South Texas Catholic - January 2014 by South Texas Catholic

Bishop Making Pastoral Visits To Schools

Sacred Heart Parish Falfurrias, Texas 1914-2014

Serving the people of Brooks County

1OO for

Saint Isidore, the Farmer Church

Sacred Heart Church

1914

1925

years

Sacred Heart Church 1960-2014

We, the Parishioners of Sacred Heart Parish proudly announce a year of celebrations honoring the priests, deacons and the faithful who were and are such a great part of its history. It seems fitting that we celebrate this history with a series of special events this Centennial Year of 2014. † Jan. 11: The opening Mass at 8 a.m.

† Aug. 31: Annual Parish Festival; dinner and carnival

† April 2: Fiesta de los Ninos

† Sept. 21: Anniversary Mass with Bishop Michael Mulvey, former clergy, priests of the diocese, religious, parishioners and guests; Reception

† May: Altar Servers past and present; Mass and reception in their honor. † May, June and July: Parish family pictures for our anniversary booklet

† Oct. 25: Sacred Heart Alumni Reunion; Social, Mass, Reception for all who attended Sacred Heart School

† Dec. 7: Closing Mass at 11:15 a.m.

2 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

ON THE

VOL. 49 NO. 1 Publisher Most Rev. Wm. Michael Mulvey, STL DD

COVER

Bishop Michael Mulvey visits with the K-3 students Destiny Trevino and Alexa Chollet during pastoral visit to Christ the King School.

Photo by Rebecca Esparza for South Texas Catholic

Editor Alfredo E. Cárdenas ACardenas@diocesecc.org

Theological Consultant Father Joseph Lopez, JCL JLopez@diocesecc.org Associate Editor Mary E. Cottingham MCottingham@diocesecc.org

Father John Ouellette tends to missions in Concepción and Ramirez. Alfredo E. Cardenas, South Texas Catholic

Web Coordinator Julissa Hernandez JHernandez@diocesecc.org Administrative Assistant Adel Rivera ARivera@diocesecc.org Correspondents Rebecca Esparza, Valerie Cancino Timothy Hatch, Luisa Scolari, Robbie McGuinness If you or someone you know would like to receive the South Texas Catholic call us at (361) 882-6191 Office Address: 620 Lipan Corpus Christi TX 78401-2434 E-MAIL: stc@diocesecc.org www.southtexascatholic.com FAX: (361) 693-6701

Calendar Items Submit your announcements by using our Online form, e-mail, fax, mail, or drop it off at the Chancery office. Only announcements for the month of publication will be included in the print edition, if space permits. All other calendar items will appear on the magazine or diocese Web sites. The South Texas Catholic is not liable or in any way responsible for the content of any advertisement appearing within these pages. All claims, offers guarantees, statements, etc. made by advertisers are solely the responsibility of the advertiser. Deceptive or misleading advertising is never knowingly accepted. Complaints regarding advertising should be made directly to the advertiser or to the Better Business Bureau. (USPSN 540-860) Published monthly by the Diocese of Corpus Christi for $25 per year. Periodical postage paid in Corpus Christi Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to South Texas Catholic 620 Lipan, Corpus Christi TX 78401-2434.

If you wish to read our Spanish language articles in English visit our Web site southtexascatholic.com and use the Google language translator. Si desea leer nuestros artículos escritos en Inglés en español, visite nuestro sitio web southtexascatholic.com y utilice el traductor de idiomas Google.

NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE

NATIONAL NEWS

25 years of building the Body of Christ through the New Evangelization ��7

Pope Francis names new bishops for Fort Worth and San Angelo �� 31

NEWS BRIEFS

VATICAN

Newspaper readers name Bishop Mulvey among top four community advocates �� 11

In document, pope lays out his vision for an evangelical church �� 36

VIDA CATóLICA Misa con mariachi en la Catedral tiene sus raíces en la iglesia de México �� 15 VOCATIONS Religious celebrate jubilees on World Day of Consecrate Life �� 20 CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Keeping up with the Faith...

www.SouthTexasCatholic.com

Diocese schools observe Catholic Schools Week with varied activities �� 26

HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE The present bishop’s residence, Part 4 �� 41 VIEWPOINTS Ethical directives and the care of pregnant women in Catholic hospitals �� 44 OUR FAITH Long-standing Catholic reverence for the name of the Lord is borne from scripture �� 48 JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 3

Diocesan papers can be tools for evangelization

Denise Bossert Contributor

ne morning last spring, I caught my older daughter flipping through a diocesan newspaper while eating breakfast. I had to smile. On that particularly morning, she wasn’t officially Catholic. She entered the Church later that day at Mass at the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis, Missouri. It was Pentecost Sunday and soon, my second child would be entering the faith I had chosen less than a decade earlier. “Did you read the diocesan newspapers when you lived here? Or is this a new thing for you?” I asked her. She looked up from the paper and smiled. “When there was no catalog or magazine on the table, I would read it. It was something to do.” She laughed and closed the paper. Those were rough years. She had moved into our house with her little boys and was trying to juggle them and full-time employment. She was also trying hard to avoid God. But on this particular Sunday, the fight against God ended. On that day, she was received into Mother Church. My husband also used to scan diocesan newspapers and magazines before he converted. He’s the kind of guy that goes through withdrawal when he doesn’t have a book to read. In the years after my conversion (before his own conversion), he would read the Catholic papers that were on the table – the random complimentary copies I received as a columnist. This is the same man who promised he would never become Catholic. He was born Southern Baptist, and he

4 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

would die Southern Baptist. He’s been Catholic since 2008. I don’t know if there is a cause and effect relationship between conversions and subscriptions to diocesan periodicals, but at the very least, there is some correlation. I believe families that have subscriptions to diocesan papers are the very families most likely to experience conversion and ongoing conversion—even among families in which some members actively resist God. There are times that the diocesan newspaper on the kitchen table is the only remaining voice for Mother Church in the lives of those who stubbornly resist grace.

➤ If you are reading this, you understand how important this magazine or newspaper is. You know that it assists you in your journey – and you know that it assists those who live under your roof and sit at your kitchen table.

I am blessed to write for diocesan papers and magazines, but I am even more blessed to have those periodicals in my home and on my kitchen table. There was a time when my husband told me to stop talking about my new-found faith—but he would still read the diocesan newspaper. My daughter tuned me out for years. But last spring, she entered the Church. Diocesan papers are tools of evangelization. Sometimes, they are the only evangelization tool left in a household. If you are reading this, you understand how important this magazine or newspaper is. You know that it assists you in your journey—and you know that it assists those who live under your roof and sit at your kitchen table. In a world that is filled with many voices and so many words, it is a blessing to have faithful media coming into our homes, sharing words that matter—words that bring life. (For more information about Denise Bossert and her columns “Catholic by Grace” go to her Web site denisebossert.com.)

Catholic South Texas

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January 2014

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The Law Offices

Bishop Michael Mulvey and the staff of the Office for Child and Youth Protection are committed to assisting in the healing process for victims and survivors of abuse.

wiLLiam BOniLLa, P.c.

cLay BOniLLa aTTOrney

If you or someone you know is in need of such services, call Stephanie Bonilla, Director of the Office for Child and Youth Protection, (361) 693-6686 (office) or (361) 658-8652 (cell) for immediate assistance.

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www.SouthTexasCatholic.com/ReadersSurvey Thank you for your faithful support! 6 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE

25 years of building the body of Christ through the New Evangelization

Keynote Speaker: Peter Murphy, Ph.D.

By Alfredo E. Cardenas

South Texas Catholic

n Jan. 11, the Diocese of Corpus Christi will celebrate the Silver Jubilee of its annual ministry conference, this year entitled “The New Evangelization.” The conference marks 25 years of building the body of Christ through the New Evangelization. The diocese’s first-ever ministry conference was held in February 1990, the same year that Blessed John Paul II gave the church “REDEMPTORIS MISSIO, On the permanent validity of the Church’s missionary mandate,” in which the Holy Father said, “I sense that the moment has come to commit all of the Church’s energies to a new evangelization…” The first ministries conference in the diocese was held under the banner, “Becoming a Body of Christ: Continuing the Journey.” It was a response to Bishop Rene H. Gracida’s Second Synod of the Diocese of Corpus Christi held in 1988. In his letter opening Synod 88, Bishop Gracida said, “…it is an appropriate time for our diocese to gather to reflect on how we as the people of God can propose a vision of the Church for the future which brings about greater unity among the

faithful and which strengthens the faith life of Catholics.” In Redemptoris Missio, Pope John Paul II more fully explained the concept of the New Evangelization, a term he coined in a 1983 address to Latin American bishops gathered in Haiti. The pope said, “…entire groups of the baptized have lost a living sense of the faith, or even no longer consider themselves members of the Church, and live a life far removed from Christ and his Gospel. In this case what is needed is a ‘new evangelization’ or a ‘re-evangelization’.” Both occurrences were aimed at reenergizing the faith and building the church—the Body of Christ. Under Pope John Paul II’s New Evangelization, catechists among the faithful in a variety of ministries “have a place of honor.” The ministry conference, which will be held Jan. 11 at the American Bank

➤ For more information visit the Ministry Conference Web page at diocesecc.org/ MinistryConference

Catholic Schools: James Klassen, Ph.D.

Hispanic Ministry: Martha FernandezSardina

Youth Track: Kathryn Goller

Youth Track: Kelly Colangelo

JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 7

Center, focuses on strengthening the various ministries in the diocese. Peter Murphy, Ph.D. the executive director, of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Evangelization and Catechesis, will serve as the conference keynote speaker. He will give a talk on the theme “The New Evangelization.” Murphy holds a bachelor’s in theology and master’s degrees in theology and counseling from Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio as well as a doctorate from The Catholic University of America. As head of the Secretariat for Evangelization and Catechesis, Murphy is tasked with evangelizing and catechizing both Catholics and those who might be interested in joining the Catholic Church. Other speakers include James Klassen, Ph.D. who serves as Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of

8 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

Tyler. He will give a talk titled “Vocation of the Catholic School Teacher.” Martha Fernandez-Sardina, Director of the Office for Evangelization in the Archdiocese of San Antonio, will lead the talk on Hispanic Ministry. Kathryn Goller, the Director for Youth and Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese of Buffalo, NY will give talks on “Are you Certifiable” and “Moving Beyond Business as Usual: Principles and Praxis.” Kelly Colangelo, who serves as a youth minister and specializes in evangelizing to the youth, and utilizes social media to connect with more young people, will also speak to the youth. A number of chancery department heads will also make presentations on topics such as communications, family life, liturgical music, parish stewardship and vocations. The ministry conference is open to anyone interested in learning more about

the Catholic faith. It is especially beneficial to those who do ministry in the church, such as catechists, youth ministers, young adult leaders, liturgical and music ministers, Bible study leaders, Catholic schoolteachers, RCIA teams, adult education leaders, evangelization teams and youth. The event features talks in Spanish and a Youth Track. Many topics will be covered, including Evangelization and Catechesis, Family Life, Vocations, Stewardship, Youth Ministry, Communications, Catholic Schools, Hispanic Ministry, Liturgical Music, Liturgical Worship, Young Adult Ministry and Life Justice and Human Dignity. Registrations will be taken at the door at $40 a person and $15 for youth under 18. For more information visit the Ministry Conference Web page at diocesecc.org/MinistryConference.

Deacon Alphonsus Zaldy Martin O. Abainza, SOLT

Deacon Juan Antonio Villagómez, SOLT

Deacon Patrick Earl Prajzner II, SOLT

Deacon Michael Mary Mercy of Christ Crucified Wight, SOLT

Bishop will ordain four SOLT priests By Mary Cottingham South Texas Catholic

ishop Michael Mulvey will ordain four deacons with the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT) to the priesthood on Jan. 24 at 10 a.m. in Corpus Christi Cathedral. All four have been living in the SOLT community for many years, while pursuing ❝I remember being careers in nursing, engineering, physics and quite moved by the various aspects of health care. The candidates for the priesthood are Deacon Alphonsus Zaldy Martin O. Abainza, SOLT; Deacon Juan Antonio Villagómez, SOLT; Deacon Patrick Earl Prajzner II, SOLT; and Deacon Michael Mary Mercy of Christ Crucified Wight, SOLT. Deacon Abainza comes from a big family in the Philippines. Growing up in poverty Deacon Abainza had aspirations of working abroad and becoming wealthy enough to help his family. He joined the SOLT community as a lay member at the age of 21 and worked as a registered nurse for 27 years in the Philippines. He became the first Filipino director of a Kansas City-based

human welfare agency, Children International, which serves about 36,000 children with food, medical attention, education and income generating activities. While doing his internship as a nurse at Aquinas University Hospital, Abainza met Father Thomas P. Gier, SOLT who had been his patient for three days. Father Gier became his mentor, friend and Godfather. He encouraged Abainza to spend his Christmas vacation on one of the Philippine islands where he served. The island was devoid of electricity, running water and land transportation

sincere love for God and neighbor shown by those from the community, as well as how real and authentic those persons were toward me and one another.❞

JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 9

“It was during this short stay on the island that I had a change of heart. My plans of working abroad had changed to work for and with the poor in the islands with Father Tom,” Abainza said. His responsibilities kept him from pursuing the dream of becoming a priest until 2007. Both his father and his Godfather passed away a few months apart. Both had urged him to become a priest before they died. In 2008, he entered the seminary and says he now feels he is “on the path chosen by the Lord.” “All these years, I feel blessed by the Lord Jesus with the intercession of Our Lady. I have a more joyful, peaceful and happier life than ever,” Deacon Abainza said. Deacon Villagómez also said that his calling to the priesthood was a gradual one. Born in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Deacon Villagómez and two of his sisters grew up in the SOLT community, which has a parish, a clinic and a convent in Nuevo Laredo. He graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from a university in Nuevo Laredo in 2000, taught in Belize and then went back to Nuevo Laredo, where he worked for an engineering firm. For 10 years Deacon Villagómez was a member of the SOLT laity. He was attracted “to the community life offered by the SOLTs and the Marian Trinitarian Spirituality.” His pastor, Father Juan Manuel, encouraged him to serve as extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and take the Eucharist to the homebound. “I didn’t always want to be a priest...actually the whole idea of vocation dawned on me when my older sister decided to become a religious a few years before I felt the call,” Deacon Villagómez said. He answered the call to the priesthood in 2007 and in 2010 earned a Bachelor’s degree in theology in Rome. In his current assignment, he preaches, baptizes, assists in marriage preparation and gives talks to youth and adults. “A lot of the people that we serve come from broken homes, and so growth in the faith is difficult, because that initial affirmation of the person’s worth, so necessary in childhood, is often missing,” Deacon Villagómez said. Deacon Prajzner is the oldest of four children. He began his adult life by enlisting in the Marine Corp Reserves. He was attending Wayne State University in Detroit, majoring in physics, when he felt the calling to the priesthood. Prajzner came to know the SOLT community in Robstown and was moved by their way of life. “I remember being quite moved by the sincere love for God and neighbor shown by those from the community, as

10 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

well as how real and authentic those persons were toward me and one another,” Deacon Prajzner said. “It was during that visit that I came to feel at home in a way that told me this is where God wants you. I know this is what God is calling me to, as He has filled my heart with a strong yearning to make a complete sacrificial gift of my life to Him and His people after the example of Jesus the High Priest,” he said. Deacon Wight knew at the age of 11 that God was calling him to become a priest. He said the Lord spoke to him, but he ran from the call for 22 years. He is the eldest of 15 children and grew up working on the family farm in Montana. As a young adult he worked as a diesel and auto mechanic, construction laborer, home care attendant, certified nursing assistant, physical therapy aide, occupational therapy aide, speech therapy aide and for nine years a department manager of the dementia care unit in a retirement community. While working as manager he became a member of the SOLT community. “I was attracted to Our Lady’s Society because of the complementarity of all vocations serving together in mission, the Marian-Trinitarian spirituality and Eucharistic emphasis, their loyalty to the Holy Father and Holy Mother Church,” Deacon Wight said. “Early on in my formation Our Lord just gave me a great love for Our Lady’s Society. I believe it comes down to the fact of my love for family and my desire to be active in the New Evangelization. I truly want to serve and live community life. I want to give back to the church what she has blessed me with through the sacraments. My greatest desire is to do His will through loving and serving others using the gifts that He has blessed me with for the salvation of their souls,” Deacon Wight said.

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NEWS BRIEFS

Bishop Mulvey recognized as community advocate In Memoriam: Sister Mary Margaret Quinn May 27, 1935 - Nov. 29, 2013 Sister Mary Margaret Quinn died on Nov. 29 at the age of 78 in Mother Theodore Hall, St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. Between 1964-67, Sister Mary Margaret served at St. John Nepomucene School in Robstown. She was born on May 27, 1935 in Indianapolis, Indiana to Charles and Agnes Donahue Quinn. Sister Mary Margaret entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence on Jan. 6, 1953 and was given the name Sister Charles Agnes. She professed Final Vows Aug. 15, 1960. She earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Mary-of-the-Woods College and a master’s degree from Butler University, both in music. Of her 60 years as a Sister of Providence, she ministered as a music teacher for 17 years in schools in Indiana, Illinois and Texas. In 1972, she moved from teaching to parish work, serving as pastoral associate at Holy Angels Parish in Indianapolis for 34 years. She committed herself completely to the parishioners and to all those who lived in the area, especially to those in need. In 2007, she returned to the motherhouse where she volunteered at Woods Day Care/Pre-school. Beginning in 2012 she committed herself totally to the ministry of prayer.

Readers of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times have named Bishop Michael Mulvey as one of the top four community advocates in the newspaper’s readership area. The selection, announced by the Caller-Times on Dec. 13, was determined by the newspaper’s “Best of the Best” readers’ poll.

Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez returns to Corpus Christi Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez, OFM celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving in the Corpus Christi Cathedral on Wednesday, Dec. 18. Bishop Michael Mulvey invited Archbishop Gonzalez to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of his Episcopal Ordination in the city of his first assignment as ordinary. Archbishop Gonzalez served as Coadjutor Bishop to Bishop Gracida, coming to the diocese in 1995. Blessed Pope John Paul II appointed him the sixth bishop of the diocese on April 1, 1997. During his brief time in the diocese, he was active on the national and international scene of the church, particularly on behalf of the church in Cuba. On March 26, 1999, Pope John Paul II named him archbishop of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Parishes throughout the diocese celebrated the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12. At Our Lady of Guadalupe in Alice, parishioners from all three Alice parishes, as well as from Banquete, Ben Bolt and San Diego took part in a procession, Mass and reception. Eddie Perez for the South Texas Catholic

JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 11

Missions take care of thei

parish is responsib

By Alfredo E. Cardenas

South Texas Catholic

or 135 years Immaculate Conception Church in Concepción—in Southern Duval County—has had an active faith community, but it has never been able to grow enough to sustain itself as a parish. Our Lady of Guadalupe in the neighboring community of Ramirez, has experienced a similar fate since its founding as a station in 1920. The Code of Canon Law provides for diocesan bishops to “provide spiritual care in some other way” where a faith community cannot be established as a parish. Historically, the method used by bishops is to establish mission churches and at-

In the early years of the Diocese of Corpus Christi priests visited their far-flung missions on horseback. The days of the saddlebag priests are gone; today Father Ouellette in Premont visits his missions in a pick-up truck and fits right into the brush country landscape. Alfredo E. Cardenas, South Texas Catholic

taching them to a parish. “A mission is not capable of providing for itself and is attached to a mother church until such time that it can. The parish is responsible for the care of the souls at the mission, but people at the mis-

ir own needs,

PARISH LIFE

ble for the care of souls sion have financial responsibility,” Msgr. Thomas P. Feeney, JCL, judicial vicar for the Diocese of Corpus Christi, said. The Diocese of Corpus Christi has 27 mission churches. Most parishes that have mission churches assigned to them are in rural areas of the diocese and typically a parish in charge of missions has more than one under its care. Ordinarily, the pastor at the mother parish serves as the priest for the missions and the missions contribute to the parish budget to maintain for the priest’s care. Father Peter Bard established the church in Concepción in 1879 and for the next 40-plus years Immaculate Conception remained a mission of St. Francis de Paula in San Diego. In the early 1920s Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe came under the care of the parish in Hebbronville and remained there until 1968 when they— along with St. Francis of Assisi in Rios—were assigned to the care of St. Theresa of the Infant Jesus Parish in Premont. St. Theresa of the Infant Jesus Parish has had

❝lts awesome how they are coming alive. These communities are so wonderful that I get energy from them.❞

charge of these missions ever since. St. Francis of Assisi recently became inactive, but Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe are “growing spiritually and communally,” Father John Ouellette, their current pastor, said. St. Theresa has had an active faith community since 1911 when the Catholic Extension Society donated $460 to build a church in Premont. Bishop Peter Verdaguer, assisted by Father P. Esteve and Father J. Solsona, pastor of St. Gertrude’s in Kingsville, dedicated the church on Sunday, May 21, 1911. The church was first assigned to St. Gertrude’s and later became a mission of Alice and then Falfurrias. In 1958, St. Theresa became a parish. Father Ouellette, who has served at St. Theresa for 13 years, said that the mother church in Premont and the missions understand their connection, which wasn’t the case before. This unity among the three is due in large part to the example that Bishop Michael Mulvey has provided, the pastor said. “The bishop is very good about reaching out to the rural areas, making them feel connected to the rest of the diocese. This helps them to understand their responsibility to reach out to each other,” Father Ouellette said. “They [the parish and

Father John Ouellette greets a parishioner after Mass at Immaculate Conception Mission in Concepción. Alfredo E. Cardenas, South Texas Catholic

JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 13

Father Oullette gives Jesus Bazan a birthday blessing, after Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Ramirez. Alfredo E. Cardenas, South Texas Catholic

missions] have very good communications and collaboration. Volunteers from each help the others.” “More and more they are connected. That’s really the key. If the main parish does what it can to recognize their connection to the mission, that they are responsible for the missions, and if parishioners realize that, the missions will reciprocate,” he said. Father Ouellette begins his Sunday mornings with an 8 a.m. Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe. After Mass, the 25 or so parishioners enjoy coffee and breakfast with their pastor. He is also available before and after Mass to hear confessions and takes care of anointing of the sick “on the spot”. By 9:30 a.m. Father Ouellette is seven miles down the road in Concepción for Mass at Immaculate Conception. After Mass, the 40 or so Mass attendees gather at the mission hall to socialize with each other and with their pastor. And then Father Ouellette is off to St. Theresa’s for an 11 o’clock Mass. The missions take care of their own needs

14 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

and contribute to the parish budget to care for the priest. Father Ouellette has appointed finance councils at each mission and “they loved the idea.” “When a main parish is trying to do budgets, they would rather not deal with mission budgets. Now they have ownership. They control their own future,” Father Ouellette said. Immaculate Conception held its first Jamaica last year and is preparing for their second annual event soon. The funds raised are designated to build a new hall. They will get help with their festival both from Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Theresa. “Ramirez and Concepción are developing, growing spiritually and communally. They are developing a life that holds them together. They are working together. They support each other in the various ministries. They are very good about keeping structure to make sure they maintain the proper liturgy,” Father Ouellette said. “Its awesome how they are coming alive,” Father Ouellette said. “These communities are so wonderful that I get energy from them.”

VIDA CATÓLICA

Misa con mariachi en la Catedral tiene sus raíces en la iglesia de México Por Luisa Scolari

Corresponsal

os sonidos de la música de mariachi se escuchan de nuevo en la Catedral de Corpus Christi durante la Misa de las 11 a.m., ya que un grupo de mariachis interpreta la música litúrgica el primer y cuarto domingo de cada mes. El diácono Adelfino Palacios nos comentó que, “La Catedral deseaba promover su misa en español, y el sacerdote encargado pensaba que la música de mariachi parecía satisfacer esa necesidad pues hace que la misa sea más inspirada. La respuesta ha sido muy positiva.” Algunas personas podrían pensar que la música

Los integrantes del Mariachi Águila son April Ibarra (violín), Amy Vera Pérez (violín), Joe Villarreal (guitarrón), Daniel Martínez (vihuela), Rubén Hernández (guitarra) y Luis Martínez (trompeta). Luisa Scolari para el South Texas Catholic

de mariachi es más una forma de música popular tocada en bodas y fiestas, pero que es algo que no debería invadir el carácter sagrado de la misa. Esta idea se debe a que actualmente los mariachis se usan para ambientar fiestas patronales, familiares, de el día de las madres, el día de la Virgen de Guadalupe y para dar serenatas, y ha pasado ya a JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 15

El mariachi se localiza en el lado del altar, para que puedan participar las personas en los bancos y que se unan en el canto. Luisa Scolari para el South Texas Catholic

formar parte del de patrimonio cultural de la humanidad. En 1930 empezaron a incluir en su repertorio rancheras, corridos, huapangos, sones jarochos, valses mexicanos, música tradicional y regional mexicana, posteriormente fueron incorporando, boleros rancheros, baladas y cumbias. El origen de el mariachi es muy distinto a su imagen popular. La realidad es que la música de mariachi tiene sus orígenes en la iglesia Católica. El registro más antiguo que actualmente se tiene, es el que menciona Pedro Castillo Romero

en su libro “Santiago Ixcuintla, Cuna de el Mariachi Mexicano.” Romero dice que se puede localizar la palabra mariachi en el archivo parroquial de Santiago Ixcuintla. Ricardo Espinoza en su columna “Como Dijo”, publicada en el Sol de México el 8 de Abril del 2001, sustenta que “el vocablo mariachi se deriva de un canto aborigen a la Virgen María en el que se mezclan el náhuatl, el español y el latín. Este canto empezaba diciendo ‘María ce son’ que quería decir ‘te amo María’.” Espinoza basa su teoría en las investigaciones del canónigo Luis Enrique Orozco, historiador de la Arquidiócesis de Guadalajara, basadas en un documento encontrado en Cocula que data del año de 1695. El historiador Hermes Rafael de la sociedad Mexicana de

16 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

Geografía y Estadística, afirma que tanto los sones como el vocablo provienen de los indígenas Cocas de Cocula. El mariachi original estaba integrado solo por instrumentos de cuerda que eran violines, guitarras, vihuela (mas aguda que la guitarra) y el guitarrón (mas grave que la guitarra). Posteriormente se integraron las trompetas, la flauta y el arpa. Inicialmente vestían atuendos cotidianos de los campesinos de la región de Jalisco, Colima y Nayarit. Sus atavíos eran hechos de manta de algodón y usaban un sombrero de paja de trigo o de palma. En el estado de Nayarit aún existen mariachis originales, conformados por indígenas del pueblo Cora y usan la traje típica de su tribu y utilizan los instrumentos originales. A principios del siglo veinte

Si desea leer nuestros artículos escritos en Inglés en español, visite nuestro sitio web southtexascatholic.com y utilice el traductor de idiomas Google.

comenzaron a vestirse con el traje de charro, agregando colores y ornamentos distintos a los del traje de charro original. Lo adornan con calado de gamuza y botonadura de metal troquelado de manera artesanal o de plata. Los primeros mariachis femeniles aparecieron en la Ciudad de México a mediados del siglo veinte. El diácono Palacios nos dijo que la parroquia Catedral entrevistó a varios mariachis y eligió Mariachi Águila, ya que el grupo tenía experiencia tocando la música litúrgica, incluso en la Catedral de San Fernando en San Antonio. El Mariachi Águila lo conforman: April Ibarra (violín), Amy Vera Pérez (violín), Joe Villarreal (guitarra), Daniel Martínez (vihuela), Rubén Hernández (guitarra), Luis Martínez (trompeta), Elexcia Sánchez (violín) y Carlos Padilla

(trompeta). Lee Gwozdz, Director de Música de la Catedral, trabaja en colaboración con el grupo mariachi. Dijo que el mariachi sigue las directrices que él ha establecido y selecciona la música con su aprobación. El señor Rubén Hernández, encargado del grupo, nos comenta que, “La música que interpretamos está basada en los tiempos litúrgicos…y tocamos canciones antiguas y simples ya que son más conocidas por los feligreses para que las puedan cantar junto con nosotros.” Gwozdz dijo que “El mariachi se localiza en el lado del altar, para que puedan participar las personas en los bancos y que se unan en el canto. La música suena bien, no demasiado fuerte y hasta ahora estamos muy contentos.” “Hemos notado que cada vez participa

❝El vocablo mariachi se deriva de un canto aborigen a la Virgen María en el que se mezclan el náhuatl, el español y el latín. Este canto empezaba diciendo ‘María ce son’ que quería decir ‘te amo María’.❞

JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 17

más la feligresía cantando, a medida que van conociendo las canciones,” dijo Hernández. “También hemos notado que los asistentes a esta misa han aumentado y se ven más alegres y nos han comentado que les gusta mucho.” Palacios está de acuerdo que la asistencia a la Misa esta a aumentando. La Misa es ahora la tercer Misa dominical más concurrida y los números siguen creciendo. La música del mariachi atrae a mucha gente de fuera de la ciudad, así como de la parroquia, dijo Palacios.

Ayudenos a Prevenir el Abuso Financiero La Diócesis de Corpus Christi por medio de la recomendación del Concilio Diocesano de Finanzas y el Concilio Presbiteral han llevado su dedicación mas allá para la buena administración y responsabilidad nanciera en nombre de donantes generosos al instituir un “hotline” para reportar el abuso nanciero. La Diócesis de Corpus Christi ha seleccionado un tercer partido independiente, La Red, para proporcionarle a usted con una manera para reportar anónima y condencialmente el abuso nanciero e fraude. Los empleados, los parroquianos, los voluntarios, los vendedores, y otros partidos interesados estan impulsados para reportar las preocupaciones que tengan respeto a la conducta de påca ética nanciera dentro de la Diócese de Corpus Christi. Todas las investigaciones serán tradas inmediatamente y discretamente. Personas que llamen tienen el derecho de mantenerse anónimas.

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Por lo pronto, el mariachi sólo tocará en la misa de 11 a.m. en español el primer y cuarto Domingo de mes, dijo Palacios. En las misas que el mariachi no toca, un cantor lleva el canto con Gwozdz tocando el órgano. Tienen la esperanza de poder conseguir a alguien que lo patrocine para los otros domingos. “Hacemos una invitación a todos los feligreses a que asistan a esta misa en español con mariachi. El grupo toca el primer y último Domingo del mes en la Catedral a las 11 a.m.,” dijo Palacios.

Obispo Michael Mulvey y el personal de la Oficina de Protección de Niños y Jóvenes se comprometen a ayudar en el proceso de curación de las víctimas y sobrevivientes de abuso. Si usted o alguien que usted conoce está en necesidad de estos servicios, llame a Stephanie Bonilla, Director de la Oficina de Protección de Niños y Jóvenes, (361) 6936686 (oficina) ó (361) 658-8652 (celular) para asistencia inmediata.

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The proper use of the term ‘vocation’

VOCATIONS

By Joseph Lopez, JCL

Contributor

‘‘

think Michael may have a vocation,” one Catholic mother said to another.

What she meant, probably, is that Michael’s spiritual demeanor seems to be pointing toward priesthood or religious life as his vocation. But the phrase “may have a vocation” is not quite right. Why? Because everyone has a vocation. And the way we talk about vocation matters. Further—just because Michael seems quite devout does not mean he is being called to the priesthood. Consider the true case of a certain college-aged man who was the president of his campus ministry. Knowledgeable about his faith, devout, an enthusiastic leader, he seemed the perfect candidate for seminary. Literally dozens of people mentioned the possibility of priesthood to him. And truth be told, he was seriously considering it. But after prayerful discernment, he felt sure God was calling him to marriage. Today he and his wife are the parents of two children, with another on the way. Their household is unmistakably Catholic; they explicitly say they are raising their children to be, first and foremost, holy men and women. God had

something else in mind for that faithful young man. This is a good illustration of the popular misconception that the most spiritually attuned among us must be called to something more than “only” being lay people. The truth is that everyone’s true vocation is perfect union with the Holy Trinity. That destiny begins on earth, and includes all of us— priests, nuns, brothers, deacons, single people, mothers and fathers. Here is the difficulty—and the reason we sometimes use the term “vocation” incorrectly. From the outside, priests and religious seem more directly involved with the church’s work than lay people. Their work takes them “closer to the source,” so to speak. And it is true that Jesus is calling them to a different kind of intimacy with Him on earth. But what is not true—and it is the most insidious part of our misuse of the term “vocation”—is the subtle implication that lay people are not called to lives of heroic holiness. “The priest is supposed to be holy,” we may think, or, “nuns have lots of free time to pray.”

No. We are all supposed to be holy, and we’re all supposed to “pray constantly.” But this intimacy with Christ, because of our different vocations, looks different on the outside. It may come through feeding a baby, consoling a spouse or mentoring a teen. This is why saints like Mother Teresa and St. Thérèse are so enormously appealing— their teachings unlock a simple way for all people to imbue even the smallest things in life with love. We should be sure we use the term “vocation” with accuracy, keeping in mind that every vocation entails holiness. At the same time, we should renew our energy to promote priestly and religious vocations in our diocese. For instance, when we intercede for more priests—for that is where our need is greatest—let us not just pray “for vocations.” The Holy Father has asked us to “be explicit” in our prayer and invitation for young men and women to consider their true vocations. Let us take this exhortation to heart and become workers in the vineyard.

Father Joseph Lopez, JCL, is Vocations Director for the Diocese of Corpus Christi.

JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 19

Opportunity to do God’s work fills lives with By Rebecca Esparza Correspondent

ister Kathleen McDonagh, IWBS first knew she wanted to become a nun at just nine years old, when a cousin visited her home in Ireland regaling her family with fascinating details about her life as a sister of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. Now, after 65 years of service to the church, Sister Kathleen is one of 13 religious who will commemorate their jubilee anniversary on World Day of Consecrated Life, Feb. 2, at a 9:30 a.m. Mass celebrated by Bishop Michael Mulvey in the Corpus Christi Cathedral. “World Day for Consecrated Life is the most appropriate day to celebrate the Jubilees of those living a vowed life,” said Sister Annette Wagner, director of the diocesan office for Consecrated Life. When Sister Kathleen was 13 she received a letter from her cousin that changed her life. Sister Baptist, her father’s first cousin, wrote that she would visit Ireland four years hence and if she was truly interested in returning to Texas with her, she should get her visa and passport paperwork in order. “‘But Texas is so far’,” Sister Kathleen recalled her mother lamenting, when at just 17 years old and was ready to leave Ireland for the United States. “I was a junior in high school, but not knowing when Sister Baptist would return to Ireland again, I was determined to leave with her so I could begin my new, faith-filled

life.” Sister Kathleen chuckled and remembered with great fondness her father’s reply to her mother’s initial concern: “You’ve been praying for all your children to become priests and sisters, you can’t expect God will let you choose when and where they will serve, do you?” Sister Kathleen has two sisters who serve with the Holy Faith order and two brothers who are priests. She has numerous aunts and cousins who also chose a religious life, including two cousins who are fellow IWBS sisters: Sister Mary Catherine Brehony and Sister Mary Colette Brehony. Finishing high school in Texas, she took her official vows in 1949 and almost immediately started working on her college degree in English. Eventually, she went on to receive two masters degrees, as well: one in mathematics and the other in theology. Over the next 13 years, Sister Kathleen taught at Catholic elementary and high schools in Brownsville and Corpus Christi. Shortly after receiving her degree in theology, she was selected to travel

20 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

to France and Italy for the summer over many years for a special research project. “It was an honor to be chosen by my peers to conduct special research on our foundress, Jeanne Chezard de Matel,” she said. During that time, she learned several new languages, including Latin, French and Italian. Sister Kathleen, a longtime contributor to the South Texas Catholic, has contributed much to putting together the documentation needed for the effort to advance the canonization of Sister Jeanne Chezard. Among her many accomplishments is having been named the first religious—who was not a priest—as Director of Consecrated Life for the Diocese of Corpus Christi. She also was a member of the first teaching staff for the inaugural class of deacons in the diocese. One of the highlights of her service was an opportunity in 1977 to meet up with her religious siblings in Rome. “It was the first time we were all together in many, many years,” she said. “And one of my brothers had a special surprise; we were all to receive

❝I hope young people will consider a vocation. The opportunity to do God’s work will fill your life with an abundance of blessings too numerous to count.❞

Sister Kathleen McDonagh, IWBS writes a regular column for the South Texas Catholic. Rebecca Esparza for South Texas Catholic

communion from Pope Paul VI himself!” To this day, her greatest treasure is a photo taken at the exact moment she is receiving communion from the pope. “I reflect over my 65 years and realize

how truly wonderful God has been to me. I had a unique opportunity to become an adult at a convent and that part of my life is something I will treasure always,” she said. “I hope young people will consider a vocation. The opportunity to do God’s work will fill your life with an abundance of blessings too numerous to count.” Other religious celebrating their

jubilees at the Feb. 2 Mass include: Pax Christi Institute Sisters Guadalupe Cervantes and Patricia Zuniga, both celebrating 25 years; Sister Elsa Joseph, SABS celebrating 40 years; Sister Elizabeth Close, IWBS, Sister Celia Hernandez, MJMJ and Sister Lydia Plastas, SFCC all observing 50 years in religious life; IWBS Sisters Mary Lelia Aguilar, Mary Colette Brehony, Mary Camelia Herlihy and Martha Ann Snapka observing 60 years of service; in addition to Sister Kathleen, Sister Mary Catherine Brehony, IWBS, is also celebrating 65 years; and Sister Anselm Till, IWBS is celebrating her 75th jubilee. “We thank God for these women who have offered themselves in service to the People of God, and we thank these sisters for their daily commitment to use their gifts in service of others,” Sister Annette said. “Through their availability, selflessness and daily effort to share the Good News—each in her own unique way—they all have enriched the church of Corpus Christi in its individual members and as a community.”

Sister Kathleen McDonagh, IWBS receives communion from Pope Paul VI. Contributed Photo

JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 21

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Bishop Michael Mulvey prays with 3rd grade students Aden Rodela, Joseph Perez and Berenice Delgado. Rebecca Esparza for South Texas Catholic

‘The hope of our future is in the youth’ By Rebecca Esparza

Correspondent

uring a pastoral visit to Christ the King School on Dec. 2, Bishop Michael Mulvey offered a bit of advice for parents seeking wisdom with regard to raising Christ-centered children in today’s fast paced, technology-centered world. “Please pray with your children.”

JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 23

“When the lights go out and computers are shut down, what have you got left?” Bishop Mulvey asked. “Teach your children to pray and they will have a foundation for a love of Christ that will stay with them an entire lifetime. Remember, CCD and Catholic schools can only do so much. Success depends on the roots planted at home.” The bishop’s visit with the 86 students enrolled at Christ the King School is part of a new initiative of his to personally visit every parochial school in the diocese. After celebrating Mass with the entire student body, Bishop Mulvey enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with the sixth-grade class and after breakfast met with each class at the school, one-by-one. During breakfast with the sixth graders, Bishop Mulvey talked about meeting a future saint, his ordination and his favorite time of the year, among other topics. The five curious sixth graders asked a variety of questions during their breakfast with the bishop.

24 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

After answering the children’s questions thoughtfully and with great detail, the bishop wrapped up the meeting by asking each student to look in their hearts for a special calling. “I encourage each of you to at least consider a religious life. I realize it is not for everyone, but at least give it some reflection,” Bishop Mulvey said, adding that he was ordained into the priesthood by Pope Paul VI in Rome. Stacy Alvarez, 12, said speaking with Bishop Mulvey had a positive impact on her. “I was nervous at first, but the more we talked, I realized he’s just like us, in a way. I had fun learning more about him and his travels too,” Stacey said. “The hope of our future is in the youth,” Bishop Mulvey said. “It’s important to show my love and appreciation for Catholic schools. Making visits to each school means a lot, not only to the students, but the faculty and administrators, as well. I want to personally thank the teachers for their service to the children of this diocese.”

Bishop Mulvey talks with Christ the King students Stacy Alvarez and John Anthony Soliz in the school library. Rebecca Esparza for South Texas Catholic

➤ The bishop’s visit…at Christ the King School is part of a new initiative of his to personally visit every parochial school in the diocese. After breakfast, Bishop Mulvey visited with children in all other grades, from pre-k three through fifth. Each class received a special blessing from the bishop and he interacted with the children, answering questions and inquiring about their studies. Sister Patricia Burns, instructor for fourth, fifth and sixth grades, noted what an honor it was to have Bishop Mulvey visit the school for the morning. “Our sixth graders especially felt blessed to spend some oneon-one time with Bishop Mulvey,” she said. “They felt a sense of pride for representing our school and knew what a privilege it was to sit down and share a meal with him.” Sister Burns added seeing Bishop Mulvey in his pastoral role helps bring a bit of Jesus to the children, in the flesh. “He is an apostle of Christ and his visit with us today reminds us that we are all called to live as his apostles, as well,” she said. Laura Orchard, principal at Christ the King School, said she enjoyed hosting Bishop Mulvey. “It was a joy to listen to him talk about his time in Catholic school with our children. His personal visit gives his seal of approval on a Catholic school education, for parents and students alike,” she said.

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Catholic Schools

Catholic schools throughout the Diocese of Corpus Christi will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of National Catholic Schools Week beginning Jan. 26 and ending to Feb. 1. This year’s theme is “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.”

Schools in the Diocese of Corpus Christi will celebrate Catholic Schools Week with Masses, open houses and other activities for students, families, parishioners and the community at large. The theme encompasses several concepts that are at the heart of a Catholic

Monday, Jan. 27

Tuesday, Jan. 28

◗◗ All-School Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Rockport at 10:30 a.m.

◗◗ Spelling Bee at Bishop Garriga Middle Preparatory School

◗◗ Career Day at Bishop Garriga Middle Preparatory School

___________________________________

◗◗ School wide Mass at 10:30 a.m. at St. Patrick Church

◗◗ Scholastic Book Fair in the school cafeteria at Central Catholic Elementary

◗◗ St. Patrick School Spaghetti Lunch from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

◗◗ Prayer, Pledge and Birthday Song at Central Catholic Elementary

◗◗ St. Patrick Parish Hall on 3350 S. Alameda. Donation $6 benefiting the sixth grade trip to the Outdoor School

___________________________________

Sunday, Jan. 26

Faith...Patriotism...Community at Sacred Heart School in Rockport ◗◗ Parents and friends visit classrooms ◗◗ Book Fair open in School library

For a full list of Catholic School events see: www.SouthTexas Catholic.com/ SchoolCalendar Submit your schools events and photos online at: SouthTexasCatholic.com/SendNews

◗◗ Flag-raising ceremony and Mayoral Proclamation of National Catholic Schools Week at 8 a.m. ◗◗ Religion Bowl at 9 a.m. for K-5th grade representatives ◗◗ Primary Montessori 3-year old children’s lunch visitation from 10:4511:15 a.m. ◗◗ Primary Montessori 4 and 5-year old children’s lunch visitation from 11:1511:45 a.m. (All visitors who plan to eat the lunchroom menu need to order by 8:30 a.m.) ___________________________________ ◗◗ Parade at St. Pius X School at 9 a.m. ___________________________________ ◗◗ Spirit Week at Blessed John Paul II School

◗◗ Parents Day at Central Catholic Elementary ◗◗ New parents are welcome to visit Central Catholic Elementary from 8-10 a.m. ___________________________________ Math Works! at Sacred Heart School in Rockport (Math is celebrated with lessons most of the day!) ◗◗ Book Fair open in School library ◗◗ Spelling Bee in the lunchroom at 9 a.m. ◗◗ 1st and 2nd graders’ lunch visitation with parents in cafeteria (All visitors who plan to eat the lunchroom menu need to order by 8:30 a.m.) ___________________________________ ◗◗ Open House for prospective families from 4:30 - 6 p.m. at St. Patrick School ___________________________________ ◗◗ Book Character Dress Up Day at St. Pius X School ___________________________________ ◗◗ Spirit Week at Blessed John Paul II School

Week activities education. First, schools are communities—small families in their own right, but also members of the larger community of home, church, city and nation. Faith, knowledge and service are three measures by which any Catholic school should be judged.

The event’s new logo features a swirl of colors interacting around a cross, which is at the center of all Catholic education. The vibrancy of the colors and the movement and shadows in the logo portray the inner-connectivity and community life that are present in our Catholic schools.

Wednesday, Jan. 29

Thursday, Jan. 30

Friday, Jan. 31

◗◗ Geography Bee at Bishop Garriga Middle Preparatory School

◗◗ Religion Decathlon at Bishop Garriga Middle Preparatory School

◗◗ Math Competition at Bishop Garriga Middle Preparatory School

___________________________________

◗◗ Scholastic Book Fair in the school cafeteria at Central Catholic Elementary

◗◗ Grandparents Day at Central Catholic Elementary

◗◗ Teacher Appreciation Day at Central Catholic Elementary

◗◗ Student Appreciation Day at Central Catholic Elementary

___________________________________

◗◗ New parents are welcome to visit Central Catholic Elementary from 8-10 a.m.

___________________________________

◗◗ Book Fair open in School library

National Appreciation Day for Catholic Schools at Sacred Heart School in Rockport (students and staff who benefit through faith, knowledge, morals and discipline) ◗◗ Book Fair open in School library ◗◗ Hats off to Catholic Education (students/staff wear hats to school and gather on the parking lot for annual hiphip-hooray cheer!) ◗◗ 3rd, 4th and 5th graders’ lunch visitation with parents in cafeteria (All visitors who plan to eat the lunchroom menu need to order by 8:30 a.m.) ___________________________________ ◗◗ Spelling Bee at 1 p.m. at St. Patrick School ___________________________________ ◗◗ Open House at St. Pius X School from 9:30-11 a.m. ___________________________________ ◗◗ Spirit Week at Blessed John Paul II School

Grandparents’ Day at Sacred Heart School in Rockport ◗◗ Book Fair open in School library ◗◗ Grandparents’ Visitation Day at 9-11 a.m. (Sign in at front office and students guide visitors to classrooms. Enjoy listening to lessons in the classroom, a tour of the school and refreshments) ___________________________________ ◗◗ Spelling Bee at St. Pius X School from 8:30 a.m. in parish hall

◗◗ Appreciation Mass at 8 a.m. in Sacred Heart Church in Rockport ◗◗ Grandparents’ Visitation Day at 9-11 a.m. (Sign in at front office and students guide visitors to classrooms. Enjoy listening to lessons in the classroom, a tour of the school and refreshments) ◗◗ Student Talent Show in cafeteria at 10 a.m. ◗◗ Early dismissal at 12 noon – After School Program is open ___________________________________

___________________________________

◗◗ Grandparents/Special Person’s Day at St. Patrick Church with Mass at 8 a.m. and reception to follow

◗◗ Spirit Week at Blessed John Paul II School

___________________________________

◗◗ Crazy Hat Day at St. Pius X School

◗◗ Book Fair at St. Patrick School ◗◗ College T-shirt Day at St. Pius X School ◗◗ Parents vs 6th grade Basketball Game ___________________________________ ◗◗ Spirit Week at Blessed John Paul II School ◗◗ Faculty vs. Student volleyball or basketball game (tentative)

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St. Elizabeth in Alice Grades: K3 – 6th (361) 664-6271

St. Joseph in Alic Grades: K3 – 7th (361) 664-4642

Christ the King in Corpus Christi Grades: K3 – 6th (361) 883-5391

Holy Family in Corpus C Grades: K3 – 5th (361) 884-9142

Incarnate Word Academy Middle Level in Corpus Christi; Grades: 6th - 8th (361) 883-0857, ext. 113

Incarnate Word Academy High School in Corpus Christi; Grades: 9th - 12th (361) 883-0857, ext. 112

Ss. Cyril & Methodius in Corpus Christi Grades: K3 – 5th (361) 853-9392

St. Patrick in Corpus Christi Grades: K3 – 6th (361) 852-1211

Blessed John Paul II High School in Corpus Christi; Grades: 9th - 12th (361) 855-5744

St. Pius X in Corpus Christi Grades: K3 – 6th (361) 992-1343

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Office of Catholic Schools • 620 Lipan St.

Rene Gonzalez, Superintendent | Anna Lozano, Assoc. Superintendent | Nannette Quintanilla-Hatch, Assoc. S 28 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

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Bishop Garriga Middle Preparatory in Corpus Christi; Grades: 6th - 8th (361) 851-0853

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Most Precious Blood in Corpus Christi Grades: K3 – 5th (361) 852-4800

St. Gertrude in Kingsville Grades: K3 – 6th (361) 592-6522

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Academy in Corpus Christi; Grades: K3 – 8th (361) 991-3305

St. Anthony in Robstown Grades: K3 – 8th (361) 387-3814

Central Catholic Elementary in Corpus Christi; Grades: Montessori - 5th (361) 883-3873

Incarnate Word Academy Elementary in Corpus Christi Grades: K3 – 5th Montessori (361) 653-2500

Our Lady of the Rosary in Corpus Christi Grades: K3 – 2nd (361) 939-9847

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Getting ‘home-grown’ bishop pleasant surprise for Fort Worth Catholics By Joan Kurkowski-Gillen Catholic News Service

ather Christopher St a i nb r o ok st i l l remembers the trepidation his parishioners felt when St. Timothy’s, an Anglican congregation, decided to join the Catholic Church as part of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. “People were unsure and feared leaving the familiar for the unknown,” the pastor explained about becoming part of the Houston-based ordinariate, one of several created by the Vatican for former Anglican groups and clergy seeking to become Catholic. Then-Msgr. Michael F. Olson, who instructed parish members on the sacrament of confirmation, eased their anxiety. “He made a whole room full of people feel relaxed and welcomed,” Father Stainbrook recalled. “My parishioners are going to be very happy that he’s their new bishop. He’s a teacher—a real people person.” News that Pope Francis had chosen a priest ordained in the Diocese of Fort Worth to become its next bishop was greeted with surprise, joy and overwhelming approval. He succeeds Bishop Kevin W. Vann, who was named bishop of the Diocese of Orange, Calif., in September 2012. As soon as the announcement was released

Nov. 19, 2013 Patty Tucker’s phone chimed with text messages. Her brother, Bishop-designate Olson, is the first priest from the Diocese of Fort Worth to be named a bishop. “I’m just so proud of what he’s accomplished with his life so far,” she told the North Texas Catholic, the diocese’s news magazine. “Knowing that he will be the bishop here, where I live, is a little surreal right now.” Born on June 29, 1966 in Park Ridge, Ill., the bishop-designate is the eldest child and only son of Ronald and Janice Fetzer Olson. Two of his younger sisters, Tucker and Mary Elizabeth Rogers, reside in Fort Worth. A third sister, Lizbeth Schweizer, lives in Maryland. “We were surprised and happy for him. He’s always enjoyed being a priest,” Ronald Olson said as the family gathered inside St. Patrick Cathedral for Mass celebrated by the newly named bishop. “Whatever they asked him to do, he loved. So I know he will like being a bishop—especially of Fort Worth.” A very young Michael Olson told his parents he wanted to be a priest while still in grammar school. He was an altar boy for years but surprised his father when he chose to attend Quigley Preparatory Seminary in downtown Chicago for high school. After graduating in 1984, he began studying for the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago. When a corporate relocation moved his family

Bishop-designate Michael Olson will be installed bishop of Fort Worth on Jan. 29. Catholic News Service

JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 31

to north Texas, the young seminarian transferred to the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth. The late Bishop Joseph P. Delaney, the second bishop of the diocese, ordained him to the priesthood in June 1994. Having a priest in the family is an honor, Tucker said. “He’ll be a great bishop,” she said. “One of his best assets is a sense of humor, but he also believes strongly in his faith. That’s something he’s had from a young age. He set a good example for us then, and he still does, especially for my children.” Michael Heaton, Holy Trinity Seminary director of advancement, said the bishop-designate’s presence and example will be missed by the 74 young men attending seminary. He had been seminary rector since July 2008 and taught formation classes. “The seminarians have a tremendous amount of respect for him. We’re losing a phenomenal person but everyone is very excited,” Heaton said. “Everyone knew this day would come. We just didn’t think it would be this soon.” Heaton thinks one of the primary themes of the new bishop’s episcopacy will be vocations. “Building up the priesthood in the diocese is something close to his heart,” he added. “It’s a passion of his.” After celebrating noon Mass at the cathedral on the day of his appointment, Bishop-designate Olson toured the campus of Our Mother of Mercy School, a historically black Catholic school in southeast Fort Worth. The students greeted him with smiles and cheers. A banner, signed by the school’s 85 students, also welcomed him and Msgr. Stephen J. Berg, former diocesan vicar general who has been serving as diocesan administrator. “We’re thrilled and feel very blessed,” said Principal Erin Vader, who got to know then-Msgr. Olson when he was pastor of St. Peter the Apostle and she was principal of the parish school. Vader felt the visit was an indication of the bishop-designate’s commitment to children in general and Catholic education as a valuable tool of evangelization. The vast majority of youngsters attending the school are non-Catholic. “I think he understood what we do involves the poor, the marginalized and people not always recognized by society. What we do is a mission,” Vader explained. “He’s a thoughtful man and his decision to come to this school certainly made an impression on the children and staff.” Bishop-designate Olson will be installed on Jan 29.

32 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

Austin priest named bishop of San Angelo

ope Francis named the vicar general of the Diocese of Austin to be bishop of San Angelo. Msgr. Michael J. Sis, 53, an Austin diocesan priest who has been vicar general since 2010, will succeed Bishop Michael D. Pfeifer, who retired at age 76 in keeping with Canon law, which requires bishops to turn in their resignation to the pope when they turn 75. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States, announced the change in Washington Dec. 12. Bishop-designate Sis will be ordained and installed at a Jan. 27 Mass at the McNease Convention Center in San Angelo. Bishop-designate Sis was born Jan. 9, 1960, in Mount Holly, N.J. He has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, a bachelor’s degree in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and a licentiate in moral theology from Pontifical Lateran University’s Accademia Alfonsiana in Rome. Since his ordination for the Austin Diocese in 1986 he has served in a variety of roles. He has been associate pastor and pastor at several parishes. From 1990-1992 he was an associate pastor in campus ministry at St. Mary’s Student Center in College Station, home to Texas A&M University. From 1993 to 2006, he was pastor of St. Mary’s Student Center. In 2006, he began a three-year stint as vocation director for the diocese. In 2010, Austin Bishop Joe S. Vasquez named him vicar general and moderator of the curia. At a news conference in San Angelo, Bishop-designate Sis called his appointment “a joy and an honor and an undeserved privilege.” He asked for prayers from Catholics of the diocese as their new shepherd. “I want to learn your hopes, your dreams, your struggles and fears,” he said. The new bishop made some remarks in Spanish, saying, “The church belongs to all.” Bishop Pfeifer told him: “We welcome you. We open our hearts to you, and our hands.”

Wall Street vs. Main Street: Pope’s words on economy stir controversy By Francis X. Rocca

Catholic News Service

Bishop-designate Michael J. Sis will be installed bishop of San Angelo on Jan. 27. Catholic News Service

Bishop Pfeifer has been San Angelo’s bishop since he was ordained and installed to head the diocese July 26, 1985. Born in Alamo, Texas, he was ordained a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate in 1964. He served various assignments, including many years as a missionary in Mexico. He was elected provincial of his order’s Southern province, and while in that position, Blessed John Paul II named him fifth bishop of San Angelo May 31, 1985. The San Angelo Diocese covers more than 37,000 square miles spread across 29 counties in central and west Texas. Catholics number 77,000 out of a total population of about 860,000. The diocese has 47 parishes and 22 missions. To see more National News go to:

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n enunciating the principles of Catholic social teaching, popes have long stressed the church’s special concern for the poor and the need for state intervention to promote economic justice. Pope Benedict XVI, for instance, blamed the “logic of profit” for widespread hunger and pollution, called for a “true world political authority” to ensure peace and environmental protection, and—when still a cardinal serving as a high Vatican official—wrote that, “in many respects, democratic socialism was and is close to Catholic social doctrine and has in any case made a remarkable contribution to the formation of a social consciousness.” Yet the international response to Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), published Nov. 24, has seemed to suggest the current pope wrote something shockingly new. The document has excited ardent praise and criticism from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, especially for its words condemning an “economy of exclusion and inequality” based on the “idolatry of money.” An editor of Britain’s Guardian newspaper praised the pope for giving “form to the emotion and injustice of post-financial-crisis outrage in a way that has been rare since Occupy Wall Street disbanded,” while the radio show host Rush Limbaugh denounced what he called “pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the pope.” Much of the particular impact of Pope Francis’ words is JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 33

doubtless due, on this subject as others, to his characteristically blunt and passionate style of expression. As he writes in an oft-quoted passage: “How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?” Oblate Father Seamus Finn, director of the U.S. Missionary Oblates’ office for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, said the pope’s exhortation is distinguished by its special focus on economic inequality’s impact on the poor and by its call on Christians to have “actual living contact with people who are poor or unemployed or struggling.” Where the document has proven especially controversial is in its description and explanation of present-day economic realities. Pope Francis writes of an “exponentially” growing gap between rich and poor, which he blames for environmental degradation and rising violence, among other evils. He attributes this gap to the influence of bad economic ideas. “This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control,” the pope writes. He rejects “trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting.” Catholics who support free-market economic policies have disputed the factual assertions behind the pope’s analysis. “There’s plenty of evidence out there, from the World Bank for example, suggesting that the number of people in absolute poverty over the past 30 years has shrunk dramatically, that in parts of the world, such as East Asia, we’ve seen a lot of people get out of poverty, and we’ve seen the emergence of large middle classes in countries like China and India,” said Samuel Gregg, research director at the Acton Institute and author of “Tea Party Catholic.” Gregg also argues that the financial sector and the economy in general are already highly regulated, at both the national and international levels, and that, “aside from one or two anarcho-capitalists who spend most of their time talking to each other and have no influence on the conduct of public policy,” no economists today seriously argue that

34 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

markets should be absolutely autonomous. But Father Finn said the last two decades in the United States have witnessed a “growth in wealth in assets for the top 1 percent and stagnation of wages and assets for the middle class,” resulting in “widening gaps between a very, very small number of people at the top, a middle class that’s holding its own, and an impoverished sector that is barely hanging on and very dependent on the charity of others.” Father Finn said Pope Francis’ portrayal of the ideological struggle over state intervention in the economy is realistic, as exemplified by current debates in the U.S. “We have a whole number of folks who are saying, let’s shrink the size of government, let’s let the market and the private sector come up with and propose solutions,” particularly in the education and health care sectors, he said. “And we’ve got lots of other people saying, that’s leaving a lot of collateral damage out there. Who’s responsible for it?” Beyond encouraging a larger role for the state, Pope Francis does not propose specific remedies for the problems he identifies, in the economy or other areas, writing that papal teaching should not “offer a definitive or complete word on every question which affects the church and the world.” Father Finn said the frequency with which the pope cites documents by various national bishops’ conferences is a sign he expects local churches to find different solutions appropriate to their circumstances. The Oblate also said Pope Francis’ praise of business as a “noble vocation” and his appeal to “financial leaders” to seek divine guidance for their plans exemplify the pontiff’s wider call for social dialogue. “That’s got to be one of the key conversations for the Vatican, for bishops’ conferences and for the church, a realistic conversation with people in business,” he said. “They’re the people on the front line of this Wall Street-Main Street tension.” Come to Rome for the Canonization of Blessed Pope John Paul II See Our Beloved Pope Francis

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Pope Francis leads a meeting with the poor in the archbishop’s residence in Assisi, Italy, Oct. 4. The meeting was in the famous “stripping room,” where St. Francis stripped off his rich clothes, gave them to his father and began a life of poverty dedicated to Christ. Paul Haring, Catholic News Service

In document, pope lays out his vision for an evangelical church By Francis X. Rocca

Catholic News Service

n his first extensive piece of writing as pope, Pope Francis lays out a vision of the Catholic Church dedicated to evangelization in a positive key, with a focus on society’s poorest and most vulnerable, including the aged and unborn. “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), released by the Vatican November 2013, is an apostolic exhortation, one of the most authoritative categories of papal document. Pope Francis’ first encyclical, “Lumen Fidei,” published in July 2013, was mostly the work of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. The pope wrote the new document in response to the October 2012 Synod of Bishops on the new

36 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

evangelization, but declined to work from a draft provided by synod officials. Pope Francis’ voice is unmistakable in the 50,000word document’s relatively relaxed style—he writes that an “evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral”—and its emphasis on some of his signature themes, including the dangers of economic globalization and “spiritual worldliness.”

VATICAN The church’s message “has to concentrate on the essentials, on what is most beautiful, most grand, most appealing and at the same time most necessary,” he writes. “In this basic core, what shines forth is the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead.” Inspired by Jesus’ poverty and concern for the dispossessed during his earthly ministry, Pope Francis calls for a “church which is poor and for the poor.” The poor “have much to teach us,” he writes. “We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voices to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.” Charity is more than mere handouts, “it means working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and to promote the integral development of the poor,” the pope writes. “This means education, access to health care, and above all employment, for it is through free creative, participatory and mutually supportive labor that human beings express and enhance the dignity of their lives.” Yet he adds that the “worst discrimination which the poor suffer is the lack of spiritual care...They need God and we must not fail to offer them his friendship, his blessing, his word, the celebration of the sacraments and a journey of growth and maturity in the faith.” Pope Francis reiterates his earlier criticisms of “ideologies that defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation,” which he blames for the current financial crisis and attributes to an “idolatry of money.” He emphasizes that the church’s concern for the vulnerable extends to “unborn children, the most defenseless

and innocent among us,” whose defense is “closely linked to the defense of each and every other human right.” “A human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development,” the pope writes, in his strongest statement to date on the subject of abortion. “Once this conviction disappears, so do solid and lasting foundations for the defense of human rights, which would always be subject to the passing whims of the powers that be.” The pope writes that evangelization entails peacemaking, among other ways through ecumenical and interreligious dialogue. He “humbly” calls on Muslim majority countries to grant religious freedom to Christians, and enjoins Catholics to “avoid hateful generalizations” based on “disconcerting episodes of violent fundamentalism,” since “authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Quran are opposed to every form of violence.” Pope Francis characteristically directs some of his strongest criticism at his fellow clergy, among other reasons, for what he describes as largely inadequate preaching. The faithful and “their ordained ministers suffer because of homilies,” he writes: “the laity from having to listen to them and the clergy from having to preach them!” The pope devotes several pages to suggestions for better homilies, based on careful study of the Scriptures and respect for the principle of brevity. Pope Francis reaffirms church teaching that only men can be priests, but notes that their “sacramental power” must not be “too closely identified with power in general,” nor “understood as domination”; and he allows for the “possible role of women in decision-making in different areas of the church’s life.”

As he has done in a number of his homilies and public statements, the pope stresses the importance of mercy, particularly with regard to the church’s moral teaching. While lamenting “moral relativism” that paints the church’s teaching on sexuality as unjustly discriminatory, he also warns against overemphasizing certain teachings out of the context of more essential Christian truths. In words very close to those he used in an oft-quoted interview with a Jesuit journalist in August, Pope Francis writes that “pastoral ministry in a missionary style is not obsessed with the disjointed transmission of a multitude of doctrines to be insistently imposed,” lest they distract from the Gospel’s primary invitation to “respond to the God of love who saves us.” Returning to a theme of earlier statements, the pope also warns against “spiritual worldliness, which hides behind the appearance of piety and even love for the church, (but) consists in seeking not the Lord’s glory but human glory and personal well-being,” either through embrace of a “purely subjective faith” or a “narcissistic and authoritarian elitism” that overemphasizes certain rules or a “particular Catholic style from the past.” Despite his censures and warnings, the pope ends on a hopeful note true to his well-attested devotion to Mary, whom he invokes as the mother of evangelization and “wellspring of happiness for God’s little ones.” To see more Vatican News go to:

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Pope: Opposition to abortion isn’t By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

efending human dignity and protecting society’s most vulnerable necessarily means protecting the unborn and defending their right to life, Pope Francis said in his apostolic exhortation. Writing in “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), Pope Francis said the church’s opposition to abortion is not a “conservative” political position, but is a key part of its claim that God created and loves each person and that believers have an absolute obligation to defend those whose basic right to life is under attack. “Precisely because this involves the internal consistency of our message about the value of the human person, the church cannot be expected to change her position on this question,” Pope Francis wrote in the document, which was released November 2013 at the Vatican. “I want to be completely honest in this regard,” he said. Acknowledging confusion in the general public between the reforms of church structures he has called for and expectations that he could change some church teaching, he said the church’s opposition to abortion “is not something subject to alleged reforms or ‘modernizations.’” “A human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development,” he wrote. “Once this conviction disappears, so do solid and lasting foundations for the defense of human rights, which would always be subject to the passing whims of the

powers that be.” The “defense of unborn life is closely linked to the defense of each and every other human right,” he said. While some people ridicule the church’s opposition to abortion or present it “as ideological, obscurantist and conservative,” he said, “it is not ‘progressive’ to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life.” Pope Francis said unfortunately it is true that, as a whole, the church has “done little to adequately accompany women in very difficult situations, where abortion appears as a quick solution to their profound anguish, especially when the life developing within them is the result of rape or a situation of extreme poverty.” Still, he said, the church is called to show particular care for the vulnerable and today the unborn are “the most defenseless and innocent among us.” “Reason alone is sufficient to recognize the inviolable value of each single human life,” the pope wrote, “but if we also look at the issue from the standpoint of faith, ‘every violation of the personal dignity of the human being cries out in vengeance to God and is an offense against the creator of the individual.’”

38 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

t ‘conservative,’ it’s result of faith

Pope Francis greets a child as he arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Addressing a group of Catholic gynecologists the pope condemned abortion as the product of a”’throwaway culture.” Paul Haring, Catholic News Service

JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 39

40 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

‘A dwelling among the flock’

HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE

PART 4: The present bishop’s residence

Msgr. Michael Howell Contributor

or more than 60 years if anyone asked where the bishop of the Diocese of Corpus Christi lived, Catholics would have immediately pointed to the residence on Ocean Drive. With the retirement of Bishop Emmanuel Ledvina in March 1949 and the assumption of duties by his former “coadjutor”—bishop with right of succession—Bishop Mariano Simon Garriga, it appeared desirable to the new bishop to break with past tradition and allow privacy for himself by finding a residence separate from the episcopal offices, then housed at 620 Lipan. The house ultimately chosen to serve that purpose was one built in the mid-1930s for J. Knox Culton and his family. Culton came to Corpus Christi in 1928 and initially opened an accounting and auditing office, but he made his fortune as an independent oil operator bringing in multiple wells in the Saxet Heights oil fields. “Saxet” was simply a reverse of the name “Texas” and reflected the pride Culton and other workers had as native Texans. With his financial success, Culton was able to pay cash for an 11-acre track on Ocean Drive in 1935, at a time when that property was considered “out in the country” since it was about 10 miles from the city. Culton hired Morris L. Levy and his associates to serve as the architectural firm for his new house. Levy, a native of San Antonio who began his career as city architect for St. Louis, had come to Corpus Christi in 1926. His works ultimately numbered

more than 300 buildings in Corpus Christi, including schools, churches, theaters, bowling alleys, office buildings, bus stations and the west wing of the old Nueces County Courthouse. Besides the Culton house, probably his other best-known design for a personal residence was the V. M. Donigan house with its mid-eastern look at the S-Curve on Ocean Drive where it intersects with Alta Plaza. With Wharton Johnson serving as contractor, the Culton house was built primarily during the Centennial of Texas in 1936. It had an exterior of Texas Limestone and followed a style usually identified as Spanish Mediterranean, reminiscent of the Spanish Missions in Texas. It was reportedly completed at a cost of $70,000 and attests to the economic impact of oil and gas discoveries in the coastal bend during the 1930s. Since air-conditioning was not original to the house, the architect designed the building with ample windows, one room in depth, and facing in the direction that allowed the prevailing winds that came off the bay to cool the rooms. The interior of the house contains a number of interesting elements. Beautifully colored concrete floor tiles installed by Mexican artisans in four distinct patterns represent a Spanish art form found in Corpus Christi homes and buildings of

Bishop Mariano Simon Garriga in his new home on Ocean Drive. Archived Photo

JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 41

Bishop’s residence on Ocean Drive in Corpus Christi that has served six bishops from 1950 to the present. Photo by Fritz Herr

the same period. Similar tiles also grace the present Corpus Christi Cathedral completed in 1940. The paneled ceiling in the dining room, detailed roped plaster ceiling moldings, the ornate iron stair rail and the original metal light fixtures were consistent with this same style. Most of the house remains intact as designed by Levy, except for the third story octagonal lantern and cupola area that was re-configured multiple times—under Bishop Garriga, Bishop Rene H. Gracida and most recently under Bishop Michael Mulvey. It was in 1950, through the generosity of major donors, that the Diocese of Corpus Christi acquired the house as a residence for the bishop, and it has served six bishops of the diocese—Bishop Garriga, Bishop Thomas J. Drury, Bishop Gracida, Bishop Roberto O. Gonzalez, OFM, Bishop Edmond Carmody and Bishop Mulvey. At one point Bishop Drury moved out of the house for an extended period to allow the Sister Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration that serve in the adjacent Blessed Sacrament Adoration Chapel to reside there until their convent was completed. During that period, Bishop Drury resided on Ocean View in

42 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

a house adjacent to the Ocean Drive property. With the help of the Kenedy family, the diocese was also able to acquire from the Cultons more than 40 furnishings original to the house. These included an Italian Credenza and art objects such as two antique candelabras and Bohemian Ruby Glass urns. Other gifts included ornate silver pieces and paintings from John Kenedy and his sister Sarita Kenedy East. To accommodate some large diocesan functions held at the Bishop’s residence, in the 1980s Bishop Gracida installed a patio, a garden and a fishpond in the backyard of the house. Over time, and with the installation of such items as air-conditioning, the house has had its share of deterioration and maintenance problems common to homes on the coast requiring recent extensive renovation that has made the house a place where the present shepherd—Bishop Mulvey—can continue to welcome his priests and other visitors to a warm and friendly setting that clearly proclaims the south Texas greeting. “Mi casa es su casa.” (This is the last in a series of articles on the homes of the bishops of Corpus Christi.)

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The television, internet and radio broadcasts of The Service of Lessons and Carols and the Midnight Mass at Corpus Christi Cathedral on Dec. 24 at 11:30 p.m. were presented live thanks to a generous gift from

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Ethical directives and the pregnant women in Catho Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D.

A Contributor

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D. is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Mass., and serves as the Director of Education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia.

t the beginning of December 2013, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a sweeping federal lawsuit against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops over its Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic hospitals, alleging that the Directives, with their prohibition against direct abortion, resulted in negligent care of a pregnant woman named Tamesha Means. Means’ water broke at 18 weeks, leading to infection of the amniotic membranes, followed by spontaneous labor and delivery of her child. The child lived only a few hours. During the course of these events, Means went to a Catholic hospital in Michigan several times, and—according to the lawsuit—was sent home even as contractions were starting. The lawsuit not only suggests that she should have been given a drug to induce labor early on but also claims this was not possible precisely because the hospital was Catholic and bound by the Directives. It further asserts that Catholic hospitals are not able to terminate a woman’s pregnancy by inducing premature labor “even if necessary for her health,” because to do so would be “prohibited” by the Directives. In point of fact, however, the Directives would not prevent the early induction of labor for these cases. Not infrequently, labor is induced in Catholic hospitals in complete conformity with the Directives. Directive #47 (never mentioned in the lawsuit) is very clear: “Operations, treatments, and medications that have as their direct purpose the cure of a proportionately serious pathological condition of a

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pregnant woman are permitted when they cannot be safely postponed until the unborn child is viable, even if they will result in the death of the unborn child.” Deciding about whether to induce labor involves the recognition that there are two patients involved, the mother and her in utero child, and that the interests of the two can sometimes be in conflict. In certain situations—for example, when the child is very close to the point of viability and the pregnancy is at risk—it may be recommended to delay early induction of labor in the hope that the child can grow further and the pregnancy can be safely shuttled to a point beyond viability, allowing both mother and child to be saved. Sometimes expectant management of this kind is not possible. Each case will require its own assessment of the risks, benefits and likely outcomes before deciding whether it would be appropriate to induce labor. When a woman’s water breaks many weeks prior to viability and infection arises, long-term expectant management of a pregnancy is often not possible. In such cases, induction of labor becomes medically

VIEWPOINTS

care of olic hospitals indicated in order to expel the infected membranes, and prevent the infection from spreading and causing maternal death. Early induction in these cases is carried out with the foreseen but unintended consequence that the child will die following delivery, due to his or her extreme prematurity. Such early induction of labor would be allowable because the act itself, i.e. the action of inducing labor, is a good act (expelling the i n fe c t e d a m n i otic membranes), and is not directed towards harming the body-person of the child, as it would be in the case of a direct abortion, when the child is targeted for saline injection or dismemberment. The medical intervention, in other words, is directed towards the body-person of the mother, using a drug to induce contractions in her uterus. One reluctantly tolerates the unintended loss of life that occurs secondary to the primary action of treating her life-threatening infection. On the other hand, direct killing of a human being through abortion, even if it were to provide benefit for the mother, cannot be construed as valid health care, but rather as a betrayal of the healing purposes of medicine at its most fundamental level. Such an

action invariably fails to respect both the human dignity of the unborn patient and his or her human rights. It also gravely violates a mother’s innate desire and duty to protect her unborn baby. If she finds herself in the unfortunate situation of having a severe uterine infection during pregnancy, she, too, would appreciate the physician’s efforts to treat her without desiring to kill her child, even if the child may end up dying as an unintended consequence of treating the pathology. The application of Catholic moral teaching to this issue is therefore directed toward two important and specific ends: first, the complete avoidance of directly killing the child, and, second, the preservation of the lives of both mother and child to the extent possible under the circumstances. Based upon these ends, the Ethical and Religious Directives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops provide important ethical parameters for framing the appropriate treatment of both mother and unborn child in high-risk pregnancies, while simultaneously safeguarding the fundamental integrity of medical practice in these complex obstetrical situations.

❝ Direct killing of a human being through abortion, even if it were to provide benefit for the mother, cannot be construed as valid health care, but rather as a betrayal of the healing purposes of medicine at its most fundamental level. ❞

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Doing Rome at home By George Weigel

Contributor

George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

n ancient Roman tradition has been resurrected, in Rome, by American Catholics who bring the vitality of the Church in the New World to the banks of the Tiber. In the middle centuries of the first millennium, the Bishop of Rome celebrated the Eucharist with his people during Lent in a striking way. Each day, the pope would lead a procession of Roman clergy and laity from one church, the collecta, or gathering point, to another, the statio or “station” of that day. There, over the relics of one of the Roman church’s martyrs, Mass was celebrated and a communal meal that broke the daylong Lenten fast followed. Over time, this annual tradition was formalized into the Roman station church pilgrimage, and as the tradition evolved, the pilgrimage sites shaped the Lenten liturgical texts. The pilgrimage was also universalized in a very concrete way: every Missal in the world once carried a stational indicator during Lent, such as “Ash Wednesday: Station at St. Sabina.” In one of the most intriguing developments in post-conciliar Catholicism, the ancient

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Roman station church pilgrimage has been revived in our time by Americans, and specifically by the North American College in Rome. Beginning in the mid-1970s, American seminarians, NAC faculty, and student-priests began to walk Rome’s stational pilgrimage trail again: informally at first and later as a college-organized activity that began to attract fellow pilgrims from Rome’s English-speaking communities. Today, the daily Lenten stational Mass draws hundreds of pilgrims at 7 a.m. to one of the city’s most venerable—and often unknown—churches, as NAC faculty and seminarians are joined by undergraduates from American universities with Rome campuses, diplomats, graduate students from all over the world, religious sisters and officials of the Roman Curia. The vicariate, or diocese, of Rome also sponsors a daily station-church Mass in the early evening, but attendance

is generally poor. When I once asked my friend Hannah Suchocka, t hen Poland’s ambassador to the Vatican, why she attended the crackof-dawn English-language stational Mass rather than the more convenient evening stational Mass, she gave me a short and pointed answer, “I found a living Church here [at the English-language Mass].” I first experienced the station church pilgrimage during the 1990s when I was in Rome working on the biography of Blessed John Paul II and living at NAC. Three years ago, I decided that this remarkable experience should be made available to a much wider audience; to those who might not be able to “do the station churches” in Rome, but could do so at home. So I enlisted as partners in this effort to “bring Rome to home” a good friend, Elizabeth Lev, the best engaging and thoughtful Anglophone art-and-architecture guide in Rome, and my son Stephen, a professional photographer. Liz, Stephen and I made the entire station church pilgrimage during Lent 2011, and after two years of editing and polishing both text and pictures, “Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches” has just been published by Basic Books.

OUR FAITH

“Roman Pilgr image” is meant to be absorbed in small doses, as the book includes, for each day of Lent and the entire Octave of Easter, my commentary on the daily liturgical texts (from both holy Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours); Liz’s insightful descriptions of the history, architecture and art of the station church of the day; and Stephen’s exquisite pictures—even more compelling in the eBook edition of Roman Pilgrimage, in which all the photos are in color and can be “zoomed” to larger sizes that display a remarkable fineness of detail. The book also includes two introductory essays: in the first, I reflect on the human habit of pilgrimage and the specific history and spiritual texture of the Roman station church pilgrimage; in the second, I explore Lent as a baptismal season in which all Christians are invited into a kind of “annual catechumenate,” re-experiencing the central mysteries of the faith. Thus “Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches” is an invitation to take from “Rome at home” renewed spiritual energy for the evangelical task that is every Christian’s vocation.

Father Rodolfo Vasquez is pastor at St. John the Baptist Parish in Corpus Christi

Catholic reverence for name of the Lord is born from Sacred Scripture By Father Rodolfo Vasquez

Contributor

an. 3 is the liturgical feast day of the Holy Name of Jesus, an important devotion that comes to us from Pope Gregory X at the Council of Lyon in 1274 as a weapon against the heresy of the Cathars (Albigensians). The devotion countered the heretics’ dualist assertion that the physical world was corrupt and evil and only the spiritual realm was truly good. They believed that the physical realm was created by Satan to oppose the spiritual, which was the creation of God. The pope entrusted the Dominicans with the spread of this devotion. It was later championed by the Franciscan St. Bernadine of Siena so as to reassert the church’s orthodox teaching of the inherent good of both physical and spiritual worlds since God created both. In denying this truth the Albigensians were denying the Incarnation itself. If the physical world is evil, it means that the human flesh is also evil. This error would logically conclude that God could not have become a man; he would not have been tainted by evil flesh. The devotion of the Holy Name emphasizes the Christological fact of the Incarnation by assigning power to the Lord’s name, the name given when he took flesh, by the angel Gabriel. The long-standing Catholic attitude and reverence for the JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 47

name of the Lord is born from Sacred Scripture, an evolution of the sacred respect that the Law of Moses demanded from Jews for the holy name of God. A violation against the name of God was considered an assault against His dignity and honor, and therefore the violator would be guilty of blasphemy, an offense punishable by death. It was to Moses that God answers the question “what is his name, what should I tell them” (Ex. 3:13) by calling himself “I am that I am”. In St. Paul’s famous Christological hymn to the Christians at Philippi he transfers the reverence due to name revealed to Moses with the name of Jesus Christ. “He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names: That in the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.” (Phil 2:8-10) For Christians consider a violation against the name of Jesus to be a violation of the second commandment of the Law of Moses to not “use the name of the Lord in vain.” Throughout the ages, the church has always believed in the power in the Lord’s name to consecrate and make holy the work of the church. (cf. Col 3:17) The Acts of the Apostles reveals that the Apostles “baptized, healed, cast out demons, preached and anointed” in the Lord’s name. The Lord himself instructed us “if you ask the Father anything in my name, He will give it you.” (Jn 16: 23) The Dominicans were entrusted to spread the devotion of the Holy Name through the establishment of the Holy Name Society, a confraternity recommended to spread reverence and love for the Lord, a devotion that the Church recommends to all her sons and daughters especially today. Christians live in a culture that has lost its respect and reverence for God and has disrespected the Lord. We all too often tolerate the Lord’s name being used in curse language or misused in profane speech. For it we must beg the Lord’s forgiveness and make reparation for the times his name has been abused. As we continue to celebrate the feast of Christmas, we ought to make it our mission to spread love for the Lord’s name. We must always invoke his name in prayer and when seeking his mercy. So that as St. Paul exhorted the Philippians, we would bend our knees and bow our heads at the very mention of the name of the Savior, a name that saves, Jesus Christ our Lord. We Christians know that power in the Lord’s name because it is the power that generates the joy of being a Christian. Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that, “the happiness you are seeking, the happiness you have a right to enjoy, has a name and a face: it is Jesus of Nazareth.”

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He ascended in By Father J. Patrick Serna Contributor

he Nicene Creed reminds us that Jesus’ ascension is an important event in the life of Christ, inasmuch as it is the crown of success and proof that our Savior overcame the world. It is not uncommon for Christians to think of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension as the same thing, however, such is not the case. The Resurrection of Jesus began with the empty tomb on Easter Sunday morning. After the Resurrection, Jesus continued to teach and reveal truths to His disciples until the time of the ascension. Pope St. Leo the Great said, “The days which passed between the Lord’s resurrection and his ascension were by no means uneventful; during them great sacramental mysteries were confirmed, great truths revealed.” In his elucidation on the ascension, Pope Leo the Great accounts for Jesus’ return back to His glory with the Father, while at the same time elevating human nature to a status higher than that of the angels. “Indeed,” Pope Leo said, “that blessed company had a great and inexpressible cause for joy when it saw man’s nature rising above the dignity of the whole heavenly creation, above the ranks of angels, above the exalted status of archangels. Nor would there be any limit to its upward course until humanity was admitted to a seat at the right hand

nto heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father of the eternal Father, to be enthroned at last in the glory of him to whose nature it was wedded in the person of the Son.” The ascension was good for Jesus Himself; moreover, the ascension is supremely good for all humans, inasmuch as the glorification of His human nature makes our own glorification possible. The Ascension of Jesus marks the end of Jesus’ public ministry on earth, and it is the fruition of His salvific mission: “So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.” (Mk 16:19) The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that, “Christ’s ascension marks the definitive entrance of Jesus’

humanity into God’s heavenly domain, whence he will come again.” (CCC #665) God prophesied the ascension through the Psalmist, about 600 years before it happened: “Lift up your heads, O gates; be lifted, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may enter.” (Ps 24:7) Scripture repeatedly tells us that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. This image of Jesus “seated” helps us understand that Jesus is now in a state of eternal peace, and sitting at the right hand indicates sovereignty, honor and power. There is one time in Holy Scripture, however, that the relationship of God the Son to God the Father is presented differently. St. Stephen, as he was being killed for the faith, experienced the following: “But he, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven standing at the right hand of God.’” (Acts and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one 7:55-56) Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the In the foregoing, we see Jesus standing, Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true not sitting at the right hand of God. What God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with does this mean? This image of Jesus standthe Father; through Him all things were made. For us men ing and helping one in need is an assurance and for our salvation He came down from heaven, and by the to us that the ascended Jesus is not simply Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became an observing and aloof God, rather, He is man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, there to help us and comfort us, despite the He suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the fact that His fundamental salvific mission third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into has already been accomplished. heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will The ascension of Jesus is the proof to come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His us that He overcame the world, not only kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the spiritually in His divine nature, but physLord the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the ically in His human nature as well. Since Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, we share in the human nature of Jesus, the who has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in one holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the ascension also gives us hope of overcomforgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of ing the created world. the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. The account of Jesus’ ascension as found in the Gospel of Luke presents us with a

Father J. Patrick Serna is pastor at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Sinton

Nicene Creed

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❝The days which passed between the Lord’s resurrection and his ascension were by no means uneventful; during them great sacramental mysteries were confirmed, great truths revealed. ❞ –Pope St. Leo the Great curious observation, that is, the believers who saw Jesus ascend showed joy instead of sorrow. “As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.” (Lk 24:51-53) When one of our loved ones dies, we usually experience terrible grief, even when we believe our loved ones went to heaven. So, rather than express sorrow or grief in Luke’s account of Jesus’ ascension on the road to Emmaus, why was there only “joy” and “praise”? This joy and praise displayed by the believers on the road to Emmaus indicates great faith. After the bodily ascension of Jesus into heaven, faith would now become the only way to experience Jesus. The faith displayed by the believers on the road to Emmaus reflects their conviction that Jesus overcame the world, and they knew that they could follow on the path to glory, which was paved by His ascension. On the Feast of the Ascension 2013, Pope Francis told the world, “Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven thus allows us to know this reality that is so consoling on our journey: in Christ, true God and true man, our humanity has been brought to God. He has opened the way. He is like the leader of a mountain climbing party that is roped together. He has reached the summit and pulls us to himself, leading us to God. If we entrust our lives to him, if we let ourselves be guided by him, we are certain of being in safe hands.” This life on earth is not “it,” God made us for Heaven; this time on earth is only temporary. The ascension of Jesus reminds us that we can share in Christ’s victory over this world, and the ascension is a reminder that He is waiting to share His glorious happiness with us.

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Coming out of hiding By Sister Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT

M Contributor

aking New Year’s resolutions can be a tricky business.

We may think addressing our diet and exercising more regularly will serve our best interests. Our family and friends might prefer that our resolve center instead around curbing our negativity, our moodiness, our critical spirit or our rash judgments. We might decide we need to give extra time to charitable projects when our family or community would be happy to see us enjoy more time in their company. We may even realize we need more prayer in our lives and determine to make space for it when God would prefer we look for Him outside the concept of an exercise to perform. There is actually one answer to all the needs for change we contemplate at the beginning of a new year: Jesus Christ and the Trinitarian life He came to bring us. Many of us know about Jesus. Fewer of us really feel comfortable saying we know Him. And out of those of us who know Him, we don’t always relate to Him, or allow Him to relate to us in any kind of way that really affects our lives. There is a kind of split in us between our faith and the rest of our lives. Vatican Council II sought particularly to address this difficulty of believers today, the problem of a duplicity that manifests itself in those of us who intellectually assent to the existence of God yet fail to live as though we really believe He exists. Instead, we live, practically speaking, as atheists. We do not live as though God is our Father, providing for us in all that is most necessary. If we did, we would not be filled with anxieties and stress over how to take care of ourselves. We also profess a belief in Jesus as our Savior, and yet we are constantly trying to save ourselves. Witness the incredible number of self-help books and social programs that promise fulfillment and ultimate happiness. The promotional tag line is often the only really successful part of the whole offering which inevitably engenders its own problems. In the meantime, participation in the life giving, healing sacraments wanes, and attendance at Mass is no longer seen as essential.

We say we believe the Holy Spirit is our advocate and guide. And yet we fight our own fights without seeking His help while the course we try to steer in our lives is not on His map. It is of our own making and does not lead us to happy or peaceful outcomes. All of this comes because we fail to realize that our Trinitarian God is a personal God. He wants to be up “close and personal” with us. And He wants us to be personal with Him. The Father is a Person who wants us to relate to Him that way. Jesus is a Person and He wants us to relate to Him that way. The Holy Spirit is a Person, Who also wants us to relate to Him that way. It is worth noting that no two relationships with God are alike. Just as a group of siblings who have the same mother and father have unique relationships with them, so too is our relationship with God unique to each of us. Trying to be someone else, even a saint, will drive us away from an authentic communion with God. If He had wanted 300 St. Francis of Assisis or St. Therese of Lisieuxs, God would have created them. But marvel of marvels, He’s created each of us to be our own exceptional expression of His love. This means, in order to find ourselves, we have to stop hiding from God, and in a way, from ourselves too. We often hide from Him without even being aware of it. Sometimes we hide out in our illusions. Sometimes we hide behind our wounds, our excuses, our busyness, our technology, science, our own pride or distrust of God. We often hide behind our self-sufficiency until God either takes it away, or shows us the limits of our own power. Sometimes we hide behind our sins either out of shame or because we do not want to give them up. Hiding from the Lord is as old as Adam and Eve. We become afraid of what He might say to us, what He might ask of us. We become infected with doubts about Him. And so we hide. But as

soon as we hide, He comes looking for us. We are like children in the game of Hide and Seek. The adult always knows where the child is. But the child still needs to be found. And in the spiritual life, even though we choose many things to hide behind, deep down, we all want to be found. We all want to know we are beloved and sought after because this tells us something essential about ourselves. And this is precisely what God wants for us. He wants us to come out of hiding so He cannot only reveal Himself to us, but so that He can reveal us to ourselves as well. It is only in friendship with Him, in a living relationship with Jesus Christ, as confident children of Our Father, and in trusting openness to the Holy Spirit that this happens. These are exciting revelations because infinite Love is behind all of them. Perhaps we can glean help for the New Year from some of the recent writings and homilies of Pope Francis. But we will have to come out of hiding—the whole of us. No holding anything back, because God must touch every area of our life’s transforming presence. A good resolution then would be one that seeks to “encounter the Lord and most of all, allows us to be encountered by Him.” Then we must keep our eyes open for the many different ways He encounters us, finds us, in our life experiences, in our prayer, in creation, in the words of another spoken to us, in the Scriptures and sacraments and Mass and in thoughts that come to us within, from the light of our Baptism. As Pope Francis so beautifully says: “God does not hide Himself from those who seek Him with a sincere heart even though they do so tentatively, in a vague and haphazard manner.” Why? Because “His delight is to be among the sons of men” as the Christmas season has just gloriously proven to us once again.

➤ There is actually one answer to all the needs for change we contemplate at the beginning of a new year: Jesus Christ and the Trinitarian life He came to bring us.

Sister Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT is a member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity

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His silence is the silence of love, it is go By Sister Kathleen McDonagh, IWBS

W Contributor

Sister Kathleen McDonagh, IWBS is a member of the order of the Incarnate Word of the Blessed Sacrament

hen one moves toward a time of prayer, normally they look forward to it as a time that will be one of peace and joy. Sometimes, however, for one reason or another, they may be surprised to find that this is not so on this particular day and that it is very difficult for them to settle down to celebrate such a relationship with God. Although they may not be aware of any reason for being distracted from God and the things of God they find that day is very difficult for them to pray quietly and to be aware that they are indeed in God’s presence. Perhaps, in their relationship with others, something has happened that is a source of anxiety—even a cause of anger—and it is difficult for them to set this feeling aside. They may try to pray with the joy they have experienced at other times, but do not feel joyful, and cannot pretend that they do. What can they do in this situation? They may think, “Oh, this is hopeless. I just can’t pray today.” Is this really true? What is true is that they cannot feel the joy of prayer they have felt at other times. However, faith is calling

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them to communicate with God, and the only thing they really can do is to maintain awareness that they are in God’s presence and to hope that their present mood or feeling of distraction or hurt will be lifted. Will God step in and lift the mood immediately? That is unlikely. Can they continue to sit in His presence although they have no feeling of great joy such as they have had at other times when they prayed to Him? Yes, they can do this. It may not seem easy or even worthwhile to do so at this point in time, but it is living out of an act of faith, one that God will accept in love from them. It can even happen that, when they do try to rest in stillness and to quiet their distracted mind, their lack of quiet and peace in God may seem to get worse. Yet, they

should not give up on the effort. There is stillness at the center of being, and if they can find this center, they will be aware of peace deep within them from which they can reach out to God and share in His peace. An Augustinian priest in England, Father Benignus O’Rourke, OSA, says, “To reach the place where Christ awaits us, we need to be prepared for long periods of silence and quiet, long enough for our doubts to dissolve, our cares to lose their urgent pressures, our uncertainty to give way to trust. To wait in silence for as long as it takes is to be taken eventually to our still center where we find that the mind has become quiet and the heart is at peace. And in the stillness we find God.” (Finding Your Hidden Treasure, page 57). Are people aware of having a “still center where [they can] find that the mind has become quiet and the heart is at peace. And in that stillness…find God?” Maybe yes, maybe not. But now that it has been brought to their attention, perhaps, sooner or later, they may experience this. Do they have to say endless vocal prayers to assure themselves that they are praying? No. Father Benignus quotes an unknown poet who wrote, “Abandon yourself to Him in longing love, simply holding on to nothing but Him so that

ood to wait in silence for His coming you may enter the silence of eternity and know the union of yourself with Him. And if in the silence, He does not answer, He is still there. His silence is the silence of love…It is good to wait in silence for His coming.” Do people sometimes experience “the silence of love” with other human beings whom they love? Perhaps they do with a

friend who is very close to them as they both engage in activities that, for a time, call for all their concentration. They are focused on each other’s activities, but at the same time, they are aware of and appreciative of each other’s presence, and they know that, sooner rather than later, they will once again be communicating directly with each other in their usual

style. In the same way, in prayer, people can sometimes move from a sense of Christ being distant in their lives to a sense of His presence. They must continue to try to pray the prayer of silence especially when, for one reason or another, they cannot seem to feel or be aware of God’s presence during their prayer time.

Year A

January Liturgical Calendar Jan. 1: Wed The Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord, white | Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God | Solemnity [Holy day of Obligation] | Nm 6:22-27/Gal 4:4-7/Lk 2:16-21 (18) Pss Prop

Jan. 9: Thu Christmas Weekday white | 1 Jn 4:19—5:4/Lk 4:14-22a (215)

Jan. 19: SUN SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green | Is 49:3, 5-6/1 Cor 1:1-3/Jn 1:29-34 (64) Pss II

Jan. 10: Fri Christmas Weekday white | 1 Jn 5:5-13/Lk 5:12-16 (216)

Jan. 2: Thu Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, white | Bishops and Doctors of the Church | Memorial | 1 Jn 2:22-28/Jn 1:19-28 (205)

Jan. 11: Sat Christmas Weekday white | 1 Jn 5:14-21/Jn 3:22-30 (217)

Jan. 20: Mon Weekday green/red/ red | [Saint Fabian, Pope and Martyr; Saint Sebastian, Martyr] | 1 Sm 15:16-23/ Mk 2:18-22 (311)

Jan. 3: Fri Christmas Weekday white/white, | [The Most Holy Name of Jesus] | 1 Jn 2:29—3:6/Jn 1:29-34 (206) Jan. 4: Sat Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious, white | Memorial | 1 Jn 3:7-10/Jn 1:35-42 (207) Jan. 5: SUN THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD, white | Solemnity | Is 60:1-6/Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6/Mt 2:1-12 (20) Pss Prop Jan. 6: Mon Christmas Weekday, white/white | [Saint André Bessette, Religious] | 1 Jn 3:22—4:6/Mt 4:12-17, 23-25 (212) Pss II Jan. 7: Tue Christmas Weekday white/white | [Saint Raymond of Penyafort, Priest] | 1 Jn 4:7-10/Mk 6:34-44 (213) Jan. 8 : Wed Christmas Weekday white | 1 Jn 4:11-18/Mk 6:45-52 (214)

Jan. 12: SUN THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD white | Feast | Is 42:1-4, 6-7/Acts 10:34-38/Mt 3:13-17 (21) Pss Prop Jan. 13: Mon Weekday (First Week in Ordinary Time) green/white | [Saint Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church] | 1 Sm 1:1-8/Mk 1:14-20 (305) Pss I Jan. 14: Tue Weekday green | 1 Sm 1:9-20/Mk 1:21-28 (306) Jan. 15: Wed Weekday green | 1 Sm 3:1-10, 19-20/Mk 1:29-39 (307) Jan. 16: Thu Weekday green | 1 Sm 4:1-11/Mk 1:40-45 (308) Jan. 17: Fri Saint Anthony, Abbot white | Memorial | 1 Sm 8:4-7, 10-22a/ Mk 2:1-12 (309) Jan. 18: Sat Weekday green/white | [BVM] | 1 Sm 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1a/Mk 2:13-17 (310)

Jan. 21: Tue Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr red | Memorial | 1 Sm 16:1-13/ Mk 2:23-28 (312) Pss Prop Jan. 22: Wed Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of green/Mass: white/violet | Unborn Children | 1 Sm 17:32-33, 37, 40-51/Mk 3:1-6 (313) or, for the Day of Prayer, any of the following | readings: Gn 1:1—2:2 (41) or 2 Mc 7:1, 20-31 (vol. II, 499) or Is 49:1-6 (587) or Rom 11:33-36 (121) or Eph 1:3-14 (104) or Eph 3:14-21 (vol. III, 476) or Col 1:1220 (162) or 1 Jn 3:11-21 (208)/Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14 (414) or Mk 9:30-37 (134) or Lk 1:39-56 (622) or Lk 17:11-19 (144) or Lk 23:35-43 (162) or Jn 1:1-5, 9-14, 16-18 (755) or Jn 6:24-35 (113), or the Lectionary for Ritual Masses (vol. IV), the Mass “For Peace and Justice,” nos. 887-891 Jan. 23: Thu Weekday green/red/ white | [Saint Vincent, Deacon and Martyr; Saint Marianne Cope, Virgin] | 1 Sm 18:6-9; 19:1-7/Mk 3:7-12 (314)

Jan. 24: Fri Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church white | Memorial | 1 Sm 24:3-21/Mk 3:13-19 (315) Jan. 25: Sat The Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle white | Feast | Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22/Mk 16:15-18 (519) Pss Prop Jan. 26: SUN THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green | Is 8:23—9:3/1 Cor 1:10-13, 17/Mt 4:12-23 or 4:12-17 (67) Pss III Jan. 27: Mon Weekday green/white | [Saint Angela Merici, Virgin] | 2 Sm 5:1-7, 10/Mk 3:22-30 (317) Jan. 28: Tue Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church white | Memorial | 2 Sm 6:12b-15, 17-19/Mk 3:31-35 (318) Jan. 29: Wed Weekday green | 2 Sm 7:4-17/Mk 4:1-20 (319) Jan. 30: Thu Weekday green | 2 Sm 7:18-19, 24-29/Mk 4:21-25 (320) | Jan. 31: Fri Saint John Bosco, Priest white | Memorial | 2 Sm 11:1-4a, 5-10a, 13-17/Mk 4:26-34 (321)

JANUARY 2014 | SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC 53

JANUARY CALENDAR

Retablos Exhibit: The Art of Faith II

The Kenedy Ranch Museum of South Texas exhibit “Retablos: The Art of Faith II” runs now through Jan. 17. The museum is located at 280 La Parra Ave. in Sarita. For more information call (361) 294-5751.

March for Life Pilgrimage Meeting The National March for Life Pilgrimage will be held on Jan. 19-23 in Washington, D.C. Registration for the National March for Life is now closed. Those who plan on attending the March for Life Pilgrimage will meet Jan. 9 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Diocese of Corpus Christi Chancery Office, 1st Floor Conference Room. Final payment is due then. Participants must pay in full.

On Jan. 11 at the American Bank Center from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. This will be the 25th Anniversary of the Diocese of Corpus Christi’s Ministry Conference, The New Evangelization. The Keynote Speaker is Peter Murphy, Ph.D. Executive Director, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Secretariat for Evangelization and Catechesis.

Mass of Evangelization & Culture The Department for Evangelization and Catechesis will sponsor the Mass of Evangelization and Culture on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Corpus Christi Cathedral. The celebration will begin at 6 p.m. and conclude at 8:30 p.m.

54 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2014

open bar, reserved seating, appetizers, dinner buffet, dessert and early preview of items in the live, silent and Chinese auctions. Dance to Flashback. For ticket information, call (361) 729-2672.

Sacred Heart School’s 14th Annual Winter Gala On Jan. 25 at Paws and Taws Pavilion. Patrons enter early at 5:30 p.m. and will enjoy

Texas Rally for Life in Austin On Jan 25 join the Diocese of Corpus Christi in the 2014 Texas Rally for Life. Catholics from dioceses from across the state will march to the south steps of the State Capitol Building in solidarity to show Texas is Pro-Life. No registrations will be accepted after Jan. 17. For more information call Amy Palomo at (361) 882-6191.

Women’s St. Ignatius Silent Retreats On Jan. 16 at 5 p.m. and ending on Sunday, Jan. 19 at 1 p.m. at Our Lady of Corpus Christi Retreat Center on 1200 Lantana in Corpus Christi. Learn more at www.deepprayer.org or call (361) 289-9095, ext. 301

Spirit Center Celebrity Dinner On Jan. 10 at 6 p.m. at the Solomon Ortiz Center. More than 50 high profile community celebrities will “serve up the fun” as waiters and entertainers. There will be dinner, dancing, photo booth, cash bar, silent and live auctions, raffle, awards and more. For more information call (361) 888-7537 or go to www.bluntzerspiritcenter.org.

Ministry Conference

28 & 30

IWA Elementary Level Word 101 Open House On Jan. 28 and 30 from 8-10 a.m. at Incarnate Word Academy Elementary Level (450 Chamberlain St., Corpus Christi) tour traditional and Montessori classrooms and learn about academics, athletics and financial aid. This is a great opportunity to meet with faculty, staff, parents and students at IWA.

To see more calendar events go to:

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Our Lady of Corpus Christi

SPECIAL EVENTS

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds Social at 6:30 p.m. Dinner at 7 p.m. Speaker: Father Dan Estes, SOLT Music provided by: CorpusChristi Chamber Ensemble Emcee: KLUX General Manager, Marty Wind

VIP Corporate Sponsors Diamond Level - $5,000.00 Ruby Level - $2,500.00 Emerald Level - $1,000.00 Sapphire Level - $500.00 Individual Guest Seat - $60.00 Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014 from 9-4 p.m.

One Day Workshop with Karlo Broussard, Apologist and speaker for the Magis Center of Reason and Faith, presenting â&#x20AC;&#x153;Evidence for God from Physics and Philosophy.â&#x20AC;? $50 per person (lunch included). Discounted rates for Church groups. To pre-register, visit www.magiscenter.com, email: speakers@magisreasonfaith.org or call (509) 669-1981 by Feb. 1, 2014.

For more information call: (361) 289-9095

The Golf Tournament Friday, April 25, 2014

The DOME Fest Friday-Saturday, May 9-10, 2014

Jan. 2014 Issue SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC P.O. Box 2620 Corpus Christi, TX 78403 (361) 882-6191