time for fun with sports and team-building games.

The young men also visited St. Joseph College Seminary in Mount Holly. Seminarians

who currently attend St. Joseph College Seminary, the diocese’s new deacons and some of the recently ordained priests point to Quo Vadis Days as a key aspect in their discernment.

(Right) Father Matthew Buettner, who serves as the spiritual director at St. Joseph College Seminary in Mount Holly, leads campers in morning prayer.

(Below) Father Brian Becker, diocesan vocations promoter, and Father John Putnam, pastor of St. Mark Church in Huntersville, also speak to the group.

75 young men from across the Diocese of Charlotte took part in the annual Quo Vadis Days camp. Priests, seminarians and other religious from around the Diocese of Charlotte gave talks on vocations to the priesthood, marriage and fatherhood.

Seminarians of St. Joseph College Seminary lead a procession of Quo Vadis Days campers

An important part of the fellowship during Quo Vadis Days is having fun! With sports and games, including soccer, rugby, baseball and a giant bouncy slide, campers grew in brotherhood.

‘¿A dónde vas?’

Hombres jóvenes asistieron a Quo Vadis Days

BELMONT — Los jóvenes se detuvieron a pensar en la pregunta, ‘¿a dónde vas?’ durante un campamento de discernimiento de una semana en Belmont Abbey College. El campamento anual de cinco días ‘Quo Vadis Days’ se llevó a cabo del 12 al 16 de junio. Los jóvenes asistentes escucharon charlas ofrecidas por sacerdotes locales, seminaristas y otras personas sobre las vocaciones al sacerdocio, el matrimonio y la paternidad.

“Hemos sido bendecidos en tener un fantástico campamento Quo Vadis Days este año”, dijo el Padre Brian Becker, promotor de vocaciones de la Diócesis de Charlotte. “Setenta y cinco jóvenes de toda la diócesis tuvieron una gran experiencia de compartir su tiempo con Nuestro Señor en la Santa Misa y la Adoración Eucarística, con nuestros sacerdotes en conferencias y dirección espiritual, y de fraternizar compartiendo sus alimentos y deportes.

“Muchos participantes nos manifestaron su sentir sobre la experiencia especial que experimentaron y lo agradecidos que estaban por la oportunidad de estar juntos con Nuestro Señor en el discernimiento de su

vocación”.

Los sacerdotes de toda la diócesis acreditan el campamento como una gran influencia en su discernimiento, incluido el recién ordenado Padre Christopher Brock. “Ser sacerdote era algo que me atraía desde que era niño”, dijo el Padre Brock. “Sin embargo, fue en la escuela secundaria cuando comencé a tomar realmente en serio la posibilidad de una vocación. El retiro ‘Quo Vadis Days’, al que asistí durante varios veranos, jugó un papel muy importante en mi discernimiento, y ser monaguillo también”.

El objetivo central del retiro es retar a los jóvenes a hacerse la pregunta fundamental ‘¿Quo Vadis?’ (‘¿A dónde vas?’), mientras los equipa con las herramientas y la oportunidad de discernir la voluntad de Dios para sus vidas. Los jóvenes también encontraron tiempo para divertirse con deportes y juegos de formación de equipos.

Los asistentes también visitaron el Seminario Universitario San José en Mount Holly.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY BRYAN ILAGOR

and clergy, carrying the diocese’s 50th anniversary pilgrim statue of Mary, Mother of God across the historic campus of Belmont Abbey College.

Campers go ‘out into the deep’

Young women explore vocations

SPENCER K.M. BROWN & TROY HULL Catholic News Herald

BELMONT — Nearly 60 young women gathered at Belmont Abbey College June 26-30 for discussions, prayer and fellowship – all aimed at helping them explore what vocation God may be calling them to: consecrated religious life, marriage and motherhood, or the single life.

“Duc In Altum” is part summer camp, part retreat and comes from the Latin phrase for “put out into the deep” – the words Jesus said to Peter in Luke’s Gospel on the shores of Galilee, prompting him to go into deep water and lower his nets for a catch.

The Diocese of Charlotte vocations camp was organized by the Daughters of the Virgin Mother, a Gastonia-based apostolate that supports vocations in the diocese.

The “Once Upon A Time” theme gave speakers the opportunity to use the fairy tale as a tool for teaching about our Lord’s Providence and grace in each person’s life, along with various adventures and pitfalls in life, and the “happily ever after” that comes only through the pursuit of God and holiness.

“We delved into the distortion of the fairy tale that people fall into, such as expecting happily ever after from material, earthly goods and self determined plans that end up falling like a house of cards,” said Sister Mary Raphael, an organizer of the camp. “Ultimately, our desire was to leave these young women with a deep sense of God’s love for them and the knowledge that He has a beautiful plan for each of their lives.”

Campers attended talks and workshops as well as adoration and took part team-building games.

Monsignor Patrick Winslow, vicar general and chancellor of the diocese, offered the closing Mass for campers at Mary, Help of Christians Basilica.

Jóvenes mujeres exploraron vocaciones

BELMONT — Cerca de 60 jóvenes mujeres se reunieron en Belmont Abbey College del 26 al 30 de junio para participar de conversatorios, orar y confraternizar, todo encaminado a ayudarlas a explorar a qué vocación Dios puede estar llamándolas: la vida religiosa consagrada, el matrimonio y la maternidad, o la vida de soltera.

‘Duc In Altum’ es mitad campamento de verano, mitad retiro, y significa en latín “Ve a lo profundo”, las palabras que Jesús le dijo a Pedro en el Evangelio de Lucas en las orillas del mar de Galilea, invitándolo a adentrarse en aguas profundas y bajar sus redes para pescar.

El campamento vocacional de la Diócesis de Charlotte fue organizado por las Hijas de la Virgen Madre, un apostolado con sede en Gastonia que apoya las vocaciones en la diócesis.

El tema de este año ‘Había una vez’ dio a los oradores la oportunidad de usar el cuento de hadas como una herramienta para enseñar acerca de la Providencia y la gracia de nuestro

Señor en la vida de cada persona, a la vez con las aventuras y trampas en la vida, y el ‘felices para siempre’ que viene solo a través de la búsqueda de Dios y santidad “Profundizamos en la distorsión del cuento de hadas en el que cae la gente, como esperar el ‘felices para siempre’ de bienes materiales y terrenales y planes autodeterminados que terminan cayendo como un castillo de naipes”, dijo la hermana Mary Raphael, organizadora del campamento. “En última instancia, nuestro deseo era dejar a estas jóvenes con un profundo sentido del amor de Dios por ellas y el conocimiento de que Él tiene un hermoso plan para cada una de sus vidas”. Las campistas atendieron charlas y talleres, así como a la adoración, y participaron en juegos de formación de equipos. Monseñor Patrick Winslow, vicario general y canciller de la diócesis, ofreció la Misa de clausura para las participantes en la Basílica María Auxiliadora.

— Spencer K.M. Brown, fotos por Troy Hull

Arts & entertainment Podcasting Priests

Soak up the wisdom of our diocese’s priests – with one click

ANNIE FERGUSON arferguson@charlottediocese.org

CHARLOTTE — Priests across the Diocese of Charlotte are taking to podcasting, offering homilies, insights on spiritual classics, and practical applications of theology to everyday life. The latest offerings are by priests in Charlotte and Mount Holly, who are working with TAN Books.

Father Timothy Reid has just launched “The Commentaries: The Interior Castle,” an exploration of the spiritual classic by St. Teresa of Ávila.

And TAN Books’ series “From the Rooftop” with Monsignor Patrick Winslow and Father Matthew Kauth will soon celebrate a year on the air. The duo first conceived the idea as a radio show during their seminary days more than 25 years ago as they pondered how to apply what they were learning to the lives of those they would one day shepherd.

Interested? Take an inside look at both podcasts with the Catholic News Herald.

EXPLORE ‘THE INTERIOR CASTLE’

Recording from the rectory of St. Ann Church in Charlotte, Father Timothy Reid helps listeners read and understand St. Teresa of Ávila’s magnum opus in “The Commentaries: The Interior Castle.”

A Third Order Carmelite since 2007 and spiritual director for Charlotte’s Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Secular Carmelite group, Father Reid is well-versed on the spirituality of St. Teresa of Ávila, one of history’s most famous Carmelites. The Spanish nun and mystic reformed Carmelite life in the 16th century, but had previously struggled in the path to sanctity, making her relatable to modern readers.

“I have developed a devotion to all of the Carmelite saints,” Father Reid says. “As part of our formation as secular Carmelites, we study all of the great writings of our saints, including ‘The Interior Castle.’ It made quite an impression on me during my formation, and it’s a book that I’ve often gone back to study.”

Conor Gallagher, CEO of TAN Books, knew of Father Reid’s great love for St. Teresa of Ávila and pitched the idea of the commentary podcast leading listeners through “The Interior Castle.”

The 20-episode series is now available on streaming platforms and at www. tandirection.com/podcasts.

Father Reid says he aims to help people gain a greater understanding of one of the most important books on the spiritual life and a greater love for St. Teresa of Ávila.

“I hope listeners of this podcast will be motivated to really dig into their prayer lives and seek to grow in holiness,” he says. “And I really hope the listeners come to a greater confidence in God’s love for mankind, which becomes so evident as one

moves through this book.”

Creating the podcast has been spiritually beneficial for Father Reid, too.

“It has been a great reminder of how seriously I must take my own spiritual life,” he says. “The process of our sanctification isn’t easy. It’s hard to be a saint! But it is God’s will that we each grow in real intimacy with Him so that we can become saints.”

Father Reid, who is also the vicar of education for the Diocese of Charlotte’s Catholic Schools system, strongly recommended that Catholics put aside the myriad forms of media available today, noting that most of it is not edifying.

“I never tire of studying the lives and writings of the saints, for doing so always provides encouragement to persevere in a life of prayer and works of charity, and to persevere in seeking God’s will – no matter what the cost,” he says.

“Watching TikTok videos, scrolling endlessly through Twitter, or bingewatching Netflix won’t get us to heaven. But following the teachings and examples of the saints will.”

Three priests in the Diocese of Charlotte have free, not-for-profit podcasts distributed by TAN Books. In the new release, “The Commentaries: The Interior Castle,” Father Timothy Reid leads listeners through the spiritual classic by St. Teresa of Ávila. Monsignor Patrick Winslow and Father Matthew Kauth apply their theological knowledge to everyday life in “From the Rooftop.” Additional offerings can be found at www. tandirection.com/podcasts and www. catholicnewsherald.com/viewpoints.

“In a certain sense, the setting – without us knowing at the time – was perfect for this disposition because we were looking out at the world, we were looking out at the people, we were looking out upon the things that were going on at the time, and we were trying to see it all in the light of faith,” Monsignor Winslow recalls in the first episode of the podcast. Decades after their time in the seminary, Monsignor Winslow, now vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, and Father Kauth, now rector of St. Joseph College Seminary, brought their idea for a radio show to life as a podcast. The priests began partnering with TAN Books to distribute “From the Rooftop” in August 2022.

Longtime friends and brother priests, the hosts have a natural, easy-going rapport.

“I hope the podcast encourages people to cultivate the spiritual dimension of their friendships,” Monsignor Winslow says.

On the show, the hosts seek to meet listeners where they are and elevate their minds to heavenly things.

“Sometimes I hear that it isn’t intellectual enough, and sometimes I hear that it is a bit over the heads of the listeners,” Father Kauth says. “Given that I hear both, we are probably hitting where we desire to. Mostly, it has been a joy to have so many tell me how much they enjoy the episodes. They speak of it bringing them just a bit of joy and that they relate and laugh a lot.”

Listen for yourself

VIEW THE CHURCH ‘FROM THE ROOFTOP’

The seeds of “From the Rooftop” were planted long ago when Monsignor Patrick Winslow and Father Matthew Kauth were in the seminary together in Washington, D.C. Now in full bloom more than 25 years later, the podcast has been on the air for a year and features 25 episodes covering a range of topics related to theology, morality, liturgical living and everyday life as a Catholic.

As Monsignor Winslow and Father Kauth prepared for exams in the seminary, they found that they wanted to continue their discussions of eschatology, the life of grace, and moral theology.

They climbed through windows and up ladders to reach the parapet of the seminary’s tower where a beautiful scene unfolded as they looked out over the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, The Catholic University of America, and iconic monuments in the nation’s capital. There, the future priests pondered how they would be able to draw forth discipleship in those they would soon serve – applying what they were learning to the lives of their flocks.

Find these podcasts and others at www.tandirection.com/podcasts. For more podcasts and homily recordings from priests across the Diocese of Charlotte, go to www.catholicnewsherald.com/viewpoints

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY TAN BOOKS

Reid

Winslow

Kauth

Our nation

Bishops of Atlanta Province call for ‘decisive action’ on gun safety, mental health legislation

NICHOLE GOLDEN The Georgia Bulletin

ATLANTA — Sitting in front of a replica of Michelangelo’s Pietà – the sculpture of Mary holding her crucified Son – several bishops of the Atlanta Province signed a joint statement June 27 urging “decisive action” on legislation to curb gun violence.

The bishops of the province – which encompasses the dioceses of Savannah, Ga., Charleston, S.C., Raleigh and Charlotte, and the Archdiocese of Atlanta – gathered at the Cathedral of Christ the King following the noon Mass.

Each of the eight bishops attending signed the letter: Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv.; Bishop Jacques Fabre-Jeune, CS, of Charleston; Bishop Luis Zarama of Raleigh; Bishop Stephen D. Parkes of Savannah; Bishop Emeritus John Kevin Boland of Savannah; and Atlanta’s auxiliaries, Bishop Joel M. Konzen, SM; Bishop Bernard E. Shlesinger III; and Bishop John N. Tran. Bishop Peter Jugis of Charlotte was unable to attend.

“The Gospel calls us in a particular way to protect the most vulnerable among us,” read the statement. “The

ready accessibility of firearms presents an immediate threat to the wellbeing of children, families impacted by domestic violence and individuals experiencing mental illness. Our first priority must therefore be to prevent firearms from falling into the hands of those who would carry out violent acts against children in schools, against their families or against themselves.”

In the statement, the bishops called on federal and state officials within the province to implement meaningful legislation addressing the “plague of gun violence” nationwide and locally. “As legislators, you are in a unique position to support and promote public policy that will save lives,” they wrote.

The Gun Violence Archive, which draws data from law enforcement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies, has reported more than 200 mass shootings, 9,000 suicides and the deaths of more than 700 children and teens by gun violence in the first half of 2023.

During his homily, Archbishop Hartmayer spoke about the symbolism of the Book of the Gospels held over a

bishop’s head during a rite of ordination. It represents the principal task of proclaiming and living the Gospel.

“It means that the bishop must be especially attentive to the needs of his people and their concerns,” said the archbishop. “One of those concerns that keeps surfacing in our city and in our country is gun violence.”

He said while the bishops do not deny the right to defend oneself, the vulnerable must be protected.

“As bishops, we would be failing in our ordination promises if we were to remain silent on an issue that has caused so much pain and sadness,” he said. “As the great statesman Edmund Burke declared: ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’”

The archbishop affirmed that “our dignity lives in the fact that every person is made in the image and likeness of God.”

“We are a people of life, and we must proclaim the Gospel of Life, whether it is convenient or inconvenient,” he said, referencing St. Paul’s exhortation to Timothy from the first Scripture reading of

the Mass.

In line with measures supported by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the statement asked for several reforms: a total ban on assault weapons, universal background checks for all gun purchases, limitations on civilian access to highcapacity weapons and ammunition magazines, improved access to and increased resources for mental health care, and regulations and limitations on the purchasing of handguns. An additional reform would require gun owners to provide safe storage for their weapons and to report lost and stolen guns.

After each bishop signed the document, Archbishop Hartmayer thanked parishioners who stayed to listen to its reading, asking them to “continue to pray for increased legislation to safeguard our children, our citizens and those who are visiting the United States.”

He urged all to “contact your elected officials to support those actions that would be necessary to cease the violence, the senseless violence, the killing of our people.”

Southern Homes of the Carolinas

“Working For You is What I Do”

TIM DURSKI | CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST THE KING, ATLANTA Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama of the Diocese of Raleigh takes his turn signing a joint statement of the bishops of the Atlanta Province, urging action on gun safety reforms. Eight bishops signed the statement June 27 at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta.

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

High court rejects affirmative action admission policies backed by Catholic universities

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 29 that institutions of higher education can no longer take race into consideration for admission, a landmark decision overturning previous precedent supported by many Catholic universities and colleges. As it has been used in higher education, affirmative action includes admissions practices that purport to increase the number of students admitted from historically marginalized groups, such as Black and Hispanic students. Colleges and universities that take race into consideration have argued that doing so is only one factor in a broader admissions process, which also includes a student’s grades, test scores and extracurricular activities. Supporters of affirmative action policies argue that it is one method of helping to address the lasting impact of racism in American society. Opponents say race-based admission policies harm students who should be judged on their merits as students alone. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 6-3 majority opinion, arguing admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause. The Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, self-described as

the collective voice of U.S. Catholic higher education, said in a statement the ruling is “more than disappointing as it ignores the more-than-apparent effects of continued racism in our society.”

Court sides with Christian web designer opposed to making websites for same-sex marriages

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 30 in favor of a Lorie Smith, a Christian web designer who argued she had a First Amendment right to refuse to provide services for same-sex marriages despite a Colorado law prohibiting discrimination against people who identify as LGBTQ. In a 6-3 decision, justices found the First Amendment protects Smith, who said her faith requires her to decline customers seeking services for same-sex unions. The court ruled that for Colorado to force her to do so would be unconstitutional compelled speech. “Colorado seeks to force an individual to speak in ways that align with its views but defy her conscience about a matter of major significance,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a majority opinion. Kristen Waggoner, president of Alliance Defending Freedom, the firm which represented Smith, said in a statement the Supreme Court “rightly reaffirmed that the government can’t force Americans to say things they don’t believe.” She added, “The ruling makes clear that nondiscrimination laws remain firmly in place, and that the government has never needed to compel speech to ensure access to goods and services.”

—OSV News

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Our Lady of Akita’s 1973 message to Japanese nun resonates today, say experts

MARIA WIERING OSV News

On July 6, 1973, light surrounded a wooden statue of Our Lady of All Nations at a convent in Akita, Japan, and the statue spoke to a novice, asking her to pray for the reparation of the sins of humanity and to be obedient to her superior. When the statue ceased speaking, the novice and other nuns discovered the statue had a bleeding wound in its hand.

The novice, 42-year-old Sister Agnes Sasagawa, would hear the statue of Mary talk two other times that year, on Aug. 3 and Oct. 13. In the meantime, Sister Agnes would encounter visions of her guardian angel and experience the stigmata, the wounds of Jesus Christ, as a wound in her left hand. She, the sisters of the Institute of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and hundreds of visitors also would witness the 3-foot-tall statue sweating as well as shedding tears, a phenomenon that continued sporadically, 101 times total, until 1981.

With the 50th anniversary of the miraculous events from Mary now known as “Our Lady of Akita,” her messages to Sister Agnes continue to resonate, said Mark Miravalle, a theology professor who holds the St. John Paul II Chair of Mariology at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. Like Mary’s messages with other reported apparitions, he said, they compel Catholics to an examination of conscience to “see if we can be more generous” in prayer, especially the rosary, and offering sacrifices for the reparation of sins.

Before joining the Handmaids of the Eucharist, Sister Agnes had suffered ill health, including paralysis. Just months before she entered in May 1973, she lost her hearing. In her first month at the convent, she experienced supernatural light and beings in the convent’s chapel, which she reported to the local bishop, Bishop John Shojiro Ito of Niigata. The bishop later witnessed the convent’s apparently miraculous events himself. In 1984, he approved their supernatural character and encouraged the veneration of “the Holy Mother of Akita.”

In a pastoral letter announcing the miraculous occurence’s approval, Bishop Ito said he witnessed the statue’s tears, and that what was observed by at least 500 others and studied at the University of Akita could not have been achieved by “human maneuvers.” It also was broadcasted on Japanese television.

Sister Agnes received both messages from her guardian angel, whom she saw in a vision, and Mary, whose voice seemed to come through the statue. In her first message, Mary told the novice her hearing loss would be healed, to pray in reparation for “the sins of men” as well as for priests and bishops. In August, she told Sister Agnes that God the Father was “preparing to inflict a great chastisement on all mankind,” but “prayer, penance and courageous sacrifices can soften the Father’s anger.”

Mary repeated that message in October, and also said that “fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity,” and called for daily recitation of the rosary. She also warned that the devil would infiltrate the Church, with “cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops” and “priests who venerate me will be scorned and condemned by their confreres.”

Robert Fastiggi, a theology professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Milwaukee and Mariology expert, said while it can be difficult to imagine God as wrathful, the messages’ theology reflects Scripture.

“Wrath is there in the Bible, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “St. Thomas Aquinas says that God’s wrath is really the effects of our sins. It’s what we experience, a kind of wrathful effect when we are not following God. It’s not like God is not loving and He’s a wrathful, angry God. But it’s just that He wants conversion, and there are effects of sin, which is why God grieves over our sins.”

As to the message about clergy, “a lot of this has been happening,” Fastiggi said. “It’s happened in the past, but it’s more prominent these days.”

Mary’s message at Akita “is a universal message,” Miravalle said, despite the mystical phenomena taking place in Japan, where less than 1% of the population is Catholic.

“It’s not just Akita – it’s the whole Marian message that bespeaks Our Lady trying to intercede so that we do not face the full consequence of sin (and) injustice, but we have mercy. That presupposes our cooperation, and I think that’s why Akita is quintessentially relevant,” he said.

The Akita phenomenon also is one of the few miraculous occurrences with scientific backing, said Michael O’Neill, a Marian apparition expert known as “the Miracle Hunter.”

With other apparitions and supernatural phenomena, bishops rely on the testimony of the visionary and compare it to Church teaching, “but there is no scientific way to actually show that something supernatural is happening,” he said. “In

the case of Akita, you have a weeping statue that they were able to investigate and validate that it was having human tears and human blood.”

The Akita events are unique in that they are often categorized with Marian “apparitions,” but the approved phenomena describe Mary speaking through the statue, O’Neill said. And, he pointed out, Sister Agnes is still alive, now in her early 90s.

In May 1974, seven months after Mary’s final message to Sister Agnes, her guardian angel told her she would regain her hearing, and she did, temporarily, on Oct. 13 of that year, the message’s anniversary. In May 1982, she again regained her hearing, this time permanently.

Other miracles have been reported in association with Our Lady of Akita, including the healing of a Korean woman from terminal brain cancer in 1981.

Many observers have drawn connections between the speaking statue and other mystical phenomena, especially the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917, and the alleged (but unapproved) apparitions of the Lady of All Nations in postwar Amsterdam.

The Akita statue’s final locution was Oct. 13, the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun, when thousands gathered near Fatima, Portugal, to witness a promised miracle, and reported seeing the sun “dance,” or move throughout the sky. Some have drawn parallels in Mary’s messages at Fatima and Akita asking for reparation for sins and warnings of future turmoil in the world.

The statue itself – an image of Mary standing on a globe in front of a cross –was carved in 1963 by an Akita artisan and modeled after the Lady of All Nations, a Marian title associated with reported apparitions of Mary by a Dutch woman between 1945 and 1959 in Amsterdam. While the “Lady of All Nations” image, title of Mary and prayer are approved, the reported apparitions themselves are not approved as supernatural phenomena by the bishop of HaarlemAmsterdam and remain controversial.

Fastiggi emphasized that Catholics are not required to believe in Marian apparitions, even those the Church declares them “worthy of belief.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in paragraph No. 67, says that “private revelations,” even one’s recognized by the Church, are not part of “the deposit of the faith.” “It is not their role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history,” it states. “Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the ‘sensus fidelium’ knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.”

While some could use Our Lady of Akita’s message to support complaints about the state of the church, especially with the message’s description of church leaders in opposition, Fastiggi said that reading would miss the mark.

“The message is not one of complaint but of peaceful action, and intercession and praying the rosary,” he said, emphasizing that Mary said to pray for the pope, bishops and priests. “The warning could be given to inspire us to be more faithful.”

He added, “People are losing faith. There’s much sin. So we need to return to the Eucharist. We need to pray the rosary. We need to intercede for the conversion of poor sinners. That’s the message, and that is as timely now as ever.”

A wooden statue of Our Lady of Akita is seen in this undated photo. On July 6, 1973, Sister Agnes Sasagawa of the Handmaids of the Eucharist in Akita, Japan, reported receiving messages from a wooden statue of Mary and witnessed the statue weeping many times.

Religious leaders plead for dialogue and peace as riots convulse France

PARIS — The leaders of the Conference of Religious Leaders in France, representing Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Buddhist communities, issued a June 30 joint statement appealing for peace, harmony and fraternity amid violent protests that have engulfed the country. The unrest broke out June 27 after Nahel M., a 17-year-old of Algerian and Moroccan descent, was shot by police during a traffic stop in Nanterre, a Paris suburb. Police violence and racism – particularly toward those who are of Arabic or black African descent in France, especially Muslims – has been alleged as playing a role in Nahel’s killing. “We share the pain of Nahel’s family and pray for them, especially for his mother. We hear the suffering and anger being expressed,” religious leaders wrote in their appeal. “We encourage our leaders and the nation’s elected representatives to work together, with responsibility, to bring back justice and peace,” they said. The leaders said in the appeal they “call together for dialogue and peace,” affirming “with one voice that violence is never the right path.” The leaders’ statement said, “May all believers be today, more than ever, servants of peace and the common good. Together, we are ready to make our contribution.”

Bishop: Suffering from war, hunger ‘beyond human imagination’ in Ethiopia

MEKELLE, Ethiopia — Stopping food aid in Ethiopia from the United States and United Nations caused severe hunger that has killed hundreds of people in the northern Tigray region in recent weeks, and one local bishop said the situation is “beyond human imagination.”

Bishop Tesfasellassie Medhin of Adigrat stressed that the two-year war forced many to depend solely on humanitarian assistance. According to the bishop, thousands of people have been displaced into tented camps and schools and constantly cry for peace. Most of them lost everything in the course of the war, surviving two years of daily aerial bombardment, sieges and blockades. “We are dying to live in peace,” Bishop Medhin told OSV News in an interview June 26. “For the last three years, the situation in Tigray has been something difficult to explain. Words cannot express the situation. It is beyond human imagination.” Tigray, a semi-autonomous state in northern Ethiopia slid into war in November 2020, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali accused Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the rulers of the region, of over-running a national army based in Tigray’s capital, Mekelle. A peace treaty ended the fighting in November 2022. The bishop estimates the war killed at least 1 million people and forced 5 million to 6 million people to depend on relief aid, which has been suspended by the U.N.’s World Food Program and the U.S. Agency for International Development over allegations of widespread theft of aid. In an email to AP, USAID called the decision to halt food aid “wrenching.”

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

Rev. Stephen R. Dowd, OSB – 1985

Rev. Raymond Geyer, OSB – 2009

Rev. Conrad Kimbrough – 2011

Rev. Bebe Lightner, OSB – 2002

Rev. Bertrand Pattison, OSB - 1992

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‘You follow me,’ not the vice of curiosity

Curiosity is often considered a trait to be encouraged in children and cultivated into adulthood. We equate curiosity with inquisitiveness and intelligence. Wondering “how” has led to many advances in science. Asking “why” has driven philosophy for centuries. Imagining “what if” has inspired great works of art.

Given that curiosity has been the driving force behind advances in knowledge of the arts and sciences, we may be surprised to learn that St. Thomas Aquinas speaks of curiosity as a vice in the “Summa Theologica.” How can curiosity be a bad thing?

The “angelic doctor” explains that while knowledge of truth is itself good, it is possible to pursue knowledge wrongly. It is possible, for example, to desire knowledge out of a sense of pride, or to seek knowledge that is not proper to us, wondering about things we have no business knowing or that distract us from more worthy pursuits. St. Thomas uses the example of a priest who neglects his study of the Gospel to study “stage-plays,” and “the love songs of pastoral idylls.” Unchecked curiosity can also lead us to seek knowledge by evil means. St. Thomas warns against attempting to obtain hidden knowledge by consulting oracles or demons.

The idea that knowledge, while good in itself, can be pursued in wrong ways is woven into the very fabric of our faith. In the beginning, the serpent tempted Eve with the fruit of the tree of knowledge: “Eve saw that it was good and so she ate of it” (Gen 3:1-7). You know the rest of the story.

Ever since that fateful day, people have been curious why God would put the tree of knowledge in the garden if He didn’t want our first parents to eat its fruit. The answer is that they were meant to eat it, in the proper way and at the proper time. But instead of waiting to be given the fruit of knowledge, they grasped after it themselves. It was a curiosity fueled by pride and mistrust, rather than innocent inquisitiveness, that led to the Fall. The vice of curiosity also rears its ugly head whenever we are tempted to be more concerned with other people’s business than our own.

This is especially true when it comes to the spiritual life, which is mostly hidden. While concern for another’s soul is virtuous and admonishing the sinner is a work of mercy, we have to be careful not to point out the splinter in our brother’s eye while ignoring the log in our own (Lk 6:41-46).

In C.S. Lewis’ novel “The Horse and His Boy” (part of his classic children’s saga, “The Chronicles of Narnia”), the two human protagonists, Shasta and Aravis, each struggle with the vice of curiosity. When Shasta learns that the various lions they encountered on their journey,

which they took to be wild lions, were all really Aslan (the Christ-figure in the books) guiding them along the way, he becomes curious as to why one of the lions wounded Aravis. “Child,” Aslan chides him, “I am telling you your story, not hers. No one is told any story but their own.” When Aslan later reveals to Aravis that the wounds he gave her matched the wounds inflicted upon the back of her servant who was whipped as a result of actions Aravis had taken earlier in the book, Aravis (now filled with regret) wonders about the wellbeing of her servant. Aslan offers her only the same words: “I am telling you your story, not hers.” In our long journey to heaven, each of us is only told our own story, or more accurately, our part in the Great Story. Only at the Final Judgment will everyone’s part in that Story be revealed to us.

Lewis was no doubt inspired by the ending of John’s gospel. After the Resurrected Christ asks Peter three times “Do you love me?” (countering Peter’s threefold denial during the Passion), He gives Peter the charge to “follow me” and foretells the kind of death Peter will suffer as His witness (Jn 21:15-19). Peter’s response is to look over to John and ask, “Lord, what about him?” (Jn 21:21).

Jesus answers, “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me” (Jn 21:22). Because Jesus said this, some in the early Church thought that John would never die (and, indeed, he was the only Apostle not to suffer martyrdom). But they miss the point. Jesus was not telling Peter John’s story. He was speaking to Peter about Peter. Jesus had plans for John. What Peter needed to focus on was his own mandate from Christ: “You follow me.” That’s what each of us needs to focus on, as well: our own walk with the Lord. It can be easy to cast our gaze on another, whether in derision or concern, and ask, “Lord, what about him?” But we are not told anyone else’s story. We don’t need to know what God’s specific plan is for any individual to trust that God cares for them and is at work in their life just as He is in our own. We should be ready and willing to assist others in their pursuit of holiness as opportunities arise and circumstances allow, but that should never become a distraction from our own pursuit of holiness.

“You follow me” was Jesus’ command to Peter. This mandate is for each of us. May we remember it any time our curiosity about another’s affairs tempts us to neglect our own duties toward the Lord.

DEACON MATTHEW NEWSOME, the Catholic campus minister at Western Carolina University and regional faith formation coordinator for the Smoky Mountain Vicariate, is the author of “The Devout Life: A Modern Guide to Practical Holiness with St. Francis de Sales,” available from Sophia Institute Press.

‘Trashion’: How our spiritual emptiness harms the environment

Upon entering a large secondhand store, I’m immediately struck by the volume of used clothing. A sea of garments greets you, rack after rack. I’m there to find a cute used flower pot. You know the old saying, “One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure.”

I’m a treasure hunter at heart. But all those clothes stop me in my tracks as I wonder, “Who is going to buy all this? And what happens to the leftovers?”

of items worth saving, the waste pile quickly outgrows it.

Kenyans have no more desire to wear torn, stained clothing than you or I do.

What are “plastic clothes”? Many items in our closets fit this category. Amazingly, 342 million barrels of petroleum are used annually to produce plastic-based fibers such as polyester, nylon or acrylic. These fibers are cheap materials, but they are not biodegradable and will be around, polluting rivers and oceans with microfibers, for centuries. Fashion is a surprisingly large contributor to our environmental crisis. A man in the documentary shows us the nearby Nairobi River, clogged with garbage clothing. We see discarded remnants burning as fuel on an open cooking fire, spewing microfibers into the environment.

If you, like me, have weeded through a closet thinking you’ll give away stuff to someone who “needs” it – and thereby justify buying more stuff – there’s an eye-opening documentary worth your time. “Trashion: The Stealth Export of Waste Plastic Clothes to Kenya” can be googled and watched on YouTube.

What’s “trashion”? It’s “fast fashion,” or clothing that has become so cheap it almost seems disposable. Wired Magazine reports that fashion brands are producing twice the volume of clothing than they did in 2000. And much of it becomes trash – sometimes in the most environmentally unfriendly ways.

Living simply is a near-universal principle of spiritual practice. When I joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps decades ago, “simple living” was one of the tenets, and it still is. But we are immersed in a consumer society. Coming to grips with our spending, especially on clothes, is a spiritual challenge.

TORN CLOTHES DUMPED ON KENYA

In Kenya, 900 million items of clothing arrive annually, sometimes illegally in the dark of night. Maybe some of it was mine once. The supply vastly outpaces the demand. We’re introduced to real people who deal with this as a business. They’re unpacking the bales and weeding through them to see what might be marketable.

A woman wearing a cute T-shirt, possibly a “find” among the bales, shows us the waste contained in these bundles: a stained shirt, pants with holes, fabrics stretched or ripping. As she makes a pile

Some African nations – Zimbabwe, for example – have banned the import of secondhand clothing. But other nations endure the same problems as Kenya. Many of these nations have a poor capacity to manage landfills and process waste.

Here’s another statistic that’s mindblowing: Yearly, 8 billion plastic hangers end up in landfills.

FILLING CLOSETS, NOT OUR SPIRITS

What does this have to do with Catholicism?

Well, I love clothes as much as the next person. I’ve been guilty of “retail therapy,” the idle shopping that often results in the purchase of clothes I don’t need and wastes money that could have gone to a better cause.

Filling our closets with things we don’t need won’t fill up any holes in our lives or our spirits.

For items we do need, there are lovely consignment shops. There are also upscale thrift stores, such as the one I shop at frequently that supports a home for unsheltered pregnant moms.

Shopping in a more environmental fashion is an option, but when am I merely filling my own emptiness with more stuff, I need to stop and ask why. And how do I resist the pull of the void that is our consumer culture? How do I honor the environment and my faith by living more simply?

EFFIE CALDAROLA is a wife, mom and grandmother who received her master’s degree in pastoral ministry from Seattle University.

‘Filling our closets with things we don’t need won’t fill up any holes in our lives or our spirits.’

Deacon Matthew Newsome Effie Caldarola

Reading signs and times: What does the state of Sister Wilhelmina’s body mean?

Early on in “Gaudium et Spes,” the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, we read: “the Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. Thus, in language intelligible to each generation, she can respond to the perennial questions which men ask about this present life and the life to come, and about the relationship of the one to the other.”

splintered wooden coffin that was heavily covered with moss – was found supple and undiminished.

Second, Sister Wilhelmina’s utterly intact habit, which remained pristine even though, as Abbess Cecilia Snell told OSV News, “the (cloth) lining of her coffin was gone.”

A third consideration is that the nuns of Ephesus abbey are what we might call “old school” Benedictines – meaning not only do they follow the Rule of St. Benedict regarding the hours of liturgical prayer, private prayer and “lectio divina,” the seasons of fasting (only one full meal a day throughout Lent), monastic self-sufficiency and the ongoing “conversion of life” so singular to Benedictines, but they do it while worshipping in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, or pre-Vatican II ritual.

So, what is happening here, and what does it all mean?

Perhaps we will never know this side of eternity, but “Gaudium et Spes” encourages us to pay attention and to freely wonder: “The People of God believes that it is led by the Lord’s Spirit … it labors to decipher authentic signs of God’s presence and purpose in the happenings, needs and desires in which this People has a part.”

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Two perennial questions that human beings cannot resist tend to go together: “Why is this happening and what does it all mean?” We ask them in repeated groanings in times of crisis, whether personal or experienced with the world. We ask it in whispered awe at moments of sublime, unfathomable joy.

We quite understandably ask them when confronted with a straight-up mystery – one of those unanswerable events that occur from time to time within the shared life of the Church.

The apparent incorruptibility of Sister Mary Wilhelmina Lancaster, the African American foundress of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, prompts these same questions.

The nuns of the Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus, located in Gower, Mo., recently exhumed the sister’s body – intending to inter her bones within a shrine to St. Joseph in their chapel – only to find the nun’s remains and her habit seemingly untouched by time or decay since her death four years earlier.

These things happen, of course, and the Church is always very quick to remind us that sometimes incorruptibility occurs due to conditions of a grave, a coffin or natural atmospheric conditions.

But sometimes incorruptibility is thought to occur because God wills that a holy life serve Him in one final and unique way: by reminding us that while our home remains within God’s vast immensity of eternity, our material selves, loved into being, matter. Our matter matters.

Since the discovery of Sister Wilhelmina’s intact remains, four aspects of the story have many asking, “What is happening and what does it mean?” First, the condition of her body, which – though buried in the moist earth, housed in a

Freely wondering, then, I can’t help noticing a few signs amid the times:

n While human beings are still arguing that abortion should be legal up to the time of a child’s birth; when some are arguing, shamefully, that “minor-attracted persons” should be legitimized; and when so many are treating their bodies like disposable goods or cheap carnival rides, we are being given a sign that yes, our matter matters.

n While Catholics debate about whether a religious habit has evangelical value or speaks at all to a life of radical love, this nun’s habit, though dirt covered, remains in pristine condition.

n While there is division within the Church over the Latin Mass and the continuance of Pope Benedict’s “Summorum Pontificum,” these nuns use the 1962 monastic Office, with its traditional Gregorian chant, in Latin.

n Finally, and this is a point few are making: While Black Catholics are seeking fuller representation within the Church while giving voice to their own passionate love for Christ and His Body, all of these “signs” we ponder have arisen from the grave of an African American nun, descended from slaves, who labored for oldschool monasticism, and the habit, and the Latin, in the name of her Beloved.

As the initial hubbub over Sister Wilhelmina’s relics begins to subside, the community she founded is going about its business, contentedly growing year-by-year and already building a foundation.

I have no idea what any of it means. But I do think we’re supposed to be wondering about it as if reading the signs and times, and talking about it, too.

ELIZABETH SCALIA is culture editor for OSV News. Follow her on Twitter @theanchoress.

Pope Francis

From online story: “The Holy Spirit guides Christians toward harmony, unity, pope says”

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‘The Spirit gives Christians the strength to go forth in praise of Jesus’ name, glorifying Him. In that way, the Holy Spirit keeps our spirit from the temptation of sadness and being self-referential.’

‘Sometimes incorruptibility is thought to occur because God wills that a holy life serve Him in one final and unique way.’

Elizabeth Scalia