May 9, 2014

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MISSION TRIP:

MARY’S MONTH:

K-8 students spend Holy Week working in Nicaraguan town

Celebrating a woman who ‘rode the waves of motherhood’

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‘BOXERS & SAINTS’: Novel depicts faith, rebellion in China

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco

www.catholic-sf.org

MAY 9, 2014

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Marriage, family reports top June bishops meeting CAROL ZIMMERMANN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

Mothers thanking others Mother’s Day is May 11 and women including moms in Epiphany Center’s residential treatment program will thank supporters with handrolled beeswax candles at the Epiphany League’s “Celebrating Mothers” fundraiser May 7 at the St. Francis Yacht Club. “Epiphany Lights” tapers priced at $5 for two candles benefit the self-supporting Epiphany Center and will be sold at the event, after the event and soon in local stores. Epiphany Center in San Francisco strengthens family life through programs faithful to the beliefs of the Catholic Church, rooted in Judeo-Christian values and the tradition of service of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who have been serving society’s most vulnerable in the archdiocese since 1852. Call (415) 567-8370, ext. 4205.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. bishops, meeting in New Orleans June 11-13, will discuss today’s economy and its impact on marriages and evangelization. They will also review their efforts in preventing sexual abuse of children, strengthening marriage, helping typhoon victims and preparing for upcoming church-sponsored events on family life. The bishops will hear presentations on “Marriage and the Economy” and “the New Evangelization and Poverty” on the second day of their gathering before they close for executive sessions. The first day will be filled with reports on upcoming events, including presentations on the Oct. 5-19 extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family and the World Meeting of Families, set for Sept. 22-27, 2015, in Philadelphia. The synod at the Vatican this October will bring together presidents of bishops’ conferences, the heads of Eastern Catholic churches and the heads of Vatican offices to discuss “pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelization.” Pope Francis has said the synod will take up the subject of church teaching and practice on marriage, including the eligibility of divorced and civilly married Catholics to receive Communion. In preparation for the synod, the Vatican issued SEE BISHOPS, PAGE 16

Author, adoptive mother publishes parable about adoption CHRISTINA GRAY CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

In 1994, Colleen Marquez of Pleasant Hill was struggling with both infertility and the belief that she could not love a child that did not come from her and husband Mickey’s own family tree. The fruit of that struggle is a new illustrated children’s book, “A Gift for Little Tree,” published in January by Cupola Press, and a family that today includes 19-year-old daughter, Gabrielle and 10-year-

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old son, Isaac. Both were adopted at birth in an open adoption. The book is described on the jacket as a “story of a fruitless apple tree, an abundant apple orchard, one wise farmer and the gift of family.” “I never considered adopting even after four long years of infertility,” said Marquez in

an email exchange with Catholic San Francisco the week before Mother’s Day. When one of her friends decided to “get off the infertility treadmill” and adopted a child, Colleen went to the nursery – the plant kind. Her “aching heart to be a mommy,” made it difficult to buy a typical baby gift, but she discovered a three-in-one apple tree, with grafted branches of red, green and yellow apples. “I thought, oh my, this is an adoption tree,” said

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INDEX National . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Community . . . . . . . . . 15

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | MAY 9, 2014

NEED TO KNOW

Student trip to Nicaragua: ‘Service, travel open eyes to another culture’

GOSPEL MASS: St. Paul of the Shipwreck Parish in San Francisco will pray for those with cancer in recognition of National Cancer Survivor Day, June 1, 10:45 a.m., with Conventual Franciscan Father Paul Gawlowski, pastor, presiding at Mass and blessing and Deacon Larry Chatmon as homilist. Discussions follow in the Eunice Willette Conference Room. The church is located at 1122 Jamestown Ave. at Third Street. Call (415) 468-3434 or visit www.stpauloftheshipwreck. org; www.facebook.com/spshipwreck.

CHRISTINA GRAY CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

In a tropical climate quite unlike their breezy hometown of San Francisco, students from St. Vincent de Paul and Sts. Peter and Paul schools hauled buckets of gravel and water, dug holes in sun-baked earth and practiced their Spanish on a weeklong service trip to Nicaragua over Easter break. Three days after returning from the trip organized by St. Vincent Spanish teacher Petrina Grube, participating students shared photos of the trip with classmates and said they learned as much about themselves as they did about the country they visited. “The people, they don’t know they are poor,” said seventh grader, Corrine Perriard, of the residents of Goyena, a rural community less than an hour from Leon still struggling from the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch in 1998. They were always smiling, always happy, she said. “I realize how fortunate we are, and how others are happier, it seems, with less.” Classmate Maria Belardinelli said she heard a story from a local guide about a woman who spent three days in a tree with her family with no food or water after the hurricane destroyed their home. “I can barely wait between breakfast and lunchtime,” she said, admitting she is less patient and grateful than the people she met in Nicaragua. ”I take a lot for granted.” The trip was coordinated with the schools under the auspices of ViviendasLeon, a San Franciscobased educational exchange and economic development program. The organization has two complementary purposes: to help alleviate rural poverty in Nicaragua, where according to its website, more than half of the country lives at or below poverty level, and to cultivate a sense of global citizenship in young people who stay with local families, work on community projects and travel locally. ViviendasLeon has taken a special interest in rural Goyena since the hurricane displaced its citizens 15

SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY: St. Raphael School in San Rafael will celebrate its 125th anniversary June 7 with school tours from 3-4:45 p.m. and Mass at 5 p.m. in honor of generations of alumni, followed by a reception in the Louis G. Freitas Memorial Gym. Call (415) 454-4455, email alumni@straphaelschool.com or visit the St. Raphael Alumni Facebook page. GUITAR CONCERT: Lyle Sheffler performs on classical guitar, May 18, 5 p.m., Old Mission Dolores chapel, 3321 16th St., San Francisco, featuring works by Torroba, Aguado, Handel. Free with suggested donation of $15. Visit www.lylesheffler.com, www. missiondolores.org. Call (415) 621-8203. DAY FOR VOCATIONS: The Vatican has set the 51st World Day for Vocations for May 11, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, commonly known as Good Shepherd Sunday. The theme for the celebration, which falls on Mother’s Day, is “Vocations, Witness to the Truth.” Pope Francis, in a statement for the occasion, said that “No vocation is born of itself or lives for itself. A vocation flows from the heart of God and blossoms in the good soil of faithful people, in the experience of fraternal love.” The papal message is available in both English and Spanish at www.usccb.org/ vocations along with other resources from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations.

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St. Vincent de Paul Spanish teacher Petrina Grube, far left, organized the San Francisco parish school’s second trip to Nicaragua over Easter break with ViviendasLeon, a local cultural exchange and economic development nonprofit. The 12-person school group, which included six students from St. Vincent de Paul and Sts. Peter and Paul schools and five parents, are pictured in downtown Leon during Holy Week. years ago. Grube’s students jumped in to help construct the adobe-like walls of a new clinic and install fencing and irrigation for garden plots that will both feed and provide an income for two families. Grube took a similar trip with a different organization when she was in high school and said it “opened my eyes to the world in a way that changed my life.” When she came across ViviendasLeon a few years ago, she knew she wanted to share that kind of experience with her students. She did that last year for the first time with a smaller group and repeated it this year with a larger 12-person delegation of students, teachers and parents. Grube said last year’s delegation was the first from a Catholic school. ViviendasLeon thoughtfully arranged an itinerary that allowed the group to witness a whole city take to the streets to express their devotion. Leon’s rich Holy Week traditions include a somber Good Friday procession along the Via Crucis, or Way of the Cross, and a dramatic public announcement in the main plaza by

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an “angel” who announced the risen Lord. The girls said they were humbled by their Nicaraguan workmates after days of work that left them hot, dusty and tired. “When we were working, we were always talking about being hot or tired, or wanting some water or a break,” said Perriard. “The Nicaraguans just worked and smiled and didn’t complain.” “My experience in Nicaragua was different than anything I’ve ever done before,” said Maggie Walter, who described with awe the maturity and responsibility of girls near her age in Nicaragua. Pictures shared with classmates on April 28 showed that the visiting students and their Nicaraguan counterparts were all just kids having fun together as they stopped to pet a wandering pig, throw stones down a nearby well or splash each other with water. “I think everyone should visit another country,” said Charlotte Reid, a seventh grader at Sts. Peter and Paul School. “I am much more grateful for what I have at home.”

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone Publisher Dr. Christine A. Mugridge Director, Communications & Outreach Rick DelVecchio Editor/General Manager EDITORIAL Valerie Schmalz, assistant editor schmalzv@sfarchdiocese.org Tom Burke, On the Street/Calendar burket@sfarchdiocese.org Christina Gray, Content & Community Development grayc@sfarchdiocese.org ADVERTISING Joseph Peña, director Mary Podesta, account representative Chandra Kirtman, advertising & circulation coordinator PRODUCTION Karessa McCartney-Kavanaugh, manager Joel Carrico, assistant

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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 | MAY 9, 2014

STOLEN STAINED-GLASS WINDOW RETRIEVED FROM LOCAL PAWN SHOP

Archbishop announces clergy appointments Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone announced the following clergy appointments April 28: VICAR GENERAL: Auxiliary Bishop William J. Justice, effective May 15. “By virtue of his office, Bishop Bill Justice will assist me by enhancing episcopal presence throughout the archdiocese, as he provides pastoral outreach to our 90 parishes and associated missions along with the many organizations, associations, movements and other communities within our diverse archdiocese,” the archbishop said, adding that Bishop Justice will also continue to serve in the role of vicar for clergy until the end of June. VICAR FOR ADMINISTRATION/MODERATOR OF THE CURIA: Jesuit Father John J. Piderit, effective May 15. “Father John Piderit will assist me in providing the necessary oversight for our parishes and schools by managing the resources, leadership and support that will help to increase our parishes’ ministries and promote their effective implementation,” the archbishop said. “As moderator of the curia, Father Piderit will care for and oversee the coordination of personnel in the central offices of the archdiocese, offering guidance, direction and accountability, and fostering unity, identity and purpose in the chancery as we implement together the mission of our archdiocese.” Since 2012, Father Piderit has been vice president for administration and vicar of finance at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University. He has been concurrently serving as adjunct professor of economics at Fordham University in New York and is president of the Catholic Education Institute, an organization promoting new approaches to the ongoing education and formation of Catholics. From 1993 to 2001 Father Piderit was president of Loyola University Chicago. VICAR FOR CLERGY: Father Raymund M. Reyes, effective July 1. Father Reyes, who was ordained in 1988, currently serves as pastor of St. Anne of the Sunset Parish, San Francisco. STAR OF THE SEA PARISH, SAN FRANCISCO: Oratory of St. Philip Neri, effective Aug. 1. Father Joseph Illo, pastor. Father Patrick Driscoll, parochial vicar. Father Illo has been released by his bishop, Bishop Steven Blaire of Stockton, to begin the process of establishing an Oratory of St. Philip Neri, Archbishop Cordileone said. Father Driscoll has been released by his archbishop, Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis, to seek ministry in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. “The Oratory of St. Philip Neri is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right,” the archbishop said. “It incardinates its members into the society, who are secular priests and laymen living in com-

Auxiliary Bishop William J. Justice

Jesuit Father John J. Piderit

Father Raymund M. Reyes

munity and carrying out pastoral ministry, usually in a parish and most often in an urban setting. The 1989 decree instituting the current Constitutions and General Statutes of the Oratory describe the Oratory in this way: ‘The members of the Society of Apostolic life, called the Confederation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, live as brothers in community, striving for the perfection of charity and devoting themselves especially to the formation of youth. They also promote the holy sacrament of penance and the ministry to the sick and the poor.’ In order to be formally established as an Oratory, the community must have fulfilled a minimum of three years in the formation process, and a have a minimum of four stable members, at least two of whom are priests. While the community in formation at Star of the Sea Parish will soon have its own website, for now more information about the Oratory of St. Philip Neri may be found at the website of the Oratory in formation in Lewiston, Maine, at: http://spnmaine.org.”

A century-old stained glass window stolen from St. Boniface Church in February is back in place thanks to a determined Tenderloin police officer who tracked it down at a pawn shop and the San Francisco Police Officers Association who passed the hat to get it out of hock. The window is one of the church’s intricately painted panes created by the Von Gerichten Art Glass Co. of Columbus, Ohio, in 1908. The fourby-two-foot stolen window is a smaller version of the larger biblical and historical figures that define the interior of the Golden Gate Avenue church now shared with The Gubbio Project, a day shelter for the homeless. The pane depicting St. Boniface himself went missing in February when someone with the right tools and know-how removed it from the church, according to pastor Franciscan Father Tommy King. Father King said it was missing for two days before it was returned without damage. “It even came back with all its pins and hinges,” said Father King. According to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle on May 6, Lt. Joseph Nannery went to the church to investigate after a Tenderloin police report logged the burglary. A woman called the station later that night to report seeing someone walking down Valencia Street with a stained-glass window in a shopping cart. She said the man with the art in the cart tried to sell it to her and when she didn’t buy, he told her he was taking it to a second-hand store. The store confirmed the window was there when officers called, and officers chipped in to return it to the church, which has installed an additional security camera in the section where the glass was stolen.

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | MAY 9, 2014

Bill aims to remedy discrimination against pregnant grad students VALERIE SCHMALZ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

A Northern California state lawmaker is sponsoring legislation to remedy discrimination against pregnant women in graduate school, which would mandate universities implement standards to uphold the Title IX federal anti-discrimination statute. “This bill would correct the discrimination that exists in our state’s institutions of higher education – the denial of the rights of graduate women students to retain their assistantship positions, standing and scholarships while pregnant,” said Carol Hogan, communications director for the public policy arm of California’s bishops, which supports Assembly Bill 2350. Most people do not know that pregnancy discrimination is de facto included in the Title IX standards, which are commonly associated with equity in college athletics but apply across the board in academics, said Sarah Brady, who recently earned her Ph.D. in chemistry and is working for bill author Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord. The proposed California Equity in Higher Education Act: Prevention of Pregnancy Discrimination would require universities to adopt policies to implement policies protecting students from pregnancy discrimination, as mandated by Title IX, in graduate education, including the ability to

take a leave of absence and return to work without penalty, Brady said. “While Title IX standards may require gender equity in all federally funded educational programs, the reality is, the standards are not being met,” Bonilla said in a statement, saying the state cannot afford to lose the talents of those young research scientists, engineers and mathematicians. The 1972 federal law states “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded UC Berkeley law from participation in, be denied professor Mary the benefits of, or be subjected to Ann Mason discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” “Childbirth is the main reason young female scientists drop out of the academic pipeline before obtaining their first job,” writes Mary Ann Mason, professor and co-director of the Berkeley Law Earl Warren Institute for Law and Social Policy at the UC Berkeley. “A lot of times the professors expect you to come back within a few days of giving birth,” said UC Davis immunology doctoral candidate Marjannie Eloi Akintunde, a graduate research assistant, whose second child was due May 9. Akintunde, who is married, said she is fortunate to have a supportive boss, and will be

able to use 40 days of sick leave before returning to work. UC Davis has no pregnancy leave for graduate assistants, she said. Several of her colleagues have been badly treated because of pregnancy, she said. “There is no policy, no nothing. It’s just a whim,” said Akintunde, who testified before the state Assembly Higher Education Committee. She said pregnant women can lose their spots in labs and thus the subject of their dissertation, and often “get pushed out” by unsympathetic professors. The Assembly Higher Education Committee approved AB 2350 on a bipartisan vote of 13-0 on April 22. “The lack of dissemination and compliance with Title IX is an issue for almost all universities and colleges,” wrote Mason and co-author Jaclyn Younger in an April 2014 NYU Journal of Law and Social Change essay “Title IX and Pregnancy Discrimination in Higher Education: The New Frontier.” Mason is also co-author of the book “Do Babies Matter? Gender and Family in the Ivory Tower” with Nicholas Wolfinger and Marc Goulden. According to the National Science Foundation’s Survey of Doctorate Recipients, among scientists, married women with children are 35 percent less likely to step into a tenure-track job than married men with children and that drop off is almost entirely due to the demands of pregnancy and parenting during the graduate and early research phase of an academic career, Mason said.

Speaker maintains ‘brain death’ is faulty measure of end of life VALERIE SCHMALZ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

The Catholic Church supports the transplant of vital organs once the donor is dead, but when is dead really dead? A doctor whose court testimony aided the family of a 13-year-old declared brain dead by UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland to regain custody of her and move her to an undisclosed location early this year said that is a very tricky question –and that the predominant view in the medical profession is wrong. Dr. Paul Byrne spoke May 3 at the annual United for Life banquet at the Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco and said “brain death” is a faulty measure of the end of life and in reality the transplant process often causes death. “Everyone who is declared brain dead is alive” because their heart and lungs are working even though assisted by a ventilator, said Byrne, clinical professor of pediatrics of the University of Toledo, Ohio, and past president of the Catholic Medical Association. Cessation of heartbeat and respiration was the universal criteria for death until 40 years ago when medical advances allowed severely injured people to be kept alive. Soon after the first heart transplant, all 50 states

approved brain death as a second criterion for death, modeled after the Uniform Determination of Death Act drafted by the American Medical Association. There are no uniform neurological criteria for brain death and the definition varies from country to country, from state to state and from hospital to hospital, Byrne said. A Children’s Hospital spokeswoman disputed Byrne’s statement and said a similar standard of brain death is used in all 50 states. “Brain death is considered like cardiac death to be death. His position is pretty much of an outlier position,” hospital spokeswoman Melinda Krigel told Catholic San Francisco. In a 2001 Catholic World Report article “Are Organ Transplants Ever Morally Licit?” co-written with several others, including now-Santa Rosa Bishop Robert Vasa and now-retired Lincoln, Neb., Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, Byrne said when the surgeon makes the incision to remove the donor’s healthy live vital organs: “The donor’s body reacts with moving, grimacing, and squirming, unless the donor is first given a paralyzing drug. However, even with the paralyzing drug, there is an increase in blood pressure and heart rate. The heart continues beating until the transplant surgeon stops it – a few moments before cutting it out.”

According to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, organ transplants after death are permissible but “such organs should not be removed until it has been medically determined that the patient has died. In order to prevent any conflict of interest, the physician who determines death should not be a member of the transplant team.” Jahi McMath remains on a ventilator in an undisclosed location after Byrne and others worked with her mother and family to remove her from Children’s Hospital Jan. 5 after the hospital declared her dead in December, Byrne said. In a Feb. 19 Facebook posting, Jahi’s mother Nailah Winkfield wrote: “Despite what people say about my daughter being dead and how I must be ignorant not to get that, I can tell you that she is much better physically since she has left Children’s Hospital and I see changes that give me hope.” Hospital spokeswoman Krigel said that the Alameda County coroner issued a death certificate for Jahi. She said court documents show that Jahi was declared brain dead by two physicians at Children’s and by an outside court-appointed physician who was head of pediatric neurology at Stanford University Medical Center.

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | MAY 9, 2014

Cardinal shares media tips he learned at ‘school of hard knocks’ CINDY WOODEN

‘I have made a vow: Never will I give an interview without trying to mention the holy name of Jesus.’

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

ROME – Thanking communications professionals who work for the Catholic Church, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York also shared with them tips he said he learned at the “school of hard knocks.” When facing reporters, he said, “their initial posture often might be bellicose, but that should only challenge us, never scare us or make us uncomfortable.” The cardinal gave the keynote address April 28 at a conference for Catholic communicators sponsored by the school of church communications at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. Cardinal Dolan highlighted the communications success of Pope Francis, who, he said, is a natural communicator of Christian truths and the Catholic faith. His words and actions are not a public relations ploy or gimmick, “it’s just who Pope Francis is. Nobody, no communications expert, had to sit down with him and say, ‘Holy Father, listen, we think it would really be a great idea if you concentrated on talking about God’s mercy and forgiveness.’” “There’s no way somebody can script who he is; what you see is what you get,” the cardinal said. “The world is responding because his whole life is dedicated to conveying the good news simply and sincerely in everything he does.” One of the cardinal’s tips for the communicators was to remember always that they are Catholic.

CARDINAL TIMOTHY M. DOLAN OF NEW YORK

(CNS PHOTO/GREGORY A. SHEMITZ)

Thanking communications professionals who work for the Catholic Church, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York also shared with them tips he said he learned at the “school of hard knocks.” Cardinal Dolan is seen in 2013 speaking with reporters after celebrating an Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. “Always put Jesus first. People have a hunger for meaning in their lives, for the truth,” he said. “I have made a vow: Never will I give an interview without trying to mention the holy name of Jesus.” After all, he said, he is being interviewed as a bishop and pastor, not as the mayor. While every bishop today automatically becomes a spokesman for the church, ordination is not a requirement for speaking on behalf

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of the church and trying to share the truths it teaches, the cardinal said. “The days of old, fat, balding bishops being the best spokespeople is long gone, if they were ever really here at all,” he said. What is essential, however, is faith and speaking the truth, “even when we are dealing with bad news,” he said, because “people expect utter honesty and transparency from the church.”

Being professional and transparent will not win over everyone all the time, he said. Church communicators are trying to bring a message to a world that “doesn’t always seem interested in what we have to say, misunderstands it or is downright hostile to it.” “I often tease journalists that they more often than not ask me about the ‘olds,’ the weary exhausted stories about the church rather than the news,” he said. “Every communications outlet has a bias, a slant – that’s natural, that’s to be expected,” he said. “We Catholic communicators also should have our own bias and that slant must always be pro-church; we do not apologize for that. “Just as we don’t like it when the media caricatures us, we should not stereotype them.” Some “twist and distort always what we say and what we do,” but that does not mean every journalist does. Even when a journalist appears to be on the attack and one must respond for the good of the church, he said, “we must be careful in these situations to make certain that we always respond in charity and love.”

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | MAY 9, 2014

Archbishop: Botched execution highlights brutality of death penalty CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

OKLAHOMA CITY – Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City said the botched execution April 29 of an Oklahoma inmate “highlights the brutality of the death penalty� and should bring the nation to “consider whether we should adopt a moratorium on the death penalty or even abolish it altogether.� The planned execution of convicted killer Clayton Lockett in McAlester, Okla., using a new three-drug lethal injection protocol, failed, leaving Lockett showing signs of pain and causing prison officials to halt the procedure. Lockett later died of a heart attack. Republican Gov. Mary Fallin ordered a 14-day stay of execution for Charles Warner, an inmate scheduled to be executed two hours after Lockett. She

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also ordered the state’s Department of Corrections to conduct a “full review of Oklahoma’s execution procedures to determine what happened and why� during the execution. Archbishop Coakley, in an April 30 statement, said: “How we treat criminals says a lot about us as a society.� “We certainly need to administer justice with due consideration for the victims of crime, but we must find a way of doing so that does not Clayton Lockett contribute to the culture of death, which threatens to completely erode our sense of the innate dignity of the human person and of the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death,� he added. The archbishop said a clearer understanding of the dignity of human life should lead people to recognize that there should be “very strict limits to the legitimate use of the death penalty.� He said it should never be used “to exact vengeance, nor should it be allowed simply as a deterrent. In general, there are other ways to administer just punishment without resorting to lethal measures.� He also called for prayers for those affected by the execution, including Lockett, his family, prison employees and others who witnessed the event.

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“My compassion and prayers go out especially to the family of Stephanie Neiman, whom Lockett was convicted of killing,� he added. On Good Friday, the Missouri Catholic bishops issued a joint statement calling for an end of the use of the death penalty in the state. “We call for a new response to violence that upholds the sacredness of all human life,� they said in the statement issued by the Missouri Catholic Conference in Jefferson City. The bishops called on Catholics to urge public officials to abolish capital punishment and to find other means to hold offenders accountable. They also encouraged Catholics to participate in local vigils and prayer services to end the death penalty. They said the five recent executions in the state highlight “a dramatic escalation of executions taking place.� The bishops said they wish to “reiterate and affirm our support for, and solidarity with, the families and loved ones of murder victims.� They also noted that the canonization of St. John Paul provides “an opportunity for reflection on the death penalty and the need to take action to oppose it,� since the pope had been an outspoken opponent of capital punishment. In his visit to St. Louis in 1999, he called for “a consensus to end the death penalty� calling it “both cruel and unnecessary.�

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NATIONAL 7

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | MAY 9, 2014

CARDINAL’S MOTHER WAS CONVERT FROM JUDAISM

NEW YORK – Cardinal John J. O’Connor, who as archbishop of New York cultivated and cherished his strong ties with the Jewish community, was born of a mother who was born Jewish. It is not known whether he knew that his mother, Dorothy Gumple O’Connor, was born Jewish. She converted to Catholicism before she met and married Thomas O’Connor, the late cardinal’s father. Mary O’Connor Ward, the cardinal’s sister, told Catholic New York, newspaper of the New York archdiocese, that her mother never spoke about having belonged to another faith. The fact that Dorothy O’Connor was Jewish by birth came to light during a genealogical search undertaken by Ward at the prompting of one of her daughters, Eileen Ward Christian, who had begun digging into the family’s history. Ward said that when she was growing up, she surmised that her mother was a convert, but that the family never discussed the matter. Asked whether Cardinal O’Connor was aware of his Jewish lineage, she said, “I have no way of knowing that.” But she added, “I just don’t understand, if he knew, why something wouldn’t have come up before. He was so close to the Jewish community.” Musing about his probable reaction to the news, she said, “I think he would have been very proud of it.” Ward added

(CNS PHOTO/CHRIS SHERIDAN, CATHOLIC NEW YORK)

Cardinal John J. O’Connor is seen in an undated photo praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. that she was proud when she discovered her Jewish ancestry, and she noted that Cardinal O’Connor often spoke of the Jewish people as “our elder brothers” in faith.

HIGH COURT ALLOWS PRAYERS BEFORE PUBLIC MEETINGS

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled May 5 that prayers said before town council meetings in Greece, N.Y., do not violate the Constitution. In their 5-4 decision, the judges noted a historical precedent to opening local legislative meetings with a prayer and stressed that the predominantly Christian nature of the prayers in the New York town were not coercive to those in attendance.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, said the prayers delivered before public meetings in Greece, a suburb of Rochester, “evoked universal themes” such as “calling for a ‘spirit of cooperation.’” He also noted the historical precedence of such prayers, pointing out that the U.S. House and Senate have official chaplains and a majority of the states have the practice of legislative prayer. Kennedy wrote that the “inclusion of a brief, ceremonial prayer as part of a larger exercise in civic recognition suggests that its purpose and effect are to acknowledge religious leaders and the institutions they represent, rather than to exclude or coerce nonbelievers.”

ATLANTA ARCHBISHOP TO RESTRICT WEAPONS IN CATHOLIC INSTITUTIONS

ATLANTA – Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta pledged to restrict the presence of guns in Catholic institutions in response to a new Georgia law that would allow licensed gun owners to carry arms into schools, churches and other locales. Set to take effect July 1, the law was opposed by the Georgia Catholic Conference. Writing in his column in the May 1 issue of the Georgia Bulletin, newspaper of the Atlanta archdiocese, the archbishop said he regrets the enactment of the new law “more than I can possibly express.”

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WASHINGTON – A group of religious leaders stressed the moral obligation to raise the federal minimum wage in an April 29 letter to Congress, describing increased wages as “indispensable to ensuring that no worker will suffer the indignity of poverty.” The letter was released the day before the Senate was to vote on increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour by 2016. The Senate, however, voted 54-42 April 30 against opening debate on the bill, killing the measure for the immediate future. Senate Democrats, who needed 60 votes to begin debate, pledged to reintroduce the measure, but gave no date for doing so. The religious leaders said raising the minimum wage was necessary to help lift people out of poverty.

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“Before this legislation takes effect in July, I will officially restrict the presence of weapons in our Catholic institutions except for those carried by the people that civic authorities have designated and trained to protect and guard us – and those who are duly authorized law and military officials,” Archbishop Gregory explained. “The last thing we need is more firearms in public places, especially in those places frequented by children and the vulnerable,” Archbishop Gregory wrote.

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8 WORLD

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | MAY 9, 2014

POPE: CHURCH NO PLACE FOR ‘CLIMBERS’

and those who fail to protect children, and will fight widespread denial of the problem within the church, said Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston. “In some people’s minds, ‘Oh, this is an American problem, it’s an Irish problem, it’s a German problem,’” the cardinal told reporters May 3. “Well, it’s a human problem, and the church needs to face it everywhere in the world. And so a lot of our recommendations are going to have to be around education, because there is so much ignorance around this topic, so much denial.” The cardinal spoke on the third and final day of the commission’s first meeting at the Vatican. Reading a statement on behalf of the entire eight-member panel, he said the commission planned to draft statutes for approval by Pope Francis to clarify the body’s “nature, structure, activity and the goals.” Later, in response to a reporter’s question, the cardinal said such policies were necessary to fill gaps in church law. “Our concern about accountability is accountability for everyone in the church, regardless of what their status is,” the cardinal said.

VATICAN CITY – The Catholic Church is no place for “climbers,” who want to reach the heights of prestige, power and profit, Pope Francis said. Instead of putting their sights on the church, such people should set off for the Alps for a healthier way to get to the top, the pope said May 5 during his homily at Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he lives. He also raised a red flag against “many good Catholics” and benefactors, who have raised money for the church, but profited handsomely from their efforts, even with so-called dirty money. Because everyone is marked by sin and faced with temptation, he said people should reflect on their true motivation for being part of the church and being Christian. It should never be for prestige, power or profit, but purely out of love for Jesus, he said, according to a report by Vatican Radio. Unfortunately, there are Christians who like to “strut around like real peacocks,” full of vanity and the need to show off, the pope said.

CARDINAL: ABUSE PANEL TO STRESS ACCOUNTABILITY

torture, Vatican officials repeatedly were asked about efforts to investigate allegations of clerical sexual abuse, punish offenders and cooperate with civil authorities in prosecuting the perpetrators. Cases of clerical sexual abuse of children are a reality the Catholic Church wishes never happened but, “human nature being what it is, they did happen,” Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See representative to U.N. agencies in Geneva, told the May 5-6 hearing of the Committee Against Torture. The crisis has stabilized and even declined in some areas, he said, crediting work by the Vatican and local churches over the past 10 years. The archbishop said the Holy See, which signed the treaty, has no direct legal and juridical jurisdiction outside Vatican City State. While the Vatican hopes to exercise moral influence over all Catholics, people who live in a particular country are subject to that country’s laws, he said. In separate remarks to the committee, Ashley McGuire, a board member of Catholic Voices USA, questioned what she called “hostility to Christianity” in the comments of some nongovernmental organizations. The church is a “global model for the safeguarding of children” and continues to help children and vulnerable people through various ministries, she said.

CHURCH COUNTERS UN COMMITTEE’S QUESTIONS

VATICAN CITY – The new papal commission for protecting minors from clerical sex abuse will recommend stricter standards for accountability of abusers

VATICAN CITY – Appearing before a U.N. committee overseeing an international treaty designed to fight

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WORLD 9

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | MAY 9, 2014

Vatican official rebukes nuns’ group for ‘fundamental errors’ FRANCIS X. ROCCA CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – Using what he acknowledged was unusually “blunt” language, the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office rebuked officers of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious for honoring a Catholic theologian whose work was judged “seriously inadequate” and for promoting futuristic ideas he described as “opposed to Christian revelation.” Cardinal Gerhard Muller, preCardinal Muller fect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, made the remarks April 30 in an address to the presidency of the LCWR, a Maryland-based umbrella group that claims about 1,500 leaders of U.S. women’s communities as members, representing about 80 percent of the country’s 57,000 women religious. The text of Cardinal Muller’s remarks was posted on the congregation’s website. In 2012, the Vatican announced a major reform of the LCWR to ensure its fidelity to Catholic teaching in areas including abortion, euthanasia, women’s ordination and homosexuality. The Vatican appointed Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle to implement the congregation’s “doctrinal assessment,” by providing “review, guidance and approval, where necessary, of the work” of the LCWR. LCWR officials have characterized the assessment as a “flawed process that lacked transparency,” and the disciplinary measures imposed by the Vatican as “disproportionate,” saying they compromised the organization’s ability to fulfill its mission. At the April 30 meeting with LCWR officials, Cardinal Muller voiced “increasing concern” about the LCWR’s promotion of the “concept of conscious evolution” in various publications and in the “directional statements” of some member congregations. Conscious evolution is a set of ideas developed in the writings of Barbara Marx Hubbard, who addressed the LCWR annual assembly in 2012. Hubbard’s website describes the concept as “part of the trajectory of human evolution, the canvas of choice before us now as we recognize that we have come to possess the powers that we used to attribute to the gods.” According to the cardinal, the “fundamental theses of conscious evolution are opposed to Christian revelation and, when taken unreflectively, lead almost necessarily to fundamental errors regarding the omnipotence of God, the incarnation of Christ, the reality of original

sin, the necessity of salvation and the definitive nature of the salvific action of Christ in the paschal mystery.” “Conscious evolution does not offer anything which will nourish religious life as a privileged and prophetic witness rooted in Christ revealing divine love to a wounded world,” he said. “The Gospel does! Selfless service to the poor and marginalized in the name of Jesus Christ does!” Cardinal Muller also said he was saddened by plans to give a major award at the group’s annual assembly in August to St. Joseph Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson. In 2011, the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine criticized one of Sister Johnson’s books as containing “misrepresentations, ambiguities and errors” related to the Catholic faith. The LCWR’s award to the theologian “will be seen as a rather open provocation against the Holy See and the doctrinal assessment,” the cardinal said. “Not only that, but it further alienates the LCWR from the bishops as well.” The prefect said he would not prevent Sister Johnson from receiving the award, but that the Vatican expected LCWR officials henceforth to seek Archbishop Sartain’s advance approval of “invited speakers and honorees” at major events. “In the end, the point is this: The Holy See believes that the charismatic vitality of religious life can only flourish within the ecclesial life of the church,” the cardinal said. “The LCWR, as a canonical entity dependent on the Holy See, has a profound obligation to the promotion of that faith as the essential foundation of religious life.” In a written statement responding to a reporter’s inquiry, LCWR officials said the prefect’s “remarks were meant to set a context for the discussion that followed. The actual interaction with Cardinal Muller and his staff was an experience of dialogue that was respectful and engaging.”

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CARDINAL: PRO-ABORTION OFFICIALS SHOULD NOT RECEIVE COMMUNION

ROME – Catholic politicians and judges who support laws in conflict with church teaching on abortion, euthanasia, marriage and related issues commit “sacrilege” and cause “grave scandal” if they receive Communion, said the U.S. cardinal who heads the Vatican’s highest court. “The church’s discipline, from the time of St. Paul, has admonished those who obstinately persevere in manifest grave sin not to present themselves for Holy Communion,” Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature and a former archbishop of St. Louis, told an international conference of pro-life organizations May 3. The cardinal explained that the “discipline is not a punishment but the recognition of the objective condition of the soul of the person involved in such sin. It prevents them from committing sacrilege by violating the incomparable sanctity of the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ, and safeguards the Christian community at large from scandal, that is, from being led to believe that the violation of the moral law, for example in what pertains to the inviolable dignity of human life, the integrity of marriage and the family, and the freedom of conscience, is not sinful, does not gravely break communion with our Lord.”

15,000 RALLY FOR REPEAL OF IRELAND ABORTION LAW

DUBLIN – Pro-life campaigners in Ireland vowed to work for the repeal of a controversial abortion law introduced in 2013. An estimated 15,000 members of the Pro-Life Campaign came to Dublin May 3 to participate in the National Vigil for Life. Ahead of local and European elections set for May 23, speakers encouraged supporters not to back politicians that supported the laws which, for the first time in Ireland, permit abortion in certain circumstances. Caroline Simons, a Pro-Life Campaign legal consultant, said she was “massively encouraged by turnout at vigil.” The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill was signed in to law July 30 after tense parliamentary debates during which several legislators resigned. When guidelines are issued, the law will permit abortions when there is a substantial risk to the life of the mother, including when a woman says the continuation of the pregnancy leads to suicidal thoughts.

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10 OPINION

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | MAY 9, 2014

The significance of the Sign of the Cross

T

he words are so familiar and we say them so often that we owe it to ourselves to reflect on their deeper meaning. “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The words are said as the fingers of the right hand touch the forehead, move to the sternum or breastbone, FATHER WILLIAM and then cross J. BYRON, SJ from the left to right shoulder of the believer seeking God’s blessing or initiating an experience of personal or communal prayer. The descent of the right hand suggests the incarnational descent of the second person of the Trinity; the crossover from left shoulder to right suggests the movement of the holy Trinity in our world. The Sign of the Cross is there at the beginning of Mass. It introduces “grace” before meals. It initiates one’s entrance into the sacrament of reconciliation. It sets one apart momentarily from the distractions of

C

(CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING)

People make the sign of the cross as they watch on a large video screen outside as Pope Francis celebrates Mass inside the Church of Santa Maria dell’Orazione near Rome March 16. daily life for the experience of quiet prayer. Even when done hastily, perhaps casually and without much thought, the Sign of the Cross has special meaning for the believer. One dimension of that meaning is the reminder that another body, not yours, hung on that cross on Calvary. Now, centuries removed as we are from that event, we can recall that we are called to walk the Way of the

Cross in our own day, in our own corner of the world. We are called to participate in the repair work Jesus initiated, the work of reparation for sin. What Paul said to the Galatians (2:19) applies to us: “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me.” When you trace it on your own body, the Sign of the Cross serves to remind that you too are crucified; you too hang there. By the grace of the living

‘Humanae Vitae’: What if ?

ardinal Carlo Caffarra of Bologna has long been a vocal supporter of “Humanae Vitae’s” teaching on the morally appropriate means of family planning. So it was noteworthy that Cardinal Caffarra recently conceded that, while “Humanae Vitae’s” GEORGE WEIGEL conclusions were true, its presentation of those truths left something to be desired. As the cardinal put it, “No one today would dispute that, at the time it was published, ‘Humanae Vitae’ rested on the foundations of a fragile anthropology, and that there was a certain ‘biologism’ in its argumentation.” Which put me in mind of a document I discovered in 1997 in a dusty Cracovian library while ingesting copious amounts of antihistamines: “The Foundations of the Church’s Doctrine on the Principles of Conjugal Life.” Its somewhat academic title notwithstanding, that document represents one of the great “what if ” moments in modern Catholic history. The document was the final report of a theological commission established in 1966 by the archbishop of Cracow, Karol Wojtyla, to help him in his work on the Papal Commission for the Study of Problems of the Family, Population, and Birth Rate, inevitably dubbed the “Birth Control Commission” by the world media. According to one of

the document’s authors, Father Andrzej Bardecki, the Polish theologians on Wojtyla’s commission had seen two drafts of an encyclical on conjugal morality and fertility regulation. One had been prepared by the Holy Office (now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith); it strung together various papal statements on the issue without even mentioning Pius XII’s endorsement of natural family planning. And that, Bardecki told me, struck the Cracow theologians as “stupid conservatism.” The other draft had been sponsored by German Cardinal Julius Doepfner; it represented a grave misreading of what God had inscribed in human sexuality “in the beginning,” the Cracovians believed, and did so in a way that emptied individual choices and acts of their moral significance. So: Were the only options “stupid conservatism” or the deconstruction of Catholic moral theology? The Cracovians didn’t think so. They thought the truth of the church’s teaching about conjugal morality and fertility regulation could be presented in a humane and personalistic way: One that acknowledged both the moral duty to plan one’s family and the demands of self-sacrifice in conjugal life; one that affirmed methods of fertility regulation that respected the body’s dignity and its built-in moral “grammar”; one that recognized the moral equality and equal moral responsibility of men and women, rather than leaving the entire burden of fertility-regulation on the wife. In proposing this fresh presentation of classic moral truths in a delicate area of pastoral care, the Cracovian theologians drew

on the pioneering work done by their archbishop, Karol Wojtyla, in Love and Responsibility – work that Wojtyla, as John Paul II, would later develop in the theology of the body. And so, what if ? What if Paul VI had adopted the Cracovian approach to presenting the truths he taught in “Humanae Vitae”? What if the encyclical had been built upon a less formalistic, even abstract, view of the human person and human sexuality? What if “Humanae Vitae” had deployed a richly textured and humanistic anthropology that was not susceptible to the charge of “biologism”? 1968 being the year it was, and the theological politics of the moment being what they were, there would still have been an uproar, I expect. But had the Cracovian report provided the framework for “Humanae Vitae,” the church would have been better positioned to respond to that uproar. The Catholic Church now has ample materials with which to make sense of, teach, and apply its settled convictions on the morality of marital love and procreation: the theology of the body; John Paul II’s magnificent 1981 apostolic exhortation “Familiaris Consortio;” the pastorally sensitive 1997 “Vademecum for Confessors on the Morality of Certain Aspects of Conjugal Life.” And we have a brilliant analysis of the effects of a contraceptive culture in Mary Eberstadt’s “Adam and Eve After the Pill” (Ignatius Press), which is must reading for every bishop attending the upcoming synods on the family. Still, I wonder: What if ? WEIGEL is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C.

Christ, you hang there with him now for the salvation of the world. The crucifix that we display in our homes is there not as artwork to be admired; it is there to serve as a reminder of God’s love. The difference between the cross and the crucifix is the corpus – the body attached to the cross. That dead body rose again so that we might have life. We are not embarrassed by the spectacle of a bruised body – brutally beaten and hanging in death – wearing only a loin cloth and exposed in full view. We are not embarrassed; we are profoundly grateful. The crucifix says so much more than the cross. It says death on the way to resurrection. By the crucifixion, Jesus literally poured out his blood and last breath for us. We will not experience the suffering he experienced. But each of us, in the circumstances of his or her own life, will experience some suffering that, in faith, we can unite with his for the salvation of the world. All the more reason to make the Sign of the Cross something more than a flea-flicking gesture. JESUIT FATHER BYRON is university professor of business and society at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia. His email is wbyron@sju.edu.

LETTERS Opening our hearts to creation’s cry for mercy

My heart was gladdened to read that Father Kenneth Weare, local pastor and professor, is deeply engaging the Catholic response to climate change (“Pastor to advise European bishops on climate change,” May 2). How can we, the Catholic community of St. Francis, join him? How can we open our minds and hearts – in our parish families, schools, prayer groups, social service organizations and every Catholic gathering - to creation’s cry for mercy? Though we are only beginning to experience the effects of climate change locally, the reality of the global suffering is awakening our hearts to the complete interconnection of all life on earth. What we do here and now impacts all our brothers and sisters – now and into the future. As we allow our hearts to be moved and our minds opened, we make room for the power of God’s love to flow through us into our world. Imagine that! Really! Glad also to know of Catholic Climate Covenant, which offers us resources as well as a way to be part of the worldwide Catholic movement. Thank you Catholic San Francisco. There’s so much to learn. I hope you will continue to help us awaken and mobilize as a community of care for creation. Catherine Regan San Francisco

LETTERS POLICY EMAIL letters.csf@sfarchdiocese.org WRITE Letters to the Editor, Catholic San Francisco, One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109 NAME, address and daytime phone number for verification required SHORT letters preferred: 250 words or fewer

OPINION 11

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | MAY 9, 2014

Mary and the movements of a parent’s life

M

any statues of Mary have exactly the same look: The blue and white robes, the veil, the arms extended outward. This image of her is so ubiquitous that it’s practically part of our Catholic DNA. There’s an undeniable comfort in seeing the same Mary everywhere we turn. But Mary has more than just one pose GINNY KUBITZ and one look. MOYER Her life as the mother of God involved a wide range of experiences, from the happy to the harrowing. Since becoming a mom myself, I’ve discovered that there is a Mary to correspond to nearly every moment of a parent’s life. There’s the Mary of the annunciation, a surprised, probably scared young woman saying “yes” to the unknown. That Mary speaks to my own experience of starting a family. While I was thrilled by the positive pregnancy test, I also knew I was saying yes to something that would challenge and stretch me in ways I could not possibly anticipate. Does Mary understand that combination of excitement and trepidation? Absolutely. There’s Mary on the road to Bethlehem, hunched over on a donkey and searching for a place to shelter for the night. She’s the Mary who had to roll

N

with the punches, who had to adapt quickly in very trying circumstances. I’ve never had to give birth in a barn, thank goodness, but when a cancelled flight meant I had to spend the entire night in an airport with a 9-month-old, I learned a lesson in how to cope when life doesn’t go as planned. (I didn’t handle it with Mary’s aplomb, but I’m learning.) There’s Mary at the wedding at Cana, nudging her adult son to perform his first public miracle. She’s never seen him do one before, but she knows, with that steely core of certainty that moms have, that he can. Like Mary, moms the

world over encourage kids to do things they’ve never done before: walk, use the potty, read, ride a bike without training wheels. We have faith in what they’re capable of doing, and our confidence matters. There’s Mary standing at the foot of the cross, an excruciatingly painful Mary to contemplate. She’s there for the moments when our child is hurting, or worse. In the face of this Mary, all I want to do is hunker down and pray: Pray for those who have lost children, for the children who are lost, and for an end to all violence that rips at mothers’ hearts. Then there’s the Mary we never get to see in the Gospels, the Mary who reaches to hold her resurrected son. What must that meeting have been like? I picture a woman sobbing with joy, almost unable to believe that she’s actually touching her boy once again. Thanks to Easter, any mom who identifies with Mary’s loss of her child can hang onto the promise that she’ll enjoy a similar reunion someday… and thank God for that. So as we celebrate Mary during the month of May, remember that we aren’t celebrating a woman who remains frozen in place. We’re honoring a woman who rode the waves of motherhood, learning to bend with the highs and the lows, a woman who reaches to meet us wherever we are. MOYER is the author of “Random MOMents of Grace: Experiencing God in the Adventures of Motherhood,” (Loyola Press). She blogs at RandomActsofMomness.com.

A pilgrimage through nature, desire and soul

ature, desire, and soul – we rarely integrate these well. Yet they are so inextricably linked that how we relate to one deeply colors the others; and, indeed, spirituality itself might be defined as what we each do in terms of integrating these three in our lives. More recently notable spiritual authors such as Annie FATHER RON Dillard, KathROLHEISER leen Norris, Bill Plotkin and Belden Lane have argued persuasively that physical nature profoundly affects the soul, just as how we manage our private desires deeply influences how we treat nature. Spirituality is naive when it is divorced from nature and desire. In a book just released, “The Road Knows How: A Prairie Pilgrimage through Nature, Desire and Soul,” Canadian writer Trevor Herriot joins these voices in calling for a better integration between nature, desire, and soul. The flow of the book follows its title. Herriot does a walking pilgrimage across part of Saskatchewan’s prairies, a land roamed for centuries by the buffalo, and lets nature and desire speak to his soul as he does this prairie Camino. The result is a remarkable chronicle, a deeply moral book. As a naturalist, Herriot is involved in various conservation projects from saving grassland birds to preserving the historic grass upon which the buffalo once roamed. Thus it’s no surprise that one of his central themes is the connection he intuits between nature and spirit: “I worry about what hap-

pens when we separate spirituality from bodily life and culture, both of which are profoundly connected to soil, climate, and the other givens of place.” And we should worry too: “These days, we watch truckloads of grain pass by and sense that something in us and in the earth is harmed when food is grown and consumed with little intimacy, care, and respect. The local and slow food movements are showing us that the way we grow, distribute, prepare, and eat food is important for the health of our body-to-earth exchanges. The next step may be to realize that the energy that brings pollen to ovary and grows the grain, once it enters our bodies, also needs to be husbanded. The way we respond to our desire to merge, connect and be fruitful – stirrings felt so deeply, but often so shallowly expressed – determines the quality of our body-to-body exchanges.” From there it’s a short step to his reflections on sex and desire. Herriot submits that “there is a sadness that comes of misappropriating sexual energy, a kind of functional despair that hums away in the background for most men if they stop long enough to listen to it.” In brief, for him, how we treat our bodies, our spouses, and the other gender greatly helps determine how we treat nature. And the reverse is just as true; how we treat nature will help determine how we treat our own bodies, our spouses, our lovers, and the other gender: “In a world bathed in industrial and impersonal sex, where real connection and tenderness are rare, will we sense also that something in us and in the earth is being harmed from the same absence of intimacy, care and respect? Will we learn that any given expression of our erotic energies either connects us to or divides us from the world around us and our souls? We are discovering that

we must steward the energies captured by nature in the hydrocarbons or in living plants and animals, and thereby improve the ways we receive the fruits of the earth, but we struggle to see the primary responsibility we bear for the small but cumulatively significant explosions of energy we access and transmit as we respond to our own longings to connect, merge, and be fruitful. Learning how to steward the way we bear fruit ourselves as spiritual/sexual beings with a full set of animal desires and angelic ambitions may be more important to the human journey than we fully understand.” This is not a language that’s easily digested by either the right or the left. Like Allan Bloom’s book a generation ago, “The Closing of the American Mind,” Herriot’s book is poised to have equally strong critics on both sides of the religious and ideological spectrum. Religious conservatives will be upset about some of his views on sexuality, but I fear that many secular liberals will be just as upset. The same holds true for some of Herriot’s views on soul, church, historical Christianity, patriarchy, feminism, gender, homosexuality and global warming. Conservative Christians will find themselves stretched in ways that they would prefer to not think about and strident secularists will find themselves constantly incredulous that someone like Herriot, whom they consider an ally, will speak of soul, spirituality, lust and chastity in ways that they have long considered naive. James Hillman used to quip: “A symptom suffers most when it doesn’t know where it belongs.” “The Road Knows How” tells us where many, many of our symptoms belong. OBLATE FATHER ROLHEISER is president of the Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas.

Juggling the difficulties of life with grace

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ife has been falsely compared to a juggling act, where the juggler tosses many balls in the air with ease and keeps them all circulating magically until he or she sets them down in perfect order. Real life is not at all like that. In fact, in real life, most of us will make mistakes FATHER JOHN regularly, CATOIR and the stakes are much higher than just dropping a few balls. If you drop some responsibility in real life, it could have lasting, unhappy consequences. Mistakes are frequently made as you try to juggle the conflicting duties and obligations amid the tensions of daily life. But take heart, because by constantly juggling several objects, just like obligations, that’s how jugglers learn to develop their skills and ultimately learn to balance everything that’s up in the air. The way a juggler learns to handle several objects is much the same way that a person learns to juggle obligations in life. It’s impossible for an ordinary person to become an overnight expert at juggling obligations. No one is in perfect control all the time. But constant practice, learning to spot what needs immediate attention and what does not, can help us learn this balance. Just remember not to impose false and unreasonable expectations of perfection on yourself. These high expectations of immediate perfection have the effect of imposing extraordinary burdens on our lives, spiritually and otherwise. When you realize that you’re only an ordinary person, you have a better chance of enjoying your precious life. Yet why do we grow so impatient when, time and again, we find ourselves falling short of perfection? When you find yourself falling into this trap, try to remember that no one, except God, is perfect. If you fall short of your expectations, remember that the faults you find so heavy to carry are more sins of weakness than sins of malice. God is merciful with all sinners, but especially so with those who mean well. But those who are malicious, out to step on others to attain their selfish goals, those are the ones who should fear God’s wrath. It is normal to feel disappointment in oneself. The disappointments we experience every once in a while in life may be upsetting, but failure isn’t fatal. Adjusting to one’s humanity and lack of perfection takes time and patience. It’s almost comical and difficult to face this reality if you’re the kind who thinks of yourself as an undiscovered superstar. Remember that it’s hard, if not impossible, to attain perfection in this life. Finally, we need to remember that in this path toward improvement of our inner lives, it’s especially important to practice kindness, especially kindness to ourselves.

12 FAITH

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | MAY 9, 2014

SUNDAY READINGS

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Jesus said: ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.’ JOHN 10:1-10 ACTS 2:14A, 36-41 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed: “Let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they asked Peter and the other apostles, “What are we to do, my brothers?” Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call.” He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day. PSALM 23:1-2A, 3B-4, 5, 6 The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. He guides me in right paths for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side. With your rod and your staff that give me courage. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. 1 PETER 2:20B-25 Beloved: If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good, this is a grace before God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that,

free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. JOHN 10:1-10 Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them. So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Trusting our Good Shepherd JEFF HENSLEY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

My wife and I have a friend who, along with her husband Al, kept a herd of 30 or 40 sheep on the small piece of land they owned in the Ozarks. We visited them a couple of summers ago and got to witness a modern-version shepherd. Al’s sheep knew his voice and followed him. But, as I said, this was the modern version. At evening feeding time, Al would mount his four-wheeler and head out into a nearby pasture and begin “baa-ing” in a loud voice to gather up his sheep. Then they, knowing this meant only good things for them – their evening meal, in this case – began running full tilt back to the barn where their fodder waited for them. Al provided a dramatic illustration of what Jesus tells us about himself as the Good Shepherd in the Scripture from John for this week. Jesus’ sheep know him, and they know that all others who had come to lead them did not have their best interests at heart and so they would not follow them. “Whoever enters through me will be saved,” Jesus tells us, his sheep, “and will come in and go out and find pasture. ... I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

‘I will dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come.’ PSALM 23:6B

REFLECTION QUESTION: How can you keep this image of Jesus the Good Shepherd ever before you, to give you peace?

The psalm response for this weekend’s liturgy quotes Psalm 23, and, no matter how many times I read it, nor what version the translation is, it always seems to bring a sense of calm. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul.” And the congregational response repeats over and over, “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” When we are really following our shepherd, we know that he will provide for all our needs, just like those bleating sheep following Al on the fourwheeler knew Al could be trusted to provide only good things for them. If simple sheep can trust a human shepherd, how much more can we trust ours?

LITURGICAL CALENDAR, DAILY MASS READINGS MONDAY, MAY 12: Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter. Optional Memorial of Sts. Nereus and Achilleus, martyrs; Optional Memorial of St. Pancras, martyr. Acts 11:1-18. PS 42:2-3; 43:3, 4. JN 10:11-18. TUESDAY, MAY 13: Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter. Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima. Acts 11:19-26. PS 87:1b-3, 4-5, 6-7. JN 10:22-30. WEDNESDAY, MAY 14: Feast of St. Matthias, apostle and martyr. Acts

OUR LADY OF FATIMA 20th century – May 13 Mary appeared to three peasant children near Fatima, Portugal, six times between May 13 and October 13, 1917, and asked for prayers for world peace and an end to World War I, for sinners, and for the conversion of Russia. She entrusted the children with three secrets, regarding devotion to her Immaculate Heart, a vision of hell, and a “bishop in white” shot by soldiers firing bullets and arrows. Many connect the third secret to the attempted assassination of Blessed Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981, and the pope thanked Mary for guiding the bullet and saving him. At the Vatican last October 13, Pope Francis stood before the statue of Our Lady from the Fatima shrine and formally entrusted the world to Mary.

1:15-17, 20-26. PS 113:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8. JN 15:9-17. THURSDAY, MAY 15: Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter. Optional Memorial of St. Isidore. Acts 13:13-25. PS 89:2-3, 21-22, 25 and 27. JN 13:16-20. FRIDAY, MAY 16: Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter. Acts 13:26-33. PS 2:6-7, 8-9, 10-11ab. JN 14:1-6. SATURDAY, MAY 17: Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter. Acts 13:44-52. PS 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4. JN 14:7-14.

ARTS & LIFE 13

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | MAY 9, 2014

Graphic novel depicts faith and rebellion in China MARK JUDGE CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

NEW YORK – “Boxers & Saints” (First Second Books), a two-volume graphic novel written and drawn by Gene Luen Yang, is an example of comic art at its best. Author Yang is a practicing Catholic who teaches computer science at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland. But “Boxers & Saints” is more than simple cartoon evangelization. It’s a subtle and colorful work that keeps the faith while acknowledging that sometimes there are no easy answers in life. No surprise, then, that “Boxers & Saints” has just been awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature. Yang’s subject is the Boxer Rebellion, the antiforeign, anti-Christian movement that roiled China from 1898 to 1900. “Boxers,” the first volume in the set, tells the story of Bao, a young man who becomes a leader in the uprising. “Saints,” by contrast, is the tale of Four-Girl, a young woman who has visions of St. Joan of Arc, becomes a Catholic and adopts the name Vibiana. The two characters ultimately come face to face on opposite sides of the political and religious divide. There is no sexual content in “Boxers & Saints,” but there is violent action. Yet Yang’s art is very simple, the lines very basic – something on the order of a marginally more sophisticated version of “Peanuts.” Additionally, Yang’s depiction of violence is always driven by events and never involves gratuitous gore. Though clearly not meant for young children, “Boxers & Saints” could be a very useful teaching tool, both for teens and for those adults who may not be familiar with the period in which it’s set.

(CNS PHOTO/FIRST SECOND BOOKS)

This is a page from the comic book “Boxers & Saints.” While living with his family in the small Chinese village of Shan-tung (Shandong in real life), Bao meets Red Lantern Chu, an itinerant

A challenging but worthwhile read on US church and how it changes REVIEWED BY DANIEL S. MULHALL CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

“THE CATHOLIC LABYRINTH: POWER, APATHY AND A PASSION FOR REFORM IN THE AMERICAN CHURCH” BY PETER MCDONOUGH. Oxford University Press (New York, 2013). 303 pp., $29.95. Peter McDonough, professor emeritus at Arizona State University and twice a Fulbright fellow, begins his book “The Catholic Labyrinth” with these words, “The argument of this book is not that Catholicism changes ... the story concerns how the church changes and by how much, and the direction of the change as well.” In the following 303 pages McDonough takes the reader through a large assortment of ideas (“What causes the church in the United States to move?”) and looks in detail at some of the Catholic organizations and personalities that are present in the Catholic Church in the U.S. today. In 13 chapters (along with a Conclusion and a section titled “Conjecture”), McDonough explores neo-conservatism’s culture and strategy within the church, the attempt to reform church management styles, and church reform movements, ending with the conjecture section where he compares the church’s current situation with the decline of the Ottoman empire. To write this book, McDonough conducted indepth interviews with many of the key players for the various movements within the church. He shows a deep understanding of the groups’ history and traditions, and their reason for existing. This information alone makes the book a valuable read for anyone interested in this topic. When the author is at his best, his writing is clear, concise and informative. At other times, however, the writing confuses rather than enlightens. This problem is partly caused by too much information, too many interviews, and trying to juggle too many groups. Stories are told that appear seemingly out of the blue and their purpose for being included at this point in the narrative is not made clear. The author

hints at this confusion when he writes, “This is a book about change in American Catholicism in the way that a cubist painting of a guitar is about a guitar.” That said, this is a book that deserves to be read and studied seriously. McDonough leads the reader through a study of the political, social and sexual issues that are affecting how the Catholic Church in the United States sees and understands itself. With a few notable exceptions where McDonough seems to adopt a liberal attitude about church teaching and practice (for example, when he writes, “From a purely functional standpoint, the celibacy norm for the priesthood has run its course”), for the most part the author takes no personal stand on liberal or conservative attitudes about the church. Rather, he holds up for examination many of the popular notions being presented and examines them with great care. He is not afraid to write things that either side of the theological perspective might read as critical. The strongest sections in the book are Part Two, where the author examines the neo-conservative movement within the U.S. Catholic Church, and Part Three, where he explores the ideas of conciliarism and effective management. The most confusing section is Part Four where the author looks at many of the reform groups that would generally be considered liberal or progressive. This section is confusing primarily because the reform groups the author discusses seem to have little in common other than that they advocate for change in the church. People interested in the future of the Catholic Church in the United States will find “The Catholic Labyrinth” a valuable contribution to the field. Book clubs that are up to a challenging read and a serious discussion will find much here to promote discussion and further study. MULHALL is a catechist and writer. He lives in Laurel, Md.

kung fu master. After Red Lantern is executed by the imperial army, Bao forms a small armed band to march on Peking and take control of China back from Christian missionaries and their Chinese sympathizers. During the rebellion, official China was split between those who supported the Boxers and those who favored conciliation. Thus Bao and his fellow warriors are often unsure which side any given person is on. They draw strength from Chinese gods and dislike Christians – both Chinese ones, whom Bao calls “secondary devils,” and those from the West. A Catholic priest, Father Bey, is shown smashing an idol and demanding that the villagers worship “the one God, Jesus Christ.” Yet in “Saints” Yang shows the other side of the conflict. Four-Girl – who received her unusual moniker because her family couldn’t bear to give her a proper name after three other children died in infancy – is subjected to multiple misfortunes. She’s called a devil by her grandfather, physically assaulted by family members, and driven from her home. Retreating into the woods, Four-Girl encounters a vision of Joan of Arc, another strong young woman. St. Joan convinces Four-Girl to convert to Catholicism. Now called Vibiana, she is schooled and helped by Father Bey. As they both approach Peking, Bao and Vibiana are on a collision course. The outcome should be left to readers, but this much can be said without fear of a spoiler: The conclusion is realistic, understated and moving. The Catholic News Service classification is A-II – adults and adolescents. JUDGE reviews video games and comic books for Catholic News Service.

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14 CALENDAR

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | MAY 9, 2014

ing inner-city Dominican schools. The day includes a live broadcast of the Preakness, a silent auction and raffle. Schools helped by the proceeds include San Francisco’s St. Anthony-Immaculate Conception and St. James. Tickets at $75 and $100 include valet parking, a buffet lunch, racing form. www.visionofhope.org; (510) 533-5768.

FRIDAY, MAY 23 3-DAY CHARISMATIC CONVENTION: “Proclaim Jesus and the Kingdom of God,” Santa Clara Convention Center, May 23, 24, 25 with programs Msgr. James for adults, Tarantino young adults and youth. Speakers include Msgr. James Tarantino, Father Dan Nascimento, Father Angel Quitalig. Bishop Tom Daly of San Jose and Monterey Bishop Richard Garcia are among Mass celebrants. Visit www. NCRCSpirit.org for details and registration. (415) 350-8677.

GALA: St Veronica Parish, dinner, dancing, casino gaming, auction, 6-midnight, Basque Cultural Center, 599 Railroad Ave, South San Francisco,$50 ticket includes four-course dinner, $25 in gaming chips. Reserve at www. stveronicassf.com; Sharon DeBono, (650) 576-5764. HANDICAPABLES MASS: Handicapables Mass and lunch, noon, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough Street at Geary Boulevard, San Francisco. Father Kirk Ullery is principal celebrant and homilist. All disabled people and their caregivers are invited. Volunteers are always welcome to assist in this cherished tradition. Joanne Borodin, (415) 239-4865.

THURSDAY, MAY 15 GOLF: St. Anthony-Immaculate Conception Golf Tournament, Crystal Springs Golf Course, Burlingame with 1 p.m. shotgun start, 6 p.m. dinner with live and silent auctions. Guest Auctioneer is Mitch Juricich, KNBR’s “Hooked on Golf.” Tickets are $200 golf and dinner, $150 golf only, $50 dinner only. dalton_ constance@yahoo.com; (415) 642-6130.

SATURDAY, MAY 17 DAY AT RACES: Vision of Hope Day at the Races, Golden Gate Fields benefit-

SUNDAY, MAY 18 YOUNG ADULT LISTENING SESSIONS: St. Matthew Church, Ward Hall, One Notre Dame Ave., San Mateo, noon; St. Raphael Church, 1104 Fifth Ave., San Rafael, Kennedy Room, 6 p.m. Young adults 18-40 years of age are encouraged to attend. Angela Pollock, (415) 614-5595; pollocka@ sfarchdiocese.org. FESTIVAL: Honoring St. Anthony of Padua, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., St. Anthony Church, Cesar Chavez and Folsom, San Francisco, upper parking lot

SATURDAY, MAY 31 CONCERT: Renee Bondi, herself a quadriplegic and known for her work on behalf of the handicapped, is the featured singer and speaker Renee Bondi at “Igniting Hope” an evening benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America, Petaluma Community Center, 7:30 p.m. Renée Bondi is a nationallyknown Christian recording artist, speaker and author. An accident at age 29 left her paralyzed from the chest down. She later founded Bondi Ministries in an attempt to inspire “all to persevere in a lifelong, personal journey of faith,” concert organizers said. Bondi has appeared on EWTN’s “Life on the Rock.” Tickets are $20. (707) 3249601; StreetsOfRomeBand@ gmail.com.

from Shotwell. The day includes food fair, live music, folk dancing and children’s activities. (415) 6472704. PRESENTATION REUNION: If you or your children were educated by a Sister of the Presentation, in Menlo Park, San Jose, Morgan Hill or Gilroy, attend the South Bay Alumnae and Friends Reception, 1-3 p.m.,

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THURSDAY, MAY 22 THEOLOGY CAFÉ: A speaker series at St. Pius Parish, Homer Crouse Hall, 1100 Woodside Road at Valota, Redwood City featuring topics associated with Vatican II and the church of today. Speaker is Joaquin Sanchez, community organizer. Sister Norberta, (650) 361-1411, ext. 115; srnorberta@pius.org.

SATURDAY, MAY 31 ROSARY: Prayer for conversion of hearts, United Nations Plaza at Hyde and Market streets, San Francisco, 12:30 p.m. Juanita Agcaoili, zenyl8@ yahoo.com; (415) 647-7229.

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COMMUNITY 15

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | MAY 9, 2014

Around the archdiocese

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KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS, MARIN COUNTY: Six-year-old Lucia Tassone helped pass the hat at a joint fundraising dinner at San Anselmo’s Tunstead Hall hosted by the Marin Councils of the Knights of Columbus and the Marin Network for Life Apr. 26. Nearly $8,000 was collected from guests that included the Knights, parishioners of several Marin County parishes and Dominican Sisters of Marin Catholic High School. Lucia is the daughter of Marin Catholic High School teacher and St. Raphael’s Council Knight Joe Tassone, who organized the dinner on behalf of the Marin Knights to buy a new ultrasound machine for Marin Pregnancy Clinic in Novato.

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ITALIAN CATHOLIC FEDERATION: On Sunday, April 27, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone was honored by the San Francisco Italian Catholic Federation at its 53rd Annual Archbishop’s Day Mass, held this year at the National Shrine of St. Francis. The archbishop, center, was later feted at a luncheon at the Italian Athletic Club where the federation presented him with two checks, one from the central council and the other from the local district councils, for a combined total of $6,500. The funds are earmarked for the upkeep of St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, and for scholarships for seminarians.

(PHOTO COURTESY CHRIS GREENAWALT)

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(PHOTO COURTESY ALMA VIA)

(PHOTO COURTESY ST. MATTHEW SCHOOL)

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ALMA VIA OF SAN FRANCISCO: Christine Mills and Mary Stewart, members of the Friendly Club at Alma Via of San Francisco elder care community, give a newborn blanket to a new mother at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco’s neonatal unit. Each blanket, created by members of the club who suffer from memory loss, was wrapped with “words of wisdom” for the new parents from the makers of the blankets.

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ST. MATTHEW SCHOOL, SAN MATEO: Kindergarteners and fifth graders earned money throughout Lent to buy food to be distributed by the St. Matthew St. Vincent de Paul Society to people in need. By sacrificing time to earn the grocery money and then seeing firsthand, while shopping, how expensive food can be, students were able to really live Lent. The Lenten event has been held at the school for more than 20 years. Previously, the food went to St. Matthew parochial vicar Father William Ahlbach’s Food Pantry but since his death last June, it was decided to donate it to the SVdP, an organization close to Father Ahlbach’s heart. Through the activity, the students moved closer to achieving four of the school ‘s learning expectations becoming persons with strong character, active Christians with Catholic vision, responsible citizens and lifelong learners.

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(PHOTO COURTESY ST. RAPHAEL PARISH)

ST. RAPHAEL SCHOOL, SAN RAFAEL: On April 28, kindergarten through eighth grade students participated in Footsteps for Food, a walkathon to promote awareness of hunger in the parish community. In addition to walking, students collected canned food for the St. Vincent de Paul Society food pantry. The event was organized by the fifth grade class working with students from Dominican University. Students, family and friends helped to exceed the goal of col-

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CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD, PACIFICA: On April 18, Good Friday, the Knights of Columbus from the parish joined parishioners in praying an outdoor Stations of the Cross, reading and singing songs.

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16 FROM THE FRONT

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | MAY 9, 2014

FAMILY: Author, adoptive mother publishes ‘Gift for Little Tree,’ a parable about adoption

BISHOPS: Reports set on marriage, family

FROM PAGE 1

FROM PAGE 1

Marquez, who woke up that night with what she called an “invitation from God� to write a parable about adoption for her friend. She wrote until morning about a tree that couldn’t bear fruit in an orchard-full of productive apple trees, some so heavy with fruit their branches were breaking under the weight. In the book, Little Tree asks the farmer who tends to each tree with equal care, why she is here if she can’t grow apples like the other trees. He tells her: “I am the one who planted you Little Tree, I have not forgotten you.� He also tells a fruit-heavy tree that he has a plan to “lighten your load.� The farmer grafts a branch from the other tree to Little Tree’s limb, and she “loved it as her own.� Colleen’s husband found her at dawn, asleep in the original draft of the book. She surprised him by telling him she believed they were meant to adopt. Within 11 months, daughter Gabrielle was welcomed to their home. “Only God can transform hearts,� said Colleen. “I know this because the thought of adoption was a huge stumbling block to me.� Marquez said she was sometimes fearful about pursuing their preference for an open adoption, in which birth parents, adoptive parents and children have an ongoing relationship. But after receiving a call from an expectant mother who was considering adoption, the couple began to see adoption as “more than just our sorrow to fill.� Gabrielle’s birth mother had become pregnant in her senior year of high school. She and the birth father shared their anguish with the Marquez’s about giving up the daughter they already loved so much. At the same time they wanted more for her than they were able to give. “It’s the highest model of sacrificial love I’ve ever seen,� said Marquez, who is now director of

a survey for Catholic families and a handful of U.S. bishops have released some of the results of their responses submitted to the Vatican at the end of January. The bishops will hear a presentation by Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput and Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, on the World Meeting of Families taking place in Philadelphia in September 2015. Organizers say the meeting will be open to families and people of different faiths, including no faith at all, and is meant to engage the wider society in dialogue and to strengthen families. The bishops will also hear a report from Catholic Relief Services regarding relief efforts in the Philippines in the wake of last November’s Typhoon Haiyan. U.S. dioceses raised $24.5 million for these relief efforts. The amount collected includes $6.4 million specifically designated for humanitarian aid and $18.1 million to be equally divided between humanitarian aid and long-term church reconstruction and other programs. Other items on the agenda for the meeting include: – An update and vote on a proposal by a working group on the bishops’ statement linking church teachings to political responsibility. – The annual progress report of the bishops’ efforts to protect children and young people from sexual abuse, presented by Francesco Cesareo, chairman of the National Review Board. – Debate and vote on the renewal of the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, formed in 2011, for an additional three-year term. – An update on the work of the USCCB subcommittees on the Catechism and the Promotion and Defense of Marriage. – Debate and vote on the request for renewal of the “recognitio,� or Vatican approval, for the national directory for the formation, ministry and life of permanent deacons.

Colleen Marquez, center, is pictured with her husband of more than two decades, Mickey, and their daughter Gabrielle and son Isaac. Marquez wrote “A Gift for Little Tree� 20 years ago to honor a friend’s decision to adopt. In the process, her own heart was opened to adoption. outreach and development for Bethany Christian Services in Dublin. She says very few churches talk about adoption or supporting birth parents. “If we are truly pro-life, we need to present God’s heart of grace to families facing unplanned pregnancies,� she said. Colleen and Mickey Marquez have seen firsthand, that their children are not “symbolic flowers severed from their roots� and stuck into a vase to merely adorn their home. “They are more like branches of their families of origin, grafted with love onto our family tree by the farmer to bear fruit with the whole orchard in wisdom and purpose and dignity.� For more information: www.giftforlittletree.com

MERCY HIGH SCHOOL SAN FRANCISCO

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