August 2017 by St. Anthony Messenger

REPLICAS OF ST. FRANCIS’ LITTLE CHAPEL

ST. ANTHONY Messenger

War Diary in Syria Pope Francis on the Gifts of Aging Martha and Mary Midlife Meditation My Reluctant Husband

AUGUST 2017 • $3.95 FRANCISCANMEDIA.ORG

“This book shows Cardinal Sarah to be one of the most spiritually alert churchmen of our time.”

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CONTENTS

ST. ANTHONY Messenger

❘ AUGUST 2017 ❘ VOLUME 125/NUMBER 3

ON THE COVE R

26 ‘Here I Am’: A Franciscan in Syria

Every day, Father Ibrahim Alsabagh encounters the suffering Jesus in the people of Aleppo. Recently, bombs fell near St. Francis Parish during Mass, raining debris on worshippers.

He’s pastor of St. Francis Parish in war-besieged Aleppo. Here is an excerpt from his gripping daily journal. By Father Ibrahim Alsabagh, OFM

Photo courtesy of Custos of the Holy Land

F E AT U R E S

D E PA R T M E N T S

14 The Martha and Mary Balance

2 Dear Reader

We are called to serve God and neighbor. Scripture guides us to accomplish both. By Mark P. Shea

3 From Our Readers 4 Followers of St. Francis Murray Bodo, OFM

20 Six Replicas of St. Francis’ Little Chapel You don’t need a passport to see these US versions of the Portiuncula. By Joseph D. Kubal and Maria Traska

6 Reel Time Wonder Woman

Good Bones

10 Church in the News

32 Bridging the Generation Gap Pope Francis encourages us to build bonds between young and old. By Christopher M. Bellitto, PhD

19 Editorial Inconvenient Truths

25 At Home on Earth Time for Serious Outdoor Fun

38 Midlife Meditation These five simple questions lead to honest prayer. By Mary Sharon Moore

8 Channel Surfing

42 My Reluctant Husband and the Church

37 Catholic Sites to Explore Bishop Frederic Baraga Driving Tour

46 Ask a Franciscan

This woman found spiritual wholeness in Catholicism. Would her husband discover a similar path? By Ann Turner

Which Party Reflects Catholic Teaching?

48 Book Corner Ignatius of Loyola

50 A Catholic Mom Speaks What’s Your Story?

52 Backstory

DEAR READER

ST. ANTHONY M essenger

Holiness Redefined As a noble, St. Clare of Assisi (1193–1253) was expected to marry a nobleman or at least enter a monastery established for noblewomen. Rejecting both paths, she decided to help St. Francis of Assisi redefine what living “according to the holy Gospel” means. On Palm Sunday of 1212, she left her family’s home in the walled city of Assisi and received a habit and veil at St. Mary of the Angels chapel outside the city. Despite family opposition, she eventually established at the nearby San Damiano a monastery open to women from all levels of society. Initially, she and the other nuns did some work with the friars, especially caring for lepers. After the Church decided in 1215 that all women’s religious communities must be enclosed, she reluctantly became an abbess. San Damiano had a 43-year fight for the “privilege of poverty”—the right to live without income from property owned by a monastery. The nuns did manual labor and received donations, eventually having enough to assist poor people in the neighborhood. Clare was canonized two years after her death; her feast is August 11.

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

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(U.S.P.S. PUBLICATION #007956 CANADA PUBLICATION #PM40036350) Volume 125, Number 3, is published monthly for $39.00 a year by the Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist Province, 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-6498. Phone (513) 241-5615. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, Ohio, and additional entry offices. U.S. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: St. Anthony Messenger, P.O. Box 189, Congers, NY 109200189. CANADA RETURN ADDRESS: c/o AIM, 7289 Torbram Rd., Mississauga, ON, Canada L4T 1G8. To subscribe, write to the above address or call (866) 543-6870. Yearly subscription price: $39.00 in the United States; $69.00 in Canada and other countries. Single copy price: $3.95. For change of address, four weeks’ notice is necessary. See FranciscanMedia.org/subscription-services for information on your digital edition. Writer’s guidelines can be found at Franciscan Media.org/writers-guide/. The publishers are not responsible for manuscripts or photos lost or damaged in transit. Names in fiction do not refer to living or dead persons. Member of the Catholic Press Association Published with ecclesiastical approval Copyright ©2017. All rights reserved.

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

FROM OUR READERS

Collision Course In his article “Pope Francis and ‘The Joy of Love,’” from the June issue of St. Anthony Messenger, Father Pat McCloskey writes of the pope’s message of hope for divorced Catholics who have remarried. Traditionally, they have not been permitted to receive the sacraments. It seems that the pope is giving dioceses the authority to nullify the first marriages of divorced Catholics. However, the pope is on a collision course with the ultraconservative Cardinal Raymond Burke—who has a long track record of denying the Eucharist to remarried Catholics. Cardinal Burke’s conscience is not moved by the realization that millions of remarried Catholics (who are not giving scandal) are being denied the Eucharist. We can only hope that the mercy of God will move the

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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hearts of the orthodox self-righteous clerics in our Church. Don Bruce Suffern, New York

St. Anthony, a Fan Favorite I was married on June 13, 1962, on the feast of St. Anthony. So this Franciscan saint has been very special to me. Patricia Montemurri wrote a fascinating and personal account in the June issue of St. Anthony Messenger, titled “St. Anthony, a Family Tradition.” She offered many insights into the devotions to this great saint, both in Italy and among Italian Americans. Lucy Kashangaki Princeton, New Jersey

Broken but Free to Choose Grace After reading Kerry Sloan’s fiction piece “Ashes to Ashes,” in the June issue, I pondered the author’s intent and, subsequently, her message. At the end of the story, the main character Ethel made a cunning preference to suit herself, in defiance of other family members, albeit unpleasant ones. Like Sloan’s characters, we are— all of us—broken in some way from our choices, experiences, or fractured relationships. But the question remains how we respond to our brokenness. Do we, like Ethel, seeking revenge for past regrets, play the world’s game of crafty oneupmanship? Like her, do we plot after our individual desires and superiority, or do we act on Jesus’ message of gentleness and mutual respect? In these tumultuous times of fraudulent e-mails and self-motivated politicians, we must remember we have other choices than the ones the world knows. Jesus showed us another way, not ending with Ethel’s “small, sly smile,” but with dialogue

and understanding. May our responses invite God’s ever-present love for each and every one of us into our world, which sorely needs it. Joanne Bennardo Novelty, Ohio

Judge Not I’m writing in response to Joanne Kelly’s letter in the “From Our Readers” column from the June issue (“Comfort and a Lifted Heart”). She criticizes Donald Trump’s reverent demeanor while attending the National Prayer Breakfast and his values because of his past lifestyle. She needs to take a deep breath and reread her words. She just may qualify for being the one to cast the first stone. Theresa McNaughton Chicago, Illinois

The Catholic Response to Suffering “Ask a Franciscan” is one of my favorite columns in St. Anthony Messenger. In the June issue, a writer raised the question about why bad things happen to good people. Father Pat McCloskey’s wonderful spot-on reply referred to the Book of Job as well as the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. I’d like to add a reference to John 9:3, where Jesus answers his disciples’ question about whether a man who was born blind had sinned, resulting in his visual impairment: “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” Jesus removes the issue of blame and raises the idea that God’s glory will be manifested through individual, family, and community responses to loss. May God bless you and keep you! Sheila Cronin Chicago, Illinois Au gu s t 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

If Necessary, Use Words

ranciscan Father Murray Bodo grew up in the desert landscape of Gallup, New Mexico, close to the Navajo reservation and Zuni Pueblo. “I was an ordinary kid,” he insists. “My dad was a coal miner and my mom worked in the laundry.” But Father Murray is far from ordinary. “The first time I really had any idea what a Franciscan was, it was the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, who had come from Springfield, Illinois, to work in our community. I got to know them because I drove the car when they would visit the sick in the area. I was just 13 at the time,” he adds with a chuckle. “I wanted to know more about this Francis stuff and I started reading everything I could. One book changed my life: I read God’s Troubadour, by Sophie Jewett, a book for young people, and, just like Francis (though I didn’t know it then), I thought, This is what I want to do! Jewett describes the beauty of Assisi in a way that captured my imagination, and I related to it immediately because all my relatives are from Italy. “It was only then that I realized that everyone in Gallup was Franciscan—the priests, the brothers, the bishop—and they were all

Murray Bodo, OFM

from Cincinnati. So I got on the bus” and headed for the seminary. After his studies, Father Murray longed to go back where he started, to be a missionary to the Navajo people. He had a deep love for the culture and, especially, the language. “Then the provincial called me into his office and said, ‘Murray, you’d better sit down.’ I thought maybe someone had died, but in a way it was worse. He said, ‘The English teacher at the seminary has cancer; could you go there to teach?’ I made him promise it would be for one year only, and he did. So,” he adds with good-natured resignation, “I taught English for 12 years.” Father Murray feels that the move was providential. “I have always loved words, the way they sound, the way stories come together. Stories transported me the way nothing else ever has. Spiritual books made me feel very close to God. It was as if God was somehow inside those words.” Once he got over his initial disappointment, Father Murray decided, “Since I couldn’t be a missionary, I thought maybe I would be a missionary through words.” And how his words have traveled! The

STORIES FROM OUR READERS Learn more about Catholic saints and their feast days by going to SaintoftheDay.org.

Always Looking Out for Me

St. Anthony has saved the day for me more times than I can count. I have come to rely on him. When my keys disappear, I no longer worry. When I tell people I lost my purse, they’re always surprised that I’m calm. In every situation, often while traveling, going out to eat, or shopping, it always works out. It’s most often my fault, and my item is usually returned by a really nice person. Sometimes I find it myself, but often someone helps me. At church, I shared some of the many stories of St. Anthony coming to the rescue. “Wow! St. Anthony is really close to you! He’s really looking out for you,” said our parish priest. Wow! He really is. —R. Sontag

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

ST. CLARE OF ASSISI

Gift of Tears Sister Cecilia, the daughter of a knight in Spoleto, came to San Damiano three years after St. Clare did, moved by the preaching of St. Francis and exhortations from St. Clare and Brother Philip. According to Cecilia, St. Clare “had an abundance of tears in her prayers and showed spiritual joy with her sisters. She was never upset, but treated the sisters with great meekness and kindness, and at times, when there was need, she diligently corrected them.” —P.M.

CNS PHOTO BY MICHAEL ALEXANDER, GEORGIA BULLETIN

author of more than 20 books, including several poetry collections, Father Murray has had his works translated into a dozen languages. His first book remains his favorite: Francis: The Journey and the Dream, which has been in print continuously for almost 50 years. The publication of that book sparked his involvement with Franciscan Pilgrimage Programs, which wanted someone with a poet’s perspective to introduce travelers to the places where Francis and Clare lived and ministered. Father Murray must have had the special flair they were looking for—he still leads pilgrimages today, in his 80th year. “Assisi never lets me down,” Father Murray says. “It lets you into the story of Francis, and Franciscanism is a way of living, not a methodology. Francis teaches us how to live the Gospel, but he also teaches that each one of us does so in our own way. Each life becomes its own word, a unique way of expressing God’s love. “Words matter,” Father Murray says. “In the right combination, they can order your life.” —Kathleen M. Carroll

To learn more about Franciscan saints, visit SaintoftheDay.org.

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

Fr ancisca n Media .org

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

Au gu s t 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

Wonder Woman

CNS PHOTO/ WARNER BROS.

New on DVD The Dinner Going in Style The Circle The Exception A Family Man

6 ❘

Augus t 2017

Gal Gadot gives a star-making performance in director Patty Jenkins’ thrilling Wonder Woman. Diana (Gal Gadot), a princess and demigod of the Amazon race of women, was created by Zeus from clay to protect humanity. The women live on an island hidden from the rest of time and creation. Diana’s mother, Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), forbids her to train for war despite pressure from her aunt, Antiope (Robin Wright), a great warrior. Zeus left a sword with the women to kill Ares, his renegade son, who killed all the other gods. Only a god can kill another god, and Diana believes she must be ready. One day, American pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crashes his plane off the island as Germans chase him. Diana, who has never seen a man and has no idea of World War I raging beyond their island, follows him to England in search of Ares. If she can kill him, she can save the world. Steve gathers an eclectic team to help him search out a mad German scientist who is making nerve gas. Accompanied by Diana, they go in search of the bad guys.

Wonder Woman, as far as superheroes go, is a unique creation in the comic book-intofilm universe because it takes place during World War I. It is a prequel to the original DC comic, which first appeared in 1941. And this adaptation is very exciting. The story is by Zack Snyder, who produced the last two Superman movies, Jason Fuchs, and Allan Heinberg, who also wrote this script. Patty Jenkins directs. I liked the Diana/Wonder Woman character, brought to life by Gadot. She believes in the power of love and implies that women will save the world. The conflation of violence and war as the only way to achieve peace is always a concern for me with blockbusters. A-3, PG-13 ■ Violence, intense action scenes, peril.

Megan Leavey After the devastating loss of her best friend in high school, Megan Leavey (Kate Mara) St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

JACOB YAKOB/ BLEECKER STREET

Kate Mara gives an effective turn in Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Megan Leavey, based on a true story.

Annabelle: Creation Sister Charlotte (Stephanie Sigman) accompanies a group of orphaned girls to an old, isolated farmhouse, where the owners, Samuel (Anthony LaPaglia), a dollmaker, and his wife, Esther (Miranda Otto), have Fr anciscanMedia.org

COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES

bounces between her divorced parents, the erratic Jackie (Edie Falco) and hardworking Bob (Bradley Whitford). Walking aimlessly one day, she passes a United States Marine Corps recruiting office and decides to sign up. It is 2005, and the war in Iraq is at its height. For an infraction, Megan is assigned to clean up the kennels that house dogs being trained to sniff out explosives and roadside bombs. Megan immediately wants to be a dog handler. She persists in her request and begins working with Rex, a 6-year-old German shepherd with an intense personality. They are deployed to Iraq. After six months of working checkpoints, Megan and Rex go out on patrol in advance of the tanks. On that day, a young woman and her dog become heroes. Based on a true story, Megan Leavey is a straightforward and deeply moving tale of a young woman without direction or purpose who learns the lessons of love and loyalty from a lovable dog. She must overcome military and political challenges to return that love to Rex. The battle scenes are very real, though the setup seems somewhat contrived. The performances in the film are solid, especially Mara’s. A-3, PG-13 ■ War violence, language.

offered them a home. Their young daughter died several years before. Esther is hidden away in her bedroom. Samuel tells the girls never to go in there. He warns them not to venture into another room as well, but the girls are curious. One of them ventures into the forbidden room and sees a doll. They soon find out that the doll is inhabited by the devil. All hell breaks loose. Annabelle: Creation is an origin story for The Conjuring franchise. The couple, plagued by grief, had invited the devil into their home years before as a way to get their deceased daughter back, no matter how. When they realized what they had done, priests exorcised the home. Instead of casting out the devil, they cast it into a doll and locked it in a closet papered with pages from the Bible. Hollywood cranks out too many films about the devil. This one, which is highly contrived, will nevertheless scare you. Don’t mess with the devil—seriously. Not yet rated, R ■ Violence, peril, horror.

Lulu Wilson stars as Linda in New Line Cinema’s supernatural thriller Annabelle: Creation.

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

General patronage Adults and adolescents Adults Limited adult audience Morally offensive

■

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

■

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

Augus t 2017 ❘

CHANNEL SURFING

WITH CHRISTOPHER HEFFRON

UP CLOSE

Tuesdays, 10 p.m., HGTV It wouldn’t be unfair to credit Fixer Upper for reinventing the home renovation genre. The hit series, hosted by Chip and Joanna Gaines, has become an omnipresent force on the network—and with good reason. Their hilarious chemistry has become their trademark. Hoping to capture lightning in a bottle twice, HGTV has given us Good Bones, hosted by mother-daughter team Karen E. Laine and Mina Starsiak. And while this series doesn’t quite match the quirky charm of Fixer Upper, it’s still worth a visit. The formula is tried and true: mother and daughter size up Indianapolis properties in various stages of disrepair and collectively work to reimagine the space. So far, that’s pretty standard. But what sets Good Bones apart is the strong family angle. Joined by Karen’s son and Mina’s brother, Tad, this house-flipping show is a true family affair. And the repartee among them gives the show a lift. Good Bones is also unique because it sets its sights on small towns, old homes, and close-knit neighborhoods. Karen and Mina understand how important these small communities are to our national tapestry, and it’s nice that Middle America gets a share of the spotlight. But the hidden message of the show is universal, regardless of your living arrangements: home is where the heart is.

Beat Bobby Flay

Thursdays, 10 p.m., Food Network One quality that unites nearly all Food Network personalities is their innate relatability. From Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) to Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) to Ted Allen (Chopped), there’s a warmth and amiability that make them safe and watchable. And then there’s Bobby Flay. Not exactly likable, this brilliant yet brash New York chef has made a successful career out of elevating southwestern cuisine to new heights—and his passion and recipes speak for themselves. This Food Network staple has hosted innumerable (read: too many) shows throughout the years, bringing his talents to the forefront in a playfully aggressive way. He moves quickly, talks brazenly, and assembles his dishes in a frenzied manner that proves he’s the chef to beat. And that is the heartbeat of his competition show Beat Bobby Flay. The premise of the series is simple: a visiting chef takes Flay on, using ingredients chosen by the latter. Judges sample the dishes and decide the winner. Flay, to be fair, is no slouch. This Iron Chef has more than proven his muscle in the kitchen. And while the pace of the series can be thrilling to watch, too often Flay’s tough-guy bravado ruins the experience for this channel surfer. Still, hats off to the man who has devoted his life to turning food into art—despite the ever-growing chip on his shoulder.

Karen E. Laine and Mina Starsiak are the mother-daughter hosts of the HGTV series Good Bones. 8 ❘

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CHURCH IN THE NEWS

❘ BY SUSAN HINES-BRIGGER

Bishops React to Health-Care Bill

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CNS PHOTO/SEAN GALLAGHER, THE CRITERION

After the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office announced that, according to its analysis of the Senate health-care bill, 22 million more people would be left without insurance, the chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development said those facts are “unacceptable,” reported Catholic News Service (CNS). Saying that “the moment cannot pass without comment,” Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, reiterated that the bishops have consistently said “the loss of affordable access for millions of people is simply unacceptable. These are real families who need and deserve health care.” On June 22, the Senate released its health-care reform bill—called the Better Care Reconciliation Act—in discussion draft form. The same day, Bishop Dewane issued a statement saying that the Senate version contains “many of the fundamental defects” that appeared in the Housepassed American Health Care Act “and even further compounds them.” One of the aspects of the bill that Bishop Dewane addressed specifically was the per capita cap on Medicaid funding. Under the Better Care Reconciliation Act, Medicaid funding would no longer be an entitlement but have its own budget line item. The effect, the bishop said, “would provide even less to those in need than the House bill. These changes will wreak havoc on low-income families and struggling communities, and must not be supported.” The bishop did, however, say the bill partially succeeds on conscience rights by “fully applying the longstanding and widely supported Hyde

Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, speaks June 15 during the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual spring assembly in Indianapolis. Amendment protections. Full Hyde protections are essential and must be included in the final bill.”

Report on Church Abuse Allegations Shows Work Still Needed Even though much progress has been made, Church leaders must not assume that “sexual abuse of minors by the clergy is a thing of the past and a distant memory,” according to introductory remarks in the 2017 annual report on diocesan compliance with the US Catholic Church’s Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The 14th annual report is based on audits conducted between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016. It shows that 1,232 survivors of child sexual abuse by clergy came forward during that time, with 1,318 clerical abuse allegations in 132 Catholic dioceses

and eparchies. The allegations represent reports of abuse that occurred from the 1940s to the present. The report also shows an increase of 730 allegations from the previous year’s report. The findings reveal that most of the increase in allegations this year comes from the six dioceses in Minnesota because, in 2013, the state opened its civil statute of limitations for such claims until May 2016. The move gave victims over age 24 a three-year window to sue for past abuse. These six dioceses reported 351 more allegations than they did in the 2015 audit year. In an introductory letter to the audit, Deacon Bernie Nojadera, executive director of the US bishops’ Secretariat for Child and Youth Protection, said he is grateful that allegations are being reported and “alleged victims are being treated with sensitivity and care” and that alleged offenders are offered treatSt . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

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

CNS PHOTO/ARCHDIOCESE OF OKLAHOMA CITY ARCHIVES

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma has released a threeminute trailer for the upcoming documentary The Shepherd Cannot Run: Father Rother’s Story. Father Stanley Rother, a US priest who worked in Guatemala for 14 years until he was brutally murdered in 1981, will be beatified in Oklahoma City on September 23. The documentary will be shown prior to the beatification Mass. According to its 2016 annual report, the Institute for the Works of Religion, often referred to as the Vatican Bank, showed a profit of 36 million euros (about $40 million). The institute held assets worth 5.7 billion euros at year’s end, which included deposits and investments from close to 15,000 clients—mostly Catholic religious orders around the world, Vatican offices and employees, and Catholic clergy. According to a statement from the

bank, all of the profits will be turned over to the Holy See. Italian police announced on June 15 that they had recovered the stolen relic containing part of St. John Bosco’s brain. The relic was found intact in the home of a 42-yearold Italian man identified only by the initials C.G. Police said they believe the man “erroneously” stole the relic because he believed the reliquary holding the relic was worth a lot of money. During their annual spring meeting, the US bishops approved revisions to the 1995 “Guidelines for the Celebration of Sacraments with Persons with Disabilities” by a vote of 180–1. The guidelines were developed as a tool to improve access to the sacraments by persons with disabilities and reduce inconsistencies in pastoral practice. The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis will visit Chile and Peru next January. It will be the pope’s fourth trip to South America since his election, following his trip in September to Colombia. For more Catholic news, visit FranciscanMedia.org/ catholic-news.

CNS PHOTO/SEAN GALLAGHER, THE CRITERION

Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory delivers the homily during Mass June 14 at Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis during the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual spring assembly.

Fr ancisca n Media .org

CNS PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SALESIANS AND ANDREA CHERCHI

In preparation for the 2018 Synod of Bishops on youth, on June 14 the Vatican released an online questionnaire to better understand the lives, attitudes, and concerns of 16- to 29-year-olds around the world. The questionnaire is available on the synod’s official site: youth.synod2018.va/content/synod2018/it.html. It is open to any young person, regardless of faith or religious belief.

ment and supervision. “But much work is still needed,” he pointed out. The annual audits are conducted by StoneBridge Business Partners, based in Rochester, New York. The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, based at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, then gathers data for the report. At their spring meeting, the US bishops celebrated a liturgy in response to a call from Pope Francis for episcopal conferences around the world to observe a day of prayer and penance for survivors of sexual abuse within the Church. During his homily, Archbishop Au gu s t 2 0 1 7 ❘ 1 1

Pence Speaks at National Catholic Prayer Breakfast

Pope, Rabbi Skorka Featured in Interfaith Video Longtime friends Pope Francis and Rabbi Abraham Skorka appear in a video montage and in their own video as part of the “Make Friends” initiative coordinated by the Elijah Interfaith Institute. The institute said that “friendship and getting to know one another are the antidotes to negativity and divisions in society, enhancing understanding and unity.” In their video, Pope Francis and Rabbi Skorka, who was featured in the February 2017 issue of St. Anthony Messenger, talk about how their own religious convictions led them into conversations with each other, and how those conversations not only increased their understanding of God and formed the basis of a television series and book, but also led to true friendship. The video series also includes Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran leaders, Jewish rabbis, Sunni and Shiite Muslim clerics, Buddhist monks and nuns, and Hindu and Sikh leaders.

ble mark on the American spirit,” the vice president said. He recalled growing up in a Catholic family, saying that he was honored to speak at

CNS PHOTO/BOB ROLLER

On June 6, Vice President Mike Pence addressed the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, telling those in attendance that “American Catholics have an ally in President Donald Trump,” according to CNS. “Catholicism has made an indeli-

COURTESY OF THE ELIJAH INTERFAITH INSTITUTE

Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta told the 200 bishops in attendance that “we can never say that we are sorry enough for the share that we have had in this tragedy of broken fidelity and trust” in the clergy sexual-abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. Bishop Gregory was president of the bishops’ conference in 2002 when they passed the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, in response to the clergy sex-abuse crisis. “At this Mass,” said Archbishop Gregory, “we bishops humbly and sincerely ask for the forgiveness of those who have been harmed, scandalized, or dispirited by events that, even if they happened many years ago, remain ongoing sources of anguish for them and for those who love them.” At the end of the Mass, the bishops, in a sign of penance, knelt while praying a prayer of healing and forgiveness for the victims of sexual abuse in the Church.

At the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on June 6 in Washington, DC, US Vice President Mike Pence said, “Catholicism has made an indellible mark on the American spirit.” 1 2 ❘ Augus t 201 7

the breakfast and that his mother would be proud. “This honestly feels like coming home to me,” Pence, who is an evangelical, said. Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, head of the US Archdiocese for the Military Services, served as the keynote speaker at the event. In his address, the archbishop called for Catholics to return to lives of virtue, both acting rightly and giving of themselves to others. He and Pence were also joined by special guest Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart, founder of the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth. The National Catholic Prayer Breakfast began in 2004 as a response to St. John Paul II’s call to new evangelization for all Catholics. At the event, participants pray for the country and hear from religious and political leaders. A St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

PHOTO BY EUGENE PLAISTED, OSC

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

The

Martha and Mary

Balance We are called to serve God and neighbor. Scripture guides us to accomplish both. B Y M A R K P. S H E A

OTS OF ORDINARY Catholics feel guilty stepping out of the rat race to pray. They often feel as though seeking the peace and guidance of God in prayer is somehow selfindulgent. That struggle is well illustrated by a difficult Gospel story about two sisters from Bethany: “As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary [who] sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.’ The Lord said to her in reply, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her’” (Lk 10:38–42). This story is fraught with a tension that Christians have struggled with for 2,000 years: the relationship of faith and works.

The Conflict You and I battle with a weakened will, a darkened intellect, and disordered appetites that afflict us in various ways due to the effects of original sin. It’s what Paul lamented when he said, “What I do, I do not understand. For I Fr anciscanMedia.org

do not do what I want, but I do what I hate” (Rom 7:15). It’s a lament heard in a million confessionals, a million Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and a million marriage counseling sessions. We are fallen and we have a hard time keeping our balance—and that includes the balance between prayer and works. The devil loves our dilemma and enjoys tormenting us with the anxiety that we have to choose between prayer and works. He loves to whisper accusations that, whatever we are doing, we should do the opposite. In contrast, the Catholic faith proposes to us the liberating truth that faith and works are two blades on one pair of scissors. It’s in our blood—literally. For, of course, the heart and soul of a eucharistic faith like ours is that Christ is both God and man, and that prayer becomes incarnate in works of love just as the word became flesh. As Pope Francis puts it with simple elegance: “You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. That’s how prayer works.” One of the reasons we get confused about the relationship between prayer and works is that there are many voices in our culture trying to pit these two against each other. For instance, many Catholics in our media-saturated culture get knocked off balance by the idea of eternal assurance of salvation. There are certain passages in Scripture that get torqued by bad teachers into the notion that nothing one Augus t 2017 ❘

Don’t feel guilty about spending quiet, contemplative time in prayer. God calls us into a relationship with him, creating a foundation for loving and serving others.

does can affect salvation: if you accept Jesus as savior, you are supposedly guaranteed heaven no matter what. As proof, some point to St. John, who said, “I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God” (1 Jn 5:13). But, of course, John immediately follows this with, “If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly” (1 Jn 5:16–17). In short, we must remain in Jesus to be saved, and that means we have to obey him: “Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned” (Jn 15:6).

A Call to Act While grace is certainly necessary for our salvation, our response to that grace is a crucial part of the story. The full-orbed Catholic faith has always followed Scripture in insisting that we are saved by God the Father through God 16 ❘

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the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit who gives us grace, which we receive by faith and live out in concrete acts of love. Leave out any piece, and you are hearing something less than the fullness of the faith Jesus handed to us. Indeed, Jesus’ preaching, again and again, bangs away at the fact that, as James puts it, “For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” (Jas 2:26). Jesus emphasizes this connection between faith and action when he declares, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:40). Additionally, when Jesus tells the parable of the good Samaritan, the conclusion is “Go and do likewise.” His focus on the spiritual life portrays no interest in otherworldly navelgazing, but rather a deep interest in doing the practical work shown by Martha of Bethany: feeding hungry people, wiping runny noses, taking care of sick people, loving people in simple acts of service. For Jesus, if you aren’t doing what the Father says, then you don’t believe what he says, and no amount of God talk or good thoughts will fix that. That’s the point of this parable: “‘What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, “Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.” He said in reply, “I will not,” but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, “Yes, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did his father’s will?’ They answered, ‘The first’” (Mt 21:28–31). This emphasis on deeds over mere words has birthed a Church full of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, global missionary enterprises, works of art, civilization, government, science, medicine, education, culture, and other wonders that have changed the world. The Church teems with Marthas doing good works and the world is richer and more beautiful for it. The Word is still made flesh through such servants every day.

A Call to Love And yet Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus and apparently doing nothing, “has chosen the better part,” says Jesus to Martha. What can it mean? I think the key is found in one of the more shocking passages of Matthew, where Jesus warns: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

An Invitation to Holy Leisure There is, of course, a flip side to all this. Some people are tempted, not to frantic works, but to slothful spirituality and the temptation to ignore our duty to put faith into action. The Pharisees were past masters of this: “He [Jesus] went on to say, ‘How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, “Honor your father and your mother,” and, “WhoFr anciscanMedia.org

‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then will I declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers’” (Mt 7:21–23). This passage used to baffle me. What’s wrong with prophesying? Paul praises it in 1 Corinthians 12. What’s wrong with casting out demons? Jesus himself told his disciples to do it! What’s wrong with doing mighty works in the name of Jesus? Jesus himself said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father” (Jn 14:12). So what gives? I think Paul nails it when he tells the Corinthians: “If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor 13:1–3). What Mary of Bethany and Paul understand is that all action has to proceed from a heart of love for God and neighbor for it to do us any good. It is possible to let busyness, haste, and fear—in a word, anxiety—take over as the driver of our lives. We can lose (or never have) a relationship of love with God and fill the void with “good works” done with no relationship to or interest in God or neighbor. We can forget that good works are meant to be the fruit of God’s loving grace in our lives and frantically do good things out of the fear that we have to appease an angry, impatient God who itches to condemn us if we don’t produce. And so Jesus commends Mary and the life of contemplative prayer—because a loving relationship with God is the root from which all fruit ultimately grows.

ever curses father or mother shall die.” Yet you say, “If a person says to father or mother, ‘Any support you might have had from me is qorban’” (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things’” (Mk 7:9– 13). Likewise, we can become too preoccupied with prayer or spirituality to love our neighbor. We can pit prayer against living the fruits of prayer. This can be cloaked, paradoxically, in

At times, you may feel like a worker bee, tackling home, family, job, and volunteer responsibilities. God encourages us to step back and connect with him in prayer.

So that his work might continue... Please remember

FRANCISCAN MEDIA in your estate plans

Our legal title is: Franciscan Media LLC 28 W. Liberty Street ■ Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498 For more information, call: 1-800-488-0488 Augus t 2017 ❘

When we develop a rich, loving relationship with God through prayer, we can channel that grace into simple acts of service, filled with the joy and love of the Lord.

an “I’m Mary, not Martha” shtick. Let others take care of the dirty work of political action or wiping children’s bottoms or interacting with the poor. I’m a prayer warrior. But with us nose-to-the-grindstone moderns, the greater danger is to be so filled with a whiffling busyness that there is no nook or cranny left for relationship with God. We are not a people in grave danger of spending too much time in contemplative prayer or its companion, the study of holy Scripture. Far more, we are filled with activities—including religious activities—that run us off our feet (followed by television and bed). Somehow, we never get around to making space in our lives to ANSWERS TO PETE AND REPEAT simply sit at Jesus’ feet, speak our hearts to God, and then 1. Pete has gotten a sunburn on his shoulders. listen to him in Scripture or 2. Scruffy has joined Pete and Sis by the pool. the liturgy or adoration. 3. The tree has more foliage. That’s all Mary did: sit at 4. A beach ball is floating in the pool. Jesus’ feet and listen. That is 5. The back of Sis’ swimsuit is lower. the posture of a disciple. And 6. The corner of the pool has a seam. it was a revolutionary thing for 7. The hill behind Pete is lower. a woman to do in Jesus’ day. 8. Sis has moved her arm. For no small part of the shock of it (as Martha certainly noticed) was the announce-

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ment that those people who were expected to be worker bees while the menfolk were busy doing spiritual things could step out of the rat race, speak and listen to God, and that God was not only cool with that, but would step to their defense when somebody demanded they get back to the drudge work. That charter of freedom is still true today. The challenge is that we ourselves can often forge our own chains by a self-imposed workaholism that leaves us no space for holy leisure. Mary was, to the culture of that time, goofing off. That’s why Martha was so upset. But in fact, holy leisure is the sacred space in time where we can go and meet God. It’s a space— and a freedom—God wants you to have. So go ahead: seek first his kingdom and his righteousness in prayerful holy leisure like Mary. All the Martha work will still be there when you are done. Only now you will have the grace and guidance to do it. A Mark P. Shea is a popular writer and speaker. He is coauthor of the best seller A Guide to the Passion: 100 Questions about the Passion of the Christ. He is also a regular guest on Catholic radio and writes for the blog Catholic and Enjoying It! at Patheos.com. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

EDITORIAL

Inconvenient Truths The planet is a gift from God. It is our duty to take care of it. There is a line in the encyclical “Laudato Si’” that is as bold as the man who wrote it: “A spirituality which forgets God as allpowerful and Creator is not acceptable. That is how we end up worshiping earthly powers, or ourselves usurping the place of God, even to the point of claiming an unlimited right to trample his creation underfoot.” When Pope Francis gave President Donald Trump a copy of his encyclical at the close of their May 24 meeting at the Vatican, it wasn’t so much a parting gift as a handbook on how to care for the planet. But the president was unmoved. Eight days later, he pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement. Our international standing took a hit, but that is secondary to our country’s worsening carbon footprint.

Au Revoir The Paris Agreement, a product of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, was a collective promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The agreement put the 196 participating nations on the same path forward to offsetting environmental damages. Per the specifications of the agreement, each country would regulate and report on its own efforts to allay global warming. Calling the agreement “draconian,” Trump promised to broker a better deal for the United States. “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” the president said of his decision. Supporters praised his followthrough on a campaign promise, while detractors bemoaned such “short-sighted” vision. Pope Francis took to Twitter over the announcement on June 5: “We must never forget that the natural environment is a collective good, the patrimony of all humanity and the responsibility of everyone.” The pope’s tweet is fair and founded. According to NASA, carbon dioxide levels Fr ancisca n Media .org

are at their highest in 675,000 years. They also report that 16 of the 17 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001. Arctic ice is shrinking and polar ice is losing mass. Sea levels continue to rise. Derailing our commitment to healing our common home isn’t merely unwise. It’s unchristian.

What Would Francis and Francis Do? If St. Francis were alive today, he would surely promote an environmental agenda. In vegan footwear, biking from town to town, he’d preach the holiness of the planet and the creatures who fill it, perhaps tweeting lines from his “Canticle of the Creatures.” He’d be an advocate of organizations such as the Catholic Climate Covenant (Catholic ClimateCovenant.org), which offers a trove of data and ideas for Catholics to pray on and consider. Pope Francis, who references his namesake 15 times in “Laudato Si’,” knows that the world’s poorest have the most to lose when environmental efforts slow down or stop altogether. “[St. Francis] was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace,” he writes. Trained in science, the pope understands the delicate interconnectedness of our planet and those who share in its riches. Since his papacy began, he has preached with passion and with purpose that environmental pollutants can stunt growth, slow brain development, even cause death. He warns that ongoing acidification of soil and water toxify our bodies; that rising carbon levels harm wildlife and agricultural resources. We are violating the very home God gave us. The planet isn’t infinite. It has a lifespan—as we do. And that, Mr. President, is not fake news.—C.H. Au gu s t 2 0 1 7 ❘ 1 9

SIX REPLICAS OF

St. Francis’

Little Chapel You don’t need a passport to see these US versions of the Portiuncula. BY JOSEPH D. KUBAL AND MARIA TRASKA

N AUGUST 2, Franciscans everywhere celebrate the feast of the Portiuncula. The Portiuncula Chapel outside Assisi, Italy, is one of three churches and chapels that the young St. Francis rebuilt before he founded the Franciscan order. (Portiuncula translates to “little portion” in English.) The chapel was located on a small parcel of land belonging to the Benedictine monks of Subasio. In the past 120 years, six replicas of the famous chapel have been built in the United States. Spiritual seekers in America can visit these sites without leaving the country.

After restoring what became known as the Portiuncula Chapel, Francis built a hut next to it and lived there in solitude, doing charitable works. He was soon joined by others. In 1211, he was given the chapel and its small plot of land by the abbot of the Benedictine abbey that owned it, on the condition that Francis make it his order’s motherhouse. In time, the huts gave way to permanent, if still modest, buildings. In 1216, Pope Honorius III created the “Pardon of Assisi” (or “Portiuncula Pardon”), a now-famous plenary indulgence. Legend has it that Francis requested that a special indulgence be given to anyone who made a pilgrimage to the Portiuncula Chapel in connection with peacemaking and immediate reconciliation; however, there is no documentation to support this.

How It Began St. Francis was born Giovanni di Pietro Bernardone, the son of a well-to-do family from Assisi. As a young man, Francis renounced his wealthy heritage after a pilgrimage to Rome and chose to live a life of simplicity and poverty as a friar. During Francis’ return trip from Rome, in a ruined chapel he had a vision of Christ, instructing him to restore the church. Francis spent the next two to three years restoring three ruined churches in the area. One of these was the little chapel about 2.5 miles outside Assisi, known as St. Mary of the Angels, which stood abandoned in a grove of oak trees. 20 ❘

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The Original ‘Little Portion’

According to local lore, the chapel was erected in the fourth century by hermits from the Valley of Josaphat. However, the earliest written reference to the chapel dates only to 1045. The original chapel, which has room for about 30 people (seated or standing), was at least two centuries old and in disrepair when St. Francis restored it in 1209. Several of the chapel’s rough, square stones, taken from Mount Subasio, were reportedly installed by St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

COURTESY OF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE, SERAPHIC PROVINCE OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI OF FRIARS MINOR DELL UMBRIA

Francis himself. The sandstone chapel features a round-arch doorway with walnut-inlaid doors and wrought-iron work; it now has numerous exterior and interior frescoes. The small, ornate cupola of an unknown date encloses a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary nursing the baby Jesus. Over time, there were alterations to the chapel long after St. Francis had restored it, particularly with respect to the three windows and pointed barrel-vault ceiling. The front façade of the chapel has an 1829 painting by Johann Friedrich Overbeck titled St. Francis Receiving the Pardon of Assisi; clearly, there was some creative license involved. This Fr anciscanMedia.org

artwork replaced earlier frescoes, some of which might have existed during Francis’ time. The simple interior contains a magnificent six-part fresco painted by the priest Ilario da Viterbo in 1393. On the outside rear façade is the fresco Crucifixion, painted above the back exit around 1485 by the artist Perugino. In 1569, at the request of Pope Pius V, construction began on the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels to house both the Portiuncula and the Transitus Chapel next door—built on the site where St. Francis died in his cell. The following six reproductions of the Portiuncula span the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Francis heard the Lord’s call to “rebuild my church” and began here, at the original Portiuncula outside Assisi. Others have used this design as the prototype for their own replicas.

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COURTESY OF MAYSLAKE PEABODY ESTATE, FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT OF DUPAGE COUNTY

Mayslake Peabody Estate Oak Brook, Illinois

The Mayslake Peabody Estate is owned and operated as a cultural center and public event venue by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, Illinois. The 39-room mansion was built for Francis Stuyvesant Peabody, founder of Peabody & Company, which became Peabody Coal Company and later, in other hands, today’s multinational Peabody Energy. So how did a replica of a famous Catholic shrine come to be built on the estate of an

Episcopalian capitalist? Blame matters of the heart: Peabody’s son and heir, Stuyvesant “Jack” Peabody, married a wealthy Catholic socialite, Anita Healy, and converted to Catholicism. In time, Jack became a prominent donor to and fund-raiser for several Catholic causes. After his father’s death, the Mayslake property was sold to the Sacred Heart Province of Franciscans (OFM), who converted it to the St. Francis Retreat House, where 250,000 people took retreats over the years. According to Mollie Fullerton, heritage interpreter at Mayslake, Jack and his widowed stepmother commissioned the Mayslake Franciscans to erect a copy of the Assisi chapel, to honor the elder Peabody’s memory. Dedicated in 1926, the Mayslake chapel is mostly an authentic replica, but there are some differences. Whereas the façade has a colorful stone mosaic of Overbeck’s fresco, there is no fresco or mosaic of the Perugino work on the back wall, and the interior is entirely without decoration. The chapel was saved from the wrecking ball when the forest preserve district purchased Mayslake in 1992, after the Franciscans had vacated the property. Today, the chapel is available for weddings and seats 62 people. It is the only copy of the original Portiuncula Chapel located on a completely secular property.

Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America Washington, DC

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COURTESY OF PUBLICIST SUSAN GIBBS, FRANCISCAN MONASTERY OF THE HOLY LAND IN AMERICA

This 1899 monastery and pilgrimage site is the US home of the Holy Land friars. The Mount St. Sepulchre Franciscan Monastery was designated a National Historic Site in 1991. An early friar of our own St. John the Baptist province realized that many Americans couldn’t afford a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, so he decided to create replicas of important religious sites within the monastery’s gardens, including a facsimile of the Assisi Portiuncula Chapel. The idea probably came from Father Godfrey Schilling, OFM, founder of the monastery. Monastery publicist Susan Gibbs says this replica “is life-size, [has] narrower stones than the original, [a] red tile roof, but no artwork and a simpler bell tower.” Furthermore, “[t]he interior has plain white walls, simple movable wood pews, [a] white marble altar, and simple cross.” Daily Mass is still celebrated there.

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St. Francis Friary and Retreat House Burlington, Wisconsin simpler altar in Assisi. The Burlington chapel’s interior has a framed stone taken from the Assisi chapel. There is also a copy of the San Damiano cross executed in mosaic. The chapel, which is available for prayer and meditation, seats about 25 people and is in need of some repair, according to Father Kim Studwell, of the Burlington friary.

COURTESY OF ARCHIVIST BR. JUDE LUSTYK, OFM, ST. FRANCIS FRIARY AND RETREAT HOUSE

The Friars of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Province purchased an extensive property in the rural hills northeast of Burlington, Wisconsin, and moved there in 1932. At different times, the large friary they built there has served as a provincial house, a seminary, a philosophy house, and a retreat center. It currently houses 16 friars, including novices, and has an attached chapel. The grounds include a well-landscaped pilgrims’ walk, which features several reproductions of or monuments to important religious sites. One of these freestanding structures is the Portiuncula replica. Built in 1939 and 1940 of rusticated stone from a neighboring farm, this Portiuncula reproduction is only partially authentic. Like the Mayslake copy, this chapel has a stone mosaic of the Overbeck painting on the front façade. Instead of a Gothic cupola centered on the roof, however, there is a small bell tower at the front of the roof; and in place of a statue of the Blessed Virgin with child in the belfry, two life-sized statues flank the entrance—St. Anthony of Padua and St. Francis. The interior holds an altar with a statue of St. Francis in repose beneath it; this altar sits in a semicircular niche on a raised, tilecovered platform, completely unlike the much

Cardinal Cushing Centers Hanover, Massachusetts

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for each year that Jesus lived. Finally, a statue of St. Francis sits on the roof. The Hanover chapel was dedicated in 1953. Cardinal Cushing passed away in 1970 and was interred there, as he had intended.

COURTESY OF CARDINAL CUSHING CENTERS

The idea for the fourth replica came from Cardinal Richard Cushing, archbishop of Boston. The Cushing Centers provide a range of educational, social, and community programs serving the surrounding area. Built on a rise overlooking the Hanover campus, the chapel was intended to be the cardinal’s mausoleum. He made a point of ensuring that every stone, every fresco, and every other part of his chapel came from Assisi. The chief builder, Frank Tarzia, went to quarries near Assisi to obtain stone slabs that were then cut, matched for color, and numbered, so the replica could be as close as possible to the original. However, once the chapel was completed, the differences were obvious. The interior was redesigned to function more as a crypt than a place for daily services or contemplation. Another departure: this chapel’s steeple is more Romanesque than Gothic in style. Also, leading up to the entrance are 33 exterior steps, one

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Franciscan University of Steubenville Steubenville, Ohio ernacle, a monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament, and 20 seats and kneelers. Today, the Steubenville chapel is a solemn place for perpetual adoration, prayer, and reflection, with Mass offered daily.

COURTESY OF FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY OF STEUBENVILLE

The university, about 40 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was established in 1946 by the Third Order Regular Franciscans. Plans for the university’s Portiuncula replica were inspired by a 1985 pilgrimage to Assisi made by Father Sam Tiesi, TOR. With funds donated by the public and labor provided by skilled local stonemasons, it was completed in 1987. “[W]e did not attempt to build a perfect reproduction of the Portiuncula as it exists in Assisi, Italy [today]. The church in Italy has been rebuilt, renovated, and changed many times since the time of St. Francis. Rather, our desire was to have our Portiuncula somewhat similar to the way it might have been when Francis finished rebuilding it in 1209,” Father Tiesi wrote in the introduction of a prayer book named for the chapel. This version lacks the exterior frescoes, and the interior is simpler. Inside are a single tab-

COURTESY OF ANGELA M. ALIOTO, ESQ., NATIONAL SHRINE OF ST. FRANCIS

National Shrine of St. Francis San Francisco, California

What could be more appropriate than a facsimile of the Portiuncula Chapel at the National Shrine of St. Francis, built in the city named for him? Spanish Franciscans such as the recently canonized Father Junípero Serra, who established a long line of missions up and down the California coast, had a heavy influence on the early history of California. One such mission was established in the Bay Area during the 1849 gold rush; that San Francisco neighborhood is now known as the Mission District. 24 ❘

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The old Italian neighborhood of North Beach is the home of the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi. The Nuova Porziuncola (New Portiuncula) is a 78-percent scale model built in 2008. Despite its slightly smaller size, the replica is highly accurate in detail, right down to reproductions of the Overbeck and Perugino frescoes. Like the original, this one is housed within a larger structure, a repurposed parish gymnasium. The interior of the replica is likewise identical to the original, except for the altar. This facsimile should be considered of prime importance as a holy site in its own right, according to the Knights of St. Francis website, which notes: “On August 2, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI’s papal decree gave to the Nuova Porziuncola its own ‘Pardon of San Francisco,’ an expanded version of the Pardon of Assisi.” The papal decree also made the Nuova Porziuncola the fifth official Holy Place in the world and the first in the United States. In 2010, the national shrine was placed under the care of the Capuchin Franciscan friars of the Western American Province. A Joseph D. Kubal is a Naperville, Illinois-based geographer, data analyst, and historian. His former colleague, the late Maria Traska, a Chicago-based journalist, author, historian, and blogger, provided valuable assistance. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

AT HOME ON EARTH

❘ BY KYLE KRAMER

Time for Serious Outdoor Fun

Suddenly, I’m having a blast revisiting my own childhood, as we paddle around in our canoe or explore the woods on foot or by mountain bike. Our camping is still mostly in the backyard and our campfires are modestly sized, Get Going! but we’re working on it. I still think it’s vitally You don’t need to buy a lot important for people to of expensive gear to enjoy engage the natural world in the outdoors. Start with a economically useful ways, sturdy pair of hiking shoes! however possible: for exam-

Getting out and enjoying nature is a wonderful reminder of our need to protect it.

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

Fr ancisca n Media .org

ple, by gardening, gathering Don’t put off enjoying firewood, or foraging for edinature until a special trip. ble wild plants. Doing so You can have plenty of fun reminds us that every mateat your local city and state rial thing in our lives—from parks. our food to our phones—ultimately comes from the Earth, Take your lead from Pope which we need to steward Francis, who has this well. to say about getting out Encouraged by my kids, in nature: “We were not however, I’m also coming to meant to be inundated by rediscover the value of just cement, asphalt, glass, and plain having fun out in metal, and deprived of nature. We’ve proven that, as physical contact with a species, we generally fail to nature” (“Laudato Si’”). care for our planet even when it is clearly in our economic self-interest to do so. Practical concern will fail unless it is rooted in deep affection; we will take care of creation if we feel connected to it as God’s beautiful, complex, evolving, and sacred work of art. That feeling won’t come about by reading theological tractates or magazine columns, though. It will happen only if we’re out in nature regularly, enjoying it, and learning to love it. The challenges we face in caring for creation are so serious that the best solution is— surprise!—to start having fun. A

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was blessed with a mostly screenless, analog childhood filled with camping, canoeing, hiking, biking, and building inferno-sized campfires as a Boy Scout. Most of those outdoor hobbies lasted well into my 20s, until, ironically, I became an organic farmer. For 15 years, I was too busy—and too serious—tending fields, gardens, and woodlots to spend any time on such frivolities. Truth be known, I would even find myself judging people who spent leisure time enjoying nature as the scenery for their recreation, but who did nothing to engage it productively or even lead an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Fortunately, my life circumstances changed and brought me out of that rut. First, I took a new job in a different city. My family and I sold our farm and moved to a smaller rural property that requires much less grinding work. Then our kids started asking me to do with them all the wonderful outdoor activities I had done when I was their age.

Ibrahim Alsabagh, OFM, stands before the rubble of a bombed apartment building near his parish. Fifteen families were dislocated. They ask, â&#x20AC;&#x153;How long, Father, will we be put to death, one by one?â&#x20AC;?

‘Here I Am’

A Franciscan in Syria He’s pastor of St. Francis Parish in war-besieged Aleppo. Here is an excerpt from his gripping daily journal. B Y FAT H E R I B R A H I M A L S A B A G H , O F M

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF CUSTOS OF THE HOLY LAND

always wanted to study, from a young age and as a friar, but the Lord, through obedience and necessity, has brought me far from my studies. After having finished a licentiate degree in dogmatic theology in Rome, I registered for doctoral studies. My superiors said that I was greatly needed in the Custody, particularly in Syria (where 12 other friars minister). In prayer and silence, I then made two requests of the Lord: to send me to a difficult place to do what I can and not allow me to see needs that I cannot meet. In 2014, my superiors proposed to send me to Aleppo, a devastated city whose people had suffered greatly. I had been prepared to continue my studies in Italy, but the Lord’s will was not what I had thought. During my reflections and meditations before the Blessed Sacrament, I saw something completely different: the heart of the Good Shepherd was turned toward his sheep. Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, then guardian of the friars in the Holy Land, asked if I was available. From my mouth came out the same reply I gave to the Lord many years ago, when I was 19 years old: “Here I am.”

The Daily Drama Electricity arrives for half an hour a day. Recently we were without water for nine days in a row. On the fourth day, we turned on the big electric generator to pump water from our well and to open the doors to people. They immediately came to draw water to take home. Fr anciscanMedia.org

Lacking water means that they cannot even eat. It makes an impression to see the elderly who have no one, and sometimes children, bringing empty and heavy containers, often along with young women and men, all lined up for a few liters of water. The worst thing of all, however, is the bombs falling on homes. We are 150 meters away from an armed militia. Around our church, many bombs have fallen, almost as if militia members were aiming at us—and indeed it is so. In addition to those living in the houses, they kill young people, children, and others walking along the street. There is a huge wave of suffering, despair, and bitterness because of all this death. In response, for a short time people run away, all trying to avoid this area; they go to other churches in different areas—even if those areas are not always safe—until this wave of sadness passes. Then, slowly, normal life returns. This is what happened recently when a cylinder bomb fell very close to our church: it broke all our church’s upper windows, which fell upon the faithful during the evening Mass. A young person and a man, both Christians, died; they were buying things in a nearby store. There was the pain of the funeral, many people crying, the presence of all the clergy of Aleppo. With the passing of days, the fear subsides, and the people try again to live normally. Several parishioners have addressed existential questions to me: “How long, Father, will we be put to death, one by one? How Augus t 2017 ❘

(Above left) Solidarity takes many forms. Here Father Ibrahim prays with a family awaiting to hear the fate of two sons, lost beneath the rubble of an attack on Aleppo’s Christian Quarter. (Above right) When St. Vincent Retirement Home was hit by a missile, the seniors were devastated. They found refuge in the Franciscans’ Holy Land Center.

much longer can we remain here? Can’t you send them all away? Can’t you do something for us beyond what you have already done?”

The Importance of Presence As a pastor, I am smoothing the way for Jesus to lead this mission. I act with compassion in my heart and allow that compassion to guide me. Perhaps the strongest sign that people perceive and love is that they know the parish priest, the friar, is ready to give even his life for them. Our people feel that this love is true: it is not merely words. They feel through gestures and deeds that the only safety is to stand close together, go to church to pray, and follow what we tell them through the word of God.

The Experience of Self-Giving I thought a lot about why the Lord wanted me here in Syria, about what this experience means for my spiritual path as a friar and a priest. By meditating, I have realized that God wants to give a pastoral shape to my ministerial life, allowing me to enter deeply into the pastoral life of these people. God wants me to experience this gift of the suffering sheep, that I have an extended experience with the suf28 ❘

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fering of God’s people in Syria. So I turn myself to God’s providence. Although some had told me that going back to Syria would be too dangerous, that I should decline and finish school, I replied that I did not have the strength to refuse a request that, in my heart, I felt very strongly and deeply about. The strength of the Holy Spirit has also pushed me to say words that I had not even thought. I have felt a courage and a special sweetness; it is the sweetness of someone who succeeds in experiencing obedience even if he does not understand the reason.

Face of the Suffering Jesus Responding to the needs we face requires immense courage. I think about the experience of the terrible cold that we have lived through this year, or the lack of water we have experienced for four years, periodically and without prior notice. The people remain for a week, sometimes 15 days, without a drop of water in their homes. Thus, we friars have learned how to shower with a single liter of water, or to heat up only a modest amount, or shower with cold water (a terrible experience). This has St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

made me think about how much waste we often generate, in terms of natural resources, electricity, water, and food. Regarding food, we have decided to live as truly poor people and to experience concretely what it means to be hungry, to go without meat or fish, and to eliminate many unnecessary things; we try to live only with the minimum. One day a woman came, almost all her clothes in shreds, and told me she has two hungry young children who have had nothing to eat for days. She feared that the children would go out and steal or do anything to get food. Only when we experience firsthand the hunger does the situation of the people become truly understandable. Perhaps what sustains us in these situations is remembering Jesus’ thirst on the cross; he was said to be thirsty, and see how he still suffers; it is not only thirst but also hunger, cold, and aching. Once we recognize Jesus in these people, it becomes very easy to visit them and console them. I meet the suffering Jesus every day, in every inhabitant of Aleppo. What we have before us is Christ’s Way of the Cross, in which we are all invited to take part; in a special way, we, the brothers and the parish priest, are in the first row with the people here.

A Christian family had a 15-year-old son who died under the rubble because of a missile that hit their house, completely destroying it. The father is now recovering in a clinic, and the mother, who still does not know the loss of her son, is in another clinic. She has a disfigured face and shattered facial bones; she has lost an eye, and it is not certain that she will ever see again. This woman needs to undergo a long series of surgeries. Every day, in homes and hospitals, we hear similar stories. We continually hear of emotional jolts that make us sharers in an intense pain that involves us totally as people. This is part of our ministry, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).

Various Forms of Assistance

Once we recognize Jesus in these people, it becomes very easy to visit them and console them.

We friars coordinate some 18 volunteers who provide various types of assistance. At times, in welcoming people, we face 25 difficult cases in a day. For the most part, they are individuals or whole families who need every type of concrete help. A few days ago, we distributed 140 boxes of good-quality food: a box for each family,

The Choice to Remain Despite all this—together with many Christians who have already left the country, or would like to do so but do not have the means— there is a rooted sense of frustration. I have also met several individuals and families who have decided not to go away because, as they say, this is a holy land, irrigated by the blood of martyrs. Today they are strengthened by the merits of these great martyrs, and it’s up to them, and to us, to give our contribution for the faith of the future. To me this seems the most beautiful reason why many families remain. I have lived in Aleppo since October 2014. I have never experienced, not even for a moment, the temptation to abandon my mission.

Stories of Intense Pain The worst thing, no doubt, is not the house destroyed or damaged, but the fact that different people have lost their children or parents under the rubble. Many injured people are in clinics and hospitals, and it is unknown if they will survive. Fr anciscanMedia.org

Friars in the Holy Land

HIS YEAR marks the 800th anniversary of the presence of Franciscans in the Holy Land. It was St. Francis’ great devotion to the places of the

incarnate Jesus, Mary, and the apostles that drove his desire to touch them and care for these places, a privilege granted by the Muslim state of the time. In the centuries since, friars have cared not only for the places and the visitors who travel there on pilgrimage, but also for those “living stones” of the Holy Land, the communities of faithful that grew around the holy places. Learn more at Custodia.org.

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which can make a bit lighter the weight of their survival. This distribution will continue for all the 624 families of the Latin rite; we are investigating a way to extend this service to 300 Armenian Catholic families, who totally lack food. In fact, we try to help people belonging to other religious faiths. An essential part of our task is in any case the priestly ministry, which consists of confessions and celebrating Masses, even in the afternoon and with daily homilies. We also dedicate ourselves to pastoral visits in homes and in hospitals to meet the sick. For those who are close to death, we administer the Sacra-

ment of Anointing and bring viaticum. Many people contact us for spiritual direction. Sometimes, at the end of a long day, when the Internet works, we answer messages, trying to tell the world something about us; thus, we feel less alone.

Our Relationship with Muslims Many times, in our churches and communities, during the prayer of the faithful, we have prayed for those who bombard us, for those who have killed several of us, and we did this alongside families who have lost loved ones. Not only do we think of ourselves when we

(Right) Friars Ibrahim and Samhar oversee monthly distribution of food packages for more than 3,000 families in the center of the Latin parish. (Below) “Children in Prayer for Peace” is a program during one of the parish’s Masses each month. Doves adorn the pews as Friar Ibrahim talks with young students.

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distribute food parcels, but also of them. We do not follow any other ways because only this is the teaching of Christ.

New Missiles in Our Area On the afternoon of Saturday, January 16, around 4:15 p.m., five rockets were fired on our area, on houses. I was in the parish office with some employees, while in the waiting area several people were wanting to speak with me. All of a sudden, we heard the explosion. The first missile exploded about 150 meters from the church; we held our breath and called on providence. Next, there were other bursts until another missile exploded even closer. Instinctively, we all stood up and started trying to figure out where it had fallen; I telephoned several families close to where we imagined it had happened. After those conversations, we followed the firefighters into the streets. Despite having several times seen the scenario of bombed-out homes, I was immediately struck by a profound bitterness and sadness. We do not get used to so much wickedness: hitting unarmed people in their homes, especially the elderly, children, or young people who are studying in their rooms. I went into every house and prayed with the families amid an intense agitation. There were no deaths, but people were injured, some seriously. Most of all, a huge fear is seen in their eyes. In prayer, in every home, I thanked the Lord that people were not killed.

Listening to the Cry of the Innocent Sometimes I laugh to myself because, as a lover of books and advanced theological studies, I find myself in Aleppo doing the work of a fireman, nurse, caregiver, and, of course, the work of a priest. This is very nice because this is a real experience of consecrated life, but also the laypeople feel called to serve and build up the Church. One day, I stopped a man who was carrying buckets, some of which were very filthy. I offered to carry them, but he did not want to accept my help: “Father, this is likely to dirty your habit.” I answered that our habit is meant to be used in service to others.

Many thousands are dead from the ruthless attacks on Aleppo; others are wounded. Ibrahim’s hospital visits to the wounded are part of his pastoral care of the sick.

I perceive how the Lord uses all this unexplained pain to bestow a greater good, a special grace. This is the grace of conversion and returning to our origins, according to the teaching of St. Francis, who recommended that the friars not possess anything, but rather remain free from everything in order to take care of their mission alone—with the same heart of the Father who awaits his sons. We friars continue to pray and encourage people to have confidence: the Father, tender and merciful, will not allow his people to perish. Because with our bodily eyes we do not see a future, we close them and look instead with the eyes of the heart, the eyes of faith. We fix our gaze not on the towering and threatening waves around us, but on the serene face of Jesus walking on the water, watching us and encouraging us to walk with him, unafraid of sinking. A

I perceive how the Lord uses all this unexplained pain to bestow a greater good, a special grace.

These entries, from some days in 2015, are part of a larger collection of Father Ibrahim’s letters to fellow friars and to Italian newspapers. They are published as a book, in Italian, by Edizioni Terra Sancta (Milan). We are grateful to former Franciscan Media producer and editor Greg Friedman, OFM, now in ministry at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land (MyFranciscan.org), in Washington, DC, for bringing this book to our attention. Pat McCloskey, OFM, oversaw translation.–ed.

A Franciscan Prayer In Aleppo, then, living a true conversion is natural. In this I see the surgery of divine providence—for our journey as Franciscans throughout the Middle East, especially in Syria. Fr anciscanMedia.org

Father Ibrahim Alsabagh, OFM, is a parish priest in Aleppo, Syria. Born in Damascus, he completed his studies in Rome, after which he returned to his homeland to be with his people. Augus t 2017 ❘

Bridging the Generation Gap Pope Francis encourages us to build bonds between young and old. BY CHRISTOPHER M. BELLITTO, PHD

AST DECEMBER, as he marked his 80th birthday, Pope Francis quoted the ancient Roman poet Ovid to say that as old age slips up on us, “It is a blow!” The Holy Father laughed as he celebrated Mass with a group of elderly cardinals. “But also, when one thinks of it as a stage of life that is to give joy, wisdom, hope, one begins to live again, right?” Just two days later, Pope Francis spoke with a group of young people on the other end of the life span and gave them homework. “Speak to your grandparents,” he said. “Ask them questions. They have the memory of history, the experience of living, and this is a great gift for you that will help you in your life journey.” At this moment, and given the staggering changes to the coming population, it is especially important to pay attention to the pope’s focus on respecting our elders’ gifts and making sure our young people can learn from them. Every day until 2030, about 10,000 Americans will turn 65. In a few decades, one in five Americans will be over 65. Across the globe, the over-65 population will double in the lifetime of our children—from 7 percent in 2008 to 14 percent in 2040. Because we’re living longer but having fewer kids, by 2020, all over the world, little ones under the age of 5 will be outnumbered by senior citizens over 65— a disparity that has never occurred before in human history.

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The implications are staggering for many reasons. Economics, politics, and health care come to mind, but what about ministry? Parishes and dioceses spend a lot of time talking about educating our children and bringing our young adults back to church, but are we taking our elders for granted? Do we give them the special attention they deserve?

Papal Lessons on the Value of the Elderly Our recent popes have certainly been paying attention. There was that wonderful paradox of young people crowding St. John Paul II’s Masses, especially at the World Youth Days he established. It seemed that as he got older and more frail, St. John Paul II became even more of a hero to the youth. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

In the next papacy, Pope Benedict XVI told residents at a London home for the elderly: “As advances in medicine and other factors lead to increased longevity, it is important to recognize the presence of growing numbers of older people as a blessing for society. Every generation can learn from the experience and wisdom of the generation that preceded it. Indeed, the provision of care for the elderly should be considered not so much an act of generosity as the repayment of a debt of gratitude.” Just a few months before his surprise resignation, a weary and aging Pope Benedict XVI visited a Roman home for the elderly. In solidarity, he said to them (and reminded the rest of us): “The wisdom of life, of which we are bearers, is a great wealth. The quality of a sociFr anciscanMedia.org

ety, I mean of a civilization, is also judged by how it treats elderly people and by the place it gives them in community life. Those who make room for the elderly make room for life! Those who welcome the elderly welcome life!” Pope Francis has picked up the topic handed off to him by his two papal predecessors, often preaching about bridging the generation gap. Writing about the elderly in “Amoris Laetitia” (191–193), Pope Francis asked us to include our elders in our families and parishes with a sense of gratitude and an awareness that older women and men are “a living part of the community.” He quoted St. John Paul II in identifying the role older men and women play in “the continuity of the generations” by their “charism of bridging the gap.” Francis then bridged that generation gap himself, “Listening

Exploring opportunities to bring generations together is more than an act of charity. It also enables those who have lived a long and full life to share their wisdom and life experiences.

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CNS/JOE RIMKUS JR.

CNS/PAUL HARING

Pope John Paul II, considered a hero to the younger generation, bridges the gap in a very personal way by embracing a young woman during the closing Mass of World Youth Day in Denver in 1993.

Following the example set by his two papal predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, Pope Francis participates in the 2016 World Youth Day at the Field of Mercy in Krakow, Poland, sharing space in the popemobile with young pilgrims.

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to the elderly tell their stories is good for children and young people; it makes them feel connected to the living history of their families, their neighborhoods, and their country.”

Biblical Lessons on the Gifts Age Brings What lessons can we draw from the Bible about our senior citizens and the gifts they give us from their lives of faith? If we read the biblical stories and proverbs about aging well, we quickly learn that old age can be both a blessing and a burden. We find many stories that teach us the virtue of patience as well as the role that humor plays as a good companion who helps us along our faith journey. These stories encourage us to reflect on our experiences and gain wisdom and perspective from them. Let’s take Sarah and Abraham, for example. When they learn that she is pregnant, both 99-year-old Abraham and 90-year-old Sarah

burst out laughing. Abraham is so taken aback that he “fell face down and laughed as he said to himself, ‘Can a child be born to a man who is 100 years old? Can Sarah give birth at 90?’” (Gn 17:17). Sarah overhears three mysterious visitors tell her husband that she will have a son, and she chuckles to herself, “Now that I am worn out and my husband is old, am I still to have sexual pleasure?” (Gn 18:12). There’s a delicious exchange where Sarah, suddenly frightened, denies laughing, to which God replies, “Yes, you did” (Gn 18:15). You can’t fool God. Our older heroes and heroines tell us that since we have a lifelong relationship with God, we can be very candid in expressing not only our gratitude and trust but also our disappointment and even anger with God. Watch Moses boldly bargain with God, for instance. Moses was already about 80 when he encountered God at the burning bush. Even though God is on his side, Moses often seems to be trying to get out of doing things because he’s scared or overwhelmed. When God orders Moses to speak to the pharaoh, Moses questions whether the great king will listen to a nobody like him and if he’s even up to the task, wondering aloud to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Moses tells God that he’s never been eloquent. He pleads, “If you please, my Lord, send someone else!” (Ex 4:13), which is how Aaron, his elder brother by three years, ends up as Moses’ spokesman. As we follow Moses, time and again we find rather unheroic behavior: he complains, St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

Emphasizing the respect due to older generations, Pope Benedict XVI spends time with 91-year-old Enrichetta Vitali at a home for the elderly run by the Sant’ Egidio Community in Rome. CNS/ PAUL HARING

A Quiet Place to Rest We also find a certain contentment and wisdom that come from even difficult experiences and, more importantly perhaps, from reflecting Fr anciscanMedia.org

CNS/ PAUL HARING

whines, pesters, and frets. Moses can come across as weak, fearful, and faithless. He laments that God is being harsh to the Israelites and himself: “Lord, why have you treated this people badly? And why did you send me? . . . You have done nothing to rescue your people” (Ex 5:22–23). But here is also a wise man of bravery, surely born of his decades of experience, who is not afraid to bargain and negotiate with God. Once he sees results, Moses starts telling God what to do: the plagues of frogs and flies did their job, the patriarch informs the Lord, so you can get rid of them now. As time passes, the ever-bolder Moses bargains more with God and even changes the divine mind. Furious that Aaron had made a golden calf and the Israelites had turned away from their deliverer, the Lord wants to punish them. Moses cautions God not to give the Egyptians a chance to say, “See, God wanted to kill them after all.” Or, to put it more bluntly: Moses warns God not to be a liar since God had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to deliver the Promised Land and a long line of descendants. “Turn from your burning wrath,” Moses tells God forcefully and directly. “Change your mind about punishing your people.” God listened: “So the Lord changed his mind about the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people” (Ex 32:12,14).

on how God’s hand was at work—though times were tough in the biblical school of hard knocks. Here we’ll look not at a well-known biblical figure, but an unknown. You may never have heard of Barzillai the Gileadite. In an obscure, short scene in 2 Samuel 19:32–40, we meet Barzillai, a wornout 80-year-old man. The only other place in the Bible where Barzillai appears is in a brief reference when he helps David and his retinue by providing them with food as they flee from Absalom. Years later, he visits David, now king, in Jerusalem. David, mindful of Barzillai’s help all those years ago and respectful of his old age, asks him to stay comfortably in the capital. Barzillai doesn’t even consider the offer, asking in what we imagine to be a bemused, self-aware, reflective tone: “How much longer have I to live, that I should go up to Jerusalem with the king? . . . Please let your servant go back to die in my own city by the tomb of

Pope Francis takes time during his visit to a poverty-stricken neighborhood in Asunción, Paraguay, to speak with an elderly woman. His action illustrates the importance of treating the oldest among us as “a living part of the community.”

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my father and mother.” King David graciously relents, gives Barzillai a kiss of peace, and sends him off. We can learn a lot from this bit player in the epic stories of David. Barzillai just wants a quiet place to rest and to die at home. He doesn’t want to cut any deals with David, except to be left alone. Barzillai enjoys the wise perspective and very clear-eyed selfawareness that experience has brought him. He’s not fooling anyone, least of all himself. Barzillai knows who he is. He offers us his example of perspective and open eyes with no illusions about the end of a long life.

Lessons for the Ministry of Uniting Generations What might we do with these papal directives to honor our elderly and to encourage a good

A strong community recognizes the value of all members. Encouraging shared pastimes and collaborative activities enhances the relationships between generations.

relationship between our younger and older sisters and brothers? How might these and other biblical lessons be our guides? Throughout the Bible, and indeed in many cultures until our own modern times, house-

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holds weren’t small units of parents and children. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins all lived together in multigenerational homes. But now we are more separated from each other, so we should make an effort to bridge and connect the generations. What if seniors do some babysitting while parents go Christmas shopping? How about a shared movie night—parents not allowed? Maybe your parish has an elder with grandkids far away or just the opposite. Pairing needs would help the senior and the young person. Perhaps children preparing for their first Communion and teens getting ready for Confirmation might do oral history interviews in retirement homes or with their own older relatives. The key question for the young person to the elder would be, “How did you live your faith at a moment of growth or challenge?” Using the digital tools that they know better than adults, these young people could be dispatched to record and then discuss their elders’ memories of their introduction to the sacraments. We ask, “Where were you when 9/11 happened?” But do we ask of World War II, Korean, or Vietnam War veterans, “What was it like to receive the Eucharist in a battle zone?” How about connecting a would-be teacher with a classroom retiree? Or a budding nurse with an ER supervisor? The possibilities are endless and can provide our young people with spiritual guidance, professional insight, and practical advice. We ask students to do service projects, which is admirable and indeed indispensable for opening their hearts. But what if they also recorded for history someone who marched in a 1960s civil rights protest? “What was the cost?” they might ask of their elders. “What difference did it make?” In every case, we would be taking some good papal advice and linking it with biblical insights and pastoral sensitivity. We would be giving life to our elders by asking them to share the fruits of what they planted over the years. We would ground our young people in our past and shape them for the future. We would be building bridges. A Christopher M. Bellitto, PhD, is a professor of history at Kean University in Union, New Jersey. His latest book is Ageless Wisdom: Lifetime Lessons from the Bible (Paulist Press). St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

❘ BISHOP FREDERIC BARAGA DRIVING TOUR

TRACY BARRETT OF L’ANSE

CATHOLIC SITES TO EXPLORE

An Upper Peninsula Excursion

enerable Frederic Baraga was a Slovenian priest who emigrated to America to work among the Native American tribes of the Upper Midwest. He came from a well-to-do family and had been trained to be a gentleman, to enjoy all the comforts and cultural sophistication that the Austro-Hungarian Empire offered to the upper classes. He gave all that up, renounced his inheritance, and took up residence in what was still a wilderness. Father Baraga worked first among the Ottawa, then relocated to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to live among the Ojibwe. Winters were terrible, yet when he was called upon to bring the sacraments to any member of his flock, he put on his snowshoes and made his way through subfreezing temperatures and deep snowdrifts. In his old age, he put aside his snowshoes and traveled by dogsled. He suffered from isolation—for years Father Baraga was the only Catholic priest on the southern shore of Lake Superior—and was often dispirited by the vast, empty country that he had taken as his mission field. Yet he would not ask his superiors for

Fr ancisca n Media .org

another assignment, particularly after he was named bishop of Upper Michigan. While attending a Church council in Baltimore, Bishop Baraga suffered a stroke. Even under these circumstances, he insisted on being taken home, rather than remaining in a city where he would have received the finest medical attention and been well cared for in a hospital or a private home. He survived the journey back to the Upper Peninsula, dying in Marquette, Michigan, where you can find his tomb and his shrine. For information about the driving tour, consult the Diocese of Marquette website. A Adapted from 101 Places to Pray Before You Die by Thomas J. Craughwell (Franciscan Media). Next: St. Mary of the Annunciation Church •

MIC H IG A N

Upper Peninsula

•

Bishop Frederic Baraga Driving Tour Upper Peninsula, Michigan 906-227-9117 DioceseofMarquette.org/ BaragaSites

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Midlife Meditation

These five simple questions lead to honest prayer. BY MARY SHARON MOORE

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ROWING OLDER seems effortless, I discover, as I suddenly realize that my birthday is only weeks away. I have done nothing to hurry the hands of the clock. I have had no say in how one day melts into the next, or how months melt into one year, and then another. Growing older, it seems, requires little more than showing up. But the inner work, the intentional work of maturing, challenges me. I am stretched in this process of aging well in attitude and in spirit. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

what fades before me. It challenges me to trust that which is unseen, yet promises to hold me up when I think I will fall. On some days, I admit, this work of maturing feels like a stretch. And it is. And it should be. This interior work of maturing sometimes invites me into unexpected, deeper conversations with others—on the bigger topics, the painful topics. Sometimes that necessary, deeper conversation is between self and work. And, if I am paying attention, I will will be drawn into sobering and uncomfortable conversations between self and the world in which I live. When I am feeling honest and courageous, I find that this inner work of maturing invites me into deeper conversations with God. We call this prayer. I am keenly aware of how easily I can bracket these deeper conversations for a later date. “Maybe when I can get away,” I convince myself, “when I have some uninterrupted time in that idyllic setting, when nothing is nagging for my attention.” Someday, maybe. I am also keenly aware of how skilled I am at fooling myself. Getting away for uninterrupted time to sit with the bigger questions is not going to happen. What I need in my overcommitted and maddeningly distracted life is oxygen for the next breath, and the next, here and now. So I will share with you five simple questions that give me spiritual oxygen for each day and invite meaningful reflection on my life. You can think of these as the big questions in simple form, big questions that will lead to honest prayer.

The work of maturing can stretch us in new ways, challenging us to enter into deeper conversations with ourselves, others, and God.

What Gives Me Joy?

PHOTO FROM PIXABAY

Sometimes I must let go of the old and embrace the new. Sometimes I must bring the old and the new into honest conversation— old presumptions and new expectations, takenfor-granted abilities and encroaching limitations, fading hopes and beckoning horizons.

The Work of Maturing This inner work of maturing into midlife and beyond, I am learning, requires skill and grace as I navigate what is unknown and sometimes dreaded. Truth be told, this work of maturing requires that I cherish, at the risk of heartbreak, Fr anciscanMedia.org

I find that joy is the necessary thing, a reliable indicator of how well I am navigating along life’s uncertain surfaces. I describe joy as an interior stirring of the Holy Spirit when my life, my actions, my ways of being present in the world touch others in a way that blesses them and gives joy to God. Joy is a preeminent sign of the Holy Spirit at work in my life. In short, joy is vocational. Therefore, I pay keen attention to what gives me joy. In that moment and in my reflection at the end of the day, I strive to name what has given me joy because I know I need to call it forth. Applying myself to the work for which I am gifted, listening intently and lovingly to a friend, making merciful space for a stranger, or engaging in creative activities that benefit others—these are gateways, for me, into the Augus t 2017 ❘

experience of joy. The joy I experience, in fact, is a participation in God’s joy. When I can notice and name what gives me joy, I can more clearly notice and name my mission as it matures in this stage of my life.

What Robs Me of Joy?

Do what gives you joy, and that blesses others in some way.

If joy is a sure sign of the Holy Spirit at work in me, then I need to pay keen attention to what robs me of it. This is not the same as being inconvenienced. When I feel robbed of joy, I feel a hole in my life, in my heart, where God’s joy and blessing had wanted to be. What robs me of joy in this season of my life may be what gave me joy in an earlier season: an assignment, perhaps, that is finished but which I have not quite let go. What robs me of joy may be a persistent, stubborn pushback to an invitation to grow in new ways. What robs me of joy may be relationships, activities, or habits that distract me from giving myself wholeheartedly to my mission. Or what robs me of joy may be a pervasive sense of being vocationally, relationally, or existentially lost. What robs me of joy may be a cold blanket of depression or feeling as though those closest to me do not want to know what I am experiencing or how I feel. Honestly naming what robs me of joy or drains me of life is a first and critical step toward a new vocational clarity, especially when I feel that I am heading into uncharted territory. The antidote to feeling vocationally lost is not to pray harder. We probably have all prayed at some point: “Dear God, what do you want me to do? Just tell me. Speak plainly.” The answer to such a prayer is always the same: do what gives you joy and that blesses others in some way. God gives us such astonishing freedom.

What Breaks My Heart? When I feel robbed of joy, I feel a hole in my life. A broken heart is different. A broken heart more painfully bespeaks something in my life or in my world that truly is broken, sometimes beyond repair. What breaks my heart hurls me into the land of death, where dying seems so final, the tomb so thoroughly sealed—the land where what is new cannot be felt or even imagined. Embedded within the question “What breaks my heart?” is the challenge to live a life that is intentional enough, and uncluttered enough, to allow heartbreak to actually register. 40 ❘

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And why admit heartbreak? Why would I not fortify against it? Eventually, heartbreak is the price we pay for loving with costly love. It is not convenient love or love that assures us of love in return. Jesus loved with costly love. And look at the price he paid. He died with a broken heart. I admit, I easily become numb to the daily newsfeed of unrestrained human violence and human anguish, numb to the massive loss of hope amid the rubble. I also become numb to the beautiful stories of unimaginable courage and resilience in this complex 21st-century world. Many of us avoid heartbreak by structuring our lives so that which is most human, and therefore most vulnerable, can never find a way into our overstuffed schedules. Frankly, a broken heart is not efficient; it is a drag on personal productivity. Yet, if I am an apostle of the Lord, I can expect that certain things will break my heart but also spur me to moral action. Certain things will break my heart precisely because they first break the heart of God. The heart sealed against heartbreak, I discover, is a heart sealed against grace. To defend the integrity and power and beauty of my own humanity and that of others, I need to be conscious of, and able to name, what breaks my heart.

What Am I Resisting? As a maturing human being, and even more so as one who is anointed in the Holy Spirit, the very quality of my life depends on my openness to God’s invitations and my responsiveness to them. Vocationally, God’s invitations are no small thing. Nor are they rare or usually for someone else. God’s invitations, I have discovered, will stretch me and challenge me. They will make me go where I had not thought to go and strive for what I assumed was beyond me. Resisting God’s invitations comes so easily. It’s like the instinct for self-preservation, arguing for the status quo, preferring to play it safe and not rock the boat. I can stubbornly insist on staying on a road that clearly is leading me away from my mission. Or I can be on the right road but only grudgingly inch my way forward with the brakes on. Because, in perfect love, God will never coerce, I can resist opportunities to grow toward my fuller self-in-God. But why would I settle for living with such a lack of freedom? I can run, I have learned, but ultimately I cannot hide from the One who is passionate St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

What gives me joy? What breaks my heart? Asking the big questions each day can provide us spiritual oxygen and invite meaningful reflection and honest prayer.

about my life, my joy, my fruitfulness, passionate about calling forth the dignity and inherent beauty of my maturing life. In fact, I can exhaust myself in my resistance to grace. But why would I want to resist grace? So, vocationally, I need to be honest with myself about what I am resisting in this stage in life. I need to gently, mercifully expose my resistance to the light and name it.

What Am I Accepting? Accepting anything—not grudgingly but humbly, gratefully—is a mature, courageous act. Accepting the unbidden invitations of a maturing Christian life has everything to do with mission, and what I call missional fruitfulness. And so, it is important to be clear about what I am now coming to terms with, accepting, and even embracing, although the grace of the upside may be slow to reveal itself. At this later stage in my life, I may finally be accepting that I always have been—and always will be—a good B-plus student, that I will never be as polished or witty or acclaimed as I think I should be. I may be accepting that opportunities of earlier years are gone, that my physical strength is ebbing, that my mental edge is growing dull, or that my zest for life these days seems a little flat. I may be accepting limitations or personal poverties, which seem inherently unfair: a poverty of health or mobility, a Fr anciscanMedia.org

poverty of education or experience, a poverty of connections, friendships, or love. Or I may be accepting the astonishing reality that I am, in fact, gifted enough right now to accomplish certain good for the few whose lives I will touch in whatever time is left to me. I do not need to read one more book, take one more class, or acquire or perfect any more skills in order to be enough for the assignment. I am good to go, right now, just as I am. The mere act of accepting my conditions— whether undesired poverties, actual readiness, or even unbidden riches—gives God something to work with. The quality of my life and the way I reflect on it indeed matter as I mature. “Come close and declare; let them take counsel together,” the Lord God urges (Is 45:21). It is good, I discover, and humbling, honest, and spiritually helpful to sit daily in counsel with the Lord God. This is the same Lord who walks humbly, so that I might learn how to walk humbly, too, with God hidden beside me, and in me, as I walk through my small patch of this 21stcentury world. A Mary Sharon Moore is the author of several books, including Conformed to Christ, Anointed for a Purpose, and Moving in God’s Direction. This article is adapted from her most recent book, Lord, Teach Us to Pray. She works with individuals nationwide in spiritual direction and mission-focused coaching for retirement and later life. Her website is MarySharon Moore.com. Augus t 2017 ❘

My Reluctant Husband This woman found spiritual wholeness in Catholicism. Would her husband discover a similar path? BY ANN TURNER

“

OW COULD YOU JOIN a Church that has caused so much harm?” my husband asked me when I announced my intention to become a Catholic in 2001. “I mean, look at it— the Crusades, Galileo, the sex-abuse crisis, its treatment of the LGBT community . . . ,” he trailed off. I continued to look at him, searching for the right words. “Well, I married you, and men have done dreadful, cruel things to women for most of our years on this earth, honey. And you’re a man.” He grimaced, acknowledging the truth of my statement. “Still . . .” I was no stranger to anti-Catholic attitudes. I grew up in a family of social activists—good people—who eschewed going to church. My dad pretty much agreed with Marx’s comment that “religion is the opiate of the masses.” He would comment at intervals about an army friend who would carouse on Saturday nights, go to confession, and begin all over again the next week. “What kind of religion is that?” my dad would ask. The only Catholic he admired was Dorothy Day, who put her principles into concrete acts of mercy and social justice.

A Deep-Seated Yearning But—invited to attend Mass with some friends and discovering what seemed a strange but 42 ❘

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compelling yearning for the Eucharist—I left my Protestant Church, went through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), and became a Catholic. I have found this Church to be a source of solace, comfort, and uncomfortable nudging, as well as heart-opening mercy over the years. My husband came to Mass with me on occasion, and when our kids were young teens, they sometimes came as well, bribed by “God ’n’ friends” or “God ’n’ donuts.” But as he explained to me, my husband had been brought up Protestant—a Christian Scientist— and Catholicism seemed mysterious, strange, and off-putting to him much of the time. I continued with the ecumenical thing, attending services with him at a wonderful liberal United Church of Christ congregation St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

and the Church

nearby, while still going to Mass regularly on my own. But then cancer hit. Most of us who have gone through this disease or seen it firsthand in our loved ones (so many of us in this club we never wanted to join) know this disease upends your life and the lives of those dear to you. You face a life-threatening illness, and the arduous treatment weakens you in ways you hardly anticipated. I desperately needed to go to Mass during chemotherapy, but often felt too wretched to get there. When I did go—and as treatment ended and I could attend more frequently— Rick came with me every single time, driving me to Mass, sitting beside me, reading the Nicene Creed from the pew card. He even managed a courtly little bob at the entrance Fr anciscanMedia.org

to the pew. This continued for five months. Then, one day after attending Mass together, he told me in the car, “I felt a loss today. When you went up to receive the Eucharist, I wanted it; I needed it.” “That’s what brought me into the Church— a deep desire for the Eucharist,” I said. “It’s just not the same as Communion in a Protestant Church.” Rick went on. “All through your cancer treatment, this Church has sustained me in ways I didn’t know at first. I felt fed, nourished, and upheld. I needed that,” he said fervently. I put my hand over his and squeezed gently. “I suppose I should talk with Father Bill,” he said the next day. He never does anything in a rush; everything must be taken into con-

In a quiet moment on the steps of their parish church, Ann and Rick Turner reflect on their journeys to Catholicism.

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sideration, thought about, and processed. He claims it’s due to his Swedish ancestry. “That sounds like a good idea, honey.” I did not want to push, knowing he could only make this journey to a new Church at his own pace, in his own time. And he felt comfortable with Father Bill, the priest I had known for years and who had presided at the service marrying our son and daughter-in-law.

A New Beginning So began his private instruction with Father Bill, meeting several times at his lodgings at the Dominican priory nearby. Rick came back glowing, with a faint sheen of perspiration on his forehead, and said only a few words at first: “Wonderful, inspiring, my head is spinning.”

tive site BustedHalo.com, sponsored by the Paulist Fathers. Over the years, I’ve written some articles for the site, and Rick was familiar with my pieces and the layout. He clicked on “Sacraments 101.” These are nifty, compact videos explaining the seven sacraments. He particularly liked the one about receiving Communion, where all the bad things you could do—such as hitting the plate of the hosts with your head as you bowed, or holding your jangling keys in the same hand to receive the host—had big X’s through them. This kind of snappy, visual teaching really appealed to my husband and, I suspect, to many of us who are more visual learners. As we talked about this journey, I sometimes found myself not believing that my dear husband was really going to convert. “Are you sure you want to come into the Church? Does it feel right to you? You’re not bored at Mass, are you?” “Yes, I’m sure, I’ve thought about this a long time. Yes, it feels right, and no, I’m not bored. I always get something out of the rituals and the homily.”

But Why Catholicism?

Ann Turner is delighted that she and her husband, Rick, can share their faith and receive the Eucharist together.

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Over dinner and wine, Rick explained, “He knows so much, he has such a sense of history and liturgy, and he cuts straight to the heart of the matter. We talked about confession, and I jokingly admitted that, since I had 70 years of sin to confess, it might take some time. He laughed!” Rick went on to talk about receiving the Eucharist, how Father Bill had counseled him that it is a holy moment, but not to kneel suddenly or make any extreme acts of devotion. “Just a simple bow of the head will do. And you can take the host on your tongue or in your hand, like this.” He demonstrated to me with his right hand cradling his left. “Yes, honey, I know.” Inspired probably by the Holy Spirit, who seems to have had a major role in this whole journey, Rick went on the wonderful interac-

I wanted to know more about his journey and how he finally came to this decision. In a recent discussion of the hows and the whys, my husband offered, “All of the mystical experiences I’ve had have been in the Catholic Church, not the Protestant Church. Remember when we went to the Church of Santa Chiara in Assisi three years ago?” “How could I forget?” We had gone in, viewed the marvelous frescoes of St. Francis by Giotto, walked downstairs to see the worn habit and shoes of St. Clare, and come up again to pray before the original crucifix from San Damiano in the adjoining chapel. I felt a vibration through the wooden pew, something that continued and was rather unsettling. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. When we exited the church into the brilliant Italian sunshine, we sat on the stone wall overlooking the hills. I asked hesitantly, “Rick, did you feel anything in the chapel?” He turned to me. “Yeah, I wondered if there might be a subway underneath the church because the pew was vibrating.” “Huh.” (My common response to mystical experiences.) “I think it was the spirit of St. Clare, honey, or the Holy Spirit at work. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

We both felt it, and I know there is no subway beneath that 13th-century church.” We just breathed in for a while, letting the mystery settle in our bodies. We didn’t need or want to talk more about it at that time. It was too new, too big. But it obviously kept working within my husband. “What else is drawing you to the Church?” I asked my husband recently. Clearly, I’m still processing this astonishing fact, something I had wished and prayed for, but I had always respected Rick’s Protestant faith. “I think . . .” He paused. “I think now that I am 70 years old, I really want the remaining years of my life to have deep meaning. I want them to count.” And so we found ourselves in a small chapel at the church where Father Bill presides. It is a wonderful ethnic community, and the murals from Portugal cover the walls with inspiring shapes and colors. Outside the chapel there is even a statue of Mary nursing the infant Jesus. Nursing! In church! Now there’s a religion I can get behind. Father Bill celebrated Mass with Rick, myself, and my husband’s sponsor, a good friend of ours from church. When it came time to receive the host for the first time, I watched my husband— wearing a white shirt as custom demanded—as his hands trembled. I had never seen that before. He is a steady-as-she-goes kind of man, but the emotion and significance of the occasion got to him. Then we all knelt in our pew as our priest said the final words. “How does it feel?” Rick’s sponsor asked once we were outside. “Different. Special. Kind of momentous. I felt teary.” He’s got that right. Now we can attend Mass together, and it still is astounding and grace-filled as we hold God’s gift to his people in our hands, walking back to the pew. A Ann Turner is a freelance writer from Williamsburg, Massachusetts. The author of more than 50 children’s books, she has previously written fiction for St. Anthony Messenger, including “Spin the Wheel” (July 2017). Fr anciscanMedia.org

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ASK A FRANCISCAN

❘ BY FATHER PAT McCLOSKEY, OFM

CNS PHOTO/AARON JOSEFCZYK, REUTERS

Which Party Reflects Catholic Teaching?

Although I was raised Catholic and attend Sunday Mass regularly, in recent years I am finding the Church’s position, or perhaps its silence, on many political issues disturbing. I understand pro-life concerns, but I don’t understand why the only pro-life issue the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) really seems to care about is abortion. I have heard various priests and bishops claim that certain politicians (almost always Democrats) should be denied Communion because of their position on abortion. When an elected Republican leader favors destroying all safety nets for the poor and disadvantaged (for example, reducing food stamps and Medicaid or opposing a higher minimum wage), the criticism—if any— is very muted. Does the Republican Party better reflect Catholic social teaching? The short answer to your question is that no political party in the United States totally reflects Catholic social teaching. The US bishops have reaf4 6 ❘ Augus t 201 7

firmed that in their official, quadrennial preelection statements. Since 1976, these have been issued 12 months before a presidential election, well before the candidates have been chosen. The 2016 USCCB text can be found through the “Issues and Action” link at usccb.org. It is a fact, however, that on the issue of respecting the life of unborn humans, the official platforms of the Democratic Party have been more pro-abortion since 1976 than the platforms of the Republican Party. It also cannot be denied that on many other social justice issues, such as immigration and health care, the Democratic platforms have been closer to Catholic social teaching than Republican platforms. What’s a Catholic to do? The USCCB statements have consistently urged Catholic voters not to cast their ballots based on a single issue. The bishops have also acknowledged that not all politically debated issues are equally important morally. Some Catholics and others have said that the right to life is the basis for all other rights. In doing so, they

suggest that only one political issue counts. Prior to the 2016 presidential election, the major candidates accepted the platform adopted at their party’s convention, but neither candidate made respect for the unborn a major part of his or her campaign. Catholics with well-formed consciences do not necessarily come to the same practical judgment about which political candidate to support. Your letter arrived before the US House of Representatives narrowly supported the Republican-sponsored “repeal and replace” health care bill. On May 4, Bishop Frank Dewane, chair of the Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, called on the US Senate to strip out harmful provisions in the bill passed by the House of Representatives. That statement is available through the “News” link at usccb.org. The bishops had issued several statements about protecting vulnerable people when the health care legislation was rewritten. No one should ever vote against his or her conscience, but identifying what that voter’s well-formed conscience requires is rarely a quick and easy matter.

Purgatory Seems Unnecessary As Catholics, we believe that faith and works are needed to get to heaven. If Jesus died for our sins, why is purgatory needed? Didn’t he already repair what was needed? Catholics don’t regard faith and works as though they were steps one and two to get into heaven. Genuine faith must always overflow into works of mercy and compassion. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

Christians who think that a completely interior faith is quite enough are like the condemned people whom Jesus described in Matthew 25:41–45. Apparently, those folks thought their brand of faith would give them a free pass into heaven. Catholic belief in purgatory does not contradict belief in Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. Purgatory is a time of honesty and cleansing. If before I die I have led a pretty moral life but retain a bias against people from Fiji, I will need purgatory’s purification in order to enjoy the eternal banquet—where I could be seated across from a Fijian! Without purgatory, heaven could be full of egotists trying to claw their way to the top of the pile.

Where Are Bold Catholic Leaders? Pope Francis is the best thing that has happened to the Catholic Church since St. John XXIII. I know there are lots of dedicated priests, religious, and laypeople working on the front lines with refugees, the poor, the elderly, single mothers, and other at-risk groups of people. But where among today’s leaders are the Oscar Romeros, the Daniel Berrigans, and the Dorothy Days? I don’t think I’m having a crisis of faith; it feels more like a crisis of religion because of tepid leadership. You remember Oscar Romero, Daniel Berrigan, and Dorothy Day as bold leaders, but each of them had a significant conversion experience. When Oscar Romero, for example, was named archbishop of San Salvador on February 23, 1977, he was widely considered a very safe, don’trock-the-boat choice. Three weeks later, the murder of Father Rutilio Grande, SJ, a pastor working in his diocese, and a young pastoral worker started Romero on a new path of conversion. He was martyred in 1980. Would he have become Blessed Oscar Romero without that conversion? Probably not. Catholic leaders and followers in Fr ancisca n Media .org

this country are undergoing conversions on many issues. When Cardinal Joseph Bernardin proposed in 1996 the Catholic Common Ground Initiative, he was publicly opposed by Cardinals Baum, Hickey, and Law, largely because they feared that Bernardin’s earlier championing of a “seamless garment” approach to life issues might trivialize pro-life efforts. In November 2015, Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego asked his brother bishops that their quadrennial preelection statement quote more extensively from what Pope Francis had told them two months earlier in Washington’s St. Matthew Cathedral. McElroy’s suggestion was not accepted. Pope Francis was not always the bold leader whom you admire. Life taught him several hard lessons long before he was elected pope in 2013. He is now a bold leader in large part because he is a fearless man of conscience. Over 50 years ago, author and political activist Michael Harrington

observed that when the history of the Catholic Church in the United States is written, Cardinal Francis Spellman will be a footnote and Dorothy Day will be a chapter. I think events have proven Harrington’s assessment to be correct. Bold, prophetic leaders often emerge slowly, usually on the basis of a developing conscience and their rejection of benefits they could have expected in return for being less bold and prophetic. All of us are called to be people of conscience. Where and how we live that out may vary widely. I hope that you are finding St. Anthony Messenger a trustworthy companion on your faith journey. A Father Pat welcomes your questions! Send them to: Ask a Franciscan, 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498, or Ask@FranciscanMedia.org. All questions sent by mail need to include a selfaddressed stamped envelope.

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BOOK CORNER

❘ BY CAROL ANN MORROW

Ignatius of Loyola Legend and Reality

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By Pierre Emonet, SJ Saint Joseph University Press 160 pages • $40 Hardcover, with illustrations Reviewed by MARK E. THIBODEAUX, SJ, author of several books on prayer and Ignatian spirituality including Armchair Mystic, God’s Voice Within, and Reimagining the Ignatian Examen. In the middle of a workshop presentation to laypeople, I once heard a Jesuit say, “You know, Ignatius said a wise thing about this . . .” Then—to the confusion of his audience—he paused and laughed at himself. Recovering from his laughter, he said to them, “The truth is that I don’t know who said this. If a Jesuit likes a quote and doesn’t know the author, he usually just presumes Ignatius said it.” Pierre Emonet, author of Ignatius of Loyola: Legend and Reality, informs us that this tradition of ascribing more to Ignatius than he actually merits goes all the way back to the early Society of Jesus. Ignatius’ brother Jesuits were so enamored with him and wanted so badly to have him canonized that they exaggerated his good qualities and glossed over his shortcomings. Meanwhile, in the highly political Church of Ignatius’ day, those who did not like the Society did the opposite: they painted Ignatius as a despotic and cold powermonger. Ignatius himself contributes to the problem: his enigmatic personality, described by Emonet as “complex, imposing, and very attractive,” seemed to promote this bifurcation of per-

ception. The premise of Legend and Reality is that 500 years later we still struggle to get underneath the legends to arrive at the real Ignatius of Loyola. This book helps us get there. Emonet is the right person for this difficult work of distinguishing the legend from the reality of Ignatius. For more than 12 years, he has served as editor in chief and now director of Choisir, the Swiss Jesuit cultural journal. Emonet presents overlooked aspects of Ignatius’ life that bring insight into the saint’s complex personality. For example, he has entire chapters devoted to Ignatius’ interactions with women and to complicated and troubling friendships with difficult people. The book concludes with beautiful 17thcentury engravings of the life and legend of Ignatius, created with the help of artist Peter Paul Reubens and hand-colored by contemporary artist Ursula Hobson. Because the engravings were commissioned by disciples of Ignatius and therefore present him in idealized fashion, the reader can further understand the author’s point that we have work to do before getting to the real Ignatius of Loyola. Ignatius of Loyola: Legend and Reality is a wonderful book written by an author who deeply loves Ignatius but is not infatuated with him. The book leaves the reader there, too: moved and inspired by this all-toohuman saint. In our own era of “fake news” that demonizes those we don’t like and divinizes those we do, it is refreshing to encounter a real person who is flawed and yet truly good in every way. The book beautifully illustrates that Ignatius was a saint not because he was a superman but because he managed, on the spiritual level, to turn over his broken self to his Savior. And, on the administrative level, he redirected his sometimes obsessive tendencies into advancement of the work of God and his effort to help souls, which is all Ignatius ever wanted to do. Best of all, Emonet accomplishes this in a concise, easyto-read biography that will be enjoyed by scholars and ordinary folk alike. St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

BOOK BRIEFS

Saintly Prayer Guides Mercy in Padre Pio By Stefano Campanella St. Paul’s Publications 176 pages • $14.95 Paperback

Strangers in a Strange Land Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World By Charles J. Chaput Henry Holt and Company 288 pages • $26 Hardcover/E-book Reviewed by ROB LANGENDERFER, who has reviewed 11 books for Library Journal and Library Journal Online and three previous books for St. Anthony Messenger. Charles J. Chaput, the archbishop of Philadelphia, addresses the proper response of American Catholics to secular culture. He has written two other books on similar topics (Living the Catholic Faith: Rediscovering the Basics and Render unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life). This current, well-researched book features various public opinion polls that showcase how American religious beliefs and cultural norms have changed over time. Chaput suggests that transgender rights, same-sex marriage rights, and abortion rights have become the darlings of many in the media, while the Catholic Church has become a villainous spreader of bigotry in many of their minds because it has taken stands against these practices. The bishop reminds his readers that early in its history the Church was persecuted by the Romans. The Church must remain strong and adhere to its beliefs, Chaput proclaims, as it faces modern persecution, physically by ISIS and intellectually by many in the left-wing American media. He examines the beatitudes to show how Christ is present particularly when suffering is involved. The book is a fairly easy read for those who share his concerns about the Church’s role in modern life. Fr ancisca n Media .org

Named as one of the patrons of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Padre Pio was legendary for his service in hearing confessions. Campanella retells the story of Padre Pio’s life and ministry through the lens of mercy, as expressed in the saint’s deep prayer life, spiritual direction, and the healing work performed through the hospital at San Giovanni Rotondo.

Lift Up Your Heart A 10-Day Personal Retreat with St. Francis de Sales By John Burns Ave Maria Press 192 pages • $13.95 Paperback/E-book St. Francis de Sales, patron of journalists, has counseled generations through his Introduction to the Devout Life. John Burns mines that classic treasure for a practical prayer retreat that is relevant, engaging, and powerful.

The Inward Path to God A Prayer Journey with St. Teresa of Ávila By Wayne Simsic The Word Among Us 192 pages • $12.95 Paperback/E-book The writings of Doctor of the Church Teresa of Ávila, while poignant and profound, can be a challenge for the modern reader. Wayne Simsic bridges the gap with an accessible guide to some of St. Teresa’s best advice for developing a deep and meaningful prayer life.—K.C.

Books featured in Book Corner and Book Briefs can be ordered from

St. Mary’s Bookstore & Church Supply 1909 West End Avenue • Nashville, TN 37203 • 800-233-3604 www.stmarysbookstore.com • stmarysbookstore@gmail.com Prices shown in Book Corner do not include shipping. Au gu s t 2 0 1 7 ❘ 4 9

A CATHOLIC MOM SPEAKS

❘ BY SUSAN HINES-BRIGGER

What’s Your Story?

hen we bought my mom and dad’s house a few years ago, along with it came multiple containers of family photos. Recently, I’ve started digging through the photos in hopes of organizing them in some fashion and getting them into the hands of those for whom they mean the most. As I empty each container, I surround myself with images of my past. One by one, the pictures get sorted into piles. One pile is made up of photos from my dad’s time in the Korean War. Another pile includes relatives I don’t know or can’t identify in the pictures. I make a mental note to call my uncle and have him help me with those identifications. There are piles for each of my sisters, my uncles, and cousins. The process is slow, but it’s not just because of the size of the task. No, mostly the holdup is me. You see, I’m a storyteller. I always have been. When I was little, I wrote fantastical stories of imaginary

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creatures and their many adventures. As I got older, I turned to real-life stories. In my years working on this magazine, I have told the stories of survivors of Hurricane Katrina, a priest who ministered to both prisoners and members of the Green Bay Packers football team, a religious sister who was a riverboat captain, and many, many more. It is my passion and my firm belief that every person has a story that’s just waiting to be told.

What’s behind the Image? Now back to the piles of pictures. My challenge in wading through these piles—and probably why I have put this task off for so long—is that in each picture I see a story begging to be told. Take, for instance, the pile of my dad’s military service. I knew he was in the Army. I knew he served in the Korean War. I even vaguely knew some of the stories of events that happened during that time. But, as I St . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r

THE TALE OF YOUR FAMILY

looked through the pictures, suddenly I realized there was so much more I wanted to know about his time in the armed forces. What made him join? Was he ever scared? What was it like to be in a war? As he and I sat and talked, suddenly the pictures began to come to life. I was able to piece them together—both in my mind and on paper—into a story to pass on to my kids and generations beyond.

Be Part of the Story As Catholics, we are a storied people. Each Sunday, we listen to the stories

to describe the neighborhood where they grew up. Record the conversation, if possible. Believe it or not, some of the best tools I have found in my family research are funeral prayer cards. They provide the birth and death date of the person, which is vital information. Pay a visit to the cemetery where your relatives are buried. If you’re not sure where their plot is, ask at the office. They can help you locate it. Your family story is a great one, just waiting to be told. Discover it and then tell it. It’ll be worth the time and effort.

of the Bible through the readings and the Gospel. Those stories show us something, teach us something. The same is true of our own stories and the stories around us. The clue is to take the time to go beyond what’s right in front of our eyes. I’ve often found that when I start to dig into a story is when it gets good and begins to come to life. That’s when the stories connect with us on a personal level. When that happens, it’s not as easy to look away. The characters become real to us, they matter to us. They can take something like a news

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARY KURNICK MAASS

One of my favorite stories that I have ever worked on is my own family’s. I have always been the family historian, so I have spent quite a lot of time on our family genealogy. Here are a few tips I have found helpful in my own research that might help you tell your own family’s story. Spend time with your relatives, especially your older relatives. Either you can let them lead the conversation or you can use something like a picture or event as a starting point. Ask them a question like: What is your best memory from your childhood? Or ask them

story or picture or Facebook post and draw us in and make us become part of the story. All we have to do is follow the path. Who knows what we might discover? 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 18)

Fr ancisca n Media .org

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BACKSTORY

Faith Alive

“

t’s quirky;” “it will touch people’s hearts,” or “it’s too eccentric;” “it’s the Catholic imagination at work.” Those are just some of the reactions our editors had, over the years, to the late writer, editor,

and poet Brian Doyle. All of us were startled to hear, last November, of Brian’s terminal illness. He died this past May at 60. PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER HEFFRON

Of course, no one was more surprised than he to learn of his illness and the grim predictions that followed. But, a man of deep faith, he took the news into his heart and reset his priorities. Editor of the excellent Portland magazine for the University of Portland, poet known well in the Portland, Oregon, area, father, husband, son, he resigned all of his work and devoted himself to family, whom he most regretted to be leaving behind. You might remember his works “Embracing Good Friday” and “Born of the Sea” that appeared in past issues of this magazine. There were others. He constantly sent me new ideas, which I would sometimes reject because they, for one reason or another, were not right for these pages. He wrote the kindest of replies, every time, in a pleasant style: “Ah, ’tis good to be read.” Every time. (Perhaps he picked it up from his father, Jim Doyle, himself a giant in the Catholic press of old.)

CNS PHOTO/TIM LABARGE

A man of wit and charm, the late Brian Doyle (right) was one of scores of writers who share their deepest selves with you in this magazine. “Ah, ’tis good to be read,” he would say, again and again.

We are grateful to be publishing Brian’s final book, Eight Whopping Lies and Other Stories of Bruised Grace, which he wrote in the months before he learned of his illness. It’s coming out right about now from Franciscan Media. You can find more about it at FranciscanMedia.org. His fan-editors across the Catholic media will be publishing an anthology of his work in the coming months. Our writers bring a lot of themselves to you in this magazine, sharing heart and mind—their very person—freely. Brian was one of the hundreds of devoted writers who compete for this space. They all do it to share their faith, to let you see the world through their eyes. For that we are grateful.

Editor in Chief @jfeister

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

REFLECTION

What if I fall?

Oh, but my darling, what if you fly? ~ Erin Hanson

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