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Diocese of Fall River, Mass.

F riday , January 10, 2014

Annual area retreats aim to fill spiritual needs of diocesan faithful

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

Yvette O’Neil, a 100-year-old resident of the Catholic Memorial Home in Fall River and longtime Boston Red Sox fan, proudly poses with the 2013 World Series trophy during its visit to the diocesan health facility last month. The trophy made several stops in the area, including Fall River Government Center and the New Bedford City Hall, before arriving at the home for a late afternoon visit. Like O’Neil, residents and staff members were thrilled to get a chance to see and take a photo with the third championship trophy recently won by their beloved Boston baseball team. More photos on page 20.

(Photo by Kenneth J. Souza)

FALL RIVER — As parishes in the Fall River Diocese hearken in the new year, the Office of Faith Formation in Fall River is gearing up for its annual weekend retreats held at the Sacred Hearts Retreat and Spirituality Center in Wareham. With one for women and a separate one for men, Deacon Bruce Bonneau, assistant director of the Adult Evangelization and Spirituality in the Faith Formation Office, is hoping the retreats will fill the spiritual need for those “hungry for these kinds of spiritual reflections.”

“The retreat experience is different from a lot of other experiences people have in church,” said Deacon Bonneau.

“It’s much more about the search than it is about the destination. It’s much more about the questions we encounter than the answers we’d like to have.”

The annual retreats began four years ago. Initially held for men, the feedback was so positive that a few months later, a women’s retreat was held. Led by Father Stan Kolasa, SS.CC., and Deacon Bonneau, the retreats have become an annual ministry, and the men work to design the weekend retreats around a different theme each year, with this year’s theme being centered on the exhortation of Pope Francis, “The Joy of the Gospel” (“Evangelii Gaudium”).

“The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus.

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Snowstorm hampers opponents of doctor-prescribed death from testifying

By Christine M. Williams Anchor Correspondent

BOSTON — After the defeat of a doctor-prescribed suicide bill at the ballot box a little more than a year ago , legislators on Beacon Hill have introduced a new bill with the same aim.

Opponents say that this bill is more dangerous than Question 2, which failed by a very narrow margin — 51 percent opposed to 49 percent in favor — on Nov. 6, 2012.

A hearing on the new bill, held at the State House on December 17, ended early due to a significant snowfall affecting the evening commute. Dozens were unable to testify, and advocates for people with disabilities said the snowstorm prevented many more from attending.

John Kelly — director of Second Thoughts Massachusetts, a group that represents people with disabilities who oppose assisted suicide — said that the hearing should have been postponed or the city should have done a better job of clearing the sidewalks. Kelly told The Anchor that he wanted the committee to understand that sidewalks were too narrow and many ramps were not cleared that day.

“After hearing from people who could not make it, or tried going out and fell on the ice, I felt like it had to be the first thing addressed,” he said.

Somewhere between 150-200 people attended the hearing, which began at 10 a.m. and ended around 1 p.m. The

docket included 20 bills that day, but the doctor-prescribed death bill “drew the crowds,” according to Maureen Vacca, director of public policy for the Massachusetts Family Institute.

Entitled “Compassionate Aid in Dying,” H1998 would allow doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to patients given less than six months to live, provided that they are “of sound mind.”

The bill’s main sponsor is Rep. Louis L. Kafka, D-Stoughton.

Proponents say legalizing doctorprescribed death would give terminally-ill patients peace of mind and control over the end of their lives. They claim its safeguards are adequate and argue that opponents’ concerns amount to scare tactics.

Representatives from the Massachusetts Medical Society and Hospice groups testified against the bill.

Vacca, who did not get the opportunity to testify, said she had hoped to point out that the new bill is far more dangerous than Question 2. The new bill eliminates the 15-day waiting period, allows the primary doctor to waive the need for a second opinion and does not properly safeguard Pro-Life hospitals.

Anne Fox, president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, told The Anchor, “This time ’round, you could go in and ask verbally and finish up killing yourself within the day. There’s no waiting period. There’s no second doctor.”

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Father Stephen S. Wilbricht, CSC, a professor at Stonehill College in Easton, signs a copy of his book “Rehearsing God’s Just Kingdom” at his childhood parish in Hanover, Ill., recently.

Stonehill College professor releases book on Liturgy

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

EASTON — With the recent 50th anniversary observance of Sacrosanctum Concilium, Vatican II’s defining constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Father Stephen S. Wilbricht, CSC, assistant professor of religious studies at Stonehill College, felt the timing was right to remind Catholics of the continual need to deepen and integrate the attitudes called for in the renewal of the Liturgy.

“I absolutely believe that celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sacrosanctum Concilium demands that we herald the need of ongoing reform with regards to

the Liturgy,” Wilbricht told The Anchor.

Further citing a need to help parishioners become “Liturgical experts,” Wilbricht said the Mass should become an integral part of every Catholic’s daily life.

“Just as presiders are expected to be able to pray the Liturgy by being comfortable in their role, so do we need to train members of their assembly that their role is essential to the Liturgy,” he added.

A relatively new member of the faculty at Stonehill College, Holy Cross Father Wilbricht has just released his Turn to page 14

News From the Vatican

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January 10, 2014

Pope prays for upcoming Synod of Bishops

Vatican City (CNA/ EWTN News) — In his Angelus address given on the feast of the Holy Family, Pope Francis prayed especially for the approaching Synod of Bishops which will discuss pastoral challenges to the family.

“The next Synod of Bishops will address the theme of the family, and the preparatory phase has already begun some time ago. For this reason, today, (on) the feast of the Holy Family, I wish to entrust this synodal work to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, praying for families around the world,” he said in St. Peter’s Square.

Asking the crowds that packed St. Peter’s Square and the surrounding streets to join with him spiritually, Pope Francis prayed, “Holy Family of Nazareth, may the approaching Synod of Bishops make us once more mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the family, and its beauty in God’s plan.”

The pope dedicated his Angelus message to considering Jesus’ Own family as an example for families everywhere. “God wanted to be born in a human family, He wanted to have a mother and a father, like us,” he explained.

“It’s an example that does much good for our families, helping them to become ever more a community of love and reconciliation, in which one experiences tenderness, mutual help, and mutual forgiveness.”

Even Jesus’ own family, however, was not without its difficulties.

Forced to flee to Egypt to escape being killed by Herod, “Joseph, Mary, and Jesus experienced the dramatic condition

of refugees, marked by fear, uncertainty, need.”

Unfortunately, Pope Francis continued, “in our day, millions of families can see themselves in this sad reality.” Refugees and immigrants do not always find “true welcome (or) respect.”

Yet “Jesus wanted to belong to a family that had experienced these difficulties,” to show that no one “is excluded from the nearness of God’s love.”

“The flight into Egypt because of Herod’s threats shows us that God is also there — there where man is in danger, there where man suffers, there where he escapes, where he experiences rejection and abandonment; but He is also where man dreams, hoping to return to his homeland in freedom, designing and choosing a life of dignity for himself and his family.”

Even in families who do not face such dramatic circumstances, “exiled persons” can be found, noted the pontiff: “the elderly, for example, who sometimes are treated as a burdensome presence.”

“Many times I think that one sign to know how a family is doing is to see how the children and elderly are treated in it,” he said.

Pope Francis then repeated one of his oft-used instructions on family life. “Remember the three key phrases: excuse me, thank you, I’m sorry!” he exhorted the crowds, who cheered in response.

In a family that uses these words, “there is peace and joy,” he assured them.

“Repeat it with me, everyone together!” the pope urged, “excuse me, thank you, I’m sorry.”

Pope Francis greets a family as they present the offertory gifts during Mass on the feast of the Epiphany in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on January 6. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Pope: In new year, step outside your comfort zone, get involved

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The new year will be brighter only if everyone steps outside their safe havens, gets involved and works together to solve local problems with generosity and love, Pope Francis said.

As 2013 comes to a close, let everyone ask God for forgiveness and thank Him for His patience and love, the pope said as he presided over a December 31 evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica.

May Mary “teach us to welcome God made Man so that every year, every month, every day be overflowing with His eternal love,” he said on the eve of the feast honoring her as Mother of God. Leading the annual “Te Deum” prayer service to thank God for His blessings in 2013 and the gift of Salvation in Christ, the pope asked people to reflect on how they have spent the past year — the precious days, weeks and months the Lord has given as a gift to everyone.

“Have we used it mostly for ourselves, for our own interests or did we know to spend it for others, too? How much time did we set aside for being with God, in prayer, in silence, in adoration?”

People should also reflect on how they used their time to contribute to their communities.

The quality of life in a community — how it runs and looks — depends on everyone, he said in his homily, which he delivered standing from a lectern.

“A city’s face is like a mosaic in which the tiles are all those who live there,” he said.

While public officials and other leaders certainly have more responsibility, “everyone is co-responsible, for the good and bad.”

“Have we contributed, in our small way, to making (our communities) livable, orderly, and welcoming?” the pope asked. “What will we do, how will we act in the new year to make our city a little bit better?”

As the Bishop of Rome, the pope looked at the Italian capital in particular, noting its “extraordinary” spiritual and cultural riches.

“And yet, Rome also has many people marked by material and moral poverty, people who are poor, unhappy and suffering, who prick the consciences of every citizen,” he said.

“In Rome, perhaps we feel this contrast more strongly” with such a stark difference between its “majestic setting, loaded with artistic beauty” and the difficulties people struggle against.

A city of opposites, Rome is teeming with tourists,

“but is also filled with refugees. Rome is full of people who work, but also people who can’t find work,” who are underpaid or have jobs that harm their dignity, he said.

“Everyone has the right to be treated with the same attitude of welcome and fairness because everyone possesses human dignity” and are part of the same human family, he said.

Pope Francis said Rome, like all communities, will be more beautiful, hospitable, welcoming and kind “if all of us are attentive and generous toward whoever is in difficulty; if we know how to collaborate with a constructive and caring spirit for the good of all people.”

Every community will be a better place “if there are no people who watch it ‘from afar,’ like a picture postcard, who observe its life only ‘from the balcony’ without getting involved” directly with the many problems of the men and women who, “whether we like it or not, are our brothers and sisters.”

The pope underlined the important work and duty of the Church in contributing to people’s lives and future, and how, with the leaven of the Gospel, the Church is a sign and instrument of God’s mercy.

The International Church Cardinal O’Malley denounces recent Dominican Republic immigration ruling January 10, 2014

Boston (CNA/EWTN and the Caribbean Community Recalling the help many DoNews) — Cardinal Sean P. attended the talks as observers. minicans provided for Haitians O’Malley, OFM, Cap., of BosIn his letter, Cardinal affected by 2012 earthquake, ton is lamenting a court ruling O’Malley recalled his work Cardinal O’Malley stressed in the Dominican Republic that with the Hispanic community that many people of goodwill retroactively strips away citi- in Washington, D.C., which in both nations desire peace zenship from any person born began more than 40 years ago. and solidarity. after 1929 to parents without “I worked with the Domini“As a young priest in WashDominican ancestry. can community in Washington ington,” he said, “I celebrated “It is the destiny of the Do- D.C. for 20 years, then for 10 Mass for immigrants from the minican and Haitian peoples to years in the West Indies, and Dominican Republic and Haiti share an island,” Cardinal in the very same parish. I O’Malley said in a letsaw any divisions lease communicate to never ter last month to the Door discrimination. The your government the faith of the people and minican ambassador to the United States, Anibal de concerns and disappointment of their common struggle to Castro. “Events of history a priest who considers himself a provide for their families have left their scars, but I friend to the people of the Domin- united them in commubelieve that Dominicans nity.” and Haitians of goodwill ican Republic,” the cardinal said.

“At Christmas time we long for a future of greater relive the events of Christ’s solidarity and friendship.” life, beginning with the “Please communicate to now in Massachusetts,” he said. Holy Family’s search for lodgyour government the concerns “President Joaquin Balaguer ing in Bethlehem where there and disappointment of a priest honored me with the decora- was no room in the inn. It is my who considers himself a friend tion, the Order of Cristobal hope that at this Christmas seato the people of the Dominican Colon, for my pastoral work son the government and people Republic,” the cardinal said. with Dominicans. I have al- of the Dominican Republic will His letter came in response ways had a great affection for reject these unjust rulings that to the Dominican Republic’s the Dominican Republic and cause so much pain and sufferConstitutional Court ruling their people.” ing,” the cardinal wrote. that the children of undocu“It is in the same spirit,” the “Every country has the right mented immigrants who were cardinal continued, “that I turn to control its own boundaries,” born in the country beginning to you today to share my sad- he pointed out, “but no one has in 1929 and who are registered ness at the Constitutional Tri- the right to trample people’s as Dominican citizens will lose bunal’s ruling that creates such dignity and diminish their hutheir status because their par- hardship for so many people of manity.” ents were “in transit” in the Haitian extraction who live in “I hope and pray that the country. the Dominican Republic, many government and people of the The court’s decision could of whom have been born in Dominican Republic will be affect some 200,000 Domini- your country. Indeed, their hard inspired by the ideals of the cans of Haitian descent, includ- work and dedication contribute Gospel of Jesus Christ that aping many who have had no ties much to the well-being of the pears on your beautiful national with Haiti for generations. country.” flag.”

A delegation from the gov“To be a person without a ernments of Haiti and the state, ‘a man without a counDominican Republic met on try’ makes it nearly impossible January 7 to discuss the issue of to study, to get a decent job, to immigration, after negotiations acquire insurance, to contribbetween the two countries me- ute to a pension fund, to get diated by Venezuela broke off married legally, to open bank last November. Representatives accounts and even to travel in from Venezuela, the United or out of one’s own country of Nations, the European Union origin,” he explained.

“P

Diocese of Fall River

OFFICIAL

His Excellency, the Most Reverend George W. Coleman, Bishop of Fall River, has announced the following appointments: Rev. Robert J. Powell, Parochial Administrator of St. Lawrence Martyr Parish, New Bedford.

Rev. Michael J. Fitzpatrick, Parochial Administrator of St. Joan of Arc Parish, Orleans Effective: January 13, 2014

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Women and children stand near their destroyed house in a village in Bossangoa, Central African Republic, recently. Escalating violence in the Central African Republic is posing a threat to children, with at least two beheaded and thousands recruited as soldiers, the United Nations said. Dozens of others have been injured. (CNS photo/Andreea Campeanu, Reuters)

In Central African Republic, thousands turn to local bishop for protection

WASHINGTON (CNS) — More than 35,000 people are living on the 40-acre diocesan compound in Bossangoa, Central African Republic, seeking protection from rebels who are targeting Christians, said the local bishop. “The priests have been sharing their rooms in their private apartments,” said Bishop Nestor-Desire Nongo Aziagbia of Bossangoa, who visited Washington recently.

“The only place that has not been used is my private apartment.”

Bishop Nongo told Catholic News Service he closed the minor seminary, which is now used as a shelter, and the pas-

toral center has been destroyed.

He said the Catholic aid agency Caritas has an office in the compound, but people also live in the office. The people began coming September 8 to escape attacks by rebels of the Seleka alliance, most of whom are foreign mercenaries and do not speak the local language.

The rebels are predominantly Muslim; Central African Republic is about 85 percent Christian and 12 percent Muslim. Bishop Nongo said the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Relief Services sent emergency help in mid-September, and the World Food Program sent help in late September, “but it is not really enough.”

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The Church in the U.S.

January 10, 2014

California community grieves loss of murdered pastor

Santa Rosa, Calif.

(CNA/EWTN News) — The people of Humboldt County, located on California’s North Coast, are grieving the loss of Father Eric Freed, a “wonderful” pastor, who was murdered early on New Year’s Day. “Amid sadness, anger, and disbelief, we would like to give thanks to God for tremendously blessing the parishioners of St. Bernard’s Catholic Parish with Father Eric Freed. Though his life on earth was unfairly taken away, we remember that the greatest gift of all cannot be taken, which is eternal life with God,” Laura Martinez, a parishioner at Father Freed’s St. Bernard parish in Eureka, wrote at the parish’s website.

“May the Lord rest his soul.

This tragedy reminds us how fragile life is, and how we really do not know how much time we have left on earth. In honor of Father Eric, may we make a greater effort to live each day as if it were our last; to do our duty well, whatever it may be; and to love God and others to the fullest.”

St. Bernard parishioners became concerned when Father Freed failed to show up for 9 a.m.

Mass on January 1, and his corpse was found in his rectory by the parish’s deacon who, according to Hank Sims, a local journalist, told the parishioners at St. Bernard that “Something is terribly wrong with Father Freed.” The congregation then stayed to pray a Rosary until police and medical personnel arrived.

Father Freed had been the pastor at St. Bernard since 2011.

The parish is located in Eureka, which is on the Pacific coast nearly 200 miles north of Santa Rosa.

According to the Eureka Police Department, Father Freed was observed to be dead by a doctor who is a parishioner at St. Bernard once police arrived at the scene. It appears “that there was blunt force trauma to the victim” though the “exact cause of death has yet to be determined,” the department added.

Eureka police chief Andrew Mills confirmed the death and announced that the police were launching an investigation at a January 1 press conference. The following day, the Humboldt County coroner ruled Father Freed’s death as a homicide on January 2.

Mills confirmed to the Local Coast Outpost, a northern California news outlet, that Gary

Lee Bullock had been arrested for Father Freed’s murder. Earlier that day, Mills had announced an arrest warrant for Bullock, after a person matching his description was reported near the parish acting “suspicious.”

Hours before Father Freed’s death, Bullock been held in the county jail and then hospital due to “strange behavior” and “erratic” actions, but was released shortly after midnight on January 1, the police department stated.

In addition to serving as pastor at St. Bernard, Father Freed was director of the Newman Center at Humboldt State University, located in nearby Arcata.

There he gave weekly lectures and catechetical classes, and said Masses.

According to the university’s Newman Center Facebook page, the college students will hold a memorial once students return to campus from Christmas break. Local residents have been gathering for Mass at St. Bernard. Father Freed also taught two classes at Humboldt State: an introduction to Christianity, and Japanese calligraphy.

Father Freed was active in the local Japanese community, having lived abroad there for more than 20 years, and had helped a poet and Hiroshima survivor translate her works on the bombing of her home.

As well as living in Japan, Father Freed had also lived in Italy for a time.

Colleague and chairman of Humboldt State University’s religious studies department Stephen Cunha described Father Freed as “a really, genuinely warm individual,” in an interview with CNN. “Kind is the word that comes to mind, sensitive. He connected with everybody.”

Eureka mayor Frank Jager described Father Freed at a press conference as a friend and a “tremendous person in this community.”

Jager described Father Freed as “involved with the Japanese community, multi-lingual,” and called his death “an absolutely tremendous loss, not only for St. Bernard’s Parish, but for our community in general.”

“Every once in a while, you meet one of those people who is truly wonderful — someone you’d like to clone and fill the world with. He was one of those people. “(For) those of us who believe in prayer, this is the time for that.”

A resident and a Sister arrange flowers at the Little Sisters of the Poor’s Mullen Home in Denver, Colo., in this undated file photo. (Photo by El Pueblo Catolico/James Baca)

Little Sisters threatened by HHS mandate, lawyers argue

Washington D.C. — sign a form authorizing an in- The majority have received preDespite the claims of the U.S. surance company or third party liminary injunctions while their Justice Department, the de- to provide payments for the cases work their way through mands of the federal contra- products they find objection- the court system.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ception mandate threaten the able. Critics argue that these continued works of service per- costs will ultimately be passed agreed to hear a case involving formed by the Little Sisters of on to the objecting employ- for-profit businesses run by reers, despite the government’s ligious individuals who object the Poor, their attorneys say. to the mandate. A decision is Eric Rassbach, deputy gen- claims otherwise.

The Little Sisters asked that expected in that case later this eral counsel with the Becket Fund for Religious Libn January 3, the Department of year.

Archbishop Joseph erty, which is representJustice responded to Sotomayor’s E. Kurtz of Louisville, ing the religious Sisters order, arguing that the Little Sisters’ “reKy., president of the U.S. in court, charged that the government’s claim ligious exercise is not substantially bur- Conference of Catholic amounts to “double- dened” by the mandate because of the ac- Bishops, has asked the federal government that speak” and “trivializes” commodation. temporary protection the situation of the Sisfrom the mandate be exters.

For 175 years, the Little Sis- they be temporarily shielded tended to all religious employers ters of the Poor have provided from the mandate by an emer- who object to it. The governphysical, spiritual and emotion- gency stay, which was granted ment has not publicly respondal care for the low-income el- by U.S. Supreme Court Justice ed to his request.

Rassbach responded to the derly and dying in communities Sonia Sotomayor on December 31, just hours before the man- Justice Department’s statement throughout the U.S. by saying that “the biggest tell Now, however, they are fac- date was to go into effect.

On January 3, the Depart- here is what the government is ing crippling fines due to the federal contraception mandate, ment of Justice responded to doing.” He questioned why the which requires employers to Sotomayor’s order, arguing that government is “spending miloffer health insurance plans the Little Sisters’ “religious ex- lions of dollars in legal costs” if including free contraception, ercise is not substantially bur- it is, in fact, a minor matter for sterilization, and some early dened” by the mandate because the nuns to sign the authorization form. abortion drugs for employees. of the accommodation.

“In reality the government The Little Sisters contend Failing to comply results in fines of up to $100 per employ- that even being forced to sign is acting as if the form matters a paper authorizing an outside a lot,” he said, noting that the ee per day.

While the mandate includes party to provide the objection- government has said “in the a narrow religious exemption, able coverage is a violation of lower courts that the purpose of the form is to authorize drugs the Little Sisters fail to qualify their religious beliefs.

The Sisters are not alone in and devices” that the nuns find for it because they are not affiliated with a particular house of suing over the controversial unconscionable.

“The idea that it’s just a worship. Instead, the group falls regulation — lawsuits have under an “accommodation” by been filed by more than 300 stroke of a pen trivializes the which religious employers can plaintiffs across the country. entire matter.”

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The Church in the U.S. Catholic bioethicist advises caution in Jahi McMath case

January 10, 2014

Washington D.C. (CNA/EWTN News) — The “tragic” case of teen-age girl Jahi McMath — now at the center of a legal controversy over brain death — shows the need to determine the facts before making ethical conclusions, says a bioethicist.

“The difficulty of these cases have to be recognized, especially in terms of the human suffering of the families,” John Di Camillo of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Washington, D.C. recently told CNA. “It’s not something that’s simply a clear-cut, blackand-white case that we can, from the outside, say we know what’s going on. Because we don’t,” he added.

“It’s all in the details of the medical facts. We have to defer to reason when we see that the facts have been clarified, and then we can use those as our starting point for our ethical reflection.”

Jahi McMath, age 13, underwent a complex tonsil removal surgery at Children’s Hospital Oakland on December 9 to treat her sleep apnea. After the surgery, she appeared fine but then underwent cardiac arrest, lost oxygen to her brain and had extensive hemorrhaging, the Los Angeles Times reports. She was first declared brain dead on December 12.

Five physicians, two at Children’s Hospital Oakland and three independent doctors requested by the family, have declared the girl to be brain dead. The doctors have said the girl is unable to breathe on her own and other

tests show that there is no McMath’s case before making “excessive burden,” he said.

Catholic ethics do not supblood flow to her brain and no a moral judgment.

“Before even getting to the port the mentality of “life at all signs of electrical activity. She ethical considerations, the costs,” but rather promotes life is presently on a ventilator.

A federal court order has medical facts are an absolute “within reason and within the barred the hospital from re- priority,” he said. “If we have context of one’s circumstances, moving life support systems a medically clear and con- possibilities, pain, suffering.” until January 7, ABC News re- firmed determination of death The bioethicist said there is ports. McMath’s family atholic ethics do not support the a basic obligation to protect life “within the hopes to transfer her to mentality of “life at all costs,” limits of reason and the a long-term care facility where she can stay but rather promotes life “within reason limits of that proporon life support. and within the context of one’s circum- tionality.”

Di Camillo again The family’s lawyer stances, possibilities, pain, suffering.” has asked Children’s The bioethicist said there is a basic ob- noted that appropriate treatment depends Hospital Oakland to ligation to protect life “within the limits on the facts of the case. perform a tracheotomy and insert a feed- of reason and the limits of that propor- Life support systems are sometimes ordiing tube, procedures tionality.” nary means of treatnecessary before any ment and sometimes transfer.

The hospital had said it by these neurological criteria, disproportionate.

“It’s not an absolute. It has “does not believe that per- then we’re dealing with a situforming surgical procedures ation where the body is actu- to be determined on a caseon the body of a deceased per- ally the corpse of the deceased by-case basis, in light of the facts,” he said. son is an appropriate medical of this young girl.”

“If we’re dealing with a case Jahi McMath’s situation practice.” It said transferring the girl would require the ap- where the person is in fact has prompted comparisons to proval of the coroner, as she is brain damaged but still alive, Terri Schiavo, a Florida womthen we have a whole different an who suffered severe brain considered legally dead.

The hospital added, how- set of ethical criteria because damage in 1990, lived in a ever, that it continues to sup- we’re talking about a living port McMath’s family “in this human being who is worthy time of grief and loss over her of full respect and full treatment.” death.”

He said Catholic teaching On January 3 the girl’s family and the hospital reached an holds that “full brain death” agreement to allow a team to criteria are legitimate indicatransfer her to another facility, tors that the patient has died. the Los Angeles Times reports. However, he also warned But a judge has refused the about “misleading language” family’s request to have a doc- which uses the term “brain tor perform the procedures death” to describe those who required for the move. The are brain damaged or in states girl’s mother will take full re- of reduced consciousness sponsibility for her during the where a patient may still have transfer. It is not yet known brain stem function.

Patients deserve proporwhat facility will receive the tionate care that offers a reagirl. sonable hope of benefiting Di Camillo stressed the them without imposing an need to know the facts of Jahi

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persistent vegetative state for years, and died of starvation in March 2005 after a contentious legal battle. Her parents wanted doctors to provide her nutrition and hydration, while her husband did not.

Di Camillo said such a comparison is “difficult” because it is known that Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state and “clearly not brain dead.”

Schiavo “could not satisfy any of the criteria for brain death as far as I understand it,” the bioethicist said, while McMath’s status is “the very question at issue.”

The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, founded by Schiavo’s parents, brother and sister, said December 31 it has been overseeing the effort by several groups to transfer the teen girl out of the Oakland hospital.

The network says McMath’s case draws attention to hospital corporations’ “vested financial interest in discontinuing life.”

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January 10, 2014

Anchor Editorial

‘Evangelli Gaudium’ Part III

You can read on page 13 of this edition of The Anchor about the pope’s fear of “little monsters.” These are not the type of monsters that we used to be afraid of coming out from under our beds. Instead, these fiends are “religious who have hearts that are as sour as vinegar.” The creation of these “little monsters” in part comes about when formation of religious vocations becomes more like “a police action” than a “work of art,” according to Pope Francis.

What gives the pope “goose bumps” about this is that then the “little monsters mold the People of God.” The molding done by them would be a deformation of the Christian community, resulting in “a vaccine against faith” (to use another expression which the Holy Father used during his November meeting with the heads of religious orders).

The pope’s message to religious superiors carries a message for all of us. We all need to keep in mind when examining our consciences whether our way of living out the Gospel is bringing people to Christ or is pushing them away from Him. For parents and others charged with transmitting the faith to young people, there is the “tightrope” of needing to communicate the Catholic faith, while not making it just seem like a series of rules. The same is true for our interactions with fellow adults — can they perceive from us that the faith gives us joy or do we just seem like neurotic people who are jumping through hoops?

One of the challenges to experiencing joy in our faith is that Christ called us to come to Salvation via a community, the Church. It seems to us, at times, that it would be so much easier if He saved us individually, one by one, without having the “burden” of communal responsibilities. Pope Francis discussed this with the religious superiors, recalling the patron saint of altar servers, “St. John Berchmans, [who] used to say that his greatest penance was precisely community life. Sometimes living fraternally is difficult, but if it is not lived it is not productive. Work, even that which is ‘apostolic,’ can become an escape from fraternal life. If a person cannot live brotherhood he cannot live religious life.”

Most Christians are not called to be a religious Sister, Brother or priest, but we are all called to be a part of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, in which we are required to love our neighbors as ourselves, as Jesus commanded. This does require some interaction with them and this will result in some crosses. The pope said, “Something is missing from communities where there is no conflict. Reality dictates that there are conflicts in all families and all groups of people. And conflict must be faced head on: it should not

be ignored. Covering it over just creates a pressure cooker that will eventually explode. A life without conflicts is not life.”

Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro, the author of the article in La Civilta Cattolica which provided the coverage of the pope’s conversation with the religious superiors, wrote that the Holy Father’s words to them should be “read in the light of ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ (n.

226-230).” In n. 226 the pope wrote, “Conflict cannot be ignored or concealed. It has to be faced. But if we remain trapped in conflict, we lose our perspective, our horizons shrink and reality itself begins to fall apart. In the midst of conflict, we lose our sense of the profound unity of reality.”

If we remain focused only on conflict, we become like the “well-balanced Irishman,” as Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, OFM, Cap., often remarks, who has a chip on both shoulders.

Pope Francis describes in ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ n. 227 the different ways in which people face conflict. “When conflict arises, some people simply look at it and go their way as if nothing happened; they wash their hands of it and get on with their lives.

Others embrace it in such a way that they become its prisoners; they lose their bearings, project onto institutions their own confusion and dissatisfaction and thus make unity impossible. But there is also a third way, and it is the best way to deal with conflict. It is the willingness to face conflict head on, to resolve it and to make it a link in the chain of a new process. ‘Blessed are the peacemakers!’” (Mt 5:9).

What the pope proposes here is not easy, and yet we need to remember that Jesus said that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed “nothing will be impossible for you” (Mt 17:20). The Holy Father wrote that “communion amid disagreement can only be achieved by those great persons who are willing to go beyond the surface of the conflict and to see others in their deepest dignity.” Imagine if we could do this in our families, at our workplaces, in our parishes.

To work towards this peace, which is not a papering over of differences, but a confrontation of conflict, always done so in love, it is necessary that we not be “little monsters” or people with hearts full of vinegar. As we enter a new year, we ask Our Lord to help us with this resolution, so that we might be able to resolve so many conflicts which eat away at our families, our Church, and our world. Thus the Gospel might again be seen as a source of joy.

Pope Francis’ weekly Angelus address and prayer

Dear brothers and sisters!

This Sunday’s Liturgy re-proposes to us, in the prologue of St. John’s Gospel, the deepest meaning of Jesus’ birth. He is the Word of God Who became Man and pitched His “tent,” His dwelling, among men. The evangelist writes: “The Word became Flesh and came to live among us” ( Jn 1:14). In these words, which never cease to astound us, is the whole of Christianity!

God became mortal, fragile like us, He shared our human condition, except for

sin, but took our sins upon Himself as if they were His own. He entered into our history, He fully became God-with-us! Jesus’ birth, then, shows us that God wanted to unite Himself to every man and woman, to each one of us, to communicate His life and His joy.

So, God is God with us, God Who loves us, God Who walks with us. This is the message of Christmas: the Word became Flesh.

Thus, Christmas reveals God’s immense love for humanity. From here stems the enthusiasm, the hope of OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER

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Christians, who in our poverty know that we are loved, visited and accompanied by God; and we look at the world and at history as the place in which to walk together with Him and with each other, toward the new Heaven and the new earth.

With the birth of Jesus a new promise is born, a new world is born, but also a world that can always be renewed. God is always present to raise up new men, to purify the world from the sin that makes it old, from the sin that corrupts it.

As much as human history and our own personal history can be marked by difficulties and weaknesses, faith in the Incarnation tells us that God is in solidarity with man and his history. This closeness of God to man, to every man, and to each of us, is a gift that never fades away! He is with us! He is God with us! This is the Good News of Christmas: the Divine Light, which flooded the hearts of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, and guided the steps of the shepherds

and the Magi, also shines for us today.

In the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God there is also an aspect connected to human freedom, to the freedom of each one of us. In fact, the Word of God pitched His tent among us, sinners and needful of mercy. And we must all make haste to receive the grace that He offers us. But, St. John’s Gospel continues, “His own did not welcome Him” (1:11).

We too often reject Him, we prefer to remain closed up in our errors and the anxiety of our sins.

But Jesus does not desist and does not cease to offer Himself and His grace that save us! Jesus is patient, Jesus knows how to wait, He always waits for us. This is a message of hope, a message of Salvation, ancient and ever new.

And we are called to bear witness with joy to this message of the Gospel of life, the Gospel of light, of hope and love, because this is Jesus’ message: life, light, hope, love.

May Mary, the Mother of God and our tender Mother, sustain us always so that we remain faithful to the Christian vocation and make the justice and peace that we desire at the beginning of this new year a reality.

The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, and she conceived by work of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary ...

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy Word.

Hail Mary ...

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary ...

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

January 10, 2014

T

he most controversial and commented-upon part of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”) was the section on economic realities. Many of the initial press reports focused not on the main point of the exhortation — the joyful spread of the Good News — but forceful papal condemnations of an “economy that kills,” the “dictatorship of an impersonal economy,” “idolatry of money,” “trickle-down theories,” the “absolute autonomy of the marketplace,” trust in “the invisible hand of the market.”

To some Americans, it seemed like the pope was flunking free market economies for failing to help lift the poor from indigence while implicitly favoring socialist solutions.

That was something bound to irk the millions of Americans, especially Catholics, whose immigrant parents and grandparents arrived penniless but who through hard work, risk and education were able to help their families rise from poverty to the middle class to beyond.

Contrary to the way Pope Francis’ words were spun, he said explicitly that he was not offering a document of the Church’s social magisterium applying the teaching of the Church to specifically economic matters.

If he were interested in doing that, he would have naturally analyzed other models for the economic organization of society, such as Blessed John Paul II did in the

I

n her still-widely-read 1971 article, “A Defense of Abortion,” Judith Jarvis Thomson sets up a thought experiment known as “The Famous Violinist Problem” to argue that abortion ought to be morally justified when a pregnancy arises out of sexual assault: “You wake up in the morning and find yourself back-to-back in bed with a famous unconscious violinist. He has been found to have a fatal kidney ailment, and the Society of Music Lovers has canvassed all the available medical records and found that you alone have the right blood type to help.

They have therefore kidnapped you, and last night the violinist’s circulatory system was plugged into yours, so that your kidneys can be used to extract poisons from his blood as well as your own. To unplug you would be to kill him. But never mind, it’s only for nine months. By then he will have recovered from his ailment, and can safely be unplugged from you.”

Most people would share the intuition that they should be able to unplug themselves from the violinist, since they didn’t consent to being hooked up in the first

Anchor Columnists The joy of the Gospel and the economy

1991 encyclical “Centesimus Annus,” It enslaves people in the “worship when he taught that socialist modof the ancient golden calf ” and els failed because of an inadequate fosters a “disposable” culture and a anthropology and that free market “globalized indifference” that treats economies, tied to a just rule of law, human beings, especially the poor, sound democratic governments and as “consumer goods to be exploited an understanding of freedom tied to and then discarded as leftovers.” the moral good, are “certainly” the This throw-away culture, he notes, best model to be proposed to poor doesn’t consider it news “when an third-world countries searching for elderly homeless person dies of the path to true economic and civil exposure,” but obsesses “when the progress.

Rather that continuing that social magisterium, Pope Francis was writing an exhortation to help those who “are in thrall to an individualistic, indifBy Father ferent and self-centered Roger J. Landry mentality to be freed from those unworthy chains and to attain a way of living and thinking that is more humane, stock market loses two points.” noble and fruitful.” He was writing In two daily homilies, Pope a pastoral document meant to point Francis explained why this feroout how the modern idolatry of cious idolatry of money hinders the mammon is hindering the proclaproclamation and living out of the mation and living of the Gospel, Gospel. particularly with regard to Christian On June 22, he mentioned how attitudes and actions with regard to Jesus, in the parable of the Sower the poor. All his economic critiand the Seed, taught clearly that cisms are made with that purpose “riches and worldly concerns … in mind. choke the Word of God” and prePope Francis’ main target is a vent it from growing. consumerist ideology that desolates On September 20, pondering the heart with frivolous pleasures, Jesus’ words that we cannot serve blunts the conscience, and fosters two masters, God and money, Pope an egocentrism that excludes God Francis said, “There is something and others. “This is a very real about the attitude of love towards danger for believers, too,” he writes money that takes us away from in the second paragraph of the God.” St. Paul said that greed is exhortation. “Many fall prey to it.” “the root of all evil,” and Pope Fran-

Putting Into the Deep

cis noted that such love of money “makes you deviate from authentic faith. It cuts you off from the faith, and weakens you so that you lose it.” It leads people to place their faith, hope and love vainly in money and what money can provide than in God. If Pope Francis’ biggest criticism was of the consumerist worship of mammon, his biggest concern was to help the poor. One of the consequences of a “deified market” is the ideology that “economic growth alone, encouraged by a free market, will by itself succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world.”

From his own experience serving the poor in the sprawling shanty-towns of Buenos Aires, he knows from experience that prosperity never seems to make it to the villas miseria.

His strong words against the idolatry of the market seem to be based on that Argentine experience.

If we were exposed to crony insider capitalism, corruption, lack of economic opportunity and unfair application of just laws that has been the history of the Argentine and several other Latin American “market” based economies, it would be hard not to share those criticisms, not to mention his censure of the extreme anarcho-libertarians who uphold the “absolute autonomy” of the markets, something that was firmly rejected here in our country

7 at the end of the Gilded Age. Pope Francis’ main desire is to include the poor more effectively in the economy so that they will have the opportunity to rise out of misery. He wants to foster an economy that serves all people, not just those in power or with greater opportunities.

Sound economists, looking at the recent experience of East Asia not to mention the history of the United States and other prosperous economies, have pointed out that the data indisputably show that the best means we’ve discovered for lifting whole peoples out of poverty is through well-functioning free market economies tied to moral virtues like honesty and diligence and protected by just and enforced laws.

That obviously doesn’t mean, however, that the profits trickle down to everyone or that everyone has similar basic means to enter.

There are obvious areas of needed reform, of structure and of economic agents. With his powerful exhortation, Pope Francis is calling all people, especially those in the financial sectors and government, to an examination of conscience concerning the means to make sure the economy is just and charitable, that it serves and includes, rather than dominates and kills, especially the most vulnerable.

Anchor columnist Father Landry is pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Fall River. fatherlandry@ catholicpreaching.com.

Violinist violence place. Others would suggest an The second problem with analogy with becoming pregnant Thomson’s analogy is that aborfrom rape, so the mother could tion is not like “unplugging” a tube “unplug” herself from the child by connecting one person to another, abortion. and allowing the dependent indiAt least two serious problems, vidual to expire from a condition however, exist with this analogy. like kidney failure. Instead, aborFirst, the famous violinist is tion invokes various surgical and not a good parallel for the child obstetrical procedures that directly conceived by sexual assault. The end the life of, and even dismemviolinist in Thomson’s thought ber, the in-utero child. experiment is basically a stranger to us. But the child conceived in rape is not, properly speaking, a stranger at all, and the analogy should probably be corrected to indicate

By Father Tad this: “When the woman Pacholczyk wakes up, she finds herself connected to a prodigy violinist who also happens to be Norma McCorvey, the former her 12-year-old son.” In such a “Jane Roe” of the Roe vs. Wade scenario, she would far more easily Supreme Court decision, herself admit an obligation to remain once worked in an abortion clinic attached to him, even for an exand later described what happened tended period of time. Following there: a rape that results in pregnancy, “When a later abortion was a woman likewise finds herself performed, workers had to piece connected to her own progeny, her the baby back together, and every own child in-utero, with simimajor part — head, torso, two legs, lar natural moral obligations to and two arms — had to be acnurture and care for her own flesh counted for. One of our little jokes and blood. at the clinic was, ‘If you ever want

Making Sense Out of Bioethics

to humble a doctor, hide a leg so he thinks he has to go back in.’

Please understand, these were not abnormal, uncaring women working with me at the clinic. We were just involved in a bloody, dehumanizing business, all of us for our own reasons. Whether we were justifying our past advocacy (as I was), justifying a previous abortion (as many were) or whatever, we were just trying to cope — and if we couldn’t laugh at what was going on, I think our minds would have snapped.”

McCorvey’s comments remind us that abortion is essentially a violent and deadly act, not a euphemistic “unhooking” or “separating” of mother and child.

Thus we might wish to modify Thomson’s analogy once again in order to maintain parallelism: “A woman wakes up in the morning and finds herself attached to a violinist. To free herself from any further involvement with him, she asks a doctor to come in with a knife and to dismember the renowned musician.” The absolute wrongness of such direct killing would remain beyond dispute, as

would the wrongness of any direct killing actions by a raped woman directed against her unborn son because of the sins of his father.

In reflecting on the specifics of “The Famous Violinist Problem,” we begin to appreciate the importance of never subjecting an innocent third party, whether a musician or an in-utero child, to direct lethal harm simply because they find themselves in a state of radical dependence upon another human being. Although we aren’t obligated to use extreme or extraordinary measures to try to save the violinist in Thomson’s thought experiment, we shouldn’t make the error of supposing that the state of pregnancy itself is somehow extraordinary or extreme, even in the tragic case of sexual assault, given that it objectively embodies the natural and familial line of duty to care for our own offspring.

Anchor columnist FatherPacholczyk earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard.

He is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, and serves as the director of Education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia.

See www.ncbcenter.org.

8

January 10, 2014

Baptism calls us to mission, driven by obedience and accountability

L

ast Sunday we commemorated the great revelation of the Divine nature of Jesus with the feast of the Epiphany. This week we will be fast forwarding, roughly 30 years to the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. Again the disclosure of His Divine personage is made manifest in an event which marks the beginning of Christ’s mission.

Jesus begins His mission, like any Christian does, by being baptized by one of those who are charged with representing Him on earth.

However, in first-century Judea, Baptism was seen as a cleansing ritual for converts to Judaism. The novel application John was suggesting was for Jews and Gentiles alike to recognize the existence of sin in their life, to actively repent, and submit themselves to Baptism. So we can understand John’s confusion when Jesus presents Himself for Baptism. Having a sense of Who Jesus was, John could see no reason for

“He Who was without sin” to propel Him from the waters repent. Jesus was sinless; He of the Jordan River to the did not sin, so in no way did summit of Calvary, “to death, He need this Baptism. Maybe death on a cross,” purchaswe should look for reasons ing for us something we why Jesus was baptized, not could never obtain on our for Himself but why He was own. In our own Baptism, baptized for us. we are called to obedience.

Jesus is always teaching, providing Homily of the Week revelation about our God. So too is the Baptism of case at His Baptism. the Lord Our Lord is revealing something about His

By Deacon relationship as Son, Robert Craig with God the Father.

Jesus receives the tremendous affirmaWe are called to live holy and tion of His identity: “This is obedient lives. The obedience My beloved Son with Whom that we are called to is like I am well pleased.” It is the that of John the Baptist, who relationship we enter into even though he was reluctant, with our own Baptism, when when Jesus was seeking to we become adopted sons be baptized, baptized Him and daughters of the Father. anyway. This obedience is At our Baptism, these same not contingent on the ability words are extended to each to understand, but based on of us. faith and trust; hearing the Jesus shows us obedicommand and trusting in He ence, humbly submitting to Who commands.

Baptism. His obedience to Finally, Jesus demonstrates the will of the Father would for us the accountability to

mission. Emerging from the waters of His Baptism, our Lord boldly goes forth to spread the Word of God. So, too, are we charged, from the time of our Baptism to be “priest and prophet.”

Becoming members of the mystical Body of the Church, we share in this accountability to the mission. As Pope Francis recently said in the apostolic Exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium” “Evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptized. Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged.” Just as Jesus inaugurates His mission by being baptized by John, so, too, does Baptism inaugurate the continuation of this mission for the newly-baptized.

This inheritance comes with a price, a price that we in our humanism, find difficult to pay. Like Jesus, our Baptism was not a one shot deal. We are called to live the

expectations of our Baptismal promises every day. It becomes an act of commitment and of identification. With our Baptism, we are identified with Christ and His Church, just as with His Baptism, Jesus identifies Himself with us.

This is a constant, not subject to alternatives such as sporting events, preferred activities or political correctness.

John the Baptist can easily be seen as a figure of the Church, as the one sent to “prepare His way by giving people the knowledge of Salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” The baton of herald has been passed on to us. We are called to live our lives in such a way that our words and our actions reveal us to be sons and daughters of God the Father and consequently, brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Deacon Robert Craig is assigned to Holy Family Parish, East Taunton. He is the nurse manager for Health Promotion for the VA Boston Healthcare System.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. Jan. 11, 1 Jn 5:14-21; Ps 149:1-6a,9b; Jn 3:22-30. Sun. Jan. 12, Baptism of the Lord, Is 42:1-4,6-7; Ps 29:1-4,3,9-10; Acts 10:3438; Mt 3:13-17. Mon. Jan. 13, 1 Sm 1:1-8; Ps 116:12-19; Mk 1:14-20. Tues. Jan. 14, 1 Sm 1:9-20; (Ps) 1 Sm 2:1,4-8; Mk 1:21-28. Wed. Jan. 15, 1 Sm 3:1-10,19-20; Ps 40:2,5,7-10; Mk 1:29-39. Thurs. Jan. 16, 1 Sm 4:1-11; Ps 44:10-11,14-15,24-25; Mk 1:40-45. Fri. Jan. 17, 1 Sm 8:4-7,10-22a; Ps 89:16-19; Mk 2:1-12.

M

y fascination with Ukraine began in 1984, during a sabbatical year at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

There, one of the first friends I made among my fellow Fellows was Dr. Bohdan Bociurkiw, a Ukrainian-Canadian professor at Carleton University in Ottawa. We first connected through a mutual interest in religious freedom behind the iron curtain; within a few weeks, Bohdan was giving me private tutorials in the history and culture of his native land, including an in-depth introduction to the story of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

In 1984, the UGCC was not only the largest of the eastern Catholic churches; it was the largest underground religious body in the world. Outlawed in the Soviet Union by the infamous “Lviv Sobor” of 1946 (a farce orchestrated by the Soviet secret police), the UGCC had continued its ecclesial life under draconian circumstances.

Most of its bishops and clergy were deported to Gulag camps; the Church’s seminaries and

The drama of Ukraine 20th-century martyrs as the Liturgical life were conducted foundation on which a free and clandestinely, often in forests. virtuous Ukraine could be built Yet the leader of the UGCC, Cardinal Josyf Slipyj (the mod- in the 21st century.

Less than five months later, el for Morris West’s “pope from some of the graduates I had the steppes” in “The Shoes of the Fisherman”), never abandoned hope for a different future, and during his Roman exile he laid the groundwork for an institution Bohdan Bociurkiw never lived

By George Weigel to see but would have loved: the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, the only Catholic institu- addressed, and some of the students with whom I had tion of higher learning in the discussed the moral-cultural former USSR. foundations of democracy For the past 15 years or so at a philosophy seminar the I have taught UCU students day before commencement, and graduates in the Tertio were on the front lines of a Millennio Seminar on the wave of mass public protests Free Society in Cracow. Over in Ukraine, launched when that period I have seen their the corrupt government of self-confidence, their intellecPresident Viktor Yanukovych tual maturity, and their comabruptly halted negotiations mitment to building a decent with the European Union for future for their country grow.

Ukraine’s eventual entry into Then, this past July, I had the the EU. honor of delivering the comUkrainian civil society was mencement address at UCU, virtually obliterated by commuwhere I spoke of Ukraine’s

The Catholic Difference

nism. The Ukrainian protests of the past two months have seen the spontaneous rebirth of civil society, led in large part by young people with no memory of communism who know that the present moral and cultural conditions of their country are intolerable — and that’s before we get to the dreadful economics and the wretched politics. Among the leaders of these young democrats and human rights activists are graduates and students of UCU, who have learned their dignity as men, women and citizens from a university faculty that takes character formation as seriously as it takes intellectual formation.

Ukraine’s future is an issue of great strategic consequence, which Vladimir Putin understands, if many Americans (including an administration that was seriously behind-thecurve on events in Ukraine) do not. A Ukraine integrated into Europe guarantees that there will be limits to Rus-

sian revanchism, an easing of Russian pressure on Poland and the Baltic states, and no de facto reconstitution of the Soviet Union. A future Russian leadership, realizing that Putin’s revanchist game was up, just might stop throwing elbows internationally and attend to Russia’s vast internal problems. Much is at stake in Ukraine, geopolitically.

A lot is also at stake morally.

The Ukrainian popular uprising of late 2013 was not motivated by an unquenchable thirst for MTV and other expressions of western decadence. It was motivated by a deep yearning for truth, justice, and elementary decency in public life. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, a church that long embodied Pope Francis’s “peripheries,” is now fully engaged in the contest for the moral future of Ukraine. That brave church deserves the solidarity of Catholics throughout the world.

George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

January 10, 2014

10 January 2014 — Homeport: Falmouth Harbor — Concluding days of the Christmas season. ith the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the Christmas season comes to an end. The Bible says Jesus was Baptized by John. John the Baptist, it seems to me, was an historical reenactor of sorts. He was reenacting the event of the ancient Hebrews coming out of the desert, crossing the Jordan, and entering the Promised Land.

His message was, “Turn from sin.

Leave the desert. Wash in the water. Enter the Kingdom.”

Our Sacrament of Baptism incorporates dying and rising; life and death. For example, the rare porphyry marble Baptism font at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome was originally part of the funeral sarcophagus of a holy Roman emperor (Otto II).

Above that sarcophagus-turnedBaptism-font is a mosaic depicting (guess what?) the Baptism of the Lord. The symbols of Baptism play a powerful part in the Rite of Christian Burial.

Here in the parish, we have initiated a ministry to those who have just experienced the loss of a loved one. We call it “Funeral Liturgy Planning.” I got the idea

W

H

appy New Year! We hail in yet another year and hopefully we are a bit wiser, albeit definitely a bit older. As this new year begins, it brings with it the possibilities of new beginnings. Resolutions have been made, and probably already discarded in many instances, but yet there is the underlying hope that this can be a better year than last year.

There are the hopes of improved financial situations, prospects of beginning a new life in one’s chosen vocation, the welcoming of new family members from the newly-married to the newly-born, and so many other wonderful things that can occur throughout the year.

There is also the hope that if difficulties arise, we will find the courage to face them head on, and turn adversity into blessings.

Ringing in the new year gives everyone a “fresh” start, filled with a renewed conviction to do so much better.

Interestingly enough we close out the Christmas season with the feast of the Epiphany — which comes from the Greek verb meaning “to reveal.” We have also come to associate the word epiphany with an awak-

Anchor Columnists Ashes to ashes, dust to rain

rituals and symbols of the rite from the late Msgr. Luiz Mendonca. When he served as pastor are explained, the families grow more and more involved. They of Our Lady of Mount Carmel are especially interested in the Church in New Bedford, The Baptismal symbols used at the monsignor would meet personchurch door. For many, the conally with each family before the nection between the Baptismal funeral.

We currently have two parish- garment and the funeral pall is ioners in the Masters of Arts in Ministry The Ship’s Log program at St. John Reflections of a Seminary in Brighton — Kathy Riley and Jan Parish Priest Schutten. Each apBy Father Tim proached me about the Goldrick possibility of a “pastoral internship” here. The Funeral Liturgy Planning new information. They carefully Team is the result. decide which family members Here’s how it works. After a funeral director phones to sched- will place the pall.

To show the connection ule a funeral, the team swings between Baptism, death, and into action. A team member eternal life, the holy water used contacts the family of the deto sprinkle the casket is ceremoceased and invites them to meet niously but silently drawn from in the rectory conference room. the Baptismal font, which stands Any family member interested close by. in attending is welcome to be The option of placing a Chrispresent, as well as the priest celebrant. After the initial introduc- tian symbol on the casket is also a point of family interest. More tions, stories about the deceased than one casket has come down are told and memories shared. the church aisle bearing the wall A box of Kleenex waits close by. crucifix that had hung for years The actual planning proceeds over the bed of the deceased. in the order of the funeral rite Once or twice the family has deitself. As more and more of the

cided to place on the casket not a bible fresh out of shrink wrap, but the well-worn Bible of their loved one. One family chose to use the tattered prayer book from the night stand in their relative’s bedroom. A prayer card had been placed by the deceased to mark an invocation to St. Joseph, patron of a peaceful death.

The Funeral Liturgy planning session often ends with comforting hugs and words of condolence. The family is ready to celebrate a meaningful funeral. The priest celebrant can say more about the deceased. One widow responded, “I’m thankful to be able to spend as much time planning my husband’s funeral as we did planning our wedding.”

The burial rites of the Catholic Church are simple and powerful, once the symbols are opened up.

Inventing flashy new customs has become quite the rage in the funerary industry. An international convention was held last summer in Singapore to showcase futuristic funeral trends.

They showed a small rocket, bearing ashes, which could be shot into the clouds. The rocket

Follow the Light

ening or newfound awareness.

Many of us have experienced epiphanies in many aspects of our lives, when we suddenly understand what is happening or why something went totally different than planned, or the truth of something is revealed.

For those wise men so many years ago, it was the revelation that a New King was born, One Who would change the world, One Who even as an Infant had the power to bring others into the light of God’s love, to reveal the truth. Today we are asked to continue to carry this light to others; we are the beacons reflecting that first light that led so many to an Infant Who would change the world in ways untold.

Are you ready to carry this light into 2014? Are you willing to let others experience the joy and peace that comes from knowing and loving Jesus? We received gifts at Christmas, but the greatest gift we received was the love of God. In Luke 2:14 we hear the words “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom His

favor rests.” We are those people, we are loved in ways unimaginable, and God wants us to be filled with joy and surrounded by peace, a peace that only comes from knowing Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In the Palm of His Hands

By Rose Mary Saraiva As we begin this year filled with so much promise, let us resolve to deepen our faith, to come to truly know Jesus and all His holy birth truly means in our lives. To strive to fully grasp what God wants for His people, for us. I was once asked how can you understand the author if you do not read the book? The same is true for us as Catholic Christians, how can we truly know God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, if we choose not to learn more, to truly get to know Them and how getting up close and personal with God can have such a beautiful impact on our lives?

We were given Jesus with

all the trappings of our own humanity, to show us the way, to guide us to the Father, and to remind us of what faith, hope and love can mean in our lives.

Our challenge for 2014 should be of getting to know God, truly getting to know Him and what He wants for us. There are so many resources at our disposal to get this very task done: we have the Bible and all its inspired passages; we have Mass and the gifts of the Word and the Eucharist to nourish us throughout the week; and we have an opportunity to quiet ourselves daily to spend some time in God’s presence to pray and listen to the messages spoken to our hearts. So little is asked of us and sadly so many of us don’t comply.

But we can make a difference; we can have our very own “epiphany” if we allow the Holy Spirit to work within us. After all God reached out to us so many years ago, giving us a Baby to adore and love; a Child that grew in wisdom always faithful to the Father, sharing the goodness that is God; and this same Infant and Child growing into

9 chemically seeds the cloud.

Before long, your grandmother rains down on her own funeral.

Bring an umbrella.

There was a honey-combed wall called the “Tree of Life,” in which the ashes of deceased family members can be displayed in the manner of a genealogical chart. At night, the glass vials of ashes glow eerily in the dark.

There was a wind chime built to contain a vial of ashes. You would be reminded of your loved one whichever way the wind blew.

There was a floating oil lamp that would shine briefly on the surface of the water before slowly sinking with the ashes to the bottom of the sea.

There was an ecofriendly shroud pre-planted with mushroom spores. I think I’ll skip the salad.

I am not making this up. We do not need to invent newfangled signs and symbols for funerals. We need to better understand the symbols we already use. These are natural signs that speak to us of the supernatural.

Anchor columnist Father Tim Goldrick is pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth. frxmas@aol. com.

the Man that sacrificed Himself for love of us.

Pope Francis encourages us to reach out to our fellow man, to recognize Christ in everyone we encounter and to shine our light so others may see, and follow. May 2014 be a blessed year for each and every one of us, and may we willingly share the gifts we are so abundantly given with those we come in contact with. And let us remember that even though so little is asked of us in return, that we strive to always give more than we are given and promise ourselves to truly get to know the Persons of God, the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit in ways untold. My prayer for you and me in 2014 is that we, like the wise men so many years ago, follow the light to all that God has promised.

May 2014 be a truly blessed year.

Anchor columnist Rose Mary Saraiva lives in Fall River and is a parishioner of St. Michael’s Parish, and she is the Events Coordinator and Bereavement Ministry for the diocesan Office of Faith Formation. She is married with three children and two grandchildren. rmsaraiva@dfrcec.com.

Anchor Columnist True stars we lost in 2013

10

A

children to be sure they were t the end of every raised properly; who brought year, there always up the family in the Cathoappears a pet peeve of mine. lic tradition through their In countless media sources words and their examples. there is the inevitable litany Some of these stars were of “stars” we lost in the premothers and fathers, who vious year. also fought in wars to proLast year was no exceptect our freedoms; who also tion for losing “stars.” There were a plethora of actors and worked more than one job, actresses, musicians, athletes, to ensure that their children and politicians.

These people, while alive, for good or for bad, claimed the “spotlight.” Now their light has faded into black.

By Dave Jolivet I don’t mind looking back at those who died the previous year, but I do take great exception would be able to receive an adequate education; who to calling them “stars.”

Whenever I see these lists, raised their children to be Catholic; who taught them it I can’t help but think of the actual “stars” or heroes whom was OK to be “counter-cultural” in a media-driven age the Lord called home the where anything goes; who previous year. did things the way they were These people include supposed to, and without grandmothers and grandfafanfare. thers — good people who Some of the stars we lost fought in wars to protect were brothers and sisters our freedoms; who faced who were mentors and even the great Depression with parents when the need arose; dignity and hard work; who who were friends and conworked more than one job fidants; who made family a to be sure that their chilfamily. dren had food on the table; Some, tragically, were who stayed home with their

My View From the Stands

daughters and sons who were called from this life far too early in our eyes; who will always be a part of the fabric of our lives.

Other stars included priests and religious women and men who showed us the love and mercy of the Heavenly Father; who taught us in grade school or high school or college; who helped mold us into the persons we are today.

Still other stars were friends who helped make our lives complete, complimenting the family; people who always “had your back”; people on whom you could always count.

And yes, some of those stars were pets that filled the gaps in our lives; animals that could sense our mood and try to make a difference; animals that loved us unconditionally — true gifts from God. In 2013 there was a long list of the rich and famous who passed, and each deserves our prayers.

But in 2013, as in every year, there were countless stars who left this world, stars who we’ll never forget,

stars who filled our nighttime skies with love and peace — stars who will never fade to black. God bless and

January 10, 2014

keep them all.

Anchor columnist Dave Jolivet can be reached at davejolivet@anchornews.org.

To advertise in The Anchor, contact Wayne Powers at 508-675-7151 or Email waynepowers@ anchornews.org

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January 10, 2014

Jerusalem’s Latin patriarch hopes pope’s May visit is ‘cry for peace’

AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) — Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem welcomed the announcement of Pope Francis’ May visit to the Holy Land and said he hopes the pilgrimage will be a “cry for peace,” particularly for Palestinians, Israelis, Syrians and others beset by conflict.

Pope Francis recently announced his first trip as pontiff to the Holy Land, May 24-26, during a weekly blessing in Vatican City. His visit to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories is planned to mark the 50th anniversary of the historic visit by Pope Paul VI to the Holy Land in 1964.

Pope Francis is expected to celebrate Masses in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and the Jordanian capital, Amman, where he will begin his trip.

Speaking to reporters in Amman, Patriarch Twal underscored that Arab Christians are badly in need of the pope’s en-

couragement as their numbers continue to decrease due to violence and economic hardship.

“How great is his concern for us. And our presence, I think is one of the aspects he will mention in his speech to ask us to be courageous and to stay,” the Jordanian-born patriarch said.

“To stay in this land, to live in this land, to die in this land: the Holy Land is worthy to stay, to suffer and to die for,” he said.

Christians throughout the Middle East represent the oldest such community in the world. But in their ancient homelands of Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, they have increasingly become targets of intimidation and killing in the midst of civil unrest and war.

“The visit is intended to consolidate the good relations that bind the Muslims and Christians of these Arab countries since ancient times, as well as contribute to intensifying calls for mutual respect and redou-

A lamb sits around the neck of Pope Francis as he visits a Nativity scene at the Church of St. Alfonso Maria dei Liguori in Rome January 6. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters)

bling efforts to respect for religious pluralism in an atmosphere of love and cooperation,” the patriarch said.

“We need the pope to bring peace to Jerusalem,” Mary Yadi, a Jerusalem native and parishioner at St. Joseph’s Church in Amman, expressed as her hope for the visit.

“Our world is engulfed in war and it desperately needs peace. More prayers must be offered to see something positive happen,” she said.

Fellow parishioner, Sameh Girguis, an Egyptian Orthodox, said he wants the pope to “bring God’s love and stability to Arab countries,” writhing in the aftermath of the Arab Spring upheavals that saw long-time rulers toppled.

Another aspect of the papal pilgrimage aims to strengthen efforts initiated by Pope Paul VI to encourage greater unity between the Western and Eastern churches. Pope Francis will meet Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, considered first among equals by Orthodox bishops, and the three Catholic patriarchs of Jerusalem.

He is expected as well to build on reconciliation efforts by moderate Muslims, such as Jordan’s King Abdullah II, to foster better relations between Muslims and Christians. Immediately after his arrival in Jordan May 24, Pope Francis will meet privately with the king, who visited the pontiff with his wife, Queen Rania, in August at the Vatican.

Pope Francis also will hold talks with Jordanian religious and political leaders and cel-

ebrate an open-air Mass in an Amman stadium.

Later that evening, the pontiff will travel to the site where it is believed that Jesus was Baptized and the “place chosen

by Jesus to begin His mission,” Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, apostolic nuncio to Jordan and Iraq, told the news conference.

The place has been “significantly chosen for the pope to share dinner with the ‘least,’ that is, with those living in peculiar conditions of suffering and uncertainty,” he said.

Pope Francis, who is wellknown for his simplicity and humility in the vein of his namesake, St. Francis, will dine with Syrian refugees, the handicapped and the impoverished at the sacred site along the banks of the Jordan River.

Archbishop Lingua said the pontiff, much like Pope Paul, wanted to visit Damascus, Syria, to walk in the footsteps of St. Paul, but he, too, will be able “only in spirit, by heart and mind, to share the suffering of that country.”

Father Rifat Bader of the Catholic Media Center in Am-

man said Pope Francis will travel to Bethlehem by helicopter from Amman May 25. He will celebrate Mass in Bethlehem’s Manger Square and will meet Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Patriarch Twal expressed hope that Christians from Gaza and Galilee will also be allowed to participate in the Manger Square Mass.

Samir Karadsheh, an aviation consultant visiting Amman from the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., said he intends to return to Jordan for the pope’s May visit just as he did for that of Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

“I won’t ask anything of the pope,” he said. “Instead, I want to say, ‘Thank you for bringing faith back to everyone.’”

American Jesuit Father Alfred J. Hicks, who has served in the Middle East for decades, initially in Iraq and now Jordan, expressed a similar sentiment.

“He’s been sent by the Spirit to reform the Church. We’re very proud of what the pope is trying to do, whether in Rome or here,” he said.

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January 10, 2014

Catholic filmmaker gets to make movie about Clemente

WASHINGTON (CNS) — When he was a young boy, Richard Rossi insisted that his dad get general-admission tickets behind right field at old Forbes Field in Pittsburgh so he could be as close as possible to his boyhood idol, Roberto Clemente.

The Hall of Fame outfielder’s passion for baseball, and Rossi’s passion for Clemente, continued as the Pirates moved to Three Rivers Stadium, where Pittsburgh won the World Series in 1971.

But on Dec. 31, 1972, fans everywhere were thunderstruck to learn that Clemente, who was collecting relief supplies for Nicaraguan earthquake victims, was killed when the overloaded plane carrying the supplies plunged into the Atlantic Ocean.

Rossi was no different.

“I just cried for days and days and days. I was devastated,” he told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview.

Clemente, even in death, remained young Rossi’s hero.

“At St. Athanasius Grade School in Pittsburgh, the nuns would give us writing assignments, and every story I wrote was on Roberto Clemente,” he said.

Rossi’s admiration of Clemente never diminished, and he spent time over the last five years making a movie about his life, “Baseball’s Last Hero: 21 Clemente Stories.”

Numerologists will appreciate the fact that there are 21 letters in the Baseball Hall of Famer’s full name — Roberto Clemente Walker — and that 21 was the jersey number he wore during his career with the Pirates.

That Clemente’s Pirates had a winning season and went to the playoffs in 2013 after 20 losing seasons in a row is not lost on Rossi. The prevailing attitude among diehard Pirates fans, he said, was, “Clemente’s not going to let us have 21 bad years.”

Hispanics have long pushed for Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig to retire the number 21 from use by all teams, just as he had in 1997 for the numeral 42 worn by Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who was the first AfricanAmerican in 60 years to play in the majors.

Rossi is a bit ambivalent about retiring the number:

yes, because it would honor Clemente. But perhaps no, because “he gave an example of living out his faith and living out the Gospel,” he said.

The film examines 21 episodes that took place in Clemente’s life during his bigleague career.

The most difficult part might have been in casting Clemente. Rossi needed someone who could not only act, but resembled the Puerto Rican superstar and have athletic ability on top of that.

His choice: Olympic high jumper Jamie Nieto, 37, a native of California who is of Mexican heritage.

“He was in the last Olympics while he was shooting this film,” Rossi said. “He finished fourth in the high jump the first time (the 2008 Summer Olympics). He didn’t medal this time. He was the oldest guy at the Olympics in his sport.”

Rossi said the dramatic fulcrum of “Baseball’s Last Hero” is a conversation Clemente has with a nun.

“She talks to him about the cross. ‘Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends,’ is what the nun quotes to him from Scripture, talking about ‘sacrificial love and Christ’s sacrificial love,’” he said. “This is the theme I wanted to point out — an allegory of Christ on the cross.”

Rossi said he had gotten pressure to delete the scene from the movie for being “too preachy and too Catholic.” As it turns out, he added, it’s “one of the most popular things in the film.”

The movie has had screenings in Pittsburgh, where Clemente played for 18 years, as well as Chicago and New York. Rossi is working on staging screenings in San Francisco and Hollywood as well as a big rollout to coincide with the availability of the movie on Amazon.com.

The retail price? $21.21.

Rossi, now 50, added, “I think the little boy in me wanted to make this film.”

As for his old Clemente stories of his school days, “My mother might have them packed away. She’s a pack rat,” Rossi said. “The last time I was there I saw a bunch of papers. I saw a note to Jesus in them that I had written.”

Keanu Reeves and Hiroyuki star in a scene from the movie “47 Ronin.” For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Universal)

CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by Catholic News Service.

“47 Ronin” (Universal) Despite lavish special effects, this big-budget retelling of the fact-based Japanese national legend of the title is so badly done as to render its classic story incomprehensible. Working from a script by Chris Morgan and Hossein Amini, director Carl Rinsch has Keanu Reeves as a mysterious half-breed warrior helping 47 leaderless samurai (most prominently Hiroyuki Sanada) regain their honor after their master (Min Tanaka) has been deposed through the machinations of a jealous rival (Tadanobu Asano) and a shapeshifting witch (Rinko Kikuchi).

Combat violence, the bloodless portrayal of a suicide and a beheading. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“Justin Bieber’s Believe” (Open Road) Director Jon M. Chu’s amiable follow-up to his 2011 feature “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” chronicles the eponymous star’s second world tour.

The young girls who represent the Canadian-born singer’s carefully targeted audience will certainly need no convincing of his latest project’s worthiness.

But parents will be reassured to know that, though it contains a brief acknowledgement of the wunderkind’s foul-mouthed

encounter with a cursing photographer, this documentary as a whole provides overwhelmingly harmless entertainment.

A single, incomplete instance of crude language and some gyrating dancers. The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents.

The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount) This vile exercise in immorality charts the fact-based rise and fall of a penny-stock swindler (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his closest associates (most prominently Jonah Hill) as they play on the unrealistic aspirations of naive small-time investors to make themselves rich, then use their ill-gotten gains to fund a decadent lifestyle full

of narcotics, status-symbol toys and casual sex. Anything but a cautionary tale, director Martin Scorsese’s screen version of Jordan Belfort’s memoir revels in greed, criminality, substance abuse and bedroom behavior straight from the barnyard while sending viewers the resentmentfueled message that capitalism is a con game and that only fools and drones try to make a living honestly. A benign view of sinful and illegal actions, domestic violence, strong sexual content, including graphic aberrant and adulterous sexual activity and full nudity, drug use, frequent profanities, pervasive rough and crude language, a few obscene gestures. The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, January 12, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father Maurice O. Gauvin, pastor of St. George’s Parish in Westport

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January 10, 2014

Pope Francis gestures as he arrives for a meeting with superiors of men’s religious orders at the Vatican. During the recent meeting, the pope ordered the revision of norms on the relations between religious orders and local bishops. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano)

Pope orders new rules on relations between bishops, religious orders

VATICAN CITY (CNS) knew “by experience the prob- among such men, but said he — Pope Francis said he has lems that can arise between a believed they still had a role in ordered a revision of what he bishop and religious commu- religious life.

The 15-page article by Jecalled outdated Vatican norms nities.” For example, he said, on the relations between reli- “If the religious decide one day suit Father Antonio Spadaro, gious orders and local bishops, to withdraw from one of their editor of La Civilta Cattolica, quoted extensively from in order to promote also know that the bishops are the pope’s remarks at greater appreciation of the orders’ distinctive not always acquainted with the the three-hour meeting, missions. charisms and works of religious,” he said. which Father Spadaro attended.

The pope’s words Father Spadaro’s were published January “We bishops need to understand that con3 in the Italian Jesuit secrated persons are not functionaries wide-ranging interview with Pope Francis, pubmagazine La Civilta but gifts that enrich dioceses.” lished in the same magaCattolica. He made the comments November 29 at a works due to a lack of man- zine in September 2013, that closed-door meeting with 120 power, the bishop often finds included the pope’s controversial superiors general of religious himself suddenly left with a hot statement that the Church “cannot insist only on issues related orders from around the world. potato in his hand.”

Pope Francis referred to “I also know that the bish- to abortion, gay marriage and the “Mutuae Relationes,” a set of ops are not always acquainted use of contraceptive methods.”

During the meeting with directives issued jointly by the with the charisms and works of Congregation for Bishops and religious,” he said. “We bishops religious superiors, Pope Franthe Congregation for Religious need to understand that con- cis preferred “neither to give a in 1978. The document said that secrated persons are not func- talk nor to listen to their prereligious orders are part of the tionaries but gifts that enrich pared remarks: He wished to have a frank and free converlocal Church, though with their dioceses. own internal organization, and “The involvement of reli- sation consisting of questions that their “right to autonomy” gious communities in dioceses and answers,” Father Spadaro should never be considered as is important,” the pope said. wrote.

Noting the growth of reliindependence from the local “Dialogue between the bishop Church. and religious must be rescued gious orders in Africa and Asia, “That document was useful at so that, due to a lack of un- the pope acknowledged chalthe time but is now outdated,” derstanding of their charisms, lenges to evangelization there, the pope said. “The charisms of bishops do not view religious including correct adaptation of Catholic teaching to local culthe various institutes need to be simply as useful instruments.” respected and fostered because At the November 29 meet- tures, as well as a temptation they are needed in dioceses.” ing, the pope also asked the to exploit poorer societies as The pope, who until his elec- heads of the Congregation for sources of vocations.

The pope recalled that Filition in March 2013 served as Religious to finish a pending archbishop of Buenos Aires, document on male religious pino bishops had complained of Argentina, and formerly served who are not priests. He ac- foreign religious orders running as a Jesuit provincial, said he knowledged a “vocational crisis” a “novice trade” in their country.

“I

“We need to keep our eyes open for such situations,” he told the superiors.

Pope Francis said that sensitivity is needed not only for crossing geographical boundaries but social and cultural frontiers as well.

“The situation in which we live now provides us with new challenges which sometimes are difficult for us to understand,” he said, noting that Catholic teachers must be prepared to “welcome children in an educational context, little boys and girls, young adults who live in complex situations, especially family ones.”

The pope offered an example of such a situation from his experience in Buenos Aires: “I remember the case of a very sad little girl who finally confided to her teacher the reason for her state of mind: ‘my mother’s girlfriend doesn’t like me.’”

Seminary directors, too, must be sensitive to the needs of religious novices, encouraging them to engage in sincere and fearless dialogue with their instructors, he said.

“Formation is a work of art, not a police action,” the pope

said. “We must form their hearts. Otherwise we are creating little monsters. And then these little monsters mold the People of God. This really gives me goose bumps.”

“Just think of religious who have hearts that are as sour as vinegar: They are not made for the people,” the pope said. “In the end we must not form administrators, managers, but fathers, brothers, traveling companions.”

Pope Francis praised efforts

by Pope Benedict to stop sex abuse of minors by clergy and religious and stressed the importance of vetting candidates for religious orders, in order to weed out those with incorrigible failings.

“We are all sinners, but we are not all corrupt,” the pope said. “Sinners are accepted, but not people who are corrupt.”

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January 10, 2014

Stonehill College professor writes book on Liturgy continued from page one

first book entitled “Rehearsing God’s Just Kingdom: The Eucharistic Vision of Mark Searle.”

Published by The Liturgical Press, the book attempts to apply the theological thought of noted Notre Dame theology professor and scholar Mark Searle (1941-1992) to the contemporary celebration of the Eucharist. Searle called for the Catholic Mass to be embraced as a “rehearsal” that is performed over and over, again and again, until it is practiced perfectly in Heaven.

Father Wilbricht contends in his book that, in an age when so much depends on instant gratification and in which institutional commitment is often held in contempt, Searle’s thinking provides an avenue for Liturgical renewal that hinges upon a respect for and trust in these ritual forms and behavior.

Even though he attended Notre Dame University as an undergraduate and then again as a masters of Divinity student, Father Wilbricht sadly never had an opportunity to meet the inspiration for his 240-page book.

“Searle died right as I began the (masters program in 1992), and therefore I never knew him as a professor,” Father Wilbricht said. “My interest in his work stems from a small book he wrote entitled ‘Semiotics and Church

Architecture.’

“I also read his ‘Christening’ when I was in the seminary and I used his ‘Liturgy Made Simple’ when I was in charge of a parish Liturgy committee.”

Having read and been impressed with other key works by Searle, Father Wilbricht struck upon the notion to use the author as a stepping-off point for his doctoral thesis.

“I originally approached my doctor father with the idea of writing on Searle’s thought about semiotics and its relationship to the Liturgy,” Father Wilbricht said. “He shot that down immediately and told me to concentrate on Searle’s corpus as a whole. In reading all of his material, I decided to focus specifically on his notion of pastoral Liturgical studies and the Liturgy as the rehearsal of Christian attitudes.”

The bulk of the first two chapters in “Rehearsing God’s Just Kingdom” are essentially a revision of Father Wilbricht’s original college dissertation, but the remainder of the book is wholly new material.

In the course of a teaching and writing career cut too short, Searle provided a worthy contribution to the study of the Liturgy. The breadth of his Liturgical interests and his desire to integrate a

wide range of academic areas with the study of the Liturgy mark this scholar as a gifted thinker and author — arguably a pioneer.

“Searle was a brilliant man who could move easily between the worlds of academic rigor and pastoral application,” Father Wilbricht said. “His writings clearly demonstrate this gift.

In ‘Rehearsing God’s Just Kingdom,’ I try to bring in much of his poetry and mystagogical ruminations, which might be largely ignored by an academic audience.”

For Father Wilbricht, recent events such as the 50th anniversary of Vatican II, the just-ended Year of Faith observance, and last year’s modifications and changes to the English edition of the Roman Missal all support the notion that the Liturgy needs to be renewed on a regular basis so that it remains the essential focus of Catholic devotion.

“I’m not sure what Searle would have thought of the translation itself, but I know that he would see its implementation as a call to draw people deeper and deeper into what the Liturgy truly means,” Father Wilbricht said. “There are aspects about the new Roman Missal that I like very much, although I am constantly challenged as a presider to proclaim the prayers correctly, there is some very rich theology that comes out in the new translation.”

One example that stands out for Father Wilbricht is the change in the introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer and the Vere Dignum that follows.

“The last response of the people is ‘It is right and just,’ which replaces the former translation, ‘It is right to give Him thanks and praise.’ The priest then begins the prayer: ‘It is truly right and just.’

This call-and-response format stamps the Eucharistic prayer with a clear mandate that our work in assembling to praise and honor God is a work of justice. This was not as powerful in the (previous) translation.”

Having begun his tenure at Stone-

hill College in the fall of 2010, Father Wilbricht currently teaches a course entitled “Sacraments, Justice and the Moral Life” in which he “works very hard to stress the communal aspect of all the Sacraments, as they are the work of Christ Himself.”

“So, from the very beginning, I work to challenge the spirit of individualism and invite students to envision the Liturgy as not something I do just for myself and my relationship with God,” he added. “I use Searle’s concept of ‘God’s justice,’ which is right relationship with God, with others, and with all material creation. The work of justice is to allow all things to be exactly as they were created to be by God. All of the Sacraments are about reordering relationships, and this is an act of justice.

Searle has been very influential in the way I teach and orient this and other courses.”

With the ripple effect of Vatican II still affecting the Church more than a half-century later and Searle’s impressive work still leaving its own lasting impression, Father Wilbricht’s book is a welcome guide to better understanding the Sacred Liturgy.

“I find Searle’s work to be pertinent more than 20 years after his death as it challenges much of American values as antagonistic towards Liturgical worship,” Father Wilbricht said. “He always stressed Liturgy as the work of building up Christ’s Body — and much work needs to continue in this area.”

Father Wilbricht launched his first book at a signing event at his childhood parish of St. John the Evangelist in Hanover, Ill., last month. He is also the author of several articles and publications that have appeared in Worship, The Living Light, Assembly, Catechumenate, Pastoral Liturgy and EnVisionChurch, the Georgetown Center for Liturgy’s online community.

For more information about Father Wilbricht or “Rehearsing God’s Just Kingdom,” visit www.litpress.org.

Snowstorm hinders opponents of doctor-prescribed death continued from page one

Fox said many who support shortening the lives of terminally-ill patients argue, “They’re going to die anyway.”

Her response to that argument is, “Who isn’t?”

In his comments at the hearing, Kelly called the physician-assisted suicide bill an “insult.” The bill presents terminal diagnosis as an exact science, an idea rejected by Massachusetts voters last year.

“Voters realized that terminal diagnosis is guesswork. Everyone seems to know someone who was once terminal. Many people in the disability community have been assigned a terminal diagnosis, some of us our entire lives,” he said.

Peter McNulty, associate director for policy and research at the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, stressed the importance of providing pain management to patients as their lives draw to

a close. He submitted his testimony in writing as the hearing closed early.

“We are called to comfort the sick; in fact, modern medicine offers many alternatives to allow any patient, no matter the level of pain or suffering, to feel comfortable at the last moments of their lives. As a society, it is important that we support improved palliative care options instead of legalizing suicide,” he said.

In a subsequent interview with The Anchor, McNulty said that the Catholic Church has an obligation to speak about the dignity of life from conception to natural death.

“As the bishops always say, ‘All suicide is a tragedy,’ and legalizing physician-assisted suicide is not in the best interest of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This is a flawed piece of legislation,” he said.

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January 10, 2014

Journey of the Magi symbolizes ‘destiny’ of man, says pope Vatican City (CNA/ EWTN News) — In his homily for the feast of the Epiphany, Pope Francis described how our lives are a continuous search to encounter “the Light” of Jesus, urging that we be “cunning” in our defense against darkness.

“The destiny of every person is symbolized in this journey of the Magi of the East,” the pope said in his homily, “our life is a journey, illuminated by the lights which brighten our way, to find the fullness of truth and of love which we Christians recognize in Jesus, the Light of the World.”

Addressing those gathered inside of St. Peter’s Basilica for the special Mass celebrating the solemnity, Pope Francis stated that in “following a light,” the three kings actually sought “the Light.”

“The star appearing in the sky kindled in their minds and in their hearts a light that moved them to seek the great Light of Christ,” he explained, highlighting how in following this light “faithfully,” the Magi were able to encounter the Lord.

In our own journey searching for this light, the pope emphasized that like the Magi, “every person has two great ‘books’ which provide the signs to guide this pilgrimage.”

These “books,” he revealed, are “the book of Creation and the book of Sacred Scripture.”

What is most important, noted the pontiff, “is that we be attentive, alert, and listen to God Who speaks to us,” adding that in “listening to the Gospel, reading it, meditating on it and making it our spiritual nourishment espe-

cially enables us to encounter the living Jesus, to experience Him and His love.”

Turning to the words of Isaiah in the day’s first reading, Pope Francis observed that the prophet’s declaration “Arise, shine!” is an

The light, observed the pope, was “particularly absent” in the presence of King Herod, whose dwelling “was gloomy” and “filled with darkness, suspicion, fear.”

“Herod,” continued the pontiff, “proved himself distrust-

was being thrown into crisis by a Child!”

Pope Francis then highlighted that the Magi were able to “overcome” this “dangerous moment of darkness” with the king “because they believed the words of the

recalled that “the Magi used this light of ‘cunning’ when, on the way back, they decided not to pass by the gloomy palace of Herod, but to take another route.”

The wise men, continued the pontiff, “teach us how not to fall into the snares of darkness and how to defend ourselves from the shadows which seek to envelop our life.”

“We need to welcome the light of God into our hearts and, at the same time, to cultivate that spiritual cunning which is able to combine simplicity with astuteness.”

Pope Francis concluded his homily by reflecting that the Magi are “at our side, as wise companions on the way,” whose example “helps us to lift our gaze towards the star and to follow the great desires of our heart.”

“They teach us not to be content with a life of mediocrity, of ‘playing it safe,’ but to let ourselves be attracted always by what is good, true and beautiful, by God, Who is all of this, and so much Three wise men ride through St. Peters Square during a parade held after Pope Francis’ Mass for the more!” feast of the Epiphany. (Photo by Kyle Burkhart/CNA) “And they teach us not to be deceived by appearances, by what echo of God’s call to the people of ful and preoccupied with the prophets which indicated that the the world considers great, wise birth of a frail Child Whom he Messiah would be born in Beth- and,” added the pope, emphasizJerusalem.

“Jerusalem,” he stated, “is called thought of as a rival” when “in lehem.” ing that “we must not stop at that. to be the city of light which re- realty Jesus came not to overSo the wise men “resumed We must not be content with flects God’s light to the world and throw him, a wretched puppet, their journey towards Bethlehem appearances, with what is on the helps humanity to walk in His but to overthrow the prince of and there they once more saw the surface.” ways,” highlighting how this call this world!” star and experienced ‘a great joy’” “We must press further, to“The king and his counsel- said the pope, quoting the Gospel wards Bethlehem,” urged the is “the vocation and the mission” lors sensed that the foundations of Matthew. of the Church. pontiff, “where, in the simplicHowever, reflecting on how of their power were crumbling,” A unique aspect of this light ity of a dwelling on the outskirts, the Magi lost sight of the star explained the pope, and they which “guides us in the journey beside a mother and father full while in Jerusalem, the pontiff “feared that the rules of the game of faith,” he reflected, “is holy of love and of faith, there shines noted that “Jerusalem can fail to were being turned upside-down, ‘cunning,’” which is “that spiritual forth the Sun from on high, the that appearances were being un- shrewdness which enables us to King of the universe.” respond to this call of the Lord.” masked.” recognize danger and to avoid it.”

“By the example of the Magi, “A whole world built on power, Speaking of their return jour- with our little lights, may we seek on success and on possessions ney from Bethlehem, the pope the Light.”

More than 6.6 million attended Vatican events with Pope Francis in 2013

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In the first nine-and-a-half months of Pope Francis’ pontificate, more than 6.6 million people participated in papal events at the Vatican, including weekly general audiences, group audiences, Liturgies and recitations of the Angelus and “Regina Coeli” on Sundays and holy days.

The statistics, compiled by the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household and released January 2, do not include figures from Pope Francis’ trip to Brazil for World Youth Day in July 2013, or his visits to Italian locations outside the Vatican.

From his election March 13 until the end of 2013, at least 1.5 million people attended Pope Francis’ 30 general audiences; more than 87,000 participated

in group audiences; almost 2.3 million participated in papal liturgies in St. Peter’s Basilica or St. Peter’s Square; and more than 2.7 million joined the pope for the Angelus or the “Regina Coeli” in the square.

The numbers are approximate, based on tickets issued or estimates of crowd size, depending on the event.

By comparison, during the year following the election of Pope Benedict XVI in April 2005, more than four million people attended papal events at the Vatican and the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo.

In 1979, the first full calendar year of Blessed John Paul II’s pontificate, nearly 1.6 million requested tickets for his weekly public audiences.

This week in

Diocesan history

50 years ago — Father Albert F. Shovelton, assistant at St. James Church in New Bedford, inaugurated a half-hour radio program, “The Catholic Viewpoint,” that aired on Sunday evenings on New Bedford radio station WBSM.

10 years ago — Diocesan grade schools in Fall River celebrated the firstever Futbol Sala jamboree and made a formal check presentation representing the donation made by Citizens-Union Savings Bank to help fund the start-up costs for the program.

25 years ago — Fall River native Dr. Jeremiah J. Lowney Jr., a former member of St. Mary’s Cathedral parish and founding president of the Haitian Health Foundation, was named a Knight of St. Gregory by Pope John Paul II.

One year ago — Thanks to the efforts of parishioner Peter G. “Pete” Mozzone, the broken and crumbling concrete sidewalk entrance to the 19th-century stone St. Mary’s Church building in Taunton was repaired.

16

Youth Pages

It was an active Advent season at St. Pius X School in South Yarmouth.

In addition to participating in weekly prayer services, students had the opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They donated to the Christmas Giving program in the parish; middle school students performed a beautiful Nativity pageant; and lower school entertained families with their beautiful voices and musical talents.

Pre-k also had fun with creating gingerbread houses. Here the gradefour band performs.

At Holy Name School in Fall River, more than 90 students pitched in and formed a group called the Looney Loopers.

The students worked together to make hundreds of loom bracelets to send to St. Anne’s Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Tufts and St. Jude’s.

These bracelets were given to the hospitalized children for Christmas.

The fifth-grade social studies class at St. Michael School in Fall River recently watched commercials about the culture and arts of the Caribbean Islands they created as part of the diocesan social studies projects.

St. John The Baptist visited Holy Family-Holy Name School in New Bedford during Advent.

Students from St. James-St. John School in New Bedford recently enjoyed Christmas shopping with their buddies.

January 10, 2014

Fifth-grade students at St. John the Evangelist School in Attleboro organized a Rainbow Loom Bracelet donation as part of the LiteRock 105 “LOOMineers” promotion. They asked their fellow students to donate the handmade bracelets to be given to several local charities including Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Crossroads R.I., Adoption R.I. and Children’s Wishes. They collected 377 bracelets and rings. Shown proudly in front of all the bracelets are Katelyn Pencarski, Emmaculate Omolo, Auriel Kyere, Jacob Gorman, Matthew Corso.

Third-grade students from St. Mary’s School, Mansfield, participated in a Pumpkin Math Project. Students studied weights and measurements as they carved pumpkins of various sizes.

January 10, 2014

Youth Pages

17

The two third-grade classes at St. Mary-Sacred Heart School in North Attleboro performed their annual Christmas play as they told the tale of the first Christmas when Jesus was born. The play was accompanied by Father David Costa’s Christmas choir, which consists of 65 boys and girls from grades one through eight.

Families gathered at All Saints Catholic School for its annual tree lighting and caroling evening. After a prayer of blessing and lighting an outdoor tree, students and their parents gathered to celebrate Jesus, the Reason for the Season, with an evening of caroling, and enjoyed hot cocoa and cookies.

Bishop Feehan High School’s recent Christmas concert was performed by members of Feehan’s Select Choir, Dance Company, Girls Glee Club, Dance Team, Winter Percussion Ensemble, Chorus, and Concert Band; with a finale performed by the combined 30-member Concert Band and 51-member Chorus. Here members of the Winter Percussion Ensemble perform “Hoppin’ Holiday.”

The second-grade class of St. Mary’s Primary School in Taunton celebrated the birth of Jesus with a living Nativity for the fourth consecutive year. The second-graders read the story of Jesus’ birth while the children proceeded toward the town of Bethlehem complete with angels and living animals. Shown is the second-grade cast of the Nativity production.

The Anchor is always pleased to run news and photos about our diocesan youth. If schools or parish Religious Education programs have newsworthy stories and photos they would like to share with our readers, send them to: schools@ anchornews.org.

Students at St. Francis Xavier School in Acushnet recently celebrated the missionary spirit of their patron on his feast day. The school attended Holy Mass, had a special blessing of an outdoor statue of St. Francis Xavier given by a generous donor, and put on an International Faith Fair where grades three through eight hosted the younger grades as they travelled from “country” to “country” to learn about saints, foods and traditions from six different countries.

Here sixth-grade students transformed into Italy for the event.

Bishop Stang offers girls’ varsity ice hockey for the first time

north Dartmouth — Bishop Stang High School, a diocesan, co-educational, college preparatory school located on the Southcoast, announced its first girls’ varsity ice hockey game in its more than 50-year history at Bishop Stang.

“We are proud to be the only MIAA member school offering girls’ varsity ice hockey in all of the greater New Bedford, Fall River and Southcoast areas,” said Ryan Sylvia, athletic director at Bishop Stang. “Sports provide an invaluable experience of teamwork, focus and dedication that carries through all levels of life and supports positive academic success.

At Bishop Stang, we are committed to offering a diverse range of athletic opportunities so each student can find their passion.”

“After 20 years of playing ice hockey and five years of coaching, I’m thrilled to be able to lead the first girls’ varsity ice hockey team at Bishop Stang High School,” said Coach Darlene Mauretti.

“Offering girls’ varsity ice hockey is a great addition to our athletic programs as we are one of the very few teams in the area at this level.”

The Bishop Stang girls’ varsity ice hockey team will be compet-

ing at the MIAA division two level and a member of the Southeastern Massachusetts Girls Hockey League.

The team is eligible for state tournament qualification based on league standings and overall record. Schedules are located on the school website under “Athletics.” The home rink is Hetland Arena in New Bedford.

“The team has a great variety of skill level from beginning skaters to those with years of experi-

ence,” said girls’ varsity ice hockey captain Kyleigh Good. “Every time we all get together it’s all positive attitudes. Everyone gets excited because they know they got to contribute to the first-ever girls’ varsity ice hockey team at Bishop Stang.”

Bishop Stang offers a robust and active athletic program with 24 sports for all students in grades nine through 12. One-hundred percent of Stang students participate in some form of athletics.

The Coyle and Cassidy High School (Taunton) Portuguese classes combined resources to make a “presépio,” a Portuguese Nativity scene.

The classes brought in components from greens to houses and the senior class put the elements together to form a little village. “Presépio” in Portuguese means the place where the cattle, corral, and stable come together. The earliest recorded presépios were from the 16th century. Typically figures made out of clay or wood are used and in Portugal are still handmade to this day. The students in Portuguese IV are pictured here with their teacher Mrs. de Matos.

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January 10, 2014

Annual area retreats aim to fill spiritual needs of local faithful continued from page one

Those who accept His offer of Salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness,” said Deacon Bonneau, reciting the opening lines of the exhortation.

He continued, “I read that and we said, that’s going to be the theme. It just hit us — to return to the joy of the Gospel.”

By using the prodigal son as a Scriptural model, Father Kolasa and Deacon Bonneau know that individuals are familiar with the parable, but the men plan to delve deeper into the narrative, drawing parallels between the characters in the story to retreat attendees’ everyday lives.

“If you look at the prodigal son, you can see it’s very much a life-experience,” explained Deacon Bonneau. “It’s a story of a son who leaves his father in search of whatever his future is — the truth he’d like to discover about himself, what experiences he wants to take into the world, and takes what the father has given him and goes forth.

“That’s a parent-child relationship, and of course when that turns around, you see a young son returning home to his father and what is that about? What is the prodigal son’s experience? One thing I’m going to emphasize is [his experience] is a lot about pain.

We cast him as this desperate, party-going kind of guy, but I think the experience has a lot more to say about the pain he experienced, the acceptance of the parent — which is a metaphor for God. Everyone out there has had an experience like that, either as the parent or as the son.”

As Father Kolasa and Deacon Bonneau continue to build on that idea, it will become more focused on the notion that the “joy of the Gospel is represented in the father, the unconditional love,” said Deacon Bonneau. “The other piece we put in there was, for the younger son [to return, it] took a lot of courage because it’s a gamble. He didn’t know what was going to happen on

Local Knights make donation to Solanus Casey Food Pantry

SOUTH DARTMOUTH — The Knights of Columbus Father Hogan Council in Dartmouth donated $500 to the Solanus Casey Food Pantry in New Bedford, the largest food pantry south of Boston servicing 800 people per month. The donation was made just in time for Christmas and was used to stock up on food and supplies for families this Christmas season and beyond.

The head of the council, Chris Pereira, presented the check to Marc Abdow, the coordinator of the food pantry program. Pereira said, “The Solanus Casey Food Pantry is a model program under Catholic Social Services that serves all of southeastern Massachusetts. We thank them for everything they do. The staff and volunteers here are second to none.”

Catholic Social Services collaborates with volunteers from St. Mary’s Parish of South Dartmouth; Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. James, Our Lady of the Assumption, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel parishes of New Bedford; and St. John Neumann Parish in East

Freetown, in the everyday operations. Also assisting are the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Child Nutrition Partnership, the Salvation Army, Citizens for Citizens, the First Baptist Church, along with local schools and community members/ groups/drives, to support the food pantry.

The Knights of Columbus is a Roman Catholic fraternal service organization with 15,000 councils and more than 1.8 million members in the United States. The Knights participate in many charitable events and work with a variety of nonprofit groups to support the community. The Knights of Columbus stand for four core principles which are charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism. The Knights donated more than $167 million dollars to charity and volunteered 70 million hours last year and are on pace to exceed that this year. The Knights of Columbus Father Hogan Council serve the Dartmouth parishes of St. Julie Billiart and St. Mary’s.

For more information or to donate to the pantry, please call 508-997-7337.

the other end. In fact, if he was going to sketch it out and plan it, the answer would probably be no.”

And in an age bombarded with social media and saturated with images of instant gratification, Deacon Bonneau hopes that the sometimesoverlooked third character of the parable will drive the contemporary connection home.

“And of course, there’s the jealous, older brother,” said Deacon Bonneau, “and don’t we all fall into that category?

Why are we angry? What are we jealous about? He’s gotten everything the other son had and more; the quote is, ‘Everything I have is yours.’ And yet that son is most severe in his judgment; he’s angry and wants to stomp off and leave the whole situation.

“It’s about real experiences every single person, somewhere in his or her life, has, either as the father, son or elder brother. It’s taking them and letting people reflect during their talks.”

The retreats are totally inclusive, allowing anyone from any Christian tradition and faith to attend, even those people of no faith who may feel the call to attend a retreat.

Though the theme of both retreats will be the same, there is a tremendous benefit of having separate men and women retreats.

“The response to the reflections, the perspectives and the experiences that go with it, are different. It gives them the opportunity, especially I think more with the men than with the women, not to have to overcome a lot of barriers. The conversations are easier to have,” said Deacon Bonneau.

“I think it’s a way to start the new year and enter into the thinking and theme of Pope Francis’ exhortation, ‘The Joy of the Gospel’ and for us to know why we need to choose the Gospel.”

The Women’s Retreat is planned for January 24-26 and the Men’s Retreat is planned for February 21-23. If you would like more information, you can call the Sacred Hearts Retreat and Spirituality Center in Wareham at 508-295-0100 or Deacon Bonneau at the Office of Faith Formation at 508-678-2828. Information can also be found at www.

FallRiverFaithFormation.org.

Father Antonio Da Silva Medeiros

NEW BEDFORD — Father Antonio Da Silva Medeiros, 84, passed away on Dec. 31, 2013, after a period of declining health at the Sacred Heart Home.

Born June 7, 1929 in Santa Barbara, Ribeira Grande, Sao Miguel, Azores, he was the son of the late José Caetano de Medeiros Jr., and Ana Virginia (da Silva) Medeiros.

In 1942 Father Medeiros, began as a seminarian in Angra, Te r c e i r a , Azores. May 30, 1954 he was ordained a priest in Angra, Terceira, Azores. In September 1954 he arrived in Mozambique, in the Diocese of Nampula at St. Peter’s Parish, where he worked for 14 years. In 1967 he was the superior of St. John the Baptiste Mission and the director of the School for Formation Courses of the Teachers. In 1968 he returned to Portugal for health reasons. In 1969 he helped in St. Mamede Parish in Lisbon, while recovering. In July 1970 Father Medeiros arrived in the United States and worked at Immaculate Conception Parish in New Bedford. From 1971-1978, he served in St. Michael Parish of Hudson. In 1978 he was involved with Charismatic Prayer

Group and construction of the church at St. Anthony Parish in Cambridge. In July 1981, at Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Peabody, he worked with the Emmaus group and Cursillo group. 1994 was his 40th anniversary of his ordination. He retired in 1995.

He served the Archdiocese of Boston for 30 years.

He went to California in November 2001, and after returning from California for health reasons, lived with his brother in Acushnet and at Regina Cleri in Boston. From 2004 he has lived at the Sacred Heart Home in New Bedford.

Survivors include three brothers: Fernando Medeiros and his wife Luisa of Sao Miguel, Azores; Luis Medeiros and his wife Conceicao of Lisbon, Portugal; and Hermano S. Medeiros and his wife Maria Francisca of Acushnet; one sister Estrela Borges and her husband Mario of Hudson. He is also survived by several nieces, nephews. He was the brother of the late Conceicao Medeiros, Maria José Chaves, Eduarda Pereira, and José Medeiros.

His funeral Mass was celebrated January 7 at Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church. Interment followed at St. John Cemetery, New Bedford.

Arrangements were under the direction of Cabral Baylies Square-Lamoureux Funeral Home in New Bedford.

2013 Marian Medal Awards Ceremony available on Video

The Nov. 24, 2013 Marian Medal Awards Ceremony is available on DVD from the Diocesan Office of Communications. The DVD cost is $24.95. To obtain one, please forward a check in that amount payable to the Diocesan Office of Communications, Diocese of Fall River, PO Box 7, Fall River, Mass., 02722. Shipping is included in the video cost.

The Anchor spends nearly $2,000 in postage change fees each year!

The Post Office charges The Anchor 70 cents for notification of a subscriber’s change of address. Please help us reduce these expenses by notifying us immediately when you plan to move.

Please Print Your New Address Below

NAME: STREET ADDRESS: CITY, STATE, ZIP: NEW PARISH: MOVING DATE: Please attach your Anchor address label so we can update your record immediately.

Clip and mail form to: The Anchor, P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA 02722

19

January 10, 2014

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese

Pope, at audience, says he goes to Confession every two weeks

FALL RIVER — St. Anthony of the Desert Church, 300 North Eastern Avenue, has Eucharistic Adoration Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis said he goes to Confession every two weeks, knowing that God never tires of forgiving those who repent, but also knowing that having a priest say “I absolve you” reinforces belief in God’s mercy.

Using the literal Italian translation of a Spanish saying, “It’s better to turn red once than yellow a thousand times,” Pope Francis said he knows some people are embarrassed to confess their sins to a priest, but it is the best path to spiritual healing and health.

At a recent weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis reflected on the forgiveness of sins as one of the missions Jesus entrusted to His Apostles and their successors.

In a world often dominated by “individualism and subjectivism,” he said, many people — including many Catholics — say that God will forgive their sins and they have no need of the Sacrament of Con-

FALL RIVER — Holy Name Church, 709 Hanover Street, has Eucharistic Adoration Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady of Grace Chapel.

In Your Prayers

FALL RIVER — Good Shepherd Parish has Eucharistic Adoration every Friday following the 8 a.m. Mass and concluding with 3 p.m. Benediction in the Daily Mass Chapel. A bilingual holy hour takes place from 2 to 3 p.m. Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory.

Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks Jan, 12 Rev. Thomas P. Grace, Pastor, St. Patrick, Fall River, 1918 Rev. Manuel C. Terra, Retired Pastor, St. Peter, Provincetown, 1930

Acushnet — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Monday and Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.

Evening prayer and Benediction is held Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

ATTLEBORO — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the St. Joseph Adoration Chapel at Holy Ghost Church, 71 Linden Street, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

ATTLEBORO — The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette holds Eucharistic Adoration in the Shrine Church every Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. through November 17.

Brewster — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays beginning at noon until 7:45 a.m. First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and concluding with Mass at 8 a.m. buzzards Bay — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, every first Friday after the 8 a.m. Mass and ending the following day before the 8 a.m.

Mass.

East Freetown — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. John Neumann Church every Monday (excluding legal holidays) 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady, Mother of All Nations Chapel. (The base of the bell tower).

East Sandwich — The Corpus Christi Parish Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, East Sandwich.

Use the Chapel entrance on the side of the church.

EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the chapel at Holy Family Parish Center, 438 Middleboro Avenue, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. On First Fridays, Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, from 8:30 a.m. until 7:45 p.m.

FAIRHAVEN — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has Eucharistic Adoration every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Chapel of Reconciliation, with Benediction at noon. Also, there is a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with Eucharistic Adoration. Refreshments follow.

Fall River — Espirito Santo Parish, 311 Alden Street, Fall River. Eucharistic Adoration on Mondays following the 8 a.m. Mass until Rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

FALL RIVER — St. Bernadette’s Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has Eucharistic Adoration on Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the chapel.

Falmouth — St. Patrick’s Church has Eucharistic Adoration each First Friday, following the 9 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 4:30 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

MANSFIELD — St. Mary’s Parish, 330 Pratt Street, has Eucharistic Adoration every First Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Benediction at 5:45 p.m.

MASHPEE — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m.

Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass.

NEW BEDFORD — Eucharistic Adoration takes place 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 233 County Street, with night prayer and Benediction at 8:45 p.m., and Confessions offered during the evening. Please use the side entrance.

NEW BEDFORD — There is a daily holy hour from 5:15-6:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue. It includes Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Liturgy of the Hours, recitation of the Rosary, and the opportunity for Confession.

NEW BEDFORD — St. Lawrence Martyr Parish, 565 County Street, holds Eucharistic Adoration in the side chapel every Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

NORTH DARTMOUTH — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, every Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m., ending with Benediction. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at this time.

NORTH DIGHTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Wednesday following 8:00 a.m. Mass and concludes with Benediction at 5 p.m. Eucharistic Adoration also takes place every First Friday at St. Nicholas of Myra Church, 499 Spring Street following the 8 a.m. Mass, ending with Benediction at 6 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 8 a.m.

OSTERVILLE — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish has perpetual Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

Taunton — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Tuesday at St. Anthony Church, 126 School Street, following the 8 a.m. Mass with prayers including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for vocations, concluding at 6 p.m. with Chaplet of St. Anthony and Benediction.

Recitation of the Rosary for peace is prayed Monday through Saturday at 7:30 a.m. prior to the 8 a.m. Mass.

Taunton — Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord, 31 First Street. Exposition begins following the 8 a.m.

Mass. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed, and Adoration will continue throughout the day. Confessions are heard from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Rosary and Benediction begin at 6:30 p.m.

WAREHAM — Eucharistic Adoration at St. Patrick’s Church begins each Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. and ends on Friday night at midnight. Adoration is held in our Adoration Chapel in the lower Parish Hall.

WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street (Rte. 28), holds perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. We are a regional chapel serving all of the surrounding parishes. All from other parishes are invited to sign up to cover open hours. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

Jan. 13 Rev. Emile Plante, M.S., La Salette Seminary, Attleboro, 1954 Rev. Ralph D. Tetrault, Retired, Catholic Memorial Home, Former Pastor, St. Patrick, Wareham, 2007 Jan. 14 Rev. John J. Lawler, M.M., Maryknoll Missioner, 1977 Jan. 15 Rev. Thomas F. Kennedy, Retired Pastor, St. Joseph, Woods Hole, 1948 Rev. Vincent Marchildon, O.P., Director, St. Anne Shrine, Fall River, 1972 Rev. Msgr. John E. Boyd, Retired Pastor, St. Patrick, Wareham, 1977 Rev. Harold A. Whelan Jr., SS.CC., Ph. D., 1997 Jan. 17 Rev. John F. Laughlin, Retired Pastor, Holy Ghost, Attleboro, 1967 Rev. Daniel J. McCarthy, SS.CC., Former Provincial Superior, Retired Pastor, Holy Redeemer, Chatham, 2002 Rev. Gilles M. Genest, M.S., Founding Director of the La Salette Retreat Center, Attleboro, 2012

fession and the ministry of a priest. “Certainly, God forgives every repentant sinner, but the Christian is bound to Christ and Christ is united to His Church,” the pope said. “God,

in His sovereign mercy, forgives everyone, but He wanted those who belong to Christ and His Church to receive forgiveness through the community’s ministers.”

Around the Diocese A prayer service for “Building a New Culture of Life” will be held on January 16 beginning at 1 p.m. in St. Jude’s Chapel of Christ the King Parish in Mashpee. Prayers will consist of the four mysteries of the Rosary with brief meditations on each.

The public is invited to a Pro-Life Hour of Prayer on January 19 at Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel, 80 Bay Street in Taunton beginning at 2 p.m. The Holy Hour will include Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Rosary prayer and a special presenter. The hour of prayer is sponsored by the Taunton Deanery Pro-Life Committee in the Diocese of Fall River.

A Healing Mass will be celebrated on January 23 at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford. The Mass will begin at 6:30 p.m. and include Benediction and healing prayers. At 5:15 p.m. there will also be a holy hour including the Rosary. For directions or more information call 508-993-1691 or visit www.saintanthonynewbedford.com.

The ninth annual St. Mary’s Education Fund Winter Brunch will be held January 26 at the Coonamessett Inn in Falmouth beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Proceeds will benefit the St. Mary’s Education Fund, which provides need-based scholarships to children in need of financial assistance to attend one of the schools in the Fall River Diocese. For reservations or to make a donation, call Jane Robin at 508-759-3566.

An Emmaus retreat weekend for men and women ages 20 and over who seek to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ will be held at La Salette Retreat Center in Attleboro January 31 through February 2. For more information, email publicity@emmausretreats.com.

The Divorced and Separated Support Group of the Fall River Diocese meets on the second Thursday of every month in the parish center of St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road in North Dartmouth, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. For more information contact Claire McManus, director of Faith Formation, at 508-678-2828.

Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River is searching for missing alumni as the school plans for its 50th anniversary to take place during the 20152016 school year. If you or someone you know is an alumnus of Bishop Connolly High School and is not receiving communications from the school, please send your contact information via the school’s website at www.bishopconnolly.com; by email to Anthony Ciampanelli in the Alumni Office at aciampanelli@bishopconnolly.com; by phone at 508-676-1071 extension 333; or mail the school at 373 Elsbree Street, Fall River, Mass.

02720. Please provide the graduate’s name (including maiden name if appropriate), complete mailing address, telephone number, email address, and the year of graduation.

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January 10, 2014

Response to ‘On Eagle’s Wings’ over the years humbling for composer HONOLULU (CNS) — Father Jan Michael Joncas has composed more than 300 Liturgical songs, but his name is widely known for the one that tops a list of favorites: “On Eagle’s Wings.”

The hymn by Father Joncas, 62, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, was named by hundreds of voters as their No. 1 Liturgical hymn in a 2006 poll sponsored by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians.

Since “On Eagle’s Wings” was written in 1979, it has become a staple at Sunday Masses, funerals and memorial events as a reminder of God’s uplifting presence in times of sorrow.

“Most people associate me with this single piece,” Father Joncas told the Hawaii Catholic Herald via email.

Father Joncas said the song came about when he was visiting a friend at the major seminary in Washington.

One evening, Father Joncas’ friend got word that his father had suffered a fatal heart attack. Father Joncas wrote “On Eagle’s Wings” in the days that followed and it was sung for the first time publicly at the friend’s father’s wake service.

The song is based on Psalm 91, its lyrics drawing from the Scripture’s descriptions of God’s protection and providence. Lyrics include the lines “You need not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,” and “For to His angels He has given a command to guard you in all of your ways.”

Although there are no mentions of eagles in Psalm 91, the song’s chorus uses the metaphor to depict God’s high, secure places the verse describes. “And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of His hand.”

“I have been humbled by the number of times people have spoken or written to me about how God has used the song to bring them comfort and peace,” Father Joncas said.

The song’s colorful imagery is woven together by a melody with airy highs and a crescendo refrain. Father Joncas said the verses were meant to be sung by a cantor capable of handling the wide range of notes. Congregants would join in singing the simpler chorus.

“I have been amazed to find congregations singing the en-

tire thing, because I think the verses are somewhat difficult,” said Father Joncas, who, with fellow composer Marty Haugen, participated in a Liturgical arts conference in Honolulu in the fall.

The priest has been composing new material recently, after his recovery from Guillain-Barre syndrome. The illness paralyzed him in 2003, but he has recuperated well.

Haugen, 63, wrote “Shepherd Me, O God” in the mid1980s. It is cherished by many Catholics for its treatment of Psalm 23, which begins, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”

Speaking by phone from his home in Minnesota, he explained that depicting “shepherd” as an action instead of a noun brought forth the now famous song.

“I have never met a shepherd,” Haugen said. “My wife was finally the one who suggested ... make it a verb. That sort of was a breakthrough.”

Haugen, who is not Catholic but has worked in Catholic parishes, was living at an ecumenical retreat center in Washington state with his family when he was commissioned to do a version of Psalm 23. Haugen said he knew it would be a challenge.

“It’s hard to write something that everybody knows the text to,” he said.

The retreat center community held vespers every night.

Haugen said they would regularly integrate his new music into prayer time. That winter, with little else to do on snowed-in evenings, the community helped critique his work. “Shepherd Me, O God,” Haugen joked, is the one of several versions he wrote that received the least amount of criticism.

“That piece, like everything I wrote up there, went through the grill of the community,” he said. “I think that’s really valuable.”

“You don’t really know if a piece is going to be helpful or not until a congregation has sung it a number of times and they’ll tell you,” he added.

“Shepherd Me, O God” stays close to the words of

the psalm, with verses such as “Surely Your kindness and mercy follow me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of my God forevermore.” Haugen’s tight lyrical adherence to Scripture comes from a pastoral studies degree he earned at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

“If you’re writing Liturgical music, your two main sources are the rite and the Scripture,” he said. “The more you can know about both, the more you feel you have something to offer when you start to write.”

In a song such as “Shepherd Me, O God,” where the words are already familiar to many, Haugen said, “the melody is at the service of the text.”

“You want people to remember the music because if they remember it, then they’re remembering the words,” he said.

From left, Thomas F. Healy, administrator of the Catholic Memorial Home in Fall River, and Msgr. Edmund J. Fitzgerald, director of the Diocesan Health Facilities office, pose with the Red Sox World Series trophy during its visit to the Catholic Memorial Home last month.

The trophy made several stops in the area, including Fall River Government Center and the New Bedford City Hall, before arriving at the diocesan health facility for a late afternoon visit. The men are also wearing the team’s previous World Series rings that were given to players and staff in 2004 and 2007. Below, Father Jeffrey Cabral, JCL, judicial vicar of the diocesan tribunal office, poses with the Red Sox World Series trophy. (Photos by Kenneth J. Souza)