Sharing the spirit of St. Francis with the world VOL. 129/NO. 2 • AUGUST 2021 • PUBLISHED BY FRANCISCAN MEDIA
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
The Year of Living Dangerously PAGE 15
CARDINAL WILTON D. GREGORY FROM CONVERT TO CARDINAL
AUGUST 2021 • $4.99 StAnthonyMessenger.org
THE BLACK MADONNA SHRINE CALLED TO BE PROPHETS ST. CLARE: LIGHT OF ASSISI
COVID-19 wreaked havoc on our Jamaican missions, but as Fr. Colin King, OFM, says,
“Covid can’t stop the power of the Holy Spirit.”
The medical clinic you helped make possible is being used as a Covid testing site, but more support is needed to bring telemedicine options to the people of Jamaica. The friars at our missions also need storage solutions to effectively store and distribute the donated medical and dental supplies they receive. If you’d like to help the impoverished people at our Jamaican missions amidst the fallout from the Covid-19 crisis, please visit StAnthony.org/Jamaica. Your support during these challenging times is lifesaving.
The Franciscan Friars, Province of St. John the Baptist • 1615 Vine St., Ste 1 • Cincinnati, OH 45202-6492 StAnthony.org • 513-721-4700, ext. 3219 /StAnthonyShrine
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VOL. 129 N O. 2
AUGUST
2021 20/21
28
COVER STORY
28 From Convert to Cardinal: The Journey of Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory
Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory delivers a homily at a March 20, 2021, Mass for peace and justice at Nativity Church in Burke, Virginia.
By Christopher Gunty
COVER AND ABOVE: PHOTOS COURTESY CATHOLIC STANDARD/ANDREW BIRAJ
Inspired by his Catholic schoolteachers, Wilton Gregory dreamed of becoming a priest. Last year, Pope Francis named him the first Black US cardinal.
18 The Black Madonna Shrine Story and photography by Richard Bauman
One Franciscan’s 23-year labor of love to honor Mary has become an oasis of peace in the foothills of the Missouri Ozarks.
23 The Prophetic Role of the Laity By Mark Etling, PhD
We are called to carry on the prophetic mission of Jesus in word and deed, even when it places us at odds with the culture.
34 St. Clare: Light of Assisi By Margaret Carney, OSF
When this beloved saint died, the Church lost a luminary. But her legacy shines brightly to this day.
COMING in the
SEPTEMBER ISSUE
A look back on the events of 9/11 by two New York City friars and how its impact is still being felt
StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 1
T
he saints were real people with real stories—just like us! Their surrender to God’s love was so generous that the Church recognizes them as heroes and heroines worthy of being 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.
Saints featured in the month of August include . . .
August 4
St. John Vianney had great trouble with his studies and almost did not get ordained. After he became the pastor in Ars, France, however, he gained great fame as a confessor, hearing confessions sometimes 12 hours a day. He is the patron saint of parish priests.
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The story of Teresa Benedicta of the Cross begins with her life as Edith Stein, a noted philosopher raised in the Jewish faith. Her studies led Edith to the Catholic Church and to becoming a Carmelite nun. She died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz in 1942.
The doctrine of the Assumption of Mary is recent: 1950. But the belief that Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven at the time of her death dates to the early Church. Mary is also the summation of all Christians: What happened to her will happen to us.
August 9
August 15
St. Louis of France August 25
St. Louis of France took his position seriously as both king and Christian. A true son of the Church, Louis worked for peace and reconciliation within his kingdom and beyond. He was generous with both his wealth and his time. He was named a patron of the Secular Franciscans.
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St. John Vianney
VOL. 129 N O. 2
“Our labor here is brief, but the reward is eternal. Do not be disturbed by the clamor of the world, which passes like a shadow. Do not let false delights of a deceptive world deceive you.”
AUGUST
2021
—St. Clare of Assisi
10 SPIRIT OF ST. FRANCIS 10 Ask a Franciscan
Where to Start in Reading the Bible?
15 Editorial | Christopher Heffron The Year of Living Dangerously
12 Followers of St. Francis
16 At Home on Earth | Kyle Kramer
14 Franciscan World
44 Faith & Family | Susan Hines-Brigger
Sister Joan Brown, OSF
IMAGES FALL UNDER PUBLIC DOMAIN USAGE RIGHTS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
15 POINTS OF VIEW
Praised Be You, Our Mothers
The Dubuque Franciscan Sisters
The Day My Daughter Left the Church
14 St. Anthony Stories
A Subtle Clue from St. Anthony
40 CULTURE
40 Media Reviews
E-Learning: CreativeMornings Books: Learning to Pray
42 Film Reviews In the Heights Summer of Soul Building a Bridge
46
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 4 Dear Reader Your Voice 5 6 Church in the News
45 Friar Pete & Repeat 46 Let Us Pray 48 Reflection
StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 3
dear reader Welcome, Friar Pete!
PUBLISHER
W
hen Tom Greene announced his retirement from drawing Pete and Repeat, our staff suddenly found itself facing a dilemma: How do you replace a staple of the magazine while also not erasing its legacy? We threw all kinds of ideas around and wondered where Pete would be today. Before long, someone asked, “What if Pete joined the Franciscans?” Instantly, the idea started to come to life. We found ourselves crafting new adventures for Pete and Sis—who is now a teacher—along with a whole cast of new characters. Once we had the idea nailed down, our art director, Mary Catherine Kozusko, reached out to illustrator Bob Vojtko. Over the years, this magazine has featured quite a few of Bob’s cartoons. He began drawing, he says, when he was about 5 years old and watched his dad paint comic-book characters on their basement wall. “It looked like fun, so I grabbed a pencil and some paper, and I was off and running,” Bob recalls. We’re excited to start this new chapter with you— and with Friar Pete and his friends. And while the images may look different, the challenge is still the same. Good luck!
Daniel Kroger, OFM PRESIDENT
Kelly McCracken EXECUTIVE EDITORS
Christopher Heffron Susan Hines-Brigger
FRANCISCAN EDITORS
Pat McCloskey, OFM John Barker, OFM ART DIRECTOR
Mary Catherine Kozusko MANAGING EDITOR
Daniel Imwalle
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Sandy Howison
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Susan Hines-Brigger, Executive Editor
Sharon Lape
PRINTING
EP Graphics, Berne, IN
WRITER St. Clare: Light of Assisi
MARK ETLING, PHD
PAGE 34
WRITER The Prophetic Role of the Laity
Margaret Carney, OSF, says her interest in St. Clare began at the Franciscan University in Rome, where she worked with Regis Armstrong, preparing his edition of the writings of Francis and Clare. “Only by being ‘assigned’ to do the hard work of learning all I could about the rule St. Clare wrote did I realize there was so much more to her story than I knew,” Carney recalls. That assignment, she says, turned into a lifelong project.
Mark Etling is the coordinator of adult faith formation at St. Nicholas Parish in O’Fallon, Illinois, and an adjunct associate professor in the School for Professional Studies at St. Louis University, where he earned a PhD in historical theology. He has had a number of articles published in the National Catholic Reporter. He is an avid handball player and a huge fan of the singer-songwriter James Taylor.
PAGE 23
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CHRISTOPHER GUNTY
WRITER From Convert to Cardinal: The Journey of Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory PAGE 28
Chris Gunty is the associate publisher and CEO of Catholic Review, the official news outlet of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. In 1973, while in eighth grade, he attended the Archdiocese of Chicago’s ordination for priests, which included Father Wilton D. Gregory. Ten years later, he covered Bishop Gregory’s ordination as auxiliary bishop of Chicago.
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MARGARET CARNEY, OSF
ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER (ISSN #0036276X) (U.S.P.S. PUBLICATION #007956 CANADA PUBLICATION #PM40036350) Volume 129, Number 2, 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.
POINTSOFVIEW | YOUR VOICE Personal Connection to Mental Illness
Thank you for giving great exposure to mental illness and to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in the May article “A Catholic Response to the Mental Health Crisis,” by Daniel Imwalle. The oldest of our seven children suffered from schizophrenia for 44 of his 64 years. I was president of a NAMI affiliate in a Detroit suburb from 1986 to 2008. I was blessed to be healthy enough to complete 19 marathons and bicycle 500 miles to raise research funds for the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, a unique charity where 100 percent of donations go to research. I was pleased to read about Father Fred Cabras, OFM Cap—especially because he is in Detroit. I will contact current Michigan NAMI leaders about him. Also, amen to your June/July Let Us Pray column (“Daddy’s Home,” by Deacon Art Miller). Without a doubt, as Deacon Miller states: “Love has a twin. It’s called forgiveness.” May the Holy Trinity bless all of you at St. Anthony Messenger, and thank you for your excellent magazine. Thomas Coles, MD, Novi, Michigan
Building a Bridge between Spiritual, Mental Health
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or es
Many thanks to Daniel Imwalle, St. Anthony Messenger, and Franciscan Media for the sensitive and informative article about Catholics and mental health in the May issue. As a Catholic who is a clinical psychologist (and a former door-to-door salesman of St. Anthony Messenger), I was heartened to read the article, which shared solid information about mental health from both psychological and spiritual perspectives. Such information is always important, even critical, in our ongoing COVID-19 crisis. One issue I would like to add a sharper point to is the need for Catholic clergy to know both their own skills and limitations in regard to psychology and counseling. They also need to be aware of faith-sensitive professional services in their community. Out of our group practice (started by a Franciscan sister, a diocesan priest, and a Franciscan priest), we have attended the local deanery meetings regularly in order to build relationships with our local faith communities. The goal of these meetings is to ensure there is good
communication and coordination of care between the spiritual and behavioral health worlds of our town and region. With this real and active presence and dialogue between the two worlds, we hope to help provide better service to all of us who struggle with a wide range of mental health issues in our individual and family lives. Keep up the good work!
CONTACT INFO We want to hear from you!
David Dennedy-Frank, PhD, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Inspiring Images of Motherhood, Mary
My compliments for the colorful and bright design of all the articles and columns that dealt with motherhood from the May issue— especially Father Murray Bodo’s piece on the Blessed Virgin Mary (“Scenes from the Life of Mary”). In our current culture, a significant group of people judge truth not by scientific data or rational observation, but rather guided by their political goals or ideology. It is divisive. Would our Holy Mother advise this today in assessing what is true? Jim Beck Sr., OFS, Sarasota, Florida
Broken Trust
I enjoy reading the articles in St. Anthony Messenger. They are both prayerful and informative. I especially appreciate the monthly Reflection page. I am writing about the response to the first item in the Ask a Franciscan column from the June/July issue (“Living Our Faith Boldly”), which concerns young people leaving the traditional Churches. The response to this issue is quite complicated. It is not as simple as stating that “people in this age group were raised in families where religious practice was more social than reflective.” In my opinion, the Catholic Church’s failure to adequately address the clergy sex-abuse crisis has resulted in continuously driving people away from the faith. Trust within our faith communities no longer exists. The Church refuses to acknowledge that it must continue to grow and welcome all who enter its doors. It’s important for the Church to teach as well as live the Gospel in order to regain respect from young people who have fallen away from the faith. Mary Ann O’Connor, Centereach, New York
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StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 5
people | events | trends
By Susan Hines-Brigger
DURING SPRING MEETING, BISHOPS ADDRESS ISSUE OF COMMUNION
his past June, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops once again gathered virtually for its spring meeting, during which they discussed a range of issues, the most anticipated being a statement on Catholics and the Eucharist, reported Catholic News Service (CNS). At the beginning of the meeting, the bishops heard remarks from Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio. “At the heart of dialogue is the communication of one’s own personal life to others,” he told them, adding that the goal of such dialogue “should be unity and not merely doctrinal and juridical unity.” Conference president Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles then spoke, following up on the theme of unity, citing Pope Francis’ directive: “the importance of unity—not only among peoples, but also unity within the Church.” Unity does not, however, mean bishops will never disagree, the archbishop said, noting that even the apostles disagreed, “but never about the truth of the Gospel.” On the second day of the meeting, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, chair of the doctrine committee, presented a proposed outline of a document on the Eucharist. There was a more than two-hour discussion of the proposal that followed. Among the 43 bishops who spoke at the meeting, some said the document was necessary in order to provide clarity about the significance of the Eucharist. Others, however, questioned the timing and thought it could be perceived as fracturing the unity of a Church already facing many challenges. The development of the document eventually passed by a vote of 168–55, with six abstentions. A draft of the document will be presented for discussion at the bishops’ November meeting.
6 • August 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
The topic was greatly discussed during the news conferences on both days of the meeting. Bishop Rhoades said that creating national norms was never the intent behind a proposal to write a new statement on the Eucharist. The statement, he said, would be aimed at providing guidance for bishops. “We have taught in years past about Catholics in political life, the importance of adherence to Church teaching in the document on worthiness to receive holy Communion, back in 2006,” Bishop Rhoades said. “But with this new strategic plan that’s going to be focused on the Eucharist, this threeyear plan, we have to teach this again, on different levels.” The bishops later released a statement saying: “The question of whether or not to deny any individual or groups Holy Communion was not on the ballot. . . . The document being drafted is not meant to be disciplinary in nature, nor is it targeted at any one individual or class of persons.” The bishop was referring to a multiyear National Eucharistic Revival initiative that is part of the conference’s 2021–2024 strategic plan. The revival has been in the planning stages for over a year. The bishops also voted to approve the document “Pastoral Framework for Marriage and Family Life Ministry in the United States: Called to the Joy of Love,” as well as development of a new formal statement and comprehensive vision for Native American and Alaska Native ministry, and a new national pastoral framework on accompanying youths and young adults in the Church. Suzanne Healy, chair of the National Review Board, told the bishops that, although major steps have been taken to help achieve healing and reconciliation with survivors of clergy sexual abuse, the Church has much work to do and that transparency is still a key concern of the review board.
CNS PHOTOS: TOP RIGHT: BOB ROLLER; LOWER LEFT: CHRIS HELGREN/REUTERS; LOWER RIGHT: JENNIFER GAUTHIER/REUTERS
T
Archbishop José Gómez, president of the US bishops’ conference, oversees the virtual meeting from the studio of the conference headquarters.
CNS PHOTOS: LEFT: BOB ROLLER; RIGHT: TYLER ORSBURN
Due to the pandemic, the US bishops were not able to gather in person for their spring meeting, as they have in the past, seen here. They held a virtual meeting.
CATHOLIC HOUSE DEMOCRATS ISSUE STATEMENT REGARDING COMMUNION DEBATE
S
hortly before the US bishops approved the drafting of a teaching document on the Eucharist, a group of Catholic Democrats in the House of Representatives asked the bishops not to deny holy Communion to anyone over the single issue of abortion, reported CNS. In their “statement of principles,” the 59 legislators said, “We believe the separation of church and state allows for our faith to inform our public duties and best serve our constituents. The sacrament of holy Communion is central to the life of practicing Catholics and the weaponization of the Eucharist to Democratic lawmakers for their support of a woman’s safe and legal access to abortion is contradictory.” The statement pointed out that no elected officials “have been threatened with being denied the Eucharist” for supporting policies contrary to Church teaching including separating migrant children from parents, limiting food and social services to poor people, and the death penalty.
One of the three parts proposed in the bishops’ document would examine “eucharistic consistency” in eligibility to receive Communion. That section has drawn the most challenges from bishops opposed to the document’s drafting who said it would unnecessarily threaten Churchwide unity in the US Church as well as with the Vatican.
CNS PHOTOS: TOP RIGHT: BOB ROLLER; LOWER LEFT: CHRIS HELGREN/REUTERS; LOWER RIGHT: JENNIFER GAUTHIER/REUTERS
CNS PHOTOS: LEFT: BOB ROLLER; RIGHT: TYLER ORSBURN
POPE, CANADIAN BISHOPS EXPRESS SORROW OVER RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL DEATHS
A protester attends a march from the Ontario provincial legislature in Toronto, Ontario, after the discovery of unmarked graves of 215 indigenous children.
F
ollowing the discovery of unmarked graves of up to 215 indigenous children—some as young as 3—at the Kamloops Indian Residential Schools in British Columbia, Canada, this past May, Pope Francis and the Canadian bishops expressed sorrow and have begun discernment on how to address the past, reported CNS. Shortly after hearing the news, Pope Francis said, “The sad discovery further increases understanding of the pain and suffering of the past.” He issued an appeal to political and religious authorities of Canada “to continue to work together with determination to shed light on this sad event and to commit themselves humbly to a path of reconciliation and healing.” Bishop Joseph Nguyen of Kamloops said: “On behalf of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kamloops, I express
my deepest sympathy to Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation and to all who are mourning this tragedy and an unspeakable loss. No words of sorrow could adequately describe this horrific discovery.” The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement saying that a delegation of indigenous people from Canada will meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican before the end of the year. The Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia was operated by the Catholic Church on behalf of Ottawa from 1890 to 1969, before being permanently closed in 1978. The Residential School system forcibly separated about 150,000 children from their homes. Almost a month after the discovery in Kamloops, 715 unmarked graves were discovered on the grounds of the former Marieval Indian Residential School at Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan.
In a photo from June 6, 2021, children’s shoes make up a memorial on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 7
people | events | trends
FAITH LEADERS TO MEET AT VATICAN AND DISCUSS CLIMATE CHANGE
L
eaders of world religions or their representatives will gather at the Vatican and in Rome on October 4—the feast of St. Francis—to take part in the “Faith and Science: Toward COP26” meeting, reported Vatican News. As part of the meeting, the group will draft a statement for participants in the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), which will be held October 31 to November 12 in Glasgow, Scotland, reported CNS. Since February, the British and Italian embassies to the Holy See and the Vatican Secretariat of State have hosted six virtual meetings with leaders from world religions and top climate scientists. The leaders shared their faith’s understanding of creation and the responsibility to care for it, while the scientists updated the group on the latest research, said Sally Axworthy, the British ambassador to the Holy See. “There has been a remarkable convergence of views,” Axworthy said. “All the faiths and belief systems see nature as sacred, and our duty as being to protect the environment.”
O
The Global Catholic Climate Movement’s online petition
Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister, told reporters on June 17 that it was “highly likely” that Pope Francis would be involved in the October meeting. But he said he could not comment on reports that Pope Francis would travel to Glasgow in November for the COP26 meeting itself. In anticipation of the November meeting, the Global Catholic Climate Movement is sponsoring an online petition at TheCatholicPetition.org calling on global leaders to take action and support a healthy planet and healthy people. The petition was launched on May 17 as part of Laudato Si’ Week and in anticipation of both the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in October and the UN Climate Change Conference. Christine Allen, director of CAFOD, the Catholic aid agency for England and Wales, said during a webinar May 17 on “Critical Opportunities in 2021 to Create Change” that 2021 “is such a critical year . . . and action is needed at all levels and action is possible at all levels.”
CAUSES OF TWO US SAINTHOOD CANDIDATES GET OK FROM BISHOPS
n the second day of their meeting, the US bishops voted to give two dioceses the go-ahead for making a case for a priest and a brother to be considered for sainthood. Both of the men served in the armed forces. Father Joseph Verbis Lafleur of the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, was an Army chaplain who died in World War II. Leonard LaRue was a Merchant Marine captain. He later became a Benedictine monk and took the name Brother Marinus. The two men are revered for their heroism in World War II and the Korean War, respectively. Father Lafleur was awarded a Purple Heart and a Distinguished Service Cross while he was alive, and he received a second of each award posthumously. Though a simple majority was required for approval, each cause received 99 percent approval from the bishops. The cause for beatification and canonization of Leonard
8 • August 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
LaRue/Brother Marinus was opened in March 2019 by Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, New Jersey. Father Lafleur’s sainthood cause was officially opened in September 2020 by Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana.
Father Joseph Verbis Lafleur
Brother Marinus
CNS PHOTOS: LEFT TO RIGHT: FACEBOOK; VATICAN MEDIA; COURTESY SALESIANUM SCHOOL VIA THE DIALOG
Sally Axworthy
CNS PHOTOS: TOP LEFT AND MIDDLE: PAUL HARING; TOP RIGHT: COURTESY GLOBAL CATHOLIC CLIMATE MOVEMENT WEBSITE; LOWER LEFT: COURTESY DIOCESE OF LAFAYETTE; LOWER RIGHT: COURTESY THE BEACON
Archbishop Paul Gallagher
Father Juan Antonio Orozco
Mattia Villardita and Pope Francis
FATHER JUAN ANTONIO OROZCO, 33, a Franciscan priest serving in Mexico, was shot to death on June 12 while on his way to celebrate Mass and provide sacraments to residents of a remote Mexican village. Bishop Luis Flores Calzada of Tepic said in a brief social media post that as Father Orozco drove in a rural region of western Durango state, “he entered the crossfire of two groups fighting over the Durango to Zacatecas highway.”
CNS PHOTOS: LEFT TO RIGHT: FACEBOOK; VATICAN MEDIA; COURTESY SALESIANUM SCHOOL VIA THE DIALOG
CNS PHOTOS: TOP LEFT AND MIDDLE: PAUL HARING; TOP RIGHT: COURTESY GLOBAL CATHOLIC CLIMATE MOVEMENT WEBSITE; LOWER LEFT: COURTESY DIOCESE OF LAFAYETTE; LOWER RIGHT: COURTESY THE BEACON
NEWS BRIEFS
POPE FRANCIS HAS NAMED Oblate Father Andrew Small secretary pro tempore of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. The commission, which is headed by Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, is a body of experts with input from survivors that makes proposals and spearheads initiatives to improve safeguarding norms and procedures throughout the Church. Its work is separate from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s investigation and canonical prosecution of clerics accused of abuse. ON JUNE 17, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced that it has fulfilled its remaining $3 million obligation to clergy abuse survivors ahead of schedule as part of its $210 million bankruptcy settlement. IN JUNE, SISTER MARY MARGARET KREUPER, 79, of Los Angeles agreed to plead guilty to fraud and money laundering charges for stealing over $835,000 in funds from St. James Catholic elementary school in Torrance, California, where she was the principal for 28 years. For a period of 10 years ending in September 2018, Sister Kreuper embezzled just over $835,000 to pay for personal expenses, including gambling trips. The two charges to which she pleaded guilty carry a maximum statutory penalty of 40 years in federal prison.
Miguel Bezos (left)
THE HOLY SEE WAS GRANTED non-Member State Observer status by the World Health Organization during the organization’s 74th World Health Assembly last May. As an observer, the Holy See will be able to participate in discussions but does “not have the right to vote or to put forward candidates.” THE VATICAN HAS GATHERED 16 young communication specialists to take part in the initiative “Faith Communication in the Digital World.” The 12-month program, sponsored by the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, will include meetings in Rome and online, and is designed to develop proposals that will address “the main problems and issues users currently face with the Internet,” according to the dicastery’s website. MIGUEL BEZOS, the immigrant father of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has donated $12 million to a Catholic school in Delaware that housed and educated him when he arrived as an unaccompanied minor from Cuba in the early 1960s, reported CNS. The senior Bezos attended Salesianum School in Wilmington, Delaware, after fleeing post-revolution Cuba, along with over 14,000 other minors brought to the United States through Operation Pedro Pan. The program was organized by the Catholic Church with the help of the US government. DURING HIS GENERAL AUDIENCE in the San Damaso Courtyard of the Apostolic Palace on June 23, Pope Francis met Mattia Villardita, 27, who was dressed as Spider-Man. Villardita, who dresses up in superhero costumes and visits children in hospitals, spoke with the pope for a few minutes and even gave him a Spider-Man mask. StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 9
SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS | ASK A FRANCISCAN Where to Start in Reading the Bible? What book in the Bible should I read first so as not to get lost or give up? n the Old Testament, you may want to start with the Book of Exodus (God leading the Hebrew people out of Egypt, making a covenant with them, and guiding them into a new land). In fact, one verse after the crossing of the Red Sea (15:21) is regarded by some scholars as the oldest text in the Bible. In the New Testament, you could start with the Gospel of Luke, which has given us angels and shepherds at the birth of Jesus, several of the most well-known parables (prodigal son and the good Samaritan, for example), Jesus appearing to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and the commission that the disciples preach to all nations repentance for the forgiveness of sins. I recommend that you read a translation that has good introductions to each book and cross-references to other biblical texts (perhaps for a second reading of these texts). The New American Bible and the New Revised Standard Version are very readable English translations and have the introductions and cross-references recommended above. You can “own” the Bible in a legal sense, but its real ownership belongs to God and the faith community that recognizes it as God’s unique self-revelation. Please remember that you are not reading court transcripts but rather faith accounts: God’s revelation conveyed via human words. If you get bogged down or discouraged at some point, you might take a break and explore the treasures in the Book of Psalms; there is at least one psalm that reflects the human mood you are feeling then.
By Pat McCloskey, OFM
Wrong Date?
Why does your online Saint of the Day feature have a different saint for that day compared to other books or websites?
I
ONLINE: FranciscanMedia.org/ Ask-a-Franciscan 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.
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WANT MORE? Visit: FranciscanMedia.org/ Ask-a-Franciscan
WE HAVE A DIGITAL archive of past Q & As. To get started, go to FranciscanMedia.org/ St-Anthony-Messenger/ Ask-Archives. Material is grouped thematically under headings such as forgiveness, prayer, saints, sacraments, and Scripture.
10 • August 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
O
ur Saint of the Day online feature (SaintoftheDay.org) is based on the Roman (worldwide) calendar, but we cannot follow that exactly for two reasons: 1. Sometimes the Church has two or more unrelated saints on the same day (e.g., August 2—Sts. Peter Julian Eymard and Eusebius of Vercelli). 2. There are many days for which the Roman calendar has not assigned a saint (e.g., August 3). In the first case, we move one of the saints (usually the more recent one) to a day on which no one has been assigned—as identified in the second case. In addition, the Church has approved liturgical calendars for specific countries, dioceses, and religious communities. For example, before Blessed John Paul II was canonized, celebrating his feast was authorized for October 22—but only for Poland, Italy, the United States, and any other country that had requested this permission. In such cases, Saint of the Day online follows the calendars approved for the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In the case of religious communities such as the Order of Friars Minor, Saint of the Day online uses the day assigned in the calendar approved by the Holy See for feasts not on the Roman calendar. I realize this may sound confusing, but because of the two reasons mentioned, that’s the best we can do because this feature is called Saint of the Day.
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Father Pat welcomes your questions!
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Pat McCloskey, OFM
Who goes there? How can we help them? urgatory is a state of cleansing so that people don’t enter heaven ready to “set straight” everyone who disagrees with them. It enables people not to complain who they sit next to or across from at the heavenly banquet. Imagine that two state senators who cast opposite votes recently died on the same day and were judged almost ready to be admitted to heaven. To the extent that they want to continue denigrating the other’s vote on that issue, to that extent they are not ready for heaven, where God will be quite enough for everyone there. Imagine a person who died with some racist feelings. Is she or he truly ready to sit opposite a person of that race? We help the souls in purgatory by praying for them and by living deeply in God’s truth now so that we won’t need a great deal of cleansing before we are ready to take our place at the heavenly banquet.
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Know that we care.
Let us pray for you. Submit your prayer requests to StAnthony.org or Franciscan.org.
Quick Questions and Answers
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What Is Purgatory?
What is the correct etiquette for drivers who are following or meeting a funeral procession? Here are four generally accepted rules: 1) Allow a procession to go through an intersection—even if it has a red light; 2) Do not cut into or honk at a funeral procession; 3) Do not cut off a funeral procession; and 4) Do not try to pass a funeral procession on the right when on a highway unless it is in the far left lane. The Apostles’ Creed says, “On the third day he rose again from the dead.” When was the first time? There wasn’t one. Sometimes a translation can include an extra word that obscures its meaning. That is the case here.
The Franciscan Friars, Province of St. John the Baptist 1615 Vine St, Ste 1 Cincinnati, OH 45202-6492 513-721-4700, ext. 3219 /StAnthonyShrine /ShrineStAnthony /StAnthonyShrine
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SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS | FOLLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS
ister Joan Brown, OSF, has always had a close relationon climate, sustainability, and justice. With others, she ship with the earth—quite literally, the soil that nurtures helped form the Tierra Madre community that combined crops, which provide sustenance for many. Growing up on a owner-built housing with care for the environment. The family farm near the small town of Olpe, Kansas, Sister Joan community was based on a preferential option for the poor learned early on about the interconnectedness and sacredand the earth, and Sister Joan’s experience there led her to ness of all creation. She was raised Catholic and participated “realize on a deeper level that structural change was needed in earthy Catholic rituals such as the blessing hand in hand with direct action and service.” of the fields, Rogation Days, and prayers for Upon completing a master’s in religion rain. During these formative years, Sister Joan and cosmology from the California Institute also developed a strong sense of justice and was of Integral Studies, Sister Joan returned to keenly aware of the notion of human dignity. New Mexico—this time to Albuquerque. Her Sister Joan became an advocate for her sister, new mission was to incorporate ministry with who was born with Down syndrome, helping spirituality and care for creation in response to ensure she received an education and was to climate change. For Sister Joan, being a treated with respect. Franciscan Catholic working for peace and After attending St. Mary’s College in justice can be a challenge, in part because of Kansas and working for a time in the busithe Church’s doctrine of discovery, its role Sister Joan Brown, OSF ness world, Sister Joan moved to Colorado in colonialism, and its history of mistreating where she became involved with the Volunteers in Diocesan indigenous peoples. Action (VIDA) in Pueblo. It was here that she first met the “Being a Franciscan means that I need to be part of a Rochester Franciscan Sisters. Sister Joan recalls, “I apprecihealing in the work that we do for past harms,” Sister Joan ated their focus on spirituality, creation, social justice, and says. “It requires soul-searching about injustice, racism, and outreach to the economically poor.” In 1980, Joan joined the how to be brother and sister when historically there has community and has been an active and respected member been such harm.” since then. Sister Ramona Miller—congregational minister and president of the community—describes Sister Joan as “a CONTAGIOUS JOY AND ENERGY compass for us to know our direction in care for our comIn 2005, amid the growing climate crisis, Sister Joan joined mon home. Attuned to creation with a Franciscan heart, with people of different faith traditions to form New Mexico she has made a difference in our congregation to be more Interfaith Power and Light, an affiliate of the national conscious of our need for advocacy for the reverence of all of Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) organization. IPL’s mission creation. It was her influence that led us to build solar energy is to inspire and mobilize people of faith and conscience to panels on our property and a parking lot with no runoff due take bold and just action on climate change. The organizato the use of permeable pavers.” tion embraces and promotes a spirituality grounded in the interconnectedness of the sacred, the natural world, and WORKING FOR JUSTICE IN THE SOUTHWEST one another. Susan Stephenson, executive director of IPL, Sister Joan returned to the Southwest after completing her formation and taking her vows in Rochester, Minnesota. “The Southwest offered me the addition of diverse cultures and so many challenges that [it] took over my heart early on and has been the path of my life,” she says. Sister Joan continued her commitment in Colorado by living in community with homeless women at Peace House, engaging in justice work as part of a resistance community, and helping to supervise at a soup kitchen. She also began to understand that her work needed to be focused on direct and compassionate service and systemic change. Sister Joan spent nearly a decade in Colorado Springs engaged in peace activism and nonviolent civil disobedience. Sister Joan lived for seven years in the border town of Sister Joan Brown (right) gives a presentation on the Paris Climate Agreement Sunland Park, New Mexico, where she continued her work at a January 2016 Interfaith Power and Light event.
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF SISTER JOAN BROWN, OSF
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A Champion of Stewardship
By Patrick Carolan
ST. ANTHONY
BREAD
FRANK JASPER, OFM
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.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SISTER JOAN BROWN, OSF
TOP: Sister Joan (right) stands with two women religious and Patrick Carolan—author of this profile—in front of the Vote Common Good bus outside an immigration rally in New Mexico. BOTTOM: The New Mexico affiliate of Interfaith Power and Light was formed in 2005. Sister Joan (far right) was pivotal in its formation.
describes Sister Joan as “a central thought leader for the IPL national organization and network for over a decade. Her voice is always one of wisdom and compassion, reminding us to center justice in our advocacy and programs. Her energy and joy in the work is infectious and her passion is fueled by her love for God’s creation and for our most vulnerable neighbors—a wonderful example of Franciscan values in action!” Sister Joan has been recognized as both a national and international leader and a powerful voice not just on environmental issues. In 2015, Sister Joan was honored by the White House as one of two Catholic leaders who were part of a small group of faith leaders recognized as Champions of Change for their work on environmental justice. Sister Marlene Perrotte, a Mercy sister who lives in community with Sister Joan, says: “Sister Joan is recognized as a faith leader who untiringly conveys faith responses to care for our home, planet Earth. She contributes to the mobilization of healing love for the earth community. We are so grateful for such a woman of faith.” When asked how St. Francis would view the state of the environment today, Sister Joan says: “I believe St. Clare would encourage St. Francis to have an equal working relationship with the sisters to inspire people toward beauty, joy, and collaboration; to act boldly across borders and boundaries to understand the deep mystical spiritual life force that connects all, which is cosmic love. Love would inspire them to walk humbly with others mentoring leadership, inspiring new forms of prayer and meaning of communion and work to care for our common home.”
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 “God is with us still.”
—Mother Xavier
Dubuque, Iowa
By Pat McCloskey, OFM
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he Dubuque Franciscan Sisters began in Herford, Germany. Mother Xavier founded their congregation in 1864 to care for orphans and the elderly. The sisters answered the call for nurses on the battlefields of the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars, receiving the Iron Cross in 1872 for their service. When Prussia’s 1875 May Laws called for religious communities either to disband or to go into exile, Mother Xavier and her band of 28 sisters decided to emigrate. The congregation first settled in Iowa City, Iowa, and established the first Catholic orphanage in the state. Dubuque became home in 1878, when Bishop John Hennessy invited the community to establish a diocesan orphanage. The sisters’ services expanded to include education, nursing, and a variety of social services. Today they are pastoral associates, spiritual directors, social workers, health-care workers, and volunteers in many organizations. In 2006, they launched the Sister Water Project, which has completed or restored over 260 well projects in Tanzania and 20 water systems in Honduras. The community can be contacted at osfdbq.org. —Thanks to Jessica Russo for assisting with this profile. Children from Tanzania’s Lukobe School gather around a Sister Water Project well in the village of Lukobe Goronya.
ST. ANTHONY STORIES
A Subtle Clue from St. Anthony
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n a chilly day last fall, I pulled on a hooded sweatshirt to go for a walk with my daughter. We walked along my usual path, which is about a mile or so. After returning home, I realized I lost one of my hearing aids. I started praying to St. Anthony to help me find it. I checked all around the house but couldn’t locate the hearing aid. That night, I prayed the rosary and added another prayer to St. Anthony. The next day, I took another walk along my usual path. About halfway through my regular loop, my foot kicked something. I looked down, but it was only a rock. I was disappointed. But then I had the thought that maybe St. Anthony was trying to communicate with me and give me a hint. I kept walking, but I decided I would stop where I kicked the rock when I came back around. When I looped back, I searched again, and there it was: my little brown hearing aid, on the side of the road. It had a few scratches, but at least it hadn’t been run over by a car. After returning home, I washed it off and inserted it into my ear—and it worked! Thank you, St. Anthony, for hearing my call for help. —Rose Huber, Floyds Knobs, Indiana
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SISTER MARY XAVIER TERMEHR
She founded a Franciscan community with a different name in Germany. All its members emigrated to Iowa in 1875. IN 1864, Sister Mary Xavier Termehr established the Sisters of Mercy of the Third Order of St. Francis to care for orphans. Prussia’s 1875 May Laws forced its 29 sisters to come to the United States, change their name to the Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Family, and settle in Iowa City. Having learned English quickly, the sisters soon became teachers or home nurses. They relocated their headquarters to Dubuque in 1878. The congregation staffed 28 schools by 1892, the year that Mother Xavier died. —Pat McCloskey, OFM
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FRANCISCAN WORLD
POINTSOFVIEW | EDITORIAL
By Christopher Heffron
The Year of Living Dangerously
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oward Unruh woke up on the morning of September 6, 1949, with a plan. After breakfast, the 28-year-old went for a walk in his Camden, New Jersey, neighborhood with a Lugar and an eight-round magazine. In less than 15 minutes, he shot 16 people indiscriminately; 13 would die from their injuries. Mass shootings predate this rampage, but none were as deadly. Unruh, it seems, started a trend. As this is being written, on the 179th day of the year, there have been 310 mass shootings in this country. Let that sink in: Gun violence is outpacing the days of the year. Even COVID-19’s restrictions couldn’t slow the rise in gun sales or gun violence—and this year is trending worse. Experts predict 2021 will be the deadliest on record. FedEx buildings, retail chains, restaurants, even wakes have become killing fields. “America the beautiful” has developed an ugly problem.
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HARD TRUTHS
written long before assault weapons and bump stocks, nor does it advise Americans on gun trafficking, background checks, or legislation. Last June, in fact, the state of Texas allowed for handgun ownership without a license, despite the objections of law enforcement organizations and gun control advocates. Iowa, Montana, and Tennessee have passed similar gun laws. And for what? Firearms, statistically, do not make us safer. According to a review in the Annals of Internal Medicine, even a properly stored firearm in the home doubles the risk of homicide and triples the risk of suicide. While gun rights should be protected for responsible owners (the vast majority of whom will never commit acts of mass violence), the right to stay alive is a higher priority. Put simply: Your right to carry a gun does not outweigh my right to not be killed by one. LOVE HELD BACK
When COVID-19 vaccines rolled out The Church is clear on this issue. ahead of schedule, Americans should have In their 2020 document, “A Mercy celebrated. Instead, we got aggressive. and Peacebuilding Approach to Gun Reports show that gun violence spiked in Violence,” the US bishops said that the the spring and has been rising ever since. Church “recognizes that recourse to selfIn the first five months of the year, in fact, defense is legitimate for one’s own safety. over 8,000 people died from gun violence. In today’s world, however, weapons that Given how these attacks always peak in are increasingly capable of inflicting great the summertime, firing weapons might suffering in a short period of time are replace baseball as our national pastime. simply too accessible.” With gun violence But how do we define the problem? Accessibility is only one aspect of the on the rise, we as a The Gun Violence Archive, a nonpartisan crisis. There are others, including poverty, nation find ourselves think tank in Washington, DC, says that racial inequities, drugs, the mass media— at a crossroads. mass shootings are an American phenomthe list is long. But ambivalence to human enon and defines it as a gun-related incilife should be included. dent where there are “four victims shot, Indifference eats away at our culture, either injured or killed, not including any shooter.” Other but it’s hardly a 21st-century invention. Unruh, the New forms of gun violence, such as suicide, person-to-person, or Jersey shooter, was analyzed by doctors who looked for a domestic violence are categorized differently. motive and a measure of humanity. They would find neither. In the wake of these tragedies, voices always rise to a In one session, Unruh told a psychologist his only regret was howl. Second Amendment apologists blame mental illness a lack of ammunition. He is reported to have looked at his for the epidemic, but according to the National Alliance on doctor vacantly and said, “I’d have killed a thousand.” Mental Health (NAMI), it’s a weak argument. “Most people Apathy is alive and well in this century—and it’s armed. with mental health conditions will never become violent, But love is stronger, even when it’s neglected. and mental illness does not cause most gun violence,” NAMI Poet and historian Aberjhani wrote that the “world’s reports. “Mental illness contributes to only about 4 peranguish is no different from the love we insist on holding cent of all violence, and the contribution to gun violence back.” These words ring true: When one person decides to is even lower.” end the lives of others, love is held back. When the body While the Constitution is clear that “the right of the of Christ is shot, it’s a shared wound. We all feel it. And the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” it was bleeding needs to stop. StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 15
POINTSOFVIEW | AT HOME ON EARTH
By Kyle Kramer
Praised Be You, Our Mothers
Kyle Kramer
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Francis and Pope Francis, I want to connect others have been on my mind and in my heart lately. A few months ago, more deeply with the earth as our mother. I’m trying to learn what that means. my beloved wife’s mom passed away. Cyndi grieves this loss at the same time she conLike our human mothers, Mother Earth templates her own changing role and identity gives birth to us all. She knits us together in her womb, growing the seeds of our being in as a mother of soon-to-be-adult children. My mother is still living, but age and a long her soil, forming us from the dust of ancient stars, gathering atoms and struggle with incurable cancer have left their marks. I worry molecules, imbuing them about her in ways I never with the divine miracle of life Generous and itself—this amazing organism did when she was younger that is our body, animated and more robust. strong as Mother Because mothers have by God’s breath and bearEarth is, she’s also been so front and center in ing God’s image. vulnerable, just Some mothers are neglectmy consciousness, I’m also like our human thinking a lot about our ful or even abusive, but most mothers. mothers instinctively nurture “sister Mother Earth,” as St. Francis of Assisi described and protect their children. So our world in his famous does Mother Earth. She pro“Canticle of the Sun.” Even vides everything we need to thrive, from the “various fruit with coloured though I’ve given most of my adult life to caring for the earth, I’ve mostly tended toward flowers and herbs” praised by St. Francis, to the breathable air, drinkable water, shielding the pronoun “it” rather than “she.” Maybe I was afraid of being heretical or anthropocenfrom cosmic radiation, and the vast array of tric. Or maybe, which I think is more likely, complex conditions that make life on this I’ve just been too up in my head. planet possible. Flourishing isn’t just about resources; it’s about community. Mother Earth connects A SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE us to the broader web of life and all of the But that has really begun to shift, especially as I’ve been connecting more with my own aging beautiful, reciprocal relationships that are the threads of that web. From the microorganisms mother and walking with Cyndi through the in our own gut biome to the society of fellow grief of losing hers. Following the lead of St.
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EarthandSpiritCenter.org
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TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF KYLE KRAMER; TOP: SIDNEY BERNSTEIN/ISTOCK
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 Making Room: Soul-Deep Satisfaction through Simple Living (Franciscan Media, 2021). 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.
human creatures to the wider community of our local and global ecosystem, she ensures that we have a place of belonging. Mother Earth may be kind and generous, but, like all good mothers, she can be strict. She sets firm limits, rules, and boundaries for us, written indelibly in the laws of physics and biology. When we take more than she is able or willing to give us, there are consequences. When we fail to abide by the rules of her house, she enforces those rules, sometimes with overwhelming ferocity. Generous and strong as Mother Earth is, she’s also vulnerable, just like our human mothers. For me, one of the most profound experiences of midlife has been the stillunfolding transition in which my mother, who has given me so much (and still does), increasingly needs my help as her strength diminishes. Mother Earth also needs our care, not because age has weakened her, but because we have abused her generosity.
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BECOMING BETTER CHILDREN
How can we become better children of our Mother Earth? I think it starts, as most good things do, with gratitude. For far too long, busy with my own concerns, I took for granted the many ways my mom has helped me flourish. In her waning years, I’m so glad I have a chance to tell her and show her, as often and in as many ways as I can, how much I love her and how grateful I am for all she’s done for me. We can do the same thing for Mother Earth. Every day can be a chance to thank the good earth for creating, nurturing, protecting, connecting, and sustaining us. Our gratitude to Mother Earth shouldn’t just be a vague notion. Right now, because we have been neglectful children, Mother Earth is sick and in deep distress. Our gratitude needs to take the shape of practical, individual, and collective actions that will stop causing her harm and will undo the damage we’ve done. We can all express our thankfulness in the choices we make about how to live as responsible members of the earth community, from the food we eat, to the jobs we do, to the policies we support. Honoring Mother Earth isn’t just about moral choices, though—about doing the “right” thing. What my mom needs and wants most from me at this stage in her life is not just ensuring that she is cared for, but loving her, plain and simple: remembering to call her, making sure to spend time with her, listening to her stories, telling her how much she means to me. Doing these things has brought me so much joy, far more than any professional achievement or consumer
purchase. I’m trying to have the same kind of relationship with Mother Earth, based not on duty, but on love and presence. Learning how to love Mother Earth is a long journey, with many missteps—as there always are in any loving relationship. But I take some comfort that along this journey, we can learn from so many wise mothers: hopefully our own mothers, Mother Earth, and, of course, Mother Mary. And the greatest comfort of all is that we, along with all of our mothers, are together in a beautiful belonging, held in the arms of Creator God, who is loving Mother and Father of us all.
HELPFUL
TIPS
WAYS TO HONOR OUR MOTHERS
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Connecting to Mary can be a powerful way to connect also to the mother energy in human mothers, in Mother Earth, and in God. If you already have a Marian devotion, consider it in this light. If you don’t, consider starting one. The rosary is a great place to start.
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If your mother is still alive, consider how you might reach out to her to strengthen your relationship—especially if that relationship is difficult. What needs to be healed, forgiven, or released for you to have the best relationship you can with her? StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 17
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THE BLACK MADONNA SHRINE One Franciscan’s 23-year labor of love to honor Mary has become an oasis of peace in the foothills of the Missouri Ozarks. Story and photography by Richard Bauman
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rother Bronislaus Luszcz was a man with a mission—a mission to create a shrine to honor the Black Madonna of Czestochowa. He had such a great devotion to Mary, especially as Our Lady of Czestochowa, that he spent 23 years, working alone, building the shrine. The result is an open-air church and a series of hillside grottoes dedicated to St. Francis, St. Joseph, Mary, the Holy Family, and events in the life of Christ. Brother Bronislaus was among six Franciscan Missionary Brothers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus who came from Poland to the St. Louis area in 1927 at the behest of Cardinal John J. Glennon. Their mission was to build and operate the St. Joseph Hill Infirmary, a
nursing home for men. Situated on 200 acres of wooded land in the rolling hills of the Ozarks, the site is near Eureka, Missouri, and about 40 miles southwest of St. Louis. Ten years after arriving in America, Brother Bronislaus started clearing a hillside adjacent to the now-closed infirmary where he would create the Black Madonna Shrine. THE BLACK MADONNA’S HISTORY
The icon of the Black Madonna dates to early Christianity. Tradition says St. Luke painted the image of Mary holding the infant Jesus onto a cypress tabletop that came from the Holy Family’s home. Christians in Jerusalem venerated the icon for about 300 years. When
OPPOSITE PAGE: The icon of the Black Madonna that hangs above the altar in the Chapel of the Hills is one of several Black Madonna icons in the chapel. BELOW: The Chapel of the Hills at the Black Madonna Shrine features a mosaic on the wall behind the altar. The mosaic was created by Frederick Henze, a friend of Brother Bronislaus. On the lower right is the icon that had hung above the altar in Our Lady of Czestochowa in St. Louis.
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The grotto of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is more ornate than the others and incorporates seashells, colorful rocks, and bits of colored glass.
St. Helena went to the Holy Land, searching for the True Cross of Jesus, she came upon the Black Madonna icon. She brought it to Constantinople in 326 and gave it to her son, Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor of Rome. The Black Madonna remained in a chapel in Constantinople for about 500 years. Over the course of nearly 900 years it was moved several times before it came to Czestochowa, in what is now Poland. To protect the icon from invading Tartars in 1382, Prince Ladislaus Opolski, the duke of Opole, planned to move it to his castle in Upper Silesia, but it never got there. When the horses pulling the wagon carrying the icon reached the crest of a hill in Czestochowa, they stopped dead and wouldn’t budge. No amount of pushing, pulling, or coaxing would get them to move. That night, Prince Opolski had a vision in which Mary told him to build a chapel for the icon on that hilltop. The chapel was built and eventually grew to be
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Jasna Góra (Bright Hill) Monastery. The icon has survived fires and even physical attacks. In 1430, invading Hussites sacked the monastery; among the treasure they took was the Black Madonna. It was loaded into a wagon, but the horses stood stock-still. The raiders tossed the painting off the wagon, and only then did the horses begin to move. One soldier slashed the icon with his sword, creating two cuts on Mary’s right cheek. When he went to strike it again, he dropped dead. His cohorts fled, abandoning him and the icon at road’s edge. That original icon is still at the Jasna Góra Monastery. Due to the primitive paints used to create it, it has become dulled and darkened with age. Not to mention the icon has been through at least one major fire, and the smoke from innumerable candles and incense has contributed to further darkening the image. The title “Black Madonna” is actually a nickname given to the icon because of the
darker skin tones of Mary and the infant Jesus. Mary, Jesus, and Joseph lived in a hot, arid climate, so their skin tones would naturally have been brown or olive. THE BLACK MADONNA SHRINE
Brother Bronislaus was 44 years old when he started his 23-year labor of love creating the Black Madonna Shrine to honor Mary and the ancient icon. Whether he was sweating under the stifling heat and humidity of Missouri summers or enduring the bone-chilling cold of winter, he consistently worked on the shrine and worked alone. The first thing he built, however, was a cedar wood chapel with a reproduction of the famous icon hanging above the altar. The chapel became a place of religious devotion, and pilgrimages to the shrine were common. Prayer services and Mass were celebrated there for about 20 years. In 1958, the chapel was destroyed by arson. All that remained of it were embers and ashes.
THE GROTTOES
After finishing the chapel, Brother Bronislaus plunged into building seven massive grottoes. They are nestled on a hillside on the shrine’s grounds. Each is handcrafted from concrete and a ragged, multicolored stone known as Missouri tiff rock. In most of the grottoes he also incorporated seashells, costume jewelry, ceramic figurines, and even colorful, crystalline geodes. He used gelatin molds, baking pans, and coffee cans to create some of the concrete decorations. Brother Bronislaus mixed every batch of concrete himself, and he carefully placed the stones and embellishments in each grotto. He had no formal plans for any of them—he prayed for guidance and then went to work. Though they are similar to one another and incorporate the same kind of materials and adornments, each grotto is unique. Where did he get the plethora of jewelry, gems, and other items for his shrines? As his work became known, he received donations
TOP: As he built shrines, Brother Bronislaus started using more elaborate decorations on the grottoes. For example, on the grotto dedicated to St. Joseph, he created starfish-like designs embellished with pieces of glass, buttons, and other eyecatching items. BOTTOM: The grottoes of St. Francis (right) and St. Joseph (left) can be seen from the entrance to the self-guided tour at the shrine.
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Visitor Information THERE IS NO admission charge to visit the Black Madonna Shrine and Grottoes, although donations are appreciated. The shrine has a gift shop but receives no financial support from either the diocese or any parish. The shrine’s mailing address is: 100 St. Joseph Hill Road Pacific, MO 63069 The hours of operation currently are: May–Sept.: 9 a.m.–7 p.m. April and Oct.: 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Nov.–March: 9 a.m.–4 p.m. For further information, to get Mass times, and to verify the shrine’s hours of operation, call 636-938-5361 or visit the shrine’s website, FranciscanCaring.org. If you are driving to the shrine and using GPS, the address to use is: 265 St. Joseph Hill Road Pacific, MO 63069
In the Mother’s Sanctuary, there is a small waterfall and a statue of the Blessed Mother holding an infant in her arms.
of all kinds from visidepicting an angel sent tors, people throughout from his Father. the country, and even A short distance from missionaries in from the statue of foreign countries. The Christ are statues St. Francis Grotto, portraying Peter, for example, includes James, and John several small bird sleeping through figurines that were Christ’s agony in the donated by visitors. Garden of Gethsemane. Brother Bronislaus’ The Our Lady of labor of love came to Sorrows Grotto is the an end on August 12, first grotto Brother 1960. He was trying to Bronislaus built. He finish the grotto to Our erected and tore it Lady of Fatima when The grotto dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi features down several times he apparently suffered before he was satisfied native tiff rock and donated materials. heatstroke. He probably with it. It isn’t as ornate realized he was dying as the later grottoes, and left a trail of hand tools as he staggered but its white altar stone is from the original several hundred feet uphill to the grotto of monastery chapel. Our Lady of Perpetual Help. That’s where the A path leads to the Mother’s Sanctuary, other brothers found his body that evening. which is just above the Our Lady of Sorrows Grotto. There is a pond in the midst of some trees, and on its far side is a statue of Mary VISITING THE BLACK MADONNA SHRINE cradling the infant Jesus in her arms. Originally the shrine and grottoes were built The Chapel of the Hills has a plethora of as a place of solitude, meditation, and prayer art dedicated to Our Lady of Czestochowa. for the brothers. Today people visit the Black There’s a mosaic wall behind the altar creMadonna Shrine for the same reasons. They ated by Frederick Henze, a friend of Brother come to get away from the busyness and Bronislaus. There is also a painting commisbusiness of the day. They come to pray and sioned by Cardinal Stefen Wyszynski, the reflect, to find serenity in the world of chaos. “It’s a place to sit and listen to the quiet,” former primate of Poland, that was donated one visitor said. to replace the painting destroyed in the cedar In the mid-1960s, the Chapel of the Hills wood chapel fire. It arrived just a few weeks was built to replace the shrine’s burned-out before Brother Bronislaus died. chapel. It’s an open-air church where visitors Cardinal John Carberry of St. Louis can see the expanse of Brother Bronislaus’ donated a glass-encased icon of Our Lady handiwork. From there, too, they can embark of Czestochowa thought to be between 200 on a self-guided tour of the grottoes. and 300 years old. It had originally hung At the Bridge, the first stop on the tour’s over the altar of the Church of Our Lady path, visitors can see above and to their left of Czestochowa in St. Louis. The church the Crucifixion and Gethsemane Grottoes. was razed in the mid-1960s to make way The Crucifixion Grotto’s crucifix has become for Interstate 55. a local landmark. Hikers use it as a point of The Black Madonna Shrine and its grottoes reference as they trek through the nearby are an example of what one person with faith, woods, and lost hikers have used it as a determination, and a willingness to work can guide to safety. do. And each grotto is a solid statement of Every grotto at the shrine is worth visitBrother Bronislaus Luszcz’s love for God and ing, but certain ones resonate in a special way Our Blessed Mother. with most visitors. The Gethsemane Grotto, for example, depicts Christ’s hours of praying Richard Bauman is a writer and photographer who resides just before his betrayal. There is a large, white in West Covina, California. A self-described “history sleuth,” statue of Christ kneeling in prayer, and above he enjoys visiting, photographing, and writing about lesserhim on an outcropping is another statue known historical sites across the United States.
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We are called to carry on the prophetic mission of Jesus in word and deed, even when it places us at odds with the culture. By Mark Etling, PhD
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n our day, we have seen and heard about men and women who embody the prophetic spirit of the Judeo-Christian faith: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, Nelson Mandela, Jean Donovan, Archbishop Oscar Romero. Because of their extraordinary lives, it’s easy to distance ourselves from them, to consider them somehow superhuman, and therefore to excuse ourselves from having to imitate them in any serious way. But in reality, each of us is called, within the circumstances of our everyday lives, to be a prophet. In this article, I will discuss what it means to be a prophet in the JudeoChristian tradition, the source of our call to prophetic witness, and the specific ways we can carry out Jesus’ prophetic mission in every aspect of our lives.
WHAT IS A PROPHET?
Many of us were taught that prophets were seers who foretold God’s actions centuries before they took place. In Isaiah
7:14, the prophet declares to King Ahaz, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel.” This, we were told, was a prediction of the coming of Jesus more than 700 years later. But over the past several decades, biblical scholars have given us a different and more accurate portrait of the Old Testament prophets—one that views them as persons of deep insight rather than foresight. THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS
Although the times, places, and circumstances of their ministries differ greatly, the careers of the Old Testament prophets follow a similar pattern: 1. The prophet is called by God. Isaiah relates that he received his call in a vision. Typical of the prophets, he declares his unworthiness. But this does not deter God. He asks, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 23
“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”
Immediately Isaiah responds, “Here I am . . . send me!” (Is 6:8). 2. The prophet understands the terms and sacredness of the Mount Sinai covenant between God and God’s people. At the same time, the prophet sees that God’s people are not keeping their covenant promises. 3. The prophet fearlessly confronts the chosen people and their leaders with the reality of their sinfulness and corruption. He predicts dire consequences for their failure to repent and reform their lives. 4. The prophet is ignored, rejected, or persecuted. JESUS THE PROPHET
Catholics may not be accustomed to thinking of Jesus as a prophet. Yet, in many ways, his message and ministry follow the same pattern as the prophets of the Old Testament. A dramatic scene in the Gospel of Luke illustrates Jesus’ awareness of his prophetic call. At a Sabbath service in the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus read from Isaiah: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. 24 • August 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (4:18–19). Jesus then declared, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (4:21). By quoting from Isaiah, Jesus acknowledged his clear understanding of the Mount Sinai covenant. At the same time, Jesus proclaimed the establishment of a new covenant between God and his people: the reign of God. Jesus’ reign-of-God movement redefined God’s relationship with his people. Although in continuity with the Mount Sinai covenant, it was radically different in two important ways. First, Jesus declared that God would overcome Roman tyranny not by the use of force, but through nonviolent resistance. Second, God would not swoop down out of heaven to fix the world. Jesus said it was up to God’s people to usher in the reign of God through the practice of radical love—agape. Jesus was keenly aware of the sins and shortcomings of the people of his own times. He was particularly critical of the religious
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The sun rises over Mount Sinai, where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, establishing a covenant with his people.
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Isaiah 4:18–19
leaders of Israel: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are filled with dead men’s bones and every kind of filth” (Mt 23:27). As we know, Jesus suffered a fate even worse than the rejection and persecution heaped upon the Old Testament prophets. In the Gospel of John, the high priest Caiaphas declares: “It is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish” (Jn 11:50). LIVING OUT OUR PROPHETIC CALL
Jesus has completed his prophetic mission on earth. Now he entrusts us, his followers, to carry on his prophetic work in the world. Just like Jesus and the Old Testament prophets, our prophetic call is from God. It came to us in our Baptism. When a newly baptized person is anointed with the oil of chrism, these words are spoken: “As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet, and King, so may you live always as a member of his body, sharing everlasting life.” Believers continue Christ’s prophetic mission in two ways: First, we are heralds of a new age, a radically different way of being in the world—the reign of God. Second, we bear witness to the reign of God by living as though it were already here in all its fullness. Our call to share in the prophetic mission of Christ involves every aspect of our lives, including:
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PROPERTY
In 1967, Pope Paul VI cited St. Ambrose to illustrate the Catholic teaching on property ownership: “You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his. You have been appropriating things that are meant to be for the common use of everyone. The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich” (“Populorum Progressio,” 23). The American idea of property ownership is that we can own as much as we can lawfully obtain and use our property in any way we want. The Catholic notion of ownership holds us to a different—prophetic—standard. The right of
all persons to have what they need in order to thrive takes precedence over the right of ownership. Each of us is called to assess honestly how much we need to sustain our lives and then to share the remainder with our brothers and sisters in need. The Church’s teaching on property compels us to ask ourselves difficult questions. How much money and how many material possessions are enough? How much of my selfworth is tied to what I have? How generous am I with my time, talents, and treasure? Do I see my possessions as gifts to be shared with people in need? THE ECONOMY
We Americans are conditioned to think in purely capitalistic terms—especially when it comes to the acceptability of maximizing profit. But in 1986, the US bishops reminded us that Christians need to use a different standard of measurement in economic decision-making: “Every economic decision and institution must be judged in light of whether it protects or undermines the dignity of the human person. . . . We judge any economic system by what it does for and to people and by how it permits all to participate in it. The economy should serve people, not the other way around” (“Economic Justice for All,” 13). In the economic sphere, our prophetic call as Christians is unambiguous: people over profits. Our deliberation on economic issues should consider first and foremost their impact on people, especially the poor. This is a clearly prophetic stance in our ultracapitalist, consumerist culture. THE ENVIRONMENT
We Americans have become so consumption- and convenience-driven that it’s difficult for us to simplify our lives. Yet that is our prophetic call in light of the global climate crisis. Pope Francis urges us to heal our broken relationship with the natural world by nurturing it and restoring it to health. We are further called to a closer and more caring relationship with our brothers and sisters most directly affected by climate change—the poor and those who have become “climate refugees” because their homelands are unlivable. StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 25
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Pope Francis urges us to heal our broken relationship with the natural world by nurturing it and restoring it to health.
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As Pope Francis writes: “Our goal is . . . to become painfully aware, to dare to turn what is happening to the world into our own personal suffering and thus to discover what each of us can do about it” (“Laudato Si’,” 19). Do we ever think about shopping for groceries as a prophetic act? It can be, if we take the time to seek out locally grown foods, which require less energy to grow and ship, and remember to bring our reusable bags to the store. POLITICAL LIFE
Politics in America is always messy. That said, the Church affirms that we have both a right and a duty as citizens to participate in the political process. We don’t have the luxury of standing on the sidelines in the face of our current political situation, no matter how frustrating or divisive it is. Nor is it easy to decide which candidates best embody Christian values. How can a Catholic vote in good conscience for a pro-choice candidate? At the same time, climate change is a clear and present danger to our lives and to future generations. And how can we tolerate human rights abuses against families on our southern border? Bishop Robert McElroy of the Diocese of San Diego has offered timely moral guidance regarding our prioritization of political and moral issues. In an address in February 2020 at the University of San Diego, he said: “Seen against this background of abortion, climate change, and the culture of exclusion, it is clear that the faith-filled voter who seeks to be guided by Catholic social teaching is confronted by compelling moral claims that cut across the partisan and cultural divides of our nation. The pathway from these cross-cutting moral claims to decisions on particular candidates is not a direct and singular one in Catholic teaching, rooted in one issue. For this reason, the drive to label a single issue preeminent distorts the call to authentic discipleship in voting rather than advancing it.” We can be a prophetic voice in American political life by taking an active role in the process, making our voting decisions based on sound moral principles rather than party affiliation, and promoting the common good through our participation in the political process.
loving, faith-filled members of the body of Christ. The prophetic family models its decisions and behaviors regarding property, the economy, the environment, and political life on the principles of Catholic social teaching. In so doing, it bears witness to a very different style of life—one that makes real the reign of God on earth.
Because we are called by our Baptism to be prophets, Catholics should look and act differently in the world. Like the prophets of the Old Testament and Jesus, we are commissioned to deliver an often unpopular, countercultural message—in word and deed—to a world that will likely respond with indifference or hostility. And we must be willing to endure the consequences for our acceptance of the prophetic call. But our baptismal faith impels us. We are prophets because we have the conviction, born of hope, that the world can be better—and the duty to do our part to help transform it. Mark Etling, PhD, is coordinator of adult faith formation at St. Nicholas Parish in O’Fallon, Illinois, and an adjunct professor of theology at the School for Professional Studies at St. Louis University. Learn more about him at MarkEtling.org.
Meet St. Clare of Assisi!
St. Clare’s feast day is August 11.
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THE FAMILY
In his 1981 apostolic exhortation, “Familiaris Consortio,” Pope John Paul II described the family as “the first and vital cell of society” (42). The family is the “hothouse” in which spouses, parents, and children learn to be Christians—the Church in miniature. There are many ways the family can give prophetic witness. Married love that is unconditional, faithful, and exclusive mirrors the love of God for each of us. By living simply, families witness to their belief that trust in God is more important than possessions, success, or status. When parents raise their children in an environment of love, structure, and stability, they are preparing them to be good citizens and
In Light of Assisi, Margaret Carney, OSF, weaves together Clare’s story and Francis’ story and draws attention to Clare’s significant contribution to the Franciscan world.
ORDER TODAY AT shop.franciscanmedia.org. Use the code LightofAssisi20 for 20% off. StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 27
From Convert to Cardinal: The Journey of
ABOVE: On May 21, 2019, then-Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory was installed as the head of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Here he smiles during the procession after his Mass of Installation. Eighteen months later, he was named a cardinal by Pope Francis. He says that his service to the people of Washington, DC, “brings joy to my heart.” OPPOSITE PAGE: The motto on Cardinal Gregory’s coat of arms, “We are the Lord’s,” comes from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, 14:8.
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OPPOSITE PAGE: PHOTO COURTESY CATHOLIC STANDARD/ANDREW BIRAJ; THIS PAGE: CREATIVE COMMONS 2.5 GENERIC/SAJOR
Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory
Inspired by his Catholic schoolteachers, Wilton Gregory dreamed of becoming a priest. Last year, Pope Francis named him the first Black US cardinal. By Christopher Gunty
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OPPOSITE PAGE: PHOTO COURTESY CATHOLIC STANDARD/ANDREW BIRAJ; THIS PAGE: CREATIVE COMMONS 2.5 GENERIC/SAJOR
s a sixth-grade student at St. Carthage Catholic School on Chicago’s South Side, Wilton Gregory, a nonCatholic, was inspired by the priests and nuns who served the parish school. He announced that he wanted to be a Catholic priest. He received his first Communion at the Easter Vigil when he was 11 years old. “I wasn’t born a Catholic,” he explained recently to a group of second graders. “I was very excited because I really wanted to be a Catholic. I’m still trying.” Late last year, Pope Francis elevated Archbishop Wilton Gregory to the College of Cardinals, making him the first Black cardinal in the United States. CLIMBING THE LADDER
In the years just after the close of Vatican II, the future cardinal went through the seminary system in the Archdiocese of Chicago, including Quigley Preparatory Seminary South, a high school; Niles College of Loyola; and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois. As one of few Black students in the system, life was not always easy, and he “took some guff,” recalls a classmate, Father Dominic Grassi, now retired from parish ministry. After ordination as a priest in 1973 at age 25, Father Gregory earned a doctorate in sacred liturgy at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute (Sant’Anselmo) in Rome and later returned to Mundelein as a professor. The future bishop
handled adversity “with such grace and kindness,” Father Grassi says. “He’s a kind man. He overcame a lot more than anyone could expect.” Cardinal Gregory was the youngest bishop in the country when he was appointed auxiliary bishop of his home archdiocese in 1983. He later served as bishop of the Diocese of Belleville, a mix of urban and rural areas in southern Illinois (1994–2005); archbishop of Atlanta (2005– 2019); and since May 2019, as archbishop of Washington, DC. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals on November 28, 2020. AT THE HELM DURING THE SEX-ABUSE CRISIS
From 2001 to 2004, then-Bishop Gregory served as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops during a particularly difficult time for the Church. In response to the child sexual abuse crisis, he shepherded the conference through approval and implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and the accompanying “Essential Norms for Diocesan/Eparchial Policies Dealing with Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests or Deacons.” Paula Gwynn Grant, who served as director of communications for the Archdiocese of Atlanta under Cardinal Gregory and is now secretary for communications for the Archdiocese of Washington, was working in county government public relations in Georgia at that time. She recalls
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environments where children and vulnerable young people are safe. “I think we’ve done a lot. I would be less than honest if I did not applaud the hard work that my brother bishops have engaged in and, in many places, have provided wonderful programs of protection and respect. But we have to do more.” The abuse crisis is particularly painful in Cardinal Gregory’s current residence, the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. He picked up the reins from his predecessor, Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, after another former archbishop, Theodore E. McCarrick, was removed from the College of Cardinals and laicized after revelations that he had abused young seminarians and priests as well as at least one minor during his rise through the clerical ranks. The Vatican’s McCarrick Report—specifically examining how a priest with allegations of misconduct and other warning signs could have risen to the rank of cardinal—was released just 18 days before the consistory in which Cardinal Gregory received his red hat. “I left for the trip to the consistory as the archbishop [of Washington]. And when I returned, I was still the archbishop, and my priests and deacons and laypeople need to know that that’s what brings joy to my heart,” the cardinal says. “I’ve only been here not quite two years . . . but I’ve grown to love this community deeply and to see its great legacy
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OPPOSITE PAGE: Pope Francis presents a ring to new Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory during a consistory for the creation of 13 new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica, November 28, 2020.
watching the bishops’ Dallas meeting on TV and seeing Bishop Gregory: “I watched that on C-SPAN with our 1-year-old and 5-yearold and my husband and I asked, ‘What’s going on in our Church?’ . . . The pain of all of that and trying to process and understand all of that, you know, was a lot for all of us.” At that point, she had no idea that she would be working for the Church one day, would meet that particular bishop, and would work with him. “He listens so well, and he’s very intentional about what he does after he has heard,” she says. “He doesn’t just hear from people from any one group. He listens to all of the various opinions. . . . We know many people who don’t have the gift of listening. I recognize that I’m watching a gift.” The Church’s work on the charter, begun in 2002 in the shadows of the Boston Globe report on clergy sexual abuse, remains an important topic for Cardinal Gregory. He acknowledges that it’s a long process. “We won’t do enough until people feel listened to and healed,” he said in an early 2021 interview. He related a recent conversation with his sisters in which one recalled that she had asked him in 2002, as the charter was being crafted, when the scandals would be over. “And my response then and my response now is: not in our lifetime, because we really do have to take it seriously,” the cardinal says. “We have to prepare and then sustain
PHOTO COURTESY CATHOLIC STANDARD/ANDREW BIRAJ
ABOVE: During the Rite of Reception, then-Archbishop Gregory knocks on the cathedral door with a mallet, before being welcomed inside for his first Mass in Washington on May 26, 2019. At left is Father Conrad Murphy, his priest secretary at the time.
and its heritage and also to experience its embarrassment, its anger, its disappointment, [and] sorrow over the events that involved former Cardinal McCarrick. “But I also see the goodness of this diocese and its people. And my responsibility is to build on that faith heritage and to acknowledge and ask forgiveness for that which has so damaged the credibility and the trust of people in Church leadership. I have to try to the best of my ability to reestablish trust, and that’s a long process. Trust takes a long time to establish, and it can be lost in the twinkling of an eye.”
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PHOTO COURTESY CATHOLIC STANDARD/ANDREW BIRAJ
A LEADER WHO LISTENS
Msgr. James Margason, pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Shiloh, Illinois, and St. Joseph’s in Lebanon, Illinois, believes the cardinal is the right man for the job in Washington. Msgr. Margason served as vicar general for then-Bishop Gregory when he came to the Diocese of Belleville; the two had met while they were both studying in Rome. “He had some things to learn. We were in the middle of the sex-abuse crisis. But he came from Chicago where Cardinal [Joseph L.] Bernardin had set the bar for how to handle it,” Msgr. Margason says, referring to the Archdiocese of Chicago’s policy in the early 1990s for handling allegations of sexual abuse by clergy, one of the first of its kind in the nation. The pastor says Cardinal Gregory’s acceptance of the appointment to Washington in the wake of the McCarrick scandal reveals his character. “If the Church is going to ask him to do something, he’s going to respond in a positive way. . . . My sense is that he is working really hard at serving the people of the archdiocese [to] bring some healing to them after what they have experienced. He’s very focused on serving the local church.” Though he is not afraid to face difficult situations head-on, Cardinal Gregory is energized by and passionate about people—especially young people. He loves visiting Catholic schools and celebrating Confirmations. Grant, who works with Cardinal Gregory in Washington, DC, notes that the cardinal “lights up” when he has a chance to be with young people. She says, “If he’s going to one of our Catholic schools, you see him light up because of the students and teaching and
talking about the faith and hearing their point of view, and saying Mass.” She emphasizes that the cardinal’s dedication to education—especially Catholic education—comes from the fact that he was inspired to become a Catholic and a priest in a Catholic school and that he is a teacher himself. Deacon Dennis Dorner, chancellor of the Atlanta Archdiocese, worked with then-Archbishop Gregory. He says: “We had a relationship where he expected me to speak what was on my mind. Even if we weren’t in agreement, when you left the room, you were OK with the decision.” Grant emphasizes the cardinal’s attentiveness to others. As the cardinal takes in other points of view, he is keenly aware that he cannot make everyone happy, but he shows respect by hearing people out, she notes. “As a woman working in the Church, I want to say it is very nice to work for an executive who asks me what my thoughts are and what my guidance is on various matters, even those matters that fall outside of my specific responsibility of communications. He listens. And then he weighs it.” ‘OUR ENCOUNTER WITH THE LORD’
Cardinal Gregory emphasizes that the Church follows the same pattern of evangelization from its earliest days—lived witness of the teachings of Jesus Christ. “We witness to what we proclaim; we live the faith in our outreach to those who are in the mission field. So it’s a combination: Evangelization and the lived witness of the faith are indispensable,” he says. “The doctrine of the Church is sacred. It belongs to the legacy of faith, but the magnet that draws people is the experience of seeing good, loving, generous Catholic men and women working in the mission field, being engaged in caring for the poor, educating young people, taking responsibility for the common good. That’s the attraction. And then the teachings follow that. . . . What animates the way we live is our encounter with the Lord Jesus.” While in Atlanta, Cardinal Gregory was fortunate to inherit a successful Eucharistic Congress from his predecessor, Archbishop John F. Donoghue. The annual congress grew under Archbishop Gregory’s tenure, eventually drawing 30,000 to 35,000 people from Friday evening to Saturday evening. StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 31
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participation is important. “We need to make sure that they realize what they have been missing,” the cardinal says. Priests, deacons, and parish ministers have found creative ways to provide livestreamed Mass and other opportunities for prayer, “but I don’t want it to become so popular and so attractive that the real thing is now in competition with the virtual thing,” he asserts. Cardinal Gregory believes laypeople need to step up to inspire others, just as the nuns and priests did in his grade school days. “In a past era, past generations, people might have said or at least behaved as though ‘Father’ and ‘Sister’ will take care of this. Well, now we have to say, in very direct ways, what the baptismal rite says [for] the Baptism of infants, that moms and dads, you are the first teachers in the ways of faith for your children.” He adds: “I do believe that the Lord may be using the reality that we’re dealing with to invite more active participation of the laity in the work of evangelization. Our children still need to be formed in the faith, both in the family environment but also in the educational and catechetical activities. We need
PHOTO COURTESY CATHOLIC STANDARD/ANDREW BIRAJ
“It gave a platform for the teachings of the Church, obviously for the spiritual legacy of the Church. But it also allowed the people in Atlanta to see the multicultural composition of the one Church that is the Archdiocese of Atlanta,” says the cardinal. Deacon Dorner noted that then-Archbishop Gregory would spend the congress days hearing confessions and mingling with people. Asked whether he might plan something similar for the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, Cardinal Gregory responded with a laugh. “At this point, we’re just trying to open our churches; we’re trying to get our people back in church,” he said in early January, just as vaccines against COVID-19 became available and people began to entertain hope to return to some kind of normal life in worship, work, and commerce. “That’s a real challenge, because the longer our people are away from active presence in the celebration of the Eucharist and in spiritual moments that bring them together, it is going to be more and more difficult,” he says. The Church must reengage the faithful and remind them that active, face-to-face
PHOTO COURTESY CATHOLIC STANDARD/ANDREW BIRAJ
Cardinal Wilton Gregory baptizes Jillian Shen at the Easter Vigil on April 3, 2021, at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, DC.
more vigorous youth ministries, young adult ministries that bring young people together in ways that energize them. And so, our laypeople . . . are an indispensable component in the work of evangelization.”
PHOTO COURTESY CATHOLIC STANDARD/ANDREW BIRAJ
PHOTO COURTESY CATHOLIC STANDARD/ANDREW BIRAJ
LOOKING AHEAD
It’s not lost on Cardinal Gregory that he is the first African American cardinal, and he hopes that will have a positive impact. The US bishops have addressed racism in this country before: in a 1979 pastoral letter about racism, “Brothers and Sisters to Us,” and more recently with “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love,” a 2018 pastoral letter against racism—a semantic difference between simply addressing racism and clearly standing against it. And that was before 2020, which saw the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others at the hands of police officers. “I think we have made progress—and we have not made enough progress. The current moment . . . gives me hope because it has staying power,” Cardinal Gregory says, noting that we see more faces of people of color on
TV and in movies, and that the corporate world is making a sincere effort to diversify workforces. “I’m not a Pollyanna saying that all we have to do is talk about it. There’s much more that we have to do. But I am encouraged by the continued interest in this public concern, because it’s serious and you have to do something more creative and more effective,” Cardinal Gregory says. “I’m hopeful because it hasn’t been pushed to the back burner. It’s still on the front burner. We Americans have a notoriously short attention span. And so, things that seemed important on Monday are forgotten by Thursday, but this doesn’t seem to have followed that pattern,” he adds. “The social justice and racial equality mantra that has seized the public agenda continues. And there’s much more we’ve got to do.”
Then-Archbishop Wilton Gregory and Paula Gwynn Grant, secretary of communications for the Archdiocese of Washington, wave to the teens and young adults participating in the archdiocese’s annual Youth Rally and Mass for Life at the Capital One Arena on January 24, 2020. In this photo, Grant spotted the group from her alma mater, the Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington, Maryland.
Christopher Gunty is the associate publisher and CEO of Catholic Review, the official news outlet of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He is also a producer and regular host of Catholic Review Radio and a frequent contributor of articles and commentaries. StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 33
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This bronze statue outside of San Damiano shows St. Clare defiantly holding the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament, just as she did before the Saracens, who threatened her convent in 1240.
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When this beloved saint died, the Church lost a luminary. But her legacy shines brightly to this day. By Margaret Carney, OSF
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St. Clare came from a noble family in Assisi, but gave up privilege for poverty. Soon she was joined by other women who wanted to model her life of sacrifice and simplicity.
n 1253, Clare’s health began to deteriorate. With August’s scorching temperatures, she was closer and closer to the end. As always, the late summer heat drove the papal entourage from Rome to the refreshing heights of Perugia. It would not be long until these dignitaries heard the news echoing from hill to hill in the Valley of Spoleto: Madonna Chiara was dying. Pope Innocent IV understood the meaning of the moment. His nephew, Cardinal Rainaldo, accompanied him on the journey to the little cloister. This pope, whose attempt at a Rule for the women had been politely rejected by San Damiano’s sisters, arrived to see its famous abbess. She received him with utter respect and humble gratitude. How wonderful was this? The successor of St. Peter was under her roof! He asked the crucial question: What was her deathbed wish? She was ready with her answer. Would he place his signature and seal on her Rule? No question would ever be raised about its force and power if he were to comply with this one wish. Her plea was uttered with all the force of a soul bent on completing its earthly mission. What followed was a touching 24-hour drama. Cardinal Rainaldo gave his approval by signing the actual parchment upon which the text was inscribed. Normal protocol would have required that a new manuscript be prepared in the
StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 35
This elation expressed her utter relief and joy. She had succeeded in creating a perpetual witness to the first inspirations of the Poor Sisters and their covenant with Francis and his Lesser Brothers. Like her Divine Master, she could now say, “It is finished.” VISIONS OF THE VIGIL
LEFT: In 1212, the monastery of San Damiano, reconstructed by St. Francis himself, became of the home of the Poor Clares. ABOVE: Oratio di Santa Chiara shows St. Clare and her early sisters deep in prayer. Clare spent several years battling pain and sickness, but never tired in her mission to serve Christ until her last breath.
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The extraordinary papal about-face that took place in those August days was not the only miraculous event witnessed by the women keeping vigil with Clare in her final days. Those who were present would later recall other dramatic signs that they sealed in memory. A nun in the Monastery of San Paolo shared an exceptional vision. In it she and her sisters were at the side of Clare, who lay in a beautiful bed. They grieved with the distraught sisters keeping vigil. Then a woman of great beauty appeared at the head of the bed and assured the sisters that Clare’s victory was assured and that she would not die
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pope’s secretariat. However, it was clear that there was not enough time if the pope was to grant her wish before her final hour. His choice was to expedite the legal process. Using the manuscript already signed by Cardinal Rainaldo, he added his own signature and date. To this was added his impressive seal. As he ordered it to be sent back to Assisi, he may have reflected that it would serve one monastery and one monastery only. No great harm done, therefore, in acceding to the dying wish of a respected abbess. Besides, it was a work of mercy that might win heavenly favor for him in an hour of need. Assisi’s newest saint would surely intercede for him after death. A friar-messenger was dispatched to bring it back to Assisi with all possible speed. When the document was placed in her hands, Clare took hold of the beautiful papal seal, affixed with golden cords and hanging from the scroll. Later, an eyewitness would write on that parchment, “Blessed Clare touched and kissed this many times out of devotion.”
lare &Francis
Two Paths, One Vision
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On her deathbed, depicted here in Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s 17th-century painting, St. Clare spoke softly to herself. When her sisters inquired, Clare whispered, “I am speaking to my soul.”
without seeing “the Lord and his disciples.” The fact that nuns of San Paolo had such vivid experiences of Clare’s final days hints at a relationship that had blossomed over the years since her Eastertide sojourn in 1212. Sister Benvenuta of Lady Diambra and Sister Anastasia heard Clare speaking softly at one point but to no one in particular. Worried that Clare was trying to express a need or discomfort, they asked to whom she was speaking. The answer was, “I am speaking to my soul.” Later, the words they heard were recorded. Clare was, in fact, expressing the kind of hope that replaces fear with her trust in God to escort her over death’s threshold as a mother guides a frightened child. Sister Filippa reported that Clare made a final confession and she marveled at what was told by the dying saint. Three days before Clare’s passing, Sister Benvenuta began to imagine the way Clare would be received in heaven at the point of death. The imagining morphed into a visionary experience in which she saw a group of women—dressed in white and wearing crowns—surround the bed. In the middle was one woman whose crown was larger and more ornate. The description implies that it was Mary, queen of heaven. The women brought a delicate, transparent coverlet to spread over
Clare, a gesture reminiscent of women preparing a bridal bed. In the dormitory of San Damiano is a bronze bas-relief on the wall of the room where Clare died. It shows friars who are clearly bereft kneeling at her side. Her biographer tells us that Brother Angelo was mourning and supporting the grieving sisters while Brother Leo “kissed the bed of the dying woman.” The placement of the sculpture is a reminder of the strength of that promise of care and solicitude that Francis made to Clare. His oldest friends carried that promise with them as they shared the transitus of their sister. Did they, in the long hours, recall the time when Francis himself set about repairing the crumbling structure of the place? It was his first project as a newly recognized penitent, and he was offering his physical labor to the local priest. One day, hoping to recruit helpers, he climbed a wall and called out to passersby. He declared that this rundown hospice would someday house holy women who would give glory to God. What was he thinking that day? Who could have imagined what had transpired in the hundreds of days since? So it was that Clare breathed her last in the house of San Damiano on August 11, 1253. At her side were the women, seen and unseen, with whom
AS A YOUNG GIRL, CLARE would open the windows of her room and listen to Francis preach in the town square, just outside her family’s home. Something about the way he preached seemed to speak directly to her heart. But she also heard the way the townspeople—and even her own family—talked about this wild son of Pietro Bernardone. Yet Clare felt drawn to him. In Francis she saw a path to Christ, one she desired to follow. It couldn’t have been easy for Clare to leave behind all that she had known and embark on an unknown path. As the daughter of a noble family, it was a dramatic choice. But for Clare there was no other choice. And so, on the evening of Palm Sunday 1212, Clare left her home and joined Francis, allowing him to cut off her hair and replace her ornate robes with a rough tunic. When the men of Clare’s family showed up to take her back home, she refused, clinging to the altar and stating her desire to devote her life to Christ. She got her wish. Inside this modest dwelling, the sisters lived and prayed together, walked barefoot, and slept on the ground. They also spent their days in almost complete silence. It was the manifestation of Clare’s ideal life, stripping away all things that could detract from fully focusing on Christ. —Susan Hines-Brigger StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 37
Clare was clear that she would follow Francis, but she also knew what she wanted in terms of living the Gospel life. That combination of strength and humility has made her a model of faith for the ages. Francis and Clare, though their desire to serve Christ was the same, followed different paths. Francis preached among the people, often traveling throughout the Italian countryside. Clare took a more inward and contemplative focus in her ministry. Yet each was so very important in the whole of the ministry. There is a reason Francis and Clare are often spoken of as a pair. They were. Clare was often the steady rock to which Francis returned; Francis was the voice of the preacher that long before had captivated Clare’s imagination. —Susan Hines-Brigger 38 • August 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
Giacomo de Muro Rupto to be able to keep prayerful vigils at her tomb. Thus began the transition that would take Clare from the center of a living sisterhood to the center of a cult bringing multitudes to pray in her sanctuary. In only two months’ time, Pope Innocent directed the bishop of Spoleto to open the process for FROM SISTER TO SAINT her canonization. Once news of Clare’s death was In November, Bishop Bartholomew reported in the city, the people gath- arrived in Assisi to do his work. Over ered at the monastery four days, he and his staff expressing grief and interviewed 15 of the wonder. Now their city sisters and five citizens of In death, boasted a second saint Assisi. Pope Innocent IV St. Clare whose life would be that died the following month would “light to the world.” and was succeeded by belong to The funeral connone other than Cardinal ducted in the city was a Rainaldo, who took the all future marvel. Since the whole name Alexander IV. To him generations papal entourage was would fall the happy task of of Francis’ nearby, its members “raising Clare to the altar,” followers. accompanied Innocent which he did in 1255. IV to celebrate the The Papal Decree of funeral Mass. The pope Canonization was a tour startled his entourage by a proposal de force of verbal diplomacy. Poetic that the Mass of Holy Virgins be riffs on her name abound with synocelebrated instead of a requiem nyms for light. There are exclamations Mass. That choice would, in effect, of astonishment at her miracles and be a canonization, an affirmation a liberal use of wonderful metaphors: that Clare was officially recog“a spring of water in the Valley of nized as a saint. Spoleto,” “a candelabra of sanctity,” a The members of his court argued “garden of humility.” restraint. Was it wise to ignore the At the same time, the proclamaprotocols so recently ratified to tion praises her fidelity to the hierensure the validity of canonizaarchical version of women’s religious tion? Won over by these argulife and downplays the originality of ments, Pope Innocent offered the her Franciscan loyalties. Thus, even traditional Mass for the dead with in declaring her a saint, Alexander its supplications and lamentations. signaled the kind of obedience to be However, his readiness to raise expected of future followers. Clare to official status as a saint was Five years later, a new basilica in her on full display. honor was ready, and her remains were It was that argument that led interred there. The old San Giorgio to the investigation whose record Church, once the place of Francis’ early is such an important source for education and the temporary crypt for our knowledge of her. She was both saints, was incorporated into the buried in San Giorgio in the same new structure. The sisters, now led by a crypt that had housed the remains new abbess, departed the San Damiano of Francis until a tomb in his Monastery and took up residence in basilica was ready. the large cloister attached to the basilUnwilling to be separated from ica. It would be known as the Protoher even by death, four sisters Monastery—the first of the monasterrelocated to the small cloister of San ies of Poor Clares in the world.
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THOUGH CLARE IS OFTEN seen through the prism of St. Francis, she deserves to be seen in her own light. First and foremost is the fact that she was the first woman to write her own Rule. Such a feat would be commendable today, but it is even more inspiring given the time in which Clare lived, when women were not of equal stature with men.
she had established the Poor Sisters’ way of life and the men whose loyal friendship was precious evidence of the mutuality that bound them. Clare would now belong not only to these brave founding men and women but to all future generations of Francis’ followers.
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In Her Own
OUR COMMON HUMANITY
As with St. Francis, the crypt of her burial was lodged deep in the lower recesses of the church, far from the nave where pilgrims would venerate the high altar that surmounted the hidden tomb. In the late 19th century, a project to exhume her remains and excavate the crypt was approved. This modern innovation was taking place in each basilica. It was a way to afford pilgrims more direct proximity to the remains. For centuries, medieval fears of kidnappings of a sarcophagus had kept the actual tomb secret and remote. Now the pilgrim would be able to approach the resting place at arm’s length. Today, the visitor to Clare’s basilica will see a sculpture that represents her body, behind which is a vessel with her actual remains. Carefully renovated for her 1993 centenary, the image represents the body, which would have been placed there in 1261 and which was glimpsed fleetingly by those present at the exhumation. Nearby is a museum display that holds memorabilia of importance including her habit, the alb long thought to have been made by her, the parchment of the Rule, a breviary of St. Francis entrusted to Sister Benedetta by Brother Leo, and many other items that excite curiosity as much as they inspire reverence. If truth be told, many a pilgrim brushes past the documents and clothing to catch a glimpse of a glass vase containing her golden curls.
It is a badge of our common humanity that the evidence of papal connections and holy devotions interests us less than the sight of her feminine adornment, her lovely hair covered for decades by a nun’s veil. Margaret Carney, OSF, is a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities and a teacher of Franciscan history and spirituality. Her presidency of St. Bonaventure University began in 2004, and she retired from that post in 2016. She continues to serve as a lecturer and leader for Catholic higher education and Franciscan organizations of the United States.
This article was adapted from Light of Assisi: The Story of Saint Clare, by Margaret Carney, OSF (Franciscan Media).
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In 1260, the body of St. Clare was laid to rest in her own basilica in Assisi. Countless pilgrims throughout the centuries have crossed its threshold to pay their respects to this beloved saint.
StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 39
By Susan Hines-Brigger
y nature, we are all curious and have a desire to learn things. Our range of interests, though, can be as varied as we are. We are also creative beings. And that’s where CreativeMornings (CreativeMornings.com) comes in. The organization was founded in 2008 by Tina Roth Eisenberg out of a desire for an ongoing, accessible event for New York’s creative community. According to its website, the concept was simple: breakfast and a short talk one Friday morning a month. The events would be free of charge and open to anyone. Over time, the gatherings have spread to over 207 cities all over the world. But for those who can’t or would prefer not to attend those in-person meetings, CreativeMornings has another option to offer, which is their FieldTrips. These free online events are meetups to interact, learn, and collaborate in an effort to take your creative life to the next level. Topics of the FieldTrips range from the practical, such as tips for boosting the SEO on your website or tools for a healthier home/
work culture, to the more personal, such as “A Guided Creative Journey to Hold Space for the Place between Grief & Joy.” Sometimes the sessions are as simple as providing you with some time to focus and get stuff done. In addition to these two offerings, the organization’s website is a treasure trove of information and inspiration in itself. There you can find 9,423 CreativeMornings talks that you can sort by categories such as themes, cities, lengths, and languages. There is also a podcast and blog that are full of additional content. The only downside to the CreativeMornings experience, I would say, is that once you discover the vast amount of content and wide array of presenters it offers in all the various formats, you will want to keep going back again and again. There is just too much good material and not enough time. Still, finding some time to stretch your creative muscles is always a good thing, and CreativeMornings has found a great way to help people do that, in whatever format they choose.
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E-LEARNING & ONLINE
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CreativeMornings: Expanding Our Minds and Creativity
By Julie Horne Traubert
A Perfect Primer on Prayer
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LEARNING TO PRAY BY JAMES MARTIN, SJ
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Harper One
“The most common way God draws you closer is by placing within you the desire to be closer, the desire that drove you to think about prayer.” —from Learning to Pray
veryone can pray.” True to form, Father James Martin, SJ, has once again gifted readers with a treasure of a book. Learning to Pray: A Guide for Everyone is accessible, rooted in Scripture, and truly is for everyone. This practical yet spiritual guide is for the novice, the active contemplative, or someone who has been praying for years. As such, it provides a means to build a more authentic relationship with God and his son, Jesus. In 18 chapters, Martin dissects all kinds of prayer and offers examples from his own life to inform us on our journey. Much of the book is about spiritual maturity and recognizing that while there is no one specific way to pray, the measure of our spiritual growth evolves from how close we find ourselves in relationship with God. In particular, Martin helps readers to learn to recognize the voice of God through the process of discernment so that they may trust it is God’s voice and not the voice that rattles around inside our brains. According to Martin, everyone’s prayer and approach is valid. This is less a how-to book and more a way to appreciate different forms of prayer. No matter how you approach prayer, be it in the quiet of a sanctuary or through a walk in the woods, your relationship with God results less from how you pray and more from being open to the call to prayer, which comes from God. To be certain, there are “ways to pray,” and Martin uses the Jesuit Examen as one kind of formal approach, but praying is not like onestop shopping. The trick is to determine, with God’s help, what works best for you. Once you recognize that the call to God comes from God, all that is required is “a willingness to open your heart to the God who is seeking you.” All readers, no matter the stage or place of their prayer life, will find this powerful yet simple book an exceptional tool and will come to recognize that it is a loving, kind, and compassionate God who is calling us to make the journey to find ourselves in union with the Divine. Reviewed by James A. Percoco, a nationally recognized history educator with more than 35 years of teaching experience.
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Chronicle Prism
any felt a sense of hope when Pope Francis was chosen to lead the Church in 2013. Papal biographer John Cornwell did too. This hope, he says, is focused not only on Church renewal but on the world at large. Cornwell walks readers through the past eight eventful years, telling the story of a pope who leads with a disarming compassion and humility and who is not afraid to tackle controversial issues. He highlights how the pope has interrupted and questioned some of the most traditional tenets of the Catholic Church and Vatican tradition, leading to changes in perspective and behavior. At its core, Cornwell says, this papacy is giving the world a new vision of Catholicism.
NEW RELEASE MAKING ROOM: SOUL-DEEP SATISFACTION THROUGH SIMPLE LIVING BY KYLE KRAMER Franciscan Media
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nder the oppressive shadow of the COVID19 pandemic, civil strife, and bitter political divides, we’re still inundated with the call to obtain, consume, discard, repeat. This can’t be good for our well-being—physical, psychological, and spiritual. Kyle Kramer, author of St. Anthony Messenger’s At Home on Earth column and director of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center, offers a practical and sustainable way out of the cave of consumerism in his latest book, Making Room: Soul-Deep Satisfaction through Simple Living. As a fellow pilgrim on the way to a healthier lifestyle that removes the unneeded clutter— both material and spiritual—Kramer explores why simplicity is important and how to engage it in essential aspects of our lives, including work, family, finance, nutrition, and recreation. StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 41
CULTURE
By Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP
Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP
FAVORITE MUSICALS Les Misérables (2012) Fiddler on the Roof (1971) A Chorus Line (1985) Hamilton (2020) The Sound of Music (1965)
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snavi (Anthony Ramos), a bodega owner in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, tells a group of children about Abuela Claudia (Olga Merediz), who helped raise him, Kevin (Jimmy Smits), and Benny (Corey Hawkins). He also introduces his cousin, Sonny (Gregory Diaz IV), and the ladies who run the beauty salon. Finally, we meet Vanessa (Melissa Barrera), his girlfriend, who wants to become a fashion designer. Then Nina (Leslie Grace), Kevin’s daughter, comes home from Stanford and tells her father they cannot afford her tuition. Tension and joy are evident in the Heights over a hot summer. The neighborhood is made up of people who came to New York from the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, and their US-born children. People get excited when they learn that someone bought a winning lottery ticket from Usnavi’s bodega, and they each hope they win. But things are changing in the Heights. The beauty salon is moving to the Grand Concourse in the Bronx because rents in Manhattan are rising. Vanessa’s rental application for a small apartment in the garment district is denied because her credit is not good enough. Abuela sings “Paciencia y Fe” (“Patience and Faith”), a song about virtues she learned as a new immigrant long ago. Then the lights go out due to a power outage. As Abuela lights candles in the darkness, the
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Jimmy Smits (top) stars in the new musical In the Heights, about the proud residents of a Manhattan neighborhood.
people sing a song of being powerless, with its double meaning of no electricity and their struggles as citizens in the community. In the Heights is a Broadway musical adapted by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes. Making its debut in cinemas and on HBO Max, this film is a slice of life unfamiliar to many, characterized by joyful, energetic dancing and rap songs, Miranda’s specialty. Though the cast is almost entirely made up of Latino characters, some have criticized the film for not including Black Latino actors, something that Miranda and director Jon M. Chu have vowed to remedy in future projects. The themes of family, community, immigrant struggles, and racism are handled in ways that create awareness and uplift at the same time. A-3, PG-13 • Mature themes.
SUMMER OF SOUL (. . . OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED): COURTESY OF SEARCHLIGHT
Sister Rose’s
IN THE HEIGHTS
LEFT: COURTESY SISTER ROSE PACATTE, FSP/MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS; IN THE HEIGHTS: COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES (2)
Sister Rose is a Daughter of St. Paul and the founding director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies. She has been the awardwinning 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.
In a scene from Building a Bridge, Father James Martin, SJ, talks with Christine Leinonen, the mother of a young man killed at Pulse nightclub in 2016.
BUILDING A BRIDGE
T R&B legends Gladys Knight & the Pips performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969.
SUMMER OF SOUL (. . . OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)
SUMMER OF SOUL (. . . OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED): COURTESY OF SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES/EPK.TV; BUILDING A BRIDGE: PHOTO COURTESY OF PLAYER PIANO PRODUCTIONS
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his new documentary, directed by musician and writer Questlove, is a journey to Harlem in 1969. It is about the Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of concerts held in Mount Morris Park on Sundays during the same summer as Woodstock. And though the concerts were taped, only small portions were televised late at night. After 50 years in someone’s basement, footage of these concerts show some of America’s greatest musicians in concert at last. The series was the brainchild of promoter Tony Lawrence, who created it out of almost nothing. Only one sponsor signed on, Maxwell House Coffee. The concerts were free. An audience of 300,000 attended peacefully, despite social issues that could have upset everything. Heroin use was at an all-time high in Harlem, Vietnam War protests were increasing, and racial tensions were everywhere. But with this concert film, we see Harlem’s rich culture and the people who created it. Some of the acts included B.B. King, the 5th Dimension, Gladys Knight & the Pips, David Ruffin, Nina Simone, Sly Stone, and Mahalia Jackson. The concert also included music performed by Ray Barretto, representing Spanish Harlem as well as Afro-Cuban and Afro-Puerto Rican music. Some performers, such as Nina Simone, had a strong message for the people: “We are young, gifted, and Black— and that’s a fact.” Though it has taken over 50 years for what is called “the Black Woodstock” to go mainstream, it is indeed a gift for us now. What’s sad is that so little has changed for members of the Black community, which still struggles with homelessness and voting rights. This music and its message are as relevant as ever.
Not yet rated, PG-13 • No objectionable material. 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
Source: USCCB.org/movies
his documentary follows Father James Martin, SJ, at home, at America Media in New York, and as he invites LGBTQ members, their families, and the Church to dialogue and accept each other as children of God. Father Martin explains his ministry to the LGBTQ community and their families because, as Pope Francis says, it is the overlooked person we’re called to pay attention to. The film’s title is taken from Father Martin’s 2018 book that he wrote in response to 2016’s Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, when almost no bishop reached out to comfort the victims or their families as they do after other mass shootings. This documentary, executive produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by Evan Mascagni and Shannon Post, is gentle, strong, and hopeful. The juxtaposed scenes with one of Father Martin’s most hostile critics, Michael Voris of Church Militant, come off as more dialogic than antagonistic. It is very revealing when Father Martin tells a Catholic audience that the highest suicide rates among young people who identify as LGBTQ come from the most religious of families. Fordham University’s Father Bryan Massingale comments throughout the film on moral imperatives about the inclusion of LGBTQ people, both in society and in the faith community.
Not yet rated • Mature themes regarding sexuality. StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 43
POINTSOFVIEW | FAITH AND FAMILY
By Susan Hines-Brigger
The Day My Daughter Left the Church
Susan has worked at St. Anthony Messenger for 27 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.
HURTFUL WORDS OF EXCLUSION
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That phrase sprung from the recesses of my mind on the day when I saw my oldest daughter, Maddie, walk away from the Church six years ago. It was an ordinary Sunday with our family gathered together for weekly Mass, as we always did. We were your typical Catholic family—often late for Mass and doing the best we could to raise our children in the faith that Mark and I hold dear. All of our kids have gone to Catholic grade school and high school. When the priest began to preach the homily, for some reason I started to get a disheartening sense that it was not going to be an uplifting one. There was nothing about that week’s readings. Instead, the topic was plucked straight out of the headlines. That day’s homily was about the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage. The tone was not loving. In fact, it was very much the opposite. As the homily continued, the words began to extend beyond the ruling and, whether intentionally or not, poured over into a commentary on homosexuality in general. I remember turning and seeing the look on Maddie’s face. She has friends who are members of the LGBTQ community, and I knew
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A LASTING PAIN
Six years later, Maddie still has not returned to the Church. I have told her that it was only one priest who uttered those hurtful and exclusionary words. I pointed out that the things that priest said stood in direct contrast to the Church’s teaching on the treatment of the LGBTQ community. Many in the Church, such as Father James Martin, SJ, and Pope Francis, have advocated for members of the community, I told her. But she isn’t buying it. She has seen the way in which her friends are still regarded by many in the Church. Those voices are the ones that seem to stick. Why, she asks, would my friends want to be somewhere they are not sure they’re wanted, just because of who they are? Why would I contribute to that hurt, she asks. And Maddie’s not alone. For too many, the Church is not doing enough to assure our LGBTQ brothers and sisters that they are very much a part of our Catholic community, and that we fully believe they are beautiful and perfectly created children of God.
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Susan Hines-Brigger
the words were piercing her heart. I watched her drop her head, and the protective mom in me started to rise to the surface. How dare this priest? I thought. How dare he talk about these amazing, wonderful kids like that? He doesn’t know them. After we left Mass, Maddie told me she wasn’t going back. As much as it hurt to hear it, I can’t say I didn’t understand. All of the teaching we had done over the years about unconditional love for everyone was undone in the span of five minutes. Now, you may say that her reaction was hasty and that Mark and I were not proactive enough in stopping her from walking away. You’re entitled to your opinion. I happen to disagree. What she heard that day did not represent the welcoming, all-loving faith that we had raised her in. Quite honestly, it took me a while to go back myself. What if that was one of my kids he was talking about? I heard similar reactions from some of the other parents in the parish.
MC KOZUSKO/SAM
“I
know I’m somebody because God doesn’t make junk!” When our children were younger and my husband, Mark, and I used to teach religious education classes, we would always seem to come across this phrase in the resources at our disposal. Often we would find it on coloring pages that were used to occupy the kids when they first came into class. The pictures would change but the message was always the same: No matter what, you are a beloved child of God—because God doesn’t make junk. As my kids have grown, I’ve returned to this phrase time and time again—in more grown-up wording, of course—as they’ve encountered issues that challenge their selfconfidence or make them doubt their own self-worth. We’ve also used it to teach them that everyone, everyone, is created as a child of God and, therefore, perfect.
FAITH and FAMILY
WELCOME TO MY FAMILY
I
wish you could meet my family. Our children—and their spouses and children—enrich my life and my husband’s life in countless ways. We have five children, three of them married, and two young grandchildren. Of the eight adults, caring professions are the norm: a social worker, an adolescent psychologist, a children’s librarian, an essential medical worker, an educator. Others work in analytics, marketing, and sales. They are all good-hearted, generous people. Some of them are artistic and creative. Some are analytical. Some are outgoing, others introspective. Some volunteer to make Christmas possible for hundreds of children every year. Others volunteer at women’s service agencies. They are fierce proponents of justice and human rights. All have welcomed rescue dogs as forever members of their families. Some are conservative, while others land on the liberal side. All of them are the kind of smart, thoughtful, loving people anyone would be proud to call their children. And don’t get me started on the grandkids! They’re the smartest, cutest, most clever kids you ever saw. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. I love them all fiercely, proudly, and unconditionally. In many ways, we’re like every other family out there. We’re certainly not perfect. We fight, reconcile, and grow stronger in our family bonds. We’ve held together through highs and lows, through marriages and divorces, deaths and new lives. We celebrate the good times and mourn the bad. We love each other. We’re probably very much like your own family.
I wish you could meet my family. The people I just introduced are bisexual, gay, straight, and transgender.
Single, married, divorced, remarried. Stepfamilies. A surrogate to a same-sex couple. Would you still like to meet my family? Did the doors of your mind slam shut after you read that paragraph? I Sandy Howison hope not, because my children and their spouses are the same people I described at the start of this article. They’re still smart, caring, wonderful people. Did you picture them as the Catholic Church says they should be, or as they really are? The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls some of my children “intrinsically and objectively disordered.” But I doubt God sees them that way. The Bible says we’re all made in God’s image and likeness. Years ago, bumper stickers proclaimed that “God doesn’t make junk.” My family members are not junk. They have a right to be the people they were born to be. The Church’s behavior on the subject of sexual ethics is muddled, to say the least. Repeated actions and revelations about clergy sex abuse—as well as the cover-ups from the higher-ups—have tarnished Catholic leaders’ reputation and severely compromised their credibility. I wish Church leaders would look at my family members through God’s eyes and see the beautiful souls within. I wish they would recognize their beautiful physical selves as well. But you—the reader—what do you think?
I wish you could meet my family. Would you welcome them? Or would you turn away? —Sandy Howison
Me e t
TOP: COURTESY OF SANDY HOWISON; CARTOONS: BOB VOJTKO
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) ANSWERS: 1) The edges of the woman’s purse are now round. 2) There are more steps in front of the church. 3) The man has closed his mouth. 4) The cord hanging from Friar Pete’s habit is longer. 5) The man has removed his suit jacket. 6) There is a collar on the woman’s dress. 7) The tree’s foliage is fuller. 8) The man’s tie is now longer.
MC KOZUSKO/SAM
Fr i a r Pe te
StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 45
LET US PRAY
reflect | pray | act
By Carol Ann Morrow
St. Clare’s Prayerful Life
Carol Ann Morrow
’ve never been a fan of religious icons, I blush to tell you. Their typical flat formality must please admirers of the prayerful art form, but their subjects are seldom depicted with smiles on their faces. Recently I discovered an icon I can appreciate. In the image, created by Franciscan Brother Robert Lentz, St. Clare of Assisi cradles a cat in her arms! Neither Clare nor the monastery’s cat is smiling broadly, but no one feeling the vibration of a robust purr can keep from smiling for long! This is a Clare I can embrace. I want to honor her guidance in my prayer life. This is the saint who is followed with great joy by women in monasteries. No one ever suspected I was called to an enclosed life. If you are, bless you. But all of us can find in Clare some markers on the path to communion with the divine. Biographers describe the youthful Clare as beautiful. The Clare who spent decades bedfast yet bold in leadership, gentle in guidance, and stubborn in poverty, is less physically attractive but more courageous and inspiring. Two episodes from her life—one small and private, one big and brave—exemplify her confidence in divine guidance.
46 • August 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
LET YOUR JAR GO EMPTY
Francis and his brothers begged on behalf of the sisters. In a tale reminiscent of Elijah and the widow (1 Kgs 17:8–16), the women ran out of oil. Clare washed a jug and left it out for one of the brothers to use in begging for more. When the brother came, he found the jug was already full. In this early story, I have found a parable of the poverty to which Clare was dedicated. The emptiness which the sisters promised is my need also. Clare knew that with spiritual clarity. Some days I share that vision. More often, however, my jar requires extensive scrubbing, rinsing, and reexamination before anyone—however divine—could bear to share the “oil of gladness” with me. It takes freedom from desire and freedom from fear to place the jar out to receive what I need. Many times, I don’t even know what I need. Probably not oil. I am more in need of emptiness. Clare has given me a concrete example of what that could bring me. FREEDOM FROM THINGS
If Pope Francis gave me an order, I’m pretty sure I would bend. Four popes told Clare that the sisters needed financial security. They
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FIZKES/ISTOCK
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WANT MORE? Check out our daily online prayer resource, Pause+Pray: FranciscanMedia.org/ pausepray
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TOP LEFT: MC KOZUSKO/SAM; TOP RIGHT: ARTWORK BY HOLLY SCHAPKER
Carol Ann Morrow is an associate of the Sisters of St. Francis, Oldenburg, Indiana. She is also a wife, sometimes a mother to two grown stepchildren, and always a grandmother of four. She was on the staff of St. Anthony Messenger for 25 years and is the author of A Retreat with Saint Anthony: Finding Our Way (Franciscan Media).
counseled her against the “privilege of poverty,” even discouraging the friars from caring for the sisters. Perhaps they wanted to scare them. But Clare was adamant. She persevered through her long illness until she was assured of her claim to nothing. Then she died. It’s possible to have things and yet be free from them. It’s also possible to give things away but long to have them back. More than 50 years ago, I gave my best doll to the Red Cross, dressed in her green velvet coat. I would welcome an assurance that some other girl loves her as much as I did. That’s not the idea. If I’m to be truly prayerful, I must let go of not only my doll, but also Mom’s china, a bulging collection of bath towels (in search of the perfect hue), and my dream of a pergola with wisteria. Clare slept on a straw mat, but she was happier than I am: less laundry, no insurance bills, plus a cat. I find it a different emptiness than the jar for oil—my inner self. The privilege of poverty, as much as I can embrace it, is an outer simplification. Advancing age reveals it to me, but Clare shows me how to maximize its revelations.
PRAYERFUL
TIPS
Back in the ’80s, I stayed one Saturday night at a Poor Clare monastery in the Bronx. The neighborhood seemed downtrodden. The Poor Clares were bright lights in brown habits. While I worshipped in the body of the church, the sisters attended Laetare Sunday Mass behind a curtained grille. While we ate breakfast, I found all the sisters in shades of Laetare pink— scavenged from castoffs donated for the neighbors all around. It was theirs only for the day. Some outfits were amusing, others classy, and some looked suspiciously like bathrobes. Clare had taught them well. When I visited the monastery at San Damiano, I saw two small bouquets of wildflowers: one at Clare’s place in the dining hall, the other at the site of her pallet. She seemed so real there, more than any icon could reveal. Happy women had picked and placed those flowers. A happy woman had fought for the privilege. To become more prayerful, start to smile at the ways you are rich and smile at the ways you are poor. That smile might break into laughter. That’s what happens to the followers of Clare.
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PRAYER OF ST. CLARE
t. Clare wrote four letters to St. Agnes of Bohemia. While medieval in style, they offer insight into Clare’s own prayer.
With swift pace, light step, [and] unswerving feet, so that even your steps stir up no dust, go forward, securely, joyfully, and swiftly, on the path of prudent happiness. —Second Letter to St. Agnes
IN THE SPIRIT OF ST. CLARE
Give something you love away. Pray to let go both before and after.
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Place an empty jar that once held oil where it will call you to be open and empty.
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Poor Clares often offer spiritual direction and guidance. Search for a monastery in your area—or see if virtual visits are possible.
FIZKES/ISTOCK
TOP LEFT: MC KOZUSKO/SAM; TOP RIGHT: ARTWORK BY HOLLY SCHAPKER
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MIRRORED IN THE MONASTERIES
StAnthonyMessenger.org | August 2021 • 47
reflection
—Pope Francis
48 • August 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
PHOTO MC KOZUSKO/SAM CREDIT HERE
Whenever we look to Mary, we come to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness. In her we see that humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak but of the strong.
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