OC CATHOLIC - SEPTEMBER 26, 2021

AROUND THE DIOCESE PAGE 8

SEPTEMBER 26, 2021

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

CHRIST OUR SAVIOR CHURCH DEDICATION BISHOP VANN CELEBRATES MASS AT THE DIOCESE’S NEWEST PARISH. PAGE 6

HUNDREDS OF PARISHIONERS ATTEND THE SANTA ANA PARISH’S DEDICATION MASS. PHOTO: STEPHEN GEORGES/RCBO

SEPTEMBER 26, 2021

CONTENTS

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TO YOUR HEALTH!

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POPE: GREATNESS IS MEASURED BY SERVICE

The mind, body and spirit encompass the whole of human health.

SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH REMEMBER SR. JEANNETTE BLACK Sr. Jeannette, 86, took her vows in 1953 and was had a long career in education.

The way we treat others who can do nothing in exchange is the path of service.

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: Patricia Mahoney, editor@occatholic.com News 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.

OCCatholic.com

OCCatholicNews

@OCCCatholicNews

GUEST COLUMN

SERRA CLUB

BY JOHN GARVEY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

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ALIFORNIA’S LEGISLATURE now has it in for St. Junípero Serra, who has long been considered the founding father of the Golden State.

Authorities let an angry mob tear down the Franciscan missionary’s statue in Los Angeles. Now they aim to lay at his feet all the offenses of the Spanish Empire and its Anglo successor.

Assembly Bill 338 would repeal a legal requirement for a state monument to America’s first Hispanic saint. The bill offers this explanation: “Enslavement of both adults and children, mutilation, genocide, and assault on women were all part of the mission period

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initiated and overseen by Father Serra.”

Note the careful wording. The resolution tries, without actually saying so, to leave the impression that Father Serra personally committed these atrocities. In fact, the phrase “part of the mission period” is also intentionally vague. It avoids saying even that the mission system caused these atrocities.

The bill recites that in the 1530s Pope Paul III and the king of Spain inveighed against the massacre and enslavement of native peoples. This was more than two centuries before Father Serra came to the New World. These edicts, the bill says, were “ignored.”

No doubt they were, at various times and places in the 300-year history of New Spain.

But the bill makes no specific claims about St.

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CONTINUES ON PAGE 13

JOHN GARVEY, PRESIDENT OF THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, WRITES THE CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE COLUMN “INTELLECT AND VIRTUE.” PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA / CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

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

PROCLAIM THE WONDER OF GOD

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... let “ Jesus look at and heal your heart…”

- Pope Francis

SAINT PROFILE

HE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT is given freely, not according to human expectations, but according to the generosity of God. Joshua wants Moses to stop Eldad and Medad from prophesying in the camp, when they were not with the others as the spirit was bestowed on them. Moses, so close to God’s mind in the matter, wishes everyone could possess the spirit of God and proclaim it to the nations.

Psalm 19 celebrates the perfection of God’s law, and how it brings joy and delight. It is better than the finest gold or the sweetest honey. Moreover, God gives the wisdom of the prophets to everyone, especially the simple and lowly ones, even to children. It is the “little ones” who proclaim the wonder of God to all.

Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co. C

THERESE COUDERC 1805-1885

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ORN TO A FRENCH FARM FAMILY, Marie-Victoire Couderc joined a new religious teaching order, but was sent to manage a mountain hostel for women pilgrims at the shrine of St. John Francis Regis. It became a successful retreat house under her guidance, and the order split into a teaching ministry, the Sisters of St. Regis, and a retreat ministry, the Congregation of Our Lady of the Cenacle. Mother Therese was superior of the Cenacle sisters until 1838, when Jesuit advisers began replacing her with a succession of wealthy women. She lived out her days as an ordinary nun, suffering deafness and painful arthritis at the end. She wrote that “the surrendered soul has found paradise on earth,” and was canonized in 1970. C

READINGS FOR THE WEEK

PHOTOS: CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE, SHUTTERSTOCK

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

ZEC 8:1-8; PS 102:16-21, 29, 2223; LK 9:46-50

ZEC 8:20-23; PS 87:1B-7; LK 9:51-56

DN 7:9-10, 13-14 OR RV 12:7-12A; PS 138:1-5; JN 1:47-51

NEH 8:1-4A, 5-6, 7B-12; PS 19:8-11; LK 10:1-12

BAR 1:15-22; PS 79:1B-5, 8-9; LK 10:13-16

BAR 4:5-12, 27-29; PS 69:33-37; MT 18:1-5, 10

GN 2:18-24; PS 128:1-6; HEB 2:9-11; MK 10:2-16 [2-12]

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FEATURE

BISHOP VANN DEDICATES NEW CHRIST OUR SAVIOR CHURCH THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE’S NEWEST PARISH WAS FOUNDED IN 2005

BY CATHI DOUGLAS

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T WAS A HISTORIC day for the Catholic faithful in Santa Ana as Diocese of Orange Bishop Kevin W. Vann officiated the dedication of Christ Our Savior Catholic Parish on Saturday, Sept. 11.

The newest church of the diocese is a striking modern edifice of 18,500 square feet that was architecturally inspired by Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa. It seats 1,200 parishioners, 50 musicians and is specially designed to accommodate Masses in American Sign Language.

Located near South Coast Plaza at 2000 W. Alton Ave., the $12-million church will serve a diverse parish encompassing parts of both Santa Ana and Costa Mesa.

It has about 1,600 registered families.

Christ Our Savior’s dedication has been anticipated for several years. Under Bishop Tod. D. Brown, the diocese took possession of the property in November 2002 after buying it from the Segerstrom family, founders of South Coast Plaza.

The site was originally slated to be the home of the diocese’s first cathedral.

However, those plans changed when the Rev. Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral property in Garden Grove became available in 2012. The diocese acquired it and has since renovated much of it, a process that included changing the name of Crystal Cathedral to Christ Cathedral in 2012.

Christ Our Savior, established in 2005, celebrated its first Mass on Sept.

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BISHOP VANN PERFORMS THE MASS AT CHRIST OUR SAVIOR’S DEDICATION SERVICE. PHOTO: STEPHEN GEORGES/RCBO

19, 2005, under founding Pastor Monsignor J. Michael McKiernan. It was held at a nearby elementary school.

“We are proud to dedicate this beautiful new House of God in a local area of neighborhoods that urgently needs another place of Catholic worship,” said Bishop Vann. “Christ Our Savior Catholic Parish will serve an established group of multiethnic parishioners who have waited patiently for more than a decade

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to worship in their own dedicated church space. We especially acknowledge those first parishioners under the leadership of Msgr. J. Michael McKiernan, who began this journey of Faith some years ago.”

Joining Bishop Vann for the multilingual dedication ceremony were Bishop Thanh Thai Nguyen; Bishop Timothy Freyer; Bishop Emeritus Tod D. Brown; 50 priests; and hundreds of invited guests, including parishioners and their

families. Accompanied by a group of six instrumentalists, a choir featuring voices singing in several languages performed.

The ceremony was also celebrated in American Sign Language.

Prior to Christ Our Savior, the last new church in the Diocese of Orange was the 2017 dedication of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Ladera Ranch.

Recently retired diocesan Director CONTINUES ON PAGE 7

FEATURE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

of Worship Lesa Truxaw, a member of Christ Our Savior since its inception, planned and executed the dedication ceremony.

“My husband and I helped form the initial pastoral team who worked to establish the parish,” Truxaw said.

Truxaw explained that the Sept. 11 dedication ceremony — estimated to be three hours in length — included blessings of the water, walls and people; the anointing of the altar; and the celebration of the Eucharist, which ultimately consecrates the altar. Before Mass was dismissed, the church’s Blessed Sacrament Chapel was also anointed.

An evening prayer service on Friday, Sept. 10, included installation of a relic of St. Damien at the altar. Bishop Emeritus Brown has a special devotion to the saint, Truxaw said. On Sept. 11, a public Mass was also celebrated.

A new place of Catholic worship has been critically needed in Santa Ana, Truxaw added, as several local parishes — including Our Lady of Guadalupe and Our Lady of the Pillar — have standing-room-only crowds at Masses.

At Christ Our Savior, English, Spanish and Vietnamese Masses will be offered, as well as services in American Sign Language.

Principal architect David Pfeifer, principal of San Diego-based Domus Studio, described the new Christ Our Savior church as a contemporary design with a clean, open and bright interior. “We build churches for today and tomorrow,” he said. “Christ Our Savior has a unique, vibrant and iconic civic presence.”

The exterior of the building has three rooflines to express the Holy Trinity, Pfeifer explained, with glass between the rooflines “so that one can see, feel and sense the light that is the presence of God. We have the Father, Son and Holy Spirit connected by light.”

At some points, the church is 54 feet tall and has an 85-foot-high tower. In addition, the church was designed with

THE DEDICATION MASS WAS PLANNED BY THE DIOCESE’S FORMER DIRECTOR OF WORSHIP LESA TRUXAW, A LONGTIME CHRIST OUR SAVIOR PARISHIONER. PHOTO: STEPHEN GEORGES/RCBO

specialized acoustics to accommodate an existing pipe organ, with the installation of the organ to follow once funds are raised.

At present, Christ Our Savior’s nearly 8-acre property also has parish meeting rooms, offices and a choir room. A parish hall is planned, with fundraising for it underway.

The Diocese first took possession of the Alton Avenue property in 2002, though it was larger then. A portion of it was sold in 2017, the proceeds of which were used to help pay for the church.

That sold-off parcel is now a housing tract.

Andy Hoover, the diocese’s director of real estate and construction, pointed out that the coronavirus pandemic challenged the project, which started in fall 2019. Delivery of stone from Italy, which

was used in the altar, was delayed and crews were affected by COVID-19.

“People are very excited and hopeful for this church, which has gone through a number of versions,” said Fr. Joe Robillard, pastor of Christ Our Savior. “It was going to be a cathedral and there is disappointment about that, but our parish is made up of a small, intimate group of parishioners who’ve come to know each other well and have overcome big challenges to build this worship space.”

Fr. Joe said he is most impressed with the internal architecture, which is modern with lots of windows and light, and with everything directed toward the altar, where the crucifix and its background emphasizes the hopefulness of the Resurrection. The artwork was designed by Poli, based in Verona, Italy.

A baptismal fountain is planned to be

installed by the fall.

Deacon Modesto Cordero, director of the Diocese’s Office for Worship, agreed that the architecture of Christ Our Savior is liturgically significant. “The narthex, or entry of the church, which will feature a beautiful baptistry, is symbolic of how everything in our worship begins with baptism,” Cordero said.

“The parish is at the crossroads of three freeways and will provide the space necessary for worship in these communities,” he added. “It’s a beautiful church, and the people of that area will be pleased with it. It has been in the works for many years. Finally, the community will have a beautiful place to worship together.” C Editor’s note: Bradley Zint contributed to this story

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FEATURE

AROUND THE DIOCESE

BY STAFF

VIETNAMESE CATHOLIC CENTER CELEBRATES 25 YEARS

The Vietnamese Catholic Center celebrated its 25th anniversary with a special Mass on Sunday, Sept. 12.

The center in Santa Ana had its chapel dedicated on Sept. 14, 1996. The chapel holds 200 people for daily Mass, retreats and prayer services. Other facilities at the center include a large hall, kitchen, priests’ living quarters, library and recording studio.

The center has a history dating back to at least 1983, when Bishop William Johnson, the first Bishop of Orange, oversaw the acquisition of property in Santa Ana that served as the first temporary center. Other buildings were constructed in the years following, including the chapel that was finished in May 1996.

The Vietnamese Catholic Center has helped serve the local Vietnamese population of Orange County ever since the fall of Saigon.

The Vietnamese Catholic Center is a symbol of the Vietnamese Catholic faith and their deep devotion to traditional and cultural values. It serves more than 83,000 Vietnamese Catholics and non-Catholics, as well as various Vietnamese groups and associations throughout the U.S. and abroad.

BLESSING OF THE CHAPEL AT HOUSE OF PRAYER

On Wednesday, Sept. 15, the House of Prayer rededicated its recently renovated Blessed Sacrament Chapel with individual and group Adoration, as well as a procession, singing, a benediction and fraternal luncheon.

The House of Prayer, located on Santiago Canyon Road in the city of Orange, is a priest retreat center with eight Santa

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BISHOP VANN AND THE DIOCESE’S VIETNAMESE PARISH PRIESTS AT THE VIETNAMESE CATHOLIC CENTER IN SANTA ANA. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE

Fe-style casitas.

‘AMERICAN BUILT’ FEATURES CHRIST CATHEDRAL

On Monday, Sept. 20, a show detailing the history of Christ Cathedral, formerly known as the Crystal Cathedral, premiered on the Fox Business Network.

The Christ Cathedral episode is the first show of “American Built with Stuart Varney,” which is now in its second season.

Fr. Christopher Smith, rector of Christ Cathedral, was interviewed for the show in February, as were members

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CONTINUES ON PAGE 9

BISHOP VANN PRAYS AT THE HOUSE OF PRAYER IN ORANGE. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE

FEATURE orangediocese • follow September 18, 2021 orangediocese Here’s how you directly impact our community by giving to the Pastoral Services Appeal: When you give to the PSA, you also fund the formation of the future priests of our Diocese.

This year, a total of $1,345,083 has already funded the formation of our Seminarians!

Give today: rcbo.org/psa

orangediocese • follow September 18, 2021 orangediocese Our Auxiliary @bishopfreyer invites you to join him, Bishop Vann, Bishop Nguyen, & many other guests from our Diocese and beyond at the St. Joseph Summit!

This virtual event takes place Sept. 30 through Oct. 3 and is an excellent opportunity to develop a greater devotion during this year of St. Joseph through prayer, messages, & much more.

You can register for free at SaintJosephSummit.com

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

FR. EUGENE LEE OF ST. THOMAS MORE CHURCH LEADS A SPECIAL PRAYER SERVICE IN COMMEMORATION OF 9/11. PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. THOMAS MORE CHURCH CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

of the Schuller family, who originally founded the campus and built the Crystal Cathedral.

ST. THOMAS MORE CHURCH AND ST. ANNE’S CELEBRATE 9/11 MEMORIAL MASS

St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Irvine celebrated a 9/11 Memorial Mass and special prayer service on Saturday, Sept. 11. Fr. Eugene Lee, St. Thomas More’s pastor, and Fr. Kiet Ta, its parochial vicar, led the ceremony along with members from the Knights of Columbus. Special guests included Orange County Fire Authority personnel from Station 26 in Irvine, led by Capt. Robert Smith, as well as Irvine police Lt. Frough Jahid.

A memorial table included a book of remembrance that contained the names of all the 9/11 victims. The table was adorned with nine candles that were lit as each group was named. During each invocation, the bell tolled as the candle was lit.

ST. ANNE CHURCH IN SEAL BEACH HOSTED A DINNER IN HONOR OF CLERGY AND SERVICE VETERANS. PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. ANNE CHURCH

On Saturday, Sept. 11, St. Anne’s Seal Beach celebrated Mass at 9 a.m. to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of 9/11. That evening, the parish had a spaghettini dinner to honor both clergy and parishioners who are military veterans. The dinner included inviting local first responders from the fire department and police department in Seal Beach. C

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CATHOLIC FAMILY LIVING

TO YOUR HEALTH!

BALANCING WELLNESS — MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT — GROWS MORE CHALLENGING

BY KATIE DAWSON

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ALANCING WELLNESS — integrating the good health of our minds, bodies and spirits – becomes more challenging as we age, even as we have more free time.

It requires intentionality about identifying our priorities and not neglecting the importance of supporting our health in body, mind and spirit.

There is a paradox here. Our senior years present an opportunity to realign our rhythms of life. Where the urgent demands of mid-life may have caused us to set aside certain healthy habits, we now have choices to make about how we will spend our time.

We are “temples of the Holy Spirit,” Jesus inhabits us, and that alone suggests that we should take care of our bodies with exercise and adequate rest and care. Making time for these basic needs is a priority.

This is also a time of life to reconsider our life in a holistic way, also incorporating spiritual practices that we may have neglected in the hustle-bustle years, including daily prayer, Scripture reading and Mass attendance.

And it is a good opportunity to ask

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PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

what acts of service are appropriate to our gifts and callings and what virtues we should cultivate. While setting or resetting our priorities, we can prioritize our wellness and spiritual life while still recognizing that we have a call to serve the needs of family, friends and community in addition to attending to our wellness.

There is a balance to be found between a focus on ourselves and a focus on caring for others. This is not a time to focus too much on staying comfortable, lest we miss our opportunities to give ourselves away in love.

The ways we sacrifice may have to

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change according to limitations of energy and strength. Sometimes the sacrifice is one of attitude, cultivating cheerfulness when we just want to complain about our arthritis or resisting bitterness or resentment when others are oblivious to our physical or emotional suffering. At other times it requires me to put down my book and take care of a grandbaby or help in the kitchen, sometimes without anyone asking.

Working to live in the fruits of the Holy Spirit is a lifelong project from which there is no retirement!

Admittedly, we change physically as we grow older. Our movements may become restricted, perhaps we need assistance in our daily lives, and we face the loss of our independence. These losses can embitter us or lead us to cultivating humility and a deeper interior life and relationship with God. As we enter retirement or semi-retire-

ment, we now have time — more time than we’ve had, perhaps ever, to consider what we want to do in the days ahead.

We must resist the temptation to adopt a retrospective outlook of “coulda, shoulda, woulda,” and instead attend to the present moment.

Now is the perfect time to concentrate on the unique gifts God has given each of us to contribute to the world; in doing so, we can move into our final quarter with energy and purpose.

Our senior years require intentionality and discernment. As we look to the limited time we have ahead, let us ask ourselves: What does God ask of me in this new stage of life? 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.

DIOCESAN NEWS

SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH OF ORANGE BID FAREWELL TO SR. JEANNETTE BLACK

BY STAFF

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HE SISTERS OF St. Joseph of Orange bid farewell to one of their own, Sr. Jeannette Black, CSJ, who went home to God on September 1, at the age of 86.

Sister Jeannette Black was born on June 1, 1935, in Sioux City, Iowa, to Audrey and Herbert Black. In 1939 she and her family, which included her sister Barbara, moved to San Diego, CA. Sr. Jeannette was taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange from elementary school through high school. Following her graduation from high school, Jeannette entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange in 1953. Sr. Jeannette’s primary ministry was in the field of education. She taught in schools in San

Francisco, Eureka and San Diego. In 1980 Sr. Jeannette received a master’s degree in Educational Counseling from the University of San Diego. After this, she worked as an elementary school counselor in San Diego, at both Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School and St. Patrick’s School.

Sr. Jeannette left the educational field in 2006 and, after a brief sabbatical, she became the Coordinator of Resident Services at the Sisters of St. Joseph’s Regina Residence. Sr. Jeannette was an avid sports fan, enjoyed reading and working on crossword and jigsaw puzzles. Her storytelling skills brought lots of joy and laughter and will be sorely missed. Due to the pandemic restrictions, funeral services were private. C

SR. JEANNTTE BLACK, CSJ, PASSED AWAY EARLIER THIS MONTH. PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH

FORMER ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISHIONER MAKES FIRST PROFESSION ter of Arts in Teaching (Secondary) at Aquinas College, Nashville, owned and ISTER AGNES ROSE MacKellar, operated by the Dominican Sisters of O.P., a former parishioner of St. Saint Cecilia.

Fr. Augustine Puchner, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in Costa John the Baptist Church, remembers Mesa was one of four young the MacKellar family well. women who made their First Profes“They were very active and enthusision in Nashville, TN. astic parishioners,” he said.

The sisters professed the simple The family were parishioners several vows of poverty, chastity and obedience years ago up until they moved to Texas. as members of the Dominican Sisters Fr. Puchner remembers Sister Agnes of Saint Cecilia Congregation on Aug. Rose being involved in the church’s 10. youth group during her time in Orange Sister Agnes Rose is the daughter County. of Patrick and Michelle MacKellar, “On behalf of the entire commuparishioners at St. Margaret Mary in the Diocese of Austin, Texas. Sister is a nity of St. John the Baptist, I wish to congratulate her on her Profession of graduate of Seton Home Study School vows with the National Dominican and is currently studying for a MasBY STAFF

S SR. AGNES ROSE MACKELLAR, O.P., TOOK HER VOWS IN NASHVILLE, TN. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DOMINICAN SISTERS OF ST. CECILIA

Sisters and assure her of our continuing prayers.”

The Mass for the Rite of First Religious Profession was celebrated at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville. The Reverend Isaac Morales, O.P., friar of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, was the main celebrant.

In 1860, the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia was established in Nashville, where its Motherhouse is located. The Sisters of St. Cecilia are dedicated to the apostolate of Catholic education. The community of 300 sisters serves in over 40 schools throughout the United States, with mission houses also in Australia, British Columbia, Italy, Scotland, The Netherlands and Ireland. C

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Junípero’s actions, nor about anything done specifically in his time.

Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez and San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal on the legislature’s implied slander that St. Serra enslaved and massacred natives.

They wrote that “no serious historian has ever made such outrageous claims about Serra or the mission system, the network of 21 communities that Franciscans established along the California coast to evangelize native people. The lawmakers behind the bill drew their ideas from a single tendentious book,” -- “A Cross of Thorns,” by the late journalist Elias Castillo, which was published in February 2015. It is the only source of information mentioned in the bill.

Six years ago this week -- seven months after the publication of Castillo’s book -- Pope Francis canonized St. Junípero here at The Catholic University of America. Pope Francis holds little sympathy for the abuse of native peoples or colonial triumphalism.

But he had this to say about Father Serra’s life: “He learned how to bring to birth and nurture God’s life in the faces of everyone he met; he made them his brothers and sisters. Junípero sought to defend the dignity of the native community, to protect it from those who had mistreated and abused it.”

This is a far more plausible account of Father Serra’s life. We know that he was an outspoken advocate for the native peoples of Alta California, that he drafted a bill of rights for them and that he complained loudly about their treatment by Spanish authorities -- especially about the treatment of women.

It is true, as historian Kevin Starr wrote in an essay for America magazine, that the Franciscan mission system was not a success even by its own standards.

By the mid-1830s, 50 years after Father Serra’s death, the missions had resulted not in the flourishing Latinized native Catholic communities they aspired to create, but in a dwindling native population.

The original populations of California, ground down by European diseases and disruptive changes to their way of life, were ill-prepared for the ethnic cleansing

by Anglo-American authorities that was to come still later, in the 1850s.

But for all his failings (and all saints have them), Father Serra cannot be condemned for events that occurred centuries before his birth, or decades after his death; nor for his failure to prefigure 21st century liberal democracy in 1784.

But nowadays he probably can be unfairly scapegoated by California politicians who resent the Catholic Church’s teachings about abortion, suicide, gender, marriage and a host of other issues that have relatively little to do with the man himself.C

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CATHOLIC NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

GREATNESS IS MEASURED BY SERVICE, POPE SAYS

POPE FRANCIS GREETS PEOPLE DURING AN AUDIENCE WITH THE FAITHFUL FROM THE DIOCESE OF ROME AT THE VATICAN SEPT. 18, 2021. VATICAN MEDIA / CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

BY CINDY WOODEN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY(CNS) — In God’s view, human greatness is measured by how one serves or helps someone who cannot offer anything in exchange, Pope Francis said.

“If we want to follow Jesus, we must follow the path he himself traced out, the path of service. Our fidelity to the Lord depends on our willingness to serve,” the pope said before reciting the Angelus prayer Sept. 19 with visitors

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gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

The day’s reading from the Gospel of Mark recounted how the disciples were arguing over which of them was the greatest. Jesus admonished them and insisted, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

“If you want to be first, you need to stand in line, be last and serve everyone,” the pope said.

Jesus’ teaching ran counter to what the disciples and most other people then and today think, he said. “The

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value of a person no longer depends on the role they have, the work they do, the money they have in the bank. No, no, no, it does not depend on this. Greatness and success in God’s eyes are measured differently: They are measured by service. Not on what someone has, but on what someone gives.”

“Do you want to be first?” the pope asked. “Serve. This is the way.”

While serving another has a cost, “as our care and availability toward others grows, we become freer inside, more like Jesus,” he said. “The more we serve,

the more we are aware of God’s presence, especially when we serve those who cannot give anything in return -the poor -- embracing their difficulties and needs with tender compassion.”

After reciting the Angelus, Pope Francis offered prayers for the people in Mexico’s Hidalgo state, which experienced severe flooding from heavy rains in early September. He particularly remembered the 17 patients at a hospital in Tula who died when the flooding led to power outages, shutting down oxygen supplies. C

Moments MomentsininourourJourney Journey

Photo Caption: Father Reynold Furrell, pastor of Saints Simon & Jude Catholic Church, blesses those attending the 13th Annual Blessing of the Waves held on Sunday, Sept. 12 in Huntington Beach.

—Photo Courtesy of Steven Georges/RCBO

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

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