July/August New Earth 2014

New Earth

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CATHOLIC DIOCESE

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FARGO

September 2011 July-August 2014 Vol. 35 No. 32 No. 78 Vol.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth” — Rev. 21:1

www.FargoDiocese.org www.FargoDiocese.org

zler Father Dale Kin

New Earth photo

Summer pilgrimages, missions inspire encounter with God

By Aliceyn Magelky

A

s spring melts into summer, our bodies are renewed and refreshed by the warmth and often relaxed pace of the season.

This same renewal of body may be applied to achieving a renewal of spirit through a pilgrimage, mission trip or retreat.

Throughout the summer and spilling into fall, the Diocese of Fargo hosts or supports a myriad of events with intent to encourage an encounter with God. People around the region use the summer to travel near and far to walk in the footsteps of saints, to help people in need or to listen to God’s voice.

Here’s a snapshot of those journeys.

Above: Candlelight prayer at Lourdes As part of the El Camino de Santiago, pilgrims from across the Diocese of Fargo had an opportunity to spend a day in Lourdes, France.

During that day, the group participated in a candlelight procession into the Basilica of Lourdes. This procession occurs every night and includes people praying the rosary and singing as they wind their way into the church.

The Way of St. James This past June, 11 pilgrims embarked on a week-long trek on foot El Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James.

Each day, group members, comprised

of people in their 20s to one man in his 70s, strapped on a near 20-pound pack of personal items and walked from albergue to albergue (hostel specifically supporting Camino travelers).

The goal: to walk 100 kilometers or about 75 miles to reach the Cathedral of Santiago in Galicia, Spain, where it is believed the remains of St. James are buried.

“I was getting a little nervous the day before the walking began, and I will admit carrying a backpack all those miles had its difficult moments. But, it was well worth it — physically and spiritually,” commented Kristi Shypkowski, Fargo.

El Camino de Santiago is the name Please turn to WALKING on page 8

2 ew nEarth July -August 2014 N

Sacred freedoms

A

t this time of year, Americans traTo profess faith and belief in God ditionally celebrate our nation’s without putting it to practical effect in independence and the many our ordinary actions and decisions is a blessings that have come to us as citivery thin faith indeed, and even risks zens of the United States. becoming hypocrisy. And yet, more and more do we hear voices raised Certainly paramount among these is against the public manifestation of relithe hard-earned freedom that is sacred gion with an insistence to all of us. But the freethat it remain a merely dom we hold so dear private affair. did not come cheaply, Pope Francis recently and continues to be stated that “religious challenged even as we freedom is not simply celebrate our nation’s freedom of thought birthday. or private worship.

The First AmendIt is freedom to live ment to the U.S. Conaccording to ethical stitution enshrines principles, both priseveral necessary freevately and publicly” doms in our law, and (Conference on Interthe first of these is freenational Religious Freedom of religion. dom, June 20, 2014).

Not freedom of worOver the last few ship, but freedom of years, religious freereligion. dom has been on the Bishop John Folda Many public figures minds of Catholics and have recently taken to other people of faith in reducing freedom of religion to freethe U.S. because of new federal mandom of worship, which is a much nardates on employers to provide abortion, rower and circumscribed category. Freesterilization and contraception services dom of religion allows people of faith to their employees. not only to worship but also to practice Religious institutions like Cathoand live their faith in the public square. lic hospitals, universities, and charitable organizations are deemed “not religious enough” to be exempted, Not a private affair and so must cooperate in providThis “first freedom” allows believers ing these objectionable services. to apply and live out their faith in their And, business owners who object to day-to-day activities, including their such services are also required by the business and political activities. The law to provide them, regardless of their freedom to worship is a precious freereligious beliefs and their conviction dom indeed, but in current parlance that such coercion is harmful to indiit implies a more privatized version of viduals and society. faith with greater limitations on public Recently, however, the Supreme faith-based activity.

Court ruled in favor of certain private businesses and the families that run them, like Hobby Lobby, who argued “Then I saw a new heaven that this mandate was a violation of and a new earth.” their religious freedom and would force Revelation 21:1 them to cooperate in actions they held to be immoral. The court agreed and gave them the relief they sought.

One would have expected that the court’s defense of religious freedom would be praised by people everywhere, but this was not the case. Many com(ISSN # 10676406) mentators were outraged that religion would interfere with the so-called right to have abortion, sterilization and conServing Catholic parishes traception paid for even by those who as the official newspaper of the find these things morally repugnant.

Diocese of Fargo, N.D. It seems that freedom of religion is admired by some only when it doesn’t reMember of the ally protect people of faith from unjust Catholic Press Association laws.

It’s truly sad and rather frightening Bishop John Folda that such a fundamental freedom could Bishop of Fargo so easily be set aside, and that otherPublisher wise reasonable people would disparage the efforts of citizens to protect their Aliceyn Magelky rights to religious freedom and moral integrity.

Editor We are fortunate that the highest news@fargodiocese.org court in the land seems to understand, at least in this case, that religious freePublished monthly by The Cath­olic Spirit dom is still a right of all persons, and Publishing Company, a non-profit Minthat government cannot lightly brush nesota corporation, 244 Dayton Ave., St. that freedom aside.

Paul, MN 55102. (651) 291-4444. PeriodiThere are still many other such cases cals postage paid at St. Paul, MN and adpending before the courts, one involvditional post offices. ing the Little Sisters of the Poor, who seek out and serve the poorest and most POSTMASTER: Send address changes to frail of the elderly. They do this out of New Earth, 5201 Bishops Boulevard, Suite love for God and as a service to others.

A, Fargo ND 58104-7605. (701) 356-7900.

Their service is entirely rooted in their Personal subscription rate for 11 issues of faith, and their homes for the elderly New Earth per year: $9. are admired and supported by people everywhere. But, they too are required

Bishop’s Message

NewEarth

NewEn arth July-August 2014 1

Bishop Folda’s Calendar July 23-27

Tekakwitha Conference, Ramada Inn, Fargo

Jul 28-29

University of Mary Priest Summerfest, Bismarck

Aug. 2

5 p.m.

Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Carrington

Aug. 3

9 a.m.

Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Carrington

Aug. 3

1:30 p.m.

Nativity School Mass, Fargo

Aug. 4

Putt 4 a Purpose, Rose Creek Golf Course, Fargo

Aug. 4-7

Knights of Columbus Supreme Council Meeting, Orlando, Fla.

Aug. 8-9

Seminarian Gathering, St. Cecilia’s, Harvey

Aug. 10

10 a.m.

125th Anniversary Mass at Transfiguration Catholic Church, Edgeley Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Holy Day — Pastoral Center Closed

Aug. 15

Aug. 17

5 p.m.

Mass at Shrine of Our Lady of the Prairies, Carmel of Mary Monastery, Wahpeton

Aug. 18

8 a.m.

Mass for JPII Schools Staff, Shanley Chapel, Fargo

Aug. 28-30

Provincial Bishops’ Meeting, Medora

Aug. 30-31

20th Year Catholic Studies Conference, University of Mary, Bismarck

Sept. 1

Labor Day- Pastoral Center Closed

Sept. 3

5:30 p.m.

Catechist Fall Dinner, Blessed Sacrament, West Fargo

Sept. 9-10

USCCB Administrative Committee Meeting, Washington, D.C.

Sept. 11

Catholic School Pastors and Principals’ meeting, Pastoral Center, Fargo

Sept. 13 and 14

Pastoral Visit to Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Cando and St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Leeds

by the new law to violate their deeply held religious beliefs and facilitate immoral acts.

Rather than having the freedom to serve, they are being forced to cooperate with evil, and so they too have gone to court to defend their religious liberty. Hopefully the courts of this land will recognize the absurdity of such coercion and reaffirm the religious freedom that is so much at the heart of our nation’s founding.

Freedom to minister The freedom to practice our faith and live it in a public way isn’t just a self-directed exercise. Ultimately, it gives us the opportunity to reach out and serve others, and to pursue our livelihoods in ways that will benefit others.

This is true not only for churches but also for religious institutions and private citizens who want only to carry on their activities in ways that are consistent with their faith.

Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, President of the USCCB, said in a homily on Independence Day, “In the Catholic community we count it a great blessing and privilege to have made many contributions to civil society, particularly through our great ministries of service to the poor and the hungry, the sick

and the dying. . . . When religious freedom comes under threat, so do these ministries.”

And so do all of our other freedoms as well.

If there is a lesson in this, it is that we must never take our freedoms for granted, and this is especially true of the freedom of religion.

If we want to keep that freedom, then we obviously will have to defend it. And even more immediately, if we expect others to respect our freedom to practice our religion, then we must do so in a way that is authentic and integral.

If we routinely act against the very faith that we profess, then we give scandal to those around us, including those who make and interpret the laws of the land. We send an implicit message that religion is not all that important, and when push comes to shove, we’ll just let it drop by the wayside.

Remembering our Lord’s words that “the truth will make you free,” let us be sure to allow the truth of our faith to inform every action and decision that we make.

Let us pray for our nation and give thanks for the freedom to practice our faith openly. And let us live that faith fully in service to God and to each other.

NewEarth

July-August 2014 n 3

Piano Talk concerts provide a fun, creative approach to support Catholic education

By Kristina Lahr

By day, Brent Hermans is the liturgy coordinator and leader of the K-6 religion classes for St. John the Evangelist parish in Grafton.

By night, he is Inspector Clouseau from the 1960-70s “The Pink Panther” film series.

As part of the Piano Talk concerts this summer in Grafton, Hermans used his gifts as a pianist and performer to entertain a crowd of more than 100 on July 8.

Throughout the night, Hermans played musical pieces from well-known mystery movies or TV series and had the audience guess the source. Some of the pieces included the themes from “Murder She Wrote,” “Scooby Doo,” “Mission Impossible” and “The Pink Panther.”

“Father Bert Miller came up with the idea, and I ran with it,” Hermans said.

“The idea started off as a coffee shop setting, and I came up with the different themes each night from there. It’s my favorite part of my job. It fulfills the musician in me.

“I love prepping for concerts, and I love performing and playing fun music.

It’s a great community builder. We have people from Grand Forks and Park River come and bring guests. And, not just Catholics but people from neighboring churches, too.”

Unique fundraiser Hermans has been performing Piano Talk concerts in Grafton for 13 years.

The proceeds for the concerts support Catholic education and formation including books and community building activities for the kids.

“My personal goal is that when the kids graduate that they stay close to God and the church and continue to become closer to God,” he said.

At the end of the night, Hermans showed the silent movie, “The High Sign” starring Buster Keaton. Hermans composed the music he played to accompany the movie. All the music he played was memorized.

“He just goes,” said Brian Herding who attended the performance. “It’s really amazing.”

“We always have people saying they can’t wait until the next one,” added Rose Mary Kerner, pastoral assistant and faith formation director for grades 7-12 at St. John’s. As part of the dramatization between music pieces, Kerner played the part of losing her watch for Inspector Clouseau to find, told jokes and dressed in a Pink Panther costume while that theme was played.

A new Piano Talk concert and theme is performed every other Tuesday evening in the summer. The last two performances this season — and their themes — are Aug. 5 (“Around the World in 90 Minutes”) and Aug. 19 (“An Evening at Isidore’s Nightclub”).

“I see myself as an instrument God speaks through,” Hermans said. “I’m so involved in the church that I think people can see that when I’m playing outside of the liturgy setting, too.”

Photo by Kristina Lahr

Brent Hermans dressed as Inspector Clouseau from “The Pink Panther” film series. “The Pink Panther” theme was one of many mystery musical pieces he played during the July 8 Piano Talk concert at St. John the Evangelist Church in Grafton. More than 100 people from the area attended the performance in support of Catholic education.

Fargo Diocese launches updated News and Events webpage The Diocese of Fargo launched an updated version of its News and Events page on the diocesan website.

The new page replaces the “News” page and combines other pages for more streamlined access to information impacting the diocese and its people.

“Our goal is to use this page to provide people of the diocese with the most up-to-date information,” said Aliceyn Magelky, Communications Director for the Diocese of Fargo.

“As the Editor of the New Earth, I understand we often can’t feature all things happening in the diocese in that one publication. Plus, the length of time between each issue often diminishes the timeliness of some articles. With this redesign of the webpage and the navigational changes, I think it will help alleviate those concerns. And, I hope it encourages people to visit our website more often.”

The page features links to the top and most recent news stories around the diocese and the world. Also, individuals may connect directly to the monthly Bishop’s Message, current and archived issues of New Earth and the Events calendar.

Visit the site at www.fargodiocese. A glimpse of the front page of the newly launched News and Events section of the diocesan website. The page features the latest news and features org/news-events. impacting the church, the diocese and its people. Visit the page at www.fargodiocese.org/news-events.

4 n July-August 2014

NewEarth

Koinonia debut propels upcoming retreats, encounters

Diocese of Fargo

By Kristina Lahr

Official Appointments / Announcements Most Rev. John T. Folda, Bishop of Fargo, has made the following appointments, announcements, and/or decrees: Rev. Arogyaiah Gadagotti has been appointed pastor of St. Bernard of Clairvaux’s parish in Oriska, St. Agatha’s Parish in Hope, and Sacred Heart Parish in Sanborn.

This appointment is effective June 25, 2014, with a term limit as outlined in the agreement between the Diocese of Fargo and the Diocese of Nalgonda.

Rev. Bala Prasad Marneni has been appointed pastor of St. John Nepomucene’s parish in Pisek, Sts. Peter and Paul’s parish in Bechyne and St. Joseph’s parish in Lankin. This appointment is effective June 25, 2014, with a term limit as outlined in the agreement between the Diocese of Fargo and the Diocese of Nalgonda.

Msgr. Jeffrey Wald has been appointed pastor of St. James Basilica, Jamestown.

This is in addition to his appointment as rector of the Basilica.

Rev. Neil Pfeifer has been appointed parochial vicar of Holy Spirit parish in Fargo, beginning June 25, 2014 and continuing ad nutum episcopi.

Rev. Brian Moen has been appointed Vice-Chancellor of the Diocese of Fargo.

This appointment is effective June 25, 2014 and continues ad nutum episcopi.

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You’ve heard of SEARCH, TEC and NET retreats. Now it’s time to add another to your radar: Koinonia.

Last fall, five bisonCatholic students from North Dakota State University traveled to Wisconsin to attend a Koinonia retreat and brought their experience to the parishioners of Casselton this past spring.

Koinonia is a retreat weekend program designed for college students and presented by college students that began in 1976 in Springfield, Ill. The focus of the retreat is not only to inspire a desire for holiness and a deeper relationship with Christ but to grow closer to others on the retreat in Christ. Koinonia means “community” in Greek.

“The point of the retreat is for all of us to come together in community and find how to bring God into the community,” said Molly Keister, sophomore at Moorhead State University. “For me it’s brought really close friendships and relationships.”

After being on the retreat in Casselton, Molly was given the opportunity to be a team leader for the fall.

With 35 retreatants (50 people including leaders) who attended in April, the Newman community plans to make these retreats a permanent part of their campus ministry every school year, with one scheduled for next October and one next spring.

“It’s a little bit different from other retreats in the diocese,” said Matthew Donahue, a junior at NDSU. “Koinonia is specific to your college. You start at a higher level. It’s easier to work with people you already have a connection

“The biggest

take-back was feeling accepted and belonging somewhere. I felt accepted by other people and Christ.

I found some good bonds and friendships I could take back with me to college.

Molly Keister

”

with, so you spend a lot of time with people on the retreat. You get really close, and you’re likely to see them after the weekend.”

Donahue will be one of the directors for the next retreat in the fall.

Benefits of a local program Before this upcoming year, the bisonCatholic campus ministry has been sending students to other retreat experiences outside of the diocesan area.

The travel and time commitment make it more difficult for students to make some type of retreat a part of their college years. With Koinonia, NDSU students will be blessed to have a retreat program specifically for them.

“The biggest take-back was feeling accepted and belonging somewhere,” Keister said. “I felt accepted by other people and Christ. I found some good bonds and friendships I could take back with me to college.”

Alex Jansen, who attended the retreat last year, added, “My parents went to Koinonia, so I was familiar with the term.

“I was surprised in the second half of the retreat. We were in a group praying together when people on past retreats showed up, including my dad. He drove three hours to get there and three hours back to support me. It was super honoring for me. That was what I needed at the time.”

As young adults transition out of high school and experience what it means to be an adult, many simply do not know whether or not Jesus Christ is real for them. A retreat experience often provides these students life changing graces that help them face the big questions in their lives. The power of Koinonia retreats is that it encourages a sense of community after the retreat is done.

Like other retreats, Koinonia encourages students to “unplug” from the outside world, but they take the idea a step further.

Keister said, “There’s no sense of time the entire weekend. It’s freeing in a way that you don’t have the restraints of an agenda. You can really be in the moment.”

“I went on a lot of retreats in high school, and Koinonia is by far my favorite retreat,” added Keister. “I wasn’t really involved in the Newman Center before Koinonia. I hope the retreatants can feel a sense of community and be accepted there and grow closer to Christ with other people as I did.”

NewEarth

July-August 2014 n 5

Tenth in series

A mother’s heart ND Air Guard member writes poem for her mother

By Father Bert Miller

Author’s note: This spring, on a Monday in the money-counting room, a member of the team read a poem. I wasn’t paying much attention, but as the team member neared the end, she could barely speak. I noted the emotion and started paying attention. I saw her tears, and I felt the lump in her throat.

Here is the poem written by Air Guard ND member Shelly Pherson for her mother, Ione Pherson. (Used with permission.)

A Mothers Heart A mothers heart waits and prays, Her busy hands count the days.

The theme repeats upon the stage, In history books on every page.

She wonders why the battles rage, Across the lands throughout the age.

And now the daughters go with guns, To stand beside a sea of sons.

To fight a war that’s not their fight, With unclear lines of wrong and

right. nd so she prays and asks God, A please . . .

To heal the scars nobody sees.

From letting go to holding tight, Her soldier son sent off to fight.

Editor’s note: This article is the tenth in this series: Stories of Faith. If you have a faith story to tell, contact Father Bert Miller at bert.miller@fargodiocese.org.

She lives in fear afraid to know The pain so many mothers know.

Father Bert Miller is a pastor at Blessed Sacrament Church in West Fargo.

File photo

Presentation of Mary Sisters select new leadership team

By Sister Carol Jean Kuntz

During a June 5 meeting, the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation (SMP) selected the leadership team for their Province. After a process of consultation, discernment and selection, Sister Suzanne Stahl was chosen provincial with Sister Elaine Lange and Sister Carol Jean Kuntz chosen as assistants.

Their four-year term of office begins Aug. 1.

During their term they will be guided by goals that direct attention to special needs as surfaced by the Sisters of the Province at various meetings held within the past two years.

Sister Suzanne Stahl was born in Valley City to Florence and the late Robert Stahl of Binford. She graduated from Binford High School and professed vows as a Sister of Mary of the Presentation in 1980. For the past nine years, Sister Suzanne has served as Assistant Provincial.

Prior ministries include: Vice President of Mission with the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation Health System in Fargo, coordinator and therapist with the Rural Mental Health Consortium in Harvey and surrounding areas and pastoral associate in St. Mark’s Parish in Bottineau, St. Andrew’s Parish in Westhope and UND Newman Center in Grand Forks. And, she served in the pastoral care department at St. Margaret Health in Spring Valley, Ill. Sister Elaine Lange was born in Devils Lake to Donald and Mary Lange of Devils Lake. She graduated from Devils Lake High School and received her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Minot State College in 1980.

Prior to entering the convent, Sister Elaine taught at St. Alphonsus School in Langdon and St. Bernard School in Belfield. She professed vows as a Sister of Mary of the Presentation in 1988. She taught 10 years at St. Patrick’s School in Washington, Ill., two years at St. Joseph School in Red Lake Falls, Minn. and 12 years at St. Louis School in Princeton, Ill.

She is currently working as a child care provider at St. Aloisius Hospital Daycare in Harvey.

Sister Carol Jean Kuntz was born in Rugby to Barbara and the late Frank Kuntz. She graduated from high school in Drake and professed vows as a Sister of Mary of the Presentation in 1980.

She taught eight years at St. Louis School in Princeton, Ill., and five years at St. Patrick’s School in Washington, Ill. She served as provincial treasurer for nine years and for the past nine years she has served as provincial of the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation United States Province.

The Sisters of Mary of the Presentation were founded in Broons, France, in 1828.

The headquarters for the United States Province of the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation is located at Maryvale Convent in Valley City.

Submitted photo

Left to right, Sister Carol Jean Kuntz, Sister Suzanne Stahl and Sister Elaine Lange were selected by their fellow Sisters of Mary of the Presentation members for provincial leadership.

6 n July-August 2014

NewEarth

Diocesan employee helps keep parishes financially on track

By Kristina Lahr

We all have our own system of how to handle our finances. Whether it’s online or by hand, keeping track of our expenses day-by-day or at the end of the month, we do whatever is most efficient and accurate for us. Our parishes do the same, and one of those ways is through the diocese.

Andrea Marihart, who joined the finance and administration department at the Diocese of Fargo in August 2010, keeps the books for parishes around the diocese using a national software program, ParishSOFT’s ConnectNow Accounting.

Her work sparked enough attention to be featured in Church Accounting News, a quarterly accounting technology report for the dioceses in the United States.

Marihart and her accounting services have brought attention to how the parishes in the Diocese of Fargo operate financially and how their structure is paving the way for dioceses around the country to do the same.

Pulling parishes together Often it’s difficult for an individual parish to find a qualified candidate to maintain the parish books, understand accounting practices, payroll and taxes while accepting whatever payment the parish can afford. It can be frustrating for priests to find someone to do the job well.

That’s where Marihart and ConnectNow Accounting come in. Instead

ing system for everybody, you can be really efficient.”

How it works

Photo by Kristina Lahr

Andrea Marihart, Parish Service Accounting Clerk, works at her desk at the Diocese of Fargo Pastoral Center, drawing parishes together through the finance program, ConnectNow Accounting. Instead of each parish finding an accountant to work a few hours a week, Marihart provides accounting services for 33 parishes within the diocese.

of each parish finding an accountant to work a few hours a week, Marihart provides accounting services for 33 parishes. Pastors have the means to put a qualified and knowledgeable CPA to work for their parish, in a safe, affordable environment that gives them complete access to the financial state of their parishes.

“The whole process works very well,” Marihart said. “When you have a standard chart of accounts, standard processes and the ConnectNow account-

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A secretary or the pastor of a parish codes invoices, scans them and sends them to Marihart via email, keeping the original bills and other physical records in the parish files as the authorization to pay is inherent in this process.

Marihart simply pulls up the view of each bill and enters it into the parish’s Ledger and Payables program.

Occasionally, a busy parish office may send her the same bill twice. The software flags any possible duplicates that Marihart doesn’t catch at first. Running a vendor audit report helps her double check any bills against postings already in the system.

To make the payments, Marihart selects parish bills sorted by due date on her screen, generates checks from the system and sends those checks back to the parish, where they’re signed by the pastor and a finance council member and mailed to the vendor.

This final step satisfies the diocese’s requirement for two signatures on every check, and it provides a final checkpoint for payment authorization.

Marihart is also a valuable resource for parishes that do their own bookkeeping.

All parishes in the diocese are required to use the ConnectNow Accounting software, though each parish has its own way of organizing its finances whether that’s day-by-day

cutting checks and entering deposits or doing everything by hand and keying into the system later.

Because of the positive responses the diocese has received from the program, Marihart is spreading the word of how effective it can be to utilize diocesan resources.

She said, “I did a presentation last fall at the ParishSOFT Users Conference in Baltimore because there are certain places where they don’t have anything like the parish service department, so that was a way for people to become aware of this option.”

Marihart appreciates that the ConnectNow Accounting System gives her the ability to work collaboratively with any parish in the Diocese of Fargo.

Pastors can also choose for Marihart to handle just the payroll while they continue to do the rest of their finances themselves.

“Sometimes parishioners can be leery about going this route because they feel like their finances are being taken out of the parish, like we’re taking it away from them,” Marihart said. “But, it’s really the parish that benefits because every time the financial statements are more accurate and timely, it allows them to better manage their funds.”

Using ConnectNow Accounting, pastors and finance councils can be fully informed about any ministry, project or fund for any period. All they need to do is log in (or open the reports Marihart sends them) to get the accurate financial information they need.

NewEarth

July-August 2014 n 7

Donations memorialize three admired Sheldon parishioners Altar piece and corpus for cemetery crucifix installed at Our Lady of the Scapular

By Kristina Lahr

Our Lady of the Scapular parish in Sheldon celebrated two newly placed memorials recently in memory of three beloved parishioners: Jon Barthololmay, Gerald Bartholomay and Paul Spiekermeier.

Their wives, Penny Bartholomay, Mary Bartholomay and Ardys Spiekermeier, find comfort not only in the parish’s support but in the new additions to the parish they were able to provide thanks to the generous support of friends and family.

A memorial for the Last Supper was added to the altar in the memory of Jon Barthololmay by his wife Penny and their children, Seth, Carson, Stacy and Allison. They choose this sacred art piece because it is made from Jon’s favorite wood, oak.

“Our house has a lot of woodworking, so it fits Jon,” said Penny. “We wanted something special because he was so dedicated to the church. It has been a blessing that we could give to Jon in this way.”

Before the altar memorial was in place, the altar was plain. Father John Aerts, pastor of Sheldon, Fingal and Enderlin came across the Lord’s Supper carving at Hurley’s in Fargo.

Placed at the center of the Mass, the new Last Supper carving at the altar is for everyone who comes to love, adore and console Jesus in the mystery of his Eucharistic love. Penny couldn’t think of a better memorial to have in Jon’s memory.

“The altar strengthens the faith and love that we have. It becomes a part of you. To be able to share that with everyone in the parish is very comforting,” she said.

Replacing the corpus The second memorial is of a new corpus for the parish cemetery crucifix which was given in the memory of Paul Spiekermeier and Gerald Bartholomay by Ardys Spiekermeier, her daughter Mary and their families. Ardys and Mary found the corpus through Hurley’s handmade from Italy. The old corpus was first placed in the cemetery in 1935. It was in great need of repair.

“Mary and I were both given plenty of money in cards that we had enough left over to fix the corpus,” Ardys said.

“The parish was looking for someone to fix it for quite some time.

“A few years ago we had a Spiekemeier reunion and spent some time at the cemetery near the old corpus. I was embarrassed about the way the feet looked.

At the reunion, I thought maybe there was a way to replace it sometime.”

Ardys says that the close-knit parish, which celebrates lunch each week after Sunday morning Mass, has extended much thanks and support for fixing the corpus. Paul and Gerald were both well known in the church, having both taught catechism there.

Paul also provided the woodworking around the church and was in charge of the upkeep of the cemetery. Ardys and Paul’s two sons are now responsible for taking care of the cemetery.

“The new corpus is for all people who come into the cemetery to adore and to render their supplications to the Lord,” said Ardys. “Surely our prayers will be answered.”

Photos by Matt Bartholomay and Tyler Roach

Above: Jon Bartholomay’s wife Penny and children Seth, Carson, Stacy and Allison along with Father John Aerts, welcome the carving of the Last Supper on the altar at Our Lady of the Scapular Church in Sheldon as a memorial to Jon. Below: The family of Paul Spiekermeier and Gerald Bartholomay stand beside the new corpus memorial in the Our Lady of Scapular Cemetery donated in memory of Paul and Gerald.

8 n July-August 2014

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Walking in their shoes Continued from page 1

of any of the pilgrimage routes to the shrine of the apostle St. James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela located in northwestern Spain.

According to Christian belief, these roads comprise the direction and distance the apostle James traveled from Jerusalem throughout the Iberian Peninsula to spread the Gospel. Seventh and eighth century documents suggest St. James spent several years in that region before returning to Jerusalem where he was beheaded and martyred.

It has been said his remains were placed on a boat and sent to his final resting place in Spain.

The Camino has been a pilgrimage route since the ninth century. During the medieval period, Christians would journey from their homes as a form of forgiveness and penance for their sins.

Today, the Camino may offer spiritual, historical, cultural or physical benefits. And, for all Camino travelers, it’s a chance to reach Compostela or completion.

“We have a great photo of all the landmarks, but an especially good one is a photo of the group next to “0.0 km,” which basically means, we made it,” said Kathy Loney, pilgrimage coordinator.

In order to “make it,” a pilgrim must walk at least 100 km or bicycle at least 200 km. These distances must be recorded and certified by officials along the way.

“Along the route, you can buy these really cool shells,” said Loney referring to the miniature scallop shells abundant in that area that have become a symbol of St. James and the Camino.

“You put them on your backpack to signify that you are a pilgrim. When you reach an albergue or café each day, someone is readily available to stamp your card for the day.”

While collectively the group celebrated achieving their common goal of tackling the physical feat of walking the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains, each one had different reasons for the trip.

For one pilgrim, Anita Stevens of Cavalier, it was a love of nature and call from God. “I was only half serious about going.

I’m 59 years old, have asthma and arthritis, and I wasn’t sure I could make

it,” said Stevens, “but when Katy [Steven’s daughter] said she was going whether I went or not, I began to consider it more seriously. I’m sure that God put the desire in my heart and I wanted to see what he had in store.”

“Honestly, the pilgrimage reminded me of seminary — all men from different places attending seminary for different reasons, trying to achieve one goal and willing to do whatever it takes to get there,” observed Riley Durkin, Diocese of Fargo seminarian and Camino pilgrim. Durkin joined the group to fulfill his love of travel and feed his sense of adventure.

Each pilgrim interviewed spoke of a newfound bond and love for their fellow travelers along with a sense of joy, but the full impact of the journey has not yet materialized.

“I’m still processing all the experiences but I think I’ve grown through this pilgrimage in patience and fortitude. I will definitely take the opportunity for another pilgrimage some day when the opportunity and inspiration come,” said Stevens.

“It still takes time to sink in,” agreed Durkin. “Because, for me, it will be an experience I will reflect back on as specific growth opportunities arise. I tried to let myself go not expecting anything but to see what God presented to me.”

“I was glad to be reminded that, whether I am in the familiar or unfamiliar, I am always in God’s hands,” Shypkowski said.

She concluded, “Everyone had their own reasons for making the Camino, and it was wonderful traveling in this group. I learned to be very grateful for the people God put in my life during the trip.”

Friends of Chimbote Much like pilgrims, mission travelers have various reasons for leaving the comforts of home behind to experience something outside of their normal routine.

For Julia Johnson and Sally Roberts, two Fargo Shanley High School students, it was the joy of the work that drew them to volunteer for Friends of Chimbote mission in Chimbote, Peru.

“I feel 100 percent happy when I do mission work,” said Johnson. “It’s not about me, it’s about doing God’s will. I really like that mentality.”

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On the way At left: El Camino de Santiago has been a pilgrimage route since the ninth century, but it was during the Middle Ages that the route became more user friendly for travelers including these kilometer markers.

This marker indicates to passers-by that they are 71 kilometers from Santiago.

Below: The first group to arrive in Santiago takes a breather on the backside of the Cathedral of Santiago. Pictured in the back row from left to right are Lloyd Lorenz, Devils Lake; Sharon Simon, Fargo; Joe Loney, West Fargo; Kristi Shypkowski, Fargo. In the front row from left to right are Katy Stevens, West Fargo and Riley Durkin, Inkster.

“For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to make sure I could fix things for people,” agreed Roberts. “It’s knowing that I’ve made a difference in someone’s life even if it’s small. That means the world to me.”

Additionally, this trip meant an opportunity for Johnson to connect with her mom.

“My mom passed away four years ago from leukemia,” said Johnson. “She always told stories about her trip to Chimbote, but I never could quite connect what she was saying until I made the trip. I feel in love with the people and the culture just as she said that I would.”

For the past 12 months, these girls joined other volunteers to raise money for the trip. Once in Peru, the group used additional funds raised to construct three homes.

First, the volunteers deconstructed dilapidated homes to clear space for the new building.

“Clearing out was probably the hardest part, but it felt good to get rid of the dirt,” said Johnson. “It got emotional because the house was part of their history. My house had a supporting wall containing the family’s history — like a giant bulletin board with birthdates, reminders, family tree.”

Then, the work began to build new, sturdier homes.

Friends of Chimbote, a mission founded by Father Jack Davis of Devils Lake and Sister Peggy Byrne, strives to transform the lives of the poor in Chimbote, Peru by providing basic

necessities, education, healthcare and transformative services like the home building and remodeling project Johnson and Roberts assisted.

Several families unable to find work have been exiled to the outskirts of the city to barrios where they live in reedlike (estera) shacks. Because they do not have transportation or access to education and healthcare, leaving the barrios seems impossible.

Despite the dire situation surround the people of Chimbote, both Johnson and Roberts noted their overwhelming joy, happiness and love of God. “I can’t parallel my life to those in Chimbote. They have so little, but yet they are so spiritually connected,” said Roberts.

“I don’t think I ever saw children so happy and smiling. It makes you very gratuitous because you realize how much you have at home and how happy they are with so little,” added Johnson.

One way the girls connected with their hosts was through Mass and daily prayer.

“In school we are taught Catholic means universal. I never really knew what that meant until I was sitting in a Peruvian Mass. I couldn’t understand what was being said, but I knew exactly what was going on,” said Johnson. “It’s phenomenal to know the same thing is happening in Peru as in Fargo every Sunday. It shows how strong and widespread our Catholic faith is.”

“It made me more humble. You don’t Please turn to WALKING on page 9

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July-August 2014 n 9

Continued from page 8 need anything but faith to have happiness and joy and meaning in your life,” added Roberts.

Like the pilgrims on the Camino, the Chimbote experience has left the girls with joy and wide open for possibility.

“For me it really hit home, no matter what you are doing, you should be striving to be more like Christ,” said Roberts.

Johnson concluded, “I most definitely would do another mission trip, that is something I know for sure. Perhaps Spirit Lake, Chimbote, God-willing, it doesn’t matter where I go.”

Other encounters Not all pilgrimages and mission trips require flight around the world. Many people of the diocese have stayed closer to home to walk closer with God. Each year, Michael Hagstrom, religion teacher at Shanley High School, coordinates a trip to St. Michael’s Indian Catholic Mission on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation near Devils Lake.

Catie Vetter, director of religious education at St. Benedict’s parish, organizes a mission trip every other year for students. This year the group traveled to Lincoln, Neb. And, thirty-eight pilgrims attended the Sixth Annual Prairie Pilgrimage, sponsored by Holy Cross parish in West Fargo, which included touring eight churches in Winnipeg, Canada.

New Earth photos

Finished!

At Finisterre, Spain, the Camino pilgrims reached “the end of the world” as the Romans during St. James time would have assumed. For the group, this photo means they had completed their pilgrimage and arrived in Santiago. The members of the pilgrimage include in front (left to right) Sharon Simon, Fargo and Lloyd Lorenz, Devils Lake. Pictures in back from left to right are Tom Tomaino, Fargo; Anita Stevens, Cavalier; Kristi Shypkowski, Fargo; Katy Stevens, West Fargo; Ben Gorman, Larimore; Riley Durkin, Inkster; Father James Goodwin, Fargo; Kathy Loney, West Fargo and Joe Loney, West Fargo.

Looking to take a pilgrimage, retreat or mission trip? Check out these opportunities happening throughout the diocese Mother Daughter Days retreat: Mothers and daughters are invited to a retreat with the Franciscan Sisters in Hankinson August 8-10 (Friday-Sunday) for those who are thinking about a vocation to the Consecrated life. Deadline to register is August 1. To register or for more information, email ndfranciscan@yahoo.com.

Catechist Retreats: Come away for a day of renewal where Father Andrew Jasinski will direct a retreat with a series of talks on Pope Francis’s exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel. This is a retreat for anyone who is involved in Catechesis, so all those who direct or coordinate religious education programs, teach children, adults or Youth Ministers. There will also be time for Mass, lunch, sharing and reflection time with the chance to enjoy the beautiful grounds. There are two date options for the retreat, August 16 (Saturday) in Park River and August 22 (Friday) in Valley City. Registration fee is $20 per person. Deadline for the Park River Bible Camp retreat is August 1; deadline for the Valley City retreat is August 7. Register at www. fargodiocese.org/catechistretreat.

Pilgrimage to Our Lady of the Prairies at the Carmel of Mary Monastery: The 58th annual pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Prairies will be at the Carmel of Mary Monastery, 17765 78th St. S.E., Wahpeton, August 17. An afternoon of prayer and reflection will begin with the rosary at 3 p.m. and confession. Bishop Folda will preside at the 5 p.m. Mass. The Knights of Columbus and St. John’s Parish will serve a free-will offering meal with proceeds to be donated to the Carmelites. Pilgrims are encouraged to bring their written prayer petitions to be given to the Carmelite nuns who will then pray for their specific intentions. They may also bring a basket of goods from their harvest of garden produce or farm crops to be blessed at Mass and donated to the nuns. In anticipation of seasonably warm weather, pilgrims also are encouraged to bring a lawn chair to sit in the shade of the trees or an umbrella or sun hat and some cool water to drink. Call Hank or Karen Weber at (701) 640-6152 for more details.

Women’s retreat on the lake: Come and experience in nature the power of praying, reflecting and sharing with other women with the Presentation Prayer Center, Fargo, Aug. 22-24 (Friday-Sunday). The retreat includes worship, creative moments, presentation, reflection, quiet time and holy conversation. To register call Sister Andrea at (701) 237-4857.

Real Presence Radio 2014 Pilgrimage: During John Paul II’s papacy, he reminded us that “Silence has the capacity to open a space in our inner being, a space in which God can dwell, which can ensure that His Word remains within us, and that

NET Ministries will be in the Fargo Diocese Oct. 29 – Nov. 11 to provide retreats for Junior and Senior High students throughout the diocese. To book a team for the youth in your area, call Kathy Loney at (701) 256-7902. Deadline is Aug. 29.

love for Him is rooted in our minds and hearts, and animates our lives.” This September, you are invited to join the 2014 Pilgrimage. This will be a beautiful, more slow-paced, reflective time. Our 3-day motor coach pilgrimage will be September 25-27 (Thursday-Saturday) as we travel with our Real Presence family to Omaha, Neb. and continue on to the Holy Family Shrine in Gretna, Neb. We will participate in Holy Mass and a tour at this stunning shrine with time for prayer and peaceful enjoyment and lunch at Mahoney State Park. That evening, we will travel to Yankton, S.D. and on Saturday morning, visit the House of Mary Shine where we will participate in a tour, rosary and Mass. A cost of $300 will include motor coach transportation, hotel accommodations, tour fees and all meals. For more information or to sign up for the pilgrimage, call Real Presence Radio at (877) 795-0122 or email stacey@yourcatholicradiostation.com. The deadline to register is August 15.

Life in the Spirit Retreat: Father Neil Pfeifer is planning a Life in the Spirit weekend to take place September 19-21 at St. Michael’s parish in Grand Forks. This retreat is open to anyone over the age of 18. Host homes will be available for those who come from out of town. Please indicate that you need housing when you register. Cost is a free will offering. For more information, email Jesse at: liturgystmichaels@gmail.com.

THIRST 2014 Men’s Conference: Cardinal Francis George, OMI has been slated as the keynote presenter for THIRST 2014, a men’s conference sponsored by the Diocese of Bismarck and hosted at the University of Mary September 27 (Saturday).

The one-day event will be held at the University of Mary, McDowell Activity Center from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. Other featured presenters include Tom Peterson, president of CatholicsComeHome.org, and Fr. Russ Kovash, pastor of the Churches of St. Joseph (Williston), St. John the Baptist (Trenton) and St. Boniface (Grenora).

Visit www.bismarckdiocese.com to register.

Five day pilgrimage to Mexico: Dec 9-14 (Tuesday-Sunday): St. Catherine of Alexandria of Valley City is sponsoring a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, Cathedrals, the incorrupt body of St. Sebastian and other notable sites in Mexico City, Puebla, Tlaxcala and Octlan, Mexico. Pilgrims will attend Mass daily. Cost is $1,999 which includes roundtrip airfare from Fargo, superior class hotels, breakfast daily, two dinners, four lunches, an English speaking tour escort throughout the pilgrimage, deluxe motor coach, sightseeing and entrance fees for all places on itinerary and transfers from airport to hotel. For a full itinerary or more details contact Nancy Orthman at (701) 845-6271 or nancyorthman@centurylink.net. A $50 early bird bonus will be given to people who sign up by July 31.

All registrations must be in to Regina Tours by September 8.

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Diocese joins USCCB in NFP Awareness Week “Natural Family Planning: It’s Worth It. Join the Revolution!” was the theme of this year’s Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, a national educational campaign of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to celebrate God’s design for married love and the gift of life and to raise awareness of Natural Family Planning (NFP) methods.

“NFP,” as the U.S. bishops have written, is supportive of Catholic beliefs about married love because it “respects the God-given power to love a new human life into being.” The slogan for this year’s NFP Awareness Week was inspired by Pope Francis’ words of encouragement during a July 2013 address to Christians called to married life, “I ask you . . . to be revolutionaries . . . to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes you are incapable of responsibility, that believes you are incapable of true love. I have confidence in you and I pray for you. Have the courage ‘to swim against the tide’. And also have the courage to be happy.”

The dates of Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, held July 20-26, were selected to highlight the anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae, released July 25, 1968, which articulates Catholic beliefs about human sexuality, conjugal love and responsible parenthood.

Also during this week, the Diocese of Fargo released its annual NFP services report. According to the report, the Diocese of Fargo is one of six dioceses across the U.S. to require couples preparing for marriage to take a full course of instruction in natural family planning. In 2013, 22 instructors provided NFP education to 286 couples.

“This [number] confirms the commitment of priests, NFP instructors and marriage preparation seminars to provide a catechesis on the theology of the body together with quality NFP instruction for couples preparing for marriage,” said Rachelle Savaugeau, Respect Life Director for the diocese.

For more resources about Natural Family Planning, visit www.fargodiocese.org/NFP or contact Rachelle Savaugeau at (701) 356-7910 or rachelle.savaugeau@ fargodiocese.org.

Pointed in the right direction NFP practice, sacrifice benefit all aspects of life

By Ann Gundlach Family Foundations

Is Natural Family Planning (NFP) just a method of family planning for couples? Or, can it be a way for allowing you to grow, to open your heart in new ways, and even to draw you closer to God? That may sound like a real stretch to some of you, but this idea of NFP being a means to growth brings my thoughts right back to the start of my marriage and our decision to use NFP. Greg and I finished the classes two months before our wedding, and we celebrate our 30th anniversary on May 19. At age 53, my cycles are still sputtering along, so it’s been a solid 30 years of NFP use for us.

Not all of it has been rosy, but there is no question we’d do it all again — and not because it was effective, method-wise, for us.

We are hands down different people, better people than we were 30 years ago. And while certainly other things have also factored into that growth, it was our NFP decision that, unwittingly to us, oriented us in the proper direction. It was foundational to that which came after.

NFP brought plenty of opportunities to practice self-gift for the other, put aside our own desires, and learn to wait.

We worked together to figure out my fertility signs, so we had to consult with each other, have a give-and-take of opinions, sometimes compromise and defer to the other.

We also learned that we could survive not getting what we

wanted when we wanted it. I have no doubt that this interaction revolving around the deep issues of love and life helped bind us together in a very substantial way.

What if we had contracepted? Yes, we would still have had opportunities for compromise and learned to giveand-take in numerous other areas of marital life, but that would be happening while we were simultaneously and fundamentally oriented towards our individual selves sexually, using hormones, devices or barriers to keep the other “out,” in a not insignificant way. That’s discordant. It’s disharmonious.

I’m convinced NFP oriented us toward unity. I believe it is a main reason why, three years into marriage and realizing Greg was an alcoholic, that I did not want out, but only wanted him to get better. I beIt was our NFP lieve it is one reason we decision have been able to accept the countless sacrifices that, involved in providing materially for our family and unwittingly enduring the hardships of raising our children. After to us, oriented all, that’s all about giving us in the proper for the other as well, isn’t it? How could we grow direction. It was in the virtues if we had blocked out a main part of foundational our married life and lived to that which it opposed to virtue?

Having the wherewithcame after. al to faithfully provide for and educate your Ann Gundlach children, especially in the matters of the faith, requires self-mastery, discipline and commitment.

File photo NFP can help with all of that. Lessons learned there spill over. It can keep you oriented toward selflessness. What other direction would you want to be going?

“

”

Ann Gundlach is editor of Family Foundations, a publication of the Couple to Couple League International Inc. Article was originally printed in the May/June 2014 Family Foundation issue.

Myth vs. Reality Com Excerpts from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ brochure, “NFP: Myth and Reality” Myth: NFP is based on guesswork. It’s what people used before modern science developed contraception.

Reality: NFP is a general title for the methods of family planning that are science-based, accurate, natural, healthy, reliable and moral. Many NFP methods are available that can be used to achieve or postpone pregnancy, naturally.

Myth: NFP can be used only by women with regular cycles.

Reality: NFP works with menstrual cycles of any length and any degree of irregularity. NFP treats each woman and each cycle as unique. NFP can be used during breastfeeding, just before menopause, and in other special circumstances. NFP allows a woman to understand the physical signals her body gives her to tell her when she is most likely to become pregnant (around the time of ovulation).

Myth: NFP is too complicated to be used by most people.

Reality: NFP can be used by anyone who learns the method and is motivated to apply the guidelines. In fact, the methods have been successfully adapted to suit

NewEarth

July-August 2014 n 11

Supporting a culture of life NaPro Technology provides solution for couple struggling to conceive

By Aliceyn Magelky

dren and the couple stopped using the prescribed contraception. However, after several months of failed attempts, the Schmidts looked for medical assistance.

“We had been trying to get pregnant for a couple of years, so we decided to go to a local facility in Fargo. We did blood draws to check hormones and tried Clomid (a medication used to help stimulate ovulation),” explained Sara. “By the third month of medication, nothing was working. It started to feel like a job. The intimacy was gone. We started feeling like a number. On paper, we looked perfect. According to the data, we should have had no problems conceiving.”

Natural Family Planning may be used as a method to avoid pregnancy, but the practice offers additional applications towards achieving optimal reproductive health.

Recently, many couples have turned to an innovative approach using Natural Family Planning, specifically the Creighton Model FertilityCare System and the NaPro Technology There’s nothing you can replace with (Natural Procreative Technology) to address having a baby. They’re God’s miracles. infertility, painful preSara Schmidt menstrual syndrome, ovarian cysts, endometriosis and other reproductive health problems.

“

What is NaPro? NaPro Technology uses the biomarkers charted through the Creighton Model FertilityCare System to help observe and monitor events occurring during the course of a woman’s menstrual and ovulation cycles. Defined as a science which devotes its medical, surgical and allied health energies to cooperating with natural, procreative mechanisms and functions, NaPro Technology can help correct health issues, including infertility, while maintaining the dignity of women and the marriage bond.

Adam and Sara’s Story For Sara and Adam Schmidt, it was turning to NaPro Technology and the loving support of the Pope Paul VI Institute staff that helped this couple achieve their dream of becoming parents.

Adam and Sara’s courtship probably didn’t differ much from many other love stories. They were introduced by a mutual friend, dated for four years and eventually married in 2006. Through the course of their marriage preparation weekend, the couple participated in a natural family planning course. However, the couple resisted putting the experience into practice.

“We never really followed it in the beginning. At first, I don’t think he [Adam] wanted to do it because I was prescribed birth control pills for painful periods,” explained Sara, not fully realizing the implications of that routine.

Soon into their marriage, Adam and Sara desired chil-

mmon misconceptions about Natural Family Planning the needs of people and cultures all around the world.

The key to using NFP effectively is for couples to learn together the information about their combined fertility, and to change their behavior, applying the guidelines according to whether they wish to achieve or postpone pregnancy. This process is not hard to learn, but will take effort.

Myth: NFP is not a reliable method of family planning.

Reality: NFP is not only reliable, but it is the only authentic method of family planning.

When wishing to avoid pregnancy, studies show that couples who follow their NFP method’s guidelines correctly, and all the time, achieve effectiveness rates of 97-99%. Others, who are unclear about their family planning intention (i.e., spacing or limiting pregnancy) or are less motivated, will not consistently follow the method’s guidelines and have a lower effectiveness rate of 80-90%.* *Note: these percentages represent the range of effectiveness provided by NFP studies. They are based on the number of pregnancies among 100 couples in one year of NFP method use.

Myth: There is no difference between NFP and con-

traception.

Reality: NFP methods are different from and better than contraception.

NFP methods: n have no harmful side effects n are virtually cost free n cooperate

with, rather than suppress, a couple’s fertility n can be used both to achieve and avoid pregnancy n call for shared responsibility and cooperation n require mutual communication n foster respect for and acceptance of the total person n encourage maturity and the virtue of chastity n value the child nh onor and safeguard the unitive and procreative meanings of married love.

Myth: NFP does not allow for sexual “spontaneity.”

Reality: Modern culture is awash in sexual messages.

This may fool us into thinking that “everyone” is having sex as often as possible and always spontaneously.

Even married couples may fall into this trap. The reality is that most marital sexual encounters are planned, or at least happen in situations favorable to love-making that are setup by agreement.

”

Not an option

At that point, the Schmidts’ doctors recommended a more aggressive approach to infertility, something Sara and Adam refused to consider.

“I remember talking with Adam in our kitchen about this and telling him I didn’t want to have to make the decision about terminating a fertilized egg,” Sara said with tears in her eyes. “AdFile photo am’s respect for that decision was another indication of his love for me.”

So, the couple discontinued seeking medical help and decided to do nothing.

“We thought, ‘it will happen when it happens,’ still trusting and believing in God’s plan,” said Sara.

Still nothing changed and the emotional toll was wearing on the couple. Sara turned to her faith and the church for comfort. In doing so, Sara received a nudge that became a turning point in solving her fertility issues.

Something changed “I was at a Catholic church in Fergus Falls, Minn., when I had the biggest urge to go to confession. I waited until the priest was done talking to people and asked if he’d hear my confession. At that time, I expressed to the priest my frustration with Adam and the infertility issues we were facing.

The priest asked, ‘What’s going on in your heart,’ and I told him we wanted to get pregnant. He told me about the Pope Paul VI institute in Omaha.”

Immediately, Sara began researching and discovered Mary Johnson, a Creighton Model FertilityCare System practitioner. Later, she started seeing Dr. Richard Vetter in West Fargo. For nearly a year, Adam and Sara practiced the Creighton Model, and Sara continued to see Dr. Vetter. It was Dr. Vetter who discovered she had low progesterone levels and symptoms for endometriosis. Dr. Vetter explained to Sara he couldn’t do much more and sent a letter to Dr. Thomas Hilgers, the director for the Pope Paul VI Institute requesting he see her.

Soon, Dr. Hilgers sent a letter to Sara outlining his plans for her care. In July 2013, Sara and Adam ventured to Omaha, Neb. where she spent seven days receiving treatment.

A month after the Schmidts’ return to the Fargo area, Sara conceived.

It’s a boy!

“Because I was taking hormones to make sure I had good ovulation, I couldn’t take a home pregnancy test. I got a blood draw on Aug. 26, 2013. The next day, the nurse called to tell me I was pregnant,” smiled Sara noting her disbelief.

To announce the pregnancy, Sara presented Adam with a little scrapbook upon his arrival home from work. “All he saw was ‘Due Date: May 3.’ We cried tears of joy and relief.”

After nearly six years of praying for a child, Adam and Sara Schmidt welcomed son, Nathan Adam, into their family on Mother’s Day this year.

“There’s nothing you can replace with having a baby,” said Sara. “They’re God’s miracles. Also, I can’t say enough about the Institute in Omaha and Dr. Vetter and his staff. I truly felt God was with us through our whole journey. We also feel very blessed with all of the prayers, love and support we received from our family and friends.”

For links to other couples’ testimonies visit the diocesan website www.fargodiocese.org or Facebook page, www. facebook.com/FargoDiocese.

Quotable

“As priests uphold their people in prayer, so their people are to uphold them with prayer and love, for he cannot work without his people.”

Arthur Middleton

Editorial

12 n July-August 2014

NewEarth

Identical twins from Michigan answer call to priesthood

A

gnes Koenigsknecht had the look twin brother to spur each other on.” of an air-traffic controller, the At 18, the twins from Fowler, Mich., one that strikes so many mothers made a big decision, setting out for colof the bride. lege seminary in St. Paul, Minn. They made it after much prayer, with great “We need one round table on the maturity. stage,” she instructed on a Friday morning in June, the eve of the big day. Her Their 20s have been defined by inlegion was in full force, tense growth in study, a swirl of activity in the sacraments and service. church hall: hauling taTheir work was embedbles, wheeling chairs, ded in a robust fraterChristina Capecchi folding linens, slicing nity among their fellow carrots. A 72-year-old uncle surveyed seminaries, including some who’s-who the scene, while a 9-month-old nephew twin hijinks. scooted about.

One prank involved drawing a mole Agnes’ mind was on logistics, the above Father Todd’s right eyebrow to “controlled chaos” she had been anticreplicate Father Gary’s, hence, eliminatipating. But it was clear she was enjoying the most clear-cut distinguisher of ing every minute. “This is all part of the the two. celebration,” she told me.

In this day and age, many Catholics It was a double celebration for Agnes. and non-Catholics alike are mystified It was not a daughter’s wedding but the by the priesthood. The prospect of celpriestly ordination of her sons, idenibacy and obedience seem increasingly tical twins with individual callings to foreign, baffling even. But when you priesthood. talk to Father Gary and Father Todd, there is no sense of angst or sacrifice.

She likes to stress that part to the peoYou see only deep contentment bubple who express incredulity or ask who bling into boyish joy. had the idea first, Todd or Gary. Agnes They can’t stop grinning. and her husband, Brian, checked-in with each of the twins as high school It starts with the family freshmen to inquire about their future plans.

Above all, the twins exude freedom, In private conversations, both teens the freedom that comes from answerexpressed an interest in priesthood, uning your call from God, going all in and beknownst to the other. The discovery never looking back. of their mutual goal was a happy sur“They’re both very intelligent,” Bishprise and an enduring blessing during op Earl Boyea, head of the Lansing Dioeight years of seminary. cese, told me. “They engage people very easily. There’s a simplicity about them.

Built-in support group They’re not complicated.”

“It felt natural,” said Father Gary, That may be what I appreciated most, now 26. “It was very helpful to have a and it flows from their rural upbring-

Guest Column

Photo Editorial Pro-life supporters gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., June 26 to celebrate the court’s ruling striking down a Massachusetts law that mandated a buffer zone to keep protesters away from abortion clinics. In a unanimous ruling, the court said the 2007 law violated the freedom of speech rights of pro-life demonstrators under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

CNS photo / Jim Bourg, Reuters

Photo by Christina Capecchi

Father John Linden, vocations director for the Lansing Diocese, can’t resist a playful moment after the ordination Mass of Father Todd (left) and Father Gary Koenigsknecht, holding a chasuble up to their 19-year-old brother, Lee, who just finished his first year of seminary.

ing, a lifestyle that is fully integrated.

Everything is home grown at the Koenigsknechts’ organic dairy farm, where Agnes gardens, bakes and fills the basement with canned foods.

She and Brian raised 10 kids in an old farmhouse that, absent a TV, centered on conversation, Euchre and prayer.

The fruits of their efforts were on full display June 14, when the twins received their holy orders. Agnes looked radiant in a layered ruffle dress that shimmered in the light, her silver hair neatly curled under.

As Father Gary and Father Todd processed into St. Thomas Aquinas Church

in East Lansing, Mich., backlit by a two-story stained-glassed mural of Jesus, I was overcome by the moment.

Once they reached the sanctuary and looked out at their family, filling a block of front-and-center pews, the twins beamed. In a heartbeat, I felt a measure of Agnes’ maternal pride.

“How do you feel?” I asked her after Mass.

“Beyond words!” she said.

Christina Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights, Minn., and editor of SisterStory.org, the official website of National Catholic Sisters Week.

NewEarth

July-August 2014 n 13

Setting the record straight on court’s Hobby Lobby ruling

A

s soon as the U.S. Supreme Court er, conceded that the four drugs may issued the Hobby Lobby deciresult in the destruction of an embryo. sion, critics of the decision beIt is not the role of the Supreme Court gan misrepresenting the opinion and to bring up and examine facts that are its consequences. not in dispute.

If a person were to believe some of The court was not being anti-science. the stuff appearing in newspapers, It was respecting the judicial process. press releases and websites, five CathoThe court did not decide whether lics on the U.S. Supreme the Administration had Court declared that all a “compelling interest” corporations are persons in requiring employers under the Constitution to provide cost-free acand that these corporacess to the four drugs. tions now have a constiIt did not have to make tutional right to impose that decision because their religious beliefs on the burden imposed on others, including their the companies for not employees. providing the four drugs The truth is somewas clearly substantial thing different.

— fines in the millions of dollars — and because The court’s opinion the government had a did not deem corporavariety of other methods tions to be persons unat its disposal to provide der the Constitution. It women the four drugs at merely concluded that Christopher Dodson no cost without requirthe language and histoing direct involvement ry of a statute passed by by the companies.

Congress made the statute applicable to closely-held corporations. It was hardly It is important to remember that this a sweeping opinion granting expansive decision is not about the Constitution. corporate rights.

The Court was applying a unique set of facts (these four drugs, the particuThe statute referenced here is the lars of the contraception mandate and Religious Freedom Restoration Act these three family businesses) to a spe(RFRA). It was signed by President Bill cific law (the Religious Freedom RestoClinton in 1993 after Congress passed ration Act). it almost unanimously. It says a federal policy cannot “substantially burden” People who do not like the decision a person’s religious freedom, unless it should not blame the court. It was serves a “compelling state interest” in Congress that overwhelmingly passed a way that is “least restrictive” of that RFRA, and the Obama Administration freedom. that so clearly disregarded it when it conjured up the mandate.

Following the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administraCatholics blamed tion decided that it had the authority to force family businesses to provide A lack of understanding of the law contraceptives at no cost to its employmight be excusable if it was not couees, even if the family had religious pled with not-so-thinly-veiled hostility objections to providing such services. toward the Catholic Church. From the Hobby Lobby and the other challengers Huffington Post, to a full-page adverobjected to just four of the 20 required tisement in the New York Times, to a contraceptives because those four may weekly columnist in North Dakota’s operate after the fertilization of an egg, own The Forum, anti-Catholicism, effectively acting as an abortifacient.

America’s last acceptable prejudice, rears its ugly head again.

‘Anti-science’ ruling?

Apparently unable to understand Some critics of the decision have the law or to direct their displeasure at called the court “anti-science” because the Obama Administration, these new it did not look at studies purportedly “Know-Nothings” blame the five Roshowing that the four drugs only work man Catholics consisting of the court’s to prevent fertilization. majority in the opinion. (A sixth CathThe Obama Administration, howevolic, Justice Sotomayor sided with the

“A lack of understanding of the law might

be excusable if it was not coupled with not-so-thinly-veiled hostility toward the Catholic Church. . . . America’s last acceptable prejudice, rears its ugly head again.

Christopher Dodson

”

Catholic Action

CNS photo / Jonathan Ernst

Pro-life demonstrators celebrate June 30 outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington as its decision in the Hobby Lobby case is announced. The high court ruled that owners of closely held corporations can object on religious grounds to being forced by the government to provide coverage of contraceptives for their employees.

minority.)

According to the opposition, if you don’t like the outcome, blame the Catholics. If you don’t understand the law, blame the Catholics.

For the record, neither the owners of Hobby Lobby or the other businesses involved in the case are Catholic.

Nor was Congress controlled by Catholics when it passed RFRA in 1993.

Nor, as some have alleged with conspiratorial overtones, did the Catholic Church finance Hobby Lobby’s legal

challenge.

But the record, like the law and the rest of the facts, are of no concern to those whose single focus appears to be hostility toward religion or a fanaticism for cost-free abortifacients.

Dodson is executive director of the North Dakota Catholic Conference. The NDCC acts on behalf of the Catholic bishops of North Dakota to respond to public policy issues of concern to the Catholic Church and to educate Catholics and the general public about Catholic social doctrine. The conference website is ndcatholic.org.

In 2114 you can still be giving to your parish community

W

ould you like to make a gift the principal of the endowment, always to your parish 100 years from being careful to make enough income now? You can . . . and here’s to meet the payout requirements of the how: Simply add up your annual gifts fund. Since the principal is kept intact, for the year and multiply by 20. Then, the endowment never dries up. It’s like make an estate gift for an artesian well. Your this amount (through giving to your parish your will or other degoes on and on and on. vice) and designate it Here’s an example of to your “Parish Endowhow this works: Mary ment Fund.” gives her parish $500 evThat’s all there is to it. ery year. She may give it in smaller chunks or as The endowment will one annual gift. She reprovide an annual gift alizes that her parish deto your parish at roughpends on her giving and ly the same dollar valwonders how her parish ue you are giving now. will fare when she’s no Long after you are gone, longer alive to send the even 100 years from now, $500. your parish will continue to receive “your” Mary talks to the dioannual gift. cese director of planned Steve Schons Our managers invest giving and learns about

Stewardship

“Since the principal is kept intact, the endowment never dries up. It’s like an artesian well. Your giving to your parish goes on and on and on.

Steve Schons its Endow Your Giving program. Then, she instructs her attorney to add a codicil to her will, providing a $10,000 bequest to her Parish Endowment Fund.

The initial income from her endowment gift will be $500 (assuming a five percent return), and income will grow as the endowment appreciates over time. She is pleased because she knows that money from the endowment fund will be given to her parish’s annual fund every year, just as though she were sending money herself.

The idea of an endowment fund may captivate you to the point you will want

”

to establish a larger fund, bearing your name, for either a restricted or unrestricted purpose. This can be done now, or through an estate gift when you are gone.

If you would like to learn more about your own Parish Endowment Fund, or establishing an endowment fund in your name, please contact me at (701) 356-7926.

Steve Schons is director of stewardship and development for the Diocese of Fargo and can be reached at steve.schons@ fargodiocese.org or (701) 356-7926.

14 n July-August 2014

Obituary

Father Peter Hughes, 81, beloved priest and missionary to Africa Father Peter Hughes was born in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland, Feb. 19, 1933, to Mary Rose (née Mockler) and Peter Paul Hughes.

Following secondary studies in Rockwell College, County Tipperary, he entered the Spiritan novitiate in Kilshane, where he was professed in 1954 before moving on to the Missionary College in Kimmage Manor.

Having already prefected for two years in St. Mary’s College, Rathmines, he completed his theology studies in Kimmage and was ordained to the priesthood in Dublin in July 1961.

Father Hughes’ first appointment was to Nigeria where he served in a pastoral role from 1962 until 1967 in what became the Diocese of Enugu.

He began in St. John the Baptist parish in Agbani, later serving in the parish of St. Philip and St. James in Aku and then as pastor in its former outstation, Nimbo, which was being raised to the status of a parish.

Moving to the U.S. in 1968, he served briefly in a pastoral role in Texas before moving to New York later the same year’ where he did fundraising for two years.

In 1971 he began a period of more than a decade in the Diocese of Monze in Zambia, serving in Kalomo and with the Irish Sisters of Charity in Choma.

After renewal studies in Marianella in Dublin, Father Hughes returned to the U.S. in 1983 to the Diocese of Fargo.

He served as rector at St. James Basilica, Jamestown; pastor of St. John the Evangelist’s Church in New Rockford; pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul’s Church, McHenry; pastor of St. William’s Church, Argusville; rector of the Cathedral of St. Mary, Fargo; confessor and in-residence at Cardinal Muench Seminary, Fargo; hospital chaplain, Fargo and, from 2011 to 2012, in-residence at Holy Spirit Church and St. Anthony of Padua Church, Fargo.

He remained in North Dakota until 2012, when he transferred to Kimmage Manor in Dublin, Ireland.

Father Hughes’ Mass of Christian burial in Ireland was on July 19. A memorial Mass will be celebrated at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Fargo, at 7 p.m.

Thursday, July 31. Bishop John Folda will preside, and a reception will follow at the cathedral.

Condolence letters to his community and family in Ireland may be addressed to Father Marc Whelan C.S.Sp., Provincial, The Spiritan Provincialate, Temple Park, Dublin 6, Ireland or provincial@ spiritan.ie.

Memorials for the Our Lady of Guadalupe Adoration Chapel or Mass offerings may be directed to the cathedral in Fargo.

Father Hughes’ community would gratefully accept memorials for Marian House, the nursing home at Kimmage Manor, where Father Hughes spent his final months.

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NewEarth

Remembering Father Hughes A detailed look into his life and service several times a day and stayed active in sports. “We lived beside a castle,” he said. “We had cricket, tennis, soccer — what a life, I tell you!”

Soon after his mother died of heart failure, a teenaged Peter shared his thoughts of joining the priesthood with

By Roxane B. Salonen a local pastor. He finished high school in the seminary while continuing to In his half-century as a priest, Father enjoy his beloved cricket game and biPeter Hughes has experienced everycycling around his homeland. thing from the high of Mass with Pope A year after his ordination on July 16, John Paul II to the low of a brush with 1961, he left for Africa. Nearly instantwhat might have been an untimely and ly, he felt at home. “People say that it brutal death. must be so different, but human nature The high took place in 1984 when is the same whether it’s in white skin or Hughes, a native of Dublin, Ireland, black skin,” he said. was just starting his “And they gave us a 28-year stint with great reception there.

I enjoy the Diocese of Fargo.

There were 306 of He’d had the fortuus Irish Holy Ghost people nate experience of priests in Nigeria.” helping lead a threeno matter As civil strife inbus caravan from creased, the priests North Dakota to where I go, became “black-listed” Canada to meet and from the area. “They but I like celebrate Mass with maintained we prothe former pontiff.

North Dakotans and I longed the war for 18 The low happened months because our while on a missionlike the pace here. guys started airliftary assignment in ing food and mediFather Peter Hughes Nigeria. As part of cine every night for the Congregation the Christians.” Recently, the ban was of the Holy Spirit Order known as the lifted.

Holy Ghost Fathers, Father Hughes After a pause back home, Father was helping introduce Jesus to Africa.

Hughes went to Zambia, where he spent But when a civil war erupted between another 13 years. In 1983 he came to Christians and Muslims, things turned North Dakota to help one of his fellow unsafe, especially at night.

Irish priests and was swiftly snatched One evening, six militants broke up by Bishop Driscoll. “I arrived on a through a dividing line and forced FaMonday, went to a funeral on Tuesday, ther Hughes to drive them to the next and I got a letter in the mail the next town. “I put two in the front seat, four morning appointing me to Jamestown.” in the back, and one had a tommy-gun to my head,” he recounted. “It wasn’t Though North Dakota was no Afriuntil later that I realized how it could ca, he took to the prairie quickly. “I’m have gone. When I got into bed that a bush boy at heart,” he said. “I enjoy night I started to tremble. He’d had his people no matter where I go, but I like finger on the trigger.”

North Dakotans and I like the pace here.”

Despite the difficult end, he’ll always remember that time as one of the most In his many years of priesthood, he’s blessed of his priesthood. “The church seen many changes within the church, was thriving there at the time. I bapbut appears to have it all in perspectized about 2,000 children a year. I tive. “I went to Africa 49 years ago to once did 133 baptisms in one go.” bring them into Christianity, and now they’re coming back to save our ChrisRichly remembered childhood tianity,” he said. “It’s all in Scripture. If God doesn’t get the grapes in one vineWhen it was time to leave, Father yard, he’ll go to another.”

Hughes made the transition with ease.

The pattern of going easily from one That’s not to say the lack of gratitude thing to the next seems to have been he’s witnessed in “richer” countries set during his earliest years as the doesn’t concern him. “You see people youngest of six children. “Of course, I going to the lake, mowing the lawns, always claim I was the neglected one,” playing with their snowmobiles on a he said, grinning.

Sunday morning; that hurts me,” he said. “The more we have, the less time In reality, it was a good life lived in a for God. It’s a material paganism.” country rich in faith; a place in which the whole community worked to raise He added that though we’re surup the next generation. “You didn’t just rounded by goodness, we’re not necesanswer to your parents for misbehavsarily reaching those at the bottom of ing, but to the locals, too,” he said. the steps outside. “Are we reaching the An altar boy in his parish of St. Sylpeople who are not (in the pews)? Are vester’s, the young Peter was formed we only saving the saved?” by parents who greatly respected the Regardless, he still finds the attempt church and priesthood. One priest to bring Christ to others worth the friend would come over every Monday trouble. “That’s the joy of it, isn’t it?” he night to eat dinner and play cards with said, a sparkle in his Irish eyes. the family. And music nearly always Father Hughes will celebrate his goldrang through the house. “My mother en jubilee in his homeland, where he was an opera singer . . . and we’d have a and a group of priest friends will conparty every Sunday night at our house. vene for the first time in many years.

If you wanted to attend you had to play or sing a couple songs.”

Roxanne Salonen, wife and mother of five, Eventually, his father, owner of a grois a parishioner and cantor at Sts. Anne and cery store and tea business, moved the Joachim Church in Fargo. She’s also a freefamily to the coast eight miles from the lance writer, children’s author and host for city. There, the kids swam in the ocean Real Presence Radio.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally printed in the New Earth June 2011 issue.

The story chronicles Father Peter Hughes’ life as he celebrated 50 years of priesthood.

He passed away July 16, 2014, the 53rd anniversary of his ordination.

“

”

NewEarth

July-August 2014 n 15

The Gospel in crust and crumb

S

ometimes we like to think that dition. In the Middle Ages guilds were faith is just something that we talk formed in cities across Europe where about in regards to prayer or specifpeople honed their skills in different ic spiritual activities. This notion limits areas as a career, much like we do tous to just one small sphere of our lives. day. However, they also offered those However, what if faith is larger than services to their faith. that?

Sharing talents About a week ago, I had the chance to share Bricklayers would lay with the residents of bricks for churches and the Lutheran Sunset other charitable works.

Home a favorite hobby Glassmakers made glass. of mine, baking bread. I Bakers would make went there several times bread for the other workthroughout the day to ers so they had someadd ingredients, mix thing to eat. and knead them and to These kinds of arts shape the loaves. and activities are a part Eventually, we baked of a whole world, the them all and were able world that God entered to share them with into when he became many of the people who man. God took flesh in live there and the staff as an area of modern day Robert Keller well. It was a wonderful Palestine among the experience for many of Jewish people as the son of a carpenter. them.

He worked and helped to provide for They had the chance to taste homethe other members of his family and made bread with good high quality inhis skills as a carpenter probably begredients. Many commented that it recame better over time. These acts, too minded them of home and things that were in service to God. He offered his their mother used to make. work to God and found a deep commuStaff came by and commented about nion with him and a way to serve other how good the bread made the room people. smell.

Many of us have talents and abilities, Creativity and arts like this one have things we like to do and enjoy doing. always been a part of the Christian traBeing a Christian might mean that

Seminarian Life

“Many of us have talents and

abilities, things we like to do and enjoy doing.

Being a Christian might mean that some of them do have to change or be modified slightly, but God wants us to take the best that life has to offer in every area and to elevate it to a way of prayer, a way of communion with God and service to other people.

Robert Keller

some of them do have to change or be modified slightly, but God wants us to take the best that life has to offer in every area and to elevate it to a way of prayer, a way of communion with God and service to other people.

It is one of the ways that I could bring a great amount of joy and smiles to huge numbers of people by sharing something with them that I love to do.

It doesn’t always sound like these are the things that one would think of coming from a seminarian studying to be a priest, but that kind of joy and encounter with other people is a place where the love of Jesus and the seeds of

”

the Gospel can begin to grow.

Keller is a Theology II student studying at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, Denver, Colo. Originally from Harvey, Keller is spending his summer at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Grafton.

Editor’s Note: Seminarian Life is a monthly column written by current Diocese of Fargo seminarians. It gives New Earth readers an opportunity to get a glimpse of what these discerning young men are experiencing. Let us know if there is something you would like to know about the life of a seminarian. Perhaps, it will inspire an article from one of them. And, please continue to pray for them.

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16 n July-August 2014

NewEarth

Can Catholics believe in evolution?

Editor’s Note: If you have a question about the Catholic faith and would like to submit a question for consideration in a future column, please send to news@ fargodiocese.com with “Ask a Priest” in the subject line or mail to New Earth, 5201 Bishops Blvd. S, Fargo, ND 58102, Attn: Ask a Priest.

I

have special interest in this question because during my college years at Cardinal Muench Seminary and North Dakota State University, I opted for a major in the biological sciences.

Vertebrate evolution, including the ancestral origins of Homo Sapiens, was presented in such a manner that the evolutionary theories were “accepted as gospel.” Charles Darwin’s work on the “Origin of Species” was referenced frequently.

Later on, as I became pastor of St. Paul’s Newman Center adjoining the NDSU campus, we often encountered debates on matters of science and religion.

There was, on the one hand, the “fundamentalist Christian” extreme approach that rejected any geological evidence of the formation of the earth over billions of years, and chose instead to hold that creation has only existed in the “biblical time” of some ten thousand years. And, on the other extreme was the “atheistic” view that saw no evidence of the intervention of a Divine Being in the work of creation.

Recent films may have resurrected or renewed our awareness and concern over some of these points of interaction between science and religion. So, where is the official teaching of the Catholic Church in the matter of evolution, and what are we to believe?

Admire creation and Creator First of all, in the Catechism of the Catholic Church we find a very beautiful and thorough treatment of the work of Creation and a responsible interpretation of the first chapters of the Book of Genesis. See Part I, Article One on the Creed: “I believe in God, the Father Al-

ask a

Priest

By Father Dale Kinzler mighty, Creator of heaven and earth,” particularly paragraphs 279-301.

“The question about the origins of the world and of man has been the object of many scientific studies which have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life-forms and the appearance of man. These discoveries invite us to ever greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for all his works and for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers.”

CCC. 283 Second, in its treatment of the creation of mankind in the image of God, paragraphs 355-379, we are given the “big picture” of homo sapiens as the bodily creature uniquely gifted with an immortal soul, created “directly” or “immediately” by God and not “produced” by the parents. CCC 366 Regarding specifics on evolution, we look first to the encyclical “Humani Generis” written in 1950 by Pope Pius XII in response to “some false opinions threatening to undermine the foundations of Catholic doctrine.” Regarding

evolution, he wrote: “. . . the Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that . . . research and discussions . . . take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter — for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God. However this must be done in such a way that the reasons for both opinions, that is, those favorable and those unfavorable to evolution, be weighed and judged with the necessary seriousness, moderation and measure, and provided that all are prepared to submit to the judgment of the Church, to whom Christ has given the mission of interpreting authentically the Sacred Scriptures and of defending the dogmas of faithful. Some however rashly transgress this liberty of discussion, when they act as if the origin of the human body from pre-existing and living matter were already completely certain . . . as if there were nothing in the sources of divine revelation which demands the greatest moderation and caution in this question.”

The encyclical does not endorse a comprehensive belief in evolution, nor does it outright reject it, because it deemed the evidence at the time not convincing. It allows for the possibility in the future.

Thinking updated Pope John Paul II, in 1996, gave an updated reflection on the question of evolution: “Today, almost half a century after publication of (Humani Generis), new knowledge has led to the recognition of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis. It is indeed remarkable that this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers, following a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge. The convergence, neither sought nor fabricated, of the results of work that was

conducted independently is in itself a significant argument in favor of the theory.”

Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, 1996 In his address, Pope John Paul II also said: “[If] the human body takes its origin from pre-existent living matter, the spiritual soul is immediately created by God. . . . Consequently, theories of evolution which . . . consider the mind as emerging from the forces of living matter, or as a mere epiphenomenon of this matter, are incompatible with the truth about man.”

Avoiding extremes Considering this information, I believe we want to avoid two extremes: 1) that of the “fundamentalist Creationist” who believes God planted everything on earth, finishing with man, in the span of some ten thousand years; and 2) that of the “atheistic Evolutionist” who insists that it all came about by unguided processes of “natural selection” and “survival of the fittest” with no consideration of a divine being at work.

I, for my part, given my love for the biological sciences and the belief that science and religion can walk hand in hand as partners of the truth, rather than engage in mortal combat, like to call myself a “Creative Evolutionist” or perhaps an “Evolutionary Creationist.”

In sum, Catholics may believe in good conscience, that much of the scientific hypotheses regarding the gradual development of life forms and species over the course of very long periods of time, including the human species, are plausible. But, we must always hold that God is the Creator, the “intelligent designer,” of the whole process.

Father Dale Kinzler serves as pastor for Sacred Heart Church, Aneta, St. George’s Church, Cooperstown, St. Olaf’s Church, Finley and St. Lawrence’s Church in Jessie.

He has served the Diocese of Fargo for more than 40 years.

Prayer intentions of Pope Francis July General intention: Sports. That sports may always be occasions of human fraternity and growth.

Reflection: In what ways am I challenged to keep sports in their proper perspective?

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9: 24-26 Run so as to win.

Mission intention: Lay Missionaries. That the Holy Spirit may support the work of the laity who proclaim the Gospel in the poorest countries.

Reflection: How is my conscience “troubled” as I reflect on the material and spiritual needs of people in the poorest countries?

Scripture: Matthew 9: 35-38 At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity.

August General intention: Refugees. That refugees, forced by violence to abandon their homes, may find a generous welcome and the protection off their rights.

Reflection: Pope Francis has said that an attitude of indifference toward refugees is “typical of a throwaway culture.” What does that mean?

Scripture: Luke 9: 51-57 The Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.

1417 South University Drive, Fargo, ND 58103

Mission intention: Oceania. That Christians in Oceania may joyfully announce the faith to all the people of that region.

Reflection: How does the knowledge that I am “infinitely loved” give me joy even during difficult times?

Scripture: John 15: 8-17 I told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

Provided by Apostleship of Prayer, www.apostleshipofprayer.org.

N 14ewn Earth July -August 2014

July-August 2014 Newn Earth 17

Here’s help to pray the ‘Our Father’ with a freshened spirit “Praying with Confidence: Aquinas on the Lord’s Prayer,” by Paul Murray, O.P. Burns & Oates, London. (Oct. 2010). 128 pages.

The Our Father is the one of the most frequent prayers offered by a Catholic.

Coming word for word from the mouth of Jesus himself, the Lord’s Prayer plays a prominent role in liturgical worship, from the Mass to the Liturgy of the Hours, and within private devotions, like the rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

Such frequency of use can lead to over-familiarity, and, as we just go through the motions, our lips can move much quicker than our hearts.

In light of this, Father Paul Murray, a native of Ireland and a priest of the Order of Preachers that was founded

by St. Dominic, has provided us with a fine commentary on the Lord’s Prayer.

Through the spiritual master, St. Thomas Aquinas, this popular professor at the Angelicum in Rome leads us to both a deeper understanding and richer participation in this central spiritual text.

Father Murray has become a trusted

By Father Luke Meyer

A review of Catholic books and literature spiritual guide to many college students who study abroad. He is coming to lecture in North Dakota on Aug. 30, 2014 at the University of Mary in Bismarck.

A commentary on the Our Father is a common literary form throughout the history of the church. Despite all of his vast writings, St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the post important Doctors of the Church, did not write a commentary solely dedicated to the Lord’s Prayer.

Murray’s commentary draws on seven diverse texts composed by the angelic doctor, four from the end of Aquinas’ life, drawing on mature and deep in-

sight after many years not only teaching but also as a man of deep prayer.

St. Thomas Aquinas often receives a reputation as a deep intellectual and elite theologian, inaccessible to the common reader, but here Aquinas’s humanity and practicality are revealed.

Murray provides a very accessible piece of spiritual reading, all in just about 100 pages.

Along the way, this Celtic friar offers some key insights.

For instance, prayers of petition are often undervalued in light of other forms of prayer, but Murray points out

Support and love has continued over 20 years of Golf for Life event

By Roxane B. Salonen

Each June, Father Bernie Pfau dusts off his golf clubs and heads out to the links to help make the world a bit more hospitable to new life.

The routine started two decades ago when a priest friend told Father Pfau about a new event being organized to raise money for the local pregnancy help center — the first annual Golf for Life sponsored by what at the time was AAA Pregnancy Clinic.

He was serving at St. James Basilica in Jamestown then, and as a lover of the game and a priest wanting to affirm and encourage life, the idea seemed to take like a well-fitting golf glove.

“I contacted people I knew in my parish, gave them some brochures,” Father Pfau said, “and over the years I would say that I’ve been averaging about $3,000 a year, sometimes over, sometimes a little less.”

That amount has contributed nicely to the more than $1 million that has been raised in total for the faith-based nonprofit — now FirstChoice Clinic — in the 20 years the event has been swinging.

In recent years, Father Pfau began to slow down a bit, so he solicited the help of Father Dale Kinzler to help him finish out his 100 holes.

“We’re both fundraisers so we kind of team up, and we’re an inspiration to each other,” he says.

Using the buddy system The buddy approach seems to work well, not only for the priest-duo but others who have dedicated themselves to the event.

Lee Vidger and Pat Nelson were among those who helped launch the event 20 years back; they’ve always worked in tandem. The two women also collected stories of the event through the years, including the very first one, which took place in less than favorable conditions.

“I’ll never forget it,” Nelson said.

“It was May 22 and there was still

snow on the ground — piles here and there. We had our gloves and parkas and ear muffs on, and you could see our breath, that’s how cold it was.”

“I remember going home afterwards and sitting in a whirlpool bath as hot as I could get it and I still didn’t warm up,” Vidger added.

Other years brought pouring rain, but many more have been blessed by sun and blue skies, like this year’s event.

Despite their sacrifices, the women have been pleasantly surprised with the results, no matter the weather. “We raised around $40,000 that first year,” Vidger said.

“It’s had God’s hand on it all the way,” Nelson added.

that for Aquinas, petition is prerequisite for prayer; an attitude of petition underlies all of our prayer, especially the Our Father, which is essentially a series of petitions.

While most of the world spends so much energy masking and hiding the reality of human weakness, the Our Father invites the soul into a posture of humble asking, exposing its poverty in confidence to the Father who desires to provide for his children.

A proper appreciation for prayers of petition, among much more keen reasoning, awaits the eager reader.

With a forward by Father Robert Barron, one of the chief messengers of the new evangelization in our time, “Praying with Confidence” can pass along to us some of the best wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas, practically and simply.

Want to pray the Our Father afresh and more engaged?

“Praying with Confidence” is the book for you.

Father Meyer serves the Diocese of Fargo as Chancellor and Director of Liturgy.

For more stories and information visit:

www.fargodiocese.org

Here’s what Pope Francis @Pontifex is tweeting: With God, nothing is lost; but without him, everything is lost.

JULY 8

Dear young people, do not give up your dreams of a more just world! JULY 3 To be friends with God means to pray with simplicity, like children talking to their parents. JUNE 28

Day-long sacrifice All three, along with another longtime participant, Tom McCormick, were honored with special gifts and a plaque each at this year’s event, which took place in June at the Rose Creek Golf Course in Fargo.

Each participant also was treated to lunch and a humorous poem-essay by fellow golfer Gert Solum, posing as “Caddy Alice.”

Tom Frei, executive director of FirstChoice Clinic, said it was only right to honor those who’ve been steadfast in their commitment to the event and the organization.

“The origins of this began really with Susan Richard,” he said. “It was a model that had been done elsewhere, and we adapted it here and it’s worked very well.”

The event takes a whole day and, Frei noted, requires a lot from those who take a day from work or use a vacation day to take part.

“If you look at all the people and golfers and sacrifice involved, it’s an example of people being Christian,” Frei said.

“You can be Christian by fighting against the world politically, and we need some of that, but this is an activity, a friendship with others, that’s really a life-affirming event.”

Follow the Diocese of Fargo on Twitter: www.twitter.com/fargodiocese Here’s a highlight of what’s been posted: As we celebrate our nation’s independence, let us give thanks to God for the blessings he has bestowed on the United States of America. Let us also pray for our nation, that with his grace we might be a people of wisdom, charity, and virtue in the sight of God.” ~BISHOP JOHN FOLDA, JULY 4

World Youth Day Krakow 2016 logo released! JULY 3 Like the Diocese of Fargo on Facebook: www.facebook.com/FargoDiocese Check out the video, NaPro: A Quiet Revolution to see what NaPro technology can do. NaPro (Natural Procreative Technology) is a new women’s health science that monitors and maintains a woman’s reproductive and gynecological health. It provides medical and surgical treatments that cooperate completely with the reproductive system.

Watch the video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6Stxc5WdjU.

18 n July-August 2014

A glimpse of the past These news items, compiled by Dorothy Duchschere, were found in issues of the Diocese of Fargo newspaper, New Earth, and its predecessor, Catholic Action News.

July/August 50 years ago — 1964 Catholic citizens of North Dakota have a double occasion for pride in 1964, as they celebrate the 75th anniversary of statehood, for on November 12, 1889, ten days after President Benjamin Harrison signed the bill that brought North Dakota into the Union, Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Fargo.

To officially mark the Jubilee in Fargo, Bishop Leo Dworschak celebrated a Pontifical High Mass in the amphitheatre of the Peace Gardens, on the border between North Dakota and Manitoba. More than 8,000 people from the northern part of the diocese attended the Mass on July 12.

20 years ago — 1994 Parishioners at St. Rose of Lima, Hillsboro and St. John’s, Grafton, added something extra to their ministry to migrant workers this summer. St. Rose and St. John added a fiesta for Hispanic workers. At Hillsboro, about 200 people attended the bi-lingual Mass, preceding a buffet meal. At Grafton, the fiesta featured dinner, games, concessions, horse

NewEarth

Anniversaries and buggy rides, cake walk, bingo, piñatas and a dance.

They prayed to end abortion, and for unborn babies who have been killed.

They prayed for mothers and families of those children. They prayed, they sang, they marched. About 1,000 gathered August 14 at St. Mary’s Cathedral for the “Walk with Christ for Life.”

They processed 16 blocks to the Women’s Health Organization, the only abortion clinic in North Dakota. Bishop Sullivan carried the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance during the 70-minute procession and placed it on a table in front of the clinic.

10 years ago — 2004 St. John’s Catholic Church in New Rockford celebrated its 100th anniversary as a parish on July 18. The day began with Mass with about 350 former and present parishioners attending.

Msgr. Brian Donahue, Vicar General of the Fargo Diocese, along with several guest priests con-celebrated Mass with Fr. Bernard Pfau, St. John’s pastor. Four men from St. John’s have been ordained to the priesthood: Fr. Alfred Allmaras, Benedictine Fr. Stephen Beauclair, Maryknoll Fr. David Schwinghammer and Fr. Gary Luiten. There were also a number of vocations to the religious life: Brother John Seiler, Sisters Geraldine Steinbach, Andrea Arendt and Maura DeCrans.

“Blessed are the Peacemakers” The readers of the New Earth are cordially invited to a beautiful, inexpensive, lakeside retreat of wonderful relaxation and spiritual rejuvenation.

For more information contact: Christ the King Retreat Center • Buffalo, MN (763) 682-1394 • email christtheking@kingshouse.com or visit our website at www.kingshouse.com

Two Presentation Sisters celebrate 70 years

By Heather Henry

Sister Celine Marie and Sister Francis Anne celebrated 70 years as Sisters of Mary of the Presentation (SMP) June 22. They were honored with a special Mass celebrated in the Maryvale chapel by Benedictine Father Claude Seeberger.

During his homily, Father Claude spoke about the vows and made connections to the Eucharist being at the heart of the vowed life as it was also the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. After the homily they reSister newed their vows of Celine Marie poverty, chastity and obedience.

Sister Francis Anne was born in Fargo.

She attended St. Joseph School in Wild Rice. After high school, she entered the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation and made her novitiate in Spring Valley, Ill. In 1948 she beSister came a registered Francis Anne nurse having received her training at St. Andrew’s School of Nursing in Bottineau. In 1966 she received a Bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Mary in Bismarck.

Sister Francis Anne worked in the Presentation Sisters’hospitals in Bottineau, Harvey, Rolla, and Spring Valley, Ill. Later, she attended Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., studying clinical pastoral care and served in the ministry for a number of years. She retired to Maryvale.

Sister Celine Marie was born in Fingal where she attended elementary and high school.

After graduation she took a commercial course in Minneapolis, Minn. After professing her vows she moved to Bottineau and received her nursing degree from St. Andrew’s School of Nursing.

She served in various positions as a nurse in the community’s hospitals.

Her last nursing ministry was in Bottineau focusing on long term care of the elderly sisters.

In 1991, she began pastoral ministry in Harvey, and she continued this work until her retirement. She also retired to Maryvale.

Sister Cecelia Smith celebrates 75 years in Benedictine community Sister Cecelia Smith was born May 8, 1921 on the Spirit Lake reservation to Native American parents Alex and Mary Pearl Smith. At age 17, she entered Mount St. Benedict Monastery in Crookston, Minn. and made her final vows in 1945.

She taught first

Share life’s milestones As a way to celebrate life and love, we encourage parishioners throughout the Diocese of Fargo to send photos of anniversaries of 60 or more years, or birthdays of 80 or more years to: New Earth, Diocese of Fargo, 5201 Bishops Blvd. S., Suite A, Fargo, ND 58104-7605 or news@ fargodiocese.org. graders for more than 40 years with many former students visiting and contacting her with wonderful stories.

Now retired, Sister Cecelia has been active and available for all over the years. The brothers, sisters, relatives and friends of Sister Cecelia wish her, with much love, a blessed and happy 75th anniversary.

Brossarts of Rugby mark 65 years of marriage Frank and Theresa Brossart celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary June 6.

They were married at St. Anselm Church in Fulda by Father Maurus Engel. Frank and Theresa are lifetime members of St. Therese Little Flower Church in Rugby. They have eight children, 20 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

Grassers of Fargo observe 60th wedding anniversary Bob and Vi (Dassinger) Grasser, Fargo, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary at an open house hosted by their children on June 21 at the Travelodge Hotel, Moorhead, Minn. They were married June 21, 1954, at St. Thomas Church, Gladstone.

Bob is a retired science teacher from Fargo South High School and Vi retired from Evergreen Sales in Fargo. They have three children, Allen (Cheryl) Grasser, Grand Forks; Gayleen (Terry) Hersch, Apple Valley, Minn.; and Gerri (the late Tim) Wald, Sioux Falls, S.D. The couple has 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

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July-August 2014 n 19

Events around the diocese FM Area Sheltering Churches Pancake Fundraiser: Blessed Sacrament Church, West Fargo. Aug. 5 (Tuesday) 5-8 p.m.

Contact Blessed Sacrament at (701) 2823321.

40 Days for Life North Dakota starts Sept. 24

Piano Talk Concerts: St. John the Evangelist Church, Grafton. Aug. 5 and 19 (Tuesdays) 7:30 p.m. Email Brent Hermans at sirbrent@q.com.

Mother Daughter Days Retreat: St. Francis Retreat Center, Hankinson. Aug 8-10 (Friday-Sunday). Deadline to register is August 1. Email ndfranciscan@yahoo. com for more information.

For more news and events, visit the “News and Events” section of the diocesan website:

125th Anniversary of Transfiguration Church: Transfiguration Church, Edgeley. Aug 10 (Sunday) Mass at 10 a.m.

Contact the parish office at (701) 4932387 or holytrans@drtel.net.

www.fargodiocese.org/ news-events

Catechist Retreat: Park River Aug. 16 (Saturday) and Valley City Aug. 22 (Friday). Register at www.fargodiocese. org/catechistretreat.

sity of Mary, Bismarck. Sept. 27 (Saturday) 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Contact Matthew Kurtz of the Diocese of Bismarck at (701) 222-3035.

Pilgrimage to Our Lady of the Prairies: The Carmel of Mary Monastery, Wahpeton.

Aug. 17 (Sunday) 3 p.m. Call Hank or Karen Weber at (701) 640-6152.

Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend: Jamestown, Oct. 10-12 (Friday-Sunday) Contact Mark and Mary Jantzer at applications@ndwwme.org or (701) 852-6291.

Women’s Retreat on the Lake: Presentation Prayer Center, Fargo. Aug. 22-24 (Friday-Sunday) Call Sister Andrea at (701) 237-4857.

The National Catholic Conference for Youth Ministers: San Antonio, Texas, Dec. 3-8 (Wednesday-Monday). Call Kathy Loney at (701) 256-7902.

Life in the Spirit Retreat: St. Michael’s Church, Grand Forks. Sept 19-21 (FridaySunday). Contact Katie Dubas at (701) 356-7908.

5-Day Pilgrimage to Mexico: Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine and other notable sites. Dec. 9-14 (Tuesday-Sunday). Call Nancy Orthman at (701) 845-6271 or nancyorthman@centurylink.net.

Real Presence Radio 2014 Pilgrimage: Holy Family Shrine in Gretna, Neb. and the House of Mary Shrine in Yankton, S.D., Sept 25-27 (Thursday-Saturday).

Contact Stacey at (877) 795-0122 or stacey@yourcatholicradiostation.com.

THIRST 2014 Men’s Conference: Univer-

To submit events for New Earth and the diocesan website, send information to New Earth, 5201 Bishops Blvd. S., Suite A, Fargo, ND 58104-7605 or email news@ fargodiocese.org. The deadline for the September New Earth is Aug. 27. The earliest the issue will reach homes is Sept. 13.

Diocesan policy: Reporting child abuse The Diocese of Fargo is committed to the protection of youth.

Please report any incidents or suspected incidents of child abuse, in­­ cluding sexual abuse, to civil authorities.

If the situation involves a member of the clergy or a religious order, a seminarian, or an employee of a Cath­olic school, parish, the diocesan offices or other Cath-

olic entity with­ in the diocese, we ask that you also report the incident or suspected incident to Msgr. Joseph P. Goering at (701) 356-7945 or Larry Bernhardt at (701) 356-7965 or VictimAssistance@ fargodiocese.org.

For additional information about victim assistance, visit www.fargodiocese.org/ victimassistance.

Mark your calendars for the start of North Dakota’s 40 Days for Life campaign.

The faithful of the Diocese of Fargo are encouraged to participate in the eighth 40 Days for Life campaign that will take place Sept. 24 to Nov. 2.

The “40 Days” of continuous prayer will begin with a prayer service Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. in front of the abortion facility, 512, 1st Ave. N. in Fargo.

Forty Days for Life is a three-fold effort of prayer, fasting and vigilance that will be conducted in all 50 states across the nation and internationally. Individuals can sign up to take an hour vigilance at the state’s only abortion facility in Fargo by contacting the Pregnancy Help Center at (701) 284-6601 or phc@polarcomm.com.

To learn more about the 40 Days for Life campaign visit www.40daysforlifend.com.

Youth Called to March for Life Only seven spots remain for this exciting journey to support life — sign-up today!

Youth in grades nine through 12 from across the Diocese of Fargo are invited to participate in the 42nd annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 22, 2015.

This is a special year for youth from the diocese to pilgrimage for life; they will have the privilege of carrying the lead banner for the 2015 March for Life along with other students from North Dakota Catholic high schools.

The pilgrimage will begin in Fargo Jan. 18 and return Jan. 23. Father Kurt Gunwall, vocations director for the Diocese of Fargo, will be the spiritual director. In addition to participating in the March and the Vigil Mass for Life at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, youth will also travel to Emmitsburg, Md., to visit the Mother Seton Shrine and see the sights of our nation’s capital. The cost for the six-day pilgrimage is $830 and includes air and ground travel, lodging, meals and tour fees.

Registration forms can be found at www.fargodiocese.org/RespectLife. Deadline for registration is Oct. 18. For more information, contact Rachelle at (701) 356-7910 or rachelle.sauvageau@fargodiocese.org.

Register now for THIRST 2014 Men’s Conference Registration for the THIRST 2014 Men’s Conference has officially opened at www. bismarckdiocese.com.

This one-day conference, which will feature Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Francis George, OMI, as the keynote presenter, will be held Saturday, Sept. 27, at the University of Mary’s McDowell Activity Center.

The event is free and open to men of all faith denominations. Online registration at the Bismarck Diocese’s website is required for a meal count and space limitations.

Other featured presenters at THIRST 2014 will include Tom Peterson, president of CatholicsComeHome.org and Father Russ Kovash, pastor of the churches of St. Joseph in Williston, St. John the Baptist in Trenton and St. Boniface, Grenora. Time for confession and Eucharistic adoration will be provided at the event, which will conclude with a Saturday Vigil Mass.

The THIRST 2014 Men’s Conference follows after the THIRST 2013 Eucharistic Conference held October 2013 and attended by more than 7,000 people from 20 different states.

For more information contact Matthew Kurtz at mkurtz@bismarckdiocese.com.

Give A Gift to Help Keep the TV Mass on the Air! The best gift for those you love who are nursing home residents, shut-ins, or non-practicing Catholics WDAY, Channel 6, Fargo — WDAZ, Channel 8, Grand Forks 10:30 a.m. Sunday Name _____________________________________________________________________________ Address____________________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip______________________________________________________________________ Phone _____________________________________________________________________________ A GIFT FOR: Name _____________________________________________________________________________ Address____________________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip______________________________________________________________________

“I support the TV Mass because it was an important part of my mother’s life. My husband and I would sometimes watch it with her. I’m thankful that the TV Mass was there for her.”

— Helen Bye, Fargo

Or, IN MEMORY OF: Name _____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ I would like this listed at the end of the TV Mass on this date(s):____________________________ MAIL TO: TV Mass, Diocese of Fargo, 5201 Bishops Blvd., Suite A, Fargo, ND 58104-7605

20 n July-August 2014

NewEarth

Jamestown students, parents raise money for Daily Bread program

By Deacon Tom Geffre and Joan Morris

Students and parents attending the annual Vacation Bible School program through St. John’s Academy and St. James Basilica in Jamestown raised nearly $900 to support the Daily Bread-Jamestown program.

The money will be used to purchase freezers, coolers and freezer bags that are needed for the program.

Each year, the VBS directors choose a specific mission to assist through

monetary donations from the students and parents.

“The Daily Bread-Jamestown program is very appreciative of the gift from the Bible school students and parents,” said Deacon Tom Geffre, co-founder of the program.

The Daily Bread-Jamestown program has been offering free surplus frozen meals at its first location, the Ave Maria Village, for about three years. This spring, the program expanded to include delivery of food to the James River Senior Citizens Cen-

ter, two locations at the Community Action Centers and the Salvation Army, all in Jamestown.

“Our Daily Bread-Jamestown steering committee wanted to target families, especially families with young children,” said Tom Geffre, who is a member of the organization’s steering committee.

The Daily Bread-Jamestown program mirrors the successful Daily Bread programs operating in Fargo and Bismarck.

Several sponsors, including the

Knights of Columbus Hall, Emma Rosie’s Catering, TJ’s Catering, The University of Jamestown, the Vets Club and the Quality Inn of Jamestown, donate food to be distributed to people in need in the community.

The group continues to seek additional food suppliers. The group goal is to salvage food from being wasted and use it to feed hungry individuals in the area. Local volunteers pick up the donated food from the suppliers and deliver it to Daily Bread’s freezer locations.

July brings St. Kateri feast day Native American Catholics celebrate one of their own, who lived a virtuous life in a hostile setting Catholic News Agency/EWTN News

been planned for her.

When she was 18, Father Jacques de On July 14, the church celebrated the Lamberville returned to the Mohawk feast day of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the village, and she asked to be baptized. first Native American to be canonized.

The life of the Mohawk village had Known as the “Lily of the Mohawks,” become violent and debauchery was Kateri lived a life of holiness and virtue, commonplace. despite obstacles and opposition within Realizing that this was proving too her tribe. dangerous to her life and her call to Kateri was born in Auriesville, N.Y., perpetual virginity, Kateri escaped in 1656 to a Christian Algonquin womto the town of an and a pagan MoCaughnawaga in hawk chief. When Quebec, CanaDevotion to Kateri she was a child, a da, near Montreal, smallpox epidemic began immediately where she grew in attacked her tribe holiness and devoand both her parafter her death and tion to the Blessed ents died. She was Sacrament. her body . . . is visited left with permanent scars on her face and by many pilgrims each Source of impaired eyesight. miracles Her uncle, who year. had now become Kateri lived out chief of the tribe, adopted her, and her the last years of her short life there, pracaunts began planning her marriage ticing austere penance and constant while she was still very young. prayer. She was said to have reached the highest levels of mystical union with Jesuit influence God, and many miracles were attributed to her while she was still alive.

When three Jesuit priests visited the She died on April 17, 1680, at the age tribe in 1667 and stayed in the tent of of 24. Witnesses reported that within her uncle, they spoke to her of Christ, minutes of her death, the scars from and though she did not ask to be bapsmallpox completely vanished and her tized, she believed in Jesus with an inface shone with radiant beauty. credible intensity.

Devotion to Kateri began immediShe also realized that she was called ately after her death and her body, eninto an intimate union with God as a shrined in Caughnawaga, is visited by consecrated virgin. many pilgrims each year.

Kateri had to struggle to maintain her faith amidst the opposition of her tribe She was beatified by Pope John Paul who ridiculed her for it and ostracized II in 1980, and canonized by Pope Benher for refusing the marriage that had edict XVI on Oct. 21, 2012.

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Tekakwitha Conference returns to Fargo

CNS photo / Stephen B Whatley

St. Kateri Tekakwitha is depicted in a modern painting by Stephen B Whatley, an expressionist artist based in London. Whatley painted the piece on her canonization day Oct. 21, 2012. St. Kateri, often referred to as the “Lily of the Mohawks,” is known for her deep faith, joy and generosity. She is listed as patron of American Indians, ecology and the environment and is held up as a model for Catholic youths.

As New Earth went to press, the Tekakwitha Conference, inspired by its namesake, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, returned to its birthplace in the Fargo Diocese for its 75th Anniversary celebration. Native American Catholics, mission priests and bishops from across North America gathered to help indigenous Catholics reinforce their Catholic identity and affirm their pride in their cultures and spiritual traditions.

The five-day conference was to feature several keynote speakers including Mark Thiel, noted archivist of the Marquette University Libraries’ Department of Special Collections and Archives, and Sister Judith Gomila of the Marianite Sisters of Holy Cross. A panel of Native religious and clergy was to discuss the theme “To Walk Humbly” as St. Kateri did in her lifetime.

Archbishop Charles Chaput, the first Native American to be named an archbishop in the United States, was scheduled to celebrate Mass July 24. Archbishop Chaput currently serves as the chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Subcommittee on Native American Catholics. And, he is the current episcopal moderator for the Tekakwitha Conference.

Bishop John Folda of the Diocese of Fargo and Bishop Donald Kettler of the Diocese of St. Cloud were to celebrate Mass on July 25 and 26, respectively.

For more stories and photos from the event, visit the diocesan News and Events webpage at www.fargodiocese.org/news-events.