April 22, 2011

April 22, 2011

catholicnewsherald.com charlottediocese.org S E RV I N G C H R I ST A N D C O N N EC T I N G C AT H O L I C S I N W E ST E R N N O R T H C A R O L I N A

CCHS seeks expansion More parking, an auditorium, fine arts classrooms and a 60-acre sports complex make up a proposed $16 million expansion package for Charlotte Catholic High School,

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CALL HIM BLESSED Vatican plans ‘spiritual journey’ for John Paul II’s beatification on Divine Mercy Sunday

Ceremonies will celebrate FUNDED by the parishioners of the diocese of charlotte THANK YOU!

10 Live TV broadcast schedule, 11 John Paul II’s spirituality,

12 Milestones in Karol Wojtyla’s life, 12-13 Beloved pontiff’s path to beatification,

Divine Mercy Sunday St. Matthew prepares for Divine Mercy event,

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What is Divine Mercy?

Calendar 4 Diocese 3-8

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FAITH 2

mix 16

nation & World 18-21 Schools 14-15

Viewpoints 22-24

Call us: 704-370-3333 E-mail us: catholicnews@charlottediocese.org

Our faith

charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | April 22, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

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Pope Benedict XVI

Be awake to reality of evil

W

hen Jesus asked His disciples to stay awake while He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He was asking every believer throughout history to remain awake to the reality of God and to the reality of sin, Pope Benedict XVI said April 20 to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square.

Jesus’ request that His disciples keep watch was “a permanent message for all times because the drowsiness of His disciples was not just a problem in that moment; it is a problem throughout history,” the pope said.

Explaining the liturgies of Holy Week and Easter to an estimated 13,000 people, Pope Benedict said the drowsiness that Jesus warns all believers against is “a certain insensitivity of the soul to the power of evil, insensitivity to all the evil in the world; we don’t want to let ourselves be too bothered by these things. We want to forget them or we try to think they aren’t so serious.”

But the lack of awareness about evil is the flip side of an equal lack of awareness about the presence and love of God. “This is our real drowsiness.

We don’t feel God’s presence, it would disturb us,” so we “stay on the path of our own comfort. We must also stay vigilant in order to do good, to struggle on behalf of the force of goodness.”

Unlike Jesus, whose humanity allowed Him to experience anguish at the thought of death, but whose obedience led Him to accept God’s will completely, most people “struggle against God’s will,” thinking it will lead them into slavery.

The Holy Week and Easter liturgies, which culminate in the proclamation of Christ’s resurrection, are a clear reminder that true life and freedom come from doing God’s will. Pope Benedict prayed that Catholics everywhere would experience Easter as a moment to reaffirm their own commitment to doing God’s will, “aware that in doing so – even when it seems hard and in contrast to our own desires – we find precisely that which truly is good for us - the path to life.”

A closer look at the Easter basket Today’s Easter baskets have roots in the history and traditions of the Church, particularly in the Eastern rite. The baskets contained foods that had been prohibited during the Lenten fast – including eggs, meat and cheese — as well as the Easter bread, or paska. People would bring their baskets to church on Saturday’s Easter Vigil Mass or Easter Sunday Mass for the priest to bless the food, which would be eaten on Easter. In many parishes, this tradition is carried on today.

In the Eastern Church, Easter baskets typically contain the following items: Paska: The Easter bread. A large, round loaf symbolizing Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, who came down from heaven and gave us eternal life in the Eucharist.

Babka: A sweet bread symbolizing Mary, the Mother of God, who was intimately connected with her Son’s suffering and death.

Eggs: A sign of hope and resurrection, as well as a symbol of the sealed Tomb of Christ – the cracking of which symbolized His resurrection. They are elaborately painted with vibrant colors and Christian symbols. One notable color is red, in memory of the blood of Christ shed on the Cross. One Byzantine tradition holds that Mary Magdalene went to Rome after the Ascension to tell the emperor about Pilate’s role at Jesus’ trial. She told him that Jesus had risen from the dead, demonstrating her point by picking up an egg from the dinner table. The emperor pointed to the egg, saying, “Christ has no more

risen than that egg is red.” The egg immediately turned red.

Horseradish: A symbol of the difficulties of sin and the bitterness of Jesus’ Passion. It is mixed with grated red beets, reminding us of the blood Jesus shed for us.

Butter: Symbolizes burial ointment. Sometimes it is shaped into a lamb or decorated with a cross pattern.

Cottage cheese: Bland in taste, cottage cheese reminds us of the need for moderation in our lives.

Salt: Symbol of the Truth of Christ, and a reminder for us to follow Jesus’ words, ‘You are the salt of the earth... .”

Kovbasa sausage: A spicy garlic sausage that indicates God’s favor and generosity.

Ham: A rich meat symbolic of the great joy and abundance of Easter.

Candle: A beeswax candle, placed inside the basket and lit during the blessing, symbolizing Christ as the Light of the world.

The basket is then covered with an embroidered cloth or napkin (called a “rushnyk”), reminding us of Christ’s shroud and of our baptismal robes.

Since the food has been blessed, leftovers cannot be thrown away.

Instead, all of the leftover contents of the basket – everything that came into contact with the holy water – must be buried or burned.

— Source: Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Your daily Scripture readings SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 24 - APRIL 30

Sunday (The Resurrection of the Lord), Acts 10:34, 37-43, Colossians 3:1-4, John 20:19; Monday, Acts 2:14, 22-33, Matthew 28:8-15; Tuesday, Acts 2:36-41, John 20:11-18; Wednesday, Acts 3:1-10, Luke 24:13-35; Thursday, Acts 3:11-26, Luke 24:35-48; Friday, Acts 4:1-12, John 21:1-14; Saturday, Acts 4:13-21, Mark 16:9-15

SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 1 - MAY 7

Sunday (Divine Mercy Sunday), Acts 2:4247, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31; Monday (St. Athanasius), Acts 4:23-31, John 3:1-8; Tuesday (Sts. Philip and James), 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, John 14:6-14; Wednesday, Acts 5:17-26, John 3:16-21; Thursday, Acts 5:27-33, John 3:31-36; Friday, Acts 5:34-42, John 6:1-15; Saturday, Acts 6:1-7, John 6:16-21

SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 8 - MAY 14

Sunday, Acts 2:14, 22-33, 1 Peter 1:17-21, Luke 24:13-35; Monday, Acts 6:8-15, John 6:22-29; Tuesday (St. Damien of Molokai), Acts 7:518:1, John 6:30-35; Wednesday, Acts 8:1-8, John 6:35-40; Thursday (Sts. Nereus, Achilleus and Pancras), Acts 8:26-40, John 6:44-51; Friday (Our Lady of Fatima), Acts 9:1-20, John 6:52-59; Saturday (St. Matthias), Acts 1:15-17, 20-26, John 15:9-17

Our parishes

April 22, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

catholic news heraldI

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In Brief

photo by father james ebright

White granite rocks and a cross made out of sticks illuminate a spot in the forest on the land that the Poor Clares hope to build a monastery on in the future.

Faith formation students keep ‘Palm Attitude’ MAGGIE VALLEY — Children enrolled in faith formation at St. Margaret of Scotland Church in Maggie Valley attended a special Holy Week and Easter program April 10 in which they learned about “The Power of Palm Attitude.” Pictured are Kayden Mallette, Anna Holley, Martin Tox and Breyson Mallette. Each child made a palm leaf to place where he or she can see it and keep the “Palm Attitude” of recognizing the goodness in others and praising God. — Betsy McLeod

Winston-Salem doctor ​ completes training OMAHA, Neb. — Dr. Lewis D. Lipscomb, an OB/GYN practicing in Winston-Salem, joined a record number of women’s health practitioners from around the world in completing a training regimen in how to apply knowledge about the natural regulation of human fertility. From April 2-9 the 107 practitioners gathered in Omaha, Neb., for the second phase of training by the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction.

— Catholic News Agency

Bioethicist to speak at Education Vicariate workshop HICKORY — Father Tadeusz “Tad” Pacholczyk, Ph.D., director of education for the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, will present a one-day workshop for the Education Vicariate on Thursday, May 5, at the Catholic Conference Center in Hickory. His program is entitled “Contemporary Bioethics Issues: Equipping the Competent Disciple.” Father Pacholczyk is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Mass., and a renowned scholar on bioethics and Church teaching. It is open to all priests, deacons, principals and teachers, campus ministers, parish catechetical program leaders, catechists, youth ministers, home school parents, lay ministry students, and staff of the Educaton Vicariate. Registration deadline is April 28. For details, contact Pat Onaindia at 704-370-3244.

sueann howell | catholic news herald

The annual Chrism Mass was held at St. Patrick Cathedral on April 19 in Charlotte. The holy oils used in the blessing of the sick and the candidates for baptism, as well as the sacred chrism used in the sacraments of initiation, holy orders and the dedication of churches and altars, were blessed by Bishop Peter J. Jugis, bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte, during the Mass. For more photos from this year’s Chrism Mass, go online to charlottediocese.org/interactive.

About 850 people will be welcomed into the Church at Easter Vigil Mollie Gordon Correspondent

WINSTON-SALEM — At Easter we commemorate the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Our Lord. And during the Easter Vigil, approximately 850 people across the Diocese of Charlotte will be welcomed into the Church.

For the past nine months they have been praying, studying and preparing as part of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, or RCIA. Dr. Cris V. Villapando, diocesan director of faith formation programs stated, “There are a couple things that strike me when I look at these people seeking entrance into the Church. First, the intentional nature of their faith journeys – they publicly proclaim the very deliberate character of their decisions. This contrasts with the tendency of many Catholics, including myself, to take our faith for granted.

Second, the ‘initiati’ (new members) witness to the value of spiritual searching.

This contrasts with the tendency in the

general culture to focus solely on wealth creation and prestige acquisition.”

At St. Leo the Great Church in WinstonSalem, the 2010-2011 RCIA class is the largest since 2004 – totaling 21 people.

Young adults to retirees, they all seek to increase their faith and grow closer to God. “It is such a blessing as team members and as sponsors to be a part of this ministry. We not only deepen our understanding of the faith, but we get to see these people who come to us in various conditions grow in their faith, too,” says Dan Hammond, who serves on the parish RCIA team. “Helping someone get to heaven and to have a fuller life here on earth – there’s nothing better.”

RCIA covers all aspects of the Catholic faith for those interested in joining the Church. Besides weekly Mass attendance, they participate in talks encompassing the whole of Catholic teaching, ranging from the Nicene Creed and the sacraments to Catholic social and moral teaching and the RCIA, SEE page 17

Poor Clares identify possible monastery site SUEANN HOWELL STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTE — After years of prayer and multiple trips to look at land, first in Ohio and then in North Carolina, the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration feel like they have found the property they have been hoping for to build a new monastery.

Last Aug. 18 (the feast of St. Helena), Mother Dolores Marie, along with Father James Ebright and Billie Mobley of the Te Deum Foundation, traveled to a location west of Charlotte to look at a large tract of undeveloped land.

“I had been looking for property for three years,” Mother Dolores Marie said. “Every time I would go, I would ask the Lord, ‘How am I going to know?’”

She describes looking around the wooded area and sensing the future location for the Poor Clares’ monastery: “When we traveled to the opposite side of the property, we all felt it would be a perfect location. We drove by these beautiful woods, with pines and pine needles all around,” she said. “Something bright and white gleaming in the woods caught our eye. We got out and walked through the woods towards it. It was a pile of white rock in the middle of the pine forest. It was beautiful.

“Father took out his phone to take a picture of the rock. We both looked at the screen at the same time as he took the picture and we saw a luminous cross in the middle of the screen. We started looking around for the cross and realized that the sun came MONASTERY, SEE page 17

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | April 22, 2011 OUR PARISHES

Diocesan calendar CHARLOTTE

Have a Blessed Easter!

diocesan pastoral center, 1123 s. church st.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following events over the next two weeks: April 23 – 8:30 p.m.

Easter Vigil St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte April 24 – 11 a.m.

Easter Sunday Mass St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte April 27 – 7 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation St. Paul the Apostle Church, Greensboro April 29 – 4 p.m.

Rite of Institution to Ministry of Lector Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Md. April 30 – 10 a.m.

Rite of Institution to Ministry of Acolyte Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Md. May 2 – 7 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation St. John Neumann Church, Charlotte

— Natural Family Planning Introduction and Full Course, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. May 21. RSVP required to Batrice Adcock, MSN, RN at cssnfp@charlottediocese.org or 704-3703230. st. ANN church, 3635 PARK Road — Learn About Contemplative Prayer, with speaker Jim Morgan, 7 p.m. April 27 — “The Catholicism Project,” a documentary by Father Robert Barron of Word on Fire Ministry. 6 p.m. May 14.

Reservation required to Mike Femenella at 704-321-2879 or online at wordonfire.org/the-catholicism-project/finda-screening.aspx. st. GABRIEL church, 3016 Providence Road — Grammy nominated Cameron Carpenter (organist) in Concert for the dedication of the new Rodgers Custom Organ installed at St. Gabriel, 7:30 p.m. May 16. Visit stgabrielchurch.org.

— Feast of the Divine Mercy and Beatification of Pope John Paul II “Fiesta,” presented by the Hispanic Ministry, 3 p.m. May 1 ST. MATTHEW CHURCH, 8015 Ballantyne Commons pkwy.

— Divine Mercy Celebration in Honor of the Beatification of Pope John Paul II, 3 p.m. May 1 — Back to Basics Catholicism 101: Morality, NLC Room 203, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. May 4 and 11.

— “St. Joseph Didn’t Have a Blackberry,” New Life Center Banquet Room, 7-9 p.m. May 16. How do today’s Catholic men balance marriage, kids and jobs and still make time for God? Registration required to Michael Burck at mburck@stmatthewcatholic.org or 704-541-8362 ext. 4.

— 70th Semi-Annual Rosary Rally, 3 p.m. May 22. Children ages 7-17 may participate by calling Tina Witt at 704846-7361.

— Eucharistic Adoration, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesdays ST. VINCENT DE PAUL CHURCH, 6828 old reid road — The Called and Gifted Workshop: Discover God’s Call for Your Life, 7-9 p.m. May 13 and 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. May 14.

Bring your own lunch. Registration required to Andrea Vallandingham at andrea-vall@carolina.rr.com or Pat

April 22, 2011 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

Note to readers: The Catholic News Herald’s next issue will be published Friday, May 6.

Our offices will be closed Friday, April 22-Monday, April 25, for the Easter holiday.

ST. LUKE CHURCH, 13700 lawyers road

ST. pATRICK CATHEDRAL, 1621 DILWORTH ROAD E.

Volume 20 • Number 21

Staff of the Catholic News Herald

Rosa at pafrosa@bellsouth.net.

— Charlotte Catholic Women’s Group (CCWG) Reflection, with Father Timothy Reid, 10 a.m. May 2. Membership not required to attend. Contact Linda Granzow at jlgranzow@ windstream.net or 704-847-7872.

DENVER HOLY SPIRIT CHURCH, 537 N. HWY. 16 — Cancer Support Group, Parish Activity Center, 2-3 p.m. first Thursdays

GREENSBORO — Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, 6:30 p.m.

Rosary, 7 p.m. Mass May 13 — “Straight Talk ...For Men,” Our Lady’s Cottage, 6:30-8 p.m.

May 16. Contact John Endredy at jendredy@gmail.com or 336-202-9635. st. pius x CHURCH, 2210 n. elm st.

— St. Pius Seniors Health and Fitness Program at Pennybyrn, 10:15 a.m.-1:45 p.m. May 5. Travel via the Pennybyrn bus. Registration required by April 28 to 336-272-4681.

GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Tim Faragher 704-370-3331, tpfaragher@charlottediocese.org

COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT/CIRCULATION: Denise Onativia 704-370-3333, catholicnews@charlottediocese.org

The Catholic News Herald is published by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte 35 times a year.

ADVERTISING MANAGER: Cindi Feerick 704-370-3332, ckfeerick@charlottediocese.org

NEWS: The Catholic News Herald welcomes your news and photographs for publication in our print and online PDF editions.

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

HISPANIC COMMUNICATIONS: Carlos Castañeda 704-370-3375, cmcastaneda@charlottediocese.org

ST. MARK CHURCH, 14740 STUMPTOWN ROAD — Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians meeting, Room 203, open to women who are Catholic and Irish by birth or descent, or who are the wives of members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, or the mothers of Junior members, 7 p.m. first Thursday of each month. Contact Bernadette Brady at mcbernie@msn.com or 704-210-8060.

NEWTON ST. JOSEPH church, 720 W. 13TH ST. — Divine Mercy Sunday Service, 3 p.m. May 1

our lady of grace CHURCH, 2205 w. market st.

EDITOR: Patricia L. Guilfoyle 704-370-3334, plguilfoyle@charlottediocese.org

STAFF WRITER: SueAnn Howell 704-370-3354, sahowell@charlottediocese.org

HUNTERSVILLE

SYLVA ST. MARY, MOTHER OF GOD church, 22 BARTLETT ST. — Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, communal prayer, and song on Divine Mercy Sunday, 3-4 p.m. May 1

WINSTON-SALEM HOLY FAMILY CHURCH, 4820 kinnamon road — Catholics Come Home, 7-8:30 p.m. May 3. Six-week series for nonpracticing Catholics who are seeking answers to questions about returning to the Church. Contact Ed and Barbara Cunnings at edwardcunnings@hotmail.com or 336-768-9276.

ADVERTISING: For advertising rates and information, contact Advertising Manager Cindi Feerick at 704-370-3332 or ckfeerick@ charlottediocese.org. The Catholic News Herald reserves the right to reject or cancel advertising for any reason, and does not recommend or guarantee any product, service or benefit claimed by our advertisers.

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

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

April 22, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

OUR PARISHESI

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PROFILE OF LIFE

In Brief Pastoral Center will be closed CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte Pastoral Center will be closed Friday, April 22, through Monday, April 25, for the Easter holiday. All diocesan offices will reopen on Tuesday, April 26.

Rosary Rally set for May 22 CHARLOTTE — The 70th Semi-Annual Rosary Rally will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 22, at St. Patrick Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Road East. This 35-year diocesan tradition will include recitation of the rosary, a Eucharistic Procession and Benediction. Homilist will be Deacon John Kopfle. Come honor Our Lady and pray for our country. For information or if children aged 7-17 would like to participate in the procession, call Tina Witt at 704-846-7361.

Triad group gets accolades KERNERSVILLE — A national pro-life youth group, Students for Life of America, recently named Triad Students for Life its “Group of the Month” in recognition of outstanding outreach and work for the pro-life movement.

Triad Students for Life participates in various national programs such as the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Its members host well-known political, educational and religious speakers at monthly meetings, including Bishop Peter J. Jugis of Charlotte and Congresswoman Virginia Foxx of North Carolina’s Fifth Congressional District. The group is also involved with fund raising. To learn more, go to triadstudentsforlife.webs. com.

— Annette Tenny

During 40 Days for Life, the Catholic News Herald is featuring people across our diocese involved in the pro-life movement who serve as examples for what we can all do to help protect the rights of the unborn.

Every Friday this pro-life warrior hits the front lines SueAnn Howell Staff writer

CHARLOTTE — Every Friday after the 9 a.m. Mass at St. Matthew Church, Francesca Sperrazzo hits the front lines in the pro-life war. Armed with rosaries, pro-life information and a fetal heart monitor, she stands at the entrance of the Hebron Road abortion mill known as Family Reproductive Health.

A cradle Catholic who was born in Italy, Sperrazzo grew up with a devout Catholic grandmother who had a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother and the saints. She is a married mother of five and has recently welcomed her first grandson. In addition to her work in the pro-life movement, she and her husband Robert are involved in several ministries in the community.

Sperrazzo first became active in praying in front of the Hebron abortion mill in 2005, when a friend invited her to go with her.

“I owe her a great deal of gratitude for opening my eyes to one of the worst crimes against Our Lord,” Sperrazzo says.

“That same year a group of us were trained to counsel outside of abortion mills

by Monsignor Philip Reilly, who is a priest in Brooklyn, N.Y. For the past 20 years, he has prayed and counseled five days a week outside of an abortion mill in New York City.

This priest has been a true inspiration to me.

“Six years later, you can still find me on

A reflection on love bATRICE aDCOCK writes about recently suffering a miscarriage and what she has learned about love and God’s grace, pages 23-24

Sueann howell | catholic news herald

(From left) Francesca Sperrazzo and Nancy Lombard stand vigil outside of the Family Reproductive Health abortion mill on Hebron Road on April 15.

Fridays at the Hebron abortion mill.”

So what keeps her going back to pray week after week?

“So many babies are being killed every day at these abortion mills,” Sperrazzo says. “I can’t just sit back and ignore this atrocity, or feel that it is someone else’s problem. I can’t call myself a Christian and think like that.”

Over the years she has seen some fruit from her efforts as there have been women who, after seeing her or talking with her,

have decided to choose life for their unborn babies.

“It is at those times when I feel like I have been given such a gift, and it’s just one of the reasons which keeps me going back,” she says.

Sperrazzo has some advice for others who may feel hesitant to join her in the pro-life battle: “Pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance and remember that we are here to serve Our Lord first. We show solidarity with our preborn brothers and sisters by praying that they be given life.

“We must recognize that as Christians we are Christ’s followers, and therefore we must bring His light to a world in darkness.

That should motivate us to leave our comfort zones,” she urges.

“Our Lord will be most grateful for our sacrifice and bestow on us many blessings. I am reaching out to all my Catholic brothers and sisters to spend at least one hour a week in prayer in front of an abortion mill.

“If I can do it, anyone can.”

Abortion Facilities within the Diocese of Charlotte

Learn more

Scout earns Gold Award HIGH POINT — Stephanie Marie Verdi, a student at High Point Central High School and a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in High Point, recently earned the Girl Scout Gold Award — the highest award given in Girl Scouts. Pictured with her parents, Tom and Kathy Verdi, she is a 2007 graduate of Immaculate Heart of Mary School. She also is an altar server and extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at her church.

SonFest 2011 is coming CHARLOTTE — St. John Neumann Church is gearing up for SonFest 2011 – a family festival featuring games, rides, ethnic and traditional fair foods, a petting zoo, entertainment, arts and crafts, silent auctions and more – set for Friday and Saturday, June 17-18, at the church located at 8451 Idlewild Road, Charlotte. For details, go to 4sjnc.org/sonfest2011.

Check out the following for more information about how you can get involved with the pro-life movement: n 40daysforlife.org n priestsforlife.org n Helperslibrary.info

photo courtesy of Christine Ryan

Praying for a culture of life Parishioners of St. John the Evangelist Church in Waynesville, St. Margaret of Scotland Church in Maggie Valley, and Immaculate Conception Mission in Canton have been praying in front of an abortion facility in Asheville every second Saturday of the month and participating each day of the 40 Days for Life spring campaign. Father Larry LoMonaco, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church, encouraged the Respect Life committee members (pictured above) throughout the campaign. To continue praying for a culture of life, the parish will also celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, May 1, with Eucharistic Adoration and praying of the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

Femcare, 62 Orange St., Asheville A Preferred Women's Health Center, 3220 Latrobe Dr., Charlotte Carolina Center for Women, 421 N. Wendover Road, Charlotte Family Reproductive Health, 700 E. Hebron St., Charlotte A Woman's Choice of North Carolina, 201 Pomona Drive, Greensboro Piedmont Carolina Medical Clinic, 2425 Randleman Road, Greensboro Carolina Womancare PA, 712 N. Elm St., High Point Planned Parenthood, 3000 Maplewood Ave., Suite 112, Winston-Salem

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | April 22, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

END-OF-LIFE ISSUES

Saunders of AUL speaks about so-called ‘right to die’ Morgan Castillo Correspondent

Paul Viau | Catholic News Herald

Jenny Williams, director of Hospice and Palliative Care for MedWest Haywood (left), celebrates the many years of service of St. Margaret of Scotland Parish volunteers Mary Anne Yurko and Sue Mateja.

Sharing the gift of hospice care Paul Viau Correspondent

MAGGIE VALLEY — Each and every one of us will face the end of life. As faithful Catholics, we have the peace of knowing that death is not really the end, but a beginning.

Those of us who go down this road with the help of hospice care have an additional comfort: complete peace of mind, body and spirit.

In Haywood County, an active and involved hospice care program is making a real difference in the community. And Catholics from our diocese are closely involved.

Mary Anne Yurko, parishioner of St. Margaret of Scotland Church in Maggie Valley, is hospice team asistant for HRMC Hospice and Palliative Care. She coordinates schedules of hospice caregivers and activities of hospice volunteers. Twice a year, she organizes a team of parishioners who cook and deliver casseroles to hospice patients. It’s a complicated job, and Yurko brings 16 years of experience to the task – six years in Binghamton, N.Y., and 10 years in Haywood County.

Yurko, whose parents experienced hospice care during their final days, is a dedicated advocate for end-of-life care. “Both my parents benefited from hospice care, and my cousin was a hospice volunteer. It’s a program I believe in,” she says.

Shortly after Yurko arrived in western North Carolina she recruited Sue Mateja, another St. Margaret parishioner. Mateja provides patient family respite care as

Get involved Learn more about hospice volunteer opportunities thorough the diocese at carolinasendoflifecare.org.

needed, and she works in the office one or two days a week.

“It is a challenging job in our part of North Carolina,” says Mateja. “Catholics are a minority, and you work mostly with chaplains of other faiths. You have to set a good example, and keep your blinders on.”

Mateja, who lost her son Kevin to leukemia when he was 26, found a calling helping other families deal with the end of life.

“You’re put into a spot for a reason,” Mateja says. “It’s a real privilege to be let into their lives.”

Other St. Margaret of Scotland hospice volunteers include Marilyn Naughton, who volunteers in the office weekly; Carol Viau, who visits hospice patients; and Nick and Dorismarie Walsh, who help deliver casseroles.

Jenny Williams, director of Hospice and Palliative Care for MedWest Haywood, puts the ministry into perspective. “I am impressed with individuals who choose to give of their time to serve Hospice and Palliative Care. It is these caring, energetic and hard-working volunteers who make us such a great resource for our community.”

BELMONT — The “right to die” when enacted into law creates a mistakenly compassionate killing machine.

That was one of several intriguing insights from William Saunders Jr., senior vice president and senior counsel of Americans United for Life, who lectured about assisted suicide and euthanasia at Belmont Abbey College April 6, a program put on by the college’s Thomas More Society.

“Human rights,” Saunders pointed out, are “rights properly understood (as) a reflection of what is good for the human person.”

The so-called “right to die” is couched in erroneous terms of individual freedom (“it’s my life, and I’ll end it when I want”) or in misplaced mercy (a doctor helps a person to die because “death is thought to be a benefit to the patient”).

But Saunders explained that there is no foundation in law for a “right to die.”

He cited the United Nations’ Universal Declaration on Human Rights, international treaties and customary laws, and the American Constitution, declaring, “No human rights document provides for the right to die.... Rather, what is guaranteed in a human rights document ... is the right to life.”

This mistaken “right to die” threatens the integrity of the medical profession, causing less emphasis to be placed on palliative care, he argued.

Hospice and palliative care are alternatives that provide comfort, healing and compassion for the ill and dying.

“Ironically, the campaign to recognize a right to assisted suicide or euthanasia comes at a time when palliative care is more widely available and more effective than ever,” Saunders said.

Saunders used the example of the Netherlands, where assisted suicide and euthanasia are available, to stress that “where a right to die has been created it is uncontainable.”

In the Netherlands, physician-assisted suicide was legalized in 1984.

In 1990, a study found Saunders that no fewer than 1,000 patients were given a lethal injection without making a request; similarly, in 2005 a study discovered at least 500 cases of the same involuntary euthanasia.

Saunders noted that the doctors are not acting with ill intent, but believe that they are killing the patients “out of compassion, because they have made the judgment that those lives are not worth living.”

This “perverts the medical profession from healing into killing,” he said.

“What these people need is treatment for depression, palliative care for physical suffering, and other human beings who are willing to be with them and help them.

“The solution is to eliminate pain, to help the patient – not to kill them,” he said.

Thomas More Society at Belmont Abbey College thrives BELMONT — One of the newest merit programs at Belmont Abbey College is the Thomas More Society. Dr. Mark Newcomb, the assistant dean for Academic Affairs, leads the program.

There are currently nine More Scholars, with the expectation of 15 additional students entering next fall. Candidates are selected on the basis of scholastic excellence, and more specifically, their possession of “public moral courage,” Newcomb said. Using St. Thomas More as their example, Newcomb said, “Much of what we’re doing is exploring what it takes to be a man or woman of moral courage.”

Scholars participated in a reading group with Newcomb last fall, and are now enrolled in a seminar entitled “Courage, conscience, crown and Church.”

Newcomb described his students as being “incredibly respectful of each other’s perspectives” in conversation, and “always working to help each other move towards the good.”

As lord chancellor of Catholic England in the 1530s, St. Thomas More was beheaded for opposing the divorce of King Henry VIII. He was declared a saint in 1935.

— Morgan Castillo

April 22, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

St. Mary Church hosts first Legion of Mary Acies Legion of Mary now active in four parishes Anne Tinsdale SPECIAL TO THE CATHOLIC NEWS HERALd

SHELBY — More than 100 members and guests attended the Legion of Mary Acies of the newly-established Carolina Piedmont Curia of Our Lady of LaSalette, hosted at St. Mary Church in Shelby April 2. Father Michael T. Kottar, pastor, presided over the consecration ceremonies, which included recitation of the Legion prayers and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

The Acies is the annual ceremony in which Legionaries, as a body, assemble to renew their consecration to Mary, Mother of God and Queen of the Legion. The Acies is the primary annual function of the Legion.

The essential idea behind the Legion is that of members working in union with and in dependence on Mary. The Acies is the solemn expression of that union and dependence – the renewal, individual and collective, of the legionary declaration of fealty to Mary, our Queen and our Mother.

The Legion of Mary is one of the largest apostolic organizations of lay people in

the Church, with several million active and auxiliary members in virtually every country.

The object of the Legion is the sanctification of its members with a balanced program of prayer and service designed to bring all souls to Christ through devotion to Mary.

Last May the Arlington, Va., Regia, the administrative body of the Legion that oversees its activities throughout Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland, began to reintroduce the Legion of Mary in the Diocese of Charlotte, with the blessing of Bishop Peter J. Jugis.

St. Mary Parish was the first to welcome the formation of the Legion and on Oct. 25, 2010, held its first meeting under the spiritual direction of Father Kottar. Shortly thereafter, St. Mary’s mission parish, Christ the King in Kings Mountain, held its first Legion meeting. In addition, new praesidia (or branches) have opened at St. Michael Church in Gastonia and St. Dorothy Church in Lincolnton. The new curia is now made up of six praesidia from these four parishes.

Bill Washington | Catholic News Herald

Mass offered for departing members of Missionaries of the Poor Bishop Peter J. Jugis celebrated Mass for the Missionaries of the Poor in Monroe April 11, the day before four of the brothers left for the Philippines to continue their studies for the priesthood. The Missionaries of the Poor is an international monastic order of brothers dedicated to joyfully serving the poorest of the poor. The order was started in 1981 by Father Richard Ho Lung and has now grown to more than 500 brothers around the world. Their main mission is in Kingston, Jamaica. Besides the community in Monroe, which began in 2008, the order also runs missions in India, the Philippines, Haiti, Uganda and Kenya. To learn more about the brothers, go online to missionariesofthepoor.org.

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | April 22, 2011 OUR PARISHES

Doreen Sugierski | Catholic News Herald

Journeying to the Cross Parishioners of Holy Spirit Church in Denver recently experienced a “tour” through Jerusalem and a depiction of the Stations of the Cross organized by students in the parish’s faith formation classes. People traveled, with the aid of a “tour guide,” through five centers to learn about the message of Easter in a personal and unique way. They walked the streets as Jesus entered Jerusalem, reflected on their sins in a darkened room, met Jesus and recognized Him as the Light of the world, and entered the tomb where Jesus’ shroud was left behind. The program culminated with a moving, live Stations of the Cross, presented by the Youth Ministry. Pictured above: students portray the fourth station, Jesus meeting His grieving mother. This “Journey to the Cross” was a perfect lead-in to Holy Week and reminded everyone of Jesus’ love and sacrifice for us.

Women discuss facing life’s challenges with faith, courage Suzanne Konopka Correspondent

ARDEN — “Thank you for responding to the Holy Spirit today, to get an injection of courage,” welcomed Barbara Freeman at the March 26 Women’s Lenten program at St. Barnabas Church in Arden. A record 170 women gathered to explore the theme “The Book of Judith: The Courage to Rise to the Occasion.”

Morning speaker Debra Mattison described Judith’s actions to save the Israelites from the siege of General Holofernes, through her wise and total trust in God, and her feminine cunning and courage. After calling out to God for strength, Judith beheaded the general while he slept in a drunken stupor.

“Judith acts as a prophet,” instructed Mattison, “calling her people to a strong faith in God, no matter how desperate the situation appears. Have you ever been so distraught that you called out to God all night long?”

Small groups met to discuss Judith’s faithin-action and to share personal experiences in answer to the question “Can you think of an extraordinary moment in your life when you received the gift of courage?”

The Lenten program ended with powerful

stories of courage by Marlene Grasberger, Kimberlee Zorich and Sabina Horecky.

Grasberger and her husband encountered hostile people as they worked on civil rights issues in the 1960s. “With the help of the Holy Spirit,” Grasberger concluded, “we did pierce their hearts.”

Kimberlee Zorich successfully battled cancer. “God never gives us more than we can handle. The tough situations we face in life prepare us to handle future challenges with grace,” Zorich said.

And 16-year-old Sabina Horecky survived devastating injuries from a car accident when she was only 10. There were many dark times at first, “but one day I woke up to a beautiful sunrise and had a revelation,” Horecky said. “Just like the sun wakes up every morning with us, God does as well.”

Participants expressed gratitude for the program. “We must not be afraid to trust God completely,” said Gwen Hobson of St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville.

Renee Forrest of St. Barnabas added, “I was especially encouraged and blessed by the personal testimonies.”

Do we have the courage to rise to any occasion?

“Remember,” concluded Mattison, “there is no enemy too big for God, and no woman too small for God to use.”

April 22, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

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Father Matthew Buettner

Mass is sacred ritual, enabling us to worship God perfectly

W

e began our catechesis on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by looking at the purpose or the goal of the Mass, which is to worship God as perfectly as possible and receive God’s grace through the reception of Holy Communion. Since this is our highest goal or duty in life, my column last week acknowledged our need to prepare for Mass. The best preparation for Mass is to live lives of virtue, overcoming sin in our lives, as well as taking time to pray before Mass begins.

Now, let’s take a moment to look at how we are to arrive at our goal. If our goal is to drive from Charlotte to Washington, D.C., should we not take a moment to look over a road map before we depart? We will now look at the “road map,” the schema of the Mass, commonly known as the “ritual.”

Ritual is a natural part of human life. A good number of our daily activities are marked by ritual: from our morning rituals, to driving from place to place, to cooking a meal and going to rest at night. In fact, the philosophers have called man a “ritual-making animal.” Rituals mark the day, the week, and the season. Most of us probably have a specific family ritual for the seasons and the feasts throughout the year, such as birthdays, Christmas and Easter.

The family of God also has its rituals. But the difference is that in God’s family, God, as our Father, establishes the ritual that we are to follow. God is the author and the legislator of sacred ritual. Indeed, if our goal is to worship God as perfectly as we are able, it would make sense that He would teach us how, even demonstrate the way it is to be done. It would make sense that He would provide us with an accurate road map that leads to worship that is pleasing to Him. Otherwise, we might wander aimlessly about with no sense of our path or the destination. Therefore, God has provided the Mass as a sacred ritual that we can follow to worship Him perfectly.

Not only does God establish the ritual of the Holy Mass so that we can worship Him in a way that is truly pleasing, arriving at our destination, but He gives us the Holy Mass because it is most suited to us as His children. When we are baptized, we become members of the Body of Christ, adopted sons and daughters of the heavenly Father. And as members of His family, we worship Him as a family, as a communion of faith. Ritual allows common expression of faith that spans time and place, culture and language. It is one of the marks or characteristics of the Catholic Church that we share a universal faith and practice with all Catholics throughout the world. The Mass that we attend today is the same Mass being offered in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome by the pope. When you are on vacation in Italy or England or the Philippines, you can attend the same Catholic Mass that is being offered in Lincolnton. Ritual allows communal expression of faith throughout the world and throughout time.

Perhaps more importantly than allowing communal expression of faith, ritual also encourages true freedom.

Some people may think that ritual binds or constricts or stifles freedom of expression. But in reality, ritual encourages freedom. The modern mind often misunderstands freedom.

All too often, the modern mind confuses freedom with liberty or license. Imagine a communal worship service that did not follow a ritual. How free would the congregation be to participate? Would you know what to expect next? When it comes to driving, the rules of the road encourage the freedom of drivers to arrive safely at their destinations. It is when a driver decides to be novel or innovative in his approach to the speed limit or stop lights or other such rules that accidents occur.

Like the rules of driving, ritual establishes a familiar pattern. This familiar pattern of worship allows free access to the sacred mysteries. Ritual frees the mind and the heart to respond to God’s grace and allows us to pray more effectively.

From the Passover to the Paschal mystery If our goal is to worship God as perfectly as possible, it would make sense that He would teach us how, even demonstrate the way it is to be done; it would make sense that He would provide us with an accurate method that pleases Him. That is why we recognize that God is the author and the legislator of sacred ritual. As Christians, we always follow the example of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus is God, He has divine authority to establish and demonstrate the form of worship that is most pleasing to the Father; as man, He perfectly accomplishes it on our behalf and left us an example to follow. So, what did Christ establish as the perfect worship and how did He do it?

We read in Sacred Scripture that on the night before He died, Jesus Christ celebrated the Passover with His Apostles.

During the Passover banquet, Our Lord fulfilled the meaning of the Passover and instituted the new and everlasting covenant. The Last Supper became the First Mass. Since the Passover formed the context of the First Mass, we need to look for a moment at the significance of the Passover.

In the Old Testament Book of Exodus, we discover that after the Israelites were enslaved to the Egyptians for approximately 400 years, Moses negotiated with Pharaoh for the release of the Israelite slaves from bondage. Before the final plague, the deaths of the first-born, God told Moses to instruct the Israelites to kill the Passover lamb, take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood, and spread the lamb’s blood over the doorposts of their houses. That evening, when the destroyer arrived to slay the first-born in the land of Egypt, he passed over the houses of the Israelites and killed the first-born of the land of Egypt. Pharaoh finally let the Israelites go – they were saved, released from political bondage, as well as spiritual bondage, since the Jews were not allowed to worship God as He commanded.

Consequently, God instituted the Passover as an annual memorial to remind the Jews that God delivered them from slavery to freedom. In the Old Testament, God instructed His

Learn more This is part 16 of a year-long series featuring the revised translation of the Third Missal. For more resources, check out the U.S. bishops’ extensive material online at usccb.org/romanmissal.

people how to worship Him through the ritual re-presentation of the Passover.

In the New Testament, God himself would fulfill the meaning of the Passover by bringing it to its completion in the new Passover: the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We read in Sacred Scripture that during the Passover meal, “The Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, ‘This is My body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood.

Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’” The Passover banquet is now fulfilled.

In the Old Testament, the Jews sacrificed the Passover lamb. They ate the flesh of the lamb and its blood saved them from political and spiritual slavery. In the New Testament, Jesus sacrificed Himself as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” He offers to us His flesh to eat and His blood delivers us from the spiritual slavery of sin.

In the Old Testament, God instructed His people how to worship Him through the re-presentation of the Passover. In the New Testament, the Son of God instructed His Apostles to worship the Father through the re-presentation of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Therefore, the Holy Mass is not a new sacrifice, but rather the perpetuation of the one perfect sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, which brought glory to the Father and redemption to mankind. Christ demonstrated the form and pattern of perfect worship, the kind of worship that is pleasing to the Father.

For 2,000 years now, the Church has faithfully followed the command of the Lord to “Do this in remembrance of Me.” Father Matthew Buettner is the pastor of St. Dorothy Church in Lincolnton.

This is excerpted from “Understanding the Mystery of the Mass – Revisited,” available for purchase online at tedeumfoundation.org. Proceeds will go toward the purchase of land for a future seminary in the Diocese of Charlotte.

Take part in the conversation Catholic bloggers nationwide are busy talking about the revisions to the English Missal and how to understand them and engage more fully in the Mass. Check out Our Sunday Visitor’s daily blog on the revised Missal at romanmissalchanges.com.

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | April 22, 2011 FROM THE COVER

Vatican plans ‘spiritual journey’ for John Paul II’s beatification April 30-May 2 ceremonies will celebrate beloved pontiff’s spirituality and legacy Alan Holdren CNA/EWTN News

VATICAN CITY — Perhaps the grandest beatification ceremony ever celebrated –­the May 1 beatification of Pope John Paul II ­– will be divided into stages to maintain a solemn spirit across three days of prayerful preparation, celebration and thanksgiving.

The long beatification weekend is a “spiritual journey,” said Cardinal Agostino Vallini, the pope’s vicar for the Diocese of Rome.

The actual ceremony is set for May 1, sandwiched between an evening prayer vigil and a thanksgiving Mass the following day.

As pilgrims arrive to the Eternal City by bus, ferry and even “charter trains” April 30, they are invited to join together at the Circus Maximus –­a great field in the center of Rome once used for chariot races –­for a prayer vigil. The vigil will be both “universal and very Roman,” Cardinal Vallini said.

It is to be divided in two parts. The first is a celebration of the memory of the late pope.

A choir and orchestra will provide music as the image of Our Lady of Rome, Maria Salus Populi Romani, is processed into the venue.

Three people who were deeply affected

by Pope John Paul II will be present to

give their testimonies. His spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, his personal secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, and the religious sister miraculously healed of Parkinson’s disease through his intercession, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, will all speak of the late pope’s effect on their lives.

A second moment will be the prayer of the luminous mysteries of the rosary. The Circus Maximus will be connected by video to five Marian shrines around the world and each of the five decades of the rosary will be dedicated to an intention held dear by Pope John Paul II. Those taking part in the live video feed include: the sanctuary of Divine Mercy at the Lagniewniki Shrine in Krakow, Poland; the Kawekamo Shrine in Bugando, Tanzania; Our Lady of Lebanon Shrine in Harissa, Lebanon; the Basilica of Holy Mary of Guadalupe in Mexico City; and the Fatima Shrine in Portugal. The prayer intentions will be for the youth, the family, evangelization, hope and peace for nations and the Church.

Pope Benedict XVI will join by video for a final prayer and to impart the apostolic blessing on the faithful.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the

Vatican spokesman, said parishes and Catholic communities everywhere are invited to take part in simultaneous prayer initiatives.

Though the prayer vigil is scheduled to finish at 10:30 p.m., the prayerful preparation and “spiritual journey” will continue through the night. A total of eight parishes will be open through the night to provide places for worship and confession as the faithful make the pilgrimage across the historic city center to St. Peter’s Square for the morning beatification ceremony.

Many of the faithful are expected to spend the night under the stars as they await the start of the beatification celebration.

A Twitter account has also been set up through the Vatican’s Pope2You Web site, in which pilgrims can “tweet” about the experience as it unfolds and those interested around the world can follow along.

At 9 a.m., the throng of pilgrims will join together in an hour of prayer, beginning with the Divine Mercy Chaplet and finishing with an invocation of mercy over the world.

The beatification ceremony and Mass will then be presided over by the pope, with cardinals concelebrating. When the pope pronounces John Paul II a “blessed” and thus one step closer to official sainthood,

an enormous image of John Paul II will be unveiled in the square.

For the enormous turnout – estimated at around 400,000 – there will be 14 “maxiscreens” set up in the square and down the street leading out of it so the faithful can follow along.

There will be 500 priests distributing communion to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square and the outer Pius XII Square.

Another 300 will be available to offer the Eucharist to those pilgrims who are expected to fill the street leading up to St. Peter’s.

Churches around Rome will also offer communion during the beatification Mass for those who seek it.

A half hour after the Mass and following a visit from Pope Benedict and the cardinals to render him homage, John Paul II’s coffin will be available for veneration within St. Peter’s Basilica. The coffin, however, will not be opened. It will remain in its place until the last person who wishes to see it has done so. Father Lombardi said that this could even mean that visits extend into May 2.

On May 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone will preside over the final moment of the beatification celebrations. He will preside over an open-air thanksgiving Mass in St. Peter’s Square to wrap up the three-day event.

April 22, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

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What is Divine Mercy?

Be merciful as Your Father is merciful. We are not only to receive the mercy of God, but to use it by being merciful to others through our actions, our words and our prayers; in other words, we are to practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Lord wants us to do these works of mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no use without works.

What are the works of mercy?

Corporal Works • Feed the hungry • Give drink to the thirsty • Clothe the naked • Shelter the homeless • Comfort the prisoners • Visit the sick • Bury the dead Spiritual Works • Teach the ignorant • Pray for the living and dead • Correct sinners • Counsel those in doubt • Console the sorrowful • Bear wrongs patiently • Forgive wrongs willingly Polish Sister St. Faustina Kowalska is depicted with an image of Jesus Christ the Divine Mercy. Pope John Paul II will be beatified May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast that held special significance to the Polish pontiff. He wrote his second encyclical on God’s mercy, he canonized St. Faustina and his death on April 2, 2005, came an hour and a half after cardinals and priests began celebrating the Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday at his bedside.

Jesus’ call to mercy Jesus communicated through St. Maria Faustina the following message: “I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it. I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first, by deed; the second, by word; the third, by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy.

“Many souls ... are often worried because they do not have the material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul.

“If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy.”

— Source: Marians of the Immaculate Conception, online at thedivinemercy.org

St. Matthew prepares for Divine Mercy Sunday event May 1 beatification of Pope John Paul II makes celebration extra special SueAnn Howell Staff writer

CHARLOTTE — God’s timing is always perfect.

Take for instance the impending beatification of the beloved Pope John Paul II, set for Divine Mercy Sunday, May 1.

Known as the “Divine Mercy Pope,” John Paul II is responsible for bringing to light the message of God’s Divine Mercy as revealed to St. Faustina Kowalska, a nun and fellow Polish citizen he beatified in 1993 and canonized in 2000. Pope John Paul II died in 2005 on the vigil of the feast of Divine Mercy.

For St. Matthew parishioners in south Charlotte, the message of Divine Mercy and the commemoration of Divine Mercy Sunday has become a way of life.

This year Divine Mercy Sunday will be even more special, as the beatification of Pope John Paul II by his successor Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled for that day.

For more To get more information about the Divine Mercy celebration at St. Matthew Church on May 1, contact Ralph Sullivan at 704-849-9748 or rscsm@aol.com, or see page 24.

Joining with millions of Catholics around the world, parishioners and guests at St. Matthew Church will participate in a special Divine Mercy celebration at the church to honor the beatification of John Paul II. The celebration begins at 2:45 p.m. in the main church with prayers for the canonization of Blessed John Paul II. A brief presentation will follow the prayer. It will highlight the promise Jesus made to St. Faustina that as long as Poland remained faithful to the Church, it would be protected, and that from its midst would come the spark to help light the world.

“Many consider that spark to be Pope John Paul II,” says Ralph Sullivan, coordinator of the Divine Mercy efforts at the parish.

During the presentation, next to an image of the Divine Mercy, Jesus’ words about how to exercise mercy to your neighbor will state: “By Deeds, By Word and By Prayer.”

Sullivan adds, “Pope John Paul II walked the

walk, showing the dignity of life until natural death, and even exercised mercy after death by healing Sister Simon Pierre of her Parkinson’s disease.”

The presentation will end with Pope John Paul’s words encouraging all to “be apostles of His mercy to all the world.”

Monsignor John McSweeney, pastor of St. Matthew Church, will lead the Divine Mercy service including communal prayer, the blessing of the image of Divine Mercy, a homily, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and singing of the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

Attendees will have an opportunity to sign up for new Cenacles of Divine Mercy that are forming at the parish, and to pick up information on how to start cenacles at other parishes. St. Matthew will also hold sign-ups for future cenacle facilitator training.

“Cenacles of the Divine Mercy are small Christian communities that meet regularly to share the wisdom and love contained in the conversations between Jesus and St. Maria Faustina Kowalska,” Sullivan says.

The new Cenacles will start meeting the week of May 22.

Display tables will be set up in the narthex with the Diary of St. Faustina, “Divine Mercy in My Soul,” Divine Mercy images, materials from the Marians of the Immaculate Conception and the Eucharistic Apostles of the Divine Mercy, founding organization of the cenacles.

Watch the ceremonies live on TV VATICAN CITY — EWTN will broadcast all of the events of the beatification of Pope John Paul II on April 30-May 2.

Raymond Arroyo will anchor the coverage from Rome.

Joining him for analysis and commentary will be Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, Father Raymond J. de Souza, and EWTN Rome Bureau Chief Joan Lewis.

Below is the schedule of events: n Vigil in Honor of the Beatification of Pope John Paul II: Airs 1:30 p.m. (live), Saturday, April 30, with an encore at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 30. n Beatification of Pope John Paul II: Airs 3:30 a.m. (live), Sunday, May 1, with encores at 8 p.m. Sunday, May 1, 2 p.m.

Monday, May 2, and 4 p.m.

Saturday, May 7. n Mass of Thanksgiving in Honor of the Beatification of Pope John Paul II: Airs 4:30 a.m. (live), Monday, May 2, with an encore at 5:30 p.m.

Monday, May 2.

Check EWTN’s Web site (ewtn.com) for many other related programs including a special “The World Over” from Rome, which airs 8 p.m. Thursday, April 28, and encores at 5 p.m. Sunday, May 1, and 10 a.m. Monday, May 2.

Divine Mercy Sunday events on Sunday, May 1, will include: n Divine Mercy Preview Show: Airs live from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Mass.: Airs at noon. n Solemn Mass and Celebration of Divine Mercy: Airs live from Stockbridge, Mass., at 1 p.m. n Divine Mercy Holy Hour from the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Ala.: Airs live at 4 p.m.

Note: All broadcast times are subject to change. Please check ewtn.com for updates.

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iiiApril 22, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

FROM TH

For John Paul II JOHN THAVIS CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

Pope John Paul II holds his crosier as he prays during Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in this undated photo.

When the Vatican’s sainthood experts interviewed witnesses about the Polish pontiff, the focus of their investigation was on holiness, not achievement.

VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II is being beatified not for his performance as pope, but for how he lived the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love, Church officials have been emphasizing.

When the Vatican’s sainthood experts interviewed witnesses about the Polish pontiff, the focus of their investigation was on holiness, not achievement.

What emerged was a spiritual portrait of Pope John Paul, one that reflected lifelong practices of prayer and devotion, a strong sense of his priestly vocation and a reliance on faith to guide his most important decisions.

More than leadership or managerial skills, these spiritual qualities were the key to his accomplishments – both before and after his election as pope in 1978.

From an early age, Karol Wojtyla faced hardships that tested his trust in God. His mother died when he was 9, and three years later he lost his only brother to scarlet fever.

His father died when he was 20, and friends said Wojtyla knelt for 12 hours in prayer and

CNS | Catholic Press Photo

Pope John Paul II: A chronological record of the

HE COVER

I, spiritual journey marked path to beatification sorrow at his bedside.

At a spiritual crossroads in 1942, Wojtyla entered Krakow’s clandestine theological seminary. In the pope’s 1996 book, “Gift and Mystery,” he remembered his joy at being called to the priesthood, but his sadness at being cut off from acquaintances and other interests. He said he always felt a debt to friends who suffered “on the great altar of history” during World War II, while he pursued his underground seminary studies.

As a seminarian, he continued to be attracted to monastic contemplation. Twice during these years he petitioned to join the Discalced Carmelites but was said to have been turned away with the advice: “You are destined for greater things.”

He was ordained four years later, as Poland’s new communist regime was enacting restrictions on the Church. After two years of study in Rome, he returned to Poland in 1948 and worked as a young pastor.

After Pope John Paul I was elected in the first conclave of 1978, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla said in a sermon in Poland that the papacy, “although it is a great office, is also a very great cross.”

A few weeks later, Pope John Paul I was

dead, and the “cross” of the papacy fell to Cardinal Karol Wojtyla.

Early in his pontificate, on May 13, 1981 – the feast of Our Lady of Fatima – the Polish pope experienced a brush with death that intensified his already strong devotion to Mary. Mehmet Ali Agca shot and seriously wounded the pontiff in St. Peter’s Square.

The pope’s life hung in the balance, and his recovery was slow. He credited Mary with saving him, and he later traveled to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, where he placed a bullet fragment removed from his body in the crown of a statue of Mary.

Pope John Paul’s private prayer life was intense, and visitors who attended his morning Mass described him as immersed in an almost mystical form of meditation.

He prayed the liturgy of the hours, he withdrew for hours of silent contemplation and Eucharistic Adoration, and he said the rosary often – eventually adding five new luminous mysteries to this traditional form of prayer.

The pope also took penitential practices seriously. In a book published after his death, the postulator of his sainthood cause, Monsignor Slawomir Oder, said Pope John

Paul spent entire nights lying with his arms outstretched on the bare floor, fasted before ordaining priests or bishops and flagellated himself with a belt.

The world knows Pope John Paul largely because of his travels to 129 countries. For him, they were spiritual journeys. As he told his top advisers in 1980: “These are trips of faith and of prayer, and they always have at their heart the meditation and proclamation of the Word of God, the celebration of the Eucharist and the invocation of Mary.”

Pope John Paul never forgot that he was, above all, a priest. In his later years, he said repeatedly that what kept him going was not the power of the papacy but the spiritual strength that flowed from his priestly vocation. He told some 300,000 young people in 1997: “With the passing of time, the most important and beautiful thing for me is that I have been a priest for more than 50 years, because every day I can celebrate Holy Mass!”

In his final years, the suffering brought on by Parkinson’s disease, arthritis and other afflictions became part of his spiritual pilgrimage, demonstrating in an unusually public way his willingness to always embrace the cross.

April 22, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnewsiii

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Go online to learn more n www.vatican.va: The Vatican has compiled an outstanding wealth of information about the late pontiff and his work, including his encyclicals, homilies, speeches and letters; his apostolic constitutions; his extensive travels; his 25th jubilee celebration; and photos documenting every moment of his 26-year papacy. Dive into this easy-to-navigate site to learn just about anything you ever wanted to know about John Paul II. n usccb.org/popejohnpaulii: This new site by the U.S. bishops’ conference contains video footage spanning the late pope’s life, key messages during his visits to the United States, a biography and a timeline as well as many of his major writings. The site also features essays exploring his influence and legacy in areas from East-West relations, the social mission of the Church, his interaction with mass media and ethical uses of technology. n pope2you.net: At this soclal networking site set up by the Vatican, pilgrims can “tweet” about the beatification ceremony as it unfolds and those interested around the world can follow along with their experiences.

life and accomplishments of Karol Wojtyla

GRAPHIC BY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

Our schools

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | April 22, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

In Brief

CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC HOPES FOR EXPANSION

Academic Games team on to national tourney CHARLOTTE — The 2011 MACS Academic Games National Team received a blessing for success and safe travel from Capuchin Father Remo DiSalvatore, pastor, following Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte April 10. The team is competing in the Academic Games League of America National Tournament in Orlando, Fla., from April 29 to May 2.

— Mary “Annette” Morales

CCHS earns Army’s thanks CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School students received an official letter of thanks from U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, on behalf of the Afghan government, for their recent contribution of school supplies sent to an Army project which assists an Afghan school.

OLG Scouts plant garden GREENSBORO — As part of their Silver Award project, Our Lady of Grace School seventh-graders Katharine Hornfeck, Kate Revels, Emily Schettino and Kate Murray, part of cadet Girl Scout troop 41134, recently planted an edible garden at Partnership Village. Named “Together We Grow,” the garden will provide residents with fresh cucumbers, snap peas, tomatoes, sunflowers and squash throughout the summer. Project coordinator is Judy Revels and troop leader is Sandy Scherzer.

PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Lobby & Gallery 650 seat auditorium Art Dance Drama Choral music Instrumental music 35,000 SF

COVERED WALK & COURTYARD PARKING GARAGE EXISTING GYMNASIUM

EXISTING CLASSROOMS

— Karen Hornfeck

Transportation poster winners named WINSTON-SALEM — The fifth and sixth grade art classes at Our Lady of Mercy School in Winston-Salem recently created posters for the American Traffic Safety Services Association’s national work zone awareness calendar program. Finalists from OLM going on to the national competition are: Cecelia Kammire, Casey Martin, Olivia Doyle, Rosa Martinez and Cecelia Haggas.

The top three winners nationwide, who will be announced May 31, will win cash prizes from ATSSA and the top 12 are put in the association’s calendar for the transportation construction industry. Funds go to the scholarship program for kids whose parents have lost their lives or livelihoods due to accidents in a road construction zone.

— Leila Goddard

Race held to benefit St. Leo School WINSTON-SALEM — More than 800 runners participated in St. Leo School’s 16th Annual Road Race March 19, held each year to raise funds for the school’s technology program. The event was organized by Pam Seach and Kathy Dissosway, and included a pasta dinner the night before, hosted by the local Knights of Columbus Council 2829.

— Donna Birkel

Raffle helps Haiti WINSTON-SALEM — Our Lady of Mercy School fifth-grader Michael Boose won a “Mercy Mustangs Memorabilia” basket as part of a schoolwide raffle for the benefit of Haitian children in need. Helping Hands of Mercy, the OLM student service organization, raised more than $315 through this raffle.

— Leila Goddard We welcome your school’s news. E-mail items to Editor Patricia Guilfoyle at plguilfoyle@charlottediocese.org.

Site Plan COURTESY OF THE charlotte Catholic high school foundation

A fine arts center and a new parking deck are two components of the Charlotte Catholic High School Foundation’s proposed $16 million expansion plan for the high school in south Charlotte.

$16M plan would add fine arts center SueAnn Howell Staff writer

CHARLOTTE — Imagine Charlotte Catholic High School with a fine arts center, sports complex and parking deck.

That is the vision of a study about how to make the Charlotte area’s first Catholic high school the best it can be.

After receiving 22 responses to a survey sent out to similar high schools around the country, the Charlotte Catholic High School Foundation was able to assess its future needs and come up with a plan to make them happen.

The result is “Crystallizing the Vision, Reaching our 21st Century Potential,” a three-part proposal to enhance Charlotte Catholic High School by adding a fine arts center, a much-needed parking deck and a sports complex near the school in the fast-growing Pineville-Matthews Road area.

The plan is centered on four components: faith, education, culture and personal values. Each component has at its core the spiritual, educational, social and character development needs of Charlotte Catholic students.

The proposed 35,000-square-foot fine arts center would house a 650-seat auditorium and classrooms for art, drama and music. The center would sit on the current site of a parking lot, so a new 330-space parking deck would then be built adjacent to the existing football field to provide parking for students, faculty and visitors.

Check it out View the details of Charlotte Catholic High School’s expansion plan online at charlottecatholic.org/foundation/vision.html.

The proposed sports complex would encompass 60-plus acres with fields and courts for soccer, lacrosse, rugby, track, baseball, softball, tennis, and a walking trail/cross country trail built on property in close proximity to the CCHS campus.

The estimated cost of the plan based on a preliminary estimate is $16 million, not including any land costs. Timing of the possible expansion will be determined by diocesan leadership.

Jerry Healy, principal of Charlotte Catholic High School, recently sent an e-mail to CCHS families and stakeholders directing them to an online survey about the plan, seeking their feedback and possible willingness to help participate in the fundraising effort.

“We are moving closer to our dream of completing the Charlotte Catholic High School facilities,” Healy said. “I hope you will find this as exciting as I do. These additions would complete the wonderful high school that we have today.”

April 22, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

Photo courtesy of Diana Lambropoulos

Helping out during Lent Preschool students at Our Lady of the Assumption School in Charlotte recently prepared lunch for the homeless guests of Room in the Inn at St. Luke Church in Mint Hill. This activity was their Lenten community service project this year.

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Mix

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | April 22, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

In theaters

On TV

‘Rio’ Buoyant animated adventure with music about a Brazilian-born macaw (voice of Jesse Eisenberg) raised as a cosseted pet in Minnesota. Informed by an eccentric Riobased scientist (voice of Rodrigo Santoro) that her feathery friend is the last male of his species, his devoted owner (voice of Leslie Mann) reluctantly brings him back to his native land so that he can mate with his sole remaining female counterpart (voice of Anne Hathaway). Lessons about environmental stewardship and love-inspired loyalty are decked out in kaleidoscopic colors and delivered in an overwhelmingly child-friendly tone in director Carlos Saldanha’s 3-D flight of fancy. A few nursery-level bathroom references, a fleeting double entendre.

CNS: A-I (general patronage), MPAA: G

‘The Conspirator’ Engrossing historical drama, set in the final days of the Civil War, in which a Union Army officer-turned-lawyer (James McAvoy) is called upon to defend Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), the pro-Confederate widow in whose Washington boardinghouse John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators, including her own son John (Johnny Simmons), plotted to kill Abraham Lincoln. Initially convinced of his client’s guilt, the attorney’s views shift as he witnesses the ruthless maneuvering of the prosecution team (led by Danny Huston) at her military tribunal. Some wartime gore, a realistic hanging.

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

‘Scream 4’ The latest installment in director Wes Craven’s slasher franchise, begun in 1996, wallows in the same mindless havoc that characterized its predecessors. Trouble brews anew when the survivor of the first three rampages (Neve Campbell) returns home to Woodsboro while promoting her new book about the highly publicized saga.

Excessive gory violence, some profanity and sexual banter, and two scenes of underage drinking.

CNS: O (morally offensive), MPAA: R

photo courtesy of United Artists

Sunday, April 24, 4:30-8 p.m. (TCM) “The Greatest Story Ever Told” (1965). While not the greatest movie ever made, director George Stevens’ vision of the Gospel story presents a consistent, traditional view of Christ as the God incarnate. The movie, despite its epic Hollywood scale, is well-acted, tastefully and realistically written, and beautifully photographed. CNS: A-I (general patronage), MPAA: G

n Sunday, April 24, 4-6 a.m. (EWTN) “Solemn Mass of Easter Sunday With Pope Benedict XVI (Live).” The pope celebrates Easter Sunday Mass at the Vatican. The liturgy will be rerun 7-9 p.m. n Sunday, April 24, 6-7 a.m. (EWTN) “Urbi et Orbi Blessing and Message (Live).” Pope Benedict gives the traditional Easter message and blessing “urbi et orbi” to the city of Rome and to the world. Presented live from St. Peter’s Square. The ceremony will be rerun 5-6 p.m. n Sunday, April 24, noon-2 p.m. (EWTN) “Solemn Mass of Easter Sunday (Live).” Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington will serve as celebrant and homilist at this liturgy broadcast live from that city’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

n Sunday, April 24, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (TCM) “Barabbas” (1961). Uneven costume epic follows the tormented path of the criminal (Anthony Quinn) who, after being freed by Pilate instead of Christ, is sentenced to the sulfur mines in Sicily, brought to Rome to be a gladiator (with Jack Palance as grimacing tutor-adversary) and finally crucified as a Christian under Nero.

CNS: A-II (adults and adolescents) n Sunday, April 24, 10 p.m.-midnight (TCM) “Godspell” (1973). Sparkling screen version of musical based loosely on the Gospel according to Matthew, featuring an off-Broadway cast with Victor Garber as the Christ figure and David Haskell as both John the Baptist and Judas. What

makes the movie so high-spirited is director David Greene’s turning the entire city of New York into a giant stage set, with its buildings, streets and parks all strikingly used for great effect.

CNS: A-I (general patronage), MPAA: G n Saturday, April 30, 2:30-5 p.m. (EWTN) “Vigil in Honor of the Beatification of Pope John Paul II (Live).” This vigil, broadcast live from Rome’s Circus Maximus, will be led by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, papal vicar for Rome, while Pope Benedict will be present via a video linkup.

John Paul II The event will be rerun 8-10:30 p.m. Note: see full coverage of the beatification on pages 10-13.

April 22, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

MONASTERY:

Want to help?

FROM PAGE 3

through the woods at that exact moment to light up a cross made of sticks. They were at different levels, and to the naked eye didn’t even look like they intersected.”

That’s where St. Helena comes in. In the fourth century she found relics of the True Cross in Jerusalem and brought them back to Rome.

Over time they felt this was a confirmation of where God wanted His Eucharistic Throne established. An engineering study was done to ensure the land was viable. Once the Poor Clares received the news that the land would support their plans, they sought Bishop Peter J. Jugis’s opinion and took the bishop of Charlotte to see the property. Bishop Jugis supports their choice.

The 500-acre tract will provide the privacy and solitude required for the monastic life of the Poor Clares, who spend their days in perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. The plan is to build a 150-seat chapel, which will be open to the public for Mass, Adoration and prayer, as well as a monastery with cells for 14 nuns. An Ohio architect, Scott Harper, has already drawn up the plans, done before they moved to Charlotte from Ohio last year.

“We intend to build the chapel first,” Mother Dolores Marie said. “We want to put Our Lord first.

We figure it has always worked that if you put Our

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RCIA: FROM PAGE 3

Every penny counts, so the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration welcome donations of any size to put towards buying land for their new monastery. No donation is too small, so contribute your “Pennies for the Poor Clares” by bringing them by or sending them to St. Joseph Monastery, 3452 Willow Oak Road, Charlotte, N.C. 28209.

Donations can also be made online at stjosephmonastery. com.

Lord first, everything else falls into place.”

“People need to know that the chapel will be open to them,” she added, “so they can come away from the busy world – to come and just be with the Lord.”

The Poor Clares already have many of the fixtures needed for the chapel – the stained glass windows, the marble high altar, and most of the furnishings – salvaged from closed Catholic churches in Ohio.

Before the chapel and the rest of the project can proceed, though, the Poor Clares need to buy the land.

“We still need about $300,000,” Mother Dolores Marie said. “We are praying the prayer to St. Joseph daily for the intention of obtaining the funds to buy the property. The Lord has been working so powerfully with us, and we know that His providence will provide.”

rosary. But this is not a class in the usual sense of the word.

“Our approach is a combination of catechesis and a spiritual journey,” Hammond says.

During their nine-month spiritual journey, there are two points of public confirmation for the catechumens (not yet baptized) and candidates (already baptized) in every parish: the Rite of Acceptance in the fall and the Rite of Election during Lent.

In the Rite of Acceptance, the RCIA class comes before the parish community to express their commitment to the ongoing study of the faith.

This is an important moment for these adults discerning their interest in becoming Catholic, because it is the first time they publicly announce their interest in joining the Church.

In the Rite of Election, catechumens become the “elect” and candidates experience the “call to continuing conversion.” The class again publicly announces their desire to come into full communion with the Church.

Father Brian Cook, St. Leo’s pastor, is an enthusiastic advocate for RCIA, and he encouraged Father Lucas Rossi, who was ordained last June, to be involved in the process this year.

“I wanted there to be a priestly presence, for him to be a part of the guidance of the group, but I also wanted him as a young priest to experience the remarkable movement of God’s grace within this very diverse group,” Father Cook said.

This year’s class at St. Leo’s will be received into the Church by Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin at the Easter Vigil. But the class will not stop there. The group will meet again in May for Mass and fellowship, along with a program entitled “I Am Catholic: Now What?,” covering the many ways these new Catholics can get involved in parish life.

Our nation

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | April 22, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Charter review will look at Philadelphia abuse situation

In Brief Budget debate leads to questions about priorities

Nancy Frazier O’Brien Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — When the U.S. bishops meet in Seattle in June, they will review implementation of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” nearly 10 years after its 2002 passage.

They also will look at “whether there was some sort of the breakdown of the system” that prompted the abuse-related investigation of more than two dozen priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, said Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Spokane, Wash.

“I’m confident that the dioceses are doing their work and that the situation Philadelphia is facing – removing such a large number of priests, the circumstances under which that occurred,” is an aberration, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People said. “We have to wait to see exactly what happened in Philadelphia.”

Two priests, a former priest and a former Catholic schoolteacher entered pleas of not guilty in Philadelphia April 15 to charges that included child rape.

Another priest who had been in charge of assigning those and other priests pled not guilty to child endangerment.

In all, 26 priests have been placed on administrative leave pending an independent investigation of child sex abuse allegations against them following the Feb. 10 release of a Philadelphia grand jury report.

Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia and other archdiocesan officials have stressed that placing them on leave is an interim measure and not a final determination or judgment.

Bishop Cupich has been involved in the U.S. bishops’ efforts against child sex abuse since 2002. He said the bishops’ actions in Seattle will be “not so much doing a review as going back to our principal motivations in crafting the charter.”

“Well over 100 bishops have been ordained (in the U.S.) since 2002, so we want to make sure they are prepared and understand what the motivations were that we had,” Bishop Cupich added.

Bishop Cupich spoke during National Child Abuse Prevention Month and a few days after the U.S. bishops released the results of audits of diocesan compliance with the charter.

CNS | Rich Reece, NC Catholic

Catholic Charities distributes food to residents affected by a recent tornado in Raleigh, N.C., April 19. Three days of violent storms and tornadoes in the southern U.S. have killed at least 43 people, downing power lines and wrecking hundreds of buildings.

N.C. bishop asks prayers for tornado victims Catholic News Service

RALEIGH — Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Raleigh urged Catholics in the diocese to include in their prayers for Holy Week a special intention for the victims and survivors of the deadly tornadoes that ripped through portions of the diocese April 16.

According to the National Weather Service, 25 tornadoes swept through the state, killing 24 people and decimating about 800 homes. Eighteen counties were declared disaster areas.

Bishop Burbidge directed the Raleigh Diocese’s 95 parishes and mission churches to hold a special collection with the money to be dedicated entirely to disaster relief.

In a video message posted to the diocesan Web site, dioceseofraleigh.org, Bishop Burbidge noted that while pictures of the devastation are dramatic, the fact that people’s lives have been traumatically affected is much more significant. He also pointed out that within hours of the storm’s passing, Catholic Charities’ seven regional offices had contacted all pastors and pastoral administrators to find out about damage in their areas.

Rick Miller-Haraway, Catholic Charities regional director in Raleigh, said they are providing immediate counseling – especially important for migrants and the poor, because most of them do not have insurance and can easily fall through the cracks for receiving assistance.

In Raleigh, the agency staff members were on the scene of the affected mobile home park within hours after the tornado struck. Consuelo Kwee, director of the Hispanic Family Center, gathered the mostly Hispanic residents together to pray the rosary.

Staff members continue to visit the mobile home park to deliver food and provide information on available services.

In a normal week, Catholic Charities provides food to hundreds of people through its Catholic Parish Outreach and its Hispanic Family Center facility.

On April 18, the parish outreach provided more than 400 families with food.

With the power out, volunteers worked with flashlights to bag groceries for families who rely on the outreach program’s food pantry.

“In this holiest of weeks, I ask that you include a special intention in your prayers for those who have died, who were injured and who suffered property loss or damage,” Bishop Burbidge said.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the political debate surrounding the country’s spending priorities, tax policy and reducing debt deepens, the faith community and social service advocates have mounted a campaign to prevent the needs of the poor and vulnerable from being heaped into the pile of expendables. The effort is rooted in the biblical call for justice for people on the margins – children, the elderly, the sick, the poor.

Employing tactics from a rolling fast involving 36,000 people – including 27 members of Congress – to town hall meetings, the broad-based effort has stressed that spending priorities must reflect basic moral principles.

Their main concern is that the cuts approved by Congress April 14 disproportionately target programs benefiting the poor. For example, the U.S. bishops’ Office of International Justice and Peace and Catholic Relief Services compiled a list of 17 poverty-focused international humanitarian programs that accounted for 0.6 percent of the U.S. budget (almost $20 billion) but originally were targeted for about 25 percent of the cuts. In the end, the revised spending plan adopted by Congress cut $38 billion from the 2011 budget. It’s the largest one-year reduction in discretionary spending in U.S. history.

Santa Fe archbishop: Cohabiting Catholics should stop ‘living in sin’ ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The archbishop of Santa Fe in a recent pastoral letter admonished unmarried Catholic couples who are living together, those who are not married but are in a civil union and divorced Catholics who remarry without an annulment, warning them not to receive Holy Communion.

Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan said it was up to the Church and its pastors to emphasize that with regard to sexual unions, “there are only two lifestyles acceptable to Jesus Christ for his disciples: a single life of chastity, or the union of man and woman in the sacrament of matrimony. There is no ‘third way’ possible for a Christian.”

Catholics living in one of the three relationships he described “are objectively living in a state of mortal sin,” Archbishop Sheehan said. “They are in great spiritual danger.

At the best – and this is, sadly, often the case – they are ignorant of God’s plan for man and woman. At the worst, they are contemptuous of God’s commandments and His sacraments.”

Wilmington diocese to cut jobs WILMINGTON, Del. — The Diocese of Wilmington will eliminate 22 jobs by July 1 as it cuts operating expenses and prepares to pay more than $77.4 million to survivors of sexual abuse by priests.

Among the services that will be discontinued because of the layoffs are two run by Catholic Charities – parish social ministry and the adoption program. The diocese will also eliminate its newspaper. Other job cuts are coming from the offices of the chancery, Hispanic ministry, human resources, religious education and marriage tribunal.

New Yakima bishop named WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pope Benedict XVI has named Auxiliary Bishop Joseph J. Tyson of Seattle, 53, to succeed Bishop Carlos Sevilla of Yakima, Wash., 75.

— Catholic News Service

April 22, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

‘Nothing beats Scripture’ for keeping life in perspective, Obama says Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — At busy times and amid critical national debates, “nothing beats Scripture and the reminder of the eternal” for keeping things in perspective, President Barack Obama said April 19 at his second Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House.

Speaking to a crowd of about 130 people, Obama said he wanted to have such an event “because as busy as we are, as many tasks as pile up, during this season we are reminded that there’s something about the Resurrection – something about the Resurrection of Our Savior, Jesus Christ, that puts everything else in perspective.”

“Everybody in this room has weighty responsibilities, from leading churches and denominations, to helping to administer important government programs, to shaping our culture in various ways,” he said. “But CNS | Jim Young, Reuters then comes Holy Week. The triumph of Palm U.S. President Barack Obama takes part in an Easter Sunday. The humility of Jesus washing the prayer breakfast in the East Room at the White House in disciples’ feet. His slow march up that hill, Washington, D.C., April 19. and the pain and the scorn and the shame of the cross. And we’re reminded that in that moment, He took on the sins of the world – past, present and future –- and He extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through His death and Resurrection.”

Among those present at the breakfast were Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C.; Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Washington’s retired archbishop; Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City; and Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, Calif.

Among the priests in attendance were Father Theodore Parker, pastor of St. Cecilia and St. Leo parishes in Detroit; Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA; Jesuit Father Charles Currie, president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities; and Oblate Father Andrew Small, outgoing director of the U.S. bishops’ Office for the Church in Latin America and newly named national director for the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Women religious who participated included Sister Kateri Mitchell, a Sister of St. Anne who heads the Tekakwitha Conference. She read a passage from the Book Isaiah (25: 6-8), which talks about God preparing a lavish banquet for all, wiping tears from all faces, removing reproach from all the earth and swallowing up death for all time.

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Our world

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | April 22, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Pope: To be holy is to love God VATICAN CITY — Everyone is called to holiness, which is simply striving to imitate Christ, particularly in loving God and loving others, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Ending a long series of general audience talks about saints and doctors of the Church, the pope spoke about the meaning of holiness and how it is achieved.

Addressing an estimated 12,000 people in St. Peter’s Square April 13, Pope Benedict said there are three simple rules for living a holy life: “Never let a Sunday go by without an encounter with the risen Christ in the Eucharist; this is not an added burden, it is light for the entire week;” “Never begin or end a day without at least a brief contact with God” in prayer; “And along the pathway of our lives, follow the road signs that God has given us in the Ten Commandments, read in the light of Christ; they are nothing other than explanations of what is love in specific situations.”

The pope said he knows most people, aware of their limits and weaknesses, think it wouldn’t be possible to be a saint.

The doubts, he said, are one of the reasons the Church proposes “a host of saints – those who fully lived charity and knew how to love and follow Christ in their daily lives” – to be remembered on specific days throughout the year. The saints come from every period of the Church’s history, every part of the world, every age group and every lifestyle, he said.

— Catholic News Service

In Brief Ivory Coast: Cholera outbreak feared; theology school robbed

CNS | Paul Haring

Cardinals carry woven palm fronds as they arrive in procession for Palm Sunday Mass with Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican April 17.

Technology without God pulls humanity down, pope says on Palm Sunday John Thavis Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI warned that technological progress must not lead people to think they can “become God.” About 50,000 faithful waved olive branches and palm fronds in St. Peter’s Square April 17 at the start of the liturgy commemorating Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem five days before His crucifixion.

The German pontiff, who celebrated his 84th birthday the day before, joined a procession that led to the Egyptian obelisk in the center of the square. He asked listeners to continue to prepare for Easter through penitence and acts of charity.

In his homily, Pope Benedict said the Palm Sunday procession must be understood as more than a “quaint custom.” It represents the spiritual ascent that all Christians are called to make, a journey “along the high road that leads to the living God,” he said.

Such an ascent is impossible without God’s help, he said, although men and women have long attempted to “attain the heights of God by their own powers.” All

the inventions of the human spirit are ultimately an effort to become independent and completely free – but without God, this effort is doomed to failure, he said.

“Mankind has managed to accomplish so many things: We can fly. We can see, hear and speak to one another from the farthest ends of the earth,” he said. “And yet the force of gravity which draws us down is powerful. With the increase of our abilities there has been an increase not only of good.

Our possibilities for evil have increased and appear like menacing storms above history.”

He described people as caught between two “gravitational fields”: the force of gravity that pulls people down toward selfishness, falsehood and evil, and the force of God’s love that pulls people up.

The spiritual ascent to which Christians are called has some concrete elements, including purity, honesty and faith in God, he said.

“The great achievements of technology are liberating and contribute to the progress of mankind only if they are joined to these attitudes -- if our hands become clean and our hearts pure, if we seek truth, if we seek God and let ourselves be touched and challenged by His love,” he said.

A Salesian priest directing a mission in Duekoue where at least 30,000 refugees remain says he fears an outbreak of cholera if more aid is not received soon. Food, water, medicine and sanitation facilities are in short supply for those who took refuge at the Salesian-run mission after armed fighting left at least 800 dead in the city of 47,000.

Salesian Father Vicente Grupeli, director of the St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus Mission in Duekoue, said his mission suspended all activities to care for the refugees, who have overwhelmed the facility as army forces and militia supporting President Alassane Ouattara attacked security personnel and mercenaries loyal to outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo.

Gbagbo was arrested April 11 but unrest continues throughout the country.

In the capital of Abidjan April 17, armed robbers stormed a Jesuit-run theology school, the Institute of Theology of the Company of Jesus, as the priests were preparing for dinner.

The robbers beat one person and ransacked the priests’ rooms while holding them at gunpoint.

Vatican concerned over China relations VATICAN CITY — A Vatican commission on China expressed deep concern over worsening relations with the Chinese government and appealed to authorities there to avoid steps that would aggravate church-state problems.

The commission urged Chinese authorities not to persist in imposing new governmentbacked bishops who do not have the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, and it noted the “general climate of disorientation and anxiety about the future” of the Church in China, following recent setbacks in Church-state relations.

Mexican bishop says priest abandoned parish after threats MEXICO CITY — A Mexican bishop said at least one priest has abandoned his parish in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas – about 85 miles south of Brownsville, Texas – where the bodies of at least 122 abducted and murdered bus passengers have been pulled from mass graves recently. Matamoros Bishop Faustino Armendariz Jimenez said April 13 that at least one priest from a municipality near the mass graves had fled after being threatened and harassed by warring drug cartels. He added that other priests travel with fear in the state, plagued by highway checkpoints manned by the cartels. The bishop spoke as Mexico confronted the horror of another mass slaying in Tamaulipas, where cartels continue to fight over lucrative drug-smuggling routes.

— Catholic News Service

April 22, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

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Pope warns of hostility to faith in Spain Sarah Delaney Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI warned of the consequences of a climate of indifference or even hostility to faith in increasingly secularized Spain and the dangers presented by the current difficult economic climate.

Pope Benedict told the new Spanish ambassador to the Vatican, Maria Figa Lopez-Palop, April 16 that the role of the Church and the help it can offer should not be overlooked, especially in such hard times.

Lopez-Palop is the first female ambassador in the 600-year diplomatic history between Spain and the Church.

Pope Benedict said that the increasingly secular society in Spain “does not favor openness to transcendence” and demonstrates “sophisticated forms of hostility to the faith.”

In certain sectors, he said, “religion is

considered socially insignificant, even troublesome,” with the result that faith is marginalized “through defamation, ridicule, even indifference to evident cases of profanation” of religious objects and monuments.

He said that while the economic problems of Spain, especially unemployment, are “truly worrisome,” the Church is in a unique position with its diverse institutions to help those in difficulty. The Church, he said, watches over fundamental human rights, including “the right to human life from its beginning to its natural end.”

The Church also “watches over” the rights of the family by encouraging economic, social and legislative measures that support families so that men and women “can carry out their vocations as a sanctuary of love and life.”

In a trip to Spain last November, the pope warned of hostility to Catholicism. He will return there in August for World Youth Day.

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | April 22, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Msgr. Anthony J. Marcaccio

Rico De Silva

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God is my job counselor

made a bold statement to my wife on Ash Wednesday. I had been unemployed since last September, so I promised her that I would have a full-time job with benefits by April 1. Her immediate reaction was: “That’s April Fools’ Day; very funny, Rico.”

To show her I was serious, I put it in writing and guaranteed my claim in “the name of Jesus Christ, who is Lord of this household.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” she said.

More than a testament of my faith in God, my promise was a desperate attempt to put her worries to rest due to our bleak financial situation at the time. I immediately reached for my secret weapon: a 30-day novena called the Holy Cloak of St. Joseph.

I knew my timing was good because traditionally the month of March is the month of St. Joseph.

The novena is recited for 30 consecutive days, and according to St. Teresa of Avila, it never fails. However, it takes about 30 minutes each time to say it. I was determined to stick to it.

I also meditated daily on Luke 11:1-13, one of my favorite Gospel passages. I reminded Our Lord every day that according to Luke, “Everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door is opened.”

I have been in sales for most of my professional life, so I decided to look for a sales job. Two weeks went by, but no bites despite my networking. I skipped the St. Joseph novena a couple times, but I remained faithful to my daily Gospel meditation. My prayer went from, “God, please don’t April Fool me” to “God, don’t make me look like a fool, please.” April 1 arrived, but I didn’t get a single job offer. Luckily, my wife had forgotten all about the guarantee by then, and I wasn’t about to bring it up.

I was disappointed and felt God had let me down.

Then, on Sunday morning, April 3, God showed up. As I was driving to make more copies of my resumé, I felt prompted to pray the Our Father. I couldn’t get past “Who art in Heaven” and started sobbing like a baby. I begged the Father not to drop me and let my wife and family down. Then His answer was to let go and let Him carry my weight and everything would be OK. I uttered a surrender prayer to the Father and was overcome by a deep sense of peace.

What followed was a series of events that can only be described as providential. While waiting to get help at the copy store, I came across a book on the shelf called, “How to Sell Anything to Anybody,” by a guy named Joe Girard. Joe holds the world record for selling the most new cars in a year. I couldn’t put it down and sensed that God was speaking to me through the book. Then it dawned on me that several of my friends had suggested that I would be good at car sales.

The following morning, I put on my best suit and went to a large dealership. Before going in, I prayed to Our Lord and asked Him to please open that door if He in fact wanted me to go in the car business. I walked in cold but was able to interview with upper management right away. The general manager told me I had the job if I could pass the background check. I thanked him and tried to play it cool as I walked back to my car. Two days later, 29 days into the St. Joseph novena, I got the job offer and accepted it gladly.

I challenged God and took Him at His word. Then the Father took me for a ride and showed me that God is never late. God is in control of our lives, whether we see it or not, and the more we surrender to Him, the more He can accomplish in our lives.

Rico De Silva is a member of St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte.

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As Lent concludes, let us make peace with our own crosses

remember many years ago at a parish mission, we were encouraged to carry a nail during Lent to remember what a certain Jewish carpenter did for us on the cross, and that it was our sin that put Him there. I think it was supposed to be cathartic, as we were to nail our sins to a parish cross during the Good Friday liturgy. It was a good effort, but at the end of Lent I was reminded as much of my need for a seamstress to fix the holes in my pockets as I was of my need for a Savior.

While the nail carrying and para-liturgy were all “relevant,” I am not sure there is anything as reverent as the traditional Good Friday Veneration of the Cross, which takes the form of a kiss. I like to think of the highly moving, symbolic gesture as a sign of peace as well as one of veneration.

We all have crosses, burdens, troubles and worries, but it’s in the free acceptance of the invitation to bear our own cross in unison with Christ that we find it as a way to salvation and not just something sharp or something to struggle under.

Christ’s sacrifice certainly involved nails, thorns, pain and agony – those dark realities often portrayed in graphic ways. They are necessary details that show us the scope of His sacrifice. There is nothing He did not bear for us.

However, this Lent I would like to turn your attention from the nails to a more nuanced aspect of the cross.

I think you may find it in the face of the Crucified Lord in our church. We chose this corpus very carefully from hundreds of examples. It was carved in Italy and hangs on a cross made by a parishioner from oak harvested from our property. We chose it because of the historical precedent in Romanesque art, but most of all, we chose it because of Christ’s serene expression.

The Gospels, as well as the Eucharistic prayers of the Church, give voice to this reality: Christ, accepting the will of the Father, freely opened His arms on the cross and laid down His life for us in love; no one takes it from Him. This Lent, I invite you to look at the face of the Crucified Lord and see His peaceful expression of serenity. It’s a sign of hope that says, even in the midst of the Passion, everything is all right. It is done out of Love, and God knows what He is about.

Right now there are enough nails and violence in our world. What we need is serenity and peace. I hope that, after these 40 days of Lent, we will be better prepared to make peace with our own crosses and freely choose, as disciples of Christ, to make our sacrifice of love.

Rev. Monsignor Anthony J. Marcaccio is pastor of St. Pius X Church in Greensboro.

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April 22, 2011 | charlottediocese.org/catholicnews

catholic news heraldI 23

Batrice Adcock

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arch 12, 2011: It’s been less than a week since I miscarried Aaron Joseph, who was born March 7. In this time, and several days leading up to his birth, God made His presence known – giving me the support and encouragement I have needed to be at peace. And I have learned that peace is what He wants most for us all, even amid intense suffering.

When I was about 19 weeks pregnant, my obstetrician told me I had a very rare complication, one she had not seen before.

She sent me to a specialist, and on March 2, I was immediately hospitalized, because the doctor’s opinion was that my partial placental abruption could complete at any time. Although the baby was too young to save at the time, even a walk to the hospital lobby could cause me to bleed to death. I could only leave the hospital if my bleeding went away completely. I did not see that happening, because I had been bleeding every day for months.

My husband Adam and I had been praying a novena to St. Jude, asking for his intercession for healing, or at least for the safe delivery of our baby, Aaron. It would be only four more weeks until he would be old enough to live if he were born prematurely.

From the time the specialist told me the gravity of my situation until the time I was hospitalized, I was in a daze. I was put on modified bed rest, a huge adjustment for me. I was convinced I would remain at the hospital for the rest of my pregnancy.

I would not get to see Adam or Adria, our 2-year-old daughter, through the week. I would not get to garden. I would not even get to go outside.

At home lately I’d had little time for my daily prayers, but in the hospital I had nothing but time. I eagerly looked at my “Magnificat” for guidance and support that first evening in the hospital. The Gospel reading that day was from Mark 10:32-45, describing Jesus’ Passion. The meditation for the day explained how we participate in Jesus’ Passion: “Although we have many afflictions to suffer ... we should understand that it is only by the cross of Christ that we are saved.”

I felt I had a major cross to carry. As I read over the St. Jude novena that night, the line “Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone” hit me as never before.

My work with Catholic Social Services as the diocese’s Natural Family Planning program director is about building a

God does give us peace, even in our worst suffering Batrice Adcock holds her son Aaron Joseph, who was stillborn at 20 weeks.

photo courtesy of Batrice Adcock

‘The deepest lessons the heart has to deliver to us become accessible only when it is ruptured.’ culture of life. So I worked diligently in my hospital room in between phone calls from loving family and friends. Just as I was getting settled in, the next day the doctors discharged me because my bleeding had not worsened and my vitals were stable. I was happy to get the chance to be with my family, and I looked at my evening prayers for encouragement as I prepared to leave the hospital.

The next day, my bleeding increased and I began to have contractions. I returned to the hospital, wanting the doctors to give me medication to stop the contractions, but they felt it was too risky because of my bleeding.

I was heartbroken, but I knew that if I could relax and stay hydrated, there was a good chance my contractions would subside. So I lay back and gulped tap water in my room.

Before long the contractions went away and I was discharged again.

The next morning at home, I was on strict bed rest, with my family helping to care for me and look after Adria. Occasionally, Adria would come cuddle with me. This was so much better than the hospital! Later that morning, I had a very special experience: I felt the presence of Jesus and Mary, His Mother, in the room with me. You might be surprised by my response: I laughed lightly, thanked them for being with me, but told

them there was probably someone else who more desperately needed them – and I asked them to go be with someone specific, a very dear family member.

The next day my contractions began again, growing worse than before. At the hospital several hours later, I delivered my baby boy, Aaron Joseph. He looked so peaceful. He had died from lack of oxygen after my placenta completely abrupted during labor. He was born a few minutes later. I was glad that he did not struggle – he basically fell asleep. I was 20 weeks pregnant. I pondered the fact that abortion is legal in North Carolina until 20 weeks, and it pained me that abortionists could knowingly destroy such beautiful, perfectly formed babies. And it pained me that so many babies are not wanted and loved as much as my little Aaron. I held my little boy close and bathed him with my tears.

Later that night, I realized that God had helped to lighten my burden. The compassionate nurse who had helped me through my delivery was named Judy – a sign to me that St. Jude and Our Lord heard my prayers and wished to comfort me.

Also, the nurse-midwife who had delivered Adria, and with whom I had formed a special relationship, felt a strong urge to come to the hospital the evening I delivered. When

she arrived, the nurses explained that a patient of hers was there. She came in my room simply to say hello, and realizing I was about to deliver, she prepared to assist me, as the OB on call was in another delivery.

I immediately felt more peaceful when she arrived. After the delivery, she cried with me and related her joy at being present for the “ascension” of little Aaron’s soul into heaven.

Exhausted, I slept well that night after reflecting on these blessings.

The following day, my dad told me he had looked up the feast day for March 7, the day I delivered Aaron. March 7 is the feast of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, thirdcentury martyrs. Perpetua was a nursing mother and Felicity was heavily pregnant at the time of their imprisonment. Felicity underwent a difficult labor in her filthy cell while being taunted by her brutal warders.

While Felicity must have been tormented by the fact that she would be separated from her baby, knowing she would die in the arena, she took comfort in the fact that she delivered before that time and was able to see her newborn adopted by a free Christian.

I felt such thankfulness for the communion of the saints. These women understood my pain at being separated from my little girl at home, my anguish at the thought that birth meant death for Aaron, and that I would never get to know him on Earth.

We buried Aaron on Ash Wednesday.

That morning, Adam went to the creek – a beautiful, quiet spot near our house – and collected rocks for Aaron’s gravesite. While there, he began humming the song “Eagle’s Wings” without realizing it. When he did, he sang it out loudly. The words of this song speak to our future resurrection and that death does not have the ultimate victory; nothing can harm us once we’re in heaven, and God will “hold you in the palm of His hand,” just as we had held Aaron. This song was one of my favorites, and Adam and I had chosen it for our wedding. Now we sang it as we buried our little son.

The next morning, as I had thoughts of gardening and thankfulness for warmer weather, the opening hymn of my morning prayer brought both Adam and me to tears: Before the fruit is ripened by the sun, Before the petals or the leaves uncoil, Before the first fine silken root is spun, A seed is dropped and buried in the soil.

ADCOCK, SEE page 24

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charlottediocese.org/catholicnews | April 22, 2011 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

ADCOCK: FROM PAGE 23

Before we gain the grace that comes through loss, Before we live by more than bread and breath, Before we lift with joy an empty cross, We face with Christ the seed’s renewing death.

We were convinced that God had a redemptive purpose for Aaron’s death. This hymn reaffirmed our confidence in God and our trust that He would bring fruit from our anguish and loss.

Just as I was almost finished writing this, I came across a quote by Jerome Miller, included in a reflection on the Annunciation.

He explained that Mary’s “yes” was not as easy as we might think. Mary knew that Jesus would be the “Suffering Servant.”

Miller wrote that radical vulnerability before God leads to wholeness and holiness, but a more essential condition is the willingness to be devastated – to let the mortal wounds penetrate one’s heart so deeply that it is broken open by it. The deepest lessons the heart has to deliver to us become accessible only when it is ruptured.

These are terrible lessons, the kind that fill one with nausea. We’d like to think our lives would be happier if we could find a way to avoid learning them, but the only way to do that is to close one’s heart so that nothing gets in or out.

Of all the lessons I’ve learned, suffice it to say that the deep love and longing I have for Aaron will be satisfied and will be worth all the suffering. Adam and I have learned greater patience with each other and for our daughter. We appreciate simplicity and prayer more. We value every moment more.

We have stronger faith and trust in God, and more passion for experiencing His presence in the ordinariness of our lives.

I pray that you will be inspired to see God’s presence in your lives, even in moments of intense suffering – and that you too will know that God hears your prayers and is with you all the more when you suffer.

Batrice Adcock is the diocesan director of Natural Family Planning. She and her family wish to thank everyone for their prayers and support during this difficult time.