Father Jovita:
Fifty Years a Priest:
Who Needs Conflict?
Bishop Slattery celebrates his Golden Jubilee The Class of 2016 graduates from Holy Family Cathedral School
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by Very Rev. Chukwudi Jovita Okonkwo, Ph.D. As we draw close to the final weeks of our Easter celebration, the end of the school year and the beginning of summer, I’ll like to reflect on the impact of the resurrection experience in forming intentional Catholic disciples. The resurrection was a deeply shattering experience for the apostles and the early Church. The truth of Jesus’ resurrection needed to be told amidst all the maneuvering by the authorities to hide the fact and silence the truth. The soldiers who guarded Jesus’ tomb had been bribed to tell a different story: the apostles of Christ came and stole the body which they (the soldiers) were paid to guard. The chief priests and the authorities promised they will take care of any fallout. Clearly, a conflict situation was present and the apostles had to confront it. Should they tell the truth and risk the consequences or just go with the flow? They made the choice to announce the truth. As the stone that closed the entrance to the tomb was rolled away, so the fear that kept them locked up in the Upper Room dissolved when the Holy Spirit came upon them. CAN WE HANDLE THE TRUTH? Soon, several Catholics will head to their summer vacation. I wish everyone safe travel and a wonderful time! I advise that we carry with us the power of Christ’s resurrection wherever we go. Our bodies and minds may need vacation but our spirit does not take any vacation. We must have in mind always the admonition by Peter that “your enemy, the devil, is prowling round like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Stand up to him, strong in faith” (I Pet 5:8-9) Several years ago, a well -meaning Catholic who takes her faith seriously shared with me that her parish priest told her and other parishioners that when they are on vacation, they need not attend Mass. Vacation time, for the said priest, included taking vacation
from God. As hard as it is to counter the advice of my brother priest, I’m afraid I would have to disagree with him. And I’ll appeal to my predecessor, Monsignor Halpine of blessed memory, who said about confession: “Years ago, a priest told you that you don’t need to go to confession. He has left and has married. I am here now, and, I tell you, you have to go to confession.” I am sorry to also interject that a priest who tells you that you do not need to go to practice your faith during vacation, may mean well, but does not help your spiritual advancement. He might as well advice you to take vacation from eating, taking shower, sleeping, breathing, and so on. Short-cuts may seem easier and more popular, but they do not lead to Christ. A few months ago, a Catholic lay man, Joe Ollier, coordinator of Youth Ministry in Ohio and a professor of Religious Studies, penned this advice to priests: “Don’t be afraid to speak the truth in love. Sometimes, […] we need a gentle push. So challenge us. Raise the bars. Don’t be afraid of offending people. Don’t be afraid to lose parishioners. We live in a world awash with post-modern relativism. We can get wishywashy. If we want fluffy preaching we can go to the Vineyard or any other megachurch that has a stage instead of an altar. And then we’d probably get free coffee and great worship music as well. In Revelation, the Lord says to the Church in Laodicea, “I know your deeds; I know you are neither hot nor cold. How I wish you were one or the other – hot or cold. But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spew you out of my mouth!” You see, we don’t want wishy-washy marshmallow fluff. We want something we can chew on. We want to be challenged – to be called to radical discipleship. We want to wrestle with hard questions without easy answers and to know that the truth of the Gospel is higher, deeper, and richer than anything the world has to offer. We want you to preach about the things that smack us every day be-
cause we need to know the truth about how to live our faith in a world that assaults constantly.” LETHARGY AND FEAR To be able to follow this advice, priests, but also intentional Catholics who have received the great commission to go to all the world and tell the good news must, like the apostles, brace up to face the discomfort that the great commission often entails. We’re often afraid that people don’t want to hear the truth we tell them. We’re also fearful we might stir the waters and cause more problems. We fear that we’re incapable of changing the world and people’s perception of it. We fear that we may ourselves become challenged by truth. We fear that the great commission will imply giving up some small sin with which we’ve grown comfortable. We fear that the little time we have for comfort may be lost. We fear the unpredictable. We are not sure that God wants to use us. He may use Mother Angelica, but not us. We’re too insignificant to be used by him – we think. The truth is: you’re not alone. The apostles of Christ felt the same way when they locked themselves up in the Upper Room. They had every kind of fear imagi-
Identification Statement: The Cathedral News Issue 10 May 2016 (USPS 022-729) is published 10 x per year (monthly, except for June and July) by Holy Family Cathedral at 122 W 8th St., Tulsa OK 74119-1402. Periodicals postage paid at Tulsa, OK. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: CATHEDRAL NEWS, PO BOX 3204, Tulsa, OK 74101-3204.
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nable. But God unlocked their fearful hearts. He sent His Holy Spirit and they were not to be the same again. OPEN CONFRONTATION WITH CONFLICT Who needs conflict? Not me, not you. I don’t know who does. Yet, conflict we must face. Run from it as we may, like our shadow, it follows us in our flight. If it doesn’t ruin us, it makes us better people. What it doesn’t do is leave us the same. Conflict shapes our world, our views, and our life. It reminds us of the past and paves the way for the future. Maybe, without it, we’ll be at a loss how we may confront its many sisters that never stop being at our face. How then do we confront conflict? The only positive way to do it is, openly. Open confrontation with conflict is an idea that has been expansively studied and found to promote solidarity, concord, engagement, ownership and participation. We ought to move beyond the negative perception of conflict as opposing ideas and actions which create antagonism among people. Conflict is an inevitable part of life, which we often cannot wish away. We must choose to confront it so we may grow rather than let it bring us down. I CONFRONTED MY FATHER My dad was supposed to be an impeccable disciplinarian. Yes, he was, but, he also had an Achilles’ heel: anger, which a few times, caught up with him through his speech. On one occasion he vomited his venom to my older brother. It made me cry to hear how mean he was to my brother (who obviously did something wrong) but, in my judgment, didn’t deserve such vitriol. I went to my grandmother (his mom) and told her how hurt I felt about my dad’s words to my brother. She said she wasn’t shocked to hear that. She went on to reveal that my dad, when he was twelve, had done something similar. She and I went to my father to iron out the issue. For the first time, I saw my father cry and apologize. I was nine. He sent for my brother and apologized and blessed him. Toward the end of my father’s earthly life, we saw how the Holy Spirit was bending that which was stubborn in him and turning him into a very meek and gentle soul.
THE HOLY SPIRIT RESOLVES OUR CONFLICTS The Holy Spirit is God coming into our lives with His love to resolve the conflicts in them. He gives us the secret wisdom to enable us handle our conflicts with self, the world and others. Jesus calls Him the Spirit of Truth who would come to remain within us. “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate – to dwell with you always: the Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot accept, since it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you will know Him because He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). The Holy Spirit is our Advocate, that is, our solicitor, our attorney, our counsel. He alone can give us the direction to follow in our confrontation with the conflicts we face. He is also the Spirit of Truth able to not only reveal what is true in us and in the world but also to expose the errors that undermine truth. Jesus says that the world cannot accept Him. Does that surprise us? The world runs counter to the Spirit of God because it lacks the faculty to either see God’s Spirit or know Him. If a Christian allows himself or herself to be wedded to the world, she will become deity-blind as the world is and a widow in the next. Through His indwelling the Holy Spirit infuses God’s life and knowledge in us to enable us resolve our conflicts. The Holy Spirit resolves the conflicts in our lives through His gifts, which He imparts on the hearts of believers: Wisdom: God’s secret wisdom that has been hidden, which God destined for our glory before the foundation of the world (1Cor 2:7) Understanding: He enlightens our minds to know the truths of faith, enabling God’s peace to cast out our anxieties (1Pet 5:7) Counsel: He counsels us to uproot our bitter roots and grow in us enlightened perspectives (James 1:2-5) Fortitude: He fortifies us in tribulations to bring about patience, proven character, hope and love. He fires up our lukewarm, complacent and apathetic attitudes (Rom 5:3-5;Rev 3:16) Knowledge: He equips us with the knowledge of God, showing us where we are weak and works to mature us in love (Eph 4:15) Piety: He forms us in intimacy with
God; clothes us with God’s mercy and compassion, kindness and humility (Col 3:12; Phil 4:13) Holy Fear: He maintains us in love, holy fear, discipline and a healthy conscience throughout our conflicts (2 Tim 1:7)
The events surrounding our Easter celebration reveal that the resurrection of the Lord is an experience mired in conflict. In fact, the life of Christ was literally a story of conflict. There was hardly anything normal about him, from the announcement of his birth to the manger experience, the flight to Egypt, the presentation in the temple, the three days loss, then, the entire episode of the passion, death and burial reveal a life that was tremendously challenging to the protagonist, that is, the Lord Himself, and his disciples, then and now. The lesson of the post-resurrection Church reveals a group that would have to navigate troubled waters. The Church must openly embrace conflict. She has hardly known any other turf since her foundation. Conflicts have led to Church councils that defined and strengthened the articles of faith and paved new and unsullied ways to live the faith. The Holy Spirit whom the apostles and the elders invoked at the Council of Jerusalem continues to be present in the Church, guiding her through her conflicts and speaking through her to the hearts of believers. We should implore the Holy Spirit to heal the conflicts in our own lives: conflicts of marriage, sin and unforgivenss, pride and self-exaltation. PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT TO RESOLVE OUR CONFLICTS: O Holy Spirit of God, we beg You to descend upon us and resolve in us the complexities of our spiritual lives and combats, which are incomprehensible to us. Tear down the walls which conflicts have erected in our lives and teach us how to walk through them, so we may rise from the paralysis of strife into the healing and wholeness you bring. Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, your spouse, bring the fullness of your gifts into our hearts. We ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Amen!
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Cathedral hosts Mass & Reception on May 8
In 1966, a young Deacon Edward Slattery knelt as his bishop laid hands upon his head and ordained him a priest.
www.HolyFamilyCathedralParish.com 4
Father Slattery’s ordination was, of course, a key moment in his life—and it was a key moment for all of us at Holy Family Cathedral because without it, we would not have shared the past twenty-two years with him as our bishop. Father Slattery brought the fruits of his ordination wherever he was assigned, first to a couple of Chicago parishes, and then as President of the Catholic Extension society. His nearly twenty years working with Extension gave him experience building up the Church in the rural parts of the United States - including Oklahoma. The Most Reverend Edward J. Slattery is the longest serving bishop in the short history of our young diocese. He has made his
presence at the Cathedral a priority by saying Mass on most major solemnities and holy days, and almost every Sunday of Advent and Lent. Bishop Slattery has cared for our Holy Family Cathedral School by giving his support in prayers and in dollars. The mid-nineties capital campaign Fund for the Future gave our school building a number of structural improvements. Since then, the diocesan Saint Francis of Assisi Fund provided many scholarships to ensure that our parish families can provide a high quality Catholic education to their children. The people of the Diocese of Tulsa honored Bishop Slattery at a May 8 Mass and Reception at the Cathedral.
Archbishop Peter Wells: Is there Pizza in Africa? BY
Ordained a simple priest and assigned to dear HF he shook up Rev. Halpine he really must confess! He also changed the way many things were done and pizza at the Rectory was but only one! He was like a comet a flash across the land for in a blink was gone to shake up the Vatican! He rose up thru the ranksa Monsignor soon by name and with a Papal "Thanks!" an Archbishop he became! But he forgot not dear HF and being grateful, understand he offered Holy Mass as a priest where he began! And now he's off to Africawill it ever be the same? (and, perhaps some day-a Cardinal? hmmm!-that's a thought to entertain!) Yes! By now I'm certain it's the priest you knew so well it is, of course, no other than Archbishop Peter Wells!
MARTIN REIDY
Well, I do not know if Archbishop musing. Why? Well, in the early MidWells—known first to many of us as dle Ages the Iberian Peninsula was the Father Wells—hit the Vatican like a scene of bloody and predatory fighting whirlwind but he certainly hit Tulsa between Christian and Moslem forces. like one: here and gone before one The area around what is now Fatima could say. “Welcome, home!” I see was such an area of contention but that Namibia is a part of his jurisdic- nominally under Moslem control. The tion. I always wanted to visit two plac- Moslem Governor of the region had a es in my life: Finland & Namibia! lovely daughter, Fatima, who was Made it to one but not the other. But much sought after by both Moslem who knows? Monand C hr i st i an signor Gier might swains, and it was just plan a trip to I do not know if the Christian Gonthe Skeleton Coast! Archbishop Wells hit the zalo Hermingues End to excitement! Vatican like a whirlwind who won the fair but he certainly hit Tulsa maiden's hand. FatThis is the last like one. ima converted to Newsletter until Christianity as was August so as I renecessary to be marmove the clutter from the Keep to ried to a Christian but Fatima, most clear a spot for the hammock - as sum- unfortunately, died shortly after the mer is an excellent time to catch up wedding. Gonzalo, much distraught, on some intellectual and spiritual entered a Cistercian Monastery in readings and what is a better place to Alcobaca and had Fatima interred in lull away a lazy summer afternoon the local church. A few years later the than in shaded hammock with a few Abbot sent Gonzalo to found a new good books and pitcher of iced tea Cistercian monastery which Gonzalo (but more on that later). Come the did and he took the remains of Fatima 13th of May we remember, and hope- with him to be reburied in the small fully celebrate, the Feast Day of Our church adjacent or near to the monasLady of Fatima upon which a commentary is called as well as a bit of 5
Holy Family Cathedral School expands in every way BY LESLIE SOUTHERLAND, PRINCIPAL
It is with great thanksgiving that I write to you today to report on the state of our parish school, Holy Family Cathedral School. The 2015-2016 school year saw our population grow to 180 students. This year we welcomed 25 new families into our community, including 6 new Burmese families. As our population has grown, so has our spirit. Our families have raised over $50,000 dollars for the school through the fall Walk-A-Thon and the Auction Dinner held this spring. These funds, in addition to our fundraising efforts connected to our ongoing Health & Wellness Initiative, allowed us to do the following: Complete Fencing for the Sport Court Add lighting to the Sport Court Add shade and privacy netting to the west fence Replace dilapidated water fountains with new fountains with bottle fillerse Install an outdoor water fountain Replace a faulty electrical transformer In addition to the generosity of our parents and parishioners, we have been blessed by the generosity of the larger community as well. This year Holy Family
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Cathedral School received over $80,000.00 dollars in grant funding. This money has allowed us to: Replace Student Hymnals Replace outdated textbooks Renovate our school library with the addition of: four library tables with chairs soft, movable seating for our youngest students a new carpet for the children’s area additional shelving grow our collection of fiction and non fiction books
This year also saw Holy Family Cathedral School successfully complete the accreditation process, and be selected as an Oklahoma A+ School. These accomplishments are important stepping stones for enhancing our reputation as a toptier school, and increasing our students’ access to a well-rounded, classical education, including increased project-based learning and integration of the arts. Holy Family’s primary comm itme n t re ma in s providing an education predicated on faith, and imbued with gospel values. As a result, it is no surprise
that our students are active members of parish life. Our students consistently serve the parish at weekend Masses and during the week at funerals and school Masses, support the March for Life and the Garden of Hope, and routinely participate in the sacrament of Reconciliation and Adoration. Additionally, our students have participated in numerous charitable projects serving the poor and disenfranchised locally and internationally, including Catholic Charities, Day Center for the Homeless, Catholic Relief Services, Family & Children’s Services, St. Francis of Assisi Tuition
The Holy Bread of Eternal Life & the Chalice of Everlasting Salvation On Mother’s Day, twenty of our youngest parishioners received the Body and Blood of our Lord for the first time. They prepared for the sacrament by studying in Religious Education classes, by praying, and by making their First Confession earlier this year. Let us pray for an everincreasing love of the Eucharist, especially for Nerik Rogelio Aguirre, Andrew Paul Campanell, Carmella Faye Caturegli, Isabella Maria Caturegli, Einar Dagenay Cook, Hannah Marie
Crawford, Synthia Inso, Lydia Virginia Murphy, William Kent Snow, Peter Joseph Thomer, Gale Linda Wilson, Emily Danielle Hardway, Thompson Alan Jamieson, Jaylon Johnson, Francesca Eleonora Melton, Jackson Tabler, Maritza Anahi Trujillo, Alexander Merritt Waite, Esther Sang Ngaih Lian, and Phillip Cin Zam Sian Khai. Thanks to catechist Sheri Young, and to Dorothy Wire, Jordana Caturegli, Molly Dowdell, and Monika Davis or their help preparing our parish children
to receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion.
Father Jovita distributes Communion.
Assistance Fund, and Mount Carmel Senior Living Center. Our students also practice stewardship through organizing and implementing recycling drives, picking up trash on and around our campus grounds, and maintaining our urban garden.
ies, Physical Education, Foreign Language, Technology, and the Fine Arts.
Back Row: Gabriel VanDyke, Katie Whitehurst, Lauren Smith, Anthony Neumann, Thomas Edmonds Front Row: Cecilia Huai, Adam Nguyen, Jackson Dawson, Alex-Marie Constable
Holy Family students excel academically. Our students matriculate to Cascia Hall, Bishop Kelley, and magnet school programs, and participate in Academic Bowl at both the upper elementary and middle school levels. They dis-
tinguish themselves at MathCounts, FLL Robotics competitions, the Scripps Spelling Bee, and the State Geography Bee. From the youngest to the oldest, our students are provided an
enriching environment where they can develop problem solving and critical thinking skills, while gaining valuable instruction in Religion, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Stud-
them?
tery. (Note: Cistercian monasteries were known for their being located in what we would describe as wild and unsettled places so as to be as far from the secular world as possible.) Gonzalo proceeded to name the monastery after his deceased wife, Fatima, and eventually a small village developed as was the custom with such undertakings. There it remained - a veritable backwater until May 13, 1917, when the Virgin appeared and the rest is, as they say, history or is it? Well, the monastery is long gone but the small
church is yet there I am so informed though I know not whether or not Fatima is so interred. Fatima, the wife, was named for Mohammed's daughter, Fatima, of whom it has been said that Mohammed prophesied that Fatima would be the "first woman in Heaven AFTER Maryam, Maryam being the Arabic for Mary. Thus it is that Shiite Moslems, who have an inordinate respect for the daughter Fatima as well as the Virgin Mary, expresses a somewhat claim to the Shrine through the daughter of Mohammed. Hmmm! Could it be that the story of Fatima has yet chapters untold as only God can write
With that I wish you "Happy Reading" and were you not to have a book or two in mind allow me in my hubris to offer a few titles for your consideration. Any book by Fr. Richard Rohr though if you are over 40 you may wish to consider Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the two halves of life; any book by Fr. Ronald Rolheiser; The Devil and how to resist Him by Fr.Gerald Vann written in 1957 but reprinted in 1997; Listen to the Silence: A Retreat with Pere Jacques who was executed by the Nazis for hiding Jewish children in his French boarding school;
Every day, in every way, our students are living out the mission of Holy Family Cathedral School, and we thank God, and we thank you, for making it possible. Holy Family Cathedral School is a culturally diverse Catholic school working together with Christ to create life-long learners, articulate faith-filled leaders, and peacemakers who enter to learn and exit to lead.
a moving tale of survival in Dachau by Fr. Jean Bernard in his memoir Priest Block 25847 and IF you could ever find a copy of A Matter of Conscience by Werner Bergengruen which is a morality mystery novel set in Italy in the Middle Ages and well worth your time. Monte Cassino had a copy at one time - and may yet. Well, once again it is space, not time, that limits this anthology of books but it is hoped that you are able to find a suitable tome to your liking. With that we wish to one and all, “Happy Summer and Pleasant Reading.� PAX!
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Holy Family Cathedral PO Box 3204 Tulsa, OK 74101-3204 Return Service Requested
Holy Family Cathedral will host Totus Tuus July 24-29 We offer this event to the children and youth of our parish and school who will be entering the 1st grade through graduating high school Seniors. The program consists of a daytime session from 9:00am-3:00pm for our 1st thru 8th graders (Mon. -Fri.), and an evening session for all high schoolers from 7:30-9:45pm (Sun. Thurs.). Those students who attend the daytime session are asked to bring a sack lunch, but the parish will provide drinks and snacks. On Friday, July 3rd, there will be a water day in the afternoon to conclude the week. The high schoolers conclude with an evening social event on Thursday night. Cost is $10 per child, but there is a maximum of $25 per family. Get complete information and registration at HolyFamilyCathedralParish.com 8
This is the last Newsletter until August. Please submit articles and notices for publication in the August newsletter by the 20th of July. Please make your s u b m i s s i o n s t o TulsaCathedral@gmail.com or 918-582-6247 by the 20th of the month.