BASEBALL’S ED LUCAS
ST. ANTHONY Messenger
Connecting with God on the Trail
Spiritual Guides in the Old Testament From Trauma to Transcendence The Third Secret of Fátima MAY 2017 • $3.95 FRANCISCANMEDIA.ORG
CONTENTS
ST. ANTHONY
❘ MAY 2017 ❘ VOLUME 124/NUMBER 12
Messenger ON THE COVE R
26 Life Lessons along the Appalachian Trail
We encounter God’s loving presence in the grandeur of nature. Author Mark McCann’s experience on the Appalachian Trail was both an arduous hike and an enriching spiritual journey.
The quiet of the woods was a voice he couldn’t resist. By Mark McCann
Photo © mihtiander/iStockphoto
F E AT U R E S
D E PA R T M E N T S
14 The Third Secret of Fátima
2 Dear Reader
On the 100th anniversary of these apparitions, an excerpt from a new book looks into their most talked-about element. By Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle
3 From Our Readers 4 Followers of St. Francis Mike Haney, OFM
6 Reel Time
20 Baseball’s Ed Lucas You might not think a blind person could be a sports broadcaster, but this man won an Emmy doing it. By Peter Finney Jr.
The Zookeeper’s Wife
14
8 Channel Surfing Requiem for My Mother
10 Church in the News
32 Spiritual Guides in the Old Testament
19 Editorial ‘Where Do I Stand before God?’
Their remarkable stories can inspire us to serve God better. By Father Timothy Schehr, PhD
31 At Home on Earth To Till, or Not to Till
38 From Trauma to Transcendence Though the accident didn’t kill her, denial kept her from being fully alive. By Barbara Mangione
37 Catholic Sites to Explore
20
Basilica of St. Louis, King of France
46 Ask a Franciscan Why Pray to Mary and the Saints?
42 Fiction: Witness The archbishop celebrated Confirmation on Monday. By Tuesday, no one knew where he was. By Jim Auer
48 Book Corner Mary of Nazareth
50 A Catholic Mom Speaks The Blessings of Being Busy
32
53 Backstory
DEAR READER
ST. ANTHONY M essenger
An Outstanding Preacher According to Pope Pius II, Bernardine of Siena (1380– 1444) was “a second Paul.” He was clearly the most famous preacher of his day. Orphaned by the age of 7, Bernardine came from a knightly family in Siena. He joined the Observant Franciscans in 1402 and invited many young men to join that branch of the Franciscan family. In his day and in ours, it is much easier to demonize one’s political opponents than to work together for the common good of civil society. In order to help people move beyond the political factions then paralyzing many Italian city-states, he promoted devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. The acronym and emblem IHS represents the first letters in Greek of Jesus Christ. He invited all factions in various cities to join in processions honoring the Holy Name of Jesus. His 1418 Lenten sermons so impressed the duke of Milan that he sent a messenger with a cash gift for Bernardine; he directed that messenger to pay the debts of several people in the local prison. Bernardine was canonized six years after his death.
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(U.S.P.S. PUBLICATION #007956 CANADA PUBLICATION #PM40036350) Volume 124, Number 12, 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 FranciscanMedia.org/subscription-services for information on your digital edition. Writer’s guidelines can be found at Franciscan Media.org/writers-guide/. 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 ©2017. All rights reserved.
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St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
FROM OUR READERS
Tread Carefully with Labels I enjoyed reading “Spiritual, Religious, or None of the Above?” by William F. Kraft, PhD, in the April issue of St. Anthony Messenger. I find Dr. Kraft’s approach to rekindling the flames of spirituality and religious commitment with those who have strayed refreshing. It makes sense to approach others from a perspective of understanding, listening, and walking a mile in their shoes, rather than judging. However, I find the label nones to be judgmental in and of itself! There must be a better, more Christian way to refer to those who have lost hope or faith for perhaps very devastating reasons. I would not want to be referred to as a none. God would not refer to his children as nones, but perhaps rather as someones, worthy of a spiritual rehab, worthy of love.
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 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
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The word none implies a void, an abyss of hopelessness. Annie DiPietro Danvers, Massachusetts
Finally, Some Good News I’m writing regarding Susan HinesBrigger’s “Church in the News” column from the April issue. Thank you for including the story “President Trump Speaks at National Prayer Breakfast.” With all the negativity surrounding his election, it was a pleasure to read such a positive article. I especially loved what he said about immigration: “Our nation has the most generous immigration system in the world. But there are those who would exploit that generosity. We want people to come into our nation, but we want people to love us and to love our values, not to hate us and hate our values.” His main concern is for the United States and the safety of all Americans. Please, let’s give this man a chance! Maria Izzi Greene Narragansett, Rhode Island
including a young George Washington, approached the fort for what became a searing loss for the British. Before the battle began, the French troops knelt before Father Baron, who recorded in his registry that he prayed over them and blessed them. It’s been years since I read the registry, so I’m not certain if he recorded that as a general absolution or just a blessing. Maryann G. Eidemiller Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Follow the Good Samaritan’s Example I’m writing in response to John Feister’s editorial from the April issue, “One Nation, Under God.” I do not believe in open-border immigration. I’m all for humanitarian aid, but even the good Samaritan had the prudence to bring the injured person to a nearby inn and not take him home with him. Please read what St. Thomas Aquinas had to say about immigration. Bob Jacobucci Haverhill, Massachusetts
An Earlier General Absolution? I’ve visited Gettysburg Battlefield many times and have always been inspired by the statue and story of Father William Corby. It may be possible that he was not the first priest to grant general absolution. In 1755, Recollect Father Denys Baron, chaplain with the French Marines, traveled from Canada, celebrated the first Mass on the frontier of what’s now southwestern Pennsylvania, and took over as chaplain at Fort Duquesne. It was during the French and Indian War, when the British and French struggled for empire on the frontier. The strategic point of three rivers was later captured by the British and renamed Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh). On July 9, 1755, the British, under General Edward Braddock and
Unity with the Church? I am currently reading many articles and opinions, such as John Feister’s article from the February issue, “The Pope’s ‘Beloved Brother,’” that support a greater unity between our Catholic Church and other religions. I must say that I personally question a few of the challenges that other religions might have, if and when these other religions choose to have unity with our Catholic Church. How will other religions accept the celebration of the Eucharist as the main expression of their faith in God? How will they change their celebration to now focus on the eucharistic celebration—the celebration of Jesus Christ himself? Larry Yurkovich Grand Forks, North Dakota M ay 2 0 1 7 ❘ 3
F O L L O W E R S O F S T. F R A N C I S
At Home with the Franciscans
F
ather Mike Haney, OFM, grew up “surrounded by brown.” His family attended a Franciscan parish in Columbus, Nebraska, a town of about 20,000. Franciscans staffed both this and a nearby parish. The sisters in the hospital were Franciscan, as were the teachers in his school. He served with the friars as an altar boy at the parish and at the hospital—just a block away from his house—for 6 a.m. Mass. When he first started looking into religious life, “the Franciscans were the only path I considered,” Father Mike says. After following a pastor’s invitation, he joined a group of eighth-grade boys visiting a seminary. “There’s nothing for an eighthgrade boy not to like when he sees baseball diamonds, football and soccer fields, a swimming pool, a bowling alley, and a game room. My immediate impression was that this would be a pretty neat place to go to high school.” During high school, his motives were “purified” a bit. “I started to have a more mature appreciation for religious life, for Franciscanism, and for the call that was growing within me.”
Mike Haney, OFM
Even when he learned that there were other ways of religious life, Father Mike saw something in the Franciscan charism that helped him know he was in the right place. “I saw a joy, a camaraderie in the friars I knew. There was an attractive, fraternal dimension to their life, which appealed to me because I grew up in a warm, supportive family. Living the Franciscan life always felt like home.” Today, Father Mike is pastor at the National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods, in northern Michigan. Founded as a diocesan parish in the 1950s, the shrine was taken over by the Franciscans in the 1990s. That was when Father Mike visited the shrine. He says, “I came through the area and stopped by just to see it when our province [Sacred Heart] took over, but I was in full-time ministry elsewhere. That was just a stop to satisfy my curiosity—part of a vacation.” Father Mike continues, “Five years ago, the province asked me to serve here. I was attracted to the serenity of the place. It has the largest crucifix in the world, which is impressive, and the 14 acres here are serene, prayerful, and quiet.”
STORIES FROM OUR READERS Prayers Answered
FOTOSEARCH: ROSARY © RUDALL30; CRUMBS © GSAGI
Learn more about Catholic saints and their feast days by going to SaintoftheDay.org.
4 ❘ May 201 7
Recently, I went shopping at several stores. Upon my return home, I discovered my pouch containing my rosaries was missing. I retraced my steps to no avail. Since I received the rosaries when I joined the Knights of Columbus in 1974, I was devastated! I prayed to St. Anthony to help me. Last week, I was eating cake in the family room (which was strictly forbidden by my wife), and proceeded to spill the cake on myself, the floor, and the couch. While cleaning up the mess, I picked up the couch cushion and there was the pouch with my rosaries! I now thank St. Anthony during my daily prayers. —Ron Turlaian, Delmar, Maryland
St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
ST. CLARE OF ASSISI
Healing Deafness Sister Cristiana, daughter of one of the consuls of Assisi, entered San Damiano about seven years before Clare died. Cristiana had been deaf in one ear for many years, with no help from the various medicines she took. Approximately a year before St. Clare died, she made the sign of the cross over Cristiana’s head and touched the deaf ear, which soon began working very well. Cristiana believed that Clare was full of grace, virtue, and their holy operations.—P.M.
PAINTING BY SIMONE MARTINI FROM THE YORCK PROJECT
That serenity is sometimes interrupted by the crowds that arrive during the summer— about 200,000 people—many on their way to vacation spots. “For many people, it is an annual visit,” Father Mike says. “People are so impressed in their first visit that they make it a point to return.” Some are vacationers or senior citizens headed toward Mackinac Island, but Father Mike says, “I’ve honestly been surprised by the many different people we attract. For example, around Detroit, there are a lot of Chaldean Catholics from Iraq, many with family and friends back home in difficult situations. One of their biggest feast days is the Exaltation of the Cross, September 14. On that day, we get about 2,000 Chaldean Catholics on 25 or 30 charter buses, with priests who speak Arabic or Chaldean. They have Mass and say prayers for their loved ones in Iraq.” True to his Franciscan roots, Father Mike always does what he can to make them feel at home. “We celebrate Mass with all our visitors, pray with them, listen to them. That’s the heart of our ministry.” —Kathleen Carroll
To learn more about Franciscan saints, visit FranciscanMedia.org/source/saint-of-the-day.
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Send all postal communication to: St. Anthony Bread 1615 Vine St. Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498
M ay 2 0 1 7 ❘ 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
The Zookeeper’s Wife
ANNE MARIE FOX/ FOCUS FEATURES
SISTER ROSE’S
Favorite
Films about
Animals Born Free (1966) March of the Penguins (2005) Seabiscuit (2003) The Yearling (1946) Blackfish (2013)
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Jessica Chastain plays a lover of all creatures great and small in the World War II drama The Zookeeper’s Wife. In the late 1930s, Jan (Johan Heldenbergh) · and Antonina (Jessica Chastain) Zabin´ski live a peaceful life with their son at the Warsaw Zoo in Poland. Antonina has a reputation for assisting the animals when they are under stress. · On a visit to the Zabin´skis’ home, Lutz Heck (Daniel Brühl), who heads the Berlin Zoo, convinces them to send him their best animals for safekeeping during the inevitable war that is looming over Europe. When Germany invades Poland on September 1, 1939, the family and animals are traumatized. The German soldiers, now headed by the duplicitous Captain Heck, move into the zoo and kill off almost all the remaining animals. The couple hides a Jewish woman in their basement. She is one of over 300 Jews the couple will hide almost in plain sight during the war. The Zookeeper’s Wife, based on a true story, is taken from the best-selling 2007 book by Diane Ackerman. Parents, take note: this is not a film for young children. The offscreen
assault of a young girl by two Nazis is heartbreaking, but provides one of the best performances in the film by the young Shira Haas. Director Niki Caro, who gave us the exceptional 2002 film Whale Rider, tells an amazing, largely unknown story. Even if the characters lack a certain depth, the actors’ interaction with the animals, especially Chastain’s, is very authentic. Animal lovers should take heart: none were harmed in the making of the film. Not yet rated, PG-13 ■ Intense war images, violence, implied sexual assault, racism.
Gifted Six-year-old Mary Adler (Mckenna Grace) doesn’t want to go to school, but her uncle, Frank (Chris Evans), insists. Their neighbor Roberta (Octavia Spencer) scolds Frank when he returns from taking his niece to school. She’s afraid that something might go wrong for Mary, who has never gone to school St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
WILSON WEBB/ TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
Mckenna Grace shines in her role as the brilliant but sheltered niece of Chris Evans’ character in Gifted.
The Promise The future looks bright for Turkish-born Armenian Mikael Pogosian (Oscar Isaac), who leaves his rural village for medical school in Constantinople. He leaves behind Fr anciscanMedia.org
JOSE HARO/ OPEN ROAD FILMS
before. The reason is that Mary is a prodigy in mathematics, as was her mother, who committed suicide when her daughter was only a baby. In class, Mary cannot resist showing how impatient she is at basic math. Her teacher, Bonnie (Jenny Slade), soon realizes that Mary is exceptional. But one morning on the bus, Mary hits a boy who bullies one of her classmates and ends up in the principal’s office. The principal offers Frank a deal: she’ll forget the incident if he will let her arrange a scholarship for Mary at a school for gifted children. Frank refuses because his sister wanted Mary to grow up with friends. As the principal puts things into motion, Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan), Frank’s mother and Mary’s grandmother, sues for custody. Young Mary ends up in foster care. This fictional story showcases the challenges for parents of gifted children and the harsh reality of foster care, as well as dysfunctional and unconventional families that are made up of loving neighbors and teachers. Mckenna Grace is luminous, and Chris Evans (of Captain America fame) portrays a loving and self-sacrificing father figure—an ordinary superhero. Lindsay Duncan is chilling as the rich, domineering grandmother, who wants to live out her own dreams through her grandchild, no matter the cost. Not yet rated, PG-13 ■ Bullying, language, sexual situations.
his mother, Marta (Shohreh Aghdashloo), and his betrothed, Maral (Angela Sarafyan), promising to marry her upon his return. Once in the city, Mikael meets an American reporter, Chris (Christian Bale), and his girlfriend, Ana (Charlotte Le Bon), an Armenian from Paris. The three become friends, but Mikael falls in love with Ana. When World War I breaks out, the Ottoman Empire is in decline. A new Turkish government decides that Armenians are the cause of their problems, so the regime begins to systematically kill them off. It is the first genocide of the 20th century. Throughout this lush but somewhat slowmoving historical, romantic drama, which is based on real events, Mikael must decide whether to keep his promises. The convincing Isaac carries the lead role very well. Themes of racism, intolerance, war, sanctuary for refugees, freedom of the press, and persecution based on religion will resonate with audiences given current events. Not yet rated, PG-13 ■ Intense war violence, some sexuality, language.
Loyalties are tested in The Promise, a war drama starring Oscar winner Christian Bale and newcomer Charlotte Le Bon.
Catholic Cl assifications A-1 A-2 A-3 L O
General patronage Adults and adolescents Adults Limited adult audience Morally offensive
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The Catholic News Service Media Review Office gives these ratings. See usccb.org/movies.
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For additional film reviews, go to FranciscanMedia.org/movie-review.
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7
CHANNEL SURFING
WITH CHRISTOPHER HEFFRON
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May, PBS, check local listings In the third grade, I learned to play the theme song from M*A*S*H on the recorder. That was the beginning and end of my music career. Thankfully, I still have an appreciation for how a piece of music migrates from conception to completion. And when something is written in honor of a departed loved one, every note becomes a thing of beauty. Channel surfers with or without music appreciation should tune in to the documentary Requiem for My Mother. Directed by Stephen Edwards and David Haugland, Requiem tells several stories at once. It profiles Edwards, a renowned Hollywood film composer; his mother, the late Rosalie, who instilled in him a love for music; the requiem (Mass for the dead) he wrote in her honor; and the preparations for its performance in Vatican City. If Edwards is the quiet soul of this homage to love, loss, and song, then its fiery heart belongs to conductor Candace Wicke, who guided the 160-voice choral group and 50-piece orchestra from beginning to end. Formidable, cantankerous, and so impassioned you can’t help but love her, Wicke rocks—a true maestro. Moving without being maudlin, Requiem celebrates family, memories, and our universal search for healing—all of it set to heavenly music. Surely, Rosalie is smiling.
American Crime
CHARLES KATZ
Sundays, 10 p.m., ABC Only a couple episodes remain of producer John Ridley’s pitch-perfect anthology series that examines crime and its corrosive effects on our national tapestry. For those unfamiliar with this drama series, now in its third season, here’s a rundown: the same actors return each season, playing different characters with a different story line. This season tackles human trafficking in North Carolina, and like a fine wine, American Crime only betters with age. Felicity Huffman, Regina King, Timothy Hutton, Lili Taylor, and Benito Martinez lead a strong ensemble cast of players, each on different sides of the trafficking issue, which range from migrant farmworkers in the fields to underage sex workers on the streets. How these characters’ lives intersect is the thrust of the series, and channel surfers should know going in that American Crime is heavy stuff. But with nuance and compassion, it sheds light on a dark corner of our culture. Perhaps the best-acted show on television, American Crime features actors who all rise to the material, but viewers should play special attention to King and Martinez. She is a social worker on the front lines of the crisis; he is a father from Mexico, smuggled into the United States to search for his missing son. Both actors give performances of startling grace and power. Their work on this series should not be missed.
Stephen Edwards is the codirector, producer, and composer of Requiem for My Mother, a documentary featured on PBS. 8 ❘
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St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
ABC/NICOLE WILDER
Requiem for My Mother
A New
HEART © LOSTANASTACIA/ISTOCKPHOTO; BACKGROUND © NEMETSE/FOTOSEARCH
Heart
L
ord, please give me the following graces: Give me a contrite heart that I may confess to thee; a heart of hope, that I may trust in thee.
A heart of courage, that I may follow thee; a heart of praise, that I may adore thee; a heart of joy, that I may sing with thee. A heart of gratitude, that I may thank thee; a heart of kindness, that I may emulate thee; a heart of hospitality, that I may welcome thee. A compassionate heart that I may cry with thee; a luminous heart that I may radiate thee; a missionary heart that I may go with thee. Robert F. Morneau is the retired auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and a prolific writer and poet.
CHURCH IN THE NEWS
❘ BY SUSAN HINES-BRIGGER
Oklahoma Priest’s Beatification Date Set plete dedication to serve ‘the poorest of the poor’ of another culture and language, and to give of himself in such an extraordinary way.”
CNS
Abuse Survivor Quits Commission
Father Stanley Rother, a priest of the Oklahoma City Archdiocese, was brutally murdered in 1981 in the Guatemalan village where he ministered to the poor. The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City announced on March 13 that local priest Father Stanley Rother, an American who worked in Guatemala and was brutally murdered there in 1981, will be beatified September 23 in Oklahoma City, reported Catholic News Service (CNS). “It’s official! Praised be Jesus Christ! Archbishop Coakley received official word this morning from Rome that Servant of God Father Stanley Rother will be beatified in Oklahoma City in September!” the archdiocese posted on its website. In an interview with the daily newspaper The Oklahoman, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City said Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, will be representing the pope at the beatification ceremony in Oklahoma City. In 1981, Father Rother, who lived 1 0 ❘ May 201 7
in an indigenous rural area and had been accused by the government of sympathizing with rebels, was gunned down in the rectory. His assassins were never identified or prosecuted. Last December, Pope Francis recognized Father Rother as a martyr, making him the first one born in the United States. Following beatification, a miracle attributed to the intercession of the person being considered for sainthood is required for that person to be declared a saint. In the introduction to the biography The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run: Fr. Stanley Rother, Martyr from Oklahoma, Father Rother’s sister Marita Rother, who is a religious sister of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, wrote, “It continues to challenge me to know that my brother, an ordinary person like you or me, could give himself in the prime of his life to such a com-
Marie Collins, the last abuse survivor on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, resigned on March 1, citing resistance from some Vatican offices to instituting recommendations, reported CNS. Collins had been a member of the commission since its establishment in 2014. Collins said that the last straw was when she received a letter from a Vatican dicastery stating that it would not comply with “one of the simplest recommendations the commission has put forward to date.” The commission had recommended that all correspondence from victims/survivors receive a response, and Pope Francis had instructed all departments in the Vatican to do so. In a statement published online March 1 by the National Catholic Reporter, Collins said, “When I accepted my appointment to the commission in 2014, I said publicly that if I found what was happening behind closed doors was in conflict with what was being said to the public, I would not remain. This point has come. I feel I have no choice but to resign if I am to retain my integrity.” Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, head of the commission, thanked Collins for her work. “With the members of the commission, I am deeply grateful for Marie’s willingness to continue to work with us in the education of Church leaders, including the upcoming programs for new bishops and for the dicasterSt . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
N E W S B R I E F S N AT I O N A L A N D I N T E R N AT I O N A L
CNS PHOTO/KEVIN J. PARKS, CATHOLIC REVIEW
New Ulm is the third Minnesota diocese to file for reorganization. The Duluth Diocese and the St. PaulMinneapolis Archdiocese both filed under Chapter 11 in 2015. Bishop John M. LeVoir of New Ulm asked diocesan attorneys to take the action in response to the enactment of the 2013 Minnesota Child Victims Act, which temporarily lifted the civil statute of limitations on child sexual abuse claims for three years. That threeyear window ended May 25, 2016.
Cardinal William H. Keeler, retired archbishop of Baltimore, died March 24 at the age of 86. Cardinal Keeler, an international leader in Catholic-Jewish relations, served as president of the US bishops’ conference from 1992 to 1995.
Fifteen thousand Catholics signed an online petition asking President Donald Trump to honor the Paris climate agreement, continue US contributions to the Green Climate Fund, and implement the Clean Power Plan governing power plant emissions. The petition, which was organized by the Catholic Climate Covenant and endorsed by 17 Catholic institutions and communities, was delivered to the president on March 15.
Catholic and Lutheran bishops gathered in Chicago on March 2 for a prayer service to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The service took place during a joint meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations.
Pope Francis will visit Colombia in September, 31 years after the last papal visit. The Latin American nation is working to implement a new peace deal and rebuild after 52 years of war. The trip will include visits to the cities of Bogotá, Villavicencio, Medellín, and Cartagena.
The Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota, filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.
For more Catholic news, visit FranciscanMedia.org/ catholic-news.
ies of the Holy See. Our prayers will remain with Marie and with all victims and survivors of sexual abuse.” Three weeks after Collins’ resignation, the commission held a daylong seminar at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, entitled “Safeguarding in Homes and Schools: Learning from Experience Worldwide.” A representative of every office of the Roman Curia attended, as well as Fr ancisca n Media .org
CNS
New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan wrote an op-ed piece in the March 9 issue of The Wall Street Journal, in which he called on US President Donald Trump to follow through on legislation that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth nationwide. Cardinal Dolan wrote that scholarship tax credits “help advance educational and economic justice. They strengthen society by creating opportunity for those who might not otherwise have it.”
rectors of pontifical universities and colleges, and representatives from the Italian state police and the Vatican gendarmes. During his address, Cardinal O’Malley told attendees, “There is simply no justification in our day for failures to enact concrete safeguarding standards for our children.” He then added: “Let there be no doubts: no other topic is more important for
the life of the Church. If the Church is not committed to child protection, our efforts at evangelization will be to no effect; we will lose the trust of our people and gain the opprobrium of the world.” While Collins’ resignation was not directly addressed, O’Malley said that during its March 24–26 closed-door plenary meeting, the commission would be asking, “How can victim/ M ay 2 0 1 7 ❘ 1 1
survivors continue to have a powerful voice in our work and help to guide us?”
Two Fátima Visionaries Cleared for Canonization
© ATLANTISMEDIA/FOTOLIA
On March 23, Pope Francis formally recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of two of the shepherd children who saw Our Lady of Fátima in 1917, clearing the way for their canonization, reported CNS. Blesseds Francisco and Jacinta Marto, along with their cousin Lúcia dos Santos, reported seeing the Virgin Mary beginning May 13, 1917. The apparitions continued once a month until October 13, 1917, and later were declared worthy of belief by the Catholic Church. A year later, both Marto children became ill during an influenza epidemic that plagued Europe. Francisco died April 4, 1919, at the age of 10, while Jacinta succumbed to her illness February 20, 1920, at the age of 9. The siblings’ cause for canonization was stalled for decades due to a debate on whether non-martyred children have the capacity to understand heroic virtues at a young age. In 1979, St. John Paul II allowed
their cause to proceed. He declared them venerable in 1989 and beatified them in 2000. Many people have expressed hope that Pope Francis will preside over the canonization ceremony during his May 12–13 visit to Fátima. The pilgrimage will mark the 100th anniversary of the Marian apparitions.
US Bishops Issue Reflection on Immigrants
In a pastoral reflection released March 22, the US bishops urged Catholics to do whatever they can “to accompany migrants and refugees who seek a better life in the United States,” reported CNS. The reflection, “Living as a People of God in Unsettled Times,” was approved by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Administrative Committee on the first day of a two-day meeting in Washington, DC. The bishops asked Catholics to “pray that our engagement in the debate over immigration and refugee issues may bring peace and comfort to those most affected by current and proposed national policy changes.” The bishops also suggested three ways in which Catholics might be able to “bring our words of solidarity for migrants and refugees to life.” Those three ways are: “Pray for an end to the root causes of violent hatred that force mothers and fathers to flee the only home they may have known in search of economic and physical security for their children. “Meet with members of your parish who are newcomers, listen to their story, Statues of Jacinta and Francisco Marto, two of the children who and share your own. witnessed visions of the Mother Mary at Fátima, are displayed Hundreds of Catholic at the Basilica of Our Lady of Fátima, in Fátima, Portugal.
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parishes across the country have programs for immigrants and refugees, both to comfort them and to help them know their rights. It is also important to reach out in loving dialogue to those who may disagree with us. The more we come to understand each other’s concerns, the better we can serve one another. Together, we are one body in Christ. “Call, write, or visit your elected representatives, and ask them to fix our broken immigration system in a way that safeguards both our security and our humanity through a generous opportunity for legal immigration.”
Franciscans Launch Redesigned Website This past March, the Franciscan order unveiled a complete redesign of its website—ofm.org—because, according to the minister general of the order, “we discovered we were communicating only to ourselves and not to the world.” Franciscan Father Michael Perry told CNS that the new website is just phase one of a comprehensive project that will include opportunities for the public to interact with the friars and for the friars to reflect formally on how, when, and why they communicate. “We see this as a continuity with what St. Francis and the early brothers did,” he said. “Whenever they came across a need, when they saw a boundary, they decided they had to cross it, they had to respond,” otherwise they would be “limiting the possibility of God’s grace in their lives and the offer of God’s love for the world. “We need to ask ourselves: ‘What is it that the world is telling us? What is this new technology offering us? What prospects and challenges does it bring? Is it really offering humanity a greater step toward a deeper experience of itself as human? Is it bringing people together, is it crossing divides, or is it creating new spaces where people feel even more isolated?’” A St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
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The Third Secret of
Fátima On the 100th anniversary of these apparitions, an excerpt from a new book looks into their most talked-about element.
Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, three Portuguese children received apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria, near Fátima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon. Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for world peace, for the end of World War I, for sinners, and for the conversion of Russia. Mary gave the children three secrets. Since Francisco died in 1919 and Jacinta the following year, Lúcia revealed the first secret in 1927, concerning devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The second secret was a vision of hell.
BY DONNA-MARIE COOPER O’BOYLE
Pope John Paul II directed the Holy See’s secretary of state to reveal the third secret in 2000; it spoke of a “bishop in white” who was shot by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows into him. Many people linked this to the assassination attempt against St. John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981. —from Saint of the Day (FranciscanMedia.org)
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Thousands of pilgrims arrived at the Marian shrine of Fátima in central Portugal last May to attend the 99th anniversary of the first apparition of Mary to three shepherd children.
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HE THIRD SECRET was revealed to the children at the Cova on July 13, 1917. It was to be kept in the greatest confidence. When Sister Lúcia was with the Dorothean Sisters in Tuy, Spain, she fell ill in mid-1943. Because it was feared that she could die before the third secret was revealed by her, the bishop of Leiria requested that she write down the remainder of the secret (or third secret) told to the children in 1917. Obediently, and in the midst of her painful sickness, Sister Lúcia wrote it down on a single sheet of paper. She placed it in an envelope and sealed it. Before we look at Sister Lúcia’s testimony, I offer the words of then-Cardinal Joseph Fr anciscanMedia.org
Ratzinger, who gives some context to the revelations of Lúcia. There was great speculation and controversy over the third secret of Fátima because it was kept under wraps for many years. In his theological commentary The Message of Fátima, Cardinal Ratzinger pointed out that the contents of the envelope that held the third secret for so long might be “disappointing” to some. “A careful reading of the text of the socalled third secret of Fátima, published here in its entirety long after the fact and by decision of the Holy Father, will probably prove disappointing or surprising after all the speculation it has stirred. No great mystery is revealed; nor is the future unveiled. We see the Church of the martyrs of the century which has just passed represented in a scene described in a language which is symbolic and not easy to decipher. Is this what the Mother of the Lord wished to communicate to Christianity and to humanity at a time of great difficulty and distress? Is it of any help to us at the beginning of the new millennium? Or are these only projections of the inner world of children, brought up in a climate of profound piety but shaken at the same time by the tempests which threatened their own time? How should we understand the vision? What are we to make of it?” Cardinal Ratzinger discussed the secret of Fátima in depth in The Message of Fátima, the full text of which is available online on the Vatican website (vatican.va). For now, we focus on his words: “And so we come to the final question: What is the meaning of the ‘secret’ of Fátima as a whole (in its three parts)? What does it say to us? First of all, we must affirm with Cardinal Sodano: ‘. . . the events to which the third part of the “secret” of Fátima refers now seem part of the past.’ Insofar as individual events are described, they belong to the past. Those who expected exciting apocalyptic revelations about the end of the world or the future course of history are bound to be disappointed. Fátima does not satisfy our curiosity in this way, just as Christian faith in general cannot be reduced to an object of mere curiosity. What remains was already evident when we began our reflections on the text of the M ay 2 0 1 7 ❘
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(Above) Mary appeared before Lúcia (left) and her two cousins for several months in 1917, directing them to pray the rosary and entrusting them with three secrets.
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(Right) Sister Lúcia became Mary’s messenger, eventually promulgating Mary’s words through the revelation of the three secrets. Pictured here in 2000, she died five years later, at age 97.
secret: the exhortation to prayer as the path of ‘salvation for souls’ and, likewise, the summons to penance and conversion.” Now let us look at what happened and what the three young shepherds witnessed. As discussed above, in 1943, Sister Lúcia, under obedience to God, the bishop of Leiria, and the Blessed Mother, wrote the following description of the third part of the secret revealed to her and her two cousins on July 13, 1917: “J.M.J. The third part of the secret revealed at the Cova da Iria-Fátima, on 13 July 1917. “I write in obedience to you, my God, who command me to do so through his Excellency the bishop of Leiria and through your Most Holy Mother and mine. “After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated toward him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!’
And we saw in an immense light that is God: ‘something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it’ a bishop dressed in white ‘we had the impression that it was the Holy Father.’ “Other bishops, priests, men and women religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big cross of roughhewn trunks as of a cork tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other bishops, priests, men and women religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the cross there were two angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.” The scenes that Sister Lúcia recalled are intense and wildly descriptive. We can only imagine what the three young visionaries experienced and thought upon receiving the great prophetic secrets of Fátima that day. The words and visions given by God and the Blessed Mother are meant for all of us.
Sister Lúcia’s Interpretation of the Third Secret Almost 40 years later, in a May 1982 letter to Pope John Paul II, Sister Lúcia gave an interpretation of the third secret. She wrote: “The third part of the secret refers to Our Lady’s words: ‘If not, [Russia] will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and perSt . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
secutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated.’ The third part of the secret is a symbolic revelation, referring to this part of the message, conditioned by whether we accept or not what the message itself asks of us: ‘If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world.’” At long last the third secret of Fátima was revealed. We learn from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: “The decision of His Holiness Pope John Paul II to make public the third part of the ‘secret’ of Fátima brings to an end a period of history marked by tragic human lust for power and evil, yet pervaded by the merciful love of God and the watchful care of the Mother of Jesus and of the Church. The action of God, the Lord of history, and the co-responsibility of man in the drama of his creative freedom, are the two pillars upon which human history is built. Our Lady, who appeared at Fátima, recalls these forgotten values. She reminds us that man’s future is in God, and we are active and responsible partners in creating that future.”
Pope John Paul II and the Third Secret
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Pope John Paul II was shot four times and nearly died on May 13, 1981, the feast day of Our Lady of Fátima. The pope would later credit Mary with saving his life.
CNS PHOTO/ L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
The envelope containing the third secret was not to be opened before 1960. Sister Lúcia had asked her bishop of Leiria to read it but he refused. Instead, it was given to him for safekeeping, and later, to ensure better protection, it was placed in the Secret Archives of the Holy Office on April 4, 1957. On August 17, 1959, Father Pierre Paul Philippe, OP, the commissary of the Holy Office, with the agreement of Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, brought the envelope that contained the third secret of Fátima to Pope John XXIII. According to the Message of Fátima, Pope John XXIII hesitated and said, “We shall wait. I shall pray. I shall let you know what I decide.” Pope John XXIII decided not to reveal the secret and returned the envelope to the Holy Office. Almost six years later, on March 27, 1965, Pope Paul VI read the contents and decided not to publish it. The envelope was then returned to the Archives of the Holy Office. Not long after he was seriously wounded in a burst of gunfire in St. Peter’s Square, Pope John Paul II requested the envelope containing
the third part of the secret. The pontiff had written a message to be read to pilgrims in Fátima to commemorate the anniversary of the apparitions. Astonishingly, this message was being read aloud on May 13, 1981, at the moment Mehmet Ali Agca fired shots at the pope, who was standing in an open car moving slowly into St. Peter’s Square, which was filled with more than 10,000 people. Pope John Paul II was shot four times and suffered severe blood loss. He was near death when he arrived at Gemelli Hospital. His very first thoughts were on Fátima when he regained consciousness. He began to read Sister Lúcia’s memoirs and her letters during his months of recuperation at the hospital. The recovery was slow going, but the pontiff knew what he needed to read next. On July 18, Pope John Paul II asked for the envelope containing the third secret of Fátima. Cardinal Franjo Seper, prefect of the Congregation, gave two envelopes to Archbishop Eduardo Martínez Somalo, substitute of the secretariat of state, to be delivered to the pontiff. One was a white envelope that contained Sister Lúcia’s original writing in Portuguese. The other envelope was orange and contained the Italian translation of the secret. The two envelopes were returned to the Archives of the Holy Office on August 11, 1981, after a thorough review by Pope John Paul II.
The pope was very moved upon reading the contents of the envelope as the reality of the secret sunk deeper into his heart. He immediately thought of consecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He believed that on May 13, 1981, which was the 64th anniversary of the first apparition in Fátima, the M ay 2 0 1 7 ❘
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The Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima will be a place of celebration when Pope Francis visits in May to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Marian apparitions of Fátima.
“Everything has been published; no secret remains.” –Sister Lúcia Santos
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Blessed Mother guided the bullets that shot him to protect him from death. The third secret of Fátima was so much about him, the “bishop dressed in white.” Pope John Paul II recognized himself as the pope (or bishop) who, in the third part of the secret, was killed. However, Pope John Paul II was not killed, but was miraculously saved by the Blessed Mother. Some would later say that Pope John Paul II couldn’t possibly be the “bishop in white” in the vision because he did not die. To that, Pope John Paul II answered that he should have died, but the Blessed Mother brought him back from the brink of death. He even went so far as to say that the Blessed Mother gave him back his life. There was no question in his mind.
Controversy over the Third Secret The third secret of Our Lady of Fátima was made public on May 13, 2000, at the beatification Mass of Francisco and Jacinta Marto. The Mass was held in the Cova da Iria, where Our Lady told the young shepherds the three secrets. As soon as the third secret was revealed, controversies spread like wildfire. Many questioned whether the Vatican was holding back the full secret. Was the Church revealing the authentic text? Where were the words about an impending great apostasy, a warning of a nuclear holocaust, or about Satan entering the Church? People wanted to believe that the third secret was about impending disasters. As Cardinal Ratzinger predicted, many were disappointed once the secret was revealed, and for some, disappointment led to suspicion. Many conspiracy theories surfaced.
In the document The Message of Fátima, by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Bertone stated: “There is only one manuscript, which is here reproduced photostatically.” Sister Lúcia also confirmed the Vatican text. She met with Archbishop Bertone and Bishop Seraphim de Sousa of Leiria at her Carmelite convent in Coimbra, Portugal, on April 27, 2000. Two envelopes were presented to her by the archbishop. The first envelope was the outer envelope containing the second envelope, which held the third secret. Sister Lúcia touched the letter and stated, “This is my letter.” She then read it and said, “This is my writing.” She was asked if it was the only third secret. She said, “Yes, this is the third secret, and I never wrote another.” On November 17, 2001, Sister Lúcia met again with Archbishop Bertone. A Vatican Secret Service communiqué about their meeting, dated December 20, 2001, and titled “Sister Lucy: Secret of Fátima Contains No More Mysteries,” states: “With reference to the third part of the secret of Fátima, [Sister Lúcia] affirmed that she had attentively read and meditated upon the booklet published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [The Message of Fátima] and confirmed everything that was written there. To whoever imagines that some part of the secret has been hidden, she replied: ‘Everything has been published; no secret remains.’ To those who speak and write of new revelations, she said: ‘There is no truth in this. If I received new revelations, I would have told no one, but I would have communicated them directly to the Holy Father.’” Our minds and hearts should be at complete ease knowing that before her 2005 death, Sister Lúcia made absolutely sure that Our Lady’s words and messages were revealed to the world at the proper time, and that the consecration of the world—including Russia to Mary’s Immaculate Heart—was fully made appropriately to satisfy the Blessed Mother. A The preceding is an excerpt from Our Lady of Fátima: 100 Years of Stories, Prayers, and Devotions, by Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle, published by Servant Books (shop.Francis canMedia.org). Based in Connecticut, Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle is a best-selling and an award-winning author of more than 20 books, including The Miraculous Medal: Stories, Prayers, and Devotions (Servant Books). She is also a frequent contributor to EWTN. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
EDITORIAL
‘Where Do I Stand before God?’ Luther’s burning question still challenges each of us. When Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the cathedral door in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517, he set in motion the Reformation. Last October 31, Pope Francis visited the Lutheran cathedral in Lund, Sweden, for an ecumenical service organized by the World Lutheran Federation. The pope called this anniversary year “a new opportunity to accept a common path, one that has taken shape over the past 50 years.”
Recent Popes on Luther On September 23, 2011, in the former Augustinian monastery where Luther studied in Erfurt, Pope Benedict XVI asked the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany: “‘How do I receive the grace of God?’ The fact that this question was the driving force of [Martin Luther’s] whole life never ceases to make a deep impression on me. . . . The question: What is God’s position toward me, where do I stand before God?— Luther’s burning question—must once more, doubtless in a new form, become our question, too, not an academic question but a real one. “It was the error of the Reformation period that for the most part we could only see what divided us, and we failed to grasp existentially what we have in common in terms of the great deposit of sacred Scripture and the early Christian creeds.” Since the opening of Vatican II in 1962, Catholic/Lutheran dialogue has made great strides internationally and in the United States. In Luigi Accattoli’s 1998 book When a Pope Asks Forgiveness: The Mea Culpa’s of John Paul II, the chapter on Luther contains six texts in which that pope said something positive about Martin Luther, including his 1996 affirmation that excommunication ends with a person’s death. On October 31, 1999, representatives from the World Lutheran Federation and the Fr ancisca n Media .org
Roman Catholic Church came to Augsburg, Germany, to sign “A Joint Declaration on Justification” that affirmed common agreement about one of the Reformation’s central issues. The annex to this text says: “Together we confess: By grace alone, in faith in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and received by the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works” (15).
The Way Forward Last October in Sweden, Pope Francis said, “With gratitude we acknowledge that the Reformation helped give greater centrality to sacred Scripture in the Church’s life.” After recalling that Jesus prayed for his disciples to remain united (Jn 17:21), the pope said: “This is what comforts us and inspires us to be one with Jesus, and thus to pray: ‘Grant us the gift of unity, so that the world may believe in the power of your mercy.’ This is the testimony the world expects from us. We Christians will be credible witnesses of mercy to the extent that forgiveness, renewal, and reconciliation are daily experienced in our midst.” On January 19 at the Vatican, Pope Francis told a Lutheran delegation from Finland: “True ecumenism is based on a shared conversion to Jesus Christ as our lord and redeemer. If we draw close to him, we draw close also to one another.” Unfortunately, some Catholics still maintain that their Church has no need to ask forgiveness for its role in the Reformation. To do so, they claim, is equivalent to cooperating in evil. There is plenty of blame to go around on all sides, but those are judgments best left to God, who alone knows all the relevant facts. Each day, we contribute to the unity Christ wished for his Church—or we keep those divisions alive. Overall, what unites us is greater than what separates us. Do we stand before God as people who unify or as people who perpetuate old quarrels?—P.M. M ay 2 0 1 7 ❘ 1 9
Baseball’s
Ed Lucas You might not think a blind person could be a sports broadcaster, but this man won an Emmy doing it. BY PETER FINNEY JR.
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T PHOTO COURTESY OF ED LUCAS; BACKGROUND © JUSTINKENDRA/ FOTOSEARCH; BAT AND BALL © 33FT/ ISTOCKPHOTO
HE 1950S-era New York dailies, masters of hyperbole when it came to viewing their sports heroes through the what-have-you-donefor-me-lately lens of hero or goat, called it “the shot heard ’round the world.” Bobby Thomson’s three-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning on October 3, 1951, at the Polo Grounds lifted the New York Giants to an improbable 5–4 victory over their bitter rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, giving them a ticket to the World Series as National League champs. At his microphone perch above home plate, Giants radio announcer Russ Hodges barked out one of the iconic calls in major league broadcasting history: “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!” About 22 miles away—in Jersey City, New Jersey—12-year-old Eddie Lucas stood transfixed. Eddie had pleaded with his father before going to school at PS 22 that Wednesday morning to let him skip class: the decisive World Series play-in game started at 1 p.m., and Eddie didn’t want to miss a pitch. When Ed Lucas Sr. didn’t relent, his son had to squirm at his desk until the 3 o’clock bell and then rush home to watch what was left of the first nationally broadcast baseball game on the family’s 12-inch, black-and-white Philco television. When Thomson’s winning homer sailed toward Coogan’s Bluff, Eddie’s father opened all the windows in their Lafayette Gardens apartment and screamed at the top of his lungs. Fr anciscanMedia.org
Eddie changed into his wool Giants jersey and bolted for the door. He was going to the blacktop skating rink to meet his friends and celebrate. He was going to play ball. Had his protective mother, Rosanna, been at home, Eddie probably would not have been allowed out of the apartment. Eddie was born with limited eyesight. He wore thick glasses to see the blackboard at school. Ophthalmologists told his parents Eddie might lose his sight completely if he ever took a jolt to the head. That didn’t matter now. The Giants were going to the World Series, and Eddie was going to play in the gloaming. The pickup game among friends started out with almost full squads, but as the October sky grew darker, more kids had to head home for dinner. Now it was five against five, and Eddie got a rare treat: he took the mound to pitch, something he almost never was selected to do. Even though he could barely see without them, Eddie took off his glasses and placed them on the ground. The next shot heard ’round the world was a line drive that hit Eddie squarely in the face, which robbed him of his remaining sight and, at the same time, set in motion his incredible journey to become major league baseball’s first blind broadcaster.
Ed Lucas, center, poses with son Christopher, left, and Yankees Hall of Fame closer Rich “Goose” Gossage at Yankee Stadium.
Faith, Family, Friends Ed Lucas’ amazing story (cowritten by his son Christopher) of perseverance and living out his Catholic faith is in print—Seeing Home: The Ed Lucas Story; A Blind Broadcaster’s Story of Overcoming Life’s Obstacles—and the movie M ay 2 0 1 7 ❘
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Yankee star Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez holds a copy of Ed’s autobiography, Seeing Home, in this photo taken at Yankee Stadium. The 14-time All Star retired in August 2016.
may be coming soon to a theater near you. “I tell people never to give up,” says Lucas, now 77 and living in Union City, New Jersey. “I always say there were three things that got me through: faith, family, and friends.” Doctors trying to treat fully detached retinas in the 1950s didn’t have many options. One treatment required Eddie to keep his head motionless for two weeks, so nurses placed sandbags around his head to anchor it from any sudden movement. He ate his meals through a straw. Nothing worked. On his 13th birthday, his uncle Gene bought him a braille watch, which had a handy popup glass so Eddie could feel the minute and hour hands. Eddie’s father worked as a pressman for The New York Times, and his bluecollar buddies pooled money to buy Eddie an expensive Victrola, which he used to listen to his favorite music, including the rock-and-roll tunes of Johnnie Ray, who went deaf in his left ear at age 13. When the weather got warmer during the 1952 baseball season, Eddie’s parents rigged an extension cord to the family’s console radio so he could listen to the Giants games outside in the breeze. In the background, Rosanna used her impeccable penmanship to write letters to Eddie’s favorite baseball stars on the Giants, Dodgers, and Yankees, and many of them wrote back, 22 ❘
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offering to host Eddie at a game whenever they could. One of the letters went to Yankees shortstop Phil (Scooter) Rizzuto, a diminutive player who had been told he was too short to play in the majors but went on to become the American League MVP in 1950. In those days, as odd as it might seem today, ballplayers worked second jobs in the offseason to supplement their income. Rizzuto served as a greeter for the American Clothing Shop in Newark. “I was sort of down and depressed, and my mother read in the paper that Phil was at the clothing store,” Lucas says. “I assume that she had spoken to him because when I went in there with my dad, Phil said, ‘I hear you’re a big baseball fan! You got to keep your spirits up!’ I was only 12 or 13 years old, and I was in awe.” Before Eddie left the store, Rizzuto handed him his Yankees business card with his home phone number. “You take this and call me any time you want to talk,” Rizzuto told him. Eddie exchanged numbers, and a few days later, Rizzuto was on the phone, telling Eddie he was going to stop by in an hour to take him on a drive so they could grab dinner. “He just loosened me up and talked about things, and he started to invite me to games,” Lucas recalls. “The one thing he kept encouraging me to do was to get a good education. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
And we became dear friends—my best friend in life—for 56 years.”
Nuns to the Rescue Despite Rizzuto’s advice to get an education, Eddie thought it might be out of reach. “My only image of blind people was they had a cane and a cup, begging for money,” he recalls. But his life changed once again. Every day, his father would take a fresh-air stroll with Eddie around the neighborhood, and after Mass they walked near the Jersey City Printing Company. One day a nun was at the front door, collecting alms, and Eddie’s father dropped a couple of bucks into her basket. As they walked away, Sister Hugh of the St. Joseph Sisters of Peace caught sight of Eddie and wondered why he wasn’t in school. When Eddie’s father explained that his son’s doctors felt a schoolyard accident might permanently derail any hope of Eddie regaining his sight, Sister Hugh shot back, “That’s no excuse, doctor or not, to keep him from getting a proper education!” That encounter changed Eddie’s life. Sister Hugh’s community ran the Holy Family School for the Blind, and the nuns there practiced tough love. On one of Eddie’s first days at school, he instinctively reached for the staircase wall with his right hand to help him navigate the steps from the second-floor dormitory to the first floor. That’s when Sister Anthony Marie swatted his hand away from the wall. “At this school,” she told him, “we don’t put our hands out to feel the walls. We keep them by our sides.” When Eddie protested that he needed the extra sensory help, Sister Anthony Marie replied: “Isn’t that a shame, Mr. Lucas? You’re
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not the only disabled person in the world. All of us have challenges to overcome in life and places to go. We are all in the same boat together. I suggest that you pick up your oar, and start rowing!” At Holy Family, Eddie learned to match separate outfits by color, placing them in a leftto-right grid. When he graduated from eighth grade two years later, along with his diploma he received from the sisters a rosary and a braille Bible. As he walked out Holy Family’s front door, Eddie stopped, turned around, and ran his hands over the brick wall. Sister Anthony Marie was there. “Don’t worry about that, Eddie,” she told him tearfully. “We’re going to miss you around here, young man. You are very special indeed. From now on, don’t worry about walls. If you have any in front of you, just knock them down.” For the last 62 years, Lucas has done exactly that.
Knocking Down Walls After completing high school at the New York Institute for the Blind in the Bronx, he pursued a communications degree at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. There was only one major obstacle: using a combination of public buses, it took Lucas more than three hours each way to get to and from school. He had to travel east from Weehawken, New Jersey, into Manhattan’s Port Authority Terminal, and then west again to Newark, where he walked four blocks to catch another bus to South Orange. By then, Lucas had been gifted with his first guide dog—a German shepherd named Kay— which made her the only female on Seton Hall’s then all-male campus. “Father Walter Jarvis loved Kay—he named her the queen of the campus,” Lucas says. “I would go to confession to Father Jarvis every Friday. Kay was right there with me. She heard my confession, too.” In the years since losing his sight in 1951, his friendship with Rizzuto and his invitations to attend Giants, Yankees, and Dodgers games had given Lucas a free pass into the cloistered inner sanctum of baseball. He met every major league star, even those on opposing teams. On June 14, 1952, he had a chance to talk to Thomson inside the Giants’ Polo Grounds clubhouse about “the shot heard ’round the world”—both of them. “I think my story sort of shocked him, but
Ed Lucas credits the sisters at Holy Family School for the Blind with helping him get an education and overcome the obstacles he faced.
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF ED LUCAS
(Above) Ed Lucas gets some batting tips from Reggie Jackson, known as “Mr. October” for his clutch hitting in the postseason. (Right) Ed Lucas tapes an interview with Joe DiMaggio. His career as a broadcaster and sportswriter spans six decades and includes an Emmy award in 2009 for his work on the YES Network. (Far right) Ed Lucas and Allison Pfeifle pose for pictures after exchanging vows at home plate at Yankee Stadium on March 10, 2006. They were introduced by Ed’s lifelong friend, Hall of Fame shortstop Phil Rizzuto.
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we became good friends,” Lucas says. Since Lucas was on a first-name basis with so many major leaguers, he began interviewing them with an oversized, reel-to-reel tape recorder. His audio reports became prized content for “Around the Bases with Ed Lucas,” which debuted on Seton Hall’s radio station, WSOU, in the spring of 1959. After graduation from Seton Hall, Lucas became an insurance salesman but continued his connection with baseball. It wasn’t always easy facing the jealousy and the biases of bigname New York sportswriters who felt a blind person was taking up space in the locker room and the press box. Occasionally, players ridiculed his disability. After one game, a visiting player saw Lucas standing by his locker, waiting to interview him. “Here’s what I’m not going to do—talk to a cripple,” the player said. “Is this a clubhouse or a circus?” What Lucas recalls—even more than the player’s penetrating words—was the deafening silence. No reporter came to his defense. In tearfully recounting the locker-room incident later that night to Rizzuto, Lucas got the
same kind of fatherly advice the Scooter had given him inside the Newark clothing store many years earlier. “Phil told me to turn the other cheek,” Lucas says. “The way you win in life is by getting back up when you get knocked down.” No one else could ever do what Lucas does near a batting cage. He can stand 10 feet away, hear the crack of the bat, and predict with nearly 100-percent accuracy where the ball is headed. “I can’t explain it,” he says.
Heading for Home Lucas says the toughest part of writing his autobiography was recounting the dissolution of his first marriage. When his wife left home, leaving him to raise his two young sons on his own, Lucas called on the three things that matter in his life: faith, family, and friends. Several years later, his former wife sued and temporarily won full custody of the boys. Lucas was able to successfully regain custody with the help of an expert legal team paid for by friends, including Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
So that his work might continue... Support our Franciscan ministry of evangelization at
FRANCISCAN MEDIA To contribute, send your gift* to: “The Franciscans” c/o St. Anthony Messenger 28 W. Liberty Street ■ Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498 or visit FranciscanMedia.org Ed Lucas interviews Willie Mays after a New York Giants game. “The Say Hey Kid” was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. Rizzuto testified at the trial, explaining how Lucas cared for his children with love, taking them with him to ball games. Lucas regained full custody on September 25, 1980. “That was Phil’s birthday,” Lucas says. After obtaining an annulment, in 2006 Lucas married Allison Pfeifle, who may be the only person alive who knows more about baseball than Lucas. Rizzuto actually set the ball in motion for their budding romance. Rizzuto had stopped by a neighborhood flower shop and saw that the shopkeeper seemed distracted and down. The owner said her niece—Allison—was having trouble with her vision. “I have a friend, Eddie Lucas, who is blind,” Rizzuto said. “Maybe he can help lift her spirits. Is it OK if he calls Allison?” They were married on March 10, 2006, in a small chapel at Seton Hall, and then rode to Yankee Stadium, where they repeated their vows at home plate. It was the first time any couple had ever been married on that spot. “Boss George” Steinbrenner gave the OK and paid for the wedding. “I guess my story is to not ever give up,” Lucas says. Especially in the bottom of the ninth. A Peter Finney Jr. is the editor and general manager of the Clarion Herald, the Catholic newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He is a former sportswriter for the New York Post and the New York Daily News. Fr anciscanMedia.org
*Your gift is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
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Life Lessons along the The quiet of the woods was a voice he couldn’t resist. BY MARK McCANN
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or some, it’s the call of adventure or the challenge of reaching a goal. For me, it’s the power of sacramentality that washes over me and refines itself with each spirit-testing trip. There is something deeply transformative in these little wanderings in the wilderness. And, once away from the noise and clutter of civilization, I can more clearly hear the Spirit’s tender whisperings within my soul and come home a better man.
Trail Magic and Journey Strength Finding Christ on the Appalachian Trail (AT) went hand in hand with the exertion and the 26 ❘
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unexpected twists and turns I met along the way. Though I was determined to learn from last year’s “character-building,” two-day hike, there were many aspects I couldn’t foresee, events both beautiful and trying. I had prepared for the rigors of the AT by packing my new and improved gear, my GPSenabled cell phone and solar charger, and all the food and emergency items needed to keep me safe and sound. When I arrived at my starting point, I said goodbye to my wife and jumped out of my vehicle to make my way to the trailhead in Salisbury, Connecticut. There I encountered what I initially considered my St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
Appalachian Trail © LUNAMARINA/ FOTOSEARCH
first ever “Trail magic” occurrence: a fellow hiker and his mother with an open car trunk loaded with brownies, candy bars, and sports drinks to share. Spending time with them was a wonderful beginning to the experience; but as I thought about it, it was really not the first Trail magic I had experienced. That godsend came in the form of two text messages from brothers at my church, wishing me well and promising to pray for my journey—an unexpected blessing that filled me with a sense of security and was a heaven-sent sign of the fellowship we shared as members of the body of Christ. But perhaps the greatest Trail magic of all came from my bride, who chased after me as I made my way to the entrance to the AT because she had forgotten to pray with me before I began my trip. Her sweet words and Fr anciscanMedia.org
tender tears were truly the greatest strength I would take with me on my trek.
Relationships and Incarnational Living One of the best parts of the AT came in the relationships that I formed along the way. Sharing words, a shelter meal, or the hike itself was a reminder of my own relationship to the One who took on flesh for me. It was humbling to accept that there were hikers better equipped for the trail than I, and beautiful to discover that, in the end, it really didn’t matter. Here on this wilderness journey, we were all family, there to support and encourage one another along the way as we “hiked our own hike” together. As those narrow trails and steep ascents pushed me to my limit, I remembered another man who 2,000 years ago made a trek into M ay 2 0 1 7 ❘
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the wilderness to face the greatest of human temptations, and who later made the journey up the hill of Calvary to die so that I could be reborn. In that experience, I felt a renewed union to my own rebirth in Christ, experienced so many years ago.
The Confessional of the Woods Along the weary way I found myself in the confessional of the woods. There was something powerful in being totally spent, in wondering when the climb would end, and in facing the fear that I might not make it. It left me in a very vulnerable place, a place where all I could do was surrender to the moment and draw strength from the One who bore the crushing weight of sin for me. I realized on those climbs that I was but a limited human being, full of frailties and flaws, and not at all in command of my destiny. Here on the mountain I found it hard to conceal the many secret sins that I could hide so well from those around me at home. As I drew closer toward heaven—literally—there was a peace in letting go of the pettiness of my own lowly estate and taking on the character of a child in need of the strength of his Father’s care. As I poured out my sins before
the Father, I felt an intense release and a profound reconciliation in the embrace of his forgiving arms.
Eucharist: Real Food and Drink for the Journey I confess that as I hiked, I often neglected to take time for proper meals. Part of it was the rush of adrenaline as I hiked along; part was my own ego that pushed me to put more miles behind me more quickly than I had the previous year. While the energy from a sugary breakfast gave me a good start, it didn’t really sustain me as I struggled on through the day. What I needed was the protein and nutritious foods to give me the nourishment my body required. As the weakness slowed my momentum, I knew I should have eaten more—and more healthfully—while out on the trail each day. Those times of hunger reminded me very powerfully of the Eucharist. There are times in my life when I fill myself with the goodies of pleasure and possessions, believing the temporary high they generate is enough to satisfy me. But what I truly need is the spiritual nourishment that comes from the bread of life and the cup of salvation, given to me in memory of the One who fills my deepest needs with himself. My hunger on the trail brought to mind just how important it is for me to receive the spiritual food and drink that brings me the very life of Christ, without which I would fall flat on my face as I journey toward my heavenly goal.
The Confirming Presence of the Spirit
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK MCCANN
Ministry consultant Mark McCann experienced spiritual “trail magic” as he traversed the Appalachian Trail, using the solitude of nature to find new ways to connect with the Spirit and learn life lessons to carry back home.
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Finding water on the trail, especially on my third day out, was not as easy as last year, since there were fewer legitimate water sources along this part of the AT. At one point, I began to run out of water as I hiked the final leg of a 14-mile trek to the next shelter. I started rationing my intake: taking small sips every five minutes or so and then getting down to simple swallows as I found myself still more than two miles from my destination. Then, with fewer than two-tenths of a mile to go, I realized that I was completely exhausted, dehydrated, and discouraged. I kept pushing on, knowing I had to reach the shelter before I could drink again. But when I came to yet another difficult climb, I sat down and called out to God, asking him to send me some help. Almost immediately, rescue came in the person of a fellow St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
three-day hiker who generously offered some of his water, and then sat and talked with me as I regained my strength. I was grateful to know that when I thirsted, God provided just what I needed to see me through. It made me think about how often my life can become so dry and depleted that I fail to recognize my need for God’s Spirit and his divine counsel. The living lesson of that day helped to reconnect me to the Holy Spirit, who filled me at my Confirmation, and who stands ready to enter into the dryness of my desert days and fill me with his presence once more. That hiking brother and his gift of cool water reaffirmed my belief that God sends miracles and angels into my life every day—if I’m willing to ask and look for them. Later, while sipping fresh water in the coolness of the shelter, I recommitted myself to recognizing the purpose and power that each trial and treasure brings to me. In that ordinary experience, I found the touch of the Spirit’s hand.
Life Lessons Learned
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I had originally decided to hike an extra day, but an injury to my left foot made me reconsider that plan. I could have pushed on through the pain, but there was no good reason. It would have been easy to see this as a failure, but truly the failure would have been in turning such a satisfying hike into a painful experience for no reason other than to prove to myself I could finish the arbitrary goal I had set. My purpose for the hike was to experience the sacramentality of each summit and the beauty of communing with my Creator, not to prove how strong (and stubborn) I could be. And so I awoke the next morning, handed out some of my leftover food, and said my goodbyes to the great people I had met along the way. I hiked a mile down to the closest road, waited for my ride, and was ever so grateful when she arrived. Our first stop was at a local fast-food place for a much-desired steak, egg, and cheese bagel sandwich and an orange juice. To my delight, two of my hiking companions, a mother and daughter section-hiker team, called us to come and share a booth with them. We talked and laughed as I savored my sandwich, relishing the taste and the extreme satisfaction in filling my belly with something other than a sugary, jam-filled toaster tart. It was so gratifying, too, to take in the joy of knowing that these two lovely ladies whom
I had met as strangers now spoke with me as friends. I knew that most likely I would never see them again—at least not in this life—but what I did know was that I was richer for having met them. As we broke bread together one last time, what we shared served as a deeper sign of the joyful journey believers take as members of God’s family of faith.
The generosity of others hiking during his time of need reminded McCann that God’s presence and support can be found in every interaction if you are open to it.
Sacred Signs along the Way The signs along the trail were everywhere, waiting for the grace of the Spirit to awaken me to them each day. Their mystery filled me to overflowing and spoke to my heart in ways I’m still working to understand. I learned that God uses my pain and struggle to give me a new perspective as I travel the deep valleys M ay 2 0 1 7 ❘
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© ANISZEWSKI/FOTOSEARCH
McCann’s journey illuminated the joyful learning that can occur when you surrender to God and listen to the messages he sends.
and ascend the great summits that lie before me. I was reminded that there are good and beautiful people in this world, fellow travelers with whom I can share the journey of life as I experience their strengths and unique gifts. I discovered that these journeys are a way for me to let go of the mess and mistakes inside
me, to get in touch with my vulnerabilities, and in the end to surrender all of that to a loving God, knowing that the result will be a beautiful and wonderful inner transformation! On my next hike, I’ll be making some changes to how I do things. Each trip helps me to learn more about what’s really important and needed out on the trail—and on the journey of life, as well. Maybe I’ll meet some of the same hikers, or maybe I’ll make some new friends. I hope that sharing our stories together will serve as a sacred sign of God’s grace and give me the courage to continue to take my journey one step at a time. I know my experiences will help to guide me for the next hike, and I may even make it a little farther than I did this time. Whatever will come my way, I’ll certainly surrender to the signs of the Holy Spirit and marvel at the mystery that speaks to my heart when I’m willing to listen and learn. A Mark McCann is a ministry consultant and married father of three children who lives in Windsor, Connecticut. Mark enjoys hiking, cycling, and writing.
LIGHTEN UP
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St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
AT HOME ON EARTH
❘ BY KYLE KRAMER
To Till, or Not to Till
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amounts of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere—more each year than all the vehicles in the world. Recent research suggests, however, that if organic regenerative farming methods were used on all the world’s crop and grazing land, the soil could absorb up to 111 percent of the total annual human greenhouse Take a Break emissions. Read that last sentence again: we could not Instead of getting out the only slow, but reverse climate tiller in your garden this change. year, get out the pitchfork: Here’s the best part: when use mulch to build soil, you take carbon out of the keep back weeds, and keep atmosphere, where too much carbon out of the atmois a problem, and sequester it sphere. safely in the soil, it increases crop yield, drought resisOne great method of tance, and overall soil and mulch-based, no-till ecosystem health. What’s gardening is also a lot less more, regenerative farming work. Ruth Stout described practices are relatively simit in her classic book, The ple, inexpensive, and profRuth Stout No-Work Garden itable for both first- and Book. third-world farmers alike. So the Earth wins, farmers win, and all of us win since we all depend on a stable climate and a reliable, affordable food supply. The only losers—and, of course, they are no small players—are agribusiness corporations that can’t or won’t adapt to something different from their current chemical-, machine-, and energy-intensive business models. We Catholics take eating seriously—not just to stay alive, but also because food, in the form of the Eucharist, is the center of our tradition. We can make food choices that support win-win kinds of farming. It’s time we started voting with our forks for the world we want. A
Something as simple as hand-tilling the earth can have a big impact on the environment.
Kyle Kramer is the executive director of the Passionist Earth and Spirit Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
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o much of the talk about environmental issues tends to be couched in the language of either-or and win or lose. We assume we have to choose, for example, between protecting our environment and protecting jobs. As a result, we’ve politicized and polarized issues that should be common sense and common ground for everyone. No one wants to live in a hopelessly polluted, degraded world, right? The good news is that there are resources that can help us solve environmental challenges and that complement, rather than compete with, our need for a strong economy. One of them is right under our feet: the soil. Lately, as my garden takes off in the warmer weather, I’ve been reading some new studies demonstrating that agriculture could prove an effective tool to fight climate change. As a farmer, as much as I hate to admit it, agriculture has been, up to this point, a large part of the problem. Clearing forested land for farming, grazing livestock, and even just tilling the soil all release large
PHOTO BY EUGENE PLAISTED, OSC
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St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
Spiritual Guides in the
Old Testament Their remarkable stories can inspire us to serve God better. B Y FAT H E R T I M O T H Y S C H E H R , P H D
W
E ARE ALL on a journey of faith. As we walk this journey, we look for models and guides along the way. Of course, we have the words of Jesus and his many followers throughout the ages. Sometimes, though, we forget about the many biblical figures who can help us. Perhaps any one of us could readily name some worthy candidates from the New Testament, especially from the Gospels. But let’s not forget the Old Testament, telling the grand tradition of faith over thousands of years. These models from the Hebrew Scriptures can inspire us today. Let’s consider a few of them. Some may be familiar; others are less known. Some of them are not named at all. But does that really matter? Their remarkable stories can still inspire us to serve God better.
Jacob Put God First Let’s begin with a familiar figure: Jacob, brother of Esau and son of Isaac. It may come as a surprise to know his story embraces no less than half the Book of Genesis. Beginning with chapter 25, we literally follow this patriarch’s life from birth to death. When he makes his entrance into this world, Jacob is trying to get ahead; he has a firm grip on the heel of his Fr anciscanMedia.org
older brother, already trying to claim the benefits of the firstborn for himself! That scene gives us an important clue to the way Jacob will prefer to act in life. Consider these peak moments in Jacob’s life story. He insists Esau surrender his birthright for a bowl of lentil stew (Gn 25). He barters with Laban, working an extra seven years to gain the hand of Rachel (Gn 29). He even insists on winning in his struggle with a heavenly visitor (Gn 32). Of course, there is a heavy price to pay for having things his way all the time. His preference for Rachel’s son Joseph creates so much animosity among his other sons that Joseph ends up being sold by them into slavery. As a result, it seems Jacob has lost Joseph forever. But by God’s mysterious ways, losing Joseph turns out to be the best thing for Jacob’s spiritual progress. We all know Joseph’s story; his coat of many colors has always been a popular detail, inspiring many retellings. But Joseph’s vivid dreams make a most dramatic contribution to Jacob’s story. They forecast what God will bring about to heal the family and make Jacob a true patriarch. Joseph’s first dream—about the stalks of wheat—forecasts what Joseph will do for the family physically, feeding them in time of M ay 2 0 1 7 ❘
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famine. The second dream—about the sun, moon, and stars—forecasts what he will do for the family spiritually. If created lights bow before another light, that light must be even brighter. What would be brighter than any created light? The light of faith, of course. And indeed, Joseph becomes a beacon of light for his family, guiding them back to the Promised Land. Jacob, however, plays a big part in the fulfillment of this second dream. Through his separation from Joseph, Jacob gradually becomes less focused on himself and more focused on all his children. We can see this transformation begin to surface in the exchange with his sons in Genesis 42 and 43. In 42:38, he refuses to allow them to take Benjamin to Egypt; in 43:13, he allows it. Significantly, he refers to Benjamin no longer as “my son” but as “your brother.” The family bonds are growing stronger in Jacob’s eyes. When at last Jacob himself arrives in Egypt, he is determined to awaken in Joseph an appreciation for the Promised Land. Joseph resists his father’s efforts initially because he imagines his future lies in Egypt. But in the end, Joseph embraces his father’s viewpoint; his dying wish is that his final resting place be in the Promised Land. Jacob lost Joseph only to win him back in a more significant way. Jacob became a spiritual mentor for his entire family, as well. In Genesis 49, he has a blessing for each of his 12 sons, expressing what each of them needs to make spiritual progress. What can we take away from Jacob’s journey of faith? He teaches us to put God first in our lives. Like Jacob, we have our personal interests. But also like Jacob, we can discover that putting the interests of God first will give us a better perspective on everything else, including family.
Elisha Ask for God’s Help Another figure we can learn from is Elisha, who is sometimes regarded as a person of little importance among the prophets. He certainly does seem to be overshadowed by his mentor, the great prophet Elijah, who gets loads of attention. Elijah enters the biblical scene with a bang, suddenly appearing, it seems, out of thin air. Then come all those special effects. Who can forget that flash of divine fire eating up the offering, wood, and even the stones of the altar in 1 Kings 18:38? Elijah makes a dramatic exit, too. He goes up in a whirlwind, leaving poor Elisha to scramble about for any34 ❘
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thing the great man of God may have left behind (2 Kgs 2:11–13). But keep this in mind—Elisha had the smarts to ask for a double portion of the spirit resting on his mentor, Elijah. He wanted to serve God twice as much as Elijah did. That is a bold request! It might seem a bit self-serving, too, until we see the quality of Elisha’s service to God in subsequent chapters, where he acts as an agent of life for people. In one story, a deeply spiritual woman invites the prophet to visit with her family in a place called Shunem. In return for her generosity, Elisha announces that God will bless her with a son. Her response shows how much faith she has. It seems she worried that one day she would be left alone in the world with
With little food on hand, Elisha assures his household that all will be adequately fed. Like Elisha, we can ask God for help when we strive to serve others.
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no family to care for her. Elisha’s concern for her is exhibited again when he pleads to God to restore her son to life and, later still, when as an agent of God, he protects her from a famine in the land (2 Kgs 8:1–2). Elisha proves to be an agent of life for many others, too. A widow fears her two sons will be sold into slavery, but through the word of Elisha, God provides for them (2 Kgs 4:1–7). When student prophets fear they have been poisoned, Elisha removes all danger (2 Kgs 4:38–41). In yet another event, a servant to Elisha fears there may not be enough food to feed them all. Through the power of God, Elisha announces all will be satisfied with fragments left over (2 Kgs 4:42–44). Perhaps the most celebrated account of Elisha as an agent of life is his healing of Naaman the leper. Initially Naaman, a great Syrian general, allows his pride to get the best of him. But once he sets pride aside and washes in the Jordan River, he emerges a new man. Naaman’s healing reaches down to his very core (2 Kgs 5:9–15). Elisha extends this lesson of humility to others, as well. When pride gets the better of some student prophets, he tells them that if they want to learn, they must take direction from the hand of the prophet (2 Kgs 6:1–7). Elisha does the same for a king. If the king allows the hand of the prophet to guide his own hand, he will never suffer defeat from those who seek to harm him (2 Kgs 13:14– 19). In scene after scene, Elisha brings spiritual benefits to the lives of others. He did indeed receive a double portion of the spirit of his mentor. And in Elisha we have a model for our own lives. We, too, can be agents of life; the first step is asking God to help us. Jacob and Elisha are prominent characters in the Bible. But there are others for whom we do not even have a name. Such is the case with the next spiritual companion.
have forgotten the young servant girl altogether, but when the general emerges from the waters of the Jordan, we are told that his skin was restored to him “like the flesh of a child.” And so we are reminded of the child servant who spoke about the healing power of the prophet, and thus launched the dramatic events that changed Naaman’s life for the better on many levels. From this faith-filled servant we learn an important lesson. By God’s grace, the words we speak to others may set them on a path leading them closer to God. We may never know the good influence a few words from our lips has on other people. But does that really matter? What matters is that our words are always serving God.
We learn that our words can inspire others to faith in the story of the prideful general, Naaman, whose leprosy was healed in the Jordan River, thanks to the faith-filled assertion of his servant girl.
The Unnamed Girl Awaken Others to Faith
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PHOTOS BY EUGENE PLAISTED, OSC
In the story of Naaman the leper, a young girl who has no name is mentioned, appearing only briefly in the chapter. This daughter of Israel is a servant in Naaman’s household. One day she suggests that if the great general were to meet the prophet in her homeland of Israel, he would be cured of his leprosy (2 Kgs 5:2– 3). In the very next verse, her words are being repeated in the royal court of Syria, and Naaman is soon on his way for a cure. We might M ay 2 0 1 7 ❘
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The word of God is the lamp that illumines the way.
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—Psalm 119:105
The Psalmist Always Seek God’s Guidance Our final spiritual companion is another figure with no name. This one does not even make an appearance in the Bible as a character within a story. All we know of this model of faith comes from the words of a psalm. But if we read carefully, we can make out the profile of a spiritual giant. The lyrics of this song of praise to God take up 176 verses, making Psalm 119 by ANSWERS TO PETE AND REPEAT far the longest of the psalms. 1. There is now a ribbon on the wreath. That large number of verses is 2. A tombstone on the left is taller. no accident. By design, the 3. A piece of Pete’s cowlick is missing. song proceeds in increments 4. The tombstone next to Pete now bears of eight lines, and each unit a cross. begins with a successive letter 5. Pete is now wearing long sleeves. of the Hebrew alphabet—aleph, 6. An American flag has appeared by the beth, gimel, etc. This might headstone in front. seem a very mechanical way 7. Pete’s feet are closer together. to go about crafting a hymn 8. One of the tombstones in the back is a cross. of praise. On the other hand, we could regard it as very thor36 ❘
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ough, including everything—as we would say—from A to Z. What does the psalm treat so thoroughly? It traces someone’s spiritual awakening. Let’s walk alongside this model of faith, and look at some of the key moments in that awakening. At the outset, the psalmist dreams of walking steadily through life, guided by the word of God. And isn’t this our goal, too? Achieving this would take so much fear out of the journey. Is this even possible? The psalmist thinks so and is prepared to give it a try. Initially the psalmist feels bound to the dust of the earth, but he knows where to go for a remedy. He decides to bond with God’s word, which will ensure a good run along the path of life (119:25–32). In another section, he has a list of special requests to make to God. At the top of the list, he asks God to be the teacher. With God as instructor, the psalmist will have more understanding than any mortal teacher could provide (119:99). As Psalm 119 proceeds, he keeps making steady progress. He knows the word of God is the lamp that illumines the way (119:105). At 119:125, the psalmist can at last declare to God with confidence, “I am your servant.” From this point on, he takes big steps in the journey of faith, trusting that God’s face is shining down (119:135) and that God stands close by (119:151). He asks God for life three times in close succession (119:154, 156, and 159) and prays seven times a day (119:164). The psalmist knows God will answer because this servant has chosen God’s precepts, longs for God’s salvation, and delights in God’s commands (119:173–174). The psalmist has turned his heart over to God. Imagine the encouragement we can gain by walking with the psalmist—indeed, all of these Old Testament figures—step by step. They can help lead us on our own faith journeys as we follow their lessons for life: put God first, ask for God’s help, and never underestimate the power of your faithful witness. It’s not an easy path, but one beyond value. A Father Timothy Schehr, PhD, is a professor of biblical studies at the Athenaeum of Ohio. He has previously contributed to this publication and has been featured on Sacred Heart Radio. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
❘ BASILICA OF ST. LOUIS, KING OF FRANCE
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CATHOLIC SITES TO EXPLORE
The ‘Old Cathedral’
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he Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, formerly the Cathedral of St. Louis, and colloquially referred to as the “Old Cathedral,” is the only example in America of a historic Catholic landmark positioned under a modern secular landmark. The basilica—the oldest Catholic church and the oldest building in St. Louis— stands below the monumental Gateway Arch, a glittering symbol of St. Louis history. When it was consecrated in 1834, the Old Cathedral was surrounded by homes and businesses. That busy neighborhood has been replaced by the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, a tribute to President Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France. (There is a new cathedral, too, outside downtown St. Louis.) There has been a Catholic church here since 1764, when St. Louis—then known as Laclede’s Village—was founded. The Old Cathedral has had a rich history. One of the first chapters of the St. Vincent de Paul Society was established here, and the son of Sacagawea, the guide of explorers Lewis and Clark, was baptized here. After the famous expedition, three of William Clark’s
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children were baptized in the Old Cathedral. Among St. Louis’ art treasures are paintings that Bishop William DuBourg brought back from Europe in 1818. You can find them in the nearby museum. The church was built in the elegant Greek Revival style, and that elegance has been recently restored, especially inside, following an ambitious restoration project. Over the entrance to the cathedral is a Latin inscription that, translated, reads, “In honor of St. Louis. Dedicated to the One and Triune God. AD 1834.” Above the inscription are the Hebrew characters for the holy name of God. A Adapted from 101 Places to Pray Before You Die by Thomas J. Craughwell (Franciscan Media). Next: Ave Maria Grotto
St. Louis• MISSO URI
Basilica of St. Louis, King of France 209 Walnut Street St. Louis, MO 63102 314-231-3250 OldCathedralStL.org
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From Trauma to Though the accident didn’t kill her, denial kept her from being fully alive. BY BARBARA MANGIONE
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our name is written somewhere on the police report stashed in a file box in the corner of a closet, but a name doesn’t conjure up a face. Nor, I suppose, do you remember my face, a face you saw only briefly in unconscious form lying on the pavement. You must have been late for work and distracted. I was riding my bike to campus to teach an 8:30 class. Both of us had a green light. I had just started to cross when you made your left turn. I remember catching a glimpse of the hood of a red car. They tell me I broke your windshield and then flew a dozen feet before landing on the street. A stack of ungraded quizzes and homework in my backpack must have broken my fall. Five minutes earlier, my husband and I had finished our coffee and kissed goodbye. He used to follow me mentally to school: She’s
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going down Pokagon Street. Now she’s crossing Angela. Then he heard the sirens and felt a sense of dread. When the phone rang, University of Notre Dame Security told him, “Your wife was in an accident. They’ve called an ambulance.” Witnesses telephoned their families to say, “I just saw a woman get killed this morning on the way to campus.” All of this happened more than 17 years ago. After the accident, I wanted to send you a note, but the attorney working with your insurance company forbade contact. Later, once the legalities were settled, it seemed pointless to intrude on your life with a phone call. Over the years, though, one idea has been nagging at me with increasing urgency: I owe you a letter of thanks. Does that seem strange to you? It did to me, as well, but the conviction grows that our encounter, traumatic as it was for both of us, St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
FOTOSEARCH (L-R): © AODAODAOD, © GL0CK, © ARNAU2098
Transcendence served a greater purpose. In the year and a half before you made that hurried left turn, I had been slightly injured in two other accidents. One driver skidded on wet pavement and rear-ended me while I waited for a red light to change. The sun blinded the other. Overly scheduled with department duties, club sponsorship, office hours, and four classes to prepare and teach, I had no time to wonder if God was trying to get my attention. He had to knock me in the head with a brick or, more precisely, a red compact car speeding through a busy intersection. There were visible injuries, of course, a surgery, and months of physical therapy, but no bones broken. My head injury proved harder to deal with—difficulty mapping out the route to places I traveled every week, problems with concentration, emotions bubbling to the surface in unexpected and uncontrollable ways. Long after the bruises had faded, fatigue and memory lapses gnawed at my self-confidence. The day I sat working in my office and forgot to walk over to DeBartolo Hall to teach a class was the day that moved me from denial to Fr anciscanMedia.org
depression. “I can’t do this anymore” did battle with “But I have to hold on; we can’t afford to lose my paycheck.”
Arguing with God Fatima House, now a residence for retired priests, sits at the edge of the University of Notre Dame campus, directly across the highway from Saint Mary’s College, and only a mile from my home. I began making a yearly retreat there after a friend seeking strength to deal with a family crisis returned from her own weekend retreat, freed from the anxiety of trying to maintain control. “I put it in God’s hands,” she said. “Things will work out.” I signed up for a retreat, but I wasn’t ready to give up control. If anything, I hoped to regain it. While I prayed, “What do you want from me?” God heard, “Lord, I don’t think you understand the situation, so let me explain it to you. Because if you really understood, this is what you would do.” In other words, “Put things back exactly as they were before.” Conferences and Mass on Friday evening and Saturday morning offered no solution. There M ay 2 0 1 7 ❘
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was nowhere for me to go but to the chapel. If it is true that God is our Father, that Saturday afternoon I behaved like a rebellious teenager upset at not getting her own way. I wanted God to calm my fears and to spell out my future. Seated near the altar, I pleaded, whined, and bargained. Finally, I resorted to threats. “Look, I’m not leaving here until you tell me what to do.” To prove it, I left my chair and slumped on the floor against the chapel wall, a stubborn child digging in her heels. It took me a long time to acknowledge the thought that had been trying to break through the inner noise: Life comes with no guarantees. In the previous two years, I lost both of my parents and survived what might have been a fatal accident. My husband, 11 years older than I and retired, came through after a brush with cancer. Like you, he is an immigrant. If I stopped working, it would be my weakness that denied him the chance to ever see his country again. The thought repeated itself: Life comes with no guarantees. All out of tears and words, I wadded up my last wet Kleenex and stood up. “OK, Lord. I don’t know how we are going to manage, but I trust you. I’ll write the letter
on Monday.” I left the chapel exhausted but at peace.
Journey of Gratitude The lawyer used to remind me, “They are called accidents because we don’t intend for them to happen. That’s what accident means.” I never blamed you, never let anger against you work its poison. That isn’t to say that the journey out of self-pity came easily. At first, the effort to detach from the security of the known required more courage than I was able to muster. I remember walking home from campus, tears streaming down my cheeks, tears that I wiped away before opening the front door so my husband wouldn’t see. One day, I found myself praying for the gift of gratitude. Gratitude would be my path out of sadness. Gratitude for the colors of the leaves. For birdsong. For the way the wind moves the branches and makes shadows on the grass. For hot water for the morning’s shower. For being alive. Gratitude became an exercise, a deliberate decision, a new way of meeting life—not everyone’s way, but one that gradually lifted me from fear and depression, my way out.
May we light a candle for you at the National Shrine of St. Anthony? Fr. Carl lights the candles for your intentions. Each burns for five days, a reminder of St. Anthony’s attention to your prayer. Candles dispel the darkness and offer hope. In lighting a candle, you are asking St. Anthony to intercede with the Lord for your intention. Can we light a candle for you? Visit us at www.stanthony.org. The Franciscan Friars 1615 Vine St., Ste 1 Cincinnati, OH 45202-6492
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Lessons Learned
© KASTO/ FOTOSEARCH
The neurologist said that, with time, people who suffer a concussion develop coping mechanisms to get around the lingering effects. Mostly, he was right, although even now I wouldn’t attempt to deliver a lecture without notes. Forget about reading highway signs while traveling 70 miles per hour. By the time I process the information, we have long since passed the exit—inconvenience, nothing more. Three or four months after I sent my letter of resignation, my sister introduced me to a woman who worked in the alumni travel office. We talked of teaching and travel, of Italy and my upcoming retirement. “Wait a minute,” she said. “That means you won’t be teaching next fall. What would you say about hosting a trip to Italy for us?” My husband and I made that trip the following September, almost to the day your red car crashed into my green bicycle. Not everyone’s struggle comes with such an obvious answer to a prayer. More important than the fairy-tale ending are the lessons learned: that life is too short to waste on pretense, that it’s useless to try to manipulate God, that control is an illusion, that we have no alternative but to trust, and
that the decision to trust clears the way for blessings God intended to give us all along. For your part in all this, I owe you this note of thanks. A Barbara Mangione is a professor emerita at the University of Notre Dame, where she taught Italian and Spanish. After retiring, she began serving as a host for Notre Dame Alumni Travel. Joined by her husband, Enzo, an Italian native, Mangione has hosted multiple trips to Italy.
Hosting trips to Italy might seem like a fairytale ending to her struggle, but it took 17 years to work through the mental and spiritual trauma following a devastating accident.
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Witness The archbishop celebrated Confirmation on Monday. By Tuesday, no one knew where he was. FICTION BY JIM AUER
he archbishop disappeared suddenly. He was the celebrant at a Confirmation in the cathedral on Monday evening; on Tuesday morning, he could not be found. The news spread at first in tentative bits among chancery workers. By the end of the week, they were sworn to silence by the auxiliary, who was just as mystified as anyone else. Over the next several days, he covered the archbishop’s appointments with the vague explanation, “Archbishop Perez is unable to be with us today.” There was a limit, of course, to how long the chancery was able to keep the lid on, and once the story hit the papers, rumors and suspicions flew like confetti in the wind. He had been kidnapped and was being held for ransom. He’d had a nervous breakdown. He was in alcohol rehab. He’d taken off with a mistress and was living in South America under an assumed name. He was secretly being held in jail for embezzlement. He had developed Alzheimer’s and was being kept from the public. Once out, the news quickly became national. Law enforcement set up a task force and conducted an exhaustive manhunt and investigation that stretched out over months, then several years, to no avail. In time, Rome made the auxiliary an archbishop and placed him in charge of the diocese. The story faded from the sensational news, then from the news completely. After five years, it became a cold case. A detective still worked it because of the archbishop’s high profile, but was making no progress.
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lvin Corbett had lived a novelist’s life for almost three decades without growing lonely, bored, or burnt out. He did,
however, reach points where he felt the need for a temporary change of pace. Previous manuscripts had benefited from such a renewal. He put After the Rainfire on pause and decided the needed change of pace was to head northward—northeastern Maine. He googled “small northeastern Maine towns,” selected Caribou— population 8,149 in the 2010 census—rented a vacation home on River Road along the Aroostook River for two weeks, locked his Chicago apartment, set his GPS, and arrived in time for Caribou Heritage Day in early September. He settled into the older but nicely renovated vacation house, eager to explore the town—officially a “city” as of 1967—and perhaps find someone who had researched the undeclared Aroostook War between the United St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
ILLUSTRATION BY MATT MANLEY
States and Canada over boundary lines. From what he could tell, it wasn’t much of a war. It was during the festivities of Heritage Day that he heard two young boys playfully saying “Ball ace korakos” to one another. He knew they were simply mimicking sounds they had heard. It was hardly possible they knew the meaning. But he knew the language and the meaning, and wondered how the curse of the crows had come to Caribou. He asked a woman who apparently was the boys’ mother, because she was mildly reprimanding them for saying it.
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arry Weinstrop sat on the front porch of his old farmhouse on Cornbread Road. He surveyed his small front lawn
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and mused as to whether it really needed mowing. Not that there were any neighbors who might complain if he let it grow another couple inches. His nearest neighbors were a half mile down the road—the Landermans, who still worked their small farm with some seasonal hired help. Nice, pleasant people, they stopped by from time to time, bringing tomatoes, potatoes, corn in season, pumpkin pie in the fall, and homemade fruitcake during the holidays. Harry was grateful and gracious while they were there but glad when they left. For the most part, he preferred to keep to himself. But on one occasion, he felt obliged to invite them in, served simple refreshments, and made himself engage in amiable conversation. M ay 2 0 1 7 ❘ 4 3
As they were leaving, Sarah Landerman paused in front of a picture and said, “And this is . . .” before she caught herself. “Rita,” Harry answered. “Rita, my wife. She’s passed now.” He moved to another picture. “These are Andrea and Jeremy, our children.” “Do they live close enough to visit?” Harry smiled. “Not exactly. Rita and Andrea died together in a car crash. Jeremy was one of the first casualties in Desert Storm. He was decorated posthumously.” “I’m so sorry,” Sarah Landerman said. “I shouldn’t have asked anything. I apologize.” “No need,” Harry assured her. “I’m happy you met my family. They’re still a great comfort to me.”
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ive miles down the road, Alvin saw a green mailbox the mother of the boys had mentioned on Heritage Day, turned down a gravel lane, and followed it perhaps 100 yards to a square frame house, bordered on three sides by a concrete porch. An uneven, cracked sidewalk led from the gravel lane to the front porch. There was no doorbell, so Alvin gave the door a few raps. Almost a minute passed before he heard footsteps approaching. The door opened. Instantly the face of the man inside evinced something close to terror. “How did you get here?” he whispered hoarsely. “I’ll tell you if you promise not to send me to the crows,” Alvin said. After a few seconds, the man seemed to relax just slightly, motioned for him to enter, and led him into the large country kitchen. He pointed to a chair and they sat. “You still have your good memory, Alvin,” he said. “Memorizing the opening 32 lines of the Iliad does that to you—among other aspects of your classes,” Alvin observed. The man’s face still showed alarm. “Who knows that you came here?” “No one.” “Alvin, please. Someone pointed you down this road!” Alvin could not understand why his
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former Greek professor at St. Basil Seminary was so upset. “Yes, but I gave no sign of being interested. The information was offhand, practically an afterthought. I acted as though it meant absolutely nothing to me.” “So I’m not the reason you’re in Caribou?” “Absolutely not. I needed a break from my current book and chose Caribou. Total coincidence. If you believe in coincidences.” The man relaxed. “Then I won’t consign you to the crows.” The Greek myth of crows eating the flesh of the dead—especially the damned—was spawned by the phenomenon of crows, ravens, and vultures gathering over battlefields to feast on the flesh of the fallen. Telling someone to go to the crows was the equivalent of telling them to go to hell and rot. “But you must have heard that somewhere in Caribou and made the connection.” “I did. A couple kids were saying it—in Greek. Well, just making the sounds, of course. I asked their mother where they had learned it. Turns out they had heard an older gentleman speaking it to an intoxicated man hitting on a group of high school girls during Heritage Day a few years ago. It caught on among some of the kids who correctly surmised it was something at least mildly nasty. Offhandedly she said, ‘I think the old guy lives down Cornbread Road a few miles. Green mailbox, somebody said. Mostly keeps to himself, though.’ So I asked myself,” his voice becoming playful, “Now, whom might I know who used to say that in moments of exasperation?” “I never said it to people. Well, except that one time. It was mostly to situations.” Harry rose and brought iced tea and pretzels to the table. “As you can plainly see, Alvin, I’m not the archbishop anymore,” he said. “But not for any of the reasons people must think.” “I gathered that. No mistress. No lavish lifestyle on embezzled funds. No sign of Alzheimer’s. You’ve definitely not been kidnapped.”
Harry smiled a bit slyly and said, “Actually, Alvin, you’re looking at Cardinal Perez. In pectore, of course,” using the phrase for appointments to the College of Cardinals whose names are not made public for their protection, but kept secretly in the heart of the pope—in pectore. “Only seven people know of this. You make eight. In practical reality, I’m Harry Weinstrop.” He paused and added, “Alvin, take this seriously: you hold my life in your hands.” Alvin frowned. “I’m feeling a bit lost. Reminds me of seminary midterms.” Alvin had come close to ordination but left the seminary a year before the diaconate. He often said it was a great boon both to him and to the Church. After almost being ordained, he almost became married four years later. But the demands on time of holding down a day job plus working to become a published novelist strained the relationship to the breaking point.
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arry began to explain. His most bitter task as archbishop had been closing the already shrinking, chronically insolvent parishes. Fiscally, it was the only sensible thing to do, but emotionally, it created a raw wound on the remaining parishioners and on the archbishop himself. Particularly bitter was the closing of St. Paul’s, an inner-city parish once teeming with immigrant Catholics. The almost-gutted building stood as a hollow relic of a bygone era. St. Paul’s had been the archbishop’s home parish as a boy. Late one evening, he felt a longing to bid a more personal farewell than the rite of deconsecration had been. He drove to the empty building, but parked two blocks away in order to nostalgically retrace the final part of the route he had walked decades ago from his home to church. He unlocked the sacristy door. The pews had been removed and sold, but the building itself awaited a buyer. A few pews, however, remained in the choir loft—a good vantage point for surveying the entire former church. He climbed the narrow stairs and sat in the first pew, St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
close to the railing. Soon he was lost in nostalgia and prayer. Perhaps a half hour later, from the same sacristy entrance he had used, came a clicking, then a bang and splintering of wood, then a scuffling of shoes and muffled grunts. Several flashlights revealed a group of seven men. The muffled grunts came from two who were blindfolded, had their mouths heavily taped, and hands tied behind their backs. Then came a voice the archbishop recognized immediately. He and much of the city had heard it on television making sneering denials. He was taunting the two blindfolded men. “Whatcha doing, fellas? Calling on the Lord? Hate to tell ya, but I got the Lord on a retainer. See, nobody puts Sammy Giancolo out of business. No hired mole, no undercover snake. Y’know, it’s crazy—I can’t figure why you guys go into that line of work. Must be a death wish is all I can figure. Speaking of that, I thought this would be a good place for it. One of you was baptized here, right? Just like me.” Alvin listened, transfixed as his former seminary professor related the grisly tale. “Had any of them shone a flashlight at the loft, I would not be sitting here today. I worked to avoid the slightest move that might make the old wooden pew creak as I witnessed an underworld execution. Can you guess the rest?” “Yes. But wasn’t there quite a while between your disappearance and Sammy’s conviction?” “Almost nine months. The DA had to move extremely slowly, cautiously, almost secretly, both to protect me and to make certain every move was kosher and would stand up against Sammy’s elite corps of no-conscience attorneys. Most people didn’t make the connection. But we were certain Sammy’s boys might. I’ve been in Witness Protection almost eight years now. You’re the first real scare I’ve had. And I hope the last.” Alvin slowly shook his head. “Has to be tough on you. It must be a lot like dying.” “It is. But I knew I was dead in some way or other while the execution hapFr ancisca n Media .org
pened. If I had made a sound, I would’ve joined the two executed men. If I had kept my mouth shut afterward, I would’ve let evil win; my soul would die a coward’s death. If I testified, as I did, shrouded and through a voice disguiser, I’d have to enter Witness Protection. I’d die as Archbishop Perez and become somebody else. “The somebody else is Harry Weinstrop—formerly of Waterloo, Iowa. Widower, retired banker, still grieving husband of deceased wife, and father of two deceased children. I have convincing background records, family photographs, and paraphernalia going back over 40 years. They’re fake, but they serve their purpose. Oh, and I’m a devout Methodist now—as far as Caribou is concerned. But the same person who made me a cardinal gave me permission to celebrate Mass here alone indefinitely. During Mass, I’m a Catholic cardinal living as a semihermit.”
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he two men spent the afternoon reminiscing and talking Church, then moved to the porch to say goodbye. “Alvin, this is extremely serious. I’ve had to cut every tie with the past, including the dearest of friends. I’ve enjoyed your visit immensely, and I thank you for it. Regrettably, it’s imperative that you don’t come again. Or call, or write. It’s for your protection and mine. I wish it were otherwise.” “Me, too. And I wish you were still back serving the Church. We needed your voice.”
Harry pondered a moment, then said, “Well, Alvin, forgive me if I sound overly pious. We’re called to die to ourselves in order to serve others, remember? My death to self was forced on me. Perhaps God knew I wasn’t doing a great job of it on my own. But I hope my service continues, just in a different way. Know that you’ll be in my thoughts and my intentions at Mass. Goodbye, Alvin.” They embraced a long while. “Goodbye . . . Harry.” As he drove back down the gravel lane, Alvin waved, but Harry had already disappeared into the old farmhouse. Symbolic, he thought. The title of Willa Cather’s novel Death Comes for the Archbishop came to mind as he returned to Caribou. Archbishop Perez had indeed died. Well, sort of. And then was raised to new life: Cardinal Perez tucked within Harry Weinstrop. Untold others had been spared the living death of being caught up in Sammy Giancolo’s crime machine—a novel twist on the paschal mystery reenacted. “You’re really something, you know that?” he told God in the car, where he frequently prayed conversationally out loud. “But I’m a little upset that you draw me into a killer plot, and then I can’t write about it.” A few seconds later, he added, “Please, please watch over him.” A Jim Auer has written numerous books for young Catholics, including Handbook for Today’s Catholic Teen (Liguori Publications), as well as articles for this publication. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife of 48 years.
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ASK A FRANCISCAN
❘ BY FATHER PAT McCLOSKEY, OFM
Why Pray to Mary and the Saints? Why do Catholics pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to various saints? Is there anything in the Bible to back this up? Can’t this be considered idol worship? Why not pray directly to God? The mother of Jesus Christ and the other saints have no meaning or power independent of God. Catholics and many other Christians venerate the saints as ongoing examples of what a life generously open to God’s grace can look like in a great variety of circumstances. Jesus was a celibate, first-century man—and fully God—who faced certain situations and challenges that no longer exist in the 21st century. We pray to Mary and the saints because they encourage us to be holy now. In Hebrews 12:1−2, we read: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and
sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.” In the previous chapter, that author extols the faith of Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets (vv. 1−32). “Women [of faith] received back their dead through resurrection” (11:35a). Similar praises of women and men who exemplified great faith are found in Sirach 44:1—50:24 and 2 Maccabees 15:12−16. The great variety of holy men and women refutes any suggestion that faith was once easier than it is now. It is possible in every social class, century, and geographic area.
In the eighth century AD, especially in the Byzantine Empire, the objection arose that praying to Mary and the other saints (represented by icons) is a form of idol worship. At the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, this assertion was rejected— with the clarification that adoration is given to God alone, that veneration is given to the saints, and that a unique veneration is given to the Virgin Mary. Saints are not some court of final appeal, where petitioners can receive from them what God has declined to give. Officially recognized deceased saints encourage us to become living saints. With this understanding, prayers to Mary and the other saints are a win-win situation, taking nothing away from God, but rather, prompting the person who prays to be as open to and to cooperate as generously with the grace of God as this saint did.
Who Wrote the Memorare?
CNS PHOTO/DAN MELOY, THE MICHIGAN CATHOLIC
I have read that St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1091–1153) wrote the Memorare, but I have also read that it came later. Which is it?
The Szatkowski family prays at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima in Riverview, Michigan. Pope Francis visits Fátima, Portugal, this month on the 100th anniversary of the apparitions. 4 6 ❘ May 201 7
The text (“Remember, O most gracious virgin Mary, . . .”) is the shortened form of a longer prayer (Ad sanctitatis tuae pedes, dulcissima Virgo Maria) that comes from the 15th century. St. Francis de Sales (1567−1622) writes that he prayed it as a student in Paris. The great popularizer of this prayer is Father Claude Bernard (1588−1641), who reportedly printed 200,000 leaflets in various languages as an aid to his ministry with prisonSt . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
ers. The prayer reminds us that conversion and repentance are always possible; no one is ever beyond the grace of God unless that individual refuses to surrender to divine grace.
Why Does God Make the Devil So Powerful? If God created the angel Lucifer, who failed God through pride, why didn’t God simply dump him in hell instead of allowing him to torment and wreck so many human lives? Isn’t God more powerful than Satan? I have heard this explained in terms of free will. When did that theory begin? It seems that our allknowing and all-powerful God has been shoved aside. What am I missing here? Human free will is not a theory but a reality—as the Priestly account of creation (Gn 1:1—2:2a) tells us. The key verses there regarding human beings read: “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (1:27), and “God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day” (1:31). The older Yahwist account of creation (starting at 2:2b) presumes that Satan had already rebelled before Adam and Eve were created. The serpent opposes God and tells Eve that eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil will make Eve and Adam as powerful as God. This incident shows that every sin begins with a lie that sinners tell themselves. The first account of creation tells us that God created everything in complete freedom (the image of God); only human beings can reflect that freedom completely. If your interpretation of Satan’s existence is correct, isn’t that understanding dangerously close to Adam’s defense for eating the forbidden fruit (“she made me do it”) and to Eve’s defense (“the serpent tricked me”)? Fr ancisca n Media .org
Accepting one’s responsibility for sin is sin’s first casualty. Satan is not more powerful than God; unfortunately, many people fall for Satan’s lies, which are always presented as a shortcut to something good.
Books Added to the Bible? According to Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelation 22:18–19, we are not to add to or take away from the word of God. Didn’t Roman Catholics add books to the Bible? No, the Books of Wisdom, Sirach, Tobit, Judith, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and parts of Esther and Daniel belong to the Greek canon, accepted by Roman Catholics and Orthodox alike. For over 1,000 years, they were considered by all Christians as part of the Bible. When Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, he followed the first-century Palestinian canon, which included only books that were
originally written in Hebrew. The Palestinian canon is shorter than the Greek canon because after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and its temple in AD 70, Judaism became less accepting of writings found only in a language that originated among pagans. A school of rabbis working in Jamnia (west of Jerusalem) is often credited with the Palestinian (Hebrew-only) list, which by AD 200 was standard within Judaism and is used to this day. The Greek list was officially reaffirmed by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in 1439 at the Council of Florence. Catholics reaffirmed this list in 1546 at the Council of Trent. A 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.
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BOOK CORNER
❘ BY CAROL ANN MORROW
Mary of Nazareth History, Archeology, Legends By Michael Hesemann Ignatius Press 277 pages • $19.95 Paperback/E-book Reviewed by JOHN FEISTER, editor in chief of this publication, who holds master’s degrees in humanities and theology from Xavier University. His BA is from the Marianists’ University of Dayton, location of the world-renowned Marian Library. Who was the first Christian? That’s the question that Michael Hesemann sets out to answer in his look at Mary, whom Christians revere both as the mother of God and as the
WHAT I’M READING ■ The ■ Up ■ In
January Dancer, by Michael Flynn
Jim River, by Michael Flynn
the Lion’s Mouth, by Michael Flynn
■ On
the Razor’s Edge, by Michael Flynn
■ Surprised
by Joy, by C.S. Lewis
Mark P. Shea is a popular writer and speaker. He is coauthor of the best seller A Guide to the Passion: 100 Questions About The Passion of The Christ and author of the acclaimed Mary, Mother of the Son trilogy, The Work of Mercy, and Salt and Light. He is a regular guest on Catholic radio and writes the blog Catholic and Enjoying It at Patheos.com.
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first follower of Jesus. Venerated by a Church in love with her almost as much as her son, Mary of Nazareth was a real, historical person, a Nazarene drawn into the mystery of God’s presence to humanity. Hesemann attempts to dig into the historical record to tell us just who Mary was. His approach is like many of those piecing together the authenticity of biblical characters. He relies on biblical and other early descriptions to explore this complex and knowledgeable person by biblical accounts: a Davidic descendant, relative of a Temple priest, and a young woman well-versed in Scripture. That hermeneutic is key to understanding Hesemann’s book: he looks at Mary through the eyes of faith. Hesemann brings a journalist’s interest and approach to his topic. Early in his career, he developed a reputation for his study of UFOs and extraterrestrial visitors; in more recent times, his focus has been on Catholicism. His work within the Church includes research in the Vatican archives to tell, sympathetically, the story of Pope Pius XII rescuing many thousands of Jews during Nazi occupation; helping to present a German exhibition on the Shroud of Turin; and coauthoring, with Georg Ratzinger, My Brother, the Pope (also by Ignatius Press). As a journalist, his approach hinges on storytelling and examination of many sources. But the Bible is not journalism. Thus, this book is more a fascinating inquiry than a reliable, academic investigation. Mariologists will surely take issue with some of the sources he uses, as so many of these ancient documents were deemed incredible by the Church. Though he provides a bibliography and has clearly done a lot of research, Hesemann does not footnote his work. The presentation, interesting as it is, thus might be considered at least breezy, if not sometimes sensational. It certainly is pious. If one wants a solid, critical introduction to the Church’s understanding of Mary, one might better look elsewhere. But as an interesting look at the many discussions about Mary that have resonated within the Church, the book is a good read. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
BOOK BRIEFS
Scripture for Summer The Healing Stories of Jesus Signs of the New Creation By Louis Grams The Word Among Us Press 104 pages • $11.95 Paperback/E-book
Good Girls, Bad Girls of the New Testament Their Enduring Lessons By T.J. Wray Rowman & Littlefield 248 pages • $26.95 Hardcover/Kindle
This six-session Bible study focuses on the healing ministry of Christ. Each session opens with an excerpt from Scripture, a short reflection, and some key questions. Readers are invited to journal their answers and to live out their new insights.
A New Heaven, A New Earth The Bible and Catholicity
Reviewed by Oldenburg Franciscan SISTER AMY KISTNER, who has woven her continued interest in the women of the Bible through a variety of ministries, including the education of women seeking to become Franciscans themselves, pastoral ministry in the Appalachians, and leadership of her religious congregation. Cleverly, author T.J. Wray categorizes women of the New Testament into two parts: sisters, saints, and supporters in Part I, and mothers, murderers, and missionaries in Part II. Each chapter is meticulously researched, sharing a range of scholarly opinion in addition to her own as a professor of religion at Salve Regina University. Each chapter includes “enduring lessons” learned from each woman’s good or bad example. While some of these women are more or less famous, others are obscure, even unnamed. She does a service to call attention to them, as well. The chapter on Mary, mother of Jesus, inspires, offering food for thought in this month dedicated to her. Mary is seen as faith-filled and extraordinarily courageous, and her enduring lessons include what it means to say yes to God. The author often refers to Jesus as an equalizer of genders as he invited women to be coworkers with him at a time when even speaking to women in public was outlawed. This book is a companion to Wray’s book on women of the Old Testament. She makes it clear that women played a major role in New Testament times, as well. Fr ancisca n Media .org
By Dianne Bergant Orbis Books 208 pages • $25 Paperback/E-book Through our changing understanding of evolution and social justice, renowned Scripture scholar Dianne Bergant ably takes readers through the literary context of each topic and brings diverse passages of the Bible together in insightful new ways.
Composing Sacred Scripture How the Bible Was Formed Donald Senior, CP Liturgy Training Publications 144 pages • $9.95 Paperback Donald Senior gives an introductory, but not overly simplistic, explanation of how the Bible was written. This book manages to be comprehensive without being overwhelming for the average layperson.—K.C.
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 Prices shown in Book Corner do not include shipping. M ay 2 0 1 7 ❘ 4 9
A CATHOLIC MOM SPEAKS
❘ BY SUSAN HINES-BRIGGER
The Blessings of Being Busy
ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARY KURNICK MAASS
T
he other day, someone looked at my planner and said, “Man, you’re busy.” She was absolutely right. On Mondays and Wednesdays, my daughter Riley has dance practice. Every day after school, my son, Alex, has track practice. We’re responsible for picking up on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Oh, and let’s not forget Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, play practice, and indoor soccer. Yeah, busy is a good word for my life. For the longest time, I wore my schedule like a weighted belt. I was busy and let everyone know how miserable I was about it. I would listen to older parents say, “You’ll miss this one day,” and then roll my eyes. Easy for them to say, I would think. Their kids are
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grown. They’re not spending hours in the car, running kids all over God’s green earth. That’s how I used to think—before my kids started growing up faster than I could keep up.
Bring on the Busy These days, I’m OK with being busy. I’m OK with it because I know that one day it will all come to a screeching halt, and I’m going to miss it. I know because I’m watching it happen right now. At the end of this month, my oldest daughter, Maddie, will be graduating from high school. And while I know it sounds cliché, it really does feel as if she was just in kindergarten yesterday. When she gets that St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
it gave her time to request off. I see Alex . . . and Riley . . . and then Kacey heading down the same pathway. So, yes, I want to be busy, because doing so allows me time with my kids that will all too soon slip away.
TAKE A FAITH BREAK
Calm amid the Storm
Here are some suggestions for staying connected with your faith, even when you’re busy. Arrive at Mass five minutes early. Use that time to just breathe, relax, and mentally prepare yourself for Mass. Before you get out of bed in the morning, say a quick prayer that you will see the blessings in all that you do that day. Each night, before you go to bed, stop and think of three things that happened that day for which you are grateful. If you’re a few minutes early to pick up your car pool, use that time to say a few prayers—either for those in need or in thanksgiving for the blessings of your children and their activities.
diploma, she takes one more step away from her father and me toward her future. It’s not as if this is just suddenly coming to light, though. I’ve seen it playing out since she got her driver’s license and no longer needed rides everywhere. Gone were the days of
long talks in the car on the way to her soccer games. Then she got her part-time job, and her place at the dinner table became empty more often than not. Any family time we wanted to spend together needed to be planned enough in advance that
Having said that, though, there are times when it all feels too much, when I can’t see the blessings in my crazy life. For instance, I wasn’t feeling very blessed recently when Riley had a dance competition an hour away and, as we went to park, she informed me she had forgotten her costumes. I had to drive back home to retrieve the costumes and back again to the competition. Those are the times when I need to step off the merry-go-round of life and be still. For it is only then that I’m able to refocus on my blessings. Sometimes it’s as simple as saying a quick prayer for patience or perspective, as I did that day during the long car ride home and back to the competition. Whatever the means, a brief pause is all I need in the midst of my busy, blessed life. A
Do you have comments or suggestions for topics you’d like to see addressed in this column? Send them to me at “A Catholic Mom Speaks,” 28 W. Liberty St., Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498, or e-mail them to CatholicMom@Franciscan Media.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 36)
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REFLECTION
Where there is a mother, there is unity, there is belonging, belonging as children.
PHOTO © ALDOMURILLO /ISTOCKPHOTO
—Pope Francis
BACKSTORY
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P
eople love this column so much that they’re asking for more. Oh, that it were true! Nonetheless, more is coming. Some people actually have said this kind of Backstory message from the St. Anthony
Messenger editor in chief would be a good addition to our digital media. We’re always looking for ways to reach more people with the good news,
PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER HEFFRON
in the spirit of St. Francis. So, Facebook (StAnthonyMessengerMagazine), Twitter (@StAnthony Mag), and StAnthonyMessenger.org, look out! Editor’s Minute rolled out in March, and now has had about eight weekly editions. If you’re so inclined, you can go to one of those places to see it. If you visit online, you’ll see what we’re up to: a very short idea—as close to one minute as I can get—about some aspect of what makes this place tick. Some of these ideas are my takes on things around here. I’m doing some on the spirit of St. Francis, which drives our ministry. We can thank Franciscan Editor Patrick McCloskey, OFM, for that part. Once every few months, we devote one of our editorial meetings to Pat’s presentation of some dimension of Franciscanism. Recently, he laid out for us some of the key elements of the spirit of St. Francis—beyond the birdbath. There is the prophetic dimension of
Franciscan Editor Pat McCloskey, OFM, is a font of ideas Franciscan.
St. Francis, his humility, love of the poor, love of creation, joyful spirit, prayerfulness, identification with the outcasts. Francis was very careful to keep his movement aligned with the Roman Catholic Church, though his spirit certainly reaches well beyond. I am grateful that Pat spent time years back gaining a master’s degree in Franciscan studies from the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University. We editors of your magazine work to support each other, to draw from one another’s gifts and strengths. So I’ll be pulling ideas from everyone here and the best I’ll recraft for Editor’s Minute. We hope you enjoy it.
Editor in Chief @jfeister
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ST. ANTHONY M 28 W. Liberty Street Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498
essenger