Catholic ministries aim to encourage, empower Catholic dads in an increasingly secularized world

Catholic men will go to their local parish, for “That Man Is You!”

TMIY is an interactive, multi-week men’s program combining research, science, Catholic teaching, and the wisdom of the saints “to develop the vision of authentic men capable of transforming themselves, their families and greater society.”

At the Knights of Columbus’ June 8-11 annual meeting of state deputies and a coinciding June 7-9 assembly of chaplains in New Haven, the fraternal order unveiled an initiative Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly declared is “uniquely suited to strengthen the faith of men and families.”

That’s something the laity can do; that’s not something that depends on the priest. Just encouraging Catholic men today – because that will strengthen Catholic fatherhood down the road,” Bartlett said, noting, “There’s just so many different avenues where the family is under attack.

“And as fathers, we’re called to stand guard at the front lines of those attacks a – protect our children. That, I think, is a huge challenge in fatherhood.”

Perhaps echoing some Catholic mothers, Bartlett also observed that “it’s really hard for Catholic fathers to ask for help. I think it’s just hard for men to ask for help. And there’s a lot of struggles –whether it be habitual sin, or struggles with developing a prayer life, or even the general lack of spiritual directors out there.”

“I think most men don’t necessarily understand their vocation as husband and father,” said Hartfiel. “They understand Father John at the parish has a vocation; he’s given his life for the church. And for some reason or another, they haven’t picked up on the call to marriage vocation as a laying down of your life for your bride and for your children,” he shared, offering the reminder that, “The two greatest saints in the Catholic Church are a mom and a dad –Mary and Joseph.”

All these efforts to support the vocation of Catholic fatherhood recognize support is needed both in the home and in the pews.

HOUSTON (OSV News) – Equipping Catholic fathers for their distinctive vocation has become a special mission for several dad-centered ministries offering a wealth of resources, encouragement, and fellowship. One effort is “The Catholic Dad Show” channel on YouTube, which adds new content every other week.

A sampling of episodes includes topics such as “What To Do When You’re In Over Your Head as a Dad” and “How Do You Get Your Kids to Pay Attention at Mass?” Mark Hartfiel, vice president of Houston-based Paradisus Dei, hopes

Dubbed “Cor,” the program will offer the Knights’ more than two million worldwide members “regular faith-centered gatherings outside the traditional Knights of Columbus council business meeting” with an emphasis on prayer, formation and fraternity.

“The word ‘cor’ is Latin for heart, and the purpose of the Cor meeting is to get to the heart of the matter, and to form men to have the heart of a father. That is something every Catholic man needs,” said Kelly.

“The success of Catholic fatherhood starts even before the wedding bells ring,” said Chris Bartlett, vice president of Ablaze Ministries, who with Matt Rice, president and founder of Ablaze, co-hosts “The Catholic Dad Show” on YouTube.

“And I think that’s an important piece – how do we really encourage and affirm faithful men in our pews today?

BLUE ARMY OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA SHRINE

674 Mountain View Road E., Asbury, NJ 08802 908-689-7330 • retreat@bluearmy.com

Lift Up Your Soul at the tranquil 150-acre Fatima Shrine. Host Your Retreat for Youth, Couples, Parish or Vocational Group.

LOYOLA JESUIT CENTER

161 James Street • Morristown, NJ 07960 973-539-0740 • Fax: 973-898-9839 www.loyola.org • retreathouse@loyola.org

Retreats for lay men, women, priests, religious; days/evenings of prayer. Groups planning their own programs are welcome.

MOUNT ST. MARY

HOUSE OF PRAYER

1651 U.S. Highway 22, Watchung, NJ 07069 908-753-2091 • www.msmhope.org e-mail: msmhope@msmhope.org

Retreats, Spiritual Direction, Programs

SAN ALFONSO RETREAT HOUSE

755 Ocean Avenue, Long Branch NJ 07740

732-222-2731 • info@sanalfonsoretreats.org www.sanalfonsoretreats.org

A Redemptorist Spiritual Center overlooking the Atlantic Ocean offering preached retreats, days of prayer and use of the facility for outside groups.

THE SHRINE OF ST. JOSEPH

1050 Long Hill Road, Stirling, NJ 07980 908-647-0208 • www.stshrine.org Day & Overnight Retreats Gift & Book Shop - open daily

ST. FRANCIS CENTER FOR RENEWAL, INC.

395 Bridle Path Road, Bethlehem PA 18017 610.867.8890 • sfcr-info@stfrancisctr.org • stfrancisctr.org

55 acres of natural beauty await you! Programs for personal and spiritual enrichment, directed and solitude retreats. Air conditioned facilities for retreats, spiritual programs, meetings and staff days for church related and not-for-profit groups.

ST. FRANCIS RETREAT HOUSE

3918 Chipman Road, Easton, PA 18045

Phone: 610-258-3053, ext. 10 • Fax: 610-258-2412

Info@stfrancisretreathouse.org • stfrancisretreathouse.org

Franciscan retreat and confrence center. Retreats for men, women, youth, religious, preached, private, directed

ST. JOSEPH BY THE SEA

400 Route 35 North, S. Mantoloking, NJ 08738 732-892-8494 • sjbsea@comcast.net • sjbsea.org

VILLA PAULINE RETREAT AND SPIRITUAL CENTER

352 Bernardsville Road, Mendham, NJ 07945 973-738-4266 • smpdemek@scceast.org • www.scceast.org

Preached/Directed/Guided & Private Retreats, Spiritual Direction, day & weekend programs

ACROSS

3 Gregory I sent missionaries to convert these barbarians

9 How many times each day the soldiers of Joshua marched around Jericho

10 Grandson of Leah

11 New Testament city

12 Where the altar is located

14 Hosea, in the Douay

16 Catholics Pavarotti, Carreras, or Domingo

17 King David sent him into battle to be killed

18 Pairs’ debarking point

20 “___, I am the handmaid of the Lord…” (Lk 1:38)

22 One of the Twelve

24 Brother of Peter

26 Archdiocese in northern Italy

27 Catholic tennis star Federer

30 Grandson of Adam

32 “…for a person will reap only what he ___ ” (Gal 6:7)

34 Archdiocese in New Mexico

35 Gift bearers

36 “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the ___” (Lk 4:12)

37 Number of New Testament letters that bear the name of a person

Down

1 Nickname for a Catholic university

2 Bible book about the early Christians

4 Ahab desired his vineyard

5 Language of the Tridentine Mass

6 Companion of Daniel

7 Ignatius of ___

8 “Lord ___ us! We are perishing!” (Mt 8:25)

13 St. ___ Stein

15 “Take and ___; this is my body.” (Mt 26:26)”

17 Pope (II) who called for the Crusades

19 ___ and Omega

21 A Doctor of the Church from Brindisi

23 First century pope

24 First patriarch, to his friends?

25 St. Therese of Lisieux is a patron of this country

26 Catholic author of The Power and the Glory

28 It may be actual or sanctifying

29 Last Supper question

31 Catholic actress, winner of Academy Award for her role in “Hud”

Memorial Day Remembrance

Memorial Day, which originated following the Civil War and which honors those who died while serving the U.S. military, is observed with a variety of traditions, including visiting cemeteries and memorials.

In the Diocese of Metuchen, Masses were celebrated in both diocesan cemeteries. Father Juan Carlos Gaviria, administrator, St. James the Less Parish, Jamesburg, presided at Mass at Holy Cross Cemetery, Jamesburg.

1. An honor guard from the United States Air Force begins the Memorial Day ceremony at Holy Cross Cemetery.

2. Father Gaviria receives the gifts of bread and wine from parishioners during the Memorial Day Mass at Holy Cross May 29.

3. Army veteran Alex Monaco (left) and Air Force veteran Frank McCarthy participate in a wreath displaying ceremony at Holy Cross.

4. At Resurrection Cemetery, a soldier salutes to pay his respects to those who have died in Father Sean Winters elevates the Host during Mass in Resurrection Cemetery. Chris Donahue and Jerry Wutkowski photos

Jenna Marie Cooper, who holds a licentiate in canon law, is a consecrated virgin and a canonist whose column appears weekly at OSV News. Send your questions to CatholicQA@osv.com.

AWe say that a saint is “incorrupt” when, years after their death, their mortal body is found to have remained in an unexplained state of preservation. That is, their body has not followed the expected natural process of decomposition. Some wellknown incorrupt saints include St. Cecilia and St. Bernadette of Lourdes.

For a saint to be considered incorrupt, their body must not have been subjected to any deliberate artificial embalming process. Natural explanations for the lack of physical decay – such as, for example, sustained cold temperatures due to climate or the specific chemical composition of the local soil potentially having preservative properties – must also be ruled out.

While we can’t come to any firm conclusions while the initial investigations are still ongoing, based on what we know so far it seems that Sr. Wilhelmina’s case meets these criteria: she was buried without embalming, and in moist Missouri ground that should have hastened the decomposition of a body. It’s reported that since she had been buried for four years, her Benedictine community fully expected to find only her bones. It’s particularly striking that while the cloth lining of her casket had disintegrated, Sr. Wilhelmina’s religious habit remained in near-perfect condition.

Yet the question of whether a person

QDoes the incorrupt body of the Benedictine nun, Sr. Wilhelmina, mean that she is a saint? What does the Church think of it? (Farmingville, New York) is incorrupt has no bearing on whether they will be eventually declared a saint. It’s true that part of the canonization process involves exhuming the body of the proposed saint (essentially as a way of verifying their identity), but in the canonization process, the state of the person’s mortal remains is of minimal relevance. What the church looks at first and foremost is the way the proposed saint lived their life. i.e., did they live a life of holiness and heroic Christian virtue? There are far, far more canonized saints who are not incorrupt and whose earthly bodies “returned to dust” in the normal way.

Still, when a deceased member of the faithful is found to be incorrupt, this can serve as a strong reminder to us of our belief in the “resurrection of the body” which we profess when we pray the Apostles’ Creed. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us: “In death, the separation of the soul from the body, the human body decays and the soul goes to meet God, while awaiting its reunion with its glorified body. God, in his almighty power, will definitively grant incorruptible life to our bodies by reuniting them with our souls, through the power

QWhat is the rule on food and drink before or during Mass? I thought water was ok during Mass, but someone recently told me no water, and certainly no food, may be consumed within an hour of mass. And are kids covered by this rule too?

(Brandenburg, Kentucky)

AIn the Code of Canon Law, canon 919.1 states: “Whoever is to receive the Blessed Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour before Holy Communion from all food and drink, with the sole exception of water and medicine,” (although Can. 919.2 exempts priests celebrating multiple Masses on the same day from this rule and Can. 919.3 goes on to likewise exempt the elderly and infirm).

So, strictly speaking it would be permissible to drink water right before Mass, or even during Mass if this is necessary. And since the rule refers to fasting before the reception of Holy Communion – rather than before the start of Mass –it’s also acceptable to, for example, have a snack before the start of what you know will be an exceptionally long Mass. Since the rule applies to those who will actually receive Communion, children old enough to receive Communion are required to fast, while younger children are not.