June 2017 by St. Anthony Messenger

POPE FRANCIS AND ‘THE JOY OF LOVE’

ST. ANTHONY Messenger

Deacon Gill and Chicago Gang Violence Franciscan Refugee Rescue St. Anthony, a Family Tradition Keeping Vigil

JUNE 2017 • $3.95 FRANCISCANMEDIA.ORG

PHOTO © GRADY REESE/ ISTOCKPHOTO

REFLECTION

is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father. —Lydia M. Child

CONTENTS

ST. ANTHONY Messenger

❘ JUNE 2017 ❘ VOLUME 125/NUMBER 1

ON THE COVE R

26 ‘I Died with Him’

From bringing Chicago residents and police together over cookouts to leading services for peace on the shores of Lake Michigan, Deacon LeRoy Gill is working hard to stem the tide of violence.

In Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods, Deacon LeRoy Gill sows seeds of peace. Photos by Karen Callaway; text by Joyce Duriga

Photo by Karen Callaway

F E AT U R E S

D E PA R T M E N T S

14 Pope Francis and ‘The Joy of Love’

2 Dear Reader 3 From Our Readers

His words about marriage have been welcomed by many but not by everyone. Conscience is the key. By Pat McCloskey, OFM

4 Followers of St. Francis Courtney Haase, CoC

6 Reel Time The Lost City of Z

20 Welcome to San Damiano In the spirit of St. Francis, this retreat center opens its doors to refugees. By Kathy Coffey

Genius

10 Church in the News

32 St. Anthony, a Family Tradition

19 Editorial Pipe Dreams

When she took her daughter on pilgrimage to Padua, this author rediscovered the roots of an Italian tradition. By Patricia Montemurri

38 Keeping Vigil Memories and grief yield to mercy and grace. By Mary Sharon Moore

8 Channel Surfing

31 At Home on Earth Hope and Healing

37 Catholic Sites to Explore

Ave Maria Grotto

46 Ask a Franciscan Who Chose the Books in the Bible?

42 Fiction: Ashes to Ashes

48 Book Corner

His death reignited a family feud. By Kerry Sloan

Jesus and the Prodigal Son

50 A Catholic Mom Speaks Out of Many, One

52 Backstory

DEAR READER

ST. ANTHONY M essenger

Sheltering the Homeless St. John Paul II was so grateful for the example set by St. Albert Chmielowski (1845–1916) that as a young priest he wrote a play about his countryman, The Brother of Our God. In Gift and Mystery, a 1996 book commemorating the golden anniversary of his priestly ordination, the pope explained that he found in Brother Albert “a real spiritual support and example in leaving behind the world of art, literature, and theater, and in making the radical choice of a vocation to the priesthood.” Born near Kraków, Adam Chmielowski lost his left leg in 1864 during a failed revolt against Czar Alexander III. After Adam studied painting in Warsaw, Munich, and Paris, he became a Secular Franciscan. His art opened his eyes to the needs of the poor. He took the name Albert when he founded the Brothers of the Third Order of Saint Francis, Servants of the Poor. They especially cared for homeless people. Maria Jablon´ ska and Albert founded a congregation of sisters dedicated to the corporal works of mercy. Pope John Paul II beatified Albert in 1983 and canonized him six years later. St. Albert’s feast is celebrated on June 17.

Publisher Daniel Kroger, OFM President Kelly McCracken Editor in Chief John Feister Art Director Jeanne Kortekamp Franciscan Editor Pat McCloskey, OFM Managing Editor/Advertising Daniel Imwalle Assistant Editors Susan Hines-Brigger Kathleen M. Carroll Digital Editor Christopher Heffron Editorial Assistant Sharon Lape

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(U.S.P.S. PUBLICATION #007956 CANADA PUBLICATION #PM40036350) Volume 125, 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 FranciscanMedia.org/subscription-services for information on your digital edition. Writer’s guidelines can be found at Franciscan Media.org/writers-guide/. The publishers are not responsible for manuscripts or photos lost or damaged in transit. Names in fiction do not refer to living or dead persons. Member of the Catholic Press Association Published with ecclesiastical approval Copyright ©2017. All rights reserved.

2 ❘ J un e 201 7

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

FROM OUR READERS

Comfort and a Lifted Heart I truly love St. Anthony Messenger magazine. Over the last 40 years, I have been reading it and have expressed my thanks many times. I want to make some comments about the April issue. In Susan Hines-Brigger’s “Church in the News” column, the story on President Trump at the National Prayer Breakfast has a photo of him with head bowed and eyes closed. He’s quoted as saying, “We want people to come into our nation, but we want people to love us and to love our values. . . .” I want to shout out to him: “What values? Where is your example of values? Show us. We have not seen it in your life or in what you say or in what you do. What values are you referring to?” John Feister’s editorial, “One Nation, Under God,” spoke to our

What’s on Your Mind? Letters that are published do not necessarily represent the views of the Franciscan friars or the editors. We do not publish libel. Please include your name and postal address. Letters may be edited for clarity and space. Mail Letters, St. Anthony Messenger 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498 Fax 513-241-0399

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values. “As Catholics, as Christians, as people of goodwill, we must speak out against those policies,” he writes. He is referring to policies that work against Jesus’ directives to welcome the stranger, act with mercy, and withhold our judgment of people. We cannot be bigots. Hearing confirmation of our values in light of current events helps so much. After reading “Walking with God,” by Colleen Arnold, MD, I put the psalms listed in the article on four notecards to pull out on the go after each meditation. My husband and I will practice this on our next walk. Thanks so much for these articles. This April issue especially gave me comfort and lifted my heart. Joanne Kelly Lake Worth, Florida

Coupling Compassion with Common Sense In John Feister’s editorial from the April issue, “One Nation, Under God,” he shares his concerns about what he calls “one of our nation’s most controversial policies”: immigration. He specifically mentions Muslims and Hispanics and states that our Church leaders claim we should not reject people because they are Muslim or Mexican. I, and all Christians, should agree with that. However, to imply that the United States rejects someone because they are of a certain religion or ethnicity is quite a bold statement—and I think a false one. It is not bigotry to attempt to vet people wanting to enter our country, nor is it feasible to simply open the doors to anyone who requests entry. As difficult or even impossible as it is, America has the right—and duty—to try to secure its borders and vet those wishing to enter our nation. Trying to help those in need or looking for a better life is always our goal, as Americans and decent

people, using compassion as well as common sense. Kevin Wirsch, OFS Fishkill, New York

Find the Positives in Fossil Fuels I am responding to Kyle Kramer’s “At Home on Earth” column from the April issue (“Let’s Not Blow Our Budget”), regarding fossil-fuel companies. I appreciate the many things I get from different machines that use fossil fuels. For example, farmers grow an abundance of food using tractors and other equipment. This results in grocery stores providing a variety of food choices. Machines that use fossil fuels help people worldwide to live longer, healthier lives. Yes, we can conserve, but going cold turkey on fossil-fuel usage is not necessarily a good thing. Julie Bain Katy, Texas

Learning How to Pray I am writing regarding “A Lenten Prayer,” by Joyce Rupp, OSM, from the March issue. I have never encountered anything that struck me so personally as the words of this prayer. As one who has been a caregiver for my wife—whom I’ve been married to for over 60 years—struggling with this daily task, some of my own demanding personality traits, as well as with my own faith issues, it seems this prayer must have been written specifically for me. Growing up in another generation, in a good Catholic home and with 12 years of Catholic education, it seemed I never learned to pray in my own words. Everything was rote prayers, and “thou shalt not” took precedence over love. I just never really learned how to pray meaningfully. “A Lenten Prayer” has become an anchor for me! Fred Reismeier Altoona, Pennsylvania Ju n e 2 0 1 7 ❘ 3

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

A Companion of Clare

ourtney Haase was a Franciscan “long before I was born. Raised in New Orleans, I was the second of five children. I attended Ursuline Academy in New Orleans, the oldest girls’ school in the nation. It was there my religious calling was nurtured. Although a little eccentric and very independent, I entered the Poor Clares at an early age and immediately felt at home. My parents were suspicious of my entrance request but gave permission. They hoped I would be home before summer’s end and school resumed. I stayed 16 years.” Sister Courtney lived for a long time as a Poor Clare nun. She entered the monastery before the Second Vatican Council and remained for another 10 years after. It was a confusing time for many in religious life. The challenges posed by the council caused some divisions in the community. “We faced becoming women within community without focus. At times our sisterhood felt like a sorority instead of a religious community,” Sister Courtney says. “We struggled. Through it all, everyone still yearned for a deep interior life and desired union with God, but we were on our own.

Courtney Haase, CoC

This defeated the purpose of our common life. The day I left the monastery was very sad. I had been there half my life.” Sister Courtney left religious life for a long while, running a goat dairy (cleverly called Nunsuch Dairy and Cheese) in New Hampshire. These years were not a departure from her vocation, though. “I realize those years were thought-provoking for me and further enhanced my contemplative call.” But after 27 years out of the habit, the path wasn’t immediately clear. “In 2010, I decided to reconnect with religious life and actively sought to redevelop my vocation. I was already beyond the accepted age of 45 or 50, when most communities cease accepting candidates. I started exploring the possibility of creating a new community for women who felt called to religious life. The key to canonical acceptance in the Church of any new initiative is to address a specific need. Thus, the Companions of Clare were formed to embrace older vocations. “We pray the complete Divine Office in common as well as a daily rosary. Our simple habits remind us and others of our commitment to the evangelical life. Our dress

STORIES FROM OUR READERS St. Anthony on the Trail

Learn more about Catholic saints and their feast days by going to SaintoftheDay.org.

4 ❘ J un e 201 7

My father and I went for a hike last fall near beautiful Moccasin Lake in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The trees were still vibrantly colorful but had dropped plenty of leaves on the trail. Somewhere along the way, as we were soaking in all autumn’s majesty, my wallet fell out of my pocket. The brown leather of the wallet would be nearly impossible to find among the fallen leaves. My father said a prayer to St. Anthony as we doubled back and scoured the path. We were about to give up, and I was getting myself mentally prepared to cancel my credit cards and get a new driver’s license. Speechless, my dad pointed down at my feet. My wallet was on top of a small pile of leaves, not at all covered up! Thank you, St. Anthony! —Mark O’Connell, Grand Rapids, Michigan

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

ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA

Hearts Changed Anthony’s 1231 Lenten sermons in Padua bore great fruit. He promoted peace, persuaded the city not to imprison debtors, and urged his listeners to restore whatever they had obtained through fraud or charging excessive interest. He helped prostitutes find a life that reflected their God-given dignity; thieves turned to honest professions. Anthony’s preaching always led to many confessions; after his death, he reportedly appeared to many sinners, urging them to confess their sins.—P.M.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/GOOGLE ART PROJECT

and bare feet reflect our mendicant roots. Our prayer life, dress, and lifestyle strive to mirror Franciscan values, Gospel values.” Located in Skowhegan, Maine, their seven-acre property is a former sheep farm. The house reflects their simple lifestyle and can accommodate seven dedicated Companions of Clare. “Within the family of Franciscans, the Companions of Clare is tiny. We are contemplative by mission and are sponsored by the Franciscan Friars of the Sacred Heart Province,” she says. The Companions of Clare have four points in their discernment process. First, women who join are expected to have an intense yearning for communion with God and practice the silence it entails. Second, they must have a desire to study the liturgical life of the Church. Third, it is imperative that they understand and accept the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. And fourth, they must live humbly and simply in poverty. “With this lifestyle,” Sister Courtney says, “we hope to enter the mystical reality of God.” —Kathleen M. Carroll

To learn more about Franciscan saints, visit FranciscanMedia.org/source/saint-of-the-day.

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

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

Ju n e 2 0 1 7 ❘ 5

PHOTO BY FRANK JASPER, OFM

The National Shrine of St. Anthony is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Consecrated in 1889, it includes a first-class relic of St. Anthony and serves as a center for daily prayer and contemplation. The Franciscan friars minister from the shrine. To help them in their work among the poor, you may send a monetary offering called St. Anthony Bread. Make checks or money orders payable to “Franciscans” and mail to the address below. Every Tuesday, a Mass is offered for benefactors and petitioners at the shrine. To seek St. Anthony’s intercession, mail your petition to the address below. Petitions are taken to the shrine each week. To post your petition online, please visit stanthony.org, where you can also request to have a candle lit or a Mass offered; or you may make a donation to the Franciscans or sign up to receive a novena booklet.

REEL TIME

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

The Lost City of Z

AIDAN MONAGHAN / AMAZON STUDIOS & BLEECKER STREET

New on DVD Get Out The Shack A United Kingdom The Salesman Before the Flood

6 ❘

June 2017

Charlie Hunnam plays real-life explorer Percy Fawcett in the adventure story The Lost City of Z. In the early 1900s, Col. Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam), an experienced traveler and surveyor, trains British soldiers in Cork, Ireland. He lives there with his wife, Nina (Sienna Miller), and young son, Jack. One day he is summoned to the Royal Geographical Society in London and offered the chance to go to Bolivia to survey a border in the hopes of keeping peace there. Corporal Costin (Robert Pattinson) accompanies Fawcett on the difficult 1906 expedition—and several others that follow. Fawcett, unarmed and polite to the local people, learns of the ruins of a mysterious city and claims to have seen evidence of it. He names the city “Z.” Fawcett’s interest in his explorations is genuine as he endures attacks by the locals, thick jungles, dangerous animals, and his men beset with fever and hunger. When he returns home, his peers mock him in disbelief and accuse him of being overly ambitious, which may have some truth to it. After World War I, Fawcett, now in his 50s

and joined by his son, sets off to find the lost city. David Grann wrote the book on which The Lost City of Z is based. James Gray (director of The Yards and We Own the Night) wrote the script and directed this compelling film that builds up slowly and unfolds in a quiet and organic way, drawing viewers into Fawcett’s adventures. The film comments on respecting native peoples, preserving the Amazon, and exploration over exploitation. The character of Nina gives voice to women’s suffrage. It’s very much a classic adventure movie, and I enjoyed it very much. Not yet rated, PG-13 ■ Violence, language.

Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer Richard Gere plays completely against type as Norman Oppenheimer, a tragically lonely St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

PHOTO BY NIKO TAVERNISE, COURTESY OF SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

Richard Gere and Lior Ashkenazi costar in the quirky but flawed Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer.

ATSUSHI NISHIJIMA/ WARNER BROS.

and aging Jewish businessman. He makes his rounds in Manhattan, trying to make deals between people he doesn’t even know, based on ideas only tenuously linked to reality. His quiet, fawning desperation to be somebody, to have friends, and to be needed become his downfall. Norman follows Misha Eshel (Lior Ashkenazi), a mildly depressed Israeli official, as he window shops. Misha accepts an expensive pair of shoes from Norman, who arranges an invitation to dinner for Misha and himself with another businessman. But when Misha doesn’t show up to the dinner, Norman is humiliated and ushered out. Three years later, when Misha is elected Prime Minister of Israel, Norman, as is his nature, brags about their connection to the wrong person, Alex (Charlotte Gainsbourg), an ethics officer at the Israeli embassy. The conceit of the film is that it is too clever for its own good. What could have been an unpredictable look at one man’s life becomes a predictable story; thus, an insightful tale ends up dissolving our emotional involvement. The reality and morality of loneliness pervade the film and make you think about people who have no one to love them—or if they do, manage to push them away. Gere, who thus far has been unrecognized by the Academy, is flat-out brilliant and deserves Oscar attention. Not yet rated, R ■ Language.

Caine), and Albert (Alan Arkin), who worked together in a Queens factory for decades, but are now retired. Joe’s house is in foreclosure by the bank that sold him a sleazy mortgage deal. While trying to work things out, Joe watches three men rob the bank in a well-orchestrated heist. When the friends lose their pensions through their involvement of the same bank and Joe learns that he needs a new kidney, the friends decide they can rob the bank, too, and take what is rightfully theirs without hurting anyone. Zach Braff (who shot to prominence with the show Scrubs) directs this well-crafted yarn by screenwriter Theodore Melfi (who gave us Hidden Figures and St. Vincent). Going in Style has a good heart. And while the humor is surprisingly clean, its optimism is tempered by the pessimistic reality that banks and corporations are greedy and callous, and people you care about are going to get hurt. Not yet rated, PG-13 ■ Marijuana, language, mature situations.

Oscar winners Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Alan Arkin play would-be bank robbers in Zach Braff’s comedy Going in Style.

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

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

■

For additional film reviews, go to FranciscanMedia.org/movie-review.

Going in Style A film that boasts a trio of Oscar winners, Going in Style is about three elderly gentlemen, Willie (Morgan Freeman), Joe (Michael Fr anciscanMedia.org

General patronage Adults and adolescents Adults Limited adult audience Morally offensive

June 2017 ❘

CHANNEL SURFING

WITH CHRISTOPHER HEFFRON

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Tuesdays, 9 p.m., National Geographic It’s fair to say that Albert Einstein (1879– 1955) was admired more than he was understood. But the famed theoretical physicist was more human than many realize. He was a philanderer who married his cousin; a subpar test-taker who enraged his professors; a pompous intellect who struggled with “lesser” pursuits such as languages. But he was also a powerhouse scientific mind, and director Ron Howard is reintroducing him to a new generation of vewers. Told in a narrative style that would delight its own subject, the series timetravels seamlessly, telling two stories at once: Einstein as a young student (played to perfection by Johnny Flynn), and as the bushyhaired enigma in later life (embodied by Geoffrey Rush). The younger is ravenous for knowledge while the elder struggles to find a solution to the worst equation of his time: Nazism. How both Einsteins navigate a world ever in transition is the pulse of the show—and it’s an exhilarating ride. Genius, as smartly written and realized a show as you’ll see this year, tackles issues that are not confined to history books. Nationalism, blind allegiance, and ambition at the expense of the greater good, Howard shows, are landmines we face today. All we are lacking is a beautiful mind to shepherd us around them.

Better Call Saul

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC/DUSAN MARTINCEK

Mondays, 10 p.m., AMC This prequel to the revolutionary series Breaking Bad is nearing the end of its third season, and if you haven’t binged on this hardened look at the law and how to quietly break it, get thee to Netflix. Played by Bob Odenkirk, Saul is the slick antihero you cannot help but love. First introduced in Breaking Bad, Saul was the lawyer to Bryan Cranston’s drug kingpin Walter White—and he provided the show with muchneeded levity. Better Call Saul takes us back several years, to when Saul was Jimmy McGill, a newly minted officer of the court who struggles with a moral code. Odenkirk is simply astonishing—no other actor working in television today can touch his effortless toggle between comedy and pathos. But it’s the supporting players, many of whom are carryovers from Breaking Bad, who give the show its lift. Pay close attention to Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring, the seemingly mildmannered fast food chain owner/methamphetamine distributor who brings an irresistible danger to the series; and to Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut, a haunted cop-turned-hitman, who infuses his scenes with equal parts menace and brokenness. Both actors are Emmy-worthy. Maybe the best-acted series on television, Saul is not without heart. Themes of loyalty, family, and right vs. wrong permeate a wonderfully stylized, slow burn of a show.

Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush gives a robust performance as Albert Einstein in National Geographic’s Genius. 8 ❘

June 2017

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

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CHURCH IN THE NEWS

❘ BY SUSAN HINES-BRIGGER

CNS/EPA

Pope Condemns Attack in Syria

1 0 ❘ Jun e 201 7

ignored the urging of the UN Security Council.” Bishop Georges Khazen, who serves Latin-rite Catholics in Aleppo, told the Rome-based Fides news agency that he was baffled, however, by “the speed with which it was decided and carried out, without any adequate investigation into the tragic massacre with chemical weapons which took place in Idlib province.” He said the attack “opens new disturbing scenarios for all.”

Cardinal Announces Anti-violence Initiative in Chicago During a press conference on April 4—the 49th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.—Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich announced the establishment of the Instruments of Peace Venture Philanthropy Fund. The ini-

CNS/COURTESY ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO

ference on resolving the humanitarian crisis in Syria and to discuss ways to support a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican secretary for relations with states, was at the meeting and said that the Holy See “remains deeply concerned about the tremendous human suffering, affecting millions of innocent children and other civilians who remain deprived of A child receives treatment inside a field hospital in Idlib, essential humanitarian Syria, after an April 4 chemical attack. Pope Francis strongly aid, medical facilities, condemned the attack, which left more than 70 people dead. and education.” He called for humaniCalling it an “unacceptable mastarian laws to “be fully respected,” sacre,” during his weekly audience especially “with regard to the protecon April 5, Pope Francis strongly tion of civilian populations” and the condemned the chemical attack in “conditions and treatment of prisonSyria the previous day. The attack left ers.” some 70 people dead, including at The US bishops also issued a stateleast 10 children, reported Catholic ment echoing the pope’s message. News Service (CNS). “The many innocent lives targeted “I appeal to the conscience of by these terrible tools of war cry out those who have political responsibilfor humanity’s protection,” it said. ity at the local and international “In this season of Lent when Chrislevel, so that this tragedy may come tians draw near to the suffering of to an end and relief may come to Christ, let us match the horrific that beloved population who for too indifference shown for innocent life long have been devastated by war,” with a fervent prayer for love to the pope said. break through the evil.” According to The New York Times, Three days after the attack, US the Syrian military denied attacking President Donald Trump ordered the the town and said the attack was launch of 59 missiles, aimed at caused by insurgents who blame the Shayrat Air Base’s airstrips, hangars, Syrian government for similar control tower, and ammunition attacks “every time they fail to areas. In a statement, Trump said, achieve the goals of their sponsors.” “There can be no dispute that Syria On the day of the attack, represen- used banned chemical weapons, viotatives from more than 70 countries lated its obligations under the Chemwere gathering in Brussels for a conical Weapons Convention and

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago leads a Good Friday “Walk for Peace” through the neighborhood of Englewood, a hot spot for violent crime. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

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

CNS / L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO

Laundry”) is a free service “offered to the poorest people, particularly the homeless, who will be able to wash, dry, and iron their clothes and blankets.” The laundromat, the office said, was inspired by the pope’s call for “concrete signs of mercy” during the Year of Mercy in 2016.

The superiors of the four main branches of the Franciscan friars met with Pope Francis on April 10 and formally requested permission to allow their communities to elect brothers to positions of leadership in their communities. Canon law states that in most religious orders with both priests and brothers, only a priest can be elected to the top leadership offices. Father Michael Perry, minister general of the Friars Minor, was joined at the meeting by the Capuchin minister general, Father Mauro Jöhri; the Conventual Franciscan minister general, Father Marco Tasca; and the Third Order Regular minister general, Father Nicholas Polichnowski.

A laundromat for the poor and homeless in Rome was opened on April 10. The papal almoner’s office, which is responsible for coordinating Pope Francis’ acts of charity, said the “Lavanderia di Papa Francesco” (“Pope Francis’

tiative will provide funds for both new and existing neighborhoodbased anti-violence programs, reported CNS. The archdiocese will also seek out partnerships to increase programs that will help break the cycle of violence, said the cardinal. He said that funds for the initiative will come from donations he’s received to aid his personal charitable efforts. In a letter sent the same day, Pope Francis assured Cardinal Cupich of Fr ancisca n Media .org

Pope Francis surprised the 1,800 attendees at TED 2017 in Vancouver, British Columbia, when he appeared via video. The pope spoke about combating the current “culture of waste” and “techno-economic systems” that prioritize products, money, and things over people. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a media organization that posts talks online for free distribution, under the slogan “ideas worth spreading.”

CNS/TED.COM

According to the 2017 Annuario Pontificio, or Vatican yearbook, as well as a new edition of the Vatican Statistical Yearbook, as of December 31, 2015, the number of baptized Catholics worldwide was 1.285 billion. The countries with the most Catholics are, in order: Brazil, Mexico, Philippines, United States, Italy, France, Colombia, Spain, Congo, and Argentina.

New Jersey teen Santos Colon Jr., pleaded guilty as an adult on April 3 to plotting an attack on Pope Francis during the pontiff’s visit to Philadelphia in 2015 during the World Meeting of Families. The US Department of Justice said in a statement that Colon planned to utilize a sniper to shoot the pope during his public Sunday Mass September 27 on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia. Colon also planned to set off bombs in the surrounding area. He solicited someone he thought would be the sniper in the plot but who actually was an undercover FBI agent. The then-15-year-old was arrested two weeks before the pope’s visit.

For more Catholic news, visit FranciscanMedia.org/ catholic-news.

his “support for the commitment you and many other local leaders are making to promote nonviolence as a way of life and a path to peace in Chicago,” adding, “Walking the path of peace is not always easy, but it is the only authentic response to violence.” The following week, Cardinal Cupich led a Good Friday “Walk for Peace” through Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood that has been a hot spot for violent crime. The walk,

which was organized by the archdiocese, its parishes, and a host of other Catholic groups and Chicago organizations, featured testimonies from people who have lost loved ones to violence in Chicago during the past year.

New Shrine Opens in Assisi A shrine was inaugurated in the city’s Church of St. Mary Major on Ju n e 2 0 1 7 ❘ 1 1

Pope Benedict Celebrates 90th Birthday

1 2 ❘ Jun e 201 7

Retired Pope Benedict XVI makes a toast during celebrations marking his 88th birthday at the Vatican April 16. assist him. The retired pontiff said his heart was filled with gratitude “for the 90 years the good Lord has given me. There have been trying and difficult times, but he always guided me and pulled me through.” He also thanked God for his beautiful homeland “that you now bring to me.” Pope Francis visited his predecessor April 12, before the start of the Easter Triduum, to offer him birthday greetings. In early May, the Vatican stamp and coin office released stamps honoring the pope’s birthday. Designed by the artist Daniela Longo, the sheet features a drawing of Pope Francis and Pope Benedict embracing, while the actual stamps show the retired pope praying his rosary.

honor women worldwide “who have shown exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for women’s rights, empowerment, and justice, often at great personal risk.” Sister Tahhan Fachakh, who runs a nursery school in Damascus, Syria, was recognized for working “tirelessly to support the needs of Syria’s most vulnerable populations, particularly internally displaced persons and children. “During a period of intense bombing around a neighborhood school, Sister Carolin selflessly ensured that the children were brought safely home to their parents,” the State Department said. “She has been a beacon of hope to both Muslims and Christians alike, while putting her own life at risk.” She was nominated by the US Embassy to the Holy See while President Barack Obama was still in office; the award winners were confirmed by President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. Calling the honorees “true heroes,” Melania Trump said to the audience, “Ask yourself if you would have the fortitude of spirit, the courage of your convictions, and the enormous inner strength required to stand up and fight against such overwhelming odds. Amazingly, each of our honorees has courageously answered ‘Yes’ to those questions.” A

Syrian Religious Sister Honored by State Department During a March 29 ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC, Sister Carolin Tahhan Fachakh, a member of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, who lives in Aleppo, Syria, was one of 13 women presented with the Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award, reported CNS. First Lady Melania Trump presented the awards, which, according to a State Department press release,

CNS/KEVIN LAMARQUE, REUTERS

On April 16—Easter Sunday—Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI celebrated his 90th birthday. The following day, a small informal party was held outside his residence, the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican gardens. The party brought a bit of Pope Benedict’s homeland of Bavaria to life, complete with beer and pretzels, reported CNS. “Thank you for bringing Bavaria here,” Pope Benedict told guests, which included his 93-year-old brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger; Archbishop Georg Ganswein, the retired pope’s personal secretary; Birgit Wansing, a longtime administrative assistant; and the consecrated laywomen from Memores Domini, who

CNS/L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO

May 20, marking the room where St. Francis of Assisi—in the presence of his father and of the bishop— stripped naked and renounced all wealth, reported CNS. The shrine will allow public access to the Sala della Spogliazione, literally the Room of the Divesting, in the bishop’s house. In a letter to Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi, Pope Francis wrote, “The new Assisi shrine is born as a prophecy of a society that is more just and more in solidarity,” but it also “reminds the Church of its obligation to live, in the footsteps of Francis, stripping itself of worldliness and dressing itself with the values of the Gospel.” During the pope’s first trip to Assisi in 2013, he met in the Sala della Spogliazione with individuals and families assisted by the local Catholic charities. In his letter, the pope said that the families gave witness to “the scandalous reality of a world marked by a gap between an immense number of indigent people, often deprived of the most basic necessities, and the miniscule number of the rich who possess the majority of wealth and think they can determine the destiny of humanity.”

First lady Melania Trump presents Sister Carolin Tahhan Fachakh of Syria with the 2017 Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

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Pope Francis and

‘The

Joy of ’ Love

His words about marriage have been welcomed by many people but not by everyone. Conscience is the key. B Y P A T M C C L O S K E Y, O F M

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AMILY LIFE is experiencing stress around the world. Because Pope Francis has made families a priority in his papal ministry, the 2014 and 2015 sessions of the World Synod of Bishops, representing all the world’s bishops, focused on a single topic: marriage and family life. Of all the papal teachings since the conclusion of Vatican II, “The Joy of Love” (“Amoris Laetitia”) apostolic exhortation, signed on March 16, 2016, may be the most controversial—in part because it refers to conscience 10 times, and also recommends careful accompaniment and discernment by pastoral workers for St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

CNS PHOTO/ L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO

couples in marriages not officially recognized by the Catholic Church. That’s not what people are used to hearing from recent popes. This document covers the entire range of issues related to marriage. The suggestion that a formal decree of nullity by a diocesan tribunal may not be absolutely necessary for readmission to holy Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, however, has attracted the most attention.

Fruit of Several Years of Work Each synod meeting (October 5–19, 2014, and October 4–25, 2015) was preceded by a questionnaire to episcopal conferences and offices Fr anciscanMedia.org

of the Holy See. National and international groups of Catholics and individuals also sent responses incorporated into separate working documents for each meeting. The contributions to marriage of single life and consecrated life are duly noted. Almost 25 married couples were official observers and participants in the language-group meetings. Several of them spoke to the entire assembly. Dioceses were encouraged to publish the two questionnaires; many pastoral councils and other groups offered input. The 2015 meeting’s final report contained 94 recommendations approved by two-thirds or more of the 265 voting members. Most of

Pope Francis greets newly married couples during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on September 30, 2015.

June 2017 ❘

CNS PHOTO

Pope Francis poses with auditors of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family as he arrives for the afternoon session at the Vatican October 10, 2014.

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June 2017

the participants at the 2015 meeting had attended the 2014 one, as well.

What It Says This document’s style is both conversational and serious. The pope has encouraged a careful and patient reading of the text. (See sidebar on page 17 for chapter titles and additional resources.) In section 3, Pope Francis writes: “Not all discussions of doctrinal, moral, or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium. Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it. . . . Each country or region, moreover, can seek solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its traditions and local needs.” “We also find it hard,” explains the pope, “to make room for the consciences of the faithful, who very often respond as best they can to the Gospel amid their limitations, and are capable of carrying out their own discernment in complex situations. We have been called to form consciences, not to replace them” (37). “Many people feel,” writes the pope, “that the Church’s message on marriage and the family does not clearly reflect the preaching and attitudes of Jesus, who set forth a demand-

ing ideal yet never failed to show compassion and closeness to the frailty of individuals like the Samaritan woman or the woman caught in adultery” (38). Pope Francis quotes regularly from previous papal teachings, including several of his Wednesday general audiences. He also refers to the 1987 movie Babette’s Feast, a 1957 sermon from Martin Luther King Jr., and the writings of Fyodor Dostoyevsky and several contemporary authors. The pope notes that marriage “is the icon of God’s love for us. Indeed, God is also communion: the three Persons of Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit live eternally in perfect unity” (121). God’s grace enables unity between spouses. “Each [one] must set aside all illusions and accept the other as he or she actually is: an unfinished product, needing to grow, a work in progress” (218). According to Pope Francis, “Communication is an art learned in moments of peace to be practiced in moments of difficulty” (234). The final reports of each synod session are cited frequently; teachings from episcopal conferences in Spain, Korea, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Australia, Italy, and Kenya are quoted in sections 32, 42, 51, 57, 135, 172, 207, and 215, respectively. This is a noteworthy affirmation of how bishops can teach on a national level. Among the global issues addressed in this St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

document are extreme individualism, polygamy, dire poverty, obstacles to migration, cohabitation, and domestic violence. All of these seriously impact family life today.

Holy Communion and a Challenge from Four Cardinals The Catholic Church describes Catholics who divorce and then enter a second marriage not recognized by the Church as living in an “irregular” marriage—and thus not able to receive Communion at Mass. Pope Francis encourages them to request a declaration of nullity with regard to the first marriage, a determination that no sacramental marriage existed between this man and woman. “It is important,” the pope writes, “that the divorced who have entered a new union should be made to feel part of the Church. ‘They are not excommunicated,’ and they should not be treated as such, since they remain part of the ecclesial community” (243, quoting his general audience talk on August 5, 2015). “No one can be condemned forever, because that is not the logic of the Gospel! Here I am not speaking only of the divorced and remarried, but of everyone, in whatever situation they find themselves” (297). To place “The Joy of Love” in context, Pope Francis writes: “If we consider the immense variety of concrete situations such as these I have mentioned, it is understandable that neither the Synod nor this Exhortation could be expected to provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases. What is possible is simply a renewed encouragement to undertake a responsible personal

and pastoral discernment of particular cases, one which would recognize that, since ‘the degree of responsibility is not equal in all cases,’ the consequences or effects of a rule need not necessarily always be the same” (300, citing section 84 of the 2015 final report). Later he explains: “For an adequate understanding of the possibility and need of special discernment in certain ‘irregular’ situations, one thing must always be taken into account, lest anyone think that the demands of the Gospel are in any way being compromised. The Church possesses a solid body of reflection concerning mitigating factors and situations. Hence it can no longer simply be said that all those in any ‘irregular’ situation are living in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of sanctifying grace” (301). Such teaching is music to the ears of many Catholics; others hear in it a betrayal of fundamental Church teachings. Four cardinals wrote to the pope last September, asking for a clarification of five doubts they said “The Joy of Love” raises. When their private letter had not received a response, they published its text two months later. Cardinal Raymond Burke, one of the authors of the letter, said in an interview published in November 2016 that if the pope did not offer the requested clarification, the next step would be to make “a formal act of correction of a serious error” (in effect, an accusation of heresy). The other signers include Cardinals Carlo Caffarra (retired, Bologna), Joachim Meisner (retired, Cologne), and Walter Brandmüller (former president of the Pontifical Commission for Historical Sciences).

A Broader Document The discussion of marriage annulments has been in the news. “The Joy of Love,” however, is a much broader document, as you can see from the chapter headings:

Full Text Available at: ■

vatican.va

1 In the Light of the Word 2 The Experiences and Challenges of Families

Additional Resources

3 Looking to Jesus: The Vocation of the Family

■ ncronline.org

4 Love in Marriage

■ usccb.org

5 Love Made Fruitful

■ cathdal.org

6 Some Pastoral Perspectives

■ la-archdiocese.org

7 Toward a Better Education of Children

■ twentythirdpublications.com

8 Accompanying, Discerning, and Integrating Weakness

■ ignatius.com

9 The Spirituality of Marriage and Family Life

■ rcspirituality.org

Fr anciscanMedia.org

June 2017 ❘

CNS PHOTO/DANIEL REINHARDT, EPA

In spite of all the controversy, “The Joy of Love” is about real human needs. Pope Francis said God’s dreams for his people are the dreams of a lover for his beloved; they are dreams of building a future together that are filled with joy.

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The Way Ahead Pope Francis has chosen not to respond directly to the cardinals’ letter. David Gibson reported for Religion News Service that in a November interview with Avvenire, the newspaper published by the Italian episcopal conference, Pope Francis said that certain individuals view the faith through the lens of “a certain legalism, which can be ideological. Some people— I am thinking of certain responses to “Amoris Laetitia” [“The Joy of Love”]—continue to misunderstand. It’s either black or white [to them], even if in the flow of life you have to discern.” On December 22, the pope spoke to members of the Roman Curia about the principles underlying its reform and steps already taken. He identified three types of resistance: open, hidden, and malicious. He described the third type as springing up “in misguided minds and [coming] to the fore when the devil inspires ill intentions (often cloaked in sheep’s clothing). This last kind of resistance hides behind words of self-justification and, often, accusation; it takes refuge in traditions, appearances, formalities, in the familiar, or else in a desire to make everything personal, failing to distinguish between the act, the actor, and the action.” Cardinal Gerhard Müller, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said in an interview with the TV station Tgcom24 on January 8: “‘Amoris Laetitia’ is very clear in its doctrine, and we can read into it all of Jesus’ doctrine on marriage, all the doctrine of the Church in its 2,000-year history.” He said the pope is asking the Church at large “to discern the situation of persons who live in an irregular union . . . and to help these people find a way for a new integration in the Church according to the conditions for the

sacraments.” Regarding the four cardinals’ letter, he said, “A correction of the pope is not possible at this time because there is no danger to the faith.” On February 14, the Vatican publishing house released a short booklet, “The Eighth Chapter of the Post-Synodal Exhortation ‘Amoris Laetitia,’” written by Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. Catholic News Service reported that the cardinal writes that provisions in “The Joy of Love” allow people in irregular marriage situations access to the sacraments only if they recognize their situation is sinful and they desire to change it. The fact that such a couple also believes changing the situation immediately by splitting up would cause more harm and forgoing sexual relations would threaten their current relationship does not rule out the possibility of receiving sacramental absolution and Communion. The intention to change, even if the couple cannot do so immediately, “is exactly the theological element that allows absolution and access to the Eucharist as long as—I repeat—there is the impossibility of immediately changing the situation of sin,” he wrote. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, head of the Holy See’s new Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, has said that “The Joy of Love” will be the basis of his office’s work. Between 2007 and 2016, he was the bishop of Dallas, Texas. The process of accompaniment and discernment will continue for the entire Church: married couples, single people, members of religious communities, and clergy. “The Joy of Love” has only begun to bear its fruit. A Pat McCloskey, OFM, the Franciscan editor of this publication, also edits Weekday Homily Helps for Franciscan Media. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

EDITORIAL

Pipe Dreams The Dakota Access Pipeline is now up and running. Is it time to move on? On March 27, oil began to flow along the Dakota Access Pipeline’s 1,172-mile journey from North Dakota to Illinois. The last of the protesters cleared out of the area one month before. The protest hashtag #NoDAPL is no longer the viral force it once was on Twitter. Soon, we’ll mostly have forgotten about the protests, the tear gas, the highprofile arrests. Shouldn’t we just move on? No, we shouldn’t. There’s still much we can learn from the dispute over the building of the pipeline. Its opening raises concerns about the treatment of our planet. Moreover, questions linger about abuses toward the already marginalized Native American population in our country.

Standing with Standing Rock The website DAPLPipelineFacts.com states that “the pipeline does not encroach or cross any land owned by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.” Though this is technically a true statement, it would be more accurate to say “land currently owned by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.” The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty reduced their tribal land, which later continued to shrink due to violations of the treaty by General Custer and others. So, while the pipeline now crosses through land that is no longer owned by the Standing Rock Sioux, it is land that they still consider sacred since it contains old burial grounds and other areas of religious significance. The 2007 United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People ensures rights to “lands, territories, and resources.” Interestingly, the United States was one of the four voting states (out of 158 total) that were against the declaration. It seems that the struggle for Native Americans to reconnect with and protect the land they consider sacred is still being met with resistance today. The Standing Rock Sioux—and indigenous people everywhere—need allies Fr ancisca n Media .org

at their side when human-rights abuses happen. Our faith calls us to be voices for the voiceless. Still, the construction of the pipeline touches on other aspects of our Catholic approach to the world.

‘If One Part Suffers . . .’ According to DAPLPipelineFacts.com: “The Dakota Access is one of the most technologically advanced and safest pipelines ever built. It is entirely underground and surpasses federal safety requirements.” However, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has reported more than 3,300 incidents of leaks and ruptures at oil and gas pipelines throughout the United States since 2010. In his encyclical on the environment, “Laudato Si’,” Pope Francis, referring to the treatment of Mother Earth, writes, “We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will” (2). The results of this objectification have proven to be harmful for both the planet and the poor, who often come face-to-face with environmental degradation first. The Global Catholic Climate Movement (Catholic ClimateMovement.Global) is a great resource for those looking for more information on environmental issues related to the pipeline, as well as ways to assist the Standing Rock tribe. As Catholics, it is part of our moral fabric to stand with the marginalized, like the Sioux. We’re also responsible for passing along a healthy, sustainable environment to our descendants—a kind of ecological last will and testament. St. Paul, in 1 Cor 12:12, 26, writes: “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. . . . If [one] part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.” That body could be the whole of humanity; it could be our planet as an integrated ecosystem. The truth is it does not matter. If we are really living out the Gospel, we’ll take good care of both.—D.I. Ju n e 2 0 1 7 ❘ 1 9

Welcome to San

Damiano In the spirit of St. Francis, this retreat center opens its doors to refugees. B Y K AT H Y C O F F E Y

riving up the long, steep hill from Danville, California— escaping the congestion of the town and the roar of I-680—one who sees the first sign for San Damiano retreat center breathes a sigh of relief. What a far more welcoming sight the friary, with its graceful Spanish architecture, must be to a refugee who hasn’t had a permanent home in 17 years! The story of Franciscans housing refugees intertwines the three Abrahamic religions— Christianity, Islam, and Judaism—in stunning harmony. It echoes St. Francis’ experience of Islam. And it offers small steps toward answering the larger question of refugees confronting the United States and the world.

A Refuge of a Different Kind

PHOTO COURTESY OF SIDE X SIDE STUDIOS

San Damiano’s red tile roof and white walls surround a courtyard filled with fountains and flowers native to California. It’s easy to see how the place has become an oasis for retreatants seeking prayerful beauty and calm. But if, as some believe, the retreat business is dying, what’s the future for this and centers like it? Or, as Franciscan Brother Mike Minton, the center’s director from 2015 to 2016, asks, “How do we become something the world needs?” His community considered several possibilities suited to its mission of being “a Franciscan presence in northern California.” Since 1961, the friars of the St. Barbara Province have

“Be at home,” Franciscan Brother Mike Minton often told his visitors. He welcomed Kamal (left) and Jalal, refugees from Afghanistan, to the San Damiano retreat center near Danville, California, while he was director there from 2015 to 2016. June 2017 ❘

(Right) Once primarily a retreat house, the friary, with its graceful Spanish architecture, provides transitional and emergency housing for refugees as they resettle in America.

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June 2017

made the 55-acre site “a peaceful environment of natural beauty where spiritual renewal and growth may be sought by people of all faiths and backgrounds.” The friars have sought to build on that foundation. For example, the Franciscans’ commitment to care for creation has led them to offer a 12-session course in permaculture, a method of sustainable farming based on natural ecosystems. Trying to offer winter shelter to the homeless proved impractical, however. So the discussion evolved to, “Whom can we help? Maybe refugees?” When Brother Mike saw an ad in a local paper requesting housing, it seemed a perfect fit. He exclaimed, “We’ve got 80 bedrooms!” Meanwhile, Amy Weiss was losing sleep in her role as director of refugee and immigrant services at the nearby Jewish Family and Community Services East Bay. Because real estate prices in the area have skyrocketed, she had nowhere to house the influx of refugees. Her umbrella agency, HIAS (formerly called the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), is the oldest of the nine resettlement agencies in the United

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SIDE X SIDE STUDIOS

(Above) The natural beauty and peaceful surroundings at San Damiano offer a welcome respite for refugees, many of whom had to flee their homelands because of violence.

States. “We do this work not because we’re resettling Jewish people, but because we are Jewish people,” says Weiss, echoing the ancient tradition of hospitality that Jews practice because they know the migrant experience firsthand: “‘My father was a refugee Aramean who went down to Egypt with a small household and lived there as a resident alien’” (Dt 26:5). In a partnership that might seem improbable, she welcomed the Franciscans’ offer of emergency and transitional housing. This “love at first sight” led to ongoing collaboration: St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

PHOTOS BY FEDERICA ARMSTRONG

she has placed nine men at the retreat center who have stayed for periods of three weeks to seven months. The relationship remains fluid: depending on what’s happening at San Damiano, the friars must sometimes say no or ask for a brief delay.

A Place of Safety and Hope The collaboration began two months before Pope Francis, in September 2015, asked every convent and monastery in Europe to house refugees. It isn’t always idyllic: some guests have quarreled over the washing machine and Fr anciscanMedia.org

cleanup, or the timing of meals. Mistrust and suspicion have arisen because of religious differences. A retreatant fearfully warned Brother Mike, “There’s an Arab with a backpack in the courtyard!” But, as he says, “A Franciscan place should be able to take people who are at odds and bring them together.” Grinning, he adds, “Pax et bonum [‘Peace and good’] is the bumper sticker; with human beings, it’s always a process.” Brother Mike asks only that refugees define goals and work toward them. While it’s tempting to linger indefinitely, they must shape their futures in a new country and move forward. For example, Jalal, 21, says, “Here I have a dream and freedom.” He wants to be a chef; his brother Kamal, 20, studies computer science. They hope to bring the rest of their family here, just as another refugee brought his wife and five children to the United States. Originally residents of Afghanistan, the brothers’ family was targeted by the Taliban because their father served in the army. Leaving when Jalal was 4, they fled through five different countries. The family finally arrived in Russia, but without legal status there, they

(Above) Kamal, 20, works on English homework at San Damiano. He hopes to earn a degree in computer science. (Left) Working part-time in the kitchen at the retreat house, Jalal, 21, chops vegetables in preparation for dinner. He would like to become a chef and someday bring the rest of his family to America.

June 2017 ❘

(Right) Kamal and volunteer Sherrie Fraser review a job and housing bulletin board at nearby Diablo Valley College. He and his brother, Jalal, have not had a permanent home since they were forced to flee Afghanistan 17 years ago. PHOTOS BY FEDERICA ARMSTRONG

(Far right) Kamal gets a haircut compliments of Chris Crevitt, who decided to offer his services pro bono when he heard about the brothers’ story.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SIDE X SIDE STUDIOS

(Below) Brother Mike prays with Muslims at a mosque on Fridays. He has a long-standing interest in Islam, firmly rooted in the example of St. Francis.

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June 2017

could not be schooled or employed. The San Damiano friars were deeply touched by a Nativity scene that these Muslim brothers painted and gave them at Christmas dinner. The screening process to enter the United States is intense and can take years. While waiting in refugee camps, undocumented refugees face formidable obstacles, many stemming from language barriers and cultural differences. Often, they are pumped with adrenaline for the process, but can finally calm down at San Damiano. The relief in the voice of a Ugandan reaching San Damiano is palpable: “This is the only place in my life I’ve been fed without expectations.” Those who come as families or friends move on more quickly; those without rely more heavily on the Franciscans for emotional support. Those who have sustained serious psychological damage can receive pastoral

counseling. Some mask wounds or avoid memories too painful to confront. When an employee saw a resident lifting a laptop high and low around the grounds, she thought he was searching for a signal and explained that he could get Wi-Fi in his room. The boy replied, “I’m Skyping with my mom. I just want her to see how safe I am.”

Many Faiths, One Human Family Brother Mike speaks for the San Damiano community: “When we first thought about doing this, it seemed like we were doing a really good thing. But what I’ve discovered is that our refugees have called us to the best humanity we can be. God created humans, not religions. Now we all stand bigger, fuller, and better within our own traditions.” He refers to the joint effort: Episcopalians arrange transportation and free haircuts, Mormons donate from their food banks, and Muslims give clothes. A Methodist minister who had been making a retreat at the center met the refugees and donated money toward their expenses. Two weeks later, she e-mailed that her congregation had prayed for Catholic Franciscans, in partnership with a Jewish agency, helping Middle Easterners of various religious backgrounds. Given the incentive of vulnerable need, humans can move past their divisions. While only about half the refugees are Muslim, Brother Mike has a long-standing interest in Islam. He prays at the mosque on Fridays, fasts for part of Ramadan, and has taken close to 300 Christians to visit the mosque, helping them wrestle with their feelings about Islam. Long engaged in Muslim-Christian dialogue, he hosted 90 people for a retreat where each religion learned about the other “branch of the family” and prayed together. As Islamic St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

scholar Dr. Nazeer Ahmed said: “Coming together in the spiritual domain has huge effects. It’s like opening a second window into the infinite vastness, seeing the beauty of creation not only through the inner eye of our own tradition, but also through the other’s.”

“Be at home,” Brother Mike said almost casually to visitors. What depth his words must carry to those who have not had a home for so long. G.K. Chesterton wrote, “St. Francis walked the world like the pardon of God.” Perhaps at San Damiano, he continues to walk one corner of this world in a similar style. A

St. Francis and the Sultan Brother Mike’s hospitality places him squarely Kathy Coffey is a retreat leader and the author of over 16 within the lineage of St. Francis. Nothing in award-winning books on spirituality. For more information Francis’ culture would have prepared him to about the retreat center, visit its website: SanDamiano.org. think Muslims might be good. The emphasis Since this writing, Brother Mike Minton has taken an assignthen was on killing the infidel to serve Christ. ment serving people with developmental disabilities in Popes offered the promise of heaven to Cru- Oakland, California. saders who would “cleanse” the Holy Land of the evil “enemy.” Francis went along on the Fifth Crusade in 1219 and crossed the battlefield to speak with Malik al-Kamil, the sultan of Egypt. Scholars disagree on exactly what motivated Francis to go initially or stay and visit, but evidence is clear that the experience affected him profoundly. The two leaders who tried at first to convert each other grew in appreciation that each already loved and revered God. In an atmosphere of violent hatred, Francis, the man of peace, tried—and failed—to stop the Crusaders from attacking the Muslims at the Battle of Damietta. His willingness to cross the battleSt. Anthony of Padua is field parallels an earlier experience, to beloved throughout the which Francis attributed his conversion: embracing the leper. In his day, world and is responsive to lepers had ashes spread on their heads, all people and all needs. their funerals were held with their families present, and then they were banAsk for St. Anthony’s ished outside the city walls, forced intercession. His intercessory to cry the chilling word unclean. For powers before our God Francis to hug the leper meant embracing the other; there he found “that are awesome. which had before seemed bitter was now changed for me into sweetness Join our community of of soul and body.” prayer. Post a prayer request, It’s possible the same thing haplight a candle or have a pened with the sultan. After their time together, when Francis was steeped in Mass offered at Islam, the effects showed in his prayer. www.stanthony.org. When he told people to fall to the ground in adoration, he must have remembered the posture Muslims take five times a day. When he savors God as light, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness, he seems to echo Islam’s “99 Beautiful Names for God.”

C E L E B R AT E THE FEAST OF

St. Anthony of Padua

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www.stanthony.org

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I Died with

Him’

In Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods, Deacon LeRoy Gill sows seeds of peace. PHOTOS BY K A R E N C A L L A WAY TEXT BY JOYCE DURIGA

NE DAY IN 2010 when Deacon LeRoy Gill was visiting Holy Angels Catholic School in Chicago’s violence-prone Bronzeville neigh-

borhood, he noticed a student wearing a small urn around his neck. The urn contained the ashes of his brother, who was murdered on the streets. The boy’s sister wore a similar necklace. The knowledge that these young people had experienced so much pain and violence—when they weren’t even out of elementary school— changed Deacon Gill’s life forever. Today he is one of the foremost Catholic leaders in the fight to keep safe the kids living in Chicago’s most violent neighborhoods.

Deacon LeRoy Gill (third from left) prays with other Church and community members during a peace vigil following the shootings of two men exiting the funeral of a former gang member. He is a light who tells victims and families that the Catholic Church is there for them. June 2017 ❘

Along with the Black Catholic Deacons of the Archdiocese of Chicago, he has organized sunrise prayer services before the start of the school year on the beaches of Lake Michigan, where Catholics gathered to pray for the safety of the children. Those services continue today. During the 2011 service, Deacon Gill remembered Darius Brown, a 13-year-old Holy Angels student who was shot and killed while playing basketball just weeks before. “I died with him,” Deacon Gill said, recalling Brown’s tragic death. As soon as the deacon heard the news, “I jumped in the car and went all the way down to the hospital, but he had died.” Last summer, Deacon Gill ministered to the family of Terrance White, a 4-year-old who had just finished preschool at the Academy of St. Benedict the African, located in Chicago’s violent Englewood neighborhood. White was shot while riding in the car with his mother. Fortunately, he survived.

Deacon LeRoy Gill blesses a woman following a sunrise service for peace along the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago. Deacon Gill started the services to gather Catholics of various races and from various neighborhoods to pray for a peaceful school year for all of Chicago’s children.

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In addition to his commitment to help end violence in the community, Deacon Gill has his regular clergy duties, such as blessing a boy during a Mass at Holy Angels Parish in Chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bronzeville neighborhood. During a Mass at Holy Angels Parish, Deacon LeRoy Gill bows his head and joins in blessing all of the children at the parish and prays that God will protect the children from street violence during the upcoming summer.

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June 2017 â?&#x2DC;

Students of the Academy of St. Benedict the African in Chicago’s violent Englewood neighborhood join their families in a cookout with members of the Chicago Police Department in the summer of 2016. Following a rise in antipolice sentiment in the city, Deacon LeRoy Gill organized the lunch.

Shortly after, responding to heightened antipolice sentiment in the city, Deacon Gill organized a prayer service and cookout at the academy for members of the Chicago Police Department who patrol the neighborhood to thank them for their service. Over the years, Chicago police have made extra efforts to keep the children at the school safe. But the effects of violence are not limited to those who live in violent neighborhoods, Deacon Gill says. “Violence affects us all. Even youth who are not direct victims of violence are victims to the chronic presence of violence via the media, in their homes, and in some neighborhoods. It is a part of daily life.” A Karen Callaway is the photo editor of Chicago Catholic, the newspaper for the Archdiocese of Chicago. Joyce Duriga is its editor. 30 ❘

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Deacon Gill runs the grill during the cookout. He always quietly goes about his ministry and doesn’t seek attention or accolades. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

AT HOME ON EARTH

❘ BY KYLE KRAMER

Hope and Healing

I think that in regard to our ailing planet, Christian hope has three essential components. The first is the “Good Friday” step: acknowledging the deep pain, grief, and fear that are Hold on to Hope natural reactions to what we are doing to God’s beautiful Take a week to reflect daily creation. This step may be on these hopeful words of difficult, but, for real and Pope Francis: “Let us sing lasting hope, it can’t be as we go. May our strugskipped—any more than gles and our concern for Jesus could avoid the cross. this planet never take away The second step is to recogthe joy of our hope” nize that left to our own (“Laudato Si’,” 244). devices, we cannot heal the

The hope of our faith provides inspiration for how we can rejoice in the wonder of nature.

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

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planet. Only God’s loving The resilience of the natural power brings us out of the world is an amazing source tomb of our grief, even if we of hope. On a hike or in must bring all our intelliyour neighborhood, can gence, skill, and willpower to you find examples of how the task of caring for our nature has recovered from world. some sort of damage? The life that God gives us on Easter—that would be all year, forever—is a resurrected life, a different kind of life than what went before. The final step of Christian hope, then, is to realize that we don’t just need tweaks to our current industrial economy and lifestyle, but that we need a whole new economy and a new way of living, a way that is driven by a new vision of mutual flourishing as individuals, human society, and a planetary whole. It is this vision— of joyful, integral human development on a thriving, well-tended planet—that makes Pope Francis’ “Laudato Si’” so inspiring. This new, grace-filled way of living can heal planetary hurts and broken human hearts at the same time. I’ll gladly hang my hat on that kind of hope. A

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PHOTO FROM KANGBCH/PIXABAY

often give public presentations about environmental issues and spirituality, especially connected to “Laudato Si’,” Pope Francis’ encyclical inspired by St. Francis’ “Canticle of Creation.” At a recent talk, my host introduced me with a long, depressing litany of our current environmental woes—from climate change to rising ocean temperatures to dying coral reefs. It was a tough hole for me to dig out of, rhetorically. It also reminded me that, for many people, the environment is mostly associated with bad news: the damage we’re doing to our planet, along with the current and future catastrophes we are causing. Staying hopeful in the face of environmental challenges isn’t easy, and there are certainly flimsy substitutes for hope. Maybe we’re tempted to trust in technology to solve the same problems it created. Many of us console ourselves with thoughts of heaven and about everything being in God’s hands—which is true, but can also be a form of denial, whistling in the dark.

St. Anthony, a Family Tradition

When she took her daughter on pilgrimage to Padua, this author rediscovered the roots of an Italian tradition. B Y PAT R I C I A M O N T E M U R R I

y college-age daughter met St. Anthony last spring, just as I did when my parents brought me on a pilgrimage to Padua

Tribute to St. Anthony My family has always had a devotion to St. Anthony. It started in my parents’ hometown, where the highlight of the year was the annual festival named for St. Anthony. Originally held in June to coincide with the saint’s June 13 feast day, it was eventually moved to August. My cousin says the town rescheduled the tribute to St. Anthony in part because so many immigrants returned in the late summer to Fr anciscanMedia.org

Far from Italy In America, my parents found other traditions to honor St. Anthony. On his feast day, we often drove to the Detroit suburb of Southfield to attend Mass

PHOTOS BY PATRICIA MONTEMURRI

in 1971. When I was 13, my parents introduced my sister and me to the Basilica of St. Anthony. It was our first visit to Italy and my parents’ first trip back to their homeland since they had left for the United States, not long after World War II. My parents wanted to say thank you for the success they knew in America. And they wanted my nonna—my dad’s mother—to see more of the world beyond the mountain hamlet of Gagliano Aterno, in Italy’s Abruzzo region where they all were born, and where as a young widow she raised two sons who later left for Detroit. So my family toured Italy on a rickety bus filled with paesani. They were other Americans or Canadians rooted to our tiny village, and determined to pay their respects to St. Anthony, who defined so much of our upbringing.

visit. But it also was rescheduled so that the town could secure the best bands to entertain at the festival, because so many were booked around the actual feast day. On a previous trip to Italy, my husband and I made sure to be in Gagliano Aterno for the festival. There was a Mass to welcome the many out-oftowners—who came from Italy’s big cities or oceans away. To contribute money for the festival, we bought our daughter a turn on horseback so she could trot through the village’s medieval streets—as her grandparents had done as children. The village’s women turned out hundreds of a unique sweet for fund-raising. Think of a cross between a doughnut and a bagel, but about the size of a record album. Such is a ciambellone (pronounced chum-bayloan-nay), an oversized, anise-flavored, lemoncolored, shiny, chewy, dunkable sweet. As villagers took turns carrying St. Anthony’s statue through town, dangling from the statue’s platform was an assortment of ciambellone for sale.

(Above) During an unforgettable trip to Italy, Patricia Montemurri’s daughter rides on a horse through the streets of Gagliano Aterno, a village her ancestors called home. (Left) In honor of St. Anthony, the faithful of Gagliano Aterno make a procession up a steep street in the Italian mountain village.

June 2017 ❘

Three to 4 million people visit the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua annually—with over 15,000 coming from the United States in pilgrimage groups—a testament to the saint’s worldwide popularity.

at the St. Anthony Shrine at the former Duns Scotus Seminary, named after medieval Franciscan friar and theologian John Duns. The Franciscans passed out loaves of bread to recreate St. Anthony’s charity to the hungry. (Faced with declining enrollment, the seminary closed in 1985, and the 110-acre Duns Scotus property was sold in the 1990s to a Christian congregation.) We ate to honor St. Anthony, too, at a restaurant with the saint’s statue out front, atop a water fountain. For over 24 years, a Detroitarea Italian restaurant chain, Antonio’s Cucina Italiana, has donated more than $100,000 to charity from proceeds of an all-you-can-eat buffet for St. Anthony’s feast day. “My dad was Antonio. I’m Antonio. My son’s Antonio. He’s a great saint and he did a lot for those less fortunate,” says Antonio Rugiero Jr., the son of the late founder, an immigrant from Italy’s Umbria region. “So we try to help the less fortunate, too. “We feed thousands from 11 to 4. Some people don’t make a donation,” says Rugiero. “Maybe they just come because they need a meal. I had one lady show up, and she gave a $1,000 check—and she didn’t even eat.” My parents subscribed to Il Messaggero di

sant’ Antonio—the Italian-language magazine from the Conventual Franciscan friars. When my daughter and nephew were born, my parents sent a photo of the babies to Il Messaggero, expressing thanks to St. Anthony for the babies’ good health and disposition. The photos appeared in the magazine, and the issue is part of my family’s keepsakes. I remember my aging father, struggling with kidney disease and walking with a cane and prosthetic lower leg after an amputation, making his way to the St. Anthony statue in the back of our parish church in Dearborn. He touched the base of the statue and prayed, asked, pleaded: “San Antonio, fa me guarire o fa me muorire.” Translation: “St. Anthony, help me heal or help me die.”

At Anthony’s Tomb When I visited the basilica with my daughter a year ago, I didn’t see crutches and wheelchairs left around the tomb of St. Anthony, as I had in 1971. I remember being stunned, almost frightened, by how many of them were left there. They were an awe-inspiring testament, I remember, to miraculous intercession. Those items, a friar told me, are now on display in the basilica’s museum. In 1981, St.

PHOTO FROM STEFAN LEW/ WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

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Who Comes to Visit St. Anthony? Organized group visits to the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua increased in 2016 compared to the year before, according to basilica statistics. Outside of Italians who tour the basilica, pilgrims from Poland were the most frequent visitors. The following statistics represent pilgrimage groups who register in advance with the basilica. It doesn’t include all visitors to the shrine, estimated to be between 3 and 4 million annually. Here’s a sample of who visits: 2016

2015

Poland

49,652

45,737

Spain

16,938

13,304

Germany

16,785

15,439

USA

15,630

12,248

France

12,602

15,534

Croatia

11,116

9,337

PHOTO FROM JBRIBEIRO1/ WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Anthony’s remains were exhumed and placed in a new tomb. Already in the 13th century, the saint’s voice box and tongue were found remarkably wellpreserved. Those are now on display up close and at eye level, as pilgrims weave through the basilica. Among the biggest-selling items at the basilica and in the surrounding stores are candles. After pilgrims buy them, they don’t light them. Instead, they place them in a huge box as they approach St. Anthony’s tomb, and the basilica’s stewards promise they will be lit one by one in the coming weeks for services. My daughter and I had arrived early Sunday in Padua to attend one of several Masses offered at the basilica. We saw faces and heard languages from around the world. Three hours passed before I heard anyone speak American English, and I wondered whether the ties to St. Anthony had loosened with the dying out of the first- and secondgeneration Italian immigrant populations in the United States. But the ties still bind. The year 2016 brought a surge of pilgrims to St. Anthony, including from our country. The United States ranked fourth last year in the number of pilgrims who visited the basilica, per statistics of groups that register ahead of arrival. The number of US pilgrims increased some 25 percent from 2015 to 15,630. The

gains are attributed to Pope Francis’ declaration of an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy for most of 2016, which conferred special indulgences to those who crossed the rarely opened Holy Door at the basilica (the same was true at other churches worldwide). Pilgrims from Poland were the most frequent visitors to St. Anthony. But the long list of registered visitors included people from such countries as Mauritius, Vietnam, and Trinidad (see box above). The Franciscans estimate that, in 2016, over 3 million people visited the basilica, which is free and open to the public.

Prayerful Gratitude

PHOTO BY PATRICIA MONTEMURRI

Along the way, we talked with American pilgrims. Among last year’s visitors were the Miellos of Fort Mills, South Carolina, the DeNicolos of Marco Island, Florida, and a grandmothergranddaughter duo, Carol and Riley Catone, from upstate New York. Mary and Anthony Miello had multiple reasons for wanting to visit Padua. Anthony felt a connection because he’s named after his grandfather, who was named after the saint. Mary’s friend, another Anthony, asked her to represent him before St. Anthony’s relics. The friend asked Mary “to say a special prayer for him at St. Anthony’s, light a candle, Fr anciscanMedia.org

(Left) Patricia Montemurri and her daughter represent two generations of Italian Americans as they stand in front of the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, Italy, a beacon of faith for millions.

June 2017 ❘

PHOTO BY PATRICIA MONTEMURRI

60th birthdays. And the Miellos had booked the same trip on the sly—to surprise their lifelong buddies. But then breast cancer surprised Jeanette DeNicolo, and the trips were canceled. Once Jeanette was through with treatment, the excursion to Italy was rescheduled. And on the last Sunday in May, they were all together for Mass in the basilica. Jeanette and Joseph said they prayed in thanks for the successful cancer treatment. They prayed, too, for confidence and success for their daughter, Alexis, who also came on the pilgrimage. A dental hygienist, Alexis has been accepted into dental school to become a dentist. A dozen years ago, before her daughter went away to college for the first time, Jeanette DeNicolo bought her daughter a St. Anthony medal for good luck and a reminder of a mom’s faith in her child. “I wear it every day. I’m wearing it now. It’s pinned to my bra,” says Alexis DeNicolo. “It’s for protection. It’s for guidance, and it reminds me of my family’s love.”

A Saint, a Friend

On a spring day in 2016, US pilgrims gather in front of the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua. Left to right: Alexis DeNicolo, Mary Miello, Riley Catone and her grandmother Carol, Anthony Miello, and Jeanette and Joseph DeNicolo. and bring him back a prayer card,” she says, “all of which I accomplished.” They marveled at the basilica’s artistry and artifacts, and the community they felt at Sunday Mass with pilgrims from around the world. “When you’re Catholic and go there, it’s overwhelming. It almost brought me to tears,” says Mary. “You don’t see that in South Carolina. How many people have been there through the years and history?” ANSWERS TO PETE AND REPEAT Even now, a year after the 1. Pete is now wearing a boot. visit, Mary says she feels blessed 2. The middle bush on the right is shorter. by the opportunity. Her friend, 3. The handle of the mower is red. Anthony, passed away in 4. There is a grass stain on the knee of Pete’s December, she confides, “but pants. was so grateful for the prayers, 5. The sky is visible behind the large bush. candle, and prayer card.” 6. Blades of grass are visible on the ground. The Miellos originally had 7. Pete’s shirt has a waistband. planned to visit Italy and Padua 8. A bolt is missing from the front in 2015. Their friends Jeanette lawn mower tire. and Joseph DeNicolo had booked a tour to mark their 36 ❘

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St. Anthony is one of the Catholic world’s favorite and most familiar saints. Catholics ask for his intercession on finding lost things— items as small as car keys or things spiritual, such as the heavy burden of finding one’s faith. Why do people want to have this rapport, this relationship with St. Anthony? “It’s because his devotion goes through families— through your mother, your grandmother, your grandfather,” says Father Mario Conte, OFM Conv., the editor of Il Messaggero di sant’ Antonio. In February, Father Conte brought two firstclass relics of St. Anthony to parishes in Austin, Texas. The reliquaries contained the saint’s floating rib and a skin fragment. Father Conte has traveled the world with the relics. “I’ve talked with countless people,” says Father Conte. “They consider St. Anthony a friend, almost like a member of the family.” When people touch the tomb at the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua, he says, “it’s not because of superstition. It’s a connection to St. Anthony. They know that through this body the love of God has passed.” A Patricia Montemurri is a freelance journalist who wrote for the Detroit Free Press for 36 years. She’s written about a wide range of subjects, including the Catholic Church, politics, women’s issues, and breaking news. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

❘ AVE MARIA GROTTO

CATHOLIC SITES TO EXPLORE

In the Heart of Dixie

hen Michael Zoettl entered the Benedictines at St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Alabama, he had no plans of building a shrine. Taking the name Brother Joseph, he soon was assigned to the menial tasks necessary to keep the abbey running, including shoveling coal for the abbey’s power plant. Although Joseph was obedient to his superiors and did his best, he found the work tedious. For relief, in his spare time he began to build miniature shrines that held little holy statues. These miniatures were sold at the abbey gift shop to support the missions. Soon, Brother Joseph had expanded into a new line of miniatures—building replicas of holy sites from around the world. Between 1932 and 1958, Brother Joseph created more than 125 little models of famous churches and sacred sites. He had no money to buy materials for his miniatures; instead he relied on what he could find and what people gave him. The result is a quirky, imaginative collection of reused materials on three wooded acres. Brother Joseph used concrete, ceramic tiles, seashells, and more for his little struc-

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tures, embellished with bits of costume jewelry, plastic animals, and marbles. Little scraps all become sacred here, all devoted to the Blessed Mother. But Brother Joseph also had a patriotic side—he designed mini memorials for fallen veterans of World War II, a tribute to the Statue of Liberty, and a replica of the Alamo. He also made a model of the abbey power plant that he knew so well. As is true of lots of folk art, there is a naive, whimsical charm to his creations. Before you head over to the gift shop or back to your car, be sure to visit the beautiful abbey church. A Adapted from 101 Places to Pray Before You Die by Thomas J. Craughwell (Franciscan Media). Next: Shrine of St. Thérèse Cullman• A LA B A MA

Ave Maria Grotto 1600 St. Bernard Dr. SE Cullman, AL 35055 (256) 734-4110 AveMariaGrotto.com

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KEEPING

VIGIL

Memories and grief yield to mercy and grace. BY MARY SHARON MOORE

T AGE 59, consumed with a slow-growing brain tumor, my father dies, a shriveled pod of a man. In his final months, I decide, in bitterness, “This is not the father I recognize or relate to . . . or love.” The church is packed on that November morning, with people gathered to pray their last farewell to a man they loved. The shiny black hearse that delivers my father’s casket to the church will soon carry his body to the cemetery. Inside the church, the choir, of which Patrick Moore had been a longtime member, sings as though guided by a beatific vision.

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My father, this quiet, gentle-spirited man who was never known to draw a crowd, obviously has touched hearts. But in the church this day, one heart remains untouchable. With his pall-draped casket now resting before the sanctuary, I take my place at the far end of the front row. I find no tears to shed. At 21, I am absorbed in my own world. I feel grateful that I have gone away to college, conveniently removed from the emotionally difficult work of loving a parent through the final months, weeks, and days. What I do not yet understand is that accompanying a dying one is also deeply personal work. It is work designed to change me. In St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

woke enough to tell him, “Son, go to bed.” I picture those blue Irish eyes, surely smiling as he writes these thoughts, and perhaps tearing up with the memory. And now come these words in his closing paragraph: “How good God is to bless us with health and beauty and goodness.” He notes a rainbow appearing outside his hospital window. This man is dying, I think, and he is blessing God for health and beauty and goodness. This is the man whose passing I have grown too arrogant to grieve. My heart knows no shame.

Making Room for Mercy Decades pass. Something shifts interiorly, I discover, when grace has its way. For 34 years, I grieve the day of my father’s passing. But the grieving, I notice, never changes. For 34 years, I cannot get down to the core of my grief. On the 35th anniversary of my father’s death, I arrive early for evening Mass. In the back pew of this still-darkened chapel, in the quiet, as I make space for whatever tears my desert soul can yield, I realize, unexplainably, that I have been grieving the wrong day. It is not the day of my father’s passing that has wounded my soul, but the day before his passing, when I was too arrogant to be with him, too full of myself to console him—as only an only daughter can. Now, at last, I touch the wound that has made God weep. The floodgates open. Finally, finally, I plunge to the bottom of this well of grief and pass through the gates of my own interior dying. And just as quickly, I feel myself drawn up from the deep by the strong arms of Mercy. © RFCANSOLE/FOTOSEARCH

his final weeks, my father had become a withered branch waiting to fall from the tree. Inwardly, I had prayed for a windstorm. Yet I think back to my 21st birthday, when, in my dormitory mailbox, I find an envelope addressed to me in his shaky hand. The return address is his ward at the VA hospital, where he recuperates from yet another brain surgery. In the midst of the pain and anguish of his desolate condition, he has written me a letter to celebrate my milestone. His feeble handwriting carries the story of how, when he turned 21, he came home late that night and announced to his own father, “Dad, there’s a man in the house!” His father Fr anciscanMedia.org

Prayer through the Night Now as I myself approach age 59, I become aware that this year will hold special significance. A day will come within this year when I will be the age that my father was on the day he died. If I, in my young-adult arrogance, refused to honor my father in his passing, I know that I must honor him now. I will keep a solemn vigil. I calculate the date and enter it into my calendar. From midnight until 5:00 a.m. on this date, I will keep vigil. I press forward, heart and soul, toward this rendezvous with grace. At midnight on the appointed day, I arise and compose myself within my candlelit prayer June 2017 ❘

“As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.” —Psalm 42

space. The first sound of the chime gently awakens the night. Then a second chime. On the third chime, the soul, now feeling invited, enters into solemn encounter with grace, with mercy, with love. Sergei Rachmaninoff’s hauntingly beautiful hymn “Come, Let Us Worship,” from his solemn choral work All-Night Vigil, ushers me immediately into a form of worship that is not my doing. “Come, let us worship and kneel / Before Christ, our King and our God . . . / Come, let us worship and kneel before him.” Were not these the words my father sang— perhaps not the same words, but clearly the same worship—Sunday after Sunday, all those years in the church choir? Now my mother’s memories come back to me: “Your father sang in the choir loft in the little church in Roy—St. Francis of Assisi

I am maybe 12. We wind up Terwilliger Road, which leads through the forested hillside to the hospital, to visit you in the late afternoon. Today you went through that terribly painful test when they injected dye into your spinal fluid. We walk into the ward. Your bed is empty; there is no sign of you. Your ward buddies tell us: “Pat’s not back from that test yet. We knew when the dye hit his spine. Down two long corridors, through two sets of metal doors, we could hear him crying out the words of the Hail Mary.” My daddy. And when, at last, you were too sick to barber anymore, when you laid down your tools and Mother took a bookkeeping job, the Lord sat with you each day, all day, at your chair beside the kitchen table. God “bends down to me and hears my cry.”

Yearning for God

Church—when he was just a young man. I heard that voice, and I turned around and looked up and saw that wavy red hair. It was one of the Moore boys. Pat was his name.” Her eyes dance a little, above a soft smile, as she touches the memory. I think of the two of them, young and in love, in their wedding photo—he in his Army dress uniform, and my mother in a turquoise, collarless, wool jacket with a delicate gardenia corsage. By sundown he would be on a plane headed off to war. My daddy. Now in vigil I pray the words of Psalm 40, a psalm that Jesus surely prayed often to his Father: “Surely, I wait for the Lord; / who bends down to me and hears my cry.” Daddy, did you cry on that flight that carried you through the night to a war you could not imagine but only dread? “Surely, I wait for the Lord; / who bends down to me and hears my cry.” The men on your ward in the VA hospital heard your cry. 40 ❘

June 2017

And now, deeper into the vigil, I pray Psalm 42, the soul delirious for God: “As the deer longs for streams of water, / so my soul longs for you, O God.” I imagine you, Daddy, in your final days, knocking feverishly at the gates of heaven, crying out with the psalmist: “My soul thirsts for God, the living God. / When can I enter and see the face of God?” Very early on, you taught me to yearn for God. It is early June 1958, the Sunday following first Communion. We are in the big blue Chrysler, you and I, and we are going to Mass outdoors at the Grotto of Our Sorrowful Mother in Portland. I am dressed in my white Communion dress, without the veil. I feel very special, sitting on the front seat next to you, Daddy. And I can tell that you feel happy and proud. “Daddy,” I say with solemn wonder, “this is my second holy Communion.” I do not know what I am imagining. “Honey,” you say to me, “you will receive holy Communion so many times in your life that you won’t be able to keep count.” Silently I glow with the thought of all these Communions, a lifetime of communion with the Lord. As the all-night vigil continues, I rise and walk about the room, a sort of interlude. Outside, the night is still. The cars that stream up the hill after the bars close have all come and gone. The silence is deep, dark, and rich. My St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

soul is filled with the rich banquet of this predawn communion.

Faithful like Job

Birth Pangs of Grief Grief now overtakes the soul, like a force of mercy, a tsunami wall of mercy in a dark night. Tidal waves of grief rise up from the core. Wave after wave of grief—not inconsolable, but each wave a consolation, coming forth from the very mystery of God. The soul gives birth. God gives birth within the soul, gives birth to what is new and still unnamed, untouchable, and holy. I ponder these words, again a hymn of Rachmaninoff: “O serene light of the holy glory, / Of the immortal heavenly Father. / Holy, blessed Jesus Christ . . . / Thou art worthy of praise in songs / At all times, / Son of God, Fr anciscanMedia.org

Morning Dawns Five o’clock approaches, and the solemn night vigil for my father draws to a close. Rachmani-

PHOTO BY DENNIS STEPHEN/PEXELS

“Blessed be the man,” my soul sings. I turn to the words of Psalm 1, the psalmist’s response to the trials and endurance of someone like Job, the poor man who was rich in faith. Job was steadfast in times of severe testing, perhaps intuiting that God accompanied him unseen. This would be my father, too, in the long and lonely spaces, cancer filling his brain and stealing its way to other parts of his body. He remained steadfast in God unseen, in the presence of this dark and all-consuming force, also unseen. I turn to Rachmaninoff’s hymn of Psalm 1: “Blessed be the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked. / Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. / For the Lord knows the way of the righteous . . . / Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.” Such rejoicing. Beneath the heavy layers of pain and interior anguish, somewhere in that untouchable place of soul, I imagine my father drawing from the wellsprings of those alleluias. “Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! / Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.” Daddy, I cry, I know that somehow these words, and the very thought of God, consoled you in the long hours when you sat alone in your chair beside the table in the darkened kitchen. God’s angels minister to you in your anguish, as you think about your children in their school day. As you sit, utterly poor in your ability to provide for your family. As your life becomes untethered from the greenwood, denied its shimmering summer season. Your life, instead, becomes the grain of wheat that dies so that God can reap the harvest.

Giver of Life.” I discover that the deep work of this vigil becomes a glimpse into the Resurrection. I rise from my prayer space, open the door, and step out into the starry night. Despite this arduous interior work, I feel no tiredness at all. I feel, in fact, quite apart from time. When I return to my prayer space, I gaze in the flickering candlelight upon the sacred icon of the Holy Trinity. I draw deep breaths of interior strength and peace. I look, through the eyes of memory, on the man whose body is wasting away but whose soul surely awakens with these words of Psalm 51: “Restore to me the gladness of your salvation; / uphold me with a willing spirit.”

noff’s hymn “Now Let Thy Servant Depart” ushers in the dawn with the words of the “Nunc Dimittis,” the Canticle of Simeon: “Lord, now Thou lettest Thy servant depart, / According to Thy word, in peace.” This is the man, a holy man of God, whose passing I was too arrogant to grieve when I was young. This is the man who apprentices me now to faithfulness, to the hidden ways of God, especially in times of grieving. This night, somewhere between earth and heaven, I stand on holy ground. Good night, my dear father. I release you to God. And I encounter you in God. The arms of Mercy hold you now. Together, this night, we have kept good vigil. A

Your life becomes the grain of wheat that dies so that God can reap the harvest.

Mary Sharon Moore, author of Conformed to Christ, serves parishes nationwide with parish missions and retreats. Her articles have appeared in numerous Catholic magazines and journals. Her website is MarySharonMoore.com. June 2017 ❘

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Ashes to Ashes His death reignited a family feud. FICTION BY KERRY SLOAN

“

HAT DO YOU MEAN, ‘Woodside Cemetery?’” demanded Sally, her gravelly voice tense with anger. Tina tittered, a high-pitched, nervous laugh. “That’s where David wanted to be buried,” she said. “We’ve got twin plots. And you can see the cemetery from my house. David will still be close.” Sally slammed her mug on the table, startling everyone in the room and causing the glasses and dessert plates to rattle violently. “The Johnsons have always been buried in Milford, in Forestview Cemetery. There’s a space for David there already.” Sally glared at Tina imperiously, expecting the woman to quail under her gaze. But Tina was tough. “David was my husband,” she snapped, her nervousness turning to anger. “I can bury him wherever I want.” Sally looked at Tina disdainfully. “He was my son first,” she snarled. “Mother,” interposed Ethel, gently placing a hand on Sally’s arm. “Try not to get too excited. Remember what the doctor said.” Sally shook her daughter’s hand off roughly. “You shut up,” she said. “If I want to hear anything from you, I’ll ask.” “Mom’s right,” said Tom, Ethel’s older brother. “David should be buried with the family, where he belongs. It’s not like you need to keep an eye on him anymore,” he added, with a malicious glance at Tina. Donna, Ethel’s older sister, laughed harshly. “Yeah,” she agreed. “You don’t need to watch him. He can’t get into any trouble: he’s dead.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” demanded Tina, her face reddening with anger. “What are you trying to say?” “What do you think we mean?” snapped Donna. “As soon as this grieving widow thing gets old, you won’t want to see David’s grave. You’ll have other things to keep you busy,” added Tom.

Fr ancisca n Media .org

“I don’t have to sit here and take this abuse! I was trying to include you in the funeral arrangements because you’re David’s family. But if I’m going to be insulted like this, I can leave.” “That’s fine with us,” said Sally. “But don’t think we’re going to let you get away with this.” Tina turned toward Sally and laughed unpleasantly. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I was his wife. I get to make the decisions. None of you has a say.” Ethel looked around the table at all the angry faces. She began speaking, almost in a whisper, “David always said he wanted to have his ashes buried near the lake. He didn’t want to be buried in any of the Milford cemeteries.” Sally glared at Ethel. “Didn’t I tell you to keep quiet?” Tom looked at his sister in annoyance. “David never said that! Why would anyone want to end up next to that dirty old lake anyway?” “Yeah,” agreed Donna, also glaring at Ethel. “You’re always making stuff up.”

few minutes later, Ethel was by herself in one of the upstairs bedrooms in her mother’s house. She needed some time alone. The dinner with Tina, David’s third wife, had been a disaster. While David was alive, everyone had been civil to each other. But he’d only been dead two days, and things had already fallen apart. Ethel looked around the room sadly. It had been David’s room when they were young. Even though her mother was now using it for storage, Ethel could still feel his presence. David and Ethel were only a year apart, and, as children, the two had been inseparable. Ethel thought about all the time she had spent with him playing together in this very room and long days out at the lake fishing. Ethel didn’t even like fishing, but being with David made everything enjoyable. Ju n e 2 0 1 7 ❘ 4 3

As they got older, life intervened. David moved from one troubled marriage to another, from job to job, never able to keep anything stable. Ethel, shy and timid, was completely dominated by her overbearing mother. Sally dictated Ethel’s life. And taking time to visit David wasn’t part of it. But it didn’t matter; the two had a bond that was unbreakable. Still, David’s marriage to Tina made things worse. Tina didn’t like having David’s family around, and Sally despised her. It was obvious to Ethel that David was unhappy, despite the perfect marriage Tina tried to project. But this time David didn’t have the energy to leave and find someone else as he usually did. He was too sick and tired. The last time Ethel saw David— about a week before his heart attack— he seemed so sad. But he still made her laugh. And he laughed, too—a deep, rumbling chuckle that was uniquely his. It was hard for Ethel to believe that she would never hear his

unmistakable laugh again. Ethel sighed as she got up from the chair in David’s old room. She could hear her mother and Tina yelling at each other downstairs. She’d have to go smooth things over as she always did. Why can’t they just let him rest in peace? she asked herself sadly.

he next morning, the day before David’s funeral, Tina unexpectedly dropped by Ethel’s apart-

ment. “Hi,” she said shortly, as she stood outside the doorway. “Can I come in?” Tina was dressed in a tight, low-cut black dress. She looked as if she hadn’t slept at all the previous night, and her makeup was smudged and worn. She was carrying a bag, which she plopped onto Ethel’s kitchen table. Ethel was surprised at Tina’s visit. Tina had never been very friendly to her, and now that David was gone, there was no need for them to talk. “I need you to keep this for me until

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tomorrow morning,” said Tina, looking closely at Ethel as she spoke. “Sure,” said Ethel slowly. “What is it?” “David’s ashes.” Ethel blanched. David’s ashes were on her kitchen table. For a moment, she felt as if she might faint. “I need you to . . .,” said Tina quickly. “I’m afraid one of your crazy relatives is going to try to steal them from my house.” Ethel began clearing her breakfast things off the table. It didn’t seem right to have her brother’s ashes sitting next to her empty cereal bowl and coffee cup. “I need to think,” began Ethel. She didn’t know what to say. She knew her brother’s wishes, but neither her mother nor Tina was interested in following them. “It’s only for one night,” begged Tina. “I’ll come get them first thing in the morning. You’re the only one in your awful family who I can trust. You’re not like the rest of them.” “I’m not sure,” said Ethel. “Well, maybe this will help to convince you! Do you know what your mother said to me last night?” Tina started, speaking angrily. Ethel sighed as Tina began to barrage her with complaints. Ethel was standing at the sink, and, as Tina rambled on, she absentmindedly opened the cabinet where she stored her dish soap and scrub brushes. Perhaps she could get her dishes cleaned up while Tina was talking. As Ethel reached into the cabinet, her hand brushed against a coffee can. She looked down slowly, and memories came flooding back. The coffee can was old and dented. There was a ragged piece of masking tape stuck to the front of it that read Pickles, written in her mother’s angry scrawl. Suddenly, Ethel stood up and swung around to face Tina. She took a deep breath. “I’ll do it,” she said. “I’ll keep David’s ashes for you until tomorrow morning.”

hat evening, Ethel was sitting alone at her kitchen table. Next to her brother’s ashes, she had

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placed the dented, old coffee can— Pickles’ final resting place. Ethel shuddered as she thought about him. Pickles, her mother’s cat, was a huge, mangy, orange tabby with one good eye and a mangled ear. Sally had always detested cats. But when Ethel was in her 20s, something changed. When Ethel came back from college, Pickles was living in her bedroom. Ethel was convinced that her mother had gotten the cat as an act of revenge. Sally hadn’t wanted Ethel to go to college, let alone library school, but Ethel went anyway—an act of defiance that she had paid for dearly. Ethel always liked cats, and they usually liked her, too. But Pickles was different. From day one, he was an evil presence in her life. At least once a day, Pickles waylaid Ethel on the stairs, attempting to trip her and make her fall. At night, he snuck under her bed, waited until she was asleep, and then jumped out, howling and clawing. He scratched her and bit her. He knocked her things off tables and dressers. He had a vendetta against her. About a year ago, after a long life of terrorizing anyone who got in his way, Pickles died. Sally was devastated. Ethel had never seen her mother cry before, not even at her own husband’s funeral. But the loss of Pickles shattered Sally. She didn’t talk for a week. And when she finally did start speaking again, she wasn’t herself. All her life, Sally had been a miser, but now, with Pickles dead, the floodgates were open. She had the cat cremated, purchased an elaborate tombstone, and then located the most expensive pet cemetery she could find, two hours away in New York. Ethel was given the task of making the arrangements with the cemetery and transporting Pickles’ remains. And everyone thought she did. But Ethel lied. She just couldn’t do it. Pickles didn’t deserve such special treatment! Ethel was hoping that one day she’d be brave enough to flush Pickles down the toilet or scatter him in the local dog park. But for now, he was interred under her sink. Fr ancisca n Media .org

Ethel gave the coffee can one last unfriendly glare. She needed to get to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

thel was waiting outside her apartment building when Tina arrived early the next morning. “Is everything OK?” Tina asked nervously. “Do you still have them?” “Of course,” replied Ethel. “Here you are, safe and sound,” she said as she handed the urn to Tina. “I knew I could rely on you,” Tina said. “Just wait until your mother sees David buried at Woodside,” she gloated. “She’ll never get over it!”

he funeral services went exactly as Ethel had expected. After the first few minutes, Ethel’s mother, in tight-lipped fury, left in protest, followed by her children and relatives. Ethel followed meekly in tow. She didn’t want to leave, but she knew what would happen if she tried to stay. The burial was small and fairly quiet, except for Tina’s loud, dramatic sobbing. Ethel was the only member of David’s family in attendance. Sally had ordered everyone to boycott the burial, but Ethel came anyway. When the burial service was over, Ethel walked over to Tina to pay her respects. “I’m sorry. I know how much I already miss David. I can’t imagine how you feel,” said Ethel gently. Tina was holding on to the arm of a short, burly man, who appeared to be trying to comfort her. Tina sobbed noisily. “No one can understand how I feel,” she mourned. “This is Joe,” Tina added. “He’s been helping me get through this.” Joe grunted and nodded toward his car. “Yes,” said Tina, with another sob. “I suppose we should get going. Would you like to come back to the house with us?” she asked Ethel. “We’re having a few people over.” “Thanks,” said Ethel, “but I think I’d like to spend a little time here alone with David.”

“Of course,” said Tina, with another sob. “I intend to visit him every day.” She turned and walked away, leaning against Joe. After they left, the cemetery was suddenly very quiet. Ethel put her hand out and touched the small stone marker. She slowly traced the letters on the gravestone with her finger, David Carl Johnson. Her beloved brother. “Don’t worry, David,” said Ethel softly. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. “We’ll take a trip out to the lake tomorrow. It’s all been arranged. There’s a beautiful church and a cemetery right near the lake. I know you’ll love it.” Ethel blinked back her tears, and, after a few moments, she touched the gravestone again. A small, sly smile appeared on her face as she whispered, “Rest in peace, Pickles.” A Kerry Sloan is an award-winning freelance writer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her fiction piece “The Fireside Cats” appeared in the February 2016 issue of this publication.

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ASK A FRANCISCAN

❘ BY FATHER PAT McCLOSKEY, OFM

Who Chose the Books in the Bible? I’ve heard different explanations about how the books in the Bible got there. Who chose them and why?

NAVY PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST SEAMAN JOSUE LEOPOLDO ESCOBOSA

The list of biblical books is called the canon (a Greek word from the Semitic term for a measuring rod). In this context, it’s a measurement of whether the writings called canonical belong to the inspired word of God. All mainline Christians have agreed since the fourth century about which 27 books belong in the New Testament. Thus, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are there, but the Gospels of Thomas, Peter, Mary, and many others are not. Father Larry Landini, OFM, who taught me Church history over 40 years ago, explained the main criterion for inclusion in the New Testament canon as “whether the Church recognized its faith in that particular writing.” In the 27 New Testament books, it did; for the others, it did not.

The issue of canonicity became important for mainline Christians because Gnostic Christians in the second century began claiming to possess authentic, inspired writings intended only for those who had knowledge (gnosis) possessed by their elite group of Christians. The Old Testament canon is slightly more complicated because there are two lists. The older one predates Jesus and includes seven books that were either translated from Hebrew texts or were originally written in Greek. The newer list was drawn up about 70 years after Jesus died and includes only books originally written in Hebrew. For over 1,000 years, all Christians accepted the older list. When Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, he chose to use the shorter list. Other Protestant translations followed suit, giving the name deuterocanonical (second canon)—or sometimes apocrypha (hidden or not genuine)—to the seven books and parts of Daniel and Esther. The term canonical means that a

book is recognized as part of God’s inspired revelation in the Scriptures. It does not guarantee that the presumed author was the actual author or that the book was composed when it says it was. For example, few biblical scholars today accept that the apostle Peter wrote the Second Letter of Peter. The Book of Daniel claims to have been written in the sixth century BC, but the vast majority of Scripture scholars believe that it was written in the second century BC (after the Maccabean wars). Ultimately, the community of believers has recognized which books belong in the Bible and which do not.

Several Questions about Heaven Where is heaven? Will my husband who died two years ago know me and still love me? If we have hurt people, will they have forgiven us by the time we get to heaven? What if there’s nothing beyond a person’s casket and grave? Heaven is more a state of being than a place such as Boston, St. Louis, Phoenix, or Los Angeles—a place that you can find on a map. Christians understand heaven as being with God for all eternity. Your husband will still know you and love you, but Jesus cautioned his disciples against thinking of heaven simply as an extension of life on earth. When he said that after the resurrection, people neither marry nor are given in marriage (Mt 22:30), Jesus was emphasizing the difference between marriage on earth and the situation of married people in heaven.

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He was not trying to add to the burdens of widows and widowers. There are no curses or resentments in heaven. If there were, how could people in heaven be eternally happy in God’s presence? Nothing Jesus says justifies believing that a casket and a grave are the final period in a person’s life story. Although we might be curious about certain details regarding heaven, isn’t being happy with God for all eternity quite enough?

Good People and Bad Things When our Bible class was discussing weakness, sinfulness, and attachment, one person said that bad things happen to people because of their sins. I know this isn’t true, but is there a biblical reference or some information that I can present to this class to counter that explanation? Some explanations are too simple to be true. The Old Testament Book of Job was written to refute the suggestion that all suffering is caused by the sins of the ones who suffer. The three friends of Job uphold such an explanation, but at the end of the book God commands Job to offer a sacrifice for them, saying that only Job has spoken rightly about God (42:7–9). There is plenty of innocent suffering in the world; for example, a newborn child can be addicted to cocaine. A suggestion that people suffer only for their own sins would justify the stingy response of those who refused to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and do the other works of mercy that Jesus lists in Matthew 25:31–40 as characteristic of those who will be saved. Did Jesus suffer because of his own sins? Human suffering is much more complex than solving the equation 2x + 1 = 5. Job’s friends denied the possibility of innocent human suffering. Some suffering can be related to sin. Bank robbers could be killed in a car crash, but then so could innocent people. Fr ancisca n Media .org

The Book of Job affirms God’s ultimate providence—even when evidence against it may seem overwhelming. Jesus made a similar point when he spoke of people killed by a falling tower in Siloam and the Galileans “whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices” (Lk 13:1).

Why Pray for Others? I understand that my prayers for someone will not cause God to move that person to the head of the line or guarantee a desired outcome. Then why do we pray for other people?

Jesus’ revealing and powerful story about two men praying in the temple (Lk 18:9–14) is an example of an honest prayer (by the tax collector) and a dishonest prayer (by the Pharisee). The latter’s prayer is effectively a defense against conversion and thus simply sees God, the Pharisee, and the tax collector in a very selfrighteous way. Did the people condemned in Matthew 25:41–46 ever pray? Almost certainly they did, but their prayer apparently caused their compassion to shrink instead of to expand. Honest prayer always enlarges our compassion—even if we are not ready to give God an A+ for answering a particular prayer. A

We cannot pray honestly for someone else without at the same time growing in compassion toward that person in particular and indeed toward all suffering people. Through honest prayer, we become more like the God to whom we address those prayers. I use the word honest here because

Father Pat welcomes your questions! Send them to: Ask a Franciscan, 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498, or Ask@FranciscanMedia.org. All questions sent by mail need to include a selfaddressed stamped envelope.

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BOOK CORNER

❘ BY CAROL ANN MORROW

Jesus and the Prodigal Son The God of Radical Mercy By Brian J. Pierce Orbis Books 240 pages • $25 Paperback/E-book Reviewed by TOMMY TIGHE, Catholic husband and father of four boys, licensed marriage and family therapist, and author of the upcoming Catholic Hipster Handbook (Ave Maria Press). Author Brian J. Pierce, OP, poses provocative questions in his book Jesus and the Prodigal Son. While readers are probably familiar with this parable, recounted in the Gospel of Luke, we typically think of this as a story of

WHAT I’M READING ■ The

Benedict Option by Father Rod Dreher

■ Pilgrimage ■ Hillbilly

Elegy by J.D. Vance

■ Preaching ■ Seeds

by Mark K. Shriver

by Timothy Keller

of the Word by Robert Barron

Deacon Greg Kandra created the popular blog The Deacon’s Bench, now carried on Aleteia.org, and works as multimedia editor for Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA). An award-winning broadcast journalist, he has also contributed essays to America, US Catholic, and Give Us This Day. He serves as deacon in the Diocese of Brooklyn.

4 8 ❘ Jun e 201 7

a father’s unconditional love for a son who has made some seriously bad choices. Pierce dares to ask: What if the parable told by Jesus is also a story about the relationship between Jesus and his Father in heaven, a story that somehow presents the mystery of the incarnation and the mission of our lord during his earthly life? When I first came to the idea as presented by Pierce, I had to put the book down and take a deep breath. Was this seriously something to be considered? We all know that Jesus perfectly did the will of the Father throughout his life, so how could he be referencing himself in this parable in any way? The story of the prodigal son seems to speak so clearly about a child lost in sin and disobedience: Was it really fathomable to consider the story from the perspective of Jesus being that lost and disobedient son? When I picked the book up again, however, I was intrigued, and Pierce’s perspective began to pique my curiosity. I felt compelled to answer the audacious question, “What if he’s right?” Pierce lays out his thesis early on: “The Son leaves home and sets off for a distant land. Abba gives him his inheritance, his very own life. The Son lives among the poor and rejected in a faraway country. He breaks his bread with the hungry, befriends prostitutes and sinners, squanders/gives away everything, and knows utter destitution and desolation. . . .” The author takes us from this thesis through the life of Jesus: from the incarnation to the table of mercy, from the sacrificial death Jesus endured to his descent into hell, from his resurrection to his glorious return home to the Father. Every step of the way, we realize that this parable, which we so often turn to when we think of the loving mercy we all hope our fathers will show each of us, has even more depth. There is little benefit to be had in reading a book that simply lines up with everything you’ve ever thought about a given topic, especially when it comes to one’s faith. This is why Pierce’s Jesus and the Prodigal Son: The God of Radical Mercy is such a compelling read. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

BOOK BRIEFS

Healing Invisible Wounds Fifteen Steps out of Darkness The Way of the Cross for People on the Journey of Mental Illness

Witness Learning to Tell the Stories of Grace That Illumine Our Lives By Leonard J. DeLorenzo Ave Maria Press 160 pages • $16.95 Paperback Reviewed by PAULA J. SCRABA, OSF, PhD, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Washington, DC, and an associate professor at St. Bonaventure University, New York, where she teaches Catholic Franciscan Heritage. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, “The future belongs to those who give the next generation a reason to hope.” DeLorenzo’s work as director of the University of Notre Dame’s Vision Program has seen that light of hope for many young adults involved in the program as mentors and participants. DeLorenzo reaches young adults where they are in their faith lives by sharing their stories of grace. DeLorenzo witnesses that young adults, in fact, have very strong faith lives and are willing to share those moments of grace, going back to the oldest faith tradition of exchanging our stories while breaking bread together. This book illustrates a way to illumine faith-sharing in an authentic, trusted environment. DeLorenzo has forged the way for a very powerful experience developing a lasting faith life in young people by reimaging sacramental formation, retreat ministry, service experiences, and teaching. This is accomplished by weaving the theme of light through four processes of identity: the light we see, bending the light, speaking the light, and catching up with the speed of light. Only through this process of crafting and sharing stories does the light shine in the discovery of identity in those graced moments with God. Fr ancisca n Media .org

By Scott Rose, Fred Wenner, and Al Rose; artwork by Homer Yost Orbis Books 144 pages • $18 Paperback/E-book Three authors, all with professional mentalhealth experience, share personal stories of their work with people suffering from mental illness. Each chapter is connected to one of the Stations of the Cross and accompanied by images of sculptures by artist Homer Yost.

Praying for Those with Addictions A Mission of Love, Mercy, and Hope By Anne Costa The Word Among Us Press 176 pages • $12.95 Paperback/E-book Author and motivational speaker Anne Costa provides a practical and sensitive guide for readers who count individuals battling addiction as loved ones. Brimming with compassion, her tips for reaching out to and praying for our loved ones bring hope to the hopeless.

What Does the Bible Say about Suffering? By Brian Han Gregg InterVarsity Press 176 pages • $20 Paperback/E-book Brian Han Gregg presents multiple scriptural responses to the problem of human suffering in an approach that is at once pastoral and informed by scholarship.—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 Prices shown in Book Corner do not include shipping. Ju n e 2 0 1 7 ❘ 4 9

A CATHOLIC MOM SPEAKS

❘ BY SUSAN HINES-BRIGGER

Out of Many, One

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARY KURNICK MAASS

am writing this column while sitting in the emergency room with my 83-yearold father and two sisters. Dad’s nasty virus has landed us here. And while it’s not the best of circumstances, it’s kind of a nice treat to be a captive audience with one another. It’s not often these days we get time to just sit and talk. It’s also a great opportunity to see what makes our sisterhood so strong—and different—in action. Because, even though we were all raised in the same home, in so many ways we couldn’t be more different. My oldest sister, Beth, is a scientist. She’s the thinker, the planner, the analyzer of our operation. My other sister, Karen, is a social worker. She’s the heart and caregiver extraordinaire of our trio. As for me? Well, I guess you’d have to ask my sisters about that one.

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Over time—right up to today, sitting in this cramped hospital room—we have learned that while our differences can sometimes present our biggest challenges, more often than not they are our greatest strengths. We have learned that when we rely on what we do best, we are at our best.

Our Many Communities According to Webster’s dictionary, a community is—among many definitions—“a unified body of individuals.” That basic definition, though, can be played out in any number of ways. Maybe it’s a common purpose or goal; maybe it’s a common interest. Based on that definition, I’d say my sisters and I make up quite a nice little community. But aside from our family, each one of us is also a member of so many other commuSt . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

WHAT’S YOUR ROLE? As I mentioned, each person brings something important to the table in any community. Unfortunately, we don’t always acknowledge that, but rather focus on any differences there may be. But what if we all took a step back and took a long, hard look at each of our strengths? Start small and think of your own family. What positives does each of your family members bring to the table? Maybe you could write each one a note highlighting that strength and letting that person know how much you appreciate what he or she offers. Perhaps you could discuss it at dinner and, one at a time, have each member of the family offer each person’s greatest strength. Then try to work your way outward to other communities in your life. Is there someone in your parish who you think offers something important to make that community stronger? Drop that person a note and say that you’ve noticed. And always try to remember that sometimes our greatest strengths can come from our differences.

nities—as are all of us. For instance, I keep referring to my sisters as my family community. While that’s true, it’s only a piece of the puzzle. As we have grown, gotten married, and had kids, we’ve each formed our own separate family communities. But at times—like today—we return to the

community of our beginnings. All of us, whether we realize it or not, are members of quite a few communities—family, work, school, faith, parish, neighborhood, city, world. Given that many people in that many communities, the odds of differences arising are pretty high.

I see how hard my sisters and I have to work together to address conflict and harmony among ourselves—and we’re only three people. When I put that on a larger scale, it can seem hopeless. But are our differences what we really want to concentrate on? I think back to what makes my family community work: we focus on our strengths.

Accentuate the Positive As a parent, I have heard time and again of the importance of positive feedback for children. Unfortunately, I often catch myself focusing too much on the negative. For some reason, it seems to rise to the surface more quickly. As I sit here writing this, it’s proven to be a very good exercise for me to stop and reflect on what I think my children’s greatest strengths are and how I would articulate that to them. It’s also a wakeup call that I haven’t done it enough. Hopefully, it won’t take another trip to the emergency room to remind me of that or help me appreciate the blessings of the communities surrounding me. A

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

PETE AND REPEAT These scenes may seem alike to you, But there are changes in the two. So look and see if you can name ILLUSTRATION BY TOM GREENE

Eight ways in which they’re not the same. (Answers on page 36)

Fr ancisca n Media .org

Ju n e 2 0 1 7 ❘ 5 1

BACKSTORY

Nurturing Your Faith

s a magazine, one connected to a sprawling digital outreach, we’re always listening. Yes, we listen to the news and to our many sources of inspirational information, always to bring strong content

to you. More important, we listen to you, our loyal subscribers, to know your wants and needs, and to understand how well we’re meeting them.

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER HEFFRON

We sometimes draw your attention to difficult moral issues, perhaps inspiring you to take action. At the same time, we maintain a steady stream of inspiration to nourish your spirit in other ways. We seek always to tell people’s shining stories of helping their neighbors, helping those who live outside of our margins of comfort, those whom Jesus named “the least of these.” We look to profile inspiring stories of saints and celebrities. We try to nurture your faith through reflective stories on prayer, Scripture, action, and contemplation. And, of course, we share the inspiring stories of St. Francis and his followers, both then and now. Not only in words are people inspired, though. Through the beautiful work of Art Director Jeanne Kortekamp and her talented group of freelance photographers and illustrators, we work hard, every month, to make this magazine beautiful. That beauty mirrors the “divine spark,” as St. John Paul II called it, “which is the artistic vocation . . . in order to be put at the service of their neighbor and of humanity as a whole.” The saint, in his “Letter to Artists,” was talking about all forms of art. All that is to say, we work hard at meeting your needs. Once in a while, we need to crawl up into the crow’s nest to see how we’re doing. Those of you who communicate with us via e-mail have by now received a survey asking you to tell us more about yourselves. We’re taking that feedback, along with all sorts of other information, and looking the magazine over. Do we have the elements we need to fulfill our mission, not only to you, but also to the many whom we don’t know, who are longing for inspiration in the spirit of Francis? I’ll be talking more about what we discover a few months from now. By the way, June 13 is the feast of St. Anthony of Padua. Let’s pray for his guidance.

Editor in Chief @jfeister

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