THE PARABLES OF JESUS
ST. ANTHONY APRIL 2015 • $3.95 FRANCISCANMEDIA.ORG
Messenger
Embracing Good Friday How St. Francis Viewed Death Deacon Dad, Father Son
An Interview with
President Jimmy Carter
O Sa tis 100 ver fie ,0 d C 00 us tom ers
“Hearing aids cost thousands of dollars! That’s too ®
expensive!” Not with MDHearingAid . Our FDA Registered hearing aids have the same digital technology and advanced features as the expensive brands to provide clear sound and effortless natural hearing for a fraction of the cost. “A hearing aid will make me look old.” ‘Old’ isn’t what you see in the mirror, ‘Old’ is asking people to “say it again” or cupping hands behind your ears, and always missing the punch line. With the nearly invisible MDHearingAid®AIR you’ll act and feel years younger. “You need to go back to the office so often for adjustments.” MDHearingAid® hearing aids come shipped to your door pre-programmed for the most common types of hearing loss. You simply choose the volume settings that best suit your needs in the comfort of your home. “My friend had hearing aids that whistled all the time. It was embarrassing!” MDHearingAid®AIR has advanced feedback technology that virtually eliminates whistling. “You have to change the batteries every few days.” Batteries can last up to 3 weeks in the MDHearingAid® AIR (amongst the longest in the industry).
Use offer code AY43 for FREE Batteries for a Full Year!
Doctor Designed
“I don’t want anyone to know I am wearing hearing aids.” MDHearingAid®AIR fits discreetly behind your ear. With clear tubing and a small size, no one will know you are wearing them.
EE ! FR ping ip Sh
“My Friends all hate their Hearing Aids. I love mine!” Here’s why...
Nearly Invisible!
“My friend just put her hearing aids in the drawer and never wears them.” At MDHearingAid®, we want our customers to hear everything they have been missing and love their new hearing aids; which is why we have doctors, audiologists, and hearing instrument specialists available 24/7 to help you get the best possible result. “What if they don’t work for me?” With MDHearingAid® you have the reassurance of a generous 45-Day return policy. If you are not fully satisfied with your MDHearingAid®, you are eligible for a 100% refund. Even the shipping is free!
Don’t miss out any longer! Try MDHearingAid®AIR RISK-FREE in your own home. Call Today!
800 - 873 - 0541 Phone Lines Open 24 Hours EVERY DAY
www.MDHearingAid.com
• Audiologist Tested • FDA Registered ©2015
CONTENTS
ST. ANTHONY Messenger
❘ APRIL 2015 ❘ VOLUME 122/NUMBER 11
ON THE COVE R
28 An Interview with President Jimmy Carter
From Habitat for Humanity to the Carter Center, our 39th president is no stranger to helping those in need— and he has a Nobel Peace Prize to prove it.
This human-rights advocate works tirelessly to improve women’s lives worldwide. By Carol Ann Morrow
Photo by Sara Saunders
F E AT U R E S
D E PA R T M E N T S
14 The Parables of Jesus
2 Dear Reader
Jesus didn’t simply tell clever stories. He meant to shake listeners to the core. By Barbara Leonhard, OSF
3 From Our Readers 4 Followers of St. Francis Rick Riccioli, OFM Conv.
22 Welcome, Sister Death St. Francis of Assisi turned an enemy into a friend. By Jon M. Sweeney
6 Reel Time McFarland, USA
14
Fresh Off the Boat
34 Embracing Good Friday
9 At Home on Earth
Every year there’s a new surprise. By Brian Doyle
Revolution or Evolution?
10 Church in the News
38 All in the Family
20 Editorial
This father and son each felt called to ordination, yet they responded through different vocations. By Kathy Kuczka
44 Fiction: Triumph
8 Channel Surfing
And (Equal) Justice for All
21 The Spirit of Francis Joining the Dance
22
50 Ask a Franciscan What Do I Have to Confess?
She made her fair share of mistakes, but her baby was not one of them. By Ann Turner
52 Book Corner The Story of Christianity
54 A Catholic Mom Speaks Lessons from the Past
56 Backstory
38
DEAR READER
ST. ANTHONY M essenger
Reverencing the Eucharist We have two versions of St. Francis’ “Exhortation to the Clergy.” The earlier text was probably written before 1219; the other text dates from 1220. The first version reflects the concerns of the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 that all priests show more reverence for the Eucharist, especially by making sure that churches are kept clean and that altar linens and vessels are worthy of the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist. Proper care is also needed for books containing the Scriptures. The second version of Francis’ text shows the influence of a decree that Pope Honorius III issued on November 22, 1219, urging greater attention to the cleanliness of churches, reserving the Eucharist in a worthy and secure place, and teaching their people to bow when the consecrated host is elevated during Mass. The bishops at the Fourth Lateran Council felt the need to require Catholics to receive the Eucharist at least once a year and to confess mortal sins at least yearly. Francis of Assisi did his best to encourage reverence for the Eucharist. May we follow his example.
Click the button on the left for more of Father Pat’s reflections on Francis’ writings on the clergy.
SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES If you have a question, concern, or problem with your subscription, we’re here to help.
Subscription and Billing Questions?
How to Subscribe
Toll-free phone: 866-543-6870 To help us better answer your questions about subscriptions, please have your address label on hand. If you have billing questions, please have your invoice available. Mail: St. Anthony Messenger P.O. Box 189 Congers, NY 10920-0189 Internet: StAnthonyMessenger.org/subscribe Fax: 845-267-3478
Want to subscribe or add a gift subscription? Call 866-543-6870, weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. (Eastern time), or visit StAnthonyMessenger.org/subscribe.
Subscription Prices United States, $39 per year; Canada and other countries, $69 per year. See website for digital rates and to order bulk copies.
Mailing List Rental Moving? In order to keep your subscription current, we need four weeks to change an address. Send us your new address, new telephone number, and old mailing label.
If you prefer that your name and address not be made available to select organizations, send your current mailing label to Mail Preference Service, St. Anthony Messenger, P.O. Box 189, Congers, NY 10920-0189.
Publisher/CEO Daniel Kroger, OFM Chief Operating Officer Thomas A. Shumate, CPA Editor in Chief John Feister Art Director Jeanne Kortekamp Franciscan Editor Pat McCloskey, OFM Managing Editor Susan Hines-Brigger Associate Editor Christopher Heffron Assistant Editor Daniel Imwalle Editorial Assistant Sharon Lape Advertising tammy monjaras
Printing Kingery Printing Co. Effingham, IL
ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER (ISSN #0036276X)
(U.S.P.S. PUBLICATION #007956 CANADA PUBLICATION #PM40036350) Volume 122, Number 11, 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. To subscribe, write to the above address or call (866) 543-6870. Yearly subscription price: $39.00 in the United States; $69.00 in Canada and other countries. Single copy price: $3.95. For change of address, four weeks’ notice is necessary. See St AnthonyMessenger.org for information on your digital edition. 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 ❘ Apr il 2015
St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
FROM OUR READERS
A Resilient Spirit It was a treat to read Rita E. Piro’s profile, “One-on-One with Patty Duke,” in the February issue of St. Anthony Messenger. Piro’s article revealed the Oscar-winning actor’s impressive resilience in light of her painful upbringing and long bouts with mental illness. Her experience is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and dovetails with my recollection of Love Lessons, a CBS made-for-TV movie from 2000. In it, Duke’s character faces a surprise pregnancy that her husband in the film, played by Ronny Cox, is not exactly ecstatic about. He gradually comes around, and ends up looking forward to the new life
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
Fr ancisca n Media .org
they helped create. Love Lessons is yet another example of Patty Duke’s superb acting and speaks to her inner resolve. Louis H. Pumphrey Shaker Heights, Ohio
Don’t Close Guantanamo After reading the “Church in the News” column from the February issue—specifically, the “News Brief” regarding Guantanamo Bay—I find it commendable that the Vatican is so concerned about the treatment of murderers who are slaughtering Christians and Jews all over the Middle East. If allowed to go unchecked, they will soon be at the doorstep of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Barack Hussein Obama’s desire to close the detention camp at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and to release murderers back into society is insanity in its purest form. John Kerry is a self-serving egomaniac and a betrayer who will go to any lengths to do the bidding of the president. Charles Fazio Quincy, Massachusetts
Thank you, Father Pat! I want to thank Father Pat McCloskey, OFM, for his February editorial, “People Full of Joy and Hope.” What a solid introduction to and overview of the Year of Consecrated Life! Thanks, too, for including secular institutes in the editorial. I would be interested in reading an article on the lesser-known forms of consecrated life (secular institutes, consecrated virgins, and hermits). This interest comes with a connection, as you may imagine. I’m a member of the Company of St. Ursula, the original secular institute. People are always telling me of
their interest in these ways of life that they may have heard of, but know nothing about. Mary-Cabrini Durkin Cincinnati, Ohio
Take Action to Confront Injustice I write this letter in response to readers who have complained that St. Anthony Messenger does not focus enough on prayer and meditation. They oppose coverage of issues that are part of the everyday life for Catholics and all Christians. I ask these readers: What do you think Catholic life is about? Do you think it is only about prayer, which alone will protect you from all the trials of this world? Christ did not hide behind a life of prayer and contemplation; he was out among the people. He chased the money changers out of the Temple, rebuked those who ignored their responsibility to others, healed the sick, and saved a woman from being stoned. If you want to put your head in the sand and ignore the fact that Christians, Jews, and Muslims—the vast majority of whom are peaceabiding—are being murdered every day, feel free to keep living your life like that. However, keep in mind that Christ didn’t ask you to sit back and do or say nothing about injustices. In his time, he spoke out. He went out to serve others and stand up for them. St. Anthony Messenger magazine lets readers know what Christians are doing in the world to serve, protect, and speak out against evil in this world. Without a doubt, prayer and meditation have their place in our faith, but we are also called to action to heal the injustices that plague people today. Sue Baldwin-O’Dea Dillsboro, Indiana A p r il 2 0 15 ❘ 3
F O L L O W E R S O F S T. F R A N C I S
Grads Carry Franciscan Charism “
B
e real! Action speaks volumes!” Friar Rick Riccioli, OFM Conv., exclaims when asked how St. Francis would evangelize to young people. It’s not hard to tell that Rick is passionate about his work with FrancisCorps—an organization headquartered in Syracuse, New York. According to FrancisCorps.org, the goal of FrancisCorps is to “share the dream, the passion, and the vision of St. Francis of Assisi with the next generation of Catholics.” As the director of FrancisCorps since 2012, Rick cultivates the charism of St. Francis among the young-adult volunteers who participate in the program. Rick’s embrace of the Franciscan spirit can be traced back to his own young life in Canada. Rick was born and raised in Montreal—where a high school teacher’s showing of the film Brother Sun, Sister Moon opened his eyes to the Franciscan worldview. “I remember feeling attracted to the freedom and exuberance that Francis experienced in his life,” Rick says. Later on, in college, Rick met a Franciscan friar who invited him on a transformative vocation retreat. Rick recalls that he was
Rick Riccioli, OFM Conv.
“immediately sold on the friars because of their down-to-earth way of being, their healthy spirituality. . . .” Not long after, in 1983, Rick professed his vows as a Conventual Franciscan and, seven years later, was ordained a priest. FrancisCorps was founded in 1997 as a not-for-profit ministry by the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (Our Lady of the Angels Province). Initially operating out of Syracuse, FrancisCorps now has a placement site in Costa Rica, which opened in 2005. The young adults who volunteer for FrancisCorps—the majority being Catholic college graduates between 21 and 25 years of age—make a serious commitment by joining the program. Over the course of 12 months, volunteers live communally, share at least one meal and pray together every day, and work 40 hours a week without pay. “Part of what we do at FrancisCorps is model a vision of Church where men and women work in a collegial and respectful manner, building on each other’s gifts—sort of like Francis and Clare,” says Rick. The volunteers’ work focuses on serving the marginalized of society, from helping to
STORIES FROM OUR READERS Learn more about St. Anthony and share your story of how he helped you at AmericanCatholic.org/ Features/Anthony.
© KUNERTUS/DREAMSTIME
A First-Time Pray-er
4 ❘ Apr il 2015
After a visit to the bank this past winter, I lost my key to the safe-deposit box. I noticed when, after I got home, the key was not in my pocket. I looked everywhere: the car, the driveway, the house. I decided to return to the bank and retrace my steps as best as I could remember. Unfortunately, we just had a snowstorm, so I was worried it was buried somewhere in all that white stuff! I’m 81 and have never prayed to St. Anthony to find something. But I figured this would be a good time to start! I went back to where I had parked the car and crossed the street toward my son’s business where I had lunch with him earlier. As I got to the other side of the street, lying in the snow and in plain sight was my key. Thank you, St. Anthony! —Vernon Hunstad, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
Click here for more on Friar Rick Riccioli, FrancisCorps, and other resources about volunteering.
ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI
Values Challenged In his Testament, Francis of Assisi wrote: “When I was in sin, the sight of lepers nauseated me beyond measure; but then God himself led me into their company, and I had pity on them. When I had once become acquainted with them, what had previously nauseated me became a source of spiritual and physical consolation for me.” Francis reflected the common wisdom about leprosy: it was very contagious. When he opened himself more to God’s grace, he had a conversion that enabled him later to call them his “Christian brothers and sisters.” –P.M.
JIM MCINTOSH/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
run a food pantry in central New York to caring for the elderly at a home for senior citizens in Costa Rica. In Rick’s mind, whatever the work may be, it’s all linked to St. Francis’ spirit. “We love and serve others not because it is right, not because of our solidarity, nor even to help, but because the ‘other’ is my brother, my sister,” he says. The year of service work that FrancisCorps volunteers engage in not only helps those in need, it profoundly transforms the volunteers themselves. “While the service the volunteers do is extremely valuable, the ultimate mission of FrancisCorps is to form young men and women in the Franciscan charism so that they can become leaders in their communities,” Rick explains. In the 17 years since it was founded, FrancisCorps can claim doctors, nurses, lawyers, clergy, and businesspeople as alumni. Powering the program all the while is its Franciscan identity. “Our volunteers go on to live lives that are full of love, caring, compassion, and service,” says Rick. “What unites them is that they carry the spirit, the song of St. Francis in their hearts.” —Daniel Imwalle
tal Digi as Extr
To learn more about Franciscan saints, visit SaintoftheDay.org.
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
A p r i l 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
McFarland, USA
St. Vincent Life Itself Whiplash Song of the Sea Interstellar
6 ❘
April 2015
© DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC./PHOTO BY RON PHILLIPS
New on DVD
Kevin Costner and newcomer Carlos Pratts star in Disney’s McFarland, USA, based on a true story. In 1989, bad-tempered high school football coach Jim White (Kevin Costner) gets fired and moves with his family to McFarland, California, a farming community consisting of Mexican American crop pickers. After a fight with the head football coach at the new school, Jim notices how fast the kids run laps during gym. After he paces Thomas (Carlos Pratts) as the young man runs to work in the fields, Jim believes the students are better suited for cross country than for football. He puts together a reluctant seven-member team and they begin to train. The biggest challenge for Jim and the team is that these kids have to get up early to work in the fields and return again after school. To compete, they will have to train after homework and supper. To understand the lives of his students and their families, Jim spends a backbreaking day in the fields with them. He realizes that these young people have something no other runners have: great hearts that come
from strong—though sometimes flawed— families, a vibrant culture, sacrifice, and years of hard, physical work. Based on a true story, McFarland, USA excels because it is a small film with grace, humor, and character. Of course, Jim and the kids want to win the first statewide event in which they compete, but the real message is how the training, the team, and their small, rural community saved each other. If you look for themes of Catholic social teaching in movies as I do, McFarland, USA is a story filled with enjoyment, reflection, and conversation beginning with the dignity of the human person. A-2, PG ■ Mature themes, brief violence, coarse language.
Kingsman: The Secret Service Harry, code name Galahad (Colin Firth), is a member of a British secret spy ring, which is St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
CNS PHOTO/20TH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION VIA EPK TV
Taron Egerton and Oscar winner Michael Caine play spies in Kingsman: The Secret Service.
CNS PHOTO/PARAMOUNT
headed by Chester King, code name Arthur (Michael Caine). Feeling guilty when he fails to save the life of a fellow agent, Harry gives the widow and her young son, Gary (aka Eggsy), a secret phone number to call if they ever need his help. When Eggsy is in trouble several years later, he gets a message to Harry. Harry recruits Eggsy into their Kingsman training program to take the place of a spy who was killed. Meanwhile, Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), a megalomaniac masquerading as a humanitarian, gives away free SIM cards to people around the world so they can have free phone service. But this is a ruse to cause global conflict. Just when Eggsy fails to pass the final test, he steps in when things go badly for Galahad, who tries to prevent Valentine from being able to set his dangerous plans into motion. Kingsman: The Secret Service is a complex spy caper based on the comic book The Secret Service. Young Taron Egerton, as Eggsy, is an actor to watch. While the film is entertaining and Colin Firth shines as an action star, it is rife with graphic, comic-book violence. A-3, R ■ Intense violence, language, some sexuality.
Christina’s dad—may have left behind when he passed away. Through their search, they find an old camera with a mysterious image and the blueprints for a “temporal relocation device”—a time machine. They experiment first by sending a toy back in time. Then David wants to go back and change the past to prevent his father’s death. The five young people also decide to use the machine for personal gain, such as winning the lottery, but only if they use it together. This machine has the potential to do great harm, as well. Though it is a film involving young people, Project Almanac is a complicated story with appealing actors. The problem is that it’s too convoluted for its own good and becomes boring. Almost everyone at some point would like to go back and undo something in the past. The lesson, as always with these kinds of films, is to make good choices today. A-3, PG-13 ■ Some language and mild sexual content.
Project Almanac is about four young people who tamper with time— with dangerous results.
Catholic Cl assifications A-1 A-2 A-3 L O
Project Almanac A film that tackles the issue of time, Project Almanac centers on high school senior David Raskin (Jonny Weston), his sister, Christina (Virginia Gardner), and three friends who go through the Raskin family’s attic one day. They are looking for anything that inventor Ben Raskin—David and 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.
April 2015 ❘
7
CHANNEL SURFING
WITH CHRISTOPHER HEFFRON
UP CLOSE
Tuesdays, 8 p.m., ABC According to a 2012 US Census report, people of Asian descent make up 5.3 percent of the population in this country. If our Asian brothers and sisters contribute so vital a thread to our nation’s tapestry, why are they are so underrepresented on prime-time television? Fresh Off the Boat, ABC’s new multiethnic comedy, is worth a look because the issues of race and racial harmony are handled with a light-as-a-feather touch. But the questions raised are no joke. Set in the mid-’90s, Randall Park and Constance Wu play Louis and Jessica Huang, thirtysomething Taiwanese-born Americans who uproot their three boys and her elderly mother from Washington, DC, to Orlando, Florida, for warmer temps and better opportunities. They’re not even in the door before their lily-white neighbors descend in drones for a closer look. Moments like this are rife in the show, which can sometimes make for uncomfortable viewing. But there are endless opportunities for grace and understanding—and the writers of Fresh Off the Boat are not afraid to explore them. The cast is terrific, particularly Wu as the beleaguered mom of three. Her heartfelt and hilarious struggle to maintain her family’s Asian heritage in her adopted culture makes for comedy gold.
The Pioneer Woman
ABC/KEVIN FOLEY
Fresh Off the Boat, about a Taiwanese American family with big dreams, is ABC’s fresh and funny new comedy. 8 ❘
April 2015
Saturdays, 10 a.m., Food Network It started as a blog and ballooned into an empire. Living on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma with her husband and children, Ree Drummond began blogging in 2006 about life on the plains, homeschooling, child-rearing, and cooking. Now her show, The Pioneer Woman, is a mainstay on Food Network. She has a slew of cookbooks under her belt, as well as a line of kitchen, cooking, and dinnerware products. By looking at her, you wouldn’t think to call her a mogul, and that’s because, despite her popularity, Drummond is grounded and attainable, or, as she calls herself, “an accidental country girl.” The Pioneer Woman, like every show on the network, relies on a “hook” to snag viewers. For this program, it’s country cooking made easy. Each episode toggles between the recipe she’s preparing and her husband’s often backbreaking work wrangling 2,500 head of steers. With four children who filter in to help mom in the kitchen or dad on the ranch (or to steal food, which happens often), it’s the most three-dimensional family portrait ever captured on Food Network. Drummond reminds us regularly that food is best when it’s shared with family. The two are inexorably linked—and fellowship often follows. And while The Pioneer Woman is not a show for dieting channel surfers, just watching the family dive into their dishes—their faces often covered in dust from the plains—is just good television.
St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
TELEVISION FOOD NETWORK/KENNETH M. RUGGIANO
Fresh Off the Boat
AT HOME ON EARTH
❘ BY KYLE KRAMER
Revolution or Evolution?
W
my little individual life matter at all? And what about the fact that for the last few hundred years—a blip on the timescale of our species— human beings seem to have Connecting with set ourselves at odds with the the Earth evolutionary flow of the universe? We’re destroying Up for a dose of dizziness? highly evolved species and Try this: on a clear night, lie habitats, driving fast down down outside on the the dead-end road of nonreground, and imagine newable resources, and findyou’re stuck to the bottom ing plenty of other ways to side of the Earth and lookdamage the one and only ing down, not up, into the planet God gave us. depths of space. The Passionist theologian Father Thomas Berry thought You can learn more about there was an answer to both the Church’s teaching conof these questions. He called it cerning human evolution the “Great Work” of our from Pope Pius XII’s 1950 time: when the whole human encyclical “Humani Generis” family would learn to realign or Pope John Paul II’s Octoourselves with the flourishing ber 22, 1996, message to of life and, because of our the Pontifical Academy of great numbers and technoSciences. logical power, start to benefit the Earth on a global scale, Can you think of specific rather than harm it. Each of ways God may be calling us could take up our unique you to be part of the Great role, adding up to a tipping Work? point of transformation. The Industrial Revolution was arguably a revolt— against evolution itself. Bringing about the Great Work, however, means stepping back into the sacred, unfolding story of God’s creation. By the grace of its author, we can trust it will have an ending even better than we can imagine. A
1
2
3
Kyle Kramer is the executive director of the Passionist Earth and Spirit Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
The vastness and wonder of the universe reveal to us the genius of God’s creation. 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. A p r il 2 0 15 ❘ 9
PHOTO BY SERGEY CHUDAKOROV/FOTOLIA
PHOTO BY SERGEY CHUDAKOROV/FOTOLIA
here my family and I live in Indiana, April is when the world practically bursts with all kinds of new life. As a gardener, I often feel that to plant and tend growing things is like joining in the ecstatic dance of God’s creation. Some April nights, my kids and I haul out a telescope and gaze up into the vast world beyond Earth. It’s quite an adventure to take in the dizzying age, vastness, and complexity of the universe. Then we try to imagine that all of this unfathomable diversity exploded from a single point almost 14 billion years ago—and our minds bend to the breaking point. We human creatures are part of this great evolution, both on our small blue-green planet and as part of the whole universe. If we are shaped by the Church’s dialogue with modern science, we can also believe this evolutionary story is sacred: taking place within the benevolent—if mysterious—purposes of a loving God. I still have a lot of questions about being part of the story of evolution, though. Given the grand scale of God’s evolving creation in terms of space and time, it’s easy to feel utterly overwhelmed and insignificant. Does
CHURCH IN THE NEWS
❘ BY DANIEL IMWALLE
21 Coptic Christians Killed in Libya
CNS PHOTO/JAMAL NASRALLAH, EPA
the Fides news agency on February 17, Bishop Antonios Aziz Mina of Giza spoke about the massacre. “The name of Jesus was the last word on their lips. . . . That name, whispered in the last moments, was like the seal of their martyrdom,” said Bishop Mina. In honor of the slain Coptic Christians, the Egyptian government called for seven days of national mourning. There are also plans to construct a church using state funds in the Egyptian city of Minya, where many of the victims were from.
Coptic Orthodox priests in Amman, Jordan, remember 21 murdered Egyptian Christians during a Divine Liturgy February 18. The Copts are Egypt’s largest religious minority.
1 0 ❘ Ap r il 2015
dox, Coptic, Lutherans—this does not matter, they are Christians,” the pope said. In the final moments before execution, some of the captives invoked the name of Jesus, repeating the words Lord, Jesus Christ. Speaking to
The head of the Diocese of Tucson, Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, addressed Congress on February 11 at a hearing focused on immigration enforcement, reported CNS. The hearing was convened by the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, and included the testimonies of the
CNS PHOTO/NANCY WIECHEC
A five-minute video released February 15 on a pro-Islamic State website showed the mass beheading of 21 Coptic Christians by Islamic State militants in Libya, reported Catholic News Service (CNS). The 21 Egyptian Copts, migrant workers and members of Egypt’s largest religious minority, were captured in December and January. A caption in the video referred to the victims as “people of the cross, followers of the hostile Egyptian Church.” At the end of the video, one of the militants pointed a knife in the direction of Italy and, in English, said, “We will conquer Rome, by Allah’s permission.” Pope Francis reacted to the slayings on February 16 while holding an audience with representatives from the Church of Scotland. Deviating from prepared remarks, the pope spoke in his native Spanish. “The blood of our Christian brothers is a testimony that calls to us. Regardless of whether they are Catholic, Ortho-
Arizona Bishop Calls for Immigration Reform
Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona, blesses people on the Mexican side as he distributes Communion through the border fence in Nogales, Arizona, April 1, 2014. St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING
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
A 27-year-old priest in the Diocese of Baton Rouge is making waves in social media and at youth conferences with his rapping ability, reported The Huffington Post. Father Joshua Johnson is the youngest priest in his diocese, where he serves at Christ the King Catholic Church at Louisiana State University. “I grew up rapping just for fun,” Father Johnson said. “I continued to do it for fun and people started hearing me, and the next thing you know I’m doing it at festivals and youth conferences.” Father Johnson is set to be a keynote speaker at the St. Martin De Porres Conference May 8–9 in Baton Rouge, which will focus on race relations.
bishop, a North Carolina sheriff, a senior fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, and an immigration reform group leader. Bishop Kicanas was the only voice of opposition to Congress’ current immigration reform path, which seeks augmented enforcement at the border and stricter standards for immigrant families in search of asylum. “These bills would not fix our immigration system,” the bishop said. “Rather, they would make it less just and would undermine our moral authority, domestically and globally.” Fr ancisca n Media .org
The Association of US Catholic Priests, the largest organization of Catholic priests in the United States, has asked US Catholic bishops to “start the dialogue” about the ordination of married men to the priesthood. In a letter addressed to all US archbishops and bishops, the priests said, “The time has come. The door is open. The need for this is urgent.” The priests cited various reasons for their proposal, including parish closures and the declining number of active priests. “Given the signs of the times and the diversity and challenges facing the Church at this time, the ministerial priesthood needs creative options,” the priests said. This year marks the 10year anniversary of the assassination of Sister Dorothy Stang, SND, by ranchers in the Brazilian city of Anapu, reported CNS. Since her death, the work to protect the rights of peasants in the Amazon is still very dangerous, according to Antonio Canuto—a coordinator with the Brazilian bishops’ Pastoral Land Commission. “What has changed is that the reality of those who work in places like Anapu has become wider known. Sister Dorothy brought to her work an international recognition,” Canuto said. “It led people from all over the world and within Brazil to identify themselves with her cause.”
CNS PHOTO/LUNAE PARRACHO, REUTERS
Pope Benedict XVI knew that retiring from the papacy two years ago was best for the Church, and does not regret his decision, according to Archbishop Georg Ganswein, his personal secretary and prefect of the papal household. “He is very serene and certain in this: his decision was necessary and made ‘after having repeatedly examined my conscience before God,’” the archbishop said, quoting Pope Benedict’s February 2013 announcement. Retired Pope Benedict XVI and The retired pope, who Archbishop Georg Ganswein turns 88 in April, keeps up a routine of reading, letter writing, prayer, meeting with visitors, and walking in the Vatican gardens, said Archbishop Ganswein.
For more Catholic news, visit AmericanCatholic.org.
Bishop Kicanas said that immigrant families would suffer from the consequences of the proposed legislation, which would repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). Repealing DACA would “keep children in detention for long periods of time and would weaken protections for abandoned, neglected, and abused children,” the bishop said. In 2005, after the House passed the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act, thousands protested across the country. “As a nation, do we want to take
the country down this road again?” Bishop Kicanas asked the subcommittee. “Do we want to criminalize millions of persons who have built equities in this country, jail them, and separate their families, including those with US-citizen children?” The bishop responded to a question from Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) about whether he thought Pope Francis would address the immigration reform debate during his September visit later this year. Bishop Kicanas said that the pope might take the opportunity to urge lawmakers to “move forward with A p r i l 2 0 15 ❘ 1 1
Papal Visit to Ukraine Could Bring Peace
courage and conviction” on reforming the United States’ immigration policies.
Sexual Abuse Not a ‘Matter of History,’ Says Cardinal
Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych, leader of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, gives the homily during a Divine Liturgy for Ukrainian expatriates at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome February 19.
for the Protection of Minors, spoke to reporters on February 7 following a meeting of the commission at the Vatican, reported CNS. The cardinal said that bishops need to adhere to the Vatican-approved child protection standards put in place by various bishops’ conferences, or else they will have to deal with repercussions. The commission “is very, very
CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING
Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston, head of the Pontifical Commission
period . . . I am particularly close to you with my prayer for the deceased and for all those affected by the violence,” the pope said.
CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING
Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the major archbishop of Kiev-Halych, spoke to journalists on February 23 about his meeting with Pope Francis three days prior at the Vatican. From February 16 to 21, Catholic bishops from the Ukrainian Eastern- and Latin-rite traditions met with the pope to discuss issues affecting their dioceses and eparchies. The archbishop and other bishops present discussed the hardships facing the Ukrainian people as armed conflict has continued to trouble their homeland. Archbishop Shevchuk also took the meeting as an opportunity to invite Pope Francis to Ukraine as a step toward bringing about peace. “It would be a great prophetic gesture that would show the power of prayer and Christian solidarity, give us courage and hope, and build a better future for everyone,” the archbishop said. According to Archbishop Shevchuk, Pope Francis was deeply touched upon hearing how over 6,000 have died and over 2 million people have been displaced in the conflict, including nearly 150,000 children. “In this
Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston, head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, speaks at a news conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. 1 2 ❘ Apr il 2015
concerned about this whole area of [bishops’] accountability,” Cardinal O’Malley said. The commission is made up of clergy and clergy sexual abuse survivors, such as Peter Saunders of London. “Bishop accountability is most definitely something that is a concern and central to some of the work that is going to be carried out by the commission,” Saunders told reporters. At a conference on February 16 at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Cardinal O’Malley spoke about the importance of continuing the pursuit of justice in clergy sexabuse cases, reported Religion News Service (RNS). “It would be perilous for us, as leaders of the Church, to consider that the scandal of clergy sexual abuse is for the most part a matter of history and not a pressing concern here and now,” said the cardinal. “It’s not a pleasant topic. It’s easier just to ignore it and hope it will go away, [but] when we are defensive and secretive, the results are disastrous,” Cardinal O’Malley said. A St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
The cutest little crew on land or sea!
FREE* ark display included!
❉ Handcrafted and hand-painted
❉ Beanbag bodies are fun to pose and hold
Gigi Giraffe
❉ Wearing delightfully detailed hats
is the Premier Issue Dolls shown smaller than actual size of 5 inches long. These dolls are not toys; they are fine collectibles.
Miniature Dolls with Boatloads of Charm These sweet-as-can-be shipmates tell a beloved age-old story in an endearing new way... all aboard a FREE* custom ark display! Created by Master Doll Artist Sherry Rawn, these pint-sized baby dolls are very big on cuteness and animal magnetism. Decked out in colorful outfits with clever hats to match, could they be more adorable? Noah way! “Gigi Giraffe” is first in our exclusive Noah’s Adorable Ark collection of baby dolls depicting God’s precious creatures. They are crafted of artist’s resin to create every meticulous detail, from sweetly expressive faces down to tiny toes. Soft hair and lashes applied by hand, and pinchable round cheeks with the hint of a blush add to their lifelike appeal. Beanbag bodies make them cuddly and easy to pose side by side—or two by two—in their fabric ark. This darling collection will add a rainbow of joy to every day!
A Sherry Rawn original can sell for hundreds, but each doll in the Noah’s Adorable Ark collection can be yours for just $39.99*, payable in two installments of $19.99. Available for a limited time only; order yours today!
www.ashtondrake.com/noahsark Printed in the U.S.A
PLEASE RESPOND PROMPTLY
❒
YES! Please reserve my Noah’s Adorable Ark miniature doll collection as described in this announcement beginning with “Gigi Giraffe.” Name (please print clearly)
( ) Telephone
Address
Don’t let this opportunity drift away!
©2014 The Ashton-Drake Galleries, 9200 N. Maryland Ave., Niles, IL 60714-1397
9200 North Maryland Ave., Niles, Illinois 60714-1397
913991-BI
City
E-mail Address
Apt. No.
State
Zip
913991-D63501
*Plus a total of $7.99 shipping and service charges per doll, and $12.99 for fabric ark display. Please allow 10 to 12 weeks for shipment of your first doll after order is received. All orders are subject to acceptance.
The
Parables of
Jesus
Jesus didn’t simply tell clever stories. He meant to shake listeners to the core.
H
BY BARBARA LEONHARD, OSF
AVE A CONVERSATION with a group of adults about their education, and you will probably hear people say that their favorite teachers were not the ones who told them exactly what they should think or do about an issue, but rather the ones who challenged their thinking. There is something about the approach of a great teacher, such as Jesus, that makes us walk away scratching our heads. He was not the first person to use parables—such stories were a familiar way of teaching in religious circles of his day. The fact that the Gospel writers include so many parables indicates that they were one of Jesus’ favorite teaching tools, and they are well worth our own prayerful attention.
Why Teach in Parables? The word parable comes from the Greek word meaning “to throw or place alongside of.” A parable, then, is a metaphor drawn from nature or some common experience of life that is “placed alongside” another reality in order to jar the listener to a new perception. Most 14 ❘
April 2015
often, Jesus’ parables pertain to the reign of God. By comparing God’s ways to the planting of seeds or searching for sheep, Jesus was not offering sweet, heartwarming stories to make his audience feel safe. Rather, his parables were intended to pull the rug out from under his listeners, to make them reconsider what they thought they knew about God, about themselves, and about their neighbor. As modern readers of the parables, some understanding of first-century Middle Eastern symbols and culture can help us recapture some of the original reactions to Jesus’ parables—and to find ourselves challenged in new ways, as well.
Symbols that Pack a Punch The first parable that I can remember really surprising me when I heard it as a child was the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Mt 25:1–13). At that stage in life, one of the big lessons seemed to be sharing. So, imagine my surprise when in this parable, the five wise virgins are not reprimanded for refusing to share their oil with the five virgins who had run out. St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
PHOTO BY BILL WITTMAN
Fr anciscanMedia.org
April 2015 ❘
15
The Wise and Foolish virgins The wise virgins are commended not for their stinginess, but rather for their positive actions.
16 ❘
April 2015
It was not until many years later that I learned that oil and the light it sustained symbolized good deeds. The parable’s message is about responsible discipleship. The true follower of Jesus could not just passively wait for heavenly rewards. The wise virgins are commended not for their stinginess, but rather for their positive actions. A second parable requiring some understanding of imagery is the parable of the yeast
‘We Hear from Where We Stand’ There is a Haitian proverb, “We hear from where we stand.” The crowds who listened to Jesus—and certainly the communities for whom the Gospels were first written—were varied. How people understood a given parable could depend upon what place in life they held. Take, for example, the parable of the lost sheep (Lk 15:1–7). Those in the crowd who were considered sinners (lost sheep) would St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
PHOTOS: “THE WISE AND FOOLISH VIRGINS” (ARTIST: GUIDO NINCHERI) BY EUGENE PLAISTED, OSC; “THE LOST SHEEP” BY BILL WITTMAN; ROMAN COIN © CLAUDIO DIVIZIA/FOTOLIA
(Mt 13:33). What at first glance seems to be a simple metaphor for the expansion of the reign of God becomes quite a challenging image when the biblical symbolism of yeast is understood. Throughout the Old Testament, yeast represents moral corruption. For this reason, there were specific regulations about having all leaven removed from homes seven days prior to the feast of Passover (Ex 12:19). Imagine, then, the reaction of a primarily Jewish crowd to a parable that begins, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast . . . .” In addition, it is a woman who mixes the yeast with the flour, and— per Jewish culture at that time— women were often considered ritually unclean. A clue to the meaning of this parable is the enormous amount of flour the woman uses—approximately 50 pounds. This is the exact amount mentioned in three Old Testament stories about significant manifestations of God. Sarah bakes for the three heavenly visitors (Gn 18:6); Gideon uses the same amount of flour when preparing for an encounter with God’s messenger (Jgs 6:19), as does Hannah when she prepares to present Samuel in the Temple (1 Sm 1:24). One reading of the parable, then, is to see it as a challenge that upends the understanding of who and what is holy and capable of being an avenue of God’s revelation. This is one of those parables that use metaphor in a purposely jarring way. If “the kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour,” it leaves one to wrestle with new questions: Have we too narrowly defined how God can act? Are we ready to be surprised by God’s revelation in places we never thought to look?
find this parable very good news indeed. The implication is that God is like that shepherd and would not only receive back a lost sheep, but would search for it and welcome it with great joy. However, those in the audience who thought they were faultless, because they kept the laws, might have found such an idea scandalous. The parable would have challenged their understanding of earning God’s approval. The same would be true of the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Lk 18:9– 14). In this case, Luke is very specific about the audience: “He then addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.” The Pharisees were generally held in high respect because of their careful attention to the Law of Moses. Tax collectors, on the other hand, were automatically considered sinners because they had so many opportunities to exact money unfairly. Imagine that there were both Pharisees and tax collectors in Jesus’ audience. Both groups would have been stunned by this parable when they heard that it is the tax collector who, in acknowledging his sin, is deemed justified. The Pharisee is the one depicted as out of touch with God. His prayer is actually a self-congratulating list of his achievements spoken “to himself”! He distances himself from God in his very act of distancing himself from others: “I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity . . . .” The same parable offers great hope to some, and a disturbing wake-up call to others. This is the role of parables; just when people think they know the nature of God and how things work, the parables say, “Really? Don’t be so sure.”
It is the tax collector who, in acknowledging his sin, is deemed justified.
Parables Are Not Intended to Be Allegories
The lost sheep How people understood a given parable could depend upon what place in life they held.
Fr anciscanMedia.org
There are several kinds of parables. We can come to rather skewed conclusions if we read all parables as allegories, interpreting each detail as a description of God. For example, in the parable of the friend at midnight (Lk 11:5–8), if one assumes that the person who eventually gives his friend the bread he requests stands for God, then God seems harsh indeed. For the man’s initial response is, “Do not bother me.” This does not seem to be the God that Jesus preached. So how else might we understand the message? The parable begins with a person desperately waking a friend in the middle of the night to April 2015 ❘
17
18 ❘
April 2015
The judge is “for a long time unwilling” to listen to her plea. His reason for finally doing so: “this widow keeps bothering me.” He finally groans to himself, “I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.” This last expression can also be translated, “lest she wear me out.” The judge is anything but a model of hospitality and fairness. Once again, the message is that if even a shameless judge like this can eventually be stirred to action, how much more compassionate and just is our God?
Parables Often Challenge Social and Religious Boundaries While many of Jesus’ parables challenged the boundaries that separated the rich and the poor, the sinner and the righteous, perhaps none bring this issue more to the surface than the parables that have meals at their center. The parable of the great feast (Lk 14:15–24), for example, makes clear that Jesus’ vision is ultimately far more inclusive than his listeners could have imagined. While at table in the home of a leading Pharisee (14:1), Jesus tells a parable that undoubtedly would have left his listeners baffled. A wealthy person invites his friends to a great dinner. The elite of society, whom we are to envision receiving the invitations, would have lived in the center of the city, separated from those who worked for them. Culturally, two invitations were common, allowing the guests time to respond, and giving the host time to plan for the proper amount of food. When the servant is sent a second time, it is expected that those invited would come. Instead, they insult the host with poor excuses. No one would have believed that a person would purchase a field or buy oxen without having carefully examined them ahead of time; and preparations for a marriage would also have been made long ago. The host has been humiliated, but he quickly turns his anger into a graced invitation to others. Here, the parable would have been shocking to those dining with Jesus because, culturally, people only invited those they considered their equal to dine with them. The servant is now sent to the outer areas of the town—to the streets and alleys where he will find the poor, crippled, blind, and lame. When there is still room at the feast, he is sent outside the city walls to invite the outcasts and beggars. The parable purposely builds on this theme of crossing social boundaries. Jesus’ parable recalls the vision of Isaiah that St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
“PARABLE OF THE WEDDING FEAST” (ARTIST: A.N. MIRONOV); GAVEL © RAFA IRUSTA/FOTOLIA
ask for bread in order to feed a visitor who has just arrived. This story would not be farfetched in a Galilean setting where the people were generally poor and villages were small. People were used to depending upon one another when in need. Culturally, hospitality was—and still is—a high priority in the Middle East, and the people had a strong sense of community. If there were visitors, of Click here to learn more course they must be welcomed l a t Digi as about Jesus’ parables. and fed, no matter what the Extr hour. It would be unthinkable to neglect the duties of hospitality. If one had no food, someone might ask a neighbor, and it would be that person’s duty to respond generously. In a small village, everyone would probably know by morning if someone had refused to help. The parable concludes, “I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.” The Greek in which the Gospels were written can often be translated in more than one way. Here, the Greek word translated as “persistence” can also be translated as “a sense of shame.” If the parable is heard with this translation, it suggests that even if the bonds of friendship meant nothing to a person, he might get up and respond because he did not want to be shamed before the community. The reluctant giver in the parable clearly does not represent God. This parable is perhaps best understood by asking this question: If even such a person could be moved to give, how much more generous is the God who loves you? A second parable of this sort is that of the If even a shameless widow and the unjust judge (Lk 18:2–5). Here, judge can eventually if we mistakenly take the judge as representing be stirred to action, God, once again we would have a picture of God who is both uninterested and tired of how much more being bothered. Historically, compassionate and widows at this time were just is our God? among the most powerless and oppressed. The parable depicts such a woman in dire straits as she seeks a just decision against her adversary. The fact that she is there alone is amazing. Women were not ordinarily allowed to plead in court. Her presence there indicates that she is utterly alone in life with no male relative to plead her case.
the great feast Jesus’ parable recalls the vision of Isaiah that one day there would be a great banquet for all people, all nations (Is 25:6–8). one day there would be a great banquet for all people, all nations (Is 25:6–8). The parables of Jesus were intended to surprise and jar their listeners—to open them up to a vision bigger than they could imagine. They present the same challenges to us: to move beyond the assumptions and mindsets that keep us from recognizing and responding to grace in our midst. Thirteenth-century German mystic Meister Eckhart said it well: “Be prepared at all times for the gifts of God and be ready always for new ones. For God is a thousand times more ready to give than we are to receive.” A Barbara Leonhard, OSF, holds a doctorate in Christian spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union and is a spiritual director and teacher in Beech Grove, Indiana. Fr anciscanMedia.org
ARE YOU CHARITABLY INCLINED ?
Do you own appreciated assets such as stocks, bonds or property? Consider a charitable remainder trust with St. Anthony School Programs. Your benefits include: • Guaranteed fixed income for life • Monthly, quarterly, or semi-annual payments • Lower or eliminate capital gains taxes • Charitable income tax deduction • Lower your estate tax burden Best of all you will help St. Anthony School Programs educate children with Intellectual Disabilities/Autism. Return this coupon today for general information or call 724-940-9020, ext. 103
Name Address City
State
Birth Date(s)
and
Amount Considering Phone
Zip Cost Basis
Email Jerry Gaughan, St. Anthony School Programs 2000 Corporate Drive, Suite 580 • Wexford, PA 15090 724-940-9020, ext. 103 • jgaughan@stanthonykids.org www.stanthonykids.org
April 2015 ❘
19
EDITORIAL
And (Equal) Justice for All The death of Michael Brown at the hands of a Missouri police officer last year continues to shed light on a growing problem. Like many, my eyes were glued to the television late last year as Robert P. McCulloch, prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County, Missouri, announced that the grand jury would not indict Officer Darren Wilson for shooting and killing Michael Brown Jr., 18, the previous August in Ferguson. And like many, I suspect, I was conflicted. By all accounts, Brown was no pillar of the community. He was not above petty theft and civil disobedience—even on the day he died. But he was also unarmed when Officer Wilson fired 12 times at him. Lesley McSpadden buried her son 16 days later. Officer Wilson, thankfully, is still alive. Unrest soon followed the announcement—though it wasn’t as severe as many had feared. But even now, months later, we’re left with no certainties, save two: there is still a race problem in this country, and there’s an ever-growing divide between the police and people of color.
‘I Can’t Breathe’ As a white male, I may never experience racial profiling. If I were African American or Hispanic, I would face a different reality. Let’s look at Ferguson as an example. According to racial profiling data compiled in 2013, 4,632 blacks in that city were profiled, as opposed 686 whites. Of those numbers, 5 percent of whites were arrested, while black arrests were at 10 percent. The US Bureau of Justice reported in 2011 that African Americans in this country were incarcerated at the rate of 4,347 per 100,000 residents. Whites and Hispanics simply take up less space in our nation’s prisons. But this issue isn’t so clear-cut. The 1991 beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles shed light on a problem brewing for decades: too often, it seems, police break the law to Fr ancisca n Media .org
enforce it. According to a study by the Bureau of Justice, state and local law enforcement agencies receive around 27,000 complaints of police brutality annually. It’s absurd to claim that all cops are crooked—-even more so to claim that they’re all racists. But none are above the law, and some law enforcement personnel forget that. It’s fair to say that Officer Wilson used excessive force; it’s also fair to say that he had a reason to draw his weapon. The 2014 choking death of Eric Garner is another example. “I can’t breathe,” an homage to him, became a mantra in the months after his death. It’s clear that many African Americans are fed up with the violations of their civil liberties.
Children of God As children, we’re told to treat others with respect. Too often we forget that lesson as adults. We should follow the example of St. Francis. A young Francis was disgusted by lepers until he saw the face of Jesus in one of them. During the Crusades, he traveled to Egypt to convert the sultan. Though no conversion took place, a bridge was built from that experience. But such a noble ideal isn’t ancient history. Yonkers-based activist Hector Santiago, a former gang member, just instituted a program called “Stop-and-Shake,” which aims to reduce tension between police and persons of color in that city. The program encourages youth to approach police, shake their hands, and engage in dialogue. “All of a sudden,” Santiago told NPR, “whatever stereotypes people have pent up inside, it kind of goes away. Because now you’re looking at the person.” We are children of God, after all, and we are never alone. God was there when Wilson drew his weapon. God was there when Brown drew his last breath. And though we may never know exactly what happened that day, one thing we can be sure of is this: God loves them both. —Christopher Heffron A p r il 2 0 15 ❘ 2 0
THE SPIRIT OF FRANCIS
❘ BY JOANNE SCHATZLEIN, OSF
Joining the Dance
CNS PHOTO/EPA VIA L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
tain passages in “The Joy of the Gospel” almost dance off the page. Pope Francis is no lightweight, but he can certainly express key Gospel teachings in popular and memorable language. During events in Rome or on his apostolic visits, Pope Francis has invited a wide range of people to be his partners: those of diverse religious, ethnic, and ideological backgrounds; men and women; rich and poor; sinner and saint. He encourages them all to let God’s grace lead them into compassionate action. A YouTube video of Pope Francis dancing the tango (as a young man or today) would certainly go viral. Those moves might be more difficult now—as are the many moves to unite us all into a dance of joy. I pray he continues to invite. I hope we accept those invitations. And I believe that the spirit of God will provide the music! A
A
Fr ancisca n Media .org
Sister Joanne Schatzlein, OSF, directs the office of corporate ministries for the Sisters of St. Francis (St. Francis, Wisconsin). She also has led pilgrimages to Rome and Assisi for many years.
tal Digi as t Ex r
Click here for more on Pope Francis and St. Francis.
Dancing Francis Francis once picked up two sticks, dancing and pretending to play a violin. Another time, he preached before the pope and several cardinals. Francis tried to memorize what he should say, but he forgot it. Instead, he preached with such fervor that he appeared to be dancing. Far from being scandalized, the pope and cardinals recognized Francis as a man of God.—P.M.
A p r i l 2 0 15 ❘ 2 1
ILLUSTRATION BY JULIE LONNEMAN
s a young man in Argentina, Jorge Bergoglio loved to dance the tango. Little could he have dreamed that one day his brother cardinals would choose him to join in a very different type of dance around the world—all for the praise and glory of God. I wish I had not avoided a particular dance opportunity years ago. A young man with disabilities was not able to keep up with a group of country-western dancers. He invited three lovely women to dance with him, but each one turned him down. Fear, embarrassment, and shyness prevented me from asking him to dance. He walked away with a bruised heart, and left me with a great deal of regret and a resolve not to make that mistake again. I think Pope Francis realizes that the invitation to dance is as important as the dance itself. St. Francis of Assisi certainly knew that well. Both men have accepted very different invitations to join in the Lord’s dance. Cer-
A mother poses for a selfie with Pope Francis and her child after a Wednesday audience. The pope has been willing to partner with many people.
Welcome,
Sister Death St. Francis of Assisi turned an enemy into a friend.
F
RANCIS SEEMS never to have feared death or encouraged people to fear it. Once again he was way ahead of his time. On this subject, in fact, he may even be ahead of our time. Francis was no philosopher. He didn’t understand death the way the philosophers do when they speak of the immortality of the soul, the prison of this life and body, and the blessedness to come when such things are overcome. The 20th-century Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno might as well be Plato when he says: “Death is our immortalizer. . . . The sudden and momentary lighting up of obscure matter is a dream; life is a dream. And once the passing brilliance is extinguished, its reflection sinks to the dark depths, and there it remains until a masterful jolt one day rekindles it and lights it up again forever.” It’s impossible to imagine Francis preaching such words, and not simply because he never spoke of death as an abstract idea. For the Poverello, life was never imaginary or theoretical, and it was never simply a prelude. Life was the main event of the present, and Francis always lived in the present. He wanted to know and experience and express the love of God right here, right now, each day. In fact, I suspect that Francis was one of those fortunate souls who, had he been informed that his death would come in a year, wouldn’t have felt the need to change anything he was already doing over the next 12 months. It’s important at this point to remember that Francis was a singer, a lover of songs. A poet seeks language that is beyond the ordinary
22 ❘
April 2015
in order to communicate something particularly special; to put those poems to song is to aim even higher. Francis had a heart that was part troubadour, part shepherd, and part ascetic. Such a strange combination it was, but it all made sense in his unique life. Francis lived in an age that was still captivated by storytelling and orally transmitted poetry, an age when even the words of holy Scripture were known almost entirely in how they were pronounced out loud. There were barely any books, let alone quiet, personal reading anywhere outside the thick walls of a cloister. So Francis sang. He often referred to his body as Brother Ass, for the troubles it gave him. We all feel that way from time to time, wishing that we wouldn’t get tired so easily, or could do more. Francis would prod his body along, speaking to it as if it were a stubborn ass. The Legend of Three Companions, a biographical account of Francis written about 20 years after his death, tells us that, on his deathbed, Francis confessed as sin the way that he’d mistreated the body that God had given him. Francis realized only then that he’d probably gone too far in forgetting what the body needed as he focused on the work it needed to do. I marvel at the realization itself, as if he knew that he’d hastened Sister Death unnecessarily. Never mind, now he sang to her and of her. Like a poet who puts pen to paper in order to realize what she needs to say, Francis sang in order to know what was in his own heart, St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
“SAINT FRANCIS IN ECSTASY” BY EL GRECO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/GOOGLE ART PROJECT
BY JON M. SWEENEY
and he sang in order to understand what was happening to him. As you will recall from his “Canticle of the Creatures,” the final stanza is about death. One might even say that Francis sings to death. The final stanza begins with this famous line: “Praise to you, O Lord, for our Sister Death.” Sun, moon, wind, water, fire, and earth have been addressed as his brothers and sisters, cocreatures of the One God, before death, too, becomes a sibling. What simple symbolism, but what power in it! Those who heard Francis compose and sing these words must have done a double take, for never before had death been portrayed as anything other than a source of terror and dread or, in the hands of medieval preachers, a taunt like a stick. But here was Francis welcoming death as an intimate.
Death was essential to life and essential to knowing the God whom he wanted to love in every possible way.
More than Hope of Heaven Catholics have always faced death with a certain ambiguity: fear of pain and suffering and possible damnation, mixed with hope of
heaven. This is why Francis’ wholehearted welcoming of death is such a radical direction. It is not a conditional embrace. He does not speak elsewhere with extreme confidence of heaven; he wouldn’t have been a good Catholic had he done so. Hope is still essential to the equation. No, Francis did not embrace death out of simply confidence of heaven. His understanding of death was deeper than that. If he was welcoming Sister Death so easily and intimately only because he couldn’t wait to be ushered into heaven, why then would he have asked his friends to strip him naked and lay his ailing body down on the ground? He wanted to feel Sister Earth, too. He loved her equally. The medieval attitude toward death in some ways couldn’t seem more removed from our attitudes in the 21st century. Who worries so much about death in our time? We laugh at death today, not in the way that St. Paul did 2,000 years ago with “O death, where is thy sting?” (1 Cor 15:55; KJV), nor in the way that poet John Donne taunted it 500 years ago with “Death, be not proud, though some have called thee / Mighty and dreadful . . . .” Their scorn was a theological assertion. We laugh at death today because we are able to postpone
JOIN US as we begin the nine week Novena to St. Anthony on Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at the National Shrine of St. Anthony in Cincinnati. The Novena will conclude on his feast, Saturday, June 13. www.stanthony.org For more information on how to pray the Novena or to post your prayer intentions or light a candle, visit us at www.stanthony.org. 24 ❘
April 2015
St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
it so long. Our average life expectancy is more than double what it was in Francis’ era. We who tend to have “first-world problems” are insulated from most of what killed people back then, especially mysterious disease, malnutrition, and sudden death in war and conflict. And when death is finally upon us, we tidy it up quickly and cleanly, so as to not expose others to its unpleasant realities. How many among us even know what death really looks like? However, occasionally death’s reality hits us in the face—usually when someone close to us dies, or when we are diagnosed with a disease that may be terminal. Then we can become “medieval” ourselves. We wake up in the middle of the night from a dream, sweating, suddenly terrified, imagining what it might mean to actually die. “Can there be a mystical life without death?” wondered the Catholic poet and writer Raïssa Maritain in her private notebook in 1931. Is it possible to commune with God without believing in the centrality and value of death? On a deeper level, can death be a pathway to a newer and better understanding of God? Francis seems to have affirmed the latter, which is why he welcomed death like a sister; death was essential to life and essential to knowing the God whom he wanted to love in every possible way.
Dancing to Death There is a sense in the teachings of the earliest Franciscans that religious life— by which they mean what we’d call today “the spiritual life”—is a dangerous thing. To enter into it is to enter into God’s living power and expectations. The lazy or insincere person might be better off leaving well enough alone. The third man to become a friar, the distinctive Brother Giles, once put it this way: “Many people enter religious life and don’t put into effect and operation the things that are essential to that holy pursuit. They are like the simple man who arrayed himself in beautiful armor but didn’t know how to use it, or how to fight under its enormous weight. It’s not every man who can Fr anciscanMedia.org
America’s best choice for affordable travel since 1967!
Sights of Scotland Tour Hosted by Father Jose Chacko
10 days from $1549* Departs September 9, 2015. Start in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland with a panoramic tour where you’ll visit the medieval Edinburgh Castle that is visible for miles and see the Scottish Crown Jewels. Travel to The Highlands, with a stop at the iconic Scone Palace along the way and enjoy a scenic drive through Cairngorms National Park. Witness the stunning views of Inverness and Loch Ness where you’ll take a short scenic cruise. Continue to the Isle of Skye and Fort William, near the UK’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis. Head South along Scotland’s shoreline into Argyll with a visit to Inveraray Castle. Complete your vacation in Glasgow, the biggest city in Scotland for a city tour where you’ll visit the popular park - Glasgow Green and George Square. Mass will be celebrated some days on tour and includes eight breakfasts and four dinners. Your Chaplain is Father Jose, from Gadsden, AL. He is the Pastor at St. James Catholic Church. This will be his 4th trip with YMT. *
PPDO. Plus $299 tax/service/government fees. Alternate departure dates available. Add-on airfare available.
Autumn Leaves Tour Hosted by Father Dan Gerres
14 days from $1649* Departs September 20, 2015. Start in Philadelphia and enjoy a sightseeing tour. Then your scenic journey begins offering spectacular and colorful vistas through Amish Country to Gettysburg. Travel north with a stop at the Corning Museum of Glass into Ontario and awe-inspiring Niagara Falls for two nights! Return to upstate New York where you will board a cruise through the 1000 Islands; drive through the six-million-acre civilized wilderness of the Adirondack region, stop in Lake Placid and then into the forest area of New England: The White Mountains, including Franconia Notch State Park and New Hampshire. Stop at Flume Gorge then continue east to York county, Maine. Next drive along the New England coast to Boston, with a city tour; visit Plymouth and Cape Cod for two nights. Proceed to Newport, Rhode Island, including a tour of one of the famous mansions en route to Bridgeport, Connecticut. Lastly tour New York City seeing all the major sights of the “Big Apple.” Mass will be celebrated some days on tour. Your Chaplain is Father Dan Gerres from Wilmington, DE, where he served as a parish priest for 48 years. He is currently active in the church community. This will be his 9th trip with YMT. *
PPDO. Plus $159 tax/service/government fees. Alternate September - October departure dates available. Seasonal charges may apply. Add-on airfare available.
Call for Details! 877-636-5412
Trave with o l t Cathol her ics!
Please mention promo code EC09111
April 2015 ❘
25
Praise to you, O Lord, for our Sister Death and the death of the body from whom no one may escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin: but blessed are they who are found walking by your most holy will, for the second death shall have no power to do them harm. Praise to you, O my Lord, and all blessing. We give you thanks and serve you with great humility.
While most of us see death as something to fear, St. Francis saw it as something for which to be grateful.
tal Digi as t Ex r
26 ❘
ride a strong horse into battle. And if he would attempt to mount it, he may even be thrown off when the animal rears or runs.” That’s a powerful metaphor, and one that Francis would have taught to Giles. Death, like every stage of life for someone passionately involved with religious life, will be intense. The first text in which we find reference to Francis and his friends as “God’s jugglers” comes in what is called the Second Life, or second biography, written by Thomas of Celano in 1247. Click here for more on St. Thomas included in his biogFrancis and death. Click the raphy various written accounts button below for an interof their own memories from view on this topic. some of Francis’ best friends— Leo, Rufino, and Angelo—as well as compiled stories from others who were early pilgrims with Francis. From these sources we learn of Francis’ joyful behavior, even when he felt that death was coming. How startling it was to those around him that he sang in the fields and city centers
April 2015
Even when he sings that “the death of the body” is something “from whom no one may escape,” Francis is praising God. That word, praise, appears a total of 10 times in the “Canticle,” repeating all the way to the end. This is the key to our understanding that for Francis, death is actually something that we are to be grateful for. The moment of death is a blessing—not because life is awful, but because Sister Death is a new kind of gift from God. Hope carries us beyond death, but so does our joyful expectation of moving deeper into the divine uncertainty. A This article is an excerpt from the book When St. Francis Saved the Church (print, Ave Maria Press; audio, Franciscan Media). Jon M. Sweeney is an independent scholar and writer of popular history. Specializing in ancient and medieval history, he is the author of The Pope Who Quit: A True Medieval Tale of Mystery, Death, and Salvation. St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
“SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI” BY JUSEPE DE RIBERA FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
as a troubadour turning his eyes to heaven, and then, at the end of his life, sang also to Sister Death. Francis didn’t finish writing and arranging the “Canticle of the Creatures,” which celebrates the entire cycle of what God created, until just days before he died. Francis insisted that he and the friars sing his song, which must have been difficult for his friends as he came to the final verse. They must have known how odd it would sound to those who heard it—just as they would have understood that its sentiment made perfect sense coming from the man they loved. I imagine them singing the beauties of Sister Death while sitting in the courtyard of San Damiano with pan flute, recorder, gemshorn, lute, psaltery, dulcimer, and zither, Francis’ face so mangled with the cauterizations and other treatments he’d undergone on his temples, ears, and eyes that he must have barely resembled the beloved friend they knew.
“These words demonstrate why Pope Francis is becoming such a life-changing, churchchanging, and world-changing leader.” —JIM WALLIS, editor of Sojourners
Published in cooperation with the Vatican, this original collection brings the life and legacy of Saint Francis of Assisi to life through the pope’s uplifting and challenging words. Pope Francis often speaks and writes about Franciscan ideals such as simplicity, humility, forgiveness, joy, compassion, peacemaking, and care for creation. His inspirational homilies, Hardcover with dustjacket | $22.99 | Item #B36859 ISBN 978-1-61636-859-3 addresses, and writings on Audiobook | $24.99 | Item #A36913 | ISBN 978-1-61636-913-2 these and other Franciscan Also available as an ebook and audio download. themes are collected in this book for the first time, giving you a simple way to To order, please call 800.488.0488 or e-mail Orders@FranciscanMedia. renew your faith.
An Interview with
President Jimmy
Carter This human-rights advocate works tirelessly to improve women’s lives worldwide.
BY CAROL ANN MORROW
W
HEN JIMMY CARTER won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, it was for “decades of untiring efforts” to advance human rights—also a hallmark of his US presidency from 1977 to 1981. At 90, he and his wife, Rosalynn, continue their intrepid efforts toward “waging peace, fighting disease, building hope,” the goals of Atlanta’s Carter Center, which they founded in 1982. Author of 28 books ranging from memoirs to inspiration to politics, Carter recently toured the nation promoting his latest volume, A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power. This latest work is rooted in a 2013 conference of religious leaders, scholars, and activists at the Carter Center. As they considered the obstacles facing the world’s women, Carter categorized them in three main areas: religion, violence, and power.
28 ❘
April 2015
During his whirlwind book tour from New York to California, Carter was interviewed by Bill Maher, Diane Rehm, Stephen Colbert, Charlie Rose, Piers Morgan, and David Letterman. The amiable and unflappable world leader also took time for a telephone interview with St. Anthony Messenger.
Women and Religion For a Baptist deacon, Jimmy Carter spends a lot of time with Catholics. He is well equipped St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
LOUISE GUBB/THE CARTER CENTER
to discuss the biblical view of women, since he has taught Bible classes at his home church for almost 70 years. He admits that there are verses that can be used to oppress women. “My fallback on that,” he says, “is that there never was a word or an action of Jesus Christ that derogated the stature of women as they relate to men. But I know also—and I teach this regularly—that in some of Paul’s writings, he said women should not adorn themselves and women should not speak out in church Fr anciscanMedia.org
and women should not teach men and things of that kind. “On the other hand, Paul points out that all people are created equal in the eyes of God—men and women, slaves and masters, Jews and gentiles. Then, in the 16th chapter of his Letter to the Romans, he points out about 25 or so leaders at all levels of the early Church. Almost half of them are women. So my belief is that women, in the eyes of God, should be completely equal in their ability to
Helping “the least of us” has been President Jimmy Carter’s mission since leaving the White House in 1981. Here Carter listens to community members discuss an outbreak of Guinea worm in Savelugu, Ghana. Carter led a coalition to eradicate the disease. April 2015 ❘
29
President Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, visited children suffering from schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease, during their 2007 trip to Nasarawa State in central Nigeria.
EMILY STAUB/THE CARTER CENTER
“We are all neighbors in a global community,” President Carter once said. He put that concept into action during a visit to Mosebo, Ethiopia, where he commended the efforts in the Amhara Region to prevent trachoma, a painful disease that causes blindness.
THE CARTER CENTER
serve God or to serve human beings.” In 1979, during Carter’s presidency, Pope John Paul II became the first pope to visit the White House. More recently, Carter wrote a letter to Pope Francis. While its contents have not been made public, he says that he asked the pope to join him in efforts to end three global threats to women: female infanticide, sexual slavery, and genital mutilation. 30 ❘
April 2015
Of these, Carter was asked which is most problematic in the United States. He was quick to reply. “We have more slavery now than we did during the 18th or 19th century. The State Department is required by law to give a report on this every year. In 2013, they reported that 800,000 people were sold across international borders and into slavery. Eighty percent of St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
Sad Statistics It’s easy to see how infanticide, sex trafficking, and genital mutilation are acts of violence against women, but President Carter moves beyond those offenses to emphasize the impact of institutional violence. It is obvious that his book is also written in his heart as he reconfigures its chapters to address the power of violence to oppress women. He cites three examples: war, imprisonment, and the death penalty. Of war, Carter is proud of his own military service in the US Navy toward the end of World War II and its aftermath. But he points out that “no boots on the ground” often means “high-altitude bombers or remote-control drones.” That “increases the suffering of the innocent and defenseless,” he has written, often women and children at home. Asked about his encouragement of women in the military, though, he seems inconsistent. While he doesn’t support the number of recent US military actions, he does believe that women and men can and should fight side by side. Equal treatment—including the right to serve in the military—leads to equality in other areas, he says. Counterbalancing the power of military service for women is the incidence of assaults. He says, “We had 26,000 cases of sexual assaults in the year 2012 and only about 300 resulted in any punishment levied against the rapists.” Another institution where sexual abuse and assaults are “rampant,” in his words, is AmerFr anciscanMedia.org
THE CARTER CENTER
those are girls sold into sexual slavery.” In A Call to Action, he writes, “The enormous influence of the Church could be used forcefully to condemn sexual assaults, genital cutting, child marriage, inadequate pay for women, honor killings, and deprivation of equal rights for women in economic and political affairs.” Carter reports that Pope Francis responded to his letter, insisting on “the need to create still broader opportunities for a more incisive female presence in the Church.” The pope added that the issue of respect for women’s legitimate rights and dignity “presents the Church with profound and challenging questions which cannot be evaded.” During our interview, the former president adds, “I just hope that all of us work together— Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, no matter what our faith may be—in assuring that there’s no mistreatment or derogation of women in their daily lives.”
Peace, Health, Hope The Carter Center Thirty-three years ago, not long after the end of his presidency, Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, founded the Carter Center to advance peace and health worldwide. A nongovernmental organization, the center can boast success stories in more than 80 countries. They are active in observing elections, furthering peace, assisting farmers, strengthening standards for human rights, and improving care of both physical and mental health by strengthening delivery systems, training, and prevention. The Carter Center has led a coalition reducing the incidence of Guinea worm disease from an estimated 3.5 million cases in 1986 to fewer than 148 today, making it likely to be the first human disease since smallpox to be eradicated. Carter’s latest book, on the themes of this interview, was inspired by a conference held at the center. Learn more at cartercenter.org.
ican universities. Carter says that college administrators don’t want the public to perceive campuses as places for sexual assaults. Thus, he says, “Only about one out of 25 sexual assaults on college campuses are ever reported to the authorities, because the adminClick here for more on istrators discourage this.” President Jimmy Carter Concerning the violence of and issues facing women imprisonment, Carter ticks off worldwide. the statistics from memory. “The United States has had a seven-and-a-half-fold increase in the jail population since I was governor of Georgia, and a five-fold increase since I left the White House. The number of incarcerated black women in jail has increased by 800 perApril 2015 ❘
tal Digi as Extr
31
“A woman who does exactly the same level of work with the same level of authority and education is paid 23 percent less than a man.”
DAVID WALTERS PHOTOGRAPHY/ISTOCKPHOTO
—President Jimmy Carter
Click the button above to hear about another organization that helps women.
cent. This is worse than any other country on earth in the percentage of citizens kept in jail.” Lastly, he bemoans the death penalty. “We are the only country in NATO or in this hemisphere that has the death penalty, which I point out as lowering the barrier of abuse against people who are quite often defenseless.” In his book, Carter expands on this perspective, writing, “It is logical that any increase in societal violence will increase the incidence of violence against women. When the state acts in a brutal and lethal manner, this conveys to the community that violence is acceptable.”
Power that Disempowers Women The link between violence and power is evident in the litany of power’s misuse in the offenses Carter names: abuse, honor killings, prostitution, sex trafficking, and rape. What is the worst abuse of power in the United States? The son of activist Lillian Carter cites discriminatory wages and advancement opportunities for women. 32 ❘
April 2015
Carter says, “Just looking at the workplace, a woman who does exactly the same level of work with the same level of authority and education is paid 23 percent less than a man. Men employers, no matter how enlightened they may be on other issues, take advantage of the fact that they can pay women almost 25 percent less than men and get away with it. In the Fortune 500, only 21 have a woman chief executive officer. And those chief executive officers get 42 percent less pay than Fortune 500 CEOs who are men.” Carter continues with quiet passion: “On college campuses, although women there comprise 57 percent of all undergraduates, graduates, and higher levels of education, they only occupy about 25 percent of tenured professorships. Those figures are not really changing. In fact, the 23 percent pay discrepancy was exactly the same in 2000 as it is now, almost 15 years later.” In his book, aptly titled A Call to Action, he has more to say, pointing out the nations where women have been presidents and prime ministers, countries as diverse as Great Britain and India. Around the world, there are only 14 women heads of state, with Angela Merkel of Germany being the most prominent. In the US Congress, women hold only 19 percent of the seats, rendering the nation 78th in women’s participation at this level of government. Toward the end of Carter’s treatment of power as abuse against women, he focuses on discrimination in health care. Although women in the United States fare better than in some other nations, the maternal mortality rate is 21 per 100,000 births, which places our nation “at the bottom among industrialized nations, despite spending more per average patient than any other,” he writes.
How Should People of Faith Respond? Jimmy Carter begins the final chapter of his book by quoting Ritu Sharma, cofounder of Women Thrive Worldwide. She says, “There is no religion that despises women. Hatred cannot come from the heart of God. . . . It is our minds and hearts that must change to release women, girls, men, and boys from the bondage of gender-based limitations or violence.” Carter is a member of the World Council of Elders, founded by Nelson Mandela. This council, which includes three Catholic elders, including Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, devotes significant efforts to fighting St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
Has the Call to Action Been Heard? Violence
CNS PHOTO/PIAL ADHIKARY, EPA; POPE PHOTO: CNS/PAUL HARING
The message for the 2015 World Day of Peace was “Slaves no more, but brothers and sisters.” It named human trafficking, trade in migrants and prostitutes, exploitation, slave labor, and the enslavement of women and children. This message was sent to all the world’s foreign ministers, setting out the Vatican’s focus of diplomacy for 2015.
investigation for discriminating against female students who file claims. A list disclosed in October 2014 included the Catholic University of America and Regis University among these probes. In May 2014, Congress passed HR 49801, intended to prevent and address sex trafficking of children in foster care, to extend and improve adoption incentives, and to improve international child support recovery.
Power A 2014 report from the Inter-Parliamentary Union published statistics on women in legislatures. A sampling follows: Sweden, 45 percent; Germany, 37 percent; France, 26 percent; United States, 18 percent; Japan, 8 percent. In some contrast, Forbes magazine reported the 20 most powerful women in politics in 2014. Of the 20, eight were active in US politics and/or government leadership.
Religion Echoing Pope Francis’ 2015 World Peace Day message, sex workers and their children marched in Kolkata, India, to put a stop to the trafficking of young girls. On December 2, 2014, at the Vatican, leaders representing Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Orthodox, Muslim, and Anglican faiths signed a joint declaration of the Global Freedom Network. Its vision and purpose are to eradicate slavery and human trafficking by 2020. Title IX, enforced by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), prohibits sex discrimination at colleges and institutions receiving federal funding. In April 2014, OCR issued additional guidance on sexual violence. In that document, inaction is considered a “hostile environment.” Nationally, more than 50 colleges are under
discrimination and abuse of women and girls. The Carter Center (see sidebar) has an initiative—Mobilizing Faith for Women—which has 23 ambitious goals, including helping “scholars working to clarify religious beliefs on protecting women’s rights,” and reminding “religious leaders of the abuses and what they can do to alleviate them.” “I am not a theologian,” Jimmy Carter says, but he observes that Jesus Christ exalted women. While he may be 90 years old, he is Fr anciscanMedia.org
In January 2015, Pope Francis, during a visit to the Philippines, said, “Women have much to tell us in today’s society. Sometimes we’re too macho, and we don’t leave enough room for women. Women are able to see things with different eyes than us. Women are able to ask questions that men can’t understand.” Last year, Pope Francis named four women to a sex-abuse advisory panel. He included women in the Holy Thursday tradition of foot washing during the liturgy. Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras said he himself is backing more Vatican posts for women. He is in a position to make it happen since he heads a task force of nine cardinals charged with curial reform.
a vibrant, dedicated world spokesperson encouraging respect and equal treatment for women the world over. He builds on the foundation of the Gospels. Can any believer do less? A Carol Ann Morrow was on the staff of St. Anthony Messenger for 25 years. She now edits the magazine’s “Book Corner” column. Her mother and Jimmy Carter’s family all hail from Georgia, whose majestic pines and red soil enriched the landscape of her childhood. April 2015 ❘
33
Embracing
Good Friday Every year there’s a new surprise. BY BRIAN DOYLE
E
VERY YEAR on Good Friday—which seems terribly named to me and ought to be called Bleak Friday, or Haunting Friday, or Be Silent & Remember Friday—I sit in the balcony of the campus chapel, behind a whopping oaken pillar, and I weep copiously at the sheer human pain and grace of the whole thing. From the first moment, when the priest walks up the aisle and for once does not wander around behind the altar, but startlingly prostrates himself with his face hidden, his robe spread over him like the plumage of an enormous broken bird; to Christ murmuring, “I thirst!” and Peter ashamed by the fire, and poor Malchus bending down to pick up his ear; to the freighted moment when everyone kneels silently with the image of that actual broken, brave, exhausted young man dying seconds ago on a dark afternoon, the ceremony is the most emotionally naked and honest day of the Christian year. It is the day we stare suffering in the face, the day we stare at the young man as he tumultuously was, not the remote legendary hero we so often reduce him to; and I am annually moved to tears by this communal honesty, by our crowded silence, by the creak and thud of our knees on the shining wooden floor of the chapel, by the shiver and ring of voices in the dark corners, as they tell the story again, for the millionth time in the long history of the churches that grew from that awful, obscure, epic moment.
34 ❘
April 2015
And every year now, I know that there will be a line, a glance that catches me by surprise and hits me amidships. Last year there were two. First, old prickly, thorny, testy, brilliant Isaiah: “. . . so marred was his look beyond that of man, and his appearance beyond that of mortals. . . . There was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him. He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem. . . . Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth. . . . A grave was assigned him among St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
CNS PHOTO/CHICO SANCHEZ
the wicked . . . though he had done no wrong nor spoken any falsehood” (Is 52:14—53:9). I sat there, behind the huge oaken pillar, gaping just like the gaping kings in this tale from thousands of years ago because maybe, for the first time, I really heard what was being said. I heard it deep and true and piercing: He was us! He is us! Ugly and bruised and ignored, nothing in our appearance to occasion desire; familiar with pain, and held in low esteem; battered and tattered, and yet we do not complain, but rather forge ahead one step at a time. . . . That’s us! That’s the vast oceanic majority of us, who are neither twisted murderers nor perfect agents of love, but muddled mixes of greed and glory, sin and courage, Fr anciscanMedia.org
reverence and ruin, laziness and light! How apt and right and perfect that the creator, poured into the skin of a young, brown man during the reign of Gaius Octavius, would be neither handsome nor rich, charming nor muscular, famous nor wealthy; a regular Joe, a man you would never pick out of a crowd, although you might well finger him in a police lineup. Adamant, inarguable, astonishing genius: us! As ragged and decent and testy and frightened and weary and thirsty and haunted and brave as any one of us is, or can be, daily. Not a superstar, not a hero, not a glorious shining being, but a thin, confusing, irascible young man, beaten by the cops and hung out to die. April 2015 ❘
35
ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN McCOY
tal Digi as Extr
36 â?˜
I sat there for long moments, as the Passion ended and the Veneration began, and I was moved, and I was grateful for the vision, and I expected none else, for one epiphany a day is a lot of epiphany. But then vision came to me, and I was grateful for it, for it set my heart to sing, and Click here for more on Good perhaps it will set yours ringing Friday. Click the button also. below to hear an interview A girl, maybe age seven; tall about the Paschal Mystery. for her age, with plaited pigtails and a blue checkered dress; walked toward the cross with her mother behind her, carrying the baby. I watched them approach, wondering idly if the girl was just along with her mother out of curiosity, or if she would nod at the cross, or even perhaps bend and touch it, like everyone else; but then when her turn came she suddenly stepped forward eagerly, knelt, and wrapped her arms around the cross, and hugged it tight, as tight as she would her April 2015
mother or father or brother, as tight as she would someone she loved and trusted with all her perfect unbroken heart, and I could see even from the balcony that her eyes were closed and her face was lit with a smile you could see from Saturn. Maybe she knelt there transfixed and transported for six seconds, or eight, or 10, before she disentangled herself, jumped up, stepped aside, and waited for her mother, who held the baby with her left arm and touched the cross with her right. To me it seemed an hour, a year, that this sweet, holy, brilliant girl held that poor, bruised young man in her arms, and gave him her love, and sent me smiling back out into the light, my face shining and my heart singing; and now perhaps yours, too. And so, Amen! A Brian Doyle is the editor of Portland Magazine at the University of Portland, Oregon. His most recent book is Grace Notes, a collection of spiritual essays, published by ACTA Publications. St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
POETRY
The Tree
Rain in the Forest
An onlooker of eras and humanity, its limbs split off for sinners’ sins— nailing place of salvation at Skull Place— the tree affirms workings of the Creator, affirmation of miracles on the third day.
From aching toil in town I fled— Deep into woods where the rain Crashed through the hickory grove And fell on gleaming ferns and underbrush.
—Robert Louis Covington
Hermit in Spring As we meet in a narrow path, you bear gifts of the season, a budding twig, Queen Anne’s lace, sprig of lilac, your greeting brief, cautious, only a momentary nod, hesitate, linger a moment; disappear into the dark woods.
I inhaled the wet scent of drenched slabs of stone And of the soaked forest floor And pine needles on the ridge. Dry under protective branches, I listened to the rain Roaring through the trees And watched it soak into mossy banks. I saw through black timbers, How it fell in sheets through the clearing Against waving ghosts of green. A lash of thunder cracked through the rain, And the rain roared down at a fiercer pace, Sending misty shivers up my spine. I became one with the dripping leaves And the cleansing, healing rain— And the Mystery from which they came, Forgetting for a moment that Adam had fallen And I could not stay here forever.
—Jack Wintz, OFM
—William Beyer
In All the Green Spaces Hidden Graces Challenges, trials . . . Thorns in this life—all flowers For Eternity!
—Jeanette Martino Land
In all the green spaces you are there. I am always in the midst of what you created: roots, bark, and leaf, the harvest of words from the fallow of syllables. You tilled the same prayers, sang the same Psalms In Nazareth and Capernaum as we do in Chicago and New York. But you reaped the thorns in our cries when mold threatened to wither Eden’s crop.
—Philip C. Kolin
Fr ancisca n Media .org
A p r il 2 0 15 ❘ 3 7
PHOTO BY MICHAEL ALEXANDER
All in the
38 ❘
April 2015
St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
Family This father and son each felt called to ordination, yet they responded through different vocations. B Y K AT H Y K U C Z K A
W The first time that Deacon Dennis Dorner and his son, Father Dennis Dorner, served together was in 2013 at Father Dorner’s first Mass.
Fr anciscanMedia.org
hen Dennis Dorner Jr. attended his dad’s ordination to the permanent diaconate in 2004, he had no idea that he would stand in the same spot nine years later. The younger Dennis’ ordination to the transitional diaconate was a high point his father, also named Dennis, will never forget. “It was a really emotional day for me and I kept it together until I vested him . . . that’s when I lost it finally. I went back on the altar to sit down next to Bishop Luis [Zarama] and I said, ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve had to get that kid dressed.’” Dennis Jr. was ordained to the priesthood in June 2013, and is now a parochial vicar at Transfiguration Catholic Church in Marietta, Georgia. He says he first thought about becoming a priest at age 17. “I remember thinking, No way, that’s not going to happen.” So he ventured into banking, but something was missing. His father, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and director of the Office of the Permanent Diaconate, recalls a breakfast one Sunday morning after Mass, when his son spoke about how restless he was. But when the elder Dorner asked him about the possibility of pursuing priesthood, the conversation stopped. April 2015 ❘
39
PHOTOS BY MICHAEL ALEXANDER
Deacon Dorner processes in, followed by his son the priest, for the end of the school year Mass for St. Thomas More School. The children at this school see an unusual statement of family witness.
“He said, ‘Don’t even go there with me,’ and so I didn’t,” says Dennis Sr. “I let it go. I dropped it and, the funny thing is, he called me later that afternoon and said, ‘I do need to talk with somebody.’ And so that’s what started the ball rolling.”
From Son to Father As both father and son affirm, the road to the priesthood was anything but peaceful. “I hated seminary,” says Father Dennis. “Anyone who likes seminary, there’s something wrong with them because you’re being broken and reformed. You’re being reimaged in the person of Jesus Christ. That’s not a comfortable process.” Deacon Dennis remembers those years. “When he says the seven years of formation were wicked, holy moly. It was brutal. . . . It was a roller-coaster ride of emotional challenges.” Father Dennis made it through those turbulent years with the help of constant reassurance from his parents. “One of the things that Susan and I made abundantly clear to Dennis from the very beginning was that there is no pressure from us on this,” says Deacon Dennis. “‘We support you completely because we love you completely, and if this doesn’t work, we’re not judging you.’ He needed to know that. I had to tell him that several times during his formation, reassuring him that ‘You know you’re not doing this for us, you’re doing this for you.’” Having a father with an insider’s view of the Church also helped Father Dennis navigate the seminary. “It formed me in a different
40 ❘
April 2015
way,” says Father Dennis. “I got exposure to the diocese in a different way than a lot of my peers did.” “I made a pact with myself and Dennis early on,” says Deacon Dennis, “that if he came and asked me anything during formation I would be honest with him—but I didn’t intentionally volunteer anything to him. Seminarians hear everything that’s going on in the archdiocese. I don’t know how but they do, and a lot of times they don’t know the why. So, if Dennis came and asked, to the best of my ability without breaking confidence, I would be honest with him.” Because of that honesty, both believe Father Dennis entered the priesthood with eyes wide open. “It makes you really rely more on God than on people,” says Father Dennis. “It strengthened my faith in such a way, and it made me very aware that I truly did desire this and I love being a priest.” Like his son, Deacon Dennis had a mixed reaction to the thought of a religious vocation—resistance at first, and then acceptance. “In my mid-40s, something happened that really made me realize, ‘Oh, he’s not done with you yet.’ Somebody approached me and said, ‘When are you going to stop running away from a vocation to the diaconate, because I know you have one.’ It was somebody I didn’t even know. They said they had been praying about me and thinking about me and wanted to say that to me, to which I told them to get the hell away from me because it terrified me. But that’s what it took.” It may seem as though Father Dennis was inspired to become a priest by his father’s vocation. The Dorners say that wasn’t the case. “We need to dispel that myth,” says Deacon Dennis. At the same time, he says, “I’d like to believe that growing up in our house there was something: the seeds were planted.”
Faith and Family Father Dennis is the second of four children. He has an older sister, Jennifer, and two younger siblings, Stephen and Catherine. Growing up in the Dorner household meant being formed in the Catholic faith early on. “We always went to Mass,” says Father Dennis. “Faith was something that was always important in our home in one way or another. We would pray together as a family at night before we went to bed. There are lots of things we St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
Since Father Dorner’s ordination, he and his father have served at the altar six times in the celebration of Mass.
Rediscover Your Strength If you’re facing difficult times, no matter your faith tradition, Dr. Robert Wicks is here to help you regain your balance by discovering resources you may have taken for granted. Through thirty daily reflections, you can gradually find your way back to a place of serenity and renewed energy. Wicks draws on the wisdom and insight of great teachers and healers throughout the ages to show how a renewed spiritual life can bring you to a place of psychological strength.
R
“Spiritual Resilience is a rich, finely balanced integration of the best of Western spirituality, contemporary psychology, and sound theology. You’ll find here true refreshment for your soul.�
R
—REV. DONALD COZZENS, author of Master of Ceremonies
*UFN # r *4#/ r
800.488.0488 | Catalog.FranciscanMedia.org
Fr anciscanMedia.org
April 2015 â?˜
41
PHOTOS BY MICHAEL ALEXANDER
Father Dorner talks with (l-r) Gus Garay, Alex Brown, and Elaine Phillips, parishioners of St. Thomas More Church in Decatur, Georgia, Father Dorner’s previous parish.
tal Digi as Extr
42 ❘
did to firmly root us in having a spiritual life at home. I love my family. My family grounds me in such a way that’s really important.” Deacon Dennis says fostering faith at home began with the promises made at his children’s Baptisms. “Well, if we would accept the responsibility we talk about at Baptism with our kids, we’d realize that one of our principal roles is to help them get to heaven. You do the best that you possibly can for as long as you have any degree of control over them, and at some point, you pray them the rest of the way.” Like most families, the Dorner siblings are at different stages in their faith journeys. “I hear from my sisters because the girls are both searching, and they use me as a source,” says Father Dennis. “I give Jennifer books. Catherine is not to the point that ‘I want to research’ yet, but she’s asking Click here for more on questions and it’s focusing on vocations. Click the button prayer and it’s ‘How do I pray? above to hear another How do I talk to God?’” priest’s unique story. Father Dennis describes his younger brother, Stephen, who’s in medical school, as an empiricist with a scientist’s need to quantify everything, including his older brother. That, says Father Dennis, makes their relationship like “two sides of the same coin,” with many differences and similarities. That Father Dennis’ priestly vocation has
April 2015
stimulated the family’s fabric of faith is obvious: “It’s great having a priest that you know,” says Deacon Dennis. “Now that I have a son that’s first of all so well-formed, secondly so well-educated, I can come to him and we can talk about some really meaty stuff, which I’m excited about.” The other person who has sparked the fires of faith in the Dorner clan is Pope Francis. Siblings Stephen and Catherine were inspired by the interview with Pope Francis that America magazine published. “They both read the whole thing,” says Deacon Dennis. “Catherine contacted me and she said, ‘Daddy, I really think I can be friends with this guy. How cool is that?’”
Pastors First When asked who inspires them, the Dorners say Trappist monk and author Thomas Merton, and Atlanta’s first archbishop, Paul Hallinan. “Hallinan is amazing,” says Father Dennis. “His writing is what sets you on fire . . . the prophetic voice embodied in such a way is so admirable and so eloquent. He’s kind of a Catholic ‘ad man’ and really could turn a phrase and market and package the faith in such a way that is very attractive.” On Father Dennis’ coffee table lies Days of Hope and Promise: The Writings and Speeches of Paul J. Hallinan, a book Father Dennis and his St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
father have shared numerous times with other clergy in the archdiocese. “He is so spot-on,” says Deacon Dennis. “This man is talking to this time, even though he died in the ’60s.” Merton and Hallinan lived around the same time, and died the same year. Both were proponents of ecumenism and champions of social justice. As his episcopal motto, Hallinan selected the phrase Ut Diligatis Invicem, which means “That you love one another.” In his book No Man Is an Island, Merton coined the phrase, “We do not exist for ourselves.” Both men were erudite and scholarly when it came to the Catholic faith, but their primary emphasis was on the people of God, a notion that resonates with the Dorners. “The pastoral will always trump everything else,” says Father Dennis. “You always take care of people; that’s key.” Deacon Dennis concurs, remembering advice given to him by his former pastor, Msgr. Paul Reynolds. “Msgr. Reynolds said over and over again, ‘Dennis, no matter where we are in our own faith journey, we have got to meet people where they are and then love them.’” The Dorners find common ground in their vocations. “I’m still a deacon,” says Father Dennis. “You know every priest is still a deacon.
I think it’s really important for us to remember that as priests, that role of service. That is absolutely crucial to our ministry.” Service is at the heart of both Dorners’ ministries. Their vocations enable the broader Catholic community in Atlanta to share the wealth of that service for years to come. A
Deacon Dennis Dorner facilitates a gathering of the Eucharistic Congress Steering Committee, in preparation for the annual Eucharistic Congress in the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
Kathy Kuczka is a freelance writer from Roswell, Georgia. She has an MA in liturgical studies from Catholic University of America and is liturgy director at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish.
KIDS LOVEE LEAARRNIINGG ABBOUTT POPPE FRRAANNCCISS ANNDD REAALL HERROESS!! FRANCIS,The Pope o for Kids K Follow Pope Francis on his h journey to Rome and bey yond in this colorful picture bo ook. o Perfect for kids in PreK to 2nd grade. Franc a is Thhe Poope for o Kids John and Marieta Monette 48-page Softcover book 825811 • $9.99
A
Saints and Me! Seriess The stories of saints come alive in these beautifully illustrated early reader books. Ages 4 to 9. Fea e turres e saints likke Nicholas of Myrra, a Kateeri Teekkak a witha, and Joan of Arc. . Activitty books also avvailable a Barbara Yoffie, Illustrated by Jeff Albrecht 32-page Sofftcover books $4.99 each
F UN FU N G IF FT T F OR R YO O UR R FA AV VO ORITE KIDS OR Order at Liguori.o org or call 800-325-9521
Fr anciscanMedia.org
April 2015 ❘
43
Triumph She made her fair share of mistakes, but her baby was not one of them. FICTION BY ANN TURNER
R
“
ILLUSTRATION BY SULING WANG
ACHAEL,” she murmured. She tried it again, drawing it out in two long syllables. It was good, but not strong enough. “Theresa?” Too flat. How about one of those fancy new names, like Dakota or Madison? She let her hands slide off her belly. None of the names were quite right, and besides she didn’t know if it was a girl growing inside or not. She needed a name that would protect this child, conceived at the end of a relationship with a man who didn’t turn out to be who she expected or needed. Frank kept his thoughts in little plastic boxes and his emotions bundled into twists like washcloths left on the edge of the sink. What she once thought masculine and wild—his skinny jeans, his five o’clock shadow, his love of country music—now failed to measure up. It was all show, all on the surface with nothing deeper inside, just like the light beer he drank. “There was nothing inside, Denise, nothing at all!” Corinne looked across the room at the elderly woman with dementia whom she cared for. “See,” she whispered to Denise. It was almost like being in a confessional, telling her secrets to the slumbering woman with the kind face. “You can’t make love to someone you don’t know well. You think it’s just your body, but it’s more.” Her mother, who insisted on correct grammar and punctuation, would have reproved her, saying, “Whom you don’t know well, Corinne.” She was fine with the rules of grammar, but A p r i l 2 0 15 ❘ 4 5
not behavior—never telling her daughter that when you made love to someone, your soul was penetrated as well. Once she realized this, Corinne kicked Frank out of her apartment and threw away the crushed cans of beer. She deserved better—someone who at least appreciated craft beers.
C
orinne rested her hands lightly on her belly again. Not much to show yet. She opened the pregnancy book to peer at the photos of what her baby would look like. It would never be “their” baby, only “her baby.” At 11 weeks, it was beginning to look like a little person, with a nose, feet, and hands that moved, and no longer like a creature with gills. Why did you make us with gills, God? she asked silently. She talked to God even though she wasn’t quite sure she believed in God, except to blame him for her own failures and the enduring malice of her family. Now it was quiet in Denise’s apart-
ment. The sun shone gently on the polished floors, nudging the edge of Hercules, the black cat who slept curled up on the old woman’s swollen feet. The spring wind blew the white curtains in and, for a moment, Corinne pretended that this was her home, that Denise was her mother, and that she was overjoyed at the prospect of her daughter having a baby. “A grandbaby!” She imagined Denise lifting her wrinkled hands and smiling. “A grandbaby to hold and bathe and wrap in sweet-smelling blankets. We can take her out in a stroller down the street. It’s a good street here,” Denise would say, nodding at the road outside. “Not too much traffic and not too many dogs. I won’t like it if dogs come out and bark at our baby.” Our baby. “Me neither,” Corinne would say, smiling. Denise would be protective, of course; anyone who had borne and raised eight children would know how to protect them and make sure they grew up right. “I’ll start knitting a cap for her right
So that his work might continue... Please remember FRANCISCAN MEDIA in your estate plans Our legal title is: Franciscan Media LLC 28 W. Liberty Street ■ Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498 For more information, call: 1-800-488-0488
Your Digital Edition • Free to print subscribers • Does not change your print subscription • Many digital extras • Register at StAnthony Messenger.org
4 6 ❘ Apr il 2015
Consider a Gift Subscription
now,” Corinne imagined the old woman saying. “Purple, you think, or pink?” “No, not pink. And how do you know this is going to be a girl?” “I can tell from the way you’re carrying.” She would eye Corinne’s middle, which was now, in her fantasy, beginning to bulge alarmingly over the pregnancy jeans, the cheap ones she bought at Walmart. She had forgotten to make Denise wealthy, able to buy her fabulous pregnancy clothes from some designer outlet or at least from Amazon—with embroidered flowers around the bottom edges of the jeans. “But how can you tell?” Corinne asked in her mind. “Trust me.” Denise would nod wisely. “After eight babies, you can tell. Boy babies lie lower in the womb; girl babies higher.” “Why is that?” The pictures in her mind took on greater depth, color, and even smell. Corinne saw Denise lifting her hands and gesturing at the crucifix on the wall. “Ask him—he designed us. Ask his mother—she bore him.” As a rational explanation, it utterly failed; but as an answer that soothed the heart, it worked. She could feel peace spreading throughout her body, dropping on the head of this unborn babe with the unsatisfactory father.
D
enise didn’t like Frank, though she’d met him only once. He came by to pick up Corinne when her car was in the shop and didn’t even come into the room to greet Denise, slouching in the doorway as if he were doing the old woman a favor by just being there. After he left, Denise said, “What’s wrong with a razor, honey? My Johnny always shaved close to his skin—like a baby’s skin it was, so soft and pink.” Her hand gestured, and then she seemed to forget what she was talking about. But a moment later, she lifted her head and said, “And I didn’t like those tight jeans. He smelled of beer, too.” Corinne was surprised at how much Denise had noticed that one time. Though some connections were failing St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
and plaque was building up in her mind, she saw some things with laserlike clarity. “Frank—the guy you didn’t like—is the father of this baby, Denise,” Corinne whispered now into the shaft of sunlight that fell on the sleeping woman. Denise shifted in her seat, curling fretful fingers on the edge of the afghan. She inched along one side of the spread, turned the corner carefully, then traveled down the other edge, turned again, and finally made it back to the beginning. “Frank?” she said clearly, opening her eyes. “Who’s Frank?” “The father of my baby,” Corinne repeated softly. “You having a baby, honey?” Denise leaned forward, face shining. “A real, honest-to-goodness baby? How did this happen? You aren’t engaged, are you?” Denise had traveled far enough into the 21st century to know that some people didn’t wait until their wedding to consummate. But as long as they were engaged, this made it almost all right. “No.” Corinne looked down at her hands. “No, not engaged. I thought at one time, maybe . . . ,” her voice trailed off. “But he’s special?” Denise said, forgetting that she didn’t approve of Frank. “I thought he was, but he turned out not to be. He wasn’t good enough.” “Ah, that happens,” she said, sighing—though Corinne didn’t know if it was a sigh of wisdom or fatigue, as Denise’s head nodded forward again and her lips parted in sleep.
C
orinne got out of her chair, went to Denise’s side, and spread the afghan so that the breeze would not chill her. She went into the kitchen and began to get lunch ready: beef stew from Meals on Wheels, a round of bread that was so soft it was losing its shape, tea in a covered cup, white applesauce in a plastic container, and coleslaw in a tiny fluted paper cup. “Don’t get ’em mixed up!” Denise
Fr ancisca n Media .org
called out. The thin white curls around her forehead made her look like an aged cupid. “Last time, the applesauce got mixed up with the coleslaw . . . awful,” she chuckled. “I won’t mix them up,” Corinne called back, poking her head around the door. Denise’s eyes had closed again, hands splayed against the bright knitted shapes. One finger was stuck through a purple square, and Corinne remembered that the old woman often did that. She arranged the meal on a tray, car-
ried it into the living room, and set it on a table near Denise so she could swing it over her lap and eat in whatever order she pleased. Denise’s eyes flew open and she stared at Corinne as if she did not know her. Her finger tapped the purple square. “This,” she paused and cleared her throat. “This was the time Johnny and I went to Atlantic City.” Corinne nodded. “That’s nice,” refraining from adding dear the way that many people speak to the
Pilgrimage to North American Shrines Celebrate Saint Faustina’s Feast Day at the Divine Mercy Shrine Stockbridge, MA including a Conference (Oct 5th) Speakers: Father Chris Alar MIC (Father Joseph) Bob and Maureen Digan and Father Seraphim Michalenko
Shrine of the North American Martyrs St. Joseph Oratory, Montreal and St. Anne de Beaupre October 4 to October 10, 2015
View the spectacular New England foliage On the last day we will stay at Niagara Falls. In the evening we will have dinner on the famous revolving dining room at the Skylon Tower and watch the fireworks over the falls. Price including airfare $1,800
■ Price for land only $1,200
Spiritual Director: Father Neal Clemens, Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Oakland, CA Price includes: round trip airfare from all the major US cities, transportation, tours, hotels and two meals a day Deadline for deposit: $200 is due by May 6, 2015 Make check payable to: Poland-Medjugorje Pilgrimage Mail to: Poland-Medjugorje Pilgrimage P.O. Box 281059, East Hartford, CT 06128 Balance due: by June 6, 2015 For other pilgrimages to Europe in 2015 Visit our website at www.polandmej.com or contact Scott Scaria at 860-289-2606
A p r i l 2 0 15 ❘ 4 7
elderly—as if they secretly were children with wrinkles. “And this,” the old woman said, touching a soft yellow square, “was the time we went to Montreal. St. André Bessette, you know. He cured a lot of people.” “I don’t actually know him.” Although she thought that visiting a saint might be a good thing for her right about now. This baby needed protection. But Denise’s eyelids had slipped lower again and her mouth sagged, a slight snore coming out. Corinne sat down and waited patiently for Denise to wake up again, long enough for her to spoon some food into her mouth. Placing one hand on her own belly, she opened the pregnancy book. Almost past the nausea stage, she thought happily.
W
hen she first found out she was pregnant, Corinne had been horrified and delighted, all at once. She knew Frank would be no help at all, and she wondered if she should terminate the pregnancy. That lasted about five minutes until she threw up in her bathroom, kneeling on the tiled floor with peeling grout. The thought of anyone taking this baby from her by force was unbearable—even such a tiny creature. So much had been taken from her before that she was determined to keep this little almost-person. Denise’s eyes opened and she gave an embarrassed laugh. “There I go, sleeping again! Ready for food now!” Corinne took a seat in front of the
ANSWERS TO PETE AND REPEAT 1. It has started to rain. 2. A bunny is peeking out from behind the tree. 3. There is a leaf on the tree. 4. A stripe on the umbrella is darker. 5. A cloud has appeared on the horizon. 6. Pete is wearing a watch. 7. Sis’ jacket is no longer zipped up. 8. The handle of the umbrella is now pink.
4 8 ❘ Apr il 2015
old woman, swung the cooling lunch over her lap, and took off the top of the beef stew. A wisp of steam curled up. Not so cold after all, thank God. It was the small things that mattered: hot stew, a cup of tea, an afghan knitted by your daughter, and someone to talk to. And don’t forget the cat that slept on your feet. Denise’s lips opened to receive the stew. She swallowed with difficulty, coughed, and opened her mouth again. “More.” She got through the stew, had a few spoonfuls of coleslaw— “Sour!” Denise pronounced—a teaspoon of applesauce, and the cooling tea. “Delicious.” Denise put her head back on the chair, pushing the tray away. “When’s the baby due, honey?” “About seven months from now. November, I think.” Denise fingered the afghan. “That’s a good month for a baby.” She looked puzzled, as if all she had known and stored in her brain about babies had suddenly fallen away. “I think I had a baby in November once.” She peered at Corinne. “I did have babies, didn’t I? And who are you anyway?” “Corinne,” she answered loudly and clearly. “Why are you here? What do you have to do with me? Where’s Theresa?” Her face looked fretful. “I help take care of you, Denise.” “Why do I need taking care of?” Her eyes had a sudden blankness to them. Corinne hoped she would not get fidgety and anxious. The doctor had given her pills in case this happened. Denise did not like it because “it makes my head feel like wet Kleenex.” Corinne nudged the cat with her toe, and Hercules took a graceful leap onto Denise’s lap, circled once, and lay down. “There, honey, there.” The old woman laid a frail hand on the cat’s head, scratching behind his ears. “That’s what he likes, whoever you are.” “Corinne,” she repeated. “I’m going to have a baby, remember?” Denise stared at her for a long moment, and then—as if the shades
behind her eyes lifted—Corinne saw who she had been all of her life: the mother of eight, the woman who baked pies for the church fair, the wife of Johnny, the woman who made fudge cookies for the kids on the block, the woman who cared for others and, in so doing, cared for herself. “That’s right, honey.” She reached out and patted Corinne’s hand. “We’re going to have this baby together. You and me. All will be well. Trust me.” She leaned forward. “It is a triumph that you are pregnant, honey. Lots of women can’t have babies, no matter how much they want them. And I can see you want this baby something fierce.”
S
omething fierce. With a jolt of surprise, Corinne realized that the old woman was right. She wanted this baby more than anything she had ever wanted in her life—even the ballerina doll when she was 10 with the feet and hands that moved. Even more than the boyfriend in college who was a football player, popular, and brutally good-looking. She laid her hands on her belly, smoothing them up and down, imagining the small creature inside feeling the warmth from her hands, sensing how much she was loved. “Triumph,” she whispered. “You will be Triumph.” It was a good, strong name, and nobody in first grade would have a name like that. They would be called Madison and Riley and Jacob, but her baby would be unique. It would make up for having a father with unshaven cheeks, bad choices in beer, and an inability to share his emotions. It would make up for having a mother who had never finished college and found retail sales and cash exchanges bewildering and humiliating. And somehow she knew that this child would grow into her name just as she would grow into her own skin, year by miraculous year. Triumph. A Ann Turner is an accomplished author of over 50 children’s books from a variety of publishers, and has recently branched out into writing short stories for adults. You can read her blog at itsthe godthing.blogspot.com. St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
LIGHTEN UP
“The fringe will count 50 points and the bald spot 100, OK?”
“I became a priest because I look at it like a tennis game. You can’t play unless you serve.”
Fr ancisca n Media .org
A p r i l 2 0 15 ❘ 4 9
ASK A FRANCISCAN
❘ BY FATHER PAT McCLOSKEY, OFM
What Do I Have to Confess? I’m having a problem with the Sacrament of Reconciliation because I don’t know what to confess. I’m 81 years old, unmarried, and living alone. I attend Mass every Sunday and holy day of obligation and pray before meals. Thank God, you don’t have anything dramatic to confess: murder or bank robbery, for example. Perhaps some sins of omission have fallen off your moral radar. Have you been silent when someone has made a racist remark, a sweeping generalization about another religious group, or people who live in some country that is frequently in the news? You don’t need to pick a fight every time you hear such a remark, but it’s good to remember the legal maxim that silence implies consent. In some situations, a remark is so extreme that it
requires at least a calm statement of another point of view. In the long run, we all become whatever we choose consistently, whatever we are willing to accept as “normal” or “that’s the way the world is.” No one individual can wipe out all prejudice or selfishness, but each of us has a responsibility not to be complicit in its growth. Do you have some talent that your parish needs? Are you perhaps too quick to excuse yourself from something that you could do? Do you ever say to yourself (or others), “That’s a job for a younger person”? No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. Are there situations that you accept as normal that Jesus may want you to challenge? Are you more open to God’s grace and love today than you were 10 years ago? If not, why not? Is Jesus inviting you to some
Two Questions about Mary
CNS PHOTO/NANCY WIECHEC
In Luke 1:47, Mary proclaims that she rejoices in “God my savior.” If she is sinless, why does she need a savior or redemption? Also, isn’t she called a “co-redemptrix” with Jesus in the work of salvation? Mary needed salvation, but she did not have to wait for Jesus’ death and resurrection for this to happen. In the opening prayer for the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Church refers to the “prevenient grace” that Mary experienced. “Prevenient” here means “before Christ’s coming, but not independent of Christ.” Despite petitions from the 1950s to the present, the Catholic Church has not approved the title “co-redemptrix” as applied to Mary. No one can doubt the Marian devotion of St. John Paul II, but he declined to approve that title—probably because it could obscure the unique work of Jesus, our only redeemer.
5 0 ❘ Apr il 2015
service that you are turning down? Are you “there” for friends and family members as much as you could be? Is your world becoming progressively smaller in a way that is not healthy? Are you acting in your full freedom as a daughter of God? Are you allowing your prayer to move you to generous action, especially to encourage others? I ask these questions not to make you feel guilty, but only to point out some things you may have overlooked—to your detriment and that of the larger human family. You know your possibilities much better than I do. God’s grace will always stretch us, but often we are tempted to say, “Enough already,” a little too soon.
Must a Body Be Present? At the age of 93, I am planning my burial instructions and wish to be buried with my husband in a cemetery on the other side of the country. I was told by the funeral home that the Catholic Church prefers that the person’s body be present at the funeral Mass. Is that so? If I am cremated, can that be done after a funeral Mass? Or before, and then the cremains be present for that Mass? I want to do the right thing, and also make it easier on those who survive me. I have been at funerals where the person was cremated before Mass and at other funerals where the person was cremated afterward. I don’t know that either sequence shows a greater respect for God’s gift of life. Considering the distance involved, cremation beforehand may be simpler. A nice photo of the person can St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
be displayed next to the container for the cremains. The Catholic Church once opposed cremation because its most ardent supporters seemed to be people who denied that there is a life after this one. Sometimes they were also atheists. That is not your situation. The US Catholic bishops and the Holy See have approved special prayers for a funeral Mass where cremains are present. The 1997 Appendix 2 for the “Order of Christian Funerals” states: “Although cremation is now permitted by the Church, it does not enjoy the same value as burial of the body. The Church clearly prefers and urges that the body of the deceased be present for the funeral rites, since the presence of the human body better expresses the values which the Church affirms in those rites” (#413). This Appendix goes on to state: “Sometimes, however, it is not possible for the body to be present for the funeral Mass. When extraordinary circumstances make the cremation of a body the only feasible choice, pastoral sensitivity must be exercised by priests, deacons, and others who minister to the family of the deceased” (#415). Since 1997, probably most Catholic cemeteries have added a columbarium with niches where cremains can be interred.
Bible Readings at Mass I am the only Catholic in a Biblestudy group that includes 11 other Christians who know their Bibles well. I have had a good Catholic education (including the college level 70 years ago), but back then the Catholic Church did not put much emphasis on studying the Bible. I have been told that if a Catholic attended Mass every day for three years, he or she would have heard the entire Bible read. Is that true? I don’t want to misinform my Biblestudy friends.
year cycle, each year emphasizing one of the synoptic Gospels; the current liturgical year is using Mark (with some help from John). The Gospels in the Easter season are also from John. The Old Testament reading is coordinated with that day’s Gospel, and the second reading is continuous from the previous Sunday. The readings for weekday Masses use all four Gospels. The first reading is on a two-year cycle, each of which has readings from the Old Testament and the New Testament. Between the readings for the Sunday and weekday cycles, parts of every book of the Bible are read during a three-year period, using 942 New Testament passages and 748 Old Testament ones. When you were a child, much less of the Bible was read at Sunday or weekday Masses. Vatican II’s “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy” directed that the treasury of Scripture be opened up more widely. Sunday and weekday readings can be found at usccb.org. 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.
How to Subscribe to
ST.ANTHONY M essenger
St. Anthony Messenger is only $39.00 for 12 monthly issues. This price includes our digital edition: StAnthonyMessenger.org/DigitalEdition __ YES! Please begin my subscription. Ship to: Name ________________________________________________ Address _______________________________________________ City/State/Zip ___________________________________________ Payment Options (Choose one) ___ Please bill me $39.00 for 12 monthly issues. ___ Enclosed is my check or money order. ___ Charge my: __ Visa __ Mastercard Card #: __________________________ Expiration Date ______ Signature __________________________________________ Phone _____________________________ ________________ Mail to: St. Anthony Messenger, P.O. Box 189, Congers, NY 10920-0189 For fastest service, call toll-free: 866-543-6870, M-F, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern) To order a subscription online: StAnthonyMessenger.org/subscribe
The Sunday readings are on a threeFr ancisca n Media .org
A p r il 2 0 15 ❘ 5 1
BOOK CORNER
What Our
Facebook Fans and
Twitter Followers Recommend
Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics Ross Douthat Treasure in Clay: The Autobiography of Fulton J. Sheen Fulton J. Sheen Joyful Witness: How to Be an Extraordinary Catholic Randy Hain How to Converse with God St. Alphonsus Liguori Joshua in the Holy Land Joseph Girzone
5 2 ❘ Apr il 2015
❘ BY CAROL ANN MORROW
The Story of Christianity A Chronicle of Christian Civilization from Ancient Rome to Today By Jean-Pierre Isbouts National Geographic 355 pages • $40 Hardcover/Nook Reviewed by MELANIE SHEETS, MEd, who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she teaches writing and the humanities at Harrison College. Attempting to document 2,000 years of history on any subject is a daunting task—to do it in fewer than 400 pages including maps, illustrations, and timelines is almost impossible. Jean-Pierre Isbouts’ The Story of Christianity is informative and unbiased as it traces the roots of major religious groups known today as Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and the various denominations that form modern Protestantism. It frames their growth with historic events and movements, including world wars and the quest for civil rights. Also, on the plus side, each chapter showcases artifacts and wonderful images of Christian-themed art, and often includes lesser-known works. Cameos about important events, inventions, institutions, and people appear in insets. A timeline runs throughout each chapter, but it’s often a distraction rather than an addition; it includes events, details, and sometimes even new terms not mentioned in the text, leaving this reviewer challenged to do additional research to fill in the gaps.
The author does a good job in the initial chapters of laying the foundation of Christianity in Judaism. Isbouts also astutely describes the early struggles to organize under the pressure of dissident Christian sects who often disagreed with the concept of “apostolic succession.” The historical development of Islam is included since it is one of the three Abrahamic faiths, having coexisted peacefully with Christianity in Spain for hundreds of years. The epilogue addresses the missionary work performed by many religious organizations and the growth of the evangelical movement. Most important, it explores the contemporary challenges to both Catholic and Protestant religious institutions in the midst of a consumer culture faced with many social issues—some more controversial than others. The role of women as clergy, gay rights, and birth control top the list and are formidable hurdles, especially for the Catholic Church. As a complex historical narrative, two factors contribute to a less than satisfactory attempt by Isbouts: general readability and format. First, the font is so small on the maps and insets that one has to squint or use a magnifying glass to read them. The vocabulary is challenging, and the omission of a glossary and assistance in pronunciation is frustrating, since there are copious references to religious and political groups and terms that need to be explained or reviewed—even by the history buff. As far as format, I found the pages almost too busy, and I was forced to decide whether to read the inset, the timeline, or the photo captions before (or after) reading the text itself. Unfortunately, the “specially commissioned maps” did not contribute to the ordinary reader’s historical understanding of Christianity. It cannot be overemphasized that Christianity has had a critical role in the development of civilization in the last 2,000 years. So, while I do not recommend it to the average reader, this book still has value as a great attempt to weave together the many strands of Christianity’s history into a coherent whole. St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
BOOK BRIEFS
God’s Green—and Sacred—Earth Walking God’s Earth The Environment and Catholic Faith By David Cloutier Liturgical Press 168 pages • $16.95 Paperback/E-book
Napkin Notes Make Lunch Meaningful, Life Will Follow By Garth Callaghan, with Cynthia DiTiberio HarperOne 247 pages • $23.99 Hardcover/E-book
An enriching read leading up to Earth Day, David Cloutier’s book explores the interplay between Catholic tradition and environmental awareness. Cloutier’s call for Catholics to appreciate and take care of God’s creation is both practical and faith-based.
Thomas Berry Reviewed by ALICE CAMILLE, M.Div., author of Seven Last Words, and veteran caregiver of many loved ones afflicted with cancer. Long-term illness doesn’t happen to individuals, but to families. This is certainly true for the 14-and-a-half-million families living with cancer in the United States this year. This is why Callaghan’s autobiographical story of a young father diagnosed with highrisk cancer will help a lot of folks make sense of their reality. Napkin Notes is the sort of book that not only informs, but comforts, cheers, and inspires as well. The premise originated from the handwritten notes Callaghan writes to his daughter Emma to include in her school lunchbox daily. After the diagnosis, these notes become a more poignant medium to communicate all the advice a father might give to his daughter over a lifetime—if only they had a lifetime to share. These are things everyone should say to their kids: “Make your life story worth telling,” and “Build your life team to be better than you alone.” There are also wonderful short items on Emma’s Life List: “#12. Your hairstyle isn’t you”; “#25. Make unlikely friends”; “#30. Don’t eat ice cream unless it’s your favorite flavor”; and “#34. Put your phone down.” Anyone in relationships of love and responsibility will rediscover the power that simple words sincerely offered have on those dearest to us. Callaghan’s heartfelt book just might inspire you to take up a pen and write a note. Fr ancisca n Media .org
Selected Writings on the Earth Community Edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim Orbis Books 224 pages • $22 Paperback “Geologian” Thomas Berry (1914-2009) was a priest, philosopher, and scholar who, ahead of his time, recognized the urgency of environmental care and protection. His writings, selections of which are presented here, tether religious sensibilities to environmentalism with erudition and profound concern for our world.
Stewardship Living a Biblical Call By Bernard F. Evans Liturgical Press 144 pages • $14.95 Paperback/E-book Bernard F. Evans fleshes out the concept of Catholic stewardship as a multifaceted social responsibility. Starting with personal stewardship, Evans expands outward to include the ecology of the entire planet as God’s sacred creation—which we are called to nurture and protect. —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 A p r il 2 0 15 ❘ 5 3
A CATHOLIC MOM SPEAKS
❘ BY SUSAN HINES-BRIGGER
ILLUSTRATION BY MARY KURNICK MAASS
Lessons from the Past
I
n January of this year, the world marked the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland at the end of World War II. On that day, Pope Francis tweeted: “Auschwitz cries out with the pain of immense suffering and pleads for a future of respect, peace, and encounter among peoples.” Watching the documentaries and news reports got me thinking. What would I have done in the face of the
tal Digi as t Ex r
Click here for more on the Holocaust.
5 4 ❘ Apr il 2015
enormity of the situation? Or would I have found a way to just do my little part? What about now? I wonder. There are still plenty of injustices in the world to be faced. So what is both my and my family’s role?
Planting the Seed My family lives a rather normal life in the suburbs. My kids go to school, take part in extracurricular activities, play outside, and have more than enough food and clothing. In short, they have a pretty secure and sedate life. I worry that they fail to realize that there is a much greater world beyond their immediate surroundings. I know that some of this can be attributed to their ages. In fact, as far as my two teenagers are concerned,
I’m pretty sure they don’t realize anything exists outside their lives. Ah, the joys of parenting teens. In their defense, my children are not unique in failing to understand their role in the world. It’s hard to think outside our own little box. As a parent, though, I know that it is my job to help them understand that lack of knowledge is no excuse for complacency. As George Santayana said, “Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it.” I can hear my kids now. “What can we do about the situation in Africa or Iraq, or how could we have stopped the Holocaust?” Well, I’ll tell them, what you can do is stand against injustices in your own lives. See someone being bullied? Speak up. Know someone in need of a St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
PHOTO BY LOGARITMO/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
One of the great examples of thinking of others rather than yourself is St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan priest. Kolbe was arrested in 1941 and sent to Auschwitz. Following the escape of a prisoner, the commandant announced that 10 men would be executed. As the men who were chosen were being led away, Kolbe—Number 16670—stepped forward and asked to take the place of
Francis Gajowniczek, a husband and father. Kolbe was then taken away with the others. All 10 were eventually killed, either through starvation or by lethal injection. Kolbe died of the latter. He was beatified in 1971 and canonized in 1982. St. Maximilian Kolbe was not the only person to offer his life for the sake of others during the Holocaust. Another example is Blessed Odoardo Focherini, a married father of seven. He is credited with building a network to help Jews get to the border with Switzerland. The network helped 100 Jews escape Nazi persecution. Focherini was arrested in March 1944 after he organized the rescue operation of Enrico Donati, a Jewish medical doctor. Focherini took Donati out of the camp under the pretense of an urgent surgery the doctor had to perform. When they arrived at the hospital, however, Focherini was arrested. He died in December 1944 at the Flossenburg camp—of blood poisoning—after a wound in his leg became infected.
“Work brings freedom” claims the entrance to Auschwitz.
friend? Be kind and friendly. Volunteer with an organization whose mission speaks to you. Seek out ways to make a change—even a little one. In 2013, Pope Francis echoed that message when he gave us a simple reminder: “Help one another. This is what Jesus teaches us.”
Look in the Mirror Our kids aren’t the only ones who need to hear this message, though. As adults, we must ask ourselves if we are doing our part to speak up and fight injustices, or work to make a difference. The point is, can we
really talk the talk, if we don’t walk the walk? How do we start? We can do that by using our voices and speaking up about issues for which we are passionate. We can become involved in organizations we believe can make a change, or even by doing something as simple as voting. We may not be able to solve the world’s problems, but in some ways we can get to the root of problems surrounding us in our own neighborhoods, communities, and cities. The challenge is whether we have the courage to do it. I think we do. A
Click the button to the left to listen to Susan’s “Marriage Moments.”
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 48)
Fr ancisca n Media .org
A p r i l 2 0 15 ❘ 5 5
BACKSTORY
Precious Space
A
few letters to the editor caught my attention recently. Both pointed out minor things in this magazine, but they weren’t considered minor to the letter writers. How much of this, and our
response, ought we to share with our readers? I thought. After all, each line of type devoted to one type of content precludes another. Letters compete for that space in “From Our Readers.” We constantly are doing that math here: If we make one story longer, it eats up room for another. If the pic-
PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER HEFFRON
tures run too big, the text is shortened too much; if the text is too long, the magazine loses the opportunity to communicate through images, or, sometimes, spacious, relaxing design. You St. Anthony Messenger subscribers, after all, who share in our Franciscan mission, like your informaPM Page 3
tion and inspiration in all sorts of ways.
FROM O UR REA DER
The letters in question each pointed out oversights in
Celebrat
previous issues. In one case, my editorial in the January issue—itself jammed for space—mentioned, in passing, Communion for divorced as a question the bishops are facing as this fall’s synod on the family approaches. To be more complete, I should have said Communion for
What’s on You r
those divorced and remarried without annulment. It’s
Letters, St. Antho ny Messenger 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498
Fax 513-241-03
ICONS ©
ISTOCKPH
OTO/ ELIELI
year. (Father Pat, in “Ask a Franciscan,” does a much Church practice, by the way!)
Mind?
One Day
a complicated issue, as we will learn in the coming better job with complicated issues of doctrine and
S
ing All
Things Mer I was very ton pleased to was—and see the Janu issue of St. how gene ary Anthony Mess rous you Keep up the cated to the are. enger dedigood work our Lord’s. life ! One day, Merton, upon and work of Thom all genders, as the 100th Gregory Ryan forms of emotional all of his birth anniversa commitme . This will and all ry Wall, New nt, be a year celebratio Jersey stand degrees of faith of n in and unde ing will share Hit and Miss rI can’t imag the Merton world in acceptance , and I have respect, and ine , of him anyw a better treatment the grace been a reade of God. here. The r and follo Thank you, Mert on articl photos told wer of for a very St. Anthony es and for keeping his story long time Messenger recently read simply and and just beautifull the otherness , No Man Is y, showing visib of our faith le and viabl Dan Morr an Island. why he is evant today is-Yo e. We need as relremindin as he was constant Thomas Mert ung’s “The Legacy g that Jesus during his lifetime. of on” bega loves and accepts all n well and ended posit at his table I remember ively, but . being just it lost me between. in 1978, as pleased in if my mem Brenda Boen I would much ory serve you obser ig Frede s, when ved the 10th ricksburg rather have some great , Texas anniversa Merton’s read quotes by death with ry Faith with Merton and another speci of perhaps expla out Frills issue. Your nations of al cover was In the “Foll of his life a striking, owers of trated portr he was searc them. Most St. Francis” illusumn from ait hing and templatin colthe January Trappist mon of the contemplative cong his relati issue, Fathe Christian k, reminisce onship with God. His Reuter’s descr r Warhol in nt of Andy deep thou style. prison chap iption of ght and praye are what els (“a table Your cove inspired me r chair rage of Mert and and man s”) was painf a few ers to follo years show on over the y othw him. His s just how A gentleman ully accurate. genuine humanity Franciscan I write to, and he in prison who work live on. Thes honesty are what ministry, s will e are areas sent phot me some os of his liked to see I would have profession explored, Benedictin with the not socia tice or view e Obla l juste Order. s on war. photo, a In one However, chaplain Letters that when I turne dressed in are published shirt and black and read do not necess d the page pants, says ily represent “Rediscov arthe views of Mass no vestm ering tion” by the Franciscan ents, no frills. —no robes, friars or the Richard Rohr Contemplaeditors. We to my profe Contrast , OFM, I foun do not publis it much more this slander or libel. ssion at a h d to my likin local paris Please includ with fami g. h, e your name ly and frien and postal addres ds present grand settin s. Letters may Carol Joyce in a for clarity and be edited g. Which space. of these is Burton, Ohio more Franciscan ? Mail
99
E-mail MagazineEdi tors@ FranciscanM edia.org Facebook Like us! Go to: Faceb ook.com/ StAnthonyM essengerMag azine Twitter Follow us! Go to: Twitter.com /StAnthonyM ag
Fr anci scan
Medi a.or
g
Jim Myre In contrast s, OFS to several Cincinna comments from othe ti, Ohio r readers Pro-Life regarding Anthony Mess Means All St. enger being Life As a lifelo and not reflec too ng pro-lifer, ting the view liberal I took speci interest in “real” Cath s of the al Susan Hine olic faith s-Brigger’s umn “A Cath , I laud and thank the cololic Mom editors and the January Speaks” from contributo this publ issue, regar ication. rs to teena ding her ge daughter So often, when I am Maddie’s participat plans to give up on tempted e in the annu to the Chur al March Life in Wash ch, along St. Anthony for ington, DC. comes Messenger It was dishe with the surance that reasartening, things may see no ment however, different. one day be to ion The open ital punishme of opposition to ness of mind heart—so capnt and war. and apparent Comman in this maga Does the zine—are dment “Tho often the u shalt not apply only only hope that kill” to our natio one day our glimmer of daughters n’s unborn closed Com munion, and sons? our close Have we ten Chris d doors to God’s child forgott’s admonitio all ren in need n to “love enemy”? , and our closed heart thy s will open wide, as did Louis H. Pumphre y Shaker Heig hts, Ohio
Another writer noted, in that same issue, that we
Marc h 2015 ❘ 3
capitalized Catholic in our reprinting the words of the Apostles’ Creed. The word, in this usage, is catholic, all lowercase. It means “universal” and doesn’t refer to the Roman Catholic rite per se. It was an honest typo on our part, I promise—we support ecumenism! Should we simply have printed the letters, without comment? Some would say so. If we explain ourselves too much, doesn’t that take away voice from the readers? Last year, there was a trickier case when a letter writer expressed a strong personal opinion based on something, it turned out, that was not factual. In retrospect, we would have done as well to have skipped it. Reader’s voice? Or our voice? How to decide? These are some of the things that keep editors awake at night. We really care about your magazine.
Editor in Chief
5 6 ❘ Apr il 2015
St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
REFLECTION
HOPE
is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all. © KTSDESIGN/FOTOLIA
—Emily Dickinson
ST. ANTHONY M 28 W. Liberty Street Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498
essenger
Get a FREE CELL PHONE when you switch to the Catholic phone company! Get a FREE CELL PHONE + FREE CAR CHARGER + FREE ACTIVATION + FREE SHIPPING when you switch to CHARITY MOBILE! We send 5% of your monthly talk plan price to the Catholic or Pro-Life charity of your choice, at NO ADDITIONAL COST to you! For more information about our nationwide NO CONTRACT mobile phone service, including our 30 DAY RISK-FREE TRIAL, call us toll-free or visit us online today!
NEW BUNDLE PLANS WITH MORE DATA AT NEW LOWER PRICES!
MENTION ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER WHEN YOU PLACE YOUR ORDER!
W W W.C H A R I T Y M O B I L E .C O M
1-877-474-3662 Charity Mobile is a trade name of Cause Based Commerce, Inc. Cause Based Commerce, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to reject any particular beneficiary or charity. Free cell phone promotion available to new activations only. Services are subject to availability and require a credit check. Taxes and surcharges apply. Call to inquire about details. VISIT OUR WEB SITE FOR THE LATEST CELL PHONES AND PLANS. ©2015 Cause Based Commerce, Inc. All rights reserved.