MAY 30, 2021
BISHOP VANN WELCOMES NEW ORDER WITH BLESSING
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THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF ORANGE n OCCATHOLIC.COM
MEMORIAL DAY, IN REMEMBRANCE TRUMPETER TO MARK A YEAR OF PLAYING ‘TAPS’ DAILY. PAGE 6
BOB TUSZYNSKI, A FOURTH-DEGREE KNIGHT OF COLUMBUS, PERFORMS “TAPS” ON HIS TRUMPET AT HOLY CROSS CEMETERY IN BAY SETTLEMENT, WIS., APRIL 22, 2021. TUSZYNSKI BEGAN THE PRACTICE ON MEMORIAL DAY LAST YEAR AND HAS CONTINUED TO PLAY NEARLY EVERY DAY. BY MEMORIAL DAY, MAY 31, HE WILL HAVE PERFORMED “TAPS” 1,000 TIMES, HE SAID. PHOTO: SAM LUCERO, THE COMPASS / CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
RECONNECT WITH FAITH AND FAMILY THIS EASTER SEASON WITH ORANGE COUNTY CATHOLIC
MAY 30, 2021
CONTENTS
7 11 13
CATHOLIC GETAWAYS
Summertime and lifted restrictions mean it’s time to find faith on the road.
PUBLIC HEALTH HERO
State organization recognizes Bishop Timothy Freyer for his efforts promoting vaccination.
MERCY SISTERS AID AT THE BORDER
Women religious provide much-needed aid ministering to migrant families facing harsh challenges at crossing the border.
PLUS
Guest Column, 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
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GUEST COLUMN
WISE FARMING LESSONS INSTILL ORDER BY FATHER EUGENE HEMRICK CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
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AVE YOU EVER REFLECTED on why Christ employs agrarian images in his parables? For example, the smallest seed becoming a large bush, the curse of the fig tree, pruning a vine and burning weeds. This leads us to ask, what are some wise agrarian principles for coping with life’s complexities? The first principle is weeding to create breathing space for plant expansion. The need for fertilization is a second principle that generates healthy growth. Timing is yet another critical process. As the Book of Ecclesiastes suggests, there is a time to sow and a time to reap -- to strike while the iron is hot and give immediate attention when earnestly needed. When these principles are summarized, the CONTINUES ON PAGE 12
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PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
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.
DAILY READINGS AND REFLECTIONS
“ The Risen
THE MYSTERY OF THE BLESSED TRINITY
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ODAY WE CELEBRATE THE SOLEMNITY of the Most Holy Trinity. The Church sets aside this Sunday to focus our attention on the mystery of the Blessed Trinity, God who is one, but three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The first reading from Deuteronomy emphasizes both God’s awesome greatness and amazing nearness. It might seem beyond belief, but the God of all creation speaks to us, protects us, and guides us. The second reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans describes how we are to relate to the three persons who are one God. We are led by the Spirit to meet God the Father as adopted children. Our adoption is such that we are even heirs with our brother, Christ, the second person of the Trinity, in whose sufferings we must also share. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus speaks with his authority as God and sends us to teach and baptize in the name of the Trinity. Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co. C
One gives us the certainty that good always triumphs over evil…” - Pope Francis
SAINT PROFILE
JOAN OF THE CROSS
1666-1736
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EANNE DELANOUE RAN A RELIGIOUS ARTICLES SHOP near a shrine in Anjou, France. She kept the store open on Sundays, but felt guilty about her greedy approach to business. In 1693 an eccentric woman spoke a prophetic word to Jeanne, which launched her on a season of repentance. After a significant conversion, she began to care for poor families, bringing them food and clothing. Then Jeanne soon welcomed the destitute into buildings and caves that came to be known as Providence House. Several women who joined her formed the Congregation of St. Anne in 1704. And Jeanne took the name Joan of the Cross. Before her death in August 1736, she had founded 12 communities, hospices and schools for the poor.C
READINGS FOR THE WEEK
PHOTOS: CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE, SHUTTERSTOCK
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
ZEP 3:14-18A OR ROM 12:9-16; IS 12:2-3, 4BCD-6; LK 1:39-56
TB 2:9-14; PS 112:12, 7-9; MK 12:13-17
TB 3:1-11A, 16-17A; PS 25:2-5AB, 6-7BC, 8-9; MK 12:18-27
TB 6:10-11; 7:1BCDE, 9-17; 8:49A; PS 128:1-5; MK 12:28-34
TB 11:5-17; PS 146:1B-2, 6C-10; MK 12:35-37
TB 12:1, 5-15, 20; TB 13:2, 6EFGH-8; MK 12:38-44
EX 24:3-8; PS 116:12-13, 15-18; HEB 9:11-15; MK 14:12-16, 22-26
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FEATURE
ON MEMORIAL DAY, TRUMPETER TO MARK A YEAR OF PLAYING ‘TAPS’ DAILY BY SAM LUCERO CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
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HEN BOB TUSZYNSKI heard about a request in May 2020 for buglers and trumpeters to perform “Taps” at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day, he jumped at the opportunity. “At that time, I had not touched my trumpet in four to six months and not practiced in earnest in almost four years,” he told The Compass, newspaper of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin. “I dressed up and went to Royal Scot (golf club) and failed miserably.” The “Taps Across America” initiative was promoted by CBS News “On the Road” correspondent Steve Hartman to honor veterans. In a year when a worldwide pandemic halted picnics, parades and memorial services around the country for veterans, it was something Tuszynski said he needed to do. “I was a little bit embarrassed, but I also thought about it from the perspective of my father, my uncles and relatives who had fought to save our country and actually keep it free,” he said. It’s also one of the reasons he’s continued what has now become his daily tradition. Since last Memorial Day, Tuszynski has missed only two days of playing “Taps.” His routine usually includes three locations near his home: Royal Scot, Holy Family Cemetery and Holy Family Church. “I’ve played in the snow, I’ve played in the rain and I’ve played in five states so far,” said Tuszynski. “If I travel, I try to take my trumpet because I don’t want to miss a day.” Tuszynski wears his fourth-degree Knights of Columbus uniform when he plays for special occasions, like holidays. “Even though I didn’t serve (in the
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THE U.S. SOLDIERS’ AND AIRMEN’S HOME NATIONAL CEMETERY IS SEEN IN WASHINGTON MAY 17, 2020. MEMORIAL DAY, OBSERVED MAY 31 THIS YEAR, IS A NATIONAL DAY OF REMEMBRANCE HONORING MEMBERS OF THE U.S. ARMED FORCES WHO DIED IN MILITARY SERVICE. PHOTO: TYLER ORSBURN — CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Armed Forces), I am part of the Knights of Columbus and our fourth degree is about patriotism,” he said. “So to honor them, I started to play every day.” When President Joe Biden announced last January that he would reverse a Trump-era policy that barred federal Title X family planning funding to entities that perform and refer for abortions, like Planned Parenthood, Tuszynski said, he added this intention to playing “Taps.”
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“The fact that one of God’s children is taken away” through abortion prompted him to also do “Taps” to “honor the unborn,” he said. “So those are the things that run through my mind when I’m playing.” In addition to “Taps,” Tuszynski said he adds a verse from another song afterward. “Amazing Grace,” “What a Wonderful World” and “Let There Be Peace on Earth” are some of the songs he’s played.
The reaction from area residents has been mostly positive, he said. “I know some people have heard it. I’ve gotten thank-you’s from some people, but I truly don’t do it for (recognition),” he said. “I do it to honor those” who have served their country. “The neighbors from Holy Cross Cemetery, they come out and I wave at them. They come out, listen and stand at attention.” Tuszynski grew up in Milwaukee, CONTINUES ON PAGE 7
FEATURE / CATHOLIC FAMILY LIVING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6
where he began playing the trumpet around sixth grade. “I always liked music, so I played it probably through high school,” he said. “My first musical instrument was percussion drums. I continued to play at church and at weddings, then I went to college and focused on athletics.” Tuszynski attended Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he played football and ran track. He graduated with a degree in business administration/accounting in 1981. He also met his wife, Tanya, at Carthage and they were married in 1982. They have five adult children: Jason, Rachel, Kelly, Louis and Machelle. In addition to playing the trumpet, Tuszynski’s musical background includes singing in the Dudley Birder Chorale and cantoring at Holy Cross Church. “I’ve cantored at the diocese and sung in the diocesan choir,” he said. As a manager of financial advisers for Thrivent financial services in Appleton, Wisconsin, Tuszynski has been working from home during the pandemic. He’s not sure when he will return to his office or how that will change his trumpeting schedule. However, he does plan to continue the practice as long as possible. “I plan to keep playing at least until Nov. 9,” the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, he said. “But I may continue after that.” He also intends to join other trumpeters around the country for the second “Taps Across America” on Memorial Day, May 31. “I think it’s somewhere around 960,” he said in estimating the number of times he’s played “Taps” in the last year. “So by Memorial Day of this year, it will be over 1,000 times playing.” C
CATHOLIC GETAWAYS
OPPORTUNITIES FOR FAITH-FILLED SUMMER VACATIONS ABOUND LOCALLY, STATEWIDE, AND NATIONALLY BY CATHI DOUGLAS
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OLLOWING THE ISOLATION wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, many families are planning summer getaways as restrictions loosen, vacation deals become abundant, and domestic travel is possible. For Catholic families, a number of faith-based vacations are available in Orange County, in California, throughout the United States and abroad. From cruises to on-foot pilgrimages, a plethora of shrines, missions, and cathedrals beckon to Catholic tourists. A number of Catholic vacation spots welcome families from throughout the U.S. Catholic-link.org offers a guide to 11 of the best U.S. destinations for Catholic families, including St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City to St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, also in the nation’s capital. Other sites of interest are the National Center for Padre Pio in Barto, Pennsylvania and the National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods in Gaylord, Michigan, where you can see a cross that is 28 feet tall and weighs seven tons.
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
Faith-based explorations offer activities for families. At Bethlehem Farm in Talcott, West Virginia, families spend the week serving in the local community, learning about sustainable living, and in reflective prayer. Here in California, the 21 Missions welcome families for day visits and pilgrimages. The missions form a continuous line from San Diego to Sonoma, with some missions little more than ruins and others extensively restored. The California Mission Walk is an 800-mile route that roughly follows El Camino Real, the trail that once connected the missions statewide. At 206tours.com, you can find guided pilgrimage tours to the missions. Several missions are within a day’s drive from Orange County. As children, my two sons and daughter studied the California Missions and we visited Mission San Juan Capistrano and Mission San Luis Rey so that they could take tours and photographs to use in their reports. My mother always wanted to visit every mission, as she has a keen interest in California history. Catholiccruisesandtours.com offers cruise packages to the Holy Land, Fatima, Lourdes, and Italy, as well as tours of the Camino de Santiago. Dynamic Catholic offers several pilgrimages, including
ones to Oberammergau, Medjugorje, and Poland, among others. My parents loved seeing the historic passion play at Oberammergau, which is performed only once every 10 years; the next play is scheduled for 2022. Globusfaith.com offers a number of religious vacations, including pilgrimages to Germany, France, Spain and Portugal, Italy, and the Holy Land. I’ve found spiritual refreshment in many national parks, such as Yosemite, and in my favorite green, quiet, and majestic spot, Muir Woods in the Bay Area. Many naturally beautiful areas exist both locally and statewide, offering stunning hiking, fishing, and camping. Our family took a wonderful vacation years ago to Big Bear Lake, we spent one memorable Christmas at Lake Tahoe, and we routinely hike on trails throughout Orange County. Because the Sisters of Providence grew close to my heart when I studied at now-closed Marywood High School, I’ve always wanted to visit St. Mary-ofthe-Woods in Indiana, their home base. There’s a shrine to recent saint, Mother Theodore Guerin, who founded the sisters, and opportunities for guided and self-guided tours, spiritual retreats, and Taize prayer. Wherever families choose to visit for summer vacations, there’s always a local church to explore. C The Maria Ferrucci Catholic Family Living feature is intended to inspire families to live their faith in the way Maria Ferrucci did throughout her earthly life.
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FEATURE
HIGH COURT TO HEAR MAJOR ABORTION CASE FROM MISSISSIPPI IN ITS NEXT TERM BY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
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HE U.S. SUPREME COURT said in a May 17 order that it will hear oral arguments during its next term on a 2018 Mississippi abortion law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The case is Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The court’s term opens in October and a decision is expected by June 2022. Just after then-Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed the law March 19, 2018, a federal judge blocked it temporarily from taking effect after the state’s only abortion clinic filed suit, saying it is unconstitutional. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the block on the law. In commending Bryant for his signature, the state’s Catholic bishops, Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz of Jackson and Bishop Louis F. Kihneman III of Biloxi, said: “(We) wish to reaffirm the sacredness of human life from conception until natural death. With Pope St. John Paul II, we recognize abortion as ‘a most serious wound inflicted on society and its culture by the very people who ought to be society’s promoters and defenders.’” In 2020, the Jackson and Biloxi dioceses filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s petition to the Supreme Court asking it to review the 5th Circuit’s ruling prohibiting the state from enforcing the law. The high court should clarify current law on abortion “in light of a state’s interests in protecting the sanctity of life,” the dioceses’ brief said. A number of states have passed laws restricting abortion that have been challenged in court by supporters of legal abortion. Pro-life advocates have been hoping one or more of those laws would
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PRO-LIFE DEMONSTRATORS ARGUE WITH SUPPORTERS OF LEGAL ABORTION OUTSIDE OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT IN WASHINGTON MARCH 4, 2020. PHOTO: TOM BRENNER, REUTERS / CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
be taken up by the Supreme Court as a way to challenge 1973’s Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. The Mississippi case will be the first abortion case the court will consider since the Oct. 26, 2020, confirmation of now-Justice Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump’s third pick for the court. His first two picks, Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, were on the court when it took up its first major abortion decision since they were confirmed. The case was a Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at local hospitals.
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The court struck it down as unconstitutional in a 5-4 ruling. Chief Justice John Roberts joined Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg in knocking down the law. Kavanaugh and Gorsuch joined Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas in upholding the law. The upcoming Mississippi case -- it has been on the Supreme Court’s docket as a potential case since last fall -- will examine the question of viability, specifically if a fetus can survive on its own at 15 weeks. Pro-life advocates were pleased with the court’s decision to take this case.
“We applaud the U.S. Supreme Court for examining the Mississippi law,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, who stressed that so much more is known now about viability with advanced technology. Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League based in Chicago, said many activists see this as “an opportunity for the high court to overturn Roe v. Wade” or at the very least to “bring abortion policy in the United States in line with rest of the world, where abortion is strictly limited after 12-15 weeks.” CONTINUES ON PAGE 9
SOCIAL MEDIA / FEATURE orangediocese • follow May 23, 2021 orangediocese When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. (Acts 2:1) Come Holy Spirit and make all things new. As we gather back in our parish communities, make us a light to the nations, a people set apart, so we may be missionary disciples of Jesus. We give thanks for the graces we have received during this novena and ask that they continue to bear fruit in our lives.
B C B THE U.S. SUPREME COURT IS SEEN IN WASHINGTON MAY 11, 2021. PHOTO: TYLER ORSBURN /CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
orangediocese • follow May 23, 2021 orangediocese A Pentecost Reflection from @bishopfreyer. #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
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Similarly, Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, said the United States “is one of only seven countries -- including China and North Korea -that allows abortions through all nine months of pregnancy.” “An overwhelming majority of Americans agree that this goes way too far,” she said. “In fact 70% think abortion should be limited to -- at most -- the first three months of pregnancy.” In a May 17 statement she added: “States should be allowed to craft laws that are in line with both public opinion on this issue as well as basic human compassion, instead of the extreme policy that Roe imposed.” Thomas Olp, vice president and senior counsel for the Thomas More Society, a nonprofit national public interest law firm, said his firm, on behalf of Illinois Right to Life, has “argued against the now long-outdated science behind Roe v. Wade and urged the court to uphold the subsequent 14th Amendment rights due the preborn.” Activists were not the only ones to respond in favor of the court taking
the case. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., chair of the new Senate pro-life caucus, tweeted May 17 that he was encouraged the court decided to hear it. “There is no constitutional right to abortion, yet for nearly 50 years since Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided, more than 62 million children have been the tragic victims of abortion. It is long past time for the Supreme Court to right this wrong,” he said. O. Carter Snead, law school professor at the University of Notre Dame, said the court agreeing to take this case “signals the possibility that it may finally end its failed and constitutionally unjustified experiment as the nation’s ad hoc abortion regulatory body of last resort.” He said the court’s “tortured reading of the Constitution has undermined the rule of law, broken our electoral politics and resulted in a staggering number of lives lost. It is time once and for all for the Supreme Court to return to its role as faithful interpreter of the Constitution and to repair the damage it caused years ago.” C
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DIOCESAN NEWS
BISHOP VANN WELCOMES NEW ORDER WITH BLESSING
A NEW RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY TO CALL DIOCESE OF ORANGE HOME BY BRADLEY ZINT
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N MAY 11, IN THIS Year of St. Joseph, Bishop Kevin Vann gave thanks to the Lord for the Missionaries of Charity Contemplative, a new religious community that moved to the Diocese of Orange. Bishop Vann celebrated Mass and blessed their new convent in Santa Ana alongside several attending priests, consecrated men and women, and benefactors of the religious sisters. While most people are familiar with St. Teresa of Calcutta’s active missionary work to the “poorest of the poor” all over the world, it might not be common knowledge that she also founded several other branches of the religious order, including religious priests, brothers and contemplative sisters. The Missionaries of Charity Contemplative serves the spiritually poor through dedicated prayer and spiritual works of mercy. Four sisters will live in the Santa Ana convent, where they will offer their prayer and spiritual works for the Church, especially for the Diocese of Orange. This fulfills a specific desire of Bishop Vann, as stated in the Diocesan Strategic Plan: “Identify and invite a religious community, with a charism of intercessory prayer, to make their home in the Diocese of Orange in support of evangelization efforts, the pastoral life of the Diocese and vocations.” The convent was obtained and re-
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MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY CONTEMPLATIVE, A NEW RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY, HAS MOVED TO THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE. BISHOP VANN BLESSED THEIR NEW HOME. PHOTOS: STEVEN GEORGES
modeled through the providence of God and the generous work of volunteers and benefactors. The sisters live quite simply. They have converted the bedrooms into hermitages, which are narrow rooms, each with a bed and table. The convent also has a private chapel for the sisters, a common dining room called a refectory, and an enclosed garden in the backyard. Since the sisters do not own a car, they are making plans to convert the garage on the property into a public chapel where people may join them in prayer. The Missionaries of Charity Contemplative will be offering the great gift of a “powerhouse of prayer” in the heart of our Diocese on Santa Ana. C
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FOUR SISTERS WILL LIVE IN THE SANTA ANA CONVENT, WHERE THEY WILL OFFER THEIR PRAYER AND SPIRITUAL WORKS FOR THE CHURCH, ESPECIALLY FOR THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE.
DIOCESAN NEWS
PUBLIC HEALTH HERO
BISHOP TIMOTHY FREYER WAS HONORED BY THE COUNTY HEALTH EXECUTIVES ASSN. OF CALIFORNIA FOR HIS EFFORTS TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO GET VACCINATED. PHOTO: DREW KELLEY
BISHOP TIMOTHY FREYER IS RECOGNIZED FOR HIS EFFORTS TO ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO BE VACCINATED
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BY BRADLEY ZINT
ISHOP TIMOTHY FREYER was recently named a Public Health Hero by the County Health Executives Assn. of California (CHEAC) for his ongoing efforts to help
curb the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to his membership on the Orange County Health Care Agency’s Coronavirus Vaccine Taskforce, Bishop Freyer helped author a public health statement in December, urging Catholics
to get a coronavirus vaccine. He also contributed to the Diocese’s PSA video released in April about the effectiveness and moral acceptability of the vaccines, he spoke at a press conference in March when Christ Cathedral
was named a mobile clinic vaccination site, and he publicly received his vaccination in January at St. Jude Medical Center, where he has served as a front-line healthcare worker comforting COVID-19 patients and blessing the workers. C
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GUEST COLUMN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
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common denominator is order. As God created order to change chaos into orderly cosmos, so too are Christ’s agrarian parables aimed at living a wholesome ordered life. When applied to everyday life, these principles touch upon its very core. Much of my priestly ministry deals with marriage problems. One major reason of the problems is a husband or wife dominating the other. Suffocation often leads to animosity and subsequent divorce. As plant life needs space to expand and grow, so do couples need their private space to breathe. When each of them respects the other’s space, marriage becomes much more blissful. However, as weeding is required for plant growth, so too is an earnest effort to weed out the tendency to dominate. During the pandemic, cases of
depression increased dramatically. To counter this, the principle of fertilization is needed: The mind requires fertilization for strength to combat depression. Inspiring reading, friends and praying for wisdom are that fertilization for coping successfully. In the farm community I served, we once experienced a heavy rain that drowned the fields and hindered farmers from planting. Lost time meant lost crops. Good timing is ever so important. When, for example, a friendship falls on rocky ground and a moment comes to say, “I am sorry,” the principle of timing encourages us to jump on it. This meditation on wise farming principles reflects why Christ employed them to enhance our life. C Father Eugene Hemrick writes the Catholic News Service column “The Human Side.”
CATHOLIC NEWS AROUND THE WORLD
MERCY SISTERS JOIN OTHER WOMEN RELIGIOUS IN HELPING AT THE BORDER BY RICHARD SZCZEPANOWSKI CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
MCALLEN, Texas (CNS) —In early May, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious asked members for urgent help in ministering to migrants when families, minors and others were increasingly coming across cities and towns close to the U.S.-Mexico border. Mercy Sister Patricia Mulderick, who’d had previous experience in advocacy work on behalf of migrants and experience in Latin America, was one of several women religious who answered the call. One of the places she chose to volunteer was the “respite center” run by Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in McAllen, Texas, a type of ground-zero in the current immigration debate, which has been the backdrop for welcome as well as rejection of migrants cutting across the nearby border. “As Sisters of Mercy, we joined with volunteers from all over the USA, religious and lay, who come to be that welcoming presence for those who are tired, poor and yearning at the Mexican-American border,” Sister Mulderick wrote in a joint letter with Mercy Sister Terry Saetta, who also volunteered at the center in May. From handing out clothes, food and sometimes just providing a friendly ear, the sisters put into action one of the main missions of LCWR, the largest organization for women religious in the country: “to collaboratively carry out their service of leadership to further the mission of the Gospel in today’s world.” Working side by side with members of other congregations, the sisters were able form a community of their own, one in which they could discuss with other women religious themes related to immigration even after they left the region. “You’re really doing community service
MERCY SISTERS TERRY SAETTA, FAR LEFT, AND SISTER PATRICIA MULDERICK, FAR RIGHT, POSE FOR A PHOTO MAY 7, 2021, AT THE “RESPITE CENTER” IN MCALLEN, TEXAS, WHERE THEY VOLUNTEERED TO HELP MIGRANTS. BOTH HEEDED A CALL IN EARLY MAY FROM THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS, WHO ASKED MEMBERS TO HELP MINISTER TO MIGRANTS NEAR THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER. PHOTO: COURTESY SISTERS OF MERCY / CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
together,” said Sister Mulderick. “So, you bond quickly.” They worked Sisters of St. Joseph, Dominican sisters, Franciscan sisters, among others, but “all coming to volunteer, it’s kind of you’re all in this together,” Mulderick said. Even in tough moments, when some of them witnessed the hardship of migrants who had arrived damp after the river crossing, confused or just needing basics to survive, the experience affected some of the sisters more than others. The community of women religious, though from different orders, helped “create camaraderie,” collaboration, and a sense of empathy and support for those who hadn’t before handled situations such as the one they witnessed and sometimes brought with it tears, Sister Mulderick said. Along with Sister Saetta, Sister Mulderick wrote down impressions and sights and sounds they experienced in their time at the respite center. “As these people from many different countries walk through the Respite Center’s many doors, they stop at security to get their temperatures and credentials checked,” they wrote. “One room is filled
with chairs of people clutching their documents and waiting to be helped regarding the next leg of their journey. “Tired and anxious, yet somewhat relieved. Young children run around, some in bare feet and diapers until they can get other clothes donated by generous people wanting to help in some way. Like salve for body and soul! They get shampoo, soap and other essentials ... also donated by others.” In a May 19 interview with Catholic News Service, Sister Mulderick said something as simple as giving someone a toothbrush elicited a hug and tears from one of the migrants. “I thought, you know, there’s something more essential here than the little things that are in this bag. It was the welcome,” she said. “And so, the center I think, the respite center, is so well named because it’s this respite in between the long journey to the (United) States.” The help that the sisters were able to provide the migrants, she said, wasn’t to solve their problems, whatever those might be, but just to be with them in a particular moment. “It’s just being with people in their most vulnerable moment,” Sister Mulder-
ick told CNS. “Maybe they’ve been weeks or months or a year in those camps in Mexico ... so they they just finally come to a place where someone says ‘welcome.’” In the evenings, the Mercy sisters gathered to pray by name for those they had met and talked about their experiences with the migrants. Out of those discussions, they got the idea to print out cards in Spanish that said, “Remember, you’re special. God is with you,” as well as, “Have courage, keep going. Don’t be afraid. I’m with you on this journey.” Sister Mulderick said she was aware that even some Catholics wouldn’t agree with the work of helping migrants, but that for those occasions, she keeps a message on her dresser that says: “No matter what the question, love is the answer.” “I think that goes with Jesus’ command to love one another as we have been loved,” she said. “You welcome me when you welcome the least of my brothers and sisters. I don’t know how much clearer that can get. I mean, we can all disagree with policy but when you stare in the face of people, flesh and blood, love is the only answer. Rejection is for me not an option.” C
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CATHOLIC NEWS AROUND THE WORLD
POPE TELLS STUDENTS: REDISCOVER IMPORTANCE OF FACE-TO-FACE RELATIONSHIPS BY CAROL GLATZ CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
VATICAN CITY (CNS) —After going so long without in-person learning and face-to-face contact with others, young people now should be more discerning and judicious concerning their time online, Pope Francis told students. Having grown up in a digital world, they know the many new ways that have been opened up to them when it comes to learning and communication, the pope said during a private audience at the Vatican May 22 with a group of students and administrators from an Italian public high school. “Yet we already know very well that there is the danger of closing oneself off and of always seeing reality through a filter, which only seemingly expands our freedom,” he said. The pope asked the students to make sure that the pandemic’s forced “abstinence” from physically being with friends and others help them develop an even more “critical sense in the use of these (digital) tools so that they remain just that -- instruments, subject to our intelligence and will.” The students were from the “Ambrosoli” vocational high school in the small northern city of Codogno, where the first locally acquired case of COVID-19 had been diagnosed in Italy. Known as “Patient 1,” a hospitalized 38-year-old man was found positive for the coronavirus Feb. 21, 2020, presaging a massive surge in cases and deaths throughout the area and the greater Lombardy region. The pope said he and the students originally were scheduled to have their audience at the Vatican closer to the oneyear anniversary of that first outbreak and the start of the pandemic in Europe. The meeting was important, he said,
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POPE FRANCIS GREETS FACULTY AND STUDENTS OF THE AMBROSOLI INSTITUTE IN CODOGNO, ITALY, DURING AN AUDIENCE AT THE VATICAN MAY 22, 2021. MEETING PEOPLE FROM CODOGNO, THE EARLIEST EPICENTER OF THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN ITALY, THE POPE PRAISED THEM FOR NOT LOSING HOPE. HE ALSO ASKED THAT THEY REDISCOVER THE IMPORTANCE OF IN-PERSON RELATIONSHIPS. PHOTO: VATICAN MEDIA / CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
because their school represented “a sign of hope” in such a difficult situation, and he congratulated them for “never losing heart” during this trial. Many students and teachers have sent the pope letters about their pandemic experiences, describing a variety of positive experiences they have had, he said, which shows that when the “generative” power of teachers and the “dreams” of students come together, “there is no virus that can stop them.” He urged the students to cultivate the
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strength and desire they possess. He said when that is stimulated, nurtured and “accompanied with wisdom and passion by adults, it brings amazing fruits.” The pope recognized the difficulties students and teachers faced with online learning, which hurt the relational aspect of their schooling, and he said he hoped they could restart fully again soon. “But I invite you to learn something from this absence, that, in a certain way, this bad experience may teach some-
thing, that is, the importance of interpersonal -- not virtual -- relationships,” he said. Pope Francis told the students he hoped the imminent end of the school year would go well, not just grade-wise, but also and most of all, people-wise. He asked they see school as a place to mature and grow in their hands, head and heart, learning to be open, respectful and constructive in their relationships and to become aware and responsible citizens.” C
Moments MomentsininourourJourney Journey
The Chapel in the Sky is a hidden treasure at the top of the Tower of Hope on the campus of Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove. The 130-seat ecumenical chapel boasts breathtaking panoramic views of Orange County. —Photo by Josh Sudock
Send your photos that capture Catholic life in your parish community to: webeditor@occatholic.com
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