OC Catholic 4.25.21

APRIL 25, 2021

DIOCESE HOSTS ASIANAMERICAN PRAYER VIGIL

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THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF ORANGE n OCCATHOLIC.COM

ADAPTING TO CHANGE WHEN LOCKDOWN STRUCK, THE SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART HAD TO MAKE SOME HARD DECISIONS. PAGE 10

THE SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART EMBRACE THE DIGITAL AGE WITH VIRTUAL RETREATS AND MINISTRY PROGRAMS. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART

APRIL 25, 2021

CONTENTS

7 10 12

CHRIST CATHEDRAL SHOP REOPENS

The campus bookstore is open again with new hours and a new website.

ADAPTING TO CHANGE

The Sisters of the Sacred Heart have taken their retreat programs to virtual audiences.

OUR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS EXPANDS

The Catholic school located in Newport Beach prepares to begin work on new Athletics and Activities Center. .

PLUS

Guest Editorial, Weekly Readings, Moments In Our Journey

ORANGE COUNTY CATHOLIC MISSION STATEMENT The Orange County Catholic Newspaper seeks to illuminate and animate the journey of faith for Catholics within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange – building solidarity among the faithful and inviting a deeper understanding and involvement in the mission of Christ – through the timely sharing of news, commentary and feature content in an engaging, accessible and compelling format.

ORANGE COUNTY CATHOLIC

The Official Newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange Diocese of Orange Pastoral Center, 13280 Chapman Ave., Garden Grove 92840 Publisher: The Most Reverend Kevin W. Vann, Bishop of Orange Executive Editor: Tracey Kincaid, tkincaid@rcbo.org Editor: Kimberly Porrazzo, webeditor@occatholic.com New Ideas: storyideas@rcbo.org Delivery Problems: occatholicsupport@occatholic.com

ADVERTISING Director of Custom Content: Caroline Wong, cawong@scng.com

SCNG CUSTOM CONTENT Managing Editor: Caitlin Adams

Art Director: Fernando M. Donado

Delivered weekly to parishes and homes throughout Orange County, Calif., Orange County Catholic is published by SCNG Custom Content, a division of Southern California News Group that offers content development and design expertise to businesses and nonprofit institutions. The Orange County Catholic editorial staff and editorial council are responsible for the content contained herein.

Events and products advertised in Orange County Catholic do not carry the implicit endorsement of the Diocese of Orange or SCNG Custom Content.

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OCCatholicNews

@OCCCatholicNews

GUEST EDITORIAL

RIPPING THE ROOF OFF THE HOUSE

BY LAURA KELLY FANNUCCI CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

S

INCE I WAS YOUNG, bleafing through colorful pages in my children’s Bible, I’ve loved the Gospel story where the friends lower the paralyzed man through the roof of the home where Jesus was staying.

It’s a story to seize the imagination: the crowd pressing close, the creativity of determined friends and the drama of a man being lowered on a stretcher to Jesus’ feet.

But the part that catches me now -- as a homeowner -- is the roof. They ripped it off the house.

Whether they removed tiles (Lk 5:19) or opened a hole in straw and clay (Mk 2:4), they decided no barrier could keep their suffering friend from the hope of healing. Whether the roof could be repaired was no concern. They needed to get their friend closer to Jesus now.

This Gospel story teaches an important truth about dismantling barriers that keep others from God. The friends open up the roof, making a way where there was no way. What roof might need to be ripped off the structures we have built, to help people get closer to Jesus?

Many of us spend heaps of time, energy and money on the maintenance of our homes. But do we stop and ask what in our lives might be keeping people from closer communion with Christ?

If this story feels uncomfortable like a pebble in the shoe or unsettling like the shaking of a firm foundation, this is a good sign. The Gospel truth is tearing down our own defenses.

Jesus sees and affirms the faith of the roof-wrecking friends. He doesn’t

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LAURA KELLY FANUCCI WRITES THE “FAITH AT HOME” COLUMN FOR CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE. PHOTO COURTESY LAURA KELLY FANUCCI / CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

yell at them for making a hole or shame them for not using the door like everyone else. He heals their friend’s paralysis and forgives their sins -- even more than they had hoped for.

Who in our life might be longing to get closer to God -- and might need us to rip off the roof of the way we’ve always done things? How could our homes become more welcoming to friend and stranger alike, with all their messy humanity?

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CONTINUES ON PAGE 14

DAILY READINGS AND REFLECTIONS

“

RESPONDING TO THE CALL

D

O WE TRULY KNOW THE VOICE OF CHRIST? Do we truly respond to the voice of our shepherd with our own distinctive voice? How often we attempt to imitate those around us, appropriating the response of another member of the flock to Christ. Perhaps we need to balance the image of being sheep of one flock with the image from the second reading, which tells us that we are all children of God. What child has precisely the same interaction with parents as his or her siblings? Instead, they frequently do and say things to distinguish themselves in the eyes of their parents.

Whether we use the image of children or of sheep to understand our relationship with Christ, we believe that we are all known and called by name. With this great gift comes a responsibility: to respond to the call with our own distinctive voice, to take time to discern exactly what our call is, to determine precisely what the will of the Father is for each of us.

Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co. C

It is always possible to begin anew, because there is a new life that God can awaken in us in spite of all our failures.

- Pope Francis

”

MARK THE EVANGELIST

SAINT PROFILE

FIRST CENTURY

A

CCORDING TO THE ACTS OF THE apostles, Mark’s mother owned the house where the first Jerusalem Christians prayed and where Peter stayed after his miraculous release form prison (Acts 12:1-19). The New Testament also notes that Mark traveled with Paul and Barnabas on their mission to Antioch and that he was associated with both Paul and Peter in Rome. He may have written his Gospel, based on Peter’s preaching, in Rome. By tradition, he was the martyred bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, with his relics later carried to Venice by Venetian merchants. C

READINGS FOR THE WEEK

PHOTOS: CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE, SHUTTERSTOCK

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

ACTS 11:1-18; PS 42:2-3; 43:3, 4; JN 10:1-10

ACTS 11:19-26; PS 87:1B-7; JN 10:2230

ACTS 12:24 — 13:5A; PS 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; JN 12:44-50

ACTS 13:13-25: PS 89:2-3, 21-22, 25, 27; JN 13:16-20

ACTS 13:26-33; PS 2:6-11AB; JN 14:1-6

ACTS 13:44-52; PS 98:1-4; JN 14:7-14

ACTS 9:26-31; PS 22:26-28, 30-32; 1 JN 3:18-24; JN 15:1-8

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FEATURE

A ROCK OF THE CHURCH

LESA TRUXAW, DIRECTOR OF THE DIOCESE’S OFFICE FOR WORSHIP, HAS HAD A LONG, VARIED CAREER LEADING TO HER POSITION

BY BRADLEY ZINT

O

N HER THIRD-FLOOR office within the Diocese of Orange’s Pastoral Center, Lesa Truxaw is surrounded by rows and stacks of leather-bound books.

Well, they may not all be leather-bound, but they’re certainly not just for show.

As director of the Office for Worship, Truxaw needs to be embedded head-high in a deeply sourced well of information.

She relies on what those texts have to say, and such coveted information is generally not on the internet.

“You really do need the books,” Truxaw said with a laugh.

Since 2002, Truxaw has been the Diocese’s go-to person for liturgical questions, and helps facilitate sacramental celebrations, liturgies and devotionals. As an assistant to the bishop, she prepares major Diocesan celebrations, from the annual Chrism Mass to a major dedication.

Her role also has her advising on liturgical design and giving approvals for new churches and parish renovations. It has even helped her become a historian of the Diocese’s varied architectural marvels.

But come this July, Truxaw will be retiring from her role and shifting to part-time advisory work as her upcoming replacement, Deacon Modesto Cordero of the Diocese of Honolulu, gets oriented.

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LESA TRUXAW IN HER OFFICE AT THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE. PHOTO: DREW KELLEY

For the Southern California native, it has been an incredible journey, and certainly not one she seemed initially destined to have.

Truxaw, who lives in Costa Mesa, wasn’t raised Catholic, which she thinks explains her eagerness to soak in all the Catholic traditions she didn’t have growing up. Born in Newport Beach, she grew up attending Nazarene and Baptist churches. She was raised in the San Gabriel Valley but circled back to Newport to attend high school.

She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Cal State Long Beach in home economics, with a minor in marketing.

Her initial career had her in the real estate industry as a financial analyst, putting together transactions.

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Truxaw later transitioned to become business manager to her father-in-law’s business, a land surveying and civil engineering firm. But by the mid-1990s, Truxaw sought a career change. A career assessment service through UC Irvine pointed her toward a teaching or religious position.

By 1994, Truxaw was director of RCIA (rite of Christian initiation of adults) for St. Vincent de Paul in Huntington Beach.

She later became its director of worship before transferring to the Diocese of Orange headquarters in 2002.

Truxaw converted to Catholicism in June 1986 at St. Boniface in Anaheim. It happened after she received a troubling cancer diagnosis.

“My husband and I needed to find a

common spiritual home,” she said. “We decided it made the most sense to have our home in the Catholic church.”

Truxaw deepened her knowledge by attaining a master’s in pastoral liturgy from Santa Clara University. She moved to the Northern California campus over five summers to complete her coursework.

At the Diocese, one of her career highlights was the installation of Bishop Kevin Vann in 2012. Vann’s coming to Orange County happened on relatively short notice, and Truxaw needed to find a large venue for the job. The site ended up being the Bren Events Center at UC Irvine, where 4,000 people showed up.

“I had to transform a gym, a basketball arena, into a sacred space,” Truxaw said.

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FEATURE / CATHOLIC FAMILY LIVING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

“And doing that on such short notice was hair-raising. It was a massive process.”

She also pointed to the 2019 dedication of Christ Cathedral, formerly known as Crystal Cathedral. The iconic Garden Grove church was renovated to fit the Catholic church’s needs and traditions.

Working on such massive endeavors, with large groups of talented, diverse people, has been a rewarding part of Truxaw’s career.

“I love the collaborative process,” she said.

Bishop Timothy Freyer paid tribute to Truxaw’s dedication to Christ Cathedral and the Diocese of Orange.

“I have enjoyed serving with Lesa over the years as a member of the catechumenate advisory board, the liturgical commission and in planning liturgies.

Lesa has always had a heart of service, has been faithful to the Church’s directives and strives to include all our communities in our diocesan liturgies.

“When I was a pastor, I would call Lesa with various questions and always found her to be insightful and clear in her communication.

“Lesa loves the Church and has always tried to help all of us to prayerfully participate in our worship of the Lord. She will be greatly missed.” C

LESA TRUXAW’S CAREER, BY THE NUMBERS: 26 diaconate ordinations 22 presbyteral ordinations 4 episcopal ordinations Installation of Bishop Vann 4 funerals for bishops 17 dedications of parish churches (soon to be 18 with Christ Our Savior) n Renovation and dedication of Christ Cathedral n n n n n n

CHRIST CATHEDRAL SHOP REOPENS FOLLOWING PANDEMIC CLOSURE

BY CATHI DOUGLAS

A

S FOR US ALL, the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the plans to operate and expand the Christ Cathedral

Shop.

But Steve Peters, who operates the store, is moving forward cautiously. Earlier this month, he extended the store’s hours to seven days a week and launched a new store website, christcathedralshop. com.

“I’m pretty optimistic,” says Peters, who with his family also operates a Fountain Valley store, Catholic Books & Gifts, and an international website, catholicfreeshipping.com. “It’s going to be slow until COVID-19 numbers go down. Still, people are coming in and want to return to life as normal.”

The Christ Cathedral Shop is now open Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“Our business is a service to the community,” Peters explains. “We want to spread the faith and for the faithful to be knowledgeable about Catholicism.

“At the same time, we try to make the store welcoming for everyone,” he adds.

“We have a lot of visitors come in who used to attend services at the former Crystal Cathedral.” They too can find something they like, he says, among the souvenirs, religious items, spiritual and prayer books, and jewelry.

It’s been a long road back from the store’s closure. After opening on May 13, 2019, the store was fully functional during the cathedral’s dedication in July 2019. The pandemic closed the store on March 18, 2020.

“Everything was so uncertain,” Peters recalls. “The news was changing every day. In the beginning, we wondered if we

THE CAMPUS STORE AT CHRIST CATHEDRAL OPENS ITS DOORS TO THE PUBLIC AGAIN. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE

would ever reopen.

“We furloughed everyone from the cathedral store,” he continues. “When we reopened on June 14, 2020, it was just me working there.”

Starting with Sundays, the store gradually opened, adding hours during the weekends, then on Fridays, and finally in early April 2021 was back to full-time operation.

The store’s full-time hours and new website are designed to assist both loyal local customers and the tourists who visit Christ Cathedral from all over the world.

“Before the pandemic, tourists were coming from all over the country, and throughout the world,” Peters observes.

“Then there are people who used to drive out to the other [Fountain Valley] store and discover that this one is closer. They tell me they love what we carry, and that the store brings them closer in devotion to the cathedral.”

The new website offers several sec-

tions for bestsellers, specific items and books and gifts for occasions and devotions, like items perfect for worship and prayer in the Year of St. Joseph, he adds.

“Since Pope Francis declared the Year of St. Joseph everything related to St. Joseph is selling well,” Peters says. “They can’t make the items fast enough.” Especially popular is a statue of St. Joseph sleeping, which he says is Pope Francis’s favorite.

Another bestseller is the new book

by Fr. Quan Tran, parochial vicar of St. Bonaventure Parish, called “The Imitation of Mary,” which the local priest has been marketing with appearances in Diocese of Orange parishes.

In the future, Peters says, he wants to improve and expand the ChristCathedralshop.com website – for instance, adding Spanish and Vietnamese language materials – to make it the best of any U.S. cathedral. “We want the site to be inclusive to all.” C

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LEFT PAGE

PAID ADVERTISEMENT

Cross Catholic Outreach’s Water Projects Provide Safe Options in Poor Communities Cross Catholic Outreach has become a recognized problem-solving partner of Christcentered missions in the developing countries of the world, and one of its global priorities is to end water scarcity by undertaking major water projects in communities with urgent needs.

One of the ministry’s most recent efforts is taking place in Nicaragua (see story on opposite page), if it gains support from American Catholics, the benefits to poor families there will be tremendous. Because each of its water projects is tailored to the area and its people, the specific tasks involved in this recent undertaking were explained by Cross Catholic Outreach’s president, Jim Cavnar.

“Let me start with the situation we addressed. Local Church leaders came to us for help because families in Chinandega, Nicaragua, were getting deathly ill and suffering a lot of other hardships because they lacked a source of safe water,” Cavnar said. “Most had been relying on shallow wells or collecting their water from rivers contaminated with human and animal waste, bacteria, and parasites. As terrible as those water sources are, they had to be used because there are no other safer options. Still, every time they took a drink or offered a cup to their children, they risked illness — even death.”

The water project Cross Catholic Outreach is undertaking in Nicaragua will be challenging, but Cavnar believes it will have a dramatic impact on the lives of the poor.

“This work will be done in the community of El Raisal, and it will directly benefit 70 families with a permanent solution to their struggles against thirst and waterborne

illness,” Cavnar said. “The first step will be to use a professional crew to drill a deep well of about 300 feet. That’s important because a shallow well — the kind most of the area’s poor families have been using — is too susceptible to contamination. A deep well is necessary to reach clean, safe water and to draw from only that reliable source.”

Once the well is completed, other equipment is needed to make the water easily accessible. For this project, an electrical pump and large water tank will be installed, along with a filtration and chlorination system to remove disease-causing contaminants.

“There’s a huge public service part of the project too. Miles of PVC pipes must be laid in hand-dug trenches, so the community rallies to participate in that part of the job,” Cavnar explained. “It’s backbreaking work, but in my experience, the local men and women engage in it joyfully because they understand the amazing blessing this water will be for their families. Most walked miles to get unsafe water. Through this project, they will have a faucet right at their home!”

Now that the project has been identified and a plan to handle its technical challenges is on the table, Cross Catholic Outreach is undertaking a U.S. fundraising drive to make it a reality. It is an appeal Cavnar is confident American Catholics will eagerly embrace, as they have in the past.

“We’ve managed scores of successful water projects all over the world, and I’ve always been humbled and gratified by the way U.S. Catholics have risen to the challenge and generously sponsored the work,” he said. “I think there are three things that appeal to them.

Teresa Camacho, one of Cross Catholic Outreach’s international project officers, meets with workers operating a well-drilling rig to discuss the project’s challenges.

First, they understand the importance of water.

It is necessary for life. Second, they rightly want to support Church-based efforts to serve the poor because the Gospel calls all of us to that course of action. Third, they have safe water at their own fingertips, and they’re grateful to God for that blessing. This is their chance to bless others with that benefit in the Lord’s name.”

Readers interested in supporting Cross Catholic Outreach water projects and other

outreaches to the poor can contribute through the ministry brochure inserted in this issue or send tax-deductible gifts to: Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC01748, PO Box 97168, Washington DC 20090-7168. The ministry has a special need for partners willing to make gifts on a monthly basis. Use the inserted brochure to become a Mission Partner or write “Monthly Mission Partner” on mailed checks to be contacted about setting up those arrangements.

Cross Catholic Outreach Endorsed by More Than 100 Bishops, Archbishops Cross Catholic Outreach’s range of relief work to help the poor overseas continues to be recognized by a growing number of Catholic leaders in the U.S. and abroad.

“We’ve received more than 100 endorsements from bishops and archbishops,” explained Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach. “They’re moved by the fact that we’ve launched outreaches in almost 40 countries and have undertaken a variety of projects — everything from feeding the hungry and housing the homeless to supplying

safe water and supporting educational opportunities for the poorest of the poor. The bishops have also been impressed by Cross Catholic Outreach’s direct and meaningful responses to emergency situations, most recently by providing food, medicines and other resources to partners in Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala impacted by natural disasters.”

Bishop Ronald W. Gainer of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, supports this mission, writing, “What a joy it is to be part of the Lord’s

redemptive work and to manifest his mercy on Earth by caring for our neighbors in need.”

In addition to praising CCO’s accomplishments, many of the bishops and archbishops are encouraged that pontifical canonical status was conferred on the charity in September 2015, granting it approval as an official Catholic organization. This allows CCO to participate in the mission of the Church and to give a concrete witness to Gospel charity, in collaboration with the Holy Father.

“Your work with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is a strong endorsement of your partnership with the work of the Universal Church,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco said. “By providing hope to the faithful overseas by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, delivering medical relief to the sick and sheltering the homeless, as well as through self-help projects, you are embodying the papal encyclical Deus Caritas Est.

RIGHT PAGE

PAID ADVERTISEMENT

Church Leaders Appeal to American Catholics for Help in Ending Suffering Caused by Unsafe Water in Nicaragua Families living in Nicaragua’s remote Chinandega area have simple ambitions.

They want to escape daily hunger, to have the steady income a good harvest can provide, and — perhaps most of all — they want easy access to a source of safe water.

This is because a source of safe, abundant water — something most Americans take for granted — impacts so many other areas of their lives. It is essential to their farms, their livestock, their children’s education and their entire family’s health.

“Unfortunately, what these poor people want most is incredibly difficult for them to obtain.

Most of them have grown up struggling through the problems water scarcity creates, and they see little chance their children will escape the same plight,” confirmed James Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach, one of the key Catholic development ministries working in

this area of Nicaragua. “I think most Americans would be shocked to learn what these people go through to obtain a single bucket of well or river water, and they would be even more appalled to discover how unsafe that water is for them to drink. What they collect is often filthy, but they drink it anyway because they have no other option. Water is essential to life, and they can’t survive without it.”

Cross Catholic Outreach, the ministry Cavnar founded, actually seeks out these “worst case scenarios” and partners with the local priests, religious sisters and Catholic lay leaders to find solutions. This work takes his mission teams into some of the most remote, rural areas of each diocese.

“In the communities we visit, water is not available from a faucet at home or even from a community well in most cases. Instead, it is drawn from a more remote location — often a pond or muddy stream — and the water collected from these places can easily be tainted with animal waste, parasites, contaminants, or all three,” Cavnar said. “Even in places like this, water solutions are possible, but they cost much more than these struggling families can afford, so unless the Church and concerned American Catholics step in to help, these poor communities will probably never have a source of safe, abundant water.

They will continue to suffer, and so will every generation that comes after them.”

The illnesses caused by unsafe water are an obvious part of the problem Cavnar describes, but he contends the impact of this hardship actually goes much further than one might

expect. For example, adults who become sick from contaminated water often lose work hours and income, and their ill children have difficulty keeping up with classwork, if they are able to go to school at all.

There can even be dangers in collecting the water itself.

“Because a water source may be very remote, and the trek to reach it can be arduous, you’ll often hear stories about people getting injured doing this chore. Water is extremely heavy too, so children and the elderly always struggle to carry it,” Cavnar said. “In some countries we serve, there are threats from animals and people to contend with as well. A young girl often leaves before dawn to reach

B C B

a water source before lines form, and there have been cases where attacks or abuse have happened while she walks in the dark.”

Along with all of these challenges, water scarcity becomes one of the key reasons children miss school. Because they are typically tasked with getting a family’s water and they may need to take several trips a day to accomplish the chore, the loss of time and energy can easily lead to truancy.

“As you can see, water scarcity is a serious problem and it impacts families — especially children — in many ways.

That is why we have made it a priority to

work with Catholic leaders in Nicaragua to provide a solution — an easily accessible source of safe water for poor communities like Chinandega,” Cavnar said. “It’s a challenging task, but we know it can be achieved if Catholic donors in the U.S. will join us in funding the work (see story on opposite page). The Church leaders are eager to get this project underway, but they can’t accomplish it alone. It’s a case where help from their Catholic brothers and sisters in America is needed, and we want to organize that support to bless them and the people they serve.”

How to Help To fund Cross Catholic Outreach’s effort to help the poor worldwide, use the postage-paid brochure inserted in this newspaper or mail your gift to Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC01748 PO Box 97168, Washington DC 20090-7168. The brochure also includes instructions on becoming a Mission Partner and making a regular monthly donation to this cause.

If you identify an aid project, 100% of the donation will be restricted to be used for that specific project. However, if more is raised for the project than needed, funds will be redirected to other urgent needs in the ministry.

FEATURE

ADAPTING TO CHANGE WHEN LOCKDOWN STRUCK, THE SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART HAD TO MAKE SOME HARD DECISIONS

BY GREG MELLEN

O

N A SUNDRENCHED, postcard of a spring day, the only thing missing on the manicured grounds of the Heart of Jesus Retreat Center in Santa Ana is the bustle of children.

Since 1978, when the Sisters of the Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart began offering educational retreats, the three-acre parcel in Southwest Santa Ana had grown into a beehive of activity with 10,000 - 12,000 visitors annually.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic came along and rendered the site silent.

Sister Paula Sawhill remembers the eerie quiet that descended after the Retreat Center had to shutter operations.

“Do we live in a cloister now?” she recalls asking herself.

In previous years, children from schools across Southern California took day trips to the grounds donated by the ranching and farming Borchard family.

On campus, the children spent a day attending presentations by the sisters, eating snacks, singing, praying, taking part in crafts and having play time.

It was a chance to “encounter and spend a day with Jesus,” according to the Retreat Center’s literature.

Although, for now, the children are no longer physically present, the work goes on and the sisters remain as busy as ever. Like many Catholics, the Sacred Heart Sisters, as they’re commonly called, have used the virus as an agent

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FAMILIES TUNE IN FOR A VIRTUAL RETREAT WITH THE SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART.

for change. Modern technology is transforming what it means for Catholics to meet, or, in their case, retreat.

With Zoom, Flipgrid, Mentimeter and other technologies and apps, the sisters have ventured into the digital world and stayed connected with audiences.

And because there are no geographical limits on the internet, the sisters have reached previously unavailable families.

This is particularly true in the case of the after-school Kids Clubs which, until April last year, had been held on-site.

“That’s where our borders have expanded,” said Sister Gabrielle Vogl, director of the Center.

Since going online, families who couldn’t make the trek to Santa Ana have joined. Even families from Canada and Georgia have joined.

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This year, although they have only had 2,667 attendees for the school year, the sisters have created and played host to 73 virtual meetings, including retreats for Advent, Lent and catechism.

There were also a series of lessons for second graders preparing for First Holy Communion and vocational retreats for fourth graders.

Not that it has been an entirely smooth process and the sisters admit to more than a few technological “flops” along the way.

Collectively, a team of six sisters, Paula, Gabrielle, Charis Kwon, Andrea Chiang and Susan Baschke create the online activities for kids, while Grace Yip oversees content for adults.

Activities are held in conjunction with schools. Sessions are interactive

and mimic the actual experience as nearly as possible, down to the donuts and juice in the morning. Although some presentations are prerecorded, the sisters are available for live interaction with the kids onscreen.

“You have to keep it fun and interactive,” says Sister Gabrielle, who leads crafts projects. “It’s fun, but when it’s second graders it can be a little unpredictable.”

She tells of a project where puppets were being constructed for a lesson about the prodigal son. While one girl was engrossed in the lesson, her 5-year-old sister was offscreen mimicking her sister and putting her own spin on the story.

Since going digital, the weekly afCONTINUES ON PAGE 9

FEATURE orangediocese • follow April 17, 2021 orangediocese On the latest Empowered by The Spirit podcast, Deacon Steve Greco teams up with dear friend and fellow radio host, Rick Howick, take a deep dive into the meaning and biblical background of divine mercy. https://occatholic.com/ episode-273empowered-by-the-spirit-the-biblical-background-of-divine-mercy/

orangediocese • follow April 16, 2021 orangediocese Very Rev. Christopher Smith’s weekly reflection for the week of April 14, 2021. #OCCatholic

To report sexual abuse by clergy or church personnel please call: 1 (800) 364–3064 Healing and Hope After Abortion: 1 (800) 722–4356 New Hope Crisis Counseling Hot Line (24/7): 1 (714) NEW–HOPE or 1 (714) 639–4673

THE SISTERS SHARE A VIRTUAL GREETING. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

ter-school Kids Club for third through eighth graders has turned into the biggest draw. Through mid-March, the Kids Club had held 31 meetings with 749 kids, 31 youth and 113 adults, accounting for 46 percent of the participants in the activities provided by the sisters.

“It’s taken a lot of energy,” Sister Gabrielle says of the digital transformation. “It may only be an hour long, but a lot of work goes into each production.”

The Retreat Center occupies a portion of the old ranch and lima bean fields once owned by the Borchards, and have been going strong ever since the first retreat was held in a converted garage. Since the opening, a 5,000-square foot chapel and a conference building that can accommodate up to 395 have been added.

The Sisters of the Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart were founded by Sister Ida Peterfy, who escaped Nazism

and communism in her native Hungary.

In addition to the retreats and online work, the sisters are deeply involved in prayer and prayer requests, which have taken on greater meaning and gravity in the past year.

“We’re still listening to prayer intentions,” Sister Paula said.

During the pandemic, the magnitude of requests have predictably become more intense and the sisters spend added time on the phone with those suffering or in need of added prayer.

But there is nothing quite like the work the sisters do with the kids, even if it is in a digital world.

“The Zoom meetings did bring back some of that energy and chaos,” Sister Gabrielle said. “We look forward to the day when we’re open again.”

Information on retreats and classes available at 714-557-4538 or by email at retreatcenter@sacredheartsisters. com. C

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DIOCESAN NEWS

OUR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS EXPANDS FR. STEVE SALLOT BLESSED GROUNDS ON WHICH A NEW ATHLETIC AND ACTIVITIES CENTER WILL BE LOCATED

BY BRADLEY ZINT

O

UR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS Catholic School in Newport Beach recently got one step closer toward building its long-awaited Athletics and Activities Center, an 11,000-square-foot facility that will house indoor recreational and performance opportunities for generations of children, families and parishioners.

The $6.8-million center, which will be located on a portion of the school’s parking lot, received a blessing with Holy Water on March 8 and prayer from the parish’s pastor Fr. Steve Sallot. Sallot distributed the blessing along the perimeter, lined with students, of where the center will be.

Fr. Sallot wrote in a letter to parents: “It has long been a dream of our parish and school to enjoy an Athletics and Activities Center on our campus. That dream, which was begun by Msgr. Bill McLaughlin, and carried forward by Msgr. Kerry Beaulieu will become a reality as the project begins on Monday, March 8, 2021.”

Construction for the Athletics and Activities Center, which was first envisioned in 1998, is expected to last 12 months. When complete, it will contain the following: a regulation basketball court, two volleyball courts, a performance stage, locker rooms, offices, restrooms, a concession stand, storage areas, a lobby and plaza areas. Bleacher seating will accommodate nearly 500 people.

School officials say the facility will not only serve athletic needs, but ministry and performing arts ones, too, such as hosting concerts and faith formation events.

A cornerstone celebration is planned for May. Fundraising for the project is ongoing. C

RENDERINGS OF THE NEW ATHLETICS AND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER TO BE LOCATED AT OUR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS CHURCH IN NEWPORT BEACH. PHOTOS COURTESY OUR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS

The Diocese of Orange, through OC Catholic newspaper, presents local, national and world news about the Catholic Church. Our intention is to give our readers access to a variety of perspectives in order to help them to process the information within the framework of our Catholic faith, but also to better understand the perspectives of those with opposing viewpoints. We hope that ultimately our readers will be better equipped to have constructive conversations that further the growth of the Catholic Church. C

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DIOCESAN NEWS

CHRIST CATHEDRAL HOSTS PRAYER VIGIL FOR ASIAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY

BY GREG MELLEN

O

N THE PATIO OUTSIDE THE Freed Theater on the Christ Cathedral campus, a special wishing tree was laden with hundreds of purple “leaves.” Each was actually a piece of paper inscribed with a message. The missives ranged from pieces of scripture to memorable quotes to personal reflections. Collectively they were pleas for peace and an end to the recent surge of racism, violence and hate.

Below the tree, large votive candles glittered near placards with the names of the victims of the March 16 mass shooting rampage in Atlanta that claimed eight victims, including six Asian women.

On Tuesday, March 30, in response to the shooting and a rise in hate crimes, particularly against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, a vigil was staged at Christ Cathedral to remember victims. More than 200 parishioners, volunteers and allies of the diocese’s Asian community attended the vigil in a public display of unity and purpose.

“I think our faith community tends to suffer in silence,” Sister Thui Tran, of the Sisters of St. Joseph, said of Asians.

This was a chance to speak up in a place where it was “safe to come together and heal each other,” she said.

Katie Tran, grants and program manager for Hope Community Services, donators of the tree, presided over the service. Throughout she referred to the gathering as a “healing space.”

The evening vigil, set up with the help of the diocese’s offices of Youth & Young Adult Ministry and Life, Justice and Peace, along with faith and nonprofit groups, came together almost organically, with each group adding its own flair and cultural touch.

According to Armando Cervantes, director of the Youth & Young Adult Ministry, the event was a melding of

MORE THAN 200 COMMUNITY MEMBERS ATTENDED A VIGIL TO COMMEMORATE THE VICTIMS OF THE MARCH 16 ATTACKS IN ATLANTA. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE

“different communities with their different giftings.”

Featured speakers were Auxiliary Bishop Thanh Thai Nguyen, Sister Maria Ly, of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Father Peter Lavin, from the Filipino community, and Jessica Nguyen, from the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement. There were also prayers, gospel readings and music by a Korean Catholic youth band.

Bishop Nguyen said while prayer remained necessary, “we as Catholics have to stand up for the truth we believe in.”

He added that the message resonated during Holy Week, when Catholics reflect on the cross and the passion of

Jesus.

The bishop said recent trends in violence, bullying, racist language are “sins that separate us from God and sins that separate us from each other,” adding they are “an affront to human dignity.”

Bishop Nguyen invoked the words of Bishop Kevin Vann, who called the racism “not only regrettable but reprehensible.”

Jessica Nguyen related a recent incident when she was confronted during a visit to a physical therapy client.

Nguyen said, when questioned, she fell into her cultural reactions of bowing her head and averting her eyes.

“These small remarks and microag-

gressions, they stay with us and mark us,” she said. “They make us feel small and less than.”

It is time, Nguyen said, for Asians to realize “you belong here.”

“We are called upon to put our prayer to actions,” she said. “Tomorrow we have to be that change.”

As Greg Walgenbach, director of Life, Justice and Peace, and Sister Thui recited a closing prayer, the carillon bells from the nearby Bell Tower sounded out the top of the hour.

Volunteers passed out markers and paper leaves to write upon.

Placed on the tree, the leaves danced in the evening breeze. C

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Our first reaction might not always be the most compassionate or Christlike. If my kids tore a hole in the roof of our house (literally or metaphorically) I’d likely yell or scold first. But Jesus sees what matters most: the need of the suffering man and the faith of his friends. He does not worry about the externals.

He reminds us there is always room, beyond what we think possible.

Christians are called not to close ourselves off to the world but to let others inside our homes and holy places and help them come closer to God. Servant of God Dorothy Day urged people to keep a “Christ room”: a place where strangers would always be welcomed. Every time I read her words, I’m challenged to consider whether this is true for my own home or heart: “Every house should have a Christ’s

room. The coat which hangs in your closet belongs to the poor. If your brother comes to you hungry and you say, Go be thou filled, what kind of hospitality is that? ...

“Of course husbands must be considered, and wives must be considered, and children. One must look after one’s own family, it is true. But Fr. Coady said once, ‘We can all do 10 times as much as we think we can do’” (The Catholic Worker, 1947).

How can we be unafraid to rip off the roof and help others (and ourselves) to get closer to God, whatever it takes?

How could the walls of our hearts become more porous, letting in all whom God asks us to love? C Fanucci is a writer, speaker, and author of several books including “Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting.” Her work can be found at laurakellyfanucci.com.

Moments MomentsininourourJourney Journey

The Lovers of the Holy Cross Sisters, at Tustin’s Planned Parenthood building on a recent Sunday. They came with such joy they made others smile.

Submitted by Nancy Shanafelt, Christ Cathedral

Send your photos that capture Catholic life in your parish community to: webeditor@occatholic.com

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