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Diocese of Fall River, Mass.

F riday , February 6, 2015

Diocesan parishes, priests dig out after blizzard, snowstorms

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

in Pocasset, told The Anchor.

“Fortunately we never lost FALL RIVER — Dubbed power and despite high winds, everything from the sensa- we had no significant property tionalistic “Blizzard of 2015” damage. The good news was to the more affable “Bliz- the wind blew all the snow zard Juno,” a relentless winter off the car windows and roof snowstorm that dumped not … the bad news was the snow just inches but multiple feet of went up to the windows.”

While the storm forced the white stuff onto the region Governor last week certainly stopped Massachusetts several diocesan priests in Charlie Baker to issue a statetheir tracks and curtailed par- wide travel ban on January 27 ish operations for several days. and shuttered schools in the “We survived,” Father Da- area for three days, by January vid C. Frederici, pastor of St. 30 Father Frederici said they John the Evangelist Parish Turn to page 18

The annual Winter Brunch on Cape Cod held to benefit the St. Mary’s Education Fund recently celebrated its 10th event at the Coonamessett Inn of Falmouth. More than 300 guests attended including friends and families of parishes from across Cape Cod. The event was coordinated by event chairmen Dawna Gauvin and Robyn Hardy, and the entire St. Mary’s Committee and supporters of the fund. Here Bishop Emeritus George W. Coleman is pictured with student greeters Niko Duarte, from St. Margaret Regional School in Buzzards Bay; Leah Cody, Olivia and Sophia Anastos from St. Francis Xavier Preparatory School in Hyannis; and Victoria Burgess from St. Margaret Regional School. Other greeters not pictured were Gracie Davis and Caroline Valiga from St. Francis Xavier Preparatory School. (Photo by Jane Robbins)

Religion consultant develops creative ways to engage students in catechesis

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

A shovel is a common site at diocesan parishes lately with the arrival of a blizzard named Juno and a follow-up snowstorm named Linus.

Here the entrance to St. Mary-Our Lady of the Isle Church on Nantucket is being cleared for daily and weekend Massgoers.

Alameda, Calif. — As parishes mark the halfway point of the year of Faith Formation studies and students trudge through the snow to attend classes at their respective parishes, some Faith Formation teachers are looking for different ways to engage their students in the Catholic faith.

Victor Valenzuela, a national religion consultant for Bilingual Resources for William H. Sadlier, Inc. (www.sadlierreligion.com), has presented workshops regionally and nationally and has been in ministry for 25 years. Though he has

been living in California for more than 30 years, the parishioner of St. Joseph Basilica Parish in Alameda is originally from Arizona and credits his culture for shaping his Catholic faith.

“In the Latino community, my family was very immersed in the Catholic culture,” said Valenzuela. “If you go to Latin America, everything Catholic about the country or specific city, it’s very Catholic because our faith is what we live out.”

When Valenzuela was a sophomore in high school, he started a Bible study youth group in his parish: “The parish was very supportive of it, Turn to page 14

Fairhaven group promotes devotion to Mary

By Christine M. Williams Anchor Correspondent

FAIRHAVEN — During Pope Francis’ Year of Consecrated Life, a local group invites Catholics to make their own consecration. While certainly not the same as the commitment to become a religious Brother or Sister, making a commitment to a lay association like the Legion of Mary brings many blessings, members say. Members make a consecration to Our Lady and agree to do at least two hours of service each week.

The Legion of Mary was

founded in Ireland nearly a century ago. With three million members worldwide, it is the largest apostolic organization of lay people in the Catholic Church.

There are five legion groups at parishes in the Diocese of Fall River — St. Joseph Parish in Fairhaven, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in New Bedford, St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fall River and two groups at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Attleboro. Individually, each group is called a praesidium and members meet weekly. Collectively, the five groups form a

curia and hold monthly meetings at St. Joseph’s.

At those meetings, there is always an Altar of the Legion.

The table is laid out with a white tablecloth with the words “Legio Mariae.” On that is a statue of Mary with a flower vase and candlestick on each side. Placed on Mary’s left side is the vexillium Legionis (standard of the Legion), a metal and onyx figure that shows the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and the Miraculous Medal.

In addition to regular meetings, members of the praesidia come together for social and

spiritual gatherings throughout the year, including a Christmas party, summer picnic, retreats and the Marian consecration in March.

“The consecration to Our Lady is very special to us,” said Joyce Sylvia, president of the local curia. “It’s a very emotional and spiritual thing for us. It’s committing to serving Mary for another whole year.”

Before joining three years ago, Sylvia had been praying the Rosary every night and was interested in the Legion’s focus on service.

“I’m retired, and so I was not

doing anything in particular.

This has gotten me involved,” she said. “It’s like a job. I do it five days a week. It’s gotten me off the couch and doing something worthwhile.”

Another aspect to the Legion is fellowship. “We have a lot of fun,” Sylvia said.

Geneva Viveiros, president of the Fairhaven praesidium, said that part of the work of the Legion members is to invite others to know God better while growing closer to Him. After she joined the Legion in 1972, she would go out and Turn to page 18

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News From the Vatican

February 6, 2015

Feed My sheep: Archbishops to receive palliums at home with their flock

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When Pope Francis celebrates the feast of SS. Peter and Paul in June, he will set aside an element that has been part of the Mass for the past 32 years; the Vatican confirmed he will not confer the pallium on new archbishops during the Liturgy.

Msgr. Guido Marini, the papal master of Liturgical ceremonies, said January 29 that the new archbishops will come to Rome to concelebrate the feast day Mass with Pope Francis June 29 and will be present for the blessing of the palliums, underlining their bond of unity and communion with him.

The actual imposition of the pallium, however, will take place in the archbishop’s archdiocese in the presence of his faithful and bishops from neighboring dioceses, he said.

The change will “better highlight the relationship of the metropolitan archbishops with their local churches, giving more faithful the possibility of being present for this significant rite,” Msgr.

Marini said.

Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, who was installed in the archdiocese in November, is expected to be among the concelebrants in Rome.

St. John Paul II — who began many of the Vatican practices that now seem like venerable ancient traditions — first placed the woolen bands around the shoulders of metropolitan archbishops at the feast day Mass June 29, 1983.

A truly ancient tradition, dating back probably at least to the sixth century, will not change: The pope blesses the pallium and concedes its use by certain bishops. The current Code of Canon Law stipulates that within three months of their appointment or consecration all metropolitan archbishops (residential archbishops who preside over an ecclesiastical province) must request a pallium from the pope.

“The pallium signifies the power which the metropolitan, in communion with the Roman Church, has by law in his own province,” it says. The code, however, does not specify that the pallium be received from the hands of the pope.

In 1982 on the eve of the feast day, Pope John Paul went down to the grotto of St. Peter’s Basilica to pray before the tomb of St. Peter and bless the palliums that were to be given “to the metropolitan archbishops to be created by the Holy Father,” according to a description in Attivita della Santa Sede (Activity of the Holy See), an annual publication that includes a day-by-day description of the ac-

tivities of the pope.

The next year, Pope John Paul made the change. After the homily, five archbishops who had been named in the previous year to archdioceses in Italy, Wales and Chile, approached the pope, knelt and received the wool bands marked with crosses. Other archbishops named during the year received their palliums from the nuncio or papal representative in their countries.

In his homily, Pope John Paul had explained, “during this celebration the blessing and the imposition of the pallium on certain, recently-named archbishops will take place.”

The blessing of the pallium near the tomb of St. Peter and by his successor, the pope, “has always been seen as a participation in the ‘feed My sheep’ said by Jesus to Peter,” Pope John Paul said.

In fact, the woolen bands, which are about three inches wide and have 14-inch strips hanging down the front and the back, are tipped with black silk to recall the dark hoof of the sheep the archbishop is symbolically carrying over his shoulders.

Personally placing the palliums on the archbishops, Pope John Paul said, “signifies that the pallium imposed on you, dear brothers in the episcopate, is a symbol of privileged communion with the successor of Peter, principle and visible foundation of unity in the field of doctrine, discipline and pastoral work.”

At the same time, he said, the pallium should signify “a greater commitment to love for Christ and for souls. Such love for the flock of Christ, Shepherd and Guardian of our souls, will help you carry out your ministry of service,” he said. “The doctrine you offer will be fruitful if nourished with love.”

Already this year, Pope Francis has kept part of the tradition connected to the palliums. On the January 21 feast of St. Agnes, he blessed two lambs raised by Trappist monks outside Rome. Benedictine nuns at the Monastery of St. Cecilia in Rome will use wool from the blessed lambs to make the bands, which will be kept by St. Peter’s tomb until the pope blesses and distributes them.

The change Pope Francis decided for 2015 was not a complete surprise given his suggestion that Argentine bishops and faithful not spend huge sums to come to Rome for his own installation as pope in 2013 — and that they use the money they would have spent for the poor — and his encouragement to new cardinals to keep celebrations of their new roles to a dignified minimum.

Pope Francis poses with U.N. peacekeepers from Latin America during a recent general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Consecrated life without sacrifice is a ‘caricature,’ Pope Francis says

Vatican City (CNA/ EWTN News) — Pope Francis warned consecrated men and women against reducing their religious life to a “caricature,” calling them to instead embrace a life of obedience, which in turn leads to wisdom.

This was the central theme of the pope’s homily for the feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2, which coincides with the World Day for Consecrated Life.

Addressing the congregation gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica, the Holy Father reflected on the Gospel account of Mary and Joseph presenting the Child Jesus in the Temple.

Pope Francis described Mary’s arms as the “ladder of God’s condescension” upon which the Son of God “descended” becoming like us, “in order to ascend with us to the Father, making us like Himself,” according to Vatican Radio’s translation.

Recalling the image of Mary entering the Temple with the Child Jesus, the Holy Father observed that “the mother walks, yet it is the Child Who goes before her. She carries Him, yet He is leading her along the path of the God Who comes to us so that we might go to Him.” “For us too, as consecrated men and women,” the pope continued, Jesus “opened a path.”

Throughout his homily, Pope Francis emphasized the theme of obedience which reoccurs in the Gospel, and its significance for consecrated men and women.

“Jesus came not to do His

own will, but the will of the Father,” he said. “In the same way, all those who follow Jesus must set out on the path of obedience, imitating as it were the Lord’s ‘condescension’ by humbling themselves and making their own the will of the Father, even to self-emptying and abasement” (cf. Phil 2:7-8).

Progress for a religious person means following the path of Jesus Who “did not count equality with God something to be grasped,” the Holy Father continued: “to lower oneself, making oneself a servant, in order to serve.”

This path, which “takes the form of the rule” is “marked by the charism of the founder,” he said. “For all of us, the essential rule remains the Gospel, this abasement of Christ, yet the Holy Spirit, in His infinite creativity, also gives it expression in the various rules of the consecrated life, though all of these are born of that sequela Christi, from this path of self-abasement in service.”

The wisdom which consecrated persons attain through the law is “not an abstract attitude, but a work and a gift of the Holy Spirit, the sign and proof of which is joy.”

Turning to the Gospel account of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, Pope Francis said that this “wisdom is represented by two elderly persons, Simeon and Anna: persons docile to the Holy Spirit.”

Their wisdom, the pope continued, was “the fruit of a long

journey along the path of obedience to His law, an obedience which likewise humbles and abases — even as it also guards and guarantees hope — and now they are creative, for they are filled with the Holy Spirit.”

“The Lord turns obedience into wisdom by the working of His Holy Spirit,” he continued.

Obedience and docility are not theoretical, but “subject to the economy of the Incarnation of the Word,” he said. Whether it be to the founder, to a “specific rule,” to “one’s superior,” or to the Church, docility and obedience are always concrete.

“The strengthening and renewal of consecrated life are the result of great love for the rule, and also the ability to look to and heed the elders of one’s congregation,” he said, adding that the “deposit” of the charism “is preserved by obedience and by wisdom, working together.”

In this way, the pope said, consecrated men and women “are preserved from living our consecration lightly and in a disincarnate manner.” It would thereby become reduced to a “caricature” of the religious life: “without sacrifice, a prayer that is without encounter, a fraternal life that is without communion, an obedience without trust, a charity without transcendence.”

Pope Francis concluded his homily calling on consecrated men and women to “bring others to Jesus,” while allowing themselves to be led by Him. “This is what we should be: guides who themselves are guided.”

February 6, 2015

The International Church

Catholic and Orthodox priests join other ministers for an inaugural ceremony for a church made entirely from ice at Balea Lac resort in the Fagaras mountains of Romania recently. (CNS photo/Radu Sigheti, Reuters)

Christian leaders meet in Lebanon, call for end to financing terrorists

BEIRUT (CNS) — Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs called for an end to financing terrorists and suggested that borders be closed when necessary to prevent their movement.

The leaders also appealed for the creation of a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, based on a long-standing proposal for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, and pleaded for the return of Palestinian refugees to their native lands.

Their calls came in a statement released after a meeting January 27 in Bkerke, the seat of the Maronite Catholic Church north of Beirut, to address the situation of Christians in the Middle East, especially those displaced from Iraq and Syria. A representative of the Protestant churches of Syria and Lebanon as well as international aid officials also attended.

The ecumenical meeting comes on the heels of clashes that erupted between the Lebanese army and Syria-based militants in the outskirts of the town of Ras Baalbek, near the Syrian border. Eight Lebanese troops were killed and more than 20 were wounded.

The participants expressed “grief over the martyrdom of eight more Lebanese Army soldiers as they were performing the duty of defending the border in the face of the terrorist groups.”

The urgency of the situation was underlined by the fact that Cardinal Bechara Rai, patri-

arch of the Maronite Catholic Church, opened the meeting four days after undergoing surgery to treat a brain hemorrhage.

Issues addressed by the prelates will be raised at the College of Cardinals meeting in Rome February 12 and 13 as well as by the patriarchs of Eastern Catholic Churches at their general assembly February 17, the statement said.

The leaders voiced concern for the future of Christian youth in the region, saying young people have “no other choice but to emigrate.”

“Even if the churches double their services, they won’t manage to resolve these crises,” it said.

Referring to minority refugees from Syria and Iraq and to ongoing Mideast conflicts, the Christian leaders expressed “solidarity with all those who are suffering and wounded in dignity and deprived of their rights and with the hostages and prisoners of war subject to torture.”

The statement specifically mentioned for two Syrian bishops — Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan Gregorios Yohanna of Aleppo and Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Paul of Aleppo — who were kidnapped in April 2013 in northern Syria.

Cardinal Rai said the meeting was “to unify our voices” to appeal to the Arab world and the international community to provide the necessary assistance to the refugees and help them return to their homes and

rebuild them.

He stressed the need for the displaced Christians of Iraq and Syria “to be able to stay in their home countries in order to preserve their Christian tradition and mission.”

Cardinal Rai noted that war, destruction and killing, displacement and evictions, waves of violence and the escalation of terrorist organizations were demolishing “the culture of moderation and openness and the Christian-Muslim civilization that we have built together through thick and thin over 1,400 years, having laid the foundations of Christianity in our countries before the advent of Islam.”

“It is known that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Israeli-Arab conflict (are) at the basis of the tragedies of the Middle East in which we live today,” Cardinal Rai said.

In their statement, the leaders called on Middle East Christians to “unite their stances and work with all those who have good intentions in order to halt wars and acts of terror and revive a just and comprehensive peace in this suffering region of the world.”

They also denounced Lebanon’s presidential vacuum, saying it has led to parliamentary paralysis. The presidential post — which, under Lebanon’s constitution, is held by a Maronite Catholic — has been vacant since May 2014 as rival political blocs are still divided over a new leader.

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The Church in the U.S.

February 6, 2015

Bishops welcome court’s review of using lethal injection in executions

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to review the use of lethal injections in carrying out executions is a welcome move, said the chairmen of two U.S. bishops’ committees.

The court said January 23 it will review the drug protocols of lethal-injection executions in the state of Oklahoma and consider whether such procedures violate the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

“I welcome the court’s decision to review this cruel practice,” said Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

“Our nation has witnessed through recent executions, such as occurred in Oklahoma, how the use of the death penalty devalues human life and diminishes respect for human dignity. We bishops continue to say, we cannot teach killing is wrong by killing,” he added.

Archbishop Wenski made the comments January 27 in a joint statement issued with Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

The court will consider the case of Glossip v. Gross, brought

by three death-row inmates in Oklahoma. Last year, prison officials botched the execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma using lethal injection. Lockett writhed in agony for 40 minutes before being unhooked from the drug dispenser in the prison’s death chamber and died soon afterward of apparent heart failure.

Oral arguments in the case are to be heard by the court in April.

“Society can protect itself in ways other than the use of the death penalty,” said Cardinal O’Malley. “We pray that the court’s review of these protocols will lead to the recognition that institutionalized practices of violence against any person erode reverence for the sanctity of every human life.”

“Capital punishment must end,” he added.

The U.S. bishops have been advocating against the death penalty for more than 40 years.

In 2005, they initiated the Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty and continue to work closely with state Catholic conferences, the Catholic Mobilizing Network and other groups to abolish the death penalty in the United States.

Last October, Pope Francis called on Christians and all people of good will “to fight for the abolition of the death penalty in all its forms,” out of respect for human dignity.

This is a rendering of a Nebraska retreat center planned by the Cloisters on the Platte Foundation, which includes a stone chapel. Billionaire Joe Ricketts established the foundation last year and recently purchased 931 acres along the Platte River between Lincoln and Omaha, Neb., for the project. (CNS/ Peter Capone Design LLC)

CHA brief urges U.S. Supreme Court to maintain health care subsidies

WASHINGTON (CNS) — If the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down federal subsidies that have helped millions of people get health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, it will be “an incredible cruelty,” said the president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association. “(If ) you are in any state of the union and you are talking to people who work for a living, who wait on us, cut our hair, drive our taxis, they will tell you this has been life-changing for them,” Sister Carol Keehan said about the federal health care law.

“This act has put 20 million people in a position to have health insurance,” she said January 28 in a videotaped message released at a Capitol Hill news conference. “That is an incredible step forward. It’s not the whole job, but it’s an incredible step forward. And in

each of those 20 million people for their families it is utterly life-changing.”

Sister Carol, a Daughter of Charity, made the comments on the same day CHA filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case of King v. Burwell. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case in March with a decision expected in June.

Since the health care law requires all Americans to have insurance, the subsidies help make coverage more affordable for individuals and families whose health care is not covered by their employer.

The plaintiffs in King v.

Burwell argue that the law, as passed by the Congress and signed by the president, allows federal subsidies only in those states that run their own health insurance exchange, or marketplace, and that the subsidies cannot be used in the 37 states where those marketplaces are

run by the federal government.

The subsidies are provided in the form of tax credits for those who cannot afford health insurance but who make too much to qualify for Medicaid, the federal-state program that helps pay for health care for the poor and disabled.

“Almost 10 million people who got insurance coverage would lose it if this subsidies issue gets decided the wrong way,” Sister Carol said.

“These are not the lazy people who want to make a living off of government funding,” she said.

“These are the hard-working people who wait on us, who love their families, who want their children to be well cared for.”

In its brief, the CHA said that to revoke the subsidies would be a misinterpretation of the law.

“A statute’s text must be considered not in a vacuum, but with reference to the statutory context, structure, history, and purpose,” it said. “The subsidies under the ACA are integral to the law’s effectiveness and designed to help the most vulnerable in our society obtain health insurance.”

Not all Catholics agree with the CHA position. Dr. John A. Sparks, the retired dean of the Calderwood School of Arts & Letters, Grove City College, Grove City, Pa., argued in Catholic World Report that “this case is greater than the practical survival of Obamacare.

It is a case about the separation of powers. If Congress passes a law, can an administrative department, aided by the courts, work its effective amendment?

The answer given by the court should be a resounding: No.”

February 6, 2015

The Church in the U.S.

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CRS examines sex ed publication alleged to violate Church teaching

Bishop Christopher J. Coyne, the new head of the Diocese of Burlington, Vt., greets two priests during his January 29 installation Mass at St. Joseph Co-Cathedral in Burlington. (CNS photo/Cori Fugere Urban, Vermont Catholic magazine)

‘I am your brother,’ Burlington’s new bishop tells Vermont Catholics

BURLINGTON, Vt. (CNS) — The former auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis was installed as the 10th bishop of the Diocese of Burlington during a joyful celebration of the Mass January 29.

“To my new friends in Vermont I say, ‘I am your brother, Christopher,’” Bishop Christopher J. Coyne said to one of many rounds of applause during the nearly two-hour celebration at St. Joseph Co-Cathedral in Burlington.

The name means bearer of Christ, and that is what he wants to be for them.

He addressed the challenge faced in Vermont and elsewhere of declining membership in the Church and a cultural trend away from revealed religion to a personal Spirituality at best or no belief at worst.

Pointing out that Jesus did not stay in the synagogue, Bishop Coyne said that His voice did not simply ring out from a place of worship like a bell stationary in a church steeple, calling people to come to Him; He went out to them. He went out to spread the Good News of the Kingdom of God and the offer of eternal Salvation.

“My brothers and sisters, I challenge myself and you to follow the Lord’s lead to ‘go out.’

We are no longer the Church of the establishment in which if we just open our doors and ring the bells people will come. That is not happening,” he said.

“In fact, we are opening our doors and people are not coming.

They are leaving,” he continued.

“We have to change the paradigm from that of the Church of the establishment to that of a missionary Church, one that has to go out and engage the wider

community in our ongoing acts of Christian mercy and in our words and conversation.”

Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, OFM Cap., presided over the installation and said the bishop could count on his friendship and prayers as he embarked on his new ministry in Jesus’ name.

Msgr. Angelo Accattino, first counselor at the apostolic nunciature in Washington, read the apostolic mandate by which Pope Francis appointed Bishop Coyne to be bishop of Burlington, which covers the state of Vermont.

When Bishop Coyne accepted the mandate, he was handed a crosier, a sign of his office; it belonged to the first bishop of Burlington, Bishop Louis de Goesbriand.

He succeeds Bishop Salvatore R. Matano, who was installed last January as the ninth bishop of Rochester, N.Y. A native of Woburn, Bishop Coyne was a professor of Sacred Liturgy and homiletics at St. John Seminary in Brighton from 1994-2003 and adjunct faculty from 2003-2006.

He was director of the Office of Worship for the Archdiocese of Boston from 2000-2002 and secretary for communications/ principal spokesman for the archdiocese from 2002-2005.

When he was named to lead the Burlington Diocese in December, Bishop Coyne had been auxiliary bishop of Indianapolis since January 2011.

He was apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis from September 2011 to December 2012, after Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein retired early for health reasons and until Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin was named to head the

archdiocese.

Bishop Coyne is chairmanelect of the communications committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; he will succeed Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City in November 2015 and serve a three-year term as chairman. He also is a member of the USCCB’s Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, a subcommittee on lay ecclesial ministry and the subcommittee for the Catholic Communication Campaign.

Rita Coyne, of Woburn, said her son’s installation as bishop of Burlington is the “culmination of all I knew he could be and do.”

“He realizes his potential and wants to do so much good,” she told the Vermont Catholic, Burlington’s diocesan magazine.

Asked to name his three best qualities, she replied: “He is very open to new ideas. He believes in the future. And he trusts in God deeply.”

Father Timothy Naples, a pastor, said the bishop will “definitely be a good influence for reaching out in new ways and using more technology.”

He said because today’s technology makes it possible to reach out to more people, he hopes Bishop Coyne can encourage all parishes and all Catholics to use it more, but added that not everyone can be reached by social media so more traditional means are still necessary.

The bishop began using social media when he was a parish priest, finding it a successful way to communicate. “If you’re going to engage people and get the message out,” digital media is an effective tool, he said at a press conference before the Mass of Installation.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholic Relief Services is investigating an allegation that a publication it used in connection with a program in Rwanda violates Church teaching on human sexuality.

A statement from the U.S. bishops’ overseas relief and develop agency said that former and current staff are being questioned about the publication to determine how or if it was used in the small African nation in 2009 and 2010.

The query opened after Michael Hitchborn of the Lepanto Institute charged that the publication, “My Changing Body: Puberty and Fertility Awareness for Young People,” promotes abortifacient contraception, masturbation and condom use.

CRS said it would issue a final report when its investigation concludes, but offered no specific date for the release.

Hitchborn cited a report from Georgetown University’s Institute for Public Health that said CRS, Caritas Rwanda and Family Health International were partners in revising and piloting a sex education program for children 10- to 14-years-old using “My Changing Body.”

Funding for the program came through the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The Lepanto Institute describes itself as “a research and education organization dedicated to the defense of the Catholic Church against as-

saults from without as well as from within.”

CRS said the partnership developed under its Avoiding Risk, Affirming Life project, a five-year effort that promoted sexual abstinence before Marriage and fidelity in Marriage to combat the spread of AIDS and the human immunodeficiency virus.

“We are currently investigating whether the version of ‘My Changing Body’ that the Lepanto Institute references, or any other version, was every used in Rwanda,” the statement said.

The CRS statement explained that it has reduced its presence in Rwanda since 2010 and that it is attempting to reach many of staff members who worked with the project who are no longer with the agency.

“CRS takes all concerns raised about our programs seriously and reviews them carefully, correcting any problems if needed. CRS is steadfast in our commitment to uphold Catholic teaching throughout our programs. In the last five years CRS has taken extensive steps to strengthen our systems to ensure that all of our staff are trained in Catholic identity, that our policies for reviewing and vetting programs and related relationships effectively uphold Church teaching and that all materials used in CRS programs are in compliance with Church teaching,” the statement said.

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February 6, 2015

Anchor Editorial

The martyrdom of Archbishop Romero

This week the Church remembered several martyrs — St. Blase on Tuesday (although of this week’s saints he is the one about whom we know the least, he is probably the most well-known, due to the blessing of throats attached to his feast day), St. Agatha on Thursday, and St. Paul Miki and his companions (the martyrs of Japan) on Friday. We would do well to ask their intercession this week for our brothers and sisters around the world who are suffering persecutions for the faith.

Jesus told us in Matthew’s Gospel (5:11-12), “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in Heaven.

Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Our fellow Christians are blessed, Jesus promises us, but that does not take away the physical, emotional and Spiritual pain that they are suffering.

On Tuesday, while The Anchor was being finalized, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had declared the late Archbishop Oscar Romero a martyr “killed, in hatred of the faith, March 24, 1980, in San Salvador.” Those who are declared martyrs by the pope do not need to perform a miracle after their deaths (to prove that they are in Heaven), so the Holy Father is free to have Archbishop Romero beatified at any time. We had an article in our January 23 edition interviewing area Catholics about their joy that Pope Francis had mentioned on his flight from the Philippines to Rome that Romero had died as a martyr.

On the plane the pope said, “What I would like is a clarification about martyrdom in odium f idei (Latin for ‘in hatred of the faith’), whether it can occur either for having confessed the Creed or for having done the works which Jesus commands with regard to one’s neighbor. And this is a task for the theologians. They are studying it.”

Archbishop Romero, in his last homily in March 1980 (which is reminiscent of Martin Luther King’s last sermon in 1968, in that both of them spoke rather boldly right before they were killed), told his fellow Salvadorans, “Let no one be offended because we use the Divine Words read at our Mass to shed light on the social, political and economic situation of our people. Not to do so would be unChristian. Christ desires to unite Himself with humanity, so that the light He brings from God might become life for nations and individuals.”

As King spoke about seeing the “Promised Land” and the likelihood that he would not enter into it with his listeners (calling to mind Moses’ farewell address after having seen across the Jordan River from Mount Nebo), so Romero also was looking to a time long after his death. (As you can read on page 11, El Salvador no longer is challenged by civil war, but from incredibly fierce gang violence.)

Romero continued, “I know many are shocked by this preaching and want to accuse us of forsaking the Gospel for politics. But I reject this accusation. I am trying to bring to life the message of the Second Vatican Council and the meetings (of bishops of Latin American) at Medellin (Colombia) and Puebla (Mexico). The documents from these meetings should not just be studied theoretically. They should be brought to life and translated into the real struggle to preach the Gospel as it should be for our people. Each

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

This Sunday’s Gospel reading (cfr Mk 1:21-28) presents Jesus, Who, with His little community of disciples, enters Capernaum, the city where Peter lived and which in that time was the biggest

Pope Francis’ Angelus message of February 1 city of Galilee. And He entered the city.

Mark the Evangelist tells us that Jesus, being that day the Sabbath, went quickly to the synagogue and He began to teach (cfr v.21). This makes us think of the primacy of the Word of God, a OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER

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week I go about the country listening to the cries of the people, their pain from so much crime, and the ignominy of so much violence. Each week I ask the Lord to give me the right words to console, to denounce, to call for repentance. And even though I may be a voice crying in the desert, I know that the Church is making the effort to fulfill its mission.”

Romero then made a reference back to Moses’ day: “Every country lives its own ‘exodus’; today El Salvador is living its own exodus. Today we are passing to our liberation through a desert strewn with bodies and where anguish and pain are devastating us. Many suffer the temptation of those who walked with Moses and wanted to turn back and did not work together.

It is the same old story. God, however, wants to save the people by making a new history.”

Romero’s words speak to us today and to Christians of any age: “The Church, the people of God in history, is not attached to any one social system, to any political organization, to any party. The Church does not identify herself with any of those forces because she is the eternal pilgrim of history and is indicating at every historical moment what reflects the Kingdom of God and what does not reflect the Kingdom of God. She is the servant of the Kingdom of God. The great task of Christians must be to absorb the Spirit of God’s Kingdom and, with souls filled with the Kingdom of God, to work on the projects of history.”

Jesus, at Mark 12:34, said to a scribe, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God,” after that scribe had affirmed Jesus’ proclamation of the Great Commandments (of love of God and love of neighbor). The scribe had said, “Well said, Teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than He.’ And ‘to love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself ’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mk 12:32-33). Romero was trying to indicate to his listeners how to put those words into practice, living the Kingdom.

In the concrete situation that the archbishop was facing, he said in that last homily, “I would like to make a special appeal to the men of the army, and specifically to the ranks of the National Guard, the police and the military. You are killing your own brother peasants when any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God which says, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. The Church, the defender of the rights of God, of the law of God, of human dignity, of the person, cannot remain silent before such an abomination. In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cries rise to Heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you in the name of God: stop the repression.

“The Church preaches your liberation just as we have studied it in the Holy Bible today. It is a liberation that has, above all else, respect for the dignity of the person, hope for humanity’s common good, and the transcendence that looks before all to God and only from God derives its hope and its strength.”

We thank God for the blessing of Archbishop Romero and ask God for the grace to imitate his desire to work for the Kingdom of God.

Vol. 59, No. 5

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Word to listen, to receive and to announce.

Arriving in Capernaum, Jesus does not send the announcement of the Gospel, He does not think of the logistical planning, while surely necessary, of His little community.

He does not linger in organizing.

His main concern is that of communicating the Word of God with the strength of the Holy Spirit.

And the people in the synagogue are struck, because Jesus “taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes” (v. 22).

What does “with authority” mean? It means that in the human Word of Jesus the strength of the Word of God was felt, the same authoritativeness of God was felt, Inspirer of the Holy Scripture.

And one of the characteristics of the Word of God is that it carries out that which it says, because the Word of God corresponds

with His will. Instead, we often pronounce empty words, without roots or superfluous words, words that do not correspond with the truth. The Word of God, instead, corresponds to the truth and is united to His will and does what He says. In fact, Jesus, after having preached, quickly demonstrates His authority by freeing a man, present in the synagogue, who was possessed by a demon (cfr Mk. 1:23-26). It was precisely the Divine authority of Christ that brought out Satan’s reaction, hidden within that man; Jesus, for His part, immediately recognizes the voice of evil and “rebuked him and said, ‘Quiet! Come out of him’” (v.25). With only the strength of His word, Jesus frees the person from evil. And once again those present were astonished: “But this Man, where does He come from? He commands

even the unclean spirits and they obey Him.” The Word of God astonishes us with that strength. It astonishes us well.

The Gospel is the Word of life: it does not oppress people, on the contrary, it frees those who are enslaved by so many evil spirits in this world: vanity, the attachment to money, pride, sensuality. The Gospel changes the heart, the Gospel changes the heart! It changes life; it transforms the inclination to evil to resolutions of good. The Gospel is capable of changing the hearts of the people. Therefore it is the duty of Christians to spread everywhere the redeeming power, becoming missionaries and heralds of the Word of God. It is suggested by the very passage from today’s reading which closes with a missionary aperture: “His fame — Jesus’ fame — spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee” (v. 28).

February 6, 2015

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Anchor Columnist Daily mental prayer

7

e’ve been focusing for the last several weeks on various elements of a Catholic plan of life, the Spiritual game plan to help us to achieve the purpose of human existence, which is a communion with God and others meant to begin in this world and last forever.

In 2001, St. John Paul II said that everything that the Church does is meant to help train people in the Spiritual practices that will help us cooperate in God’s will to make us saints. He focused on six different elements, but emphasized this training in holiness that a plan of life cultivates requires “a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer.”

There’s a lot contained in that phrase.

First, it indicates that prayer is the most important part of a plan of life, because prayer — which is an intimate, transformational dialogue with God, not so much of words or even ideas but of persons — needs to be at the foundation of every other part of that Spiritual game plan, since every part of the plan of life is meant to be an encounter with God. Second, St. John Paul indicates that Christian prayer is an art, not a technique. Prayer is not like engineering or chemistry, but more like playing or composing music. Inspiration is involved, namely the literal “in-breathing” that God the Holy Spirit gives us, which is the basis of prayer, for we do not know to pray as we

ought (Rom 8:26). counter with God by helping us Third, a truly Christian life to live conscious of God’s presmust be characterized “above ence and in union with His will all” by this inspired art. In other throughout the whole of the day. words, to the extent that we’re When saints and Spiritual living a genuinely Christian life, directors talk about prayer as part our life must be marked espeof the plan of life, they mean cially by prayer. To be practical, at fundamentally what St. Teresa our funeral, the mourners should of Avila called “mental prayer,” be able easily to say that the most which involves the internal acts distinctive thing about us was that we were a person of prayer! “LearnPutting Into ing this Trinitarian shape of Christian prayer and the Deep living it fully,” St. John Paul said, “is the secret of

By Father a truly vital Christianity.”

Roger J. Landry Our Christian life is worth, basically, what our prayer is worth. of our mind and heart involved That’s why daily prayer is in meditation and contemplation. so essential to a plan of life. “It It’s a time of silence in which would be wrong,” St. John Paul we dialogue with God, listenunderlined, “to think that ordiing for His voice, ruminating on nary Christians can be content His Words, seeking His face and with a shallow prayer that is allowing ourselves to be looked at unable to fill their whole life.

Him by love. St. Teresa describes Especially in the face of the many mental prayer as “a close sharing trials to which today’s world sub- between friends.” jects faith, they would be not only Mental prayer is distinguished mediocre Christians but ‘Chrisfrom what the Church calls “votians at risk.’ They would run the cal prayers,” when we use words insidious risk of seeing their faith given to us by others — by the progressively undermined.”

Lord, by saints, by the beautiful Prayer is meant to fill our prayers found in prayer books whole life. It’s not meant to be a — to converse with God. Vocal three-minute exercise before we prayer is obviously good, but it go to bed or even a three-hour can feature more our speaking to exercise that remains in a chapel. God than our listening interiorly It’s meant to be the soul of our to what God wants to say to Christian existence, something us. Prayer is more than merely that catalyzes a continual en“saying our prayers,” even if those

prayers are the Lord’s Prayer and the angelic salutation!

For most people, especially at the beginning, mental prayer is not a switch we can just flip on. It takes time to leave the daily noise of life behind to listen to God’s gentle interior whispers.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen used to encourage a daily holy hour. St. Josemaria Escriva used to urge lay people to split it up into a halfhour in the morning and a half-hour in the evening, so that one would better keep the presence of God throughout the day. Those who struggle at the beginning are often urged to start with a solid block of 15 minutes a day and build the Spiritual stamina.

This may seem like a big commitment — and it is — but we also need to keep it in perspective. Most of us, if we had the privilege to have a 30 or 60 minute appointment each day with Pope Francis or a great saint to help us in the Spiritual life, would wisely and enthusiastically jump at the chance. But mental prayer is an appointment with God Himself, and if we wouldn’t seize that opportunity, it’s probably a sign that God is not really yet God in our life.

Second, most of us easily have the time. Nielsen tells us that the average American watches 34 hours of television a week, almost five hours a day. All most of us

would need to do to find time to pray is prioritize contemplating God over watching television. As kids know, love is spelled T-I-ME. Do we love God enough to make time for Him? I generally try to make a holy hour first thing in the morning — before other thoughts intervene — and to make a half-hour of prayer at night. I mark “Jesus” in my calendar and treat these appointments as the most important in my day, because they are.

Others find they can pray better at other times when they are more alert and less distracted. The essential thing is not when we’re praying but that we’re praying.

Many ask how to do this mental prayer well. There are lots of great books to explain it. I generally recommend as an introduction Father Jacques Philippes’s “Time for God.” But at the same time — because prayer is an inspired art and not a technique — I just encourage people to make the time and begin, asking the Lord to teach them how to pray, just as the first disciples requested (Lk 11:1).

St. Josemaria once gave great advice to young students: “You don’t know how to pray? Put yourself in the presence of God, and as soon as you have said, ‘Lord, I don’t know how to pray!’ you can be sure you’ve already begun.”

Anchor columnist Father Landry can be contacted at fatherlandry@catholicpreaching.com.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Violence against women, cultural pressures regarding women’s physical appearance, attitudes that subjugate women or that ignore male-female differences and the growing alienation of women from the Church in some parts of the world are themes the Pontifical Council for Culture is set to explore.

The council has chosen to discuss the theme, “Women’s Cultures: Equality and Difference,” during its plenary assembly February 4-7 at the Vatican.

The document, drafted by a group of women appointed by the council, looked at the continuing quest to find balance in promoting women’s equality while valuing the differences between women and men; the concrete and symbolic aspects of women’s potential for motherhood; cultural attitudes toward women’s bodies; and

women and religion, including questions about their participation in Church decisionmaking.

The council said the theme was chosen “to identify possible pastoral paths, which will allow Christian communities to listen and dialogue with the world today in this sphere,” while recognizing that in different cultures and for individual women the situation will be different.

While cautioning against generalizations, the document rejects the notion that there are no differences between men and women, and that each person “chooses and builds his or her identity; owns him or herself and answers primarily to him or herself.”

In preparing the document and the plenary discussions, the council sought input from women around the world.

However, the process was not without criticism, particularly

document said and, in fact, statistics show ordination “is not something that women want.”

However, it said, “if, as Pope Francis says, women have a central role in Christianity, this role must find a counterpart also in the ordinary life of the Church.”

The vast majority of Catholic women today do not want a bishop’s “purple biretta,” it said, but would like to see Church doors open “to women so that they can offer their contribution in terms of skills and also sensitivity, intuition, passion, dedication, in full collaboration and integration” with men in the Church.

The preparatory document looked at how much pressure women face regarding their body image and the way women’s bodies are exploited in the media, even to the point of provoking eating disorders or recourse to unnecessary surgery.

“Plastic surgery that is not

medico-therapeutic can be aggressive toward the feminine identity, showing a refusal of the body in as much as it is a refusal of the ‘season’ that is being lived out,” it said. “’Plastic surgery is like a burqa made of flesh.’ One woman gave us this harsh and incisive description,” the document said. “Having been given freedom of choice for all, are we not under a new cultural yoke of a singular feminine model?”

The document also denounced violence inflicted on women: “Selective abortion, infanticide, genital mutilation, crimes of honor, forced Marriages, trafficking of women, sexual molestation, rape — which in some parts of the world are inflicted on a massive level and along ethnic lines — are some of the deepest injuries inflicted daily on the soul of the world, on the bodies of women and of girls, who become silent and invisible victims.”

Pontifical council to consider challenges women face in society, Church for the English version of a video featuring an Italian actress, Nanci Brilli, asking women to send in their experiences.

Many women felt the use of a heavily made-up actress ran counter to the point of seeking input about the real lives of most women. The council quickly took the English version off YouTube.

In the section on women and the Church, the document described “multifaceted discomfort” with images of women that are no longer relevant and with a Christian community that seems to value their input even less than the world of business and commerce does.

Many women, it said, “have reached places of prestige within society and the workplace, but have no corresponding decisional role nor responsibility within ecclesial communities.”

Council members are not proposing a discussion of ordaining women priests, the

8

O

ur First Reading this week is from the Book of Job, the central character of which is man who by the standards of his day had it all. Job was blessed by God with a large and wonderful family, many flocks and a great amount of land. Job was grateful for all the blessings that God had bestowed on him.

His glass was filled to the brim, until the bottom of his glass fell out and everything was taken away from him. His children were killed in a wind storm, his land and livestock were destroyed. No wonder this once optimistic man began to call human existence drudgery. Job did not despair, however, because despair would have led Job farther away from God and down a road that would only end in sin.

In our Gospel we find

February 6, 2015

Hope

that Peter’s mother-in-law try to find a glimmer of was sick with a fever. It hope even when it seems would appear that her glass impossible? In other words was half empty, because illare we hope-givers, men ness in Jesus’ day was often and women who choose to thought to be the result bring the hope of God’s of sin. She did not despair love to those in need of in her condition, however, but — thanks to those Homily of the Week who brought Jesus Fifth Sunday to her — recovered in Ordinary Time from the fever. Job was not so lucky;

By Father he had friends who Maurice O. Gauvin only made matters worse.

Through these readings we are able to see consolation? how daily life can presOur Christian faith is ent us many challenges based on the hope that and difficulties that at comes from God and His times appear insurmountSon Jesus. In the Gospel able. What is our attitude we often find Jesus telling toward these problems? the crowds to place their Are we pessimists who trust and hope in God and complain about every evil in Him. He healed the and wrong and do nothing sick, drove out demons about it, or optimists who and comforted those who

found their lives to be burdensome. Jesus never left anyone in despair; on the contrary, He always left the crowds better than when they first came to Him. Ultimately He died on the cross so that authentic human hope would never be extinguished.

As Christians we, too, are called to bring hope to our brothers and sisters who have grown tired with the worries, challenges and struggles of life. Our words and actions must be hope-filled and life-giving like Jesus’. We are to speak words of comfort and healing to those who have found life to be a drudgery.

Job eventually would find hope and courage to face all of his sufferings.

His drudgery turned into

hope because he trusted in God; even when pessimistic he never despaired. Like Job even in our darkest hours when all may appear lost we cannot despair, we cannot throw our arms up in the air and say, “That’s it! I can’t go on,” because when we do, we are denying the ability of God to transform our lives and its circumstances for the good.

Despair can and will lead us to a road of selfdestruction. Hope, on the other hand, gives to us the ability with the help of God to face life head-on and find our way through the darkness into the light of God. Authentic Christian hope is what makes us fully alive and fully human in Christ Jesus the Lord.

Father Gauvin is pastor of Espirito Santo Parish in Fall River.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. Feb. 7, Heb 13:15-17, 20-21; Ps 23:1-6; Mk 6:30-34. Sun. Feb. 8, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jb 7:1-4,6-7; Ps 147:16, 1 Cor 9:16-19,22-23; Mk 1:29-39. Mon. Feb. 9, Gn 1:1-19; Ps 104:1-2a,5-6,10,12,24,35c; Mk 6:53-56. Tues. Feb. 10, Gn 1:20-2:4a; Ps 8:4-9; Mk 7:1-13.

Wed. Feb. 11, Gn 2:4b-9, 15-17; Ps 104:1-2a,27-28,29bc-30; Mk 7:14-23. Thurs. Feb. 12, Gn 2:18-25; Ps 128:1-5; Mk 7:24-30. Fri. Feb. 13, Gn 3:1-8; Ps 32:1-2,5-7; Mk 7:31-37.

T

he bilateral diplomacy of the Holy See is unique in world affairs, in that it has little or nothing to do with the things with which diplomats typically occupy their time: trade issues, security matters, visas.

Rather, the reason why the Vatican engages in bilateral diplomacy is to secure the freedom of the Catholic Church to be itself in the countries with which the Holy See has, or wishes to have, diplomatic relations.

To be sure, in crisis situations, the Holy See’s representative in a crumbling or violence-ridden state can also serve as an honest broker amidst contending local parties, or a voice for persecuted Catholic communities, or a channel for humanitarian assistance. But whatever the situation, the first task of the pope’s representative to another sovereignty is to help maintain free space for the Church’s evangelical, Sacramental, educational and charitable missions, all of which are essential to what it means to be “the Catholic Church” in any hu-

Evangelical challenges for Vatican diplomacy that precludes strong, vocal man situation.

This unique character can and visible Catholic support for those hard-pressed create unique challenges; Cuban human rights activtwo such challenges today ists who form the core of involve Cuba and China. the post-communist Cuban In Cuba, the role played civil society of the future,

by Vatican officials and the archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, in facilitating the recent agreement between the United States and Cuba to restore full diploBy George Weigel matic relations has significantly raised the stakes for how the evangelical mission of the local Church in Cuba, and the Holy See, play their the Church in a post-Castro Cuba could be seriously respective hands in the last imperiled. days of the Castro regime.

Building-while-resisting, Those “last days” may, and thus helping acceleralas, be a matter of years; ate the change toward a still, that Castroism has post-Castro future: that is no future seems obvious to the challenge for Cuban everyone except the brothCatholicism, which will face ers Castro. Some Catholic the daunting task of releaders in Cuba are underconverting Cuba in the 21st standably concerned to use century. The local Church what openings may now be should be firmly supported available to build up the in both aspects of that work, Church’s infrastructure in the building and the resistthat long-suffering island.

But if that build-up involves ing, by the Holy See. Then there’s the new thaw a kind of relationship with in the Holy See’s relations the present Cuban regime

The Catholic Difference

with the People’s Republic of China. It’s no secret that senior Vatican diplomats have long sought full diplomatic exchange at the ambassadorial level with the PRC; the theory is that such diplomatic recognition will give the Catholic Church a more secure place at the table as China determines its future. But here, too, there are evangelical concerns to be considered.

Full diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the PRC would require the Vatican to sever its diplomatic ties with Taiwan — the first Chinese democracy in that ancient country’s 5,000-year history. And while there is nothing inexorable about a transition to democracy in mainland China, there does seem something inherently unstable about communist regimes — especially if they’ve been sitting atop a substantial middle class that’s not going to accept political disenfranchisement indefinitely. If and when a

Chinese democratic revolution happens, too close a relationship with a faltering communist regime with a long history of persecuting Christians and pro-democracy activists could be an obstacle to the evangelization of China — which, when it fully opens itself to the world, will be the greatest field of Christian mission since the Europeans came to the western hemisphere in the 16th century.

We may be sure that Evangelical Protestants and Mormons, who will not be burdened by having had diplomatic relations with the PRC, are already thinking hard about their missions in a post-communist China.

That, too, should concentrate Catholic minds on how the alleged benefits of a deal between the Vatican and the current regime in Beijing are to be weighed against the potential perils to the new evangelization in a postcommunist China.

George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

February 6, 2015

Monday 2 February 2015 — Homeport: Falmouth Harbor — Groundhog Day ell, well. Wasn’t that something? Now that #blizzardof2015 is long gone and we have survived yet another storm, I must remember to add this one to my extensive résumé.

I notice how the social media referred to this storm — with a hashtag and omitted spacing. It’s yet another indication that we live in the age of Twitter. (You will remember, dear readers, that I had advised you of this trend in previous columns.) There was a time when only tropical storms and hurricanes were named. Now blizzards are also given names.

After much detective work, I have uncovered the conspiratorial group responsible — the Winter Storm Naming Committee at the Weather Channel. They decided to call the storm “Juno.”

I suppose #blizzardof2015 or “Juno” is better than previous appellations. Remember “Snowpocalpse?” Did I mention that among the 150 words accepted this year by the Merriam/Webster dictionary editors are “Snowmageddon,” “Rainocalpse” and “Floodgate?”

I am particularly galled by the tendency to add the suffix

W

I

t seems that this semester is going to be a busy one.

Actually, that’s an understatement and any one of my peers would be quick to correct me — it’s going to be hectic, stressful, riddled with anxiety, and a struggle to maintain any semblance of a personal life.

Sound bleak? Indeed it does.

However, it also means an opportunity for growth and a time where blocking out the noise of all the unnecessary becomes vital. This semester, we’ve added counseling classes to our course load and the emphasis on listening is becoming very evident as a technique and a life skill. How so? In class we’re learning that in order to be truly attentive and present to our clients, we must quiet the voice inside our own head that says, “Fix this!” or “Here’s what you should do!” Actually, we should quiet all of what is running through our head, dominating our thoughts.

Instead, we should be listening to our client until they finish, only then responding with

Anchor Columnists Snownado

9

was introduced by Msgr. Tom “gate” to just about everything Harrington. At the time, Tom — “Deflatagate” for example. was the diocesan chancellor The Watergate scandal hapand chaplain of the Fall River pened back in ’72. It was Fire Department. He sugnamed after the five-building complex in which the dastardly gested that every parish have deed took place. It’s high time we got over it.

The Ship’s Log There was a great Reflections of a deal of hype in adParish Priest vance of this storm.

One might say it was

By Father Tim a veritable blizzard Goldrick of hype, but I for one am not going to say it. This storm proved an emergency plan. Tom was that the general public needs ahead of his time. to keep abreast of threatening These days, pastors are weather conditions. Inforroutinely asked to describe the mation can save lives. And Church’s disaster plan. Have anyway, weather forecasts give you time to rush to the nearest we identified an off-site location from which basic operastore and stock up on bread tion of the parish might conand milk. I have yet to figure tinue? Is there a rescue plan for out why bread and milk sudimportant Church documents, denly become such precious records, and Sacramental regcommodities. I suppose that, isters? Have these documents if you also have eggs on hand, been copied or backed up? you could survive on French What about the Eucharist in toast, but that’s just a theory. the tabernacle and important I prefer international French Sacred objects? toast made with Portuguese Prevention is worth a sweet bread, but I digress.

I have seen many issues dis- pound of cure — as Benjamin cussed at the Fall River priests’ Franklin so wisely pointed out.

Are there trees that need to senate/presbyteral council be trimmed so that they don’t meetings. I sat on that comcome crashing down onto a mittee for 20 years. One item church building? Are parking I remember from decades ago

lots and sidewalks cleared of snow, ice and debris in a timely fashion? (We are expected to keep a running log of all plowing and shoveling activities.) Are there shovels and ice melt readily available near the entrances for quick remedy? Are there mats inside the doors to prevent a slip hazard? Does the parish complex have a back-up generator?

(I’m a firm believer that no new church should ever be built without an emergency generator.)

There are other Church matters to be considered when a storm approaches. How to deal with Religious Education classes? Many parishes have a rule of thumb that if schools cancel or dismiss early, there will automatically be no catechism classes. It seems like a simple procedure, as long as everyone knows it. Also, telephone calls can be made or text messages sent to alert parents and students of the cancellation. Or, if you have obtained parents’ email address you can use that system. Television stations will often scroll cancellations and radio stations make “no class” announcements. The parish website can be used

effectively to get the word out. And lastly, for those few parishes still using an answering machine, you could always record a taped message.

What to do with previously scheduled Masses? Obvious, when a government official bans all non-emergency vehicles from the roads, one should avoid breaking the law in order to attend Mass. Otherwise, common sense is called for.

“Common sense is not so common,” observed Mark Twain.

This remains the case. I know of no diocesan guideline in this matter. Some parishes simply announce the cancellation of all Masses. I can’t bring myself to do this. After all, priests celebrate Holy Mass in war zones. I just encourage people to stay home.

Now that #blizzardof2015 is history, there will eventually be another “weather event.” I wonder what it will be called.

May I suggest “Snownado?”

I’m going to trademark the word immediately. If I reserve all rights to “Snownado,” I stand a good chance of making a small fortune. It might even pay for plowing the church parking lot next time, but I doubt it.

Anchor columnist Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth.

listen to them. Therein lies the opportunity for growth. Sitting and truly listening to someone without thinking about my response ahead of time, simply

for it to exist in completion.

How often can we say this is true for our relationship with Christ? Sure, I can recognize this communication in my personal and professional relationships. But what about when we think on a deeper level to the relationship we have with Him? How often do we find ourselves interrupting Him? In my previous articles I write a lot about the two paths we have in front of us. We have ours, which we plan out meticulously. We see our own vision, a future with a career, a family, and for some, maybe even a timeline for it all to happen on. Some people have their future job nailed down, they’ve got the specifics for their dream home, they know how many children they’ll have and with whom. They’ll be successful, travel the world, retire somewhere warm. For others, their path looks very different, but the fact remains, it’s

still their path. But there’s that secondary path that we always tend to forget about. There are things in life that will pop up, that will deter us, throw us off.

We’ll be surprised, saddened, angered, and humbled. And we’ll wonder why it was that those things came about to set us on a new path, one that we hadn’t anticipated, one that looks a lot more unfamiliar than our own.

My message for your February, as you begin to really settle into the path you’ve set for your new year, is simple. If we allow ourselves to block out the noise, to really listen and be in relationship with Christ — without interruptions on our end, without speaking in His place — we may be surprised by what we hear and the reasons behind the bumps, hurdles, and surprises on our path may become more clear.

Anchor columnist Renee Bernier graduated from Stonehill College and is a graduate student at James Madison University in Harrison, Va.

Blocking out the noise

thoughts that we didn’t focus on formulating as they were speaking to us. But how? How do we not think about what we want to say while they’re talking? Well if you’re like me, it’s incredibly difficult. If anything, counseling has already taught me that even if I rein myself in, my tendency to want to jump right into a conversation persists.

Jumping right into a conversation is not at all inherently bad, but what results can be.

Oftentimes when I decide that I’m ready to share, it means I cut people off or interrupt them so I can get my own thoughts out into the world. And sure, it’s mostly because I’m excited about an idea or I think I have a solution to something, but really, is the person I’m with fulfilled by that? What I’m learning is that they’re probably not. They’d probably appreciate it a lot more if I allowed myself to just

Radiate Your Faith

By Renee Bernier

being with someone, is a challenge. Sitting in the quiet that follows, the quiet that lingers in the space that I’ve allowed to exist because I haven’t come up with my answer yet, that is the greater challenge.

Yet, the moment then becomes less about us, and more about the relationship.

It helps our clients to know that we’ve focused so much on what they had to share with us, that we didn’t want to rush to judgment, we didn’t taint our dialogue, we simply allowed

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February 6, 2015

Campaign aims to fight trafficking by disrupting its ‘business model’

WASHINGTON (CNS) — “Critical to winning this battle” against human trafficking is “the ability to disrupt (its) business model,” a former Marine Corps general said at a media briefing January 29 in Washington.

“Modern-day slavery is a global scourge,” said retired Gen. Charles C. Krulak.

He spoke at a briefing where a coalition of representatives from the business, legal and nonprofit sectors came together to announce a new initiative to combat the global industry created by human trafficking.

The Campaign to Disrupt the Business of Modern Day Slavery is an initiative coordinated by Human Rights First, a nonprofit that emphasizes the promotion of human rights worldwide and seeks to engage organizations and institutions in efforts to “disrupt the business of human trafficking.”

The campaign’s mission statement states that it intends to do this through “increasing the risk to perpetrators and diminishing their profits. Through cooperation between the U.S. government, private sector, and civil society, we will press for increased

prosecutions and more robust criminal asset forfeiture proceedings, targeting the enablers and participants in this criminal enterprise.

According to numbers from Human Rights First, there are an estimated 20.9 victims of worldwide human trafficking today and the industry itself generates $150 billion every year.

“This campaign is not a hundred-yard dash; it’s a marathon,” said Krulak in his opening statement. He is a former Marine commandant and currently president of Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama.

Present at the gathering with Kurlak were Elisa Massimino, president of Human Rights First; former Congressman Daniel Lungren, R-California; Francine Della Badia, president of North American Retail, Coach Inc.; Mark Lagon, president of Freedom House; as well as several others from all areas of public life.

Human trafficking is “a many-headed problem” said Massimino in discussing how the campaign’s “particular approach” seeks to address the problem from several different angles such as public

awareness, private sector engagement and criminal prosecution.

The groups focus on financial disruption versus simple awareness, prosecution or victim care alone is important because “even if you prosecute and arrest all the perpetrators, others will eventually take their place” unless the risk versus reward ratio is altered, according to Birmingham Mayor William Bell.

A large focus of the discussion was on the implications of human trafficking for the private sector.

“Legitimate businesses have not only a moral imperative in this fight, but also a compelling practical interest,” said Lagon. “Several businesses stand to have their brands damaged as well as to be at risk for legal liabilities so corporations need to develop best practices in supply chain management” to ensure that their products are “not tainted by slavery.”

According to Lagon, “the idea that a corporation’s moral and practical business interests are somehow divorced” from one another is nothing but a “false dichotomy.”

“Most businesses want to

do the right thing; businesses are run by human beings,” said Della Badia, agreeing with Lagon. In a “world of transparency” where business practices can rarely escape the scrutiny of a cursory Internet search, she said, “companies want to develop best practices and demonstrate integrity” through such things as employee engagement, because “it can help companies be more aware and implement better business models.”

Laurel Bellows, former president of the American Bar Association, told Catholic News Service that “the ABA has been very active” in the fight against human trafficking and she believes that “the removal of the profit motive in human trafficking is the most effective way to move perpetrators out of the practice.”

“What makes this crime different than most others,” Bellows added, “is that for most other crimes, the victims are visible and at some point, the nature of modernday slavery hardens its victims,” thereby making transition and recovery difficult for many affected by the practice.

In a conversation about the nature of caring for sur-

vivors of human trafficking, Lungren told CNS about his personal experiences. While in Congress, he sponsored legislation to combat human trafficking and held field hearings on the issue.

“There is a great deal of difficulty in providing new occupations and alternatives for survivors,” he said. “The problem with this practice is that so many of these people, especially women, are taken at such a young age, that the only person that they can learn to trust is the person who is exploiting them.

“What I encountered is that many who are extracted have developed almost a ‘Stockholm-like’ syndrome for their captors,” added Lungren, a Catholic.

Kenneth Morris Jr., the great-great-great-grandson of Frederick Douglass and the great-great-grandson of Booker T. Washington, told the audience at the briefing that “most people would like to believe that slavery was ended with the efforts of people like Frederick Douglass and the abolition movement, but slavery still exists today.”

“Together,” the campaign’s closing statement reads, “we pledge to put our individual and collective energies and influence behind a major public education and advocacy effort to disrupt the business of human trafficking.”

The Catholic Church has put a spotlight on the global human trafficking crisis by declaring the first International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking. It will take place February 8, the feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese slave who eventually was freed and became a Canossian nun.

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February 6, 2015

Patricia Gonzalez styles a client’s hair in a salon in San Salvador, El Salvador, Dec. 11, 2014. She learned her trade in a vocational training center run by the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church. (CNS photo/Paul Jeffrey)

With pope’s encouragement, Salvadoran bishops begin dialogue with gangs

SEATTLE (CNS) — The Catholic bishops of El Salvador announced that, with encouragement from Pope Francis, they have undertaken a process of dialogue with the country’s gangs.

Gang members in El Salvador “have a right to be included, to be heard, for they are persons and they have families,” said Auxiliary Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez of San Salvador, during a news conference following February 1 Mass in the city’s Metropolitan Cathedral.

The move came two weeks after several gang leaders — most of them in prison — declared a cease-fire that has already cut murder rates dramatically.

The gangs are seen by many in El Salvador as violent organized crime syndicates, and polls have shown strong support for the government’s “iron fist” approach which, for years, has filled the country’s prisons with tattoocovered gang members but consistently failed to lower one of the world’s highest murder rates.

Earlier attempts at dialogue involving Church leaders failed, though Bishop Fabio Colindres of the military diocese was a key mediator in talks that produced a truce between gangs that began in March 2012 and dropped the country’s murder rate by more than two-thirds.

The truce fell apart after 15 months, however, something many observers blamed on opposition from the country’s huge private security companies, which lost profits as street violence declined. Yet resistance to the truce also grew among gang members at the base when extortion operations — deprived of the ability to punish noncompliance with death — began to lose

their profitability.

As public opinion turned against the truce, Bishop Colindres was chastised in the press for coddling delinquents, especially after he publicly washed and kissed the feet of gang members during Holy Week in 2014.

Father Antonio Rodriguez, a Passionist priest from Spain, also attempted to mediate dialogue between the government and the gangs. He was pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the Mejicanos neighborhood of the capital, where he ran a large program of

rehabilitating former gang members and providing job training to youth in hopes of keeping them out of gangs.

Yet Father Rodriguez was arrested last July after the government leaked embarrassing recordings of his telephone calls with imprisoned gang leaders and charged the priest with smuggling phones into prisons.

Father Rodriguez left the country in September as part of a plea bargain to get him out of prison.

Until the February 1 announcement, Catholic leaders

had publicly pulled back from any hint of support for dialogue with the gangs after Bishop Colindres and Father Rodriguez were excoriated in the country’s press.

Yet Catholic leaders have quietly worked behind the scenes with several leaders of the country’s evangelical churches, which have a significant outreach in the prisons. That effort paid off January 26, when gang leaders around the country announced that they had agreed January 17 to a cease-fire, what they called “a unilateral gesture of goodwill” designed to “reduce the violence.”

The National Civilian Police reported that between January 1 and 17, there was an average of 14.1 murders per day in El Salvador; between January 18 and 29, the average dropped to 7.6 murders a day. On January 22, there was no murder reported in the entire country, something that had not occurred for more than a year.

Bishop Rosa Chavez represents the Church in the government-sponsored National Council for Citizen Security, which has been discussing gang-related issues since its creation late last year.

He said the Church’s participation “has the approval of the pope. He told us to get in there and work for youth to have opportunities and a chance to dream.”

The prelate was careful to point out that the new dialogue should not be considered nego-

tiation.

“The word negotiation isn’t involved here. We’re talking about dialogue, which means to listen and give people opportunities. With dialogue, we can reach the grass roots, the youth in the poor neighborhoods who want to be listened to, and give them opportunities to leave the gangs,” said Bishop Rosa Chavez, according to local press reports.

The government of Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, which took office last year, has repeatedly said it would neither dialogue nor negotiate with the gangs. Sanchez Ceren leads the second administration from the former rebel side of the Salvadoran Civil War. Unlike his predecessor, he has been more supportive of the police (which includes many of his former enemies) in its fight against gangs.

Bishop Rosa Chavez criticized the government’s posture.

“When one wants to find solutions to violence by using more violence, it won’t work,” he said.

“We’ve got to break the molds and change paradigms, or else the deaths will keep piling up, increasing the pain of the families.”

The bishop pointed out that the country’s civil war was finally brought to an end through dialogue between the government and rebel groups.

“Why can’t we overcome violence today by following the same path?” he asked.

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February 6, 2015

Coming soon to the Vatican: Haircuts for Rome’s homeless Vatican City (CNA/ EWTN News) — The Vatican’s continued efforts to help the homeless of Rome have expanded beyond showers and bathrooms at St. Peter’s Square, with a barber shop set to open soon.

“Our primary concern is to give people their dignity,” Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, head of the Office of Papal Charities, told the Italian news agency ANSA. In November, construction started on new showers and bathrooms for the homeless under the colonnades of St. Peter’s Square.

The archbishop, who oversaw the project, set aside space for a barber.

He noted the difficulty that the homeless face in washing themselves, which in turn helps cause others to reject them — or causes them to fear rejection.

“A person needs to keep their hair and facial hair tidy, also in order to prevent diseases,” the archbishop said. “This is another service that homeless people do not have easy access to. It is not easy for them to enter a normal

shop because there may be a fear of customers catching something, like scabies for example.”

The initiative will also help “the good of the city,” since homeless people often take buses and the subway and come into contact with others.

The Poland-born Archbishop Krajewski is the papal almoner, who conducts acts of charity for the poor and raises money to fund the charitable work. When the archbishop was appointed, Pope Francis urged him not to stay at his desk but rather to be an active worker for the benefit of the poor.

Many barbers have volunteered with enthusiasm, including two barbers from the national Italian organization that transports the sick to Lourdes, France and other international shrines.

Other volunteers are finishing their final year in barber school.

The barber service will be open on Mondays, when barber shops in Italy are traditionally closed.

It is scheduled to open in several weeks.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, February 8, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father Robert A. Oliveira, pastor of Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in New Bedford

Visit The Anchor online at http://www.anchornews.org

Sam Lerner, Jonny Weston, Allen Evangelista and Virginia Gardner star in a scene from the movie “Project Almanac.” For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Paramount)

CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by CNS. “Black or White” (Relativity) Large-scale issues of race and addiction are examined in microcosm in this fact-based drama from writer-director Mike Binder. After a car accident suddenly leaves him a widower, a prosperous white lawyer (Kevin Costner) struggles to go on raising his half-African-American granddaughter ( Jillian Estell).

But his reliance on alcohol to assuage his grief raises questions about his fitness as a guardian, leading the girl’s paternal grandmother (Octavia Spencer), a successful entrepreneur, to sue for custody. As family antagonisms fuel the conflict — the attorney blames the lass’ dad (Andre Holland), a narcoticsdependent ne’er-do-well, for his own daughter’s needless death in childbirth — so too do racial tensions. Though its avoidance of stereotypes and easy answers is admirable, the film provides only modest entertainment for those grown-up viewers able to appreciate its moral shadings. Brief bloodless violence, a drug theme, incidental affirmation of a same-sex marriage, mature references, several uses of profanity, at least one rough term, frequent crude and crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cau-

tioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“Mortdecai” (Lionsgate) Tone-deaf action comedy about an eccentric — and somewhat shady — British art dealer ( Johnny Depp) who, at the behest of a government spy (Ewan McGregor), gets drawn into a murder investigation that has him searching for a lost masterpiece while fending off an international terrorist ( Jonny Pasvolsky) and a Russian mobster (Ulrich Thomsen). He’s aided by his resourceful bodyguard (Paul Bettany) and devoted wife (Gwyneth Paltrow), though, in a running joke, the latter spends much of the film alienated from her spouse by her dislike of his newly acquired moustache. Director David Koepp’s screen version of Kyril Bonfiglioli’s novel “Don’t Point That Thing at Me” tries to evoke P.G. Wodehouse and the sort of movies parodied by the “Austin Powers” series. But in place of effervescent satiric champagne, viewers get a gulp of flat ginger ale instead. And, though the successful union shared by Depp and Paltrow’s characters is front and center in screenwriter Eric Aronson’s script, asides in the dialogue hint that the absence of children from their family life has not come about accidentally.

Considerable bloodless violence, a brief premarital bedroom scene, frequent sexual and some scatological humor, including a vulgar anatomical sight gag, at least one use of profanity, occasional rough and crude language. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

“Project Almanac” (Paramount) A scientifically gifted high

school senior ( Jonny Weston) stumbles across a time-travel mechanism and, together with the girl of his dreams (Sofia Black-D’Elia), his sister (Virginia Gardiner) and his two best pals (Sam Lerner and Allen Evangelista), overcomes a series of obstacles to put the device in working order. As long as the group sticks to shortterm chronology hopping and relatively small-scale wish fulfillment, their magical gadget seems like a windfall. But pushing the boundaries reveals the disastrously negative impact their reality-altering visits to the past can have on the present. Director Dean Israelite’s uneven sci-fi fantasy works well enough as long as its generic teenage ensemble is puzzling over the nuts and bolts of their apparatus. Once they master its secrets, though, the complications become confusing, the plotting choppy and the tone shrill, leaving viewers with the temporal equivalent of seasickness. Though the film is obviously aimed at adolescents, writers Andrew Deutschmann and Jason Pagan’s screenplay includes among its contingencies a possible physical relationship between two characters that would not only predate any thought of Marriage but might also anticipate either or both of the participants’ legal majority.

A nonmarital and possibly underage sexual situation with a scene of sensual intimacy, teen drinking, some sexual humor, a few uses of profanity, at least one instance of the F-word, pervasive crude and occasional crass language. 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.

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February 6, 2015

Father Merton at 100: Still inspiring people to get closer to God WASHINGTON (CNS) — When Trappist Father Thomas Merton addressed persistent racism in his writing during the 1960s, his message seemingly reached into the future.

Appealing to society to recognize that all people are children of God, Father Merton questioned practices that prevented African-Americans from achieving full equality and called for the end of discrimination in all forms.

It was just one of the priest’s stances on important social issues, encompassing race relations, militarism and war, consumerism and the burdens posed by technology.

Father Merton’s concerns are as pertinent today as they were when he wrote about them half a century ago, said Paul M. Pearson, director of the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky., on the eve of the centennial of the Trappist’s birth, Jan. 31, 1915.

“He speaks to us because everything he has to say is as applicable now as when he wrote it,” Pearson told Catholic News Service from the center, which serves as a research center and the repository of nearly all of the late Father Merton’s poems, essays, correspondence and notes.

“Those social issues he addressed, I think he would be horrified that we’re still dealing with them, that nothing has changed,” Pearson said.

The center will host the 14th general meeting of the International Thomas Merton Society June 4-7.

Researchers and theologians suggest that Father Merton’s social concerns stemmed from a deep Spirituality and an unending quest to find God. Some consider him a mystic and believe he deserves to be declared a doctor of the Church. St. John XXIII and Blessed Paul VI were among Church leaders who regularly turned to his writing for inspiration.

Merton was born in Prades, France, near the border with Spain. His parents — American-born mother Ruth and New Zealand-born father Owen — were artists. Ruth Jenkins Merton died when Merton was six; Owen died nine years later.

His challenging childhood and his upbringing and visits to various locales, including France, Italy, New York (after

his mother’s death) and England shaped the young Merton as much as his gradual discovery of the love of God after years of an unsettled, and at times promiscuous, life as a young adult.

Merton entered the Trappists — formally the Order of

A prolific writer, Father Merton over the course of 20 years wrote hundreds of poems, dozens of essays, thousands of letters and numerous books.

He is acknowledged by scholars and theologians as perhaps the most influential Catholic author of the 20th century.

Trappist Father Thomas Merton, one of the most influential Catholic authors of the 20th century, is pictured in an undated photo. Devotees of the monk, who died in 1968, have planned various observances of the 100th anniversary of his birth, January 31. (CNS photo/ Merton Legacy Trust and the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University)

Cistercians of the Strict Observance — in Gethsemani, Ky., Dec. 10, 1941, three years after being baptized in the Catholic Church. He found the structured and prayer-filled life of a monk appealing. The monastery was a place where he could think about life — and contemplate the presence of God. Father Merton’s massive autobiography, “The Seven Storey Mountain,” an assignment from his superior who recognized his desire to be a writer, raised his profile among people searching in their lives. Originally published in 1948, the year before Father Merton’s ordination, the work has sold more than one million copies and has been translated into more than 15 languages, according to the Thomas Merton Center.

“He’s a wonderful writer and poet. He gives you the sense that God is present, God is close and God walks with us,” said Christopher Pramuk, associate professor of theology of Xavier University in Cincinnati.

Today, decades after his Dec. 10, 1968, death from electrocution in Bangkok while on pilgrimage to better interfaith understanding with Eastern religions, Father Merton’s works continue to be studied; new books reprinting his letters and essays continue to be published.

In cities around the world, groups of Merton devotees through the International Thomas Merton Society meet for silent prayer and discussion of the Trappist’s works.

“He was the one who took contemplation and contempla-

tive prayer out of the monastery,” said Ursuline Sister Donna Kristoff, coordinator of the Cleveland chapter, one of 39 in the U.S. and eight overseas.

“He was one of the first ones to show that this is basic Christian practice, that all people need to learn to sit quietly, to find solitude and peace to find God within.”

Sister Kathleen Deignan, professor of religious studies at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y., called Father Merton a path maker.

“He bequeaths these paths to us so that we can actually find them. He did make the path by walking. There was nobody in front of him. No cultural conditions. No family. He did this great pilgrimage of search,” said Sister Kathleen, a member of the Congregation of Notre Dame and director of the school’s Iona Spirituality Institute.

The institute premiered a documentary on the Trappist’s life January 28. “The Many Storeys and Last Days of Thomas Merton” was part of a program marking the centennial of his birth.

Christine Bochen, professor of religious studies at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y., and a founding member of the international Merton society, has edited the Trappist’s work for publication. She has found the “richness of his personality” evolving over his two decades of writing.

“What is absolutely fascinating to me is that he could see what so many could not,” Bochen said. “He’s withdrawn in a sense, living in a monastery in rural Kentucky, but he could read what the Second Vatican Council called signs of the times. He had a deep wisdom and understanding of what was happening in the world.”

Father Merton’s words also appeal to new audiences today.

Paul E. O’Connell, professor of criminal justice at Iona College, said students in his classes integrate their understanding of Father Merton, who they have discovered in Sister Kathleen’s classes, in his courses.

He told CNS that students are interested in contemplative prayer and meditation and find that it relieves stress in their over-booked, high-pressure lives. “They want to be able to consider themselves as just a person, to think there’s a possibility of simpler time, that you can relate to other people without all these pressures. They

just open up.” O’Connell said.

In a 1984 documentary funded in part by the Catholic Communication Campaign, author Paul Wilkes explored the monk’s struggles that led to the realization life that the answers to life’s mysteries rest in discovering God. Since reading Father Merton’s autobiography in high school, Wilkes has found that the monk’s lasting appeal rests in the familiar voice in which he examines basic questions about life.

“It’s like he’s in the room with you,” Wilkes said.

The Rev. Lars Adolffson, a Church of Sweden minister, is coordinator of the Swedish Thomas Merton Society.

He said Swedes appreciate the monk’s “gentle style” and the joy he finds in discovering God. “In the search for God, he doesn’t force you,” Rev. Adolffson told CNS. “He doesn’t make any hard strains toward people. He notes how God will act in your life in a positive way.

“He has something to tell us.”

In New Zealand, Merton followers planned to commemorate the Trappist’s birth with a January 31 pilgrimage across Christchurch.

Charles Shaw, who works in the Catholic Education Office of the Diocese of Christchurch and is a member of New Zealand’s chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society, told CNS the daylong observance will take participants to sites important to Father Merton’s heritage. Silent and public prayer was to be offered at Carmelite Monastery of Christ the King, Christ’s College and Waimairi Cemetery where several Merton family members are buried.

In “The Seven Mountains of Thomas Merton,” author Michael Mott related that Father Merton wrote to a monk in New Zealand describing the country as “a kind of homeland” even though he had never visited.

Shaw’s uncle studied under Father Merton at Gethsemani.

At one point, the monk asked his uncle to ask Shaw’s parents to visit and his relatives at their home in Christchurch.

“He draws people in because of his writings,” Shaw said. “He covers a vast range of topics. He’s perceptive. He’s funny. He’s sometimes annoying. You see the person shining through.”

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February 6, 2015

Religion consultant develops creative ways to engage students continued from page one

and that’s kind of where I got started in my ministry,” he said, and coming from a supportive community helped him find his vocation. “I had good Spiritual mentoring with the priests in the parishes where I lived, but more in the community – that’s what inspired me to study to become a priest.”

Valenzuela joked that at 18 years old, he didn’t even know where to go to become a priest, but found himself studying at St. Joseph Seminary in Menlo Park in California, earning a bachelor of arts. He added a masters in religious education from the University of San Francisco, but ultimately was never ordained as a priest because “I still felt called but it

wasn’t the calling,” he said, and became a Catholic high school teacher, teaching for 10 years.

Now working at Sadlier Inc., Valenzuela said that today’s catechists can take cues from how he learned about the Catholic faith growing up: “For Latinos, the faith is very symbolic; it’s about pictures, paintings, drawings, and there’s more of a feel about that comes out of Religious Education and faith in general, they’re more about feeling their faith and perceiving their faith as opposed to learning their faith first. I think it’s Latinos’ strong-point, and I think it’s a way that it’s also the way that those in the U.S. are starting to see education, and how we learn, and instead of

learning through a big concentration of information, but also perception.”

Sadlier has created some great resources, including resources in Spanish, that offer great ways to teach in either English or bilingual studies to help reinforce that perceptiontype of learning.

“It’s a way for all of us to learn our faith,” said Valenzuela. “Parishes tend to be academic in their Faith Formation, kids sitting in a classroom and giving them a pen and paper and book — that’s more school than learning the love of Jesus.

How can we get away from that structured school-sense, and in a more organic” way of learning?

A “Creed Table,” developed by religion consultant Victor Valenzuela, contains symbols mentioned in The Apostles’ Creed. The table is used in Faith Formation classes, and each time the students meet they interact with the symbols on the table in some way, and, according to Valenzuela, “by the end of the year, they will have learned the Creed.” (Photo courtesy of Victor Valenzuela)

While learning prayers is a must, it may help to get away from doing rote prayers from simply memorization “because it’s really counter-productive to us trying to teach them faith,” he said, “because what that accomplished, doing those rote prayers, is you taught them how to memorize and become better at memorizing. You haven’t really taught them the faith.”

By not engaging the youth, that loss can be become clearer as those youth become adults and feel disconnected from the Catholic faith. They can recite prayers, but don’t have a true sense of what those prayers mean or represent because no one ever taught them the meanings. That’s where using images and having a more hands-on approach teaching method can make such an impact.

“One way to look at that from a different point of view is using symbols and more interactive learning,” said Valenzuela. “The Creed has symbols, like for God or Jesus, and you can do it in a variety of ways. One way is to have a Creed table in your Faith Formation class. You set up the table with all these symbols and each time you meet, you interact with those symbols — either you pray for them, or maybe do a little show and tell and have [the students] say what it means to them. Just do that every time you meet and by the end of the year, they will have learned the Creed.”

Another interactive exercise is to create an image of Christ, like print a headshot of His image or face, and put that into a frame. On the back of the frame, put directions — like build a prayer table or read Bible passages — and then have each student take Christ home for a week, and then return the following week with a report of what the student did when they brought Christ to their home.

Each student will be given a chance to bring Him home until He has been in each home at least once.

“It’s a simple activity and it’s amazing how many Catholics don’t even have an image of Christ in their home,” said Valenzuela. “It’s a big evangelizing kind of tool.”

Though these examples may seem like they are geared towards younger students, many of the suggested activities can be used as a tool for any age; no activity is strictly age-specific.

“I think the biggest obstacle we have right now is to focus our catechesis more on formation as opposed to an informa-

tion dump,” said Valenzuela. “I think in parishes, even in the bilingual world, the approach is — I’m the teacher, this is the classroom, these are my students, and I’m going to make this a school.

From a kid’s point of view, that’s the last thing that they want, and then it becomes working in a school structure — how can we break out of that?”

Teaching is fine, just the learning in a school academic model, not a transformational model, doesn’t help engage students in the faith. It’s hard because many parish classroom environments add to that: “It’s Faith Formation, and teaching is important,” said Valenzuela, “but I think what we need to do is start with, and maintain that connection to, is the formation piece, that feeling piece, because if we don’t and it’s just a matter of giving them a bunch of information, kids are going to get bored and want to say, ‘When will this be over?’”

Current culture has morphed into a sense of being Spiritual but not religious and that there is a pervasive feeling that faith can trap you in rules and regulations that being part of the Church implies: “I think the conversation has changed a lot because of Pope Francis; he’s more about, if the structure is getting in the way of you doing the mercy of God, then we need to do away with the structure — that’s what I’m hearing from Pope Francis. That’s the sense I’m getting,” said Valenzuela. “I think we need to learn how to live out our faith, and I think Pope Francis is a model on how to connect those two, Church and Spiritual.”

And that Spiritual feeling of engaging students starts with the catechist, he said: “Catechists need to tap into their own vocation. As catechists, we do this because we have this calling in our heart, not in our head. If you tap into that calling into your heart, I think it will give you a passion for what you’re doing, and give you an energy for what you’re doing. If you’re doing this in your head, like this is an obligation — people think catechists are highly trained people who know every detail about our faith and that’s why they’re catechists — but catechists are called by God who have an honest faith in their heart. People just need to focus on that honest faith and translate that into an experience for children, teen-agers and adults when they come to Faith Formation.”

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February 6, 2015

Archbishops Chaput, Gomez confirmed participants in Synod on the Family Vatican City (CNA/ EWTN News) — The Vatican has confirmed the participation of 48 delegates chosen by bishops’ conferences to take part in this year’s Synod on the Family.

Included on the list are all those elected by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, the U.S.’ largest archdiocese, and Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, where the upcoming World Meeting of Families will be held, will be among those taking part in October’s gathering, according to the Vatican document.

Other U.S. delegates included are Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville and Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, USCCB president and secretary, respectively.

Released January 31, this is the first of several documents listing the delegates elected by the various bishops’ conferences around the world who have been approved by the Vatican.

Delegates listed in the announcement included seven from Africa; three from Asia; three from Oceana; 17 from Europe; and 10 from Central and South America.

Not every bishops’ conference was represented in Saturday’s list, as some still need to hold their general assemblies where they will select their candidates and substitutes before sending the names to the Vatican for approval. These subsequent ratifications will be announced at a later time.

Around 190 prelates worldwide participated in the 2014 Synod on the Family.

The names of other participants, such as auditors, experts and papal nominees, will also released at a later date in the lead up to the Synod on the Family.

This year’s Synod on the Family, to be held on October 4-25, will be the second and larger of two such gatherings to take place in the course of a year.

Like its 2014 precursor, the focus of the 2015 Synod of Bishops will be the family, this time with the theme: “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and the modern world.”

The list also confirmed the participation of alternates, Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago, and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, head of the USCCB’s defense and promotion of Marriage subcommittee.

A preparatory document for the Synod on the Family, formally known as the Lineamenta, was sent to bishops’ conference

in December 2014.

The list of all 48 elected delegates is included below: AFRICA Burundi Delegate: Bishop Gervais BASHIMIYUBUSA, Bishop of Ngozi, president of the bishops’ conference.

Alternate: Bishop Joachim NTAHONDEREYE, Bishop of Muyinga.

Ethiopia and Eritrea Delegate: Bishop Tsegaye Keneni DERERA, Apostolic Vicar of Soddo, titular bishop of Maximiana of Byzacena.

Alternate: Bishop Markos GEBREMEDHIN, C.M., Titular bishop of Gummi in Proconsolari, Apostolic Vicar of Jimma­Bonga (Ethiopia).

Ghana Delegate: Archbishop of Gabriel Charles PALMER­ BUCKLE, Archbishop of Accra.

Alternate: Bishop Anthony Kwami ADANUTY, bishop of Keta­Akatsi.

Kenya Delegate: Cardinal John NJUE, Archbishop of Nairobi, president of the bishops’ conference.

Delegate: Bishop James Maria WAINAINA KUNGU, bishop of Muranga.

Alternate: Bishop Emanuel BARBARA, O.F.M. Cap., bishop of Malindi.

Madagascar Delegate: Archbishop Désiré TSARAHAZANA, bishop di Toamasina, president of the bishops’ conference.

Alternate: Jean de Dieu RAOELISON, titular bishop of Corniculana, auxiliary of Antananarivo.

Rwanda Delegate: Bishop Antoine KAMBANDA, bishop of Kibungo.

Alternate: Bishop Smaragde MBONYINTEGE, bishop of Kabgayi, president of the bishops’ conference.

THE AMERICAS Argentina Delegate: Bishop Pedro María LAXAGUE, titular bishop of Castra Severiana, and auxiliary of Bahía Blanca.

Delegate: Archbishop José María ARANCEDO, Archbishop of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz, president of the bishops’ conference.

Delegate: Cardinal Mario Aurelio POLI, archbishop of Buenos Aires.

Alternate: Archbishop Andrés STANOVNIK, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Corrientes.

Alternate: Héctor Rubén AGUER, Archbishop of La Plata.

Chile Delegate: Bishop Bernardo Miguel BASTRES FLORENCE, S.D.B., bishop of Punta Arenas.

Delegate: Cardinal Ricardo EZZATI ANDRELLO, S.D.B., archbishop of Santiago de Chile, president of the bishops’ conference.

Alternate: Bishop Cristián CONTRERAS VILLARROEL, bishop of Melipilla, secretary general of the bishops’ conference.

Cuba Delegate: Archbishop Juan de la Caridad GARCÍA RODRÍGUEZ, archbishop of Camagüey.

Alternate: Bishop Marcelo Arturo GONZÁLEZ AMADOR, bishop of Santa Clara.

Ecuador Delegate: Archbishop Antonio ARREGUI YARZA, archbishop of Guayaquil.

Delegate: Archbishop Luis Gerardo CABRERA HERRERA, O.F.M., archbishop of Cuenca.

Alternate: Bishop Julio PARRILLA DÍAZ, bishop of Riobmba.

Alternate: Bishop Marcos Aurelio PÉREZ CAICEDO, bishop of Babahoyo, vice president of the bishops’ conference.

Honduras Delegate: Bishop Luis SOLÉ FA, C.M., bishop of Trujillo.

Alternate: Bishop Ángel GARACHANA PÉREZ, C.M.F., bishop of San Pedro Sula.

Mexico Delegate: Bishop AGUILAR MARTÍNEZ, bishop of Tehuacán.

Delegate: Cardinal Norberto RIVERA CARRERA, archbishop of México.

Delegate: Francisco Javier CHAVOLLA RAMOS, bishop of Toluca.

Delegate: Cardinal Francisco ROBLES ORTEGA, archbishop of Guadalajara, president of the bishops’ conferece.

Alternate: Bishop Alfonso Gerardo MIRANDA GUARDIOLA, titular bishop of Idrica, auxiliary of Monterrey.

Alternate: José Francisco GONZÁLEZ GONZÁLEZ, bishop of Campeche.

United States of America Delegate: Archbishop Joseph Edward KURTZ, archbishop of Louisville, president of the bishops’ conference.

Delegate: Archbishop Charles Joseph CHAPUT, O.F.M. Cap., archbishop of Philadelphia.

Delegate: Cardinal Daniel N. DI NARDO, archbishop of Galveston­ Houston, vice­ president of the bishops’ confer-

ence.

Delegate: Archbishop José Horacio GÓMEZ, archbishop of Los Angeles.

Alternate: Archbishop Blase J. CUPICH, archbishop of Chicago.

Alternate: Archbishop Salvatore Joseph CORDILEONE, archbishop of San Francisco.

Uruguay Delegate: Bishop Jaime Rafael FUENTES MARTÍN, bishop of Minas.

Alternate: Bishop Rodolfo Pedro WIRZ KRAEMER, bishop of Maldonado­-Punta del Este, president of the bishops’ conference.

ASIA Pakistan Delegate: Bishop Joseph ARSHAD, bishop of Faisalabad.

Alternate: Archbishop Sebastian Francis SHAW, archbishop of Lahore.

Vietnam Delegate: Archbishop Paul BÙI VĂN ÐOC, archbishop of ThanhЭPho Hô Chí Minh, Hôchiminh Ville, president of the bishops’ conference.

Delegate: Bishop Joseph Dihn Duc Dao, titular bishop of Gadiaufala, auxiliary of Xuân Lôc.

Alternate: Bishop Pierre NGUYÊN VAN KHAM, bishop of My Tho. EUROPA Albania Delegate: Bishop George FRENDO, O.P., titular bishop of Butrinto, auxiliary of Tiranë­ Durrës.

Alternate: Bishop Ottavio VITALE, R.C.I., Bishop of Lezhë, Lesh.

Austria Delegate: Bishop of Benno ELBS, bishop of Feldkirch.

Alternate: Bishop Kalus KÜNG, bishop of Sankt Pölten.

Bosnia and Herzegovina Delegate: Bishop Tomo VUKšIć?, military bishop of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Alternate: Bishop Marko SEMREN, O.F.M., titular bishop of Abaradira, auxiliary of Banja Luka.

France Delegate: Archbishop Georges PONTIER, archbishop of Marseille, president of the bishops’ conference.

Delegate: Cardinal André VINGT­TROIS, archbishop of Paris.

Delegate: Bishop Jean­ Luc BRUNIN, bishop of Le Havre.

Delegate: Bishop Jean­ Paul JAMES, bishop of Nantes.

Alternate: Bishop Olivier DE GERMAY, bishop of Ajaccio.

Alternate: Bishop Bruno FEILLET, titular bishop of Gaudiaba, auxiliary of Reims.

Great Britain (England and Wales) Delegate: Cardinal Vincent Gerard NICHOLS, archbishop of Westminster, president of the episcopal conference.

Delegate: Peter John Haworth DOYLE, bishop of Northampton.

Alternate: Bishop Philip Anthony EGAN, bishop of Portsmouth.

Greece Delegate: Bishop Fragkiskos PAPAMANOLIS, O.F.M. Cap., emeritus bishop of Syros, president of the bishops’ conference.

Alternate: Archbishop Nikolaos FOSKOLOS, archbishop emeritus of Athens.

Ireland Delegate: Archbishop Diarmuid MARTIN, archbishop of Dublin.

Delegate: Archbishop Eamon MARTIN, archbishop of Armagh, president of the bishops’ conference.

Alternate: Archbishop Kieran O’REILLY, S.M.A., Arcivescovo di Cashel.

Lithuania Delegate: Cardinal Audrys Jouzas BAćKIS, archbishop emeritus of Vilnius.

Alternate: Rimantas NORVILA, bishop of Vilkaviškis.

Netherlands Delegate: Cardinal Willem Jacobus EIJK, archbishop of Utrecht.

Alternate: Bishop Johannes Wilhelmus Maria LIESEN, bishop of Breda.

Spain Delegate: Cardinal Ricardo BLÁZQUEZ PÉREZ, archbishop of Valladolid, president of the bishops’ conference.

Delegate: Bishop Mario ICETA GAVICAGOGEASCOA, bishop of Bilbao.

Delegate: Archbishop Carlos OSORO SIERRA, archbishop of Madrid.

Alternate: Bishop Juan Antonio REIG PLÁ, bishop of Alcalá de Henares.

OCEANIA Australia Delegate: Bishop Daniel Eugene HURLEY, bishop of Darwin.

Delegate: Bishop Mark Benedict COLERIDGE, archbishop of Brisbane.

Alternate: Archbishop Philip Edward WILSON, archbishop of Adelaide.

New Zealand Delegate: Bishop Charles Edward DRENNAN, bishop of Palmerston North.

Alternate: Cardinal John Atcherley DEW, archbishop of Wellington, president of the bishops’ conference.

16

Youth Pages

February 6, 2015

Kindergarten students at St. Michael School in Fall River, came to class dressed in their favorite PJs to show their school spirit during Catholic Schools Week and as part of the school’s “Pajama Day” for Spirit Week.

A Youth Free Throw Championship for boys and girls, ages nine to 14 years old, was held recently at the Gus Canty Center in Falmouth, sponsored by the Falmouth Knights of Columbus Council No. 813. Pictured from left are: volunteers Richard Castleberry and Gerry Castleberry; youth director Tony Mancini; Patrick McDonald, 10; Rachelle Andrade, 10; Michael VanNeste, 11; Marcus Cardoza, nine; Cameron Rowell, 12; Olivia Rowell, 14; Isabelle Rowell, nine; and Grand Knight Greg Pinto. Winners will now progress through district and state competitions. International champions are based on scores from state level competitions.

St. James-St. John School in New Bedford recently announced its Middle School Science Fair Winners, who are pictured here with their teacher, Doug Carvalho.

St. Francis Xavier School in Acushnet recently celebrated Catholic Schools Week by inviting parents as guest readers for students and praying a Rosary together as a school to ask for the strength and protection of their families. Pictured here is Mrs. Manning as she reads to her daughter’s kindergarten classmates.

First-grade students at St. Joseph School in Fairhaven recently learned about the importance of people working together in communities. They explored and made presentations about different careers and wrote “thank you” notes to the people in various fields within their school and Fairhaven.

February 6, 2015

P

Youth Pages God loves you too much not to forgive you

ope Francis in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium tells us “God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking His mercy.

Christ, Who told us to forgive one another ‘70 times seven’ (Mt 18:22) has given us His example: He has forgiven us 70 times seven.”

(Evangelii Gaudium No. 3) It is a message he must really believe because it is a similar message he delivered his first weekend as pope and one that he has repeated constantly since. Does the pope think we are all bad people? Not at all. He knows that we are loved by God and are meant to live life in joy because of that love. We sometimes get in our own way though.

A basic understanding of sin is this: it turns our attention from God to ourselves.

It narrows our vision and soon we are either blind to all that is around us, or we see everything around us (including our loved ones) as threats to us. This view of ourselves, the world and even God prevents us from

17

living who we truly are. It likeness. He desires that stunts our growth Spiritually we seek to live in a loving and emotionally. As much as relationship with Him. This we strive to be happy, to find relationship gives our lives enjoyment and pleasure, the meaning, it leads us to joy deeper we may seem to fall. and gives us a great inner In ministry in the parish, peace and strength that alon the college campus or in lows us to be joyful even in youth ministry, I have come our struggles. We need help to realize just how paralyzing sin is. We become frustrated with ourselves. To a certain extent we give up on ourselves and on God. As someone who has

By Father spent a lot of time David C. Frederici ministering to people in the confessional, I can honestly say that at times to keep focused on the greatest challenge that I this relationship. We need come across is not the sins help to see and hear where that people are most conGod is present. We need cerned about or are embarhelp to grow as children of rassed about, it is when I God. encounter someone who is This idea of help isn’t in a state of despair. They foreign to us. Don’t we need have reached a point where help to grow? Our famithey are convinced that they lies help us to learn how to cannot be forgiven by God care for ourselves, how to and are not worthy of God’s interact with others. They attention or love. There is help us discover who we are, nothing furthest from the what our gifts and talents truth! are. Families encourage God loves those He has us, console us and at times made in His image and challenge us to be true to

ourselves. After the Super Bowl this past week, Julian Edelman and Bill Belichick took time in the post game interviews to highlight the importance of their dads and family in general.

The importance of family is why Jesus founded the Church, the family of faith. The Church understands our families as the domestic churches, where faith is first introduced to us. The Church helps us to learn more about God, how to interact with Him. It is through the Church that the Lord continues to speak to us, to provide us the opportunities to encounter Him directly.

This is of great importance in our struggle with sin. The Church’s role isn’t to condemn, it is to let the penitent know of God’s great love and desire for them, and through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Christ not only forgives, but rather gives us the help we need to persevere in our relationship with Him. I’ll admit the Sacrament of Reconciliation isn’t my

favorite activity. In high school, college and in my 20s I avoided it as much as I could. In hindsight I realize that all I did in reality was give myself more headaches and stress. I have discovered the need for regular participation in the Sacrament.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation prevents us from becoming frustrated with ourselves, it gives us the graces we need to be true to ourselves as we continue to grow to a deeper understanding of who we are.

I have been impressed by the number of younger people whom I encounter in the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, in the parish and at the college. It is because of this that I have great hope for our future.

Never tire of asking God for forgiveness, He loves you too much not to forgive you.

Anchor columnist Father Frederici is pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Pocasset and diocesan director of Campus Ministry and Chaplain at UMass Dartmouth and Bristol Community College.

in it. We are not meant to be ignorant.”

Father Letoile is the prior provincial for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, the eastern quarter of the four Dominican U.S. provinces.

He preached at the annual Mass of St. Thomas Aquinas at the National Shrine on January 28.

Father Letoile was joined by more than 50 concelebrants from the neighboring Catholic University of America, Dominican House of Studies, and other seminaries and consecrated religious houses of studies.

The Mass was co-sponsored

by Catholic University, the Dominican House of Studies, and the National Catholic Educational Association.

It heralded the new academic semester and celebrated Catholic Schools Week. St. Thomas is also the patron saint of Catholic schools.

“One of my revered Dominican teachers once told us that before he entered the classroom he would pray for grace he needed to love the students he was about to teach,” Father Letoile shared.

God, the final goal.” When students do not live what they study, he added, “our studies can be like conversations in an echo chamber. The reverberations build and build until the sound is unintelligible.”

National Catholic Schools

Week begins every last Sunday of January and continues through the week. It “is the annual celebration of Catholic education in the U.S.,” according to the National Catholic Education Association.

Be Not Afraid

On feast of St.Thomas, teachers called to mercifully challenge students Washington D.C. (CNA/EWTN News) — Catholics must be “merciful teachers” in eliciting the best from everyone around them, said a prominent Dominican preacher on the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas.

“Our call, religious, ordained, and laity alike, is to be ‘merciful teachers who wake up the world,’” Father Ken Letoile, O.P., told Mass attendants at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. He cited Pope Francis’ call for the consecrated religious to “wake up the world.”

“It should not be surprising that St. Thomas thinks teaching is a profound Spiritual work of mercy: ‘Instructing the ignorant,’” Father Letoile added. Former students revere their exceptional teachers precisely because “they demanded the most of us, as they called forth from us — the root meaning of the word ‘educate’ — they called forth our best work.”

“They formed us in the truth. They were merciful to us, because we are made to know the truth and to rejoice

“In the words of today’s first reading, ‘I pleaded and the spirit of wisdom came to me.’

That’s the humility that is key to our call to be merciful teachers.”

St. Thomas was transformed by “merciful teaching,” Father Letoile added.

Thomas’ teacher, St. Albert the Great, “saw in his shy student what none of Aquinas’ other teachers and none of his classmates could see: a gifted genius in love with the Lord, who would, one day, teach the world about the mysteries of the Christian faith.”

Speaking at the end of Mass, Catholic University president John Garvey said the academic vocation is ultimately about God and not an egotistical pursuit of knowledge.

“Thomas’ example shows that the academic vocation is not a game. It’s not something we win by racking up the highest GPA or making the most clever arguments,” Garvey stated.

“For St. Thomas the goal of studying theology was to acquire the knowledge we need to direct our lives toward

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

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February 6, 2015

Parishes, priests dig out from blizzard, snowstorms continued from page one

were still slowly but surely working to plow out the parish parking lot to prepare for weekend Masses.

“The rectory wasn’t plowed until (Friday) morning … and the parish offices were closed all week,” Father Frederici said. “Today there are a couple of us in the office, but the office is closed for business.

They will be finishing up the snow removal around the parish center and hall this afternoon.”

The blizzard quickly proved to be a baptism by fire for Father Jay Mello as the newlyappointed parochial administrator of St. Michael and St. Joseph parishes in Fall River.

“I have always hated the cold and the snow, and now being an administrator, I really hate it because I have to pay for it to be removed,” Father Mello said. “Though I am blessed to have companies that remove the snow at both locations.”

Like several of his brother priests, Father Mello posted photos of himself shoveling out the front of St. Michael’s Church and rectory on his

Facebook page.

“We did cancel school for three days because of the snow, and with that the daily Masses and had to move one funeral that was scheduled for Tuesday,” he said.

Although he was thankful they didn’t lose power during the storm and he felt it wasn’t as severe as the Blizzard of 2013, Father Rodney Thibault, pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in South Dartmouth, said he did have to cancel daily Masses for three days and resumed celebrating the morning Liturgy on Friday.

“I happily celebrated the 8 a.m. (Mass) this morning so that Father Tom Rita could avoid any issues with weather,” Father Thibault said. “Our facilities manager, Thomas Bernat, and the company who does our landscaping and plowing, Earthworks, owned by parishioner, Patrick, did exceptional work. Our lot and walkways looked better than anything I saw in Dartmouth.”

Easily one of the hardest hit areas of the diocese was Nantucket, which unlike the rest of the Commonwealth,

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ended up losing power for several days. Phone service to and communication with inhabitants of the island was severely limited for the entire week following the blizzard.

“The roads were closed the day of and the day after the storm, so I couldn’t get to the three parish properties,” reported property manager Brian Davis in an email to The Anchor. “I couldn’t get out of my 400-foot driveway during that time. I gathered up some help and started digging out the church, the rectory, and Father Griffin Hall … not to mention my house, my wife’s office, and six of the homes I caretake.”

Although the storm did force the cancellation of daily Masses and other parish activities for several days at St. Mary-Our Lady of Isle Parish on Nantucket, Davis seemed to take it all in stride.

“Born and raised on the island, I’ve been through many storms in my 62 years,” he said. “To me, it was just another snow event. All in all, we survived another blizzard here on ‘the rock.’”

Anticipating the Blizzard of 2015, Father Jeff Cabral, judicial vicar for the diocesan Tribunal office, said he drove from Fall River, where he resides at the Holy Name Parish rectory, to his parents’ home in Dartmouth and ended up staying with them to assist with snow cleanup.

“The drifts were pretty high in the driveway at my parents’ house — just as high as me,” Father Cabral said. “My dad and I went to shovel and snowblow the driveway on Tuesday afternoon, and we really only could do about three-quarters of the driveway because of the high winds and continuing snowfall. On Wednesday, with the help of my parents’ neighbor, we finished plowing out the driveway and shoveled out the walkway.”

At press time this week — just when things appeared to be getting back to normal — a second storm, Linus, hit the area on February 2, dropping more than six inches of fresh powder onto the snow mounds leftover from plowed streets and shoveled-out driveways.

“I think we are all ready for spring,” Father Cabral mused in a Facebook posting.

“Where are we going to put all of this snow?”

Group promotes devotion to Mary continued from page one

meet people in their homes and ask them to pray the Rosary.

Now, she volunteers as a Eucharistic minister at a nursing home and takes the Eucharist to residents who cannot leave their rooms.

Members also pray for others. She said, “We pray that everyone will go to Heaven. We pray for peace in the world and for all the children of the world.

We have a lot to pray for.”

Serving and praying for others comes with positive personal effects. Viveiros said Legion membership has made her more Spiritual.

“It makes you love God more and more. You get to know how good He is,” she said. “Belong-

ing to the Legion of Mary is a sanctification of yourself.”

Robert Grant, a member of the Fairhaven praesidium, said that the Legion is for any Catholic who wants to become holier. Membership assists Catholics in intentionally living life in the faith and brings a supernatural peace.

“When you put God first, everything else goes in the proper proportion,” he said.

“The world is always called to a deeper conversion.”

Grant, who made his consecration to Mary in 2008, said that the consecration is “very important.”

“It’s a deepening of union with the Church,” he said.

Father Albert ‘AJ’ Ryan dies at age 82

FALL RIVER — Father Albert “AJ” Ryan, age 82, passed away February 1 at Catholic Memorial Nursing Center after a long illness.

Father Ryan was born on April 15, 1932 in Boston to the late Albert J. and Mary J. (Gill) Ryan. He attended Boston Commerce High School and St. Philip of Neri School.

He is survived by his brother, Robert Ryan and his wife Mary of Antioch, Tenn., his sister, Sheila McGrale and her husband Jack of Kingston, along with numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces and nephews and cousins whom he loved and enjoyed spending special family time with.

Father Ryan was ordained into the priesthood as a Monfort Father in 1958 with assignments in Bay Shore, N.Y.; St. Louis, Mo.; Noblesville, Ind.; and HamiltonOntario, Canada. He entered the U.S. Air Force as a chaplain in 1966 with assignments in Ohio, New York, Thailand, Massachusetts, Greece and North Dakota. After leaving active duty he entered the Air Force Reserve from which he retired as a Lt. Colonel with

20 years of service. He devoted many years to the Diocese of Fall River with parish assignments in Hyannis, North Attleboro, Taunton, Swansea, and Fall River culminating with an assignment to St. Francis of Assisi in New Bedford as pastor prior to his retirement. He was a longtime resident of Mashpee.

He loved Cape Cod and enjoyed filling in at Holy Trinity Parish in West Harwich. He served as a chaplain for the Barnstable Fire Department and the Barnstable County House of Corrections.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated February 6, with Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., as principal celebrant. Burial with full military honors followed at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne. Arrangements were with the Saunders-Dwyer Home for Funerals, New Bedford.

Remembrances may be made to the Catholic Memorial Nursing Center, 2446 Highland Avenue, Fall River, Mass., 02720, or Cardinal Medeiros Residence, 375 Elsbree Street, Fall River, Mass., 02720.

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February 6, 2015

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese Acushnet — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Evening prayer and Benediction is held Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

ATTLEBORO — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the Adoration Chapel at St. Vincent de Paul Parish, 71 Linden Street, from 7 a.m. to 7 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.

ATTLEBORO — There is a weekly Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30 pm at St. John the Evangelist Church on N. Main St. 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, Monday through Saturday, from 6:30 to 8 a.m.; and every first Friday from noon to 8 a.m. on Saturday.

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 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 11:30 a.m. in the Chapel of Reconciliation, with Benediction at 11:30 a.m. 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 continuous Eucharistic Adoration from 8 a.m. on Thursday until 8 a.m. on Saturday.

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.

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.

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.

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 from 7:30-11:45 a.m. ending with a simple Benediction 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.

NORTH EASTON — A Holy Hour for Families including Eucharistic Adoration is held every Friday from 3-4 p.m. at The Father Peyton Center, 518 Washington Street.

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. ~ PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION ~ 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.

NEW BEDFORD — Our Lady’s Chapel, 600 Pleasant Street, offers Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day. For information call 508-996-8274.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mount 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.

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 are invited to sign up to cover open hours. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

Pope chooses Carmelite professor to lead Lenten retreat

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has chosen an Italian Carmelite professor of Spirituality to lead him and top members of the Roman Curia on their Lenten retreat. Carmelite Father Bruno Secondin, though listed as a “professor emeritus” at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, is still teaching in the university’s Institute of Spirituality.

He is the author of dozens of books, including a multivolume series of guides for “lectio divina,” the prayerful reading of the books of the New Testament and selected readings from the Old Testament.

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, reported January 30 that Father Secondin will preach on the theme, “Servants and Prophets of the Living God.” Pope Francis and some 80 Vatican officials will listen to Father Secondin and reflect on his words February 22-27 at the Pauline Fathers’ retreat and conference center in Ariccia, about 20 miles southeast of Rome.

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks Feb. 7 Rev. Arthur N. Robert, O.P., St. Anne Shrine, Fall River, 1991 Feb. 8 Rev. Raymond P. Monty, USAF, Retired Chaplain, 1996 Feb. 9 Rev. Msgr. John J. Kelly, Pastor, SS. Peter and Paul, Fall River, 1963 Rev. Peter J. McKone, S.J., Bishop Connolly High School, Fall River, 1972 Rev. Vincent R. Dolbec, A.A., Assumption College, 1985 Feb. 10 Rev. Edward L. O’Brien, Pastor, St. Mary, Mansfield, 1966 Rev. Lucien A. Madore, Retired Chaplain, Mount St. Joseph School, Fall River, 1983

Feb. 11 Rev. John O’Connell, Founder, St. John Evangelist, Attleboro, 1910 Rev. John J. Sullivan, S.T.L., Retired Pastor, Holy Rosary, Fall River, 1961 Rev. William J. McMahon, Retired Pastor, St. Joan of Arc, Orleans, 1987 Rev. Christopher (Leo) King, SS.CC., Damien Residence, 2013 Feb. 12 Rev. Stanislaus B. Albert, SS.CC., Retired Founder, Our Lady of Assumption, New Bedford, 1961

Around the Diocese

A Placement Exam will be held at Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River on February 7 at 8 a.m. for all prospective high school students and eighth-grade LEAP students who are interested in attending Connolly next year. The fee for the exam is $20 and it will be held at Bishop Connolly High School, 373 Elsbree Street in Fall River.

For more information call 508-676-1071, extension 333.

On February 8, all religious Sisters throughout the United States are being encouraged to host an event that will raise the awareness of consecrated life in the area that they live. The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate will also host an event that day at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in New Bedford called “Meet the Religious — Nationwide Opportunities to Explore Religious Life.” The event will be from 1 to 4 p.m. starting in the church hall and will consist of a short welcome, followed by the showing of a DVD about the order’s missionary work throughout the world. There will then be a coffee break followed by a question-and-answer period where the public is invited to ask questions about vocations and religious life in general. The event will culminate with a Eucharistic holy hour in St. Anthony of Padua Church to pray for consecrated men and women and vocations to the religious life. All are welcome. For more information, contact the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate at 508-990-0335 or visit www.cmswr.org.

World Day of the Sick will be celebrated on February 11 at the Father Peyton Center with a noon Mass in the chapel. Those sick and suffering in our families will be remembered and the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick with blessed oil will be administered to any faithful in danger of death because of sickness or advanced age. The Father Peyton Center is located at 518 Washington Street in North Easton. For more information call Holy Cross Family Ministries at 508-238-4095, extension 2027, or visit www.FamilyRosary.org/Events.

A Healing Mass will be celebrated on February 19 at St. Anthony of Padua Church located at 1359 Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford. The Mass will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will include Benediction and healing prayers. At 5:15 p.m. there will be a holy hour which includes the Rosary. For directions or more information call 508-993-1691 or visit www. saintanthonynewbedford.com.

A mission for the Taunton Deanery entitled “The Joy of the Family: Begins in our Homes” will be held March 16-19 at 7 p.m. each night at St. Ann’s Parish, 660 North Main Street in Raynham. Join Father Willy Raymond, C.S.C., in an examination of Pope Francis’ messages in “Love is Our Mission” to learn how your family is a holy family. He’ll discuss models for our families — our Church family, our own family, and merciful families — all in the context of this year’s Synod on the Family. Father Raymond is president of Holy Cross Family Ministries, a worldwide ministry that helps families pray and he has spent 14 years in Hollywood creating faith-based family film, television and radio programs. The event is free and open to the public. For more information call 508 -823-9833.

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February 6, 2015

To advertise in The Anchor, contact Wayne Powers at 508-675-7151 or Email

waynepowers@anchornews.org

A behavior lesson from a couple of ‘keepers’

T

was no place to park. None. here are a few facts I We hoped to park across the have to present as a street from the apartment in a preface to this week’s column. cleared driveway for a half an The first is that blizzards and hour or so to get the job done. snowstorms, at least in Fall In the MBK truck were RaRiver, can bring out the best and chel and Dave, two absolutely the worst in people. delightful young people. Rachel The second is that I am not was driving. As soon as I dia patient person with those rected her into the driveway, she people whose nasty or nastier side shines forth during blizzard was greeted by wildly waving arms in the first floor tenement and snowstorm aftermaths.

Over the last few weeks, blizzard Juno dumped two feet of snow on “The Riv,” and Linus, a snowstorm, piled on an additional six inches of snow and

By Dave Jolivet ice.

Not that the timing of a snowstorm can ever window prohibiting her from be good, but Juno was as badly timed a nuisance for me as pos- parking there. (It should be noted that the entire time the sible. move took place, no one ever The day the nor’easter arrived was a day I had scheduled used that space.)

I shot the windmill-like the fine folks at My Brother’s character in the window an evil Keeper in Dartmouth to pick glance. up some furniture my brother While we discussed our next and I were donating. move, a car directly behind We rescheduled the pickup the truck began to yell at us to for two days later. move. Not having patience as Now, for those of you who mentioned previously, I engaged have never traveled through in a battle of words with the the streets of Fall River after a aggravated driver. I’m not proud snowfall, it should be known of that, but sometimes my emoit’s not a pleasant journey. The tions get the best of me. My streets are narrow with little logic was sometimes you have place to pile plowed snow. to speak the language of the Cars can usually park on natives. both sides of the street, but Meanwhile Rachel and Dave, that’s cut in half in a storm. and my brother, kept cooler On the day MBK arrived heads and kept quiet, figuring to pick up the furniture from a out our next plan of attack. second-floor apartment, there

My View From the Stands

Rachel parked the truck about half a block away, and the four of us moved the furniture, some heavy and awkward, and others simple, down the city street, through snow, ice and slush.

When all was said and done (said by me and done by Rachel, Dave and my bro), the truck got stuck. The four of us spent the next half-hour to 45 minutes digging and pushing until the truck was free.

With a hug and a handshake, Rachel and Dave were off, with a plea from me not to mention the things I said and did!

The two young people from My Brother’s Keeper were hardworking, kind, considerate and exemplified Christianity. I was very impressed with them and ashamed of my hot-headedness.

Later in the day and week, I had neighbors and family who lent a helping hand and shovel to help me get my two cars out from down under. After that, we got together and helped out another neighbor. That made me feel better about others and myself. The best and the worst of people.

I owe thanks to Rachel and Dave from My Brother’s Keeper, not only for the time and hard work they selflessly give to help those in need, but also for not only walking the walk, but talking the talk — a lesson I should heed. davejolivet@anchornews.org.

Some of the many pilgrims who traveled aboard the Cape Cod Bus for Life to the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. wait near the National Mall just before beginning the trek up Constitution Avenue to the U.S. Capitol building. In addition to the Cape Cod bus, pilgrims attended from the Attleboro area, Dartmouth area and other points in the diocese, including high school students and students from the campus ministry program at UMass Dartmouth.

Below, Kevin Ward, president of the Cape Cod Bus for Life, poses with Jeanne F. Monahan, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, during the 33rd annual Rose Dinner that was held on January 22 in Washington, D.C. The Rose Dinner is the conclusion and celebration of the yearly March for Life activities. (Photos by Richard C. Zopatti Jr.)