RICHARD ROHR ON STS. FRANCIS AND PAUL
ST. ANTHONY JUNE 2016 • $3.95 • FRANCISCANMEDIA.ORG
SPECIAL REPORT
Immigration A Mass without Borders Franciscan Respite for Refugees Walking with Immigrants
ALSO
Faith of Our Fathers Night Blessings
Messenger
Health EXCLUSIVE
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Nearly Invisible!
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9 Mini Behind-the-Ear hearing aid with thin tubing for a QHDUO\ LQYLVLEOH SURÂż OH
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CONTENTS
ST. ANTHONY Messenger
❘ JUNE 2016 ❘ VOLUME 124/NUMBER 1
ON THE COVE R
S P E C I A L R E P O R T: I M M I G R AT I O N
Sandra Torres, of San Antonio, holds an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe while advocates for immigrant workers, women, and families process through El Paso, Texas, during Pope Francis’ visit nearby in Mexico.
26 A Mass without Borders “No more death! No more exploitation!” Pope Francis’ words in Ciudad Juarez rang like mission bells all the way to El Paso. Text and photos by Nancy Wiechec
32 Franciscan Respite for Refugees Weary from their trek through the desert, desperate immigrants are given shelter and comfort at the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas. By Toni Cashnelli
Photo by Nancy Wiechec
26 D E PA R T M E N T S 2 Dear Reader 3 From Our Readers
38 Walking with Immigrants
4 Followers of St. Francis
In the faces of undocumented farmworkers, I saw the face of Christ. By Father Victor Subb, GHM
Ron Wakefield, OFS
6 Reel Time The Jungle Book
F E AT U R E S
14 Richard Rohr on St. Francis and St. Paul
32
Explorer
10 Church in the News
One was fiery. One was gentle. Both were revolutionaries, says this Franciscan priest. By Mark Lombard
13 Year of Mercy Watershed of Grace in Flint
20 Faith of Our Fathers
22 Editorial
As a young girl, curled up on her father’s lap, she felt the radiance of God’s love. By Rita Waters Mailander
24 Night Blessings
8 Channel Surfing
Get Real with Families
49 At Home on Earth
14
Honoring All of Creation
50 Ask a Franciscan
Comforting his feverish child reminds this dad of what matters most. By Jake Frost
Disposing of Excess Goods
52 Book Corner The Name of God Is Mercy
44 Fiction: Kitchen Scraps
54 A Catholic Mom Speaks
Piece by piece, they hoped to rebuild their marriage. By Jeanne Heal
My Biblical Adventure
56 Backstory
20
DEAR READER
ST. ANTHONY M essenger
Santa Maria Maddalena No one was more marginalized in medieval society than women and men who suffered from leprosy. They had to live outside cities and use a wooden clapper to indicate their presence among healthier people. What Dante inscribed over the gates of hell (“Abandon hope, all you who enter here”) was actually found on the gates to several medieval leper colonies. In Francis’ day, Assisi had six such colonies. On the plain below the medieval city, the chapels of Santa Maria Maddalena and San Rufino D’Arce are all that remain of those places. Francis and his brothers cared for lepers—as did Clare and her sisters at San Damiano between 1212 and 1215. “When I was in sin,” wrote Francis in his Testament, “it seemed too bitter for me to see lepers. And the Lord himself led me among them and I showed mercy [Sir 35:4] among them. And when I left them, what seemed bitter to me was turned into sweetness of body and soul.” La Maddalena serves nearby residents; San Rufino D’Arce is the chapel for a community of Franciscan sisters.
Publisher Daniel Kroger, OFM President Kelly McCracken Editor in Chief John Feister Art Director Jeanne Kortekamp Franciscan Editor Pat McCloskey, OFM Managing Editor Susan Hines-Brigger Assistant Editors Daniel Imwalle Kathleen M. Carroll Digital Editor Christopher Heffron Editorial Assistant Sharon Lape Advertising Tammy Monjaras
Click the button on the left to hear more of Father Pat’s reflections.
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(U.S.P.S. PUBLICATION #007956 CANADA PUBLICATION #PM40036350) Volume 124, Number 1, is published monthly for $39.00 a year by the Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist Province, 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-6498. Phone (513) 241-5615. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, Ohio, and additional entry offices. U.S. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: St. Anthony Messenger, P.O. Box 189, Congers, NY 109200189. CANADA RETURN ADDRESS: c/o AIM, 7289 Torbram Rd., Mississauga, ON, Canada L4T 1G8. To subscribe, write to the above address or call (866) 543-6870. Yearly subscription price: $39.00 in the United States; $69.00 in Canada and other countries. Single copy price: $3.95. For change of address, four weeks’ notice is necessary. See St AnthonyMessenger.org for information on your digital edition. Writer’s guidelines can be found at StAnthony Messenger.org. The publishers are not responsible for manuscripts or photos lost or damaged in transit. Names in fiction do not refer to living or dead persons. Member of the Catholic Press Association Published with ecclesiastical approval Copyright ©2016. All rights reserved.
2 ❘ J un e 2016
St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
FROM OUR READERS
April Issue a Treasure Trove I have been receiving St. Anthony Messenger as a gift for several years now. I always read it cover to cover and am never disappointed. However, this month (April), I was absolutely delighted with every article. My favorite was Mo Guernon’s beautiful piece on Pope John Paul I, “The 33-Day Papacy.” I also discovered how to use the digital extras, which I had never ventured into before. What a wealth of content they provide, especially on Pope John Paul I! Perhaps the article that moved me most deeply, though, was “Nepal’s Earthquake Survivors,” by Dr. Mike
What’s on Your Mind? Letters that are published do not necessarily represent the views of the Franciscan friars or the editors. We do not publish slander or libel. Please include your name and postal address. Letters may be edited for clarity and space. Mail Letters, St. Anthony Messenger 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498 Fax 513-241-0399
ICONS © ISTOCKPHOTO/ ELIELI
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Fr ancisca n Media .org
Gable. Here it is, almost the one-year anniversary of that tragedy, and I only heard about it the first day or so on radio and TV, but never since. What an awakening this was to the suffering of others and their resilience through it all! As an educator, I am going to make a contribution toward the efforts of educating the population, especially the young. Thank you for providing such an inspirational and quality Catholic magazine. May God continue the good work he has begun in your authors, editors, and staff! Sister Marilou MacDonald, IHM Levittown, Pennsylvania
Marriage Not ‘His Way or the Highway’ I didn’t find “A Marriage Renovation,” by Nancy Grilli, to be as uplifting as the author intended. She made her marriage to a very selfish man work by agreeing to do things his way or the highway. It would have been nicer to read that he had some consideration for her, and maybe even once every few months, he could offer to stay with the kids while she got some time for herself to do something alone or with friends. Or better yet, they could do something else as a family other than go to the summer cottage. I personally would not have wanted any daughter of mine to think that a good marriage means doing whatever your husband wants or decides. Both my son and my daughter have marriages that are true partnerships. Each one puts the other first, an act that is both selfless and loving. The author clearly put her husband first, and he appears to have
put himself first, as well! At least they both agreed on that! Marie Lawlor Indianapolis, Indiana
Finding Common Ground I totally disagree with Fred J. Rudolph’s letter in April’s “From Our Readers,” entitled “For Theologians Only.” I found “What Ramadan Taught Me about Lent”—Joe McHugh’s article in the February issue—to be most informative. His was a refreshing and unifying perspective, in spite of all the conflict that is going on in the world today. I am a volunteer chaplain at our local hospital, and we recently had a Muslim nurse come speak to us about her faith. They may not be Christians, but we honor the same God. We must do all we can to bring peace to our world, and articles such as McHugh’s show the commonalities amongst our differences. Tina McDermott Yorktown Heights, New York
Messenger Brings the Smiles I just had to comment on John Feister’s Backstory column from the April issue. His send-off to Franciscan Brother Dominic Lococo, entitled “Quiet Giant,” brought a smile to my face. For many years, there was a man named Bernie who called every year for me to renew my subscription to St. Anthony Messenger. I distinctly remember the year that I didn’t receive a call from Bernie, which worried me. I often wondered if he was OK. We would chat on the phone for a bit whenever he called. It was like having a friend checking up on me! God bless all the Brother Dominics and Bernies who have made such a difference in our lives. Sharon Reid Vista, California Ju n e 2 0 1 6 ❘ 3
F O L L O W E R S O F S T. F R A N C I S
Carnegie Hall to Cuernavaca “
I
spend every penny I earn on my ministries.” Ron Wakefield, OFS, is not exaggerating when he makes this statement. A music teacher and band leader at North Park Academy of the Arts in Pico Rivera, California, Ron brings both his musical expertise and his deep-seated Franciscan spirituality to the classroom every day. His middle school band went undefeated in competitions for 15 years straight and is the only middle school band to march in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade. But his conversion to Catholicism and his embrace of Franciscan life completely changed his approach to teaching. Ron was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, but grew up in California in a Mormon household. The ugliness of abuse unfortunately touched the Wakefield home. “My father was extremely violent and abusive,” he recalls. “The abuse my siblings, my mother, and I suffered helped me to grow in compassion for marginalized children.” Over time, Ron became “a lost soul, wandering in the desert for 40 years.” He experienced a profound conversion experience at 43, where he realized the maternal and nurturing pres-
Ron Wakefield, OFS
ence of Mary had protected him throughout all the dark times. He immediately entered the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults and completed his conversion. Six months later, after conversations with his brother, a Lutheran pastor, Ron attended his first Secular Franciscan gathering. He was hooked on St. Francis of Assisi from then on. While his spiritual life wound along its way, Ron was always involved in music, eventually becoming a professional clarinet player. In 1990, he began teaching at the North Park Academy of the Arts—then called North Park Middle School. After his conversion experience, Ron decided that his students could do more than win competitions; they could touch and change lives. In 2004, the North Park band played at Carnegie Hall—a high honor. Ron also scheduled a performance at the St. Cabrini Home orphanage in upstate New York. The experience there changed Ron’s focus from performing in competitions to bringing music to those on the margins of society. He then took his band to perform at a homeless shelter in Santa Ana, California, called Isaiah House. Ron started a music program there
STORIES FROM OUR READERS Learn more about St. Anthony and share your story of how he helped you at AmericanCatholic.org/ Features/Anthony. PHOTO BY BEYOND MY KEN/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
An Overdue Prayer
4 ❘ J un e 2016
This is just one incident where St. Anthony has been a kind friend and helped me retrieve lost items. I lost a brand-new library book that was not renewable. I started praying to St. Anthony right away: “Tony, Tony, please look around, something’s been lost and can’t be found.” On Sunday, I made a special visit to St. Anthony’s Church on Sullivan Street and prayed before his statue. That Monday night, for some reason I stopped in at a drugstore where I use the pharmacy but never shop. The pharmacist was leaving for the night and happened to be standing near the cash register. When he saw me, he yelled out that I had left a book at their pharmacy when I went to get my flu shot a few weeks before. I had completely forgotten. The next day I returned the book to the library and saved 30 dollars. —Edward Palumbo, New York City, New York
St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
Click the button on the left to listen to a sample of the North Park band.
and, in 2007, brought six children from Isaiah House with his North Park band to play at Carnegie Hall once again. After every outreach concert, his students meet and get to know the people for whom they perform. The main goals of outreach music, he says, are “to enhance the moral foundation of every student; to awaken in each student a sense of life purpose; and to call every heart to a higher level of unselfish love.” Now he has music programs in Tijuana and Cuernavaca, Mexico, at a housing project and an orphanage, respectively. One weekend a month, Ron takes the red-eye flight to Mexico City so that he can spend two days in Cuernavaca teaching music. The other three weekends of the month, he drives 150 miles to Tijuana, where the children perform music during Mass. When he began his Franciscan formation, Ron dramatically downsized and simplified his life. “But once I gave up all that I owned, St. Francis taught me that the purging was just beginning. I had to give up my ideas, habits, pride, ego, everything,” he says. —Daniel Imwalle
ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA
Preparing to Die Anthony did not live in Padua for an extended period until 1230, the year before he died. He had visited it during his years as provincial minister in northern Italy (1227-30). In the spring of 1231, he withdrew with Brothers Luke and Roger to nearby Camposampiero, where he had a treehouse hermitage. He worked on sermon notes for the major feasts of the saints; he had already completed notes for the Sunday Gospels. On June 13, he died at the friary in Arcella, having received the Anointing of the Sick and holy Communion. He was buried in Padua. –P.M. To learn more about Franciscan saints, visit SaintoftheDay.org.
S T. A N T H O N Y B R E A D
Fr ancisca n Media .org
Send all postal communication to: St. Anthony Bread 1615 Vine St. Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498
Ju n e 2 0 1 6 ❘ 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 Jungle Book
SISTER ROSE’S
Favorite
Field of Dreams (1989) The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) Fiddler on the Roof (1971) Big Fish (2003)
6 ❘
June 2016
CNS PHOTO/DISNEY
Films about Fathers
Neel Sethi plays Rudyard Kipling’s famed hero Mowgli in Disney’s stunning adaptation of The Jungle Book. Disney’s new interpretation of Rudyard Kipling’s beloved story is a visual and narrative masterpiece. The computer-generated graphics—which provide visuals for everything in the film but the boy—mesmerize the eye, while the voices of the characters in this anthropomorphic tale make it all seem so believable. Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is a child raised in the jungle by wolves and other animals, especially his guardian, Bagheera (Ben Kingsley), a black panther. But there is a menace in their lives: the tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba). He is mysteriously linked to Mowgli and is so threatening to the boy and the community that Bagheera decides it is time for Mowgli to return to humans. But Mowgli runs off by himself and meets a lazy bear, Baloo (Bill Murray), who gets Mowgli to retrieve honeycombs for him. Because Mowgli is human, he can devise tools such as pulleys to solve problems.
When Mowgli encounters the orangutan, King Louie (Christopher Walken), he realizes he must do something to save the animal community of the jungle. With a nod to the 1967 animated classic through two memorable songs, The Jungle Book invites us to believe that nature and humans can coexist with benefits to both. As a moral fable, there are themes of family, community, the common good, solidarity, caring for the most vulnerable, and consequences for letting hate fester in one’s heart. A-2, PG ■ Peril, scary action sequences.
Barbershop: The Next Cut Calvin (Ice Cube) has been running his barbershop on Chicago’s South Side for 14 years. Since the economic crisis of 2008, however, the shop has expanded to include St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
CNS PHOTO/WARNER BROS.
Anthony Anderson, Common, and Cedric the Entertainer star in the comedy-drama Barbershop: The Next Cut.
COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES
a beauty salon. The entire enterprise is ineptly watched over by Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer). The biggest problem is that the shop is in a neighborhood where gangs and guns prevail. Calvin’s son, Jalen, and Kenny, the son of coworker Rashad (Common), are tempted to join a gang. Calvin’s solution to protect his family and business almost causes the collapse of the shop and the friendships that have grown over the years. When city councilman Jimmy James (Sean Patrick Thomas) asks the staff to support a proposal to close off a 20block section to cut down on crime and killings, they balk at the idea and decide to hold a two-day cease-fire with free haircuts and food. There’s a lot of serious stuff going on in this comedy filled with characters, themes, and messages to think about, such as gangs, guns, male-female relationships, family, politics, and racism. While there are some crass elements in the firecracker dialogue, there’s much heart and pathos. Ice Cube has matured as an actor and is completely believable. I liked Barbershop: The Next Cut very much. L, PG-13 ■ Sexual material and language.
FBI is searching for a child they believe has been wrongfully adopted by the leader of the cult, Calvin (Sam Shepherd). Audiences are also introduced to gun-toting Roy (Michael Shannon) and Lucas (Joel Edgerton), who are driving Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), the young boy at the center of the drama, across state lines. It seems like a kidnapping, but the boy is strangely calm, reading superhero comics through dark goggles in the backseat of the truck. Who is this boy and what are they running from? Why is the federal government involved? After picking up Alton’s mother, Sarah (Kirsten Dunst), they head into the unknown. This otherworldly film by Jeff Nichols tackles a recurring theme for him: boyhood. Unlike Mud (2012), which follows the adventures of two young boys on a river, Midnight Special focuses on the sacrifices a father makes for his son. Just what the movie means, however, is up to you. It’s why the film is so compelling. Not yet rated, PG-13 ■ Peril, violence.
Jaeden Lieberher plays a peculiar little boy with extraordinary abilities in director Jeff Nichols’ thrilling Midnight Special.
Catholic Cl assifications A-1 A-2 A-3 L O
Midnight Special This thrilling science-fiction drama is a complete surprise because it just as well could have been a religious drama, a road movie, or a story of a family in crisis. I did not expect to like it, but I was at once riveted, confused, and inspired by the narrative that unfolded. It opens with a government raid on a ranch run by an ultraconservative cult. The Fr anciscanMedia.org
General patronage Adults and adolescents Adults Limited adult audience Morally offensive
■
The Catholic News Service Media Review Office gives these ratings. See usccb.org/movies.
■
For additional film reviews, go to americancatholic.org/movies.
June 2016 ❘
7
CHANNEL SURFING
WITH CHRISTOPHER HEFFRON
UP CLOSE
National Geographic Channel, check local listings Francis of Assisi journeyed to Egypt to spread the word of God. Christopher Columbus hit the high seas to find a direct route from Europe to Asia. And Amelia Earhart took to the skies because her thirst for adventure couldn’t be quenched on the ground. Few of us, however, have the time or money to explore the world as they did. National Geographic Channel’s Explorer is just the remedy for armchair adventurers. The formula is time-tested and unflinching: each episode tackles a particular subject, and in a balanced—even dispassionate— tone, brings viewers into that world for an hour. Past episodes that resonate still are the show’s look into the mysterious and isolated country of North Korea, the final days of Saddam Hussein, and the ever-worsening crisis of human trafficking. Viewers who are familiar with the subject matter return for a truly enlightening and visceral television experience. But those unacquainted with Explorer should take note: it isn’t always pretty—or safe. The true power of the series is that it forces us to confront cultures and customs vastly different from our own. Stark, honest, and often deeply moving, Explorer brings the world at large—in all its bruised glory—into our lives and living rooms.
Vanity Fair Confidential
NG STUDIOS/ PETR CIKHART
Investigation Discovery, check local listings This show hooked this channel surfer in season 1 when the investigative program covered the scandal of “the White House Boys,” survivors of the Arthur G. Dozier reformatory school in the Florida panhandle. In operation from 1900 to 2011, the school garnered a reputation for sexual and physical abuse—and possibly murder. “From the outside, it looked like a beautiful college campus,” one survivor’s son recalled. “But when the sun went down, God be with you because you were going to need it.” This is riveting stuff. Investigative shows are so pervasive on both network and cable that they’ve lost some of their punch. And though Investigation Discovery as a channel offers more hits than misses in its programming lineup, it strikes the perfect chord with Vanity Fair Confidential. Like the publication on which it is based, the series delivers a wellresearched examination of some lesser-known corners of our society. The writers of the articles on which the episodes are based are featured prominently, which lends credibility. This is not salacious tabloid fodder. Vanity Fair Confidential finds compelling stories—some of them shocking, others mysterious—and highlights the humanity within them. The human experience is indeed captured with warmth. That makes for a deeper, richer experience that 20/20 or 48 Hours, fun as they are, simply can’t accomplish.
National Geographic Channel’s award-winning documentary series Explorer entertains viewers as it informs. 8 ❘
June 2016
St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
PHOTO BY JUSTIN BISHOP
Explorer
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CHURCH IN THE NEWS
❘ BY SUSAN HINES-BRIGGER
Pope Addresses Issues from Family Synod seek pastoral assistance, since they do not find it sympathetic, realistic, or concerned for individual cases.” The responses, he writes, call on the Church “to try to approach marriage crises with greater sensitivity to their burden of hurt and anxiety.” The full apostolic exhortation is available on the Vatican’s website at www.vatican.va. CNS PHOTO/L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
Little Sisters of the Poor Receive Award
Pope Francis greets newly married couples during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in this September 30, 2015, file photo. Pope Francis’ postsynodal apostolic exhortation on the family, “Amoris Laetitia” (“The Joy of Love”), was released April 8. On April 8, the Vatican released “Amoris Laetitia (“The Joy of Love”), on Love in the Family,” Pope Francis’ highly anticipated postsynodal apostolic exhortation on the discussion, debate, and suggestions raised during the 2014 and 2015 meetings of the synod of bishops on the family, reported Catholic News Service (CNS). The document touches on all of the issues raised at the synods and gives practical advice on raising children. It urges a revision of sex-education programs and decries the many ways the “disposable culture” has infiltrated family life and sexuality to the point that many people feel free to use and then walk away from others. The theme of mercy is woven throughout the document, with the pope urging Catholics to welcome the vulnerable. Pope Francis encourages careful review of everything related to fam1 0 ❘ Jun e 2016
ily ministry and, particularly, much greater attention to the language and attitude used when explaining Church teaching and ministering to those who do not fully live that teaching. “No family drops down from heaven perfectly formed; families need constantly to grow and mature in the ability to love,” Pope Francis writes. Regarding one of the hot-button issues of the synod, Pope Francis says the Church cannot consider samesex unions to be a marriage, but also insist that “every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity.” The issue of Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics was another long-discussed topic during the synod. Pope Francis says that, based on responses to the questionnaires sent around the world before the synod, “most people in difficult or critical situations do not
The Little Sisters of the Poor were awarded Notre Dame’s Evangelium Vitae award on April 9 for their fight against the federal mandate that requires most employers, including religious employers, to offer employee health insurance that covers contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortion-inducing drugs—even if the employer is morally opposed to such coverage. The medal has been presented annually since 2011 by the university’s Center for Ethics and Culture. The award is accompanied by a $10,000 prize. Past winners include the Knights of Columbus and the Sisters of Life.
Pope Brings Refugees to Rome Following his five-hour trip to Greece on April 16, Pope Francis returned to Rome along with 12 Syrian Muslims—half of whom were under the age of 18, reported CNS. The pope’s plan was kept secret, and was confirmed by the Vatican only after the 12 were aboard the papal plane. Formal arrangements with the Italian and Greek governments to obtain the legal permits needed for St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
CNS/COURTESY TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
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 The films Creed, The Martian, and Room were among 21 winners of the 2016 Christopher Awards presented March 30 in New York. The awards were inaugurated in 1949 to celebrate writers, producers, directors, authors, and illustrators whose work “affirms the highest values of the human spirit,” according to a statement by the organization. Other winners were an ABC News documentary on the Islamic State, comedian Jim Gaffigan’s cable sitcom, and Dolly Parton’s made-for-TV movie Coat of Many Colors.
Breaking the record of soccer star David Beckham, Pope Francis activated the Instagram account “Franciscus” on March 19, and hit the million-follower mark in just 12 hours. “Franciscus” is “our fastest growing
Fr ancisca n Media .org
US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was one of about 35 economists, academics, Church leaders, and politicians invited to attend a Vatican conference April 15-16 dedicated to St. John Paul II’s 1991 social encyclical “Centesimus Annus.” Sanders made it clear, however, that his participation did not represent a political endorsement of his run for higher office. He told the Italian daily La Repubblica, “No, that’s not it. The Vatican isn’t involved in that. The conference isn’t a political event.” During his 15-minute address, Sanders extolled the Catholic Church’s social teachings, saying that few others “rival the depth and insight” the Church displays in its moral teaching on the challenges of a market economy. For more Catholic news, visit AmericanCatholic.org.
CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING
the refugees were made by the Vatican Secretariat of State. The Vatican will assume financial responsibility for the families, who will be assisted by the Rome-based Community of Sant’Egidio. During his brief visit, Pope Francis acknowledged that Europeans and their governments naturally could feel overwhelmed. But the migrants “are living in trying conditions, in an atmosphere of anxiety and fear, at times even of despair, due to material hardship and uncertainty for the future,” the pope said. While the concerns of governments are “understandable and legitimate,” he said, one must never forget that “migrants, rather than
Pope Francis named Archbishop Christophe Pierre, papal nuncio to Mexico since 2007, as the new papal nuncio to the United States on April 12. Archbishop Pierre succeeds Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who has held the post since 2011.
CNS/PAUL HARING
Effective July 1, Mississippi will become the fourth state to prohibit dismemberment abortions. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act into law on April 15. Dismemberment abortions are also illegal in West Virginia, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Legislation has also been introduced in Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, and Nebraska, and may be taken up in several other states.
account on Instagram to date,” said Stephanie Noon, an Instagram spokeswoman.
Pope Francis greets Syrian refugees he brought to Rome from the Greek island of Lesbos, at Ciampino airport in Rome April 16. Ju n e 2 0 1 6 ❘ 1 1
simply being a statistic, are first of all persons who have faces, names, and individual stories.”
Dorothy Day’s Cause Moves Forward American Catholic Dorothy Day, the cofounder of the Catholic Worker Movement and famed peace activist, took another step toward sainthood when, on April 19, the Archdiocese of New York announced a canonical inquiry into her life, reported CNS. In the coming months, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York will appoint a historical commission which will issue a report placing Day’s life in historical context and reviewing her unpublished writings. Cardinal Dolan will appoint theological experts to review Day’s published work with an eye toward doctrine and morals. The archdiocese also will interview eyewitnesses to Day’s life. The Dorothy Day Guild, established in 2005 to promote her life and works, said on its website that the names of 256 people had been submitted as potential eyewitnesses to Day’s life. Of those, 52 have been chosen for interviews. An April 19 announcement by the archdiocese said, “Because many of the eyewitnesses still live in voluntary poverty, caring for the poor, the archdiocese will assist with airfare and lodging for those requesting assistance.” Some of the interviewees’ memories go back to the 1940s. Following the interviews, the archdiocese will collect the information and send it to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints and to Pope Francis. If, after examining the information, the Vatican congregation and the pope recognize Day’s heroic virtues, she will be declared “venerable,” the next step in the canonization process. She now has the title “servant of God.” A
Catholics largely rely on own consciences when considering moral questions How much do you look to each of the following for guidance on difficult moral questions?
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Dorothy Day, cofounder of the Catholic Worker Movement, is depicted in a stained-glass window at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in the Staten Island borough of New York. 1 2 ❘ Jun e 2016
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YEAR OF MERCY
❘ BY LAURA IERACI
Watershed of Grace in Flint The Corporal Works of Mercy ■ Feed the hungry ■ Give drink to the thirsty ■ Clothe the naked ■ Shelter the homeless ■ Visit the sick ■ Visit the imprisoned ■ Bury the dead
CNS PHOTO/REBECCA COOK, REUTERS
The Spiritual Works of Mercy ■ Admonish the sinner ■ Instruct the ignorant ■ Counsel the doubtful ■ Comfort the sorrowful ■ Bear wrongs patiently ■ Forgive all injuries ■ Pray for the living and the dead After it was discovered the water in Flint, Michigan, was unsafe to drink, volunteers from local parishes donated cases of bottled water to residents such as Jerry Adkisson, pictured here with his children.
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Fr ancisca n Media .org
“We witness to the goodness of Christ by our response in prayer and in action to the world,” he says. “All of us seem to be pulling together.” This wave of support is articulated in a message on the church marquee: “Out of the burbs, back to the bricks. Help Flint.” A
tal Digi as t Ex r
Click here for a longer version of this article.
Laura Ieraci is editor of Horizons, the newspaper of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma, Ohio.
POPE FRANCIS ON MERCY “Jesus’ concern for the care of the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, and prisoners sought to express the core of the Father’s mercy. This becomes a moral imperative for the whole of society, which wishes to maintain the necessary conditions for a better common life.” —Cereso prison, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, 2016
Ju n e 2 0 1 6 ❘ 1 3
CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING
hen Michigan Governor Rick Snyder declared a state of emergency in Flint after high amounts of lead leached into the city’s dated water pipes, members of St. Michael Byzantine Catholic Church in nearby Flushing responded with action and prayer. On January 6, the day after the state of emergency was declared, parishioners celebrated the Feast of the Theophany, which includes the great blessing of water in the Byzantine tradition. St. Michael’s pastor, Father David A. Hannes, spoke about Flint’s water crisis, and parishioners offered prayers. They also partnered with Catholic Charities and other churches and organizations to help Flint with monetary donations, cases of water, water filtration kits, and replacement filters. The ongoing water crisis in Flint is a reminder for Catholics in suburban parishes of their responsibility to reach out to people in need in urban centers, says Father Hannes.
Richard Rohr on
St. Francis and St. Paul One was fiery. One was gentle. Both were revolutionaries, says this Franciscan priest. BY MARK LOMBARD
PHOTO BY MARK LOMBARD
S
St. Paul and St. Francis have a lot more in common than many think, says Father Richard Rohr. 14 ❘
June 2016
T. FRANCIS OF ASSISI was a rightbrain thinker, drawing on intuitions and emotional creativity as he set out to follow the Gospel. St. Paul of Tarsus, a millennium earlier, had preached the Gospel from another—left-brain—perspective, using his scholarly training and logic to bring the good news outside the walls of Jerusalem. This according to Richard Rohr, Franciscan teacher, preacher, and author, familiar to St. Anthony Messenger readers. He sees connections between St. Paul and St. Francis, two of his spiritual heroes. They are mentors on Rohr’s spiritual journey to guide others on theirs. He sees in Paul and Francis differing perspectives which were and are needed by the Church then and today. Rohr sees these two very different saints as “revolutionaries” proclaiming with their lives and their words, expressed in Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, “when I am weak, then I am strong” in the Lord (12:10). St. Anthony Messenger interviewed Rohr during an October 2014 pilgrimage “In the Footsteps of St. Paul,” in which he helped guide some 700 people to better understand and appreciate the work of the missionary saint through stops at biblical sites in Greece and St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
© PROLIFE1967/FOTOSEARCH
Turkey such as Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Ephesus, Pergamum, Corinth, Patmos, and Athens. “Paul has been a hero of mine all my life,” Rohr says, “once I started studying Scripture.” He remembers that in 1966, just after the Second Vatican Council when the Church began to encourage more exploration of the Bible by all Catholics, “I started studying Scripture . . . and in an intelligent, wonderful way. “I remember just devouring First and Second Corinthians,” he says, pointing to St. Paul’s letters to the Christians there. “I just, again and again, felt validation. I thought the [way the] Gospel was shaped was the way [St. Paul] shaped it,” he says, while Francis for him became the “icon that I left Kansas to join his ragtag group in Cincinnati,” the Franciscans. Paul and Francis, recognized as giants in the Church today, were not seen that way by contemporaries. As well, the two could not be much different from one another—the fiery Paul, who grew a Church on missionary pilgrimages from the Middle East into Europe, and the gentle Francis, who guided his band of “lesser” brothers to fundamentally shift a Church focus to the least among us. “They were both, in their own way, revoluFr anciscanMedia.org
© PAOLO GAETANO ROCCO/ ISTOCKPHOTO
tionaries, in terms of critiquing their own inherited experience,” Rohr says. “Paul did it twice over, with Judaism and the new Christianity. Francis did it with his 13th-century Italian Catholicism.” Both had the confidence, the vision, and the backbone to be able to propose an alternative way of approaching spirituality, he stresses.
Though their demeanors and methods were very different, both saints were revolutionary in their efforts to spread God’s word.
Wearing the Clothes of Jesus St. Francis, as the founder of his order, was much more about the story, the biography, the experience of taking off the cultural clothes and putting on the garments of Christ. But what Francis is not about is “a set of theological statements,” he says. While Francis was a product of the late Middle Ages Roman Catholicism and, as Rohr says, “he obviously loved it [and] it informed him,” he interpreted it in a very different way than did the churches in Assisi. For that reason, “he was an embarrassment to his parents, and, apparently, to a lot of the town. He basically had to move out of town,” Rohr adds. “He was a revolutionary traditionalist,” Rohr says, who “knew how to be loyal to the tradition,” was genuine and without “an antagoJune 2016 ❘
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where.” In that sense, says Rohr, “Francis is more like Jesus.”
PHOTO FROM PHGCOM/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; PAINTING BY GIOTTO
Alternative Ways of Seeing the Universe
In 1209, St. Francis, along with 11 of his brothers, visited Pope Innocent III to seek approval of Francis’ rule for the Order of Friars Minor. Seeing Francis as an agent of faithful reform, the pope granted his verbal approval.
nistic spirit.” As such, he gained the respect of the bishop of Assisi and the pope of Rome, Innocent III, when the papacy was at its height of temporal and spiritual power. “This, you might say, was a pope who understood power and knew how to wield it,” Rohr points out. “Maybe that’s part of why he admired Francis as almost his opposite, who was into powerlessness.”
Francis’ Gospel Centeredness, Paul’s Theologizing Francis and Paul took different approaches to the New Testament. Rohr notes that Francis, in his life and his forming of the Franciscans, centered on the Gospels. And, Rohr says, “the Gospels are . . . places where we theologize from, but you wouldn’t say the four Gospels, in their form, are theological writing.” The Gospels, he points out, are “the narrating of stories from the life of Jesus.” St. Paul comes along 20 years after Jesus with a theological worldview, he adds. “Jesus proclaimed the kingdom; Paul founded the Church.” Rohr points to the fact that the word church is found very few times in the Gospels, whereas in the writings of St. Paul, “it’s found every16 ❘
June 2016
In his book Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi, Rohr suggests that both St. Francis and St. Paul shared understandings about creation. Each of them is someone who is critiquing his own tradition, says Rohr, and has the “ability to stand outside the walls of that perceived church and be able to give some reflection about that.” Each of these saints, he adds, is a “person who was flawed, yet somehow chosen, had a different understanding of God than those around him may have had.” Both, he says, had deep-seated, personal understandings about the Incarnation, the presence of God in our midst, and the concept that “the universe is indeed sacred. “Their way was not about obtaining power, especially with Francis of admitting powerlessness, and Paul in putting himself in a position of antagonizing or at least putting himself out there against the power source,” the friar states. “They trusted their own experience. They accepted and embraced suffering, and saw the great mystery in everything.” And yet, in doing so, Rohr says, they both accepted the cross, but also accepted they were not in the mainstream. “The ‘folly of the cross’ is exactly Paul’s phrase. But Francis’ ideal [was] to be the new kind of fool, as he calls himself.” St. Paul has been seen as “an idealizer of suffering,” Rohr says, while “Francis identifies with suffering . . . leading to the stigmata itself, the identification was so total.” Both saints idealized not power, but “powerlessness as the way to follow Jesus,” he says. “Francis got that, and, I have to believe, much of his interpretation of it came through Paul.” Rohr points to that as “an alternative orthodoxy” then, and “it still is.” He asks whether Christians today, who “have the cross everywhere” as an image, understand that and use that understanding as an operating principle in their lives. “Probably not,” he says, noting that, unfortunately, the cross serves as “more the logo of the organization” for too many in the Church “than an agenda.”
Saints on a Pedestal Among many Christians and non-Christians, Francis and Paul are misunderstood: Francis St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
“It’s a very clever disguise,” the priest says. “We’ve done it to Jesus, we’ve done it to Paul, and we’ve done it to Francis. You offer them incense and light candles in front of them, but you don’t really read their life or try to imitate their life.”
Focus on Redemption of Suffering St. Paul and St. Francis show us not to run from suffering or shy away from the violence of the cross, but to use it as the stuff of kingdom building. Rohr explains that many Christians are uncomfortable when faced with suffering that appears to be idealized. “We come along, as outsiders, and we see them in their statues gazing at the crucifix or having very hard lives, and we often don’t know what to do with it,” he says. “It looks, to us, like masochism. A lot of our Catholic saints look masochistic.” Paul seems to understand that “subtext in Christianity” about the “possible transformative power of trial and suffering,” he says, adding that Paul also did not want “to idealize it. “He wanted to say,” Rohr notes, that suffering “is going to come your way, so let’s understand how God is working in this, how God can be found in this.”
The cross and its suffering were a vital part of St. Francis and St. Paul’s understanding of redemptive suffering. Many Christians are uncomfortable with the suffering the saints saw as key to faith, says Rohr.
PHOTO © CHRISTOPH BRAUN/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
PHOTO FROM GOOGLE ART PROJECT; PAINTING BY BERNARDO STROZZI
is seen as the birdbath saint, with birds and other small creatures at his feet. Paul is seen as distantly heroic and anti-woman, but not a teacher for today. Rohr sees those misrepresentations as an “almost predictable ego defense. “Their message is so counterintuitive, countercultural, absolutely demanding the death of the ego, that I think the ego, in protecting itself, came strongly against them,” Rohr notes. He explains that Catholics have a tendency to sanctify a saint when he or she gets real— or, as some say, to put saints on a pedestal. We “antiseptically clean them up,” he says. “They’re plaster saints,” he adds, and, in being such, they lose dimension, become flattened out, reduced to less than what they are calling us to be. He notes that he was never told “to imitate Paul, and yet that was his very line, ‘Imitate me as I imitate Christ’ (1 Cor 11:1), because to really imitate him would be a major demand on your lifestyle and on your approach.” The Franciscan friar stresses that “the easiest way to avoid following someone is to worship them,” to put them on a pedestal. Doing so, Rohr says, is a defense mechanism to “keep me at a distance from them.
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GOOGLE ART PROJECT; PAINTING PROBABLY BY VALENTIN DE BOULOGNE
St. Paul used his letters to the Christians in Corinth to address the many issues facing their community through the lens of their faith.
Paul uniquely, in the time of the beginnings of the Church, understands “Jesus’ nonviolent life, nonviolent death, nonviolent teaching,” the Franciscan stresses. “He takes the cross and makes a theology out of it.” He points out that the importance of that is seen still to this day in contrast to that which guides almost all human history, “the myth of redemptive violence, that violence is somehow going to save the world.” It is not, he says. But redemptive suffering is something else again. “The myth of redemptive suffering lived by Jesus, taught by Paul, exemplified by Francis, is definitely a counterpoint, minor key, and yet it has never been lost.”
Participatory Christianity For Rohr, both the Pauline and the Franciscan understanding of God and roles as people of God call Christians to embrace connection instead of ranking and judging everyone and everything. “Many members all making a unity in the work of service,” he says. “It’s very clear in Ephesians, in Corinthians. It’s many gifts and many ministries working together to create the body of Christ.” Life as participation becomes then the linchpin of Paul’s theology, says Rohr. “Paul’s doctrine of the body of Christ, his understanding of the Eucharist as the body of Christ, is all about connectivity,” he points out. Yet, the globally recognized speaker and author states that Christianity, “in its Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant forms, all of our Western and Eastern Church,” drew upon a 18 ❘
June 2016
model of “domination Christianity. “Once you define who has got the power, you’ve got to define who doesn’t have it, which is the laity, in our Church,” Rohr says, adding that Paul would not have recognized differentiations between clergy and laity. “Paul’s notion of ministry has almost nothing to do with the way we presently run the Church. We’ve just got to start being honest about that,” Rohr states. “Maybe that’s one of the reasons we didn’t read Paul.” He stresses that in Jesus, Paul, and Francis, we have three people whose focus was on forming community, and all three are pointing laypeople to service. “Find their gift, use their gift, trust their gift, and try to find a way to link that into the community,” Rohr says. “Instead of aping—and Pope Francis is talking about this—we’ve got to stop clericalizing the laity. “This moving from ranking to connecting, I think to build community, to build relationships, to connect and love with whoever is right around you,” he says, “that sounds so simplistic, but you couldn’t get any better notion of rebuilding the Church.” The building of “healing communities,” he concludes, was ultimately what Paul sought to create and was part of Francis’ gift in forming a band of brothers and then sisters, through Clare, around the idea of reaching out. A Mark Lombard is the director of the Franciscan Media Book Division and its Franciscan Media Books and Servant imprints, and serves as the director of foreign rights. St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
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Faith of Our As a young girl, curled up on her father’s lap, she felt the radiance of God’s love. B Y R I TA WAT E R S MAILANDER
© SEANSHOT/ ISTOCKPHOTO
T
HIS JUNE, our son-in-law will celebrate his first Father’s Day. What a joy to watch him with little Benjamin, our first grandchild, as he begins to explore the world! It is a blessed reminder of the unique role fathers play in the faith formation of their children. Faith is grounded in relationship, and no one shaped my image of God more than my own father. I was raised on an Iowa farm with grandparents, aunts, and uncles nearby. It was
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a pocket of love where I felt nourished, cherished, comforted when I was afraid, and sure of God’s goodness. The shape of this pocket must be the ample square over the chest of my father’s Big Smith overalls. In this pocket, on his lap, I became acquainted with a God who gives us refuge.
Enveloped by Security One of the great traumas of my young childhood, or so I told myself, was having my long, St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
Fathers curly hair washed. After my mom shampooed it—in those dark ages before conditioning rinse—she would comb out my wet hair, pulling her way through the menacing tangles. Rough, and in a hurry, she would start at the top of my head and rake the comb through the snarls, tearing at my tender scalp. When I cried in pain, Mom would try to quickly finish, combing faster and faster. When the ordeal was finally over, my dad would call me to his nearby chair and ask if I wanted to get into his pocket. He’d open that big front overall pocket, and as I cuddled on his chest, he’d pretend I was inside. He would rub my back and soothe me, speaking to me about how brave and beautiful I was. As I listened to the beat of his heart and his soothing words, I felt enveloped by his pocket of security. Many times, during the trials of adult life, I have imagined climbing into Dad’s pocket and feeling surrounded by perfect comfort. All will be well, I tell myself. Remembering my dad’s front pocket helps me remember God’s promise that I will never be alone. Did my father know his actions were disclosing grace? He knew divinity was everywhere and in everything. Sometimes, Dad entered my world—much like our Emmanuel— and gave me examples of grace easily grasped by a child. He showed me God in terms I understood, in a form I recognized. What an acute sacramental imagination!
Presents and Presence When I was little, I couldn’t get enough of coloring books and crayons. New crayons were intoxicating, the tips sharp and pointed, the crayons perfect and whole and smelling of waxy freshness. Each week after piano lessons, I was allowed to visit the dime store and make a small purchase. The store sold a few art supplies, and I loved to dream about which I might take home and call my own. I was especially captivated, one year, by a thick coloring book with a teddy bear on the cover, floating on a multicolored parachute. I loved to run my fingers across its glossy cover and imagine Fr anciscanMedia.org
the joy of filling its virgin pages. But at the dear price of 69 cents, it was quite beyond my means. At home, I described the coloring book to my dad, who listened attentively and agreed it sounded like a treasure. As Dad’s birthday approached later that year, I asked what he might want for a gift. He thought for a while and said, “I would love a coloring book with a parachute on the cover and a new box of crayons.” With the short memory and enthusiasm of the child I was, I replied, “Oh, Daddy, I know just where to get them!” My happiness was immediately tempered with the reality of my financial situation. I mentioned my meager funds to my father, who promptly took a dollar out of his pocket and handed it to me, suggesting it might help with expenses. On the day of his birthday, we had relatives and friends over, and Dad opened his gifts. When he opened mine, he made much of what a fine coloring book it was. Then he proclaimed only one thing could make it better: having the pages colored by children he knew and loved. And here was my connection to the God who loves us, who wants the best for us, who finds sneaky, clever means to bring us happiness. My father gave real presence to me. He was present in body, mind, and spirit when he connected with my childhood dilemmas, entered into my imagination, and gave me the gifts of security and generosity. All fathers have a hand in the formation of their children’s faith. All of us show children the face of God when we are in their presence. May we cherish this responsibility and let it call us, every day, to live our faith in small ways. Sometimes, children learn about God from a ceremony or a prayer book; sometimes, it’s a humble pocket or a simple coloring book. A Rita Waters Mailander is the director of faith formation at Most Precious Blood Parish in Denver, Colorado. Mailander’s longtime friend and author, Lisa Lane Filholm, assisted her with this article. The two previously collaborated on “Born in a Barn,” published in the December 2014 issue of St. Anthony Messenger. June 2016 ❘
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EDITORIAL
Get Real with Families We’ll be learning from Pope Francis’ teaching on families for years to come.
tal Digi as Extr
Two months after Pope Francis issued “Amoris Laetitia” (“The Joy of Love”), his response to two years’ worth of Churchwide reflection on family issues, questions abound. That includes not only nurturing advice for in-the-pews families, but also questions of Church practice across cultures, Communion for those remarried without annulment, marriage for same-sex couples, and more. Some had hoped for, in this document, a ringing endorsement of the status quo. Others longed for wholesale liberalizing of rules. Both camps, vocally, are disappointed. From the strong reactions, we know the 264-page document says something new about families, in the midst of wise advice from a warm teacher. Recently demoted Cardinal Raymond Burke characterizes it as “non-magisterial reflections of Pope Francis” (translated: we can politely ignore this); Click here to read Cardinal Walter Kasper “Amoris Laetitia.” says the opposite, that it “doesn’t change anything of Church doctrine or of canon law— but it changes everything.” Something’s up.
Forming Consciences People will debate and discern the particulars in the coming months, even years. But the real news of this document is the way in which Pope Francis urges the Church, across the board, to move forward. Get real, get down to earth, is his message. Care of families is not about abstract ideas and theology; it is about rising each morning and trying to live a life of joyous faith in the muddiness of family living. The document ranges from beautiful scriptural reflections to practical advice for couples, instruction on the weak formation that many Roman Catholic priests receive on the problems families face today, advice 2 2 ❘ Jun e 2016
about respecting gay people while roundly rejecting sacramental gay marriage. The pope exhorts that the Church in the modern world needs to settle issues and solve problems at the most local level possible. For example, can people with unresolved personal situations approach the altar and live in full communion with the Church? Let’s talk about particular situations in ways that can only happen close to home, instructs the pope. Let’s strive for the ideal, but in difficult situations, let’s apply the balm of mercy generously, without fear. When it comes to marriage itself, the Church’s “almost exclusive insistence on the duty of procreation” prevents a broader support of marriage, “its call to grow in love and its ideal of mutual assistance” (#36). Whatever happened to the primacy of conscience, the pope effectively asks. He reminds us that we in the Church are responsible for forming and using our consciences—not just following rules.
From the Heart of the Church In the broadest sense, “Amoris Laetitia” demands a change of emphasis in the way many live our faith. We Catholics seem easily to get carried away with top-down decision-making. Francis is telling us to take more responsibility. Careful readers of “Amoris Laetitia” will see that Francis develops his teaching from the voices of local conferences of bishops around the world. De facto, he is encouraging the exercise of greater local authority. Lest we be overwhelmed, Pope Francis reminds us of a guiding principle in all of this: “Remember, time is greater than space” (#3). That’s an unusual way of saying that the seeds planted today will bear fruit tomorrow. Or, more exactly, don’t panic about getting everything right in this moment, this space. Get things moving in the correct direction, and give it some time. Will this approach, focusing on processes rather than immediate results, bear fruit? Time will tell. —J.F. St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
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NIGHT
BLESSINGS
Comforting his feverish child reminds this dad of what matters most. BY JAKE FROST
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N THE DARK OF NIGHT, my eyes opened. Before I knew what was happening, I found myself sitting up in bed and swinging my legs to the floor without really waking. Then, as I made my somnolent way across the room and out the bedroom door, I heard it— the sound that had filtered into my brain and kicked me into motion while I slept. It was my 2-year-old son. He was calling over and over, in a little, fever-tinged voice that sounded like a cross between a moan and a whimper: “I want Dada, I want Dada, I want Dada. . . .”
When I got to his darkened room, he was sitting up in his crib with his brows knit together in a pained expression. “Daddy’s right here,” I told him as he reached his arms out and I scooped him up. I could feel the heat of the fever in his sweaty little body. But as I cradled him in my arms, he snuggled against me and his brow smoothed and he actually smiled a wonderful, contented smile. He said “Dada” once more, this time in a voice that conveyed relief and security, and fell back to sleep. I breathed a sigh of relief; he was going to be all right. And in a moment of spontaneous
ILLUSTRATION BY SIMONE SHIN
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prayer, I said: “Thank you, Jesus. I’m glad I loose and fancy-free and flush with cash, I could be here to comfort him.” always loved traveling for the chance to explore The thought surprised me. I had never con- the world and learn what is. I was a seeker, sidered feeling thankful for being there to help questing for insight into the true heart of the my kids, even when it meant being awakened human condition. And quite unexpectedly, I in the night. ended up learning a lot more about what really Really? I wondered. Am I really glad to be is and what really matters without leaving awakened at night to care for a sick child? home. Even without peering into anything I was further surprised when I realized: Yeah, more mysterious than that diaper with a susreally. I’m really glad that I could be here to picious sag, I’ve learned more about the secret comfort him. Thank you, Jesus. heart of humanity in my own little house If you’d asked me what I wanted to do or since I’ve had kids than I ever did in my years what would make me happy, I definitely would- of piling up souvenirs and travel trophies. n’t have said waking up in the middle of the And I finally realized that those moments night to tend to a sick kid. Of course I wished which close in on real life, like my opportunity that my little son wasn’t sick, but I was relieved to care for a sick child in the middle of the that his fever wasn’t serious and he would be night, are gifts from God. fine. I was thankful that my presence brought I still don’t understand it. But I realized it him some peace so he could go back to sleep was true. Which was why I’d been prompted with a smile on his face and get healthy. to offer a spontaneous prayer of thanks to My gratitude for being there certainly wasn’t God. A due to any waning enthusiasm for sleep. As a father of four young children, I’ve come to Jake Frost is a freelance author from St. Paul, Minnesota. relish sleep as I never did before parenthood. He has previously been published in this magazine, as well Given my druthers, if the fever could leave as Catholic Digest and a variety of diocesan newspapers, and my son and I could go back to sleep, I definitely is the author of Catholic Dad, (Mostly) Humorous Stories of Faith, Family, and Fatherhood. would. But as much as I like sleep, I’d still rather be there for my little man when he needs me. I’d rather have my subconscious drag me from my bed in the middle of the night to care for him. And while I’ve occasionally pined for the adventures of my preparenting RANCISCAN EDIA years, I’d never really thought about whether I’d actually choose gourmetgrazing and globe-trotting over parOur legal title is: enting, if given the option. But now, I Franciscan Media LLC know that I wouldn’t. And surprisingly, 28 W. Liberty Street ■ Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498 it isn’t even close. For more information, call: I haven’t had too many moments 1-800-488-0488 for quiet contemplation in recent years, and I had never gotten around to considering the question—at least not at a time when I’d had enough coffee to Your Digital facilitate higher-level brain functionEdition ing. But now that the question was • Free to print squarely presented, the answer was subscribers obvious. I wasn’t in any state to explain • Does not change why, at that groggy moment, and I your print don’t pretend to know my purpose or subscription why I’m here. But whatever my purConsider • Many digital extras pose, I think I was a lot closer to it a Gift Subscription right then—holding a sick child in the • Register at StAnthony middle of the night—than I had ever Messenger.org been in my adventuring days. When I was a single lawyer, foot-
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SPECIAL REPORT I M M I G R AT I O N
A Mass without Pope Francis’ February 17 Mass in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, drew tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to celebrate with the Holy Father.
“No more death! No more exploitation!” Pope Francis’ words in Ciudad Juarez rang like mission bells all the way to El Paso. TEXT AND PHOTOS BY NANCY WIECHEC “To weep over injustice, to cry over corruption, to cry over oppression. These are tears that lead to transformation, that soften the heart; they are the tears that purify our gaze and enable us to see the cycle of sin into which very often we have sunken.” — Pope Francis
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ARIA LIRA found herself crying uncontrollably twice in the same week. It was, she says, the kind of crying that you don’t feel coming and is hard to stop. The first time the tears came she was on a bridge linking Mexico and Texas. She and other immigrant advocates had made their way to the border crossing to offer a symbolic gesture—tying blue ribbons to the surrounding fence—and to pray for and recall the thousands of people who have died trying to make their way into the United States. The second time, she sat in an unlikely place straining to listen to Pope Francis give a homily. “We were so far away. I was trying so hard to hear him,” she says. Lira, a nurse by training and a domestic worker by choice, was seated on a narrow gravel levee just north of the Rio Grande in
El Paso, Texas. Sandwiched between chainlink border fences, she was among 550 invited guests taking part in the papal liturgy being celebrated across the way in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. “All I heard was one word, the word exploitation, and I started to cry like nothing again,” Lira recalls. “Very deep in my heart I was experiencing what people feel when another person is being exploited—like immigrants who are taken advantage of, or taken in as slaves, or the way people die crossing the border.” The pope was speaking about injustice and oppression, saying that transformation and conversion come with “tears that purify our gaze and enable us to see the cycle of sin.” He had come to the border at the end of his sixday pastoral visit to Mexico. In solidarity with migrants, he appealed for mercy for those forced to leave their homeland, “expelled by St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
Borders
Looking on from El Paso, Texas, around 550 guests sat along a levee north of the Rio Grande to witness the papal Mass. Maria Lira, who was part of this group, began to cry when she heard the pope say the word exploitation during the service.
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Two women embrace as they look past a border fence, which curves in the direction of Mexico, toward the site of the pope’s Mass.
(Above) Martin Macias Hernandez welcomes “Pancho,” a Spanish nickname for Francisco, to Ciudad Juarez. The sign asks that the pope not forget Mexico in his prayers, as well as Latin America and his “beloved Argentina.” (Right) Originally from Mexico, Maria Lira now finds herself on the US side of the border as a permanent resident— though her connection to her roots remains strong. 28 ❘
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poverty and violence, by drug trafficking and criminal organizations.” In his homily, he cried out, “No more death! No more exploitation!” The group of immigrants, refugees, migrant workers, El Paso barrio residents, and other “Pope Francis VIPs,” as the Diocese of El Paso called them, took part in the Mass in a zone secured by dozens of Border Patrol and other officers. The ground was dry and devoid of life. Even the river, tamed by cement walls at this juncture, was brown and still. Every dozen feet or so along the fence, a yellow sign warned, “DO NOT TRESPASS.” It was an unusual place for Mass, yet no one seemed too uncomfortable, even with a hot sun and barbed wire looming overhead. Although the sounds coming from Juarez were muffled by distance, those on the El Paso side followed the service with Mass booklets, took part in Communion, and joined the celebration in song. “What brought me there was my love. I am Catholic. I love God. I love the Church. I love people,” Lira says. “I felt I had the responsibility and the obligation to be there for my brothers and sisters, to love and support immigrants and their families.”
Experiencing Discrimination Firsthand Born and raised in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Lira is no stranger to the border area or family separation. “I am a border-town girl,” she says. At the age of 21, she left her home in Mexico and came to the United States. She wanted to be with her sister, who was ill at the time and St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
living in Houston. Lira had lawful permanent residency in the United States, but that did not guarantee how she was treated once she was in Houston. “I suffered discrimination and abuse that many immigrants suffer simply because I was Hispanic.” Lira says she took on some of her sister’s housekeeping clients so her sister could recuperate and rest. “I worked hard for 10 hours cleaning a house and was paid very little. I hadn’t experienced low wages; I was a nurse,” she says. “I questioned the payment and was told, ‘If you don’t like it, you don’t have to come back.’ They thought I was an illegal immigrant and could take advantage of me. People made that assumption a lot.” Because Lira wasn’t afraid to speak out for herself, she was able to negotiate a more just payment for the work she and her sister were doing. To this day, Lira works to raise consciousness about problems faced by low-wage earners through the Fe y Justicia Worker Center in Houston. She says the growing anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States makes her want to do even more. “We are experiencing a lot of hurt, and it’s getting worse.” The pope’s words, she says, give her encouragement to tell the immigrant story and to continue her advocacy. “It was important for me to be at the border and be united with him and his message of love. . . . He’s a moral leader. I’m very connected
with him. He knows the people and can defend their rights. He’s a people’s pope.”
The Power of Pope Francis’ Presence This simpatico relationship was felt by many peering through the border fence that day in mid-February. As a son of immigrants, Pope Francis has displayed a unique connection to migrants and has made their plight one of his top priorities. He has encouraged those inside and outside the Church to look after migrants with charity and tenderness. “¡Se ve, se siente, el papa está presente!” (“He is seen, he is felt, the pope is present!”) The chanting from the El Paso crowd could be heard on the Mexico side as the pope arrived for Mass. Before vesting, he walked up a platform to a large cross overlooking the Rio Grande. He stopped for a few moments, bowed his head in prayer, placed flowers at the foot of the cross, and then turned to bless the people beyond the fence. Lily Limon, the daughter of Mexican immigrants and an El Paso City Council member, fell silent when the pope began to pray. She stood with her hand over her heart on the verge of tears. When the pope disappeared from sight, Limon let her thoughts flow. “To know that he was this close to us, and he took time to bless and look over to us, to the VIPs seated here—our immigrants, our young people that have crossed over undoc-
Overcome by Pope Francis’ blessing of the US-Mexico border, Lily Limon places her hand over her heart, as if to store this poignant moment there forever.
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Click the button above to hear a prominent bishop speak on the need for immigration reform.
umented, our migrant workers . . .” She stopped to take a breath. “This is just an incredible gesture and, for us, an unforgettable experience.” One group of undocumented, unaccompanied youths on the levee was easy to spot. Boys and girls from Latin America who arrived in the United States without parents or other adult guardians had on bright orange T-shirts emblazoned with a line drawing of the pope. Detained by US immigration officials, they were living in shelters in the El Paso area until their status could be resolved or they could be connected with family members. The media present were warned not to show the youths’ faces or take their names, because they are minors without guardians. This veil of protection makes them somewhat invisible to much of the world. One of the girls told Catholic News Service that she fled to the United States from Tijuana, Mexico, after her friends were shot by gang members. Retired Los Angles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony—a longtime advocate for immigrants, who decades ago sat with labor leader Cesar Chavez defending the rights of migrant workers—took part in the historic “liturgy of two nations.” He said he had the opportunity to be at the altar with Pope Francis in Juarez, but chose instead to be in El Paso with the migrants. “I wanted to be here on this side because most of these people can’t go to the other side,” he said. “I have hope and longing that someday it will be a lot easier for us to be brothers and sisters across borders.” The cardinal called Pope Francis a unifying force at a time when other leaders are touting isolationism and the raising of walls. “He’s
really showing us the unity among peoples, that in God’s kingdom there are not borders or barriers or walls. His presence here is a powerful sign that the unity of all peoples is the ultimate path to peace in the world.”
One Immigrant’s Chilling Tale Carlos Gutierrez, his artificial legs stretched before him, sat on the levee not far from where Cardinal Mahony and other bishops were seated. Days before the pope’s arrival, his story was broadcast around the globe by CNN. Gutierrez, a successful businessman in Chihuahua, Mexico, was compelled to make extortion payments to crooked police until he could no longer afford to keep paying. In 2011, the officers found him at a park, hacked off his legs in broad daylight, and then threatened to kill his sons if he didn’t continue to give them money. After his release from the hospital, Gutierrez and his family fled to the United States seeking asylum. Although the United States has yet to grant all members of his family asylum, Gutierrez says the horrible events of the past have changed his life for the good. “God thought it was [better] for me to live without legs than for my family not to be alive today,” he told CNN. “The human tragedy that is forced migration is a global phenomenon,” Pope Francis said before Gutierrez and the rest of his audience in Juarez and El Paso.
Staggering Numbers There are plenty of statistics on global migration, but a few pretty much sum up the situation. According to the United Nations, 244 mil-
Retired Archbishop of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony takes photos of the papal Mass as three youths, under detention for entering the United States without documentation, look on from the levee.
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lion people—3.3 percent of the world’s population—lived outside their country of origin in 2015. One quarter of the migrant population had been displaced by conflict or persecution. With 47 million, the United States hosts the largest number of international migrants. Pope Francis urged people not to take stock of the crisis, though, by only looking at numbers. “We want instead to measure [it] with names, stories, families,” he said. “Let us say together in response to the suffering on so many faces: in your compassion and mercy, Lord, have pity on us. . . . Cleanse us from our sins and create in us a pure heart, a new spirit.”
Face of the Crisis Two days before the Juarez Mass, one of the faces of the crisis was walking the same bridge that Maria Lira had stood on crying. Diana Martinez was asking people crossing the border for any change they might spare. “I am from Chiapas, and just got deported,” Martinez told a reporter midway on the Paso del Norte bridge linking El Paso and Juarez. “I don’t want to try anymore,” she said. “Just want to go home.” Fr anciscanMedia.org
The petite young woman offered little expression as she spoke. She looked tired and worn and was brief in telling about the months it took her to make it across Mexico and into the United States, and about the several times she had been deported. She did not reveal her reasons for leaving Chiapas, but those are not difficult to imagine; the state is among Mexico’s poorest and the indigenous population there suffers from exclusion and exploitation. Martinez said she knew Pope Francis was in Mexico, but that seemed to have little value for her situation. She was hoping to collect enough money for transportation to go back to her hometown. “I don’t know how I’ll get there. Praying to God is what I can only think of.” After the brief chat with the journalist, Martinez turned and walked back down the bridge. She stopped short of the point where a US Border Patrol agent stood and she solicited another border crosser for change. A
Diana Martinez asks for money so that she can return to her home state of Chiapas, over 1,500 miles south of Ciudad Juarez. As she walks back and forth along the Paso del Norte International Bridge, Diana is at a loss as to how she will make it back home. “Praying to God is what I can only think of,” she says.
Nancy Wiechec is a journalist and photographer who focuses on news and religion. She is based in Arizona. Contributing to this story was Wallice de la Vega, who was with Wiechec in El Paso during the pope’s visit. June 2016 ❘
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Franciscan Respite for Refugees PHOTOS BY DELCIA LOPEZ
Weary from their trek through the desert, desperate immigrants are given shelter and comfort at the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas. BY TONI CASHNELLI
Since 2014, more than 30,000 immigrants—mostly women and children— have stepped off of buses and into open arms at the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas.
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LUTCHING A PLASTIC BAG and holding on to her toddler for dear life, the weary mother pushes open the glass door and steps inside, eyes trained on the floor. She looks up in surprise when first one, then another of the people standing nearby shouts, “¡Bienvenidos!” and begins to applaud. As more join in, the woman shyly smiles. Clearly, the last thing she expected was this wave of warmth and welcome. The scene is repeated again and again as immigrants walk off a minibus and into the parish hall of a Franciscan church in McAllen, Texas. The moving gesture from greeters is a response to a modern-day exodus that began in Central America in 2014. Fleeing a future that held no hope, families began to move north in great numbers. And the place where many of them
landed, after journeys that were long and dangerous, was Sacred Heart Parish. Since June of that year, more than 30,000 undocumented immigrants, most of them women and children, have passed through this building, now called the Humanitarian Respite Center. McAllen, at the southern tip of Texas on the Rio Grande, has become ground zero for a crisis that no one saw coming. “What could we do?” asks Pastor Tom Luczak, the friar who responded when the trickle of immigrants turned into a flood of biblical proportions. “This is what the Gospel says: ‘I was hungry and you gave me food.’” Here at Sacred Heart, “The Gospel has become very real.”
‘Positive Energy’ The Respite Center, next door to the rectory, offers just what the name St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
implies: a bit of rest and relief. Outside, it’s reminiscent of M*A*S*H, with a bookmobile-sized shower unit parked next to a half-moon tent lined with cots. Inside the center are comfort stations surrounding dozens of racks and stacks of clothing. Folding tables with bins of baby supplies and hygiene essentials line the walls. A kiddie corral is every child’s dream, a cornucopia of pull toys, books, stuffed animals, trucks, and dolls. Alongside the kitchen is a row of dining tables draped in pink tablecloths and topped with sparkly centerpieces. All of it is coordinated by Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, manager of the facility since day one. Much of it is maintained by people like Alma Revesz, who loves the center and the people it serves. “I think I am an addict to this,” says Alma, who volunteered for months and now helps manage the facility. Fr anciscanMedia.org
“It’s positive energy. It’s beautiful when the children hug you and say, ‘Thank you, lady, for what you do today.’ I feel Jesus hugging me. I can see his face in all these people.” Father Tom often stops by to meet the families. “I try to come and ask all of them who they are, where they’re going,” he says. And when they leave, “I like to say good-bye.” Today he’s playing peek-a-boo with a toddler who ducks behind his laughing mama. After a brief exchange in Spanish, Father Tom announces, “His name is Anthony. They’re headed to Virginia,” where relatives will give them shelter. Another immigrant sits next to an electrical outlet, a cuff around his ankle plugged into the wall. Whatever their reason for coming, “All of them are here illegally,” Father Tom says. Ankle bracelets allow authorities to track the arrivals when they leave, until they
appear in court for a hearing on their status. Charging the device takes three hours a day—difficult for most, impossible for some. “It’s sad to see. The people come and they finally feel safe, and now they’re being clamped with ankle bracelets like criminals.”
Fleeing Violence Their story has been beamed around the world by National Geographic, Chinese media, and the BBC. Father Tom remembers the phone call that started it all. In June 2014, he and three other friars who share the care of two local parishes were in Chicago for the chapter of their province, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On the phone was Sister Norma Pimentel, a member of the Missionaries of Jesus and executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. She asked, “Father Tom, can I borrow June 2016 ❘
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Immigrants who arrive illegally are tracked by authorities through the use of ankle bracelets. People wear the devices until a court appearance to determine their status.
(Above) Father Tom Luczak, OFM, talks with two young girls who take advantage of the center’s vast array of toys—and tiaras.
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Pulling Together
PHOTO BY TONI CASHNELLI
Volunteer Alma Revesz says she is addicted to the work of helping the immigrants. She has been working at the center since it began and now helps manage the facility.
your parish hall for a couple of days?” and explained the problem—a surge in the number of immigrants crossing the border at Reynosa, Mexico, where the Rio Grande narrows. In the beginning, Sister Norma says, “There were a great number of children coming” by themselves. “The Border Patrol and Department of Refugee Resettlement were not prepared to handle it. They started creating a lot of facilities for unaccompanied children.” Families were another matter. “The Border Patrol was packed with a thousand people at their processing facility and were only equipped to handle 300,” Sister Norma says. To ease overcrowding, many were issued temporary papers and released “provisionally” pending a hearing. Confused and exhausted, they were left at the bus station to fend for themselves. Those from Guatemala spoke indigenous languages that no one understood. Good Samaritans brought them food and water. Catholic Charities stepped in, suggesting that a way station would help them get their bearings. A couple of blocks from the bus station, the parish hall at Sacred Heart was the perfect spot. “I had no idea how long this would be,” Sister Norma says. But Father Tom told her, “Sister, you stay here until this ends.” As Sister Norma learned, the families sold everything, risked everything to escape extortion and brutality from gangs and drug cartels in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Children were being kidnapped for gang recruitment, slave labor, the sex trade, and, most terrifying of all, harvesting of their organs for transplants. “There is more money in selling children than in trafficking,” Sister Norma says. One parent was threatened: “If you don’t give us your child, I will kill him in 15 days.”
Taking only the clothes on their backs, they hired coyotes (smugglers) to get them here on foot, by bus, in the backs of big rigs, on top of trains. “A great number are lost in Mexico,” according to Sister Norma. “Many people die without anyone knowing.” For Father Tom, “The saddest thing St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
is people who get separated from their families” along the way. “Husbands have been killed. There have been many pregnant ladies. Babies have been born here. It must be so bad [where they came from], it’s worth taking the risk.” The first guests were welcomed to the Respite Center on June 10, 2014. “There were 200 a day when it first started,” Father Tom says. “It was unorganized; nobody knew what was happening. Nobody knew the magnitude” of the problem. A former provincial minister, Father Tom is no stranger to crisis, but the first summer was “unbelievable.” Initially, “It was 24 hours a day,” says Franciscan Brother Andre LeMay, part of the parish team at Sacred Heart. “I said I couldn’t keep this up. People from all over the world were inundating the center.” Press briefings were held to accommodate national and international media. But in the midst of chaos, something miraculous happened. Volunteers showed up from every corner of Hidalgo County and beyond. Doctors and nurses donated time to treat minor injuries and examine expectant mothers. High schools and colleges sent students to help. Jews, Muslims, and Protestants pitched in. “The project has been supported by every religion in town,” Father Tom says. “It’s a wonderful example of how people of different faiths can work together.” The Salvation Army made chicken soup—and they’re still doing it. The City of McAllen offered transportation to and from buses and gave Sacred Heart free parking and venues for the meetings, parties, and Quinceañera celebrations that were moved from the parish hall. Since that summer, the media spotlight has shifted, but the immigrants keep coming—not only from Central America, but from Brazil, Cuba, Africa, India, and the Ukraine. The surge has slowed to 20-25 newcomers daily, but the Respite Center is apparently here to stay. “We’re looking at the possibility of building a parish hall for Sacred Heart” to replace the one they lost, says Sister Fr anciscanMedia.org
Face of the Immigration Movement Being singled out by the pope made Sister Norma Pimentel one of the most famous Sisters in America. And it gave her a platform for the issue dearest to her heart—the plight of undocumented immigrants. Last September, before he visited the United States, the pontiff spoke via satellite to an audience in McAllen, Texas, for a 20/20 TV special, Pope Francis and the
Her work with undocumented immigrants has earned Sister Norma Pimentel recognition from Pope Francis.
People. At one point he called Sister Norma forward to praise her work with immigrants along the border. “That moment when he called me by name and wanted to talk to me was a moment to treasure forever,” says the Missionaries of Jesus sister. “I was so pleased and blessed to know he was aware of all the good work being done to help these families” through Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, of which she serves as executive director. “I think his acknowledgment validated that we were doing the right thing” in providing the Humanitarian Respite Center for immigrants. The attention didn’t end there. Sister Norma was invited to the White House on September 23, 2015, when President Barack Obama welcomed Pope Francis to America. Two days later, she watched the Holy Father speak to the United Nations. And on September 26, she met the pope face-to-face, giving him a hug and presenting him with a painting she had done of a mother and child, immigrants from Honduras. Through countless speeches and interviews, Sister Norma has become the face of the immigration movement along the border. On March 8 in Washington, she was recognized by the National Council of La Raza, an advocacy organization for Latinos, at its Capital Awards program. In June, she will receive Loyola University’s Damen Award for outstanding alumnus. “I feel uncomfortable with the applause I have received,” says Sister Norma. “I did it to help the families and not get any recognition. But it has made me more confident of who I am and what I am doing.” In the future, “I hope to use myself as a vehicle and a way to help families in a positive way by simply speaking up, by voicing what I think is the right thing to do.”
Click the button on the left to hear an interview with Daniel Wilson, who assists refugees crossing the border from Mexico. June 2016 ❘
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Basic necessities are made available for those who come to the center looking for help. Volunteers Marcelo Alanis and Luisa Escamilla help sort through mounds of shoes.
Norma. “They set aside a vital part of the parish community for us so we can serve the many immigrants. We have looked at plans for developing a new hall. It’s a lot of money, and I’m hoping the community and others can help.” Meanwhile, it’s business as usual at the Respite Center.
PHOTOS BY DELCIA LOPEZ
Pilgrims and Strangers
(Above) Items as simple as backpacks can bring joy to those who often come with very few or no possessions. At the center they can receive necessities, such as clothes. After an often long trek across the border, immigrants can find rest on cots at the center. The comforts of food and showers are also provided. The radiant smile of a little girl reflects the love that volunteers and workers provide to people during a stressful time.
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There’s usually a wave of arrivals in the morning. At times, a volunteer says, “We don’t know how many are coming until they show up.” With center director Eli Fernandez on vacation and a couple of regulars fighting strep throat, two newcomers are learning the ropes. “Be sure to stay with the family throughout the process,” their guide tells them. “This afternoon we have 75 coming in so we really need help. ¡Ay, ay, ay!” Two blocks away at the bus station a Sacred Heart parishioner meets a group dropped off by immigration and customs enforcement. Dispirited, disoriented, the group moves in slow motion, as though roused from sleep. A toddler too tired to stand hangs on to the belt of a mother holding a plastic bag in one hand and a manila envelope in the other. Nothing—not the ride, not the commotion—could wake the exhausted babies draped over shoulders. The parishioner asks if they would like to eat and take a shower. One traveler responds, “Oh, thank God!” They enter the Respite Center to cheers and applause, and are directed to folding chairs for an orientation from Sister Norma. She tells them in Spanish: “We’re gonna give you clothes. The volunteers are giving you their time just because they love you.” It takes people anywhere from two to eight weeks to travel from Central America to McAllen. For some, the journeys are horrific, ending in a stay of two or three days in a border detention facility. Recent arrivals describe the climate there as “an icebox.” After the families are registered, volunteers lead them around the room, stopping at a table where Sylvia Cardenas folds diapers and dispenses baby St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
essentials. “I’m an old registered nurse,” says Sylvia, a regular since the beginning. “I like helping people because that’s what nurses do.” Next to her, Amy McCoy assembles travel packs—combs, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and deodorant—for the journeys to come. “Oh, yes, this is what I want,” a guest tells her in Spanish. “I get to feel human again.” Amy, a Baptist from central Texas, moved here after a mission trip. “A guy from my home church is from Guatemala. He said, ‘You don’t know what this means to the people you’re helping.’ This cemented that I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
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Refreshed, Renewed As families dine on chicken soup—a light meal is all they can handle—volunteers move among the racks, collecting shirts, shoes, and pants in the sizes required. Immigrants will leave their well-worn clothing behind. “There’s a magical moment when they get a shower and clean clothes,” Father Tom says. “Their whole disposition changes.” Revived by food, children systematically work their way through each box of toys, many leaving with a stuffed animal they can hug or use as a pillow on the next leg of their journey. From arrival to departure, there’s a marked difference in demeanor. “With this little bit of time you change their minds, how they see the future,” says Alma. “They are [stronger], a lot of them told me. A lady at the bus station said, ‘Thank you. I was feeling dead. I have my life again.’” Alma dons a hairnet in the kitchen to assemble 24 bags of cheese sandwiches—road food for those departing tonight. Sending them off to an uncertain future, “I pray and ask God to take care of them because there is nothing else I can do.” In time they may forget the pain of the past. But they will always remember a parish hall where they were treated like family. A Toni Cashnelli is the communications director for the Franciscan Friars of the Province of St. John the Baptist in Cincinnati, Ohio. Fr anciscanMedia.org
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SPECIAL REPORT I M M I G R AT I O N
Walking with Immigrants In the faces of undocumented farmworkers, I saw the face of Christ. B Y FAT H E R V I C T O R S U B B , G H M
A
T THE CLOSE of the tobacco season in Tennessee last February, several migrant workers asked me, their priest, to come and offer a blessing for them before they returned to Mexico. The night before the visit, I had a dream that on the day of departure, the wooden barracks, which housed more than 40, were filled with many excited Tennesseans, there to say thanks and good-bye to these migrants for the long hours of work that no one else seemed to want to do. The farewell group wanted to be sure the workers were recovered after falling ill from working in the toxic fields, where many
are forced to fast for fear of the dreaded vomiting from tobacco exposure. There were hugs and selfies in my dream, for a job well done. When I awakened I went off to the camp to offer my blessing. These workers had spent the last eight months here with H-2A Seasonal Agricultural Visas (a hard-to-obtain visa that allows people to work in the fields). When I arrived, there were no applauding fans; there were only the last of this year’s workers—10 eager men, ready to go home. Not even the boss was there, and the workers soon discovered there was no one to take them to the airport. It happens all the time.
Migrant workers gather around the back of Father Vic Subb’s van to pick up supplies. The Glenmary priest has been ministering to migrant workers for 29 years. GLENMARY HOME MISSIONERS
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PHOTO BY DALE HANSON, GLENMARY HOME MISSIONERS
During my 29 years as a priest, I have had the blessed opportunity to minister and grow among Hispanic migrants and their families from the tomato fields of Arkansas, to the land of Vidalia onions of Georgia, to the tobacco crop of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Those who come from foreign lands have been a source of inspiration for me in their love of family, for the joy they carry in spite of difficult conditions. They have sacrificed much to come to the United States.
A Mission of Love As a Glenmary Home Missioner, I work in small, rural towns of the South and Appalachia to help bring the Catholic presence to areas without a Catholic church. In 1987, after ordination, I was sent to work in southeast Arkansas. In towns named Crossett, Hamburg, Monticello, and Warren, in parishes that were small and in early development, I ministered amid rich fields of tomatoes. Fr anciscanMedia.org
Each year, hundreds of Hispanic farmworkers would arrive—mostly undocumented—to live out a dream of helping their families back home. Each day, I would see these workers far out in the fields working quickly. I felt called with my missionary heart to find where they lived, and would visit them. Migrants do not live on the main road; they live far out in the country. I would travel down many a dirt road seeking these strangers with my four spoken words of Spanish. We were not strangers for long. Maybe my being a priest helped, but a smile and a handshake go a long way. Each time I visited, I was treated as a family member. I regularly visited 30 migrant camps located in the Arkansas pines. Once, a few days before Christmas, I visited a camp that I often went to, a camp of about 35 men, all from the same town in Mexico. They lived in a converted chicken coop; the farmer built a newer coop for the chickens. The men inherited the old one.
At Glenmary’s Holy Family mission in Lafayette, Tennessee, Father Vic visits with Daniel and Yolanda Almaduer and their infant, Alexander, following the Spanishlanguage Sunday Mass.
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Father Vic spends time with the Robles family outside their home near Hamburg, Arkansas. The migrant workers always welcomed him as if he were a part of their family, says Father Vic.
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PHOTOS BY FATHER PAT O’DONNELL, GLENMARY HOME MISSIONERS
Working the tomato fields is backbreaking, as Father Vic learned firsthand when he filled in for a worker who had been injured. Here, a worker and Father Vic survey the progress of the tomato crop in Hamburg, Arkansas.
“What would you like for Christmas?” I asked. “Food? Blankets? What would make Christmas seem like back home?” They all agreed they would like to have Mass. On December 25, during my first year as a priest, I celebrated Christmas Mass at 8 p.m. in a chicken coop. My Spanish was horrible. The men, mostly from the same extended family, sang like a choir of angels. The Christ child blessed us with his love. That year began a few years of great opportunity. President Ronald Reagan’s amnesty, and the farmworker programs, became the hope and the road to legalization for millions of undocumented people living in the United States. To participate, farmworkers were required to show that they had worked at least 90 days in the fields during the previous three years. There were unscrupulous people who saw this new law as a moneymaker. Migrants were willing to pay anything to have the security of having papers. These townspeople would help the workers get papers, but often at an unjust cost. Some became rich at the expense of the poor. Some migrants would have no food on their tables in order to have the money to pay for these services. I could not allow this to continue in my area, so I studied the laws. I began to help people with the paperwork, for no charge, spending nights filling out forms and getting the physicals, the photos, and the fingerprints. Whenever there was a significant number of people, we would take the four-hour trip to Memphis. We would gather the night before to pray. Many could not sleep that night: we were going to Memphis, to the office of immigration. The ride up was always silent. The wait outside the office seemed unbearable. The joy that appeared on the face of each person when he or she heard the words, “Your application has been approved,” still makes my heart sing. The realization that they no longer needed to live in the shadows was a blessed new experience. Over the years, I’ve had the honor of helping many more than 1,000 people become legal in the United States. Those long trips transformed people’s lives. During my years in Arkansas, I tried to be a voice between the workers and the farmers. As my Spanish improved, I would translate, trying to help each side understand the position of the other. Sometimes I would not get a favorable response from the farmer. On a few occasions I heard, “If that priest comes
on my property again, I will shoot him.” So I would meet the workers at a store. My goal was to build bridges, but sometimes the waters were too wide. One time a worker had an infection in his foot. He worried whether he would be able to send money home. I offered to take his place in picking tomatoes for a day. We were paid by the bucket, the heat was unbearable, the shade so inviting. I still hold what might be the recent record for the lowest daily wage picking tomatoes in Arkansas! St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
One man, let us call him Alfredo, came to Arkansas with the dream that his work in the tomatoes would allow his two sons to go to college. “They are going to get an education and make something of themselves,” he would say. He was so proud of those boys. One day he fell off the top of a farm truck and hit his head. Blood soon appeared at the back of his head as he lay unconscious. The farmer said, “We can’t take him to the hospital; they will know I hire illegals.” After a few hours his friends got a car, but it was too late. I called his wife in Mexico with the horrible news. Several months later she called me. “Life is hard here. My oldest, José, 15 years old, is coming north. Please look out after him.”
Sweet Vidalias
States,” he started, in his native tongue. “Along the way we encountered 10 dead bodies in the desert. The sun was hot. I lay under a tree awhile, not sure if I would wake up. When I did get up, I could not find José. I called his name, I looked all over. He was weak, like me.” Juan said his feet were so sore he didn’t even know how he continued. Now, he said, he couldn’t sleep at night. “I keep thinking of José. Why did I ever come?” Juan lamented.
People in Bondage Three times in Georgia I was in communication with people who had kidnapped members of my parish. They had gone back to Mexico for family emergencies and were kidnapped on the way back, which often means that you will not return to the United States. If you do return there are difficulties. First, crossing the desert you must pay a large sum of money to a coyote (a person who will arrange your crossing). When you arrive in Phoenix, where most people travel, if you have not been caught by US immigration agents, you are placed in a safe house, where you wait for a second coyote to take you to your final US destination.
Years later, I ministered in South Georgia, in several small parishes in Swainsboro, Metter, and in Stillmore, a parish spread over a large area. There were many crops, as well as a large chicken plant, but those sweet Vidalia onions were king. Harvesting onions is hard work, bending all day, cutting your hands on the onion stalk. To this day l still say a prayer for the person who picked that onion I am enjoying. As with other crops, in other states, onion camps are located out of sight, with a culture of their own. In Georgia How to Subscribe to they are big. Often 100 men, women, and children would live in a camp with one bathroom and one telephone. My visits would be in the evenings. I would load the van with food for the newly arrived, for there would be St. Anthony Messenger is only $39.00 for 12 monthly issues. This price no money until there was work, and includes our digital edition: StAnthonyMessenger.org/DigitalEdition sometimes that was a long time. Med__ YES! Please begin my subscription. icine and Band-Aids were always a part Ship to: of the trip. I would always try to bring Name ________________________________________________ others from the parish with me, hoping Address _______________________________________________ to extend my efforts. Each visit I would City/State/Zip ___________________________________________ listen to stories, tell jokes, and, most Payment Options (Choose one) of all, be present. Most of these workers ___ Please bill me $39.00 for 12 monthly issues. would say that, other than their boss, ___ Enclosed is my check or money order. they did not know any other Ameri___ Charge my: __ Visa __ Mastercard can. Card #: __________________________ Expiration Date ______ One day I received a call that a man Signature __________________________________________ named Juan wanted me to visit. When Phone _____________________________________________ I arrived at his old trailer, I was greeted Mail to: St. Anthony Messenger, P.O. Box 189, Congers, NY 10920-0189 by his friend Mario. Mario brought me to Juan and he began his story. For fastest service, call toll-free: 866-543-6870, M-F, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern) By now, I could speak Spanish well enough to understand: “For two weeks, To order a subscription online: StAnthonyMessenger.org/subscribe José, my best friend, and I walked in the desert to come to the United
ST.ANTHONY M essenger
Fr anciscanMedia.org
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Migrant workers in the tobacco fields of Macon County, Tennessee, receive Communion at a Mass celebrated at their camp.
PHOTOS BY DALE HANSON, GLENMARY HOME MISSIONERS
Father Vic—along with the help of visiting Glenmary seminarian Avelardo Mercado (in red) and parish volunteer Genaro Juarez Galina— leads a religious-education class at Holy Family mission.
The safe house isn’t safe. Here people often will be kidnapped, and the kidnappers will demand money from families, “if you wish to see your loved one again.” During the years I was in Georgia, the asking price generally was $1,000 per person, a sum that no one wishes to pay. For the life of a loved one, families are forced to come up with the money. When I could, I helped them. 42 ❘
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One Christmas I was speaking to a couple in Phoenix who were holding hostage 10 people. Nine of the hostages were returning to the United States after attending their father’s funeral in Oaxaca, Mexico. The $9,000 was collected, but the 10th person was a 12-yearold boy, Francisco, who was an orphan. His parents had been murdered so, with no family, he came north. The kidnappers vowed to kill St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o r g
him that night, Christmas Eve, if the $1,000 ransom was not met. Where to get $1,000 on Christmas Eve? We prayed, “Jesus, help us.” Out of nowhere our prayers were answered! One thousand dollars appeared at the church by the Nativity stable of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. Francisco came to Georgia. It was a great Christmas gift for all.
Human Misery Many stories are painful to tell, perhaps unpleasant to read. Yet I’ve learned over these years that to be faithful means to listen to those who cry out in need. Let me offer a few final ones. People arrive in the United States in many ways. A common way is in the back of an SUV. People are stacked on top of each other, sometimes three or four deep. They are not allowed out of the van to stretch, go to the bathroom, or eat until they reach their destination two or three days later. One time, three men arrived to work in the onion fields after lying at the bottom of the stacked people. For three days they lay on top of a hot muffler. Their legs were badly burned. The boss gave them some cream and told them to begin work in the fields. When I visited the men a week after their arrival, two of them, brothers, could no longer walk. We sought a way to send them back to Mexico by raising money. The poor are always generous in helping the poor. A year later, I visited the brothers in Puebla, Mexico. The grim news was that they would never walk again. This is part of the human price that migrants sometimes face. Many leave the fields and work in factories, hotels, or construction. Though known to be good workers, these undocumented workers often are paid less than those with papers. They live in a world where they are always looking over their shoulder. Will I be found out? Will I be sent back home? they wonder. Their children, born in this country, are often victims of cultural confusion. Am I Hispanic or not? What language should I speak? they ask themselves. Nonetheless, so many families—good families with smart children—assimilate well into US culture. The Dream Act, a federal program, has allowed many intelligent young people to get
ahead by pursuing higher education. When one hears that federal immigration agents are in a town, the streets become empty of the undocumented. But the Church is a safe haven. During these times, I would come home to find 40 or 50 people seeking to hide. People in town would question, “Where is that nice Martinez family? They seem to have disappeared. Do you think that they could be illegal? I used to like them so much.” Today, from my small parish in Tennessee, I visit tobacco camps two evenings per week, when the workers return from the fields. I go because they are our brothers and sisters. I have experienced the joy of birth as well as the pain of death with those who work our fields. So let us end here. To help the stranger are words that spring from the Gospel. Our immigrant brothers and sisters walk the unknown paths. They, in turn, call me to leave my comfort zone, to walk with them, to know them beyond the shadows. They are a challenge to all of us. A
Click the button above to hear an interview with an expert on immigration law.
Father Victor Subb, a freelance writer and native of Philadelphia, is a Glenmary Home Missioner. He has served in parishes in various parts of Appalachia and the South, and has served in formation programs for new Glenmarians.
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Com ome e See Glenmar y
Priests & Brothers
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Ser ving in
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glenmar y.org/vocations vocations@glen nmar y.org 513.881.7 7494
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Piece by piece, they hoped to rebuild their marriage. FICTION BY JEANNE HEAL
LESS ME, Father, for I have sinned. I slept with my best friend’s wife.” So began the confession of Hal Cooper. It had taken him weeks to come to this point, to speak about the sin that had dogged his daylight hours and kept him awake at night with remorse and shame. Looking back, it was probably predictable. He had helped Ellen care for Jack in his final illness and with the paperwork after Jack died. It had been the most natural thing in the world to talk about Jack, to laugh together at the good memories, to hold one another as they cried. And one day it seemed the most natural thing in the world that they should find themselves in bed together, the woman Jack loved and the man who had been Jack’s best friend since their junior year at college. The unshed tears burned behind his eyes. “I didn’t mean to. . . . We didn’t mean to. . . . It just happened.” That was how it felt to him, like a force of nature, an act of God even, if that wasn’t blasphemy, like an earthquake or a catastrophic flood. And, like those natural disasters, it had left devastation in its wake. “Are you still seeing the woman?” Father Dan asked. Hal shuddered. “Never alone. And not any more than politeness demands. We both teach at the same school so it’s impossible to avoid each other completely. But I mean—we both mean—for it never to happen again.” “Have you told your wife?” said Father Dan. Hal could feel his throat tighten. “No,” he croaked. “It would kill Susan. She trusts me.
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She . . . she loves me.” He paused. “Are you saying I should tell her?” “No,” Father Dan said gently. “The sin is yours to bear, not hers. But you must do everything in your power to repair your marriage. To fulfill your marriage vows to love, honor, and cherish Susan. And to give up your own life for her as Christ gave his for the Church.” “Yes, Father.” “Now, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit I absolve you of your sins. . . .” But Hal didn’t hear the rest of Father Dan’s prayer. The tears that had threatened to overcome him for the past three weeks overwhelmed him now, and he broke down in sobs.
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t was with a heart filled with gratitude that Hal entered his home that night. And from that day forward he did everything in his power to treasure his wife and family, fully appreciating what he had risked in a moment of bad judgment, nostalgia, and lust. He became, in fact, the husband Susan had always wanted: attentive, tender, fully present to her and their two daughters. They were closer than they had ever been. Susan was at first surprised and then bemused by Hal’s sudden devotion. One night, lying close and holding hands after a perfect ending to a perfect day, Susan asked, ”What’s going on with you, Hal?” “What do you mean?” Hal hedged. Susan turned toward him and traced the line of his cheek in the moonlight. “You love St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
ILLUSTRATION BY VLAD ALVAREZ
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me,” she said simply. “I can see it in everything you do, hear it in everything you say. Date nights, making time for us every weekend. You didn’t even once complain about that awful musical cartoon the girls dragged us to. What’s suddenly turned you into the Husband and Father of the Year?” So Hal told her. And the world shifted on its axis. He didn’t know that a voice could drip icicles, but he found out in the following days and weeks that Susan’s could.
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llen stood at the door of her best friend’s house and wiped the sweat off her hands onto the sides of her jeans. The May sun beat down on the quiet street. It was 1:30 in the afternoon, and older children were in school while young ones had yet to stir from their afternoon naps. She’d planned it that way. She took a deep breath, steeled herself, and rang the bell. Footsteps sounded on the other side of the door. Then it opened. Susan looked just as she always had. The same light brown hair tied back in a soft ponytail, the same welcoming smile—until she saw who it was. Then, the light in her eyes hardened to a glare and the smile tightened to an angry frown. She stood still, silent. “Hello, Susan,” Ellen said, her voice shaking a little. Susan caught her breath. “He’s not here.” “No. It’s you I came to see.” “I have nothing to say to you.” Ellen glanced away from the hatred
ANSWERS TO PETE AND REPEAT 1. There is a bunny by the tent. 2. The sun is setting. 3. Pete’s shoe now has laces. 4. A sleeping bag in the tent is visible. 5. The mallet has moved closer to Pete. 6. There are more leaves on the tree. 7. The tent has a window. 8. A rope and stake are missing.
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in her best friend’s face to the lilac bushes behind the gate, to the backyard where she knew the girls’ bikes would be lying on the cement patio and the petunias, newly planted, would be showing their faces to the sun. “I’m leaving town,” she said finally into the silence. “I’d like to talk to you before I go.” “You don’t have anything to say that I could possibly want to hear.” “You won’t know that until you hear it.” Susan was silent, and Ellen continued. ”We used to be best friends. Let me talk to you.” Susan’s mouth worked, but she didn’t say anything. Finally, she took a step back, allowing Ellen to enter the living room. On the piano were the school photos of Kimberly and Jasmine, 7 and 9, and a picture of Susan’s mother. Ellen remembered Susan’s grief when she had died three years ago. But Hal and Susan’s wedding portrait was gone. “Do you want . . .” Susan stopped for a moment, as though resisting the demands of hospitality, and then continued, “ . . . coffee or something?” Ellen nodded her head. “A glass of water.” Susan turned without a word and headed for the kitchen, and Ellen, responding from long habit, followed her.
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he kitchen was bright. Yellow lacy curtains on the window, lemon yellow walls, green and yellow hand towels hanging from the stove door handle, magnet photos of Kimberly and Jasmine on the fridge. Hamish, the long-haired Himalayan cat, looked up at her from the sundrenched mat in front of the patio doors. He yawned and stretched before languidly walking forward to greet her. “Hey, Hamish,” Ellen said softly. She knelt down and reached out a finger to stroke the cat behind the ear. Hamish purred like a low-volume motor. He bent his head into her hand, allowing her to stroke his head and back and the long length of his tail. “I missed you,” she whispered, the
tears pricking her eyes. But then Hamish, his greeting dealt with, strode back to his spot in the sun, and she regained her feet. Susan put a glass of water on the kitchen table next to Ellen, and then both women sat down, facing each other. “Thank you,” Ellen said, taking a small sip. “How have you been?” ”Great. Just great,” the sarcasm unmistakable. “You said you’re leaving town?” Ellen nodded. “At the end of the month. New town. New school.” “Fresh start for you and Hal. How nice for you.” Ellen jerked her head back as though she’d been slapped. “I haven’t talked to Hal in weeks.” Susan smiled mirthlessly. “So it didn’t work out, then.” “Susan, it was never going to work out. I never loved Hal. Not the way you’re implying. And he never loved me.” “So is that supposed to make me feel better? That he threw away our marriage for a second-rate love affair?” “It was never a love affair,” Ellen said, trying desperately to make Susan understand “It was a mistake. You and Hal were the couple. I remember the night Jack introduced you at the hockey game. You fell in love with him the minute he stepped off the ice. You told me that yourself.” But Susan remained frozen. “What are you doing here, Ellen? What do you want from me?” “I want. . . . I hoped. . . .” Ellen felt her throat constrict. “I want your forgiveness, I guess.” “When hell freezes over!” Susan shot back. Ellen flinched. “I know it can never be what it was, but I’m trying to make amends. I’m going away, leaving a job I love, a town I’ve lived in all my life. And I’m asking you to get past the hurt I’ve caused you, for the sake of the girls, for the sake of the love you and Hal have for one another.” “Had. The love we had for one another before you wrecked our lives,” Susan cut in. “No. I know you, Susan. I’ve known St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
you since we were in kindergarten together. You hold the ones you love close to your heart. You never let go. Don’t start now. Don’t give up on the best thing that ever happened to you.” “How dare you lay this at my feet! I was a good wife to him. A faithful wife. And you were my best friend. I stayed with you all those nights at the hospital. I held you when Jack died. I loved you!”
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usan stood up abruptly, knocking her chair backward onto the floor. She pointed an accusing finger at Ellen. “I trusted you. I trusted both of you. And you betrayed me!” Ellen stood, too, tears streaming down her face. “Susan, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” “You’ve cost me everything! My happy home! My marriage! The love of my life!” “I know, I know! But Susan, the only thing standing in the way of you getting back everything you want is you. All you have to do is forgive him. Let him come home.” Susan grabbed the glass of water and threw the contents in Ellen’s face. “Your leftovers? No thank you!” Pulling a tissue from her jeans, Ellen wiped her face with shaking hands. “It’s not like that. I got the crumbs from your table. You’re the one he wants, the one he loves. The one he wants to spend his life with.” Susan turned away, hurling the glass into the kitchen sink, where it shattered against the stainless steel. “I’m done talking to you about my husband. Get out! Get out of my house!” Ellen wadded the tissue and tucked it into her pocket. “I’m going. Just know it was never about you. It was never even about me, really.” She took one last look at Susan’s back and at the kitchen she loved like her own and left.
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tanding at the window, Susan watched her best friend drive away, Ellen’s words echoing in the room: “The only thing standing in the way of you getting back everything you want is you. All you have to do is forgive him.”
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Forgive. The one thing she couldn’t do. Oh, God would forgive him. Forgive the both of them. And why not? He was in the forgiveness business. They had both repented, were both making amends, as though that were possible. They were putting it behind them and moving on with their lives, while she was the one left with her life lying in pieces at her feet and nowhere she wanted to go except back—back before that terrible night when she learned of their betrayal. Her sister had offered to give her
the name of her lawyer. “Take him for all he’s worth,” she had advised. It was what she had done when her own marriage fell apart. But Susan held back. Her friends told her to cut him off from seeing his daughters, but Susan couldn’t do that either. She knew what that did to a family, and to pile more hurt on the children made no logical sense, in spite of her deep desire for retaliation. She picked up the glass shards from the sink, cutting her hand in the process, and the tears she’d been shed-
WHO AMONG US HAS NOT ASKED ST. ANTHONY’S HELP?
Join us as we celebrate the feast of St. Anthony of Padua on June 13. St. Anthony, saint of miracles and patron saint of lost and stolen articles, is one of the most well known disciples of St. Francis of Assisi.
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ding for the past six weeks threatened to inundate her again. “God help me! I can’t do this!”
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wallowing hard, she wiped the blood from her hand on a paper towel, then headed to the backyard and the trash barrel. She had no sooner stepped outside than she saw him. He was in the far corner of the garden turning over the compost pile. Her heart skipped at the sight of him stooped over the shovel, his once dear, familiar profile absorbed in the work, his movements fluid and purposeful. If only . . . . She stiffened her back. “What are you doing here? The girls aren’t home for another hour.” Hal looked up. “I remembered how much you hate this job. I figured it hadn’t been done in a while.” His eyes crinkled at the corners the way they always did when he smiled. “You’re looking good.” “Liar.” His smile broadened. “You always look good to me, Susan.”
She put up her hand as though to ward off a blow. “Don’t,” she said. Don’t smile at me, she cried inside. Don’t be nice to me. Don’t tell me you still love me with everything you say and everything you do, until I can’t hate you anymore. I want to hate you. Hal said nothing, but the light in his eyes dimmed. He went back to turning over the earth. Susan glanced down at the detritus of the compost pile, at the broken eggshells polka-dotted with old coffee grounds. Her nose wrinkled at the faintly rotten smell. “It stinks,” she said. Just like our marriage, she thought. Used up and useless. Hal dug the spade into the humusto-be, lifted, and turned it over. “Only if you let it,” he said. “Give it a little light, air, and water, and, hey, presto! Good fertile soil.” Susan looked down at the broken glass in her hand. What if marriage were more like compost than glass? Not something inert and irreparable, but living, organic material. Her heart
gave a sudden leap. Light, air, and water. “And time,” she breathed. “And work.” “That, too,” Hal agreed, unaware that his world had just shifted back on its axis. Was it possible? Susan wondered. Could the scraps of their relationship be worked and turned into the good soil needed for a healthy marriage? Could love and trust be made to grow again? She didn’t know. She looked back at Hal working the kitchen scraps into the dirt and quickly, before she could second-guess herself, said, “I have iced tea in the fridge when you’re done.” Hal looked up, smiling. “I’d like that.” Time . . . and work. Susan took a deep, fortifying breath. Then she walked to the trash can and tossed in the broken glass. A Jeanne Heal is a freelance writer from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. In addition to raising six kids, she has been writing for over 30 years.
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St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
AT HOME ON EARTH
❘ BY KYLE KRAMER
Honoring All of Creation
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and caring for creation with skill, wisdom, and gentleness, as Pope Francis calls us to do in this Year of Mercy. The path to the true center Open Our Hearts doesn’t run through polls and power politics, but Spend some time medithrough coming to grips with tating on Paul’s reflection our vulnerability. According about vulnerability in to sociologist Brené Brown, 2 Cor 12:8-10. admitting our weaknesses
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and our fears is the key to Consider picking up Dr. courage and creativity and Brené Brown’s two excelbelonging—exactly the qualilent books on vulnerability: ties we need in our leaders, The Gifts of Imperfection when so much is at stake for and Daring Greatly. our planet and all of its peoples. Think of one person—someLike most spiritual pracone you know personally or tice, though, this is easy to a public figure—with prescribe but hard to do. In whom you deeply disagree. fact, opening your heart and Spend some of your prayer becoming more vulnerable time wishing him or her can be utterly terrifying. peace. Franciscan Father Richard Rohr teaches that gateways to vulnerability are great love, great suffering, and contemplative practice. None of these are for the faint of heart. The great secret, as St. Paul knew so well, is that the strength God gives us when we journey to the center of our weakness is the greatest power there is. It is the power of mercy, forgiveness, and humility. This is what tunes us in to God’s love for all creation. It is what we pray for from our leaders. A
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Kyle Kramer is the executive director of the Passionist Earth and Spirit Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
God is always the center of our lives and the place from where all other things grow. Fr ancisca n Media .org
Click the button on the right to listen to an interview with Kyle. Ju n e 2 0 1 6 ❘ 4 9
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© YULIANG11/FOTOSEARCH
s anyone else tired of our how polarized and paralyzed our national politics have become? At a time when we desperately need creative leadership from the men and women we elect to office, I long for leaders who govern from the center of their being. This is an inner spiritual reality, that part of each of us that carries God’s image, where we are connected to the infinite love God has for all creation. At the center of our being, we understand that we are all one family and that harm done to anyone or anything—including the Earth itself—is harm done to all. It is the part of us that knows we are loved just as we are, so we don’t have to demonize anyone or prop up our own ego and ambition at the expense of others. Getting in touch with our true center changes the way we act in the world. It helps us roll up our sleeves and get down to what is actually needed: caring for others
ASK A FRANCISCAN
❘ BY FATHER PAT McCLOSKEY, OFM
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Disposing of Excess Goods
In the sermon several weeks ago, the priest talked about the fact that if you have two coats, you have taken one from a poor person. There was no elaboration about that, other than it is difficult to give up a coat, particularly if you wear it. That statement has bothered me. I have more than one coat. Additionally, I do have some coats that belonged to my husband, who passed away several years ago. I have slowly donated some of his clothing, but I have found it very difficult to let all of his clothes go. I feel very guilty about having these coats. Do I need to donate them immediately? Is it a sin that I have not donated them already? Your priest may have been quoting or paraphrasing St. Basil the Great (329-379), who said in a sermon: “When someone steals another’s clothes, we call them a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and 5 0 ❘ Jun e 2016
does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the poor.” I cannot imagine that you have committed a sin by not donating all of your husband’s clothes yet. People grieve in different ways and according to different timetables. Don’t feel guilty about not having donated those clothes yet. It might help to ask yourself if you are honoring your deceased husband more by keeping his clothes or by donating them to someone who can use them—before they eventually become unusable by anyone. Each of us can ask God’s help to be more realistic about what we need and what we can give away to someone who genuinely lacks what we have in excess. St. Basil was quoting John the Baptist (Lk 3:11). Mainstream Christianity has always taught that property ownership is a relative right, not an absolute one. The goods of the earth have not been provided by God so that some people will have a great excess and others will lack the basic necessities of life. Thus, for example, I do not have a God-given right to hoard food while people nearby are starving. The fact that you were bothered by that priest’s homily may be a very good thing. The movement of God’s grace in a person’s life is rarely serene. Perhaps that priest’s homily and my response here are part of how God’s grace is moving in your life. Some people who heard St. Basil the Great preach on this subject almost certainly were bothered also. Mark Twain once observed that
nothing is as much fun as examining another person’s conscience. I don’t mean to examine yours—only to help you do that.
What Does the Term Confessor Mean? I am confused about why some saints are designated as confessors. I don’t think it means that the man was a priest and a “good confessor” (like Sts. John Vianney or Padre Pio). Is this term used to mean confessing one’s faith in Christ? Was this designation ever used for women saints? We tend to think of confess as meaning “admit to” or “seek forgiveness for”—as in confessing our sins. The Catholic Church also uses the term confess to mean “affirm”—as in “I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come” (Nicene Creed). The term confessor was once used only for men who were not apostles, martyrs, or pastors; it was never used for women saints. The term no longer appears in the General Roman Calendar to describe various saints. The term virgin was originally applied only to women, but the current Roman Missal has a Preface for “Holy Virgins and Religious” that is used for the feasts of Sts. Benedict, Francis of Assisi, Clare of Assisi, and Maria Goretti, for example. There are now two “Prefaces for Saints,” which would be appropriate, for example, for the feast of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Classifications can change over time. The Roman Missal once had a Preface for “Virgin Martyrs” and St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
“Holy Men and Women” (presumably married people or persons single but not in religious life).
‘For Us Men’ When the powers that be changed some of the words and responses to the Mass several years ago, why did the words in the Nicene Creed “For us men and for our salvation” become exclusively male again— excluding probably 2/3 of the practicing Catholics? Lord, save us from poor liturgical translations! The Latin word homo is generic (human person); the word vir means “male person.” The current translation renders propter nos homines as “for us men” whereas it should be “for people” (or some other inclusive term). If the Creed had meant to say “for male persons,” it would not have used homines. The original language of the Nicene Creed is Greek; that text uses anthropos (generic term for a human being) and not aner (definitely a male person). What we have is a poor translation now defended and sanctified as being “more faithful to the original.” People who insist on this translation may have some explaining to do when they meet St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. Perhaps they will get extra time in purgatory to see their mistake and thus avoid arguing over this at the heavenly banquet. In some places, individuals and groups now simply say, “For us and for our salvation.”
believing that God is going to appear someday and help us to overcome our situation, after years and years of abuse and injustice, and after doing what we are supposed to do as Christians? God is God, and no one else is. Has God assigned to anyone a certain amount of pain, desolation, isolation, abuse, misery, or injustice? No. Aren’t these things the result of people abusing their God-given human freedom? Our prayers do not supply information or a sense or urgency that God lacks. Our prayers open us up more widely to God’s grace and its action within human lives. Human suffering afflicts people who believe in Jesus Christ and those who do not. The fact that some people suffer greatly does not prove that God is indifferent to suffering but only that humans all too often refuse to do what they can to alleviate that suffering. A
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Father Pat welcomes your questions! Send them to: Ask a Franciscan, 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498, or Ask@FranciscanMedia.org. All questions sent by mail need to include a selfaddressed stamped envelope. This column’s answers can be searched back to April 1996 at StAnthonyMessenger.org.
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Is God Missing in Action? What do you think about the absence of God in times of crisis? I do not understand why God chooses to kill his creatures with pain, desolation, isolation, and all kinds of abuse, misery, and injustice instead of changing the circumstances. Why doesn’t God Almighty answer those prayers? Why are there more martyrs? How can we continue Fr ancisca n Media .org
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Ju n e 2 0 1 6 ❘ 5 1
BOOK CORNER
❘ BY CAROL ANN MORROW
The Name of God Is Mercy By Pope Francis with Andrea Tornielli Random House 176 pages • $26 Hardcover/E-book/Audiobook Reviewed by ANGIE MIMMS, a former newspaper and magazine reporter, editor, and parish communications director. She writes from her home in Northern Kentucky. “God is a careful and attentive father, ready to welcome any person who takes a step or even expresses the desire to take a step that leads home. He is there, staring out at the
WHAT I’M READING ■ Accidental
Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People, by Nadia Bolz-Weber
■ New
Seeds of Contemplation, by Thomas Merton
■ The
Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope, by Austen Ivereigh
■ The
Name of God Is Mercy, by Pope Francis
■ The
Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, by Robert A. Caro
Greg Friedman, OFM, is a Franciscan priest and former assistant editor of this magazine. He is author of five books and has produced religious video and audio programs. He currently is associate editor of The Holy Land Review.
5 2 ❘ Jun e 2016
horizon, expecting us, waiting for us.” With words like these from Pope Francis, a sense of warmth and familiarity breathes through the pages of The Name of God Is Mercy. It flows from the earnest, easy nature of Pope Francis as he shares his early memories, pastoral experiences, and beliefs about what he considers Jesus’ most important message—mercy. And it rises up from the rapport between the Holy Father and his interviewer, Vatican reporter Andrea Tornielli, who has written extensively about this pope, including his biography, Francis: Pope of a New World. Tornielli, in his letter to the reader, explains that as the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy approached, he “liked the idea of an interview that would reveal the heart of Francis and his vision.” Shining forth from that effort is Francis’ deep wish to welcome us all home to God’s love and mercy. Mercy was published to coincide with the Year of Mercy called for by Francis. The year began December 8, 2015, and will conclude November 20, 2016. Readers who want to deepen their understanding and experience of the jubilee can turn to this book for encouragement and love. “The most important thing in the life of every man and every woman is not that they should never fall along the way,” the pope says. “The important thing is always to get back up, not to stay on the ground licking your wounds.” The book consists of Tornielli’s questions and observations and the pope’s responses. Among its nine chapters, the authors discuss the Year of Mercy and how to live it, the meaning of mercy, the need to receive and show mercy, and the importance of confession. Throughout the book, Francis conveys his convictions with engaging personal stories and references to Scripture and other spiritual leaders. He creates images, such as his comparison of the Church to “a field hospital, where treatment is given above all to those who are most wounded.” Mercy transcends this single holy year. It calls for nothing less than a way of life for individuals and for the Church. St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
BOOK BRIEFS
Evangelization for Today Messy & Foolish How to Make a Mess, Be a Fool, and Evangelize the World By Matthew Warner Dynamic Catholic 79 pages • $19.95 Paperback/Kindle
Thumbprint in the Clay Divine Marks of Beauty, Order and Grace Luci Shaw InterVarsity Press 205 pages • $17 Paperback/E-book Reviewed by ALICE CAMILLE, M.Div, a religious writer of titles including This Transforming Word and God’s Word Is Alive. Halfway through Thumbprint in the Clay, I wasn’t sure what I was reading. I only knew I wanted to absorb this writerly book with its lyric descriptions that awaken wonder. At times, I thought I’d entered a conversation on the spirituality of writing. At other moments, it steered more toward our common vocation to observe and savor the daring act of living. In the end, I decided Luci Shaw has written a memoir of her spiritual journey, and invites us to consider our own paths with the same kind of awareness and creativity. An octogenarian with a fascinating pedigree—granddaughter of a Protestant founder, child of missionaries, publisher and poet, friend to Madeleine L’Engle—Shaw has a journey worth sharing. Her text reads like Scripture: sometimes in prose, sometimes rising into verse, as if gripped with an exalted vision. She travels through territories as varied as creativity and identity, incarnation and mortality, the gift of particularity, and the grandeur of the divine perspective. You know she means it when she writes: “I long for you to share my wonder and respond. I can point it out to you and believe that you will see it, too.” Shaw seeks a “theory of everything” that includes Christian faith. She beckons the curious reader to dream awhile, drink deeply, and see the story we each inhabit as sacred. Fr ancisca n Media .org
For the past 12 years, Matthew Warner has been energetically sharing his Christian faith with others through the Internet. Now he offers a fresh vision for evangelization in the 21st century that encourages us to, in the pope’s words to youths in July 2015, “make a mess.”
Room 24 Adventures of a New Evangelist By Katie Prejean Ave Maria Press 160 pages • $13.95 Paperback/E-book Only nine years older than some of her students, Katie Prejean returned to her alma mater in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to teach religion to freshmen. As it turns out, she had as much to learn from her hormonal students about evangelization as they did from her.
To Heal, Proclaim, and Teach The Essential Guide to Ministry in Today’s Catholic Church By Jared Dees Ave Maria Press 320 pages • $16.95 Paperback An expert in many forms of ministry, Jared Dees offers a practical guide on effective evangelization to those working in various pastoral roles. —D.I.
Books featured in Book Corner and Book Briefs can be ordered from
St. Mary’s Bookstore & Church Supply 1909 West End Avenue • Nashville, TN 37203 • 800-233-3604 www.stmarysbookstore.com • stmarysbookstore@gmail.com Ju n e 2 0 1 6 ❘ 5 3
A CATHOLIC MOM SPEAKS
❘ BY SUSAN HINES-BRIGGER
My Biblical Adventure went to the Bible and found the context of the quote. It’s in the story of Nicodemus. I realized I had heard that reading, but never associated that quote with any particular Bible story. I suddenly realized that, in spite of my 43 years of being Catholic, I am Bible illiterate. So I read the rest of the chapter. Then I made a decision. I am going to read the Bible. I am going to get in touch with the stories of my faith—the ones I have heard in the readings and Gospels at Mass, but never looked at as part of a bigger story.
From Genesis to Revelation
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e’ve all seen it—the John 3:16 signs so prevalent at major sporting events. But do you know the biblical quote it references? I didn’t . . . until one of my kids asked about it. I was busted. And so began my biblical adventure. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life”—that’s John 3:16. I quickly Click the button on the left to listen to Susan’s reflections on family life.
5 4 ❘ Jun e 2016
When I started, I knew this wasn’t going to be like reading the latest novel while on vacation. No, this was going to be a much more deliberate, slow-moving, and faithchallenging endeavor. First of all, my opportunities to sit and read are few and far between. Second, I realized that to truly understand the passages I was reading, I needed to spend time with them. Most of all, though, I needed a Bible! I could easily find the entire Bible online. For some reason, though, I needed that book in my hands. I wanted to be able to highlight and write in this book that would become so personal. In an attempt to dip my foot into the waters, I scoured my Pinterest page for all of the biblical quotes I had pinned. Obviously there is something about those words that speaks to me. From those quotes I dove into the larger chapter to see the context. Sometimes I am surprised that by doing so the quote might take on quite a different meaning. Or perhaps I find something else within the chapter that resonates with me on a deeper level.
Bite-Sized Encounters As I began my journey, I recalled a practice I had heard about as a way to connect with Scripture, known as lectio divina (divine reading). This ancient practice is a method of praying with the Scriptures. In the 2009 docSt A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg
A FAMILY AFFAIR While reading the Bible can be a personal practice, you also can incorporate it into your family life. At dinner or after, read a Bible passage—perhaps one from that day or week’s Lectionary readings—together as a family. Then encourage each family member to reflect on what they heard and what stood out to them. What resonated with you may not be what did for your son or daughter. The ways in which each of you interprets the passage can be expressed in many different ways. Older kids can write about what the passage meant to them. Younger kids can perhaps draw a picture. No matter the methods of reflection, encourage your children—and yourself—to turn to the Bible for inspiration.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARY KURNICK MAASS
ument “Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Art and Practice of Lectio Divina,” Sister Antoine Lawlor, IHM, DMin, says, “As one reads and invites the Word to become a transforming lens that brings the events of daily living into focus, one can come to live more deeply and find the presence of God more readily in the events of each day.” The goal of lectio divina is not to rush through several chapters of Scripture. The reader, rather, reflects on a short Scripture passage, pausing on a single word or phrase that resonates with the mind and heart. I found myself highlighting words and phrases within the Bible passages I was reading. That led me to the second step of the practice: meditation. This step invites one to reflect upon what was read. Sister Antoine says, “Ancient monks explained this process as a deep, unhurried thinking about the Word one has read—a rumination, somewhat like the way a cow chews the cud.” The reader then moves into the stage of contemplation, which, according to Sister Antoine, “is characterized by an openness of the heart, by which the reader experiences God as the One who prays within, who allows the person in contemplation to know the Word wordlessly and without image. By God’s grace, contemplation gives one a unique ability to connect one’s newly discovered insights to daily life experiences, with the inspiration that comes from the Word of God and that has the gracious capacity to refresh the heart and mind.” The fourth and final step is oration, or prayer. This, says Sister Antoine, “invites one’s personal response to God. This response is dialogical and can be understood as ‘a conversation between friends,’ as St. Teresa of Avila defined prayer.” A
Do you have comments or suggestions for topics you’d like to see addressed in this column? Send them to me at “A Catholic Mom Speaks,” 28 W. Liberty St., Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498, or e-mail them to CatholicMom@FranciscanMedia.org.
PETE AND REPEAT These scenes may seem alike to you, But there are changes in the two. So look and see if you can name ILLUSTRATION BY TOM GREENE
Eight ways in which they’re not the same. (Answers on page 46)
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BACKSTORY
Maintaining a Stable Stable
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ou might think we were talking about racehorses. When editors talk about stables, though, we’re talking about our go-to writers. These are the men and women whom we can call to go after a
story, either in their geographical area or in their area of expertise. They’re in our group of resource freelancers, our stable of writers. Every publica-
PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER HEFFRON
tion has them. And no, that’s not a typo in the headline above—we need a steady, reliable group in our stable to make this magazine as good as it is. That’s not to say that much of this magazine doesn’t come from writers outside of our stable. We get scores of article ideas and submissions, all the time, from people we’ve never heard of. Sometimes we like their ideas, and encourage them to send a manuscript. If, after circulating it among our editors for advice, we like the manuscript, or enough of us do, I buy the article, or encourage the writer to revise it a bit. Those freelancers have an article looking for a publication; when we have an idea looking for an author, I turn to my stable of talented, trusted, proven contributors. One of my goals as editor of this publication is to nurture a healthy stable of writers in various parts of the country, especially in areas where you live. We pride ourselves on being a national, Catholic family magazine; I take the word national seriously. I want West-
While he was in town, we put freelance author Richard Patterson (right) to work, sitting in our studio for an interview with Christopher Heffron.
ern writers (Maureen, John, Sister Rose, Dan, Nancy, and more), East Coast writers (Donis, Greg, Peter, and others), Midwesterners (Joyce, Carol Ann, Kyle, Janet, Alicia, Joe, to name a few), Southerners/mid-Southerners (Peter, Kyle, Maria, and more)—every region where there are stories for our readers. I sometimes get to meet my writers, say, at a conference, but more often, our interactions are by phone
PHOTO BY RON RIEGLER
tal Digi as Extr
and e-mail. Once in a while, one will come into Cincinnati and want to see where we work. We were
Click here to watch the interview.
lucky enough to host Richard Patterson and his wife, Cornelia, just a few weeks back (his article “Angry with God” was in your April issue.) Richard, a psychologist with a deep Catholic spirituality, was visiting our region from his home in El Paso, Texas. It was great to see him and his wife face-to-face. And thanks, Richard and Cornelia, for lunch at one of Cincinnati’s favorites: Skyline Chili!
Editor in Chief @jfeister
5 6 ❘ Jun e 2016
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