February 2015

FOUR FACES OF JESUS

ST. ANTHONY Messenger

FEBRUARY 2015 • $3.95 FRANCISCANMEDIA.ORG

One-on-One with

Patty Duke Listening to God The ‘Ups’ of Lent

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Young People Talk Faith

Welcome to Franciscan House

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CONTENTS

ST. ANTHONY

❘ FEBRUARY 2015 ❘ VOLUME 122/NUMBER 9

Messenger ON THE COVER

28 One-on-One with Patty Duke

Patty Duke was one of the most famous child actors in film and television history— and she continues to inspire audiences today. But it’s her lifelong faith that keeps the Oscar winner humble and hopeful.

She wanted to be a nun, but Hollywood had other plans. Now the Oscar winner talks about the faith that never left her.

By Rita E. Piro

Photo courtesy of Rita E. Piro

F E AT U R E S

D E PA R T M E N T S

14 The ‘Ups’ of Lent

2 Dear Reader

Lift up, give up, take up. This season invites us to do all three.

By Msgr. Richard Hilgartner

3 From Our Readers 4 Followers of St. Francis Denis and Barbie Grady

20 Young People of Faith In a time of their lives when going to church might not be a top priority, a passionate group of young adults grow in their Catholic identity.

By Peter Feuerherd

6 Reel Time Unbroken

20

8 Channel Surfing Allegiance

10 Church in the News

34 Four Faces of Jesus Just as each of us experiences Jesus differently, so did the Gospel writers.

By Virginia Smith

13 At Home on Earth A Season for Sacrifice

26 Editorial

40 Welcome to Franciscan House When people on Chicago’s West Side have no other place to stay, this is where they can find shelter.

Photos by Karen Callaway, text by Joyce Duriga

People Full of Joy and Hope

45 The Spirit of Francis

34

The Francises in the Slums

50 Ask a Franciscan

46 Silence with an Open Heart

Did Jesus Rise or Was He Raised?

Amid our noisy lives, Lent offers a perfect time to be quiet and listen to God.

By Phyllis Zagano

52 Book Corner The Heart of Catholicism

54 A Catholic Mom Speaks Holy Sacramentals, Mom!

56 Backstory

40

DEAR READER

ST. ANTHONY M essenger

Francis’ Oldest Prayer The oldest writing of St. Francis is probably his “Prayer before the Crucifix,” which dates to 1205 or 1206—very early in his conversion process.

In this short prayer, after Francis asks God to enlighten the darkness of his heart, he requests “true faith, certain hope, and perfect charity, sense, and knowledge” (translation in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents). With these gifts, Francis will be able to carry out God’s “holy and true command.”

This is a very open-ended prayer, acknowledging God as the source of these gifts and Francis as the one responsible for allowing them to bear fruit through his actions. What it meant for Francis in his 20s grew into a much more profound prayer by the time Francis died at the age of 44.

In his 1226 “Testament,” Francis asked the friars to use this prayer whenever they entered a church or even saw one from afar: “We adore you, Lord Jesus Christ, in all your churches throughout the whole world, and we bless you because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”

May we imitate Francis’ deep and honest prayer!

Click the button on the left for more of Father Pat’s reflections on Francis as a writer.

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ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER (ISSN #0036276X)

(U.S.P.S. PUBLICATION #007956 CANADA PUBLICATION #PM40036350) Volume 122, Number 9, is published monthly for $39.00 a year by the Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist Province, 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-6498. Phone (513) 241-5615.

Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, Ohio, and additional entry offices. U.S. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: St. Anthony Messenger, P.O. Box 189, Congers, NY 109200189. CANADA RETURN ADDRESS: c/o AIM, 7289 Torbram Rd., Mississauga, ON, Canada L4T 1G8.

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Writer’s guidelines can be found at StAnthony Messenger.org. The publishers are not responsible for manuscripts or photos lost or damaged in transit. Names in fiction do not refer to living or dead persons.

Member of the Catholic Press Association Published with ecclesiastical approval Copyright ©2015. All rights reserved.

2 ❘ Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15

St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg

FROM OUR READERS

High Praise I thoroughly enjoy reading the enlightening, informative, and interesting articles that are so neatly presented in St. Anthony Messenger.

Lately, I’ve made your magazine available to others. I do like sharing!

I’m grateful for your valued publication. I can tell a lot of effort and painstaking work go into making this magazine!

Aloysius L. Sinicki Bay City, Michigan

Article Aids in Healing I appreciate Jim Van Vurst, OFM’s, wonderful November article, “How Catholics Understand Death.” My husband died a year ago, and I feel his presence every day. I talk to him through the day and, of course, I remember him in my daily prayers. I strongly believe if it were not for my

What’s on Your Mind?

Letters that are published do not necessarily represent the views of the Franciscan friars or the editors. We do not publish slander or libel. Please include your name and postal address. Letters may be edited for clarity and space.

Mail Letters, St. Anthony Messenger 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498 Fax 513-241-0399

ICONS © ISTOCKPHOTO/ ELIELI

E-mail MagazineEditors@ FranciscanMedia.org Facebook Like us!

Go to: Facebook.com/ StAnthonyMessengerMagazine Twitter Follow us! Go to: Twitter.com/StAnthonyMag

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faith, I would not be able to overcome my grief.

I hope Father Jim’s article has been as helpful to other readers as it has been for me.

Lois E. Cobb Cincinnati, Ohio

Who Are We to Judge?

Yikes! I am dismayed by what I have read in recent letters published in “From Our Readers.” Jesus taught us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. The articles I read in St. Anthony Messenger challenge me to do just that.

I heard the words “those people” loud and clear in a few letters from recent issues, although those exact words were not used. When we begin to think in terms of “those people,” we are truly on a very slippery slope.

It is not difficult to imagine that those kinds of words led to the oppression, degradation, and even the murder of people of different faiths and races. In fact, such atrocities continue today. I agree with Pope Francis when he said, “Who am I to judge?” When in doubt, we must turn to Jesus for guidance.

Thank you, St. Anthony Messenger.

It’s my monthly reminder of justice, peace, and love.

Susan Sholtis Bethel Park, Pennsylvania

Too Liberal?

I was going to write a lengthy letter explaining why I will not be renewing my subscription. Instead, I’ll just say that St. Anthony Messenger is too liberal for me. My opinion is based on your promotion of Nuns on the Bus and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (groups honored

by Vice President Joe Biden), as well as the recent cover story featuring Ashley Judd.

There’s not enough Catholic content in the puff pieces on stress, diet,

and the six steps to happiness. What about Bible readings, prayers, meditations, and saints? What do different religious orders eat? These kinds of things interest me!

I won’t continue. I’m sure you have received similar complaints before.

Carol Elizabeth Copp St. Helen, Michigan

Hello and Goodbye Just received my first copy of St. Anthony Messenger. I must inform you that I’m canceling my subscription. I firmly believe that the Roman Catholic Church is one of obedience, not of convenience.

Please try to stay with the ways of God and not the ways of man. Sins such as homosexuality and abortion have not just popped up, but have been with humankind since the beginning. That is why Noah’s flood occurred and why Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. The problems of the modern family are the problems of families throughout the ages.

Please try to follow what Our Lord showed us. Put the subscription money to good use.

Michael Hanzuk Fort Frances, Ontario

All Are Welcome?

Concerning the synod on the family and having the Catholic Church welcome same-sex couples: we need to make clear what we are talking about. We are all children of God, yes, but sometimes we send out the wrong message of what welcoming means.

As a parent, how are you supposed to feel when you see your son dancing with another man in a public place? Witnessing such behavior does not make me feel so welcome.

Craig Galik Duquesne, Pennsylvania Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15 ❘ 3

F O L L O W E R S O F S T. F R A N C I S

Mission Mixes Faith and Music

W

hen the Gospel became clear to me, I needed to express my faith with songs,” says Denis Grady, OFS. A Secular Franciscan for the past 10 years, Denis has always felt the pull of both music and Catholic faith in his life, but his response to God’s call to pursue music ministry didn’t happen automatically.

Originally from Peterborough, Ontario, Denis grew up in a musical home. “My older brother, Paul, is a great singersongwriter. His songs have been recorded by Anne Murray and Emmylou Harris. My dad, Denis and Barbie Grady Vern, was passionate about music. He was a big Duke Ellington fan,” recounts Denis. Though his music now has a higher purpose, as a teenager, Denis’ reasons for getting into music were a little shortsighted. “I started playing in bands while in high school to meet girls; much later, I met God,” he says.

As a young man, Denis was deeply intrigued by St. Francis of Assisi, after watching the biographical film Brother Sun, Sister

Moon and reading Felix Timmerman’s classic book The Perfect Joy of Saint Francis. “The universal appeal of [St.] Francis is no mystery,” Denis says. “The Canticle of the Sun is evidence of his poetic creative genius.”

Despite the magnetism of music and the spiritual life, there was a time when Denis struggled with the powerful demons of addiction and despair. In the 1980s, after completing a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program and going through an emotionally taxing divorce, Denis was simultaneously brokenhearted and receptive to God’s healing love.

From this place of openness and selfawareness, Denis combined his faith-driven passion for music with a mission to serve others. Connecting with “Troubadour for the Lord” John Michael Talbot in the early ’90s helped Denis zero in on music ministry as his life’s calling. Following the release of two award-winning albums of country gospel music (in 1998 and 2002, respectively), Denis helped organize a series of fund-raising concerts for World Youth Day in 2002, which took place in Toronto.

The contacts in humanitarian organiza-

STORIES FROM OUR READERS A Tall Order

Learn more about St. Anthony and share your story of how he helped you at AmericanCatholic.org/ Features/Anthony.

© IGOR KALI/FOTOLIA

PHOTO BY ROSIE GRADY

“

4 ❘ Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15

I now have a saint in my life: St. Anthony! I am a Jewish woman, married to a Catholic for the past year and a half. A few months ago, I noticed that the middle diamond of my engagement ring was missing. I was heartbroken because the diamond was from my husband’s grandmother, a second stone was from his mother, and a third was given by him. To say it simply, the ring had history. When we realized the diamond might truly be lost, my husband said to St. Anthony, “You have a big job to perform.” We searched everywhere but could not find it.

After a recent hospital visit, I found myself sitting on a gurney with my handbag, wondering about the diamond. I began to empty my bag and, as I did, I felt a stone in the tiniest corner— and there it was! I am a firm believer in St. Anthony. Who said that interfaith dialogue doesn’t exist?

—Ruth Gustafson, Ocala, Florida

St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg

Click here for more on Denis Grady and his music ministry. Click the button on the left to hear one of his songs.

ST. CLARE OF ASSISI

Shining Brightly Two years after her death in 1253, Pope Alexander IV declared Clare of Assisi a saint. The official bulletin of canonization begins: “Clare, brilliant by her bright merits, by the brightness of her great glory in heaven, and the brilliance of her sublime miracles on earth, shines brightly.”

This document continues to use the imagery of a bright light. Clare’s brightness had not always been appreciated by earlier popes and bishops. She struggled to validate a new way of living Gospel freedom.

–P.M.

CNS PHOTO BY MICHAEL ALEXANDER, GEORGIA BULLETIN

tions he made through his experience with World Youth Day, along with many connections closer to home, paved the way to Denis founding the Franciscan and Friends Music Mission (franciscanandfriends.com).

Since 2005, Denis’ organization has been busy bringing music and the Gospel message to the poor and the marginalized. From playing inspirational songs for residents battling addictions at the Calgary Dream Centre to bringing guitars to impoverished villages in Guatemala, the Franciscan and Friends Music Mission is an ecumenical group that seeks to ease suffering and bring joy to those in need.

Assisted by his wife, Barbie, whom he married in 2012 on the feast of St. Francis (October 4), Denis is constantly fueled

by Franciscan spirituality to do the good work of Franciscan and Friends. “We say the Prayer of St. Francis daily—it’s really challenging when difficulties come up on our path. ‘Where there is hatred, let me sow love.’ I believe this is impossible for one to do alone, but with God it is possible,” says Denis.

—Daniel Imwalle

tal Digi as Extr

To learn more about Franciscan saints, visit AmericanCatholic.org/Features/Saintofday.

S T. A N T H O N Y B R E A D

Fr ancisca n Media .org

Send all postal communication to: St. Anthony Bread 1615 Vine St. Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498

Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15 ❘ 5

PHOTO BY FRANK JASPER, OFM

The National Shrine of St. Anthony is located in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Consecrated in 1889, it includes a first-class relic of St. Anthony and serves as a center for daily prayer and contemplation.

The Franciscan friars minister from the shrine. To help them in their work among the poor, you may send a monetary offering called St. Anthony Bread. Make checks or money orders payable to “Franciscans” and mail to the address below.

Every Tuesday, a Mass is offered for benefactors and petitioners at the shrine. To seek St. Anthony’s intercession, mail your petition to the address below. Petitions are taken to the shrine each week.

To post your petition online, please visit stanthony.org, where you can also request to have a candle lit or a Mass offered; or you may make a donation to the Franciscans or sign up to receive a novena booklet.

REEL TIME

W I T H S I S T E R R O S E PA C AT T E , F S P

Unbroken

PHOTO BY DAVID JAMES © UNIVERSAL PICTURES

SISTER ROSE’S

Favorite

Science and Technology Films Madame Curie (1943) Medicine Man (1992) The Social Network (2010) Lorenzo’s Oil (1992) Awakenings (1990)

6 ❘ February 2015

Jack O’Connell plays an American soldier who endures countless hardships in the drama Unbroken.

Louis “Louie” Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) is the son of Italian immigrants living in Southern California during the Depression.

He skips school, drinks liquor, and smokes.

His brother, Pete (Alex Russell), however, sees his potential as a runner.

Louie begins to train and win track meets.

He earns a scholarship to the University of Southern California; his collegiate record for the mile held for 15 years. He also makes the US Olympic track and field team in 1938 in Berlin.

In 1941, Louie joins the Army, and is deployed to the Pacific as a bombardier. On a search-and-rescue mission in 1943, the plane crashes. Only Louie, Phil (Domhnall Gleeson), and Mac (Finn Wittrock) survive out of the 11-man crew. They are attacked

by Japanese bombers and sharks, and beset by storms. On the 47th day, they are taken into captivity by the Japanese.

Director Angelina Jolie weaves Louie’s past with his present and shows us how much torture the young man suffers at the hands of Watanabe (Takamasa Ishihara), a sadistic Japanese guard. Louie gets a brief respite when Watanabe is transferred to another

camp, but they soon end up at the same camp again.

I liked this film, which is based on Laura Hillenbrand’s 2010 best-seller, Unbroken: A Word War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. But it seems that half of it is filled with the very real and horrible torture of this good man who, though small in stature, has a will of iron.

Jolie gently integrates Louie’s faith throughout the film. The performances—by actors mostly unknown to US audiences— are strong. I’m just not sure that the balance of the narrative elements is right. What happens after Louie returns home is just as dramatic and inspiring. Choosing to frame the story differently would have made the film more organically whole.

A-3, PG-13 ■ Torture, peril, mature themes.

The Imitation Game Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), a young mathematician with an IQ almost equal to Albert Einstein’s, answers an ad to work for the British government in 1939 when England declares war on Germany. He St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

PHOTO BY JACK ENGLISH © 2014 THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

Benedict Cumberbatch is winning critical acclaim for his work in the WWII drama The Imitation Game.

CNS PHOTO/FOX

joins a team of code breakers at the topsecret facility at Bletchley Park.

After months of futile efforts to break the Nazi “Enigma Code,” Turing entreats Winston Churchill to name him team leader so he can build what turns out to be a prototype of a modern computer. Turing’s vision is credited with shortening the war by two years, thus saving the lives of millions.

While The Imitation Game may seem to be about the triumph of technology, it is actually a deeply human story. Through flashbacks, we see Turing’s lonely life as a bullied schoolboy with limited social skills. By the time he is out of Cambridge, he realizes that he is a homosexual.

After the war, Turing is arrested for solicitation. A detective asks him if a computer can offer him a chance to explore what it means to be human and to explain man and machine. What follows is a tragedy, but no one can take away Turing’s legacy.

The Imitation Game is one of the best films of the year. It has intrigue, mathematics, human relationships, and a search for spies—all rolled into one man’s life. The direction by Morten Tyldum is brilliant, and Cumberbatch deserves an Oscar.

Not yet rated, PG-13 ■ Mature themes.

swords and then switches them, he tells both men to watch out for the other. It is the beginning of a sibling-like rivalry that will frame the rest of the story.

They go into battle, where Moses emerges as a military leader, which is not how the Scriptures describe him. He is not a general, but a leader whom God has chosen to liberate the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt.

Scott tells his version of the Exodus story on a very large canvas. It rivals Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 epic The Ten Commandments in sight and sound, but not in character development. Scott only hits the high points of the Book of Exodus, and seems reluctant to concede the miraculous. His image of God, whom Moses meets at the burning bush, is unlike any I have ever encountered in film.

Seeing the film will hopefully inspire people to read the Book of Exodus to understand not only crossing the Red Sea, but also what the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai actually means.

A-3, PG-13 ■ Battle violence, peril.

Oscar winner Christian Bale and Maria Valverde star in director Ridley Scott’s biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings.

Catholic Cl assifications A-1 A-2 A-3 L O

Exodus: Gods and Kings Director Ridley Scott’s imagining of the first half of the Book of Exodus is dramatic and majestic. We meet Moses (Christian Bale) and his “cousin,” Ramses (Joel Edgerton), who have been brought up together. When Pharaoh (an almost unrecognizable John Turturro) gives them almost matching Fr anciscanMedia.org

General patronage Adults and adolescents Adults Limited adult audience Morally offensive

■

The Catholic News Service Media Review Office gives these ratings. See usccb.org/movies.

■

Find reviews by Sister Rose and others at CatholicMovieReviews.org.

February 2015 ❘ 7

CHANNEL SURFING

WITH CHRISTOPHER HEFFRON

UP CLOSE

Series premiere February 5; Thursdays, 10 p.m., NBC The reason why family dramas are innately watchable is that viewers can identify with their struggles. Illnesses, conflicts, report cards, and carpools: these often quiet, mundane moments are the stuff of daily life.

What makes NBC’s new drama Allegiance so compelling is that the O’Connor family, while seemingly normal, is anything but.

Hope Davis and Scott Cohen anchor the series as Mark and Katya, two ex-KGB spies living as civilians in an affluent New York neighborhood. But here’s where the plot really thickens: just as their son, Alex, a young, idealistic CIA analyst, is charged with foiling a Russian plot to enact terrorism in the United States, the Kremlin seeks to reenlist Mark and Katya for its plans. To say that family loyalties are tested is an understatement, but channel surfers should enjoy the cat-and-mouse tension that steadily builds.

The ensemble cast is impressive, but pay close attention to the remarkable Hope Davis. The actor’s rendering of a woman hoping for a stable home life—but whose past will never allow it—is stunning.

Will Alex discover his parents’ true identities? How long can Mark and Katya keep running from their past? We are left with no certainties, save one: Allegiance is the best new show of the year.

Marry Me Tuesdays, 9 p.m., NBC Cute without being cloying, Marry Me is about Jake and Annie (Ken Marino and Casey Wilson), a longterm couple about to embark on marriage. But a series of unfortunate events—which stem mostly from Annie’s complete inability to filter what she says—puts a constant damper on their wedding plans.

Though the series is smartly written, some viewers will find elements of it troubling. A gay couple is featured prominently, and the language is coarse. The cast, nevertheless, shines, particularly Wilson. As a loose-lipped young woman who wants her happy ending, she has the comedic chops to carry the show.

Jane the Virgin

PHOTO BY WILL HART/NBC

Mondays, 9 p.m., The CW A breezy comedy-drama that isn’t afraid to ask tough questions, Jane the Virgin is about a freshfaced college student who is accidentally inseminated during a routine gynecological visit. Absurd?

Absolutely, but Jane’s struggles after the event are all too realistic. When she decides to carry the baby to term and give it up for adoption, Jane’s family and faith are really tested.

While artificial insemination—accidental or otherwise—is handled with far too light a touch here, Jane the Virgin celebrates one young woman’s selfless act. Gina Rodriguez, in the title role, is one to watch.

Scott Cohen and Hope Davis play a husband and wife with a mysterious past in NBC’s thrilling new series Allegiance.

8 ❘ February 2015

St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

PHOTO BY COLLEEN HAYES/NBC

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CHURCH IN THE NEWS

❘ BY DANIEL IMWALLE

Pope Outlines 15 Diseases of the Curia make news only when they fall, but there are so many that fly.”

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

Pope Was Pivotal to USCuban Diplomacy

Pope Francis speaks during an audience to exchange Christmas greetings with members of the Roman Curia in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican December 22.

1 0 ❘ Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15

the virtuous majority of the Church’s ministers. He quoted an adage that “priests are like airplanes—they

CNS PHOTO/REUTERS

In his Christmas greeting to heads of the Roman Curia, the Church’s central administration, and to cardinals resident in Rome, Pope Francis warned against a number of social ills to which he said Vatican officials are prone, reported Catholic News Service (CNS).

During the half-hour speech, the pope called the Curia a “dynamic body” naturally vulnerable to “maladies, to dysfunction, to infirmities.”

He went on to list what he called a “catalog” of 15 such diseases, one of which, he noted, was “spiritual Alzheimer’s.” It was a stinging rebuke that foreshadows reforms of the curia to come in 2015.

The pope said he hoped his words might serve officials as a “support and stimulus to a true examination of conscience” in preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He wound up his remarks, though, on a note of encouragement, saying that the failings of a few have discredited

In a December 17 televised address to the nation, in which he discussed how US policy toward Cuba will change, President Barack Obama made special mention of Pope Francis’ influence on the event, reported CNS. “In particular, I want to thank His Holiness Pope Francis, whose moral example shows us the importance of pursuing the world as it should be, rather than simply settling for the world as it is,” the president said.

Diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba are expected to improve after Pope Francis’ efforts in the past year to facilitate talks between the two nations. Throughout 2014, the pope had called for

US citizen Alan Gross embraces an entourage of family and friends who were awaiting his return from five years of captivity in Cuba.

St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg

N E W S B R I E F S N AT I O N A L A N D I N T E R N AT I O N A L

CNS PHOTOS FROM REUTERS: (RIGHT) MOHAMED AZAKIR, (FAR RIGHT) MIKE SEGAR

US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin on December 15, and the two discussed the potential closing of the United States’ Guantanamo Bay detention camp, as well as the building tensions in the Middle East, reported CNS. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said that Kerry emphasized the “commitment of the United States to close the Guantanamo prison and the desire for the Holy See’s support in the search for appropriate humanitarian solutions for the current detainees.”

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

Despite numerous reports to the contrary, Pope Francis did not console a child grieving over his dog by telling him, “Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.”

A slight variation of the quote was actually said by Pope Paul VI, who died in 1978. The misreported story was picked up by numerous news outlets, including The New York Times.

The Vatican’s deputy spokesman, Rev. Ciro Benedettini, told Reuters, “There is a fundamental rule in journalism. That is double-checking, and in this case it was not done.”

In honor of his 78th birthday, on December 18, Pope Francis called for 400 sleeping bags with the papal ensign to be distributed to people living on the streets, reported Religion New Service. Volunteers, including nuns and members of the Swiss Guard, told the recipients, “This is a gift for you from the pope on the occasion of his birthday.”

Also, in celebration of Pope Francis’ birthday, several hundred people gathered after the pope’s general audience to dance the tango in an informal event organized via social media.

A recent report outlining acts of torture by the CIA “violated the God-given human dignity inherent in all people and were unequivocally wrong,” said Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, New Mexico, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace. A 500-page executive summary of the report was released on December 9 by a Senate Intelligence Committee. Bishop Cantú also called on President Barack Obama to strengthen the legal prohibitions against torture “to ensure that this never happens again.”

US Secretary of State John Kerry

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin

President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro to come to an agreement regarding the release of American contractor Alan Gross, imprisoned in Cuba since 2009.

Gross was released on December 17.

Additionally, Cuba granted freedom to a US “intelligence asset” held for 20 years as part of a prisoner exchange. In return, the United States released three members of the so-called Cuban Five, a group of Fr ancisca n Media .org

For more Catholic news, visit AmericanCatholic.org.

Cuban spies who attempted to infiltrate Cuban-American communities in Miami in the 1990s.

An official statement from the Vatican pledged an ongoing commitment to assisting the United States and Cuba as the talks unfold. “The Holy See will continue to assure its support for initiatives which both nations will undertake to strengthen their bilateral relations and promote the wellbeing of their respective citi-

zens,” the statement read.

Reactions to the developments from US Church leaders were positive. “Pope Francis did what popes are supposed to do: build bridges and promote peace. We have consistently advocated that the US should revise this policy, in the hope that engagement and dialogue would prove more helpful in improving conditions in Cuba than a policy of confrontation and isolation,” said Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15 ❘ 1 1

Cardinal Dolan Comments on Shooting of NYPD Officers CNS. According to police, Ismaaiyl Brinsley shot officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in their police cruiser on December 20. Brinsley then committed suicide at a nearby

CNS PHOTO/GREGORY A. SHEMITZ

On December 21, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan addressed the fatal shooting of two New York police officers during his homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, reported

A man places flowers at a makeshift memorial near the site where two New York Police officers were assassinated in their patrol car December 20.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami in a statement.

subway station. Ramos, 40, and Liu, 32, had been specially tasked with decreasing crime in the BedfordStuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

“I’ve learned in my six years here that, yes, New York, this huge, throbbing metropolis, can indeed be a place of hurt, darkness, fear, and fracture, that our celebrated grit and in-your-face realism can at times be brash,” said the cardinal.

“But I’ve also learned that New York can be that ‘Little Town of Bethlehem,’ from which comes, not darkness, division, and death, but light, unity, and life. That’s New York! That’s Bethlehem! That’s Christmas!”

In attendance at the Mass were Mayor Bill de Blasio, Chief of Police James O’Neill, and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.

site visits, mainly by other women religious. The process, which many sisters viewed with suspicion, “sought to convey the caring support of the Church in respectful, sister-tosister dialogue,” the report noted.

“A number of sisters conveyed to the apostolic visitator a desire for greater recognition and support of the contribution of women religious to the Church on the part of its pas-

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

tors. They noted the ongoing need for honest dialogue with bishops and clergy as a means of clarifying their role in the Church and strengthenReport on Women ing their witness and effectiveness as Religious Released women faithful to the Church’s teaching and mission.”

On December 16, the Vatican In summary, the congregation released the final report on the called for special attention to several Apostolic Visitation of Institutes of areas, including formation programs Women Religious in the United for new members; the personal, liturStates of America. The report sumgical, and common prayer life marized the problems and of members; ensuring their challenges the women themspiritual practices and minselves see in their communiistries are fully in harmony ties and thanked them for with Church teaching “about their service to the Church God, creation, the Incarnation and to society. and redemption” in Christ; The process attempted to strengthening community life, help the Vatican “and the sisespecially for members living ters themselves to be more on their own or with only one cognizant of their current situother sister; living their vow ation and challenges in order of poverty while wisely to formulate realistic, effective administering financial plans for the future,” asserted Sister Sharon Holland, president of the Leadership Conferresources; and strengthening the report, which was widely ence of Women Religious, center, receives applause after communion within the seen as conciliatory in tone. speaking at a December 16 Vatican press conference for Church, especially with the The visitation took place release of the final report of a Vatican-ordered investigation bishops and Vatican officials, from 2009 to 2012 with deof US communities of women religious. reported CNS. A tailed questionnaires and on1 2 ❘ Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15

St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg

AT HOME ON EARTH

❘ BY KYLE KRAMER

A Season for Sacrifice

Y

spiritual maturing have helped me understand that such a gung-ho approach to Lent and environmentalism was as much ego as it was youthful, high-minded idealism. But I don’t think realizing that means I should Check Your simply “give up giving things Gratitude up.” We follow a savior who, out of love, gave his very life Use Lent to reflect on the for others. And we live on a environmental impact of planet that cannot sustain your lifestyle choices. seven billion people if everyone consumes like the averBenedictine Brother David age American; many of us Steindl-Rast teaches about will have to live more simply gratitude at gratefulness. so others can simply live. org.

But how do we give things up in a way that’s spiritually Consider keeping a gratifruitful, without being dour tude journal during Lent. and resentful, and not inflatEvery day, write down a few ing our own ego with a marthings for which you are tyr complex? I can think of grateful. three ways.

First, become self-aware.

Take a hard look at your own motivations—not judging them, but just paying careful attention to why you do what you do.

Second, practice gratitude.

The more grateful you are for the blessings in your life, the easier it is to make sacrifices.

Finally, cultivate compassion. Acting out of empathy and concern for others is the most life-giving motivation of all. This kind of love is what moved Jesus to heal the sick and to carry his cross to Golgotha. And it’s what Lenten sacrifice is really all about. A

1

2

3

Kyle Kramer is the executive director of the Passionist Earth and Spirit Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

Practicing gratitude during Lent can offer a new perspective on the meaning of the season.

Fr ancisca n Media .org

tal Digi as Extr

Click here to explore links on this topic. Click the button on the right to hear an interview with Kyle.

Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15 ❘ 1 3

© BLUEEE/FOTOLIA

© ARTISTIC CAPTURES/ISTOCKPHOTO

ears ago, as Lent approached, I asked a trusted spiritual counselor what he was going to give up. He gave me a sly grin and said, “I’m giving up giving things up for Lent.”

He was no spiritual sloth. Looking back, I imagine he was probably trying to correct my overzealous understanding of Lent as a time to flex my spiritual muscles and hone my ascetic self-denial to a razor-sharp edge.

For (too) many years I had a no pain, no gain, “if it hurts, it’s holy” understanding of spirituality. For me, faith was pretty much the same thing as moral willpower. So when Lent came around, I was eager for the chance to gird up my loins, deprive myself, and grit my teeth for 40 days.

With this kind of mindset, I suppose it was no coincidence that I was also a raging environmentalist. After all, if I liked the deprivations of Lent so much, why not deny myself creature comforts year-round, in the name of saving the Earth?

Middle age, raising children, and some

CNS PHOTO/THOMAS MUKOYA, REUTERS

The

‘Ups’ of Lent

Lift up, give up, take up.

This season invites us to do all three.

BY MSGR. RICHARD HILGARTNER

W

“

HAT ARE YOU GIVING UP for Lent?” is always a popular question among Catholics as Lent approaches, as if another New Year’s resolution is to be set (or reset). It becomes, for some, a badge of honor, and, for all, an opportunity to witness to the faith in a public way. Even people who might not identify themselves as the most devout members of the Church engage in the practice of “giving something up,” and it can often lead to greater devotion.

All of this is a good thing, because part of the “discipline of Lent” is sacrifice. But what is the point of it? Are we merely called to self-discipline as a means of self-improvement? Or is it only a matter of suffering through some difficult sacrifice? Giving something up for Lent is only one part of a larger call to engage our faith more fully and more devoutly during the 40 days of Lent: that call is a call to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Or, to put it another way, to lift up, to give up, and to take up.

The Discipline of Lent

Fr anciscanMedia.org

February 2015 ❘ 15

© KEVIN BOURDEAUX/FOTOLIA

The Gospel reading proclaimed on Ash Wednesday (Mt 6:18, 16-18), the start of Lent, lays out the threefold practice of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, but it does so with a clear admonition regarding what ought to motivate such practices: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them” (Mt 6:1).

At the beginning of Lent, the faithful are encouraged

by Jesus’ example during our own 40 days “in the desert.”

Taking part in devotional practices, such as praying the Stations of the Cross, or attending Mass more frequently, serves as one of the three parts of our Lenten preparation: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

CNS PHOTO/GREGORY A. SHEMITZ

tal Digi as t Ex r

On Ash Wednesday, when Catholics readily identify themselves in public with the sign of the cross marked in ashes on their foreheads, Jesus’ challenge is filled with irony. He challenges his listeners—and the faithful today embarking on Click here for more on the their Lenten journey—to reflect season of Lent. not only on what they do, but also on why they do it.

If the only purpose of sacrifice—of giving up something— is to be able to say that one is in fact doing something for Lent, or if that sacrifice is merely about self-improvement, then we’ve missed the point. If it is only a matter of bragging rights, as if to say, “Look at this difficult sacrifice I am offering,” then one is guilty of the very hypocrisy that Jesus condemned.

This is why the tradition of our Lenten practice of sacrifice is really part of a three-pronged approach to this time of spiritual renewal and rebirth. It is only when all three are part of the formula that the real renewal and conversion intended in Lent can happen.

The more prayerful one’s life is, the more one is aware of God’s call, his plan, and his promise.

16 ❘ February 2015

Jesus’ Own Sacrifice The Gospel of the first Sunday of Lent each year (Mt 4:4-11, Mk 1:12-15, or Lk 4:1-13) presents us with an intimate look at the heart and mind of Jesus. He is alone in the desert—we are told he fasts and is tempted by Satan. There are no eyewitnesses to these events; we take them as revealed to the Gospel writer, truly inspired by the Holy Spirit. Jesus teaches us about liv-

ing a life of holiness, which includes sacrifice, and sacrifice means resisting temptations.

His fasting does not make him weaker, but in his sacrifice he is strengthened all the more to resist Satan’s temptations. At the beginning of Lent, the faithful are encouraged by Jesus’ example of discipline and strengthened by our solidarity with him during our own 40 days “in the desert.”

The Significance of Lenten Practices In prayer, we lift up our hearts to the Lord. We express our praise and gratitude, we present our needs, and we open our hearts, surrendering to God’s will and power to save. This is particularly important in Lent, as we strive to set right our relationship with God. Prayer helps us do that by keeping open communication with God—we talk to God and we await and listen to God’s response. As we present our needs, we recognize our dependence on God and grow in our trust in his promise to provide for what we really need.

Prayer keeps our sight focused on God, so that the more prayerful one’s life is, the more one is aware of God’s call, his plan, and his promise. A life rooted in prayer is a life lived in the context of God’s grace. In this regard, prayer sets the stage for what must follow it, so that our actions flow from and reflect what is experienced in prayer.

In other words, our relationship with God is rooted in prayer, but expressed and manifested in actions. In Lent, this is made particSt A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

ularly clear in the various forms of Lenten discipline. The Letter of James expresses a similar sentiment: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (Jas 2:14). In the same way, prayer without works could amount to the hypocrisy that Jesus chastised in his preaching.

During Lent, there are many ways to take up the challenge of prayer. Many people commit to attending Mass more frequently (perhaps attending daily Mass), and parishes often have additional opportunities for prayer during Lent, such as prayer groups, the Liturgy of the Hours, and devotional practices such as the Stations of the Cross and eucharistic exposition and adoration.

Others commit to building in more significant time for personal prayer, reflection, or meditation, perhaps by reading Scripture, praying parts of the Liturgy of the Hours, or praying the rosary. All of these provide opportunities to focus one’s attention on what the Lord is saying and where he is leading, as we are reminded in the Collect (Opening Prayer) on the first Sunday of Lent: “Grant, almighty God, through the yearly observances of holy Lent, that we may grow in understanding of the riches hidden in Christ and by worthy conduct pursue their effects.”

What about Fasting?

In fasting, we give up what we don’t really need in the first place. In the Christian tradition, fasting is seen as a means of preparation, of waiting, and of penance. Voluntary acts of selfdenial are a means of demonstrating devotion, but they also prepare us for what is to come. We fast for one hour before receiving holy Communion at Mass in order to prepare our hearts, to focus our attention, and literally to awaken our hunger for the Lord, the bread of life.

Church law dictates two particular days of fasting as a means of penance: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. In addition, the custom of the Paschal fast as an extension of the Good Friday fast through Holy Saturday until the Easter Vigil is a means of preparation Fr anciscanMedia.org

Travel with other Catholics!

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14 days from $1749* Departs August 14, 2015. Your tour starts in Seattle where you’ll drive through the lush forestlands of the Pacific Northwest. Visit the Grand Coulee Dam and nearby Dry Falls. Head east to “Big Sky Country” of Montana followed by journeys through Glacier & Waterton Lakes National Parks.

Travel through Kootenay National Park; visit Bow Falls and beautiful Lake Louise en route to Banff National Park for twonights. Continue north along the Icefields Parkway and in the heart of the Canadian Rockies you will experience a remarkable excursion onto the surface of the Athabasca Glacier. Your next destinations are Jasper & Yoho National Parks; Revelstoke; the Lake Okanagan region; Kamloops and Whistler.

Then travel to Vancouver for your two-night stay before returning to Seattle. Enjoy a city tour including a stop at Pike Place Market before flying home. Mass will be celebrated some days on tour. Your Chaplain is Father Frank Wittouck, SCJ, from Houston, Texas. He retired as an Army Chaplain in 2010 yet currently ministers for Magnificat House and in the Cypress Assistance Ministries. This will be his 9th trip with YMT. * PPDO. Plus $159 tax/service/government fees. Alternate June - August departure dates available.

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Travel impressive Glacier Bay passing glaciers galore and sail to Haines, Juneau and Ketchikan. Disembark in Vancouver and enjoy a city tour before traveling to Seattle for your flight home. Mass will be celebrated some days on tour and offered daily on board ship.

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CNS PHOTO/NANCY WIECHEC

CNS PHOTO/JIM YOUNG, REUTERS

(Above) Fasting during Lent is often thought of in terms of abstaining from food. But why not take it a step further? Donate the money you have saved on food to a program such as Catholic Relief Services’ Operation Rice Bowl.

(Above right) The practice of almsgiving is understood as giving money or good to aid the poor. But it can also refer to giving of your time and self in service to others.

and anticipation of the celebration of the Lord’s resurrection at Easter.

A second form of fasting is known as abstinence, in which we deny ourselves some particular thing, as a way of practicing self-discipline. Church law asks the faithful to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and the Fridays of Lent, and the custom of giving something up for Lent is a way for each individual to choose some particular form of abstinence as a means of self-discipline.

Some might choose to abstain from a particular delicacy or favorite food, while others might choose something less tangible, but just as helpful: giving up or cutting back on watching television, playing video games, or time spent on social media.

Sometimes it seems as if the most difficult part of Lenten discipline is fasting, and if the giving up isn’t replaced by something more fruitful, then it might be just a hardship for the sake of the hardship, or it might be replaced by something equally meaningless. For example, if I give up chocolate, only to replace it by eating ice cream, then there is no real benefit. Or, if I give up or cut back on watching television, but that is merely replaced by video games or time spent online, then to what end am I really giving something up?

Faith in Action It is almsgiving—taking up—that makes the giving up work. Almsgiving is understood as giving money or good, to aid the poor (see Catechism of the Catholic Church #2447, 2462), but in a broader context almsgiving can also be understood to include other kinds of char18 ❘ February 2015

itable acts of service. We take up works of charity (almsgiving) in order to walk more clearly the path of service and love the Lord calls us to walk. In this regard, we remove the excess by giving up in order to engage more freely in what we are really called to do.

Preface III of Lent expresses this relationship: “You will that our self-denial should give you thanks, humble our sinful pride, contribute to the feeding of the poor, and so help us imitate you in your kindness.”

Clearly, then, our sacrifices make room for being charitable. So perhaps someone might give up the daily stop at a local coffee bar and contribute what is saved to charity, or one could cut back on watching TV or social media in order to make time to be present to someone in need, to perform some charitable deed, or when that is not possible, to dedicate some time to study, reflection, or prayer, especially prayer for others’ needs.

The Virtuous Life The ultimate goal of the discipline of Lent is not only to do penance (see CCC #1434) but to do so as a means toward a life of virtue.

“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil 4:8).

Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving together orient and focus one’s attention toward virtue.

The cardinal virtues—prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance—are foundational for the virtuous life, and these things lead us beyond ourselves and the “things of this passSt A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

ing world” to the values and cares of the kingdom of heaven and “the things that eternally endure” (Preface of Lent II). These virtues align themselves with the disciplines of Lent: prudence and fortitude flow from prayer, justice is manifest in our almsgiving, and temperance is demonstrated in fasting.

The threefold disciplines of Lent help to foster and strengthen these virtues in the lives of the faithful.

The purpose of Lent is not merely to engage in these practices for the sake of themselves. Lent is about fostering ongoing conversion and renewal of our life in Christ. It is a means of preparation for the celebration of Easter, and it is a means of preparing for the Paschal feast of heaven.

Preface I of Lent reminds us what it is all about: “. . . Your faithful await the sacred paschal feasts with the joy of minds made pure, so that, more eagerly intent on prayer and on the works of charity, and participating in the mysteries . . . they may be led to the fullness of grace . . . .”

The journey of Lent provides an opportunity to walk more closely with Jesus, who desires our presence, sometimes more than we desire his. In our lifting up, giving up, and taking up, may we be vigilant in our sacrifices and strong in resisting temptation, and so get all the more “caught up” in the love of God through his Son’s cross and resurrection. A

LIGHTEN UP

“I’ll bet Cinderella was shocked when she got the Fairy Godmother’s bill.”

Msgr. Richard Hilgartner is former executive director of the US bishops’ Secretariat of Divine Worship and currently president of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians.

ANSWERS TO PETE AND REPEAT 1. The tree has another branch.

2. The shingles on the roof are now visible.

3. The headband of the earmuffs is missing.

4. Pete’s right arm is no longer visible.

5. Another snowball has appeared.

6. A button is missing from Pete’s coat.

7. The house has another window.

8. The snow pile in front of the house is gone.

“No problem. I already got rid of it.”

Fr anciscanMedia.org

February 2015 ❘ 19

Young

People of

Faith In a time of their lives when going to church might not be a top priority, a passionate group of young adults grow in their Catholic identity.

BY PETER FEUERHERD

O

N THE FIRST SATURDAY NIGHT of the month on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the bars on Second Avenue are overflowing, and, thanks to New York City’s antismoking crusade, young adults crowd the sidewalks to catch a puff before once again entering the taverns and partaking in the pulsating Gotham nightlife.

Meanwhile, there’s another venue overflowing with young people at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church on East 90th Street. A few thousand pack the two-tiered church, filling the upper balcony, the aisles crowded with those kneeling in prayer. Most are in their 20s and 30s, and they are spending this night at the most traditional of Catholic devotions: the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

But this is not your grandmother’s devotion.

The sacred host is illuminated by Broadwaystyle lights piercing the darkened sanctuary,

20 ❘

February 2015

and a robed Franciscan Friar of the Renewal— backed by acoustic guitars with a slight rock backbeat—offers a rambling reflection on the power of Jesus.

Transcendence A baby murmurs, yet, despite the size of the crowd, there are few other sounds. It is a group focused on the divine presence in a way that few other Catholic venues can match—a sign that young adult Catholics can be attracted to the transcendent reality of their faith.

It’s called the Catholic Underground, and this group meets once a month for prayer and reflection. The phrase “Catholic Underground” St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

PHOTO BY GREGORY A. SHEMITZ

has multiple meanings: for one, a music program is offered after the devotion in the church basement—so the group literally spends much of its time under the city’s streets. Yet it also implies, and correctly so according to the statistics, that these young people are different, set apart from the mainstream.

Catholic groups that involve young adults typically focus on three factors: the transcendent and unique nature of Catholic belief and its importance in today’s world; the mission of bringing that message to the world through acts of charity and social justice; and the development of community. “It gives a sense of community that you are not alone,” says Chris Fr anciscanMedia.org

Johnson, 28, a Catholic convert from Montclair, New Jersey.

What’s Up with Young Catholics?

The big-picture numbers indicate that this kind of intense devotion is relatively rare among Catholic young adults. As a group, they have been hit hard by recent bad economic times. Thirty-six percent live in their parents’ homes—not because many want to, but because there is no easy economic alternative. The unemployment rate among those ages 18-31 reached 18 percent during the Great Recession, twice that of the nation as a whole.

If economic difficulties turn people to God,

A group called the Catholic Underground, at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in New York, brings young adults together (such as cousins Mariette Yost, left, and Kimberly Brunelle, both 27) to help sustain their faith.

February 2015 ❘

21

PHOTO BY GREGORY A. SHEMITZ

the evidence is not there among most young adult Americans. The Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life Project notes that young adult Catholics are a large part of what is the nation’s second-largest denomination:

A brother of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal plays the drums at a Catholic Underground gathering in New York City—where secular life doesn’t always sync up with Catholic beliefs.

One-third of Americans in their 20s, 30s, and 40s describe themselves as having no religion.

22 ❘

February 2015

former Catholics. One-fourth of young adults check “None” when surveyed about their religious preference.

Many point to the virtues of a “spiritual but not religious” view of life, a statement that some conceive of as a quiet barb directed at that most religious of institutions—the Catholic Church. One-third of Americans in their 20s, 30s, and 40s describe themselves as having no religion. There are more atheists among young American adults than ever before. Younger Catholics are, according to Pew, far less likely than older Catholics to believe in God with certainty.

Marco Rojas, 34, is among those disengaged Catholics. In the home where he was raised, a crucifix hangs over the front door (he is married and lives just a few doors down from where he grew up in the Astoria neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens).

Like many Latino immigrant families—Marco’s parents came from Ecuador—a painting of the Last Supper adorns a wall. Growing up, Marco attended religious-education classes and received the sacraments.

Marco works as a physical trainer, among high-end Manhattan clientele, taking the subway at 5 a.m. each day for the trek into the city. At work, there is little mention of religion or faith among the attorneys and Wall Street executives he puts through exercise paces. And among his friends, there is little active participation in parish life, even though many were raised in the faith.

When asked about his view of the Church’s

teaching, Marco says, “They are not tolerant of a lot of things.” He believes the Church is judgmental on issues of human sexuality. “People need religion to have some sense of moral grounding. But I don’t think religion is the only way to get that,” he says, explaining why he doesn’t feel a need to go to church.

Other disengaged young adult Catholics tell a similar story. Maggie Donegan, 28, is one of nine children in an Irish American Catholic family whose father’s federal government job took her across the country in her childhood, from Oregon to Virginia. She now lives in New York City’s Bronx, where she works for an independent film company.

When a Jewish friend was dying a few years ago, she instinctually took a rosary to his bedside. But she hasn’t been to church in the past five years, except when she visits her parents in Virginia. That wasn’t always the case, however. When she moved to New York from Oregon at age 19, she was alone in the big city, and found herself gravitating to church. “It was a wonderful place to go and meditate and feel at home,” she says.

But she found herself slipping away until, on Ash Wednesday five years ago, she decided not to receive the symbolic dust on her forehead. (Yet, in a kind of spiritual bet-hedging, she still found herself making little sacrifices for Lent.) Maggie became more and more estranged from the institutional Church, particularly as her circle of friends and family included more openly gay people and news stories chronicled the Church’s sex-abuse crisis.

“I still will pray,” she says. “I will speak to God in times of need and stress.” But she won’t be found at Mass.

The late Father Andrew Greeley, a sociologist and novelist, might well have described Maggie and Marco as “cultural Catholics,” still attached in many ways to the Catholic community although not active in the faith.

Faith and Social Media Brandon Vogt, a Catholic convert and young evangelizer, works to move young adult Catholics beyond the simple cultural embrace of the faith. His tool is social media. Brandon, 27, works out of his home in a suburb of Orlando, Florida. Much of his energy is consumed with StrangeNotions.com, a website he founded that is committed to dialogue with atheists and former Catholics. The husband and father of three is a former evangelical Christian who converted to Catholicism while in college.

St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

About life in New York: “It can swallow you Convinced of the Catholic doctrine on the Eucharist, Brandon felt he had no other honest up,” says Paulist Father Steven Bell, 45, assochoice. “If it was true, I had to be a Catholic,” ciate director of Busted Halo—a website with he says. He finds that cyberspace is where almost a Catholic perspective devoted to young spirall young adults connect in some way or itual seekers.

“You need a community you can relate to,” another. His approach is nonjudgmental—an attempt to form a community where atheists, says Father Bell. The Paulists, a religious comthe religiously indifferent, and devout Catholics munity devoted to evangelization, provide can chat “in a high-minded sort of dialogue.” that community both online, via BustedHalo.

A recent visit to the site included a reflection com, and through a group that fills St. Paul on how reality television enforces a social need the Apostle Church on Sunday nights for Mass for judgment and objective values, abounding and a short social afterward.

Before Mass, he roams the aisles, chatting with book references and proofs for the existence of God. The tone is Judge Judy meets up visitors and, as Mass begins, proclaims, Thomas Aquinas—pop culture mixed with philosophy and theology.

Divine As more young adults become attracted to what’s called the “new atheism” (characterized by aggressive intellectual attacks on religious belief Rewards you with a fixed from writers such as Richard Dawkins income while supporting and the late Christopher Hitchens), Brandon believes his ministry is needed our mission to serve the more than ever. Atheism was once poorest of God’s people. practically unknown in the United States, and rarely talked about in polite company. But now, Brandon points out, self-described atheists number five times what they did just a decade ago.

“To me, it’s tragic,” he says. “It’s deeply disheartening. Our people are being sucked in. I felt called and challenged to engage it head-on.”

Brandon uses the model of St. Paul, who preached to the pagans in the midst of the glories of ancient Greek culture. As St. Paul appealed to the culture and philosophy of his day, evangelizers such as Brandon use the popular culture of movies and music “to engage the culture on its own terms.”

He has never actually met many of the people he converses with. But he feels a deep bond in any case. Social media, says Brandon, creates a modern space that can be used to address the deepest moral and religious themes.

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“You may not know it yet, but you are brothers and sisters,” before asking everyone to greet a stranger.

Nik Dionosio, 36, has been a member of the young adult group at St. Paul’s since it began six years ago. Now married and a father, he still comes regularly from Westchester County, about 30 miles away. In a city such

young adult group, through its socials, discussions, and regular prayer opportunities, is a way of “living the faith in the real world.”

“We all come from diverse backgrounds,” she says, noting they are drawn together by the challenge of “keeping the teaching of the Church in New York City.”

For Father Bell, it is true that Church teaching—particularly on sexuality and authority issues, as well as the negative publicity surrounding sex abuse—has many young adult Catholics not feeling ready to accept the full Catholic package. At the moment, many are content to sample the Catholic cafeteria, ingesting the appetizing morsels of spirituality and community they find.

“We are proud as Paulists to meet people where they are. It doesn’t mean that’s where they want to stay,” says Father Bell.

PHOTO BY JOHN BURLAGE

Faith in Action

Young volunteers helping the Romero Center, a Catholic social mission in Camden, New Jersey, plant a tree in an area plagued by severe poverty and crime.

24 ❘

February 2015

as New York, being part of a Catholic community is vital, says the software engineer and Vancouver native.

“You don’t really know who’s Catholic and who’s not. Religion is not something you wear on your sleeve in New York,” Nik says. But one vital sign is revealed every Ash Wednesday, when Catholics emerge with the symbol of the ashes on their foreheads. Getting such Catholics to come out and be identified the rest of the year is one goal of young adult ministry.

Casey Lee, 31, works in finance and lives on Manhattan’s West Side. A Maryland native with nine years in the city, she finds that the

Galvanized by their experience of community, some young adults seek ways to live out their faith via the Church’s mission, especially to the poor.

Action on behalf of justice remains popular among young adults. Father Bell notes that the young adults he meets have noticed Pope Francis’ outreach to the poor.

That outreach is evident 90 miles away from Manhattan in Camden, New Jersey. Camden is a largely forgotten city across the Delaware River from Philadelphia—occasionally highlighted when a network news crew comes to town to chronicle urban poverty and crime.

It is the best place in the country to experience the Church’s social action, says Patrick Cashio, 29, director of the Archbishop Oscar Romero Center, a social service center that attracts groups from around the country who come to minister to the city’s poor.

Originally from Alabama, Patrick came to Camden with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, working in English classes for immigrants, computer classes, and drug and violence education. Camden, he says, offers a lesson every day. If the poor you will always have with you, as Jesus said, there is no denying it on the harsh streets of New Jersey’s poorest city.

“I saw how the world really is,” Patrick says.

“We don’t understand reality until we see it from the eyes of those who are suffering the most. Camden is an authentic place. You can’t hide its flaws.”

The Romero Center brings young adults regularly to minister there, including monthly potlucks and opportunities to serve at a nearby St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

homeless shelter. A typical service day will include gathering at a local pub, a ride to the shelter, and then a shared reflection on the experience of poverty. The reflection helps make sense of the experience and is essential for young adult service ministry, says Patrick.

It’s not just doing good deeds that’s important; it is also vital to reflect upon the larger meaning of the Church’s social mission.

Food for reflection is also found in the words and deeds of Pope Francis, who frequently says his most provocative words in front of youthful audiences. “I want a mess,” he told young Argentine pilgrims at a July 2013 World Youth Day event in Brazil. “I want to see the Church get closer to the people. I want to get rid of clericalism, the mundane, this closing ourselves off within ourselves, in our parishes, school, or structures.”

Cynthia Martinez, 33, associate director of youth ministry for the Archdiocese of New York, took part in the 2013 World Youth Day celebration in Brazil. As a single young adult, she was struck by the pope’s informal style.

The pope had a simple message for young adults, even for those focused on social life: “It’s OK. It’s part of life,” says Cynthia. Within the context of social life, she says, the pope’s

message to young adults is: you are called to be saints.

How can this be possible? Especially given the temptations of modern life—particularly in large, secular cities where faith is regularly dismissed—how can young adult Catholics nurture their beliefs?

Teuta Bucaj, 33, from New York’s Westchester County, has been at work meetings where, on totally unrelated topics, the Church is taken to task for its moral stances. Those experiences make her participation in groups such as Catholic UnderClick here to learn more ground all the more important, about today’s young Cathproviding a place where young olics. Click the button above Catholic adults can feel at for an interview on this topic. home together.

tal Digi as t Ex r

“You find out you’re not the only one,” she says.

On a Saturday night when faith is rarely the top priority for young adults—some in New York to seek work and others perhaps a touch of the city’s glamour—that just might be enough for now. A Peter Feuerherd, a frequent writer in the Catholic press, is director of communications for the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey.

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EDITORIAL

People Full of Joy and Hope The entire Church benefits from women and men in consecrated life.

Pope Francis, our first Jesuit pope, has opened a worldwide Year for Consecrated Life, starting last November (first Sunday of Advent) and extending through February 2, 2016 (feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple).

In addition to the world’s 900,000 vowed sisters, brothers, priests, and consecrated virgins, this event also involves all oblates of monastic communities, members of Third Orders, associates of religious communities, and members of secular institutes.

Most Catholics do not officially belong to any of these groups, but they have benefited from the life and ministry of vowed religious in schools, parishes, hospitals, evangelization at home and abroad—as well as the l a t prayerful witness of female and male coni g Di as r t templative communities. In various ways, x E vowed religious all help Catholics and other ChrisClick here for more about tians live out their Baptism. the Year of Consecrated Countless non-Christians Life. have benefited from the life and ministry of men and women in consecrated life.

They continue to facilitate ecumenical and interfaith dialogue.

Why Have Such a Year?

In a November 21, 2014, apostolic letter to vowed religious, Pope Francis said that this year should help all of us to: • look to the past with gratitude, • live the present with passion, and • embrace the future with hope.

Pope Francis has called on Catholics in religious communities to “leave your nests and go out to the peripheries.” In prophetic and countercultural ways, they should “live on the frontiers” to offer better witness to people waiting to hear Jesus’ Good News. He noted that joy, courage, and readiness to be people of communion have characterized 2 6 ❘ Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15

founders of religious communities throughout the centuries. Indeed, vowed religious are called to be “experts in communion.”

Lived generously, vowed life, married life, and life as a single person all require the kind of self-emptying for which St. Paul praised Christ (Philippians 2:7). Life in the Church requires its own type of selfemptying as we deal with the virtues and 2015 Year of Consecrated Life blind spots of our members.

In May 2013, Pope Francis spoke to the International Union of Superiors General and quoted Blessed Paul VI: “It’s an absurd dichotomy to think one can live with Jesus, but without the Church, to follow Jesus outside the Church, to love Jesus and not the Church.” Vowed religious help us remember the Jesus/Church connection.

We can be thankful that last December’s final report on the Holy See’s apostolic visitation of US women religious is both positive and challenging.

WAKE UP THE WORLD !

This Year’s Special Events The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has embraced this initiative and called for: 1) open houses hosted by religious communities (February 8), new opportunities for service days with religious women and men (summer of 2015), and a national day of prayer for consecrated life (September 13, 2015). Dioceses and individual religious communities are sponsoring other initiatives.

The witness of religious life has helped many couples, families, and single people live out their Baptism. In praying for vowed religious and those discerning whether God is calling them to such a life, we help all the Church’s members to live as people full of joy and hope.

—Pat McCloskey, OFM St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg

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Patty Duke was only 12 when she starred alongside screen legend Helen Hayes in an episode of The United States Steel Hour’s “One Red Rose for Christmas” in 1958. A year later, Duke would win raves for The Miracle Worker on Broadway.

One-on-One with

Patty

Duke

She wanted to be a nun, but Hollywood had other plans.

Now the Oscar winner talks about the faith that never left her.

B Y R I TA E . P I R O

O PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR

NE OF THE MOST popular teen stars on television, now the proud grandmother of six, Oscar winner Patty Duke, 68, is enjoying her sixth decade as a professional actor. Happily ensconced in the northern Idaho home she shares with her husband of 29 years, Michael Pearce, she is grateful for both her past successes and her present joys.

“I’ve been richly blessed,” she says softly.

“When I pray, I never ask for material things.

I offer only prayers of gratitude.”

By the time she entered first grade at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary School in New York City, Anna Marie Duke (she prefers to use her baptismal name) had already caught the attention of several talent scouts. By the time she made her first Communion, she was well on her way as a child star, having appeared in commercials and on television, sharing the bill with the likes of David Niven, Richard Burton, and Sir Laurence Olivier.

As a child, though, acting remained the furthest thing from her mind.

“More than anything else, I wanted to be a nun,” Anna reveals. “My friends and I would play ‘nun’ all the time. We would wrap a piece of loose-leaf paper around our forehead and neck, put a dark scarf around our head, and we would play school, taking turns being the teacher or the mother superior.”

Fr anciscanMedia.org

Given what lay ahead for young Anna Marie, she could have used a cloister of nuns praying around the clock for her.

Foundation of Faith The third and youngest child of John Patrick and Frances (McMahon) Duke, Anna was born on December 14, 1946, in the Kips Bay section of New York City. A former Navy man, John’s battle with alcohol forced him to leave the family, which included an older daughter, Carol, and a son, Raymond, when Anna was 6 years old.

“I rarely saw him after he left,” she recalls.

“I promised myself that when I was older, I would find him and make him better.”

Though remembered by Anna as a “loving and terrific mom,” Frances Duke struggled with frequent episodes of severe depression, including several hospitalizations.

“My mother depended upon going to church, praying the rosary to help her deal with her depression. We didn’t have the knowledge, the treatments back then. She was desperate that through her faith she would stop being depressed.”

Attending Mass at Sacred Heart Church provided Anna with her first taste of theatre. “I loved all the ritual involved in Mass, what some people call the ‘bells and smells.’ It had such high drama with the mystique of Latin February 2015 ❘ 29

thrown in for good measure. I was the first one in my class who could perfectly recite the Confiteor in Latin,” she boasts.

Life with the Rosses

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR

Patty Duke became a staple in American homes with her iconic television series The Patty Duke Show, which was created especially for her, about identical cousins and their misadventures.

The series ran from 1963 to 1967.

At age 7, Anna caught the attention of John and Ethel Ross, a husband-and-wife team of talent agents, both now deceased. Recognizing Anna’s potential for acting success, the couple devoted themselves to managing both her career and her life.

Under their tyrannical hold, Anna was stripped of nearly everything she knew and loved, starting with her name.

“The managers did not think that my name was perky enough, so they decided to change it. Without any discussion, they barked out the order to me saying, ‘All righty, Anna Marie is dead. You’re Patty now.’” In later years, Anna would define this event as the beginning of her personal destruction.

The Rosses never disguised their great disdain for Mrs. Duke, whose depression had become so severe that she could barely function.

“The managers said to my mother, ‘Now, Mrs. Duke, you know that you are unable to

take care of your daughter,’” Anna remembers. “‘If you really love her, you will let her live with us so that we can give her everything you cannot.’”

Despondent and terribly intimidated, Frances Duke saw in the Rosses’ offer a way to ease the doleful life she believed she had created for her youngest child.

For nearly 10 years, until age 18, Anna lived with her managers in their Manhattan apartment, sleeping on a cot in a hallway. Anna’s every word and movement were monitored and controlled. Her daily actions were reviewed and criticized each evening at dinner. She could not talk on the telephone, entertain any friendships, or be in any room with the door closed. She could use the bathroom for only 10 minutes at a time.

The Rosses were addicted to alcohol and prescription drugs, both of which they would periodically give to young Anna as a way to help her get through her demanding workload.

The managers’ word was law. Anna recalls a commercial which cast her between them and her Catholic faith.

30 ❘ February 2015

St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

“It was for a canned meat product. We were in the middle of filming when I remembered that it was Friday, which meant that I could not eat meat. I froze in fear. Do I eat meat on Friday and go against God or do I refuse and go against the managers? It didn’t take me long to figure out the answer. I went ahead and ate the meat. Being in trouble with God would be a lot easier for me than being in trouble with the managers.”

Another incident involved Anna’s muchadored first Communion dress.

“My mother didn’t have two nickels, but she managed to buy me a beautiful dress and veil that I loved. A part came up very quickly and I needed a fancy dress. My managers called my mother and ordered her to bring over my first Communion dress, which they proceeded to dye pink! My mother was horrified and I was heartbroken,” she recalls mournfully.

Patty Duke and Her Miracle Patty Duke owes a debt of gratitude to Helen Keller. In 1959, when she was 13, she starred on Broadway as Helen Keller with costar Anne Bancroft as Anne Sullivan. The show ran for almost two years, and her performance was so acclaimed that her name was placed above the title on the marquee.

The film adaptation of The Miracle Worker was released in 1962 to widespread acclaim, earning five Academy Award nominations. Duke’s Oscar triumph made her, at the time, the youngest winner in a competitive category.

But no role or award could compare with meeting the real Helen Keller.

“It was everything you could imagine,” Duke says. “It was a religious experience.

My first sight of her, she was coming down this long flight of stairs in this magnificent

Success at a Young Age

blue dress that matched her gorgeous blue

Once Anna began to star on Broadway at age 13, playing young Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker with Anne Bancroft, she was removed from her beloved Catholic school and church and educated through a hodgepodge of academic resources. She was permitted to receive Confirmation and, as she recalls, “I wanted to take the name Theresa, but I chose Patricia because, even though I hated ‘Patty,’ I thought it would be a way of making the name some part of me.”

As a child, Anna felt powerless to do anything to change her situation, especially since no one, including her mother, knew what was actually taking place in her life. Though the managers permitted Mrs. Duke to have limited interaction with Anna once a week, her father was not.

Anna was 17 and at the pinnacle of TV stardom in The Patty Duke Show when word came that her father had died. Anna begged to be allowed to attend his funeral. Finally, the managers relented, but on one condition: that Anna attend the funeral Mass all made up for her television role as “Patty and Cathy Lane” so that they could maintain control over the whole event. Anna was not allowed to acknowledge her family at the funeral, nor could she attend the burial.

Soon after she turned 18, Anna severed ties with her managers, walking out of their apartment during a heated argument. Old enough to be on her own now, Anna sought to claim her earnings from her past 10 years of full-time work only to learn that the managers had

eyes. She made this grand entrance.” culable.

“If I had not been in The Miracle Worker and met Helen Keller, I don’t know what my life would have been because they set the bar for the rest of my career and my life,” she says.

Helen’s life continues to inspire Duke, five decades after playing her.

“She never indulged in self-pity,” she says. “I wish everybody could have an experience like that with whoever their hero is.” —C.H.

PHOTO © MGM-UA/PHOTOFEST; PHOTO ABOVE FROM THE US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Fr anciscanMedia.org

Helen’s role in Duke’s life and career is incal-

Patty Duke won the Academy Award as best supporting actress for her memorable turn in The Miracle Worker, costarring fellow Oscar winner Anne Bancroft.

The real Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan are pictured above.

February 2015 ❘ 31

squandered nearly all of her money on themselves in violation of child labor laws.

“I didn’t care about the money,” says Anna.

“I was just happy to be free of them.”

Within a few months after leaving her managers, Anna’s personal life began to unravel. For the next 17 years, she was plagued by repeated bouts of extreme euphoria, deep depression, suicide attempts, and delusions—along with wild spending sprees, violent outbursts, and broken relationships.

She was hospitalized several times. She became the mother of two boys, actors Sean Astin and Mackenzie Astin, who lived most of their childhood not knowing which mother they would encounter each time they came into her presence. Would it be the warm, loving mom baking cookies in the kitchen, the wild monster from whom they would run and hide, or the weeping, dejected woman they would beg through the bathroom door not to harm herself?

Patty Duke, with her sons Mackenzie and Sean Astin, was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004. It’s one of many recognitions from the film and television industries for her extensive body of work.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR

A Balanced Life

Playing a nun was a dream come true for Duke, who considered religious life before she became an actor. Duke played Sister Dulcina in 1983’s September Gun, costarring Sally Kellerman.

32 ❘ February 2015

In 1981, at age 35, Anna was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, an illness caused by changes in the chemistry of the brain. Doctors believe that the triggers for the disorder have their foundation in the cruelties and losses that victims predisposed to the condition, like Anna, suffered in youth. With a prescription securely in hand and a commitment to therapy, Anna began to enjoy a balanced life in a short period of time.

“It was like a rebirth, a resurrection,” she recalls. “One of my greatest blessings has been the right diagnosis, the right doctor, and the right treatment.”

With her head and heart both working steadily together for the first time in decades, Anna allowed herself to be touched by God’s grace of forgiveness.

“For me, forgiveness has been key,” she declares. “In forgiving, I have eased my own burden and this allows me to generate more love, to live and do as Jesus, who is all about love.”

Despite the decade of emotional, physical, and mental torture that Anna was made to endure by her managers, the couple was not denied her clemency.

“I realized that true forgiveness meant I had to not only forgive the managers with all my heart, which I do completely, but also I had to ask God for forgiveness for them. I believe that when they started they had the best of intentions, but they were ill-equipped to deal with a child, and as they got sicker and more St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

addicted, their actions and thoughts became all distorted,” she offers in their defense.

“I understand that if they had been in their right minds, they would not have acted that way.”

Anna also begged to be forgiven. “I went back to as many people as I could remember whom I had hurt or offended in some way during that dark time and asked for forgiveness.”

Looking Back Immediately after leaving her managers, Anna had tried to resume a normal relationship with her mother, but Mrs. Duke’s increased depression as well as Anna’s own demons made it difficult. The Duke women persisted, however, and once mother and daughter received their respective correct diagnoses and treatment, both melted into a seamless relationship of love and respect.

Frances Duke lived the last 15 years of her life with her daughter, first in Los Angeles, then in northern Idaho. Says Anna, “They tried to break us apart, but they couldn’t. Our relationship became almost too good to be true.”

Despite the emotional distress of those years, Anna’s career continued to soar, her illness never affecting her ability to turn out one acclaimed performance after another. She starred in nearly 100 television productions, and received three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards in addition to her Oscar for best supporting actress for The Miracle Worker.

Her work has included several spiritualbased roles in Touched by an Angel, Amazing Grace, and Insight. During the 1970s and ’80s, Anna teamed up several times with Father Bud Keiser, the founder of Paulist Productions, raising money for the poor, including on a visit to Africa.

Anna twice achieved her dream of being a nun, at least on screen, in two made-fortelevision movies.

“Every morning I would get to the set early so that I could put on the pieces of the habit by myself, quietly and reverently, as I had always imagined nuns doing.”

She is thrilled with the pontificate of Pope Francis. “I’ll tell you a secret,” she whispers. “I have a crush on the pope. He’s going to do great things. I am very hopeful.”

Still Anna Though she continues to act on television and on stage, the bulk of Anna’s attention is focused Fr anciscanMedia.org

on advancing awareness of and support for mental health. She travels the country giving presentations on mental illness, particularly bipolar disorder. Twice she has appeared before Congress to advocate for mental-health support.

“We need to get to a place where we can teach people to take care of themselves so that they don’t act in destructive ways toward others and toward themselves,” she says.

Call Me Anna, her best-selling 1987 autobiography, represented the first time a celebrity was so public about her own mental illness.

“The relief at getting well and the passion for not keeping it a secret overrode any stigma or backlash possible,” she insists. “Most people in and out of the industry have been incredibly supportive.”

Click here for more on The industry has been very Patty Duke’s life and career. supportive indeed, twice voting Anna president of the Screen Actors Guild.

With husband Mike at her side and her children and grandchildren nearby, Anna is today at the happiest place in her life.

“My husband is responsible for most of that happiness,” she beams. “He was an Army man at Fort Benning, Georgia. We met when I was making a movie that featured some military scenes and he was assigned to be my trainer.

The pacifist and the Army guy: God has a great sense of humor.”

In 1987, Anna and Mike adopted a baby boy, “Kevin from Heaven,” now 27 and a professional chef, who got to enjoy the best of his mother.

Five granddaughters and one grandson keep the couple busy. “Mike and I are committed to following the example of Jesus. It has become part of our molecular structure. Our grandchildren attend religious-based schools and we have all the books and DVDs, but the only way they really learn is by example, and ‘Nana’ and ‘PopPop’ want to be that example for them.”

Anna Marie Patricia “Patty” Duke Pearce— she is comfortable with any of her names now—never wonders why she had to endure the trials she did.

“I was given a difficult time, that’s true, but I was also given countless blessings,” she says, her voice catching in her throat. “In fact, just about every day feels like a miracle.” A

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Rita E. Piro is the author of many articles and books. She is on the faculty at a large Catholic high school for young women in New York City.

February 2015 ❘ 33

Four Faces of

Jesus Just as each of us experiences Jesus differently, so did the Gospel writers.

T

BY VIRGINIA SMITH

HE WRITERS OF THE GOSPELS of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John offer four different—sometimes intriguing, sometimes perplexing—portraits of Jesus. Their unique challenge? Portray someone both human and divine. But how can four diverse descriptions characterize the same person?

Each Evangelist chose words and deeds from Jesus’ life that related to his particular audience.

These audiences differed dramatically in religious background, culture, and ethnic origin.

Which Gospel is most authentic? Which best reflects the historical Jesus? They all do.

Jesus emerges possessing greater depth, breadth, and height than any single narrative could provide.

Mark’s Harried, Hurried, Human Jesus PHOTO BY EUGENE PLAISTED, OSC/ THE CROSIERS

Mark is the earliest Evangelist, writing between AD 65 and 70, shortly after the persecution of Christians by Nero. Possibly because of the loss of so many leaders, such as Peter and Paul, Mark deemed it necessary to produce a written record of Jesus.

Christianity’s rapid spread also suggests the need for an organized account of Jesus’ life.

Mark was not one of the Twelve. He was likely not an eyewitness either. This Mark is traditionFr anciscanMedia.org

ally associated with “John Mark,” mentioned three times in the Acts of the Apostles (12:12; 12:25; 15:37). This makes him Barnabas’ cousin (Col 4:10) and a companion of Paul (Acts 12:25). Tradition has Mark accompanying Peter to Rome. The Big Fisherman (Peter) was an excellent eyewitness source of information about Jesus.

Mark’s Jesus is in a hurry. If Jesus ever sat down, Mark failed to record it. Mark’s drama opens to introduce a no-holds-barred John the Baptist baptizing Jesus before his 40-day desert experience—all in the first 13 verses of chapter 1. By chapter’s end, Jesus has called his first disciples, performed his first cure (plus two more), and left for Capernaum.

We must take in Mark in a single gulp. Read this Gospel in one sitting, and you’ll be introduced to a Jesus you may not have met before—earthy, relatable, approachable, and with whom most of us would be comfortable.

Mark’s Jesus is hemmed in by crowds: “They brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door” (Mk 1:32-33); “He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him” (Mk 3:9); “[The] crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat” (Mk 3:20). “Crowd” or “crowds” is used 38 times in Mark’s Gospel.

February 2015 ❘ 35

Matthew’s New Moses: Jesus, the Teacher

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A likely locale for Matthew’s Gospel is Antioch, Syria, around AD 80. Syria was north of Palestine and had a sizable Jewish population. Using his audience’s Hebrew background, Matthew explains Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah.

Matthew begins with a rundown of Jesus’ family tree; the more illustrious branches include Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Ruth, David, Solomon, and Joseph. Properly speaking, this is Jesus’ foster father’s lineage.

Matthew makes Joseph the central figure of his infancy narrative.

Jesus emerges as the new Moses. With Jesus’ birth, Matthew draws parallels between the Messiah and Moses. Only Matthew tells how Herod’s jealClick here for more on the ousy forced Joseph and his famGospels and their authors. ily into Egyptian exile. Just as Pharaoh feared the Hebrews in Moses’ time, so Herod feared Jesus and his family. Herod’s phobia led to the slaughter of innocent young boys (Mt 2:16-18), just as male Hebrew infants were doomed under Pharaoh (Ex 1:15-22). Jesus, like Moses, is saved and, in due time, comes forth, like Moses, from Egypt.

Gentiles were joining Matthew’s Church.

This accounts for inclusion of the Magi, who were certainly gentile (Mt 2:1-12), and Jesus’ comment, “Many will come from the east and

36 ❘ February 2015

PHOTOS BY EUGENE PLAISTED, OSC/ THE CROSIERS

The Sermon on the Mount reflects the Gospel of Matthew’s Jesus as a refreshing educator who is at once deeply connected to his religious heritage, yet full of divine authority to teach a new way.

In Mark, we meet the most human Jesus. We readily identify with him because his feelings are obvious. When a leper, ostracized from society, came to Jesus, he boldly reminded Jesus that he could make him clean. “Moved with pity, [Jesus] stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, ‘I do will it. Be made clean’” (Mk 1:41). But if he softened at the sight of suffering, Jesus turned a flinty eye toward those lacking compassion, such as the Pharisees who questioned him about healing on the Sabbath: “Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was restored” (Mk 3:5).

As Jesus’ earthly life drew near its close, he and his closest friends went to Gethsemane.

“He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be troubled and distressed. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is sorrowful even to death’” (Mk 14:33-34). Jesus’ range of emotions endears him to us who experience the same.

the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 8:11).

Matthew’s comparisons to Moses continue in Jesus’ most famous discourse, the Sermon on the Mount. Placing the stamp of divinity on Jesus, Matthew situates him above Moses by having Jesus quote from the Law Moses brought down from Mount Sinai and expand its meaning by his own authority from a mountain site of his own: “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors. . . . But I say to you . . .” (Mt 5:21-22).

Matthew’s is a thoughtful Gospel, spotlighting a reflective Jesus. Organized into components, Matthew’s Gospel is referred to as a catechism. The Church has frequently used it in its teaching ministry. Here we meet Jesus the teacher, the rabbi.

In five principal areas, Matthew assembles much of what Jesus said on given topics and makes a single discourse of it. Each is preceded by a narrative section that focuses on the same theme and is concluded by some variation on the phrase “When Jesus finished these words” (Mt 7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 19:1). The fifth and final discourse ends slightly differently: “When Jesus finished all these words” (Mt 26:1, emphasis added).

The discourses are • Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:1—7:29); • Missionary Discourse (Mt 10:1—11:1); St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

• Parable Discourse (Mt 13:1-53); • Church Community Discourse (Mt 18:135); and • Eschatological (Last Things) Discourse (Mt 24:1—25:46).

In this Gospel, Jesus is frequently addressed as “Teacher,” even by his opponents. Jesus instructs the entire community as Moses did before him, but he doesn’t go to the mountain to receive authority; he preaches from the mountain by his own authority. Where Mark’s Jesus has much to show us, Matthew’s Jesus has much to tell us.

Luke’s Compassionate, Forgiving Jesus

In the Gospel of Luke, with its audience of gentiles, a compassionate, merciful Jesus emerges, exemplified by Jesus’ parables of empathy and forgiveness—the good Samaritan and the prodigal son.

Luke, like Mark, sought out others in compiling his portrait, for he was not one of the Twelve nor was he an eyewitness (Lk 1:1-3).

Luke was a Greek who wrote for gentiles. He may have written in a province of modern Greece at about the same time as Matthew.

Luke was a master writer. His skill helped him balance a diversity of themes: 1. Women Women have a prominent role, The father not only hopes and prays for his on a par with men. Luke often parallels two son’s repentance and return but stands peering individuals, male and female: Mary and down the road. When he finally catches sight Zechariah (Lk 1:5-38); Anna and Simeon (Lk of him, the father runs to meet him, brushes 2:22-38); the man with the lost sheep and the woman with the lost coin (Lk ARE YOU 15:1-10).

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February 2015 ❘ 37

aside the young man’s penitent speech, and calls for a welcome-home party.

As Luke’s Gospel nears its climax, Jesus hangs in agony from the cross and prays, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). When the man next to him pleads, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom,” Jesus replies, “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:42-43).

These incidents are recorded only in Luke.

Jesus is dignified and empowered as he is questioned by the Pharisees, and even when he suffers through the crucifixion in the Gospel of John. Jesus’ divinity figures prominently in this poetically written Gospel.

John’s Noble, Majestic, Divine Jesus John’s Gospel is like entering a new world.

John presents a Jesus of great nobility, who deals with individuals: Nicodemus (Jn 3:1-21), the Samaritan woman (Jn 4:4-42), the man born blind (Jn 9:1-41), Lazarus (Jn 11:1-44).

John’s Jesus inspires awe from his opening, wanting his audience to see Jesus as divine—

coexistent with the Father: “In the beginning [reminiscent of the opening of Genesis] was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1). John clearly speaks of one whose humanity is undeniable but who possesses another greater nature: divinity. The oneness of Jesus and his Father is a constant. Jesus says to the Pharisees, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (Jn 8:19).

And, to Philip, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9).

In John, Jesus is totally in control, even of his death: “I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again” (Jn 10:17-18). Aware of others’ thoughts and plans, Jesus sidesteps or challenges them: “Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone” (Jn 6:15); “Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, went out and said to them, ‘Whom are you looking for?’

“They answered him, ‘Jesus the Nazorean.’

He said to them, ‘I AM’” (18:4-5). Here, Jesus proclaims his divinity. The “I AM” passages remind us of Moses’ encounter with God in the burning bush. When Moses asked who God was, the answer came, “I am who I am” (Ex 3:14).

At his trial, Jesus’ dignity surfaces again.

Pilate says, “Do you not know that I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?” Jesus answers, “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above” (Jn 19:10-11). Sublime to the end, Jesus’ final words from the cross are simply, “It is finished” (Jn 19:30).

Which Portrait Do We Choose?

PHOTO BY EUGENE PLAISTED, OSC/ THE CROSIERS

All these aspects represent the same individual.

Jesus is more than any one person can describe.

Each writer was aware of those facets of Jesus’ personality, teachings, and deeds that would draw his community into deeper faith. Are these the only portraits that might be drawn?

By no means. All Christians are called to portray the face of Jesus in their own lives. A This article originally appeared in the newsletter Catholic Update (Liguori Publications).

Virginia Smith is cofounder of Scripture from Scratch, a Bible study program for adult Catholics (Liguori Publications).

38 ❘ February 2015

St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

POETRY

God’s Church

Ingenious Love

Sleeping

I thought I heard God calling me in voices of church history laws written for morality a candled path to sanctity

God’s ingenious love . . .

Eternity in our hearts: The best Valentine!

Now trees are sleeping in the snow, tired, brown legs just standing there.

Flowers are sleeping in the earth, winter’s white silence everywhere.

Outside the church when I am still I hear God’s voice on verdant hills in glorious risings of the sun in every creature that is One Listen, still All of life is divine Be the communion of man’s church and mine.

—Sandra M. Tully

—Jeanette Martino Land

It is a resting time for all.

When doors are closed, each country road looks up into the endless sky, the everlasting eyes of God.

The Past In memories images reside and slumber there.

Yet at times recollection awakens.

And when joy results a blessing occurs of boundless measure.

—Marion Schoeberlein

—Susan L. Taylor

A gift to all Franciscan-hearted people everywhere!

—DANIEL P. HORAN, O.F.M.

Illuminates the path of Francis of Assisi as a path of evolving life toward integral wholeness.

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Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15 ❘ 3 9

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When people on Chicago’s West Side have no other place to stay, this is where they can find shelter.

St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

P H O T O S B Y K A R E N C A L L A WAY ■ T E X T B Y J O Y C E D U R I G A

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HEN TEMPERATURES drop, winds pick up, and the snow falls, men and women who are homeless in Chicago line up outside the door of Franciscan House on Chicago’s West Side, where they can find a warm bed, dinner and breakfast, showers, and laundry services.

The shelter is operated by the organization Franciscan Outreach, which Franciscan Father Fr anciscanMedia.org

Philip Marquard established in 1963 as a way for lay Franciscans to help the poor. The ministry began with a halfway house for male exoffenders. It has grown to include Franciscan House, Franciscan Annex, a soup kitchen, shower and laundry, the Marquard Center, and case management services. The shelter— Chicago’s largest—continues to operate in the Franciscan tradition but welcomes volunteers from everywhere.

(Opposite) Every night there are many in this country who make the street their bed.

(Above) People line up for Franciscan House of Mary and Joseph, open every night of the year.

February 2015 ❘

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Click here for more on Franciscan House. Click the button on the right to hear an interview on homelessness.

February 2015

In 2014, Franciscan House offered 115,528 shelter nights and served 202,022 meals. It is one of the few shelters in Chicago open 365 days a year. A few miles away, the Marquard Center Kitchen, though called a soup kitchen, serves nutritious complete meals to about 100 people every night, as Ed Shea, OFM, does in the photo above. “We strive to recognize our guests by name,” he says. Case managers are close at hand to help the guests work toward a better life.

St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

(Right top) Maxwell Klug, OFM, on call for anyone needing assistance, watches as staff member Relundus Washington assigns beds for the night.

(Right center) Volunteers Jeffrey Davis (left) and Phillip Warren put finishing touches on the beds before guests arrive in the main men’s dorm. The shelter, which opened in 1963, has 209 beds for men and 37 beds for women (in separate dorms).

(Right bottom): Jim Hoffman, OFM, who managed the shelter from 1987 to 1998, visits with Larry Jensen, a guest in the main men’s dorm.

Fr anciscanMedia.org

February 2015 ❘

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(Left) Orlando Collins (left) works with case manager Charles Whitsett, choosing an outfit for a job interview arranged through the shelter.

Caseworkers help homeless guests find employment and move into permanent housing.

(Right) At Marquard Kitchen, below a San Damiano crucifix, outreach director Diana Faust chats with guests as volunteers serve up a hearty meal.

The center serves about 85 meals daily to men, women, and children.

(Below) Success! Sheila Hutchins (left) works with volunteer Trudy Jackson to prepare for a job interview, one that led to a job.

This story was photographed by Karen Callaway, the photo editor for Catholic New World, the newspaper for the Archdiocese of Chicago. Text was provided by Joyce Duriga, the paper’s editor.

44 â?˜

February 2015

St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

THE SPIRIT OF FRANCIS

❘ BY GINA LOEHR

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

The Francises in the Slums

L

Fr ancisca n Media .org

Gina Loehr has written with Al Giambrone Saint Francis, Pope Francis: A Common Vision (Franciscan Media), also available as an audiobook.

Pope Francis blesses a boy in the Varginha slum in Rio de Janeiro during his weeklong visit to Brazil for World Youth Day in 2013.

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Click here for more on Pope Francis and St. Francis.

Begging in Rome Early in his conversion, Francis visited Rome and temporarily exchanged clothes with a beggar outside St. Peter’s Basilica, his first experience of begging.

Reclaiming his own clothes— and presumably sharing what he had begged—Francis returned to Assisi a changed man, now praying that the Lord would direct the next phase of his faith journey.—P.M.

Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15 ❘ 4 5

ILLUSTRATION BY JULIE LONNEMAN

ong before earning the affectionate nickname of the “slum pope,” Jorge Bergoglio made himself at home among the poor. While still the Jesuit archbishop of Buenos Aires, he frequently showed up unannounced to visit people living in the poorest neighborhoods.

Always traveling to these dangerous regions on public transportation, he was once noticed by a bricklayer riding the same bus. When the two men met later at the slum chapel, the working man said, “I am proud of you, because when I came here with my companions on the bus, I saw you sitting in one of the last seats, like one of us.” A housewife from the same area noted, “He was always part of our slum.”

Much like St. Francis’ pilgrimage to Rome where he begged with the beggars, Pope Francis dedicated time to those living in the slums during his pilgrimage to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day 2013. He walked the streets of the Varginha neighborhood, kissing and hugging the people along

the way. He visited their church and stopped in to chat at a family home, listening to their stories. He expressed his heartfelt connection to the residents, saying, “The Church is with you; the pope is with you.”

More than simply ministering to the poor, Pope Francis mingles with them. He has not been afraid to be seen as one of them. What a fitting imitation of the spirit of Francis of Assisi! Both men have lived in solidarity with the poorest of the poor.

During his visit to Varginha, Pope Francis stressed, “The measure of the greatness of a society is found in the way it treats those most in need, those who have nothing apart from their poverty!”

Perhaps that is also a measure of this man’s greatness. A

Silence with an Open Heart

Amid our noisy lives, Lent offers a perfect time to be quiet and listen to God.

BY PHYLLIS ZAGANO

Entering into Silence

“Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart.

Return to the Lord, your God.” —Joel 2:12, 13

© MARCUS LINDSTRÖM/ISTOCKPHOTO

Lent is not an intellectual exercise, but an affair of the heart. Ash Wednesday comes around each year. We get ashes. We remember prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We say we’ll do better at something, or not do something else at all. Whatever sin or addiction has plagued us since the turn of the year, the one we have not yet managed to get rid of despite our New Year’s resolution to somehow dislodge it at the roots, Lent presents us with another chance. But how?

We think and we think and we plot and we plan. If the use of too much Internet or salt or sleep is on our minds, like the wolf in “The Three Little Pigs,” we huff and we puff until we blow those little houses down, unfortunately to no avail. We work away at our dependencies as if everything depends on us. It does not.

Everything depends on our own dependence on God. And we cannot learn anything about that dependence by thinking and plotting and planning—by huffing and puffing.

We need to open our hearts. We need to be quiet. But how?

Some time ago, when I was relearning how to pray for the umpteenth time, I realized that Fr anciscanMedia.org

I was just plain talking too much. Everything was going on in my head. That was it. Just in my head, nowhere else. I’d built a wall between me and my emotions, a very practical thing to do if you want to maintain control over everything in life. It is not a very practical way to approach prayer, because it stifles the longings of the heart.

I yearned for knowledge that I was really praying, that I was someway somehow connecting to the God I said I loved and who I said, at least, I wanted to follow in the way Jesus taught.

But, as I learned in graduate school, so long as I was talking—in graduate school in class or on an oral exam—there was no way I would be questioned, especially no way I would be asked a question I could not answer.

That may work in graduate school, but it is not a smart way to pray.

Some Advice So here is what I have learned. Take it, or not, as you begin your own journey through Lent.

Whether the ground around you is getting colder or warmer, whether the light outside is getting dimmer or brighter, I offer you the suggestion, at least, that the desire you carry in your own heart to listen to and love the Lord with all you are and have will be opened and answered if you offer, first of all, your own silence to the project.

That does not mean becoming a vegetable.

February 2015 ❘

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There are many ways of being silent, and many aids to doing so. Of course, if you know what keeps your mind active on thoughts other than the thought of the presence of God, you should be able to become aware of when such thought Click here for more on presents itself.

Lent. Click the button I hesitate to call whatever it below for music to help is a “temptation,” for it may you meditate. or may not be. But there are some things in our lives—food, music, conversations—that stick a little more firmly to the surface of our minds and form a sort of coating that keeps away the silence.

I am not saying you need to give up all conversations, or music, and certainly not all food

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for Lent. I am saying that as we become more and more aware of our need for silence, even throughout this holy season, one or some of these might pop up as a bit of a barrier to silence, and therefore as a bit of a barrier to our maintaining the type of silence we need so as to be able to hear the voice of God in our hearts.

Let me give you an example. I happen to like jazz. I kid around sometimes calling it my “liturgical music” because the syncopation and the words of some of the songs, especially the love songs, often fit my mood when I am trying to be alone at prayer. But sometimes, that very syncopation and those very words become an obstacle as they take over my mind.

I think here of what is called “the Bolero effect,” the repetitive beating of a single strand of music that the French composer Maurice Ravel did on purpose.

As the syncopation and words take over my mind, I find I am helpless to hear anything God might present or even to say anything to the Lord. So, sometimes—actually more than sometimes—I “give up” jazz.

Now, there is nothing wrong with Consider jazz.

For other people, for other peoa Gift ple’s minds, the same thing might hapSubscription pen with Gregorian chant, or with ABBA, or with the music of the Beatles.

These are all wonderful creations, but they can each in their own way become distractions to the project at hand. Which is silence with an open heart. Which is silence with an open heart before the Lord. A

So that his work might continue...

Please remember

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February 2015

This article is an excerpt from Sacred Silence: Daily Meditations for Lent (Franciscan Media).

Phyllis Zagano is an internationally acclaimed Catholic scholar and lecturer on contemporary spirituality and women’s issues in the Church. She is also senior research associate-in-residence and adjunct professor of religion at Hofstra University.

St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g

CNS PHOTO/CARLO ALLEGRI, REUTERS

Lord, give me the courage to open my heart to you in silence.

Take a New Look at

Lent

º č LÀi>Ì v vÀià ] Þ w i` > À and a bountiful resource for the Lenten season.”

“A rich resource for activating an inner movement towards unity, reconciliation, and hope.”

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— BERNADETTE FLANAGAN

Move beyond the typical “giving something up” and take a fresh look at Lent. Marcellino D’Ambrosio offers forty ideas, activities, and devotions designed to strengthen your spiritual life and help you get the most out of Lent.

Each idea is accompanied by a short reflection expanding its deeper spiritual meaning and a challenge to help you incorporate that idea in practical ways.

In the midst of your often too-busy life, Phyllis Zagano guides you to a prayerful sense of silence and stillness during Lent. She reflects on the lectionary readings for Lent, and shares a profound experience of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, giving you a moment of prayer and sacred stillness for every day of Lent.

Each day’s meditation contains the Scripture readings for the day, a brief quote from one of the readings, a meditation, and a prayer or grace for the day.

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ASK A FRANCISCAN

❘ BY FATHER PAT McCLOSKEY, OFM

Did Jesus Rise or Was He Raised?

Did Jesus rise from the dead under his own power, or was he raised from the dead by God the Father? On the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time last year, we heard St. Paul refer twice to “the one who raised Jesus from the dead” (Rom 8:9, 11-13).

That set me to thinking. I was generally aware that the New Testament contains several references to Jesus’ relationship with God the Father as subservient and obedient.

For example, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not as I will, but as you will” (Mt 26:39). Or, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you” (Jn 15:16). Of course, we also see this attitude in the Lord’s Prayer.

I went to the Bible to find similar

references and quickly discovered so many that I kept losing track of my count.

Let’s begin with the fact that human language about God is always approximate; it is never exhaustive.

Thus, to speak of God as Father, Son, and Spirit has many advantages, but it already suggests the subordination of the Son to the Father.

Christians have walked a tightrope in affirming the unity within the Trinity along with its diversity (three persons). It would be very easy to speak of the three persons as though they could ever compete with one another—as all pagan gods and goddesses tended to do.

Likewise, it would be very easy to

Women Altar Servers Why is the Catholic Church giving in to having female altar servers?

I am from the old school, and it really hurts to see our Catholic parishes taking such steps while we as Church members have no say in this matter.

CNS PHOTO/DAVE CRENSHAW, EASTERN OKLAHOMA CATHOLIC

The 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal indicates that in the absence of formally designed acolytes, lay ministers may be commissioned to assist priests and deacons (#100). The US bishops have designated local ordinaries (a bishop in charge of a diocese or archbishop) as the ones to make the decision to allow female altar servers. The vast majority allow this.

You are entitled to your preference on this matter, but you cannot really complain if a local bishop or pastor does something that our Church allows.

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describe Jesus as truly having one nature (divine or human) and only seeming to have the other one. The Church has always resisted such temptations about the Trinity and the Incarnation.

Now to your question: The New Testament speaks of Jesus as rising from the dead (active voice) and of Jesus as being raised from the dead (passive voice). According to the NRSV Concordance, Matthew uses the active voice about Jesus’ rising in 27:63; Mark does the same in 8:31, 9:31, and 10:34. Luke has three such references (18:33, 24:7, and 24:46), and John has one (20:9).

The same Gospel writers, however, much more often used “was raised” (Mt, nine times; Mk, twice; Lk, once; Jn twice).

St. Paul used both active and passive voice to describe Jesus’ resurrection.

I once had a Scripture professor who liked to recall that one of his former students (now a retired friar) frequently asked for simple explanations about certain Scripture passages. Sometimes that is possible; at other times, not so easy. That professor also used to quote St. Augustine of Hippo, that if you have figured out God completely, you have already made a mistake about God. The faith community (the Church) that has been reading and praying over the Scriptures for centuries is our best guide to their interpretation.

Consubstantial Explained What exactly does consubstantial mean, and by what authority was it inserted into the Nicene Creed?

From long ago, I had thought that, except for filioque (which I once St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg

knew how it got into that Creed but have forgotten), we were using an authentic English translation from the Latin, which was literally the same as has been professed since the fourth century.

Has there been other editing along the way? With regard to the latest insertion, what role, if any, did our Orthodox brothers play? They, after all, are the lineal descendants of the Church Fathers who composed the creed. What do Protestants and other Christian denominations think about the filioque insertion?

Consubstantial is simply one possible translation of the Latin equivalent of the Greek term homoousios (literally, “the same substance”). This term was not added to the Nicene Creed; rather, it makes this the Nicene Creed. In AD 325, the bishops of the Catholic Church were invited by Emperor Constantine to gather at Nicaea in modern-day Turkey to address an extremely controversial issue raised by Arius, an Egyptian priest. The bishops took an existing creed used at Baptism and inserted the term homoousios.

Arius and his followers claimed that Jesus did not share the same substance as God the Father; the vast majority of bishops at Nicaea said that Jesus did.

For many years, English-speaking Catholics used a translation that included the phrase “of one substance with the Father.” Since 2012, the official text reads “consubstantial with the Father.”

The filioque issue is a bit more complicated. First of all, it’s a Latin term that came centuries after the Council of Nicaea, whose official language was Greek.

According to the New Catholic Encyclopedia, this Latin term was added at the suggestion of the Western Church to the Nicene Creed at the Council of Nicaea-Constantinople (553). Charlemagne, who ruled from 774 until 814, promoted this addition; so did Emperor Henry in 1013. Only in the 11th century was Fr ancisca n Media .org

this decision ratified in Rome. This term attempted to affirm the equality of the Trinity’s three persons.

The Catholic Church in the East used slightly different language to explain the relationship of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The East particularly objected to the fact that the Church in the West made this change on its own authority.

The filioque controversy was one among many factors in the Church’s East/West split in 1054. In 1742, Pope Benedict XIV “ruled that the Greeks were under no obligation to recite it, and such has since that time been the accepted position in the Eastern Catholic Churches.”

To the best of my knowledge, no mainline Protestant denomination denies the filioque teaching.

What Western Christians commonly call the Nicene Creed is, in fact, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. In AD 381, the Council of Constantinople added text to clarify the Church’s teaching about the Holy Spirit. A

Click the button above to hear Father Pat’s insights on Catholic topics.

Father Pat welcomes your questions!

Send them to: Ask a Franciscan, 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498, or Ask@FranciscanMedia.org. All questions sent by mail need to include a selfaddressed stamped envelope. This column’s answers can be searched back to April 1996 at StAnthonyMessenger.org.

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Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15 ❘ 5 1

BOOK CORNER

❘ BY CAROL ANN MORROW

The Heart of Catholicism Practicing the Everyday Habits that Shape Us

By Bert Ghezzi Ave Maria Press 176 pages • $14.95 Paperback/Kindle Reviewed by MARY LYNNE RAPIEN, Bible teacher and clinical counselor, as well as contributor to both Sunday and Weekday Homily Helps, published by Franciscan Media.

F O R L E N T, I R E C O M M E N D ■A

Lenten Pilgrimage: Journeying with Jesus,

by Archbishop J. Peter Sartain

■ 40

Days, 40 Ways: A New Look at Lent,

by Marcellino D’Ambrosio

■ Keeping

Company with Saint Ignatius: Walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, by Luke J. Larson

■ Flunking

Sainthood Every Day: A Daily Devotional for the Rest of Us, by Jana Riess

■ To

the Heights: A Novel Based on the Life of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, by Brian Kennelly

Julie Cragon is the manager of St. Mary’s Bookstore and Church Supply in Nashville, Tennessee. She herself has written four books: Bless My Child, Jesus at My Side: 365 Reflections on His Words, Visiting Mary: Her U.S. Shrines and Their Graces, and Amazing Graces: The Blessings of Sacramentals.

5 2 ❘ Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15

Bert Ghezzi came to a deeper relationship with Christ and the outpouring of the gifts of the Spirit at the rebirth of the Catholic charismatic movement about 40 years ago.

That is not the focus of his new book, The Heart of Catholicism, however. This reader was expecting more of the practical ways in which Ghezzi and his wife, Mary Lou, have lived out their Catholic faith.

Instead, each short chapter introduces another facet of what it means to be a Catholic Christian. Since each chapter is fewer than 10 pages in length, there is not space for more than a surface treatment of the topic.

Included in each chapter are sidebars offering quotes from Scripture, encyclicals of the popes, sections from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or quotes from books by the late popes or our present pope. These sidebars are meant to enhance the content of the chapter.

The material in each chapter is very basic.

I doubt that most active Catholics would find much to enhance their faith life. The book would be of great value to a discussion group that could use the questions at the end of each chapter as a way to delve deeper into the subject matter. For example, the author covers the Ten Commandments in eight pages, including the sidebars, discussion questions, suggestions for further reading, and digital resources. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the topic of the Ten Commandments receives a much more extensive treatment that is well over 100 pages in length.

It seems that the beauty of the book is that it is basic enough not to overwhelm a person new to the faith. At the same time, The Heart of Catholicism offers resources that can take the more mature Catholic to a deeper relationship with Christ and his Church.

The last three chapters seemed most helpful in offering practical ways to live the Gospel and evangelize. This reviewer had a hard time not comparing Father Leonard Foley, OFM’s, Believing in Jesus to Ghezzi’s book. For me, the latter paled in comparison. Luckily, the former is still in print.

St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg

BOOK BRIEFS

Fresh Takes on Tradition Sacrament Personal Encounters with Memories, Wounds, Dreams, and Unruly Hearts

By Patrick Hannon Ave Maria Press 128 pages • $14.95 Paperback/e-book

Inventing Hell Dante, the Bible, and Eternal Torment

By Jon M. Sweeney Jericho Books 208 pages • $16 Paperback/Kindle

Patrick Hannon, CSC, reflects on the seven sacraments in this touching, bittersweet, and, at times, funny collection of essays. Hannon’s writing employs a creative flair and draws on vivid memories as he fleshes out the deep implications of the sacraments.

Reviewed by MITCH FINLEY, author of more than 30 books on Catholic themes, including a current best-seller, The Rosary Handbook: A Guide for Newcomers, Old-Timers, and Those In Between (The Word Among Us Press) and It’s Not the Same Without You: Coming Home to the Catholic Church (Wipf & Stock).

Freedom and Forgiveness

Prolific author Jon Sweeney has written more than 20 books, many about St. Francis. In this latest volume, however, Sweeney takes readers on a personal tour of the “Inferno” section of Dante’s Divine Comedy. The reader may be surprised by how much of the popular belief in Hell—Sweeney insists on the uppercase spelling until the last pages of his book—through the centuries depends not on Scripture but on Dante.

Dante wrote, Sweeney reminds us, early in the 14th century, whereas the first three Gospels were written in the late first century. Sweeney also compares the Gospel of Matthew’s parable of the sheep and the goats (Mt 25) with Plato’s “Myth of Er,” and finds some remarkable similarities.

Inventing Hell is, as the title suggests, an overview of how belief in Hell as an actual place of concrete reality came about. As the reader may suspect, in the end, Sweeney seems to have doubts, theologically, about Hell. A new vision of the afterlife may emerge before long, Sweeney suggests, and “it might be a vision that doesn’t threaten and also doesn’t make promises, that dreams rather than dreads what is to come.” Reserve judgment and open yourself to the author’s analysis and argument.

In Freedom and Forgiveness, Father Paul Farren focuses on what he considers to be the most talked-about sacrament: reconciliation. Farren describes how the Sacrament of Reconciliation is essentially an invitation to spiritual renewal and a deepened friendship with God.

Fr ancisca n Media .org

A Fresh Look at the Sacrament of Reconciliation

By Father Paul Farren Paraclete Press 112 pages • $8.99 Paperback/e-book

Behold the Mystery A Deeper Understanding of the Catholic Mass

By Mark Hart The Word Among Us Press 186 pages • $12.95 Paperback/e-book Author and radio host Mark Hart contends that many Catholics are at least perplexed by Mass if not bored by it. From exploring its roots in the Jewish Sabbath to breaking down the liturgy into easy-to-understand parts, Hart helps rededicate us to going to Mass. —D.I. Books featured in Book Corner and Book Briefs can be ordered from

St. Mary’s Bookstore & Church Supply 1909 West End Avenue • Nashville, TN 37203 • 800-233-3604 www.stmarysbookstore.com • stmarysbookstore@gmail.com Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15 ❘ 5 3

A CATHOLIC MOM SPEAKS

❘ BY SUSAN HINES-BRIGGER

Holy Sacramentals, Mom!

F

or the past year, I have been wading through boxes of stuff at my mom and dad’s house. Years of photos, decorations, papers, and more need to be evaluated and pared down. Not only does the sheer amount of stuff make it a difficult process, but the emotional connection that comes with it can oftentimes be overwhelming. My instinct is to hold on to each and every item, even though I know it’s

tal Digi as t Ex r

not possible. Letting the items go feels like letting yet another piece of my mom disappear. No, it’s not easy.

And, in fact, sometimes it’s downright confusing as to what to do.

For instance, one of the things that I have found is what seems to be a never-ending supply of my mom’s religious items. There are rosaries, prayer books, prayer cards, medals, small religious statues, and more. To say that she truly believed in the power of visible signs of our faith is an understatement.

Click here for more on sacramentals and a wide range of Catholic questions.

5 4 ❘ Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15

A Collection Is Born For years, my mom taught religious education. In fact, one whole

box that I found contained years of lesson plans and worksheets—complete with the old mimeograph paper with which the copies were made. Also inside the box were small religious statues and prayer cards that she would distribute to the students on various occasions. And then there were the appeals from various Catholic organizations she supported. Many came with greeting cards, medals, or prayer books—all of which were lovingly kept in a box, waiting for just the right time.

In addition were the religious items my mom had kept following her own mother’s death. Prayer books with notes tucked inside and prayer cards from the funerals of various relatives now reside in the St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg

Click the button to the left to listen to Susan’s “Marriage Moments.”

WHAT ARE SACRAMENTALS?

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARY KURNICK MAASS

What to Do?

Catholic sacramentals are sacred signs that remind us of the sacraments.

Sacramentals include actions such as the sign of the cross, fasting, genuflections, and novenas, as well as objects such as medals, rosaries, statues, and holy water.

You can find more about sacramentals at AmericanCatholic.org/ features/traditions.

drawer of my bedside table. Those cards will remain there until one day my own kids have to decide what to do with them. Sorry, kids.

But it wasn’t as if my mom just put these things in boxes and let them languish there. No, those boxes got quite a workout. Items in them were often distributed to others for whom she thought they would be helpful or bring comfort.

And they always came with the promise of her prayers.

So you can imagine how these

items have accumulated over the years. Which brings us to now. Some of them I have returned to my dad— who I’m sure had no sense of the magnitude of these items. Some I kept for myself. Still others have found a home with my sisters, their kids, and my own kids.

In fact, my 9-year-old daughter, Riley, sleeps every night with one of the rosaries I found in the collection.

She sees it not only for its religious meaning, but also as a connection with her grandma.

So how does one discard religious items? Well, as I often do with questions of this nature, I went to Father Pat McCloskey, OFM, this magazine’s Franciscan editor and author of the “Ask a Franciscan” column. He recommended to first check to see if anyone could use the items, or to try to find a place where they could be donated. If you find yourself with similar items, you can do a search on the Internet or perhaps ask your parish priest or someone in the parish office who might know of an organization or person in need.

If donating them is not possible, though, Father Pat says that the correct way to dispose of these items is to bury them.

As overwhelming as this process has been, each time I touch one of these religious items, I say a brief prayer on behalf of my mom. Doing so brings me the joy and blessing of my faith and my mom. A

Do you have comments or suggestions for topics you’d like to see addressed in this column? Send them to me at “A Catholic Mom Speaks,” 28 W. Liberty St., Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498, or e-mail them to CatholicMom@FranciscanMedia.org.

PETE AND REPEAT These scenes may seem alike to you, But there are changes in the two.

So look and see if you can name ILLUSTRATION BY TOM GREENE

Eight ways in which they’re not the same.

(Answers on page 19)

Fr ancisca n Media .org

Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15 ❘ 5 5

BACKSTORY

More than Meets the Eye

S

t. Anthony Messenger has been the core of our Franciscan province’s media-evangelization ministry for well over a century. In recent decades, other forms of evangelization have come and gone here—

most notably our wildly successful presence in the parish services market through Catholic Update and other products, which we sold to Liguori

Publications last year. It was a strategic decision on our part to devote ourselves exclusively to you, the individual reader, who has always been at PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER HEFFRON

the heart of our mission.

With you in mind, we continue to grow book lines (Franciscan Media Books and Servant Books) and remain devoted to growing our social media outreach to an even broader group: those seeking online resources to grow their faith. That builds on the foundation of our AmericanCatholic.org, one of the nation’s principal Catholic websites. We also have a team developing apps for smartphones and enriching all our other media.

My point is that we publish this magazine elbow to elbow with colleagues in other media efforts.

That’s a good thing for your magazine.

We all work together helping to identify strong authors,

St. Anthony Messenger author Murray Bodo, OFM, records his 2015 audiobook, Enter Assisi: An Invitation to Franciscan Spirituality.

inviting some of them to cross over from writing a book to writing a magazine article and vice versa. Or an author might sit for an interview for this magazine’s digital extras while in our studios recording an audiobook. Our social media outlets can tell more people about our books or magazine. Whatever the medium, we work for a common cause: to spread the Good News far and wide.

Franciscan Media is a powerhouse of talent and commitment to the mission of the Catholic faith, in the Franciscan spirit. You, dear reader, get the benefit of our entire team whenever you read this magazine.

Editor in Chief

5 6 ❘ Fe b r u a r y 2 0 15

St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg

REFLECTION

B

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise.

I rise.

I rise. —Maya Angelou

CNS PHOTO/GREGORY A. SHEMITZ

ST. ANTHONY M essenger

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