St. Anthony Messenger April 2021

Sharing the spirit of St. Francis with the world VOL. 128/NO. 9 • APRIL 2021 • PUBLISHED BY FRANCISCAN MEDIA

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

Let Us Pray: Resurrection Song page 46

EVERYDAY MIRACLES

ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD IN DAILY LIFE

APRIL 2021 • $4.99 StAnthonyMessenger.org

LESSONS FROM THE LORD’S PRAYER THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY OF RACISM A RENAISSANCE FRIAR IN NEW YORK

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May God bless your Easter Season.

Alleluia! He is truly risen!

The Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist Province wish you a joyous Easter filled with hope in the Risen Christ.

With Easter, we are reminded of God’s great love for us all and the promise of eternal life.

The Franciscan Friars, Province of St. John the Baptist • 1615 Vine St., Ste 1 • Cincinnati, OH 45202-6492 StAnthony.org • Franciscan.org • 513-721-4700, ext. 3219

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VOL. 128 N O. 9

APRIL

2021 20/21

22 22 Everyday Miracles

COVER STORY

COVER: It is often when we are broken or lost that we encounter miracles—subtle yet profound moments when God intervenes in our lives.

By Maureen O’Brien

As we prepare to celebrate Easter, this author reminds us that miracles are all around us.

18 Lessons from the Lord’s Prayer

FOTOSEARCH IMAGES: COVER: KEVRON2001; ABOVE: ARTS

By Julia Walsh, FSPA

One of the most common Christian prayers shows us the way to spiritual transformation and profound connection with God and each other.

27 The Sorrowful Mystery of Racism

By Herman Sutter

Praying the rosary to find strength and support is common; this man prays the rosary for an end to racism.

32 A Renaissance Friar

By Ann M. Augherton

He’s built skyscrapers, fought fires, and led the nation’s largest Franciscan province. But what Father John O’Connor most treasures is his ministry as a parish priest.

COMING NEXT

ISSUE

An article on the mental health crisis in the United States and removing the stigma of mental illness for people of faith

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Saint Day

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he saints were real people with real stories—just like us! Their surrender to God’s love was so gen-

erous that the Church recognizes them as heroes and

of the

heroines worthy to be held up for our inspiration. Join Franciscan Media in our daily celebration of these holy men and women of God. Sign up for Saint of the Day, a free resource delivered right to your inbox.

St. Francis of Paola April 2 St. Francis of Paola wanted to live a quiet life of solitude. He managed to do this in a cave near Paola, Italy, but soon followers gathered. He formed them into a community that emphasized severe penance and austerity.

St. Magdalen of Canossa April 10 St. Magdalen of Canossa worked in hospitals and among the poor, opened her home as a lodging for girls, started a school, and founded two religious communities. She accomplished all of this without the support of her family.

St. Catherine of Siena

St. Pius V

April 29 St. Catherine of Siena was known for her contemplation and prayer—as well as her involvement in Church affairs. During the time when there were two and three popes each claiming the papacy, St. Catherine sided with Pope Urban VI.

April 30 St. Pius V was the pope responsible for the implementation of the results of the Council of Trent—no easy task! Refusing to remove his Dominican habit, he is also responsible for the tradition that popes wear white.

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Saints featured in the month of April include . . .

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VOL. 128 N O. 9

“We should wish for nothing else and have no other desire; we should find no pleasure or delight in anything except in our creator, redeemer, and savior; he alone is true God.”

APRIL

2021

—St. Francis of Assisi

SPIRIT OF ST. FRANCIS 10 Ask a Franciscan

10 POINTS OF VIEW

15 Editorial | Susan Hines-Brigger

Are Catholics Allowed to Own Guns?

Welcome Back, America

12 Followers of St. Francis

16 At Home on Earth | Kyle Kramer

14 Franciscan World

44 Faith & Family | Susan Hines-Brigger

Nora Pfeiffer

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15

Start with the Who

Syracuse Neumann Community

Hitting the Pandemic Wall

14 St. Anthony Stories

Good Samaritans on the Trail

CULTURE

40 Media Reviews

Streaming | Our Planet Books | His Truth Is

Marching On

42

42 Film Reviews Evelyn

Yes Day Resurrection

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 4 Dear Reader 5 Your Voice 6 Church in the News

46

45 Pete & Repeat 46 Let Us Pray 48 Reflection

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dear reader Thank You, Maureen

PUBLISHER

T

hree years ago, Franciscan Media offered a seven-day blog and video series on the Virgin Mary. I was tasked with finding a writer. I needed a voice that was authoritative but warm and edifying—and quickly. No easy mission! In the 11th hour, a colleague suggested that a good friend of his, Maureen O’Brien, might fit the bill. We engaged her, and she agreed. Not only did Maureen succeed in providing a truly immersive Marian experience for our online audience, but it was the start of a flourishing professional relationship between us.

Maureen is a formidable talent—though she doesn’t write with a heavy pen.

She’s inclusive, holistic, relatable. See for yourself on page 22. In her Easter story, Maureen writes about the power of miracles and how they impact our spiritual lives. We think you’ll enjoy her writing and her perspective. And because she’s so intrepid, Maureen also wrote a new book for Franciscan Media, What Was Lost: Seeking Refuge in the Psalms, about how these biblical poems helped her weather life’s greatest storms.

We at Franciscan Media are thankful that she trusts us with her writing. And we at St. Anthony Messenger are thankful for you, our readers. We’re glad to be with you on the journey.

Daniel Kroger, OFM PRESIDENT

Kelly McCracken EXECUTIVE EDITORS

Christopher Heffron Susan Hines-Brigger

FRANCISCAN EDITOR

Pat McCloskey, OFM ART DIRECTOR

Mary Catherine Kozusko MANAGING EDITOR

Daniel Imwalle

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Sandy Howison

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Sharon Lape

Christopher Heffron, Executive Editor

DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING

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writer A Renaissance Friar PAGE 32

Ann M. Augherton is editor of the award-winning Arlington Catholic Herald newspaper and website. She earned her journalism degree from George Washington University in Washington, DC. Although a lifelong resident of the Washington area, she has traveled extensively on international assignments in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.

HERMAN SUTTER

SISTER JULIA WALSH, FSPA

PAGE 27

PAGE 18

writer The Sorrowful Mystery of Racism Librarian and volunteer hospital chaplain Herman Sutter is the award-winning author of the book The World Before Grace and the blog of the same name. His works have appeared in Iris, The Langdon Review, and By the Light of a Neon Moon (Madville Press).

His comic epic, “Constance,” received the Innisfree Prize for poetry.

writer Lessons from the Lord’s Prayer

Sister Julia Walsh is a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration and part of a new generation of Catholic sisters. She serves as a jail minister and spiritual director in Chicago.

Her writing can be found in National Catholic Reporter, America, and elsewhere.

Learn more about her work and her ministry at MessyJesusBusiness.com.

To subscribe, write to the above address or call 866-543-6870. Yearly subscription price: $39.00 in the United States; $69.00 in Canada and other countries. Single copy price: $4.99. For change of address, four weeks’ notice is necessary. See FranciscanMedia.org/subscriptionservices for information on your digital edition.

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Member of the Catholic Press Association Published with ecclesiastical approval Copyright ©2021. All rights reserved.

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ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER (ISSN #0036276X) (U.S.P.S. PUBLICATION #007956 CANADA PUBLICATION #PM40036350) Volume 128, Number 9, is published 10 times per year for $39.00 a year by the Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist Province, 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-6498. Phone 513-241-5615.

Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, Ohio, and additional entry offices. US POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: St. Anthony Messenger, PO Box 189, Congers, NY 10920-0189. CANADA RETURN ADDRESS: c/o AIM, 7289 Torbram Rd., Mississauga, ON, Canada L4T 1G8.

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POINTSOFVIEW | YOUR VOICE Countering Racism in Our Faith Communities

Irony Not Lost on This Reader

Two items in the February issue of St. Anthony Messenger really stuck out to me as excellent pieces of writing: “Repairers of the Breach” (Kyle Kramer’s At Home on Earth column) and “A Catholic Response to Racism” (the cover story by Susan Hines-Brigger, with photography by Seshu Badrinath). The first piece describes five steps for moving forward to heal divisions. The second, the cover story, makes the case for action to counter racism within the Church.

I suggest that the themes of the articles be combined to reconcile differences concerning racism within the Church and form a plan for action against racism using the five steps that Mr. Kramer details in his column. Parishes and dioceses should offer a series of five meetings, each based on one of the five steps with the ultimate goal of a specific plan for the parish or diocese to counter racism.

Perhaps Kyle Kramer and Deacon Art Miller working together could provide guidance for groups who want to do this.

Reconciliation and ending racism are necessary in the Church today. This will help.

Mike Clement Birmingham, Michigan

.S.P.S. TION ed 10 Friars Street, 5615. addiddress ngers, AIM, 8.

call n the Single notice ption-

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I’m writing in regard to Susan Hines-Brigger’s Church in the News story from the February issue, titled “Report Released on Handling of Abuse by McCarrick.” The irony in the photo of Pope John Paul II and former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick greeting each other is palpable.

Serious and credible accusations of egregious sexual abuse leveled against McCarrick resulted in Pope Francis forcing him out of the priesthood two years ago. The irony is that St. John Paul II turned a blind eye and deaf ear to the victims of clergy sex abuse.

Jason Berry, author of Render unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church, wrote of Pope John Paul II’s handling of the sex-abuse scandal in The Nation in 2011: “Moreover, on the greatest internal crisis facing the Church, the pope failed, time and again, to take decisive action.”

To put it more bluntly, the late Father Richard McBrien, who had been a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame, said of St. John Paul II, “Indeed, he had a terrible record, full of denial and foot-dragging, on the greatest crisis to confront the Catholic Church since the Reformation of the 16th century.”

Louis H. Pumphrey Shaker Heights, Ohio

The Gift of Blood Donation

In the February 2021 issue of St. Anthony Messenger, the article by Mary Sharon Moore, “Behold, the Blood of Christ,” grabbed my attention. I am a senior and, since there is no age limit on who can donate, a regular blood donor. Blood is a gift that gives life. Moore’s meditative words will accompany me on my future appointments. Cheers!

Sheila M. Cronin Chicago, Illinois

A Joy to Read Short Fiction Again

I look forward to reading St. Anthony Messenger each month and have sorely missed the fiction pieces in recent months.

However, I was overjoyed to see this feature return in the February issue with Jim Auer’s “Pendulum”!

I hope to see many more fiction selections in future issues. Thank you!

Roseann McCafferty Alexandria, Kentucky

‘A Better Tomorrow’

Father Pat McCloskey’s editorial in the February issue of St. Anthony Messenger (“We Can Change History”) is such a poignant piece, and it offers hope for healing in our fragmented nation.

His take that the issues dividing our country can be mended by the choices we make today gives us a reason to believe that we can create a better tomorrow.

Jim Fulton Streator, Illinois

Correction:

In the profile of Gary Paul Nabhan in the February Followers of St. Francis column, it was mistakenly noted that Gary had founded the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, Arizona. The center had already been established, but Gary found it to be helpful on his spiritual journey.

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church IN THE NEWS

people | events | trends

By Susan Hines-Brigger

CARDINAL GREGORY TALKS FAITH, RACISM IN TODAY INTERVIEW As for how he will handle ministering to President Joe Biden, Cardinal Gregory said: “He’s not going to be on speed dial, and I hope I’m not on his speed dial. But there will be moments when I will be able to speak to him about faith, about the works that he is trying to accomplish that we can be supportive of, but also areas where we’re not going to agree. But I’m going to always try to do it in a respectful way.”

PRESIDENT BIDEN REESTABLISHES FAITH-BASED OFFICE

n a February 15 interview for Today’s “Changemakers” and “Black Voices” series, Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, DC, spoke about his faith journey and the issue of racism, reported The Catholic Standard, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington. The interview was conducted by Al Roker, weather forecaster and cohost of Today.

Roker also identified himself as a fellow Catholic.

After Cardinal Gregory recounted his path to the priesthood, he also shared his thoughts about his pastoral role in relation to the president of the United States and about his status as the first African American to be made a cardinal.

On the topic of his personal experience with racism, Cardinal Gregory told Roker, “I don’t know of any African American who hasn’t tasted the bitter cup of discrimination.” He added that, as long as he is dressed as a member of the clergy: “I’m treated with great respect and affection. But if I take off my clerics to go out, to go shopping, or run an errand, I’m in the pool of every other African American man in Washington.”

He recalled one incident in particular, about 15 years ago, when he was invited to a Palm Springs golf club. He was dressed to play golf and, when he went to open the trunk of his car, someone approached and said to him, “‘You can put my clubs on the golf cart.’ I had to say, ‘Well, I can have somebody retrieve your clubs, but I’m here to play golf.’ I never forgot that.”

President Joe Biden has gathered various religious and secular organizations to work together in the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

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CNS PHOTOS: LEFT: CNS SCREEN GRAB/URSULINE SISTERS OF MOUNT ST. JOSEPH; RIGHT: MARY ALTAFFER/POOL VIA REUTERS

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wenty years after former President George W. Bush established the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, President Joe Biden has reestablished the office through executive order. The office, now named the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, will promote partnerships with religious and secular organizations to better serve people in need.

In announcing the move on February 14, President Biden said: “There are not Democrats or Republicans dying from this pandemic, or losing their jobs, going hungry and facing eviction in this economic crisis, or facing the sting of systemic racism or the brunt of the climate crisis. They are fellow human beings. They are fellow Americans.

“That is why I’m reestablishing the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships to work with leaders of different faiths and backgrounds who are the front lines of their communities in crisis and who can help us heal, unite, and rebuild.”

CNS PHOTOS: LEFT AND INSET: ANDREW BIRAJ/CATHOLIC STANDARD; RIGHT: CARLOS BARRIA, REUTERS

Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory speaks with Al Roker (inset) in the chapel at the archdiocese’s pastoral center in Hyattsville, Maryland. The interview was part of Today’s “Black Voices” series during Black History Month.

T

Both Presidents Bush and Obama had full faith-based offices that operated within the Domestic Policy Council. In 2018, however, President Trump failed to renew the office and instead named celebrity pastor Paula White as the head of the White House’s Faith and Opportunity Initiative, but it was not a full office.

The White House said that the group will work with civil society partners to address the COVID-19 pandemic and boost economic recovery, combat systemic racism, increase opportunity and mobility for historically disadvantaged communities, advance international development and global humanitarian work, strengthen pluralism, and respect constitutional guarantees.

It said the office will respect church-state separation and freedom for people of all faiths and those with no faith.

The White House also said the office will “not prefer one faith over another or favor religious over secular organizations” but will work with willing partners “to promote the common good, including those who have differences with the administration.”

HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE SISTER DIANNA ORTIZ DIES FROM CANCER

CNS PHOTOS: LEFT: CNS SCREEN GRAB/URSULINE SISTERS OF MOUNT ST. JOSEPH; RIGHT: MARY ALTAFFER/POOL VIA REUTERS

CNS PHOTOS: LEFT AND INSET: ANDREW BIRAJ/CATHOLIC STANDARD; RIGHT: CARLOS BARRIA, REUTERS

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rsuline Sister Dianna Ortiz, the missionary sister who was abducted and detained for 30 hours in 1989 in Guatemala, died on February 19 from cancer, reported Catholic News Service (CNS). She was 62.

While being detained in Guatemala, Sister Ortiz said she was gang-raped and tortured repeatedly until she escaped. She recalled her experience and jourSister Dianna Ortiz ney toward advocacy in her award-winning book, The Blindfold’s Eyes: My Journey From Torture to Truth.

After returning to the United States, she became a human rights advocate and peacemaker, starting an organization for torture survivors and becoming a visible presence of nonviolence at vigils and marches in the nation’s capital. Most recently, she served as the deputy director of Pax Christi USA. Marie Dennis, senior adviser to the secretary general of Pax Christi International, who lived with Sister Ortiz in the Assisi Community in Washington since the early 1990s, said the nun was “a witness to justice and human rights. So much of what she did was pretty quiet.”

CATHOLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION LAUNCHES NEW INITIATIVE

Shyun Lin, a registered nurse in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, gives Alda Maxis, 70, the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

T

he Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) launched a membership-driven initiative in February to confront racism by achieving health equity.

Twenty-three of the Catholic health organizations that have signed the Confronting Racism by Achieving Health Equity pledge employ nearly a half million people across 46 states and the District of Columbia and care for almost 4 million patients annually. CHA represents more than 2,200 hospitals, nursing homes, and long-term care facilities across the country.

Sister Mary Haddad, RSM, CHA president and CEO, said: “COVID-19’s greater impact on communities of color and the police killings of George Floyd and others demonstrate the urgent need to address the devastating impact racism has on the health and well-being of individuals and communities.

“We in the Catholic health ministry, responding to the Gospel mandate for justice, are called to renew our commitment to eliminate the racial inequities in our communities and to acknowledge and confront our own shortcomings so that we can become agents of healing and positive change.”

Lloyd Dean, president and CEO of CommonSpirit Health, the largest Catholic health system in the United States, echoed that sentiment, saying: “Shame on us if we do not seize this moment as a nation and a society to make measurable and demonstrable changes.”

The four focus areas of the initiative will be: act for COVID-19 equity; enact change across our own health systems; advocate for improved health outcomes for minority communities and populations; and strengthen trust with minority communities. CHA will provide updates on the commitment progress and will focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion during its annual member meeting this June.

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church IN THE NEWS

people | events | trends

KANSAS BISHOP STEPS ASIDE FOLLOWING ABUSE ALLEGATION

FIRST WOMAN UNDERSECRETARY TO VOTE AT SYNOD

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Xaviere Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart is one of six advisers named by Pope Francis to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.

or the first time ever, Pope Francis has appointed a woman as one of two undersecretaries to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, giving her the right to vote. Xaviere Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart was appointed to the position in February, along with Father Luis Marín de San Martín, reported Vatican News.

Becquart and San Martín will be working together as part of a leadership team with the general secretary, Cardinal Mario Grech. As part of that, Becquart said she will “help and lead the preparation for the Synod, then the celebration, then the next stage of the implementation.”

Becquart said that she sees the appointment as a sign and felt the appointment signified “confidence in women in the Church.” She was an observer at the 2018 Synod of Bishops on young people and was named a consultant to the Synod of Bishops in 2019.

Cardinal Grech said that, with the appointment of Becquart “and the possibility that she will participate with the right to vote, a door has been opened. We will then see what other steps could be taken in the future.” He pointed out that Pope Francis has “highlighted several times the importance that women be more involved in the processes of discernment and decision-making in the Church.” Sister Becquart said, “Changes will come with the new generation as more and more young people—not only young women but also young men—ask for women’s equality.”

Added hope comes from meeting “more and more priests and bishops now that are speaking out for women. I have seen an evolution; at the beginning, the question of women in the Church was a question from women, and now it is also an important topic for many men, priests, and bishops—and even the pope!” Sister Becquart said.

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CNS PHOTOS: LEFT: PAUL HARING; MIDDLE: VATICAN STAMP AND COIN OFFICE; RIGHT: NANCY WIECHEC

F

CNS PHOTOS: PAUL HARING (2)

fter an allegation of abuse of a minor was made against him, Bishop John B. Brungardt of Dodge City, Kansas, has stepped aside while the accusation is being investigated. The bishop denies any wrongdoing and has pledged to cooperate with authorities, reported CNS. A statement from the Diocese of Wichita confirmed that an investigation is being Bishop John B. Brungardt conducted by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

The diocese said it could not offer any further information.

As required, Bishop Brungardt informed his metropolitan archbishop, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, of the allegation, the diocese said.

The Leaven, the Kansas City, Kansas, archdiocesan newspaper, reported that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has asked Archbishop Naumann to carry out a canonical preliminary investigation of the matter, in conformity with the provisions of the documents “Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela” (“Safeguarding the Sanctity of the Sacraments”) and “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” (“You Are the Light of the World”).

“Archbishop Naumann will send the results of this preliminary investigation to the congregation, along with his opinion about the initial findings, in the shortest time possible, taking into account that the state investigation is still ongoing,” The Leaven reported.

In related news, the Diocese of Winona-Rochester released a statement on February 10, saying that the diocese has reached a $21.5 million settlement with a creditors’ committee representing 145 survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

In a message in the archdiocesan newspaper, The Courier, Bishop John Quinn addressed the settlement, writing, “Since the time that I first received notice of the sexual abuse claims against the diocese, efforts were made to reach a settlement that is just and equitable to the survivors of sexual abuse.”

The diocese filed a petition under Chapter 11 reorganization in November 2018. Since then, under supervision of the bankruptcy court, the diocese has worked to resolve claims that were filed when the civil statute of limitations on historical childhood sexual abuse claims was lifted in Minnesota for a three-year period that ended in May 2016.

NEWS BRIEFS

CNS PHOTOS: LEFT: PAUL HARING; MIDDLE: VATICAN STAMP AND COIN OFFICE; RIGHT: NANCY WIECHEC

CNS PHOTOS: PAUL HARING (2)

Minctur, unt, aut pedi destinc iisquiam andempo repudi con nonsed quae poresto rendit endis Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto is interviewed by Emer Cabrera of Vatican Radio.

Two of the stamps from newly released series highlight Pope Francis’ interreligious work.

Lazarus has been added to the Catholic Church’s universal calendar of feast days.

IN HONOR of its 90th anniversary, the directors of Vatican Radio have announced the creation of a new website and a 24-hour web radio station.

Vatican Radio was inaugurated by Pope Pius XI on February 12, 1931, with the mission of carrying the voice of the pope and the hope of the Gospel to every corner of the globe.

A NEW SERIES of Vatican stamps released in late February features four designs highlighting Pope Francis’ ongoing efforts to promote interreligious dialogue. The stamps will show photographs of some of the pope’s meetings over the past six years with leaders of other world religions.

POPE FRANCIS HAS APPROVED a change to the liturgical feast of St. Martha on June 29 to include her sister and brother, Mary and Lazarus, on the Church’s universal calendar of feast days.

THIS PAST FEBRUARY, the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship in the San Francisco Archdiocese launched a “Year for the Homeless.” As part of the year, Catholics will be asked to focus on, pray for, and find ways to support the homeless. It will also include the commissioning of a special requiem Mass by composer in residence Frank La Rocca and a series of fundraisers via Zoom. Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco praised the event for “combining prayers, charity, and new creative endeavors to touch the Catholic imagination with the profound reality of the equal dignity of every human soul.”

THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC Educational Association has published a statistical report on Catholic elementary and secondary schools in the United States for the year 2020–2021. The report looked at how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected schools, saying it “has arguably served as one of the most transformative catalysts for educational change in the United States.”

Of note in the report is that Catholic school enrollment across the nation dropped 6.4 percent from the previous academic year—the largest single-year decline in nearly 50 years. The report also states that over 200 Catholic elementary and secondary schools closed or consolidated at the end of the 2019–2020 school year.

DUE TO THE ECONOMIC fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy reported that it expects a multimillion-dollar deficit in its budget for 2021, according to a statement released by the Vatican on February 19.

The statement goes on to assure that “employment security continues to be a priority for the Holy Father in these difficult times.”

POPE FRANCIS RECENTLY ANNOUNCED the establishment of a World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.

Beginning this year, the celebration will take place on the fourth Sunday in July, close to the liturgical memorial of Sts. Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus.

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SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS | ASK A FRANCISCAN

By Pat McCloskey, OFM Are guns the only—or the best—means of ensuring personal safety?

For decades, the National Rifle Association (NRA) worked very hard to promote responsible ownership of guns and their use.

Supporting a mistakenly absolutist reading of the Second Amendment began among its members as a nonnegotiable position only after the NRA’s 1977 annual convention in Cincinnati. All people, including NRA members and their critics, must tell themselves the truth and act accordingly.

ONLINE: StAnthonyMessenger.org E-MAIL: Ask@FranciscanMedia.org MAIL: Ask a Franciscan 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202

All questions sent by mail need to include a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Are Catholics Allowed to Own Guns?

In light of the chaos in the United States and around the world, are Catholics allowed to own guns or support the National Rifle Association?

Jesus taught us to love our enemies and turn the other cheek (Mt 5:39b; Lk 6:29a). If, however, we must protect ourselves without the help of the police and military, are we allowed to do so by purchasing guns or rifles?

Or instead, must we lay down our lives and surrender to terrorists without trying to defend ourselves and our property?

C ?

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Material is grouped thematically under headings such as forgiveness, Jesus, moral issues, prayer, saints, redemption, sacraments, Scripture—and many more!

atholics have as much right to defend themselves within legal limits as anyone else while also telling themselves the truth about why they are purchasing and using firearms—as though they were explaining these reasons to God. Unfortunately, Catholics are as susceptible to misinterpreting the Constitution’s Second Amendment as anyone else. In context, it certainly does not give everyone an absolute right to own any kind of firearm or to carry it wherever and whenever they want.

Like other Christians, some Catholics give the impression that they are much more committed to their misreading of the Second Amendment than they are to the belief that Jesus Christ was truly divine and human!

Gun ownership has increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Suicides by gun also increased in the same time period.

Pilate’s Role in Jesus’ Death How are Christians to accept two completely different versions of Christ’s trial before Pilate? In Mark, Pilate sentences Jesus to death, but in Matthew, Pilate washes his hands, declaring himself innocent of Jesus’ blood.

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n fact, there is no real contradiction here.

The Romans reserved capital punishment to themselves. That is why Pilate indicated the sign to be posted regarding Jesus’ crime as he saw it (Mk 15:26). John 18:31 indicates that when Pilate told Jesus’ Jewish accusers to judge him according to their law, they replied, “We do not have the right to execute anyone.”

According to the Law of Moses, Jewish people guilty of blasphemy must be executed.

The fact that Jesus’ execution was carried out by Roman soldiers indicates that Pilate’s statement that he was “innocent of this man’s blood” (Mt 27:24) is not entirely true.

In fact, about six years after Jesus died and rose, Pilate was removed from his position as procurator because of excessive cruelty toward the Jews. And the Romans could tolerate a great deal of cruelty.

All of this should remind us that the Scriptures need to be read together and within the faith community. We should resist the temptation to pit one biblical account against all others.

In its 1965 decree on the relationship of Christianity to all non-Christian religions, the bishops at Vatican II taught that not all Jews in Jesus’ day or since then were/are responsible for Jesus’ death.

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Father Pat welcomes your questions!

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Pat McCloskey, OFM

Quick Questions and Answers

Why is there no Gospel account of Jesus’ meeting with his mother right after his resurrection or in the 40 days before his ascension?

Acts of the Apostles 1:14 says that Mary joined the apostles in the upper room immediately after his ascension. The suggestion is that she was with them prior to that event. The Gospels are not biographies as such but rather faith accounts to encourage people to become disciples of Jesus. If we accept them for what they say about themselves (e.g., Jn 20:30–31 and Jn 21:24– 25), then the difficulty you raise can be seen in its proper context.

Celebrate the Feast of Feasts

by lighting an If Jesus knew all along that Judas would betray him (Mt 26:20–25) and if Jesus came for sinners, doesn’t this sound as though Judas had no choice? Was this preordained?

No, it was not preordained. Although Judas had a genuine choice, we cannot conclude that he was condemned to hell for all eternity. God is not subject to past/present/future the way that humans are. This renders all talk about predestination impossible. After the fact, people may describe an event as preordained, but that is not true because it would force God to act within the bounds of human, chronological time.

Why in Christian art is God the Father often presented as an extremely old man, perhaps over 100 years old?

What is the difference between tradition and the magisterium?

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FAR LEFT: MC KOZUSKO/SAM; TOP LEFT: JIRKAEJC/FOTOSEARCH

The Book of Daniel’s description of “the Ancient of Days” (7:9) is probably responsible for this tendency. Regarding God and human time, see the Q&A immediately before this one.

Tradition can cover many questions and activities. For example: Does human life begin at conception? Should statues in Catholic churches be covered in the final weeks of Lent?

The Church’s magisterium (teaching authority) weighs in on some issues (human life begins at conception and should be respected) and leaves other things to local decisions (covering statues during Lent). By regularly sharing in the Eucharist, believers develop a sense for which issues need to be resolved at what level of the Church.

Easter candle!

When you light a candle on StAnthony.org, it will burn for three days at the National Shrine of St. Anthony in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Br. Vince DeLorenzo is ready to light a candle for you.

Visit StAnthony.org

The Franciscan Friars, Province of St. John the Baptist 1615 Vine St, Ste 1 Cincinnati, OH 45202-6492 513-721-4700, ext. 3219 StAnthony.org

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SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS | FOLLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS

By Patrick Carolan

Fanning the Flame of the Franciscan Charism

Nora Pfeiffer participated in a 2017 pilgrimage to Latin America dedicated to caring for creation.

Nora and fellow pilgrims brought icons of Francis and Clare, pictured here at the equator in Ecuador.

One of Nora’s projects while on mission in Bolivia involved repurposing old tires as compost bins.

ora Pfeiffer grew up in Virginia with her three sibthat the solidarity of Francis is conversational: sitting facelings. She was raised in the Catholic faith, was a Jesuit to-face with someone as he or she is, naming the good in the volunteer after college, and later participated in a JustFaith midst, exchanging the good, and returning the good to the program. As is the case with many young people, Nora has a source—God. spark inside of her. She has a strong commitment to justice “I will never forget that evening with Ilia and her words, centered in her Catholic faith but wasn’t sure how to turn the ‘We don’t really believe in our own divine vocation—salvaspark into a flame. tion cannot be fully complete without our Around this time, Nora attended a retreat participation,’ which compelled me to view at her parish. It was the first time she met a the potential of both my life and that of every professed Franciscan, Joe Nangle, OFM. Friar other person in a new way,” says Nora.

Joe shared his experience as a missionary in For the next three years, Nora served as a lay South America and his work on justice in the missioner in Bolivia. It was here that Nora met United States. another Franciscan friar, Iggy Harding, OFM. Nora left the retreat a different person. “As Friar Iggy guided Nora and her fellow missionJoe spoke about his values and experiences, ers through their challenges, fears, and joys of I felt like a candle that was just barely lit was living in a different land and culture. For Nora, being fanned into a flame inside me,” Nora it was a time of spiritual growth and learning recalls. While she knew she was not being called more about the Franciscan lifestyle. For her, to become a professed Franciscan, Nora wanted Nora Pfeiffer the experience was a true gift, leaving her place to be part of what Friar Joe had. of security and comfort in order to more fully Nora continued her friendship with Friar Joe. He helped enter into exchange and be able to receive. During her time guide her through a discernment process that led Nora to on mission, Nora accompanied children recovering from quit her job and become an overseas lay missioner with severe burns, produced two weekly radio shows in Spanish Franciscan Mission Service (FMS). The process started on ecological and social issues from a Franciscan perspective, with an intense three-month formation. It was here that and collaborated on a project to promote domestic compostshe learned that Franciscan identity was about being with ing in old tires and small family gardens in a poor area. people, not doing for people. During her formation, Nora “Being able to answer the call to go on overseas mission encountered another Franciscan, Sister Ilia Delio. One night was a privilege, since most people in the world cannot afford after bratwurst and beers, Sister Ilia shared with the group to not work, but the thing about mission is that, in reality,

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NORA PFEIFFER

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ST. ANTHONY

BREAD

FRANK JASPER, OFM

“The challenge to live out the Gospel of love is ongoing across all borders and phases in life,” says Nora.

it is not a compartmentalized time in one’s life that requires moving to another place; rather mission is part of our baptismal call,” Nora says. “The challenge to live out the Gospel of love is ongoing across all borders and phases in life.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NORA PFEIFFER

BACK TO BOLIVIA

After her three-year missionary commitment was over, Nora decided to return to Bolivia. She went to work with her friend and mentor Friar Iggy, first with the Bolivian Franciscan Family’s Movement for Justice and Peace, then with Franciscans International (FI). In working with FI, Nora was able to help build relationships with the Franciscans working at the United Nations in New York and Geneva and the Franciscan family in Latin America. Nora worked on issues such as violence against women and children, extreme water and soil pollution from mining and other extractive industries, and safeguarding the indigenous communities and protected areas from these lucrative interests. During this time, Nora married her husband, Alvaro, and they had a daughter, Evelyn.

After living in Bolivia for nine years, Nora returned to the United States and began exploring what it means to live out a lifelong mission in one’s country of origin. A chance meeting at an FMS reception led to Nora’s next path on her journey. She was offered a position with the Franciscan Action Network (FAN).

She was hired by FAN to serve in shaping and guiding the building of a movement of faithful engagement in the public sphere, rooted in the Franciscan tradition—the Franciscan Solidarity Tables. These tables are open to Franciscanhearted individuals and people from all branches of the Franciscan family tree to take part in this grassroots advocacy initiative that intends to move them toward being a community of love in action.

Rooted in the rich Franciscan tradition of walking alongside the marginalized and holding a deep reverence for all of creation, the Franciscan Solidarity Tables are empowered to engage the issues that are important to them in their communities, seeking to restore just relations. The process guides people toward addressing the root causes of social sinfulness that persistently compromise God’s hope for all creation. “If you have a thirst for justice and for nurturing Franciscan values in your life, we invite you to join the Franciscan Solidarity Table community!” Nora exclaims. The tables are a way to respond to Pope Francis’ call to create a “culture of encounter” and imitate both Francis’ and Clare’s examples of taking seriously the challenge to becoming a living Gospel right where we find ourselves.

Like so many who have been touched by the spirituality of St. Francis and the presence of Franciscans all over the globe, Nora will tell you that once the Franciscan spirit gets inside, it’s hard to take it out!

The National Shrine of St. Anthony is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Consecrated in 1889, it includes a first-class relic of St. Anthony and serves as a center for daily prayer and contemplation.

The Franciscan friars minister from the shrine. To help them in their work among the poor, you may send a monetary offering called St. Anthony Bread. Make checks or money orders payable to “Franciscans” and mail to the address below.

Every Tuesday, a Mass is offered for benefactors and petitioners at the shrine. To seek St. Anthony’s intercession, mail your petition to the address below. Petitions are taken to the shrine each week. viSit our webSite to:

StAnthony.org mAil poStAl communicAtionS to:

St. Anthony Bread 1615 Vine St. Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498

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SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS “I shall be a nun some day in America and shall nurse the sick people.”

—Mother Bernardine Dorn

By Pat McCloskey, OFM

Syracuse Neumann Community Syracuse, New York

MOTHER BERNARDINE

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nder strong pressure from local bishops, many members of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia eventually became separate New York congregations headquartered in Hastings-on-Hudson, Williamsville, and Syracuse, under more direct supervision of the local bishop. In time, these communities became congregations “of pontifical right.”

The internal life of the sisters was less under the jurisdiction of the local bishop.

In 2004, these three congregations became the Sisters of St. Francis of Sister Concetta DeFelice, OSF, serves on the board of directors for the Neumann Communities and Gerard Place in Buffalo, New York. This nonprofit provides shelter were joined three years later by the and supportive programs for homeless families.

Sisters of St. Francis (Millvale). The Franciscan Sisters of the Divine Child (Buffalo) had already merged with Williamsville.

These mergers created one of the largest Franciscan women’s congregations in the United States.

The sisters serve in schools at all levels, hospitals, parishes, retreat houses, rehabilitation centers, homes for the dying, adult care and childcare centers, and diocesan offices. They are supported in ministry by more than 200 female and male associates.

Perhaps the Neumann Communities’ most well-known member is St. Marianne Cope, a former teacher and hospital administrator who led the Syracuse congregation. In 1883, she and six other sisters moved to Hawaii to minister to men and women suffering from Hansen’s disease. The sisters eventually worked with St. Damien de Veuster on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. Mother Marianne was canonized in 2012.

The congregation can be contacted at sosf.org.

—Thanks to Rochelle Cassella for assisting with this profile.

ST. ANTHONY STORIES

Good Samaritans on the Trail

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y husband and I were hiking in the woods last week.

We hiked for a long time and realized we were lost. We prayed to St. Anthony to help us find our way. A few minutes later, two people came our way. They were the first people we had seen in two hours!

They brought us to their car and drove us to our car, which was a mile away. I don’t know what we would have done without them. Thank you, St. Anthony, for leading us safely back home.

—Abina Hansen, Providence, Rhode Island

Separated from her original religious community in Philadelphia, Mother Bernardine bravely met the new challenge.

AT THE AGE OF 19, Bernardine “Anna” Dorn was invested in the Secular Franciscan Order in Bavaria in 1853. Arriving in Philadelphia a year later, she helped establish a community of Franciscan sisters.

After 1860, as the first mother general of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis (Syracuse, New York), Mother Bernardine oversaw the founding of a hospital there and one in Utica, New York, and assumed administration of four Catholic schools in New Jersey.

Under her guidance, the number of professed sisters nearly doubled, the number of school missions increased, the hospitals expanded, and six sisters went to Hawaii to care for people suffering from Hansen’s disease (leprosy). She died in 1908.

—Pat McCloskey, OFM —Rochelle Cassella assisted with this profile.

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WANT MORE? Learn about your favorite saints and blesseds by going to: SaintoftheDay.org

TOP LEFT AND RIGHT: COURTESY SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS OF THE NEUMANN COMMUNITIES; LOWER LEFT: MC KOZUSKO/SAM

FRANCISCAN WORLD

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POINTSOFVIEW | EDITORIAL

By Susan Hines-Brigger

Welcome Back, America

CNS PHOTO/JIM LO SCALZO/POOL VIA REUTERS

W

hen you ask people about St. Francis, one of the first During an address to the United Nations Food and things many mention is his love of creation. In his Agriculture Organization (FAO) at its headquarters in Rome, “Canticle of the Creatures,” he praises the holiness of the Pope Francis responded to the move, saying, “We see conmany elements of creation, including our earth. Given the sequences of climate change every day. Thanks to scientific state of our environment these days, though, we’re certainly knowledge, we know how we have to confront the problem, not honoring that holiness. and the international community has also worked out the In January of this year, however, we made a step toward legal methods, such as the Paris Accord, which, sadly, some once again embracing Mother Earth when, in one of his have abandoned.” first acts in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive Luckily, the withdrawal was not immediate. According to order stating that the United States will be rejoining the Paris the agreement, no country could give notice to leave until Climate Agreement. three years had passed from the date of ratification. Even The move, though very then, a member state still important, quickly became had to serve a 12-month lost amid news stories and notice period to the United commentary on insurrecNations. Those stipulations tion and impeachment. But meant that, even though on February 17, the reentry Trump had announced the became official. departure, it would not The United States first take effect until after the joined the agreement in November 2020 election, December 2015 when leaving the ultimate deciPresident Barack Obama sion up to the new presiannounced that the United dent.

States would partner with 189 other countries to find PART OF THE PROBLEM ways to combat climate AND SOLUTION change and adapt to its There is an ancient effects. The Vatican also Iroquois philosophy known signed on to the agreement. as the seventh-generation “Praised be you, my Lord, through our The goal of the agreeprinciple, which states Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and ment is to limit global that the decisions we make directs us, bringing forth all kinds of fruits warming to 2 degrees today should result in a and colored flowers and herbs.”

Celsius, preferably to 1.5 sustainable world seven —St. Francis of Assisi degrees, above preindusgenerations into the future. trial levels. Even though Given the state of the clithe agreement was signed in December 2015, the treaty only mate now, we are not buying into this philosophy. came into force in November 2016.

Climate change is no longer a problem we can continue to kick down the road, bantering back and forth about whether A STEP BACKWARD it’s real or not. This is not a partisan issue. It’s a life issue In June 2017, however, the United States backed away from with real-life implications. And, as the second highest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world (China is first), the United the agreement when President Donald Trump announced that he would withdraw the United States from the accord as States needs to be part of the solution.

Last September, Pope Francis urged nations to fight global soon as possible. The move was no surprise given that he had warming according to the climate accord, saying: “Our constated his intentions to do so even before being elected.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered the news stant demand for growth and an endless cycle of production and consumption are exhausting the natural world. Forests via Twitter, stating: “Today we begin the formal process of are leached, topsoil erodes, fields fail, deserts advance, seas withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. The United States is acidify, and storms intensify. Creation is groaning!” proud of our record as a world leader in reducing all emisWhen we focus on only the present moment, we’re losing sions, fostering resilience, growing our economy, and ensuring energy for our citizens. Ours is a realistic and pragmatic sight of tomorrow. Rejoining the Paris Agreement is one step in the right direction. model.”

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POINTSOFVIEW | AT HOME ON EARTH

By Kyle Kramer

Start with the Who

HUMILITY

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have a vision of the world becoming a single, sacred, flourishing community, which includes both the human and more-thanhuman world, to paraphrase the Passionist Thomas Berry. This vision has grown in depth and nuance over the years, but some form of it has driven most of my thinking, writing, and life choices throughout my adult life.

Probably because I have a strong pragmatic streak, my instinctive move has always been to ask what and how when it comes to working toward that vision. What do we need to do to create and sustain such a world? How can we do it?

To put it in business terms, what is our strategy, and how shall we execute that strategy? What must we do to tackle climate change, soil degradation, racial and socioeconomic inequities, and all of the other obstacles that prevent or endanger a flourishing world? How can we do these things?

But in framing the issues in terms of what and how—as important as those questions are—I’ve often neglected another set of questions, which I’m coming to believe are far more fundamental: Who must we become in order to tackle these challenges, and with what sorts of qualities of character? If we get the who part wrong, it will always sabotage the what and the how.

SC IPL DI QUALITIES OF LEADERSHIP

I’m constantly learning this in my role as a nonprofit leader. The interfaith organization I run has an inspiring and powerful mission, which provides a great deal of motivation for our work. But over the years, it’s become clear that even a compelling mission can’t drive successful outcomes if the right people—with the right skills and qualities of character— aren’t in place. We have to identify the who before we can address and fully realize our mission.

To do that, I’ve had to move some people out of the organization, move others to different roles, and coach several to improve so that they are better able to bring their best talents to their work. As I’ve tried to do this, I’ve had to be mindful not just of what I do as a leader, but what qualities of character I bring to my leadership.

The who question applies even more when it comes to larger-scale social and environmental change. We certainly have to elect the right leaders, with the right character, and hold them accountable to their commitments.

But they can’t do all the heavy lifting for us.

We ourselves have to be the kind of people who can do the boots-on-the-ground work that enables, empowers, and synergizes with top-level changes.

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FOTOSEARCH IMAGES: TOP: JOESHMO; BOTTOM: PS PHOTOGRAPHY

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WANT MORE? Visit our website: StAnthonyMessenger.org

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LEFT: COURTESY OF KYLE KRAMER; RIGHT: GET4NET/FOTOSEARCH

EarthandSpiritCenter.org

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Kyle is the executive director of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center, which offers interfaith educational programming in meditation, ecology, and social compassion.

He serves as a Catholic climate ambassador for the US Conference of Catholic Bishopssponsored Catholic Climate Covenant and is the author of A Time to Plant: Life Lessons in Work, Prayer, and Dirt (Ave Maria Press, 2010).

He speaks across the country on issues of ecology and spirituality.

He and his family spent 15 years as organic farmers and homesteaders in Spencer County, Indiana.

RIO SIT Y

Kyle Kramer

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What kind of character qualities would help repair our hurting world and contribute to the flourishing of all God’s creatures—human and nonhuman? That’s a huge list, but I’d like to focus here on six qualities I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.

SIX CHARACTER QUALITIES

FOTOSEARCH IMAGES: TOP: JOESHMO; BOTTOM: PS PHOTOGRAPHY

LEFT: COURTESY OF KYLE KRAMER; RIGHT: GET4NET/FOTOSEARCH

First, we must be people with vision. We may not fully know what it means for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, but we know enough to dream of a world in which truth, generosity, and justice hold sway, and all have what they need to thrive.

Second, we must be curious. Because our knowledge is always limited and often flawed, we must always be learning: to correct our errors, to discover new ideas, and to discern what strategies will help us bring about a kinder and more caring world.

Third, we must choose caring collaboration. We’ve come to know—as our tradition has always taught—that we belong inextricably to each other, that we rise or fall together, that no one can make it on their own. Since we are inevitably in relationship with each other, we must choose collaboration rather than zero-sum competition or even the pragmatic transaction mindset that sees our fellow humans as means to an end.

Fourth, we must cultivate courage. Courage takes many different forms, from the battlefield to the kitchen table. But in all cases, courage requires us to be vulnerable, to put our

HELPFUL

TIPS

whole heart into it, to give our best to something—even if we fail—and to stand up again (and again and again) when those failures occur.

Fifth, we must be disciplined. Whether it’s personal health or the health of an entire community or nation, no change comes without taking the often small, daily steps that support it. We can’t always (or ever) control outcomes, but we can—and keep choosing to—do what is ours to do. We can show up in prayer with our loved ones, with the poor, in the gym, at the voting booth, at the PTA or city council meeting. Discipline gives us the patience and steadfastness to keep at it, even when it’s hard or we are uncertain or hopeless.

Finally, all of these qualities thrive best when they are rooted in the soil—the humus—of humility. Humility keeps us from being too rigid, too driven, too egotistical. Humility keeps us learning, serving, and reaching out to others with love and kindness. Humility reminds us that life is a gift from God and that our merely human efforts will always be insufficient to the task.

When world-changing efforts start with the who, I think we will learn that the who is not only the alpha, but the omega, too. As I imagine a flourishing world, I picture one in which we are all able to become our truest, best, most Christlike selves, within the blessed, interconnected communion of saints. And it’s the cultivation of exactly those best-self qualities that, in God’s time and by God’s grace, will get us there.

START PRACTICING

All of the character qualities I described in this column can be learned, practiced, and strengthened. Consider focusing on one of them per month. Every day, look for opportunities to bring that quality forth, with God’s help and guidance.

As you try to practice these qualities, pay attention to the ways in which you fail and succeed. Take notes—literally. Keep a journal, spreadsheet, or some other way to hold yourself accountable and observe—with kindness toward yourself— whether the trait is growing stronger.

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Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come; thy will be done

L

on earth as it is in heaven. F

L And forgive us our trespasses, ; P Give us this day our daily bread; as we forgive those who trespass against us

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

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One of the most common Christian prayers shows us the way to spiritual transformation and profound connection with God and each other.

LESSONS

“P

rayer always transforms reality, always. If things around us do not change, at least we change; our heart changes,” said Pope Francis at a general audience on January 9, 2019. During his audience that day, the pope broke open Jesus’ teachings about prayer. I was not in the audience, but I read the text of his speech later and was reminded of the importance of the Our Father, one of the most common prayers of our faith.

When Jesus’ disciples asked him how to pray, he taught them the Our Father.

With this gift to all of us, Jesus provided a pathway to God and a way to be formed in friendship and love.

If you are a lifelong Christian as I am, you have probably prayed the Our Father countless times and for many reasons. When I visit my memories, I see a variety of settings, ranging from the privacy of my bedroom to the celebration of holy Mass with thousands of other people. No matter where my memories take me, I am warmed with gladness.

. FROM THE

LORD’S s, ; PRAYER

d;

us

n,

By Julia Walsh, FSPA

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il.

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ARTPIPI/ISTOCK

The words that Jesus gave us to pray have been a companion, a way that I have been enabled to grow into the person God needs me to be. The prayer enables us all to grow into the people God made us to be.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Near the heat of happy campfires and around tables full of steaming food, in jails and classrooms where I was available to serve, and in simple chapels and enormous basilicas with pillars larger than trees: In each of these spaces I prayed the prayer that Jesus taught. As I did, I acknowledged God’s presence; I offered reverence to God’s awesome name.

sneaky lure of putting pleasure before sacrifice, from any darkness that dims the glow of God’s light in me. Again and again, I pray that God protects me, that God’s love shields me from anything that would prevent me from living as a child of the light. Only with God’s grace can I know true freedom and deliverance. With that freedom comes an invitation to cooperate, to keep my gaze on Christ, and to steer my feet away from fear and despair.

Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.

God’s reign is known in the flourishing of peace and justice in every person and part of God’s creation, when each element made to show God’s goodness is honored and respected. I have felt the order that God established when I prayed holding the sweaty palms of strangers, and as I ached from the tight grip of my big brother. I felt God’s eternal love as I prayed in the quiet of my bedroom and amid the commotion of busy streets.

Give us this day our daily bread

I have acknowledged my dependence on God in droughts and floods. I have named my need for love and food and water and air. I have asked God for help when I have felt overwhelmed and exhausted. I have felt the power of God’s designs, how I am interdependent and am made to be part of a community—just like everyone else. I have grown to understand that God expects me to share my bread and graciously receive the gifts others offer me. The words I pray teach me to trust that I will be OK, that God will provide.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us

Each time I have prayed the prayer that Jesus incorporated into his Sermon on the Mount, I have admitted that I am a sinner. I am imperfect. I am weak. I flail through my life, bumping into others with my reactions and selfishness.

Each time I snap at someone or do something unkind, I am wounding my brothers and sisters in Christ; I am breaking our bonds. Each time I give my attachments more devotion than my prayer or fail to love as Jesus did, I am worshipping idols and sinning against God. Whenever I pray the Our Father, I admit my need for God’s mercy. I have said yes to the call to imitate God’s mercy when I forgive others for the pain they cause too.

ARTPIPI/ISTOCK

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Although I know my sinfulness, admitting I am weak is not enough. I must also turn away from temptation, from the

From my non-Catholic friends, I have learned to put these words at the end of my prayer. Even though it’s not biblical, I don’t want evil to be the last word anytime I pray. As I include these words in the Our Father, I am praying that the unity found in the Trinity will also be felt in the Christian community, in the people of God—no matter their denomination or Church home.

God’s kingdom is beyond the borders that humans have made. God’s power and glory are bigger than the limits of the lines we’ve drawn. Each time I have prayed the Our Father with Lutherans or Baptists or Evangelical Christians and said the words that keep God above all our missteps, I have engaged in an ecumenical action. I have offered a prayer of expansion and dialogue. I have experienced and offered hospitality to strangers and guests. I have stood on common ground.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

The words of the Our Father have formed me and helped me practice my faith throughout my lifetime. As I’ve matured as a person, I have also matured in faith, and the words that Jesus gave us to pray have been a companion, a way that I have been enabled to grow into the person God needs me to be. The prayer enables us all to grow into the people God made us to be.

What do you see when you visit your memories? How has the prayer made you into a disciple and helped you love the goodness of God’s reign? How has the Our Father formed you?

Looking at my life, I can see how Pope Francis is right: Prayer is transformative. It’s no wonder my memories warm me with gladness. Each uttering of the words is an opening to God’s will, a devotion to our father, a God of love.

Julia Walsh, FSPA, is a Franciscan sister and author whose work has been published in the National Catholic Reporter, America, and the Chicago SunTimes. An avid gardener and lover of the outdoors, she enjoys riding her bicycle around Chicago, where she resides. Learn more about her at her website, MessyJesusBusiness.com.

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The words that Jesus gave us to pray have been a companion, a way that I have been enabled to grow into the person God needs me to be. The prayer enables us all to grow into the people God made us to be.

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Everyday M

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y Miracles

By Maureen O’Brien

As we prepare to celebrate Easter, this author reminds us that miracles are all around us.

W

hen I began writing about miracles, I questioned myself. Who am I to write about miracles? My only qualification is knowing—without a doubt—that miracles have entered my life. Sometimes they happened so slowly that I barely recognized them by the time they arrived.

Of course, miracles are much more than just wishes coming true. I spent years praying for many other things that never happened, and now I pray only for knowledge of God’s will, not for specific things. And in doing this, I have witnessed, as Teilhard de Chardin writes, “the slow work of God.” I’ve watched loved ones recover from diseases, from accidents, from heartache. Sometimes it has taken years.

I now believe that some miracles happen in a moment, while others unfold at a pace that only God understands.

When we are in pain, we want it gone now. But when we look back and see how a particular trouble unknotted itself almost imperceptibly, we ask ourselves why we doubted God’s presence.

The miracle of the Easter season is no exception. In the familiar stories of grief-stricken women weeping at Jesus’ tomb, we see vividly how the pain of crucifixion is wiped away by the miracle of the resurrection. Just when all hope seemed to be lost, the miracle shone forth.

HAND TO HAND

I’ve been intrigued with the Gospel story of Jesus walking on the water ever since I was a little girl. I thought about it often as I spent summers frolicking in a lake, fishing for sunnies, and bailing out the wooden rowboat after a heavy rain. How did Jesus stay on top of the waves?

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“Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’”

—Mt 14:26–33

human hands, is further underscored by my father’s passing. My brother and sister were not able to get there in time.

Alone in the hospital, my father died just after dawn with a nurse holding his hand. I found out who she was a few days later: a woman named Danielle—a stranger, and yet a person who chose to show the deepest compassion. I’m grateful for the kindness showered on my father by a woman he never knew, a woman of integrity and honor. A good woman was the bridge between this world and the next. To me, this is God. To me, this is a miracle. Perhaps another miracle will come if I can find her and thank her.

The power of these miracles is that they hold momentum within them. Every time I witness kindness, forgiveness, or mercy, I am filled with possibilities. A miracle of any dimension reaches into our hearts. The tiniest of lights becomes a center that increases and dispels the dark, the way the Christmas star first tells us of what is coming; and as our liturgy unfolds throughout the year, the light grows brighter and brighter. It is only temporarily snuffed on Good Friday, and then he returns to us in full blaze.

The truth about miracles—all miracles, and especially the miracles of Easter—is that they often show up when we are hurt and shut down, lost and crushed.

An encounter on Christmas Eve left me with the realization that before any miracle appears, it’s a gift to actually believe in them. Without that belief, they are harder to see. My own path crossed with a stranger—yes, I was inspired to pay it forward by the miracle of the nurse who had held my father’s hand. I was headed into the expansive grocery store that is within walking distance of my house. My task that morning was easy: Head to the floral section and purchase two bouquets of a dozen roses for a pair of friends I was meeting later.

As I passed the outdoor shopping carts, an older man exited as I was entering. He carried a bag of chocolate truffles in one hand and a festive bouquet of carnations in the other.

I greeted him. “Good morning! I’m here to buy flowers too!”

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HEART TO HEART

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This miracle is one of my favorites because I grasped it as a child and have carried it with me into my entire adult life.

I love water; I live with it surrounding me in brooks, rivers, ponds, lakes, and reservoirs. I have never seen anyone walk on it. The simple purity of this miracle is that it’s so clear: Only a divine being could do it. Only Jesus.

I regularly meditate on this miracle because I sit in the same pew each time I attend Mass (don’t we all?). On my left the story is told in the window, in cobalt and white pieces of glass. Jesus, high up, is pulling Peter from the depths of the water. Their eyes meet as their hands, bound together, hold the key to the story: that Jesus, with hands both human and divine, will rescue us.

In the familiar story, Peter, at Jesus’ invitation, walked across the water to meet him. Becoming frightened, Peter began to sink. At this desperate moment when his life was in danger, he cried out to Jesus for help. “Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” (Mt 14:26–33).

That outstretched hand is the reason I love the quote from the Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila, “Christ has no hands on earth but yours.” Recently, I held my father’s hand for hours as he was dying. Living four states away, and in the middle of the pandemic, I consider it a miracle that I was able to spend that time with him. I hadn’t held his hand since I was a teenager. It was, and wasn’t, the same hand I remembered. Beyond bony now, it was the hand of a man who was losing strength and fading from life. In his hospital room, I prayed and prayed. Not for anything in particular, just an afternoon of Hail Marys as he moved in and out of consciousness. I held his hand until I had to go, because I needed to drive four hours home. I left him as dusk began.

I remembered, then, the last time I had held his hand.

When I was 18, my 12-year-old brother had a brain tumor.

The morning of my brother’s surgery, my father and I went to Mass. He held my hand at the Our Father. I am certain that with bowed heads and eyes closed tight, we both prayed for a miracle, that my brother would survive. And he did.

Was that a miracle? To me, it was.

My ruminating about the miracles of God being there, in

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My words startled him, and his eyes, above his mask, shifted in expression. He hesitated. “Oh, yeah, well—these are for my wife’s grave.”

There are times you know that you are being asked to be Christ’s hands. We’re called to listen to what a stranger might need to say. “I’m so sorry,” I said.

“Yeah, well, these are for her.” He lifted up the nosegay; plaid ribbons blew. “And these”—he shook the chocolates— “are for a lady friend of mine. We’ve been friends since childhood. She has Stage 4 cancer. She’s got about four months to live. So . . .” he trailed off.

“Wow. That’s a lot,” was all I could muster. There were no words I could offer to lessen his pain.

He seemed relieved to talk, though. “I take care of all the graves at the West Avon Cemetery. For my wife, I found a deep green bowl. I fill it with water and put it near my wife’s back!” so I could show him all the wonder that was really headstone.” here.

I tried to offer him a tiny hope: “Carnations last.” We fell I didn’t want to contradict him that he was mistaken. silent for a moment, in honor of her. “It’s rough.” I placed my I longed to stand beside him in his grief so he wouldn’t hand over my heart, pressing on the down be alone in it, and then, perhaps, freed from of my puffer jacket. “I have a deep faith, and agonized loneliness, he, too, could see all the that helps me, but you know, it can be hard.” beauty. All the miracles.

The truth about The widower shook his head. “It’s too miracles­—all much. My wife’s been gone six years. My SEEING AND BELIEVING miracles, and friend is dying soon. Faith? It’s hard for me I wonder about all the times in my life I was especially the to find it. Sometimes I feel I’ve been given unable to see miracles that were right in front miracles of more than my share. I wonder, why me?” of me. I know they’re there—plentiful and Easter—is that I emphatically nodded my head to comprecious—but if we’re hurt and shut down, it they often show pensate for my mask not showing my full makes them hard to see. And that’s when they up when we are face of compassion. I wanted to convey that are the most powerful. it made sense how crushed he felt. I, too, In the array of images that we revisit each hurt and shut have asked, Why me? year on Good Friday, it’s Veronica touching down, lost and Christ’s face with a cloth that often moves me “Life.” He shrugged. crushed. most. A woman reaching out with her hands, Carrying grief ’s sharp scissors in my gut, amid his suffering, offering tenderness. The I felt a kinship with him. “My dad died three miracle is of her offering it back to him, all the weeks ago.” It still felt strange to say those love that he has given. words.

It took me off guard, that abundance of Christmas flowers It was his turn to nod in understanding. More people in the grocery store. It filled me with the same exhilaration entered the store; we had to end our interaction. “Well, I don’t know if I will ever see you again,” he said wistfully. “But that comes after the ashes and emptiness of Lent, when I can finally walk into the church on Easter and know the altar is it was nice talking to you. Good luck getting your flowers. full of lilies because I can inhale their perfume even before They don’t have much of a selection.”

Now worried that the tips of the petals would be browned seeing them. Their nearness and fullness always come as a shock. To me, that is the truest miracle. and the heads bent, I rushed through the aisles to get to the Year after year, we return to this story because he returns florist. But when I approached, it became apparent to me to us. No matter how much despair, darkness, or destruction what the grave keeper’s grief had kept him from seeing. I in our world—or death—Jesus transcends it. We become like could barely walk through the various tin buckets wet with overflowing pots of Easter lilies, our faces like the blossoms white lilies in tissue paper. As if it were still August, batches looking every which way in the church. A joyous crowd, of sunflowers stood on their wide stems. The floor overlooking around. Finding him everywhere. flowed with poinsettias, leaves twinkling with silver glitter.

Glass refrigerator doors steamed with shelves of roses, the Maureen O’Brien is a novelist and poet who has been published in a variety of buds tightly whorled in colors that made me dizzy.

The abundance surrounding me was the opposite of what literary magazines and journals. She resides in Connecticut and teaches creative the grieving man had perceived. He was long gone from the writing at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. Her latest book is What Was parking lot, but I wanted to run after him and shout, “Come Lost: Seeking Refuge in the Psalms (Franciscan Media).

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THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY OF

RACISM Praying the rosary to find strength and support is common; this man prays the rosary for an end to racism.

By Herman Sutter

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“J

esus said to his disciples: ‘Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’”—Matthew 16:24–25 I wasn’t always a rosary person. But now, the rosary bookends my day. Every morning when I run, I am praying the rosary. Every evening (well, most of the time), I pray the rosary with my wife, Lynne. And sometimes I throw in an extra decade or two somewhere during the day. But, despite all of this, I still think of myself as an amateur. You see, I came to it out of desperation—and without any training.

Early in our time as parents, almost 30 years ago, I discovered that I had no idea what I was doing or how I could keep doing it. Postpartum depression seemed to hover over our family. Our daughters struggled to sleep at night, and poor Lynne suffered. In order for her to get any rest, I would take the crying child out in a stroller and walk the neighborhood streets at 1 or 2 or 4 in the morning, walking and singing lullabies and then, after I’d run out of songs, praying even.

The only prayers I knew were the Our Father and the Hail Mary. So I prayed them. Over and over. I’m pretty sure I had

never prayed an actual rosary before. Heck, I didn’t even own one. And I certainly didn’t know the mysteries or that any other prayers were involved—or how many! But I was desperate. So, I prayed.

At first, I just made up my own mysteries. Since my knowledge of Jesus consisted mainly of Christmas and Easter, there was usually some mixture of birth and death, Nativity and cross. They were mysteries of desperation and longing; later I would discover that most of them fit into what are traditionally called the sorrowful mysteries.

A NEW PRIORITY

My daughters are now in their 20s, so I have a long history of making up my own variations and meditations for this very traditional devotion. And recently my meditations have taken a new turn, shaped by a new desperation. With the seemingly constant headlines about young black men and women being killed by the police, and the constant reports of protest marches and counterprotesters, I knew I needed help. I couldn’t make sense of this on my own. So again, I brought my anxiety, my fears, my confusion, and laid them StAnthonyMessenger.org | April 2021 • 27

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Are we not living in a garden of plenty—especially here in the United States, this land of abundance to the point of waste? And yet so many of our brothers and sisters live in want and desperation, in an agony of poverty, fear, and anxiety­—always afraid of who might knock at their door, stop them on the street, question them in a store.

I pray for all those who feel the anxiety and dread of the suspicious eye, the distrustful glance, the fearful gaze of a clerk in a store, a police officer driving by, or a stranger crossing the street, always reminding you that you don’t fully belong. I pray for those who never feel fully welcome in this garden we call home.

2. THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR

The scourge of racism, prejudice, and bigotry is physical, psychological, and emotional. The constant slights and dismissals are a true scourge perpetrated by a society that refuses to see you as anything but the “other” and refuses to recognize your God-given value.

3. THE CROWN OF THORNS

In The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. DuBois famously wrote of the feeling of being seen not as a person but as a problem.

He describes how this affects a person’s self-image and how one can begin to measure worth by the standards society imposes. What is it like to live under constant suspicion, to live with the knowledge that much of your world sees you

only as “other,” as a threat, or, at best, as a problem to be dealt with?

Constant self-doubt and self-recrimination are nothing less than a psychological crown of thorns. It is a persistent, painful, nagging sensation—a reminder that something is wrong, that there is a problem, and that the problem is you. This is the message that the world has always given to the victim, the “other,” the scapegoat. This crown of thorns leaves its marks far more than skin-deep. I pray for those forced to wear it, those crowned with fear, anxiety, selfdoubt, and suspicion.

4. CARRYING THE CROSS

The cross of racism—the crushing weight of prejudice and the burden of bigotry—is borne by the victim who stumbles exhausted under its crushing weight. Society, cultural norms, and fear and anxiety about differences put it so easily upon the shoulders of the “other.” For some of us, it may be completely unconscious: We don’t know we are doing it and don’t intend any harm. We are following cultural rules, doing

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1. THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN

Even more frightful, though, are the physical abuses: the unnecessary restraints and beatings by those with sanctioned power and authority. Abuses by police, security guards, and hate groups evoke a long and horrifying history of lynch mobs and the slave master’s whip.

I pray for those who suffer the oppressive scourge of the physical and emotional abuse of racism.

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at the foot of the cross and asked Mary to help me. And so, perhaps inspired by her, I began praying the sorrowful mysteries for an end to racism.

When I pray the sorrowful mysteries, every Tuesday and Friday morning, I pray special intentions for all those who suffer under the weight of racism and bigotry. As Christians we definitely need to pray for healing and forgiveness from this sin. We need to be praying daily that, if it is possible, God will take this cup away from us. Until I figure out something better, this is one thing I know I can do to help heal our country and to heal my own heart.

The five sorrowful mysteries recall events from Christ’s passion, and to meditate on the pain and suffering he endured is quite fitting for this purpose. Here is how I pray for an end to racism.

what someone said was right. We just don’t know how to be different or realize there is a problem.

We are like the Roman guards, simply following orders, traditions, habits. Or maybe we are more like the crowd in the streets of ancient Jerusalem: We watch the spectacle as it passes, looking on for a moment, but then go back to our own worries. Yes, it looks terrible, that poor man carrying that cross, but we don’t know what to do. Anyway, it’s none of our business; it doesn’t really affect us. And those in charge must know what they are doing. Our leaders wouldn’t just crucify a man for no reason.

But in my prayer I ask myself: Why don’t we see the Lord in this moment? Why don’t we see the face of Christ in the victim of racism? In George Floyd or Breonna Taylor or Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, or Eric Garner?

Christ was a victim too. He was accused of criminal behavior. Were his abuse and death not sanctioned by those in authority? Was he not hung between two thieves?

In our prayer, let us look at the victim crushed by the cross of racism and bigotry and ask ourselves: Who do we see? Whose bruised and scourged face do I see? And, instead of turning away, let us stop and help, like Simon of Cyrene. Let us not be afraid to pick up that cross and follow wherever God leads. Because the cross of racism crushes all of us.

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5. THE CRUCIFIXION

The death of Christ on the cross was a sacrifice for the sins of the world. And yet how do we repay Our Lord when we treat our brothers and sisters not as fellow beloved children of God, but as something less? We make a mockery of his gift, of his death. We repay his sacrifice with sin. The victims of racism are crucified with Christ every day in little and big ways, crucified by injustice, crucified by cruel words or unfair treatment. And too often we are complicit by our consent or willful ignorance.

If we claim to revere the cross, if we claim to love the one who died for our sins, then we must not turn away. We must always walk toward it—toward the outcast, toward the victim, toward the abused and the marginalized. Because, as Christ himself told us, that is where we will find him. That is where we are called to follow. Every day, we are called to go to the cross, to seek it wherever we find ourselves, and to bear witness there—at the foot of the cross—to the one who loved us enough that he died for us. We must understand that he laid down his life for all of us. To bear witness to his sacrifice, to his life, to his love.

A CONTINUOUS SUPPORT

There is a long history of praying the rosary for a variety of causes. Many people have prayed for peace, for life, for

healing, even for victory in battle. Let us never tire of turning to Mary and this most powerful prayer, asking always for healing from the sin of racism, for victory over our own weakness and prejudices (conscious or unconscious), for peace in our hearts and in our nation, and for life in a world free from bigotry.

As I walk in the quiet of the morning, my rosary in hand, my prayer is that I will have the courage to go toward the cross of racism wherever I see it and to stand with the crucified wherever I find them and say to the world: “No more!

This is my brother. This is my sister. And this must stop.

Now.” Isaiah 53:4–5 reads, “Yet ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he was carrying, while we thought of him as someone punished, struck down with affliction by God; whereas he was being wounded . . . crushed because of our guilt.”

Herman Sutter is a school librarian, author, and poet who resides in Houston, Texas. To read more of his work, visit WorldBeforeGrace.blogspot.com.

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THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY OF

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PRAYER TO OVERCOME RACISM Lord, help us.

We are in turmoil.

The sin of racism continues to plague our nation and world.

George, Ahmaud, Breonna—and so many others who now rest in your arms—serve as a witness to both what we have done and what we have failed to do.

We mourn while we struggle for answers.

We turn to you for direction so that we can escape this dark place of hatred.

For far too long, many of your children have cried out for your help, feeling forgotten, abandoned.

Help them remember that you are there, walking with them in their struggles, leading them toward the light of equality.

Pray that they come to be aware of that and seek comfort in you.

At the same time, Lord, help those who do not experience such hatred and struggles to open their eyes to the suffering of their brothers and sisters.

Let us reflect on our own actions and role in contributing to racism in our nation and Church.

May we be inspired to seek ways in which we can be part of the solution rather than the problem.

It is only through modeling your love, though, that we will be able to join together and rediscover our common humanity.

May we remember that we are all made in your image and, therefore, worthy of love and respect.

We turn to you now to ask that you be a guiding light as we travel this road toward a world free from hate and discrimination.

For it is only through you that we shall overcome the sin of racism.

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Amen.

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Renaissance Friar

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fought fires, and led the nation’s largest Franciscan province.

Though he’s had many accomplishments and experiences in 50 years, Father John O’Connor sees himself first as a parish priest. He is pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Triangle, Virginia.

But what Father John O’Connor most treasures is his ministry

F

ranciscan Father John O’Connor is truly a Renaissance man—he’s worked elbow to elbow with real estate tycoons in New York City, run the corporation-like province of a major religious order, landed on an aircraft carrier, and barely escaped death on his first call as a fire department chaplain.

Yet, when asked what has given him the most satisfaction during his 50-plus years as a Franciscan, his response is simple and direct: “I would say it is the ministry I do as a Franciscan priest. It is to be there for people at the best of times, at the most difficult of times, and all kinds of times in between—but especially to be there with them at the most difficult time.”

At 73, Father John is showing no signs of slowing down as he reflects on the rich experiences of his past and the challenges that lie ahead.

as a parish priest.

‘SO YOU’RE THE GUY WHO WANTS TO BE A FRIAR?’

By Ann M. Augherton

PHOTOS BY MELINDA TOTH (2)

e

He’s built skyscrapers,

Born October 7, 1947, in Brooklyn as one of six children, John O’Connor grew up in Queens and attended Catholic elementary and high schools in upstate New York.

He felt the call to the priesthood when he was a teenager.

He paints an idyllic scene of a summer outing on a creek near his cousins’ farm in the Catskills, not far from the Franciscan seminary in Callicoon. One afternoon, the vocations director

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Father John became director of campus ministry at St. Bonaventure University and later taught a popular course on marriage.

Father John (front row) is pictured with his mother, Mary, and father, Jack, at a family gathering. Standing behind them are his brothers, sisters, sister-in-law, and niece.

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TOP: PHOTO COURTESY OF FATHER JOHN O’CONNOR FAMILY ARCHIVES; BOTTOM: PHOTOS COURTESY OF HOLY NAME PROVINCE ARCHIVES (2)

After his ordination in 1973, Father John’s first assignment brought him to St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, New York.

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came up to him and asked, “So you’re the guy who wants to be a friar?” That encounter put the bug in his ear and “I’ve never regretted it,” he says.

He attended St. Joseph’s Seminary in Callicoon, which he likened to a military prep school with discipline and a strict schedule. “I’ve been in leadership since I was 19 years old in the Franciscans, and I credit the experience there for giving me the skills,” he says.

He went on to novitiate at St. Raphael in Lafayette, New Jersey.

In 1968, Father John made his first profession of vows and entered the Franciscan seminary at Holy Name College in Washington, DC. He was ordained in 1973 for Holy Name Province, covering the East Coast.

Father John’s first assignment was at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, New York, as codirector, then director of campus ministry and pastor of the new St. Bonaventure University Parish.

The classroom called to him from 1976 to 1982; he taught a popular course on marriage.

In his late 30s, Father John headed back to Washington as director of Holy Name College. “The challenge was severalfold: One was as a young man coming back and earning the respect of 55 friars, especially those who were my professors and my mentors, and second, I was asked to come up with a solution as to where the friars would move.” The college owned a large building next to the Franciscan monastery that was in disrepair. It would have cost too much to renovate, so his superiors in New York asked him to come up with some options.

The building was sold and the archdiocese offered the Franciscans St. Camillus Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, which they still staff today.

Father John got to work building a

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TOP: PHOTOS COURTESY OF HOLY NAME PROVINCE ARCHIVES; BOTTOM: PHOTO COURTESY OF FATHER JOHN O’CONNOR FAMILY ARCHIVES

Father John (front row, fifth from left) chaired a joint meeting of the English-speaking Conference Order of Friars Minor in England. He has served in many leadership roles, including as provincial of the Holy Name Province.

Father John receives an honorary PhD in humanities from Sister Margaret Carney, then president of St. Bonaventure University, in recognition of his leadership in the Franciscan order and the Catholic Church.

Father John speaks about the importance of inclusion at a conference. Regardless of the color of one’s skin or the language we speak, “We should always remember we are all children of God,” he said recently.

new Franciscan seminary next to the church, which is now the house of formation for Franciscan postulants.

In 1991, he headed to the suburbs to serve as pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Triangle, Virginia, just outside the gates of the Marine Corps base in Quantico. “After those years of internal work in formation, it was really a nice breath of fresh air to start working with laypeople in the parish,” he recalls.

REAL ESTATE MOGUL

While in Triangle, he was elected to the provincial administration council and appointed director of real estate. The friars owned five buildings in Midtown Manhattan on 31st Street between 6th and 7th Avenues that needed to be rehabbed, but it would cost several million dollars.

While looking for a new source of income for the province, Father John proposed that the buildings be demolished and a skyscraper be built on the land. His superiors were hesitant but allowed him to do a feasibility study that brought together engineers as well as zoning, demographic, and transportation experts. He asked this group to answer two questions by the end of two months: Is it feasible to build a skyscraper, and is now the time to do it?

“They came back and they were unanimous in saying yes and yes,” Father John recalls. But they cautioned him about his inexperience, so he assembled a team of experts to tutor him in everything from tax law to contractual law to construction law.

The $300 million project, which took four years of negotiation and then two years of construction, was completed in 2007.

The 63-story building has three distinct uses: The first is for the friars, who own five floors for the provincial headquarters, meeting space, a chapel, dining room, library, and living space, including guest rooms. The first 11 floors on the 32nd Street side are owned by the American Cancer Society, which operates the Hope Lodge, a free residence for cancer patients.

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LEFT: Father John gives a tour of the building site to parish staff. RIGHT: Father John partnered with Fetner Associates on the skyscraper project, which was completed in 2007 after four years of negotiation and two years of construction.

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ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF HOLY NAME PROVINCE ARCHIVES (5)

Father John spearheaded an ambitious plan to demolish five buildings in disrepair and replace them with a skyscraper. The 63-story building in Midtown Manhattan now houses the provincial headquarters, a residence for cancer patients, and apartments, including low-income units.

The third use is 400-plus apartments with 20 percent designated for low-income residents. The Franciscans own their part of the building and a percentage of the apartments and underground parking, which generates income.

During the skyscraper project in 2005, Father John was elected provincial of the largest province of any order of religious in the United States, “a multimillion-dollar operation, and I was responsible financially for a lot of fairly sophisticated financial and personnel operations.

“Like with anybody in charge of a major diocese, the buck stops with you, with the provincial. I was the one who was expected to make the tough decisions, to do critical thinking,” he says. All of that came to an end after his term-limited nine years.

He needn’t have worried about being idle. Not long after, the head of the Franciscan order in Rome contacted him for help starting a financial development office. He still serves as executive assistant to the minister general for financial development. In 2016, Father John was asked to return to Triangle as a parish priest.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF HOLY NAME PROVINCE ARCHIVES (5)

FIREFIGHTER CHAPLAIN

Throughout his priesthood, Father John has had an avocation for the fire service, which he likens to his vocation to the religious life. “We’re about saving souls in ministry, and they’re there about saving souls, physical souls,” he says.

It started in 1974, when the local volunteer fire department in Allegany, New York, asked if he’d be their chaplain. He went through firefighter training, was certified as a New York State firefighter, and rose through the ranks to become assistant chief.

His first call was in February 1975.

“It was a large restaurant and catering facility, and I was almost killed,” Father John recalls. “It was something like 5 below zero, and I was one of the first ones on the scene as the truck pulled up. We began to make entry on the first floor, and as we went to open the door, StAnthonyMessenger.org | April 2021 • 37

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Not one to shy away from adventure, Father John said yes when a retired admiral invited him to spend the day on a ship as a guest of the Navy. Getting there involved a perilous tailhook landing on an aircraft carrier. After a two-night layover because of bad weather, they catapulted off the ship, going from 0 to 160 mph in four seconds.

Father John stands ready for a call as a member of the Allegany Fire Department in 1978.

Father John now serves as chief of chaplains, holding the rank of battalion chief for the Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue. He’s also a reserve chaplain for the county’s police department.

Father John’s commendations chronicle his years of service to the fire service, parish outreach, youth and social service programs—there’s even a key to the city of Olean, New York.

After a conversation with a fellow guest at a wedding reception in Washington in 1990, he was invited to land on an aircraft carrier in a twin-engine prop plane and was catapulted off two days later.

Yet, when he looks back, what’s brought him the most satisfaction has been ministering to parishioners as a Franciscan priest. “To help them through the challenges that they are dealing with in life, to help them through such things as sudden death or death in general,” he says. “To be able to give a homily on a weekend and have someone come up to you later and say, ‘Your homily really touched me.’

“I think almost everybody in formation at some point

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PHOTO OF ARTWORK BY MELINDA TOTH

PARISH PRIEST

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FATHER JOHN O’CONNOR FAMILY ARCHIVES

the second floor blew up on top of us. I looked up, and all I could see was fire and debris coming right toward me. So I jumped over a snowbank. I asked another firefighter next to me, ‘Is this what it’s like?’ And he said to me, ‘Father, I’ve been a firefighter for close to 30 years. That’s the closest I’ve ever come to getting killed.’ I said to myself, Oh my God, this is my first fire.”

But he went back for more.

Once, while he was an assistant chief of Allegany’s volunteer fire department, a terrible storm came through that area and the neighboring community of Olean. They’d only been at the firehouse for about 15 minutes when a call came in that city hall was on fire. “All I could think to myself is, If I blow this one, I’ll go down in history as the volunteer fire chief who let city hall burn to the ground,” recalls Father John.

“When we got to city hall, there was indeed smoke, but fortunately it was just one of their large generators overheating, and we got it out right away.”

His fire service continued in Silver Spring, and upon his return to Triangle, the chief asked him to help start a chaplain service.

PHOTO OF ARTWORK BY MELINDA TOTH

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FATHER JOHN O’CONNOR FAMILY ARCHIVES

should work and minister in a parish, even if it’s only for a year,” Father John says. “When you work with people in the parish, you allow yourself to be touched by humanity from birth to death. It further humanizes you as an individual.”

When asked what retirement looks like for him as a Franciscan, he laughs and says, “Death.” He can retire at 75, but “they encourage us to keep going as long as we can.” One of his associates in Triangle is an 80-year-old friar who still works part-time.

Pope Francis, 84, is a role model for Franciscans. “Pope Francis is, for us, Franciscan. He’s really one of us in terms of his approach to ministry and to his own priesthood,” he says of the Jesuit pope. “Francis [of Assisi] didn’t want us to be different from the laypeople we are ministering to.”

In that work of ministry, Father John says nothing is as important to him as a painting that hangs in his rectory office and the story behind it. The pastel depicts a river with a dock and two boats tied to a slip with trees in the background.

Years ago, he visited a woman in the Eastern Shore of Maryland who was dying from cancer. Though she had drifted away from the faith, her family asked him to come see her. He heard her confession and while they were chatting, she told him she had something to give him so he would always remember her: the pastel, which she had painted. She came back to the Catholic faith and died some months later.

The painting, he says, represents what is most important to him as a Franciscan priest: “being a person who can bring people back to the Church, who can help people who are hurting, and can help them to know that no matter what happens in their life, their God loves them.”

“When you work with people in the parish, you allow yourself to be touched by humanity from birth to death. It further humanizes you as an individual.”

— Father John O’Connor

This painting, a gift from a dying woman who came back to the faith, represents what Father John values most about being a priest: bringing people back to the Church.

Ann M. Augherton is the managing editor of the award-winning Arlington Catholic Herald (Virginia) and its website. She has published multiple articles in St. Anthony Messenger, including “The Top Five Issues Facing Health Care” (February 2019).

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By Susan Hines-Brigger

Our Planet

the statement, just a short time later massive sections of glaciers are shown falling into the ocean. Our Planet does a great job of pairing Attenborough’s well-known, straightforward delivery of facts with phenomenal imagery to reinforce it.

By the end of the series, in the ultimate lesson of how something in one part of nature can affect other regions, viewers see how the rising sea levels from the melting glaciers affect the birds and other animals we see in the first episode.

Our Planet is a powerful and eye-opening tale of the state of nature and the damage we are doing to it—at an alarming pace.

Those who don’t have a subscription to Netflix can watch the introductory episode for free. The following seven episodes, though, require a subscription. Those episodes explore the following habitats: frozen worlds, jungles, coastal seas, from deserts to grasslands, the high seas, freshwater, and forests.

Attenborough closes this opening installment by telling viewers, “What we do in the next 20 years will determine the future for all life on earth.” But he also offers words of hope that, “with our help, the planet can recover.”

This series is the perfect call to action.

As an added bonus, viewers can take a look at the process of making the docuseries thanks to Our Planet—Behind the Scenes.

Attenborough again provides the narrative with additional commentary on the filming process from those who capture the footage.

Witnessing the amount of work that went into making this documentary, which took four years and was filmed in 60 countries, makes this all the more spectacular.

Parental guidance suggested.

ICONS

music

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books

podcast tv & streaming

film

video

e-learning & online 2/26/21 10:15 AM

BOOK COVER IMAGES COURTESY OF THE PUBLISHERS

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n the opening installment of the eightpart series Our Planet, narrator Sir David Attenborough tells viewers, “This series will celebrate the natural wonders that remain and reveal what we must preserve to assure that people—and nature—thrive.”

From there, Attenborough takes viewers on a journey that reveals the many wonders and harsh realities of life—and death—in nature.

The cinematography is breathtaking, capturing images of earth’s most important habitats from the wide expanses of the tundra to the floor of the rain forest.

Attenborough is an English broadcaster and natural historian. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the natural history documentary series Life that portrays a comprehensive survey of animal and plant life on earth. He has said he considers his 2020 documentary film, David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet, his personal witness statement of his life and the future.

At the beginning, Our Planet seems as if it’s going to be a straightforward nature documentary. Viewers watch examples of the interconnectedness of the species, such as migration and mating patterns, but also situations where predator and prey face off. There are no graphic scenes in the documentary, but the music does capture the sense of foreboding and danger in the situations.

As the episodes progress, viewers begin to see how the changes that humans have put into motion are negatively affecting the balance of nature and the very species they are watching.

For instance, Attenborough informs viewers that the polar regions are warming faster than any other part of the planet. To back up

COLEMATT/FOTOSEARCH

Netflix

An Uplifting Portrait of John R. Lewis

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HIS TRUTH IS MARCHING ON

BY JON MEACHAM

COLEMATT/FOTOSEARCH

Random House

BOOK COVER IMAGES COURTESY OF THE PUBLISHERS

g&

BRIEFS

By Julie Horne Traubert

“A believer in the injunction that one should love one’s neighbor as oneself, Lewis was arguably a saint in our time, risking limb and life to bear witness for the powerless in the face of the powerful.”

he Benedictine David Steindl-Rast writes, “How difficult it is to live in the creative tension of hope, the tension between not-yet and already!” If anyone were to be the embodiment of that creative tension, then it would certainly be John Robert Lewis, one of the United States’ great social justice leaders of the 20th and early 21st centuries. The life of Lewis, a full-fledged proponent of nonviolent, direct action and often called the “moral conscience of Congress,” is warmly and engagingly told in this new biography by Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham.

In Meacham’s wonderful prose we follow the story of “the Boy from Troy” (Alabama) from his early life growing up a sharecropper’s son and preaching to the chickens in his yard, through his journey as a young man who directly confronted the evils of American racism. Lewis understood the promise that Jefferson made to all Americans but recognized that America still had a long way to go to see those ideals fulfilled.

Lewis and others like Martin Luther King Jr. knew that hope is rooted in God and is not necessarily about optimism. As Lewis would say in paying the price for bearing the physical scars of that struggle, “Our bodies became living witnesses for the cause of human dignity and freedom.” Lewis’ life clearly reflects that of Christ being crucified in the cause for civil rights and then resurrected as an elder to the halls of government. Along the way, he never changed; he was stalwart, defiant, and always forgiving until the end of his life.

Lewis understood the physical and existential components of the tension of hope. In Meacham’s pen we have a well-told biography of someone who changed America for the better because he hoped for a better future, a future we now enjoy because of Lewis and other nonviolent practitioners.

The story of Lewis, so steeped in religious faith, can inspire us to continue to work for the social and economic changes still needed in the United States to live up to our national creed and aspirations.

Reviewed by James A. Percoco, a nationally recognized history educator with over 35 years of teaching experience.

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CHRIST IN THE STORM

BY POPE FRANCIS Ave Maria Press

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n March 27, 2020, Pope Francis gave an extraordinary blessing, Urbi et Orbi (“To the City and the World”), at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, acknowledging the darkness of the time and the necessity for hope. Beautiful images and the moving homily by Pope Francis bring readers into the unity and comfort of that evening.

BLESS US, O LORD

BY ROBERT M. HAMMA Ave Maria Press

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niting in prayer at mealtime is a common practice for many, but Robert Hamma aims to enrich this ritual with both traditional and newer prayers. He structures prayers around the Church calendar and includes special occasions such as birthdays, graduations, and even blessing Mondays. You’ll want to keep this book on your kitchen table.

HAVE A FAVORITE CULTURE ITEM YOU WANT US TO REVIEW? Let us know about it: MagazineEditors@FranciscanMedia.org StAnthonyMessenger.org | April 2021 • 41

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CULTURE

By Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP

Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP

FAVORITE

FILMS FROM

2020 The King of Staten Island Mulan Emma.

The Way Back The Trial of the Chicago 7

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WANT MORE? Visit our website: StAnthonyMessenger.org

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his fragile gem of a documentary seems to have been hiding on Netflix since it was made available in 2019. Directed by Oscar winner Orlando von Einsiedel, this film is a pilgrimage made in honor of his brother, Evelyn, who took his life in 2004. Now on the 13th anniversary of his death, Orlando, his sister, Gwennie, and brother Robin retrace some of the beautiful hiking trails in England, Wales, and the Hebrides that their brother loved. The monthlong journey includes their divorced mother, Beta, for part of the walk; their German-born father, Andreas, and his second wife join later.

Diagnosed with schizophrenia in his late teens, Evelyn went on to medical school, but one day it all became too much. After a day spent looking, the family discovered his body in the garden. He left a note that they read along the way—something that is almost impossible to get through. From family videos, we see that Evelyn was a beautiful boy and a high-spirited adolescent who loved to skateboard.

As a camera captures the family’s conversations, we learn that this is the first time they have talked about Evelyn’s death and how it impacted them. Though they must be conscious of the camera’s presence, they are honest with each other without being sentimental. When Andreas throws a fit at a restaurant because of bad service, Gwennie

takes him to task, knowing there are issues driving his behavior. What emerges is that this flawed family loved Evelyn and they love one another, despite their grief.

Along the way, the pilgrims meet others whose lives have been changed by suicide.

One young man tells how his mother died by suicide because she believed no one cared about her. A former soldier tells of losing three of his former comrades to suicide after returning from the Middle East. As viewers, these moments seem somewhat staged, but the authenticity of these stories of love, loss, and grief is palpable. At one point, the three siblings jump into a pool along the shores of an island in the Hebrides, something Evelyn liked to do. It’s as if they are reborn.

At the time the film was made, suicide was the leading cause of death for British males under the age of 45. The film advocates for better mental health services and offers a help line for anyone in crisis. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available in English and Spanish: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

I was deeply moved by the simplicity of this gentle film and the courage it took to make it. It drew out my compassion for those who consider suicide as their only option, as well as the loved ones left behind.

Not yet rated • Family bickering, grief, talk of suicide.

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YES DAY: NETFLIX/JOHN P. JOHNSON; RESURRECTION: LIGHTWORKS

Sister Rose’s

EVELYN

LEFT: COURTESY SISTER ROSE PACATTE, FSP/MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS; EVELYN: NETFLIX INC.

Sister Rose is a Daughter of St. Paul and the founding director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies. She has been the award-winning film columnist for St. Anthony Messenger since 2003 and is the author of several books on Scripture and film, as well as media literacy education.

YES DAY

RESURRECTION

YES DAY: NETFLIX/JOHN P. JOHNSON; RESURRECTION: LIGHTWORKS

LEFT: COURTESY SISTER ROSE PACATTE, FSP/MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS; EVELYN: NETFLIX INC.

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llison (Jennifer Garner) is fearless! From childhood she says yes to every adventure, especially when, as a young woman, she meets Carlos Torres (Edgar Ramírez). Their love for fun and adventure draws them together and they marry.

Some 15 years later, however, Allison has become a “no” kind of mother. She has three children, 14-year-old Katie (Jenna Ortega), and the younger kids, Nando (Julian Lerner) and Ellie (Everly Carganilla). She is constantly telling them no, from keeping them safe as toddlers to not giving Katie permission to go to her first concert without a parent.

Carlos spends most of his time at work, so Allison is the one always saying no.

Allison learns about a parenting trend, where families have a “yes day.” Mom and Dad have to say yes to everything the kids want to do for 24 hours—with some ground rules. The kids give their parents a rule too: They are not allowed to use their cell phones, though it is Katie’s cell phone that leads to the one part of the film that truly moved me.

Garner gives such a high-energy performance in the opening scenes of the film that it made me think it could be her last action role. In many ways this is a typical family film with a simple premise. Everyone in a family has something to learn and something to sacrifice for the good of all. The role of the cell phone in the family’s life could be a catalyst for honest conversations at the dinner table. The singer H.E.R. makes an appearance and becomes part of the adventure. Yes Day is available on Netflix.

Not yet rated, PG • Slight peril.

Catholic News Service Media Review Office gives these ratings.

A-1 General patronage

A-2 Adults and adolescents

A-3 Adults

L Limited adult audience

O Morally offensive

C

ontinuing the story of Jesus that began with their 2014 feature film Son of God, producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey have gone into the film archives at MGM and LightWorks studios to create a feature film about the resurrection of Jesus. The COVID19 pandemic limited further original filming.

To set the stage, the film begins with the events of Good Friday, including the encounter between Jesus (Juan Pablo Di Pace) and Pilate, the crucifixion, and his burial in a borrowed tomb. Pilate places a guard at the tomb to make sure Jesus does not rise—as he had foretold. Then, on Easter morning, Mary Magdalen (Chipo Chung) discovers the empty tomb and meets the risen Lord in the garden. Peter (Adam Levy) plays a key role in the story, but we don’t see as much as we might expect of Mary, mother of Jesus (Greta Scacchi).

Resurrection follows the Gospels fairly closely, and the film is a good watch for the family seeking inspiration during Holy Week and the Easter Triduum. The film is streaming on Discovery+.

Not yet rated • Graphic crucifixion scene.

Source: USCCB.org/movies

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POINTSOFVIEW | FAITH and FAMILY

By Susan Hines-Brigger

Hitting the Pandemic Wall

Susan has worked at St. Anthony Messenger for 26 years and is an executive editor. She and her husband, Mark, are the proud parents of four kids—Maddie, Alex, Riley, and Kacey. Aside from her family, her loves are Disney, traveling, and sports.

Susan welcomes your comments and suggestions!

E-MAIL: CatholicFamily@ FranciscanMedia.org MAIL: Faith & Family 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202

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WANT MORE? VISIT: FranciscanMedia.org/ faith-and-family

PEOPLE NEED PEOPLE

As the quarantine began to drag on, though, I got tired of cooking, reading, and playing games. I started to miss the everyday interactions with people that I had obviously taken for granted. I missed seeing my dad in person instead of on a Zoom call from the nursing home, and I wanted to spend time with my in-laws. I missed going out to lunch with my friends. I wanted to walk next door to my coworker’s office to ask a question rather than set up a virtual meeting. I got tired of watching Mass on the computer. But most of all, I longed for human contact. Basically, I just wanted a hug.

In short, I hit what they are now calling “the pandemic wall.” The phrase was popularized by New York Public Radio host Tanzina

Vega after she posted on Twitter: “Lots of people—including me—are hitting what I’m calling the pandemic wall this week. The burnout from working nonstop, no break from news, childcare, and isolation is hard.

It’s OK not to be OK right now. I think we need to accept that.”

I began to realize that, even though I prefer to spend time alone, we are all wired for human connections and community.

Suddenly, I got why this was so difficult for those who need that connection on a more regular basis than I do.

It is also why I was diligent about following the instructions laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and insisted that my kids do the same. I knew that doing so would bring us back into communion with those we hold dear. The sooner the better, I thought.

MOVING TOWARD EASTER

As I was traveling the season of Lent, I was struck by the similarities of what was happening in my faith life and what was going on in the world around me. During Lent, we travel the 40 days of sacrifice, not unlike what we have done for the past year by following safety protocols. We endure the darkness of Holy Week, but then look toward the hope of the Resurrection.

On a broader scale, we are traveling the same type of journey with this pandemic— we’ve just been doing it for much longer than 40 days. We have walked in the darkness of illness, separation, and the shadow of the pandemic wall. We have suffered watching loved ones die. And now we are beginning to see the light in the promise of vaccines.

In the meantime, we lean on each other— not literally because of social distancing— knowing that there is hope on the way.

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TOP: YURI_ARCURS/ISTOCK; PETE & REPEAT: TOM GREENE

Susan Hines-Brigger

ast March, when the world shut down as the COVID-19 pandemic began to ramp up, the reality of being forced to stay at home didn’t disturb me. My more extroverted children and friends were not coping well. I, however, just pulled on my “Social Distancing Expert” T-shirt and hunkered down. They longed for connection with people. Me? I had all the people I needed locked down here in our house with me. I was doing just fine.

I tried to understand and sympathize with people as they struggled. I tried to help them find ways to adjust and to open their eyes to the many benefits of introversion. I used the time to cook and bake all the recipes I had saved to Pinterest. I read the stack of books that had sat collecting dust, and I even played—not very well—video games with my kids. I reveled in the fact that I no longer had a commute to work and was able to just hop out of bed and head to my computer.

Yes, it was great . . . until it wasn’t.

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B

FAITH and FAMILY

ONE FAMILY

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s COVID-19 made its presence known in February 2020, avowed introverts across the globe took to Twitter. @CrowsFault tweeted this on February 28: “CDC: To prevent coronavirus stay home, avoid physical contact, and don’t go into large crowds.

Introverts: I’ve been preparing for this moment my entire life.”

I’m lucky that I’ve been spared the wrath of the pandemic, largely because I’ve played by the rules: limited exposure to people, masks in public, washing my hands to the point of discomfort. But there’s a side effect to these measures that I’ve struggled with for over a year: isolation.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and we at Franciscan Media were strongly (though gently) encouraged to work from home as much as possible, suddenly the prospect of being separated from my work family became real.

We at St. Anthony Messenger and Franciscan Media are a kind of family—a loving, lovingly dysfunctional unit. Being separated from that family since March 2020 has been a challenge for me. Zoom calls are an essential component to our workday, but I prefer in-person meetings.

Slack and other forms of instant messaging are helpful, but I’d rather have a visitor in my office.

Simply put: I miss my community. I’m wired for a group dynamic.

SEPARATE BUT TOGETHER

Case in point: Years ago, I participated in a Myers-Briggs exercise. I was tasked with answering a dizzying number of questions and meeting with a counselor to discuss my results, which revealed I was ENFP. In layman’s terms, I’m an extrovert who leads with his heart. No great mystery to me.

It has certainly weighed on my heart that, since COVID-19, my office is now my living room.

I do not hear my coworkers anymore; I read their e-mails and instant messages.

Lunches aren’t vibrant outings but quiet meals alone in my home. I’m grateful that this organization’s first priority is the health and wellness of its employees. It’s kept me well—though a bit heartsick.

Pope Francis understands. In his encyclical “Fratelli Tutti,” he writes: “A worldwide tragedy like the COVID-19 pandemic momentarily revived the sense that we are a global community, all in the same boat, where one person’s problems are the problems of all. Once more we realized that no one is saved alone; we can only be saved together. Amid this storm, the façade of those stereotypes with which we camouflaged our egos, always worrying about appearances, has fallen away, revealing once more the ineluctable and blessed awareness that we are part of one another, that we are brothers and sisters of one another.”

Words that I need to keep front and center: Though separated, we are still connected.

—Christopher Heffron

TOP: YURI_ARCURS/ISTOCK; PETE & REPEAT: TOM GREENE

These scenes may seem alike to you, But there are changes in the two.

So look and see if you can name Eight ways in which they’re not the same.

(Answers below)

GET THE BOOK FUN FOR

ALL AGES!

Go online to order: Shop.FranciscanMedia.org For ONLY $3.99 Use Code: SAMPETE ANSWERS to PETE & REPEAT: 1) The hook on the umbrella handle is longer. 2) Sis’ hair is shorter. 3) The tree has moved in front of the hill. 4) Pete’s collar is shorter.

5) The button on top of the umbrella is larger. 6) The leaves are behind one of the branches. 7) Sis has her hand in a pocket. 8) The white stripe on the umbrella’s left side is wider.

TOP LEFT: MC KOZUSKO/SAM; INSET: PUHIMEC/FOTOSEARCH

PETE&REPEAT

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LET US PRAY

reflect | pray | act

By Stephen Copeland

Resurrection Song

Stephen Copeland

stood quietly in the back of the sanctuary one Easter Sunday, surrounded by raised hands and lifted voices—but feeling alone.

Though I had a reverence for the congregation’s energy that filled the sanctuary, I also found myself wondering about the origin of this rising passion.

The preacher’s fiery sermon was focused on how Christ’s resurrection validated the truth of his own beliefs. The Resurrection, for him, was the stamp of approval that Christians had it figured out. I couldn’t help but wonder if the emotion bursting forth around me was related more to the thrill of certainty than it was about the transforming power of the Resurrection.

Was I off base? Maybe. Was I cynical?

Probably. At that time, I was beginning to confront the spiritual doubts I had carried, sometimes overwhelmed by bitterness and confusion. But I was also beginning to place a finger on something that has plagued Christianity: our tendency to commodify faith; for our Western values to pull the train of spiritual experience rather than the other way around. In a culture that elevates certainty, it was no surprise that one of the most transforming Christian theological corner-

stones was used to boost one’s own rightness and righteousness. And that goes for our role in God’s creation.

I was reminded of this quote from Thomas Merton: “There are some men for whom a tree has no reality until they think of cutting it down, for whom an animal has no value until it enters the slaughterhouse, men who never look at anything until they decide to abuse it and who never even notice what they do not want to destroy.”

In the United States, we commodify just about everything in our drive for efficiency and profit. Unfortunately, that sometimes includes our theology and spirituality; something that, at its worst, can produce a type of Christian nationalism that warps the message of the humble, loving, self-sacrificing Christ on the cross.

CREATION AS KIN

This Earth Day, I find myself thinking again of the confusion I experienced on that Easter Sunday years ago. I wonder whether we, as Christians, are letting our Western values hijack our faith instead of inviting us deeper into introspection and prayer. When it comes to the care of our planet, it seems we adopt

PR

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JANIFEST/FOTOSEARCH

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TOP LEFT: COURTESY STEPHEN COPELAND/SAM; TOP RIGHT: DESIGN36/FOTOSEARCH

Stephen Copeland is a storyteller and an Indiana native who now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. He recently published his first memoir, Where the Colors Blend, about his journey from doubt and despair to a place of faith and hope. He’s been published widely in this magazine and at FranciscanMedia.org.

You can follow his work at CopelandWrites.com.

more of a dominion approach, which places humans at the center of creation.

Not surprisingly, this often leads to dominating and commodifying.

As Pope Francis suggests in “Laudato Si’,” we need to shift toward a stewardship approach, where humans are entrusted with God’s creation. We are encouraged to adopt a kinship approach, epitomized by St. Francis, where every facet of creation is brother, sister, or mother, where we awaken to an interconnectedness with all of creation. The COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing political, social, and racial divisions reveal our difficulty in trusting this interconnectedness.

We find ourselves in a Holy Saturday moment, in that space between Crucifixion and Resurrection, and the model we adopt moving forward might affect whether we discover an empty tomb. I have long associated the Resurrection with heaven, but this kind of spiritual bypassing can lead to suppressing the realities of Holy Saturday.

Contemplative prayer invites us to cocreate a heaven here, in our very midst, but that entails honestly evaluating the cultural values we have idolized with an Americanized theology.

TIPS1

A NEW VISION FOR CREATION Lord, help us to partner with you in the renewal of this earth. May we be emptied so that authentic hope might arise. Help open our eyes to see how our own idols and cultural values might be blurring our spiritual vision. As we read your book of creation, help us see anew.

Amen.

FINDING YOUR WAY

Go on a daily walk and commit that time to mindful meditation. As you walk, listen to the surrounding sounds and allow them to awaken your senses. When your mind begins to wander beyond the present moment, give grace to yourself and then return to the sounds.

2 JANIFEST/FOTOSEARCH

TOP LEFT: COURTESY STEPHEN COPELAND/SAM; TOP RIGHT: DESIGN36/FOTOSEARCH

PRAYERFUL

St. Bonaventure wrote that creation is our “first book.” While my mind spins at the dawn of a new day, I’m finding that taking time on my morning walk to experience creation—to slow my rushing thoughts and open my senses to the city sounds, breakfast smells, scattering critters, and passing strangers—somehow brings me back to interconnectedness, to seeing creation as kin. Some days, the thoughts keep bursting over the meditative dam, but other days I am, in a sense, liberated from myself, which is to say that the grip of my cultural idols is loosened. I gain perspective as a member of creation. I am freed from the pressures of dominion.

To truly “care for our common home,” the subtitle of “Laudato Si’,” we are encouraged to return to the source, existing in that empty, open space beneath our own projections and ambitions. As Pope Francis wrote, “The Spirit of God has filled the universe with possibilities, and, therefore, from the very heart of things, something new can always emerge.”

Maybe the Resurrection signifies the willingness to give something new a chance.

Journal about dominion, stewardship, and kinship. If you need more guidance about these creation models, consider watching the first episode of Dan Horan, OFM’s series about “Laudato Si’” on YouTube. How do you tend to commodify creation rather than befriend it? Where do you think this disposition originates?

StAnthonyMessenger.org | April 2021 • 47

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reflection

—Aaron Saul

WILDPIXEL/ISTOCK

Everything in life has its own time. There is time to celebrate, and there is time to mourn.

This is the time for reflection and transformation. Let us look within and change into what we ought to be.

48 • April 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

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