February 20, 2015

VIGIL:

MARTYRS:

ARCHBISHOP:

Archdiocese prays for 58-year-old violence victim

ISIS victims ‘whispered’ Jesus’ name before death

Full text of Feb. 6 address to teachers

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco

www.catholic-sf.org

FEBRUARY 20, 2015

SERVING SAN FRANCISCO, MARIN & SAN MATEO COUNTIES

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Pope urges cardinals to go in search of the lost, bring them in CINDY WOODEN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

SEE POPE, PAGE 18

‘The least of my brothers’ (PHOTO COURTESY JESUIT FATHER GEORGE WILLIAMS)

Jesuit Father George Williams enters death row at San Quentin State Prison, where his ministry to condemned inmates includes celebrating Mass. Father Williams says there is need for more Catholic-based prison ministries.

Catholic clergy, laity heed Gospel’s call to minister to prisoners CHRISTINA GRAY CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

They may represent a minority among faith-based prison ministry programs, but Catholic priests and parishioners called to minister to the incarcerated say they are inspired by the Gospel to spend time among those Jesus likely considered in his command to love “the least of my brothers.”

“Matthew 25:36 is a big thing for me,” St. Dominic parishioner Steve Mariccini told Catholic San Francisco on Feb. 12. The verse reads in part, “I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

Mariccini, 58, and his wife Sylvia, 57, go from fulltime jobs straight to the San Francisco County Jail on Wednesday evenings once a month where they talk, pray and meditate with the women of Pod C, the jail’s psychiatric unit.

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The Mariccinis are among a dozen carefullyscreened and trained parishioners from St. Dominic that serve on its jail outreach ministry, one of two known parish-based jail ministries in the archdiocese, according to restorative justice ministry coordinator Julio Escobar. His office serves as a liaison between the parish and the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department. The other is St. Hilary Parish in Tiburon which assists Jesuit Father George Williams, Catholic chaplain at nearby San Quentin State Prison.

“I consider the inmates no different than me,” said Sylvia, who joined her husband as a volunteer in the county jail after the grade-school sweethearts reconnected and married nine years ago. “They are loved equally by God, and I want my presence to show them that there is hope and purpose for each and every one of us.”

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VATICAN CITY – The Catholic Church cannot call itself church if it is a “closed caste” where the sick, the wounded and sinners are shunned, Pope Francis told the 20 new cardinals he created.

“The way of the church is precisely to leave her four walls behind and to go out in search of those who are distant, those essentially on the outskirts of life,” the pope said Feb. 15 as he celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica with 19 of the churchmen who received their red hats the day before and with about New Cardinal Charles Bo of 140 other members Yangon, Myanmar, greets a pilgrim at the Vatican Feb. 14. of the College of Cardinals.

“Total openness to serving others is our hallmark; it alone is our title of honor,” he told the men often referred to as “princes of the church.”

The Mass capped a four-day gathering of the cardinals. They met with Pope Francis Feb. 12-13 to review ideas for the reform of the Roman Curia and Vatican finances as well as the progress made in the work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

The pope’s homily at Mass with the cardinals, the meditation on love and charity he offered Feb. 14 when he created the new cardinals and his exhortation that the Curia reform emphasize its role of service echo remarks he had made as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires at the meetings immediately preceding his election in March 2013.

Evangelization presupposes that the church does not want to be locked up inside herself, but wants to go “to the peripheries, not only geographically, but also the existential peripheries: the mystery of sin, of pain, of injustice, of ignorance and indifference to religion, of intellectual

INDEX Archdiocese. . . . . . . . . .2 National . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . .22

2 ARCHDIOCESE

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

NEED TO KNOW ONLINE LENTEN RESOURCES: A variety of resources to help Catholics observe Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday, this year Feb. 18, is being provided by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. With the theme “Raise Up. Sacrifice. Offer,” resources include video reflections on Lenten themes, a downloadable Lenten calendar with quotes from Pope Francis’ message for Lent and other teachings and suggestions for taking an active approach to the three traditional pillars of Lenten observance: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Catholics are encouraged to raise up the needs of the world in prayer, to sacrifice by giving up food and material wants, and to offer time, talent and treasure as good stewards of the God-given gifts. The website -- www.usccb.org/lent -- also includes facts about saints whose feast days or memorials fall within Lent, a reflection on fasting and information on rediscovering the sacrament of penance and reconciliation.

40 DAYS FOR LIFE: The annual Lenten pro-life prayer vigil takes place outside Planned Parenthood, 1650 Valencia St. in San Francisco, daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m., throughout Lent. Volunteers are welcome. Contact Ron Hunt at sf40daysforlife@gmail.com or call (408) 840-DAYS. SPIRITUAL READING DURING LENT OR ALL YEAR: Here is a selection, from Catholic News Service, of recent releases that might be suitable for your spiritual reading during Lent or throughout the year.

– “Lent with Pope Francis: Daily Reflections and Prayers,” edited by Donna Giaimo, FSP. Pauline Books & Media (Boston, 2014). 124 pp., $7.95.

– “Sacred Silence: Daily Meditations for Lent” by Phyllis Zagano. Franciscan Media (Cincinnati, 2014). 132 pp., $9.99.

– “40 Days, 40 Ways: A New Look at Lent” by Marcellino D’Ambrosio. Servant Books (Cincinnati, 2014). 127 pp., $14.99.

– “Bringing Lent Home with St. John Paul II: Prayers, Reflections and Activities for Families” by Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle. Ave Maria Press (Notre Dame, Indiana, 2014). 96 pp., $2.95.

– “Breaking into Joy: Meditations for Living in the Love of Christ” by Anne Costa. Word Among Us Press (Frederick, Maryland, 2014). 220 pp., $10.95.

– “Three Minutes a Day,” Volume 49, by the Christophers.

The Christophers (New York, 2014). 365 pp., $10.

– “Flunking Sainthood Every Day: A Daily Devotional for the Rest of Us” by Jana Riess. Paraclete Press (Brewster, Massachusetts, 2014). 290 pp., $23.99.

– “5 Minutes With the Saints: More Spiritual Nourishment for Busy Teachers,” edited by Lou DelFra, CSC, and Ann Primus Berends. Ave Maria Press (Notre Dame, Indiana, 2014). 192 pp., $12.95.

– “No Bible, No Breakfast! No Bible, No Bed! Father Larry Richards’ Scripture Desk Calendar” by Father Larry Richards. Word Among Us Press (Frederick, Maryland, 2014).

365 pp., $13.95.

– “A Little Daily Wisdom From the Early Church,” edited by Bernard Bangley. Paraclete Press (Brewster, Massachusetts, 2014). 386 pp., $12.99.

– “A Daily Catholic Moment: 10 Minutes a Day Alone with God,” compiled by Peter Celano. Paraclete Press (Brewster, Massachusetts, 2014). 192 pp., $15.99.

– “Peace and Good: Through the Year With Francis of Assisi” by Pat McCloskey, OFM. Franciscan Media (Cincinnati, 2014). 397 pp., $19.99.

LIVING TRUSTS WILLS

PROBATE

(PHOTOS BY CHRISTINA GRAY/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

Deacon Chuck McNeil manages the prison ministry team at St. Dominic Parish in San Francisco, aided by volunteers including Steve and Sylvia Mariccini.

PRISON MINISTRY: Catholic clergy, laity serve ‘the least of my brothers’ FROM PAGE 1

Working in two-person teams, volunteers like the Mariccinis offer prayer services including Lectio Divina to jailed men and women who come from every faith background and sometimes none at all. They integrate prayer from saints who themselves were incarcerated or had major conversions. They sing and pray for each other.

Volunteers bring rosaries sometimes, or reading materials. But the ministry is foremost a ministry of presence said Deacon Chuck McNeil who started and still manages the St. Dominic team.

“We try not to be religious goods pushers,” he said, adding that those best suited to prison ministry are those without an agenda.

“Some Catholics feel they have to catechize inmates, have to preach morality or teach the rosary,” he said. “What gets through here is presence and prayer, not preaching.”

People need to talk, especially to someone outside “the system,” he said. He described weekly conversations through a pinhole with one straight-jacketed, high profile criminal who had been in isolation for a year.

“It’s a little bit like confession,” he said.

Prison ministry was “the most faraway idea” to Deacon McNeil during formation. “I thought of myself as pretty square,” he said. He’d never been arrested or known anyone that was. But a priest encouraged him to try it, and he found a calling of sorts. “I discovered I was very comfortable with the inmates,” he said.

Priests, deacons and laity alike describe prison ministry a “calling” that helps them live out the Gospel as Jesus has directly asked them to do.

Ministering to the imprisoned is recognized by

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‘Some Catholics feel they have to catechize inmates, have to preach morality or teach the rosary. What gets through here is presence and prayer, not preaching.’

DEACON CHUCK MCNEIL the Catholic Church as one of the seven corporal works of mercy. In Matthew 25:36 Jesus himself identifies with the imprisoned and during his crucifixion he also ministered to repentant criminals next to him on the cross.

At San Quentin, Father Williams says Mass from inside a locked cage inside death row.

“When I raise the host I don’t see heinous murderers standing in front of me, I see human beings,” he said. “If his body was not given up for them, too, then what difference would our faith make?”

As a modern Catholic prison chaplain, Father Williams represents a minority in the United States and a significant challenge to the church.

Only 13 percent of the 1,474 state prison chaplains that responded to the Pew survey in 2012 identified themselves as Catholic. Nearly threequarters of them are evangelical Protestants aided by a legion of lay volunteers.

Catholic inmates may be more likely to drift away from the faith without a solid Catholic presence that includes lay volunteers to assist and supplement a chaplain’s work.

“I wish there were more Catholic-based prison ministries,” said Father Williams.

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone Publisher Rick DelVecchio Editor/General Manager EDITORIAL Valerie Schmalz, assistant editor Tom Burke, On the Street/Calendar Christina Gray, reporter

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HOW TO REACH US One Peter Yorke Way San Francisco, CA 94109 Phone: (415) 614-5639 | Fax: (415) 614-5641 Editor: (415) 614-5647 editor.csf@sfarchdiocese.org Advertising: (415) 614-5642 advertising.csf@sfarchdiocese.org Circulation: (415) 614-5639 circulation.csf@sfarchdiocese.org Letters to the editor: letters.csf@sfarchdiocese.org

ARCHDIOCESE 3

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Sisters of Mercy travel to Peru to remember and celebrate LIZ DOSSA SISTERS OF MERCY WEST MIDWEST COMMUNITY

Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Community traveled to Acora, Peru, this past December to celebrate a vital Mercy link established in 1964. Sister Biviana Chique Espezua made final vows and Sister Carmen Rosa Ccallomamani celebrated her 25th jubilee in the Church of San Juan Evangelista in Acora on Dec 13.

Thirty-nine sisters of Mercy came from areas of Peru and the U.S. to recognize the 50th anniversary of a community begun in hope as a mission from Burlingame.

The group traveling from Burlingame included many who had ministered there: Sisters Gloria Avila, Judy Carle, Patsy Harney, Phyllis Hughes, Martha Larsen, Anne Marie Miller, Gloria Miller and Mary Waskowiak, Associate Regina Bailey and Lenore Greene.

Fifty years ago, four Mercy sisters from the Burlingame Region boarded a plane in San Francisco to respond to the call of Pope Pius XII to spread the Gospel to Latin America. The sisters chose for their mission Peru’s Altiplano, at an altitude of 12,500 feet, a region the United Nations had declared a permanent disaster area because of its inadequacy to sustain life. The region was attractive because in addition to the profound need, the help of more experienced Maryknollers who had served there for years was available to the sisters.

Over the years, 14 sisters ministered in education of lay catechists and in health care. As the sisters settled into the culture and some learned to speak the native Aymara, their mission grew into human rights and the empowerment of women. The Peruvians in turn began their education of the sisters in the native wisdom of the people.

Their work has had rich rewards. Peruvian women began to be attracted to the Mercy community. In 1989, Sister Carmen Rosa entered the community and several others have followed.

The December ceremony reflected the color and the melody of the local church. A choir of young guitarists, drummers and singers dressed in bright embroidered jackets and brilliant skirts contrasted with the white of the priests’ robes. The weaving of local customs with those of the worldwide church thrilled Sister Martha Larsen who served in Peru from 1981 to 1993. She was happy to note the use of the Aymara language in the ceremony. *QUALIFIED MECHANICS TO SERVE YOU

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(PHOTOS COURTESY LIZ DOSSA)

Left, Mercy Sister Biviana Chique Espezua made final vows in Acora, Peru, accompanied by members of Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Community who celebrated a vital Mercy link established in 1964. Right, Sister Judy Carle, Associate Regina Bayley, and Sisters Phyllis Hughes, Mary Waskowiak, Patsy Harney, Martha Larsen, Marlene Parrott, Gloria Miller, Deborah Watson, Carmen Rosa Ccallomamani and Julie Matthews at the Mass celebrating Sister Biviana Chique Espezua final vows and Sister Carmen’s 25th jubilee. Each sign lists the year and names of sisters missioned in that year. The last sign for 2009 shows when the sisters there formed CCASA – Caribbean, Central America, South America Community – a community of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas.

“The parents of Nidia Huanacuni Quispe, another of our Aymara sisters, offered the traditional penitential rite with lots of incense,” said Sister Judy Carle.

As the North American sisters returned to what was once their mission and is now an independent community of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, they found memories but also growth.

“An image of the days of celebration that stays with me is that of a huge tapestry, “said Sister Deborah Watson, who is now in Argentina. “Past, present and future were beautifully woven together in Aymara, Spanish and English. History was so

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SAINT RITA LENTEN LECTURE SERIES 2015

“We are the Church” Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Gaudium et Spes 17 February, Tuesday 7:00 PM

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24 February, Tuesday 7:00 PM

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well remembered and represented, especially in the person of Regina Bailey, who served in Peru from 1965-1975, one of the first ‘Peru missionaries.’ Then for me Carmen Rosa symbolized the present, the community in Peru expanding the Circle of Mercy and reaching out in compassion to those most in need. And in Biviana, fully beginning her life in Mercy, we live our hope for the future and our commitment to search for ever more creative and effective ways to minister.”

3 March, Tuesday

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“A New Edition of the Catholic Tradition: The Theology of Conscience in Gaudium et Spes and Dignitatis Humanae Personae”

Jan Jans, S.T.D. Associate Professor of Ethics Tilburg University, the Netherlands

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10 March, Tuesday

7:00 PM

“Classical Music and Quiet Reflection in Lent” Michael McCarty, grand piano Peter Chase, violin

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4 ARCHDIOCESE

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

(PHOTOS BY CHRISTINA GRAY/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

Franciscan Father Tommy King, pastor of St. Boniface Parish in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, leads a public prayer service at the corner of Mission and 11th streets Feb. 13 to honor the life of a San Francisco man whose dismembered body was found in a suitcase at the same location Jan. 28. Those present at the vigil left a candle in memory of the victim, 58-year-old Omar Shahwan, and in the spirit of healing for the man’s family, the community and the perpetrator.

Archdiocese prays for 58-year-old violence victim, perpetrator, community ‘We acknowledge this horrendous act … that we as disciples of Jesus Christ have to address in a nonviolent way’ CHRISTINA GRAY CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

Franciscan Father Tommy King, pastor of St. Boniface Catholic Church in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, led a public prayer service at the corner of Mission and 11th streets Feb. 13 to honor the life of a Vallejo man whose dismembered body was found in a suitcase at the same location Jan. 28.

The 15-minute service attended mostly by archdiocesan clergy and staff and reporters following the sensational case watched as Father King lit a candle bearing the name of 58-year-old Omar Shahwan.

“We acknowledge this horrendous act that has become a symbol of chaos in our neighborhoods that we as disciples of Jesus Christ have to address in a non-violent way,” said Father King as he sprinkled holy water around the candle. “We hope and pray and are confident that Omar has found rest in God.” Franciscan Father Jose Luis Nerio, chaplain for St. Anthony Foundation, attended with other St.

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Anthony’s members. St. Boniface sacristan Paul Barrett led readings that included St. Francis’ Prayer for Peace.

San Francisco Police Deputy Monica MacDonald told Catholic San Francisco that the medical examiner confirmed Shahwan’s identity Feb. 11 through DNA testing of the remains found in the suitcase, which did not include his head or hands.

She said the investigation is ongoing about the “cause and manner of death” despite the death of friend and former roommate Mark Jeffrey Andrus, 59, who was arrested after surveillance video showed him carrying a suitcase in the area where the remains were dumped.

The district attorney released Andrus Feb. 3 due to “insufficient evidence” but he died suddenly Feb. 7.

The archdiocese’s restorative justice ministry, a program of the Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns, plans and publicizes public prayer services when a person is killed in violence within the archdiocese. To date the program has held more than 250 prayer services, usually led by the pastor of the parish nearest the scene of the

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crime, though often attended spontaneously by San Francisco’s auxiliary bishops and even Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone.

Jaime Gonzales, a program volunteer who works with inmates at the San Francisco County jail in San Bruno, explained that when a murder such as this one happens, the whole community is affected.

“As Catholics, we pray for the victim, we pray for family members and we pray to push out the negativity of what just happened in a holy way,” he said.

Julio Escobar, coordinator of the program told the group that his mission is to help prevent the kind of violence that he saw growing up in El Salvador during the Central American nation’s civil war.

“We do not have a violence problem in San Francisco,” he said. “We have a relationship problem.”

Gonzales added that he also wanted to pray for the perpetrator of the crime.

“If he sees this on television, even he has the assurance of our Lord Jesus Christ’s mercy if he were to repent. God’ love is limitless,” he said.

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ARCHDIOCESE 5

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Priory honored for energy, resource conservation efforts Woodside Priory School recently took a gold medal from the U.S. Department of Education and Environmental Protection Agency as a “Green Ribbon School.�

The Priory’s commitment to sustainability was a principal element of the recognition. “This commitment includes the school’s energy and resource conservation programs, which includes solar electricity production, drought tolerant landscaping, and robust compost and recycling efforts,� said Sean Mclain Brown, Priory’s director of communications.

Students’ community service efforts as well as the counseling department’s focus on reducing stress and bullying also contributed to the honor, according to Brown who said sustainability coordinator Hovey Clark and the school “worked very hard in earning the award.â€? Clark oversaw the application process. He says the school’s success in the award program is the result of several years of organization, as well as the dedication and hard work from teachers and students throughout the school. “People here have worked together to fulďŹ ll the school’s mission, in which ‘lifelong learning and stewardship’ are core values,â€? Clark said. “As I looked across departments and program areas, there are so many aspects of our program and experience that point toward our commitment to stewardship and healthy living.â€?

The school also works to serve healthy, locally sourced organic food. Food from its garden is certiďŹ ed by the state and served in the cafeteria. The school’s

The school also works to serve healthy, locally sourced organic food. Food from its garden is certified by the state and served in the cafeteria.

The school’s solar program provides more than 50 percent of its energy needs.

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Hovey Clark, Woodside Priory School’s sustainability coordinator and part of the school’s environmental science faculty, explains planting techniques to middle school garden club members. solar program provides more than 50 percent of its energy needs.

In the course of completing the application, the school developed an EPA Energy Star benchmarking portfolio. This tool, in conjunction with similar tools

from the school’s solar contractor, as well as energy and water utilities, allows the school to monitor resource use across the campus, and to make adjustments to buildings and areas that work less efficiently than other spaces.

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Catholic leaders discuss effective preaching, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;intentional discipleshipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; GEORGE P. MATYSEK JR. AND NANCY MENEFEE JACKSON CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

BALTIMORE â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Effective preaching is not the mere presentation of information or ideas, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori noting in a Feb. 13 homily at the Mid-Atlantic Congress for Catholic Leaders, no matter how important or profound such information or ideas may be. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Effective preaching should be engaging,â&#x20AC;? Archbishop Lori said.

Archbishop Lori â&#x20AC;&#x153;It should be brimming with the attractiveness of the Gospel, that is to say with the attractiveness of the person of Christ.

It should engage the faith with the struggles and challenges of daily life, while offering hope, vision and fresh strength.â&#x20AC;?

Archbishop Lori noted that preaching should draw people not to a set of rules, â&#x20AC;&#x153;but to a wholly new way of life that can only be lived in communion with Christ, a communion that is achieved in and through the sacraments, most especially the Eucharist.â&#x20AC;?

Church leaders offer formation and religious instruction not as requirements, he said, but â&#x20AC;&#x153;as those who seek to know, love and follow the Lord.â&#x20AC;?

Sherry Weddell, author of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus,â&#x20AC;? cited a Canadian study examining why young adults raised in Christian traditions, including Catholicism, remained in or left their faith.

Those who stayed, the study found, â&#x20AC;&#x153;had an experience of God or answered prayer; they were able to ask questions openly and discuss spiritual questions; they understood the Gospel; and they had older adults living as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;disciplesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; around them, modeling faith.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;We canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t depend on inherited religious identity,â&#x20AC;?

Weddell said. The audience laughed as she noted that church leaders tend to separate everyone into two tracks: â&#x20AC;&#x153;the saint track and the rest of us, who were normal.â&#x20AC;? That didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allow for someone who has begun the journey to discipleship.

Part of the problem, she noted, is that â&#x20AC;&#x153;we never created a safe space for (young people) to wrestle with saying a deliberate â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;yes.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;We presume the yes,â&#x20AC;? she continued, believing it occurred in religious education classes or youth group, or in learning catechism as children.

She advised church leaders ask people to tell their stories about their relationship with God. In a Feb. 13 talk about trends affecting the Catholic Church, Matthew Pinto, founder of Ascension Press, said he sees a noticeable movement toward â&#x20AC;&#x153;intentional discipleship.â&#x20AC;?

He speculated that the leadership of Pope Francis will cause â&#x20AC;&#x153;progressiveâ&#x20AC;? Catholics to have a greater deference to the papacy in the years to come, while it simultaneously challenges â&#x20AC;&#x153;orthodoxâ&#x20AC;? Catholics to â&#x20AC;&#x153;come out of their comfort zonesâ&#x20AC;? in serving those in need. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think in decades to come, we are going to see doctrinal orthodoxy with a social justice emphasis,â&#x20AC;?

Pinto said.

Other trends Pinto said the church must be aware of include the rising acceptance of homosexuality, shifting demographics, the emergence of new groups of laypeople ready to serve the church, increasing challenges to religious freedom and the growth of the new evangelization as promoted by the last three popes.

Damon Owens, executive director of the Theology of the Body Institute, emphasized in a Feb. 13 presentation that in helping people live by Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s law, church ministers must encourage a personal encounter with Christ. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The cold objective law is received by the heart as a rebuke until it becomes personal,â&#x20AC;? he said.

POLL SHOWS MAJORITY SUPPORT FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN MARRIAGE DEBATE

WASHINGTON â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A recent Associated Press poll shows that while a plurality of Americans support the legalization of same-sex marriage, a majority believe that the religious liberty of those who object to such marriages, including owners of wedding-related businesses, should still be respected.

The poll, which was conducted between Jan. 1 and Feb. 2, shows that 44 percent of Americans favor legalization of same-sex marriage, 39 percent oppose it and 15 percent â&#x20AC;&#x153;neither favor nor opposeâ&#x20AC;? legalization of such marriages.

Respondents also were asked this question: â&#x20AC;&#x153;In states where same-sex couples can be married legally, do you think that weddingrelated businesses with religious objections should be allowed to refuse service to samesex couples, or not?â&#x20AC;? Fifty-seven percent of those polled said that â&#x20AC;&#x153;they should be allowed to refuse service,â&#x20AC;? and only 39 percent said â&#x20AC;&#x153;no, they should not be allowedâ&#x20AC;? to do so. Four percent refused to respond.

The pollâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s results on legalizing same-sex marriage show â&#x20AC;&#x153;that support for the truth about marriage is too low and, thus, we all must renew our efforts at explaining what marriage is and why marriage matters,â&#x20AC;? said Ryan T. Anderson, William E. Simon fellow in religion and a free society at the Heritage Foundation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not that people have heard the case for marriage and rejected it â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it is just that they have never heard it,â&#x20AC;? he told Catholic News Service. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The majority of Americans rightly recognize that everyone should be free from government penalties for believing and acting on the belief that marriage is the union of husband and wife,â&#x20AC;? Anderson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We must continue to defend our freedoms to speak and act in the public square in accord with the truth about marriage.â&#x20AC;?

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Lawmaker: Replace US Capitol’s Serra statue with one of woman astronaut Starr King, a Unitarian minister and famous orator credited during the Civil War with saving California from becoming a separate republic.

Blessed Serra’s statue is one of five Catholic missionaries – four priests and a woman religious – on display, and there is also a statue of the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, Charles Carroll.

The missionary statues and their respective states are: St. Damien de Veuster, Hawaii; Jesuit Father Eusebio Kino, Arizona; Jesuit Father Jacques Marquette, Wisconsin; Mother Joseph, a Sister of Charity, Washington state. Carroll, a Catholic layman from Maryland, was a cousin of the nation’s first Catholic bishop, Archbishop John Carroll.

When Pope Francis told reporters Jan. 19 that he planned to canonize Blessed Serra in the U.S. in September, he said he wished he could do so in California, the 18th-century Franciscan’s mission field, but would not have time to travel there.

He said he planned instead to canonize him during a ceremony at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, a fitting location because Blessed Serra’s statue is at the U.S. Capitol.

CAROL ZIMMERMAN CAHTOLIC NEWS SERVICE

Blessed Junipero Serra, the Franciscan who founded the California missions and is in line to be canonized a saint this fall when Pope Francis visits the United States, could potentially lose his spot in the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall under a proposal by a California state Sen. Ricardo Lara.

Lara introduced a resolution Feb. 4 in Sacramento to replace the statue of Blessed Serra with a statue of Sally Ride, the first woman in space who was on the space shuttle Challenger in 1983. Lara said Ride, a physicist, astronaut and champion of science, would “become the first woman to represent California and the first member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to be placed in the Statuary Hall.” Ride died in 2012 at the age of 61 from pancreatic cancer.

The senator suggests relocating Blessed Serra’s statue to California “where citizens and visitors can enjoy it and be reminded of his significant historical impact upon our state.”

Any state can request the congressional Joint Committee on the Library to approve a replacement of a statue the state has provided for display if the statue has been approved by the legislature and governor and if the statue to be replaced has been displayed in the Capitol for at least 10 years.

When the hall was dedicated in 1864, Congress invited each state to contribute two statues of prominent citizens.

States can request the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress to approve the replacement of a statue if this move has been approved by the state legislature and governor and if the outgoing statue has been displayed in the hall for at least 10 years.

The statue of Blessed Serra, holding aloft a cross, was donated in 1931. Cali-

This article was posted on the CNS blog Feb. 11.

PITTSBURGH – A three-judge panel’s Feb. 11 ruling on a court challenge to the contraceptive mandate “says that the church is no longer free to practice what we preach,” Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik said.

The panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision by a federal judge last November to grant the Pittsburgh and Erie dioceses a temporary injunction against enforcement of the mandate.

Under the federal health care law, most employers, including religious ones, are required to cover employees’ artificial birth control, sterilization and abortion-causing drugs, even if employers are morally opposed to such coverage.

“I am deeply disappointed in this decision,” Bishop Zubik said in a statement. “Such a ruling should cause deep concern for anyone who cares about any First Amendment rights, especially the right to teach and practice a religious faith. Some of our Catholic beliefs are countercultural.

“Our employees work for us understanding that and, in many cases, giving thanks that they work for an institution that upholds those very values.”

The appeals panel ruling would require Catholic institutions, such as Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, to facilitate access to contraceptive coverage through its employee health care plans or else face massive fines.

(PHOTO FROM ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL, THROUGH CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE)

The statue of Blessed Junipero Serra at the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. fornia’s other statue, President Ronald Reagan, was placed in the hall in 2009 replacing a statue of the Rev. Thomas

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

WORLD 9

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Martyrs in Libya ‘whispered’ name of Jesus before death, bishop says LAURA IERACI CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – The 21 Coptic Christians who were beheaded by Islamic State militants died as martyrs, invoking the name of Jesus, said an Egyptian Catholic bishop.

In line with Pope Francis’ assertion at morning Mass Feb. 17, Bishop Antonios Aziz Mina of Giza told the Fides news agency that the “diabolical” video of the Christians’ massacre, intended to “spread terror,” was a testament to their martyrdom in the faith.

The video of their beheading, released Feb. 15, shows that “in the moment of their barbaric execution,” some of the Christians were repeating the words “Lord, Jesus Christ,” he said.

“The name of Jesus was the last word on their lips,” said Bishop Mina. And like the early church martyrs, “they entrusted themselves to the one who would receive them soon after. That name, whispered in the last moments, was like the seal of their martyrdom.”

Following the news of their assassination in Libya, Christians in the various dioceses of Egypt began praying and fasting, as the government called for seven days of national mourning. Several Egyptian bishops have spoken about constructing churches, dedicated to the 21 martyrs, in their dioceses.

Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab announced President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi would arrange state funds for the construction of a church dedicated to the 21 martyrs in the Egyptian city of Minya, from which many of the victims hailed.

In addition, by presidential decree, the victims’ families will receive financial compensation for the death of their loved ones (about $13,000), as well as a monthly stipend. The families are asking that the remains of their loved ones be returned to Egypt for burial.

Al-Sisi, who also has referred to the 21 Christians as “martyrs,” paid a personal visit to Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II Feb. 16 to extend his condolences. Pope Francis extended his condolences to Pope Tawadros in a phone call the same day.

Back in Libya, members of the Catholic community resolved to stay put, despite the killings and the emphatic calls from various authorities to evacuate the country.

“Few of us remain,” said Latin-rite Bishop Giovanni Martinelli of Tripoli, Libya. He told Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Feb. 17 that many of those who remain are female Philippine nurses, who have decided to stay because of the dire medical needs in the city after the evacuation of the medical staff at the private St. James Hospital.

“It is for them that I remain,” the bishop said.

“At this time, the situation is calm, but we do not

(CNS PHOTO/MOHAMED ABD EL GHANY, REUTERS)

Coptic Christian women attend a Feb. 17 service in Cairo for the Egyptians said to have been beheaded in Libya. know how things will evolve. Anyway, as I have said many times, so long as there is one Christian here, I will remain.”

Pope Francis called for prayers for the victims and asked that God recognize these men killed for their faith.

He offered morning Mass Feb. 17 in the chapel of his residence for the slain Christians he termed “our 21 brother Copts” whose throats had been slit “for the sole reason of being Christians,” and he requested people pray for the victims so “that the Lord welcome them as martyrs.”

He called on people to pray as well for the victims’ families and for Egypt’s Orthodox leader, Pope Tawadros II, “who is suffering so much.”

Pope Francis called Pope Tawadros Feb. 16 to express his sorrow over the deaths.

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10 WORLD

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Pope opens cardinals’ discussion of Curia reform Cardinals discuss better ways to balance the responsibilities of local bishops and the Roman Curia CAROL GLATZ AND CINDY WOODEN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – Cardinals meeting at the Vatican discussed better ways to balance the responsibilities of local bishops and of the Roman Curia, said the Vatican spokesman.

A recurring theme in the cardinals’ Feb. 12-13 meeting was “what is it that is done best where,” Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi told journalists Feb. 13 during a pause in College of Cardinals’ discussions.

About 40 of the 164 cardinals present in the Vatican’s synod hall spoke Feb. 12 about the proposal to reform the Roman Curia, he said. A number of them brought up the subject of “decentralization” and “the relationship between the Curia and the local churches, the episcopal conferences” as a fundamental part of how best to serve the church and the world, Father Lombardi said.

Although no decisions were made and no vote was taken, he said, there was an emphasis on determining what tasks are best done where based on “competencies and knowledge of the situation” by either the Curia with its more “universal vision” or by dioceses and bishops’ conferences with their direct experience, he said.

Canadian Cardinal Gerald Lacroix of Quebec told Vatican Radio Feb. 13 that the Curia’s role must be to assist the pope and also be at the service of local dioceses.

Curia should support bishops Pope Francis “has said several times – so I’m not revealing any secret – that when a bishop comes here to the Roman Curia it should not be like going through customs. He comes here to receive support, guidance, the tools necessary to carry out his mission, encouragement.”

The Curia’s identity must focus on serving the church, helping it fulfill its mission and issuing “broad guidelines to clarify issues whether they are doctrinal, pastoral or liturgical,” he said.

Father Lombardi told reporters that cardinals also discussed the role of the laity, “in particular women and their presence in positions of responsibility in the Roman Curia.”

The cardinals’ morning session Feb. 13 was dedicated to explaining the work of the Secretariat and the Council for the Economy and the reform of the so-called Vatican bank. Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley was to brief the cardinals that afternoon on the work of the Pontifical Commission for Child Protection.

Pope Francis opened the meeting saying the reform of the Roman Curia should promote “greater harmony” among the Vatican offices, not primarily to save money or promote efficiency, but to solidify the unity of the church and strengthen its ability to evangelize.

The pope arrived in the Vatican’s synod hall a half hour before the consistory was set to begin. Fewer than two dozen cardinals were there before him and the pope greeted them before standing at the front of the hall to welcome each of the others as they arrived.

Nineteen of the 20 churchmen Pope Francis was to induct into the College of Cardinals Feb. 14 were present – sitting in two rows behind the other cardinals. Retired Colombian Archbishop Jose de Jesus Pimiento Rodriguez, who turns 96 Feb. 18, sent regrets that he could not attend. Including those who were about to receive their red hats, the College of Cardinals has 227 members.

(NS PHOTO/PAUL HARING)

Left, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, Pope Francis and Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Congo, arrive for a meeting in the synod hall at the Vatican Feb. 13. Cardinals discussed bureaucratic “decentralization” at the Vatican and the addition of two new offices.

(CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING)

Cardinal-designates attend a meeting with the pope Feb. 12. From left are Cardinal-designates John Dew of Wellington, New Zealand; Berhaneyesus Souraphiel of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Manuel Macario do Nascimento Clemente of Lisbon, Portugal; and French Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, prefect of the Vatican’s Apostolic Signature.

Pope Francis scheduled the meeting primarily to discuss with the cardinals the proposals his nine-member international Council of Cardinals had developed for the reform of the Curia.

New Vatican offices described The proposals include the creation of two new large, high-profile Vatican offices: the Congregation for Laity, Family and Life, and the Congregation for Charity, Justice and Peace, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman. The charity and justice congregation would include the existing pontifical councils for health care and for migrants, but also would have a new section dedicated to “safeguarding creation.”

The proposed grouping, he said, flows from an understanding of “charity as fundamental to the essence, existence and mission of the church” and of working for justice “as a consequence” of charity. The special section for ecology reflects an increased concern and commitment on the part of the church to the need to protect creation.

The section also would work in the area of “human ecology,” or the idea

that social and political environments can be deadly for the human person and for human dignity, he said.

“There is an ecclesial and theological vision” behind the planned combination of the pontifical councils involved and raising their profile to the level of a congregation, Father Lombardi said. “It is not just about taking certain offices and putting them together in order to reduce their number.”

The Second Vatican Council insisted on the important vocation and role of the laity in the life of the church, particularly in witnessing to Christ in the world. Just as there are congregations for bishops, for clergy and for religious, Father Lombardi said, it seemed “natural” to the Council of Cardinals that there would be a congregation for laity. Given the centrality of family life for many laypeople, it made sense to combine the two councils and to have the Pontifical Academy for Life conduct its work under the new congregation’s auspices, he said.

While the congregation would promote lay involvement in the church, Father Lombardi said, it is unlikely and almost “unthinkable” that a lay-

person would be appointed its prefect because the pastoral responsibilities of a Vatican congregation require that it be led by an ordained minister, usually a cardinal.

Reform requested pre-Francis At the beginning of the meeting, Pope Francis reminded his brother cardinals that the reform was requested by the College of Cardinals during the meetings that preceded his election in 2013.

“The aim to reach is that of promoting greater harmony in the work of the various dicasteries and offices” of the Vatican, he said, in order to have “more effective collaboration with the absolute transparency that builds up authentic synodality and collegiality,” or shared responsibility under the pope’s leadership for the good of the whole church.

“The reform is not an end in itself,” he said, “but a way to give a strong Christian witness, to promote more effective evangelization, a more fruitful ecumenical spirit and encourage a more constructive dialogue with all.”

Pope Francis thanked the members of the Council of Cardinals and its secretary, Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, who, the pope said, “is the one who does the work.”

In drawing up its proposals, he said, the council took into account “many suggestions, including those made by the heads” of the various Vatican congregations and councils.

Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, council coordinator, and Bishop Semeraro both made presentations to the cardinals about the council’s proposals.

The proposals, Pope Francis said, should “perfect” the work of the Curia and its main purpose, which is to assist the pope “in the exercise of his supreme pastoral office for the good and the service of the universal church and the particular churches.”

As he did at the beginning of the 2014 Synod of Bishops on the family, Pope Francis asked the cardinals to share their opinions with frankness, fidelity to church teaching and concern for the salvation of souls.

‘KNOWLEDGE, VIRTUE AND HOLINESS’ 11

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

‘Knowledge, Virtue and Holiness’: Archbishop’s address to teachers Here is Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone’s address to high school teachers Feb. 6 at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco.

I. Introduction

In his first Encyclical, Lumen fidei (“The Light of Faith”), Pope Francis begins with the following words: The light of Faith: this is how the Church’s tradition speaks of the great gift brought by Jesus. In John’s Gospel, Christ says of himself: ‘I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness’ (Jn ARCHBISHOP 12:46)…. To Martha, weepSALVATORE J. ing for the death of her CORDILEONE brother Lazarus, Jesus said: Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ (Jn 11:40). Those who believe, see; they see with a light that illumines their entire journey, for it comes from the risen Christ, the morning star which never sets.

The students in our Catholic schools are at the beginning of their journey of life, and it is your privilege, as their teachers, to accompany them at this critical stage of their life’s journey, a stage that for many of them will determine the trajectory of their entire life. This teaching from so early on in Pope Francis’ Petrine ministry clearly reflects the emphasis he places on the theology of accompaniment; it also, I believe, gives a helpful definition to what our Catholic schools are called to do: journey with our young people out of the darkness into the light of the risen Christ.

While they may not think of it in exactly this way, parents do entrust their children to Catholic schools with the expectation that our schools will form and inform their children as well as shield them from harm. I am grateful to you for all you do to help illuminate, order, and sanctify the lives of the teenagers entrusted to your care. In addition to presenting material to them in the classroom, you coach them in making sense out of their experiences in the Church and in our modern culture. Students look to you for guidance.

Although as freshmen and sophomores they may be reticent to think deeply, you encourage them and lead them on, and eventually most students do desire to think critically. But they also want to understand life, which poses many conundrums to them. The students listen to you and watch you for guidance. Many of you have an impact on their lives that is humbling to you. I am grateful for your service and I pray that students indeed listen to you and imitate the fundamental human and religious qualities you share with them. Like many of you, I, too, can think back to teachers in my high school who have had a lifelong effect on me, and one in particular – and not because of what he taught (although yes, he was a great band director), but because of the kind of person he was and the values he modeled to us in word and deed.

And like me, I’m sure many, if not all, of you also have wonderful memories of your teenage years. Those are years filled with wonder, or at least they are meant to be: discovering new friends and new activities, testing our limits and the limits imposed on us, with all of the successes and failures that involves, and sometimes doing dumb and even dangerous things, morally as well as physically, and then receiving the punishment that goes with it. But thank God for parents’ admonitions, for honest evaluations by teachers, coaches and moderators, and for the help given by the Church and the Holy Spirit.

My subsequent comments take this enchanted high school world for granted. Our hopes and prayers are that teenagers grow in wisdom, age and grace during the four years they are entrusted to us. The culture of a Catholic high school is both challenging and reassuring for students and teachers. Teachers confront difficult challenges, but most teachers accept all the trials and disap-

The students in our Catholic schools are at the beginning of their journey of life, and it is your privilege, as their teachers, to accompany them at this critical stage of their life’s journey, a stage that for many of them will determine the trajectory of their entire life. pointments with good humor, because they are delighted to be in the presence of happy, lively students. At the same time, many students at this age need big injections of intellectual curiosity.

Challenges there are, but the delights and satisfactions are also abundant.

Teachers enjoy the challenge of teaching students and getting them to think on their own, to think critically about the human condition, and to think carefully about the role their Catholic faith actually plays and ought to play in their lives.

A crucial challenge for Catholic high schools is striking the correct balance between fostering careful reasoning and promoting Catholic faith and practice. A Catholic school should also offer students clear ideas of what constitutes human excellence and success.

II. The Mission of Catholic Schools

Catholic high schools enjoy a solid reputation as excellent institutions of education and formation.

Experience highlights three factors in particular that contribute to overall success of Catholic high schools. The first factor is high academic expectations for all students, no matter what their cultural, linguistic or ethnic background. The second factor is that Catholic schools teach young people to apprehend truth using both faith and reason. We know from our Catholic tradition that both are necessary: each must make its unique contribution that only it can make, and serve as a check on the other lest knowledge be reduced to simple pious platitudes on the one hand or, on the other, superficial or self-serving assertions that cannot see beyond the material world. The third factor is that principals and presidents at Catholic high schools seek to hire teachers who are interested in being involved with students outside the classroom. As coaches, moderators or facilitators of different events at the school, these teachers share their hopes and skills with the students in a more personal way. This has a significant impact on students.

The three factors – high academic expectations, faith and reason, and teachers interacting with students both in and outside the classroom – contribute to building a Catholic worldview. All of this, of course, must be reflected in the school’s mission statement. Catholic schools have mission statements that focus on these factors and what the goal of Catholic education is. Mission statements that are clear and compelling help students, faculty, staff and parents alike to know that they are working in a Catholic educational environment and to understand what that means.

In what has become by now a classic phrase in the world of Catholic education, Catholic schools help students to excel in life because of our understanding of what our schools are all about: education of the whole person. As we know from science, philosophy and our Catholic faith, the whole person, especially the whole person redeemed by the Incarnation, Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, is wonderfully complex. The root meaning of the word “educate” is “to lead out from.” That is, a Catholic education draws out all the potential in the whole person of every student, leading the student to true human flourishing and thus becoming the person God has created them to be.

As the Fathers of the Church emphasized, human potential increased greatly with the coming of Christ, the New Adam. By being baptized in Christ Jesus, Christians participate in the divine

life of Christ. Because of this, every Christian has the calling to be holy – certainly one of the truths of our faith emphasized at the Second Vatican Council. A Christian – teenager or adult – is expected to use all the means available to them to fulfill this vocation common to every Christian.

So the challenge is a complex one. The whole person involves the intellectual, physical, emotional, social, moral and spiritual dimensions of each student. A Catholic high school is certainly an educational institution, but it also has the charge of instilling in its students morality and growth toward holiness. God speaks directly and indirectly to students through the moral challenges they face, through prayer, through study, and in the sacraments.

Even though the focus is on the education of the whole person, this occurs in the context of a community, the high school itself. Similarly, holiness for the student is achieved by working within the Church, which is what Jesus preached when he spoke about the Kingdom of God. Full flourishing of the human individual occurs through participation in the life of the Church.

III. True Success

Accrediting groups for grade schools, high schools, and colleges and universities now all focus on assessment. They want these institutions to assess what they judge to be the most important goals in light of their mission statement and perhaps vision statement. The goal of Catholic schools can be expressed as the full flourishing of the human person. By reason of our belief in Jesus Christ and the Church he founded, this has to include outstanding service in the Church.

The two main activities of the Church are the sanctification of people already members of the Church and drawing others to belief in Christ, that is, fulfilling the “Great Commission”: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19). This is all for the sake of leading individuals to attain the fullness of their human potential, which can only occur when one joins one’s will to God’s will.

Our Catholic schools exist to serve the Church’s mission of sanctification and evangelization. This mission indicates that some widely esteemed achievements in secular society are inadequate goals – not in themselves contrary, but inadequate – for Catholic youth. They become goals contrary to the Catholic mission of a school if they become separated from the call to holiness and the mission to evangelize.

This means that Catholic educators will look at secular achievements in a different way: under the light of faith, that is to say, with a view to the spiritual, transcendent dimension of the human person.

Graduates of our schools are to be congratulated for securing admission to prestigious four-year universities, because this is something good in itself and a sign that a student is realizing his or her full potential. However, if, for example, one of our alumni graduates from such a prestigious institution and goes on to become the CEO of a multi-national corporation but has stopped practicing the faith, runs an unethical corporation, or has jumped in and out of numerous relationships and brought children into the world out of wedlock and doesn’t give the care and attention a child needs and deserves from parents, a Catholic educator would look on such a situation as a disappointment. On the other hand, if, say, a student graduates from one of our schools and decides to marry earlier in life rather than later, works responsibly in a blue-collar job, centers their life around their marriage and children, the family remains strong in the practice of the faith and the parents successfully hand on that faith to their children by creating a happy, loving home for them – this is what any Catholic educator should deem a success. The core issue, then, is what counts as true success in life.

SEE ARCHBISHOP, PAGE 12

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

(PHOTO BY RICK DELVECCHIO/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

Archbishop Cordileone addresses high school teachers at the teachers’ annual convocation Feb. 6 at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory.

ARCHBISHOP: ‘Knowledge, Virtue and Holiness’ in Catholic Schools FROM PAGE 11

In the end, our Catholic schools exist to help young people attain holiness in their lives, that is, to become saints. An outstanding career is not a sign of having reached or even drawn near to the goal. Holiness is extraordinary, but it is usually achieved in ordinary circumstances. The first place in which that happens is in the context of one’s vocation. Fidelity and perseverance in one’s vocation is a sign of growth in holiness. We speak of the four traditional vocations in the Church: marriage, priesthood, religious life and single life in the world. But vocation also carries with it the sense of using one’s talents – especially any extraordinary talents that God may have given – for the service of God in the work that one does.

In this sense, one’s career can be part of that vocation, but not simply measured by material success. I’m sure many of you feel your life as a teacher is not simply a profession but a vocation: you cannot be true to yourself if you do not teach, and so you give yourselves generously to your students through sharing your time and talent with them. It places demands on you, it requires sacrifice, and you could be making more money doing something else with your talents, but you experience blessings from God in return that are beyond material measurement. This is also part of what it means to be faithful and persevering in one’s vocation, leading to growth in holiness.

Holiness also stems from participation and service in the life of the Church, which for the vast majority of our people means in their parish. It is in the parish where one is formed in the faith: where one learns evermore the truth of Jesus Christ as it has been handed down and developed in the Church, where one worships and serves with one’s fellow parishioners, where one is sanctified by the grace of the sacraments – all of this, so that parishioners can then go forth and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the various communities in which they interact. So, immersion in the life of a parish is also a sign of growth in holiness.

IV. The Hard Parts

I think we all feel inspired when we hear the noble call from our Church leaders to our Catholic schools to be places where young people can attain their full potential, that they have the mission to help our young people become saints. Of course, our students’ growth in faith happens primarily in their families since – as another principle of Catholic education tells us – parents are the first educators of their children. But Catholic schools also play a central role in our students’ formation in their Catholic identity, and teachers contribute significantly to their students’ growth in their Catholic faith. As inspiring and lofty as this may all sound, though, to respond to this call with integrity requires a lot of heavy lifting, because there are a lot of hard parts involved with it. That is to say, promoting the faith in our contemporary society is difficult primarily because the ambient

The root meaning of the word ‘educate’ is ‘to lead out from.’ That is, a Catholic education draws out all the potential in the whole person of every student, leading the student to true human flourishing and thus becoming the person God has created them to be. culture either explicitly or implicitly promotes secular values that often run counter to Catholic values, or at times do not align well with them. For this reason, in order to live a faithful Catholic life nowadays one needs to be very intentional, even to the point of developing a very deliberate strategy, so as to counteract the impact of secular society on our students.

A. Instilling Virtue

Earlier in this talk I referred to holiness and indicated that holiness occurs within the community of the Church. That is the context. It is only together, as members of the Body of Christ that is the Church under him as our head, that we journey under the light of faith so that, believing, we can see the good that lies beyond this material world and attain it. This is holiness.

In undertaking the examination of the cause of canonization of a proposed saint, the promoters of the cause must prove that the servant of God demonstrated “heroic virtue.” This is the definition of holiness, heroic virtue, that is, a very high standard of consistently acting to realize human goods. Anything involving growth, though, means one starts at a lower level and moves to a higher level. Young people must first acquire a basic level of virtue before they can move on to practice heroic virtue in their lives. In order for our schools to be successful, to fulfill their mission on behalf of the young people they serve, our schools must instill within them a life of virtue.

B. Starting at the Foundation

Our young people need to acquire and master many virtues in order to navigate well the perilous waters of life in the world today. Some virtues are foundational, in the sense that one must acquire them in order to excel in other virtues that build upon them. Such virtues may also be basic in the sense that they are necessary for good Christian living. Loving God and neighbor means one gives to God and others not in order to get things from the Almighty or from one’s kind and generous neighbor, but simply because one loves God or desires the good of another person. Christian giving is giving in order to give, not to get. Giving is how God made us to find happiness, and when we live that way it pleases God. Teenagers, in particular, need constant encouragement to practice such virtues

at home, in school and in their social activities.

I would like to point out, though, two virtues in particular that our schools especially have to focus on, both because they are foundational and because they are virtues which contemporary culture either does not support or outright disparages in a very aggressive way.

1. Humility

The mystics all tell us that the necessary first virtue on the path to holiness is humility. Already we have a huge challenge: it means counteracting the entitlement mentality so prevalent today. Our young people are bombarded with the message that to achieve their dreams they have to believe in themselves. We know, though, that this type of blind promotion of the individual gets students off on the wrong foot. From 4,000 years of saints and scholars reflecting on the truth revealed from God and experiencing the work of God’s grace in their lives, going back to our Jewish ancestors in the faith, we know that to attain true human flourishing one must begin by believing in God. One must also know who one is before God, and to know what God is calling them to do with their life so that they may serve God. Modern society belittles the virtue of humility.

In our entrepreneurial society, especially here in San Francisco, practitioners of humility are “nice guys who finish last.” Correctly understood, however, humility is a virtue based on reality, on the way things are. “Humility” comes from the Latin word “humus,” which means “earth.” Humility means lowliness, as in being close to the earth.

But the earth is the ground upon which we walk, so humility is what grounds us in reality, so that we can walk successfully through the many vicissitudes of life. Humility means that we realistically account for where we are now and where we are going. This is the most startling way in which humility is fundamental. If we lose track of our basic reality or where we are heading, whatever happens down the line may be disastrous, even though in the eyes of the world we may seem to have made great progress materially.

The virtue of humility is a Christian virtue based on the reality of a finite person, made by God in the image and likeness of Infinite Being.

God instills in human nature a desire to seek and respect the basic goals of human existence. Respecting basic human goods means one conforms to norms, objective norms which exist as givens in the created order. This is also referred to as the natural law. According to these norms, certain human goods must always be respected: life, truth, beauty, love, friendship, and others as well. These are general goals for all humans. Particular goals get sorted out in prayer, which is conversation with God. As the young person matures, he or she gains more skills, experiences and insights.

A humble person approaches God in prayer and asks: “Lord, what do you want me to do?” This is the question every young person must ask themSEE ARCHBISHOP, PAGE 13

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

ARCHBISHOP: ‘Knowledge, Virtue and Holiness’ in Catholic Schools In order to live a faithful Catholic life nowadays one needs to be very intentional, even to the point of developing a very deliberate strategy, so as to counteract the impact of secular society on our students.

FROM PAGE 12

selves in order to discern their vocation, and it is incumbent to our Catholic schools to assist them in doing so and in finding the answer.

The reality is that humans are made by God to love, praise and honor Him in this life and be happy with Him in the next. The virtue of humility is the regular disposition and practice by which a person acknowledges his or her true defects and gifts, and in light of those, submits to God’s will and to the good of others for God’s sake. That is, the person accepts the fundamental reality of both imperfection and God inviting the person to use his or her gifts to praise God and serve others.

A saying attributed to St. Augustine is that “humility is the foundation of all other virtues; hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist, there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.” And in her Autobiography, St. Teresa of Avila says “there is more value in a little study of humility and in a single act of it than in all the knowledge in the world” (chap. XV).

Teachers are in the truth business. They impart truth to students, help students to discover the truth, and teach them skills in how to evaluate whether something is true or simply an erroneous view shared by some people. Catholic teaching is that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

This means that the Bible and the truth in Christ are compatible with truth in the sciences and the humanities. This is faith and reason working together, leading one ever more fully into the light of Christ. A Catholic school relies on its teachers to share basic Catholic insights concerning truth with students, in order to accompany their students on the path of discovering, appreciating and appropriating the truth. As all teachers realize, sharing a conviction occurs in two ways: one can verbally state what one’s convictions are or, by one’s actions, one can demonstrate what one’s convictions are.

Because a teacher is in the classroom with his or her students every day, this constant student exposure to the thoughts and convictions of the teachers allows students to figure out, at least in some areas, whether a teacher’s verbal convictions are also reflected in the actions of the teacher. It is the great call of teachers to teach and practice humility in the classroom in the fundamental sense that I have laid out here. As I have portrayed it, the truly humble person has three convictions. It begins with the response Pope Francis gave in the interview published in America magazine when he was asked, “Who is Pope Francis?” True to his Ignatian charism as a Jesuit, he responded, “I am a sinner.”

This is the start, the first conviction. But it is seen in the light of the second conviction, namely that I am made in the image and likeness of God, and therefore I recognize both faults and gifts within me. And third, I strive to fulfill God’s plan for me.

Teachers might reasonably object that, if that is all teachers accomplish in Catholic high schools, it does not yet yield many results for students. True, humility by itself is not enough. However, without helping students practice the virtue of humility, that is, the three convictions I just mentioned, we leave out the most important foundation for all learning. So, humility alone is insufficient, but without it, learning is impossible. And not only learning, but every other human and theological virtue, including the one for which everyone is yearning in the deepest core of their being, and so often search for in the wrong places: love.

The narcissistic obsession with the cult of self we are now witnessing in the culture is, I believe, a symptom of a very deep insecurity and loneliness in our society. People are yearning for love, intimacy and companionship, yet very often fail to attain it. It is clearly true that many people are incapable of, or at least not disposed toward, persevering in a committed relationship in their life.

2. Chastity

Which leads us to the other foundational virtue, the one which more than any other is abhorred by the contemporary culture and so the one where we find the greatest challenge of all to instill: chastity.

While many people do not value humility as a virtue, they will at least respect someone who is humble even if they don’t aspire to emulate the person. When it comes to chastity, though, most people see it as a purely a negative thing, a depri-

(PHOTO BY RICK DELVECCHIO/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

Archbishop Cordileone and a participant at the Feb. 6 convocation for high school teachers speak after the archbishop gave a talk and answered questions at the event at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco. vation, giving up something they intensely desire for no payback at all, nothing more than a suppression of the sexual appetite. Furthermore, if people think of chastity at all, most people think it applies primarily to young people and unmarried people.

In fact, chastity is a virtue for every age and every state in life.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines chastity as “the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being” (n. 2337). Another way to put it is that chastity is the constant disposition to love another person the way that person should be loved, corresponding to the person’s intrinsic human dignity. This takes us far beyond the very superficial understanding of chastity which sees it as simply “no sex outside of marriage.” Certainly observance of this moral norm is absolutely necessary for one to be chaste, but by itself this is insufficient for acquiring the virtue of chastity in all its fullness.

In mentioning the word “sex” a moment ago, I used it in the very colloquial sense so often used today as a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

But I would like to point out here a helpful linguistic point that has been made by an excellent Catholic writer, Anthony Esolen. He recommends that, instead of referring to sexual intercourse in shorthand manner as “sex,” we refer to it as the “marriage act” (I have also heard people refer to it as the “marital embrace”). The marriage act is an accurate statement of what sexual intercourse entails, at the very least from a Christian point of view. It is the complementary and comprehensive union – physical, emotional and spiritual – of two people who are publicly committed to each other for life and desire to raise and love whatever children proceed from their marriage acts.

An advantage of Esolen’s language is that one does not speak of pre-marital sex, precisely because the marriage act is situated in marriage.

Rather, one would have to speak of the marriage act outside of marriage, and this very formula highlights the contradiction. Esolen’s linguistic point underscores the deeper meaning of chastity: the constant disposition to love another person as that person should be loved, which applies equally

to married couples as to those who are not married. The obvious question, though, immediately arises: What is the true meaning of love?

Given the distorted and demeaning answers to this question we find all around us these days, creating enormous confusion in the minds of many people, we have a huge challenge before us.

So when I do confirmations, I sometimes ask the confirmandi precisely this question: What, really, is love? After the usual long, uncomfortable silence as I wait for someone to raise their hand (that even happens when I ask questions that I know they know the answer to!), I answer for them by pointing to a crucifix. When you say, “I love you,” you are saying, “I am willing to give everything for you, to give up all of my selfish habits in order to please you, even to the point of giving up my life for you.”

Love, then, is the giving of oneself to the other for the good of the other. It means respecting and affirming the intrinsic dignity of the other at all times and in every way, and never treating the other as a means to an end, as a way of getting some benefit you are looking for, even unconsciously.

Chastity as genuine love (not merely physical attraction) for another person stresses the person’s willingness to extend oneself to the utmost limits to do things that are for the good of another person. A necessary characteristic to act always with this motivation is that one must be selfless. But one also has to understand that some acts, such as the marriage act, have attractive qualities, but only work for the good of the other person, including the offspring, when they are performed in the context of marriage.

Chastity is also obviously central to the vocation of priesthood and religious life. Also in these cases, candidates for these two vocations have to integrate well their sexuality with their interior life. If this does not occur, the priest, nun or brother will not be able to interact well with other people.

We certainly want to encourage among students vocations to be priests and religious. But most of them will be called to marriage, and marital chastity is equally central to a couple’s happiness and perseverance in their vocation. Our young people will simply not find true, deep happiness in life if they do not acquire the virtue of chastity. I would say, then, that one barometer that could be used for gauging a young person’s prospects for attaining true, deep happiness in life and perseverance and success in their vocation is their capacity for fidelity in marriage, regardless of what their vocation is.

Chastity, then, together with humility (without which chastity – and all other virtues – is impossible) is what enables a person to live beyond a mere superficial, banal existence to one which is other-centered and open to the transcendent; it enables one to look beyond the surface, beyond the physical, to the other’s interior life. And it lives these deep human goods in very concrete ways, in the body.

Fortunately, teachers have many opportunities in the classroom to emphasize the importance of considering the entire person, the sexuality of the person united and integrated into the spiritual and interior life of the individual. Obviously religion, but also in the area of literature, history, biology, modern language, and even the physical sciences, this topic can be addressed from a number of perspectives.

IV. Practical Applications

I have emphasized the importance of the virtues of humility and chastity for two reasons.

First, these are essential for complete human happiness and satisfaction. They are not optional acquisitions, and the earlier students acquire SEE ARCHBISHOP, PAGE 14

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ARCHBISHOP: ‘Knowledge, Virtue and Holiness’ in Catholic Schools It is because of the foundational value of both humility and chastity, and the especially serious challenges we face in teaching these virtues, that they played a role in my decision to clarify what the Catholic archdiocesan high schools stand for.

FROM PAGE 13

these virtues the more effective and satisfied they will be. But the second reason for the emphasis on humility and chastity is that Catholic high schools, with few exceptions, are the only schools that attend to training their students in these virtues. Unlike most other schools, this is part and parcel of what Catholic schools are all about.

This most certainly is not to say that other virtues are unimportant, let alone optional. No, no, no, absolutely not. We need to help our young people grow in all of the virtues: the theological, cardinal, and moral virtues. Humility and chastity are the virtues upon which to build. Some of the other virtues, yes, are esteemed in the secular culture, but without a Christian perspective they can easily become self-serving. Take, for example, the virtue of charity. Yes, of course, it is absolutely essential that our young people graduate from our schools well-formed in the virtue of charity. But they also have to understand what that really means. It is not simply giving some of your extra time, talent or treasure to someone in need, and then go on with your life unchanged. Again, Christians give to give, because that is how God made us to be and that is what pleases God. Charity is love in action, the love of agape. It involves a very human encounter in which both come back changed. Pope Benedict XVI has a wonderful reflection on this in his first Encyclical, “God is Love”: Practical activity will always be insufficient, unless it visibly expresses a love for the human person, a love nourished by an encounter with Christ. My deep personal sharing in the needs and sufferings of others becomes a sharing of my very self with them: if my gift is not to prove a source of humiliation, I must give to others not only something that is my own, but my very self; I must be personally present in my gift [DCE, n. 34].

This is love in action that affirms the dignity of the other as an intrinsic good.

The times we live in pose very drastic challenges to us for teaching all of the virtues properly. The temptation we all feel is to soft-pedal these issues – better not to go there, or at least don’t insist upon it, lest we be judged adversely by others and not “fit in.” But this is a time more than ever that our Catholic schools have to step up to the plate, and be true to what they are called to be – for the good of our young people in this life and in the next.

But these virtues also serve the good of society as a whole. Earlier this week I attended a conference on bioethical issues under the theme of Pope Francis’ theology of accompaniment. One of the speakers was Alana Newman, a young lady who was the product of IVF. She spoke about the personal harm she suffered not knowing who her biological father was – or as he is considered, who her “sperm donor” was – and all that she tried to do to track him down to know her connection to her heritage, how she had self-destructive tendencies and felt that she had no value. She also spoke about the negative consequences to society when fathers become disposable, which, as we know, happens in a whole lot of other ways as well.

In addition to drastically increased

(PHOTO COURTESY MARIN CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL)

Marin Catholic students are pictured at the 2015 Walk for Life West Coast. risk of teen pregnancy and divorce for girls who come from a fatherless home, these are some of the statistics she cited: 90 percent of homeless and runaway youth come from fatherless homes.

90 percent of adolescent repeat arsonists live with only their mother.

80 percent of rapists come from fatherless homes.

75 percent of adolescents in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes.

Lately Pope Francis has also been emphasizing the importance of the role of the father in the family. In his general audience just two days ago, he had this to say: The first need, then, is precisely this: that the father be present in the family. That he be close to his wife, to share everything with her, joys and pains, difficulties and hopes.

And that he be close to his children as they grow up: when they play and when they pursue their interests, when they are careless and when they are distressed, when they talk and when they are quiet, when they are bold and when they are afraid, when they make a mistake and when they recover from it; the father must always be present, always.

It is because of the foundational value of both humility and chastity, and the especially serious challenges we face in teaching these virtues, that they played a role in my decision to clarify what the Catholic archdiocesan high schools stand for.

As you know, I have made proposals to the union to add language in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that clarifies the role of Catholic schools. In a related issue, I have asked the presidents to include in the Faculty Handbook statements that the institution, that is, each archdiocesan high school, affirms and believes. Yes, I have intentionally selected controversial issues, that is, issues on which opinions of many Catholics as well as non-Catholics have changed rather dramatically in recent years in a way that is at variance with Catholic teachings.

These are the ones, then, on which we especially need to make clear that the institutional commitment of the archdiocesan high schools has not changed. In one sense, the

message is simply that the teachings of the Catholic Church be accurately represented in the archdiocesan high schools.

Why is such clarity needed? The main reason is for the students and their parents. Many of our students need instruction in a Catholic plan of life. In addition, because they live in a secular society and are not yet sufficiently mature to critique it in important areas, they suffer from confusion on practical issues in life and society and don’t understand how humility and chastity help them appreciate the teachings of the Church on these practical issues that greatly affect their well-being. By word and example, teachers have to do their best to bring about great clarity. It is also important to see that serious misunderstandings around these issues has caused unspeakable suffering to a whole lot of people.

I reassure you that I have provided adequate protections for teachers in our schools who have different views on a variety of doctrinal and moral issues. I have done this in two ways. First, at the beginning of the insert in the Faculty Handbook in the archdiocesan schools there are two paragraphs that acknowledge three groups of teachers in our archdiocesan schools. Some teachers completely endorse Catholic teachings and strive to live them as best they can with the help of God’s grace. Not all of our Catholic teachers are there, and some do not accept all of the teachings of our Church. Still other teachers are not Catholic and yet make valuable contributions to our schools. Those teachers in a Catholic high school who differ in their private views from Catholic teaching continue to further the mission of the school when they avoid disagreeing with Catholic teaching in the classroom, in extracurricular activities, and in any public way outside the classroom.

Secondly, no teacher is being asked to sign a statement of faith or belief.

No teacher has to change his or her beliefs. The belief statements that will be in the faculty handbooks begin with the phrase “we, the institution, affirm and believe.” The point of these formulations is twofold.

The first reason for the language is to signal to the outside world that,

even as many people change their minds about traditional beliefs, the archdiocesan Catholic schools are still fully Catholic. The institutions still profess these beliefs. And the second reason is to alert teachers to the fact that these affirmations, which are related to hot button topics in secular society and in the Catholic Church, remain the teachings of the Catholic Church. Therefore, teachers in a Catholic school are not allowed to speak against these important beliefs in the school, nor are they allowed to act in a public way contrary to those beliefs, as this would compromise the Catholic mission of the school.

Most teachers in our Catholic schools already behave this way. Inserting the language in the handbook is simply one way to memorialize the professional approach already taken by the teachers in our Catholic high schools.

V. Conclusion

A pithy way to sum up is as follows.

In Catholic schools we teach virtue and truth, and we hold out holiness as the Christian vocation of all students.

The core mission of the Catholic Church is to provide an integrated education to young men and women, that is, knowledge and virtue combined. The connections between the two are provided by Catholic practice and teachings. We believe this is the formula for outstanding schools, and for forming outstanding disciples of Jesus Christ. I am grateful to all of you for contributing to these lofty goals.

I know this can be difficult, I know it involves swimming upstream.

Believe me, I know! There are some moments in life when our loyalties are tested. I would like, then, to leave you with a reflection, a Scripture passage taken from the Gospel of John, which are three excerpts from Jesus’ farewell discourse to his apostles the night before he died. I think these reflections give us much food for thought at this moment of history: This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you [Jn 15:12-13].

If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.

Remember the word I spoke to you, ‘No slave is greater than his master.’

If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours [Jn 15:18-20].

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid [Jn 14:27].

OPINION 15

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Wealth gap obscene CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

Responding to editors’ requests for a regular sampling of current commentary from around the Catholic press, here is an unsigned editorial titled “Wealth gap obscene” from the Jan. 22 issue of The Catholic Register, the Toronto-based national Catholic Canadian newspaper.

Despite the economic downturn of recent years, bank accounts of the world’s billionaires have grown deliberately fatter as the financial canyon between rich and poor has widened. It has reached a point that by 2016 the world’s richest one percent could own more than half the planet’s wealth.

That startling prediction – that the combined wealth of 99 percent of the world’s population won’t even equal that of the top 1 percent – was issued Jan. 18 in a report by Oxfam on the eve of the annual summit of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The international charity reports that since 2008, as the overall world economy has lagged, the obscenely wealthy have increased their slice of the global economic pie from 44 percent to almost 50 percent.

The report was released as Pope Francis was concluding a successful trip to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in which the theme of poverty was prominent. Before ending his tour with a Mass in Manila that attracted an astounding 6 million people – probably the largest single assembly of people in human history – he underlined the need to “hear the voice of the poor” as “it bids us to break the bonds of injustice” and “scandalous social inequities.”

“The poor are the center of the Gospel,” he said.

Yet the gap between the poor and the rich is ever widening. The pope frequently laments that our material society ignores the plight of the poor, while the pursuit of a universal common good is barely an afterthought for those who control money and political power. This mindset must change. As the pope put it, business and political leaders must recognize their “precise responsibility” toward the most vulnerable

N

umerous groups and individuals today are challenging us in regards to our relationship to mother earth. From Greenpeace, from various environmental groups, from various Christian and other religious groups, and from various individual voices, comes the challenge to be less blind, less unthinking, and less reckless in terms of how we relate to the earth. Every day our newscasts point out how, without much in the way of serious reflection, we are polluting the planet, strip-mining its resources, FATHER RON creating mega-landfills, ROLHEISER pouring carbon dangerously into the atmosphere, causing the disappearance of thousands of species, creating bad air and bad water, and thinning the ozone layer. And so the cry goes out: live more simply, use fewer resources, lessen your carbon footprint, and try to recycle whatever you’ve used as much as you can.

That challenge, of course, is very good and very important. The air we breathe out is the air we will eventually inhale and so we need to be very careful about what we exhale. This planet is our home and we need to ensure that, long-term, it can provide us with the sustenance and comfort of a home.

But, true as this is, there’s still another, very important reason why we need to treat mother earth with more caution and respect: Christ himself. Christ is vitally bound up with nature and his reasons for coming to earth also include the intention of redeeming the physical universe. What’s implied here?

(CNS PHOTO/L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO VIA REUTERS)

Pope Francis is pictured with youths at a home for former street children in Manila, Philippines, Jan. 16. At a Mass in Manila before ending his January trip to the Philippines and Sri Lanka, the pope underlined the need to “hear the voice of the poor” as “it bids us to break the bonds of injustice” and “scandalous social inequities.” members of society. He quite correctly states that the poor “ought to shape every political and economic decision.”

Sadly, the opposite is too often the case. The poor are infrequently considered and the gap between the haves and have-nots is ever growing. In the past five years, the world’s 80 richest people doubled their wealth. At the same time, more than a billion people subsist on less than $1.50 per day and 800,000 of them are undernourished.

The level of inequality is in itself scandalous.

What makes it worse is the degree to which many

business magnates hoard wealth, acquire influence and maneuver governments into tax and economic policies detrimental to others, particularly the poor.

But wealth itself is not the problem. Society requires the spark of entrepreneurial initiative, intellect and toil to prosper. The problem is when accumulating wealth becomes an end in itself instead of a means to do good.

In the words of Pope Francis, society’s leaders should ensure humanity is served by wealth, not ruled by it.

Christ and nature Let me begin with an anecdote which captures, in essence, what’s at stake: The scientist-theologian, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, in conversation with a Vatican official who was confused by his writings and doctrinally suspicious of them, was once asked: “What are you trying to do in your writings?” Teilhard’s response: “I am trying to write a Christology that is wide enough to incorporate the full Christ because Christ is not just an anthropological event but he is also a cosmic phenomenon.” Simply translated, he is saying that Christ didn’t just come to save people, he came for that yes, but he also came to save the planet, of which people are only one part.

In saying that, Teilhard has solid scriptural backing. Looking at the scriptures we find that they affirm that Christ didn’t just come to save people, he came to save the world. For example, the Epistle to the Colossians (1, 15-20) records an ancient Christian hymn which affirms both that Christ was already a vital force inside the original creation (“that all things were made through him”) and that Christ is also the end point to of all history, human and cosmic. The Epistle to the Ephesians, also recording an ancient Christian hymn, (1, 3-10) makes the same point; while the Epistle to the Romans (8,19-22) is even more explicit in affirming that physical creation, mother-earth and our physical universe, are “groaning” as they too wait for redemption by Christ. Among other things, these texts affirm that the physical world is part of God’s plan for eventual heavenly life.

What’s contained in that, if we tease out its implications? A number of very clear principles: First, nature, not just humanity, is being redeemed by Christ. The world is not just a stage upon which human history plays out; it has intrinsic meaning and value beyond what it means for us as humans. Physical nature is, in effect,

brother and sister with us in the journey towards the divinely-intended end of history. Christ also came to redeem the earth, not just those of us who are living on it. Physical creation too will enter in the final synthesis of history, that is, heaven.

Second, this means that nature has intrinsic rights, not just the rights we find convenient to accord it. What this means is that defacing or abusing nature is not just a legal and environmental issue, it’s a moral issue. We are violating someone’s (something’s) intrinsic rights. Thus when we, mindlessly, throw a coke-can into a ditch we are not just breaking a law we are also, at some deep level, defacing Christ. We need to respect nature, not, first of all, so that it doesn’t recoil on us and give us back our own asphyxiating pollution, but because it, akin to humanity, has its own rights. A teaching too rarely affirmed.

Finally, not least, what is implied in understanding the cosmic dimension of Christ and what that means in terms of our relationship to mother-earth and the universe is the non-negotiable fact that the quest for community and consummation within God’s Kingdom (our journey towards heaven) is a quest that calls us not just to a proper relationship with God and with each other, but also to a proper relationship with physical creation.

We are humans with bodies living on the earth, not disembodied angels living in heaven, and Christ came to save our bodies along with our souls; and he came, as well, to save the physical ground upon which we walk since he was the very pattern upon which and through which the physical world was created.

OBLATE FATHER ROLHEISER is president of the Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas.

16 OPINION

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

God calls each person and every nation to repent

“T

he kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

With these two compelling sentences – as recorded in the Gospel of Mark – Jesus inaugurates his ministry and sums up what his mission is about: to break the shackles of sin that enslave humanity, to put us on the TONY MAGLIANO path of liberation from all oppression, and to teach us how to unconditionally love one another .

But what does it mean to repent?

Striving to avoid sin and living virtuously is certainly part of what it means. But there’s more.

In the Gospels the biblical word used for repentance is the Greek word “metanoia” – a radical change of mind, heart, soul and action. It happens when one changes course and turns around to walk in the right direction. Metanoia means a lifechanging conversion. That’s what Jesus is calling us to when he says “repent.”

Think of some of the great saints who deeply repented, who truly experienced a metanoia.

St. Paul did a complete about face.

He went from persecuting the follow-

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PRAY FAST GIVE

(CNS GRAPHIC/NANCY WIECHEC)

The three traditional pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. In the Latin-rite church, Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18 this year. ers of Christ, to championing their cause and suffering with them.

St. Augustine of Hippo turned from fleeting unmarried sexual pleasure and unsatisfying philosophical pursuits to a totally fulfilling surrender to the will of God. In his famous autobiographical “Confessions” he sums it all up so well: “You [God] have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

When we allow our heart to rest in God, we become a new creation, fully dedicated to advancing his kingdom.

But this takes humility, honesty, much prayer and hard work. Not for the faint-hearted.

The respected English writer and

theologian G.K. Chesterton wrote, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”

And making it even more difficult, a life dedicated to listening to the Holy Spirit concerns itself not only with personal repentance/metanoia, but also with the conversion of the nation.

Sharing the good news that God desires to save all people from sin and all other forms of oppression, necessarily includes striving to dismantle what St. Pope John Paul called the “structures of sin.”

And sadly, “structures of sin” abound in every nation.

From the murder of unborn babies through legalized abortion, to the killing of the sick through assisted suicide, to the woefully inadequate response to poverty and hunger suffered by brothers and sisters throughout the world, to the insanity of war, to the state-sanctioned murder of the death penalty and to environmental degradation nations need to repent, change course, and begin walking in the right direction.

Lent is that solemn time of the year when the church invites us to examine our conscience and honestly admit where we have sinned individually and as a nation.

Since Jesus has assured us that with God all things are possible, let us confidently take our petitions to him trusting that a far better world can be built with loving hearts and hands.

Let us pray: – God of life, inspire us to protect all human life from its beginning at conception to its earthly end at natural death.

– God of justice, inspire us to fairly share with all people the resources necessary to adequately sustain life with dignity.

– God of creation, inspire us to be good stewards of your wonderful world.

– God of peace, inspire us to finally put an end to war. Amen.

MAGLIANO is an internationally syndicated social justice and peace columnist.

Ukraine: Disinformation and confusion

wo recent interviews in the National Catholic Register suggest that there’s considerable confusion about what’s what in Ukraine.

Those confusions reflect the success of the extraordinary Russian disinformation campaign that’s been underway for the past 15 months. They may also touch on the delicate GEORGE WEIGEL but important question of Russia’s attempts to buy influence in the West under the guise of the Putin regime’s alleged “pro-family” policies.

In any case, these confusions are an obstacle to Catholic efforts to promote freedom and justice in a country that has suffered terribly for generations and now finds itself fighting for its very life. So it’s important to get things straight. Let me quote the confusions (in italics) before providing the clarification.

“There’s a lack of verifiable data: ‘The real situation is not very well known (said Msgr. Duarte da Cunha, secretary general of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences).

Why is there a conflict if no one wants a conflict? Who is behind those who want the separation of the Ukrainian territory?’”

The situation is, in fact, entirely well known; it has been documented by international monitors and intrepid journalists; and there should be no confusion about the causes of the conflict: Russia has invaded Ukraine and is supporting “separatists” who are agents of Vladimir Putin’s imperial

(CNS PHOTO/GLEB GARANICH, REUTERS)

Ukrainian armed forces ride on armored personnel carriers near Debaltseve, Ukraine, Feb. 12. reconstruction project. Putin trampled on international law by unilaterally annexing Crimea. His special forces and the local gangsters they support are doing exactly the same thing in southern and eastern Ukraine. Russia is “behind” the “separatists,” and everyone with eyes to see knows it. “’… the Church is very prudent. We understand the importance of Russia for Europe. The fight should not be between Russia and Europe…’ (Msgr.

Duarte da Cunha, again).”

The primary “importance of Russia” for Europe today involves Russian oil and natural gas—resources that Putin’s regime uses as weapons to buttress its aggression. A KGB man to the core, Putin is running a mafiastate atop a crumbling civil society; the oligarchs he has enriched at home are

trying to buy European politicians and European non-governmental organizations, including pro-life organizations, as part of the regime’s disinformation campaign; and the Russian Orthodox Church leadership has been, sadly, a participant in Moscow’s disinformation campaigns. Those are the salient facts about Russia-and-Europe, and Russia-and-the-Church, at the moment. Prudence is a cardinal virtue, to be sure; confusing prudence with gullibility and fecklessness in the face of aggression is not an exercise of virtue. “’Even though it seems clear that Ukraine is not able to get out of the situation alone, no solution can come from outside, not from Russia or the U.S. or the E.U. It has to be their own’ (Msgr. Duarte da Cunha, yet again).”

Imagine saying this about France,

the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland or Czechoslovakia in 1941. Like those countries then, Ukraine today has been invaded by an aggressor; the aggressor is murdering Ukrainians; and Ukraine has asked for help. The “solution” requires solidarity with the country under attack (including providing Ukraine with the means of self-defense) and effective pressure on the aggressor. That support and that pressure can only come from the United States and the E.U.; it isn’t coming from extraterrestrials. “’I know there are some Catholics who believe … that the Orthodox faith is a nationalist faith … merely a form of national identity … But this position does not take into account the sanctity of Christian life in so many families and so many individuals in Russia’ (Robert Moynihan, editor of Inside the Vatican).”

Rubbish. It’s entirely possible to honor the noble and living tradition of Russian Orthodoxy spirituality and recognize that Russian Orthodoxy’s leadership today functions as a Kremlin mouthpiece in matters Ukrainian, even as it lies about the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s role in the current crisis and betrays its ecumenical commitments in doing so.

In sum: The notion that Putin’s Russia can be a genuine partner in international pro-life and pro-family work is a snare and a delusion, given the murderous character of Putin’s regime. There can be no serious ecumenical dialogue with clerical agents of Russian state power.

Period.

Full stop.

WEIGEL is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C.

FAITH 17

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

SUNDAY READINGS

First Sunday of Lent

After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: ‘This is the time of fulfillment.

The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’

MARK 1:12-15 GENESIS 9:8-15 God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark. I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.” God added: “This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I

will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.”

PSALM 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.

Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.

Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.

Remember that your compassion, O Lord, and your love are from of old. In your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O Lord.

Your ways, O Lord, are love

and truth to those who keep your covenant.

Good and upright is the Lord, thus he shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, and he teaches the humble his way.

Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.

1 PETER 3:18-22 Beloved: Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons,

eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.

MARK 1:12-15 The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan.

He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

What is the Gospel of God?

T

his First Sunday of Lent opens with Mark’s very short reference to the Spirit impelling Jesus to go out into in the wilderness for 40 days where he was “tempted

by Satan.”

Mark is terse.

He suggests, rather than narrates, a transitional time in Jesus’ adult life when he left the city with its crowds of people for an extended time.

In Matthew SISTER ELOISE Luke, ROSENBLATT, RSM and Jesus feels vulnerable, wrestles with specific desires that were alien to his mission, recovers his strength and defines his purpose.

In Mark, Jesus took a long break from his regular life and work, his family and neighbors. He left behind his house with its flat roof, the noise of the town’s marketplace, with its sellers of squash, grapes, dried figs, fragrant sage, cinnamon and piles of multicolored beans. He

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION

We imagine Jesus camping in the open fields, where no domesticated animals were grazing – no sheep, goats, guard dogs, or shepherds. He purposely let himself feel the chill, the heat, the wind, the clouds, the morning mist. He gazed at stars.

What animals did he notice? bypassed noisy games of children yelling at each other and women’s chatter while hanging their wash.

He trekked toward the deserted low hills, letting subside the bustle, beyond the flocks of goats with bells ringing round their necks, and braying of donkeys hitched to carts.

“He was among the wild beasts.”

We imagine Jesus camping in the open fields, where no domesticated animals were grazing – no sheep, goats, guard dogs, or shepherds. He purposely let himself feel the chill, the heat, the wind, the clouds, the morning mist. He gazed at stars.

What animals did he notice? Foxes stalking prey and burrowing into dens, sparrows building nests, hawks circling silently against a blue sky, brown-eared rabbits with furtive, irregular hops, snakes slithering through the grass, cougars slinking by in late afternoon, hyenas howling at night. Mark says

Jesus spent a long time close to nature, out in the wild. He made this ground, this grass, this earth, all its creatures, his home. When he saw a rainbow in the clouds, he recalled the words of Genesis he knew from the synagogue, that this was a sign of God’s eternal covenant with the earth and all living beings.

“Angels ministered to him”– Jesus survived this long period of isolation without a visible system of human support. How did he get food and water? For Mark it is enough to say that Jesus was tempted by Satan, God’s antagonist.

He went through a spiritual ordeal.

But he also experienced God’s care and support. He felt himself a messenger of God’s covenant.

A family tragedy marks the end of Jesus’ retreat. John the Baptist, his cousin, was arrested by King Herod. This brought an ominous end to John’s preaching and baptizing. It must have taken courage for

LITURGICAL CALENDAR, DAILY MASS READINGS MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23: Monday of the First Week of Lent. Memorial of St. Polycarp of Smyrna, bishop and martyr. LV 19:1-2, 11-18. PS 19:8, 9, 10, 15. 2 COR 6:2b. MT 25:31-46.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26: Thursday of the First Week in Lent. EST C:12, 14-16, 23-25. PS 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8. PS 51:12a, 14a. MT 7:7-12.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24: Tuesday of the First Week of Lent. IS 55:10-11. PS 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 1819. MT 4:4b. MT 6:7-15.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27: Friday of the First Week of Lent. EZ 18:21-28. PS 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-7a, 7bc-8. EZ 18:31. MT 5:20-26.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25: Wednesday of the First Week in Lent. JON 3:1-10. PS 51:3-4, 12-13, 1819. JL 2:12-13. LK 11:29-32.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28: Saturday of the First Week of Lent. DT 26:16-19. PS 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8. 2 COR 6:2b. MT 5:43-48.

Jesus to step into the place of John, and take up his message, the “gospel of God.” We think of “gospel” as the evangelists’ preaching about Jesus – the story of his birth, ministry, death and resurrection. But in Mark, Jesus starts his ministry by adopting the message of John the Baptist: “This is the time of fulfillment.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus preached to Jews who felt discouraged and depressed at Roman occupation. They felt distanced and abandoned by God. So the phrase “this is the time of fulfillment” was a summons to live in hope, not despair, to let their minds be changed. The mission of Jesus to his own neighbors was to revive in them a consciousness of God as their loving creator. If the kingdom is “at hand” that means that God’s covenant is so close, you can breathe it, like air. “Repent and believe” is a summons to regret that even for a moment, you ever forgot the “gospel of God,” the divine cherishing of you, which sustains you and all living things.

MERCY SISTER ELOISE ROSENBLATT is a Ph.D. theologian and an attorney in private practice in areas of family law and wills and trusts. She lives in San Jose.

OSWALD OF WORCESTER died 992 February 28 Descended from a Danish military family, Oswald was educated by an uncle who was the archbishop of Canterbury, in England. After continuing his studies and becoming a Benedictine in France, he returned to England and was named bishop of Worcester in 961. He founded monasteries, promoted scholarship, established a great musical tradition in Worcester, replaced secular canons with monks, and also administered the Diocese of York from 972 until his death.

18 FROM THE FRONT

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

POPE: Holy Father urges cardinals to go in search of the lost, bring them in FROM PAGE 1

currents, and of all misery,” he said in an outline of the 2013 talk that was released after his election.

Even Pope Francis’ choice of new cardinals emphasized his focus on geographical peripheries and outreach to those often excluded from society. The 20 new cardinals came from 18 countries, including the first-ever cardinals from Tonga, Myanmar and Cape Verde. In his second round of naming cardinals, he once again skipped large Italian dioceses usually headed by cardinals – notably Venice and Turin – and tapped Ancona and Agrigento, which is led by now-Cardinal Francesco Montenegro, a dedicated defender of the thousands of immigrants who risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

In the almost two years since his election, Pope Francis repeatedly has called Catholics to reach out to people on the margins of both the church and society. He also frequently cautions against the temptation of being modern-day scribes and Pharisees, who can allow obedience to the letter of the law to prevent them from reaching out to others with compassion.

The Sunday Gospel reading was St. Mark’s version of Jesus touching a leper – which was forbidden by Jewish law – healing him and, in that way, allowing him back into the community.

The purpose of the law against touching someone with leprosy and forcing them to live outside the community “was to safeguard the healthy, to protect the righteous,” the pope said.

“Jesus, the new Moses, wanted to heal the leper,” the pope said. “He wanted to touch him and restore him to the community without being ‘hemmed in’ by prejudice, conformity to the prevailing mindset or worry about becoming infected.”

What is more, the pope said, “Jesus responds immediately to the leper’s plea, without waiting to study the situation and all its possible consequences.”

“For Jesus, what matters above all is reaching out to save those far off, healing the wounds of the sick,

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New French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, prefect of the Apostolic Signature, and new Cardinal Soane Mafi of Tonga exchange greetings after they were made cardinals by Pope Francis during a consistory in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Feb. 14. The pope created 20 new cardinals.

Pope Francis’ choice of new cardinals emphasized his focus on geographical peripheries and outreach to those often excluded from society. The 20 new cardinals came from 18 countries, including the first-ever cardinals from Tonga, Myanmar and Cape Verde. restoring everyone to God’s family,” he said. “This is scandalous to some people.”

But Jesus, he said, “does not think of the closedminded who are scandalized even by a work of healing, scandalized before any kind of openness, by any action outside of their mental and spiritual boxes, by any caress or sign of tenderness which does not fit into their usual thinking and their ritual purity.”

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Pope Francis said there are two basic tendencies in the life of faith: being afraid of losing the saved, or wanting to save the lost. The church’s way, he said, “has always been the way of Jesus, the way of mercy and reinstatement.”

Going out in search of the lost, he told the cardinals, “does not mean underestimating the dangers of letting wolves into the fold,” but it does mean “rolling up our sleeves and not standing by and watching passively the suffering of the world.”

“The way of the church is not to condemn anyone for eternity,” he said, but “to pour out the balm of God’s mercy on all those who ask for it with a sincere heart.”

SCRIPTURE SEARCH Gospel for February 22, 2015 1 Peter 3:18-22 and Mark 1:12-15

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20 ARTS & LIFE

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Spiritual memoir traces academic’s path from atheist to Catholic REVIEWED BY NANCY L. ROBERTS CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

“NOT GOD’S TYPE: AN ATHEIST ACADEMIC LAYS DOWN HER ARMS” BY HOLLY ORDWAY. Ignatius Press (San Francisco, 2014). 186 pp., hardcover, $19.95.

Holly Ordway, author of “Not God’s Type,” was a well-educated English professor who dismissed belief in God as so much superstition. While her family was not hostile toward religion and even adopted some cultural Christian practices such as playing Christmas carols, as a child she neither opened the Bible nor attended church.

She remembers reading C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia” and J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” both of which made a deep impression on her. But she “completely missed” the novels’ Christian themes.

By early adulthood, she was comfortably ensconced in what she describes as a “fortress of atheism.” She writes, “I held that I was the product of blind chance working over millions of years, a member of a species that happened to be more intelligent than other mammals but was not unique.”

Nor did she believe that human be-

ings have souls.

“I thought that when I died, my consciousness would simply switch off, and that the only mortality in store for me was that of my body decaying and returning its constituent atoms for other living beings to use; sometimes I even thought that was a beautiful and consoling prospect.”

Still, her recounting of her earlier years as an atheist underscores the inherent darkness of this perspective.

Above all, Ordway felt she was not God’s type. But in college something stirred when she began to study English literature and the great Christian poets such as T.S. Eliot, Jesuit Father Gerard Manley Hopkins, John Donne and the Rev. George Herbert, an Anglican priest. Later, for her doctoral thesis in English literature at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, she focused on Tolkien.

Ironically, even though she was still an atheist who had rejected the possibility of any rational explanation for faith, God was reaching her, she says,

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through her imagination. Little by little, over the course of years, tiny seeds were planted that began to sprout.

For instance, when she took a job as an English professor in California and started teaching her students about Father Hopkins and other Christian poets, she was struck anew by how deeply meaningful this literature was.

No longer could she dismiss the poets’ central beliefs as mere superstition or ignorance; she felt compelled to explore their basis. With encouragement from her fencing coach, a deeply committed Christian, Ordway applied her considerable intellectual gifts to researching the origin of Christian faith.

Her memoir, an expansion of her 2010 first edition, is a richly detailed, beautifully written account of the spiritual journey that compelled her to choose Christianity, and then, a few years later, Catholicism. It is an honest and moving conversion narrative that underscores the pivotal role of great Christian literature in defeating Ordway’s staunch atheism. It is the story, as she puts it, of “the importance of imagination as both the catalyst and the foundation of my rational exploration of the faith.”

Reading authors such as Father Hopkins, G.K. Chesterton and Lewis (especially his classics “Mere Christianity” and “Surprised by Joy”) tipped the balance for Ordway. These and other texts, such as Gary Habermas’ “The Risen Jesus & Future Hope” and retired Anglican Bishop N.T. Wright’s scholarly tome, “The Resurrection of the Son of God,” propelled her to undertake an exploration of the rational, historical claims of Christianity,

including the Resurrection. What she discovered led her to embrace Christianity unequivocally.

When her Christian coach urged her to go to church and seek baptism, Ordway at first resisted. “The prospect of going to church was distinctly unappealing,” she confides. “As for baptism, I had only the vaguest idea of what that might entail, but I feared the worst. It almost certainly involved getting publicly fussed over in front of a large group of strangers; the whole thing would probably be kitschy and embarrassing.”

Ultimately, Ordway recognized that she had indeed converted to Lewis’ “mere Christianity”; but she “could not stay there, reading the Bible in a corner by myself.” She now felt drawn to choose one of the many rooms that, as Lewis explains, open out from the main “hallway” of Christianity – such as Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist and so on.

After participating meaningfully in evangelical Protestant and Anglican worship, she was eventually drawn to Catholicism for many reasons, including its scriptural and doctrinal truth and its fit with her own theological conservatism. Quite to her surprise, she writes, “being Catholic has proved to be far more than an ecclesiological or doctrinal commitment. It is, rather, a voyage of discovery involving my whole person: spiritual, physical emotional, intellectual.”

ROBERTS directs the journalism program at the State University of New York at Albany and is the author of “Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker” and other books.

21

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

SATURDAY, FEB. 21 ROSARY: Knights of St. Francis Holy Rosary Sodality meets Saturdays for the rosary at 2:30 p.m. in the Porziuncola Nuova, Vallejo Street at Columbus Avenue, San Francisco. Chaplet of Divine Mercy is prayed at 3 p.m. All are welcome; www.knightsofsaintfrancis. com.

HANDICAPABLES MASS: The first 50 years of this good work continues to be celebrated throughout 2015 with monthly Mass and lunch at noon in lower halls of St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough Street at Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, Gough Street entrance. All disabled people and their caregivers are invited. Volunteers are always welcome to assist in this cherished tradition. Joanne Borodin, (415) 239-4865.

ART EXHIBIT: “Reformations: Dürer and the New Age of Print” through Feb. 22 noon to 6 p.m. daily, Thacher Gallery in Gleeson Library – Geschke Center, Golden Gate Avenue and Parker Avenue on USF campus; (415) 4225178; www.usfca.edu/library/thacher; admission free. This is a collaborative, student-curated exhibition on the earliest moments of print and printed book culture in Europe concentrating on the impact of new print technologies and their uses in and around Nuremberg, Germany in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

YOUNG ADULT PRAYER: Young Adult Lenten Day of Prayer: Conversion—a Lifelong Journey, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. for women and men ages 18-40 at the Dominican Sisters of MSJ Motherhouse, 43326 Mission Blvd. Fremont;

registration fee: $20 for lunch, refreshments and materials; facilitators: Sister Ingrid Clemmensen and Young Adult Retreat Team; day will include prayer, reflection, sharing, listening to God in Scripture; Register on-line at www. msjdominicans.org or www.bit.ly/YAretreat.org; (510) 933-6335.

ASTRONOMER TALK: Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, 3 p.m., Community School of Music and Arts, 230 San Antonio Circle, Mountain View, sponsored by the Thomas Merton Center of Palo Alto; no fee to attend. Limited parking is available at the site and its vicinity; visit www.arts4all.org; Kay Williams, (650) 270-4188, kaywill@pacbell.net.

‘40 DAYS FOR LIFE’: 40 days of prayer to end abortion throughout Lent, 1650 Valencia St., San Francisco, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. every day. Ron Hunt, sf40daysforlife@gmail.com; (408) 840DAYS.

SUNDAY, FEB. 22 ORGAN CONCERT: Father Paul Perry plays compositions of Mozart, Grieg, Elgar and others, St. Sebastian Church, Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and Bon Air Road, Greenbrae, 12:30 p.m. Admission is free.

FORGIVENESS SUNDAY: Our Lady of Fatima Russian Byzantine Catholic Church, 23rd Avenue at Geary next to St. Monica Church, San Francisco, begins Great Lent in the Byzantine Rite with Divine Liturgy at 10 a.m., an Agape meal at noon to which everyone is welcome and vespers at 2:30 p.m.

Visit: www.byzantinecatholic.org; (415) 752-2052, OLFatimaSF@gmail.com, www.byzantinecatholic.org.

FAITH FORMATION: “Sunday Morning Conversations with the Jesuits and Their Lay Partners,” St. Ignatius Church, Fromm Hall, Parker and Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, 10:50-11:45 a.m. Free and open to the public. Free parking in all USF lots.

Dan Faloon, (415) 422-2195; faloon@ usfca.edu; Jesuit Father John Coleman, jacoleman@usfca.edu. Feb. 22: “The European social market economy in light of the experience of Catholic Social Thought?” with Jesuit Father Frank Turner; http://www.stignatiuscff. org/adult-faith-formation/.

MONDAY, FEB. 23 GRIEF SUPPORT: St. Pius Grief Ministry is offering a facilitated nine-week support group session, Feb. 23-April 20, 7 p.m., St. Pius Parish Center, 1100 Woodside Road at Valota, Redwood City. If you are in the early stages of your loss or have not previously attended a grief support group, this program may benefit you; (650) 3610655; griefministry@pius.org. Walk-ins are welcome.

TUESDAY, FEB. 24 DON BOSCO: Don Bosco Study Group meets 7 p.m., Parish Center, Sts. Peter and Paul Church, 666 Filbert St. across from Washington Square Park, San Francisco. We will continue to hear an histori-

DIGNITY OF LIFE: Ed Hopfner, director of Marriage and Family Life, Archdiocese of San Francisco, speaks on the dignity of each person and today’s family, 7 p.m., St. Peter Church, 700 Oddstad Blvd., Pacifica; (650) 359-6313.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25 MARRIAGE SERIES: Marriage Challenge, inspirational talks for couples talks through March 27 at sites throughout archdiocese, 7-9 p.m., freewill offering, www.marriageonfire.info. Ed Hopfner, HopfnerE@SFArchdiocese.org.

GRIEF SUPPORT: Free monthly grief support, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough Street at Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, third Wednesday of each month, 10:30- noon, Msgr. Bowe Room, on west side of parking lot level of the cathedral. Sessions provide information on grief process, and tips on coping with loss of a loved one. Deacon Christoph Sandoval leads the group. Mercy Sister Esther, (415) 567-2020, ext. 218.

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LENTEN TALKS: St. Stephen Parish, Donworth Hall, 401 Eucalyptus Drive next to Stonestown YMCA, soup supper and talk, Feb. 24, March 3, 10 with Taize prayer service March 17, 6:30 p.m., Franciscan Brother Michael Minton speaks on the season and Islam, the religion.

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

FRIDAY, FEB. 27 EVENING PRAYER: Sisters of Mercy invite women to four Fridays of evening prayer and conversations about vocation, 7:30 p.m., Mercy Center, 2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, Mercy Chapel: Feb. 27, Serving with Jesus; March 27, Remaining with Jesus; April 24,Walking Joyfully in the Spirit. RSVP to Mercy Sister Jean Evans, (650) 373-4508; Jevans@ mercywmw.org.

SATURDAY, FEB. 28 CRAB BASH: Crab bash benefiting St. Anthony-Immaculate Conception School, 299 Precita Ave., San Francisco, 6-9 p.m., $50 by Jan. 30, $55 by Feb. 13, $60 at door includes dinner, one glass wine or beer and raffle ticket; on-site parking. Evening includes cracked crab dinner, music, dancing, raffle, silent and live auctions. Constance Dalton, cdalton@ saicsf.org, (415) 642-6130.

THURSDAY, MARCH 5 ART SALE: “Celebrate Heart,” St. Anne’s Home, 300 Lake St., San Francisco, 6 p.m. featuring the sale of paintings by Susan Schneider and other Bay Area artists. Tickets $125 with proceeds benefiting work of the Little Sisters of the Poor. www. littlesistersofthepoorsf.org.

FRIDAY, MARCH 6 FIRST FRIDAY: Contemplatives of St. Joseph offer Mass at Mater Dolorosa Church, 307 Willow Ave., South San Francisco, 7 p.m. followed by healing service and personal blessing with St. Joseph oil from Oratory of St. Joseph, Montreal.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25 PRIORY TALKS: “God, Grace of the World,” with Benedictine Brother Ivan Nicoletto. In a world in which humanity can create and destroy life, what grace may God have for our lives and our commuBrother Ivan nities? 7-9 p.m., Nicoletto Woodside Priory School, 302 Portola Road, Portola Valley, Founders Hall, admission is free, refreshments provided, Carrie Rehak, crehak@prioryca.org, (650) 851-8221. www.prioryca.org/life/ campus-spiritual-life/insight-speakers-series/.

THURSDAY, FEB. 26 ICA LUNCH: Celebrating Women in Business, a lunch and program hosted by Immaculate Conception Academy, San Francisco, Julia Morgan Ballroom, Merchants Exchange Building, 465 California Luanne Tierney St., San Francis-

TAIZE: All are welcome to Taizé prayer around the cross, Mercy Center, 2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, 8 p.m. Taizé prayer has been sung on first Fridays at Mercy Center with Mercy Sister Suzanne Toolan since 1983. (650) 340-7452.

2-DAY RUMMAGE SALE: Church of the Visitacion, 701 Sunnydale at Rutland, San Francisco; Friday 9

co, 11:30 a.m., $75. Carol Squires Brandi and Luanne Tierney are the day’s honorees. Brandi is a native San Franciscan, holds a graduate degree in filmmaking from San Francisco State University and has worked for Lucas Films.

Tierney is a branding expert. She has been featured in the Wall Street Journal for her leadership strategies. Celine Curran, (415) 824-2052, ext. 32; ccurran@ icacademy.org.

SATURDAY, MARCH 14 FESTIVAL MASS: Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone is principal celebrant and homilist for Northern California Choral Festival Mass, 5:30 p.m., St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough Street Archbishop at Geary BouleSalvatore J. vard, San FranCordileone cisco. Student singers from the Archdiocese of San Francisco and around the Bay Area lead song under the direction of Richard Robbins of the music faculty at University of Wisconsin-Superior.

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CEMETERY MASS: Holy Cross Cemetery, 1500 Old Mission Road, Colma, All Saints Mausoleum, 11 a.m., Father Tony LaTorre, pastor, St. Philip Parish, San Francisco, principal celebrant and homilist. (650) 756-2060, www.holycrosscemeteries. com.

UNITED FOR LIFE: United for Life dinner, Irish Cultural Center, 45th Avenue at Sloat Boulevard, San Francisco, 5:30 p.m. Guest Dana Cody of the Life Legal Foundation speaks on euthanasia. (415) 5672293. Please make your reservations

by Feb. 28.

NURSES: Join the National Association of Catholic Nurses and become a part of the Catholic nurses’ voice. Acquaint yourself with the organization at a “Meet & Greet” event 10-noon, Alma Via Retirement Center, One Thomas More Drive, San Francisco.Vicki Evans, respect life coordinator for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, is guest speaker.

Mary Ann Haeuser, (415) 454-0979, haeuser@comcast.net; www.naacnusa.org.

SUNDAY, MARCH 8 HOLOCAUST PLAY: “Etty,” an internationally acclaimed play of a young woman’s struggle to sustain humanity in the face of the brutality of the Holocaust, 3 p.m., Mercy High School, San Francisco, with overview from Holocaust survivor Jacob Boas. Reception follows in theatre lobby. Free admission. Please RSVP

by March 2 tabney@mercyhs.org, www.mercyhs.org; (415) 334-7941.

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

A Ministry of the Archdiocese of San Francisco

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