Sharing the spirit of St. Francis with the world VOL. 129/NO. 5 • NOVEMBER 2021 • PUBLISHED BY FRANCISCAN MEDIA
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Let Us Pray: Humble Grace and Gratitude PAGE 50
CELEBRATING SAINTS GUIDES ON OUR FAITH JOURNEY
NOVEMBER 2021 • $4.99 StAnthonyMessenger.org
We are thankful for YOU! Top row. Left: Br. Bill handing out sandwiches to the hungry. Middle: Fr. Mark blessing bread. Right: Fr. John celebrating Palm Sunday Mass. Bottom row. Left: Br. Phil livestreaming the Feast of St. Anthony. Middle: Fr. Jim at Jamaica’s St. Anthony Kitchen. Right: Fr. Colin and volunteers delivering food to shut-ins.
During this month of gratitude, we extend heartfelt thanks and appreciation for the lifesaving help you brought to our missions and ministries around the world. Covid-19 was an unprecedented crisis, but as Fr. Colin King, OFM, says, “Covid can’t stop the power of the Holy Spirit.” With your help, we were able to expand our services and reach more people than ever. To learn more, visit Franciscan.org.
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VOL. 129 N O. 5
NOVEMBER
2021 20/21
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38
FEATURES
18 Blessed Carlo: The First Millennial Saint?
COVER: Whether they lived long ago or more recently, the saints can be perfect companions on our faith journey.
By Natalie Ryan
Not all saints and blesseds died centuries ago. Meet Blessed Carlo Acutis, a teen who combined devotion to the Eucharist with a passion for computer technology.
24 The Wisdom of the Saints By Mary Ann Getty, STD
You can look to the stories of the saints for ways to live compassionate, faith-filled lives.
28 St. Francis: Giving Comfort to Weary Soldiers
38 Our Saints, Ourselves
By Vanesa Zuleta Goldberg; artwork by Leanne Bowen
“I’m no saint,” we may tell ourselves. But stories of the saints show us that we, too, are capable of extraordinary faith, courage, and love.
By Katie Rutter
COVER: TARA VANESSA HALL
A former military chaplain explains how St. Francis can be an example for those struggling with the traumas of war.
34 St. Joseph: Man of Virtue
By John R. Barker, OFM; artwork by Jessie Wagnon
Faced with a difficult decision, Joseph teaches us that righteousness means loving both God and neighbor.
Coming in the
DEC/JAN Issue
An article that explores how to embrace aging with wisdom and grace, plus a look at seven reasons to go on a pilgrimage StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 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.
St. Didacus
St. Martin of Tours
St. Didacus was a Spanish Franciscan known for his spiritual insights and his penitential practices. He was a missionary to the Canary Islands and aided the sick in Rome. His travels and ministries, however, did not distract him from prayer and contemplation.
St. Martin of Tours is often depicted as a soldier mounted on a horse sharing his cloak with a poor man. He became a monk and then a bishop, but he never lost his love for the poor. He spent a good deal of energy fighting for the Church.
November 7
November 11
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini November 13
Although she was born in Italy, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was the first United States citizen to be canonized. She was sent to the United States by Pope Leo XIII and spent the rest of her life working with Italian immigrants, particularly in New York City and Chicago.
St. Cecilia November 22
Although there is little historical evidence concerning the life of St. Cecilia, she is one of the famous martyrs of the Church in Rome. She is mentioned in the list of saints in the first eucharistic prayer—Roman Canon. St. Cecilia is often depicted playing an organ.
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Saints featured in the month of November include . . .
VOL. 129 N O. 5
“We Friars Minor, servants and worthless as we are, humbly beg and implore everyone to persevere in the true faith and in a life of penance; there is no other way to be saved.”
NOVEMBER
—St. Francis of Assisi
10 SPIRIT OF ST. FRANCIS 10 Ask a Franciscan
What Is Systemic Racism?
48 POINTS OF VIEW
15 Editorial | Daniel Imwalle
Laws, Love, and the Path to Holiness
12 Followers of St. Francis
16 At Home on Earth | Kyle Kramer
14 Franciscan World
48 Faith & Family | Susan Hines-Brigger
Sister Jannette Pruitt, OSF
ALL IMAGES FALL UNDER PUBLIC DOMAIN RIGHTS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
2021
The Power of Listening
The Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis
Roads Less Traveled
14 St. Anthony Stories
Prayer: The Missing Ingredient
44 CULTURE
44 Media Reviews
TV | American Exile Books | Human(Kind)
46 Film Reviews
Purgatory Dear Evan Hansen Mass
6 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 4 Dear Reader Your Voice 5 6 Church in the News
49 Friar Pete & Repeat 50 Let Us Pray 52 Reflection
StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 3
dear reader Saints Be Praised!
S
t. Christopher, my patron, was booted from the worldwide calendar of saints in 1970. Even though this happened years before I was born, I’m bitter. He deserves better. Many weary travelers, after all, have carried their trusty St. Christopher medals in their cars, purses, or pockets! But I’m digressing: Our special issue this month on saints isn’t about lamentation; it’s about celebration. The saints are easy to love, aren’t they? Who doesn’t admire St. Josephine Bakhita’s capacity for mercy? St. Maximilian Kolbe’s unimaginable sacrifice? St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s courage under crisis? These holy women and men are our compasses and our companions. We’d be lost without them. This month, to commemorate the feast of All Saints, we are offering a lineup of articles that acknowledge and celebrate a handful of these holy people. Some we present here are familiar, such as Oscar Romero and Francis of Assisi; others are less known, such as Julia Greeley and Carlo Acutis. Time, culture, and language separate them, but they each model a pure surrender to God that can inspire our own faith. We hope you enjoy this issue. And to all the saints (even Christopher): Pray for us!
PUBLISHER
Daniel Kroger, OFM PRESIDENT
Kelly McCracken EXECUTIVE EDITORS
Christopher Heffron Susan Hines-Brigger
FRANCISCAN EDITOR
Pat McCloskey, OFM ART DIRECTOR
Mary Catherine Kozusko MANAGING EDITOR
Daniel Imwalle
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Sandy Howison
Christopher Heffron, Executive Editor
LEANNE BOWEN
ARTIST, Our Saints, Ourselves, PAGE 38 Leanne Bowen works in Glennville, California, primarily painting in watercolor. Most of her work is deeply inspired by the lives of the saints. After feeling called to paint more frequently, she went full-time as a visual artist in 2017. Read more about Leanne’s artwork at LeanneBowen.com.
VANESA ZULETA GOLDBERG
WRITER, Our Saints, Ourselves, PAGE 38 Vanesa Zuleta Goldberg has worked in youth ministry for 13 years. She received her bachelor’s in theology from Providence College and her master’s in theology and ministry from Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Her work is centered on the pastoral praxis of creating spaces for ongoing liberation for young people from all walks of life.
NATALIE RYAN
WRITER, Blessed Carlo: The First Millennial Saint? PAGE 18 Natalie Ryan is a spiritual director, writer, photographer, and artist who lives in Northern Kentucky with her husband. Her prayers and reflections have been published in Franciscan Media’s Pause+Pray online resource as well as Our Sunday Visitor’s Every Day with Saint Joseph prayer book, by the Mayslake Ministries Affiliates. You can view her work at NatalieRyanArt.com.
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Sharon Lape
PRINTING
EP Graphics, Berne, IN ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER (ISSN #0036276X) (U.S.P.S. PUBLICATION #007956) Volume 129, Number 5, 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 452026498. 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 292309, Kettering, OH 45429-0309. To subscribe, write to the above address or call (866) 543-6870. Yearly subscription price: $39.00 in the United States; $69.00 in Canada and other countries. Single copy price: $4.99. For change of address, four weeks’ notice is necessary. Writer’s guidelines can be found at FranciscanMedia. org/writers-guide. The publishers are not responsible for manuscripts or photos lost or damaged in transit. Names in fiction do not refer to living or dead persons. Member of the Catholic Media Association Published with ecclesiastical approval Copyright ©2021. All rights reserved.
JESSIE WAGNON
Jessie Wagnon is a portrait artist based in Washington State. She is a Catholic wife and mother of three. It is her greatest honor and joy to try to capture what God has already created. You can find her on Instagram (@Wagnon.Studios) and on her Etsy shop, WagnonStudios.
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ARTIST, St. Joseph: Man of Virtue, PAGE 34
POINTSOFVIEW | YOUR VOICE Church Teaching Not a ‘Political Football’
I’m writing in regard to Louis H. Pumphrey’s letter in the September Your Voice column, “A Catch-22.” The ideas expressed appear to me to come out of left field. The letter writer is looking at the Church’s teaching as a political football rather than what it is: the word of God as given to us by Jesus Christ. It’s not a liberal or conservative issue, but rather what the Church teaches about right and wrong. My parents taught me the Ten Commandments and the difference between good and evil. I can’t recall anywhere in the Bible where it says a man should take a man as his spouse, or a woman should take a woman as her spouse. Genesis 2:24 states: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” Some of our political leaders issue damaging words on moral issues, such as President Joe Biden, when he said: “I respect those who believe life begins at the moment of conception—I respect that. Don’t agree.” It’s scary how many people believe what the president says rather than what the Church teaches. Thomas E. McAfee, Rochester, New York
You Are Most Welcome
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y 9.
he
I would like to respond to the sidebar that Sandy Howison wrote in the Faith and Family column in the August issue (“Welcome to My Family”). I would 100 percent welcome her family! Christ said, “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:40). Her family—by their chosen vocations, love for each other, and the kindness they’ve shown rescue dogs— shows that they’re living with Christ in their hearts. Shame on anyone who would turn away from them! Jennifer Giacomozzi, Carver, Massachusetts
s.
Feedback from Our Online Readers
On “9/11 at 20: A Tale of Two Friars,” by Susan Hines-Brigger (September 2021)
PHOTO CREDIT HERE
This article brought me to tears, Susan. Thank you for capturing this beautiful story! —Carole Dahlquist I burst into tears while reading this, but I’m glad I continued reading on. I had heard
of Father Mychal Judge and his bravery on that day, but how nice to learn even more about what an incredible person he was!—Fifi Lentini As a hospital chaplain for 10 years, I couldn’t do half of what Father Mychal did and died for. He died a heroic death and will follow what the Book of Revelation 14:13 says: “‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ said the Spirit, ‘let them find rest from their labors, for their works accompany them.’” As Father Mychal’s family and fellow friars continue to mourn for his sudden demise 20 years ago, let us continue to lift his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed in our thoughts and prayers. —Rev. Bart Okere I read the book about his life. When we went to the location of the 9/11 Memorial (which hadn’t opened yet), we were by the waterfall area. I said to my husband, “I wish I could find Father Mychal’s name.” Then I turned around and looked down, and there it was right in front of me! It was definitely a “God moment”!—Lesley V., OFS On the Upper East Side, I had the pleasure of meeting Father Mychal Judge at a bus stop. My friend Andy introduced me to him. Without another word, Father Mychal asked if we had any change. We both emptied our pockets. Father Mychal promptly went over to a homeless person to give him the change. He was a simple saint, in my eyes.—Martin King On “After ‘I Do’: Facing the Challenges of Marriage,” by Shannon K. Evans (September 2021) What an incredibly well-written article! After almost 14 years of marriage, I have found Evans’ words to be true. We have endured similar struggles and have been refined by God through the most difficult of times while growing individually and together. All of these aspects are key to a successful and thriving marriage.—Carrie Perrine Sorgi Thank you for the great advice! I pledge to be a better husband than I was yesterday.—Joseph
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StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 5
people | events | trends
By Susan Hines-Brigger
POPE ADDRESSES ISSUE OF POLITICIANS AND EUCHARIST
O
n the return flight from his four-day trip to Hungary and Slovakia, Pope Francis addressed the debate regarding denying Communion to politicians who support abortion, saying the issue should be handled in a pastoral way and the Eucharist never be politicized, reported Vatican News Service. The pope told journalists that while there is no question that “abortion is homicide,” bishops must always take a pastoral approach when addressing the issue of who is worthy of receiving the Eucharist. “If we look at the history of the Church, we can see that every time the bishops did not act like shepherds when dealing with a problem, they aligned themselves with political life, on political problems,” he said. Some bishops, when defending a principle, act in a way “that is not pastoral” and “enter the political sphere,” the pope said. “And what should a shepherd do? Be a shepherd. Not going around condemning. They must be a shepherd, in God’s style, which is closeness, compassion, and tenderness.” When asked if he himself had ever denied someone the Eucharist, the pope said he had not, then recalled a time when, unbeknownst to him, a Jewish woman at a nursing
While answering questions from journalists aboard his return flight from Slovakia, Pope Francis said that the Eucharist should never be politicized.
home received the Eucharist and then said, “Thank you, I’m Jewish,” to which the pope said he responded: “What I gave you is Jewish too!”
P
ope Francis made a four-day trip to Hungary and Slovakia in September, where he met with both government and Church officials and reminded the region’s Catholics to live out their faith lives, reported Catholic News Service (CNS). On the first full day of his visit, Pope Francis met with Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová and then addressed government authorities, members of the diplomatic corps, and civil leaders. Afterward, he traveled to the Cathedral
6 • November 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
Pope Francis waves to the crowd of more than 20,000 young people who were gathered at Lokomotiva Stadium in Koöice, Slovakia, on September 14.
of St. Martin, where he spent some time with the country’s bishops, priests, men and women religious, seminarians, and catechists. He told them that the Church needs to immerse itself in the lives of its people. “Living within the world means being willing to share and to understand people’s problems, hopes, and expectations. This will help us to escape from our self-absorption, for the center of the Church is not the Church,” he said.
CNS PHOTOS: PAUL HARING (3)
Pope Francis (seated) celebrates Mass on the plains of the Basilica of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows in Slovakia on September 15.
CNS PHOTO: NANCY WIECHEC/COURTESY ARCHDIOCESE OF OKLAHOMA CITY
POPE TRAVELS TO HUNGARY AND SLOVAKIA
CNS PHOTO: NANCY WIECHEC/COURTESY ARCHDIOCESE OF OKLAHOMA CITY
CNS PHOTOS: PAUL HARING (3)
The following day, Pope Francis listened to several testimonies during a meeting with members of Slovakia’s Jewish community at the site of a memorial tribute to the 105,000 Slovak Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. He told those gathered that the memory of the horrors of the Holocaust “must not give way to forgetfulness,” indifference, and “forms of manipulation that would exploit religion in the service of power or else reduce it to irrelevance.” The pope continued, “I repeat: Let us unite in condemning all violence and every form of anti-Semitism, and in working to ensure that God’s image, present in the humanity he created, will never be profaned.” The following day, the pope celebrated a Divine Liturgy for more than 3,000 people in a square outside the Mestská športová hala stadium. In his homily, the pope encouraged Christians in Slovakia to remember those who gave witness to God’s love, especially those who “nurtured you and helped you to grow in the faith” and gave their “lives in love to the end. “These are our heroes, the heroes of everyday existence, and their lives changed history,” the pope said. “Witnesses generate other witnesses because they are givers of life. That is how the faith is spread: not with the worldly power but with the wisdom of the cross; not with structures but with witness.” Later, the pope met with members of Slovakia’s Roma community, also known as Gypsies, and with more than 20,000 young people. He told the group: “Always feel at home in the Church, and don’t ever worry about whether you will be at home there. Nobody ought to ever keep you or anyone else away from the Church!” On the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, the pope visited the Marian basilica in Šaštin, which features a 16th-century statue of Our Lady of Sorrows venerated by Slovak Catholics. The pope visited the basilica privately to pray before the statue of Mary with Slovakia’s bishops. The pope then celebrated the final Mass of the trip for a crowd of 60,000 people outside the basilica. In his homily, he reflected on Mary as a “model of faith” for Catholics in Slovakia. The pope said that Mary did “not consider it a privilege” to be Christ’s mother, nor did she lose her humility. Instead, he said, she accepted “the gift she had received as a mission to be carried out” and set out on a journey to take God’s love to those in need. He also told those in attendance that the world needs Christians who are “signs of contradiction,” who demonstrate the beauty of the Gospel rather than hostility toward others. Slovakia needs Christians who are “bringers of the sweet fragrance of hospitality and solidarity, where personal and collective selfishness too often prevail, protectors and guardians of life where the culture of death reigns,” Pope Francis said.
US BISHOPS LAUNCH INITIATIVE TO COUNTER POLARIZATION
T
he US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) recently announced a new initiative aimed at addressing polarization in society. The initiative, called “Civilize It: A Better Kind of Politics,” asks Catholics to respond to Pope Francis’ call in his encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” for “a better kind of politics, one truly at the service of Archbishop Paul S. Coakley the common good.” On the initiative’s website (CivilizeIt.org), participants can take a pledge and access supporting materials including an examination of conscience, short reflections, prayers, and a guide that will empower individuals, families, and communities to be bridge builders across perspectives. Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said the initiative “aims to equip Catholics to address the division and polarization in society that are at times also reflected in the Church. . . . My hope is that this initiative will assist all of us as we seek to ‘become neighbors to all,’ as the Holy Father calls us to do, and take up the challenges of encounter, dialogue, truth-seeking, and creative problem-solving, in order that all Catholics can work together for the common good.”
I
IMMIGRATION PROGRAM REINSTATED
n mid-September, the US Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security announced that they have reinitiated and expanded a program whose goal is to reunite some immigrant parents in the United States with their children who have been left behind in Central America, reported CNS. The program had been shut down in 2018. According to a statement from the State Department, the US Refugee Admissions Program will begin accepting new applications as part of the Central American Minors program. Those who can petition include immigrants with lawful permanent residence, or “green card” holders, those with Temporary Protected Status, and others with a variety of cases pending in immigration court and filed before May 15, 2021. “We are firmly committed to welcoming people to the United States with humanity and respect, and reuniting families. We are delivering on our promise to promote safe, orderly, and humane migration from Central America through this expansion of legal pathways to seek humanitarian protection in the United States,” the statement said. StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 7
people | events | trends
NEWS BRIEFS
IN LATE AUGUST, POPE FRANCIS SIGNED a decree advancing the sainthood cause of Maria Cristina Cella Mocellin, a young mother who died after delaying chemotherapy treatment for cancer in order to save the life of her unborn child. Mocellin’s son Riccardo was born in 1994, and she died the following year. BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, VISITORS TO THE VATICAN will be required to show proof of vaccination, recovery from the coronavirus, or a negative COVID-19 test. The only exemption in the order is for people entering Vatican territory for the sole purpose of attending a liturgical celebration. In that case, they will have access only “for the time strictly necessary” for the liturgy and if they follow the health measures already in force: mandatory masking, temperature checks, and social distancing. Visitors will undergo a temperature check before admittance and be required to wear a mask. FOLLOWING AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION that lasted over a year, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced this past August that they found the sexual abuse allegations against New York Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio “not to have the semblance of truth.” The allegations of sexual abuse of minors were made against the bishop almost two years ago. Two civil lawsuits have been filed against Bishop DiMarzio alleging that, as a priest in the Archdiocese of Newark a half century ago, he had committed acts of sexual abuse against minors. Bishop DiMarzio has steadfastly denied the allegations. 8 • November 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
Msgr. Walter Rossi (right) and Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory (left) present a check to Msgr. Patrick Chauvet (center).
THE BASILICA OF THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION in Washington, DC, has collected and donated nearly half a million dollars to assist the restoration and rebuilding efforts of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Noting the Notre Dame Cathedral “has welcomed countless millions of people for centuries—some have actually been saints while others were great sinners,” Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory said, “May our gift assist the people of Paris in restoring a place of prayer and beauty for those who visit that world-famous shrine in the centuries that will follow.” In related news, the government agency overseeing the reconstruction of the Notre Dame Cathedral has announced that work to stabilize the structure is complete. Negotiations will now begin with companies for the rebuilding of the church. It is the goal of France’s president Emmanuel Macron to allow visitors back inside in 2024, the year Paris hosts the Olympics. ON SEPTEMBER 3, FORMER CARDINAL THEODORE MCCARRICK pleaded not guilty in a Massachusetts court to three counts of sexually assaulting a teenager in the 1970s. He was not taken into custody but was ordered to post $5,000 bail and have no contact with the alleged victim or children. McCarrick was also ordered not to leave the country and to surrender his passport. The day before the court appearance, a former employee and a former priest of the Archdiocese of Newark filed lawsuits alleging unpermitted sexual contact by McCarrick in 1991.
CNS PHOTOS: TOP RIGHT: PETER FINNEY JR./CLARION HERALD (2); LOWER LEFT: PAUL HARING
Maria Cristina Mocellin is pictured before her 1991 marriage. Mocellin, who died in 1995, has been proclaimed venerable by Pope Francis.
CNS PHOTOS: LEFT: GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE/REUTERS; MIDDLE: COURTESY ASSOCIAZIONE AMICI DI CRISTINA ONLUS; RIGHT: TYLER ORSBURN
Vatican Museum personnel check that people have either received a COVID-19 vaccine or had a negative test 48 hours before entering the museums.
LEGO REPLICA OF VATICAN CITY CREATED
I
nspired by its history and architecture, Rocco Buttliere spent three months during the COVID-19 pandemic creating an exact replica of Vatican City State out of Legos. Buttliere, a Lego architect, used 67,000 Lego pieces in order to create the realistic 3D replica. The 1:650 scale model is faithful down to the cobblestones shaded by Bernini’s colonnade, and it even includes a tiny red tile marking the topfloor window of the Apostolic Palace from which Pope Francis recites the Angelus each Sunday. The most challenging aspect of the Vatican piece, according to Buttliere, was figuring out how to create the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. His knowledge of everything Lego drew his mind to a box of rare, blue sandstone dinosaur tails, which he expertly repurposed into the dome’s shell. Buttliere said, “What inspired me was just the fact that there’s almost 4,000 years of human history represented in the architecture and the museums and the artifacts themselves.”
Rocco Buttliere (right), a Lego architect from Chicago, stands next to the Vatican City State replica he created. The 3D replica is made of 67,000 Lego pieces.
Pope Francis and Cardinal Kevin Farrell address a pre-synodal meeting in Rome.
CNS PHOTOS: TOP RIGHT: PETER FINNEY JR./CLARION HERALD (2); LOWER LEFT: PAUL HARING
CNS PHOTOS: LEFT: GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE/REUTERS; MIDDLE: COURTESY ASSOCIAZIONE AMICI DI CRISTINA ONLUS; RIGHT: TYLER ORSBURN
VATICAN RELEASES SYNOD DOCUMENT
I
n anticipation of the 2023 Synod of Bishops, on September 7, the Vatican released the preparatory document and a handbook for dioceses to use, reported CNS. The materials focus on the synod theme, “For a synodal Church: communion, participation, and mission,” and present a number of questions to help prompt reflection, input, and ideas from as many people as possible. “The purpose of this synod is not to produce more documents. Rather, it is intended to inspire people to dream about the Church we are called to be, to make people’s hopes flourish, to stimulate trust, to bind up wounds, to weave new and deeper relationships, to learn from one another, to build bridges, to enlighten minds, warm hearts, and restore strength to our hands for our common mission,” the preparatory document said. The materials are available online in English and Spanish at the synod’s official websites: synod.va/en.html and synod.va/es.html.
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SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS | ASK A FRANCISCAN
By Pat McCloskey, OFM
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T
Pat McCloskey, OFM
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hanks for writing about a subject crucial to the present and future of our country and world. The key word here is systemic, that is, not attracting much attention because it seems perfectly normal—perhaps something like saying something perfectly obvious, for example, “Water is wet.” Systemic racism seeks to stay under the radar, simply reflecting “what everyone knows” or a very twisted definition of “normal.” The opposite would be the blatant racism of a KKK rally, the 1955 murder of the teenage Emmett Till for allegedly flirting with a White woman, the 1921 race massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the 20th-century lynchings so common they were eventually no longer reported in US newspapers. I think that it was during the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Israel in the 1960s that Hannah Arendt coined the term “the banality of evil.” This approach is certainly reflected throughout The Screwtape Letters, the C.S. Lewis classic written during World War II. Satan tries to make sin look perfectly normal and God’s ways crazy. “Systemic racism” names a
10 • November 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
reality. Only you know how much it describes the assumptions of the family, social groups, and church in which you grew up. I’m glad that you were not taught to hate people of any race, religion, or ethnicity. Unfortunately, too many people were. In some places, the Catholic Church in the United States desegregated schools, hospitals, and other institutions before the landmark 1954 US Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education ruling. In other places, the Church followed that lead—but always with great resistance from some Catholics and the general public. In 1963, Our Lady of Good Harbor’s parish school was firebombed the day before it was to open as an integrated school. It never reopened. I knew the friar there who received death threats from people opposed to this change. Racism can be a conscious choice, such as in the examples cited above. More commonly, however, it is a sin of omission (failing to challenge attitudes or actions that degrade certain groups of people because of their race or ethnicity). All over the world, racism may be
CECILIE ARCURS/ISTOCK
MAIL: Ask a Franciscan 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202
I read with interest your reply to a question about systemic racism in the May 2021 issue. I’ve been hearing this term used more and more lately, and I’m not sure if I agree with what I am hearing. Can you define what systemic racism is? As I understand, systemic racism means that people (White people in particular) are brought up to be racist through institutions such as schools, churches, organizations. I am a White woman in my 60s and don’t feel that I was brought up to be racist or that the community where I grew up purposely tried to encourage me to feel hatred toward or superior to another race of people. When raising my children, they were taught tolerance in their schools and our church. They weren’t taught to hate others. My children played with other children; race and ethnicity were never an issue. They were not taught by any of the institutions that they attended to hate a group of people or made to feel superior to a group of people due to race, religion, or ethnicity (the italicized words define what I think racism is). I realize that racism exists, but I have an issue with the term systemic racism. Instead, I believe that racism is more familial in nature and is passed from one generation to another within the family unit. It’s very upsetting to me and to many White people to be told that we are inherently racist when we try to be tolerant and loving toward others, regardless of their race or ethnicity. One last point: Isn’t calling White people inherently racist actually a form of racism?
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What Is Systemic Racism?
Pacific. Such teaching can be direct or more often indirect. In some situations, “Silence implies consent,” which is how we recognize negligence (for example, when someone has witnessed a criminal action but refuses to testify about it in a court of law). Jesus teaches us to avoid sins of commission and those of omission.
gratitude, During this month of
light a candle of thanksgiving for the blessings in your life.
Is the Timing Off?
In praying the joyful mysteries of the rosary, I wonder about the timing of the events cited—for example, the presentation of Jesus in the Temple 40 days after his birth. Weren’t Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in Egypt then, hiding from King Herod the Great? Also, if according to the law Jesus’ circumcision happened eight days after his birth, where did this occur?
T
he problem here arises from the fact that Matthew’s Gospel (with the flight into Egypt) and Luke’s Gospel (with the presentation of Jesus in the Temple) are not coordinated chronologically. Matthew’s Gospel has the Magi finding Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in a “house,” whereas Luke has Jesus born in a cave (probably not a freestanding stable). King Herod’s spies were obviously bumblers if they could not find Jesus within 40 days of his birth. Sometimes we are tempted to impose order where that simply cannot be done. I think this is one of those situations.
Quick Questions and Answers Where can I find the story about St. Francis sending a mentally ill man to St. Clare for healing?
Section 32 of the Legend of St. Clare (written in 1255) describes her as blessing Brother Stephen and then allowing him to take a short nap in the place where she usually prayed, perhaps her choir stall at San Damiano. He went away feeling much better.
“Give thanks to the LORD, who is good, whose love endures forever.” —1 Chronicles 16:34
When the Franciscan friars light a candle for you on StAnthony.org, it will burn for three days at the National Shrine of St. Anthony in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Visit StAnthony.org to light your candle.
Why does the Church allow the dismembering of saints in order to obtain relics? This seems terrible and very bizarre.
CECILIE ARCURS/ISTOCK
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the most frequent sin never acknowledged as a sin. Blatant racism goes unchallenged wherever systemic racism is regarded as “normal.” I haven’t told individuals or groups that they are racist; I have only said that systemic racism exists. No one is inherently racist. “You’ve Got to Be Taught” is the title of a powerful song in the musical South
In Rome’s catacombs and elsewhere, Christians used to gather near the graves of martyrs and others to celebrate the Eucharist. When Christianity was no longer a forbidden religion, cartloads of bones were taken to the Pantheon in central Rome. Christians in distant places began asking for bone fragments to place in the altars where they celebrated the Eucharist.
The Franciscan Friars, Province of St. John the Baptist 1615 Vine St., Ste 1 Cincinnati, OH 45202 513-721-4700 /StAnthonyShrine /ShrineStAnthony /StAnthonyShrine
StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 11
SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS | FOLLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS
thank God for the two vocations he gave me,” says Sister bishops, informed the people, gathered together, and hosted Jannette Pruitt, OSF. “One is being a mother of three dialogues sharing the message of “who and whose we are.” beautiful children whose families have grown, and now I Years passed and Jannette’s kids grew and left home have seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. The while she spent time in New Orleans, helping to care for her other is being a Sister of St. Francis in ailing mother and walk her through the Oldenburg, Indiana, where I find in my dying process. Several years after that, she sister friends much wisdom and spiritualmoved to Indianapolis at the urging of her ity. The prayer life fills me up and comfriend Rose, who asked Jannette for help pletes my happiness.” picking out a church to attend. The two Sister Jannette is the second of five kids settled on St. Rita’s, which is built like an born in Biloxi, Mississippi, and raised in amphitheater, the entrance being at the Bay St. Louis on the Gulf Coast, approxicrest, so that “everyone saw who was commately 45 minutes from New Orleans. She ing in late.” A compliment made by the is a self-proclaimed “cradle Catholic” and pastor about her hand-sewn dress turned describes her family as very loving. They into a request for Afro-centric vestments were the first of their generation to settle for Kwanzaa and then employment at the there, and much of their time was spent church and school. with their grandparents. Her grandfather The first time Sister Jannette recalls was a carpenter and helped build the small God opening the door to religious life for Sister Jannette Pruitt, OSF town of Bay St. Louis. her was during her second year teachJannette would walk with her grandmother to church ing at St. Rita’s. She was working on Kwanzaa plans, looking every morning for confession, wondering, How much sinning at materials to use for the celebration, when an item from could Grandma have done? She just the bulletin caught her eye. It was went to confession yesterday. However, an invitation for a “Life Awareness it made an impact on her. She recalls Weekend” to see what it would be the day she was to receive her first like to be a sister. “The bulletin hit me Communion. “I really wanted to like a ton of bricks, but since I had receive Jesus,” Sister Jannette says. to finish the Kwanzaa plans, I threw “I didn’t want anything to spoil my it aside,” Sister Jannette recalls. “But special day, so to avoid any possible God has a way of making sure we occasion to sin, I sat with my grandfalisten to him.” The paper about the ther all morning, doing nothing, until weekend kept showing up again and it was time to go to church.” again. Jannette finally wrote it down After her marriage to a childon her calendar and called to find out hood friend didn’t end well, Jannette about it. The cost to attend was too took her two daughters and son to high, but again God’s will won out. Menlo Park, California. She got a Through a scholarship that was availjob as a nurse in addition to workable, she was able to attend. ing furiously in the church, trying “I was a bundle of nerves as I to raise her kids on her own. In the packed for the weekend, realizing I early 1970s, the young mother and wasn’t going to know anyone,” Sister her three children joined St. Francis Jannette says. “When I got to the Sister Jannette’s two daughters, DeLaSandra and of Assisi Church in Palo Alto, a very retreat center and stepped up to the forward-thinking parish for the time. Dorothea, met Sister Thea Bowman at the first gathering check-in table, my nerves melted Her daughters were altar servers, and of the Black Catholic Apostolate, circa 1970. away. There were priests and nuns Jannette joined a parish group called from every order milling around.” She the Black Catholic Apostolate, whose mission was to navisaw nuns in habits and thought, No, I can’t do that. Then she gate how to be “Black and Catholic” in service to the Church. saw a young woman who had gray hair like hers and wore a Through this group, Jannette became friends with Sister Thea pantsuit, and she thought, I can do that. Jannette looked at a Bowman, who was very involved in the work. They spoke to display of photos of a beautiful motherhouse with gorgeous
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ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF PRUITT FAMILY ARCHIVES
“I
Loving Mother, Franciscan Sister
By Janine Walsh
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.
Sister Jannette stands among family and friends before her final vow ceremony in 2007: (Left to right) Harold White (son), Christian Curry-Jeffries (granddaughter), Father Charles Smith, SVD (friend), Cache Dequire (granddaughter), Sister Jannette, Sharice Deteige (granddaughter), Father Chester Smith, SVD (friend), and DeLaSandra McKnight (daughter and mother of Sharice and Cache).
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.
“Transition comes to everyone, and when it does, I trust in God and try to take life one day at a time.”
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF PRUITT FAMILY ARCHIVES
—Sister Jannette Pruitt, OSF
grounds, and all the nuns looked as if they were having a great time. The woman with gray hair whom Jannette had spotted came up behind her and introduced herself as Sister Marge Wissman. Sister Marge invited Jannette to come see the motherhouse and the grounds personally and informed her about the possibility of staying at their Nia Kuumba Spirituality Center. Nia Kuumba’s mission is centered on providing African and African American women a community where they can be challenged and encouraged to live, as fully as possible, lives of purpose (nia) and creativity (kuumba). Jannette visited the Oldenburg Motherhouse for a few days during her Easter break and then headed to Nia Kuumba house in St. Louis. While there, she met Marian, a sister who was “so welcoming and full of life.” Upon her arrival, two pictures she saw in the house inspired peace: one of Sister Thea Bowman and one of a young African American girl with beads coming off the ends of her braids. She met so many inspiring women and had a great experience hearing all the wisdom from around the table. Sister Jannette entered the Oldenburg community in 1997, spending a year and a half under the guidance of Sister Marge. In 2004, she made first vows with her children participating in the Mass. She took her final vows in 2007 and has never looked back. Now she lives with 10 others and works within the community making donation cards and taking life one day at a time. Sister Jannette is still sewing, mostly making face masks for protection against COVID-19. “Transition comes to everyone,” she says, “and when it does, I trust in God and try to take life one day at a time.”
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
StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 13
SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS “Sisters, I love you all very much. Be always good and do all things to please God.”
—Mother Felicia
By Pat McCloskey, OFM
Stevens Point, Wisconsin
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n 1901, 46 sisters of Polish descent left Milwaukee’s School Sisters of St. Francis and committed to form a new congregation, the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis. The congregation was centered in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and celebrated its founding with Bishop Sebastian Messmer during a ceremony at St. Peter’s Church on July 1, 1901. In 1908, the sisters entered healthcare ministry with the opening of the River Pines Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Whiting, Wisconsin, and small rural hospitals in Michigan, Colorado, Mississippi, and Ohio. By 1969, the congregation had responsibility for staffing 120 parish schools in 14 states from Connecticut to California, including Texas and Mississippi. Sisters opened missions overseas in Puerto Rico, Brazil, Peru, and South Africa. Today they minister in social justice, education, health care, spiritual direction/retreats, and parish communities, with continued missions in Puerto Rico and Peru. They can be contacted at ssj-tosf.org. Sister Barb (left) ministers at St. Anthony Retreat Center in Thanks to Sister Debra Weina for Marathon City, Wisconsin. Sister Kimberly is a special educaassisting with this profile. tion teacher at Clare Woods Academy in the Chicago area.
ST. ANTHONY STORIES
Prayer: The Missing Ingredient
A
mong many other talents, my mother was an amazing cook. Growing up, my siblings and I loved how our mom would try out new recipes with us, with many of those recipes becoming standards for our own families later on. Sadly, she passed away a few years ago, but along with many beautiful memories, she left behind her treasured recipe cards. Each of the siblings picked out some favorite recipes, which we promised we’d share with each other. I’ve been working on my skills in the kitchen lately, and my mom’s pasta Bolognese recipe has always been a crowd-pleaser. However, when I looked in the little box where I keep my mom’s recipe cards in the cupboard, it was no longer there. I remembered how my parents taught us about St. Anthony helping find lost things, so I offered up a quick prayer and went back to searching. I didn’t find the card that evening, but the next morning, my husband was making coffee when he noticed something behind the coffee container in the cupboard. It was the recipe card, which must have fallen out and gotten wedged behind the coffee. The first thing I did, after saying thank you to St. Anthony, was start working on my mom’s famous pasta sauce! —Stephanie Della Rosa, St. Louis, Missouri
14 • November 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
MOTHER FELICIA JASKULSKA, SSJ-TOSF
As is the case with many others, Mother Felicia Jaskulska’s Franciscan journey began in one community but ended in another. AS SISTERS of Polish background increased within the Milwaukee-based School Sisters of St. Francis, a desire arose to establish a new congregation. In 1901, 46 sisters did that with headquarters in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Mother Felicia served three times as superior general for a total of 18 years, dying in office in 1942. Sister Mary Clara Bialkowski was part of the new group and greatly assisted Mother Felicia in the congregation’s growth. —Pat McCloskey, OFM
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LEFT AND TOP RIGHT: COURTESY OF SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH OF THE THIRD ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS
FRANCISCAN WORLD
POINTSOFVIEW | EDITORIAL
By Daniel Imwalle
Laws, Love, and the Path to Holiness
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t the beginning of November, we’re quickly reminded crucified and risen, remain at the center of our daily life as of the importance of holiness by two back-to-back the wellspring of salvation, or are we content with a few relifeast days. Both All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day present gious formalities to salve our consciences?” The law of God, examples of holiness, whether they be individuals officially then, is contingent upon and flows from the love of God, and recognized by the Church or personal connections to loved not the other way around. God’s grace isn’t transactional; it’s ones who left an impression of true Gospel living. gifted to us because of God’s unbounding love. It seems fairly obvious that the spiritual destination in life is holiness, a kind of soulful wholeness that not only enriches ‘TRUE PIETY’ us internally but also radiates outward to others, spreading The temptation to view following religious laws as proof of God’s light. Authentic holiness, bolstered by good deeds and holiness also exists in secular society and its edification of a sincere commitment to our faith, is ultimately what we the “law-abiding citizen.” What if the law being followed hope paves the way to eternal life. is based on something immoral? There For Christians, the path to holiness is were many justifications and legal protec“The greatest simple on the surface: Live as Jesus taught tions for slavery in the United States, for challenge of the us, love others as we love ourselves, and example, none of which were adequate day is: how to bring love God with all our hearts, souls, and defenses of the concept of one human about a revolution of minds. However, as we humans are wont to owning another. Throughout history, many do, rules and regulations were piled onto in positions of power—whether in politics the heart, a these basic, easily understood guidelines. or from the pulpit—have failed miserably revolution which After nearly 2,000 years of writing to lead by example as models of virtue or has to start with and rewriting laws, bickering, warring, holiness. These powerful people may have each one of us.” and splintering, it’s hard to say whether been praised for following all of the rules —Servant of God Dorothy Day Christians are anywhere closer to living of their time and place. out the Gospel than our ancestors in faith Fortunately, the history of our faith prowere. And some of the earliest of those ancestors actually vides a multitude of examples of holy rule breakers to show heard Jesus speak firsthand! However, we can take heart in us a better way, even if it is the road less traveled. Certainly, the straightforward nature of the Gospel call to holiness— Francis of Assisi comes to mind as one such model of holia call that we should view as a joyful invitation, not an ness. In chapter 17 of his Rule of 1221, he wrote, “A worldly oppressive rule. spirit likes to talk a lot and do nothing, striving for exterior signs of holiness that people can see, with no desire for true piety and interior holiness of spirit.” And what better public ‘A RIGID RELIGIOSITY’ display of holiness is there than showing off how good we are In a general audience at the Vatican on September 1, Pope at following all the laws? St. Francis also didn’t play by the Francis discussed St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, which, rule book of his family or social class. When he was expected in part, addresses adherence to certain laws in light of Christ’s revelation. In reflecting on this epistle, Pope Francis to turn right into a life of wealth acquisition and commerce, warned against defining holiness simply as strictly followhe took a hard left into poverty and religious life. More recently, people such as Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, ing specific laws, since doing so “leads us to a rigid religiosity, a rigidity that eliminates that freedom of the Spirit Servant of God Dorothy Day, and Martin Luther King Jr. which Christ’s redemption gives us. Beware of this rigidity refuted the unjust rules of their times, choosing instead to that they propose.” follow the moral compass of their consciences. Before he was As the leader of the Catholic Church, a complex, massive put to death for his refusal to fight for the Nazis, Jägerstätter’s organization with over 1.3 billion members, the pope knows final words were, “I am completely bound in inner union something about the importance of structure, to be sure. with the Lord.” His inward connection with God is remiHe certainly isn’t advocating for any semblance of anarchy. niscent of St. Francis’ “interior holiness of spirit” and also What he is saying, though, is that the law alone doesn’t lead reinforces the pope’s message of keeping Christ’s love “at the to salvation. “The law does not give life; it does not offer the center of our daily life.” fulfillment of the promise [God’s covenant] because it is not Those in power called some of these individuals enemies in the position of being able to fulfill it,” Pope Francis said. of the state—possibly even enemies of the Church. Today, we Later on during the general audience, the pope framed call many of these rule breakers saints, and they beckon us to the issue in the form of a question: “Does the love of Christ, follow in their footsteps of faith. StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 15
POINTSOFVIEW | AT HOME ON EARTH
By Kyle Kramer
The Power of Listening
Kyle Kramer
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love to listen to podcasts across a variety of topics. So when the stars aligned about a year and a half ago for me to start and host a podcast for the nonprofit organization I run, I picked up a microphone and jumped into this brave new world. The result was the Earth and Spirit Podcast on National Public radio. I knew from the start that I wanted to try thoughtful, long-form journalism, drawing guests out on topics related to spirituality, social healing, and care for the earth. What I didn’t realize was how much podcasting would teach me about the art of good conversation. When I’m getting ready to interview a guest, I do a lot of homework. I research my guests and their work. I read their books, study their organizations, and carefully think through what questions I would like to ask. Even before we hit the record button, I try to step into their world and their perspective. In these conversations, my most important job is to listen, not say clever things or speechify in any way, but simply to draw out the wisdom of my conversation partner through deep, careful, attentive listening. This is hard for me, since I really like to talk. I have to cultivate an attitude of curiosity, openness, and a willingness to learn new things and be changed—which requires a certain vulnerability, compared to wearing the armor of a seen-it-all, know-it-all.
16 • November 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
No matter how much I think through the structure of the conversation and prepare a list of questions ahead of time, when we’re actually recording a podcast, the conversation invariably takes on a life of its own. My guests and I never get to all of my questions or cover them in the order I planned. Often, we end up in completely new territory—which can be wonderful, but also a bit unnerving for me. I’m finding that once I can let go of my need for control, though, there’s great joy to be had in the discoveries that can occur in such freedom. REALITY CHECK
When I listen to the unedited recording of a conversation, I often cringe to hear how I “um,” “uh,” and stutter my way through it. With high-tech audio editing software, it’s possible—and really tempting—to airbrush all of that out. But the brilliant sound engineer I work with strikes a fine balance between cutting out what is distracting and leaving in the reminders that this is a conversation among human beings, who don’t go around reading from scripts. I’m encouraged and excited to be learning about how to facilitate good podcast conversations. But what about all the other conversations that occur in day-to-day life, without microphones and the magic of postproduction editing? How can I take those
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EarthandSpiritCenter.org
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TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF KYLE KRAMER; TOP: VISUAL SPACE/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.
conversations as seriously, listen and learn with the same intensity, embrace spontaneity and imperfection? Because, if I’m being honest with you and myself, I often don’t. How many times have I gotten distracted in the middle of an important conversation with my wife? How many times have I listened to one of my children with only half an ear, going through the motions but not fully present? How many times have I given the all-too-accurate impression that I needed and wanted to be somewhere else? The answer is heartbreaking: way too many times. And in life, unlike in podcasts, there are no second takes.
attitudes and practices of indigenous peoples, and they are part of our Christian tradition too. How else could the Psalms have been written, but in conversation with the mountains, valleys, and rivers of the Holy Land? How else could St. Paul write about the very creation groaning or Pope Francis claim that “the entire material universe speaks of God’s love”? In the end, then, the capacity and willingness to have true conversations—public and private, with human beings or the more-than-human world—are spiritual practices. As National Public Radio StoryCorps producer Dave Isay puts it, “Listening is an act of love.” To love is to make room—in your head, your heart, and your life—for those conversations that matter most, in whatever context. It’s a muscle we’re born with and one that grows stronger the more we use it.
HELPFUL
TIPS
THINGS SPOKEN AND UNSPOKEN
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MIDDLE: RYAN J LANE/ISTOCK; BOTTOM: KUPICOO/ISTOCK
TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF KYLE KRAMER; TOP: VISUAL SPACE/ISTOCK
A WORK IN PROGRESS
Fortunately, these skills are transferable. If I can learn to have good conversations for a podcast, I can have them in other realms too. The main thing I must do is always remind myself that all of the conversations I have from day to day are just as important—actually, they’re far more important—than the ones that get recorded and sent out into the ether as podcasts. They are worth my entire attention, even though they don’t provide the ego boost of download stats and positive reviews and even when, as is often the case, they are far more difficult and fraught than any on-air conversation I’ve ever had. The poet David Whyte claims that there’s a conversational nature to all of reality, and I think he’s right. If we bring the right attitude, openness, and skill to it, every encounter can be a profound meeting, a new frontier of experience. That’s obviously true in conversations with other human beings. However, I think it can and must also be true in our encounters with the rest of God’s creation—even if those conversations don’t happen in words. What would it be like to carry on conversations with trees, with rivers, with birds, bats, bugs, and all manner of creatures, even with the very land itself? Such questions may sound “out there,” but they’re not. Those kinds of conversations are deeply rooted in the
One of the best ways to cultivate good conversations is, ironically, to build a lot of silence into your life. Try to have at least an hour a day, preferably two, in which you’re not getting input from news, podcasts, or other media. Practice just doing what you’re doing, with full concentration.
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Good conversations aren’t necessarily free of conflict or challenge. With whom might you need to have challenging conversations—a family member, a friend, a coworker—in order to speak your truth or move a relationship past an impasse?
StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 17
Blessed Carlo The First Millennial Saint?
18 • November 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
Not all saints and blesseds died centuries ago. Meet Blessed Carlo Acutis, a teen who combined devotion to the Eucharist with a passion for computer technology. By Natalie Ryan
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ne crisp morning, the sun rises over the precipice of the mountaintops, painting the horizon with pastel purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows. As the dawn blankets the valley, pilgrims set out down an alley of stairs only to twist and take another flight entering into the time capsule of this medieval city on a hill. A cacophony of the larks dancing above singing their morning praises, brakes of small trucks delivering fresh ingredients, and the clomping of rubber soles on the pink Monte Subasio stone overwhelm the senses, reminding us that this holy town still functions in contemporary times. Our group descends to our primary stop, one of the minor basilicas of Assisi. We walk inside the arched, ancient doorway to be met by centuries-old pews, earthquake-shattered frescoes, and simple masonry. As we visualize the scene of St. Clare that took place in this basilica, I catch a glimpse of a new shrine in the side aisle. There stands a sign that reads: “Carlo Acutis.” I break away from the group to take a quick peek and grab a brochure. I feel the Spirit begin to weave Carlo’s story into mine.
COURTESY OF ASSOCIAZIONE AMICI DI CARLO ACUTIS
TYPICAL TEEN
Carlo Acutis was born May 3, 1991, in London. Shortly after his birth, his family moved back to northern Italy. Carlo grew up in what most people would consider a normal family. His parents worked, he went to school, and they lived life in the modern world. Carlo had several pets, played soccer, went snow skiing, loved movies, and played video games. His life drastically changed in June of 1998. He greatly anticipated his first Communion Carlo visits Castelluccio, Italy, a village in Umbria, in the Apennine Mountains of central Italy. On family vacations, he searched for eucharistic shrines throughout Europe. StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 19
O God, our Father, thank you for giving us Blessed Carlo, model of life for young people, and a message of love for all. You made him fall in love with your Son, Jesus, making of the Eucharist his “highway to heaven.” You gave him Mary, as beloved Mother, and with the rosary you made him sing the praises of her tenderness. Accept his prayer for us. Attend especially to the poor, whom he loved and helped. Also grant me, through his intercession, the grace I need (_____). And fulfill our joy by placing Blessed Carlo among the saints of your holy Church, that his smile may shine again for us for the glory of your name. Amen. —from a prayer card at the shrine of Carlo Acutis
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF ASSOCIAZIONE AMICI DI CARLO ACUTIS (6)
PRAYER TO BLESSED CARLO ACUTIS
because the Eucharist was the center of his HIS MISSION BEGINS life, and he wanted to fully participate. This In the early 2000s, the Internet was becomoccasion left an indelible imprint on Carlo’s ing more popular, but programming, codsoul. He was always drawn to Christ. His ing, building websites, and blogging were mother, Antonia, remembers that when he left to the professionals because they were so was little, he could not pass a church without complicated. Carlo dove in to master this new stopping in to greet Jesus in the tabernacle, tool, and he applied his newfound knowledge and that continued into his adolescence. His and skills to updating and building new webparents were Catholic but had ceased going sites for his parish and his school. He saw the to Mass. Carlo changed that because he knew Internet as a vessel to draw attention to the the significance faith and ultimately of the Eucharist. to the Eucharist. The Eucharist was As Occhetta to Carlo as fuel is to a reports, Pier Luigi Ferrari. Without fuel, Imbrighi, the without tires, without secretariat of the a steering wheel, a Pontifical Academy Ferrari cannot funcof the Martyrs, said tion. Without adorathat Carlo “was an tion, without Mass, extraordinary expert, without prayer, Carlo aiding us with great could not function. readiness to help and He never missed Mass dedication in the crebecause he was comation of our website pletely captivated by on vatican.va.” Carlo the sacrificial lamb on helped them promote the altar. Carlo’s soul programs for volunburned to tap into teers through online this timeless grace. advertising. People in His eucharistic drive the technology world was contagious. and in the Catholic As Carlo grew into sphere began to his preteen and teenrecognize Carlo as a age years, his schedtechnology protégé. ule was chock-full of He simply desired In 1998, 7-year-old Carlo receives his first Communion in classes, homework, to use computsocial events, sports Perego, Italy. From that moment, the Eucharist became the ers for the good. practices and games, center of his life. Being a catechist, music, video games, wanting to dive serving in his community, Sunday dinners deeper in knowledge, and using the Internet with family, and chores. He went to the movmore and more as a resource, Carlo began ies, shopped with his friends, and relished the investigating eucharistic miracles. These treat of gelato; however, he stood out from the physical phenomena struck his heart, and he crowd. Carlo limited his video game time to could not contain his joy. He decided to create one hour a week so the games would not disan exhibition to virtually display different tract his mind to worry solely about temporal eucharistic miracles for a wide audience. things. Francesco Occhetta writes in Carlo He convinced his parents to take their Acutis, the Servant of God: Beyond the Border family vacations over two and a half years to that Carlo said, “They’ll stand in line for the sites where eucharistic miracles had taken hours to go to a concert but won’t stay even a place. He took along a camera, a camcorder, moment before the tabernacle.” After his first and paper to note every detail of the prayerCommunion, the Eucharist opened a portal ful spaces. Carlo started from ground zero to inside of Carlo that only the Eucharist could build his exhibit website by physically travpass through, and he dedicated his life to it. eling to the towns to take his own pictures,
A very young Carlo is carried by his mother, Antonia. Four years to the day after her son’s death on October 12, 2006, Antonia gave birth to twins—a miracle she attributes to Carlo’s intercession.
Carlo stands in front of the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, Portugal.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF ASSOCIAZIONE AMICI DI CARLO ACUTIS (6)
Like St. Francis of Assisi, Carlo had a great love for animals. His pets included four dogs, two cats, and several goldfish.
Carlo’s nanny, Rajesh (left), was a Hindu when the two met and developed a close friendship. Carlo’s influence led Rajesh to convert to Catholicism. Rajesh says that Carlo “communicated to me and electrified me with his faith, his charity, and his purity.”
Carlo celebrates his 14th birthday in 2005, a year before his death. StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 21
—Carlo Acutis
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ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF ASSOCIAZIONE AMICI DI CARLO ACUTIS (3)
“Do not be afraid because with the Incarnation of Jesus, death becomes life, and there’s no need to escape: In eternal life, something extraordinary awaits us.”
record his own experience, and report the sto- he meticulously organized 142 detailed ries on the plaques. Most of all, Carlo and his panels. His love for the Eucharist motivated family spent their travels together in copious him to capture the miracles in words and amounts of individual and communal prayer images. In return, others were enthralled before hosts that had turned to blood, hosts and transformed. that were stolen and miraculously reappeared in the church, hosts that had converted A LIFE CUT SHORT thousands of souls before him. He knelt in the Carlo fell ill in October of 2006 amid his divots of the hundreds-of-years-old kneelers exhibition progress, technology projects, and poured out his life before the monstrance. high school education, and life as a teen. His Carlo’s story changed the moment he parents took him to the doctor with flu-like stepped into the chapel of Orvieto, where symptoms, and the test results came back as the corporal cloth advanced leukemia. stained with the blood Despite the gravity of of Christ is exposed his diagnosis, Carlo for veneration. His took the news with heart converted again grace by keeping when he knelt before Christ the top priorthe host turned flesh ity, and he offered of the heart and wine everything up for the turned type-AB blood pope, the Church, in Lanciano. Carlo and his direct would have encounentry into heaven. tered physically taxing St. Thérèse of days with long walks Lisieux wrote: “It’s between sites, time true, I suffer a great changes, different deal—but do I suffer routines, and the like; well? That is the queshowever, the eucharistion.” Carlo, despite the pains of cancer, tic miracles provided suffered gently. He him an energy so always thanked those strong because they around him and kept were becoming part of a positive spirit. He his very fiber. made sure that family Carlo realized that members were taken we are walking with care of. Occhetta Christ, but we are also Carlo holds his camera while on vacation with his family. He reports that Carlo walking each other home. Carlo’s gait on documented the sites of miracles in words and images, which once said, “All people are born as originals, his path of disciplehe then used to build his website. but many people die ship was propelled by as photocopies.” Carlo retained his originality. the Eucharist. Spending time with Jesus in Father Sandro Villa, the hospital chaplain, the sacrament allowed him an opportunity visited Carlo the day before he slipped into to pause, to breathe, to listen. He possessed a coma. Courtney Mares, a journalist for a keen awareness that time with Jesus is the Catholic News Service, interviewed Carlo’s only way to receive life. Silence and solitude doctors and chaplain for her article “Blessed before the host became a sign of life for him. Carlo Acutis’ Doctor Recalls His Last Days His love for the Eucharist, his pilgrimage in the Hospital.” She wrote that Father Villa journey, and his skill for technology merged described his one encounter with Carlo: “I into a single lane; here his mission was born. was amazed by the composure and devotion He initiated a blog about his family’s with which, albeit with difficulty, he received adventures. Word got around about Carlo’s the two sacraments. He seemed to have been website, and he was asked to display physical waiting for them and felt the need for them.” copies of the information and pictures at a Even on his final full day on earth, Carlo’s church in Rome. From 17 different countries,
heart belonged to Christ in the Eucharist. Father Villa said, “I discovered that he was in love with the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, and I therefore began to better understand.” Carlo also touched his medical team by his faith. Mares said they remember that “his gentle eyes taught us a lot. Life, whether short or long, must be lived intensely for oneself, but also and above all for others.” In the hospital, Carlo evangelized with his life and sometimes even with only a gaze. According to Occhetta, Carlo told his mom, “I am happy to die because I have lived my life without wasting a minute on those things which do not please God.” Death was not feared but was rather a welcomed invitation. Carlo died on the morning of October 12, 2006.
The First Millennial Saint?
ON THE PATH TO SAINTHOOD
As Carlo’s witness circled the globe, people started to pray for his intercession. In 2009, the first oratory in his honor was established by Bishop Domenico Sorrentino, the bishop of Assisi, right next to Santa Maria Maggiore, where his body now rests. Carlo was named a Servant of God in November 2016 by the bishop of Milan, Cardinal Angelo Scola. He was declared Venerable in July 2018 by Pope Francis, and he was beatified on October 10, 2020, just two days before the 14th anniversary of his death. Today, the family of Carlo Acutis continues his mission of spreading the joy of the Eucharist. In Occhetta’s book, Carlo is quoted as saying, “If we get in front of the sun, we get suntans, but when we get in front of Jesus in the Eucharist, we become saints.” Blessed Carlo Acutis, indeed, is one step closer to becoming a saint.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF ASSOCIAZIONE AMICI DI CARLO ACUTIS (3)
Natalie Ryan is a native of Indianapolis who lives in Northern Kentucky. A writer and an artist, she also works in parish ministry and spiritual direction. She loves to see how God is working in others’ lives, which helps her find him more clearly in her life.
At a young age, Carlo became interested in computer technology. Both his peers and adults with computer engineering degrees considered him a genius in the field.
BORN IN 1991, CARLO ACUTIS was a member of the millennial generation. Due to his untimely death at the age of 15, he could be the first saint from that generation to be canonized. Young people today can relate to his life of school, sports, and video games. Because of his extensive use of computer technology, he has been unofficially dubbed “the patron saint of the Internet.” Carlo is celebrated on his feast day (October 12) locally in Assisi and in the Archdiocese of Milan, where the Acutis family lives. You can access Carlo’s exhibitions by visiting CarloAcutis.com, the official website dedicated to his cause for canonization. The Carlo Acutis website also features links to books and articles about him, downloadable audio and video materials, prayers, and updates on the progress of his sainthood cause.
Carlo Acutis (back row, second from left) was a typical teenager. He enjoyed Pokémon, playing video games on his PlayStation, making videos, and playing soccer. But his devotion to the Eucharist was paramount in his life.
For more online resources on Carlo Acutis, visit the Facebook page @BeatoCarloAcutisUfficiale and follow the Twitter handle @BeatoCarloOP.
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The Wisdom of the Saints You can look to the stories of the saints for ways to live compassionate, faith-filled lives. By Mary Ann Getty, STD
At St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, 140 sculptures of saints stand atop the Colonnades. The history of our faith is rich with stories of saintly men and women whose love of wisdom empowered them to pursue righteousness, live lives of virtue, and grow in holiness.
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great distrust for all things Greek. But the Book of Wisdom, written in Greek, demonstrates an intellectual, cultural, and spiritual openness to both Jews and gentiles, showing what they held in common, how their legacies were compatible, what values they could offer one another. Wisdom thus represents a model for us who may want to draw on, defend, and advance our Catholic faith while also adapting to our traditional religious values, the best of our culture, and scientific curiosity about truth. WISDOM IN NOVEMBER
It is entirely fitting that in November we commemorate All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day as if to summarize toward the end of the liturgical year reasons we seek to live our lives, in the words of St. Paul, “worthy of the gospel” (Phil 1:27). As believing people, it is especially fitting that we celebrate our collective memory of those who are examples to us and whose virtues we try to imitate. The first two weeks of November give us a special opportunity to focus on what makes a saint, to be motivated by the liturgy, and to draw inspiration from the Book of Wisdom.
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atholics have sometimes been accused of worshipping saints. In overcorrecting, we seem to have lost something worthwhile in the honor we have always given to the saints’ role in our lives as guides, inspiration, and encouragement. There was and still is value to appreciating and invoking the examples of saints. Since Christianity is fundamentally incarnational, it helps us to know that we stand on the shoulders of holy ones, our spiritual ancestors, who have gone before us. In this regard, the Book of Wisdom is one of our treasured resources, illustrating a way of holiness. Consistent with the rest of the Old Testament, the Book of Wisdom does not use the term saints or holy ones as the New Testament does. Rather, the Old Testament refers to just ones as those who pursue righteousness. Jews sought justice while Greeks sought wisdom, which might include knowledge and understanding but was so much more. Yet for more than two centuries before Christ, Jews suffered persecution particularly in the great cities outside of Israel where Hellenism prospered. In Alexandria, Egypt, for instance, where the Book of Wisdom was composed, this was particularly true. Among Jews, there developed a
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This is the only time of the liturgical year when we ponder Although it appeared in writing about a thousand years the lessons from this extraordinary book that was composed after him, the Book of Wisdom is ascribed to Solomon, who very late among the biblical writings, a mere 50 years or is also known as the Sage. Borrowing on Solomon’s authority so before Jesus. and reputation, the writer of Wisdom has Solomon invoke Yet the link between the Book “God of my ancestors, Lord of of Wisdom and saints is more than mercy,” and ask for wisdom, a liturgical one—it is also practi“knowing that I could not other“I have no idea where I am cal. The Lectionary selections wise possess her unless God gave going. But I believe that the provide the basis of our reflection it.” While acknowledging that he is on the virtues of saints and help “weak and short-lived and lacking desire to please you does, in us discover how to become more in comprehension of judgment fact, please you. . . . And I know like them. Wisdom has much to and of laws,” Solomon expresses that if I do this, you will lead me say about what makes a saint holy confidence that with the guidance by the right road, though I may or, in the words of the book itself, of divine wisdom, his deeds will know nothing about it.” how we can identify “friends of be acceptable, he will judge people —Thomas Merton God and prophets” (7:27) and why justly, and he will be worthy of the they can be called saints. throne of David (see Wis 8:21— The Lectionary for All Souls’ 9:1, 4–6, 10–12). Solomon knew that, without grace, he would not succeed. Day as well as for the second week in November selects passages to entice us to read more of the book itself, for there But if God answered his prayer that he be granted wisdom, is much to help us become wise and holy. The following are he would be enabled to fulfill the daunting task before him. some thoughts on Wisdom’s advice to would-be saints—past, So it should be with us. When we are faced with an uncertain present, and future—found in these liturgical readings. future or responsibilities that seem too great for us, it does no good to fret and worry—we should pray. Try the spirit of the prayer Jesus taught us, saying, “Our Father, . . . give THE PRAYER OF SOLOMON us this day our daily bread”—which means all that we need. Prayer sometimes seems like a last resort when it probably Praying in the spirit of Thomas Merton, who, like Solomon, should be the first, as it was for Solomon and many saints after him. The Book of Wisdom pictures Solomon, facing the expressed his trust in God, provides another possibility. Merton prayed: “I have no idea where I am going. I do not consequences and responsibilities of assuming the throne of see the road ahead of me. But I believe that the desire to his father, David—who was undoubtedly the most famous please you does, in fact, please you. . . . And I know that if and beloved king in Israel’s history—praying for wisdom before anything else. As it happened, all other gifts were then I do this, you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.” added after that initial request was granted.
In Wisdom 7:27–28, we read: “Passing into holy souls from age to age, she [Wisdom] produces friends of God and prophets. For God loves nothing so much as the one who dwells with Wisdom.” This Old Testament book reminds us that prophets such as Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, and Nahum—pictured on the left as sculptures that adorn the west portal of the Strasbourg Cathedral in France—were guided by the power of wisdom in their response to the prophetic call. StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 25
LEARNING FROM THE SAGE
Solomon is an example to those in a position of authority over others to seek wisdom above all. “Kings and magistrates” are reminded that “the lowly may be pardoned out of mercy but the mighty shall be mightily put to the test” (6:6). That means that while the poor firmly hope in divine mercy, the powerful will be judged on their own record; their only recourse is whether they have acted wisely or wickedly. Wisdom suggests that authorities rule as God rules, and there is an implied warning in this advice: “To you therefore, O princes, are my words addressed that you may learn wisdom and that you may not fall away” (6:9). The best hope for those with power over others is to act humbly while seeking wisdom. Authorities do well to remember that humility is another name for truth.
Saints, therefore, are called to become lovers of wisdom. In exuberant language the Sage describes wisdom as “the reflection of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of his goodness” (7:26). Wisdom reminds us that saints are not figures of the past long dead. Rather they live among us in every time, inspiring and encouraging us to seek and cherish wisdom above all else. We read in 7:27–28: “Passing into holy souls from age to age, she produces friends of God and prophets. For God loves nothing so much as the one who dwells with Wisdom.” Wisdom is truth and compassion as opposed to dishonesty, malice, and hatred. The Scripture cautions that truth will prevail and gentle kindness should guide our words and actions. Wisdom says that “those who utter wicked things will not go unnoticed. . . . For the devices of the wicked shall be scrutinized, and the sound of their words shall reach the Lord. . . . A lying mouth destroys the soul” (1:8–9, 11). We are assured that if one loves justice, the fruits of wisdom are the virtues of “moderation and prudence, righteousness and fortitude, and nothing in life is more useful than these” (Wis 8:7). By contrast, the Sage warns, the multiple forms of idolatry are as seductive today as ever. We need to discern wisdom and reject its counterfeits. All creation, with its beauty, truth, and goodness, points us toward the Creator when we have eyes to truly see.
The Book of Wisdom advises us to not only pass on experience and strength to future generations, but also take care of the earth and all its resources. The centuriesold Angel Oak tree near Charleston, South Carolina, is a powerful symbol of the Book of Wisdom’s call for us to be stewards of the natural world. 26 • November 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
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In addition to seeking God’s grace for wisdom in overcoming uncertainty, Solomon displays another common virtue of saints when he introduces his prayer and his reign by showing gratitude, not only for our talents and available resources, but also for the gaps and needs that distress us as we assess the challenges of our day. His prayer begins, “Now, I was a well-favored child, and I came by a noble nature” (Wis 8:19). Thanksgiving begets kindness and tolerance, as Wisdom says, “For wisdom is a kindly spirit” (Wis 1:6).
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THE ASSURANCES OF WISDOM
The Book of Wisdom assures us of the goodness of creation: “For [God] fashioned all things that they might have being, and the creatures of the world are wholesome” (1:14). The Scripture advises would-be saints to be provident stewards of the earth’s natural resources, but also of our personal heritage and spiritual traditions, so as to pass on to succeeding generations experience, strength, and hope that can inspire, motivate, and enable them also to be blessed in inheriting the earth. An assurance is also seen in Wisdom 3:1–9, which gives guidance especially fitting for a celebration of the feast of All Souls. That is a time when we might ponder the mystery of suffering, especially innocent suffering, and its implications for faith. The sting of suffering is the strain it puts on faith. Suffering can threaten to break the slender thread that binds us to a caring and loving God. But Wisdom promises that “the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. . . . But they are in peace” (3:1, 3). Here is a call to trust in God’s loving care as well as God’s promise that we shall dwell in peace. St. Francis de Sales expressed similar ideas when he urged us: “The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either he will shield you from suffering, or he will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.” The Book of Wisdom concludes with a meditative review of the Exodus (Wis 18—19), the foundational event in the life of Israel. The Exodus event transcended its historical roots through celebration of the Passover liturgy. The pattern of bondage-liberation-covenant that we see in the Exodus was one that is repeated over and over in the lives of saints as they assume their place in salvation history. As such, the saint contributed to the faith of generations of the children of Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Rachel, Joseph,
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Moses, David, Solomon, and Jesus, and continuing into the present and future. Because of God’s providence, the Israelites were spared while their persecutors died, as the Book of Wisdom recalls. Thus, “all creation . . . was being made over anew, serving your commands, that your children might be preserved unharmed” (Wis 19:6).
A celebration of saints from the creators of St. Anthony Messenger magazine
WE CAN ALL BE SAINTS
And so the Book of Wisdom, represented by the November reading selections, circles back to its initial fundamental advice to saints: “Love righteousness; . . . think of the Lord in goodness, and seek [God] in integrity of heart” (1:1). Clearly, confidence and trust in God are the basis of the holiness of all saints. In fact, the Book of Wisdom might be considered a description of every saint because every saint is someone who has accepted and acted on God’s wisdom, no longer complaining that God’s wisdom takes too long and produces uneven results. Saints are people who have given up trying to find a shortcut around God’s ways. Aren’t “friends of God and prophets” (Wis 7:27) all really saints? Wisdom offers advice to would-be saints on the essentials of sainthood. These include valuing God’s will and wisdom; expressing gratitude, especially in prayer, for one’s own talents, responsibilities, and roles in life; a sense of humility; and a willingness to cooperate with God’s will. The saints also conveyed trust in God and stewardship for creation. These holy women and men recognized that our personal and collective religious history puts us in solidarity with those who have gone before us in faith along with those to whom we hope to pass on the legacy of a life well lived. Mary Ann Getty, STD, has a doctorate in theology with a specialization in Scripture from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. She taught Scripture for over 40 years and has written extensively on New Testament topics.
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This collector’s edition offers an in-depth and popular look at the saints including: • “Sts. Clare and Francis: Assisi’s Most Dangerous Citizens” • “An Unlikely Patron Saint” • “Blessed Carlo Acutis: The First Millennial Saint?” • “St. Joseph: Man of Virtue” Buy it at Franciscan Media’s online store:
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OWNS & O P E R AT E S
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ST. FRANCIS
LEFT: AMYGDALA IMAGERY/ISTOCK; RIGHT: FRANK JASPER, OFM
Giving Comfort to Weary Soldiers
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A former military chaplain explains how St. Francis can be an example for those struggling with the traumas of war. By Katie Rutter
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t. Francis is usually portrayed in a docile fashion: a haloed figure gazing mildly at a bird perched on his hand with deer and rabbits gathered at his feet. But the dime-adozen garden statues miss the true character of the saint from Assisi. Francis, the patron of peace, was a man who had been through war and captivity and still carried mental wounds from the trauma. These military experiences have drawn a unique crowd of devotees. Many veterans have been drawn to St. Francis’ example and comforted in their own trials by what they see as a kindred spirit. “He had the memories. He had the dreams. He had the flashbacks,” says Franciscan Father Conrad Targonski, himself a veteran. “And you think about these veterans and all the work I do with my brothers and sisters who are coming back from war; all of us feel the same way.” After serving for 22 years as a chaplain for the Marines, he now ministers to students at Wisconsin’s Viterbo University. He says that veterans of all ages still come to him for spiritual guidance, and he regularly takes these military men and women on pilgrimages of healing.
LEFT: AMYGDALA IMAGERY/ISTOCK; RIGHT: FRANK JASPER, OFM
FRANCIS, THE VETERAN
Long before St. Francis would hear the voice of Christ and renounce wealth for a life of poverty, he lived the privileged life of a young aristocrat. When war broke out between Assisi and the neighboring city of Perugia, he eagerly signed up. The young man, then in his early 20s, yearned for the romantic glory of war, not unlike many young enlistees today. “When Francis went to war, he realized it wasn’t what he thought,” says Father Targonski. “It was a real startling experience; [like] when a young person walked on to, let’s say, the Marine Corps, and he wanted to be a Marine and all these billboards that kind of espouse
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Franciscan Father Conrad Targonski served for 22 years as a chaplain for the Marines. He served two tours in Iraq and was deployed with the Seventh Marine regiment during the 2004 Battle of Fallujah. RIGHT: As chaplain, Father Targonski cared for the soldiers’ spiritual needs, such as distributing ashes on Ash Wednesday.
COURTESY OF FATHER CONRAD TARGONSKI, OFM/EMILIO ALVAREZ/VITERBO; INSET: COURTESY FATHER CONRAD TARGONSKI, OFM
the Marine ideal. Then he meets the drill instructor.” Rushing into battle without any training, Francis was captured by the enemy. He likely saw the tragedy unfold as his fellows from Assisi, who were vastly outnumbered, were slaughtered in a crushing defeat. Other prisoners were immediately put to death, but the men of Perugia realized that this young aristocrat might carry a valuable ransom and threw him into prison. Francis was held in miserable conditions for a year while his enemies negotiated the price of his head. Eventually, his father paid for Francis’ freedom, though some accounts detail that he had already contracted a grave illness from inhumane treatment. Looking deeply into writings from his day, some analysts say that, long after his conversion, Francis would still experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from this battle and imprisonment. “In some of the writings, it’s very strange. He’s with the brothers already, and he wakes up in the middle of the night feeling rats crawling all over him, and he’s yelling,” says Father Targonski. Though it’s not a nightmare that would be expected from the patron saint of animals, it’s one that military veterans can deeply relate to. It is also one of many stories of St. Francis that has helped Father Targonski through his own trauma. “Sometimes it’s difficult, [and] some days are worse than others. But I saw a lot,” says Father Targonski.
During his time as a military chaplain, Father Targonski served two tours in Iraq. The Chicago native was deployed with the Seventh Marine regiment during the Battle of Fallujah, which, in 2004, retook the city from Islamic insurgents and resistance fighters. The battle would be one of the bloodiest of the war, with 110 coalition forces and thousands of civilians killed. Some 3,000 insurgents were also killed or captured. The Marines fought into the heart of the city itself—an environment where a concealed sniper, an ambush, or a booby trap could be around any corner. As supervisory chaplain and the only Catholic priest, Father Targonski had to hurry through the streets from unit to unit and minister to the 14 other chaplains. “You were seeing bombs. We called them tracers. You were constantly taking cover of mortars flying into your position. It’s the only place you’d be bored and five seconds later you go to utter terror,” he recalls. “I see on the news bodies lying in the streets, but here I was seeing them right before my eyes.” In Fallujah, Father Targonski carried with him a replica of the San Damiano cross, the image that would mark the turning point of St. Francis’ life. It was this icon—a striking portrayal of Christ on the cross, eyes open and seeming to be already victorious over death—that Francis was praying before when he heard the voice of Christ ask him to “rebuild my church.” “That was my sword, and I just gazed at it,” says Father Targonski, adding that he now has a great devotion to the image. THE VETERANS OF THE SAN DAMIANO CROSS
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COURTESY OF FATHER CONRAD TARGONSKI, OFM/EMILIO ALVAREZ/VITERBO; INSET: COURTESY FATHER CONRAD TARGONSKI, OFM
MINISTERING IN WAR
After hearing the words of Christ while kneeling before the San Damiano cross, Francis would take some of the most radical steps of his life. First, he would sell his father’s goods in an attempt to fund literal repairs of the chapel where the crucifix hung. Then, once discovered and rebuked by both his father and the local bishop, he would renounce his birthright, embrace poverty, and return everything to his father— even the clothes on his back. But what was it about this now-famous icon, then dirty and surrounded by a crumbling edifice, that caused such a radical change in the aristocrat-turned-saint? “There are three military people in the icon,” Father Targonski points out. “[The San Damiano cross is] actually talking to veterans coming back from war.” Unremarked by most, yet unmistakable to a veteran’s eye, those three figures may have arrested the attention of the young man.
In the icon, five large images of people are gathered around the crucified Christ, witnesses described by the Bible, including Mary his mother and the beloved apostle John. At the far right is the Roman centurion who had been stationed to guard the prisoner. His hand is raised as if he is just uttering the all-important profession of faith, “Truly this was the Son of God!” At the feet of these larger images are two smaller figures— the soldier who pierced the side of Christ and the soldier who offered Jesus a sponge soaked in vinegar. Those military men, all turned toward the crucified Christ, may have shown the war-traumatized veteran where he should turn to find healing. For Father Targonski, the image of Christ has helped heal some of the worst memories of the war. Once he saw a flatbed truck filled with the elderly, along with women and children, roll into an active battle zone. Running to the truck despite the firing around him, Father Targonski saw a young girl cover her eyes in fear. The eyes of Christ on the cross, he reflected, are open. “They say that the eyes are the windows of the soul,” he explains. “I think Francis saw in the eyes the soul of Christ, which is divine mercy. “It’s part of healing the memory. It’s that process where you look at things that were terrible, but you look and see good things that may have happened because of it,” he points out, “[like] saying what have I learned from this, and how can I make the world better?” FOLLOWING THE VETERANS’ EXPERIENCE
Today, Father Targonski hosts a special pilgrimage for veterans that introduces them to St. Francis and follows his journey from the military to sainthood. The trip takes these men and women across the Italy that Francis knew, including Assisi and the city where Francis experienced war. They also journey to the fertile Rieti Valley, where Francis was overwhelmed by the glory of God’s creation. There, near one of four shrines that he would eventually erect in that valley, Francis experienced what many veterans long for: the knowledge that he was forgiven. “The stories are uncannily appropriate because he had this problem with not being forgiven. And that’s what veterans have. Sometimes they’re forced to kill, and sometimes they have to deal with things,” Father Targonski explains. “And Francis struggled. He struggled and he struggled with it. But something happened in Poggio Bustone, where he realized he was forgiven.” Today, a modern statue representing God hovering over St. Francis commemorates this moment of mercy. StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 31
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progress and instructed Francis to serve “the master,” not the man. When Francis asked what he must do, God answered: “Go back home. It will be revealed to you what you must do.” The dejected figure immortalized by the statue captures how Francis must have felt on his long journey back to Assisi. Still unclear what God wanted from him and unable to explain what has happened, the young man fears the imminent reaction of his family and friends at this early, inglorious homecoming. It’s another experience that speaks deeply to the military vet. First, there is the confusing jolt back into civilian life. Then, it’s the fear of what others will think as the veteran attempts to process his or her unexplainable experience. “With a veteran, you’ve got that call to adventure,” explains Father Targonski, “then you face reality, and then, of course, you have this fact that you almost died, and your compatriots have died. “Even friars mentioned that I was different, and I think they were afraid of me, not because I was scary, but they didn’t know how to talk to me,” he recalls. “It’s just something that I think many of us experience when we come back to our families. Wives are afraid. Children are afraid.”
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Father Targonski says that the veterans on the trip are always “dazed” by it. There is also another statue that unexpectedly captures their attention. This likeness, situated outside the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi and often overlooked by civilian pilgrims, portrays the strongest connection to Francis’ former military life. Francis, unexpectedly garbed in full medieval armor, sits astride his armored horse. His head hangs down as if from deep sorrow. The portrayal captures another key moment in the life of the saint that occurred after Francis had fought in Perugia, yet still before his conversion at San Damiano. He had left Assisi to join the Crusades, not unlike a soldier leaving for a second tour of duty. Likely he was still grappling with the emotions of his first battle and felt the need to redeem the memory by a second trial. This time, he had prepared himself by purchasing the best armor that the age could provide. Perhaps he again was struggling with his desperate desire for the glory of knighthood. Long before reaching the battle, however, the would-be Crusader heard the voice of Christ. The Lord stopped his
COURTESY FATHER CONRAD TARGONSKI, OFM
ABOVE: Franciscan Father Conrad Targonski stands next to a sculpture at Poggio Bustone in Italy’s Rieti Valley. In the sculpture, God is represented as hovering over a repentant Francis. INSET: Veterans gather during a pilgrimage to Assisi geared toward their experiences in military service in relation to Francis’ experience.
“Many of us veterans, we withdraw. We go inside. But you know what? Francis didn’t. He went outside.” —Father Conrad Targonski, OFM
LOOKING OUTWARD
called him to become a soldier of Christ. According to The History of St. Francis of Assisi by Léon Le Monnier, the saint said: “My brother, thou has long worn belt, sword, and spurs; henceforth, thy belt must be a cord, thy sword the cross of Jesus Christ, and for spurs thou must have dust and mud. Follow me.” Angelo immediately followed him, giving up everything to become a friar. Father Targonski notes that even the very first person to join the brotherhood was himself a soldier. “[Francis’] best battle buddy, Bernard of Quintavalle, joins him. That’s what began it all,” says Father Targonski, quickly adding the obvious questions: “How many other combat veterans joined Francis? How many of these guys were at war? And why were they changing to such a radical, different type of life?” Perhaps Francis’ very patronage of peace began on the battlefield. After all, who would be more motivated to work for peace than one who had experienced the horrors of war and suffered from the trauma for the rest of his life? “Would we have the same Francis if he had not gone to war and had this experience of PTSD?” Father Targonski wonders. “I don’t know. But I think God uses experiences.” God seems to be still using the experiences of St. Francis to touch others, especially those who, like him, have been on the battlefield. “I’m a little prejudiced here: I think that veterans are going to change the world, and they see a world of harmony and fratelli tutti,” says Father Targonski, using the Italian phrase for “all brothers” that was coined by St. Francis and used by Pope Francis as the title of his most recent encyclical. Even after leaving the field, the memories of war remain for the rest of a veteran’s life. But as the saint of peace has shown, the grace of God can transform even the worst experiences for his glory.
WORKING FOR PEACE
Katie Rutter is a writer and video producer specializing in Catholic viewpoints and topics. She has previously written a number of articles for this magazine, including the award-winning “Brother Marinus: War Hero and Selfless Monk.” She and her husband, Brian, live in Bloomington, Indiana, where they are members of St. Charles Borromeo Church.
So the veteran, like the literal portrayal of Francis, figuratively lets his or her head droop low in sorrow. In response to a world that does not understand their experience, these warriors-turned-civilians tend to withdraw. But instead of finding healing within, many experience greater depression and anxiety, and even lose hold of their former relationships. Yet, here again, these men and women can find hope and inspiration in the example of St. Francis. “He did something very extraordinary,” Father Targonski points out. “Many of us veterans, we withdraw. We go inside. But you know what? Francis didn’t. He went outside.” After his figurative “defeat” en route to the Crusades, Francis looks outward to literally embrace others. Riding around the outskirts of Assisi, he comes upon a leper—an outcast shunned by the rest of the town, dirty and horribly disfigured by the ailment. After all of his searching for a purpose beyond his own traumatic experiences, the young saint realizes that their shared suffering has made this leper his kin. He embraces the man and kisses him in a rapture of brotherly love. In that moment, he seems to understand that God can use his darkest experiences to bless those around him. “Francis was commissioned; he used his experience to heal. And I think that’s why he continued with the lepers. He went outward,” Father Targonski says. “We have homeless shelters here in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and that’s where I hang out. There’s a certain solidarity that I feel. That’s where we belong.” In the years that followed, Francis would continue his outward focus to preach the Gospel in distant lands, undaunted by danger and imprisonment. He had finally found that his yearning for glory was not an earthly one, but one directing him to reach heaven itself.
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COURTESY FATHER CONRAD TARGONSKI, OFM
This statue outside the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi shows a dejected Francis atop his horse, returning from war following God’s instructions to go back home.
Francis’ radical way of life quickly attracted other veterans who were, like himself, in search of both glory and healing. Accounts detail that on his second missionary journey, Francis met a soldier in the street, Angelo Tancredi, and
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ST. JOSEPH Man of Virtue
Faced with a difficult decision, Joseph teaches us that righteousness means loving both God and neighbor.
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t. Matthew is the only evangelist who has much to say about St. Joseph—and he doesn’t tell us much! We know that he was a carpenter or craftsman and that he was a descendant of King David. And we know that he was “righteous.” We know this because, at the time Mary conceived the Messiah, Joseph was betrothed to her, but not yet living with her. (When a couple was betrothed, they were considered married, but it was only some months later that the wife moved in with the husband, and they began normal married life.) It was during this in-between time that Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant. St. Matthew tells us what Joseph did when he heard the news. His response has much to teach us about what it means to be righteous.
THE IMPORTANCE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Catholics don’t seem to use the word righteous much. You rarely hear us talking about striving to be righteous or admiring someone for his or her righteousness. Yet Jesus talks about righteousness quite often. In the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:3–12), in fact, he all but dwells on it: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” and “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.” Later, Jesus says, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:20), and “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Mt 6:33). So why don’t we talk about righteousness very much? I suspect it’s because, at least in our American context, the idea of being righteous can be seen as a negative. Maybe
it’s because we unconsciously put the word self before it. Who wants to be known as self-righteous? Or maybe we associate righteousness with a certain harshness and fiery zeal, as we see in caricatures of fire and brimstone preachers whose “righteous indignation” renders them inhumane and merciless. Whatever the reason, the fact that we seldom talk positively about righteousness, despite the teaching of much of the Bible and of Jesus in particular, suggests that we might have a twisted sense of what this notion is all about. The saints we celebrate this month all hungered and thirsted for righteousness, so it’s a good time to take a closer look at what St. Joseph can teach us about this virtue. A RIGHTEOUS DECISION
Matthew tells us what happened when Joseph learned of Mary’s pregnancy: “Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly” (Mt 1:19). This one little sentence, which we can so easily pass over, has a lot to say about what it means to be righteous. Now for some technical work: The quote above is one translation of the Greek, and depending on which Bible you have, you might see a different translation. Many Bibles have something like, “Joseph her husband, being righteous, yet not wishing to disgrace her . . . .” See the difference? Being righteous yet not wanting to expose Mary to shame suggests that he showed concern for Mary. It tells us that the desire to protect Mary arose from his desire to be righteous.
By John R. Barker, OFM Artwork by Jessie Wagnon
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For Joseph, righteousness was not just about doing the right thing (as he understood it at the time), but also about doing it the right way. In other words, obeying God’s command and being kind to Mary were not mutually exclusive. Far from it, in fact, since showing compassion toward Mary also fulfilled God’s commands. When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant, it naturally didn’t occur to him that Mary remained a virgin and that she had conceived by the Holy Spirit; he only learned this later from the angel. Like anyone else, Joseph would have assumed that Mary conceived in the usual way, and since he knew he wasn’t the father, this meant that she was unfaithful. This may have been very difficult for Joseph to believe, given what he knew of Mary’s character, but there it was: the indisputable fact of her pregnancy. Faced with this, he had to respond. LOVING GOD AND NEIGHBOR
According to Jewish law, infidelity during the betrothal period was considered adultery, and Joseph was required by divine law to divorce Mary, or “send her away.” In making the decision to do this, Joseph was being righteous and obedient to the will of God. He was, in other words, fulfilling the commandment to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Dt 6:5; Mt 22:37). Jesus would later teach his disciples that obeying God’s commandments is an expression of righteousness. While Joseph was required to terminate the betrothal and send Mary away, he still had a choice to make. He could have made the whole affair very public, perhaps out of revenge or a strong sense of “justice.” In doing so, he would not only have exposed her to public shame, but also possibly to death by stoning (Dt 22:21–24 and Jn 8:4–5). Joseph decided not to do this. Instead, he wanted to minimize the damage to her as much as possible by dealing with the situation discreetly. Despite what some translations may say, this act of mercy was not despite Joseph’s righteousness. It was an expression of it, every bit as much as was his fidelity to the command to send Mary away. Joseph knew, as all good Jews knew, that God commands that we love our neighbor as ourselves (Lv 19:18; Mt 22:39). Joseph, because he was righteous, knew that being true to God meant sending Mary away, but he also knew that God demands charity. A few years later, St. Paul would urge the Ephesians to “grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ,” precisely by “living the truth in love” (Eph 4:15). This is righteousness.
BEING RIGHTEOUS IS DEMANDING
It must have been very hard for Joseph to make the decision to divorce Mary, but given what he knew at the time, there was no other course of action. Joseph knew that a righteous person does not compromise when it comes to the will of God, no matter how difficult fidelity may be. This is why Jesus warns his disciples that they will be persecuted for the sake of righteousness (Mt 5:10). This is why many Jews and Christians have chosen to be martyred rather than be unfaithful to God. And this is why many modern-day Christians have bravely remained faithful in the face of relentless social pressure to speak or act in ways that conflict with the Gospels. Righteousness is often costly, and sometimes that cost involves others. Jesus also insists, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:37). As much as Jesus teaches his disciples that righteousness requires a demanding faithfulness to God, even when it goes against our natural inclinations, he also teaches that mercy is demanded of God as well. He insists that “judgment and mercy and fidelity” are all “the weightier things of the law” (Mt 23:23). Joseph knew this, too, and so he chose to send Mary away quietly in the hopes that it would minimize her pain and possibly save her life. Joseph realized, as Jesus would one day teach, that it is blessed to be merciful because it is God’s will that we show as much mercy as we can even when we must do something very difficult. This is God’s way, and so it must be ours too: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36). In this one brief statement about Joseph, who decided to send Mary away without disgracing her, we find the essence of what it means to be righteous. It turns out that righteousness, far from being a cold, calculating devotion to justice, is a warm, faithful virtue that always seeks merciful justice and just mercy. As we celebrate the saints who have shown us God’s holiness in so many ways, may we be especially grateful to St. Joseph, the righteous man, whose example encourages us to seek always to “live the truth in love” (Eph 4:15). John R. Barker, OFM, is a Franciscan friar with the Province of St. John the Baptist. After teaching Old Testament for several years at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, he now offers retreats and workshops throughout the United States on Scripture and Franciscan spirituality. He is the author of Disputed Temple: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Book of Haggai (Fortress Press).
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Our Saints, Ourselves
“I’m no saint,” we may tell ourselves. But stories of the saints show us that we, too, are capable of extraordinary faith, courage, and love.
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ecause I was a cradle Catholic, the stories of the saints were a staple in my household. The saints were a constant presence in my life and in my catechesis; yet I found myself often turning away from them in my personal prayer and reflection. I struggled with the idea that I was not good enough to ever achieve sainthood. The lives of the saints seemed like the lives of the superheroes. The older I got, the more it shifted from Catholic “superhero” stories to stories that didn’t relate to my own personal life and struggles. . . . OR SO I THOUGHT
The stories of the saints have been impacting me in ways I couldn’t see until years later. Their legacies, faith, and strength have influenced my life as a Catholic, even in the moments where my aversion toward them seemed to keep me immune to their stories. The promise of sainthood looks a lot like the walk to Emmaus. We do not walk to the table where we break bread with Jesus alone; we walk there with the saints, in a relationship of accompaniment that marks our lives in this world and the next. There are many saints who have transformed me and torn away the coldness in my heart. Saints have taught me that there isn’t just one way to love God and love others. One of the beautiful facets of the Catholic faith is how it holds up examples of holiness and God’s presence among us from a wide range of cultural backgrounds.
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SAINT
OSCAR ROMERO
CHAMPION OF THE OPPRESSED
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he story of St. Oscar Romero is marked with poverty, justice, and liberation. Romero, among the eldest siblings in his family of nine, grew up poor in a town near the border between El Salvador and Honduras. He knew from a young age that he wanted to become a priest and was ordained in 1942 while in Rome, where he had finished his studies at the Gregorian University. Romero had hoped to continue his studies, but because of a lack of priests in El Salvador, he returned to his home country to serve as a pastor for his people. In the early years of his priesthood, Romero wanted to simply live out his vocation as a parish priest, conservative in his social and theological views of his role in the community. In 1977—the same year Romero became archbishop of San Salvador—his friend and brother priest Rutilio Grande, SJ, was murdered because of his alliance with the poor in El Salvador and his advocacy in helping them secure justice against social and political oppression. This event shifted the trajectory of Romero’s life and mission to love and serve those at the margins. Romero’s life story taught me that we cannot ignore the suffering in this world simply because we know that suffering will always exist in this life. That cannot be an excuse for us to be indifferent or silent toward the ways social, political, and even Church structures oppress and silence the voice of the marginalized. We must find ways to encounter the poor and the oppressed, to empower their agency as children of God. Quarantined at home for several months during the coronavirus pandemic like so many across the world, I found myself with time. During this period, I picked up A Prophetic Bishop Speaks to his People, a compilation of the homilies given by St. Oscar Romero in El Salvador. With every page I found space to house my anger and hopelessness in regard to social injustice and racial inequity. St. Oscar was a reminder to me in this moment of what it looks like to be a champion for the liberation of others, to live out a Gospel message that directs us to love our neighbor.
”Each one of you has to be God’s microphone. Each one of you has to be a messenger, a prophet.” —St. Oscar Romero Feast day March 24 StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 39
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SERVANT OF GOD
JULIA GREELEY
SEEING CHRIST IN THE POOR
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ervant of God Julia Greeley was born into slavery and is among six Black Americans being considered for sainthood. Her story is marked by the way in which she proactively loved the poor, standing in solidarity with the marginalized community in the city of Denver. Her story began in Hannibal, Missouri, where she experienced the bondage and cruelty of slavery; she was emancipated in 1865 and found herself employed as the housekeeper for a wealthy family in Denver. She became Catholic in 1880. Only in the past few years has Julia Greeley’s story started to be widely circulated, capturing the hearts of members within the body of Christ who are enraptured by her love for others despite the evils she endured in her lifetime. Julia never turned away any of the poor who came to her seeking assistance, even though she herself was lacking in material possessions. She knew that to see Christ in the other meant to love with what society would often deem “reckless actions”—to bring alms, to hold, support, and empower others. Julia’s story ends with a funeral full of life, full of Denver’s poor coming to pay respects to the woman who not only saw Christ in them but with that very act empowered their God-given human dignity. It is this gift of life that we must embrace as a Church, a life full of diversity within the body of Christ, and the human dignity within each of us that calls us into communion with each other. Julia’s ability to love her neighbor still speaks to us today and draws us into the Gospel message. As a Church marked by the evils of slavery, racism, and white supremacy, it keeps us accountable to reconciling with our past and proactively working to create a future where all members of the body of Christ are upheld as having been made in God’s image and likeness. It’s very easy to say that we see Christ in others, if those others are our friends and family. It’s easy to see Christ in the people we love, in the people who respect our space, in the people we know well. But that’s not the point of what it means to see Christ in the other, and if this is all we do, then we have missed the mark. As a Church, we need to continue to share the story of Servant of God Julia Greeley in our parishes, in our diocesan offices, and in our formation classes. Her story is not only one of resiliency but also one of a woman who lived through the absolute evils of white supremacy, racism, and slavery, and still loved her neighbor. Yet we must remember as a Church that even though Julia loved her neighbor, that does not mean making excuses or justifications for the way white supremacy and racism live still within our Church institutions.
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“What does Julia’s life teach you about holiness, about what it means to be a disciple, of what it means to follow and receive the tender mercy of the Lord, to know the power of God dwelling within you through the spirit, and that Christ desires to make your heart his home, as he made the heart of Julia his home?” —Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver
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BLESSED
RANI MARIA
MARTYR FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
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lessed Rani Maria Vattalil was born on January 29, 1954, in a small village in India. Baptized into the faith as an infant, she would later discover her baptismal calling to religious life as a member of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation. Like Servant of God Julia Greeley and St. Oscar Romero, Sister Rani Maria devoted her life to loving service and empowerment of those at the margins of society. She could be found teaching children outside under the trees, working with the community to provide adequate educational resources for these children. Her zeal to stand in solidarity with the marginalized was a force of liberation within her community, where she advocated not only for local children, but also for the homeless, the elderly, women, and farmers. The love that she encountered in her vocation, the love of Christ that transformed her, and the love that she had for others proved to be a relentless call to action in seeing Christ’s love become manifested in her work for social justice. Sister Rani Maria knew that Christ was for the poor, and so we, too, must be for the poor. On the morning of February 25, 1995, Sister Rani Maria entered the convent chapel to pray before boarding a bus that would take her to do her holy work with the people. Having missed the first bus, she boarded the second, and hours later the police would call her convent to state that Sister Rani Maria had been murdered. An assassin had boarded the bus and brutally stabbed her in front of the crowd, dragging her body off the bus where she would take her last breaths, saying, “Jesus, Jesus.” We often get scared of the line “to be for the poor” and what it would cost us. We live in a world marked by materialism, individualism, greed, and the need to be successful by the terms and standards of economic growth. The culture in America today does not make space or encourage solidarity with the poor.
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“Don’t lag behind in doing good to the poor. We are all social beings. The task of the social worker is to reveal God in society by putting into practice truth, love, justice, and peace.” —Blessed Sister Rani Maria Feast day February 25
Today’s culture tells us that the cost is too high. You can donate a few dollars to a charity, go to that local silent auction, or share that petition online—but to actually be with and for the poor? It’s scandalous. At times it’s even scandalous to say these words within the American Church. We have seen the way the “prosperity gospel” narratives sweep across our churches and pews: the belief that if we have money and others don’t, there must be some divine reason why. It cannot simply be because we have set up a society that works toward success at the cost of the poor. The story of Blessed Rani Maria is striking because of what it reminds and, in many ways, demands of us as a Church, as members of a universal body of Christ. Blessed Rani Maria understood this, and the God of liberation transformed her to be a vessel of life and love for the poor. She worked to restore their agency within community and society, to share with them the promise of God’s love for all people, to empower them to be known as children of God. Sister Rani Maria knew that God had called her to love recklessly, and she did, even though it cost her life.
SERVANT OF GOD
† THEA BOWMAN
ADVOCATE FOR RACIAL HARMONY
FINDING OUR DIVINE PURPOSE
The stories of St. Oscar Romero, Servant of God Julia Greeley, and Blessed Rani Maria have shown me why we proclaim the lives of the saints, those who dedicated their lives to sharing the hope of the Gospel. We must carry their stories within us because each of us has been created with a divine purpose to live our lives marked by the Gospel. The lives of the saints are not meant to make us feel small, they are not meant to feel unattainable, and they are not the stories of superhuman beings. St. Oscar Romero, Servant of God Julia Greeley, and Blessed Rani Maria all lived lives marked by the promise of liberation that Jesus brings forth through his life, death, and resurrection. They became vessels of God’s hope to God’s people. They allowed themselves to be transformed by the truth of Scripture, practicing the traditions and teachings of our faith in a way that welcomed all people to the table. As a universal Church, we can learn from these three holy people how to love our neighbor, make space for others, and live daily lives marked by the love of the Gospel. The lives of the saints beckon us onto the road to Emmaus. They draw us into the conversation of faith, life, and the ways in which we can love each other and, in doing so, love God. They draw us out of isolation, indifference, and darkness to walk along a road that leads us to a table where everyone is welcomed to come and break bread with the Messiah. St. Oscar Romero, Servant of God Julia Greeley, Blessed Sister Rani Maria: Pray for us. Walk with us. Break bread with us. Vanesa Zuleta Goldberg has worked in youth ministry for 13 years. She received her bachelor’s in theology at Providence College and her master’s in theology and ministry from Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.
THE DAUGHTER of a Protestant family in Mississippi, Thea Bowman converted to the Catholic faith at age 9. This conversion marked a shift in Thea’s life, drawing her close to the Eucharist and a desire to serve God’s people. At age 15, she joined the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration despite her parents’ objections. Sister Thea is described as an “educator, missionary disciple, [and an] advocate for cultural awareness and racial harmony” in the biography that is part of her cause for canonization. As a teacher, she integrated the stories of her faith with the stories of her culture as an African American. She often shared that what led to her conversion at such a young age was the witness of the Catholic faith in loving and caring for the needy, the poor, and the marginalized. Like St. Oscar Romero, Servant of God Julia Greeley, and Blessed Rani Maria, Sister Thea believed in practicing a faith in action. This led to her promoting cultural awareness within Church circles, calling people to embody a teaching of the Imago Dei that upheld the human dignity of every person and rejected the lie and sin of racism. Sister Thea continued her good work despite being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984. In 1989, she gave a historic address to the US bishops, challenging them to have a heart for all people and cultures. The words on Sister Thea’s tombstone reflect her humility and passion to uphold the life and dignity of every human: “She tried. ‘I want people to remember that I tried to love the Lord and that I tried to love them.‘” StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 43
By Christopher Heffron
American Exile
November 16, VOCES on PBS
elebrating his final Veterans Day in 1963, President John F. Kennedy said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” The 65,000 non-US citizens who serve in our military at any given time would readily agree. Immigrants’ contributions to our armed forces, in fact, can be traced back to the Revolutionary War. But director John J. Valadez is indifferent to history here. In his blistering documentary, American Exile, he aims his storytelling lens at two brothers in particular, Vietnam veterans Manuel and Valente Valenzuela: Mexican by birth, American to their very core. A brief civics lesson: According to federal law, foreign-born soldiers who serve “may be naturalized without having resided, continuously immediately preceding the date of filing such person’s application, in the United States for at least five years.” In 2017, however, President Donald Trump slowed this process down by instituting mandatory wait times. For veterans such as the Valenzuela brothers, whose service ended decades ago and who live in the United States on borrowed time, the threat of deportation is excruciating. Thousands of veterans have been expelled from the country since their service ended— some for minor legal infractions. What gives American Exile its emotional gravity is that the Valenzuela brothers are among them:
Valente for assault and theft, Manuel for battery and resisting arrest. These happened decades ago, and the central question remains: Should these misdemeanors disqualify them from citizenship? It’s a heated debate between the right and the left to this day. What Valadez presents here is the brothers’ broader struggle of seeking citizenship, but also their internal battles with PTSD. Valente, especially, is haunted by his years of service—the emotional pain, we the viewers realize, has roots. Attention should be paid to Valadez’s gifted cinematographer, Elia Lyssy, who weaves around the brothers like a silent prizefighter, capturing the pain their eyes cannot possibly hide. What the film says, implicitly, is that we have to do better by our veterans and our immigrant population, two communities that can overlap. If these women and men are good enough to fight for this country, they’re good enough to call it home. • TV-PG
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In Case You Missed It
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his raw and powerful 2010 Frontline documentary by director Daniel Edge packs a lot in 90 minutes. The Wounded Platoon shows us the horror of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also the ongoing wars these soldiers face when they come home. Honest and at times brutal to watch, this seminal film shows how fighting in any war can sully the human spirit. • TV-14
ICONS
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THE WOUNDED PLATOON | Frontline, PBS.org
By Julie Horne Traubert
BRIEFS
Truth Gathered and Shared
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HUMAN(KIND) BY ASHLEE EILAND
“We see that one can be fully oneself and fully aware of God’s hand on another life, culture, or way of moving in the world.”
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WaterBrook
want to meet Ashlee Eiland! I want to give her a huge, engulfing hug! OK, I realize that is probably not the proper way to begin a book review. It does, however, reveal how deeply Human(Kind) touched this reader. To wrap Ashlee Eiland in an embrace would be to gather Truth to oneself as Eiland has gathered Truth onto the pages of Human(Kind) in her search for herself. Eiland gathers and shares events of her life in a manner that guides the reader to better self-knowledge. She asks herself: “Who am I? How do others see me? How do I view others?” These are penetrating questions she discovered as the Black child of affluent, professional Black parents living in a White culture. Many of her accounts are joyful: total acceptance by members of a White track team. Some events are humorous. For example, she describes friends and family enjoying camping trips while in jest reminding themselves, “But Blacks don’t go camping!” Other stories bring tears as in the account where Eiland attempts to buy a homeless woman the food she sees her shoplifting, only to be called the N-word. The anecdotes illustrate the wisdom Eiland offers in the subtitle of Human(Kind): How Reclaiming Human Worth and Embracing Radical Kindness Will Bring Us Back Together. This is a book about belonging to the human race, about healing racial wounds. It reminds us to allow space for someone else’s truth. To do that requires the openness and willingness to step into another’s culture. From that vantage point, we can also more accurately view our own culture and our personal view of the world. A nice addition at the conclusion of Human(Kind) is a series of questions provided for book group discussion or personal reflection. No matter how you reflect on this book, know that it will open your mind to another person’s experience, which is imperative in accepting all people.
Patti Normile is a retired teacher, chaplain, retreat director, author, and avid advocate for nonviolent resistance to wrongdoing.
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A WHITE CATHOLIC’S GUIDE TO RACISM AND PRIVILEGE BY DANIEL P. HORAN, OFM Ave Maria Press
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ather Daniel P. Horan says he grew up like most White Catholics: protected from the racism that permeates society. The schools, our Church, and culture sterilize the reality of our racist history and the racist structure that suppresses the Black community. This book is honest and direct in defining the damaging effects of anti-Black racism and the deleterious assumptions of White privilege. But Father Horan doesn’t stop there; he asks the reader to join him with a call to action: “How to Be More of an Ally and Less of a Problem.” He emphasizes the urgency of doing something now to advocate for justice and gives suggestions for reflecting on your own racist biases, language, and behaviors so that you can make changes in your daily life and within your family and community.
NEW RELEASE BREATHING UNDER WATER: SPIRITUALITY AND THE TWELVE STEPS BY RICHARD ROHR
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Franciscan Media
t’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since Richard Rohr’s Breathing Under Water was first published. Since 2011, this nowclassic exploration of the spiritual implications of addiction and the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is more important than ever, as we have grown more attached to new forms of technology, materialistic lifestyles, and unhealthy ways of thinking. With a new foreword by novelist Anne Lamott, the 10th anniversary edition of Breathing Under Water is an indispensable tool for confronting addiction— in whatever form it takes. StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 45
CULTURE
By Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP
Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP
ABOUT
FILMS
LIFE’S CHALLENGES Tender Mercies (1983) Ordinary People (1980) On Golden Pond (1981) The Green Mile (1999) Nomadland (2020)
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olish filmmaker Michał Kondrat’s latest release is a timely response to Pope Francis’ challenge that we all read Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy this year to honor the 700th anniversary of the Italian poet’s death. Dante’s theological masterpiece is an allegory of the soul’s journey toward God by rejecting sin (Hell/Inferno), making atonement for sin (Purgatory/Purgatorio), and finally ascending to God (Heaven/Paradiso). Kondrat invites us to visualize what happens after death by considering the state of purgatory through Church teachings and the experiences of mystics and saints. The film opens with Stefania Fulla Horak (Małgorzata Kożuchowska), who was born in 1909 and schooled in Ukraine. Her story and mystical writings frame the film. In her 30s, she was visited by many saints, including Madeleine Sophie Barat, John Bosco, Padre Pio, and Joan of Arc. Horak wrote down their revelations and teachings, but only her writings on purgatory are featured here. Catholics believe that purgatory is a state of purification so the soul may enter heaven. The film spends some time on Padre Pio’s life and 50 years of hearing confessions and praying for the souls in purgatory. He taught that there is great joy and suffering in purgatory, where egoism disappears and the soul’s torment is waiting to see God face-to-face. Narrator Drew Mariani connects these stories with commentary by priests on God’s mercy, what happens to those who take their own lives, and that it is more salutary to pray for the dead than to mourn their loss. While the film exudes faith, compassion, and mercy for the living and the dead, the teaching is clear that Christians are called to forgive and never hate: “Everything must be forgiven in life so that everything can be forgiven after death.” The film distinguishes between diabolical obsession (when the devil bothers someone from the outside) and what could be a visit from a soul in purgatory asking for prayers. Death, hell, and heaven are also considered, and the film’s cinematography creates an ambience of otherworldliness. Kondrat, who also brought us 2019’s Faustina: Love and Mercy, has taken on an ambitious topic that will inspire hope and hopefully send audiences to research and contemplate the “last things”: death, purgatory, hell, and heaven. The film will be shown in select theaters on October 25 and 28 only, with online and DVD releases later. Visit PurgatoryMovie.com for more information. Not yet rated • Mature spiritual themes and suicide enactment.
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DEAR EVAN HANSEN: COURTESY UNIVERSAL PICTURES; MASS: COURTESY BLEECKER STREET
Sister Rose’s FAVORITE
PURGATORY
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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.
MASS
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DEAR EVAN HANSEN
DEAR EVAN HANSEN: COURTESY UNIVERSAL PICTURES; MASS: COURTESY BLEECKER STREET
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ased on the multi-Tony-winning musical of the same name, this film is a coming-of-age story written by Steven Levenson and directed by Stephen Chbosky. Evan Hansen (Ben Platt) has social anxiety disorder and lives with his single mom, Heidi (Julianne Moore). As another year of high school begins, Heidi suggests that Ben make friends by asking kids to sign the cast on his broken arm. His therapist meanwhile suggests that Ben write letters to himself about the good things that happen every day. The only kid at school who signs Evan’s cast is Connor Murphy (Colton Ryan), who has mental and emotional issues. He steals one of Evan’s letters to himself, leaving Evan to worry about what he will do with it. Then Connor commits suicide, shocking everyone. Evan is confused when he is called to the office and introduced to Connor’s mom, Cynthia (Amy Adams), and stepfather, Larry (Danny Pino). They thank Evan for being Connor’s friend because they found Evan’s letter in Connor’s pocket. Evan decides to go along with the misunderstanding. He goes to the Murphys’ house for dinner and agrees with everything the family believes about the boys’ friendship. When the parents see Connor’s name on Evan’s cast, their belief that their son had at least one friend is confirmed. Evan gets his family friend Jared (Nik Dodani) to create emails showing this. Lie after lie follows, with Evan creating an important role for himself in a lonely world. People start to pay attention to him, but reality soon sets in. Though I felt sympathy and compassion for the parents, the Broadway musical has not translated well to the screen. There is little to believe in this contrived story and nothing redeeming about Evan’s role in this film. The only song that impressed me is “Requiem,” but I left feeling empty at using the musical form to make a troubled teen the hero of his own broken story—and failing. A-3 • PG-13 • Theme of suicide, pervasive lying. 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
ran Kranz wrote and directed this drama that brings four grieving parents together six years after a tragedy. The film opens as church workers ready a meeting room at an Episcopal church. At one end of the room, a large crucifix looks down on the meeting table; on the other end is a framed copy of Michelangelo’s The Delphic Sibyl from the Sistine Chapel. Jay (Jason Isaacs) and his wife, Gail (Martha Plimpton), arrive first. Linda (Ann Dowd) and her husband, Richard (Reed Birney), arrive, with Linda bringing a flower arrangement. They all are extremely awkward. Their insurance company arranged the meeting so that Jay and Gail can find out why Linda and Richard’s son took their gun and shot several of his classmates, including their son. Richard seems cold and Linda is solicitous, while Jay and Gail explain why they didn’t sue, why they need to forgive. This drama is like a play, but it has so much life—both living and lost— throughout. It is about grief, forgiveness, hope, and unanswered questions. The title refers to the mass shooting, and the acting, writing, and directing are superb. This difficult conversation takes place under the gaze of Jesus, but the camera continually moves back and forth to the image of the Delphic Sibyl, a pagan prophetess believed to have foretold the coming of Christ. Grace is everywhere. Not yet rated • PG-13 • Talk of mass shooting and suicide.
StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 47
POINTSOFVIEW | FAITH AND FAMILY
By Susan Hines-Brigger
Roads Less Traveled
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Susan welcomes your comments and suggestions! EMAIL: CatholicFamily@ FranciscanMedia.org MAIL: Faith and Family 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202
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A FAMILY ON THE MOVE
Traveling has always been a big part of Mark’s and my relationship. We both love to see the many things the world, outside of our hometown, has to offer. Both of us have traveled to almost all of the 50 states and a few countries—many together, some on our own. Even before becoming parents, we said we would raise our kids to be travelers. From the time our firstborn, Maddie, was old enough to travel, we packed her up—along with the portable crib, stroller, backpack carrier, large pack of diapers, and other necessities—and hit the road. With each new kid, we just packed a little more of everything before heading out. A WIDER VIEW
At some point, Mark and I realized that if the goal of us traveling with the kids was to give them a view of the world outside of their own everyday environment, we needed not only to expose them to the quirky roadside attractions he would find, or the more popular vacation spots, but also to provide them with a broader view of the world. We would need to expose them to the reality of what the entire country looks like, not just the fun, pretty, and comfortable parts. With that in mind, we began to incorporate more side trips to places that would make them reflect and learn. They have touched the remnants of the Alfred P. Murrah Building
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at the Oklahoma City Bombing National Memorial and have paid homage to many of the sacred sites of Native Americans throughout our land. They have witnessed the beauty of God’s creation as well as the devastating aftermath of a forest fire and other natural disasters, as well as the site of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, during the civil rights era. These visits have led to important discussions and questions. They have prompted all of us to look inward in regard to what we witness and learn. For that reason, these sites are as important for them to see as the beach, Disney World, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, and many other places we have traveled to. OFF TO EXPLORE
As our kids are growing, they are beginning to head out on their own adventures. Our oldest has moved away. Alex, our second child, is at college across the country. Riley, our third, is making plans for college and is set on going away, just like her big brother. Kacey, our youngest, has plans for buying land somewhere—maybe close to home, maybe not. And while it breaks my heart to not have all my kids close by, I know that Mark and I have set the footing for this, and it is a good thing. We have opened their eyes to the great big world out there waiting to be explored. I hope we have also opened their minds to the life lessons that those adventures can teach them.
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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.
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Susan Hines-Brigger
here are you taking us?” This is a refrain often heard on our family vacations from both the kids in the back of the van and even sometimes me from the front seat. You see, my husband, Mark, has a unique gift for finding the quirkiest, most obscure items to be found throughout the United States. Largest frying pan—we’ve seen it. Smallest police station—check that one off too. We’ve even stayed at one of the Historic Wigwam Village motels. That was an experience we’ll never forget. He spends hours planning our trips, as well as these side adventures. Chances are, if they happen to fall anywhere near the route of our current trip, we are going to stop and visit. It has made for some interesting experiences for sure.
FAITH and FAMILY
STEPPING OUTSIDE MY COMFORT ZONE
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ike my coworker Susan, travel has played a pivotal role in my life, opening my eyes to both the beauties and challenges in the world and bursting the bubble of my comfort zone. I can think of no better example of how travel can radically transform your outlook on life than my many visits to Mexico City to spend time with my wife’s family. I’ve been married to my wife, Belinda, for 11 years, and in that time, we’ve spent many joyous Christmases with her mother, twin brother (Emilio), and grandmother—who is now 100 years old and still full of spirit and energy. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted our holiday traditions, as it did for so many. So when we got our vaccines and found out how to visit Mexico this past summer, we jumped at the opportunity to go. With our negative COVID-19 test results, passports, and overpacked luggage in hand, we landed in Mexico City’s Benito Juarez Airport at 1:00 in the morning, made our way through customs, and eventually got to the passenger pickup area. Belinda’s mom had kept our visit a secret from Emilio as a kind of birthday present—their birthday was the day after our arrival. Expecting to pick up one of his uncles, Emilio was stunned when we walked out instead. I’ll never forget the tears of joy streaming down my mother-in-law’s face and the look of astonishment on Emilio’s. It’s a moment I will carry with me forever as a reminder of the power of both family and travel. After the hugs and heartfelt greetings, we got in Emilio’s car and headed to the family home, in the northwest part of the city. It was all Spanish from that point on for me, and I could almost feel my brain making the slow transition in language. From billboards flashing by outside the car window
to the radio announcer to the conversation in the car, the comfort zone of “my” language quickly dissipated. And despite my choppy, sometimes incoherent Spanish, I’m so glad to have been able to have conversations over Daniel Imwalle the years with members of my wife’s family who only speak Spanish. During this recent visit, my wife’s grandmother spoke with me about the importance of accepting God’s will, no matter how hard it might be in the moment. Indeed, at 100 years of age, she doesn’t speak from any lack of experience! And sadly, she knows all too well—and recently—about stepping aside and letting God chart the course. Her oldest son, Arturo, an intellectually curious person whom I enjoyed many illuminating conversations with, had passed away from COVID-19 this past January. Tears welled up in her wise eyes as she described how difficult it was to lose Arturo, not even being able to say goodbye. We said a short prayer, just she and I, as Belinda and her mom were out shopping in the market that afternoon. And despite the sadness at the source of our prayer, it was a small but profound blessing to share that moment with a person who has seen so much—perhaps too much—of the fragile beauty of life and the preciousness of our time here. Travel and the gift of an expanded family that comes with marriage have stretched and enriched my soul. In this month when a whole day is dedicated to giving thanks, I think a prayer of gratitude to God for the opportunity to explore our wonderful world is in order. —Daniel Imwalle
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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) One of the cupcakes has been eaten. 2) There is a handle on the large pot. 3) The platter under the turkey is larger. 4) An extra can is in the bag on the far left. 5) There are now straight lines on one of the bowls. 6) One of the glasses on the table is missing. 7) The spoon handle is longer. 8) Sis’ hair is no longer visible on one side.
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Fr i a r Pe te & Re pe at
StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 49
LET US PRAY
reflect | pray | act
By Deacon Art Miller
Humble Grace and Gratitude
Deacon Art Miller
hopelessness. I rang the bell to her apartt was one of those cold autumn days. The ment and was buzzed in. I climbed the stairs trees were bare; winter was coming. I dug and knocked on the door. After a moment, I my hands into my pockets and grasped the heard a quiet shuffling and a melodic voice pyx, the shiny container that contained the say, “I’m coming!” Eucharist. I walked toward the old buildAs the door opened, I stood without ing, my head down against the chill. The moving. Words wanted to escape my lips, cracked and broken sidewalk was the welbut nothing came out. It was more than a come mat that greeted me in this part of door that opened; it was what lived in that Hartford, Connecticut. small apartment that took my Her name was Ms. Flowers, breath away. I’m not saying it an elderly parishioner to was like Dorothy’s bedroom whom I was asked to bring Every once in a door opening to the land of Communion. I had never met while, God shows Oz. There certainly was no her in my years at the church where I was the deacon. I was dramatic change from blackus how to be his and-white to Technicolor, but told that she was brilliant and child. Ms. Flowers there was a sense of somewise—that long ago she was was one of them. a great traveler and lecturer thing inside that apartment that was far more beaution the arts. She had fallen on difficult times after an acciful than what was outside dent but remained as elegant and knowlthose walls. It was the presence of holiness edgeable as ever. that startled me. Ms. Flowers looked up at me with this I walked up the building’s concrete steps. knowing smile that reassured me. She ushered Strewn on the front yard were remnants me in. Had she not, I’d likely still be standthat reflected the area: old whiskey bottles, fast-food wrappers, and cigarette butts. I ing there with my mouth agape. She had set stepped into the apartment building and was up a little table with teacups. The sunrays through the window kissed her teapot and the met with the undeniable odor of urine and
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Deacon Art Miller was ordained in the Archdiocese of Hartford in 2004. He was arrested during the summer of 1963 as he sat in peaceful protest over segregation. He was 10 years old when his schoolmate Emmett Till, 14, was murdered in Mississippi for allegedly whistling at a white woman—an incident that energized the nascent civil rights movement. His book, The Journey to Chatham (AuthorHouse), details the events seen through the eyes of Till’s friends.
than I saw, more than I felt, more than I perceived. Everything was greater than it was. In time, I left the apartment. The following Sunday, Father McDonald informed me that Ms. Flowers had passed away the day after I had visited her. I was deeply saddened. He asked me if my visit with her affected me. I said it had, profoundly. It felt as if I had been in the presence of an angel. He told me that, every once in a while, God shows us how to be his child. Ms. Flowers was one of them. cups that sat on cloth doilies. I pulled the pyx out of my pocket and laid it on the table with the tea. She quietly uttered, “Amen.” I listened as she showed me pictures of her travels. She spoke of how blessed she had been—how God had given her many years, many adventures, and many difficulties to overcome. She faced those difficulties and found that, through faith, she had become stronger because of them. CHILDREN OF GOD
Ms. Flowers had lost all that she had: her nice home, her money, her expensive clothing, her exorbitant vacations, and her grand adventures. She spoke of love lost and promises broken. But there was no pain in her voice or regret in her eyes. It was as if she were reading a story of someone else’s life. She had
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PRAYERFUL
separated from that part of herself. That part of her life was gone; it was painful but necessary. Sometime after I had heard Ms. Flowers’ stories, I began the prayers for the reception of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. When I presented the Eucharist to her, she looked at the holiness of it, smiled, and whispered, “Amen, my Lord, amen.” Ms. Flowers offered me crackers and tea she had prepared. She thanked God for providing us a delicious meal. And we ate. I cannot explain how the crackers tasted. I cannot describe how the sweetness of the hot tea caressed my mouth. I kept saying to myself over and over, “It’s just crackers and tea. It’s just crackers and tea.” However, in this place, with this woman of God, everything was more
A PRAYER FOR GRACE
Give grace, O Lord, that in moments of anxiety, I reflect your love and not my anger. Give grace that I might reflect your generosity in my moments of selfishness. Give grace that I might speak love into the face of hatred. Give grace, O Lord, give grace. Amen.
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
• Have you ever encountered holiness in an unexpected place? If you have, how did it change you?
• Does this feeling of unexpectedness reflect upon your concepts of how and where God works and dares to take up residence? • In what ways can you contemplate God’s universality?
StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2021 • 51
reflection If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.
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—J.R.R. Tolkien
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Brother Rohr may just take you to places you’ve both avoided and longed for, to truth, union, joy, laughter, and, greatest of all, to your own precious self, here on earth with us, child of God. —Anne Lamott, from the foreword
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